Boards›Story, Art, & Sound

Theory: Mordekaiser bound the Darkin.

Epicurus·10/3/2017, 5:45:30 AM·34 votes·3,463 views

Darkin lore is still pretty vague, but there are suggestions that the Darkin were not always "sentient weapons", but rather free beings that became imprisoned in the weapons. We don't really know what a "free" Darkin is like, but they are surely immensely dangerous and powerful, and they must have existed a long time ago for them to be so completely lost to history. This theory is supported by a few lines in Kayn's voiceover.

Rhaast: "That weapon was so confining!"

Rhaast: "The weak run. Stay and fight" Kayn: "Did such foolishness lead to your imprisonment?"

If this is the case (and for the sake of this thread I am assuming it is) then it begs the question of how the Darkin became trapped in these weapons. I theorise that it is Mordekaiser who is responsible.

Why Mordekaiser? Domination and enslavement is his modus operandi. Usually this takes the from of enslaving human souls, but it would not be out of character for him to enslave some ancient death-machines by trapping them in weapons. Mord is one of the oldest (if not the oldest) Runeterran we know, so it is plausible that he existed at the time of the free Darkin. He is also an immensely powerful mage. Other Shadow Islanders get their powers indirectly from the Black Mist, but Mordekaiser existed in his current undead form even before the Ruination. So he may well be magically powerful enough to trap the Darkin, as well as knowledgeable enough to know how. While hardly evidence on its own, Rhaast the Darkin Scythe was (re)discovered in Noxus, the old home of Mordekaiser. Perhaps Swain unearthed one of Mord's old armouries?

Bonus theory: Nightfall could be a "dead" Darkin being used by Mordekaiser, just like how Kayn kills Rhaast to become the Shadow Assassin.

This is admittedly a bit of a random theory, and we are unlikely to find out more about the Darkin any time soon. But I think it would be an interesting addition to Mordekaiser's lore.

40 Comments

Painted Celt10/3/2017, 10:41:50 PM11 votes

I think that the Darkin lore is connected to Jax. Jax has no publicized canon since the League of Legends was removed from the lore.

Jax refuses to use a "regular" weapon for some unknown reason. Perhaps it is related to the Darkin, because they take the form of animate weapons.

Perhaps Jax is a hero of old who defeated the Darkin, trapped them in their own weapons, and then, seeing the evils of war, swore never to touch a weapon again. Forced to return to fighting by the Darkin's return (perhaps related to the desecration of Varus' temple), he took up a lamp post from his village as his tool of combat, and as a symbol of light against the shadow of the Darkin.

Perhaps Jax is a warrior who, like Kayn, obtained a Darkin weapon but Jax managed to triumph over its temptations before it possessed him, and so Jax relinquished weapons forevermore. Perhaps Nemesis Jax shows what he would have become if he had sought to control the Darkin weapon instead - Nemesis Jax is the real Jax's greatest enemy and fear: the monster he struggled not to become... http://ddragon.leagueoflegends.com/cdn/img/champion/splash/Jax_7.jpg It's possible that Darkin weapon (or pre-Darkin if the Darkin are Mordekaiser's "liches" mentioned in his lore) could be Nightfall (would require art updates), and Jax may have taken it after defeating Mordekaiser at the Immortal Bastion. Perhaps Jax guarded the weapon for centuries to prevent others who would have misused it to gain power with dire consequences. Perhaps Jax was more than mere human, or his life was extended by owning Nightfall but at the cost of his terrible duty to protect it - a duty he must have failed (perhaps the other Darkin stole it back from Jax). But it could also simply be unrelated.

Perhaps Jax is the same type of being as other Darkin, but he escaped the fate of his kindred because he chose to forego warfare. Bearing the curse of his kind, he cannot use a weapon without becoming the weapon. He may seek to redeem himself by defeating his brethren, yet he must do so without weapons.

These are all just my theories on the matter, but they are in part based on this official art of Jax. Notice that there is something resembling a Darkin behind him. https://lolstatic-a.akamaihd.net/game-info/1.1.9/images/champion/backdrop/bg-jax.jpg

Hovering Hentai10/3/2017, 9:31:45 PM9 votes

I like the theory that the void beasts were brought forth to counteract the Darkin as the void is stated to be home to "terrifying living weapons wrought to win an ancient war". I can't really think of anything else powerful enough that made people desperate enough to reach into the void just to win.

KoKoboto10/3/2017, 6:00:11 PM7 votes

Hmmm... It would have to be Nightfaal than...

I personally like the theory that Kayle and Morgana's race were fighting against stuff and had to use Darkin in order to win (maybe Morgana was person that created them). It turned out bad and Aatrox is what happened to one of Kayle and Morgana's race. I feel if it related to Mordekaiser it'd be too big of a stretch... But maybe the stuff they were fighting was Mordekaiser?

Rito Staff10/3/2017, 2:59:32 PM6 votes

tbh I love the idea, Mordekaiser is bad ass enought to do it, aswell as old, probably

rtbf22561824110/3/2017, 8:12:22 PM3 votes

Well it doesn't really seem like Mordekaiser is THAT powerful. I mean assuming this was true, the Darkin would theoretically have to be older the Mordekaiser since i think he was originally human and the Darkin took time to become as powerful as they are depicted.

Poolparty Sauron10/3/2017, 5:06:07 PM3 votes

A very interesting theory and a very plausible one at that. I also theorized that Nightfall was a Darkin and if Mord killed it then he is the single scariest guy in League PERIOD.

