Bungie took the stage today to unveil their big plans for the “Year of Prophecy,” which kicks off July 15th with it’s first expansion, The Edge of Fate. Cool. Great. We’ll shoot some aliens, probably get a few cutscenes of Ikora looking dramatically into the distance while clutching her hands behind her back — same old, same old.
But what really got our tongues wagging wasn’t the immediate future in TEoF; it was what comes after.
Codenamed Behemoth, now officially titled Renegades, is the Star-Wars-themed second expansion that follows Edge of Fate. It basically looks like someone smashed these two franchises together like Porkins’ X-Wing on the hull of the Death Star. And we’re not just talking about those blatant cash-grab armor sets that make your Warlock look like it’s going through an emo phase. With Han Solo’s blaster, Jedi robes, and even a Warlock swinging around a full-on lightsaber sword (notice that both green and blue blades are shown) accompanied by those iconic vvvvrrrmmm sound effects. Take a look:
The teaser trailer for Renegades doesn’t just wear its inspiration on its sleeve — it duct-tapes it to your face. We’re talking dusty, Tatooine-looking backdrops with speeder bikes racing across the desert, and ominous dark figures dressed in empire garb on what could or could not be a Death Star or Star Destroyer complete with the emergency sirens blaring and bodies scattered about. And, of course, the reluctant Guardians who look like they crash-landed in the Star Wars universe and decided to just roll with it.
It’s like Destiny 2 and Battlefront II had a love child after a one-night stand and opted to raise the little bastard using the galactic handbook for wretched hive of scum and villainy. Which honestly sounds kind of f*cking sick. But we are cautious. We have been burned plenty of times before and Bungie is basically a pyro in every sense of the word.
Speaking at the end of Bungie’s livestream, Destiny 2 Narrative Director Alison Lührs confirmed there’ll be a dedicated Renegades stream this September, also referring to the next expansion as a “definitive Destiny” experience but was also emphasized later as “an homage to a universe that inspired Bungie from the start.” Translation: “Sony and Disney are tight so we are going to try and milk this for all we can.”
The lore-heavy teases throughout the stream often hinted that The Nine and their whole interdimensional shtick may lead us through various portals, which could possibly send the Guardians to a galaxy suspiciously far, far away. We don’t know for sure but we were picking on some pretty subtle hints.
And look — we’ve been here before. Bungie shows us something shiny, makes us feel special for about a week, and then ghosts us for six months while they monetize shaders with their “we’re listening” bullshit. Sure, you are listening. But simply recognizing we are talking to you and responding back to us are two entirely different things. And we aren’t about to come crawling back just because you showed us an enticing little teaser trailer.
Are we intrigued by Renegades? Absolutely. Will we pay for it? Well… that depends. Therapy has taught us people can change, but capitalism? Capitalism never changes. So we’ll be watching from the sidelines, wallets closed and lightsabers off, until we know for sure this isn’t just another excuse to buy Pete Parsons his seventh sports car this week.
