One word tears But also i loved it jinx death was unexpected and tear jerking but im wondering if your going to do a shipping video about jinx and ekko
I think the core issue with season 2 is that we no longer spend enough time with each character to fully understand their actions and motivations until everything fully pans out, whereas in season 1 we knew EXACTLY what each character’s motivations were and EXACTLY how they all impact each other. season 2 just doesn’t have the time to fully explore things and so plot takes precedent over character. Still loved it tho lol
I totally agree with you. In season one, their stories were really close : Viktor and Jayce, Cait and Vi, Jinx and Silco etc. were almost together all the time so there were few stories to follow. In season 2, everyone split and have their own development which was really hard to follow
I thought it gave every character plenty of time and didn’t spend too much time fleshing out things that ultimately weren’t necessary. There’s people for example saying VI’s underground boxing arc needed a whole episode which would’ve been such a waste of time of time. There’s already parts of season 2 that REALLY takes its time so doing a lot more of that would’ve made the season feel so dragged out. The way they did it was neither dragged out nor rushed imo. The biggest things to me are just the uncertainty and impression of death so many characters got. My biggest surprise was how it appears that so many champions are possibly dead including Ambessa, Jayce, Viktor, Heimerdinger, Jinx, and Warwick. That’s what I find most unexpected and gives me pause and curiosity about whether we will actually get more of them in the future. Ambessa is the only one who clearly seems to have died, but the rest all have possible excuses for how they may have survived some way somehow. Jinx and Warwick have both survived explosions before because they’re built different. Jayce, Viktor, and Heimerdinger all disappear in ways that look no different from how they originally were transported through time and space so who knows if they’re actually out there somewhere. But in a vacuum of the two seasons as a complete story, I believe everyone’s arcs actually were wrapped up really well.
@@BuddyChy Tbh I don't they actually gave enough time to each character lmao Like at first I was scratching my head about Viktor because it seemed so sudden his change from pacifist humanity loving hippie Jesus to "I WANT GLORIOUS EVOLUTION AND GET RID OF HUMANITY'S EMOTIONS" plus using the hextech to create soldiers But then I stopped and thought about it, then realized that Viktor was probably emotionally (and physically) hurt by Jayve shooting at him. Like the cult (I mean, commune) was probably Viktor's version of their Hextech dream, so he must've been really hurt/angry by what Jayce did and then lashed out and justified his emotions with logic (no, it's not that he was hurt, it was just that the glorious evolution and getting rid of humanity' imperfections to erase their mistakes and pain in general was the next logical step) Then that would also explain why he stopped so fast after Jayce was back with him, he didn't care about perfection, he just wanted to be with his partner again BUT BOY I didn't understand any of that the first time I watched it I was just confused as to why Viktor was changing his mind so quick lol
Summed up perfectly, I'm not having a go at them but the people who prefer season 2 are too persuaded by special moments. Season 2 was amazing, but didn't quite stick the landing like season 1 did.
It felt like this season every episode had the writers saying "But we don't have time to unpack all THAT", over and over again, ad nauseam, until suddenly it was over
My man Ekko gave up the universe of his dreams so he could save everyone. Truly the GOAT. He certainly lived up to his title of "The Boy Savior." Loved his character, loved all the characters, loved the music, the animation. All of it!
Ekko paid a sacrifice so did Powder too but the plot armor of the LGBTQ Caitlin managed to survive despite the miserable void in V's heart having lost, Vander, Powder, Isha and Ekko enjoy. Imo episodes 1 to 6 Season 2 are brilliant. Unfortunately 7 to 9 are poorly scripted and executed they just ruin what could have been a great season to end with. Where LGBTQ dogma ruins a great story as it fails to bring a realistic closer that's befitting to all instead it just doubles down on dismembering Powder's and Vanders memory.
Yeah dude really sacrificed a great life with his old mentor and friends still alive where his childhood crush ended up being his girlfriend. All for the sake of saving his friends in his universe. Dude deserves all the props in the world.
@@Jonathan_Collins But those *aren't* his people. They're replacements. He'd never forget the originals and, furthermore, what happened to the Ekko who's spot he took? He doesn't seem like the kind of person that could live a lie like that.
I saw that and just said “so we just gonna gloss over him resurrecting his daughter while playing a hand in the destruction of piltover with ambasa, twisting vander into a Frankenstein monster Warwick, shimmer for silco and the Chem barrons? This guy gets a happy ending?”
I feel like it just didn’t make sense for Vi’s character to be doing allat rather than following her sister… Like the whole series we see Vi not truly being able to give up on her little sister so for her to hook up with Cait instead after seeing Jinx show very $uicidia1 tendencies was actually insane to me. I know Jinx was like “don’t worry about me and be happy” but the Vi they’ve shown this entire time would not have listened to Jinx and gone to her anyways
@@squirrel1226 She explains it right there wdym? If you actually go back and watch season 1 you can see Vi multiple times choosing Cait and ekko's plan over saving jinx, who she doesnt quite know how to feel about yet. Plus she literally says "I dont know why I thought she would help us" "I always pick wrong" She chose in that moment to save jinx over cait and what she got for it was getting betrayed and locked up again. Not to mention she has had more closure with jinx in the last 2 episodes than she has with cait.
*Old Victor:* "Jayce, you're the only one who could CONVINCE me that I'm wrong." *Jayce:* "Got it buddy!" *Jayce:* Immediately blasts a crater in Victor's chest first thing he gets back.
Ekko's back must need surgery. He undebatably broke it from carrying the fate of the world on it. Joking aside, Arcane was more than just a TV show. It was an experience. And, Holy God, it was an amazing one. It had its flaws, but I truly enjoyed being along for the ride, and I say this as someone who got into the series a couple of months ago.
And arcane is just the beginning of alot of these great stories, more will come. Arcane really is a great example of how a fantastic storyline is written with wonderfully written characters
@@jormungandr4690 Only in the final act. Before that, Jayce constantly drops the ball at almost every turn. But, yes, he does redeem himself at the very end.
I needed this comment, because the show is great but has it flaws. What I just realized is that even with its flaws, this show is much better than almost anything already out there.
The funniest part is I'm almost certain people will be more mad that Maddie slept with Cait than they will be about the betrayal still. Ekko was the MVP for everything
I prob never knew that because in season 1 She was very young, i’d never knew she grew up so fast to be a traitor. (Edit) Sry i did some research again i didnt say that correctly lmao
In the very first episode of the show, Powder saw a blimp and said "One day, I'm gonna ride one of those things." I strongly believe she's still alive. That last shot is there for a reason.
It low key needed another season. Season 2 should have been Zaun and Piltover’s dispute along with Jinx and Vi’s whole thing. Then season 3 could have focused on the Noxians, Viktor’s cult, and the whole multiverse thing. I’m so sad they just dropped the Zaun and Piltover conflict in favor of Ambessa. Ambessa wasn’t even that interesting of a villain compared to Silco from season 1 imho. I actually might be dumb but I have no clue what her motivations were for doing all of that and how the Black Rose plays into it. They really needed to explain that a little more, especially for the people who don’t know League lore
@@squirrel1226I agree but the motivation was simple - she wanted to use the technology of arcane & Viktor to go back to her homeland and become more powerful (+ protect Mel)
@@yasmina3999 Why was the black rose after her then? Also it seems kind of dumb to want to team up with the dude who could enslave humanity if he really wanted.. does she think Viktor wouldn’t try to turn her and her forces into his minions? And about the Mel thing, I think they should’ve shown Ambessa being more caring for Mel like how we see Silco with Jinx. When I watched I just felt like Ambessa kept saying she cared but none of her actions actually proved it. Although maybe that’s how the writers intended for her character to be - someone who’s selfish but deluded in believing they’re doing something good ?
@squirrel1226 yeah, I actually agree with you. I got her motivation but indeed question the other aspects of her character: her relationship with Mel, the black rose, her naive trust that Viktor is going to help her ( and why didn't Viktor try to change her too, like... why was he actually working with her...? He didn't want wars) and so on.
Learning that Mel is going to be a champion in League of Legends really fills me with dread. I can’t help but feel like they drastically changed her character just so that she could be a champion in the game. That’s why she suddenly has magic when it was never established or hinted at in Season 1. That’s why she suddenly has strong ties to the Black Rose. That’s why her powers are explained so specifically by LeBlanc, that’s why they function like a fucking video game with her forming shields around other characters. That’s why they abandoned the idea of her being a politician altogether in favour of her being a front line fighter.
Most characters did things which were wildly inconsistent/made decisions that don't make sense this season. Agree on Mel...but I was more confused by Sevika and disappointed by Heimerdinger
@@cartoonishidealism582well tbh it actually was kinda hinted in season one with her gold armor/tattoo being somewhat of a spidey sense which I know isn’t really much but it showed that she was gifted in someway or another
@@cartoonishidealism582 tbf her magic was hinted at in the last scene of episode 1. But that's it. They made all these drastic character changes in Season 2, that felt wayyy too rushed. I mean Viktor went all out Evil in literally the last 2 episodes and ended up as a Thanos level threat. How is this good storytelling?
@@MagiaBasedLeague fans are insufferable. Arcane is its own thing, you guys just wanted everyone to end up as they are in League and then the story ends there 😭
On Jinx faking her death. When she left Vi in the cell she was convinced that Vi would never be able to be happy with Cait as long as she's there. In her comeback she's more upbeat about it, however her conclusion is the same. She came back to save Vi, leting her know that she still loves her but she was never going to stay. And when she see's Vi unable to save herself crying over vander, she realizes how much Vi still lives for other. That's why she jumps. She wants Vi to let her go and grieve her so she can move on with her life.
But why would she assume that VI cant be happy as long as she is alive? They have no conflict anymore, jinx' mental illness seems to be cured, there is no reason why they could not live in harmony, now that everything is over
@@Mathematik_Anhaenger remember that we as the audience saw Cait accepting and endorcing Vi searching for Jinx. Jinx doesn't, Jinx thinks that Vis love for her is holding her back in living a life that Vi wants. Also still Jinx believes that she's a burden, that doesn't go away in a minute, even after Ekko took her out of blowing herself up, she still feels like a burden to the ppl that she loves.
@@Mathematik_Anhaenger Jinx still killed a whole lot of people, I don’t think her and Vi could have a normal life together, and it’s never specified if Caitlyn ever forgave her for killing her mom. In the end, Vi and Jinx’s bond was forged out of love, but it was always unhealthily codependent. Jinx was right to let Vi live her life without prioritising someone else’s happiness over her own, and it would be good for Jinx to steer faraway from the one place that is the root of all her pain
It was never gonna get fixed , even current timeline of pilt and zaun lore thy are still fighting over each other and Cait herself in the show said there will be more conflict, i swear people do people even actually watch and listen to the series they watch?
@@Caelum_01 it’s not even that just the bonds and characters felt like they were rushing throughout everything like it’s insane now that we have the full picture the plot is legitimately everywhere going too quickly from one to another, before act 3 I thought it’s pacing was alright a bit faster but still could be flesh out in act 3 but no if anything act 3 is legitimately is speed-running to wrap up everything together beside episode 7 which actually took it’s time 8 and 9 just has lot of time skips like rest of the season but here it’s the worst because we really do miss a lot of key moments that they shouldn’t have skipped over.
Season 1: Israel vs. Palestine but make it dystopian steampunk Season 2: Israel vs. Palestine doesn't matter anymore and we're all best friends because Jesus made a pact with Noxus because he got shot by Jayce after Jayce just got back from time traveling after being told by alternative universe Jesus that he needed to persuade himself not to become Jesus but decided to shoot him first anyway for some reason, Zaun and Piltover politics and systemic issues shoved in the trash can because Zaun could actually be prosperous and happy if it just stopped attacking Piltover and got rid of its gangs. What did Riot Games mean by this?
Your take on Isha is exactly how I felt about her, she was such a plot device it was painful to see her surrounded by a bunch of other complex characters with personal motivations
Vander was a plot device in S1 yet everybody were happy with it. The main difference is that Isha shows what She wants/do, since She's mute. Both of them were there in 3 episodes. Vander was the moral support of Vi, Isha was the same for Powder.
I got to say i feel like this show would have worked a lot more as a 3 season story like a proper trilogy. Am which I think could have fixed a lot of the pacing problems
As much as I loved this season I agree 100%, most of the plot lines for this season really did need either another season to flesh everything out or to just add a few extra episodes to allow everything to flow more naturally.
Personally I’m a firm believer that this season could have really benefited from a Shakespearean 5-Act structure with the first act acting as a prologue to resolve the fallout of season 1, 3 acts to space out the pacing of the story and acting as the main tragedy, & a final act devoted to the battle + its aftermath to provide proper resolutions to everything.
The reason why Silco is in the alternate universe is explained by the letter Vander wrote to him, but never found in the universe we’re more familiar with. The letter was actually found in this universe, leading to some sort of reconciliation and forgiveness. This makes sense considering their rivalry was never really born out of a hatred for each other, rather just a difference in priorities. They shared the same dream, but Vander prioritized his children first; Silco thought this was weakness. They still love each other deep down, which is why they were able to forgive each other in the first place. This couldn’t have happened if there was a greater emotional disconnect between the two.
I just remember after Ekko said "Didn't you tried to kill him?" Asking Silco based on his timeline, and Silco is the one talking about forgiveness, BOTH OF THEM THOUGHT EKKO WAS DIRECTED AT VANDER FOR TRYING TO KILLED SILCO, NOT THE OTHER WAY AROUND, I JUST NOW SEE IT THANK TO YOUR COMMENT
@@cauvangquaygame8524 We never got what Silco did to make Vander want to kill him, he said Silco went to far, we needed more. Why was silco trying to kill his friends kids. Im talking about the mother, he knew her, he knew those were her kids. Again someone told them to change things I can feel it.
@@TheHawkssongdifference of priorities. Having Felicia’s kids around who were raised by Vander were just going to lead to more problems down the road if he leaves em be. From a villain standpoint, why not remove all the things standing in his way, past present or future.
I can imagine that not even the letter could've made the difference, but just the news that one of Felicia's daughters Vander was taking care of died. Silco could've come to "visit an old freind" just to scold him, or try to turn him on war path again, and that lead up to them finally talking normally. After all, doctor Revek was only testing shimmer that day. The worst could've still been averted.
