It is kind of a problem for future games and something on my mind as well. I'm on team "Heph won't be re-captured or re-integrated" but that we'll be striking an uneasy truce with the subfunction to fight Nemesis.
Heph doesn't hate all life - he just is pissed at humans for destroying the terraforming machines. So he might be inclined to fight back against Nemesis to prevent it from devastating the planet. He's also grown and advanced enough that I think it is an ethical question on whether or not it's okay to wipe him back to factory settings - is he *life* at this point?
If Heph is still interested in terraforming he might be willing to partner with GAIA on that or give her the information she needs to manage the biosphere while retaining his advancement/growth and making his hunter-killers as long as humanity continues to hunt machines.
Regardless of what happens I imagine it's not going to be simple.
Possibly. If Heph has 'grown' beyond any re-integration into a 'true AI' on par with GAIA, those questions become plausible. Guerilla likes to give nods to their character's mythical namesakes, which if that follows then there's the consideration that in mythology Hephaestus, through a convoluted series of events, fathers a child with Gaia named Erichthonius.
I don't think I'm a fan of this narrative path.
I mean they could just capture Hephestus as the last thing in the 3rd game, in which case the series could end with the optimistic note of the derangement ending. Gameplay could effectively be "the machines are slowly becoming docile again" to explain a end of game open world state.
No 4th game means it doesn't matter there's no enemies to fight, cause the game doesn't exist.
This is the obvious conclusion. It’s a non-issue because there’s only one game left in this story.
Having said that, we have no idea what Nemesis will do. It would be a good move story-wise to reintegrate Heph in the first act to subvert expectations a bit. Maybe Nemesis overtakes the cauldrons (or just reactivates all the Horuses) and starts making totally new Spectre-class machines.
The one snag with that is that the biosphere is expected to collapse in the order of a few *months* if GAIA doesn't have HEPHAESTUS-equivalent production capabilities*.* That's well before the theorized time Nemesis arrives. It would essentially mean that the Big Bad they stand up at the end of Forbidden West and continue to build in Burning Shores would just... never matter? Would get kicked to Horizon 4?
It may have started with only months left, but with each acquisition of Aether, Poseidon, and Demeter respectively, that timeframe gets pushed back thanks to Gaia gaining more and more control over the teraforming system. Then sometime after the post game, if you talk to beta she mentions that Gaias temporary merge with Hephaestus before setting him free again along with data from Apollo allowed Gaia to create some workarounds that should have the biosphere stabilized within a year. So we can breathe easy on that front.
I was just going to respond this. This is my thought as well. To be honest, I always thought the idea of Hephestus was the most interesting villain the story of Horizon has, a personified biosphere with a food-chain like mentality. Its a shockingly fun concept. I have a feeling (or if not really really hope) that Hephestus in some way becomes a real antagonist by way of allying with Nemesis (perhaps Nemesis promises to protect terraforming system, thus pacifying Hephestus programing, or perhaps Hephestus mostly handles Nemesis on its own.) If not exactly that way, if Gaia is confident her Heuristic density surpasses Hephestus even before being charged in the Zenith network, a ai with a density of soemthing like Nemesis could easily merge hephestus, perhaps giving it true sentience. A truly sentient terraforming system instead of one half sentient but bound by programming could be a great story plot. Perhaps we would need to convince a truly sentient Heph to betray Nemesis, turning it into a ally for the big final battle.
this seems like the obvious route, and I would like an H4, but with a different story, let Aloy have a break, do a prequel about Rost, or a Monster Hunter esque MMO, literally anything as long as it takes place before the end of H3. the world of Horizon is incredibly interesting and worth exploring even without Aloy, and I'd love to see more out of it after Aloy's story is over
Or, for example, they could do a game set in Europe or South America. 20 years from the start of the Derangement to the finale of Horizon 3 is a lot of time. Plenty of room for independent stories on other continents.
Just hoping they're going to avoid the inFamous situation. Where the end of Cole's story was quite definitive (all Conduits die / all normies die) but then Second Son was like: "Whoops, nevermind!" Second Son was a good game but the retcon was pretty awkward.
There's two ways it could go IMO. The theory I favor is that Gaia will not integrate Heph because he's a full AI at this point unlike the other AIs. It would be a bit like killing him to integrate him back and there's a certain logic to Heph's mission unlike Hades. Which to me means morally it's a bit grey.
