#pilltover

[enfoutreur-du-futur]

Using my moots funny tweet for my favorite ship

[lonelysa1lor]

The writers or whoever is answering questions about The Good Timeline in Arcane should've really kept their mouth shut because they just keep giving more ways for this universe to make no sense

[somethingformyself]

Jinx becoming some fucking revolutionary doesn't make any goddamn sense. Her, Silco & Sevika did nothing but terrorize the undercity and ya'll want us to believe these motherfuckers care about the people? The same people they got addicted to shimmer? The same kids who you orphaned and forced to work in your factories? GET THE FUCK OUTTA HERE. The writing for act 2 better step up. Cause from where I'm at, none of this development is good storytelling. Especially because their gonna gloss over all the important shit to prop up Jinx as a leader.

[telleroftime]

Actually, now that I think about it, I remember I used to have an idea for a Viktor x Reader. It would have been an AU where Reader takes the place of Rio: that pink, mutated creature in Singed' hideout. Now, if any of you have watched Arcane you know exactly how that story would have ended. Picture angst and hurt/no comfort. The idea is still on the table though.

[duncanor]

Those tags are really funny don't get me wrong but this isnt what I meant ^^ and I think that people putting all the blame on Jayce are really missing the point actually!

What makes theirs narratives so heartbreaking to me is that it wasn't 'fumbling', it was no incident. No matter what they could have done, they were doomed. Since Jayce was saved by that mage, since Viktor was born in Zaun.

What if they'd given up on Hextech? What would've become of them? Well, for Jayce, he would've jumped. And for Viktor..pilltover disdain for Zaunites would've claimed another victim sooner than later.

So yeah, this dream of theirs saved their lives. But as Heimerdinger said, magic tend to turn dreams into nightmares. And it did turn into just that. And there's nothing that they could've done to stop it without sacrificing themselves...but in doing so.. They also sacrificed everyone else.

That's what I meant by 'the real tragedy was that nothing worked'. Because it couldn't have. They were never going to be saved.

It was fate but they couldn't accept it because they loved their dream, they loved the people and they loved each others. And yet, this is what their blind, dream-like, love brought. Death, destruction, hatred and

...betrayal.

I know people are focused on Jayce right now but I do believe Viktor own quote about love making us do the most evil things also applies to himself (even if he didn't get it at the time).

His miracles had a price and not just 'his' magic. Jayce seeing them as arcane husks, Viktor being able to see/speak through them, their lives bein' so intertwined that if Viktor dies they all do, like puppet whose strings were cut...

The real tragedy of Jayce killing Viktor is that Viktor genuinely thought he was realizing their dream, that he was finally helping his people but then he got betrayed by the one who made that dream possible in the first place. And Jayce.. He tried to stop this nightmare from developing further, corrupting whatever was left of his partner.

The real tragedy is that nothing worked.

[eerna]

Omg I'm glad I'm not the only one baffled by caitvi bc like I always loved them together but Cait literally was so oppressive and hateful towards Zaunites, didn't understand Vi when she didn't want to become an enforcer bc they killed her parents and oppressed her people all her life (as well as herself, she was in JAIL beat up by the guardian come on), commited war crimes (Vi was with her but still), during their "break up" scene justified the risk of killing a kid to kill Jinx and told Vi "I keep telling myself that you're different but you're not... It's her blood in your veins" like that's so !!! Such a disguting thing to say, I can't even begin to explain and I don't mean the comparison to Jinx, it's just the fascist eugenics theory, and the whole "I hate zaunites but you're different and a "good one" or so i thought", like I want to throw up, plus she hit her (the same place she was stabbed when Cait saved her too...) and then went into a whole authoritarian regime, oppressing Vi's people, literally the embodiment of pilltover oppresion vi had to suffer all her life, she even put her sister in jail just like Vi was, but Vi is fine with all of that ? I mean okay Vi forgave her sister, all characters are problematics and Cait was feeling really remorseful and everything but they deserved a talk about this before going back to all lovey dovey...

Yeah!! I don't need a VERBAL apology, it can totally be shown through actions, but Cait letting Jinx go from being UNJUSTLY IMPRISONED being considered a grand romantic gesture that makes everything okay, only for Vi to show that she clearly doesn't think herself Cait's equal in the final scene (singing the Zaunite lullaby, comparing herself to dirt)..... yikes. Yikes yikes yikes.

