Consequences of Unchecked Hubris. The Lore of HORIZON: ZERO DAWN! (pt. 1)

[@TiptoeTheTank]

Hey! Future Tiptoe here. I'm not going to mention specifics, so as not to spoil anything for folks that play the sequel to this game that recently came out. But I'll be sure to let Past Tiptoe from June 2021 know that a certain part of Gaia was activated a few times to perform a certain function, so that Past Tiptoe from June 2021 can retcon her information with February 2022 information. Disregarding understandings from June 2021 should be paramount when considering the future of February 2022. Do you get it? Don't be that person. It's tiring. And it's becoming a problem for this video from June 2021. Keep spoilers and future game information out of your comment. -Tip

[@andrewmah2962]

I wouldn't mind a lore video for Forbidden West

[@steelbear2063]

You are doing long videos on lore and stories of games, wtf do you mean "no spoilers"?

[@Taigan_HSE]

Anybody else of the opinion that Ted Faro’s destruction of Apollo was less about wanting to “protect innocents” and more about him not being able to live with being remembered forever as the man who destroyed the world?

[@roonkolos]

I think the game more or less heavily implies that anyways

[@midteirpersonality]

When I heard about Apollo I was so excited. I hadn’t played the game and this was the first I had heard of it but the idea of Apollo filled me with hope, and then farrow came in and went “ how about we don’t do that” and then murdered everyone and Apollo I nearly screamed. I had to put down my phone for a second I was so devastated for this program(Kudos to narrator for such compelling storytelling). I hate farrow for what he did. I felt betrayed too because even though he would never be forgiven for what he did he tried to help fix his mistakes , so I was just gonna shrug and go “character development” and then he went and ruined everything.

[@DaraelDraconis]

And yet, if you dig into the logs and such, even with Ted's actions, there's _still_ an Apollo hope spot - the colony ships that never made it out of orbit had a prototype of the Apollo database on board. It might not have been complete, but… it was something, and it's deeply unlikely that it would've been hooked into Project Zero Dawn's realtime controls. They left in the possibility that one day, a connection might be established and the data retrieved.

[@The_Story_Of_Us]

It's pretty clear that was his intention. First thing he asks Sobeck to do is handle the plague while he sweeps the glitch under the rug to protect his reputation. He is clearly constrasted with Herres, who notes on record to Sobeck that he deserves a lot of the blame and asks his confession to be archived so people in the future can learn from his mistakes. As opposed to Ted, who deliberately sends humanity back to the stone age to cover his ass from people he will never ever meet.

[@RunningAWOL411]

Those that don't learn from history are doomed to repeat it

[@bthsr7113]

Few games have made me HATE someone like HZD did with Ted Faro, and that kind of emotional investment means the story worked. It got me attached to this world.

[@pennie2387]

A big reason for hating Faro so much is he's such a brilliant fictional realisation of very real people with enormous power in the world today. And that's very scary.

[@slowloris3108]

The only person that comes close to Ted faro in my hatred of them is Micah Bell.

[@Anonymous01772]

@@slowloris3108 Ong bruh

[@JordanJumpin]

*cough* elon musk

[@mark_Jacobi]

Rdr2 micha lol

[@ryanstewart5727]

You know a game's lore is dense when you need a forty minute video just to explain how we got to the opening scenes, which is just the way I like it.

[@Snaakie83]

Part 1 😉

[@nielsjensen4185]

And it's told organically instead of being dumped on the player.

[@bobbytrap2554]

It adds so much to the game experience! I think the extensive lore is also the reason that Destiny survived and is succesful

[@mynameisinigomontoya8179]

Metal gear solid: hold my beer keg.

[@ryanstewart5727]

@@mynameisinigomontoya8179 The difference is that Horizon lore is, more or less, reasonable. Kojima, as much as I love him to death, is not really in the "reasonable" or "believable" writing business. "Nano Machines, son!" Also, Kojima likes to bludgeon players with hours and hours of straight exposition, whereas most of the lore in Horizon is lore you need to find yourself. Following the main story will give you the basics you need to understand what's going on, but there is so much more depth to the lore than just what you get through exposition.

[@venomous8lue263]

I love the detail they added, when Faro announced that he deleted Apollo, a couple of the alphas are seen going to comfort a saddened Samina Ebadji, who developed Apollo. There’s so much emotion in this game it’s overwhelming sometimes

[@kevinjohnanand]

Imagine putting so much of yourself into a project like Apollo only to have it deleted because some dipshit egomaniac couldn’t bear to take accountability for his actions.

[@hannahbun]

It's such a tragedy to witness. All of life was wiped out by the Faro Plague, but our history was still going to be passed on. All of our human achievements and mistakes and victories and losses, they wouldn't be forgotten. And then he destroyed even that.

[@nikmcgarity]

Samina was my favorite of the alphas. You could tell how important the world's culture was to her, how glad she was to be able to teach the next generation of humanity. I cried with her when Apollo was destroyed, and then even harder when Ted killed her.

