Destiny 2’s Warmind expansion has finally revealed a secret that fans of the game series thought might never be unveiled. The identity of a mysterious character known only as the Exo Stranger has been the subject of debate for fans since the original Destiny’s release in September 2014. Now, a number of clues have revealed that the Exo Stranger is none other than Elsie Bray, the main narrative character in the Warmind expansion.
Destiny 2’s Warmind expansion released last week as a much-needed infusion of new content for Activision and Bungie’s MMO/FPS hybrid. Destiny 2 has been dealing with a lot of criticism as of late, with many fans regarding the controversy over loot boxes and the lack of end-game content as warning flags that the game is headed down the same road as its predecessor. Destiny was ultimately seen as brimming with unfulfilled potential, and Destiny 2 has been getting changes that have made it more like the original, much to the player base’s dismay.
The clues, assembled by players on the Destiny subreddit, to the Exo Stranger’s identity in Destiny 2 are scattered all over the Warmind expansion, and while no single hint is concrete evidence, the overwhelming amount of them makes it pretty obvious. The expansion features elements known as Lost Memory Fragments, which players can destroy to find text and lore that relates to the memories of Elsie Bray. There are mentions of Exo technology, which her family pioneered, and studying the Vex, a cybernetic species that are, more or less, the dark side of what Exo technology could be.
Ultimately, however, it was the Rasputin Puzzle, an in-game community event that took multiple days for the playerbase to unravel, that leads to what is essentially a confirmation of the identity of the Exo Stranger. The puzzle, which was a complicated cipher, had the following text embedded within it:
The -e signature points strongly to Elsie, and the references to amounts of time being ironic is related to her experiments with time travel in Destiny lore. There are other scattered references to the Exo Stranger throughout the Warmind DLC, and each of them subtly ties back in to Elsie.
“thank you for taking the time to piece together this message, friend. the time of our final conflict is drawing closer and you and ana have an important role to play in the events to come. so watch over her, guardian. i would have no life without ana or the exoprogram. i regret that we have become strangers, but we each have a path that we must walk. and, ironically, there never seems to be enough time. tell her, rasputin’s first attempt was in the right location, but the wrong moment. look here: 43.549573, -73.544868 - e:”
It’s a nice piece of world-building from a development team that has often been criticized for ignoring the intriguing narrative that supports Destiny and Destiny 2. One of the most long-standing criticisms of Destiny 2 is that it doesn’t build enough on the already lore-rich world of its predecessor, and with fan ire at an all-time high regarding trends that suggest Destiny 2 is moving backwards, the introduction of the Exo Stranger’s identity is a huge boon. Time will tell if this is just a one-off or if the Destiny 2 team is doubling down on its lore-building, but it’s an encouraging sign for a dedicated community that has been desperate for positives recently.
