#side-note: i think mr kiramman is so depressed he didn't even attend the memorial ceremony for his own wife

[jaggedwolf]

okay waiting to watch the new episodes till tomorrow, so in the meantime i'm chronologically ordering the exact ways in which Caitlyn's perspective and Piltover's response to Zaun shifts over the course of act 1

(1) [offscreen in between mourning i guess] Caitlyn browbeats the enforcers into giving Vi a badge,

She says that "if every enforcer had a heart like [Vi's], we could take on Noxus itself"

She threatens to defund the enforcers and I have so many questions about funding mechanisms in this oligarchy.

Is there a new sheriff or is she browbeating the council itself?? Unclear. If the former they are really slacking.

I'm distracted by Nolen saying "After the sheriff betrayed us...well, let's just say it's nice to know there are still good ones left" because final clause makes you jump to her saying there are good Zaunites left but the full sentence only makes sense if she's talking about good enforcers. Or maybe she meant just good people in general and I'm overthinking this.

(2) [early E1 gathering of councilors, Caitlyn, and Ambessa, minus Jayce] The three councilor present decide on a hextech-free flooding of the enforcers into Zaun

Shoola sides with Salo on a full invasion, but sides with Mel on demanding no usage of hextech

Caitlyn objects to Salo's plan (hextech + invasion) on the basis that innocents will be caught in the crossfire...oh buddy...

Mel objects to Salo's plan because the attack was by one person and an invasion risks unifying a leaderless undercity. She prefers posting a bounty on Jinx.

When Shoola says a bounty is pure chance, there's a moment where Mel looks to Caitlyn but Caitlyn stays silent. Someone did not expect to be attending a policy session when visiting her mother's desk. Too bad.

It is very weird that no one mentions Jayce's vote as a councilor

(3) [E1 conversation between Vi and Caitlyn at the Kiramman house, same day as (2)] Vi offers to go after Jinx alone with the gauntlets so no one else gets hurt, Caitlyn says she'll be part of the enforcer invasion and asks Vi to join as an enforcer, Vi is understandably upset by this and declines.

Whole bunch of Caitlyn lines here that have me gnawing at the walls.

"No more rogue mission. No more reckless plans. My mother was right. My arrogance led me to take on more than I could handle and she paid the price." -> ironic in light of later behaviour and it appears the actual lesson learned was no more attempting to investigate Zaun outside of the confines of her dual roles of enforcer and Kiramman

"People are calling for blood. The Council won't stop them. You can show that not all of Zaun supports Jinx." -> the first time we have seen Caitlyn care about Piltover public opinion though it is still in the sense of how it shapes the Council's actions and the first time we see Caitlyn want Vi to publicly be a "good Zaunite".

"I thought you were on our side." -> words that make me go gahhhhh at how unfair they are to Vi. Caitlyn is has already slipped into "us vs them". Vi did not even object to the invasion itself, saying she needs to help, and you could imagine Vi being useful in the undercity without being an enforcer.

But Caitlyn is now stuck in the tunnel vision of doing everything Officially

(4) [E1 conversation between Caitlyn and Jayce, the morning after (3)] Caitlyn imagines herself calmly about to shoot Jinx and then shares with Jayce that she keeps thinking of Cassandra, Jinx, and Vi.

"I want to tear that laugh from [Jinx's] throat forever." lol I love how alarmed Jayce looks here, they are pals but I do not think he has ever thought her dangerous or vengeful.

"I just understand now, how easy it is to hate them. One vicious act." -> Caitlyn is trying to take the outside view on her own slipping emotions, self-awarely seeing that her feelings on Jinx are spreading to people that don't deserve it. If only self-awareness was sufficient. But you could see a path here, right, where her feelings cool and stay focused.

Jayce wonders if Vi is right in wanting to go down there with the hextech gauntlets, which is interesting considering how they parted ways last season! His plan for peace did literally get blown up.

Again, no discussion of Jayce's vote as councilor.

"Hextech may keep us alive Jayce, but it's not what will save us." Does anyone know that Jinx's weapon was hextech-powered?

(5) [E1 conversation between Caitlyn and Vi] Caitlyn is angry about the attack, Vi tries to reassure Caitlyn about her grief, concluding that Caitlyn won't have to do this without her.

Tangent: Vi worriedly starts their conversation by saying "Thought you were going to get yourself killed" and Caitlyn straight up ignores that concern, doesn't even acknowledge the sentence. Girl.

"A memorial. What kind of animals!" and "All they did is piss me off!" Really love that we get a shot of just Caitlyn's snarling teeth here, an implication that it is Caitlyn who is reverting to animalistic impulse. Her anger has spread beyond Jinx.

Vi does not call that out, merely tries to shift Caitlyn's perspective to seeing the attack as strategic

Again, it makes me very sad how gentle Vi tries to be with Cait in S2 Act 1, out of both guilt and simply wanting to take care of her in her grief. And how that might've ultimately been the wrong approach.

