Why Rasputin NEVER shot the Traveler; and the downfall of similar misconceptions (x-post from DestinyLore)

**Not sure it's worth it to continue this because (A) you're diligently ignoring a number of points people have made here that undermine yours, and (B) it's a video game. But what the hey.

First off, the order is ABHORRENT IMPERATIVE. LOKI CROWN is a mechanism and/or weapon and/or battle formation, or something.

So, a couple assumptions here you're treating as fact, without which the conclusion is insupportable.

So where is the communique that countermands LOKI CROWN? It doesn't exist.

Quite difficult to make that claim. We haven't seen it, sure, but the whole grimoire is like that. There are like 12 more Books of Sorrow that aren't anywhere we can read them...

SUBTLE ASSETS is a group within the military architecture

Not established what exactly it is/they are.

Beyond that there are additional problems with the claim. Whether the assets have full volition or not, the original order does say "Stand by for DECISION POINT:" obviously an instruction to assets/subminds/"resilient instances"/whatever to WAIT before committing to ABHORRENT IMPERATIVE, because Rasputin has to decide whether the last condition (O departure, and compromise of survival and epoch strategy) was met.

Unverified, of course. Yet, as pointed out several other times in this thread, we don't even know for sure that the last criteria "If available ISR and WARWATCH indicates imminent [O] departure" was met at all. Your contention that the Traveler was going to run "because it always runs" is very questionable both because we don't have clear evidence of that—only the statements of objectively evil beings and some hazy assumptions about what happened to the Fallen—and because even if we did have evidence, the conclusion rests on a fallacy: induction is not proof; even if something happened every time before, unless you have a proof, you cannot claim it will happen every time after. (Especially when you consider GF: Traveler 2.)

All of this also ignores that in the hypothetical scenario wherein the criteria were met, who was to communicate that to the assets? Do all of these assets (again assuming they're fully autonomous, which I do not) have the access to determine what Rasputin's tactical morality setting is, for example? (and don't say "yes, of course!"; we have no idea). I would think Rasputin himself would have to verify that all criteria were met. I mean would you grant a large number of highly destructive mechanisms/installations decide to commit to a catastrophic order at their own discretion without a final GO? Maybe if you're a Nazi trying to CYA, yes. But Rasputin was at that point still considering the "human/neohuman survival and epoch strategy" and might be a little more scrupulous?

Even if you're right that all subminds and assets were completely self-supporting and autonomous, AND your unsupported conclusion that the Traveler was indeed about to leave thus fulfilling the criteria, AND that Rasputin didn't have to finally greenlight the order even after the DECISION POINT—none of which I concede—it still doesn't refute my original contention that Rasputin could at any point still override his original instructions at will. Again yes we haven't seen conclusive evidence of that, but this whole thread is ABOUNDING with circumstantial evidence.

Basically I'll admit that we don't 100% know either way, but I think the OP is pretty compelling and your vehemence that you're right is bringing you to some pretty tenuous arguments and maybe should just stop worrying about it so much. I certainly am going to after this.

/r/DestinyTheGame Thread Parent