#wait. addendum. the other theory i saw that's similar to the annie example is that zaun's status as a shuriman city previously...

[cautelous]

Hi. League lore is a nightmare that contradicts itself and has the nasty habit of spawning fan theories that, while interesting and honestly sometimes more clever than canonical content, are most likely not intended to be canonical.

What I’m talking about mostly is this thing that I really started thinking about in earnest yesterday, although I think I’ve had it on the backburner for a while. The thing in question is people taking all of League’s lore to be simultaneously canonical - assuming that it’s part of a grand overarching plan, or treating it as if it was all written at the same time. This is... not a good way to approach League lore, although it may seem it.

Example one: the theory that I heard that Annie’s parents actually moved to the Noxian borderlands to keep Annie safe from the academy Rell was held in. (Annie wasn’t born at the time they moved, but magic seems to work along familial lines in League and her mom was a witch, so it seems a safe bet.)

On the surface, cool theory! It works if Rell’s been in the academy since age 8, which isn’t exactly specified but is definitely possible. Annie’s parents could potentially have heard about missing kids and assumed something bad was up. Unfortunately, while it may make sense when you take lore as a combined bundle, it doesn’t make sense if you look at the out-of-universe timeline. Annie’s lore update came in 2018 and Rell came out about two years later. We know the champion production timelines are about a year (I think? Please correct me if I’m wrong), so Rell probably started taking shape in 2019. This means that the whole Noxian sigil magic evil academy thing probably wasn’t on Riot’s radar when they made Annie’s update - and, besides, her lore has always portrayed her as coming from an area adjacent to/on the outskirts of Noxus. It’s much more likely that Riot just rehashed elements of her original lore into something that worked in their modern setting, instead of them having this master plan where the true reason Annie’s out in the borderlands is to keep her safe.

Now, since Riot does often seem to have a habit of taking concepts from fans in one way or another... Maybe there will be another Annie lore that ties the academy in. It would certainly make the world feel more connected. But at the moment, it’s a fan theory that was probably 99.99% not intended to be canon, because the timelines don’t match up.

(Also, I think Rell lore could have been handled better. Not even from a “Swain wtf are you letting the Rose do” standpoint, but from a character standpoint from Rell. But that’s an aside. Also also, how long has Swain been in power? Annie’s lore has Darkwill in power 8 years ago. Also also also, I think a lot of people who subscribe to this theory might not think about the fact that Rell is 8 years older than Annie - they may see all the events as happening simultaneously, since there isn’t exactly a canonical timeline. If that makes sense?)

Example two: hi, Viktor and Blitzcrank lore.

Blitzcrank’s lore directly contradicts Viktor’s new lore, showing that Riot isn’t exactly interested in maintaining continuity. Maybe it’s just for champions that are less popular, but whatever.

Viktor’s lore update (which I think came in 2016, along with Piltover-Zaun unification? I wasn’t active in League then, so I don’t recall) describes Blitzcrank in the following manner:

In the midst of his studies in Piltover, a major chem-spill devastated entire districts of Zaun, and Viktor returned home to offer his help in the rescue efforts. By grafting a sophisticated series of cognitive loops upon existing automata-technology, he crafted a custom-built golem, Blitzcrank, to help in the clean-up. Blitzcrank was instrumental in saving scores of lives and appeared to develop a level of sentience beyond anything Viktor had envisioned.

Even with the spill contained, Viktor remained in Zaun to help those afflicted by the released toxins. With the golem's help, he attempted to use his techmaturgical brilliance to save those whose lives had been blighted by the spill. Their attempt was ultimately unsuccessful in preventing more deaths, and the two parted ways.

Blitzcrank’s lore currently (circa 2019) does this:

Useless to all but one person. The inventor Viktor discovered the abandoned golem and, seeing the potential still within the inert chassis, inspiration struck. Viktor began a series of experiments, seeking to improve the automaton by introducing a new element that would elevate it far beyond the original scope of its creation.

Hextech.

Implanting a priceless hextech crystal sourced from the deserts of Shurima into the chassis of the forsaken golem, Viktor waited with baited breath as the machine rumbled to life.

Zero mention of at what time this occurs. Zero mention of Blitzcrank being designed specifically for a rescue effort. The lore continues to diverge. The post’s long enough already, but you can read it and see for yourself. Blitzcrank’s 3rd lore (see wiki) is slightly more in line with Viktor’s, but still doesn’t make sense if you try to read it in concert with Viktor’s lore:

An ambitious young inventor known as Viktor longed to create a durable machine that could clean more effectively and eliminate the need for costly repairs. He gathered broken parts from the retired golems, avoiding the flashier components popular among his peers. Even employing an assemblage of unwanted materials, Viktor designed a more resilient machine.

He named his creation Blitzcrank, hoping the golem would quickly eradicate all waste and become far greater than the sum of his discarded parts. After instilling in Blitzcrank a relentless desire to serve the people of Zaun by removing the toxins in their path, Viktor sent him into the Sump to help.

What’s going on here? I don’t know. Also, it’s 2021 and I really wish Riot would stop using “golem” as a synonym for a robot. I know that fantasy generally does this, but like. Come on.

Example three: Talon’s lore.

It hasn’t been updated since 2015, man. I really can’t take the idea of Riot having some master overarching plan that everyone fits into when Talon (and I think some of the Void monsters?) hasn’t gotten an update since they snipped the Institute out of his lore.

TL;DR: League lore is piecemeal and any attempt to make any lore that came out about more than a year or two apart fit in with each other is probably not going to work. It may spawn some interesting theories, but those theories probably weren’t intended. It may also just directly contradict character backstories. It may also just be completely outdated and incoherent in the modern narrative.

Stuff like this is why I have trouble taking any lore analysis channels on YouTube seriously, because it really does feel like they don’t acknowledge the out-of-universe fact that Riot really doesn’t seem to have an overarching plan for more than about two years at a time. Maybe they have individual plans for each area - even that looks unlikely, considering Viktor and Blitzcrank’s issue - but something larger? I really doubt it.

Maybe this will all change with Ruination and Riot’s second attempt at doing a Big Event. Maybe they’ll realize that there’s at least one character lore contradiction (I don’t read all the lore, so while I have no doubt that there’s more contradictions I’ve really only spotted Viktor and Blitzcrank) and try to shore that up with minor edits. But at the moment it’s kind of a mess that sometimes feels like the fans think more about the impacts of the lore than the writers do.