#⌱ BUT I STILL BELIEVE IN LOYALTY | SILCO

[zaunrising]

A daughter, anxious.

Starter for @saviourofzaun

On her way to Silco’s office, Jinx was high above the dance crowd of The Last Drop, moving along ceiling rafters with the only hint of her presence a flash of blue hair or shimmer-fueled eyes. A hand on a beam that would let her climb even higher to move to the rafters above the office properly, Jinx paused looking towards the door of Silco’s office, only to find yet another wave of irritation suddenly washing through her as who should she see leaving except a fucking Piltie? The hextech wonder boy himself, Jayce Talis, leaving Silco’s office looking disheveled and quite obviously being allowed to come and go. New people, new hurts, new lies be it by omission or otherwise, and all of it pushing her nerves to the breaking point. For a second, her magenta eyes started to flare while fingers dug into a rafter threatening to break something off of it, before Jinx took a long deep breath and simply left, heading towards Silco’s house, a house she too called home even now.

In no mood to care what Silco might think, Jinx started flipping off every light she came across as she moved into the house. It wasn’t as though she needed much light anymore after the shimmer “treatment”, and stalking past the living room to the kitchen, Jinx grabbed a drink before going to find a spot to sit down and think. For once, instead of running off to her workshop or her bedroom, Jinx sat herself down in Silco’s favorite chair in their living room. By the time he got home, Jinx’s head was hanging over one armrest with a leg dangling downward, swaying back and forth next to an empty glass on the floor with her other leg stretched out across the other armrest. Despite the chair being large and comfortable for the man, who was noticeably taller than she was, Jinx still managed to take up all of the space available. One hand swung downward next to her leg, but her other hand steadily bounced a chomper up into the air over and over again.

The only light on was one to her side, shining just right to let shadows drift across her instead of leaving her in complete darkness and allowing her eyes to gleam with their own strange glimmer. A near constant soft muttering sound came from the young woman as she complained to herself half under her breath.

“We’re all we have Jinx. Everyone else betrays us Jinx. I need you Jinx. You have to complete the weapon Jinx! Blah blah blah. Maybe next time I’ll just tell him to have his precious fucking Piltie, or his river crossing whatever Vik is to handle it… he probably would anyways, probably thinks I’m weak. Couldn’t even beat Ekko. Course not like he’s doing anything about Ekko. Not Mr. Gives me to a mad sadistic whatever Singed is cause he's not a doctor. Lets Singed do whatever he wants, and doesn’t say anything. Doesn’t say, or do anything about Ekko either. I thought… thought he cared more... Yes I know he’s a monster, shut up, I’m not listening to you right now. Doesn’t matter anyways because so am I. We’re both monsters, but we’re supposed to be monsters together, no, no he’s not, he wont, shut up, I’m still not…”

The muttering suddenly stopped as her head turned the moment Silco fully entered the room. The chomper getting tossed once more into the air before being caught and held in her hand while her gleaming eyes stared at him unblinking. Suddenly an entirely too friendly smile hit her face as she raised up one hand offering a lazy wave. “Hiya Silly! I’ve been thinking that we really should have a talk. Catch up on things you know. After all we’ve both been just soooo busy lately. Where to start though… Oh I know, what’s the deal with tall, broad, and disheveled leaving your office?” Despite her friendly smile, and cheerful sounding words there was very much a bite behind them as well as a glint to her eyes that was quite intense and focused entirely on Silco.

[needanaccount2readarcaneposts]

They did Sevika so, so, so dirty this act. SHE DOESN'T EVEN HAVE A FUCKING SPEAKING LINE PAST EPISODE 4. But I want everyone to know that this magnificent bitch turned up to negotiate for independence (or whatever the fuck that stupid montage scene was) wearing Silco's colours, with an eye motif on her serape.

[pulchrasilva]

Nobody fucking talk to me i just finished rewatching arcane and it was DEVASTATING I need to KILL

[evren-d]

Loyal to the future, not to a person. 🖤🖤🖤

at the core of Sevika's character there's this fun contradiction where she's very loyal but is also down with cold-blooded betrayal if she thinks it's politically expedient

[ratatattouille]

arcane season 2 was artistically beautiful and thematically cheap. every interesting and meaningful thing it did with its characters (even in season 2 act 2) was reduced to romanticized bullshit, utterly divorced from its season 1 roots. it's so bad it can be considered pro-status quo propaganda (and i do mean that). good ships aside (and i do mean the caitivi, jayvik, timebomb holy triad), this season squats and shits on every zaunite character in the show. not just their zaunite-ness, but how it literally shaped who they were as characters.

Let's start with Vi:

-Vi and Vander: Vi's loyalty to The Lanes always went beyond Powder. Zaun was her father's, Vander's dream. Zaun was her friends (do you remember how protective she was of Ekko aside from her adopted brothers?) and her family. When she's giving Caitlyn a tour of The Lanes, we see how much she embodies and revels in Zaunite culture (esp in the food scene). She cared for Zaun like Vander taught her to. Her "protective" trait extended to ALL the vulnerable in The Lanes, because Vander taught her that. It wasn't EVER just Powder. Zaun is her HOME. As a child, she wanted to make a name for herself IN ZAUN "one day, this city's gonna respect us." You can make the excuse that Vander's death meant that side of her died, but it clearly didn't because of how she regarded it while showing Caitlyn around. "Family" to Vander, extended to the vulnerable of Zaun, which is how Vi and Powder came to be his "daughters" in the first place. Because Zaun was for THEM. Zaun WAS THEM. Vander and Silco "weren't allowed to fail" at Zaun (i.e. the two daughters). Additionally, Vi and Jinx were supposed to succeed where Vander and Silco hadn't: forgiving each other and uniting so they could realize their dream for a free Zaun. The whole reason Zaun struggles to be free is because of their own internal divisions (the different gangs fighting for scraps). But if they united, they would be able to liberate themselves from Piltover (who is still the enemy). The whole reason the others are prosperous in the alternate timeline Ekko and Hemmerdinger travel to is because Vander and Silco reconcile (not because Vi dies).

-Vi and Caitlyn: Caitlyn was an interesting development for Vi, particularly because Caitlyn mirrored Vander's care for all people. Caitlyn was an enforcer that wanted to truly understand and help people. This challenged Vi's biases and also gave them a common goal. Caitlyn appealed to Vi because she gave Vi renewed hope for peace in The Lanes. That Zaun could be free through co-operation instead of violence. Her whole teaming up with Caitlyn, romance aside, was predicated on Vi brokering for peace between Zaun and Piltover. The first break-up between the two (Season 1's "Oil and Water") centred around Jinx, more or less. Vi believes Silco is a threat to peace between Piltover and Zaun (even though The Lanes aren't known as Zaun to her, I'm just using the names interchangeably). She believes Jinx is acting out due to Silco's influence, as well (and she isn't entirely wrong). Had Caitlyn not been injured on the bridge (and had Jinx not felt betrayed by Vi), Vi was going to leave her in pursuit of Jinx. Vi has never fit into Piltover (and that's also shown in Season 2 act 1-2).

-Vi and Jinx: This show was ALWAYS about a tale of two sisters/cities. When Vi becomes an enforcer, it isn't because she's switched loyalties. She wants peace for Zaun, she just wants to take Silco's (and her own) creation--Jinx--out of the equation so it can work. The only reason she agrees to Caitlyn's plan is because, again, their two goals align: get Jinx. The difference is Vi wants to kill Jinx to get Powder back, while Cait wants to kill Jinx to get her city (mother) back. The show in season 2 TOTALLY LOST THIS FOCUS. Vi's guilt at hunting down her own people with enforcers (and it's already insane that Vi would even agree lmao) is ignored a lot by fandom, especially bc her post-breakup scene where she goes full goth is framed as regret for letting Cait down (rather than the self-disgust she would feel for joining her oppressors). Vi played a part in creating Jinx. Every single step of the way. This is barely acknowledged, and every time it might be, it gets shoved aside for romance with Cait. Cait, who, literally became a dictator and weaponized the air ducts her mother had created to SAVE ZAUNITES. The whole thing is viewed as Vi betraying Cait instead of Vi betraying Jinx/Zaun/her family and Cait betraying Vi ("promise me you won't change") and her mother. Cait was the one who sought to help Zaun (like her mother) but betrayed who she was when she was willing to kill Isha, an innocent child. (ALSO IMPORTANT: Just to further prove my point on how integral the sister's love for each other was, every show started with a record playing. The cover of the disc was Vi and Jinx. They were always the center focus of the story. The song that the record played? Likely "Our Love" by Curtis Harding and Jazmine Sullivan which goes "Our love is a bubblin' fountain, our love, that flows into the sea, our love, deeper than the ocean, our love for eternity." This love deeper-than-the-ocean can apparently crumble in the face of a dictator girlfriend you've known for less than a year lmao).

