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Ekko-Vi discrepancy - Vi grew up in Piltover, not Zaun, so why does Ekko even care about his city?

Darrosh Jewfist·6/3/2015, 6:30:14 AM·9 votes·3,866 views

"As a child growing up in the lawless outskirts of Piltover, Vi learned to rob and cheat to get by. Stealing and stripping hextech hardware gave her the skills of a master mechanic, while life on the streets taught her self-reliance. When she was six, a ragtag group of criminals took a shine to the young delinquent and brought her into their fold. By the time Vi was eleven, she had become a seasoned accomplice, and she relished the thrill of every heist." - from 's lore.

"One day, you'll come back to Zaun." "You'll always be Zaun to me." - 's VO to

I think I might be a bit confused, but Vi isn't from Zaun. It's pretty clear she's from Piltover. So Ekko and her were in the same gang? But then, if this gang was willing to recruit from Piltover... implying Zaun are similar to Noxians in that they're more open to out-of-city folk coming to their town, then what's the big deal with Ekko's city pride?

Like, Ekko grows up in a city that seems to value mercantilism and liberated scientific pursuits - meaning people from other city-states/nations can come and go as they please. This kind of makes Zaun seem awfully less nationalistic than others - hence it seems strange to me Ekko would have such a strong pride in this town. He grew up in a gang with "Pilties". He's in a city-state that welcomes foreigners, presumably, and certainly hasn't treated his family (parents who work long hours) or himself (losing friends, constantly getting jumped).

So... why does Ekko even like his city?

Because they're willing to go where the Pilties won't? Even though it's pretty clear they have no qualms recruiting Pilties when it suits their needs and general Zaun attitudes seem to be ok with Viktor kind of going to Piltover and rustling up some of their tech?

I get Ekko has an immature view of the city - but I'm kind of confused as to what he actually "likes" about his city.

33 Comments

Legacy of Xion6/3/2015, 6:38:14 AM15 votes

Welcome to League of Legends NEW Lore!

Please ignore any and all Valoran-sized holes so far, we're currently in the middle of a Nine Month Long to date tech issue keeping us from releasing our lore!

Trash MammaI6/3/2015, 9:36:34 AM5 votes

I believe that there is a theory that Vi has amnesia

I heard that also and that she calls herself Vi because it's on her cheek and doesn't remember her real name

On topic: I have no idea why he likes Zaun in fact in a lot of his quotes he gives piltover a crap ton of compliments and acknowledges them having good things. He never says anything about what's so good about Zaun.

Biff Manly6/3/2015, 3:56:07 PM4 votes

Maybe Zaun is just a really skeezy subdivision of Piltover that grew out of control. Then the "lawless outskirts of Piltover" and Zaun are the same thing.

Duke Anax6/3/2015, 12:33:14 PM4 votes

It's hard to get a clear picture but apparently Zaun and Pilltover are very close, seperated by only a river. I think they were once considered the same city, before there was an argument between using hextech and techmaturgy.

Also the whistling Piltie in Ekko's video seems to be on a evening stroll, just randomly passing through Zaun or something like that.

It's entirely possible that VI was born in Pilltover and picked up by a zaunite Gang.

Solidair36/4/2015, 12:41:55 AM2 votes

Considering VI is from the "lawless outskirts" and that the two cities are VERY close together, I think it may be safe to assume that she and jinx spent a tremendous amount of time in Zaun as children. As much time as was spent in Piltover.

ElJanitorFrank6/4/2015, 1:11:02 AM2 votes

"When she was six, a ragtag group of criminals took a shine to the young delinquent and brought her into their fold..."

I thought this was the point in which she left Piltover for Ekko's gang in Zaun.

A lot of people have reasoned, that since Ekko/Jinx/Vi seem to have Roman Numerals associated with them, (Ekko is IV, I think, Vi is ...well VI and Jinx is X) that is the age in which they joined the gang. Which would make sense since VI is 6.

