#I am Nobody 2

[da-man-si]

Wang Ye? Why are you also here?

[mostlyfate]

I Am Nobody: The Showdown Between Yin & Yang 异人之下之决战! 碧游村 · 2025 — dir. Derek Hui

[la-muerta]

They had all the cast of "I Am Nobody" S2 learn the dance for "异人Disco" on the spot and Minghao was so good that they pressured him into doing a solo. It ended up being Minghao, Wang Linglu, and Peng Yuchang, but you can see Peng Yuchang desperately trying to escape in the background LOL

(video credit: Fairy不修仙 on weibo; not for commercial use, please do not remove watermark, and link back to source if reposting)

[morweneledhwen]

I just saw a rumor on Twitter saying that season 2 of I Am Nobody might be airing as early as mid-January. 👀

Let's keep our fingers crossed that this is true!

[ggirlism]

WEN QI I AM NOBODY 2 (2025)

[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.

[mistbornthief]

job requirement for the temp worker position is to be a little bit of a freak god bless

[fangcaodi]

I Am Nobody season 2 vocab list

I just finished season 2, so here's a selection of notable vocabulary, mostly excluding Daoist lingo.

辖区（轄區）xiáqū - administrative region

潜水（潛水）qiánshuǐ - to dive / to go under water / (in an online forum) to lurk

线人（線人）xiànrén - spy / informant

暗堡 ànbǎo - bunker

来路不明（來路不明）láilùbùmíng - of unknown or dubious origins

资质（資質）zīzhì - aptitude / natural endowments

培养皿（培養皿）péiyǎngmǐn - Petri dish

开战（開戰）kāizhàn - to start a war / to make war / to battle against

来历（來歷）láilì - history / antecedents / origin

宾至如归（賓至如歸）bīnzhìrúguī - guests feel at home (in a hotel, guest house etc) / a home away from home

^This is what was written on Baobao's shirt!

假货（假貨）jiǎhuò - counterfeit article / fake / dummy

冠冕堂皇 guānmiǎntánghuáng - high-sounding / dignified / pompous (idiom)

绳套（繩套）shéngtào - noose / loop / lasso

拴 shuān - to tie up / to be tied or bound to (in a figurative sense)

执迷不悟（執迷不悟）zhímíbùwù - to obstinately persist in going about things the wrong way (idiom)

动手（動手）dòngshǒu - to set about (a task) / to hit / to punch / to touch

算盘（算盤）suànpán - plan / scheme

收割 shōugē - to harvest / to reap

狂妄 kuángwàng - egotistical / arrogant / brassy

偏执（偏執）piānzhí - extreme and inflexible; fixated; stubborn in clinging to a notion

[extraordinarilyextreme]

Season 2 of 异人之下 I Am Nobody is upon us!

Come join the YRZX discord server for a fun watchparty on Saturday, January 18th, at 3:00PM UTC!!!

This event invite serves as a server invite as well, if you haven't already joined us.

[a-sea-with-no-shores]

I'm only here for Feng Baobao and Wang Ye (and it's a good thing I'm here for Feng Baobao, because I don't think there's going to be much Wang Ye) but here's a new trailer with English subs for season 2 of I Am Nobody

[da-man-si]

In this small Biyou village, there are so many exceptional Outsiders. And it's never been recorded in the NDT Express system.

[mostlyfate]

I Am Nobody: The Showdown Between Yin & Yang 异人之下之决战! 碧游村 · 2025

[thedramadojo]

Dramas to kickstart your 2025 with: Kdrama, Cdrama and Thai BL

[gildui]

“Be careful who you trust, Sergeant. People you know can hurt you the most.”

[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.