Jarvan:burn them all Garen: are we the bad guys Jarvan: no we have to much high fantasy on us to the public understand what is truly going on Garen: ok proceeds to burn a MAGE in cold blood
ill say it again; riot needs to write the league of legends back into lore as a board game ppl play with characters based on legends and folk tales of both real and imaginary people, creatures and deities. this would give so much more flexibility and would allow the ingame version of a charscter to be significantly different from the in universe 'real'version. like imagine instead that xerath becomes the good guy in this story, while azir becomes more corrupted. and azir frames xerath as bad, evil, no good, intent on destroying shurima. intent on causing another calamity. intent on sacrificing all of shurima for more arcane power. so that will be the legend told of xerath. but in reality, xerath can be a kind soul, leading a small rebellion against azir, helping the poor and the sick in secret..
And abdicate the throne, I guess? I don't know. I wonder what TB Skyen thinks of kings like Aragorn from fantasy stories. Probably find them boring, but I don't like to asume.
From LoR, we have: Azir to Sivir: "Power beyond measure! Am I cool now ?" And Dusty to Ekko: "Your emperor has learned of Poros." Meanwhile, Azir to Taliyah: "What are a few lives to an Empire ?" I love Azir as a character.
Maybe, but xerath wouldnt be cool. Just a background character. If he told xerath, he wouldnt have failed his ascension and xerath would not be the energy tomb we know
@@epicgamerman4668 Azir might have gotten Xerath to ascend with him. So not a floating tomb of energy, but maybe another ascended. We also would not have Darkin but more ascended.
@@epicgamerman4668 or, and consider this, they ascend together a la nasus and renekton and that's the AU guardian of the sands xerath came from EDIT: like it doesn't get more symbolic than if a royal and a slave ascend to an equal position together, who's going to fight that
I actually think it wouldn't be that simple. Xerath is portrayed as rather impatient and force oriented, so he most likely would consider Azir's long-term plan way too slow and cowardly. There are just way too many ifs and and uncertain factors in the plan. They would most likely have clashed anyway about changing the plan and then Azir's arrogance would strike again and make Xerath sour once more. As long as Azir plays it too safe and Xerath is too aggressive they would never have been able to see eye-to-eye.
Azir is not a good person as a consequence of being raised the way he was, but he is very clearly capable of becoming one. As was seen with him saving Sivir, he can put his arrogance and ambition aside, but immediately Ascending set him right back into his old habits. He is at the very least getting better, original Azir would've murdered that child on the spot, while new Azir did have the humility to let a child lecture him for his stupidity. His actions are misguided, but he is not irredeemable, and if Riot did the unthinkable and actually progressed the Shurima plotline I think he would truly improve.
this tbh. i want to think the best of his potential but sometimes it feels unclear whether the writers want him to be an asshole or not. they give him lines that are undeniably evil (notably towards enemy taliyah in LoR) but then turn around and frame him as a hero that will save shurima. is it complexity? is it badly directed writing strangled by cowardly higher ups? 🤷
I think you could easily maintain Xerath's role as a villain by making the ascension process the point of his corruption, rather than his wish for freedom. If instead of "his just wanted freedom so much that he went insane" it was something more along the lines of "he could only survive the burning disaster of the sun disc because of his singular desire to utterly destroy the shackles that held him and so many others for so long, that by the time the destruction had run its course, the desire to destroy was all that was left." he could still be overtly villainous because his core motivation would no longer be "slavery bad, you guys."
There is not much in xeraths lore suggesting that he wanted freedom for everyone else, in fact more of it suggests that he became more and more desperate for freedom for himself, which I think is helped by the irony of him being literally shackled to that tomb. I think a small part of xerath somewhat cares about the other slaves, but I think he more just cares about him wanting to be free. And you can tell that because he now enslaves others the same way the previous rulers did.
@@Yatagurusu he doesn't need to be a hero, though. His desire for freedom doesn't need to extend beyond anyone but himself. The fact is that he was a slave, and violently fighting for his freedom is NOT something that justify his framing as a villain. His ascension, however, is. As it is known to amplify certain aspects of any given person's personality, and to those that haven't been ritualistically chosen, this tends to be bad (ie: Renekton becoming more brutal). Lastly, I now that Xerath has cultists and is violent towards anybody else, but I don't remember reading about him having slaves anywhere in the lore. Do you have a reference to point me to?
I would want the story to emphasize that Azir doesn't have to risk anyone's life to combat Xerath. Should Azir attempt it, he could oppose Xerath's army with an army of sand soldiers so that he could protect the people of Shurima from having to fight in a senseless war of Ascended. He could show the people of Shurima that they mean more to him than his own life. And then when confronted with Xerath himself, then he could do what you said he did. Would also be scenic as hell to have citizens of Shurima fleeing the battle as Azir battles back Xerath's hordes alone. But I'm a sucker for last stands.
Azir was the one champ that got me interested in the league of legends lore, thanks to his design and fun playstyle, and despite all his faults, and mistakes I just want to see him become better, and achieve true peace in Shurima, it should be the oasis of the world. And the cinematics with Shurima coming back to life get me excited to see what will happen next
Compared to the other nations... (Demacia murdering magic users, Noxus constant war and expansion, don't know enough of Ionia, Piltover/Zuan toxins, and Lissandra murdering and stealing dreams) Slaves aren't THAT BAD by association. But yeah, Sherima has one of the best chance to be the Good nation
I really like Azir as a character, he is fun. I LOVE HIS BIG BOOMING VOICE and how is he like a grampa trying his best to understand his kids. I really hope they take him in the direction of REDEMPTION because he is a really fun character that I want to see succeed. I want him to BECOME the hero he thinks that he is. I want more stories of his struggles to the path to a hero. I don't want his empire to continue to rise as one of tyranny. I want him to be a kind emperor.
I imagine his empires rise could be a product of his redemption, but azir is still learning what he must change and adjust to make it that far. He still has the consequences of his failure running around causing issues for him, and probably the only way he can get his empire to be restored is to rectify the mistakes he has made. At least part of that is admitting he made a mistake to xerath and reconciling with the man who...you know.. killed him 3000 years ago. Not exactly easy given the animosity has not exactly settled with xerath kind of going mad tyrant in his own way after being locked away for several thousand years. It might take a big event to force them to come even close to that while they are still prideful as hell. Maybe the realization on why the acended were made when the void comes hammering down their doors and risking destroying shurima might make azir realise he and xerath are no different in this battle for survival than each other. They can fight it, and they must, but they cannot win if they keep up the 3000year grudge.
One thing that actually comes to mind: IS there a human/avian face? Is he seeing out of the jeweled eyes in his helmet, or from the shadows beneath? We see nothing of him that isn't wrapped in cloth and metal, so it could very well be that there's NOTHING underneath--just a soul, the Ascension's energy, and the sands that he can now command. Just a thought.
to be fair his death animation is him dissolving into sand so honestly?? knowing that he was Well And Truly Dead (For Reals) i wouldnt be surprised if it's. all sand disguised as flesh. i like the idea that his real power is to breathe life into the desert in more ways than one, and i feel like water showing up where he goes can be partial evidence of that.
I’ve been running a D&D campaign set in Runeterra and heavily focused on Shurima and I have to say your character analysis was similar to where my headspace was in characterizing Azir, and you pose a really interesting end-game for him and Xerath. A lovely video as always.
@@spacecocaine1823 oh they have already, one of the players actually has sparked a romance with Azir and has been trying to steer him in the right direction. There was also an awesome scene where our Piltie essentially said that if Azir tried to annex Piltover (which is built on Shuriman land), she would personally fight him, which gained mad respect from all involved, including Azir. Currently , they are gathering artifacts and preparing for the final showdown alongside Azir against Xerath (along with Pantheon since I just remembered he is currently fighting Xerath too).
@@savagesnakekid DUDE, that sounds sick! Mad props to you and your pals for your creativity in running a campaign like that. Goodness knows it gives champs in LoL more TLC than Riot itself does, most of the time XD
You know, you just made me think of something. A lot of people seem to struggle with the idea that you can like a character who is a bad person that does bad things. This leads to people insisting that the character is absolutely a good person (despite the evidence). Or it leads to people who recognize that the character is a bad person and claiming that those who like said bad person character must surely also be bad people in real life. I don't get why this keeps happening. You can like morally bad characters for whatever reason and still acknowledge that they're bad people.
Humans tie there self worth to things they like by nature. Thats why people get upset when you say something they like is bad. In there mind your also calling them bad.
I thought you did amazing with Lissandra's analysis but I think you may have outdone yourself with this one, Skyen. These character analysis videos have to be some of my favorites on RUclips. You explain their stories so well and I simply can't wait for you to do more.
This was such an amazing video, tysm! I didn't realize how complex my Favorite character actually was, and now knowing that, it's so exciting to me the sheer potential he has for character development. I know that it'll never happen, but it's just so fun imagining a comic or collection of short stories where Azir goes around Shurima and has more small experiences that teach him a moral lesson, show him a new perspective, or appreciate something he'd never noticed and little by little become maybe not a Good person, but a slightly better one. Azir is honest to god my absolute favorite character in the game and in general just from design, lore, themes, and now potential growth. Along with the entire Shuriman cast, I'd just love to see any story development that may, or probably may not come in the future.
After the touching little story of Azir hugging Xerath, I now need your fan fiction. Also a way to make him fight frontline with his soldiers. I will feed much trying to make this dream real.
Agree completely on your Xerath take. He is my favorite Riot character and his Lore treats him like an unreasonable villain instead of the complex and fascinating character he is. I know there are worse Champs that need more work, but a visual and lore update would be nice for my blue energy friend.
He is more of a villain of circumstance that then became power hungry and bitter. There is no doubt Xerath isn't a good person either, but it is true that the writing doesn't focus on the right reasons _why_ he is bad. It's not his impatience and anger about the situation of the slaves, it's how he acts on it and what he became.
WHERE CAN WE FIND THIS FANFICTION?! I'd love to read fan-content that expands the World of Runeterra storylines by artists/writers that know the core concept of their characters.
This may be a little different from the type of things you would normally do on your channel but I think it would be really neat to see you make a video sorting every league of legends champion into their respective alignment according to the Dungeons and Dragons alignment chart (Lawful to Chaotic, Good to Evil). Thanks for reading.
