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Horizon Zero Dawn: The Sun Shall Fall - Defuse the bomb, defeat Dervahl and the Glinthawks

Complete story walkthrough plus guides, tips, and tricks for Horizon Zero Dawn.

Horizon Zero Dawn's The Sun Shall Fall gives you a proper look at the infamous Dervahl after a first glimpse in Into the Borderlands.

There's plenty to crack on with here and little time to save Meridian from its impending threat. If you're after help for other parts of the game, consult our complete Horizon Zero Dawn walkthrough and guide.

The Sun Shall Fall

Go to the Palace of the Sun in Meridian - Head back to the Palace of the Sun again, back in Meridian.

Talk to Avad - The Sun King is waiting for you in his usual spot at the Palace, so head up to him for a debrief and discussion about Dervahl. It's your job to foil his plans here in Meridian, and try to take him alive.

Cover image for YouTube video[4K] Horizon Zero Dawn In-Depth Tech Analysis
[4K] Horizon Zero Dawn In-Depth Tech Analysis

Defuse the bomb

Go to the Warehouse - Head to a warehouse inside the city, where he's believed to be holed up.

Examine the Bomb - Inside, Dervahl's left you a little present in the form of a bomb. Examine it with your focus and you'll realise you need to head upstairs.

Search the Warehouse - Up there is another load of Blaze in several barrels. You need to shove that out the window before the bomb goes off, so give it a scan.

Destroy the Window Bracket - Destroy the bracket first, by interacting with it.

Push the Blaze out the Window - Give the blaze a shove out the now open window to be rid of it.

Investigate the Area - After the cutscene, scan the area with your Focus to see if there are any clues to Dervahl's whereabouts.

Follow the Trail - Follow it, and it'll lead to a gap in a wall, that takes you onto a secret path round the back of the city.

Defeat Dervahl and the Glinthawks

Follow Dervahl into the Palace - You spot him now, up on the bridge, heading to the Palace unchecked!

Go to the Solarium - Climb up the wall nearby, following the yellow-gold markings that indicate climbable spots, then follow your waypoint until you reach him.

Defeat Dervahl and his Men - Time for a scrap! Take out Dervahl and his cronies.

Kill the Glinthawks - Turns out he has a plan C, so take out the attacking waves of Glinthawks too.

They can be tricky, but focus on the glowing spots on their chests and you should be fine; when destroyed, it'll explode with frost and cause them to fall to the ground, where you can get in enough free hits to kill them one at time. Just keep moving to avoid their high-damage ranged attacks.


For more tips, explainers and advice on Horizon be sure to check out our main Horizon Zero Dawn guide and walkthrough hub, which includes advice for things like Horizon Zero Dawn's override Cauldrons and which machines they let you control, getting hold of the Golden Fast Travel Pack for unlimited fast travel, finding and unlocking the very powerful Horizon Zero Dawn Shield Weave Armour and Power Cell locations, and then for DLC players there's our main Horizon Zero Dawn Frozen Wilds walkthrough and guide, a page on how to earn Bluegleam quickly, and finally, a page on the handy A Secret Shared quest and how to upgrade your spear in Horizon Frozen Wilds.


Talk to Dervahl - Time to go rub it in a bit.

Talk to Avad - A quick chat with the King.

Talk to Erend - And another quick debrief with Erend.

Talk to Dervahl (optional)

Dervahl defeated and the Glinthawks downed, that's The Sun Shall Fall all done and dusted. Up next, To Curse the Darkness, which is back to the main path of uncovering the mystery of Aloy and her world.

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