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The Master of Shadows: "Facts, Myths and Theories"

dialMARK4acti0n·10/8/2014, 9:47:49 PM·49 votes·35,586 views

For more discussions like this, check out the "Facts, Myths and Theories" main post! You can also follow me on Twitter: @dialMARK4acti0n

Welcome summoners, to what now has become a weekly series thanks to the HUGE positive feedback I got with last week's post and a whopping 75 votes over 0 for me to keep going on, in the poll!! Thanks for all the support guys and I hope we can continue to do this for... who knows how long!! But, seriously though, you guys are awesome. And some of your theories on last week's topics were pretty cool. Anyway, I feel like Wednesday is a pretty good day for me to post this series, and it also leaves some space for some other series I'm working on and my champion concepts. Thusly, so will be our schedule from now on, until a change is required!

If you're new to "Facts, Myths and Theories", this is a series where I talk about a Lore-related topic every week. I grab what we know, what we don't know and mesh these together to form theories, to try and crack the lore wide open! Now, without further a due...

This Week's Topic: The Master of Shadows

http://i.imgur.com/SG1rp4z.jpg

Zed, the Master of Shadows. He's a ninja. And ninjas are mysterious by nature! But Zed's pretty special, because unlike our other flippin' ninjas in League of Legends, we don't know what his motivations are exactly or where he came from. See what I did there? 'Cause of the hidden passive...? Anyway!

You may be asking yourself: "Don't we already know he was Shen's father's apprentice, killed him and is now Shen's nemesis?". Yes. We do. But there's still some pieces of the puzzle missing. Like, why did he kill his master? Who was he before the Kinkou? And, the question I'm sure haunts us all the most: Why did he cry out in pain? If you don't know what I mean by this, I'll talk about it later on. Well, one thing we know about Zed's life before the Kinkou is this:

"An orphan, Zed was taken in and trained by a great ninja master."

Now, Zed is pretty mysterious. And his story doesn't fail him in that sense. And this quote is also pretty mysterious. It's all smoke and mirrors with Zed... wait a second...

With today's discussion, I'm hoping to try and answer some of the most mind-boggling questions about who Zed really is, and where did he come from. I'm really looking forward to this topic since I love, love, love Zed, but because before I played Zed I used to play Shen a lot, and don't play him that much nowadays. I guess the dark side caught up with me... x)

Let's start by talking about how Zed came to be, the Master of the Shadows.

The Facts

http://i.imgur.com/hezCDTW.jpg

So, the facts we have about Zed are pretty much his own lore. So let's go over that a bit. The first thing it mentions right from the get go is that Zed is the first in 200 years to use the ancient, forbidden ways. Like mentioned before, Zed was an orphan before he was found by Shen's father, who then brought him into the Kinkou Order. Then it mentions this:

"Only one other student appeared to be Zed's equal - the master's son, Shen."

So, right off the bat, Zed and Shen didn't get along too well. Shen's father, who we'll call "The Master" for the sake of this post, appears to have trained both Zed and Shen since they were children, training both at the same time. As mentioned by RiotRunaan in Zed's AMA, Shen was a little jealous of Zed, because The Master was softer on Zed than him. Here's the Rioter quote:

"Shen had no animosity towards Zed initially. He saw him as a strong fellow student and respected him quite a bit. Perhaps he was even a little jealous of the fact that from his perspective, Zed's training was easier, as the master's training of Shen was incredibly strict. If they'd had a better understanding of each other, they might've ended up friends or at least allies."

As mentioned here, and in Zed's lore, Shen and Zed were always rivals, but while Shen respected Zed, all we know about Zed's feelings towards Zed is that at one point he was frustrated and extremely jealous of Shen, because since he could never beat him, he could never seem to gain the favor of his own master. Seeking an advantage over his rival, he went deep into a sealed part of the temple and found a box. Zed sensed a dark power inside this box, still he opened it and shadows proceeded to touch his mind, revealing him the ancient forbidden techniques. After that, Zed was finally able to win against Shen for the first time. He expected to finally gain the favor from The Master, who Zed probably saw as his father, since he raised him since his youth. But, his lore proceeds to say the following:

"Somehow the master knew Zed had used forbidden ways, and banished him."

