WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Horizon Zero Dawn.
Horizon Zero Dawn's story culminates in Aloy's successful attempts to stop the marauding AI HADES from unleashing a new plague of corrupted machines and destroying life on Earth. However, things take an interesting turn in the final cutscene. Rather than being destroyed outright, HADES is shown to instead be dormant, à la Sauron, and its entity is trapped into some sort of capsule by Sylens, a mysterious traveller who has helped Aloy throughout the game. Sylens says he has much more to "discuss" with the AI, before turning to look at an enormous, dormant machine.
While trailers for the game's sequel, Horizon Forbidden West, have hinted at a new threat that could be linked to the corruption HADES causes, there has been next to no information released on where the story will go. However, what seems clear is that Sylens will again be heavily involved -- but what exactly is his plan?
To understand what Sylens' plans are, it's important to examine his murky past. The character doesn't reveal much about himself in Horizon Zero Dawn, though players discover that he is borderline obsessed with acquiring as much knowledge as possible about the Old Ones. He also has a serious track record in betrayal.
In his younger years, Sylens posed as a shaman and stole from a group named the Conclave. He then struck out on his own and was the first person to explore the GAIA Prime ruins, though he could not get past its security systems. Then, he discovered HADES. After stumbling across the carcass of a corrupted machine, Sylens repaired HADES and struck a deal with the AI; he would give it information about the new world if it taught him about fields like physics and computer science from the old world.
Sylens also admits to Aloy that he played a large part in the founding of the Eclipse, a cult that serves HADES. However, the AI eventually decided Sylens had outlived his usefulness and ordered him to be killed. Once Sylens caught wind of this, he escaped and went into hiding, until he crossed paths with Aloy and decided to help her.
Throughout the game Sylens assists Aloy in her quest for answers, while also withholding information from her. He gives Aloy the tools necessary to defeat HADES, but it appears he knew the AI would not be destroyed. Instead, he wanted Aloy to weaken it enough so that he could bend it to his will. Once he's captured HADES in his device, Sylens mentions that he has questions about the AI's "masters." He seems to be alluding to the people who initially awakened HADES in the first place for it to carry out its protocol of cleansing the planet, a group that isn't identified in the game.
As always, Sylens wants answers. He plans to use HADES to finally get as much information as possible about the Old Ones, perhaps so he can coordinate the rebuilding of society. What is more ominous, however, are his intentions with the "metal devil" -- the gigantic machine he looks at as the game's main storyline ends.
This machine is far bigger than anything Aloy goes up against in Horizon Zero Dawn, and the tease suggests it will be revived in the sequel. Perhaps Sylens wants to harness HADES to reawaken this titan and control it for himself. If that's the case, Aloy will have to finally confront the man who helped her discover her origins.
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