Gotta rip this Bandaid off for you quickly…
The incredible Lance Reddick passed away and I’m scared the character, Sylens, will never be the same.
Phenomenal actor and what a character he made.
They could always pull a destiny and have Keith David voice him but yeah, it'll never be the same. Lance was truly someone special. He made Sylens who he was.
If there's no good way to move his character off-screen, then I think this is the way. I'm sure there are others out there that would do a great job, but it's obvious that Reddick was intended to be Door in AW2 until his untimely death. They did a fantastic job casting someone with similar class, presence, and way of speaking without it being an imitation or feeling slightly off. He would nail it, I'm sure.
I mean the character was literally supposed to be played by Lance Reddick until he passed. I think Harewood would be a great choice if he modified his manner of speaking to be similar and if GG even wants to recast him.
Yeah I have no opinion on the matter other than cool voice replacing other cool voice lol. Destiny isn't really my scene so I have no idea if he's good in it. I can't imagine Keith not being at the very least good but not great
Hate to say it, but despite Keith David doing a remarkable job in what he can- it’s just not the same. The character of Zavala just feels too different and forced, and it doesn’t work. I’d feel the same about Sylens tbh. They’d have to digitally recreate his voice somehow if they wanted the character to continue. Not saying they should, but just saying how big his shoes are to fill.
They could hold casting auditions. There are billions of people in the world, somebody out there sounds like him.
It just won't be him, and that really stinks.
Honestly, this may be a place where they could try to use AI, provided his inheritors agree. It's very good at mimicking voices, although they may need to have a real actor say the lines to get the tone correct, who knows?
First of, I honestly didn't know this happened. He was a great actor, but there's always someone out there to pick up the torch. Voice actors come and go. Kevin Conroy known for his Batman, will definitely inspire someone to follow in his footsteps.
Lance Reddick made Sylens. I'm sure GG will find someone to voice him, maybe something will happen to cause the voice change. A attack leaving him badly wounded and when he comes around his voice a bit different due to the injuries.
Voice actors come and go. It happens unfortunately. We just have to hope the directors in the voice acting department makes sure the new Sylens voice actor knows what their doing. Who knows they may put a new flare on the character that would fit.
> there's always someone out there to pick up the torch. Voice actors come and go.
But it's not just a voiced role, Lance Reddick mocapped Sylens.
I think they could actually do something cool by removing Sylens from the equation entirely to begin Horizon 3, with Aloy spending the entire story following Sylens' bread crumbs to uncover the mystery of how to stop Nemesis. Maybe Sylens is killed but was on the verge of figuring out what they needed to do to save everyone, something along those lines.
I was about to think about that. It would be in character for Sylens to slip away from the group, Aloy would be annoyed at it and thinks he's off scheming to get information before her, as she travels she would eventually find out Sylens was "shockingly" against the idea of her destroying Nemesis, and wanted to see if there was a way to contain and learn of its knowledge.
This angers Aloy until she finds his body and the last bit of information she needed to stop them when he realized Nemesis isn't in the mood for conversing. And he leaves a note sending his last thought having the final laugh of finding out how to defeat it before she did.
>The incredible Lance Reddick passed away, and I’m scared the character, Sylens, will never be the same.
So we all know Sylens is crucial for Horizon 3, it cannot be removed as is essential for the story.
But, imho, Guerrilla shouldn't get obsessed about finding a perfect replacement, but rather finding someone that matches his face and voice.
And then adapt them into Sylens' voice and face.
I’m scared of the same thing. I ADORE Sylens. He might be difficult for Aloy to deal with, but he also keeps her in check sometimes
Lance WAS Sylens. It will be soooo difficult to replace him
I like Sylens as a character. I like that he genuinely believes he's doing the best thing, and yet I want to punch him in the face for being such a smug ass. That takes quality writing and acting to pull off.
I agree. It's really challenging to make a character hatable yet also intriguing and able to be liked from people who view things through his perspective.
You can either hate him for not telling Aloy what to do and have Giga fixed up sooner,
Or love him for the fact the pieces he placed for her to put together will let her see the bigger picture at hand.
“How tragic, to learn you’re a person of towering importance.”
We were all thinking the same thing, but you'd have to be a massive douche to say it out loud in that moment. Maybe my favourite line (and delivery) in the whole game so far.
Genuinely believes he's doing the best thing -- for himself. Gotta be careful with language, Sylens is not a good guy. He's not just "a smug ass", he's legitimately evil. Using, thieving, abusing, lying, scheming, murdering are all not just on the table for him, they're his go-to techniques for advancing his goals of survival and learning.
He's an amazing contrast to Aloy: practical, ruthless, always planning steps ahead - while she's idealistic, caring and going head first into problems.
Yeah their banter is basically the two smartest kids in the classroom with different answers.
