Over the years Zavala went from the grumpy old guy that was not Shaxx to every guardian's dad. His character arc from the original Destiny until today, at the start of the end, is one all too familiar for GenX and Millennials.

Our fathers were mysteries when we were young, often like Zavala of the first game, off in their corner in contemplation, obvious pain, sharing love the only way they knew how. To tell us what to do without details on why. They had their hobbies, cars, and cigarettes. They were our heroes and our horrors all in one, just like Zavala. Then something happened in the late 90s or early 2000s. Our dads learned that being a ball of tension was not good for their family. Many of our moms showed our dads the door because they would not fucking relax and be just vulnerable enough for the kids and her to relate, just a little bit. I like to think Ikora or Saint had a talk with Zavala and explained that looking the guardian in the helmet and sharing something was more important than just getting shit done. That humanity is human, awoken, exo.

Zavala started to share as the guardians left the farm, these little things that reminded us he had a soul just like every other guardian. Well, maybe not Eris. He shared his feelings for Slone as we pushed the fallen off Titan. He laughed with Cayde. He mourned the speaker. He led us to war on Mars. Much later he shared the loss of his family, a guardian with a child. A father shared his grief that made him the stoic leader of today. Then our world broke. Lance Reddick, the actor who gave so much to the role of Zavala passed away. The community mourned in vigil. But Zavala's story was not complete. We cared for him and it was much harder than the death of Cayde, it was real, Lance was gone.

The story team at Bungie could have used this loss as a plot device as we now face The Witness. They did not take the easy road, Bungie re-cast Zavala, and the only person who could fill Lance Reddick's shoes was put into the role, [Keith David](Keith David - Wikipedia). The same actor that led every Shepard in Mass Effect as [Capt. David Anderson](List of Mass Effect characters - Wikipedia) leads the last of the Travelers dedicated to the last battle.

As I expected, Zavala grows from a dogmatic paladin with an unbreakable belief in his code and morals to a leader fighting for the existence of life itself, he changes when he asks "Isn’t this what you always wanted from me?" This change allows Keith David to stop emulating the Lance Reddick Zavala and become his own. As Zavala, Ikora, Cayde, and the guardian enter the traveler itself in The Final Shape. Just like our dads that were forced to grow out of the mess that our grandparents made and take a deep look inside to be able to keep going Zavala takes stock of whom he has become and the needs of his family and chooses to fucking grow.

I was worried that Zavala would not be handled well when he's become my second favorite "mentor" in the tower, just barely behind Saint-14. Rest assured the terrible situation that Bungie found themselves in at the end of a decade of storytelling was handled beautifully.