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pinechips · 2 years

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Tilda's Art Collection

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If you haven't seen the making film about the Rijksmuseum collaboration, it's really fun and interesting! I want to leave my thoughts on Tilda's story and connection to her collection and hope to hear your thoughts as well. Especially, if you're familiar with art and paintings, please share your insights!

0. How I read this scene

(From the making film above) This scene is designed for Aloy to understand Tilda's personality and motivation without any background information. Given Aloy has never been to a museum in her life, I assume Devs don't expect us to look up research papers to interpret each painting. So all the hints should be in the dialogues.

There will be two aspects - how Tilda reads it and how Aloy reads it. Tilda explains her side story by showing each painting to Aloy - this is all about Tilda. Aloy's comments/questions show how she thinks about Tilda and the difference between Tilda and Aloy (maybe also Elisabeth). Look at the emphasis on Tilda/Aloy's relationship - they're supposed to understand each other by reading art together.

The scene naturally drags the player's gaze in zigzags and it seems to follow Tilda's life.

You can find the full dialogue script here, thanks to @mehoymalloy.

Woman Reading a Letter, Johannes Vermeer, ca. 1663 + Woman Reading Music, Han van Meegeren, 1935 – 1940

Tilda's early life, before meeting Elisabeth.

This painting has many layers of context... I know it can be interpreted as a clone-related symbol, like Aloy/Beta compared to Elisabeth - but before that, I believe this is to show Tilda's life agenda from her beginning. She was fascinated by the deception of a good forger. I guess she wants to do the same thing so that she can fool other people into believing she is who she wants to be. Like, she carefully designs herself based on her "imagination". That's her foundation. Aloy asked why she does that ("it was a lie, and you knew it.") and Tilda answered that's how she got the right evaluation from other people. This also implies Tilda thinks she can't be valued enough with her true self - a bit sad moment to me.

The 2nd point is the difference between a masterpiece and an imitation. Here, the focus is more on how Tilda tells a difference between the two. This can be applied to Aloy/Elisabeth. Tilda brings the image of the left painting (masterpiece) to the base, and you can see it appears when Tilda is mentioning Elisabeth during the conversation with Aloy. Tilda said if it tells her more, she feels less. If I need to guess, Tilda feels more when she can't really see/read/predict the other person's thoughts. That evokes her imagination, maybe? In the storyline, Aloy doesn't allow Tilda to predict her next move and keeps twisting Tilda's plan. Think Elisabeth was also the same way. Beta, on the other hand, is different from Elisabeth/Aloy in this manner. Maybe that's why Elisabeth was the true masterpiece to Tilda.

Of course, there's a meaning of longing for someone like the woman in this painting. Aloy feels the "emotional burden" (of Tilda), which can't be put down.

2. Selene and Endymion, Gerard de Lairesse, ca. 1680

Tilda's relationship with Elisabeth

This is an interesting description of Tilda/Elisabeth's relationship. Aloy asked if Tilda sneaked up on Elisabeth and Tilda said it was a secret visit. We all know how Tilda approached Elisabeth. It feels like Tilda had a certain reason to approach Elisabeth, possibly wanting to dig into Elisabeth's work or personal life. Guess it didn't go well as Tilda planned, given Elisabeth already knew who Tilda exactly was. I think that was why Tilda felt a strong interest in Elisabeth if we think about what makes a masterpiece to Tilda. Also, isn't it strange that Elisabeth was welcoming to Tilda even if she knew who Tilda is? Err, maybe Tilda was just Elisabeth's type? Anyhow, they fell for each other.

What interested me more was that "two must remain apart" and "Selene is not supposed to fall in love with Endymion". Why? Because Selene took a vow of chastity. Is this about Tilda's internal conflict in a relationship? Or, Tilda was not supposed to fall in love with Elisabeth? Did Tilda (or Elisabeth) have a reason to hide their relationship? Was that why they needed to find a way to come together but briefly? After seeing this, I realized Elisabeth also didn't talk about Tilda at all to any of the ZD members or even to the GAIA.

Aloy seems to be confused about this. Why couldn't you be together? Why didn't you break your vow? Tilda didn't answer these questions but just said her love will forever burn regardless of the circumstance. Maybe Elisabeth asked the same question to Tilda and her answer was also the same.

3. Jeremiah Lamenting the Destruction of Jerusalem, Rembrandt van Rijn, 1630

Tilda realized the world's ending and tried to save her collections.

