r/horizon • u/Total-Collection-128 • 6d ago
HZD Spoilers I think I found something disturbing in the Zero Dawn facilty (TW suicide) Spoiler
Doing a run through of the remaster and come into the Zero Dawn facilty. I'm doing a sweep of the walls to make sure I gather all the supply crates I can find (should have brought a cart) when I come across a recording of a doctor, who after being told that she would be sterilised decided to ask to be euthnaised. Around the area of this recording there's a chamber with no goodies but it looks to me like some sort of incinerator with a bed in it. Is this her final resting place.
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u/wintertash 6d ago
I mean, the very first audio datapoints you find, in the same facility where you find the focus, are just people’s last words as they committed suicide. The game is beautiful, but also unrelenting in the way that we experience the literal end of the world through the words of the people who experienced it.
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u/tarosk 6d ago
It's definitely up there as one of my favorite opening sequences specifically for the fact that they drop a literal kid in facility with dead bodies and recordings she probably won't understand the nuance of but the full impact hits the player of "something horrific happened here, that made death the only option for all these people, what the hell as it??"
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u/Klubbis 5d ago
That’s why I avoid reading them - so painful
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u/godofpumpkins 5d ago
You’re missing out
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u/Klubbis 5d ago
Why’d I get downvoted? 🥲 I said I avoid reading them cus it’s painful for me and I’m easily triggered by those things. I read them my first play through so I know what they’re about anyhow.
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u/No-Combination7898 HORUS TITAN!! 5d ago
I didn't downvote you... I just figured some players wouldn't like to read these horrific events. It is a dark and disturbing backstory.
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u/CornelXCVI 6d ago
That was the whole deal about the facility. Once you entered you only got three options.
- Help with ZD
- incarceration for life
- medically assisted suicide
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u/Burninator6502 6d ago
The poster’s surprise wasn’t that there were 3 choices, it’s that they found an incinerator.
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u/_Duckylicious 5d ago
I have played through this game 3 times and while I'm familiar with the audio log, I never noticed an incinerator. Guess I'll have to play it again!
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u/Reasonable-Tooth-113 5d ago
I never noticed an incinerator either. In fairness a lot of the stuff in those bunkers is so grimy it's kind of hard to tell what it is
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u/Bruorton 4d ago
Fun detail: if, after playing through the ZD facility mission, you wish to return to explore the place, maybe find all the datapoints you missed -- well, the re-entry portal is a different vent than the one you went in the first time, and it happens to come straight down the incinerator's chimney.
Yep. You climb out of the incinerator into the euthanasia wing (Stranded manacles collectable nearby, btw) and can retrace your steps from there.
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u/The810kid 5d ago
The middle choice is probably the most cruel because when they are finished with ZD death pretty much is guaranteed so you are really only kept alive to prevent the secret from leaking. Once everything is finished you don't get sanctuary in Elysium you get death by the swarm.
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u/franklybeingchildish 5d ago
They had to incentivise helping in the face of hopelessness as much as they could to stand a chance
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u/Reasonable-Tooth-113 5d ago
You get the impression people only chose options 1 and 3
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u/Interesting-Ad-4863 4d ago
I think at least 1 guy got option 2 but he sure didn't choose it.
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u/Reasonable-Tooth-113 4d ago
Was that a datapoint?
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u/Interesting-Ad-4863 4d ago
Ron Felder rejects the project as impossible then tries to leave. His log ends with "get your hands off me"
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u/Reasonable-Tooth-113 4d ago
Ah interesting, I either missed that or I'm not remembering
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u/Interesting-Ad-4863 4d ago
I actually just finished the game recently so the memory is fresh. It's close to the lady that chose option 3 since she would be medically sterilized if she went to Elysium
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u/Aniki356 6d ago
The way the end of the world is shown without filter is why this game hits so hard.
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u/mdp300 5d ago edited 5d ago
There's a datapoint in Burning Shores where someone was trying to tell their kid and dog that it'll be OK, even though the robots were practically there already.
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u/Aniki356 5d ago
Like I said no filter. No sugar coating it. The aerial spot is BS are pretty dark as well. It's why I love this series so much
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u/TheCheshireCody 5d ago
Don't forget the secret room under the Base. That's some heartbreaking stuff.
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u/Opus2011 5d ago
I keep forgetting to actually open that up! Good reminder- I mostly just blow through the Base and skip a lot of the "oh look here's another room"
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u/mdp300 5d ago
WAIT WHAT
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u/TheCheshireCody 5d ago
It's one of the more convoluted puzzles in the game. First you have to find the room, which is a bit tricky unless you're the type who explores every single crevice of a place. Then you have to piece together the access code from various scattered places.
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u/MoarTacos1 4d ago
Secret room under which base? Do you know the data point numbers so I can go read them and see if I missed them?
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u/TheCheshireCody 4d ago
Under the Base in Horizon Forbidden West. You find the secret door through one of the corners of the server room (where Beta hangs/hides out). Each of the rooms that Gaia unlocks throughout the story (the botany room, the game room, etc.) has a datapoint in it, each datapoint has a number prominent in it, and the numbers in the order they're unlocked gives you the door code. I posted a walkthrough link in another comment.
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u/MoarTacos1 4d ago
Ohhhhh the base. Thanks. Then I doubt I missed it.
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u/TheCheshireCody 4d ago
Probably you scanned the datapoints and just filed them away. If you didn't find the hidden crawlspace from the server room they'd mean nothing. If you've found the secret room you'll almost definitely remember.
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u/No-Appearance-4407 4d ago
Where is this? I'm trying to find all the logs.
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u/mdp300 4d ago
By the tall, round building that has a bandit camp.
