#like Vi gave up a lot of herself to be there for Cait

[beif0ngs]

I’m so sorry about your mother. I’m sorry I can’t bring her back, but please just…

[sunfyrisms]

it’s genuinely so sad seeing some people blaming vi for cait leaving her, because it’s exactly what people did with the whole powder situation.

vi was a child when she saw the brutal, horrific end of her brothers and fathers. she was a child, she was hurt, physically and mentally, she lashed out at powder. it is clearly a mistake that she regretted. she looked at her bloodied fist in horror, started crying when she looks at powder, and she left to collect herself. because she was the only one powder has left, and powder was the only one she has left. vander’s last words to her were instructing her to take care of powder. she needed a moment, just a moment, to grieve. but the moment she saw powder is in danger? she immediately got up. she was ready for another fight. she was ready to protect her sister, without hesitation, even after fighting and losing the rest of their family before her very eyes.

i think a lot of people take jinx’s words as an immediate, inherit truth. “you created jinx.” perhaps it’s because jinx herself is the one who said it. but i don’t think vi did that. vi was in prison, as a child, surrounded by violence. constantly beaten, constantly hungry, but she never once forgot about powder. not a day, not an hour, went by that she didn’t think about her little sister. the first thing she does upon getting out of prison is immediately try to find powder. powder may have been traumatized by that fateful night, rightfully so, vi was too, but i don’t think vi created jinx. silco was the one who created jinx. he manipulated her, worsened her mental state, the whole nine yards. i’m not here to discuss whether he loved her because that’s ultimately not what this post is about. what i’m saying is that vi didn’t create jinx, but she blames herself for it anyway. she blames herself for abandoning powder, for not being able to protect her, for her roughness.

it’s so painstakingly obvious she isn’t willing to do that again. she isn’t willing to hurt those she loves. as a result, she’s so soft, so gentle, with caitlyn. she wipes away her tears, holds her, and genuinely sympathizes with her loss. she is able to be there for caitlyn because she has lost people time and time again. she joins caitlyn’s elite force to compensate for her actions (because, again, she openly states she believes she created the monster that is jinx). she becomes the thing she hated most to attempt to right her wrongs, but she still has her morals, she’s growing increasingly uncomfortable with caitlyn’s increasingly violent and cold deposition.

vi is scared of what caitlyn is becoming. she is openly scared of caitlyn, of how unrecognizable her rage and grief is making her. she doesn’t call out caitlyn’s rapidly growing hatred and dehumanization of her own people, not at first. but she’s scared. she’s scared what’s happening to the woman who was shown the reality of what her people face, what’s happening to the woman who genuinely wanted to make a difference, the woman who is ultimately kind as she is naive, the woman who gave away her only means of protection to save vi.

after their battle against jinx and sevika, she voices her concerns. she openly asks caitlyn what’s wrong with her. when she says caitlyn is acting like jinx, she isn’t being cruel. she’s trying to bring caitlyn back to reality. she’s saying “you’re losing yourself and it’s scaring me”. she grabs caitlyn’s arm, but, remembering that she hurt powder, what resulted from that, she immediately loosens her grip, positions her hand so she’s gently holding caitlyn’s wrist. she’s not willing to hurt caitlyn. she wants a productive conversation, she wants to understand, she wants to communicate, she wants caitlyn to understand that she’s becoming something dangerous, and she will do something she will regret.

caitlyn is triggered by vi’s words. she likely, at least subconsciously, resents and blames vi for her mother’s death. vi pleaded with caitlyn not to kill jinx, and caitlyn hesitated, and that resulted in the death of her mother. to be clear, i don’t blame vi for cassandra’s death, because she legitimately had nothing to do with it. but i think caitlyn blames her. she blames her for stopping her a second time, and takes vi’s statement as a direct comparison to her and her mother’s killer. on a surface level, it might have been, but i think it was a warning. it was a warning to caitlyn that her grief and rage were blinding her and she was betraying the morals she held so closely in season one. she’s actively becoming unrecognizable to vi like how jinx is unrecognizable to her, and she doesn’t want that. she doesn’t want caitlyn to lose herself.

in the end, that softness, it doesn’t matter. it doesn’t matter that she tried so hard to go about it differently, to be gentle rather than strong. because caitlyn strikes her in the same place she healed her wounds. caitlyn strikes her with her weapon, looks at her with such obvious contempt and disdain, just like the enforcers she’s encountered her entire life, and vi knows she’s lost her, just like she’s lost everyone. caitlyn is unrecognizable, blinded by her hatred, and vi is alone. she’s left alone after the woman who promised to not change changes so deeply and so badly.

i think that’s the tragedy of vi. she learns from her mistakes, she tries to be gentle, she carries the grief of everyone she loves, and she loves very deeply. however, she can’t save people who don’t want to be saved. she can’t stop people she loves from becoming their worst selves.

[skemford]

So far Arcane S2 is looking cool. Almost all characters are complex and it's impossible to look at them through "good vs bad" lenses.

There are certain takes from fandom/community that i don't agree with... but alas, i don't consider my opinions to be 100% correct either.

More thoughts about some characters (Cait, Vi, Isha, Sevika) in Arc 1 under the cut (beware of spoilers):

- Cait loosing herself while going through the grief is written in a realistic way. She's a privileged girl who never experienced major losses, lost an important person (a mother) and she's supposed to keep a facade of a stoic leader for the sake of her community. I felt truly uncomfortable when she decided to use the ventilation system to poison the air of Zaun & her degrading rhetoric (both toward citizens of Zaun and to Vi) was terrible. Her perspective can be understood but it cannot be redeemed with a couple of empty words. I'm curious to see where her dictatorship arc will lead her and how it ends. Honestly a lot of people underplay police brutality that was shown through her.

- Vi taking the role of enforcer was shocking to me considering everything that happened to her in the past. Gassing up her own people while wearing the uniform of her oppressor felt OOC but i can understand that she's motivated by endless grief and her fear of loosing Cait too. At least she did acknowledged that some things are wrong once she's face to face with a child protecting Jinx. Her role was more passive than in S1 so hopefully she'll shine in arc 2 and 3.

- Isha (little girl that follows Jinx) is a plot device that may die sooner or later. I'm not sure what i feel about her but i cannot hate her either, she did nothing wrong. I don't understand those who are mad about the scene where this child is protecting Jinx; Jinx unwillingly saved her life and was a bit soft while Isha saw only brutality from Vi & Cait. This is a matter of perspective, really. Outside of this, i think that some people are forgetting that she's younger than Powder was in S1.

Did she gave Jinx a couple of sympathetic points? Maybe. But Jinx herself was a bit calmer than in S1. A moment before meeting Isha she's walking around the city and reflects on what Silco's death led to.

- Sevika didn't switched her opinion on Jinx "abruptly". She was loyal to Silco and his absence made her acknowledge how much work she was forced to do for him. In her perspective Jinx was a brat who had it easier and created mess that Sevika was supposed to clean... turns out, it wasn't like this. Her "grief talk" with Jinx about Silco shows that Jinx was under the pressure too. Sevika's loyalty lies with her beliefs about what's the best for Zaun and its people and Jinx may be the hope that they'll need (which was shown in Arc 2 teaser). You can argue that she was brutal in S1 but she's not "a villain". Wanting to fight for your freedom from Topsiders is way more complicated.

