The release of Sylas broke the lore of Demacia as we know it. They were always known as the good guys who protected people from the Rune Wars which was essentially a Nuclear War at the time. But then we learnt about what happened deep withing Demacia and it's disgusting
We knew that Demacia was a hypermilitaristic imperial nation loooong before Sylas, and there were hints of anti-mage sentiment from some Demacian characters if not from Demacia itself, though of course we had no notion of their relevance to Sylas.
@@mclark347 Completely wrong. A hyper militaristic Imperial Nation(Noxus) makes sure to expand it's territories using their military. Demacia was a refuge against magic. And I dont recall any anti-mage sentiment from champions aside from Vayne (which is understandable)
4:27 Hey there is actually a great detail hidden there : the motive that we can hear (witch you associated with his determination) is actually a reference to the music "demacia rising" from riot, which is one of the main them for the region of Demacia that Sylas is starting a revolt against.
The strings starting at 4:04 are actually from theme "Demacia Rising" (amazing theme btw) but with much darker background music to make it sound tragic rather than heroic. The section at 6:05 is also a twist on the lead-up to the main climax (idk the correct music term for it) of Demacia Rising, once again altered to remove the heroic feel and add a sense of desperation. All of this is perfect for Sylas as a character, since the Demacia he knows and is fighting against is anything but heroic. Because he was born a mage, Sylas has only experienced the prejudice and hatred of Demacia and (imo) rightfully sees Demacia as an oppressive regime.
Context for his theme. He was released during the start of a season which had its own theme (Which I highly recommend you listen to!) A week into the season, he released, in which he hijacked the beginning of the season theme to start his own, which is the reason for the abruptness at the start.
I love Sylas because he is a great character study on a revolutionary written by people who may not be the most familiar with revolution. This is going to mostly focus on the political elements of his story that fuel him as a character and influence his music by proxy. Firstly, melancholic rage is a great way to put it. He is not inherently an evil man. He was someone who wanted to do good, but broken down and radicalized into wanting to burn everything down so others need not suffer like him and others like him. Demacia was a nation built in the aftermath of an event known as the Rune Wars, a cataclysmic event fueled by wild, uncontrolled magic. This event bred a deep sense of fear and paranoia in Demacia, and magic was seen as something to be feared, stamped out. It is why Petricite, a mineral found in ancient trees, was widely adopted. It could suppress magic, absorb it and weaken those who may have it. Demacia tried to stamp out something as natural as being someone with brown hair. Magic is inherent to Runeterra, and they chose to change that. Mages were rounded up, executed, tortured, imprisoned, made to drink petricite based materials that suppressed magic and addled their minds. There exists a vast prison complex under the city where the mages were kept for life. An entire body was organized to hunt down mages and retrieve or kill them, regardless of whether they're children, adults or the elderly. This is a genocide. Mages had no recourse, no voice, and no means of changing how they were treated and killed becaue the ruling elite of Demacia had a vested interest in making sure the genocide continued. Enter Sylas of Dregbourne. A young child surrendered by his family who believed in Demacia, whose values young Sylas possessed as well. He thought he was doing his duty as a Demacian, being used by the Mageseekers to hunt down other mages, thinking he was protecting the mages. In truth, he was a pawn, being used by the Mageseekers to hunt, capture or kill his fellow mages. One fateful day, a moment of sympathy, an accident, one small mistake, and his world was upended. There was no sympathy or mercy for Sylas. He was hunted down, and he was forced to fight. He could see the hypocrisy in Demacia. The elites and the ruling class had plenty of mages in their ranks, the most vocal anti mage advocates being mages themselves. But they controlled the nation, and could twist the rules to survive. He couldn't. His fellow mages couldn't. He was imprisoned, deprived of social interaction or dignity for fifteen years. Forced to eat rats skittering by and look through the tiny gap in his cell, desperate to hear the sounds of the world outside and not the moaning or screaming of his fellow mages in the underground compound where they were all kept. He wanted freedom. For himself, for his fellow mages. He wanted nothing else but to burn down the very structures that chose to kill them for the very crime of being who they were. He may be a monster, but he was a monster Demacia made when they chose to murder his kind for no reason but fear and power.
If I may add something, even though I'm a bit late to the party: As a German, Demacia has some major fascist undertones for me. Not only the treatment of the mages, but also the extreme patriotism/nationalism and militarism. Demacia has a strictly enforced class structure with the noble families that also hold high positions in the military and sit right below the king, the absolutist ruler. Not to mention the para-militaristic enforcement groups for the mage hunts. In regards to the history of my home country, these things seem rather ovious to me. There is just one problem: US Americans seem to be completely oblivious when it comes to recognizing fascism. And the League of Legends story team seems to be highly in favor of keeping the status quo. So, they wrote a story about a pretty explicitly fascist regime (maybe without even realzing it) and had to make the revolutionary guy just evil enough that people don't feel bad when his rebellion isn't successful. And how did they do that? By having him kill noble families, humiliate enemies publicly and speak in a way that sounds like a "darn dirty communist" to a certain demographic. And that's my problem. It's always good to give a character nuance, but what kind of message do you send when the revolutionary against a genocidal, fascist system is ultimately framed as the bad guy, especially since so many "good guys" are already on the side of the regime (Garen, Jarvan, Lux, Shyvana...)? They kind of fixed it with the Mageseeker game, but before that? Yikes.