[thewistlingbadger]

I've never believed that Jinx's real name was powder. To me that does not make much sense. Every other character in the show no matter their importance, has had a name. A REAL name. Powder is not a name. Powder is not even a noun name. It's just a noun. It doesn't make sense to have this character who has this extremely weird name among characters that all have proper/"normal" names. As I thought about this I realized a secret that Arcane uses when it comes to names.

In arcane, names giveaway allegiances. Our main cast from Piltover have proper names. Jayce, Caitlyn. Ambessa, Mel, Marcus, Grayson, etc. Our Zaun cast all have interesting/weird/uncommon names. Silco, sevika, Vander, Ekko, singed, huck, claggor, Mylo, etc. if her name truly is powder then this fits the theme, it's just on the extreme side of weird zaun naming conventions. The name jinx however still fits with the Zaun theme AND makes much more sense.

It's very important to note that these names are not by origin, they are by allegiance. Our two main examples are vi and Viktor.

Viktor is considered to be a normal name hence why he is a part of the pilltover plot line. However his spelling is odd. His name is most commonly spelled as Victor, but his name has a k, adding in that Zaun weirdness factor. Viktor lives in Piltover and has assimilated into their society. Throughout season 1 we see Viktor, we hear him reiterate how he's a Zaunite and how he made hextech to help his city. With each episode we see him stray farther away from Piltover and those ideals. Furball says don't mess with the arcane, kill the hex core, do things safely, and Viktor says no to all of these. He works on the hex core in secret, it ends up killing his friend, and he makes Himself one with the magic. We see him go to singed for help, we see him use shimmer, and this is how he's making distance from Piltover. We don't know his involvement in S2 but we can theorize that he's going to keep making this push back to his roots, back to his true allegiance.

Vi is from the undercity and she has a noun name like jinx (or "powder"), but unlike her sister Vi's name is proper. This hints at Vi's allegiances being with piltover, which checks out with what we see in the show. Vi partners up with Caitlyn, a piltie enforcer. Vi urges Ekko to return the crystal back to Piltover. Vi tells the council about Jinx. Vi works with Jayce to stop shimmer production and silco. Vi ends up becoming an enforcer in season 2. So even though she's historically been pro Zaun and anti Piltover, her name tells us that at the end of the day (season 2) she's actually going to side with Piltover.

[electronicdelusionstarlight]

Calling it now Mel's dad is the mage who saved Jayce, Jayce was saved on the Northern Mountains to Pilltover and Zaun, which is Noxian Territory, which is near both Basilich and the Place Ambessa mentions to have fought in, and Mel has light magic much like Lux (She can do light shields it's pretty obvious by now), hence the Black Rose trying to bag her to use as a pawn in the eternal war against Mordekaiser, because they love bagging mages.

Side note the double headed wolf Singed used as a base for Warwick is also from those mountains.

[mo0nfairy]

Lowkey waiting for Caitlin to turn out to be the worst yandere tbh, like her as a dictator, that’s no many resources for one crazy. Like at lest vi and jinx are just physically imposing, and victor is a declawed wet cat, but Caitlin, she can send out man hunts for you, specific task forces to find you and then erase your existence, no missing person case if no record shows you where ever there. Don’t worry though the whole of pilltover and zaun will know that there ruler has a lover (she would wear a ring) just that no one has ever seen them, they might become like an urban legend (this is more general yandere cait then bloomstrid cait) (dictator more like straptator)

declawed wet cat has me CRYINGGGGG

and u are 100% correct........... im not gonna spoil much, but caitlyn is gonna be vvvvv scary..... ;)

[gwenyundreiko]

I need to scream about Arcane S2 (spoilers for the whole season)

Alright, it's been 2 days since I've watched the end of Arcane, and I'm still in a bad mood over it, so I am going to scream into the void about it, and hopefully it will allow me to move on.

I do not like the second season of Arcane.

Season 1 ? Absolute banger, still love it. I love it even more after recently watching it a second time in preparation for season 2.

Season 2 though ? ... I will not go into the details (because I feel like I would need to rewatch it again to be more accurate, and I don't want to do that), so I am just going to write about how I feel about it now that it is over.

Season 2 has left me deeply unsatisfied, to say the least. I think this feeling comes from the fact that most characters' arcs look like they were either cut short, or didn't really go anywhere. This makes the entire story feel pointless; an undeniable marvel of aesthetics and animation put in service of nothing.

