[{quoted}](name=Frontline Fury,realm=EUW,application-id=6kFXY1kR,discussion-id=W9aEaAOe,comment-id=0003000000010000,timestamp=2017-12-01T07:16:15.706+0000)
I suspected Kayle as her golden armor is her second most identifiable trait, next to her burning sword. She and Morgana have already been confirmed are up for a dual rework, which is the main basis on me including them in the list of potentials - besides the fact Morgana is a support, and the Darkin have currently filled out three of the five playable roles on the rift.
And keep in mind, Kayle and Morgana have so far had an extremely outdated lore. Kayle is known to be an "Ancient being" fighting against evil, originating "outside the world of Runeterra" which just so happens to be Nasus' old lore as well. Is it so unthinkable that Kayle may in fact be an ascended shuriman warrior queen? If you look at Azir, you can see royalty in Shurima tends to dress in full gold. The warrior queen is before Azir's time - perhaps she is one of his predecessors? Nasus has lived as an ascended since a while before Azir's initial death - and he is not showing distinct signs of aging yet. This means the warrior queen is well within her ascended timespan to still be alive.
The alternative would be an ancient leader of the Solari, unless they choose to introduce a completely new character not seen or heard anywhere in existing lore. I find the Solari unrealistic as they are located near Targon, very far away from Shurima.
If we are talking about pre-existing characters related to Shurima, then that would be the original wielder of Sivir's cross blade. She was referred to as an ancient warrior queen. They never said anything about her being ascended or possessing magical abilities, but it's not impossible either. This would mean it is also possible the fourth Darkin is sleeping within Sivir's blade, as Sivir was resurrected within Azir's tomb after a great deal of bloodletting, which is known to awaken Darkin.
Oh, but here is where you are wrong. Irelia would be the PERFECT wielder of a purified Darkin weapon. Think about it - her weapon is hereditary. Her family (or clan) has been wielding this weapon for ages. Perhaps that is to keep it purified, or at least contained? "Tied to Ionia's natural magic presence" Varus was contained within a shrine, considered an ancient magical power that was attempting to grasp hold of Val and Kai. It's not that much of a long shot that Irelia's weapon is in fact a Darkin, and that Irelia is from a long line of powerful spiritual warriors devoted to keeping the Darkin within the blade in check. Irelia's "teaser" was a symbol resembling a dream catcher. I do not see how this would say anything for or against the possibility of a Darkin.
I do not believe Irelia IS a Darkin - i believe she wields a "domesticated" Darkin, aka what Rhaast looks like in blue form - completely different from the veiny, corrupted look of the red form. If they are not introducing a new character, Irelia makes the most sense as the wielder of the fourth Darkin, if you take all her identifying traits (that will likely transfer into her new lore) as well as the timing on her VGU next year.
Riot has confired their dual rework will accentuate their rivalry. Kayle and Morgana shared the "summoned from another world" origin as Nasus and Renekton, as such it is not unthinkable that they may be Shuriman in origin. Riot is attempting to find every old champion a place in the existing world of Runeterra, and as such Shurima is the place that would make the most sense for both the sisters - as the only viable alternative is the void, and i do not believe Riot would do such an extreme alteration to their characters.
Morgana is well known to be "fallen". Even now she looks like someone corrupted by the influence of the Darkin.
An excellent theory deviced by SSmotzer is that Kayle and Morgana is the female Darkin, split in two. Varus showed us that the Darkin has the power to fuse separate beings - so would it be unthinkable they can also be split into multiple parts? Here is their statement:
Kayle has been the "angel of light" and Morgana the "angel of darkness". I really like SSmotzer's interpretation here: "the scale of salvation which she uses as her Intervention shield" and "the scale of damnation which is her black shield and the chains that hold the scales".
Taking this into consideration, even Kayle and Morgana's current outdated interations perfectly depict a horseman of the apocalypse's characteristics - and the spells mentioned are their signature ones, guaranteed to be transferred into their new and reworked versions.
This is why i believe the Darkin will either be Irelia or Morgana AND Kayle. Everything points to them.
The problem with it being Kayle is that Kayle wields a sword, if you read the story that Rito released, then you would understand that the Golden Warrior Queen that ultimately defeats the Darkin is one who wields a bow, later using the entombed Varus as the bow to destroy the Darkin. So unless they plan on reworking Kayle into a completely new champion who is a bow-user and not a sword-user then she cannot be a 'Darkin' in any way or even the pacified form of one. So just b/c Kayle is wearing golden armor doesn't move her as a possible candidate for the Golden Ascended Queen since, like I just stated, she is not a bow-user.
The alternative could be quite a few things since remember, Runeterra (lore-wise) has had scores of Nations rise and fall over its vast history, with many of them becoming forgotten, so the Ascended Queen could be from a never-before-mentioned nation, or could simply be another Shuriman that was forgotten to the sands of time. (Also, you may want to look at Nasus/Renekton/Cassiopeia for hints since those were the Ascended beings that helped seal the female Darkin away)
And again, why would Riot make Irelia a pacified Darkin. Remember, if a Darkin is pacified then the Darkin is killed, it cannot come back, cannot be revived, it no longer exists. Why would Riot, work so hard to make the Darkin story become what it is today, only to kill off one of the Darkin before even releasing it, that just doesn't make sense and would be terrible storytelling and marketing on their part.
Now you may state that they would instead make the newer Darkin similar to Kayn/Rhaast, where they're fighting over control, but Riot isn't going to reuse a story, nor would they use the story of mutual coexistence/codependence (Varus) since, again, they're not going to reuse a another story.
And as cool as the theory that SSmotzer came up with is, it doesn't make sense regarding the weapons. Yes, the Darkin do take inspiration from the Four Horsemen of the Apocolypse, but remember, there were millions of Darkin. They invaded Runeterra with their entire race from another planet/dimension. Why would a race, in a fantasy world, whose sole existence be war (generic, bloody war) use a form of magic that is not related to weapons? Unless Morgana becomes some sort of Demon Braum, with a shield as her weapon, she would simply not fit the criteria that each Darkin are based on.
Their blood magic only pertained to their weapons, so Morgana would need an actual weapon to fight with, which means her being rework would shift her entire existence as a champion, which, frankly, isn't Rito's goto thing.
Now you seem to have ignored my point about how reworking the champions wouldn't make any sense in regards to their skins, since redoing every single skin for 3 champions that have loads of skins would be an absolute nightmare, especially if you're going to change the champions so drastically to make them fit the Darkin theme. Your ignoration of my point could be you have no argument against it, but if so, just say that. Since that's possibly the largest problem with any one of them becoming a Darkin.
Riot is more than likely going to release a new champion. It just makes the most sense, and appears more cost effective and a better design choice, and Kayle and Morgana having reworks that actually are similar to their lore are more than likely. Irelias rework will also probably be more connected to her original lore, and will do more to connect her to the other Ionian champions instead of pointlessly making her the weilder of a 'purified' Darkin.
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