@@Dhorannisdidn't J4 rip up the note from J3 delivered by Xin Zhou that said to stop the mage genocide? He allows conflict to continue completely understanding the hypocrisy of it. Also, I disagree that it sends a bad message. The good guys don't always need to win; that's life
@@cameronlofte3386 I don't think it's simply "the good guys don't always need to win" but rather their qualms are with how they have bad messaging they're sending or at least a poor execution of storytelling
i hate to correct such a well written comment, but petricite is made from the bark/wood of petricite trees mixed into the masonry, its the trees that have magic dampening properties, which is why ryze is hiding world runes under them. other than that, very well written!
If you play Mageseeker, it's interessant to notice that Sylas isn't really a "good guy". He's extreme and the game show he don't want to see there is no black and white world. What Lux do is more realistic, even it will takes more times to "free" Demacia. On your second commentary you explain what I see when I see Sylas, cliché. And he is cliché. So the good aspect of the revolution come from Lux who is noble and Demacian. But the revolution didn't fail for me, it works. King is dead, people knows there are mage on Noble Demacian, mages know they can be free. It's just the begining. Wariors cinematics add so much questions ! Now Lux is back to Demacia, Galio is here, Sylas with Frejord teams, the fact that Sylas use ult of Garen mean that Garen have magic too ? I just want to know what happens next.
4:04 + 6:04 this leitmotif actually represents his home nation of Demacia! it was written over 8 years ago for a song called "Demacia Rising." makes sense since he does what he does out of his love (?) for Demacia.
Knowing that he wants to destroy the rulling system that persecutes mages, not exactly the city of Demacia per say, so everyone living there can do so without the shackles that were imposed by those on top. In a sense it still is Demacia Rising, but a new one :D
@@bunnywreck Not exacly, 2 things, first of all, Sylas has no plan for what to do after he tears everything down - just like many real life revolutionaries, as it is much easier to destroy than to create. And aslo, Sylas has shown that he wants to kill everyone who is either working for the nobles or is not standing up against the current system (read the extended bio story, i forget what its called), which would easily include at LEAST 60% of all Demacian citizenry if not more (its a feudal society - aka almost everyone works for or with the nobility). I think those moments in the song represent more his dislike of Demacia/how Demacia treated (or is connected with) him.
@@bunnywreck Well, Sylas is an extremist, anything that block his way is simply "spendable", with the ultimate purpose is too destroy anything that's a threat to mages, include the city. :p Which also has a lot of referent to human history, for anyone say Sylas isn't bad, they will have to agree Stalin or Hitler aren't bad either.
@@FallenGranny One thing i have wonder, is that it look like history class in many place doesn't work out well. Like do those ppl say "Sylas is right/righteous" skip class about violent revolutionaries? Or does those class bear some contries's bias when teaching?
As someone with no musical background, I'm amazed every time how it's possible to convey - and interpret - so much information without language, imagery, or even context. I'd love to hear an interpretation of the Mythic Themes from Pathfinder Wrath of the Righteous, because each of those is supposed to represent an entire story by themselves.
Some details you might not realize from the trailer: 7:53 to 8:17 all the enemies he's fighting are Demacians 8:15 to 8:43 Sylas is using his mechanic of stealing enemy Ults. The Ults stolen here are the most well-known or flashy ones. 8:40 This is Lux's Ult: the mage he convinced to help him in his story. We also see him use her power at 8:54 (it looks exactly like one of Lux's abilities). He also references this at 7:44
Man Sylas's lore is very well done, you guessed him pretty spot on at the beginning. Plus Riot always knocks their music out of the park! I do have a few suggestions for future champions that you could do: -Neeko, The Curious Chameleon -Renata Glasc, The Chem-Baroness -Evelynn, Agony's Embrace -Lillia, The Bashful Bloom -Caitlyn, The Sheriff of Piltover -Illaoi, The Kraken Priestess These guys are some of my favorites in the game, and their music is amazing
It's truly amazing how much You can guess from listening to music alone, and how accurate You are while doing this. Would be awesome to see Varus on your channel one day.
I think it's good to add that Demacia was founded as a bastion against magic. There was this big turning point in League's lore history called the Rune Wars in which the most powerful magic of the world was used as weapons of mass destruction that threatened to destroy the world. Refugees from that war fled to a large forest of giant fossilized trees and built their city from that material. That is petricite, the magic-absorbing material mentioned.
