How old is Varl in Horizon Forbidden West

Full spoilers for Horizon Forbidden West below

I loved Horizon Zero Dawn, and I liked a lot of Horizon Forbidden West. Fellow TPB writer Mark recently outlined how Horizon Forbidden West jumped the shark: Aloy’s second big adventure got distracted and greedy with Far Zeniths, the Quen, and NEMESIS. For a full analysis on the game’s ending and choices, I recommend reading his essay.

My issue is much more specific: I’m mad that they killed Varl in Horizon Forbidden West. 

And it’s not because I’m so sad because I love Varl so much (which I do). And it’s not because I have a problem with games killing off characters. It’s because I think Guerilla’s decision to kill Varl was lazy.

A Death Driven by Pacing, Not by Purpose

Horizon Forbidden West starts strong. I love the concept of having three sub-functions to collect for GAIA at a base. The base itself is a lovely experience as we see our old and new friends come together, get to experience the world through Focuses which, for too long, has been an Aloy-only special. We see personal possessions decorate the space, plants grow, and people change. I even was open to the Far Zenith twist and the addition of Beta.

As the game hits its two-third mark, I could feel the AAA game design machine stumble. I wish Guerilla Games had had the confidence to end the game sooner. Plot points begin to repeat like having to fight at the Kulrut again and the introductions of another people we won’t learn enough about (hello, The Quen). Aloy at this point has largely maxed out on skills and gear, hitting a solid plateau of combat evolution. All the interesting side quests have already been given and gone. I could feel that the game was eager to Give Aloy Something To Really Fight For (as if the saving of the Earth from its own environment, much less space immortals, wasn’t enough), something that would shock me as a player.

So they killed Varl.

Dear reader, I sighed.

Not because I was sad or surprised. But because I was disappointed.

The group’s big plan to distract Far Zenith from their attempt to nab HEPHAESTUS felt ridiculous even as they planned it in the GAIA’s observatory; did they really think they could hide from all-knowing inter-galaxy geniuses with superior technology? It was all a clear conceit to get Varl alone with Beta in a perfectly killable position. And killing Varl was so that way we as players and Aloy as a character would feel loss.

But Aloy’s already felt loss.

Aloy Is Already Hardened by a Lifetime of Loss

There’s the literal loss of father figure Rost in the first game whose grave we can visit optionally throughout; those beautifully rendered conversations (with a camera thoughtfully looking over Aloy’s shoulder) are touching and personal. In comparison, a visit at Varl’s gravesite at the end of Horizon Forbidden West are relatively silent and empty; its position on the mountainside covered in beautiful flowers felt like a metaphor for the game’s emphasis on style over substance: “look at how pretty this grave is, rather than actually think about who we killed.”

She’s felt loss her entire life as an outcast. Characters in both games call her “the Nora girl” when they talk to her; it’s clear from Ashly Burch’s wonderful voice acting that Aloy is bitter about being called that. When NPCs ask her about the Nora lands, she barely even claims them as her home. Varl is one of the few pieces of her past that Aloy can remember fondly; optional conversations with him at the base allow Aloy to remember Rost and really start to heal. I also think Aloy has some survivor’s guilt over the attack at the Proving that resulted in dozens of the Nora’s best and brightest being slaughtered, Varl’s sister included, all because HADES had sent people to destroy her. 

Lastly, Aloy’s whole journey in Horizon Zero Dawn is centered on a loss for which she does not have a name for, this need for understanding of her own existence, her mother-creators in GAIA and Elisabet. In Horizon Forbidden West, her difficulties with and ultimate acceptance of Beta as a sister is a strong motivation. I wish the game could’ve had the confidence to rely on that relationship rather than revenge. Killing Varl halfway through the trilogy via a short-lived group of villains reduces him to a plot point. He was a character who brought so much stability and heart that the series sorely needs. 

Why Did They Kill Varl in Horizon Forbidden West?

Guerilla’s decision to kill Varl, especially rather than any other major character, feels like an amateur writer’s mistake. Aloy didn’t need Varl to die to care about her mission. At the cauldron with HEPHAESTUS, the kidnapping of Beta by Far Zenith would’ve been enough to spur Aloy onwards. Varl’s death comes at a moment in the game when it’s already lagging; it feels like a panicked third act plot point. 