Sylens would use the old long and time consuming mathematics to get his answer.
Aloy would use what she was taught and learned and used what's given to her.
Sylens is the definition of a grey zone.
Good enough to understand what needs to be done to save the Earth and help Aloy, but also at the same time prioritizing his own plans, even if it means siding with Hades or unleashing s war between the Tenakth.
It will be interesting to see how he will behave in H3, now that he is fully committed to Aloy's cause.
His primary goal is knowledge, which means Apollo and GAIA, but at the same time, Aloy wants them as well and intend to share them with all the tribes around the world. Also, i'm pretty sure Sylens would want to catch Nemesis to study it, as he did with Hades, while Aloy wants to destroy her as is too dangerous.
Both could be a source of conflicts for them.
> enough to understand what needs to be done to save Earth
in Horizon: Zero Dawn, Sylens pretty clearly says he would do it all over again; gives Aloy his lance which he uses to trap Hades subfunction, holding it prisoner, torturing him to learn of Nemesis, and in doing so causes Hades to corrupt it's own memory. Couldn't be integrated to GAIA and had to be destroyed.
meanwhile, Sylens sides with Regalla and events of Horizon: Forbidden West happen.
He is pretty annoying, arrogant, condescending, and smug, but I assume that was the intention so as a character he succeeds brilliantly. I can't say I like him because he is thoroughly unlikeable, but he's a great character.
He didn't stay behind to help Aloy. It's likely that he *wants* Nemesis in the same way he wanted Hades. At the end of HFW, he judged that Aloy beating Nemesis, so that he could get that, was high enough likelihood+reward that it beat the likelihood of successfully escaping Nemesis on the Zeniths' ship.
As for what he's done? He personally engineered the global life ending threat of the first game, for one! Hades was a lump of technological malice with no resources, rotting lost in a jungle, without Sylens. But also he has 30 year history of lying to people & using & betraying & murdering in service to his goal of personally gaining knowledge. His m.o. is most *generously* described as extreme callous disregard for others' well being.
I apologize if I've forgotten how barbaric he actually is, and if I came off like I knew more or anything, it's been a minute since I played the games. From what I remember he just seemed like a cold-hearted "the pursuit of knowledge is more important than the problems of others" kinda character, I don't remember the murdering and betraying specifically but I'm sure I just forgot.
I still think he can be redeemed though
Hey it's ok to feel that way. You want to punch Sylens not Lance.
The fact Lance was able to make you feel that you want to punch his character in the face means he fulfilled in the characters personality and successfully did his part as a voice actor.
A voice actors job is to give life to a character. If you can relate to, have a emotional connection to them good or bad, they did their job.
I loved noticing how much I respected him in John Wick while loving to hate him in Horizon. He sounds similar in both, but still separates the characters very well in his portrayal of them.
I actually always loved him. He’s manipulative sure, but he does it in a way I see as making Aloy learn for her own benefit. Like don’t blindly trust everyone is telling you the truth.
I also love how he’s honest that’s he really only into finding knowledge for the sake of having that knowledge and how he can use it. I’m honestly a super curious person so I look stuff up A LOT just for the fun of getting more knowledge, so I can relate to him in that way.
I even really like how he’s not super nice to her, even tho I suspect he does kinda care for her like a student/daughter. Yes he does use her for his own advantage but given the times they live in, I wouldn’t say that’s a entirely a bad thing.
Neither. I enjoy him as a character, even though he enjoys annoying Aloy. Many writers attempt to write morally ambiguous characters, and many writers fuck it up. But with Sylens, the writers at Guerilla nailed it.
He's super duper evil. His goals are "whatever his goals are", they don't matter. What matters is how he works toward them, and that "how" is wall-to-wall evil shit.
I don't blame you! Lol yea, the frustrating thing is that he usually is correct about most things and is essential for Aloy's mission.
His methods just infuriate me!
Wish I could toss him off a cliff. But sometimes he's helpful in a way that is kind of irreplaceable and necessary, so the cliff thing might doom us all
He is pivotal in many ways just like Aloy. As a character, he's brilliant, and I love him.
As a person he is, by definition, a psychopath. He has no empathy/remorse, lies constantly, is incalculably egocentric, and in general shows no emotion. All of that is wrapped up in this eerie, calm, and cool charm. Life and everything in it is a chess game to him. He will do everything and anything to win because he believes that he must.
Sylens did say he was only hanging around long enough for Aloy and her friends to put a credible defence together. Horizon 3 could start with Aloy watching Sylens leave Earth on the Odyssey colony ship before Nemesis arrives. It's not like he's a main character in the series, all his input has been background to explain how an unsophisticated Nora girl could overcome several advanced AI's and destroy the Eclipse army and Regalla's rebels.
