#but no context on why jayce suddenly wants to kill viktor

[let-us-cultivate-our-garden]

What do you think of season 2 of arcane? i've seen quite... a contrasting reaction from the public when compared to the reaction that s1 got

[cracks knuckles] ok, first some context: I was, and still am, largely unfamiliar with the League of Legends video games, which probably colors my perception of Arcane as a whole. The first season was incredible. 10/10 no notes. It's a masterpiece of animation hands down. One of its many strengths is that it sticks to a self-contained story that does not require lore knowledge or even knowledge of who the characters from the games are. It's a character drama wrapped in a steampunk/sci-fi/fantasy aesthetic. It tells a grounded story that follows its characters as their arcs play out all the way through to the end. I love it and habitually rewatched it while waiting for season 2.

...And then season 2 came and it kinda went. I enjoyed the season. The animation, music, voice acting, all incredible and it's what makes the season a joyride. But that's pretty much what it is. A joyride. That grounded story and character drama was largely dropped for bigger stakes and it feels like the season lost the plot. You were invested in the Zaun/Piltover conflict? Let's have Jayce give a half-assed speech about working together to defeat a common enemy and give Sevika a token seat at the councillors' table. You wanted to see how Jinx and Vi's relationship developed after the bombing? Well, Vi says "my sister is gone." Until Vander/Warwick shows up. But they don't really talk about their relationship or how much they've both changed. They're just cool with each other know.

Did you want to see how Jinx deals with the fallout of killing her father figure and embracing the role of the Mad Bomber? Well, she kinda mopes for a bit. Finds a street urchin that magically cures her of her mental instability. oops, street urchin is dead. Jinx is depressed now. fun. It's not like the marketing lead us to believe that Jinx was going to be an actual antagonist, right?

right?

Now, I know trailers and posters can be misleading but come on. Season 1 ended with her fully becoming Jinx and I feel like she was more Jinx-like there than in season 2.

We got less of the sisters than in the first season despite being the emotional core of the story. Part of that is the escalating conflict and having far too many antagonists. We have Ambessa, Viktor, and the Black Rose and they all take up too much screen time (this last one was a huge ??? for me as a noob to the games. Actually, Mel's whole arc in season 2 was so divorced from season 1 that it feels like they just gave her magic powers just so she could participate in the fight). The other part is that when the sisters are together, they don't really say or do anything meaningful. The dialogue is rather boilerplate and there's no emotional weight to their scenes. It's just there.

That's really my problem with season 2 as a whole, it just feels like it's ticking off boxes to get to the big action sequences, and even some of those felt superfluous (did we really need a fight scene with Smeech? Smeech? Who the fuck is he and why should we care?). The funny thing is that, there are a lot of good ideas here. Jinx feeling conflicted about suddenly being seen as a symbol of the people? Awesome! Caitlyn falling under the sway of Ambessa as she mourns her mother and gasses innocent civilians in her mad pursuit of Jinx? Great! Viktor slowly losing his humanity and becoming the Machine Herald while Jayce struggles to right what they have wronged and get his friend back? Excellent! The problem is that they're all crammed together and don't get room to breathe, so everything is rushed and unsatisfactory.

When your first season ends with four people at a dinner table that explores their character dynamics and your second season's climax looks like a Marvel movie, there's a problem.

(also, side tangent: Silco and Vander's backstory was shoddy and contradictory. Making them BFFs with Vi and Jinx's mom was a bad idea. It cheapens Vander's decision to leave behind a life of violence and adopt two orphans. It introduces a plot hole that Silco wasn't around for the kids' childhood and makes that moment when he tries to kill Powder extra weird. PLUS, we have the ever lovely trope of fridging a woman and making her the catalyst of conflict between two male characters 😒

although this season did make me ship these two, so there's that👍)

(another mini tangent: I'm not fond of making a time traveling Viktor the one who gave baby Jayce the rune stone. That scene was one of my favorites from season 1 and the mage actually being Viktor just makes the world feel smaller and less enigmatic YMMV).

So there you have it. An overall okay season but one that pales in comparison to its predecessor.

[littlebigmouse]

Same. I sincerely believe the introduction of their mother is the worst scene in season 2 so far, not only because the scene itself is pretty bad, it makes very little sense in context (in terms of the characters emotional states) and retrospectively harms S1Act1.

I fucking hate this, what do you MEAN it explains it, did Season 1 not already explain it?? Did Season 1 not make you understand it already?? Did Season 1 not focus on Vander's corpse and the emotions on Silco's face when Powder tells him Vi left her? Did you not get that Silco empathized with her because he knows how it feels to be abandoned by an older sibling? Did he not spend the entire season comparing Vi to Vander and his past to Jinx's? Were there not already multiple scenes depicting Silco and Jinx's bond and how he came to fiercely love her after years of taking care of her?? You stilI needed another hamfisted justification for his love for her?? He needed to be her godfather and friends with her dead mother for you to understand Season 1? I despise takes like this so muchhh

[piltoverfinest]

I said I would wait for Act 3 to post my final verdict but some thoughts just won't leave me alone. SPOILERS AHEAD!

