#even the creators like christian linke said they had to think beyond league becuz the “status quo” isn't feasible

[mollysunder]

I think a lot of the criticism that's been lobbed at people who were shocked at the fact that Vi would become an enforcer is unfair. I think it's unreasonable to ask casual fans to read disparately connected lore stories that have no solid timeline to understand a show that itself is an introduction to League of Legends lore. At the end of the day it's just people asking for a plot point to make sense before seeing the actual development, and that's a valid response!

League lore has the luxury of being video game lore that mostly functions as set dressing. Most of the lore in League interesting ideas that happen just because and not much else.

Most of the published stories for the champions in Arcane are just really brief snap shots of the characters and that MIGHT connect to a cinematic, a comic released by some third party, or promotional art released on one of their social media platforms, which doesn't mean those stories won't be retconned... twice (*cough*Viktor*cough*).

I think there's a more interesting conversation about how League lore has changed in Arcane so greatly, that some people could assume that Vi's would too, and again, that's fair. Arcane largely diverged from the source material. Jayce was never a councilor, never had any institutional power, and certainly didn't invent hextech in his lore.

Vi and Jinx were solidly in their mid twenties, while Ekko was squarely a teenager aged 16 or so. Viktor wasn't disabled or dealing with an ableist society, and the hexcore was in no way this important to him. Piltover was literally on top of Zaun. And lets be honest, champions like Jinx didn't really have any in-depth characterization, most stories with her are about people reacting TO HER, not about who she is.

It's better to think about Arcane and the characters in it beyond what League has given them so far. It's no surprise that a lot of people who think Mel died in the rocket blast are those that treat Arcane as the roadmap to PnZ's "status quo" in the lore, because Mel doesn't exist there. To me, it's worse to avoid thinking more expansively about the story just because it doesn't adhere to the original lore. Most people who experience League through Arcane won't see the show as a checklist for the lore, if anything the original lore looks more like suggestions to casual fans.