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These comics are designed to make us hate Demacian politics, right?

darkdill·6/12/2019, 7:53:15 PM·20 votes·13,895 views

Let's see so far what things they do that are outright reprehensible.

  • Mages are either put to the sword or locked up in cages simply for being born. They don't even get the option to leave the country. I don't call that simple prejudice; I call it genocidal eugenics.
  • Naysayers or free-minded people are outright forbidden in the country, more-or-less. Lux's attempts to try to be more open-minded seem to make Garen think that the Mageseekers will harm her for being a "mage-lover", so to speak.
  • Even when they have evidence that their Petricite isn't actually anti-magic, they squelch the truth and would probably kill those who figure it out. It's like Diana's case only much worse.
  • Arranged marriages where the daughter has absolutely no say. I've never been a fan of this.

Why, oh why, does Lux defend this way of life? Sylas might be too extreme in wanting to kill just about everybody in said society, but I don't think I'd shed any tears if Noxus were to wipe Demacia off the map (as long as Lux stayed out of the crossfire). And I sincerely hope that by the end of the comic, Lux basically leaves Demacia to more-or-less destroy itself.

#rant

66 Comments

Kazekiba6/12/2019, 8:01:59 PM24 votes

"hey we have this city-state of outright good vs. the nation of outright evil. But what if Noxus was alright, except like 2 bad baddies, and we made Demacia morally grey/questionable?"

"Okay lets make every demacian as hypocritical and malicious as possible! Thats brilliant writing!!!"

Do yourself a favor and just don't read Riot's lore post-2015. Its actually worse than the game balance state

Johnny El Rojo6/12/2019, 8:15:36 PM22 votes

I mean, I get the idea. They treat mages poorly because they are afraid of them, and the reason they are forcing Lux to marry is not as much for being a woman, as much as for being a mage who they want to protect and keep on secret.

But otherwise, they are supossed to be this well integrated society where everyone always keep each others backs, unlike the cutthroat day to day that is living on Noxus.

Now, it would even be nicer if they actually had SHOWN any of that.

HalfTangible6/13/2019, 1:47:33 AM13 votes

-We learn in other Demacia stories that this isn't the case. Mages get their power checked, and if they're low-threat they're allowed to live their lives. We know this because when Sylas escapes and starts his mage rebellion, this policy is reversed and mages are all locked up as potential threats (we see this in one of the short stories). And they ARE potential threats when you've still got Sylas running around. (We also see that the anti-magic angle is not as extreme in every corner of this society) -I'm pretty sure that's meant to indicate that Garen knows/suspects that Lux has magical power. It's not solely that she has compassion for the mages. -How, exactly, does the fact that petricite stores magic change anything about it? It absorbs magic and then (presumably) slowly leeches it out over time, in a dose small enough that nobody notices or cares. Moreover, he was only able to do so right after touching Lux. It's exactly what Demacia claims it is: an anti-magic material. Sylas is one of the only people who realizes what it can do, and since he apparently needs to SEE the magic is probably the only one who CAN utilize it like this. -Like it or hate it this is a very common thing in medieval politics. And it's not like Lux is being married off to some old rapist who'll see her as a piece of meat; she's getting married off to someone who she's known since childhood. It's bad, but it's not the worst thing that could be happening to her and given that Garen is looking to SAVE HER LIFE I'd say it's understandable.

Lux defends the way of life she lives in because she sees the good it does as more valuable than the harm it brings, same as anyone. She's very much an optimist and that may get in the way of her clear thinking, sure, but to decry the entirety of Demacian life as this disgusting thing is, frankly, inaccurate.

We're seeing Demacia in a very negative light right now, yes. But keep in mind that Poppy's adventure to find the Hero, Galio's quest to beat up everything bad, Shyvana's honor and comraderie with Demacians, Jarvan's sense of duty, Garen's zeal to protect the innocent... these things all exist in Demacia as well. You can't just ignore all of that and proclaim that it'd be better if Noxus wiped it off the map.

Stars Shaper6/12/2019, 8:26:06 PM9 votes

Remember that Sylas is cunning af and is also telling Lux a lot of lies to have her more in his power. I find it too convenient that has been exactly the crownguard who caged him.

Darius Strada6/12/2019, 11:06:34 PM6 votes

Arranged marriages where the daughter has absolutely no say.

Neither do the sons. Is the parents of both families that plan it all

Larriet6/13/2019, 2:59:01 AM5 votes

Arranged marriages where the daughter has absolutely no say.

I wanna point out that the practices are probably different for nobility like the Crownguards, and even then marrying Lux doesn't seem to be for a standard political marriage (it obviously is political, but it's for the purpose of her preservation rather than simply strengthening the family).

Sulghunter6/13/2019, 10:49:12 AM4 votes

I don't know, something tells me whoever Riot brought on to write the new stories and lore, looked at WH40K, and thought "Hm, let's make Demacia the Imperium of Man, without next to no context or build-up as to why mages are treated like lepers."

Like seriously, "Suffer not the witch to live". For WH40K, the Imperium carts off or executes any psykers because every single one of them could be a literal gate-way for demons and monsters to invade the universe. For Demacia, they lock or execute mages because originally Rune-Wars, and now more recently because they are trying to lock up every single possible Sylas before they can cook up an insurrection.

Axzarious6/12/2019, 8:13:37 PM4 votes

While i haven't read the comics, a good chunk of this has been hinted at and mentioned in lore and cover stories. Demacia and Noxus are interesting because they embody the fantasy stereotypes of the 'good and lawful' versus the 'evil and chaotic' nations while also fleshing them out to enhance the realistic strengths and weaknesses you'd see with those ideals. Comparatively, Ionia appears rather boring as a result since it doesn't really have anything going for it as a society aside from their internal infighting after Noxus gave it a kick.

As for the arranged Marriages itself? That's a potentially interesting can of worms depending on how it's approached. If it's only the women that don't have a say, then I'd say they really dropped the ball. If they're going for something that's supposed to exemplify social cohesion, order, and 'in the interest of the many over the individual' i'd expect the arrangement to be conducted by the parents with either of the children having no real say in the matter. Marriages would be conducted for economic and social reasons - Marrying your children off to strengthen ties with the broader community as a whole, and to those children of people who's skills could benefit the family business.

SuicidePlank6/12/2019, 7:56:09 PM4 votes

Anyone played Divinity Original Sin 2? Sylas looks with the collar around his neck exactly like the mages in this game and they even work the same with blocking magic. Also Demacians are basically Magisters.