Interesting idea but far too vague to actually work. In D&D, the alignment system works (more or less) because good and evil as well as order and chaos are actual cosmic forces. But morality has a few more than two dimensions. For example, a character could be lawful in the sense that they want to preserve a certain system, but at the same time they could be chaotic in the sense that they are willing to use extreme measures to achieve their goals.
@@gabrielvieira8325 Lawful Evil, but is at least willing to entertain the idea that he isn't infallible and that people other than himself matter. He is on the slide towards Lawful Neutral. (At which point he will be the best he can be while retaining his authoritative personality) but he still has a good fair bit to go before he arrives there.
@@Dhorannis I think it depends on person to person how these terms are defined. Regardless of how any one person feels, we're all here to watch Skyen's videos to hear his opinions on things, regardless of whether we agree with him. I just think it would be interesting to hear his thoughts on character alignments, rather than treat his placements as gospel.
All this talk of what makes a king makes me really want to go back and rewatch Fate/Zero. The episode where the three kings met to peacefully talk philosophy about what makes a leader. Imagine, King Arthur, Alexander the Great, and Gilgamesh debating over what makes a ruler over booze. That is what this all reminds me of.
Dude. The earnestness with which you dive into these characters is SO refreshing. Thank you for your efforts. P.S.- your guess at Azir’s speech during his taunt was flawless.
This is my take on the matter. I don't have a problem with villains coming from oppressed classes, but the examples we are getting seem pretty skewed. I guess Ekko is one positive example of the lower classes, but it's not much.
This is why I love Azir story, every person can take something from it. Azir is an Emperor, his position by definition is morally dubious, he has to balance his ambition, ambition of the empire and good of his people. He is the protagonist, not a hero. While I agree that Azir should have told Xerath his plan, about abolishing slavery right the moment of his ascension makes no sense in strategic, realmbuilding and political department. Let me be clear slavery is scum and I find notion of "owning" a person vomit inducing, but I can understand why Azir didn't fulfill his promise. If he did, his empire plunges into civil war, milions die, neighbouring countries would like a piece (also hello there Void) and even if he wins he now rules a realm devastated by possibly Ascended level conflict. So yeah his position is shit no matter what he does. But painting Xerath as the bad guy for not wanting to be a slave is comicaly bad on Riot's part. But maybe the story is written by like a chronicler who would really not want to insult his God-Emperor, so he writes his image better and making Xerath the villain.
Makes you wonder how much of this conflict could have been avoided if Azur had pulled Xerath aside after becoming king and went. "The empire is built on slavery. If I were to simply decree that it is to be abolished and all slaves made free, the kingdom would crumble into civil war. Fracturing Shurima and a could easily end in a new leader who puts the system of slavery back in place. We need to come up with a plan to systemically and culturally undermine slavery within the empire. I was thinking military conquest so no one questions my authority".
it definitely is unfortunate how much riot likes to “both sides” the idea of coups in corrupt nations that would theoretically lead to better living situations in a realistic setting, there is absolutely no need to make people like xerath (slave who wants freedom) or sylas (persecuted mage whose been very obviously taken advantage of and has every reason to be upset) into antagonists of their respective situations, what is the point of making demacia a society which targets particular qualities in its people out of irrational fear but then make the revolutionary a violent one? always feels like writers misunderstand particular ideologies when it comes to revolution stuff, like in legend of korra where they similarly make the progressive characters who actually have realistic grievances with society into ‘the baddies’ by making them do things that would be uncharacteristic of someone in their position. always feels like questionable writing and annoys me that they need to be all centrist when it comes to literal slavery or unnecessary persecution.
IRL revolutionaries often also took it way too far, especially so the ones that actually caused the "big ripples" IWS the entire point of these is that what they fight for is "right", but their way of doing so isn't. Xerath was/is not *just* a "slave that wanted to be freed", and as soon as he had any power he essentially became just another subjugator all the same.
I do want to point out that the lore is supposed to supplement the game, even though the game has been uncoupled from the lore at this point. Everyone has to do damage someway somehow. Sylas probably wouldn’t be a “champion” if he wasn’t a competent fighter (or at least dangerous in some manner). It would be really nice if we had more permanent/reoccurring characters in the lore that didn’t need to use violence to achieve their means, but it’s unlikely to occur given the medium that they were originally made for. Not to say that it’s impossible, and I think Seraphine or Yummi are probably the closest champions we have for that standard, but that it’s not something I expect we will ever see.
Sorry, I think I strayed a bit far from your original point. I just think that some genres are better for telling certain stories~ While we can certainly expect better from Riot, I think we’ll find these conventions to have less weight as Riot expands into other games and genres like “The Ruined King” and “Valorant” where they can create characters for the stories they want to tell instead of making characters for LoL and then exporting them into preexisting conflicts and tensions.
Why make a revolutionary a violent one? Because almost all revolutions that actually made a difference were violent. And this goes twice as much for authoritarian nations like Demacia or Shurima.
Most revolutionaries are violent and are not good people they just happened to be on the side of the oppressed, the world is not as clean as you think it is people on the side of "evil" can be good and people on the side of "good" can be evil
about slave, I think you misunderstand something, real live emperors/kings didn't think of their slaves as part of their people and by extension I don't think Azir does so either, I'm willing to believe that he thinks they will be become his people when frees them from slavery (as long as there are no consequences directed at him)
@@TBSkyen I never said ancient rulers were right, I'm trying to extrapolate that to Azir, that he didn't see slaves as his, Shurima's people (until he frees them that is) or people for that matter, even though he kind of empathized with one, Xerath, he failed to realize that maybe, slaves didn't want to be slaves (mind-blowing for Azir, I'm sure) Even in ancient "progressive" cities like Athens slaves were seen as something below human, not citizens, that's why slavery is so wrong, in general because it allows to people freely to abuse and subordinate other people.
"What makes a good king?" is a very interesting question with a lackluster answer in the video. A supposed good king from your pov is someone who would do the "right" thing regardless of the cost, which in my opinion is nothing short of a pushover or self-righteous idealist who disregards all other factors just to inflate his own ego even further. Assuming a "good king" is someone who would put the needs of his people first (because thats what most of the media i have consumed agrees on), what really counts as "his people"? if commoners and nobles count then the king would need to strike a balance between those classes to a point where there wont be enough discord for a clash (referring to some kind of civil war) which will most likely not allow him to free the slaves, because freeing the slaves will be a direct way to attack the nobles' wealth and consequentially their power since slaves were considered property in shurima, and if he does it anyways disregarding that then the only thing he achieves would be a clash between the nobles and the king, which would result in more death and suffering regardless of which side wins. Azir's idea of conquest has 2 possible sides that i thought of and i'll go through both of them: 1. Azir wants to conquer new land to trade it to the nobles in exchange for the slaves' freedom, basically "buying" their freedom from the nobles so they won't be disatisfied by their "property" being taken, instead being more akin to a trade, which would also result in the slaves having land to live on, creating jobs for them since people are going to be needed by the nobles who will receive said lands, so they dont just get sent out after being freed to overpopulate the already existing land and just continue suffering there, spreading illness and increasing the crime rates. ( this would obviously take a fair amount of time to work so he wouldnt be freeing the slaves like a supposed "good king" would and instead would look like something "selfish" by the video's standards.) This is the best solution i could come up with in a couple minutes from what Azir said but its not perfect and i probably overlooked some stuff. 2. Azir wants to conquer new land in order to show his power and use his ascension to rule with an iron fist(at least on the nobles) so he can free the slaves without any resistance from the nobles, which would only achieve an eventual revolt. We've seen plenty of examples in reality of how tyrannical rulers end up if they force the people into submission, there WILL be an eventual revolt, regardless of whether it is realistic for them to win or not, because fighting against impossible odds is in my opinion a part of human nature. This would only serve to hurt the people more, which is not what a supposed "good king" would want. "Villifying" xerath for wanting freedom is somewhat of a weird point to make, because you are arguing that putting your freedom over the lives of an entire empire would not be a "bad" thing to do. (quotation marks because bad is an extremely subjective word) Personally i don't think that doing what xerath did was bad because as people are selfish, they would(me included) do the same regardless of what other people's lives they would take/ruin. Assuming saving more people is better than saving 1 then xerath's action are terrible and evil, so seeing him as a "villain" would be an objective point of view from history's perspective. I know its a character analysis and not a socio-political analysis of Shurima but i just wanted to throw it out there, also if azir DID talk to xerath about his plans the catastrophe would probably not have happened and it IS mainly azir's ego and lack of communication that ruined the empire so your inital point is still very accurate, the video was a great analysis of his character. :D
The line of argument you present here has some precedent in the real world, which I found interesting: liberalarts.utexas.edu/coretexts/_files/resources/texts/1963_MLK_Letter_Abridged.pdf I'll cite a few relevant passages here for convenience: _We know through painful experience that freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed. Frankly, I have yet to engage in a direct action campaign that was "well timed" in the view of those who have not suffered unduly from the disease of segregation. For years now I have heard the word "Wait!" It rings in the ear of every Negro with piercing familiarity. This "Wait" has almost always meant "Never." We must come to see, with one of our distinguished jurists, that "justice too long delayed is justice denied."_ [...] _Perhaps it is easy for those who have never felt the stinging darts of segregation to say, "Wait." But when you have seen vicious mobs lynch your mothers and fathers at will and drown your sisters and brothers at whim; when you have seen hate filled policemen curse, kick and even kill your black brothers and sisters; when you see the vast majority of your twenty million Negro brothers smothering in an airtight cage of poverty in the midst of an affluent society; [...] when you are harried by day and haunted by night by the fact that you are a Negro, living constantly at tiptoe stance, never quite knowing what to expect next, and are plagued with inner fears and outer resentments; when you are forever fighting a degenerating sense of "nobodiness"--then you will understand why we find it difficult to wait._ [...] _First, I must confess that over the past few years I have been gravely disappointed with the white moderate. I have almost reached the regrettable conclusion that the Negro's great stumbling block in his stride toward freedom is not the White Citizen's Counciler or the Ku Klux Klanner, but the white moderate, who is more devoted to "order" than to justice; who prefers a negative peace which is the absence of tension to a positive peace which is the presence of justice; who constantly says: "I agree with you in the goal you seek, but I cannot agree with your methods of direct action"; who paternalistically believes he can set the timetable for another man's freedom; who lives by a mythical concept of time and who constantly advises the Negro to wait for a "more convenient season." Shallow understanding from people of good will is more frustrating than absolute misunderstanding from people of ill will._ I bring this up not by way of accusation, by the way, but to point out that the "wait for a more convenient season, be patient, hold off, let the system work, let those in power decide when the time is right" is a line of argumentation that, in questions of civil rights of all kinds, is a lot older than a 2008 video game, and has a long and troubling history. Dr. King wrote these passages about the struggle against _segregation._ Imagine, then, how much more intense and desperate the need for freedom in a person who is fully _enslaved._ That need, that suffering, that generational trauma and hurt, should matter in these discussions, I think, a lot more than logistics.
