Thoughts on Varus's new lore (Warning: long and detailed and I wrote too much)

• I decided to share my thoughts, since everyone is going berserk over the lore changes. I already commented the same things on some other posts, but decided to compile them all in one place.

-I personally enjoyed Varus's old lore quite a bit, maybe not as much as a die-hard Varus main, though I did love it nonetheless. I think the short of it all is that everyone is going to have a different opinion on this and I'm sure Riot was aware when working on this project. I agree that changing something for the sake of change is dumb, but by making his lore this way, they have have created connections between the champion and other large elements in the league universe. I have read the old lore and I'll admit it seems a bit linear and makes it difficult to tie him to the rest of the universe, without him just being a character living in it. By bringing in the Darkin archetype, they have created that relevance that Varus has always lacked in my opinion. I don't think its an upgrade or a downgrade story-wise per say, but its definitely different and an upgrade as far as connecting him to the rest of the world.

-Also I'm not sure why some are complaining that he's an exact copy of kayn? If I remember correctly, that's how the Darkin work. Five of them were trapped in weapons and in order to get out they need a host to take over. Whoever decides to pick up the weapon becomes the host and its no surprise that both Kayn and Varus have that same internal struggle. It only makes sense, right?

--As for those who are just confused as to why they had to remove his wife and kid from the story, since the same story could've been told with his wife instead of changing his lover entirely. It was just an idea of those working on the project. There was an interview over at the Rolling stone ( http://www.rollingstone.com/glixel/features/varus-league-of-legends-hero-remade-with-gay-storyline-w512929 ) and the reason they changed it was because some of the people working on the project asked whether the gender of Varus's lover mattered, to which the rioters agreed it didn't. I guess since there was never any emphasis or elaboration around his wife, they decided they could incorporate their ideas and paint a new picture and backstory. After all, family is family. It comes in different forms and to each their own I suppose. -Recently somebody responded to one of my posts stating that Varus's family was a very important piece of his lore, since he had to choose between them and his duty to protect the temple. He chose to stay and defend the temple and suffered the consequences which ended up killing him emotionally. He brought up that his son was even more critical to the story, since the experience of losing your own child would end up destroying you and that you'd have to live with the knowledge that this happened because of the choices you had made. To this I made the point that love is love, doesn't matter the form. I think it's arguable whether its more sad and painful to lose your child vs losing your soulmate. Different people will see it differently. One who has never had a child before may experience losing their significant other to be excruciatingly painful, just as painful even as if someone with a child were to lose their child. I don't know if I'm explaining my thoughts correctly, but I hope that sort of make sense? Then he made a good point saying that one is familial love compared to romantic love. Old Varus suffered losing both due to a decision he personally made, while new Varus and his lover just happened to be in the wrong place, wrong time. Both tragic, though "one lacked the emotional impetus," as he put it. I honestly agree with him, since you have to realize that it is the little details that shape a character.

Also, it's pretty clear that the newer one was expanded upon more, since it is newer and more detailed (the comics and all that jazz). I'm sure that if riot originally decided to expand on the old lore it would definitely have been just as good.

To conclude, I think It's only natural for people to develop an attachment to their favorite characters and so I completely understand why many are against the new lore. Old Varus wasn't boring or lifeless, he just had a different approach to essentially the same theme (the pain and agony of losing your loved ones, the hunger for vengeance). I personally enjoyed both the old and the new lore.

Also, on a completely unrelated note, I've noticed how both sides of the argument seem to enjoy undermining each other's preferred lore, saying things like "the old lore was lifeless, man's family dies and now he seeks revenge, how generic," versus "the new lore is so dull, two gay lovers get taken over by a Darkin, the old lore was better." Those that preferred the old lore think the new one is more dull, while those who like the newer think the old one was dull. It's clear that everyone interprets it differently.

Edit: I completely forgot to mention how AMAZING both the song and cinematic was. The timing of the events in the cinematic with the song was perfect and beautifully done. I also love the abstract and surreal approach you took with the whole cinematic, almost like its showing the psychological journey between the two during their fusion with the Darkin. Riot please do more in the future, especially for lore.