Who is Silco in Arcane? Everything we know about the villain heading into act 3

The League of Legends animated series Arcane is coming to an end. The third and final act will be released on Nov. 20 on Netflix and fans will learn the fates of some of their favorite characters.

While some of the protagonists of the series were known to most viewers thanks to League, others were created just for the Arcane universe and its story. Among those, one who stood out for his cruelty and ambition is Silco, the main antagonist of the series.

When Silco was first introduced, it was clear that he was going to be an evil character. But by the end of act one, he turned out to be so much more. In contrast to Vander, who was introduced with positive connotations, everything about Silco screams that he’s a wicked person, from his looks to the way he speaks. He’s a goal-driven character who doesn’t care what he has to do to complete his tasks, which is why he’s the main antagonist of the first act of the series.

“You see, power, real power, doesn’t come to those who were born strongest, or fastest, or smartest,” Silco says in episode two. “No. It comes to those who will do anything to achieve it.”

Growing up in poverty, Silco had the dream of reuniting Piltover and Zaun in a single, prosperous city. During his first attempt to reunite the two cities by force, Silco was supported by Vander, whom he saw as a brother. But now, he walks the path of war alone.

After Vander betrayed Silco by trying to drown him, the antagonist created his own criminal empire based on the dealing and trading of a substance called Shimmer. This purple drug is capable of increasing the physical performance of a person and thus changes the body of whoever ingests it. Shimmer runs rampant in Zaun between the first and second acts of the series, creating various problems for our protagonists, including Vi and Caitlyn.

But despite all the things he’s done and will do, Silco isn’t your average cruel character without emotions. On the contrary, he shows compassion and affection toward the one person who’s suffered as much as him: Powder. Like Silco, the young Jinx is abandoned and betrayed by the one she believed to be her sister. In that, the two Zaunian criminals find the common ground to build up their relationship in the series.

Here’s everything you need to know about Silco.

Silco in the first act – “There’s a monster inside all of us”

Silco’s first appearance is when he’s scolding one of his underlings, a kid named Deckard, who we first see pestering Vi and the other kids. While in his underwater hideout, Silco approaches Singed, who shows him how the creation of Shimmer is going by testing the substance on a rat. After the successful test, Singed suggests trying the Shimmer on a human subject, to which Silco replies that he already has a candidate, referring to the boy who had caused trouble earlier. Silco later manipulates Deckard into consuming the Shimmer voluntarily, making him addicted to the substance.

The antagonist then meets with the second enforcer in command, Marcus, seemingly knowing a lot about him. The two talk about the kids who caused a ruckus in Piltover, hoping that the involvement of Vander’s prodigies will help Silco hit his former friend hard.

Silco then proceeds to take Vander into custody by using Deckard as the beast who kills the leader of the enforcers, Grayson, and the Zaunite shop owner and Vander’s friend, Benzo. After dragging Vander into his base, Silco talks about their past and how he’ll make Vander pay for what he did to him. After Vi, Mylo, and Claggor enter Silco’s hideout to rescue Vander, the criminal orders his henchmen to eliminate the kids. Unfortunately for him, Vi takes them all down. Silco then gives Shimmer to Deckard, who proceeds to beat Vi and almost got to the other kids as well before the explosion caused by Powder happens.

Silco is almost hit by the explosion but Sevika, one of his henchmen, pushes him out of the way, saving him and losing an arm. But Decker is unharmed and continues to carry out Silco’s orders, heading toward Vander and the kids. Vander, however, gets back up and has almost beaten the boy when he’s stabbed in the back by Silco. The two brothers are once again face to face, but Vander collapses in the flames caused by the explosion.

Then, Vander injects himself with the Shimmer. In his final moments before finally collapsing, he decides to save Vi instead of going after Silco, thus not concluding his revenge. Silco manages to escape from the burning building, returning only after Vander’s death and finding an angry and abandoned Powder—just as he had been abandoned and betrayed by Vander when they were younger.

Silco then takes Powder under his wing, promising that they “will show them.”

Silco in the second act – “What is truth, but a survivor’s story”

A few years have already passed once we get to act two. Following Vander’s death, Silco has taken over his old friend’s pub, establishing his business in the center of Zaun.

On Progress Day, Sevika enters his office complaining about the mess Powder, now known as Jinx, made during a mission. But Silco blames Sevika for the failure of the smuggling operation, while Jinx listens to their conversation from her hideout in Silco’s office. Sevika storms out of Silco’s office and Jinx then talks with him about her trauma and what happened during the mission. He reassures her that her sister is dead and that Jinx should focus on her “gadgetry.”

After Jinx blows up the palace in Piltover and steals a hextech crystal, Silco enters her base and laboratory, shouting and scolding her for the trouble she caused. But he’s immediately silenced when she shows him the gem she stole, while also wishing him “Happy Progress Day.”

In the next episode, Silco is visited by Marcus, who’s now the sheriff of Piltover. The enforcer is angry at the criminal because the explosions caused by Jinx in Piltover killed some officers. But Silco dismisses him with some money for the families of the victims and with a suggestion for who to blame: the Firelights.

Silco and the sheriff meet again in the following episode when the crime lord visits Marcus’ home. Silco discovered that Vi is still alive, contrary to what Marcus said to him years before. Pressuring Marcus to remain cooperative, Silco then reminds him that accidents can happen, even to his daughter in Piltover.

Meanwhile, word gets to Silco about the whereabouts of Vi in Zaun. He then arrives in Zaun’s slums, where Vi and Caitlyn have found refuge, and attacks the two girls by sending Shimmer addicts after them. But both Vi and Caitlyn escape, leaving a frustrated Silco screaming out his anger.

By the end of the episode, Silco returns to his office where he discovers the body of the tortured Sevika. Jinx has found out that her sister isn’t dead and that Silco lied to her.

What could happen next – “You’d die for the cause, but you won’t fight for one”

Although we saw Silco’s plans go up in smoke in the last episode of act two, his ultimate goal remains unchanged. And from what we’ve seen in the trailers and teasers, everything that’s been going on in Piltover and Zaun in the first two acts will eventually lead to a civil riot. We could expect that in the coming episodes, Silco will gather the other Chem-Barons of Zaun to prepare a united front against Piltover.

But the real surprise will be seeing what will happen to his relationship with Jinx. Even after his betrayal, will the Loose Cannon see the antagonist as a father figure or will she try to get her revenge on someone who betrayed her?

Whatever happens with Silco, we can’t predict that his road will be long and lasting.
Whether it’s at the hands of Vi or the guns of Jinx, or even the claws of a possible Warwick appearance, Silco will probably leave the League universe by the end of Arcane’s final act.
Or maybe it will be the loss of him that will drive the now fragile Jinx crazy.

The third and final act of Arcane will be released on Nov. 20 on Netflix.

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