#arcane rambles

[aingeal98]

Ambessa for all her manipulation and tactics is remarkably straightforward a person. Power and family are all that matter, you cannot protect your family without power. Mages have a power that threatens you, you must find a way to counter it. Your daughter is a mage, do not tell her. It will only put her in more danger. Hide her away, both out of love and necessity. Your son is asking too many questions. Don't tell him anything, it's safer that way. Mages took him, looking for your daughter, and kill him in the process. Is this proof that you handled things wrong? Perhaps but more importantly it's proof that you were right.

Your son is dead because they have power both he and you do not. Visit your daughter, secure your secret weapon, don't tell her anything. The mages are after you both because you will not stop chasing dangerous ways to counter them but how can you not? If you stop chasing the power of the arcane you give in, back down, accept you cannot best them. Your son died for nothing. Your daughter is alive and begging you to stop going down this road but it is the only way. She's a fool for not seeing that. You cannot choose her safety over power because taking risks and sacrifice for power is the only way to secure her safety permanently.

I do think Ambessa died satisfied. Her daughter proved to be powerful and determined enough to do what must be done. Her legacy and empire are secure, she has faith both she and Kino will be avenged by Mel. The fact that Mel never wanted any of this is irrelevant. It was the only way. Killing is a cycle and Ambessa would rather die than let Mel walk away from it.

[arcaneacolyte]

Mountain Ghoul chopping wood shirtless with overalls unclipped and dangling around his hips.

That's it, that's the vision.

[bibibbon]

Disclaimer: This will sound delusional

So, does anyone think there was any relevance in the fact that we never get to see Jayce's hands without gloves after he kills viktor aka episodes 8 and 9 the only time we see Jayce's hands he is wearing gloves.

Do you think that there may be a symbolism in that? Do you think it was intentionally done because when we do see Jayce's hands in episode 9 it's in the astral plane and there seems to be such an intense focus on jayce looking at his hands turning them around all while saying "there is beauty in imperfections".

Also, do you think that it's intentional that whenever we do see jayce wear gloves in season 1, we don't really see him initiating touch, not when compared to when he isn't wearing gloves. In a way, it's almost as if the gloves he wears are a barrier to him expressing himself?!?! Communicating love towards those he cares?!?! Something along the lines of jayce never really initiates touch when wearing gloves but only touches people or makes contact when he feels like it's necessary. I feel like this can be especially seen in episode 8.

A huge part of me thinks that Jayce's hands were changed a bit when mage viktor embedded the rune into his skin, but the more I think about it, the more I doubt this idea.

Also, small note, but the gloves that jayce wears heavily remind me of viktor's own glove and how he wore it to hide his hand and the changes that it went through due to his experiments.

One last little note, viktor also seems to reach for people a lot more without gloves, especially after he is revived and fused by the hexcore. We see him directly make contact with people, and there seems to be a heavy focus there, which he does it for characters like vander and Huck.

[luminousdryad]

might just be me but I feel like Vi would've RAN out of that cell the second she was free to find her obviously suicidal sister and try to talk her out of it

I get that the point of Jinx telling her to "go be with her (Cait)" is for Vi to finally choose herself for once but when Vi was at her lowest during the pitfighter era, it was Jinx who brought her back by asking for her help with Warwick/Vander and through Jinx's gentleness with Isha, Vi finally saw Powder again and that's why she wondered if they could stay in Viktor's little haven

like I feel like these two never actually got to talk about certain things, like idk, Vi telling Jinx that it was Cait who got her out of prison, Jinx talking about how lost she is now that both Silco and Isha are gone, etc.

Ekko saving Jinx still could've worked, but Vi has to be the one to do it earlier

something that annoys me in Arcane is that for all the things they set up, the characters barely talk to each other about the issues (and when they do I feel like it's always glossed over or done offscreen; it was reasonable in S1 how Vi didn't know how to react during the tea party scene, but in S2? when she's had time to process what her sister has become?)

