"The lesson will be taught in due time, Aloy. Until then, we wait."
This article contains heavy spoilers. Read ahead with caution.
This is the timeline of all major events and happenings in the Horizon universe, divided into sections representing the world before and after the Faro Plague. All dates are in Anno Domini (AD). Other date formats will be in parentheses.
AUGUST 20 - U.S. Robot Command initiated Operation: Unity, dispatching a heavy machine strike on JTF-10's Mojave base in an effort to capture Roberto Medina, Colonel De La Hoya and other hot zone leaders alive. The strike ended in an explosion (likely caused by a JTF-10 munition cracking the power casing of a G-Syn battle drone) that leveled the base and decimated the two opposing forces. Nearly all present were killed, including Medina and De La Hoya, as well as some 900 refugees sheltered nearby. The carnage prompted an immediate end to the Hot Zone Crisis.[17]
2038[]
Climate refugees in the Thamesmead Emergency Relocation Facility cause a riot in response to being treated poorly by their British handlers. Thousands of refugees are killed or injured after a panicked response from the UK government.[10]
Environmental degradation is at an all-time high.[18]
2039[]
Bioterrorist and Naysay Doom cult member Harriet Choi engineers the "Doom Plague" viral cocktail which scourges New York, London, Moscow, Tokyo, and Shanghai. Choi is captured and sentenced to life imprisonment after providing information which led to the subsequent arrest of sixteen higher-ranking members of Naysay Doom and the cult's collapse.[19]
2040s (The Claw-back)[]
2040[]
Elisabet Sobeck obtains her Ph.D in Robotics and Artificial Intelligence Design at Carnegie-Mellon University. She goes on to join Faro Automated Solutions as a Junior Scientist in the same year.[4]
The Pacific Ocean reaches critical levels of human-made contaminants.[20]
Start of the "Claw-Back" decade - Faro Automated Solutions begin marketing a series of environmentally-friendly robot systems to help environmental cleanup and detoxification efforts.[1] There are massive reductions to seaborne plastic pollution and the roadway atop the Grand Gate Bridge was remade with repurposed petroleum-based waste products dredged from waters.[20]
JANUARY 3 - a suicide pact known as Project GG/EZ is organized in San Francisco. Over 200 people simultaneously leap to their deaths from the Grand Gate Bridge.[22]
MAY - Stanley Chen begins construction of the Fountain dome that will surround Las Vegas.[12]
2041[]
The Citarum River nanotech disaster devastates Indonesia.[23]
MARCH - The Odyssey project, Earth's first colony ship, commences development.[24]
2042[]
Elisabet Sobeck becomes FAS' Chief Scientist at the age of 22.
FAS relocates from San Francisco to Salt Lake City.[25]
2043[]
Refugees begin to return to Singapore as sea levels recede thanks to the efforts of the Claw-Back.[3]
2044[]
In response to the "escape" of climate-intervention AI VAST SILVER, the Turing Act is hurriedly passed in the United States to establish strict limits on the sentience of machine intelligences. The MIE is founded to oversee the development and sale of AI.[26]
MARCH - The Juventas Center, a luxury Beverly Hills clinic dedicated to regeneration and life-extension therapies, is destroyed in a suicide bombing. As well as killing five clinic staff, the attack claimed the life of tech billionaire Aubrey Hopkins. The radical group Wheel of Life claims responsibility for the terror attack.[27]
2045[]
The United States Air Force is 60-70% automated by this point. The USAF Academy at Colorado Springs was offering a 300-level class called "The Age of Human Airpower."[21]
Ted Faro provides funding to Yellowstone for "as-yet-unspecified new facilities".[28]
Elisabet Sobeck founds Miriam Technologies with an emphasis on green robotics.[4] Relations with Ted Faro deteriorate, and this marks the beginning of a series of eighteen lawsuits from Faro to Sobeck.[31]
A massive engineering project spearheaded by Netherlands-based company Cape Vertegaal and Atbay Global Infrastructure saves San Francisco from flooding by segmenting the city into flood control zones.[32]
JANUARY 18 - Members of UNITY-47, a casino workers union, destroy several dealer bots during an anti-automation protest at the High Note Casino in Las Vegas. [33]
2050s[]
In response to increased automation, many Americans emigrate to China in search of work opportunities during this decade.[34][35][36][37][38]
2050[]
Heaven¢'s first successful mission. The asteroid OPHELIA is successfully transferred into Earth's orbit and stripped of 4 thousands tons of precious ores.[39]
FEBRUARY 3 - The Mayor of London and government ministers are due to meet with engineering companies to discuss the relocation of the Tower of London, which is suffering from accelerating damaged caused by severe flooding on the River Thames.[40]
2051[]
The Syzygy/East nuclear disaster occurs after the region is rocked by a series of earthquakes. Dr. Susanne Alpert was part of the Syzygy/East response team that was ultimately unable to prevent the radiation from rendering the region uninhabitable.[41]
Heaven¢ acquires the cobalt-rich asteroid PROSPERO.[42]
NOVEMBER 23 - Sergeant Woolyknickers, the last known grizzly bear, is found dead in Yellowstone National Park.[2]
2052[]
The United Kingdom's Royal Air Force decommissions all human soldiers in favor of automated combat forces.[43] The rest of the British Armed Forces would follow suit the same year.
