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ok now that I'm done freaking out over Caitvi (for the moment...) can we talk about how it was Mel (Ambessa's daughter) AND Caitlyn (someone Ambessa manipulated to be like one of her own) to be the ones to fight Ambessa? like Muah! Love it! Perfection!

A Mel and Cait tag team wasn't something I knew I needed Until I had it! (Similar to how I didn't know I needed Jayce and Ekko interacting until I got it back in Act 1)

(But I really hope that with the "new stories" they mentioned that this isn't the last we see of characters like Caitlyn, Vi, Mel, etc. otherwise I'm REALLY gonna miss them! like-- wtf do I do now?!)

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Caitlyn IS, and ALWAYS HAS BEEN a "Actions speak louder than words" kinda character and it frustrates me to no end that no one understands this

Caitlyn: breaks off her relationship with Ambessa,calls off her entire crusade against Jinx, woman who killed her mother, and lets her go. All because of Vi. And that's not to mention multiple visual details in her reactions and expressions that are saying more than words.

Some people: BuT shE diD'nT sAy "sorry".

I honestly cannot...

It's not even about nuance or subtlety, y'all really need everything spelled out for you?

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yall were going CRAZY last week over the spitting, handcuffs, tackling and whatnot saying "oh these two kinky fucks"

and then have the AUDACITY to act shocked and surprised that they did the hanky panky in a jail cell

like make up your minds people!

(I mean I could also go into detail about how it's symbolic and where the two first met and this that and the other but like-- I'll leave it at this is the Least surprising thing to come from These two considering their kiss back in Ep 3 was basically in a sewer of all places)

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I FUCKING CALLED MADDIE'S STUPID LITTLE SNAKE BITCH ASS!!!! I KNEW IT!!!

I've been saying for the past WEEK that there were too many little moments with her giving too knowing of a look with Vi and Cait at the memorial, to the way Ambessa says "in private" at her, the "void i was able to fill" thing didn't sit right with me, hell even rewatching her conversation with Vi in the First Episode was giving me warning flags, but EVERYONE kept saying "You're being too paranoid!" "You're just pissy that she slept with Caitlyn and saying she's evil to justify it!" blah blah blah!

I EXPECT apologies for Everyone that questioned me! the first and ONLY time my fully conscious gut decision lead me in the right direction and I Wasn't making a half assed joke at 3 in the morning! muahahahah!!!!!!!

(I'm gonna be relishing in this for the next week I'm SO not sorry)

ngl, if the thing with Maddie is what I think it is, I'm gonna be annoyed at it Definitely, but I don't think I'll be raging quite like I've seen other people doing. But if Maddie turns into a "wolf in sheep's clothing" kinda thing with her kind words, bubbly personality, being adoring of Caitlyn and all that noise THEN I'm gonna be pissed.

Cuz I'm Already mad enough at Ambessa and if Maddie is lumped on top of the pile I'm gonna turn into a LUNATIC. Like there's only So much I can take from this show before going insane...

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The Act 3 fight against Ambessa in a nutshell:

"Ok just leave the planning to Mel and Cait and for the Love of ALL things holy don't let Vi and Jayce within 20ft of each other while it's happening. With that, we should be all good! ... hopefully ... maybe..."

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I find it kinda funny that people were expecting Caitlyn to turn into like-- Horde Prime levels of evil ('specially considering that That level of evil is Wildly out of character for her), but it's Hilariously ironic to me because the VA of Horde Prime Himself is IN THIS SHOW

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WHAT is it with me and getting attached to characters who’s manipulators feel being with their loved ones is a “distraction”?

Cuz like— Hello?!

Like first it’s Adora, now it’s Caitlyn, is this just gonna be my Whole thing when getting attached to new characters?

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Caitlyn and Ambessa's Game of Cat and Mouse pt 5- "Don't Underestimate Ambessa"

Here is where Vi and Caitlyn put their plan to trick Ambessa into motion. Now the thing is, is that they've already underestimated Ambessa before the full plan is even put into fruition.

