Destiny 2 The Final Shape isn’t too far away now, and Bungie has done a decent job at plugging the gap left by the expansion’s delay with its Into The Light content drop on PS5 and Xbox. However, out of nowhere, we just got another The Final Shape trailer, which provides a new look inside the Traveler and reveals a lineup of current and returning allies and enemies that would give Avengers Endgame’s final battle a run for its money.
Seemingly posted unintentionally early on Monday (which is an unusual day for Bungie announcements), the new The Final Shape trailer has caught a lot of Destiny 2 fans – myself included – off guard. Given we only had the big developer deep dive a couple of weeks ago, and the fact that The Final Shape release date is still several weeks away, it’s certainly unexpected to see another trailer arrive right now. But hey, I’m certainly not complaining – it’s a banger.
As well as some soothing narration by Cayde-6, we get another in-depth look at some of the environments we’ll be exploring inside the Traveler. The last expansion in the FPS game’s Light and Dark Saga takes us into the depths of everyone’s favorite giant celestial golf ball, and it looks sensational. However, the big thing we noticed was the montage of characters that will appear during the expansion.
While previous trailers and key art have confirmed that key characters Cayde (or some memory-fuelled version of him, at least), Ikora, and Zavala would be making their way through the Witness’ portal into The Traveler with us, this new trailer also appears to confirm several other notable friends and foes that will make the trip too.
When it comes to allies, there are mid-battle shots of Savathun, Mithrax, and Caiatl in quick succession. This is followed by a shot of Ikora and Zavala with what appears to be Crow in the foreground (some detailing of feathers on his cape and some jet black hair suggest that it’s him). While Mithrax, Caital, and Crow are well established as our comrades at this point, Savathun’s allegiances are a little more… fluid, shall we say. With The Witch Queen’s track record of lies, deception, and trickery, you never really can tell whose side she’s on.
However, I believe this trailer tees her up as an ally of ours in the battle against the Witness. Not only does she appear in sequence with other friendly faces, but Cayde’s voice over during this segment also gives big ‘these are the people you care about’ vibes. “You, me, the entirety of everything and everyone we know, he [The Witness] wants to infect it all.”
On top of this, we also see hints that some former foes are making a return. One shot appears to show Kelgorath, a Hive Knight and loyalist to Xivu Arath. Xivu, for those out of the loop on Destiny lore, is a Hive god that is aligned with the Witness and is the sister of Savathun, though they definitely don’t see eye to eye. Kelgorath has appeared several times during Destiny 2 as an opponent and on each occasion has received a beating, so it seems he’s coming back to be humiliated once more. It’s not totally confirmed that it is him – it could be a new Hive Knight we’ve never faced before – but it sure looks like him and that weapon looks like his signature cleaver as well.
We also get a very quick glimpse at a Tormentor-like enemy with a unique design and a red colorway. Many are speculating that this could be a new form of Nezarec, the final boss of the Root of Nightmares raid that was introduced last year. Again, it’s not a 100% guarantee that this is Nezarec making return in Bungie’s multiplayer game, but it seems likely.
I definitely feel like there are plenty more characters – both brand new, current, and returning – that will feature in some epic final battle in The Final Shape to give Destiny fans an Avengers Endgame-esque moment as we try to take down the Witness. I’d be surprised (and disappointed, to be honest) if this trailer has simply revealed all of the main characters of the expansion, so I expect to see more familiar faces and curveballs once it finally arrives in June.
For more on Destiny 2, check out my thoughts on why Bungie’s recently-added New Light Kits show that it’s learned from one of last year’s biggest scandals. Elsewhere, upcoming FPS XDefiant has had lots of new info datamined from its recent server test, including some intriguing new modes.