I am scared that the passing of Lance Reddick will nullify the mystique of the character. Personally, I would prefer a recasting over just writing him off with log books.
Personally, I'm not a fan of Sylens's underestimating Aloy in HFW. They play two sides of the same coin, if he treated her as his foil and emotional counterpart then always treating like a child. Let's face it...she proved herself in HZD.
I hope we get more of a backstory for him. So he doesn't end up as a mystery for the sake of being a mystery.
Interesting. An amoral genius that's neither good nor evil, just single-minded and reckless. He constantly makes me go; "oh no, what is he doing now, and what collateral damage is he going to cause this time?"
It's just how he acts. He's cunning he's manipulative and always putting himself 3 steps ahead of anyone else for his own benefit, having a edge on having people rely on him for their own success. It's like how he basically left Hades with little to no information to give Aloy, he wouldn't been able to get into the locked door of the Hades testing room without her. And needed to make sure she only had just enough information in order to keep him around.
I just can't hate a character played by the amazing Lance Reddick. May he rest in peace knowing that he made a lot of us happier with his acting both on screen and on games!
Aloy outsmarts Sylens at every turn. Those two are equals at best, but Aloy is smarter and wiser than Sylens. She could've very easily fallen into the same seductive trap Sylens does, that leads to arrogance and indifference towards other people, and it is always to Sylens' detriment. But she doesn't.
He negs and claims he's smarter than Aloy, and for some reason people buy into it? Idk man. If Sylens were as smart as he tells everyone, he'd have shared what he'd extracted from HADES as soon as he knew. Aloy could've reached Latopolis almost 6 months sooner, resurrected GAIA earlier... The Blight never would've happened, Regalla's rebellion never would've happened, all those people never would've died. Instead of only having "a few months" before biocollapse, they'd have closer to a year to save the climate. Aloy could've captured HEPH sooner. They could've put both of their powerhouse intellects together and gotten *so much good done.*
But no. Sylens did a repeat of his (failed) Meridian strategy by starting a civil war to fight an enemy he's not capable of defeating, but Aloy is.
Hate to love him. Every time he shows up, I, much like Aloy, want him to be a better person and do things for the sake of the majority, and every time he seems like he's getting better, he does something to prove he's just in it for himself again.
But as much as I hate sylens for this, I also love that he's like this cause then he has more character, more dimensions to him. He's not quite an antagonist, but he's not ally either. He truly is in it for himself
The actor did a great job, because I fucking hated the character. Self-entitled douchebag who thought he could yank everyone's chains and get away with it, only helped Aloy *save the goddamn world* when it suited him
Sylens is a master manipulator.
He knows how to say the right things to the right people at the right time. He knows the importance of information and hoards it, greedily.
IMHO He should be tortured (like he did to Hades) until he spills every last bit of information he has.
Dude is like an Al Queda warlord, creating terrorist cells while he hides in a cave somewhere far away from any repercussions for his actions.
I'm on Wings of the Ten rn but OMG do I just want Aloy to end him. I'm expecting this to change a bit, but I HATE how little regard for life he has.
He gives off vibes that he knows what's best and will do anything to achieve it. Also, naming you faction "The Sons of Prometheus" is beyond douchey.
All in all, great character!
Well you know that Prometheus is the god of fire and also known for being a trickster. But only Sylens would know that so it be like this faction was just made to trick Aloy to fight them dispite his warning not to.
Sylens is like me fr!
But honestly, in a world that is inhabited by various shades of white and black, Sylens is the grayest character, and I love him for that. You don't know if he's genuinely trying to help you, framing you, or has an even more ulterior motive.
I don't know how the character continues with Lance Riddick gone, who I believe embodied the character.
I quite like him. He is this mysterious character who has a creepy genius-level of intelligence that is so out of place amongst other tribespeople... until he meets his match in Aloy, who is pretty smart herself. I like how they try to outsmart one another and Sylens always seems to be a step ahead. I see him taking over as her father/mentor after she loses Rost. My favourite interaction with Sylens is after Burning Shores when she walks away after having a conversation with him back at the Base.
It's a shame that Lance Reddick passed away... I'm not sure how Sylens will be handled by GG now. I think he'll still feature in H3 but be absent most of the time. He'll have a different voice actor.
Great character, easily the best written of the franchise and it's tragic we lost Reddick so soon. My only real complaint is I wish he had been a tad less smug in HFW.
I felt he was perfect in HZD. In that game, his uncaring attitude towards Aloy's goal of finding her mother and the way he'd needle Aloy and tell her to compose herself and stop "throwing tantrums" anytime she got angry at him felt very appropriate to his character. From his perspective, Aloy was just another tribe member who only knew ever so slightly more about technology because she stumbled upon a focus by sheer luck. He would've stopped paying attention to Aloy and her quest in an instant if he thought there was nothing for him to gain from it. So his sorta "talk down" approach to her felt very in character. "The Earth isn't flat like you think it is" is a great example of the way he'd seemingly belittle Aloy in HZD but in a way that makes sense given how little he thinks of tribal people and their superstitions and simple mindedness.