Right after Ambessa says, "Well done, Caitlyn" she looks over to Rictus who nods and leaves. To me, that's a silent request, "keep an eye on her." she's already suspected that with Vi back in the picture whatsoever that Caitlyn's become "distracted" as she puts it. despite the two doing some pretty top tier acting (btw Caitlyn was totally into Vi spitting on her don't lie); when Singed is ready to go, Ambessa silently tells Caitlyn to go with him, but having sent Rictus out first, means that he's been watching Caitlyn as the two carry their plan out.

She then goes on this whole speech to thank Vi for leaving in the first place, because with really the only voice of reason in Cait's life gone, Ambessa saw that she could easily manipulate her however she liked (or so she thought). So with Vi back in the picture, and her making "too many complications", Ambessa's plan here was just to kill Vi. Regardless if the two were carrying out a plan against her. After Vi says, "she's not distracted" you see a smirk on Ambessa's face, she does believe this, she thinks that Caitlyn has fully gotten over Vi and her loyalty to Ambessa hasn't wavered.

But then Vi keeps talking. and you can see that Ambessa's face grows with suspicion as Vi continues to do so.

After Vi says, "Just shut the fuck up." Ambessa looks over towards Caitlyn's gun, she realizes that the net compartment is empty, and that Caitlyn left it that way when she left. she realizes that she's been played, and tries to kill Vi, but its too little too late for that because Vi's able to take her out.

Now something I haven't seen people mentioning is that when Vi says "Vander's in trouble. I have a plan, you're not gonna like it." she's actually talking to Jinx here. Jinx doesn't shoot Caitlyn not Just because she sees Caitlyn take out Singed, because it's apart of their plan. What Jinx isn't gonna like is that she's not allowed to shoot Caitlyn, she's supposed to be Caitlyn's Backup if anything happens to her.

And something does. Because Ambessa sent Rictus out earlier he saw Caitlyn take out Singed, that she betrayed Ambessa. when he says "Ambessa believed in you." it seems to me that Ambessa thought that she had Caitlyn's loyalty the whole time, which was rather stupid of her. And he tries to kill her, which is why Jinx takes action.

After Jayce kills Victor and causes Warwick to lose control again, killing Rictus, Caitlyn realizes that she's made Ambessa lose both her coveted weapon, And Rictus. And realizes that she's been caught doing so, which is why she turns in shock to see Ambessa.

The look that Ambessa gives her is a look of disbelief before turning into one of pure unbridled rage.

Caitlyn's both won and lost their game of cat and mouse. because while she temporarily stopped Ambessa, but it seems that in the next Act she's working with Singed to resurrect Warwick, and that a lot of her soldiers look to be hyped on Shimmer when they attack Piltover.

So with ALL this outta the way, let's talk about Vi and Caitlyn's argument to come in the next Act:

The way they're framing it in the trailer, it makes it look like that Vi's accusing her of just sitting there and taking whatever Ambessa's said to her, considering what Vi's been told by Ambessa in ep 6, "She oinked poison in your ear and you just ate it." and Caitlyn scream of "I know!" makes it seem like Caitlyn's agreeing with Vi that Caitlyn just let Ambessa do all that, that she was just blindly following Ambessa and letting her do whatever she wanted.

But if everything I'M saying is correct, it seems like the "I know!" statement is going to more-so shed light on the fact that Caitlyn fully knew what Ambessa was about. and tried in her own way to take her down just wasn't able to fully do anything of merit until Vi came along. Which is a better defense for her, and Might calm Vi's anger down a little bit (still needs to apologize for hitting her though).

Ambessa's whole downfall was picking Caitlyn to begin with. Why? Few reasons. 1) She's a detective, she notices things that people miss on the regular, it's how she noticed the corruption happening under the Councils noses back in S1. 2) She's a politicians daughter, she's been around powerful and corrupt people her entire life, so she's learned a thing or two about manipulating people/situations to her will. 3) Most importantly, she's recently been exposed to people like Silco and Marcus, so that's made her weary of people more in general, and it's how she caught onto Ambessa's bullshit so quickly.

The thing is, I think if she picked Salo instead, Caitlyn would have probably still been suspicious of her anyways, just probably would have been able to be more under the radar trying to figure her out.

