League of Legends Worlds 2024 anthem video is a banger with an identity crisis

The League of Legends Worlds 2024 anthem video feels like it's stuck between a LoL celebration and a Linkin Park MV, and both suffer for it.

On Tuesday evening I found myself in London’s O2 Arena, surrounded by thousands of fans eagerly awaiting the return of rock royalty and nu-metal pioneers, Linkin Park. Having last seen the band in the same venue a decade prior, it was a bittersweet moment for me to say the least – the late, great Chester Bennington sorely missed by everyone I yapped away to as we waited for the re-formed group to make their grand reintroduction.

Just hours before Linkin Park graced the stage with a monstrous performance, the League of Legends Worlds 2024 anthem and accompanying music video were finally unveiled after weeks of teasing on social media. To the surprise of few, it was Heavy is the Crown – the second single from LP’s upcoming ‘From Zero’ album. Having just hopped off the train when it went live, I eagerly found a spot to perch and watch, my initial reaction being one of mild bemusement – is this a Linkin Park video or a LoL Worlds video?

Put together by the ridiculously talented team at Eddy Animation, the Heavy is the Crown video features a gorgeous hand-painted art style that pulls from Medieval art, with a little bit of William Turner thrown in for good measure. This isn’t the first time I’ve seen the period manifest this way – Atlus’ upcoming JRPG Metaphor ReFantazio has gone for a similar approach – and I think it’s a monarch-worthy match for a couple of reasons.

The word ‘aura’ is slung around a lot nowadays, and no one in League embodies it like the unkillable demon king, Lee ‘Faker’ Sang-hyeok. Needless to say, I was gagged when the four-time Worlds winner and unparalleled GOAT made his regal appearance at the back end of the track. It’s only right that his Leagueness is portrayed with such gravitas.

Then there’s the setting of this year’s tournament. Having finally returned to Europe for the first time since 2019, it’s an easy link to the continent’s heritage. The kingly discourse is already liberally applied to the rivalry between the region’s two biggest orgs – Fnatic and G2 Esports – so there’s a natural connection there, too.

As Heavy is the Crown recounts the story of Faker and T1’s successful campaign at last year’s MOBA game world championship, we’re treated to cameos from League stars like G2’s Rasmus ‘Caps’ Winther and Bilibili Gaming’s Chen ‘Bin’ Ze-Bin. We’re also graced by a generous amount of cutaways to Linkin Park themselves, with frontfolk Emily Armstrong and Mike Shinoda featuring prominently. This, however, is where things get a bit murky.

You see, the Worlds anthem is a celebration of all things League – it is a sacred media within the community. 2022’s anthem, Star Walkin’, was a stark reminder of that, as the lack of alignment between the Lil Nas X track – a lyrically dissonant, non-League-original piece – and its audience was made abundantly clear by fans. Last year, Riot looked to have taken note of the feedback, providing arguably the best anthem since 2018’s Rise with Gods – a track produced by Riot itself and performed by K-Pop superstars NewJeans.

While Linkin Park wrote and produced Heavy is the Crown – a Meteora-esque banger that I feel is the perfect vibe match for a Worlds anthem – there’s seemingly been some light input from the band’s management when it comes to the MV during contract negotiations. Whereas Star Walkin’ showed Lil Nas X for a moment, Heavy is the Crown frequently cuts between action-heavy shots of the players duking it out and the band performing. Although I love both of these things in isolation, I can’t help but feel that it disrupts the flow of the video to the point that it’s a detriment to both.

The response to Riot’s attempt to appease both sides is also very telling depending on where you look. Linkin Park fans want to see more of the band, League players want to see more of the players. As someone who sits in the middle of the Venn diagram, I am trending towards the latter. If the balance between the two had to remain, though, I wish a more distinct structure had been deployed to separate the two – perhaps something more akin to 2003’s Breaking the Habit animated MV where the band feature most prominently in the latter half.

Qualms aside, I can appreciate why Riot’s gone down this path. After all, it’s not every day that one of the century’s biggest bands gets back together, and Shinoda’s love of Riot shooter Valorant is well-known. The opportunity for collaboration here, at this critical point, was simply too good to turn down, even if creative compromises had to be made to make it work. What’s already being called Faint 2.0 will also be featured on the Arcane season two soundtrack, so expect to see more animated Linkin Park down in Zaun.

Regardless of where you sit on Heavy is the Crown, what I can say is that you’re in for a treat when Linkin Park returns to the O2 on November 2 to perform it as part of the finals ceremony. Armstrong’s live chops are no joke, and I might have felt myself begin to ascend partway through her whopping 15-second scream on the track – though that might have been the dehydration and one too many trips to the pit kicking in.