#Viktor's been in Piltover so longhow can we expect him to navigate zaun in such a tumultuous time when he's been so removed

[mollysunder]

I can actually see them both forming a longer lasting partnership than Vi and Jayce created. One, because they're both entering a much higher stakes situation than Vi and Jayce were a part of and that takes time. Two, they're both in a place (Viktor's on his way to) where they need new connections. Jinx spent the season being tortured by her past till she decided to accept the present and the way things have changed to move forward. Viktor's one of the most isolated characters in the show and he's got no friends outside of Jayce and maybe formerly Sky, and maybe an ally in Singed. He's the Zaunite most estranged from Zaun and she's the one most in tune with Zaun's happenings. They both need to meet new people, they need new people.

I can recognize that they're both different, but at their core they're pretty similar. Jinx is desperate for the care and approval of her loved ones which causes her to take desperate measures to gain their affirmations. Viktor has been alienated from his peers most his life because of his class and disability. The only ways he is able to be recognized as a person, and forge lasting bonds is through his own engineering prowess. Jinx and Viktor are both people that have staked their self esteem on what they can do for other people. For Jinx it's what she can do for her family, and for Viktor, it's what he can do for society at large. One just does it by more violent means while the other developed a savior complex. They're both just people in desperate need to accepted in a world that taught them they weren't.

When Viktor's work with the Hexcore causes him to inevitably be rejected by Piltovan society and he and Jayce split he needs someone who won't reject him. Jinx can be that person. For the few people she cares about, she cares deeply, no matter how monstrous they are. All Jinx wants is for it to be reciprocal, and Viktor can do it because no matter what the Machine Herald ever said about casting off emotion he was wrong. Viktor never rid himself of his emotions, he's still the same man depressed by the suffering of others, and he's only alone because his work disturbs the average citizen. Viktor craves the company of others, he always had. They both just need someone who won't judge them.

The fact that Jinx would be willing to help Viktor would mean she has to care about him. The only reason Jinx helps anyone isn't from mutual benefit, it's because she cares about them. Jinx is mean, she'd have an easier time getting her way if chose to play nice with Sevika, but she'd rather do things the hard way than pretend to care. She treats the average person as means to an end, look at Thieram. If that's how she on average talks to most people, it's not really emotionally volatile, it's just manipulative and kind of sadistic.

Finally, I just like it when characters are that previously had no attachment to each other encounter one another. Both characters can look at each other as they are in the present without the past governing their expectations.

You know, I get pretty hype over Jinx and Viktor working together next season, the one thing I have trouble predicting is how Ekko fits into it. Obviously Ekko and Jinx have a whole emotionally fraught dynamic going on, but I can only see it escalating if Viktor's added to the mix. The few times League media has Ekko and Viktor interact, Ekko's kind of disgusted by Viktor, even after Viktor's lore got reworked. I don't treat voicelines as gospel but, "You're everything that's wrong with Zaun", is pretty harsh when Urgot exists. I know part of Viktor's bad reputation was caused by hearsay and rumors, but that means in their dynamic Ekko buys into Viktor's bad press. Now that Ekko's hanging out with Heimerdinger I can only see a misunderstanding only deepen between them, on the outside it looks like Viktor left Heimerdinger’s side to engage in unethical practice with Singed, a prominent figure in the Shimmer trade. It all only further complicates things, especially for Jinx and Ekko. Where Ekko could see Jinx once again work with another person of dubious intent, and Viktor's own choices could remind Ekko of the path Jinx took and how similar they are to each other. If there's any chance that all three are supposed to work together, I guess Jinx will just have to be the buffer friend.