Yeah it makes perfect sense and if there’s no rivalry between vander and silco the undercity would never have been flooded with shimmer, which is why they’re all able to live nice lives.
She's alive, the shimmer spark right before the explosion, Caitlyn studying the vents and seeing that Jinx could escape, the blimp at the end was Jinx leaving Zaun since she said in episode 1 that she'll fly one of those someday. They set up her needing to " walk away" in order for the cycle to end, so she faked hee death so everyone could move one
@@toan.2764 I mean, I buy her being alive. The scene of Cait seeing the vents sold me on it. But I think it’s supposed to be up to interpretation, you’re allowed to think she just died
35:00 Thank you. Piltover and Zaun have very culturally specific issues, and I absolutely hate that those issues were sidelined to introduce an endgame final battle with the Noxians. I hate that so much
it's literally not sidelined, and idk how tf you thought they could've had those complicated and nuanced issues resolved or addressed in like a single episode, they'd need a whole season for that at least
wow, it’s almost like that’s what this season was supposed to be… real talk where was the war?? war is usually long term and calculated, the ep 9 fight took ONE DAY and it wasn’t even the civil war we’ve been building up to
@@Dell-ol6hbI feel like without being willfully ignorant it's quite obvious that it's implied in MULTIPLE comments, including the one you replied to, that alot of people who criticize the show would have preferred a grounded zaun/piltiver conclusion instead of "unite to save the world" It quite literally resolved in a compilation sequence, it was sidelined bro
@@Dell-ol6hb In the initial lore, Zaun was supposed to get its independence after Piltover fks them over so bad, they had to give them independence as recompense for what they did to them. In the lore, the Piltovans blow up a significant portion of the undercity to make way for a canal that'd be good for business. That part kinda gets retconned because of the hexgates, but they could've easily come up with another reason for blowing up Zaun. But Piltover's horrible actions were largely replaced by Noxians doing most of the bad stuff. That change isn't something I appreciate. Introducing the Black Rose and the Noxians felt more like a reason to introduce another region's conflicts instead of focusing on Piltover and Zaunite problems. It's like introducing Loki and the Chitauri in the first Iron Man Movie. They're focused more on the spin-off than they are on the actual story they're trying to tell. There's a lack of world-building restraint there that disappoints me immensely.
@@Dell-ol6hbthey were addressing all of those complicated and nuanced issues PERFECTLY until act 3, they didn't have to deliver the perfect fix, just a satisfying ending would do
i feel like arcane as we knew it, the political drama between 2 cities, the study of characters under those systems and their relationships- ended in act 1 s2. the last 2 acts felt like i was watching a completely different show, and that includes the writing for the characters, and the lack of focus on what even the theme of the show is anymore. on top of the confused, all over the place writing, they added a lot of magic bullshit (with mel and the hexcore) time travel and multiverse, by design this makes the realism and groundedness of the show, what i think was the strongest suit of arcane s1 and act 1 of s2, dissolve and feel more like a marvel movie than arcane.
yea. i honestly don't mind the eldritch horror direction they took because it was sort of hinted in s1 but there was almost no exploration of how this new horror is going to change the dynamics between piltover and zaun and how class plays a role in this beyond "let's team up to fight the big bad!". nor was there any build up to it at all. it really did feel like they forgot to keep the actual character drama at the heart of it, because up until s2 was released i would've described it as a greek tragedy before i described it as a fantasy show. like, guys, the characters are what people loved about this - episode 7 is overwhelmingly the most well received by everyone and that's because it re-centres on the tension between ekko and jinx. "in the pursuit of great, we failed to do good" sums it up for me.
I mean, the show is called Arcane, it's in a world with full op magic BS. Mel wasn't that op, more like an assist. It was always about characters first then the cities. Especially Vi/Jinx & Jayce/Viktor. The politics aspects stops as soon as Caitlyn becomes the commander. A bit sad we didn't have an episode that shows her gradually going full commando on Zaun. I disagree on the marvel thing. It has nothing to do with marvel type of movies/shows (thanks god). Its biggest flaw is the show being confined to 3 acts where it would have benefited of a 4th. I think overall ppl need to chill more. It's an incredible show with minor flaws. The rest was on point (writing, dialogues, visuals, soundtrack and so on).
Why is everyone always on about Ekko? I thought he was among the least interesting or consequential characters. They just gave him things to do to serve the plot. He had no arc of his own.
@@vaporwave4880 he technically did: seeing Jinx/Powder as someone still worth saving. That was his conflict. Throughout Season 1, he kept telling himself that Powder is gone and that Jinx needs to be stopped. After meeting a reality where he sees Jinx/Powder for what she could be, he goes back to help his version of her; he accepts that she's Jinx and wants to help her. It's a more personal arc than normally written.
@@vaporwave4880 I dont know why people think that Ekko delivering the core is him being the super MVP. If Jayce doesnt convince Viktor and they dont activate the rune nothing changes
@@jormungandr4690Ekko invented the Z-Drive through the inversion of the Acceleration rune Viktor gave to Jayce (in all the other timelines he gave Jayce a different rune) and in those other timelines Jayce either never convinced Viktor or it never got to where Hextech was invented. Because of that, Ekko’s presence is the key difference between whether or not Jayce succeeds
Totally with you on the focus on systemic issues in the first season. I was very disappointed with them taking the easy solution of having the city unite to fight an external threat. That's not how you repair long-term systemic issues. If they wanted to tackle an external threat it should have been in a third season after the Piltover / Zaun resolution.
I was under the impression that societal issues will still exist. Yeah someone from Zaun is on the council now, but the other councillors looked pissed that Sevetka was now on the council, that to me shows the societal issues haven’t been fixed overnight.
@@Zero-mn8bt Also, Cait outright said that there will be more conflict. This show doesn't do the whole "hey we're back to the status quo with minimal changes and everything is great now." It's explicitly stated that conflict still exists and will continue. Things are just beginning in Piltover
Ya I agree. I get obviously systemic oppression can't be undone in one season but it was pretty disappointing how it was handled. For Zaunites to sacrifice their lives in a war for a nation that never cared about their lives in the undercity, and in enforcer uniforms at that, is just very poor in taste. All we get is a small moment of Sevika on the council chair after having zero lines in all of Act 3. Getting invested in the politics of season 1 for it to take a backseat to fight Viktor in season 2 is validly disappointing.
@@oomay1925 It wasn’t for a nation that oppressed them, tho. It was about saving Zaun, too. The Noxians also started the war against them, using Caitlyn as a pawn. They’re not safe when Piltover falls.
@@mhawang8204 ya but Noxians wouldn't have taken up so much power if the enforcers (cough Caitlyn cough) didn't let them input martial law in the first place. The issue with the whole common enemy thing is that it really forced the undercity and the top siders to put aside their differences to fight an outside force to avoid addressing the inner turmoil that was so strongly developed in season 1. Sure we can logically explain why Zaunites had to become enforcers, but that doesn't mean it was a good writing choice tbh.
I'm here like so what about Ekko's tree? Is the solution to the class war really just Sevika being on the council? She didn't even get any lines this act! What was the point of Officer "We have Vander at home" Loris. Hey Cait, what fight are you talking about Vi still being in? I understand that you needed the black rose to set up whatever next series you're gonna do next but if that wasn't there, I'd feel like we'd have enough time to develop other things. I really like this season but I'm conflicted. I do love that Heimer went "ain't no way I'm returning to that godforsaken timeline, I play guitar here" and how is it that Singed is the only one who really got what he wanted?!? Commiting war crimes, ruining everything for everyone and getting his daughter back.
Devils advocate here but I found it obvious to me personally that Caitlyn was talking about the fight in Piltover, like she knows everything isn't all shiny and new and good now. Zaun and Piltover still have the issues they had in S1 and it's only now they are at the starting line for conversations between the two.
I mean the wild rune was destroying echos tree, so now that its gone it should be fine. I agree sevika should have gotten some more screen time and lines but her getting a seat on the council makes sense as in act 1 shes proven herself to try and unite zaun plus she was present in the battle. Also idk LoL lore but apparently singed getting away with everything is a common theme in all of these stories. Like its the most lore accurate thing about this show which i find funny
I think singed got what he wanted because out of all of the characters he kind of kept his eye on the prize the whole way through. Other characters like, Victor, Vi, Jayce, Jinx they all had wildly different things in their journeys to worry about. And only so much time and energy to give to them all. Singed however did whatever he needed to achieve his goal, as messed up as he is, he practically made sure he got what he wanted with no room for error
The most frustrating thing for me is that Vi just does not learn. She constantly switches between beliving in Powder/Jinx and then not and then again and then not since season 1. It never works out. She always gets angry at herself for always fucking up (Which i agree with) and it never feels like she really gets any consequences that are important enough to really change her mind. And then, her sister betrays her (again) and goes to off herself and what does she do once she has the chance to get out? Follow her? No, get laid. Good for her, but not the time or the place.
Vi was done SO dirty. We never got a chance to actually explore her emotions, never got a chance for her to express her feelings about anything that's going on. She has to put on the uniform of the people who killed her parents and we barely see how she feels about it. Caitlyn beats her and leaves her crying in a sewer, and she doesn't say anything about it when they reunite. Caitlyn allows the Noxians to take control of the Undercity and Vi has one line of dialogue about it and that's it. She spirals into depression and alcoholism and that's used exclusively for a 2 minute montage and never affects anything else in the story. I'm pretty sure she only got 3 lines in the entire final episode???? And worst of all I think, the whole series has Vi torn between Caitlyn and Jinx, and her inability to commit to one of them causes so many problems. And it ends with Jinx TAKING THAT DECISION AWAY FROM VI. Vi doesn't even get to choose in the end because Jinx "kills" herself so that Vi DOESN'T have to choose. Do the writers even care about Vi?
Vi got absolutely no justice this season. It’s especially bewildering how little contempt she has for Caitlyn after being beaten by her in Episode 3 and 6. Just baffling.
Nothing upsets me more than the fact that Vi wasn't allowed a single moment of agency this entire season by the show's writers. Nothing. She was treated like a non-character who only gets in the way and has to be accommodated for instead of, you know, the deuteragonist?
Finally someone points this out, I really did not like that part, we were made to believe the entire time that VI cares about her sister. To just allow her to commit suicide and not blink a eye. It just did not make sense.
Viktor being the mage that saved Jayce when he was little was such an unnecesary plot twist that left me feeling like they just took it from a fanfiction or something. It doesn't make any sense, how tf is Viktor there to begin with and he has the power to go back in time, then why didn't he just stopped himself? Or why did he even gave Jayce the gem if that was going to basically inspire him to create Hextech? Like, why? Why was that a thing?
it's also very clearly supposed to be Ryze, the fuckin' rune mage, doing a realm warp none of the magic was remotely like anything Viktor is known to do in game
Id say its the way time is set up victor got the ability to go through time and jump universe because ekko threw the time loop at him and it combinded with him and so the way time is set up here is that everything that did happen will happen. Meaning he saved jace in the past at first unknowingly leading him down this path we get to the end but he does it again over and over trying to make a timeline where its different but somethings always wrong so finally in this timeline/ universe instead of going back really he breaks or destroys the loop, thats what i got from it atleast time travel can be tricky thats why i hate it in media a lot of times
Jinx is alive 100%: - There's a stray purple streak that goes to the side right when the explosion happens - Cait's last scene right before cuddling with Vi is looking through her family's documents about vents in the Hexcore area, and she then looks at the monkeybomb fragment with a smile - The airship with the split-second "The End" in Jinx's style is a callback to S1 E1 where she mentions wanting to be on one, and continues the "walk away" theme in this last act where Jinx is stepping away so there can be peace (and probably going to Noxus or somewhere else)
Bro thank you for this! I was so disappointed in how her death was handled because I was so upset because I knew she could have not died. There were ways for her to have fallen and not die still, like Jayce did. These little bits you pointed out were things I did not see and/or properly piece together during my first watch. So after reading your comment I watched those scenes and I totally am on board. She faked her death. Go Jinx, you rock. You had me fooled hard.
That was my thought too. I was seeing his face and I was like „oooh the ending must be something.“ and after I ve watched itmyself I get it. I am still trying to process it
Season 1 was a masterpiece of pacing, but season 2 needed 10 maybe 11 episodes. Them needing to fit into 9 episodes was an unfortunate constraint that did the show no favors.
Worse that act 3 dealt with multiverse, timetravel somewhat and higher dimensions of consciousness. They really tried a lot and it feels like it just managed to work.
The show need 3 seasons. Take the first 6 episodes of season two and add 3 episodes to flesh out caitlins abuse of power and jinx's saviour of zaurn time. Then take episode 7,8,9 and add that to season 3, plus 6 episodes to build the final conflict, ekko and dingers escapades, vanders reveal and jinx and vi's reconciliation and caitlins conflict with ambessa after her realising she's been manipulated. Add actual characterisation to lorris, maddie to add more to her betrayal, actually have saveka do something. There is so much missed and skipped over this season, and the writing and dialogue is sub par, style over substance which is such a bloody shame, don't know what happened.
It didn't help that the episodes were barely 35-40 minutes each. S1 had almost every episode longer than 40 minutes and some got close to 50. That's like 2-3 episodes of content after 9 episodes.
The craziest part to me was jinx implying to vi that she was off to go off herself, and then cait shows up a few minutes later and they fuck with not a single care in the world
you said it yourself, "implying". Vi just didn't get that at all, she thought Jinx is going rogue again and was mad at herself for making the wrong decision (trusting Jinx). It's a misunderstanding more than anything
Might be a controversial view but I felt the ending was very rushed and I feel like it didn't properly wrap up everyone's stories, I also believe that Warwick definitely deserved better, especially since it's implied that he's now dead. But for me, Ambessa's death also felt very quick. These are all my opinions, but I definitely believe that the final act should maybe have had a few more episodes, two at most, just to fully wrap up everyone's character arcs. Other than that, the show was amazing, and I'm definitely going to miss it a lot because I know it's going to be a very long time before we get something similar ever again.
