River King teaser speculation

Riftyn·Jun 18, 2015·2 votes·4,200 views

So a couple things I'm thinking gambler= tf, princess=eve, castle=shadow isles(pre-shadow), Did we just learn the backstory behind the Shadow Isles? so the River King killed/ate the King of the Isles' daughter, this event drove the king mad and he searched for a way to resurrect his daughter, what he found was a way to create undead (like hec, thresh, etc.). This power (the mist we all had seen in the kalista trailer) transformed the isles into a sickly, inverted form of what it was before and took on a mind of it's own driving the king to "ruin." Is the father of the princess in this teaser the "Ruined King"?

What do you guys think? Am I on to something, or do you guys have another idea? Who do you guys think the gambler was?

20 Comments

GreenLoreJun 18, 20153 votes

I doubt that Tf would be that old,but I'd say it is possible for the kingdom to be the shadow isles from when they were still a land of the living.

Notable is that the gambler actually survived this whole mess,so the gambler being tf is not out of question(although I really doubt this).

What I'd like to know is where the river king lives.At the end of the video you see some sort of village or city in the water. Since the town is in the water it is possible that it is bilgewater,but the water didn't look like sea water(and he is the river king after all). So maybe those are the vodoo lands?Or some sort of civilazation in the jungles?

Also I think this guy is going to be from the void.I mean he is a giant monster and has a unsatisfiable hunger?Sounds like something from the void(although it would be nice to have a few monsters from runeterra)

RiftynJun 18, 20151 votes

The River King says something like "one river in the whole world, and I'm its king" in the teaser, so maybe runeterra has a river snaking across its entire continent and he just travels along that?

I also have to agree with the void idea. He does match up with a lot of the void characteristics, but actual monsters from runeterra would be nice.

CenturosJun 18, 20153 votes

"All the world's a river, and I'm it's king" Basically just saying that he really gets around.

Also, I saw what looked suspiciously like the Scuttle Crab at one point.

YasukunaiJun 19, 20151 votes

It is scuttle crab, this whole thing is just a scuttle crab rework. Confirmed.

CenturosJun 19, 20151 votes

I just came across some new information today that changes everything - this River King is probably actually URF, after his spooky shadow-isles reanimation and the twisting of all his values to serve Death.

GenoXxJun 18, 20152 votes

Again, The gambler is dead and The shadow Isles event was centuries ago. So no, I do not agree with this. Edit: He's not dead

RiftynJun 18, 20151 votes

Yeah, it was just an idea, hey, maybe it wasn't tf and happened a long time ago, idk, but yeah, I wasn't really thinking this. I just want to hear what you guys think, but where does it say the gambler died? I thought the ending implied the gambler was still alive and living with the regret.

Noctis LunarisJun 18, 20155 votes

Cutting out Twisted Fate, the theory starts to hold, and it adds another layer to the relationship TF and Evelynn had.

Say, for instance, that the Gambler is just the Gambler. Since we have no indication of how long the River King was around, we very well could be some centuries old because Magic, kind of the same way Lissandra and Brand are still around, thus the Gambler came to meet the Princess ( Evelynn ) via the River King.

This would make Evelynn one of the undead denizens of the Shadow Isles revived by the super spoopy skeleton magic, thus following the examples of the other members who's backstory we know, Thresh & Yorick , this means part of her original life completely overtakes her personality, in this case the concept of 'Death do us part', though she's the one bringing the Death rather than a Catfish monster.

Moving on, we know Evelynn's title is the Widowmaker, and that she kills her romantic partners, with TF being the exception? Why? Assuming they didn't retcon the two ever being an item, the only thing protecting TF then was the IoW's 'No kill' policy while at the Institute, which is what kept him safe from Graves as well. Now that that's gone, why didn't she just turn him into a pincushion?

TF reminded Evelynn of the Gambler, and she couldn't deal.

Karn BishopJun 19, 20151 votes

I like this, if only because the alternative completely destroys TF's theme and makes him look like a moron who signs contracts without knowing what he will lose in exchange.

EeirailJun 19, 20151 votes

I enjoy this, it's a bit shaky of a description but I like it. A little tweaking and I think Rito needs to take this direction with it.

NewMkJun 18, 20151 votes

esc? wtf is esc?

Tessel8Jun 18, 20151 votes

While this could be the Shadow Isles before it's downfall, I don't believe this event portrayed in it IS the downfall, nor the possible subsequent actions(i.e. frantic hopes of resurrection). The Shadow Isles were once grand and cheerful as the tale describes, but the Shadow Isles were torn to pieces due to a civil war among its people. On top of this, the theory of the gambler being Twisted Fate is well thought out. After all, TF turned over his partner, Graves, when promised unrealistic magical talent. Graves was upset about this, and hunted TF down. Thus, this gambler was running and found the River King. It all fits so well. Except for it's blatant disposition in the timeline. The Shadow Isles were destroyed in civil war centuries before the current day in Runeterra, so the idea of TF, and possibly Eve, surviving that long is far fetched to say the least. But, let's suppose, the River King and his promise put some kind of voodoo magic on TF and Eve, making them somehow able to be in the present day. What about Graves and the governments of that time? They surely wouldn't have gotten that kind of voodoo magic that TF did, thus making the idea, however cool it seems, of TF being that gambler, highly unrealistic. I think that this was just an elaborate story line made by Riot to entertain us as well as tease at the next champion. In the end, this is most likely a cool story to give some background on the River King and his shady dealings, more or less giving us more personality to the champion.

Man that was a rant. I don't intend to sound mean or degrading, I just simply wanted to shed light on this rather shady subject and it's relation to the lore as its been presented.

KinjishiJun 18, 20151 votes

But how much of that is true now and how much of that was retconned?

Tessel8Jun 18, 20151 votes

True, the retcon messed up a lot, but I don't think it'll ruin too much of it since not a whole lot of it involves the institute of war.

Valaran NaraJun 18, 20151 votes

I'm waiting for the cinematic for when TF attempts to kill the monster just for Graves to show up and try to kill him. It'd be a fun 3-way showdown.

pinwheelviperJun 19, 20151 votes

As cool as that would be TF would have to be like, 1000 years old for Eve to be hose bride.

The shadow isles thing happened a really long time ago.

a MermanJun 19, 20151 votes

IT'S SCUTTLE CRAB.

PoisonedAirJun 20, 20151 votes

The artwork of the village resembles Grey Harbour artwork we already knew, so the story probably takes place in Bilgewater.

Ka0s KontrolJun 22, 20151 votes

I still think the Ruined King is Mordekaiser...which would actually make your idea plausible in my opinion. Here's my take on it: Mordekaiser, once a kind and loving king, was driven mad by the trauma of losing his daughter. He sought out a way to resurrect her but instead, found a curse of corruption. The curse twisted the land of his kingdom, further corrupting and twisting his mind and soul down to the core, turning Mordekaiser into a dark and murderous shadow wraith. Since then he has striven to increase his power in the hopes of becoming strong enough to destroy the River King and retrieve his daughter's soul...which is thought to still be trapped in the belly of the River King, constantly trying to escape. Originally, Mordekaiser had commissioned Thresh to retrieve his daughter's soul and return it to him. Thresh had other plans, however. Upon finding this out, Mordekaiser decided to do something about it. "If you want something done right, sometimes you've just gotta do it yourself." Never underestimate what a parent will do for the sake of their children.