This text accommodates spoilers for Future 2: The Ultimate Form.

Future 2‘s first saga has come to a detailed with The Ultimate Form enlargement. Although Echoes and future Episodes promise to proceed the sport’s narrative, the marketing campaign in The Ultimate Form primarily served because the franchise’s Avengers: Endgame, wrapping up a decade-long intrigue. And whereas the marketing campaign for The Ultimate Form has confirmed itself nice, I can’t shake the sensation that Bungie missed a possibility to go away an much more vital influence than it did.

Huge themes all through The Ultimate Form are redemption, loss of life, and rebirth. Each character concerned experiences one or a number of of those motifs, whether or not it’s Ikora Rey coming to phrases with Cayde-6’s return or Crow lastly accepting his spot because the Hunter Vanguard. Nevertheless, Commander Zavala, the character whose arc I used to be most excited to see, didn’t have the stakes I anticipated. Zavala shouldn’t have escaped The Witness on the finish of the Dissent mission, which might have allowed for some appreciable payoff.

Zavala the damaged

All through the build-up to The Ultimate Form, Zavala turned a shadow of his former self. After Amanda Vacation’s loss of life throughout Lightfall’s Season 20 finale, the Commander started questioning his place between The Traveler and the folks he cares about. Zavala, a staunch believer in The Traveler’s ethical excessive floor, began to doubt the paracausal entity.

The Commander’s belief in The Traveler is shaken, and it’s repeatedly examined as Guardians discover themselves doing Savathûn’s bidding in Season 22 and enjoying with want magic in Season 23. By the point The Ultimate Form rolls round, Zavala is virtually a distinct particular person, aware of the after-effects of each motion he takes in The Traveler’s identify and skeptical of its intentions.

The Ultimate Form‘s launch trailer created much more questions, because it appeared to indicate a sinister destiny awaited Zavala within the enlargement. The teaser predominately contains a phase the place Zavala reaches out and touches a wall of Darkness earlier than displaying a Guardian standing over a tomb. That is adopted by The Witness conversing with Zavala, whereas the trailer’s dialogue has Ikora Rey begging the Commander to rethink his actions.

Zavala’s journey

Whereas the narrative build-up and launch trailer might need implied that Zavala would fall to Darkness or die, that wasn’t what occurred in The Ultimate Form. We see the identical scenes from the launch trailer throughout the marketing campaign, however they don’t result in almost as consequential an finish as I anticipated. Zavala loses his belief in The Traveler and makes some reckless choices, nevertheless it doesn’t ever really feel like he’s ever at risk of being corrupted by The Witness — not to mention killed by it. Even within the one scene the place there’s a touch that issues won’t go properly for the Commander, inside seconds, allies are there to again him up.

I’d be neglectful to not point out Targe, Zavala’s Ghost, on this dialogue. Whereas Zavala manages to flee the various, many grasps of The Witness, Targe doesn’t. I can’t ignore the obvious story ramifications of a Guardian as vital as Zavala shedding his Ghost. Nonetheless, from a story perspective, I actually didn’t care about Targe as a personality. The Ghost solely has a handful of appearances throughout the complete Future franchise and is in any other case relegated to lore pages. The loss will certainly spawn some nice moments for Zavala sooner or later, nevertheless it felt like a newly-introduced facet character taking the hit Zavala ought to have.

Zavala’s Ultimate Form

If The Witness had grabbed Zavala on the finish of the Dissent mission, it will have left the door open for some wild potential story beats. After all, if he had merely died there, that will have elicited a big influence, as he’s been a continuing ally since Future started. Nevertheless, I’m pondering larger.

Comply with me, if you’ll, again in time to the 12 months 2009. World of Warcraft is in its Wrath of the Lich King enlargement, and I’m forging my method throughout the Northrend continent, working in the direction of the Lich King’s area in Icecrown. About midway by means of the story, the Alliance and Horde factions understand they need to put their variations apart to deal with the widespread enemy, the Lich King. To that finish, either side plan a joint assault on the gates main into Icecrown. The assault doesn’t go because the mixed forces hope, and lots of are misplaced, together with the notable NPC Highlord Bolvar Fordragon.

Weeks later, within the Icecrown Citadel Raid, one thing really surprising occurs. I be taught that Bolvar continues to be alive, captured to stay a tortured prisoner of the Lich King. Nevertheless, Bolvar will get his likelihood at redemption after my staff defeats the Lich King, opting to put on the antagonist’s cursed crown to stop the steadiness of energy from spiraling uncontrolled. Going into that Raid, I had no thought Bolvar was nonetheless alive, however as soon as I discovered, it turned the impetus to press ahead. I used to be making an attempt to avoid wasting my ally from a grotesque destiny. And when that each one paid off with Bolvar’s bittersweet redemption, it felt fulfilling.

That is the emotion The Ultimate Form may have fostered with Zavala if he had been in respectable hazard. There are 1,000,000 methods it may have performed out, and I’ve gone by means of dozens of eventualities in my head, however the one I preserve coming again to is that Zavala ought to have been featured within the Raid, just like how Bolvar was in World of Warcraft. Within the Salvation’s Edge Raid, the second encounter contains a no-name boss known as the Herald of Finality. It will have been way more impactful if we fought in opposition to a corrupted model of Zavala or a minimum of fought the Herald to free the Commander.

Zavala’s seize or corruption by The Witness would have felt like the final word name to motion, and I think about that even gamers who don’t frequently raid would really feel the pull to assist their longtime mentor. His rescue from the Raid may have even match neatly into the narrative following the Salvation’s Edge Raid, explaining how Zavala can use Stasis within the post-campaign Excision mission. This wouldn’t must be extravagant; a couple of strains of dialogue earlier than and after the encounter would suffice.

General, The Ultimate Form‘s narrative was not a fumble in any regard. It’s compelling, visually participating, and a blast to play by means of. That stated, it feels just like the story lacked the braveness to take a danger the place it mattered essentially the most. The Ultimate Form nonetheless tells an amazing story, however for me, it’s the distinction between an superior enlargement and what may have been the reference commonplace in Future storytelling.