Well, there is not enough tinfoil hats in the world to contain me now. I have a reputation to uphold. And so it once again happened that League of Legends got a new cinematic. But this time it is slightly different because while this is a cinematic that is technically promoting a skin, it does seem to be fully canon and better than that, it was made by Ortiz. And by now everyone knows that Fortiche are a bunch of madmen that are focusing on details all the time.
Which means, expect a lot of details to be hidden all over the place. And because there is simply so much to explain, let's dive right in. So behold the lore of the Blood, Sweat & Tears cinematic explained.
The shot begins on what really seems to be the shores of Ionia. It is never directly confirmed, but considering the aesthetics as well as the timeline, The shores of Ionia would make sense the most. Also, literally every time Riot shows Noxians on a shore, it is an Ionian shore. And that's because it is always referencing the Noxian invasion of Ionia.
So, very clearly, what we can see here are the remains of a Noxian warband. Specifically, it seems to be a Noxian warband that was killed with Noxian arrows. I don't believe this is an oversight, this is likely done on purpose.
Unless Ionians just took Noxian arrows. Anyway, this scene is likely happening while Boram Darkwill is still the Grand General of Noxus, because he was dethroned after the invasion of Ionia, which could mean that this is Ambeça's warband being killed by Darkwill's forces under the influence of Leblanc. But also it is possible that Ambeça was following Darkwill's orders, and it is happening after Swain has dealt with his to- arc in Ionia and now he was on his way back to Noxus and he was just killing whoever got in his path. Either way these are definitely Noxian arrows killing their own and there are many different reasons why that could be happening.
And in the background you can see this flashback. flag. Now I'll be honest, with the knowledge we have right now, I have no idea what that is. It is not a typical Noxian banner, so it has to be a banner of one of the families or the houses of Noxus.
I am pretty sure once Arcane 2 comes out, we'll know. Anyway, of course, young Mbessa is found dying here among the rest. And in a very League of Legends fantasy fashion, that's when death arrives. Yes, one could argue that this is just a a wolf, similar to how thematically other Noxians such as Darius faced them in the past, but here it really wouldn't add up.
First of all, if we trust that we are in Ionia, finding a wolf on the shores of Ionia would be like finding a unicorn, unless it belongs to another Noxian warband I guess. So this is not just a wolf, it is the incarnation of death. Or in other words, this is Kinn- And why would Ambessa see a wolf here specifically instead of the Lamb? Similar to what Tryndamere saw when he was dying in the Still Here cinematic? I mean the Lamb is always supposed to approach first to offer peaceful death.
Well it's because Ambessa was a Noxian now. And Noxians have a very special relationship with death. They do not worship the Lamb.
Because Noxians don't live to die a peaceful death. They are warriors believing in strength above all. I mean, that's why the main Noxian motto is Kill them until they are family.
I know, poetic. In fact, all of this was first explained in the Principles of Strength story. Here's a quick section of that. Pausing in the shadows of a narrow passage looking towards the Shrine of the Wolf, it was a tall, multi-tiered tower with open sides. Each level held loft by pillars of dark stone.
In the center of the tower, looming almost 50 feet high, was a massive obsidian statue of a seated wolf. She gazed up. In ancient Valoran custom, death was often represented as a jewel in the in nature, taking the form of the lamp of peaceful death and the wolf of violent ends.
In Noxus, the latter was honored with rather more rigor and panoply. Dying peacefully in one's bed was not the way to secure honor in an empire that venerated strength. So given that Ambessa is dying here on a battlefield among Noxians, it makes sense for the wolf to approach her. Which is also why the entire song is about Ambessa being raised by the wolves. She was raised by death.
And as the wolf approaches, with its magical spark in the eye, it quickly turns into the vicious bite of death. And so Ambessa's challenge begins. begins. Simply put, she would have to battle the wolf or death itself to survive, which once again is the exact same thing that Tryndamere did in his cinematic.
But here the battle is a lot more interesting. So, of course, on one's deathbed they are likely to witness flashbacks from their entire life, which is exactly what is happening here. We are about to see Mbessa's past.
But not just yet. It first begins in a rather ominous, almost Noxian-looking crypt, with big red lights in the background. Well, on one side you could argue that this place looks like something that was built by the Black Rose, and sure, considering all the hints around Leblanc and Arcane, that might be possible. But far more likely, it is possible that this is the Noxian version of the Realm of Death.