One of the coolest things they did while releasing a champion with Sylas was the login screen he took over was Season 2019 Login screen that we have been seeing for sometime and boom Sylas took over one day. Also one cool thing is his theme is a slowed and altered version of a theme called Demacia Rising. We all know how much Sylas likes Demacia
yet another W post from marcomeatball. i’ve been anticipating this so much, sylas is one of my favourite characters and i think his theme is absolutely amazing. very excited to see you analyze this :-)
Whats is really cool about this login screen is that the time we got this was at the start of the season, and usualy we had hype login screens with popular champs to get us to play league, so when we got sylas instead of removing the login screen and having an animated splash art like every other champ he just hyjacked the ongoing one, thats why we have Blitz at the start of the video, just like he steals ults in game.
I love Sylas's lore he is what i like to look at as a by product of the discrimination that Demacia has for Mages like him, a loyal servant of the mageseekers turned into a criminal deemed for execution. Before Sylas Demacia as a region was pretty bland. Im so glad that you nailed his story.
easily your most precise, most spot on a league video so far. crazy how the game can really give such nuance that you can catch lore of the character down to the last detail. its really only your videos that I find even some semblance of motivation to return to this game. I feel like I can overlook the toxicity to remember just what was so cool about all this. Thats a sense of wonder and passion I haven't had in a long time so I thank you for that
You need to do those more often cuz it's just fascinating how you do it! You won't run out of content for those, there are tons of those character themes which I'm certain ya figured already :D
Pretty apt description. He did not lose a loved one but his faith in the system. He is a revolutionary after breaking out of prison after 15 yrs at his execution.
Other 2 champs that have pretty interesting themes are Dr.Mundo and Renata glasc. The lore of how mundo lost all humanity and evolves into a monsters is pretty sad, as well of trying to "help sick people" in zaun. and Ms. Glasc because I value my life
Its pretty funny to me how now not only do we get your commentary on the music, but since you got your VA job we are also getting some commentary on the VA work too :D (if you ever run out of content in relation to music, VA and voice line stuff could be a good way to branch out)
@@MarcoMeatball oh sorry i only casually watch your content so i didnt know. i hope you get hired for more stuff cos you have a nice and smooth voice :P
For me, the piano is Sylas planning and scheming revenge quietly when he was imprisoned, the strings his agony that turns into his symbol of freedom, Sylas's need for it.
Thank you for this awesome series! League has many awesome themes, and from myself I recommend Renata Glasc, Irelia, Udyr and Taliyah's. These, I think, are really successful in portraying it's character through music!
Can you listen to “No Mercy Percy” from “the legend of vox machina” and or “when murder entered my heart” both of these songs belong to a character named Percival de rolo
I forgot how cool the Sylas teaser was. Him walking up to Garen and using his ultimate and just thinking "no way he just used Demacian Justice on Garen". The montage of him taking some of the most powerful ultimate abilities in the game and using them against their owners is still so cool.
I've been waiting this one, god's work. interestingly enough, his own game comes out in a week or so called The Mageseeker, it's an action RPG so if you're interested in diving deeper it's worth a try.
Nice video! Love how you describe the feelings that songa bring! Heres hoping you do Jacks theme from legends of runeterra, his theme is so cool imo and i feel it really fits him
This was an Amazing Breakdown. I didn't even like Sylass all that much, but your break down made me kinda like him. One Character(s) that I think might warm your heart in contrast to Sylass is Nunu & Willump. I think you'd love their Theme, trailer, and backstory.
Great reaction, hoping to see one to Bel Veth, her theme is so powerful and majestic. The design is very nice too (tho in game she just slaps you to death).
Oh oh you should do Rek'sai! I remember I listened to the theme many times when that champ came out cause I liked it so much. But don't look at the picture if you didn't already. It would tell too much :D Love these videos btw!
Something I think is so cool about this theme is how it’s sylas having a monologue about demacia. On the outside demacia are the “good” guys, but he is here to tell us that the people of demacia subjugate a portion of their people because of how they are born, sure it’s an analogue for racism, but I think it’s a little bit more powerful then that. He wants equality, he challenges demacia to confirm the beliefs that they believe in, his theme sounds a bit “evil” because he is what demacia deemed an “evil” person
Oh great voice of the tunes, oh great sight reading seer, oh great operatic ostentatiousness, please take us to Brazil and do a video on the theme of one Mordekaiser, the Iron Revenant. I wish to hear your thoughts on one of the angriest and badass men to ever live
This theme relates to the mage uprising: Sylas didn't want to cause an uprising but Demacia gave him no choice but to cause an uprising, so he freed the other locked up mages and they went rampant. The theme says:"I didn't want to do this but for my people's sake I must do this"
Hello Marco, could you consider Warwick for one of the following episodes? I"d enjoy you guessing about my favourite character. Thanks for the content and keep making nice videos !
