Hive

28 August 2022 3 minute read draft

Alien species which revere the Darkness, seeking to bring about The Final Shape.

The Hive^[1] have a very storied past, told in greater detail, perhaps, than any other species in Destiny — albeit from their own propaganda, and therefore unreliable narration takes centre stage.^[2]

Adherents of the Darkness, the Hive seek (through their so-called ‘sword logic’) to bring about The Final Shape — a goal which directly counters the endeavours of the Light.

Societal structure

The Hive society operates on a caste system, with a “killing tithe” which keeps the highest ‘ranks’ well-fed and the lowest perpetually starving.^[3] Per Oryx’s decree in the Book of Sorrow, Verse 3:9:

• The Hive Gods — Oryx, Savathûn, and Xivu Arath — command, and collect tithe from, their subordinates. It is unclear how many ranks exist here, but eventually tithe will be collected from the Ascendants.
• The Ascendants — those who claim enough tribute to command an Ascendant Plane — command, and collect tithe from, Knights and Wizards - depending on which group within the Hive they belong.
• Knights and Wizards command, and collect tithe from, Acolytes.
• Acolytes, in turn, command, and collect tithe from, Thrall.
• The Thrall are the lowest caste, and therefore collect no tithe.

The Book of Sorrow

As described previously,^[2] not all that is described in the Book of Sorrow can necessarily be treated as gospel: facts may be twisted for propaganda purposes, or as the Hive themselves may not know the truth.

• “The Hive were lied to.”

  ~ Ikora Rey, Destiny 2: The Witch Queen mission The Cunning

Nevertheless, what follows is a summary of the events described in the Book of Sorrow, with any known factual inaccuracies noted — this provides a useful basis to present the history of the Hive, after all.

The Fundament

The Descent

The Worm Gods

The Hive and their Conquest

Taken

Long lived the King

Moon’s Haunted

War against War, itself

Moths ever drawn to the Light

A discussion on ‘Krill’ versus ‘proto-Hive’^[4]

1. The Hive are one of favourite topics. ↩

2. “Hive propaganda!” — Zavala, on the Books of Sorrow ↩ ↩2

3. This isn’t a unique concept in Destiny, and is seen most prominently in the Eliksni. I find its repeated appearance interesting, however. ↩

4. Strictly speaking, this is not a particular lore ‘section’ for the Hive, but I feel it worth a discussion nonetheless. Thus, it has been split off from the rest of the page. ↩