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Caitlyn and Ambessa's Game of Cat and Mouse pt 4- The Herald/Bring in Vi

Now, one of the other scenes that I'm bringing up during pt 3 where i believe that Caitlyn's already picked up on Ambessa wanting a weapon is right after the two are done training. In which after Singed says he's "tracked him to Zaun", Ambessa says, "let's hunt a beast" but the thing is is that the camera switches focus from her to Caitlyn when she says this, they Want you to focus on Caitlyn's reaction to this.

Caitlyn's picked up on the inconsistent language that Ambessa's using when she's speaking to Caitlyn, she knows that Ambessa has no interest in hunting the beast, but she doesn't say anything about it.

When Caitlyn's with Ambessa at the Herald's she looks all intense and whatnot, keeping a face for Ambessa that she's still completely by her side.

however when Ambessa sends Rictus over to Huck, Caitlyn's face glosses over with concern before eyeing Ambessa in suspicion AGAIN, concern that a Completely Unarmed man is going to be killed and suspicion that Ambessa has No issue with doing this. Caitlyn completely understands Just how dangerous Ambessa is, and who she's willing to kill to get her way.

And when Ambessa sends Singed to speak to Viktor, they show Caitlyn's face again, eyes following him but her face is still etched with suspicion, she doesn't trust this whatsoever.

Now, bring Vi back into the picture:

(side note: can we bring up the fact that Caitlyn used the Exact move Ambessa used on her earlier in the episode, GENIUSES these writers, Geniuses i tell you!)

I'm presuming that Caitlyn was probably not only left as lookout for Ambessa, but Caitlyn Herself was hiding in the shadows and was going to follow Singed herself. But with Vi following him, she still has to take them out.

When she recognizes that it's Vi, her face is filled with shock and disbelief, "how/why/what is Vi even doing here?". Vi saying "on the job I see," reminds her of Where they are, so she looks back towards the Noxus base before telling Vi, "you can't be here." like i said, Caitlyn's Fully understanding of how dangerous Ambessa is and would have No issue with killing Vi.

Because despite the two leaving things off the way that they did, she'd really rather not have Ambessa kill her.

Vi calling Caitlyn "cupcake" doesn't snap her like "oh Vi called me my pet name, let's just betray Ambessa now!" it's more of a look of "Vi doesn't hate me?", because the way the two left things off back in Ep 3... well... yea I'm sure that's what Caitlyn's probably been thinking this whole time, and I don't blame her, what Caitlyn did Was really bad and would give reason for Vi to hate her.

Caitlyn remains in the shadows watching Rictus give orders, because again, she's been eyeing Ambessa and figuring out her moves on how she's going to get what she wants this whole time.

This is the other scene that makes me believe that Caitlyn picked up on Ambessa's tone in pt 3, her specific wording of "chem weapon." Caitlyn explains to Vi, "We've tracked some sort of new chem weapon down here. A bloodthirsty murderous beast." by using the word "chem weapon" she's fully aware that Ambessa's after it, not to hunt it, to use it. And that's the kind of thing Caitlyn doesn't want Ambessa to have her hands on, because it makes her all the more dangerous.

When Vi says, "Trying to save my dad." it causes her to realize that the "bloodthirsty murderous beast" is who Vi's talking about. That, With the growing suspicions of Ambessa is what causes her to help Vi come up with a plan. Because her trust in Vi, and wanting to Help Vi overshadows her "loyalty" to Ambessa, not that Ambessa had it to begin with.

-cont. in part 5-

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Caitlyn and Ambessa's Game of Cat and Mouse pt. 3- Dr. Reveck

First, I'm going to start off with the interrogation scene because there's something Singed says Afterwards that really stuck with me, "It's always the same look when one covets a weapon." but the thing is is that Singed never looks at Ambessa during the interrogation, he turns his head slightly at the sound of the music, but never really looks at her face. Which means that he was able to discern from her tone that she's after the beast, not wanting to hunt it.

