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Toland is one of the peak Warlocks. Listens to Deathsong, doesn’t die fully. Gives you sword logic gun even though he’s mad at you. Schizo posts. He’s what every aspiring Warlock should be. I still have my old Shadow Price at current power.

Can we appreciate Byf reading in Tolands voice like an actual madman? I was enveloped and in awe of his acting! Love your vids man!

"WHY ARE YOU LEAVING!?" Bro, my god roll didn't drop.

The idea of Toland the Shattered becoming an actual antagonist is intriguing. The “Fine, I’ll do it myself.” idea really comes through when you consider that we’ve basically destroyed an entire pantheon of Gods, and did NOTHING with the spoils of those battles besides making a few guns.

Toland seeing yet another immensly powerful paracausal being turn down godly power

Does the existence of Strand destroy Toland's hypothesis? Hearing Toland mentioned again has me wondering that.

Toland: Let me know if there's a vacancy Us: There's a vacancy Toland: ...wait... no

"To have Light, we must have Dark. This is the symmetry of the Universe." - Controversial warlock Ulan- Tan. From the ship Symmetry Flight

I think Toland is definitely fanatic enough to pull a "Fine, I'll do it myself."

It only just dawned on me that Oryx was undone by the setting free of taken light, i.e. by the removal of “shape” that was imposed upon light. Savathun was undone with the truth by removal of deception she had been under. Xivu’s defeat by the refusal to wage war/pacifism was a bit more explicit as was Eris’s choice to reject revenge and the very sword logic itself. In all cases, these were clear evidence against the axioms they hoped to become. Axiom is a very specific word meaning a truth that is so self evident. Axioms by their nature are impossible to prove any further while being impossible to disprove. They are absolute truth and any refutation within their scope irrevocably disproves them therein. They may still yet be axioms but their scope must be redefined. Taking the throne is to redefine the axiom, rejecting it is to leave it disproven. Xivu must bring a more profound embodiment of war to continue existing while Toland needs to redefine the meaning of shape. Xivu seems doomed to failure but Tolands clearest path may see him fundamentally alter the ascendant plane if he can wrest dominion of it from those who still hold power there. It’s a perilous path he must traverse but there’s a great threat to us if he were to prove to himself fit to navigate it.

Toland "Wait....where are you going, take Oryx's throne!" Guardians "Nah I'm cool bro" Toland *mad*

The grratest threar we know? Yeah maybe when he gets a Hypothesis streak that doesn't look like Kelgorath's Combat record.

I love that all of our interactions with Toland have basically been him d***riding the Sword Logic and us going "...Bet"

So... is the spark we see in Prophecy actually Toland, or a construct of the Nine? The idea of a prismatic Toland with the power of the Nine behind him is... Lets say "fascinating" for now.

I could see Toland totally being like “ … you used the sword logic and did not rule the hive… you fools! I will surpass Eris Morn by a thousand fold!”

Cant wait for bungie to turn Toland into a gun if he becomes the leader of the hive

I can absolutely see, only after we have defeated The Witness and killed Xivu Arath & Savathûn, Toland finally take what he believes is his and ascend. Not as The Shattered, but rather Toland, The Taken Usurper

Know what’s funny if a hive ghost resurrected Crota and he’s wondering why he feels empty cause we stole a part of his soul

Just imagine Kelgorath taking Xivu's throne with Toland as his adviser

To Old Friends ending with "...wait. come back." almost entirely hints that it is Toland, and I love it. Toland is bitter and tired, tired of watching us "squander" such great power. I certainly think if he gets even a semblance of an opportunity, he'll take it

I absolutely loved your manic, frenzied readings of Toland's notes. It makes perfect sense that he'd speak like that and it was greatly entertaining :)

Toland was really on The Guardian then got mad when we didn't take the Throne(he still hasn't let it go). Now he's beefing with Eris now. Love and hate this guy, one of the biggest Guardian haters. Hope he comes to power and becomes a villain.

I love the mental images of Toland rising as a threat

Toland be like, “You literally threw, Eris!”

You know... the prospect of having Toland as a villain in a hypothetical Destiny 3 would be pretty cool.

Toland the Shattered seeing people constantly rejecting absolute Hive Power: *“Fine…I’ll do it myself.”* Oh, and video starts at 2:40

Byf's narration is at its best here. This is wildly good.

genuinely appreciate the effort byf puts into reading the lore; it’s actually really good

"But i do not think those Spears will hold against the Queen of the City of Armies." We are those spears. We will hold.

