Is Zed an anarchist? (Need good explanation from user or a riot statement :/)

Nachtion·Sep 2, 2017·2 votes·1,867 views

Hello,

My brother and I had a fight about Zed being an anarchist (like Kropotkin, Bakunin, Proudhorn...).

I found no clue that he indeed is an anarchist. Nor in quotes, nor in the lore. Thats why I am looking forward for official statement or a very good explanation what he is (political-society-thinking).

If either one of you can tell me why he is an anarchist and provide useful information or a rioter could tell me if they inteded him to be an anarchist or not would be really helpful!

Else: What do you think about the lol world? Who are democrats? Who are not? What do you think where in lol is upmost freedom?

Thanks for helping :)

16 Comments

GreenLoreSep 2, 20178 votes

An anarchist is usually defined as a person who doesn't believe that any form of government is needed.

And while Zed disagrees with some ideals of the kinkou and likely with the current leadership of ionia,there isn't really anything that makes it look like he believes in anarchy.

RiotWAAARGHboboSep 4, 20176 votes

No. He is, if anything, a hardline nationalist and federalist.

DeathBurstSep 5, 20171 votes

I can see the "nationalist" part, but what do you mean exactly by "federalist"?

MooooooooreDakkaSep 5, 20171 votes

Can you tell us anything about how Zed views Ionia as a country and/or the spirit realm, especially as compared to Shen?

ShinjusukeSep 5, 20171 votes

Which makes total sense, considering he's pretty damn sure what he's doing is making Ionia not get its shit kicked in anytime Noxus gets bored lol

EpicurusSep 2, 20173 votes

So far as the lore has shown us, Ionia has no government or ruling class. People respect the authority of the Kinkou order concerning matters of magic and the spirit world, but for the most part the humans and Vastaya live peaceful lives guided by their cultural philosophies. The reason Ionia is not a state of chaos is because everyone there is so invested in harmony and balance.

In this way, isn't Ionia already an anarchy? Well I just did a quick Wikipedia search on those names you mentioned (I hadn't heard of them before so I am by no means an expert), and their philosophies seem to match the way of life in Ionia as I understand it.

So Zed would be an anarchist I suppose, but saying that is meaningless because everyone else in Ionia is technically an anarchist already.

NachtionSep 2, 20173 votes

That sounds very logical. Thank you!

EpicurusSep 2, 20173 votes

You are welcome. Zed's lore is a bit confusing at the moment. His biography about finding a shadow box and killing his master is old; some of might still be true but some of it might not. But we see a biased view of Zed in Jhin's, Kayns' and Xayah's. So we can only speculate what his motivations and philosophies are. Personally I think Zed is a utilitarian who ultimately has good intentions. Judging by Kayn's story, the Order of Shadows seems invested n defending Ionia against Noxus, and I think his secession from the Kinkou happened because the Kinkou's ruling on harmony forbade him from taking a stand to defend his home.

GreenLoreSep 2, 20174 votes

Uhm Ionia does have a government,as Jhins lore mentions ionias ruling council.

http://universe.leagueoflegends.com/en_GB/story/champion/jhin/

EpicurusSep 2, 20171 votes

If there is a council in charge of Ionia then I suspect it was incepted only recently, in response to the Noxian invasion (probably by Karma). Otherwise different sects in Ionia just seem to look after themselves.

From the Universe page:

Its inhabitants, living in scattered settlements across this massive island continent, are a spiritual people who seek to live in harmony and balance with the world. There are many orders and sects across Ionia, each following their own (often conflicting) paths and ideals.

To me, this passage does not describe a united nation, but instead a land where dozens of small provinces exist independently. In all of the Ionian lore we only hear about leaders who influence their own local homes, like Yasuo's elder, the Vastayan consul, and Karma's monks. If there are people who rule Ionia as a whole, surely we should have heard of them by now.

GreenLoreSep 2, 20173 votes

Perhaps the council consists of these individual rulers?

And anyway,there'd be basically a lot smaller governments,so it wouldn't really be anarchy.

EpicurusSep 2, 20171 votes

Maybe. We won't know for sure until there is new lore.

SteelMankindSep 2, 20174 votes

I thought Ionia had some kind of elder council, with Karma being one of the members

some degenerateSep 6, 20171 votes

Except Ionia does have it share of rulers like the Council of Elders and the Shadow Cabals, and they aren't brimming with good intentions if Jhin's lore is anything to go by...

In all honesty, with Riot taking the newer lore into darker territory and with so many Ionian champions already having some morally questionable relationships and/or doubts with their country to begin with (Zed, Jhin, Yasuo and Syndra in particular) I wouldn't be surprised at all if their "peaceful" ways in the pursuit for "balance" is just a cover-up that their government & elite use to mask their true intentions, and it turns out they're just as evil and as malevolent as most of the other prominent Runeterran nations out there.