Which makes me wonder if Caitlyn was able to pick up on that as well? Or if she was too busy losing her cool with Singed not cooperating? But there's a couple scenes in particular that make me believe that she picked up on it. Because it's pretty suspicious that Ambessa let's him out at all, but it could be written off as Ambessa having an offscreen convo saying "he'll help us track and hunt the beast" however, I don't necessarily believe that.

The first thing Ambessa says in this scene is "This will allow you to locate your beast?" and it's most likely something that Caitlyn heard before making her presence known, because although very faint you can start to hear Caitlyn's steps before reaching the two of them (Ambessa merely shifts her weight, you can hear walking steps as she does this, and they match the louder, more precise steps before Caitlyn is revealed in shot). This new information is something she most likely takes note of. In the interrogation room Ambessa mentions "tell us how to kill the beast" but NOW it's "locate the beast" that means that Ambessa's Wanting it, Ambessa has confirmed Caitlyn's suspicions that she's after powerful weapons. There's a reason that Caitlyn shows up here at all, and it's to kill Dr. Reveck, she just had to find a justifiable reason for doing so.

When Caitlyn Does makes herself known, the look in Ambessa's eyes tells us that she wasn't expecting Caitlyn to show up. And the way that they both say "Commander" and "General" to each other seem to try to make themself look as casual as possible. Because Caitlyn Herself has ulterior motives for showing up as well.

Caitlyn then goes on a whole monologue about how her family's records held mystery of "the curious dismissal of a revered academy alchemist." Which is then that she reveals that the creator of Shimmer is the said alchemist: Dr. Reveck.

Caitlyn uses this monologue as the said justifiable reason to kill him. Because if Caitlyn kills him, then Ambessa loses her lead to finding the beast. Now, watch Ambessa's face in the background when Caitlyn pulls the gun out on him. Her eyes shift between the two, she thinks Caitlyn's Actually going to kill him, which worries her because again, she will lose access to how to find the beast.

Now Reveck is the one to put the ball back in Ambessa's court by playing to Caitlyn's sympathies by showing them his daughter. Because by doing this, she doesn't find it in herself to kill him. And they get to continue to find the beast.

-cont. in part 4-

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Caitlyn and Ambessa's Game of Cat and Mouse pt. 2 - "The Blade Cuts Both Ways"

Ambessa gives Caitlyn an update on finding Jinx, expecting that the update would encourage Caitlyn to take action. However, Caitlyn learned that they only found that information out by instigating violence against innocents, something she's Less than pleased about. When Ambessa says to her, "you don't trust me" it doesn't read as "your suspicious that i have ulterior motives" just more, "you don't trust me to handle Jinx/Zaun in the way we agreed upon."

Caitlyn's response? to throw her words back at her. "The blade cuts both ways." Ambessa not willing to commit to the terms that Caitlyn has set causes Caitlyn to not trust her. And you can see the suspicion in Caitlyn's face as she says this, that little voice that's keeping her on edge around Ambessa.

now Ambessa's response, "Fearless child. You never shy." seems like Ambessa saying that Caitlyn doesn't shy away from letting Ambessa know how she feels. and the look in Ambessa's eye seems to say that Caitlyn's playing too much of her hand, that she's starting to tell off Ambessa that she's suspicious of her.

as a response, Caitlyn decides to ask Ambessa for her recommendation. play into Ambessa's hand, seem that she's willing to take Ambessa's advice. Ambessa's recommendation is to arrest and interrogate people until someone slips up and reveals her.

Which immediately causes problems for Caitlyn because they need cause instead of just nabbing random people. and when Ambessa says "to return peace to the city", Caitlyn's response says it all.

"Why is peace always the justification for violence?"

after she says this, Ambessa goes on a long spiel about losing loved ones, playing into Caitlyn's grief, saying that she won't be able to properly rest until she's found Jinx. but adds on at the end that maybe she underestimated Caitlyn in being able to forgive, and you can start to see Caitlyn's internal battle behind her as she's saying this. however, if she admits that to Ambessa, she's most likely going to drop her, which will make her lose her ability to be close to Ambessa to see what's going on with her. So, Caitlyn decides to allow them to interrogate people in order to locate Jinx. it's not an easy decision for Caitlyn to make, but to be able to stick around Ambessa she feels she has to do it.