Vi going from determined to kill Jinx once and for all to pleading with her and telling her how much she loves her no matter what she becomes, no matter who she thinks she is, she will always be Powder to her (and maybe that she's sorry she failed to protect her and for being a bad sister to which Jinx can respond by refuting her words)

so when Jinx goes to end herself, she's more willing to hear Ekko out cause Vi, the person she's looked up to all her life and who takes priority even over Silco, finally told her she loved her unconditionally, echoing back to "I thought you could love me like you used to. Even though I'm different." And loving unconditionally doesn't mean tolerating their wrongs–it just means you care for them wholeheartedly despite the things they do. And for Jinx, who has always defined her worth by what she's able to do for people... that's exactly what she needs to hear to think twice.

(Vi's words are her anchor; Ekko's encouragement pulls her back to the surface)

[mollysunder]

I think it would be neat if Vi and Jinx weren't sisters, but were actually cousins instead. Back when I wrote that Lunari theory post I really dwelled on how immigration works for cities like Zaun and how it took on waves of refugees and migrant labor.

I ended up headcanoning Vi and Jinx as first cousins, their respective mothers were sisters instead. I imagined that Vi's mom moved to Zaun first to support their family in Targon. Eventually she met Vi's dad and they had Vi together. Things aren't great for them (not even close), but things are getting far worse in Targon for the rest of her family, where Solari aggression is only rising.

By the time Vi's maybe 6, Powder, Powder's mom, and a few extended cousins move into her home. It's pretty disorienting for everybody to get their bearings with. Powder doesn't even speak the Zaunite language, she's really young at this point, practically still a toddler. She clings to Vi because their the closest in age and Vi's still young enough to decipher toddler babble, even if it's in a language Vi only half knows. Vi was naturally frustrated by the influx of relatives but was quickly attached to Powder. It was helped by the way young children can look at kids no more than 3-4 years younger than them and think, "That's a BABY :D".

All the teens and adults in their family are working for the mines in some capacity, and they often got shafted with the most dangerous work, including Powder's mom. It wouldn't have been too long before Powder's mom was killed in a mining accident (gas, collapse, crowd crush, just so many ways for things to go wrong). Vi's mom informally adopts Powder (there's no paperwork), Vi and Powder are inseparable and the rest is history (for better or worse).

[kurthummeldeservesbetter]

questions i want answered/things i want to see now that arcane (at least the Piltover/Zaun, Vi/Powder-Jinx, and Jayce/Viktor stories are over for now)

how did jayce find out viktor was in the hospital? (did he like go and get some water and an assistant was like hey your bro is down? did he feel it like a partner-to-partner connection?)

did vi ever mention to jayce that they were the ones who robbed his apartment (and therefore set in motion literally everything) or did jayce just mention it and one point and vi was like nope. never letting him know.

how did jesus!viktor 1.0 get out of Piltover with no one really noticing? he was naked, purple and glowing. had one sheet and a giant shepherd's crook. surely someone saw him pass and was like...was that the guy who helped Jayce Talis build the hexgates?

Mel origin story of when she got to Piltover. Actually just more Mel. Mel kicking ass and taking names politically before she even gets the magic upgrade. Yeah. I want to know more about her. Mel <3.

Sky's journey from Zaun to Piltover. Did she have a similar story to Viktor (basically pretending you were always there)? Heard Jayce/Viktor hired her to promote Zaun connections but what else?

Also more Sky and her thoughts and ideas. Sky <3

who taught jinx about periods and other healthcare. did she get the talk? was it sevika?

what ambessa and singed thought would happen if they succeeded (well, if ambessa succeeded, since singed got off scot-free in the end). cause like. viktor straight up told yall his assimilation plan. you think the guy who went from gay magic jesus to eldritch being was just gonna go "everyone except yall : )"

if jayce ever found out about singed being the dude viktor knows. like hey buddy maybe dont take advice from the guy who does crimes against nature (its not his fault jayce viktor didnt have any good adult support growing up he doesnt know better).

how tf singed got away with everything. did they just all decide trying to find him is way worse than him being arrested? did he just say look i have my daughter now i wont try anything as long as you leave me alone

how did viktor 3.0 get to the hexgates without anyone noticing. did he go underground? hes literally 11 feet tall glowing and so unhuman looking. literally the most noticeable thing.

more about steb. <3 love you fish guy.

how did mel retire from the council? like. hey my bf ascended to a higher state of being after him and his bff doomed the world together and i found out i have magic and my mom is dead so now i got to go lead noxus. have fun cleaning up tho lol <3

sevikas thoughts on literally everything. losing jinx when she finally started liking her. teaming up with the firelights and piltover. getting on the council. finding out she almost assimilated cause two dudes didn't tell each other they loved admired each other soon enough. id be pissed fr. least she kept her arm this act

vi's thoughts on everything. just more vi.

ekko's thoughts on everything. just more ekko.

