Legends of Horizon Zero Dawn: Hephaestus Machines (Part One) 

I know I’m late to the party ... but now that the forbidden west has been announced I love this channel ... I didn’t know the lore went so deep thank you for making these videos they are amazing!

I remember the first Sawtooth encounter, how it seemed like such a monumental task. Then the first Thunderjaw, how that seemed near impossible. Now they're nothing. I actually have more issues with Stalkers than any other machine.

I’m *VERY* disappointed that we can’t ride a Thunderjaw!

The Stalker would easily be the deadliest weapon in this world if it used its climb ability to full extend. Lucky us the developpers let them be much less dangerous.

Another great video, Random Side Quest. I agree with your conclusion that the enhancements we see in the hunter-killers are not the result of alien involvement. Here's why (and apologies if this has been said before - couldn't see anything in the comments). I took a closer look at the datapoint entries received after overriding each of the cauldrons. They show several attempts by an an external force to gain access to the facilities, if I've interpreted the entries correctly. The sigma datpoint shows that the core identified an intrusion and deployed countermeasures to stop the attack. The rho entry shows that the intrusion gets further than before, breaching the firewall before the core reboots, once again stopping the attack. In the theta core log, it seems like the intrusion is successful, overriding production. alert: Intrusion/Source:External alert: Countermeasure/Inactive alert: Main/Production:External Override alert: Main/Production:Downloading... active: Additive/Manufacture/Type active: Main/Production:Initiating... In the xi log, the external force begins to make enhancements. alert: Main/Production:External Override alert: Main/Production:Downloading... active: Additive/Manufacture/Type active: Main/Armament/Enhance 27:03 active: Main/Armament/Enhance 14:31 active: Main/Armament/Enhance 11:66 active: Main/Armament/Enhance 97:41 active: Main/Armament/Enhance 43:10 active: Main/Production:Initiating... I'm not sure what the enhancements are referring to. At first I thought they referred to the creation of the new hunter-killers. However there are only four new types of hunter-killer machines. Plus, only the stalker was produced at the xi cauldron. The final entry is received after all the cauldrons have been overridden. It shows some part of the system attempted to trace the source of the attack. It was successful. The culprit? Hephaestus. active: Countermeasure/Diagnostic/wurm.nxt alert: Trace/Intrusion/Detect:Successful alert: Trace Result: HEPHAESTUS alert: Infiltrate/Intrusion/Retrieval:Successful alert: Command Template Acquired alert: Decode/Initiate:Successful So, once GAIA was destroyed and the subordinate functions escaped, Hephaestus needed to gain access to the cauldrons once more. Or perhaps he never had the level of control needed to make enhancements to existing machines or create new ones, not without the authorization of GAIA. Either way, Hephaestus needed to override the cauldrons. Why? The rest of the final log sheds light on his motive. It suggests that what people have speculated on, and what I think I remember CYAN saying, is true. Hephaestus sees humanity as a threat. A threat not just to his creations, but to life on earth. alert: Result: ENCROACHMENT THREAT: HUMAN alert: Result: FAUNA THREAT: HIGH alert: Result: FLORA THREAT: HIGH alert: Result: BIOSPHERE THREAT: HIGH alert: Result: DIRECTIVE: CULL alert: Result: PRODUCTION OVERRIDE INITIATED alert: Result: ALL OTHER PRIORITIES RESCINDED alert: Decode/End Does Hephaestus anticipate the humanity 2.0 will go the same way as last time? Stripping the planet of its finite resources, polluting of the environment, climate change, extinction of flora and fauna? Does he see a future where humans will once again turn to AIs,leading to a new Faro plague? Or is his assessment based on something else? Man, I love this game. Perhaps you could do a video on the core logs.

One small correction I'd like to mention. The ravagers in hzd actually use railguns. Rail guns are Electromagnetically propelled pieces of metal. I suppose once propelled fast enough they can can become plasma. I may be wrong.

I started this game 1 month ago and right now I am close to the end of my 2nd playthrough. Only now I recognized that Sawtooth machines guard herdes of Lancehorns. It replaced Watchers. The hunter prey relationship between humans and terraforming machines shows how dysfunct this world has become, just because Faro deleted Apollo and humanity starts out again committing the same mistakes. HADES interferred as intended but GAIA antagonized as known. All in all one flawed system trying to correct another. This puts an even heavier burden pn Aloy, as she is the only human with insights separated from common superstition. She literally has to bring every tribe in front of CYAN and explain the events in Meridia so everyone knows how to save the future.

