Finally. FINALLY. Someone gets what Silco truly is. An antivillain. Not a misunderstood or fallen hero. Not a "subversive" villain. An antivillain. He is the literal definition of one.
haha. I know this is 2 yo but this was MY view and understanding as well. He's an anti-villain! That's been my argument since the start too! I know he's not a hero but he's definitely NOT a villain. He sacrificed himself for Jinx and when dying on his deathbed confession told her AGAIN....I never would have given you up! What man lies while dying? Answer NONE! I love your post!
@@3Kefka6Palazzo9 An antivillain is still a villain. Imo a villain who appears good analogous to the anti-hero trope. Which arguebly fits better to Silcos character. Do good while appearing evil. In the end he is a freedom fighter. As such not fully classifyable with a oversimplified black and white interpretation of reality. Team good vs team bad is just a bad trope. Silcos environment is more evil than Silco who is a product of it.
I want to add an interesting point that many don’t bring up. Silco using child labor in his labs isn’t evil. Let me explain: 1. The people in lanes live in toxic conditions that the air they breathe can legit kill them (see Viktor). The topsiders wear air masks to filter the toxicity. In the lab invasion by Jayce and Vi we see that Jayce isn’t wearing any filter meaning that the air is clean and safe. 2. The lanes are known to be a mining facility. And by the fact Vi, Powder, and company are kids and stealing as well as Ekko working in a shop that kids have to work in order for their family to make ends meet. Do even under topside rule child labor was a thing. So kids most likely were working in the mines alongside their parents. And Vi and Powder’s job was definitely very dangerous. Now with Jayce and Vi’s destruction of Silco’s lab the kid that was killed was a drug lord’s kid. Why was the kid there? Because Silco’s lab was safer than stealing and mining. Sure putting kids to work is bad but Silco was the lesser of the 2 evils and was trying to better Zaun in anyway he can.
Also, the Piltovans are hypocrites when it comes to slavery, child labor and war as they themselves have banned it in their own city yet the Council exploits it in the "less evolved and progressive" neighboring regions(Especially Zaun and Noxus) and they basically have a "Gentleman`s agreement" not to talk about it. In addition, notice how mad they were that Jayce called the Zaunites, well, Zaunites, as opposed to any of the multiple disparaging, dehumanizing nicknames they came up with for them(I.e. "Trenchers", "fissure-folk", "Undercity rabble" ,"Dirty little animals"). The Topsiders may call themselves a "City of Progress" yet they are so desensitized to treating their own brothers and sisters and children underneath their feet in conditions they largely forced upon them like garbage because they have done it so long!
Another interesting subversion in Silco's portrayal as a villain-...and he is a villain insofar as there is any singular villain. His methods include violence, coercion, terrorism, the weaponizing of his own people, and the flooding of a dangerous drug onto the streets. The means a character is willing to achieve even a noble goal often determine their status as a hero or a villain. And it could certainly be said that Silco's ultimate goal of a free, independent, and strong Zaun was noble. But the interesting thing about him as a villain is that...his villainous methods were working. His actions were terrible. But under Silco the Enforcers didn't just take a light touch, they stayed entirely our of the Lanes. Marcus was all but under Silco's thumb. While it was fueled by drugs, the economy in the Undercity was booming. And he came within a hair's breadth of securing his ultimate, and noble, goal of taking Zaun out from under the exploitive thumb of Piltover. And that's a pretty amazing approach for a story, to have a villain's villainous methods actually working. The Council didn't suddenly dig in its heels and proclaim they would not be intimidated or declare that they wouldn't negotiate with a terrorist. It wasn't any of the heroes or even the actions of someone intentionally trying to stop him or undermine Silco's methods that "thwarted" him. And further, this stands in contrast to Vander's much more conventionally noble and heroic methods, of sacrificing no one, using diplomacy, and seeking to maintain peace. For all of Vander's efforts, the Lanes were still poorer than poor with even other outsiders trying to take advantage of its people. The Enforcers were a constant presence. And at the end of the day, the people were still regularly walking around breathing air so poisonous that most topsiders wore rebreathers. And this was the status quo, one that he was intentionally trying not to upset for the sake of protecting lives. They're an amazing contrast in the two ideas "The ends justify the means" and "The means justify the ends" and shows just how darkly either ideological end can be. It's easy to say you believe in one or the other. But then to see the what those respective "means" and "ends" are...I think both Vander and Silco were broken by it.
@@Tay-v6v I believe that was the way he gained power over the undercity Remember, after Vander died, it's not like Silco immediately took his place as the undercity "ruler". People probably didnt even know who he was...
@@GetOverHer3 they new him, at least, as one of Vander's allies of uprising time. Brothel madam also said that nobody even really tried to stop Since from rising to power, so that was rather quick and peaceful. Apart from that, shimmer is not a bad thing at all, it's a medicine, fuel for engines, etc. Of course, some people use it as drugs, but that's completely their fault, not Silko's.
@@alarichrul6639 that reeks of victim blaming, silco encouraged the use of shimmer as drugs, he understood that it is like that, but he doesn't do anything about it, because it's benefitial for his position. There is definitely many people who wouldn't be addicted without silco.
The Antivillain is essentially someone with the potential to be the Hero, but chose to obtain his goals (which are often honorable) by any means necessary.
I didn't see a villain. Just a man willing to get shit done. Ekko did nothing, Vander nothing. Everyone nothing. But silco ain't no bitch and understand, things must get ugly to get better. The council doesn't care, you got to make them.
Even without the humanising element that is his relationship with Jinx, I'd still say he wasn't a villain. His mission is to win independence for Zaun at any cost. In those terms, his actions are understandable.
