Azir is an anti-villain || #shorts

[Azaro_]

Azir can do no wrong just because he's cool, he could massacre hundreds of people and he'd still be "morally grey" at worst, yes I am a sand soldier.

[sahoko]

Don't Forget that even Nasus doesn't trust him completly. When the wisest of the ascended say to the emperor "I will not let Shurima bow to a Tyrant" it say a lot.

[Duarte_GB]

Azir revives
"Umm okay slaves are bad noted not gonna do that I wonder what everyone thinks about child labour"

[rpen]

It's why I like him as a character. he's complex. He's not good but his not exactlt evil either best part about it is that they could develop his character to go either way.

[tiredtortoise]

And it makes perfect sense for him to be that way, because of the culture and family he grew up in, and the role he was born to. His story with Xerath is a tragedy, but not one of the great king betrayed. My perception of Xerath's (heart-wrenching) final words to him before the catastrophe is that Xerath realised Azir truly did cherish him and their bond as much as he professed to, and truly thought that he was making him happy by having them both achieve their goals. This put Xerath's logic against his heart - Azir might still be caring and well-intentioned, but it would have been a very bad idea to put unlimited power in his hands.
This is why it is important that you talk to your boyfriend about your plans for the future, rather than keeping everything a surprise.

[dafroakie]

I think there's a problem when you try to keep the abolition of slavery as a fun surprise. Especially when your best friend is your slave.

[PNNH]

I like that his morality is grey. It makes him a complex character. And you can tell that is the case based on the discussion people are having right now.

[Jeddy]

People need to understand that Azir vs Xerath is not a story of good vs evil. There's no "Azir is the good one, so he must be a nice guy with good intentions" or "Xerath is the bad one, so he must be evil with no redeeming qualities"

This is a gray ass conflict where both sides have blood on their hands & questionable intentions in the name of the "greater good". Which is why other champs don't trust either side.

[Willie_Shakes]

Once had a friend describe ancient Rome as "not the good guys, the great guys, their flaws are some of the worst and their high points are some of the best" which more or less works for any ancient civilisation and definitely feel like that's how Azir comes across.

[YoramvdDoel]

I really like him this way tbh, never knew about this

[stormstrikerpro]

Yea, but he's also a bird, so...

[wasabilover]

Notice how Azir Has no pants in his splashart but Has them in the cinematic

[brookeowo]

That’s why all the shuriman citizen champions (taliyah, sivir and samira) hate him!

[thechrysis]

I think The Water & shade to you story in the Lol Realms of Runeterra book shows that Azir is very extreme when it comes to forging his new empire but it also shows his potential to change and actually create a better Shurmima. In short, the story is about him returning to Xeraths birthplace to destroy it just because Xerath was born there and it's only a chance encounter with a girl from the village that he changes his mind at the actual last second not to and realized how he was blinded by rage and grief.

[michaelreidy]

All of this is correct, but as he says in the little notes above and below in the video, Azir is still an amazing character. The fact there there is this much discussion helps prove that.

[sylvainjosegautier]

And yet I still don't understand why Xerath stops Azir's ascension even after Azir tells him that he's going to free the slaves.

[quickstrike]

I do agree with your assertion that Azir does view himself as the (god) emperor of Shurima and that he set up the ascension ritual for that (As well as him not being the unambiguous hero of the story. I personally view him as being either someone akin to Tony Stark or Hamilton at the start of their story: A brilliant individual who is an arrogant tosser, but has a heart of gold underneath that could be fanned or extinguished as the story goes on.) I disagree with the notion that he did it solely because he did not want to sacrifice any of his privileges and such. 

Azir's siblings (sadly there is no number, but we are told that they were so many that Azir was supposed to never be able to have the throne due to the line of succession) were assassinated while he was traveling with them. The only reason he didn't die was Xerath saving him. His life hung by a thread because his father loathed him and only let him be because his wife hadn't given him a child yet. His father and maybe mother (lore doesn't make it clear if she was his mom or not) were then assassinated as well by an unknown assailant (Actually Xerath, but Azir doesn't know that.) So I imagine that the thought of ending slavery while still a men was instantly met with the thought "If I do something this unpopular, I will be risking my life and my family's lives." (The assassination of his siblings occurred because of his father's decisions so he probably knew too well that he would be risking more than just his life.) Plus in addition, the impression I get from reading the lore was that he was just about the only person in power who seemed to want to do this. Even Nasus and Renekton were not explicitly about wanting to end slavery. If Azir attempted it and failed, I get the impression that no one else would do it. In that sense, it's very different from IRL nations and such that ended slavery (most ended it because it was deeply unpopular with anyone not involved in it and not very economically valuable as tech advanced, but it did take many years and at least one hideously bloody civil war in one nation.) Some of this is likely because the lore isn't about to go in depth on this subject.

So the impression I get is that he turned to Ascension before freeing slaves because in his mind, it not only protected him and his family from any lethal reprisal (While I'm okay with arguing that someone should be okay with martyring themselves on such a subject as ending slavery, I felt distinctly uncomfortable if the risk is also to their loved ones. Especially children, which Azir explicitly had two with a third on the way during the ritual), but it would also force the empire to accept his decision. After all, he would be one of the gods in Shurima. They would have to listen to him if he passed the ritual. Of course we all know how that ended and about his decisions in the modern day (As well as the arrogance to demand such a ritual in the first place), but I imagine his fear and paranoia ruled over him on that decision. It's also likely the reason he never told Xerath what he was doing. He likely feared that Xerath would leak it in some way and that his family and himself would be in mortal danger. Hence why he waited until literally the last minute to reveal it to Xerath.


TLDR: Birb went through some shit. Likely did Ascension before freeing slaves to avoid assassination attempts on self/family. Not villainous move in my view.

[JamesWilliams-rpll]

'Your hands bear the blood of thousands of children!'
'SLAY'

[trueblueedits]

"What is the life of one bastard boy against a kingdom?"
"Everything."

No tyrant believes that he or she is the villain or bad guy of the story, but that doesn't change reality.

[goon]

I love these vids, i hope they get more attention.