During the build-up to Horizon Forbidden West’s release on PS4 and PS5, Guerrilla Games spotlighted the acting talent that was heading to its post-apocalyptic universe. Alongside Angela Bassett’s Regalla, Carrie-Anne Moss‘ Tilda was teased as one of the major characters who would shape Aloy’s sophomore adventure. Now that the game is approaching its two-month anniversary, fans are starting to appreciate just how effective the studio’s foreshadowing teases were.
As someone who’s survived for hundreds of years in a universe that’s constantly on the brink of destruction, Tilda van der Meer is naturally one of the more intriguing characters that Aloy encounters during Horizon Forbidden West. Having fled into space to escape the Faro Plague, whilst achieving immortality in the process, it’s easy to see why the protagonist gravitates to her during the closing chapters of the game. Unbeknownst to Aloy, Tilda has returned to Earth, in-part because of the connection she shares with her extended genetic family tree.
Tilda’s Relationship with Elisabet
To fully understand Tilda's connection to Aloy and her sister Beta, it’s important to first examine one of her historic ancient relationships. Through an optional conversation Aloy can have with Tilda in the Base, the player can get a deeper look into the latter’s time on Earth, before the robotic Faro Plague drove the old-ones to extinction. With some gentle prodding, Tilda will eventually admit to Aloy that she was once in a romantic relationship with her genetic ancestor, Dr. Elisabet Sobeck.
Born in Rotterdam during the 21st century, Tilda came face-to-face with death at an early age following a terrorist attack on the city in 2033. With both of her parents killed in the ensuing flooding, the orphan found comfort in the art of classical Dutch painters. Combining this fascination with her genius-level computer engineering skills, Tilda was able to eventually become a world-class data broker with monetary reserves worth billions of dollars. This rise to wealth propelled her into a relationship with Elisabet, after a chance meeting at a tech conference in Paris.
To Tilda’s regret, the pair’s relationship quickly came to an end before the Faro Plague started to spread though. Having been welcomed into Far Zenith to help the organization’s colonizing mission to the Sirius system, Tilda was guaranteed a spot on the Odyssey spaceship once the robots became sentient in 2065. Before its departure, Tilda was able to use her connection to Elisabet to secure a copy of APOLLO for the colony. An act that would seal its success, and ultimate downfall. Crucially, while negotiating the subsequent Zero Dawn Trade Agreement, it became clear to both women that they still held deep feelings for one another.
Thanks to Elisabet’s central involvement in the Zero Dawn project, the pair’s relationship couldn’t be restored. During Horizon Forbidden West and her interactions with Aloy and Beta, it becomes clear that Tilda deeply regrets leaving her former lover behind to die. While the topic of the planet’s destruction is the game's main story beat, it’s the relationship between Tilda and Elisabet that often underpins and drives a lot of the action forward. If it wasn’t for this dynamic, it’s conceivable that Nemesis wouldn’t exist and the events of Forbidden West would be dramatically different.
Tilda’s Relationship with Beta
Having reached the Sirius system, the Far Zenith were eventually forced to flee the planet following the creation of Nemesis. On the way back to Earth, the surviving colonists plotted to utilize GAIA’s terraforming technology to essentially feed the planet to the violent AI. To facilitate this, Beta was created onboard the Odyssey from the genetic memory of Elisabet Sobeck. Faced with the reality of who Beta was, and a century's worth of regret, Tilda naturally gravitated to the woman who looked like her long-departed lover.
Part way through her training, Beta was subsequently invited to a private virtual recreation of Tilda’s home on Earth. Unlike the rest of the Far Zenith, the former data broker harbored a desire for Beta to learn about humanity’s artistic past. Through their secret meetings, the two were able to forge a bond of friendship over topics such as classical art. Just like her former lover though, Tilda cut off her connection to Beta once the Far Zenith had almost completed the return trip to Earth. Mirroring her previous mistakes, this decision would ultimately prove to be the catalyst that enabled Beta to betray the colonists.
While there were likely some altruistic motivations behind her decision to initially befriend Beta, such as the clone’s wellbeing, Tilda’s desires were more selfish than she let on. Based on how she turns on Beta towards Horizon Forbidden West’s conclusion, calling her inferior in the process, it’s inferred that Tilda was using her as an opportunity to fix her past mistakes. Realizing that Aloy matches the personality profile of her former lover more closely, her attention coldly pivots away from Beta once she realizes she has alternative options to consider.
Tilda’s Relationship with Aloy
Fueled by her failed attempts to attain a happy resolution with Elisabet, Tilda’s relationship with Aloy is noticeably more forward and driven by desperation. Once Aloy’s plans to stop the Far Zenith start to unfold, Tilda betrays the companions she’s been with for eons. While her ideas and interests are at odds with Aloy’s worldview during their initial meeting, she has a clear admiration for her determination and resolve. Having accessed one of her old Focuses, Tilda determines that Aloy not only shares Elisabet’s drive and sense of mission, but she also has a similar orphan upbringing to her own.
After charming Aloy with references to how much she resembles Elisabet, Tilda becomes a central member of the alliance to save the Earth. During the subsequent attack on the Far Zenith base at the end of Horizon Forbidden West’s main story, her real plans and motivations are revealed. Once Aloy and Beta discover the truth about Nemesis, Tilda states that she won't allow her own personal mistakes to play out again. Having left Elisabet to die a thousand years ago, she assumes control of a Specter Prime robot in an attempt to capture Aloy and forcibly save her from the planet's next apocalypse.
Refusing to abandon her friends, Aloy fights back with her trademark resolve. While some fans have expressed an understandable sense of disappointment at Tilda's heel-turn, Guerrilla did signpost that it was coming. From the moment that she's introduced, it's clear that her loneliness and grief have been consuming her for eons. Faced with someone like Aloy, and the second chance that she represents, Tilda becomes blinded by her desire to do what she believes is right.
Even though it's assumed that Tilda died following her confrontation with Aloy, there was no direct confirmation of this. Based on sci-fi tropes, there's an outside chance that the character and her complicated connections could show up in the future.
Horizon Forbidden West is available now on PS4 and PS5.