You can see the conflicted emotions in Caitlyn's eyes, she isn't inherently cruel, she doesn't like that people are being hurt by this decision that she's made, but when it came to appeasing Ambessa it felt like a necessary one for her.

-cont. in part 3-

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Caitlyn and Ambessa's Game of Cat and Mouse pt 1- "Appointing A General".

So people keep saying Vi saying "cupcake" woke Caitlyn up like a sleeper agent magic word and that's NOT the case at all, Caitlyn KNEW that Ambessa had ulterior motives and so I went back and watched her scenes from eps 3-6 to prove it. Caitlyn's Already realized Ambessa's play here, or at very least that she's up to something. That means that "evil overlord Caitlyn" was NEVER going to happen to Begin with, everything that Caitlyn's doing is playing a game of con with Ambessa (granted, the actions Caitlyn takes to do this aren't Good, and I'm not justifying them, but it's more of a... necessity for her is the best way to put it. and playing a game of cat and mouse isn't unrealistic for her because she's a politicians daughter). And I'm gonna split this up into a few parts to explain eps 3-6 and explain how this plays into the argument she has with Vi in Act 3. so let's begin:

like I mentioned before in the other post breaking this down, the first emotion to appear is shock, Caitlyn wasn't expecting her name to be called Whatsoever, probably thought that it was going to be Salo or something. But what her eyes pick up on are the families of high houses in the room that start nodding their head in approval.

This causes Caitlyn to start to think, "Why me? Why bring my name up at all?" before thinking back at the families nodding their heads in approval, it's her Status that would get Them to agree. The gears start turning.

She then takes notice of Maddie pounding her chest, which is what leads the other enforcers to start pounding their chests as well, they're her Fellow Enforcers and like the fact that she's called as well. She's connecting the dots.

THIS is a look of realization, it only lasts a split second, but it's THERE, she's connected the dots. She's from a powerful house and is commander of the Enforcers, of Course Ambessa was going to call on Her name and have Her be the face of Piltover. and it's at this point where she has to make a choice: turn Ambessa down and seem "weak" in front of everyone? or accept Ambessa and see what's really going on?

This face had confused me for the past week because it didn't seem like it had to do with her anger towards Jinx or the attackers of the memorial. But now, this is a face directed AT Ambessa, she has not trusted her from the Start, but in order to confirm her suspicions, she has to accept this role being offered to her. It's unclear if Ambessa recognizes that Caitlyn hasn't trusted her from the start either, or if Ambessa takes notice of it as the two start to spend more time with each other (because when she says "you don't trust me" in ep 4, several months have passed at that point)? When Ambessa says "Come, child", Caitlyn realizes the choice she Has to make here, and it's a BAD one.

This is a face that Screams "I don't Trust you" and she holds eye contact with Ambessa as she passes by, probably trying to decern something, Anything from the look in her eyes but she can't linger too long to make Her seem suspicious to Ambessa before their game has even begun.

you can tell that Caitlyn feels Genuinely terrible for the negative consequences for the choice that she just made. because there are people in Zaun who are now going to be worse off Because of this. Because deep down she KNOWS there are innocents in Zaun, not monsters like Jinx or those who attacked the memorial, because that's really who the "animals" comment was targeted at, people who were behaving violently.

BUT she needs to keep up appearances, so she keeps a firm face when she turns around and pulls her fist to her chest, seeming Completely loyal to Ambessa at this point and time.

Like I said, I'm gonna break this up into parts covering events of Act 2 and how they both try and manipulate the other. so check back in soon, i guess...

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Everyone bullying Jinx’s haircut until you realize she did it to honor Isha…

(And added the face paint to do so as well)

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something that i do think is interesting is that we were all expecting the Ambessa/Caitlyn relationship to parallel Silco/Jinx and they don't quite fully do that. Like back in S1 Silco and Jinx both saw each other as father and daughter but I was Really not getting those same vibes from Ambessa and Caitlyn.