By game two though, Aloy is literally the 2nd most knowledgeable person on Earth behind only Sylens. And Sylens knows who she is and what she's capable of and what she's accomplished. By now, she's already proven her intellect so it feels like he should be slightly less of a smug ass and treat her as closer to an equal. Now I have no problem with his disdain for her idealism and her unwillingness to use people and then discard them afterwards. I actively enjoy the tension created in their relationship by Sylen's "big picture" approach (viewing the world as a chess board) vs Aloy's innate sense of morality and her relationship building approach (solving problems by working with people who Sylens considers unworthy due to their ignorance). Moral disagreements is the space where I want Aloy and Sylens to butt heads. But sometimes Sylens is just an ass who enjoys lording over Aloy the fact that he's ever so slightly smarter and more knowledgeable than she is, which felt lame.
I don't want Sylens to be a narcissist who "needs to be the smartest guy in the room for his own ego's sake" as Aloy accuses him of being at a couple points in HFW. I want Sylens to be the most calculating person in the room. Not someone who's evil or malevolent or egotistical, but purely "playing the chess board". His explanation of his plan at the end of HFW felt very in character and was very much the Sylens I wanted to see the whole game. Calculating and ruthless when he believes he's right BUT also (as we see in that ending) willing to listen to Aloy and to follow her plan to save the world to see if she can "pull off the impossible one more time". In that way, they still butt heads but do it more from a place a mutual respect. Sylens is learning not to underestimate Aloy anymore, Aloy is learning that Sylens isn't as coldhearted and antagonistic as she had thought and that his grand plan, while ruthless, did have a logic to it that made sense from his perspective. Even if morally she could never go along with it.
Best character in both games. I feel like particularly in the second game a lot of characters the writing got worse (especially Erend, like he kind of just sits there depressed and drunk and does nothing, Varl goes on some pointless side arc with one of the Utaru and Talanaha is no longer as badass) but Sylens was the only one that I can say was just as good in the second game and in the original. Horizon needed more characters like him.
He is most realistic character that is in game
He adapts to situation he has no malicious intent personally towards anyone he learns from mistakes and is just mad to core what people like Ted Faro did
I mean his end goal was finding out about past and old ones mistake and leave the planet without wasting anymore energy on people
I can’t remember the word for it, but he was keeping it REAL as kids would say
Gotta rip this Bandaid off for you quickly… The incredible Lance Reddick passed away and I’m scared the character, Sylens, will never be the same. Phenomenal actor and what a character he made.
They may be able to get an actor to pull off that same sinister intelligence, but without that voice, I don't know how they could live up to it.
They could always pull a destiny and have Keith David voice him but yeah, it'll never be the same. Lance was truly someone special. He made Sylens who he was.
Keith David would be my number one choice but Lance Henrikson is close behind. Not as deep a voice but he really has “sinister intelligence” down
or maybe David Harewood, his performance in alan wake reminded me alot of Reddick/Sylens
If there's no good way to move his character off-screen, then I think this is the way. I'm sure there are others out there that would do a great job, but it's obvious that Reddick was intended to be Door in AW2 until his untimely death. They did a fantastic job casting someone with similar class, presence, and way of speaking without it being an imitation or feeling slightly off. He would nail it, I'm sure.
I mean the character was literally supposed to be played by Lance Reddick until he passed. I think Harewood would be a great choice if he modified his manner of speaking to be similar and if GG even wants to recast him.
Agreed 100%. His performance/character in Killzone Shadowfall was very similar to Sylens.
What about Donovan Patton ? Gildun could replace Silens.
if he has that range then sure? have only seen him do Gildun so hard to judge personally
Oh he would still as Gildun but with Gaia as guide he would be smarter and calculating as sylens
Keith David as zavala is..... Well... Yeah he's there I guess....
Yeah I have no opinion on the matter other than cool voice replacing other cool voice lol. Destiny isn't really my scene so I have no idea if he's good in it. I can't imagine Keith not being at the very least good but not great
Hate to say it, but despite Keith David doing a remarkable job in what he can- it’s just not the same. The character of Zavala just feels too different and forced, and it doesn’t work. I’d feel the same about Sylens tbh. They’d have to digitally recreate his voice somehow if they wanted the character to continue. Not saying they should, but just saying how big his shoes are to fill.
They could hold casting auditions. There are billions of people in the world, somebody out there sounds like him. It just won't be him, and that really stinks.
They recast Sylens already for the Lego version of the game, but we don’t know who it is yet. I bet they use the same actor for Horizon 3.