AnonymousEnigma6/3/2015, 6:43:36 AM2 votes

I believe that there is a theory that Vi has amnesia

John Berserk6/3/2015, 5:07:57 PM2 votes

A Rioter mentioned a while back (maybe a week or two ago) when someone had asked why Ekko loves Zaun so much despite it being kind of a shithole that Piltover, while seemingly better in every way (cleaner, moral standards, etc), is a LOT more classist. There's little to no chance of moving up the social ladder in Piltover. If you're born low, you're destined to stay low. The rich have the power in Piltover.

Whereas in Zaun, similar to their allies Noxus, they don't care where you were born or who you were born to. If you have the strength and the smarts to get by and get ahead, then you're not only able to, it's insisted upon you. Everyone has an opportunity to get far in life in Zaun. In Piltover, not so much.

With that in mind, I can see why a street urchin like Ekko would favor Zaun over Piltover. He's treated like trash there, whereas in Zaun he's treated as an equal.

Celeste Benal6/3/2015, 3:38:56 PM2 votes

The Piltover/Zaun situation reminds me strongly of a certain anime where these two cities exist on opposite sides of a river/gorge/chasm in a permanent state of war. Every day at a certain time they each fire across the chasm at each other. No one even remembers why they are fighting.

Also Budapest.

Wouldn't be the first time two cities on opposite sides of a river merged/split.

Noa Von Cross6/3/2015, 6:51:15 AM1 votes

If you look at Vi's Lore she resides in Piltover but she was in fact born and raised in Zaun

Yordle Xayah6/3/2015, 8:17:42 PM1 votes

[{quoted}](name=Darrosh Jewfist,realm=NA,application-id=6kFXY1kR,discussion-id=js0jbd8U,comment-id=,timestamp=2015-06-03T06:30:14.271+0000)

"As a child growing up in the lawless outskirts of Piltover, Vi learned to rob and cheat to get by. Stealing and stripping hextech hardware gave her the skills of a master mechanic, while life on the streets taught her self-reliance. When she was six, a ragtag group of criminals took a shine to the young delinquent and brought her into their fold. By the time Vi was eleven, she had become a seasoned accomplice, and she relished the thrill of every heist." - from 's lore.

"One day, you'll come back to Zaun." "You'll always be Zaun to me." - 's VO to

I think I might be a bit confused, but Vi isn't from Zaun. It's pretty clear she's from Piltover. So Ekko and her were in the same gang? But then, if this gang was willing to recruit from Piltover... implying Zaun are similar to Noxians in that they're more open to out-of-city folk coming to their town, then what's the big deal with Ekko's city pride?

Like, Ekko grows up in a city that seems to value mercantilism and liberated scientific pursuits - meaning people from other city-states/nations can come and go as they please. This kind of makes Zaun seem awfully less nationalistic than others - hence it seems strange to me Ekko would have such a strong pride in this town. He grew up in a gang with "Pilties". He's in a city-state that welcomes foreigners, presumably, and certainly hasn't treated his family (parents who work long hours) or himself (losing friends, constantly getting jumped).

So... why does Ekko even like his city?

Because they're willing to go where the Pilties won't? Even though it's pretty clear they have no qualms recruiting Pilties when it suits their needs and general Zaun attitudes seem to be ok with Viktor kind of going to Piltover and rustling up some of their tech?

I get Ekko has an immature view of the city - but I'm kind of confused as to what he actually "likes" about his city.

He's mad... but like a goat

333lom6/5/2015, 3:27:19 PM1 votes

Yeah, those inconsistencies have to be the consequence of the New Lore. And there are more problems in other parts as well, but this perhaps could be explained with Vi being adopted by the Zaunite gang at the age of six. So, even though she had been born in Piltover, Ekko accepted her as a Zaunite, seeing how prideful in his city he is. So maybe he continues to view her as if she was never from Piltover.