- The Fallen came to our system grouped as Houses. I believe Bungie has even said that these houses sometimes fight among each other. What kind of race travels to another solar system and gets involved in infighting while that are far from home, surrounded by powerful enemy factions, and facing a race with an unassailable stronghold that is getting dangerously close to rediscovering the power of its Golden Age?

- Could The Fallen be less of a military and more of a group of outcasts? In Halo Humanity gave their enemies nicknames (,Splitchins, Jackals, Eggheads) but the names and descriptions of the Fallen Dreg, Vandal and Captain don’t feel as made up to me. Could the Fallen’s forces really be made up of criminals and troublemakers? Perhaps under the supervision or guard of Captains? More on this later…

- Why are The Fallen scavenging for things of ours? They are more advanced than we ever were. We had a Golden Age spanning a single system, they apparently had the ability to travel between systems. Maybe it’s less about improving their technology and more about resources and spare parts?

- Fallen come in a variety of shapes and sizes from the Dreg to Rixis the Archon Slayer. Is that just their normal diversity (Humans come in various sizes too) or is there some sort of genetic engineering / space magic-ing going on there?

- Speaking of diversity, why do Vandals and Captains have four arms while Dreges only have two? As others have noted, Dreges seem to have sealed off stubs where their other two arms would be. Are they young / underdeveloped and thus confined to the lower ranks, or are they perhaps worse criminals who had their extra arms removed as a form of punishment?

- The House of Devils have their spider tanks known as Devil Walkers but I wonder if other houses have other types of armored vehicles? For instance this walker (on right) shows up twice in Destiny’s concept art. If the different houses do have different weapons and vehicles what does that mean in regards to their politics? Could the different houses be as distinct as our different countries here on Earth?

- This question will come up for every race, but how many ships, and vehicles, and individuals do the Fallen even have? Presumably we’ll be killing and destroying bunches of them, do they have a way to make more? We have a incredibly well defended city capable of producing everything from guns to spaceships to new Guardians. Might we beat the Fallen through simple attrition?

Back to The Facts
Continue on to Rampant Speculation

- Fallen? Fallen from what? I have a theory! I submit that the Fallen are a second race that was first helped by The Traveler and was then destroyed by whatever destroyed Humanity. In fact, I submit that The Fallen were in the middle of a Golden Age bigger and longer and even more fantastical than Humanity’s. They didn’t just span their system, they had made it out to the stars. When the enemy came and began destroying them they, like Humanity, tried to flee. Most didn’t make it. Something powerful to crush two Golden Age civilizations and damage The Traveler probably had no trouble picking off those that fled… Except for the ones already far away.

- In my mind the entirety of the Fallen, at lease as we know them in the Sol system, are in fact what’s left of one or more prison colonies on the far edge of Fallen space. Or being somewhat nomadic in the first place they may have had an advantage that the firmly rooted Humanity didn’t. They saw what was happening to their civilization during their Fall and ran for it in the direction of the only thing they thought could save them, The Traveler. Maybe they did so under orders, maybe they did so out of fear, but we’re not talking about a few convicts, we’re talking about one or more planets worth of undesirables and their guards / overseers. It would have been a massive undertaking. Perhaps they had the help of whatever resources the Golden Age Fallen had left. When your civilization is being destroyed and the only ones you think you can save are the criminals you still save them right?

- So these bunches of criminals along with their guards and perhaps even some military units arrive in the Sol system hoping to enlist the help of The Traveler only to find it dead above Earth. Maybe the civilized Golden Age Fallen would have offered Humanity a hand, tried to join force with them to defeat the evil that destroyed both their civilizations, but these Fallen aren’t them. They have some honorable guards and soldiers, yes, but they have many times the number of criminals. And besides, their race is all but destroyed. There is no government to be loyal to anymore. Survival is the most important thing now.

-And double besides, upon arriving in the Sol system they are attacked on all sides! Cabal, Vex, and Hive each tear into them, and the remnants of the nearly destroyed race who have their singular City beneath The Traveler are pushing out with technology and Space Magic that rivals even that of the Fallen's Golden Age. So, in part desperation, part survival instinct, and part criminal fueled greed, the houses of the Fallen dig in and try and win the war against the other races clustered in the Sol system. Their prize will be The Traveler, and perhaps, the power to avenge the deaths of their people.

That's my theory, but what do you think? Is there some evidence I missed? Is there something that's obvious to you that I didn't touch on? I'd love to hear what you think!

Next Saturday: The City

We have a city built up over several hundred years able to hold out against alien forces. But how's that going for us really? I hope you'll join me next week as we again look at The Facts, make some Informed Suppositions, and engage in some reckless Rampant Speculation. Until then:

Back to The Facts
Back to Informed Suppositions

All Speculation Saturdays:
Speculation Saturday #1: The Golden Age
Speculation Saturday #2: The Fall
Speculation Saturday #3: The Fallen
Speculation Saturday #4: The City
Speculation Saturday #5: The Gameplay
Speculation Saturday #6: What's New?
Speculation Saturday #7: The Hive
Speculation Saturday #8: The Vex
Speculation Saturday #9: The Cabal

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