Destiny 2’s latest quest text is bumming players out

Poor Banshee-44, Destiny 2’s forgetful gunsmith. In the latest Exotic quest in Destiny 2 added on Oct. 22, Banshee-44 asks players to get some information from Cayde-6, who canonically died more than a year ago. And Destiny players are getting seriously bummed out.

Banshee-44 (voiced by John DiMaggio of Gears of War and Adventure Time fame) is an Exo. In the world of Destiny, Exos are people who’ve had their consciousness transferred to robot bodies. The numbers after their name signifies how many times they’ve had to reboot themselves, a problem all Exos face eventually.

Most Exos only get rebooted 20 times or so before they start to lose it, but Banshee’s on his 44th reboot. Banshee’s excessive reboots cause him to be a bit forgetful, and like real-life people facing memory loss, he has good moments and bad moments.

Sometimes, players can walk up to his booth in the Tower and hear him lament his forgetfulness, promising himself he won’t forget all the good folks he’s lost over the years. Sometimes he’ll ask players if they’ve seen Cayde-6 lately.

Cayde-6, originally voiced by Nathan Fillion and later by Nolan North, died during the events of the Destiny 2’s Forsaken expansion in 2018. Guardians spent the campaign avenging the puckish rogue, and there are numerous memorials to him in the Tower.

Banshee-44 knows — or knew — that Cayde-6 died. But because of his reboots, he can’t seem to hold onto the information for too long. Which brings us to Destiny’s most recent Exotic quest: Leviathan’s Breath.

With this new quest, players can talk to Banshee-44 and he’ll detail a weapon he’s been working on: a powerful new bow that’s unlike anything else. Banshee asks players to head to his secret workshop located in the Tower to pick it up. In the quest text, which gives players a bit more detail on the story, Banshee mentions that Cayde-6 should know the way to his workshop.

Bungie via user IdealLogic on Reddit

The next step of the quest leaves players aimless. Without Cayde-6 around to ask, Guardians need to hunt around the Tower to locate the workshop on their own. To make matters worse, Leviathan’s Breath sits behind a locked case, and Banshee can’t remember where he put the keys.

Players on Reddit are lamenting this recent interaction with Banshee-44, speaking to how sad they feel for the robot NPC. Some players in the thread are wondering how many times Banshee’s had to learn of his friend Cayde’s death, or if Vanguard leaders in the Tower have a silent pact not to remind him of such things.

“My mom died of brain cancer 7 years ago. She had moments like this and it tore me up inside,” Reddit user Vyrrk wrote. “When Banshee says this stuff it hit me hard every time!”

“As an employee working in a senior community with two memory care wards this definitely hits me hard. I’ve had to reintroduce myself to some residents 50+ times,” said Grizzlyroach. “Banshee, come live here so I can take care of you!”

In my personal experience, Alzheimer’s and other diseases that affect memory are hard to watch loved ones go through. And that sadness also extends to forgetful robots in video games.