On less serious note:

- Caitvi hugs and kiss were sweet. Let's hope that it'll happen again. If it's possible after everything :)

- My favourite fight is Sevika vs Smeech. I loved visuals, music and seeing Sevika getting her own screentime.

- Vi vs Jinx fight was on entirely another level in terms of animation, I'm excited to see what's in store for unreleased episodes.

[mvmnbnv]

Am i blind for not seeing how Caitlyn manipulated Vi? I keep seeing this take and I don’t understand it. She hurt Vi in an inexcusable manner, both physically and emotionally by making classist implications in her anger…

But manipulation? If Caitlyn wanted to manipulate/ guilt-trip Vi into joining the enforcers or killing Jinx all she had to do was say “I had the shot” to Vi instead of her father. But she didn’t bring up the dinner at all or oil & water for that matter. In fact not only did she not blame Vi (initially) or guilt-trip her; Caitlyn blamed herself: “My arrogance led me to take on more than i could handle and she paid the price”. That’s something someone like Vi who always blames herself and takes responsibility for everything really needed to hear so i was happy with it.

I think Caitlyn’s intentions were genuinely good throughout the first episode, both regarding Vi & the undercity but she still had the same flaws from season 1: thinking the enforcers are the ‘good guys’ here and there are just a few bad apples among them (i bet she probs thinks the ones who killed Vi’s parents were just bad apples lol) ; approaching some matters in an insensitive, entitled manner (springing the badge on Vi instead of having a conversation with her first about the reasons why she thinks it’s the best recourse… well at least she apologized for that ig)

I already feel like they pushed Caitvi in a terrible direction that’s hard to come back from in a satisfying way… i think if people willfully misinterpret ALL of Cait’s actions in the worst possible light you guys really won’t be happy w the ending bc there’s a point a relationship really can’t come back from in a healthy way. I doubt even now if it can…

I haven't used the word manipulative just yet because it's a pretty touchy thing with a specific meaning, but apparently you can be manipulative without knowing. She plays on vis emotions a lot, telling her wearing a badge is how she can show that she doesn't support jinx, which just isn't true. She doesn't need to wear one to show that. I'm not gonna blatantly say it's outright manipulative but it leaves a bad taste in my mouth nonetheless. And just blatantly enlisting vi after she explicitly said no and explained her trauma around enforcers is just...bleh. maybe distasteful more than manipulative but regardless it's just icky.

And yeah a lot of people think they're doing right but are actually just awful..."interpreting her actions in the worst possible light". How else am I supposed to interpret what she's done? She undid a ventilation system that gave the undercity clean air, she enlists vi after she said no, saying its easy to hate zaunites, is ready to get jinx even at the cost of a childs life, ffs she hits vi and leaves her there, it's bad, some of it downright corrupt. Apologizing to vi for springing the badge on her doesn't negate her bigoted attitude toward her and the entire undercity, it's not vis job to prove anything to her, especially if it ultimately means letting anyone get hurt at the cost of getting jinx. She sees vi as her possible example of what people of the undercity could be, and even that's fucked up, because once vi doesn't do things the way she wants she thinks she's "no different" than jinx or any other zaunite. I don't think they could have a healthy relationship with all this. I don't even want vi around her after all that tbh. I know it's gonna happen tho so I'll just see what they decide to do

[bachelor4choice]

Fans of Arcane! I'm here to bring theories!!!!

P.S.: Please, no spoilers. Especially regarding any leaks. Making theories is a big part of what makes a show fun for fans, so don’t ruin that. Good? Good.

Recently, I saw here on Tumblr a series of images about how the acts will be divided in this second season, and that gave me some clues about how Vi’s arc might unfold. Since they're focusing a lot on her, it's the "easiest" to deduce, but I have some guesses about other characters as well.

The image (not sure if it's official ¯⁠\⁠_⁠(⁠ツ⁠)⁠_⁠/⁠¯) is this one:

HERE WE GO!

Act 1: It would pick up immediately after the final events of the first season. Vi immediately finds herself "forced" to join Caitlyn and the Enforcers. It’s a natural progression for the character, considering what happened. Vi values herself as someone who protects those she loves. She always has been this way, so when she feels like she failed Jinx, she moves on to protect Cait. I believe, for her, it’s also a way to protect Zaun, which must fall into chaos with the power vacuum left by Silco. In this act we’d see Vi and Caitlyn grow even closer, but with so many close calls that we would die a little, because neither of them is exactly what the other needs. Both Caitlyn and Vi, in the inside, are actualy drifting away from what they initially liked in each other. Yes, it’s going to be quite painful to watch, but hey! It’s going to get worse :)

I believe the end of this act will be a confrontation between Jinx and Vi. And here, my friends, we see the downfall, because I still believe Vi won��t be able to finish off Jinx, and this will be a double failure in Vi’s "protector" nature. This will lead her to distance herself from Cait and the Enforcers, but by this point, Vi has nowhere to return to, because Zaun no longer accepts her. She has become a traitor, remember? Enter Dark Vi! At the end of this act, there will be ANOTHER breakup between Vi and Cait (without them even having started dating yet! These lesbians) and this will also push Cait to take more drastic actions, alongside Mel’s mother.

Act 2: It would start with Vi at her lowest point (I’m not looking at her arms, you are!) I believe this is also when Jinx becomes a symbol of resistance, as a response to the increasing pressure applied by Caitlyn and Medarda. As things get politically terrible, Vi continues to lose her sense of self. That’s why she drinks so much and why the ex-enforcer takes her to those underground fights. She keeps hallucinating about Caitlyn because, again, she feels like she’s failed. She couldn’t help Caitlyn because she couldn’t stop protecting Jinx. For her, this whole situation is lose-lose. Seeing Caitlyn drift further from who she truly is also deeply affects Vi.

I’ve always admired Caitlyn’s character for her rationality and compassion. She’s smart, determined, focused, but sweet (like a Cupcake). Seeing someone you care about lose that side of themselves because of your own sister… Yeah, I’d be drinking too. This would explain why Vi hallucinates about the Caitlyn from the first season. At the same time, with Jinx being exalted as a symbol, Vi sees exactly what she’s lost: the sister who was supposed to grow up and help Zaun. Everyone viewing Jinx this way, when she definitely ISN’T like that anymore, is like rubbing salt in the wound.

I believe Vi’s downfall will take up an entire episode. Two things could happen to end Dark Vi. Jinx, as we see her watching the fights and even betting on Vi. (Same Symbol)

Yep, in the new images, Vi isn’t hallucinating about Jinx, only about Cait. Jinx is going to watch Vi spiraling and I think she’s going to HATE it. I do believe Jinx has changed, but I think she still prefers to see Vi distant but doing okay, rather than close and falling apart. I think this would be an interesting trait for Jinx. Now, throwing in a wild guess: I think Jinx herself is going to seek out Caitlyn. Cait, by the way, is likely spiraling too, but unlike Vi, she has other ways to self-destruct (work).

So, my theory for the end of Act 2 is that Jinx is going to show Cait the state Vi’s in and say, “Look at this disaster lesbian!” This will lead to a really sweet moment where Cait finally reconnects with her compassionate side—caring about others' pain, not just her own (get ready to cry here. If this really happens, I want ALL of it! From tending to Vi’s wounds and alcoholism to a heart-wrenching confession in the middle).