[@DekkarJr]

I felt like the way this game told it's story was really impactful, you find out what happened kinda slowly until the full horror of what happened is revealed. I remember that text/audio log that first really hit me hard was about them observing the machines consuming pods of dolphins for biomass. And then the fact that the militaries of the world even with conscripting civilians into their ranks couldn't defeat what Faro had created. It was disturbing and emotional - one of the best stories ive ever experienced in a video game imo.

[@arthurdent9281]

The descriptions of how they had to break the news of the end of humanity to the Project candidates really got me when I played the game. It felt so real, and I could just imagine myself in their place, being told that all the hope I had that we would overcome the threat was a lie. That we were doomed, and could only try to ensure that humanity gets another chance in the distant future. Powerful stuff. Amazing story!

[@MRIIMKII]

Yes this was the best one, truly horrifying. Same with the one with the audio of the solider fighting the machines.

[@brandon9172]

It's not the machines or the plague that was truely horrifying. It was the climate disaster and its aftermath. Humanity was nearly destroyed as a result of capitalism, and yet it still embraced it.

[@gnostic-wolf]

@@brandon9172 they embraced corporatist fascism, the combination of government and corporation into one authoritarian warmongering entity. Your cartoon caricature of "capitalism" is pure statist propaganda. Its okay, there are corrupt propagandists like you on all sides. Anyone claiming to champion free market principles while investing their money into the most unfree markets on the planet, using sweatshops filled with hostages under the thumb of totalitarian regimes to boost profitability is a fascist, not a capitalist. They are just as hypocritical as AOC pretending to be a true equity-seeking socialist, wearing her $30,000 "tax the rich" gown to the Gala, unmasked, with a masked servant carrying the back of her gown so it doesn't get dirty, sitting with all the other unmasked Hollywood hypocrites while masked servants bring them expensive food and wine. True socialists one and all, right?

[@brandon9172]

@@gnostic-wolf Noooo thats not real capitalism!! Capitalism is when nothing bad happens and only good things happen. If something bad happens that's fascism!!

[@BobvsBob]

at 31:20... an interesting thing i caught when the caretakers gave their last advice for the now adults. when they asked what they were going to do... i distinctly remember them saying "be brave" hence, the Nora Braves. Earned as a sort of right of passage, a distinction of skill, survival, and responsibility. the writing of this game, as of this video is very impressive. thank you for putting it all together.

[@anthonyhernandez9061]

They also told the adults that the servitors would "always remember them".. and this is probably why the Nora says the banished are not remembered by All-Mother anymore

[@reclusiarchgrimaldus1269]

+ Romans 10:9-10 "That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved." Amen 🙏!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The man in Luke 16:24 cries: ". . .I am tormented in this FLAME." In Matthew 13:42, Jesus says: "And shall cast them into a FURNACE OF FIRE: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth." In Matthew 25:41, Jesus says: "Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting FIRE,. . ." Revelation 20:15 says, " And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the LAKE OF FIRE." And please repent of all of your sins and be baptized by the Holy Spirit before it is too late, you will never know when the time will come 🙏!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Amen 🙏!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@BobvsBob]

@@reclusiarchgrimaldus1269 thank you for the word brother, i ll reconsider my ways, and ask the Lord to show me what i must change and for the time and power to do so...

[@timetraveller9992]

@@reclusiarchgrimaldus1269 , see how you get no likes ? No one is interested in your religious beliefs.

[@anderspuggaard8474]

I love the way you tell stories. you tell the story in a way as to make it enticing and gripping. you really do deserve more viewers.

[@TiptoeTheTank]

Thank you for the kind words!

[@pierre-yveslemieux5621]

You're voice renders the narratives really well i've pretty much ran my way through your back catalogues

[@opticalcanine]

How? It sounds awful... It's text to voice...

[@maskedman6664]

@@opticalcanine he simping

[@lilheinz9496]

Agreed. I especially appreciate how she is able to give us full lore recaps, yet keep it spoiler proof enough that it’s still worth playin. Very talented storytellers, make u want to hear it over and over, and that is exactly what she does here.

[@unblessedcoffee1457]

What I like about this story is that the Faro robots did not actually become intelligent, they were just dumb machines doing what they were supposed to do to continue operating, whilst the owner was locked out of their controls. So many videos get this wrong and think that the Faro robots become self-aware or something. They were just using their emergency mode to continue operating, they never anticipated that they would consume the entire world doing so.

[@ZartaxtheWise]

This is actually a good point! Alot of games and movies try to build up this intelligence that is the main antagonist but here it's just a really bad idea that created a feed back loop to inevitability. It feels so much more desperate when they realise what is happening and it's just to late. The loop has gone to far.

[@unblessedcoffee1457]

@@ZartaxtheWise yeah and because, you don't even have the comfort of knowing that something of humanity might live on in a machine race of some kind. When it's all over, the robots will just sit there and do nothing, they won't build a new civilization.

[@mediatorraptor3349]

I honestly find way scarier for robot following their coding instead of becoming sentient. The fact that a simple error caused the end of world is more horrifying and likely than them becoming sentient

[@FlutterMouse]

My father once said to me..The great thing about computers is that they do exactly what you tell them to do. The PROBLEM with computers is that they do EXACTLY what you tell them to do..."

