My Biggest Gripe With The Final Shape Was The Lack Of Ikora's Ghost, Ophiuchus. I Know He Is A Very Quiet

My biggest gripe with the Final Shape was the lack of Ikora's ghost, Ophiuchus. I know he is a very quiet ghost and he and Ikora don't have the best relationship (they had a period where they didn't talk for a good 61 years and there is a lore entry this season where Ophiuchus thinks about how he and Ikora are still very much important to each other but not friends like they used to be).

I feel like maybe this could have been a good point for them to reconnect a bit of what they've lost over the years. Like, Ophiuchus also has been around for centuries, seen some messed up things during the dark age, seen the creation of the city, watched Ikora grow from a new light to a crucible main to one of the most important warlocks ever, seen the arrival of the black fleet, etc, etc. And we know from the lore that he is a ghost who thinks a lot and has a lot of personal theories, like the connection between ghosts and guardians that he told Sagira about. It would have been fun to see his reaction to the pale heart. Or to see his reaction to the loss of Targe. Perhaps it was a point in which Ikora tells Ophiuchus how much he means to her, even if they've had many differences and fights over the years.

I know Bungie doesn't like adding too many characters into narrative at once, which I totally understand, but this felt like a time for at least a little bit of dialogue between Ikora and Ophiuchus.

Hello fellow Ikora simps! I was looking at random stuff with Ghost in the Pale heart when I accidentally clicked on the button to look at the lore of the chest piece. And I'm glad I accidentally did that! Because it has sent me down a rabbit hole. Of course, I saw the flavor text and instantly knew it was about Ikora, so I had to read it. Here it is for people who haven't read it:

I love when we get little bits about Ikora's past that aren't crucible and her being Osiris's student. Another one of Ikora's comfort books! I love the mental image of Ikora reading it after a bad crucible match and Ophiuchus acting as a light so she could read. It sounds like a time where they were closer, long before the 61 years of them not talking.

And then the other detail, "And [Ikora] thought of other moments, of a warm hand covering her own as she read the text out loud for the thousandth time." A lover perhaps? I love how it's open ended, so you can insert any ship with Ikora (sorry Eris x Ikora shippers, but I'm totally reading this as Ikora on a date with Chalco Yong). I kinda wish bungie would give us her romantic/sexual orientation.

But other than simping for Ikora content, the whole detail about the traveler having a book based off of her memories with such detail is a really interesting rabbit hole. Like are all the things based off of our memory in the traveler because of the darkness inside of it? If the Pale Heart didn't have the witness in it, would it still look like these memories? It seems like it is most likely the traveler itself retaining these memories, not the darkness. So, does the light actually remember as well? Or is the traveler a being of both light and dark, but mainly light and so it can make these memories? I think it would make most sense if the traveler was made of both light and dark like the Veil. But these memories in the traveler just opens up another rabbit hole about the light and dark and I am glad they had Ikora ponder it a bit in the lore.

Destiny made their trans fem character a mother figure to individuals who have yet to find their place in the world and feel lost.

Ikora: it's pride month, guardian. You know what to do.

Bubo (confused bi warlock): what?? Do you want me to like, kiss you?? What??

My experience with Excision:

The Final Shape

Thank you all so much for all the love you're giving to my art recently. It means the world to me 🌞