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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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- "Ectogenic chambers. Like the ones I saw inside a Zero Dawn Cradle facility."
- ―Aloy
Cradle of Echoes is a main quest in Horizon Forbidden West. It is given by GAIA after completing the first subordinate function retrieval quest and returning to your base.
Synopsis[]
After the first subfunction is successfully merged with GAIA, she informs Aloy that she has detected a distress signal on her dedicated ELEUTHIA frequency and urges her to investigate. The message contains coordinates leading to a mountain northwest of the Base, in addition to the number 237, whose significance is unknown. Having been included in the briefing by GAIA via their Focuses, Erend and Varl insist on accompanying Aloy, who reluctantly agrees.
At this point, fast travel and the exits from the Base are temporarily disabled (this includes accessing the campfire outside). The only path forward is to talk to Erend and Varl and begin the mission.
Aloy, Erend, and Varl travel to the source of the transmission (this is done automatically). At the mountaintop, they find Tenakth rebels and Oseram mercenaries trying in vain to kill Verbena, a member of Far Zenith. After the Oseram fire a mysterious weapon at Verbena, her shield is disabled, allowing a rebel to fatally stab her before being killed himself. Moments later, the weapon self-destructs, killing the Oseram who fired it. With the battlefield clear, Aloy and her companions descend to investigate it. Aloy attempts to examine the weapon the Oseram used to take down Verbena's shield, but she's unable to as the weapon is still too hot. Examining a Specter's corpse, Aloy finds instructions to "assist recovery of the asset". With a rough idea of what transpired, Aloy and Varl descend down the massive hole drilled by the Zeniths into the mountain, while Erend stays behind to watch for any new threats.
The ruins inside the mountains are revealed to be an ancient Far Zenith research lab. Searching the facility, Aloy and Varl arrive at a large storage room containing hundreds of ectogenic chambers. Aloy inserts the three-digit code from the distress signal into the room's control console. To her and Varl's shock, the ectogenic chamber contains the same clone of Elisabet Sobeck that Aloy had encountered in the HADES Proving Lab when she encountered Far Zenith for the first time. In her ripped implant, the clone had left a message for Aloy, introducing herself as Beta and declaring her intentions to defect from the Zeniths and join Aloy. Just then, Erend warns Aloy through her Focus that a Specter had breached the facility and is headed towards her and Varl. Aloy tells Varl to take shelter with the Beta in a nearby room while she battles the Specter. After the Specter is defeated, Aloy returns to the surface, while Varl and the clone stay down to follow once the coast is clear.
At the surface, another Specter has Erend pinned down. Once it is destroyed, Varl and Beta return to the surface, where Erend is surprised by Beta's striking resemblance to Aloy. Erend and Varl take Beta back to the Base, while Aloy stays behind to take another look at the weapon. However, the moment she grabs it, it disintegrates to ash in her hands, leaving only its core. With nothing more she can do, Aloy returns to the Base.
Back at the Base, Aloy takes the weapon fragment to GAIA for examination. However, GAIA is unable to figure out how the weapon worked as all data had been purged from it the moment it malfunctioned. She and Aloy both conclude that the weapon was made by Sylens. Aloy then goes to the server room to check up on Beta, who is suffering from "Simulacrum Withdrawal Syndrome" as a side effect of removing her implant. Aloy gives her a Focus to ease her symptoms, after which she shares what information she knew about her creation and the Zeniths, including that they are the same ones who left Earth a thousand years ago, not their descendants. Once she answers all of Aloy's questions, she guesses that her counterpart is planning to manufacture an army of machines to defeat the Zeniths, only to learn that GAIA hadn't had enough subordinate functions necessary to take on HEPHAESTUS. She then starts having a panic attack and begins second-guessing her own decisions, fearing the Zeniths would find her and take her back. Once Aloy calms her down, Beta agrees to use her skills to help GAIA. Afterwards, Aloy ventures out to retrieve the two remaining subfunctions.
Objectives[]
- Talk to Varl
- Examine the Zenith's Corpse
- Investigate the Battlefield
- Return to Erend
- Talk to Varl
- Examine the Central Processor
- Search the Facility for the Asset
- Examine the Console
- Enter the Code
- Prepare for Battle
- Kill the Specter
- Examine the Weapon
- Return to the Base
- Talk to Varl and the Clone
- Talk to GAIA
Collectables[]
The following collectables are obtained automatically and cannot be missed.
Hologram Datapoints[]
- #12 Beta
Text Datapoints - Quests[]
- #27 Specter Instructions
- #28 Telemetry Log