#thewayhegentlycaresseshisshoulderimnotsane

[xierrot]

ARCANE 2 SPOILERS who's the best arcane character and why it's jayce talis (may be a bit biased. and my head is a mess rn so some of my wording may not make a sense)

cw there's a load siren sound in the video

arcane focuses on humans' flaws. like half of shit happened bc someone couldn't talk it out. and that's part of human nature too. things that seem rather logical to one may be impossible for another bc of the way they feel and see this world. and all characters in arcane have their own strong beliefs.

even jayce who seems to be easily manipulated. jayce is in fact one if not the most alive, humane character of them all.

firstly. what is the core of his character? it's his desire to help people with the use of magic. bc it once saved him and his mother and he fell in love with it so hard he made trying to bend it to his will the point of his life. he was misunderstood and alone in this desire but he did not give a fuck as long as his dream lived.

and then he failed. he didn't actually bc yk explosion at his lab is not his fault but everyone even his mother looked down on him at that trial bc of his dream. and they took it away. took away his point of life. so he was almost ready to end it (he was about to jump but hesitated a bit. that's in humans' nature too: many suicide attempts fail bc ppl are naturally afraid of what comes after it. and it's something completely impulsive and irrational). but that's where viktor came up and he saved his life. not by stopping him from that jump but by sparkling some hope in him saying that he has a desire too. and jayce is finally understood and not alone. and they completed each other.

later jayce became the poster boy. it's not what he wanted. but he's in fact way less experienced with social interactions and is not that good at reading people as viktor (viktor is good with social interactions. i believe he's even more confident than jayce to give a speech. yk viktor's ambitious enough to be heimer's personal assistant and even tho he didn't give that much credit i think not everyone can pull off being councilor's personal assistant like you have to present him. and with jayce viktor could be like "nah go give those speeches yourself idgaf" bc he could finally focus on what he wants to do) so he's manipulated into becoming a symbol. piltover's talisman. and mel said to him that it can be used as an instrument. and that made him realize he finally had enough power to say "fuck you" to those who looked down upon him.

so he did. but he's a scientist not a politician so his attitude worked against him. he decided to fight corruption being a part of corrupted system. ofc that led to no good. he had tried council's ways too with mel's help but when he realized that it created distance between him and his desire and viktor. and he stated several times that he's not cut for this politician shit. he only did it because he believed he could make things better. that he could help viktor that way. bc viktor became part of his desire that lies in his core. and he did everything out of this desire. he can be easily manipulated but you can't change it, only use it to farther manipulate him. change his view on some ways but not change his core.

and in s2 jayce has not changed. his character is exactly the same as he was in season 1. like he even does the same things: agreeing with viktor that they should not weaponize hextech but then doing so under pressure (manipulated again using his desire to make things better). he did it in s1, and he did it again in s2. and he said that he never wanted to be part of politics to mel in s1 and said it again to viktor in s2. and jayce cared for viktor in s1 as much as he did in s2. it's just that yk of course you would be much more stressed and caring if your friend's HALF-DEAD not just dying slowly where therapy could help like you hold the body of someone who's close to you and there was actually no way of saving viktor like legally and ethically. ofc jayce looked more worried but it's still in his character. he actually acted pretty the same when viktor was at the hospital in s1 but we didn't get much screentime of it and in s2 it's shown more.

and by saving viktor with hexcore he fulfills his main desire. by destroying him he does so too. and these are two things he did without any pressure or manipulations. these things are jayce's own decisions from tip to toe, from inside out. he saved viktor with hexcore out of his desire to help ppl by bending magic to humans' will. and he killed viktor out of his desire to help him (god knows how much willpower i have not to put "love" instead of "his desire to help him"). he kept saying "i won't fail" not only bc he probably time and space travelled and tried to kill viktor many times but because he failed viktor several times trying to fulfill his desires.

so overall jayce is trapped in cycle of trying to fulfill his desire and failing miserably in doing so and then trying to fix things out of this desire again and again. bc that's his core. and it's incredibly humane. (and he needs viktor to ground him as much as viktor needs him). everyone in arcane is fucked up. while some embrace it jayce tries to fight. showing duality of humans' nature. but of course no one gives a fuck to understand him. as did council in s1 act1..)