Destiny 2 The Final Shape had a different ending before Bungie delayed it until June 2024—and its reveal proves that Bungie did the right thing by taking the time to work on the expansion. Spoilers ahead, of course.
Destiny Bulletin posted the pre-delay version of Destiny 2 The Final Shape ending cinematic, which was revealed by Bungie on June 18. The cinematic is an alternative version of the cutscene where Cayde-6 sacrifices himself to bring our Ghost back after defeating The Witness. There’s no Cayde-6 in the original cinematic, and the Guardian revives the Ghost by seemingly combining the powers of Light and Darkness.
Although this ending is interesting in its own right and has intriguing details, like the texture of the Darkness wielded by the Guardian, many players agreed Bungie “dodged a bullet” by not including it in the expansion.
“Thank god for the delay, this honestly would’ve been a terrible ending that would’ve removed the impact of every other death that’s ever happened,” one player wrote in a Reddit thread on June 19. Considering we’ve seen multiple Ghosts die throughout the story of Destiny, including Targe in this very expansion, bringing our own back just because we can would have had major implications on the story.
We don’t know what else could’ve been different if Bungie had gone with the original plan for The Final Shape. Maybe Cayde stayed with us after defeating The Witness, and Targe never died, but that would’ve destroyed the concept of the final death in the Destiny universe. Other players also questioned how the Guardian managed to wield the Light to revive the Ghost if ghosts are sources of Light in the first place.
At the same time, Cayde-6’s sacrifice had a way stronger emotional impact. From the moment his return was revealed, it felt like he wouldn’t be staying here for long, and The Final Shape ending is a great way to say our last goodbye to the beloved character.