[@henrikchristoffersen5876]

@@unblessedcoffee1457yes, the true horror: oblivion. When the swam was done, nothing was left on the surface of earth, except water, stone, and metal.

[@14714623]

I found myself tearing up a few times playing this for the first time. Not ugly rdr2 sobbing but very emotionally invested. The story somehow feels more personal learning and watching how the world ended, and knowing it was our world.

[@raphaelamatias9376]

Just how I feel about the game

[@BlackVulcan22]

Same. The story hit me hard. I think its difficult for people to do the 'right thing' when all options are varying degrees of 'we're screwed'. Thats a courage I think most people are never forced to understand/grapple with. The 'robot-dino' gimmick drew me in, but the WHY behind it all is amazing, thorough, and tragic. Moving thru the game, even though its populated, feels like youre moving thru a tomb or haunted house. Still get chills thinking about it

[@advmx3]

Not only TED erasing Apolo feels like he didn't wanted to be remembered by the new humans in the far distant future as a devil so he decided to wipe everything out because he's a genius only when money is concerned. But also, this signal sent to Gaia suddenly with no reason, it seems really premeditated, almost like there's something watching humanity with enough clearance to send a signal that would change Gaia's subordinate functions in such a deep way it would turn them into IA, and chaos of course would start it but one of her functions was created to wipe out everything. It's almost like there's someone out there who actually thinks humanity is not worth it to be left in the earth so it decides to wipe out every bit of life in the earth, not only humanity. That flawed logic sounds way too much like Ted. The Fact that TED had a bunker made for himself only, the fact that he could communicate with the Alphas while they were sealed in a way the swarm wouldn't be able to find them, the fact that he had an Omega Override protocol, the fact that he alone survived for who knows how many years? You know what? I bet my money somehow he's responsible for that signal, be him a clone of himself (the project the alphas gave up, no one knows if TED took it for himself), or he turned himself into an AI or created an AI to essentially do his work once he's gone. After all, Gaia was not his creation, it was hers. Ted surely is the most spiteful person that ever lived in the earth and a cockroach has more moral and cares more about life than he does. XD

[@mduckernz]

The only thing that makes me think it wasn't Ted that brought about the destruction of GAIA is that he didn't know how to do it. The control he had over it was not of that level - he simply had the ability to override decisions of hers, not to completely sever her control of subordinate functions and the like. Like, he DEFINITELY had the motive and mindset (after all, does anyone really think he wouldn't just continue to to get even more delusional, locked in his trillionaire death bunker by himself? lol, no) to screw everyone and everything over in such a dramatic fashion - again! - but he just doesn't have the necessary knowledge to do so.

[@Kalnaur]

@@mduckernz I think what's more likely is that he made or had pieces of code made by employees behind the scenes that he just had to know how to put together that would eliminate the future tech from that future world. If he triggered, after he was long dead, a system failure of some sort in GAIA, then he attempted erasure of the old world's knowledge would be complete. But true to Ted Faro not thinking things through, the actual execution of the code didn't do what he wanted and the world was almost ended again, TWICE by his hand (once when HADES gained sentience and again when it seized the Spire). That's my current best guess, that when (variable) was reached, most likely a certain level of human sophistication, trigger the system to go buggy and end all future tech in that new future. Empowering all the subordinate functions so GAIA has to nuke them? Ensures they all go away, right? but he'd have no way to know how smart those functions actually were all those many hundreds of years later. True to Ted Faro form, thinking he's brighter than he actually is.

[@Phreemunny]

I think it is much more likely the work of Vast Silver. I don’t think it was fully contained, and it definitely has a beef with humanity. Ted is awful and prideful, but not outright evil.

[@gustavosilveira691]

I really hope they don’t go for some ted clone or cryo-preserved ted stuff, to me it would kinda ruin the serious and somber tone of the original story. There’s no real “bad” guy (apart from the shadow carja), just machines going rogue and the very realistic human reaction that came after to try and give humanity a future

[@GeorgeTsiros]

"IA" ?

[@pedrobrandao2951]

Fun fact from an Azorean: the average height of these volcanic islands makes it impossible for them to be completely swallowed up by the North Atlantic. the entirety of Portugal, Netherlands, and other European territories would be underwater before the Azores would :D

[@Winter_ECU]

I would love a dlc that lets you play as a, soldier during operation enduring victory defending the alfas bunker, like the logs you find of the soldier making their last stand agains the horus class, amazing video love from ecuador.

[@basicsimp8798]

Love that this story is basically, humans creating a mechanical God that would heal the earth and give new life to their earth. When I first played the game, I thought the story would be downright stupid but I'm so happy I was wrong. Best post apocalyptic story out there.

[@italianspiderman5012]

I remember picking the game up few and thinking " there is no way in hell the story of this game will have any sense whatsoever",and then project zero dawn presentation happened and my brain exploded and ended up being depressed for the whole evening.

[@shurik121]

This reminded me how much I love this game. The writing in it is top notch.