@@lolicongang.4974 exactly at first I thought what I saw was a villain but he wasn't, he was just a man who thought what he was doing was right but he realized in the end after he was told he had to give up jinx but he didn't because he showed characteristics of a loving father for wanting to care for her than my main and biggest question is that if he didn't die than would he have tried to make up everything he did like Vander did? I mean it's so obvious that Vander use to be like silco and he followed down that path and saw the same thing Vander did when he took in daughters for what he did.
Silco is a complex character, and has become one of my favorites. Silco is far from evil, evil people don't seek to free a nation and give it, its independence. But Silco does do evil things. Or does he? Let me explain. Silco was part of the resistance clearly, that Vi's parents and Vander was a part of. They were fighting for the same cause. Up until at least Vi's parents died. This seems to be the point where Vander puts a hold on things and takes a complete backseat. Something a lot of us can admire him for. To be honest. I don't. Lets go to the meeting the Silco had with Finn. That meeting for me cemented a truth in the story that most probably just saw as cruel subversion, but let's look again. Silco pumped toxic gas into the chamber in an attempt to sway their minds. Or... wait. No? He pumped normal air.. Yes normal air that his people breathed day in and day out... or normal for them. Its very apparent that the city was a complete shithole slave labor camp for mining. That's the air quality, and Silco is a living reminder of what the water in that town does to you if you even get it get it into open wounds. Silco and by proxy Vander and Co. Lived through clearly horrendous concentration camp style treatments as slaves. 2. The name escapes me, but the kid that died in the factory. His mother and Silco have a conversation about Silco responds that although he's dead at least he died fighting for change, or something to that effect. That conversation leaves us with the picture that most people down there, are going to be criminals by just proxy of environment. Vander kept a handful of people from going down that route but we see the nasty underbelly of the town for what it is.. The fact is, outside of Shimmer, that city has 0% chance of ever winning their independence. It was apparent when Vander quit the resistance. Did I blame him earlier? Yes, but his character was a very violent but straightforward character. Vander saw that the city was in no way shape or form going to ever win without a massive pile of bodies. They are outnumbered, out gunned. Fact is.. If Silco had never weaponized Shimmer like he did, we gleen from the meeting with the council that essentially Vander keeps the "peace' The people aren't slaves anymore obviously and air quality as we see is still dogshit but thanks to the filters they can breathe properly. But... that's it. The .iving conditions in that place are still 3rd world, people dying in the streets of infection and poverty. Its a miserable existence but .. at least we're not slaves right? Bear with me. Silco experimenting on that kid is horrible absolutely. But was it evil? I don't believe so.. That kid was going to without question, end up starving, miserable, and turn to a life of theft, crime and what have you. Something that a few characters acknowledge many times during the season. Its not just a theory I have, they said it several times. The people there lost their will to fight, and just fight each other now. Its just how cut throat the place is. If you can't make a iving, you end up being your own villain. Silco during the talks with Jayce mentions he already was dismantling the labs. Why? That sounds kinda shitty for a Drug lord to do. How ever is he going to do business now? Simple.. he wasn't a drug lord. He gave that Shimmer out for free, and yes it was bad, but Silco in a very twisted light used people who were never going to be of any good to the city. As experiments, that of course died, but... but in the end. He weaponized Shimmer to a safe level that people with the mindset to actually win their freedom like Sevika could use it to combat the city. Yeah Hextech became a thing, and probably trumped a lot of Shimmer. but Silco built his empire not getting kids hooked on drugs. He dedicated himself to finding a solution to what everyone learned during the rebellion.. The fact they don't have guns, a military. nothing. They needed a weapon so horrible that the city didn't want to even poke their head in.. ever. Unless it was absolutely neccessary. But also powerful. Is he a Hero? Not in the most traditional sense. I see him as someone, like mentioned here. willing to do whatever it takes. In the real world, no Not many times has a country ever gotten its independence through civil talks and discussion. We're filled with proof of absolutely horrendous and unspeakable acts in the name of freedom. It's because often revolution requires the most dire of steps which the faint of heart will never have the depth to do, and live with themselves after. At the end of the day, I think we need to remind ourselves that.. fairy tale heroes, don't really exist in the real world. The victors have always been those who are willing to do the dirtiest and go the furthest for their goals. The city thought it was fine to enslave those people, and not even care about living conditions that mutate their own "Workers" Its not really surprising that the workers who are treated beyond cruel means go to drastic methods.
@@19Rena96 the people you celebrate in your country probably did worst then him Upon rewatch, my perspective on the story changed. The Undercity's condition was so inhuman the entire council of Piltovere deserved to be beheaded in Public Square
"Silco experimenting on that kid is horrible absolutely. But was it evil?" Using ppl in this way cuz they don't likely to have a good future? Are you fucking serious? Sounds pretty psycho to me dude........
@@sm3ghe4d22 I'm dead serious. Humor me for a moment and walk outside the cushy life you live in right now, and then step into the shoes of someone in the lower city. You live out your days usually not eating because food is scarce if you don't feel like robbing or kililng someone else for it. Your family is mostly unemployed because work doesn't exist, and the other half of your family is dead because they didn't fight hard enough to protect what little they had. That cop you tried to complain to? most likely beat you half to death with a nightstick for bothering him with trivial matters. Your choices everyday are to spiral to a life of crime eventually, or just give up and let someone slit your throat for the piece of bread you have left. Cool choices huh? Your best friend is dying of sickness that no one has the money to fix, and you're fiance is now selling herself to the local brothel to scrape together money to pay a smuggler to get her little brother into piltover for an operation that could save his terminal illness. Salvation army? Doctors? Welfare? Yeah there's literally no one that's going to help you. Life is literally misery and mostly lawless within majority of your town. Now with this mindset, tell me if the druggie that tried to stab your father to death for his shoes a week ago, being used for a science experiment is pyscho or quite literally the norm for that situation. Again I don't condone the behavior, but I won't try to inflict my opinions of whats morally just in a world that doesn't have the same compass. Silco's one of the only reasons they have clean air and livable conditions, unfortunately he doesn't live on Earth where human resources and the union can help press charges against the corrupt shit that goes down in there. Remember, the cops are quite literally the bad guys enforcing these conditions to persist.