Not Mordekaiser's realm, that one is slightly different, that one is more spirity. No, this is the true death. And at the very back, among the red light, we can see Kindred.
We'll see more of that near the end of the video. Anyway, M-Bessa is spawned here in a spiritual way, and she is tasked to approach Kindred themselves. First thing to mention here, notice how clean M-Bessa looks. She is smooth like a stone and there is a very important reason why that is the case coming later on. And thematically, as Mbessa is on her way to Kindred, when the lyrics sing When it's my sword they won't forget, we go back into the past that wasn't forgotten.
So this is young Mbessa. And strap up, because here things are gonna go wild. So immediately this shot reveals a lot of things.
First of all, I strongly believe that this is a confirmation that Mbessa originally comes from Shurima. This was hinted a few times during Arcane 1, especially with Mel, but I don't believe it was ever directly confirmed. Well, here it almost looks undeniable. And this would also explain why Mbessa and Mel are both heavily utilizing gold in their designs.
Because gold is definitely not an Noxian color. Red? Sure.
Black? Definitely. Obsidian? Maybe. Gold?
Definitely not. And that's because gold is always associated with two places. Shurima, and given Shurima's history, also Targon. After that, if you see golden details anywhere else, it is usually somehow linked to Targon. So if the Medarda family was known for wearing red and gold, some relation to Shurima was expected.
But I... was not expecting this. See, the entire scene is really cool because it is purposefully vague and it is forcing you to guess what's really happening.
And right now there are two possible outcomes of this. First of all, you'll see that this scene is filled with two kinds of characters. First you'll see these weird figures in black almost feathered cloaks and a golden mask, and then there are these blue skinned characters with a golden mask that heavily resembles the one that emb- Bessa is wearing in battles. If you then look into the background and notice the artifact that resembles the wolf, it starts to suggest that these two kinds of characters are representing the lamb and the wolf, with the white dressed characters representing the lamb and the black cloaks heavily resembling the wolf in motion.
But this is the coward's way of thinking, that would be far too simple. I would rather go into a far more interesting albeit crazy tinfoil hat theory. See, I really hope that these characters are real and that they are not just fragments of Mbessa's imagination dealing with death, and instead these are a real reflection of Mbessa's past.
And that these are Xerath's followers. The chances of this being true are small, but if it is true, I'm gonna tip my hat to the writers because this would be awesome. You see, first of all, blue or purple skinned characters are always tied to some kind of magic overload. At least that's the case in this universe. Which is also why Xerath's followers often have blue or pale skin.
On top of that, the vast majority of them are wearing golden masks. Which may make you wonder, if Mbessa is also wearing the golden mask, wouldn't she have to be Xerath's follower or at least be a little bit crazy? Well, not necessarily. You see, Xerath was born in the Saikal village.
This was confirmed in the Realms of Runeterra book, which as far as we know should be a relatively normal village these days, even though there is a high chance of the locals honoring Xerath here. So if it gets confirmed that Ambessa is from Saikal, then all the golden designs as well as the mask suddenly make perfect sense. Not only that.
But Saikal was later conquered by Renekton, which means that place has historical connections to him. Meaning it would explain the rounded blades that Mbessa is wielding. It would simply be a traditional weapon from Saikal.
This is why if Riot pull this off then I'm tipping my hat. Because that would be some great attention to lore here. Another thing that might be hinting at this being Mbessa's origin are the blue details on her clothes and in her hair. Though artistically it would make sense for Fortige to do that to really highlight the fact that she is not a Noxian yet.
Because after she joins Noxus, all the details turn red. Also, on top of that, looking at the cloaked figures around, I would not be surprised if these were the Shakal, who are a nomadic tribe that is roaming around the deserts. Which could be related to what's coming next.
So anyway... Again, I am pretty sure that the truth behind these characters and Mbessa's origins gets revealed in Arkane 2. So for now just know that it is heavily implied that Mbessa is from Shurima and that when she was young she was forced to make a decision. Because here you can see she is carrying a lamp. Now around the internet this lamp started a hot discussion, because for some reason a lot of people believed that this lamp represents Mel. Because M-Bessa is all about protecting her family.
