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What are the Aspects and how do they work?

NeverGame·8/1/2019, 7:56:46 PM·7 votes·9,592 views

Me and a friend have been arguing about what the aspects are and how they work so I'm posing my interpretation here and please correct me if I'm wrong.

Alright so with the pre-release of the Pantheon rework we got new information about the aspects but it made me also question alot of stuff. First these are currently the Aspects we know from: Diana Diana the Aspect of the Moon Leona Leona the Aspect of the Sun Kayle Kayle the Aspect of Justice Morgana Morgana the Aspect of Humanity Taric Taric the Aspect of the Protector Zoe Zoe the Aspect of Twilight Pantheon Pantheon the Aspect of War

First the generell stuff: We know from the lore that if you climb Mount Targon you have a chance to get chosen by a celestial being and made into a Aspect. Now before you climb the Mountain you are a human and when you ascent you ARE the aspect until you die. After that a new one get's chosen to take your place. So if we say that Leona dies a new human get's chosen to replace her and be the new Aspect of the Sun. So does that mean the champions we play as are just vessels? And if they are vessels are they actually gods? Or is the being behind the vessels the god? Additionally are the aspects here to protect Runeterra or to protect the whole universe? We know that these celestial aspects created the first ascended but why?

Now the rework of Kayle and Morgana confused me alot. We know from Kayle and Morgana that they never climbed the Mountain. It was their mother and their father who climbed the mountain. Their mother got ascended to the Aspect of Justice and Kayle and Morgana were born while their mother was already an aspect. So does that mean Aspects can get pregnant? Can they have children? Also Kayle is now the new Aspect of Justice and took her mothers place but is that just random that Kayle got chosen as the next Aspect of Justice or did her mother give her the responsebility of the Aspect? That is already confusing me since the champions we know are just vessels chosen by a godly celestial being and then guided by that being to fulfil their duty on Runeterra right?

Well Zoe is another weird one. Zoe got didn't had to climb Mount Targon to get ascended she just got literally teleported up to the peak. Well even more confusing after Aatrox's rework there was a story released called "Twilight of the Gods". In this story we get to know more about the event that let to the creation of the Darkin as we know them know. It explains how Aatrox, Varus and Rhaast got created and why there are like this now. BUT the main character has a sidekick a girl named "Myisha" get apprence get's discribed: "Gold-blonde hair, like the men found in the cold north, spilled around her shoulders. Her features were youthful, but her eyes, one rich blue, the other twilight’s purple, held wisdom beyond her years. She wore thin silks, colorful and entirely unsuited to the desert, tied at the waist with a thin rope, from which hung a single golden key. A vivid pink scarf coiled around her neck, and she twisted its tasseled ends through her fingertips." Althought the blonde hair isn't correct all the other things match perfectly to Zoe. Why do I mention this? Well in the story this "Myisha" is acting very VERY diffrently compared to Zoe. And why should she change her name? This could mean that Myisha was the Aspect of Twilight before Zoe got ascended but Zoe talks about this event in her voicelines. So why is she acting so diffrently compared to this story? Why didn't Zoe ascend like the others?

Now to the recent Pantheon rework. Alright so to this time we know that Atreus was a human living at Mount Targon he wasn't really that talented but still a good warrior he and a friend climbed up Mount Targon. His friend died as they reached the peek and Atreus didn't got ascended. The Aspect of War said that Atreus was not strong enough to become ascended but still took over his body and used it for it's own sake. And thats exactly what is so confusing because it just doesn't make sense. So does that mean the celestial being itself just took Atreus body? Is that also the case for the others? Does that mean Diana isn't actually the girls real name but the name of the celestial aspect? Further in the story we get to know that Atreus is just seeing blurry picture of what is happening while his soul and mind is caged. Let's say that this is always the case when someone get's ascended. That wouldn't match with Taric since Taric still know from his past in Demacia and from Garen. He know how he climbed the Mountain he even still wears the same name. If a celestial being just took over his body that all wouldn't make any sense. So let's say it was just this one case where the Aspect of War took over a human body. But then why would it do that? We know that the Celestial Aspect has the name "Pantheon" why would Pantheon not just ascended someone and guide them what they should do? Why did it took over a human body that it said was "unworthy" of ascension? It all doesn't make sense. This is only a theory but I would say that all the champions are vessels for the celestial being and they get guided by the celestial to fulfil their purpose and still have memories of their time before the ascension and all have their own names. Now the most confusing part: In his new bio we know that Pantheon who is controlling Atreus DIES in a fight with Aatrox. Honestly this part just made my head explode. Does that mean the celestial aspects can die? How did such a powerful being lose against a Darkin? It just all doesn't make sense to me. After Pantheon the celestial aspect dies Atreus get's back the control over his body and for some reason he doesn't die. It get's said that Aatrox sword pierced Atreus chest and Aatrox left him there to die. So Aatrox killed the aspect by piercing his chest but with the same thing the human Atreus doesn't die? Anyway Atreus survived this whole thing and now is back in control of his own body and hates all Darkin and Aspects. Now this is what this is all about who does Atreus hate? Zoe or the celestial aspect behind Zoe? Honestly this story is just too confusing for me and doesn't make sense for me. If someone can explain what Diana and co. actually are I would be really thankful.