Silco is a true hero...he is not a villain, it's his scars that changed him , deep down in his heart there is kindness that has been shown to us by his daughter jinx.
Talk to any real life decorated soldier "hero" and ask them what they actually did in war The stories are horrifying and bloody Or read up on the CIA-NSA activities and Silco looks like a priest in comparison lol
That comment is two years old. But I'm so flabbergasted by the lack of media literacy and ignorance about Silco and his relationship with Jinx is ASTOUNDING 💀😭😭
00:48 For me the best part of Silico is that the first impression screams total bad guy. Dark, scared face , manipulative man with demonic eye. He is responsible for 80% of crime in the city, enslaves people with drugs. At the same, time all of that are simply results of lack of possibilities. There are hardly any methods to change position of his people.
He wasn't responsible for 80% of the crime in the city. He directed a fair amount of "the crime" in the city to actual productive means. The crime existed because the city is in shambles. The rebellion that failed, only served, obviously to make the people stop mining whatever is down in the fissures for piltover and they got the air filters now. Outside of that, the city is wild, and has to fend for itself which is only the strong survive The water will still sterlize you and turn you into a resident evil experiment. Silco played the devil you know, and scared ALOT of people, but when you are in a town where there are no laws, someone has to take the reigns and steer the city somewhere. We can all pretend a nice loving leader, but the truth is, if you don't have fangs and the loudest bite in the slums, you die. The town doesn't even go down there anymore because they lost control over their free slave labor. That should tell you something.
Keep in mind, the only reason people listened to Vander was because he could tear you in half like a phone book, and has killed a whole bunch of people right in front of others. He's a man with a very violent dark past. Sure he feels remorse for it, but the fact is, he can use the fear of "Having to put those gloves" back on for people to back down and behave. Vander and Silco both use fear to placate both the city and undercity. They just do it in very different ways.
Silco Went from a Villain to actual Loving Father, to the point he was going to give up his dream to save her. Silco accepted Powder as she was in the present, Jinx. Vi however still held on to Her sister’s past self, something that died long ago. Even if it was unintentional, Vi and the memory of Mylo verbal insults planted the seed which gave birth to Jinx. Silco saw Jinx as perfect despite her flaws. Silco became a father with unconditional love to a daughter he was gonna give up his dream for her. Once Jinx accidentally killed Silco, there was no chance of Powder ever coming back. What a great character. Silco was absolutely an anti-villain. ❤❤❤
He's manipulative and a killer. But he's also a loving father willing to give up his dream for his daughter. He's human! And that's why he's a great character.
OMG FINALLY A content creator understands my point of view.....haha I would like to make the argument and PLEASE counter me after you read this if you disagree that Silco and Jinx are not Villains but anti-heroes instead. If any one of us were treated the way Silco was, would we ever trust the surface? The pain and suffering, he HAD to be ruthless in order to fight his war, his truth, for liberation of the underground because the surface NEVER listened. If still following I appreciate your logic,Jinx is next. Jinx Lost Vi because of a corrupt surface dweller, thus she THOUGHT she lost her sister, had nobody but SILCO took her into his arms, because he truly cared for her plight. He didn't use her, he saw HIMSELF in her!! Still with me? Thank you! Jinx and Silco are the SAME type of DAMAGED being, misunderstood, taken advantage of and once SET IN MOTION a man like Silco CANNOT stop. He's NOT a villain, he is history, the person with nothing against the EVERYTHING and I at least....admit,as an autistic individual, I would have been just like him, singly focused on one goal.........FREEDOM....still with me? I thank you...truly! To conclude my friends, Silco is an uncompromising freedom fighter willing to sacrfice everyone and everything........except the DAUGHTER that found HIM in his same image. The tragedy is Jinx killed him, that's the true story of Arcane! It's all about the struggle of Jinx and Silco....if you're still here you get it!! Silco is not....NOT....a villain.....he's what all powerful groups label a villain.....namely a FREEDOM FIGHTER at ALL costs...except Jinx....He told her in his last dying breathe....I NEVER...would have given YOU....UP.......in other words a true father that so few of us ever had, yet Jinx understood, even though she accidentally killed him......I NEVER...would have given............RIP SILCO I UNDERSTAND....Hope everyone else does too........
I'm so tired of 120iq takes on Silco all a variant of "he is evil because he uses violence but he is nuanced" Good video 👍 that stands out if the crowd Freedom is has to be earned, and almost always blood is the price I'd have Silco on my fireteam any day Fun fact everyone misses: the only person Silco kills is vander (who betrayed him first) Edit - Silco doesn't give up his dream for Jinx; Jinx and zaun become the same, symbolically. Also when Silco says Vi isn't here for Jinx but for the gemstone he is correct because Vi was only coming back for powder and she would never accept her as Jinx (ie the ending)
No Vi absolutely cared more bout Powder then the gemstone!!!Are fucking insane! and the whole reason She doesnt accept her as jinx is cuz thats not the real her! Jinx is the result of Silco Projecting his psychotic relationship with his brother onto her relationship with Vi obsessively trying to turn her into another him cuz of how egotistical he is which is the reason for everything he does. Like he doesn't really care bout the undercity he cares bout getting back at the city of aristocrats and him willing to destroy his own city with the use of drugs to do it proves that.