[@crazybabuskaman3923]

It has a excellent story with a lot of lore, amazing graphics, amazing voice acting, amazing combat and a genuinely beautiful open world, and we get to fight robot dinosaur with a bow and arrow. What more could you ask for?

[@The_ScapeGoat]

@@crazybabuskaman3923 believable characters that fit their world.

[@dinotangerine7033]

Now we know why Doofenshmirtz always put a self destruct button......

[@jujitzujesus]

Such a well written story was deserving of this fantastic synopsis. You have done such an amazing job here. It has been, by far, the greatest HZD lore I have seen. Thank you for doing all the work that undoubtedly took place in order to make this video. On my way to part 2 right now!

[@TGabes_Gaming]

This story is fed to you in pieces in the game and you just did SUCH an amazing job telling this story. Well done!

[@daphne8406]

As I was playing the game and finding all of this out, it was so heartbreaking! 😭 Hearing in this story format summarized breaks my heart again. One of the best gaming stories out there imo!

[@lacucaracha111111]

I love that tiny memo going : Its not like we didnt have about three dozen movies warning us about this robot and AI thing

[@asarand]

This is a great story. However, you are incorrect about one thing. GAIA did not get it right the first time. In Forbidden West, when Aloy finally catches up to where HADES is, he informs her that there were five separate occasions where the terraforming failed and he was called into action to reset things. He even supplied the dates. I don't have that information at my fingertips, but it proves that even the most advanced systems that we can develop are flawed enough to not be perfect and not get it right the first time.

[@LeeEverett1]

Wow this is like the only real in-depth overview of this game's story, deserves way more views very underrated.

[@NiyxRa]

Me who's already chased down every scrap of lore but really enjoyed listening to you tell the story

[@tobi3948]

I remember buying the game for really cheap, not knowing what to expect. Man was I blown away! The graphics were breathtaking and the story was surprisingly intriguing and downright amazing. I found myslf loving every bit of story thrown my way, and would buy Forbidden West for the lore and story alone. Great video!

[@issabiocloneclub3271]

I bought the game super cheap too not really knowing what I was getting into. Now I want to buy forbidden west

[@eozineable]

I bought ZD for cheap too, and now i had to buy the sequel, counts wait for a discount

[@DarkPhoenixGaming92]

Watching this for the fifth time now and just wanted to say "Comfort rolls of toilet paper and security bags of gasoline" made me lol so hard. I love how you manage to be snarky and sarcastic about the corporations at just the right moment that I always fits so well. Great job with that.

[@Colonel_Overkill]

On my office desk I have a tag that says pull "pin for comfort and security" mounted to a hand grenade. The snark or the world still exists its just hiding right now till the karen pleage and faro pleage eat each other.

[@Voltage256]

This game is definitely in my top 5 favorites of all time can't wait for the 2nd game I'm re-studying all the lore for it and everything also top notch video!

[@thecasualreviewer2148]

NO DOUBT! I agree absolutely! It won many awards but it seems as though it's still underrated among gamers. I still don't personally know anyone who has actually played it.

[@SaNaX100]

I recently bought a PS5 exclusively to play Horizon zero dawn 2 xD

[@Voltage256]

@@SaNaX100 I'm mostly an Xbox person myself lol the only reason I got a Playstation was to play The last of us and Horizon Zero Dawn 😂

[@Voltage256]

@@thecasualreviewer2148 that's sadly just bc gaming these days most ppl only care about the online part of things and starting to not care for good story telling. For example I thought red dead redemption 2 had one of the best stories I've ever played but the only thing I saw was people crying about how there wasn't an online mode yet

[@expat8460]

I am still trying to get a PS5 to play the second one but no luck. Might have to wait a eternity for part 2 to be on PC

[@oberonmeister]

I've never realised how deep and thoughtful was this game's lore! Now I really want to play it. When it was released it haven't picked my attention, I looked at it as yet another meh survival with dinosaurs or something. I couldn't possibly be more wrong! Also the story should have been the major point of marketing for this game as it is one of the most accomplished stories I've ever heard. Also, huge thanks for your work. I was just casually scrolling my suggestions and something told me to play your video on Dishonored lore. I'm more or less familiar with it as it is one of my favourite games ever, but the way you deliver your story got me immediately hooked on. You've just got a new fan.

[@jackreeves7]

Best story in a game ever imo, the lore is just insane. It did sell extremely well but I do think a lot saw as a meh open world game with robots. When we find out about Project zero dawn I was speechless, I don't think any other game has left me as shocked as hzd, so hyped for Horizon forbidden west!!!

[@judydorfner5417]

It's an incredible game. The visuals, the music, the story...Can't say enough good about it.

[@maynardburger]

It's a shame you've essentially had a LOT of the thrill of the discovery in-game taken away from you since you know how everything happened.

[@FastRedPonyCar]

I've beaten it twice and it was tied with bloodborne for my game of the generation last year. The 60FPS PS5 patch (or PC) version is a perfect cherry on top.

[@nielsjensen4185]

The issue is that using the lore for advertising would spoil the narrative. An important part of the game is that the player learns the lore that was at the same pace as Aloy.

