#horizon thoughts

[fortunatelysublimecreation]

just hit me that at the beginning of HFW Aloy had been searching for a GAIA backup and hitting dead end after dead end for SIX MONTHS

like holy shit, she's tough as nails. i genuinely can't fathom staying on course for half a year in the face of consecutive failures like that

[allyphant]

🔥👊🔥 Options Only Playthrough Update🔥👊🔥

Well, first of all, Aloy and I bailed🏃‍♀️. Went straight up to the Frozen Wilds❄️ as soon as we could and have been ignoring everything ever since 😅

Here's some highlights🏹

🔥👊🔥 Here we go!🔥👊🔥

Resh Confrontation. After The Proving. This man scares me and I was worries about the means things he would say to Aloy but she called him out! Basically said 'Yea? And where were YOU sir when we were fighting huh?? You little coward!' Hahaha! You tell him sweetie! 2🏹🏹

Rost’s Grave. This hurt so much. Aloy apologized for being so angry last time they spoke and it was... With the other options, you can tell that Aloy is upset and rightfully so, but this one… She really sounds like she's crying here and it just broke my heart.💔 Watch this one at your own risk if you’re soft hearted like me. I’ll never recover. 3🏹🏹🏹

The Survivor Quest.❄️ Aloy told the White Teeth that Mailen passed their test while also backhanding them right in the face. “You put her through this ordeal—she gave up everything for your rules.” Not mad at it, speak the truth. Wish Ikrie was there to see it. 1🏹

The Hunter’s Three.❄️ I just realized this is the only fist option that I ever legitimately chose in my casual playthrough. I still unironically love it and that name the most. Aloy says their name should represent what the three of them fight for. Per Tatai: “Nukoni’s Arrows. That’s what we are. Shot from her bow in the north to hit her target in the south.’ 💙🏹

Frontier Justice Quest.❄️ Inatut was left to die naked in the frozen wilds. Aloy told him at the end, “You don’t owe them anything.” That he can be his own person and think and fight for himself from now on without his werak. Nice interaction actually. Would recommend it. 1🏹

CYAN.❄️ She asks Aloy how to interact with the Banuk. Aloy tells her to tell the truth so people can start learning about the way things actually are. "Tell them you were made by the Old Ones." Cyan was like “Woah bestie, so like, then you're accusing me of lying to Ourea??” And Aloy was like “... Kinda. Yea.” Not where I expected that conversation to go and kinda feel bad about it honestly. 2🏹🏹

Aratak.❄️ After Ourea’s passing. Aloy tells him this was Ourea’s decision and we should accept that. “She was willing to fight. She wouldn’t let anything stop her.” Aratak was like ‘Damn b, you right.’ And that was that. 1🏹

That's it for now! It's been fun in NG+ seeing how many things I can get away with before advancing the story.🤔 I've 100% completed FW, and have 67% of the main campaign done currently. All without ever setting foot in Meridian.

Lowkey gonna see how much more I can do.😅 Til next time!🏹

[gentlyrowan]

Him: Do you know what I was just thinking?

Me: What?

Him: Since Aloy had a focus since she was very young, she should probably be using a lot more Old Ones' slang than anyone else.

Me: That could have been a cute character quirk to highlight.

[fortunatelysublimecreation]

I LOVE ZO!!

she's a peaceful vegetarian farmer. she's a traumatised veteran soldier. she's so gentle and emotionally intelligent. she publicly rebelled against her government twice. she loves her people. she knocked Erend flat on his ass for insulting them. as her society collapsed around her, she stayed strong and sang to her dying land-god through her fear. she stabbed an immortal invulnerable zenith in cold blood to avenge her boyfriend. she learned the truth behind her people's religion (eldritch horror imo) and immediately adapted, even helping kill one of her mutilated land-gods. she has the most soothing voice. she recoded her land-gods and saved her people from starvation. she's pregnant. when Aloy came back from cauldron gemini the first thing Zo did was give her a hug. all her dialogue at the base is so thoughtful, her takes on the Old World, what the Zeniths did and more.

