Arcane S2 Act 1: Caitlyn's Weakness - Therapist Analysis!
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 26 พ.ย. 2024
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In Arcane Season 2 Act 1, Caitlyn faces a heartbreaking conflict. Georgia explores Caitlyn’s struggle to balance her love for Vi and her mission to stop Jinx. Is Caitlyn’s love for Vi holding her back from doing what she believes is right? Dive into the psychological toll this dynamic takes on Caitlyn and Vi, and let us know your thoughts in the comments.
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Please make one about Isha and Jinx!
I picked up on the hidden meaning in the kiss scene. Caitlyn disarms herself by setting her gun against the wall. They purposely animated that shot. Then when they kiss, VI disarms herself by dropping the gauntlets. Just a physical symbiology of both women dropping their guards around each other.
I hate them bpth now...I have psychotic sister and no matter what she does I could NEVER say to her that she is not my little sister anymore and that Im gonna kill her...NEVER and Caitlyn is even worse...shooting at children, soo consumed by her revenge, now Caitlyn is the villain
Also it would be difficult to make out while holding their weapons
Caitlyn’s scene with Maddie in Act 2 is going to make this symbolism hurt a lot more.
I figured VI’s position of being uncomfortable with joining the Enforcers was more reasonable than Caitlyn calls Vi out for. Yes, Caitlyn’s trauma just happened, and Caitlyn does understand watching a parent die. But it’s not quite the same. It’s not like Vi is asking Caitlyn to join Zaun and hunt down Piltees. To be an outsider in her own community. To sacrifice more and more of herself as she’s supporting Caitlyn. I feel for Caitlyn, but her betrayal after Vi did the right thing… gutted me.
Exactly! I was a bit disappointed that Goergia didn't realise that, but I suppose that this is a Cait video and that's where her heart is in doing this.
There are so many degrees of separation between their parental loss. Jinx is an individual, enforcers are a system that routinely cause harm, death and violence in Zaun. Jinx is a new menace, enforcers' entire job is to victimize and "enforce" their sick definition of order on the Zaunites.
Caitlyn got a TASTE of what it's like to be a Zaunite and she's already off the deep end.
Although my words are harsh, I do empathise with Cait, she's been through a lot all of a sudden, and she was raised by 2 elitists who taught her not to care for the under city. She's a product of her environment as well.
I think that was a plot point though. Caitlyn wanted vi to be an enforcer ( yes to help take down jinx) but to also subconsciously seperate vi and jinx. The same way vi can't be enforcer cuz they killed her parents, is the same way cait can't be with vi cuz her sister killed her mom. By being with vi, she is also (in a way) betraying her mother. By asking vi to become an enforcer, she can view vi as "one of us" rather than the "sibling of my mom's murderer" ("It's her blood in your veins") .
@@minnielucky1111I think you're onto something. It also serves to separate vi from zaun as a whole. This may just be me but Cait is starting to be radicalized towards the people of zaun. "I understand how easy it is to hate them" "those animals" and the 3rd episode. She likes vi and wants her to be totally on her side and wants her cut ties with that place but that's also asking her to cut ties with part of herself, and SHE DID! And even that wasn't enough, the moment she felt vi was "just like them" she turned her so FAST. I'm excited but also a little scared on how this development of cait is gonna be handled.
Yeah , I feel the same, that it was completely tone deaf of Caitlyn in that moment, more so than what Vi said
@@minnielucky1111this is a good point, that I didn’t think about, Caitlyn could feel like it’s only fair enough for Vi to betray her family if she is doing the same to be close to Vi.
I agree that Caitlyn thinks that her biggest weakness is her relationship with Vi, but I also think that she's lying to herself. Her actual biggest weakness is the erosion and loss of her empathy, and Vi was her main (and maybe only) framework for empathizing with the Zaunites. This is going to leave her to be extremely vulnerable to being manipulated by Ambessa.
Caitlyn's empathy was the main thing that kept her head clear to investigate her surroundings properly. Caitlyn would have been able to figure out Ambessa's involvement in inflaming the violence if she wasn't so lazer-focused on Jinx, which happened because her grief and trauma are eroding her empathy and her ability to think about why people act the way they do. If the Zaunites are animals that don't need a reason to be violent, then Caitlyn isn't looking into why they're acting this way, and she therefore won't look for anyone manipulating the Zaunites.
FACTSSSS LITERALLY EXPRESSED WHAT MY BRAIN HAS BEEN BLENDING AROUND FOR DAYS NOW 🫶🏽🫶🏽🫶🏽🫶🏽
That's the difference, one is what she thinks, one is what is truth objectively.
And it's really sad how REAL this is. It happens all the time. And it's heartbreaking and frustrating and maddening to witness. And the scary part is I can't even be sure it won't happen to me or people I love.
@@saranaila5905it's very real. When you're experiencing rage and guilt, it can literally make it harder to access the logical, thinking parts of your brain.
That’s a good point! Caitlyn has been shown to be incredibly intelligent and able to find the connection with Jinx in Season 1, so it’s reasonable to think she would be able to see Ambessa’s influence as well. As you said, she just didn’t because she was just blinded with rage and othering those from Zaun and those from the Piltover-even Vi, at the end of episode 3.
I also found it interesting how even Vi pointed out that Caitlyn is becoming that which she hates- she's becoming like Jinx. Jinx is doing what she wants even if innocents are harmed (with exceptions of course, as we see through the child- showing Jinx still has humanity), and Caitlyn is also working to do what she wants/feels she needs to do even if innocents are harmed. I feel like Vi pointing that out is also part of why Caitlyn reacted so horribly. She will deny it, but she's slipping. She's becoming the monster, and poor Vi is losing her even after Caitlyn reassured Vi that she wouldn't change.
Something I didn't notice before was how the kid was positioned while protecting Jinx; she had her head right next to Jinx's. After seeing the new power of Cait's hextech rifle it is incredibly likely she could have killed both had she fired there. She said she wouldn't have missed, but it's becoming harder to tell if she would care as things deteriorate.
Bro this shit is gonna break us by the end.
@@Darth_BatemanIt's already breaking me and were 3 episodes in and it's gonna get worse from here
Nah, all Vi had to do was pick up the child and toss her out the way. I don't get why she was being difficult in that scene, the kid was small and would have been easy to pluck off Jinx and throw her to the side so Caitlyn could finish the job.
@@VegaSlidesFor the League players, we all know Caitlyn's whole shtick is that "she never misses". But I think the point Vi was getting at was the mere fact that she'd even consider firing at the general direction where the kid was at, and not hesitate, that's scary. She's willing to set aside her humanity just to go toe to toe with Jinx.
The difference was that Vi was being asked to wear the uniform and join the organization that killed her parents. Yes, Caitlin watched Jinx kill her mom, but she wasn't being asked to dress up like Jinx and join her cause, which is essentially what Caitlin was asking Vi to do.
Agreed. Also there is a significant difference between what basically amounts to a terrorist doing terror and murder, versus someone being murdered by what are supposed to be the protectors of the city.
Vi later compared Cait to the person that killed her mother tho, they both did wrong with their words, Vi did good in stopping the shot, no because Cait would miss, she would not, but that bullet would not just stop at Jinx's head, the kid was hugging her head to head, and Cait would end up doing something she would regret
Except it's Vi that keeps fucking up and Caitlyn has to deal with the consequences, Vi stopped her from killing Jinx in season 1, then she kept saying "Powder is dead to me, it's all Jinx" ... "We are going to take out Jinx" ... "Take the shot" .. etc etc ... then again just like the first time Vi hesitates and let's Jinx go again, Caitlyn's rage is very justified...and Ambessa is using it for sure but I trust Caitlyn to see through it and has her own contingency, unless the show is trying to make her look stupid to manufacture drama which would be very disappointing.
@@robert_yebertbecause she's acting like her. She was right to call out her radical behavior.
@@saranaila5905 She could have done so without saying what she said.
Ironically, I think it was Vander’s instructions of “you’ve got a good heart, don’t ever lose it” that has shaped Vi the way she is. As Schnee describes, out of all the characters in Arcane, she is the one that has changed the least. In season one, her “protect the family” heart made her act on reckless impulse and it shot herself in the foot. Yet now, in act one of season two, her good heart saved a kid and acted more as a blessing than a curse. But even though she did the right thing - possibly even saving Caitlyn from the guilt of killing a kid like Jayce did - she was still betrayed and left by Caitlyn. No wonder it seems so easy for Vi to believe that nothing she does will be right.
I would say sevika has changed the least unless you mean the main cast
I love Schnees Arcane videos so much!!
My take is that Caitlyn actually does blame Vi for stopping her from taking the shot the first time, but is forcibly repressing her anger. So when Vi stops her a second time, she lashes out not just for the immediate situation but also for stopping her originally.
Yes I totally agree when caitlyn says I had the shot, I think she was talking about the first time more then the latest fight
I actually think the first time she blamed herself more than anything. We see her emotional stability and security throughout the first season, she's able to see that Vi's envolvement isn't what caused all of this, just like she didn't blame her for leaving in ep 8 (Georgia actually comments on this during the "breakup" scene!). The second time, though, her emotions are very clouded, so she starts to add things up and lashes out on Vi for both times.
