I’m going to put the TL;DR right up front. You want details on the why, read on The Traveler did not flee during the collapse. The traveler stayed this time to fight the darkness. Rasputin was [i]prepared[/i] to attack the traveler if it tried to flee, but there is no evidence Rasputin actually attacked. The commonly held theory that the traveler tried to flee during the collapse and that Rasputin nuked it to force it to stay is incorrect. If it were correct, it would create a fundamental lore conflict in the grimoire, because there are three different grimoire cards from three different sources that all state the traveler stayed. There is in fact zero cards that say Rasputin actually attacked the traveler. What grimoire does say is that the traveler stayed, and Rasputin was preparing for a wide range of possible scenarios, one of which being attacking the traveler [i][b]IF[/b][/i] it tried to flee. Rasputin already had access to the military intel from the Device, which showed all known timelines ending in darkness. With such a dire outlook for the future, it is reasonable that Rasputin would be prepared for the possibility the traveler might leave, because Rasputin knows the darkness wins in all known scenarios, and if the darkness wins, it might be because the traveler bailed. However, the one thing the warmind is unable to simulate is the Traveler’s light, so he was unable to deduce what the traveler was actually going to do. So he comes up with a plan…. Regarding grimoire, I’m not going to challenge the source. If it is in grimoire, it is story information we were provided for a purpose. I don’t believe grimoire was put in place to create bait for a fake story. Meaning, if a card from the traveler says “I’m staying this time” (which it does), I’m not discounting its accuracy because “Of course the traveler would say that, doesn’t mean it did”. I only add this comment because some people discredit grimoire because of the source (“You can’t believe that, it was the speaker that said it”) I know, some of you are already screaming, but let me make my case: 1. Cards that state the traveler stayed to fight: The Traveler, Ghost Fragment: Traveler 2, Ghost Fragment: Mysteries. You can read them yourselves, but the most relevant parts are in the spoilers: [spoiler] From The Traveler: “Where did the Traveler come from? Why did it offer us so much? Did it know it was being hunted across the stars? And why, when the Darkness came, [b][i]did it choose to stay and fight for us?[/i][/b]” From Ghost Fragment: Traveler 2: “This has been such a long chase. [b][i]This will be the place you will fight. Fight and win.[/i][/b] And from Rasputin himself, Ghost Fragment: Mysteries (my notations in parenthesis): “I (Rasputin) AM ALONE. I survived alone. I cast off the shield and I shrugged my shoulders (stopped all civilization protection measures) so that the billions (humanity) fell off me down into the ash (collapse). They (humans) made me to be stronger than them and to learn and I learned well: IT (Darkness) is alone and IT is strong and IT won. Even over the gardener (Traveler) and she held power beyond me but the gardener [b][i]did not shrug and make herself alone[/i][/b] (stop trying and leave/hide) [/spoiler] 2. Rasputin 5, aka the card that is confusing every one. Rasputin 5 is a grimoire card that shows Rasputin’s criteria for initiating an attack on the travel. It says it right at the top, “Contingent Action Order” “Stand by for Criteria” Notice all the IFs. That is what this card is all about, IF. All the way down to the words at the bottom: “[b][i]IF[/i][/b] available ISR and WARWATCH indicates imminent [O] departure…Activate LOKI CROWN. Perform deniable authorization: full caedometric and noetic release. Prevent [O] departure by any means available.” Those words many have interpreted to mean Rasputin shot down the traveler. But read the entire card. This part gets a little wordy so I’m going to do it in the spoiler. But the result is Rasputin never activated Loki Crown, ie: never nuked the traveler. [spoiler] Rasputin 5 defines what criteria Rasputin needs to meet in order to activate LOKI CROWN (nuke the traveler). I’m paraphrasing the card again, but read it all if you like: (1) Under CARRHAE (White or Black), (2) IF security state is SKYSHOCK: OUTSIDE CONTEXT, and (3) VOLUSPA is ACTIVE and in FAILURE (FENRIR:SURTR), and (4) if YUGA is ACTIVE and in SUNDOWN, and (5) if a CIVILIZATION KILL EVENT is underway, and (6) if tactical morality is built at MIDNIGHT, and (7) if ISR/WARWATCH indicates imminent [O] departure…… That’s a lot of criteria to meet. 7 to be exact. So let’s we what went down during the collapse, contained in cards: The Darkness (Rasputin’s first detection of the darkness) and Rasputin 3 (collapse is underway) In the Darkness card, Rasputin declares CARRHAE WHITE and SKYSHOCK. He then activates VOLUSPA and YUGA. This satisfies the first 2 IFs, and activates the next 2. By Rasputin 3, things have gone to hell. Nothing is working. Rasputin declares VOLUSPA in failure (FENRIR: SURTR) [3rd IF] and YUGA in SUNDOWN [4th IF]. He determines a CIVILIZATION KILL EVENT is in progress [5th IF]. He formats moral structures for MIDNIGHT [6th IF] 6/7, not bad. The only IF left is detecting the traveler’s departure and nuking the shit out of it. So let’s see the conclusion of Rasputin 3: “Cancel counterforce objectives. Cancel population protection objectives. Format moral structures for MIDNIGHT EXIGENT. Execute long hold for reactivation. AI-COM/RSPN SIGNOFF.” Rasputin satisfied 6 out of 7 criteria and signed off and went into hiding. He never ran LOKI CROWN before signing off. It was the only criteria from Rasputin 5 that wasn’t met. The Traveler wasn’t leaving, so Rasputin signed off and called it a day. [/spoiler] So let’s go back to the card about Rasputin “shrugging” I mentioned up top. He says it right there in Rasputin 3, he cancelled population protection objectives. He let the collapse have at us because he was out of responses. Rasputin only survived the collapse by going midnight (hibernation basically, aka hiding). I’m not arguing that it wasn’t the smart move, but technically, Rasputin “fled” the scene. The traveler, meanwhile did not flee, and “died” as a result. Maybe it should have fled, but it had made the decision that this time, it would “stay and fight for us.” There is no doubt that something damaged the traveler (you can see it visibly from the tower). It is even possible that Rasputin could have caused collateral damage as it fought back against the darkness before giving up. Or the damage could have been directly from the darkness itself. But the damage is not because the traveler tried to leave us. It’s because it decided to stay.