Or should I say specifically, I was only getting it from one side. I Was seeing that Ambessa was seeing Caitlyn as the daughter she wanted Mel to be, Especially since Mel’s been missing for so long. But Caitlyn was Not giving Ambessa those same vibes back. She was not seeing Ambessa as this "surrogate mother", she saw her Just as a general, nothing more than that. She didn't have that "familial bond" with Ambessa, nor did I think she wanted it. The way that Caitlyn speaks to her most of the time is very straight forward, factual, you rarely saw bits of emotion with her unlike when she was conversing with her own mother back in S1 (even if the two were fighting at the time), while Ambessa showed plenty of emotions while conversing with Caitlyn.

Cause Ambessa uses language like "we are kin" and training Caitlyn like one of her own, stuff like that and the shock and betrayal you see on Ambessa's face also emphasizes this, so I'm Really interested what kind of lines the two will have with each other once they meet up again on opposite sides of the battlefield. Probably shit like "you had so much potential" etc. but I wonder if there is anything deeper they'd add. But just from the Act 3 teaser I’m loving that Im seeing Caitlyn use that same training that Ambessa gave her against her (also Cait plz don’t die, ur too sexy for that)

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While we’re at it can we address that Ambessa put like a 22 year old in charge of a whole ass army/city?

Like babes you aren’t allowed to run for Presidency until you’re 35 and this girl got handed a city and said “make it work” like Jesus 🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️

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Here are my thoughts on Act 2 Caitlyn:

SPOILERS BELOW! DON’T READ IF YOU HAVEN’T WATCHED ACT 2 YET! WARNING! WARNING! WARNING!

I don’t think Caitlyn’s redemption is coming out of nowhere, I don’t think she was ever “in too deep” to be able to come back from the decisions that she’s made, she just needed something to jumpstart her brain to realize just How bad her actions have become. Now yes, it’s unfortunate that the thing to do so is Zaunites suffering because of Her, but based on her character in S1 it actually makes sense that this is the thing that screws her head on straight again. Especially because it seems that Ambessa has been the forefront of attacking Zaunites/putting them in Stillwater and such, Caitlyn had reservations on attacking them for no reason, Caitlyn’s merely the Face of what’s happening, but Ambessa was really the one doing things, which I’ve been predicting for a While now. Now this doesn’t completely absolve Caitlyn of what she’s done, but she doesn’t quite reach the level that Ambessa has. Like Mel, Caitlyn still has compassion for others, and she hasn’t completely lost that. She was Never going to become this evil dictator overlord because that’s Not who Caitlyn IS. Regardless of her being blinded by her anger at Jinx or not, Ambessa was NEVER going to be able to get that from her. Especially once the dust starts to settle and Caitlyn actually has Time to Think about what she’s doing.  

People have mischaracterized Caitlyn So Badly that they’ve forgotten who Caitlyn truly is at heart when her wild emotions aren’t dictating her actions.

So let’s dive in a little deeper into that:

From that first moment we see of her and Maddie in bed (BTW YALL LIED TO ME I WAS EXPECTING WORSE. And I don’t get the hate with her, it seems like Maddie was the little tether to keep Caitlyn from going past the point of no return, Cait and Vi didn’t have a label on their relationship and Cait thought she was never going to see Vi again soooo), it already looks like Caitlyn is regretting her actions and starting to come to terms with the fact that her blind rage has led her down a dark path, which Maddie seems to be emphasizing, giving her another solution so that Zaun isn’t suffering As much (and I mean not on Such an extreme level, not that they wouldn’t be suffering at all, cause Maddie’s solution still isn’t great) by her hand. The unfortunate thing is she’s still a little too clouded with her judgment of Jinx and won’t make the order until Jinx is in her custody. She mentions having learned a lot from Ambessa, and while I do think she means things like tactical warfare and such, at her heart, Caitlyn’s still a detective, she hasn’t lost that. So that means she’s learning more about Ambessa HERSELF, and as the episodes go on it seems like Caitlyn starts to notice issues with Ambessa. In fact, it seems like Caitlyn has never fully given Ambessa her trust to Begin with, Caitlyn was blind by her anger towards Jinx, but she was never blindly loyal to Ambessa. Because when it comes down to it, Ambessa is someone that Caitlyn at her true heart would despise.

