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How come Freljord lore changes are always so extreme?

carrotbunny·3/3/2019, 9:41:12 AM·9 votes·4,665 views

From the whole Kitae drama with Trundle, Udyr, etc where they were completely shifted from their homelands to the Freljord, to the recent ones like Lissandra now basically being a tragic anti-hero with a dark past, it feels like Riot doesn't know what they want to do with this region anymore. I was always adamant about my opinion on Udyr's ionian lore being better but the one we just got at least improved on some things from the shift to Freljord, however connecting him to Volibear and making him Sejuani's dad was a bit weird, like not every playable character has to be connected but I guess I'll come to terms with that in a few days, it just feel a bit forced and sudden.

So my only real complaint is Lissandra's lore. While some of the changes to her past are nice, making a complete 180º turn to her character and making her a "regretful villain" feels awful, and they've doing things like this a lot; now it all has to be morally grey: Demacia is now evil in a different way than Noxus so now it's not just "Good guys vs bad guys", Order vs Chaos are both assholes so they're not completely polar opposites, and now Lissandra is a bad girl gone good because having a pure evil character that just wants to see the word freeze is wrong? Next we'll know Hecarim corrupted the shadow isles because he wanted to see his mum's ghost or something.

Some weeks ago I made a post about how Lissandra was one of the creepiest champions in the game because of her voice clips and animations, I liked how purely evil she was. Then I read her old lore without knowing it had been changed and absolutely loved it. Betraying her people for power, setting up for the Watchers' return after they were defeated, murdering the leader of a righteous and noble tribe taking her and her successors' identities to currupt it from the inside for centuries. There was nothing else to it, she was simply evil and I liked that. Then it came to my attention that her lore had already changed and when I read it I was left severely dissapionted. I understand she was just icy Malzahar but I didn't see anything wrong with that, the void does that to people after all, not to mention I like her way more than him in that regard due to her creepy witch factor. Now 98% of her in-game quotes make 0 sense for her character.

What I would like is to keep some of her new lore (the connection to Avarosa and Serylda) while keeping her loyalty to the Watchers and setting up their return after they were defeated by her sisters, plus her cold stealthy take over the seemingly incorruptible Frostguard.

13 Comments

Zapzya3/3/2019, 10:26:41 AM7 votes

I don't understand why people think she is an anti hero, she just seems like an egomaniac who thinks she knows better than everyone else to me. Like, she let the Watchers through because she wanted power, but her sisters messed up her plans and didn't cooperate. Now, maybe she could have just been plain evil, but that kind of reduces her to a Disney villain. I mean, what does she gain from joining the Watchers here? Everyone else will die and she'll be alone with all her power. It's nice she has the foresight to realize that would suck. Disney villain personalities are nice at times, but I think they fit much better into non human characters.

Just because she decided to not follow through with it at the end doesn't make her any less guilty. She then went and erased all signs of her guilt because she doesn't want to face any consequences, making the world ignorant of the fact the oblivion is lying in wait beneath the ice. Yeah, I guess she seems like a bit of a coward, but that doesn't mean she can't act like she's confident, if we ever get a colour story.

I always thought the main draw of Lissandra's character wasn't how evil she was, but the patience and foresight she possessed combined with her willingness to manipulate anyone and everyone to get her way. The promise of a spider web of plans, laid down over centuries so no one really knows how it all fits together. She could definitely still be angled that way. Her bio is just one of the worst imo, it tries to rush through a lot of history and it comes off at points as Liss being incompetent and unable to handle everything that happens. We have to wait for more development to see where they take her character.

That being said, that's all my opinion and if you disagree, fair enough.

Falrein3/3/2019, 12:01:35 PM5 votes

not every playable character has to be connected

Big oof. Trust me, it feels really bad when a character is super detached from other characters, my prime example being Syndra. It's super annoying when a champion is there but has no links to anyone.

Anyway, as to Lissandra's character, her character changed because the Frozen Watchers from back then are not the same as the current Watchers. And Lissandra would be stupid to ally with them because they want to destroy the physical world while Lissandra seeks to... I don't really know, dominate it?

There was nothing else to it, she was simply evil and I liked that

See, that's one of the problems. It's not so much about morally grey, but complex characters. Some characters are fine the way they are, but Lissandra is supposed to be a mastermind, a plants with implants plan within plants person. I guess that's why they made her her own thing, not just a servant, which would have been very underwhelming. I much rather a character with complexity than a pure HURR DURR I WANT POWER REEEEEE. Some would be fine like that, but I don't think it suits smart masterminds like Lissandra (or LeBlanc, who I hope won't be that).

I think she's more interesting as a character now than she previously was (as per most updated champions actually).

The Iceborn3/3/2019, 10:15:21 AM4 votes

I think you might be a little confused in some parts... Trundle is yet to be updated and Udyrs lore has been kept very similar to his old just a touch modernized, same with ashe and sejuani, theyhave all been given just a little bit of depth and thats all, basically same lore. Oh Im personally conviced that Riot knows VERY MUCH what to do with that region espeially with the Ashe comics. Well udyr always was a spirit walker so its only logic for him to be connected to the lands spirits and volibear. Remember we still dont know for sure if he is sejuanis real dad or just a stepdad. Oh well, Lissandra.... When her lore was first updated there was MASS confusion but after a few days everyone(including me) chilles out and realized that it was a good turn. I would disagree that her character made a 180turn because its ALL the same actually except that she doesnt serve the watchers anymore, she betrayed her sisters, she is still plotting to unleash an ice age upon the world and she is still in charge of the frostguard, even her shapeshifting is still a thing. Plus she still murders tribes and spirit walkers on a regular. And yes Avarosa and serylda are still part of her lore, they were great sisters who fought together, tho lissandra had to ultimately sacrifice them. It appears as tho she started the Frostguard and she probably still corrupted them over thousands of years, tho we also need more stories on that. You need to understand that the watchers wouldve killed everyone and destroyed runeterra and lissandra aswell, but she isnt stupid to die like that so she scammed them honestly, took the powers they gave her and then said ,,nope jk you aint entering my world"! My message is that youll come to terms with it and see that her lore hasnt been made worse, she is now more smart than before. I loved her old lore and I love this new one too. You are right tho some in game quotes are off now but they cant update that with lore so we will have to wait a long time.

Overall Riot is moving away from the normal GoodvsEvil and yes there will be moraly grey areas and everything is subject to your own view as a reader, for me I love that Lissandra is killing everyone because I believe that she should be obeyed by all of freljord etc. With Demacia and especially now Sylas we see that not all regions are perfect and that every character has some darkness in them.

GreenLore3/3/2019, 10:19:31 PM4 votes

But why would she join with beings that seek to kill everything in the universe(including herself, her only reward is that she'll survive til the end)?

Joining with the watchers for power isn't evil, its just dumb.

Meanwhile actually backstabbing the watchers themselves is probably the more evil thing to do.

Krofinn3/4/2019, 2:20:14 AM3 votes

How come Freljord lore changes are always so extreme?

Because it has to match the temperature!

...wait, was it not a riddle?

Camille Ferrøs3/3/2019, 12:43:33 PM2 votes

The problem is that Riot always does what many great writers avoid. They force the characters to follow the story instead of the other way around. Freljord is a great example. It was great the way it was(it needed work to be more up to date with today's standards) but they choose to re-write it together with its characters just to fit the bigger storyline. I can't that it doesn't feel like Riot are trying to do what Marvel did. They have their characters, with their personal goals, inner problems, enemies etc. but when the time comes they all come together to kill the big bad guy. Over and over and over again.