Mara Sov is the leader of a third-party faction, the Awoken, in Bungie’s hit MMO-FPS Destiny and its sequel, Destiny 2. While she works to protect her people and further their influence against the forces of the Darkness, she is not aligned with the Guardians and the Last City, insisting that her people maintain some degree of independence.
Regardless of her allegiances to humanity, an ally against the Darkness isn’t something the Guardians are willing to look past. Here’s what we know about Mara Sov, the Queen of the Reef.
Mara Sov Origins
Mara Sov and her fellow Awoken were made into their current forms by chance, when a Singularity, formed during the Collapse, sucked the ship they were all traveling aboard inside. Mara Sov’s mind formed the basis for a pocket universe that constituted the other end of the singularity, and the humans aboard the ship soon settled into a vast new culture, departing from the cultures and identities they previously held.
Mara Sov would help found a movement based on the idea that they were reborn here with the intention to return to their original universe and thrive once the threat of the Darkness had faded. Conflict would arise between competing ideologies about the nature of their creation and purpose, which Mara Sov refused to intervene in and allowed to boil over into active civil conflict and war, with the intention of strengthening her people’s desire to return to the proper universe like Mara Sov had desired.
Eventually, Mara Sov and a fleet of her loyalists left their pocket universe, dubbed the Distributary, and settled in an asteroid belt with the intention of building around and atop the asteroids to form the basis for a new society. They called this new settlement The Reef.
Mara Sov In Destiny 2
Upon learning that humanity still existed and was actively combating the Darkness and various other forces across the galaxy, a rift formed in the Awoken populace of The Reef, with some breaking away to open contact with the Last City and aid their cause, while others wished to stay out of a conflict that wasn’t their own. Mara Sov would eventually have The Reef at-large involved in the war against the Darkness, seeing humanity as an ally to work alongside for a common goal.
Mara Sov would aid the Guardians by working alongside Clovis Bray, who quickly won the ire and distaste of the Awoken leader and everyone else in his presence with his self-righteous arrogance and desire for personal empowerment. While not fond of AI, Mara Sov would tell Ana Bray that she’s warmed to working alongside the salvaged Warmind Rasputin after the imprisonment of Clovis and re-activation of weapon systems that Rasputin once controlled.
Mara Sov’s Personality
Mara Sov isn’t so much ‘killing with kindness’ as much as she is ‘defeating potential enemies by allying with them.’ Getting on the good side of the Guardians and the people of the Last City opens up avenues for mutual defense, trade, and resource acquisition, which will benefit the expanding Awoken presence inside and beyond The Reef. The Reef and her people’s destiny are Mara’s primary concerns, even if these concerns are resolved with deception, lies, and the fostering of violence among dividing factions within the Awoken.
Not without mercy, Mara Sov is far from unapproachable, and is good at making professional and personal connections, legitimate and manipulative alike. Fans and characters in-game have come to love Mara Sov — her status as a reasonable third-party entity in what is otherwise a good vs evil storyline makes her memorable and intriguing. As long as her people continue to expand into the universe to establish their own foothold of the galaxy to call home, Mara Sov will continue her quest to defeat the Darkness — with or without the Guardians, if it comes down to it.
