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New lore raised by Kayn's release (feel free to contribute!). Also, Ionia event coming?

Tattersall·6/28/2017, 2:19:21 AM·8 votes·9,483 views

Kayn is bringing up a lot of lore, some stuff about Ionia and the Order of the Shadow, and some stuff about Darkin. Let's dive into this.

So Kayn is a member of the Order of the Shadow, the Order that's lead by Zed. Kayn's release page says

Shieda Kayn battles to achieve his true destiny—to one day lead the Order of the Shadow

So we know what Kayn's goals are. But also, the way he talks to Zed in game seems to show that he's not trying to kill him and take his place. It honestly sounds like Kayn respects Zed and tries to serve him with loyalty, shown in

(First Blood): That was for Zed. (To ally Zed): Together… we are unstoppable.

So yeah, it sounds like Zed is almost a father figure to Kayn, and that he picked Kayn personally to be his apprentice instead of him just being a random member of the Order. That's what makes the next part interesting…

(Attacks Shen): This brings me no pleasure, Shen.

What. Why is Kayn saying such a thing to Zed's mortal enemy? The only reason I can think of is that Shen and Zed maybe… workedtogethertotakedownJhinandarefriendsagain??? But then again, another one of his interactions is

(Kills Shen): Consider this a debt paid to a friend.

So I don't know. Next, Darkin stuff! We now know for certain that Darkin are weapons that take over a host body. We also know for certain (finally) that Varus's bow is a Darkin. What I think is curious though, is something that Kayn says to Rhaast:

Did such foolishness lead to your imprisonment!?

This seems to suggest that the Darkin weren't always weapons, and that they were bound into weapon form at some point. Interesting…

EDIT: Dang it, I forgot to talk about the most obvious, yet possibly most impactful chunk of lore that was revealed: A Darkin can be destroyed by a powerful force of will. This shows that Darkin, despite being powerful demons that seemingly embody traits of humanity as a whole, can be permanently killed. So I guess Tahm Kench was better than them after all?

Anyway, onto the last point: I think an Ionia event might be coming up. Including Kayn, the last three champions have been Ionian. Jhin's story with Shen and Zed still needs closure, and based on some of Kayn's quotes, it looks like that might happen. Plus, Noxus's invasion of Ionia is a big piece of lore for both places, and who's getting updated after Kayn? That's right, Urgot.

Whatever happens, I for one, can't wait.

16 Comments

Valaran Nara6/28/2017, 2:55:45 AM3 votes

Honestly, this just makes Zed more gray. Cause if you really think about it, a few of the new champs including Kayn deals with Zed in some extent. To a point where Zed isn't the MAIN VILLAIN in the situation.

Sure, for Xayah and Rakan's crusade, Zed is, but he has personal reasons that may not be intentionally harmful. Now you see him baring his throat to Shen in an attempt to request a ceasefire and to "nearly" beg for his help to put down an old ghost.

Now we have a student that nearly mirrors Zed upon his paradigm shift and view of power right before striking down Shen's father; HIS master.

Now we have Rhaast asking if Zed is his master. To which Kayn responds, "Zed, yes...it is inevitable." As in, "Inevitably I will have to kill him."

Killaburn6/28/2017, 3:23:33 AM2 votes

you beat me too it. hahaaha i was hoping the release of the new ionian lore,ionian icon, new darkin lore and ionian event

GreenLore6/28/2017, 10:23:37 AM2 votes

Kayn likely sympathizes with Shen. The 2 might belong to different orders and have different opinions about certain things,but that doesn't meant that they have nothing in common.

Kayn knows that Shen isn't a bad person and that Shen tries his best to provide balanace in the world,so he doesn't feel pleasure from killing him.

EDIT: And the imprisonment thing might refer to Rhaast being in the hands of the shadow clan. The scythe was likely locked away somewhere for a long time.

Saint Haven6/29/2017, 6:53:11 PM2 votes

YAY!

