Ever since Guerrilla Games released the 2023 Burning Shores DLC forHorizon Forbidden West, set afterForbidden West’s main campaign, fans of the action RPG series have long theorized how the story may progress in the thirdHorizongame. While plotlines fromForbidden Westare expected to be touched upon in Guerrilla’s upcoming story-focusedHorizonmultiplayer spin-off, it’s expected that most ofForbidden West’s narrative developments will be resolved inHorizon 3.
WithHorizon 3believed to be ending Aloy’s journey inHorizon’s original trilogy, it’s believed that Aloy may die in the third mainlineHorizongame. However, Guerrilla could take inspiration from another popular RPG series to end Aloy’s story without killing her inHorizon 3:The Witcher.
The Witcher 4’s New Protagonist Explained
The Witcherfranchise, across its many novels, short stories, comic books, video games, films, and television series, has primarily centered around the titular witcher, Geralt of Rivia. But, after the widespread financial and critical success of2015’sThe Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, developer CD Projekt Red chose to go in a new direction withThe Witcher 4. According to Małgorzata Mitręga, executive producer ofThe Witcher 4, the upcoming game is being targeted towards a wider audience—many of whom have likely never played aWitchertitle before. WhileThe Witcher 4is a direct continuation ofThe Witcher 3and its many possible endings, it’s also being directed as part one of a planned new trilogy.
With this sort of ‘requel’ direction, CD Projekt Red will have Geralt replaced with a new protagonist to represent this new era ofWitchergames:Geralt’s adoptive daughter, Ciri of Cintra. Ciri is essentiallyThe Witcher’s secondary protagonist, and she was briefly playable inThe Witcher 3, so CD Projekt Red thought it was about time for Ciri to take center stage in her own game. That said, she won’t be on her journey as a newly made witcher alone.
Geralt is expected to appear inThe Witcher 4, reprised by long-running Geralt voice actor Doug Cockle, likely in an unplayable supporting role.
How Guerrilla Games Could Take Inspiration From The Witcher 4 for Horizon
WhileThe Witcher 4is still in development and remains to be seen how fans will react after playing Ciri’s protagonist debut, Guerrilla Games could be influenced by CD Projekt Red’s direction withThe Witcherfranchise to determine how they’ll take theHorizonfranchise going forward afterHorizon 3. Aloy is a beloved protagonist to many gamers, but she has already been used in supportive roles to a new protagonist before in oneHorizonspin-off,Horizon Call of the Mountain.
Here, players embodied the former Shadow Carja rebel Ryas during the events ofHorizon Zero Dawnas he investigated rogue machines and tracked down the violent Oseram rebel Asera.
WithHorizon 3expected to deal with the world-ending threat ofthe rogue Far Zenith AI Nemesis, it’s probable that a few major characters from theHorizonseries may perish in the fight against the alien AI. Aloy may be one of these unfortunate deaths, possibly sacrificing herself to save the world, but even if she doesn’t die, there are already many characters who could take up the starring role inHorizon 4while Aloy retires or plays more of a supportive role akin to Geralt inThe Witcher 4.
Potential New Protagonists for Horizon 4
At first glance, a likely option to replace Aloy as thestarring protagonist for theHorizonfranchisewould be the fellow Elisabet Sobeck clone, Beta. Rather, she’s depicted as being highly anxious and occasionally pessimistic compared to the outgoing Aloy and Sobeck. While Beta does grow a bit inForbidden West, she’ll have to change a lot inHorizon 3to become a worthy successor to the Savior of Meridian inHorizon 4. Beta could grow out of her shell to become a more engaging and selfless person inHorizon 3, but she’d likely want to stay at The Base or other facilities to conduct research and technical projects that can aid Aloy and their allies, away from direct harm from violent tribes and machines.
Another potential candidate to replace Aloy as the protagonist of theHorizonfranchise could be Erend or Talanah. Both are some of Aloy’s closest friends and have proved themselves to be admirable warriors and leaders in their own right to their fellowCarja and Oseram tribesmen.
Erend and Talanah could be fun to play as inHorizon 4, but their duties to the Vanguard and Hunters Lodge could possibly restrict them from going on exploratory adventures across post-apocalyptic landscapes. Another potential lead forHorizon 4could be Varl and Zo’s unborn child. If Aloy survives her fight against Nemesis, she’ll likely be a supportive aunt to Zo’s child and may help train them to become a strong warrior similar to how Rost trained Aloy as a child.
