#because now the message isn't “only bad people dare to lash out at their oppressors; good people become cops”

[nefelibatat]

I think Jinx is aware of the fact that Silco is to Vi what Caitlyn is to her, actually. The dinner party in particular always read to me as a fair trade kind of deal — as in, “I'll get rid of the person who hurt our family and made you feel threatened, but you gotta do the same on your end or it's not gonna work”. Hence the derisive scoff when Vi refuses to shoot. She knows she can't keep both of her loved ones, so Vi doesn't get to keep both of hers either. That sounds fair, right?

The thing about Jayce though:

and can all be traced back to the jayce's dangerous experiments, which vander's kids never would have gotten their hands on if it had been secure in the academy instead of lying around his living room

is that he couldn't have done that. The Academy would've never authorized the project because of Piltover's strict anti-magic laws. Jayce had to do it in secrecy, using whatever means available, or just give up. He wasn't counting on someone breaking into his study (out of every house in Piltover, a lot of which are probably more enticing targets), stumbling upon those particular materials even though they are hidden in a chest that doesn't stand out in any way, and then horribly misusing them.

The truth is that the whole story — Ekko seeing Jayce and deciding to follow him back home, Powder finding the crystals because there was a sandwich nearby and dropping one in a hurry when the owner came back at a bad moment, Silco resurfacing at the exact same time — had an extremely low chance of happening the way it did. While it adds sting to the tragedy and justifies Jinx's name, it also means Jayce had no reasonable way of foreseeing his actions would end up hurting people from the Undercity. What he was doing was dangerous; he even acknowledges that (“A little danger is worth the risk, don't you think?”). However, it also had the potential to massively improve people's lives, and the person in danger was mostly himself.

So as usual, the root of all evil in Arcane doesn't come down to anyone's individual fault, but systematic issues. Had the Council been more open to innovation (ironically, for a city of progress), Jayce could've conducted his experiments in a safer manner, and had they done more to help Zaun, the kids wouldn't need to steal anything in the first place. Of course Jayce eventually becomes a part of the system and makes a boatload of questionable decisions, which is why Jinx blows him up along with the other people responsible (…and Viktor). But when talking about Act I specifically, I find it hard to say he's done anything wrong.

arcane season 1 is like yes this is jinx's villain origin story, but if you think about it, is she really that evil? is fighting back against your oppressors with weapons of their own creation (both hextech and jinx) really that unjustified? and personally i don't think it is. but the point isn't finding the answer, it's that you can ask so many difficult questions in the first place