Based on the title, it should be pretty evident that this article contains major spoilers for the ending of Horizon Forbidden West.
Horizon Forbidden West‘s main story essentially has two threads running throughout it: the conflict between Aloy and the mysterious members of Far Zenith and the conflict between Regalla and the Tenakth tribes. In the grand scheme of saving the world, the Far Zenith conflict ends up being a little grander in scale as it relates to GAIA and the old world, but the tribal conflict is seen far more often throughout the game’s story as the two wrap up around the same time.
In the “Wings of the Ten” main quest mission, the penultimate quest before the end of the game, Aloy finally faces off one-on-one against Regalla for the fate of the Tenakth. After beating her in the fight, the player is given a major choice: choose to kill or spare Regalla. While other choices in the game feign consequence, killing or sparing Regalla majorly shapes Horizon Forbidden West‘s ending and neither option should be done lightly.
More Horizon Forbidden West guides:
Explorer and Guided Mode Explained | Horizon Forbidden West Difficulty Trophies | ‘Reached the Daunt’ Trophy Guide | How to Get God of War Face Paint | Best Skills to Get First | Relic Ruins Locations and Puzzle Solutions | How to Upgrade the Resource Pouch | All Tallneck Locations | All Signal Lens Locations | How to Get the Flying Mount | All Machine Locations | Legendary Weapons Locations | How to See Items Without Scanning the Focus
Choosing to Kill or Spare Regalla
At select points in the story, the player is given three options on how to handle a situation. They can act logically indicated by the brain icon, emotionally with the heart, or aggressively with the fist. The options for the final confrontation with Regalla are “Your life ends here” kill,) “there’s another battle ahead” (spare,) and “this isn’t easy” (no effect.)
Killing Regalla
If you choose to kill Regalla, Aloy tells her that she can’t continue living after all she’s done but before Aloy can strike the final blow, Kotallo runs up and stabs Regalla, killing her instantly. Hekkaro will then give Aloy Regalla’s Wrath, a Very Rare Sharpshot bow. The crew will then shift their focus away from the Regalla conflict and go to end the Far Zenith one.
Sparing Regalla
Although Guerilla Games certainly lets the player decide how they want to handle Regalla, sparing her feels like the intended narrative choice. If the player chooses “there’s another battle ahead,” Aloy recruits Regalla to fight alongside her and the rest of her friends for the final battle against the Far Zenith and Regalla accepts. She disappears for a while in the story until she sacrifices herself to save Aloy from a group of Specters.
The player doesn’t get the Regalla’s Wrath bow, but does get a much more narratively satisfying ending for Regalla’s character. Plus, while the bow is certainly impressive, the player is likely already using weapons just as powerful so the addition of one more Sharpshot bow to Aloy’s arsenal likely wouldn’t make that much of a difference to the player.
