The darkness isn't an object or an entity. It is a concept that eventually the universe will run out of light and be completely extinguished. Complete darkness. If you've played Bungie's earlier games like Marathon it follows the same plot essentially. Durandal, the main antagonist of Marathon's story, wanted to escape the closure of the universe, I.e. The darkness.

A petitioner wants things done. So, the Darkness lives within those who serve it. Not the good guys. Learn English.

The Traveller is God's right testicle. The Darkness is his left one.

[quote]Surely by now, you've heard of the darkness. We know it's a sort of cosmic force that is trying to consume the big ball over our city which we know as the traveler. Many a time, we have wondered what the Darkness really looks like. There have been several theories that have attempted to put a face to it. Today I hope I can contribute to that effort. Let's get started. The cards I'd like to lay out on the table are as follows: [url=http://www.ishtar-collective.net/cards/the-darkness]The Darkness[/url], [url=http://www.ishtar-collective.net/cards/ghost-fragment-rasputin-4#rasputin]Ghost Fragment: Rasputin 4[/url], [url=http://www.ishtar-collective.net/cards/the-taken]The Taken[/url]. To put this bluntly, I think the Darkness has powers similar to Oryx's ability to take, but it's more powerful. Where'd I pull that from? Well, consider this. Rasputin says the darkness "Inhabits its petitioners." That's a very odd phrase, but consider what it literally means. The Darkness inhabits the ones who oppose it.[spoiler]And yes, I know it also means one who supports something, but given the fact the darkness has similar traits to the taken, I feel like it's hinting more towards "opposition" instead of "supporter".[/spoiler]Pujari's position claims that the darkness is a change in conduct, or a sort of corruption. This kinda fits the description of the taken. They aren't a whole new species, they're just another species that was transformed by dark powers. Under the influence of the taken power, the taken spread their blight to infect others until all their people are taken as well. And in the card "The Taken" Ikora says that the taken power is similar to the power we faced in the black garden. Assuming the black heart was a relic of darkness, this would be a shut and done case. Now then, let's take this even further. As you know, there's been a few guardians that have gone "rogue". Dredgen Yor was one of the more dangerous of those rogues. Yor went into the darkness and returned. No one suspected anything bad to become of him, but then without warning, him and his thorn killed several guardians in cold blood.[quote]...A corruption that emerged from within and poisoned our golden age.[/quote] On another note, we made the exos to defend ourselves during the collapse. One has to wonder, why did we need to wipe their memories sometimes? Well, get a load of this. [url=http://www.ishtar-collective.net/cards/ghost-fragment-legends#deep-stone-crypt]Ghost Fragment: legends[/url]:[quote]...None of them will tell you that the army is made of [b]everyone we meet[/b]. The people we work with and the people we see in the street and the people we tell about our dreams. [b]We kill them all[/b].[/quote]In order to reach this "tower" in their dreams, they have to fight an army made of everyone they know. Why? Why would the people, that they were made to protect, be the ones they have to fight? What if I told you it's part of their old subroutine (the Deep Stone Crypt). Instructions to kill those who have been infected by the darkness. Or maybe have a plan to kill everyone they meet, in the event they become infected. Now, I can't give you a detailed picture of the darkness itself, but given that it's power is similar to that of the taken, we can take a decent guess. It corrupts things and people. It slipped a poison into our golden age. It turned our own people against us. Why haven't we discovered the bodies belonging to the army of darkness? Because it's army was made of our own people. Perhaps the reason why our powerful warminds couldn't beat the darkness, is because they were designed to protect humanity. But what happens when the enemy [b]is[/b] humanity? Rasputin knew what to do. Hide, then figure it out. The others died because they couldn't process it. Maybe I'm right, maybe I'm wrong. That is the nature of theories. Either way, I hope you enjoyed.[quote]Back to master thread: [url]https://www.bungie.net/en/Forums/Post/205238605[/url][/quote] Cheers :D[/quote] After Oryx in the Books of Sorrow killed The Great Worm Akka with Sword Logic he gained the knowledge and power of the deep, the dark, The Darkness. When Oryx enters The Darkness itself and, he speaks to it and it speaks its power of how to take his enemies. Does this mean The Darkness is sentient cosmic being of incredible and intangible power? We do not know, but what we do know are the bits and pieces of Oryx's conversation with The Darkness...

