The Book of Sorrows and how a Fireteam was able to kill Oryx

[Sennex 1,903]

The Book of Sorrows is definitely one of the coolest, most indepth pieces of lore added to the game. Not only does it reveal the Hive's origins, but it shows the true scale of Oryx's awesome power, and describes the Hive armada eradicating countless worlds.

 

A prevalent thought arises after finishing the books, though:

 

How in the world did a half dozen Guardians defeat one of the most powerful forces in the universe? And how did Earth fight off a Hive armada that has taken countless worlds in a span of thousands, if not millions*, of years?

 

This question seems to be plaguing both DestinyLore and DestinyTheGame.

 

And so to stop responding to all these comments individually, I've detailed the reasons below.

 

1) Earth, technologically, is no push-over: One thing I've read people say a lot is "How does earth stand a chance against the Hive, when they so easily destroyed the Ammonites?"

 

The Ammonites, if you have not read the Book of Sorrows, were a group of spare faring marines with Traveler gifted powers of light. They fought hard, but they were totally overrun by the Hive. This was the first test of the Hive's power, well before the rise of Oryx and his taken army, so the victory is even more daunting... but the truth is, there is no evidence that the Ammonites were more advanced than us Earthlings. Note that after the Traveler appeared in our solar system, we had 700 years of Golden Age research. Look how fast our technology is improving in the real world--- now imagine that pace amplified by a radically increased lifespan and greater mental capacity as gifted by the Traveler. We created an artificial intelligence so advanced, the Vex could not simulate it (and the only other things we know that are too hard for the Vex to simulate are Guardians and Oryx). And while neither the story nor the lore accurately describes how technologically advanced our weapons were, we do know that when Rasputin took control of Mars' computer systems, he tested some Golden Age weapons by utterly destroying a small Cabal fleet and a group of Vex[1] . And the powers that the Traveler gave to the Ammonites? The Book of Sorrow doesn't go into detail about it, but the Guardians are dead bodies that are reconstructed with light from the bones up. We are less humans, more walking paracausal weapons. I believe that many Redditors think of humanity today when they compare us to Oryx's master fleet, and not acausal super soldiers with highly advanced golden age tech, boosted by the power of their own light.

 

2) The Guardians are immune to Oryx's greatest weapon "Well, what about the Ecumene? They are the strongest entity described in the Book of Sorrow, and the Hive wiped them out of existence!"

 

This is something you also will commonly read on the subject... and truth be told, it isn't wrong. Hive God Xivu Arath described the Ecumene as "lords of matter and physical law." They do not seem to have the paracausal power of Light or Darkness, but on the Kardashev scale, they are clearly a tier 2 if not a tier 3 civilization. And it is also important to note that the Ecumene were on the verge of wiping the Hive out of existence. They had killed the physical forms of the three Hive Gods (Savathûn, Xivu Arath & Auryx before he became Oryx) so many times, that they were trapped in their "Sword Realms" (the realm where their souls are kept, allowing them to die continuously in the physical world) unable to launch counter offenses... Without conquest, the Hive Gods' power would consume them. The Ecumene would have completely defeated the Hive.. but out of desperation and sheer will, Oryx absorbed the power of his siblings, killed the Worm God Akka, and stole his knowledge to develop his most dangerous asset: The ability to Take his foes and make them his slaves. This changed everything. In most wars, when you kill an enemy combatant, they lose a troop and you keep a troop. But with Oryx's new Taken ability, the enemy would lose a troop and Oryx would gain a troop. This snowballed quickly, and the Ecumene had no way to combat this. Over the next thousand years, the Ecumene were completely annihilated.

 

That was a bit long winded, so let me get to the point: Guardians are already dead. We are reconstructed beings of light. Oryx cannot take us. The weapon that Oryx used to completely change the tide against the Ecumene, the moon destroying Taishibeth, and the time-bending Vex, is rendered completely useless against the strongest warriors of earth. This is easily the biggest reason for the Guardians success. It allowed humanity to battle the Hive armada on a one-on-one basis, something that civilizations with significantly greater technology could not do.

