Ever since the Shadowkeep expansion, what we knew to be the Darkness at the time has been trying to convince us to forsake the Traveler and the Light and embrace the Darkness. This is a major theme of "The Unveiling", where the Darkness states that Guardians are the gardener's final argument. In its own words, [url=https://www.ishtar-collective.net/entries/the-wager#book-unveiling]"It would mean everything if I could convince you that I am the right and only way."[/url] Taken with Entelechy, the Unveiling can be used to decipher and dissect the Witness' psyche in its entirety. I brought this up in my original post on the Entelechy lore book and the Collector's Edition, specifically its burning hatred for the Traveler and the Light, how it acts to make those touched by the Light suffer rather than destroy us swiftly and efficiently. But what about Guardians? Shadowkeep was an active effort to reach out to the Guardians; Unveiling was sent to us in an attempt to sway Guardians to its side; in [i]Beyond Light[/i], the Witness tempted us by giving us Stasis, a Darkness power. We even learned from Elsie Bray that, in every other timeline she has lived through, the Witness succeeded. A majority of Guardians, particularly Ana Bray and Eris Morn, were "corrupted" by Darkness, by the Witness. A corruption that all signs point towards the Black Heart being responsible for. The Witness and Sol Divisive's attempt at creating an artificial Veil. It might not have worked as intended, but it had enough of an influence that destroying it drastically changed events from how Elsie Bray experienced them. As Eido points out in [i]Entelechy[/i], the Witness did not need to do all those things. It did not need to try and corrupt Guardians and turn us to its side. But it did so because it is motivated by malice: [i]"It must ruin all the Great Machine has touched, from the smallest creature to the greatest planet. Destroy everything the Light has built. Drown hope in bitterness. The Witness would have us all curse the Great Machine, refute its gifts, and betray it, as the Black Fleet tramples us underfoot.".[/i] Guardians are singularly unique. We are the result of the first time the Traveler has taken an active stand against the Witness. We are the first beings in existence to be directly given the power of the Light. If we were convinced the Witness was right; if we abandoned the Light and embraced the Witness' ideology and interpretation of Darkness, then the Traveler's sacrifice was all for nothing, and the Witness is proven "right". To bring ruin to the Traveler's last creations, and prove the Traveler and the Light wrong once and for all. That's why the Traveler always left in past timelines. With the Guardians fallen to Darkness, there'd be no one left to fight alongside it against the Witness, no one left to help it in the event things escalate to the point they have in the lead-up to the Final Shape, no one left to enter the Pale Heart and fight against the Witness. In past timelines, however, the Black Heart stacked the deck in the Witness' favor. The corruption it spread infected Guardians, and the "static" its flawed connection caused weakened the Traveler. With the Black Heart destroyed, events progressed in a far different manner. We learned to wield Darkness without falling to corruption and discovered its true nature. Eris Morn became a Hive God for a time, but wasn't consumed by it and instead used her power to sever Xivu Arath's link to her Throne World. Savathun didn't remain aligned with the Darkness and become Eris' pawn; she instead broke free of her Worm and was blessed with the Light. The Traveler didn't leave, instead choosing to stand and fight against the Witness, with the Guardians by its side. Perhaps it is why the Witness made no bids to try and sway us in Lightfall as it did in the past. It might realize that it cannot sway the Guardians to its side, now. That said, it might make one last attempt within the Pale Heart because if it can convince us then, the Traveler literally has nowhere left to run, nothing left it can do to stop the Final Shape.