I had a strange idea the other day. What if Zavala simply loses the ability to communicate?

Maybe Xivu Arath, being the Hive god of war or whatever, uses some sort of hive magic to silence him because she understands his importance as our commander. Or maybe the Witness just pulls some typical Witness bullshittery. How it happens isn't what's important here, what's important is how he deals with it.

We've seen now with stasis, strand, and things like deepsight that Darkness powers have unique mind-bending properties that Light does not.

What if, after accepting that the Traveler isn't quite the benevolent protector it once seemed and seeing the Light and Dark for what they truly are, Zavala has to learn to wield the Darkness in order to communicate and effectively continue his role as our commander.

I think this would not only be an interesting opportunity for character development, but would also be a good opportunity to bring Eris and maybe even Elsie and Drifter back to the forefront for a bit to help him use Darkness. Also, though Ikora was quick to accept the use of Darkness, some of her dialogue recently seems to suggest that she's a bit more shaken by current events regarding the Traveler. Seeing Zavala resort to wielding the Darkness could affect her as well.