Yoo Marco! I wonder if you listened or will listen to some of the Pentakill songs? They are a in universe metalband for Leauge and the music is just amazing, all 3 albums are just god tier, some of my fauvories are the Ligthbringer and Deathfire grasp from the first album, Mortal Reminder from the 2nd is the best but ohhoho the WHOLE 3rd album is just chefs kiss, all of the songs on that album is REALLY good but my absolut fauvorite is Edge of Nigth, wonder if you gonna give them a try ;)
sylas story is my fav one in league lore thats why i mained him in league but riot sometimes tries to make him look like a villain a little too much while he is actually not a villain nor a good guy he wants to do the good thing no matter the way even if it means killing and taking down a whole country (Demacia)
I hope you'll do Vex, the Gloomist, and Renata Glasc, the Chem-Baroness, sometime in the future, too. Both have really great theme songs and I'd love hearing your opinions on those.
Your initial observation of Sylas having broken free both of physical shackles and his own constraints hits more on the nose than a lot of people realize from just knowing the character. In his lore Sylas originally only wanted to kill the mageseekers so mages could live equally in Demacia (after he saved the little girl), because he saw them as the oppressive hierarchy. But as he was locked away and tortured, he came to realize the system itself was the hierarchy and that no one who had any semblance of power in that system could be allowed to live. In doing so he accepted any cost it would take to break Demacia, and broke free of his moral constraints. This includes killing his own people, in order to pin the blame on Demacia and inspire more people to fight with him.
I think you can also hear the glimmer of hope when he first meets Lux, which then builds into the shackles breaking. Almost like a mixture of anger and hope, with subtle notes of sorrow for manipulating and betraying Lux. I want to like Sylas because Demacia is a terrible place, but he also broke my Lux's heart so...
I don't really care for Sylas in terms of gameplay itself or lore, but this theme is very nice, I love it's rhytm and instrumentation. Also I love how accurate you are at music interpretation, you're always spot on. Btw, do you still take suggestions for LOL themes? If yes, then two words. Doctor Mundo! His music is one of the most insane things Riot's made.
Perfect timing of you to include Sylas in this series, as he is getting his own game called The Mageseekers soon.
This video was released a week before the game drops (04/18/23). I wonder if that's intentional haha
@@bioplay3287 it probably was
The release of Sylas broke the lore of Demacia as we know it. They were always known as the good guys who protected people from the Rune Wars which was essentially a Nuclear War at the time. But then we learnt about what happened deep withing Demacia and it's disgusting
We knew that Demacia was a hypermilitaristic imperial nation loooong before Sylas, and there were hints of anti-mage sentiment from some Demacian characters if not from Demacia itself, though of course we had no notion of their relevance to Sylas.
@@mclark347 Completely wrong. A hyper militaristic Imperial Nation(Noxus) makes sure to expand it's territories using their military. Demacia was a refuge against magic. And I dont recall any anti-mage sentiment from champions aside from Vayne (which is understandable)
@@Cremlindor Yeah gonna report and block you. This is extreme misinformation.
@@mclark347 You're definitely the 4th choice in the friend group, they wait very long before inviting you to anything.
@@cursedbloodwolf999 And no one ever invites you to anything, as evidenced by the fact that you think 4 people is a lot.
4:27
Hey there is actually a great detail hidden there : the motive that we can hear (witch you associated with his determination) is actually a reference to the music "demacia rising" from riot, which is one of the main them for the region of Demacia that Sylas is starting a revolt against.
Demacia Rising is such a great track. I especially like that the Demacia Vice skinline theme is a synthwave remix of it too
The strings starting at 4:04 are actually from theme "Demacia Rising" (amazing theme btw) but with much darker background music to make it sound tragic rather than heroic. The section at 6:05 is also a twist on the lead-up to the main climax (idk the correct music term for it) of Demacia Rising, once again altered to remove the heroic feel and add a sense of desperation. All of this is perfect for Sylas as a character, since the Demacia he knows and is fighting against is anything but heroic. Because he was born a mage, Sylas has only experienced the prejudice and hatred of Demacia and (imo) rightfully sees Demacia as an oppressive regime.
Context for his theme. He was released during the start of a season which had its own theme (Which I highly recommend you listen to!) A week into the season, he released, in which he hijacked the beginning of the season theme to start his own, which is the reason for the abruptness at the start.
And his ult, since he steals abilities
Sylas' character is extremely well made. Same applies for his music. The fact that he is getting his very own game makes me very excited.
I love Sylas because he is a great character study on a revolutionary written by people who may not be the most familiar with revolution. This is going to mostly focus on the political elements of his story that fuel him as a character and influence his music by proxy.
Firstly, melancholic rage is a great way to put it. He is not inherently an evil man. He was someone who wanted to do good, but broken down and radicalized into wanting to burn everything down so others need not suffer like him and others like him.