[shoogachi]

Analyzing some scenes from Arcane and I like how they showed the muscles in Jayce’s broken leg actually having atrophied a bit. 

Though I’m pretty sure with the bone being snapped like that, he shouldn’t have been able to put much weight on his leg, even with the brace. But then again he’s been stuck in an alternate dimension surviving off of hex infected cave lizards, and other things which seems to have affected his body.  He also definitely got quite a bit of brain damage, not just from obviously banging his head and def getting concussed but with the amount of health problems he had to deal with, and simply being in isolation for however long can do some pretty fucked up things to people’s minds.

His figure has also gotten a bit slimmer. His facial features I noticed has some differences that I assume must be intentional considering the other details they put in, making him appear more ‘puffier’ probably due to hormonal changes from stress, sickness, starvation, etc.

Jayce’s face goes back to its original features and loses its lines when he’s in the astral realm, and Viktor himself has a more youthful appearance.

[saysaysayitaintso]

Jayce and Ekko talking was the weirdest but sweetest thing ever, It’s so interesting to get a glimpse at how much Ekko could’ve changed if he had received formal education topside.

When he’s talking to Jayce he shows perfect competency understanding the hexcore, and he’s already incredibly skilled to have organised so many people into one safe haven.

There’s something rly realistic and beautiful about how Arcane portrays potential and lack thereof.

[crushing-on-hunks]

Riftwalker's rambling

Soooo I've been thinking on Arcane a lot lately, there are some spoilers - thus why I am putting it all under.

Everything there is my personal opinion.

Steb. Our favourite fish man. Either I accept that he is only partially mute. that coming from the last Act when I assume it's him giving a "Let's go" command. I think it's him, cause he was the first one to react and to run for the weapons. And even though we do not see him talking much, I believe it might be connected just with his character. +game VoiceOver.

Or another, that he is fully mute. I really enjoy when he is communicating with the sign language. In the show it is unclear whether is it his usual way of communicating with friends and colleagues or it is the usual army-silent communication thing. It would also make some sense, that he looks fish-inspired.

Despite his demeanour in the show, he has actually a really kind heart. He is a medic in the team, always ready to aid - have you seen how he ran to help the banded man in the tunnels?! It looked like a 100% trap, yet still he did not hesitate even though it was a zaunist. Also gave him his own breathing mask.

Scar. Is he a vastaya? Maybe yes, maybe no. (Same with Steb, I suppose) There are a lot of other animal-like species of people. Also, vastaya are very longliveing creatures and does not sit well with me that Scar as a long ass lived creature decided to stay there with the kid. SO in my headcanons, Scar has relatively human lifespan as well as non of the magical/arcane abilities some of the vastayas descendants sometimes possess.

Also, it was not really clear in the Season 1, but he can speak. Though he does that rarely, it is unknown whether is it because speech is hard for him physiologically speaking or it is just how Scar's character is.

Discrimination towards animal-people. We do not see a lot of them in Piltover, much less within Enforcers ranks. Also maybe that's partly why Steb is so closed off from other members and gives very standoffish impression. Also! Someone mentioned (here it is) that that's why he looked so broken and ashamed in the hostage scene! Firstly, he believes that it's his fault that the bomb did not go off when expected. Secondly, HOW?! how could the person he trusted and believed to be his close comrade was a traitor?! Whose treachery will lead to their own end.

[jnixz]

Nobody is doing it like him

Singed fucking won, that's why his skin in LoL is free

[pzyii]

"oh she's so mean and a dictator" yeah but have you considered autistic and very sad and my wife as well as a very nuanced, well written and great character, what about that.