 

3) Killing Crota probably saved earth The contrast between Oryx and Crota is one of the more interesting things in the Book of Sorrows. Strategically, they are polar opposites: Oryx purposefully leaves himself vulnerable in physical space, so that he can be killed and learn what not to do in the future. In his sword realm, he is immensely powerful. Crota appears to be the opposite; he was borderline unkillable in our space, but because he never lets himself die, he is much weaker than his father and the Guardians are able to kill him when they breach his Sword Realm. Furthermore, Crota is described as borderline bumbling in the Book of Sorrows, such as when he accidentally opens up a gap to Vex Space, and the Vex use that to attack and overwhelms Crota and his sisters. Oryx eventually has to come and use his Taken powers to put down the incursion.

 

So we know Crota is much weaker than his father, and that is how we are able to kill him. But why would killing Crota actually save earth? Simple: it drew Oryx to earth significantly faster... and that is very important. Oryx grows stronger by killing, because it feeds/appeases the God worm that gives him his paracausal powers. If Oryx does not kill, he becomes significantly weaker (such as when the Ecumene trapped him in his Sword Realm). When Crota dies, Oryx drops everything and sends his entire armada to earth. No killing, no great conquests, he just plots a course for revenge. This weakens Oryx, as well as his entire Hive fleet. If we hadn't killed Crota, Oryx may have arrived on Earth at full strength. Conjecture: To regain his strength, Oryx sends his Taken to all the planets in the solar system. He fights the Cabal, the Vex, the Awoken, the Fallen, and Humanity all at once. This seems like an unwise tactic for an ancient warlike God such as Oryx, but he probably had to it so that he could begin to regain his strength. So this could actually be a two-for-one (weakened Oryx forced to abandon tactics to purposefully spread his army thin). This fact also transitions into point #4.

 

4) We didn't fight the Hive alone This one is common sense, but we had some help.

The entire Awoken fleet led a surprise attack on the Hive Armada that, at the very least, diminished it by a good chunk. And we know the Cabal--- the strongest race in terms of military technology (new Grimoire cards reveal that the Vex's primary purpose is to build, as you can see in The Taken: Goblin) are launching at least SOME form of counter attacks, as one of their ships is even able to bypass the Dreadnought's awesome weaponry and create a beachhead. This definitely makes it easier for hundreds of Guardians to pour into the Dreadnought and start fighting it from the inside--- there are a lot less Hive coming at us.

 

5) Sword Logic! I won't spend too long on this subject, because someone already did, and he did a much better job than I could (Will be posting this one soon) .

 

A quick summary, though, is that Hive power centers around something called "sword logic." Simplified, this means that when you kill something, you get stronger. The stronger the creature, the stronger you get. And in the Hive Sword Realms, this is physical law and every creature obeys this logic. The Vex, when they invade Crota's Sword Realm, learn this quickly and improve themselves by wiping out Crota's army- and when a single Vex kills a Knight, the entire Vex would get the gain collectively. I'm being long winded again, so let me get to the point: to protect his forbidden knowledge when he was on out on a conquest, Oryx placed his sword realm INSIDE his Dreadnought (which is why it is nearly indestructible and the Awoken Harbingers could not hurt it-- its outside physically exists in this dimension but the inside is another dimension). And so every enemy that the Guardians kill collectively strengthens the Guardians in that realm. The stronger the enemy--- like Oryx's High War Court and his Warpriests and daughters--- the stronger boost the Guardians get. With hundreds, if not thousands, of Guardians trasmatting to the Dreadnought for a large scale attack, they improved themselves significantly. By the time a group got to Oryx for the final battle, they were decidedly stronger than when they first got there.