Where the writers FUMBLE is:

-Vi's and Jinx's relationship becomes secondary not just to the entire plot of the show but to Vi's arc. Zaun and Piltover's conflict was set up to be the epitome of the show, and the fact that it got shelved for a more *ahem* American industrial military complex epic battle between humans and robots is very telling about the writers and showrunners.

-Vi forgives Cait easily and prematurely, trashing Vi's true loyalties as established in earlier seasons/episodes

-Vi herself takes a back seat in most of season 2, and becomes a passive yes-man to Cait

-Vander's re-introduction is almost completely worthless to the plot and narrative (he comes back just to die), and he is used as a cheap way to re-unite the daughters in a way that has no significance to the themes (also, Silco as Jinx's father is completely ignored)

-Cait's deferral to fascism should have been permanent. Idc about the shippers at this point. Vi and Cait should have never come back from Cait shoving the back of her gun into Vi's injured side (let alone the gassing of the ducts). Vi would've never forgiven her, attraction or no. The fact that Cait could become a dictator after losing one parent is proof of their class divides (after all, Vi held onto hope despite losing all her parents to enforcers and Jinx was all she had left of her family). That should have cemented the death of that relationship (and it would have made for more compelling storytelling on class). The only reason it was kept was because it matters more to white Western audiences to have a Romeo x Juliet rendition that assuages their classist sensitivities. Cait becoming a fascist made sense and was true to her character and the world. Vi forgiving her (and then having sex with her in the prison she was thrown into as a child?) destroyed both her character and the narrative. And it's frankly made the ship that much more unpalatable. If Vi had to be destroyed as a character for the ship to work, then the ship wasn't all that good (even though it started off that way). It's honestly left such a bad taste in my mouth. What a fuck you to oppressed groups that whole subplot was. (And it's made worse by the fact that the creator thought that was somehow an empowering and liberating act for Vi, like fuck that).

Let's Talk About Victor:

-Viktor and Heimmerdinger: This is one of the biggest fumbles, IMO. Heimmerdinger and Viktor were the most polar of opposites. Heimmerdinger was not only a privileged, ulta-wealthy Piltoverian, but he had a comparatively endless lifespan while Viktor's own human life-span was cut short due to being a Zaunite, born at the bottom of the barrel and raised on toxic fumes that led to his terminal illness. Viktor's desperation to unlock the Arcane was explicitly about him overcoming his circumstances, his illness, his premature death. It wasn't merely about his internalized ableism, but the unjust way in which he had to suffer. Heimmerdinger could afford patience because he had all the time and resources in the world, but Viktor didn't. Not merely because he was a mortal, but because he was a Zaunite.

-Viktor and Singed: Viktor's arc with hextech is foreshadowed with his childhood interaction with Singed. I understand that in the games, Viktor is a villain-type character and his catchphrase or whatever is "Join the Glorious Evolution." While Viktor is horrified by Singed killing the creature that he eventually uses for shimmer, Viktor later says, "I understand," hinting that he saw the sacrifice (and death) necessary to "heal" the world of its ailments. Both Viktor and Singed grow up in The Lanes, and both have ailments they want to cure (for Viktor it is his lung cancer and for Singed its his daughter's dying). In season 2, Viktor tells Singed that while he understands what healing all those people could cost him, he will not sacrifice their humanity for Singed's cause. Then Jayce blasts him in the chest and that all goes out the window. All this despite Sky being there with him in the astro-nether. Now Viktor's idea of becoming a higher being is just getting rid of emotion (despite the fact that his character was one that was consistently willing to sacrifice himself and die in order to not harm others, and Sky's death only solidified that). Jayce killing him without explanation was all of a sudden all he needed to become a divine dictator, lmao. The same Viktor that looked terminal illness in the face and preferred to spare others instead of himself? The same Viktor who's immediate action after waking up with a new body was to go and use the arcane he wished had been destroyed to help others? Sure.

-Viktor and Jayce: Now, I think Jayce's speech had some merit and could have been framed better with a little more time and thought. The philosophical idea of perfection or a perfect world (one which Piltoverians strive toward) being untenable, maybe even undesirable, is a fascinating concept worth exploring. BUT MAKING IT ABOUT SOME INTERNALIZED ABLEISM FROM VIKTOR IS FUCKING STUPID!!!! I'm sorry, but Piltover being the city of progress until it actually included becoming progressive with Zaun was absolutely one of the things Jayce and Viktor's sub-plot was trying to explore. Viktor WANTED TO LIVE. Viktor wanted his people to STOP SUFFERING. Viktor WAS RIGHT. He wasn't merely eliminating "imperfections" (and of FUCKING COURSE A PILTOVERIAN WOULD SEE IT THAT WAY), he was trying to cure sick and dying people who did nothing to deserve it. He was buying them time that people like Jayce and Heimmerdinger had in spades, but Viktor and Zaunites had stolen from them. Children dying of disease and violence in The Lanes was by Piltoverian design! It was not some predestined cosmic necessity. Viktor WAS RIGHT TO HATE HIS FUCKING TERMINAL ILLNESS ARE THESE GUYS INSANE??! Wtf kind of message is Viktor embracing it as part of himself sending to vulnerable, impoverished and ill people? Is that supposed to be some kind of fucking comfort? Fuck off right to hell! And don't even get me STARTED on Jayce's trip to other-world hell being some kind of "Jayce seeing the world through Viktor's eyes" bs. Yes, it was good that our idealistic Jayce got to see the dark side of the Arcane as Viktor showed Jayce the beauty of the dream he sought for all people, but whatever message on class struggle Jayce is said to have learned or paralleled in his alternate timeline clearly didn't sink into his head because he still gave that dumbass speech to Viktor. And I'm glad if it resonated with any disabled people, but Viktor's struggle with his body was a protest against Piltover, not himself, and I hate that the writers gutted that character development. Viktor's and Jayce's paths "diverged a long time ago" because Jayce had the luxury and time of pursuing his dream while Viktor didn't. Viktor, even up there as a scholar of Piltover, was still getting the Zaunite treatment. Jayce had the time to pursue a better world, while Viktor had to struggle for a little more time. When Viktor becomes part of the arcane, suddenly he has all the time in the world to realize HIS OWN DREAM. Why would wanting a better world for others have to result in "dreamless solitude"? Viktor becoming obsessed with fixing what ailed humanity was warranted, and his extremism was hinted to have been due in part to the effect the arcane had on him, but it still made the themes of arcane a joke. There was so much potential and the writers (and showrunners) just squandered it for some more romantic bullshit.

Where season 2 FUMBLED:

-"Humanity, our very essence, is inescapable. Our emotions, rage, compassion, hate. Two sides of the same coin, intractably bound. That which inspires us to our greatest good is also the cause of our greatest evil.” That's a neat quote, but wars don't start simply due to emotions or whatever. This lacks class analysis, and it's annoying that the writers made this the whole theme of season 2 (and retroactively the show) in a story on class divides. Cait did not merely gas the Zaunites because of her mother, but because of her privileged upbringing that made it more acceptable to her to view Zaunites as animals (remember Ekko telling her "you guys hunt us down like animals"). Cait knew the humanity of Zaunites was real. She'd seen it. She just chose to ignore it because she could afford to. While it is interesting that Viktor would come to see being human as a flaw that destroys any hope of achieving peace (conflict theory would like a word with you), it ignored that fascism is not an inherently human trait and detracts from how or why it persists in the first place. It's almost the same as saying men/white people oppress women/poc because the latter were mean to them. It's victim-blaming (and false lmao). The British didn't colonize the Americans because the natives did anything to them. All prejudice is unjustified, that's what makes it prejudice. Again, Cait became a fascist when her mom died, but Vi still drew the line at killing children and even council members despite losing every single one of her family members to Piltover's violence against The Lanes.