Zed was banished by his own master for using the forbidden ways. Not even when Zed beats his rival, he can gain the favor of his master...

"Balance is a fool's master." http://i.imgur.com/ZaOM0lk.jpg

Banished, Zed wandered for years, growing in power and recruiting followers, to share the power of the shadows with. But Zed knew that without the box, which gave him his powers in the first place, he wouldn't be able to perfect the shadow technique. With his army of followers by his side, Zed decided it was time to reclaim his prize and marched onto the temple. Oddly enough, when they arrived, The Master welcomed them as if they were guests... and this is where things get interesting. The Master apologizes to Zed, as we see in this quote:

"The old man laid his sword at Zed's feet, declaring that he had failed Zed as his master. By banishing his former student, the master had doomed Zed to the shadows, instead of leading him to the balanced path."

The Master says that the decisions he took with Zed were the wrong ones, and that he had failed him as a master. The Master then begs Zed to enter the temple with him, to destroy the box and change his and his students' way, to balance. Zed then, apparently starting to rethink his ways, does join him inside! So, Zed doesn't kill The Master right away, nor does he complain to The Master, or deny destroying the box. We could assume that maybe Zed was willing to forgive his master and to admit the error of his ways. As we know, finding the box was an accident and he was overcome with frustration and jealousy. He could finally be thinking clearly. But then... something happened.

"Cut the last breath from them." http://i.imgur.com/Rvr8Uc0.jpg

"Moments later, the assembled ninjas heard Zed cry out in pain. Mysteriously, he emerged unscathed, and threw the severed head of the master at Shen's feet. Screaming in rage, Zed commanded his followers to slaughter the master's students and seize the box."

What happened?!? Why did Zed cry out in pain?! Why did he kill master? And why did he scream in rage when he ordered the attack on the temple? I have some theories... But we'll get to that! ^^

First, let's go over what happened next. Basically, Zed killed several students of the Kinkou and took over the temple, which then became a training ground for the newly founded "Order of the Shadow". Zed's edict as the Order of the Shadow's master is simple:

"Perfect one's technique, and kill all ninjas who refuse to embrace the shadows."

This is also quite weird, because, although, yes, he embraced the shadows in a different way, all the Kinkou ninjas are known as "shadow warriors" in Shen's lore and they did embrace the shadows, to a certain extent, since they were ninjas. But, that's probably just Shen's lore crying out for an update and thusly, I digress...

Now, Zed had beaten Shen and surpassed his master by defeating him and taking over the Kinkou. He ruled over the Order of the Shadows, which embraced the shadows, and could reach their true potential, without "balance" getting in the way. In Zed's AMA, it does mention that Zed would never let any of his students become his equal, so maybe it wasn't all that black and white. Ultimately, Zed was never able to achieve his original goal, that made him turn to the shadows: to gain the favor of his master...

The Myths

http://i.imgur.com/nxFMjAU.jpg

Now, let's delve into some of the Myths revolving around Zed. If you're new, the Myths section is meant to explore things that have been hinted at and aren't totally out here, although not official. We will mention most of them, but even if mentioned, some of them (e.g. Zed = Nocturne; Zed X Syndra) are a discussion for another day. Today's about Zed's story and lore! Now then, let's not waste time!

"They follow the wrong master." http://i.imgur.com/Om91mZK.jpg

Now, one of the most hinted things about Zed is his connection with Akali. Revisiting Zed's AMA once more, we can read up on a lot about Akali! For example:

"But we have some interesting ideas about Akali's connection to Zed in particular. Food for thought: Akali's passive is 'Twin Disciplines', her title 'the Fist of Shadow' ... hmmmm. : )"

And then he goes on to mentioning the following, answering a question if Zed has any successors, apprentices, etc., and I quote:

"He may have had a "favorite student" at one point... but this particular student is no longer a part of his Order. :O"

As we can see, the use of the emote ":O", shows that it's confirmed that Zed is Akali's longlost uncle... XD just teasing. Seriously, though, it seems quite obvious that Akali was once Zed's apprentice. I mean, they weren't even teasing. They were out right telling us that Akali was connected to Zed. This is practically confirmed. Her title being "The Fist of Shadow" is obviously related to Zed's "The Master of Shadows" and his powers, as pointed out by RiotRunaan. And her passive being named "Twin Disciplines" could reference the fact she uses both Kinkou and Shadow techniques. Her "Twilight Shroud" even seems to be a Shadow technique. Maybe, she learned it from Zed.

