#Welcome to Noxus season one

[waytray]

Bite Marks

[srslylini]

Mel Medarda the woman you are

[melmedarda]

No matter what good intentions Ambessa had, she destroyed the place Mel invested so much of herself in. Imagine the disrespect of being banished by your mother, and then her coming to that very place you carved out for yourself and being so nonchalant and patronizing about it.

While also wanting to take control of it, and "improve" it in her vision.

She calls it "drama" when you mention the banishment.

Your own work is not free from her conquest.

You cannot fully relax around her, as she will politically undermine you.

Mel sets course for Noxus, and maybe this time her ideas will be more welcomed. But will it be because of Mel's newfound powers and her being the last Medarda heir, who defeated her mother? She is now a wolf, first most, in the eyes of many.

In season 1, Mel defaced her painting of Noxian ships with gold, removed her Medarda ring. For this to be her fate...

I agree with you anon.

Everyone loves Mel's arc, and I understand that she had one of the best. But to me, she's back where she started perhaps even worse off. Trapped beneath her mother's shadow. All Mel wanted to do was paint the world in gold. All she wanted was peace, and she distanced herself from her family, took off her ring to symbolize that at the end of season 1. She was forging a new path, one of gold.

Then Ambessa came and ruined the home and family Mel had built. And now, Mel's got her ring back on her finger, her mother's mask in her hands, and the Medarda colors on her skin. Going to fix the mess Ambessa left, the weight of her mother's death on her shoulders. What does that say about her? Of her arc? Even sadder is the fact that she never wanted power in the first place. She wanted family. And now all her family and friends are dead. Ambessa, Kino, Elora, Jayce. Gone. The city she once called home no doubt looks at her like a traitor.

I really hope she is the main character of the Noxus show, because I really want her to be her own person and step into her own power, not the power that Ambessa raised her to look for but the one she's always been drawn to. I want her to have people who love and care for her. I want her to find a home.

[arcanefandomweek]

Arcane Year 2 Event Week!

From November 7th to the 13th

#ArcaneYear2 / #ArcaneYearTwo

Let's celebrate Arcane on its second anniversary! All fanworks are welcome! In this special week, you have a choice of two themes, each with unique prompts.

What Could Have Been

Nov 7 : Faction Swap / First Time Nov 8 : Vander Lives / Broken Nov 9 : Hugs / Family / Grief Nov 10 : Food / Gift / Fix It Nov 11 : AU / Soulmate / Adoption Nov 12 : Nightmare / Kiss / Jealousy Nov 13 : Free Day / Goodbyes

What Could Yet Be

Nov 7 : Hextech / Ghost / Blood Nov 8 : Common Enemy / Warwick Nov 9 : Begging / Shimmer / Art Nov 10 : Chaos / Light / Promise Nov 11 : Noxus / Secrets / Fear Nov 12 : Machine Herald / Faith / Lies Nov 13 : Voices / Legacy / Hope

How does this work?

The "What could have been" prompts were chosen to fit fics or art (or meta, playlists, etc) set before or during season 1.

This includes ideas like "Heimerdinger used to travel the world before founding Piltover" set before canon, as well as missing scenes like "Viktor creating his hextech arm" during the time skip, or "Vi waking up in Stillwater".

The "What could yet be" prompts were chosen for speculation about season 2 and beyond.

This includes ideas like "my favourite LoL character definitely rocks into Zaun" or "Jinx frees Warwick" or "How Viktor becomes the Machine Herald"

You can mix and match! You can do one theme for day 1, the other for day 2... And on day 3 you could use the 'family' prompt to write a season 2 AU! Ultimately these prompts are to provide inspiration and a framework. I will not police submissions, so long as you respect the rules. Please read them well!

Rules | AO3 collection | Twitter | FaQ

Participation Bingo for readers and fans

[rarepairqueenmochi]

Hi, hey, hello Arcane fandom. Just gonna dip in and give my two cents in after we've all taken in the information from the new "Welcome to Noxus" cinematic to start off the LoL season (spoilers if you haven't, btw)...

So is no one going to mention that LeBlanc was potentially hinting about Bilgewater in the end? The smoke is a bit discernable and moves around, but that symbol at the end is oddly similar to Bilgewater's.

(Official Bilgewater Symbol)

(Symbol at the end of cinematic)

You have the large blade down the middle, the striped curved shape on the right with it beginning to swirl around the blade, the head shape on the upper left, and even the handle with the curved loopguard on the top right. Even the white sections in the blade almost resemble the gaps in the official logo.

Now of course I know that adaptation talks have been mainly about Noxus, Ionia, and Demacia, which do make sense based on LoL lore and how the animatic shows Katarina (who has strong connections to Garen from Demacia) along with just the general history between Ionia and Noxus.

However, I find it very interesting with the symbol similarities along with two bits of information, being

In the official artbook released by Fortiche and Riot, it was confirmed that there was an old story point in Arcane, where Powder was planned to be kidnapped and brought to Bilgewater

The recently leaked (though still not confirmed) concept arts for Miss Fortune, a prominent Bilgewater champion. I haven't seen anything either confirming or denying if the art is official, so it's not the strongest bit of information, but I'll still be applying it

Even though this may not be much, it definitely establishes that Riot and Fortiche have been considering Bilgewater being a story point on the Arcane universe. And now with this cinematic potentially hinting at Bilgewater, it has be wondering just what region is going to get attention for the next adaption. Noxus is still very likely next, but we may get a surprise with Bilgewater

For the people that read this far, thank you! I don't know if my rambling makes any sense, or if anyone agrees with it, but I appreciate the commitment to reading the post!

[jinxie-117]

i'll have to rewatch the season but it almost feels like the cait/jinx parallel was completely lost on season 2? what made these two so cool and their conflict so interesting was that they were such incredibly similar people, but there's very little of that in season 2.

at the end of season 2 they both lost a parental figure (and additionally, both of them blame themselves!!) that was incredibly vital to their upbringing and the way they are now as adults. season 2 should have been about the grief they both suffered after losing their parents.

have both of them spearhead their respective war fronts. caitlyn fights zaun through organised ranks and precision fighting with rifles, heck, even bring in the grey, etc (basically how she does it in the show). meanwhile, jinx fights piltover through random, unpredictable terrorist attacks and her sheer volume of followers throwing themselves at the opposition, with her taking an active role in rallying them to be as chaotic as possible. this would work even further to highlight their differences, showing how though they begin at similar starting points, they both lean into each extreme (while both of them might originally be closer on the spectrum of chaos to control, they both go to polar opposites during s2).

then, have vi stuck in the middle. too chaotic for caitlyn's almost controlling, dictator-esque agenda, but too controlled for jinx's reckless abandon. create the show's conflict here, instead of bringing in third parties and other unneeded aspects of the story. caitvi divorce because vi isn't 'committed enough to the cause.' jinx won't take her sister back because she's 'chosen her side' and hasn't proven herself to have changed since the tea party. linger in this conflict between zaun and piltover, cait and jinx, and express it through vi. you could literally express all of the differences between zaun and piltover and a possible route for peace through this one interpersonal conflict that has already been set up in season 2!!!!

this should be the main plot, same how vi + cait vs silco + jinx was in the first season (arguably s1 has so many important things to it that there isn't really one main plot, but the climax of the show is during the tea party which is the resolution to this particular plot. so i am calling it the main plot). THIS IS WHAT THE SHOW IS ABOUT!!! the story writes itself tbh. it's a huge shock to me that the writers didn't go with this.

the cait/jinx parallel, not to mention the countless other foils and parallels (which was what made the show so good!!!) are seemingly abandoned in s2 and that's why it falls so flat. connections are hardly drawn between characters. isha is SUPPOSED to be a parallel to powder, but the connection is visual, nothing more. isha possesses none of powder's original characteristics - in fact, she has no characteristics, because all she exists as is a plot device, a ticking time bomb to go off when jinx needs to have her emo arc! if you can draw any parallels that operate as well as season one's did, you are welcome to point them out, but imo none of them hit as good as season one, where we had silco and vander opposite to jinx and vi, jinx vs cait, viktor vs mel, sevika vs vi, i mean i could go on. these connections feel sidelined or even absent from season 2 - or at least are not the highlight.

for example, viktor and mel are both mages, and how they obtain this power is evident of their differences, but we do not spend near enough time on these plots to warrant me giving a fuck, nor are the differences stark enough - because yes, mel is more privileged and has a birthright to power, but a big part of her character is that she was exiled from noxus and had to build her empire in piltover instead of relying on her family. the difference needs to be more dramatic to drive the point home - in season one, they differ so much because viktor cares about what hextech can do for others, using himself in the process, while mel cares about what hextech can do for her, using others in the process. the development for both of them comes when the opposite occurs - viktor accidentally kills sky, and mel sacrifices her pride and her place within her family to side with jayce in his effort to reunite piltover and zaun. the parallel was on multiple layers and carried through their entire character arc. frankly, we don't see enough of mel or viktor (or at least, anything that showcases their motivations) to draw proper connections in season 2, which is why both of their mage arcs feel lacking.

what made the story work so well in arcane is that you could look up and see that absolutely everything was connected, right down to the last detail. they've forgotten that connection in season 2, and it's made the scenes, the arcs, and the conflicts feel completely detached from one another, leading to the season feeling stilted. it's like the writers forgot what they had done so well in season 1 and decided to just throw everything they had in their brains onto the page without any regard for the care that had been previously put into them.