Demacia was a nation built in the aftermath of an event known as the Rune Wars, a cataclysmic event fueled by wild, uncontrolled magic. This event bred a deep sense of fear and paranoia in Demacia, and magic was seen as something to be feared, stamped out.
It is why Petricite, a mineral found in ancient trees, was widely adopted. It could suppress magic, absorb it and weaken those who may have it. Demacia tried to stamp out something as natural as being someone with brown hair. Magic is inherent to Runeterra, and they chose to change that.
Mages were rounded up, executed, tortured, imprisoned, made to drink petricite based materials that suppressed magic and addled their minds. There exists a vast prison complex under the city where the mages were kept for life. An entire body was organized to hunt down mages and retrieve or kill them, regardless of whether they're children, adults or the elderly.
This is a genocide. Mages had no recourse, no voice, and no means of changing how they were treated and killed becaue the ruling elite of Demacia had a vested interest in making sure the genocide continued.
Enter Sylas of Dregbourne. A young child surrendered by his family who believed in Demacia, whose values young Sylas possessed as well. He thought he was doing his duty as a Demacian, being used by the Mageseekers to hunt down other mages, thinking he was protecting the mages. In truth, he was a pawn, being used by the Mageseekers to hunt, capture or kill his fellow mages. One fateful day, a moment of sympathy, an accident, one small mistake, and his world was upended. There was no sympathy or mercy for Sylas. He was hunted down, and he was forced to fight.
He could see the hypocrisy in Demacia. The elites and the ruling class had plenty of mages in their ranks, the most vocal anti mage advocates being mages themselves. But they controlled the nation, and could twist the rules to survive. He couldn't. His fellow mages couldn't.
He was imprisoned, deprived of social interaction or dignity for fifteen years. Forced to eat rats skittering by and look through the tiny gap in his cell, desperate to hear the sounds of the world outside and not the moaning or screaming of his fellow mages in the underground compound where they were all kept.
He wanted freedom. For himself, for his fellow mages. He wanted nothing else but to burn down the very structures that chose to kill them for the very crime of being who they were.
He may be a monster, but he was a monster Demacia made when they chose to murder his kind for no reason but fear and power.
If I may add something, even though I'm a bit late to the party:
As a German, Demacia has some major fascist undertones for me. Not only the treatment of the mages, but also the extreme patriotism/nationalism and militarism. Demacia has a strictly enforced class structure with the noble families that also hold high positions in the military and sit right below the king, the absolutist ruler. Not to mention the para-militaristic enforcement groups for the mage hunts. In regards to the history of my home country, these things seem rather ovious to me.
There is just one problem: US Americans seem to be completely oblivious when it comes to recognizing fascism. And the League of Legends story team seems to be highly in favor of keeping the status quo. So, they wrote a story about a pretty explicitly fascist regime (maybe without even realzing it) and had to make the revolutionary guy just evil enough that people don't feel bad when his rebellion isn't successful. And how did they do that? By having him kill noble families, humiliate enemies publicly and speak in a way that sounds like a "darn dirty communist" to a certain demographic.
And that's my problem. It's always good to give a character nuance, but what kind of message do you send when the revolutionary against a genocidal, fascist system is ultimately framed as the bad guy, especially since so many "good guys" are already on the side of the regime (Garen, Jarvan, Lux, Shyvana...)?
They kind of fixed it with the Mageseeker game, but before that? Yikes.
@@Dhorannisdidn't J4 rip up the note from J3 delivered by Xin Zhou that said to stop the mage genocide? He allows conflict to continue completely understanding the hypocrisy of it. Also, I disagree that it sends a bad message. The good guys don't always need to win; that's life
@@cameronlofte3386 I don't think it's simply "the good guys don't always need to win" but rather their qualms are with how they have bad messaging they're sending or at least a poor execution of storytelling
i hate to correct such a well written comment, but petricite is made from the bark/wood of petricite trees mixed into the masonry, its the trees that have magic dampening properties, which is why ryze is hiding world runes under them. other than that, very well written!
If you play Mageseeker, it's interessant to notice that Sylas isn't really a "good guy". He's extreme and the game show he don't want to see there is no black and white world. What Lux do is more realistic, even it will takes more times to "free" Demacia.
On your second commentary you explain what I see when I see Sylas, cliché. And he is cliché. So the good aspect of the revolution come from Lux who is noble and Demacian.
But the revolution didn't fail for me, it works. King is dead, people knows there are mage on Noble Demacian, mages know they can be free. It's just the begining. Wariors cinematics add so much questions ! Now Lux is back to Demacia, Galio is here, Sylas with Frejord teams, the fact that Sylas use ult of Garen mean that Garen have magic too ? I just want to know what happens next.
4:04 + 6:04 this leitmotif actually represents his home nation of Demacia! it was written over 8 years ago for a song called "Demacia Rising." makes sense since he does what he does out of his love (?) for Demacia.