Looking through her lore though, it says that Akali was trained by her mom, as soon as she could make a fist, to join the Kinkou at the age of fourteen, succeeding her mother has "the Fist of Shadow". This doesn't seem to fit with her being Zed's favorite student and leaving the Order of Shadows to join the Kinkou. Especially because Zed's lore says that the Order of the Shadows was only founded after the Kinkou Order had to be rebuilt by Shen. But... what if she wasn't Zed's apprentice after all...? What if their connection was something else...? I'll get to that later on.

"Embrace the shadow... or die in darkness!" http://i.imgur.com/gtNR6IB.jpg

Another relationship hinted at, is one between Zed and Nocturne. And the "Zed IS Nocturne" theory is a very popular one at that! The only official hint to this though is this:

"Zed and Nocturne, hm? That could be very interesting!"

That just tells me that at the point of Zed's release, Zed wasn't yet meant to be related to Nocturne, but his splash update was a year after that! Still, the splashes being similar does not make the theory be more than a theory. This being said, I don't believe we can discuss this theory in today's discussion without changing the subject too much and doing it effectively, since Nocturne's lore is currently pre-retcon, thusly, no longer canon. I love this theory though and I think it makes a lot of sense. Check this video to learn more about the theory! It's really interesting. Now, let's get back to Zed shall we?

"No technique is forbidden." http://i.imgur.com/WqFbQHX.jpg

Let's just begin by saying, I totally ship "Zedra"... "Syd"...? Their names don't really fit together... Anyways, Zed and Syndra's romance is also a discussion for another day. But, as of today, we're looking for Syndra's connections to whom Zed might really be. Akali does tell us something... but that's just an excuse for me to keep teasing you :P. Nocturne could tell us who he'd become in the future, but again, another day... pre-retcon... blah blah. Now, Syndra's connection to Zed is not really a connection, more of a parallel to Zed's story. Syndra couldn't reach her true potential. She sought true power. She killed her master as a means of doing this. And afterwards, began to grow ever more powerful. The similarities are pretty uncanny. But, the thing is Zed and Syndra are listed as friends in the champion profile page for both. So... maybe they were childhood friends? I find it hard to believe since they both lived in very different contexts. I'm more bound to believe they met after the events described in their lores, thusly, we can't really get anything from Syndra, about Zed's origins at least. The fact that they are friends does say that Zed is probably evil because Syndra's mostly evil and it's possible Zed isn't, but you never know! I like to think he's misunderstood. Anyway... let's move on!

The Theories

http://i.imgur.com/Y8uzZGi.jpg

Now, here comes the mind-blowing stuff. Now I have three separate theories, all based on one thing and one thing only! This section from his lore:

"The dark ninja followed the master inside. Moments later, the assembled ninjas heard Zed cry out in pain. Mysteriously, he emerged unscathed, and threw the severed head of the master at Shen's feet. Screaming in rage, Zed commanded his followers to slaughter the master's students and seize the box."

This is, without a doubt, the most mysterious and mindboggling section from his lore. Why did he scream? What happened? How was he 'unscathed'? So, my three separate theories have a starting point each: one where the scream was of emotional pain, one where it was 'magical pain' and another where it was a scream of physical pain. Now, you might be thinking, weren't we focusing on Zed's origins too? Yes and we still are! You see, with exception to the middle one, Zed's origins are explained by each of the theories. Now, without further a due... the theories!

