Last week brought news of the tragic passing of actor Lance Reddick, perhaps best known in the realm of video games for his iconic role as Commander Zavala in both Destiny and Destiny 2, as well as the enigmatic Sylens in Horizon Zero Dawn and Horizon Forbidden West
Developers and fans from both communities have since gathered to pay their respects. Reddick's legacy will live on in Destiny 2, with Bungie stating that it plans to "honour his presence through his performances yet to come in the game" in a blog post.
The studio summed up Reddick's impact in that series quite succinctly, writing that "Lance brought to life a character who has become virtually synonymous with Destiny itself. For nearly a decade, Guardians around the world have found purpose and comfort in Zavala’s presence, bolstered by that unmistakable voice, so full of strength, serenity, and nobility."
In terms of Horizon Forbidden West's upcoming Burning Shores DLC, we learnt in this trailer that Sylens would, in fact, be returning, if only to give Aloy her inciting quest. The character may even play a larger role yet, but we will need to wait until Burning Shores' 19th April release to find out.
It will be fantastic to see the actor's as-yet-unseen work, even if it is likely to feel more poignant than was originally planned. How do you think Redick will be memorialised in Destiny 2, and how large of a role do you expect Sylens to play in Burning Shores? Let us know in the comments section below.
[source bungie.net]
Comments 18
I just wonder what VA is going to be in his place now. Im hoping the new VA can sound similar to Lance so it flows well.
I hope Guerrilla just bites the bullet and writes Sylens out of the third Horizon entirely. Lance made that character. Without him, there's no point, and recasting him would be lame.
With the current state of AI technology, especially being able to replicate voices with almost 1:1 accuracy - I believe he can still live on in both games for years to come (should his family be open to the idea).
@slampog Probably too soon for that. It feels really wrong, as if you’re resurrecting a hollow version of them.The Congress isn’t here yet I reckon.
@ShadowofSparta @slampog @Nepp67 Technically it's not necessarily hollow or too soon. Take a listen to this.
NSFW 'Todd Howard' on Elder Scrolls 6. Scary stuff.
In terms of morality that is a different thing, would be up to his family/estate. But I suspect in future we will see pre-death deals with actors to keep their voice going. Personally I don't CURRENTLY feel too comfortable with that, but it's likely to happen. And is it actually that much different to being in photos or video montages after death? It's morally interesting at the very least.
@RBMango Sylens was to many, myself included, the most interesting character in Horizon. A twist of the usual "all powerful wizard" trope to make him either the antagonist or the deuteragonist depending how you see him.
He's fascinating, constantly left questioning which side he is on, or even what are the sides in this future. I suspect with him playing a smaller role in the middle third was to bring him back in force for the finale. It will be hard to change all their plans, but as you said it may be the right thing. Lance was a unique actor. Impossible to replace.
@slampog like Bruce Willis is doing? It's a very interesting debate because BW is all for it to secure his kids, grandchildren etc. Keanue Reeves on the other hand he wants no part of it after his passing. In LR case I wonder if family approval is enough. I know it was enough in the matter of creating holograms of dead artists for concerts.
As for what we know, it will be very nice to see Sylens in the DLC with what is probably one of his final performances regardless of media.
I keep forgetting destiny is now technically a playstation IP.
@themightyant 😂 "rendered all the way up to the cervix!" LOL
@RBMango I hope not.
@RBMango Not a good idea to write a character out cuz of the actor. How many James Bonds have we got now? Can you imagine that he's gone after Sean Connery?
@Loamy Bloody terrifying that they can do that. With enough voice samples you can quite literally make it seem like they have said almost ANYTHING to the point where their family might even buy it. Intonation, modulation etc. it's truly terrifying the possible uses... and potentially hilarious 😂
@puddinggirl It's quite a bit different given that James Bond has been a character that has been redone and rebooted many times over with different actors and stories, while Sylens is a character from two video games that was not only voiced by the actor, but also looks exactly like the voice actor. The actors were replaced because they either wanted a change or the actors themselves chose to move on, not because they died like Lance Reddick.