Vi objectively DID NOT come back for the gemstone. She didn't even know what it was because Caitlyn kept it hidden from her. Silco was wrong about her, and that's simply a fact.
@@RaMraM-zm1el The war effort doesn't pay for itself and lets be honest, if you're facing a war against such a superior enemy, you'd be stupid not to leap at the opportunity of a super-soldier drug. He's not forcing Shimmer down anyone's throat.
@@optimisticnihilist3417 yes he did. Ekko says he litterally flooded the lanes with shimmer, didnt care what it did to people. He absolutely was foring this on people.
@@mathies3598 1: he didn't say literally. A literal flood of shimmer would be very different. 2: no he didn't. "Flooded the lanes with shimmer" only implies that it's easy to get. It doesn't mean anybody is forced to take it.
@@mumhustler I think Silco's loyalty to Jinx went well beyond his usual conception of loyalty. She's his daughter and more than that, she represents his conception of Zaun itself; chaotic, broken, perfect. He's loyal to Sevika as well, because she's well and truly a believer in the cause. But if push came to shove and it was Sevika who the council demanded in exchange for Zaunite sovereignty, he'd probably hand her over. He'd probably just explain things to her first and expect her to make the self-sacrificial choice. Jinx, on the other hand, well in his mind there is no Zaun without Jinx.
@@optimisticnihilist3417 sevika is only loyal to Zaun, she works for Silco as long as he is the best option to help Zaun. Silco knows and respects this. If her going to jail would help Zaun she would do so in a heartbeat
I don't think Silco cared at all bout the undercity I think everything he does is motivated by Ego cuz he talks so much bout how the the under city needed independence but was willing to destroy it to obtain which is just insane but the reason why is willing to do it is cuz it isn't bout helping the undercity its bout trying to dominate the city above. Its the same deal with Jinx He doesn't really care for her only obsessed with her cuz he narcissistic who see's himself in her and its so obvious with the way he projects his relationship with his brother Vanders onto her relationship with her sister. Like even with his dying breath he still obsessed with her carrying on the fight with the whole "SHOW THEM WHO YOU REALLY ARE!!" line cuz he thinks he know the real her but he doesn't he warp and twisted the real her out of Powder and turned into something she's not through lying manipulation that fed her to psychosis instead encouraging her to mend the relationship with her sister that he ruined. So again I think he trying to justify it by saying he is doin it for his ppl but really its bout proving he is better.
@sm3ghe4d22 How the fuck is Silco motivated by ego? He constantly talked about how Zaunites are "brothers and sisters, sons and daughters" and how shameful it was that so many of them coveted Topsider money over the loyalty and brotherhood that once kept them alive in all the pollution and repression by Piltover and the Enforcers! The fact he casually threw a bloody coin on the ground after the deal with Marcus shows he was not motivated by greed unlike the other Chem-Barons! He wanted respect but respect for Zaun as a whole, not just himself! Also, he saw his weaker self in Jinx, if he were a narcissist as you claim he would have left her to die, they`re not tolerant of weaker reflections of themselves and most Zaunites aren`t either! Social Darwinism is super-fucking-common in Zaun,far more so than fresh air or people who are wealthy like Silco is and most of that wealth comes from Shimmer profits and his people making back-alley deals with Enforcers and Councillors!
Vi left Powder to die in the rain in the crime-ridden alleys of Zaun! Vi betrayed her, abandoned her, hit her, called her a jinx and only realized what she`d done after she did it! Plus Silco ordered Marcus to kill Vi, not arrest her and Marcus lied to Silco!At that point, Jinx was the real her! Powder was a frightened, innocent little girl with abandonment and attachment issues who would have never survived in Zaun as she was! Why do you think older Zaunites say "These polluted streets eat the weak?"
@@aspieanarchist5439 She didn't abandon her she was tooken away and plus she was kid also I mean yah she was lil older but it still valid for her to have the emotional reaction to her sister literally GETTING EVERYONE KILLED!!!!!!!!!!!! yes it was accident but thats not gunna stop emotions from flying in the heat of the moment.
@@sm3ghe4d22 Powder had no way of knowing that at the time, nor did Silco, plus Vi was literally warned by Vander in the previous fucking episode from experience that she needed to watch her temper or she could lose her family and she did not listen until after the fact!Vi being the "good sister" doesn`t make her a saint or paragon of virtue, there are no such things in "Arcane". Even Vander, Grayson and Heimerdinger with their inaction let things go to shit in Zaun so their worst fears were inevitably realized!
@@1993MovieMan I don't remember arguing anyone was perfect nor was I saying Powder did it on purpose. I am just pointing out that in the chaos of the situation its really hard to blame Vi for reacting the way she did.
![[MV] A leap of faith...ความเชื่อใจครั้งสุดท้าย (From "Petrichor the series")](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/U1piZH2CNXA/mqdefault.jpg)
Finally. FINALLY. Someone gets what Silco truly is. An antivillain. Not a misunderstood or fallen hero. Not a "subversive" villain.
An antivillain. He is the literal definition of one.
haha. I know this is 2 yo but this was MY view and understanding as well. He's an anti-villain! That's been my argument since the start too! I know he's not a hero but he's definitely NOT a villain. He sacrificed himself for Jinx and when dying on his deathbed confession told her AGAIN....I never would have given you up! What man lies while dying? Answer NONE! I love your post!