I think there is a consistent theme in many stories written by Americans with monarchies in them- a profound misunderstanding of how and why royalty is a bad thing. Monarchs are fundamentally mythical beings to Americans they are treated like Dragons, Jedi, Elves or any other fantasy element. It has been more than 200 years since America has had its resources drained directly by a dynasty of do-nothing despots and it has not been devastated wars declared by them, sure the US fought against monarchies in WWI and WWII but that was far away across the sea. So when most American think about monarchy they are treating them more like Klingon than the very real vestiges of old tyrants that perpetuate real harm and waste
i really enjoyed your explanation of azir, and that you were able to call out the hierarchy of a slave lord with a slave revolting without trying to make zerath sound unreasonable for doing so.
Considering the birth of the Darkin and how the fall of Shurima leads to it, it stands to reason that Azir holding the reigns of power was more than a little necessary at the time. Whether he should rule Shurima in the current day and age is another conversation.
A shuriman Civil War could, and probably would, have ment more death and suffering, also for the slaves of those who rebeled as they would have to support a war economy and would be worked 10 times harder. And that's not mentioning the thousands, maybe millions who would die painfully and horribly. I agree that Azir should have told Xerath, but you make his motivation sound selfish when a civil war is something he'd likely win, cause the God wariors, but it would sacrefice to many innocent lives
@@kasperween3614 "sacrificing innocents for the greater good" - oh, you mean like intentionally letting children live, suffer and die in slavery and abuse because you're scared that if you help them you might not get to be ruler of an empire anymore? It's funny how the ends justify the means when the ends are the preservation of a status quo, but when the ends are revolutionary or reformist, suddenly they don't.
@@TBSkyen the ends justify the means is again, typically, a villain school of thought. I also said that I believe a civil war would be worse than slavery, especially for those say 50% (probably more honestly since the people likely to rebel would be those owning the most slaves) of slaves that would be owned by those who rebeled. Preserving the status qoute, even if it is terrible is generally less chaotic and harmful than upsetting it. To make good change one has to upset the status quota but one has to do it in the right way. If azir told Xerath and but changed nothing else about his plan he probably would have been able to free the slaves while not sacreficing millions in a civil war
@@kasperween3614 my dude you can't say "ends justify the means is a villain school of thought!" and then make a long argument about why the ends justify the means, what are you doing
Azir didn’t tell Xerath about his plans to free the slaves because he was arrogant, he did it because he knew if anyone found out it would put the plan in jeopardy. From his bio: “Such monolithic institutions could not be overturned overnight, and Azir’s plans would be undone were they to become common knowledge. Despite Azir’s desire to name Xerath his brother, he could not do so until all Shurima’s slaves were free.” Azir DID want to do the right thing, he just wanted to make sure he succeeded at doing it. In my opinion, having the ability to make positive change is just as important as having the sense to do the right thing. It doesn’t do the slaves of Shurima any good if you can’t actually enforce the law of ending slavery and making sure they have the opportunities to utilize and entity that freedom. Also, the issue of slavery is much bigger than anyone’s need to feel like a hero or to feel validated. Azir is not a hero, he is a leader. His job is to do what is best for his people. Causing a war over slavery would not be good for his people, slave or free person. I honestly blame Xerath for this whole mess. In the moment Azir freed him and all the slaves of Shurima he had no good reason to do what he did next. He had everything that he wanted. He was free, all of his people were free, and his best friend finally declared him his brother. But he just couldn’t let go of all his anger and resentment that had festered inside of him over the years. If he had just let go of his feelings of needing to feel validated and look at the bigger picture (the needs of the slaves of Shurima), to not be selfish like you accused Azir of being, than everything might of turned out a lot better. I’m not trying to say Azir isn’t completely full of himself (he is), but I don’t think he’s guilty of what you’re describing in your video.
Azir and Swain demonstrate nicely how charisma can be a very dangerous trait in a ruler. Even though we clearly see them do very bad things we can't help but like them due to the sheer charisma they have and thus we ignore the bad things and focus on and inflate the good things that they have done.
You kept mentioning his feathery body, do we actually know for sure he is at all organic? I'd find it interesting if he was made of sand or just a metal shell held together by Magic just like his brother, since you know.. he did kind die. Idk seems like a fun reveal later on.
Xerath was a kinda special case because of how he ascended. But i do think it would be cool if true Edit:also azir was a special case i guess... But a different one
A thought: If he is made of sand, that makes for an interesting idea for that little potential story bit about the hug. Overflowing energy from Xerath, possibly the impossible heat of a second Ascension if the fight does lead the two into it. A change of form (hello new skin) to mark the change of outlook that led him to this confrontation in the first place. What wanders out from the ruins is not the king of flesh he was to begin with nor the emperor of sand he tried to be. Instead what walks out of those ruins is a true leader of imperfect yet eternally gleaming glass.
would kill to be able to drop azir in that garden with rider, archer and saber during fate zero. make for some interesting discussion, given i don't think his is a perspective they really had.
@@Megnappinidae I'm not sure. Saber was focused on saving her people, rider was focused on in inspiring his people, and archer was all about living for yourself. Where as azir is arrogant and thinks he needs to be the one to lead but is ultimately far more focused on his empire rather than its people. So while he is closer to gil his is still a significantly different perspective
Well i am really down for this fan fiction of yours. A fan fiction from you would be great plus its about shurima which is my favourite region and azir is my main.
I find it kinda interesting that his attack/command animation resonates with the manner of some kings, and how his gameplay works with that. Outside of Azir's force of will, he has little power of his own. His damage is strong when he's commanding, but on his own it's piddly little lasers and *a dash with which to run away* (yes it can be used to engage, but it's used more as an escape). He had charisma to lead, and he's almost entirely reliant upon that.
So I can already see a bit of confusion about the statement that All Kings Are Bastards, and while I am not Skyen, I believe our opinions are similar enough that explaining my opinion will also explain his. Kings, as a rule, generally obtained their office through either force of arms (or the threat thereof) or heredity, not the consent of the people. There are a few elective monarchs in history that I know of, but all of those I know about were elected by an upper class of nobles, meaning that not even the few elective monarchs can truly be said to be chosen by the people. Kings generally keep their office through either violence or the threat thereof, like most states. Ergo, the actual moral character of the king in question is entirely irrelevant to the question of whether or not they are a bastard, it's only a question of how much of a bastard they are. Even the nicest kings still propagate a system designed to elevate few at the cost of the many, so even the nicest kings are, at best, 'not as bad as they could have been'. A real 'good king' would be king for just as long as it takes to either dismantle the office of kingship or, at least, reduce it to a ceremonial figurehead with no actual political power. But, like he said, this is fantasy, so the fantasy definition of 'good king' is generally just 'a nice person who rules justly', which most LoL kings do not meet. As towards the actual video, it is good. Like I said in the chat Riot has this weird problem with having rebel characters who they decry as too violent for their own good, even though they all are only rebels because other people were committing violence to them first and all the rebels want to do is to stop it.
I wouldn’t say Azir is really “Evil” but I wouldn’t exactly say he is a good person either. He’s much more complex than either of those terms from my view. He does heinous things not because he’s malicious but because it’s just how he thinks he’s supposed to act and behave. He has good intentions with his plans but hurts those around him in the process. And he’s much more open to having his mind changed from literally burning a village down as opposed to someone like Swain who would absolutely have no moral issues with doing so. If we were talking about alignment charts, I would definitely think Azir would be somewhere on the neutral cross.
A thing to remember with Azir is that he is 3000 YEARS OLD alot of concepts and ways of thinking are going to be extremely difficult for him to understand like republics as they were likly not around during his time. I think ur over all future for azir is good but would be better if azir showed slow growth to his character as other characters/events/interactions show him to be a better ruler/person i.e he learns how effective deplomency can be and though that he learns to care/consider the interests of others to maintain his alliances eventually he learns of new political systems and ways of thinking and how the world has changed around since his time then he does change his empire to a republic but he may instead he may do what the british did with there monarchy instead of abducating his throne
Didn't you say Xerath also killed a newborn and the old empress ? Sounds to me like he definitely planned to kill more than just 1 person on his path to freedom
Everyone is talking about Azir's possible redemption but no one talks about Xerath possible redemption, which is probably more deserved and interesting, due to bias
I really appreciate the nod to Swain being an almost certain step up from Le'Blanc puppets and Mordekaiser. I acknowledge and respect your efforts to dissuade people from unambiguously supporting Swain, but I feel like within context the story gets more muddled.
About the Xerath bit. The massive explosion wasn't fully an accident. The story says that Xerath didn't go for the typical accession but instead tried to absorb all of the power in the sundisc causing the explosion trough his desire to be the strongest being ever so that no one could put him in chains ever again without considering the risk to everyone else in the city. Xerath didn't stop at the noble goal to be free. He tried to be so powerful that no-one could imprison him any more no matter how many innocent lives it costs which started with that newborn child he fried with lightning along with the queen. Azir is by no means a hero but where as Azir was an evil man with the potential to be good Xerath was a man who could have been a hero but who went too far.
I liked this take on a character a lot, man :D dont be afraid of comments if it produces gems like the xerath rant! Juicy aggressive passion about stuff in a voice is my drug fam
In Azir's story i see many parallels to Urza of magic the gathering. A man with a great obsession to whom all else is secondary (Thran technology and the threat of Phyrexia) whose narrow mindedness creates great discord with his brother (also once a slave) ultimately leading to great cataclysm and destruction, as well as his ascension to a status not unlike a demigod. After this, he tries to learn, here and there, but ultimately it's never enough, only repeating the mistakes of his past, hanging onto his obsessions and leaving tragedy in his wake.
By the interactions in Legends of Runeterra we can see even more his "Shurima before all" mentality: he's regaining back the empire's former glory while trying to get along with the present; even with all that new power Shurima has remained behind with the rest of Runeterra, for esample his interactions with Ekko where he's taking lessons in modern technology, being him from the most advanced region, (and for some reason it seems like Poro's didn't leave the Freljord and spread everywhere already 3000 years ago) so that he, the Emperor, the one that "makes" Shurima, can advance at the same time with his nation.
