#I Am Nobody S2

[morweneledhwen]

Hou Minghao as Wang Ye in I Am Nobody: The Showdown Between Yin & Yang, episode 4

[fiftysevenacademics]

Zhuge Qing is stubborn as a mule and Wang Ye has no choice but to follow him.

[barananduen-blog]

"I AM NOBODY 2" - LIVE REACTION ON LAST EPS

What was Qiu's power (without the gloves)? Did he alter emotions in different ways or did he only send people into ecstasy? (Or was it something else entirely?)

From here on down: SPOILER warning!

EP.9 The subtitles are so bad! I want to know what Fu Rong's problem is… she went into debt to pamper a boytoy? Is that it?😆 Zhuge Qing with his new girlfriend and then his old boyfriend shows up

EP.10 What, we have mpreg now? 😂

EP.11 Ma has connected to the pokeball That is one creepy-ass pokeball Ma lost his marbles

EP.12 😭😭😭😭😭

Also, I noticed some comments on MDL wondering if she's an alien. Whether she really is an alien or not, I don't know (and I don't think she knows, either), but I think she said she wanted to "go back to her world" because her basketball friend at the bunker was (possibly) an alien, and he told her that maybe she was an alien, too (I think it was in that scene where The Body and The Beast left). So I think she held onto that, in hope, or, perhaps, as an explanation for why she didn't fit in, and for a place/people "to belong in" and that's why she said it toward the end of the show.

EP.13 Is the bald guy in the board of directors working for the competitors or something? He wants to get rid of all the temps no matter what. Sounds like self-sabotage.

[cnladies]

WEN QI 文淇 in Ralph Lauren | I Am Nobody S2 Drama Promo

Wen Qi: more photos here drama promo: more photos here

[astarlightmonbebe]

apologizing in advance for the person i will become when i am nobody s2 airs

[fuckyeahchinesefashion]

Spring Festival Gala for Chinese New Year tonight, robots and girls perform Northeast folk dance秧歌yangge with rice-planting music

Cnetizens: WTF is this LMAOOOOOO😭😭

Cnetizens say this is most 抽象chouxiang one in this year's SFG (抽象lit. abstract, similar to quirky, funny, weird, describes something so incomprehensible that one doesn't know whether it's serious or funny)

The video of UniTree's robots was posted a month ago HERE, where they tripped and fell in public and kicked a hole in the carpet, so how is it that all of a sudden they're flexible enough to make it to the Spring Festival Gala, omg this timeline is so chouxiang....

[astral-herald]

Viktor's (subverted) Aristotelian Tragedy

A common sentiment I’m seeing throughout post-finale Viktor discourse is an understandable concern or distaste for the element of choice lost throughout his story. I know a lot of us – myself included – expected more time spent on his transformation, along with emphasis on the anger/rage/betrayal fueling it. But seeing him allow Singed to “begin the process” in episode 8 reminded me of Arcane’s origins – tragedy. Bear with me for another long analysis :)

Aristotle wrote the following on the tragedy: “A tragedy is the imitation of an action that is serious and also, as having magnitude, complete in itself…with incidents arousing pity and fear, wherewith to accomplish a catharsis of these emotions.” He also emphasized that the true tragic hero couldn’t be perfect, and his downfall into such catharsis-inducing circumstances was reliant on a fatal flaw, oftentimes pride.

Viktor fits this mold, as do many Arcane characters, and it stands to reason that this was intentional since the writing team has reiterated that the show is a tragedy, at its core.

Regarding Viktor’s fatal flaw, I’d argue it’s pride, but it manifests very uniquely. He never makes any grand declarations about his success and doesn’t draw attention to himself in any clear way throughout season one (“Progress Day” comes to mind). Instead, his pride manifests as staunch independence and self-reliance that lead to his downfall; his unwillingness to break his stoic mold arguably led to his use of the Hexcore…so it goes.

Fascinating caveat: Viktor’s pride is a defense mechanism, a necessary tool he built in order to survive and succeed in a hostile environment to people of his station. His self-reliance is increasingly desperate as his illness worsens. He’s cornered by fate but banks on the sanctity of choice at every turn – in season one, Viktor is bound by the conviction that we all have a choice. It’s why he’s so distressed when Jayce makes the wrong one regarding weaponizing Hextech.

“There is always a choice.”

Viktor���s choice to fuse with the Hexcore is the classic Aristotelian fatal flaw moment, the singular incident that opens the flood gates for eventual catharsis. We watch Viktor make an irreparable choice, one that we know to be bad, and endure the repercussions. He then makes the choice to abandon the Hexcore, and end his life, but audiences can’t shake the feeling that those consequences aren’t leaving anytime soon.

So why is Viktor so anti-choice in his final season 2, act 3 form?

Choice is Viktor’s weapon. Pride is what leads him to abusing it. Despite how uncomfortable and depressing it is to watch, Viktor’s slow descent into the Herald is a perfect twist of fate. The Arcane is even so insidious that it meshes with his original intent, to help those suffering in the undercity, while convincing him that their subservience is healing. He becomes responsible for their choices. He knows what’s best because he’s relieving the Gloriously Evolved of their suffering, right? The utopia is for the greater good, yes?

