Sylens acts as one of Aloy’s main allies in Horizon Zero Dawn. Though the two don’t necessarily get along, they need each other to stop HADES’ plan of destroying all life on Earth. Even as the game’s main story comes to a close, not much is revealed about the mysterious man.
However, a few data points and dialogue lines, particularly in the Horizon Zero DawnFrozen Wilds DLC, contain snippets of Sylens’ past. These unravel more about his goals and motivations, while they also show how far he’s willing to go to achieve what he wants.
Sylens' Desire for Knowledge
Not much is known about Sylens’ early life. However, it’s clear that he became interested in the Old Ones and the ancient world, devoting his life to learning what he could about its devastation. As a young man, his quest for knowledge brought him to Ban-Ur, territory of the Banuk tribe (and the primary setting for the Frozen Wilds DLC). He introduced himself as a shaman hailing from Owl’s Watch in the north, a Banuk group that rarely visited Ban-Ur. To confirm Sylens’ claims, the shamans sent runners to the distant Owl’s Watch, where their tribesfolk affirmed the young shaman’s status. Following this, the Banuk became more willing to trade knowledge.
Ourea, a shaman Aloy meets in the DLC, describes Sylens as an impressive man with knowledge of the machines that was beyond compare. As such, he quickly gained the trust of the Conclave - a group internal to the Banuk tribe consisting of their most prominent shamans. Though Ourea never trusted him, she was still eager to learn what he knew.
Having secured the Conclave’s trust, Sylens was permitted access to the Malmstrom; the Conclave’s most sacred meeting place wherein the shamans met every high winter. The location also housed a collection of relics from the old world amassed by the Banuk shamans. Its exact location is never disclosed in Horizon Zero Dawn, but Ourea describes it to be “a month’s march from Ban-Ur.” Sylens attended the Conclave’s annual meeting there, but the next time the Banuk shamans traveled to Malmstrom it had been looted, with holes cut into the cave’s ice and metal structures.
Though the Banuk sent their best trackers to find Sylens after his subsequent disappearance, none of them returned. They even sent runners back to Owl’s Watch, only to find the people who’d vouched for him were also gone. Thus, the Conclave began to doubt whether he’d ever been from the Banuk.
Taking Advantage of Fanaticism
After fleeing from the Banuk, Sylens traveled to the GAIA Prime ruins. Though he couldn’t unlock the mechanized doors to explore the structure’s innermost facilities, he established a workshop near the entrance which became the base of his operations. After some time, he’d chance upon a damaged focus and work on repairing it. Once it was functional again, Sylens put the device on and picked up a faint signal.
Following this signal brought Sylens to the jungles of Carja territory. There, he found a dormant Titan machine (known as a Metal Devil in-game), and repaired it. This led to Sylens’ first meeting with a freed HADES. Knowing that the AI needed Sylens in order to achieve its goals, he struck a deal with it: HADES would teach Sylens all it knew about the old world, and in return Sylens would tell the AI about the new world.
HADES was particularly interested in the Spire, a tall tower that stood in the heart of the Carja Sundom. Before GAIA restored life on Earth, this Spire was created to broadcast the kill codes that would deactivate Faro robots and end the Faro Plague. As such, HADES wanted to reach this Spire so it could broadcast a new signal to reactivate the robots. This would effectively destroy all life on Earth a second time, and the AI would achieve its programmed goal. However, to do this, HADES knew it would need to control the Spire’s surrounding region.
Thus, HADES went to Sylens for help, promising him more knowledge. Sylens agreed and took advantage of the Carja’s precarious geopolitical situation. He called a meeting with High Sun-Priest Bahavas, one of the de facto leaders of the banished Shadow Carja, and introduced him to HADES. HADES spoke to the priest, claiming it was the Buried Shadow of their mythology and that his people must follow the shadow to claim what is rightfully theirs. Bahavas was convinced, and this led to the creation of the Eclipse.
The Eclipse was a militaristic group within the Shadow Carja tribe that served the Buried Shadow, and Sylens played an important role in making them a powerful force. He collected and repaired Focus devices, allowing the group to communicate easily and spy on other tribes. That said, Sylens was beginning to grow wary of HADES’ plans, so he also built a backdoor into the Focus network, allowing him to listen in to everything happening within it. After Sylens finished setting up the network, HADES ordered the Kestrel Helis to kill him. Luckily, Sylens intercepted the message and managed to escape.
Teaming Up With Aloy in Horizon Zero Dawn
Sylens went into hiding after being driven out of the Shadow Carja’s ranks, though he continued to monitor the Eclipse and their movements. One day, HADES put up a kill order against a seemingly random Nora tribeswoman: Aloy. This piqued Sylens’ interest, so he kept an eye on the Nora huntress through the Focus she wore. Later on, the two would join forces. Aloy would find the truth of her birth, and Sylens would finally uncover the secrets hidden in then-inaccessible old-world facilities.
After Aloy defeats HADES, the AI remains active but is trapped by Sylens in a lantern-like device. He greets the AI as an old friend and says they still have much to talk about, citing the strange signal as an example. This is where Horizon Zero Dawn ends, suggesting Sylens has a bigger and more antagonistic role to play in Horizon Forbidden West.
Horizon Zero Dawn is available now for PC, PS4, and PS5.
