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| “ | I'm sure Beta told you that there's a build of the APOLLO database on board our ship? A complete collection of human knowledge. With that, and GAIA, we could do everything Elisabet wanted. Heal the biosphere. Educate the people of this world. Uplift them. | „ |
| ~ Tilda shares her vision of the future to Aloy. |
| “ | I loved Elisabet more than you could ever know. And I let her stay behind to die with the rest of humanity - a mistake I have regretted for a thousand years. Now she stands before me again. Not some inferior copy, but her best possible self. | „ |
| ~ Tilda explains her motives to Aloy. |
Tilda van der Meer is the main antagonist of the 2022 action role-playing game Horizon Forbidden West. One of the few select survivors of the Faro Plague that decimated life on Earth, she became a prominent member of Far Zenith, an elitist consortium who pioneered revolutionary technologies in the field of immortality.
The Zeniths secretly established a colony on the Sirius system, where they would thrive for a millenium until one of their failed experiments went rogue and wiped them out, forcing Tilda and those who survived the onslaught to set course for Earth. Along with Gerard Bieri and Erik Visser, Tilda sought to recover a backup copy of GAIA to bring life in a new world, where Nemesis would never find them.
As opposed to her partners' callous disinterest in the old world, Tilda bears many regrets over the choices she made pre-Zero Dawn and has a keen love for the humanities. She also takes a particular interest in Aloy, being the genetic replica and having a similar personality to that of the only person she ever loved, Elisabet Sobeck.
She is voiced and motion-captured by Carrie-Anne Moss, who also voiced Aria T'Loak in Mass Effect 2 and 3.
Appearance[]
Tilda is a middle-aged woman who has olive eyes and white hair. Much like the Far Zenith members, she wears a white futuristic clothing that is adorned in golden patterns. Her body is also covered in purplish energy shield.
She is also considered to be immortal, like all original Far Zenith members, due to her undergoing extensive cellular treatments and technological implants in the past.
Personality[]
Tilda, unlike Erik and Gerard, is shown to be empathetic, as she showed kindness towards Beta, one of Elisabet Sobeck's clones, prior to the events of the game. She is shown to have a calm personality, and has shown dislike towards Erik and Gerard's maltreatment of Beta.
However, it is later revealed that Tilda is manipulative, in spite of her rather calm personality, who is able to unknowingly trick Aloy and her own allies during the battle of the Far Zenith base. She's also revealed to be an egotist, whom she contemptuously abandoned Beta in front of Aloy near the end of Singularity, claiming that she's an "inferior copy" to her genetic blueprint Elisabet Sobeck.
Background[]
Past[]
Tilda, who was born in the year 2033 in Rotterdam, narrowly escaped a terrorist strike that caused a horrific flood that killed thousands of people, including her parents. Her guardian moved her into a lonely boarding home. She became enamoured with classical painting, especially the works of Dutch Masters. She developed a software early in her career that was unmatched in its ability to identify art forgeries by fusing her love of the arts with her brilliance in computer programming.
She eventually developed this technology into a collection of security and counterintelligence tools, making it a tool for gathering extremely important data. She quickly rose to the position of top data broker, exchanging secrets for billions of dollars while maintaining her secrecy. She became friends with Elisabet Sobeck in Paris around this period, approaching her the day after she delivered a keynote address on AI ethics. Subsequently, the two started dating, but they ultimately split up, a decision Tilda later regretted, which drove her into villainy.
Far Zenith[]
Later, despite her anonymity, the world's wealthiest elite futurist consortium, Far Zenith, sought for her skills and accepted her into its ranks. Tilda was first enthralled by Far Zenith's portrayal of a brand-new era for mankind in which people may explore space without concern about illness or death. When she finally understood that Far Zenith only meant this future for the rich elite, either before or during 2065, it was too late to change her mind because the Faro Plague had already wiped off the biosphere. Tilda sought to persuade Elisabet to accompany her on the Odyssey but was rejected since Elisabet had been assigned to Project Zero Dawn in an effort to rescue herself.
