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"The lesson will be taught in due time, Aloy. Until then, we wait."
This article contains heavy spoilers. Read ahead with caution.
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"There's so much to learn, and less time than I'd hoped."
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Teersa: "All-Mother, this child needs a name by which to know her, that your love may warm her life as the sun warms all the Earth. Speak her name!"
Rost: "ALOY!!! "

Aloy is the main protagonist of the Horizon franchise. A Nora Brave, Seeker and machine hunter of unparalleled skill, Aloy is the genetic clone of 21st century roboticist and engineer Dr. Elisabet Sobeck.

She was created by GAIA, the governing artificial intelligence of Project Zero Dawn, a global terraforming system that Sobeck had designed and whose implementation she had spearheaded, which restored life to Earth after its eradication by the Faro Plague. GAIA created Aloy for the purpose of stopping HADES, a rogue AI bent on reactivating the Faro Plague in order to wipe out life again, and repair the AI itself, after it self-destructed in an attempt to destroy the rogue AI. Aloy succeeded, saving life on Earth and the humans of the new world that Zero Dawn created. In doing so, she unraveled the mysteries of why the world became as it is, and also learned the true nature of her origins.

She is voiced by voice actress Ashly Burch and modeled after actress Hannah Hoekstra.[1]

Appearance[]

Aloy is a white female. She is 1.68 meters (5 feet 6 inches) tall, with long red hair and freckles on her cheeks and nose.[2] Her hair is pulled back with braids in the back and on the sides. She also has accessories in her hair such as beads. Her eyes are green and her eyebrows are narrow.  A lifetime of intense physical activity has resulted in her being in exceptional physical condition.

Aloy has many outfits in both games, but her default outfit in Zero Dawn is the Nora Brave outfit and, in Forbidden West, the Nora Anointed outfit.

History[]

Conception[]

On August 26, 3020, the AI GAIA received a transmission from the rogue AI Nemesis that turned her subordinate functions into self-aware and erratic AIs. The HADES sub-function, which was designed to reverse terraforming operations and create a clean slate if GAIA did not produce a sustainable environment, immediately attempted to take control of GAIA's terraforming systems to eradicate life on Earth once more. In order to prevent this, GAIA activated a fail-safe, overloading the GAIA Prime reactor in an attempt to eliminate HADES. However, this act would lead to GAIA's destruction as well, and cause the eventual breakdown of the terraforming system. To prevent this, GAIA activated the Lightkeeper Protocol and created a clone of Elisabet Sobeck. This clone would have the gene print necessary to access the Alpha Registry and enter Zero Dawn facilities to rebuild GAIA's system core upon reaching maturity. GAIA ordered ELEUTHIA-9, presumably the cradle facility at which the Alphas’ genetic material was stored, to produce the Sobeck clone.

On August 26, 3020, ELEUTHIA-9 received the gestation order from GAIA Prime shortly before GAIA went offline. The genetic material of Elisabet Sobeck in cryo-storage was used to create a clone of Sobeck, catalogued as #LK1A1-4510, and gestated in Ectogenic Chamber B1-001. On April 4, 3021, the clone was deemed viable and delivered at 9:30 am.

Early life[]

As per GAIA's instructions, the newborn clone was placed outside the entry hatch of ELEUTHIA-9 by a multi-servitor. In the time since the original occupants of ELEUTHIA-9 had left, the facility's door and the surrounding cave had come to be seen by the Nora tribe as the embodiment of their deity, All-Mother. The High Matriarchs found the baby upon hearing her cries; while High Matriarch Teersa believed that the child was a gift from All-Mother, many of the Nora tribe, especially High Matriarch Lansra, feared that the baby was a curse, placed in the Sacred Mountain by the metal devil. As no person except for the High Matriarchs could enter the mountain, it was deeply suspected that the baby was not born of a human mother. Because of this, she was made an outcast by Nora law.

Young aloy

Young Aloy

The High Matriarchs placed her in the care of Rost, an outcast who kept to Nora traditions, and who would come to love the child as if she were his own daughter. With the help of Teersa, Rost was able to perform a traditional naming ritual for the baby, whom he named Aloy. Aloy grew up with Rost in his home within The Embrace, fully aware that Rost was not her father and that she was an outcast, though she was unaware of the reason why.

Finding the Focus[]

One day, after being shunned while picking berries with other Nora children, Aloy ran away in a fit of rage and accidentally fell down a hole into a ruin of the Old Ones, a place forbidden for Nora to enter. While exploring the cave in search of an exit, she discovered a small, arrow-shaped device that displayed information and recordings through holograms. Eventually, she found a way out of the cave and reunited with Rost, who immediately inquired about the device and demanded to see it, though she refused to do so; he reluctantly allowed her to keep it. The next day, while learning survival skills from Rost, Aloy used her Focus to save a Nora boy, who had fallen from a Brave trail into a pack of Watchers and Striders that had surrounded him. As outcasts, however, she and Rost received no gratitude when the boy's father arrived to retrieve him.

As she stormed off in frustration, Aloy was struck by a rock thrown by Bast, another Nora child, who mocked her for being a "no-mother". While Rost treated her injury, Aloy demanded to know why she was an outcast, and who her mother was. Rost tentatively admitted that he did not know exactly why she was outcast, or even who her mother might be, but that the High Matriarchs likely knew. The surest way to get the High Matriarchs to tell her was to run in the Proving, Nora's coming-of-age ritual: not only would the winner be granted a boon, but Aloy would be accepted into the tribe simply by completing the Proving. Aloy resolved to win the Proving and learn the truth about her mother.

Preparing for the Proving[]

Aloy training

Aloy training for the Proving

With instruction from Rost, Aloy spent the next twelve years honing her survival skills in preparation for the Proving. Two days before the ceremony, she helped Rost track down a Sawtooth that had been causing problems for the hunting parties and killed the machine single-handed; while almost dying in the process. Rost's final lesson for Aloy was not how to kill a dangerous new machine, but to do her part in protecting the tribe once she was accepted in.

Bringing her to Mother's Heart the day before the ceremony, Rost gave her his daughter's necklace to remember him by; realizing he wanted her to forget him, Aloy tried to convince him that she'd still go to see him in secret, but Rost refused, knowing that Aloy's connection to him would prevent her from embracing the tribe. Telling Aloy that he would go where she would never find him, Rost gave his farewell as he walked away, leaving a heartbroken Aloy at the gates.

Aloy was welcomed by High Matriarch Teersa and entered Mother's Heart for the first time in her life. While walking through the settlement, Aloy spotted a foreign man in robes attempting to speak to a crowd. The audience's reaction to the Carja Sun-Priest was initially hostile until another foreigner named Erend spoke in his defense. Aloy befriended Erend soon after and was introduced to his traveling companion, Olin. To Aloy's surprise, Olin wore a Focus device similar to her own, though he said very little about himself or the Focus when Aloy questioned him, being highly evasive and defensive.

Aloy eventually retired to the lodging with the other Proving contestants; Resh, standing guard outside, insulted her for being both motherless and an outcast. Retorting with a snide remark, Aloy went into the lodging but was again met with jibes from Bast. After exchanging some words about the time young Bast attacked Aloy with a rock, Aloy went to bed but was still uneasy with her new surroundings. Vala, another contestant who is welcoming to Aloy, tried to bolster her.

The Proving Massacre[]

Running the Proving[]

In the morning, the Proving contestants made their way up the snowy mountain to begin the trial. Aloy, despite Resh and Bast's put-downs, had no hesitations and was ready to start what she had trained long and hard for.

The arrival of a herd of Grazers signaled the beginning of the competition; each contestant must kill a Grazer and loot a trophy. Aloy is able to obtain one, but it is almost immediately shot out of her hands by Bast. Though she manages to obtain another one, she has lost time and is the last one to start running the Brave trail. Realizing that she won't make it on the normal trail, she places her bets on another, more dangerous Brave trail, heedless of the proctor's warning that several previous Proving contestants were killed on it. Aloy pushes forward, climbing and sprinting across the trail and catching up to the rest of the contestants. She slides down to the main trail, runs for the last stretch with the other contestants, and plants her trophy at the finish line, followed soon by Vala and Bast.

Bast argues that Aloy cheated, and the proctor at first seems to claim that an outcast could never win the Proving. Aloy fearfully wondered if her exertion was all for naught, but the proctor declares that she was now a Brave, and no longer an outcast. Vala congratulates a tired but relieved Aloy, and the proctor reminds the contestants to place their trophies at the altar. She officially declared Aloy as the winner. But before the proctor could finish her sentence, she was shot in the collarbone with an arrow.

Fighting the attackers[]

Aloy and vala

Aloy and Vala taking cover from the attackers

Looking up at the sky, Aloy spotted a swarm of arrows coming towards them. Many of the contestants were hit while trying to take cover. Aloy, Vala, Bast, and a few other contestants were lucky and took cover behind rocks. Vala then came up with the idea of distracting the attackers while Aloy shot them. After some time, a Cultist leader walked away from the group, but returned with a Deathbringer Gun and opened fire with it, eventually shattering the pillar that Vala was standing behind, which forced her to run. Vala was fatally shot, and Bast rushed to her side but was himself killed. The Cultist leader then ordered everyone to kill Aloy. She fought them off and checked on the Cultist leader, finding a Focus on him. Without her noticing, Helis snuck up on her. She turned around to stand up and bumped into him, and he grabbed her by the neck, lifting her up and strangling her. He lifted her over the edge of the mountain, pulling out a knife and attempting to slit her throat, but he was shot through the shoulder. Helis threw Aloy to the ground and pulled out the arrow. He turned to face Rost, who was there to save Aloy and started to fight him. In the end, Helis stabbed Rost in the stomach and ordered a Cultist attacker to burn the place down. Rost collapsed, but got back up and held Aloy before he lets go of her. While she tumbled down the mountain, the Blaze canisters placed by the Cultists exploded. As Aloy fell down, trying to reach out to Rost, he was killed in the explosion.

Anointed as a Seeker[]

Aloy awakened within All-Mother, which was supposed to be off limits to all members of the tribe except for the High Matriarchs. After recovering her clothes, gear, and Focus, she saw a projection of a woman who looked remarkably like her, only much older and with short hair. She met Teersa, who explained that Aloy was brought inside the mountain because it was seen as a sacred rite to die near one's mother, and explained that the mountain itself had given birth to Aloy. Finding a giant door, it scanned Aloy, though it announced that the system was corrupted and could not accept Aloy's genetic code. Teersa exclaimed with joy that the goddess knew Aloy, though Aloy angrily snapped that it didn't recognize her because of corruption, and if she could heal it then maybe the door would open. She anointed Aloy a Seeker, which would allow her to leave the Sacred Lands in order to find the truth. Aloy accepted the mission, though asked what had happened to Rost. Teersa then told her that his remains were given a proper burial near his home.

Out of the Embrace[]

Right before the ceremony the day before The Proving, Aloy met Olin, an Oseram that helped the Eclipse cultists target her. The now self-aware AI HADES put out the kill order because it found a picture of Elisabet Sobeck, and Aloy looked just like her, so HADES wanted her dead. The Proving was then attacked by the Eclipse. She then found out that the Eclipse used Olin's focus to target her. Aloy swore revenge on Olin for killing her fellow Braves. She found out that he had a residence in Meridian and made the long journey to the Sundom to find him.  

Before she could leave Mother's Watch, several corrupted Striders and a Corruptor attacked the village. After defeating the Corruptor, Aloy retrieved a component that the Corruptor had used to control the other machines. She attached the component to her spear, giving her the ability to override machines, which she first used on a Strider. Aloy reached the Main Embrace Gate, where she met Varl. Varl told her to head to Mother's Crown to begin her journey to Meridian, but also asked her to find War-Chief Sona and her war party, who had gone missing searching for the Proving killers. 

Aiding the Nora war party[]

Aloy located the battlefield north of Mother's Rise where the war party was last seen. She came across Dran, who told her that the war party was on the trail of the killers, but an ambush of corrupted machines threw them off. Aloy followed a blood trail up a ridge overlooking Devil's Thirst, encountering War-Chief Sona and the remnants of the war party. Sona had tracked some of the killers to a nearby camp, and Aloy aided Sona and the Nora party in dispatching them. Aloy figured out where the rest of the killers were through a datapoint: camped in the Ring of Metal in Devil's Grief. Although the area is considered taboo, Aloy and Varl convinced the war party to finish the counterattack to avenge the dead.