[gingernut1314]

Welcome back to Gingernut's After-Show Debrief

This is the show where this gingerbread girly completes another series that completely WRECKS her mental stability and she'll never recover

Before I crash out I'm gonna throw a spoiler warning up here real quick because the show I'm about to talk about is...

Arcane: Season 2 Act 3

I actually.....I just feel like....this was....😭😭

So 😭

And 😭

I am actually stunned that this show is over.

I didn't know figure out that is was ending for real for real until the last ep of Act 2 so I'm kinda new to this just distraught feeling and then...then.....

😭

I really enjoyed ep. 7 it was the cutest fucking thing to come out of this whole show. To know that there is a universe out there where they get to be happy, even if it means Vi is dead, is nice.

And Himerdinger's little song was too cute (and he's not dead. I saw someone on tiktok say he wasn't because he's a yordle and you know what I'm gonna believe it because if I don't?? its not gonna be a good time. Also I really thought he turned invisible then because I SWEAR I heard his little footsteps walk away som maybe I'll go with that)

Clogger and Milo being back!!!

SILCO WITH THE GOLD EYE EHEHEHEHEEHEHEHEEHEHEHEHE

If I were to get my hands on that man omgggggggg ✋😩 the fanservice was fantastic this season I was very well feed.

BENZO 😭 I sobbed when Ekko just attacked him in a hug like yesss he gets to have his goodbye moment and I'm happy for him

But I am UPSET for Ekko because what do you mean he's all alone sitting on the same ledge he was sitting on with Powder??? Why isn't he with friends??? WHY IS HE ALL ALONE SOMEONE GO CHECK ON HIM PLEASEEEEEE

The French song when Ekko and Powder were dancing was wonderful and I love both Stomae and POMME!!

I am upset that Sevika didn't get more screen time then she did, but I am SO happy that she 1) lives and 2) is on the council now!! She deserves it and she IS ZAUN she everything that Zuan stand for and she'd been there since day 1 and just UGHHHH I love that woman let me marry her right here right nowwwww

Piltover and Zuan teaming up to fight against a common enemy was wonderful. I loveee a good war/battle/invasion scene and that whole ep FED ME

Ambessa was badass and I hate her AND love her?? Like I have very mixed feelings on her and that's okay because that's what the writers want.

I'd let her completely annihilate me on the... battlefield....and that's all I'll say on the Ambessa topic.

Well actually that Shadow Black Rose mage was LeBlanc right?? I slowly trying to learn all the League lore and I read a bunch of people saying it was her but I really don't know enough yet to be like oh yeah. That's her.

ALSO MEL YOU BADASS BABE YES GOD YES GOD

Stunning, beautiful, let me sit on your lap as you rule over your kingdom pleaseeeeeeeeee

The creators of Arcane want to do other tv shows right for League? I know they are working on Penelope of Sparta but we've GOT to get some more for Arcane seeing different stories and stuff there are too many characters NOT to do it, Noxus and whatever Mel is gonna do with it being one of them

CaitVi being end game was wonderful. Caitlyn was looking scrumptious these last few eps and unfortunately, I've been a big Cait hater but she's....okay now....i guess....got played HARD by Maddie though like fuck that girly omgggggg Maddie was horrible even those she really didn't get us a reason to dislike her till last ep.

Talking about end games

JAYVIK

WE GOT JAYVIK!!!!!!

I LOVE that that was the victor in the PfP Jayce Wars from tiktok just stunning. 10000/10 right there. Yes, go be little space partners for all eternity love you bothhhh

MACHINE HAROLD WAS AAAAAAAHHHHHHHH SO GOODDD

I like how they changed it to be more in line with the lore for Arcane like the look of those Arcane creatures very nice very good love him would join his cult I don't need free will pffffttttt

And VIKTOR BEING THE GUY WHO SAVED JAYCE WHEN HE WAS A BABY LIKE YESSSSSSAHSGHAGHDGAHGDH they will be together forever and always I love those two

Ekko and Jinx entrance to the battle was perfect and they both were so good and--and--and--

SHES NOT DEAD

NOPE

She just got teleported to a different area in Runeterra like she's with her girlfriend Lux she's okay....😭

I will deny deny denyyyyyy that's dead like I won't even let the thought cross my mind and the ending of the show I think allows me to do so perfectly

The ending, after some thought and not just going off of my instant reaction which was to scream and cry and pull my hair out, was perfect for the show.

I honesty like how it gives you that feeling of I guess unfinished, like you know there should be more because that's what they want us to feel. The arcane world is so big and there are hunters of stories to be tole and even though I'm sad Vi and Jinx's story is done I know it's not really done, done which is in a way comforting.

This show really was beautiful.

I liked the mix between magic and reality. It really has set a high standard for any animated TV shows that I really doubt anyone will be able to replicate.

But I'm pumped for Penelope of Sparta because greek mythology AND stunning animation/storytelling??? Yes please sign me up I will eat it up.

.......now I'm just gonna...sit in my room....in silence for a good while because even though this show was stunning I'm sobbing

[the-gay-prometheus]

Arcane Season 2 Spoilers

I know a lot of people seem to have a lot of gripes about S2 and the pacing and all that stuff, and I think a lot of those issues can be resolved by like. Paying attention to what is happening in the visuals and using context clues/characterization to understand what's going on and to realize that maybe you don't need an extra few episodes to explain things that are already being explained in other ways.

But for me there is one glaring issue that I have yet to see any kind of resolution for, and that's how Caitlyn's rise to power was handled.

We got an entire minute (probably more than that) of the end of Ep3 dedicated to a very scary, very powerful moment where Piltover and Noxus come together to salute Caitlyn as de facto ruler. Caitlyn seems very sure of herself and very welcoming of this new power being bestowed upon her. It really looks like she's made a turn for the worst and is about to become a horrible dictator.

I don't feel like we ever got real pay off for that, especially for how much emphasis was placed on that scene.

Sure, we saw that border security between Piltover and Zaun was significantly raised, but there was nothing particularly dramatic about it. With the way the music during the salute scene was sounding and the expression on Caitlyn's face, you'd think they'd be gunning people down at the checkpoint for even the smallest mistake. Instead, we see a Noxian acting aggressively on his own accord, and Caitlyn being upset about it.

You'd think based on the salute scene that Caitlyn would be one to be happy to lock any Zaunite into the deepest dungeons of Stillwater and throw away the key, but no, we find out that she actually banned the use of those deepest dungeons because of how inhumane they were.

The contrast of the tension and drama of that salute scene and of Caitlyn still having a glimmer of that "I care about people" attitude (even after literally using chemical warfare against Zaunites and being extremely aggressive toward Vi, a person she loved - both of which I may remind you came well before the salute and the rise to total power) just seemed so off to me.

I honestly would've been happy with even just another musical montage depicting Caitlyn starting out as this ruthless dictator that she was being made out to be, only for the cracks to start to show as she realizes she doesn't like this person that she's becoming, and then we get to the beginning of Act 2 where we see that she's letting some of her humanity show through again.

Idk, maybe I missed something, but it just seemed so weird to make such a big deal about something and have literally zero real pay-off for it.

[venomwrites]

I was thinking of Labyrinth the other day and wondering if that was finished. I see it is not. Another premise so very interesting to explore.

The parallels between Jinx and Caitlyn.

And also Anomalies might be my current favourite story of yours. Closely followed by Seismology (because Princely Cait has my heart).

Really looking forward to see what is going on with Powder, I have an idea, and what it will do with Vi. Also love that the first thing that happens when Cait goes into the last drop is her kind of flirting with one of the patrons. I had the scene from season 1 at the brothel in mind.

YES UNFORTUNATELY FOR EVERYONE THE WELCOME TO NOXUS VID STRUCK MY MUSE. It is very interesting to put Caitlyn on the other side of being dosed with Shimmer. And the fact that Vi is the one who gave it to her also complicates things immensely. I also really like exploring how Vi might handle this physical upgrade of her own with these powers. What does it look like for someone who has had so little autonomy to have these powers? It's all very interesting.

