#arcane theory

[drayce-el]

I saw a really good take a while back that Silco called Vander "brother" out of spite, spitting in the face of what they once had by degrading the relationship down to just "brothers" even if they both knew it was more than that. Perhaps he couldn't bare calling them anything more due to how painful it was.

[pheracy]

why isn't Viktor in this "x-ray" frame of the gemstone explosion in S1? Why is it only Jayce and a LINE that divides the 2 of them? 🙃

i am unwell

[demacianpuppet]

When I was rewatching the Jayce vs Viktor fight scene in Episode 8 and I realized something while watching it: Jayce's psychotic flashbacks and physical glitch only happen around Viktor and always whenever he saw a follower of his. (This will be your fate if you fail your mission.) Also, in Episode 9 Jayce doesn't seem to have these anymore once Viktor fully ascended to his Herald of Arcane form.

Which makes me wonder - did Mage!Viktor put these feature onto Jayce as kind of fail safe? Basically, making sure Jayce would physically not be able to stand in the presence of Hexcore-Viktor without being in physical and mental pain? That also would explain why Viktor was not able to see properly into Jayce when his vessel touched him in Episode 8 - Jayce's mind is more or less sealed away from "weaker" Viktor's grip so far.

This also would explain why Jayce stops having this psychotic flashback in the last episode - Viktor reached his height of power and is at the same power level as his mage counterpart, so Mage!Viktor is not able to protect Jayce from himself anymore. (Also, I still assume we needed the Herald of Arcane Viktor to undo the damage he has already commited, so Jayce didn't need to be guided to this specific outcome anymore.)

This does seem rather drastic measure from Mage!Viktor to ensure Jayce will make sure this time things will turn out fine.

[deaderthandoubledead]

What if Vander reacted to Felicia's death like that and was much closer to her kids than Silco was because he and Felicia were actual siblings?

[waywardsou2]

OK OK OK GUYS I JUST HAD A THOUGHT

So, we all know how Viktor asked Jayce to destroy the HexCore, and he didn't right. He used it so save him instead and then he melded with it and turned into Jesus. We all know that right.

But when Jayce comes out of the Arcane the first thing he does is go and find Viktor and fucking blow him up

What if, Viktor's physical body, was the HexCore. What if he somehow knew that Viktor, the real Viktor would be ok and this Viktor. His body, was not actually him.

The HexCore took over and influenced him through his bodily autonomy. It explains why the HexCore "fixed" Viktor and then he went on to say the line "So much senseless pain" and fix (insert name here)'s pain.

I truly believe that was not Viktor, some of the things he did were not things I think Viktor would have done without influence. Which is why Jayce had to destroy that version of Viktor, but it was actually the HexCore as well. And he was keeping his promise.

I don't know if he fully knew the extent of Viktor connection between his body and astral projection form because from where I was sitting those two were not connected at all.

I think when he met up with Mage Viktor, and had all those flashbacks and such I think somehow he knew that that was not fully Viktor. And he had to take the gamble of destroying the HexCore without destroying the real Viktor. Because when he gets back to Piltover he clearly knows Viktor is coming for them. He know Viktor will be back despite blowing a hole in his chest

He did keep his promise in the end...

I'm going to go cry now

[jayvikstolemyheart]

I feel like the canon reality can’t be the only possible reality that prevents the bad future Mage Viktor lives in.

Maybe I’m reading too much into it, but Viktor saying “…all timelines, all possibilities only you Jayce…” makes me think Jayce is the deciding factor, even though in this reality it was also thanks to the rune and Ekko that saved the world.

There’s also the case for paradoxes. Like, there had to have been a time where Jayce survived the snowstorm without Mage Viktor’s help, and Viktor would have been involved with hex tech in some way. And then Jayce ending up kneeling, holding his hammer while he turns into a puppet. Which lead to the world ending the first time, and then Mage Viktor figuring out what needed to occur to prevent this, and realising that the best chance is Viktor and Jayce’s relationship.