Starting with Caitlyn and Maddie. I know we all love to see WLW representation but every single thing about this relationship feels wrong. How much time has really passed between Episode 3 & Episode 4? We don't know but either way after the way E3 left the situation with Cait & Vi, seeing her with Maddie first thing feels like a god damn slap in the face of everything Vi & Caitlyn had. Like Cait just moved on to the next person after leaving Vi sobbing on the ground. And I just...phew...that does not sit right with me. It takes so much importance from the emotional connection Cait and Vi were shown to have. Especially since Maddie & Cait's relationship doesn't seem to carry much importance for the plot? I am not sure why they had to add it at all? It doesn't change any stakes, Maddie doesn't change Cait's opinion not does she spurr her on. It adds nothing to the plot as a whole, or maybe not yet, so I am unsure why they added it in the first place? To add to that: Maddie is Caitlyn's subordinate. That power-dynamic is...questionable but I won't put too much focus on that since they are both adult women and I guess there's no rules against it? Still...questionable in my opinion.

I guess we will still find out what happened to Jayce? Because what the fuck kinda 180 degree turn did that man do that makes him go from going nuts over saving Viktor to killing him in cold blood? We need to get some explanation because otherwise...

Going from there: No Ekko and Heimerdinger? Nothing at all? I can only hope they get the main event in Act 3 but I don't see how there will be enough time for that? There's 3 episodes left? What about the firelights? Who took over while Ekko was gone? What are they doing all this time? Does noone miss Ekko? Heimerdinger, I get, since he left the academy before the whole thing happened and the only one who knows he came back is Jayce and well Jayce is...out of order, I guess.

Which leads us to the other character that did an almost 180 degree turn around: Jinx. Again, we do not know how much time has passed but we do know she appearently tried to reach out to Vi multiple times? Why? How? We left them at enemies at each others throats. And how did she suddenly get a grip on her own mental health from one day to the other? All because of Isha? I just do not buy into it, it happened to quickly and we didn't see enough moments of change to believe it, in my opinion. Suddenly Jinx isn't Jinx anymore, suddenly she's the good guy, the reasonable one, the one who seeks out Vi and saves Caitlyn from being torn to shreds? I just…I am missing some context here. Some filler scenes, a few moments where we see what changed her perspective.

Salo. Again, his story doesn't add anything to the plot. Him going to Viktor doesn't add anything to the plot. Yet? Maybe that will change but apart from him being a vessle for Viktor and Jayce to communicate, what is his purpose? And in addition, they have created this beautiful character in Lest but again, their whole story doesn't add anything to anything at all. Multiple scenes where we see Lest painting Salo with little to no impact (except for her giving info to Mel, which in turn also becomes a little pointless since Mel gets abducted almost instantly and can't use this information. Again: Yet?)

Cait & Vi's "Reunion". Wtf? That's all I have to say. I made no sense. None at all. Last we saw, Cait hit Vi with her rifle and left her a sobbing mess in the underground without ever looking back. And you want me to believe that the next time they meet Cait fucking bodyslams Vi to the ground and they immediately work together. When did Cait change sides again? When did she start working against Ambessa and why? And why in Gods name would Vi have ANY reason to trust her at all? With anything? There's no apology, no talk about what happened, no word about how they've been dealing with the whole situation. But suddenly Cait holds up Vi again, runs to her side to fight against the Noxians because...well, why exactly? We don't know. And I get it, we will get some more friction in Act 3 but apart from that there needs to be an actual conversation about these things and Caitlyn needs to apologize because otherwise I will throw my hat. I just don't buy it. I could add about a dozen more things that play out in my mind ever since I watched Act 2 but all in all, and I think that applies to all of the aformentioned points, there is not enough time for all of this. I am not giving up hope that they'll turn it around in Act 3. It has happened before. But I feel like this time there is just too many storylines and not enough time. This season would have needed 12 episodes, at the very least. Because all of this is just too much. The war between Piltover and Zaun, the thing with the Black Rose, the whole Medarda family mystery, the hextech core and the Arcane and how Jayce and Viktor fit into it, the relationships between the characters, the Warwick and Singed storyline, Ekko and the Firelights...it goes on and on and on. We are opening all of these boxes at once and I don't know how to feel about that. Do I still love the visuals? Yes. They're stunning. This show is still a masterpiece. Do I love the characters? Absolutely. I adore them. (Yes, even Caitlyn because I think her storyarc is actually really complex and interesting but some fandom takes are...also questionable, just leaving it at that.) And I want all of them to have a good ending. That doesn't necessarily mean a happy one, just a good one. This show is absolutely brilliant, I am not trying to take away from the well-deserved success and fanlove it recieves. I just feel like even with the time and money they had, their ambitions for this season were maybe a little too much for 9 episodes. They had to make sacrifices, storywise, and it shows.