-Jayce's speech would have been cute in another story, but it's downright insulting in Arcane's. Yes, yes, Jayce's words would have been the only ones to have broken the real Viktor out of Arcane Viktor's grasp by appealing to this deep childhood wound, but Viktor's desperation was not to belong (because his leg kept him from playing with other children) but TO LIVE (because he was dying of an illness). Jayce's speech isn't bad, just misplaced.

-Viktor did not have to become a fascist-aligned deity in his quest to heal people. It is a typical MCU thing to have a "villain" that's technically right and then destroy their entire character to make their (correct) philosophy untenable by making them do something extreme. Typical pro-status quo propaganda trope. Idc if it was so we could get some game version of him. Viktor was right in bringing progress and his discoveries to The Lanes instead of devoting his efforts to Piltover, the fake city of progress.

-While I am annoyed that the climax of the show hinged on Jayce and Viktor and hextech (a tool to explore the inequalities of Piltover and Zaun) instead of Jinx and Vi, I think it kinda makes sense. Hextech built what Piltover has now become. Jayce, Viktor and hextech kinda represent Piltover (what it could be) and Jinx and Vi represent The Lanes (and the Zaun it could be). Both would have been integral, but the story shouldn't have hinged on hextech, IMO. Hextech should have remained a tool to explore the politics of both cities, but instead it overshadowed everything, cheapening the story's themes, characters and world-building.

-Jayce calling the Zaunites to arms was downright absurd. But not as absurd as Zaunites volunteering.

And Then There's Jinx:

-Jinx and Isha: Isha's only use, as far as I'm concerned, was to be a reconciling force between the sisters. When Cait was willing to shoot her to get to Jinx, that should have stopped Vi right there and brought her back to defending Jinx 100% idc. When Isha sacrificed her life to save Jinx, that should have been Jinx's wake-up call right there and helped her understand why Vi kept leaving her out of missions as a kid. But instead what do we get? Depressed, suicidal Jinx and an astoundingly even more resentful and indifferent Vi. Vi still refuses to acknowledge her own hand in creating Jinx in the first place. Jinx, who has always wanted to be useful to those she loves. Who pursued her own hextech inventions in order to give her siblings a fighting chance when facing down Silco. Who wants to give Zaun a fighting chance as Silco's daughter. To be useful to the goals and dreams of her family. Isha was the perfect opportunity to bring the sisters together, but no. Instead, the kid was some kind of foreshadowing to Jinx's own heroic self-sacrifice for her sister (a message that left both sister's arcs unfinished). Vi had to acknowledge how wrong she was for abandoning Jinx and Zaun (instead of taking responsibility as Vander had taught her). Jinx needed to accept herself and the love others showed toward her (Silco, Vander, Ekko and Vi). Jinx keeps blowing things up because she repeatedly rejects herself (both Powder and Jinx), ignoring the good she's done and tried to do. Isha was a call back to the good Jinx has done and can continue to do for Zaun and others.

-Jinx and Ekko: Timebomb is the only ship that didn't ruin anyone's character, lmao. Because Ekko's and Jinx's relationship is precisely an exploration of how Piltover's violence against Zaun forced these children with entire futures ahead of them (they are both child prodigies) into endless war and hellish heroism. Ekko and Jinx are repeatedly shown to be hesitant and even unwilling to participate in violence against others, especially their own. Ekko does not hate Jinx, though he wants to, and Jinx does not like who she is when she's violent. She is trigger-happy because she already expects Vi and Ekko to want to kill her (projecting her self-loathing on them, but not entirely unreasonably). She doesn't have faith in their love or mercy because she doesn't see any part of herself as redeemable or loveable, which is why she consistently sabotages her life (but not without help from Vi and others). Ekko and Jinx are symbols of progress for Zaun AND Piltover (and Heimmerdinger saw that, especially when Ekko insisted he had to go back to his timeline, even if the one he had landed in was better). Heimmerdinger saw what they could have been in the alternate timeline, all the genius that was squandered in The Lanes. Jinx and Ekko are the ones most willing to put an end to violence and injustice because both of them are nostalgic for their families. Jinx just doesn't have the same faith in her ability to do so as Ekko does, but Ekko manages to convince her for a moment anyways. Ekko recognizes (like Silco, Viktor and Isha) how integral Jinx is to the creation of a new world. She injects colour and life and hope into Zaun and is the only one who can unite all warring factions in Zaun in the first place. Both her and Ekko are rebel leaders, but that is hardly used in Zaun's interests in the end. (ALSO THAT WHOLE CONVERSATION WITH VIKTOR AND JINX. This show would have won with a Viktor and Jinx team-up to unite Zaun--also in parallel to Jayce and Vi's team up. We could have had it all!)

-Jinx and Silco: This, is only second to Vi in the most FUMBLED things about Jinx. Silco was her guide once Vander died and Vi ran away. Silco not only took care of her, but gave her purpose and nurtured her talent (one that Vi and their brothers scorned). Silco accepted Jinx (he did not create her, Vi did) even though he weaponized her (which backfired for him). Silco, like Ekko, was the one who saved Jinx from death and offered Jinx a home. While everyone else patronized Jinx for her own childhood trauma, Silco was gentle, understanding and provided space for that, even when her psychosis killed him. He showed zero resentment toward her. But when Silco dies and Vander returns, Jinx just . . . oopsie, doopsie! Forgets about Silco until one final hallucination she has of him in the jail cell. The only one she has where he talks. And what does he say? She needs to break the cycle. How? Not by eliminating Piltover or gaining Zaun's independence like he'd talked about and dreamed about. Not by accepting herself as Jinx and Powder, the inventor, the fighter, daughter of both Silco and Vander, but by offing herself? Leaving her family to think she's dead? Embracing the lie that she really was the poison in their lives and the reason none of them could be happy? The reason they died? NICE! SWELL! WHAT A SATISFYING CONCLUSION! Even worse, they made her "death" staged. I'm sorry, but do we really believe that this same girl who killed herself multiple times in front of Ekko just 24 hours ago somehow found the will to live and escape into air ducts when she was falling with Vander? She decided to live right when she was about to die? And let's not forget that she was falling to the same song that was playing when she was trying to commit suicide. Why? And why would a heroic death (staged or not) be any form of character growth for Jinx in the first place? When her whole thing is distrusting the love offered to her? Or was she accepting herself by being the one to kill Vander because she knew Vi couldn't? Either way, it's cheap!

Fumbling points summarized:

-Jinx not being radicalized by Isha's death and the sight of her sister hunting her down with enforcers.

-Vander's letter to Silco could have been why she hallucinated Silco talking to her about forgiveness, but breaking the cycle here is about forgiving (unapologetic) Piltoverians instead of herself, which needed to happen to complete her arc.

-Jinx being the reluctant Girl Saviour of Zaun after clinging onto her identity as a jinx so she didn't have to take responsibility for Silco's dream (and by extension death) should have been the point of the show, IMO. As far as Jinx's arc is concerned, she was meant to reject the identity of jinx that Vi gave her and embrace the identity of Jinx that Zaun (and Silco) gave her. Loveable and capable of doing the right thing and saving others. Using hex-tech, something Jayce and Piltover had levelled against her people, against them. And she does this to some extent, but we don't even get a hint as to why Ekko's speech worked (and how he got her to fight alongside him and the Firelights in the first place). We know she does so for Vi, but she so quickly gives up once she and her sister are back on the same team. She allies herself with her sister just to die and then fuck off to another land? BRUH! Like act 3 is SO FRUSTRATING!

