I love that Darius is disgusted by Noxian people who use their power against the powerless.
Noxus and Darius don't have clean hands, obviously. This really shows what true Noxus is. Riven and Darius are two epitomes of the "good" side of Noxus
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Zed and Darius have honor= everyone who reads the lore [zombie-brand-mindblown]
I honestly think if 
and 
were born under the same banner they would be good friends
Ah yes, Riven. The woman who ordered the beheading of a teenage girl and defected her country because they used foreign superweapons in an ambush. RIven, the General who shortly after slaughtering an entire village, decided to just up and abandon her home country and her people.
Such a gentle, good person <3 We should all aspire to be heartless murderous hobo savages like Riven! May her days be forever lonely and her nights spent on a cold hard park bench or in creepy Ionian woods where you never know what's making that sound.
Don't forget Swain
Only riven defected from Noxus, was adopted by some farmers from Ionia and doesn't identify as a citizen of Noxus any more?
also Darius watched on as his own daughter killed her own mother and did nothing.
Noxus doesn't really have 'goods and evils' its a more morally grey area: there are actions and consequences.
per example: Darius killed his own commander and took control of his legion and led them into battle successfully instead of fleeing like his commander would do.
because he had managed to pull of a victory he wasn't punished by Noxian high command: if he failed he would have been seen as a traitor and promtly executed.
Swain is actively doing everything within his power to ensure that Noxus is capable to withstand against the coming horrors: both Mordekaiser and the Void will threaten the empire in the future, so he is busy ensuring its survival. he is also unwilling to ask from anyone what he would not do (which isn't a whole lot).
Ergo: Noxus is a cut-throat society where goods and evils are purely in the beholders eye, striving for strength and the success of the empire gets you honour and recognition: seeking to undermine it lands you in the fleshing arena (at the mercy of Draven)
And yet every noxian still pales in comparison to the one true noxian Patriot. 
If I ever see or hear of you shooting at a man in a parachute, I will shoot you myself.
Gustav Rödel to Franz Stigler
This is exactly the nuance that the narrative team was talking about. It's good to find at least some amount of morality, even in Noxus, the ever-expanding empire, father of all wars.
Morality is a fun topic to explore in fiction precisely BECAUSE it leads to characters like Darius: it's hard to call him a "bad" guy, other than the fact he works for the ostensibly evil faction of Noxus. But his presence and his own ideals call this "fact" into question in a way that most other Noxian characters simply don't. Draven is a self-aggrandizing glory hound, Vladimir is a corrupt aristocrat, Leblanc is a liar and manipulator, Swain made a deal with the devil (almost literally), etc etc.
But Darius? He is the same general character as Garen, but through the lense of Noxus and aged several decades. Big, strong, dedicated and loyal warrior who fights for the ideals of his nation. The major difference is in what those ideals are.
Darius fights for Noxus not for his own gain or because he wants anything the nation can give him; if anything it seems he LOSES a lot by staying true to his nation ("No daughters, only soldiers"). He does so because he genuinely believes in what Noxus stands for: strength above all else. Your merit determines your worth, both as an ally and as an enemy to kill. Fighting a strong enemy is the right thing to do because it pushes you to new heights and keeps your own skills sharp. Killing a weak enemy is wrong because it doesn't show your strength, it just shows you're an opportunist. (Hence his disgust for those who prey on the weak, as you noted)
So much of his nation falls short of those ideals, partially by necessity. Noxus employs assassins like Katarina or Talon, liars and tricksters like Leblanc and Swain, or even dishonorable sociopaths like Singed to get what they want. People like Draven are undeniably strong but they lose sight of what matters to a "true" Noxian, turning his strength from a fact into a showy spectacle. Kled is completely insane but is also responsible for some of Noxus' greatest victories. He's not BLIND to these facts, which partially puts his commitment to such a flawed nation on his shoulders, but at the same time he calls out such cowardice and weakness for what it is.
So you end up with a character whose circumstances make him evil, rather than the man himself.
I will have to add that according to Kled riven is a 'Pure Noxian girl, almost liked her, almost.' where almost refers to both his paranoia (he doens't trust or like anyone, including himself) and also her defection.
yeah Darius is the good of the bad guys. the true human being living in grey zones. one of the things why i like darius beside his vibe and look
Darius in Legends of Runeterra
Enemy Nexus @ 9 health
"I have my Orders!"
Wins game [darius-angry]