[@DaKussh]

Damn, I wasn't expecting to come across this channel. I'm actually bafled about how well narrated this is, it's a shame that YT channels that focus on novels don't have this level of quality.

[@vincenthill3491]

This is one of the absolute best stories in Sci-Fi, let alone Sci-Fi gaming.

[@oliverwells8011]

Yeah it is.. We don't get much originality these days and this game surprised me

[@maynardburger]

Fantastic backstory. The game's actual modern plot was not nearly as captivating, though.

[@CaptainPilipinas]

@@oliverwells8011 the main [Flower Game] verses franchise has that, the halo universe has that. other sci-fi franchises has that kind of planning. the Old Ones' version is just one worldly-bounded rather than the states of the forerunner-flood war, or the Amiable ecumene- *Hive* War (which this one has it truly more horrifyingly of a permanent end(?) for this galactic federation of ancient races), or other etcs.

[@yonderboygames]

@@CaptainPilipinas I think horizon just nails the presentation of it all. They made the situation and circumstances way more relatable with their storytelling. Less detached.

[@CaptainPilipinas]

@@yonderboygames that part I get, anyways, back with the halo universe and galaxy, the forerunners' are a bigger version of our old one counterparts' fate. Space capabilities to go far than just getting to the closest star System, one that the old ones didn't had the convenient and advanced enough reassurance of their desperate time. Sadly. (unless odyssey was faked and continued onward. no complaints for that obvious plot-twist and an easier time for Aloy's broken era to recover eventually).

[@HighmageDerin]

This game blew me away when I got to the big story reveal! Its the FIRST time in History (this I know of) that the Apokilps story is one that we DIDNT survive. EVERYONE DIES! and we basically Create our own god to bring humanity back to life!! I really hope in ZD2 we see Gaia returned to "life"

[@roonkolos]

When I first played this game I wasn't expecting much. It was the opening sequence, the young Aloy sequence and the first Vantage Point that this game took full grasp on me I have never been so engrossed by a game and jts world. The devs honest to God were able to create full on cultures more or less from the ground up I didn't expect much from Horizon. But 5 playthroughs later, it's absolutely obvious how much it means to me

[@tomassoejakto]

The whole concept of rebooting Earth life and its subsequent ripple effects are cool, I gotta admit. Aloy's personal journey is a good one too. But it was Ted Faro's Omega Override that I really felt emotionally. Wiping out millenia of knowledge? Fuck Ted Faro.

[@TianZhaoHeavenlyFortune]

The reason why I love Horizon Zero Dawn so much above all else is because of its story. It's an incredibly engrossing story and that's because it's so unfortunately, depressingly, and horrifically believable really. The lore of how the United States ends up causing the downfall of humanity with its politics is so on point - corporations being treated as humans and being given elected office space, the blaming of other countries on internal problems within the USA, fake news, etc, etc, etc. All of what happened in this fictional American history is actually so reminiscent of real life. Ted Faro being a trillionaire is a great analogue to Jeff Bezos. Their names are also kinda similar in terms of their assonant sounds. Ted vs. Jeff and Faro vs. Bezos sound similar actually. Bezos is also known for his robotic advancements given the automation of Amazon warehouses as well as his aerospace endeavours. Honestly I wouldn't be surprised if Horizon Zero Dawn ends up predicting a lot of things to come.

[@LMarini3004]

Amazing video, I've been searching KZbin for a while looking for a video that would tell the complete story from the game so I could fill in on gaps from the forestry that I might've missed from missing data points from the game. This was exactly what I was looking for and you delivered amazingly. Thanks for your work it was very much appreciated.

[@KabbalahSherry]

Yup, we're seeing the beginnings of the downfall of America now. 🤷🏻‍♀️😒 People worship/trust Capitalism & the Police State too much in REAL life too.

[@gnostic-wolf]

@@KabbalahSherry You generally have nothing to fear from businesses that need your voluntary support. And when corporations do meddle with dangerous things like military AI or genetic engineering, of viruses for instance, it is the government that funds them and then protects them from being burned to the ground. It is far more likely for government authoritarianism to be our downfall, than corporate profit-seeking.

[@brandon9172]

@@gnostic-wolf Both would be our downfall. Capitalism requires an authoritarian state to prop it up.

[@gnostic-wolf]

@@brandon9172 If an authoritarian government is propping up an economic system, that is not capitalism, its either fascism, communism, or socialism. China's model is communo-fascism. Our system in the US hasn't been anything close to free-market since the government under FDR outlawed the use of actual money (gold and silver) as currency, and forced everyone to trade in their gold and silver for fake fiat dollars that the government has been devaluing by counterfeit for the past hundred years, like parasites sucking the wealth right out of the people's hands, slowly impoverishing everyone. Do you have any idea how wealthy the common person would be, and how much more productive business would be done here if we were not all robbed of 40% of everything we work for every year through taxation and currency devaluation?

[@Carl6386]

You’re voice is so soothing and the way you pronounce the words so precisely is just great. Thanks for the video.

[@ArbiterofTruth]

I get the feeling that if they had given Hades a subroutine named Persephone this could’ve been avoided.