IMO that's represent his nemesis that should be destroyed, basically his reason to fight
Knowing that he wants to destroy the rulling system that persecutes mages, not exactly the city of Demacia per say, so everyone living there can do so without the shackles that were imposed by those on top.
In a sense it still is Demacia Rising, but a new one :D
@@bunnywreck Not exacly, 2 things, first of all, Sylas has no plan for what to do after he tears everything down - just like many real life revolutionaries, as it is much easier to destroy than to create. And aslo, Sylas has shown that he wants to kill everyone who is either working for the nobles or is not standing up against the current system (read the extended bio story, i forget what its called), which would easily include at LEAST 60% of all Demacian citizenry if not more (its a feudal society - aka almost everyone works for or with the nobility).
I think those moments in the song represent more his dislike of Demacia/how Demacia treated (or is connected with) him.
@@bunnywreck Well, Sylas is an extremist, anything that block his way is simply "spendable", with the ultimate purpose is too destroy anything that's a threat to mages, include the city. :p Which also has a lot of referent to human history, for anyone say Sylas isn't bad, they will have to agree Stalin or Hitler aren't bad either.
@@FallenGranny One thing i have wonder, is that it look like history class in many place doesn't work out well. Like do those ppl say "Sylas is right/righteous" skip class about violent revolutionaries? Or does those class bear some contries's bias when teaching?
I think you did this at a perfect time considering an action RPG game revolving around him is about to release in a week or two .
As someone with no musical background, I'm amazed every time how it's possible to convey - and interpret - so much information without language, imagery, or even context.
I'd love to hear an interpretation of the Mythic Themes from Pathfinder Wrath of the Righteous, because each of those is supposed to represent an entire story by themselves.
Some details you might not realize from the trailer:
7:53 to 8:17 all the enemies he's fighting are Demacians
8:15 to 8:43 Sylas is using his mechanic of stealing enemy Ults. The Ults stolen here are the most well-known or flashy ones.
8:40 This is Lux's Ult: the mage he convinced to help him in his story. We also see him use her power at 8:54 (it looks exactly like one of Lux's abilities). He also references this at 7:44
Man Sylas's lore is very well done, you guessed him pretty spot on at the beginning. Plus Riot always knocks their music out of the park! I do have a few suggestions for future champions that you could do:
-Neeko, The Curious Chameleon
-Renata Glasc, The Chem-Baroness
-Evelynn, Agony's Embrace
-Lillia, The Bashful Bloom
-Caitlyn, The Sheriff of Piltover
-Illaoi, The Kraken Priestess
These guys are some of my favorites in the game, and their music is amazing
+1 for Boss Bitch Renata, _that_ is a theme with class.
It's truly amazing how much You can guess from listening to music alone, and how accurate You are while doing this. Would be awesome to see Varus on your channel one day.
I think it's good to add that Demacia was founded as a bastion against magic. There was this big turning point in League's lore history called the Rune Wars in which the most powerful magic of the world was used as weapons of mass destruction that threatened to destroy the world. Refugees from that war fled to a large forest of giant fossilized trees and built their city from that material. That is petricite, the magic-absorbing material mentioned.
Swain probably has the most fitting theme in the game while also sounding sick, would be a great theme to react to.
SYLASSSSSSSS YAAAS~~ I am so glad you've gotten to him. He's on of my absolute FAVOURITE. Him along with Sett.
One of the coolest things they did while releasing a champion with Sylas was the login screen he took over was Season 2019 Login screen that we have been seeing for sometime and boom Sylas took over one day. Also one cool thing is his theme is a slowed and altered version of a theme called Demacia Rising. We all know how much Sylas likes Demacia
Intense, dramatic, hatred, violence, purpose, love this piece.
That trailer still gives me goosebumps! also good timing, his own story based game is coming soon.
yet another W post from marcomeatball. i’ve been anticipating this so much, sylas is one of my favourite characters and i think his theme is absolutely amazing. very excited to see you analyze this :-)
Whats is really cool about this login screen is that the time we got this was at the start of the season, and usualy we had hype login screens with popular champs to get us to play league, so when we got sylas instead of removing the login screen and having an animated splash art like every other champ he just hyjacked the ongoing one, thats why we have Blitz at the start of the video, just like he steals ults in game.
I love Sylas's lore he is what i like to look at as a by product of the discrimination that Demacia has for Mages like him, a loyal servant of the mageseekers turned into a criminal deemed for execution. Before Sylas Demacia as a region was pretty bland. Im so glad that you nailed his story.
Yes, he did Sylas! Now there’s only Kayn left and all my favorite champions are featured on the channel…
Sylas is my 3rd favourite, I love it how 2nd place, Gwen... The 1st reaction got corrupted 😭😭😭
easily your most precise, most spot on a league video so far. crazy how the game can really give such nuance that you can catch lore of the character down to the last detail. its really only your videos that I find even some semblance of motivation to return to this game. I feel like I can overlook the toxicity to remember just what was so cool about all this. Thats a sense of wonder and passion I haven't had in a long time so I thank you for that
My pleasure!
