Ever since she was introduced back in Season of the Chosen, Caiatl, voiced by Courtenay Taylor (Mass Effect, Resident Evil) has been one of my favorite Destiny 2 characters. She was one of the first of the enemy factions to reach out to the Vanguard and propose an alliance, and it was a long time coming — humanity and the Cabal have much worse things to worry about than each other’s crumbling dynasties. As the daughter of Emperor Calus, the boss of the very first Destiny 2 Raid, Caiatl has a tragic backstory and a lot of personality, which is why I was glad to see her back in a big role this season. In the Season of the Risen story, the new leader of the Cabal helps Guardians deal with the Lucent Hive, and her alliance with the Vanguard faces its first major challenge when fan-favorite character Crow acts on his principles against what he sees as immoral tactics.
But I’m not here to discuss any of that right now. No, I’m here to discuss the budding relationship between Empress Caiatl and Commander Zavala, voiced by Lance Reddick (Horizon Zero Dawn, Lost). Teased way back in Season of the Chosen, when Caiatl compliments Zavala on his “powerful tusk” in the Proving Ground Strike. (Kind of an odd compliment considering only female Cabal have tusks, but I guess it’s just the Cabal equivalent of saying he’s got brass balls.) Later, in the Season of the Lost, Mara Sov jokingly refers to “Zavala and his little Cabal.”
And then this season, we got the Vox Obscura Exotic Quest, which has Guardians sent on behalf of Caiatl to shut down an insurgent Cabal faction working with the Witness. The weapon obtained from this quest is the Dead Messenger, a neat little grenade launcher with some interesting lore.
Guardian, they’re humming a new tune in the Tower these days. I want you to investigate it to determine if it’s another one of Savathun’s tricks. It starts like this: “Zavala and Caiatl, sitting in a tree. T-U-S-K-I-N-G.” What could it mean? Zavala out.
— fanbyte (@FanbyteMedia) April 6, 2022
Zavala and Caiatl are watching the Guardian in the Vox Obscura mission, making a follow-up assault after first obtaining the Dead Messenger. Caiatl obviously admires the weapon, which tears through packs of war beasts like nothing. And then Zavala does something unusual. He looks up at her, notices “her eyes twinkling with violent ardor,” shuts off the comms, and asks if she’d like him to have Banshee make a Cabal-sized version for her.
Caiatl, seemingly shamed by her evident greed — perhaps because of its association with her reviled father — replies in the affirmative, telling Zavala that she’d like to use it on Xivu Arath, the Hive god who destroyed her homeworld. Zavala compliments her on her “passionate spirit,” and she smiles beneath her mask — and “it was terrifying.”
To me, this is what Destiny’s world is all about — macro-level, galaxy-spanning conflicts mixed with interpersonal relationships. When the game’s narrative is at its best, it’s successfully juggling those two modes, drawing out the stakes and cosmic implications of the events while never forgetting that those events are driven by complex, fallible people. People who need people. And let’s be real — if there were suddenly a bunch of aliens hanging out with humans, there would be freaks down to take one small step to clown among both parties. In the case of Zavala and Caiatl, that would certainly be one giant leap for human and Cabalkind.