[@rosebriar5536]

I mean it’s not really HADES’ fault. The fault lies with NEMESIS and the Zeniths. HADES was only doing what he was programmed to do. He was never meant to be sentient. The Alphas didn’t provide a fail safe for him because this was never meant to be a possibility.

[@zacharyhawley1693]

this gem of a game has pretty much the definitive example of harbinger of doom in Ted Faro

[@T.N.S.A.F.]

I can tell A LOT of research and writing went into this video, it deserves way more views.

[@pailhorsegaming6762]

Goddamnit, Hades becoming a villain even tho he’s just doing his damn job.

[@Taigan_HSE]

Eeennnhhh {waggles hand in a “sort of” gesture} Hades’ job was to eradicate the biosphere IF THE ECOSYSTEM WAS UNSTABLE. Him deciding to do so just for the heck of it is kinda outside his function.

[@secretchiley]

@@Taigan_HSE We obviously know more about it now, but while the signal did make HADES its own entity, he was just doing what he was programmed to do. Restart the biosphere in case GAIA or anything else messed up.

[@rosebriar5536]

@@secretchileyexactly. HEPHAESTUS is doing the same despite killing thousands. He’s trying to keep his machines functional.

[@ArbiterofTruth]

@@secretchiley Except this time it was going to be permanent.

[@Witheringdawn2]

New Zealand becomes the next Atlantis? Cool As a kiwi, always happy to hear NZ being mentioned. Also loved the video!

[@ArtistLisaM]

You seriously deserve more recognition. I found your "The Devil Came Through Here" video and have spent the last couple of hours watching your videos. Have a new sub, looking forward to more videos in the future! Oh, and as someone that lives in Georgia, your example of Coca-Cola taking on THAT much power is legitimately *horrifying* .

[@shayanm9944]

I fuck with your videos there pretty dope

[@toofastfoyo3944]

I really think the lore from the first game could be like 5 books, at least 3 before the events of the first game

[@jorgekontor]

It's a great game but damn you are a really good storyteller, and you obviously did a very big work on the research. Very well done.

[@TiptoeTheTank]

Thank you very much

[@CaptainPilipinas]

@@TiptoeTheTank these old one counterparts of ours is like a less advanced version of GA Humankind's. still non-post scarcity of an era for theirs. not to mention their FAS robotic Error. if only they have a [Traveler] there that nearly guided GA Humanity's time.

[@PhillKaggitz]

What scares me the most is the when all of this happens, I’m going to be an old man, and won’t be able to fight against it.

[@JC-oq5ex]

"What a world to live in." You best start believing in dystopia missy, you're in one.

[@TiptoeTheTank]

I absolutely read this in Barbossa's voice.

[@miguelmackay4851]

The story looks more like foreshadowing rather than fiction

[@aslysa2277]

For such a colorful game the lore is incredibly dark scary and depressing like a robotic horror story

[@Tirin90]

This is my absolute favorite game of all time mainly due to the story even though every other aspect of the game is fantastic as well. I love the way that you set up the storyline for the game and if I ever have a non-gaming friend that I want to still have understand the setting behind this brilliant game I most definitely will be recommending your videos!!

[@nick1181]

"In 2036, New Zealand began to sink." Me watching this vid in New Zealand:😨

[@Ka-tet84]

What an incredible breakdown of the story and lore of one of my favorite games. You have a gift for storytelling. Hope you always keep this going. Going to part 2 now. And subscribed.

[@I_am_a_cat_]

I can definitely see parts of this story happening IRL. Specifically the stuff leading up to the faro plague

[@lavendercrystal5104]

GOT RLY PISSED OF THE FACT TED'S APOLLO DESTRUCTION WAS BASICALLY ABOUT HIM NOT GETTING THE BLAME ISTG.

[@lavendercrystal5104]

not really but cmon, Apollo was the hope of human history and Ted went to kill it

[@awkwardmonster]

this is an enjoyable vid to watch before i jump back into the remaster on the 31st

[@jaymantisgaming]

@23:55 when i heard the spacecraft failed all i could think was ''thank fuck. those humans dont deserve another planet they can infect''

[@mykelmellen2378]

Yeah, we're so inherently terrible that you don't think we deserve to live, but you're alive and commenting about it. 🤔

[@anarex0929]

I'm playing Jedi Fallen Order with my new Azeron keyboard replacement / analog keygrip. Watching this just makes me wish I had it when I was playing Horizon ZD. Something about moving about on a analog stick with keyboard advantages / mouse makes the world more believable vs full run like a speed addict or hard switch to slow walk takes you out of the game.

[@pithie84]

Iv played this game several times and absorbed all the wiki lore so i'm pretty knowledgeable on the game's story. So how on earth was I enthralled for almost 40 minutes. Wonderful story telling. Subscribed.

[@hawkeyes4768]

tyvm for this summary,, i played this when it came out on pc and was confused by some parts,, ur narritavation and the way you convey the story was so pleasing and made the lore mere impactful

[@jreneau6441]

I find your voice as the narrator absolutely perfect for this story. Your harsh inflection of emotion during horrific parts of this story intermingle beautifully with your soft caring tones as you speak of Gaia and the nurturing parts of this story.

