Riven's Sneaky Lore Change?

So, I was chatting with my good buddy Melancholy Exile​, and he brought to my attention a very interesting little thing involving Riven’s lore. It’s changed. It’s changed in such a small way only people like he and I would ever pick up on it, because we’re weird. Here’s where the change is most prominent.

_“She shattered her sword, severing ties with the past, and wandered in self-imposed exile. Now she seeks atonement and her own way to serve the pure Noxian vision in which she believed.” _

That’s the original. Below is the changed (circa August 2014) version...

“She shattered her sword, severing ties with the past, and wandered in self-imposed exile, on a quest to seek atonement and a way to save the pure Noxian vision in which she believed.”

See the difference?

The first, original, version has Riven seeking atonement and trying to find her own way to “serve” the pure Noxian vision.

The altered, newer, version has Riven seeking atonement and a way to “save” the pure Noxian vision she believed in.

Save vs Serve

It’s, realistically, only a one word difference, and you could argue that it basically says the same thing. But, you could also argue it doesn’t. Serving the vision suggests she’s living a more lonely life, alone, fighting on her own terms and her own rules, and staying true to herself in the process.

Saving the vision, however, suggests she’s seeking to inspire and create change through action of some kind. It might still be a lonesome path, but she’s seeking to hold onto that vision and save it from something. Perhaps from being corrupted, perhaps from being washed away, something. It’s just a single word change, really, but this points her inevitably toward Noxus, and saving the vision she cares so much about.

That ties in perfectly with Xypherous’ own ideas about her being part of or starting a revolution in Noxus to make sweeping changes, and after doing so, eventually winding up in Ionia to make real peace with her past. That’s something that Old Lore sort of prevented, but now, in New Lore, it’s a real possibility.

Regardless, this is certainly interesting.

I can’t wait to see what the future holds for my favorite exile.