Timeline

This is the Timeline of all major events and happenings in the Horizon Zero Dawn 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.

The Old World

21st Century

2013

DECEMBER 24 - Ted Faro is born.

2017

The United States Interior Department removes the grizzly bear from its endangered species list.

2020

MARCH 11 - Elisabet Sobeck is born in Carson City, Nevada, USA.

2031

Ted Faro enrolls in the University of California Los Angeles and majors in Business.

Federal funding is withdrawn for Yellowstone National Park: ownership of the park is given to the State of Wyoming.

2033

Ted Faro drops out of UCLA to found Faro Automated Solutions.

Elisabeth Sobeck enrolls in Stanford University. She later graduates with a Bachelor's of Science in Experimental Physics and Computer Science.

During the Great Die-Off, the Azores sink into the sea.

2034

The 2034 Clone Provisions are enacted.

2036

New Zealand is submerged during the 2036 Submergence.

Estimated year of Margo Shĕn's birth.

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.

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.

2040

Elisabet Sobeck obtains her Ph.D in Robotics and Artificial Intelligence Design at Carnegie-Mellon University.

Elisabet Sobeck joins Faro Automated Solutions as a Junior Scientist.

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.

2041

The Citarum River nanotech disaster devastates Indonesia.

2042

Elisabet Sobeck becomes FAS' Chief Scientist at the age of 22.

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.

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.

2045

The United States Air Force is mentioned by this point to be 60-70% automated. The USAF Academy at Colorado Springs was offering a 300-level class called "The Age of Human Airpower."

Ted Faro provides funding to Yellowstone for "as-yet-unspecified new facilities".

2046

DECEMBER 23 - First level of the Firebreak facility infrastructure is completed.

2048

June 5th: Aamaal Mati dies protecting Metallurgic International's claim to a tantalum mine.

FAS opens its military technology branch.

Elisabet Sobeck quits FAS in protest of its move from green robotics to automated defense systems.

The 2048 Raleigh Accords are passed.

2049

Elisabet Sobeck founds Miriam Technologies with an emphasis on green robotics. Relations with Ted Faro deteriorate, and this marks the beginning of a series of lawsuits from Faro to Sobeck.

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.

NOVEMBER 23 - Sergeant Woolyknickers, the last known grizzly bear, is found dead in Yellowstone National Park.

2052

The United Kingdom's Royal Air Force decommissions all human soldiers in favor of automated combat forces. 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.

FAS at this point dominates the military market with its automated defense platforms.

2054

The first major arrest of virtual protesters occurred over the occupation of Metallurgic International's holographic customer service center.

2055

The U.S. armed forces disband all human combat forces in favor of a fully automated military.

2056

Miriam Technologies wins the 2056 Rachel Carson Award for Environmental Progress.

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.

2060

MARCH 18 - Mosquitoes are completely exterminated.

MAY 8 - The Climate Refugee Memorial Museum is opened in London.

JUNE 8 - The Center for the Liberation of Bodiless Intelligence, an AI activist group, organizes a nationwide day of protest against the Turing Act.

Unknown - Aaron Herres is appointed Chairman of the United States' Joint Chiefs of Staff

2061

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.

FEBRUARY 28 - Far Zenith purchases the Odyssey and announces their intention of rebuilding the colony ship.

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.

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.

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.

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.

2063

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.

SEPTEMBER 2 - Harriet Choi dies of lung cancer at the age of 54.

2064

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.

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.

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.

NOVEMBER 3 - Elisabet strong-arms Ted Faro into funding Project Zero Dawn. She later meets with General Aaron Herres and the Joint Chiefs of Staff inside U.S. Robot Command.

NOVEMBER 12 - Bashar Mati begins his 12-day "Apocashitstorm Tour," planting Vantage spikes throughout the Utah and Colorado area.

Project Zero Dawn commences development.

Operation: Enduring Victory is implemented.

2065

FEBRUARY 3 - Elisabet Sobeck tells a story to GAIA about her childhood and her mother.

MARCH 27 - During a conversation between Elisabet Sobeck and GAIA, GAIA first develops a sense of sadness regarding to the Quaternary Extinction Event.

APRIL 1 - Far Zenith spokesman Osvald Dalgaard publicly announces that construction of the Odyssey is complete and it is in preparation to leave Earth as soon as possible.

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.

JULY 15 - The Odyssey is launched away from Earth's orbit. Upon leaving the Solar System, however, the Odyssey's antimatter pulse drive explodes and destroys the colony ship.

