Horizon Forbidden West has become one of the most successful sequels in recent years, progressing the story of the Horizon franchise while providing players enjoyable gameplay. With this progression of the story, Aloy and her friends have learned of a new threat to humanity, an AI like GAIA that has developed a hatred of all humanity and is now on its way toward Earth. After defeating the Far Zeniths, Aloy will need to prepare for a threat that should prove to be her most challenging.
With Nemesis journeying to Earth, Aloy and friends will need to immediately start preparing for the coming threat. Following the events of Horizon Zero Dawn and Forbidden West, Nemesis seems like the perfect antagonist to wrap up the series. However, with the way the story has expanded through the two previous titles, there is a possibility that a larger threat will appear. For now, fans will be more concerned about the dangers that Nemesis brings, and how it will affect the already difficult lives of people in the Horizon universe.
What is Nemesis?
Like GAIA and her subordinates, Nemesis is an artificial intelligence that was created by the Far Zeniths after they escaped from Earth following the Faro Plague. It has played a vital role throughout the events of the Horizon franchise, sending the signal that made GAIA's subordinate functions self-aware and kickstarting Aloy’s journey. From its beginnings in the Sirius system to its eventual move to eliminate all humans, Nemesis has remained shrouded in mystery.
Nemesis was created by the Zeniths as a way of attaining digital immortality, allowing them to transfer their minds to any organic or inorganic body. However, the collective minds of the Zeniths being abandoned turned Nemesis vengeful, and it used its intelligence to create a new fleet of machines that destroyed the Zeniths' home and escape into space.
How Far Away is Nemesis?
The Far Zeniths' Sirius colony is 8.2 light-years from Earth, and while the Zeniths had only just arrived during the events of Forbidden West, it is easy to assume that Nemesis is not far behind. There is no indication as to how long the surviving Zeniths took to reach Earth since they had already achieved physical immortality, but it is known that the signal which separated GAIA from the subordinate functions took at least 17 years to stop transmitting.
While it is safe to assume that Nemesis did not immediately leave the Sirius system after the surviving Zeniths retreated, their urgent mission on Earth could mean that Nemesis is close. Nemesis is also traveling on a machine - or a swarm of machines - that could easily be faster than the ship the Zeniths took, so Nemesis could only be a few years away from reaching Earth. However, this has not yet been confirmed, and it is also likely that Nemesis will start its assault on the planet well before its arrival, as it has already shown it can use its intelligence to send signals that dismantle Earth systems.
The Nemesis Threat
Aloy and her friends had a difficult time dealing with the Far Zeniths and their unique machines, but it is easy to assume that Nemesis will have more powerful machines at its disposal. Along with this, Nemesis also holds the shared intellect of numerous Far Zeniths, all of whom were considered among the smartest people on Earth before leaving.
However, the Nemesis threat could be much larger than just new machines, as it has the capability of controlling other AI like GAIA and HADES. In fact, it is likely that as soon as Nemesis arrives at Earth, it will take over GAIA and force it to start an extinction-level event that would render the planet uninhabitable. This will be the biggest threat to Aloy and her friends, as Horizon Forbidden West has proven the importance of GAIA and how vital the AI is to maintaining life.
With Nemesis presumably already on its way to Earth, Aloy will not have long to prepare for the biggest battle of her life. While she now has GAIA on her side along with the numerous allies, Nemesis’ strength could prove to be too much. However, thanks to Beta and the Quen’s vast library of old-world knowledge, Aloy might be able to find a way to stop Nemesis and finally bring peace to Earth, eliminating the last big threat to humanity and all life on the planet.
Horizon Forbidden West is available now for PS4 and PS5.