Destiny 2 took a hard turn into unexpected territory last month at E3, when fan favorite Guardian Cayde-6 was killed dead by Uldren Sov during a big breakout from the Prison of Elders. Since then, Bungie has adamantly and unequivocally insisted that the killing is real, and Cayde-6 is dead. But Nathan Fillion, the voice actor behind the character, told Kotaku that he doesn't buy it.
Fillion began (at around 6:00, after talking about a short Uncharted fan film he starred in that was released today) by saying that he's not actually involved in the Destiny 2: Forsaken expansion at all, which would be why he's speculating on, rather than simply spoiling, the ultimate fate of Cayde-6. "I wasn't available for this last installment. It's not me doing the voice for Cayde-6," he said.
"How do I feel about Cayde-6? I absolutely love him. How do I feel about that character dying? I don't personally believe it. He's a Guardian. He should be able to come back. I mean, that's their whole thing, they come back, right? The whole thing is the resurrection."
Informed of Bungie's commitment to the kill, Fillion sounded circumspect, but determined to make the best of it. "In that case, my go-to would be, I'm really excited to work with Activision again and do the prequel of how we get to Caydes 1 through 5," he said. "Cayde-6 prequel. That's what we need to start talking about right now."
So if Fillion doesn't portray Cayde-6 in Forsaken, who does? None other than voice actor extraordinaire Nolan North, who already has a prominent role in Destiny 2 as the player's Ghost. The new role also very impressively demonstrates his range and flexibility as a voice actor: Tim played an expansion mission at E3 and even though Cayde-6 was his usual chatty self, the difference was "barely noticeable ... not enough to think it was a different guy."
"Unfortunately, sometimes these things don't work out," Fillion said, explaining that he was simply too busy to appear in the expansion. "It's a little bit heartbreaking, but if it has to go to somebody else, thank God it goes to someone who I absolutely love, and the fans love too. The character was in very good hands."
Destiny 2: Forsaken goes live on September 4.