Summary
Horizon Zero Dawnintroduced the protagonist Aloy, the lonesome outcast turned brave savior in her quest to save the world. However, the story didn’t quite start with Aloy, but rather Ted Faro’s fatal machine mistake, and Elisabet Sobeck’s efforts after that. WhileHorizon Zero Dawnfocused on the fall of civilization and retrieving answers from the past,Horizon Forbidden Westtakes Aloy to a new dangerous landscape, where the unknown is as prominent as the danger, branching from the mighty Tenakth tribe to the extraterrestrial threat of the Far Zenith.
The futurist consortium known as Far Zenith included seventy-seven of the world’s wealthy elite. It started with the development of the Odyssey project, a plan to send people off to explore other star systems to ensure the survival of humankind. They had survived over a century before arriving on Earth, then serving as the main antagonists inHorizon Forbidden West.Beyond their advanced technologies and petty quarrels, their true selfishness and carelessness lead to the destructive creation known asNemesis, the rogue AIset on destroying the earth, as well as their eventual demise by way of Aloy and her crew.
Elisabet Sobeck’s Role In Horizon 3
Elisabet Sobeck’s DNA stood as a crucial component for participants in the Odyssey mission, serving as the essential key to unlock the Zero Dawn systems and granting unfettered access to the terraforming marvel known as GAIA. The creation of Beta was solely driven by this imperative, not with the intention of crafting another formidable entity or an equal to Elisabet.
Beta is a genetic clone of Elisabet Sobeck. Consequently, her own identity was largely disregarded, viewing her merely as a tool designed for the sole purpose of facilitating access to GAIA. This revelation, however, prompts the question if Beta is the one and only clone produced by the Far Zenith colony. Perhaps beyond the intentional lack of humanizing her, even her name suggests a predecessor, an alpha. With this possibility in mind, the threat of Nemesis could be worse than feared.
The Possibility of More Clones of Elisabet Sobeck
The intriguing possibility of more Elisabet Sobeck clones arises from Far Zenith’s possession of her DNA. Considering this, one wonders whether they also obtained a brain scan, now integrated into Nemesis. The possibility emerges that inFar Zenith’s quest to develop a super powerful AI, they might have leveraged the brilliance of the woman pivotal to it all.
Perhaps Nemesis will take the form of a twisted replica of Elisabet Sobeck that Aloy has to compete with. This potential twist introduces a mental challenge for Aloy, transcending mere physical combat, as she grapples with the unsettling notion of confronting a distorted replica of the woman she regards as her mother.
The Threat of Nemesis
Nemesis was a failure by the Far Zeniths.It was a project whereby the futurist consortium attempted to upload their collective subconscious to transcend the need for a physical vessel, and achieve true immortality. Whilst that ambition speaks volumes to their inherent selfishness and fear of death - or more so, fear of being forgotten - Nemesis failed, and was ultimately abandoned, although left intact.
Horizon Forbidden Westhas set upHorizon 3to focus on the looming threat of Nemesis. This is because it ends on the note that Nemesis has escaped its imprisonment after decades, and maintains the knowledge of each Far Zenith mind that had been uploaded. Due to such imprisonment and abandonment, a true hatred for humanity had festered within Nemesis, rooting its intent on destroying humanity. Given that Tilda’s consciousness has likely been uploaded, a version ofNemesis embodying Elisabet Sobeckwould presumably be the rendition familiar to Tilda.
