In their youth, Vander and Silco formed a strong bond over their shared dreams for Zaun's freedom and unity as one nation. Both of them were friends with Felicia. During a protest against Piltover on the bridge between the two cities, Silco threw a molotov cocktail at the enforcers in an attempt to help his people. In retaliation, the enforcers violently responded to the protesters, which resulted in the deaths of both Felicia and Connol. At some point, this action led to Vander viciously attacking Silco and attempting to drown him in a river. Due to an open gash on his left eye and the pollution in the river, this eye was contaminated and permanently disfigured. By briefly faking his death, Silco swiped Vander's dagger, stabbed him in the arm, and fled. Sometime later, Vander wrote a letter that was intended to be an apology for what he had done to Silco but the letter never ended up making it's way to him. Silco went into hiding, amassing followers and avoiding crossing paths with Vander for years to come. Despite their last encounter, Silco still respected Vander for their time together. That was, until he found out about Vander's deal with Enforcers that kept Zaun in check, but in relative peace from upper city interference. This was a decision Silco strongly resented due to it being detrimental in the long run for any shot at Zaunite independence. At one point, Silco had a group of Zaunites led by Deckard tail Vander's adoptive children. He'd given the boy instructions not to interfere, which the boy defied by brawling with them and trying to steal their loot, gaining the attention of Vander and Benzo. Though frustrated, he was appeased when Deckard told him that the children were responsible for the explosion in Piltover earlier that day. After dismissing the boy, Singed showed Silco his latest, fairly effective batch of Shimmer. Seeing an opportunity in the trouble the children caused, Silco decided to move up the timeline of his plans. Frustrated at the boy, Silco decided to make Deckard the first human to test Shimmer, though Silco could easily convince him. He also contacted Marcus, one of the Enforcers investigating the children's case, and made a deal with him.[6] Silco didn't tell him the whole picture, however, and surprised the Enforcer when he had Grayson and Benzo killed by Deckard, telling him about the change of his terms only after the fact and right as he handed him his money. Silco then took Vander from Marcus’ custody and took him to his Shimmer factory. Years later, Silco went to Vander’s Statue, pondering his current situation. He found himself in the same position that Vander himself had been in—stuck with a choice between a chance at Zaun's independence and his adoptive daughter's safety. Vander's decision had been one Silco held against him for years. Still, Silco found himself about to make the same decision, telling Vander's image that he understood now. Jinx was listening in, unbeknownst to him, and mistakenly assumed that Silco would give her up to the upper city. With this, Jinx knocked him out and took him to the place where it all started: Silco's old Shimmer factory at the cannery. She tied him to a dining chair and later returned with Vi. Vi, trying to reach out to her sister in an effort to help her called out the names of the people Jinx had lost but unintentionally resulted in Jinx having a hallucinatory episode. Seeing his daughter in pain, Silco attempted to get Jinx to not focus on Vi's words, even pointing a gun at Vi to try and stop her. Instinctually, Jinx would accidentally kill Silco in a fit of manic rage. Realizing that Jinx was never something that needed to be split into two, Silco in his dying words affirmed to Jinx that she was perfect and attempted to prevent her from blaming herself for his death.