"What I have done... cannot be undone." http://i.imgur.com/bB5QMFG.jpg

So, this is the one that supposes that the scream that Zed gave was of an emotional nature. Now, we know that The Master was taking him on his way to destroy the box. They probably talked when they were alone. And The Master had just asked for Zed's forgiveness, after being so decisive years earlier. Or maybe they just walked in silence. Zed was probably confused or saddened that he had wasted the last years of his life seeking a 'shrouded path'. We do know Zed was found by The Master in his youth, and that The Master practically raised him. The reason that got Zed involved with the shadows in the first place was a child trying to seek his "father's" approval! Now... Zed might've thought of this and in midst of confusion and anger, beheaded his father in blind rage. Maybe, the shadows influenced him to do so... The Master was already an old man at this point, so it's natural he wouldn't be able to defend himself effectively. Thusly, after seeing what he had done, Zed cried out in pain! He would've realized he didn't have another option but to embrace the shadows fully at this point, thusly when he threw his "father's" head to the feet of Shen, he probably was just doing it for show, while inside he couldn't live with what he had just done... His 'screaming in rage' afterwards could also be because of this.

But, there's also some other conversation roots this could've taken (see what I did there...?). The Master was actually setting a trap for him and proceeded to attack him, then Zed killed him and also regretted it, leading to the same events. Maybe, Zed killed him, embracing his evil fully and, realizing what he had become, screamed in rage. But, the one I tend to believe the most is this: The Master did try to immobilize him so they could talk, setting a trap for him, but Zed accidentally dealt the killing blow as self defense, but The Master was still able to say some last words with his dying breaths to Zed, who embraced him. These could be: "I was always proud of you." or maybe even "You were always a disappointment." But, what I believe he said was this: "Zed... I... am your father." This could be symbolic, but let's suppose it's literal and that he was Zed's biological father. Imagine what Zed would've felt and how he'd react if he knew the person he just killed was his biological father and that his lifelong rival was his brother all along! The frustration, the rage, the guilt... it would haunt him for the rest of his life. It would also explain why Zed was found by Shen's father of all people! Maybe it was his bastard child and left him but then regretted his decision, while keeping the secret to keep up with appearances. Or maybe the Kinkou couldn't have more than a child, or a female child... (yes, we're getting to Akali. And yes this is another excuse to tease you). Zed would then show this façade of being evil, to hide his pain and the truth from Shen, who would also be pretty shaken up. He buried his guilt in the shadows...

"The shadow is within." http://i.imgur.com/9tJPWpk.jpg

Now, this time, we're assuming the pain was from the magical realm. It's possible that The Master was setting a trap for Zed, and that he actually wanted to use a magical ritual to remove the shadows from Zed's mind, because remember, in Zed's first encounter with the mysterious box, the shadows touched his mind. Maybe they were consuming him, and that could explain why he was acting as an evil villain, when all he wanted to do was gain the favor from his "father." Zed screamed in pain when the shadows were being removed from his mind, but the shadows were able to overcome The Master's ritual, and to control Zed into beheading his master. The ritual failed and Zed kept being influenced by his shrouded mind. His scream of rage afterwards could mean that he "woke up" and realized what had just happened and that when he threw The Master's head to Shen's feet, he was showing his respects. Or maybe the scream was Zed trying to break free of the shadows' control. But, again, this doesn't explain much about his origins. I tend to not lean towards this theory much, because I believe the other one most... not the last one though! The next one...

"Brave the shadows, find the truth." http://i.imgur.com/tpAGwkW.jpg

Now, this one is mind-blowing and complex... so bare with me... By the way, this is the one that supposes that the scream was of physical pain. So, they get in the temple and are alone right? Now, imagine The Master talking to his son and asking for his forgiveness for making him go astray. He would talk about how he was his "father" and that he was proud to be his master. Zed, overcome with joy for finally gaining his "father's" favor, would hug him with tears in his eyes. Pretty cool right? WRONG!! Because, as he hugged him, The Master reached for his sword and stabbed Zed in his stomach! Zed, confused, asked him one simple question: "Why?" As he lied there in pain, The Master would reveal he was actually his real father.