On the note of Xerath, I feel like they went the centrist route because they wanted him to still be a villain, and to be fair, he does suit the villain role. But they could have easily made him a villain without going the centrist route. Make it so the guilt of causing the Shuriman apocalypse led to his start of darkness as he had to justify the accident to satisfy his guilty conscience, or that the thousands of years in the dark that drove Renekton mad also drove him mad. There's tonnes of ways.
When Skyen started talking about Azir's pose I was like "Oh yea it's a powerful pose full of confidence because he's puffing his chest out so much" and then Skyen mentioned those things which means that I'm slowly learning character designs by watching What's the deal with... making me more and more powerful with each second so that one day I too may become sick looking birb with the ability to win every sand castle competiotion in za warudo.
The idea of Azir doing the right thing, becoming the defender of shurima and not it’s lord, even if xerath doesn’t forgive what he’s done it’s GROWTH. We cannot change our pasts but we can always be better, and I think that’s an important moral to the potential story of his future.
I really hope Riot takes your advice and your concept on how to further his lore. The way Riot has treated Demacia's story of literal genocide, the imperialism and tyranny of Swain in Noxus, and late stage capitalism in Piltover and Zaun has left me with little trust that Riot will actually handle these issues as they should be handled. You know, condemning genocide, tyranny, slavery and whatever the fuck you call what's going on in Zaun/Piltover.
One thing i like specifically abt azir in legends of runeterra is that he never refers to himself as doing something, it's pretty much always "the order is given", "the empire calls". He doesn't seem to fully associate himself with his own actions, because he thinks it's the philosophical and grand "for the greater good" that even the bible references and has been used as a pivotal plot point in so many stories, where the greater good is sometimes a genuine real good thing, and some (much better) times it's a moral dilema, usually personal, but can also be a group/population dilema, and I LOVE IT SO MUCH I COULD TALK ABOUT IT FOR HOURS
i find it fascinating that most good stories involving "good" and "heroic" kings usually involve that kingdom falling apart. that fundamentally, Azir doing the right thing would most likely mark the end of Shurima anyway. The most notable example being King Arthur, whose kingdom slowly fell to ruin mainly due to human nature being the chaotic thing it is. Monarchies, good or bad, can never last. Their sovereignty will dwindle as time progresses until they are royalty in name only.
Amazing prediction and amazing video as always and if you ever write this fanfic SEND IT TO ME I WILL READ IT . But I think your forgetting a minor detai. The explosion xerath caused killed azirs wife and children (even if by accident. And no that doesn't count as a wife steal ) so I am not entirely sure if he will forgive him entriely I mean he could take responsibility for it maybe he knows that they died because of him not telling xerath so he knows that he like that failed he's entire family Am just saying this part from the arisen short story and the most heartbreaking at least to me Also azir being a dorky grandfather with sivir is one of the best thing lor gave to us and I feel like it added a lot more to his chareter
Redemption and reconciliation is exactly what I want for Azir's character arc. Acknowledging he wasn't a good person, wants to be a good person, and do what is necessary to change for the better.
tbh i find funny that the only good king / emperor is qiyana parents and trey only exist so that she have something like a antagonist force angainst her in the region
i really love this video, it was quite different from the others and it was really interesting ! i really hope to witness Azir's evolve as you describe it, but he is way too attached to Shurima as an empire, plus he was raised to believe Shurima is fundamentely good that i don't think he could put a council in place, but yeah, changing on how the government of Shurima would be awesome for Shurima's general story and its champions really hoping to see the video on the politics of Runeterra one day, wish you happiness and health
I disagree with the assertion that Azir is evil, though I absolutely understand where you're coming from. I believe that everything in life is relative and that any analysis that fails to recognize this has, in some sense, lost the plot. Judged by the prevalent modern standards of morality of course Azir, or virtually _any_ character set in a time before ours, is going to be found wanting. In a world where if power is not taken it is lost I would say that before Azir's ascensions he was a good man with noble intentions, limited by the burden of the crown. Now, he believes, that since he is a god he has no such burdens. Of course, he's wrong and his responsibility has only increased, but I think that's the point of his story- the lessons he still has to learn.
Xerath was orignally just a flat out villain and so when Riot was doing a lot of retconning around Azir's release, Xerath got too sympathetic of a backstory but they still acted like he was a vile villain. Whoops. All they really need to do is make it more clear that Xerath was aware of the consequences and for him to just say "I don't care, I want revenge too much." It doesn't absolve Azir but it does make Xerath way more villainous, which is clearly what they are trying to do.
Xerath was formed in a "dominate or be dominated" kind of environment, just like Azir. He doesn't want to break the system, but merely climb atop it, because that's all he's ever known. Unlike Azir's parents, who abused and neglected him, his parents were loving and caring, but what did they get in exchange? His father died and his mother was forced to give him away. Azir has never known love, Xerath has known it and lost it. He sees it doesn't work. I'd be surprised if he turned out anything *but* evil. That's why we need a third party in between them. Someone who shows them that there's other ways to do thing besides dominance.
WHEN THE EMPEROR COMMANDS, THE LAND OBEYS! Yaknow, I really like your "fanfics", I guess they can be called - this one and especially the rewriting Seraphine one made me excited for a story that doesn't exist lmao
only just found this video and it's a lovely analysis of azir! While I find some of the takes a tad on the reductive side of things and your hypothetical republic seems unlikely to work (why would the tribes immediately trust that he's legitimately doing it in good faith?). You've really got some damn good insight on the core of why he isn't a hero. He's a well-intentioned good-ish man, raised as the paragon of a deeply evil society and he never stopped to question those fundamental assumptions or methods he learned. It's so ironic that he ended up causing his own betrayal, because more than anything else, he needs someone like Xerath. Someone to balance out his belief in his own infallibility and punch him in his sandy beak and tell him exactly how and why he's wrong (and how he can be a better person).
Love the video, and for me it really highlights how... Weird? Fandom has gotten. A lot of younger fans tend to equate liking a character and approving of their actions, so you get a lot of moral grandstanding of, "Oh you like Azir? Then you condone slavery in real life" or "I Stan Azir, making him an uwu sinammon roll who did nothing wrong." Thank you for once again proving that a good character does not equal a good person.
The first 1,000 people to use this link will get a 1 month free trial of Skillshare: skl.sh/tbskyen07211
i want the 2000 years color rant pleas
Jarvan:burn them all
Garen: are we the bad guys
Jarvan: no we have to much high fantasy on us to the public understand what is truly going on
Garen: ok proceeds to burn a MAGE in cold blood
Dude can you do a video on the dye because that does sound really interesting
Azir is a direct counter to Darth Vader
ill say it again; riot needs to write the league of legends back into lore as a board game ppl play with characters based on legends and folk tales of both real and imaginary people, creatures and deities.
this would give so much more flexibility
and would allow the ingame version of a charscter to be significantly different from the in universe 'real'version.
like imagine instead that xerath becomes the good guy in this story, while azir becomes more corrupted. and azir frames xerath as bad, evil, no good, intent on destroying shurima. intent on causing another calamity. intent on sacrificing all of shurima for more arcane power.
so that will be the legend told of xerath.
but in reality, xerath can be a kind soul, leading a small rebellion against azir, helping the poor and the sick in secret..
So for Azir to become a good guy, he needs to learn the power of friendship.
And abdicate the throne, I guess? I don't know. I wonder what TB Skyen thinks of kings like Aragorn from fantasy stories. Probably find them boring, but I don't like to asume.
he has already learned, and i'm pretty sure he hates it now
Like any anime protagonist.
Wai-
Power of friendship ..really reminds me of Yugioh and Azir of Atem ..they are both inspired by Ancient Egypt
@@strongsuccessfulweeb1400 we need a Winged Dragon of Ra inspired Azir skin
Wait...
From LoR, we have:
Azir to Sivir: "Power beyond measure! Am I cool now ?"
And Dusty to Ekko: "Your emperor has learned of Poros."
Meanwhile, Azir to Taliyah: "What are a few lives to an Empire ?"
I love Azir as a character.
the difference btwn with or without power and privilege
Azir: Fight for me!
Taliah: We are free people, we do what we want!
Azir: Wait! That's illegal
@@manolgeorgiev9664 you forgot the "y" in taliyah
That first quote is awesome
Azir aka Dusty may not be a good guy but he is really trying to get along with his greatest granddaughter.
To recruit younger generation as his loyal followers.
Just like the simulation.
i love azir as this "uncle guy" trying his hardest to connect with sivir who's just an angsty teenager
@@AlineMaline1 and his similar interaction with ekko
Only a few minutes in, but if Azir just told Xerath about his plan, they would have been one of the coolest allied duos in League of Legends lore.
Maybe, but xerath wouldnt be cool. Just a background character. If he told xerath, he wouldnt have failed his ascension and xerath would not be the energy tomb we know
@@epicgamerman4668 Azir might have gotten Xerath to ascend with him. So not a floating tomb of energy, but maybe another ascended. We also would not have Darkin but more ascended.
@@gigifabulous furry xerath skin when?
@@epicgamerman4668 or, and consider this, they ascend together a la nasus and renekton and that's the AU guardian of the sands xerath came from EDIT: like it doesn't get more symbolic than if a royal and a slave ascend to an equal position together, who's going to fight that
I actually think it wouldn't be that simple. Xerath is portrayed as rather impatient and force oriented, so he most likely would consider Azir's long-term plan way too slow and cowardly. There are just way too many ifs and and uncertain factors in the plan. They would most likely have clashed anyway about changing the plan and then Azir's arrogance would strike again and make Xerath sour once more. As long as Azir plays it too safe and Xerath is too aggressive they would never have been able to see eye-to-eye.
