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Beta

"The lesson will be taught in due time, Aloy. Until then, we wait."
This article contains heavy spoilers. Read ahead with caution.

I don't know what piece of Elisabet I'm missing. I don't know what you have that I don't. I looked through all the data from your Focus. You were raised as an outcast. Shunned and isolated, just like me. So what's the difference?! What's my defect?

—Beta, to Aloy

Beta is a major character in Horizon Forbidden West. She is a genetic clone of 21st century roboticist and engineer Dr. Elisabet Sobeck. She was created by Far Zenith and is the genetic twin of Aloy.

Appearance

As a genetic clone of Elisabet Sobeck, Beta is physically identical to both her and fellow clone Aloy, having red hair and green eyes. However, Beta is both thinner and paler than Aloy, likely owing to lack of sunlight and exercise, as well as wearing her hair in a different style.

Unlike most people, Beta keeps her Focus equipped on her left temple rather than her right.

History

Creation

Following the destruction of their Sirius colony, the survivors of Far Zenith elected to retrieve a copy of GAIA from Earth. To do so, they created a clone of Elisabet Sobeck, whom they named "Beta", whose geneprint would allow them access and control of the terraforming system.

Life with Far Zenith

Born from an ectogenic chamber aboard the Odyssey while on route to Earth, Beta was allowed access to the APOLLO training interface managed by the Zeniths, allowing her to study various topics as permitted that were related to the Zeniths' goal. Her caretaker servitors referred to the Zeniths as her "benefactors" and promised that one day she would meet them in person after she had learned enough. Whenever she requested data outside of her parameters, she was denied.[1]

Sometime on the way to Earth, Beta accessed a private data channel created by Tilda. She described it as a small lake house, and was allowed to talk to Tilda, who did not reveal any critical information about herself, or the other Zeniths. They met in secret over the course of a few months, during which Beta was introduced to books, media and art before Tilda suddenly cut off all contact.[2][3] When she eventually met the Zeniths in person, Tilda ignored her and denied the data channel's existence, which served to convince Beta that she was no different than the others.[2]

Upon arriving on Earth, Beta was forced to work for the Zeniths, who claimed it was her responsibility to rebuild the terraforming system. However, she began to suspect the Zeniths were responsible for the Extinction Signal, intending to have HADES to wipe Earth clean and start over. When taken out on missions within the confines of a Specter drone, Beta witnessed the Zeniths wipe out the primitive tribal people they came across, which only served to heightened her suspicions. Beta hoped to one day escape, but knew she lacked the skills to survive in the wilds.[1]

Beta was eventually brought to LATOPOLIS, where her genetic code allowed her to open the gene-locked door and access a copy of the GAIA root kernel, albeit lacking sub functions. But as she retracted the RECLUSE SPIDER arms, she inadvertently exposed Aloy, another Elisabet clone created by GAIA. Beta was quickly removed from the scene by the Specters while Erik attempted to kill Aloy.[4] However, from that brief encounter, Beta saw the opportunity to escape that she had been searching for.[1]

Escape from the Zeniths

Beta Hologram

The Zeniths had Beta retrieve APOLLO and ARTEMIS. It was during her retrieval of ELEUTHIA that Beta enacted her escape plan. She convinced the Zeniths that ELEUTHIA's acquisition could be accomplished faster if she had the GAIA data kernel with her. While transmitting ELEUTHIA back to the Zeniths' base, she also sent a distress signal to GAIA under the guise of ELEUTHIA. Then she distracted her current handler, Verbena, long enough to seal herself in the facility's 237th ectogenic chambers and altered its logs so it would claim there were only 236 pods instead of 237, having included her pod number in her distress signal. Additionally, she removed her implant and left a message to Aloy in it in case she perished in the attempt, informing her of her actions and how far along the Zeniths' plans were.[5][1] By the time Aloy and Varl found her, a pair of Specters had arrived to retrieve Beta. Varl took Beta into hiding while Aloy dealt with the Zenith Specters. Afterwards, she was taken back to the Base.[6]

Upon waking, Beta began experiencing "Simulacrum Withdrawal Syndrome" (a side-effect of removing her implant) and hid in the server room in a panic. Thus, she requested a Focus from Aloy to ease her symptoms. Once she rose to her feet, she relayed what information she knew about her creation and the Zeniths, but was surprised regarding Aloy's assumptions that her former handlers were descendants of the original colonists.[6]

Once she answered all of Aloy's questions, Beta guessed that her counterpart was planning to manufacture an army of machines to defeat the Zeniths, only to learn that GAIA hadn't regained enough subordinate functions necessary to take on HEPHAESTUS. She then started having a panic attack and began second-guessing her own decisions, fearing the Zeniths would find her and take her back. Once Aloy calmed her down, Beta agreed to use her skills to help GAIA.[6]