The Zero Dawn Trade Agreement was arranged by Tilda, who got in touch with Elisabet to ask for a copy of the APOLLO database in return for ectogenic chambers. When Travis Tate and Elisabet uncovered Hank Shaw's effort to take GAIA for Far Zenith, for which they sent a logic bomb in its stead as vengeance, they almost abandoned the agreement. Tilda managed to persuade her ex-lover that APOLLO was essential for Far Zenith's efforts to survive while denying any knowledge of Project Anzu, but Elisabet cut her off as she was saying thank you since she didn't want to develop any sort of sentimental attachment.
Tilda and the other Zeniths were able to stop ageing completely after leaving Earth because to sophisticated longevity technology, practically making them immortal. They ultimately arrived in the Sirius system and founded a colony there, equipped with all the modern conveniences they could possibly desire. Despite being surrounded by many people who were satisfied to use technology to take care of their necessities and to engage in virtual reality, Tilda once again discovered herself on her own. She was most comforted by her guilt for abandoning Elisabet to perish on Earth.
Horizon Forbidden West[]
A millennia later, Nemesis, the Zeniths' botched attempt to create digital immortality, wiped off the colony. One of the dozen Zeniths to board the Odyssey and sail away from Sirius was Tilda. Gerard devised a plan to return to Earth and take a backup copy of GAIA before abandoning Earth to Nemesis' mercy while the Zenith look for another planet to hide on, knowing that Nemesis would continue to pursue them. To do this, they made Sobeck's clone, Beta, who can now enter Zero Dawn facilities using Sobeck's gene print.
Beta was enrolled through the Aristotle and Aspasia learning modules and instructed by APOLLO while travelling back to Earth. Tilda felt that Beta needed to experience Earth culture, so she set up a data connection that let Beta leave the training module and enter a computerised version of her home from Earth. After a few months, Tilda thought the other Zeniths may punish Beta if they learned about the data channel, so she abruptly broke off all communication. When Beta finally met the Zeniths in person, she would later deny the data channel had existed.
The Zeniths looked in vain at several Zero Dawn facilities for a backup up until they got an anonymous data pulse leading them in the direction of LATOPOLIS. Tilda went to the facility with Gerard, Beta, and Erik Visser. There, they discovered a backup of GAIA as well as another Sobeck clone named Aloy, who Tilda surmised was made by the original GAIA as a last-ditch effort to restart the terraforming system. Gerard rejected her suggestion to recruit Aloy and gave Erik the order to murder her. Her companions believed Aloy was dead when she made a spectacular escape, but Tilda had her doubts. Later, she discovered Aloy's wrecked Focus, repaired it, and acquired access to its information.
Sylens was revealed to be the one who sent the pulse, as she found out more about his plans. After learning that Sylens was giving Regalla's Rebels access to machine overrides in return for helping to topple Hekarro, Tilda began hacking the Focuses of the Sons of Prometheus and decided to lead the complete force of the Tenakth in a suicide strike against the Zenith headquarters. Aloy's life was also revealed to Tilda, who came to the conclusion that she was an improved version of Elisabet compared to Beta. Tilda devised a plan to trick the other Zeniths, betray them, and board the Odyssey with both Aloy and GAIA, leaving Earth behind. She saw this as a chance to make up for leaving the love of her life behind millennia before.
Aloy was taken by Tilda to the remains of her former house where she was put to rest in her vault. Tilda gave Aloy breakfast once she woke up. After everything the Zeniths had done, Aloy was understandably distrustful of her motives—that is, until she displayed her previous Focus. Then Tilda revealed how she had learned that Sylens had manipulated Regalla's uprising.