HOWEVER, I don’t think Cait’s return will be the only catalyst. Here’s where the battle with Warwick comes in! Wouldn’t it be tragic if Vander, once again, is responsible for making Vi rediscover her value as the protector of those she loves? Because I think that’s exactly what’s going to happen—fighting this version of Vander will be the final nail in the coffin for Dark Vi. Oh, Vander, helping Vi even now.

Act 3: We’ll finally have Vi and Cait on the same page (you know that sex scene? Probably here, and I think it’s going to lean more towards sweet than sexy. Something tasteful, definitely).

Vi will be an Enforcer, but not to hunt Jinx—rather, to help Zaun and protect everyone, including Piltover, from Empress Medarda’s grip. After all, with Cait no longer obsessed with taking down Jinx, Medarda’s influence over Caitlyn will come to an end. The only leverage Medarda has over Cait is her anger, and when that’s no longer in play, Cait’s rational side kicks back in. She’ll realize that for Medarda, it was never about justice—it was about Hextech. This realization will be what unites everyone: Zaun and Piltover will come together, fighting against Medarda.

Oil and Walter.

As for Cait, there are definitely some missing pieces. Just as Vi has Warwick, Cait is going to have something beyond Jinx/Vi. But since there’s so little information about the other characters, it’s hard to say who. There’s bound to be something more than just the power of love. What’s important is that during the third act, we’ll already have Cait and Vi as Piltover’s Finest! In those perfect black uniforms.

Well, that's basically it! See you in November, when Arcane becomes my entire personality!

[jinxkiramman]

It's so interesting to hear Caitlyn echo the sort of twisted thinking that Piltover's bigotry instills in its citizens. I have a lot of thoughts on her character and her progress in Act 1, I do love her a whole lot and I don't think anything she does this season will change that. Do I think she really meant what she said to Vi? Yeah, partially. Do I think she would have said it in any other circumstance? Not at all. Obviously she's talking and behaving out of hurt and grief, but it also shows how weak willed she actually is. All of her progressive ideals and thinking go out the window when it's HER that's being affected.

Not saying that it's a small thing that her mother was killed, not at all, but Jayce and Vi got a child killed in season 1 and Vi's response is "wrong place wrong time, let's keep going." Specifically stating that kids from the Lanes get murdered every day, she is used to this sort of brutality. She had to become used to it, because that was the reality that everyone in Zaun is forced to confront.

Piltover is only now getting a small peek into the horrors that they have inflicted on the citizens of Zaun for decades, and their immediate response is to murder all of them. And Caitlyn doesn't even flinch at the idea of leading a full invasion into Zaun, knowing that it would result in countless civilian casualties. The same sort of horror that gave birth to Jinx and Silco in the first place.

Like I love Cait I do, but she is so willing to align herself with the system that has been oppressing Vi's people for decades, rather than fight against it. And Vi, bless her heart, doesn't get out clean of critique either. Jinx is totally in the right to call her sister out like that, because what do you mean you watched Enforcers murder your parents and now you're one of them?

"Good ones" literally none of them are good the whole system is flawed.

And it's not even as if Jinx is a revolutionary, she has obviously been on a slow suicide mission for a while now, the fight with Vi kind of just proves that. But she has done way more for Zaun that Vi has ever done. It's no wonder people turn to Jinx, she has been there the entire time. Vi was locked up, and the first time they see her again, she's walking around town with an Enforcer. Like this is all so tragic in so many ways, but Piltover is simply in the wrong here.

Caitlyn and Vi are lucky they're women because if they were men, I'd hate them SO MUCH 😭

[cupcait]

dump of old short headcanons i felt were important to save.

caitlyn can play the violin and piano 😊

caitlyn’s dad gave her his hat and later on, when she became sheriff, tweaked it to add the little magnifying parts along with… basically everything else she uses 🥺👉🏻👈🏻

i was thinking about this and at first i wasn’t too sure what i thought but, honestly, the more i think about it the more i laugh at the thought of caitlyn inviting pretty girls over... flirting and getting so confident up until they’re actually in her room and she feels completely vulnerable... just to start overthinking it, having gay panic, and then just parting ways without doing anything. cassandra sees and notices caitlyn’s embarrassed look and is like 🤨. probably happened like, twice before she gave up. it’d also make me think she didn’t fully mean the “stray” bc of vi’s appearance (i mean, definitely a little at least fdsjfs.) she’s just trying to be an embarrassing mom bc she’s like “rlly cait. u are bringing home a girl again.” and the hesitation before she said “your.... friend.” oh she knewwww. i think it's cute too because it's like. vi and cait having the completely vulnerable moment in bed. just the intimacy of talking, opening up to each other. the soft touches. that being the first time she actually felt comfortable enough with someone to reveal parts of themselves even deeper than something sexual.

i think the only reason caitlyn still lives with her parents (considering she butts heads w/ her mom so much/values independence rather than feeling entitled to things) is because she doesn’t want to use their money to get her own place. the moment she got her job, she started putting her own money into hidden savings in preparation for moving out. caitlyn hates things being done for her (even something as small as cooking) unless it’s someone acting out of love - not because they feel like they have to. moving out would have been something she pursued more, but after the attack on the council, what happened to her mother, caitlyn struggles with the idea of leaving her father alone. even being alone herself is hard, knowing jinx can get in so easily. she blames herself for what happened to cassandra, for not being there to actually help. vi holds their own guilt, as well. what started as sneaking in to innocently keep each other company turns into vi essentially moving in. chou kiramman doesn’t mind, though. he takes a liking to vi very quickly.

thinking abt how we didn’t get a canon name for cait’s dad or... really a lot of info on the kirammans so. i’m thinking, at least for my cait.. kiramman family’s position on the council is passed from mother to daughter. men marry into the kiramman family.  her dad was an inventor in ionia who came to piltover in hopes of having better success. he met cassandra & they ended up falling in love, getting married, and he took the kiramman last name. cassandra, wanting caitlyn to take up the same position that had been passed down for as long as their family tree had known, intended to pass the torch on the moment caitlyn married as many powerful houses would. of course, she never had any interest in relationships (or men in general) and was more focused on pursuing the ideals grayson and her father had instilled into her. i remember reading somewhere there was consideration of an arranged marriage subplot for cait in arcane, and while i know the trope is kinda overdone, i do think it would be something cassandra wouldn’t have fully considered, maybe only something that crossed her mind once, but other members of the kiramman family would suggest.  caitlyn understands cassandra’s perspective on a lot of things, and loves her mother dearly, but fully resents what’s expected of her. 

honestly think it’s so cute that caitlyn is basically the perfect mix of her parent’s personalities. her mom is stubborn, sassy and bullheaded but her dad is so sweet and caring . they’re both so protective and just want the best for her ... but she argues so much with her mom because their stubbornness makes them clash so much fjdlksf

was talking about this with @vilence earlier and will probably make a full hc on it later, but i was thinking about cait becoming sheriff and... i think at the end of s1, if it was offered to her, she’d consider refusing it at first. it sounds ridiculous to everyone around her, but she wants to move up gradually, something to earn with experience and continued hard work. not something she earns from one case, even if it was as large as silco’s operation & marcus’ corruption. she certainly wants the position, absolutely deserves it, but i think there would be some hesitance before outright accepting it if it came so soon after the attack on the council. for a while, she’d even blame herself for the lives lost, thinking she had ruined her chance to stop jinx by getting knocked out. even more so if her mom was lost, which i’m still a bit up in the air on for my main verse. (update 2024: this is probably going to be the case in season 2. i am fearful.)

also lil headcanon that caitlyn needs to wear reading glasses and they’re cute lil round gold frames :3

[bruh-anator3000]

I want an Arcane holiday special where everyone looses their stuff. Like Vi can't find her jacket, Caitlyn somehow lost her gun. Ekko's pocket watch mysteriously vanished and Jayce can't find the Hextech crystals as Viktor stumbles around without his cane. Mel can't find any of her art supplies. They all get one hint. It's painted over one of Mel's scrapped works. It's on the chalkboard of the lab. On the hoverboard Ekko was fixing up. It's on the floor of Cait's bedroom. "Meet at the bridge," is scribbled underneath each monkey drawing.

