Alright now. Welcome to this thread, and I hope that you find some meaning or sense in the ideas I´m about to put out. From the title, you can guess that not only I´´m talking about two of the alien races and the Darkness, but that I´m also pointing out a possible connection between those three antagonists. It all started from observing the Fallen as an enemy, and then going through Grimoire bits. Something that had me scratching my head is the apparent clash, or disparity, in the Fallen´s technology. The Grimoire tells us that their helmets incorporate complex masks that allow them to breathe in harsh environments and atmospheres, and that their amrors/suits further enhance their survivability, in either cold or hot planets. They also have hovering drones and those apparently sentient machines called Servitors, which have some communication capacities and teleportation modules despite being big, round robots. However, and with a few exceptions... their guns [b]SUCK[/b]. Really, most of their warfare material is just lackluster. Ironically, the Dreg´s pistols and the Shanks´mounted guns are the only truly effective guns since they actually go in a straight line and their projectiles have some velocity, because the standard Vandal gun and the Captain/Archon shrapnel shotguns are just dumb. What do I care if those bolts can trace enemies, they move so slow that you can jump out of the way of the projectiles and, as opposed to some of the guns that the Hive, Cabal or Vex sport, most of them dont have a blast radius. Similar happens with their ships: they have mounted turrets (one or two, at least) but most of them don´t seem to be designed for war. So, pretty much everything about their technology that is not combat-oriented seems to be [i]very advanced[/i], while everything combat-oriented (except the Walker) appears to be [i]much less developed[/i].... And then this came to mind. The Grimoire tells us that they had their own "golden age" of sorts. That they were one a higher, noble, more civilized race, and that they still kinda long for that which they lost. So what happened? My theory: the [b]Darkness[/b] found them. I like to imagine that they were a higher, much more civilized race, even when it´s apparent that they hace a caste system similar to India´s. Perhaps they were a race of explorers and merchants, because their ships seem to be more fitted for transportation than for battle. Even the Servitors don´t seem to have war as their primary function, and seem to be mobile life support stations for them. My thoughts are that the Darkness is the opposite of the Traveler in many ways. If the Traveler brings light, the Darkness denies it... so in that same way, if the Traveler brought progression, advancement and enhanced lifespans for us... wouldn´t it be possible that the Darkness brings corruption, violence and degeneration to any race it encounters? So my theory is that the Darkness made their civilization crumble, and the different houses started colliding against each other, forming Clans out of their noble lineages, and creating new weapons from salvaged technologies. And after their civilization fell completely (hence their name: the [b]Fallen[/b]) they resorted to pillage and raiding, becoming scavengers and raiders, becoming increasingly violent and vicious. This could be plausible, but it may seem a bit farfetched to some. Do I have any further proof to support these thoughts? Here is where the [b]Hive[/b] ties in. I believe that the Hive are the prime example of a race that has reached the pinacle of degeneration and corruption because of the Darkness´ influence. Tyrionbot´s lines and the Grimoire suggest that they are tied to the Darkness much more than most races. And look at them: shrieking beasts, full of teeth and caparace, like predatory insects. BUT, although they seem mindless now, the do show signs of having been more advanced at some point. For instance, the Acolytes wear clothes. Ragged and torn ones, but they display clothing, like the lingering remains of a lost identity. Their fortresses also show some signs of technological advance, and their architecture is also somewhat elaborate... for a race that can now only scream and growl, some of them using teeth, claws and swords to attack. Therefore, the Fallen would be a race slightly affected by the Darkness, whereas the Hive would be the example of what happends when the Darkness has enough time to influence and change living organisms. ------ So, what do you think about this exposition? Do you find this to be a plausible theory, did you perhaps have similar ideas? Please share your thoughts. Edit[b]: WOW[/b]. Until now I hadn´t realized how many upvotes and responses this thread got. It´s great to see all of you throwing your ideas in, and many of you have actually made this whole thing better. Thanks to everyone!