Riot hints at new jungler with Malzahar lore update
Riot Games has had wild success using League of Legends’ narrative in the past month with the premiere of Arcane to overwhelmingly positive reviews. Riot released a short story earlier this week, giving Malzahar and the Void some much-needed storytelling love.
Fans have started to speculate that a mysterious being mentioned in the story may be the void-themed jungler that Riot has teased for release next year. The Void is assuming a new form, and it looks like that blighted evolution might be stalking the fog of war on Summoner’s Rift come 2022.
The story “Feast of the Prophet” follows a refugee named Meir that is fleeing Noxian retribution for resisting the ever-expansionist empire. Meir has infiltrated a cult in the Shuriman desert as a way of avoiding the Noxians. The cultists consistently make sacrifices of livestock, one another, or themselves to a great gaping pit brimming with otherworldly purple energy. The enormous cavern in the desert seems to grow with each offering, and the cultists whisper often of “Icathia” and “the Void.”
What happens in Malzahar’s story?
Meir is taken to a ceremony at the edge of the enormous pit, the size of a small nation, and is asked by the cultists if he has come to meet the prophet. From this point onwards in the story, the stars in the night sky above the Shuriman wasteland continue to blink ever closer, constricting space around Meir in an unsettling and Lovecraftian manner. As Meir tries to plot a way to travel around the hole and escape to the coastline beyond, Malzahar arrives.
Malzahar is a barefoot figure clothed in scarves and vestments of Icathia, and beneath his skin writhes something dark and inhuman. A mere glance at Malzahar lets Meir’s mind be infiltrated by the prophet. From here, the Void’s influence finds its way into Meir’s thoughts, giving him extraplanar visions of the horror beyond the material realm. Meir gazes past the stars to see the horrors of the void lurking beyond the veil of reality, and an impossibly large form that he instinctively understands is a “she” before wondering how he instinctively knows.
Malzahar speaks on the importance of memories and how the Void will wash away the world’s ills. The female presence looms ever larger in Meir’s mind and the night sky, beyond comprehension in its enormity. Malzahar speaks on how the Void is embracing a new incarnation, a new way to manifest itself, and he calls that form “she” just like Meir. Malzahar says that he has brought the cultists here to feed the void their memories, experiences, encounters, and everything that makes up a mortal creature.
As Malzahar says: “She wants everything. And, she will have it.”
The ground collapses beneath Meir and the cultists, and they fall into the enormous pit of the void. As Meir falls into the void, steadily unmade by the blighted influence of the void, he can feel his memories being pulled from him. He also sees everything the cultists sacrificed being disassembled at an existential level and being pulled apart by that new, terrifying, female presence.
In Meir’s last moments, he understands that they are all being fed into this horrifying new aspect of the void that is forming at the bottom of the pit. To many fans, this seems like a clear reference to the upcoming Void jungler.
Who is the new jungler?
The jungler’s new identity is uncertain, but it certainly seems like this female void-born creature that feeds on mortal memories is the upcoming champion. It wouldn’t be the first time a new champion was introduced in an apparently unrelated story, with Sylas first making an appearance in a short story about the Mageseekers before being introduced to the game.
Riot seems to triple down on the sheer size of this being, so fans might be in for yet another champion that grows in stature as it grows stronger throughout a game. With only a few months until the champion is likely to launch, it would be unusual for Riot to release a red herring as specific as this.
If this mysterious being makes its way to Summoner’s Rift, fans better ward well unless they want to be consumed by this new era in the Void’s evolution like poor Meir.
Nicholas James is a gaming writer with a passion for all things geekdom, as well as live theater. Nicholas is best known for covering League of Legends and other top MOBA titles, but his expertise covers numerous games across multiple genres. When not watching the LCS or playing the latest new release, Nicholas can be found doing some tabletop gaming and painting his favorite miniatures. Nicholas has also published with Hotspawn, TheGamer, Dexerto, Esports.gg and other industry outlets.
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