@@3Kefka6Palazzo9 An antivillain is still a villain. Imo a villain who appears good analogous to the anti-hero trope. Which arguebly fits better to Silcos character. Do good while appearing evil. In the end he is a freedom fighter. As such not fully classifyable with a oversimplified black and white interpretation of reality. Team good vs team bad is just a bad trope. Silcos environment is more evil than Silco who is a product of it.
I want to add an interesting point that many don’t bring up. Silco using child labor in his labs isn’t evil. Let me explain:
1. The people in lanes live in toxic conditions that the air they breathe can legit kill them (see Viktor). The topsiders wear air masks to filter the toxicity. In the lab invasion by Jayce and Vi we see that Jayce isn’t wearing any filter meaning that the air is clean and safe.
2. The lanes are known to be a mining facility. And by the fact Vi, Powder, and company are kids and stealing as well as Ekko working in a shop that kids have to work in order for their family to make ends meet. Do even under topside rule child labor was a thing. So kids most likely were working in the mines alongside their parents. And Vi and Powder’s job was definitely very dangerous. Now with Jayce and Vi’s destruction of Silco’s lab the kid that was killed was a drug lord’s kid. Why was the kid there? Because Silco’s lab was safer than stealing and mining. Sure putting kids to work is bad but Silco was the lesser of the 2 evils and was trying to better Zaun in anyway he can.
Also, the Piltovans are hypocrites when it comes to slavery, child labor and war as they themselves have banned it in their own city yet the Council exploits it in the "less evolved and progressive" neighboring regions(Especially Zaun and Noxus) and they basically have a "Gentleman`s agreement" not to talk about it. In addition, notice how mad they were that Jayce called the Zaunites, well, Zaunites, as opposed to any of the multiple disparaging, dehumanizing nicknames they came up with for them(I.e. "Trenchers", "fissure-folk", "Undercity rabble" ,"Dirty little animals"). The Topsiders may call themselves a "City of Progress" yet they are so desensitized to treating their own brothers and sisters and children underneath their feet in conditions they largely forced upon them like garbage because they have done it so long!
You are SO right
Another interesting subversion in Silco's portrayal as a villain-...and he is a villain insofar as there is any singular villain. His methods include violence, coercion, terrorism, the weaponizing of his own people, and the flooding of a dangerous drug onto the streets. The means a character is willing to achieve even a noble goal often determine their status as a hero or a villain. And it could certainly be said that Silco's ultimate goal of a free, independent, and strong Zaun was noble.
But the interesting thing about him as a villain is that...his villainous methods were working.
His actions were terrible. But under Silco the Enforcers didn't just take a light touch, they stayed entirely our of the Lanes. Marcus was all but under Silco's thumb. While it was fueled by drugs, the economy in the Undercity was booming. And he came within a hair's breadth of securing his ultimate, and noble, goal of taking Zaun out from under the exploitive thumb of Piltover.
And that's a pretty amazing approach for a story, to have a villain's villainous methods actually working. The Council didn't suddenly dig in its heels and proclaim they would not be intimidated or declare that they wouldn't negotiate with a terrorist. It wasn't any of the heroes or even the actions of someone intentionally trying to stop him or undermine Silco's methods that "thwarted" him.
And further, this stands in contrast to Vander's much more conventionally noble and heroic methods, of sacrificing no one, using diplomacy, and seeking to maintain peace. For all of Vander's efforts, the Lanes were still poorer than poor with even other outsiders trying to take advantage of its people. The Enforcers were a constant presence. And at the end of the day, the people were still regularly walking around breathing air so poisonous that most topsiders wore rebreathers. And this was the status quo, one that he was intentionally trying not to upset for the sake of protecting lives.
They're an amazing contrast in the two ideas "The ends justify the means" and "The means justify the ends" and shows just how darkly either ideological end can be. It's easy to say you believe in one or the other. But then to see the what those respective "means" and "ends" are...I think both Vander and Silco were broken by it.
You get it too!
I think his distribution of shimmer to his own people were... questionable in achieving his ultimate goal
@@Tay-v6v I believe that was the way he gained power over the undercity
Remember, after Vander died, it's not like Silco immediately took his place as the undercity "ruler". People probably didnt even know who he was...
@@GetOverHer3 they new him, at least, as one of Vander's allies of uprising time. Brothel madam also said that nobody even really tried to stop Since from rising to power, so that was rather quick and peaceful. Apart from that, shimmer is not a bad thing at all, it's a medicine, fuel for engines, etc. Of course, some people use it as drugs, but that's completely their fault, not Silko's.
@@alarichrul6639 that reeks of victim blaming, silco encouraged the use of shimmer as drugs, he understood that it is like that, but he doesn't do anything about it, because it's benefitial for his position. There is definitely many people who wouldn't be addicted without silco.
It's alarming how much I cried from silco's death
The Antivillain is essentially someone with the potential to be the Hero, but chose to obtain his goals (which are often honorable) by any means necessary.
He was a villain, but in the end he choose to be a father. No doubt the best character of Arcane
I agree. Silco will be missed.
I didn't see a villain.
Just a man willing to get shit done.
Ekko did nothing, Vander nothing.
Everyone nothing.
But silco ain't no bitch and understand, things must get ugly to get better.
The council doesn't care, you got to make them.
Even without the humanising element that is his relationship with Jinx, I'd still say he wasn't a villain. His mission is to win independence for Zaun at any cost. In those terms, his actions are understandable.
He was not a villain, he was an antagonist, theres difference between them
@@lolicongang.4974 exactly at first I thought what I saw was a villain but he wasn't, he was just a man who thought what he was doing was right but he realized in the end after he was told he had to give up jinx but he didn't because he showed characteristics of a loving father for wanting to care for her than my main and biggest question is that if he didn't die than would he have tried to make up everything he did like Vander did? I mean it's so obvious that Vander use to be like silco and he followed down that path and saw the same thing Vander did when he took in daughters for what he did.
