Just days ago, the haunting trailer for Fiddlesticks was released, and we can rest assured that this scarecrow will now have plenty of horror to live up to his title as the “Harbinger of Hell.” However, if it were merely an image upgrade, Riot wouldn’t have gone to the lengths of creating such a horror trailer. Old champions being reworked always open up new stories as a way to patch the gaps in the lore, and Fiddlesticks is no exception.
Let’s take a quick look at Fiddlesticks’ trailer, which opens with two patrolling soldiers complaining to each other. In this conversation, they mention an incident known as the “Fossbarrow Incident” caused by “horrific mages.” So what happened at Fossbarrow?
Fossbarrow is a small village located north of Demacia, named after the hero Fossian Crownguard, who fought against the Eternal Nightmare – Nocturne here. However, human strength alone cannot completely eradicate such an evil entity, and the hero had only one option left: to sacrifice himself and seal the demon along with him.
After many years of imprisonment, Nocturne was awakened and released by a child with magical potential, the son of the judge in Fossbarrow named Luca. Nocturne then devastated the small village until Garen and Lux arrived to rescue and drive this demon away, which is the main story of the “For Demacia” narrative. It seems that the power of the Crownguard descendants was not enough to defeat Nocturne, and this specter has remained free until now.
The presence of an evil entity like Nocturne forces Demacia to increase patrols; the two soldiers in Fiddlesticks’ trailer are on this duty, and unfortunately, this land has more than one demon. However, isn’t it quite coincidental that Nocturne is nearby and another demon like Fiddlesticks also appears in Demacia? Is someone trying to use these evil entities to destroy this kingdom?
So what is Demacia’s greatest enemy? Of course, it’s Noxus; this country has no good relations with other nations and territories, but is considered an enemy only by Noxus. How coincidental it is that the current supreme leader of Noxus is Swain, a being who also possesses demonic powers.
If we pay attention, we can see that Fiddlesticks and Swain share many similarities in appearance. Firstly, the detail of the three-eyed crow; Riot confirmed that Fiddlesticks is a puppet controlled by an evil demon in its chest, and the first images of this scarecrow reveal that this demon has three eyes. Furthermore, with the new animation of the ultimate ability, which opens the chest and unleashes a swarm of crows, it can be confirmed that the embodiment of this demon is the three-eyed crow.
Back to Swain, the crows associated with him also have three faces, and moreover, this champion is described as having gained a part of the power of the demon inside the Immortal Fortress – the capital of Noxus. It’s very likely that this demon is Fiddlesticks, further confirmed by Swain’s new right arm being a demonic arm, while the new gait of this scarecrow drags a mechanical arm, something that does not originally belong to him.
All of the above leads to one final conclusion that the one who brought or lured Fiddlesticks to Demacia is none other than Swain. As a master strategist, Swain understands that a direct confrontation with Demacia would cause significant damage to Noxus. Even though he is cold-blooded, who wants to rule a nation ravaged by continuous war?
Instead, exploiting demons like Fiddlesticks, and even Nocturne, Evelynn, and Shaco, to destroy Demacia and then take over this nation without much effort is clearly much smarter. Thus, it’s no surprise that Fiddlesticks, sealed in Noxus, suddenly appears in the heart of Demacia as shown in the trailer.
Whether Swain is behind this or not, one thing is for sure: the presence of Fiddlesticks and Nocturne, demons that should never have been freed, wandering in the heart of Demacia can only be a harbinger of the collapse of this kingdom.