2053[]
Miriam Technologies wins the 2053 Nobel Prize for Physics for its green robots.[4]
FAS at this point dominates the military market with its automated defense platforms.
Heaven¢ acquires the lithium-rich asteroid HOTSPUR.[42]
2054[]
Heaven¢ acquires the platinum-rich asteroid JULIET.[39]
The first major arrest of virtual protesters occurred over the occupation of Metallurgic International's holographic customer service center.[44]
2055[]
The U.S. armed forces disband all human combat forces in favor of a fully automated military.[34]
Heaven¢ acquires the iridum-rich asteroid IAGO. Xiaolu Lunar Resources starts a PR campaign to highlight the risks of asteroid mining in a desperate move to prevent the acquiring of IAGO by Heaven¢.[42]
2056[]
Miriam Technologies wins the 2056 Rachel Carson Award for Environmental Progress.[4]
Heaven¢ continues to fight a legislative battle with Xiaolu Lunar Resources over control of cobalt-rich asteroid KATHERINA.[39]
2057[]
JULY 7 - Plans to construct Earth's first colony ship, the Odyssey, grind to a halt. What exists of the vessel is abandoned in orbit.[45]
2058[]
Heaven¢ acquires the palladium and osmium-rich asteroid TITANIA after a legal battle.[42]
2059[]
JUNE 25 - Niki Crijns, Cape Vertegaal's engineer of the San Francisco Bay Area's flood control zones, gives a speech at San Francisco City Hall where she declines the key to the city.[46]
SEPTEMBER 5 - The trial for activist hacker missEDMe of the Idiot Army is suspended after a hack on Chicago's law enforcement database results in the disappearance of the prosecution's evidence.[47]
2060s[]
2060[]
Aaron Herres is appointed Chairman of the United States' Joint Chiefs of Staff.[48]
Heaven¢ acquires asteroid CASSIUS, which is rich in nickel, gold, iron, and ruthenium.[42]
MARCH 18 - Mosquitoes are completely exterminated.[49]
MAY 8 - The Climate Refugee Memorial Museum is opened in London.[10]
JUNE 8 - The Center for the Liberation of Bodiless Intelligence, an AI activist group, organizes a nationwide day of protest against the Turing Act.[26]
2061[]
An accident during the orbital excavation phase of Heaven¢-owned and rhodium-rich asteroid CALIBAN results in the deaths of 8 miners, sparking international uproar. Heaven¢ strikes a settlement with families of the deceased.[39]
JANUARY 9 - U.S. Presidential candidate Lacy Almodovar announces her intentions of overturning Schott v. Frost - a Supreme Court decision granting corporations the right to run for and hold political office through proxy candidates. However, Almodovar's anti-corporate stance is strongly doubted by critics as her campaign was supported by Metallurgic International.[50]
FEBRUARY 28 - Far Zenith purchases the Odyssey and announces their intention of rebuilding the colony ship.[51]
May 3 - Verbena Sutter is engaged for the 17th time, this time to K-O-wl.[52]
2062[]
JANUARY 1 - The Haere Mai Program is implemented by New Zealand Prime Minister Tama Ngata to encourage thousands of New Zealander transplants to return to New Zealand, which has been mostly rebuilt through investment in the nanotech construction industry.[14]
MAY 1 - 75% of the United Kingdom's veterans are unable to cover living expenses with their pension as funding of the National Health Service is gradually siphoned into the coffers of corporate healthcare providers.[43]
JULY 4 - The hacker collective Idiot Army release a terabyte of internal correspondences from Xiaolu Lunar Resources, Inc., sparking rumors that the Shanghai-based lunar mining company is preparing to downsize considerably.[38]