Azir is not a good person as a consequence of being raised the way he was, but he is very clearly capable of becoming one. As was seen with him saving Sivir, he can put his arrogance and ambition aside, but immediately Ascending set him right back into his old habits. He is at the very least getting better, original Azir would've murdered that child on the spot, while new Azir did have the humility to let a child lecture him for his stupidity. His actions are misguided, but he is not irredeemable, and if Riot did the unthinkable and actually progressed the Shurima plotline I think he would truly improve.
this tbh. i want to think the best of his potential but sometimes it feels unclear whether the writers want him to be an asshole or not. they give him lines that are undeniably evil (notably towards enemy taliyah in LoR) but then turn around and frame him as a hero that will save shurima. is it complexity? is it badly directed writing strangled by cowardly higher ups? 🤷
I think you could easily maintain Xerath's role as a villain by making the ascension process the point of his corruption, rather than his wish for freedom. If instead of "his just wanted freedom so much that he went insane" it was something more along the lines of "he could only survive the burning disaster of the sun disc because of his singular desire to utterly destroy the shackles that held him and so many others for so long, that by the time the destruction had run its course, the desire to destroy was all that was left." he could still be overtly villainous because his core motivation would no longer be "slavery bad, you guys."
this^^^^^^^
There is not much in xeraths lore suggesting that he wanted freedom for everyone else, in fact more of it suggests that he became more and more desperate for freedom for himself, which I think is helped by the irony of him being literally shackled to that tomb.
I think a small part of xerath somewhat cares about the other slaves, but I think he more just cares about him wanting to be free. And you can tell that because he now enslaves others the same way the previous rulers did.
@@Yatagurusu he doesn't need to be a hero, though. His desire for freedom doesn't need to extend beyond anyone but himself. The fact is that he was a slave, and violently fighting for his freedom is NOT something that justify his framing as a villain. His ascension, however, is. As it is known to amplify certain aspects of any given person's personality, and to those that haven't been ritualistically chosen, this tends to be bad (ie: Renekton becoming more brutal). Lastly, I now that Xerath has cultists and is violent towards anybody else, but I don't remember reading about him having slaves anywhere in the lore. Do you have a reference to point me to?
A better way to phrase it would be: "eventually his desire for freedom became a hatred for the chain that bound him"
This is so much better because as it is now, even if you don't agree with what he does and how he's going about it...he's not wrong
If one where to search in some places, bird furries are usually categorized as "Avian".
A certain monosodium glutamate website
How do you know this information?
As a bird furry, I can confirm
Oh honey, it's okay. We don't judge here. Well, I don't.
@@Adirbal what's this forbidden MSG website owo
I would want the story to emphasize that Azir doesn't have to risk anyone's life to combat Xerath. Should Azir attempt it, he could oppose Xerath's army with an army of sand soldiers so that he could protect the people of Shurima from having to fight in a senseless war of Ascended. He could show the people of Shurima that they mean more to him than his own life. And then when confronted with Xerath himself, then he could do what you said he did. Would also be scenic as hell to have citizens of Shurima fleeing the battle as Azir battles back Xerath's hordes alone. But I'm a sucker for last stands.
Queue "You say run" and I'm in
Azir was the one champ that got me interested in the league of legends lore, thanks to his design and fun playstyle, and despite all his faults, and mistakes I just want to see him become better, and achieve true peace in Shurima, it should be the oasis of the world. And the cinematics with Shurima coming back to life get me excited to see what will happen next
Compared to the other nations... (Demacia murdering magic users, Noxus constant war and expansion, don't know enough of Ionia, Piltover/Zuan toxins, and Lissandra murdering and stealing dreams) Slaves aren't THAT BAD by association. But yeah, Sherima has one of the best chance to be the Good nation
After this video I proceeded to get my first S with Azir on the rift!
Only to get a Rengar champion shard from the chest..
Reading about the cinematic about Shurima coming back to life gave me goosebump. So epic!
Stick to azir its Worth it :) but good luck to proceeds 20 hours of gametime befor u start to understand the basics
Your story about Azir redeeming himself as a hero legit made me start to tear up- and fiction hardly ever makes me cry. Good job man! **sniffle**
Would love to see that fanfiction btw! :)
"His fundamentalist belief in his own divine right"
(Azir fortnite dancing)
Azir existed first by several years though.
"TELL THE PEOPLE WHAT YOU HAVE SEEN TODAY!"
*"Leave these tombs, Sivir. Your throne awaits!"*
@@qetaciled “We can be God Emperor Gamers God Emp-“
@@qetaciled *"I'd really love to, ascend with you,"*
If you want to talk about dyes and history for an hour or two, I'd also be up for that.
FOR REAL!!! I was so sad when I realized there's gonna be a skip
Same!
Right?!
I really like Azir as a character, he is fun. I LOVE HIS BIG BOOMING VOICE and how is he like a grampa trying his best to understand his kids.
I really hope they take him in the direction of REDEMPTION because he is a really fun character that I want to see succeed. I want him to BECOME the hero he thinks that he is. I want more stories of his struggles to the path to a hero. I don't want his empire to continue to rise as one of tyranny. I want him to be a kind emperor.
I imagine his empires rise could be a product of his redemption, but azir is still learning what he must change and adjust to make it that far. He still has the consequences of his failure running around causing issues for him, and probably the only way he can get his empire to be restored is to rectify the mistakes he has made. At least part of that is admitting he made a mistake to xerath and reconciling with the man who...you know.. killed him 3000 years ago. Not exactly easy given the animosity has not exactly settled with xerath kind of going mad tyrant in his own way after being locked away for several thousand years. It might take a big event to force them to come even close to that while they are still prideful as hell. Maybe the realization on why the acended were made when the void comes hammering down their doors and risking destroying shurima might make azir realise he and xerath are no different in this battle for survival than each other. They can fight it, and they must, but they cannot win if they keep up the 3000year grudge.
One thing that actually comes to mind: IS there a human/avian face? Is he seeing out of the jeweled eyes in his helmet, or from the shadows beneath? We see nothing of him that isn't wrapped in cloth and metal, so it could very well be that there's NOTHING underneath--just a soul, the Ascension's energy, and the sands that he can now command. Just a thought.
Interesting
to be fair his death animation is him dissolving into sand so honestly?? knowing that he was Well And Truly Dead (For Reals) i wouldnt be surprised if it's. all sand disguised as flesh. i like the idea that his real power is to breathe life into the desert in more ways than one, and i feel like water showing up where he goes can be partial evidence of that.
I think he has a skin that shows his face and it’s just a normal bird.
Edit: It’s warring kingdoms Azir. But then again skins aren’t canon.
Xerath approves of this. And that Xerath's dance though lmao
Damn you are everywhere lmao
@@MegaChigga You are also everywhere if you know I'm everywhere.
I’ve been running a D&D campaign set in Runeterra and heavily focused on Shurima and I have to say your character analysis was similar to where my headspace was in characterizing Azir, and you pose a really interesting end-game for him and Xerath. A lovely video as always.
I want an update on this when your players meet Azir cz that sounds amazing.
@@daanverschaeren7197 SAME
@@spacecocaine1823 oh they have already, one of the players actually has sparked a romance with Azir and has been trying to steer him in the right direction. There was also an awesome scene where our Piltie essentially said that if Azir tried to annex Piltover (which is built on Shuriman land), she would personally fight him, which gained mad respect from all involved, including Azir. Currently , they are gathering artifacts and preparing for the final showdown alongside Azir against Xerath (along with Pantheon since I just remembered he is currently fighting Xerath too).
@@savagesnakekid DUDE, that sounds sick! Mad props to you and your pals for your creativity in running a campaign like that. Goodness knows it gives champs in LoL more TLC than Riot itself does, most of the time XD
@@savagesnakekid is this dnd thing still going? I kinda wanna know what happened
HOW MANY HEXTECHS DOES THIS ONE COST?
- Azir to Xerath's previous owner (c. 2015 years BN)
(way more likely that he took him without paying since he is a royal ik)
Asmr of TBSkyen narrating Azir being sorry for being an idiot secretive emperor to Xerath is my new religion
You know, you just made me think of something. A lot of people seem to struggle with the idea that you can like a character who is a bad person that does bad things.
This leads to people insisting that the character is absolutely a good person (despite the evidence).
Or it leads to people who recognize that the character is a bad person and claiming that those who like said bad person character must surely also be bad people in real life.
I don't get why this keeps happening. You can like morally bad characters for whatever reason and still acknowledge that they're bad people.
Humans tie there self worth to things they like by nature. Thats why people get upset when you say something they like is bad. In there mind your also calling them bad.
I thought you did amazing with Lissandra's analysis but I think you may have outdone yourself with this one, Skyen. These character analysis videos have to be some of my favorites on RUclips. You explain their stories so well and I simply can't wait for you to do more.
This was such an amazing video, tysm! I didn't realize how complex my Favorite character actually was, and now knowing that, it's so exciting to me the sheer potential he has for character development. I know that it'll never happen, but it's just so fun imagining a comic or collection of short stories where Azir goes around Shurima and has more small experiences that teach him a moral lesson, show him a new perspective, or appreciate something he'd never noticed and little by little become maybe not a Good person, but a slightly better one.
Azir is honest to god my absolute favorite character in the game and in general just from design, lore, themes, and now potential growth. Along with the entire Shuriman cast, I'd just love to see any story development that may, or probably may not come in the future.
After the touching little story of Azir hugging Xerath, I now need your fan fiction.
Also a way to make him fight frontline with his soldiers. I will feed much trying to make this dream real.
Agree completely on your Xerath take. He is my favorite Riot character and his Lore treats him like an unreasonable villain instead of the complex and fascinating character he is. I know there are worse Champs that need more work, but a visual and lore update would be nice for my blue energy friend.
He is more of a villain of circumstance that then became power hungry and bitter. There is no doubt Xerath isn't a good person either, but it is true that the writing doesn't focus on the right reasons _why_ he is bad. It's not his impatience and anger about the situation of the slaves, it's how he acts on it and what he became.
WHERE CAN WE FIND THIS FANFICTION?!
I'd love to read fan-content that expands the World of Runeterra storylines by artists/writers that know the core concept of their characters.
This may be a little different from the type of things you would normally do on your channel but I think it would be really neat to see you make a video sorting every league of legends champion into their respective alignment according to the Dungeons and Dragons alignment chart (Lawful to Chaotic, Good to Evil). Thanks for reading.
^^^
Interesting idea but far too vague to actually work. In D&D, the alignment system works (more or less) because good and evil as well as order and chaos are actual cosmic forces. But morality has a few more than two dimensions. For example, a character could be lawful in the sense that they want to preserve a certain system, but at the same time they could be chaotic in the sense that they are willing to use extreme measures to achieve their goals.
Lawfull evil?
@@gabrielvieira8325 Lawful Evil, but is at least willing to entertain the idea that he isn't infallible and that people other than himself matter.
