Cayde-6 is a witty, comedic Hunter that served as a mentor and friend in Bungie’s Destiny 2 and fans were heartbroken to find out that his time on-screen was limited when the third major expansion drops later this year; Forsaken. But the rub just got even more painful, because not only are they killing off this beloved character, but he won’t even be voiced by Nathan Fillion – the person that helped bring Cayde’s magic to life.
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You may have seen the short fan film based off of Naughty Dog’s Uncharted series with Fillion himself, and while the actor was promoting his latest project he admitted that he wasn’t a part of Cayde’s journey for that last stretch. Destiny 2 fans got their hands on the latest expansion during this year’s E3 and it was during that time that the difference in the character’s voice was noted. Many thought he didn’t sound like he usually does, and now we finallyhave answers as to why.
But why? With Cayde-6 dying fairly early on in the expansion, why miss out on those last few moments? We’ve got a few theories with the most likely being simply budget. Cayde-6 dies really early on in the expansion’s narrative and it’s no secret that Nathan Fillion isn’t a cheap name to have on. The well-known actor could have been seen as not necessary for just a few short lines before we say goodbye forever. Makes sense, but it doesn’t mean we’re not saddened by that … Fillion made that character what he was – it just won’t be a proper send off.
There is a bright side, however. Another well-known name has stepped in to provide those much-needed lines and that’s none other than Nolan North. Since North is already the voice behind Ghost, it makes taking on two birds with one talent much more easier and cost efficient.
As to why Bungie felt the need to kill off the character, they explained their decision earlier this year. “There wasn’t a single lightning moment where someone unveiled a grand design about killing Cayde,” said project lead Scott Taylor. “It was much more organic than that and developed from a series of ideas we were trying to explore. We wanted to tell a story with huge stakes, but have those stakes be really personal to the player. We’ve done aliens trying to destroy the universe with the consequences of failure resulting in catastrophe. What if we could get that feeling with something closer to home, and more relatable? That was appealing.”
He added, “We started discussing what we cared about as Guardians, and it became clear that the Vanguard had really come alive as characters for our fans. So each of the expansions over the last year have focused on them: Ikora in Curse of Osirsis, Zavala in Warmind and now Cayde in Forsaken. We haven’t taken a player off the board like this before, and we realized that the loss of Cayde would mean more to the Player than any other possible external threat we could think of. All the ideas came together and formed what became Forsaken.”(source)