[@jeffreylopez1248]

This series/ writing prompt is soooooo good!! Sometimes you play something and still want to live in that world or understand it better. Please make more, I was insanely entertained and enthralled!!

[@Lmfao666ify]

Found this video at my job where I have 10.hours to listen. New favorite channel I think

[@BoobieMunster]

i came across this channel last night watching, Days Gone and i was immediately drawn in! hearing these games retold in a such a captivating way, WOW! i’m subscribed, notifications on ALL, and soooooo glad i came across this channel! please continue. i have so many videos to watch and i’m so freaking excited. remember when you were still an adolescent and you had that; favorite family member, teacher, caretaker who would tell you stories or read books to you and no matter how many times u had heard the story you still got lost in the story because of how the person spoke and kept you still so excited n joyful to hear it’s entirety… yea i found that on a youtube channel 😊 thank you! 🙏

[@celem12]

Those 3 choices offered to people regarding project Zero Dawn...that hit me hard man. It's morally and ethically wrong, but it's also unavoidable in a situation like this. I'm trying to put myself in their shoes whilst presented this choice and damn the feels are strong!

[@Manilaphoenix]

Criminally underwatched

[@cajg1988]

The KZbin algorithms sent this beauty my way and I'm so entranced by your eloquence. I do hope to see you tackle the Halo story at some point down the line 😉

[@madtownjeremy]

Thanks so much for this! H:ZD has the richest story of any game I'd ever played and this captures the details in such a great, even vital way. Think I might have to play through it again (again!) now before FORBIDDEN WEST drops!

[@jamesabernethy7896]

I realize this is an older video but I've been saving interesting videos like these for workout videos. This is the first video of yours I have watched and I'm impressed. I'm a big fan of retrospective and lore videos. HZD is one of my favourite games of all time, gameplay, story, and the performance of the voice actors. Robots and apocalypse are common themes in gameplay but this made them feel fresh. But back to your video. Very well written and you gave a great sense of delivery. A voice that is very easy to listen to with enough personality to make things light and fun. Some creators can go too far and turn things into too much of a performance that takes away from the enjoyment. This had a great balance. Nice work.

[@chedderman101]

You talking about Operation: Enduring Victory. Even tho it’s fictional but just how you describe how humanity fought like hell until The very end. It makes me feel so proud lol but also quite emotional. Great Story Telling!

[@matty_mather]

You have the easiest voice to listen to I have ever heard! Great video, thank you for making it - I thought I knew the story having played the game but I didn’t know more than half of this!

[@StreetSweeper5605]

I spent $10 to upgrade this to the remastered version just for that scene of Aloy finally getting to find Elizabet on that couch outside of her house. I wasn't disappointed. Love this game so much!

[@janurbanek8577]

I waited long time to finaly play Horizon. Even I knew alot about the lore, the game and the lore itself is superb. But I must say that the quality of the video and the visuals added to it makes the experience more personal and more enjoyable experience all together. Well done.

[@ano2lokmo]

Loved how her name Aloy is a play on the word alloy, which means a metal made by combining two or more metallic elements, especially to give greater strength or resistance to corrosion. In contrast, her father figure is called Rost which is a play of the word rust, which means metal corrosion.

[@Pro_Butcher_Amateur_Human]

Rewatching videos like this and some cutscenes from HZD to get ready for Forbidden West. Can't wait. Got my collector's edition pre-order confirmed, got a food delivery coming the day before with snacks and drinks, and I've booked the weekend off work. Good video, by the way. You've got a relaxing voice, it's easy to put this video on and sit and watch it, or put it on in the bsckground and let it was over you.

[@dm1843]

You deserve way more subscribers. Love your videos, keep up the good work 👍

[@TiptoeTheTank]

Thank you

[@pedrocarvalho5567]

I think I just found my new favorite gaming lore channel on yt! This is just professional level writing and storytelling! Loved every minute of it! Keep up the good work, you are amazing!

[@zekeymittens5563]

I've been waiting for this since I started watching your videos. Can't wait for part 2!!!!!!

[@davidostlouis]

Excellent video. The lore of this game is very complex and this is a great video explaining it.

[@privatekibbinz1371]

Why am I so emotional about humans that don’t have exist

[@GingerwillowTheFeatheryOwl]

I have never played this game before but I found your video and I am now obsessed. I am definitely going to get the game now!! Your pacing was great and you made everything very easy to understand. Thank you for putting in all of this hard work!

[@Mr.Possums]

I'd very much like a six-episode animated mini series of the Operation Enduring Victory. Something like different POVs of the soldiers, people, etc and how the "dealt" with the Swarm.

[@dirk69erable]

You have a gift for narration. Your pitch is perfect and you speak naturally, extemporaneously and it's a joy to listen to compared to other content creators who speak like they're reading from a script and every line sounds like they're asking a question and their reading takes on a monotone droning that makes me turn off the video in a matter of seconds. Thank you!

