After reading the grimoire today (while I haven't really looked through all of them), I noticed something on Mystery: The Vault of Glass . The four-armed creature that picked up the Ghost and the alabaster sphere in the background. Were the fallen uplifted by the traveler as well? Could all the races have been uplifted by the traveler and the reason they are in the Sol system is to claim the travelers power? I think so. The Vex would have been uplifted first being the most advanced and able to manipulate time, but they are still organic to an extent, so they could potentially have been organic sentient beings before becoming a machine hive mind. But for some reason, the Traveler leaves, and the Vex pursue it to reclaim the power of the traveler. The Hive would have been next to be uplifted as they create bioweapons of superb power and the ability to travel between dimensions, but when the Traveler leaves, they lose the light of the Traveler and fall prey to darker powers which is why we see the dark powers of oryx and crota. The traveler likely leaves as the Vex pursue the Traveler to reclaim its power, but the traveler does not want to be a part of a conflict, and now both the hive and vex chase after the Traveler The Cabal are uplifted next. We do not see them as advanced as the Vex or Hive as they did not get to as much time with the enlightening powers of the Traveler as the Hive or Vex, but they did grow large enough to become very militaristic and organized, and they ready themselves by becoming experts at defense and siege as seen in their technology with all of them being prepared to defend the Traveler from the Hive and Vex, but again, the Traveler leaves. Now the Cabal, Hive and Vex all pursue the powers of the Traveler. The Fallen are uplifted just like the others before it, but do not experience the enlightenment of the Traveler as long as even the Cabal as the previously uplifted races pursue the Traveler. They are nearly destroyed defending their empire, and as a consequence, they are left to living as nomads aboard their ships. Finally, we come to mankind. The Traveler arrives and uplifts us. Mankind experiences the knowledge of the Traveler for a few centuries, but the previously uplifted arrive and nearly destroys all of mankind as they all try to reclaim the Traveler. As the Traveler is about to leave(again), the Warmind Rasputin (an AI developed by Mankind to defend against the other races) does the unthinkable. It attacks and cripples the Traveler knowing that mankind would fall without it. With nowhere to go, the Traveler releases the last of its light hoping to defend itself from whatever may come next, thus we have the ghosts and the creation of Guardians. The misunderstanding comes from the assumption that the Guardians are intended to protect mankind when in fact it is really: the Guardians were created to defend the Traveler from ALL the races. Vex. Hive. Cabal. Fallen. Mankind. td;lr The Vex, Hive, Cabal, and Fallen are actually previously uplifted races that have come to reclaim the Traveler. The Guardians were really created to defend against all the races. Mankind included. This is my conspiracy theory. I will think about some more in time. EDIT 1: Spell check and Grammer Any thoughts?