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Clearing Up Some Lore Misconceptions

fictitiousfig·6/28/2019, 3:42:59 AM·5 votes·5,790 views

What's up, bros? So, today, as I was perusing Reddit, there was a discussion on lore matchups. As a lover of the lore, I decided to spend the next half-hour reading through the replies. And I got kinda angry. And I still am kinda angry, which is why I'm writing this right now. I would've argued on the actual post, but it was like 10 hours ago so I thought it'd be awkward to go in and argue everything now. So here we are.

Okay, so it's four main things that I saw again and again, so let's go through those one at a time and clarify the truth (with lore backing!)

  1. Azir isn't actually stronger than Nasus and Renekton. (Worse yet, people claiming him the 2nd strongest Ascended overall). Okay, I get the idea behind this one. In the desert, he can control sand and command soldiers and raise cities and blah blah blah, and he never has reason to leave the desert. BUT HERE'S THE THING! It never says anywhere in the lore, hardly even implies, that he can raise soldiers and command them. He can resurrect memories. He brought back the memory of Shurima, he can bring back the memory of fighting soldiers (his in-game soldiers are even referred to as memories in his champ spotlight), but he can't actually control them. He'd have to have an extremely specific setup to even be a considerable fighter. The only edge he has is that he has a stronger form than a mortal. Heck, even his knowledge and fighting strength comes from Renekton and Nasus. He's probably the weakest Ascended in actual combat. (and yes, I know a Rioter said Azir could fight Xerath to a standstill in the desert but until I see it genuinely written and explained in the lore I'm not buying it)

  2. Also on the note of the Ascended, Xerath isn't immune to pain or damage. However, Nasus still doesn't go even with him. From the Bloodline story: "Nasus thrust his blade at the magus to unleash a burst of withering power. Xerath roared in pain and anger, the fire at his heart flickering, but undimmed."

It's not clear if any amount of attacks Nasus could unleash would genuinely kill Xerath or do long-term damage, but he's not untouchable and unharmable. He still feels pain and can be affected by it. HOWEVER, in this same story, Xerath doesn't kill Nasus. I saw one too many people drawing the connection that this means Xerath's strength = Nasus's strength whenever the story specifically says, "“I have pictured your death a thousand times,” said Xerath, rising beyond the hollowed temple. “But never by my hand.”" He pushed Nasus to the brink of death then buried him in rubble rather than killing him not because he couldn't but because he didn't want to.

  1. Sylas can only use others' magic through petricite. Okay, this one really got on my nerves. Like, more than people saying Aurelion Sol was the size of a universe. Sylas could always steal and use the magic of others. That's his whole dealio, that's how he got thrown into prison and accused of murder and all. He could sense magic in others and, through physical contact, use their powers.

From his bio: "When he tried to shield the child from the mageseekers, he accidentally brushed against her skin. The girl’s magic rushed through Sylas’s body—but rather than killing him, it shot forth from his hands in raw, uncontrolled bursts. It was a talent he did not know he possessed, and it resulted in the deaths of three people, including his mageseeker mentor."

He can take magic from others and use it, no petricite needed. In fact, an argument could even be made that only Sylas can use the stored magic in the petricite. After all, he needed the burst from Lux to access it, and that's using his powers. Imagine anyone else with it being a puddle of water and the petricite is a sponge, and Sylas is one of the only puddles of water who can squeeze the sponge. Weird metaphor but you get my point.

  1. And the final point, also linked to petricite, is that it isn't infinitely able to store magic. I actually made a post a while ago asking about this and the overwhelming consensus was that petricite has a definite magic cap (which was also linked to like all the other points here because I wouldn't be arguing this if I wasn't an expert on Xerath and all the possible ways to kill him). Taking the same example from that post used to prove that petricite has its limits and isn't an instant KO for any mage (from Demacian Heart):

"Vannis held out his Graymark, capturing the flickering arcs in the stone and suppressing the magic. But the petricite rapidly darkened and cracked, overwhelmed by the little girl's power."

Faced with strong enough magic, petricite cracks and darkens, likely rendering it useless to keep absorbing magic. This was also likely how Sylas escaped from his shackles, using the strength of Lux's magic coupled with the magic stored in the petricite that he could now access to turn it against itself and destroy it. This is also why Galio isn't some invincible beast against any mage you see. He, without a doubt, has a huge edge over them and could render them near useless (as he does with Lux), but, even against a mage, he could be overwhelmed and defeated. You would either need a ridiculously powerful mage (cough cough Xerath Syndra ) or an entire army of mages, like from Ionia, but it's not impossible.

Anyway, that's my rant for the day. Feel free to argue me on all of these, I'll defend it tomorrow morning. Stay safe and remember, kids: Azir is the weakest Ascended and I'm not just saying this because I'm a Xerath main, I'm saying it because it's the truth that I will fight anyone and everyone on.

In summary: Azir probably can't control and command sand, Xerath is still stronger than all the other Ascended but can be damaged, Sylas doesn't need petricite to steal magic, and petricite has a cap to magic it can absorb.

(Link to the reddit post that inspired this: https://www.reddit.com/r/leagueoflegends/comments/c671fh/i_have_wasted_countless_hours_of_my_life_reading/ )

6 Comments

RyzeTheSmurfMage6/28/2019, 3:59:12 PM3 votes

What you are saying about Azir is 100% false.

The sun’s immortal radiance poured into him, crafting his magnificent, hawk-armored form and granting him the power to command the very sand itself. Azir lifted his arms and his ruined city shrugged off the dust of centuries spent beneath the desert to rise anew. The sun disc lifted into the sky once more, and healing waters flowed between temples heaving themselves back into the light at the emperor’s command.

Azir climbed the steps of the newly-risen sun temple, weaving the desert winds to recreate the city’s last moments. Ghosts formed of sand relived his city’s last moments from long ago, and Azir watched in horror as Xerath’s treachery unfolded.

Azir sensed Xerath somewhere abroad in the world and summoned an army of sand warriors to march alongside their reborn emperor.

With an imperious gesture, Azir commanded the sands beside the roadway to rise, creating living statues.

Emphasis on commanded.

Azir lifted a hand, and an army of his elite warriors rose from the sands at the base of the Stairs of Ascension.

P sure that wasnt just a vision of the past, since he commanded sand soldiers to appear out of nowhere. All these quotes indicate that he indeed controls the sand and the sand soldiers. And his feat of raising the entire city alone puts him above Nasus and Azir cause he would have had to raise millions of tons of sand to do that, PLUS the Sun Disc, and the buildings too.

FSRER6/29/2019, 6:08:58 PM1 votes

Your 4th point contradicts with Galio's entire exsistence. Petricite, based on Galio's...exsistance, can indeed hold unlimited energy. But that might as well be something that Riot has messed up in lore and not a real contradiction.