Vi wants Caitlyn to call off the invasion and we get a back and forth of "None of this is on our terms" / "Maybe you should change that" / "I don't know how, okay!" At this point Caitlyn is at a loss on not just the correct response to Zaun but on how to manage Piltover politics, given that she immediately pivots to talking about her mom

Caitlyn lets herself have exactly 1 second of physical comfort before pulling away and saying she was wrong for springing the enforcer badge on Vi.

"Every way I slice it, if I go after your sister alone, one of us comes back in a box." Yes, there's fear here, but it also sounds like...she doesn't want the ending to this to be killing Jinx, as much as she visualizes it. I don't think she's lying to Vi here, or anything like that.

(6) [E1 strike team reveal] Caitlyn dives into the Kiramman's microfiche and decides to use the Gray, Jayce builds hextech weapons, the strike team interrupts the Council

"I know you doubt the merit of your birthright, Caitlyn. There's wisdom in that. But remember: You're a Kiramman." Wonder if this was in some kind of letter Cassandra left for her...

Also very curious about the order of events here, because I can see it either way. Does Caitlyn decide on the strike team method before diving into her family's logs, or does she dive in first in an attempt to understand what her mother has left her with?

Regardless she decides on temporarily venting the Gray into parts of Zaun to clear the way for the strike team. The Gray appears to be somewhere between very bad pollutant and tear gas.

Mel is hesitant when Salo insists that they need hextech in the invasion. Intriguing that Jayce works on these weapons for Caitlyn without revealing anything to Mel. Honestly, poor Mel, at this point she is the only one resisting an attack, and her political allies have worked behind her back.

"I am a decorated officer. Leader of House Kiramman. Address me with respect, or keep your mouth shut." I am guessing Mel (and Jayce, but who knows) threw some commendations for figuring out Silco's shit, or Caitlyn is straight up lying about the decoration ahahaha. Claiming leadership of her house, god finally, throw some political weight around please.

The three objectives of the strike team are (1) locate Jinx (2) dismantle Shimmer (3) neutralize any agents still loyal to Silco

These are not the worst objectives but note that among them is not "identify who is responsible for the memorial attack". Far cry from the woman whose bedroom floor was covered by a conspiracy board. Political constraints but primarily her own new pre-disposition to never hesitating again have made her cast investigation to the side. Who needs to find the truth, when you already know it?

Hextech: Unsurprising that Caitlyn would be fine with this, even if both Vi and Jayce weren't somewhat positive in earlier conversation

This whole thing makes it so funny that Caitlyn is later surprised to be named dictator. Girl, you literally overrode a state policy decision!

(7) [E2, strike team meets Smeech and co.] Accountant man gets his wits scared walking within a Gray-filled building of Margot's (the chem-baron controlling the brothels), and presumably Smeech's gang makes an deal with the strike team

The Gray leaves Margot's gang-members wheezing and crying on the floor. No dead bodies or blood, but it is very unclear what the goal of exploring this building was

They got lucky to run into a chem-baron happy to make a deal

Tangent: Numbers chem-baron (Chross) says Piltover outnumbers Zaun four-to-one

(8) [E2, strike team and Jinx in arcade] The strike team flood the run-down arcade with the Gray, but fail to locate Jinx

It is after Maddie declares an all-clear that Caitlyn panics and shoots a random target. First time we've seen have that bad trigger/shooting discipline. Do not think anyone talks to her about it.

First indication that it also Jinx-specific fear and not just guilt/grief/hatred driving Caitlyn. Like, I don't think Jinx was actually standing at the back of the gallery with her gun outstretched, that was all Caitlyn's imagination and the bathroom kidnapping coming back.

(9) [E3 opening montage] The strike team flood streets and buildings with the Gray to clear them, using the vents themselves to travel through the undercity, and go after chem-barons and Jinx

Random civilians run away from the Gray in regular street

The strike team attack various members of Chross's and Margot's gangs, if I'm judging correctly from fashion. They interrogate them about Jinx's location

The strike team capture Chross and Margot, given the visual of a net leaving Caitlyn's gun and covering them. Did not realize this at all on my first watch.

The strike team destroy several shimmer factories

The strike team dodge Jinx bombs

(10) [E3 strike team finds strung-up accountant man] They interrogate him, Caitlyn ordering his arrest at the end of it

Is the fish man enforcer a medic or trained as such? He's the one to examine accountant man's eyes with a tiny flashlight, and did the same for Caitlyn after the memorial attack.

As accountant man wheezes and sneezes, Caitlyn points her gun at him and demands he tell her how he wound up there. (S1E4 at ~16:00 is a good comparison, where Caitlyn is still trying to get information out of an injured Zaunite but is also instinctively empathetic to their pain, kneeling down and trying to stem his wound with her handkerchief)

Both Vi and fish man are disturbed by Caitlyn doing this. Big guy enforcer and Maddie are off staring at the fucked up dolls of the strike team, so they don't see this.

Vi kneels down, both to get to eye-level with the guy and to effectively place herself between Caitlyn's gun and him. Again, Act 1 has a lot of Vi trying to quietly manage Caitlyn in this way.

