Fans wondered why this theme was featured in so many episodes of the show.
Arcane is a great series that told about the fate of heroes known from League of Legends but also showed many other interesting characters with colorful personalities and an interesting story. Riot’s production gained many fans also because the developers included many curiosities, easter eggs, and references that were sometimes very hidden and it was hard to notice them at first glance.
A certain theme in the series appeared quite often and most people probably noticed it at least once. It’s about the ubiquitous ravens. These appear in many episodes, often just sitting in the background and staring at the characters. Is the occurrence of this bird species in Zaun and Piltover coincidental? According to many fans – the creators wanted to convey something in this way. What exactly?
Swain from LoL in Arcane
It’s been a while since the last Arcane act, so most of the people got to know the plot of the series. Those who saw it know that Mel, one of the most important characters, is from Noxus, but was banished by her mother and settled in Piltover. The final act tells a bit about Mel’s family and how violent the people of Noxus are.
Which League of Legends heroes come from that empire? Some people will probably mention Katarina and her siblings, and others will mention Darius. However, it is worth remembering that a great general – Jericho Swain, also comes from Noxus.
Why is he mentioned? A specific species of bird is associated with Swain, and it is, of course, the ravens. The hero’s biography reads that:
Today, Swain is giving orders from the front line, marching against the oncoming darkness that only he can see in the brief, broken visions gathered by dark ravens from the bodies of the fallen around him.
Ravens are extremely important to Swain, and it can be said that this is the motive that is most associated with him. It is not necessary to mention his name directly, it is enough to refer to him through these animals. And according to some, such a thing took place in Arcane.
One of the players wrote:
Swain been watching arcane with us. In every single major event in Arcane, there has been a scene when a raven/crow has been sitting nearby or flying away. Swain knows everything.
Swain uses the birds to obtain knowledge. So i think swain has been sending birds to piltover and zaun to obtain info throughout all of the show. Why else would they constantly show birds flying away and why are they always the same type of bird.
What Swain says to Jinx during the game also speaks in favor of the player’s theory.
Faces perishing in flames. It was all her fault.
Admittedly, it makes a lot of sense, and Riot may have actually been referring to Swain. On the other hand, it should not be forgotten that the raven itself is also a well-known symbol in culture and refers to war, death, or plague. On Wikipedia you can read that:
Ravens and crows followed the marching army and ate on the bodies of the fallen. In Sweden, folk tradition used to consider them as the ghosts of the murdered. According to Claude Lévi-Strauss, the raven gained a mythical status as a kind of intermediary between life and death.
As you can see, these birds could or may not have referred to Swain. Their symbolism fits perfectly with what happens in Zaun and Piltover during the show.