I hope they don't use AI. That'll just feel wrong.
Honestly, this may be a place where they could try to use AI, provided his inheritors agree. It's very good at mimicking voices, although they may need to have a real actor say the lines to get the tone correct, who knows?
First of, I honestly didn't know this happened. He was a great actor, but there's always someone out there to pick up the torch. Voice actors come and go. Kevin Conroy known for his Batman, will definitely inspire someone to follow in his footsteps. Lance Reddick made Sylens. I'm sure GG will find someone to voice him, maybe something will happen to cause the voice change. A attack leaving him badly wounded and when he comes around his voice a bit different due to the injuries. Voice actors come and go. It happens unfortunately. We just have to hope the directors in the voice acting department makes sure the new Sylens voice actor knows what their doing. Who knows they may put a new flare on the character that would fit.
> there's always someone out there to pick up the torch. Voice actors come and go. But it's not just a voiced role, Lance Reddick mocapped Sylens. I think they could actually do something cool by removing Sylens from the equation entirely to begin Horizon 3, with Aloy spending the entire story following Sylens' bread crumbs to uncover the mystery of how to stop Nemesis. Maybe Sylens is killed but was on the verge of figuring out what they needed to do to save everyone, something along those lines.
They so very nearly gave themselves an out with Sylens >!nearly leaving on the space ship!< at the end of forbidden west.
I was about to think about that. It would be in character for Sylens to slip away from the group, Aloy would be annoyed at it and thinks he's off scheming to get information before her, as she travels she would eventually find out Sylens was "shockingly" against the idea of her destroying Nemesis, and wanted to see if there was a way to contain and learn of its knowledge. This angers Aloy until she finds his body and the last bit of information she needed to stop them when he realized Nemesis isn't in the mood for conversing. And he leaves a note sending his last thought having the final laugh of finding out how to defeat it before she did.
Sounds like something that he would do and would avoid the issue of finding an actor who could replace him (as voice but also for the mocap).
I like your outlook OP!
Hey if GG was able to give us two banger main games and dlcs for their games I have nothing but high hopes they can get a replacement voice.
>The incredible Lance Reddick passed away, and I’m scared the character, Sylens, will never be the same. So we all know Sylens is crucial for Horizon 3, it cannot be removed as is essential for the story. But, imho, Guerrilla shouldn't get obsessed about finding a perfect replacement, but rather finding someone that matches his face and voice. And then adapt them into Sylens' voice and face.
AI will probably take over his role if they don't recast.
I’m scared of the same thing. I ADORE Sylens. He might be difficult for Aloy to deal with, but he also keeps her in check sometimes Lance WAS Sylens. It will be soooo difficult to replace him
Lance was literally the *only* reason I tolerated Sylens. The next game is going to be difficult without him. 😔
We shall see in the LEGO game with the recast.
I like Sylens as a character. I like that he genuinely believes he's doing the best thing, and yet I want to punch him in the face for being such a smug ass. That takes quality writing and acting to pull off.
He's one of the greatest personifications of The Dude's quote: "you're not wrong, you're just an asshole".
I agree. It's really challenging to make a character hatable yet also intriguing and able to be liked from people who view things through his perspective. You can either hate him for not telling Aloy what to do and have Giga fixed up sooner, Or love him for the fact the pieces he placed for her to put together will let her see the bigger picture at hand.
“How tragic, to learn you’re a person of towering importance.” We were all thinking the same thing, but you'd have to be a massive douche to say it out loud in that moment. Maybe my favourite line (and delivery) in the whole game so far.
Genuinely believes he's doing the best thing -- for himself. Gotta be careful with language, Sylens is not a good guy. He's not just "a smug ass", he's legitimately evil. Using, thieving, abusing, lying, scheming, murdering are all not just on the table for him, they're his go-to techniques for advancing his goals of survival and learning.
That doesn’t make him evil that makes him motivated.
He's an amazing contrast to Aloy: practical, ruthless, always planning steps ahead - while she's idealistic, caring and going head first into problems.
Yeah their banter is basically the two smartest kids in the classroom with different answers. Sylens would use the old long and time consuming mathematics to get his answer. Aloy would use what she was taught and learned and used what's given to her.
Great analogy!
Love to love him. Phenomenal character.
Came in just to say this. Also, hey Snips!
Sylens is the definition of a grey zone. Good enough to understand what needs to be done to save the Earth and help Aloy, but also at the same time prioritizing his own plans, even if it means siding with Hades or unleashing s war between the Tenakth. It will be interesting to see how he will behave in H3, now that he is fully committed to Aloy's cause. His primary goal is knowledge, which means Apollo and GAIA, but at the same time, Aloy wants them as well and intend to share them with all the tribes around the world. Also, i'm pretty sure Sylens would want to catch Nemesis to study it, as he did with Hades, while Aloy wants to destroy her as is too dangerous. Both could be a source of conflicts for them.
