#how like ..... vander and jinx behave the same way when it comes to this

[depvotee]

I also love the parallels of change between Vander and Silco, because both have this very dichotomy within themselves

Vander on thinking people can change, he is proof of that, he changed for better of his children and his community, he knows he can help people on a one to one basis. At the same time, he seems very repellant of large change, how he dealt with Grayson into a boon that was meant to fail, you cannot simply keep good the promise of keeping ur people out, Vander is not omniscent, of course, its was bound to happen without meantioning the fact that it really doesnt address the unfairness of the deal; the enforcers should NOT be on Zaun, period.

But he has to make do with scraps, because, well, he has kids to take care for. But also how are these kids meant to grow up apart from doing odd jobs? They have no future because the boot is closing in!!!!!!!!!!!!

Silco on the other hand is the "base violence necessary for change" hes more than down with the large changes, damn, hes going to make that change no matter how dirty it gets, after your best friend made you the human equivalent of detritus theres no going back, he's not stopping at anything not even at the expense of your own people Vi's "This happends everyday, you just dont see it" to that kid getting shot, SAME, conclusion. Worst part is that HES RIGHT!!!! There's no other way than violence to get Piltover to give them independence.

But he's also allergic to indivudual change, the one having to do with Vander specially, although hes ALSO a prime example that people WILL change. Of course he cannot see Vander other than the violent man that he used to be, that's the man he knew most of his life, that's why he's convienced he's still there, hidden underneath, which in a way, YES!!!! IT WAS!!!! Vander was violent and still capable of it but the moment he was the chance to finish what he started, to kill Silco, choke him, snap his neck, crush his windpipe, he DOESN'T TAKE IT, he just leans in and touches foreheads and leans over him.

Vander still has that rage within him but he also changed, hes not that man anymore.

[thewistlingbadger]

Yes Silco hates Vi for what she did to Jinx and for being a dangerous threat to him that is outside of his control and out of fear that he'll lose Jinx to Vi but I also think he hates her because she doesn't fit the narrative he has constructed.

The entire basis of Silco's relationship with Jinx is that they are one in the same. He doesn't take her in because she had nobody, he doesn't take her in because he knows her, he doesn't take her in because he pities her, he takes her in for one reason and one reason alone:

"She left me. She is NOT my sister anymore!"

After she says this Silco looks down at her, looks up at Vander's corpse, and then diverts his attention back to Jinx. Silco takes comforts Jinx, takes her in, and raises her as his own daughter because he used to be her. Her pain over Vi is his pain over Vander. She is the first and only person he has ever met who could possibly understand and relate to his past with his brother.

This huge similarity between them is CRITICAL to their bond and is the foundation for everything when it comes to the two of them as a duo. Silco gives Jinx advice based on his own experiences and traumas. He tells her to let the past die and reinvent herself because it's what HE did after Vander betrayed him. He teaches her to be feared by others because it was what HE did after Vander betrayed him. These two examples were effective for both of them but also toxic. The show draws many visual and narrative parallels between Silco and Jinx to cement their kinship AND they have Silco just flat out say it several times throughout the show.

"Everyone betrays us, Jinx! Vander- HER! They will never understand. It's only us."

Life is entirely subjective and based off your own experiences and interpretations. Constructing a narrative is often a coping device humans will use to try to explain things that they do not truly grasp or understand. For example: If your partner cheats on you, you might construct the narrative that they never loved you in the first place, because you cannot reconcile the nature of your relationship with the fact that they ultimately treated you as disposable.

We see characters in arcane construct narratives to save themselves from heartache all the time. Young Viktor constructs the narrative that Singed is a bad and twisted man because he doesn't understand why Singed would go to the lengths he did to keep Rio alive. Vi constructs the narrative that Silco is keeping Jinx captive because she doesn't understand how else the two of them could be connected and simultaneously alive. Silco constructs the narrative that he was once a weak man because he cannot understand why Vander would mistreat him so harshly and how Silco didn't see it coming.

Silco is of the partial belief that he was betrayed because he was weak and had he not been weak, he wouldn't have been betrayed. At bare minimum he would have been able to defend himself from Vander's attack. Remember, Silco went about a decade without speaking to Vander. He never got his note. He doesn't know the true reason why Vander attacked him and he never gets a true apology either, even after he is finally reunited with Vander. Having to deal with something so painful without being given an explanation or stance of reasoning has resulted in Silco becoming a twisted man, who says shit like "the only way to defeat a superior enemy is to stop at nothing" and "I hated you but you kept my respect."

He passes this way of thinking down to Jinx because to him, they are one in the same. To him she is going to benefit from his advice because he knows what he's talking about. To him the betrayal of their siblings is what binds them and Jinx is the only close bond silco has in his life. Even before Vi's "betrayal" Silco saw the way she was like Vander. So to him those two have also been one in the same for a long time.

But when Vi comes back, she does not behave like Vander. When Vi is reunited with Jinx, the first thing she does is apologize for leaving Jinx. Vander never apologized to Silco for his betrayal, not even when he was given the chance later in life. All he said was that he had never forgiven himself for what he did. Vi continuously fights for Jinx throughout season one. Vander never fought for Silco at all, he completely gave up on him and even when Silco presented him with the opportunity to fight on the same side again, to be brothers again, Vander rejected him. Vi tells Jinx she's willing to walk away from everything as long as she has Jinx with her. Vander couldn't even muster up the courage to fight for his own people. Vi blames herself for what happened to Jinx and tries her best to make amends. Vander never took responsibility for his actions and didn't attempt reconciliation.