Aloy and the Nora took out several enemy camps along the route to the Ring of Metal before regrouping and coming up with a plan to wipe out the final camp. Aloy and Varl snuck through to the heart of the camp, finding a large number of corrupted machines and cultists. Aloy decided to infiltrate the camp alone to ignite a large stockpile of Blaze, blasting a hole through the camp walls for the Nora party to charge through. The Nora successfully killed the remaining cultists and machines, purging the last of the killers from Nora lands.

Journey to the Sundom[]

Aloy journeyed to the edge of Nora lands at Mother's Crown, where she met Marea. Marea informs her that Daytower is the Carja gate to Meridian, but the army has sealed the gate due to the concentration of corrupted machines in the area. Aloy cleared the corrupted zones, passing the Forsaken Village, and defeated a Corruptor right outside Daytower gate. She was then granted entry, and continued on the path to Meridian by the Way of Broken Stones, leaving Nora lands behind.

In the Sundom[]

Finally reaching the gates of Meridian, Aloy finds that the city guard has barred outlanders and merchants from entering the city because of the recent murder of Captain Ersa and her Vanguard. However, a drunken Erend emerges and personally escorts Aloy into the city. Once they are alone, Aloy relays what she knew about the Proving killers and Olin's connection with them. Despite his disbelief of Olin's betrayal, Erend accompanies Aloy to the apartment Olin stayed at. Using her Focus, Aloy finds evidence that Olin knew the killers targeted her, but also realizes that Olin's wife and child were being used as leverage.

Aloy locates Olin at Rockwreath, surrounded by cultists. She witnesses the cultists raise two Corruptors from the earth and reactivate them. Suddenly, something disrupts the Focuses of the cultists; an unknown voice taps into Aloy's Focus, revealing that he disabled the Focuses to assist her. Aloy dispatches the cultists and defeats the Corruptors, with only Olin remaining. Aloy demands answers from Olin, and he readily reveals what he knows about the Eclipse. Under the command of a 'metal devil' called HADES, the Eclipse are excavating deactivated machines to use; the Eclipse are led by Helis, the man at the Proving massacre who tried to kill Aloy and fatally stabbed Rost. Though Olin does not know who the woman is that resembles Aloy, he remembers seeing her image at Maker's End. Depending on player choice, Aloy either kills Olin or spares his life, but regardless promises to rescue his family.

Plot against the Sun-King[]

Seeing the power of Aloy's Focus as she investigates Olin's apartment, Erend asks Aloy to help him find the murderers of his sister Ersa. Though reluctant at first, she eventually agrees. Meeting Erend at Red Ridge Pass, Aloy investigates the area where the Vanguard fell, and begins to suspect that the fight was staged. Following some cart tracks up to Dimmed Bones, Aloy and Erend are ambushed by Oseram mercenaries. Although Aloy is unsure what their motive is, she suspects that Ersa was not murdered but taken hostage, and another corpse was put in her armor to fool the Carja.

Upon arriving at Sun-King Avad's palace, Erend confirms that the body found was not Ersa's. Marad names Dervahl as the man likely behind the scheme, and sends Aloy and Erend to Pitchcliff to meet an agent tracking Dervahl. However, they find the agent dead, with a crude map drawn with his blood marking Dervahl's location. At the camp, Aloy, Erend, and several Oseram soldiers take out the machines and Dervahl's men, but as she enters the cellar, Aloy triggers a sonic blast that alerts a large guard. After killing him, Aloy loots a pair of earplugs that block the sonic waves, allowing her to get into the workshop and disable the sonic devices. She and Erend find Ersa alive but badly injured; Ersa explains that Dervahl took her hostage after meeting under false parley, and that Dervahl plans to destroy Meridian and Avad. Ersa dies of her wounds immediately after, as Aloy discovers Dervahl's plan to destroy Meridian with a large shipment of Blaze.

Aloy and Erend return to warn Avad, and Marad points them to a warehouse purchased by an Oseram landlord, most likely the place Dervahl is storing the Blaze. In the warehouse, Aloy finds a bomb on the main floor, and a number of Blaze barrels on the upper level. Unable to disarm the bomb, Aloy decides to push the Blaze barrels out the window in hopes of reducing the blast radius. She and Erend push the barrels out and escape before the bomb detonates, causing an explosion that only damages the warehouse itself. Knowing that Dervahl wanted Avad to watch Meridian's destruction, Aloy races back to the palace. She finds Avad incapacitated by sonic devices, and Dervahl trying to detonate his bomb, unaware that it had already gone off. Aloy disables the sonic devices and battles Dervahl, keeping him pinned down until Erend and the Vanguard arrive to arrest Dervahl. Avad expresses his gratitude and offers her a place in his court, but Aloy declines as she has not finished her quest.

Project Zero Dawn[]

Still intent on learning who the mystery woman is, Aloy goes to Maker's End, guided by the same voice who had disabled the cultists' Focuses. She discovers the Eclipse excavating a machine called a Deathbringer, which she manages to kill along with the cultists. Through a cultist's Focus, HADES finds out that Aloy is still alive. Though met with an identiscan like at All-Mother mountain, the door opens for Aloy, allowing her in.

As she works her way up the ruins, Aloy learns that Maker's End was originally a facility belonging to Faro Automated Solutions, a corporation of the Old Ones that made machines. Eventually, they made machines for war, such as the Deathbringer and Corruptor. She identifies the woman as Elisabet Sobeck, who had worked for FAS for a time. Reaching Ted Faro's office at the top of the ruins, Aloy begins to learn of the circumstances of the Old Ones' disappearance. The Faro war machines had the ability to self-replicate and were powered through consuming biomatter, but a glitch caused the machines to go rogue and ignore commands. They had begun what would eventually wipe out all life on Earth. Ted Faro wanted Elisabet Sobeck to fix the glitch, but without a backdoor the glitch could not be reversed. However, Sobeck did produce a solution, named Project Zero Dawn.

Once the recording had ended, Aloy vented her frustrations on what she had just witnessed, reminding herself that it was impossible for Sobeck to have been her mother, as she died centuries ago. Suddenly, she heard the unknown caller criticized her for ignoring the monumental discovery she had just uncovered. An irritated Aloy demanded her unseen ally reveal and identify himself. Bemused by her choice of inquiry, the stranger revealed himself in hologram form and identified himself as Sylens. Although Aloy is distrustful of him, she follows his suggestion to head to the Grave-Hoard, the former U.S. Robot Command. Descending into the bunker of the Grave-Hoard, she takes out more corrupted machines and cultists before coming across them tinkering with a metal devil and reactivating another Deathbringer, which she fights. Further into the ruins she finds out that Project Zero Dawn was implemented alongside a military campaign called Operation: Enduring Victory.

Aloy concludes that she needs to get to the Orbital Launch Base, which Sylens tells her lies underneath Sunfall, the capital of the Shadow Carja. Since any Eclipse members wearing Focuses would identify her, Aloy suggests crashing the network to disable communication with HADES. She goes to the Eclipse Base, her target being an immobilized Tallneck the Eclipse have modified as a transmitter. Sneaking around and taking out the cultists, Aloy finds the Tallneck. Climbing to the top, she finds the module's casing, but is shocked when she tries to open it. HADES, located in a metal devil, closes in on her and claims Aloy cannot destroy it. Aloy thrusts her spear into the module anyway, crashing the Focus network and forcing HADES to withdraw. However, Aloy flees under heavy fire from Deathbringers and Eclipse cultists, barely escaping with her life. Upset with Sylens for risking her life, Aloy shares some angry words with him before moving on to Sunfall.

Aloy enters Sunfall without alerting the Eclipse and gets to a vent that leads into the Zero Dawn project facility. Encountering another identiscan door, Aloy is allowed access but a door malfunction stalls her. She authorizes an emergency venting procedure, which opens the door but inadvertently alerts Kestrels to a presence in the ruins.

In the Zero Dawn facility, Aloy reaches a holographic theater and a message from General Herres explains the truth of Operation: Enduring Victory. The military operation was not a superweapon program to stop the Faro Plague and save humanity, but a means to buy the amount of time needed to complete Project Zero Dawn. Humanity and all life on Earth would go extinct regardless of how successful the operation was. In the next hologram theater, a projection of Elisabet Sobeck explained Project Zero Dawn. The hope was to create GAIA, a fully-automated terraforming AI with a number of subordinate functions: GAIA would generate the deactivation codes for the Faro Swarm, build the arrays to broadcast the codes and shut down the machines, then work on cleansing the Earth, and finally reintroduce life. Aloy learns more about the subordinate functions in subsequent rooms, but still does not understand how she and Elisabet Sobeck are connected; she also learned that HADES was a subordinate function designed to revert the biosphere if it proved unsustainable for life.

In Sobeck's office, Aloy finds copies of the Alpha Registry, which would gain her access to All-Mother mountain. Aloy realizes that she can now figure out who gave birth to her inside the mountain. Sylens callously remarks that she was not made by a "who" but a "what", which angers Aloy. As they argue, Kestrels descend outside the office, and Helis stuns Aloy with a blast bomb.

The Eclipse assault[]

The Sun-Ring[]

Aloy wakes up trapped in a cage, dangling above the Sun-Ring. Helis reveals that just before Aloy crashed the Focus network, he sent out orders to the Eclipse to invade Nora territory. He then crushes her Focus and condemns Aloy to be "the first of thousands" to die. Aloy is dropped into the Sun-Ring and forced to fight a corrupted Behemoth. However, she is able to use the Behemoth's strength to her advantage, tricking it into running into the pillars and knocking down the platform and cage. Aloy retrieves her weapons and takes down the Behemoth, challenging Helis to fight her himself. Helis sends two Corruptors into the Sun-Ring, but before Aloy can fight them, Sylens blasts through the walls on an overridden Strider, with another for Aloy to ride. She and Sylens escape the Sun-Ring.

Once they were far from Sunfall, Sylens give Aloy a new Focus, with a copy of the contents of her old one, including the Alpha Registry. Sylens chooses not to help Aloy warn the Nora of the impending Eclipse attack, but he does apologize for being rude to her in the Zero Dawn Project Facility. He rides off, and Aloy heads in the direction of the Sacred Lands.

Return to the Sacred Lands[]

Aloy reaches the Sacred Lands, but the Eclipse has already ravaged much of the land, leaving a trail of destruction. A wounded Brave tells her that the remaining Nora has taken refuge in All-Mother Mountain, and Aloy battles her way to Mother's Watch. More Eclipse and a corrupted Thunderjaw are attacking the entrance to the mountain, but Aloy quickly turns the tide of battle, and some of the remaining Nora Braves assist her in defeating the machine.

In All-Mother Mountain, Aloy finds the remnants of the Nora tribe, reuniting with some of the people she met early in her journey. Teersa and Jezza welcome Aloy home, but Lansra remains hostile, convinced Aloy has come to awaken the Metal Devil. Dismissing Lansra's attempts, Aloy uses the Alpha Registry on her Focus to open the bunker door, and she enters, finally close to the answers she has sought.

ELEUTHIA-9[]

The facility behind the door is ELEUTHIA-9, a Cradle facility where the first humans after the Faro Plague were gestated in and birthed from artificial wombs. Aloy learns that the early humans were raised by multiservitors, but when the food supply was depleted, they were forced out into the wilds. The APOLLO function is also mysteriously offline, which explained the lack of knowledge the tribes had of the Old Ones. Further into the Cradle, Aloy scans a datapoint, a final message from GAIA. GAIA explains that data transmission from an unknown source corrupted the GAIA Prime facility, turning the subordinate functions into self-aware chaotic entities. HADES took this to mean that GAIA had failed and took control of her terraforming system, intending to destroy the world as it was designed to do. GAIA ordered her Prime reactor to overload in an attempt to destroy all her subordinate functions including HADES, though this would mean she would also be destroyed, and warned that without her, the terraforming system would gradually break down, causing Aloy to realize this was the cause of the Derangement. GAIA sent out a transmission to ELEUTHIA-9 to gestate an embryo with Elisabet Sobeck's genetic material, granting her unilateral access to Zero Dawn facilities in hopes that this clone could rebuild her. At the last minute, HADES sent out a virus that destroyed the coding that bound it to GAIA's main system, letting it escape before the Prime reactor overloaded. Though fearing the possibility Aloy wouldn't be able to discover her message, GAIA maintained confidence that Aloy, addressing her as Elisabet, would find a way and instructed her to find the Master Override at the ruins of GAIA Prime, giving her the means to purge HADES, for its very existence made rebuilding GAIA too great a risk.

