Destiny 2’s upcoming Forsaken expansion will start off by hitting players with one heck of a gut punch: the death of the beloved Hunter Guardian Cayde-6, who is voiced by none other than Firefly alum Nathan Fillion. Bungie has insisted in the past that Cayde-6’s death will be a permanent part of the game’s lore, but during a Kotaku interview in which he discussed his recent turn as iconic Uncharted treasure hunter Nathan Drake, Fillion offered a slightly different perspective on the matter.
During the interview, the subject of Cayde-6’s death was naturally broached since it has proven to be a rather big deal for fans, which is somewhat odd since, as of this writing, it hasn’t technically happened in the game itself. Still, Fillion was surprisingly frank in his response, saying that he doesn’t personally think that Cayde-6 is well and truly dead for good:
“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.”
When he was told about Bungie’s insistence that Cayde-6 is dead for good, Fillion naturally responded with a bit of snark that would most certainly make the Hunter Guardian he gave voice to proud:
“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. Cayde-6 prequel. That’s what we need to start talking about right now.”
Another interesting insight that was touched on in the interview is that Fillion actually doesn’t voice Cayde-6 at all in Forsaken. Scheduling conflicts between his many acting projects meant that Fillion had to sit out the entirety of Forsaken, though fortunately prolific video game voice actor Nolan North (who also voices Destiny 2’s in-game Ghost companion) was able to step in and supply what little dialogue Cayde-6 has before he bites the dust. Fillion was naturally disappointed about missing out on voicing Cayde-6 yet again, but he was also glad that the task went to someone he admires as much as North:
“Unfortunately, sometimes these things don’t work out. 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’s Forsaken expansion will launch for PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One on September 4.