Seismology though is about to go so off the rails omg. This three way convo has gutted me multiple times. It's super cathartic but WOW is it hard to have it all laid out there.

Anomalies is so much fun right now after they are off on this adventure. I love how as we're going down to Zaun, we're also seeing this new side of Vi with this big secret being revealed with her parents fate. It's really interesting with how much Vi values the honesty in their relationship and how hurt she was when she told herself Caitlyn was lying. When, in fact, it's Vi whose lied. Multiple times actually if you count her going along with Powder lying about Vander. Caitlyn on the other hand won't even lie that she thinks nothing is wrong. The next chap is from her POV and it's been fun to write.

It's so funny I wasn't even thinking about the brothel so directly but I can totally see what people are saying. I also love the comments I've gotten about people being disappointed Vi wasn't jealous but Vi isn't thinking straight (no pun intended). Don't worry, you'll get your food soon I promise.

[moirasdolly]

how was act 3?? i wanna know your thoughts. i have no one to talk to about this 😔

-🐮

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH OKAY spoilers for act 3 for anyone who hasn’t watched it please keep scrolling !!

soooo episode 7 has got to be my fav episode in the entire series. it portrayed powder and ekko’s relationship so beautifully :<< and what could have been in another universe. i find it extremely admirable that ekko gave up his own happiness in a universe where everything was almost perfect for him (minus vi being dead) to save everyone jn his own universe. he’s better than me though that’s all i can say…. i would have stayed in the good universe 😭

i’m a little irritated though with how he successfully talked present jinx out of suicide multiple times only for her to end up sacrificing herself at the end. i feel like they built up her redemption arc only to lowkey throw it away at the end. i love her so much i just wish i could have seen her happy ending :cc and i know the theories are that she’s still alive but i wanna SEE that, i don’t want just breadcrumbs and theories :cc she deserves the world.

NOW onto mel’s arc… i think she was severely overlooked this entire season. she easily had one of the coolest and most interesting arcs like WHAT, her powers, her transformation, her strength ugh everything about her is so perfect. her fight with ambessa was sooooo gut wrenching as well :< the fact that she’d give up herself to go to a nation where she doesn’t feel like herself just to end all the bloodshed WAHHHHH I WANT TO CRY. i wish she would have had a better ending too, it hurt to see her alone and unhappy on her way back to noxus.

CAITVI… CAITVI SEX SCENE. i needed that so bad… i knew it would be them hehe. but it was sooooo intimate and perfect and sweet 🥹 when vi was having trouble unbuckling caits pants and they were giggling AHH my heart was so full 🥹 i am so happy they got the ending they deserved,,, i just want them to be happy.

sevika’s place in the council honestly surprises me but i can’t help but feel sad for her instead of happy :< it didn’t look like anyone on the council welcomed her and she looked so uncomfortable at the table and AGHH im frustrated. i just hope that as piltover and zaun rebuilds themselves the relationship between topside and the undercity can improve and sevika can feel like she has a true place among the council and that they will actually LISTEN to her. it also makes me so sad that she opened her heart up to jinx and isha so much this season and they were taken away from her so quickly. she has nobody now, and my only hope is for her story to co time and for her to be happy….

AMDDD jayce and viktors arc was actually insane?? that’s honestly all i can say 😭 im in shock.

sorry that this is so long…. i just have so much to say about this season i adore it so much T^T tell me your thoughts as well !!

[strangeracrossthestreet]

Never would have expected to say this but:

Arcane Season 2 has the exact same pitfalls as RWBY and that's hilarious. No matter how pretty something looks, can't hide the writing on the wall.

oh well

spoilers for season 2:

season 2 episode 7:

Nothing to say here, the (only) good episode in the entire season by a LONG shot. And why? Oh yes, because it focuses mostly on interpersonal relationships! Who would have thought.

season 2 episode 8:

A disgusting episode, I knew it would happen. I knew they would do this and yet it's still disgusting to witness.

"Its not a fight about ideals or territory" yeah yeah, its so fucking EASY for you isnt it? someone outside comes in and you dont have to care about what YOU'VE done even though you guys were the ones to WELCOME NOXUS WITH OPEN ARMS IN THE FIRST PLACE!

Reap what you sow bitch

Incoming sarcasm:

Noxus is the real enemy, topside and bottom should work together!!! Look how much Piltover has changed, they let down the checkpoint walls, they let Zaunites cross the bridge!! Wow! It only took their safety to be threatened for them to do that! Crazyyyyy. Woooow!

Blease help us Zaun, you're our only hope, uwu

End of sarcasm.

Also that goddamn "Break the cycle. YOU have to be the one to do it." philosophy be sprouted at a ZAUNITE is beyond disgrace. And don't give me that "It was in Jinx's head, she thought of that to herself!" because that isn't it and you damn well know it.

season 2 episode 9:

wooow sevika alone in the council, when will the writers stop kicking her? what is that gonna do exactly? 7 votes to 1? after we have had PLENTY of episodes to know that the way they make all the decisions is by majority vote and how voting can be bought off and just—what has changed??? Are we just gonna ASSUME things are ""better""? Give me a break.

terrible season 👍 make the stakes about ooo apocalypse ooo rather than what you built up in season 1. Why resolve that in any manner other than cheap surface level, right?

2 seasons was not remotely enough. You did not do the premise YOU SET justice whatsoever.

[waytray]

oh sh!t so it begins!!

[funkylittlelurker]

So I just watched act two of season two of Arcane.

Spoilers under the cut.

Why the fuck did Isha have to die?

I liked her. So much. So really, why?

Oh, I know why. They're gonna use her death as a push off the deep end for Jinx and development for Vi.

But come the fuck on. Really?

Anyway, I'm done with my Isha rant. Here's the rest of it.

I really liked what they did with Mel.

Her having to realise that her brother wasn't actually her brother and only a conjuration/construct of the Black Rose? *chefs kiss* And am I reading this wrong, or did they imply/state outright that Mel has some sort of magic? ("Welcome home, sister" or whatever they say) I cannot WAIT to see what they do for her.

Oh my god Vander. I feel for you man.

The lava symbolizing the beast? Awesome imagery man. I loved it. Him having like, negative two seconds with his daughters. Ough, loved it. And that reveal of who exactly Vi and Powder/Jinx's mom is? LOVED IT. And pre betrayal Silco? You already know. (loved it)

Vi, the lesbian disaster.

You already know all the jokes. But come on. Your girlfriend leaves you and you start descending into alcoholism? 'cmon. And was it just me, or did you think they implied that she thought her sister was a hallucination at first? But then she could, ya know, choke Jinx and Vi is like, 'oh, she's real. Caine instincts (but not really) activated'. Fuckin loved when Jinx was like 'what the fuck did you do to ur hair?' And, oof. She got her dad back for negative two seconds. I feel for ya sis.

Caitlin, the Lesbian Dictator

Again, you know all the jokes. But I liked what they did with it. That scene where Ambessa is telling Cait about Noxus ideals, and she's clothed in Noxus red? Symbolizing that she's so deep in Ambessa's teachings at that point? And then she's in the cloak, and she's still with Ambessa but she's putting her own spin on it? AND THEN SHE'S I ENFORCER BLUE TO HELP VI JINX AND VANDER MEANING SHE'S DOING HER OWN THING? LOVE LOVE LOVE!

Also the fact that she found a rebound girl in that one enforcer. Kinda dope ngl

Viktor, The Vaunite Twink Jesus

*Insert jokes here* not really much to say about Vik atm, but I do like how in the cult/commune all the peeps he's healed have his finger/hand prints on them. And his like, mind palace form? Where he's all glowy and spacey? Loved it. And I don't think that ISN'T Sky, but, it's not Sky, ya know? She doesn't have her glasses, which could mean she got 'healed' but not really? I don't know...

Jayce. Himbo loser extraordinaire

OHY GOD HE KILLED THAT ONE GUY. JUST LIKE, STRAIGHT UP KILLED HIM. DID NOT SEE THAT COMING. And his hammer staying corrupted? That's cool, showing how much Vik has effected and stayed with him? Awesome. Don't have much to say with him either. Need to re-watch.

Anyway, hope you like my one watch ramblings. I'll need to watch it again to be more coherent.

[melmedarda]

Another narcissistic!Ambessa truther. An individual of taste.

Honestly, unless you've lived under a narcissistic parent, you don't understand the intricacies of the Mel x Ambessa dynamic. That innate knowledge that nothing you do, no matter your level of success in life, it'll never be enough to please your parent. That if you have siblings, they'll always love your sibling more.