As the message ends, Aloy was left devastated at the realization that she was essentially a clone created for a single purpose, and not born naturally. Though struggling to come to terms with this, she resolved to go to GAIA Prime and finish what she was meant to do. Exiting the Cradle, the Nora was in awe and, believing she had spoken directly with All-Mother, began to worship her as the "Anointed." Angered that these same people who shunned her as a child are now treating her like a saint, Aloy argued that her task would affect the rest of the world, and the Nora could no longer isolate themselves. Knowing that the Eclipse would launch an attack on Meridian, Aloy asked the remaining fighters to meet her there, and she headed for GAIA Prime.

GAIA Prime[]

Aloy scales Bitter Climb to reach the entrance to GAIA Prime; she sees the immense damage caused by GAIA's self-destruction and is skeptical that GAIA could ever be repaired. In Sylens' workshop, Sylens suggests that it would still be possible to repair GAIA, but it would take years, and at the present the critical task is stopping HADES. Aloy enters the facility, finding datapoints from the Alphas who lived there to finish GAIA after the Faro Plague had decimated the globe. She also finds Elisabet Sobeck's journals, heavily damaged, but Sylens has her scan them anyway, as the Focus can gradually rebuild them.

Further in, she comes across a shrine to Elisabet Sobeck, and listens to the datapoint Charles Ronson recorded, learning of Sobeck's fate. When a port seal malfunctioned, the Faro swarm detected GAIA's energy signal, threatening GAIA and the Alphas within the facility, as if they reached the facility, they would destroy the last chance of life being recreated. While the Alphas argued over the situation, Elisabet donned an environmental suit to protect herself from the swarm and went outside to repair the door, knowing that she would be permanently shut out. By the time she made the other Alphas aware of this, it was already too late, and she was trapped outside, but at peace knowing that GAIA would survive. Aloy reacts with sorrow upon discovering Elisabet's fate, and she defends Elisabet's kindness to Sylens.

Reaching another area of the facility, Aloy opens a door to a conference room that was apparently devoid of air, with the corpses of the Alphas scattered about. She watches the hologram of Ted Faro revealing to the Alphas that he purged APOLLO to prevent humanity from repeating the mistakes of the past. He then vented the atmosphere of the room, suffocating and killing the Alphas. Horrified by Faro's actions, Aloy nonetheless knows that the Alphas did not die in vain, as they succeeded in their goal. She finds the Master Override on the conference table, and makes her way back to Sylens' workshop to meet Sylens face-to-face again. Sylens admits that he had worked with HADES before and formed the Eclipse, to do what HADES commanded. Aloy realizes that HADES is targeting the Spire to reawaken the Faro swarm and destroy the world again. Sylens leaves his lance to Aloy, and she attaches the Master Override to it. Now with the power to stop HADES, Aloy decides to head for Meridian.

The Cut[]

However, intrigued by rumors of dangerous new machines at the edge of Banuk land, Aloy took a detour from her mission to explore the Cut. While scaling a path that led beyond the Grave-Hoard, Sylens tuned in and rudely asked Aloy what was she thinking, since she was deviating from her mission. Ignoring him, Aloy arrived in Song's Edge in time to witness a Banuk funeral, held for the members of a werak who fell during their expedition to Thunder's Drum. Conversing with an Oseram merchant named Burgrend, Aloy learned of the details regarding the expedition: Aratak and Ourea, the chieftain and shaman of the dominant werak in the Cut, respectively, organized the march to defeat a "Daemon", which Ourea claimed lived on Thunder's Drum and was driving the machines further into a frenzy. Aloy immediately decided to investigate further, at which Burgrend directed her to Naltuk, Ourea's apprentice, to find Ourea and get more details.

Aloy soon found Naltuk, who was observing the sudden appearance of Control Towers and Daemonic machines across the Cut. Once Aloy dealt with a Control Tower and the nearby machines, Naltuk directed Aloy to the Shaman's Path, which would lead her to Ourea's Retreat in the mountains. The journey ahead was treacherous, and saw Aloy introduced to the Frostclaw and challenged by more dangerous machines. Eventually, she made it to the retreat, and found Ourea attempting to communicate with a Spirit. At Ourea's request, Aloy showed her how she managed to enter the facility (the entrance was blocked off using a holographic locking system accessible only via Focus), which briefly re-established connection with the "Spirit" Ourea was trying to commune with before the Daemon cut off the transmission.

Grateful for Aloy's help, Ourea explained what she knew. They later agree to work together to save the Spirit. However, the main barrier they face is getting access to Thunder's Drum. Initially, Ourea's brother Aratak refuses to let them traverse through the pathway leading to Thunder's Drum due to the dangerous enemies that travelers would typically encounter. As a result, Ourea suggests the idea for Aloy to challenge her brother for the position of the werak chieftan to secure access to Thunder's Drum. Aloy challenges Aratak, but daemonic machines ambush them in the final stretch of the challenge. They team up to fight off the machines, and impressed by Aloy's skills, Aratak concedes leadership to her.

Soon afterwards, Aloy, Aratak and Ourea team up, heading to an ancient ruin at Thunder's Drum, the Firebreak facility to free the "Spirit". They later discover that HEPHAESTUS, one of GAIA's sub-functions, took control of Cauldron EPSILON from an unknown remote location, enslaving the previous governing AI, CYAN, who Ourea earlier deemed as the voice of the "Spirit". After entering the Cauldron Core, HEPHAESTUS, released a Fireclaw to battle the trio. After Aloy, Ourea and Aratak defeated the enemy, they head to the core.

Once they arrive at the Cauldron's core, Aloy tries to initiate the override, but fails due to HEPHAESTUS releasing a burst of electric charge as a defense measure, blocking her from completing the process. Grabbing Aloy's spear, Ourea risks her life to finalize the override, and later succumbs to life-threatening injuries sustained from high voltage electrical shock. With control restored, CYAN's full access privileges was reinstated, which left HEPHAESTUS no choice but to swiftly abandon its efforts at the facility. Later, CYAN triggered the self-destruction of Cauldron EPSILON and transferred itself to the auxiliary control center at Ourea's Retreat. Moments later, Aratak in shock and devastated over the passing of his sister, tries to collect his remaining thoughts. Aloy gently persuades with compassion, reminding him to never forget the sacrifice Ourea made. She further adds that his sister would have wanted him to survive and prevail no matter what tragedy befalls him as it's a reflection of the sheer perseverance and strong will, that the Banuk tribe is known for. After consoling him, Aloy quickly flees with Aratak from the collapsing facility, leaving Ourea's body behind.

After a successful escape from the Cauldron's destruction, Aloy and Aratak meet again at Ourea's Retreat to discuss matters with CYAN. Shortly after, Aratak leaves the retreat after CYAN attempts to console him. Subsequently, Aloy continues her conversation with CYAN, asking her pertinent questions relating to her experiences and information she gathered in past missions, before departing for another mission. Prior to embarking on her next journey, CYAN asks whether Aloy will visit her again to provide any updates as she could share valuable insight that could further Aloy's understanding of the events that occurred in the previous world inhabited by the Old Ones. Much to CYAN's pleasure, Aloy reassured her with a definitive answer, stating that she would be glad to offer that to her.

Prior to finishing the remaining mission at the Cut, Aloy attempts to converse with Aratak who informs her about the remaining Daemonic Fireclaws that roam around, still presenting a grave danger to the Banuk people. Before ending the conversation, he thanks Aloy and tells her that he resolves to have the werak protect CYAN. Prior to departing, Aloy cedes her position to Aratak. Afterwards, he requests her help to eliminate the remaining threats caused by HEPHAESTUS. After finishing the mission, Aloy returns to Naltuk, who thanks her for assisting the Banuk. He then bids her with a respectful farewell. 

Battle of the Alight[]

Aloy returns to Meridian to warn Sun-King Avad of the impending attack. Marad tells Aloy that allies have arrived to bolster the defenses around Meridian and the Spire, including a Nora party led by Sona. After overseeing preparations for the battle, Aloy returns to Olin's apartment to rest. She ponders how Elisabet could have slept with the weight of the world on her shoulders, and how Rost could sleep after his family was lost. She makes one last attempt to speak with Sylens, but silence is all she hears, and she falls asleep.

Early the next morning, Aloy is woken by a Carja soldier, telling her the watchtowers have spotted the Eclipse forces. Readying herself for battle, she meets with Avad, soon witnessing an explosion atop a mesa that opens a wide path for the corrupted machines to break through. Helis and his soldiers infiltrate Meridian, and though Avad wants to take him on, Aloy instead tells him to rally the Vanguard and send reinforcements, then rushes off to deal with Helis. She fights a one-on-one battle with Helis and runs him through with her spear, at last avenging Rost's death.

Aloy aids the defenses against the onslaught of machines, facing waves of Corruptors and Deathbringers. A Deathbringer fires at the ridge above Aloy, bringing it down on top of her and knocking her out. Teb pulls her out of the rubble, but by that time much of the surrounding area is ablaze. Aloy races to the Spire, but at the base of the mesa she sees HADES has already begun the transmission to revive the Faro swarm. With her allies by her side, Aloy approaches HADES, who revives a powerful Deathbringer to keep her at bay. As HADES continues the transmission, Aloy and her allies battle the Deathbringer and more corrupted machines. Once the machines are defeated, Aloy reaches HADES and drives the lance with the Master Override into it.

Aloy's Focus displays a quiet hologram with Elisabet Sobeck's image, and a synthetic voice announces that the Master Override is armed, needing a name and rank to activate it. Aloy states "Elisabet Sobeck, Alpha Prime" and the Master Override is activated, purging the extinction protocol. HADES is disabled, the force knocking Aloy to the ground, and across the land the Faro machines instantly deactivate. Recognizing that she was successful, Aloy smiles with relief, and trudges away from HADES and the lance still embedded in it. She shared her victory with Erend and Varl, and raised her bow in victory as cheering resounded.

That evening, as Meridian rejoiced in their victory, Aloy slipped away from the celebration and left the city on a Strider.

Homecoming[]

Sometime after the final battle, Aloy made the journey to Nevada, finding Elisabet Sobeck's childhood home. There, Aloy found Sobeck's body, still in her environmental suit, on a bench surrounded by a triangle of flowers. She activated her Focus and saw a hologram of Sobeck's face. She gently touched the suit's helmet with an expression of simultaneous grief and joy. She noticed a globe locket in Sobeck's hand and took it. She gazed at it, held to her heart and looked up at the sky with a beatific smile. At last, she knew her 'mother'.

Restless[]

Weeks after the Battle of the Alight, Aloy encountered two black-armored Sawtooths in the wilds near Meridian. Aloy engaged them in combat, firing arrows at the machines from the back of a Strider. Talanah, who was traveling through the wilds nearby, discovered Aloy already in battle and came to her aid, loosing her own bow on one of the Sawtooths. After defeating the machine, Aloy realized the other Sawtooth had escaped, and enlisted Talanah's help in tracking it down.

The pair tracked the machine to the site of a destroyed caravan, where numerous corpses lay. When Talanah expressed disbelief that a single machine could cause such destruction, Aloy explained that it was a "new breed", and had to be destroyed. The two overheard cries for help, and rushed to aid the caravan's sole survivor, a young Carja girl, who was being chased by the Sawtooth. Aloy attacked the machine with her spear, while Talanah supported her at range, and together the two brought down the predator, exhausting all of Talanah's ammunition in the process.

While the Carja girl recovered from the traumatic experience, Aloy discussed the dangerous new variety of machines with Talanah, cautioning her that most hunters would not be able to defeat them. Aloy gave Talanah a bundle of arrows to replace her lost ammunition, and the two then parted ways.

Discovery and treachery[]

Aloy spent months searching for a backup of GAIA that she could use to reboot the terraforming system. However, every lead she found ended in disappointment: in purging APOLLO, Ted Faro had inadvertently also deleted the thousands of GAIA backups. Meanwhile, the terraforming system began to destabilize at an accelerating rate, with a toxic Red Blight and massive superstorms appearing in the east. Aloy recognized a point of no return was approaching; if she failed to repair GAIA by then, a second global extinction was inevitable.

