SPOILER thread for Horizon

[Legend]

Do not read this thread unless you have completed Horizon or don't care about spoilers. This is for all late game stuff.

YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED

[Legend]

So all the metal flowers were placed by Aloy's "mom" before she died? I was kinda confused why she had the triangle of flowers around here yet Aloy kept referring to the metal flowers as new growth.


Also I loved how Ted Faro deleted the Apollo module and killed everyone. At first it felt like he bumbled into creating doomsday but that character development really showed he was a flawed man who learned nothing.



So what was up with the AI at the Banook mountain? The GAIA explosion launched it over there? Which one was it? And of course what started all these events 20 years ago?

[Raven]

So all the metal flowers were placed by Aloy's "mom" before she died? I was kinda confused why she had the triangle of flowers around here yet Aloy kept referring to the metal flowers as new growth.


Also I loved how Ted Faro deleted the Apollo module and killed everyone. At first it felt like he bumbled into creating doomsday but that character development really showed he was a flawed man who learned nothing.



So what was up with the AI at the Banook mountain? The GAIA explosion launched it over there? Which one was it? And of course what started all these events 20 years ago?

The thing is, they mentioned that Apollo was placed in multiple locations for the sake of redundancy. Hades also knew quite a bit for a subordinate program whose sole task was to undo the terraforming process if it didn't go exactly to plan. It was able to teach Sylens things like physics and calculus. It also promised to teach him quantum processing. Those don't sound like things Hades should have been able to teach anyone. I don't think Faro was actually successful. I think he THOUGHT he succeeded and so did the Alphas he killed.

I believe that core in particular was which ever one controls the machines that it creates for the purpose of assisting in the terraforming process. Though I don't think that subordinate program was stuck in that device alone. However, it's clear there was an issue as the machines were still around performing their tasks long after it was necessary and strictly combat machines were being made, which wasn't necessary for the terraforming process.

What started all this two decades ago is anyone's guess. Exactly why Sylens asked Hades when he captured it in that device who was pulling its strings. He too wanted to know who or what sent that signal. I have three ideas.

First, the signal was sent from a previously unknown orbital station or Lunar colony that certain powers had pulled enough strings to create. These would be your big movers and shakers not wanting to go quietly like everyone else. We already know they attempted to create a generational colony ship that was highly advanced but ultimately failed and exploded. Likely because the power source they were attempting to wield was relying on largely untested technology. However, an orbital station or Lunar colony would have no need for that. If they had the proper vehicles, it wouldn't be impossible for them to harvest the necessary supplies as terraforming was well under way. As to why they would transform Hades into a purely genocidal program with the intent to remove Gaia and stop future terraforming? It is possible that they came up with their own AI program with their own ideas on how to remake life on Earth instead of trying to get it back to how it was before and they would get to keep their machine army and rule the future world.

Second, the Faro swarm had managed to become aware enough to carefully plan for the perfect moment to strike at Gaia. Removing its subordinate programs and stopping it from repeatedly terraforming in a way that was beneficial to humanity. With Gaia out of the picture, the Faro swarm would repurpose the AI to terraform in a way beneficial to it and then from there, who knows what it would do or where it would go.

Third....

[Xevross]

I like the theory that Elisabet lied about Odyssey and they actually made it to a planet and colonized it. With all knowledge of Apollo, they're now super advanced and for whatever reason they have a motive to destroy humans on earth/ have the technology to replicate what Gaia did but want to remake Earth in their own way. So they sent the signal which activated Hades.

So many possibilities for the sequel! At first I thought they had answered so much that there's nothing left to cover but thinking about it and reading online there's still loads left to explain

Such a great world they've crafted

[Legend]

The odyssey blew up. I found a log from a different person that talked about it. When the engines were turned on for testing, it had a critical failure and physically destroyed the entire ship killing everyone. Don't see how/why that could have been faked.

The thing is, they mentioned that Apollo was placed in multiple locations for the sake of redundancy. Hades also knew quite a bit for a subordinate program whose sole task was to undo the terraforming process if it didn't go exactly to plan. It was able to teach Sylens things like physics and calculus. It also promised to teach him quantum processing. Those don't sound like things Hades should have been able to teach anyone. I don't think Faro was actually successful. I think he THOUGHT he succeeded and so did the Alphas he killed.

Hades was a true AI just like GAIA. It wouldn't have the vast swarms of human knowledge but it'd know general stuff and everything that'd help it kill life on Earth.

Faro was successful at least in some form. That's why Eleuthia in all mother mountain couldn't teach the children and the learning center was locked off.

I believe that core in particular was which ever one controls the machines that it creates for the purpose of assisting in the terraforming process. Though I don't think that subordinate program was stuck in that device alone. However, it's clear there was an issue as the machines were still around performing their tasks long after it was necessary and strictly combat machines were being made, which wasn't necessary for the terraforming process.

The robots were still needed since large animals weren't introduced yet. I think the design was for humans to take over the process but since Apollo failed they never did. Instead the AI needed to keep managing the world itself.

The combat machines were made by Hades. The logs in the cauldrons show the Eclipse attempting to hack in and successfully succeed, changing the parameters for construction. I now agree that that core was in charge of the machines, HEPHAESTUS. It being gone was what started the general derangement yet in its immediate vicinity it could still manage the machines.