Also she's hot

[aingeal98]

It is darkly hilarious as well as impressive how the fight choreography clearly showed the difference between Ambessa vs Mel and Ambessa vs Cait. Batting your daughter away as gently as you possibly can while locked in a 2v1 fight for your life vs Are You Ready to Die Today Caitlyn Kiramman.

[arcaneacolyte]

Aw man none of you are gonna be ready for the sequel to my Dewther Daddy fic "Soft" once this goddamn burnout and executive dysfunction stops trying to bury my like it's a fucking WWE Buried Alive match out here.

[tindrasuniverse]

Alright, so first off; there will be alot off rambling about the characters in act 1, until act 2 releases. So I think I'm gonna divide my analyzing into a few parts, depending on who characters I find that need it! But today, I wanna start with Jinx and Sevika

SEASON 2 SPOILERS UNDER CUT

So first off, Jinx is a complex character. Now that the entirety off the Undercity is leaderless, there is a race to the throne between Margot, Smeech and the last dude who I forgot what his name was. Smeech obviously dies, so we have Margot and the other dude remaining as competition. Jinx, and Sevika, who one have lost their father-figure, and the other their boss, loyalist, they cannot figure out what they can do to relax the Undercity and bring it to peace. Their final decision, for act 1, is then "to watch it all burn", meaning they will let chaos errupt, and could not care less about it. Isha comes into the picture, so we can call them a little family. I also found Jinx so, I don't know, calm? Broken? But also happier which makes me happy!

I think that Sevika feels like she betrayed both Silco and Vander, and is blaming herself for not being able to "clean up his mess". She is obviously struggling to figure out what the hell she is gonna do now, because who is a loyalist without their loyalty? I feel like she can finally let that loyalty go, and be a human again without feeling the need to keep her word, because it's not always that easy. She kept her loyalty for YEARS to both Vander, amd especially Silco, even when Jinx and Silco's gang annoyed her.

I am so happy they are on better terms now. The gift to Sevika was absoulutely Jinx-coded, and I love her for that!!! They both needed someone, and they have someone, finally. I can't wait to see what act 2 brings us, and what they have done/accomplished after the (very possible) timeskip between act 1 and act 2.

I think I am gonna do Violyn tommorow, and that one is gonna be LOOOONG.

[bibibbon]

Oh my gosh, I never realised the parallels between viktor and Ekko because I have always interpreted the timebomb and jayvik parallels as it being ekko and jayce vs viktor and jinx.

However, now that I think about it, even though Jinx and jayce never met, they are low-key, pretty similar, and share an intriguing amount of parallels.

You obviously have the basics of both jayce and Jinx being incredibly intelligent and figuring out hextech.

However, you also have the fact that both jayce and Jinx create weapons with hextech that they use to tear down piltover/viktor's commune.

Both of them are shown to genuinely be freaking out and being totally out of it when they are seen loading their weapons voices of silco/viktor haunting their head as they shoot down and have their action show the beginning of chaos!

Both of them get pushed into becoming symbols of zaun and piltover. Jayce becomes piltovers golden boy/man of progress, whereas jinx becomes a symbol for zaun's rebellion.

Mel's "you're a symbol of the future, now jayce," and sevika's "you're a symbol."

Silco and Mel politically manipulate jayce and Jinx while also being shown to genuinely love and care for the two characters, but both Jinx and jayce feel betrayed in a sense of that manipulation.

Both of them not really wanting anything to do with politics in the first place and being shown much more happier inventing stuff.

Both jinx and jayce having the same reaction to realising that viktor and isha are dead or are going to die.

Both jinx and Jayce's final outfits being one that heavily reminds them of said characters (isha and viktor) that they lost.

Both jayce and Jinx are depicted as impulsive.

Both Jinx and jayce are also shown to be incredibly naive at the beginning of the show, wanting to help people but going about it the wrong way and causing tragedy.

Both jayce and Jinx hallucinating loved ones when they're at their worst state all isolated.

Finally, both of them having a scene of them saying "iam sorry too" in season 2

How jayce's experience with a magic rune was a positive one where he and viktor are flowing around while powder falls from a great height and finds out the horrifying damage hextech has led to killing Mylo and claggor.

Or how both of them were rejects in a way from their social circles trying to prove themselves and be better.