Just before she prepared to enter her final lead, an ancient launch facility, she was found by Varl, who had been searching for her since she left the victory celebration. Aloy tried to push him away, but when he insisted on accompanying her, she relented and provided him with a Focus. As they explored the launch facility, Aloy taught Varl how to use his Focus and told him of her objective to restore GAIA. As data from the facility (once Aloy quickly realized was connected to Far Zenith) revealed certain truths, Aloy was forced to explain her connection with Elisabet Sobeck to Varl, as well as the nature of GAIA.

Aloy eventually managed to reach the Data Center, where Far Zenith had intended to store a stolen copy of GAIA, killing three Slitherfangs in the way. Unfortunately, much to Aloy's frustration, the copy of GAIA inside was a fake: Zero Dawn had caught wind of Far Zenith's schemes and sent them a massive virus in retaliation. As they exited the ruins, Varl suggested that she finds Sylens, in the event that he had useful information. When Aloy informed Varl that she hadn't heard from Sylens since the Battle of Alight, Varl suggested she talk to Marad for help in locating him.

Aloy returned to Meridian with Varl where, to her surprise, she was hailed as "the Savior of Meridian", even finding a statue of her on the Alight (a discovery that made her uncomfortable). Talking to Marad, she learned of a strange event that took place after the Battle of Alight- a red light rising from the base of the Spire. Upon investigation, she realized that Sylens had rigged the lance he gave her, transferring HADES to his possession rather than destroying it. Upon reaching the top of the Spire, a furious Aloy received a hologram from Sylens, who gave her coordinates in the Forbidden West and an invitation to discover what he had learned.

After returning to the Alight, Aloy shared her findings with Marad and Varl. Aloy was warned that the Tenakth, the dominant tribe within the Forbidden West, did not take trespass lightly: her best course of action would be to attend an upcoming Carja-Tenakth Embassy at the border, in order to gain right of passage. The conversation was interrupted by the arrival of Sun-King Avad, which gifted Aloy with a powerful weapon, the Champion’s Spear, as a token of his gratitude. After modifying the new spear to attach the Master Override, Aloy prepared to leave for the Embassy.

The Embassy[]

Aloy left Meridian at the crack of dawn, traveling to the Embassy alone. Upon arriving in the Daunt, the Sundom's western frontier, she learned that the Embassy had been delayed due to an infestation of Bristlebacks. After clearing the Bristlebacks from the valley, she traveled to Barren Light, the location of the Embassy, where she met Erend. Varl then caught up to her, riding on a Charger. She met with Nozar, the commander of Barren Light. Nozar refused to grant her passage into the Forbidden West as the Tenakth had not given the signal to begin the embassy. Refusing to wait any longer, Aloy ignored Nozar's warning and forced her way to the border.

The Tenakth Marshals did not take her presence lightly, which they saw as a violation of protocol. However, Marshal Fashav, cousin of Avad and former Red Raider, agreed to hear her out. After some discussion, Fashav gave Aloy right of passage into the West, on the condition that she not cross the border before the Embassy finished. Soon after the agreement was reached, the last of the Tenakth clan representatives arrived, prompting the Marshals to signal their readiness for the embassy.

Regalla's assault[]

Within seconds of the embassy beginning, the event was attacked by an army of Tenakth led by the disgraced Marshal Regalla. In the ensuing massacre, the entire Carja delegation and most of the Tenakth Marshals (including Fashav) were killed either by archers from atop the northern cliffside or riders atop machines (a fact which made Aloy immediately suspect Sylens' involvement), until only Aloy and Varl were left standing. At this, Regalla's Champion, Grudda demanded one-on-one combat with the two Nora. While Varl was caught off-guard and swiftly incapacitated, Aloy stood her ground and eventually defeated him. At this, the rebels left, having accomplished their goal and honoring the results of Aloy's duel.

As the garrison at Barren Light tended to the dead, Aloy helped the injured Varl back to the garrison to rest. The next morning, she retrieved Grudda's Shieldwing from his corpse and spoke with Barren Light's new commander, Lawan, before journeying into the Forbidden West alone.

LATOPOLIS[]

Sylens' coordinates led Aloy to a workshop built beneath an ancient Horus in the south of No Man's Land. There, she found a recording left behind by Sylens, where she learned that Sylens had installed HADES on the Horus's processing orb to interrogate it. Aloy followed the trail left behind by the orb to the Zero Dawn facility LATOPOLIS, where it lay waiting for her. Interfacing with the orb, she came face-to-face with HADES for the final time. After failing to extract any information from the now degraded AI, Aloy activated the Master Override and purged HADES for good.

Upon returning to reality, Aloy was greeted by Sylens via hologram. The incensed Aloy chided her former companion for both tricking and ignoring her over the last six months (the latter of which she had deduced by the spyware he had installed on her Focus). Sylens responded to her anger with smug and callous dismissal before revealing the significance of the facility: it was the main site for HADES's development, and its construction meant that any GAIA backups inside would have survived Ted Faro's purge. With her goal in front of her, Aloy agreed to venture inside, but warned Sylens not to trick her again.

After clearing the Firegleam obstructing the hatch (using an Igniter she crafted with Sylens' instructions), Aloy entered the ruins. As she navigated the flooded facility, she found datapoints regarding Elisabet and Travis Tate handling Far Zenith's attempted theft: of note was an argument Elisabet had with a Far Zenith representative named Tilda, with Elisabet's tone indicating to Aloy the matter was personal. She managed to reach the inner hatch, where data repositories lay waiting inside a massive device called "RECLUSE SPIDER".

To Aloy's dismay, the only intact backups were two root kernels, neither of which had any subfunctions. After a brief moment of despair, Aloy realized that she could restore GAIA by recovering the original subfunctions. Running a search through the chamber's console, she located MINERVA in the mountains west of the Utaru capital, Plainsong.

Her moment of victory was dashed by an intruder alarm. Sylens then confessed to sending an anonymous data pulse to any parties looking to rebuild GAIA; he advised her to open the hatch for the intruders, whom he claimed were very powerful but wouldn't harm Aloy. Incensed at being manipulated once again, Aloy vowed to track down and kill Sylens once she had restored GAIA, before crushing her Focus and replacing it with a spare free of spyware.

Aloy located a flooded channel beneath as an alternate exit, but to her shock, the hatch opened, recognizing Elisabet Sobeck's gene print. Hastily hiding behind RECLUSE SPIDER, Aloy watched in bewilderment as four individuals flanked by robotic servitors entered the vault, one of whom was another clone of Elisabet. Aloy's cover was quickly blown when the clone, after retrieving the other GAIA kernel, accidentally exposed Aloy. The group quickly recognized Aloy and deduced her original purpose: the leader promptly deemed Aloy an unnecessary complication, and ordered one of them, Erik, to kill Aloy as the rest of them departed.

Unable to hurt Erik thanks to his personal energy shield, Aloy was forced to flee. She dislodged RECLUSE SPIDER to gain a window to escape, diving into the water below and evading the Specters Erik sent after her. She eventually reached the power room, where she ignited a section of Firegleam to create an escape hole. Unfortunately, the explosion caused the power room to crumble, causing a flood that violently flushed her out of LATOPOLIS. Weak and barely conscious, Aloy was found by Varl (whom she initially hallucinated as Rost) just before she blacked out.

Plainsong[]

The unconscious Aloy was brought to a nearby Utaru outpost, Stone's Echo, where she fluttered in and out of consciousness for two days.

Upon hearing her wake, Varl came to her side and assured her the GAIA kernel was safe. Determined to continue her mission, Aloy attempted to rise to her feet despite her injuries, but Varl insisted she speak to Zo, the Gravesinger who granted them sanctuary. At that moment, the Utaru were singing a hymn for Re, a Plowhorn that the tribe revered as "land-gods". Using her Focus, Aloy identified a faulty part and removed it, allowing the machine to rise, much to the Utaru's delight.

In speaking with Zo, Aloy learned that the mountains where MINERVA was hiding was considering sacred to the Utaru and another of their land-gods, Fa, had not returned for weeks since entering before deadly machines started pouring out. Aloy insisted on entering the cave, but Zo insisted they needed the permission of the Chorus to do so. Reluctantly, Aloy agreed to take her rest. As she laid back down, Aloy unwittingly overheard Varl and Zo debating leaving herself alone before sharing a kiss. This compelled Aloy to encourage Varl to join Zo in Plainsong, promising not to run off. After he had left, Aloy took one last look at holograms of the four strangers from LATOPOLIS before taking her rest.

Aloy later rejoined her friends in Plainsong to meet with the Chorus but their arguments fell on deaf ears, as the Chorus were consigned to accept their home's impending demise and refuse to believe one outsider could solve all their problems. The meeting was suddenly interrupted by an explosion from the Cordon outside the mountains. Deciding to forgo the Chorus' consent, the trio fought their way through various machines on their path to the mountain.

MINERVA and the Base[]

Eventually finding a Cauldron door, Aloy provided Zo a Focus before overriding the door. As they explored Repair-Bay TAU, Aloy saw evidence of HEPHAESTUS' presence. Upon arriving at the core, they discovered Fa in the process of being converted into a Grimhorn, much to Zo's horror. After being forced to destroy Fa, Aloy expressed confusion upon seeing Zo mourn Fa. Zo confessed she no longer knew what to believe. Though Aloy suggested she could just return home, the Gravesinger asked what home would she have to return to and asked Aloy if she could truly save her people. As the Cauldron core emerged from the floor, Aloy stated Plainsong's salvation would be the first step as she overrode the core and purged HEPHAESTUS.

With HEPHAESTUS purged from the facility, Aloy and her companions pressed on but MINERVA attempted to remotely block their access to the rest of the facility. Undeterred, Aloy managed to navigate her way to MINERVA's core only for the AI to retract the console needed to insert the GAIA kernel. Deciding to resort to reason, Aloy convinced MINERVA to allow her to reset it back to its original code and merge with GAIA.

Once GAIA came online, she initially mistook Aloy for Elisabet before accessing her Focus data and learned the truth. With her heuristic matrix in the process of booting, GAIA granted access to the Base for Varl and Zo and encouraged them all to explore the Base. After repairing the corrupted overrides she acquire from the Repair Bay core, Aloy returned to speak with GAIA regarding the missing Subordinate Functions and the strangers she encountered.

GAIA had already suspected a connection between the strangers and the Extinction Signal that forced her predecessor to self-destruct. The signal in fact originated from the planet Sirius, Far Zenith's destination. Aloy then concluded that Far Zenith in fact faked the destruction of the Odyssey and that the strangers she encountered were their descendants seeking to use GAIA to remake the planet in their image.

Aloy was then tasked with locating POSEIDON, AETHER and DEMETER, the only sub functions GAIA could locate, revert them to their original code state with the Master Override and individually return each one using the GAIA cartridge. All three would grant GAIA enough heuristic density to summon and merge with HEPHAESTUS, who was hiding in the Cauldron network, allowing her to create an army of machines to defeat the Zeniths.

The Subordinate Functions[]

(Note that the following events may be completed in any order. The order here is based on the subordinate functions' proximity and recommended starting level for each mission)

In order to restore GAIA, Aloy tracked down three of her subordinate functions: AETHER, POSEIDON, and DEMETER. Each were in separate locations.

AETHER and the Tenakth[]

Aloy traveled to AETHER's coordinates at the Tenakth capital, the Memorial Grove, where she was greeted by Hekarro's chaplain, Dekka, who recalled her victory over Grudda. Aloy briefly observed the Grove's "Visions", corrupted holograms of an Old World military unit called the Ten whom the Tenakth revere. As Dekka left to fetch Hekarro, Aloy scanned the room and spotted AETHER under the throne room. Soon after, Kotallo, a surviving Marshal from the Embassy rushed past her, promising they would meet again soon.

Before Aloy could react, Hekarro made his presence known to her. Well aware of her reputation, he assumed she had come to pledge her spear to his cause. She then clarified that she needed to get into the basement, insisting it would save many lives, including his own. When she tried to describe AETHER as an invisible presence, the Tenakth suddenly cut her off, revealing he had in fact seen it. Now knowing her objective, he demanded she help him defeat her enemies in exchange for access to the basement. Growing impatient, Aloy suggested she might kill him instead. Unfazed, Hekarro remarked she might kill him but doing so would only aid Regalla's cause.