The only character that is definitely death is Ambessa , the rest are just plots for future histories, Warwick is coming back when Cait/Vi fight Urgot the next time we see Piltover/Zaun, as well as Jinx, while Viktor and Jayce we'll have to wait
@@Julian-ec5bgthat feels so annoying tho, I was expecting a finale that would wrap everything up and give us closure, not a "you'll know what happened to all of your favorite characters... Sometime. Maybe in the next show with a totally different thematic and cast and story. Or an easter egg! Who knows?"
the shippers are going to take the Good!Powder AU shipping with Ekko to the next level and i am SO READY for the heavenly fanart it is going to produce
@@auliamatethere’s a lot of fanart of Jinx x Ekko as is too- it’s all amazing, I’ve been saving pictures all damn day. I think people don’t seem to understand that Ekko does indeed love Jinx too, not just the good Powder. That’s why he tried so hard to save her, that’s why he rode into battle with her sporting her colors and on a blimp that had both of their symbols. That’s why he finally calls her Jinx
arcane should've been three seasons, it should've had more time to settle. it's extremely upsetting that they were forced to fit everything into nine episodes. but it's still one of my favorite shows ever, nothing can change that.
I wish we got more time with a lot of the overlooked characters introduced into the season. I think it could've been fun exploring Loris and his friendship with Vi. Also I loved Smeech I thought his design was so cool (he reminded me of General Grevious) I would've loved to see him be a temporary main antagonist of the season, in which the underworld has to struggle more with infighting and gangs trying to take advantage of the power vacuum created after silco's death. Instead we get Smeech for like one episode before he eats shit.
I'm still trying to recover what I saw from the finale, but I still consider Arcane to be one of the absolute phenomenal shows and one of my all time favorites in general. The episode with Ekko in the alternate timeline is the best.
I feel like it’s the best because it’s the only episode this season that doesn’t feel like it’s racing lol It takes its time, it lets us focus on Ekko and his feelings and his relationships with other characters. No running from one plot beat to another, no drastic shifts in personality and motivation.
Cait and Vi's character arcs were really sidelined by their romance. Vi had genuine reasons to hate enforcers and wanted her sister back again, and then when Jinx leaves to kill herself Vi says "I thought she changed 😡" and has sex with Cait in a jail cell instead of being worried about Jinx. What the fuck.
yea a huge source of tension between the two is the whole piltover vs zaun thing and jinx being responsible for cait's mum's death - and yet neither of those played a part in their relationship at all??? i loved caitvi in season 1 for those obstacles and romantic tension but there was almost none of that in this season
This is why CaitVi is a garbage ship that should have never become a thing in Arcane, tbh. It ruined Vi's sisterly aspect and reduces her to just a sexual object for Cait.
@@SpideyfanX Disagreed, Vi was always supposed to be Cait's partner. We see in season 1 how wonderfully that relationship built itself up with lots of tension. In season 2 it got sidelined and rushed through arcs very quickly. Just cause it was done kinda disappointingly doesn't mean it shouldn't have happened at all
Honestly I think heimerdinger had a solid arc, he started as an ancient grandfather of piltover who was largely ignorant and apathetic to the suffering of the undercity and the underlying problems, only for him to get voted off the council due to his failure to properly mentor jayce and help him through his journey, then he meets Ekko an undercity kid who goes against everything he ever thought about life, he flips his entire perspective on life and goes from a prim and proper counselor to a silly and whimsical yordle, he became more down to earth and was willing to actually use his intellect to make a difference in the moment and help Ekko along his journey. His song perfectly encapsulates this too with it being a folk song about living in the moment and moving forward alongside those around you. It’s subtle and off to the side when compared to the rest of the episode but it’s just as deep if you take the time to really think about it and understand what his side story was about.
Something I noticed about both Viktor and Jayce after they got "touched" by the Arcane, is that neither of them are in their right minds in their physical form. Jayce, after returning to his timeline, carried just as much a corruption within him as Viktor did, just that they were on opposite ends of the spectrum - Viktor being detached from his own humanity by seeing the world through the veil of the Arcane, still trying to follow his wish to help others and striving for peace, while Jayce having been touched by pure utter chaos, messing with his emotions, having barely any control over his own mind and lashing out, driven by the glimpses of memories of the promise he made to future Viktor. But it is in the mindscape of the Arcane, when Viktor invites Jayce into his energetical space, that Jayce feels clear-headed again. All of that aggression towards Viktor in the physical plane is gone completely and whenever we saw Viktor in this realm, his eyes also looked clear, wide awake, he seemed himself. Viktor simply got blinded by the arcane in how he sees the world through it, overwhelmed and excited at the possibilities of how he could establish peace with this newfound power without realizing what that would mean for humanity itself. But it was still Viktor in there. It's on the physical plane the corruption of the Arcane shows and when its consciousness intertwines with that of Viktor and Jayce (with Viktor it's most eminent with his distant, detached, almost alien-like stare and whenever his voice gets this dark sound effect, which is not prominent in ALL of his dialog if you listen closely). Like, the arcane clearly has a consciousness, it's alive and can adapt, we established that in S1, but it simply isn't human and has no ill intend like humans do. It doesn't know emotions and the importance of contrast in life. So there wasn't really an active manipulation going on, just Viktor losing himself in the arcane as time passed on. Jayce meanwhile is on the edge 24/7 with his mind a mess from the anomaly he got in touch with, always on guard, aggressive, low levels of trust, haunted by the images he saw. Only in the mindscape he feels like Jayce again. That's why I don't think brutally killing Viktor was Jayce's or future Viktors original intend, as the future version clearly wanted him to talk sense into him and show his past self his faults - but he could not save Jayce from the corruption he experienced traveling through the Arcane, and that's why things got so messy until they were FINALLY able to truly talk and interact in Episode 9.
I really like this as an explanation to the jayce/viktor time travel shenanigans... but if that was the authorial intent it was NOT communicated well. In ep 8 all of Viktor's eeeevil dialogue shows him speaking from that mental/arcane space. Meanwhile all of Jayce's actions and dialogue in ep 5, 6, and 8 leave no hint that he truly believed he could talk Viktor down, going straight to violence every time. "My partner died in this room", but he didn't dude, and you already KNOW THAT. The moment where he refrained from shooting that child showed us that he still had some self-control. Jayce never looked confused, just in pain/fearful or something. He had the same determined look on his face before and after he was sent back through time. There was never a moment where he was like, "Shit, I shouldn't have done that..." he was single-minded focused like he knew exactly what he needed to do. And what he thought he needed to do was nonsensical.
@@laurennightingale4752 Agreed, it really bothers me how how Jayce after having been sent back by Viktor doesn't act at all like he had that conversation with him. The whole time loop/paradox really seems not fully thought out, like it works emotionally on a first watch without thinking much about it, but the more I think about it the less it makes sense. And rewatching episodes 6, 8 and 9 knowing that this version of Jayce already had a conversation with future Viktor, and that the mysterious hooded figure in the wasteland is Viktor kinda makes everything that is happening bizzare. Might be that I'm just dumb though and overlooking things, but as you said, even if that is the case it means it's badly communicated in the show if it isn't clear even after rewatching the scenes and I see so many other people being confused by it as well
@@nimadarillian8573 I don't think you're overlooking anything, on a rewatch it totally falls apart. ALL Jayce had to do was TOUCH Viktor in episode 6 instead of blasting a fucking hole through his chest. Ep 6 establishes that Viktor could see into the thoughts and memories of the people he touched. He would have seen his future self and bam... problem solved. And if Jayce's corruption/mental instability was the problem, then why tf did Viktor take him to the future and leave him to fuck up his brain in that cave the first place lmao.. it didn't help anything.
Also if the hooded figure in episode 7 has been Viktor all the time, why didn't he say anything? Of course it was way more cinematic to have Jayce suffer and become unhinged in that canyon and have the reveal and conversation with Viktor on that beautiful plain, but there is no in-story reason for it. If Viktor was there with him already, why didn't he say anything? He seemingly has powerful magic now, there was no need for Jayce to be injured, and starved and climb his way up. Even if for some reason Viktor just doesn't have the ability to teleport him on the plain, or heal him, still talking to him would've been so much better for Jayce. They honestly could have had the exact same conversation the moment Jayce entered that dimension. The only reason for them to even have to go to the plain on top is so Jayce can get the other hammer. And even then he could've been much more optimistic and hopeful and also probably avoid hurting himself if Viktor just explained everything to him before and then guided him to the top to get the hammer.
I love it when shows turn out to be actual tv shows and not junk thrown on a screen. Theres so much rich story and its very well done. And Arcane is a great example of that. I hope media comes back to this standard, even if we dont get a new movie every few years.
exactly. I don’t understand why people are yapping about the lack of these themes when they are so blatantly there all throughout the show. It begins with Zaunites trying to figure out how to regain control after Silcos death, and Jinx eventually becoming a heroic leader for them. It shows their literal encampment and oppression during Cait and Ambessa’s campaign. Throughout the overarching plot, the fight for Zaun always exists. Viktors entire arc is so heavily linked to the betterment of Zaun, so is Ekkos. People reducing this season to emotional mush and missing out on the political landscape of the show is baffling to me.
@@nawalmalik2410 Ok you guys seem a bit confused as to what the actual criticism is, so allow me to elaborate. No one is saying that Zaun is dropped from the story or that many characters' motivations weren't still largely connected to their respective tribe or whatever. What we're saying is that the fantastical/mechanical aspect of the multiverse and time travel stuff took so much space in the story that the political themes weren't explored/wrapped up in a particularly deep or meaningful way. Their resolution of the Piltover/Zaun conflict falls flat on its face if you think about it for longer than 5 seconds. The problem is that in the end, nothing actually changes from what it was before. S1/the first half of S2 did such a great job of articulating the flaws in the system- the consequences of giving so much political power to a handful of individuals who are just as flawed and boxed in by their personal circumstances as everyone else- but then at the end apparently the system isn't the problem, the Council itself wasn't inherently bad- it was merely missing a token Zaunite. Nevermind that the majority of it is still stuck-up Piltovan nobles who I'm sure have made their fortune in very ethical ways and were previously shown to refuse to fight even for their own city, nevermind that Piltover and Zaun only came together briefly in an alliance of mutual interest in the face of a literal world-ending threat with otherwise nothing in common except for bad blood, nevermind all the decades of Piltover's oppression and exploitation of Zaun. This is totally different and all will be better, pinky promise, don't worry, don't think about it too much. Oh, and don't give me the "it's not meant to read as a wholly happy ending, the show literally ends with Caitlyn giving a speech about how they have a long road ahead of them and how the story isn't over". Firstly, this speech would be much more impactful if it wasn't delivered by a nepobaby who became a dictator, got directly and indirectly blood on her hands by giving a foreign warlord free reign to further oppress Zaunites (self-admittedly *knowing* that it was wrong the whole time) only for the story to chicken out of having to actually depict her as such and treat her as fully redeemed without as much as an apology or consequence on her personal relationship with her Zaunite gf (who she had previously hit, no less). Making Ambessa the true villain behind the escalation of the conflict, then not giving Caitlyn as much as a slap on the wrist for her self-aware participation in those same crimes is a grave mishandling and oversimplification of the political themes. And no, her easily getting off the hook and the Council not being abolished isn't "the point". At no point did I get the vibe it was meant to feel unfair she gets a happy ending free of any and all consequences. At no point did I feel like the "new and improved" Council was meant to feel like a tragic regression in Zaun's liberation. This is how I see these events, but I don't think the story wanted me to see them that way. Secondly, the fact that Piltover and Zaun will be revisited in a future show doesn't make this ending appear like an unsatisfying fence-sitter solution any less. Arcane was promised to us as a self-contained story, so it's fair to judge it for its lackluster, non-committal ending. It should've been able to wrap its main plotlines up in a satisfying way and stand on its own. And you know, MAYBE they could have explored all those ideas if the political exploration hadn't taken the backseat towards the end because they also had to have the big final battle with *all* of the cool action scenes AND establish a multiverse for Riot's IP nonsense AND save the world from magical murder robots AND explain/wrap up Jayce and Viktor's time travel plot AND do the emotional climax of each individual character's arc (shockingly few of which actually did anything for the political themes tbh). This was just too naive and simplistic a resolution to all the complex systemic issues they had previously so expertly illustrated- I'm sorry. You would *think* a story that was about the intricate relationship between its characters and political systems would allocate more time to that in its final episode than its action and fantastical plot elements, but no. Doing a good job exploring a problem, only to give it a band-aid solution without actually fixing what caused it and end the story with a spectacle so big it doesn't leave room for any more meaningful exploration is apparently valid to criticize when, say, Marvel movies do it, but apparently when Arcane falls into the same trap it's illegal to point it out.
@@chiefpurrfect8389 id like to add something to your rant. HOW DOES NO ONE KNOW OR QUESTION HOW/WHY SILCO IS GONE/DEAD? One of the last things Jinx says to Sevika is "I'm going to send Silco a message" and next thing she's aware of, he's dead/gone. Not once does she use her brain, which I know she has, to ponder "hmm, maybe the person who was making thinly veiled threats and expressing feelings of betrayal, might be linked somehow to Silco's vanishing."
I'm just realizing that my biggest issue with the viktor time travel thing is how much it robs everyone of agency in the story. he is setting up all the events of the first season, which was supposed to be a tragedy of everyone making decisions they thought would help the most actually being the actions that set the most harm in motion. Viktor being behind all of it is such a waste of that theme! ALSO this completely takes away any choice Jayce had in their friendship in the first place!
AND ANOTHER THING - I genuinely think his whole arc essentially shaping up to "humanity's biggest flaw is our emotions" is such a character assassination. Viktor never believed humanity was flawed like that! His goals were never even in the realm of 'fixing' humanity. He only ever wanted to help people by giving them access to technology. there is no way he could have made the jump to 'helping' people by taking away their emotions
The biggest annoyances for me were the pacing, Isha never being mentioned after her death, and Vi hooking up with Cait rather than IMMEDIATELY chasing after Jinx following that very ominous ‘breaking the cycle speech.’
No yeah I get that people were anticipating the sex scene but imo it felt too rushed into and out of place. People try to say Vi didn’t realize Jinx would kill herself, but Vo already knows Jinx is suicidal from the ending of act 1, plus how can you listen to that speech from Jinx and not see how heavily she was implying she was gonna kill herself. Vi is someone who values her family above all else (especially since she and Jinx just became family again), so her not immediately going after Jinx when Cait opened the cell felt odd to me.
