The Architect Was Just Another Pawn of the Former Shadow Monarch – Solo Leveling Theory
- All of us know by now that Solo Leveling's Sung Jinwoo was chosen by Ashborn, the previous Shadow Monarch to inherit his powers.
- Once Sung Jinwoo acquired the true power of the Shadow Monarch, he became unstoppable and the stakes got even higher as the series continued.
- But what if Jinwoo wasn't Ashborn's first choice? What if there was someone else before Jinwoo who had been rejected?
In the world of Solo Leveling, few hunters can boast of shaking entire continents with their power, and not even they can hold a candle to Sung Jinwoo’s strength. Jinwoo’s rise to power is iconic and legendary. A true hero’s story.
His determination even in death led to him being chosen by the mysterious system. Eventually, the weak E-Rank hunter would inherit the powers of Ashborn the Shadow Monarch. Jinwoo was Ashborn’s true successor, but was he the ONLY potential candidate?
Architect Leveling: What could have been
No other Solo Leveling character is as mysterious as the “Architect”, the one who is credited with the creation of the mysterious system. While the Architect’s personality can be deciphered from the very few appearances that they have, their origin is shrouded in secrecy, and Solo Leveling gives us no clues about it.
On the surface, they seem hostile and demeaning towards Sung Jinwoo and his humanity. And while we accept this, we never question it. Why is the Architect so hateful towards Jinwoo and his “humanity”? What if the Architect was perhaps once a human?
From all the appearances of the Architect in the Solo Leveling light novel and webtoon, it is clear that they share a close relation to Ashborn. Solo Leveling tells us that they created the system to find a vessel for Ashborn. They know a lot about the previous Shadow Monarch and they get mad when Jinwoo retains his memories and consciousness.
All of the above points have led us to conclude that the being known as the Architect was once a human hunter, similar to Jinwoo. A weak human that Ashborn saw potential in.
We speculate that the Architect was the previous candidate chosen by Ashborn to succeed him. They were the first “victim” of the system. While the prospect of succeeding as a Monarch motivated them, they soon came to realize the faults of the system. It forced them to kill, and it taught them to see everything as an enemy.
Once the Architect came to realize these faults, they rebelled against the Monarch, not wanting to be forced into doing something that they didn’t believe in. This rebellion however would fail, sealing the fate of the Architect forever.
Further proof for this theory comes during the battle between Jinwoo and the Architect in Chapter 126 of the webtoon, where once the final test starts, the Architect’s stone skin is peeled off, revealing that their skin is light blue.
The Architect, or what was left of them might have been sealed into the statue, and in an act of repentance for their rebellion, they’d be forced to serve Ashborn till the perfect vessel arrived.
The Architect’s true motive
By using this theory we can figure out why the Architect hated Sung Jinwoo so much and why he wanted him to be taken over by Ashborn.
The Architect’s anger for Jinwoo always felt personal for some odd reason, and this theory makes sense of it. The Architect hates Jinwoo because he was what the Architect failed to be.
Both individuals had been given access to the system, but while the Architect saw that the system was a corrupt power and decided to go against it, Jinwoo saw it as a chance to grow and molded it to his use. The Architect saw Jinwoo as a better version of himself.
Their anger towards Solo Leveling’s protagonist only grew when Ashborn didn’t take over his consciousness, leaving Jinwoo with his memories intact. They had hoped that if Ashborn had taken over the human, they could finally be free from their prison.
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He had hoped that Ashborn would see his loyalty and would honor his servitude by setting him free, but alas, Solo Leveling didn’t let that happen.
This theory that the Architect was a failed candidate who fell short and was forced to serve Ashborn, adds a layer of depth to the story of Solo Leveling and it adds personality to the Architect. (imitates MatPat from the Theorist channels) But of course, that’s just a theory, a Solo Leveling theory. Thanks for reading!
