Marad

Marad, also known as Blameless Marad, is a supporting character in the 2017 video game Horizon Zero Dawn and a minor character in its 2022 sequel Horizon Forbidden West. He is a senior official of the Carja's royal court, who works as a spymaster for the Carja, formerly serving with the Sun-King Jiran, before currently working with Avad, the current Sun-King of Meridian, being responsible for engineering the Liberation of Meridian.
He is voiced by William Houston and motion-captured by Keith Somers.
==Appearance==
Marad is an elderly, dark-skinned man with a short black hair that is fading to grey in some parts, as well as having brown eyes.
==Personality==
Marad is elusive when it comes to his personal life and only ever provides cryptic replies to personal queries. He is sincerely committed to the protection of the Sundom despite his shady personality, and he staunchly backs Avad because he views his just and fair reign as essential to the survival and prosperity of the Carja people.
==Background==
===Description===
Marad is the principal counsellor and spymaster to His Radiance Avad, the 14th the Line of Luminance. Maintaining an intelligence agency with operatives spread out over the Carja Sundom and at least one in the realm of the Shadow Carja, a hostile force, is an essential component of his role. Since intelligence is an essential component of security, he also collaborates with the military of Carja and the captain of Avad's Vanguard.
===Red Raids===
Marad served His Radiance Jiran, the thirteenth in the Line of Luminance, before Avad. He was aware that the Red Raids, who represented Jiran's brutality and animosity against all other tribes, would result in the extinction of the Carja people. He implied that he thereby helped Avad's takeover of Jiran by meticulously and purposefully ensuring that his efforts were effective in a talk with the Nora huntress Aloy. His assistance's precise nature is unknown.
===Dervahl's Endgame===
After she looked into the Vanguard captain Ersa's death, he first saw Aloy at the Sun-Palace King's in Meridian. Ersa's brother, the vanguardsman Erend, was with Aloy when she learned the truth about the false details surrounding Ersa's passing. Evidently, the Shadow Carja ambushed and killed Ersa. Aloy and Erend learned that the Oseram tribe's members were the real criminals.
While the Oseram were allies of the Carja, their alliance was tense because some of them harboured strong animosity toward the Carja. When Aloy and Erend told Avad about their discoveries, Marad was there and said that the warlord Dervahl was probably more to blame than the renegade Oseram. Dervahl had the resources and know-how to plan such an ambush and deceit because of his pathological loathing of Avad, Ersa, the Carja, and all Oseram who sided with them. The Oseram Freehold Pitchcliff was the final stop on the trail of Dervahl's whereabouts. Marad informed Aloy and Erend that he had a representative there who knew exactly where Dervahl was.
The information provided by the spy was correct and led to Dervahl's Camp. Invading the camp with a force of Vanguard, Aloy and Erend discovered the dying Ersa there. She forewarned them that Dervahl was preparing a terrifying terrorist assault on Meridian, and Aloy discovered proof of the attack's nature at the camp in the form of a huge Blaze bomb. The Blaze was being stacked in a Meridian warehouse. Aloy and Erend conveyed the information to Avad when they got back. When Marad learned about the cache, one of his intelligence operatives in the city identified a potential site.
This turned out to be the ideal spot. Having located the device, Aloy and Erend defused it. To compel everyone, especially Avad, to watch as he devastated the city, the cunning Dervahl had already penetrated the palace with his troops and rendered Avad, Erend, and Marad helpless. Aloy, on the other hand, pursued him into the palace and eventually overcame him, sparing their lives.
===Battle of the Alight===
Later, when the Eclipse prepared to invade Meridian, Marad received contingents from the coalition of tribes that Aloy had put together to defend the city. He and Avad celebrated triumphantly at the battle's successful finish, joining the other Carja troops there. That evening, while the city rejoiced in their win, Marad stood at Avad's side and discreetly offered observations on those there.
===Six Months Later===
After the Battle of the Alight, a flash of light was detected coming from the Spire; Marad sent out operatives to alert Aloy and enlist her help after determining it was not a trick of the light, but a signal. After studying the Spire when she eventually made it back to Meridian months later, Aloy determined that she would have to travel to the Forbidden West. Marad arranged for her to spend the night in Meridian and advised her that the best course of action would be to wait for the forthcoming Embassy in order to obtain entrance from the Tenakth.
==Abilities==
Marad, as a spymaster, is incredibly cunning and skilled at compiling intelligence from his operatives into precise judgments. His ability to weigh the information he has acquired and draw judgments is one quality that is essential to his success in this area. All information and conclusions are weighed in terms of likely or probability rather than certainty in his mind. As a result, he evaluates all knowledge and conclusions objectively rather than just choosing the ones that look plausible.
For instance, even though others were certain Dervahl was dead despite the absence of proof, he correctly identified him as the most likely culprit in Ersa's kidnapping and framing of the Shadow Carja. This is due to the fact that it was highly unlikely that anybody other than Dervahl would have the cunning to plan such a hoax, the knowledge and expertise to construct the weapon used to disable her and her soldiers, and the motivation to injure her.
He also appears to be incredibly skilled at deceit, as seen by his ability to help Avad from inside Jiran's court during The Liberation without Jiran, his champion Helis, or anyone else even somewhat suspecting.
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