Sergeant Eddings

Overview

While not much is known of Sergeant Eddings, the player character and silent protagonist of Bungie's Pathways into Darkness, he is counted as one of only eight men chosen in the spring of 1994 to take part in a dangerous assignment of vital importance to the world, and so it can be reasonably assumed that he is a highly trained operative and a man of substantial means. This mission and its members are assembled by the United States at the behest of Ryu'Toth, a mysterious Jjaro emissary who was responsible for warning the President of Earth's impending doom. Deep within the Yucatán Peninsula, it told, far below the planet's surface, an ancient, powerful, and destructive being has slumbered for eons, an entity that has gradually begun to awaken. They are instructed by the Jjaro to carry a nuclear bomb to the lowest level of the pyramid, detonating it close enough to the entity to disable it and bury it in its underground chamber.

Things do not go exactly as planned for Eddings, however, as a parachute malfunction causes him to crash land, with his emergency parachute barely opening in time to save his life. When he awakens two hours later, the remainder of his squad has left him behind, and he proceeds into the pyramid with almost no supplies. With only five days to complete his objective, Eddings delves deep within, discovering dangerous monsters and the remains of many previous explorers. Eventually, he finds the bodies of his squad mates as well, confirming that he is the last soldier left who can place and activate the bomb.

In the game's epilogue, found in the official Pathways hint book, it is revealed that Eddings did in fact return from his mission, which was presumably a success. He is shown demonstrating the use of an Ice Crystal to incredulous onlookers and describing many of the dangers he faced in the pyramid; it is also implied that he may have brought with him various artifacts that he chose not to reveal to others.

Trivia

• The name "Sergeant Eddings" does not appear within Pathways itself, being instead introduced via the game's hint book, which was written by a friend of Jason Jones. Several years later, Jones mentioned that he believed naming the player character was a mistake.