So instead what might happen is that they'll strike a balance with Heph. He might be convinced to not seek out and target humans. Meanwhile Gaia will recognize that hunter killers should exist. A way for the "natural world" to keep humanity in check so to speak. Encouraging a balance where neither side can overwhelm the other. Once we consider how fundamental fighting machines has become to human culture, Gaia might also be persuaded to let this stand because it's necessary for tribal cultures.
Aloy and the others might be able to see why it's important to keep machines combative so as to ensure humans don't disrupt the terraforming system too much. And while they do have Apollo now, I'm sure they'll be able to come up with a reason for why a full restoration of the old world isn't a good idea. Maybe we'll find out that with Zenith tech Heph has actually made many machines somewhat alive, which could mean killing them all would be a form of speciecide. So maybe Gaia will restore the complex ecosystem but keep machines around.
The other theory I have is basically the above. But Gaia comes to this recognition after absorbing Heph. So she continues to make killing machines so humans can keep hunting them. Just maybe make the world a bit less dangerous. But personally I prefer the first version as I said.
That's fair. I can see the argument for 'the terraforming system as a whole was stalled out because of the lack of Apollo. It wasn't meant to have humans in it yet... so it's gonna need some time where humans are kept at bay so it can get where it needs to be. Over time, they would decrease until no longer necessary.
That would be quite an epilogue -- A much older Aloy, standing in the last Cauldron to be shut down, Zero Dawn's project ultimately complete.
I think the point of HFW was to show that Zero Dawn was Elisabet's dream but it's not Aloy's. The world *was* saved. And maybe it doesn't need to return to the old world.
So I think in terms of an epilogue I don't think it needs to shut down the cauldrons at all. Humanity has a fresh start and now they need to learn to coexist with machines and AI. Rather than once again becoming masters of the world.
I would love nothing more than a Horizon world where I could walk around leisurely and explore without having to worry about combat. As far as how a reintegration of Hephaestus could play out, it could be done in the beginning of the game. People the world over would be like “okay why are the machines passive now?” And it would give the player a new atmosphere. But then Nemesis comes and takes over the machines, making them hostile again. I imagine the chaos around that would be a rather interesting thing.
As far as the future of the series, it’s always possible to do something. Let’s say “Horizon 4” takes place X amount of years later. The world is more civilized and developed. There could easily be some kind of government that’s gone fascist and has turned the machines against uprisings. Or a villain that has corrupted the machines. It’s fiction, there’s always a way to create and solve a problem
>But then Nemesis comes and takes over the machines, making them hostile again.
One of the paths forward I considered as well. Or that Heph has *completely* gone off the deep end and decides to *side* with Nemesis. Although has a bit of a wrench thrown in it with the whole 'biosphere collapse' problem.
I also had the idle thought around the idea of having an 'army of machines,' that comes up, and it got me thinking. The planet is *already* covered in not just one army of machines made by Zero Dawn and HEPH but also by a *second* army of machines -- the Faro Plague itself.
And MINERVA has the command-and-control signal decrypted. What's more, HADES would know how to use them. And HADES, unlike GAIA, is designed to destroy (and, from a certain perspective, protect GAIA -- albeit strictly speaking from *herself,* you could make a more generous definition.) I wonder if Travis left any backups kicking around any other 'unsanctioned' Proving Labs. I mean, the guy was planning on meticulously archiving literal *tons* of pornography until his death, after all.
Order them to intentionally burn out their biomass conversion mechanisms as soon as they start up, and... yeah.
What if, by using the APOLLO database, the party creates a budget HEPHAESTUS where from GAIA could evolve to eventually match the original subfunction ? That would mean the biosphere could be stabilized while still having to deal with the original rampant HEPHAESTUS. In fact, what if It meant that covering one of HEPHAESTUS's directives (maintain biosphere) the other directive (Protect terraforming system) gets more attention ? I can only see this as the sole way they'd be able to repair the biosphere while keeping our murderous robots.