Yeah, the show even calls that back. When Cait is talking to her father, she says "I had the shot" and she says that again when Vi stops her from shooting Jinx. Both times she had the shot and both times Vi stopped her.
Nope, in the first time, Caitlyn blames herself for letting her feelings for Vi interfere with her decisions. It's not hard to see that.
If she blamed Vi for anything she wouldn't even consider side up with Vi in the first place.
The second time, she felt betrayed cause she asked if Vi was ready, yet Vi didn't trust that she wouldn't miss the shot and at the end she was being compared to the person she hates. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that Vi's wrong and I definitely don't agree with Caitlyn's behavior here. I'm just trying to say that if anything, Caitlyn doesn't blame Vi for her own failures. In Caitlyn's mind, trusting Vi was her mistake.
@@destaenys There's definitely a lot of possible interpretations! I think it's possible for her to blame Vi and blame herself for listening to Vi at the same time. She represses it because she cares about Vi and doesn't want to hurt her, as well as because she'd rather focus on what she can control, taking down Jinx. She believes Vi understands and regrets her actions, so there's no point laying into her about it.
Honestly I do agree with your conclusion of _Caitlyn_ thinking Vi is her weakness, that she has to get rid of her. The problem is... She's wrong. Her main weakness is her jumping into this "us vs them" mentality in this war between Piltover and Zaun. Because Vi is right, what if she missed? Or worse, what if she _didn't?_ That kid was hugging Jinx to protect her out of purest desperation, and you'll notice she tucked her head behind Jinx's. So what if Cait DIDN'T miss, and she killed Jinx, but also killed the child because that Hextech bullet pierced through Jinx's skull and reached the child's head? The fact that she didn't even consider this, or did but didn't care, is the problem. Because even if Jinx is dead killing a child in cold blood will just instigate the war.
She's meant to be a protector but right now she's more focused on vengeance and being a destroyer. She needs to remember that she's doing this all to protect people, and if she's not careful her actions will lead to mass destruction.
Excellent point, I didn't consider that! Even if she DID hit Jinx, Isha would've been gone too!
Also killing somebody the kid cares about right in front of her would be traumatic no matter what
The fact is she's so blinded by grief and anger, she can't really care that much, like, "so what if it's just one kid?", which kind of reminds me of when Jayce killed a kid, when him and Vi were raiding a shimmer base in season 1, and Vi also had a similar reaction, like "this is just one kid, hundreds are dying every day because of silco"
I spent the last two hours going back and forth with people who think Isha's death is justifiable if it meant killing Jinx and that Vi could pull Isha off of Jinx. It's nice to see wholesome comments.
yeah, she thinks that Vi is preventing her from making clear decisions and doing her "duty", but without Vi, honestly she would be making all the wrong decisions right now and her "duty" would bring more harm than good. Vi is the one who grounds her now that she is dealing with grief and is sometimes able to help her calm down. up until cait seems to decide her relationship with vi is the issue. whereas before, during season 1, she wasnt grieving or traumatized and she was able to do the right things even before she felt a connection to Vi
I want to add something also
the trauma she has around jinx, in particular, in a way i think is more related to being targeted by jinx than just grief.
don't get me wrong- grief is a huge part of why caitlyn is all over the place this arc (season). she probably came to the conclusion that her softer, pacifistic attitude from the first season is the reason she ended up hurt. clearly the rocky relationship she had with her mother adds a layer of bitterness and regret caitlyn is feeling regarding her death. alongside a million different reasons.
but there's a clear difference between the anger and coldness we see from caitlyn when she discusses catching jinx and bringing her to justice, than when she faces jinx head on. in the latter, she suddenly loses her cool and acts all frantically, so unlike anything we've seen from caitlyn so far.
in her mind, in episode 1, she sees herself as collected and calm, aiming her rifle at jinx. btw, take note of how jinx is depicted here. her eyes are glowing.
we see it when she shoots jinx in the finger
no composure, no deep breathe, no thinking. she just shoots on instinct. it's nothing like she used to.
and then her frantically calling vi to move out of the way as she keeps firing, almost like shes blind to everything but jinx- the kid and vi, who are both in harm's way, don't stop her.
i know it's easy to just paint it as anger and grief here, but there's something about it that strikes me as almost like animalistic fear. she sees jinx and just goes feral mode, but its almost more of a prey instinct than a predator.
and i think it's because whenever she faces jinx, properly, it's not the grief and radicalized anger she's feeling, it just sends her back to this moment when Caitlyn was in the bathroom
with all the "jinx murdered her mom" talk its easy to forget that jinx also directly, and cruelly, targeted caitlyn, tried to kill her, kidnapped her and held her hostage for who knows how long. it's not just anger that caitlyn feels towards jinx. it's a trauma response. and like, welcome to the club, caitlyn! most of the arcane cast are acting out of trauma. but i better not see people think her trauma is somewhat lesser than some... other.. characters.
Trauma is trauma no matter what
yeap, but people don't understand that and start hating Cait just for hit Vi, they forget Caitlyn lost her mother thanks to Jinx.
Caitlyn was innocent actually she wanted to do the right things for both cities, but now she will be worse than Jinx, I'm afraid
Let's not forget nobody knows what the hell Jinx did to Caitlyn after she took her from under the shower, and before the "party" with Silco and Vi. I think that all people saying Cait is just having clouded vision don't remember that there had to be something in between -and i think those were at least some hours- and it couldn't be good.
@@liliman-moli615I honestly saw more people defend or even saying that Cait was in the right and Vi was just wrong to stop her. But maybe that’s just what I saw on the internet. I agree though, Cait isn’t acting rationally but it’s from a place of pain, trauma and grief. It don’t excuse it but it’s human.
I agree 100%. I think many people forgot that what Cait feels for Jinx is more than anger and grief and I think it did all start for her when Jinx kidnapped her. I mean cmon, for Cait, considering how she grew up and her environment that must have been so traumatic. I think she's really scared of Jinx, I know that she wants to hunt Jinx down and she also fights Jinx (not head on like Vi but still) but I also think that she's really scared of her. For her experience with Jinx in the first season and obviously adding to that what happened with her mother and the ceremony and all those events.
@@josephfreitag568well just read all comments in this video and you will see what I said.
Anyway I love Arcane 🤭🤭🤭
Some things I noticed:
- There's a couple times in episode 1 where Cait allows Vi to comfort her before pulling away entirely. We also see her try to appear fine and shoo a doc away when she sees Vi approaching after the Memorial attack.
- I think there was some subconscious blaming of Vi from Cait. Rationally she knows it's not Vi's fault what happened to her mom but she did hold off on shooting Jinx because Vi asked her not to, even though she knew Jinx was a danger. "It's her blood in your veins" kind of says to me that it's something that crossed her mind before and only once they were in a high emotion confrontation did she allow herself to voice it.
- She also tends to question Vi's loyalty a few times throughout Act 1, turning it even more into an Us vs Them situation, but also wanting Vi more than anything to be on the Us side of the equation. Because Vi's "one of the good ones" (I love Maddie so far but that was....loaded).
- "I had the shot." She says this twice. Once in episode 1: a regret, a confession. The other in episode 3: an accusation.
Honestly, I think one of Cait's biggest flaws is her obsessive tunnel vision. We saw it in season 1, the girl will not drop a bone once she has it between her teeth (the way she tosses Jayce's get well flowers aside so that she can tell him about the case). She's even willing to break laws to get to her goals (forging Jayce's signature to get Vi out of prison, for example). She's a great detective for it when she's thinking clear, but when her emotions are skewed like this it becomes such a huge detriment. Though I can also see her cutting Vi lose because she sees her as her weakness.
All that said, I'm so looking forward to Ambessa weaponizing Cait's anger and grief by turning her into the wolf (and fox) she always wanted to Mel to be. She really looked at Cait's mom dying and went "free real estate."
No but seriously, I'm so excited for Cait's arc this season. My favorite thing about her is her ability to empathize and her compassion, so now I'm interested in seeing what of that she can hold onto and what it'll take for her to start clawing her way back out of this hole she's digging for herself.
I wonder if Mel will have any interactions with Cait during this dark-arc? Will she try to warn her? Will Ambessa get angry at Mel for medling in her affairs? Mel and Cait share some characteristics, but I'd say Cait lived a much more sheltered life as a noble. Whilst Mel saw the first-hand effects of war because her mother is a war-lord.
I also wonder how Vi will change, will she harden her heart similar to Vander only to soften it later? She seems to go on a self-destructive path of punishing herself.
Is it purely for that or is she training to become so strong that no one will hurt her again? I'm interested to see where that leads.
Also how dark will Cait's path go? Does Jinx get a sort of redemption amongst Zaunites? Where is Jayce's plotline going?
Ekko has time-travel abilities (at least in LoL and hinted at to develop in Arcane) and there is no telling how that will fit into the story.
Maddie did not say Vi is one of the good ones about Zaunites, she said since we figured the Sheriff was a horrible person, its good to know there's still good enforcers out here, in direct reference to Vi joining the force and Cait talking about how great Vi;s heart is.
i think this is exactly it. Ambessa wants a weapon, not a fox, but Cait already IS one, sure, she will manipulate her now that she's all teeth, but I await the moment Cait outmaneuvers her entirely once she gets her head straight.