-The commitment to saving Piltover instead of destroying it ruined so many arcs, most notoriously Vi's and Jinx's. This should have ended in a war between the two cities, not one where both fought against robo-people and Ambessa.

I could go into how the show fumbled Mel, Ekko, Sevika, Jayce and more, but I think they still fare better than the ones I've talked about here. Caitivi has now (narratively) become distasteful, jayvik a joke, and timebomb unnecessary misery porn with little to no reward for all their efforts.

TLDR: Bad message to send to oppressed people, mentally ill people, and people dying of terminal illnesses, lmao. The Zaunites ALL LOST with this one.

P.S.: It's okay if you think the show is good because it succeeds in many other things, I just think it drops the ball in the places I've mentioned. But if your main criticism of my criticisms is going to be defending your ships, please find another post. Oppression is a serious reality that deserves serious depiction and it's insulting to have such necessary political discussions devolve into dumbass ship wars.

HUGE EDIT:

I honestly did not expect this post to get more than 20 likes lmao, and i must admit that this was more of a thought dump than a super-deep analysis, but i'm glad a lot of it has resonated with so many of you!

that being said, i think my criticism warrants some criticism as well, and i feel like it would be disingenuous to just edit the post (let it be seen in all its imperfect glory lmao).

so here's my criticism of my criticism:

-Vi and Jinx: Vi did not create Jinx. Well, I mean, not entirely. And Silco did not merely weaponize her. Granted, it is Vi who slaps little Powder across the face and shouts "You're a jinx!" but Vi is also just a child, and would have gone back for Jinx had she not been apprehended by that asshole also known as Marcus. THAT BEING SAID, Vi still feels a measure of guilt for her reaction (and that's not unjustified), and as Vander's daughter, she would still not stand for the Caitlyn S2 BS and would still default to Jinx much faster than she does (because she's all about family, and Jinx is the only family she has left.) Vi would feel even more guilty at how she is literally in an enforcer's suit when she is about to kill Jinx, the only family she has left. She is literally hunting down Jinx, a Zaunite, like the enforcers had her parents. It's still too far, lmao. Also, Vi's motivation to team up with Cait had more to do with getting revenge on Silco than restoring peace to Zaun, and I didn't mention that at all.

-Jinx and Silco: This fucked up dude did a whole John-the-Baptist thing where Vander tried to drown him with Jinx so she could embrace her Jinx-ness. But I don't think he was telling her to embrace that she was a curse like Vi meant it, but to embrace her new life (baptism is all about death and rebirth) and her new self and take responsibility for it. As much as Silco WAS WRONG to lie about Vi (manipulating Jinx) and even try to kill Vi (which was a dumbass move on his part), he wasn't wrong about Jinx's path to healing: self-acceptance and self-forgiveness. And even though Silco's own stupidity led Jinx to "embrace" Silco's version of Jinx to the point that she bombed the Council right when they'd granted Zaun independence (I wanted to fucking kill myself watching that), Jinx was still not ENTIRELY a jinx as Jinx (e.g. when she rescued Zaunites from Stillwater Prison). Isha and Sevika understood (even though Silco unfairly set it up) that Jinx was actually their good luck, their hope, more than just a hex (pun intended) on the city. After all, Jinx made Sevika her new arm (even though she's the reason Sevika lost her arm in the first place), which further proves that Jinx had the capacity to fix some of what she broke. It would have been better for her to embrace responsibility and have the faith to try and fix things (ESP her relationship with Vi). While it is not unrealistic or necessarily bad writing that she would fake her own death to run away and start over (or just die) trying to save Vi, the arc people she represented deserved was her embracing Vi back, not accepting that she was a curse in Vi's life.

-BACK TO MY MAIN POINT: If the focus had been on the coming war between Zaun and Piltover, then we could have better explored the internal struggles happening with Vi's and Jinx's characters. Using Isha and Vander as misery porn for Jinx was a bad move. I stand by that. Isha didn't need to die that uselessly. Jinx did not need more "trauma" for any character development (positive or negative). It's not unrealistic that Jinx would be depressed after Isha's death (and that Isha was likely meant to symbolize the constant cycle of violence), but that this sub-plot really wasn't needed given what we'd already established in Season 1.

Why do I say this?

Because the cycle of violence is not a "Jinx" issue, but a Piltover one, and the writers making it an interpersonal issue instead of a political/sociological one damaged the story and what Jinx's character could have meant to mentally ill people like her. It wasn't illogical storytelling, just far less meaningful than it could have been. It would have been more powerful and moving and impactful for Jinx to realize where the true cycle of violence (as established the whole fucking show from the dead parents on the bridge, to Vander and Silco, to Jinx and Vi, to Jinx and Ekko, to Isha and Warwick, to Cait and Vi, etc) was coming from.

This is where my gripes with Jinx's and Viktor's arcs in S2 really lie: the story tries to strip the political from the personal! Viktor, on waking up with the arcane in him, goes back to The Lanes, and what does he see? The cycle that Silco mentions in Jinx's hallucination in the cell. This cycle is not merely coming from the interpersonal struggle Zaunites have, but rather, the forces behind those struggles: the starvation, the lack of resources, the poverty. All caused by Piltover. Where Season 2 fails while Season 1 succeeded, is it points the camera away from Piltover as the origin of all this mess, and instead, makes it a stupid cosmic clash between chaos and order (kinda fascist ngl). Zaun lost, and Arcane Season 1 had the tits to show why those in The Lanes were always on a losing streak: Piltover.

But what, instead, do the writers brandish as this solution to the cycle?

Fucking forgiveness (of those who harm and oppress you) and acceptance of your (physical) imperfections (like that's what we were apparently talking about, which no, it wasn't). By refusing to acknowledge Piltover's hand in the desperation and violence and struggle the Zaunite characters find themselves, the show inadvertently ends up excusing Piltover.

And I'm going to make a Part 2 to really get into it, but from the perspective of three Piltover characters (and one Zaunite) that really prove my point: Jayce, Mel, Caitlyn and Ekko.

[nfatcheese]

i love how back in season one, sevika came off as a traitor after she betrayed vander and joined silco, but now in season two it's so clear that her loyalty has always been to the underground.

she worked for vander when he was the unifying beacon for the lanes, but he had become idle and was letting topside roll over them. she didn't join silco just to betray vander, she joined him because he was the only one doing something about topside. like he wasn't perfect but she was loyal to him because his dream was what vander's used to be: freedom from piltover.

and now that they're both dead, she's still trying to hold zaun together. she tries to keep the chembarons from infighting, she hosts the rally (at vander's statue no less), and she pushes for jinx to be a symbol for the underground. she hates jinx but she believes in her because jinx now represents zaun's best chance at freedom.

[lbulldesigns]

My Jinx and Sevika Season 2 Theory.

So before the season 2 trailer dropped, we got this picture from Sevika's VA.

Which was our first look at Sevika for season 2. However, Sevika looks wildly different from what we see in the trailer; so the question is, how does Sevika get from this...

To this?

Get comfy this is gonna be a long one.

So from what we perceive from the trailer, there is a possibility of Sevika and Jinx teaming up, this is mainly theorized because Sevika used both Jinx's pistol and has an augmented arm clearly designed by her. I believe that their teaming up is a high possibility because Sevika has always put her bet behind the winning horse.

She used to be loyal to Vander, I'm guessing when he was still the Hound of The Underground and had a righteous anger towards Piltover, but lost faith in him when he became complacent with the Enforcer's mistreatment.

She then teams up with Silco, and even sacrifices an arm for him because he was showing more initiative and actually acting out on his promise to liberate Zaun from Piltover.

And even though we see her continuing to be loyal to Silco, there are hints of discontent with her in some of his decisions. Mainly his inability to see Jinx as a liability and continuing to place her on a high pedestal.

We are led to believe that she has an undying loyalty to Silco because she turns down Finn's offer and willingly kills him, but when Silco asks if she was tempted she says "Not for a worm like him. But he won't be the last".

Many people translate this as her being loyal to Silco but what she's really saying is that she's loyal to him as long as he's willing to follow through on his promise to free Zaun.