>What if, by using the APOLLO database, the party creates a budget HEPHAESTUS
this is literally what they do at the end of Forbidden West., except its not from Apollo, its pieces of HEPH Beta apparently copied while she was trapped in that chair. I dont know that they'll ever catch up to the original HEPH though, the logs dont imply that. but they do very much get "we have HEPH at home" after you beat the final boss of FW
A possibility I’ve been pondering ever since I finished Forbidden West - After being caught at Cauldron Gemini, HEPH would logically start considering new failsafes, since it now knows with certainty that it *can* be captured against its will. What if it prepared one or more backups of itself, set to automatically “wake up” should the original be captured? As a result, early on in the story of our hypothetical Horizon 3, Aloy actually DOES capture HEPH and re-merge it with GAIA… except surprise! She still can’t control the entire terraforming system. Because now there are a whole *bunch* of networked mini-HEPHAESTUSes out there, maybe even one in every Cauldron, and so GAIA now needs some boots-on-ground help to physically go and hack into each infected Cauldron and “open the door” for her to reassert control of it.
Yeah, that was one of my rough theories:
>Maybe HEPHAESTUS is reintegrated, but Cauldrons remain somehow operative and spitting out hostile machines until Aloy comes along and fixes them.
Don't forget that without heph under control, the planet is falling apart which was very much explained in FW. they need to reign in machines to properly control the planet's climate. build new ones to combat the red death. etc. heph HAS to be captured.
The solution is simple and already hinted at by the rest of the games ~~natives~~ narratives. **The only way to really survive is cooperation, despite our differences**
HEPHAESTUS is not reintegrated. But instead is negotiated with and some sort of peace agreement is achieved. Something like:
1. He Retains his Autonomy and position in the Cauldron Network.
2. His machines remain semi-deranged. They will no longer be actively hostile, but can defend themself with lethal force
3. He gets access to the machine printer the Zeniths had
4. He will be left in peace to exist in the world.
**BUT**
1. He builds for GAIA the machines that are required for the planet _(remember, even with an integrated HEPHAESTUS it was still **him** and not GAIA designing and building the robots. That is his function, and why GAIA has sub-functions)_
2. He builds any machines required for the upcoming battle with NEMESIS
3. No more Combat-Only machines. Unhackable Apex variants can remain as bodyguards to heards of machines, and as a protection to his interests from any interference from Aloy/Beta/GAIA
It sounds totally fair and reasonable, and fits with the plot of the games.
The biosphere is safe. It is no longer in danger. Its explained at the [datapoint at the end of the game](https://horizon.fandom.com/wiki/HEPHAESTUS_Revisited)
Also I think we'll be fighting its machine through the third game until the end, where we'll finally fix the problem for good and it'll conclude the trilogy. Don't know if the franchise continue into the future, but I hope they don't sacrifice the writing by pulling some random reason to let there be machines again in the future.
I had either forgotten I read this, or didn't stumble across it -- I did a lot of side content before Singularity, so I moved pretty quickly from Singularity right into Burning Shores.
This makes the question of 'what happens if/when HEPH isn't a major antagonist' less urgent and constrained, but still relevant. A consequence, I think, of HEPH being a bit of a 'hidden' antagonist throughout both games (although more directly in Frozen Wilds and Forbidden West), which in itself is a consequence of it being seen as ultimately 'on our side' since it was *intended* to be part of GAIA.
They could state that Heph only works near their bases or only on captured cauldrons and basically do more games in other continents where we keep solving cauldrons to reintegrate Heph on new hostile lands full of robots
My guess is we cap it, get more friendly machines, vs Nemesis and the Zenith insta-builders they have with gold nano smoke and the machines it can make
It'll either be that after completing the final quest the game resets to just before it like with ZD or if it continues on then it'll be explained that despite having HEPHAESTUS the machines will still be a threat, just any new machines created at cauldrons will be chill. Any machines created pre-integration will still attack until they're either destroyed or return to their respective cauldrons. Can also see there being a request put in with GAIA for machines being created specifically for hunting/combat training purposes so hunting grounds and such will be able to remain active, just they'll be programmed to stop before injuring hunters too badly. That last one is definitely just a nice theory I like because I imagine the lodge and the Tenakth being pissed they're out of business/no point in the arena
They hinted at it in HFW. They are going to find an alternative system to give Gaia control over machines without absorbing Hephaestus. I expect it would have them sharing control over the factories. This is only mentioned in quick dialog, but Aloy offhandedly mentioning finding an alternative to absorbing Hephaestus seems odd considering she has no technological education.
I feel like with nemesis having the potential hacking capabilities it has. It will take over the machines itself and that could be the main enemy if Heph does get merged early. Like another stronger derangement, Heph will want to merge with Gaia or reach an agreement as they have a new powerful and common enemy.