And that's why she is clutching on it so dearly. Well, the truth is, this is not Mel, this is something far more sinister. So during certain shots you may notice that the lamp does actually have the mark of death on its forehead. Which means that this lamp is representing M-Bessa's peaceful life which she had when she was living in Shurima.
And as she is carrying it, she's running towards the wolf, hinting that something sinister is about to happen later. After which we get bunch of these blue tinted flashbacks, which are blue mostly to distinguish the scenes from each other. I don't believe there are any deeper meanings here. Anyway, here they show us stages of Mbessa's past, starting with a vision of the future and then slowly going back.
Which means the first flashback shows us Mbessa sitting on a throne as a ruler. Now first, Obviously this does look like a Noxian throne, so maybe Mbessa's ultimate goal is to take over Noxus. But it is also likely that this represents one of the seeds in the Council of Piltover, because now we know that Mbessa is joining the Council. And her clothing here is kinda exactly the same as what we saw in the Arcane 2 trailers.
After which we get a quick shot of Mbessa witnessing this vision, after which things get incredibly cool. You see, this entire trailer is not just based on canon lore. It is also a trailer for a skin line.
Specifically, I believe this skin line is gonna be called something like Chosen of the Wolf. And it looks badass. Which on one side may make you think that this is Pantheon. Which, yes, this is gonna be a skin for Pantheon.
But this is not really him. And that's not really what's happening here. It's just a character that happens to look like Pantheon, so that Riot can sell the skin in the game. Because you see, in different regions as well as by following different religions in this universe, people not only treat the Lamb and the Wolf differently, but they also imagine them taking your life in totally different ways. For example, in places like the Masia or the Freljord, the Lamb and the Wolf look like what they do in the game It's two different entities that actually look like a lamb and a wolf, who do their job of delivering peaceful or warrior's death.
But in other regions they may take on a totally different appearance. And in Noxus it would be appropriate for the wolf to challenge you in the form of a warrior, giving you one last duel to the death to see if you are worthy of life. And so just like Tryndamere fought the wolf, so is Mbessa going to fight the wolf. So the pantheon skin is not really pantheon, but rather it is a skin of death itself. Also I love that it is implying that this is a fully canonical skin.
Anyway, looking at the design some people are immediately gonna think of something like Rakor, especially since it is a skin for pantheon. But there are some key differences here. Targonian gold is much smoother and flowing, and that's because celestial metals just don't behave the way you would expect them to. Instead here, even though it is gold, it has the classic sharp edges of Noxian armor, with the short lines referencing the immortal bastion. On top of that, occasionally you can see a detail referencing the wolf, but also if you are doubting the fact that this is Noxian and not Targonian… Well, the entire body is covered in tattoos of Noxian script.
Now, as to why I believe that the warrior is the wolf itself. Well, first of all, Mbessa has to fight someone. And whoever she fights in this state is the death.
And that's the only one she's fighting. But also... The shield literally turns into the face of the wolf and so her battle with death begins.
And as she's fighting notice that the braids in her hair are still blue as she's clinging to fragments of her past. But of course the wolf slowly kicks her butt and suddenly her smooth body gets covered in scars. Scars that are both metaphorical and physical.
So the flashback then goes back to Shreema where more of these possibly imaginary or possibly Xerath's followers are revealed and then the second statue flashback kicks in. Here we can see Mbessa possibly in the present days of this cinematic. It is likely after she joined Noxus which is teased by the long Imperial cloak. Also it is likely around the present days because Mbessa is dying in a Noxian warband.
You can see that this statue feels chaotic with a lot of other characters around, possibly teasing the chaos of all the Noxian families fighting for control. This could be why some of these statues seem to worship Mbessa, others look accusatory, and this single one kinda looks like a young Cassiopeia, but I might be going crazy here. And this is where Mbessa is forced to make the sinister decision. First of all here we can really see how the cloaked figures look like a wolf, especially as they are circling Mbessa like a wolf pack.
Which is why it is more likely that these are imaginary. But more importantly, in this scene Mbessa lets go of the lamb. Which means she is letting go of her past.
She is letting go of the peaceful life she had in Shurima. Maybe she was forced to do it because she was raided by the Shakal. Or maybe she was forced to fight because of Xerath's followers. But one way or another, she was forced to fight, which is why she had to choose the wolf.
