Based on my observations I think the Hive are a race of necromancers who are able to control the bodies of dead humans, Cabal, Fallen, etc. They probably can't control the Vex because they aren't organic creatures. The Necromancers seem to have direct control of their minions, sort of like the Gravemind did with the Flood. But the Hive does not appear to be a parasite, so they probably use some form of dark space magic and a combination of technology to rip the souls out of the sentient organic life they capture/kill and use them as husks. This is similar to how in Myth Balor and the other fallen lords created an army of the dead to fight the Legion. Many of the Fallen Lords were also necromancers who used terrible and powerful magic. If the Hive necromancers do have direct control over their group of minions, killing the necromancer may kill or stop all the remaining minions because they have no guidance and are no longer bound to their master. Also we don't know how many converted the Hive can control at a given time. http://i.imgur.com/u25xGGJ.jpg If you look at the Hive in this picture, you can see "it" is instructing the dead on what to do. The Hive "necromancer" also strongly resembles as S'pht compiler from Marathon with it's long flowing robes. If you look in the trailer, it is evident that the Hive "modify" the victims they capture, sort of like the Reapers from Mass Effect and the Combine for Half life. They appear to remain mostly organic in nature but are infused with presumably a form of Hive technology and some dark form of space magic to animate their corpses. You can see here: http://www.bungie.net/pubassets/3857/10_1_Hive_5_shot.jpg That some of the victims of the Hive appear to have massive holes missing from the bodies and organs removed. It is not something most creatures (especially humans) could survive from. It was odd that they had that very large alien chained up after he appears to have been captured and transformed to serve the Hive. It could be possible sentient beings being converted by the Hive can resist their control. I doubt races like the Fallen could because their souls escape their bodies at death. Also Necromancy is one of the forbidden arts, like Geomancy.

What if the hive are a actual race ? They have Been on the moon for a long time. Before humanities golden age. Growing stronger. They are the dark army.

Srry but im just curious, is it pronounced 'beef'?

Destiny Updates have done a pretty comprehensive analysis of the trailer here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v4NC22j7LUs

Former humans who ate [i]way[/i] too many mashed potatoes.

Hey Byf, Some things I have noticed in the material presented to the public so far are: The name "Hive" itself is a reference to insects, specifically Bees. Visually speaking this makes a lot of sense. Thralls: As you pointed out in GoD episode 31 the Thralls appear to have chitinous armor on their arms and legs. Interesting to note that their chests are relatively un-protected, their black-brown connective tissue seems sinewy, but not weak. All of them appear to have two fingers, 1 thumb (another reference to 3) and two pincer-like toes, which also seems like a reference to Bees. While they lack eyes they still seem to be able to see, which seems like a design reference to H.R. Giger's design for the xenomorph in Ridley Scotts film [i]Alien[/i]. The definition of Thrall is of one under the power of another. Knights: For lack of a better term I think the sword/gun wielding Hive are Knights and seem to have traits in common with members of the Fallen, though they lack the two extra arms. They either wield guns or swords which is also reminiscent of the Fallen. Queens: Flying and apparently leg-less they have been shown to be manipulators and primary magic users. "Skirt" and armor is made of bones, specifically jaw bones and spines. In earlier concept art they have runic eyes. I suspect Queens are the only "original" part of the race. Another use of the word "Hive" is that of a collective, which when tied to the [i]Alien[/i] styling of the Thrall class and the architecture of their structures, lends to the notion that the Hive is perhaps a race that attempts to absorb the traits of species it encounters and create subspecies or casts to serve out specific purposes. Absorbed human DNA resulted in the Thrall, lowest cast and worker bee, Fallen DNA resulted in aggressive Knights, protector of the more vulnerable Queen. Phogoth seems to be some new creation, obviously hard to control as the Hive itself has him chained up, perhaps to protect themselves from his terrible power. I think he might be the Hive's attempt to absorb the traits of the Cabal as others have mentioned. Caleb McCallister

Design themes for Hive include "mystery, darkness, evil, strength and militarism. the hive are smart seeing they put militarism in their design.

In this week's podcast you mention you saw some birds. What time in the trailer is this? Are you sure it wasn't a satellite like we have seen in previous videos? I am not sure who mentioned it on the podcast, but I agree it seemed that the narrative of the video was that of a strike or raid where the three guardians are fighting their way down through a mission to get to the goal, which in this case is the big beastie. I can't remeber where I read it, but they have alluded to that a raid will consist of multiple fireteams, so maybe this video is demonstrating what a strike consists of. Go to location, fight to goal, get mad loot.

My idea is that in the Golden age of technology humans started messing with DNA and cyber technology; there was a mishap with a form of Recombinant rDNA and the Hive were created. An outbreak at a secret human lab on the moon ensued and all hell broke loose. The rDNA is so powerful that it can also affect alien life forms like the Fallen and Cabal. Humans then created the Vexx to go back in time to try and exterminate the Hive threat or destroy the rDNA but there was a mishap during time travel and they became self aware? We now need to repair the Vexx for their true purpose. I noticed that one of the chained bosses in Bungie’s short Moon vid had glowing armbands. I would suggest that they would be the source of his power. Target those first Guardians. Another idea could be that the secret 5th race created the Hive as cannon fodder to clear worlds of life so they could colonize.

A few things not mentioned below: - That white weapon that the Hunter is using. Not sure what it is. Seems like an Assault Rifle, as it shoots as an automatic. - Of course the sick looking armors. The Warlock's Skull Helmet and the Titan's Man Cannon Eyebrows. - We're counting a total of 5 different Hive variants. - Golden Gun deal is mentioned below this post. I replied with a couple of theories. - Of note is the sliding. Now, even with the longer time seeing the Slide in action, it is [b]still[/b] hard to verify if you can Slide & Shoot at the same time, or Slide and then Shoot as you are coming out of the Slide. These are two very distinctive instances, and I'm very interested to see what the answer is. You're the best, Byf. -[i][url=https://www.bungie.net/en/Groups/Admin?groupId=41152]Sit Down Fool[/url][/i]

+The streams/threads around the Traveler at first looked otherworldly, but then I realized that they were more like aircraft exhaust lines and that the Traveler is, of course, huge. +Anyone who dares to make a comment about how stuff decomposes on the moon gets slapped because it's been terraformed like everywhere else to be livable and have oxygen. That means YOU, freaking [url=http://www.ign.com/videos/2013/10/01/destiny-moon-trailer-rewind-theater]Rewind Theatre[/url]! +A good thing Rewind Theatre discussed though was the unique projectile fired from the guns of the first enemy seen in the trailer. It appears to be a two-sided spike that spins with purple streamers. +The armored sword-wielders are really rad. It seems they and the smaller Hive forms attack leaving a green stream as they melee. It might be a naturally infused space magic that either improves the attack or causes additional effects. +There are some Hive walkers that appear to have glowing heads. It's not some group effect, because they walk alongside other Hive who don't have the glow heads, but it may imply more depth to the variants of each caste. +Phogoth, and I say that because with careful observation the background appears identical to the Out Here in the Wild ViDoc (triangular beams converging above when the being breaks free), looks somewhat like a Doom 3 Hell Knight infected by fungus from The Last of Us. +There's a point in the middle of the video where a Hunter is in mid-air activating the Golden Gun and appears to be floating forward rather strangely. +The background music is new. When it comes to the crescendo that happens before the Phogoth attack, it sounds absolutely grand. I halfway wish to be listening to these pieces in the midst of combat or exploration. If some locations in Destiny are cued to have music triggered upon entering or such, that's even better.