Realizing she had no choice but to play along, she asked what he required of her. As the chief explained, he was planning to host a Kulrut to replace his fallen Marshals and he anticipated that Regalla would attack to kill him in front of the assembled clans, so he needed Aloy to defend the Arena. However, the Kulrut required all three clan commanders to dispatch their challengers and Tekotteh of the Sky Clan had already anticipated Regalla's strategy and outright defied Hekarro's command. Thus, Hekarro needed Aloy to meet with Tekotteh and force him to submit by any means necessary.

Traveling to Stone Crest, Aloy met with Kotallo, who warned that Regalla's rebels herding through the valley. After their way through the valley, they arrived at the Sky Clan's base, the Bulwark. Their subsequent meeting with Tekotteh went poorly, despite Aloy arguing that the rebels were camped on their doorstep. After being dismissed, Aloy ignored Kotallo's suggestion to kill Tekotteh, recalling the clan commander declaring that the Sky Clan would remain safe behind the Bulwark, so she resolved to scan the exterior for a weakness. Upon spotting a metal structure embedded in the rock, she decided to investigate and found it was a tank from the Old World with an active power cell.

Rejoining Kotallo on the outside, she told him of her plan to destroy the Bulwark. But to penetrate a thick layer of rock would require a cannon so Aloy reminded that he did mention that that the rebels were herding machines to strip for parts and proposed raiding one of their camps. The incredulity of her plan almost made the Marshal want to quit until she reminded him of Hekarro's orders.

Arriving at the camp, they found the rebels having just overridden a Tremortusk. Despite being outnumbered, the duo managed to kill the rebels and the Tremortusk, allowing Aloy to remove a plasma cannon from its corpse. With Kotallo helping transport it, Aloy set the weapon up facing the Bulwark and fired several times at the tank to expose the power cell. Their antics prompted Tekotteh to come out to mock until Aloy's next shot caused the power cell to explode and the Bulwark to collapse. With Tekotteh's vulnerability exposed, he had no choice but to send his challengers to the Kulrut. Afterwards, Kotallo parted ways with Aloy to report to Hekarro.

Aloy then made her way back to the Memorial Grove, where she joined Hekarro and Kotallo in the Arena. She was then sent to join Dekka at the barricade along the northern trail, where Regalla would likely send her machines. Armed with a Ravager Cannon, Aloy destroyed several of Regalla's machines as the Kulrut commenced. However, a Rockbreaker tunneled underneath the defenses and straight into the Arena, allowing Regalla's forces to swarm out. Aloy quickly made her way back to the Arena, where she spotted Regalla chasing after Hekarro. Before she could give pursuit, a Slitherfang emerged from the hole, forcing her to work with contestant Ivvira to destroy. Resuming her pursuit soon after, she came to the throne room to witness Hekarro fighting a losing duel against Regalla. Spotting an overhead fighter jet about to fall, she used her grappling hook to keep it from falling on the combatants. At her signal, Kotallo tackled Hekarro out of the way as she released the jet, though Regalla rolled out of the way time and was forced to retreat.

After Hekarro ordained his new Marshals, Aloy offered to assist against Regalla's inevitable counterattack, but he insisted she had given him enough and honored their agreement. Accessing the basement beneath the throne, Aloy found AETHER and restored it to its original code state as she did with MINERVA. In doing so, it caused all the Visions throughout the Grove to change. At Dekka's urging, Aloy played the holorecording of Anne Faraday calling for unity against the machines, solidifying the Tenakth's commitment to Hekarro's cause. Immediately after, Kotallo offered to join Aloy and aid her mission, so she called Zo to show him to the Base.

Cradle of Echoes[]

Aloy then returned to the Base, where she discovered Erend had arrived and was struggling with his Focus.

After reuniting AETHER with GAIA, she then reported that she had received a distress call from ELEUTHIA. Uncertain whether the message was genuine or a trap, she asked Aloy to investigate. To her surprise, they were joined by Erend and Varl, who were involved in the meeting via their Focuses. And this time, Varl made it clear they were to accompany her.

Making their way to the mountain from where the distress signal originated, the trio bore witness to a Zenith fighting against Tenakth rebels before a pair of Oseram launched a disc that disabled her shield, allowing one remaining rebel to run her through, but not before she killed him. The Oseram's ballista then exploded, killing them as well. While Varl scouted ahead, Aloy investigated the battlefield and determined that the Tenakth was lying in wait for the Zenith, who was searching for something called "the asset", and the Oseram were equipped with a Focus, sending data on their weapon somewhere else.

Upon rejoining Varl, they found a massive tunnel drilled deep into the mountain. Believing whatever the Zenith was searching for was inside, Aloy instructed Erend to stand watch in case others show up while she and Varl made their way inside. Upon reaching the first room, Aloy determined this was a Far Zenith research facility where ELEUTHIA had taken shelter before being capture, leading her to believe "the asset" was something else. Subsequently coming across ectogenic chambers, Aloy identified them as the same machines that helped create her.

Reaching a massive storage room, Aloy considered that "the asset" was in one of the ectogenic chambers, and remembered the number 237 from the distress call. The resulting pod was revealed to contain the other Elisabet clone, Beta, in an unconscious state. Varl then found a Zenith device lying beside her that he determined by cut from her head. Playing a message recorded on it, Beta explained she was seeking sanctuary and that Far Zenith had already captured APOLLO, ARTEMIS and ELEUTHIA but she managed to steal their GAIA kernel.

Before they could retrieve Beta, they received a warning from Erend that a pair of Specters had arrived and one of them was on the warpath to their location. Aloy ordered Varl to take Beta to safety while she dealt with the Zenith machine. Once she had destroyed it, she raced back to the surface to rescue Erend. Unfortunately, the second Specter protected itself with a shield while firing, forcing Aloy to outflank and destroy it. As they were rejoined by Varl, Erend was briefly confused upon seeing Beta but Aloy promised to explain later. She then sent them back to the Base while she investigated the Oseram's weapon, which disintegrated in her hands in a similar manner to Sylen's Lance, leaving nothing but a metal sphere.

Returning to the Base, Aloy brought the weapon to GAIA for analysis, hoping they might be able to recreate and improve it to use against the Zeniths. GAIA determined that it was comparable to Zenith technology but not how it worked, as a preprogrammed command purged all data the moment it malfunctioned. They both come to the conclusion that Sylens was behind it.

Deciding to go check on Beta, she learned from Varl that her counterpart panicked upon waking up and hid in the server room. Proceeding to enter, Aloy formally introduced herself and asked if she was okay. Beta stated she was suffering from "Simulacrum Withdrawal Syndrome" as a side effect of removing her implant. At her request, Aloy provided a Focus to stabilize her symptoms.

Aloy then proceeded to question her about the Zeniths. Beta confirmed that Far Zenith did indeed colonize Sirius for several centuries before a natural disaster rendered it uninhabitable. However, she reacted with surprise at Aloy's belief that the present Zeniths were their descendants, stating that the original colonists had in fact made themselves immortal. The Zeniths made Beta on their way back from back to Earth, using their alpha build of APOLLO to educate her, which she initially believed was to repair GAIA but recently she began to suspect they intend to eradicate all life on Earth that they might terraform it to their specifications.

Once Aloy was finished with her questions, Beta revealed she had deduced Aloy's plan to use a machine army against the Zeniths but was disappointed that she hadn't even reached that stage yet. Beta then began to panic and second-guess her own choices. Managing to calm her down, Aloy encouraged her to talk with GAIA and see how she might contribute.

POSEIDON and Las Vegas[]

Traveling to POSEIDON's coordinates in the ruins of Las Vegas, Aloy eventually spotted a building leaking water, leading her to suspect POSEIDON's presence. Inside, she found a trio of Oseram delvers, Morlund, Abadund and Stemmur. As she learned from them, POSEIDON had flooded the city below and Morlund's initial attempts at creating a breathing device had failed. In conversing with Morlund, Aloy figured out how to improve his device. After hunting a few machine herds for parts and diving down to retrieve an air capsule from Morlund's second breathing device, and created a Diving Mask.

As she took the plunge, Aloy scanned datapoints belonging to an Old One named Stanley Chen, who built his fortune in Vegas and ultimately being forced leave on the Odyssey. But as she came into a large domed space, a Tideripper swam over her. She eventually spotted it guarding POSEIDON's hiding spot. Knowing she couldn't fight it underwater, she recalled Morlund mentioning spotting a red light on the floor when the water rushed in, and managed to find a console that provided her a holographic map. She proceeded to reach the two pump nodes and manually reset them before draining the water from the Pump Maintenance Station.

Returning to the spot where she last spotted the Tideripper, her attention was drawn by Morlund and his crew, whose excitement incidentally disturbed the Tideripper. Seeing they had no choice but to engage the machine, Aloy ordered them to remain on the high ground while she drew its attention. Afterwards, while the Oseram began collecting as many Embers as they could carry, Aloy proceeded into the server room, where she collected POSEIDON.

Upon returning to the surface, Aloy discovered that removing POSEIDON had caused multiple holographic projections to activate, amazing Morlund's crew. As she prepared to take her leave, Morlund invited her to return, intending to start a settlement.

After returning to Base and restoring POSEIDON with GAIA, Varl called her to speak with Beta. As she entered the server room, she found Beta repeatedly watching her original datapoint. Varl then explained that in her absence, he got to speaking with Beta and learned that one of the Zeniths, Tilda, might be different from the others. As Beta explained, on the voyage back to Earth, Tilda created a secret Data Channel that allowed Beta a measure of freedom before suddenly cutting off all contact after a few months. However, Beta could not give any meaningful information.

Deciding to leave Beta alone, Aloy vented to Varl how Beta's pessimism frustrated her. Varl then changed the subject, reminding when he found her after the HADES Proving Lab, he heard her muttering Rost's name and pointed out that she never talked about him since his death. Aloy dodged the subject, defending she did indeed miss Rost but she had to focus on their mission right now.

DEMETER and the Quen[]

Making her way into the forests of the Lowland Clan, Aloy passed by a squad dead Tenakth. As she was reaching DEMETER's coordinates at a series of buildings, she came under attack by soldiers of an unknown tribe. With these newcomers unwilling to negotiate, Aloy had no choice but to kill them. She soon identified her location, the Greenhouse, a former Faro biotech facility. DEMETER was in the data core, which was blocked off by vine created by a Metal Flower.

Deciding to search for an alternate route, Aloy found herself in the office of Tala Aquino, a Faro employee, and found a log on a project of hers called Adamantine Wreath. Realizing that the Greenhouse created the Metal Flowers, she resolved to find Test Station Ivy for a way to dismantle them. She then opened the office shutters and spotted another group of strangers in the field below. After killing them all, she proceeded into another room to find a woman offering no resistance but cautiously turned around when Aloy insisted she acted in self-defense. To her surprise, the newcomer, who introduced herself as Alva of the Quen, had a Focus.

As she learned from Alva, the Quen had come from across the ocean in hopes of finding data and technology to save their dying homeland, indicating that the failing terraforming system did indeed span the entire world. Proposing an alliance, Aloy asked where to find Test Station Ivy. Alva tried bringing up a holographic map that she claimed was unreadable, which confused Aloy as she could clearly see it. Scanning Alva's Focus, she determined it was an older model, unable to read files made after the late 2050s, but were still capable of receiving files from more advanced Focuses like hers, thus allow Alva to see the map.

As they examined the map, Alva said the main access to Test Station Ivy was blocked by rubble, so Aloy suggested using the subterranean tunnel system, which required a two-person authentication to access. After coming out the other end, they were spooked by a Dreadwing flying overhead.

Entering Test Station Elm, the two women worked together to find a way through, only to inadvertently activate a Biomass Conversion device in the courtyard outside. Despite Aloy's attempts to turn it off, the device devoured most of the vegetation outside. This spectacle confused Alva before Aloy shared another log from Aquino, detailing her plans to use Adamantine Wreaths against the Faro Swarm. She then explained how the Quen Ancestors wiped themselves out. This revelation distressed Alva, who feared punishment from her Overseers or the continued suffering of her family back home. Trying to stop her from leaving, Aloy insisted they had mutual goals and promised that her own missions would lead to the restoration of the Quen homelands, though she didn't allude to the terraforming system. Nonetheless, Alva needed to bring something back to show for her efforts, so Aloy asked her for help in unblocking the data core.