When they all get there, they find their stuff used as holiday decorations. Ekko's watch is being displayed at the top of Viktor's cane. It's wrapped with with a string that connects all Hextech crystals on a garland. Vi's jacket is on a snowman that oddly enough, looks like her, thin and short twigs making her tattoo on the snowman's cheek. Caitlyn's gun is hung and an assortment of socks hang from it. All their names terribly stitched onto the colored coordinated stockings. Most of Mel's paint used to brighten up the place, random assortment of lines and shapes traced on the cement of the bridge.

Jinx pops out of the largest present with a Santa hat on, confetti bursting from her guns. No one can stay mad at her, she put in all this effort to create a make-shift Christmas party. They can get their stuff back when its done, now? Now Jinx wants to hand out presents.

Vi loves her sister, but she's stuck to Cait's side, trying to hide from the cold on her bare arms. Caitlyn doesn't mind. She just feels bad her girlfriend is freezing in the other Santa hat Jinx gave to her. Ekko is following Jinx around, getting all the details on how she managed to rob everyone in one night. She replies, "If that fat man Santa can do it, so can I!" Ekko doesn't correct her, only grabbing another hot chocolate for them.

Mel does question Jinx on what techniques she used to cover such a vast space with so little time and paints. Jinx shrugs with a cheeky smile, saying she's always managed to make every mess bigger. Mel can't deny the anger that bouls in her that her arts were taken and used but she can't deny the smile either. She considered her art more abstract than most, but Jinx showed no structure in her strokes. Only going with how her mind thought. Maybe Mel could try that techniques out herself.

Viktor stayed seated most of the night, feeling more and more guilty every time he'd tug on Jayce's sleeve to ask for something. Jayce had no issue, happily grabbing his lab partner whatever he wanted. But eventually, Jayce got a little cheeky. He helped Viktor get to the bridge with his arm around his broad shoulders earlier. Viktor said it was embarrassing to be lugged around, Jayce's height making it worse. So, to soothe Viktor's embarrassment, Jayce scooped his partner up instead of him practically dangling from his shoulders and showed him around Jinx's party.

Overall, the night went well. Toasts were made. Laughs were shared. Trauma forgotten. Because the holiday season is being with people who make you feel at home. And Jinx wanted to let them know through her own way, they meant a lot to her.

[loveandlegacy]

so i agree with you broadly! ig my point is generally that there is nothing that could have happened in that scene itself that would have really structurally solved this issue �� i do think there are serious pacing and just general writing issues with the first episode and a half, and so the scene feels unearned because, like you said, we don't really have much context for viktor's motivations now. but i think to me something feeling un-earned is distinct from it feeling rushed on an internal structural level.

like i also did not want (please god i cannot overstate how much i did not want) a shippy anything between them, and i think the actual problem with viktor's story thus far is kind of similar to a problem i have with vi thus far. yes vi and cait have more scenes that lead up to their eventual falling out, but as someone else pointed out, it is pretty weird that we get so little of vi's reactions to things like using chemical warfare in the undercity. like obviously she ends up retroactively justifying that to herself, but we never even see her struggle with that cognitive dissonance or with how it affects her feelings for caitlyn (or with how it's affected BY her feelings for caitlyn), so while i can buy that she would eventually tell herself and also jinx that they did it "to protect people", it's also weird that she just seems to have emotionally arrived there without us getting to witness any kind of prior internal struggle over it.

i feel like it's kind of the same with viktor. i can basically believe that he's super weird and kind of brain broken now, and i can believe that he'd just be like 'bye jayce' and go to the undercity but i wish we had more time leading up to that moment to make it land a little harder. to take your examples, it would have been nice to have prior scenes of just him in the hexcore having Visions or whatever to help clarify why he felt that going to the undercity makes more sense than staying in piltover (or why the hexcore thinks that, if he is mostly possessed/brain-broken by the hexcore), because as it stands it's like why....is the undercity the place he'd go. i guess it's his home but he hasn't lived there for a long time. does he just go because he feels out of place in piltover? it's not super clear. similarly more scenes of him having visions might have helped clarify that his sense of self was slowly dissolving or something while the hexcore took over and that's why suddenly he's so cold and weird. but i maintain that that doesn't make the actual argument itself between him and jayce especially rushed, it's more like we are describing the external moments that might have helped clarify that argument. maybe that's nitpicky but i do think those are different things.

i also agree that it's weird that jayce is like 100% fine with the fact that viktor got basically transmuted into what appears to be a completely new life form, and i wish we had gotten more of the fallout from that after viktor left, but i sincerely cannot imagine what he would have said TO viktor about it in the moment that wouldn't have felt as tropey as what he actually already says, a lot of which feels pretty tropey.

so like lest i come off as if i liked the scene or something, i think it has its own internal flaws (primarily with the lines they gave jayce), but i still think the only actual solution for the scene would have been to have like a whole extra episode where we get to sit with all the characters a bit more either before or after something major happens, and in that case i still think it's not that their scene was uniquely rushed. it's that the first and a substantial portion of the second episodes are pretty clumsily written overall because there is no specific moment in the first like.....60-70 minutes in the show that doesn't feel like it either lacked setup or fallout in some way, so the scenes we do get end up suffering from a lack of more lush context.

im going to say something slightly mean which is that i think there is an imagined aspect of jayce and viktor's relationship that the audience is projecting onto them that actually is not supported by the text itself and that imagined facet is the reason people think their parting is rushed more than the issues with the actual show's pacing 💀

like i do think some of what jayce actually SAYS in that scene feels kind of clunky and unearned and sorta tropey, not because of who jayce is, but because it feels like they had to cut some interstitial tissue for the sake of time constraints, but even if they hadn't had to i cannot fathom that scene being extended more than like....a minute. like what kind of argument are they going to have that wasn't the one that actually transpired?

i think it's pointed that viktor is weirdly emotionally stunted and icy after he was such an impassioned person in s1 and he said everything there was to say anyway, just with a colder affect. i guess jayce could have said "hey viktor wait" like. one more time lol but in general if you take everything we have presented by the text on its face their immediate falling out could never have been that long a conversation because there isn't actually that much to argue about. jayce did what he thought was right and what is the normal human thing to do (broke his promise to save his friend that he loves and cares about) and viktor did not want him to do that. which is literally what they said to each other. very directly.

also it's like...supposed to be cold and sad. i don't think viktor is going to be the sole big bad of the show but i do think that the whole point of what we've seen so far in act i is that the arcane is inhuman and strange and kind of hard to understand and viktor has been partly absorbed into that and jayce is still very very human and full of all his hopes and ideals and therefore not able to grasp the arcane's true nature yet. a like. screaming lover's spat or whatever was not going to happen given the narrative positions that these two characters occupy. it doesn't even happen really between the two characters who are actually lovers — cait and vi have an somewhat equivalently long (so pretty short) moment of disagreement before cait hits vi in the stomach and leaves. anything else would have felt like fanfictiony and cheap imo

[space-blue]

Your Cait analysis is interesting! I like her, but I definitely agree with most of your points, and there’s a lot about her that I never actually stopped to think about, you did a great job putting things into perspective!