ORDER OF SHADOW STUFF

So as far as Kayn's relation to Zed, I'd imagine it'd be very similar to how Akali and Kennen look up to Shen. Not strictly in the "master" sense (such as with Master Yi and Wukong) but definitely using that dynamic mixed in with a fondness. Maybe Kayn was originally in the Ninja academy-thing before Zed defected and was one of the ninja who followed him when he came back and took over. I think, most likely, he's a completely 3rd party whom just got tied in. This is evident in a few things: All other ninja's use energy. If he was in the clan and just decided to follow Zed afterwards, he'd be a legitimate ninja, which wouldn't make too much sense since EVERY OTHER NINJA uses energy. Also, the scythe is presumably his weapon of choice - scythe's obviously not being your standard ninja weapons. He also doesn't have to typical get-up of a ninja. No face mask, no cloth armor, no tunic. These all lead me to believe in this alternative origin: after Zed took over the ninja temple, Kayn (maybe a homeless kid, maybe just a wanderer) was either found by zed, or found zed himself, and Zed took a fondness to him. Zed provided for him, giving him a place to sleep, a meal to eat, and a The Order of Shadows to call his family. Because of this Kayn owes Zed. Not in a mobster kind of way, but in a big brother/father kind of dynamic (again, sharing some traits to the Master-Student relationship, but not being strictly tied to all of it's boundaries). Zed and Kayn had grown so close and had such a mutual liking to each other (weather it be just through teaching and training, or simple chemistry) Kayn became Zed's best student, maybe even his right hand man. In this Zed began to intentionally raise up Kayne to become his successor, openly telling Kayn that this was his destiny and preparing him for it.

DARKIN STUFF

It's been said in this thread, but I enjoy the development in Darkin. I remember when Aatrox dropped and there were apparently 5 other darkin we were ALL speculating and putting together our conspiracy theories haha. It's crazy to think that Aatrox is actually just a sword, and that the body that we see walking around was once a man with ambitions and dreams who took up Aatrox, most likely, to further his own agenda... but was not strong enough to sate Aatrox's bloodlust and thus succumbed to his power. Aatrox is a demon sword being held by a dead corpse. Or maybe the body stays alive, albeit barely. Alive enough to be used to the Darkin, a virus and their host. Either way, we see the end result of the struggle we currently see Kayn going through. I hope they add an eyeball to Aatrox (sword). And of course Varus is caught in the middle of his struggle? Will he get a VGU that lets him split into two paths too? One a AS ADC and the other a Caster ADC? Or how lit would it be if Varus befriended his Darkin Bow haha. That'd be a cool reason why he doesn't have to change, and lets you keep him as a man with the furry pants.

KAYN AND RHAAST ARE HUNGRY BOYS

I really enjoy how Kayn and Rhaast aren't at odds with each other. They essentially want the same thing, just in different ways. Rhaast wants people to die. Kayn wants this too, just so long as there's a reason for killing. Assassins take out key targets for their own benefit (weather it be political or strategic). This is so perfectly translated into their gameplay. Darkin form is a diving bruiser, as a diving bruiser you of course wanna hit the carries of the team, but honestly if someone's in front of you they're fair game. You're not peeling, you're not splitpushing, you're not providing utility - you're killing whatever is in front of you. Shadow form is an assassin and of course in league you gotta handpick your target, whoever is of the most importance. This is all obvious stuff I just needed to say GOOD GOD RIOT good looks fam.

Stars Shaper6/28/2017, 10:41:43 AM2 votes

Ionia sure has a good share of Darkin considering that varus has been confirmed to be affected by one at the very least. If Arclight Varus is still the canon of what he looked like after getting the new powers but still not being corrupted by them then Varus is the best candidate for being a human who actually suppressed a Darkin.

Kayn probably knew Shen since before the betrayal of Zed and he seems also more goodhearted than his master.

The imprisonment might not be about being sealed in wepaons but being forced into stillness and/or being a tool like Raahst and probably Pallas are.

Ralanr6/28/2017, 7:43:05 PM2 votes

Note how he screams, "Revenge!" when attacking Sion. I guess this means Sion has been deployed into Ionia.

Oh what fun.

Jerrrge6/28/2017, 7:24:30 AM1 votes

I would think since shen was kinda like zeds brother, zed would still have some resentment in what he did to his master. Probably kayn feels the same way, if he was there before zeds master died