Navigating through another underground tunnel, the pair were about to reach Test Station Ivy, only to be attacked by the Dreadwing. After destroying it, they proceeded into the building. As Aloy downloaded the necessary data, she also discovered Aquino's last log, revealing that while the Wreaths had worked, the Faro Plague had spread too far to be stopped.

After using the workbench at the Quen camp to craft a Vine Cutter, Aloy attached it to her spear and destroyed the vines blocking the data core. Aloy then collected DEMETER. When asked by Alva what happened, as her Focus briefly glitched, she explained that DEMETER was the kind of data she couldn't read before showing the immense database on agriculture, exactly what Alva was looking for. Suddenly, they were startled by Quen reinforcements, forcing Aloy to take cover. Fortunately, Alva interceded, identifying Aloy as Elisabet Sobeck reborn, to her surprise. Knowing her people would want to take Aloy back to their base at Legacy's Landfall, which she insisted would be problematic, Alva sent her away, though she provided its location should Aloy need to find her.

Faro's Tomb[]

After returning to Base and restoring the third required Subordinate Function, GAIA confirmed she was strong enough to absorb HEPHAESTUS. They were then joined by Varl and Beta, who had figured out a plan. As it stood, HEPHAESTUS' own heuristic density made it too large to be beamcast or transported in Aloy's data kernel, so they needed to trap it at Cauldron GEMINI, which had the two data cores needed for their trap. Unfortunately, as Beta pointed out, the act of merging would create a power surge the Zeniths could easily detect, so Aloy suggested Erend, Zo and Kotallo spread to the other Cauldrons and fake their own surges to draw out the Zeniths. Even so, Beta revealed that HEPHAESTUS had managed to write Alpha Clearance out of its access module, making its capture impossible, so Aloy suggested finding Ted Faro's Omega Clearance. Beta stated that they would have to find his bunker, Thebes, and the Zeniths only knew of its general location in San Francisco. With this new information, Aloy resolved to travel to the city and seek out Alva.

Aloy then traveled to the ferry that Alva told her about, but finding no Quen present, she resolved to take a boat herself. Rowing through a thick rainstorm, Aloy ended up making landfall at the south of the Isle of Spires. Eventually, she found Landfall and fortunately, the Quen did not attack on sight. When she asked to see Alva, the guards stated that their superior, Overseer Bohai, had ordered that Aloy be brought before him. The resulting introduction became tense; Bohai refused to grant Aloy's request until they confirmed her identity as either Sobeck reborn or a threat in disguise, and Aloy maintained that she was attacked first at the Greenhouse.

The argument was then interrupted by the arrival of the Quen leader, the Ceo. Bohai then began to sensationalize before his leader, declaring he is uncertain how someone resembling Sobeck was ignorant of the Quen and what she sought. She responded that she was seeking Thebes to heal the world like the Quen are, sating the Ceo's curiosity. Bohai then confirmed that Alva was at Thebes, but an apex Thunderjaw had blocked access to the digsite.

Aloy then volunteered to deal with the Thunderjaw, and once she had, the first person at the digsite to greet her was Alva. Having developed bad vibes about the Ceo during their meeting, she asked what the Ceo even wanted from Thebes when the data from the Greenhouse should've been enough. Alva claimed that the Ceo desired "faster results" and tried to warn her to be cautious around him when the Ceo and Bohai showed up.

Brought to the underground entrance, the Ceo assumed Aloy could open it, but she scanned the door and determined that it would only open for Ted Faro. This caused the Ceo to get angry at Bohai, who assured him he was a Living Ancestor with Sobeck's eternal essence, before Alva reasoned that Aloy could use the flooded passages to find an alternate way in. Thus, Aloy dove into the passages and navigated through the geothermal plant and into Thebes, where she found datapoints from a resident named Kanya Somptow, who detailed how Faro killed those who learned of his murder of the Alphas.

As she unlocked the hatch from the inside, she was confused as Bohai congratulated her. To her disgust, the Ceo had removed his robes, revealing himself to be wearing regalia reminiscent of Faro, for as he claimed, he was Faro's reincarnation and that the secrets of Thebes would make him complete. He quickly grew angry when she claimed he didn't know Faro as she did. To her annoyance, she was forced to wear a raiment reminiscent of Sobeck, threatening both hers and Alva's lives to force her compliance; to avoid unnecessary violence, she begrudgingly acquiesced. As they descended into Thebes, Aloy whispered to Alva over the unusual situation she had been thrust into. The Diviner promised to serve her a full explanation if they survived.

As they entered the main hall where giant statue of Faro stood, the Ceo mistook two Corruptors for statues before they came to life and attacked. Aloy and Alva were left to fend for themselves, though they did receive firing support from the upper catwalks. Once the two machines were destroyed, they proceeded into a laboratory. Aloy found a recording from Dr. Narong Somptow, detailing the life-extension treatments he was working on for Faro, but it had resulted in unstable mutations. When she told this to the Quen, the Ceo dismissed the idea that Faro could be alive, as it meant he wouldn't have passed his "essence" onto the Ceo. He then pontificated that nonetheless Faro would've sought immortality for the Quen and his successor, the Ceo himself. Recognizing the Ceo possessed the same amount of self-deluded megalomania as Faro, Aloy remarked he was just like Faro, though he failed to realize her sarcasm.

Ultimately, when they ran into a jammed door, Aloy resorted to using the vents to get inside. Managing to find a console on the other side with Omega Clearance on it, she quickly began to download it. In the meantime, she decided to listen to Faro's last log and learned that he discovered the Somptows committed suicide, yet he refused to accept blame for their deaths; she remarked Faro hadn't changed at all, regardless of who died. Suddenly, she heard noises coming from the power room as the recording revealed Faro entered the reactor room, believing time and energy would stabilize his mutations while he awaited new humans to find Thebes that he might've guided them in his vision. However, she looked up a holographic readout of the reactor and realized the hideous mass of mutated flesh covering it was Faro.

Just then, the Quen managed to force their way in and the Ceo demanded to know if she found Faro's secrets, which she denied. Subsequently ignoring her warning not to enter the reactor chamber, the Ceo stumbled out, realizing he had found Faro. Disgusted, the Ceo ordered Faro immolated, and ignoring Aloy's warnings that it would trigger a meltdown, also ordered Aloy and Alva's executions. Managing to fight their way free, the two women chased after the Ceo and witnessed him being crushed by the head of Faro's statue. With Thebes collapsing all around them, the two managed to escape with their lives. As they emerged back at the digsite, they were received by Bohai, who demanded an explanation. When Alva lied that the Ceo died for Thebes' secrets, Bohai, no longer having to serve a madman, saw through it and threatened them with execution. Aloy took charge and placed all the blame on the Ceo, declaring he died "like a gutless coward", but insisted she did indeed find something to help their homeland if she was allowed to take it. She made it clear she didn't want to fight anyone but she would if she had to and that Bohai could take credit when things improve. Convinced by her arguments, Bohai declared her welcome in Landfall and assigned Alva to join her and report on her efforts.

As Alva expressed her relief at these turn of events, Aloy called Varl to escort her back to the Base and to provide her with a new Focus.

Cauldron GEMINI[]

When Aloy returned to the Base, GAIA reported that while her transport rig is functional, she had calculated that merging with HEPHAESTUS would take 35 hours, increasing their risk of detection by Far Zenith. So Aloy proposed that she and Beta perform the merge together, which GAIA calculated would reduce it to 4.5 hours.

Aloy then called Varl to talk to Beta but unfortunately, she refused to leave her room. Confronting her counterpart, Aloy insisted she join them at GEMINI so they could stop the Zeniths. However, the argument grew heated, as Beta feared the possibility of being recaptured and screamed that Aloy couldn't understand what she's going through. Aloy agreed, reminding that though they are genetic twins, she asked why couldn't find the courage like Elisabet did. Beta then broke down, saying that from looking on the data from Aloy's Focus, by all accounts they're both social outcasts and considers that she may be the defective clone. It was then that Aloy came to a revelation: her strength wasn't Elisabet, but Rost. Though Beta didn't understand Rost as she did, only knowing that he wasn't a warm and loving father figure, that he was simply going to abandon her after the Proving, Aloy reminded that he also sacrificed his life to save hers.

As she sat down beside her sister, Aloy told her she didn't need to go on the mission. Fortunately, Beta had changed her mind. However, she asked Aloy to kill her if the Zeniths find them, preferring death to a life as their slave.

Deciding to call all her friends together, they rode on Chargers together for a time before separate towards the other Cauldrons. Once at GEMINI, Aloy, Beta, and Varl connected GAIA's rig to the first data core before calling the others to confirm that their pulse generators were working. After ordering the others to maintain radio silence until she gave the all-clear, Aloy and Beta activated Omega Clearance to call down HEPHAESTUS. Though GAIA managed to confine the rogue subordinate function to the Cauldron, it managed to damage and escape the second data core. HEPHAESTUS then reactivated the facility and sent machines to attack them. After destroying them, Aloy pursued HEPHAESTUS and purged it from whatever chamber it attempted to hide while Beta got to work fixing the second core.

When she came close to the last chamber, HEPHAESTUS, expressing its irritation with Aloy's constant interference, unleashed a Slaughterspine against her. Once she destroyed it, she proceeded to override the nearby node, finally forcing it back into the core. Upon rejoining Beta and Varl, they began to process of removing HEPHAESTUS' malicious code, during which Beta passed her an override for a Sunwing. But before they could make any progress, they were suddenly interrupted by the Zeniths Gerard, Erik and Tilda. Gerard quickly incapacitated Aloy, leaving her helpless as Erik killed Varl and recaptured Beta. As she rose to her feet, Aloy was about to fulfill her promise to Beta but hesitated. As she lamented her failure, suddenly Tilda descended to her side and assured her all was not lost before unleashing a blinding flash that caused Aloy to pass out.

The Turncoat Zenith[]

Aloy later awoke in a bunker. As she lamented her losses, she then heard Tilda's voice, assuring her they were in a safe place and that Beta was alive but not in immediate danger.

As she exited the bunker and came up the stairs to meet Tilda, she demanded to know how the Zeniths arrived at Cauldron GEMINI. Intrigued by her all-business attitude, Tilda admitted that Far Zenith was actively monitoring HEPHAESTUS, knowing they would need it at some point, and thus they weren't fooled by Aloy's ruse with the pulse generators.

As she was invited to the outside balcony for breakfast, Aloy deduced that this was Tilda's home that she used as the basis for her Data Channel she shared with Beta. She then expressed cautious distrust of Tilda, given what the Zeniths had done, and questioned why she would suddenly turn on them after departing Earth and living for the past millennia with Far Zenith. Tilda then showed Aloy's old Focus, having managed to repair it and had learned everything about her from its data, complementing that what Aloy had achieved in two decades far exceeded anything Tilda had done in a thousand years. She warmly remarked that Aloy is like Elisabet in many ways, and that she wanted to help her stop Far Zenith.

As Aloy sat down with her host, Tilda said they need to rescue GAIA and Beta, confirming that Gerard was planning to reboot the biosphere to specifications that would only suit immortals. Once the Zeniths were defeated, with GAIA integrated with the alpha build of APOLLO, they could heal the biosphere and educate the tribal humans to rebuild the world Elisabet imagined. She then revealed her awareness of Sylens, the weapon he built to disable Zenith shields and that he was manipulating Regalla's rebellion. Even now, Regalla was planning a final assault on the Memorial Grove and once she killed Hekarro, she would lead the full force of the Tenakth against the Zenith base. However, the assault would be suicide, which would only serve as a distraction to allow Sylens to kill the Zeniths. She proposed that they allow Sylens to go forward with his plan while the two of them infiltrate the base through a secret entrance so they could recover GAIA and Beta.

Aloy completely objected to Tilda's plan, knowing that it would see the extinction of an entire tribe. Tilda argued there was no other option, reminding that Elisabet's plan with Zero Dawn forced the sacrifice of many to ensure a new one could grow. However, Aloy recalled Rost once told her, "When it looks impossible, look deeper. And then fight like you can win." Having realized an alternative, she demanded Tilda access the Data Channel so she could talk to Beta, despite the risk of detection. Seeing Beta being forced to merge GAIA and HEPHAESTUS, she promised to come for her. Not fully trusting Tilda, she whispered to Beta to inject HEPHAESTUS into the Zenith base's printer matrix when the time was right, and her sister told her that she would need to destroy the base's regulator to ensure that.

