The excited state dynamics of silver atoms embedded in helium nanodroplets have been investigated by a variety of spectroscopic techniques. The experiments reveal that 5p 2P1/2 ← 5s 2S1/2 excitation of embedded silver atoms results almost exclusively in the ejection of silver atoms populating the 2P1/2 state. In contrasts, excitation to the 5p 2P3/2 state leads to the ejection of not only silver atoms in the 2P1/2, 2P3/2 and 2D5/2 excited states but also of AgHe and AgHe2. These AgHe exciplexes are mainly formed in the A 21/2 electronic state. In addition, it is found that a considerable fraction of the 2P3/2 excited silver atoms becomes solvated within the helium droplets, most probably as AgHe2. The observations can be accounted for by a model in which the metastable 2D5/2 state of silver acts as a doorway state.