The constantly moving goal posts. Oh, you're the wealthiest in Piltover? You're still not as rich as your family in Noxus. Ambessa is such an efficient manipulator and triangulator, it's ridiculous. And you really see it with how she had Caitlyn in a chokehold in season 2. Turned that girl every which way but loose.

Oh, and the lack of boundaries with your kid because they're an extension of you, not their own person. That scene where Ambessa talks to Jayce naked in her bathroom is absolute crazy work in every sense. Because why are you, as a grown woman, cool with talking to your daughter's "man who's not really her man" in such a state? Jayce was visibly uncomfortable, but Ambessa just kept going. I feel like people don't understand or appreciate how unhinged that whole scene was.

Mel is better than me because hands would have gotten thrown just for that bit of violation on its own. Rolling up to your kid's home after over a decade has passed (and you haven't checked in with her at any point) and expecting a warm welcome, then calling her dramatic when she calls you out on your nonsense........nah,bruh. Mel should have gone off on her.

(Mel was probably grey-rocking Ambessa, to be fair to her. But still. Someone in that writer's room has to have experience with a narcissistic parent because that shit was written way too realistically.)

I've had to deal with narcissistic relatives and they are so difficult to coexist with because they demand better of you and constantly criticize, but you can never be better than them at the same time. I don't know and cannot pretend to understand.

The scene with Jayce and Ambessa, it was a power move, as subversion and flipping of stereotypical gender roles in such a scenario. It was insane, frankly, and It was a battle, one Jayce won for that moment, only to lose everything in the end, essentially.

And Mel DID come after her mother, telling her to stay away from Jayce. And Ambessa didn't even let her get a word in. Shut her down and told her get it together, I raised you better. Shut that entire conversation down by appealing to Mel's emotions, which made her unsteady and eventually forget about the reason she had come to upbraid her mother in the first place. Ambessa's sooooo interesting, I really want to dissect her mind. I cannot WAIT to read her book because I need to understand how she got to be this way.

[leafatlas]

Arcane's Mel Officially Joins League Of Legends, With A New Noxian Look

Mel Medarda, one of the protagonists of the “League of Legends” show “Arcane”, officially joins the game’s roster with the start of the game’s first season in 2025, “Welcome to Noxus.” Developer Riot announced the news in its latest development update video. After the events of Arcane Season 2, Mael returned to Noxus, and her new appearance in the game shows that she embraces her Noxian heritage.…

[runeterrankhaleesi]

Hey, Khaleesi! Remember that alternate Ruination link? So here, for @theruinednymph and all who don't understand Polish, I give a translation of the script to English :)

Here's the (more or less accurately) translated version of Marvecc's Ruination. I'm giving you the closest thing to what he said but in English. Sorry for inevitable inconsistencies, typos and misspellings 😅

It is commonly known that for quite some time I've been complaining about the Ruination, I shamelessly admit. But I think nothing I said was unjustified. When the Ruination came to an end, I had sort of a bad hangover. I noticed wasted potential. "So make a better event. If you're so smart!" So uh… let's try!

I may not have plentiful resources as Riot Games do, I am no graphic designer or animator but I know a bit of game lore so I've decided to take it one step further. I've decided to fix the Ruination. It will be a huge test for me, because some day, in five, ten, fifteen or twenty years I'd like to create my own world. My own universe. That's why today you yourselves will judge if in any way, knowing the lore of some world, I am fit for this task.

Welcome dear viewers, I am Marvecc, and today I will be telling you how, in my opinion, the plot of the Ruination should've looked like, or how I would create it.

Let's assume some basics in the making of the plot. Let's leave the cinematic from the season's beginning because it was fantastic, let's be real, and let's leave the regional structure. It's clear that a very important changing element was the characters' journey in a way that everyone could find themselves in their favorite region. Well, maybe not everyone because not all regions had been presented, but the majority of them. So without further ado, let's move onto my machinations.

As we know, the cinematic ended on a ship with the sight of Senna and Lucian, and in my opinion the champions should've immediately headed for Bilgewater it was there Lucian had allies in the fight against Harrowing and it is there the plot of the game "Ruined King" begins. We reach the harbor, Lucian and Senna meet with Miss Fortune, shed light on the situation and she decides it's time to head to the Temple of Nagakabuross on the hill, asking the high priestess of the Kraken - Illaoi - for help. The four of them meet at an inn, discussing the end of the world and the apocalypse of the undead. Everyone is wondering how to stop Viego. What to do to save the world from destruction. It turns out that our conversation was unintentionally being listened to by Yummi - yes, exactly. Yummi - who quietly has been sitting in a corner in the shadow and eavesdropping on what our champions were talking about. Lucian and Mf obviously laugh the cat off, but she had taken notice of the unease of humans and all creatures while travelling, caused by the sudden attack of the Mist. When those attacks had taken place, she was in Freljord with her friend Braum and they'd witnessed the Mist and its abominations slaughter the inhabitants of one of the Freljordian villages. Braum jumped into the frey, trying to protect the people but he was anguished when he realised that he's, sadly, powerless.

Caring deeply for his homeland, he asked his friend Yummi to try and gather some information. And she did. After a while of sitting on a table, she leaped onto the Book, vanished and jumped out of a portal moments later with Braum in tow. You know, it makes sense, they're both friends and Braum understands that now the biggest threat for the Freljord is Viego. Our characters debate on how to stop him. It turns out however, that they don't really have any plan. They don't see a light at the end of the tunnel. How are they supposed to face the might of the undead, having so little force at their disposal? Now, if the power of Nagakabuross and Illaoi, who despise the dead, is some sort of a natural counterpart to the undead, our group heads to the Temple of the Bearded Lady. Illaoi decides it is there they would find the solution.

And curiously enough, Buhru Sentinel awaits them there with Gwen who met him while searching for Senna whom she'd sensed because Viego didn't take the whole fragment of Isolde's soul, which we know from "the Ruination", as she herself also possesses a fragment. Buhru Sentinel has a similar role. He's, somewhat, an introduction, tells us he'd fixed the connection between the base in Bilgewater and the one in Ixtal - of course I'm talking about the Sentinels' bases. His role is of a man who travels with us, a sage of sorts, who stays behind and repairs the links in bases.

Well then. We've been to Bilgewater and we have the means to travel to Ixtal. You may be thinking "Marvecc, okay, but the event started in Demacia". Mind you. I'm making up my own version. Also, Demacia lies, you know, on the opposite side of the known Runeterra and honestly the Mist comes from Shadow Isles, so we constantly, not paying mind to the danger of it, travel to those regions. In the original Ruination, the role of the Mist had been terribly diminished to a substance which just searches for Isolde. I would make it so that we fear the Mist. We fear Viego's army and we flee from east to west, not go to random locations. And obviously we don't go to Shadow Isles just like that in the end where a huge army if undead resides which for some reason can't see us and doesn't murder us on sight.. Of course, just so you know. The Mist can materialise in various places thanks to Vex, as it was shown in the cinematic but a path from Shadow Isles - escape from the Mist - seems more logical to me than braving overtaken regions.

Anyway, Buhru Sentinel also tells us that he knew about our arrival and had sent Rookie to greet us or welcome us to Bilgewater. He wasn't supposed to reveal anything to Senna and Lucian, because Buhru found out about a Sentinel who abandoned his post and didn't really respect Sentinel's rules - you surely know I mean Akshan - and wanted to check what are the intentions of Senna and Lucian.

At the same time in the scriptures of the first Sentinels, Buhru has found information about an ancient prophecy, foretelling the great return of the King of the Dead and his defeat. Now, just a head's up, because I wrote a prophecy:

Darkness of his heart will swallow the world

Nations and countries will not bend the knee

It is not his goal

It is her goal

Obsession of feeling, love is all that matters

No matter how, it only matters when

The dreary King of the Dead beside his Queen

They shall change the future world

Darkness only darkness can defeat

Love can be beaten by vengeance

And Heavens can fell Death itself.

I don't know what it's like, this was my first prophecy, I hope it's not abysmal, but it will be important later on.

Anyway, our whole group debates on how to defeat Viego and it turns out that they don't have a better chance than to rely on the prophecy. The Sentinels don't know how to trap Viego, how to stop him. So far, they only know that he can be slowed down, with relic weapons for instance but not just with them. But eventually, the old Buhru Sentinel interprets that it won't change a thing. For this reason, our group decides to follow the prophecy and travel to Targon, where, as it is stated, Heavens can fell Death itself.