Silco is a complex character, and has become one of my favorites. Silco is far from evil, evil people don't seek to free a nation and give it, its independence. But Silco does do evil things. Or does he? Let me explain.
Silco was part of the resistance clearly, that Vi's parents and Vander was a part of. They were fighting for the same cause. Up until at least Vi's parents died. This seems to be the point where Vander puts a hold on things and takes a complete backseat. Something a lot of us can admire him for. To be honest. I don't.
Lets go to the meeting the Silco had with Finn. That meeting for me cemented a truth in the story that most probably just saw as cruel subversion, but let's look again. Silco pumped toxic gas into the chamber in an attempt to sway their minds. Or... wait. No? He pumped normal air.. Yes normal air that his people breathed day in and day out... or normal for them. Its very apparent that the city was a complete shithole slave labor camp for mining. That's the air quality, and Silco is a living reminder of what the water in that town does to you if you even get it get it into open wounds.
Silco and by proxy Vander and Co. Lived through clearly horrendous concentration camp style treatments as slaves.
2. The name escapes me, but the kid that died in the factory. His mother and Silco have a conversation about Silco responds that although he's dead at least he died fighting for change, or something to that effect. That conversation leaves us with the picture that most people down there, are going to be criminals by just proxy of environment. Vander kept a handful of people from going down that route but we see the nasty underbelly of the town for what it is..
The fact is, outside of Shimmer, that city has 0% chance of ever winning their independence. It was apparent when Vander quit the resistance. Did I blame him earlier? Yes, but his character was a very violent but straightforward character. Vander saw that the city was in no way shape or form going to ever win without a massive pile of bodies. They are outnumbered, out gunned. Fact is.. If Silco had never weaponized Shimmer like he did, we gleen from the meeting with the council that essentially Vander keeps the "peace' The people aren't slaves anymore obviously and air quality as we see is still dogshit but thanks to the filters they can breathe properly. But... that's it. The .iving conditions in that place are still 3rd world, people dying in the streets of infection and poverty. Its a miserable existence but .. at least we're not slaves right?
Bear with me.
Silco experimenting on that kid is horrible absolutely. But was it evil? I don't believe so.. That kid was going to without question, end up starving, miserable, and turn to a life of theft, crime and what have you. Something that a few characters acknowledge many times during the season. Its not just a theory I have, they said it several times. The people there lost their will to fight, and just fight each other now. Its just how cut throat the place is. If you can't make a iving, you end up being your own villain. Silco during the talks with Jayce mentions he already was dismantling the labs. Why? That sounds kinda shitty for a Drug lord to do. How ever is he going to do business now?
Simple.. he wasn't a drug lord. He gave that Shimmer out for free, and yes it was bad, but Silco in a very twisted light used people who were never going to be of any good to the city. As experiments, that of course died, but... but in the end. He weaponized Shimmer to a safe level that people with the mindset to actually win their freedom like Sevika could use it to combat the city.
Yeah Hextech became a thing, and probably trumped a lot of Shimmer. but Silco built his empire not getting kids hooked on drugs. He dedicated himself to finding a solution to what everyone learned during the rebellion.. The fact they don't have guns, a military. nothing. They needed a weapon so horrible that the city didn't want to even poke their head in.. ever. Unless it was absolutely neccessary. But also powerful.
Is he a Hero? Not in the most traditional sense. I see him as someone, like mentioned here. willing to do whatever it takes. In the real world, no Not many times has a country ever gotten its independence through civil talks and discussion. We're filled with proof of absolutely horrendous and unspeakable acts in the name of freedom. It's because often revolution requires the most dire of steps which the faint of heart will never have the depth to do, and live with themselves after.
At the end of the day, I think we need to remind ourselves that.. fairy tale heroes, don't really exist in the real world. The victors have always been those who are willing to do the dirtiest and go the furthest for their goals. The city thought it was fine to enslave those people, and not even care about living conditions that mutate their own "Workers" Its not really surprising that the workers who are treated beyond cruel means go to drastic methods.
Big yikes for justifying all the shit Silco has done
@@19Rena96 the people you celebrate in your country probably did worst then him
Upon rewatch, my perspective on the story changed. The Undercity's condition was so inhuman the entire council of Piltovere deserved to be beheaded in Public Square
I think it's more like "understanding" what he did, rather than justifying it.
"Silco experimenting on that kid is horrible absolutely. But was it evil?" Using ppl in this way cuz they don't likely to have a good future? Are you fucking serious? Sounds pretty psycho to me dude........
@@sm3ghe4d22 I'm dead serious. Humor me for a moment and walk outside the cushy life you live in right now, and then step into the shoes of someone in the lower city.
You live out your days usually not eating because food is scarce if you don't feel like robbing or kililng someone else for it. Your family is mostly unemployed because work doesn't exist, and the other half of your family is dead because they didn't fight hard enough to protect what little they had. That cop you tried to complain to? most likely beat you half to death with a nightstick for bothering him with trivial matters.
Your choices everyday are to spiral to a life of crime eventually, or just give up and let someone slit your throat for the piece of bread you have left. Cool choices huh?
Your best friend is dying of sickness that no one has the money to fix, and you're fiance is now selling herself to the local brothel to scrape together money to pay a smuggler to get her little brother into piltover for an operation that could save his terminal illness.
Salvation army? Doctors? Welfare? Yeah there's literally no one that's going to help you. Life is literally misery and mostly lawless within majority of your town.
Now with this mindset, tell me if the druggie that tried to stab your father to death for his shoes a week ago, being used for a science experiment is pyscho or quite literally the norm for that situation.
