A Theory on Maeve's Relation to Androxus

No One Escapes the Law 0: Overview

Lex is not aligned with Androxus

Zhin isn't aligned with Lex

Maeve isn't aligned with Zhin

No One Escapes the Law 1: Zhin

Zhin is infamous, Lex is justice.

It's a stock example of good guy and bad guy. Zhin wants Lex dead because Lex wants Zhin dead, except Lex is currently busy with Androxus. However, if that were simply the case, then Zhin wouldn't save Androxus (as shown by deflecting Lex's shots as his introduction). He aould have just gone straight for the kill while Lex was aiming his gun at the downed Androxus. That brings this to point 2. Zhin is building relations with Androxus.

Zhin knows Androxus (Kinda). It's like knowing Iron Man but not knowing that Iron Man is Tony Stark. You know the mask, not the man. Zhin has 2 interactions with the godslayer, one of which is when being killed by Androxus. Zhin says, "This doesn't count!" Meaning that Androxus is keeping count of something. In context, this is most likely duel wins. The other one is spawn chatter, saying, "Do not interfere with my combat, Godslayer. They are my kills". The fact that Zhin says Godslayer instead of Androxus seems to first of all prove the first part of kinda knowing Androxus (since it's more formal to call someone by a title instead of by name, and the Godslayer is Androxus' title). Also, it's more likely that a title spreads faster than a name, and "The Godslayer" is a name that sticks out really well.

No One Escapes the Law 2: Lex

No One Escapes the Law 3a: Maeve

No One Escapes the Law 3b: Of Blades

Her ultimate line (Goodniiiiight~) is a common line in fights when someone is about to be knocked out or killed.

The ally version of her ultimate line sounds really team-based, which is a major difference to her enemy/self version. This seems to show that Maeve is simply using the skills she has when involving other people, which again goes back to "I'd these guys can help me live longer, then I'll work with them no matter what". It's all business and no personailty. She has no flair with her ult, as if she has no reason to be proud of it. It's just a useful tool to her, not some special trait to center her life around (Like Ying's illusions, Evie's ice staff, Cassie's heritage, Kinessa's job, Fernando's "fiery" personality, Torvald's gauntlet, Pip's potions, or Lex's guns).

No One Escapes the Law 4: Androxus' Intentions

Androxus is running from Lex Androxus was chasing Maeve before hunting Lex.