So I'm inclined to believe that she won't hold Silco's death against Jinx, she'll be angry of course however once she sees Jinx is not just willing to go to war but lead the march, she'll put her bet behind the winning horse once again.

As much as she views Jinx as a liability, she also knows her strengths and her abilities. I am fully under the belief that Sevika doesn't hate Jinx, she's just frustrated with her as she can see Jinx as a troubled teenage girl who has a severe mental illness. She doesn't treat Jinx with kiddie gloves, she's honest with her and harsh; which doesn't make her Jinx's favorite person but out of everyone in her life Sevika is the only one who is brutally honest with her, and someone like Jinx who despises liars, Sevika's honesty (even if she doesn't want to hear it a lot of the time) is a constant that Jinx can appreciate.

This breeds credence to the theory that the two will team up in season 2.

Another thing noticed and speculated in the trailer is that the two are fighting against someone in an ally way, however, I have to disagree about the location of said fight.

We know that Jinx and Vi's fight is going to be in the ruins of an ancient-looking temple, considering Zaun's history of being colonized by ancient Shurimans, I believe that this temple is a relic from the Shurimans and fully believe that it's a temple dedicated to Janna.

The temple is full of fog, you can see it moving around during the fight between the sisters, and we see Sevika emerge from it like a badass with Jinx's pistol raised.

Now this is where my theory finally comes in.

During Jinx and Vi's fight, Caitlyn (who is hiding amongst the pillars hidden in the shadow and fog) gets caught, yet again, in one of Jinx's bombs. But I believe that Jinx purposely designed these bombs to be non-lethal, she may be furious with Vi but she doesn't want to kill her. Something in Caitlyn will snap and she'll abandon the notion of bringing Jinx in alive will give into her want for vengeance, and will shoot to kill Jinx. Just as she shoots at Jinx, Sevika will shoot at Caitlyn. Vi will see Caitlyn in danger and rush to protect her, and Jinx will be distracted and not see Caitlyn's bullet until it's too late.

Whilst Sevika is fighting off the Enforcers trying to get to Jinx and Vi is worrying over Caitlyn, Jinx will be lying there dying.

This is where it gets maybe a little far-fetched, but bear with me.

Janna, in the Star Guardians universe, recruits Jinx because she sees good in Jinx and wants to give her a chance to be a hero and protector. In Arcane I reckon Janna has been an invisible spectator for however long watching her people slowly die over the years, she doesn't have the strength to help them because people have stopped praying to her.

There's a significant reason why the producers have the sisters fight in this location, and I theorize that the reason is that this is how they plan to introduce a new region to Arcane.

So as Jinx lies dying, going over everything in her life and maybe she wishes that she could've freed Zaun that she could have another chance to complete her mission, and Janna hears her wish.

And drawing power from the multiple hex gems in her vacinity, uses all her strength to teleport Jinx away. Sevika seeing that something is happening to Jinx jumps in to save her, much like what she did with Silco at the cannery; and both of them get yeeted away from the scene.

All Vi and the rest of the Enforcers will see is that another explosion went off and both Jinx and Sevika were just obliterated. Vi will see her sister's blood on the ground and realize that Cailtyn shot her sister and the weight of what just happened would come crashing down on her and she'll walk away from everything.

I know this all sounds like a stretch, but my main motivation for thinking about all this is what Sevika is wearing in the picture at the start of this essay.

She's wearing her signature Ponto, but the design of it looks like something worn in a desert environment; her clothes look Shuriman, the spikes on her right shoulder look like Shuriman accessories and the way she wears her hair looks like she's trying to shield as much as her face as she can from the hot sun.

I don't know where the theory will go from here, but I think Jinx will get the healing she needs in Shurima and both of them will find allies before heading back to their home to liberate it.

This would have a role reversal for the sisters, with Vi being the one struggling to find her footing and crashing hard whilst hallucinating her loved ones as demons; and Jinx will be the returning daughter to a new Zaun but unlike Vi will be anticipating this change and will have a clearer goal, and zero inclination to look for her sister.

Sorry this was so long, but I had to get this brain rot out of my head.

[pepperpixel]

Yadda yadda yadda jinx is generally seen as a loose canon, does whatever she wants type of character, totally unpredictable. When in actuality, up until the last few episodes all of her choices and actions r motivated by wanting to please someone else. Hell. Even in the last couple episodes, the very Last thing we see her doing is ENTIRELY MOTIVATED by devotion and love and grief for silco, she’s taking out her frustration at herself and the world, and also honoring his wishes and dreams. By shooting a fucking bomb at piltover, she’s ensuring his life wasn’t in vain, she’s honoring him. In that moment

Her entire, self!!! is centered around love and loyalty. Is centered around other people, She’s motivated by an insatiable urge to prove herself, to be useful to those she loves, to show that she can help them and be there for them and be WORTHY of there love. That they haven’t made a mistake in loving her. To prove that she can be as pivotal to them as they r for her. She goes to the ends of the fucking earth to do this. And it ends. Terribly.

She puts the people she loves on pedestals and supplicates at there feet, she has no motivations most of the show outside of making the people she loves happy… she yearns for connection and love and safety. For a home that will never leave her behind, or crumble under her feet, (an indestructible home, That she can’t destroy just by being her…)

Which is why.. it’s so. Interesting and intriguing. How now, she has no one on that pedestal to worship, no one to drag sacrifices and offerings to the feet of, no one to spiral around and build herself off of. She is a person so *affected* by her relationships w others, but there is no relationship now, no one is stepping up to the plate to love her. She’s too much. For anyone. The one person who seemed to have unlimited patience for her is dead, because of her. and maybe vi could still love her.. but. She’s already soured that relationship. Already broken that one too. Broken all her favorite toys that made her so happy. That were there for her. And scared all the rest away. (There is a limit to what vi can support and forgive to reconnect w her sister. And I believe terrorism is crossing that limit ghgh)

And maybe, jinx is cutting that part of herself out on purpose. To be stronger, she’s realized she just. Isn’t made for love. That she ruins it all in the end. That it just makes everything worse. Messier. More complicated. She’s better off on her own, but for what PURPOSE! Who will she be now! What choices will she make!?! Almost all of her actions in the show were for others, what is driving her now, now that she has this gaping void at the center of her being. Where love used to be… what kind of person will she become, Without a guide to follow… a sun to orbit around. it’s sad honestly ghghg-!!! like yeah it’s not healthy that she is this way but there’s no THERAPY IN ARCANE. THIS IS THE WAY SHE IS! And now. She’s alone… it’s rough. But also intriguing…!! And I honestly have no clue how she’s gonna act in season 2,,, or what sorta shit she’s gonna get up to. but I’m excited.

[aryesdanger24]

Can I just say that I love how many layers there are surrounding Sevika and her change towards Jinx....because...

1. Sevika misses Silco (perhaps it was the stable chaos or something to do to stop thinking of the suffering. Perhaps she truly likes to protects things in her own way.) It shows in the way she is not utterly messing up the Chem Barons, it's because she misses not making every decision.

2. Jinx is the mess Silco left her, the last one.

She is what is left of his legacy and it is the last thing that ties her to him since as she said "everything he made has crumbled, everything they built" but Jinx is still there, a testament of his life. One who mirrors Silco in his chaotic wish for stability where he finally is in control. Jinx is the opposite of Silco yet the same, she is fighting against topside (her sister who betrayed her) much like Silco but where he needed manpower, Jinx needs mental support.

Jinx needs control like Silco to balance her mental health to create a peace of mind under the sheer power of her own mental trauma. Sevika is what Silco created and she intends to make sure his legacy lives.

3. Sevika finally sees what Silco saw in Jinx.

She could see it when Jinx, without needing to, gave her a literal helping hand. Improved it even to mirror the new era of chaos the undercity is brewing.

When Jinx said it was because she could fix something, it shows a vulnerability and a strength to grow. It shows that Jinx has matured and Sevika is recognizing that Jinx won't always be the bratty psychopath whom she couldn't understand anymore. That, like Silco, there are layers underneath it, a loyalty much like Sevika's to the footprints left behind by Silco.

