Sylens

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"*You have been warned!*"
This article, Sylens, contains MAJOR SPOILERS. -
Should you read the article without prior knowledge of the material, it will spoil a *significant* plot point, which can negatively affect your experience.

This character, Sylens, is 48 years old in 3040, based on his/hers birthday, which is 2992.

## Personal Info

### Age

27-28 (2001/3020)
47-48 (2021/3040)
48-49 (2022/3041)
49-50 (2023/3042)
50-51 (2024/3043)
51-52 (2025/3044)
57-58 (2031/3050)

## Details

### Powers/Skills

Horseback Riding
Archery
Intelligence
Knowledge of the Technology of the Old Ones
Shamanism

### Hobby

Trying to Uncover Mysteries of the Old Ones

### Type of Hero

Enigmatic Wanderer

**Sylens** is the anti-heroic deuteragonist of *Horizon Zero Dawn* and a returning character in *Horizon Forbidden West*. He is a wandering traveler and researcher, and the founder of the Eclipse. He has a deep fascination with the history and technology of the Old Ones, and allies with Aloy to discover the truth behind the machines and the fate of the Old Ones.

Sylens firsty appears in Unity Force Missions: Horizon Zero Dawn.

## Appearance

Sylens is a tall man, with dark skin, black eyes, and is always seen wearing the standard blue, gray, and black clothing common with the shamans of the Banuk tribe, which is what leads people to believe that he's a member of the tribe, although this has been disputed in game.  He has shiny, blue rings imbedded at various points on his body, including in his chin, and at several places on both of his arms.

## Personality

Sylens is a well-spoken and erudite intellectual, albeit reckless and relentless in his pursuit of knowledge. For all of his life, he has been obsessed with uncovering the origins of the machines and the fate of the Old Ones. When it comes to expanding his knowledge base and research, Sylens has few, if any ethical boundaries: he has no compunction with manipulating and exploiting others so long as he gets the answers he seeks. He views ignorance as a curse, and that APOLLO was the greatest gift the Old Ones left behind. He is further critical of the Quen for shrouding their knowledge of the Old World in mysticism and taboo and for creating "a pantheon of corporate shills".

Due to his coldly logical character, Sylens places little value on human emotions, seeing them as obstacles towards achieving one's objectives. As a result, Sylens can be extremely blunt to the point of being deliberately callous. He was insensitive to the emotional turmoil that Aloy felt after realizing her own origins, only remarking that she had two mothers; a dead woman and a machine. Sylens has the tendency to be condescending, assuming that Aloy believed the Earth to be flat, only to be flustered when she showed otherwise.

He is an incredibly secretive man, only revealing information about himself when it is crucial, and otherwise insisting that his secrets are his alone. He warns Aloy not to investigate any further into his past. Beyond his love for secrecy, Sylens is notably taciturn, rarely speaking with Aloy unless he deems it necessary.

In spite of his negative qualities, Sylens is capable of seeing his mistakes, admitting that he was foolish to serve HADES. Additionally, while he initially views Aloy as mere means to an end, he slowly comes to respect her ability and care for her well-being. Furthermore, despite his coldly logical dismissal of the deaths that occurred in the Carja civil war, or indeed that occur in any tribal conflict, he abhors the senseless bloodletting that the Carja engaged in under Sun-King Jiran. More than once he referred to the Carja Red Raids and subsequent human sacrifices with disgust while speaking to Aloy, and scornfully implied that the Carja would one day resume the practice.

## Abilities

* **Skilled Programmer:** Sylens has an unrivaled proficiency in the usage of Old Ones technology. He was successfully able to create a network of Focuses, as well as a back door that he could use to monitor them undetected. H is also able to utilise holographic technology on his own, going so far in creating holograms.
* **Polymath:** Due to his interactions with HADES, Sylens is well-versed in a number of subjects. He is quite possibly the most intelligent human in the new world since the extinction of the Old Ones themselves.
* **Archaic Knowledge:** Having studied the Old Ones for most of his life, Sylens has perhaps the most comprehensive knowledge of the Old Ones of any human alive. His knowledge includes the concept of corporations, ancient medical techniques, and some understanding of long-ancient languages. He was able to deduce that Faro robots had a role in ending the Old Ones' civilization, although he was unable to confirm it until Aloy came along.
* **Master Strategist:** Aside from his wide array of knowledge, Sylens is a skilled tactician.
* **Skilled Hunter:** While not as obvious as his intellect, Sylens is adept as a hunter, being able to take down a Corruptor on his own.
* **Tribal Knowledge:** Sylens has shown himself knowledgeable in Banuk and Carja lore. He is versed in the Carja faith to the point that he could present HADES as the Buried Shadow. While it is unclear whether he was ever part of the Banuk tribe, his knowledge of Shamanism is vast enough to where he could pass as a shaman, if not be one himself.

## Trivia

* At the start of To Curse the Darkness, Aloy pulled a pun of Sylens' name, to which he responded with actual silence.
* There are special conversations and encounters with Sylens if Aloy completes side quests and errands associated with him before a certain point in the main quest.
	+ In *Horizon: Zero Dawn:*
		- If Aloy goes to Sunfall before finding Olin, Sylens will reveal himself and warn Aloy not to enter the city or risk revealing to the Eclipse that she survived.
			* Likewise, if Aloy enters Sunfall before destroying the Focus network, she will be able to enter to a certain point in Sunfall, but will not enter the palace, as she agrees with Sylens that it is too dangerous.
	+ In *The Frozen Wilds*, should Aloy uncover all possible information from CYAN after the main DLC line of quests, Sylens will contact Aloy to tell his own remark of the newfound knowledge. Depending on the player's progress in the main story, this could be their parting conversation.
		- The tone of the conversation differs depending on Aloy's knowledge of Sylens' past. If Aloy never presses Ourea to reveal Sylens' story, Sylens will part peacefully. Otherwise, Aloy will make a bitter remark on his treacherous past, and Sylens will retort by warning her not to delve into his past.
	+ *Horizon: Forbidden West:*
		- If Aloy clears out 3 Rebel Camps she will be able to loot a focus off of an enemy. If she takes it back to The Base before stopping Regalla's second attack on Memorial Grove, Sylens will contact Aloy through the focus and sternly warn her against interfering with the Sons of Prometheus, to which Aloy will balk at his warning. He will then fry the focus, preventing her from gaining coordinates to a Supply Cache quest at Camp Nowhere.
			* Likewise if Aloy discovers the name of the leader of the Sons of Prometheus before meeting Sylens at The Base, she will be able to ask him about his connection with her.