Horizon Zero Dawn and Horizon Forbidden West give players a unique version of the United States to explore, one that has been overrun by machines and left untouched by humans for over a thousand years. During Horizon Forbidden West, fans got a glimpse at people who originated from outside the continental United States, the Quen. With their vast amount of cataloged knowledge, it seems likely Aloy will need to venture off the continental US to reach the Quen’s homeland so she can find a way to stop the upcoming threat in the third installment of the Horizon series.
Little is known about life outside the regions seen in the game, but fans have had glimpses as to how the worldwide machine system works. With different cradles located around the world, it seems certain there are multiple civilizations living around the world, with most of them civilizations lacking any means of long-distance communication. So, Horizon 3 has the chance to send Aloy across the ocean to give her and her allies a fighting chance against their greatest threat yet, Nemesis.
The Quen’s Knowledge
The most likely new location for Horizon 3 would be the home of the Quen, since Aloy has already gained their trust and learned of the library of knowledge they possess. With a society created around the discovery of the Focus and dedicated to amassing ancient knowledge, the Quen could prove to be Aloy’s most important resource. Through their advanced technology, Aloy can travel across the ocean, giving her the ability to venture out into other parts of the world in search of answers and allies.
While there has been a lot of speculation as to where the Quen reside, a general consensus among the community is that their home is in China. During the events of Horizon Forbidden West, Aloy learns that the Quen are from a land known as the Great Delta, which could be the New World name for the Yangtze Delta. It is also likely that an ELEUTHIA cradle was constructed somewhere in Asia, and with the highly advanced civilization of the Old World, it is likely China possessed the knowledge and technology that has helped the Quen develop.
The ELEUTHIA Cradles
The ELEUTHIA Cradles are what gave rise to the New World humans. The Cradle near the Nora tribe where Aloy was born is named ELEUTHIA-9, which means that there are at least 8 other facilities scattered around the world, giving rise to new peoples and civilizations. Traveling to as many of these as possible, or at least to the one that gave rise to the Quen, could be an important task for Aloy to better understand the technology.
In Horizon Zero Dawn, fans see the locations of the other cradles constructed around the world, and over the course of both games are shown two specific cradles outside the US, one in China and another in Mozambique, Africa. The knowledge of these cradles’ locations, coupled with the knowledge Aloy could learn from the Quen, might encourage her to explore these facilities and uncover certain mysteries she was unaware of. While the facilities do not create large machines, they are capable of creating clones of Elisabet Sobeck, so Aloy may be determined to travel to those lands and find others like her to fight Nemesis.
The Search for New Allies
With Nemesis traveling towards Earth, Aloy must muster up her allies if she will have any chance of taking down a threat that has wiped out a more advanced civilization. While both games have described her as a loner, Horizon Forbidden West made Aloy more trusting of her allies, and this could mean that her forces will increase significantly in the next game. To do this, Aloy will most certainly need to travel to new lands, first with the Quen, and then probably further out to find people that can help.
Each of the tribes in the Horizon series are vastly different, and have their own strengths and weaknesses. The Quen, for example, have vast amounts of Old World knowledge that they have used to create an advanced society, but they are unable to match the likes of the Carja or the Tenakth in combat. So, discovering new tribes could lead to new information that uncover secrets about Nemesis and the Far Zenith colony that could help Aloy and her allies take out the next big threat to Earth.
The Horizon series has grown into one of the biggest PlayStation exclusive franchises, thrilling fans with action, characters, and lore that brings its post-apocalyptic world to life. With all the discoveries that Aloy has made in Horizon Forbidden West, and the danger of Nemesis looming closer, it is likely she will travel to the land of the Quen to gain access to their catalog of knowledge for the coming fight. Whether she will stop there or continue to explore the lands beyond The Great Delta is not confirmed, but through information given to the players, there are undoubtedly many more tribes around the world that could prove to be extremely beneficial for the fight against Nemesis.
Horizon Forbidden West is available now on PS4 and PS5.