I do have ONE thing to say though. While I do agree that she does a lot of things to prove herself and for self purposes, I think there’s a few moments we get of her doing otherwise. For example, when she gave up her gun to get the shimmer for Vi without second thought.

Idk, I’m just curious about your thoughts on her moments like that, because I don’t think they should be overlooked

Again though, great points you made!

Oh, that's very true. I guess I was caught in "what I don't like" and never stopped to point out things I like about her. Maybe because such things (like her genuine good actions) seem to be invalidated at other moments. As you say, she gives up her precious gun...

But let's not forget she can have 10 new ones custom made tomorrow and won't notice the difference on her bank account. That gun was not clearly established as anything she was emotionally attached to.

It's more that now she has no weapons, while at the bottom of Zaun. She's basically putting her life in Vi's hands. What kind of monster would she be though, to not trade her one valuable belonging to try and save a life? So I guess my appreciation of that action is limited. We already know she'll take risks to save people.

She's being callous at too many other moments for things to balance out.

But from her interactions with Jayce, she seems like a good sport and upon my many rewatches, her moments with him massively contributed to me changing my mind about him. He's clearly a great friend to have, and he doesn't appear to have held resentment towards the Kiramman family, even after they dropped him from orbit.

She seems fun to be around when things are more relaxed. She's brave too, and quick to add things up. I just wish I knew ANYTHING more about her.

It seems to me the biggest thing we know is that her mom doesn't approve of her being a cop, and she likes shooting guns. She's proud of her abilities and mayyybe looked up to Grayson? We could have benefited from her reciprocating any of Vi's moments of honesty and memory sharing.

I think the issue here is that there's almost nothing Cait could SAY that wouldn't immediately reveal the insane chasm between them, on a wealth and privilege level. What hardships has Cait faced? How can she relate at all to any of Vi's stories? She's a single child of one of the richest families in her entire bubble universe. She's even allowed to pursue the job her mom disapproves of. Literally there are no boundaries in her life we know of.

Imagine a comic that's two side by side strips, and as we go down, we progress in time. Cait's life on one side, Vi's on the other. Imagine how different they'd look. Cait playing, and being privately tutored and shooting on their out of town estate, and Vi scrounging and living in slums, seeing her mom dead on a battlefield and moving into some violent guy's basement with a bunch of other orphans, stealing, struggling... And then Cait going to school and then cop school, making friends, having crushes, winning more shooting competitions and having whatever fun she must have, with that unknown personality of hers, and meanwhile on the side it's Vi in prison, being beaten, beaten, beaten, beaten. Vi sitting in different corners of her cell, Vi beating up other inmates, Vi having nightmares of Powder and explosions, Vi staring at the wall, the ceiling... And poof, they meet and Cait doesn't even have the decency of really questioning why a girl her age is rotting away without a file in Stillwater.

(How doesn't that set her off into inspecting enforcers? How is she never suspicious of Marcus? It's such an easy change to make her more sympathetic.)

And SURE you can exploit her uber privileged status and give her inner conflict through it. You could have Cait process with increasing horror just what life looks like for more than half the population. Cait realising her FAMILY perpetuates that. I'd love to see her... Stutter... Struggle to reply to Vi, even get verbally atomised by Ekko when she says "No, ViOlEnCe iS BaD".

It would be lovely, and it would set up *growth* for her in future seasons.

But in the show Cait gets almost no confrontations. She only blows up in her mother's face, and seemingly is ready to forget the whole issue the moment her mother tells her she can have an audience.

Again, that's a time constraint for the show. But a simple "this conversation isn't over" style remark would have done nicely to indicate she isn't satisfied and will want to discuss this further (and would be perfect angst considering Cassandra is most likely Big Dead by season 2 and this conversation will never be had).

It doesn't help that Cait is frequently used to get in the way of Jinx and Vi's relationship. Sometimes it's intentional and on Jinx's side, like all her projections and hallucinations. But sometimes it's clear that Cait being here is "Making Things Worse", like when she interrupts the conversation between Jinx and Vi when they first reunite.

This is all intentional for plot progression, but if you're invested in the sisters' interactions, Cait becomes someone who's "getting in the way".

It all adds up, and there are just not enough "kindnesses" Cait does for Vi (or anyone) to redeem her in my opinion. She just isn't a very narratively interesting character. She has some agency, and her and Vi are at the center of a lot of influential moments in the plot, but she often takes a backseat to Vi, who acts very erratically in the final act.

Cait suffers from lack of development, like many characters. It's just more problematic with her (for me) because it reduces her to someone I have zero sympathy for.

But as I've illustrated, I feel like there's plenty of moments where challenging her, or having her display stronger morals and internal life would have made her into a much more enjoyable character.

When the uber rich chick on a self-assigned mission to prove a point sells out her fancy gun to save the life of the one guide she has... I'm like "okay cool, I'm pretty sure anyone would do the same".

I'd feel more if the gun had actual emotional value, or Cait were not the 1%. But at this stage I'm rambling lol

In many ways she's a great character to expend on in fandom, and I feel like many fans glossed over the whole cop deal to enjoy her better. If I could turn Mek into a fun character and get 1500 people to click on a fic in his PoV about spying and fanning the flames of a strike, I'm pretty sure any half decent writer can turn Cait into a fascinating character.

I'm writing a chapter in her pov for my own F&D fic, and I wrote her meeting Silco as a child and found her to be lots of fun. I don't doubt she can be made into an excellent character with a little effort. She's just not someone who excites my interest as-is. Not the way Vi does.

[mam-te-moc]

Very interesting analysis. I too believe that Mel's arc just started and there is much more of her story to tell.

I would like to add some more predictions, just for a future reference, to see how wrong/right we are.

There is another elephant in the room: Viktor. Actually why is he in the council room? Yes, we have seen him there before, yes, he is Jayce's partner, yes they decided to fix things together, so we don't question his presence, but it's a bit strange that Jayce suddenly wants Viktor to present his deal with Silco. But Viktor now is practically a walking hextech, and in two separate occasions we were shown that hextech produce a field that would protect anybody that's inside of it. My prediction is that this would happen, saving at least Viktor an Jayce (Maybe Mel too, but probably she can protect herself) but also revealing Viktor's experiments on himself and his connection to Hexcore what would deepen a rift between him and Jayce.

