Hades
Hades Blood Code Study- Gregorio Silva
"A blood code received from Silva. It holds his determined will to give up everything and endure total isolation to save humanity's future. This code boasts high attack power taken from both strength and dexterity, and is ideal for using heavy equipment."
Introduction to Blood Codes and Silva
Blood Codes are the abilities imbued within a Revenant's Blood. Each Blood Code is unique to each Revenant that resides within the Gaol of the Mist. Once a Revenant has awakened from their slumber after the BOR parasite has been placed in them, the blood takes on a Code which I believe derives from the characteristics of that Revenant.
We see Silva in the Player's Memories, leading the Revenants into battle from Operation Queenslayer. From the knowledge he knows, he could be a First Generation Revenant. Like Mido, he's also aware of the Horrors and the terror they brought after the Great Collapse. From our perspective, he has a very twisted way of protecting Revenants and the people beyond the Red Mist.
Greek Mythology
Silva's Blood Code is based on the Greek God Hades.
After the Olympians were victorious in the war of Titanomachy: Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades cast lots to determine who would rule which domain of the world. Hades received the Underworld.
Hades barely leaves his realm of the underworld. The only time he did was when he was smitten by the goddess Persephone. Seeing how she was hard to get, Hades thought up a plan by causing a gorgeous flower to bloom in front of her when she was picking flowers with her maidens. When Persephone reached for the flower, the ground opened beneath her and swallowed her into the Underworld, where she was greeted by Hades.
Persephone's mother Demeter became frantic of her daughter's whereabouts. Without Persephone's presence in the human realm, the world became barren, people were going through famines and dying after a year passed. As Persephone is the goddess of Fertility, with her trapped in the underworld means that humanity is in danger of extinction.
Demeter was finally told what happened to her daughter after nine days of worrying. Enraged, she left Olympus due to injustice. All the Gods begged her to come back and were willing to give everything and anything but all she wanted was her daughter back.
In the end, Zeus sent Hermes to retrieve Persephone. Hades agreed to give Persephone to Demeter, but on the condition that she eats a pomegranate seed before leaving the underworld. Since she ate the seed, she was forever tied to the Underworld. In the aftermath, Persephone is able to go back to the Underworld but only for one-third of the year and then she spends two-thirds of the rest of the year with her mother. This is how the seasons came to be.
Similarities between Silva and Hades
Hades is the Greek God of the dead, he rules over the Underworld where all the dead human souls lie. The same goes for Silva, he rests on the throne with the Relic of the Brain in his possession. He utilizes the Relic to create his own realm of the undead, which are the Revenants. No one can leave the Red Mist and no one can enter.
Karen holds the Blood Code of Demeter and Demeter is Hades' sister in Greek Mythology. We don't see them interact, however, based on the Greek lore, I can imagine they get along for professional appearances only or they don't get along. Recalling Gustav's and Dominic's reports on Silva, those attributing facts they had could also make Karen view him with slight disdain. Especially during the Player’s memories. She was adamant about finding her own way to resolve the issue. Karen’s approach to her research mirrors Sophie’s, when she was trying to learn more about the Successors.
While the two haven't interacted with each other, Davis and Silva do have a connection. Davis who holds the blood code of Hermes works under Silva's provisional Government. He takes commands from Silva. Hermes is also the Greek God that delivers humans souls to Hades in his underworld. Just like in the Greek lore, Davis and Silva's relationship would be purely professional.
"It holds his determined will to give up everything and endure total isolation to save humanity's future." This refers to the part of Greek Lore where Hades remains solely on his own in the Underworld. The Gaol of the Mists is akin to Hades Underworld where he rules over the realm of the dead. Silva sacrificed himself to maintain the Red Mist and he rules over the Vein. Hades rarely leaves the realm (until he fell for Persephone) but Silva doesn't have the luxury of leaving his throne.
Everything that's in the Underworld must remain in the underworld. If someone eats the fruit from the underworld, they will be bounded to the realm for eternity. Just like Persephone ate the pomegranate seed.
The seed, in this case, is the BOR parasites. Once a BOR parasite is placed in the heart of a corpse, they end up reviving as a Revenant. Then the Revenant is forever trapped within the cycle of death, frenzying, thirst, turning into the lost and they can never leave the Gaol of the Mist. Silva was the one who suggested that they start creating immortal soldiers to fight back against the Queen. It's similar to how Hades trapped Persephone but instead, imagine it as Hades trapping human souls in his realm forever with no escape.
The flower that Hades bloomed in front of Persephone could also relate to the mistles in the game. When approaching the mistle, it cleanses the miasma for Revenants. It also aids in healing, reviving from dispersal and many other things. All Revenants are attracted to the flower looking mistle just like Persephone was amazed at the flower Hades bloomed for her. While in Operation Queenslayer, Silva was the one who urged for Revenants to be born to help slay the Queen so you can say Revenants are mesmerized by mistles in general because of his decision to turning them all into Revenants.
Both Hades and Silva don't want to let the human souls/revenants escape their realm for several reasons. Once a human soul has passed on, they can't return to the surface. The human soul maintains its former form when the soul left their body, and they continue to behave the same way they did in life without physically or mentally changing in the underworld. The Revenants are the same in the sense that after they become one, they still try to live their lives the same way except for the additional fact of intaking blood every once in a while. Revenants can no longer grow. Appearances could be changed (but those special cases would be Revenants like Jack, who took on the Relic of the eye) but not to the extreme where the Revenant is completely unrecognizable.
Revenants are trapped to protect humanity from them, but they are also protected from the horrors because of the Red Mist. Hades protect human souls as well since they are unable to return to the living. The concept of time doesn't apply to either Hades nor Silva and everyone else in the Underworld/Gaol of the Mist.
Hades’ Gifts
Regenerative Drain-Causes Drain attacks to restore HP. Survival Instinct-Boosts gift abilities, weapon & drain attack power when your HP is below a certain amount.
Since Hades is meant to thrive in the underworld, these two gifts could be synonymous with Hades' innate powers while ruling the underworld. As a god, he isn't meant to die and with his survival instinct, it's more of him bearing the responsibility of the underworld after his other brothers took responsibility for their realms. - Argent Wolf Cross-Fires a cross-shaped blade of blood at the target.
The subject of "wolf" could relate to Cerberus, the guardian of the underworld. With its ferocious three heads, they could easily attack anyone who trespasses. The attack is probably a homage to the mythical creature that resides with Hades in the underworld. - Execution-Creates a giant sword that falls like a guillotine upon the enemy.
While Hades wasn't a judge of the dead souls in the underworld, he did supervise the trials of them. The real judges would be Minos, Rhadamanthus, and Aeacus. Since Hades already rules the realm of the dead, the guillotine attack must be a representation of it.
Concluding Thoughts
Silva is downright terrifying.
You see him being portrayed in a very mixed light. On one hand, he's seen as the savior for the Revenants in the Vein but dark things are going on behind the scenes. I was just simply refreshing myself on Hades' lore since I knew I was coming around to this post. The more I read all of the little hints and his role in the story, the more I see how scary Silva really is for perfectly playing the same role as Hades.