Think of it this way: If we can assume that the "light" is the opposite of the darkness, then given what we already know about the light, there's no way that the "darkness" could referring to a literal, tangible entity (any-more-so than Guardians could be refereed to as specifically "the light"). It simply doesn't make sense. Alternatively, based on what we DO know about the light; possible things we [i]could[/i] guess the darkness to be are: 1) An energy source, or power to be harnessed 2) A philosophy, way of life, or belief structure 3) A measure of cosmic balance Etc... basically any category that satisfies a requirement for also being considered as the light.

This is a much supported fan theory I've read and watched videos on. I find it curious that the guardians are titled with negative connotations such as HUNTER, TITAN and WARLOCK. Why are we guardians not called Knights and Wizards and so forth. Also, didn't Rasputin kill off some of the Iron Lords? I thought I remember Something mentioned in ROI...

[spoiler]I've compiled my 1 post and reply in this thread to make it easier to read[/spoiler] [quote]I wouldn't be surprised to find out if the Exo backstory got more coverage in D2, with a visit to the Deep Stone Crypt (by Humans, Exos, and Awoken) to try and discover the reasoning for their creation and/or logic behind that dream they have. Also, it's my belief that Exos are subjected to periodic memory wipes to prevent their personalities becoming too erratic, eccentric, or even maniacal. Or, similar to why C-3PO's mind was wiped, to prevent them from revealing certain information..I wonder if there's a data bank located [u]in[/u] Deep Stone, or if Deep Stone is a data bank of all Exo memories. They, plus Rasputin's secrets, could hold the key to defeating the Darkness...[/quote] Perhaps the memory resets are intended to keep the fragile human consciousness contained within safe - after all, Exos are still Human in all but external appearance and internal anatomy i.e. they can think and feel as we do.

The 'Darkness' may simply represent evil, as it has for millennia. And the 'Light' represents that which is good. I don't see either as being a form of matter and/or being sentient in any way. I think the terms are simply storytelling. For example, the Light was swept away by the Darkness. Perhaps a reference to the Big Bang theory, in reverse, without having to say it. Yeah, I'm still working on that because it sounds ridiculous. Bare with me... In addition, there is at least one more thing in Destiny that, in my opinion, may have religious connotations without coming out and saying it. For instance, when our characters were resurrected by our Ghost. What, exactly, did it resurrect? We were dead for a long time, seemingly centuries. So, was it our spirit, our soul? That is, what made us, us. The essence of what made us individuals. At which point it was placed in the body we designed at the very start, before the scene in the Cosmodrome where our Ghost 'found us'. In other words we made a blueprint so to speak, from which our Ghost could create a body to place our spirit or soul in. Disclaimer: No psychotropic substance was involved in formulating this idea. >;)

A Dutch oven is when you fart under the covers. Enjoy the warm smells of death

The only true way to defeat the darkness is to... [spoiler]turn a damn light on.[/spoiler]

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[quote] Rasputin says the darkness "Inhabits its petitioners." That's a very odd phrase, but consider what it literally means. The Darkness inhabits the ones who oppose it. [/quote] You lost me when you interpreted "petitioners" as "the ones who oppose"

Make all gun range realistic pls. Shotguns cant kill at 50 fuking feet. Come on.

IMO the darkness "Inhabiting it's petitioners" is a description of the symbiotic/parasitic worms that give the Hive their power.

I'm more curious what the traveller is. All we ever get from the tower and speaker are vague descriptions of something that may or may not be protecting us and may or may not have our best interest at heart.

Did you say Army of Darkness?

I was about to be really disappointed when I thought this was another "TRAVRER EVIR! DARGNESS GUD!" Theory. Good for you. I've never thought about this before.

The Books of Sorrow Following the arrival of Oryx, the Taken King in the Sol System, records were discovered aboard Oryx's Dreadnaught that provide new insight into the Darkness' history and nature. It appears that the Darkness is a manifestation or embodiment of the universal struggle for existence: whereas the Traveler seeks to nurture civilization by encouraging peace and mutual cooperation, the Darkness is dedicated to the annihilation of all beings and civilizations who do not possess the strength to survive in the face of conquest. Its eventual goal is to bring about a universe inhabited solely by those entities who have survived by defeating all opposition. To this end, it has destroyed countless planets and civilizations, either through direct action or through its disciples, such as the Hive.

What it really is, fellow guardians, is a McGuffin. It is little more than a undefined plot device whose definition is designed to be filled by the prejudices of the viewer/game participant. The darkness is nothing more than a silly orange light bulb in a suitcase.

Where's the tl:dr?

"Under the influence of the taken power, the taken spread their blight to infect others until all their people are taken as well" The Taken is NOT a virus where one infected can infect others like zombies Only Oryx can "Take"