DECEMBER 22 - The US-backed Hartz corporation seizes control of the Bahamas after a fierce robot-on-robot war with the Colombia-based combine TG Communications.[53]
2063[]
Heaven¢ acquires the gallium-rich asteroid FALSTAFF.[42]
APRIL 29 - One of the largest synchronized police actions in US history. The homes of more than seven hundred private citizens were raided, and more than five hundred arrests were made for the crime of "inciting criminal behavior using private informational processes." News media debates the legality of the raids and the justification.[44]
SEPTEMBER 2 - Harriet Choi dies of lung cancer at the age of 54.[19]
2064[]
Heaven¢ begins a 3-year deal where all chromium acquired from asteroid PORTIA will be exclusively sold to FAS.[42]
JULY 7 - FAS arranges a meeting with representatives of the Indo-Malay Agricultural Combine and FreshGrounds Coffee Global. The meeting turns violent as the Indo-Malay Combine and FreshGrounds are enemies; this was intended by FAS to encourage their conflict and bidding on FAS' contracts.[54][55]
Elisabet and Ted meeting on October 31, 2064.
OCTOBER 31 - Ted Faro and Elisabet Sobeck meet to discuss a rapidly worsening crisis concerning a unit of FAS’ Chariot line of peacekeeper robots sold to the Hartz-Timor Energy Combine, which ceases responding to commands or stand down codes.[56]
NOVEMBER 1 - Elisabet Sobeck informs Ted Faro of her analysis of the Chariot line crisis. The situation is apocalyptic. The robots have gone rogue, are exponentially multiplying, and their biomatter conversion, previously an emergency fuel supply measure, has become their default method of refueling. She projects that the swarm will strip the entire planet of life within 15 months.[57]
NOVEMBER 12-24 - Bashar Mati takes his 12-day "Apocashitstorm Tour," planting Vantage spikes throughout the Utah and Colorado area.[59]
NOVEMBER 20 - Ted Faro has begun construction of Thebes by now.[60]
2065[]
JANUARY - Project Zero Dawn trades ectogenic chambers from Far Zenith in exchange for a copy of the HOMER archive to accelerate progress on APOLLO.[61]
FEBRUARY 3 - Elisabet Sobeck tells a story to GAIA about her childhood and her mother.[62]
GAIA experiencing sadness for the first time on March 27, 6065.
MARCH 27 - GAIA first develops a sense of sadness for the first time, regarding to the Quaternary Extinction Event.[63]
APRIL 1 - Far Zenith spokesman Osvald Dalgaard (or someone disguised as him[64]) publicly announces that construction of the Odyssey is complete and it is in preparation to leave Earth as soon as possible.[65]
Ted and Elisabet meeting on June 5, 2065.
JUNE 5 - Elisabet Sobeck and Ted Faro argue over installing a kill switch in GAIA. GAIA breaks the stalemate and voluntarily accepts it as a necessary safeguard.[66]
JULY 15 - The Odyssey is launched from Earth's orbit. Far Zenith falsify the ship's destruction in a telemetry. Elisabet Sobeck relays the news to the Alphas.[67][68]
OCTOBER - By this point, the color of the sky above the USA has changed due to the Faro Plague. The last vestiges of the European and West-African Civilian Guard Brigade are fighting the Faro Plague on the east coast of the Atlantic Ocean, the robots that crossed Antarctica is crossing the straits of Magellan, and advance elements of the Pacific swarms are fighting with units on the Cal-Mar seawall.[69]
MID-NOVEMBER - Estimated date for Operational Atmospheric Collapse, after which soldiers require rebreather apparatuses to operate in the open and civilians will only be able to survive inside sealed structures.[18]
2066[]
Elisabet and GAIA on January 13, 2066.
