Silco Is a Masterclass in Subversive Villainy

when it comes to fictional stories villains have always been fascinating to me when i was younger it was always just how cool darth vader was or how badass that one edgy anime villain was over the years my reasons for being interested in villains may have changed but the fascination for them is still there villains for me embody the inescapable fallibility of humans and when those villains that embody such a flawed ideology or mindset find their way towards redemption or are thwarted by the heroes and are forced to see all their mistakes through the heroes triumph that often creates some of the most memorable moments in fiction for me therefore it is perhaps not surprising that arcane silko its primary villain is one of its characters that left the biggest impression on me however there are a few things that are weird about silko he isn't really thwarted by the heroes neither vine or caitlyn or any of arkhan's other protagonists really defeat him in a grand display of moral punishment for his crimes and on the other hand he also certainly isn't redeemed so what's up with silko well let's take a closer look [Music] when we first see silko in arcane he is a rather stereotypical almost cartoony villain i mean just listen to him power real power doesn't come to those who were born strongest or fastest or smartest now it comes to those who will do anything to achieve it but that's just the kind of show arcane is at the beginning we follow vi and our gang on their youthful fun adventures and during those adventures they meet a big bad like silko who spoofs some moderately scary lines before being toppled by the heroes only to then return in the next episode with a new malicious plan for the heroes to thwart well that's how the show presents itself at the start anyway we all know that things turn out very differently arcane consciously plays with our expectation for silko and the story in general by drawing on well-established tropes of the genre only to then subvert them when vander is captured by silko vice gang of course comes to save him we have a very classical five-man band setup to lead up to a grandiose escape by the group why the leader holds off silko's gang so the others can set up their escape clagger the big guy is looking for a way out while milo the lands are lockpicks powder the smart one finally gets one of her inventions to work to cover the escape for her friends and all that happens to free vander the heart who everyone is emotionally attached to using their different skills they manage to escape and vander servs them all a nice meal as a reward for their bravery while in the last scene of the episode we see silko pleasure revenge and say i'll get you next time or that's how it should have gone at least but arcane pulls the rock from under our feet as it shows us that the cruel life in zone doesn't follow the happy tropes of adventure shows powder's monkey bomb works but with far too much power killing two of her friends her foster parent and causing vai to lash out at her in anger for what she has done only to then leave her behind on her own this is a major turning point for vi and jinx's characters and for the story as a whole both in universe and outside of it we have to remember that while this happens in zone victor and jace invent the revolutionary hex tech and piltover and with this the mood of the show changes drastically forever no more fun careless youthful adventure but the harsh truth of reality and at this major turning point of the show a new site of silko is shown to us as viewers from a villain in the generic adventure show we would expect that silke would capture powder immediately perhaps threaten to kill her when he finds her alone on the streets but of course he doesn't it's the first act of kindness we see from silko the first time he has ever shown that he cares for anyone other than himself and it's for crying helpless powder that's a weird way to frame a villain right why does he do that what is his motivation for taking her in as his daughter [Music] well contrary to what you might think if you've seen some of my other videos i'm not going to go on the tangent now explaining to you how silko suddenly grew a heart and became super sympathetic no i truly don't think selko took powder in for any selfless reason at all i actually think the opposite is the case the reason why he does that is that he sees himself in little powder powder has been betrayed and left to die by her sister just like silko has once at least in his eyes been betrayed and left to die by vander whom he frequently calls his brother and silko has a unique attitude towards this betrayal because he actually seems to believe that he has gained something from it betray that pain that feels like it'll eat you from the inside out can either break you or forge you into something greater and silko had to learn this the hard way he had to come close to being broken by the pain of betrayal many times to get that insight and he wanted to help little powder to find that inside to be forged into something greater without all the horror he went through silko helps powder sure but what he actually wants is to help his past self to prevent the pain he had to go through the way i interpret it silke's help for powder is at least at first not at all an act of altruism but by helping powder he is primarily helping himself this is also expressed in the way he treats jinxer in the second act when jinx struggles with her memories of vai serko tells her that he has to leave