The Horizon franchise is turning into one of PlayStation’s most beloved exclusives thanks to its range of loveable characters, exciting action, and breathtaking scenery. Two characters seem to stand above the rest for their backstories and control over machines, those being the lead protagonist Aloy, and her rival-turned-ally Sylens. As a result, the Horizon franchise could showcase Sylens as a playable character in a spin-off that ties up loose ends and give players more knowledge about the mysterious character.
Sylens helped form the Eclipse cult and the Sons of Prometheus, before ultimately helping Aloy and her friends take out the Far Zenith threat. Now, with Nemesis moving toward Earth, Sylens has agreed to help Aloy battle the AI so they can ensure the survival of humanity. With little known about Sylens outside his skills and knowledge, exploring his character through a spin-off would give players a better understanding of his decisions in the world prior to the events of Horizon Zero Dawn.
Who is Sylens?
Sylens’ history is mysterious prior to HADES and his clash with Aloy in Horizon Zero Dawn, as the player leans he took steps to keep people from finding out the truth when settling somewhere new. He is known to have explored Old Ones' ruins at a young age, just like Aloy, and discovered the truth about how they wiped out all life on the planet. Sylens was one of the first people to explore the GAIA Prime ruins as well, which gave him a lot of knowledge about AI so that he could override and control machines.
Sylens was also responsible for repairing HADES, which he discovered within a broken machine while exploring a ruin, inadvertently kickstarting the events of Horizon Zero Dawn. He served HADES in exchange for knowledge, and helped the AI learn about the Spire, which HADES would use as a transmission array. After the Eclipse was defeated, Sylens sided with Aloy as they fought off the Far Zenith threat so he could escape the planet before Nemesis arrives. However, he is convinced to stay and prepare for the arrival of Nemesis instead.
Exploring Sylens’ Origin Story
A spin-off about Sylens would most certainly start before the events of Horizon Zero Dawn, depicting a younger Sylens exploring ruins in the search of knowledge about the Old Ones. It would likely be similar to Horizon Zero Dawn, showcasing his early years and eventually skipping to his young adulthood where he found and repaired HADES. Since his origin is so deeply tied with HADES, and much of his knowledge came from the AI, a Sylens origin story would likely also show how HADES came to power.
This Sylens spin-off could cover the formation of the Eclipse and have players control Sylens as he does work behind the scenes. It could show fans certain things he did with the Eclipse that ultimately helped him discover the threat of the Far Zeniths, and could end with him using the Spire to send a communication from the Forbidden West to Meridian, seen at the start of the second Horizon game. This could serve as a way to not only give players more of a background on Sylens, but also gain a better understanding of the machines at large.
Filling the Gaps Between Zero Dawn and Forbidden West
Another avenue the series could take would be to have a Sylens spin-off explain the events between games. There was a small time-jump between Horizon Zero Dawn and Horizon Forbidden West, and this will likely be the case for the next game in the franchise. Using a Sylens spin-offs to connect these games and let players explore the time between them would be a great way to create more content and fill loose ends.
Between HorizonZero Dawn and Forbidden West, Sylens continued to gain knowledge of the Old Ones, the machines, and AI through HADES. He ultimately discovered the Far Zenith threat, and it is likely Aloy would have never ventured to the Forbidden West without his input. Sylens gained more knowledge of everything going on, and could have also gained some knowledge about Nemesis and the Far Zenith colony before they arrived at Earth, which would be a perfect setup for the next chapter in Aloy’s story.
Sylens is one of the most important characters in the Horizon franchise, often leading Aloy toward her next threat and helping her save the planet in an underhanded way. His knowledge of the Old Ones and their technology makes him a powerful figure and his ability to seemingly bend people to his will makes him a mirror to Aloy’s kindness and love. A Sylens spin-off would not only give players more information about one of the key figures in the Horizon franchise, but could also help tie up loose ends in the story.
Horizon Forbidden West is available now for PS4 and PS5.
