Harrow what about Naut and Varus...could Syndra's unshackled power be enough to save them from their "condition". Can she revert the effects of Dark Water on Naut and restore his memories, or cleanse the corruption that is slowly eating away at Varus?

If not out of the goodness of her heart then atleast to try and test her powers against ancient evil founts of power?

Hi Harrow and thanks for doing this AMA. I personally LOVE Syndra and as you can see by my Match history have been playing her non-stop. I have a few questions though.

It is stated Syndra has immense power in her...however (and I dont mean this as an insult) it seems that she has sub-par abilities compared to other Mages (Lux, Xerath, Karthus etc.). I mean Karthus can summon death itself to everyone on the field, Lux can fire a giant laser across the battlefield, Xerath can fire intense arcane blasts...How can that compare to making a floating ball slam into someone's face? I dont mean to insult her, I love Syndra, but im simply looking at it from a realistic view . Thanks again.

Hmm from what I can understand, I dont see a reason why Syndra would be interested in assisting Nautilus. She only has herself and her power as her main focus, and the controlling of the later. I very much doubt Nautilus and her would have an interaction. As for Varus, his only concern is Vengeance and hunting down those that ordered the destruction of his village. I think if ever those two were to interact I believe the only thing syndra would be interested in is the Blight parasitic power upon him and if she can have some use for it...but other than that, I very much doubt she would see a need to assist him.

Alright, I'm surprised nobody asked yet: Why did Syndra join the League of Legends, an organization dedicated to the surveillance and restriction of dangers and conflicting political affairs (e.g. Noxus and Demacia) within Valoran?

Also, keep up the good work. Despite her psuedo-typical outward appearance, she reallyy is an interesting and admirable character ^_^

You're d*mn right it's open to interpretation!

My impression of Syndra has always been that she's reckless, selfish, constantly endangering everyone around her with not the slightest care for their (perfectly justifiable) concerns. There were no implications of joy and PLENTY of malice inherent in her lore. She refused all suggestions that she might need to tone it down a bit until they had to trick her into being controlled, because the choices were to either do that, or to imprison or even kill her. She completely failed to learn anything about restraint during her time studying under the old master and when confronted with the final, blunt truth that the entire world doesn't revolve around her she reacted with a murderous temper tantrum. Now she wants to slaughter the leadership of Ionia for some petty justification about them being "weak" (Excuse me, b*tch? Where were YOU when these people were fighting and dying -literally, in Irelia's case- to protect Ionia from Noxus?) and still has no actual GOALS apart from power for power's sake.

And you wonder why we think she's selfish, bratty, immature, unlikeable and a complete and utter b*tch?

Maybe this wasn't your objective when you wrote her lore. Maybe you intended her to be more sympathetic, less black and white. In which case it's my sad duty to inform you that you failed in every conceivable way. We told you this repeatedly before her release with multiple threads outlining our issues. If you intended her to be motivated by genuine fear of having her power taken away, for the use of her power to be the greatest joy in her life, the thing she lives for above all else, why didn't you write that into her lore? As it is she has less depth than a Saturday children's cartoon villain.

So, since this is an AMA, here's my question: what the bloody hell were you thinking when you wrote her lore? Because it is the single WORST thing Riot's lore department have EVER turned out.

Complaining just to complain.

Point out one thing I said that isn't true, I challenge you!

Go write a better one, then, if you think this one is so bad. I'm sure if you're correct, then everyone will see the light and demand your improved version.

But in the meantime, borrowing a bit from our friends across the pond, sod off.

Okay.

It is stated she did learn things, and since her mentor's goal was always to teach her restraint and control, I think it's highly improbable that she could "learn much" over the years of training, yet learn nothing about restraint. I think she specifically chooses to ignore what she learned about restraint NOW because it was pushed on her by people she now hates. You are free not to like that idea any more than her actually not learning anything, but I believe that saying "She completely failed to learn anything about restraint" is indeed untrue.

Chronologically speaking, she reacted with a "murderous temper tantrum" after she was told that if she didn't conform, she would be, as others in this thread have put it, "magically lobotomized." Emotionally speaking, her "tantrum" also comes after being told that she wasn't actually at this school to learn how to expand her own gifts, but to be molded into a proper Ionian spellcaster. Personally, if I was told I was going to a school to hone my creative gifts--say, painting--and then found out that what they were actually trying to do was break my spirit so that I would paint exactly the same as all the other top painters in the country, I would also feel betrayed and insulted. That stricture of conformity is the same attitude that caused several of (what are now recognized as) the greatest painters in the world to die penniless and unrecognized: Seurat and Van Gogh, for example.

But now I'm getting on my soapbox about why I like Syndra, and that's not the important part. The important part is that you said Syndra throws her murderous tantrum after being told that the world doesn't revolve around her, when actually she doesn't utilize violent force until after her old master threatens her. To say that she uses lethal force on no provocation other than being told that the world does not go according to her wishes (which I presume you mean as referring to her master refusing to lift the dampening spells) ignores a very important detail. Thus I also claim this to be untrue.

Syndra explores the limits of magic for the sake of knowledge and power, which is exactly what Ryze and Xerath's goals are. Ezreal's goals could also be seen as similar in a way. While you may dislike her goals for being too similar to other champions', which is perfectly fair, saying she has no goals at all or simplifying them to "power for power's sake" also, to me, seems untrue.

This is a statement of opinion, so naturally it can't be true or untrue, but I feel moved to say...really? I think Jayce's initial lore was far worse than Syndra's. At least Syndra's lore, like it or hate it, only casts that light on Syndra herself. The first iteration of Jayce's lore made him out as a Gary Stu and, even worse, turned Viktor into an incompetent, two-dimensional villain. That will always stand out to me as the worst lore so far.

Thank god, a reasonable voice in here. I'm really tired of these people who think they need to be spoon fed EVERY SINGLE LITTLE detail about a champion's lore just to figure out something. (That or just find any reason to rage against Riot).

I mean really? With what we know about Syndra's lore its not freaking hard to figure out why she would join the League.