And that's how our adventure begins, where without chances or resources, Sentinels aren't trying to stop Viego from finding the fetters of his wife, but attempt to follow an ancient prophecy of the Sentinels of Light. Let's add something extra from me. A lore accurate expansion to the cinematic about the Ruination. In the cinematic, the locations of Noxus, Demacia and Ionia weren't an accident, in my version that is. Let's add Freljord as well, because we know that something like this has happened there too but it didn't make it to the cinematic. All those places in my opinion were important to Viego. Why he's so powerful also wasn't really explained by Riot Games. I have a good idea for this. Sure, partially thanks to Vex he could cause a global Ruination, but to me a magical aid of a teenage Yordle is a bit too little.

In Demacia, Viego discovered a piece of his wife, the same in Freljord. When it comes to Ionia, he knows that the land is too magically powerful to allow him to freely take over Runeterra and search for Isolde, when Ionia with its primordial magic can challenge him. This is why, in the cinematic, the Ruined King first wanted to weaken Karma, the land itself and its Spirit, while in Noxus he wanted to check something out. He wanted to discover the dark secrets of the Immortal Bastion. Here, let's remember that Yummi is still with us, and let's assume she knew that Vex fled from Bandle City, met Viego and Yummi figured it out when she encountered the Mist, as she sensed Yordle magic within it. She explained to the group that the combination of the King of the Dead and Yordle magic is.. very powerful. That's why our characters decide on a plan consisting of three elements. First is strictly about the game "Ruined King". Illaoi, Braum and Miss Fortune want to head to Shadow Isles as a distraction, to focus Viego's attention on themselves and buy more time. Yummi goes to the Bandle City to mobilize and convince Yordles to help the creatures of the Physical Realm. And this was the second part. For the third part, Senna, Gwen and Lucian set out to Targon. And here our party splits up.

As we prepare for the journey in "Ruined King" we're attacked by Pyke, which makes sense. MF, as a captain, is on his list. Due to the preparations for the sail, nobody notices anything, nobody notices Pyke. But! MF is saved at the last moment only by a strong tornado which knocks the assassin back. It turns out it's Ahri and Yasuo. The tornado gives Illaoi a chance to subdue Pyke with the power of the Goddess. He's a bit brainwashed and decides to assist in the quest. You know, it would explain his odd behavior. The group thanks for the help and asks who the unknown newcomers are - which are Ahri and Yasuo. Ahri explains that she's looking for a craftsman by the name of Melo, which is accurate with her lore, and Yasuo is her bodyguard, which is accurate as well. During the game "Ruined King" we gather resources for the journey, prepare our crew and collect information as Ahri and Yasuo, to find out that the aforementioned craftsman had headed - for reasons unknown - to Shadow Isles. Because of that. Ahri decides to join the expedition but she and Yasuo don't know - Illaoi, MF or Braum (who's very upset about it) haven't told them - the true goal of the quest, a mission with no return. A mission to delay the march of Viego or at least busy him.

I didn't make up what the craftsman's fate could've been because I didn't write that much about it, I just created the basics. We set to Shadow Isles and - not to make an entire plot to "Ruined King", because it's not the goal of this video - our task is to activate the pillars with the defense mechanism of the Blessed Isles, which could lead to the imprisonment of Viego and the Black Mist. You know, like in the cinematic with Thresh. The overall plot of the game would be about it. But this we would find out from the old Keeper on Shadow Isles. From that moment, our party struggles against the abominations of the Mist, Ahri and Yasuo find out about the true goal of the expedition, Ahri gets to know the truth behind her origins and the craftsman, she develops mutual feelings for Yasuo, only for their mission to fail in the end.

The finale is this: Hecarim stands in the way of Braum when he attempts to activate a pillar, Illaoi - using the Goddess' power - begins winning the fight with Viego (initially she was only supposed to stop him). However, she has used so much of her strength that her influence on Pyke weakened enough for him to snap out of it and take her with him to the depths. Viego - having no better opponent - takes control of MF, Pyke, and on the battlefield remain only Braum duelling Hecarim in the distance, and Viego, MF, Pyke - and of course a lot of creatures of the Mist, nothing new - versus Yasuo and Ahri. Suddenly, on Shadow Isles appears Yummi who hastily exclaims that she will save her friends. Unfortunately, Yasuo realises that the cat won't make it on time. He tells her to save Ahri and Braum, while he alone faces Viego, saying - imagine Yasuo's voice - "Time for me to atone for my sins". With a tornado, Yasuo repels the Mistwraiths as Ahri strikes Viego with all her force, which doesn't do him much harm but disorients him enough for Yummi to take wounded Braum, return for Ahri and the last thing we see in the game is Viego running Yasuo through with his blade. And may I remind you, at that time we didn't know yet that being impaled by Viego causes Ruination. That's why the game ends with a scene in which we are certain that Yasuo dies - because "Ruined King" was supposed to come out before the event. Additionally our characters leave to god-knows-where and Illaoi, from what we know, is also dead. A whole lot of cliffhangers.

That's it for the first part regarding "Ruined King". And considering that the game by Riot Forge was going to come out before the event, instead of the cinematic in Demacia, I would release a cinematic which shows Yasuo's ultimate sacrifice, Ahri and Braum on some neutral background, being approached by a stranger. A tiny stranger with a hammer. And the last look at Shadow Isles, Ruined MF, Pyke and Hecarim. And Hecarim asks Viego: "My liege, what now?" And he replies: "Everything is going according to plan."

Let's leave Yummi's plot for now. Let's now move onto the story from the client. Senna, Lucian, Gwen and Buhru Sentinel, who will be our Wayfinder, a person who repairs the links between quarters, head to the base in Ixtal, which happened to be hidden but lies close to an Ixtalian outpost. Of course, Buhru Sentinel - who, for short, we will be just calling Buhru - stays to fix the portal but characters are taken hostage during a scouting mission. Everyone here thinks they are spies from Piltover, which, lorewise, would be correct. In secrecy to talk with us, comes Qiyana intrigued by our presence, to check what the Sentinels do as she isn't so quick to wrongfully judge them. Senna explains that the Black Mist is approaching and they need to take all measures to fight it. Qiyana goes to Yuntal to give them the story of captured Sentinels. No one approves that she talked to them at all and she is about to be punished but the news of the Black Mist and the undead come from the east borders of Ixtal. Yuntal decides it's not the time to dwell on what Qiyana did, protecting the country from the Mist is their priority now. Ixtal's authorities order for as many citizens as possible to be moved to their archology, to have all masters of the elements stand against the Black Mist. Of course, nobody bothered with releasing Sentinels, because why would they? Qiyana, knowing that this fight is pointless, frees Sentinels, committing treason in the eyes of Ixtal's people and flees with them to Sentinel quarters where Hecarim catches up but is ultimately fended off. Buhru managed to make the connection with the base in Piltover. Before heading out, Sentinels find armor and relic stone in Ixtal quarters and allow Qyiana to upgrade her blade with relic stones, put the armor on and join the ranks of Sentinels of Light. Though, her devotion isn't entirely sincere. She knows that if she's the one to defeat Viego, she will have the right argument to seize the rule over Ixtal. Region's finale goes like this: Viego arrives, talks to Hecarim who tells him the news that the Sentinels have a plan to stop him. The last look is at the capital of Ixtal - Ixaocan - and its siege. As we know, Yuntal - the masters of the elements - are very powerful but have thousands upon thousands of foes to go against.

Let's move on to Piltover. The Mist has also reached it but something stopped it from breaching the city. Senna and Gwen, alone in the quarters, discover the closeness between one another, through the fragments of Viego's wife. Senna suspects everything before Gwen does and tells her that Viego did say that Isolde is his world, and this will be his main plan, which Senna knew earlier already but I won't spoil the ending.