[@bthsr7113]

Perfect recipe for a robot apocalypse aside, what baffles me about the chariot line is how the self-sustaining nature of a swarm presents a distinct lack of potential for ongoing profits at the customer's expense. I can still find it believable in the story, but it's arguably the most unrealistic aspect of the bots given how the military industrial complex does business.

[@italianspiderman5012]

I think,at that point Faro was so disgustingly rich that making a profit was less important than making sure he'll be remembered as the man who changed the world,created the invincible war machine,to prove he's better than Sobek maybe and maybe do it just because they could

[@bthsr7113]

@@italianspiderman5012 That's not a bad idea.

[@pennie2387]

They thought of that: During the presentation of the Chariot line it mentions that every time it manufactures a new unit, it does so for "a reasonable per-unit license fee". So you are just licensing their IP in the same way a song or movie, or game is sold digitally. There's a thought--the whole world was wiped out by ever increasing robotic killbots but there must be one hell of a bill waiting for someone.

[@kristiandahl1310]

@@pennie2387 pass it back to Ted for fucking over humanity.

[@bthsr7113]

@@pennie2387 oh yeah, forgot about that.

[@adrianna5378]

Horizon Zero Dawn’s story is one of the reasons it’s become one of my favorite games ever. I wish they would have just kept Ted completely isolated from the project. He didn’t deserve to even be involved. Very excited for the next one though.

[@daneverharen1694]

I think he was a key to funding the project so he gave himself some privileges sadly

[@jdubkilla718]

@@daneverharen1694 yea i heard something about him being the worlds first trillionare, he most likely funded the project in its entirety

[@jackog44]

I still suspect Odyssey was not actually destroyed which had a form of Apollo. Could be an interesting story arc, the return of Odyssey.

[@Lettucem3n]

Apollo hit you with his dodgeball

[@AlessaNitara]

I played and loved the game. I had goosebumps and wet eyes because of its story, time and time again. But now that I listen to you explain the whole thing chronologically, I am a sobbing mess. Thank you! (Yes, I mean it.)

[@JustTheG]

I was so angry at the destruction of apollo I stopped the video for like 30 minutes before continuing

[@Jupiter-T]

Loved this video. There was so much I hadn't picked up on from playing the game. The lore was already fascinating, but hearing it all in one place was amazing.

[@samuru101]

The moral of the story is do not make killer robots with the ability to consume biomass and not creating a backdoor into their program.

[@tcunero]

Absolutely the best overview! So much detail and story to give a great description of what happened. Very through! Well done!

[@mattbell1907]

This video is incredible. I knew most of this, but you fit more info in 2 hours than I got from beating the game 100% twice

[@gandalfdiggory]

Revisiting the first video I watched on this channel after I finished playing HZD for the first time last night (I bought a PS5 and played Forbidden West first, because it came with it and I had already watched this video, hahha). You narration of the story is so good that allowed me to play the 2nd game without missing pretty much nothing (just minor references and characters that appeared on the first one). PS.: now we know Hades actually was needed to correct Gaia's work, from what FW tolds us. Aloy's world was actually the 4th version of the biosphere (as the first 3 failed and had to be restarted).

[@DanArbelo]

This is such a comprehensive and succinct breakdown of the entire backstory. I will def be checking out more of your stuff and obviously will be sharing this for those curious about the upcoming sequel.

[@sirshotty7689]

I love this franchise, the story always seems to have a mixture of existential dread and hopeful future that makes my brain hurt.

[@rebecadonadon5275]

This was amazing! I finished the game a few months ago, and with HFW coming up I decided to refresh my memory. I understood the lore while playing but having it all chronologically laid out like this was fantastic and really helped me make sense of the different audio files. I don't normally go through the effort of liking videos but this is a well deserved exception;)

[@headquarters447]

I love this. Though I think your timeframe is off. I believe it's when you arrive at the Gaia Prime Facility an audio cue welcomes Elizabet and mentions that she is x days late for her meeting. If you do the math the time works out to something like 970 years.

[@mustsnip537]

One of the best video game lore storylines. So dark but also inspiring.

[@cpl4life2cer]

This is exactly what I was hoping to find, great work on this vid!

[@XynthoanXV2]

I find it baffling, while playing the game, that Ted Farro was capable of causing the apocalypse, THREE TIMES! First of course being the Faro Plague, second was when he purged all human history (its just as bad), and third would have been if the revival of the Farro Plague had succeeded. And who knows what going on in the sequel at this time. Such a great game and lore.

[@finalminer1425]

I didn’t realize how deep and emotional this game was, and I will honestly say this is my most favorite game ever made, I knew the lore was there, but I didn’t realize how in depth Guerrilla went with it

[@elnacho657]

This has not much to do with the subject but i think if they ever adapt the Faro Plague as a Hollywood movie, Sobeck would be played by Sigourney Weaver.

[@CrazyHorse151]

It's just legit a good story for a video game. Sadly it's also one that you can't really forget I'm not sure when I'll get to play it a second time.

[@abrahamj15]

Here before this beauty hits the tens of thousands of subs her voice and video quality deserves!