I guess some humans in bunkers could have survived the extinction too. The Nora were created by Zero Dawn but they talk about there being people from other origins too.

[Raven]

The odyssey blew up. I found a log from a different person that talked about it. When the engines were turned on for testing, it had a critical failure and physically destroyed the entire ship killing everyone. Don't see how/why that could have been faked.


Hades was a true AI just like GAIA. It wouldn't have the vast swarms of human knowledge but it'd know general stuff and everything that'd help it kill life on Earth.

Faro was successful at least in some form. That's why Eleuthia in all mother mountain couldn't teach the children and the learning center was locked off.
The robots were still needed since large animals weren't introduced yet. I think the design was for humans to take over the process but since Apollo failed they never did. Instead the AI needed to keep managing the world itself.

The combat machines were made by Hades. The logs in the cauldrons show the Eclipse attempting to hack in and successfully succeed, changing the parameters for construction. I now agree that that core was in charge of the machines, HEPHAESTUS. It being gone was what started the general derangement yet in its immediate vicinity it could still manage the machines.


I guess some humans in bunkers could have survived the extinction too. The Nora were created by Zero Dawn but they talk about there being people from other origins too.

I don't think that's true. As far as I know, Hades was a subordinate program just like all the others. Gaia was the only true AI. Its only function was to lock Gaia out of being able to command the other subordinate programs when the set parameters for terraforming were not being met, order them to reverse the terraforming process, and then allow Gaia control again once everything returned to a zero state. That was its specific function. Hades and the other subordinate functions did not become self-aware until after the mysterious signal contacted Gaia. This is why I think Hades managed to either copy or largely consume the other subordinate programs. It had no capacity to create new machines on its own. It needed Hephaestus to do that. However, after the signal, Hades was able to create new machines without Hephaestus. Unless you mean Hades become an actual AI after the signal went out.

[Legend]

I don't think that's true. As far as I know, Hades was a subordinate program just like all the others. Gaia was the only true AI. Its only function was to lock Gaia out of being able to command the other subordinate programs when the set parameters for terraforming were not being met, order them to reverse the terraforming process, and then allow Gaia control again once everything returned to a zero state. That was its specific function. Hades and the other subordinate functions did not become self-aware until after the mysterious signal contacted Gaia. This is why I think Hades managed to either copy or largely consume the other subordinate programs. It had no capacity to create new machines on its own. It needed Hephaestus to do that. However, after the signal, Hades was able to create new machines without Hephaestus. Unless you mean Hades become an actual AI after the signal went out.

You're right. I just rewatched the cutscene and it wasn't an AI.

So something big must have happened.

It's like .5 on the turing scale. Half siri, half alive.

[Raven]

I just went through the last cauldron I had yet to do and at the end Aloy says that Hephaestus is responsible for what's happening with the machines. That now that it's free from Gaia, it has its own agenda but Aloy doesn't know what it could be. Thoughts?

[Legend]

I just went through the last cauldron I had yet to do and at the end Aloy says that Hephaestus is responsible for what's happening with the machines. That now that it's free from Gaia, it has its own agenda but Aloy doesn't know what it could be. Thoughts?

I Think it is focused on keeping the world in order. Without gaia it now sees the humans as a threat since they destroy the robots.

[Xevross]

I Think it is focused on keeping the world in order. Without gaia it now sees the humans as a threat since they destroy the robots.

This seems right. Each section of Gaia is an intelligent AI on its own right. So either it realised a need to make these new machines or it is just designing and making whatever it wants without being restricted by Gaia now.

[nnodley]

So I'm wondering what would happen at the final mission if you didn't do the Petra side mission where she gets the parts to build her sweet grenade launcher thing?  Would she always bring a shame ton of those to that fight?  That part would be hard as hell if she wasn't there.

[Xevross]

So I'm wondering what would happen at the final mission if you didn't do the Petra side mission where she gets the parts to build her sweet grenade launcher thing?  Would she always bring a shame ton of those to that fight?  That part would be hard as hell if she wasn't there.

She's always there. I hadn't done her side quest before the final mission.

Actually it was kind of weird. I had no idea who she was but her and Aloy talked like they already met. At the time I thought I'd just forgotten her

[nnodley]

She's always there. I hadn't done her side quest before the final mission.

Actually it was kind of weird. I had no idea who she was but her and Aloy talked like they already met. At the time I thought I'd just forgotten her

That's kinda weird.  I'm almost surprised they didn't make her side quest an actual main quest instead.  

[Xevross]

That's kinda weird.  I'm almost surprised they didn't make her side quest an actual main quest instead.  

It wasn't so off-putting. They didn't talk like the quest had happened, just as if they'd seen each other before. I thought maybe I'd bumped into her as a minor NPC. Maybe I had, I can't remember

[Riderz1337]

So that's why I had no idea who Petra was...I talked to literally everyone before the final mission and she was the only one who I was like who the hell is this but I just kind of went with it assuming she was a worker supplying the weapons.

Didn't think too much of it during the mission but looking but it was kind of odd lol