Also they put Sevika on a poster, making everyone think we were about to get some badass scenes with her, only for her to have basically no voice lines, show up in a few scenes, and then bam she’s a council member now yay. Like bro…
@@riymeep6708people forget just how much Vi would sacrifice to get back to Cait. She stopped Cait from killing Jinx but her heart is always on Cait, she hallucinates HER and not Jinx.
@@magniwalterbutnotwaltermag1479 She hallucinated Cait because Cait had betrayed and abandoned her in order to become a dictator, and Jinx was the reason it had happed. Then Jinx comes and pulls her out of her spiral and they find their dad again and have a hug, and they team up to save him... So ya know... a lot happened after the hallucinating Cait thing.
But was her death not the reason for Jinx going down the suicidal path in act 3? Sure, Vander died as well but I thought it was pretty clear that Isha had a major impact on Jinx's psyche, at least in episode 7. Ofc as with everything it could have used more time in universe to settle in.
@@Ver_Caejinx was already suicidal at the beginning of act 1 because of killing Silco……it was pointless to introduce a character like Isha if the writers were just going to make her suicidal again…?
Some things I like and dislike. LIKE: - EKKO finally has an episode dedicated to him and it’s GREAT. His Time Machine making was actually good too! I expected it to be a heavy-handed ex machina but it *wasn’t*. - Noxus: the Noxians were great. Ambessa was a FANTASTIC final enemy. Brutal, intimidating, worthy of a final boss and her death. - Easter eggs, Swain, Noxus, the void, I hope it’s a teaser for next show. - Maddie’s betrayal. Rewatching it makes SO MUCH SINCE. Like… I’m surprised I was surprised, it’s so subtle but it ADDS UP SO WELL. - Viktor. Just Viktor. Dude was aces. Intimidating, omniscient. - Deaths for champions. This is just mind blowing to me, cause now for all future stories we KNOW not even the champions are safe either. Not actually convinced Heimer or Jinx died-died but Ambessa seems dead, Viktor, Vander, and Jayce are a solid *maybe*. This brings stakes to future stories. DISLIKE - the lack of focus on Zaun/Piltover working together. I actually missed having a story surrounding the relationship between the two cities, the shift to Viktor being the final boss felt too fast. They also kinda banded together too fast for me. - Mel. It needed… better context. I was afraid Ekko’s power would feel like an ex-machina but it didn’t….. Mel kinda… *did* feel like one. Which I hate, cause I LOVE Mel. Champion’s deaths feeling snuffy. Yeah at around Jayce/Viktor’s death it felt less thematic and more like death for the sake of death. Jayce’s decisions. He’s Erin from AOT sent by future Viktor? Why did he SHOOT Viktor then instead of talking and sharing his memories then? Like… I get STOPPING HIM, but he didn’t even have a dialogue before just shooting him, which expedited the whole near-apocalypse. Overall thoughts: still a REALLY good show. It’s just no longer peak. First season was a genuine 10/10 no notes aside from minor nitpicks. This season was like an 8.5/10. Still good just not as much. It felt a bit rushed at points and the storylines reached their mid/endpoints so freakin fast, or they’re trying to fit in so much stuff in it feels bad to move on so fast. But that’s basically the only problems.
My thoughts on Jayce's decisions are that he was in a haze after being transported back to his reality. He's shown constantly 'fidgeting' between realities with the phrase "I won't fail" sounding in his head. I assume that he didn't even remember the full events with Victor until either after he is mind melded and Ekko bombed OR after he recovers from summoning sickness (could be either).
Also want to add bc I neglected this too, but when he first comes back to their reality he *does* talk to Victor, through Salo. They do talk and Jayce does try to come to terms with it there but by the time he's left that room, his mind is made. Doesn't seem to matter that he finally *sees* Victor, bc they've already spoken and the memories of the alternate reality they caused is too much for him...
If there's something that I really didn't like is how they managed Vi and Caitlyn's whole 'reconciliation'. The fact that Cait did Vi so dirty before, that she hurt her so personally and she NEVER addressed it or apologized about it, made me feel like the sex scene was pure fanservice. Like, Vi was clearly having a mental breakdown at prison and that was coherent with her already established identity crisis. However, Caitlyn instead of reassuring her or apologizing or making her realize of her worth they just start fucking ✨ And after that, Vi becomes Caitlyn's dog until the ending of the story. Can't believe they made me hate this ship.
@@thomasraines1396Especially with Vi blatantly ignoring Jinx's suicidal tendencies at that. For someone who supposedly cares about her sister, Vi sure doesn't seem to show that.
This video is cathartic 😂I thought I was just too stupid to understand what was going on in season 2. Glad that there are other people who thought some of the decisions didn't make sense.
Act 1 was actually so good but then acts 2 and 3 really killed it for me. They really needed three seasons or at least a fourth act. I really hate how season 1 sets up Piltover v. Zaun and that conflict kind of just gets dropped so that Ambessa could be the villain
@@squirrel1226 I came upon the conclusion as to why Act 1 feels much better than Act 2/3, it's because Act literally acts as an ending to S1 much more than a start to S2. I think S2 starts in Act 2 and so basically we are left with a season of 2 Acts instead of 3 and couple it the mind boggling amount of plots dumped in to S2, it is safe to say it's partly a reason why S2 feels the way it does.
@@worldfuturestar It was a very Entrapdak moment, but that's actually the core of their relationship so it feels genuine. On the other hand, I felt Jayce said that way out of the blue .
Why the fuck did they do my boi warwick like that? He was so fucking cool in act 2 and then they just turn him into one of viktor's goons? I thought for sure he was gonna complete his wolf transformation and turn into the true warwick but nah let's make him a gold zombie. Also why the fuck did zaun and piltover immediately unite? Now every zaunite champion needs a retcon because they never existed anymore.
They don't lol. Sevika just gets a seat to negotiate. And the nobles seem real pissed off about it and Cait says there's gonna be more conflict around the corner. What's likely is we're gonna get a Noxus series next and we hear about a proper civil-war popping up if Sevika gets snubbed too much. Also in act 2 Warwick was just Singed goon who managed to escape, here Singed transfers that to Viktor after he agreed to the plan (which singed already said will destroy the man). Simple.
I liked to think Sky was what remained of victors Humanity, and when she disappeared, so did his humanity. In my head, Sky was always a figment of Victor's imagination, what he assumed she was like, what he assumed she would say and do. The "good" in humanity.
"What could have been"... yeah, if it was a different setting than Piltover and Zaun... I think the creators forgot the whole inequality as a massive theme of the series up to and including season 2 ep 7. Every character wasn't defined by it, but it shaped every character and faction in some way. Like, the undercity was awful under Vander too. It wasn't just evil guy taking over that ruined everything.
one of my biggest issues is the lack of acknowledgment to the revolution between zaun and piltover..? it was only for a few episodes which hardly led to anything since the zaun people had to work with their own oppressors to save their city. this rebellion wouldve had jinx and vi much more involved in the main story and discuss, lets be honest, vi's bootlicking attitude and caitlyn's chemical war crimes / police brutality against zaun. the story's fine of course.. but caitlyn's actions seemed brushed under the rug far too easily everytime it was ever mentioned
Its so clear that the Black Rose plot was just a soft pilot of the next league show, taking place in Noxus. i dont play league, i deliberately did not read up on the black rose because i trusted arcane would make it clear to me as a non-player (the way season 1 also made league related stuff clear without having to know the lore beforehand) and im as confused as when it was first introduced. ok so the black rose is... a group of mages, i guess? and theyre fighting ambessa because, uhm, ambessa wants to start/help with the robot uprising, i guess (even tho this was before her team up with Viktor), i guess? and mel just knows how to use her powers without practise, because mages of the black rose (which are all mages, i guess?) are just that special? and mel is an empath, but has the power to energy blast and create shields, because, uhm, thats how empaths work? im so annoyed. this plot was clearly forced in. they could have given Mel a plot wherein she was confronted with her complicity in the oppression of Zaun. where she was shown that her inaction (as a compensation for her mothers aggresive action in the past) is just as harmfull as the outright hatred of the other councilors. but, nope. magical girl mel. i fucking guess. im tired.
As someone who does know the lore, it's kinda ironic. Learning more about the Black Rose allowed for an easier time grasping how the Medardas fit into Arcane's conflict. This is definitely a, "if you know, you know" moment in the story, for lore enthusiasts.
I agree Mel should've had more to do, but the Mel/Zaun plotline would have been redundant because she already knew all that. That's why she brokered for peace at the end of S1 and didn't want to invade, or use Hextech in S2. She also sponsored Hextech, which included technology to help the undercity.
Her subplot was so tedious, bro. I was doing the Judge Judy Hurry Up meme to try to make whatever the hell was happening relevant to the plot, and all it did was give her some new powers? Did we really need like 4 episodes to establish this?? I was interested in how Mel was going to stand up until an even more war hungry Ambessa after the Council attack, but if they were just gonna rip her away from the rest of the cast for so long, she might as well have been iced then and that's what drives Ambessa over the edge. Someone else could've taken out Maddie, because Mel didn't do fuck else this season.
Ong the black rose was so detrimental to the plot, and if you watch just the show ur just left in the dark. I have a friend who plays league and he gave me like a basic breakdown but even then the black rose’s presence in the show felt so unnatural, especially since the evil sorcerer kinda just dies at the end after being (barely) established as something incredibly dangerous. Also since the first season felt like normal humans tampering with things they shouldn’t (the arcane) suddenly having magic in the new season was so jarring, esp as a non LoL fan.
10:31 no- SC, it’s the letter. Jinx and Vi were in the cave and found Vander and Silco’s gay hideout. Jinx then reads out an apology letter Vander wrote, and she literally comments “if Silco read this… things could have been so different”. That’s why silco is there in this universe!! Because he got an apology!! And he forgave vander!!
It's so fucking funny to me that SC can go on about the subtext between Viktor and Jayce (even before the big homoerotic ending), a relationship where the writers said they intended it to be platonic and completely misses the hints about the pairing that probably actually was intended by the writers to be read that way, Silco and Vander.
@@notmynamedammitsweetie, what are you doing looking for a serious analitic reading of a show like arcane in this channel of all places?? This moron has showed too many times the way his brain is wired makes him incapable of doing something like that with a show that has a complexity beyond early 2000's cartoons 😅
Arcane needed at least one more season. as much as they like to say it was always the plan to do two seasons, it clearly needed more. I'm still happy with season 2, but it needed more time.
@notmynamedammit To be fair, a lot of people are probably hung up on the 'you were like a brother to me' dynamic that they specified they had in the past, yes they aren't ACTUALLY brothers but people don't often see beyond the text for those type of things
Honestly agree with your point about Isha -- I liked her in act 2, she was cute, her and Jinx were fun to watch and, though expected, her death still hit. Then act three came around and I just kind of... forgot she ever existed lol
The bad guy was always systematic issues, so it feels weird that it doesn't properly address it. Cait is one momemt being a dictator, and then the next she was apparently able to recruit Zaunites to die fighting a conflict that Piltover created. With how Jinx was made to be a symbol, it looks obvious that she would have needed to be the one who convinced them to join. Probably also Ekko in his journey seeing yhe corruption so he would know Zaun needs to fight. Also, I would like Viktor to be a bit more extra, like what I saw of the character. The one thing we saw is that Viktor was entirely still inside there, and could have been entirely reasoned with if Jace explained things and showed a bit of empathy. I could like the idea of a Viktor who became aware of the flaws in the dead end future, and might have what he sees as a happy medium of a glorious evolution.
Cait didnt recruit the Zaunites though. Her or Jayce invited representatives from Zaun and explained the threat of Ambessa and Viktor to them. The people of Zaun helped the people of Piltover because Jinx rallied them to their cause. Caitlyn was never fully corrupted as everyone made out, yeah she obviously did bad things, but she knows she did wrong and tries to course correct.
@Zero-mn8bt I just find it hard to believe that Caitlyn and Jayce could just go in and convince a bunch of Zaunites to help. They have both led raids into Zaun, killing kids and using weaponised gas. It was really only a short time that, under Kaitlyn's direction, a bunch of protestors had been arrested and locked up on a prison island. Apparently, it took some nice words for those who looked up to Jinx, dying hair, to dress up and be the people who were just crushing them. It would have needed to have leaders or symbols like Jinx, Ekko, and Sevika, who could get punks to trust the other side. Not Jayce, who also logically would need to admit that he was accidentally poisoning the underground. It is really the most interesting bit for the whole story, and we just speed through it by Jayce showing a dead robot, which would prove nothing.
@@DuskyPredator Agreed. Especially after Isha's sacrifice, when Isha believed in Zaun's independence, and tried to get Jinx involved in it. Isha's stunt with Sevika and at the checkpoint proved that. And Jinx freed the Zaunites, and was moved by their sincere appreciation. Losing Isha could've been the catalyst for Jinx accepting the role of revolutionary. Instead, it felt like Ekko just postponed what Jinx was as her inevitable and welcome death.
I'm so confused, Jinx and Ekko and Sevika *did* show up with a lot of Zaunites after Ekko convinces Jinx, don't they? We actively see Sevika and others walk away from Piltover when asked for help at first.
It's weird that Jayce and Cait never find out that it was Vi and Powder that originally robbed them based on a tip from Ekko, like I'm not sure what it would have accomplished for them to find out but its weird that they never did. Literally the inciting incident. Also its insane that for how much everyone is connected, Jayce never interacts with jinx.
24:11 see Act 3 weirdly contradicts act 2, on act 2 Viktor became so chaotically good that hed rather go powerless than"sacrifice Vander's and other 's humanity" And act 3 acts like"making them dead robots"was always his plan. I know it was Singed who changed his mind in ep. 6 but why did he tell Ambessa that this was"always his intent"? It takes away from everything he did and his development.
Yeah Isha was just a plot device to me. As an orphan myself i wanted to like her, but she doesnt integrate in the story too well. The death was rushed, and kinda...why? We were just getting to really know her. if they kept her around longer (instead of erasing her existence after) then she'd have way more potential as a character.
