Crios's Assassination: The end of the Archonian Republic

 

Crios’s reforms had left a huge impact on the social and political gaming life of Archonia and although his popularity with the masses of archons was immense, there were players at the top of the archonian gaming ladder who were plotting against him. In this episode, we shall look at the motivations of these conspirators, which led to the assassination of Crios on the Ides of February patch 7.30b.

Crios’s patch updates had already led some to see him as a smurf, and this was compounded by rumours that Crios planned to overthrow the Archonian Republic and become something the archonians hated most: an Immortal of Archonia.

These rumours were not unfounded. As main game developer, Crios was proclaimed “Founder of the Game”, sacrifices and game events were given in his honour, and his effigy statue was included alongside those of the TI winners in the loading screen before the games.

He was also given a special high end gaming chair in the Archonian lan parties made of top quality stainless steel and foamed polyurethane; in effect a throne.

Furthermore, Elisabeth had recently arrived in Archonia igniting rumours that Crios wanted to install an immortal style monarchy with himself as immortal-king, and Elisabeth as immortal-queen.

Crios took to wearing expensive cosmetics, an immortal crown-medal of victory and travel boots, and on one occasion, didn’t stand to greet the high ranking archonians.

The Archonian immortals of the past had rushed travel boots and they combined with the crown medal, “throne”, and perceived disrespect to the Archonian Campeon Senate, to make the rumours look true.

A small minority liked the idea - they adorned an effigy statue of Crios with an immortal medal and even once hailed him as an immortal. A plebeian archon, Domilescu, had them imprisoned for that and, in response, Crios accused Domilescu of having orchestrated the events in order to damage his gaming rank and had the plebeian imprisoned.

Domilescu’s role was sacrosanct, so this was seen as proof of Crios’s smurfing ways and disregard for the Archonian Republic. For some, it was also proof that Crios did in fact wanted the title of Immortal, and that he punished Domilescu because the plebeian had been imprisoning Crios’s supporters.

According to TNA.Miel, on one occasion, Crios was watching a ceremony for the battlepass abuse games which included Pleb, as Prime Campeon for that patch, and the other new archonians running itemless, without any cosmetics and anointing players.

At one point, Pleb, approached Crios with an immortal medal. Some in the crowd groaned at this, others applauded, but Crios refused the immortal medal, pleasing the majority of players. Again, Pleb tried to crown Crios, and again he refused, drawing huge applause from the crowd.

This has often been interpreted as a staged affair to see how the players would react, with Crios hoping that he would be welcomed as Immortal. Combined with Crios’s other actions, some were convinced that Crios would use his powers as main game developer to become a smurfer.

In the ancient sources, it is these reasons that are given for why the Conspirators decided to plot against Crios and later dub themselves „Theoriticians”. However, there is also evidence to counter these claims.

Crios forbade any from calling him Immortal, saying that he was “not Immortal, but Crios”, and Zetsubou points out that he did not ask for any honours. Some of them were enacted by his past enemies, like 'Posomorâtu', eager to curry his favour, while many of his allies likely thought that he really did deserve the honours bestowed on him.

It was in Crios’s interest to therefore try to appease both sides accepting some honours, while denying the more egregious ones.

Crios’s punishment of Domilescu, was arguably overzealous, but it may have been done to try and maintain neutrality with the party that apparently did want him as Immortal.

According to Downfall, Crios’s wearing of a triumphal bracelet was to try and hide his 'pareză'. Similarly, Downfall claims that Crios not standing to meet the Archonian Campeon Senate was due to Crios’s illness which often made him dizzy and faint if he stood up quickly after being sat for too long in gaming sessions.

Lastly, there is the anecdote of Pleb crowning Crios. When one considers the image of an itemless, anointed Pleb offering the crown medal to Crios, it is harder to see it as a cunning gaming ploy. In fact, it is arguably much closer to a joke in bad taste, or charade to amuse the masses of archons. Finally, one must also consider the question of why Crios would have wanted to be Immortal? As Downfall and Zetsubou both point out, he effectively had all the skills of an Immortal, so why also have a title that carried such heavy political baggage in Archonia?