I could talk about a lot of the main cast, but I'll only talk about Vi, her relationship with Caitlyn, and the Zaun vs Pilltover theme.

First off : Vi, the character who fought tooth and nails for those she loved and always tried to do the right thing. Accepting responsibility for everyone who looked up to her... and got nothing for it in the end but pain. From the start of the serie, she is set up to be one of the protagonists, along with her sister and Caitlyn. Yet the story feels pervert in the way it insists to both :make Vi suffer without giving her any sort of confort or moment to express her feelings ; and make all of her actions be pointless.

In episode 8, when she says "I always make the wrong choice and lose everyone", we have to admit that from a narrative point of view, she is absolutely right. For the first time, Vi is self pitying. She's shown as vulnerable, doubtful, almost sounding like she's giving up by saying that all she ever does is useless or worse. This is incredibly out of character for her, and yet the story proves her right. Nothing she does matters in any meaningful way. She doesn't even contribute to the final battle : she gets stranded in the defence of the artillery tower (which turned out not to be a key asset in the battle), then go 1v2 Warwick with Jinx, and Jinx ends up sacrificing herself to kill it, but only AFTER the battle is over and all the narrative tension has calmed down. (Sidenote : yes yes I know it is hinted that Jinx is still alive, but still. Let's agree that it's in bad taste for a suicidal character's triumphant moment to be a reckless act of self sacrifice, independently of the outcome.)

Vi gets mistreated throughout the whole storry and gets nothing in the end despite her bravery and efforts. No matter how hard she fought, she still ends up separated from her sister and she still loses Vander. The only thing she gets in the end is a girlfriend with whom she basically had no tender moment since their breakup, making Vi feel like a rescue dog at Caitlyn's house, but let's talk about her relationship with Caitlyn in more depth.

I'll say this first : I love the sex scene. It's tender and passionate. It's a bit awkward, but in such a relatable way that it only makes the moment sweeter. It does an excellent job at showing us how the characters feel about each other. Taken on its own, it's perfect. Two people that love each other so much they just need to have each other right here, right now... I just wish their relationship around it was more fleshed out.

From what we get to see on screen, they get a really messy break up in episode 3, and then never interact again until crossing paths at the commune. In the meantime, Caitlyn has allied herself with Ambessa, declared martial law on Zaun and is oppressing it with the full extent of her legitimate violence... but upon seeing Vi again, she instantly switches side to go against Ambessa with a rushed plan.

We get absolutely no other insight into their emotions or thoughts at this moment. No scene to show that despite their conflicts and standing on opposite sides, there is still tenderness and affection between the two of them that could hint at them getting back together. Instead, Vi calls her a petname once, and it's done, no further convincing needed. (Sidenote again : this makes Caitlyn look impulsive and irrational, when everything that comes before shows us that she is smart, collected and patient. Here, she instantly abandons everything she was previously fighting for, even at the risk of putting her entire city in danger. This includes abandonning her vandetta against Jinx, which is the reason why they split up in the first place, but this isn't adressed between Vi and Cait ever again either.)

After that, Vi holds her accountable for her actions for the time of 1 dialogue.

Then they barely interact again until the jailcell scene. Hell, once the battle starts, I don't think the two of them interact AT ALL until the epilogue.

The lack of substance in the portrayal of their relationship makes this sweet and tender sex scene feel like a spur of the moment thing. An almost self-destructive action from Vi trying to scrape at any possible source of confort after being cut out by her sister. A good thing happening for the wrong reasons. (Mind you, a hate sex scene would have worked wonders in my opinion, but that's not what we got.)

So yeah, given all of that, I'm struggling to see how Vi ending up with Caitlyn is supposed to be a meaningful and happy resolution to her story, when this relationship is barely shown on screen during season 2.

Finally, let's talk about the Zaun vs Piltover situation : it goes nowhere.

An entire 5 acts showing us that Piltover treats Zaun like shit, turning it into a ghetto and leaving it to rot in its own misery . The promo campaign for season 2 teased us a revolution... and in the end, we barely see any change. The way the story resolves implies that now that Zaun and Pilltover have triumphed over a shared ennemy, they grieve together and make peace because they have learned that war comes at too high a cost, and Zaun gets to be represented by ONE councilor.