Another thing I am curious about is Cassandra Kiramman's death. While all and every hint we get implies strongly that Caitlyn's mother will be killed by Jinx's rocket, it creates another overused trope of revenge arc, as bothersome as in case of Jayce or Ambessa. Caitlyn was the only character with both parents and no visible past trauma, what gave some room for a bit of humor when presenting her character, something very rare in Arcane. Killing Cassandra would stop this approach, but again creators of Arcane are not shy to use tropes (#justiceforSky), because they also have a way to make them less jarring. So I am curious which path they would choose. And how they make Caitlyn a sheriff while they established (right me if I am wrong) that council seats are hereditary, so after her mother's death, Caitlyn should take a position of a councilor, not a sheriff.

As for new characters, I have a feeling that there won't be too many. We don't know much about season two, but from interviews I gathered that's a wrap up for the first season, getting characters to a place we know them from LoL, more or less (the most interesting was information from Amanda Overton about original length of Arcane being ten episodes, the ending of first season being originally in episode eight, with two more episodes to finish the story that now developed into a whole new season). There is a lot of story to tell about characters we already know to put them in a place they supposed to be at the end, so there is not much room to introduce too many new characters, like a whole new council (unless they are a very background characters). Next to all predictions mentioned in OP, we already know that there will be Warwick introduced, probably Singed and Sevika's sories will expand, Noxus/Medarda arc will be developed, we will get reveal/use of lol weapons for Viktor, Caitlyn and Ekko (and maybe Heimerdinger) with Jinx and Vi family drama on top of that, so I wonder how much room there is for new fully developed characters or development of background ones like Elora, Amara or (mentioned once) Ferros clan? Maybe there is, especially if Arcane will develop into multiple seasons series that needs new characters to keep going.

For some reason I expect some unexpected alliances, like Mel and Heimerdinger or Mel and Cait, Vi, Cait or Ekko and Sevika, Jinx and Viktor, Sky and Hexcore ;)

I’ve responded to this type of comment about a million times by now, so I figured that maybe I should save myself some time and turn it into a post that I can just copy + paste whenever someone starts repeating this mantra like it’s a billboard top record and they’re a radio DJ.

The rocket is not aiming for Mel’s back!

There, I said it. Now that I got your attention, let me explain why, with visual evidence.

First things first: the council chamber is not a tower. This might be obvious from the picture below, but some people in the fandom seem to be experiencing a bit of a Mandela effect about this. The chamber is adjacent a large building, so there’s plenty of room for the missile to explode and cause massive destruction without annihilating absolutely everything and everyone in the vicinity. 

From the outside, the chamber appears to have seven windows (although the geography of the room is often fumbled to fit the scene, so that not all of the windows are ever visible at once in the interior shots), two on each side of the room, three opening to the front, overlooking the Academy Square; six in the shape of elongated hexagon and the one in the centre more intricately shaped, extending all the way to the floor - this is the window behind Heimerdinger’s former seat.

What’s more, the animators provide you with helpful foreshadowing of where the rocket is actually going to hit, first by highlighting said window with the red colour reflecting from the moon as pictured above, then with the blue smoke trail from the actual missile:

These two shots show that the missile is aiming for the window to the right of the central window (the one behind Heimerdinger’s seat) and this might blow your mind but…

That’s actually the window behind Jayce. Albeit given the circular shape of the room, how directly behind him depends on the angle the scene is shot from. Either way, this window is still closer to him, not Mel. It’s also visible on the reflection in the window right before the rocket hits: the grinning face appears to be actually aiming between Jayce and Mel, if skewed slightly more towards Jayce’s side (you can clearly see his silhouette in the glass). It’s likely that the missile will not hit anyone directly, but instead fly to the other side of the room and explode there, killing the councillors on the far side of the room, thus giving our trio a chance to survive. Moreover, if it were to collide with either Mel or Jayce, we could safely say goodbye to both (and Viktor) because their seats are right next to each other.

Unless… but more on that in a bit.

Now, this should be evidence enough for me to call it a day here and call everyone dumb for not noticing or lazy for not overanalysing every single shot of this show the way I do, but… did you know that this was actually visually foreshadowed during the council meeting in ep. 8 already? 

Here - with Jayce standing by Heimerdinger’s empty seat after his failed attempt to call for retaliation against the undercity - we can see Jinx’s grenade lying on the table between him and Mel, likely foreshadowing the path of the missile proper.

So, why such an emphasis on Mel in this moment then?

Right before the incredibly cruel, but kind of ingenious cliffhanger, the animators direct your attention to Mel, to her noticing something going on and looking behind her. Then, they remove the back of her seat and her dress to reveal the mysterious golden metal plates fused to her body lighting up with warm, yellowish light. This light is not being reflected as most of the “armour” is covered by her dress, nor is it coming from the spotlights used in the council chamber since those are actually of cold, stark white light - therefore this warm light has no possible source other the item itself.

Whatever the function of these metal plates, they appear to be reacting to the impending danger. Will Mel be able to use them to save Jayce and Viktor? Will she have to sacrifice her own life to do so? Will any of the other council members survive thanks to her efforts? These are the burning questions that we’ll only get answers to in a year or so, but let’s ponder them regardless. We know Jayce and Viktor have high odds of survival because they’re still a far cry from their League of Legends counterparts, so there’s more to do with these characters yet. And Kevin Alejandro has indirectly confirmed Jayce’s survival in an interview the other day. But more prosaically, Riot and Fortiche can’t just kill half of their main cast in the opening of s2, that’s not how telling a story works. Source: trust me, bro, I have a degree in this.

With that in mind, let’s address the biggest elephant in the room first.

The Question of Mel’s Survival

I’ve seen a lot of people claim that the finale would be cheapened by Mel’s survival as killing off only the side characters would mean there are little to no repercussions for main cast. But repercussions don’t have to necessarily mean death, the story can be just as impactful without killing off any of the main characters. Jinx has effectively started a civil war, whether she intended for it to happen or not - there will be consequences for the greater population of Zaun, some of whom probably just want to be left alone; it will fuel the bigotry of Piltovans, and with most of the council and Silco dead, both halves of the city are left leaderless. The main cast will be forced to grapple with the absolute shitstorm that will follow in the wake of this single action and I think that’s plenty of consequence for one season.

And personally, I’m of the opinion that Mel’s death doesn’t actually serve the story. Arcane often gets compared to Game of Thrones due to the characters suffering very real consequences of their actions - a rarity in today’s visual media, especially in the era of omnipresent superhero titles. But people often forget that this show isn’t the later seasons of Game of Thrones where characters started dropping off willy-nilly for sake of shock value (and the pettiness of the screenwriters) rather than cohesive story; the deaths - abundant as they were - in Martin’s books were actually always justified and made narrative sense. The characters made a fatal mistake from which there was no recovery (if you’re feeling fancy you can call this hamartia) and therefore met - frequently violent - end.