Man... your lore-reads, the voices you give the narration... epic. I love your videos.

I wonder what Toland will have to say about Transcendance. We've been disproving his worldview since we defeated Oryx and everything onward, but combing the Light and Darkness to go beyond the logic and the game... very excited to see that. 25:24 also, is Toland talking about the portal on the Traveler in this sentence? It's interesting that he'd call the Pale Heart the afterlife, considering not just Cayde but other hints throughout the lore pointing to some afterlife existing inside the Traveler and being tied to the Light...

I love the idea of Toland being a villain, whether that ends up being in an Episode or something bigger. Aside from Uldren and Lakshmi who were both heavily manipulated (by the same person for that matter), Toland would be the first true human villain outside the lore to my recollection. I think that would also be great for the Hive as a faction who have been led by relatively similar characters in terms of ranking and history.

I feel bad for Toland honestly. The dude was so sure the sword logic is the endgame, but we have proven him wrong every step. Killed Crota (though we did so by using sword logic in a way) Killed Oryx via bomb logic, its direct opposite, and then didn't claim the throne for ourselves. Savathune literally turns away from it and turns to the light. Now we are gonna clap the Witness's cheeks. The true Queen of a country of armies. Toland is like a flat earther ignoring the thousands of signs what he belives is BS, but just ignores it because he wants to be right more than he want to be correct.

Byf I just want to give kudos to your delivery of the readings Toland’s Journal. You did more than just read it, you brought it to life. 😊

I don't think we are the queens ringed in Spears, I think we are the spears that became queens

What if Poland the shattered was Yolanda the freaky and instead of whining he touched guardians

I’ve gone back and been listening to a lot of you older videos lately to refresh some lore and hearing your progression in voice acting when reading lore is just so awesome. You’ve grown so much as a voice actor and it’s so cool to see!

Toland giving a brutal lesson on game theory. “So it’s all a game theory?” “Always has been” -Toland (probably)

Would love to hear what could be said for Clovis as well since he has been cooking something up since Seraph with the message “They know.” Clovis and Toland are some top tier egomaniacs, we need more of them.

Always fun to hear your lore reading. You bring such excitement to storytelling and speculation.

Wow just in time for the drive home!!

I like how both the Hive and the Vex have someone who was so obsessed with figuring them out that both got exiled. Toland and Osiris would have a lot to talk about.

There are patrol quests on the moon that ask you to find toland, he disses you then leaves, and its complete .... now i understand lol 😂

I feel like Toland would be a great Dungeon boss, his through line in said Dungeon could be realizing that the Guardians use of Light and Dark is what he should’ve strived for instead of believing in the Sword Logic but only realizing too late and then gets turned into a Light and Darkness gun or something as the Exotic

It honestly never occurred to me that Toland was an enemy... I always thought he was neutral to us (albeit as a textbook nihilist) but liked to give us advice purely to make things entertaining for him, "executions are much more fun when the martyr thinks they have a chance against the lion". This definitely changes my perspective of him quite a bit...

Warlocks gone mad are some of the most interesting story themes imo

Is it just me or does Byf's voice acting keep getting better and better? Coz I'm getting chills with how awesome he is.

Toland: Hive God of Chaos. Chaos, often coincides with madness. Tye power vacuum after the Witness’ death is bound to cause much chaos and madness.

I was against the idea at first, but when Byf mentioned the Worms I was thinking; he doesn't need the Worms to rule the Hive. We've recently rescued a bunch of ahamkara eggs, and Whim wishes are wild and potent. Toland is a non-corporeal transcendent being who can appear and disappear wherever he wants at will, both in the Corporeal and Ascendant planes. At this point, I'm certain he's fed up enough with us to take matters into his own hands. I've come around on this. We've definitely not seen the last of Toland.

I want to let you know, Byf: I appreciate the acting you've been doing lately when reading lore tabs. It's neat, and you're pretty good at it. Keep going my guy.

Toland assisting Kelgorath to take the (a) throne would be amazing

Byf does a superb voice acting job for Toland. So immersive

Great job on this one!

I’ve always loved Byf as a narrator. He really brings the lore and world of Destiny to life, doing its writing justice. But his ravings as Toland? Was conveyed eloquently. Toland has always been a wordsmith, but his words’ elegance are often undercut by his mad ramblings of obsession. Toland wants, *needs* you to see the purity of the Sword as the Hive do.