Ambessa mentions that Caitlyn “has the strength to forgive” and I think she’s right. Once Caitlyn starts to notice the Travesty that the people of Zaun are facing, we start to see her S1 self start to come back out, you can see it in her eyes when Ambessa isn’t looking directly at her during this conversation.

But the thing is, she isn’t quite there yet, and you notice this when Caitlyn’s walking through Stillwater, taking notice of Warwicks attack, and mentions “seeing the end to Zaun’s perverse abominations”, but that’s because she’s looking at several bodies around her by Zaun’s hands (well, specifically Singed’s but besides the point). But something that’s Interesting is that Caitlyn really only KNOWS that there’s cells devoid of basic consideration because that’s exactly where she Found Vi back in S1, and I believe that’s one of the reasons that she’s forbidden their use, because Caitlyn is not completely cruel to people. And saying she’s willing to use them Now is more of an intimidation tactic on Caitlyn’s part, trying to get Singed to open up. And when he refuses to do so after several chances, she loses her cool (because she’s still clouded by Jinx) and tells him that he’ll rot.

The thing I think started to cause Caitlyn to fully realize her suspicions about Ambessa is actually when she’s walking into Singe’s laboratory, because she was already walking up when Ambessa says “This will allow you to locate your beast?” (remember that Caitlyn wasn’t apart of the conversation where Ambessa struck a deal with him) and that probably sends red flags to Caitlyn, cuz she Just mentioned having him in Stillwater so Why the Hell is he here with Ambessa? And although she hides it well, you can tell by the look on Ambessa’s face And by the way that she says “Commander” that she wasn’t expecting Caitlyn to show up. And Caitlyn Immediately notices this, because of the way she says “General” so nonchalantly, like “why are you surprised I’m here?” kinda thing.

She calls him a “monster” because Shimmer in of itself has caused horrors for those in Zaun, she’s seen what happens to those affected by it first hand, which is what he’s responsible for. Caitlyn isn’t wrong for calling him this, cuz what he’s done IS really bad. But he is pretty quick to call her out on it, “Why does anyone commit acts others deem unspeakable? For love.” Cuz Caitlyn herself has ALSO done some pretty bad shit, in the name of love and justice for her mother.  

I believe Singed showing Caitlyn his daughter Is one of the things that starts to fully bring back her S1 self, she begins to understand that some acts are in desperation because of the loved ones we’ve lost.

But what’s more important is that after this scene is now that Caitlyn’s suspicions of Ambessa seem to be correct, but she still needs to keep up appearances so that Ambessa doesn’t become suspicious of Her in return. Seeming like she’s still willingly following Ambessa to the Herold’s community to assault it.

But watch Caitlyn’s face as Ambessa’s henchman (I don’t remember the name) walks up to Huck. Her eyes are filled with recognition and worry, she knows this man, he’s helped her and is worried that someone completely harmless is about to be killed, and she looks over at Ambessa to see what kind of order that she’s going to give.

“But she attacks Vi again!”

She doesn’t immediately recognize Vi, she sees someone following them. It isn’t until she incapacitates her and looks at her face that she recognizes Vi. But it’s Vi calling her “cupcake” that was one of the final things that she needed to snap her into place. Yes she calls Warwick a “murderous beast” because well, that’s what he appears to be to the outside eye, and the fact that he did murder quite a few people back in Stillwater.

Vi saying “trying to save my dad” (which makes Caitlyn Realize that Warwick is Vi's dad) WITH the suspicions of Ambessa, Caitlyn and Vi make a plan in order to help Caitlyn be able to protect her dad from Ambessa from being able to use him. Because if it means helping Vi, she’s still willing to do it. Because in Caitlyn’s HEART, she’s more loyal to Vi than she Ever was to Ambessa. Because That’s where Ambessa underestimated Caitlyn.

When she brings in Vi, you KNOW that this something that the two orchestrated to outsmart Ambessa, and Caitlyn’s face to Vi after pulling off the hood just confirms it, “remember the plan”. Although I will admit that Vi spitting on her face probably wasn’t apart of it, it was part of Vi getting back at her, which deserved. (but going from "my parents named me Matilda" to manipulating a Warlord... how Far you've come Miss Kiramman...)

