Hecarim & Aatrox

From Hecarim's new lore.

But as the years passed and Hecarim won victory after victory from the back of his mighty warhorse, the Knight Commander finally recognized a growing darkness within his lieutenant. Hecarim’s thirst for wholesale slaughter and obsessive hunger for glory was eroding his honor and the Knight Commander knew the young knight must never become the master of the Iron Order. In his private chambers, he told Hecarim that he would not be his successor and though his lieutenant was furious, he bit back on his anger and returned to his duties.

"Honor will not save them."

When the Order next rode to war, the Knight Commander found himself surrounded by enemies and isolated from his fellow knights. Only Hecarim could ride to his aid, but in a moment of rancor, he turned his mount away and left the Knight Commander to die. At battle’s end, the surviving knights, oblivious to what Hecarim had done, knelt on the bloody ground and swore to follow him as their master.

"I know what lurks in the hearts of men."

Hecarim led the Iron Order in bloody suppressions of discontent, earning a dreadful reputation as a ruthless enforcer of the king’s will. Villages burned and the riders of the Iron Order put hundreds to the sword. The kingdom was in darkness, and when the queen died, Hecarim spun falsehoods around the king, speaking of how he had uncovered the truth behind her death, **seeking sanction to lead the Iron Order to foreign lands **and earn yet more dark renown.

"Sow the seeds of strife."

The spirits of the dead circled Hecarim, beholden to him as their killer and he revelled in the surging joy of battle. He ignored the wailing spirits. He had no interest in enslaving them. Leave such petty cruelties to the Chain Warden. **All Hecarim cared for was killing. **

"War reveals what is within us."

This is very intriguing. What I wonder is, if the Shadow Isles had not become a land of undeath, would Hecarim one day seek to overthrow his lord and make himself King? And would Aatrox appear to help him do it?

From what we know of Aatrox, he takes the underdog side fighting the uphill battle. If one day...the Shadow Isles were to actually be threatened by the living, would Aatrox side with the undead?