Wrathof30010/4/2017, 2:14:01 AM2 votes

While hardly evidence on its own, Rhaast the Darkin Scythe was (re)discovered in Noxus, the old home of Mordekaiser. Perhaps Swain unearthed one of Mord's old armouries?

Rhaast wasn't confirmed to be found in Noxus, he was only being transported to it's capital, after being unearthed elsewhere.

Why Mordekaiser? Domination and enslavement is his modus operandi. Usually this takes the from of enslaving human souls, but it would not be out of character for him to enslave some ancient death-machines by trapping them in weapons.

I think the only imprisoned concept is really 'fishy' in itself as the Darkin weapons do not appear to be special in anyway, however what is interesting, when Reav3 teased Kayn he mentioned the keyword "infesting", I heard Rhaast mention him "infesting" others while playing him, which I found interesting, because this could be him referring to either Kayn's ult or him physically acquiring a new body. I believe its the latter, the theory, that Aatrox's interaction with Trynd is actually part of his plan to takeover Trynd's body in the future supports this, meaning some condition must be met. However, back on topic of the Darkin being "captured", what I believe actually happened was that the Darkin were tricked into possessing weapons, from which some seal/ magic would prevent them from escaping. Of course I could be wrong, and the "infesting" aspect of the Darkin could be something they adapted to 'after' being bound to their weapons, but I figured I'd throw out my opposing theory, that I kinda came up with on the spot.

Jackom110/3/2017, 5:59:19 PM2 votes

I'll add my own twist to this theory

A darkin is born when a certain amount of souls are bound to a locus of power, be it an object or else, with different results. What happens is that all those souls somehow create a collective consciousness, which yearns for freedom. A fully formed darkin will also adress itself as a single entity, though one who was brought together more by chance than by someone else's will may randomly switch between singular and plural when adressing itself, without really recognising what it truly is. The only thing that matters is that it is imprisoned, and the only way to freedom is to take more and more souls.

If I was clear enough, you'll get some hints. Who else carries a dark entity, made by the fusion of thousands of souls, and bound to one object (a face made of stone)? That's right, it's Yorick . Why did I want to connect him to the darkins?

Because the maiden isn't much different from rhaast if you think about it: it wants to corrupt whatever form of life is closest to it, it yearns for freedom, it promises power to its jailor (yorick), if only he lets her "in". On one occasion, she also refers to "her"self in singluar: when you level up the ability, she might occasionally say "Can you feel it? I am more!". It's important because on every other occasion she refers to herself as we, although we don't really know if she sees herself as a single entity or more. But we do know that she's made of thousands of lost souls.

Now, let's say she's not the first of her kind. Let's there was actually a ritual that could make a similar entity, but in a more controlled way. Enter the darkins. They were the first attempt at bounding souls to an object, either for experiment or for actually empowering a weapon, or something else. Now add the theory of OP

What allows me to make this theory is that the two currently "aware" darkins are aatrox and rhaast: aatrox doesn't even talk about the time he was imprisoned in the sword, he's only concerned about spreading war. Rhaast wants to break free while he's in the scythe, but never talks about how he got there in the first place. And once he breaks free, he's just concerned about spreading death and destruction. Just like the maiden of mists wants to spread misery as soon as she's freed from yorick's control.

Also, OP's theory is that morde is the creator of the darkins. And Morde is basically is Yorick's main enemy. He knows that the ruination is somehow Mordekaiser's fault; he may also know that he's behind other foul creations. Even the maiden was, by extension, created by Mordekaiser.

Lastly, I approve of OP saying that Nightfall might be another darkin, but I wouldn't say that it's dead. Rather, I'd say that it's still alive and in some sort of symbiosis with it's wielder. Such condition empowers both the weapon and the warrior at the same time, thus explainin why Mordekaiser was so feared throughout Runeterra in his day. This condition remained even after Morde became an undead, thanks to his force of will and his desire to dominate the world.

Sorry OP, I saw your post and it made me regurgitate speculations.

Mordepool10/4/2017, 1:27:17 AM2 votes

I had that thought during Emoboys release. The time line could definitely overlap. My thoughts is Nightfall used to be one but lost the struggle for dominance and was used to make Mordekaiser Immortal. Just a Theory

And î oop12/25/2017, 2:50:58 PM1 votes

WE NEED a league of legends series, like game of thrones: multyple regions and i dont care if its anime cartoon movie but pls we need something like it riot XD

LordGeovanni10/4/2017, 3:09:04 AM1 votes

I hope Aatrox isnt reconned to a talking wepon like Rhast

Mogarl10/4/2017, 4:28:56 AM1 votes

Morde isn't really any more human than the ascended or iceborn. Lissandra is probably the oldest (former) human in the game. Bard's release revealed that ancient Freljord events are the first of human related activities followed by Shurima. Nasus and Renekton are the only ones that might be able to compete. I suspect that Mordekaiser didn't come about till after the rune wars leaving him in a situation where he's the youngest of the ancient humans (though Zilean hasn't been touched).

As for Mordekaiser creating the Darkin I wouldn't count on it. Mordekaiser can bring back a person in their entirety, equipment and all, to fight for him as a spirit. Why would he put them in weapons where they could escape him and eventually end up in someone else's hands?

Nightfall having previously been a Darkin I could buy though. There are only 5 now but perhaps there were 6 before Morde renamed his mace.

YerAWizardCarry10/3/2017, 8:07:57 PM1 votes

If anyone watched Jackie Chan Adventures when they were younger, I kind of thought of it like the demons from the show and how heroes sealed the demons away. In this case the Darkin may have been causing so much chaos or they were destroying the world and someone sealed them away into weapons.