NOVEMBER - Estimated date for the complete collapse of atmospheric oxygen, after which human soldiers require rebreather apparatuses to operate in the open and civilians will only be able to survive inside sealed structures.

2066

JANUARY 13 - 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.

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.

GAIA Prime facility seals itself. A malfunction at one of the hatches 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 2 - Ted Faro's increasingly erratic behavior reaches its peak, and he locks out all GAIA Prime Alphas. Ted then purges the APOLLO database and kills all GAIA Prime personnel.

FEBRUARY - Estimated date of the annihilation of exposed human populations.

MARCH - Estimated date of the extinction of macrobiotic land organisms.

2068

Estimated year of the extinction of marine life.

22nd Century

2116

Estimated year for GAIA to decrypt and generate deactivation codes to the machine swarm and build MINERVA transmission arrays to broadcast them.

Estimated year for GAIA to begin construction of HEPHAESTUS Cauldron facilities.

24th Century

2326

March 16 - ELEUTHIA CRADLE E9 releases its inhabitants due to exhaustion of the food supply. Cradle E9 suspends operations and seals itself.

2361

Originally-estimated year for the terraforming process to be minimally capable of supporting life.

2363

Originally-estimated year for ELEUTHIA Cradle facilities to begin artificially gestating humans, raising them and educating them via APOLLO's Education and Archive systems.

2381

Originally-estimated earliest possible year where humans can begin repopulating the world.

The New World

31st Century

3015

Estimated year in which Jiran becomes the 13th Sun-King of the Carja.

3020 - The events of Horizon Zero Dawn begin

AUGUST 26 08:45 - A mysterious signal is sent to GAIA that causes her subordinate functions to become erratic and self-aware. The sub-function HADES attempts to seize control of terraforming system. GAIA initiates a self-destruct of GAIA Prime's reactor to prevent HADES from gaining control. On the same day ELEUTHIA CRADLE E9 is ordered to begin gestation of #LK1A1-4510.

The mountain containing GAIA Prime explodes in a massive explosion known as GAIA's Sacrifice, and its effects are seen as far away as Meridian. Many religious figures contemplate on this event, seeing it as an ominous sign.

The Derangement begins: machines under the control of GAIA lose command and control links and become more hostile. More dangerous and combat-oriented machines begin appearing.

The Sawtooth is first sighted in spring of this year.

The Red Raids begin: under significant pressure from the now hostile machines, The "Mad Sun-King" Jiran orders raids against neighboring tribes and villages to take slaves for sacrifices to appease the machine's aggression.

3021

APRIL 4 09:30 - Aloy is born in ELEUTHIA CRADLE E9 - BROOD 1 facility. She is subsequently taken in by members of the Nora tribe, but later cast out by them. Aloy is given to Rost.

OCTOBER - Aloy is named by Rost with the blessing of High Matriarch Teersa.

3025

Autumn - The Stalker is first encountered by the Carja.

3027

Aloy falls into a subterranean ruin and obtains a Focus.

Aloy saves an injured Teb from a group of machines using her Focus, highlighting its advanced abilities to her.

Aloy begins her training with Rost to participate in the Proving.

3028

Estimated year of the beginning of the Red Raids.

3030

The Thunderjaw is first encountered by the Carja in the summer of this year.

The Sawtooth is first encountered by the Nora and Oseram.

3031

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.

3035

CYAN mistakenly grants HEPHAESTUS access to her systems, and is taken over by the rogue AI. She requests Ourea's help, but Ourea is captured by the Carja and brought to Meridian.

3036

Ersa is captured and is sent to 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

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.

Liberation of Meridian - Jiran is overthrown and slain 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-Priest Bahavas.

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.

3039

Estimated year when Ourea returns to her home, which is now referred to as The Cut.

3040

Aloy journeys to Mother's Heart to participate in the Proving. There she meets Olin and Erend. Eclipse warriors massacre the Proving participants in an attempt to kill Aloy. Rost is mortally wounded.

After a three day sleep, Aloy wakes up in All-Mother Mountain. While investigating an Eclipse Focus she brought back from The Proving Massacre, Aloy finds holographic instructions from Helis to the Eclipse stating Aloy is an "Entity" who needs to be killed. Teersa believes the All-Mother spoke to Aloy, and goes to speak to the other High Matriarchs. Teersa and Jezza vote to make Aloy a Seeker, much to Lansra's dismay.

Aloy begins her journey into the world outside the Sacred Lands, seeking the truth that would eventually lead her to discover Project Zero Dawn.

64th Century

6377

The latest projected time for which CYAN will be able to maintain stability of the Yellowstone Caldera.