As soon as they broke off contact, Aloy told Tilda that first she was going to lay Varl to rest before using the Sunwing override to put an end to Regalla's rebellion, thus giving Sylens no other option but to come to their side. Seeing she had made up her mind, Tilda advised her to make use of EMP cells in the wreckage of a Metal Devil and that she would join her at her Base once she brought Sylens to the table.

Afterwards, Aloy got back in contact with Erend and promised to rejoin everyone at the Base.

The Wings of the Ten[]

Upon returning to Base, Aloy first comforted Zo before telling her friends what happened at GEMINI and her intention to stop Regalla. As Kotallo was forced to return to Hekarro's side, Aloy granted him leave and advised him to keep his eyes on the sky.

Aloy later met Zo outside the eastern entrance to the Base, where she had laid Varl to rest facing the Sacred Land. After Zo sang a death song, she confided in Aloy that she was pregnant with Varl's child, but she never got to tell him. In turn, Aloy admitted she never got to thank Varl for not only saving her life, but for not giving up on her.

Once she had repaired the Sunwing override, Aloy proceeded to override one such machine atop the Base before taking off. As Tilda had patched into her Focus network, she advised Aloy to override the Tallneck near Scalding Spear to release an electromagnetic pulse to charge the energy cells on a Horus. Immediately after collecting the cell, she flew to the Memorial Grove, where Hekarro's loyalists were slowly being overwhelmed. Upon dropping the energy cell, the resulting electromagnetic pulse disabled the rebel machines, allowing the loyalists to turn the tide.

Soaring above the Arena where Regalla had cornered Hekarro and Kotallo, she called out the rebel leader and challenged her to a duel. As no Tenakth could turn down a challenge, Regalla graciously accepted. The ensuing duel transitioned from the chief's platform to the Arena below. Eventually, Aloy came out victorious and Hekarro granted her the power to decide Regalla's fate.

After deciding Regalla's fate, Marshal Ivvira summoned them to the throne room, where a Sons of Prometheus operative had surrendered himself, stating he had a message for the outlander who defeated Regalla as he held out a Focus. Knowing he was sent by Sylens, Aloy asked for privacy. Before he left, Hekarro offered to repay her by aiding her mission, but she declined, insisting he continue to work on his mission of peace.

As she connected with the extra Focus, Sylens then appeared before her, irate that she ruined his plans. He then sarcastically congratulated her for saving the Tenakth for at least a few weeks only to doom the entire planet as a result. In response, Aloy assured him she had a better plan to defeat the Zeniths and told him to meet her at her Base with his weapon if he wanted access to the APOLLO database, ironically telling him to "submit to the inevitable", the same words he used against her in LATOPOLIS. After cutting off communication by crushing his Focus, Aloy then called Tilda to inform her of her success.

Assault on Far Zenith[]

By the time she returned to the Base, she found that Sylens had arrived first. Face-to-face with him for the first time since GAIA Prime, she warned that she would kill him if he were to betray her again before introducing him to Tilda. The conversation turned to Sylens' weapon, which he assured was significantly improved from the previous prototype. Tension quickly developed between her two allies as Sylens suggested he might test it on Tilda before Aloy intervened and had Erend set them up in their own rooms.

Later, Aloy decided to convene her team together to brief them on Tilda's plan to infiltrate the Zenith base. As she explained, the base was built atop an ancient military installation, but she would reveal their infiltration point when the time was right. Beta and GAIA would be held at the top of the launch tower. If they encountered the other Zeniths, Sylens' weapon would disable their shield, which Erend volunteered to carry so Sylens could deploy it. Once Tilda told them of the rendezvous point, Aloy insisted on speaking with Kotallo and Alva in private, telling them where to find and destroy the base's regulator before infiltrating the Zenith network for anything Tilda may be concealing.

Traveling to the beach across from the Zenith base, Aloy summoned her allies. Once they were assembled, Tilda revealed a secret tunnel she used to go to and from the island undetected. Once they were on the other side, Aloy dispatched Kotallo and Alva to their assignment, Zo to provide covering fire on the high ground and for Erend to accompany her. Before Tilda left to scramble the Zenith network, she opened the Data Channel to Beta so Aloy could tell her she had arrived.

Making their way across the base while fighting Specters, Kotallo confirmed they reached the regulator, at which Aloy him to destroy it. Soon enough, swarms of Specters began flooding out of their hangers, only to be met with combat machines HEPHAESTUS created with the machine printers, rapidly producing them in numbers faster than any Cauldron. Sylens pointed out that HEPHAESTUS would no doubt retreat back into the Cauldron network, though Aloy was confident in their ability to recapture it.

With the Zenith base quickly becoming a warzone, Aloy and Erend rejoined Zo and Sylens just as the Zeniths came out to investigate the commotion. Pinned down as Gerard boasted of his people's invulnerability, Aloy had Sylens activate his weapon, permanently disabling their shields. As a result, most of the Zeniths were slaughtered by HEPHAESTUS' machines while Gerard and Erik fled back towards the launch cycles. Tilda soon rejoined them, stating they couldn't afford to let Gerard escape with Beta and GAIA, forcing them to fight through the warring machines, but only Aloy made it through to the base of the launch tower.

As she reached a service elevator, she was suddenly ambushed by Erik. Now that the Zenith was at a disadvantage, Aloy was able to fight and defeat him, leaving him weak enough for Zo to stab him from behind, avenging Varl's death. While Zo rejoined the others, Aloy began ascending to the top of the tower only for Gerard to disable the elevator, forcing her to freeclimb. As she made her way up, Alva called her to report that she managed to briefly gain access to the Zenith network, and found evidence that the Zeniths were plotting escape vectors away from Earth, and that they were deeply afraid of a something called "Nemesis" before their connection got cut off.

Upon reaching the top of the launch tower, Aloy found and freed Beta. Though acknowledging that her sister had been through a terrible ordeal, she asked her to find out what Nemesis was. Beta pulled up a hologram of what seemed like a swarm of machines in deep space on a course for Earth. It was then that Beta began to suspect Nemesis destroyed Sirius and Aloy concluded that the Zeniths were fleeing from it, using Earth only as a waystation.

Suddenly, Gerard exploded into the room before being shot in the back by Tilda. Aloy then confronted her, demanding the truth about Nemesis. Tilda confessed that Nemesis was a failed attempt at digital immortality, composed of digital copies of several Zeniths. Having grown sentient and vengeful against its creators for its imprisonment, Nemesis used the Zeniths' memories to control and destroy their colony on Sirius; Beta then realized that Nemesis was the true creator of the Extinction Signal. But since HADES failed to render Earth non-viable for the Zeniths, Nemesis launched from Sirius to finish the job itself, so the Zeniths plotted to find another planet to terraform with GAIA, leaving Earth to Nemesis' mercy. Even so, Tilda intended to continue with the original plan as well as fulfill Elisabet's dream as she intended to Aloy to join her on the Odyssey so they could build a new world for humanity.

Appalled by the thought of abandoning her friends and the planet, Aloy outright refused. Tilda then confessed that she loved Elisabet and had spent a thousand years regretting leaving her behind to die on Earth. Judging Aloy to be the superior version of Elisabet compared to Beta, Tilda made it clear that she was taking her by force; she promised that once she was made an immortal like herself, she'd eventually forgive her after a few centuries.

Unfazed by Tilda's threats, she reminded that she had no shield to protect her until the Zenith summoned Specter Prime. Immediately sending Beta to find cover, Aloy fought and ultimately killed Tilda. Lamenting that Tilda should've let her choose, Aloy briefly regarded her corpse before Sylens appeared.

The maverick quickly deduced the altercation that occurred, and seeing the hologram of Nemesis, confirmed that he learned of the rogue AI's existence from HADES, who also provided data to disable the Zeniths' shields. As such, everything he had done since the battle of the Alight had been to seize the Odyssey and the APOLLO database from Far Zenith to save himself before Nemesis' arrival. He didn't tell her this because he knew she would've intervened to save the Tenakth. Nevertheless, he extended an invitation to join him. Incredulously that he would just abandon the planet, Aloy pleaded with him to stay to find a way to fight Nemesis, but Sylens was convinced that Earth stood no chance. He reminded that Elisabet had to sacrifice her world to ensure a new one could be born and that she would've fled the planet in the face of Nemesis.

Regardless, Aloy declined Sylens' offer as she rejoined her friends. After embracing Beta, to her surprise, Sylens suddenly had a change of heart and decided to stay on Earth for the time being.

Preparing for Nemesis[]

Upon returning to the Base, Aloy placed Elisabet's pendant next to Rost's necklace. As her friends departed to warn the other tribes about Nemesis, she reflected that the coming of Nemesis was far different than the war Elisabet fought. Nonetheless, she had confidence that the people of Earth could stop the coming threat. As she rejoined Beta reactivating GAIA, she remarked that for the first time, she wasn't alone in the fight.

In the Burning Shores[]

Sometime after the defeat of Far Zenith, Aloy is contacted by Sylens, telling her of his concern and requests her to meet him at Tilda's mansion. Upon arrival, the maverick guessed that he was standing in the very spot where Tilda tried to tempt her with the false promise of saving the Earth, but Aloy refused to be baited. She further reminded him if he really thought that life on Earth wasn't worth saving, he wouldn't have stayed, to which he claimed it was out of curiosity of whether she could pull off the impossible.

Getting right to the reason for her presence, Sylens tells her of his discovery; while scouring Far Zenith's base for information that could help against Nemesis, he found out that there was actually a thirteenth Zenith, Walter Londra, who broke off from his allies prior to Aloy's attack. This rogue Zenith was too dangerous to allow to roam free, so Sylens ordered Aloy to track him down and eliminate him, suggesting that he might have information that could help the fight against Nemesis. Sylens continued by speculating that Londra had gone to the Burning Shores, formerly known as Los Angeles, where his company Heavenc, was headquartered. Just as Aloy was about to set off, Sylens cautioned her that Londra might be more devious and resourceful than the other Zeniths; she remarked that he almost seemed concerned for her safety.

As Aloy was flying on a Sunwing to the Burning Shores, she is called by Beta, who on the other hand was worried that she was calling at a bad time, but was reassured by Aloy that she wasn't, Beta reminded Aloy that she can be contacted at any time if Aloy so needs to. After this, Aloy then arrives at her destination, only to get blasted by Londra's defence drone. She makes a rough landing on one of the islands. While recovering from this, Aloy is approached by a surprised Quen stranger — asking if the former was flying moments prior. Their conversation is then interrupted by machines. Both Aloy and the Quen hide in the bushes, the Quen woman confidently telling Aloy about handling them, only for Aloy to quickly remark how she is able to help as well. The two fight the machines together, and eventually succeeds defeating all of them.

Aloy and Seyka formally introduce themselves, where they quickly realize that they both have focuses. Aloy acknowledges that Seyka does not look like any Diviner she has seen, and Seyka asks about her purpose in the Burning Shores. Aloy mentions that she is looking for a ruin on a hill, not being specific on who she’s looking for. Seyka mentions that the ruin is called “Starlight Rise” and says there may be another way to get there, but first, the sentry defence would need to be dealt with. She then leads Aloy to her base camp in Fleet’s End on her mechanized skiff, where Aloy meets Admiral Gerrit and Compliance Officer Rheng, who attempted to have them both arrested, which Seyka prevents as she declared that their matters are with the Admiral. Rheng speaks with the admiral, accusing Seyka of tribal law violations pertaining to the use of a Diviner’s focus. He is then interrupted by Seyka, insinuating that the lost Quen could be found using said focus with Aloy’s help. Considering the circumstances of Fleet’s End, Admiral Gerrit ruled that Aloy and Seyka may act as they see fit, dismissing Rheng’s accusations for the time being, mentioning that a "reckoning" needs to happen.

Aloy and Seyka meet across the camp’s bridge, where they venture off toward the defence sentry tower. Along the way, they discover Stingspawn eggs, which Seyka explains were not there before. On the approach of the tower, they encounter a Bilegut, and to clear the approach, they must destroy it. Once destroying the machine and its accompanying Stingspawn, the women vault the tower, and climb the ruins to reach the sentry control node. They are then greeted by a recording from Londra, thus activating the sentry against the pair. After destroying the machine, Aloy and Seyka make plans to rendezvous at the camp to proceed to Starlight Rise, and Seyka leaves the tower to inform the admiral of their progress.