And maybe that’s when Mage Viktor starts interfering with timelines, saving Jayce and giving the rune to Kickstart things and have more realities where alternate versions of himself doesn’t destroy everything.

And I brought up the paradox thing because if it’s always the case that Mage Viktor always saves Jayce and gives him a rune, and that leads to the end of the world most of the time, why wouldn’t Mage Viktor just stop doing that? I guess it would end up as a grandfather paradox. But then it should be impossible for the world to be saved because the world has to end for Mage Viktor to exist and re start the cycle/paradox thing. Since the future was changed and the world was saved it can’t be a grandfather paradox, which means my earlier statement was correct, that a version of Viktor and Jayce got involved with Hextech without any outside influence.

All that to say, there must be other runes, other ways that the bad future could be prevented outside of Ekko coming in clutch Jayce and Viktor cuddling in the arcane.

Am I silly for thinking this? Plz someone gives their thoughts this all makes sense to me but I have no one to talk about this with so I’m not sure if this is smart or not.

[boorrger]

lil Isha was the PERSONIFICATION of those characters that appear for once to lighten up the hero and then die/disappear. we knew she was gone from the beginning, BUT THE MOMENT SHE DIED HER HAIR BLUE it was the confirmation 🥲 I KNEW IT AND DIDN'T WANT TO ACCEPT IT. CRIED MY EYES OUT. REWATCHED ACT 2. CRIED AGAIN. IN THIS ESSAY I WILL ELABORATE-

[demidolll]

just noticed that in s2 ep3 when caitlyn shoots at vi/jinx/isha and vi shoves the gun down to point at the ground, there's a parallel between that and the "i made you a snack" thing from s1 e9

the gun fires, aiming right next to vi's head — jinx lifts the plate cover

close up on vi's face (foreshadowing for her getting hit) — image of caitlyn's head on the plate

wide shot, showing the gun pointed at the ground and no one got hit — the plate actually just having a literal cupcake on it + jinx's "sheesh, i'm not THAT crazy"

[jayviklifeinsurance]

Writing a fanfic(just starting). Slice of life stuff with Jayce and Viktor, sort of unrequited love on both side.

wrote a portion where Jayce found out what happened in the undercity. Hearing the similarities between the explosion in his workshop and the explosion in the undercity, and the many casualties it caused made him doubt whether he should continue with hextech or abandon it, with Viktor reassuring him, and encouraging him to continue with his work.

Not sure if this is accurate, but I thought it explains why he wanted to help the undercity prosper(with the mining gloves, hexclaw, and gemstones, him and Viktor's personal projects). Why he was willing to shut down all hextech operations after the gemstones were stolen and risk the livelihoods of thousands of people.

Can't see how Jayce wouldn't know that children were involved in the robbery, there were too many witnesses in Piltover, and the explosion in Zaun was in the promenade level(i think based on the sky), likely witnessed by many too.

Recontextualizes his distraught over accidentally killing a child, demanding Vi to take of the gloves, and the meaning of "...I'm part of this now."

I feel like I'm onto nothing in the last part, but anyways, I just need to get this out of my head.

[goldypomd]

i just wanna point out that when she was trying to off herself in act 3, she most likely kept trying every single time because she thought he was a hallucination

she already hallucinated him once (don’t remember the episode, but you can hear his voice saying ‘jinx’ when she finds out isha is in stillwater)

she hasn’t seen him since the bridge scene (s01e07) when she set off a bomb, intending to off both him and herself (which she did because she was content with her last moments being with him but we won’t get into that rn)

so when ekko said that about blowing ‘us’ up, she likely realized if he was real, she would kill him if she set off the bomb

which is why she settled for jumping. hi. i hope everyone is as miserable as i am rn

also do you think ekko thought of alternate universe powder when he saw her with short hair

[samibamitami]

Something interesting I noticed, y'know how Vik's followers/machine things are faceless and they all look identical, showing how they've all lost their identities and become lifeless machines

Well when we're shown Jayce as one of these things, he still has his facial features mostly intact. So why is that?