In the base in Piltover we encounter Dess and Adda, of course. Those characters I would 100% leave because they have been very nicely done. Senna tells them of Viego's true plan. Dess and Adda mention a long-nonfunctioning device called Zindel's Incognium, which is able to find every person on Runeterra. Making use of the lack of the Mist in the city, the Sentinels go to Heimerdinger who is the only person capable of uncovering the secrets of the device's function. Heimer initially complains about not having time, about having enough of his own things to do but the professor is ultimately convinced by Gwen's positive attitude and pleas. He repairs the device, and it is revealed that Isolde's fetters are still in Demacia, Freljord and Shurima. The party thanks Heimerdinger for assistance and returns to the quarters. Meanwhile, it turns out Viego also knew about the device from one of the souls from Piltover and headed for the city. And, of course, here initially, during the first wave of the Black Mist, Viego was doing reconnaissance. A scouting of the terrain. But he didn't know, didn't find the locations of all fragments of Isolde. Because, honestly, from what I remember it wasn't specified why Viego and the Mist follow Isolde. Okay, we know that it does and that it's linked to Viego's despair but the despair in itself knows where all the pieces of Viego's wife's soul are? I think if it was made in the way that Viego doesn't have full knowledge about Isolde and the location of her soul's fragments it would've been more interesting. Either way, Viego goes to Piltover. And there at the entrance he meets Janna, and discovers it was her using her powers to defend Piltover and Zaun from the Mist at all costs. You know, Mist, and Janna is the Goddess of the Wind. For 20 days she's been keeping the Mist at bay but exhausted, she was no match for Viego who quickly defeated her. However, because Janna is after all a Goddess and not some poorly dressed lady who is just standing and calling tornadoes, with the last bits of her strength she makes an escape. Although Viego is strong, it's not like other champions are trembling in their boots before him at all times. Viego steps into Piltover, finds the device and bumps into Ziggs who left Zaun to see what's happening. And he notices that Heimerdinger repaired the machine and, being his former student - after being Ruined by Viego - betrays the secrets of the location of the fetters. Ziggs, naturally, gets "Ruined" skin. On the other hand, Heimerdinger brings along Vi and Caitlyn to the base to assure safe return and aid. Both Caitlyn and Vi decide to stay in Piltover to try and stop Viego alongside Adda and Dess but once he discovered the placement of his wife, he'd long made his escape and began his search. The Mistwraiths however, remained. At the end we see Thresh who goes around - like in the normal event - gathers power and collects souls from the Mist. Here, Buhru exclaims that the portal is too weak to take everyone to the same place. But it can take us to two places. Either to the base in Noxus, to find out what Viego wanted to discover there, or ti Shurima. The party breaks apart. Senna, Qiyana and Rookie go to Noxus, while Lucian, Gwen and Buhru - to Shurima. We witness a touching farewell between Lucian and Senna, and canonically the Noxus is unlocked because that's where we head first.

We know that there aren't any fragments of Isolde's soul in Noxus but Senna decides to discover Viego's plans. We come across Darius, Draven and Samira who lead the investigation on this case. Why has the Mist suddenly appeared in Noxus? Draven immediately wants to fight the Sentinels but Darius holds him back, seeing that Sentinels mean no harm to Noxus, quite the opposite. They want to discover what the King's deal is. Turns out that Viego, desiring to become unbeatable, already empowered by Vex, seeks a way to make it impossible for anyone to face him in a duel. And to make sure no one and nothing stands in his way as he searches for his Queen. For this reason, the Ruined King descends into the depths of the Immortal Bastion. He finds the demon summoned by the Black Rose. Viego right away kills all members of the organisation and stands face to face with the demon.

Turns out the Black Rose and LeBlanc beckoned it to fight another monster, another demon. She even has a line in the card game: "One monster to end another".

But the demon is unable to leave the chamber it was summoned in. And so, Viego proposes a deal, to join forces with one another and together become invincible. Why is this particular demon so important for Viego? We know that it is as powerful as big is the sum of its allies and Viego has plenty of allies. Plenty of souls in the Mist. Plenty of the dead. Atakhan realised Viego's potential and agreed to his terms. The demon and the King of the Dead merge into one being. Viego's fingers elongate, his armor appears more ethereal and he's wearing the demon's helmet. Viego gets a skin "Demonic King Viego" or something like that. He leaves the Immortal Bastion and comes across the Sentinels. Seeing him, Draven jumps him, after a second ending up Ruined. Viego naturally laughs at this pathetic attempt and flees. The Ruined King becomes pretty much indestructible.

Darius exclaims that he needs to consult the Grand General, while Samira follows the Sentinels. In Noxus quarters she is given a relic pistol as well as upgrades to her blade. Unfortunately, our team has no clue how to get to Demacia, because as I said Buhru is in Shurima with Lucian. Here, Darius proposes a solution in the form of magically modified Drake Hounds, tame towards those who were assigned to them. The Hounds are made for incredibly fast travels and were supposed to be a special tool for spies and messengers. They only nees a. Couple hours of sleep, thanks to which the Sentinels in around a week would reach Demacia.

Here, we completely cut off from the plot of the Sentinels and Rookie. Instead, we impersonate one of Camavor's soldiers who accompanies Viego alongside many others in a journey to Ionia. There are no fetters there but considering this is the magically primordial land, it poses a threat to Viego's plans. The magic of Vastaysheirei - ancestors of the Vastaya - as well as the Vastaya themselves, and all forces and all champions can use the power of the Spirit Realm and challenge him but this won't be possible once Viego conquers and Ruins Ionia. He goes to the Everlasting Altar right away and duels Karma, for her to ultimately fall. The Spirit of the land was corrupted but the duel didn't last five minutes but rather long hours. Karma realised that the King of the Dead is coming for her much earlier too. Shen, Kennen and Akali answer her summons along with Kinkou Order. Irelia stands with them. The champions try to get through to the Everlasting Altar barred by the wraiths but once Viego seized control over Karma, the fight was turned around. Viego descends along with Karma who throws all fighters back with a flick of her hand. Irelia stands up first and to extinguish the Spirit of the land once and for all, Viego impales her, causing her Ruination. Here, we're avoiding an inconsistency - why Sentinel (Ruined in this story) Irelia could fight with her blades.

Viego, Karma and Irelia vanish into the Mist but the wraiths remain to kill the rest. As they're about to die, Yone arrives, who has sensed the presence of a powerful demon, one he'd never sensed before. He felt the bond with the King of the Dead and came to fight him. Yone rescues the group because his demonic blade of Azakana can cut through the wraiths, and the last to fall is our Camavorian soldier, ran through with a spiritual blade by Shen. Before passing, he heard Kennen say that he has a plan to save Ionia and the whole Runeterra.

Next, we move to Shurima. As I said, we have Lucian, Gwen and Buhru here. And just so you know, because Rookie - the person we associate with - is not here, we remain nobody. A passive spectator of the events. Like we have on Shadow Isles, because Rookie, the person we steer, is bot always necessary. Of course we meey Akshan in Shurima Sentinel outpost, he doesn't give a damn and his story is very similar to the one in the client. I wouldn't change it that much because the construction in my opinion was fine but I would split it into two separate segments.

First - similar to the one in the client. And second - in which Viego heading to Shurima, before he claims the fetter, meets Azir and his devoted soldiers along with Nasus who knew about the approaching calamity from Ixtal - honoring the old alliance of countries. Viego decided he doesn't have time for this, knocked everyone aside and moved onward to reach the fetter which he takes. He kills Lucian and takes Buhru but Akshan revives Lucian, while Gwen - by Lucian's orders - hid herself away in the Hallowed Mist. The group meets up with Azir and Nasus, introduce them into the subject, and the emperor sends his most powerful warrior to join the Sentinels and assist with fighting the dead. Azir stays and defends his land from the wraiths. Nasus is given a special weapon in the quarters and Azir gifts him with the golden armor of the elite. Nasus joins the Sentinels and because Targon is nearby, this part of the team heads there.

Let's come back to the first part of the group. Senna, Qyiana, Samira and Rookie reached Demacia. The Mist has already taken the majority of the known lands and reached the capital of the Kingdom as well. The team meets the Dauntless Vanguard by the entrance who don't want to let them in at first but after Senna explains - that this is the matter of life and death and everything going on around - the warriors call for their leader, Garen who quickly takes the Sentinels to the palace where Jarvan and Tianna Crownguard debate what to do next. How to stop the Mist and Hecarim who - according to a published story - was already in Demacia. As a reasonable ruler, Jarvan simply asks what the Sentinels need. Senna switches off for a moment, hearing a small voice of Isolde whispering, telling Senna to find her in the city. She says she wants to stop Viego, which would add up since she'd already warned Senna in one of the stories. After a while Jarvan asks again and Senna replies "We only need time to stop the advance of the Mist". Jarvan promises to give them as much time as  possible and sends Shyvana with them.

When the group leaves the palace, the Ruination is raging across the city. Unexpectedly, from a rooftop jumps down Vayne who says she'd been watching them and has parted with Poppy, and that she's ready to help the Sentinels. Senna - knowing where the base is - heads to the quarters and gives Vayne a weapon, accepting her among the Sentinels. As they leave, everyone spots a flock of wraiths and Camavorian dragons as well as Ruined Cadregrin mounted by Viego. Shyvana decides to battle him but becomes Ruined. The Sentinels flee, prompted by Jarvan and the rest saying that soldiers of Demacia will stop Viego but he grew.. bored after a short fight with Shyvana and followed the Sentinels tracking down his Mist leading them to Isolde's fragment. Taking it, Senna once again hears the voice of Viego's wife and the fragment merges with the one inside of her. Viego arrives and says it's impossible. Isolde doesn't want to return to him? What do you mean? What's that about?? While he's shocked by his wife's behavior, the animated colossus Galio grabs him, which gives the Sentinels some time.

