The introduction to Destiny 2 Episode Echoes is the most peaceful moment I’ve ever seen in this universe

We have been spoiled with the story and sheer amount of stuff packed into Destiny 2: The Final Shape. The expansion is a worthy ending to the Saga of Light and Darkness that started with the original Destiny in 2014. With the launch of the game’s first Episode Echoes, I welled up as I saw this universe experience peace for the first time in a decade.

After you complete Excision and destroy The Witness, there’s a period of calm in the Destiny 2 universe. That’s what we’re living through right now. The cutscene that plays at the start of Episode Echoes shows every character we’ve come to know over the last few years rejoicing and celebrating together. Despite pieces of The Witness shooting out to cause chaos in the system, everyone is happy.

We’re told by Saint-14 and Osiris about how old friends have moved on, but we’ve got a new gang to fight any foes that want to tussle with. Nimbus the Cloud Strider seems to be front and center when helping Caitl and Zavala sit down to enjoy themselves. There’s something more than mere merrymaking going on here. There’s hope.

As this cutscene goes on, we’re not made to feel as though the system is being threatened. After The Witness, anything that rears its head will be a piece of cake to deal with. Instead, we’re being shown how those warriors who have fought for so long against Darkness that they’ve forgotten what it felt like to pause are now dreaming.

Saint-14 and Osiris want to get back to exploring the farthest reaches of space together, enjoying each other’s company without the constant dread of Pyramids and The First Knife looming in the background. Putting yourself first and just living without thinking about danger really been encouraged in this franchise before because there’s always been something else to worry about.

Whether it was the Pyramids themselves heading to Earth, a new type of Hive beneath Mars’s ice, Lightbearers that aren’t Guardians, an Ahamkara, or SIVA, Guardians have never been able to relax. We’ve always had to be ready to throw everything we’d like to do out the window and get back into the fight.

This year of Episodes will be interesting because, yes, they’re going to show us threats we’ve never encountered before. But this is also the most chilled-out Destiny 2 has ever been, and I’m incredibly thankful for that. The slower pace is bleeding into the missions and activities we’re told to play, and the lack of urgency in needing to play as much Destiny 2 as possible each week is something I think the entire community has needed for a long time.

I hope that this Episode cadence becomes the norm and Destiny 2 is allowed to grow in new directions through them for years to come. I want to see the characters we love rebuilding their lives from the ground up and hear happy stories from the universe now that we’re, hopefully, done with all the darkness, death, and destruction that The Witness has wrought.

Destiny 2 is in a fabulous place post-The Final Shape. It doesn’t need a frantic funnel of content to keep players busy, it just needs to be at this level for the foreseeable future. There’s enough going on to keep us entertained, but it all feels like kicking back with a cold drink and a friend on a hot summer’s day. It’s a moment for everyone to breathe and look back at all we’ve achieved while clinking our guns together.

We mess around, having fun cleaning up the system almost without a care in the world. Even when something dark does emerge from these Echoes of The Witness, it’s not enough to break this peace. In fact, it’s an excuse to keep on shooting and having fun for the rest of the year.