You play as a nameless Guardian in Destiny 2, but Bungie's MMO shooter has a large ensemble cast of allies and enemies. One of the most compelling is Crow, a relatively new Guardian with a vital role in the more expansive lore and a character arc that goes from tense ally to full-on villain and eventually to total hero — and even close friend. To understand who Crow is, you must first remember who he was as Uldren Sov.
Awoken Origins
Uldren Sov was the twin brother of Mara Sov, the Awoken Queen and close ally to the Vanguard in the present day. Alongside Human and the robotic Exo, Awoken is one of the three playable races in Destiny. Every member of this species descends from the passengers and crew aboard the Yang Liwei, a generation ship of humans that left Earth towards the end of the Golden Age. As the Black Fleet attacked the Sol System, the Traveler released a blast of Light to repel the Darkness.
While many of the details of this confrontation remain murky at best, we know that the Traveler was rendered dormant, the Black Fleet was repelled for a very long time, the Ghosts were created (and in turn, Guardians), and the Yang Liwei was swallowed by a kugelblitz similar to a black hole and sucked into a pocket dimension. The entire crew was annihilated and stripped down into pure energy. Mara was the first to reassemble her consciousness, create a new blue-skinned body, and give shape to the Distributary. She willed other humans into new forms, and the Awoken were born. Thousands of years passed within the Distributary before a group of Awoken led by Mara Sov — and including Uldren Sov — returned to the Sol System and established The Reef.
[Editor's Note: Here's how Wikipedia describes a kugelblitz.]
A kugelblitz is a theoretical astrophysical object predicted by general relativity. It is a concentration of heat, light or radiation so intense that its energy forms an event horizon and becomes self-trapped. In other words, if enough radiation is aimed into a region of space, the concentration of energy can warp spacetime so much that it creates a black hole. This would be a black hole whose original mass–energy was in the form of radiant energy rather than matter, however as soon as it forms, it is indistinguishable from an ordinary black hole.
Mara and Uldren were twins as humans, and their shared connection persisted even after being reborn as Awoken. Uldren was cunning, arrogant, ruthless, and obsessed with his sister. But that was mainly because she manipulated him a great deal, essentially using him as a tool for her own mysterious goals.
Uldren Sov
We first meet Mara and Uldren midway through the first Destiny campaign. The Vex were using the Black Garden — a failed replica of what we later learn is the Veil, a Darkness counterpart to the Traveler's Light — to weaken the Traveler. While Mara is aloof, Uldren is outright hostile toward Guardians. However, Uldren had spent time inside the Black Garden, so he and Mara advised the Guardian to kill a Vex Gate Lord and use its eye as a key to enter. But it's also revealed that the Darkness of the Black Corrupted already began corrupting Uldren even then.
Sometime later, after the Guardian killed Crota during the events of the Dark Below expansion, Crota's father, Oryx, came to the Sol System. Reef forces engaged fought Oryx's fleet in orbit around Saturn at the start of the Taken King expansion, during which Mara seemingly died, and Uldren crash-landed on Mars. He wandered for years looking for Mara, corrupted by the influence of the Ahamkara Riven, who spoke to him as his sister. Riven, in turn, was influenced by Savathun following Oryx's death.
Uldren goes full-on villain in Destiny 2: Forsaken, having teamed up with Fallen leaders to create the Scorn and break out of the Reef's Prison of Elders. In the campaign's opening mission, a Scorn Baron destroys Hunter Vanguard Cayde-6's Ghost, and Uldren kills Cayde for good. He's haunted by visions of Mara (actually Riven) luring him toward the Dreaming City, where he can free his sister.
The Guardian and Petra Venj spend most of the campaign hunting Uldren, and they kill him in the final scene.
The Crow
During the Black Armory expansion for Destiny 2, players could unlock a special cutscene if they entered Mara Sov's Throne World within the Dreaming City. The cutscene revealed that a Ghost had resurrected Uldren Sov, making him a Guardian. Like all other Guardians, he lost all memories of his former life. He remains a brilliant and skilled scout, like Uldren was, but is ultimately more naïve and idealistic.
He spent some time in the employ of the Spider, a Fallen who functions like a crime boss in the Forgotten Shore. After the Crow works with the Guardian to defeat Xivu Arath's High Celebrant during Season of the Hunt, the Guardian frees Crow from service. Under the tutelage of Osiris (who was Savathun in disguise), Crow became a Guardian and a scout for the Vanguard, hiding his face behind a mask for an extended period.
After the Guardian defeated Empress Caiatl's champion in a Rite of Proving during Season of the Chosen, the Vanguard and Cabal Empire met for an armistice. The Cabal Psion Valir made an attempt on Commander Zavala's life that Crow and Caiatl foiled, but Crow lost his mask, exposing his identity. From this point on, everyone knew that Crow was a resurrected Uldren Sov.
Much later, the Vanguard learned that Osiris had conspired with enemies to undermine the Last City, and Crow is finally reunited with Mara Sov while tracking Osiris down at the start of Season of the Lost. That's when it's revealed that Savathun had been appearing as Osiris since Season of the Hunt (when Crow saved and first met "Osiris" while employed by the Spider). Mara imprisoned Savathun in crystal and hatches plans to wield "Uldren Sov, Lightbearer" as a weapon.
During Season of the Lost, a crystallized Savathun restored Crow's memories as Prince Uldren. Crow begins to reckon with his dark history, and Mara is forced to do the same.
Manifestations of Uldren haunt Crow during Season of the Haunted. Still, after conquering them and accepting that Uldren is a part of himself, he begins to foster a strong relationship with Mara. In some bits of lore, she expresses remorse over how she treated him in the past. Their connection as siblings remains strong, and it even becomes pivotal to the overall plot of Destiny.
Approaching The Final Shape
Since The Witness opened a portal and disappeared inside the Traveler during Lightfall, the Vanguard had been seeking a way to follow to no avail. Season of the Wish focuses entirely on a deal between Mara Sov and the ghost of Riven: if Riven's eggs are recovered from across the cosmos, she will grant one last wish, allowing someone to follow The Witness.
Since Crow and Mara still share a powerful psychic connection, Crow volunteers to enter the Pale Heart of the Traveler himself. Once he's established a footing, Mara will leverage her power to open a passageway for the Vanguard to follow.
The Final Shape will undoubtedly open on a reunion with Crow inside the Traveler, and he'll likely be the location vendor for the Pale Heart. Based on the trailers, it seems like Cayde-6 will somehow be resurrected, and it just might be due to an accidental wish that Crow made to Riven. Only time will tell.
