[Lore Theory] The Sunborn(Darkin) were corrupted by The World Runes.
Ok so pretty much the theory is that The World Runes and The Rune Wars are what turned the Sunborn into Darkin and eventually lead to their downfall.
TL;DR - The Sunborn_(Darkins)_ found 1 or more World Runes. With them they began enchanting themselves with primal magic and eventually lead them to become a huge threat to Runeterra forcing Targon to intervene.
TL;DR - Ryze you had one job bro, really?. https://lolstatic-a.akamaihd.net/frontpage/apps/prod/rg-champion-aatrox/en_US/5b922bef08881410f8fffa7273c30a75dfb1d11f/assets/img/global/accents/accent-1.png
#1st Argument: The lore already shows us what The World Runes can do
We already got an example in the lore where The Rune Wars corrupted an person; Ryze. If you're unfamiliar with Ryze's lore, in short, long time ago in the like super early ages of Runeterra, there where these hunks of rock with symbols on them which could fit in your hand, they were called The World Runes. The World Runes held colossal power strong enough to destroy two armies of thousands of men in an instance. Naturally, humans were like "owo shiny shiny powerful, gibb me naow OwO" and lead to people going to war over these globs of magic rock. This lead Ryze to collecting The World Runes to make sure they would never fall into the wrong hand. Since Ryze eventually gathered all these World Runes, the runes themselves were trying to corrupt Ryze and they are what turned him from normal boy to I'm blue dabba dee dabba da.
Before World Runes: https://imgur.com/i5fhGXn
After World Runes: https://imgur.com/uJHMcZ7
Dont do runes kids.
But why didn't the Darkin turn blue? It could simply just because their bodies reacted different to it. The Sunborn were already ascended right? And I bet The Sunborn had a few powerful mages in their ranks which knew how to properly harness The World Rune(s)'s power and manipulate it.
Now don't forget, The World Runes and The Rune Wars also had huge impacts on Runeterra by supposedly creating Brand and helping humans found Demacia.
#2nd Argument: Artwork Idea Credit: T.B. Skyen https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCH9Upwx0Bvoy7Tkj4JGaKnw
The exact thing that tipped me off to come up with this theory is when I found the preview for the World Rune Skin. The World Rune ward skin shares the exact same colour scheme of a dark, hellish red and gunmetal black. For example:
https://imgur.com/pVNV9Fq https://imgur.com/1kofGiU https://imgur.com/5zXZgOf https://imgur.com/zVr0qqF https://imgur.com/zKn7F2p https://imgur.com/0UZkpoS https://imgur.com/wShhOig https://imgur.com/cqPR8lB
You could argue that Noxus shares the exact same colour scheme, which they do, but the distinct difference between the artwork for the Darkin and Noxus is how the Darkins look as if all the crazy shapes all around their bodies look more or less as if they occured naturally just like The World Rune ward skin while all of the Noxus artwork looks more like the characters are wearing armour forged by blacksmiths; man-made. For example:
https://imgur.com/Zhk9rqU https://imgur.com/7yjfhSb https://imgur.com/wUmWxd2
#Third Argument, In the pieces of lore on The Darkin recently released along with Aatrox, it mentions a huge change among the Sunborn which "corrupts" them. https://lolstatic-a.akamaihd.net/frontpage/apps/prod/rg-champion-aatrox/en_US/5b922bef08881410f8fffa7273c30a75dfb1d11f/assets/img/global/accents/accent-2.png ##Example #1, Aatrox's voice lines:
- "Am I the abyss? Or did I gaze into it?"(Movement 4)
The first voice line is most likely a reference to the famous quote;
"Whoever fights with monsters should see to it that he does not become one himself. And when you stare for a long time into an abyss, the abyss stares back into you."-Friedrich Nietzsche, Beyond Good and Evil (1886), Aphorism 146
Pretty much in the second part of the quote, it's commonly interpreted as a reference to being corrupted.
##Example #2: The Great Darkin War" artwork descriptions**
This is really what hints towards The World Runes corrupting The Darkin.
- "The laws of mortal life held little meaning for the darkin. Over the centuries, they mastered many forbidden forms of primal magic, crafting their own flesh and armor..."(Image 2).
It mentions "many forbidden forms of primal magic" which could easily be The World Runes. After causing so much disaster in the world and being from the super super super early ages of Runeterra, you could safely describe them as "forbidden" and "primal". It also says "man...forms of...magic" which could mean the World Rune Ward Skin is just one of a many runes The Darkin would have acquired.
##Example #3: The Legend of The Darkin
The nice 2 minute read has this quote in it;
- "Although apparently immortal, the god-warriors had been born human—gradually, with no emperor to lead them, many of the surviving Ascended began to falter in purpose as their older, petty ambitions resurfaced. They taught themselves forbidden sorceries, and came to view themselves as the rightful inheritors of the world." (Paragraph 3)
Remember, although the classic Shuriman tradition of Ascension gives mortals extraordinary power, thats only on the inside; Human minds encased in the bodies of Gods. The Sunborn could easily still fall for the same temptation humans in the past Rune Wars did and eventually lead to the Darkins' downfall.
#In conclusion
My theory is that the Sunborn warriors of Shurima, after the disaster that was Azir's ascension and the war against Icathia and the Void, eventually followed my the Sunborn discovering The World Runes that Ryze may have never found. The World Runes helped the Sunborn discover long lost, primitive magic more powerful than they could have ever imagined, corrupting them, tapping into their basic, selfish human desires. This is what made Sunborn into Darkin and leading to their demise.
##All relevant lore if you want to study up
Ryze bio+Story_(World Runes info)_: https://universe.leagueoflegends.com/en_US/story/champion/ryze/ https://universe.leagueoflegends.com/en_US/story/ryze-color-story/
Aatrox bio+story: https://universe.leagueoflegends.com/en_US/story/champion/aatrox/ https://universe.leagueoflegends.com/en_US/story/aatrox-color-story/
Aatrox voice lines: http://leagueoflegends.wikia.com/wiki/Aatrox/Quotes
The Legend of The Darkin: https://universe.leagueoflegends.com/en_US/story/the-legend-of-the-darkin/
The Great Darkin War: https://universe.leagueoflegends.com/en_US/?mv=true
Twilight of the Gods_(Not relevant to the theory, just goes into the depth of how the Darkin were finally ended)_: https://universe.leagueoflegends.com/en_US/story/twilight-of-the-gods/