He is on the slide towards Lawful Neutral. (At which point he will be the best he can be while retaining his authoritative personality) but he still has a good fair bit to go before he arrives there.
@@Dhorannis I think it depends on person to person how these terms are defined. Regardless of how any one person feels, we're all here to watch Skyen's videos to hear his opinions on things, regardless of whether we agree with him. I just think it would be interesting to hear his thoughts on character alignments, rather than treat his placements as gospel.
All this talk of what makes a king makes me really want to go back and rewatch Fate/Zero. The episode where the three kings met to peacefully talk philosophy about what makes a leader. Imagine, King Arthur, Alexander the Great, and Gilgamesh debating over what makes a ruler over booze. That is what this all reminds me of.
Yes yes and yes
Yeeesssss
Now I wanna see Jarvan IV, Swain and Azir debate about how to be Rulers over booze.
Dude. The earnestness with which you dive into these characters is SO refreshing. Thank you for your efforts. P.S.- your guess at Azir’s speech during his taunt was flawless.
Between Zerath and Sylas, Riot doesn't have a good track record of showing sympathy to the oppressed.
It is an American company after all, just saying
This is my take on the matter. I don't have a problem with villains coming from oppressed classes, but the examples we are getting seem pretty skewed. I guess Ekko is one positive example of the lower classes, but it's not much.
Neither does history, the cycle of oppression repeats itself, and they rise up and oppress others
but thats litterally only 2 ...
Moral of the story is that to prevent your terrible leaders from comiting crimes against humanity you must throw your drink at them
This is why I love Azir story, every person can take something from it. Azir is an Emperor, his position by definition is morally dubious, he has to balance his ambition, ambition of the empire and good of his people. He is the protagonist, not a hero.
While I agree that Azir should have told Xerath his plan, about abolishing slavery right the moment of his ascension makes no sense in strategic, realmbuilding and political department. Let me be clear slavery is scum and I find notion of "owning" a person vomit inducing, but I can understand why Azir didn't fulfill his promise. If he did, his empire plunges into civil war, milions die, neighbouring countries would like a piece (also hello there Void) and even if he wins he now rules a realm devastated by possibly Ascended level conflict.
So yeah his position is shit no matter what he does. But painting Xerath as the bad guy for not wanting to be a slave is comicaly bad on Riot's part. But maybe the story is written by like a chronicler who would really not want to insult his God-Emperor, so he writes his image better and making Xerath the villain.
Makes you wonder how much of this conflict could have been avoided if Azur had pulled Xerath aside after becoming king and went. "The empire is built on slavery. If I were to simply decree that it is to be abolished and all slaves made free, the kingdom would crumble into civil war. Fracturing Shurima and a could easily end in a new leader who puts the system of slavery back in place. We need to come up with a plan to systemically and culturally undermine slavery within the empire. I was thinking military conquest so no one questions my authority".
"look what my foolishness did to shurima. Look what it did to YOU! Do not become the fool that i was!"
I-
Skyen, give, skyen pls
it definitely is unfortunate how much riot likes to “both sides” the idea of coups in corrupt nations that would theoretically lead to better living situations in a realistic setting, there is absolutely no need to make people like xerath (slave who wants freedom) or sylas (persecuted mage whose been very obviously taken advantage of and has every reason to be upset) into antagonists of their respective situations, what is the point of making demacia a society which targets particular qualities in its people out of irrational fear but then make the revolutionary a violent one? always feels like writers misunderstand particular ideologies when it comes to revolution stuff, like in legend of korra where they similarly make the progressive characters who actually have realistic grievances with society into ‘the baddies’ by making them do things that would be uncharacteristic of someone in their position. always feels like questionable writing and annoys me that they need to be all centrist when it comes to literal slavery or unnecessary persecution.
IRL revolutionaries often also took it way too far, especially so the ones that actually caused the "big ripples"
IWS the entire point of these is that what they fight for is "right", but their way of doing so isn't.
Xerath was/is not *just* a "slave that wanted to be freed", and as soon as he had any power he essentially became just another subjugator all the same.
I do want to point out that the lore is supposed to supplement the game, even though the game has been uncoupled from the lore at this point.
Everyone has to do damage someway somehow. Sylas probably wouldn’t be a “champion” if he wasn’t a competent fighter (or at least dangerous in some manner). It would be really nice if we had more permanent/reoccurring characters in the lore that didn’t need to use violence to achieve their means, but it’s unlikely to occur given the medium that they were originally made for.
Not to say that it’s impossible, and I think Seraphine or Yummi are probably the closest champions we have for that standard, but that it’s not something I expect we will ever see.
Sorry, I think I strayed a bit far from your original point.
I just think that some genres are better for telling certain stories~
While we can certainly expect better from Riot, I think we’ll find these conventions to have less weight as Riot expands into other games and genres like “The Ruined King” and “Valorant” where they can create characters for the stories they want to tell instead of making characters for LoL and then exporting them into preexisting conflicts and tensions.
Why make a revolutionary a violent one? Because almost all revolutions that actually made a difference were violent. And this goes twice as much for authoritarian nations like Demacia or Shurima.
Most revolutionaries are violent and are not good people they just happened to be on the side of the oppressed, the world is not as clean as you think it is people on the side of "evil" can be good and people on the side of "good" can be evil
about slave, I think you misunderstand something, real live emperors/kings didn't think of their slaves as part of their people and by extension I don't think Azir does so either, I'm willing to believe that he thinks they will be become his people when frees them from slavery (as long as there are no consequences directed at him)
I don't give a shit what kings and emperors think, to be honest, they're consistently stupid and wrong about everything.
@@TBSkyen I never said ancient rulers were right, I'm trying to extrapolate that to Azir, that he didn't see slaves as his, Shurima's people (until he frees them that is) or people for that matter, even though he kind of empathized with one, Xerath, he failed to realize that maybe, slaves didn't want to be slaves (mind-blowing for Azir, I'm sure)
Even in ancient "progressive" cities like Athens slaves were seen as something below human, not citizens, that's why slavery is so wrong, in general because it allows to people freely to abuse and subordinate other people.
"What makes a good king?" is a very interesting question with a lackluster answer in the video. A supposed good king from your pov is someone who would do the "right" thing regardless of the cost, which in my opinion is nothing short of a pushover or self-righteous idealist who disregards all other factors just to inflate his own ego even further. Assuming a "good king" is someone who would put the needs of his people first (because thats what most of the media i have consumed agrees on), what really counts as "his people"? if commoners and nobles count then the king would need to strike a balance between those classes to a point where there wont be enough discord for a clash (referring to some kind of civil war) which will most likely not allow him to free the slaves, because freeing the slaves will be a direct way to attack the nobles' wealth and consequentially their power since slaves were considered property in shurima, and if he does it anyways disregarding that then the only thing he achieves would be a clash between the nobles and the king, which would result in more death and suffering regardless of which side wins. Azir's idea of conquest has 2 possible sides that i thought of and i'll go through both of them:
1. Azir wants to conquer new land to trade it to the nobles in exchange for the slaves' freedom, basically "buying" their freedom from the nobles so they won't be disatisfied by their "property" being taken, instead being more akin to a trade, which would also result in the slaves having land to live on, creating jobs for them since people are going to be needed by the nobles who will receive said lands, so they dont just get sent out after being freed to overpopulate the already existing land and just continue suffering there, spreading illness and increasing the crime rates. ( this would obviously take a fair amount of time to work so he wouldnt be freeing the slaves like a supposed "good king" would and instead would look like something "selfish" by the video's standards.) This is the best solution i could come up with in a couple minutes from what Azir said but its not perfect and i probably overlooked some stuff.
2. Azir wants to conquer new land in order to show his power and use his ascension to rule with an iron fist(at least on the nobles) so he can free the slaves without any resistance from the nobles, which would only achieve an eventual revolt. We've seen plenty of examples in reality of how tyrannical rulers end up if they force the people into submission, there WILL be an eventual revolt, regardless of whether it is realistic for them to win or not, because fighting against impossible odds is in my opinion a part of human nature. This would only serve to hurt the people more, which is not what a supposed "good king" would want.
"Villifying" xerath for wanting freedom is somewhat of a weird point to make, because you are arguing that putting your freedom over the lives of an entire empire would not be a "bad" thing to do. (quotation marks because bad is an extremely subjective word) Personally i don't think that doing what xerath did was bad because as people are selfish, they would(me included) do the same regardless of what other people's lives they would take/ruin. Assuming saving more people is better than saving 1 then xerath's action are terrible and evil, so seeing him as a "villain" would be an objective point of view from history's perspective.
I know its a character analysis and not a socio-political analysis of Shurima but i just wanted to throw it out there, also if azir DID talk to xerath about his plans the catastrophe would probably not have happened and it IS mainly azir's ego and lack of communication that ruined the empire so your inital point is still very accurate, the video was a great analysis of his character. :D
The line of argument you present here has some precedent in the real world, which I found interesting: liberalarts.utexas.edu/coretexts/_files/resources/texts/1963_MLK_Letter_Abridged.pdf
I'll cite a few relevant passages here for convenience:
_We know through painful experience that freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed. Frankly, I have yet to engage in a direct action campaign that was "well timed" in the view of those who have not suffered unduly from the disease of segregation. For years now I have heard the word "Wait!" It rings in the ear of every Negro with piercing familiarity. This "Wait" has almost always meant "Never." We must come to see, with one of our distinguished jurists, that "justice too long delayed is justice denied."_
[...]
_Perhaps it is easy for those who have never felt the stinging darts of segregation to say, "Wait." But when you have seen vicious mobs lynch your mothers and fathers at will and drown your sisters and brothers at whim; when you have seen hate filled policemen curse, kick and even kill your black brothers and sisters; when you see the vast majority of your twenty million Negro brothers smothering in an airtight cage of poverty in the midst of an affluent society; [...] when you are harried by day and haunted by night by the fact that you are a Negro, living constantly at tiptoe stance, never quite knowing what to expect next, and are plagued with inner fears and outer resentments; when you are forever fighting a degenerating sense of "nobodiness"--then you will understand why we find it difficult to wait._
[...]
