9.14: Lore Update
Hey everyone!
With this week’s Lore Update we’re covering both our 9.13 and 9.14 content as we continue to flesh out the region of Ixtal with new color stories for both Qiyana and Malphite.
Alongside those, the third issue of League of Legends: Lux is now available, so if you haven’t checked it out, be sure to do so as we continue to follow Lux in her encounters with Sylas!
As always, we love to hear your thoughts and theories, so make sure to share them in the comments.
Let’s dive in!
Bret "Ashekandi" Forbus
Color Story
Qiyana, Empress of Elements
Fit to Rule
- by John O’Bryan
She began to swivel her ohmlatl slowly around her body, causing the jungle thicket to bend and part with each rotation of the ring-blade. Roots and stems popped, tossing up bits of soil until, at last, a narrow trail revealed itself in the brush.
Qiyana, Ixtal, Color Story
Malphite, Shard of the Monolith
Roots of a Poisoned Tree
- by Graham McNeill
A SHARD OF A GREATER WHOLE. A SERVANT OF ORDER SEEKING PURPOSE. CALL ME… MALPHITE.
Malphite, Ixtal, Zaun, Color Story
Bio Updates
Malphite, Shard of the Monolith
Beware, minions of chaos! The Shard of the Monolith has come.
Malphite, Ixtal, Bio
Vi, the Piltover Enforcer
We can either do this the hard way or… Oh wait, no. There’s just the hard way.
Vi, Piltover, Bio
Zilean, the Chronokeeper
There is no greater grief than for a loss that is yet to come.
Zilean, Icathia, Bio
Comics
Lux
League of Legends: Lux – Issue 3
- by John O’Bryan
A secret exposed! Sylas and Lux’s secret meetings are uncovered by Garen and her Aunt Tianna. For the good of Demacia, Lux’s marriage is arranged and Sylas is sentenced to death! But if saving Sylas means exposing her powers, will Lux dare risk her own future to save a criminal?
In case you missed it, the third issue of League of Legends: Lux is available now! Read through the first and second issues of Lux on the comics Universe hub, then jump in to issue #3 to see what dramatic turns are in store.
Lux, Garen, Sylas, Demacia, Comic
43 Comments
Lollipop Shotgun49 votesI only came here because it said Lore Update with a picture of Camille.
GrayBlood6 votesthat's been the case for a while now.
MaianDPS14714 votesCamille Lore pls
wegs1 votesAre you me?
iwantpptouch2 votessame
Mhlamvu2 votes
shadowcat4922 votesQiyana? Is that like a new tft item or something?
GrandTheiftAuto56 votesare you... no.. its the newest league champion. 
AAPE7777 votesI think it was satire :| hes a funny guy
xtracheese123410 voteshad to sign in just so i could down vote this lol
GrandTheiftAuto52 voteslmao -33 downvotes. kinda sad people sit on here and downvote something like that
It’s a champion lol also all the tft items are on sr too
ShadowGlaive21317 votesI already said this elsewhere, but while the comic itself is good, I don't think it's a good "Lux comic" if that makes sense.
Lux feels less like the protagonist of the story and more a foil for Sylas and/or Garen, who have a lot more interesting things going on imo that overshadow her. She might be in the boat, but Sylas and Garen are the ones steering it.
I acknowledge that we still have 2 more issues coming, but so far it feels like a Sylas comic trying to be sold as a Lux comic, which is a disservice to both champions.
mvmlego8 votesI hadn't really noticed it at the time, but you're right; your boat analogy is spot-on. My other criticism of the comic (though I suppose it's the Lux series and the lore more broadly, not Lux: Issue 3 in particular) is that they've gone too far in subverting the classic good and bad roles.
It seems that most elements of Runeterra that were thoroughly good in previous lore have been changed to be just as bad as many of their classically evil counterparts. Demacia is over-the-top magophobic, Kayle seems to think jaywalkers should get the death penalty, Piltover blew up or flooded half of Zaun in order to open up a trade route and is committing genocide against the brackern in order to make some fancy gadgets, Jayce killed a hospital full of people in order to stop one of Viktor's inventions, and Ashe betrayed all of her ideals at the end of her comic series.
finchlark5 votesThat's kind of interesting that you've pointed that out because, instead of that being a bad thing, I feel like that kind of brings a level of realism to the world. Nothing in real life really is black-and-white and while this is a fantasy world, grounding it in reality and saying "look, everyone here believes that they're the hero of their story and their actions reflect their ideals. It's up to decide who you're rooting for." parallels the real world in a way I really enjoy.