While Aloy ventured back for the second subordinate function, Varl came to check on Beta. Initially, their conversation focused on how they might capture HEPHAESTUS before getting to know each other. Eventually, she got to talking about Tilda, whom she suspected was different than the other Zeniths.[7] After Aloy returned from her mission, GAIA sent her to Beta and Varl. As Aloy entered the room, Beta was watching Aloy's first datapoint, which Aloy nostalgically recalled helping her through tough times. She told Aloy what she knew about Tilda, but frustrated her counterpart when she couldn't provide any information on why Tilda cut her off. Aloy then left her alone.[8]

After Aloy returned with the last of the three subordinate functions, Beta had come up with a plan to capture HEPHAESTUS. Because it was too large to be beamcast or contained in the empty GAIA kernal, their only option was call it to Cauldron GEMINI, where the original GAIA had built two data cores after a seismic event, though GAIA would need to be physically transported there. However, Beta pointed out the many flaws in the plan: when GAIA were to begin the merge with HEPHAESTUS, MINERVA wouldn't be able to conceal the resulting power surge from the Zeniths; Aloy proposed Erend, Zo, Alva, and Kotallo attempt a diversion with pulse generators at the other Cauldrons. Even so, Beta added that HEPHAESTUS had evolved beyond Elisabet's Alpha Clearance before Aloy helped her realize that they would have to find Ted Faro's Omega clearance, but the only problem was that it would be in Thebes, his private bunker in San Francisco. Fortuitously, Aloy recalled that the Quen had set up a base in the city and suggested Alva might be able to help. While Aloy traveled there, Beta began to work on fabricating GAIA's transport rig and the pulse generators.[9]

Going to GEMINI

By the time Aloy returned with Omega Clearance, the transport rig and generators were complete. Unfortunately, given HEPHAESTUS's proliferation throughout the Cauldron network, the merge would still take an estimated 35 hours; however, if both Aloy and Beta were to operate the merge, the completion time would be reduced to 4.5 hours. The thought of possibly being captured again by the Zeniths was too much for Beta: when Varl's pleas failed to move her, Aloy stepped in. The two's argument grew heated, culminating in Aloy calling Beta out for being unable to do what was necessary, like Elisabet could. It was at this point that Beta broke down, admitting that she saw herself as defective and wondered why she lacked the courage that Aloy had. This confession led Aloy to make one of her own: that her strength to push forward through the impossible didn't come from Elisabet, it came from Rost. Having reached an understanding, Beta agreed to go to GEMINI on one condition: should the Zeniths find them, Aloy would kill Beta rather than let her live as their slave again. While Aloy finished her preparations, Beta and GAIA developed an visual interface for the merge, in order to improve its efficiency.[10]

Beta, GAIA, Varl and Aloy went to GEMINI and succeeded in trapping HEPHAESTUS. As Beta and Aloy began the merging process, they are stopped by the arrival of Gerard, Erik and Tilda, having not fallen the team's trick: in a matter of a minute, Aloy was incapacitated, Varl was killed, and Beta and GAIA were captured by the Zeniths. Aloy could not bring herself to kill Beta, leaving her in the hands of captors once again. After Tilda defected from Far Zenith to save and escape with Aloy.[10] Gerard and Erik took Beta and GAIA back to their base and demanded she resume the process to merge HEPHAESTUS with GAIA. If Beta resisted, simulations would be ran to torture her, with said simulations inducing feelings of isolation and despair.[3]

Tilda opened the data channel to communicate with Beta upon Aloy's request. There, Aloy sees Beta being tortured and speaks to her sister. Aloy promises to come for Beta and secretly devises a plan: when they arrive, Beta will inject HEPHAESTUS into the Zenith's printer matrix, which will allow the subfunction to rapidly manufacture machines to neutralize the Specter army. Beta promised to hold on as long as she could until Aloy was ready to rescue her.[11]

Once Aloy and her allies assaulted the base, Beta executed her part of the plan and unleashed HEPHAESTUS, which took on the mass of Specters and most of the Zeniths, while Aloy and Zo killed Erik. Aloy reached Beta and freed her from Zenith's clutches, asking her to access the Zenith database on anything referring to the word Nemesis. Beta had an easy time of it with systems down all over the base, projecting a hologram of some machine or a swarm of them headed for Earth and that the Zeniths were plotting to flee the planet, leading her to conclude Nemesis destroyed Sirius and that the Zeniths were fleeing from it.[12]

