I just finished the game and loved the story. I'm trying to recapture a little bit.
So just to get the timeline right here.
-In 2064 the Faro Plague started.
-In 2066 Life on earth went extinct.
-Around 2120 Minerva had cracked the codes to shut down the Faro robots.
-2120 and after, machines are rebuilding the biosphere on earth.
-In 2326, Eleuthia-9 released the first inhabitants. (Did this happen across the globe?)
-in 3021, an unknown signal makes GAIAs subordinate functions become self aware.
-Hephaestus starts to construct more aggressive machines. (Reason known?)
-Hades kicks in and wants end life on earth, (Reason known?)
-GAIA triggers a failsafe that destroys itself and Hades and triggers the birth of a clone of Elisabet Sobeck, to clones job would be to rebuild GAIA.
-Hades survived, corruption spreads.
-In 3021, Aloy is born.
A few more questions:
Since the Apollo program had been wiped, the cradles never taught the first inhabitants anything.
Why exactly were they released from the cradles? From what I could tell the resources had ran out. But it sounded more like a mistake than a calculated, controlled release.
So, to the lose ends:
Where did the unknown signal come from that caused the subordinate functions to become self aware?
How did Hades escape at the end? And how did it end up in Sylenses hands again? Whats his plan with it?
Seems like you've got a pretty good grasp on the timeline!
-In 2326, Eleuthia-9 released the first inhabitants. (Did this happen across the globe?)
Unknown at this time, but it seems likely. If there were still safe Cradle facilities I don't think GAIA would have been quite as concerned about HADES wiping everything out.
-Hephaestus starts to construct more aggressive machines. (Reason known?)
HEPHAESTUS' reason for making killer robots is explained in the final Cauldron log:
alert: Command Template Acquired
alert: Decode/Initiate:Successful
alert: Result: ENCROACHMENT THREAT: HUMAN
alert: Result: FAUNA THREAT: HIGH
alert: Result: FLORA THREAT: HIGH
alert: Result: BIOSPHERE THREAT: HIGH
alert: Result: DIRECTIVE: CULL
alert: Result: PRODUCTION OVERRIDE INITIATED
alert: Result: ALL OTHER PRIORITIES RESCINDED
Basically, after Rogue HEPHAESTUS escaped GAIA it assessed humanity and determined them to be a threat, because at that point it didn't have GAIA to govern it.
-Hades kicks in and wants end life on earth, (Reason known?)
When HADES is active, its singular goal is to wipe out all life so GAIA can start again. The signal activated HADES and turned it into an independent AI. HADES is really just trying to do what it was designed to do.
A few more questions:
Since the Apollo program had been wiped, the cradles never taught the first inhabitants anything.
Why exactly were they released from the cradles? From what I could tell the resources had ran out. But it sounded more like a mistake than a calculated, controlled release.
ELEUTHIA was most likely activated by GAIA after the biosphere was stable enough to support human life. It makes sense for GAIA to want to release humanity as soon as it was safe to do so because the longer it takes, the more likely the tech would fail or degrade. The problem with this is that GAIA didn't or couldn't account for APOLLO being destroyed, which halted humanity's progression through the facilities. The resources were supposed to last until they had learned enough from APOLLO to be successful out on their own, but instead they just stayed in the initial part of the facility, learning nothing the whole time until food ran out. Fuck Ted Faro.