#like a lot of jayces decisions and little character details do

[jacqcrisis]

I think my favorite thing in rewatching season 1 of arcane...other than, you know, jayce and viktor meeting, 'what were you doing?' 'I dunno, science???', viktor calling Jayce's ass out with that 'you signed your initials on every page', Jayce being so goddamn precious about his partner, Vitkor just tagging along with Jayce in his counselor duties like a jilted wife watching her husband slowly lose himself to his new job and the Other Woman, Jayce's absolutely BONKERS decision to smith shirtless like that still boggles the mind and is the best character decision ever made-

But!! My favorite thing is when I think it was Mel asks Jayce where Viktor is and Jayce, in the most 'I'm not bothered by this but I absolutely secretly kind of am' tone, says 'I don't know, he just disappears sometimes'. Like goddamn, you were just cavorting around with the Piltover elite and getting your guillible ass led around by your dick by Mel, but god forbid Viktor go somewhere without you. How many times has Viktor come back from doing his own shit to Jayce just a little pissy he wasn't included in the field trip? Just a little, just a tiny bit offended that Viktor didn't invite him cause you know, he just invites Viktor literally everywhere every time and Viktor could extend the courtesy but it's fine! He'll get over it. Again.

And then Viktor is immediately not in Jayce's line of sight maybe a day later and Jayce is throwing up his hands like 'Ugh! Guess I'll just hang out with this lesbian I just met and go kill a bunch of miners and maybe even a minor >:('

Amazing. Spectacular. No one's doing it like Jayce.

[zbengui]

I've grown to love Singed as a character after watching act 2, which I should've seen coming considering my proclivity for mad scientist archetypes. He stood out to me in the first season too but there wasn't quite enough for me to sink my teeth into back then, so I'm glad they've decided to reveal more details regarding his lore now even if it still remains rather vague. That's actually one of the aspects that I like about him, it's fascinating how much he influences the overall plot even though his character receives almost no focus. He is constantly instigating chaos and causing so much tragedy for the main characters, and yet he is never confronted. I was actually just thinking about how it's a little funny that Jayce is getting blamed for what happened to Vander, even though Singed was the one who injected him with that serum. He brought Vander back to life and offered Jinx and Vi the chance to rebuild their family, only to immediately and brutally take it away.

That's kind of his entire thing. He brings the dead back to life against their will and they come out of it deeply and irreversibly changed (Vander, Jinx, possibly Viktor...?). He keeps his subjects breathing even if being alive is nothing but torture for them (Rio), not necessarily out of sadistic pleasure but in service to his ultimate ambition. For progress, evolution. It is then revealed that the motive behind all of his horrendous experiments is to bring his daughter back to life. It's all because of love, as he admits. I don't know a whole lot about the lore behind this, but I have to wonder how Orianna herself feels about this. Is she in pain, just like her father's other subjects? Is she grateful or resentful for what he is doing to her? Did she have any say in this?

One thing I like about his scientific methods is that he is willing to put his own body on the line and experiment on himself, like when he pumped his blood into WarWick. It definitely goes to show how... passionate he is. I also appreciate that he doesn't let any specimens go to waste. He even preserved the decapitated head of that guy he tested Shimmer on back in S1:

I'm sure most people would agree that Singed has a very impactful screen presence. Almost every single line he says is relevant for the overarching themes of the story. It feels like he's always dominating the scene, even when he was being held prisoner because he knew that his captors would immensely benefit from having him on their side and that Ambessa, the opportunist that she is, was going to ask him to join her as an advisor sooner or later. It's horrifying to imagine the biochemical warfare he is going to unleash while working with the Noxian army. He's going to invent new war crimes.

I also wanted to mention how relevant he is for Caitlyn's character arc in this season because most people seem to be overlooking it. I may have my personal gripes with her character progression in act 2, but her interactions with Singed in episode 5 were excellent. Singed isn't just a "crazed Zaunite", he is actually a Piltovan alchemist that is using the people of Zaun as lab rats for the sake of a deceased family member. Caitlyn realises that she will end up like him if she continues walking down the path she is currently on. That realisation, I think, is what informs her decisions later on.

I find his relationship with Viktor very fascinating too but that dynamic deserves an entirely separate post. They are both scientists with similar interests but very different philosophies and work ethics (or lack thereof). As I've briefly mentioned already, I believe Singed is going to bring Viktor back to life, robbing him of his autonomy once again in the process.

That is to say, I'm very invested in this weird old man and I'm excited to dive into his League lore after this season is over and find out what other atrocities he has commited.