The Destiny 2 lore community has been arguing for years since Bungie revealed the existence of the Witnesses (the great villains who have been dark throughout the game's light and dark sagas) at the end of the Witch Queen campaign. The heavily debated question is this: are Winnowers and Witnesses, the cosmic forces described in the Shadowkeep Expansion's lore book, Unveiling, the same entity?

OK, so back to the story: the Unveiling was arguably Bungie's first major attempt to clarify the broad cosmological stakes of the Destiny 2 world, a path that led directly to the conflict in the game's next expansion, The Final Shape was the beginning of the game. The game depicts two beings from time immemorial, the Gardener and the Winner, who played the controversial game that led to the creation of the universe. The Gardiner is the great orb, the source of the Guardians' power. And the "Witness" is the "Winner."

However, the origin of the "Witness" was finally revealed in a cut scene that appeared two weeks ago. In fact, it is a fusion of the first species that the Traveler ascended. In other words... It's all over. The Witnesses are not the victors. So why are the lore makers still mad at each other?

For one thing, because The Unrevealed appears to have been written by witnesses and delivered to us through the Black Fleet, which it controls. For another, the debate has taken a different turn, and a new question has arisen: if Witness is not a winnower, is there a winnower?" Some claim that behind Witness there is another entity that is a true winnower. Some would say, no, it's lame to have a super-secret rathbone, and obviously the winnowers are not winnowers, but just creating their own fanfic about their place in the universe. Others will say that Bungie has fabricated the entire story and the very origins of Witness, and that Unveiling itself should be scrapped.

Bungie commented on this confusion at a recent roundtable Q&A I attended. Naturally, the studio representative did not provide an actual answer, but at least indicated that they were aware of the confusion and inconsistency.

"Welcome to the problem that all biblical scholars have: the problem of trying to figure out what may or may not have happened and align it with actual historical events," said Senior Narrative Designer Robert Brooks. 'The unveiling is a parable. It is, in effect, a religious text. And how much of it is propaganda, how much myth, and how much fact is deeply ambiguous because of the nature of the text."

Brooks notes that when "Unveiling" was first dropped, players took it as literal gospel truth. He says, "There was a literal garden, a literal gardener, a literal winner. And now it is beginning to become clear that they may not actually be mere concrete ideas, but metaphors, far more concrete and less clear. And as we approach "Final Shape," more answers will emerge. And 'Final Shape' will, of course, have many answers about the nature of such conflicts."

Brooks refused to offer any further hints as to how this might be resolved. Except this: "The nature of the conflict is always intentional. Whatever the witnesses say, you probably shouldn't trust them."