I'm sorry but either the show tried something and missed, or the show was just incredibly shallow from the beginning. This conflict was set up from the first second of the show by having the main characters be orphaned by cops in a popular uprising which only looks more and more justified as we learn more about Zaun. That is to say that Topside doesn't care about Zaunites. From what we can tell, Heimerdinger has been leading the city for 300 years, and he discovers just now that Zaun has problems ?? Piltover prides itself for being the city of progress and equality, while exploiting the misery of the people that are LITERRALY BENEATH THEM. It's the final shot of THE FIRST SCENE IN THE SHOW, the topside people are sitting ON TOP of Zaun, reaping the benefits while throwing their wastes at them.

I think there's no better illustration for how Piltover considers Zaun than the scene where Jayce announces to the Council that Silco has demanded independance. All the councilors lose their shit. They are OUTRAGED by the demand. Clearly, Piltover considers Zaun its property. People to exploit, whose need and misery they can ignore, and ultimately, a problem to be solved through the police by having them arrested/beaten up/killed.

So either the show was indeed trying to tell a story about class struggle and oppression, and failed to deliver a satisfying conclusion; or the show was only interested in the appearance and flavor of class struggle only as a vessel for the cliché of "the cycle of violence". Which hmm, yeah it's 2024. I don't think anyone needs me to write an entire section about the necessity of fighting for human rights and resisting oppression.

I could have talked about how pitfighter Vi was 60% of the promo for Season 2, and yet was done and gone in a minute, which was also what we got with the promo, or how a French animation studio decided to call an independant, pacifist and egalitarian community " The Commune" (if you know you know); I could have also talked about Jinx's character, and how the show portrays her self healing from her devouring guilt, but I'll stop rambling here. I hate that I have wrote this, because I don't want to spread negativity. I'd rather spend this kind of energy on things I love.

The thing is, I really really wish I enjoyed Arcane season 2, because season 1 means a lot to me. Vi's character awakened something in me. It is representation I never knew I needed and it changed me. I know this sounds silly. It's only a fictionnal story after all, but it helped me grow into a better and more hopeful person. In the end, I just feel like season 2 went too far too fast, and left me behind to try and pick up the pieces of my expectations. If you've made it this far, I sincerely thank you, and I hope you have a beautiful rest of the day.

[saneandrocking]

heyyy confession time: i don't give a fuck about cait. like, not an once of a fuck actually. the gold coffin was the last drop for me. this is not to say she's not a good written character, but yeah fuck that fascist she can gag on that gun of hers all she wants. fuck all of pilltover btw never expect me to have something to say to defende them.

[dogin8]

I'm ngl, and I know that it's said jokingly, in regards to Arcane 2 discourse, a lot of people are hugely minimizing Ekko's intents and impacts. People saying stuff like "Everyone is involved in extreme politics and war meanwhile Ekko just cares about his tree" "Ekko is the lorax" "Ekko just wants his tree to be okay"

As if Ekko hasn't been CLEARLY engaged with the politics and war the whole time.

He's a revolutionary, he built a community, he doesn't turn people away, he directly challenges Jayce's Pilltover-centric mindset literally the whole time they are talking, There's so much to talk about!!

The idea that Ekko only cares about his tree and isn't engaged in politics does a MASSIVE disservice to his character.

[lonelysa1lor]

I am once again thinking about Vanders non-perminent 'Peace' in The Lanes

Because it wasn't going to last at all, Vi and the others arent the only ones stealing things from Pilltover, someone would've eventually stolen from somewhere that was as important as an apartment owned by the Kirammans even if Vi and the others hadnt gotten that tip from Ekko. And that wall of peace wouldve snapped.

It may have kept some people safe but Zaun was still having enforcers come through, It wasnt a step forward or a step back. It was a non-moving middle ground.

Vander stopped moving in an effort to keep people safe. While Silco was dragging Zauns blood covered body to freedom even if it killed everyone he was tugging into the sun, including himself. He only took a moment to pause when he realised it meant sacrificing Jinx

[karuvapatta]

buckle up, I'm gonna bitch about Arcane season 2 for a while.

disclaimer: the animation and art direction is absolutely stellar, writing and voice acting is mostly solid, music ranges from good to amazing, sound design is great, and it's a great show overall.

HOWEVER:

There were so many interesting subplots and ideas, but not one of them had enough room to breathe or time to develop organically.

