Arcane: What Happened To Silco’s Eye (& What It’s Injected With)

Although Arcane does an excellent job of building up its world, the show never explicitly explains what happened to Silco’s eye nor why it needs injections. Silco is a complex and well-developed villain and is a large part of why Arcane is arguably the best video game adaptation of all time. But his past is something of a mystery, and his terrifying black eye gets no clear explanation regarding its origin or functionality.

While Arcane takes many characters and story elements from League of Legends lore, many aspects are either altered or are entirely original to the show. Silco was created for the series in order to give context to the history between Jinx and Vi, which is something of a mystery in the game’s lore due to Vi’s inability to recall her childhood (including her family and even her real name). Because Silco is an original character, there is not much information available on him beyond what is presented in Arcane, but while his history is never explicitly discussed, the show provides several clues throughout its run that paint a picture of the character’s past.

Years before the story of Arcane’s first season, Vander nearly drowned Silco in the waters of Zaun, injuring Silco badly beneath his left eye before submerging him. As a result, the heavily polluted water flooded into the open wound, resulting in a severe and unusual infection of Silco’s eye. The eye was significantly altered by the toxins, but his vision seems largely unimpaired. The infected eye moves in sync with the other and the pupil appears to dilate, and he certainly never complains of being unable to see. Silco also looks to be wearing makeup to cover the scars around his eye, with it appearing to streak in the rain. If the eye didn’t work, it seems he’d be more likely to cover it up completely rather than leaving the most noticeable part exposed.

The full extent of Silco’s infection is still unclear, but the detailed animation in Netflix’s Arcane hints at a few details. The scarring on Silco’s face makes it seem as though the infection is spreading, his eye appearing to be the epicenter of each line, which is more than likely why he needs the frequent injections. The syringe that Jinx uses on Silco looks to be similar to the syringe Singed uses, which means it almost certainly contains Shimmer. Singed mentions that there are various variants of Shimmer, some with restorative properties and others that mutate and disfigure. So Silco is most likely injecting Shimmer into his eye in order to stave off further mutations of his face.

Arcane succeeds in the ways that most video game adaptations fail, making the show accessible to even those who aren’t familiar with League of Legends. The show has a voice and style all its own, and the characters are interesting without being overtly referential. But its ability to balance existing material with original content is perhaps its greatest strength, and the considerate way that Silco’s story intertwines with the game’s established lore is a remarkable example of exactly that.

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