#Hextech being basically an eldrich god is such a cool concept

[aszke]

I didn’t see anyone discussing what it means that in canon Hextech got a will of its own. On surface level its goal seemed just to be to create an emotionless Machine Herald to be used to liberate/enslave humankind.

But Victor is never fully emotionless - just before Jayce shoots him, even though Victor probably already knew that it’s going to happen, you can see fear in his eyes.

Later, when he uses a puppet to attack Jayce, he’s sneering - that’s an emotional reaction right there. At first I interpreted it as Hextech just not having that much impact on him, but I realised that in the long run, emotionless Victor is simply not profitable to Hextech. Yes, he needs to follow the plan, but also still needs to care enough about Jayce to go back in time to save him/give him the runestone, so Hextech can be created in the first place.

The only thing that Hextech didn’t forsee was the Z Drive, and no wonder - it was created in a dimension where Hextech has never existed, a technology that in the end works on a completly different principles.

Hextech can manipulate the cause- effect chain, ultimately creating looping timelines, and Z Drive gives an opportunity to just delete the cause, so effect never occurs, rewriting the timeline. Basically it’s creating fate tech vs. defying fate tech.

Z Drive going into proximity of the rune in Jayce’s wrist created a paradox in timespace -a catalyst that started a chain reaction, allowing Jace to free himself and Victor and break the cycle of fate.