League of Legends released its season-start cinematic for 2025, so here’s everything that happens in “Bite Marks.”
Every year, League of Legends launches a season-start cinematic to begin things on a high note. This season, it’s a canon cinematic taking place in Noxus, tying-in with the theme of Noxus for Season 1 of 2025. We’ve broken down every detail and easter egg we can find in Bite Marks for you to catch up.
Full “Bite Marks” cinematic breakdown
Every year, the cinematic begins with strange black and marble-white carvings that shift on a wall. A flash of a golden eye watching them, and more moving scripture.
Then we see our first character, and likely our next champion to be added to League of Legends, Mel Medarda. With her family’s ships in the background, she lands on the same beach that Ambessa nearly died on while pregnant with Mel in the “Blood, Sweat, and Tears” music video for Arcane Season 2.
The next scene is a masked figure, who will be revealed to be Katarina, walking through the Black Rose Masquerade. This is a tie-in to the Noxus “Masque of the Black Rose” skins that are being released as a tie-in with the Noxus-themed season. Katarina has been sent by Swain to this ball to assassinate a specific invitee/member of the Black Rose Cult.
The Trifarix of Might vs Troll King, fight!
Then we get a view of Darius, backed by Noxian soldiers, in a Freljordian valley. He faces Trundle, the King of the Freljordian trolls. The scene seems to suggest this is one of Noxus’ expansionist efforts into the northern reaches of Valoran, and this battle between Darius and Trundle is a duel between champions. If Trundle defeats Darius, it seems implied that the Noxians would honour the troll’s strength and leave them their independence. If Darius defeats Trundle, this clan would become yet another part of Noxus’ immortal empire. The two clash, and we flash back to Mel.
Mel walks through one of Noxus’ great stone gates, monoliths that mark their territory. The scene flashes back to the Black Rose Masquerade, and Katarine takes to the dance floor, gracefully spinning around participants. As she reaches the front of the room, she lunges at one of the Black Rose’s guests of honour, looking to finish her target. However, she is prevented as one of Elise’s spider legs blocks her dagger, and the spider-hybrid Black Rose member steps forward from the shadow.
Back in Darius and Trundle’s fight, Trundle blocks Darius with his True Ice club, and it begins to envelope his axe. True Ice is ice infected by the Watchers, otherworldly being from The Void, presence in the freljord and only the Iceborn can wield it without immense pain. Not being Iceborn, Darius drops his axe and tackles Trundle, and the two begin a brutal hand-to-hand battle in the fields. As Trundle has the upper hand, preparing to rip Darius’ head from his shoulders, Darius grips the now covered True Ice axe and shatters the true ice on Trundle’s head, knocking him unconscious.
New arrivals, old foes, new dangers
Back at the Masquerade, Katarina and Elise enter a duel in front of Katarina’s target. There’s not a ton of lore implications here, but we do get to see just how formidable of a combatant and assassin Katarina is.
Another scene change back to Mel, a vision of her in front of the Immortal Bastion. She uses her magic to knock aside two Noxian soldiers, then two floating Black Rose cultists extend their signature blood-red beams of energy, which Mel grips like in Arcane’s finale, and shatters. Great stone fragments begin to collapse on her, and Mel steps forward as an enormous tower falls upon her.
She summons her golden dome of magic and balances the tower atop it before gathering her strength and sending it flying through the front gates of the Immortal Bastion. This does not seem to be a set of literal events, but a representation of the many enemies and infrastructural obstacles Mel will have to overcome to join Noxus and continue her mother’s and clan’s legacies.
Katarina and Elise’s battle continues, with Elise retreating up a wall and shifting forms into her enormous spider form. This is the last we see of their battle, but neither character is likely to die, just a continuation of the duel that leaves them both in a stalemate compatible with future lore installations.
Back in the Freljord, Darius has defeated Trundle in hand-to-hand combat, and Trundle’s clan shrinks away in defeat and fear. Mel, back in Noxus, sets her eyes on the Immortal Bastion and walks forward. With this, the music video ends.
Leblanc and the Black Rose are hunting Naafiri?
At the end of the music video, there is a brief dialogue scene between LeBlanc and Vladimir. LeBlanc, complete with a new look that will likely match her upcoming VGU in 2025, stands in front of swirling white walls littered with black rules that resemble Ochnun, the language of the dead, and the etymological root of Noxian language.
Vladimir enters saying “Every new path seems to lead us closer to chaos. Maybe we should focus on the opportunity that washed up on our shores.” In this, Vladimir is referencing Mel Medarda’s arrival in Noxus, and the possibility of trying to continue recruiting her to the Black Rose.
“Unforeseen turns are simply part of any path.” responds Leblanc, who continues to manipulate the Ochnun runes on the wall. “Yes, but *that*, darling, is a step too far. Even for us” Vladimir responds, pointing to something on the wall of the chamber that Leblanc is looking at.
“Piltover was a lesson, Vladimir. Calamity is always approaching, in some moments its arrival is more imminent that others. Our next move must be bolder, not safer.” responds LeBlanc, and the camera pans back to show the two of them staring at a slowly-forming shape. And, as the rune finishes, it is revealed that the thing Leblanc is after, and what Vladimir fears, is a knife that near-perfectly resembles the Darkin dagger Naafiri.
There is a closed eye in the center of the blade that clearly resembles Naafiri’s dagger form. The Darkin are Shuriman god-warriors, ascended by the Sun Disk, who were traumatized by fighting The Void and turned to Blood Magic, becoming horrifying cataclysmic monsters known as The Darkin. Naafiri, currently a dagger in the wastes of Shurima, seems to be the Black Rose’s next target for acquisition. The Bite Marks cinematic ends with a huge revelation about Leblanc and the Black Rose’s plans, though it’s subtle about it.
That’s everything you need to know about the 2025 “Bite Marks” cinematic and the events within. Now get out into those Noxian fields of war and enjoy the brand-new season!