An awesome detail to point out here is that the lamp is wearing the same blue details which Ambessa is also wearing, further pointing at the current separation from the wolf. Also, I noticed that the lamp had these golden coins on its neck and I couldn't figure out where I saw them before and... I'm just gonna leave this here and see if someone goes insane. But most importantly, the last thing to point out here is the lamp's body. It is made of this almost organic looking metal which we have never seen anywhere in this universe besides Arkane's trailers.
And this is odd because now we have no idea what's the meaning behind this. Really, I can't even guess. I mean hey, if the Xerath part is true and Ambessa is actually linked to him, with Xerath being the incarnation of arcane magic, with arcane being in the title of the show, with this appearing in the trailers of the show, then I'm not really going insane here, you are. Anyway, Ambessa lets go of the lamp and she fully embraces the way of the wolf, which is where the cinematic goes back to fighting the wolf. But now after being punched down she is able to land a few hits.
And occasionally we get this awesome reflection of Mbessa in the face of the wolf and this battle simply continues for a while. She then gets knocked back a few times as more scars appear on her body. We get this awesome shot that is definitely not teasing a really cool skin. After which she goes in for the neck, she gets parried by the spear and she immediately gets slammed in her stomach.
Not even a second later she immediately gets back on her feet. And then we get back to Shurima, where the lamp is now being absolutely dismantled. And M-Bessa then gets one more flashback, a scene of her peaceful life as she is clutching onto the way of the lamp. And this is why M-Bessa is crying here. She is witnessing the more peaceful life she used to have.
Although there might be a slight twist happening here. Because if you look around, even in this peaceful state there are blades scattered around her, which on one side might be foreshadowing the choice she would have to make, but also this might be hinting at the fact that while she was really having a peaceful life, everyone around her was constantly at war. And it is possible that because she didn't fight, she might have lost her family. This would also support why currently she is all about protecting her family.
But hey, that's definitely something we're gonna learn about in Arkane 2. Anyway, then we go back to the fight with the wolf where the cinematic teases the other skins too. Of course, these shouldn't be as canonical as Pantheon possibly, unless they all represent the different forms the wolf can take on. But obviously these are skins for Swain and Katarina, both of whom are also getting a Chosen of the Wolf skin.
Now, potentially, Swain could be getting this skin because at one point in his life he was actually dying and he only survived because he made a deal with the demon of secrets. So it is possible that Swain also faced the wolf in the past. And Katarina had a few close calls in her life, Talon almost managed to kill her but she wasn't really dying and she did get knocked out in the comic but again she wasn't dying. So who knows what's happening with Katarina.
The truth is, it is possible that all of these figures are really other people who fought the wolf before. Or it is really just the many shapes of the wolf. Regardless, even after getting knocked down countless times, with all the scars now covering her body, Mbessa simply refuses to die and so the wolf lets her go.
Which is shown by the warrior first stepping back, and then just as it opened its shield to start a fight, Now it closed it to end it, phasing the face of the wolf away. Which is where we get this grand finale. There are two scenes that are happening here at the same time.
In one of them, Mbessa finally reached the end of the crypt that we saw at the very beginning. And she finally managed to meet the lamp face to face. Now!
The reason why the lamp looks so different here is because again death is a subject of beliefs and this is simply how Noxians portray the lamp. It still has the dark spiritual mask from all the legends, that one stays consistent across all the regions because all legends are rooted in some kind of truth, but the Noxian version has this slender body that is pulsing with red light like a heartbeat. But then in the other half of the flashbacks, Mbessa is approaching the throne, which is the same one that we saw in the vision of the future.
And that is where something awesome happens. In the Shuriman scene, the lamp gets shattered and it is sacrificed to the wolf. Again, this is simply showing us Mbessa letting go of the way of the lamp. But once the shot goes back to the lamp, you can see that in the Noxian mythos, the lamp has a totally different purpose. Because Noxians don't worship the lamp as a way to experience death.
She is not here to present Ambessa the peaceful arrow of death, even though that is what the lamp usually does. In the Still Here cinematic you can see that the lamp fired an arrow at Tryndamere, but he split the arrow by which he accepted the death by the wolf. And in Yasuo's scene you can actually see the peaceful arrow flashing in the air, but there Yasuo accepted it. The awesome twist is that in Noxus the lamp doesn't even have a bow, because its job is not to deliver death, it is to offer death by the wolf, which is exactly what's happening here.