Admittedly, it was really hard watching act 3 Viktor descend fully into his choiceless ethos. But we can still relate it to his tragic flaw – his pride has mushroomed into coldhearted omniscience; not only does he know what’s best for everyone, evolution, but he also has the sense to make the choice for them to supersede their “baser instincts.” The grief we feel upon seeing this perverted, violent version of himself, as far removed from Viktor as possible, is the culmination of Aristotle’s treatise on tragedy. The catharsis is the rock-bottom Machine Herald.

"Choice is false."

But then Arcane decided to basically make Jayvik canon (get out of here, Christian Linke) and destroyed the early drafts of this post. I’m going to rapid-fire this next bit:

Jayce forces Viktor back to life. Viktor has no agency in his season 2 inciting incident. Again, it’s distressing when we mourn his agency, but it remains in accordance with Aristotelian tragedy.

Viktor clings to humanity as long as he possibly can. When Jayce calls out Viktor’s trajectory, alleging that his old partner had died in the Council chamber, whatever is left of Viktor gives way to the Arcane because his last tether has been snapped.

Jayce knows the game – Old Man Jenkins Mage Viktor told him so. Jayce becomes the linchpin in subverting Viktor’s tragedy. He knows what must happen. He understands now.

Machine Herald Viktor is given the chance to undo his fatal flaw, to reverse the catharsis, when he sees Old Man Jenkins Mage Viktor. With Jayce’s help, he takes it.

Given that it’s a version of Viktor who ultimately frees him from himself by empowering Jayce, we can gather that Viktor has liberated himself from his tragedy.

Aristotle’s catharsis is rapidly transformed from something based in release to something healing – Viktor’s tether to humanity returns. He grasps it. The walls of his pride and self-reliance collapse. He accepts Jayce’s help, finally being seen as the full individual he is. Catharsis ensues, for sure, but I don’t think it’s based in the typical tragedy genre.

All this to say, I think Viktor’s arc was, in fact, carefully constructed. He represents the Aristotelian descent into a fatal flaw and that’s very distressing to see unfold, especially since he embodied the tragic hero archetype so well from day one. However, Jayce undoes this narrative and we’re given an incredibly subversive ending that I, personally, never saw coming.

I’m sure that Mage Viktor has a much larger bearing on this analysis than I’m accounting for. But for now, suffice to say that he is Viktor’s way out of the tragedy. TALK ABOUT CHOICE!

This doesn’t erase anyone’s discomfort for Viktor having less and less agency, but I’d like to emphasize the logic and literary precedent behind the story decisions.

PS: here's a quick source I looked at about Aristotelian tragedies. I hope to re-up on Greek tragedies so I can get more specific about the parallels Arcane draws from them.

[astorkes]

she might've dyed it black but the pink is still showing💘

[luthqrs]

JENNIFER JAREAU in CRIMINAL MINDS 2x16 | ‘Fear and Loathing’

[morweneledhwen]

Photoshoot of Chen Wenqi as Chen Duo in I Am Nobody: The Showdown Between Yin & Yang

[fiftysevenacademics]

I Am Nobody: The Showdown Between Yin & Yang (S2) introduces some great new characters and adds a twist to some faves from S1. So far, I'm a big fan of Wang Zhenqiu and Xiao Zizai. The new actor for Zhuge Qing gives the character a more sultry persona, whereas the original was cheeky and flirtatious, but so far (ep3) I like him, too. But all the new characters are really interesting and I want to know more about them.

[barananduen-blog]

"I AM NOBODY, SEASON 2" - EP.10 Sun Zeyuan as Wang Zhenqui, deity form

[cnladies]

WANG YINGLU 王影璐 | I Am Nobody S2 Drama Promo

Wang Yinglu: more photos here drama promo: more photos here

[mr-trashcanchan]

“Nobody wrote Viktor’s name on a piece of paper” like be fr. Everyone’s blinded by pain not thinking straight at all like Mel would absolutely have written Viktor’s name. There is no way she wouldn’t have?? Why wouldn’t she write both their names? I just don’t believe she’d think about only Jayce in that moment. Past entanglement or not, there was no Jayce without Viktor. Those two were a package deal from the day they met each other. Mel isn’t someone who holds a grudge like that? Like imagine she’s writing ‘Jayce’ and remembering him… how would Viktor NOT appear in those memories? Let’s say she was thinking about the first time they slept together (idk why she would be during a difficult time lol). Yeah very nice memory except where tf was Jayce when she woke up? WITH VIKTOR. Can you imagine Mel intentionally leaving out Viktor’s name? Why? Out of spite? Hell no. Because he almost destroyed Piltover and everyone in it? The Machine Herald was once a man. Even if they didn’t see eye to eye, they both cared about Jayce. And given her last conversation with Jayce, not writing both names would be greatly disrespectful not only to them but also to herself. She’s not that petty

[saenora]

the place where it all went wrong \\ satosugu. (no reposts please)

[helielune]

and stalling only goes so far when you've got a head start