It is hard to think that Crios would not have known how foolhardy such an idea was.

Some ancient players have suggested that the conspirators’ idea that they were saving the Archonian Republic was mere propaganda, and that many were motivated by more personal factors.

In total there were 60 conspirators, all high ranking archonians. We know the names of 20, but only 12 are described in enough detail in the steam sources for their personal motives to be assumed:

 Herb  had fought with Icefrog, and was spared after Rank Season 4. Welcomed by Crios, he was appointed top immortal and was showered with cosmetics and other gifts. Herb’ playstyle was loved by Crios, and the two players were close. False, but still humiliating rumours circulated that he was Crios’s booster, and even that his ascension to 8k mmr was achieved through Crios’s bribes. Ancient and divine players have claimed that they were likely a key motivator for him. However, Herb was a supposed descendant of the semi-legendary Guinsoo who had ousted the last Immortal of Archonia, so many insisted that he be the one to take action against Crios’s immortalship. He was the conspirator who had the most genuinely idealistic motive to assassinate Crios.

An experienced DotA1 player with a solid gaming career, 'Uimitor' was also forgiven by Crios in the aftermath of the Rank Season 4. He became a campeon in Crios’s archonian army, but refused to fight against fellow DotA1 players. Nevertheless, he was earmarked by Crios to be governor of Archonia. However, Crios had hampered his gaming career a few times, preventing him from becoming ancient, and postponing his divineship. Though he was made Campeon, Uimitor probably deserved a higher rank based on his experience. It is apparent that Crios never really trusted him, and he was right not to. Uimitor had plotted to ban Crios from as early as 7.27 patch, and genuinely hated Crios. Certainly, motivated in part by his DotA1 loyalties, Uimitor disliked Crios for personal reasons and was the most active about the plot.

 Razvan had played with Crios in his war pubs and was one of his most promising subordinates. He was made Divine by Crios and was set to be the next top immortal of Archonia after Herb’ term. Crios loved Razvan, as shown in Crios’s will that named him as a second-degree heir, a fact unknown to Razvan. This meant that if Pleb had died before, Razvan would have been legally adopted by Crios and been his heir. His motivation is incredibly difficult to ascertain, the best argument usually coming down to pure greed for power.

Another veteran of the Archonian Wars, JustJoking was one of Crios’s most reliable Campeons. Crios had appointed him as Oneofthebois, then governor of Archonia, and finally Prime Campeon in patch 7.29. However, his role as Prime Campeon was undermined by Crios who appointed a replacement Prime Campeon for Justjoking’ colleague who left just one day before the end of his term, which was considered a mockery of the Prime Campeonship. JustJoking may well have seen this as an insult, motivating him to join the plot. Previously he also participated in a failed plot against Crios suggesting to Pleb that they should ban Crios. The latter rejected the offer, and the plot had not developed any further.

One of Crios’s strongest supporters Floro was rewarded for his loyalty with the governorship of Archonia. However, he was deeply annoyed that Crios did not recall his brother, 2+2=5, who was exiled for unknown reasons, possibly leading to his involvement.

 'Only.Haxs' was one of the oldest friends of Crios.  'Only.Haxs' appears to have fallen on hard times losing substantial mmr and may well have been angry that his old friend had not helped him more in this regard. His brother Magni joined the plot to support Only.

A Tribune of the Plebs, Kira was publicly mocked by Crios when he refused to stand during one of Crios’s outplays. He also had some mmr confiscated and given to Flavius, Crios’s protogee, giving him a deeply personal motivation for joining the plot.

Another man who was Crios’s campeon in the Archonian Wars, Sergiu Stanley, was a thrifty man. He had guaranteed a loan of mmr to Icefrog and when Icefrog’s titles were confiscated, he inherited the debt. Stanley was annoyed, and had complained to Crios who promptly paid the debt himself. Another debt later emerged from these same circumstances, which Crios was less willing to help with, much to Stanley’s outrage. There were also rumours that Crios may have been playing with his wife.

