What was truly central to the lore of Varus, and was change effective and/or necessary?

It seems everyone is giving their two-bits about the new lore and having read some incredibly insightful posts that bring up important ideas separately and some that get important parts shot down by others who misinterpreted them, I'd like to try to analyze both sides and see if compromise may be reachable. Please note I may refer to Kai and Valmar as Varus for simplicity sake while comparing

First, let's state clearly the new and old lore New Varus: Varus himself was a Darkin that invaded earth with many others in an attempt to slaughter the mages present. He was captured and sealed away in a place that would be known as Ionia under a mountain temple and village that would be named Pallas. Many years later enter Kai and Valmar, two beast hunters subscribed to a mysterious order known as "Arrows" who aimed to keep balance in the world. They loved each other incredibly. One day, they return to Pallas only to later be invaded by Noxians. Kai is nearly slain, and Valmar sacrifices them both to the pit of Pallas knowing only it contains ancient magic of restoration. Revived Varus wants vengeance for being imprisoned and for his kin being slain and forgotten. Valmar wants vengeance against Noxus, and Kai wants Valmar to forget this lust for vengeance so the Darkin can't take control, devouring their souls and making Valmar's actions futile. The lovers manage to take control, and now wander in search of redemption.

Old Varus: A prodigy archer, Varus was tasked with defending the Pit of Pallas at all costs. He does as he was tasked, and suffers for it greatly. Varus loses his family, his home, and his life as he knew it. With nowhere to turn, Varus turns to the pit, and essentially strikes a deal with the entity lying within, granting Varus unimaginable power so he might enact his vengeance.

Now what are the major similarities and where do the differ?

Same: Varus wields bow Varus loses loved one(s) Varus seeks vengeance (sorta) Varus goes against his morals to reach a goal Varus maintains some control over the demon that possesses them

Differences: Old Varus lore is shorter Old Varus loses far more than a great lover Old Varus seeks vengeance, while Kai seeks to quell Valmar's thirst for it New Varus has a home to possibly return to, Old Varus does not New Varus suffered for disobeying orders, Old Varus suffered for following them New Varus has hope, Old Varus likely did not

Now before we go any deeper, I will admit I have bias for the old lore, though appreciate some aspects of the lore. Let's see now how Varus's new lore attempted to adapt Varus to new lore standards and the new universe, and see if they were necessary and effective.

First of all, the new lore definitely expanded on the characters involved, though not terribly deeply. The lovers have a more defined bond, but this could have been fixed with retroactive lore stories. The character's paths are for the most part more linear and obvious, maybe for the exception of Valmar. Now let's take a look at the core of the story. Varus is about 4 things: what did he lose, how did he lose it, how did he respond, what is his new goal and what results from it. While arguments can be made that the Heartlights had a possibly stronger bond than the old husband, wife, and kids, this is something that could've been fixed. There also exists all the other townsfolk who were slain that Old Varus would undoubtedly have had bonds with that simply aren't mentioned in the new lore. How he lost it is mostly the same, however Old Varus returned to death and destruction while New Varus had to deal with watching his Heartlight slip away from life. Arguments can be made for both sides, and Old Varus didn't get to be with his family in their last moments which brings pain, but Valmar felt equal pain watching Kai die. The major difference is that in the old lore, Varus did what he "was supposed to do" and suffered for it. New Varus was told he must leave his heartlight, which is also quite crushing. The big diff is New Varus had a chance while Old Varus didn't. How did they respond then? They both abandoned their morals. Old Varus turned to the very thing that he could have blamed for his family's death, and used it to exact revenge. New Varus turned to it as a chance to save his love, disregarding vengeance until after they fused with the darkin. Arguably the most important detail, what is Varus's next path. Old Varus would head down a bloody road of redemption. New Varus will proceed down a path of tug-of-war, one side pulling away from the path of vengeance, and the other side towards it. The big diff here is what they result in. For Old Varus, his anger is what drives him and likely what ultimately keeps him in control. If he loses this drive either by finding satisfaction or by regretting what he's done, he may lose control, but if he keeps going he will have to murder innocents, quite a moral conundrum. The New Varus has a far more linear path that is quite honestly reminiscent of Kayn and Rhaast. Either Valmar (who's basically the one who's truly in control) will give in to the Darkin's tempation and slaughter everyone, finding justice but losing himself and his heart light, or he sides with Kai and suppresses the Darkin as they journey to find redemption. SOooooo what does that leave us with. The old path follows a path of unavoidable doom, where Varus either loses himself to the Darkin, or to his bloodlust. The new Varus is presented with either seeking vengeance, or accepting what has happened and finding a way to live on.

What I believe Riot likely thought was that Old Varus was set for essentially only one ending whereas new Varus could go on forever. What many fans of the old lore will retort with, however, is that the old lore presented a very unique path of storytelling. It was a not so linear struggle. WIth the new Varus, there is a very clear path of good. With old Varus, that simply doesn't exist. Either he keeps his humanity, loses his soul to the darkin, and sets a rampaging monster on the loose, or he looses his humanity to essentially become the darkin within. What was lost was not a series of events that would lead to a mysterious ambiguous ending that leaves the community to decide the fate. What was lost was a psychological thriller about a broken man who must make a decision of how he is to die and how he comes to this conclusion. As I've stated so far, every other aspect where the old lore didn't meet the new lore could be patched in some way, but the new lore simply loses something that made people love the old lore. Of course some people are going to like the new lore better. They like having more detail and having a possible good ending. What made Varus unique; however, was the fact he could never have a good ending. He had suffered great tragedy and would continue to do so until his last breath.

Finally, how do we fix this? How do we find a happy medium that a majority will find appealing. Here is my suggestion, put Varus back in a position where there is no right or wrong. Currently there is a clear path to be taken, and the only question is if it will be taken. Destroy this path. Make it impossible for Valmar to ever find happiness in such a way that there exists no alternative of sacrificing countless others for the sake of love, but focus on the journey of a man who sacrificed everything to save the one he loved and still failed. If you made it this far, I appreciate you reading this, especially if you are a Rioter. I would appreciate constructive feedback if you are simply a player, but if you be a Rioter I would greatly enjoy some response on how you feel about about this suggestion and if you think I truly discovered what made Varus Varus before his lore swap.