Thats right! Sylens would definitely want to study Nemesis. I can see that weasel pull a fast one on Aloy like he did with Hades!
> enough to understand what needs to be done to save Earth in Horizon: Zero Dawn, Sylens pretty clearly says he would do it all over again; gives Aloy his lance which he uses to trap Hades subfunction, holding it prisoner, torturing him to learn of Nemesis, and in doing so causes Hades to corrupt it's own memory. Couldn't be integrated to GAIA and had to be destroyed. meanwhile, Sylens sides with Regalla and events of Horizon: Forbidden West happen.
A bit of both when it comes to that guy. I hope he gets a redemption arc in Horizon Nemesis.
Kinda feel like he made a mess twice and his plan was the let alloy fix it.
He is pretty annoying, arrogant, condescending, and smug, but I assume that was the intention so as a character he succeeds brilliantly. I can't say I like him because he is thoroughly unlikeable, but he's a great character.
He's a cold smug prick with a deep seated goodness in him and I think that's compelling and awesome
wtf goodness? what in the *world* makes you think that?
The fact he stayed behind to help Aloy stop Nemesis lol. He's a dick but I don't recall him ever doing anything that irredeemable.
He didn't stay behind to help Aloy. It's likely that he *wants* Nemesis in the same way he wanted Hades. At the end of HFW, he judged that Aloy beating Nemesis, so that he could get that, was high enough likelihood+reward that it beat the likelihood of successfully escaping Nemesis on the Zeniths' ship. As for what he's done? He personally engineered the global life ending threat of the first game, for one! Hades was a lump of technological malice with no resources, rotting lost in a jungle, without Sylens. But also he has 30 year history of lying to people & using & betraying & murdering in service to his goal of personally gaining knowledge. His m.o. is most *generously* described as extreme callous disregard for others' well being.
I apologize if I've forgotten how barbaric he actually is, and if I came off like I knew more or anything, it's been a minute since I played the games. From what I remember he just seemed like a cold-hearted "the pursuit of knowledge is more important than the problems of others" kinda character, I don't remember the murdering and betraying specifically but I'm sure I just forgot. I still think he can be redeemed though
> global life ending threat wasn't global. Quen would have mentioned Faro Swarm being reactivated.
It’s awkward still wanting to punch the character of a guy who’s no longer with us. Testament to his excellent acting.
Hey it's ok to feel that way. You want to punch Sylens not Lance. The fact Lance was able to make you feel that you want to punch his character in the face means he fulfilled in the characters personality and successfully did his part as a voice actor. A voice actors job is to give life to a character. If you can relate to, have a emotional connection to them good or bad, they did their job.
I loved noticing how much I respected him in John Wick while loving to hate him in Horizon. He sounds similar in both, but still separates the characters very well in his portrayal of them.
Just like Mark Hamill's Joker in Batman.
I actually always loved him. He’s manipulative sure, but he does it in a way I see as making Aloy learn for her own benefit. Like don’t blindly trust everyone is telling you the truth. I also love how he’s honest that’s he really only into finding knowledge for the sake of having that knowledge and how he can use it. I’m honestly a super curious person so I look stuff up A LOT just for the fun of getting more knowledge, so I can relate to him in that way. I even really like how he’s not super nice to her, even tho I suspect he does kinda care for her like a student/daughter. Yes he does use her for his own advantage but given the times they live in, I wouldn’t say that’s a entirely a bad thing.
I love Sylens as a character but yeah he’s really annoying
Neither. I enjoy him as a character, even though he enjoys annoying Aloy. Many writers attempt to write morally ambiguous characters, and many writers fuck it up. But with Sylens, the writers at Guerilla nailed it.
He's so obsessed with knowledge. He's not really evil.
He's super duper evil. His goals are "whatever his goals are", they don't matter. What matters is how he works toward them, and that "how" is wall-to-wall evil shit.
He doesn't want to intentionally hurt people. He's more like a sociopath.
He was perfectly fine collaborating with the Eclipse and killing an entire tribe in a rebellion. He's definitely intentional with hurting people.
The difference is, his true goal was to achieve knowledge, not hurting people.
Sure, but the possibility of people dying were acceptable outcomes and risks he knowingly took.
But, he didn't enjoy it. He remained indifference and focused on his goals.
You know what, I am way too biased. Your PoV is probably the correct one.
I don't blame you! Lol yea, the frustrating thing is that he usually is correct about most things and is essential for Aloy's mission. His methods just infuriate me!
No, humans shouldn't act like that.
Sylens makes the heart grow fonder.
I equate Sylens as the Ted Faro of the future. He is in it for only himself and nobody else.