[fortunatelysublimecreation]

as unsettling (and frankly a little disgusting) to watch as this scene was, i think being forced into Elisabet's clothes against her will is good for Aloy. specifically her sense of self.

she understandably has issues with her identity. she's a clone, created for a specific purpose unlike literally every other human being (except Beta, also a very healthy encounter for Aloy!). in her own words "i'm not a person. i'm an instrument" (in a soft, heartbroken voice thank you Ashly Burch)

she was created to play Elisabet: build GAIA and save life on earth. HFW shows us multiple times how consumed Aloy is with living up to her 'life's purpose' and to Elisabet's legacy

i like the symbolism of this extra explicit microcosm of the entire story: force Aloy to play Elisabet. i think being forced to this extent not only highlights the differences between Aloy and Elisabet, it also exposes the ridiculousness of trying to be someone else (the quen tyrant certainly drives that point home). as yuck as it was, i think it contributed to how Aloy begins to 'intentionally' branch out of Elisabet's legacy

i'm sure horizon 3 will explore this in more detail, Aloy forging more of her own personality rather than being completely occupied with Elisabet. i loved how she already begins to do this at the end of HFW!

it can't get more explicit than that, "Elisabet would leave." "I'm staying."

can't wait for her growth in the next game!!

[fortunatelysublimecreation]

i think Aloy knows when people are flirting with her, but she just has no idea what to do with it

she's very smart, and pretty intuitive about other's feelings and motivations despite being so isolated while growing up

when she first met Erend I do think she just didn't know what was going on there. she'd never interacted with ppl that way before and Erend was pretty vague ( "well i mean... look at you." "you know what ;)" )

but after that, she gets more experience with people (who are in love with her lol) and sometimes does this flattered/awkward face

[fortunatelysublimecreation]

i love the Ted Faro character. obviously he's scum morally, but as a character he's immaculate. the whole timeline of how players are introduced to him: Aloy living in the post-apocalyptic world, finding out what happened, finding out he did it, seeing his interactions with Lis, watching him spiral, all the way to his punishment and demise in Thebes. yes i say this about every horizon character but it's true; Faro's voice actor did amazing in his datapoints. as did the scriptwriters, i think i'll try a deeper analysis of his best datapoints (e.g. GAIA prime, Thebes) later. he's a brilliant exploration of power, insecurity and insanity.

[fortunatelysublimecreation]

so interesting to me that Erend's introduction is this masterful diplomatic speech that successfully calms an angry mob in (literally) a single minute, yet he spends the next two games thinking of himself as a dumb brute who's only good at swinging his hammer around (and having serious self-worth issues because of that)

more analysis of his intro speech under the cut bc i love him

"Nora faithful - hold your fruit."

addresses the mob respectfully, even though i'm pretty sure i've heard Oseram calling the Nora savages at other points in the game

"Now I'm Oseram, not Carja, so I'll put it to you straight."

immediately identifies himself to them as 'not the enemy'

"The thirteenth sun-king was a murderous bung. No, he was!"

subverts their expectations! he's part of a Carja diplomatic delegation, and he opens it by insulting the Carja's former monarch?! that'll stun an angry mob into temporary silence for sure

"He was a tyrant, and a monster. He raided my tribe for blood sacrifice just like yours."

'you and i are in the same boat here'

"My own sister was taken. I hated the Carja."

shows how close to home it is for him, and asserts that he understands how the Nora feel

"But the thirteenth king is dead, two years now."

distances the atrocities from the current moment

"Now who killed him? The fourteenth."

rhetorical question to make them listen and think, short pause, and the answer. at this point it cuts to the Nora crowd and they're thinking to themselves and nodding 😆

"Not because he lusted for power, but because someone had to put an end to his father's atrocities!"

makes sure they know Avad did it for the right reasons

"The message that this poor priest means to read is an apology. Straight from the lips of the fourteenth sun-king"

paints the priest sympathetically, lets the crows know that the new sun-king wants to apologise, and emphasises how sincere the apology is

"So please, can't you lend him your ears?"

MIC DROP! sets up for the priest to take over. crowd is placated and ready to hear out what this new king has to say!

TLDR: every line of his speech is just a perfect de-escalation, all done in front of an angry mob on behalf of his good friend Avad who's counting on him to make sure the delegation is a success so there isn't another war. that's a lot of pressure! Erend doesn't give himself nearly enough credit for his intelligence.