 

6) The Hive army is actually much smaller than it was during their biggest conquests When Oryx and his Hive army fought against the Ecumene, and the Taishibeth, and the Harmony, it was one gigantic fleet. The one we see around Saturn is at least a 3rd of that size, and likely smaller. Book of Sorrows XLVI tells us that Oryx's hive sisters--- Savathûn and Xivu Arath ---- decided to move their fleets away from Oryx so that they can find power comparable to Oryx's own Taken ability. Oryx also gave Crota a large force of his own (which the Fallen and Guardians have been chipping away at) and I'm willing to bet that to continue on with his campaign against the universe, Oryx splintered his forces even more. So while the Taken Armada around Saturn appears to be gigantic, it is much smaller than it was when it fought more technologically advanced civilizations.

 

7) The years have taken a toll on Oryx Emotionally, I mean...

 

At first, this may not seem like a big deal to some... but I think it is the biggest reason as to why Oryx was able to be killed by a race that is astronomically younger than the Great Navigator himself. In the beginning of the Book of Sorrows, Aurash--- the simple Krill creature that would one day become Oryx--- had an unstoppable will. Aurash led her and her sisters to find the Worm Gods that would give them unthinkable power. And as the book continue, Aurash would use the power of her will to defy unthinkable odds. It was that will that allowed him to find a way to beat the Ecumene, and understand the Vex, it was that will that turned her into Oryx, and allowed him to conquer a good chunk of the universe.

 

And by the end of the Book of Sorrows, that will seems to be gone:

 

What will happen if I die? ... If my echoes are killed, and I am killed in the material world, then I will be driven back to my throne the Dreadnaught. If my Court and my throne can be beaten, if I am confronted in my throne, if I am defeated there, then I will die. My work will end ... If I fail, let me be wormfood.

 

The final chapter of the Book of Sorrows displays a very different Oryx than what we have previously seen. He mentions that his worm is so hungry that he may not be able to keep up with its demands, and that if he dies, it is just the way of things. That defeatism didn't exist in Oryx until the very final chapter of the book. The tens of thousands of years of conquest may simply have taken a toll on him mentally. He is an immortal creature, but he came from very mortal beginnings. He simply did not have it in him to will himself to victory anymore.

 

CONJECTURE

 

One of the most important notes in the Book of Sorrows comes from Book XLI. It is a quote from Oryx. It states:

Go out into the universe, my court Gather tribute for me. Send it home to my ship. When I call you, walk up that tribute to my court. I will prepare for long voyages — Into the war — Into the Deep — [These Books are full of lies!]

 

All we know about the Hive's origins comes from the Book of Sorrows. Most of the passages are written by Oryx. However, this part appears to show Savathûn (Oryx's Hive sister) putting in a note suggesting that the Book of Sorrows does not tell the whole truth. On the same subject, during the story mission "Regicide," we come across a hive statue of a God called 'Nokris.' Our Ghost tells us that there is no reference of him in the World's Grave database, or from any other source of information we have on the Hive. That seems reasonable... but how is a creature that gets a statue next to Crota and Oryx not mentioned in the Book of Sorrows? We are missing some big chunks of information here. The Book of Sorrows could be all exaggerations, or filled with misinformation. Which might make this whole post pointless. But it was fun to write up regardless!

[TigerBurge 2,374]

Nice Bart. I read it last night. I think Bungie really fucked up not story telling in the game. I was thinking last night how they should of used the first destiny and tell the story of the fallen and have a raid doing with them,then hive,Vex,cabal. Each game tells the story in the lore. Instead of mashing the shit all together

[Sennex 1,903]

I agree.

 

Also, I have to say I am excited for a Cabal Raid here soon, when the Emperor sends his fleet at Earth.

[JsinOwl 644]

Great post man. The lore is interesting on its own, and I read it here, which unfortunately means that in my mind it's completely divorced from the game and means nothing to me while I'm actually playing. Tragic.