I Don't Think Sylas Thought Through His Revolution

LeviofEnvy·1/26/2019, 3:52:44 PM·11 votes·10,233 views

I was thinking about Sylas' plan and like, he knows there's going to be a power vacuum once the leadership topples and the second it does, Noxus is going to take advantage of the chaos and try and take Demacia.

Sylas might have a chance at toppling the Demacian throne because the Demacian army is unwilling to risk civilian casualties or use magic to counter the rebellion, and he knows that, he's banking on it. Noxus though? They have entire trained mage units and do not care if civilians are in their way. If Sylas topples Demacia, I give them roughly a week of chaos before Noxus takes the whole kingdom.

35 Comments

NotaRobot10061/26/2019, 3:55:43 PM24 votes

Sylas: Dismantles power structures, wrecks the military, no clear plans for rebuilding The entire nation of Noxus: It's free real estate

Wrathof3001/26/2019, 4:47:44 PM10 votes

Sylas isn't trying to find a place for mages in Demacia, he's trying to tear down the current system and start over. So if Noxus conquers Demacia, and he and his mages have place in their new kingdom he'd welcome it, perhaps he's actually counting on Noxus, a pro mage country stepping in and essentially aiding his side of the conflict.

On a side note, J4's capture at the hands of the Noxians was removed from Garen's bio. If Noxus actually attacks this would be a good reason to expand that part of the lore into a short story.

GreenKnight1/26/2019, 3:57:56 PM9 votes

Revolutions are rarely well thought. Generally, they are born from the discontent of the "opressed", and don't have goals, other than getting rid of the guys on top.

Camille Ferrøs1/26/2019, 4:46:20 PM8 votes

I think that is the point of Sylas existing. He will cause massive chaos to Demacia but won't win. Will probably die or get imprisoned again. With that Demacia will need to rethink what they are doing etc. And that would be its needed development. A Rioter said that its possible to have a champion that is currently not existing with everything else.

Pale Mask1/26/2019, 4:04:59 PM6 votes

All the better to mold him into a tool against his countrymen, right?

True Demacia he calls himself; a useful fool for men cleverer than he is.

Chromatic Eagle1/26/2019, 7:48:34 PM5 votes

Can you blame him for not thinking it through?

The man spent his youth being told he's bad because of what he's born with. To prove himself, he has to snitch on others like him, being snubbed despite his efforts. Then he spends who knows how long on the run, before being imprisoned (solitary mind you) for over a decade. Then he escapes to avoid death.

In what way can he be at peace or revolt without blood?

ModCaptainMårvelous1/26/2019, 8:35:46 PM5 votes

Sylas doesn't want to "fix" Demacia. He just wants Demacia under new management.

Blood Magicks1/26/2019, 3:56:49 PM4 votes

Thinking things through really doesn't look like his thing.

Asamas1/26/2019, 5:53:01 PM3 votes

Sylas: We are mages! We need to fight back the oppressors! Any ideas?

Random Guy A: Why not secretly destroy the country from inside?

Random Guy B: We can seek help in other countries.

Random Guy C: Why not launch a frontal assult towards the heavily armored and equipped army of Demacia with both armor and weapons nullifying magic?

Sylas: That's it!!!!

The Highest Noon1/26/2019, 7:55:52 PM2 votes

Of course not. From the start, they showed him off to be a complete idiot who doesn't think beyond his own ego. Yet his backstory paints a completely different picture. What does he think is the reason why Mages are so closely watched? He can't say it's mere racism because he literally blew up a little girl. He can't say Mages don't deserve it because he literally took advantage of an innocent young lady and used her magic to kill. What does he have planned for Demacia once he destroys it's infrastructure? Demacia is as prosperous as it is because of it's infrastructure. And when that's removed, they'll all but be destroyed by Noxus.

It's really that meme where Sylas is shooting innocent Demacians then suddenly "Why does Demacia dislike Mages so much?"

Moody P1/26/2019, 4:05:27 PM2 votes

mages? dumb? who knew?

Stars Shaper1/26/2019, 6:06:12 PM2 votes

I think this is how it's supposed to be and Sylas as a character makes sense not to have further plans.

It's like the revolt of Spartacus.

Weiner the Pooh1/27/2019, 1:43:51 AM2 votes

Another thing he didn't think through, is how are a bunch of mages supposed to beat soldiers whos armor is magic resistant? Kinda not gonna do anything.

Lupus Dirus1/29/2019, 3:49:35 AM2 votes

You need to read the stories that have followed since Sylas was released. Demacia is going about it way differently then you are stating. For starters:

With in the Order of the Illuminators Lux was given the option to be locked away or join a group of Demacian Mages and explore outside their border
In the new short story "Turmoil" you can see Demacian Soldiers and Mageseekrs meeting a envoy from an Allied Nation. This envoy is a Mage and when the Cithria asked the envoy (Arjen) why they would bring a mage to Demacia when Sylas has just caused destruction in the great city he responded saying "Things are different beyond your borders. If you wished to discuss matters of the forge, you would summon a smith, yes? At a time like this, who better, then, to send than a mage?”

The point I am making is Demacia is smarter then they look and well prepared for both insider and outsider threats.

Akali Prime1/26/2019, 7:23:10 PM1 votes

and he will prove demacia right in the process.

Criomhthann1/27/2019, 5:37:21 AM1 votes

There is a little issue of Geography getting in the way of Noxus. From Luxs' story, we know that Noxus wants to Conquer Demacia eventually, but their big plan for doing so was contingent on forming alliances with kingdoms surrounding Demacia. This failed thanks to Lux.

This means that, even in the event that Sylas does collapse the state (or more appropriately, the state collapses on itself), Noxus doesn't have an easy way of actually getting too Demacia, and therefore have no way to effectively take and hold territory in Demacia.

Irokaiser1/27/2019, 5:27:31 PM1 votes

I know that other people have said similar things, but would Sylas really care? He doesnt seem to care about Demacias land or wealth, nor does he seem to have any great desire to rule. All he wants is for mages to be treated as people. As you said, Noxus has trained units of mages. They welcome people like him. If anything, he would probably ally with Noxus and allow Noxus to take control of the central government provided that they guaranteed the rights of Demacian mages.

Wild Geese1/27/2019, 10:01:38 PM1 votes

Sylas is not so tactical, at best he could be called a visionary. But he has a Messiah complex with delusions of grandeur; of course he thinks he'll beat Noxus too: he even says as much.

GreenLore1/29/2019, 12:33:11 PM1 votes

Well Sylas might not even be aware of Noxus.

Keep in mind that there is now quite a bit of land between Noxus and Demacia,so Noxus can't just invade whenever they want.

BoringLittleF1/26/2019, 8:59:28 PM1 votes

That's why I don't really like this revolution direction. Sylas would have worked better as an antipode of Lux than Garen:

Sylas Got sold out to the Mageseekers by his own poor parents - Lux Has been coddled and protected by her rich family

Sylas Was forbidden to talk or socialize with people - Lux Everybody's favorite little girl

Sylas Spent 15 years in prison - Lux Got away with a slap on her wrist. Still loved by everyone

So the logical route here would be Sylas doing morally ambiguous things and going solo because no longer trusting anyone and believing that there is nothing about Demacia that makes it worth saving or fixing (contrary to Lux's optimism and love for her country).

I really wish they didn't touch Lux's bio. It doesn't really contradicts Sylas' bio and adds some nuance instead.