#arcane season 2 act 1

[the1entirecircus]

...I guess I'm a psychic now

My theory on how Jinx loses her middle finger

[artandbrimstone]

respite

[nitemurr]

SILCO FANS HOW ARE WE FEELING AFTER SEASON 2 ACT 1?

[thyglere]

A very long analysis on Caitlyn if you care to read:

Act 1 of season 2 of arcane just dropped on our collective brains like one of Jinx's bombs and just about everyone is losing their minds over it.

I've seen it happen especially over Caitlyn's actions which is... understandable.

What miffed me, however, is how the discourse has strayed to absolutes: Caitlyn is either absolute and irredeemably evil or completely justified in her actions.

Neither is true, of course, arcane is not interested in that sort of thing.

Caitlyn begins the act on the worst low of her life, her mother is dead over an attack that happened some feet away from her, its perpetrator on the other side of her gun some moments before it. Her father appears almost catatonic, incapable to see anything in front of him, he doesn’t offer Caitlyn true comfort, just more responsibility.

Caitlyn has never dealt with loss her whole life, she had the privilege of living in a rich estate, with a whole family and no need ever unmet. Now she is offered empty platitudes that do not quench her growing guilt and rage. We can see Jinx dominating her head, and what begins with the belief that Jinx, and only Jinx, is a monster quickly changes after the attack on the memorial.

Before it was easy to hate only one, Caitlyn knew her name and knew her face, but now she doesn't- too many people, too many faces, and she will probably never know any of her names, just a indeterminate mob of people that act like monsters and even look like monsters. They are easy to dehumanize and, in Caitlyn's head, the actions of the few are turning into the image of the all.

In episode 2 and 3 Caitlyn and her strike force steamroll over Zaun, weaponizing the Grey and extorting information with force- Caitlyn wants Jinx and she will get Jinx as fast as she can physically get. We can empathize with her loss, with her grief and rage, with her guilt and the trauma that came with seeing Jinx do what she did.

But if you want to argue empathy then it has to work both ways. The people of Zaun are not complicit in any of it, and I've seen people arguing that "the people they went after are criminals anyway!", "they are using the Grey tactically!", and "It is justified!". No, no, and no, the deployment of a chemical weapon and overwhelming police brutally are never justifiable, the leveraging of chemical weapons against human beings is a literal war crime, and while the montage is aesthetically breathtaking, the way Caitlyn's face is rendered against the backdrop of Jinx's wanted posters is very indicative of the nature of what she is doing.

Because what she is doing is not just going after Jinx, she is tormenting and terrifying the people of Zaun. Imagine that you worked at a clinic or healing center and suddenly people started flooding in because of chemical warfare near of your neighborhood; imagine if you heard that cops have started to gass people were you live; imagine that the air you breath was becoming contaminated, because chemical weapons cannot be tactically deployed, they spread and in the underground they will stay there.

When we read news about police brutality, when we see body footage of the use of excessive force and twitchy trigger fingers, our reaction is not sympathy for the traumatized or "stressed" cop- it's the understanding that this person should not hold the power they have, they shouldn't have a gun or a way to indiscriminately beat or arrest people.

We didn't emphasize with the actions of the enforcers in act 1 of season 1, they weren’t justifiable, and its mirror image also isn't.

This culminates in what happens in the fight with Jinx, and the behavior that Caitlyn displays. Caitlyn can rationalize her actions to herself, that she "had the shot" and that she "wouldn’t miss", neither are true. Caitlyn is a great shot, but she is not a "perfect" shot, no one is. Earlier in the fight she blew Jinx's finger off, and, if anything, that proves it all the more- it didn’t incapacitate Jinx, didn't stop her (that was Vi), and the place were Caitlyn wants to desperately put a bullet in is Jinx's skull. She can't guarantee that she wouldn't miss with all the flailing about that Jinx and Isha were doing, that is simply an impossibility. This refusal to see the harm she can do, that she is doing, either to poor Vi or the people that she thoroughly vilifying in her pursuit of revenge is truly what sets Caitlyn as a new antagonistic force.

Now Caitlyn has all the power in her hands and the devil on her shoulder, the next arc will probably be her descent until it all comes crashing around her. Because Caitlyn will be redeemed, I'm absolutely confident about that. There will come a moment of revelation that she will think: "What am I doing? What have I done?"

Perhaps then we will see the reforming agent that Caitlyn wanted to be inside the enforcers, someone that wanted to truly and genuinely help people, to see the humanity in everyone, not as an idealist, but as a more well-rounded person that understands the circumstances of life and what strife all go though. Not as someone that sees us-versus-them, not as someone that sees good versus evil, not as a cop that bashes through people's lives with government endorsed brutality, not as a cop that doesn't see the fault in her twitchy trigger finger and has no problem leveraging a chemical weapon against civilians.

Because, right now, Caitlyn is just acting like a cop, and all cops are bastards.

[burning-omen]

Fandoms when you form your own opinion on a character that you’re supposed to have your own opinion on:

[valkyriex]

Has anyone else noticed this?