Enjoyed this one a lot Byf

With my first exotic being Bad Juju I have been following Toland for a long time

Never been this early. Love your content, Byf!

I dont feel like this has been mentioned enough. You have become really talented at voice acting. It really helps set the mood for all these videos. You're incredible at reading lore entries, and filling them with emotions. Really good storytelling on your part

1 MILLION!!!! BYF HAS BECOME LEGEND!

I REALLY love how you captured Toland's hysteria in your readings.

I genuinely hope we see more if not a lot of Toland in Episode 3: Heresy. I think the name fits what could be going on with the vacancy of the Hive thrones. He's fed up with the mantle not being taken up. And he is definitely fanatical enough for him to finally say, "Fine, I'll do it myself."

I like how Regicide kicks in at 20:46.

"Spit of sand in the middle of the sea of screams" - pure poetry

"Come, opener of vacancies."

That darkness 3 reading almost reminded me of Sir Wallen's videos. Man I miss his videos

If there is a destiny 3…… I nominate byf to be considered our in game lore master speaker.

Do we know if a body less soul could take over a physical body in the Destiny universe? I had a disturbing thought of Eris somehow being taken over by Toland. She came close to wielding the power Toland seeks, even though he scolds her for “wasting” the opportunity. Crazy thought.

The Darkness 3 grimoire text reminds me of Judge Holden in Blood Meridian, “Whatever in creation exists without my knowledge exists without my consent." He would have loved the hive.

Could we potentially see a video on what we know about Ulan-Tan? With the return of the Whisper mission as well as the principles behind Transcendance, it feels like it would all fit together

Thanks Factor

I like to interpret this 26:41 as a sadder “come back. please” type of moment. Where Toland is curious about Eris’ motives and is feeling a bit of remorse for his anger.

Hey if to the thing that shows like the entire history of destiny in the top right corner at the start in a frame there is a picture or a symbol that I don’t recognize. It looks like kinetic like the kinetic symbol, but I don’t know but check it out.

Maybe it's just my job driving me insane but i understood most of that.

I always forget how poetic these lore passages can be.

Out of topic but Byf, can you please do a short lore on self rez on warlock in d1?

I think the idea of him taking the witness’s place after we defeat it is very intriguing

I love it when Byf talks about Toland the Shatted

I think Toland has the capability of being a great antagonist going forward. If we're moving beyond the light vs dark saga into a saga where there is harmony between them, what better villain to have then one we know has the potential to wield both. Not only that, but he could be setting up dominos in the episodes and expansions to come under our noses, only to emerge in a few years as Toland the Transcended. I do find it interesting that Mara has commented recently about wielding the Taken. If she's successful, saves the awoken, and then throws that power away, she'd also be on Toland's list of squanders.

given the title of the Hive episode, "Heresy," it could be referring to Toland's opinion of us and Eris. He may consider us heretics of the sword logic and now his enemies.

Nice to see after a year break from your videos, due to your voice going out and random ppl voicing your videos (ya.. no) i look forward to your current and future wonderful content Sir!

We know, ever since Taken King, that Toland has been biding his time. I think, he, and eventually the Worm Gods, won’t be able to ignore Eris becoming a Hive God. If the Witness and all its forces are killed and routed out of Sol after Final Shape, this may force the Worm Gods to reevaluate their view on the Sword Logic. Making them desperate enough, to make a pact, even with a broken soul of a human that was once a Guardian. This would go against the sword logic, because Toland’s life and death, is evident that he was too weak. But, as I said, the Worm Gods would probably hide their desperation behind “bold experimentation”. With this, Toland could regain a new Hive/Human body, and be reborn as Toland: Hive God of Chaos. This would be fitting, as he was mad, and madness often coincides with chaos. We also know, much chaos will erupt when all of Sol tries to fill the power vacuum left by the Witness’ death. Given the right circumstances, Toland could even take all three of the Hive siblings Throneworlds. The lore has hinted Savathun will meet her end as well. But, from a writing standpoint, Bungie probably wants her to be the last of the trio to die, getting more stories out of her, because they know how popular she’s become.