_First, I must confess that over the past few years I have been gravely disappointed with the white moderate. I have almost reached the regrettable conclusion that the Negro's great stumbling block in his stride toward freedom is not the White Citizen's Counciler or the Ku Klux Klanner, but the white moderate, who is more devoted to "order" than to justice; who prefers a negative peace which is the absence of tension to a positive peace which is the presence of justice; who constantly says: "I agree with you in the goal you seek, but I cannot agree with your methods of direct action"; who paternalistically believes he can set the timetable for another man's freedom; who lives by a mythical concept of time and who constantly advises the Negro to wait for a "more convenient season." Shallow understanding from people of good will is more frustrating than absolute misunderstanding from people of ill will._
I bring this up not by way of accusation, by the way, but to point out that the "wait for a more convenient season, be patient, hold off, let the system work, let those in power decide when the time is right" is a line of argumentation that, in questions of civil rights of all kinds, is a lot older than a 2008 video game, and has a long and troubling history. Dr. King wrote these passages about the struggle against _segregation._ Imagine, then, how much more intense and desperate the need for freedom in a person who is fully _enslaved._ That need, that suffering, that generational trauma and hurt, should matter in these discussions, I think, a lot more than logistics.
I think there is a consistent theme in many stories written by Americans with monarchies in them- a profound misunderstanding of how and why royalty is a bad thing. Monarchs are fundamentally mythical beings to Americans they are treated like Dragons, Jedi, Elves or any other fantasy element. It has been more than 200 years since America has had its resources drained directly by a dynasty of do-nothing despots and it has not been devastated wars declared by them, sure the US fought against monarchies in WWI and WWII but that was far away across the sea. So when most American think about monarchy they are treating them more like Klingon than the very real vestiges of old tyrants that perpetuate real harm and waste
"The last time Azir had made promises to the people of shurima, it had cost them their lives"
Taliyah is my hope for Shurima
They are my people, and I am theirs.
@@taliyahofthenasaaj7570 it's her
You know how bs this is
What is Taliyah supposed to do?
As a nomad, Taliyah doesn't really strike me as a "stay in one nation and rule it" type. She'd probably be good at it but would be unhappy
i really enjoyed your explanation of azir, and that you were able to call out the hierarchy of a slave lord with a slave revolting without trying to make zerath sound unreasonable for doing so.
Considering the birth of the Darkin and how the fall of Shurima leads to it, it stands to reason that Azir holding the reigns of power was more than a little necessary at the time. Whether he should rule Shurima in the current day and age is another conversation.
That lore speculation at the end was so good
Please give us the full uncut history of purple fabric dye!
Please 🙏
Release the Purple Fabric Dye cut!
after name dropping him multiple times i want it even more... What's the deal with Aurelion Sol? PLEASE?
Your not the only one
I AM HERE TO DEFEND AZIR AS A PERSON AS I AM PERSONALLY INVOLVED WITH HIM *marching drums*
Xerath before Azir was an emperor:
The shuriman cultists
A shuriman Civil War could, and probably would, have ment more death and suffering, also for the slaves of those who rebeled as they would have to support a war economy and would be worked 10 times harder. And that's not mentioning the thousands, maybe millions who would die painfully and horribly. I agree that Azir should have told Xerath, but you make his motivation sound selfish when a civil war is something he'd likely win, cause the God wariors, but it would sacrefice to many innocent lives
Oh no, doing the right thing might be hard and have negative consequences!
@@TBSkyen sacrificing innocents for the greater good is typically associated with villains my man
@@kasperween3614 "sacrificing innocents for the greater good" - oh, you mean like intentionally letting children live, suffer and die in slavery and abuse because you're scared that if you help them you might not get to be ruler of an empire anymore?
It's funny how the ends justify the means when the ends are the preservation of a status quo, but when the ends are revolutionary or reformist, suddenly they don't.
@@TBSkyen the ends justify the means is again, typically, a villain school of thought.
I also said that I believe a civil war would be worse than slavery, especially for those say 50% (probably more honestly since the people likely to rebel would be those owning the most slaves) of slaves that would be owned by those who rebeled.
Preserving the status qoute, even if it is terrible is generally less chaotic and harmful than upsetting it. To make good change one has to upset the status quota but one has to do it in the right way. If azir told Xerath and but changed nothing else about his plan he probably would have been able to free the slaves while not sacreficing millions in a civil war
@@kasperween3614 my dude you can't say "ends justify the means is a villain school of thought!" and then make a long argument about why the ends justify the means, what are you doing
That Xerath rant near the end was just too perfect. That gave me a good laugh.
Azir didn’t tell Xerath about his plans to free the slaves because he was arrogant, he did it because he knew if anyone found out it would put the plan in jeopardy.
From his bio: “Such monolithic institutions could not be overturned overnight, and Azir’s plans would be undone were they to become common knowledge. Despite Azir’s desire to name Xerath his brother, he could not do so until all Shurima’s slaves were free.”
Azir DID want to do the right thing, he just wanted to make sure he succeeded at doing it. In my opinion, having the ability to make positive change is just as important as having the sense to do the right thing. It doesn’t do the slaves of Shurima any good if you can’t actually enforce the law of ending slavery and making sure they have the opportunities to utilize and entity that freedom.
Also, the issue of slavery is much bigger than anyone’s need to feel like a hero or to feel validated. Azir is not a hero, he is a leader. His job is to do what is best for his people. Causing a war over slavery would not be good for his people, slave or free person.
I honestly blame Xerath for this whole mess. In the moment Azir freed him and all the slaves of Shurima he had no good reason to do what he did next. He had everything that he wanted. He was free, all of his people were free, and his best friend finally declared him his brother. But he just couldn’t let go of all his anger and resentment that had festered inside of him over the years. If he had just let go of his feelings of needing to feel validated and look at the bigger picture (the needs of the slaves of Shurima), to not be selfish like you accused Azir of being, than everything might of turned out a lot better.
I’m not trying to say Azir isn’t completely full of himself (he is), but I don’t think he’s guilty of what you’re describing in your video.
Azir and Swain demonstrate nicely how charisma can be a very dangerous trait in a ruler. Even though we clearly see them do very bad things we can't help but like them due to the sheer charisma they have and thus we ignore the bad things and focus on and inflate the good things that they have done.
You kept mentioning his feathery body, do we actually know for sure he is at all organic? I'd find it interesting if he was made of sand or just a metal shell held together by Magic just like his brother, since you know.. he did kind die. Idk seems like a fun reveal later on.
All the other ascended we've seen or read about in the lore were organic, so it'd be surprising if he isn't.
@@IsaacIsaacIsaacson besides xerath
Xerath was a kinda special case because of how he ascended. But i do think it would be cool if true
Edit:also azir was a special case i guess... But a different one
Azir's tights are feathers if I remember correctly but I might be wrong
A thought: If he is made of sand, that makes for an interesting idea for that little potential story bit about the hug. Overflowing energy from Xerath, possibly the impossible heat of a second Ascension if the fight does lead the two into it. A change of form (hello new skin) to mark the change of outlook that led him to this confrontation in the first place.
What wanders out from the ruins is not the king of flesh he was to begin with nor the emperor of sand he tried to be. Instead what walks out of those ruins is a true leader of imperfect yet eternally gleaming glass.
*DROP THE FANFICTION SKYEN.*
would kill to be able to drop azir in that garden with rider, archer and saber during fate zero. make for some interesting discussion, given i don't think his is a perspective they really had.
Ohhh, yes! Would he align more with Gil in that case?
@@Megnappinidae I'm not sure. Saber was focused on saving her people, rider was focused on in inspiring his people, and archer was all about living for yourself. Where as azir is arrogant and thinks he needs to be the one to lead but is ultimately far more focused on his empire rather than its people. So while he is closer to gil his is still a significantly different perspective
Well i am really down for this fan fiction of yours. A fan fiction from you would be great plus its about shurima which is my favourite region and azir is my main.
I find it kinda interesting that his attack/command animation resonates with the manner of some kings, and how his gameplay works with that. Outside of Azir's force of will, he has little power of his own. His damage is strong when he's commanding, but on his own it's piddly little lasers and *a dash with which to run away* (yes it can be used to engage, but it's used more as an escape). He had charisma to lead, and he's almost entirely reliant upon that.
So I can already see a bit of confusion about the statement that All Kings Are Bastards, and while I am not Skyen, I believe our opinions are similar enough that explaining my opinion will also explain his.
Kings, as a rule, generally obtained their office through either force of arms (or the threat thereof) or heredity, not the consent of the people. There are a few elective monarchs in history that I know of, but all of those I know about were elected by an upper class of nobles, meaning that not even the few elective monarchs can truly be said to be chosen by the people. Kings generally keep their office through either violence or the threat thereof, like most states. Ergo, the actual moral character of the king in question is entirely irrelevant to the question of whether or not they are a bastard, it's only a question of how much of a bastard they are. Even the nicest kings still propagate a system designed to elevate few at the cost of the many, so even the nicest kings are, at best, 'not as bad as they could have been'. A real 'good king' would be king for just as long as it takes to either dismantle the office of kingship or, at least, reduce it to a ceremonial figurehead with no actual political power.
But, like he said, this is fantasy, so the fantasy definition of 'good king' is generally just 'a nice person who rules justly', which most LoL kings do not meet.
As towards the actual video, it is good. Like I said in the chat Riot has this weird problem with having rebel characters who they decry as too violent for their own good, even though they all are only rebels because other people were committing violence to them first and all the rebels want to do is to stop it.
Cannot deny that xerath has the best dance animation in the game
since xerath is the new champion in legends of runeterra I REALLY hope we get to see more than just the big evil guy he's made out to be in game.
Wait, since when?
What? The new Champions are Rek'sai, Pyke and Ekko
Excellent as always! I didn't know that short story in the book. Wow, Azir.
I wouldn’t say Azir is really “Evil” but I wouldn’t exactly say he is a good person either. He’s much more complex than either of those terms from my view. He does heinous things not because he’s malicious but because it’s just how he thinks he’s supposed to act and behave. He has good intentions with his plans but hurts those around him in the process. And he’s much more open to having his mind changed from literally burning a village down as opposed to someone like Swain who would absolutely have no moral issues with doing so. If we were talking about alignment charts, I would definitely think Azir would be somewhere on the neutral cross.
A thing to remember with Azir is that he is 3000 YEARS OLD alot of concepts and ways of thinking are going to be extremely difficult for him to understand like republics as they were likly not around during his time.
