Paradox

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Investigate the signal coming from the Vault of Glass.

― In-game description

Paradox is a story mission in Destiny: The Taken King. It takes place in Ishtar Sink, Venus and is the first step in the quest The Taken War: Venus.

Alternate Ending[]

This mission has an alternate ending if played on the Heroic difficulty. Three dead Ghosts can be collected throughout the mission. After collecting them, a transfer gate opens, which leads to a room filled with Taken and the Blighted Descendant. After the Blighted Descendant is killed, a door will open to a room with a chest that contains the Cult Ghost item. Giving this item to Lakshmi-2 will start the quest Not Forged In Light.^[1]

Initially, the alternate ending was only available when played as the Daily Heroic Story Mission. In Update 2.3.0, the alternate ending was made available at any time when choosing the Heroic difficulty.

Objectives[]

Open the Vault
Explore the Vault
Destroy the Taken
Explore the Vault
Destroy the Blighted Mind
Track the Signal
Survive Praedyth's Vision (alternate ending)
Accept Praedyth's Gift (alternate ending)

Transcript[]

All dialogue is spoken through the Ghost's comms.

{Loading Screen}

IKORA REY: The Vault of Glass. It is one of the Vanguard's greatest triumphs. The destruction of Time's Conflux. A victory over the Vex collective mind. From deep in that vault, we've received a signal laced with an old Vanguard signature. Vex technology disrupts the weft and weave of time itself. If a Guardian has become lost, unstuck in time, we must return them home.

{Gameplay}

The Guardian arrives at the Waking Ruins. The Vex in the area twitch sporadically and fire their weapons aimlessly.

IKORA: The message we received was this:
PRAEDYTH: (through heavy static) They want me to send a message. The creatures will soon reach the heart of the Vault. When they do, they'll destroy the ... Once they take the Vex, they'll come for the Light.
IKORA: That's why you're here.

The Guardian reaches the front of the Vault of Glass and finds eight Goblins standing at the door.

GHOST: Wait! Don't shoot them! They're not in a combat sequence. I think they're waiting for something.

If the Guardian choose to attack the Goblins anyway:

GHOST: Never mind.

Upon approaching the entrance, the Goblins turn toward the Guardian, lower their weapons, and stand erect in a non-combat stance. The door opens. The Guardian makes their way further inside to The Trial of Kabr.

PRAEDYTH: I have no idea where I am. My name is Praedyth, and I was a member of Kabr's fireteam. I just hope someone (can hear this...)
IKORA: Praedyth. I've heard that name before. Scattered pieces of gear, references in the margin of a text. He is real.

The Guardian continues deeper, arriving at the Templar's Well. The Guardian jumps down, heading towards the exit on the far side. However, the exit is suddenly blocked, and several dozen Taken appear throughout the Well. The Guardian kills them.

IKORA: If the Taken are here in the Vault, they are at the heart of the Vex collective mind. Imagine: the machine-planets of the Vex surging with Taken power. This must not be, Guardian.

The Guardian continues through the door.

PRAEDYTH: I don't know why they're letting me speak now, after so long. But if anyone is listening, I came to the Vault with two others. Kabr was intense sometimes. And Pahanin was always talking to himself. But they don't deserve this. No one does.
GHOST: I'm tracking the signal. Just a little further.

The Guardian jumps down to the Gorgon's Labyrinth.

GHOST: I've lost the signal. Something down here is blocking it.

The Guardian finds Morphon, Blighted Mind and many other Taken in the area. The Guardian begins to attack Morphon, but it teleports away.

GHOST: That's it! That Hydra is causing the block. Take it out, or we may never find Praedyth.

The Guardian finds Morphon again and destroys it. The rest of the Taken vanish.

GHOST: I think... yes. We've cleared the Vault of Taken. For the moment, anyway.
PRAEDYTH: I think that's it. They're closing the door. I lived! Just remember, tell them: I li-- (signal cuts out)
GHOST: Signal's gone. But I can pinpoint the source.

The Guardian follows Ghost's marker to a small room with an open door. A skeleton lays on the floor. The Ghost scans it.

GHOST: These bones are centuries old. There's a faint echo of Light. This was a Guardian once. Ikora, I'm sorry we couldn't bring him back.
IKORA: Do not apologize. Guardian, you have reclaimed his name from oblivion. In a way, he lives again in the name of the archives. Kabr and Pahanin, Praedyth and the Vault of Glass. Because of you, his tale will be told.

{Mission Ends}

Alternate Ending[]

Upon collecting the first Ghost:

PRAEDYTH: So the Vex have predicted their own annihilation. When did they believe this would happen? Can the calculations of minds the size of planets be wrong?

Upon collecting the second Ghost:

PRAEDYTH: I had a friend back at the Tower. She used to say, "Praedyth, there's always room in the mind for hope. It's the crack lets the Light in." The Vex have no hope. No imagination, no drive, no fear. All they have is the pattern. Everything must fit. If it can be made to fit, good. If it can't, it gets cut away.

Upon collecting the third Ghost:

PRAEDYTH: They think this is the end of them--a path with no escape. And yet, here they are, there they were, and there they will be, and there they will have been. For them, there is no paradox. There is only the pattern. And the pattern needs the Vex to see it to completion. And so the Vex must be. For the mind of the Vex, is that faith?

A transfer gate opens across the chasm, and a new set of platforms appear leading to it. The Guardian makes their way across the chasm and into the gate. They arrive in another room.

PRAEDYTH: Welcome to the end of the Vex--their immutable future.

Taken appear in the room. The Guardian kills them. The Blighted Descendant appears with more Taken.

PRAEDYTH: Enslaved to a will they don't understand. A will long dead here. Dead eons ago. But then they won't end, will they? Because you're here.

The Blighted Descendant is destroyed and the room cleared of Taken.

PRAEDYTH: The Vex won't spare the City. They won't even thank you. But that's the thing about Light: you never know where it'll shine.

The door at the room's entrance opens. The Guardian opens a chest at the far end of the next room and finds the Cult Ghost.

GHOST: Another dead Ghost. This is... wait, I think this is Praedyth's Ghost. She's still got files in her core memory. They're marked with Future War Cult headers. I'd bet Lakshmi will want to see this.