This morning, IGN’s Destin Legarie showed off Destiny 2’s new Crucible map, with Bungie environment artist, Jeff Horal. Off the bat, we were amazed by the map itself: Felwinter’s Peak. Kind of. The Iron Temple appears abandoned, even destroyed; but that’s a piece of speculation for another article. Jeff Horal drops something much juicier in our laps while touring the map.
The map is titled “Vostok” after Vostok Observatory, the central building of the social hub. This location has been intriguing since its release with the Rise of Iron expansion. The Observatory is host to a machine nearly identical to the mysterious “Vitalis” the Speaker keeps in his Tower. Unlike the Speaker’s though, this machine is defunct, rusted and broken.
This is where you need to pay attention: Horal shows Legarie a series of graffiti across a wall. I quickly surmised that there would be easter eggs or story hints here, but I didn’t understand of what kind. I believe the Jovians are involved.
My reasoning? Symbols and maps. First, what appears to be a rudimentary map drawn into the wall:
This shows a number of planets, placed in a similar style to Destiny’s Director. On the right is a black hole/whirlwind type shape. I’d love to hear your speculation on what that is, because I haven’t a clue. I believe this map to depict Saturn, Jupiter and either Titan or Io between them. Destiny 2’s director includes the two gas giants with a moon at each’s respective side. So it’s a reasonable bet that these are the bodies depicted.
Additionally, the plot thickens when you consider the following: The Traveler's last location before The Golden Age, was Io. During our Golden Age, human explorers immediately began to explore beyond the asteroid belt, around the gas giants and on moons such as Io and Titan, the latter we know for a fact was colonized. The Jovian Complex on Earth was additionally a massive facility, with multiple launch stations, indicating a significant presence.
But why do I see the Jovians? Well, look through the scrawled formulas and mathematical symbols. One is out of place, or else upside down: the triangles. Yes, I’m aware of the delta symbol, no I don’t think these are the delta symbol upside down. I believe these are the symbol associated with The Jovians. Additionally, lore behind Vostok Observatory show it was a Russian facility, tied to the Jovian Complex in the Cosmodrone. What’s in the name? Well, the Jovian Complex was originally used by Golden Age space programs to monitor and contact colonies beyond the asteroid belt—colonists who would later become the Jovians, in the same worlds we’ll be exploring in Destiny 2.
Almost a month ago, I uncovered potential evidence that Jospeh Staten and CG Barrett had shown the Jovians off at a 2013 GDC panel, early in Destiny’s production process. The two key visual elements? Gas, and triagles. Now we have gas giants, and triangles playing key roles in a series of calculations scrawled on the side of Vostok Observatory’s Vitalis. In Destiny, only one character knew anything about The Jovians: The Speaker. And he spent all his time….by his Vitalis.
I’ll continue to dig into the mystery of The Jovians. But what started as speculation, this morning, has broken into a full sprint race for the truth. I’ll drop more images below of the graffiti in question, absolutely feel free to share any theories or speculation you have.