#this act did an amazing job of equalizing jayce with the rest of the characters

[machineheraldbabe]

jayce enduring a symbolic rendition of viktor's trauma is so painful and so, so clever.

being stricken down and immobilized through sheer accident or, in viktor's case, a cruelly random quirk that caused his disability.

then physically dragging himself from the lowest level of zaun to piltover, much like how viktor spent his youth reaching toward the promise piltover offered, but only if he could "pull himself up by the boot straps" and get there on his own. socioeconomic forces working against him be damned.

i appreciate arcane reminding us of viktor's origins - the reason he is so called to help people and, eventually, save himself - and putting jayce through the ringer - the contrast between he and viktor's lived experiences is front and center throughout season 1. the writers send jayce, and the audience, on a grueling journey to contemplate those experiences and how they've manifested in these intertwined characters.