4. Sevika enjoys serving others.

It shows in the way she states her allegiance even if she disagrees.

She seems to need to not be completely alone, perhaps she has alcohol problems or a deep festering brain that rambles or just something that won't leave her be. She likes to be in control with someone she deems weaker (thus why she traded Vander for Silco) she doesn't follow weak people, but that's the thing. She follows, she never leads even when she is the oldest between Jinx and the little girl Isha. She prefers to help someone than hold the responsibility and all the irritating moralistic choices. (Which is why I believe she doesn't like to think much by herself).

So yeah.... I really enjoy this new Sevika changing arc happening, but it's more or less just showing how deep these layers go will be more interesting because I don't think she even realizes how much she has feelings because they are veiled beneath the word 'loyalty' for her.

Curious to see how deep the change runs but God I love a buff queen.

[thewistlingbadger]

I noticed the season 2 is AGGRESSIVELY less political than Season 1. So I'm going to examine the ideologies of three zaunites in order to explore this.

Vander: Vander was the first leader of The Undercity and he was given a special focus in season two, so let's look at his ideology. In the beginning, when Vander was a young man, he believed in the idea of The Undercity being it's own independent nation separate from Piltover. We worked alongside Silco to accomplish this goal, as they shared the exact same vision. The two men spent many years of their lives trying to make this happen. However, on one particular night, one of their demonstrations went south. Enforcers came and killed tons of Zaunites who were protesting on the bridge. One of the people lost on the bridge was Felicia, Vander's best friend. He had known her for years and had been around her children as they were growing up, those same kids who were on the bridge that night. From this point on, Vander's entire viewpoint and ideology completely changes on this night. From this point on, Vander abandons the idea of independency in its entirety. He never tries to pursue it again or even make any major changes to Zaun. He actively discourages people from trying to pursue a "better Zaun" because in his opinion, it's not worth the risk of losing people. As a leader, Vander's goal is to maintain the status quo. Nothing he does actively disrupts Piltover's view on Zaun, everything he does plays into that view. Under Vander, nothing changes in Zaun. They're still poor, they're still oppressed. Vander's biggest value is community and protecting everyone, values that are stitched into the fabric of Zaun. In the flashback we see of young Vander and Silco, we see that the last drop is more or less the exact same as it is in act 1 s1. According to Silco's dialogue in season 1 with chem barons, Zaun has always understood the importance of community. He tells them that before Zaun was anything of substance, the only thing that go them by was their loyalty to each other. So even Vander's importance of community isn't unique to him, it was just something he kept fostering that was already commonplace. Vander thinks that if things just stay the same, if they just stick together and keep their heads down, they'll be ok. That is how he leads. He's willing to do anything to keep the makeshift peace between zaun and piltover, and it's not even real peace. It's more akin to mutual tolerance. He has a deal with the enforcers to keep them away, but it's clear that in that deal, Piltover is the one in charge. And when Vander can't offer up his own people, Piltover breaks that deal and sends enforcers to the lanes.

Viktor: Although Viktor was born a zaunite, we mostly saw him in piltover in season 1. However, he's given a special focus in season 2. He spends the season in Zaun and we see how his presence is impacting The Undercity. With his new powers given by the hexcore, he "heals" the zaunites that have the worse afflictions, whether they be disabilities or addictions. He ends up forming a utopia-like community within Zaun, one where everyone is happy and they're self sufficient. This kind of community does challenge Piltover's view of Zaun. In the commune, there is no danger, no dirt, no suffering. Everyone works together, everyone is peaceful, everyone seems happy. This commune doesn't rely on Piltover for anything, they're relying entirely on Viktor on literally every front. However, this commune isn't Zaun. It's a selective place. Viktor isn't making sure all of Zaun has this community, he's only attracting the worst of the worst in a way. He doesn't care about healing zaun, he cares about healing humanity. In Viktor's mind, society would be better if there was no individuality. If everyone was the exact same, then there would be no prejudice, no reason to suffer, etc. Viktor doesn't actually care about fixing the system or even challenging it. He cares about The Glorious Evolution, a world where everyone is equal in every way. But his evolution wouldn't actually fix problems, it would just mask them.

Silco: Silco had no special focus in season two, but he was a significant character in season 1. As a young man, he dreamed of The Nation of Zaun, a world where The Undercity and its citizen are free from Piltover's influence and prejudice. He works with Vander to achieve this goal. However, on one particular night, one of their demonstrations failed. Violence sparked on bridge, and tons of Zaunies who were protesting on the bridge were killed by enforcers . One of the people that died was Felicia, Silco's best friend. Felicia was the one that encouraged Silco and Vander to pursue The Nation of Zaun. She told them that it was worth fighting tooth and nail for not only for them, but for future generations. Felicia's death was a major loss, but it was also a major inspiration. We can draw this conclusion based off some of the things he said in season 1.

"We came from a world were there was never enough to go around, that is why we fight." "You're too young to remember what the undercity was like before it became an 'enterprise'. We had nothing. You know what bore us through those times? Loyalty. Brothers and sisters back to back against whatever the world threw at us. Now I'm forced to share the air with people like you, who leech off their legacies."

Silco was not deterred by the bridge's failure, and he never gave up on the idea of an independent undercity. Even after Vander brayed him and refused to fight, even when he was cast out by Zaunite society. He kept working on his dream. He spent years of planning to make it a reality, until his opportunity came. Everything Silco does directly contradicts Piltover's view of The Undercity. Under Silco, Zaun managed to gain a bit of wealth, industries were established. We can see that overall, Zaun society advanced while Silco was in charge. Silco doesn't operate like a protector like Vander did, or like a messiah like Viktor does. He operates like a politician, because his goal is a free Zaun. Silco is the worst person out of the three men, but he's also the most political and he's the one that combats Piltover's idea of Zaun the most. He was also the most successful out of the three. When Vander died, his community fell apart. Their loyalty was gone and they all suffered. Viktor ends up being defeated in season 2. Silco managed to actually get an offer of independence while he was alive, and when he died, the council voted YES to Zaun independence.

Things do fall apart once Silco dies, but that's because everything was designed around one man and one goal. Silco was the one holding everything together, which is why everything falls apart in the undercity once he's gone. The most devastating thing about his loss, is that his ideas died with him. We don't see a single person speak of Zaunite independence in season 2. The zaunites in season 2 are just fighting against piltover, they're not fighting for independence, The people of zaun have NO IDEA that Silco actually did manage to get them independence. The fact that Sevika gets a council seat at the end of season two means that Zaun is STILL not it's own nation. It's STILL a state of Piltover.

The Nation of Zaun died with Silco.

I'm not sure why season 2 stays away from politics when season 1 was ALL politics- whether it was from Silco or the council. Maybe they got told to stay away from the subject, or they thought it didn't fit with the direction of season two. I don't know. But personally, I think it's a major loss that the show that centered pollical strife no longer cares for politics.

[gumbaigumbai]

The way this is not what that scene was about whatsoever.

They were both talking about Silco and while, yes, they were mocking the things he did it's so clearly shown to be in a mournful manner.

You can see both Jinx and Sevika are not actually happy regarding his absence, both in their tone and their eyes.

"He dips out, the whole world flips over" -- Including their worlds; neither of them know what to do now because his presence stabilized them. They're reminiscing of the past but not criticizing it. Bringing up what they would be doing if he was still around.

Multiple times throughout S1 we see Sevika's loyalty being tested, and she never once betrays him. If all her piety was built on mindless manipulation from Silco's end it would not have been portrayed like that. For Jinx, of course he lied about Vi to keep her anchored to him, but he never lies about his own care for her. He refers to her as a daughter when (he believes) she's not around, he truly has good intentions- albeit unethical -when it comes to raising her. Neither Sevika nor Jinx think he "majorly sucked" or that they were better off without him. They use their shared feelings towards him to bond while in a vulnerable state. And lastly to add, I don't believe Silco ever intended to "pit them against each other" in S1. We see Sevika actively disliking Jinx; that is because she blew her arm off in 0103, I highly doubt they would've gotten along "just fine" without Silco's alleged intervention. He never badmouths either of them in front of the other, we never see him trying to sabotage a potential bond between the two. All in all I was just mildly put-off by how surface-level OP's observation of this scene was and I needed to speak my own piece. Peace and love guys peace and love

[zaunrising]

Time is a funny thing.

