Watch: Silvio Dante: The Loyal Consigliere

Silvio Dante is the only man in Tony's crew who never angling for the throne: the consigliere who keeps the books, the club, and the boss's secrets, in that order. Watch the video above, then read Silvio's story. See also: what happened to Silvio in the finale.

Steven Van Zandt, a guitarist acting for the first time, built Silvio out of stillness: the slicked hair, the shrug, the famous Godfather impression deployed like a pressure valve. Silvio's loyalty is the real thing, which makes his one taste of the top job, filling in while Tony is in a coma and buckling under it in days, one of the show's smartest character notes: he is built to be second, and knows it, and the knowing is his dignity. His ending, shot and comatose as the family collapses, is left deliberately unanswered.

Quick answer: Silvio is Tony's loyal number two, brilliant at the job precisely because he never wanted the first chair, and his fate is left open at the end.

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