You're so right about the tunnel vision but im so scared to watch ambessa manipulate it
I've listened to different thoughts on why Caitlyn only hit the middle finger in that shot. I believe Caitlyn straight up missed. The fact that Caitlyn missed is an underrated detail that could use some more discussion imho considering she "never" misses.
Also, considering the game lore and Arcane's current storytelling, Jinx doesn't have any "super speed" or other unearthly abilities. Yes, she has been juiced up a bit by Shimmer, but nothing considered super human. I think this missed shot was the catalyst of Vi losing confidence in Caitlyn's aim in that whole sequence and why Vi was so scared for the kid.
Caitlyn was controlled so much by her emotion, it caused her to actually lose focus as a markswoman. I think Vi's concern was understandable, and the fact Caitlyn probably was willing to hurt a kid further increased the friction in that moment and thereafter. What I also find interesting, was that there was never a plan to capture Jinx. It was simply to eliminate her, and the fact that Vi was able to make peace with that from the start of the mission makes the fallout of that encounter more heartbreaking. Vi has literally sacrificed and risked everything to try and save the people she cares most about, and at this point, she's the one that's still suffering the most.
Also, tysm for this thorough video, looking forward to more Arcane S2 breakdowns!
@thediplomat1124 Caithlyn missing that shot is also why Vi was so quick to get in her way to protect the child.
Yessss, I also thought she just simply missed bc it doesn't even make sense to hit the middle finger (it's not the one Jinx uses to pull the triggers of her guns and it's not even her dominant hand). Shooting is one of those things that has to have you calm and collected to perform properly and Cait was anything but in that moment. I know some people think Vi didn't allow her to shoot bc she's still trying to find any reasons why her sister shouldn't die, but I also believe that she really didn't trust Cait's skill there as well seeing the state she was in
She hit the finger on purpose because it was that hand that was beating on Vi. Caitlyn never misses, it is integral to her character, it is confirmed by lore she is the greatest shot in League universe. I'm so tired of Arcane locals not respecting the League lore that has existed for over a decade now. And since it's confirmed that Arcane and League are one canon, yeah, Caitlyn never misses.
@@a.a677 Caitlyn was on a shoot to kill mission, her aim wasn't to hit a finger. You can see it from the very first shot she takes in the scene
@@a.a677 well not to be rude or anything but its a fight animation without lots of dialogue, its natural thatppl are gonna come up with different interpretation despite the 'lore' ur talking abt 🤷♀
I personally believe cait ️missed, bc if she rly wants jinx dead she could've aimed for her head directly instead of only a finger. Her accurate shots are always shown to be a result of her steady mind, but in that ep 3 fight she looked a bit out of it and was acting very erratic
I feel like calling Vi tonedeaf in her reaction after Caitlyn sprung the badge on her is kind of tonedeaf on its own.
Because yes, Caitlyn just lost her parents, but she lost them to _Jinx_ who we know is very much a rogue that doesn't take sides or stand up for ideals. Vi lost her parents to the _Enforcers_ which carries a whole different meaning. She didn't just loose her parents to which ever singular enforcer killed them, she lost them to the entire system that the Enforcers answer to because they were following their orders. Caitlyn's mother was a victim of murder, but Vi's parents were victims of _systemic_ murder. Everything the Enforcers are and everything they stand for led to them killing Vi's parents. And asking her to join them is quite literally asking her to become one of the people who killed her parents, which is a lot heavier. I imagine it feels to Vi like a betrayal of who she is and what she stands for.
So it carries the weight of grief, AND the weight of this fundamental, personal contradiction. Which leads me to believe Caitlyn herself was quite tonedeaf regarding Vi, her origins, and her context. Even her reply of "I thought you were on our side" shows that she doesn't comprehend how this affects Vi, considering "our side" also echoes "the side of your family's opperssors and murderers" to Vi. Just because Vi is on Caitlyn's side doesn't mean she's on the Enforcers' side, and I don't think Caitlyn understands that separation.
Omg thank you cause I feel a lot of people don't understand what's different about systemic murder and give more grace to cait which to me mirrors how people treat oppressors vs oppressed people
It's a very real situation that happens with things like blm or issues involving gender discrimination. People love to say well 'both sides got hurt' but ignore that one side got hurt because they are attacked and the other got hurt because they hurt someone and the person lashed out.
I found your take on Vi’s reaction to Cait handing her the badge super interesting, because I kind of saw it in a contrasting way. While Cait and Vi have both lost a parent (or parents) to violence, Vi has never once asked Caitlyn to act like or join forces with the person directly responsible for the death of her mother. Here, Cait is asking Vi to ally not just with the system, but directly with the group of people that killed her parents. I saw it as another moment where Cait’s topside upbringing blinded her to the differences of her and Vi’s situations and drove a rift between them.
Vi is trying to bang an enforcer so why get mad about joining up ?
I agree actually. Cait has always been an enforcer. This is like people from 2 different religions marrying: either they NEVER talk about religion or 1 converts the other.
Vi refuses to be converted and so does Cait. So they are not a good fit for each other.
btw I was replying to killmonger's comment.
@killmonger5097 there's a difference between viewing One person out of a group favorably and being asked to be apart of the group as a whole
I very much agree with your take, well put
8:11 This an incredibly strange reading of the argument, as it is Caitlin who is incredibly out of line for even suggesting that the loss of her mother by a rogue illegal terrorist act as being situationally equal in scope to Vi's loss of both her parents at the hands of law enforcement officers (whom Cait is pressuring Vi into joining) sanctioned by their very own goverment. The very fact that Cait has the resources and legal ability to retaliate against her mother's killer by leading a strike team of law enforcement into Zaun, using her birthright access to the Grey as chemical warfare, on a silver platter, while Vi, given both her class position and the age she lost her parents, would have absolutely no legal means to retaliate or hold the Piltovans/enforcers responsible for her parents' deaths to any shred of accountability without being absolutely demolished under the jack heel of the state clearly demonstrates how grossly privileged Cait's situation is compared to Vi. The fact that Vi did not call Cait out for how blatantly ignorant, privileged, and tone deaf her comparison of their parents' deaths was, as Cait is simultaneously pressuring Vi into joining the same oppressive law enforcement institution that ruthlessly massacred her parents, shows an superhuman amount of patience and tact on Vi's end that I cannot fathom.
That's the most sensible comment here
THANK YOU! I agree with you 100%. You explained this beautifully!
Vi´s parents literally Leeroy Jenkinsed the bridge
If they weren´t there everyone would be happy
@@Keram-io8hv Topside would be happy, the Zaunites would still be as if not even more oppressed than they are right now in the story. The battle that happened on that bridge is the whole reason Vander and Greyson made their agreement to maintain a kind of peace that both sides could be relatively content with. If that particular battle hadn't taken place, there's no guarantee that violence wouldn't have repeatedly broken out elsewhere anyways, and considering that Vi and Powder's parents were clearly revolutionaries they might have ended up dead in another battle. When an entire society of people is constantly pushed down, used and oppressed by another, retaliatory violence and death is an inevitability
@@halla3184 I will say it they were stupid
"Damn dear at least one of us should stay here, we have two kids what if something bad happens?"
"Nah... LEEROY JEEEENKIINS!"
It feels important that in the scene before Vi asks Cait not to change, that we see how much Cait has already changed. She uses her weapon to threaten a cooperative person who's not remotely a physical threat. Compare that to season 1, when she's on the airship in episode 4, and is trying to help one of the people injured by Jinx, and says she can protect him, even though he isn't cooperating. She's already lost the desire to keep people safe - which is what her job is meant to be, and the ideal that Greyson expressed to her which inspired her to become an enforcer in the first place.
I was certain that when Vi asked to talk to her, that she was going to confront Cait about how unnecessarily agressive she was being and the 'promise you won't change' scene was so painful because as a viewer I knew it was already too late
Exactlyy
One thing I think about is that when Cait springed the badge into Vi, the line she said about "We can show them not every zaunite is on the side of Jinx" more than anything else, she wanted Vi to take the badge to prove to HERSELF that Vi specifically, and also other zaunites aren't all like this.
I was wondering why Caitlyn said, “I keep telling myself you’re different, but you’re not. It’s her blood running in your veins.” Because I couldn’t figure out what Vi did to be comparable to Jinx. Or if Caitlyn was insinuating that Vi chose to stop her on purpose because they are “blood”. But Vi told her she stopped her because of the kid in the way. Your explanation of Caitlyn believing Vi is her weakness makes the scene make sense.
I think it's 1) Cait being mad that Vi allowed her personal feelings to get in the way of "doing what must be done" and 2) Cait being mad at Vi for not blindly trusting her when she could have made the shot bc she herself already decided that she fully trusts Vi at that point, so it was basically like a betrayal to her aka something that Zaun people are famous for
Something i saw in this, that i missed in the first watch, was that Caitlyn was to Vi, as Vi was to Powder. 2 times, 2 scenes nearly matched. Where Vi looked up at Caitlyn, the way Powder looked at Vi. Then when Caitlyn hit Vi, Vi looked so much like Powder when Vi hit Powder after the big accident in s01e03. Its just something i thought was worth mentioning. I think "dark vi" is to Vi as Jinx is to Powder.
The pain caused by Caitlyn will be the thing the turns Vi into "dark vi" same as Vi caused the pain that triggered Powder to become Jinx.
very well said
I also don't think there is anything wrong with Vi saying Cait doesn't understand that the enforcers killed her parents. She doesn't.