You need to do those more often cuz it's just fascinating how you do it! You won't run out of content for those, there are tons of those character themes which I'm certain ya figured already :D
That's the plan!
WE'RE GETTING CLOSER AND CLOSER TO SETT... I CAN SMELL IT!
Pretty apt description. He did not lose a loved one but his faith in the system. He is a revolutionary after breaking out of prison after 15 yrs at his execution.
Other 2 champs that have pretty interesting themes are Dr.Mundo and Renata glasc.
The lore of how mundo lost all humanity and evolves into a monsters is pretty sad, as well of trying to "help sick people" in zaun.
and Ms. Glasc because I value my life
Bro why tell him the lore already, he has to guess them
Its pretty funny to me how now not only do we get your commentary on the music, but since you got your VA job we are also getting some commentary on the VA work too :D
(if you ever run out of content in relation to music, VA and voice line stuff could be a good way to branch out)
I've actually been a VA for three years :D but Genshin was the most high profile thing so far
@@MarcoMeatball oh sorry i only casually watch your content so i didnt know. i hope you get hired for more stuff cos you have a nice and smooth voice :P
He made his shackles his weapons. Very good guesses
For me, the piano is Sylas planning and scheming revenge quietly when he was imprisoned, the strings his agony that turns into his symbol of freedom, Sylas's need for it.
I don’t know if you noticed but that last note of the song sounded like a promise to me which made sense with his lore
Thank you for this awesome series!
League has many awesome themes, and from myself I recommend Renata Glasc, Irelia, Udyr and Taliyah's. These, I think, are really successful in portraying it's character through music!
I reall, really want more of this, Marco
I promise
"they locked up a child, but let loose a killer" - sylas
Sylas' own game MAGESEEKER comes out a week from now. April 18th.
Man I love these. Always really cool seeing them pop up in my feed.
Glad you like them!
I'm so happy you finally made a video on Sylas! Thanks a lot for your takes on him Marco ^^
You can see the other side of Sylas' story in the Lux Comic.
Yay, thank you for reacting to Sylas!
Your analysis was pretty spot on :)
It's almost like we can hear "I'm sorry little light"
Can you listen to “No Mercy Percy” from “the legend of vox machina” and or “when murder entered my heart” both of these songs belong to a character named Percival de rolo
Man i always enjoy playing some Sylas from time to time, his lore and music is soo good too, great video as alway man 👍
i was actually so hyped seeing this in my recomended, i do not fully know why but syals' theme is my favorite out of any theme in the game
I forgot how cool the Sylas teaser was. Him walking up to Garen and using his ultimate and just thinking "no way he just used Demacian Justice on Garen". The montage of him taking some of the most powerful ultimate abilities in the game and using them against their owners is still so cool.
Oh, what a timing, a game is just around a corner, and you roll out Sylas video! BTW, will you play his game?
btw, the beat that plays in sylas' t heme where you said it's to say Sylas is determined. It's a slowed and twisted version of Demacia Rising.
BRO YESTERDAY I WAS TRYING TO FIND YOUR REACTION TO SYLAS AND YOU RANDOMLY DROP IT TODAY WHATTTTTTTT
you should do rek'sai next, her theme is insane and barely anyone knows about it
Facts
Its been a long one since the last league video ^^
Demacia Rising motif is in Sylas's theme. You can hear it in the strings in 4:04
I've been waiting this one, god's work.
interestingly enough, his own game comes out in a week or so called The Mageseeker, it's an action RPG so if you're interested in diving deeper it's worth a try.
Nice video! Love how you describe the feelings that songa bring! Heres hoping you do Jacks theme from legends of runeterra, his theme is so cool imo and i feel it really fits him
great video as always!! i'd love to hear your interpretation of yone's theme as well someday ;o; his lore is so underrated
The work around the channel has greatly improved as time passes, talking about how the video is ddone the thumbnail, edit...
This was an Amazing Breakdown. I didn't even like Sylass all that much, but your break down made me kinda like him.
One Character(s) that I think might warm your heart in contrast to Sylass is
Nunu & Willump. I think you'd love their Theme, trailer, and backstory.
I loved nunu. Super cute. Will upload when i can :)
@@MarcoMeatball
This is just a pleasant Surprise.
Great reaction, hoping to see one to Bel Veth, her theme is so powerful and majestic. The design is very nice too (tho in game she just slaps you to death).
Sylas is a giga chad, lore wise one of the coolest characters they've added
Oh oh you should do Rek'sai! I remember I listened to the theme many times when that champ came out cause I liked it so much. But don't look at the picture if you didn't already. It would tell too much :D Love these videos btw!
The music gives me the "don't mess with him" vibes.
Ah yes, the epitome of League trying to do grey canon by having their good guy knights do an apartheid on magic.