We never find out what happened to the other subordinate functions... I hope we see that in a sequel , where Aloy works hard to rebuild GAIA and restore her subordinate functions located around the new map. If you remember GAIA states while she is being infected by Hades: my subordinate functions are disappearing. But to where? Each function has now become their own AI so it will be interesting to see Aloy stumble across them as either friend or foe. Perhaps one of the functions will be more docile than the others and offer assistance to reattach to GAIA. While the others likes Hades and Hephaestus will do what they can to kill humans. However Hephaestus doesn’t wants to destroy the world like Hades. But she views humans as a threat because they keep killing her machines she creates to heal the world. That’s why she made more deadly machines like the thunderjaw, stalkers, ravagers, etc.

Then there is an error in the first cinematic of Rost taking baby Aloy to the matriarchs, because you can see Thunderjaws in it

I call this evolution... Evolving more powerful than the other predator prey relationship

man i was so afraid when facing a thunderjaw for the first time it was a good battle they really ut some thought into the design of these machines. again an awesome video.

I’m sure it’s Jaguar not “Jagwire”😂just kidding love your vids man

The videos you create are so great! Informative, cool clips, and well organized.

Sawtooths: i got claws Revengers: i got guns Thunderjaw: i got everything Aloy:.. better put this in my satchel

I always feel like prototype of these machine animals are manufactured by Boston Dynamics (a real company)....

For one of your future topics what about figuring out the “12 Outlanders” that Rost hunted down? I know not much to go on but it would be interesting speculation. None of them where described by any known tribal features or behavior. Who where they, and how did they know Nora customs so intimately yet they couldn’t be described? I know there’s not much to go on but I really hope they elaborate on this in the future because I have a theory on them. As well as a few others. ;)

Hephaestus: Creates dangerous new machines to dissuade humans from attacking them Humans: Create competitions to see who can destroy machines in a specific way the fastest Hephaestus: Am I a joke to you Just a note we're the Rockbreakers, not Hephaestus creations. I got the sense playing the game that they had appeared recently as most humans who interacted with them didn't have a name for them. Edit: Nevermind saw your video on terraforming machines. I take back my question.

Animal ideas Wolf Elephant Whale Horse Snake Seahorse

amazing vid please keep it going they'll be recognised soon!

I love this game...and I love this channel!!

Ok, this explains why the machines that where ment to help humans turned bad. I guess I missed that part in my playthrough. I always wondered why GAIA created machines that had nothing to do with helping the planet, and where heavily armed.

Glad you made these! I didn't have time to read the multitude of books littering the world but I find the lore of this game very interesting. Thank you!

In at least three datapoints, humans are stated to have used DEWs (Directed Energy Weapons) against the Faro Robots, and since they are haphazardly​ given to civilians, who are just told to point them at the bots and shoot, they had to be widespread and used in large quantities. Perhaps the Faro Robots used machineguns as a secondary weapon for their missiles, and weren't given more powerful weapons as a cost-cutting measure, due to them being expected to exploit strength in numbers and zerg rush tactics, or for ease of fabrication by Horuses.

Extra-terrestrial? I doubt it. I think you’re right, that the apha’s job was to make a machine that would continue to develop new technologies. It was always intended to outstrip us.

5:48 It's Tarbosaurus Rex

I finished this game 100% one year ago, missed it and found this channel. Awesome work, man. I´m glad I found it. It made me wanna play the game once more, which leads me to this question: how come there is a Thunderjaw calmly walking by Rost and baby Aloy in the initial cut scene, when Rost is on his way to shout Aloy´s name for the first time? I mean, this moment is supposed to be, what, 15 months after the unknown signal / derangement (9months of gestating Aloy + 6 months until the naming ceremony), right? Does this timeline make sense? Thunderjaws were already roaming earth 15 months after the derangement?

I really like this video, all of these extra lore videos in fact. I do have one question and thing to bring up. What year did the birth of aloy occur? Because in the opening sequence, which took place six months after her birth, you can clearly see two thunderjaws walking through a field.

Thunderjaw: The most deadliest machine of all time Apex Slaughterspine: Hold my beer...

For HZD2, do you think HEPHESTUS might become smart enough to incorporate and improve on the Chariot line? Maybe a new villain for the story?

Can someone help me understand the timeline here? So project zero dawn obviously happened in the 2060s and Gaia succeeded in repopulating the planet obviously. How many years after Zero Dawn were all the lab-grown babies born? Are *all* the current tribes descendants of these babies or were some of them descended from maybe some humans who survived in underground bunkers? How many years before current game time did Gaia blow up the mountain? We know that Aloy was born/gestated when Hades hacked into Gaia, but if the mountain exploded that recently, then how come no one ever talks about it happening?