It was late at night, or perhaps early in the morning. That odd in between time when no one was quite sure if they should be saying good eve, or good morn. It didn’t particularly matter regardless. This, was The Last Drop. Time wasn’t measured in terms of night or day. It wasn’t measured by breakfast and dinner, sun and moon, or even by the normal working hours of the various businesses around it. No, time here was measured by drinks poured, the loudness of conversation, and the music being played. A period with lots of drinks, conversation bustling throughout the club, and hard pounding music might be the high time. Daytime, one might say, or if one preferred the “good” time of the evening. No customers, and boxes getting moved in and out for supplies might have been dusk or dawn. Anything in between? Late at night, or early in the morning, to one degree or another. Time never truly obeyed any conventional rules at The Last Drop. Some conversations stretched throughout an entire day, but only lasted for an hour or two. Some games lasted for a few hours, but stretched nearly out a day entirely.

Time? Inviolable? Tell that to a man who cared. Tell that to a Piltie. Not to the owner of The Last Drop. Not to Silco. Not to one of the most powerful men in the area who ruled his territory as he saw fit.

People created time, and measured it as they saw fit.

Control people, and you create their time.

You, tell them how to measure it.

Outside The Last Drop, time moved as it always did. Obedient to clocks, the sun, the moon, day, night, and human schedules. Silco was not outside The Last Drop however, he was inside, and time shifted.

Late at night, so very late it was near dawn and so in truth it was so very early in the morning. Almost no one else in the club except for a few employees attending to things, and perhaps some minuscule number of patrons. Quiet, peaceful, and for a moment it seemed as still as things could ever be. Leaving his coat in his office, Silco had ended up in the middle of the dance floor with his sleeves rolled up to mid-forearm, as he had used to wear them years ago. Head tilted ever so slightly, he could very nearly hear the bustle of a tavern he’d spent time at, so long ago it felt now like another life. One eye closing for a second so brief it seemed more like a blink, Silco’s other eye stared blazing forward, reminding anyone that glanced over of the truth of who Silco was. Silco’s blurred vision rendered near useless with an explosion of orange, and fiery red reminded him that whatever bustle he might be hearing from the past… was, in fact, from another life. A life that had died in a river with a friend standing over him, and a moment of desperation. Two men as close as men could be, both left with scars, and both changing irrevocably as a result.

Sometimes, though, the past could return in some small way. Even if only for a short while.

Struck by sudden impulse, Silco moved forward to the jukebox and punching a quick series of numbers into it flipped to a record few could access. He wasn’t ashamed of it, and couldn’t be bothered to hide it, but it wouldn’t do to have the atmosphere in The Last Drop suddenly shift because of someone hitting the wrong kind of song. A song years old, and one that brought him back to his childhood for a few short minutes. Eyes open, and staring into the past, his lips parted to sing softly along with one particular song as his hands rested on the jukebox.

“Jesse got trapped in a coal mine, digging in the dark black pearl. Jesse got trapped in a coal mine, never did marry his girl. There ain’t no air, and there ain’t no light, and there ain’t no way to make it out alive. His wedding was planned for the 5th of July, but Jesse got trapped in a coal mine and never did marry his girl. Your hands get black and your eyes get burned, your lungs get tired and poor. It draws you in like an opium den, and beckons you back for more.”

The vaunted Eye of Zaun for three minutes and fifty-three seconds stood at a jukebox softly singing along to a song. His voice soft enough few could hear, but the club was quiet enough it could be picked up if someone wanted. A song about, of all things, a miner who never made it back and a woman left to grieve alone. No revolution, no strife, no call for violence. No deep pounding beat to get people dancing, no soft sounds of love for people to smile to, but also no easily ignored background noise this. Just a song about a miner, and loss, and a reminder that sometimes people don’t make it even when they fight as hard as possible. Of course, just because people don’t make it doesn’t mean they aren’t remembered.

Sometimes, Silco wondered how long it took for Jesse to meet his second death.

How long before Jesse was forgotten by all, and died a second final time.

Sometimes he wondered which was more important.

That Jesse had tried as hard as he could to make it back, or that the man had died.

Did the attempt alone grant its own kind of honor, and respect?

Could failure remove all the honor, and respect?

“Down, down on her knees, she cried. My love is somewhere in that mountain.”

As the song faded, Silco’s one good eye blinked, and he pulled himself back into the present. Hitting a button had the jukebox flip to some random record. Silco couldn't care less what played next. One slow steady calm breath as he turned, and pulled his sleeves back down to their normal position, buttoning them properly while heading to the bar.

Time was malleable. Time shifted, and could at times be hard to define. Time, however, always passed, and always moved forward. Not even Silco could change that. Not even in The Last Drop could that be changed. Time moved forward, and so it was time for Silco to return to the present and move with it.

Some, however, might say Silco had never moved with time. Not really. You might say he had been frozen in time during one particular night.

A night on which trusted, perhaps loved, hands had shoved him underwater. Trusted hands tried to kill him, and although he’d never admit it… had.

One man had been lost in pitch black, polluted water.

Another man, seemingly immovable, and unstoppable, had climbed out of that water. Someone that refused to bend, or change with time. Someone that deep within still felt that water drip from him, and that pain in an eye suddenly lost. A man who, even as he climbed out of the water, had kept so much of it with him, he might as well have never left. Time passed, but some moments never quite ended. Some moments kept a person frozen within them, and made it near impossible to step away.

On some nights though, be it for a minute, three minutes, or five minutes, for however long a particular song might last. A frozen moment thawed, and someone else pushed forward.

On some nights… a person might catch a glimpse not of Silco the Industrialist, the revolutionary, the Eye of Zaun. Some nights a person might catch a glimpse of Silco the miner, a man who years ago had fought, and drank, and loved, and worked right alongside everyone else. A man who had died in a river.

A man who still on occasion awoke, and wondered what Zaun was becoming.

A man could stand in another’s boots, on some nights, for as long as a song. After that, however, the owner returned, and a cold gaze turned to anyone who thought to question him or his choice of song a moment earlier. After all, time never stopped, and it never went backwards. At least, not for long.

Not even at The Last Drop.

[archangeldyke-all]

So I have a crack-pot theory and I apologize for the random ask/ ridiculous length of the post. It might be totally unrealistic but it's in my brain... What if Sevika joins Noxus/ Ambessa?

Hear me out: as much of a loyal follower of Zaun as she is, there's a consistent something that is preventing her from getting that extra nudge to be a leader - whether that's people's distrust, fear or even just lack of interest of the idea her as a leader (like at Vander's statue where they more or less ignored her points and asked for Jinx instead). She's been fighting for what she believes is the right thing to do for her people for YEARS with not a lot of gratification being given back. She fought with Vander and Silco when they lost focus and they didn't seem to take her seriously (until the Finn incident). She's been fighting to keep the chem-barons in check since Silco died and they're not interested in listening. People quickly turned to a "Machine Herald" that just popped up out of nowhere and eagerly started following him (granted they were all husks of people in a hive mind cult but she doesn't know that).

In her eyes, she's trying to hold the whole ship together by bringing anybody to the table that will give a shit, yet constantly taking on water despite her labors. In her poster, she looks exhausted or resigned, she's turned away from the light or the goal that everyone else is looking towards with determination. We know this season is to push the characters to be the opposite of what they were in Season 1, what if for Sevika, it's not about going from follower to leader, but going from staunch believer in a cause to bowing out because the goal is in sight, but it's just not gonna happen? What if she hits another low with the death of Isha, the people not listening to her, and with Vi and (presumably) Ekko (two true fighters who could make a real difference in Zaun) working alongside Topside... what if she's just had enough?