In honesty, I feel this show just needed 1 more 9 episode season to fully flesh its ideas out properly but still build to that same target ending. My personal feel is that this season should have ended where Act 2 ended and then a season 3 focusing more on bringing things together. Or alternatively increase the duration of each episode from 40 min to 50 or 60 and have the finale be 60 or 70 minutes.
As much as i adore arcane (which, trust me; its a lot. i was dying when s1 dropped and it actually gave me drive to get better), season 2 just felt ... empty. it left me dissapointed, because it simply did not deliver well on any of the things set up in season 1, and leaves more questions than answers - something which a season finale should NOT do.. A few problems i have (buckle in kiddos) > remember when this show was about discrimination, oppression, conflict and corrupt governments? dont worry, the writers didnt remember either! why do they spend whole season 1 setting up the tension and breaking point between Zaun and Piltover, only for season 2 to be like "uhm well akshually Noxus is the big baddie and with the power of friendship we must defeat them!!!" like... thats so fucking lazy. Its borderline insulting how the Zaunites were faced with police aggression from Piltover their whole existence, only to be expected to pick up the enforcer uniform in s2act3 and fight to defend the city which has let them rot. its mindboggling to me that they decided to not go into the conflict between those cities (the CORE OF THE SHOW), and instead end it with Sevika gaining a seat in the council, wildly outnumbered by topsiders and without any hints as to what happened between the cities further. > also remember when it was about conflict between different ideologies? again, dont worry, the writers didnt either! Vi VS Jinx, Mel VS Ambessa, Jayce VS Viktor, Vander VS Silco (dont get me started on how they retconned their backstory lmao). its just a whole bunch of nothingness now. just. complete emptiness. this season has nothing to say. nothing. remember the banger lines in s1 ("in the pursuit of great, we failed to do good", "weapons cant be unmade, and they are always used", and i can go on)... what hardcore, borderline radical lines did we have this season? > the black rose plot. I get they wanted to give Mel a plot, and probably added this as a soft introduction to their next League series, but it was just completely random and a mess if you dont know any of the lore. what is the black rose, really? what is the Actual reason the black rose and Ambessa are fighting? and, with Mel: in episode 8 she was struggling with holding back Viktor's puppet and didnt understand her powers yet, and in e9 she suddenly knows how to create shields and energy blasts? why does she, an empath who can control and change the inner power of others, do these things? s1 arcane was easy to follow without any league lore, and everything from league introduced got explained well and thoroughly. this season, however, clearly thinks all viewers have some base league knowledge. i dont! my fathers, who i watch this with, both dont! one of them who has a literature degree and is an english teacher, so its not due to any bad media literacy! > sorry; the Viktor and the hexcore jesus plot. What were the footsteps in episode 2, that led him to the undercity? was the hexcore controlling him, guiding him to a place it knew the arcane was strong? but, if the hexcore was possesing him, why did Jayce in e9 act like it was all Viktor's own deliberate doing? why did Viktor just... know what to dow with his powers? why would Viktor, who was TERRIFIED of the hexcore, suddenly force others to merge with it? > and, what the FUCK do you mean the mage is Viktor?? Huh?? how does that even WORK?Viktor turns bad in universe A, is like 'i must stop this from happening in other universes' and can just... travel the multiverse i guess. But then, why did he still give Jayce the stone, and not just let Jayce and Ximena die on the plain, resulting in no hextech in Piltover, and so no hexcore that entices Viktor, and so no Arcane Jesus Viktor? Why does he still give Jayce the stone? and who gave Jayce the stone in the original universe wherein Viktor went all Evil? (my theory is; the mage ISNT viktor, but viktor means that, from all universes wherein Jayce gets the stone - one wherein Vi dies > no hextech, one wherein he succeeds with a different ruin > viktor becomes Evil - OUR jayce is the only one that can save OUR viktor. im coping shut up) > and finally abt Viktor; so its never gonna be confirmed if Sky was an hallucination made up by him to combat loneliness (which, why would she then guide him to corrupt others with arcane?), if she was an apperation from the hexcore itself (in which case, why does she leave when Viktor fully turns?, or if she was simply also taken into the hexcore when she died? season 1 would have explained it, and season 2 is like.... ahhh dont worry abt it she was there and now shes gone! > wait no im not done. it is vile, VILE, to act like a terminally ill character who tried to save his own life was bad for trying to do so. that his stage 4 lung cancer was merely a small 'imperfection'. thats absolutely vile. > Vi's character arc. I mean, the character arc which simply WASNT THERE. What did she do this season that was driven by her own desires? she just reacts to outside forces, seems to have no particular goals in mind, and loses everything. Her fall into alcoholism was hyped up, only for it to be 1 amv within the show and no further depth to it. it was said she was gonna learn how to not be a protector, but she didnt! she protected Isha in act 1, Jinx and vander in act 2, and whole pitover in act 3. like, ok, good character arc. i can actually go on longer than this, but im too frustrated. IMPORTANT: i do not hate the show. i love arcane, and season 1 will always be one of, if not the best (animated or general) series ever produced in the west. season 2 has its merits; its entertaining, it has drama, etc., but the decline between season 1 and season 2 is difficult not to notice. season 2 really makes you realise: oh, yeah, this is based on League of Legends.
@@isaw9969 yes the Hexcore in act 3 just... Completely vanished as a plot point, despite season 1 building it up as this evolving intelligence, corrupting influence. What was in Sky's notebook? Her project that they kept drawing attention to when Vik woke up? All Irrelevant I guess!! I do think saving Jayce makes sense from future Vik's pov. If Jayce was the only person in all timelines who COULD convince Vik that the loneliness wasn't worth it. Jayce HAD to be saved, assuming Vik always finds his way to power. But none of that means JAYCE'S actions in ep 5 and 6 make sense... Why wouldn't he just hug Vik to show him that future instead of blowing a fucking hole in his chest like tf. It was established Vik could read people by touching them.. he could have seen his future self so much sooner.
I couldn't have put it better and there's even more stuff that in my opinion suffered a bit, like the whole of act one building up to dictator Caitlyn only for her to be inmediatly depicted the same way she was in season 1 (where are the war crimes? The realization that what she's doing is bonkers?? I don't want it implied I want to see Cait actually have a redemption arc!) or Heimerdinger being there and then... Not (I think it's supposed to be a bit more emotionally capturing but I personally went "Well that happened")
Nailed everything I was disappointed by. One more thing tho that Ekko just chills in the other universe and says weird shit for who knows how long and doesn’t remember anything about that ekko’s life, but… nobody really questions him? Powder, his lover, just kinda thinks he’s being rude when he’s obviously completely different
Honestly most of my complaints boil down to “they didn’t have enough time.” Like I appreciate that they put us in the middle of the fight, but you know in any other show there would have been some hold up before the first strike. I appreciate that this show does give its audience credit and assumes they’ll pick up on things, but you know if they’d had even one more episode they would have shown us a couple of those things we’re just meant to infer. One of those things being the Zaun/Piltover relation. While, yeah, Zaun now has a voice on the council (let’s go Sevika!) you can tell that she’s still not exactly welcome. The other/new council members are not happy she’s here and Sevika herself looks uncomfortable. So it’s not all fixed but it’s a step forward… there’s just a never ending line of steps to go. Honestly though, overall I had a great time with season two, it just had to juggle so much in a short amount of time when compared to season 1 where, yes they still moved a little briskly, they genuinely had the better pacing. Also just a side note, Cait taking a page out of VI’s book and striking first while injured, only to have a moment of “oh shit” when she realizes she’s punching way above her weight made me cackle. I loved her and Mel teaming up against Ambessa though because that fight was sick. The camera work when Ambessa kicks Caitlyn and it follows her landing? I love that shit. This show has used that trick a few times and every time I love it.
Overall, I agree it was a great experience but I want to push back a little on the Zaun/Piltover relation. I thought it was brushed over for the sake of a Marvel battle which wasn't bad just not as compelling as the class struggle.
@neatral_narr That boils down to “not enough time” but also the fact that they even bothered to even hint that things were still not all hunky dory is more than I even expected to get. Is it perfect? No. Still, as I said, Sevika being on the council is a step in the right direction.
@BGTitanAvatar You can't deny that it was brushed aside for a larger battle. No one is saying that it wasn't a step in the right direction. it just comes off uninterested in the broader politics of the conflict.
Jinx wanting to kill herself was surprisingly triggering for me. Really unsettled me how her story ended, I didn’t realize it was implied that she “survived” or whatever, but it would’ve been so meaningful to me personally if we had seen her make an effort to reconstruct her relationship with Violet. And this isn’t like a fan service request, this is in line with the themes of the season. There is an inevitability to the multifaceted tendencies of these characters, but then there’s an even more powerful and fateful pull: the way their love for each other is never something they can truly erase. The beginning of the season, the two sisters insist on convincing themselves that they want each other dead, because it’s easier than confronting the heartbreak of how divided they’ve become. But then they have to put in the work to fight for each other, for a future together, again. There could’ve been a deeply fulfilling moment here, that kicked off the beginning of healing. Jinx would never be safe from the law…maybe Caitlin would step down in part because she can’t be a cop in a relationship with Vi. Idk
As Silco's ghost said, the only way to stop the violence is to walk away. In the universe that was fine Vi was dead. In this universe, Jinx is seemingly dead (either fully dead or moved away unkown to everyone else). Jinx is a Jinx. And Vi is also a Jinx. They just can't be together.
I think you forget how straightforward Jayce's problem solving skills are, he's literally just a hammer who's good at everything he does way too fast to realize consequences of potential flaws in the design. Kill Salo, Kill Viktor, go home... Viktor is still coming for the core? Kill the the core, kill Viktor.... can't kill Viktor? Viktor wants to make everything perfect? Tell him/show him perfection sucks. The end.
A thing that bothered me was that Arcane had never shy away from death. When characters die, important characters, you saw it and saw the impact and brutality. But in the third act all the main characters "death" are just dissapering. I don't think is somethimg necesserly bad but there was a moment where it felt like a pattern, they cut away from Isha and we don't see her dead, Heimerdinger dissapears, so do Jayce and Viktor, and Jinx vanishes in a colorful explosion. It got worse because in the finale they do show the death of the minor characters, so the only thing I could think when seeing those "deaths" was the "if there is no body they are still alive" which took me out of a show that had been really good in keeping me grounded in this world where death was very real. (I still love it, it just didn't have the same perfection that season 1 did)
Here are some things that I hated/disliked about Act 3. 1. Maddie's reveal as a traitor was predictable, It felt very forced because Instead of making her an actual character. they just just did it as an excuse to get Vi and Caitlyn back together. 2. Loris was one of the most pointless characters in the show, he barely gets any development, we learn nothing about him and he just dies in the second and not even Vi is like sad about it. 3. I hate how when Ekko came back to the main timeline and he meets up with Jinx we dont even get a scene where he's trying to convince Jinx to help. and the next time we see them they're just all cool with eachother. 4. the pacing is genuily awful.
@@guesta9822Vi is more focused on the fact that Jinx is actively suicidal, Warwick got morphed, Caitlin barely knew the kid existed, and Ekko is entirely unaware of her existence. There is no character available to bring her up aside from Jinx, who is actively suicidal from seeing her death.
@@guesta9822ya i know there was too much shit going on to address it but it makes her death kind of dumb if all it was to make Jinx more depressed without ever reconciling loss. Isha sacrificed herself for Jinx and because she looked up to Jinx as a pillar of Zaun, so realizing that would have been a really sweet moment for Jinx to decide to join the war but we just don't ever get to see that.
Jinx arc was so unsatisfying, she never mentions Isha again, no symbolic burial, never interact with sevika on scree again, she only talk with Ekko for like a minute and a half, we get hints they are now at the very least friends again based on their outfit, but that's not enough, we needed more scenes, also Silco telling her to walk away didn't need to be literally, now she is completely alone, depressed, suffering hallucinations, without any support network, I don't think that's what she needs, feels super cruel. If the writers really needed her to leave to have her somewhere else in the next show, there could have done it in a more mature way, having her explaining why she needs to leave and saying goodbye to Vì and Ekko, it could have been more emotional than faking her death.
So like apparently her getup and the blimp were decorated with Isha's symbolism - but this is honestly part of what I hate about the end of Jynx arc. Everything is left to tiny details and hints to the audience which is super unsatisfying compared to how episode 6 was told. Since they didn't really take advantage of Isha's sacrifice for storytelling it just felt like the writers only did it to fick with the audience
@@christopherjohnston6343I feel like they didn’t take advantage of Isha at all. She kind of just shows up and gets a couple scenes with Jinx like haha look Jinx is a good older sister to this orphan. And then bam, Isha dies and everyone’s sad. Feels like her character just set her up for the emotional payoff and didn’t really take the time to develop her a lil more but idk if I’m just dumb asf (after all I don’t fully understand the whole Black Rose and Ambessa plot line)
I think the biggest problem I had with season 2, was something called the Tarzan syndrome. With that, the songs very specifically tell you what the character is feeling, and how you should feel. They did this because of the actual biggest issue; the pacing. In season 1, the only songs that outright TELL you what's up are as follows: Misfit Toys which details what the Firelights are all about, What Could Have Been, and Goodbye. They work because they're used sparingly. In season 2, I'm pretty sure in EVERY episode we have a song number telling us what's up. And that got REALLY annoying. Season 2 isn't BAD. But it certainly doesn't have that same caliber of writing that season 1 had. Where once I would've PROUDLY said that Arcane was the best show on TV even overtaking Avatar the Last Airbender...after season 2's finale...yeah no ATLA still holds the crown for the best show on TV. It gets literally ever important aspect of telling a story right. Including the pacing. Tropes that are normally seen as cliches are used to the show's advantage; such as the flashbacks. In the Storm, it sets up Aang and Zuko's parallel journeys. Here? What was the narrative point to Vander's flashbacks only to then lose his humanity anyways? While the ending was fine....I was left asking "what was the point" for a lot of moments leading up to it and even afterwards. To me, if a finished story is making you "What was the point?" vs being satisfied with what you witnessed, then it didn't do its job in getting you emotionally invested. It didn't do its job in getting you to care about the story, about the characters. I cared about the characters in season 1. In season 2, by the end, because of all the songs telling me how I SHOULD feel...I just felt annoyed. I think this desperately needed a third season, to really let things ruminate and sink in, to let the characters just SIT and BREATHE. One of the best moments in season 1 was Silco sitting at Vander's statue. Less than a hundred words were spoken, and yet that scene said everything it needed to say. And we got NOTHING like that in season 2. And that sucks.