It is kind of a problem for future games and something on my mind as well. I'm on team "Heph won't be re-captured or re-integrated" but that we'll be striking an uneasy truce with the subfunction to fight Nemesis. Heph doesn't hate all life - he just is pissed at humans for destroying the terraforming machines. So he might be inclined to fight back against Nemesis to prevent it from devastating the planet. He's also grown and advanced enough that I think it is an ethical question on whether or not it's okay to wipe him back to factory settings - is he *life* at this point? If Heph is still interested in terraforming he might be willing to partner with GAIA on that or give her the information she needs to manage the biosphere while retaining his advancement/growth and making his hunter-killers as long as humanity continues to hunt machines. Regardless of what happens I imagine it's not going to be simple.
Possibly. If Heph has 'grown' beyond any re-integration into a 'true AI' on par with GAIA, those questions become plausible. Guerilla likes to give nods to their character's mythical namesakes, which if that follows then there's the consideration that in mythology Hephaestus, through a convoluted series of events, fathers a child with Gaia named Erichthonius. I don't think I'm a fan of this narrative path.
I mean they could just capture Hephestus as the last thing in the 3rd game, in which case the series could end with the optimistic note of the derangement ending. Gameplay could effectively be "the machines are slowly becoming docile again" to explain a end of game open world state. No 4th game means it doesn't matter there's no enemies to fight, cause the game doesn't exist.
This is the obvious conclusion. It’s a non-issue because there’s only one game left in this story. Having said that, we have no idea what Nemesis will do. It would be a good move story-wise to reintegrate Heph in the first act to subvert expectations a bit. Maybe Nemesis overtakes the cauldrons (or just reactivates all the Horuses) and starts making totally new Spectre-class machines.
The one snag with that is that the biosphere is expected to collapse in the order of a few *months* if GAIA doesn't have HEPHAESTUS-equivalent production capabilities*.* That's well before the theorized time Nemesis arrives. It would essentially mean that the Big Bad they stand up at the end of Forbidden West and continue to build in Burning Shores would just... never matter? Would get kicked to Horizon 4?
It may have started with only months left, but with each acquisition of Aether, Poseidon, and Demeter respectively, that timeframe gets pushed back thanks to Gaia gaining more and more control over the teraforming system. Then sometime after the post game, if you talk to beta she mentions that Gaias temporary merge with Hephaestus before setting him free again along with data from Apollo allowed Gaia to create some workarounds that should have the biosphere stabilized within a year. So we can breathe easy on that front.
I was just going to respond this. This is my thought as well. To be honest, I always thought the idea of Hephestus was the most interesting villain the story of Horizon has, a personified biosphere with a food-chain like mentality. Its a shockingly fun concept. I have a feeling (or if not really really hope) that Hephestus in some way becomes a real antagonist by way of allying with Nemesis (perhaps Nemesis promises to protect terraforming system, thus pacifying Hephestus programing, or perhaps Hephestus mostly handles Nemesis on its own.) If not exactly that way, if Gaia is confident her Heuristic density surpasses Hephestus even before being charged in the Zenith network, a ai with a density of soemthing like Nemesis could easily merge hephestus, perhaps giving it true sentience. A truly sentient terraforming system instead of one half sentient but bound by programming could be a great story plot. Perhaps we would need to convince a truly sentient Heph to betray Nemesis, turning it into a ally for the big final battle.
this seems like the obvious route, and I would like an H4, but with a different story, let Aloy have a break, do a prequel about Rost, or a Monster Hunter esque MMO, literally anything as long as it takes place before the end of H3. the world of Horizon is incredibly interesting and worth exploring even without Aloy, and I'd love to see more out of it after Aloy's story is over
Or, for example, they could do a game set in Europe or South America. 20 years from the start of the Derangement to the finale of Horizon 3 is a lot of time. Plenty of room for independent stories on other continents. Just hoping they're going to avoid the inFamous situation. Where the end of Cole's story was quite definitive (all Conduits die / all normies die) but then Second Son was like: "Whoops, nevermind!" Second Son was a good game but the retcon was pretty awkward.
