One of the greatest aspects of Destiny 2 is the ability for its universe and world to constantly expand and evolve thanks to Bungie's dedicated seasonal updates and larger expansions. Its story has come a far way from the original game's release, and a large part of its success has been the interesting characters the developers and writers have taken the time to establish and flesh out. One of the most memorable of these is Cayde-6, though his story will soon be vaulted in Destiny 2 despite him being a fan favorite.
It is unfortunate to see that Destiny 2 will be vaulting its Forsaken expansion next year, especially as it largely set the foundation for where the game is now. It also was a massive turning point for the story of Destiny 2, and Cayde-6 played a large role in it, as it was sold as the expansion where Cayde would die. This means that new players coming to the game in the future will really have no way to see or learn about Cayde while playing. Luckily, there is a lot of information about the character online, so fans or newcomers can still learn about him, his backstory, and the massive impact he had on the story of the series.
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Cayde-6 Before the Start of Destiny
As with most Guardians in Destiny, Cayde remembered very little of his life before his resurrection by the Light. However, he did have a journal from his past self that helped fill in a number of the blanks. One large part of his life as a human was that he was a soldier who amassed a large gambling debt and had to leave his wife and son to take part in the experimental program to become an Exo so he could pay it off. This is what led to Cayde's journal, which he addressed to his son Ace. Players see some excerpts from the journal throughout the series, and it has revealed a lot of interesting information about Cayde and the vanguard as a whole.
One particular story in Cayde's journal concerns his run-in with the Hive on the Moon that saw him team up with a Fallen Baroness to survive. The two fended off countless Hive together before the Baroness tried to stab Cayde, forcing him to kill her. In his journal, he has wondered whether she actually tried to stab him to kill him or if she did it merely to make it emotionally easier for him to kill her, as she was critically wounded from their fight with the Hive. Cayde-6 is also responsible for locating Destiny's iconic Vault of Glass at the behest of Mara Sov after he approached her for answers about his past, which led to the series' iconic raid.
Cayde-6 in Destiny
At the beginning of Destiny, Cayde-6 is one of the first characters that players interact with. After escaping the Cosmodrome on Earth, Cayde escorts the player to the Tower where he helps them get situated and sends them to the Moon to attack Hive strongholds there. He then has a conversation with the vanguard Shaxx, who claims the guardian Saint-14 had a vision about a guardian who would save them all, which Cayde jokes may be the new player character. Cayde then interacted with the guardian throughout the game, including betting that they would die when attacking Destiny's black garden, which was a bet that he obviously lost.
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In Destiny's The Taken King expansion, Cayde plays a pivotal role in the story by assisting in the plan to infiltrate the Dreadnaught. To do so, he worked behind the backs of his fellow Vanguard leaders to take a stealth drive from the warmind Rasputin as well as stealing Eris Morn's ship. He later would work together with Eris Morn to defeat Oryx, but she still refused to accept his apologies for her lost ship until he replaced it.
Cayde-6 in Destiny 2
The story of Destiny 2 revolved around the Cabal stealing the light from the vanguard and destroying the Last City. At the start of the game, Cayde-6 fought the Cabal heroically throughout the city, even after it was destroyed and his light was stolen from all of the guardians. He eventually left Earth to find a Vex teleporter that could help him get close enough to kill the leader of the Cabal, but he became trapped in a teleportation loop on Nessus until freed by the player. Cayde then rejoined the vanguard to assist them in taking down the Cabal and ultimately played a large role in their success.
Cayde-6's legacy in Destiny 2 was then solidified with the release of the Forsaken expansion. The expansion saw Cayde traveling with the player to the Reef's Prison of Elders to quell a prison break. During the mission, however, Cayde went to try and stop eight Scorn barons, extremely powerful undead Fallen leaders, and was eventually overpowered by them after his ghost was killed by Pirrha, the Rifleman. Cayde was then killed by Uldren with his own iconic weapon, the Ace of Spades. Despite his death, Cayde cracked jokes until his final moments and took some solace in the possibility of being reunited with his son after death. The moment was a big moment for Destiny's story and had an impact that is still felt in the game to this day.
After Cayde's death, many Destiny 2 players called for a memorial to the character in the Tower. The developers eventually did so, with a few different references to the guardian being available to players who search for them. It is really impressive what the writers at Bungie were able to do with Cayde and the story of Destiny as an ever-growing universe, but it is a bit disappointing that his arc will soon be vaulted and removed from the game for the foreseeable future. Hopefully, it will come back in some form one day, with Destiny's story continuing to give players interesting characters and stories like the tale of Cayde-6.
Destiny 2 is available now on PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Stadia, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.