Destiny 2: The Final Shape’s campaign confirms previous theory about Cayde-6’s return

This article includes spoilers for Destiny 2: The Final Shape.

The Final Shape is here, and Destiny 2 players have plenty of new content to delve into. Of course, one of the most significant intrigues surrounding the expansion is the return of the Cayde-6. While there have been several theories about the Hunter since his comeback was revealed, The Final Shape‘s campaign steadily confirms one popular hypothesis from Lightfall‘s Season of the Wish.

Cayde-6 was the Hunter Vanguard, working alongside Commander Zavala and Ikora Rey throughout the course of Destiny and for a good chunk of Destiny 2. During the Forksaken expansion, Cayde-6 met his end at the hands of Uldren Sov, well before Uldren would die at players’ hands and later get resurrected as the Guardian, Crow. However, when Bungie showed that Cayde-6 would be revived for The Final Shape, it left a lot of unanswered questions.

How did Cayde-6 come back to life?

While players weren’t given a concrete answer for Cayde’s resurrection before The Final Shape, there were a few tantalizing clues left like a breadcrumb trail. While some of these were dead ends, the Unforseen Consequences ship had a particularly interesting lore tab. The lore detailed a scene between Crow and his sister, Mara Sov. During their conversation, Crow says that he wishes he could take back what he did to Cayde-6 as Uldren.

Throughout the scene, there are indications that everything is not as it seems, with Mara’s eyes shimmering and her ending the interaction with the words, “O brother mine.” These are telltale signs of Ahamkara (AKA wish dragon) magic, hinting that Crow unknowingly made a wish. Before The Final Shape, this was just one possibility among several, but now that the expansion is out, it wastes no time showing its hand.

At the end of the first campaign mission, players are reintroduced to Cayde-6, with the former Guardian detailing how he ended up in the Pale Heart of The Traveler to the best of his knowledge. During the cutscene he narrates over, eagle-eyed players will notice that it’s Ahamkara tentacles that pull him out of the afterlife.

Even if players didn’t notice the detail, Cayde’s resurrection becomes a storybeat between the Vanguard members as the campaign continues, with Ikora initially believing Cayde is a construct formed by The Witness or The Traveler. Eventually, Crow spills the beans to Cayde (and the players), confirming that wish magic brought the former Hunter back to life. From there, the next logical question is, what happens to Cayde after The Final Shape?