Of the many tortured and troubled souls that dot the galaxy of Bungie’s space fantasy looter-shooter Destiny 2, the Exo Stranger is among the most tormented. Condemned to remember her past life and the circumstances of her rebirth, Elsie Bray now travels across timelines to prevent a dark future from befalling her sister.
So far, she’s made good progress in our current timeline, but the possibility of failing yet again continues to haunt her every decision. Here’s what’s known about Elsie Bray, the Exo Stranger.
Exo’s Origin
Elsie Bray was the daughter of Clovis Bray, a brilliant scientist during the Golden Age of humanity before the arrival of the Darkness and the collapse of the human race. She was with her father on Europa, assisting him with the EXO project as a way to cheat death, as she and her father were facing a fatal genetic disease inherited from Clovis the First, who had played God and experimented on his genetics years prior.
When the Vex arrived, one of many threats that would prove to be the downfall of humanity’s expansive empire, and with her own health rapidly failing, Elsie agreed to let her grandfather upload her mind into a modified Exo body, so she could help humanity’s crusade against the incurring Vex armadas. Her contributions to humanity’s multi-faceted war for survival would prove priceless, but her greatest contributions were yet to come.
A Life On Loop
Unfortunately for Elsie, things went on a downward spiral, and fast. Her sister, Ana Bray, was among many that were slaughtered or corrupted by the Darkness as it approached the Last City to finally kill off the Traveler and the remnants of humanity. When the Darkness and Traveler collided, Elsie awoke to a crowd cheering a recent victory by Cayde-6, long before that battle with the Darkness and Traveler, before the corruption of her sister. Elsie realized that she was now trapped in a time loop — dropping her off back at this point in time upon her death in a ‘Groundhog Day’ scenario.
Elsie would begin experimenting with the time loops, trying to exercise different approaches to avoid the apocalyptic scenario she originated from or to at least better remember previous loops, as she tended to start each loop with jumbled memories of her previous attempts. Regardless of her attempts and actions, everything seemed to end in catastrophe and her awakening amid that crowd once again. Some entities and groups across the galaxy that can perceive time and reality differently than a standard human began to notice her constant re-appearances, and she would acquire the nickname ‘The Exo Stranger’ as she appeared in different scenarios and situations across time with varying degrees of intention and agendas.
The Here & Now
The current time loop, the one players are a part of in Destiny 2’s gameplay, is showing signs of hope that Elsie’s efforts may finally be showing results in avoiding an apocalyptic end to the human race. Her sister, Ana, and the player character’s Guardian have both been informed of their potential future fates and have taken steps to help prevent them from materializing.
With the Black Garden destroyed and the Black Fleet being actively engaged with the seeming defeat of Calus, Elsie has made enough change to buy time for humanity in this loop. With any luck, this may prove to be the time that Elsie’s work yields fruit and prevents catastrophe. The Exo Stranger has her work cut out for her in the times to come, but so far, she has yet to disappoint.