Once at the camp, Aloy and Seyka use a Sunwing to reach the shore toward the ruin, where they discover the missing Quen’s abandoned equipment. Using the ballistae left behind as a tool to create climbing points, they clear the cliffs and enter the ruin. Inside, they discover Londra's prototype rocket engine had been excavated. Seyka is confused as to why Londra is retrieving it now, but Aloy deviates from her question, suggesting they follow the trail. Past the room with the engine, they both discover a deceased Quen, Leena, under rubble next to a chasm filled with lava.

Personality[]

Aloy is curious, determined, and intent on uncovering the mysteries of her world.[3] As a child, she was rather disobedient and was annoyed by her guardian Rost's firm devotion to tribal laws, not being able to see what was so bad about the ruins of the Old Ones. Unlike many in her tribe who shun the use of technology, Aloy sees technology as a practical and unique tool to aid her in her quest, a belief that was born when she used her Focus to save a young man from certain death. She frequently uses her Focus throughout her life to aid in hunting machines and tracking individuals. Her early use of the Focus has made Aloy more aware of a bigger picture outside of the Nora tribe, spurring her to be more curious about the Old Ones. She also became rather skeptical about tribal lore and beliefs, seeing the All-Mother and what the tribes believe to be her vestiges as what they really are: remnants of Project Zero Dawn.

Aloy is shown frequently to be not good with people, the result of being treated as less than human for the first 18 years of her life and having little human interaction outside of Rost. She is very blunt and sarcastic, never hesitating to tell people exactly what she thinks of them even when it wouldn't be wise to do so. She is especially shown to despise those who consider themselves better than others, such as Ahsis, and is disturbed by the behaviour of people such as Nil, not being able to tell if the latter is better or worse than the bandits he kills. She is also rather impatient and has little tolerance for those who waste her time or dodge questions, one of the many things that put her at odds with the ever-elusive Sylens. At the same time however, years of being shunned has made Aloy compassionate and sympathetic towards others in need, particularly towards those who are still outcasts. Her benevolence is her greatest strength, garnering the respect and trust of many who have interacted with her. However, there are limits to her empathy; when Elida asks her if she knows what it's like to only be alive when you're with someone else, Aloy admits that she doesn't, since she's never been in love before and is a loner by nature. Her lack of romantic experience is also shown when Varl asks her for relationship advice, prompting Aloy (after making a joke) to point out she is the wrong person to ask about such things.

Although her interpersonal skills sometimes leave a lot to be desired, she nonetheless forges deep and long-lasting friendships with long-term colleagues such as Varl and Erend, and also with those she encounters on quests, such as Talanah Khane Padish and Petra Forgewoman. She also bonds with Morlund over their shared enthusiasm for his invention of a diving mask. When she engages in affectionate physical contact (such as hugging Beta), Aloy appears awkward and generally does not initiate the contact.

Despite Rost's presence, living without knowing her mother was a source of emotional distress for Aloy and compounded her alienation from the Nora; it is evident that this is the primary reason Aloy was cast out of the tribe. Aloy's desire to know her origins became her life's goal and her primary motivator to complete her training for the Proving. However, Rost noted that she was only training to win the Proving for herself, as proven when she misses the point of the test when she fights and defeats her first Sawtooth. He tells her that there will come a time when she will have to fight for her new tribe and serve a purpose greater than herself. Aloy understands, but states it will have to be for a cause that she believes in. Even after being appointed a Seeker, Aloy's primary motivation is to learn where she came from and who her mother is, caring little for the history of the Old Ones or the fact that the people who are hunting her massacred a large portion of her tribe. It's this single-minded attitude that results in her being labelled a "spoiled child" by Sylens. After learning how she was born and why, however, Aloy finds the purpose Rost spoke of; prevent HADES from causing a second Faro Plague and restore the world. By the time she heads out to the Forbidden West, Aloy has completely grown past her initial self-centred attitude, outright stating that she will do anything to save the world. Even before this change, Aloy shows herself to be (usually) patient and willing to help out people in need who she encounters in her travels, even if one task results in her being given another to complete. Although she willingly accepts rewards and general payment when given to her, she is never shown accepting requests strictly for the shards given (though she will take on tasks that promise a new weapon or tool that may help her on her quest).

As a former outcast, Aloy has little respect for laws, especially if they interfere with what she believes to be right. This is especially shown in regards to the law forbidding contact with outcasts; having spent most of her life as an outcast herself, she willingly talks with and assists them, with no concern for the possible consequences. She also encourages people who start questioning harsh laws; among the Banuk, she readily encourages tribesfolk when they themselves start to ask these questions. Aloy is also shown to be tolerant of gender-diversity, as exhibited when she meets a number of LGBTQ individuals in her travels (including Petra, who flirts with her), and also reacts kindly when encountering individuals implied to have autism or dementia. In a private conversation with Talanah, Aloy states that she does not consider herself part of the Nora tribe, believing 'Aloy despite the Nora' to be a more fitting title than 'Aloy of the Nora'. As such, she is enraged when the tribe start worshipping her after she learns the truth about herself, considering being treated as an idol to be no different than being an outcast, and outright rejects the title 'Anointed' they bestow upon her. As a whole, despite regularly saving other tribespeople and the entire world, Aloy is incredibly humble, refusing to take any credit for her heroism. Six months after the Battle of the Alight, she was more than a little embarrassed when the people of Meridian built a statue of her in her honor.

Aloy has shown great physical and emotional resilience during her journey, always moving towards her goal despite the harsh obstacles she encounters. When she discovers that she is not the child but a clone of Elisabet Sobeck created by GAIA, Aloy is shattered by this revelation, feeling that she is a mere instrument "born in destruction and fire" instead of a person. However, she quickly gathers herself together, realizing that she was created in order to protect the world from being destroyed by a second Faro Plague. She also becomes somewhat more optimistic as time passes; while Sylens is convinced that Ted Faro doomed the Earth and humanity to oblivion by erasing APOLLO, Aloy, due to all the things she has seen as a Seeker, believes the world they live in is still worth fighting for, even if it is a wasteland.

Skills and abilities[]

  • Strength and Endurance: Aloy possesses the strength and endurance of a woman of her age, height and build who engages in intensive regular exercise. She is strong enough to lift and wield heavy machine weapon components such as a Thunderjaw Disc Launcher or a Ravager Cannon, maintaining aim and enduring the recoil. She has enough endurance to engage the largest, most formidable machines for sustained periods, evading their attacks and inflicting damage until she finally destroys them.
  • Master Acrobat: Aloy is very nimble and can scale rock faces with ease. She is even quick enough to dodge charging machines.
  • Combat Prowess: Aloy was trained to fight by Rost, one of the best warriors in Nora history, and is more than capable of taking on most human enemies as well as machines.
  • Master Archer: Aloy is highly proficient with the bow and arrow, having practiced since childhood under Rost.
  • Master Crafter: Aloy has an intricate knowledge of machines and can combine materials salvaged from them with natural materials in order to craft ammunition, traps, and tools. She is even able to fit override devices to her spear.
  • Master Hunter: Even without the aid of the Focus, Aloy is an excellent tracker, being able to find a trail made by humans or machines.
  • Equestrian: After acquiring a Corruptor's override component, Aloy can ride some of the Machines she reprograms, cutting her travel time in half.
  • Scientific Mind: Aloy has demonstrated skill at scientific observation and inference, correctly concluding, for example, that the Earth is round and not flat from observing the shape that its shadow casts on the moon during a lunar eclipse. She routinely demonstrates curiosity and acute powers of observation (albeit enhanced by her Focus), reasoning and deduction, all traits of a competent scientist. This may be due at least in part to her genetic makeup: she is a clone of the exceptionally gifted Old One scientist Elisabet Sobeck.
  • Alpha Access: Being a clone of Elisabet Sobeck, Aloy has the maximum genetic clearance for all Zero Dawn facilities. This allows her to use the Master Override, as well as access any GAIA facilities that require Alpha clearance. She later gains access to Omega Clearance, which previously belonged only to Ted Faro.

Appearances in other media[]

Monster Hunter: World[]

Aloy's overall appearance with the Nora Brave armor became accessible through an event in the PlayStation release of Monster Hunter: World. The event began on February 26, 2018 and ended after about a week.

Her look is treated as an exclusive armor set that cannot be mixed with other pieces and alters the player avatar's complete look into Aloy's, even if it was a male character. Applying this look gives the player skill sets that reflect Aloy's gameplay in Zero Dawn while also changing the avatar's voice to be similar to hers.

However, this render of Aloy's look lacks the Focus and is equipped with a wrist-mounted Tripcaster on her left hand which is Monster Hunter: World's adaptation for her own version of a Slinger.

Aloy's skin and Gamma armor also became available during a third collaboration event on November 2018.

Death Stranding[]

Aloy, a Watcher, and a Tallneck appear in Death Stranding as holograms.

Fortnite[]

Aloy appears as a skin in Fortnite, along with a Blaze Canister back bling, Heart-Rizon mote, Aloy the Skywatcher loading screen, Glinthawk glider, Aloy's Spear harvesting tool, and Shield Weaver weapon wrap.

Additionally, she received an alternate gamemode known as Team Up! Aloy and Lara, in which the only weapons that were available were dual pistols and bows.

Genshin Impact[]

Aloy appears as a playable 5-star Cryo Bow character, and comes along with a new 4-star Bow, "Predator". She was released in Version 2.1 and PS4 and PS5 players were able to obtain her with her "Predator" Bow for free, while players on other platforms would be able to obtain her in Version 2.2.

Fall Guys[]

On 3 December 2021, Fall Guys developer Mediatonic announced via the game's newsfeed that Aloy would be coming to the game as part of the Aloy's Blaze Canister Mayhem Show & Event. As part of the event players with have to avoid Machines and collect Blaze Canisters to win unique rewards, including an Aloy skin. The event will run from December 6 through December 12.

Astro Bot[]

Aloy appears as a 'bot in Astro Bot, labelled "Machine Goddess." Its description reads "There's nobody quite like her. Well, maybe a couple."

Trivia[]

  • Aloy was included in the original pitch for Horizon Zero Dawn and considered one of the three "pillars" for the game's foundation.[4]
  • Aloy's name has numerous applicable meanings:
    • It could be a reference to the 1895 book The Time Machine by H.G. Wells where the main character of the novel travels forward in time, meeting an advanced species of humans known as the Eloi.
    • The names Aloy and Rost recall common phrases like "alloy and rust", metal being an important theme in the games.
    • 'Aloy' is a shortened form of 'Aloysio' and 'Aloysius', both of which are derived from Old High German and, coincidentally, mean "Great warrior". A fitting description of Aloy's character.
  • Aloy ended up being the child Sobeck always wanted, as she told GAIA that she would have liked to have a daughter who was curious, willful, and compassionate.
  • How Aloy fits into the story bears some striking parallels with Pandora from God of War 3, another PlayStation exclusive series.
    • Both are women of unnatural birth and specifically exist for an ominous purpose, with their very being acting as key to a source of power.
    • The world they live in exists as the result of a system that was meant to rebuild from a catastrophic event (Olympus from Titanomachy, Zero Dawn from Faro Plague). However, both systems eventually fell into mass chaos.
    • Both were guided by a man who lost their family and sought vengeance (Kratos, Rost). Coincidentally, both had a daughter of their own and a distinctive mark on their faces. Curiously enough, the number of mysterious killers Rost went after was 12, which is also the number of Olympians in Greek mythology.
  • Aloy's DNA is exactly 99.47% (0.9947 in decimal form) identical to that of Elisabet Sobeck. Given that even identical twins do not 100% (1.00 in decimal form) match given elements such as imperfect cell replication, various environmental factors, and life events causing epigenetic changes, the remaining 0.53% (0.0053 in decimal form) difference is an understandable divergence.

Gallery[]

In-game[]

Concept and promotional art[]

Other[]

External links[]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aloy

References[]

Nora
High Matriarchs Jezza - Lansra - Teersa
Braves Sona (War-Chief) - Aloy - Bast - Den - Dran - Ferl - Jarm - Marea - Muns - Resh - Teb's father - Vala - Varl
Seekers Aloy - Sona - Teb - Varl
Outcasts Brom - Cren - Grata - Jom - Kam - Kurnst - Nora Keeper - Rost - Yun
Other members Alana - Arana - Dral - Enara - Fia - Grist - Jarg - Jun - Karst - Lut - Nakoa - Olara - Orn - Solai - Taim - Thok - Yan

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