Now It could just be a way to make sure the audience knows that this is Jayce and not someone else. But maybe when Viktor turned Jayce into one of those machines, he kept his face cuz he couldn't bring himself to completely strip Jayce of his identity

[pheracy]

Jinx's traces of make up after she has cried looks like Vi's face tattoo but backwards and they both have it in their left cheek.

Besides, her final look and outfit resembles her sister's in S1 and S2. The bandages covering her chest and the new hairstyle with the shaved undercut on the same side is also similar to Vi's.

After all it seems like Vi and Powder cannot coexist in the same timeline or dimension. When Powder lives, Violet doesn't. When Vi lives, Jinx decides not to. "Always with you, sis".

The parallels, the attention to detail and the design for each character in Arcane is insane. I can't believe this amazing series is over. I'm gonna miss these sisters like they were my relatives.

[jm-chrome]

The theory of Caitlyn shooting Jinx's finger off to stop her from firing on Vi is so compelling.

Because Jinx had a mechanical finger in the Arcane Artbook cover

[vampiristar]

GUYS, I WAS RIGHT! THEIR SEPARATION CREATED CHAOS BUT TOGETHER THEY CREATE ORDER. THEY ARE THE ORDER THAT EMERGES FROM CHAOS 😭😭‼️

[cl-0v3r]

Mel is alive, but at what cost

Mel was nearly killed TWICE, her mother began being a struggle, she'd been thrown aside and trying her best to stop her, her boyfriend is not doing well, neither is anyone else (can't blame them) and the fact that she hadn't cried or spoke much about this situation to anyone a single time?? She IS upset about every single thing, yet she stays strong and enduring every bit of torture. The most she did was tell Jayce that Ambessa put her palm on the table, and let him know that she is going to push for hextech. That's it, nothing remotely related to her feelings.

The fact that she was constantly looking at Caitlyn, being able to understand her grief and knew she was in pain?? Mel knows this feeling. She'd went through it.

And in the end SHE has to pay the price of her mothers incompetence.

The intro is very much foreshadowing, we know the hands represent black rose/LeBlanc.

This is what happens in act one, she gets kidnapped by them. The lyrics do correspond to the characters as well (not just Mel, everyone.)

"Tell you you're the greatest" plays as a petal of the black rose floats down the screen, I think it adds significance to the power this organization holds, possibly the Medardas greatest foe.

"But once you turn, they hate us" both Ambessa and Mel were present in this line, I think its foreshadowing for when Ambessa switches up for whatever reason and goes against both Piltover AND Zaun. And Mel WILL go through change as well, a change that could hurt her relationship with others, and receive interest from others too.

"They hate us" could be read individually too, I feel like its a sort of "realization" ?? Perhaps Ambessa WASN'T the one that switched up, maybe Piltover switched up on them, and maybe Mel JUST got out of wherever she's taken to, and saw the mess Ambessa had done to her city??

I think this represents ACT TWO.

The hands pull away and it sort of looks like Mel is fighting back, a "get away from me" type of scream. you know what this reminds me of??

Don't mind me just pushing my Jinx/powder-Mel parallel agenda

Here is when i think Mel truly learns about LeBlanc/BR, she curiously and slowly goes to grab the rose, she learns about the history between her Mother and them, Kinos death, and most of all, learns about HERSELF. The lyrics speak otherwise.

"Pray away, I swear

I'll never be a saint, no way"

This feels like a parallel to caitlyn of sorts if that makes sense. Caitlyn had done everything to try and stop the council from attacking the Undercity, she kept her mouth shut when Jayce asked about Jinxs grenade, she was willing to protect Vi and the undercity, but how many times has she been tossed around? She'd been burned, exploded, kidnapped (god knows what happened during that time) and hit in the face by the same person, her MOTHER died because of the same person. She has every right to go insane. And she is hunting ONE person, which is Jinx. Although she is harming the people around her along the way.