Caits mom just died, yes, but no one is asking her to work with Jinx, who IS the one who killed her, like the entire system of enforcers is responsible for the deaths of Vi's parents
Why are you trying to attribute one of these actions solely to an individual and the other to the "system"? We barely know anything about how Vi parents died. Maybe it was one bad enforcer. At the very least the enforcers are not a black and white element they are not storm troopers from star wars.
@@kityhawk2000 in the very first episode of the series, in the very first scene, we see Vi and Powder walking over the bridge between the two cities as everything burns around them. In this scene we also see multiple Enforcers brutally beating people, and we see Vi and Powder's dead parents. To me, at least, it's implied that the enforcers were, as a group, attacking people from the Undercity. What instigated this to happen is not clear, but what is clear is that they went too far. And even if it were the act of "one bad enforcer", that doesn't explain all the other things enforcers have done, especially to Vi. She was also wrongfully imprisoned by Marcus, and was beaten by enforcers in the prison regularly. This doesn't even count other instances of injustice she might have seen growing up.
Cait's mom, on the other hand, truly was killed by Jinx and Jinx alone. So I can understand why, in Vi's mind, the enforcers are a force that have harmed her far more than they've ever helped her. True, it's not black and white, we do see some genuinely good people who are enforcers. But to Zaunites, like Vi, the enforcers have been nothing but a source of oppression in Zaun. I can understand why Vi, then, wouldn't want to join the enforcers at first.
@ you’re pro cop aren’t you
@@kityhawk2000lmfao you in every comment reply defending the enforcers
@@kityhawk2000 not being black and white doesn't change who's responsability an action is. Enforcers, as a group were creates to keep the undercity people in line, and that is what they do, be it by peaceful means, like Greyson tried to do (and look where that got her), or in most times, by violence, like Marcus did even before he had a deal with Silco, or have you forgot he almost shot a child on the back just for running from him, after he threw a man through a window for being rude to him? For an organization like the enforcers, it's honestly wise that they are violent, cause their purpose is to put down a group of people who will, with reason, fight them back. Each individual enforcer, while keeping to their duty, can only either be a victim of the system, or a perpetrator of it's violence.
AHH ITS SO SAD BUT I AGREE i feel like vi is the only person that truly holds caitlyn ACCOUNTABLE. shes the only one that allows her to FEEL human.. hence the whole vulnerability thing when no one else can see her in such a way.. which is why she pushes her away bc she cant afford that. she has to be stoic and steady and strong like everyone expects of her. like SHE expects of herself. AGHHH THIS SHOWNIS SO GOOD
I think it's incredibly fascinating to realize that as much as a natural empath Cait may be, she hates her own emotions. Almost as if they're a weakness. I think this, along with the grief, is what's going to solidify Ambessa's grip on Caitlyn. Manipulating her when she's at her weakest. Driving any sense of empathy out of her for the sake of the "greater good" Cait doesn't hate Vi, she hates how Vi makes her feel. I remember someone saying "her hatred for Jinx was greater than her love for Vi" and I have not been the same since. Hopefully they make up in act 2 because I CANNOT handle any more angst 😭
I also found it interesting after their conversation, Vi was softened by Maddie retelling the story of how Caitlyn stood up for her, to be allowed to join. “If we all had hearts like yours, we could take on Noxus itself.” I think this made Vi realize Caitlyn still thought highly of her, even after everything that happened. And it made her more open to the idea because Caitlyn wasn’t asking Vi to change, but to use her unique qualities in the effort.
17:24 they are SUCH good friends❤️❤️✂️❤️❤️❤️
😂😂😂 I can't believe she actually said they are friends AFTER they kissed
@DottyMcInk lol yeah😅 im pretty sure she was joking but if not thats wild
Saying that Caitlyn's biggest weakness is Vi holds a great amount of weight and validity. By the time Vi becomes an enforcer, she becomes a physical representation of Caitlyn's empathy. Her moral compass. So when trying to take down Jinx, Caitlyn feels that she should not be swayed in doing what she believes is right but then her morals or Vi get in the way and stop her from taking the shot. Deep down, I'm sure Caitlyn knows that Vi was right to stop her but right now, on the surface, Caitlyn doesn't think she can allow herself to have that hesitation. Hesitation is what gave Jinx the opportunity the first time. Hesitation cost Caitlyn her mother.
Caitlyn is the one being tone deaf (imo) when she asks Vi to wear the badge. She's asking Vi to wear the symbol of the people who killed her parents in front of her without thinking about how Vi would feel. Thats why i think Vi said "you didn't think at all". She's right when she said that Caitlyn doesn't understand.
100% disagree. Vi's pain is decades old. Not saying it goes away but you don't feel the same amount of grief for a death that happened 20 years ago than you do for one that happened yesterday. Also pretty obvious caitlyn asked Vi to be an enforcer because she feels alone and wants Vi to be tied closer to her. She talks about her mother's death leaving a massive hole in her life and she is obviously trying to build on her relationship with Vi to fill that hole.
@@kityhawk2000 Disregarding someone else’s pain just because it’s not as fresh or new as yours is wack
@Moony_Xp ..... that's not what I said buddy. You are putting words in my mouth
@@kityhawk2000Vi was in prison recently, she has been dealing with enforcers tormenting her during her whole life and she was expected to just forget about it and see them as allies?
I would say their both a bit, but there defintily is a differnece. Caitlin sais she knows how it feels, but this is as if Vi asked her to put on a costume of jinx to infiltrate her circle. Like, there is a big difference in "saw my parents get blown up" and "put on the uniform of the people who killed them"
Ugh. Seeing how season one ended like a Greek tragedy, your assessment of Cait's weakness is her love for Vi makes me feel it's a very real possibility they go their separate ways at the end of the season.
THAT BEING SAID, one scene that makes me feel hopeful for the future of Caitlyn & Vi is the scene with Caitlyn & Jayce by the tree/wind chimes. I found the visuals interesting when she spoke of seeing three faces in her mind (of which being of her mom, Jinx & Vi), the flower petals are restless & swirl chaotically at the mention of her mom & Jinx. When she mentions Vi's name, the air vents close & the petals are calm & at peace.
And we didn’t see her face, unlike with the other two. So maybe we’ll finally see how Caitlyn truly sees Vi later on in the season. Fingers crossed.
Nah. Doubt it ends with them not being a thing. We shall see Saturday though
The way Vi hit and then sat on the ground crying was so painful and heartbreaking… The sorrow within her was so strong that it was easy
to feel and empathize with.
I was like: "Why does no one understand her? Why does everyone leave her so easily?"
Literalmente I was sooobbin
It also mirror's Season's 1 episode 3, where Vi walks away from Powder as she sobs on the ground.
I can't even totally blame Vi in that moment, since tensions were so very high and I do sympathize with her plight. But she chose the worst time on the most vulnerable and unstable person to do it to. Powder disobeyed but had no idea that would be the outcome.
@mayonnaiseandbaloney6642 same
I don't think it's tonedeff of Vi to ask cait if she even knows "how that feels" because I don't believe she is referring to the death of her parents itself, but to the fact that Caitlyn literally offered her to dress up as the murderers of her parents... Vi would never ask Cait to dress or act like someone from the undercity especially after what just happened. In that regard I find it pretty tonedeff of cait to ask for such a thing specifically because she should have known how hurtful her "offer" was by basically saying don't be like "them" and be like us even though Vi's parents definitely would fall under the "them" category
Caitlyn blames herself for this. She's already forgotten the circumstances of the previous season. No one listened to her, Marcus was so corrupt he was going to assassinate her, she was kidnapped from her home, and Jinx could dodge bullets with shimmer. She feels incompetent as she failed. I think her weakness is that she thinks she has murdered her own mother and Vi comparing her to Jinx directly hit that nerve. As a topsider and an enforcer, she represents a corrupt system, but she forgot that she was also almost murdered by that corrupt system and I mean, Jinx saved her from Marcus and let her and Vi live in the finale. She indirectly saved them both from Silco.
Yeah, I do wonder if Caitlyn is ever going to acknowledge the fact that old sheriff Marcus almost shot her in the face.