My sister had the same problem as you as well. The songs were overdone and she felt being spoon fed. And she was asking what the point of anything was or what were the motivations behind character’s actions. She liked the season but described it as unfocused
@CoreyAdolfi they introduced too many plot threads and then just dumped them. Pit fighter Vi, Ekko and his tree, Caitlyn becoming a dictator, Jinx becoming a symbol of Zaun... it all needed another season to build it up to the war between Piltover and Noxus
They did Vi and Jinx dirty :( Jinx was wayyyy to toned down and Vi got sent to the back, which I hated because I love Vi. I agree with everything you said. The show desperately needed at least one season more.
None of the robots try to kill Jayce in the future. He just makes an assumption and busts up his leg because of it. Later in the sequence he will start to just walk past them because he understood that they were not here to attack him.
Nope, Silco being in the alternate timeline makes perfect sense. The reason he was able to make his deal in our timeline was because of Markus' inexperience/naivety and no culprits for the heist both of which are removed in that one. Piltover unknowingly offed Vi so they had to give reparations etc. it adds up
I dont think its a huge plothole, being a different universe, a lot of things could be different, but. excuse me? Are you suggesting that Piltover would give reperations for Vi dying in a heist gone wrong? What?
@@pascalalieller Well, yeah. They are burglars, but they are also children. Like in season 1, there would be investigations as to what caused the explosion, and, same as season 1, they would be baffled by "you were trying to create MAGIC?? ARE YOU INSANE? you know it's forbidden in Piltover!!" And since a CHILD died because of this illegal experiences, even though yes they are technically thieves, there would be reparations to the Undercity. "they shouldn't have tried to steal, but there shouldn't have been so dangerous materials, and if literal children are trying to steal to get by, maybe you need some help." And later down the line Heimerdinger arrives and doubles down on helping the Undercity.
I think it's less about Vi's death and more about the letter in Vander's hideout, meaning that most likely the two were friends/friendly again way before the kids went on to do the job
@@pascalalieller Yes, they didn't end up stealing anything and Vi died so Jayce got all the shlt for it. Vander is still friends with Grayson at that point, it makes perfect sense.
jayce telling Viktor "youve always wanted to cure what you thought were imperfections: your leg, your disease" made me livid. he was DYING, jayce. he had the arcane version of stage 10 lung cancer. thats not an imperfection, thats a death sentence. comparing a deadly disease to a physical disability is just... insane to me. and remember; Jayce in s1 did everything he could to save Viktor. he banished heimerdinger, his MENTOR from the council just so they could keep trying to save Viktor. who, again, was actively dying ("i can feel my body... eroding" is more than just an imperfection, yall. fuck im so mad lmao) season 1 Viktor was never motivated by such shallow desires as getting rid of imperfections, and the writers trying to retcon that made me so annoyed. season 1 viktor wanted to help, he wanted to save the people in need. it was only after he fused with the hexcore that this got changed into 'save them /by perfecting them/". nothing, and i mean nothing in season 1 implies viktor hates his imperfections. he wanted to stay alive, because he wanted to have the chance to help people ("i suppose your legacy is well secured" talk with Heimer, where Viktor laments that he didnt get to do anything Good in hus life,) the trope of 'this disabled character is evil, cause they want to get rid of their disability. theyre good as they are!!' is a trope so focused on abled people it drives me up the wall. yes, a disabled person does not need to be able bodied to be worthy of life, and to be perfect; thats true! but villainising the desire disabled people have to be treated as equal, to pretend like its THEIR ableism, instead of that of the surrounding world which makes them be critical of their disability, is vile. i get the message was intended to be 'your perfect even if you think your not. your disability doesnt make you any less perfect', but in the same breath acting as if Viktor was only ever motivated by his desire to overcome imperfections, instead of motivated by his desire to help, and desire to keep on living SO HE COULD HELP, is just horrible. i almost wanna call it mean. no it is mean they massacred my boys whole character.
Devil's real shitty advocate here but Jayce's "your imperfections are beautiful" speechh didn't work in universe - we see that in the form of the future he went to where the world was destroyed - a world where Ekko wasn't present or had found the time altering rune. In that world, Jayce said his spiele and Victor still assimilated the world - What defeated Viktor was being bitch slapped by alternate time by Ekko giving Jayce enough time for him to hug Viktor and show him what he'd seen and an alternate Viktor which had found perfection and solution to all pain and suffering and it wasn't what was hyped to be - something which mecha Viktor was now trying to form (and which I see as the corrupted hexcore taking him over)
T H I S As a chronically ill person who walks with a cane, I felt very tied to Viktor on a spiritual level. He never wanted to “cure” his disability, he wanted to prolong his life. None of his motivations, especially in the second season, have anything to do with his disability or illness so Jayce’s little speech feels like bullshit. He should know better than anyone that Viktor didn’t think his leg was an imperfection.
@@vamplinvamp shakes ur hand we're in the same boat brother (genderneutral) like. i have a lung disease and something other which drains my energy. one way or the other; when i die, these things will be de direct or indirect cause. me trying to find ways to prolong my life, to make the most of the limited time i know i have, is not me 'trying to be perfect'. its just such a slap in the face to us and all others with dissabilities (or other chronic sickness) to hear this extremely able-bodied/healthy opinion abt how we should just... lay down and accept it? what i have is not a physical dissability, so i cannot talk abt that part of the speech. but the disease thing just made me livid. what a way to find out that, aparently, Viktor's disease was Not A Flaw - even tho Viktor never acted like it was. He didnt see it as an imperfection, he saw it as something which made his life significantly harder than the life of others, which is what it was!! im just. im so upset about it its actually insane. viktor was such a well written disabled character, and now its like "oh actually he HATED his disabilities and he thought he was IMPERFECT bc of them" like oh okay. guess we're doing internalised ableism with a character that doesnt need that trope!
While I agree that Viktor's deal was always about altruism, I still think there was a bit of him that felt shackled by his own body. To me, that's what the boat scene was about. I think they're trying to imply that Viktor's obsession with saving everyone eventually made him associate his disability with what he wanted to fix. The more he became obessed, the more he starting thinking in black and white (binary, cuz y'know, viktor.. robots..). You see that as he talks about order vs chaos, him embodying the idea of pure order. Don't get me wrong, I think Jayce's quote is still *really* bad, but I don't think it's completely disconnected to Viktor's pov.
I think merging with the arcane corrupted him. The noble and good intent of victor was corrupted and twisted to something bad. This is a theme throughout Arcane. Jayce only wanted to help but hex tech corrupted that. Powder only wanted to help but the power of hex tech corrupted that. Vander only wanted to help but the power he gained through revolution corrupted that. Silco only wanted to help but we all know what happened there. Power corrupts and that which inspired our greatest good also drives our greatest evils. So yes Victor changed because power corrupts and it does so by twisting the initial good motives we have. No one thinks they are evil even Hitler thought he was the good guy. I don’t think it was much to do ableism to be honest. Well that’s not the message I got. Speaking as a carer of a disabled son, so it’s not something I’m unfamiliar with but just didn’t get that message from this at all.
Viktor being actual factual godlike and repeating time to find the perfect timeline is honestly such a high concept thing it makes the entire universe of the show feel smaller, like we're supposed to believe his control is so fine-tuned he can manipulate entire universes to his liking? So what do the actions of everyone else matter then? This is why time travel and multiverses always depend on emotional beats rather than logical ones. They try to hit that "Oh, it's all CONNECTED because a single character caused all of it!" moment rather than "Oh, that's why all these things happened in a logical sequence, even if it's not the outcome the characters wanted."
Honestly, I was pretty disappointed with episode 9 and a ton of little things that caused the season to really fuck up the final act. It just didn’t feel right. Warwick ended feeling more like a plot device rather than a character, Vi literally lost everything, Caitlyn just felt off, and so many side characters were built up to be important just to die in the final fight. Watching Zaunite fight in Enforcer armor felt like a really, really bizarre choice and all the loose plot points hinting at future shows that just ended making Arcane ending feeling incomplete. Worst of all was Sevika, who got hinted at having more importance just to barely appear in the final fight. Edit: I immediately got an ad right as Maddie died lol
I would argue Warwick did not have an ending but Vander is dead completely. Vi lost almost everything. She still has her cupcake. And if anything, Vi losing almost everything is kinda the inver of the good universe where she had everything except she was dead. Caitlyn was … yeah, can’t argue with that. Maybe the story could have done better with one extra season or just an additional act between act 1 and 2 to smooth out the transition. And it makes sense for the Zaunites to fight along with and in the enforcers because if they lose… everyone dies. And yeah, wish Sevika had more to do but hey, she is not a representative of the underground and now has political sway.
Even if Warwick is alive, I see no reason for him to ever come back. His final design looked awful, any bit of personality he had was literally killed off. While I never played LOL, I would have rather had him end up where his League version. Maybe they could’ve had the remnants of Vander break through, similar to how he kicked Viktor out of his mind in act 2 (maybe even disabling him for a few moments). Maybe his healing factor could cause them metal body to break and rip off, revealing a design more akin to the werewolf design from league.
I agree to an extent with the Warwick cause he was practically singes resume/tool to join ambassa. I enjoyed the scenes where him jinx and vi got back together until the story hooked line and sinker my emotions. I figured singe would use war wick to attack piltover again but not in the way arcane did it. I thought he was gonna be under mind control and have him go on a killing spree until vi or jinx brings him back, but nah, he's gone like he's mentally dead. He was pretty much was a mcguffin. I wanted him to still be alive or realize he cant be around anyone including his family because how much of a threat he is so vi and jinx will continue to go after him to try and save him or convince him to stay As for zaunite wearing piltover armor. It's pretty reasonable, idk if they have their own armor. I thought Jinx would go batshit after losing Isha but I can tolerate with what we got
I disagree with you about Caitlyn. Her storyline was probably my favourite of the season. Her being blinded by grief and rage turned her into a monster, but she never fully trusted Ambessa and knew in Act 2 that she was being used by her. Ambessa even says that she knows Caitlyn doesn’t trust her. Her storyline was realising that her hatred made her hate herself and blinded herself to Ambessa and Maddie’s machinations. She knows that the good she does going forward won’t undo the bad she’s committed. Her not forgiving Jinx, but instead telling her that she’s let go of her hatred for her was powerful to me. Vi still has Caitlyn and Ekko. I agree with you about Warwick though
Pacing is the worst aspect of this show, they definitely realized they bit off too much than they could chew and had to make more predictable/simplified pay-offs to wrap things up
I wonder how much Mel’s popularity pushed her character in this direction. It seems like they wanted to make her a champion but she would be very underpowered as she was in season 1. I do wish she got to stay in her element in Piltover more. Once the black rose straight kidnapped her I could feel her being pulled away for sequel material. That said, she is so fucking pretty and the new gold marking just make her hotter
@@liamerty3523yeah I definitely see that as a foreshadowing moment, but also vague enough that they could have taken it in different directions if they chose too
As soon as I heard they were making Me; a champion, I knew something like this would happen. In S1, she was a politician; her power was manipulation, tactics, talking--which does not translate to League fighting. They could either train her in hand-to-hand combat, make her a mechanical genius, or make her a mage. We got the third. Mel was so fascinating to watch maneuver in S1, and even when removed from her relationships and influence, she was still formidable. But because her powers are too loosely-defined, they warp to fit whichever situation she needs to get out of. She overpowers Le Blanc (shadow lady) to save her mother and fights the Noxian soldiers without issue, and none of it feels earned , because we don't understand how her power works or see her train, only explore the world. Even a training sequence with Le Blanc would've fixed the gap in her skills, even if her powers are too vague. Honestly, without the sequel obligations, I think Mel would've been killed to fuel Ambessa. Or better yet, Mel AND Ambessa die in the missile explosion, so Caitlyn becomes interim General. Removing Noxus positions Piltover/Zaun back as the central conflict and gives Cait total agency, perhaps with the other noble houses enabling her actions.
Pretty sure S2 was already in deep production as S1 was airing. 9 out of 10 times they can't make split decisions due to fan reactions when it comes to animated shows.
I wish they made it explicit that Jinx didn't die. I was in a lot of intense pain from all that, especially after the "building new" talk. Even just a glance of her blue hair in the window, or some decoration on the blimp would have been better. I know some of this is just due to personal connection, I've had some friends stand on that ledge, but it just hurt to see so much hope for Jinx only for it to imply that she will have a better life. I know she did it to "leave things behind to move forward" but the audience could have been told. Also Ekko really deserved better. He literally did EVERYTHING AND HE WAS LEFT COMPLETLY ALONE. WHY TF DID THAT HAPPEN. I'm so mad.
The cities and their conflict were de-centered, both Vi and Jinx leaving the undercity in the end. Like how could they do that? also we never follow up in the Undercity or Ekko’s tree community. The ending takes place in Piltover, and we see Sevika on the council, but we don’t see the undercity. Granted it could be because Jinx burned the bar which was our main location, but the undercity didn’t receive its own ending, and it needed one in my opinion. Season 2, the sisters’ motives and emotional discoveries feel like they have a lot less plot impact. Like the plot in season 1 hung on their emotional beats and choices, and had lasting consequences in a way that didn’t translate to season 2, which is fine. You could say Jayce and Victor got to be the main “agency” characters to a certain extent (until it’s revealed to not be agency, but to be Viktor’s plan, and Jayce just doing what’s asked of him, but I do still love those boys) The characters with agency were definitely Mel and Ambessa, and Ekko but Mel/Ekko were gone for so much of season 2. Would have loved more character moments with Mel, or for Mel to just have more breathing room with her confrontation at the end. Love Jinx, and I have some issues with Vi a bit after season 2, but the writers went a little too hard treating Jinx as favorite girlie, by trying to have her get the ultimate good ending by being hope for the undercity and a community pillar, but also wrapped up in an individual arc where she leaves without saying goodbye, enjoying/stewarding the community she’s helped build.