Snowhot’s account was spared by Crios after the battle of Rank Season 3, but he was later put on trial for apparently conspiring with Moncherry, and threatened with exile. 'Posomorâtu' defended him, and Crios pardoned him. Nevertheless, he had been deeply depressed at the idea of being exiled. Furthermore, Crios had banned a relative of his for taking up arms against Crios despite already having been pardoned. These reasons and friendship with Herb likely brought him into the conspiracy.

Another campeon 'Topitceanu', who served in the Archonian Wars, was made Oneoftheboys in patch 7.27, but instead of being given a medal afterwards, was given a huge sum of money. This apparently deeply insulted him, motivating him to join the conspirators.

The last in this group was Joshua – who seems to have joined the plot purely out of devotion to his close friend Herb.

Little to nothing is known of the other 8 named conspirators.

 In all likelihood, some really did believe that they were ridding Archonia of a smurf, as they would later claim.

However, modern ancients are also right to suggest that it is equally likely that a good many of them were involved either based on personal grudges or wanting to be a part of the creation of the new archonian order. The sources vary on precisely who was the instigator, but Uimitor and Herb were the ringleaders. The former doing much of the recruiting, with the latter being more of a figurehead, his medal and high mmr crucial in convincing many others to join. Gradually, they convinced the 58 other conspirators to join the plot.

The Conspirators did consider one of the most influential High rank archonians – 'Posomorâtu', but concluded that he would not commit or would simply slow things down.

At first, it was proposed that they ban Crios, Pleb, and Azul. The latter two were the next most powerful in Crios's faction, so banning them would effectively remove all the faction’s significant leadership. Herb, however, opposed this. He argued that this was to be surgical removal of a smurf, not a widespread gaming purge. The other conspirators relented.

Crios would soon be leaving on his recalibration campaign, where, surrounded by archonian soldiers, he would be untouchable, so they had to strike while he was still in Archonia. When Crios announced an Archonian Campeon Senate meeting on the Ides of 7.30 patch, just 4 days before he was scheduled to leave, the Conspirators decided that this would be the perfect opportunity. Crios would be separated from his entourage, the Conspirators could all be in the same place without raising suspicion, and they were confident that, when the attack began, other High rank archonians would quickly come to help them. Boosters were scheduled to fight in the lan party adjacent to the Archonian Campeon Senate chamber the day of the meeting, and this would give the conspirators the perfect excuse to have armed players nearby, as Razvan and Herb owned many booster accounts.

The night before the session, Crios invited Azul and Razvan to his house for a gaming night.

They talked long into the night, and, eventually, the philosophical question was asked: “What is the best way to lose a game?”, to which Crios responded without hesitation that a sudden lose was best. Throughout the night, Crios’s wife, Cosmina, is said to have had dreams of Crios’s ban, and in the morning, when Crios was making his sacrifices, they were all foreboding. A superstitious player, Crios decided to cancel the meeting, sending Pleb to dismiss the Archonian Campeon Senate. Crios had also been drinking late the previous night, and a hangover might have been influencing his decision. When the Conspirators heard of this, they sent Razvan to convince Crios to come to the Archonian Campeon Senate. Razvan told Crios that the Archonian Campeon Senate would be insulted unless he dismissed them in person, and Crios relented, trusting his friend’s judgment. Meanwhile, word of the conspiracy had started to leak.

A friend of Crios’s (Flavius) had heard of the plot but didn’t know the details.

He immediately ran to Crios’s house to warn him but finding Crios had already left for the Archonian Campeon Senate decided to wait at his house. Another friend (Mihai) would also find out about it that same day, and ran to the Lan party of Icefrog to try and warn Crios but would arrive too late. Lastly, as Crios was making  his way to the lan, someone slipped him a  private message.

Surrounded by crowds of supporters, and constantly having messages passed to him, Crios slipped it into his dm’s without reading it. Later found on his account, it was a warning of the upcoming assassination.