Enter Ambessa who has a clear vision, the strength and force to accomplish it, and has shown to the audience that despite her deception, she values loyalty greatly. Add onto that, she's got a serious bone to pick with Piltover right now given that she's after their tech, and is now likely on a little tiny revenge quest after Caitlin's betrayal. Would Sevika really turn down a chance to attack Piltover on a scale like the one Noxus is sure to provide? There's also the idea of Noxus society not discriminating where you come from, and being able to achieve greatness regardless of origin that can be appealing. As another over-analytical point, Sevika does wear Noxus colors throughout the show (Red in her cape and gold on her arm/ clothes), so whether that's just a design choice, red-herring, or foreshadowing idk. I know there's probably some holes in logic and whatnot, but like I said, it's a strange theory that I ended up going down. Again sorry about the random ask and length of the rant!

this is so interesting!! ambessa will be needing a new rictus or whatever his name was since vander killed him... maybe sevika will fill that role?

what really convinced me about ur theory is when you pointed out that aligning with noxus could give sevika the opportunity to attack piltover in a way sevika's only dreamt of before. ultimately, though, i think her fight isn't against piltover, but rather for zaun, so i think she'll stick with the undercity 'til the end. plus, with her at the top of the season still refusing to turn in jinx, i think her loyalties to zaun are stronger than ever. (isha's death could change this, tho)

we'll have to see! her red cape, and her and ambessa's little moment of eye contact could all be pointing toward this!!

[mcrololo]

Framing it like Sevika is going to kill Silco but then she kills the other guy. The way Silco TREMBLED because he genuinely feared she'd betray him and to have that shot of him right after he said "I still believe in loyalty"????? I need this studio to get paid in billions actually

[constantfragmentation]

In real life, do you think Id be difficult to have a serious relationship with Silco? I'm curious

Oh hell yes.

That man is nothing BUT difficult. My psychologist would have a field day dissecting him.

Even before the drowning, he has serious issues.

He's intelligent (self-taught more than anything) and knows it. That man has some serious rage and inferiority complexes to deal with. He doesn't like to be second. Vander taught him that. And that I'm in the mindset that Silco has always been the brains of the smuggling/revolution outfit.

Post drowning. My man has the biggest trust issues on the planet. You wrong him and you might as well just die because he'll kill you. He might mame first or find something that is worse than death, so yeah, don't cross him.

Silco values intelligence, patience, loyalty and yes, passion. He is very passionate about his core beliefs and I'm betting that passion is very much alive elsewhere. When he's in the mood, you better be too.

He can be a very generous lover. The skinny boys always packing the meat, and he also knows it. In the beginning it might be all about his pleasure but once he starts to give two shits, he will find ways to tease and please. Silco is also a bit of a sadist. He will draw that shit out until you're begging him.

Don't play coy or the tease with him. He doesn't have time for that bs.

He might play with you at first. See if you're worth more than some quick shags. Then he'll test you. Just how loyal are you? Little by little and this could take some time before he has the TINIEST bit of trust in you.

At this point, you're probably the sidechick but more than a quickie.

If your patience and dealing with his constant bs and mood swings have paid off, he just might consider you partner material. He still doesn't share everything and keeps one foot firmly planted on the ground, keeping his emotions in check (as always), but he's allowed you just enough and if you're not ok with that, your ass is getting kicked back down to sidechick or he's decided he's done. Again, trust.

If you're looking for romance, chances are that isn't happening. He might do it to fuck with you. A game. He might offer small gestures to let you know he sees you, shows a bit of tenderness when no one is watching. Granted that 'tenderness' might be him giving you a warning before surprising you with anal sex tonight.

Jinx better love you. If not, it's all over. She is #1 so you better be okay with that.

If he has put Sevika or one of his goons to guard you, you know you know mean something. Unfortunately, if that's the case, Silco knows others will see you as a liability and possible weakness, so now you're a target. I hope you're ok with that.

Granted, if anyone does come for you (and misses), you'll know by now that Silco will Fucking.Go.To.TOWN on their ass. Silco, I believe will burn the world for the person he cares about.

[sandraharissa]

ig it's time for me to share my headcanons but also at this point prediction when it comes to Vander and Silco's relationship cos there's plenty of things I assume about them cos we know next to nothing. We know they used to be 'brothers', that they co-lead the uprising, believed in the Nation of Zaun and at some point Vander tried to drown him.

So first of all, and while I don't think this is controversial it is a speculation, I don't think they're bio or adopted brothers, I think they were brothers in arms. more on that later.

If they were each other's closest person, and that's what it sounds like, and they led an uprising together, then I assume they also lived together in the Last Drop before the betrayal. Started/owned it together. There's even a line about how Vander built the Lanes, so bcos they were co-leading back then and out of the two Silco is the one with talent for business, I assume it's really 'Vander and Silco built the Lanes' cos the Lanes are a black market. When you think about it Silco going on to sell Shimmer isn't that dissimilar to him (and Vander) starting an illegal bar where there used to be none at all before. Both alcohol and drugs are highly addictive substances that sell like hot cakes.

Silco keeps on repeating these lines like "The sons and daughters of Zaun deserve more than their runoff.", "You know what bore us through those times? Loyalty. Brothers and sisters back-to-back against whatever the world threw at us.", "We came from a world where there was never enough to go around, Finn. That is why we fight. Do you remember?" and so I get the impression during the first uprising he experienced this kind of comradery and unity with other ppl from the Undercity, but then the betrayal erased that. So while he still believes in it and somehow values it it's not how he currently functions at all. All his business and relations are based on money or violence, he doesn't rely on trust or loyalty cos the person he trusted the most tried to murder him.

Which bring me to my next point, I think that the betrayal resulted in a split where Vander got everything and Silco got nothing. In one moment Silco loses his whole support system and his home and everything he ever owned. The line "What is truth, but a survivor's story?" really solidifies it for me that Vander probs came up with some sort of lie so Silco had no business going back to the Lanes cos no one would take his side.

Which btw would also contribute to his 'we can't trust anyone' mentality and the isolation it brings cos if that happened then by the time of act I he seemingly just accepts his bad reputation and decides that it doesn't matter what ppl think cos he's not gonna trust them or value their opinion anyway. He essentially considers Vander a traitor but we never see him trying to publicly smear his reputation for the sake of improving his own. Vander actually even gets a statue built for him. The only exception to that seems to be Sevika who's present for when Vander corroborates Silco's version of events. Which could have been the final nail in the coffin for her (I think it's very likely she, Vander and Silco go all the way back, so she could have been one of the ppl Vander lied to about Silco).

With no one, homeless and with a rotting eye Silco hides somewhere in the caves and finds Singed, who heals him for free and likely treats it as an opportunity to study a unique malady. He probs surgically removes Silco's eyelids and supplies him with Shimmer (or an alternative, or maybe Shimmer-as-medicine was discovered by Singed before Shimmer-as-weapon). They start working together (and living together at the giant window base that could have originally been just Singed's lab). Bcos Silco in act I already has gold to pay Marcus with, I assume he was already up to some other business venture in between the betrayal and Shimmer. He probs funded Singed already at this point and so Singed worked on building him weapons. Upon Silco taking over the Last Drop he moves there permanently cos he doesn't need to crash at Singed's place anymore.

Now to the most self-indulgent but also imo super likely part (unless s2 drastically changes our perception of their relationship ig). Vander and Silco seem to me like platonic life partners. They spent what was probs years building a life and a home and a future together. They don't know the term queerplatonic and so they say 'brother' instead. Or maybe they were in love with each other but were in denial cos they didn't want to fuck each other cos they're aces. Anyway, I interpret them both as falling somewhere on the aroace spectrum. Imo them being two a-specs in a relationship is the most canon compliant interpretation of their relationship, more than them being gay or straight bros. It just fits so perfectly where 'straight bros' or 'gay' don't fully explain their relationship as we know it right now. How many gay ppl call the person they're in love with 'brother'? ig you could argue gay ppl sometimes get confused lol. Similarly how many straight friends attempt to live a life together (as roommates *gasp*) only with each other and never with any significant other?