I'm Glad that Lots of People Like the Lissandra Lore, but I Can't Say I Agree.

Draclen·Aug 20, 2018·10 votes·4,379 views

It's cool to see that many of the people here seem to enjoy the lore for Liss, but I personally can't bring myself to say the same. Maybe Lissandra will grow on me, but as of now I just don't like the character. I feel like she's in this postion where I don't like her as a villain because she doesn't have the raw cunningness or "love to hate them" persona of one, but I also don't like her as a hero becuase I feel like she creates all her own problems and acts cowardly in trying to erase them from history instead of owning up to what she did (not to mention that wouldn't doing that in fact put the people of the world in more danger since they don't even know about the danger of The Watchers, thus leaving them more vunrable to an attack from them?). I get the idea is that she's suppose to be in the middle, kinda like Viktor; however, unlike Viktor I don't feel the same sense of sympathy for her. To me she comes off as less like a morally gray/in the middle character and more so like the writers made her both the main villain and lead hero in her own story; she's both the one that creates and the one who has to solve all the conflicts in the plot.

Once again, maybe it was just the way it was writien, or maybe if I spend some more time on it I'll come to change my mind and write about how I in fact really like the lore update, but at the current moment I'm not a fan.

Though I'd like to hear what you guys think; maybe it will warm me up to new Lissandra.

10 Comments

AbiwonKenabiAug 21, 20185 votes

I agree with this sentiment. I liked that Lissandra was this "plans within plans" type of villain. It's ok to give her more depth, but it feels like forced sympathy with this new bio. You can give a villain depth without taking away that villainous aspect. I don't think they achieved that here, and it's a shame.

I liked the short story. That was really good.

Camille FerrøsAug 21, 20183 votes

WOW how creative Riot giving an new character the same name as an existing champion..Booo

GingahBreadAug 21, 20181 votes

They haven't changed her kit or VO though, so I wouldn't say "new champion".

It's not like they're pulling a Galio on us here.

Camille FerrøsAug 21, 20182 votes

{quoted}

They haven't changed her kit or VO though, so I wouldn't say "new champion".

It's not like they're pulling a Galio on us here.

By Character I meant lore character

WOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOAug 21, 20183 votes

I think she’s definitely not capable of solving this problem, one because she cannot create True Ice.

We do know who can however, and that would be the boy Nunu, who was empowered by the Yeti Willump.

Like with many of the regions, there are multiple levels of villainy/antagonism found in the Freljord.

As the Void presents an omnipresent danger, it will be the most threatening factor found in the Region.

Lissandra wants to rule the Freljord, or at least ensure her own necessity to the Freljord’s survival.

And maybe that’s how she wants to see herself, the only one with the capability to comprehend the enemy. Lissandra cannot allow the truth of her betrayal to surface. Because only she can stop the Void.

Or so she thinks.

Anyway, I think what the update accomplishes is cementing Lissandra’s position within the Narrative direction for the Lore. I’m positive that at least all recent narrative updates have been made with a consistent vision in mind.

DraclenAug 21, 20183 votes

When I mentioned her "solving" the problem I more so was talking about her freezing The Watchers in the first place as well as keeping them there; I would be willing to bet that the ice that holds them won't hold for long which is something that I agree Liss can't fight on her own. It's not exactly the plot itself that I minded either. In fact, one thing I like about the newest lore updates IS that they've made efforts to connect elements of the lore together. I'm all for some characters being somewhat of one offs, but I thought that too many of the old lores were disconnected from a base storyline that brought the different champions together. What I was more trying to say was that the characterization of Lissandra rubbed me the wrong way. I don't quite know how to explain it, but if I were to try my best to put it into words I'd say it was like in trying to make Lissandra morally gray, the writiers made her feel like she's every level on the morality scale at the same time, or maybe a beter way of phrasing it would be that she's playing almost every role in the story. Not sure if that makes sense but that's as best as I can describe it.

Once again, this is largely just my first thoughts on reading it. Perhaps as I see and read more of this different Lissandra I'll come to like her, but as for my first impresstion I'm not blown away.