Again I don't condone the behavior, but I won't try to inflict my opinions of whats morally just in a world that doesn't have the same compass. Silco's one of the only reasons they have clean air and livable conditions, unfortunately he doesn't live on Earth where human resources and the union can help press charges against the corrupt shit that goes down in there. Remember, the cops are quite literally the bad guys enforcing these conditions to persist.
Silco is a true hero...he is not a villain, it's his scars that changed him , deep down in his heart there is kindness that has been shown to us by his daughter jinx.
Talk to any real life decorated soldier "hero" and ask them what they actually did in war
The stories are horrifying and bloody
Or read up on the CIA-NSA activities and Silco looks like a priest in comparison lol
Exactly
@@mumhustler I've seen it, irl my country in the U.S. made our soldiers look like they were heros when they weren't
.....Agree
That comment is two years old. But I'm so flabbergasted by the lack of media literacy and ignorance about Silco and his relationship with Jinx is ASTOUNDING 💀😭😭
Omg this was very well documented . You are so underrated 😭 keep it up
Glad you enjoyed!
00:48 For me the best part of Silico is that the first impression screams total bad guy.
Dark, scared face , manipulative man with demonic eye. He is responsible for 80% of crime in the city, enslaves people with drugs.
At the same, time all of that are simply results of lack of possibilities. There are hardly any methods to change position of his people.
He wasn't responsible for 80% of the crime in the city. He directed a fair amount of "the crime" in the city to actual productive means. The crime existed because the city is in shambles. The rebellion that failed, only served, obviously to make the people stop mining whatever is down in the fissures for piltover and they got the air filters now. Outside of that, the city is wild, and has to fend for itself which is only the strong survive The water will still sterlize you and turn you into a resident evil experiment. Silco played the devil you know, and scared ALOT of people, but when you are in a town where there are no laws, someone has to take the reigns and steer the city somewhere. We can all pretend a nice loving leader, but the truth is, if you don't have fangs and the loudest bite in the slums, you die. The town doesn't even go down there anymore because they lost control over their free slave labor. That should tell you something.
Keep in mind, the only reason people listened to Vander was because he could tear you in half like a phone book, and has killed a whole bunch of people right in front of others. He's a man with a very violent dark past. Sure he feels remorse for it, but the fact is, he can use the fear of "Having to put those gloves" back on for people to back down and behave.
Vander and Silco both use fear to placate both the city and undercity. They just do it in very different ways.
Silco Went from a Villain to actual Loving Father, to the point he was going to give up his dream to save her. Silco accepted Powder as she was in the present, Jinx. Vi however still held on to Her sister’s past self, something that died long ago. Even if it was unintentional, Vi and the memory of Mylo verbal insults planted the seed which gave birth to Jinx. Silco saw Jinx as perfect despite her flaws. Silco became a father with unconditional love to a daughter he was gonna give up his dream for her. Once Jinx accidentally killed Silco, there was no chance of Powder ever coming back. What a great character. Silco was absolutely an anti-villain. ❤❤❤
He's manipulative and a killer. But he's also a loving father willing to give up his dream for his daughter. He's human! And that's why he's a great character.
Jason Spisak (Wally West, Razer) does it again!
Don't think it was a mistake for him to care for her in the end he didnt regret it..
I can’t believe Vander will come back , but Silco is dead ……
OMG FINALLY A content creator understands my point of view.....haha
I would like to make the argument and PLEASE counter me after you read this if you disagree that Silco and Jinx are not Villains but anti-heroes instead. If any one of us were treated the way Silco was, would we ever trust the surface? The pain and suffering, he HAD to be ruthless in order to fight his war, his truth, for liberation of the underground because the surface NEVER listened. If still following I appreciate your logic,Jinx is next.
Jinx Lost Vi because of a corrupt surface dweller, thus she THOUGHT she lost her sister, had nobody but SILCO took her into his arms, because he truly cared for her plight. He didn't use her, he saw HIMSELF in her!!
Still with me? Thank you! Jinx and Silco are the SAME type of DAMAGED being, misunderstood, taken advantage of and once SET IN MOTION a man like Silco CANNOT stop. He's NOT a villain, he is history, the person with nothing against the EVERYTHING and I at least....admit,as an autistic individual, I would have been just like him, singly focused on one goal.........FREEDOM....still with me? I thank you...truly!
To conclude my friends, Silco is an uncompromising freedom fighter willing to sacrfice everyone and everything........except the DAUGHTER that found HIM in his same image. The tragedy is Jinx killed him, that's the true story of Arcane! It's all about the struggle of Jinx and Silco....if you're still here you get it!!
Silco is not....NOT....a villain.....he's what all powerful groups label a villain.....namely a FREEDOM FIGHTER at ALL costs...except Jinx....He told her in his last dying breathe....I NEVER...would have given YOU....UP.......in other words a true father that so few of us ever had, yet Jinx understood, even though she accidentally killed him......I NEVER...would have given............RIP SILCO I UNDERSTAND....Hope everyone else does too........
I'm so tired of 120iq takes on Silco all a variant of "he is evil because he uses violence but he is nuanced"
Good video 👍 that stands out if the crowd
Freedom is has to be earned, and almost always blood is the price
I'd have Silco on my fireteam any day
Fun fact everyone misses: the only person Silco kills is vander (who betrayed him first)
Edit - Silco doesn't give up his dream for Jinx; Jinx and zaun become the same, symbolically.