So let’s review the leading arguments for Mel’s death and debunk them:

Mel’s death will fuel Jayce’s turn to the Dark Side™

I enjoy a good revenge arc as much as the next person, but there are several problems with devolving Jayce into an Anakin Skywalker - one of those reasons being that we already have that type of character on the cast, encompassed in Jinx, but also the fact that we’ve already had one woman sacrificing herself to give male character trauma and angst (and hopefully I don’t need to explain to you how killing off two black women in a row might look problematic) in Sky and Viktor (#justiceforSky), and while Arcane likes its parallels, doing the same exact thing again would not be interesting. Also, might I point out that a revenge against the Zaunites would be disrespectful to Mel’s memory? It’s not what she would’ve wanted at all. She was the one to shut down Jayce’s suggestion to retaliate, after all. Moreover, there is absolutely no justifiable reason for him to punish the entire undercity for the actions of a single person, nor does it make sense within the narrative unless you’re aiming to create unnecessary drama with the rest of the cast. Caitlyn and Vi witnessed the entire thing and can testify as to what actually went down. Jayce trusts Caitlyn’s word and has a begrudging respect for Vi. He will want Jinx brought in. Nobody else needs to pay for what Jinx did.

What’s even more important, though, is that Arcane is a character-driven show. In order for a character-driven show to work, you have character interactions. If you send Jayce on a roaring rampage of revenge and have him kill not just the men, but the women and the children of Zaun too, you will completely alienate him from the rest of the cast. Viktor, Caitlyn and Vi would despise him for such a thing. They would cut him off. Meaning no more interactions could happen. In your hunger for blood, you will have written one of your protagonists into a corner you can never write him out of. So, congratulations. Good job.

Furthermore, this development would completely undo his entire character arc in s1 - he would have learned nothing. By the end of the season, Jayce finally starts to recognise that he cannot treat every problem as a nail and expect his one-size-fits-all solutions to work. That Piltover is directly complicit in the plight of Zaun and that its people are mostly justified in lashing out against them. In other words, he knows that he’s fucked up and he owns up to it. And although the deal with Silco comes with its own can of worms, Jayce tries to do right by the people of Zaun and recognises that - unfortunately - Silco is a necessary evil vital to that plan because without a unified leadership to negotiate with, there is no way of controlling the situation. To go back on this development would be extremely frustrating to say the least, and - in my opinion - bad writing.

Last but not least, and it pains me to say this: there simply isn’t enough people invested in Jayce and Mel as characters and a couple (many are actually wishing for Mel’s death because they deluded themselves into thinking that will make room for their preferred pairing somehow) for this to have a significant impact on the viewers. I would be sobbing (and likely quitting the show entirely), but I would be in a minority. Not to mention that having too many plotlines that involve grieving would be contra-productive, and ultimately Caitlyn mourning her mother would overshadow Jayce’s grief simply because Caitlyn is the more popular character of the two. That doesn’t serve Jayce’s story at all. He deserves the spotlight just as much and that is best served by giving him a different plotline.

Mel’s arc has been completed and there’s no room for her in the story moving forward.

It might seem that way to some, but it’s simply not true if you stop to think about the plot threads introduced in the last two episodes of the season. Mel’s story is only just beginning. She has cut ties with her family, she has learned valuable lessons, she’s prepared to do better. Her story going forward is redemption. She is going to be atoning for having neglected her most vulnerable constituents. Now, you might argue that Marcus didn’t get a shot at redemption either, but the difference is that the show was never actually setting him up for it. There is plenty for Mel to do and I have textual evidence to prove it:

105 00:07:26 –> 00:07:27 [Mrs. Medarda] We’re in trouble, Mel. 106 00:07:28 –> 00:07:31 The man who killed your brother doesn’t believe the score is settled, 107 00:07:31 –> 00:07:33 and his resources exceed ours.

Ambessa’s political rival who seems deadset on completely annihilating the Medarda dynasty still has a bone to pick with the family. And while he could easily do so without Mel’s presence within the story, I think this plot would fall flat with her out of the picture. While Mel herself is not a very popular character, Ambessa at this point has next to no characterisation of her own. We as viewers - and Jayce within the story proper - have no reason to care about Ambessa’s problems unless it directly affects Mel. She is a barebones character that can only receive characterisation through Mel, similarly to how Silco was chiefly characterised through Jinx. Moreover:

202 00:12:57 –> 00:13:00 I’m here to help guide you to the right decisions. 203 00:13:01 –> 00:13:04 -I don’t need your guidance. -We’ll see.

This simple exchange alludes to the future dynamic between Mel and her mother. A dynamic that strongly reminds me of Tyrion and Tywin Lannister in Game of Thrones - arguably one of the best parts of that show. The story potential of these two brilliant politicians facing off is off the charts and as someone who enjoyed the political side of this show more than the actual A plot (which was still brilliant, mind you), the thought makes me giddy with anticipation. And with this show’s standing theme of parents jeopardising themselves to protect their daughters, I’m almost sure that therein lies Ambessa’s fate. After she receives due characterisation to make us sympathise with her, and even mourn her as many did with Silco. She has not been undone yet, and it would be wasted potential to do so right-away, when her relationship with Mel has not had a chance to be be explored in full.

And of those arguing in favour of Ambessa’s revenge arc I ask: what’s the point? Who cares? Where’s the story? If Ambessa could just walk into Zaun and start killing people left and right (for which she didn’t bring a big enough force to begin with), and if it just so happened that she did have Jayce’s support to do so, the season would be over in like three episodes. All Jayce has to do is arm the enforcers with hextech guns and Zaun is toast - he knows this, he tells as much to Silco during their parley. And if they did, the fandom would hate them both for it. There would be no chance for redemption, no sympathy spared for either of them. Arcane writers seem to be above such trite storytelling, as their continuous toying and subverting of the classic tropes and expectations should’ve taught you by now.

Jayce is just the worst and deserves to suffer.

No. Just no. And thank god it’s not you writing the plot because clearly character nuance is an alien concept to you. He’s just a fallible human like the rest of the cast.

What about the droid Jinx attack on the Wookies council?

What about the rest of the council, you ask? Well, for the plot to unfold and the eventual healing of the two cities, the old guard on the council absolutely had to go. They were bigoted, greedy, neglectful, rigid and unwilling to make the much needed concessions. That means that Heimerdinger, Hoskel, Salo (RIP, your nuts will be missed) and Cassandra Kiramman had to go. Furthermore, Cassandra’s death will throw an interesting wrench into Caitlyn and Vi’s relationship and give them new motivations to apprehend Jinx. Heimerdinger has already been removed and is presently picking brains with Ekko, hopefully leading to some eye-opening experiences. Shoola has proven rather reasonable over the times, but I don’t see her surviving either, she seemed too inactive even as she spoke pretty words. The show is setting up Jayce, Mel and Caitlyn, with Vi to guide them along the way, to be the the driving force of change in Piltover. With Ekko and Heimerdinger being the same for Zaun.

Notice that I conveniently left Councillor Bolbok out of my list even though he’s a rickety old thing with rusted hinges for ideas? Well, it’s because he’s the one council member I feel that has a chance of survival - although, admittedly, it would make for a delicious irony for his death to be caused by the same arcane forces that nearly wiped out his entire race. Nevertheless his survival is plausible, not only because he’s a robot and I assume his parts can be replaced, but also because he’s well… an asshole. But assholes are needed for the story to stay interesting - our protagonists need rivals to play off of and there is a precedent for Bolbok’s extremism going back to act 1.

So what will happen, Edda?

I’m glad you asked! Thanks to the game lore we have some inkling of what will happen - Caitlyn will become the sheriff, Vi will be her partner in law, Jayce will become the begrudging leader of Piltover, Zaun will eventually gain its independence, but its people will continue to be preyed upon by criminal empires. That said, changes will be made to the lore as deemed appropriate by the writers - plenty has been changed already, after all. 