As clearly mentioned in the dialogue, Tilda said she saved the collection like Jeremiah. I find two points interesting. The first thing is Jeremiah was a prophet and saw a vision of the city's fate. Tilda might have known what was coming from her sources, earlier than other people saw that. She decided to save the relics, not the people. This could be a major difference between Aloy and Tilda. Aloy is bothered by Tilda's priority and pointed out that Tilda just picked the winning side. Of course, Tilda doesn't agree because she actually saved all the wonders and hence has no regrets. Also, she still sees hope for the future.

I think this moment can be the time when Elisabeth and/or Tilda realized they can't be together anymore. Thinking about Elisabeth's effort to save life on earth, Tilda's choice would be a deal breaker for her. Elisabeth might have blamed Tilda in the same way as Aloy does ("you calculated which side would win a battle").

4. Titus in a Monk’s Habit, Rembrandt van Rijn, 1660

Tilda lost Elisabeth.

Aloy seems to start learning how to read paintings! At first, she doesn't understand why Tilda showing this to her but after Tilda explains the feeling of loss, Aloy fully relates to it. This is connected to both Aloy's loss (Varl) and Tilda's loss (Elisabeth). Tilda expressed her condolences to Aloy - Aloy accepted and decided not to blame her.

About Tilda's feelings - I was sad when she explained how Titus became the only family for Rembrandt and finally is lost as well. That's exactly how Tilda took Elisabeth. Elisabeth is the only and last person Tilda cared for and is lost from Tilda's life. Here, Tilda wants to be honest (very rare moment, right?) about how she feels, and maybe this is the moment that Aloy and Tilda really understand each other's feelings.

5. The Night Watch, Rembrandt van Rijn, 1642

Tilda joined Far Zenith.

Great masterpiece. Many portions of the dialogues focused on the painting itself. The other focus is on the girl - Tilda in Far Zenith. Tilda is saying she's seen something. She is underestimated but she keeps some secrets. I personally think that is not about her love for Elisabeth (or Aloy/Beta). It should be something bigger than just her life. Hope we can see what it was in the next game.

Also, it's interesting that Tilda said "what's real in a painting?". What's real in Tilda's life?

6. A Ship on the High Seas Caught by a Squall, Known as ‘The Gust’, Willem van de Velde (II), ca. 1680

Tilda went to space with Far Zenith.

This painting is deeply connected to Tilda's Dutch ancestry. Exploring the world at great cost but always turned to their home. Also willing to face dangers to make their fortunes. Now their life's work remains here with Tilda.

7. Lidded ewer for the Amsterdam Goldsmiths Guild, Adam van Vianen (I), 1614

Now Aloy moves to the upper floor, which implies she's getting closer to "now". Tilda mentions Elisabeth for the first time in this scene ("How like Elisabet you are - function over form"). Then they talked about how Tilda got these collections from the museum and why she decided to keep them on earth. They are finishing their moments to understand each other and are being ready to talk about real matters.

8. Bacchant, Adriaen de Vries, 1626 + Frenzy, Artus Quellinus (I) (attributed to), na 1648 – in of voor 1662

Tilda doesn't say anything about the two statues - these are symbols of Aloy and Tilda in a current state. Aloy understands why Tilda is showing these so not many words are needed more. Aloy feels how much Tilda suffers from grief, almost madness, and is sorry for her. If we think about how Aloy didn't want to deal with emotions (whether it's hers or others), it is a unique moment for Aloy to understand how the other person feels without any resistance. This is a safer way for her to do so. Wait, is that why Tilda wants to show the gallery first to Aloy before meeting in person? Because Tilda already knows how Elisabeth would react if she brings up her emotions?

This was a long one to write... but I really enjoyed this scene and the Guerrilla team truly did amazing work. I'm pretty sure after a few hundred years, humanity will take video games as one form of art. I hope we can see more thoughtful narratives from games so they leave something in our hearts after playing.

If you like this type of thinking, I also created another post about Aloy and Tilda's first conversation at Tilda's house after this scene.

Lastly, here is the little flow connecting this scene and the next scene from Tilda’s lines.

"Now, lo and behold, here I am". (smiling at Aloy) "There you are."

#horizon forbidden west #hfw aloy #hfw dialogues #aloy x tilda #aloy/tilda #tilda van der meer #hfw spoilers #Youtube #elisabeth sobeck #aloy #aloy horizon #tilda x elisabet

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