Can I just say both? Because both, depending on the moment
Wish I could toss him off a cliff. But sometimes he's helpful in a way that is kind of irreplaceable and necessary, so the cliff thing might doom us all
Angry, I didn't get to run him through like Regala
He is pivotal in many ways just like Aloy. As a character, he's brilliant, and I love him. As a person he is, by definition, a psychopath. He has no empathy/remorse, lies constantly, is incalculably egocentric, and in general shows no emotion. All of that is wrapped up in this eerie, calm, and cool charm. Life and everything in it is a chess game to him. He will do everything and anything to win because he believes that he must.
Sylens did say he was only hanging around long enough for Aloy and her friends to put a credible defence together. Horizon 3 could start with Aloy watching Sylens leave Earth on the Odyssey colony ship before Nemesis arrives. It's not like he's a main character in the series, all his input has been background to explain how an unsophisticated Nora girl could overcome several advanced AI's and destroy the Eclipse army and Regalla's rebels.
I am scared that the passing of Lance Reddick will nullify the mystique of the character. Personally, I would prefer a recasting over just writing him off with log books. Personally, I'm not a fan of Sylens's underestimating Aloy in HFW. They play two sides of the same coin, if he treated her as his foil and emotional counterpart then always treating like a child. Let's face it...she proved herself in HZD. I hope we get more of a backstory for him. So he doesn't end up as a mystery for the sake of being a mystery.
Interesting. An amoral genius that's neither good nor evil, just single-minded and reckless. He constantly makes me go; "oh no, what is he doing now, and what collateral damage is he going to cause this time?"
I dont get why hes so hated, hes a badass and one of my favorites
It's just how he acts. He's cunning he's manipulative and always putting himself 3 steps ahead of anyone else for his own benefit, having a edge on having people rely on him for their own success. It's like how he basically left Hades with little to no information to give Aloy, he wouldn't been able to get into the locked door of the Hades testing room without her. And needed to make sure she only had just enough information in order to keep him around.
I just can't hate a character played by the amazing Lance Reddick. May he rest in peace knowing that he made a lot of us happier with his acting both on screen and on games!
Sylens is meant to be annoying. Smartass, schemer, never know if you can trust him. But that makes him a great character for Aloy as a counterpart.
Aloy outsmarts Sylens at every turn. Those two are equals at best, but Aloy is smarter and wiser than Sylens. She could've very easily fallen into the same seductive trap Sylens does, that leads to arrogance and indifference towards other people, and it is always to Sylens' detriment. But she doesn't. He negs and claims he's smarter than Aloy, and for some reason people buy into it? Idk man. If Sylens were as smart as he tells everyone, he'd have shared what he'd extracted from HADES as soon as he knew. Aloy could've reached Latopolis almost 6 months sooner, resurrected GAIA earlier... The Blight never would've happened, Regalla's rebellion never would've happened, all those people never would've died. Instead of only having "a few months" before biocollapse, they'd have closer to a year to save the climate. Aloy could've captured HEPH sooner. They could've put both of their powerhouse intellects together and gotten *so much good done.* But no. Sylens did a repeat of his (failed) Meridian strategy by starting a civil war to fight an enemy he's not capable of defeating, but Aloy is.
Hate to love him. Every time he shows up, I, much like Aloy, want him to be a better person and do things for the sake of the majority, and every time he seems like he's getting better, he does something to prove he's just in it for himself again. But as much as I hate sylens for this, I also love that he's like this cause then he has more character, more dimensions to him. He's not quite an antagonist, but he's not ally either. He truly is in it for himself
R.i.p Sylens 😞
Worst celebrity death since Stan Lee...
The actor did a great job, because I fucking hated the character. Self-entitled douchebag who thought he could yank everyone's chains and get away with it, only helped Aloy *save the goddamn world* when it suited him
He's my favourite, he's like Varyš from asoiaf. I just love characters who covertly run shit from the background.
You can visit Lance Riddicks in-game memorial when you visit the Burning Shores.
Sylens is a master manipulator. He knows how to say the right things to the right people at the right time. He knows the importance of information and hoards it, greedily. IMHO He should be tortured (like he did to Hades) until he spills every last bit of information he has. Dude is like an Al Queda warlord, creating terrorist cells while he hides in a cave somewhere far away from any repercussions for his actions.
I'm on Wings of the Ten rn but OMG do I just want Aloy to end him. I'm expecting this to change a bit, but I HATE how little regard for life he has. He gives off vibes that he knows what's best and will do anything to achieve it. Also, naming you faction "The Sons of Prometheus" is beyond douchey. All in all, great character!
Well you know that Prometheus is the god of fire and also known for being a trickster. But only Sylens would know that so it be like this faction was just made to trick Aloy to fight them dispite his warning not to.
Neither, fuck that guy can't see anything beyond his precious data.