I think after the explosion, a provisional council will be appointed and if you thought the previous council members were bad, these ones will be decidedly worse. I think Amara will inherit one of the seats since s1 has already set her up as one of the major players in Piltover, I think Camille Ferros (before hextechiation?) will be another, possibly Bolbok if he survives as I expect. Ambessa will likely pick one of the new councillors to align with and continue fanning the flames of war. Jayce will reluctantly re-enter the political scene even though he’s effectively resigned on his position in the last episode. Him and Mel will try to deescalate the situation as best they can, butting heads with the rest of the council and Ambessa. While Piltover will be demanding blood - any blood - Jayce and Mel will be demanding Jinx specifically. My oddly specific prediction is that Jayce will order yet another barricade of the city, but this time to protect the Zaunites from the bloodthirsty Piltovan mob.

All of this will make Jayce and Mel extremely unpopular with the public. They might even lose their power. This will be impactful in Mel’s case especially, since agency is one of her core characteristics in s1 - she is the most powerful member of the council pre-explosion, always in control during the council meetings; she is the richest person in the city, she elevates and empowers Jayce every step of the way - it’s her go-to way of displaying her affection for him before they become a couple. Every one of these things is a show of her agency. To see how she grapples with losing something she clings to so dearly could be painful yet interesting to watch. And there is something poetic in Piltover turning on its Golden Boy, especially since the show has been toying with that possibility already…

Anyways, feel free to clown on me if turns out I’m wrong, but until s2 comes out these are my thoughts on the matter.

[mvmnbnv]

You seem pretty sensible so I'd be curious to hear your thoughts, if you're up for it?

Don't know about you, but I'm at a point where I'm just too stressed over all the things we've been teased about for s2 (whether Arcane trailers or LoL's game trailers, the merch). I see people fighting over Jinx&Vi and Cait/Vi all over the place and, though I want both to work out, I'm more worried about what the writers will do with Vi herself, outside of her relationships with them. Because right now, it looks like pain and more pain and it breaks my heart to see her like this.

I'm soooo worried about her and her arc. I've had this theory for the longest time that she prophetised her own trajectory with what she accused Vander of in s1, that she herself will become "comfortable living in someone else's shadow". Vi's character has been kinda stagnant since Arc 2 because S1 was mostly about building up to Powder fully becoming Jinx, and Vi's core motivation centered around saving Powder. In a way, her own path was for someone else, not herself.

With what we've got so far, it seems that the writers will do the same in s2 but her new motivation will be helping/protecting Caitlyn which I feel won't be nearly as impactful as it was with Jinx and worse, it might make Vi feel like she has no real agency of her own except pick herself apart for other people? It's not super compelling for a story arc.

Cait and Jinx seem to be getting arcs that really revolve around them and Vi is not really needed for either of those arcs. Cait is set on revenge, and Jinx has become a symbol for freedom. Those are interesting arcs that can truly change and develop those characters and I'm really excited for those. But Vi? Every glimpse we've seen so far has her linked to other characters (heck, her new skin apparently has her crying eating a cupcake ffs). She might become an enforcer for Cait, I fear she might be fighting Jinx for Cait also, and then she goes on a self-destructive path where she hallucinates Cait.

Which btw... On the surface, the pit-fighter clip seems super interesting, a culmination of everything that Vi is struggling with, all the pain she's endured finally catching up to her and swallowing her whole... On the surface you see how much Vi is suffering ... BUT with the small signs liking her spiral to Cait and their potential break-up... well it worries me that the spiral is actually mostly about Cait which would be complete BS, honestly. I hope they go way deeper than that because Vi deserves her trauma to be explored with care and be about HER, not about someone else.

My point is, from where I stand, it seems like Vi shifted from yearning/living for Powder to yearning for Cait and ... well I hope the writers went much further than that and gave Vi a story of her own that doesn't involve her being torn up between Cait and Jinx over and over again. And if they do that after the pit-fighter clip, the writers are heading to a place where Vi won't be stuck in other people's shadow and starts living for herself. I do think this is what they are going for, though.

With that said, I do have a good feeling that Vi will absolutely shine in Act 3, once the Noxus vs PnZ kicks in, because she is the unifying bridge between Jinx and Cait and thus Piltover and Zaun. I just hope it's not going to be misery porn until that point though.

Is that really too much to ask?

(pfiou, sorry for the rant, hope you have a good day/night though)

hello! thanks for being interested in the thoughts of lil old me!

honestly im probably where you are right now for a lot of reasons. And if im being honest i could barely even stand how they wrote vi last szn, and the points you brought up (i didnt know about the whole vi skin crying eating a cupcake tho) make me worried for her.

Last szn she was practically spineless when it came to jinx and it was so annoying to watch. jinx was at a point where she'd almost killed her and literally kidnaps her and drives her so mad she starts screaming and cursing at her by the end and you mean to tell me vi's just all "aaw powder its okaay" by the end??? uh no...if i was vi and spent all that time looking for you and trying to mend our relationship only for you to have almost killed me and be warmed up to the man that killed my dad...nah id be livid. theres so reason vi shouldnt be upset with her by the end, but instead shes just sad about it... like bro she should be angry for so many reasons. ofc shell always love her sister, and i want it that way, but she has every right to be mad at her.

and the way her character revolves around cait this szn from the looks of things is equally irritating. like vis depressed and losing her shit hallucinating cait and cait only...which already feels like a red flag in where they wanna go with her. what about powder and how she failed her in her mind? what about vander and how she possibly dissapointed him in her mind? what about her parents hell?? how she probably failed them too in her mind? there are so many different ppl for her to be thinking about that would give her agency but no...just cait...they were even going to put a cupcake on the back of her biker jacket, which everyone thought was cute, but i thought it was one, annoying, and two, super frustrating, which made me glad they didnt, but the fact they even thought about it is just...like theres no way in hell cait hasnt probably fucked her up emotionally with this whole crusade for jinx, but one of the thoughts that go through their head is that?? and the way they did her with jinx last szn makes me not hopeful in that regard if cait has hurt her. and amanda's thing for "unrequited love", or at least explaining how she listened to a song about it while writitng for them and that was the exact reason why she liked it...i might actually throw up...no hate to her directly but fuck...

my hope is that they acknowledge this as the character flaw that it is. my hope is that i end up feeling about her how i felt about armin from aot at first. he annoyed me at one point, but it was only because he was out of his element. once he stepped into what he was supposed to be doing, he became one of my favorites and i rooted for him every step of the way. vi is already my favorite but that fact makes me irritated with the way they write her. but back to my hopes for her i hope it isnt like this forever. ive made posts about it before but i want her to realize that she cant please everyone and do what SHE thinks is best. i want her to do things for her own reasons. as far as her living in the shadows, i dont think it will be forever. she's literally piltovers enforcer and arcane is about how we get to that point. she'll probably wind up doing something that makes them see her as their hero like how jinx did with zaun. it could even be done the same way where she doesnt give a flying fuck about the city but it just happens that she did something that they found revolutionary anyway. we see her and ekko fighting noxus in the trailer and her carrying someone on her back while rushing away from noxian arrows, so maybe it has to do with that. but yea i just pray for her character this szn