The Master's plan was simple, raise Zed as his son, without him knowing, to refrain him from using the dark arts, so he could have the shadows all for himself. This is why he had banished him when Zed disobeyed him and used them. But, The Master was also trained in the ancient forbidden ways, that's why he sensed Zed had used them in the first place! Shen and Zed's mother, which is never mentioned, was also in on the deal, having disappeared to raise their sister: Akali!! That's why she was trained to use the Shadows and to become the Fist of the Shadow since a very young age, and why she joined the Kinkou so fast! Probably, so The Master could refrain her, like he did with Zed. The Master wanted himself to look good in the eyes of Ionia though, until he could destroy the Kinkou and reveal himself not only to Ionia and to his family. But, Zed's exile and sinking into the shadows was the perfect guise for himself. That is why The Master stabbed Zed, so that he could take Zed's place and pretend that he was the one that died, using an ancient shadow technique to make the severed head look like his. I mean, Zed does use his mask all the freakin' time!! No one would notice! Zed realizing he had been betrayed screamed in pain with his very last breath, just as The Master severed his head. So, yeah! That's my theory! Zed is actually The Master and the real Zed is dead.

This would not only explain both The Master's and Zed's sudden changes in personality as the lore progresses, but also how Zed was found by The Master. It would also explain the connection between Akali and Zed, being that he wanted to train her in the dark arts from youth, so he made his wife do it in secret, but after sensing that both Shen and Akali were to focused on balance and doing good, The Master and his wife would look for more worthy successors. The Master had this planned the whole time as he went along!!! It was all a ploy to raise an army and begin to take over Ionia. And it was working... because now he had an army of dark followers that his son recruited for him, so that there wouldn't be any raised suspicion towards The Master, if he tried recruiting them himself. He could finally perfect his technique.

I'll be honest, writing this, I was going for the first theory, but this one makes so much sense!! It came to me when I was reading Akali's lore. It explains Akali's connection to Zed (and to Shen btw. Sry "Akashen" fans... "Sheali"...? Damn these names suck for this!). It explains why Zed screamed in pain... y'know, cause he died and was betrayed by his dad? Yeah! That pain... Ouch! And it also explains what happened to Zed before joining the Kinkou. It also makes The Master's changes of heart more logical...

#It's all just a theory though... Thanks for reading!

OMG... I've been typing furiously for the whole day trying to make it on schedule but I did it. I hope you enjoyed reading as much as I enjoyed writing this post. Please, tell me your opinions and your theories on the comments down below! I'm curious to know what you guys thought of this one. I really love Zed and Shen, so I'm very passionate about this topic (and biased... I would never be able to be "The Eye of Twilight"... no true balance xD). Again, thanks for reading! Btw, please vote on the poll below, so I know what to talk about next!

Last Week's Topic: The Darkin

Next Week's Topic: Who is Jax?

Hey guys! Here with a super awesome update!!! Redmercy has done a video based on this discussion. Awesome right? Please check it out!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-UYSh84yANs

Votes will no longer be taken into account for next week's topic. But, by all means, keep voting if you so desire. Thanks for voting!

59 Comments

Ascolom10/13/2014, 11:10:48 PM3 votes

First of all: wow I love the theories. Great job man! I LOOOOOVE reading these! But one question please: If the Master also mastered the shadow techniques, wouldnt that mean that Zed´s Bio is lying? It says: "Zed is the first in 200 years to use the ancient, forbidden ways." Which wouldnt be true if the Master also knew these techniques (unless he somehow mastered them without using them...).

Rift King Kass10/13/2014, 10:31:53 PM2 votes

Hey guys so i read this comment on redmercys zed disscusion video and thought i should share it with you guys!(i did not make this all credit is due to whoever wrote this.) "I propose an adaption of theory #3: the master tried to "possess" Zed, causing him to cry in pain, but Zed managed to interrupt the technique by severing his master's head. The master didn't die completely though – he was banished from Zed's mind and was stuck in some kind of limbo as a shadowy being. There, he haunted the minds of powerful mages, seeking a way to free himself. He attacked them when they were most vulnerable – in their sleep, when they were dreaming. Ultimately, an incident with a Nexus on the shadow isles occurred and Nocturne was set free – with only one objective in mind: finding Zed, and completing the dark ritual."