(11) [E3 Vi and Caitlyn kiss scene] They decide to send the rest of the team back, Vi asks Caitlyn not to change, Caitlyn kisses her

Vi argues that Jinx would use the others against them, Caitlyn says "I can't let her get away again. Are you sure you're ready to—" and is cut off by Vi.

Very ambiguous on how much they're going into this planning to kill Jinx as opposed to how they captured Chross and Margot. Did they discuss this explicitly with each other? Absolutely not.

Vi says "I'm sorry I can't bring [your mother] back" and asks Caitlyn not to change and again, it makes me so sad how Vi too is wracked with guilt but cannot ever say "I'm sorry I didn't let you shoot my sister" and so keeps apologizing in general and by not being direct with Caitlyn about her latest fucked up behavior.

Like I said in a different post, I don't think Caitlyn even notices that Vi is disturbed by her behavior, I think she genuinely just wanted to reassure Vi. (And maybe felt comfortable with the kiss since they were so damn close to it being over and Vi seemed certainly on her side.)

Big guy is suddenly injured and being supported by fish man as they leave, did I miss something.

(12) [E3 Vi and Caitlyn vs Jinx and Sevika, the child is present] A fight scene with hextech fritzing weapons (and Sevika's scars?), Vi blocks Caitlyn's shot because there is a kid right there and Caitlyn is very cross.

"Cait. If you see an opening, take the shot." Caitlyn searches and seems to find confirmation in Vi's eyes, and takes the shot, and man that must've been a brief moment of utter relief.

But again, a different vibe from "one of us ends up in a box" where Caitlyn seemed to dislike either option. It's sort of like...Vi offers this as an apology.

I think we have yet to see Caitlyn kill anyone, am I correct? Not to go sickos.png, but I would like to see that this season

I don't think the shot at Jinx's hand is a miss, as frantic as it is, because right before we see Vi's head is blocking Jinx's.

Caitlyn lowers her gun when she sees Vi has Jinx pinned even though she could take a shot and it's like, is she trying to let Vi handle it herself because it's her sister, is she actually more reluctant to kill than she seems, does she even know

This would be the perfect time for some net capture if both Caitlyn and Vi weren't in fucked up guilt spirals about how they need to kill Jinx to redeem their past mistakes, which is what I think is happening in their brains. Wouldn't it be great to have someone less emotionally invested around to do a normal arrest or whatever.

Vi does actually go for the final punch! Her fist is about to spring forward when the kid gets in between'em.

Caitlyn has zero hesitation in shooting with Vi in front of her, first shot hitting the gauntlet, is how out of her mind she is

Colored Gray gets sent back up into Piltover

(13) [E3 Vi and Caitlyn part ways] Vi and Caitlyn argue, Caitlyn hitting Vi in the gut and leaving her

"I keep telling myself that you're different. But you're not. It's her blood in your veins." Back in S2E1, we see what Cassandra and Jinx look like in Caitlyn's head, but we don't see what Vi looks like. And maybe this is partly why. That she looks at Vi these days and feels some of the same hatred she feels for Jinx

But also that she looks at Vi and knows Vi has a hold on her, can make her doubt and distract herself even when mired in tunnel vision

(14) [E3 ending, Salo's gathering which has Ambessa, Caitlyn, Shoola, the Noxians, the Enforcers, and other Piltovans present] Ambessa declares Caitlyn general, much to everyone's surprise

"Wrath must be met with wrath. You must declare martial law. Appoint a general to lead until this threat is vanquished." Ambessa really benefited from everybody's timing here. Jinx sent up a fresh undercity attack. Vi's been ditched by Caitlyn, Jayce has been banished to the shadow realm, Mel's been banished to a different shadow realm, and so the three most likely objectors are off the board.

Ambessa does lie about the Black Rose attack being Zaunite assassins, but honestly at this point she only needed that to cover up Amara's death, not to motivate a dictatorship.

It is soooo funny that Salo thought he met all of those requirements stated by Ambessa. He was literally just whining to Ambessa about how popular Caitlyn was. If you are establishing a dictatorship, it actually really helpful for your first dictator to be popular and well-liked.

Also I'm going to assume that the entire senior leadership of the enforcers got killed during the S1 and memorial attacks or none of this makes sense.

Caitlyn only starts walking forward once Ambessa says "Come, child." Putting aside my thoughts of toxic yuri, I do not think Caitlyn is raring to rule a city-state despite the synchronization of this with her moral descent. She is thinking and maybe disassociating a little, given the dulling of sound at the end, but primarily understands there is no other choice than to walk forward at this moment. I look forward to seeing her in her dictator era!

Final thought: looking at a map of Runeterra, how is Piltover not freaked out by the constant thought that Noxus might annex them and see Ambessa as a threat that way?? I guess they might have a long-standing peace with Noxus, and Ambessa is a warlord with few holdings and not in the absolute upper tier of the empire. Still.