Paradox

Paradox is a story mission in The Taken King and is part of The Taken War: Venus questline. It takes place inside the Vault of Glass.

Transcript
All dialogue is spoken through the Ghost's comms.

(loading screen)

IKORA REY: The Vault of Glass. It is one of the Vanguard's greatest triumphs. The destruction of Time's Conflux. A victory over the Vex collective mind.

IKORA REY: From deep in that vault, we've received a message laced with an old Vanguard signal. Vex technology disrupts the weft and weave of time itself. If a Guardian has become lost, unstuck in time, we must return them home.

(gameplay)

(The Guardian arrives at the Waking Ruins. Evidence of a non-Guardian raid is starting to show, as all of the Vex in the area are malfunctioning badly, twitching despite still having their head, and firing shots randomly due to the damage reaching their programming.)

IKORA REY: The message we received was this:

PRAEDYTH: (through static; parts of the message that are not recorded by subtitles are denoted in [brackets]) [They want me to send] a message. The creatures will soon reach the heart of the Vault. When [they do, they'll destroy the Vex.] Once they take the Vex, they'll come for the Light.

IKORA REY: That's why you're here.

('After making it to the Vault's entrance, they discover eight Goblins neatly arranged in two groups of four at each side of the door, and appear to be doing some kind of salute.)

GHOST: Wait! Don't shoot them! They're not in a combat sequence. I think they're waiting for something.

(Indeed they are, as the Vault's door opens shortly after.)

(The Guardian travels through the entrance and past the Trial of Kabr. More malfunctioning Vex are seen, and only appear to be attacking the Guardian out of a broken reflex, as opposed to actually willing harm on them.)

PRAEDYTH: [I have no idea] where I am. My name is Praedyth, and I was a member of Kabr's Fireteam. I just hope [someone can hear this.]

IKORA REY: Praedyth. I've heard that name before. Scattered pieces of gear, references in the margin of a text. He is real.

(The Guardian makes it all the way down to the Templar's well. As they approach the main entrance to the Gorgon's Labyrinth, the door becomes blocked and a large orb of Darkness begins to form and detonate, spawning hordes of Taken, mostly Vex, Fallen, and Centurions. The Guardian battles through the gruelling mass before gaining access to the Labyrinth.) 

IKORA REY: If the Taken are here in the Vault, they are at the heart of the Vex collective mind. Imagine the machine-planets of the Vex surging with Taken power. This must not be, Guardian.

PRAEDYTH: [I don't know why they let] me speak. Now, after so long. [But if anyone is listening, I went] into the Vault with two others. Kabr was intense sometimes. And Pahanin was always talking to [himself. But they don't deserve] this. No one does.

(As the Guardian approaches the massive drop to the Gorgon's Labyrinth, Taken Hobgoblins begin to spawn with them. Now equipped with powerful orbs set to lock on and fire when the Hobgoblin receives damage, the Guardian must kill them with caution, or ignore their Void-infused Line Rifles altogether.)

GHOST: I'm tracking the signal. Just a little further.

(The Guardian begins to travel into the Labyrinth.)

GHOST: I've lost the signal. Something down here is blocking it.

(As the Guardian travels further, a giant Hydra appears: Morphon, the Blighted Mind. Thought to be a warped, twisted version of none other than the types of Vex Axis Minds like the Templar, it terrifyingly shares the same characteristics, being able to summon Oracles and detain the Guardian. In this case, Morphon's Oracles make it invincible without relying on Taken Goblins.)

GHOST: That's it! That Hydra is causing the block. Take it out, or we may never find Praedyth.

(The Guardian does so, fighting through the same powers that the Templar once used: Oracles and detain bubbles.)

GHOST: I think... yes. We've cleared the Vault of Taken. For the moment, anyway.

PRAEDYTH: I think that's it. They're closing the door. ''I lived!. Just remember, tell them: [I lived-]''

GHOST: Signal's gone. But I can pinpoint the source.

(The Guardian proceeds towards where the first chest in the Labyrinth would normally be. In its place is a skeleton, and Ghost scans it.)

GHOST: These bones are centuries old. There's a faint echo of Light. This was a Guardian, once. Ikora, I'm sorry we couldn't bring him back.

IKORA REY: Do not apologize. Guardian, you have reclaimed his name from oblivion. In a way, he lives again in the name of the archives.

(Mission ends.)

(Alternatively, there is a secret in the mission presumed to be linked to the Daily Heroic story mission, a derelict Vex gate high above the Throne of Glass's entrance, and the Throne itself, elsewhere in time. Triggering it either through a glitch or the correct method (TBA) gives the following sequence:)

(The Guardian is warped to a distant point in time at the Throne of Glass. Suddenly, Praedyth speaks again, without constraint and directly addressing the Guardian, implying that the Vault transformed his consciousness into a time-traveling being, just as how Toland lived on after the Deathsingers destroyed his body. The objective on the screen indicates that this is a view of a possibly doomed timeline in which the Vex were facing a crisis that could lead to their extinction thanks to the Taken, something that could have never happened before.)

PRAEDYTH: Welcome to the end of the Vex. Their immutable future.

(Copious amounts of Taken Vex begin spawning, and the Guardian begins fighting them.)

(Suddenly, the Blighted Descendant, one of Oryx's zealots, appears where a Gatekeeper or Atheon would appear at the Throne.)

PRAEDYTH: Enslaved to a will they don't understand. A will long dead here. Dead eons ago. But then they won't end, will they? Because you're here.

(The Blighted Descendant is destroyed and the Throne cleared of Taken.)

PRAEDYTH: The Vex won't spare the City. They won't even thank you. But that's the thing about Light: you never know where it'll shine.

(As a gift from Praedyth, the door at the Throne's entrance opens up. A chest in the chamber behind the door can be seen. Opening it earns the Guardian the Cult Ghost, a Ghost using the Intrusion Shell that once belonged to Praedyth.)

GHOST: Another dead Ghost. This is... wait, I think this is Praedyth's Ghost. She's still got files in her core memory. They're marked with Future War Cult headers. I'd bet Lakshmi will want to see this.

(Mission ends.)