And Ambessa’s too busy gloating about Vi leaving which was why she was able to manipulate Caitlyn in the first place to even realize that Vi being back At All could mean that Caitlyn could be swayed. And she is.

And Jinx seeing Caitlyn take out Singed, saving their dad is another one of the steppingstones for those two, which is why Jinx saved Caitlyn from almost having her neck crushed. You do see anger for a moment when she sees Jinx again but watching the four of them hug and become a family again (for all of 30 seconds, DAMN YOU JAYCE TALIS) is what causes her to stop, because seeing Vi being happy again and the two of them are finally repairing their relationship is more important than her getting her revenge anymore.  

However, if you think that Vi and Caitlyn are holding hands and skipping through fields because they worked together to save Vi’s dad, well you’d be Quite mistaken as judging by the Act 3 trailer Vi’s still Justifiably mad about what Caitlyn’s done and Caitlyn needs to show remorse for what has happened, and I do believe that she’ll do so (and I’d REALLY rather the steamy scene not be angry sesbian lex but eh idk…)

I am worried as HELL for Caitlyn now though because I’m more than Convinced that she’s going to be Ambessa’s main target when she infiltrates Piltover later, and by the looks of it, it seems Jinx is going to have some “hero saving the day” moment after not agreeing to stay after the loss of Isha (also Arcane you’re covering my therapy bills from now on…)

Basically this was a I TOLD YOU SO! I TOLD YOU! I DIDN’T DOUBT MY WIFE FOR ONE SINGLE MOMENT! HAHAHAHAH!!!!!! *ahem* sorry, I may be a little smug rn… 😊  

[chronicsyd]

Nope not done! I do have a question:

I wonder what Mel’s reaction would have been Had Lest told her about Salo mentioning to Ambessa how much influence/power the Kiramman name wields?

Because when Mel’s talking to Elora about Ambessa’s plan she says that it’s foolish that they’re gathering an audience of houses. Elora mentions that “her mother is anything but a fool” and that “there must be an angle she’s missing”

And she’s right, they both are missing an angle.

That angle being Salo mentioning the Kiramman name. Because I do believe that Caitlyn was on Ambessa’s radar since she overpowered Salo in their chamber back in the first episode, but him mentioning this was that tad bit of info she needed to fully switch her sights Onto Caitlyn.

Lest doesn’t mention this because it doesn’t seem like the most pertinent information (despite being revealed that it was actually the most important bit). The things she mentions are them gathering an audience to put Salo in the hot seat, and Amara. Because that seems to be the more important information. And Lest wasn’t in the room, only listening. So she doesn’t see Ambessa’s reaction to him saying this about the Kiramman’s.

The thing is, Mel knows her mother better than anyone. So Had Lest mentioned this tad bit of info to her, I’m guessing that red flags probably would have started popping up for Mel. Because she also knows that the Kiramman name is incredibly powerful, and something that her mother could easily use. And that Ambessa using Salo over Caitlyn would be too foolish for her, so it would make sense that her mother would go after Caitlyn instead.

Now, would Mel have been able to do anything with the Black Rose still on her ass? Ehhh hard to say, because she sends Elora out to find out what happened to Amara earlier, and was only kidnapped just before the assembly even happened. So perhaps knowing this earlier maybe she would have been able to confront Ambessa about it.

(And maybe having a similar scene to the “stay away from Jayce” bit back from S1, because while she cares for Jayce more than Caitlyn, she does try to comfort Caitlyn as well, she does care about her, Especially if her mothers suddenly taken an interest in her. She see’s Caitlyn as someone who’s dealing with a bunch of grief and pain. The absolute worst (best) kind of person for Ambessa to have as part of her caliber. Yeah I’d imagine Mel would be a little pissed about it)

(Speaking of which: does Ambessa even KNOW that her daughters missing rn? Or is she too busy morphing Caitlyn into the wolf she wanted Mel to be to even notice?)