The lamp's only purpose is to lead Mbessa to the wolf, and Mbessa proudly accepts. And you can see that this scene is happening after Mbessa already beat the wolf. Because at the beginning of this script she was clean but now she is covered in scars from the battle.
So here she is essentially accepting a token of her victory. Which leads us back to Shurima where after giving up on the lamb she started dancing. And she also put up a makeup. I'm gonna be totally honest I have no idea what this is about. Even the colors on the face now don't match Noxus or the wolf.
This has to be an ad for the new arcane makeup line. No really, I do believe that this is just a scene showing us the griefing over what she lost. It's possibly like smearing blood over your face except now it's the lamp. But then she gets to sit on the throne, mimicking the same pose we saw in the Vision of the Future, meaning that Ambessa accepted her destiny.
After which the acceptance of the wolf transforms her body and the entire cinematic becomes a lot more vague. Because remember the point of all of this is technically to promote a skin line. So I don't think that this skin specifically is really canon.
But if it is then it totally changes the entire meaning of what happened here. Because here she's now taking the place of the wolf. With the wolf joining the rest in the back. So it's possible that whoever beats the wolf then gets to become the next form of the wolf. And they then get to fight the next person who's dying?
But at that point everything would become a little bit too complex. So let's not think about the other skins too much. What we can mention here is that this is a perfect meld of her past and future.
It has the Noxian script, the Noxian sharp armor, she still has the golden mask which could be referencing the mask of death or it could be related to her origins and you may notice that she still has a smidget of blue on her. connecting it all to her origins in Shurima 2. Which is also why this skin literally flashed back through all the other scenes. But don't worry, we are still not done yet, because there is one more scene that goes absolutely wild. Because then we also get to see a fetus, which could be one of two things.
Some people believe that this is Mel, which would mean that while the entire battle was happening, Mbessa was pregnant. To a certain degree this would definitely make sense, since Mel is quite old and so it would make sense for M-Bessa to have a child right around now. But remember that M-Bessa had two children, because we know that Mel also had a brother called Kino who died and that's kinda all we know.
With that said, that kinda plays into this scene too, because on the other side people also believe that this fetus is simply M-Bessa. And I believe that too. Because with all the flashbacks of the statues going back in time, with the last one being Mbessa holding the lamp, it would make sense that this would be Mbessa's life simply going even further.
The thing is, here you can see Mbessa's mask covering her eyes flashing gold from right to left and it immediately transitions into the child also flashing gold from right to Under normal circumstances it would be obvious that this is simply showing Mbessa as being a child chosen by the wolf from the very beginning. And again, it would relate to the song being all about her being raised by wolves. But it could also be Mel because well, Kino died.
And so Kino probably wasn't really good at fighting the wolf. So if it is Mbessa's child, it has to be Mel, which is where one of the coolest of twists happens. You see, it doesn't matter if it is Mbessa or Mel, what's important is the theme. The Medarda family seems to be using gold to indicate their battle with the wolf. A battle where whoever is challenged likely wins to stay alive.
It is a flash of gold. A flesh that goes from side to side in a crucial moment of someone's life, all tied to experience of the Medarda family. I really hope I'm not going crazy because the implications here are massive. But then we get to the final scene with Mbessa. She rips out the arrow revealing that she was wearing the Medarda family crest the entire time.
Which might be a subtle way that she is fighting for her family now. Which could also be a really badass way to show that she was pregnant during this time and she refuses to die because she has a family to raise. And she stands up on what seems to be the shores of Ionia. Which is where the cinematic ends.
And that is where we can mention Holy sh** Yeah, I was expecting an ad for a skin. I did not expect to see Noxian Kindred alongside like 50 other lore references. This is absolutely wild and if anything it totally made me hyped for the background story of Mbessa in Arcane 2. I kinda really hope that they lean into the entire Shuriman background because that part has potential. Also I'm kinda afraid that they are gonna explain the vagueness of the wolf cinematic and that's gonna ruin the entire experience.
Either way, since it is Fortige who made this, I wouldn't be surprised if this was originally supposed to be an opening scene from one of the episodes. Kinda like how Jace also got his past revealed at the beginning of one episode, but then they couldn't fit it in and so we just got an extra music video. One that revealed Mbessa's really cool relationship with death. Which also has an interesting side to it.
You remember when Mbessa was tasting the local cuisine? Yeah, she was literally tasting the wolf.