her behind just like he left behind vander he even brings her to the place he almost drowned in which is also the place he had his epiphany and gained his new worldview and recreates the events of that day for jinx in order for her to also get the same epiphany obviously the theme of rebirth that is incredibly important for the scene is also reinforced with quite a bit of christian imagery as jinx is literally baptized in water silko tries his best to forge jinx into a copy of himself and that's exactly why the revelation that marcus has lied to him and why is ashley still alive hits him so hard vi is the part of the equation that makes jinx fundamentally different from silko after all vander is gone vi is not and furthermore there's even the risk that vi might actually be here to make up with jinx a thing that might destroy all of the work silko has put into reshaping jinx into his image however ironically while jinx is spiraling out of control and her relationship to silico takes many ups and downs serko's plans for the future of the undercity actually slowly takes shape silko comes so close to succeeding that the council of piltover is ready to acknowledge the undercity as an independent nation of zaun but again things don't quite take the turn we would expect why is that well we have to understand that something in circle changes drastically over the course of the show at the very beginning of the show silke wouldn't have hesitated to take jace's offer for zorn's independence this makes sense after all this has been silko's main goal from the very beginning and he has also proved that he is willing to risk anything to achieve that goal to understand why that wasn't the case at the end of the story anymore we have to understand the relationship between selko and his so-called brother vander at the beginning circle's readiness to risk everything contrasts the ideology of vanda drastically who tries everything to keep himself his children and the other people of the lane safe this attitude infuriates silko who is unable to understand why evander isn't willing to fight for the cause both of them once believed in silico and vander are presented as polar opposites with the children vi and powder placed between them ideologically however they also share a lot of parallels after vanda's death selko becomes the de facto leader of the lanes taking vanda's place for himself he secures this position in a very similar manner to vander by making a deal with the sheriff of the wardens that sheriff may be marcus now not grayson and the deal may be rather different from the way that the band are made but the parallel still stands both vanders and silco's authorities frequently questioned because of their special treatment toward their daughters vai for vander and jinx for silko ironically one of the first people to show some resentment for silko's relationship to the jinx is savika the very same person who questioned vanda's attachment to vai and betrayed him for it that same role is later filled by finn who also attempts to betray selko but since cevica appears to have more loyalty to silko than to vander she swiftly deals with that threat these parallels peak in the deal that jace offers silko to get what he wants if he gives up his daughter just like grayson offered vanda to leave him alone if he gave up vi we see silko contemplate this decision in a not so subtle scene that emphasizes his parallels to vanda where he sits down at a statue in the lanes and realizes that he is in the exact same position vanda was in and he's about to make the exact same decision he blamed vander for while i believe silke took in powder for purely selfish reasons i think at this point it is undeniable that he has developed caring feelings for jinx mind you this doesn't redeem him or anything after all caring about a single person doesn't exactly make you a good person but we have to remember how much development this is for him silko at the start of the show was characterized as someone who would risk anything to gain the power he wants to achieve and for him to now have something he is not willing to give up for his goals shows the fatal flaw in his ideology in the end silko dies at the hand of jinx with no regrets because he still knows he made the right decision to never give up on her it's almost like in the end silko is willing to die for the cause but not willing to fight for it hey thank you very much for watching this circle character analysis sorry there haven't been any other arcane videos any sooner but i've kind of been swamped with other work in addition i kind of had to let the second and third act set for a while to come up with something interesting to say about them i really did enjoy taking a closer look at circo though he's much more interesting than he seems at first glance i hope this video met your expectations and you enjoyed watching it and if you did i would of course appreciate it if you could leave a like comment or subscription to tell youtube i have worth as a person also feel free to tell me what you would like to see on this channel or what other feedback you have i always appreciate it greatly that's it from me though stay healthy stay safe and most importantly stay delusional [Music] [Music]

Channel: Delusional Poet

Views: 118,021

Keywords: Arcane, Arcane League of Legends, League of Legends, Arcane Analysis, Arcane LoL, Arcane Video Essay, Silco, Silco Analysis, Silco Arcane, Silco Lore, Silco Review, Arcane Review

Id: hdjkN8vtZIY

Length: 11min 54sec (714 seconds)

Published: Sun Dec 12 2021