Another person also commented in reply saying: "THATS WHY THE ETERNUM AWESOME SKIN HAS A SPECIAL TAUNT FOR ZED! DUUUDE. You actually maybe onto something. The Ghost's abilities are similar to Shen's (empowered auto passive, global ult, shield, cc) which would explain their connection between him and Shen, the mastur being a twisted version of his son. Also the Master could not have practised the shrouded path while well.. a master of the Kinkou order so he tried to posses Zed's mind and body cause zed had trained and walked down that path more than anyone. Also possible that the "possesion techinque" is the ghosts fear! ILLUMIZEDY CONFIRMED!"

Just some food for thought :)

BeastlyNig10/8/2014, 10:50:54 PM2 votes

Have you done a Jarvan Leblanc one yet?

Jakethenight10/9/2014, 10:32:20 PM1 votes

I always like to believe that, as a child, Zed was being trained to fill the role that Kennen currently fills, the Eye of the Storm, the electric ninja, thus explaining Shockblade Zed, and makes Zed's betrayal even more meaningful to the Kinkou Order, as they had to find a new Eye of the Storm.

Ulric Greatsword10/11/2014, 1:39:09 AM1 votes

I know you said to not mention it, but if the real Zed was killed by the master, then Nocturne could very well be the undead son, fully posessed by the shadows in the box and bent on the accomplishing their real purpose: plunging the world of Runeterra into eternal night.

Ptarlorr10/15/2014, 5:07:52 PM1 votes

Showing off that sexy Shen splash I see.

Cool stuff btw, haven't read your stuff before. Also, I thought it would be neat if Riot rewrote/remade Jax as an exiled darkin whose wings have been severed and no longer cares for his race and their opinions of him. He'd take up a Thor-like fascination with Runeterra's other inhabitants and have trademark combat prowess. And maybe through some act of heroism (defending the lab from a Viktor attack), Heimy gifted him a prototype of Yi's Seven Lenses.

A stretch, I know.

Large Leader10/16/2014, 9:52:19 PM1 votes

I love everything that I read. Gripping!

And like you, I originally mained Shen in S2. Then that all changed when Zed was released, haha!

Keep up the awesome work, bro.

SteelRaptor200010/22/2014, 11:51:37 AM1 votes

I liked the first and the second theory but the 3rd one is very confusing.IT DOES explain a lot of things but if Master is now Zed,why would he be rival with Shen When Shen is his son?Would not he try to convince Shen to join him and said to him: SHEN IM YOUR FATHER!!! Anyway great theory keep up the good work :)

vrael the white10/24/2014, 2:46:55 AM1 votes

I remember some time ago there was a theory about Zed being General Du Couteau, which only had 1 big flaw, namely that Zed joined the order when he was adopted.

However, if the current Zed is actually the master, than this would actually be possible.

Have you ever heard about this theory before? If I remember correctly, it was mainly based on the similarities in abilities, especially the fact that they only champions with "mark" spells are Akali, Katarina, Talon and Zed.

Althought this might be a wide stretch, I would still like to hear your thoughts. Maybe one of your next topics could even be on General Du Couteau? Very little is know about him, but he has always intrigued me and I really hope that one day he will be a champion(or we atleast get some info).

Darkomantis10/24/2014, 1:19:31 PM1 votes

Following the Zed/Nocturne Theory, I think that Zed screamed in pain because the master cursed him and in turn killed his master. Angry over what had happened he screamed in rage for his followers to kill the master's student and** retrieve the box**. Couldn't Zed have perfectly walked out with the master's head AND the box? Zed didn't want to interact with the box because he didn't know what was put onto him and avoided the box out of fear. I hypothesis that Zed has been trying to accept his unknown yet cursed fate and put faith into the shadows... Until the Shadows became Darkness aka Zed turning into Nocturne.

One point that proves this is how the master knew full and well that Zed used the box to unlock the forbidden arts. It wouldn't be a surprise if he "knew" a forbidden technique that could curse Zed into the Darkness.

TheDukeOfFlies10/28/2014, 1:47:03 PM1 votes

Awsome theory man, but I am dissapointed because it would be really sad if "The Master" killed zed cuz I've pictured zed as a good man who was driven by lust for his master's approval to becoming a monster, while he could be the good guy. These scenarios are my favourite ones. I also voted the 3rd theory because I have read some stuff about it and I would be really glad if you dug further into it.