(Some arcane S2 act 1 spoilers)

In the new season 2 intro, there’s a scene where Caitlyn has her face in her hands and is breathing heavily, which I think reflects her mental state. There's also a shadow that makes her hands look like a crown. And it makes sense because she’s now the commander, well-known, and that shadow represents how she’s perceived on the outside (with the crown), while on the inside, there’s the overwhelmed Caitlyn who’s suddenly burdened with a lot of responsibilities in such a short time, and is struggling to cope. It's most likely also a reference to the title of episode 1, and the song in the background when she uses the Kiramman key.

[xremus-is-deadx]

About to sit on call with a friend whilst he watched act 1 of s2, this is going to be funny because he tends to overreact (rightfully so). Will be updating this with things he says 👍

(The red text is me, the white text is my friend)

[scisetforever]

alone again.

[professoruber]

Arcane Season 2 Spoilers!!!

---

So...

I loved Act 1 of Season 2 of Arcane was great.

Can't wait for act 2.

Right now my main hope for Act 2 is for Vi can meet up with Jayce, Ekko and Heimerdinger so that they can form a "let's maybe not do war crimes and oppressing the poor" club. Mel can also join, once she returns from the void (or wherever she is I don't really know much league lore)

[cyborgdummy]

ARCANE S2 SPOILERS

It's 6:00 am and I cant exactly articulate it right now bc I haven't slept to watch s2 like everyone else but there's SOME kind parallel to the Caitvi divorce happening bc cait almost shot the kid (Isha I think) and when Jayce accidentally kills the Chem Baron's kid and Vi tells him that it happens? Like do you see the vision

[tindrasuniverse]

2 days and 3 nights until Caitvi breakup (if my theory about act 2 Vi being a pitfighter is correct), Jinx having a identity crisis, Ambessa probably starting some sort off war, probably alot off death, reveal off who died and survived the nuke, Ekko and Heimendinger being Ekko and Heimendinger (scientists and inventors, probably gonna create some sort off time-device according to League Lore), the big fight between Vi and Jinx, Cait being vulnerable and will probably cry throughout the entire act, AND PROBABLY VULNERABLE VI.

Also adding the depression, anxiety and PROBABLY nausea we will all have

[snakegentleman]

Arcane season 2 is not disappointed so far. Finally some good fucking food! Here are some of my messy thoughts:

(Spoilers below)

First: LETS GOOOOO CAITVI CANON KISS(followed by the most harrowing break up imaginable. Fraught lesbianism strikes again. Also, why is it alway the cop who's a lesbian? Not that important, just an observation I'm sure has been made before)

The parallels between this season's set up and oct. 7th, at least for me, were hitting pretty hard, and I was a little worried. But, the show has been very pointed in it's depiction of violence, which I've talked about before. I mean, Caitlyn's shadow in the into looks like Sauron, so the foreshadowing wasn't subtle. Grief permeates every facet of this first act. As Caitlyn says, she's trying to fill the hole her mother left, and she isn't the only one. Piltover lost half its leadership and Zaun lost Silco. The current that runs through everything is that emotions, specifically grief and fear, are clouding each of our major player's judgment in a variety of ways. Vi is stuck between her love for Caitlyn and her love of Zaun(and her sister, though she wants to deny it), Jace compromises his morals to save Victor, Ambessa has become desperate in her desire to protect what's left of her family, and it twists Caitlyn into leaning into her xenophobia, that was clear from the 'break up' scene between her and Vi. Caitlyn let her grief radicalize her, and a person with much more political experience than her, Ambessa, was able to manipulate that grief to push Piltover into a facism regime overnight.

Ironically, in teaming up with Sevika(and maybe adopting a child???) Jinx felt a lot more clear-headed than usual. Of course, Silco risked it all last season and lost, leaving Sevika and Jinx in a very precarious position that they now need to fill if they don't want everyone wiped out by all out civil war between the chem barons. Sevika seems to be planning to use her unite Zaun from the act 2 trailer, which I am excited to see tbh. I also wanna see more Isha, even if she probably shouldn't be hanging around Jinx. I specifically loved that scene of Sevika and jinx commiserating on how they were the backbone of Silco's operation.

Victor is maybe a Saint now? It seems? I think they are setting him up to be associated with Janna(idk an LoL lore, so the implications are lost on me there). However, Ekko's hypothesis about there being an equal and opposite reaction to runes makes me worried, and Viktor's creepy mentor just built a monster from scratch in some deep cavern. All very concerning.

On Mel and Jace making it out of the bombing unscathed: Mel's gold back plate flashes before it hits and they I don't think she's wearing it anymore in the aftermath scene. I was wondering if that was some sort of tech or it could be black rose related? Something weird is going on with that whole situation. They've drawn attention to it too many times.

Anyway, I am eagerly waiting for act two, this was a great start!

[thegothicchangeling]

Thinking about Arcane's love of detail and how Mel is the only one in the show to ever refer to her later brother, Kino, by name. Ambessa refers to him as "your brother" and later "my son". Elora also refers to him as Mel's brother.

Is this meant to signify a close relationship? Is it meant to hint that Mel sees and accepts Kino for who he is? It would definitely make sense, with Ambessa disapproving of his views on war.

[thyglere]

*slaps act 1* this baby can fit so much good music in it

[burning-omen]

This is not a safe space, Arcane season 2 spoilers WILL be posted here