"We have butchers at our gates - four-armed and eager for slaughter."
But what are The Fallen?
Little is know of their true motives, as they seem to fight the other various minions of the darkness and the guardians alike, which makes me wonder why? My theory is that either the Fallen used to be humans, or were in some way allied with the Light a long time ago.
It is obvious that the Fallen have an extreme sense of pride and patriarchy, with a strict caste system from all the way at the bottom with Dregs, to right at the top with the Kells and Aksor, the Archon Priest himself. This religious imaginary of their leaders makes me want to think they're a noble and distinguished race, so why are they so often described as scavengers and terrorists? Lets start by analyzing the individual names of their ranks.
Shank - Often known as a makeshift knife, or a small blade associated with either prison or criminals
Dreg - A word coming from Victorian times, a dreg is the scum you'd find at the bottom of a barrel.
Vandel - Someone who has no respect for anything, and shows this by destroying anything they see fit.
Captain - A commander of some form of vessel, they have the final word and command their crew.
Barron - A lord of a grand estate.
(Archon) Priest - A noble man of extensive reverence, few stand above their might.
On a quick side note, I'm leaving the Servitors and Primes out for now, but they will be discussed later. So after that, you can see the progression of rank slowly move up, but they all have one defining feature; Corruption. A shank could've been a fine blade, but now it's broken and used by criminals. Dregs are only left in a barrel after the liquid or produce inside has soiled, and all the worst bits get pushed to the bottom. A Vandel usually has some reason to be violent, maybe they used to be an ordinary person till they overly disagreed with a specific policy? Captains can be associated with piracy,which is a fall from grace itself. Archon is a Greek word for Lord or Ruler, so the Archon Priest could be seen a a holy man abusing his power. In conclusion, they were all once something great that has now been soured and turned bad.
So that gives us some insight to the motives of the different sub-sects, we can see from their beliefs and titles that they have truly "Fallen". But what have they fallen from? They seem to have no home-world, choosing to ride around in their Ketch ships, so why did this once noble-race succumb to what they are today?
I'd like to point out that I don't think any of the other races could be related to humans. The Hive are humanoid, but as a physical representation of the darkness they have been designed by it's will to fright and deter guardians. They have no dreams of a goal, only death and consumption. The Cabal are a known-about race that destroy planets, seemingly humans have encountered them in the golden age, so they could not be related. The Vex are too mechanical. They could be an ancient human creation, however there would be tell-tale signs and documentation.
Earlier I mentioned corruption, which links into my theory about the Fallen's decent, and how they once could've been human. We've seen how former guardian Eris Morn was corrupted and warped physically by being close to a great source of darkness, so much so that she even has three glowing hive eyes, streaming with black tears. Not a nice sight, sorry Eris. But that was only a short exposure, what would've happened if she was trapped deep down in the dark below for longer? Would she have fully become fully converted, her features becoming totally like the Hives?
We know the darkness started outside our solar system, so my theory is that we are not it's first victim. If a human colony (lets call them Terra 2) had settled outside out solar system during the golden age, surely they would've been on the front line when the darkness attacked. At this time the humans on Earth would've just assumed that all outer colonies had been lost, and Eris has still a guardian so they no evidence of physical corruption. The people of Terra 2 would've been proud and courageous colonists, so it'd be stupid to think they wouldn't have put up a fight as the darkness swept in around them. Just like Eris, they would've been converted by the mere presence of the darkness around Terra 2, however they would've been too proud to run. This lasting corruption over generations could have warped them to their present form, this would explain their advanced tech and very human systems of progression.
Finally succumbing to the darkness, they fled to the only planet they could call home aside their own; Earth. This is a pretty logical conclusion, they could have gone anywhere in any solar system that was free of the darkness, yet they chose to return home, however they brought vengeance with them. Jealous of the guardians and their powers, they fight to reclaim earth and bathe in the Traveler's light in hope that the corruption can be reversed somehow.
This may be a little fat fetched for some people, but there are clear links between the Fallen and the guardians. The most common is the wolf imagery, which is defining aspect of the humans on Earth. They all travel in packs, and hunt their targets quick and clean strikes. They travel by ship and set up outposts, even their land transports, the Pikes, look a whole lot similar to the guardian's Sparrow bikes. Even the captains physically resemble wolves, sporting lot ear-like horns. They fight the Hive and Vex like guardians, they're the perfect example of nobility driven desperate by corruption. When killed, the Fallen give off bursts of white mist, which could be seen as the Light leaving their trapped forms. This is know as Ether, which is a strain of the atoms found in Oxygen. And what do humans breathe? Another point to that theory.
Even if they weren't once humans, I find it hard to believe that they were not allied with humans at one point.
Going with the original theory that they used to be human gives us a perfect explanation for the Servitors. They're balls of floating technology, allowing the Fallen to utilize star flight and communications. So they're spherical... Provide means for the race's advancement... and are often focus for worship and religious exercises? Does that sound a lot like the Traveler itself to you? The fallen constructed the Servitors to honor their lost god, If the humans lost their traveler wouldn't they idolize it in their fight for reclamation? The Fallen are fighting party out of jealousy, why shouldn't they take back what is rightfully theirs? The darkness has corrupted their minds too, making them go through the last of humanity just to satisfy their pride. Their gear and clothing bears the look of a fallen nobility; once bright Armour and colorful capes now shredded and dirty. They've been forced to become scavengers, which only fuels their hatred and desperation the reclaim Earth.
Equally though, they seem fascinated by the darkness. They're no longer scared of it, since they are almost part of it due to their corrupted dis-figuration, but they respect and adore it's power. Driven mad by their longing to become human again and be free, they revere the darkness in their own cautious way. They have essentially been driven mad with anger and wonder at the same time.This is best summed up in one of the only translated quotes from a Fallen lord, which I think is a fitting piece to end this theory.
"What others call dark which is not I know what it is but no time room calm given for an appropriate telling so I say only that what is not shadow is an ally and a wonder and I respect what I cannot steal from and you cannot take from the dark you can claim only pain from the dark and that is why the dark is worthy of love beyond all other love that astonishing ability to evade being robbed
I love what I will not name"
What do you think of this theory? any thoughts and comments would be appreciated.
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