JANUARY 13 - By this point, Operational Atmospheric Collapse has happened. As the Faro Plague begins to wipe out the last remnants of life on Earth, GAIA comforts Elisabet Sobeck by reassuring her that Project Zero Dawn will succeed.[70]
JANUARY 15 - General Herres informs Elisabet Sobeck that a projected collapse of the front lines at Wichita, Kansas has happened and U.S. Robotics Command will be assaulted by five Horus-class Titans in 34 hours. General Herres gives his testimonial to Sobeck to be archived in APOLLO before making his final farewell to Sobeck.[71][48] Shortly after, GAIA Prime and Elysium are sealed. A malfunction at one of the hatches in GAIA Prime is detected that will allow a signal to bleed out, alerting the Faro Plague. Elisabet Sobeck equips an armored environment suit and seals the hatch, but is stranded outside.
FEBRUARY - Estimated date of the annihilation of exposed human populations.[18]
Ted killing the Alphas on February 2, 2066.
FEBRUARY 2 - Ted Faro's increasingly erratic behavior reaches its peak, and he remotely locks out all GAIA Prime Alphas from the Zero Dawn system. Ted then purges the APOLLO database and kills the Alphas.[72]
MARCH - Estimated date of the extinction of macrobiotic land organisms.[18]
Post-2066[]
A couple of years after beginning life within Thebes,[73] Ted has begun gene therapy[74] in an attempt to achieve immortality[75] so he can lead the children born from Zero Dawn,[76] but mutations keep appearing and need individual correction.[75] Ted Faro kills Grigori Fasbach[77] for hacking into his files, discovering his murder of the Alphas and beginning the spread of the truth within Thebes.[78] After this, Ted murdered all other inhabitants[79] until it was just him, Narong and Kanya left. Kanya convinces her father to commit suicide with her to escape life within Thebes.[80] Now alone, Ted takes Narong's sarcastic advice literally and goes into Thebes' reactor to try and stabilize his mutations.[76]
2068[]
Estimated year of the extinction of marine life.[18]
New World[]
2110s/2120s[]
c. 2116-2126[]
Estimated time that GAIA decrypts and generates deactivation codes to the Faro Plague and build MINERVA transmission arrays to broadcast them.[81][82]
2150s[]
c. 2150 - c. 2210[]
The ruins of Los Angeles are ripped apart by series of massive earthquake, periodically wrecking the San Andreas, San Gregorio-Hosgri and Hayward Rogers faults for nearly six decades, transforming it to a treacherous, volcanic archipelago.[83]
2154[]
HADES is activated, resetting a non-viable biosphere.[84]
2160s[]
2161[]
HADES is activated for the second time, resetting another non-viable biosphere.[84]
2168[]
HADES is activated for the third time, once again resetting a non-viable biosphere.[84] From this point on, terraforming operations are successful.
2320s[]
2326[]
A multiservitor telling those born within ELEUTHIA-9 that they have to be released, dated March 16, 2326.
MARCH 16 - ELEUTHIA-9 releases its inhabitants due to exhaustion of the food supply,[85] suspends operations and seals itself.[86]
2360s[]
2361[]
Originally-estimated year for the terraforming process to be minimally capable of supporting life.[82]
2363[]
Originally-estimated year for ELEUTHIA to begin artificially gestating humans, raising them and educating them via APOLLO's education and archive systems over the next sixteen years.[82]
c. shortly before 2365[]
The Odyssey arriving at Sirius.
Estimated year when the Odyssey arrived at the Sirius star system.[87]
Sun-KingMarzid's reign ends/has ended by now with his death after a reign lasting over six years,[89] with Hivas succeeding him as the twelfth Sun-King of the Carja.[90]
JANUARY12 - The Far Zenith colony on the Sirius system is destroyed by the rogue AI Nemesis.[92] Thirteen Zeniths escape aboard the Odyssey.[93] Nemesis transmits a signal to GAIA with the intent of transforming the HADES subfunction into an independent AI. Its goal is to destroy Earth's restored biosphere and thus deny the planet's sanctuary to Far Zenith survivors.[87][94]
3018 (first year of Sun-King Jiran's reign)[]
Sun-King Hivas' reign ends after lasting at least seven years,[95] with Jiran succeeding him, becoming the 13th Sun-King of the Carja.[96]
3020s[]
3020 (third year of Sun-King Jiran's reign)[]
GAIA's rendition of the Extinction Signal arriving on August 26, 3020.