Also when Silco says Vi isn't here for Jinx but for the gemstone he is correct because Vi was only coming back for powder and she would never accept her as Jinx (ie the ending)
To be fair Vander is the only person he kills himself, he still ordered his henchmen to kill other people
No Vi absolutely cared more bout Powder then the gemstone!!!Are fucking insane! and the whole reason She doesnt accept her as jinx is cuz thats not the real her! Jinx is the result of Silco Projecting his psychotic relationship with his brother onto her relationship with Vi obsessively trying to turn her into another him cuz of how egotistical he is which is the reason for everything he does. Like he doesn't really care bout the undercity he cares bout getting back at the city of aristocrats and him willing to destroy his own city with the use of drugs to do it proves that.
Vi objectively DID NOT come back for the gemstone. She didn't even know what it was because Caitlyn kept it hidden from her. Silco was wrong about her, and that's simply a fact.
Everything he did is for the good of under city.
Certainly a misunderstood character.
Yes flooding the streets with Shimmer was for the good, yes it is.
@@RaMraM-zm1el The war effort doesn't pay for itself and lets be honest, if you're facing a war against such a superior enemy, you'd be stupid not to leap at the opportunity of a super-soldier drug. He's not forcing Shimmer down anyone's throat.
@@optimisticnihilist3417 yes he did. Ekko says he litterally flooded the lanes with shimmer, didnt care what it did to people. He absolutely was foring this on people.
@@mathies3598 1: he didn't say literally. A literal flood of shimmer would be very different.
2: no he didn't. "Flooded the lanes with shimmer" only implies that it's easy to get. It doesn't mean anybody is forced to take it.
#Silcodidnothingwrong
Nice handle
Agree; Silco was objectively correct
He also lives up to his value of loyalty - he would not give up any of his people ie Jinx
@@mumhustler I think Silco's loyalty to Jinx went well beyond his usual conception of loyalty. She's his daughter and more than that, she represents his conception of Zaun itself; chaotic, broken, perfect.
He's loyal to Sevika as well, because she's well and truly a believer in the cause. But if push came to shove and it was Sevika who the council demanded in exchange for Zaunite sovereignty, he'd probably hand her over. He'd probably just explain things to her first and expect her to make the self-sacrificial choice. Jinx, on the other hand, well in his mind there is no Zaun without Jinx.
@@optimisticnihilist3417 sevika is only loyal to Zaun, she works for Silco as long as he is the best option to help Zaun. Silco knows and respects this. If her going to jail would help Zaun she would do so in a heartbeat
Nice Video bro :)
Thanks a lot! :)
I don't think Silco cared at all bout the undercity I think everything he does is motivated by Ego cuz he talks so much bout how the the under city needed independence but was willing to destroy it to obtain which is just insane but the reason why is willing to do it is cuz it isn't bout helping the undercity its bout trying to dominate the city above. Its the same deal with Jinx He doesn't really care for her only obsessed with her cuz he narcissistic who see's himself in her and its so obvious with the way he projects his relationship with his brother Vanders onto her relationship with her sister. Like even with his dying breath he still obsessed with her carrying on the fight with the whole "SHOW THEM WHO YOU REALLY ARE!!" line cuz he thinks he know the real her but he doesn't he warp and twisted the real her out of Powder and turned into something she's not through lying manipulation that fed her to psychosis instead encouraging her to mend the relationship with her sister that he ruined. So again I think he trying to justify it by saying he is doin it for his ppl but really its bout proving he is better.
@sm3ghe4d22 How the fuck is Silco motivated by ego? He constantly talked about how Zaunites are "brothers and sisters, sons and daughters" and how shameful it was that so many of them coveted Topsider money over the loyalty and brotherhood that once kept them alive in all the pollution and repression by Piltover and the Enforcers! The fact he casually threw a bloody coin on the ground after the deal with Marcus shows he was not motivated by greed unlike the other Chem-Barons! He wanted respect but respect for Zaun as a whole, not just himself! Also, he saw his weaker self in Jinx, if he were a narcissist as you claim he would have left her to die, they`re not tolerant of weaker reflections of themselves and most Zaunites aren`t either! Social Darwinism is super-fucking-common in Zaun,far more so than fresh air or people who are wealthy like Silco is and most of that wealth comes from Shimmer profits and his people making back-alley deals with Enforcers and Councillors!
Vi left Powder to die in the rain in the crime-ridden alleys of Zaun! Vi betrayed her, abandoned her, hit her, called her a jinx and only realized what she`d done after she did it! Plus Silco ordered Marcus to kill Vi, not arrest her and Marcus lied to Silco!At that point, Jinx was the real her! Powder was a frightened, innocent little girl with abandonment and attachment issues who would have never survived in Zaun as she was! Why do you think older Zaunites say "These polluted streets eat the weak?"
@@aspieanarchist5439 She didn't abandon her she was tooken away and plus she was kid also I mean yah she was lil older but it still valid for her to have the emotional reaction to her sister literally GETTING EVERYONE KILLED!!!!!!!!!!!! yes it was accident but thats not gunna stop emotions from flying in the heat of the moment.
@@sm3ghe4d22 Powder had no way of knowing that at the time, nor did Silco, plus Vi was literally warned by Vander in the previous fucking episode from experience that she needed to watch her temper or she could lose her family and she did not listen until after the fact!Vi being the "good sister" doesn`t make her a saint or paragon of virtue, there are no such things in "Arcane". Even Vander, Grayson and Heimerdinger with their inaction let things go to shit in Zaun so their worst fears were inevitably realized!
@@1993MovieMan I don't remember arguing anyone was perfect nor was I saying Powder did it on purpose. I am just pointing out that in the chaos of the situation its really hard to blame Vi for reacting the way she did.
Anti-villian doesn't mean a character is not evil.
Silco is evil. His end goal may not be but thats a different matter.