29 Comments

LordRedStone Nr18/1/2019, 8:56:26 PM4 votes

Kayle and Morgana both are justice, albeit different interpretations of it.

Myisha was indeed an Aspect of Twilight before Zoe, and they share some features (presumably due to the influence of the celestial aspect, Leona's and/or Diana's hair is another example iirc), but they're not the same. Zoe knows about this from the aspect.

Pantheon is somehow special because he totally takes over. This has been the case with old Pantheon, but not the others. For them, it's more like merging. Both influence each other, and it's "hard to tell where one ends and the other begins". (Zoe was described by a Rioter like this I think) For why he chose Atreus, it's hard to tell. Maybe he needed to intervene (we know there are desperate in Runeterra, simply because there are so many Aspects active at the same time) and couldn't wait. Maybe he is too picky and never thinks anyone worthy (that's why he always takes over because he doesn't trust the human).

For why Aatrox can kill Pantheon without killing Atreus, he is (wielding) a Darkin weapon. They were made to imprison, but also as god-killing weapons. That's exactly what he did: He killed gods. Atreus hates only the celestial power, and the humans only because they cooperate. He says they are like pets for the celestials. It's not really hate for them, more like pity.

Lord Zeta 13138/1/2019, 8:01:05 PM4 votes

The pantheon case is special, most aspects just give power and guidance.

Kayle's mother was already pregnant when she climbed the mountain.

Wrathof3008/1/2019, 9:20:07 PM3 votes

If you've seen Avatar: The Legend of Korra, think of it like this; the vessels Pantheon Leona Diana Taric Zoe are the avatar's reincarnation, but their power comes from the Aspect that chose them, the Raava that allows the avatar to wield all 4 elements.

The Aspects are the 'gods' Leona, Diana, Zoe and Taric are the vessels. The vessels can be considered gods however, as they draw power from the Aspect dwelling within them. With the death of the Aspect of War, I'm not sure if Atreus has become a god, or if he is just using the leftover powers from his godhood.

I don't think we actually have confirmation that an Aspect has to die for a new vessel to be chosen.

Kayle & Morgana are demi-gods in a truer sense, where they were born from one human parent and one godly parent. Essentially they both inherited the powers of the Aspect of Justice. Their mother was pregnant when she made the ascent to Targon's peak.

Zoe is not Myisha according to Rioters. However, just as the vessels have access to the Aspect's power, some have access to past memories and knowledge.

Atreus' possession was a special case, perhaps even among all Aspects of War that ever lived. Taric, Leona and Diana are in full control of their bodies although their minds and emotions can be influenced by the Aspect, similar to someone whispering in your ear, but they haven't been possessed like Atreus was. Zoe's Aspect has been show to restrict her use of her powers in order to get her to focus on her missions.

Why didn't Pantheon just ascended someone worthy? Perhaps the Mountain's peak plays a role in the ascension ritual (hence why even though Zoe was chosen at the base she was teleported to the peak) and only Atreus had made it to the Mountain's peak of his group of climbers. Which, essentially would have made him worthy in the eyes of another Aspect. Perhaps the Aspect did not trust a mortal's ability to resist the Darkin's corruption, hence they deemed mortal's unworthy of the task. Ironically evidenced by the fact that Atreus could not even fight Pantheon for his own body.

Potentially Atreus didn't die from his wound because of his enhanced body, this would mean Aatrox did something else to the Aspect that tore them out of Atreus body.

Atreus despises the gods for their disregard of humanity, however he isn't on a manhunt to slay them. He simply wishes for man to rise up and defend themselves, isn't of relying on gods and legends.

