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"The lesson will be taught in due time, Aloy. Until then, we wait." This article contains heavy spoilers for Horizon Zero Dawn. Read ahead with caution.
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Ersa was a character in Horizon Zero Dawn and a mentioned character in Horizon Forbidden West. She was an Oseram tribeswoman, the captain of the Carja Sun-King Avad’s Vanguard, and the sister of Erend.
History[]
Background[]
Born into a broken clan in the Claim, Ersa was forced to grow up quickly in response to the poor leadership and abuse of her alcoholic father. She took on parental responsibilities for her younger brother Erend, providing him the structure and guidance that he should have gotten from their father.
Adulthood[]
Ersa in the Horizon Zero Dawn comics.
When Sun-King Jiran ordered the Red Raids, the Oseram, whose territory is adjacent to the Carja Sundom, were frequent victims. Ersa took up arms and joined with a band of freebooters, frequently raiding Carja convoys to free Oseram captives. During one such raid, Ersa was captured and taken to Meridian, one of many victims intended by Jiran to be sacrificed in Meridian’s Sun-Ring. However, she survived the Sun-Ring, killing two of Jiran’s Kestrels in the process.[4] Impressed, Jiran made Ersa a slave in the Palace of the Sun.[5]
It was in the palace that Ersa met Jiran’s second son, Prince Avad. Sympathetic to her plight and hoping to mitigate his father's damage, Avad befriended her, and helped her get ahold of valuable military intel.[5] Eventually, Avad helped her escape by disguising her as a Carja noblewoman to escort her out of the place, allowing her to escape the Meridian in plain sight (although Ersa forced Avad to also disguise himself as a Carja noblewoman to help). This effort was successful, allowing Ersa to reunite with Erend in the Claim.[6]
Ersa continued to fight against the Carja, this time using information on the Carja military provided to her by Avad to lethal advantage, all under the leadership of Dervahl. However, two years later, Avad appeared in the Claim with his honor guard. Knowing that there was no hope for Jiran to stand down, Avad hoped to ally his men with the Oseram to form an army strong enough to overthrow Jiran.[5] Ersa and Erend, grateful to him for helping Ersa, agreed, and used their influence with the leaders of the freebooter groups to help Avad forge this army. The siblings’ alliance with Avad made Dervahl and Asera hate Avad, Dervahl because he perceived a relationship between Ersa and Avad, and because the Carja were responsible for the deaths of his wife and daughter, Asera because she also lost her family to the Carja. When Erend overheard Dervahl and Asera planning to exterminate the entire Carja tribe, Ersa led Dervahl into a trap, trapping him with one of his worst enemies, who proceeded to torture him for months.[7]
The siblings joined the liberators in their march to Meridian,[7] and fought alongside them as they successfully deposed Jiran. Ersa personally slew the Mad Sun-King (although Avad was given credit, likely for political reasons), allowing Avad to take the throne and end the Red Raids.[8] Meanwhile, Dervahl escaped, plotting the deaths of Ersa and Avad and revenge against the Carja.
In gratitude, and to forge strong ties with the Oseram, Avad commissioned the Oseram freebooters into the Vanguard: an elite military force in service to the Carja throne. Ersa became the force’s Captain, with Erend as her second-in-command. Ersa also served Avad as his link to the Oseram ealdormen. She was instrumental to Avad in maintaining the alliance between the two tribes. Indeed, Avad highly valued her for the strength and support she gave him, and the two grew enamored of each other. However, they could not openly pursue a relationship, as neither the Carja nor the Oseram would accept it.
After being rescued by one of his freebooters, Dervahl carefully planned an operation by which he intended to eliminate his three main targets: Ersa, Avad and Meridian. After two years of planning, he struck. Ersa received word from him that he wanted to meet and discuss terms of finally coming to peace with the Carja. Ersa did not believe him, and knew it to be an ambush. However, she believed that she and the Vanguard unit she intended to accompany her could capture or kill him and his freebooters. She therefore went with the unit to purported meeting site, the ancient ruin known as Dimmed Bones. But on their arrival, they were immediately overwhelmed, not by force, but by a new weapon that Dervahl had developed and had brought. This weapon utilized sound to incapacitate, but not kill. Dervahl slyly arranged the ambush so that it appeared to have occurred at another location entirely, and framed the Carja tribe’s enemies, the Shadow Carja, as the perpetrators. He substituted a body with a severely mutilated face as Ersa’s remains, and took Ersa to his camp, where he kept her bound in a cell in a basement and viciously tortured her.
Death[]
However, her fate was indeed uncovered. Deceived by Dervahl's ruse, Erend asked Aloy to help him find the Shadow Carja who killed her. Aloy instead uncovered the entire deception, which led to her and Erend locating and storming Dervahl's camp with a Vanguard unit. They found Ersa, but her reunion with Erend did not last long; Dervahl's torture had left her at the point of death. Before dying, she warned Erend of Dervahl's intended terrorist attack on Meridian. In typical brash Oseram manner, belying their strong sibling love, she handed leadership of the Vanguard to Erend, exhorting him to manfully shoulder the responsibility. Erend swore to do so as she died in his arms.
Ersa's final warning allowed Aloy to locate and foil the attack, and Dervahl was ultimately arrested for his crimes. Erend would remember his sister fondly, although he would privately admit his anger at Ersa for not finishing off Dervahl initially, as doing so would have prevented her death.
Post-mortem[]
Following the Battle of the Alight, Erend took a month away from his Vanguard duties to lay Ersa to rest in the Claim.
Gallery[]
References[]
- ↑ Dialogue with Erend Vanguardsman at the Base.
- ↑ Dialogue with Erend Vanguardsman at the Base.
- ↑ Dialogue with Erend Vanguardsman at the Base.
- ↑ Horizon Zero Dawn: Liberation #1
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Horizon Zero Dawn: Liberation #2
- ↑ Dialogue with Erend Vanguardsman at the Base.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Horizon Zero Dawn: Liberation #3
- ↑ Horizon Zero Dawn: Liberation #4
[]
| Oseram tribe | |
|---|---|
| Merchants | Abadund - Danur - Hakund - Handa - Larend - Milduf Boarbroiler - Mystery Boxes Merchant - Runda - Thurlis |
| Vanguard | Erend Vanguardsman (captain) - Aldur - Ersa - Fendur - Joruf - Telga |
| Tribe members | Arnuf - Asera - Bajund - Beladga - Belna - Brageld - Boomer - Burgrend - Corend - Delah - Dervahl - Dorgeld - Dorund - Elkend - Fernund - Garnund - Gera - Gildun - Gilvarn - Hakurt - Jelda - Jorgriz - Jorund - Kaeluf - Karhn - Kendert - Keruf - Korduf - Korl - Korvend - Lokuf - Lora - Lorund - Luf - Lunda - Marsa - Menuf - Minda - Morlund - Odund - Odurg - Ohlgrud Smithsson - Ohtur - Olin Delverson - Olin's son - Petra Forgewoman - Porguf - Radel - Ragurt - Ralert - Rasgrund - Raynah - Salga - Salma - Silga - Stemmur Wordsmith - Thorden - Tolland Cleanbroker - Ulvund Freeholder - Varga - Vilgund - Volma |