Rost is one of the first characters that players meet when they startHorizon Zero Dawn. He acts as both a parental figure and a teacher to Aloy, ensuring that she grows up strong and compassionate. During their time together, he taught her how to hunt and track. Although Aloy wasn’t as receptive to the Nora’s beliefs, this didn’t faze Rost from trying to impart the All-Mother’s wisdom.
Though Rost is one of the most influential figures in Aloy’s life, she and the player know very little about him in the beginning of the game. It’s only after completing a significant number of main quests inHorizon Zero Dawnthat Aloy is able to learn who Rost was and why he became an outcast.
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Rost’s Early Life and the Attack on Mother’s Vigil
Rost lived in Mother’s Vigil, a settlement that once stood near the borderbetween the Sacred Land and Carja territory. In his youth, he participated in the Proving tournament and became a brave. After which, he met his partner, with whom he bore a child — a girl named Alana.
Note that in-game, Mother’s Vigil is no longer a livable settlement in the Sacred Lands. This is because it wasovertaken during the Red Raids, forcing the Nora to retreat further east. Should the player visit the site, they’ll only find dilapidated homes as well as a number of corrupted machines related to a side quest. Before the Red Raids, however, Mother’s Vigil was home to many families, including Rost’s.
By the time Alana turned six, a band of twelve outlanders invaded Mother’s Vigil, killingmany of the Nora tribesfolkand taking several hostages. Rost’s wife was one of the casualties, while his daughter was taken hostage. After raiding Mother’s Vigil, the outlanders fled to Devil’s Thirst and set up camp there. It’s unclear what the outlanders wanted or why they took in hostages, but there were reports of “strange noises” coming from the camp.
Rost along with other Nora bravesfollowed the outlanders to try and save the hostages, but anytime they got too close, the outlanders would kill a hostage. This prevented the braves from staging a direct attack on the group, and so they kept their distance. After two days in Devil’s Thirst, the outlanders left, heading towards the border. They still had six hostages with them, including Alana. Instead of releasing their captives, the outlanders killed them and left them just beyond the Sacred Lands — out of reach.
High-Matriarch Teersa believed this to be an act of cruelty. The outlanders must have known that it was against Nora tradition to step outside the Sacred Land, so leaving the bodies of the slain outside of Nora territory was a calculated move. Thus, the outlanders believed themselves to be safe from the Nora’s vengeance.Rost grieved the loss of his family, but as a faithful man, even he did not break taboo. Instead, he went to the High-Matriarchs and asked that they make him a Death-Seeker.
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Becoming a Death-Seeker and Exacting Vengeance
The rite of becoming a Death-Seeker is one of the Nora’s most secret practices. While Nora Seekers are allowed to leave the Sacred Lands tofulfill some duty to the tribe, Death-Seekers venture out to kill. As Teersa puts it, “One who dies to do seeking, and in seeking, brings death to others.” By becoming a Death-Seeker, a Nora’s spirit is supposedly separated from their body and released to the All-Mother. Thus, any wrongdoing that the Death-Seeker commits will no longer become a stain on their soul. Additionally, Seekers are welcomed back into the tribe after their journey is complete. In contrast, Death-Seekers can never return to the Sacred Land.
Rost likely knew what his request entailed. Even so, he begged the High-Matriarchs to make it so, and they acquiesced. When the ritual was complete, he first went to where the six hostages were slain and returned them to the Nora. After, he journeyed out of the Sacred Lands to hunt down the outlanders that had killed his family.
His mission took him all across the world — Meridian, Ban-Ur, the Claim, Utaru territory, andeven as far as the Forbidden West. He managed to track down all twelve outlanders, with the last one nearly besting him in combat. By that point, it had been a year since he’d left. Then, tired and wounded, Rost journeyed back to the border of the Sacred Land, hoping to perish close to his home. He collapsed at the border and lay there, waiting to die.
However, it happened that a Nora hunting party was passing by. One of the hunters recognized him — a brave who’d also lost her family to the outlanders.She reached across the border, breaking taboo, and pulled him back into the Sacred Land. Rost was then nursed back to health. According to Nora law, he should have been exiled, but the High-Matriarchs could not bring themselves to do it. As such, they offered a compromise — that Rost instead become an outcast.
Rost happily accepted the High-Matriarchs’ offer and swore that he would never tell the story of how he’d become an outcast. He lived in solitude for yearsafter his mission was completed. That is, until the High-Matriarchs found Aloy.
Aloy and the Events of Horizon Zero Dawn
After GAIA “birthed” Aloy, the High-Matriarchs were unsure of what to do with her, so they turned to Rost. Knowing him to be an honorable outcast, they left the infant Aloy in his care, and he took her in as his own. This is where the events ofHorizon Zero Dawnbegin, showing the close relationship between the two, up until his unfortunate end.
WhenAloy finally learns of Rost’s pastand the High-Matriarchs’ decisions from Teersa, she criticizes them. She first questions why they made Rost an outcast even after all he’d gone through. To which, Teersa says that Rost no longer had a place in the tribe after the Death-Seeker ritual. Rost knew this and was simply happy to live the rest of his life close to All-Mother. Aloy also questions whether it was a good idea to give an infant girl to a man who’d lost his daughter. To this, Teersa replies that recent events have proven that the High-Matriarchs made the right choice, while also reassuring Aloy that Rost always saw her as a gift, never a burden.
Aloy might never fully understand the Nora and their traditions, but it’s clear that Rost cherished her deeply. In spite of all the trials and tribulations that he went through, Rost remained a kind and compassionate man whoraised Aloy to be the same— if not better.
Horizon Zero Dawnis available now for PC, PS4, and PS5.
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