@ She was not prepared for Embessa to single her out, especially not after she failed. That’s the major flaw in the system, reckless behavior is rewarded, such as Jayce being tried and arrested for dangerous magic only to become a councilman. The last season isn’t just going to leave Caitlyn’s mind
I think Vi's hands are in fists because she feels so much guilt because of what happened and doesn't feel welcomed in Caits home or life so she doesnt know if she can touch her, she catches her but she feels unsertain. i think Caitlyn is battling with contradicting feelings, she loves Vi and wants her near but she also has the thoughts that Vi was the one to ask her to stop the shot directed at Jinx and she is angry, thats why even if she wants Vi to touch her she always pulls away her hand at the end, she can't decide what she wants, and also she likes to pretend that everything is perfect and that she is okey, exept for the kiss, that could have been the last moment they saw eachother, then in their last scene together all those conflicting feeling are shown, she cant keep those thoughts in her mind anymore and thats why she leaves her alone, very tragic because they genuinely are a very good team that work well togheter but all what happened to them, the inevitable changes and the difference in their lifes makes it imposible for them to be together 😢
the burying entirely hand drawn with charcoal is magnificient
It's worth noting that Caitlyn's change in season 2 mirrors Vi's attitude during season 1. Back then Vi encouraged the council to declare war on Silco and was furious when they suggested negotiating with him instead. At that point Caitlyn's was sympathetic to Zaunites after witnessing their poverty and wanted a solution that wouldn't harm any innocents, and so it was Vi who walked out on her then. Vi then convinces Jayce to develop Hex-tek weapons and raid the shimmer factory. Even when Jayce is traumatized from killing a young boy Vi is indifferent, dismissing the casualty with "he knew what he was doing." Season 1 Vi was completely focused on defeating Silco which she thought was the key getting her little sister back. She didn't care who else got hurt or if Zaun suffered so long as she got what she wanted. And now Caitlyn is the same way so focused on revenge for her mother's death that she's willing to gas the Zaunites and shoot a little girl to get it. And now it's Vi trying to temper her rage, and being rejected for it.
as a seperate comment. specifically about the scene with cait talking about the hole shes supposed to fill. i just realized today watching this yet again. caitlyn is talking about the role that her mother played, and that shes supposed to fill her shoes, and fill that role. Vi is talking about the hole left from losing someone you care about. which is one of many(insanely well written) ways they are showing us that Vi and cait are not on the same page internally.
I love your cosplay, you look great with those blue streaks in your hair. It's hard seeing Caitlin so conflicted and filled with grief and anger. Like Vi, I feel like she's becoming like Jinx, that she's going down a dark path. I hope things work out between her and Vi in the end.
We can hope we have that moment they kiss to them being ripped apart so difficult. It was a fun one to cosplay = )
@@GeorgiaDowI know!😭 They're not even officially together, and they've already had two break-ups, with the second being right before their first kiss. My heart can't take it!
@GeorgiaDow If you watched allready 1 Act episodes 1,2,3
Here I have some note and explaination for Mel surviving. But explaination is even in #Blood sweat and tears cinematic
Spoilers and notes
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Arcane season 2 is great.
1. Singed and two-headed murck wolf from the game.
2. My theory on Leblack and the black rose;
3. Mel and her survival due to the Wolf = Kindred #Cinematic Blood sweat and tears
4. Janna and her legend, believers, statues,...
5. Jinx reflection, loss of finger, burial of Silco
6. Viktor and his transformation and healing thanks to Arcane
7. And I quite like the little children that remind me of Teema.
I can't wait for act 2 and 3.
@@GeorgiaDowIn the League of Legends universe, which is made up of four "dimensions": 1. Void; 2. Celestial; 3. Spirit realm and 4. Physical in the form of the planet Runeterra, there are no infinity stones.
But different types of magic and Rune = Runeterra.
At the very beginning there was only the Void and the Watchers, but then the light appeared and a reality emerged that awakened the Watchers and since then they have been trying to destroy it.
In reality, the death of Gray man/Pale man, which later becomes Kindred, two aspects of death, Lamb peaceful death and Wolf brutal death, appeared/originated.
In the universe = Celestial Realm, the dragon of Twilight as Aurelion Sol created the stars around which the planets were formed.
And later on, celestial beings and gods also began to engage in reality manipulation.
The celestial gods created constellations that serve as predictions and guidance for people, and with the help of world runes they created the planet Runeterra in one of the regions, they pulled the mountain Targon out of the earth, which serves as the Gateway to the Celestial realm Targon Prime = "Universe".
One of the Celestial Gods, for some unknown reason, later hid the world runes across the Runeters, which over time caused magical radiation, thanks to which Spirit Gods such as Anivia, Ornn, Volibear,... which reshaped the surface of the planet by ghosts, demons, and later created magical beings; Sky giants; Yordles = Heimerdinger from Bandle city which is in spirit realm; Vastayashai'rei (Shapeshifting Spirit race) + Humans = Vastaya
Spirit Race and Humans and then Animalistic Humanoids races.
Later, the Targionians people together with the help of the celestials created a crown for Aurelion Sol, whom they enslaved and thus became forced to listen to orders from the Celestial aspects to seal/destroy the void rifts with their Celestial fire.
Over time, it is clear that various types of magic appeared or arose on Runeterra: Celestial, Spiritual, Shadow, Runic, Elemental, Temporal, Necronatic, Blood,...
Runeterra is supposed to serve as a place where super powerful beings of Ascended aspects = Celestial demi-gods are to be created by, for example, a person climbs to the top of the mountain Targon and one of the Celestials chooses him as a suitable guest.
Or, with the help of the Sun disk, I reflect celestial magic into the chosen people to create Ascended Shuriman golden god warriors where some failed and The Baccai = Ramus were created and others were Ascended sunborn Nasus, Renekton,... And later the fragments of them were created after the Void battle Darkins.
All of this is to serve as a defense shield against the Void and its watchers, who are trying to destroy reality by creating Void rifts through which void born creators and monsters can pass and which devour and destroy.
Or by controlling and corrupting the minds and bodies of beings on Runeterra.
@@GeorgiaDowSilco and Vander are the some paralera to Powder and Vi. One was mind and Second was strength. They have a confrict. The power one attack/nearly killed the weaker one. And then the weacker one have mental breakdowm and use his mind to be better and powerfull.
I think it’s also so important to remember that Vi and Caitlin haven’t known each other very long. I’ve just done a rewatch of s1-first 3 episodes s2 and it’s absolutely no time at all (just us that has been waiting for years 😂) yes they have bonded, but it’s all very new! We know the characters more than they know each other!
Love your channel, popped up on my for you page and was a great suggestion - subscribed!
The most amazing display of Vi's effect on Caitlyn is embodied with the wind chimes. When Caitlyn talked to Jayce about the three persons in her head, her mother set the wind gowing, Jinx made it spin into a violent roar and then Vi let the wind chimes calm down completely. Making the wind chimes blow up from below the ground when the petals rested at the end of the episode, was a beautiful image of Caitlyn's fears blowing up from below the surface for once refusing Vi's grounding effect on her.
14:12 Caitlyn calling people animals reminds me of how Ekko said that Piltover hunts the under city like animals
Such a beautiful analysis as always! This is truly the season of opposites: Vi is becoming Powder reliving abandonment and hitting rock bottom, Caitlyn is becoming Jinx as someone/something she always fought against to, and Jinx is becoming Vi with heavy responsibilities for Isha and zaunites…can’t wait to see how things will end!
Also shoutout to the comment section, I’m so happy to read all these very on point and deep thoughts about this amazing series. This channel is a very comforting place to come back every time
Cait is making decisions out of fear and grief right now
22:08 the scene hits so different when u realize that vi lost all composure because that was where she wounded in season one. the same wound that caitlyn tried to trade her gun away to treat
I don't think Caitlyn thinks her biggest weakness is Vi per se, I think she thinks her biggest weakness is a lack of power/ not being strong enough to fight off her own emotions/ do what needs to be done. I think that's why she agrees to become a dictator- because then she doesn't have to consider what anyone else thinks because she's the Boss.
However, I think her actual greatest weakness is her overall emotional coolness, which has left her vulnerable and unable to handle these emotional swings she's having now. She was raised to be calm, cool and collected all the time, and that's cut her off from a lot of her own emotions. She's also been very sheltered her entire life, and recently had her whole worldview challenged in a big way. This kinda is her first opportunity to experience Big Feelings because she's been protected for so long in such a safe environment as the Kiramman house in Piltover; now that she's in the real world dealing with real stuff she has absolutely 0 of the tools she needs to handle it. Because of that, she's floundering, she has no idea how to control or channel anger or grief or regret productively, and it's making her impulsive, narrow-minded, and cruel.
She isn't going to like herself when her rage finally burns out and she realizes all the damage she's caused on the way to enact her revenge.
8:07 I would like to say it’s tone deaf on both of their parts. On Vi for asking do you know how it feels but also on Caitlyn to wear the badge that is the symbol of Zuan’s suffering and her parents murder.
Vi finally dropping all her walls along with her gauntlets to kiss Caitlyn… only to be gutted and left behind is so heartbreaking. I never thought this would be what made them break up.
there's something i noticed in the conversation between vi and caitlyn in episode two sounded like the interaction between viktor and jayce during season one when jayce called the people of the undercity dangerous and viktor said that he was from the undercity. both jayce and caitlyn grouped the people of the undercity as those who are uncivilized in front of viktor and vi who are from the undercity but who jayce and caitlyn consider to be a exception.
8:06 I see a lot of people taking Cait's view on this, but personally I don't think Cait actually understand what's being addressed by Vi. Vi never asked Cait to become Jinx's subordinate, or to join into Silco's gang to go rebel against Piltover's elite. Yes the pain from a parent dying is there, but that's not what she's talking about - it's being asked to join the people in the very crusade that slaughtered/slaughters & unjustly oppresses your people and loved ones
Why I only now realised how Cait has those pink marks on her face in the scene you used in the beginning 0:35 that perhaps indicates that she's not acting like herself. Absolute cinema
I like how you analyze Cait, she's getting so much hate right now because of what she's doing 😅 and yeah it's wrong, she's wrong. But I believe it's still logical and understandable until a certain point, people react differently, the mourning, the revenge... BUT I'm waiting for her vindication
I want to express my opinion on the depersonalization of the enemy. I live in Ukraine. My country is engulfed in war. Most Ukrainians have nicknames for Russians. This helps not to go crazy. Simply because it is impossible to believe that your neighbor is capable of doing such terrible things. This helps you fight and hit back. I understand Caitlin's trauma very well. She is experiencing bereavement and PTSD.
