Is the Darkin the weapon or the horned creature that wields it?

Crow Nebula·6/11/2018, 7:27:51 PM·1 votes·2,218 views

So, there's something I still don't understand about the Darkin. I thought I knew the answer, but seeing the sword with a beating heart in the Aatrox trailer has confused me again.

If a Darkin fully takes over its host, does its soul get transferred from the weapon to the body of the host, and thereby actually become the red, horned creature that wields it, or does its soul remain in the weapon, from where it continues to puppeteer the red, horned creature, who is just the host body mutated by the effects of the weapon?

10 Comments

Febos6/11/2018, 7:38:57 PM4 votes

The Darkin are, for all intents and purposes, the ones wielding the weapon. This was true before the Darkin War. After the war, 5 of them were imprisioned within their weapons, thus the weapons became the Darkin.

Right now, when someone picks up the weapon, which has the Darkin trapped inside it, they will be corrupted by it and thus become the Darkin itself, assuming their are an approriate host (eg Kayn). This is how I see it. All very complicated, but hopefully Aatrox's lore will shed some light on this topic.

Stand Alone Wolf6/11/2018, 7:29:28 PM1 votes

So how much weed have you smoked to come up with such a question?

Ebonmaw Dragon6/11/2018, 7:35:08 PM1 votes

The darkins were horned creatures that were trap inside weapons, so, both things are correct.

Strawberry Bird6/12/2018, 2:19:07 PM1 votes

I think the Darkin is the being, but some part of their soul or essence is bound to the weapon such that they'll never truly die as long as the weapon survives. So it's not entirely incorrect to say that the Darkin is the weapon too.

You can see it best with Rhaast and Kayn -- Rhaast wants to entirely take over Kayn and he isn't fully alive until he does, but he isn't dead either. If Kayn died or dropped him somewhere, Rhaast would live and bide his time until someone else touched the weapon, giving him another body to take over. On the other hand, Kayn CAN kill him by purging his essence from the scythe, or possibly just destroying the scythe, the way you kill a lich by destroying the object that contains their soul.

Lady Faceless6/12/2018, 2:36:54 PM1 votes

The weapon is the Darkin no matter that and even when their take a fully control of their host (see Rhaast Transformation and Aatrox).

Two reason for it:

The Darkin is sealed/trapped in the weapon. As far we aware the weapon work as prison for them. However, the seal was not perfect and the Darkin can use that imperfection to overpower their host and take over. But, they still need the weapon. Like you said, the human body are just puppet for them, their true essence/soul is still bound to their weapon.
Darkins have to change their host with the time. The human body can't keep that transformation forever and wears down. I mean, why do you think Aatrox has such an interest in Tryndamere? He clearly sees him as his next body to take over.

Hayaishi6/15/2018, 11:00:38 AM1 votes

I think the weapon becomes part of the host when the darkin takes over them.

Say after Rhaast defeats Kayn, the weapon becomes a part of the new body Rhaast took over.

Same with Aatrox, the beating heart means that both the body and the weapon are in perfect sync they are one.