| Home | Europa Currently |
| Kell | None |
| Archon | None |
| Prime Servitor | None |
| Barons | None |
| Allies | The House of Light. Last City on Earth |
Intro
You’re a Destiny player, which means you have been thoroughly introduced to the enemies of this world, and this certainly includes the Fallen. You know that Captains have shields, that Vandals can have wire sniper rifles, and that servitors can shield enemies. But do you know the history of this people?
Welcome to the new MGN Destiny series Enemies Explained where I strip away the hitboxes and reveal the greater story, characteristics and names behind the enemies you slay by the hundreds day in and day out. In this chapter I’ll be digging into the sparse information we have available about the Fallen House of Judgment.
In the process of explaining the House of Devils in the first chapter, I included a lot of information that applies to most of the Houses, and the House of Judgment was no exception. The origin of the Fallen applied to them, the class system involving the distribution of ether applied to them, and they used the same equipment as the other Houses. So with that in mind, I’ll be leaving the general details that apply to all the Houses in my first chapter/article, which you can find here:
Alright with that out of the way we can get started.
The Origins and Identity of the House of Judgment
House of Judgment alongside the House of Kings is one of the oldest known Fallen Houses. The House of Judgment long ago fought beside the House of Kings to unite the other Houses in order to make the Eliksni one people. When the Whirlwind came and scattered the Fallen across the galaxy, the survivors of House Judgment along with other Houses followed the Traveler to our solar system. The House of Judgment is so far known to have settled in the Reef along with the House of Wolves.
Not much is known about how this happened, but for the longest time there has only ever been one member left in this House. An old Eliknsi named Variks.
The House of Judgment is similar to the House of Kings in the sense that it has a set purpose in Fallen society. Like I discussed in my House of Kings article, the House had that title because they were the leaders of the Fallen before the Whirlwind. As for House Judgment, they were a House of scribes and advisors.
“The House of Judgment shall have no Ketch, but live among the other Houses to guide the Kells, and keep their secrets.” -Excerpt from an ancient Eliksni Pact.
The members of the House of Judgment were split across all the other Houses, and acted as guides to their Kells. The singular goal of the House was to keep the peace between the other Houses in order to keep the Eliksni people strong. After the Whirlwind, and after Variks became the last surviving member of House Judgment, his goal was always to see the Fallen Houses unite as one people.
It is unknown if the House of Wolves fought at the battle of Six Fronts, but like I mentioned in my House of Wolves article, they never fought in the battle of Twilight Gap. It’s estimated that when the Queen of the Awoken ambushed the House of Wolves before they could leave the Reef, that the Harbingers destroyed around half of the entire House. Variks fortunately survived, but the Kell of the House of Wolves, Virixas would not. Three powerful Fallen would fight to become the next Kell, and ultimately it would be Skolas who would succeed. Variks would dutifully serve him at first, but as Skolas continued to fight against the Awoken, Variks claimed he could not stomach the Kell’s hate, and so in the end betrayed the House of Wolves. Thanks to Variks, the Awoken would defeat the House of Wolves, and capture Skolas. Variks as the House Judgment member of the Wolves, would crown the Awoken Queen Mara Sov as the new Kell of the House of Wolves. The Wolves would serve the Awoken, and Variks would be known as Variks, the Loyal.
During his time with the Awoken, Variks became the Warden of the Awoken’s prison, called the Prison of Elders. Members of all enemy races were contained in this prison, but it held an especially large number of Fallen. As a result of this, Variks was hated by the other Fallen who saw him as a traitor. However in reality he still wanted the best for his people.
When the Nine freed Skolas, and the House of Wolves turned against the Awoken, Variks stayed loyal to the Awoken. This was because of his disgust towards Skolas, and the fact that he did not see the direction the House of Wolves was going as the correct path for the Fallen. Due to his knowledge of the Fallen, Variks would be partnered with the Queen’s Wrath Petra Venj, and the two would work together with “The Guardian” to capture Skolas once more. After Skolas was successfully captured, Variks resumed his position as Warden of the Prison of Elders.
After the fall of the House of Devil Splicers, Variks began looking for the last remaining Kell, the Kell of Kings Craask. Variks believed that Craask was the best chance the Fallen had for survival, and wanted to work with him. Unfortunately like I mentioned in my House of Kings article, Craask would be betrayed and killed by the Awoken Prince Uldren and his Scorn Barons. The death of Craask resulted in the gradual decay of the House of Dusk. In time, Variks would hear of a large number of Fallen settling on Europa under the leadership of the Devil ship stealer Eramis. In order to escape the Reef and join Eramis, Variks needed to create a distraction. He achieved this by releasing all the prisoners in the Prison of Elders. This included Uldren and the Scorn Barons who had been detained there. The release of Uldren and the Barons would be the cause of the Hunter Vanguard Cayde-6’s death. Variks would be haunted by Cayde’s death, and would be hunted by the Vanguard as a result of it.
Variks would travel to Europa and join Eramis, but would eventually see this as a great error. Some time after the Fallen had settled on Europa, the Pyramid fleet would enter our system, and one of the dark ships would land on the moon’s icy surface. Eramis would be seduced by the whispers and promises that came from those within the Pyramid, and thanks to the work of Praksis, Eramis and her Fallen were able to use technology stolen from the Clovis Bray facility on Europa to summon and wield the power known as Stasis.
Eramis would be drastically changed by the Pyramid, and soon just like with Skolas, Variks saw her as a leader not worth following. He sent a distress signal to the City, which would send “The Guardian” to investigate and assist him. Variks would work alongside “The Guardian” and help them in taking down Eramis and her Fallen.
Currently, Variks is still on Europa, and is assisting Fallen trying to leave Europa for Earth in order to join the new House of Light. It is safe to assume that Variks is allied with Mithrax, the Kell of Light.
Summary
If you’ve read any of the other articles I’ve written, or watched any of the other videos, you’ll know that at the end of each of the House stories, they tend to stop existing. This is not the case with Variks. Variks still sees himself as a scribe, and is still pursuing the goal of uniting all of the Fallen. Once all of the House of Salvation is successfully defeated, it is expected that Variks will be brought before the Vanguard to answer for the death of Cayde-6. Whether or not he cooperates in this is a different story entirely.
That is for the most part the majority of the information needed to know about the House of Judgment. If you want to know more about the other Fallen Houses or the other enemy races of Destiny in general, feel free to check out the other videos and articles on the MGN Destiny website and Youtube channel. If there is anything specific you want to know more about, leave a comment and I will be sure to work on it for you. My name is Ben, and I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas, and that you stay safe in this new year.
Credits
| Program | Freedom! Scholarship |
| Author | Venextron |
| YouTuber | Venextron |
| Publisher | MGN TV |
| Game | Destiny 2 |