"I've got YOUR justice!"
Interesting and lore-based fact - his theme is a changed theme of the Demacia itself.
Sylas and his theme remind me of Johnny Silverhand and his theme, The Rebel Path
Something I think is so cool about this theme is how it’s sylas having a monologue about demacia.
On the outside demacia are the “good” guys, but he is here to tell us that the people of demacia subjugate a portion of their people because of how they are born, sure it’s an analogue for racism, but I think it’s a little bit more powerful then that. He wants equality, he challenges demacia to confirm the beliefs that they believe in, his theme sounds a bit “evil” because he is what demacia deemed an “evil” person
One should definitely be concerned about that.
Oh great voice of the tunes, oh great sight reading seer, oh great operatic ostentatiousness, please take us to Brazil and do a video on the theme of one Mordekaiser, the Iron Revenant. I wish to hear your thoughts on one of the angriest and badass men to ever live
Idk if I'm right but I think there is a bit of Demacia Rising on his theme (around 4:05) which is the theme for Demacia
I'm amazed at how you describe the characters to the perfection only with the music...
Yeah, Riot knows how to make music, but the game...
Love this content man keep it up, also if you want another fun one do mordekaiser next
This theme relates to the mage uprising: Sylas didn't want to cause an uprising but Demacia gave him no choice but to cause an uprising, so he freed the other locked up mages and they went rampant. The theme says:"I didn't want to do this but for my people's sake I must do this"
You should do a video where you listen to every league champion theme, until you guess correctly who it is then you go to the next one!
HolyMoly wasnt expecting this. LetsgOo!!
to understand sylas in full you need to listen first "Demacia RIsing"
Hello Marco, could you consider Warwick for one of the following episodes? I"d enjoy you guessing about my favourite character. Thanks for the content and keep making nice videos !
Yes! My favorite game. Excellent
Yoo Marco! I wonder if you listened or will listen to some of the Pentakill songs? They are a in universe metalband for Leauge and the music is just amazing, all 3 albums are just god tier, some of my fauvories are the Ligthbringer and Deathfire grasp from the first album, Mortal Reminder from the 2nd is the best but ohhoho the WHOLE 3rd album is just chefs kiss, all of the songs on that album is REALLY good but my absolut fauvorite is Edge of Nigth, wonder if you gonna give them a try ;)
Have you concidered reacting to the Kerbal Space Program 2 OST?
Personal favourites are the themes for the planets Eve, Duna, Eeloo and Dres.
I'm begging for Swain next
"Looks" thee hee
This is war 8 by falconshield.
Sylas is the only melee burst mage from the game he is also a skirmisher .
sylas story is my fav one in league lore thats why i mained him in league
but riot sometimes tries to make him look like a villain a little too much while he is actually not a villain nor a good guy he wants to do the good thing no matter the way even if it means killing and taking down a whole country (Demacia)
this man needs to make a berserk OST's video
I will do a lot of naughty things to have you cover Evelynn and/or Coven skin theme.
I hope you'll do Vex, the Gloomist, and Renata Glasc, the Chem-Baroness, sometime in the future, too.
Both have really great theme songs and I'd love hearing your opinions on those.
Your initial observation of Sylas having broken free both of physical shackles and his own constraints hits more on the nose than a lot of people realize from just knowing the character.
In his lore Sylas originally only wanted to kill the mageseekers so mages could live equally in Demacia (after he saved the little girl), because he saw them as the oppressive hierarchy. But as he was locked away and tortured, he came to realize the system itself was the hierarchy and that no one who had any semblance of power in that system could be allowed to live. In doing so he accepted any cost it would take to break Demacia, and broke free of his moral constraints. This includes killing his own people, in order to pin the blame on Demacia and inspire more people to fight with him.
I love your listen and guess vids so so much, but can you do Xayah & Rakan please?
"Ah-trox"
*Angry Aatrox main noises*
Expert thumbnail
Yeeee baby the madman finally did it
I think you can also hear the glimmer of hope when he first meets Lux, which then builds into the shackles breaking. Almost like a mixture of anger and hope, with subtle notes of sorrow for manipulating and betraying Lux. I want to like Sylas because Demacia is a terrible place, but he also broke my Lux's heart so...
I think you would like Ivern theme and lore
would love to hear the irelia theme checked out. one of my favorites
4:11 determination to crush Demacia xD
i recommend you to listen to Mordekaiser's or Irelia's theme! They are really good and one of my favorites too!
Would love to see you look into kayn, thresh, or mordekaiser soon!
Yeah!
love how he is so accurate with only the song
I don't really care for Sylas in terms of gameplay itself or lore, but this theme is very nice, I love it's rhytm and instrumentation. Also I love how accurate you are at music interpretation, you're always spot on.
Btw, do you still take suggestions for LOL themes? If yes, then two words. Doctor Mundo! His music is one of the most insane things Riot's made.
The unironic good guy of demacia