(spoilers under cut)

Caitlyn - I love the subplot about her becoming a fascist dictator and Ambessa's pupil, I really do. But then it sort of fizzled? She faced no repercussions for installing a police state and using chemical weaponry against civilians? The last one got to me especially - her mother built this system claiming that "the people of Undercity deserve to breathe" and Caitlyn then turned it against them. Okay, Vi and Jinx both called her out and it left to her rift with Vi, but... she's still in charge at the end, having seemingly learned no lessons?

Vi - uh, she was there. Sort of. Most of the time. Again, she joined the Enforcers, and it led to SOME conflict, but... is she going back to being an Enforcer? how does she feel about that? Who knows - Vi was mostly there for Cait and Jinx's subplots than her own.

Jinx - her subplot with Sevika and Isha was my second favourite thing about this season. The idea of her becoming a symbol and uniting Zaun is great. That little moment in the prison was awesome. But, ultimately - it didn't amount to much. Her sacrificing her life for Vi (or not, I don't know if she actually dies) didn't hit as much because we already knew she was actively suicidal.

Isha - had the potential to be super annoying, but like I said, I ended up really liking her character. Her death rubbed me the wrong way, however - it was very emotional, but the framing was very strange. Were we supposed to find it inspirational? Tragic but beautiful? Proof that Jinx isn't irredeemable?

Sevika - again: loved her, loved her interactions with Jinx and Isha.

Silco - I found it weird how this season consistently framed him as a good guy. Jinx and Sevika remember him fondly, he was the only thing holding Zaun together, there are cute flashbacks / AU versions of him and Vander being happy... he's a complex character and we love him for it, but let's not forget his many, many crimes.

Singed - kinda weird that he got what he wanted with no repercussions.

Mel - all right, her subplot bothered me perhaps most of all. Mel is a joy every time she's on screen, true, but last season she had been established as a savvy politician and businesswoman, motivated by her mommy issues, and a corrupting presence on Jayce. She pushed for progress at all costs to fulfil her own ambitions and prove something to her mother. That's a great setup! But what we got in s2 is... random superpowers out of nowhere. Mel always had power - she was the richest woman in Pilltover and basically ran its Council - but now instead of confronting her with the potential side-effects of Hextech, the consequences of her ambitions, and the futility of proving herself to her abusive warmongering mother, she just gets... more power. Out of nowhere. And validation from Ambessa. It was just weird.

Jayce and Viktor - easily the most compelling part of this season, and my favourite subplot. And STILL - it felt rushed and incoherent. I thought at first that Viktor would become jealous and resentful because Jayce is everything that he isn't, and I am honestly so glad they didn't take that route. But instead, Viktor gets... brainwashed by the Hexcore I guess? Ascends to a higher plane of existence? His Jesus Days and his cults were fascinating, but I didn't get the philosophy behind them at all. I can see why Viktor would want to shed his physical body for a machine that has none of its weakness, and how he might convince others to follow that path, but instead he chose to brainwash his followers and then assimilate the entire human race? What? There were so, so many potential sources of conflict between himself and Jayce - the Hextech weaponry Jayce built, Pilltover's fascist takeover of the Undercity, Jayce reviving him against his will and not destroying the Hexcore, accidentally poisoning Ekko's tree through their irresponsible use of Hextech... but the conflict we got didn't built on any of that. And I don't understand why.

(But I get you, Jayce/Viktor shippers. You won this round.)

[thaliajoy-blog]

You know I think you can both aknowledge that Ambessa is going to influence Caitlyn on how to deal with the Undercity and aknowledge that Cait is an adult who comes from a priviledged Pilltover background and who's probably gonna do some pretty bad shit to the Undercity out of a desire for vengeance, as the assumptions she's always carried in her subconscious (the Undercity is dangerous & better handled with violence & repression) seem to become true after Jinx' attack.

She's not just a lil mew mew who can't think for herself and is carried against her will by the tide of events everywhere. Her losing her optimistic mindset & ideals of justice to loss, trauma & her family's historical position in the class struggle going on in the city is part of the tragedy of Arcane. It's part of her arc. Characters change. That state of mind might not be her endgame but she's gonna pass through that hell that's assured.

[thefrenchbat]

OK this is going to be a little long but I need it out of my head so I can function and who knows maybe someone will appreciate the analysis !