Pantheon: "Vengeance is cold. I do not need it on the Mountain." Pantheon to Diana: "The Lunari do not need a god, they need, a leader." Pantheon to Leona: "Beneath Aspect and armor, you are more resilient than you know." Pantheon to Soraka: "If only your kind, could see what you see Soraka. They would weep for you, as you weep for us."

If you've seen Avatar: The Legend of Korra, think of it like this; the vessels Pantheon Leona Diana Taric Zoe are the avatar's reincarnation, but their power comes from the Aspect that chose them, the Raava that allows the avatar to wield all 4 elements.

Shen however is Runterra's avatar, keeping the balance between the balance between the spirit realm and the physical plane.

KestrelGirl8/1/2019, 9:02:46 PM2 votes

People who are aspect hosts can do anything an ordinary human could; they just happen to have godlike powers and a calling to fix things that go wrong with the world. Every single champion who's listed as an aspect is or was merely a human host. The champion names of every aspect host except for Pantheon are still their human names. So Diana, Leona, Taric, and Zoe (I'll elaborate on K/M more in a sec) are not the names of the aspects.

As you noted, Kayle and Morgana's mother, Mihira, is the actual host to the Aspect of Justice; technically the twins are just the two sides of justice with aspect-like powers between them both. Kayle isn't quite to the point of being an aspect yet and might not even inherit the role from her mom. It just happens to be in her plans.

The Aspect of Twilight is a bit of a chaotic jerk and picks unconventional hosts in strange ways - see: Zoe. It's kind of a fickle being that likes breaking the rules; Myisha, who was a previous host to the aspect, may have been picked in a similar manner. Zoe decided to embrace being a host, so after about a thousand years so far, she and Twilight are merged pretty damn well. Twilight seems to like picking tricksy young girls, and changes its hosts' appearances somewhat (it's not the only aspect that does this), hence why Zoe and Myisha look largely the same. As for the memory thing, well, Zoe's essentially merged with a god that remembers everything that its hosts did. She has memories that aren't hers, but Myisha's or other hosts'.

We had a pretty good idea of what the Aspect of War was like before he and Atreus got reworked and moved forward in the timeline. Pantheon, the Aspect of War, is an asshole who likes to completely take over its hosts and forcibly reshape them to its will. That's what old Pantheon was - Atreus's body and Pantheon's will. Perhaps a previous host who suited Pantheon's needs already would have been more quickly chosen - for instance, the golden-armored warrior queen who helped take down the darkin (was this Zeonia?). And then Pantheon got KO'd and/or died. We can assume that Pantheon took the hit for Atreus, using the last of its power to prevent its host from dying. Atreus is now in control of the aspect and reshaping it to his will.

KatarinaIsPuke8/2/2019, 4:30:00 PM1 votes

god's little side kicks, pfft! You work your azz off until you die for god to serve stupid humans who appreciate nothing but give you complains. Terrible job.

Camille Ferrøs8/1/2019, 8:23:28 PM1 votes

The /gift was invented just for KnM they had to get powers somehow right?

Febos8/1/2019, 9:14:56 PM1 votes

{quoted}

First these are currently the Aspects we know from: Diana Diana the Aspect of the Moon Leona Leona the Aspect of the Sun Kayle Kayle the Aspect of Justice Morgana Morgana the Aspect of Humanity Taric Taric the Aspect of the Protector Zoe Zoe the Aspect of Twilight Pantheon Pantheon the Aspect of War

As far as we know, there's no such thing as the "Aspect of Humanity". First, let me clarify something. None of those are the actual Aspects. The Aspect is the celestial entity. Leona, Diana, Taric, etc are the hosts for their respective Aspects. For all intents and purposes host and Aspect are different entities.

Kayle and Morgana mother was the host to the Aspect of Justice. She was with child before she became one with the Aspect of Justice. Both Kayle and Morgana have remnants of that Aspect in them. We don't know for sure if Kayle became the new host, but we know Morgana didn't. What we know from their lore is that Kayle ascended Mount Targon to be with their mother, many years ago.

{quoted}

We know from the lore that if you climb Mount Targon you have a chance to get chosen by a celestial being and made into a Aspect. Now before you climb the Mountain you are a human and when you ascent you ARE the aspect until you die.

Like I said above, host and Aspect are different things, but we can say they are "fused" together.