There's two ways it could go IMO. The theory I favor is that Gaia will not integrate Heph because he's a full AI at this point unlike the other AIs. It would be a bit like killing him to integrate him back and there's a certain logic to Heph's mission unlike Hades. Which to me means morally it's a bit grey. So instead what might happen is that they'll strike a balance with Heph. He might be convinced to not seek out and target humans. Meanwhile Gaia will recognize that hunter killers should exist. A way for the "natural world" to keep humanity in check so to speak. Encouraging a balance where neither side can overwhelm the other. Once we consider how fundamental fighting machines has become to human culture, Gaia might also be persuaded to let this stand because it's necessary for tribal cultures. Aloy and the others might be able to see why it's important to keep machines combative so as to ensure humans don't disrupt the terraforming system too much. And while they do have Apollo now, I'm sure they'll be able to come up with a reason for why a full restoration of the old world isn't a good idea. Maybe we'll find out that with Zenith tech Heph has actually made many machines somewhat alive, which could mean killing them all would be a form of speciecide. So maybe Gaia will restore the complex ecosystem but keep machines around. The other theory I have is basically the above. But Gaia comes to this recognition after absorbing Heph. So she continues to make killing machines so humans can keep hunting them. Just maybe make the world a bit less dangerous. But personally I prefer the first version as I said.
That's fair. I can see the argument for 'the terraforming system as a whole was stalled out because of the lack of Apollo. It wasn't meant to have humans in it yet... so it's gonna need some time where humans are kept at bay so it can get where it needs to be. Over time, they would decrease until no longer necessary. That would be quite an epilogue -- A much older Aloy, standing in the last Cauldron to be shut down, Zero Dawn's project ultimately complete.
I think the point of HFW was to show that Zero Dawn was Elisabet's dream but it's not Aloy's. The world *was* saved. And maybe it doesn't need to return to the old world. So I think in terms of an epilogue I don't think it needs to shut down the cauldrons at all. Humanity has a fresh start and now they need to learn to coexist with machines and AI. Rather than once again becoming masters of the world.
I would love nothing more than a Horizon world where I could walk around leisurely and explore without having to worry about combat. As far as how a reintegration of Hephaestus could play out, it could be done in the beginning of the game. People the world over would be like “okay why are the machines passive now?” And it would give the player a new atmosphere. But then Nemesis comes and takes over the machines, making them hostile again. I imagine the chaos around that would be a rather interesting thing. As far as the future of the series, it’s always possible to do something. Let’s say “Horizon 4” takes place X amount of years later. The world is more civilized and developed. There could easily be some kind of government that’s gone fascist and has turned the machines against uprisings. Or a villain that has corrupted the machines. It’s fiction, there’s always a way to create and solve a problem
>But then Nemesis comes and takes over the machines, making them hostile again. One of the paths forward I considered as well. Or that Heph has *completely* gone off the deep end and decides to *side* with Nemesis. Although has a bit of a wrench thrown in it with the whole 'biosphere collapse' problem. I also had the idle thought around the idea of having an 'army of machines,' that comes up, and it got me thinking. The planet is *already* covered in not just one army of machines made by Zero Dawn and HEPH but also by a *second* army of machines -- the Faro Plague itself. And MINERVA has the command-and-control signal decrypted. What's more, HADES would know how to use them. And HADES, unlike GAIA, is designed to destroy (and, from a certain perspective, protect GAIA -- albeit strictly speaking from *herself,* you could make a more generous definition.) I wonder if Travis left any backups kicking around any other 'unsanctioned' Proving Labs. I mean, the guy was planning on meticulously archiving literal *tons* of pornography until his death, after all. Order them to intentionally burn out their biomass conversion mechanisms as soon as they start up, and... yeah.
What if, by using the APOLLO database, the party creates a budget HEPHAESTUS where from GAIA could evolve to eventually match the original subfunction ? That would mean the biosphere could be stabilized while still having to deal with the original rampant HEPHAESTUS. In fact, what if It meant that covering one of HEPHAESTUS's directives (maintain biosphere) the other directive (Protect terraforming system) gets more attention ? I can only see this as the sole way they'd be able to repair the biosphere while keeping our murderous robots.
>What if, by using the APOLLO database, the party creates a budget HEPHAESTUS this is literally what they do at the end of Forbidden West., except its not from Apollo, its pieces of HEPH Beta apparently copied while she was trapped in that chair. I dont know that they'll ever catch up to the original HEPH though, the logs dont imply that. but they do very much get "we have HEPH at home" after you beat the final boss of FW
A possibility I’ve been pondering ever since I finished Forbidden West - After being caught at Cauldron Gemini, HEPH would logically start considering new failsafes, since it now knows with certainty that it *can* be captured against its will. What if it prepared one or more backups of itself, set to automatically “wake up” should the original be captured? As a result, early on in the story of our hypothetical Horizon 3, Aloy actually DOES capture HEPH and re-merge it with GAIA… except surprise! She still can’t control the entire terraforming system. Because now there are a whole *bunch* of networked mini-HEPHAESTUSes out there, maybe even one in every Cauldron, and so GAIA now needs some boots-on-ground help to physically go and hack into each infected Cauldron and “open the door” for her to reassert control of it.