When Vi asks "Do you have any idea how that feels?" I understood it was more directed to how it feels like having Caitlyn ask her to wear the simbol of those who killed her family, not how it feels to see your family die. I could be wrong, but to me, it felt like Vi's comment was caused by feeling offended, of "how could she ask me to wear THAT".
It really hurt to see her trying to grab the "one last Look" at her mom before the casket closes. That part really hit emotionally for me.
I feel like Caitlyn should have thought more about everything surrounding Vi with Powder/Jinx. If Vi told her anything, I'm not sure why it's hard for her to grasp how for Vi, its not easy to just kill her sister no matter what's she's done or become, Vi still loves her.
Hey-retired Marine here. The reason Caitlyn didn’t go for the kill when she shot Jinx’s finger off is that was the only shot she had-Vi was in the way too much. Couldn’t follow up for the same reason.
Caitlyn has impeccable skills-knowing when not to shoot is as important as knowing when to shoot.
Cait’s weakness is her lack of perspective; comparing her mother’s death with the deaths of VI’s parents seems like commonality but the situations were very different. Jinx targets the figureheads of the society that killed her parents and enforced the enforcers. the deaths on the bridge are never memorialized by anything more than a makeshift memorial made by the survivors and family of those killed, the Zaunites cannot seek justice or raise a large memorial of gold and stone for their dead. I also doubt they could gather peacefully on the bridge of progress for their own memorial ceremony without further risk of brutal violence from the enforcers. Caitlyn has the power and knowledge to not only immediately seek revenge but also to cause all of Zaun to suffer from poisoned air. Caitlyn was also an adult, who’s not in a newly unstable situation of uncertain survival because of her mother’s death. In the moment these things feel like an emotional commonality but they’re very different situations and have very different practical resolutions. Even the Zaunites who attack the memorial are going after strictly council members and enforcers as direct retaliation for the death of a child, not mowing down random civilians. I think a large part of Caits hatred also comes from the refusal to acknowledge the fact that her mother, in many ways, was complicit to the violence that sparked the conflict.
I've blamed myself for my dad and sister dying, and than I blamed the hospital they were at. I was told that was a part of grief
I love that Vi dropping her gauntlets is a visual/literal representation of Caitlyn and her kiss disarming her
so perfect yes
6:02
I do think that the way Vi hugs caitlyn (that stiffness or rather her being a little surprised but at the same time being 100% there to catch her) shows how hard she's trying to turn off that fight or flight feeling she gets anytime someone is trying to Physically get close to her.
The other reason would be that maybe she doesn't expect it? Like she's thinking after all this grief her being close to caitlyn has brought her, she still feels so safe with her
I think season 2 really shows us Vi's true personality. Even tho Vi. yes is head strong, a fighter and anger issues with an older sister complex. Deep inside she's still heavily wounded snd very emotional, she also doesn't know what to do with herself outside of her fists. Cait's dynamic really pushes Vi into a corner and she has to step outside of her zone to figure out what to say next, what to do next. Cait is not Powder, she won't just take a couple sweet words and laugh with Vi. Vi now has to fully empathize and carefully map her reactions
There's a lot of parallels between Powder/Jinx in the first season and Caitlyn in this season. One thing I haven't seen talked about is how when Vi has Jinx pinned and Jinx resigns herself to dying, Caitlyn lowers her gun and just watches. It's only when Isha gets in the way and Vi starts to hesitate that Caitlyn raises her gun again. I wonder if this is supposed to parallel the scene in episode 9 where Jinx wants Vi to kill Caitlyn. As much as Caitlyn clearly wants to kill Jinx herself, maybe she really wanted to see Vi be the one to do it as a way to remove any doubts that she had any remaining loyalty to Jinx/Zaun. Her unhinged desperation for Vi to then get out of the way wasn't just about killing Jinx, it was also her anger and fear getting to her that Vi was failing to prove herself the way she wanted.
Added bit of symbolism someone else pointed out. Caitlyn hits Vi in the same spot she healed after she was stabbed.
OMG! Yes, that just adds another layer to the wound
I also want to point out - Caitlyn with Vi parallels Ambessa with Mel, where Ambessa says Mel made her weak essentially, which is how Caitlyn is likely feeling about Vi. Now Caitlyn is with Ambessa, being manipulated by her because of her anger, so it’s interesting that that parallel is there and that they’re now “on the same side” essentially.
I personally don’t think Caitlyn sees her relationship with Vi as something that needs to be set aside in a utilitarian manner to kill Jinx.
Having seen more in-depth portrayals of what Caitlyn’s going through here in other media, that tunnel vision she has on killing Jinx is making her completely irrational about anything that gets in the way of that, and regardless of the introspection she engages in, she too is a victim of what she recognized in herself earlier, that it’s so easy to hate a group of people when they seem responsible for bad things.
Vi is right, what if she missed and blew the kids’ head off?? Vi knows that all too well after she saw Jayce accidentally kill a child when they fought together. Their weapons had even just been malfunctioning due to the Hextech weirdness going on, she doesn’t even have to doubt Caitlyn’s ability to calculate that risk. And yes, Vi being hesitant to kill her sister does let her more easily see the risk in this situation, but that’s not THE reason why she stops Caitlyn. But Caitlyn in the middle of this intense hatred and desire to kill Jinx just can’t imagine herself failing (even though her own gun is malfunctioning) and doesn’t appreciate the risk of hitting the child for the opposite reason Vi protects her.
All of this just compounds into more irrational feelings, in her mind, Vi went back on her word and betrayed her to keep her murderous sister alive. Why? What why? She doesn’t need a why, her mind isn’t operating on ”why”. And in fact cutting Vi loose, hitting her, abandoning her, that’s the EASY thing for Caitlyn to do. Her intense hatred is simply overpowering and drowning her affection for Vi in this moment. Maybe she even regretted it once she calmed down a bit, but then what? Going back for Vi would just be painful and I want Jinx dead, DAMNIT! Sometimes, especially when we’re emotional, we take the path of least resistance to get what we want in the moment, and intensely negative emotions can make us do things that are completely crazy! Things we might look back on and be disgusted by, things we could never imagine we would ever do. And we might never confront those things because it’s easier not to. We might not ever try until it’s harder to avoid them than it is to face them. And so a single moment can cause something good to crash and burn if all the wrong preconditions are applied. And the worst part is that it just doesn’t make sense. It only makes sense moment to moment for the person experiencing it and that’s the danger of letting intense negative feelings put you on autopilot.
This might be the best comment so far,
Really great video, and I think you hit the nail on the head. The fandom has a lot of questions about Caitlyn at the moment, and I think it will help a lot of people get into her psychology; as much as they may find her choices hard to swallow.
I actually came to the same conclusion after seeing episode 3. I also think Cait is tired of reacting to the world and is now trying to take control of it. Caitlyn's job would be so much easier if Vi wasn't there. From Caitlyn's point of view, Vi and Jinx are the reason why her world is falling apart, but i think something is going to happen to make her realize that she can have Vi and be the Enforcer that the city needs.
I want to make a prediction. I think Caitlyn's biggest weakness is actually becoming a vengeful person. I dont think Vi is the issue, I think Caitlyn wants to blame Vi because Vi keeps Caitlyn grounded, and by keeping her grounded, it would force Caitlyn to act on logic versus emotion. Caitlyn has always admired Vi for being integral. No matter how much she went through, Vi always kept her integrity.
Caitlyn was really going to kill Jinx and the child. Having Vi see her as vengeful is way harder than having Vi hate her for abandoning her, so she pushed her away.
I am more interested in seeing how the rest of the series plays out. I do not think Vi personally would care about the physical abuse. I think the emotional abandonment is way more heartful after Vi specifically asked Caitlyn not to change.
@dairdb I absolutely agree with you.
I agree with your conclusion about Cait. I was disappointed, hoping she'd not go down this path. She's very much putting being a cop first, and abusing her power in her pursuit of revenge, though she's dressing it up in her mind as justice. And it was so troublesome to see how easily she discards Vi, as well as later in accepting the invitation of her being a general... she's entering her villian era for sure.
This actually makes perfect sense for her character - in season 1 she disobeys and ignores orders from others: her parents, Jace, Marcus. She even puts herself in extreme danger to "chase the Silco lead". Caitlyn has always had a ruthless and hyper focused obsessive personality.
In season 1 her actions eventually lead to Jinx killing her mother. In season 2 it seems her actions will lead to killing a lot of innocent people and starting a war.
Unfortunately Caitlyn cannot "let things go" - her relentless thinking doesn't allow any compromise to her goals or ideas. No matter who gets hurt (including herself).
Honestly, I think Caitlyns lashing out at Vi was a whole lotta projection.
Firstly, she has made some insanely accurate shots before on further away and more dramatically moving things before, even when shes been through the rough in -especially this battle- she still lands where she wants to hit. Obviously that should not mean she should ignore the risk of killing a child, but this is likely her mindset at the time. Who would she get mad at for this? Well her mom, probably best seen in the flashback in s1 ep5. She had been sick of getting underestimated and its seen a lot in season 1. Well the people who normally underestimated her -again mainky her mom- are either dead or preoccupied (Marcus, Jayce, etc). The only person she has to lash out at is Vi, who blocked her shot justifiably.