Simultaneously, Poppy appears, telling Vayne that she's found what they'd been looking for. You know. The thing from the cinematic. The Sentinels ask about it, Poppy explains there's no time for that. The champions quickly escape, enter some tenement, dead down into the basement where lies the tile engraved with the symbol of the Sentinels of Light. Poppy says it has taken a lot of time to discover all this and put all the clues together. Senna steps onto the stone, activating a passage in a wall where a secret portal to one of the bases was hidden. The entire group goes out into the unknown. Exactly! Into the unknown. We have no idea what's happening to them. I love such cliffhangers. I think it would be an interesting turn of events.

Once again, we're not Rookie and our plot guy is another Ruined soldier of Camavor. Viego heads to Freljord with Vex where they seek the last inanimate fetter. Not much is happening in the Freljord and Viego passes through one, two, three villages. The Ruined King doesn't fight anyone, he doesn't mean to Ruin anyone, he doesn't particularly care about taking the Freljord. He does nothing but search for the fetter. Vex absolutely dislikes it, asks Viego why he's becoming such a lamer, to which the King orders her to be silent. Vex asks again, again and again what's this about until he loses patience. He strikes her and she lands a good couple of meters further away. Viego floats up - with the demon's aid he can naturally - to the young Yordle and tells her she was just a pawn in his game. She was to empower him so that he could spread the Mist all across Runeterra in search of his wife. Vex is surprised that Viego is so prosaic and he strikes her again, once more causing her to fly quite a distance. The Shadow of course stands up to Viego but it has no chance - it is thrown back as well. Viego leans over Vex, calling her naive and says that after all, she can't undo the spell given to him, that he fulfilled his goal and has no regard for her.

Vex runs away in tears with Shadow's aid, saying "This isn't over yet". Viego finds the last fragment but suddenly he bumps into Thresh. The King asks if he tracked down the rest of the living fetters. He doesn't realise that Thresh is changing, because the Chain Warden tries - thanks to the newfound strength - to manipulate his looks as he did before. Exactly how it was in the novel. Thresh says he'd found Gwen in Targon and that's where the undead are heading but sadly.. he is unable to locate Senna.

We move onto the final region that is Targon. Here, Lucian, Gwen, Nasus, Akshan - you know, the entire party from Shurima - reach the base at the foot of Mount Targon. The group locks themselves inside to reconsider their next move. What happened to Senna, is she going to send them some information as to what they'd found in Noxus, what was Viego looking for? To Lucian all that mattered was that his wife had not returned. Nevertheless, the Sentinels decide to stop for the night at the base to rest up and regain strength. In the morning everyone is woken up by the arrival of Senna, Samira and the rest of the party. Lucian hugs his wife, asking what was happening, how she's back. And she is about to reveal to Lucian and others what happened when suddenly they hear someone calling from outside. "Sentinels of Light! You are surrounded! Come out with dignity and without tricks as our goal is one and the same!"

It turns out that before the base wait armies of Solari and Lunari with Diana, Leona and Atreus on the lead. Everyone is shocked by this sight. Leona comes up to the Sentinels, saying that the Heavens told them of a great threat looming. That the time of the world's union has come. This is why - by Leona's orders - the Solari stand side by side with the Lunari in the face of oncoming doom. While in Ionia, Diana heard the will of the Aspect to the Moon to make haste and return. In Targon she met Aphelios who is now in the army of the Lunari - naturally much smaller in comparison to the Solari - and he'd found Diana's weapon, kept it hidden, knowing that the First Light of the Moon would one day return. This is why Diana would have her blade here. Diana returned to Targon and there duelled Leona as the card game implies but both the Aspect of the Moon and the Sun ordered them to cease, unite against the approaching danger. Senna tells Leona of the ancient prophecy, it turns out that Leona knows it and tells the group to climb Mount Targon as soon as possible, as in the face of such a threat truly only Heavens can lend their aid. Solari and Lunari stay to delay the march of Viego.

At the beginning of the path we meet Taric who becomes our guide. Thanks to his powers and help the journey to the top is incredibly short. In the span of one day the Sentinels - thanks to the help of the Aspect of the Protector, which would be accurate with the lore - summit Mount Targon. Taric helps them bypass the Arbiter but at the top there's.. nothing. Gates to Astral Targon, the place where the Aspects reside remain closed. Sentinels go into a panic, what's happening, why is nothing here? And then.. the Mist reaches the peak. The last place of Runeterra not claimed by Viego. Sentinels lose hope but regardless, they are ready to fight. All Ruined champions step out of the Mist. MF, Pyke, Karma, Shyvana, Ziggs and even the old servants such as Hecarim. Yasuo, if you still remember him, and all others. Additionally, Ruined Atreus comes forth - not Pantheon, let's not be pretentious with resurrecting the Aspect of War. Viego exclaims that the vicious fight at the bottom still continues, that hehe underestimated Targon's strength but he managed to win a duel with Atreus, corrupt him and head with a part of his army to the peak. In desperation, Lucian steps forward and proposes Viego a deal. He can have his soul, he can have whatever he wants, as long as he lets Senna and the Sentinels live.

Viego simply laughs, with one swift motion killing Rookie. Lucian goes into a rage and attacks Viego, but barely in a second Viego laughs again and floats up, runs him through and to Senna's dismay Lucian is Ruined. Very pleased with himself, Viego orders his servants to kill the Sentinels. All Ruined champions charge at them. No hope, none. Here, I imagined a scene, like from the endgame. A portal appears out of which jumps Yummi. A positive little aspect, Gwen is happy to see her favorite cat. Yummi brushes dust off of her fur and nose with her paws and says: "You didn't think we forgot about you, did you?" And THEN. From the portal comes Yone wielding his red blade but the other that of a Sentinel and wearing Sentinel armor. Out comes Sentinel Kennen, Sentinel Tristana with her Gunners and Sentinel Teemo. Yes, Sentinel Teemo ·-·

In addition, Sentinel Poppy, Braum, Ahri and Lulu. It turns out that the second group travelled to Bandle City where Poppy and Kennen were secretly members of the Sentinels from the Spirit Realm, from the city of Yordles. That's why Kennen knew to take Yone to Bandle City and knew what to do next. Poppy too knew what to do in the case of Ruination. It's just a little Yordle twist, not to make the entire event too dark. I was also thinking about Corki because he's cinematically the best Yordle and the cinematics with Yordles in general are probably the best but I was afraid I'd overdo it.

Of course, Viego hasn't been expecting the enormous comeback, he orders to destroy the Sentinels. Some champions generally fight with the armies of wraiths but certain duels break out, like Yasuo/Yone where the elder brother strives to save the younger, Taric, as the Aspect's host and the mightiest warrior, stands against Atreus. In front of Senna stands Lucian who is defeated by her. But during this fight Senna sees Viego tearing out a fragment of Isolde from Gwen who soon collapses to the ground. Then, Senna hears a faint voice saying: "Now".

She drops her cannon, runs up to Viego and musters up her whole strength to draw in fragments of Isolde's soul. Viego, to put it shortly, looked at Senna, intending to end her life but in the same moment Taric - having already won with Ruined Atreus - jumps at Viego. Only he stood some chance. However, after a short struggle Viego manages to, not defeat per se, but knock Taric back. Meanwhile we see Teemo who addresses lieutenant Lulu "It is time". And Lulu, as a powerful sorceress - certainly more so than a teenage Yordle - reverses the spell which Vex bestowed upon Viego. In turn, Viego weakens, he senses it, but says that it changes nothing. Because, really, it does change nothing. The alliance of the demon and the King of the Dead is still much more powerful.

Even still, meanwhile, Senna connects all fragments of Isolde's soul in herself. Senna becomes Isolde. After a moment of transformation, Senna's appearance drastically changes. At first, she looks like a spectre. The fighting stops, everyone is astonished. Viego gazes at his beloved and says "My love, you have returned to me at last". Isolde comes up to Viego, embraces him and strokes his cheek. After a while though, out of the Mist she summons Thresh who approaches asking: "Yes, my lady?" Viego is disoriented and asks Isolde how she knows Thresh, and the Warden replies in his charismatic mannerism: "Well, your highness… I have always been loyal. But not to you." Then Thresh holds up a mask which he secretly obtained in Ixtal and hid from the eyes of all. How? If it was a soul fragment, he could easily lock it in his lantern and make it undetectable to Zindel's Incognium. Now, Thresh pulls the jade mask out from his lantern and tosses it to Isolde who absorbs the last fragment. And from a spectre she turns into a horrid monstrosity. Albeit.. with curves and features of a woman. We know Riot doesn't like to exaggerate. Isolde - or Senna - after the change says to Viego that the Ruler of the Dead can be only one.