AUGUST 26 08:45 - Nemesis' signal is received by GAIA, causing her subordinate functions to become erratic and self-aware. The subfunction HADES attempts to seize control of the terraforming system. GAIA initiates a self-destruction of GAIA Prime's reactor to prevent it, and sends an order to ELEUTHIA-9 to begin gestation of #LK1A1-4510.[97][86] As GAIA Prime detonates, Hekarro conquers the Memorial Grove. AETHER's arrival there triggers the Vision of Unity to play, inspiring Hekarro to unite the Tenakth Clans and end the Clan Wars.[88]
With HEPHAESTUS now autonomous, the Derangement begins. The Sawtooth is first sighted in spring of this year.[95]
3021 (fourth year of Sun-King Jiran's reign)[]
APRIL 4 09:30 - Aloy is born in ELEUTHIA-9[98] and left outside the facility to be found by the Nora as per GAIA's instructions.[86] She is subsequently taken in, but was cast out by them for being motherless, being given to Rost.[99]
3022 (fifth year of Sun-King Jiran's reign)[]
The Thunderjaw has been first encountered by the Nora by now.[100]
c. APRIL - Nemesis learns of HADES' failure to take control of the terraforming system. It stops broadcasting the signal and prepares to leave for Earth in order to finish Far Zenith itself.
3030s[]
3030 (thirteenth year of Sun-King Jiran's reign)[]
SUMMER - The Thunderjaw is first encountered by the Carja.[95]
3032 (fifteenth year of Sun-King Jiran's reign)[]
Sun-King Jiran decides that the human sacrifices in the Sun-Ring of Meridian are not enough, and begins sacrificing slaves in Sunfall as well. When several of Jiran's loyal Kestrel guards are killed during the inaugural ceremony, he announces that the Sun will accept their lives as tribute, along with those of the slaves.[89]
3035 (eighteenth year of Sun-King Jiran's reign)[]
CYAN receives a network access request from HEPHAESTUS, which she accepted and was taken over by the rogue AI. She requests Ourea's help, but Ourea is captured by the Carja and brought to Meridian.[105]
Estimated year when the Carja are defeated by the Tenakth during the Battle of the Burning Blooms.[106]
SPRING - A Carja freehold was destroyed near the Hands of the Flood with no survivors. An expedition of four hunters were sent from Sunstone Rock to find whatever was responsible, but were later found dead. Though never proven, this is widely thought to be Redmaw's first attacks.[107]
SUMMER - An expedition of six mercenaries were sent from Meridian to find whatever was responsible for the losses above, with one survivor returning and reporting that it was a Thunderjaw, which was named Redmaw. An expedition of eight were sent after Redmaw, with seven later found dead and the eighth never being found.[107]
AUTUMN-WINTER - Sun-King Jiran commanded the Hunters Lodge to send an expedition south in pursuit of Redmaw. After numerous logistical delays, three Hawks and their Thrushes set out in winter. Only one pair returned, reporting the deaths of the others. The survivors were sacrificed for cowardice. Many more went after Redmaw following this, but none were able to destroy the machine.[107]
3036 (ninteenth year of Sun-King Jiran's reign)[]
Ersa is captured by the Carja and is thrown into the Sun-Ring to be sacrificed. She kills two kestrels and earns the honor of becoming a palace slave. Ersa becomes friends with Prince Avad, who secretly frees her so she may return home.
3038 (twenty-first year of Sun-King Jiran's reign/first year of Sun-King Avad's reign)[]
Jiran executes his son and favored heir Prince Kadaman for the crime of demanding an end to the raids and sacrifices. Second-in-line Prince Avad flees into Oseram territory the next day with loyal soldiers.
Avad makes an alliance with Ersa and the Oseram to overthrow Jiran and spends several months preparing to take Meridian.
The Liberation of Meridian takes place. Jiran is overthrown by his son Avad with help from Oseram freebooters and Carja rebels. Avad becomes the 14th Sun-King and ends the Red Raids. Loyalist forces call this day the "Fall of Meridian." Helis flees to Sunfall with Prince Itamen, Dowager Queen Nasadi and High Sun-PriestBahavas.