Valaran NaraAug 21, 20183 votes

{quoted}

When I mentioned her "solving" the problem I more so was talking about her freezing The Watchers in the first place as well as keeping them there; I would be willing to bet that the ice that holds them won't hold for long which is something that I agree Liss can't fight on her own. It's not exactly the plot itself that I minded either. In fact, one thing I like about the newest lore updates IS that they've made efforts to connect elements of the lore together. I'm all for some characters being somewhat of one offs, but I thought that too many of the old lores were disconnected from a base storyline that brought the different champions together. What I was more trying to say was that the characterization of Lissandra rubbed me the wrong way. I don't quite know how to explain it, but if I were to try my best to put it into words I'd say it was like in trying to make Lissandra morally gray, the writiers made her feel like she's every level on the morality scale at the same time, or maybe a beter way of phrasing it would be that she's playing almost every role in the story. Not sure if that makes sense but that's as best as I can describe it.

Once again, this is largely just my first thoughts on reading it. Perhaps as I see and read more of this different Lissandra I'll come to like her, but as for my first impresstion I'm not blown away.

The problem is that you know both sides.

Repeat, we know both sides.

Every villain has their reason for doing what they do. Some have more well intentioned goals than others.

Now, she is still cunning. She does have plans within plans. The problem is that we know her limit. "The Watchers". We now know that there is something ABOVE her that she's trying to fight off, so now she seems "good" in comparison because it is a greater terror.

That by no means make her good. In fact, she is not an anti-hero. She's an ANTI-VILLAIN! Anti-villains can be many things. I believe Liss case, she's the "lesser villain." As in, while she is dastardly, she appears good or less evil because there is a GREATER ONE present.

All the dark things she's doing now. Honestly, she probably would have done regardless. The problem is that she has to also deal with a boogeyman.

DraclenAug 21, 20181 votes

Fair enough, but if that’s suppose to be the case, that’s not what it came off like to me. Overall I think that her lore did a poor job of displaying this concept.

Lissandra doesn’t feel cunning to me or that she has any plan at all. The reason this happens in the first place is because she makes a bad decision without consulting the sisters she claims to love first (on a side note, the bio doesn’t really explain why she needs to kill them to freeze The Watchers. It says she has to either let the Void take the world or sacrifice her sisters, but why? Says who?). This also makes it seem like she didn’t learn anything from being blinded. It was something that happened in her war for power; she learned the price that power costs, yet she messes everything up because of not taking in account the consequences that seeking even more might have.

I guess that’s the biggest thing. Lissandra doesn’t come off as cunning because all the evil things that she does come from her making bad choices and then making even worse ones in trying to cover up how much she screwed up. Her actions don’t feel like she was purposely trying to be malicious; she became a villain because of her poor judgement. And the thing is she still is making them.

She keeps all this a secret from everyone basically just so no one knows the danger she put the entire world in, and acts like the only one who can stop The Watchers. However, given how they’re beginning to break, it’s clear she needs help. You might say, “everyone would turn her down or try to kill her for what she did instead” but if that’s the case don’t make me assume that would happen, the story should show me. SHOW me they don’t trust her, SHOW me that she at least tried to convince powerful beings like Ornn or Anivia or maybe the other Ice Born to put hatred aside to defeat a greater evil, but was turned away anyway.

She feels like she became a villain on accident, as a biproduct her making mistakes, but also either doesn’t learn or doesn’t want to admit to her past actions which makes her seem like a coward. In the end, I don’t think she comes off as a master-mind because it doesn’t feel like she knows what she’s doing.

(Sorry for the long response by the way).

The EcdysiastAug 21, 20181 votes

She's a bit like Swain. Both took the power of the evil they're trying to protect the world from, in efforts to stop that very thing.

SolarisCorvusAug 22, 20181 votes

I feel like with the riot pumping out new lore by the end of it everyone is gonna have a piece of lore changed into something they dislike. For me that’s the fact that darkin sre just bad ascended and for you it gonna be Lissandra lore changes.