Toland's argument is predicated on a fact that is rather dubious at this point. The queen who wrote their laws was destroyed by those laws and left adrift, the one that built her tower saw beyond the swords' illusion and aligned her goals with ours, the queen that raised an army now stands stripped and alone. Even still, taking the sword logic to it's conclusion, the Hive were on a march to their own guaranteed doom. Only the strongest may survive. Even their mightiest had masters: The worm gods, the Disciples, The Witness, the Deep. If the weak and unnecessary are to be carved away by the blade, eventually, it will come for their heads. Toland placed his lot in with those destined(heh) to be cast aside. By refuting the sword logic, we tear away from the cycle; in other words the guardians made their own fate.

I think I can honestly say that if there was ever a Destiny show of some sort Byf is going to have to play Toland. 💯 Percent.

I've played since vanilla D1, but I didn't really dive into and immerse myself in the lore until the Beyond Light year (say what will you will about how the seasonal structure has grown stale, but at the time, the shift to injecting more of the lore and story into the game itself, and putting lore tabs on armor and weapons, and doling out lore pages each week, really whet my appetite for all of the lore, I then spent months going back and reading all the prior lore). So, when Toland showed up in the Dreaming City in Forsaken, I didn't think much of it or know the significance. For Byf and the rest of you that were loreheads back then, was Toland's appearance an amazing, jump out of your chair kind of moment? He didn't appear in the game anywhere before that, outside the lore, did he? So was it a massive, exciting reveal? That'd be really cool if so.

Would be really interesting story wise to (in either the Episodes or a Destiny 3) after whatever happens in Final Shape our new main antagonists turning out to be from humanity ie: Clovis and/or Toland. Wouldn't be surprised if Toland makes a move after we wrap up the Xivu thread.

Toland has always been one of my favorites character in Destiny. If done right Toland could make an Amazing antagonistic force in the story. Just imagine if we stuck a bargain for power with Xivu Arath or The Witness.

Byf not sure if you'll ever see this but, I was looking over the Allstar Vector skimmer and when I read it I realized it is Savathuns Song!!!!! Say "Do dragonflies do loop-de-loops" Is it possible that Lysander has something to do with Savathun? Just wanted to share this, thought it was interesting.

Love the story and the lore

Great interpretation of Toland! ⭐

I think Toland has the potential to work his way up from retainer to an actual God tier threat. Especially considering his outlook, understanding, and not to forget, his opinion of us. Would make for one hell of a story twist.

If you don't mind me putting this here Byf, the most chilling part about Toland's Queen analogy is that you could potentially translate it too the modern world. (Additional note that is grasping at straws: What if the Heresy episode is about Toland and not Xivu?)

Honestly this would be pretty cool. If Toland finds a way to take the Hive power Vacuum after Xivu Arath is killed. D3 would be a crazy time for a Guardian Civil War to happen. With Elsie's dark future being the base and instead of Eris being the one corrupted it'd be Toland. And guardians that were just following The status quo with the Witness threat. Once that's done i think some Guardians that are new light or some older ones getting ambitous or Arrogant would be a interestin story thread to follow.

Things are hard to see from this point forward. Depending on what happens to the witness and if the sol system changes in some way, we as guardians could be confronting the gardener. And then be sent to do other things larger than the light and darkness saga.

byf out here campaigning for toland with the same fervour I have when I tell my clan mates I believe in an Unchained Nokris or a resurgent Clovis. everyone out here excited for what comes after, and personally I love the idea of a next big bad being human

Have you done a vid like this for Yor? Since he’s not technically taking the forever nap, I can see him making a return as at least a multi-season villain or co-conspirator for a bigger player. Would be dope for one of the next major enemy factions be an anti-guardian guardian gang: Toland, Yor, Big Exo Bray, a new random Warlord or two, Drifter’s evil twin brother Duster 😂

The most interesting thing about all of this is Toland has watched those around him reach for a godhood that he has craved since he died, but even in the sea of screams he is merely a speck. The Osmium Throne lies empty and he does not have enough power in the Ascendant Plane to take it for himself. He hates us and even Eris for this. At best for all of Toland’s knowledge of the Hive the best he can do is tempt us in the hopes of becoming only a retainer.

Watching this on an old ass iPod for shits n giggles. But ur resolution is rly damn good surprisingly

That first lore card speaks of finality being the ability to rule so absolutely that nothing can ever rise but by your will. This is a very similar description of what the Witness is trying to achieve with the final shape.

Very supportive for the Hive's "Sword Logic".