MINIONS - what?

Okay so for newer players who may have not been around before Riot restructured the game's story, in the original lore there existed the League of Legends, an organization of wizards so powerful that they arbitrated geopolitical conflicts between every city-state through gladiatorial combat (aka the matches of the game), administered by the Institute of War. Players were referred to as Summoners, and the lore stated that you were summoning champions to represent their hometown on the fields of battlJUSTICE, either to settle disputes, or to win fame/money as it was sort of a spectator sport. Taric was something of a celebrity for his outrageous style, for example.

As it was, it was more or less a thinly veiled explanation to reconcile the backstories of champions with gameplay mechanics. Summoner spells were explained as you, the summoner, casting a spell to intervene on the Rift from the safety of the Institute, where you controlled your summoned champion through magical means, or at least told them what to do via annoying telepathy.

"You only need to click once, Summoner" -

Now nobody actually dies for real in Summoner's Rift matches. Respawning was hand-waived as the summoners simply resurrecting the dead with their amazing magical powers. Or Champions were just simulacrums; I don't remember. The point is summoners were OP as heck and all the champions went for drinks after each game. But what about these guys?

https://i.imgur.com/H1mDnNn.jpg

How come champions get resurrected while these cute little gnomes get ruthlessly slaughtered? Don't fret, they aren't people. They're magical automatons! No souls here to worry about...( coughs)

Needless to say Riot has since scrapped the whole Institute of War shtick and League of Legends' lore is a lot richer for it. Heck even the hapless jungle critters have personal lives of their own. The big Krug has a wife at home. Think about that the next time you murder him, you monster.

But while the lore is certainly better today there is now a sort of disconnect between the story and the game. It's not clear why a bunch of miscreants are showing up to murder each other in a forest these days. It may likely never be; rather, it may just be consigned to a gameplay concession for the rest of the game's lifespan. And that's fine.

But just WHAT are minions now? If summoners and the Institute of War are obsolete, who is summoning these mindless automatons?

Will we ever see more story for these little path-blockers, like we did with the jungle critters? Is there a possibility of another minion update in the future to bring them in line with existing lore?

Here's hoping for answers.