{quoted}

Additionally are the aspects here to protect Runeterra or to protect the whole universe? We know that these celestial aspects created the first ascended but why?

We have answers for all of that in the lore, kinda. We know from Soraka's lore that Celestials have a destiny planned for the creatures in the mortal realm. We don't know if Runeterra is the only place with such creatures, because Celestials exist all across Aurelion's creation. Regardless, Aspects aren't there to protect Runeterra, per say.

A new host is chosen whenever there's conflict. They are chosen to resolve that conflict and get back to the "right track". As far as we know, the Shurima Ascended where created for the same purpose, albeit being "inferior" beings to those chosen as host for an Aspect. As I said above, an Aspect's host is fused with the entity itself, while an Ascended, like Nasus or Renekton, are fused with celestial energy.

In Twilight of the Gods, the Aspect of Twilight, Myisha, aka Zoe, says the following:

"Some of you turned out not so bad, I suppose, but most of you were so damaged in the war with the Void, it’s a wonder you survived this long. Perhaps you and your kind were a mistake to begin with, but a mistake I can help correct.”

Also, it looks like the Aspect of the Sun may be the one being such power:

“What the sun made, the moon will unmake!” screamed Ta’anari.

It was Myisha who taught Ta’anari how to use the spell to unmake the Darkin.

{quoted}

So does that mean Aspects can get pregnant? Can they have children?

As I said in the beginning, Mihira was already pregnant when she climbed Mount Targon with Kilam.

{quoted}

Zoe got didn't had to climb Mount Targon to get ascended

There are no rules about that. The Aspect chooses the host. Also, it doesn't matter if you climb Mount Targon or not, because you might not be chosen. They make the rules. They are the ones who make the decision to fuse with a mortal. Because of that reason, they can do whatever they want.

{quoted}

Well in the story this "Myisha" is acting very VERY diffrently compared to Zoe. And why should she change her name?

Myisha and Zoe are the same. Let's not forget that the Aspect of Twilight is also known as the Aspect of Change, as mentioned by Aatrox in his quotes. That Aspect likes to plays tricks on people, so it isn't that farfetched that she would change her name. For all you know, she may have called herself Myisha only for the Darkin reunion.

{quoted}

The Aspect of War said that Atreus was not strong enough to become ascended but still took over his body and used it for it's own sake.

The Aspects can suppress the mortal mind/soul, much like the Darkin can suppress their hosts mind/soul.

{quoted}

So does that mean the celestial being itself just took Atreus body? Is that also the case for the others? Does that mean Diana isn't actually the girls real name but the name of the celestial aspect?

No. Diana and Leona are real mortal people, much like every other host. As I said for Zoe's case, the Aspects can do whatever the hell they want. They have god-like powers.

{quoted}

Why did it took over a human body that it said was "unworthy" of ascension? It all doesn't make sense.

It does make sense. You just don't understand the story. The Aspect of War judged Atreus unworthy to be in control of the its power. Likely Pantheon chose that body in particular because Atreus managed to survive the climb and only strong warriors can. However, in Pantheon's eyes, Atreus was strong enough to be a host but not strong enough to control its powers.

{quoted}

Now the most confusing part: In his new bio we know that Pantheon who is controlling Atreus DIES in a fight with Aatrox. Honestly this part just made my head explode. Does that mean the celestial aspects can die?

It surely looks like they can die. This is nothing new though. We've known Aspects can die as far back as Aurelion's story:

I sense Pantheon’s celestial kin, scattered across the cosmos. In a single instance, all of their attention is focused on this world, where one of their earthly Aspects was vaporized by their own weapon.

Now we know what this "weapon" is. It was a Darkin and it killed an Aspect.

{quoted}

Anyway Atreus survived this whole thing and now is back in control of his own body and hates all Darkin and Aspects. Now this is what this is all about who does Atreus hate? Zoe or the celestial aspect behind Zoe?

Pantheon hates false gods. The Aspect and the host are fused together. They're the same, but different. Try not to think to much about it.

Pantheon hates the Aspect that controls Zoe's body (host), but Zoe represents the Aspect itself, so he probably hates her too. Same goes for the other Aspects and their hosts.

Ebonmaw Dragon8/1/2019, 9:35:17 PM1 votes

As far as i understand, the Targonians (The "gods" of Targon) are simply Astronauts that went too far into the space, and now they take remote control of random people from Runeterra because they cant return to Runeterra by themselves.