Following the release ofDestiny 2: The Final Shape, developer Bungie is moving the game to a new model that will ditch seasons in favor of Episodes. These are narrative arcs that last longer than seasons and should pack in a lot more story set after the expansion’s conclusion.
Destiny 2has had dozens of seasons, each one slowly moving the story forward between expansions. I’ve had my battles with this model because, at times, it felt to me like I couldn’t play anything else if I wanted to make the most of them. WithThe Final Shapebeing the last major expansion for the game, Bungie is moving away from seasons and offering players something new and different on a much less pressured time scale.
Destiny 2Episodes guide
AfterDestiny 2: The Final Shapewas delayed, so too were the Episodes that were coming to the game after its launch. I have final timing details on the first Episode, and using the six-week schedule, I’ve worked out roughly when the following Episodes and Acts should be released. I’ve outlined this below, alongside what each Episode should be about.
Destiny 2 Episode 1: Echoes
Destiny 2 Episode 1: Echoesis scheduled for release onJune 11, 2024. This Episode will focus on the Vex, which likely means it’ll entail some sort of world-ending problem they’re causing by going back or forward in time. The Acts release schedule for this Episode is roughly as follows.
Destiny 2 Episode 2: Revenant
Destiny 2 Episode 2: Revenantis a Scorn-based Episode. This faction is one of the most annoying to fight in the game but also incredibly interesting because they’re effectively mutated Fallen zombies. It’ll be interesting to see what they’re up to when this Episode rolls around. The rough timings for the Episode are as follows.
Destiny 2 Episode 3: Heresy
To end the run of Episodes, we haveDestiny 2 Episode 3: Heresy. This one will look at the Hive, though I have no idea which ones in particular. We’ve battled with the Hive pretty consistently since the originalDestinyand have killed off or seriously injured most of their leaders. It’s hard to imagine what might pop up next. The rough timings for this Episode are outlined below.
This would take us up to just over a year after the release ofDestiny 2: The Final Shape. However, the original timeline was just shy of a year, so I’d expect a few of these end and launch weeks to coincide or shift back to fall in line with the original plan.
What are Episodes inDestiny 2?
Episodes are massive chunks of new content forDestiny 2. While seasons often added a new story you could play a part of each week, Dungeons, new activities, and new weapons, Episodes go further. They still have all the same content a season would add, but now more is added every six weeks.
For example, the Echoes Episode begins with Act 1, then it’ll get Act 2 six weeks later, and Act 3 after another six weeks. Each Act adds new activities,new Exotics, more story, and even more season pass ranks to climb through. They layer on top of each other until the Episode ends after three months, and the next one starts.
My hope for this system is that it does away with the frantic need to play through everything in a season as fast as possible as soon as it drops. Instead, each Episode can feel like the smaller expansions of the past, such asWarmind.