So far, these are the parallels I can think of, but I know there is more, and I mean way, more like these two's relationship with the creation of hextech.

Jayvik & Timebomb Parallels, AKA, why isn't anyone talking how Viktor and Ekko mirror each other in Arcane??

I'm surprised I haven't seen more comparisons between Ekko and Viktor, not to mention how those parallels between the characters also create parallels between the Ekko/Jinx and Viktor/Jayce relationships, which I'm gonna argue here are both romantic relationships.

1 ) Both Viktor and Ekko see it as a personal cause to make life better for people in the undercity, to the point of both becoming a local leaders focused on creating a place of peace where Zaunites can retreat to in times of peril.

Indeed, from a narrative perspective, I would argue that one Doylist reason Ekko needed to go into the Anomaly in Act 2-3 is to make space on the scene in Zaun for the rise of Cult Leader Viktor.

If Ekko had been around, he would have either served as a roadblock to Viktor's rise out of a general sense of distrust, I imagine, or he might have easily become a supporter, or maybe even a cult follower of Viktor's if he admired and believed in the vision, which would of course doom the world.

(This further illustrating just how narrowly Jayce, Wizard Viktor, and Ekkko had to thread the needle on defeating the Machine Herald in the final act, since I would argue Ekko like Jayce remaining in the canon universe for the months of Cult Leader Viktor's rise would also have led to Ekko and Jayce's defeat or assimilation before the final act had either stayed.)

2 ) Both Viktor and Ekko are, of course, genius undercity scientists who are able to grasp quickly concepts like wild runes and the Anomaly. But it's their partner's actions that bring Hexgems into their life. Powder by causing the explosion where he gets the shards from, Jayce of course by creating Hexgems in the first place.

3 ) Both are Heimerdinger's close assistant and pupil before they meet their true scientific partner in Jinx/Powder and Jayce.

4 ) Aaand, this is where it gets gut-wrenching, because both Ekko and Viktor have to say goodbye to the alternate universe version of the person they love and this is where it gets wild because they make the same face while doing so. And their loved one, Jayce and Powder, make the same face back of startling when they realize they're looking at an alternate version of the person they love.

(Source here if you want to watch the full videos side by side because it's NUTS how similar the faces Viktor/Ekko and Jayce/Powder make to their alternate universe loves: https://x.com/yearnerjayce/status/1863132466346656031)

In the blocking of the scene, they've even both got a version of one half of that universe's part of the relationship lying between the two of them (Powder holding her version of Ekko, while the Hexcorized version of Jayce lies between Wizard Viktor and canon Jayce), so the blocking is visually very similar too in a clear romantic parallel that is mind-boggling.

By the way, these moments are also technically happening in the same episode as far as romantic parallels go, we just don't learn about this parallel on Viktor/Jayce's side until the final episode with the full reveal.

And of course, both future Viktor and canon universe Ekko must make the ultimate sacrifice of losing access to an alternate version of the person they love who is happy and healthy (instead of, well, Jinx, and/or dead in the case of Hexcorized Jayce), in order to save the world.

By the way, there is a parallel that stretches throughout the whole 2.07 alternate universe episode, with the heavy implication that Ekko and Powder are this world's Viktor and Jayce. They're even doing an Innovators Competition. In both universes, Hextech is explored through the loving partnership of a pair of young scientists.

5 ) Finally, both Viktor and Ekko stop their loved one from committing suicide. Interestingly, both Jayce and Jinx attempt to do so in a way that's related to Hextech, with Jinx using Hexgems in her grenade, and Jayce getting cut off from Hextech being the reason he's seeking to end his own life. They also, coincidentally or not so coincidentally, attempt to do so in a way that's related to falling from a height.

Both are interrupted by someone they're not too happy to see at first, but who goes on to be their partner. Even Jinx/Ekko get one last partnership in the final Act, which is an interesting mirror to Jayce/Viktor, whose suicide attempt -> partnership helps launch the action of the whole series in the first Act of the first season, making these two couples in a way, mirrors bookending the series.

[foreignemotion]

blah blah blah colour theory but jayce went from piltover’s pure and golden boy dressed in white to being in mourning black for all that he’s lost (“my partner died in that room”)…