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"...A part of Xerath knows he is still in chains."

l Helios l·5/6/2016, 9:44:12 PM·10 votes·1,340 views
Red Post Collection: Taliyah Champion Insights, Shurima Stories - Azir & Xerath, 6.9 Balance Hotfix Soon, & more

So I really enjoyed these back-stories for Azir and Xerath. I really feel like the amount of depth given to the character of both of them is really doing justice to what these characters could be and deserve to be. To me, Xerath's mindset was one of the best aspects of the stories. The sheer amount of power within that line at the end of his story is kind of mind-boggling. Xerath has always known enslavement and what it feels like, and he tried so hard to find freedom in whatever way he could. That's what drove him to betrayal. When he thought Azir wasn't planning to free the slaves and had turned his back on him, Xerath decided he wanted the power. But then, Azir did it. Azir freed Xerath and the slaves. With everything Xerath had ever wanted given to him, it wasn't enough. Freedom from physical enslavement wasn't enough. Xerath betrayed Azir and took his power, but spent a milennia imprisoned for it. Even when he was freed from that prison, it still wasn't enough. He feels compelled to finish Azir to find peace. He's now a slave to his lust for power and is bound forever to it.

Probably the saddest part is how Xerath fought with himself just before he betrayed Azir. He cried as he turned Azir to ash, showing that he still help fondness for his long-time friend. Whatever sense of companionship and love he had for Azir was still there in that moment, but he has long since abandoned it now. Now Xerath is enslaved to his lust for power and feels only a desire for more. It seems like his efforts for freedom only tightened his own shackles.

Overall, well done with these back stories. I'm looking foreward to Rammus's. Hopefully we will actually learn something.

Also, is it just me or is the "being of eternal fire" sounding like a link to Brand? Just a possible cameo that Riot is infamous for.

9 Comments

Stars Shaper5/6/2016, 9:59:14 PM3 votes

I liked the story expecially because all the evil things Xerath did before his betrayal were needed to secure Azir life and I really appreciated the face-to-face confrontation with Azir father.

It seems like the encounter with Nasus is something worth to read from what Riot said in the Q&A. Can't wait to read it.

Ralanr5/6/2016, 9:51:27 PM2 votes

People have drawn the conclusion to Brand and I hope it's correct.

Their story is delightfully tragic really. If each of them just trusted each other a little more, then so much could have been avoided.

lightdragoon885/6/2016, 9:55:02 PM2 votes

It one of the reason why Xerath is my favorite champion character/lore wise in the whole game. It an evil we can understand.

Decrit5/7/2016, 1:24:16 PM1 votes

Most probably the creature of fire is just an Inhabitant of Shurima of old, rather Brand. They were talking a lot about making a world filled with creatures and making a proper bestiary, so this is probably a reference to something they are working on.

Brand is supposed to come from Northrend Frejlord and there isn' t much to point that he was moved fromthere to Shurima, plus Shurima is already ripe of characters and further increasing that is not much desiderable. This is further emphatized by how the magic is distributed in Runeterra, with different zones having different quantity tendentially expressed in different ways, and so far Frejlord seems the one where the magic takes aspect of the most primal elements ( fire, ice, thunder from Volibear and so on), which works fine with Brand.

SeargentAnus5/8/2016, 7:27:52 PM1 votes

Riot's new writing staff is 10/10 The characters feel real which is hard to pull off.