Any one of other Aloy’s companions could’ve been killed in that position. What about Erend, Mr. Protector of the Sun King, who stays at home to play chess for the entire game? What about Kotallo, a total bad ass who I don’t believe would’ve left his new chief’s side for a second? What about Alva, whose expertise with machinery and Focus technology would’ve made her a natural choice to have as Beta’s helper with HEPHAESTUS? Or, hey, what about not killing any of these characters? Why not have Varl injured so badly in the fight with Erik that he’s sent home to Nora lands or Plainsong, out for the game with his fate to be decided in Horizon 3? That would’ve checked the same emotional box.

I think I’m particularly frustrated by Varl’s death because he’s one of the most significant Black characters in a major mainstream gaming franchise. I loved seeing his character get more well-deserved screentime in Horizon Forbidden West; he’s one of the most influential allies Aloy has. The other is likely Sylens, who, while also Black and voiced excellently by Lance Reddick, is often given an anti-hero status and isn’t present for most of this game. As much as the Horizon games want to pretend that race isn’t “a thing,” it’s just not true. Take this series of tweets by games reporters Maddy Myers for example:

in horizon forbidden west, racism doesn’t exist and people don’t mention that visual traits are inheritable or relevant but also the entire story revolves around genetic determinism

— Maddy Myers 🏳️‍🌈 (@MIDImyers) March 10, 2022

Varl is a beautiful Black man, literally and figuratively. He is true to his convictions. He is a strong warrior. He’s a good, patient, understanding son who holds the burden of his sister’s death and his mother’s warrior chief expectations. Varl is acted with finesse and warmth by John Macmillan, an up-and-coming Black British actor. Given how few video game voice acting roles there even are for Black actors, part of me saw Guerilla’s choice to kill Varl as a socioeconomic failure. Perhaps that’s unfair, but it doesn’t mean I’m not mad about it.

Varl and Zo Romance

I was such a fan of Varl in Zero Dawn. Varl is a well-written foil to Aloy; he’s patient, communicative, and unafraid to be in touch with his emotions. I shipped Aloy x Varl so hard that I literally cried out, “No!!!” when he and Zo kiss. But you know what, eventually, I was happy for him. He deserved love. Aloy holds people at arm’s length; we see Elisabet in a video recording with Travis Tate behave the same way. (There are many essays hoping Aloy gets to kiss anybody, or at least be proudly asexual. Look, even ladies who save the planet should get to fall in love if they want.)

But by the time Varl dies, I saw his romance with Zo as a cheap ploy to make players feel sad, to emphasize language about “seeds” and “growing” and “the future.” Eye roll. Varl, hero warrior of the Nora, deserved better.

We don’t even see Aloy mourn in a way that feels appropriate for the person who is, really, her first, oldest, and truest friend. Any opportunity for grief and character growth from Aloy is immediately discarded by giving space for Zo, an objectively interesting character, to be reduced to a very one-dimensional “pregnant widow.” It doesn’t help that the boss fights throughout the finale are too easy and uninspired; taking revenge on Erik at the bottom of a dirt elevator pit is as boring and unfulfilling as it sounds. 

I talked to Mark about my feelings, and he pointed out: Aloy didn’t need revenge to motivate her to stop the Zeniths.

Horizon Forbidden West Fails Aloy, and the Player

In a story ostensibly about how friendship can save the planet, Horizon Forbidden West fails Aloy twice: first with Varl’s death, and then with an endgame that sends all of her buddies to the farthest reaches, leaving her with two reclusive scientists and a robot-surrogate-mommy who’s too busy downloading a new OS to talk to her.

Horizon Forbidden West had many strengths, but it was clouded by a bloated and distracted third act. It moved into plot choices that were frankly unbelievable, even for the made-up world we were operating in (really, Tilda, you’ve been unable to get over Elisabet Sobeck for a thousand years? You never once made an AI version of your ex-girlfriend like the creep you are?).

In a good game that got in its own way from being great, Varl’s death was one of the biggest and laziest mistakes in

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