The Carja play a central role in Horizon Zero Dawn, helping Aloy in her quest to fend off hostile machines and defeat HADES. However, the tribe and its leadership did not always act so benevolently. Before Avad’s rule as the 14th Sun-King, the Carja were responsible for one of the bloodiest campaigns in recent history: the Red Raids.
Though not featured during the events Horizon Zero Dawn, the effects of the Red Raids are very much felt as Aloy traverses the world. Other tribes, particularly the Nora, are mistrustful of the Carja, and even those in the Sundom lament their bloody history. It all stemmed from the 13th Sun-King and his obsession with bloodshed and sacrifice in the name of the sun.
The Reign Mad Sun-King Jiran
Jiran was the 13th Sun-King of the Carja tribe, and he had inherited a strong military force from his father, the former Sun-King. He then further strengthened Carja forces by sending soldiers to the northernmost region of the Sundom — a place known as the Sandwhisper Valley, where they were to train amid fearsome sandstorms. These trained soldiers would become Kestrels, who then served as Jiran’s personal guards. In fact, Helis was among the first to rise to the title.
With such a strong military arm, the Carja tribe easily defended against hostile tribes. Even the Derangement of machines posed no threat to them — at least in the beginning. Jiran and his forces managed to protect the Sundom and its people from the deadly machines. Thus, the 13th Sun-King was lauded as a strong leader. However, Jiran would come to believe that the only way to stop the Derangement and appease the sun was through human sacrifice. Thus, he ordered his military forces to go forth and invade other tribes, taking in prisoners who would then be sacrificed in Meridian, in the Sun-Ring that stood before the Palace.
Tribes from across the land would fall victim to the Red Raids. The Utaru tried to appease the Carja with gifts of corn and grain, to no avail. The Oseram walled themselves against the Carja onslaught, but Helis threw their corpses against the barriers and used those to scale the heights. Neither were the Nora safe in their Sacred Lands, and as the raids progressed, more corpses were strung up on trees as grim reminders of the carnage that had taken place.
Soon, Meridian’s Sun-Ring was no longer enough for Jiran, and so he decided to make use of the arena at Sunfall, a Carja settlement to the northwest of Meridian. The Sun-Ring at Sunfall was much larger, and the Mad Sun-King used it for a different method of human sacrifice. He had groups of slaves thrown into the arena, where they tried in vain to survive against hulking Behemoths. When one Behemoth turned against Jiran’s own Kestrels, he took this as a sign that the sun would accept sacrifices of both the faithless and the faithful. Now, even the Carja were not safe from the Mad Sun-King’s brutality.
When the members of Carja’s Hunters Lodge spoke against Jiran’s deeds, he had them thrown into the Sunfall arena along with more slaves. Again, Behemoths were loosed upon the sacrifices, and though the members of the Hunters Lodge fought valiantly, they were ultimately killed. Even Jiran’s own son was not exempt from the carnage. When Prince Kadaman, the Mad Sun-King’s eldest son, went to him to ask that the Red Raids be stopped, Jiran simply sentenced him to death as well. Kadaman’s younger brother, Prince Avad, loathed this decision and fled Meridian with his loyal guards in tow.
Avad and the Liberation
Before Kadaman’s death, Avad had met a slave by the name of Ersa. An Oseram captive, she was a capable fighter pushing back against Carja forces when she was taken. In the hands of the Carja, she was thrown into the Sunfall arena for sacrifice but managed to survive while also killing two Kestrels. This pleased the Mad Sun-King, and so he made her a palace slave, allowing her and Avad to meet.
The two conspired during their time in the Palace, with Avad revealing the plans of his father’s own military forces and eventually helping Ersa escape. Now that he was fleeing from the capital, he sought her help to form a group to fight back against Jiran. Ersa agreed to help, calling in Oseram warriors and freebooters to band together against the Red Raids. With a sizable group of warriors behind him, Avad marched back toward Meridian, where he would confront his father.
Word of Avad’s plan spread throughout the Sundom. As the group traveled back to the city, they’d find more and more Carja tribesfolk opting to join them, even some from the military. When they arrived at the City of the Sun, they were met with Kestrels and other Carja guards with their bows taut. However, the Oseram had brought with them powerful cannons that easily brought the enemy guards down.
As Avad and his band infiltrated the city, Jiran ordered his Kestrels to take Itamen, his youngest son, and flee. With help from Helis, Jiran’s wife, Nasadi, and the High Sun-Priest, Bahavas managed to escape to Sunfall. Meanwhile, Avad finally came face to face with his father. The prince asked that his father answer for his crimes, but the Mad Sun-King refused. Avad, with no other choice, killed Jiran, thus ending his reign and making him the next Sun-King of the Carja tribe.
The Aftermath of the Red Raids in Horizon Zero Dawn
When Aloy visits Meridian in Horizon Zero Dawn, Avad is already the Sun-King, and has been for around two years. Even so, the events of the Red Raids are still fresh in the people’s minds. That goes for both those within and outside the City of the Sun.
For instance, the side quest A Daughter’s Vengeance has the player helping a young Nora find the Carja military leader who murdered her father. This leads the player to Zaid, who no longer serves the Carja, but has set up a slave ring where he sells people off for profit. Another example is in the Hunters Lodge questline, wherein Aloy meets Talanah, a member whose loved one were killed during the Red Raids. In the quest, she openly loathes the Lodge’s decision to never speak of the massacre of its members.
Clearly, the Red Raids are a stain on the Carja’s history, and it will be awhile before the tribes can reconcile. Hopefully, Horizon Forbidden West can show the community what progress has been made and whether Avad is the benevolent Sun-King he appears to be.
Horizon Zero Dawn is available now for PC, PS4, and PS5.
