Despite the story of Horizon Zero Dawn being relatively closed by the end of the game, there are still several questions left unanswered in Aloy’s adventures. The most notable of these, which the game even makes a point of directly asking, is who activated HADES in the first place, as the fact that GAIA was successful in rebuilding the Earth should have left the all-powerful AI dormant.

One fan theory surrounding HADES’ activation is that Ted Faro, the creator of the menacing old world machines that destroyed the Earth in the first place, may have had a hand in it, as it was clear by the end of the game that he was unhinged and desperate enough to kill innocent people in order to keep his involvement in the destruction of the Earth a secret.

What Is The Faro Clone Theory?

One of the major technological advancements that were needed in order for Project Zero Dawn to be successful was the ability to clone animals and humans in order to repopulate the Earth once the terraforming process was complete.

With this in mind, some fans believe that Faro set up his own bunker, not unlike the one that Dr. Sobeck retreated to before her untimely death, complete with his own cloning facility as well. This way, Faro could ensure that future generations wouldn’t learn of his involvement in the Faro Plague even after he destroyed APOLLO, the teaching tool designed to re-educate humanity, including about how the world ended in the first place.

How Fans Reached This Conclusion

Many fans came to the conclusion that Faro was responsible in some way for the activation of HADES when Sylens asks the AI himself in the post-credits scene who woke them, as this was one story thread left unanswered by the conclusion of the game.

Since the revelation that Faro orchestrated the death of Sobeck and the other members of Project Zero Dawn came shortly before the final boss of the game, this has led fans to connect the two events and decide that Faro didn’t just destroy APOLLO, but also set up his own cloning facility as well.

Evidence For This Theory

Although there is no definitive proof that Faro had set up a cloning facility somewhere in the world, it is well within his character to have done so before the downfall of civilization. From the very beginning, Faro was adamant that Project Zero Dawn wasn’t the only solution to saving humanity and spent the entirety of his remaining years trying to find a way to save the Earth from mass extinction as a result of his own creations. When every other avenue failed, he took matters into his own hands and ensured that humanity would never learn of his involvement in the Faro Plague, despite it being named after him, and killed everyone who knew the truth in the end.

Faro was also shown to be clever and cunning in all the worst ways, baiting Sobeck out of the bunker knowing full well she would sacrifice herself to save the other members of Project Zero Dawn, as well as the fact that she was the only person who could have stopped him from killing them.

Evidence Against This Theory

The main evidence against this theory being true is that there is no way to confirm it, as well as the fact that the story is clearly not over yet and will be continuing with the upcoming Horizon Forbidden West.

There is also the fact that Faro was much more comfortable with machines and AI than with biological sciences, a fact he proved with the creation of the Chariot series of machines that went on to form the Faro Plague as well as the need to outsource the creation of the cloning technology during the early days of Project Zero Dawn. It’s within expectations that Faro could have found someone else to help him build another cloning facility, but this would also require him to admit to another person that he was responsible for destroying the Earth, something that he fought tooth and nail to avoid.

Alternate Theories

While Faro cloning himself fits well into the established technology of Horizon Zero Dawn, it’s not the source of the only theory surrounding Faro that fans have come up with. Another somewhat outlandish theory is that Faro cryogenically froze himself after killing the members of Project Zero Dawn, ensuring that only he would be able to stop the successful reseeding of the Earth and prevent the new world from learning his secret.

The idea of cryogenics is never explored in Horizon Zero Dawn, but the fact that all life on Earth was cloned and reborn following its destruction implies that this theory is, at the very least, plausible in context with the other technology seen in the series so far.