Big spoilers for the last two episodes of arcane. You've been warned~

The final of arcane was very beautiful animation wise and does close around two (maybe three) of the storyline started before. But, and that's my problem it completely throw out of the window any and everything about zaun and piltover... in the worst way possible for me.

And that's what we're gonna talk about here.

And now that I know the episode was supposed to be 1h30 instead of 50minutes it makes a lot more sense. Riot, give me at least the storyboard, or the scripts, or the unused voicelines, anything really. Thank you.

So. To put it simply. The entire final is from the point of view of piltover only and yes, that's a problem.

"But Herk, it's a greater evil ! We don't have to discuss about the zaun/piltover situation it's about unification !"

Let's deconstruct that statement shall we ?

First "the greater evil" :

Up until episode 6, Viktor got a thriving and peaceful community going on in a place that was a wasteland before. None of the people here are drones yet (yes they are eerily peaceful, yes it was the beginning of the 'evolution' but at that point they werent yet drones), as proven by vander situation itself :

We clearly see Viktor searching for his personality in the terrible work Singed did on him. And finding him while talking with Sky that this is using is very finite resources but it is worth it.

When warwick says "don't touch my daughter" it's not Viktor talking. It's vander.

He is disagreeing with Singed on using his method and we don't know at that point if people would have died with him if his death hadn't been brutal... which leads me to :

Then Jayce comes around and kills him, starting the chain of events that leads to the final. (Because "you can make me see the glorious evolution is not worth it" becomes "if I murder him it will stop everything." Instead of, i dont know, talking to him and saying "look in my mind". Dumbass.)

We have no clue what could have been (haha) if Jayce had talk to Viktor then. Maybe he could have severed his link with the commune in a gentle way, maybe not. But we don't get to see that. Because jayce jump-start the actual Glorious Evolution.

Now for the "it's about unification" part :

Pilltover has been keeping Zaun under dictatorship for months, wagonning people to prison without as much as a trial (but hey, they didn't use the _worst_ cells yet. Because 10 people in a room with no bed is very human. Fuck you).

Used the "grey" which is basically mustard gas in zaun's street as a way to "keep people safe". Do I really have to say thay it is bullshit or ? (Especially as we see victims of the grey beat up and left IN IT after the enforcers passage !)

And have the confirmation that pilltover is very aware of the gas problem in zaun (even over their enforcers having gas mask instead of. I don't know. Making sure the air is breathable without risk in zaun.)

And all of this for ? Ha yes, allegedly capturing one person. Again, not taking any responsibility in why this person exists in the first place (exploitation for decades > violent repression > murdering her parents > corrupt police making their money with gangs and not caring about it because what consequences? haha we are up they are down).

While using a foreign military to do so.

( "but Cait is grieving!" I don't care. It doesn't justify her putting thousands of people through fascism.)

And we see sevika and zaun trying to defend itself but with limited resources as always and an internal situation extremely messy because of the gangs that are left (chembarons who wouldn't have existed without the corrupted pilltover police doing their bread on it and the council not caring, as ever, just as a reminder).

Now for some details :

In the first two acts we hear "our people"/"our city" to talk solely of piltovians.

Caitlyn and her great "i keep telling myself you're different, but you have the same blood in your veins".

Great to remind us that she does still think people of zaun are not the same breed as her and are filthy to the core by their fucking blood itself no less.

Considering her mother was on the council when the last revolt from zaun happened and so she was part of the people that took the decision to kill all the protesters.. including vi parents. Her statement becomes very ironic on top of being atrocious.

And let's not forget how she forced her into an enforcer costume while saying "I understand your pain"... yeah you don't. Your mom died in a result of the decade of action and inaction of her own council, you're an adult and still have your father. Both vi and jinx parents died trying to get under the heel of their oppressors and when they were children no less. Fuck you.

Jayce and "we build the core of the hexgate in the fissures it's fine" and ekko telling him that they didn't think about zaun water and air supply that go through the fissure and would have been destroyed if the hexgate had a problem.

Because, as always, they don't actually care about the people in zaun.

And bonus point, he doesn't apologize for making the tree and everything else sick. It's just "we didn't thought about that". AGAIN, no ownership of what pilltover is doing to anybody else.

Now that the set is ready let's go back to episodes 8 and 9, through the zaun/pilltover lense.

Jinx is in prison. She does apologize to Cait for her mom.

Cait doesn't even apologize to Vi.

Cait doesn't stop officially the dictatorship or apologize to zaun's people for what she did and left be done to them.