Suddenly, they were interrupted by Tilda executing Gerard. Under pressure from Aloy, She told them about Nemesis, the rogue AI that sent out the Extinction Signal that woke HADES, as well as the other subordinate functions, and was planning to scour Earth of life to deny the Zeniths a viable home. Having discarded Beta as an inferior copy for good after meeting Aloy, Tilda demands that Aloy abandon Earth and leave with her aboard the Odyssey in order to escape Nemesis, but Aloy refused to abandon her friends and Earth. In response, Tilda summoned the Specter Prime in an attempt to subdue and kidnap Aloy. Beta fled and took cover while Aloy battled and destroyed Specter Prime, killing Tilda in the process. Beta hugged Aloy upon her victory, and they and their allies returned to their Base to prepare for the inevitable arrival of Nemesis.[12] Beta began speculating on how to recapture HEPHAESTUS, noting it has very likely grown stronger since its escape, while vowing that they would be ready for the rogue AI.[13]

Freedom

Beta later learned from Sylens that Aloy was traveling to the Burning Shores in search of a surviving Zenith, Walter Londra,[14] and called her sister while she was en route to assure her that she and GAIA would be available to help if needed.[15] Beta asked GAIA about the history of the Burning Shores, to which GAIA provided her with a thousand years of seismic data for the Cal-Marine region, explaining how Los Angeles became the present day Burning Shores.[16]

Beta watched footage of Aloy fighting the Defense Drone, as well as being happy for Aloy making a new friend in Seyka.[17] Aloy would later call her to inquire if she and GAIA could modify her Sunwing override to work on Waterwings. Noting that the two types of machines share similar code, Beta requested data from a Waterwing's ballast regulator and wing membrane to create a software update for her override.[18] Beta admits that the idea of diving underwater on a Waterwing sounds terrifying, but maybe a little fun.[19]

Beta told Alva about the missing half of the Quen's Eastern Expedition in the Burning Shores,[20] allowing the two halves to make preparations to reunite the fleet.[21] As Aloy fought Londra and his Horus, Beta was particularly concerned for her safety, despite GAIA's confidence in Aloy.[22]

When Aloy returned to the Base, Beta excited welcomed her sister home. Happy that all the known Zeniths are dead, she expressed confidence that they will find a way to beat Nemesis.[23]

Personality

Having received an extensive college level education from APOLLO, Beta is remarkably intelligent, surpassing Aloy in technical expertise and displaying a firm grip on strategic insight.[1]

However, Beta's traumatic upbringing has left her with severe anxiety and a crippling fear of the Zeniths, to the point of having a panic attack when she realized how far ahead Far Zenith was in their acquisition of GAIA.[6] She was also rather pessimistic, continuously insisting that they can't beat Far Zenith, despite the hope held by everyone else.[6][9] It is only with Aloy's encouragement that Beta begins to find courage and confidence against seemingly impossible odds.[10][23]

Beta has little interpersonal experience, and as such, she struggles with opening up to people. While she remained distant with Zo[24] and found Erend a bit too loud despite his funniness,[25] she slowly opened up to Varl. While they were tense with each other to begin with, Aloy was able to inspire Beta and bring comfort to her,[10][26] with them both later addressing each other as sisters.[27][16]

Beta looks up to Elisabet, keeping a hologram of her in her private room in the Base.

Beta likes to document things in datapoints, in which she speaks a lot more confidentially with a more outward sense of humor.[28][29][13][16] She showed little interest in Tilda's art, preferring her media portal of shows and holos, her favourite being Second Time Around,[2] with which she made a list of her favourite episodes.[16]

Abilities

  • Alpha and Omega Clearance:
    • As a genetic clone of Elisabet Sobeck, Beta has Alpha Clearance to Zero Dawn facilities as well as can access facilities and files locked to Elisabet's geneprint in the same manner that Aloy does.
    • Upon Aloy's return from Thebes, Beta is granted access to Ted Faro's Omega Clearance.[10]
  • Genius-Level Intellect:
    • Combining Elisabet Sobeck's innate genius with education from APOLLO, Beta is a polymath in several fields, highlighting geo-engineering, computer science, physics, biology and chemistry.[1]

Relationships

Zeniths

The Zeniths created Beta to aid their search for a copy of GAIA on Earth. To the Zeniths, Beta is seen only as a tool. They chose to have minimal contact with her, branding themselves her "benefactors."[1] Due to their complete control over her, and the isolation they forced her into, Beta is incredibly afraid and resentful of the Zeniths. At one point, she expresses that she would prefer to die than be recaptured by them.[10]