GrimReeFaBCK2162 votesthese 2 comments are gold i never looked at it like that its left up in the air for us to decide who is right
mvmlego1 votesI knew that someone would write that reply, but I didn't address that point in my original comment because I figured people wouldn't read it if it was any longer.
I understand that real people and institutions have flaws, and I actually think that Piltover harvesting brackern crystals was a great touch to the world-building. On the other hand, the frequency and degree of derogatory comments and poor treatment against mages in the Lux series borders on obnoxious and strains my suspension of disbelief.
Regarding Runeterra's various personal rivalries: there's a right way to show conflicts between people who are well-intentioned (or genuinely good), and a wrong way to do it. Captain America: Civil War is a great example of that; two genuinely great characters are each trying to make the world a better place but have incompatible plans for doing that. There are a few important things to point out, though. Both characters had extensive characterization, whereas Kayle and Morgana don't. Second, we understood what the characters were fighting about, there was a lot of subtlety to the issue, and we knew exactly what each character's position on the issue was. The lore for Kayle and Morgana never got more specific than stating that Morgana tried to rehabilitate criminals when Kayle would have preferred to punish them.
Finally, I'd like to point out that you don't need to make everybody and everything grey in order to make a good story, or even to be realistic. Lord of the Rings has some pretty clear-cut lines between the good guys and bad guys while giving characters just enough flaws to be believable, and it's a great story. Regarding the point about realism: plenty of real-world conflicts have been black-and-white (or black-and-light-grey at murkiest), such as World War II and the 1960s civil rights movement. Stories based around such conflicts can be interesting, even though we know exactly who we're supposed to root for.
finchlark1 votesWow, I didn't think you'd respond! Thanks for having a civil discussion, too. Don't see that on the internet a lot nowadays. I'll try to address all of your points.
Granted, I do agree with your opinion on the frequency and degree of anti-mage stuff in the Lux comic, as it's highly unlikely that any society would spend so much time hating a group. Even in real life, oppressors do things outside of oppressing people. Although, take into consideration that these comics are really short and this one is specifically based on a mage uprising so I'd give a little leeway on how often they hate on mages. Also, I personally believe that Demacia is meant to subvert the trope of the "Good Guy Land". If they made the people of Demacia Mary Sues it would be really boring.
The issue with Kayle and Morgana is that there is no consistent schedule when it comes to lore. Warmother and Annie: Origins are great examples of how Riot seems to make lore at random. Meanwhile, Marvel's entire business is based around making stories, so there's a lot more content being generated to give Iron Man and Cpt. America believable intentions. Marvel just has more resources to allocate to lore than Riot because that's their whole shtick. It's highly unlikely we'll get more Kayle/Morgana lore in the foreseeable future because let's face it, they just aren't willing or capable of consistently telling the story.
Finally, I would never discount black-and-white stories as bad stories, however that's just not the way Riot wants to tell this story, and I think they're valid in the way that they want Runeterra to be black-and-white.
Often Nonplussed4 votesYou're right that Lux is not an active protagonist, but I think that's the point. She's a girl hiding her identity from her controlling family (i.e. Garen) and being manipulated by a person she trusts. Her whole deal is to slip between the cracks unnoticed, so of course she's not the primary agent of any event so far.
There're a couple possibilities: 1) It's Lux's story just because it's told from her perspective. Or 2) By the end, she'll likely do something to influence the Demacian society with regard to at least her own magic, rather than continuing to concede her agency to others. Basically, she'll come out as a mage. I think that's more likely, and that's character growth that justifies the story being about her.
ShadowGlaive2133 votesI understand that she's currently hiding, and I don't think she has to be driving the plot at this point to have presence. With how it's been written/illustrated the focus is often more on how Sylas is manipulating her or what Garen is doing rather than Lux's steps toward her growth. There's also the fact that although we're learning new things about Sylas, Garen et al we haven't really learned anything new about Lux, leaving us in a state of simply waiting for her to catch up with her current lore.
The comics shift perspective throughout between Lux, Sylas, and Garen, and is hardly reason enough to call it her story/comic imo considering Riot has previously used other's perspectives to tell us about a champion, most recently Malphite.