Cait doesn't even take responsibility in giving grace publicly to jinx, no, she let's the responsibility of getting jinx out to vi.

Leaving jinx to be a fugitive still if she actually gets out.

That is NOT owning to one "bad actions". That is being a coward and a hypocrite. And making someone else responsible for whatever happens next (yes she gives vi the choice and leaves her jinx' vendetta in the past gnagnagna, it's still completely self centered and hypocritical).

Jayce, which just murdered a number of people and provoked vander and Isha's deaths, tells people that Viktor is a menace.

For all vi knows he isn't. She saw him help vander and people nobody cared about. There is no reason for her to help here. And there is no reason for zaun people either.

We do not see the inside of zaun, at all.

We get a few people leaving and a few enrolling in the enforcers because... yeah who cares that person beat the shit out of me for month we should fight side by side and die together as one. No. Just no.

For all we know, and is being said to us, Viktor and Noxus want the hexgate. They do not need to do anything to zaun for that. They can literally (and apparently that's what they do) just roll past zaun and go directly to pilltover. The only zaunites we see dead are the ones who fight for pilltover.

Jayce talks solely of pilltover and its "undercity" there is no recognition of zaun or what has been happening for decades.

At least in that scene we see sevika and Scar leave in a :

"Ho yeah ? Noxus that you used against us for all this time is now a menace to you? Tough luck."

"But Herk ! Jayce puts down the barbebwire doors around zaun !!!!"

And that makes it OK? It makes everything before it OK? "I let you out of the camp I made around you so you can fight for me". NO. Just no. Even less considering none of the people who actually took the decision to get the dictatorship running and those gates up owns up to having done it; again.

Side note : it clearly takes a few days between the beginning of ep8 and the actual attack of noxus.

Explain to me why jayce didn't shut down the hexgate at that point, keep using hexteck' weapons and a literal arcane hammer while preaching how bad it is ??!!! That man is stupid but apparently everybody around him is too.

(And Don't tell me "but the hexgate was getting people out" just. Don't. The ships could have just fly away on their own with the hexgate shut down. Come on).

Ekko and jinx have the beginning of a conversation (i love this scene tho) and then we are back with pilltover only.

Fast-forward to the fight and HO WAIT people of zaun arrive "to help" because its a greater evil ! It makes everything fine right ?

No.

And here the details of why for me :

We do not get any closure of the zaunites storylines : Sevika and Scar don't even have a single line together or with jinx and ekko.

Ekko and Scar have been making the tree and their sanctuary one the only safe place of zaun for more than 6 years.

Ekko has been missing for months and we don't even get to see him reunite with the firefights ?? Not even one second ?

Sevika was there for Jinx then Isha during the whole of act 1 and 2 of season 2. But we don't even see them talk or sevika being made aware that Isha is dead.

Yes. Jinx' balloons got elements in honor of Isha and her depression is about that part of her that died with Isha. Sure. And it's very well done _for HER character_.

But what about sevika ? She got a very good arc that kept getting better during the season 2 and suddenly she is a background character that doesn't even deserve to have any feelings?

And it's the same for the firelights. They are here during the fight, we can even spot a few other minor characters of zaun.

But they are props.

They have no feelings or emotions (except angry yelling of fight). You are not here to empathize with them because they don't even exist as characters in that moment.

If you like them already you'll be scared for them (I yelled when I thought sevika would die, not gonna lie) but nothing more.

Jayce and Viktor... very pretty, gay being unable to say I love you and all that BUT ALSO "I'm sure there is still a bit of you in there" / "why do you persist after everything I've done"

I... You KILLED HIM you absolute dumbass of a man. You murdered him and made him lose his humanity THAT HE STILL HAD and then you call to it !?? And then Viktor blames himself

.. I can't even. I know it's because he wants jayce to say he loves him but haaaaaaaaa !!!!

Jayve has always been an idiot but that takes the cake. Most toxic ex ever, Viktor must really love him because for fuck sake xD

Ekko saves the world.

Because jayce is so bad at this and being a self-fulfilling prophecy guy that he condemned the world (like in apparently all realities where that version of the story happens).

Do we see anybody acknowledge it in the aftermath ? Do we see any recognition of a zaunite saving the situation?

Nope.

"The battle of pilltover will long be remember".

Pilltover. Just Pilltover.