K Q10/28/2014, 3:30:26 PM1 votes

Maybe the quote "The unseen blade is the deadliest" is the quote of the master not zed?

Eggstealer10/29/2014, 3:47:28 AM1 votes

Can you do a segment on the theory that Kog'Maw is the son of the baron nashor? hence his "daddy's coming" references and them both shooting goo stuff from their mouths.

LucasNawt6/26/2015, 3:24:25 PM1 votes

Dude i was searching this lores and all this stuff, and i did read all of this, (btw awesome theory, you helped me understand) and i did a lot of research, and finally, and ideea have came in my mind. What if, zed master, i mean zed dad, would wanted zed power, because his powers would be almost over, and he would die without another ones. And it would make sense, because, 200 years he would be alive because of his shadow art powers. So he had to get a new body, because a 200 years body is pretty old, and he wanted zed body with fresh powers. But, in other comments it's mentioned that zed did blocked his father, who'd tried to posses him with and technique. But i think after that, the master managed to use that technique to survive in a pure dark energy form, nocturne form. So the nocturne could be the zed father. And the second ideea of mine is that the shadow arts and the dark arts are not the same, and the shadow are trying to explain something to zed, about the danger of the dark arts. And maybe, that shadow arts are not dark arts how it's mentioned. And maybe the ancient forbidden ways were the shadow arts, but they got corrupted, and some shadow masters would follow the dark path and i think the shadow and dark arts are different. If anything makes sense it's good, i did lose my time for something, if not... well.. it's okay :D

Dejan prox37/13/2015, 6:38:44 PM1 votes

Gangplank summoner 30 item 3091

The Arcus12/6/2015, 1:56:38 AM1 votes

My theory is that shadows were taking over Zed little by little since he saw the box for the first time. It became seriously when he saw it for the second time. By then, Zed wasn't really a Zed anymore. It was him, but shadows were taking over, and Nocturne is his final state, when those shadows possed his body.

Grism3/30/2016, 8:13:47 AM1 votes

What if Zed is Zed and The Master is Nocturne.. Maybe Nocturne is the shadow of the master?

Balakey4/1/2016, 7:30:32 PM1 votes

I think that the Master actually tried to switch bodies between zed and him using magic and then when they switched their bodies Master as zed killed zed as Master and now zed as we all know today is actually Shen's father Master

Sneak Dog10/9/2014, 12:46:40 AM1 votes

I love your last theory, but Zeds in-game quotes feel contradictory to it:

"Secrets kept are weapons wasted." "They follow the wrong master." "Brave the shadows, find the truth." (The master could be seen as the shadows?)

What if the master never intended to destroy the box, but to let the shadows consume Zed to see what he would become, or that he exactly knew what Zed would become; his greatest student?

DarkestDisciple10/9/2014, 6:12:57 AM1 votes

The last theory is one I've contemplated since Zed's release. I'm not sure I'd go as far with the whole familial ties, but the root of the theory, that the real Zed was killed by the Master, who is our in-game Zed, has always felt right to me.

I mean, it kind of makes some twisted sense. My personal theory excludes a lot your backstory for a slightly less convoluted version.

Essentially, the Original story as written is accurate until Zed is banished. Then, perhaps feeling threatened by Zed (wanting to understand the Shadow Techniques to fight them or or obtain them himself to stand a chance vs Zed, or even having already known them but hoarding their power) the Master goes to the box. He is corrupted by the Shadow Technique just as Zed was (or, as mentioned, was already corrupted) and sets up the elaborate ruse of inviting Zed in. Since he has the box and time to study it, his Shadow Technique is innately better than Zed's. After inviting his former apprentice inside, the Master ambushes, kills and replaces him.

It is a bit offset, as some have mentioned, by a few of Zed's lines, but I'm not sure that entirely kills the theory; realistically, if this scenario happened, the Master would go to great lengths to continue to hide his identity, which would include some artificial continuance of Zed's philosophies.