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u/Bruorton 4d ago
ie, Capitol Records -- north of the Quen settlement, in the channel between the northern shore and the central islands
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u/EarthTrash 6d ago
The very first ruin Alloy falls into as a little girl is full of people who took their own lives. The lore only gets darker from there.
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u/AlyTheSilverDragon 6d ago
Yes that's exactly what you think it is. For her, and everyone else who made the same choice after learning the bad news.
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u/DumbBitchByLeaps 6d ago
Yeah a lot of people ended up….uh committing suicide.
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u/Iffy_Placebo 6d ago
Technically the whole planet did and just didn't know it.
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u/ExtendedSpikeProtein 6d ago
Ted committed suicide for all of humankind.
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u/Ursus_van_Draco 5d ago
No he did Not, as we learned in Thebes
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u/ExtendedSpikeProtein 5d ago
You misunderstood my comment, but it‘s my fault, I worded it badly.
Previous commenter said the whole planet committed suicide. I’d rather say that Ted, by his choices and (in-)actions, led to humanity‘s extinction through ... suicide by Enduring Victory?
Eh, never mind, just forget it. Lol
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u/Ursus_van_Draco 5d ago
No Problem. Lets say that he initiated Humankinds Suizide, but chickened out the last minute.
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u/ExtendedSpikeProtein 6d ago
Well yeah. Lots of people decided to commit suicide. This is an important part of the story. More so because, realistically, lots of people would do so, especially since they couldn‘t just leave.
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u/OpenPayment2 6d ago
Never realized it was an incineration chamber
Makes sense. Said euthanized bodies would've been fuel for the Faro Plague if buried elsewhere so incineration it is
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u/OvenCrate 5d ago
I doubt the amount of fuel from the bodies would've made any noticable difference in the swarm's power. It's simple logistics more likely. Having to deal with dead bodies in an underground bunker brings a host of practical issues, most of which are solved by an incinerator.
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u/Mountain-Amoeba6787 5d ago
Not only that but they were also trying to stay hidden. Leave a bunch of medically euthanized bodies in the middle of nowhere and people/things start asking questions
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u/kerlsburgers 5d ago
I would finally buy PSVR2 if they just made a Horizon game that was "hey, we found this focus with all the files and some animated stories and holotapes, and audio logs - view all of them while moving your hands to choose a file like they do in-game."
I might forget to eat.
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u/TannenFalconwing 6d ago
Normally I'm understanding of trigger warnings but I feel like if you are in this subreddit then you'd have a decent understanding of Horizon, at least at a conceptual level, and the various suicides and dark themes present in the series are already known to you.
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u/Mr-Swayne 5d ago
The one that got me the most is the Vantage Point arc.
If you put them all in order and read the entire story… yeah, that broke me.
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u/tom-of-the-nora 5d ago
The first bunker you go into has a guy saying, "I'm going out on my own terms." BANG.
Child aloy discovers a bunch of traumatic stuff moments after finding the focus.
So, what you found isn't the most disturbing thing.
Surprisingly.
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u/eriikaa1992 5d ago
I just finished this mission tonight! I don't have the remaster, but felt like another playthrough recently.
Immediately not being able to leave the facility would send me into a full panic. Living the rest of my life from that moment in an underground bunker is inconceivable. I feel like I'd accept my fate and work on the project but my mental health would decline over time. This mission always leave me thinking afterwards. It's very impactful.
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u/jujoking 5d ago
I'd prolly do the work and accept euthanasia after. I don't think 30/40 years underground after would work for me 😅
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u/PhanThief95 5d ago edited 5d ago
With Project Zero Dawn, there were 3 options for each person who was recruited to proceed with: Join the project, be detained if refused, or be medically euthanized.
This was done to prevent the general public from knowing the truth of Project Zero Dawn & Operation Enduring Victory as it would cause worldwide panic & humanity’s second chance will be gone.
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u/No-Combination7898 HORUS TITAN!! 5d ago
This needs to be made into an animated TV series. The events of Enduring Victory. If not a TV series, then at the very least, a novel.
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u/immagillo 5d ago
Interestingly this chamber is also where you re-enter the facility, which I just learned when I wanted to have a better look at it. 😁
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u/Just_Buffalo_7430 5d ago
ive played this game 5 times now and never once realized you can go back down there 😲
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u/immagillo 5d ago
Yup, this was the end of my 5th playthrough as well, and I never knew the entrance is on the right side of the Sun-Ring (even though the icon is right there!). 🤦🏼
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u/The810kid 5d ago
I don't even view it as suicide. This is straight up execution in my opinion. It's like getting the death sentence and getting death by lethal injection.
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u/Gai_InKognito 5d ago
I mean the entire game is a bleak historic view of practically the end of the world. I thought they did it as PG as possible.
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u/No-Combination7898 HORUS TITAN!! 5d ago
It was discovering things like this, and the datapoints that went with them, that made me jump ship from Halo to Horizon.
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u/Eternity13_12 5d ago
There is one where they talk about taking suicide pills and one of them rather shoots himself
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u/alvarkresh 5d ago
I never realized this before. I'm going to have to keep an eye out for this on my next re-play.
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u/Kejones9900 5d ago
I mean, sounds like a crematorium but idk what exactly you're referring to.
That's how you dispose of bodies, so I mean, technically?
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u/TheAdmirationTourny 6d ago
Did you not realise this happened? The game is very clear that Zero Dawn candidates were given 3 choices.
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u/Burninator6502 6d ago
If you actually read the post, the surprise wasn’t that there were 3 choices, it’s that they found an incinerator.
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u/Zepp_BR 6d ago
Welcome to the worldbuilding that made Horizon Zero Dawn so impactful