In despair, Viego stands before his love, not really knowing what's going on but - not to make him a total noob easy to beat up - he decides "So be it". They cannot defeat him because he's too strong. To which, Thresh lifts his lantern and in the blink of an eye begins to absorb the power from the Mist. Remember the demon I mentioned? The more allies it has, the more powerful it is. I think it would be an interesting way to weaken Viego. You know, Thresh drains the Mist, the souls within it, simultaneously taking power of Viego and the demon. He takes pretty much everything. Even the demon. You still might think I made Viego a bit of a noob anyway because in the end he's still defeated but throughout the whole adventure I was trying to paint him as a guy you really should be afraid of. Who really does something to the Sentinels. Here however, he loses. In the end, Isolde using Senna's power drains the remnants of the Mist from Viego like in the cinematic. His servants stand stunned as he kneels in disbelief. Senna comes up to him and he asks her why she's done that.

Here we have a bit of a retrospection. Isolde tells him that despite his great love, the King treated her as his property, he was sickly jealous and Isolde thinks it was because of him she passed in agony. Because of the pain and misery, the gentle woman changed beyond recognition and wished only for vengeance as her shattered soul also suffered unspeakably. Isolde looks at Akshan and tells him to shoot Viego. He hesitates but she says it's the only way to reverse what Viego had done after his return. To reverse the Ruination of the entire Runeterra. To reverse his deeds. He almost shoots but looks at Isolde, asking how she knows this. And suddenly, she changes to resemble Senna more and with her voice she says she's always here. That she's an ally of Isoldeof. It's only to convince the Sentinels and gain their trust. Akshan takes a shot at Viego. He cannot die but the effects of the Ruination recede from champions as well as the Mist releases Runeterra. Additionally, Gwen creates a prison from Hallowed Mist for Viego. Why Gwen, you ask? Let me explain. Powerful magic of every fantasy world is love. In youth, Isolde pouring her feelings into the doll accidentally - she was no mage but certainly a strongly magical character - creates certain magical abilities which made sort of a sentient construct that afterwards, I mean now, without the soul fragment could exist on its own.

Lucian comes back to himself as well, we have a touching scene but this isn't the end. Terrified, Lucian runs up to Senna. He asks how all this could have happened, what they're going to do now that Senna has two souls. Senna looks at Lucian, a tear runs down her cheek and Thresh says: "It is time, my dear". Lucian turns to the wraith and is about to shoot from his pistol. But Senna stands before him. She turns to Thresh "He at least deserves an explanation". Thresh replies, alright but make it short. Senna reveals a great secret to everyone..

In Bilgewater, after learning of the prophecy she encountered Thresh while she went out to get some air. He already had absorbed some of the Mist and could assume human form. He approached Senna and asked her for the way but she didn't know and had no time to react as Thresh caught her with his chains, saying that if she starts screaming, he's going to kill everyone.. in Bilgewater. Senna promised to be calm, Thresh released her and told her how he hates Viego and if they work together, they can stop him. He explained that Sentinels without aid from the dead stand no chance against Viego. He reveals to Senna Viego's plans regarding Vex, the facts about the demon and Isolde. He adds that this is the only way for Lucian to survive. And here, in spite of herself, Senna decides to trust Thresh. She shares the prophecy, the plans of the Sentinels but together they come up with a secret plan of their own.

Thresh convinced that Sentinels's prophecies are worthless and the only way to defeat Viego is to use his weakness against him. Isolde, who - Thresh knows - wants revenge against Viego. And he promises to spare Lucian if Senna absorbs all fragments of Isolde who was unspeakably powerful due to the Ruination, which will cause Senna to have two souls, giving her enough strength to beat Viego. In the end though, the deal was simple. For Thresh's aid Senna promised him the soul of Isolde

Despite his hatred towards Thresh, Lucian understands, Senna explains she did this all to save their love but Thresh grows impatient. Senna takes a couple of steps away, once again changes to Isolde and Thresh begins to drain her soul. It takes a while, everyone is blinded by blue light which fades after a moment. And once it does, we see only Thresh. Without Senna. Thresh becomes even more powerful through the absorption of Isolde's soul. Everyone thought that Senna would remain with them. Disoriented Lucian furiously says that it was supposed to be just Isolde. To which Thresh replies: "Don't tell me that after all the trouble you have caused me I would stop tormenting her.. and you."

Laughing, Thresh knocks back everyone with his chain. With the might of thousands of souls, demon and corrupted by Ruination's paradox Isolde, no one present could be a match for him. Most of the Sentinels fall from the summit of Targon bit Yummi - thanks to her Book - saves all one by one and takes them to the bottom where Diana and Leona wait for them. At the peak there is only Taric. Here I will tell you how I pictured it in my head. Immense power of Thresh thrums in the air and his great plan was truly a masterpiece. Taric attempts to attack Thresh but the host of the Aspect of the Protector is also thrown off the peak. But here we have another twist.

Remember the prophecy? It would be nice if it was fulfilled. Grand, golden Astral Gate. Thresh stares stunned as from the sky descends a creature with blazing wings, donning armor of cosmic stone and wielding twin blades burning with astral fire. Kayle returns to Runeterra. She doesn't have her helmet and her eyes are filled with white energy revealing that she.. is an Aspect. Not just a host. But she herself became the Aspect of Justice. The mightiest champion currently residing on Runeterra. In a split of a second she flies up to Thresh and starts a duel. Still, with all the power he possesses, Thresh is certainly a worthy opponent. The fight between the Aspect and the new King of the Dead is murderous. Sentinels, Solari and Lunari gaze up at the skies, at the peak of Targon in awe, watching the shifting colors as Kale and Thresh battle one another. In any case, Thresh - unwilling to lose so soon and endanger his newfound power - says "This isn't over, Aspect", dissolves like mist in the air and retreats. Unmoved by this Kayle flies down to Lunari, Solari and the Sentinels, announcing that an end must be put to Thresh and his likes. 

And here we have a bittersweet ending. Yummi returns everyone to respective regions and Viego is moved to Shadow Isles where he's guarded by previously allied with the old Keeper Yorick, and yes, I know the Maiden wasn't here as a fetter but instead of changing the concept, in my Ruination I'd rather not turn it around by 180°. And Yorick, in truce with Kalista and Maokai, guards the King of the Dead and attempts restoration of the isles. The Shadow Isles are still dangerous and betrayed by Thresh Hecarim, Karthus and the likes want to free Viego and give Thresh a payback. We also find out that thanks to the power of her Goddess Illaoi survived and she stays to watch over Viego as well. Thresh on the other hand, no longer bound to Shadow Isles, travels across Runeterra and quietly, without drawing too much attention enlarges his collection of souls and tries to find a way to win with Kayle. All regions try to stand up after the Ruination. Qyiana tries to become the head of Ixtal, Nasus returns to Azir, Leona and Diana decide to bring peace to Targon together. Braum returns to Freljord, Yordles to Bandle City. Meanwhile, Lucian becomes a shadow of himself. Revenge consumes him in full. Vayne and Yone join him to find Thresh and defeat him. Samira and Draven go to Noxus, Irelia goes back with Karma but here I would expand Karma's plot. That she steps out and chooses solitude, unable to forgive herself. You know, all champions go more or less back to normal. I realise there are a bunch of inconsistencies here, more detail is required, dialogues etc. But making this scenario took me about 3 hours. And those unexplained parts should be clarified and if I was working at Riot Gamespolice, I would say before the event that things left unclear will be resolved in future stories. The event itself I would end with such a cinematic:

Vex, attacked and used by Viego, wandered around Ruined Noxus. Unsure what to do with herself she even considered returning toto Bandle City but she came across a man named Yanuk (Januk? Sorry, for the misspellings, I was writing it without a script xD). The very same who told Ezreal to retrieve the Uloa elixir. A special elixir which could revive a certain person. Ezreal however, tricked him. Vex didn't care what Yanuk had to say but he shouted that she looked like she wished for darkness. And he knows how to give it. Along with Shadow, Vex hearing the plan came back toto Yanuk with the Uloa elixir. Yanuk performs the right ritual which leads to a certain dark event. An ethereal gateway opens. And through it steps out none other than Mordekeiser who ends the cinematic with one sentence. Imagine I am saying this with Mordekeiser's voice. "I will show you… Ruination."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

submitted by: @sophi-s

Holy shit, that was super long.

I haven't actually read it because I wanted to share this to everyone as soon as possible, but I WILL read it.

How long did this take you, darling? Three days?

But thank you for this incredible translation and thank you very much for your hardwork. I really appreciate you doing all this for us, thank you sophi-s.