Hey Riot, what gives? You said you weren't doing blank-slate retcons, but now you've Trundled Poppy.
EDIT: This is going to get me some pretty serious downvotes from both sides, but honesty compels me to say it. I wrote this post based on what others had said about the new VO, which I hadn't been able to listen to myself for various reasons. I just took a quick listen, and…I'm pleasantly surprised. It sounds like Poppy to me. Or, rather, it sounds like "young Poppy". I see a fair bit of continuity with her established persona. But I'll leave this post up anyway, if only because I believe strongly enough in the "no blank-slate retcons" idea that I think it's worthwhile to bring it up preemptively from time to time, even if this particular case proves a false alarm.
Well, first off, I guess it's time to link this again.
After the initial outcry surrounding the Great Retcon, in which Riot decided that it would be a great idea to retcon the League of Legends from League of Legends, Riot began to change its ways. They said they'd be avoiding blank-slate retcons of established characters and settings, and they really seemed to be living up to that promise. The vast majority of new content was content that built upon established lore, rather than tearing it up and paving it over with something else. I appreciated that.
And so this Poppy rework came as quite a shock. It's a genuine Trundling. Whereas prior lore defined Poppy by her maturity and level-headed determination, the new Poppy is defined by her youthful aspirations and uncertainty. The only possible way to reconcile this new Poppy with prior lore is to say that this new Poppy represents "prequel Poppy", a younger version of her from before the events of her prior lore. At best, though, that points the way toward a possible future fix: if and when Riot puts out new lore (and a new rework) that "catches up" with the established Poppy, she's effectively Trundled.
It's not that this new Poppy isn't a fun or interesting character. It's obvious that lots of talented, passionate people put serious time and energy into this new Poppy, and I think their hard work paid off. Riot does great work, and this is no exception. The problem is that she's a different character who's taking Poppy's place.
As much as I respect the passion and creativity that created this new Poppy, it doesn't negate my respect for the passion and creativity that this Trundling has nullified. That body of work started with Riot's work on the original Poppy, and flourished through years of community involvement. Countless stories and pieces of artwork that relied upon Poppy, the stalwart Iron Ambassador who "doesn't know any jokes" and vows to make her enemies "beg for peace", have now been obliterated from Riot's universe. Everyone who became invested in or fond of the established Poppy has seen a character they loved wiped out and replaced with a new character with the same name.
Of course, it's too late for anything much to be done, at least as far as Poppy is concerned. The most I could realistically ask would be for Narrative to do some "damage control" by adjusting the new lore to link in as much of her old lore as might be salvageable, and to hurry up and develop the story so that she "grows into" the established Poppy.
But I'm writing this post to urge Riot to reaffirm its pledge to keep all this new lore (which, I'll again say quite openly, is mostly very good) backwards-compatible with the established lore. Build upon the established lore, rather than overwriting it. You were doing a damn fine job of this, and this is a regrettable reversal of that trend.
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