As far as we know Kahina and some Illuminators are ultimately the only ones that will learn Lux is a mage since she actively hides her magic from Garen, the Dauntless Vanguard, and townspeople in "For Demacia", so it's fairly safe to say she will remain in the closet. I think it's more likely that this series ends up being "How She Met Kahina" and that would justify calling it Lux's story, but time will tell.
Having said that, periods between releases could also be playing a factor. Reading it as a Sylas comic so far is intriguing, but reading it as a Lux comic feels like I've been waiting over 2 months for something interesting to happen. Perhaps reading the series back to back once they're all released will feel different, but it's something to consider in terms of pacing, if not for this then for the future.
GrãñðmãstêrShãçø5 votesShaco lore update?
melancoffee2 votesImagine if he was a twisted jester in Demacia or Noxus?
CyberCelebi1 votesHe could be a Demacian terror or a Noxian hero depending on how you look at it.
ForgottenLuck5 votesNot really much to speak of with many being already shown last patch but suppose I should still leave my comments here given there was no lore patch last time. It is really nice for Zilean to finally get an update to his role in the universe, love to see what will go with him as Icathia I find very interesting, wish he also received a short story of him trying to learn time magic or of his struggles yet his io update alone will satisfy this lore loving Zilean main for now as it preserved what was great of him while fitting him to the world. Qiyana short story is still great and absolutely love how much character it showed off, giving us a view of how deep she longs to be Empress and respected by her peers, also really interested in her servant, but that might just because I love non-champ characters but hope much like MF has Rafen he can remain loyal to her and actually wants to see her rule. Malphite is too short to comment much but like it overall, feel like his Bio is still really missing but the short story was fun and sweet and illustrated him nicely. Skarner's and Vi's update is a bit weird since it was really not much more than a touch up to make it simpler to read but still nice especially Vi's as it shows she is more than just punches but also has a moral code and wits about her, would love to see a comic series of why her and Cati teamed up and decided to work together but for that I can only hope. And finally the big thing of this patch is the Lux comic and where it can go, I really found it to be a good read yet would have loved some of the moments a bit more stretched out, like the Garen vs Sylas fight, the Escape followed by the massacre or even just the execution and Lux's hesitation at admitting the truth. Demacia is such an interesting place and I love every bit of lore with it, finding it to have more depth that many people give it credit and its laws being picked up on, but will say much as I adore non-champ characters I still also kinda wish to see a couple more Champions, J4, Garen, and Lux are nice but would also like to see Shyvanna, Quinn, Poppy just to illustrate their own views of Sylas and his rebellion or the dangers of magic but we still got two issues and they seem to be building up for a storm so I have high hopes.
MariFlux4 votesWHAT? I'M FIRST TO COMMENT? WHAT IS THIS?
Iota Theta4 votesThat new Malphite lore makes me really happy. A good shift, still keeping some of his original elements. Really love his personality, and the descriptions of him moving, in the short story.
AAPE7774 voteswe need more Qiyana skins
Memegatto4 votesKeep refreshing the page, can't seem to find the Talon lore...
BabylonWasALie1 votesIt will come when they add a long sword update.
CaptainAntiHeroz3 votesWhat changed in Vi's lore?
SmallTitsBigGun3 votespoop lol
SexyCthulhu3 votesJust wanted to say I love the lore team and appreciate all the stuff you guys do!
LordRedStone Nr12 votesUhm, is that all? Literally just a biography rewording this patch?
dakirist2 votes"All that Glitters" is linking to "Roots of a Poisoned Tree", is this a typo in the patch notes or an issue with the lore name itself?
WiIIeh2 votesHey guys, I'd like to recommend checking out Lumienkeli to everyone who enjoys League lore and wants to experience it differently!
Jager4702 votes
PLZ riot, y must u forget the best champions and just add stupid jinx emotes?
DarkLinksWrath1 votesWhen’s the next Ashe comic coming out?
HA I am Shaco HA1 votesstill no Shaco lore update. sad.
Uminaga1 votesI also came for the Lore. But I sort of miss tension between regions. And the character relationships between them. Noxus vs Demacia/Ionia, or Piltover and Zaun. Right now it feels just inner thoughts of the champs but I'd like the lore of champions meeting others outside of their region.
mvmlego1 votesI remember thinking the same thing a few months ago. I think that image is the standard thumbnail for lore updates, and they chose it because she looks like she's leisurely reading something.
Tsura1 votesso like can yall make 
and 
a thing XD