| Home | Earth/Mars |
| Kell | Craask |
| Archon | No confirmed Archons, potentially Aksor |
| Prime Servitor | None |
| Barons | Paskin, Phyksin, Vekis |
| Allies | The House of Devils, Winter, Wolves, Exile |
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 information we have available about the Fallen House of Kings.
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 Kings were 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 Origin and Identity of the House of Kings
The House of Kings is without a doubt my favourite House. They are the House with the greatest history, authority, and the House with the saddest end. They were a traditional House, with the longest known ruling Kell. They wore gold, and had the singular goal of reclaiming the Traveler. The House of Kings would for the majority of its existence in our system remain a mystery, rarely every engaging Humanity in open combat. Little is known about them, but what is known is very interesting.
“House of Kings. Name comes from the old world, from before the Whirlwind. Most Houses carry their name for pride. Kings carry their name because…is what they are.” -Variks the Loyal
The House of Kings existed before the Whirlwind, and together with the House of Judgement united the other other Houses to become one people. When the Whirlwind came, the House of Kings survived, and along with several other Houses followed the Traveler to our solar system, where they settled down in Earth along with the House of Devils. The House of Kings would remain in the Shadows, never revealing their full strength. Their goal was shared for the most part by the other Houses, to take the Traveler from the City in order to restore their Golden Age.
There is a good chance that the House of Kings fought at the battle of Six Fronts, since both they and the House of Devils were the closest Houses to the City. Regardless they stood beside the House of Devils and the House of Winter at the battle of Twilight Gap. The House of Kings along with the other Houses would be defeated, and the House of Kings would return to the shadows.
After the death of Solkis at the hands of the legendary Titan Saint-14, the House of Devils were left leaderless, and so the House of Kings were able to manipulate and control the House of Devils. The House of Kings had connections to the House of Winter through the Archon Priest Aksor. During the Strike in which Aksor was confronted, the area was covered in House of Kings banners, and Aksor himself wore the gold of the House of Kings.
The House was also the only Fallen House connected to the House of Exile. Frigoris was an Exile Baron who was slain by “The Guardian” during an expedition into Hive territory on the Moon. However when Frigoris was killed it was stated that his death would weaken the House of Kings’ grip on the Moon, implying that he was sent by or working with the House of Kings to some extent. What this shows is that although the House of Kings was its own separate House, it still demonstrated its authority by keeping its connections with the other Houses.
The House was also the only Fallen House connected to the House of Exile. Frigoris was an Exile Baron who was slain by “The Guardian” during an expedition into Hive territory on the Moon. However when Frigoris was killed it was stated that his death would weaken the House of Kings’ grip on the Moon, implying that he was sent by or working with the House of Kings to some extent. What this shows is that although the House of Kings was its own separate House, it still demonstrated its authority by keeping its connections with the other Houses.
When the Kell of the House of Wolves, Skolas, proclaimed himself to be the Kell of Kells, the House of Winter willingly joined him. Skolas would send a Wolf Baron Yaveks to the Cosmodrome in order to meet and negotiate with the House of Kings. Yaveks would meet with the King Barons Paskin and Vekis. It is speculated that the King Barons planned on murdering Yaveks, but in the end every Fallen in the room would die as “The Guardian” confronted both Yaveks and the King Barons.
Yaveks meeting with the House of Kings at King’s Watch, revealed the location to be a hideout of the House of Kings. Unfortunately for the House, they would be forced to abandon it and much of the Cosmodrome during the Taken War. When the Devil Splicers took control of the Archon’s Forge, the House of Kings left Earth for Mars. After the Devil Splicers were destroyed, the House of Kings became the last remaining Fallen House.
The Fall of the House of Kings
“Thou shalt tell the Eliksni to tear off their banners. Thou shalt tell them that we must all surrender to each other. We must give up our rivalries, or we will not survive.” -Craask, Kell of the House of Kings
The Fall of the House of Kings began with Uldren Sov. When the Hive King Oryx entered our system to avenge the death of his son Crota, the Queen of the Awoken, Mara Sov attempted to destroy his fleet using her own ships and eventually the powerful weapons known as the Harbingers. The might of the Awoken and the Harbingers would prove to be ineffective against Oryx’s Dreadnaught, and the Awoken fleet would be wiped out. When I cover Oryx I’ll go into a great deal of depth, but what I will say is that until “The Guardian” defeated him, Oryx was literally the most powerful being from this universe to live at that time. The Dreadnaught’s Hull was also created using the body of the Worm God Akka, the Worm of Secrets. Now I understand that Xol, another Worm God was killed using glorified glow sticks from Rasputin, but my only attempt to explain this is that Xol was arguably the weakest of the Worm Gods, and so perhaps the strength difference was high enough for Xol to be able to be killed by conventional weaponry and for Akka not to be. Who knows when it comes to Bungie and continuity. Who knows.
Uldren Sov would survive the battle and spend much time searching for his sister the Queen who he believed to be alive. During his search on Mars he would discover that he was being tracked by the House of Kings, and would allow himself to be captured by them. He was brought before the Kell of the House of Kings Craask, who would inform Uldren that he needed his help in reuniting all the Fallen once more, and that the Fallen needed to abandon their rivalries in order to survive.
It is potentially for this reason that the House of Dusk was formed, a new House with no history that the survivors of the other Houses would be willing to join. Using the House of Kings wavelengths, the House of Dusk would gather most of the Fallen under its banners, and all the while Craask, the House of Kings and Uldren would watch from Mars. It seemed as though the plan was for Craask to manipulate this new House as he did the House of Devils, but this would not last long, with Uldren creating the Scorn Baron Fikrul, the Fanatic.
Uldren would betray Craask and cut off his lower arms as a sign of humiliation, before letting Fikrul kill him. Craask was the presumed leader of the Fallen House of Kings since the Whirlwind, making him one of the oldest known Fallen, and the bedrock for the House of Kings. With his death the House of Kings would crumble, their dead being recreated by Fikrul as the Scorn. Without the direction of their founder, the House of Dusk would also begin to splinter. It was a very tragic end, to an otherwise brilliant House.
Conclusion
It should be clear now why the House of Kings was my favourite House. They were ultimately always in control, remaining hidden and preserving their strength. Although I never understood why Craask trusted Uldren to begin with, it is clear that this is what led to Craask’s downfall.
If you want to learn more about the other Fallen Houses or the world of Destiny in general, you can find what I’ve made so far on the MGN Destiny 2 Youtube channel and on the MGN Destiny 2 website. And if you want more? Well you know what to do. Grant the Kell of Lore time, and he will grant you more lore. My name’s Ben, and it has been a pleasure educating you. Take care!
Links
Get Destiny 2: Beyond Light on Steam
Official Beyond Light website by Bungie
Popular Beyond Light videos collected by MGN
Credits
| Program | Freedom! Scholarship |
| Author | Venextron |
| YouTuber | Venextron |
| Publisher | MGN TV |
| Game | Destiny 2 |