Closer

Afterward

A quick note, this is mostly based on voice lines and the cinematic trailer involving Lex, Androxus, Zhin, and Maeve.So starting with the cinematic trailer, It is established that:Among those interactions, the only clear one is of Zhin attacking Lex for two possible reasons.Zhin probably heard some rumor and decided to try meeting said Godslayer), and that the duels speculated from earlier could be Androxus testing Zhin, the leader of the Thousand Hand Guild (THG), to see if the THG was worth his time.Why this is important: Maeve stops Zhin from finishing Lex, which means that Maeve needs Lex alive for some reason, most likely to kill Androxus.Zhin's Conclusion: The THG wants to affiliate with Androxus, so Zhin is there for situation. Zhin is not a cause of this engagement (referring to the cinematic).Right from the get-go, this battle between Lex and Androxus seemed to be less of a battle and more of a chase. If this was a battle, Androxus would strafe and fight back, but Androxus only fired one shot in return at Lex, of which was badly aimed as Androxus was still running. Why is Lex chasing down Androxus to begin with? At first, this may be a general concept of good against evil, but the more I (I know it's not good to use opinions; I'm going to use them anyways) think about it, the less it makes sense. Androxus always seemed to be the "Lawful Good" type. For comparison, Zhin is a "Neutral Evil" type, who does evil things for his own intentions (This is why I believe Androxus will never join the THG; their interests don't actually align, but Zhin doesnt know that). Androxus never does anything truly bad except what is needed, and his voice lines show it. All of Androxus' lines involving darkness point to him having ties to darkness, but resenting it greatly. There is also the other insanely speculatory reason that Lex's order involves a god and Androxus had slain that god, but there isn't enough lore to back that one up.Lex's Conclusion: This is speculation, but Lex may have simply spotted Androxus attempting to execute someone who affiliates with darkness. I believe that someone is Maeve.As mentioned previously with Zhin, seeing Maeve protecting Lex is very strange. Maeve is a pickpocket, so assisting the law means that either Maeve is trying to clear her name (Which, with her behavior, seems very unlikely) or needs Lex for something. If Androxus is hunting Maeve down (as speculated in Lex's conclusion) and Lex is hunting Androxus down, it would make sense for Maeve to help someone who's helping her live; It fits with Maeve's character of "Do whatever it takes to survive", of which "an enemy of my enemy is an ally". When looking at their skill sets, it makes sense as well. Even if Lex were to hunt down Maeve after defeating Androxus, Maeve has a lot of vertical mobility with her prowl ability, letting Maeve escape to a place Lex can't easily reach. It's easier for her to deal with Lex than Androxus.Maeve's First Conclusion: Maeve is running from Androxus for some reason.Maeve is all about her blades. Her voice lines are all about the blades and her abilities are all about using her blades better or repositioning except for one: Her ultimate. Although it may help with the "repositioning" part of her kit better, Maeve's ability to instantly make darkness appear is an outlier to her kit. Maeve doesn't make any remarks about it either.Maeve's Second Conclusion: As it's so out of place, Maeve's ability to reduce vision using darkness is an acquired skill, possibly from whatever darkness god that had cursed Androxus or of which Androxus had slain. That gives Androxus a reason to hunt Maeve down, since Maeve is affiliated with said god.As it has been previously established:Someone may be asking why Androxus fired at Lex instead of Maeve (for whatever reason he's targeting Maeve and escape Lex). Here's the kicker, heshooting at Maeve. Take a look again, if Androxus really was aiming for Lex, he would have shot around Maeve, either by stepping to the side or nether stepping to the sky. Instead he shot straight ahead at, you guessed it, Maeve. Maeve would have taken the shot if Androxus shot straight, leaving Lex mostly unharmed. How else is this shown? If it was slightly to the left or right, Maeve could have easily sidestepped and Lex would have still been hit by the blast radius while leaving herself unhurt. Instead, Maeve jumped straight up which (for a girl who can not only jump higher but also double jump) seems like a better panic option than quickly deciding which way to step. Lex just happened to be directly behind Maeve when the shot was fired, redirecting viewers' attention to Lex.Conclusion: Androxus is trying to kill Maeve.After time and time of losing her, Androxus had finally found Maeve and was planning to eliminate her, but being caught by the local police (Lex) doing something criminal (murder), Androxus was forced to run, as killing Lex was something Androxus didn't want to do. Lex wasn't involved in this affair of darkness. After a chase, Lex finally managed to knock down Androxus, but before Lex could finish his job, Zhin denies such an ending because the Thousand Hand Guild needed Androxus alive as another hand of the guild. Androxus most likely wouldn't have joined anyways. Zhin eventually gains the upper hand, but before Zhin could end Lex's life, Maeve hops back into that fray to save Lex so that Maeve always had someone to keep Androxus occupied with not trying to kill her. However, just as Maeve had driven off Zhin, she turns around to find Androxus aiming his revolver right at her. It was rather she lose her own life or live another day on the run from Androxus (since Lex would be dead). She bails, only barely missing the shot. Below her, she realizes that Lex was able to counter Androxus' shot with his own, and he will keep living, now with the goal of bringing Androxus down to his knees under the law. With that bright burst of light, Maeve takes off. Androxus soon follows in pursuit and Lex is left dealing with Zhin.Final conclusion: It's 4:03 in the morning and I both speculate and theorize too muchNext is the segment I'm writing that's pure speculation of what could happen. This is not part of the theory, but rather a pair of possible outcomes that would happen after the events that take place in the cinematic, assuming the theory is correct. This was written a day after the theory is finished. This speculation assumes that killing Maeve removes the curse on Androxus.After countless days and nights of pursuing and being pursued, Androxus finally has the upper hand. Lex is unconscious at his side, Maeve is fallen in front of him, crippled. Androxus lifts his revolver and...Ending 1: ....penetrates her skull, right in the head. As her upper body falls, the curse on Androxus slowly begins to fade, leaving what was left of his former self. No more nether stepping, no more cursed arm. Tears of joy run down his face as he embraces what he had once lost. The godslayer is now nothing but a legend.Androxus, now free to pursue what he wants, first starts by carrying the unconscious Lex to the closer site of medical attention. The doctors take the lawman off of his arms and Androxus returns to the site of which he laid an end to not only a curse and a dead god, but an innocent girl who was just doing whatever she can to live on. Androxus takes the body in secret to an nearby hill, ill-visited by the locals. He buries her body. Nothing is written on the tombstone except, in bold letters, "MAEVE". Just below it, "Goodnight". Maeve: The girl who was weak in strength but strong in heart, the girl who never threw away her chances, the true nemesis of Androxus. Feeling remorse for the loss of an important to him, Androxus decides to pursue alongside Lex in the police force. He still had goof aim with a revolver after all, Androxus had an easy time fitting right in. Soon, Lex and Androxus became the best of friends, rivals to each other's achievements. Together, they attempt to put an end to the Thousand Hand Guild.Ending 2: .... begins pulling the trigger, but he hesitates. The look in Maeve's eyes, the terror running through her mind, is this what Androxus wanted? Granted, the curse had done much harm to him, but was that really worth harming others and and killing this girl? He drops his arm, revolver falling to the floor. Maeve is flabbergasted as Androxus walks up forwards her, helping her up and guiding her away to a sheltered place."Why?" Maeve asks, to which in response, Androxus states."My battle is not with you; It never was, I have been wrong." The godslayer turned to leave. From now on, he will have to live with the curse that is eating away at him.Months later, Lex storms the base of the Thousand Hand Guild, alone. His plan took months to plan, but today is the day that it happens. With no regrets, Lex charges in."No one escapes the law, death awaits you all!" He shouts. Bright blue radiates from Lex's magnums, wiping out many of the nearby crooks in one shot. Anyone still alive charged in, attempting to bring down the invader.It took a while, but even tired and wounded, Lex came out on top. Queer, it was as if Lex was not on his own. It was as if his shadow was standing by his side, fighting alongside him. It was as if his shadow was the godslayer himself. With the criminal leader Zhin being dragged along, Lex began to head home, later to be called the hero of the outskirts.