I'm sure somebody else could have explained it even better than me, but I'm also for them just writing him out of the 3rd game now. It's obvious they didn't do work on it yet, so they would have to recast him and somehow change his look as well. It would be way too weird to have him look like Lance, but sound different. It sucks, as he was going to have a large role in the 3rd game and he is a central character, but unfortunately he died, so it would be fitting to kill off the character as well. Have him die in between the 2nd and 3rd games and then do a tribute for him early on in the game that acts as one for the actor and character together.
@KilloWertz Fully get what you are saying. But you have to wonder would Lance even want that? Would he want the character he put so much into to be killed off and diminished, is that the best legacy for Sylens and his work? Reality is we don't know.
But as an actor and a creative working on giant projects you know that things are bigger than you, it's a collaborative effort of thousands of people over many years. As the old saying goes "The show must go on!"
It's a complex topic, and there are no easy answers. I wish them luck trying to make the right decisions in due course. RIP
Not sure how much Sylens will be in the DLC, but I hope the third Horizon game has Sylens more as an absent voice in Aloy's head, with her asking herself what he'd do or how many steps ahead he'd be if he were still there - perhaps cursing him for being too secretive and assuming he'd always be there to dole out just enough information but never as much as she wanted. Include enough comments to honor the actor and character, without dominating the game...but let them go on without him, however they can.
Maybe with Sylens' death, his notes are unlocked and Aloy and Beta can go through them - Beta can take over the role of hacker that Sylens held, if not the role of master strategist.
While you COULD use tech to help copy his voice, it feels more respectful to me not to do so, unless he explicitly said he wanted that at some point before his death.
It's going to be a hard call for Horizon. Destiny can write out Zavala without much issue, though they can also keep the character and change actors, since the character doesn't look like Lance and adapting to a new voice will just be adjustment for players. I think they'll remove the character though.
Horizon has a harder predicament because the story line is clearly written around the character of Sylens, he's a vital character to the plot, and it's not going to be easy to change their plans for the third to write out a character that is integral to the plot, just because the actor they happened to cast as both voice and face model is gone. Sylens is not dead, he's a character in a story. But Lance is the face and voice of Sylens and the character can't just change the actor and remain the same character. It just doesn't work. That's a tough place for them for the next installment.
They could recast, but it would be wrong. Maybe they have the rights to use his likeness in perpetuity and can continue to have Sylens appearance unchanged, but change the voice actor. But for players that's going to be awkward seeing the animated likeness of a deceased actor with a new voice. (or even a synthesized voice.)
The only "way out" I could see, is a "minor" change to the Sylens character. Have him (the character) still in the game playing the same role he was intended to ,but without stepping into the actor likeness issues by having it so that he ended up "inside" a machine/AI via his experiments and tech obsession. So thus it's a garbled/techno machine voice ala Hades and Hephestus with no physical form, allowing "Sylens" the intelligence to continue over the Focus, but without having to have a physical human likeness and voice. It would fit the plot and allow "Sylens" to still be vital as a frenemy without Sylens having to be either Lance or just suddenly be someone different you're not supposed to notice is different.
You can't just have a character continue without the actor that is part of that character. Recasting rarely really works well. Nobody likes the new character that replaces a character, but it's even worse when a character is just somebody else suddenly and you're supposed to pretend you don't notice. MOST of the time, characters are written out because it's really the only option that works.
@themightyant It's not diminishing the character when the actor or actress dies. Killing the character off is just a logical option when the character that you played is literally you (not just the voice). If they can come up with another option, great, but recasting the character is pretty much the worst option they could come up with unless there is something I'm just not thinking of.
If he had just been the voice, that would be one thing, but the fact that the face is him too limits the positive options.
@darkswabber Same here TBH, but it'll definitely become more noticeable by "Destiny 3" or whatever the next game will be called.
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