Ekko's action or any zaunite's deaths during that war that Pilltover fabricated all through its own action and decisions ?

Erased. Forgotten. Not important in the Grand History. It was only Pilltover all along.

"But Herk. You're unfair, we see the little paper scene at the end ! And sevika becomes a councilor !"

Yeah. We do, and it's still shown in the show that the situation is not actually resolved : just look at the new counsilors' expressions when sevika sits down.

They still think she is beneath them and shouldn't be there... BECAUSE nobody in pilltover acknowledge anything done to zaun. Still.

And I'm glad she is a councilor don't get me wrong. I'm happy we at least get one element for zaun by the end.

But its too little and still with not even a line of dialogue.

Also, why not Ekko or Scar too ?? Sevika was a leader of a certain group in zaun, but Ekko/Scar represent a lot of people too.

So zaun is still not fully there. (And ya know, not too many zaunites come on, one for the show but not too much).

And worse. Nothing is even acknowledged to the public. Listen to the two episodes and notice how nobody say "zaun" in them, it's only undercity/topside and pilltover.

The conflict is totally erased from the narration except for that one dirty look the councilor gives Sevika.

And don't tell me I'm exaggerating because I saw, in less than a week since the final, enough take on how pilltover was absolutely not responsible for anything/zaunites were the sole responsible for their hardships and any act of resistance from them was terrorism (thanks usa), that I know a lot of people sadly took that ending in the most stupidest way possible.

Also, a detail but... Nobody is there to put a paper for Viktor.

He will stay the "Villain" of the story, forever. Because people only got Jayce telling them he was bad and never knowing the actual truth of what happened.

And that's quite disheartening too.

Jayce the piltie was a hero. Viktor the zaunite was a villain. That's it. Who cares Jayce literally provoked Viktor transformation, twice. Who cares the fight happened because of pilltover and their hexteck...

Hell, even then we see Ekko being utterly alone. Thanks for saving the world from a piltovian manufactured war and losing all in the process my guy, nobody said ever in the show.

And Singed, who is a piltovian, gets everything his way while being the absolute worst. Which ya know, forces my respect but also i hate this guy.

Because in case you hadn't realised, even shimmer was made by someone from pilltover ready to sacrifice anyone and first zaunite lives for his goal.

And the final nail in the coffin ? The last sentence of the show.

"But but it's so romantic!!! Its vi saying she's choosing to stay with Cait !!"

Really ? You think saying you're the filth under someone perfect manicure, that no matter how much they wash they can't get out... is romantic ? Damn. I knew about dirty talk but that takes it to another level (this is a joke btw).

But no matter if romantic or not, Cait never apologized to her, zaun or anybody else. She didn't own up to anything she did the entire show.

(And do remember that the whole base of the show happens because of jayce lab having dangerous materials in the middle of town; and because a kiramman was there, the council needed someone guilty from zaun).

What it is on the other hand, is still a comparison between zaun and pilltover.

They are on top, clean, except for the filth that stays under them and they can't get rid of.

And that pisses me off a lot.

Because with those 40 extra minutes we could have had the characterisation of the zaunites.

Sevika learning about Isha.

Ekko reuniting with the firelights.

Zaun actually being shown in danger and why they would help pilltover (where again jayce brings no reason to. Its just his word against everything pilltover put them through).

We could have had just a beginning of acknowledgement from pilltover OR a call out about it not happening by the people of zaun !!!

Ekko calling out Caitlyn (and Vi too honestly) would have been amazing! And a call back to season 1 where she went on about how he should not continue the cycle of violence, the audacity of a bitch I swear.

It could have fixed the problem I have with the ending. And that's really a miss for me...

Even if I did like the episodes in themselves ! They were gorgeous (mind!herald be looking fiiiiine) and the noxus and arcane storylines got finished (arguably the sisters one too). But please gimme what's missing about zaun.

Well. Now that I got it out of my system... I'm gonna go live in ep7 ! XD where my fav characters are all alive and grown up !!! *happy*

Have a good day !!!

Ps : I made a few arcane fancomics centering on the 6years gap between act 1 and act 2 of season 1.

Focusing on claggor, deckard, ekko and the firelights~

Please don't hesitate to take a look if that sounds like something that could interest you ^^

https://www.tumblr.com/lapaduza/767502852257087488/here-comes-a-new-volume-of-my-arcane-au-where?source=share