I think ur over all future for azir is good but would be better if azir showed slow growth to his character as other characters/events/interactions show him to be a better ruler/person i.e he learns how effective deplomency can be and though that he learns to care/consider the interests of others to maintain his alliances eventually he learns of new political systems and ways of thinking and how the world has changed around since his time then he does change his empire to a republic but he may instead he may do what the british did with there monarchy instead of abducating his throne
I love his interactions with sivir in Legends of Runeterra
Yeah azir tryna be a good grandpa is so cute
I am gonna need a link to that fanfic... like I did a little gasp when Azir dived and it was a hug.
Tell us stories Skyen we want them.
Didn't you say Xerath also killed a newborn and the old empress ?
Sounds to me like he definitely planned to kill more than just 1 person on his path to freedom
Xerath also made sure to kill any direct bloodlines of azir if i remember correctly
Everyone is talking about Azir's possible redemption but no one talks about Xerath possible redemption, which is probably more deserved and interesting, due to bias
I really appreciate the nod to Swain being an almost certain step up from Le'Blanc puppets and Mordekaiser. I acknowledge and respect your efforts to dissuade people from unambiguously supporting Swain, but I feel like within context the story gets more muddled.
About the Xerath bit. The massive explosion wasn't fully an accident. The story says that Xerath didn't go for the typical accession but instead tried to absorb all of the power in the sundisc causing the explosion trough his desire to be the strongest being ever so that no one could put him in chains ever again without considering the risk to everyone else in the city. Xerath didn't stop at the noble goal to be free. He tried to be so powerful that no-one could imprison him any more no matter how many innocent lives it costs which started with that newborn child he fried with lightning along with the queen. Azir is by no means a hero but where as Azir was an evil man with the potential to be good Xerath was a man who could have been a hero but who went too far.
I liked this take on a character a lot, man :D dont be afraid of comments if it produces gems like the xerath rant! Juicy aggressive passion about stuff in a voice is my drug fam
Your version of azir's story is so fucking good man
Can we get the directors cut where the mollusk part wasnt cut
In Azir's story i see many parallels to Urza of magic the gathering.
A man with a great obsession to whom all else is secondary (Thran technology and the threat of Phyrexia) whose narrow mindedness creates great discord with his brother (also once a slave) ultimately leading to great cataclysm and destruction, as well as his ascension to a status not unlike a demigod. After this, he tries to learn, here and there, but ultimately it's never enough, only repeating the mistakes of his past, hanging onto his obsessions and leaving tragedy in his wake.
By the interactions in Legends of Runeterra we can see even more his "Shurima before all" mentality: he's regaining back the empire's former glory while trying to get along with the present; even with all that new power Shurima has remained behind with the rest of Runeterra, for esample his interactions with Ekko where he's taking lessons in modern technology, being him from the most advanced region, (and for some reason it seems like Poro's didn't leave the Freljord and spread everywhere already 3000 years ago) so that he, the Emperor, the one that "makes" Shurima, can advance at the same time with his nation.
"Riot needs to fix this shit-"
*sunscreen ad starts*
"To protect you from the sun's rays-"
Huh, topical.
On the note of Xerath, I feel like they went the centrist route because they wanted him to still be a villain, and to be fair, he does suit the villain role. But they could have easily made him a villain without going the centrist route. Make it so the guilt of causing the Shuriman apocalypse led to his start of darkness as he had to justify the accident to satisfy his guilty conscience, or that the thousands of years in the dark that drove Renekton mad also drove him mad. There's tonnes of ways.
"Is there a special word for bird furries?"
Yes, there is - Avian
Every time I see azir, i remember the video of the azir hiding among the chicks in the jungle and a Lee sin i believe passing by without noticing.
Fun fact: "Bird Furries" are called either Featheries or Avians.
It either kills you or makes you a Furry. Omigod, I was not ready for that line.
When Skyen started talking about Azir's pose I was like "Oh yea it's a powerful pose full of confidence because he's puffing his chest out so much" and then Skyen mentioned those things which means that I'm slowly learning character designs by watching What's the deal with... making me more and more powerful with each second so that one day I too may become sick looking birb with the ability to win every sand castle competiotion in za warudo.
The idea of Azir doing the right thing, becoming the defender of shurima and not it’s lord, even if xerath doesn’t forgive what he’s done it’s GROWTH. We cannot change our pasts but we can always be better, and I think that’s an important moral to the potential story of his future.
I really hope Riot takes your advice and your concept on how to further his lore. The way Riot has treated Demacia's story of literal genocide, the imperialism and tyranny of Swain in Noxus, and late stage capitalism in Piltover and Zaun has left me with little trust that Riot will actually handle these issues as they should be handled. You know, condemning genocide, tyranny, slavery and whatever the fuck you call what's going on in Zaun/Piltover.
One thing i like specifically abt azir in legends of runeterra is that he never refers to himself as doing something, it's pretty much always "the order is given", "the empire calls". He doesn't seem to fully associate himself with his own actions, because he thinks it's the philosophical and grand "for the greater good" that even the bible references and has been used as a pivotal plot point in so many stories, where the greater good is sometimes a genuine real good thing, and some (much better) times it's a moral dilema, usually personal, but can also be a group/population dilema, and I LOVE IT SO MUCH I COULD TALK ABOUT IT FOR HOURS
Give me the fanfiction!!
In a way veigar and azir are pomar opposites, veigar goes good things, but wants to be evil while azir has good intentions but does horrible acts
When is the full purple dye rant dropping?
Real soon, I hope.
i find it fascinating that most good stories involving "good" and "heroic" kings usually involve that kingdom falling apart. that fundamentally, Azir doing the right thing would most likely mark the end of Shurima anyway. The most notable example being King Arthur, whose kingdom slowly fell to ruin mainly due to human nature being the chaotic thing it is. Monarchies, good or bad, can never last. Their sovereignty will dwindle as time progresses until they are royalty in name only.
Amazing grey morality and complexity written for a character from a videogame. I hope this story gets animated like Arcane
Amazing prediction and amazing video as always and if you ever write this fanfic SEND IT TO ME I WILL READ IT . But I think your forgetting a minor detai. The explosion xerath caused killed azirs wife and children (even if by accident. And no that doesn't count as a wife steal ) so I am not entirely sure if he will forgive him entriely I mean he could take responsibility for it maybe he knows that they died because of him not telling xerath so he knows that he like that failed he's entire family
Am just saying this part from the arisen short story and the most heartbreaking at least to me
Also azir being a dorky grandfather with sivir is one of the best thing lor gave to us and I feel like it added a lot more to his chareter
28:17 can't help but think of that "our battle will be legendary!" kung fu panda scene with Tai Lung and its clenched fist.
Redemption and reconciliation is exactly what I want for Azir's character arc. Acknowledging he wasn't a good person, wants to be a good person, and do what is necessary to change for the better.
tbh i find funny that the only good king / emperor is qiyana parents and trey only exist so that she have something like a antagonist force angainst her in the region
Falcon Emperor would be a kickass band name.
i really love this video, it was quite different from the others and it was really interesting !
i really hope to witness Azir's evolve as you describe it, but he is way too attached to Shurima as an empire, plus he was raised to believe Shurima is fundamentely good that i don't think he could put a council in place, but yeah, changing on how the government of Shurima would be awesome for Shurima's general story and its champions
really hoping to see the video on the politics of Runeterra one day, wish you happiness and health
16:49 Wow! The celestial are so much playing Starcraft that the Voidborns looks like the Zergs.
I disagree with the assertion that Azir is evil, though I absolutely understand where you're coming from. I believe that everything in life is relative and that any analysis that fails to recognize this has, in some sense, lost the plot. Judged by the prevalent modern standards of morality of course Azir, or virtually _any_ character set in a time before ours, is going to be found wanting. In a world where if power is not taken it is lost I would say that before Azir's ascensions he was a good man with noble intentions, limited by the burden of the crown. Now, he believes, that since he is a god he has no such burdens. Of course, he's wrong and his responsibility has only increased, but I think that's the point of his story- the lessons he still has to learn.
Xerath was orignally just a flat out villain and so when Riot was doing a lot of retconning around Azir's release, Xerath got too sympathetic of a backstory but they still acted like he was a vile villain. Whoops.
All they really need to do is make it more clear that Xerath was aware of the consequences and for him to just say "I don't care, I want revenge too much." It doesn't absolve Azir but it does make Xerath way more villainous, which is clearly what they are trying to do.
Xerath was formed in a "dominate or be dominated" kind of environment, just like Azir. He doesn't want to break the system, but merely climb atop it, because that's all he's ever known. Unlike Azir's parents, who abused and neglected him, his parents were loving and caring, but what did they get in exchange? His father died and his mother was forced to give him away.
Azir has never known love, Xerath has known it and lost it. He sees it doesn't work.
I'd be surprised if he turned out anything *but* evil.
That's why we need a third party in between them. Someone who shows them that there's other ways to do thing besides dominance.
“Azir, we don’t need a emperor anymore. We’ve been chill for years without one.”
“NONONO. You’re wrong and I’m going to tell you HOW you’re wrong.”
"Better than the alternative tyrant", honestly Swain reminds me too much of Lord Vetinari and they both fit that to a T.
Regarding your Sauron comment, Sauron also pursued what he thinks is the good thing, namely bringing Middle Earth under his "Perfect Order"
WHEN THE EMPEROR COMMANDS, THE LAND OBEYS!
Yaknow, I really like your "fanfics", I guess they can be called - this one and especially the rewriting Seraphine one made me excited for a story that doesn't exist lmao
only just found this video and it's a lovely analysis of azir!
While I find some of the takes a tad on the reductive side of things and your hypothetical republic seems unlikely to work (why would the tribes immediately trust that he's legitimately doing it in good faith?). You've really got some damn good insight on the core of why he isn't a hero. He's a well-intentioned good-ish man, raised as the paragon of a deeply evil society and he never stopped to question those fundamental assumptions or methods he learned.
It's so ironic that he ended up causing his own betrayal, because more than anything else, he needs someone like Xerath. Someone to balance out his belief in his own infallibility and punch him in his sandy beak and tell him exactly how and why he's wrong (and how he can be a better person).
Really glad you added these future segments, they feel like a more natural denouement into the parting thoughts.
Love the video, and for me it really highlights how... Weird? Fandom has gotten. A lot of younger fans tend to equate liking a character and approving of their actions, so you get a lot of moral grandstanding of, "Oh you like Azir? Then you condone slavery in real life" or "I Stan Azir, making him an uwu sinammon roll who did nothing wrong." Thank you for once again proving that a good character does not equal a good person.