Even for fans who have played Horizon Zero Dawn, some of the most important late-game lore is pretty confusing at times. Everyone looking to enjoy Forbidden West to its fullest should take some time to review the most important information and plot points that will be important in Horizon Forbidden West.

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The Faro Plague and Project Zero Dawn

Horizon Zero Dawn and Forbidden West both take place in a post-apocalyptic version of the United States, where humanity has reverted to tribalism and mechanical beasts roam the world. Much of Horizon Zero Dawn is discovering why the world is like this, and it will be important to know and understand the apocalypse before playing Horizon Forbidden West.

The apocalypse happened because of Faro Automated Solutions, a company which specialized in building machines. Due to a series of very bad design decisions, such as allowing machines to duplicate themselves and consume biomass as fuel, the Chariot line of Faro machines went rogue.

Renowned scientist Elisabet Sobeck proposed a grisly solution. There was no way to stop the machines from destroying all life on Earth. In order to buy a group of scientists some time to figure out how to preserve life, the general population was given false hope and encouraged to fight against the machines and ultimately meet their deaths. This was Project Zero Dawn.

In underground bunkers, scientists worked on Project Enduring Victory. Under Sobeck’s direction, a sophisticated mother-nature AI called GAIA was created to rebuild the Earth once the machines did their damage. GAIA was capable of designing machines to act in place of most living animals, and each served a particular function in the ecosystem. Humanity re-emerged with GAIA’s help, but retained none of their ancestors’ knowledge about technology.

HADES and the Rogue Machines

GAIA had many sub-functions that she directed, but the most important ones are APOLLO and HADES. APOLLO was intended to preserve human knowledge for the new generations, but riddled with guilt over the catastrophe his machines caused, Ted Faro destroyed it. Because of his actions, the inhabitants of Horizon Zero Dawn’s game world don’t understand technology and believe AI personas are deities.

HADES was GAIA’s apocalypse function, only to be used if GAIA made mistakes and needed to start over. Prior to the events of Horizon Zero Dawn, a mysterious signal caused HADES to go rogue and destroy GAIA. As her final act, GAIA created Aloy with Elisabet Sobeck’s DNA so that she will be able to stop HADES from causing another apocalypse.

As Aloy grows up, the machines become increasingly violent towards humans. Meanwhile, HADES is busy manipulating a group called the Eclipse into awakening ancient Faro war machines that will cause another apocalypse. Aloy was able to stop this from happening in the final act of Horizon Zero Dawn, but she didn’t completely destroy the rogue AI, or the unidentified power that awoke it.

Aloy’s Identity Explained

Aloy is obviously the protagonist of Horizon Zero Dawn, but much of the first game is about her finding her true identity. Aloy is part of the Nora tribe, but she was born as an outcast due to her mysterious origins. Raised by her adoptive father Rost, who was also an outcast of the tribe, Aloy grew to wonder about where she came from and question why she was born an outcast.

After Rost’s sudden death, Aloy’s journey to find the truth about herself led to a much larger truth about the post-apocalyptic world she lives in and what it used to be. She discovered that she is actually a genetic clone of a scientist called Elisabet Sobeck, who headed Projects Zero Dawn and Enduring Victory in response to the robot uprising.

Because of this, she is the only one who can destroy HADES. The AI knows this, which is why it actively seeks her out. It’s also why she was born an outcast; the Nora matriarchs believed her birth was a supernatural curse because she has no parents. When the story concludes, Aloy understands her place in the world and what it means to fight for the benefit of others rather than just herself.

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Horizon Forbidden West’s Important Characters

After Zero Dawn, it’s implied that Aloy stays in or near Meridian, the capital of the Carja tribe and home to her closest friends and allies. Aloy doesn’t have many close relationships in Horizon Zero Dawn, but the most important characters to know are Erend and Sylens.

Erend is from the Oseram tribe, which specializes in metalworking. He works for Carja Sun King Avad as an ambassador to the Nora tribe, and later as Avad’s captain. He helped Aloy get into and navigate Meridian, and in exchange, Aloy helped him find out what happened to his sister Ersa. Erend was in the Forbidden West gameplay trailer, so he is making a comeback and will hopefully be a larger part of the story this time.

Sylens is a mysterious man who helped Aloy learn the truth about her identity and the Old Ones. Sylens values the pursuit of knowledge and has made it his life’s goal to understand ancient technology, but he is very self-serving. He guided Aloy, but only because it helped him achieve his own goals. Aloy never fully trusts him, and it looks like Sylens could be the villain in Forbidden West.

The end credits scene for Horizon Zero Dawn showed Sylens capturing HADES and insisting that the AI teach him about its leaders. As he says this, the camera pans to show a Metal Devil, the largest and most fearsome of the Faro machines. There is no Metal Devil boss fight in Horizon Zero Dawn, but players are desperately hoping Horizon Forbidden West will have one.

There are a lot of directions Horizon Forbidden West could take, but the main takeaway is that HADES hasn’t been destroyed and isn’t finished. Sylens is up to no good, and the machines are out of control. Aloy says in the reveal trailer that this mission is hers alone, implying that her unique identity and abilities will play a role again. Aloy will likely uncover tons of new secrets in the Forbidden West, but most of them should build on what was established in Horizon Zero Dawn.

Horizon Forbidden West releases on PS4 and PS5 on February 18, 2022.

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