Ivern's Lore - It ruins him.

Oleandervine··5 votes·1,762 views

So what we got from Ivern in his teasers, his vocals, and just plain appearance was a character full of whimsy, carefree, and utterly enigmatic, with a touch of faerie lunacy. What his lore did, at least the beginning with him being a bloodthirsty asshole bent on ruining everything in Ionia and becoming a destructive force like that he was seeking to resist, was ruin him. It stripped his inherent insanity and made him just another empowered human. It removed him from the realm of myth and faerie tales and anchored him too much into reality. Where he should have been akin to one of the faeries that Lulu met in her secret glade, he's just a former human who's lost touch with the world and become a strange guardian. Ivern was set up to be this great mythical creature similar to Bard, but a native inhabitant of Runeterra. Instead, he isn't, and the enigma and whimsy is lost when you remember who he was once and that it is what drives him to be what he wants to be. He should operate in the name of nature alone, he should have been a creature of nature, it's always protector, not some step in protector from the world of man. This is what is disappointing about his lore, his orignition from mankind.

19 Comments

Astôlfo11 votes

I think that makes it even better than just "hurdur magical tree spirit". It gives depth and insight to where he came from and why he acts the way he does.

Oleandervine2 votes

{quoted}

I think that makes it even better than just "hurdur magical tree spirit". It gives depth and insight to where he came from and why he acts the way he does.

We have enough of that in the game though. There are so many human redeeming the natural world or saving a race. See Malzahar, The Aspects, the Ascended, and a host of others. This is a character that should be random and enigmatic. Not every character has to have a tragic background or be a former human.

Beyond Legends1 votes

I think you lumping fruits in a basket and calling them the same thing...I don't see why we need another plot device since we have already have anivia. Do you wany a cliche mystery nature spirit or what?

Iwinatlife424 votes

Malzahar is Cthulu cultist trying to prepare the path for the host of horrendous void creatures not really trying to redeem anyone he stared deep into the void and it stared back.

Unstoppable Monk2 votes

Nah dude the Void is a magical place better than this world, don't believe the propaganda believed by the sheeple.

Voidlings never ate anyone.

Tattersall10 votes

They tried to convey this point in his lore:

Humans are still a part of nature.

They're not separate beings, they're not unnatural, they're just animals. See, that's something I like about Ivern. He's breaking the stereotypical "nature spirit, therefore, hate humans because they destroy nature." Humans are a part of the "natural order," after all. Wolves are just as much hunters as the humans are in "Gift of Venom."

Valor Bot2 votes

I agree that humans are a part of nature. What makes us so unique and sets us apart from the rest of the animal kingdom, though, is our ability to moralize and rationalize. With that as a given, I find it rather puzzling that Ivern would be ok with humans slaughtering other non-human animals needlessly. Killing something for its skin isn't exactly what I'd categorize as a necessity, unless you need it so much that you would die otherwise.

It's for this reason that I was rather put off by Ivern's lore. "The shagyak herd would be proud" why, exactly? Because one of their kin was killed to be used as a pair of boots?

Tattersall4 votes

Ivern has conversations with dirt. From his perspective, the perspective of an ancient nature-god, everything can rationalize. And the thing is, while the hunters in this story were wasteful (they only wanted the tusks), the dead animal was not wasted. Mushrooms used the body for sustinence and "badgers will use his ribs as shelter from the autumn storms." The other thing is, to not be wasteful, it doesn't need to be out of necessity. Ivern was fine with the idea of humans making toys out of bones because he would love it if he knew that it was bringing a child joy. Toys aren't a necessity, are they?

TenshouSNK2 votes

{quoted}

Ivern has conversations with dirt. From his perspective, the perspective of an ancient nature-god, everything can rationalize. And the thing is, while the hunters in this story were wasteful (they only wanted the tusks), the dead animal was not wasted. Mushrooms used the body for sustinence and "badgers will use his ribs as shelter from the autumn storms." The other thing is, to not be wasteful, it doesn't need to be out of necessity. Ivern was fine with the idea of humans making toys out of bones because he would love it if he knew that it was bringing a child joy. Toys aren't a necessity, are they?

This

Valor Bot2 votes

Hm. I suppose the dynamics of morality change in a world where every being is sentient and capable of rationalization. The next question would be: Is everything in Runeterra truly sentient (i.e. lilypads, trees, frogs), or is it just Ivern's imagination?

Tattersall3 votes

I doubt that it's Ivern's imagination. If I had to guess, I would say that everything is sentient, but not in a way that we can comprehend. Like, the Vikings believed that everything had a will. Rocks and trees as well as humans. Even the universe had a collective will, but everything also had individual wills too. The Vikings believed that magic was the art of changing "destiny," or making something happen that was not "supposed" to happen, whether that's persuading someone to buy something that they wouldn't have bought normally, or persuading a rock to lift itself up and throw itself at someone.

Vikings were cool.

Dang it, I got off topic. I guess what I'm trying to say is that humans are the only "sentient" creatures, but the definition of sentient is different for a god-willow. Ivern can see the will of all individual things, and to him, that will is no different from that of humans. Hopefully this makes sense. I kind of doubt that it does.

OurLestrade8 votes

I've had enough god champions to last me a life time in recent years.

LordHippoman4 votes

with him being a bloodthirsty asshole bent on ruining everything in Ionia and becoming a destructive force like that he was seeking to resist

I actually really liked this, because it makes Ivern's story one of redemption and recognizing/regretting his mistakes, and atoning for them. It shows why he's the way he is, and it isn't just "he's magic".

Like, as much as I love Bard, he's not really a compelling...character. He has no story arc, he's not going to change, Bard is just Bard, and he always will be Bard. Ivern feels different that way. I can see why you might not be a fan of that, but I think a lot of people like it.

Ethereal3112 votes

Thing is that he's not actively seeking to redeem himself from what I've seen written in the bio. He's just kind of doing it just because Nature wants it. He is explicitly Nature's assistant and that's the only thing he will be.

GreenLore3 votes

While I agree that not every mystical being should be human I feel like it actually adds to iverns character,with his whole change of character upon transformation and gives a certain dynamic to his relationship with humans.

It also helps to differentiate him from Maokai

reaperteaser1 votes

dont forget, he is still pretty much half god, considering he was posessed by the 'god wollow'

Ralanr1 votes

He's more of a demigod actually.

Bellows1 votes

*Origination

Tesla Effect1 votes

It doesnt, cause you still have the God-Willow part and what the nature of such thing is.

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