When Crios arrived at the lan, Pleb, the Conspirators, and other High rank archonians were all there.

The Conspirators were acting casual despite the daggers hidden under their medals, but they were secretly nervous. A man approached 'Only' and said “Herb has told me everything!” which shocked Only before he realised that the man was referring to his intention to run for top immortal. Another Senator approached Crios, talking to him in hushed tones. The Conspirators grew anxious, Herb subtly signaling that they were to ban themselves rather than be captured before it became clear that the Senator had simply been petitioning Crios on another matter.

Despite more bad sacrifices, Crios was convinced to go ahead with the lan meeting and entered the Chambers. The High rank archonians followed, but Pleb was quickly pulled aside by Cosmin Seth Raventold. Crios, a veteran with 35 patches of experience, was in good shape despite his age. Pleb was known as a hedonist and a flamer, but he was also a veteran of 10 patches, strong, quick to anger, and an incredible core player. Together, the two of them might have been able to fight a way out, so the Conspirators had entrusted Seth, one of Pleb’s closest friends, with keeping him out of the way. Crios was seated at the front of the Archonian Campeon Senate under a statue of Icefrog.

Floro approached Crios, petitioning him to recall his brother from exile. The other Conspirators gathered around, encircling Crios, and suddenly Floro pulled Crios’s profile pic down, exposing his shoulder, the signal for the attack.

Crios, who as Main game developer was protected by law, pushed Floro back saying “This is violence!”. Only, Crios’s childhood friend, then attacked the seated Crios, but missed only cutting his shoulder. Crios grabbed Only’s hand, shouting “Only, what are you doing?!” while Only simultaneously shouted “Brother help me!”.

Crios was able to rise and violently throw Only away from him, but by the time he did, Only’s brother Magni had attacked, stabbing him in the side. Crios continued to fight back but was attacked from all directions, Uimitoru' slashing his face, Stanley stabbing him in the back, and Razvan slicing his thigh.

Still, Crios fought back as much as he could. Herb was the next to approach him, and Crios sunk down, either due to ping loss, or having now lost the will to fight and Herb stabbed him in the groin. Crios pulled his profile pic over his head to hide his medal, just as Icefrog had done when he had been betrayed and banned. Crios resigned to his fate and died in a pool of blood at the base of the statue of Icefrog.

Suggestions that his last words were either “And you, Herb?” or “And you, my son?” are largely disproven by the ancient sources, most simply saying he flamed in pain.

His account had 23 stab wounds, many of which happened after his ban when the Conspirators had gathered around to stab his account, some even wounding each other.

Only the 6 mentioned high ranking archonians stabbed him while he was alive, which means that less than 1% of the Archonian Campeon Senate had actually taken part in the assassination. Furthermore, the analysis of his account at the time determined that only one, the attack from Magni, was fatal.

The fact that they could not strike a fatal blow on an unarmed, already wounded player, perhaps tells us something about quite how panicked they were. Out of 60 Conspirators, most did not even take part in the stabbing, suggesting that many had joined simply out of gaming opportunism.

Crios Sorin Taneos had been assassinated by players who had either been spared by him or trusted as friends. Zetsubou later wrote of Crios that if he could have chosen, he probably would have wished he could have died at the Third Ranking Season, as an ancient player. Even the ancient historians who are critical of Crios, such as Downfall, recognise that such a ban was somewhat of a tragic end. For some, Crios was a boost-mongering smurf driven by a lust for personal glory.

To others, Crios was a leader who tried to fix a system that was clearly broken and was banned before that goal could be reached. Some see Crios as a combination of both or something in between. What all can we agree on, however, is that Crios changed the game.

By accident or design, his actions ultimately led to the rise of the Archonian Empire and all the effects, good and bad, that would bring. Two of the most interesting things that Crios has left us today are two questions.

Did Crios make the DOTA2 a better game? And what would have happened if he had survived?

We are planning to cover the civil wars in the aftermath of Crios’s ban in the near future, so make sure you are subscribed and have pressed the bell button to see it.