Tilda van der Meer

Tilda disagreed with the other Zeniths' decision to have little contact with Beta, as well as their choice to instruct her only in topics that would be needed to recover GAIA. She wanted to give Beta some level of socialization, and appreciation for art. They were friendly for a time, until Tilda closed the hidden data channel she shared with Beta.[1][3] Suddenly being cut off from her only human contact deeply hurt Beta, and caused her to see Tilda with the same distrust she saw the other Zeniths with.[1]

Aloy

Aloy and Beta connecting

Despite both being clones of Dr. Sobeck, Aloy and Beta have incredibly different personalities which led to friction early in their relationship. Beta was dismayed that Aloy and her companions were not farther in their progress to restoring GAIA,[6] and Aloy was annoyed with Beta's pessimism.[30] It is later revealed to Aloy that Beta is afraid to be captured by the Zeniths and be forced back into her previous lifestyle, which consists of nothing but training and interaction from virtual avatars from the APOLLO database. This lead her to get Aloy to promise to kill her if she were ever captured, so she would never go through that again, which Aloy promised to do.[10]

After successfully trapping HEPHAESTUS, the Zeniths went directly to Cauldron GEMINI, not falling for the diversions, which lead to Beta's capture. As she was being taken away by Erik, she called out to Aloy, but Aloy wasn't able to kill her teammate.[10] Later on, after being told of Aloy's plans, Beta said "As long as I know you're coming for me, I can endure anything." Unbeknownst to her at the time, when Tilda asked Aloy what her plan was, she simply replied "That's between me and my sister." This marks the point where Aloy started to see Beta as her sister.[11] Later on, Beta addresses Aloy as her sister in return.[16]

During Singularity, after Aloy defeats Tilda, she and Beta they share a tight hug in celebration.

When Aloy was leaving for the Burning Shores, Beta contacted her to tell her to stay safe and that she was there for her. When her sister returned, Beta immediately asked if Aloy was okay, to which Aloy confirmed she was.[31]

Associated Quests

Horizon Forbidden West

Horizon Forbidden West: Burning Shores

Associated Datapoints

Horizon Forbidden West

Audio Datapoints

Hologram Datapoints

Text Datapoints - Quests

RCC

Horizon Forbidden West: Burning Shores

Burning Shores - Companions

Trivia

  • Beta and Aloy's tone during their conversation about companions in the Base can differ depending on if the player asks Beta about them before or after the cutscene just before the quest GEMINI. Asking about them before the cutscene will make the tone depressing while asking about them after will make the tone more lighthearted.
  • The name Beta sounds like a derivative suffix from the name Elisabet, who is the woman Beta is a clone of.

Gallery

Official Artwork

Concept Art

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 As mentioned by Beta during Cradle of Echoes.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 As mentioned by Beta during The Kulrut/The Sea of Sands/Seeds of the Past (whichever is completed second).
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 As mentioned by Tilda van der Meer during All That Remains.
  4. ↑ Death's Door
  5. ↑ Beta (datapoint)
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 6.5 Cradle of Echoes
  7. ↑ As mentioned by Varl during The Kulrut/The Sea of Sands/Seeds of the Past (whichever is completed second).
  8. ↑ The Kulrut/The Sea of Sands/Seeds of the Past (whichever is completed second)
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 Faro's Tomb
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 10.4 10.5 10.6 10.7 GEMINI
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 All That Remains
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 Singularity
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 HEPHAESTUS Revisited
  14. ↑ As mentioned by Beta during To the Burning Shores.
  15. ↑ To the Burning Shores
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 16.2 16.3 16.4 The Burning Shores (datapoint)
  17. ↑ As mentioned by Beta after completing To the Burning Shores.
  18. ↑ For His Amusement
  19. ↑ As mentioned by Beta during For His Amusement.
  20. ↑ As mentioned by Alva during His Final Act.
  21. ↑ His Final Act
  22. ↑ As mentioned by GAIA after completing His Final Act.
  23. ↑ 23.0 23.1 As mentioned by Beta after completing His Final Act.
  24. ↑ As mentioned by Zo.
  25. ↑ As mentioned by Beta after completing The Kulrut/The Sea of Sands/Seeds of the Past (whichever is completed second).
  26. ↑ To Aloy
  27. ↑ As mentioned by Aloy during All That Remains.
  28. ↑ About HEPHAESTUS
  29. ↑ On the Regional Control Center
  30. ↑ As mentioned by Aloy during The Kulrut/The Sea of Sands/Seeds of the Past (whichever is completed second).
  31. ↑ After completing His Final Act.
  32. ↑ Patrick van Rooijen's ArtStation
  33. ↑ 33.0 33.1 33.2 33.3 33.4 Thomas Sykutera's ArtStation