You are so right. I think Mel didn't get too much focus bc they'll be doing another series focused on Noxus, but they should have showed us Ekko returning to the undercity, to give us the ending of both. I also hate that Jinx in implied to leave, without even saying goodbye, it feels like a slap in the face to our investment in the relationships. I don't think Viktor had an over-arching plan, I think he knew Jayce interacting with the hexcore was his best chance, but that's just my interpretation.
@@vanesasteves6922 yes! Ekko returning would’ve been a perfect beat for the ending. So glad Mel will have a spin off but I did miss her in this show. Like her confrontation with Ambessa was *chefs kiss* but also would’ve benefited from more time imo. Jinx breaks my heart with this ending! As far as Jayce and Viktor not feeling like they had a lot of plot agency, (it’s a small thing) but at the end, when Jayce decided to go to war against Viktor, he’s technically going with future-Viktor’s blessing. I don’t think it’s inherently bad, it’s just a step back from the first season where huge, risky emotional stakes dictated the plot. You didn’t know how people were going to respond or act, but you understood their motives the whole time. Jayce knows he has Viktor’s blessing to fight him, so the relationship isn’t at stake the same way and he doesn’t need to internal-conflict over it. Granted, there wasn’t enough time lol. another few episodes in act 3 would’ve been great.
@@kyliecrawfishin Totally, they needed even 1 extra episode to let things breathe or use time better (like why are you showing me like 20 sec of Piltover affected by the arcane, instead of Zaun as well?) and show us the emotional impact of situations, leading to the *understandable* reactions of characters. Still a great season, but needed more agency on the main characters and more time to give us a satisfying end.
My man Jayce really started with the whole blow-a-gaping-hole-through-his-chest thing and not the hug. Could have saved a lot of people had we started with the hug.
I thought the exact same thing like how do you confuse "show me perfection is stagnation" with "kill me and don't stop trying" At this point I just kind of assumed the writers forgot to explicitly say that the hexcore wouldn't have stopped trying to manipulate him to its own ends
The hug would've probably turned him into one of those fuckass cult people. Not to mention my boy just went through months (maybe years?) of physical and mental torture
@@modkip25it still felt off. Jinx was at her lowest but this time Vi is there to help. She did try but she should have pursued her sister instead of sleeping with Cait. Especially not knowing what state she’d see her in again. Ekko being the one to save jinx’s life says a lot. It’s out of character for Vi to do that.
@modkip25 In today's lesson we will learn about CONTEXT AND SUBTEXT. Very rarely do we need someone to say exactly what they're feeling in order to infer it. 90% of communication is non-verbal. Also VI's initial reaction strongly suggested that she understood what Jinx was hinting at
@@Zero-mn8bt Yea... nothing to get you in the mood like your depressed sibling (who has nothing to live for and believes her self to be a curse) cryptically telling you good by
I really disagree. I think their relationship was one of the highlights, there was a lot of push and pull. I didn’t need more dialogue between them as they clearly moved past what happened between them in the past, and they were both ready to fight for a future together. Like when they were hooking up Cait touched the place where she previously hit Vi, and Vi yanked her hand away and pulled her closer. This lets me know Vi has moved pst what Cait did and it’s already been forgiven without needing to say anything. I could be reading too much into it, but that’s my interpretation. Vi telling Cait that she’s “the dirt under her nails” speaks volumes about how they feel about one another imo
Act 1 of Season 2 was really good and set up a lot of potential. And while Act 2 might be my favorite Act of Season 2 (Because of Jinx, Vi, Vander and Isha being a family) I think that's when things started to go downhill a bit. I still think this season was amazing but it can never live up to Season 1, Season 1 is a masterpiece.
Im just so disappointed by the way they did caitvi's writing. Literally, everyone on Twitter is saying that they didn't deserve a happy ending, plus people saying the whole sex scene was so out of place, and i hate to say it, but i kinda agree, at least with the second take. I think they focused too much on making it canon, much more than they focused on making caitvi the way we loved them from season 1. They were flirty and caring, and i loved that about them, but it seems in Act 3 they lost everything that made them a couple if that makes sense. Like Vi legit found out her sister was about to kill herself and then she goes and devours caitlyn, IN JINXS CELL? Idk it just felt so out of place to me. Maybe i need more time to think, but idk im kinda numb rn. Btw when i say this, im literally the biggest caitvi shipper no matter what season 2 gave me. I just wished they flushed out everyones arc- which they could've done if there was another season - like did they think they needed to rush this season just so they could move onto different storylines? Like the entire sevika, isha and jinx arc just didn't exist in Act 3 even though it has such an impact on jinxs character. Anyway, I think that's legit all my criticisms of this season.
Keep in mind that stale food was probably still in that cell lol, jinx’s piss and blood from her fingers lmao. This made me feel the same way about Arya’s sex scene in GOT s8, like good for them but it just felt forced or out of place.
I also hate to say it, but as good as a queer rep in thos show is... it feels a little catered toward a straight male audience. You're telling me Cait and Vi will have in explicit scene in Jinx's jail cell while Viktor and Jayce just... hug and put their heads together? Seriously? It seemed like they wanted to make every romance or sex scene with a woman in it explicit, but the men? Nah, they're just gonna hug and only imply they could be together. It's weird.
They didn't cuz mel is officially with jayce and you need to understand that Not every same gender relationship is gay They were like brothers (their words not mine) So obv, they didn't show them hugging or kissing cuz they had no such relationship to begin with@@zalamazu
So many things were icky - Caitlyn becoming a dictator because her mom died??? OMG. For cait to meet vi, both of vi's parents died, her stepdad died, her stepbrothers died, she lost her sister, and she was illegally imprisoned for years. But go off cait, ur mom died. - season 1 depicted systematic abuse as a systematic issue. Each player has a piece to play but ultimately those with power r in control. Season 2 literally had zaunites defend piltover and walk back into their toxic home?? Wat? - vi NEVER tells cait to shut up. She let's her become a dictator and never goes "babe...I've lost everyone. I only have shelter because of u. U have so much. Please just stop" - I wanted to see more ekko ): - is heimerdinger dead?
56:00 that perfectly summarises my feelings about the ending. It left me frustrated both for the reasons you mentioned and for the fact that how the scene of her faking her death was done is just so un-original, the fall, the "bad guy" grabbing her and Vi being unable to pull her back is just ugh seen that a couple dozen times. And honesty, knowing how Jinx's story ends, I dont even want to rewatch it because it's so unsatisfying.
Totally agree though. Isha's Sacrfice meant nothing other then taking out a few Noxian soldiers. I thought the bunny ears were first meant to be Vi's bunny still cause before Isha that's what Jinx held close to her.
She didnt tho... he literally killed vandar for the final last time and the rest of the army to save everyone. The theme of the entire show is you sacrifice something for power. She is the only character to sacrifice something and not get "power" for herself. Its the only ever noble sacrifice
I mean think about it, Piltover alone has guns, magical artillery, airships, and toxic gas, Zaun brings more people, body augments, and the hoverboards of the firelights to the table, on top of all that their position was pretty defendable.
Noxius is literally the strongest region in runeterra, considering Targon has literal gods amongst them, and shurima has soldiers who ascended to godhood, Noxius was still the strongest region, also Mordekaiser (human form) the old emperor of Noxius literally submitted 3 demons into being his b***ches, and Swain (the current Noxian General) has submitted a demon into becoming his new arm.
@@moremoneyplease6838 mordekaiser is literally the emperor from 40k. Current noxus is still a world conquering superpower but they aren't the invincible powerhouse that mordekaiser led.
No lie the Vi and cait sex scene rubbed me the wrong way. Especially after Vi heard Jinx hinting at offing herself. Just wasn't the right moment for that.
Right, like I thought she's gonna run out of that cell as soon as its open. That was so not the place for this. I do ship Vi/Cait but come on. I saw some people say that Vi didn't go after her because she didn't know where she went, but isn't Vi's thing to never give up on family? Why didn't she care to even try and find her suicidal sister? Like, this character trait (never giving up )is the only explanation I'll accept when she stayed with Vander in a dangerous situation, which made Jinx "sacrifice herself". Because, I'm not gonna lie, the sacrifice felt really flat for me (no matter if she died or not) because of how we got there. But anyway, my point is that these two scenes contradict Vi's motivations.
@@dr.wolfstar1765Jinx is literally on her way to go die, and instead of being a decent human being and tracking her down with Caitlyn, Vi decides it’s time to get laid. It’s not even a good parallel to Mel and Jayce, it’s just poorly-timed.
I'm sad that Season 2 was such a step down from the first season, I know the team said they decided to end it here for creative reasons but the whole thing screams "we wrote our story for 45 episodes but the higher ups say we have to wrap it up in 9" which, like, why man? Why did it have to be Arcane?
What did y’all think of Act 3?
Amazing.
One word tears
But also i loved it jinx death was unexpected and tear jerking but im wondering if your going to do a shipping video about jinx and ekko
Very full of divorce and sesbian lex and say gex
9-9.5/10. I have some mixed thoughts and opinions
Broke me into little pieces
Ekko out her playing a dating sim while Jayce is trying to beat Elden Ring.
underrated comment😂
it was more akin silent hill than elden ring
dude isnt doing any dodge rolls with a busted knee
nah through cause i was playing elden ring boss music in my head during that fight scene
Like when Jayce was banging Mel while Victor was dying
Trying to beat Elden Ring as Igon*
The ending was perfect. Especially the part where Jinx and Ekko got married and raised Isha and ruled over Zaun together. Wouldn't change a thing.
LMAOOOOOO REAL
I dunno if I would call it PERFECT...BUT it is good
Your comment made me smile so hard
I know…this is a good ending for a good show
Indeed that’s also the ending I watched I don’t get what people are talking about
I think the core issue with season 2 is that we no longer spend enough time with each character to fully understand their actions and motivations until everything fully pans out, whereas in season 1 we knew EXACTLY what each character’s motivations were and EXACTLY how they all impact each other.
season 2 just doesn’t have the time to fully explore things and so plot takes precedent over character.
Still loved it tho lol
I totally agree with you. In season one, their stories were really close : Viktor and Jayce, Cait and Vi, Jinx and Silco etc. were almost together all the time so there were few stories to follow. In season 2, everyone split and have their own development which was really hard to follow
I thought it gave every character plenty of time and didn’t spend too much time fleshing out things that ultimately weren’t necessary. There’s people for example saying VI’s underground boxing arc needed a whole episode which would’ve been such a waste of time of time. There’s already parts of season 2 that REALLY takes its time so doing a lot more of that would’ve made the season feel so dragged out. The way they did it was neither dragged out nor rushed imo. The biggest things to me are just the uncertainty and impression of death so many characters got. My biggest surprise was how it appears that so many champions are possibly dead including Ambessa, Jayce, Viktor, Heimerdinger, Jinx, and Warwick. That’s what I find most unexpected and gives me pause and curiosity about whether we will actually get more of them in the future. Ambessa is the only one who clearly seems to have died, but the rest all have possible excuses for how they may have survived some way somehow. Jinx and Warwick have both survived explosions before because they’re built different. Jayce, Viktor, and Heimerdinger all disappear in ways that look no different from how they originally were transported through time and space so who knows if they’re actually out there somewhere. But in a vacuum of the two seasons as a complete story, I believe everyone’s arcs actually were wrapped up really well.
@@BuddyChy
Tbh I don't they actually gave enough time to each character lmao
Like at first I was scratching my head about Viktor because it seemed so sudden his change from pacifist humanity loving hippie Jesus to "I WANT GLORIOUS EVOLUTION AND GET RID OF HUMANITY'S EMOTIONS" plus using the hextech to create soldiers
But then I stopped and thought about it, then realized that Viktor was probably emotionally (and physically) hurt by Jayve shooting at him. Like the cult (I mean, commune) was probably Viktor's version of their Hextech dream, so he must've been really hurt/angry by what Jayce did and then lashed out and justified his emotions with logic (no, it's not that he was hurt, it was just that the glorious evolution and getting rid of humanity' imperfections to erase their mistakes and pain in general was the next logical step)
Then that would also explain why he stopped so fast after Jayce was back with him, he didn't care about perfection, he just wanted to be with his partner again
BUT BOY I didn't understand any of that the first time I watched it
I was just confused as to why Viktor was changing his mind so quick lol
Yeah it basically had 2 stroylines the one with the world at stake and the one where characters just play mean girls relationship
Summed up perfectly, I'm not having a go at them but the people who prefer season 2 are too persuaded by special moments.
Season 2 was amazing, but didn't quite stick the landing like season 1 did.
It felt like this season every episode had the writers saying "But we don't have time to unpack all THAT", over and over again, ad nauseam, until suddenly it was over
Only consistent character this season: singed, this guy REALLY wanted his daughter back
Objective: Revive Daughter
Result: Flawless victory
This is a man of sheer fucking will and comittment.
@@soulstealer5625bro had the best luck out of anyone this season 😭
@@ephemerald5 It wasn't luck, Singed didn't give the chance a chance to influence his plan.
He may be a war criminal, but he was consistent war criminal.
Also is his daughter orianna?
My man Ekko gave up the universe of his dreams so he could save everyone. Truly the GOAT. He certainly lived up to his title of "The Boy Savior." Loved his character, loved all the characters, loved the music, the animation. All of it!
Ekko was always one of my favorite characters on this show, but this final act made him even better.
Correction, "The Boy Who Shattered Time"
I WILL DIE on this hill
Ekko paid a sacrifice so did Powder too but the plot armor of the LGBTQ Caitlin managed to survive despite the miserable void in V's heart having lost, Vander, Powder, Isha and Ekko enjoy.
Imo episodes 1 to 6 Season 2 are brilliant. Unfortunately 7 to 9 are poorly scripted and executed they just ruin what could have been a great season to end with. Where LGBTQ dogma ruins a great story as it fails to bring a realistic closer that's befitting to all instead it just doubles down on dismembering Powder's and Vanders memory.
Yeah dude really sacrificed a great life with his old mentor and friends still alive where his childhood crush ended up being his girlfriend. All for the sake of saving his friends in his universe. Dude deserves all the props in the world.
@@Jonathan_Collins But those *aren't* his people. They're replacements. He'd never forget the originals and, furthermore, what happened to the Ekko who's spot he took? He doesn't seem like the kind of person that could live a lie like that.