And then she projects that comparison to Jinx onto Vi with very little reasoning behind it other than the fact that she cant face the fact that shes becoming more like Jinx than she could've wanted. People have probably explained this part way better than me, this isn’t really the focal point but i thought it wise to at least bring it up.
Shes also kinda projecting herself onto Vi who at this point has left her alone as the only person shes able to really open up to twice (s1 ep8 and s2 ep1) -Vi sure had her reasons and Cait really has to understand that she needs more than one person to rely on emotionally but it still hurt Cait a lot. I could see her both realizing shes doing the same thing to Vi here and hating it, but -in a sort of cruel way- theres probably a part of her saying "now she knows how it feels to be left like that".
And I hope I made it clear that I'm explaining and not justifying, Cait should've really been way more attentive to Vi's feelings this season among a crap to of other things,
I probably messed up some sort of details so reply if you noticed something.
I agree
Caitlyn is one of my favorite characters of Arcane💯🔥
Hope you liked it
Same she is so cool, Cait and Vi are my favorite characters
And Caitlyn's character development is realistic and interesting, I love it
I want old Caitlyn back but darn is what’s going on right now so interesting
@@Taj_SASyess!
I was meh about her before because she was so serious all the time, even before her mom died, but episode 3 where she hit Vi hard enough to actually make her cry broke my heart, I went from meh to outright hating her. It doesn't matter what you're going through, assaulting your partner (I'm assuming Vi and Cait were more or less officially girlfriends after their kiss) is inexcusable.
17:01 I was looking at some other caitvi scenes (because I love them so much 😭) and I thought it was kind of interesting that Caitlyn’s hand on Vi’s face here is the only face touch between them that isn’t skin-on-skin - Caitlyn’s gloves are in the way. Don’t know if I’m reading too much into it but I just find it a sort of interesting metaphor for the fact that there’s a boundary between them here that wasn’t before.
Cait brushing aside Vi's apologies might be because she doesn't believe Vi is at fault - or it may be she's in denial and doesn't want to think that it might be Vi's fault. But even if that's the case, it just supports the thesis that Cait thinks Vi is her greatest weakness, mirroring Ambessa's feelings towards Mel.
Ouuuh yes the ambassa similarities hits even more now, Mel made her weak. And now it’s the same for cait.
ambessa is getting Kireman to be the “wolf” that ambessa has always wanted. Mel was always the fox. And ambessa believes people gotta be the wolf. Let’s see how far the manipulation goes, kireman gotta open her eyes and figure out ambessa is behind the memorial attack. Season one cait would have but now she is blinded by grief and anger.
I agree that Caitlyn _thinks_ that her love for Vi is her greatest weakness, but I think that Caitlyn's real weakness is indeed her sense of duty (currently to her family and city), and Vi is just the scapegoat that Caitlyn is using to avoid her grief because Vi represents all of the nuances and cracks in the worldview that Caitlyn grew up with in a time where an evil Zaunite just murdered her good (at least in Caitlyn's eyes) mom.
(Yes, Jinx is a pretty evil person. She's sympathetic and not pure evil, but she's far more evil than she is good.)
The moment Caitlyn said "I won't" I knew things were going south. She lied to Vi's face, which I feel is her biggest step away from herself up to that moment. That's the point of no return (at least for a while). It's so sad to think that they could've just arrested Jinx instead of trying to kill her and none of this would've happened, but Cait's feelings and the ones Vi hides would've never allowed it.
Argh I always love how reading and forming theories is always part of the arcane experience, I'm literally so invested in this I could write a dissertation with how much I've been reading into everything instead of actually researching for my actual Uni work 😂😂
Cait & Vi are incredibly fascinating arc from many angles, but the two really important here are their love for each other and each one's tribal mentality. The story starts with them as complete strangers, Cait being very open-minded towards the people form the Undercity and Vi being the complete opposite. Throughout second and third arcs of S1 we see them growing closer and closer and Vi's slow opening up to the idea that even Topsiders are just humans. After the death of Cait's mom (S2), she changes radically and starts falling fast into tribal mentality, even dehumanizing the Zaunites, which starts driving Cait & Vi apart, even if neither of them wants to admit it, until the end of S2E3. Notably, however, in S2 we see Vi get over her very last tribal hurdle - the Enforcers, as that is still present when Cait gives her the badge and Vi is suddenly reminded that Cait is, in fact, still an Enforcer, to which I think by that point Vi gave absolutely no thought (a stark contrast to what Cait was for Vi when they just met - an Enforcer and nothing else), but I think that it is thanks to Cait and the young Enforcer lady that Vi encounters a bit later and the fight that follows show Vi that the Enforcers, like everyone else, are just people, mostly good, but with a bad apple here and there.
I don't think that Vi's "I watched them kill my parents. Do you have any idea how that feels?" is not as one-sided tone deaf as it may seem at a first glance, given how Vi still views them, as in the Enforcers, at that point in contrast to her sister, for whose current state and actions she largely still blames herself. Cait, of course, has a completely different, one might even say opposite, view of both the Enforcers and Jinx as the fellow(s) and the monster, which I think both of them only realize during this exchange. The offer to join the Enforcers was made with the best intentions, but not understanding that Vi wasn't ready for it yet. A set of following events, namely Vi's chance to th(/dr)ink it through, the encounter with the Enforcer lady and the fight at the memorial made Vi realize, that these Enforcers are not the monsters she remembers from the bridge, but rather allies, fighting for the common cause, and who are the real monsters that she needs to fight. This is why Vi decides to join the Enforcers and stop the crime lords and Jinx at all costs.
Yes, this could've played out very differently if Vi has had a chance to realize this before being offered a badge, but this is the Arcane way and it gave us, as a bonus, the first hint of just how dark path is Cait going to go down... if you paid attention... This is what I love about this show. Every detail is relevant and persistent and every single character in this show acts consistently with what they've experienced and done so far, while the writers don't shy away from challenging themselves by putting various combinations of characters, each in their current state, together into a situation that changes every one of them. Sometimes it's just a bit, and sometimes it's radical change, but each time you see the same character on the screen they are different. Cait's "Yes! I do!" response only makes sense if she sees Jinx exactly the same way she, at that moment, knows Vi still sees (the rest of) the Enforcers - the monster(s) that killed their parent(s). Cait follows with "I thought you were on our side.", to which Vi responds "You didn't think at all.", because for Vi, the rest of the Enforcers aren't the "our side".
One more moment that hits really hard is when Vi asks Cait to promise not to change, but the problem is, that Vi either doesn't yet realize or want to admit to herself how drastically Cait has already changed as a result of her mother's death. The bittersweet feeling from the following kiss, the kiss that I so eagerly yet patiently waited to come in the right moment, finally coming when we know that there's already this wedge between them that is inevitably going to drive them apart (what Georgia described as "Caitlyn's Biggest Mistake" being another wedge, pushing them apart, but from the other side and meeting at the end of the arc)... Arcane is truly a high-G emotional roller-coaster for any deeply empathetic person.
Basically Caitlyn go threw Jinx insanity arc, while Jinx on contrast go threw some sort of the healing arc
I wanna see you breakdown the new Jinx, and especially her relationships with the kid, Isha, and Sevika
her greatest weakness is her greatest strength: her tendency to hyperfocus on one target, without consequence to any other surrounding actors or influences.
8:50 I feel like it's not tone deaf because vi never asked Caitlyn to join the group who killed her parents, left her orphaned and subjugate not only herself but her people and loved one. Not to mention throw her in a jail cell from adolescents to adulthood. Caitlyn however, is asking that.
The flowes that Cait is surrounded by, keeps seeing above Jinx and her mother is buried with are violets. Vi's name is Violet. I think that is extremely in your face symbolism
8:17 No I disagree. Witnessing ONE parent die when you're an adult is very different to witnessing both your biological parents die when you're a child + adopted parent die when you're a child all because of the corrupt system run by the likes of Caithlyn's family. The only way in my opinion that Caithlyn could even start to understand is if Vi asked her to join forces with Jinx (even if Jinx should somehow redeem herself, even by a little bit.)
what did I read?
I mean of course it's different but still is a trauma, TRAUMA.
Caitlyn didn't do anything wrong, she was searching for pace, and she tried to understand Vi that's why she didn't kill Jinx when she had the opportunity and what she got?
I think that's exactly what's gonna happen. Vi is gonna ask Caitlyn at some point to join forces with Jinx against the Noxians. Mirroring how Cait asked Vi to join the enforcers in the first third of the season. And because it's (partially) Caitlyn's fault that Ambessa was able to take over piltover, she'll reluctantly do it in order to right her wrongs.