Aloy and her allies were unaware of Nemesis' existence and had presumed the Zeniths wanted to use GAIA to reshape the planet in their own image, a fact that Tilda kept to herself. She suggested the two of them infiltrate the Zenith base during the Tenakth attack in order to kill the Zeniths and recover GAIA and Beta, then heal the biosphere and use APOLLO to educate the tribal humans as Sobeck intended.
Tilda didn't see any other choice, but Aloy wouldn't sacrifice the Tenakth until the huntress insisted that she open the data channel to Beta despite the possibility of being discovered. Beta was instructed to hang on when Aloy said something to her, which she would not share with Tilda. She then made a pledge that, when she had laid Varl to rest, she would put a stop to Regalla's uprising, forcing Sylens to join their cause with his anti-shield weapon. If she brought Sylens to the table, Tilda encouraged her to utilise EMP cells from a Horus and made a vow to meet her at her base.
Aloy revealed the renegade Zenith to Sylens after she was successful in quelling Regalla's uprising and winning Sylens' cooperation. Sylens was instantly sceptical of Aloy's actual motivations. The rest of Aloy's friends mistrusted her as well, but they were forced to use her in the last assault on the Far Zenith headquarters because she was the only one who knew how to get inside. After that, Tilda would respond to any queries that Aloy had about her and the Sirius civilisation as she awaited the attack on the Far Zenith headquarters. She revealed information on the pasts of Gerard, Erik, the other Far Zeniths, her own life, and some of her dealings with Elizabeth.
As Aloy and her allies prepared for the assault, Tilda led them into the Far Zenith base as she saw Beta unleash Hephaestus into the computer systems of the Far Zenith, enabling it to quickly produce robots that wiped out the Specter army. Tilda rushed after Gerard to prevent him from fleeing when Sylens used his invention to permanently deactivate the Zenith's shields (including her own), while Aloy and Zo murdered Erik and the rest of her Zenith friends were killed by HEPHAESTUS' machines. Tilda assaulted Gerard at the top of the Far Zenith facility, blasting him through a door and killing him in front of Aloy and Beta, whom Aloy had just rescued.
When Tilda noticed a hologram of Nemesis in the centre of the room, she assumed that Aloy and Beta had discovered Nemesis and had revealed its identity at Aloy's request. Nemesis, who was the real source of the Extinction Signal and is currently en way to personally kill Earth after HADES failed to do so, was further detailed by Tilda. Aloy is then informed by Tilda that Earth is condemned to perish at Nemesis' hands and that they must escape on the Zeniths' spacecraft to a nearby planet where they may utilise GAIA to reestablish life.
However, Aloy steadfastly refused to leave Earth since she was committed to the planet and her companions. Unfazed, Tilda announced that she would compel Aloy to come with her, refusing to repeat the error she made a thousand years prior by leaving Elisabet behind, and disregarded Beta as a "inferior copy" of her lover. Tilda's goals of leaving Earth to Nemesis, albeit with Aloy on her, makes her no different to Gerard's own goals of leaving the planet to be razed by a rogue AI.
Tilda then summons the Zeniths' most advanced exoframe, the Specter Prime, who used it to try to capture and kidnap Aloy. Aloy persisted in resisting Tilda and fought the Specter Prime while Beta retreated and sought refuge. Specter Prime was destroyed by Aloy despite Tilda's best attempts, and Tilda was killed in the subsequent explosion, ending the Far Zenith, once and for all.
Abilities[]
- High-immortality - Having had her body extensively modified through gene modifications, cellular treatments, and technological implants, Tilda does not physically age, making her literally immortal.
- Energy Shield - The shields conjured around Tilda's body render any attacks from her incoming enemies totally ineffective.
- Machine Summoning - Tilda was able to materialise an exoframe known as a Specter Prime in combat.
- High Intelligence - Having been an Old One, Tilda has an extensive knowledge of the pre-extinction world, including her own past.
External Links[]
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 Villains
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Artificial Intelligences Organisations Carja Shadow Carja Banuk Oseram Tenakth Londra's Devotees Far Zenith | ||