I think Swain may have sacrificed his eyes

tinfoil hat time

We’ve seen from the hints dropped in Riot’s Champion Roadmap blog that “sacrifice” is now a huge part of Swain’s theme. While we can safely assume this will in some way be incorporated into his gameplay and kit (i.e. via some sort of health cost to his abilities), what about the effect this will have on his character and story arc?

I get the feeling Swain’s made some pretty non-trivial sacrifices in order to ensure Noxus’ survival. We know he’s a warlock, and warlocks have a penchant for making dark pacts in order to gain forbidden power. So, what if Swain entered a ritual that demanded his eyes as tribute, but in turn gave him a sort of “spectral sight” that allows him to see through the eyes of his ravens?

In fact, if you look at his promo art from the Roadmap teaser:

https://nexus.leagueoflegends.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/LOL_CMS_138_Article_02.jpg

The ravens’ eyes are glowing. While it may just be for aesthetics, I strongly suspect Swain is using these birds to make himself somewhat omnipresent — it means he can be five steps ahead of his enemy at all times while having extra eyes behind him to keep himself safe. (Notice how they flock in a giant circle around him.)

Again, this is a wild theory and may not even be all that plausible considering we already have a blind champion in the game, but nothing is impossible and I can definitely see Swain being cunning and ambitious enough to go to such measures.