The Carja Civil War begins. Loyalists of the Mad Sun-King clash with followers of the 14th Sun-King and his Oseram allies. The Shadow Carja take the Citadel at Sunfall and the surrounding areas as their capital.
Sylens, under the guidance of HADES, recruits members of the Shadow Carja and the Mad King's champion Helis to form The Eclipse.
Sun-King Avad begins a path at reconciliation with the other tribes who were grievously wronged by his father. Avad also calls for the investigation of war crimes committed during this period, including soldiers like Nil who serve two years in prison at Sunstone Rock and are then released.
3039 (second year of Sun-King Avad's reign)[]
Estimated year when Ourea returns to her home, which is now referred to as The Cut.
A genocidal attack against the Nora is launched by Helis, but Aloy and the rest of the Nora Braves prevail and stop it, although the Sacred Lands have been devastated by the invasion. Aloy discovers the truth of her birth from a message by GAIA.[119]
Aloy travels to the Cut[121] and saves CYAN, who causes the destruction of Cauldron EPSILON. Before its destruction, HEPHAESTUS developed and released Fireclaws into the world.[120]
The Battle of the Alight takes place. Aloy and her allies prevail against Helis and his Eclipse troops. Aloy purges HADES from the Spire with the Master Override on Sylens' Lance. HADES is sent from the orb and captured by Sylens.[122]
The night after the Battle of the Alight, Aloy departs to begin searching for a backup of GAIA.
Aloy and Varl explore a Far Zenith facility[125] and soon after begin a journey to the Forbidden West to follow HADES and Sylens.[126][127]
Sylens provides the Oseram warlord Asera with override technology, forming the Sons of Prometheus.
Regalla and her rebels ambush the Embassy outside Barren Light and slaughter most of those attending, thus launching the rebellion against Hekarro.[127]
Aloy finds HADES in a crippled state outside a Zero Dawn facility. After failing to get any useful information out of the AI, she uses the Master Override to purge it for good. She finds an intact backup of GAIA inside the facility and encounters Far Zenith for the first time.[128] Shortly after, she brings GAIA back online.[129]
Inside a Far Zenith research facility, Aloy discovers Beta, the Zeniths' clone of Elisabet Sobeck. After fighting their way through Specters, they successfully rescue Beta and bring her back to their Base.[130]
Aloy successfully reunites AETHER,[131] POSEIDON,[132] and DEMETER[133] with GAIA, allowing her to make some improvements to the world.
Aloy journeys to Thebes, retrieves Ted's Omega Clearance, and discovers his fate.[134]
Aloy, Beta and Varl journey to Cauldron GEMINI to upload GAIA and merge HEPHAESTUS with her. However, they are detected by the Zeniths, Varl is slain by Erik Visser and Aloy is saved by Tilda.[135]
Aloy defeats Regalla in single combat, ending the Tenakth rebellion.[136]
The Sons of Prometheus are defeated and Asera is killed by Aloy and Erend.[137]
A final attack is launched on the Far Zenith's base. All the Zeniths there are killed save for Tilda. After telling Aloy about Nemesis, Tilda betrays Aloy, wanting to take her away aboard the Odyssey. Tilda and Aloy engage in a final battle, emerging with Aloy as the victor. Aloy sends her allies across the known world to spread the word about Nemesis.[138]
Sylens discovers that one of the Zeniths, Walter Londra, has escaped to the Burning Shores shortly after the Zeniths arrived on Earth.[139]
Sylens sends Aloy to the Burning Shores to deal with Londra. While there, Aloy discovers the lost half of the Quen's Eastern Expedition and reconnects them with Alva.[140] She recovers data from Londra, which Sylens begins investigating for information that might help them defeat Nemesis.[141]
Milduf goes on a journey across the various tribal lands to document their recipes. Once finished, he travels to Mainspring and opens his own eatery, the Frostclaw's Head.
6370s[]
6377[]
The current projected time until which CYAN will be able to maintain stability of the Yellowstone Caldera.[105]
↑"But the thing is, the last few months I've realized that...Home isn't really a place at all." -Aloy, His Final Act
↑"Everything we've been through...fighting machines, fighting the Horus, fighting Londra--That has been my life for two years. Just one enemy after another..." -Aloy, His Final Act
