Existence of Darkins.
If Xerath did not destroy Shurima, Ascended would have someone to guide them. A ruler. Without him/her, they lost their purpose.
Aatrox became the Aatrox because of Xerath. If he knew, I think he would have grudge against him too, maybe even more than Zoe.
Also seems like Ascended assume "the slave" is dead. They are terribly wrong lol.
Well... the Darkins could have been better ppl to begin with, Azir was born human too and so he would incur in the same temptations.
What ruined the Ascended was that they were all broken from the endless wars they fought, the only one who could "save" them was Nasus but he recluded himself in guilt rather than building something from his brother sacrifice.
Also, this is not something to justify Xerath, but you can see how mortals were regarded as in the time of the Ascended. Not just slaves but real paws to the point where the snake one used her poison to blind her closest ones. Slavery in Shurima meant something we cannot even comprehend when there was such an army of demigods.
Where were all these Ascended's when Xerath destroyed Shurima? Why were Nasus and Renekton the ones to fight and trap him in the Tomb?
It's their fault. Their fault for not being there, warring with themselves and causing the rest of Runeterran's to united against a race of gods fighting each other for no reason.
Why do gods need a mortal emperor to guide them?
Also, isn't that like saying it's whoever created the process of Ascension's fault?
The irony is that if Nasus and Renekton hadn't sealed Xerath,then this whole darkin war might have turned out waaay differently,with Xerath potentially acting as a leader of the ascended.
Although not having a ruler definitely didn't help I think it was ultimately the influence of fighting the Void that led to them becoming the darkin.
Shurima needed a strong leader to guide its rebirth, but all it was left with was us, broken monsters who had stared into the abyss too long and felt its horror twist their minds to madness and self-destruction.
But without Xerath they could most likely been kept in check, especially since Azir would've been ascended too (arguably one of the strongest).
And in time, Shurima fell, as all empires must.
Without any monarch to defend, or the existential threat of the Void to test them, Aatrox and the Sunborn began to clash with one another, and eventually this became a war for the ruins of their world.
That first line pretty clearly spells out that it's not Xerath's fault, it's a fault with the Ascension process itself. This would have happened with or without Xerath.
