That is an interesting thought, that the Traveler is the Gardener. One of the grimiore cards makes note of it cultivating many planets, so it definitely could be argued it is the Gardener. However, there are theories listed in the cards that state perhaps the Traveler knew the Darkness was coming, and that we died as the result. [spoiler][quote]"Certain positions...imply that the Traveler itself triggered the Collapse, or that it knew the Darkness was coming for it and hoped to use the Solar System as a sacrifice or a proxy army. The Binary Star cult is one notable example." [/quote][/spoiler] [spoiler]Ghost Fragment: The Traveler [quote]"Now, your flight is rapid, your vast mind infected with such dread and toxic doubt that you find yourself afraid of the simple act of thought. And it is your children you must turn to now, in time of need.[/quote][/spoiler] Both these things sound like the Traveler needed humanity to fight for it, that the Collapse was known by the Traveler. That, perhaps the Collapse itself was due to the Traveler "shrugging its shoulders." There's also the Legend: The Black Garden Card, which speaks about how the Traveler and its followers are unwelcome to the Black Garden, how it's a place of life, and all the Guardians will ever do is kill.

There is some interesting concept art from early in the developement that implied that the black garden was contained within a large sphere... http://www.forbes.com/sites/insertcoin/2014/09/29/destinys-lost-story-reveals-a-very-different-game-prior-to-launch/ (2nd image if you scroll down) As if the garden weren't always black but had been made that way after IT defeated the gardener - this ties into why defeating the black heart of the guarden would allow the traveler to begin to heal..perhaps?

Perhaps. Though there is also a grimiore card that talks about how planets were crafted into one gigantic sphere that one could live within, with it's own suns. It could be that this card is referring to the Black Garden. This makes more sense, I think, as the Garden is a bit too large to be inside the Traveler. I think.

There's a grimore card that say the traveler opened up the ground and brang life to the garden. Making the Traveler The Gardener and it mentioned other gardeners as bronze=[b]The Vex[/b]

Well, here's more of the card you referenced, and it seems to refute the belief further that the Traveler is the Gardener: [spoiler][quote]"The Traveler moved across the iron world. It opened the earth and stitched shut the sky. It made life possible... [u]This is not the beginning but it is the reason.[/u] The Ghost[rose] said, you are a dead thing made by a dead power in the shape of the dead. All you will ever do is kill. The Traveler is life, I said. You are a creature of Darkness. You seek to deceive me. But I looked behind me, down the long slope where the blossoms tumbled in the warm wind and the great trees wept sap like blood or wine, and I felt doubt." [/quote][/spoiler]