Bungie dropped a big surprise at Gamescom tonight: While Guardians are busy trying to figure out what's happening on the Moon in Destiny 2: Shadowkeep, their old nemesis the Vex are on the way back.
The return of the Vex appears heavily rooted in (big surprise) the lore: The trailer references the Black Garden, "a realm isolated from time and space" that's protected by the Vex, a machine race powered by genocidal sentient milk. But as Ikora Rey narrates, "The Black Garden is the birthplace of the Vex, but it was not the beginning—it was the reason. The life in the Garden called out a question. The Vex are the answer."
Ominous, eh? It makes slightly more sense if you played the first game on console, where an encounter with a floating gobbet of raw 'Darkness' in the Black Garden was the unsatisfying conclusion to the main campaign. Now, with Shadowkeep, it feels like that story thread might get a more thorough tug. Especially as we already knew the new raid, Garden of Salvation, is set in the Black Garden. We also know that it will be accessed via a gate on the moon, and will of course be absolutely lousy with vex.
The Vex will return to Destiny 2 in Season of the Undying on October 1, when Destiny 2: Shadowkeep goes live. The raid will launch arrive shortly after on Saturday (phew!) 5 October. If you want to know more about the Black Garden and how it relates to the Vex in preparation, take a look at the explainer video below from lore-lover Myelin Games.