Yeah, the very fact that Cait can lead a (legally sanctioned) strike team of law enforcement into Zaun, using her birthright access to the Grey as chemical warfare, partially in retaliation for her mother's death shows just how incomparable Cait's loss of her mother is to Jinx and Vi's loss of both their birth and adopted parents. Jinx and Vi hailing from the under city, especially at the age they lost their parents, means they would have absolutely no meaningful way to retaliate or hold the Piltovans/enforcers' to any kind of accountability for their parents' (or any of the citizenry of the Undercity) deaths without being absolutely demolished under the jack heel of the state. Meanwhile, Cait's class position puts her in the perfect place to instrumentalize and weaponize her privilege, not only as a Piltovan and enforcer but as an heir to the Kiraman name, to VIOLENTLY take out her poorly regulated grief/guilt/anger trauma response onto any Zaunite who gets in her way without legal repercussion. In other words, Vi and Jinx experienced their loss and grief in a state of complete situational disempowerment, powerless to either hold those responsible to account or to stop any future carceral violence levied at them or their Undercity-brethren by the enforcers, while Cait situationally can very much act on and weaponize her loss against the one who killed her mother, with very little regard to the consequent casualties as is her status as an enforcer. Yes, Cait's trauma of losing her mother is of course valid. However, her claim of her loss of her mother and Vi's loss of her parents' being somehow circumstantially equal is an admission of Cait's outstanding privilege in the situation and justifies why she so easily slips into becoming the violently oppressive authoritarian dictator she becomes at the end of Act 1.
Edit: I am indeed comparing trauma. Because that is exactly what Caitlin is doing to guilt trip Vi into joining an institution which massacred her parents and perpetually oppress her people. I am arguing out that if Caitlin wants to compare traumas, then her explicit claim that her losing her mother is somehow equal to Vi losing her parents demonstrates a painfully ignorant and privileged view of their respective situations.
I came to the comments for exactly this. I love Georgia, but this sounded like she put a bit too much of her personal feelings and experience into saying this instead of being objective and understanding Vi's point of view. I personally even thought Caitlyn was horrendous in this scene by pushing her own thing over someone else (even though her trauma is recent and understandable, didn't give her a right to put vi's trauma down like that).
@@Cyrra one of the biggest issues with cait in my opinion is perspective. she doesn't allow herself time to process her emotions and inner thoughts, instead she uses her loss to motivate her revenge aginst zaun and essientially become a authoritarian leader. she didn't allow herself to be seen from a 3rd party to realise her actions are making her lose her own way. people like Vi would've provided good counter balance as someone who lacks privilege who hated piltover, but came around when cait came into the picture. cait should've realise the same in Vi, but i think Vi enabled her actions when she joined as an enforcer, leaving a critical part of Vi to be heard.
You what’s one thing that I haven’t seen anyone discuss? Caitlyn’s place in Piltover High Society. It simply doesn’t allow her to grieve in a normal way. The one thing that I couldn’t help but notice is that she didn’t cry. She came very close, but the most you could see was her lips quivering. The only time she really expressed - expresses - herself is with Vi. Any other time she is as stoic as can be and the sad part is that she has to be. Any perceived weakness will result in rival houses attacking her. She can’t afford to grieve properly so she has channeled into revenge, which - as sick as it is, as monstrous as it could potentially make her - is probably the only thing high society will allow her to do with minimum consequences.
20:25 I think a few people have pointed it out, but whenever Caitlyn makes her “perfect shot” she always takes a second to aim, calm her breath, then shoot. This time there was no moment of steadying, which makes me believe this was accidental. Furthermore a lot of people believe she could have shot Jinx without harming Isha, but this time her hands were unsteady and was short of breath, and this leads me to fully believe there was a chance of her accidentally harming Isha.
One thing I'm not sure you caught is when Caitlyn walks away from Vi after punching her, if you slow down the clip you can see her eyebrows furrow and her lip start to quiver before she quickly turns away from her. She knew she had to distance herself from Vi but doing so hurt her so deeply :(
LETS GOOOO. Incoming 10h of arcane analysis 🔥🔥🔥
At the very least, even if Vi had faith Caitlyn could make the shot, I think Vi didn’t want another kid to watch someone they love die in front of them.
I've been waiting for these, especially Caitlyn's as she is my favorite even pre-Arcane.
And I agree Caitlyn's love for Vi is her weakness and I can't wait for the rest of your analyses.
If Caitlyn struck Vi and left her because she truly felt that Vi was a hindrance to her then that would perfectly mirror the moment Vi abandoned Powder all those years ago. When Powder was sobbing and asking her big sister "why did you leave me?" Vi punched her and told her "because you're a Jinx!" Caitlyn was more restrained in her rejection of Vi, (or repressed depending on how you look at it,) but the message was the same: You're no good and I can't have you around because you only hold me back.
Girl, PLEASE wear this cosplay just because, you look amazing! I love the hair, especially
thank you for the compliment = ) i will wear it again for sure
Vi is aware that Caitlyn just lost her mother, but Vi's also not asking her to dress up as Jynx.
One thing that stood out to me about the scene where Cait first offers the badge, it's that it's a false equivalency for her to vehemently insist she understands Vi's loss and what that means for what she's asking. She's asking Vi to put on the same uniform that killed her parents so she can hunt down and kill her sister. The enforcers are also the reason Vander was able to be easily taken to his death as well. Would Cait be half as understanding if Vi asked her to understand Jinx's perspective, let alone side with her? To wear her colors and use them to attack what remains of her family? Let alone her community as being an enforcer will mean hurting others in the lower city?
Hextech was also acting up, which was causing issues with Vi's gauntlets and Cait's gun. I can’t say for sure that’s why she missed, but it seems like a likely explanation among other things.
Thank you for this measured explanation of Caitlyn's character in the first act so far.
A lot of people need to watch this, and judging by the comments so far, it seems to be going right over their heads. But thank you for trying, nonetheless
I think it's also interesting that in season 1 whenever there was any kind of negative tension between Vi and Caitlyn, it was Vi that was turning her back to Cait and walking away,while Cait was reaching out to Vi. In season 2 just before Cait hit Vi with the rifle, it was Vi reaching for Cait and Caitlyn walking away.
Seeing a Professional Therapist analyze this is so amazing to see.
Thanks happy you enjoyed it
I think the biggest reason why Jinx "gets away" with what she does vs. Caitlyn is Jinx. Has. Excuses. The writers used about a dozen different writing methods for Jinx, but the big one is Excuses.
"Jinx was raised by a madnan, Jinx isn't well mentally, Jinx is underprivileged."
With Caitlyn, she doesn't. Every excuse you can try and throw can be countered by one thing: Caitlyn grew up privileged. The writers didn't write Caitlyn like Jinx so it's impossible to compare the two women.
This channel is the cutest thing ever, the way she dresses like Cait and analyse her, man we are blessed
The best thing about Arcane is all the awesome video essays about characters, psychology, and writing we get
As Kratos said "Mourn how you wish. Leave me to my own"
I dont think it's fair for cait to compare Vi/Jinx losing their parents to her losing her mom. They died by police brutality after enduring topside systemic abuses, they might not even had the opportunity to burry them.
unfair as it may be, and I do agree with you, but the truth is that she (Caitlyn) recently suffered a loss. It's "fresh". So, it's nearly impossible for someone in that moment to empathize with anyone. It's like talking about a breakup you had 10 years ago with someone who suffered from a horrible breakup a few hours ago. It would take a TREMENDOUS amount of strength or some type of compartmentalization for that person to be like, "Yeah, I just had a breakup a few hours ago, but lets talk about how your breakup from a decade ago is making you feel right now..." - it's a lot to ask of anyone.
Even worse, there are no "levels" of comparison to the loss they both suffered. We can't say, "The loss of my mother is levels above the loss of your mother..." - that's a dangerous perspective to discuss when two people suffered the kind of loss they suffered, especially when one JUST suffered the loss. We think it makes sense if we say, "Yeah, my mother died. She fell into a giant meat grinder and she was sprayed all over a classroom full of preschoolers..." vs. "Yeah, my mother died peacefully in her bed..." - who suffered the worst death? It doesn't matter. What matters is how the living feel about the loss. Both; Caitlyn and Vi suffered horrible losses, and comparing whose loss was worth doesn't help anyone.
Vi lost someone over something she has no control over while Caitlyn could have avoided it by shooting Jinx. Both cases are traumatic but I bet Caitlyn has more internal conflict and regret over her mom’s death unlike Vi’s straightforward hatred towards enforcers.
@@SPAMusubiHalauit's not like a break up from 10 years ago. They were her parents, not a partner. Parents, who are primary caregivers. And it was due to systemic oppression which is actual abuse. A break up is not abuse. These are objective aspects that can be compared by outsiders. This doesn't negate Caitlyn's pain but she is way more tone deaf than whatever Vi said there. I would say Vi was far more gracious and totally correct, it's obvious Caitlyn didn't think this through. She just wants here revenge onto those filthy Zaunites she admits are "easy to hate" to Jayce, and her lover couldn't possibly be from the group she hates. This is the implicit reasoning in what she says to Vi about thinking she was part of that "us".
Can’t believe you came out with an analysis so fast! I am SAT! ❤
Hope you enjoyed it!
@@GeorgiaDowLoved it, as always! Something I’d love your thoughts on, which you’ll probably explore in a Vi analysis, is if you think that Vi questioned Caitlin’s ability to make the shot anymore because of the erratic behaviour she’d witnessed so far and whether she no longer trusted her to in that moment.
Yep...I agree with you about what Caitlyn believes is her biggest mistake. Don't agree with Caitlyn, though. And I've beat higher odds and in a more meaningful and significant way than the Card Counter will ever come close to.
truth
@@GeorgiaDow thanks