What if Mel goes through a similar situation? Her mother pushed for war in her city, she dragged the enemy along with her even if she didn't mean to, she manipulated everyone around her INCLUDING Jayce, she LITERALLY got Mel hurt from the chembarons attack and killed so many people during a MEMORIAL to get her hextech weapons, Elora is most likely DEAD, not to mention whatever happened in the past between them. And the thing is, this will NEVER end throughout the entire season.

And what if she learns what she is? That she's 'blessed' by Kindred? The fact that the wolf is quite literally in her blood?

I feel like the "ill never be a saint, no way" also sort of indicates Mel will realize she'll never be able to push for peace and mercy like she always hoped for no matter what, and she comes to accept that as much as it hurts. But not like how ambessa accepted the wolf, but she sort of realizes she needs to push a little violence, towards nobody but the one and only, Ambessa "fine, if you want me to be like you, I guess I'll be like you towards YOU." Type of acceptance.

I think its also related to Mels new outfit too, she's dressed like her mother, in red and all of that. I will still stand by the idea that she has plans to decieve, but she will do something she doesn't want to do.

Mel was left with no choice, that lyric sounds like realization, acceptance, but also like a plea at the same time, an "I'll never be who I wanted to be" because in the end, she's still a Medarda, she's still her mothers daughter, she still has violence in her veins, she will never not suffer from the weight her name holds, and she will never escape it either, its like a shadow.

The Characters won't be themselves at their core this season. And those vital parts of their characters that represent them are no longer there in the intro, they all have given up what makes them, THEM design wise. (e.g.) Vi without her tattoo, Viktor hiding his identity with the mask. And the thing is, they did that to themselves because they do self-harm, they're changing themselves because THEY want to, they're forcing themselves to do that, they think they're undeserving and they're erasing their past selves.

But Mel? Mel doesn't have her gold accessories, Jewelry, or her Armor, she'd been stripped bare and hidden away because of the brutality of her name. She pays the price her mother brought to HER city. She's forced to change herself against her will, because nobody is giving her a chance to push for her ideals.

This entire theory never ends, and with all of this? I kinda do see Mel actually committing Matricide, it lifts the "Ambessa will die" theory further.

[jane-asmo]

Here’s a quick review of the amazing opening of Arcane season 2:

Vi seems to be struggling with her identity / Loss of identity

Vi is wearing the tank top that I believe is the one she wears under her enforcer uniform. That’s the outfit she’s wearing throughout the opening.

Jinx, who was hiding behind, rises and steps into the light—maybe a way of showing that she’s grown symbolically, that she’s now 'bigger.'

Ekko with his shadow resembling a clock winding back time.

Caitlyn is shown in her turtleneck (also what she wears under her enforcer outfit ? ), With a curtain to suggest a stage, she takes a deep breath before stepping into the light with a fake smile. Honestly, if I analyze it, we can say without much risk that she's in inner conflict, that she has to step into the spotlight and is showing a different face from how she really feels.

There’s so much to say about the other scenes, but others will handle that perfectly; I have a special focus on CaitVi (😂). Here they are again in the same outfits—the turtleneck and tank top. It’s an interesting way to present them, and there’s a lot that could be said, which I won’t go into, but I wanted to point it out. Cait and Vi are more vulnerable in these outfits; it’s very intimate, as are all the shots with them in this opening. We’re really in deeply intimate territory.

The looks are very intense, filled with hatred or something else? (my poor babies).

At first, I thought they were kissing, but now I think they’re fighting. They could be kissing or strangling each other in that shot; it’s hard to tell. In both cases, it’s very interesting because this little backlit scene with its colors is very intense. And, as I read elsewhere, very lesbian flag.

And Caitlyn is still struggling, with her shadow looking like the Evil Queen, I think (lol 😆). And the effect on her hands gives the impression that she has blood on them.

And I really like this shot because that's my Caitlyn; she has the look of someone who’s realizing, who understands. And maybe she’s coming back to her senses? So, there you have it—just my initial thoughts. I was so awestruck by this new opening that I just had to watch it again and again.