Everything wrong with Jarvan new biography

Let’s first get two points out of the way, one negative and one positive.

Positive: Xin being Jarvan’s mentor. This was a nice addition and something I personally headcanoned myself.

Negative: Woman in the refigirator syndrome. Jarvan’s mother Catherine dying at childbirth and only serving as a plot point for Jarvan IV being the only child and his father’s heavy expectations of him. Otherwise, her character served no real purpose and even Jarvan IV growing up without a mother is only glossed over and not seen as important. It has zero impact on hi character developments. This is an absolute shame because I feel like they could have done way more or at least had her alive.

Now onto Jarvan IV himself. Let me bring two quotes from his biography about why he initiated the attack on Noxians in the new lore:

One “Jarvan was determined to prove himself.”

and

Two “His great grandfather had been slain by a foul Noxian brute... now that insulted would be finally answered.”

I’m sorry, but this makes Jarvan very selfish and arrogant as it’s all about self pride now which was never his personality. Compare this to why he attacked the Noxians in the old lore:

“ But Jarvan was shaken by the faces of the dead, and he could not turn his back on survivors in need.”

The first one is out of family pride and I have to prove myself yadda yadda and the second one is out of pain. The second one is beautiful because it was about the tragedies of war inflicted upon a young general. It is very real, it speaks to us in an emotional level. In the new lore Jarvan attacks Noxians because gotta keep up a reputation! While in the old lore is because he witnessed all the atrocities the Noxians did that caused him to go on the offensive. Also, it makes zero sense why Jarvan IV would be offended about something that happened to J1, so much that he go on blood thirsty quest to avenge his grandfather... except that his grandfather also resulted in Sion’s death. Like what? They ended up killing each other so what the hell is Jarvan IV going on the offensive for anyway. On top of this making Jarvan seem like an arrogant asshole it also makes him mentally insane.. And yes I know about this in the new lore:

“but the carnage he witnessed in the outlying towns troubled him deeply.”

You make think is the same as old lore of attacking because of his ptsd but it’s not. This is just thrown in for good measure and has no real impact because it makes little psychological sense. Jarvan is already on the offensive with Noxians and this makes him go on the offensive... also why in the world does it impact him now when he had fight so many battles against Noxians at this point. In the old lore it made sense because it was his first real contact against a Noxian army.

Next major point: gone is Jarvan’s weeks of capture at the hands of Noxians. Gone is Jarvan’s self-exile after escaping the Noxians encampment. In the new lore, he thought he wasn’t worthy because he was close to death. In the old lore he had already busted himself out Noxian encampment and then imposed a self exile on himse despite having the choose to go back to Demacia? Do you see the difference here? How in the new lore it’s literally not about his choice at all? Oh and last major point is Jarvan’s time in the village is completely glossed over as his peace of mind with having to be away from court duties. In the old lore he managed to rally the villagers to fight alongside him to defeat Shyvana’s mother which is far more impressive than just inspiring a bunch of already soilders. Another minor negative point: where is the getting elected as king in the new lore? Why is it assumed that Jarvan IV will become King when in the old lore of made it clear that it was council that elected new king and Jarvan had to work for it hard.

Jarvan’s new biography is awful and I’m sad at what became of one of my favourite characters.