Destiny 2's Season of the Haunted is a great addition to the game and a fantastic release to continue the story of The Witch Queen and Season of the Risen, with the former being often praised as one of the best expansions in the history of the game. While Season of the Haunted has its flaws, it does a great job at making the universe of Destiny 2 feel bigger thanks to the return of the derelict Leviathan and former emperor Calus, and at the same time, it makes characters feel smaller in a good way. The protagonists of Season of the Haunted are Eris Morn, Crow, Commander Zavala, and Empress Caiatl, and all of them are burdened with trauma for different reasons.

Crow has been struggling with the revelation of his past life at the hands of Savathun, Zavala has been dealing with grief for centuries over the loss of his lover and son, and Caiatl is being tormented by the Nightmare of Ghaul, who was the main antagonist of the Red War campaign. In fact, the return of the Leviathan to the Moon is tied to Destiny 2's Shadowkeep expansion and the presence of the Nightmares on the lunar surface, manifested by the Pyramid ship found on the Earth's satellite. Luckily, the Nightmares are slowly being turned into positive energy for the characters involved, freeing them from trauma and also opening up new possibilities for future stories.

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How Crow Heals From The Trauma of Savathun's Revelations

destiny 2 crow become hunter vanguard uldren sov memories season of the haunted nightmare acceptance shame organize hunters

Season of the Haunted started with Crow being visited by the Nightmare of Uldren Sov, the man he was before being resurrected as a Guardian. Crow has been a pivotal character in the various Seasons from the release of Beyond Light, and ever since he tried to help others and be a good person, despite his fears and his obsessions. Destiny 2's Season of the Risen saw Crow at his lowest after accidentally killing one of Caiatl's Psions and having Lord Saladin step in to save him from death, at the cost of the Iron Lord becoming a consultant to Caiatl's War Council.

In Season of the Haunted, Crow is dealing with the shame of his actions and the actions of Uldren, with the Nightmare of the latter stating that they are deeply alike and that Crow will never amount to anything good. However, Crow finally accepts Uldren as a part of himself by understanding that one cannot always fix their mistakes, but should instead grow and mature to never make them again. The fact that Crow realizes that he and Uldren will always share something, even though it doesn't mean they are completely alike, is what finally makes the former understand that he can still be a good person by recognizing the trauma inflicted on him and making it a springboard for the future.

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How Zavala Deals With Grief And His Unforgiving Role as Vanguard Commander

vanguard commander zavala speaking to player in the tower

Similarly, Commander Zavala is haunted by the Nightmare of Safiyah, a mysterious woman that is later revealed to be the Awoken Vanguard's former lover, who passed away hundreds of years prior to the current events of Destiny 2. In the confrontation with Safiyah, Zavala admits that he is in a great deal of pain after losing her and their son, Hakim, and he believes he is sending good people to die in the name of a silent god -- the Traveler. This bit is particularly painful after Zavala's reaction to the Traveler giving Savathun and her Lucent Brood the Light in the events of The Witch Queen, where his faith was deeply shaken.

The trauma of grief and loss is rooted profoundly in Zavala, to the point that he finds it hard to even speak after talking to the Nightmare of Safiyah because he admits that he can't even remember the sound of their son's voice, no matter how hard he tries. Despite the fact that the Commander does overcome the mourning of his family, in the end, he still feels that Guardians live too long and that the human mind is not made to last for millennia. Destiny 2 would be very different without Zavala, and although the Commander is here to stay, the fact that he is still shaken could be reflected in future Seasons or expansions when humanity will have to confront even bigger threats, like The Witness.

How Caiatl Can Find the Strength to Let Her Demons Go

An Angered Caiatl Threatening Zavala

The last character who still has to face their Nightmare is Caiatl, the fierce Empress of the Cabal who survived the fall of Torobatl and who rose to power after exiling her own father, Calus, and succeeding to the throne when Ghaul fell in the Red War. It's quite indicative of her temper that Caiatl's Sever mission in Season of the Haunted is going to be called "Rage," but it makes sense given that she admired Ghaul before he made it his quest to get humanity's connection to the Traveler for himself, dooming the Cabal in the meanwhile. Furthermore, Ghaul was a teacher to Caiatl, and she is likely burdened by the events surrounding Xivu Arath's invasion of Torobatl after the betrayal of another mentor of hers, Umun'arath.

Umun'arath was the general commander of Cabal forces, but she became obsessed with the Hive and the Darkness after the fall of Dominus Ghaul. The general ended up performing a Hive magic ritual that Caiatl involuntarily completed by slaying her former mentor, thus evoking Xivu Arath and her army in Torobatl, dooming the capital of the Cabal empire and starting the journey of the remaining forces towards the solar system. Caiatl has been an important character so far in Destiny 2, and if she manages to get rid of her regrets and feelings surrounding these events or the fall of Ghaul, she might too free herself from trauma and play a role that matters even more.

Destiny 2 is available now for PC, PS4, PS5, Stadia, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.

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