Jinx is supposed to be Silco and Vi is supposed to be Vander, but Vi is not Vander. She's a way better sibling and person than Vander ever was and Silco cannot reconcile with this. Because if Jinx is him, and he knows she is, then why did she get to have her sibling back and not Silco? Why did she get the one thing he desperately wanted for the longest of times? Why could Vi forgive Jinx but Vander couldn't forgive Silco? VI is supposed to be the bad, disgraced sibling but she is not. Everything she does post time skip in season 1 is about redeeming herself and putting in the effort to recover a lost relationship.

[sandraharissa]

One thing I wanted to talk about for a while now was the Vi/Silco and Jinx/Cait relationships.

The way they’re portrayed in act II and III, after irreparable damage was done, there’s no way they’d ever get along, but what strikes me is how well these characters are suited to each other pre-trauma/act I.

When I look at Powder and little Cait it’s striking how similar they are to each other. They’re both a bit of an outcast and a misfit, they’re both the baby of the family, they’re both already good shots, they’re both very pleasant and mild-mannered and gentle and they have an older sibling (Vi/Jayce) they look up to. When you look at Powder’s siblings none of them are as similar to Powder as Cait is, even if they care for her very much Cait would probably easily be the most easy to interact with and relatable peer to Powder (maybe outside of Ekko). And while I don’t know how old everyone is, based on their designs I’d guess that Cait is a bit younger than Vi, which would additionally make her closer to Powder’s age than Vi/Mylo/Claggor are. They obvs even look quite similar, like you could mistake them for sisters.

The same goes for Vi and Silco. They both have a similar hairstyle in act I (later they also have the same colored outfits). They both care deeply and personally about the revolution (this city’s gonna respect us/respect, opportunity, things they denied us) and in act I for both of them ‘revolution’ means the same thing. Vi’s a daddy’s girl and Silco is shown to be good with teen girls. She’s also shown to take the responsibility of caring for the other kids, especially Powder who she’s extremely protective of. If they met under normal circumstances and if Silco’s presence took a bit of that responsibility away from her and if he’d behave toward Powder in the same protective way we see in the show Vi would likely think he’s great. In canon they hate each other but Vi in act I comes off like a very sociable person so I don’t think she’d dislike Silco for no reason. She’d likely end up relying on him more than the other kids would and he’d be another way to convince Vander of things (like fighting).

Obvs tho, circumstances stand in the way of these relationships. I can’t imagine how little Cait and Powder, who seem so well suited to each other, would even end up interacting when one’s a councilor’s daughter and the other is currently wanted by law. Similarly, there’s no reason for a situation where Silco and Vi meet under normal circumstances to occur considering Silco’s goal and his beef with Vander. What could have been.

[thewistlingbadger]

In a way, I've been really stumped when it comes to Silco and season two. Because I've always liked Silco, but my affinity for him skyrocketed with season two. I went from Casual Silco Enjoyer to Silco's Defense Attorney in the span of a month, and I couldn't place why. Until now.

Season one paints Silco as a violent extremist who's objectively a bad person. Season one accomplished this by having an array of grounded characters and by having none of the characters give their full support to Silco. Majority of the cast is against Silco in a way or has no perception of him. Sevika and Jinx, Silco's only allies, only extend their loyalty so far. Jinx doesn't give a shit about his cause at all and only participates because she likes to feel useful. Sevika's loyalty to Silco is only temporary, since her true loyalty lies with Zaun and not Silco. We don't see anyone in season 1 support Silco's actions or beliefs, and based off what we actually see in season one, the audience comes to the conclusion that Silco is being too offensive for what the situation requires. We've seen harm topside is causing, but is it really bad enough to go to the lengths Silco goes to? Most people think no, and so the drugs, the violence, the overall unsympathetic attitude of Silco is off-putting. Then of course, there's Vander, who the audience got attached to and loved. Vander and Silco are total opposites so if someone really likes Vander, it's likely they'll resent Silco. So based off season 1 alone, it's clearly easy to dislike Silco.

But season two does something totally unexpected. In my opinion, season two proves that Silco was actually right. He was right to do things the way he did and to have the beliefs he had. Season two makes the oppression of Zaun extremely transparent. We truly see just how hateful Piltover is and their full potential to exercise that hate at the cost of everyone in the Undercity. And we see that Piltover behaves in such a cruel way AFTER silco is gone. AFTER zaun has no leaders. AFTER zaun has no shimmer. AFTER zaun displays no violence. Caitlyn got rid of shimmer and neutralized the chem barons. None of the potential threats of zaun that Piltover was worried about last season exist anymore, and yet Piltover was still using excessive force with the undercity. If Piltover is going to behave this way when Zaun is helpless and at their mercy, then why SHOULDN'T zaun be resorting to radicalism? Why SHOULDN'T they be resorting to the most extreme of efforts? This proves that Silco was correct to use fear as a tool against piltover. Silco was right to resort to terrible deeds at the expense of his own people, because had he not, those same people would have STILL SUFFERED from Piltover's abuse! And you could argue that they did suffer more without Silco than with him.