Horizon Zero Dawn Explained: What Does The Ending Really Mean?

7. What Caused The Faro Plague Glitch?

There are two major glitches that cause everything to go sideways - one in each timeline. First up, the glitch in Ted Faro's automated workforce (referred to by the world's media as the 'Faro Plague') that caused them to start feeding on all organic life.

So, consider the fact that Faro Automated Systems were a company supplying their machines to anyone who could foot the bill. There's even an entry in the receptionist's diary about how they should 'encourage' customers to antagonise one another, as ultimately, it will only drive up sales as this translates into territorial disputes or larger, full-scale wars.

Think Tony Stark's pre-Iron Man realisation that he's supplying all sides of a given conflict, or Metal Gear Solid 2's proliferation of Metal Gear RAYs, where 'anyone who's anyone' (country-wise) would have their own model, 'just to be safe'.

Following this domination of the 'market', Faro can be heard telling his engineers to start working on human-piloted machines, with the only justification being "Trust me". It's entirely possible that Faro thought he could manufacture human-driven weapons, before triggering the glitch and orchestrating a 'human vs. machine' war himself, supplying 'customers' with his respective piloted technology as he took the fight back to his own automated weapons.

Even the idea that the machines were able to run amok thanks to the lack of a built-in 'back door' (a term used in hacking to take control of a given system) fits with this, as Faro wouldn't want his machines being taken over by anybody else, being he intended on destroying them all using human-piloted Faro tech, anyway.