#i just knew they'd find a reason to bench ekko

[mollysunder]

I'm not surprised (but still disappointed) that Arcane spirited Ekko out of Act 1 and 2, because if they kept him around then they'd have to engage in politics. I don't just mean, "Oh Ekko would know what to do and rally Zaun". I mean the writers would have to confront the fact that they don't want Ekko to challenge Piltover, the same way they don't want Jinx or Viktor to challenge Piltover in a serious way. It's easier for them to do it with the latter two because the audience readily disassociates those two's actions from politics and the ongoing conflict between Piltover and Zaun. They can't do that with Ekko because he's so plain-facedly Zaun-centric

Instead, both in League and Arcane they invent enemies for him that bring immediate danger to his community Zaun in the form of chembarons, mad scientists, and experiments gone wrong while avoiding anything but surface level criticism of Piltover. Even from Ekko's development his creators prioritized him having Zaunite champions as enemies over Piltovans, and even mentioned he would come to understand Vi's perspective eventually. Essentially, Ekko's character has been used as a way for Riot writers to walk around the fact they turned Zaun into the crime city Piltover deals with rather than parasitizes, and almost every other champion who isn't Ekko, Zeri, or Zac is a part of lineup of Saturday morning cartoon villains.

If Ekko was actually present for the events of Act 1 and 2, then the writers would have to find an excuse for him not to rightfully call out and even fight Caitlyn for gassing Zaun and occupying it. Without Silco as an immediate threat Ekko could engage with the wider Zaun and even interact with other Zaunite champions and the politics of their growing factions. Maybe Ekko would even be faced with the choice to turn Jinx in to keep the enforcers out and have to make a choice.

But the writers don't want Caitlyn or Piltover to be challenged too harshly and don't want to think too deeply on the political motivations/aspirations of their Zaunite champions. They just want Ekko to show up in the finale where the class conflict is pushed aside to face some larger existential threat that everybody can come together and dogpile on.