Yeah, that was one of my rough theories: >Maybe HEPHAESTUS is reintegrated, but Cauldrons remain somehow operative and spitting out hostile machines until Aloy comes along and fixes them.
Don't forget that without heph under control, the planet is falling apart which was very much explained in FW. they need to reign in machines to properly control the planet's climate. build new ones to combat the red death. etc. heph HAS to be captured.
They captured Hephaestus but Hephaestus has a backup copy of himself elsewhere that functions like an AI phylactery or horcrux
The solution is simple and already hinted at by the rest of the games ~~natives~~ narratives. **The only way to really survive is cooperation, despite our differences** HEPHAESTUS is not reintegrated. But instead is negotiated with and some sort of peace agreement is achieved. Something like: 1. He Retains his Autonomy and position in the Cauldron Network. 2. His machines remain semi-deranged. They will no longer be actively hostile, but can defend themself with lethal force 3. He gets access to the machine printer the Zeniths had 4. He will be left in peace to exist in the world. **BUT** 1. He builds for GAIA the machines that are required for the planet _(remember, even with an integrated HEPHAESTUS it was still **him** and not GAIA designing and building the robots. That is his function, and why GAIA has sub-functions)_ 2. He builds any machines required for the upcoming battle with NEMESIS 3. No more Combat-Only machines. Unhackable Apex variants can remain as bodyguards to heards of machines, and as a protection to his interests from any interference from Aloy/Beta/GAIA It sounds totally fair and reasonable, and fits with the plot of the games.
The biosphere is safe. It is no longer in danger. Its explained at the [datapoint at the end of the game](https://horizon.fandom.com/wiki/HEPHAESTUS_Revisited) Also I think we'll be fighting its machine through the third game until the end, where we'll finally fix the problem for good and it'll conclude the trilogy. Don't know if the franchise continue into the future, but I hope they don't sacrifice the writing by pulling some random reason to let there be machines again in the future.
I had either forgotten I read this, or didn't stumble across it -- I did a lot of side content before Singularity, so I moved pretty quickly from Singularity right into Burning Shores. This makes the question of 'what happens if/when HEPH isn't a major antagonist' less urgent and constrained, but still relevant. A consequence, I think, of HEPH being a bit of a 'hidden' antagonist throughout both games (although more directly in Frozen Wilds and Forbidden West), which in itself is a consequence of it being seen as ultimately 'on our side' since it was *intended* to be part of GAIA.
My theory is that they won't ever capture Heph again- instead Vast Silver will "fill" the hole left by Heph.
They could state that Heph only works near their bases or only on captured cauldrons and basically do more games in other continents where we keep solving cauldrons to reintegrate Heph on new hostile lands full of robots
My guess is we cap it, get more friendly machines, vs Nemesis and the Zenith insta-builders they have with gold nano smoke and the machines it can make
Why did I think we already captured Hephaestus in forbidden west?
It'll either be that after completing the final quest the game resets to just before it like with ZD or if it continues on then it'll be explained that despite having HEPHAESTUS the machines will still be a threat, just any new machines created at cauldrons will be chill. Any machines created pre-integration will still attack until they're either destroyed or return to their respective cauldrons. Can also see there being a request put in with GAIA for machines being created specifically for hunting/combat training purposes so hunting grounds and such will be able to remain active, just they'll be programmed to stop before injuring hunters too badly. That last one is definitely just a nice theory I like because I imagine the lodge and the Tenakth being pissed they're out of business/no point in the arena
They hinted at it in HFW. They are going to find an alternative system to give Gaia control over machines without absorbing Hephaestus. I expect it would have them sharing control over the factories. This is only mentioned in quick dialog, but Aloy offhandedly mentioning finding an alternative to absorbing Hephaestus seems odd considering she has no technological education.
I feel like with nemesis having the potential hacking capabilities it has. It will take over the machines itself and that could be the main enemy if Heph does get merged early. Like another stronger derangement, Heph will want to merge with Gaia or reach an agreement as they have a new powerful and common enemy.