I feel some combat machines may have been for controlling wildlife if need be

Yeah i am late. But didnt sylens said Hephaesteus would come back? Why didn‘t it continue

its cool watching these videos now with forbidden west out. Turns out he was right with the alien origins of the signal.

And somehow aloy has defeated all of these machines

The thunderjaws are easy once you take out the antena at the top. That makes them blind and the cannons wont hit you since it'll hit the wrong place.

[Facepalmed] What about the 'Odyssey' instead?... [rhetorical said] Next thing we know, a lost battlegroup of Human-Vektans & Human-Helghans for some reason end up in the HZD orbit and were responsible for sending out that 'mysterious signal' 19+ Years ago. (One of them anyways). [sarcasm]

They got something right😮 6:43

“Don’t touch the bots.” Hesphastus

Maybe Hephaestus played FO:NV Old World Blues ;-) and liked the Night Stalkers and was inspired. Both are fun and hard to kill. But the big question is, why did they do such a bad job on Hephaestus' voice synthesis?

So what if it builds more powerfull machines. What surprises me the most in this game..and it might be minor is that humanity is not allready more advanced beyond being Tribal. Studying a thousand years of machines. We went in 2000+ years from Bow and Arrows to Nukes. It astounds me these humans have not invented the machine equivalent of a EMP Bomb (Elektro Magnetic Pulse) Yet.

If you read the data points, we had energy weapons before the plague, There's one in the grave horde I think where the MRB is talking training a minute man/militia and comments how the training is essentially, "Hand them a DEW, if you see a bot, shot the bot" and for context, DEW = Directed Energy Weapon. As for what the Scarab and Kopesh's (corrupter and death bringers) we fight dont seem to use them, my money is either 1) they were in low power mode, 2) their DEWs were damaged/destroyed while being buried and Hades made no effert to repair them.

Maybe they could be hunters

I also speculated when I was not that far into the game that the machines might be alien in origin, because they were so much more advanced than anything else, and they were responsible for the annihilation of the human race. Of course now we know otherwise, but as far as Hades and Hephasteus goes, they need to be stopped unless at some point in the future GAIA is successfully rebooted and can bring the subordinate functions back in line.

amazing video but also we gotta notice that Corruptor's technology is almost the same as Aloy's tech breakthrough because if you notice in the part where she take out the Corruptor's component that corrupt machine she connect witg her Focus the component of corruption and that makes it human friendly. in another words Ted already had the tech only thing is that the Focus is the only tech that can make eco friendly and human friendly, which Ted Faro tech was the opposite.

Wow....imagine a thunderjaw vs that mammoth from the new trailer.

But imagine if there is Aliens in Horizon zero dawn

jag - wires ❤

Cuz my other theories involve Elysium, the Odyssey, Project Lamplight, the Idiot Army, Vast Silver, and the “Masters”. But that’s a lot for me to write. To finish for now I think, and this is quite a stretch, the 12 Outlanders, the Masters, and Elysium are all connected. Again just my personal speculation.

Hephaestus, if not stopped will eventually want to destroy all humans but leave animal life alone. Hephaestus will end up the major villain in Horizon 2.

Awesome as always. :D

Why does the thunderjaw carry freeze and blaze canisters wouldn't it make the Thunderjaw a acquisition class machine

I know Kim Possible was 10+ years before this, but in one episode of the show, Kim's dad mentioned working on Hephaestus project. I feel like Kim Possible and Horizon are connected in some way. I might be wrong.

I'm assuming you're going to do an episode on Firebreak and Kenny Chau and so forth, but I hope you find the time to do just a short episode on Dod Blevins, the last man standing between the Yellowstone park and utter chaos.

wait question if artimes only let out like six species of micro organisms does that mean that most wounds are sterile so that would mean there might not be the common cold i am serious in asking please reply

Wow, Aloy must have superpowers or something when normal hunters gets owned by a Sawtooth when I come to the rescue and defeats it with a couple of hits or so with my spear!

Can i just say onething, that fucking fireclaw prick cost me 200 blaze and i ran out, fighting him in the cauldron. How fucking stupid was that. I think i stickied him a 100 times, yes i know those towers fucking healed him but i fucking destroyed them immediately. It was just absurd how much resources it took to take down that thing even though it was on Ultra Hard. Had to switch to different weak ass weapons like the rattler and stuff. Anyways that annoyed me, wanna know if it took you a ridiculous amount of ammo too. Havent killed him in the open yet, thats my final quest.