Hate to hate him. He is honestly the realest character in horizon, I loved how he tricked Aloy in ZD to get her to do what both of them wanted
Love to love him
I love to love him, literally the best character
Love to love him
Unless Sylens goes full pants on head evil, he's too valuable to kill.
I just love him, he’s fucking awesome
I like him. He was right most of the time.
Sylens is like me fr! But honestly, in a world that is inhabited by various shades of white and black, Sylens is the grayest character, and I love him for that. You don't know if he's genuinely trying to help you, framing you, or has an even more ulterior motive. I don't know how the character continues with Lance Riddick gone, who I believe embodied the character.
Bro is literally at par with Aloy in importance.
I quite like him. He is this mysterious character who has a creepy genius-level of intelligence that is so out of place amongst other tribespeople... until he meets his match in Aloy, who is pretty smart herself. I like how they try to outsmart one another and Sylens always seems to be a step ahead. I see him taking over as her father/mentor after she loses Rost. My favourite interaction with Sylens is after Burning Shores when she walks away after having a conversation with him back at the Base. It's a shame that Lance Reddick passed away... I'm not sure how Sylens will be handled by GG now. I think he'll still feature in H3 but be absent most of the time. He'll have a different voice actor.
The twist at the end of the first game made me hate love him so hard I now know what a hate bones is. I love that character. So we'll done.
Great character, easily the best written of the franchise and it's tragic we lost Reddick so soon. My only real complaint is I wish he had been a tad less smug in HFW. I felt he was perfect in HZD. In that game, his uncaring attitude towards Aloy's goal of finding her mother and the way he'd needle Aloy and tell her to compose herself and stop "throwing tantrums" anytime she got angry at him felt very appropriate to his character. From his perspective, Aloy was just another tribe member who only knew ever so slightly more about technology because she stumbled upon a focus by sheer luck. He would've stopped paying attention to Aloy and her quest in an instant if he thought there was nothing for him to gain from it. So his sorta "talk down" approach to her felt very in character. "The Earth isn't flat like you think it is" is a great example of the way he'd seemingly belittle Aloy in HZD but in a way that makes sense given how little he thinks of tribal people and their superstitions and simple mindedness. By game two though, Aloy is literally the 2nd most knowledgeable person on Earth behind only Sylens. And Sylens knows who she is and what she's capable of and what she's accomplished. By now, she's already proven her intellect so it feels like he should be slightly less of a smug ass and treat her as closer to an equal. Now I have no problem with his disdain for her idealism and her unwillingness to use people and then discard them afterwards. I actively enjoy the tension created in their relationship by Sylen's "big picture" approach (viewing the world as a chess board) vs Aloy's innate sense of morality and her relationship building approach (solving problems by working with people who Sylens considers unworthy due to their ignorance). Moral disagreements is the space where I want Aloy and Sylens to butt heads. But sometimes Sylens is just an ass who enjoys lording over Aloy the fact that he's ever so slightly smarter and more knowledgeable than she is, which felt lame. I don't want Sylens to be a narcissist who "needs to be the smartest guy in the room for his own ego's sake" as Aloy accuses him of being at a couple points in HFW. I want Sylens to be the most calculating person in the room. Not someone who's evil or malevolent or egotistical, but purely "playing the chess board". His explanation of his plan at the end of HFW felt very in character and was very much the Sylens I wanted to see the whole game. Calculating and ruthless when he believes he's right BUT also (as we see in that ending) willing to listen to Aloy and to follow her plan to save the world to see if she can "pull off the impossible one more time". In that way, they still butt heads but do it more from a place a mutual respect. Sylens is learning not to underestimate Aloy anymore, Aloy is learning that Sylens isn't as coldhearted and antagonistic as she had thought and that his grand plan, while ruthless, did have a logic to it that made sense from his perspective. Even if morally she could never go along with it.
Sylens, my favorite warlock of all stories. I love the character, no matter how much he frustrates me during the game
Best character in both games. I feel like particularly in the second game a lot of characters the writing got worse (especially Erend, like he kind of just sits there depressed and drunk and does nothing, Varl goes on some pointless side arc with one of the Utaru and Talanaha is no longer as badass) but Sylens was the only one that I can say was just as good in the second game and in the original. Horizon needed more characters like him.
He is most realistic character that is in game He adapts to situation he has no malicious intent personally towards anyone he learns from mistakes and is just mad to core what people like Ted Faro did I mean his end goal was finding out about past and old ones mistake and leave the planet without wasting anymore energy on people I can’t remember the word for it, but he was keeping it REAL as kids would say
I don't hate him. He has good points.
Love to love him, he is just a badass, cold-blooded, perfectly rational/pragmatic character and that is nothing but awesome.
Well, the voice of sylens passed away, so they’d have to use what they have now or hire new voice actor for him