It’s still crazy that Singed got to settle down with his daughter after committing countless war crimes and making everyone’s lives worse 💀
I saw that and just said “so we just gonna gloss over him resurrecting his daughter while playing a hand in the destruction of piltover with ambasa, twisting vander into a Frankenstein monster Warwick, shimmer for silco and the Chem barrons? This guy gets a happy ending?”
It would’ve been better if we see him dying and his daughter slowly opens her eyes
@@joeandrew8752yeah, sounds likd zinged, the long term player to me
The way Ekko ends up all alone after doing everything right but Singed gets a happy ending after numerous war crimes💀
I like it. Kinda reminds me of game of thrones... when it was good obviously
Ekko's time travel adventure: could get laid
Jayce's time travel adventure: could get laid in the fucking ground
Hilarious and unfortunate
🤣🤣🤣
Get laid to rest
Same shit happened last season, too😭
The cell scene between Cait and Vi caught me WAY off guard 💀 I kept thinking to myself “Here?! NOW?!”
Yeah it was hot. Don’t forget in season 1 when Mel and Jayce were hooking up while Viktor was dying
@@Zero-mn8bt That was thematically relevant, and Jayce did not know about victor. He left the moment that he did.
While it was very hot, it also just doesn’t seem like a great time it feels like the writers couldn’t put it in anywhere else
I feel like it just didn’t make sense for Vi’s character to be doing allat rather than following her sister… Like the whole series we see Vi not truly being able to give up on her little sister so for her to hook up with Cait instead after seeing Jinx show very $uicidia1 tendencies was actually insane to me. I know Jinx was like “don’t worry about me and be happy” but the Vi they’ve shown this entire time would not have listened to Jinx and gone to her anyways
@@squirrel1226 She explains it right there wdym? If you actually go back and watch season 1 you can see Vi multiple times choosing Cait and ekko's plan over saving jinx, who she doesnt quite know how to feel about yet. Plus she literally says "I dont know why I thought she would help us" "I always pick wrong" She chose in that moment to save jinx over cait and what she got for it was getting betrayed and locked up again. Not to mention she has had more closure with jinx in the last 2 episodes than she has with cait.
*Old Victor:* "Jayce, you're the only one who could CONVINCE me that I'm wrong."
*Jayce:* "Got it buddy!"
*Jayce:* Immediately blasts a crater in Victor's chest first thing he gets back.
It's still Jayce, making terrible decisions with good intentions is his MO.
Ah a classic gamer move.
@@randomdude64yt That's hilariously true. Bro can't get a break.
Ekko's back must need surgery. He undebatably broke it from carrying the fate of the world on it.
Joking aside, Arcane was more than just a TV show. It was an experience. And, Holy God, it was an amazing one. It had its flaws, but I truly enjoyed being along for the ride, and I say this as someone who got into the series a couple of months ago.
And arcane is just the beginning of alot of these great stories, more will come. Arcane really is a great example of how a fantastic storyline is written with wonderfully written characters
Jayce did like 90% of carrying
I feel he needs knee surgery
@@jormungandr4690 Only in the final act. Before that, Jayce constantly drops the ball at almost every turn. But, yes, he does redeem himself at the very end.
I needed this comment, because the show is great but has it flaws. What I just realized is that even with its flaws, this show is much better than almost anything already out there.
The funniest part is I'm almost certain people will be more mad that Maddie slept with Cait than they will be about the betrayal still. Ekko was the MVP for everything
Hell, my friends all cheered when it happened.
I prob never knew that because in season 1 She was very young, i’d never knew she grew up so fast to be a traitor. (Edit)
Sry i did some research again i didnt say that correctly lmao
*Maddie:* "I've always enjoyed your warmth."
*Me:* _"OH, SHUT UP!"_
I mean, the betrayal means that their favorite ship can get back on track, so it makes sense.
@@michaelstrong5383 Maddie getting basically own domed after that line was so satisfying
In the very first episode of the show, Powder saw a blimp and said "One day, I'm gonna ride one of those things." I strongly believe she's still alive. That last shot is there for a reason.
If you slow down that final explosion scene. You can see a pink line which is jinx using shimmer to escape out the air duct.
you guys are coping too hard man
@@aro4322 coping means "having eyes"?
@@aro4322 i think she should have died but unfortunately i dont think she did
@@aro4322the animators spend weeks on like, 3 seconds of the show. Every detail is intentional. I wouldn’t call it coping
This season really needed an Act 4
The ending definitely felt a bit rushed for me
It low key needed another season. Season 2 should have been Zaun and Piltover’s dispute along with Jinx and Vi’s whole thing. Then season 3 could have focused on the Noxians, Viktor’s cult, and the whole multiverse thing. I’m so sad they just dropped the Zaun and Piltover conflict in favor of Ambessa. Ambessa wasn’t even that interesting of a villain compared to Silco from season 1 imho. I actually might be dumb but I have no clue what her motivations were for doing all of that and how the Black Rose plays into it. They really needed to explain that a little more, especially for the people who don’t know League lore
@@squirrel1226I agree but the motivation was simple - she wanted to use the technology of arcane & Viktor to go back to her homeland and become more powerful (+ protect Mel)
@@yasmina3999 Why was the black rose after her then? Also it seems kind of dumb to want to team up with the dude who could enslave humanity if he really wanted.. does she think Viktor wouldn’t try to turn her and her forces into his minions? And about the Mel thing, I think they should’ve shown Ambessa being more caring for Mel like how we see Silco with Jinx. When I watched I just felt like Ambessa kept saying she cared but none of her actions actually proved it. Although maybe that’s how the writers intended for her character to be - someone who’s selfish but deluded in believing they’re doing something good ?
@squirrel1226 yeah, I actually agree with you. I got her motivation but indeed question the other aspects of her character: her relationship with Mel, the black rose, her naive trust that Viktor is going to help her ( and why didn't Viktor try to change her too, like... why was he actually working with her...? He didn't want wars) and so on.
I feel like Mel was robbed, like her whole character just changed randomly…
@@Fenchy_Artz another sign this show was intended for more than 2 seasons.
Learning that Mel is going to be a champion in League of Legends really fills me with dread. I can’t help but feel like they drastically changed her character just so that she could be a champion in the game.
That’s why she suddenly has magic when it was never established or hinted at in Season 1. That’s why she suddenly has strong ties to the Black Rose. That’s why her powers are explained so specifically by LeBlanc, that’s why they function like a fucking video game with her forming shields around other characters. That’s why they abandoned the idea of her being a politician altogether in favour of her being a front line fighter.
Most characters did things which were wildly inconsistent/made decisions that don't make sense this season. Agree on Mel...but I was more confused by Sevika and disappointed by Heimerdinger
@@cartoonishidealism582well tbh it actually was kinda hinted in season one with her gold armor/tattoo being somewhat of a spidey sense which I know isn’t really much but it showed that she was gifted in someway or another
@@cartoonishidealism582 tbf her magic was hinted at in the last scene of episode 1. But that's it. They made all these drastic character changes in Season 2, that felt wayyy too rushed. I mean Viktor went all out Evil in literally the last 2 episodes and ended up as a Thanos level threat. How is this good storytelling?
- Vi was the last person Vander saw in Season 1
- Jinx was the last person Warwick saw in Season 2
calling that abomination WW is gonna make me puke
@@MagiaBased Yeah, I really thought and wished they made him fully transform after isha sacrificed herself.
@@MagiaBasedLeague fans are insufferable. Arcane is its own thing, you guys just wanted everyone to end up as they are in League and then the story ends there 😭
ok? lol
@@owl8185Arcane is part of the League of Legends lore now. Riot confirmed it themselves. So WW is retconned into what he is now.
On Jinx faking her death. When she left Vi in the cell she was convinced that Vi would never be able to be happy with Cait as long as she's there. In her comeback she's more upbeat about it, however her conclusion is the same. She came back to save Vi, leting her know that she still loves her but she was never going to stay. And when she see's Vi unable to save herself crying over vander, she realizes how much Vi still lives for other. That's why she jumps. She wants Vi to let her go and grieve her so she can move on with her life.
i love this actually. i was going to be fine with either jinx dying or leaving and never coming back. somehow i got both
Yeah that's how I saw it too
But why would she assume that VI cant be happy as long as she is alive? They have no conflict anymore, jinx' mental illness seems to be cured, there is no reason why they could not live in harmony, now that everything is over
@@Mathematik_Anhaenger remember that we as the audience saw Cait accepting and endorcing Vi searching for Jinx. Jinx doesn't, Jinx thinks that Vis love for her is holding her back in living a life that Vi wants. Also still Jinx believes that she's a burden, that doesn't go away in a minute, even after Ekko took her out of blowing herself up, she still feels like a burden to the ppl that she loves.
@@Mathematik_Anhaenger Jinx still killed a whole lot of people, I don’t think her and Vi could have a normal life together, and it’s never specified if Caitlyn ever forgave her for killing her mom. In the end, Vi and Jinx’s bond was forged out of love, but it was always unhealthily codependent. Jinx was right to let Vi live her life without prioritising someone else’s happiness over her own, and it would be good for Jinx to steer faraway from the one place that is the root of all her pain
Putting Ekko in Episode 7 of your show is currently an undefeated formula for greatness.
Two nickels.
Which isn't a lot, but it's weird that it happened twice, right?
Ekko.sucks
I think I just kinda sighed, cause like it wasn't bad, but it did give up on the whole systemic issues it felt like it was built around.
It was never gonna get fixed , even current timeline of pilt and zaun lore thy are still fighting over each other and Cait herself in the show said there will be more conflict, i swear people do people even actually watch and listen to the series they watch?
@@Caelum_01 it’s not even that just the bonds and characters felt like they were rushing throughout everything like it’s insane now that we have the full picture the plot is legitimately everywhere going too quickly from one to another, before act 3 I thought it’s pacing was alright a bit faster but still could be flesh out in act 3 but no if anything act 3 is legitimately is speed-running to wrap up everything together beside episode 7 which actually took it’s time 8 and 9 just has lot of time skips like rest of the season but here it’s the worst because we really do miss a lot of key moments that they shouldn’t have skipped over.
@@Caelum_01cope. Show sucks
@@GeronimoOoO7seethe. Show rocks
Season 1: Israel vs. Palestine but make it dystopian steampunk
Season 2: Israel vs. Palestine doesn't matter anymore and we're all best friends because Jesus made a pact with Noxus because he got shot by Jayce after Jayce just got back from time traveling after being told by alternative universe Jesus that he needed to persuade himself not to become Jesus but decided to shoot him first anyway for some reason, Zaun and Piltover politics and systemic issues shoved in the trash can because Zaun could actually be prosperous and happy if it just stopped attacking Piltover and got rid of its gangs.
What did Riot Games mean by this?
Your take on Isha is exactly how I felt about her, she was such a plot device it was painful to see her surrounded by a bunch of other complex characters with personal motivations
Vander was a plot device in S1 yet everybody were happy with it. The main difference is that Isha shows what She wants/do, since She's mute. Both of them were there in 3 episodes. Vander was the moral support of Vi, Isha was the same for Powder.
I got to say i feel like this show would have worked a lot more as a 3 season story like a proper trilogy. Am which I think could have fixed a lot of the pacing problems
Too bad we live in the Dark age of animation.
As much as I loved this season I agree 100%, most of the plot lines for this season really did need either another season to flesh everything out or to just add a few extra episodes to allow everything to flow more naturally.
Personally I’m a firm believer that this season could have really benefited from a Shakespearean 5-Act structure with the first act acting as a prologue to resolve the fallout of season 1, 3 acts to space out the pacing of the story and acting as the main tragedy, & a final act devoted to the battle + its aftermath to provide proper resolutions to everything.
I think it was supposed to be 5 seasons, but the creator said nah, only 2 XD
I think adding two more episodes would have solved the pacing issues. One before the time skip and one before the battle at the end
The reason why Silco is in the alternate universe is explained by the letter Vander wrote to him, but never found in the universe we’re more familiar with. The letter was actually found in this universe, leading to some sort of reconciliation and forgiveness. This makes sense considering their rivalry was never really born out of a hatred for each other, rather just a difference in priorities. They shared the same dream, but Vander prioritized his children first; Silco thought this was weakness. They still love each other deep down, which is why they were able to forgive each other in the first place. This couldn’t have happened if there was a greater emotional disconnect between the two.
I just remember after Ekko said "Didn't you tried to kill him?" Asking Silco based on his timeline, and Silco is the one talking about forgiveness, BOTH OF THEM THOUGHT EKKO WAS DIRECTED AT VANDER FOR TRYING TO KILLED SILCO, NOT THE OTHER WAY AROUND, I JUST NOW SEE IT THANK TO YOUR COMMENT
@@cauvangquaygame8524 We never got what Silco did to make Vander want to kill him, he said Silco went to far, we needed more. Why was silco trying to kill his friends kids. Im talking about the mother, he knew her, he knew those were her kids. Again someone told them to change things I can feel it.
@@TheHawkssongdifference of priorities. Having Felicia’s kids around who were raised by Vander were just going to lead to more problems down the road if he leaves em be. From a villain standpoint, why not remove all the things standing in his way, past present or future.
I can imagine that not even the letter could've made the difference, but just the news that one of Felicia's daughters Vander was taking care of died. Silco could've come to "visit an old freind" just to scold him, or try to turn him on war path again, and that lead up to them finally talking normally. After all, doctor Revek was only testing shimmer that day. The worst could've still been averted.
Yeah it makes perfect sense and if there’s no rivalry between vander and silco the undercity would never have been flooded with shimmer, which is why they’re all able to live nice lives.
She's alive, the shimmer spark right before the explosion, Caitlyn studying the vents and seeing that Jinx could escape, the blimp at the end was Jinx leaving Zaun since she said in episode 1 that she'll fly one of those someday. They set up her needing to " walk away" in order for the cycle to end, so she faked hee death so everyone could move one
this is real and not cope (im coping so hard). Jokes aside yea but i will probably never feel safe until i see Jinx alive in the flesh again
@@toan.2764
I mean, I buy her being alive. The scene of Cait seeing the vents sold me on it. But I think it’s supposed to be up to interpretation, you’re allowed to think she just died
I think I saw somewhere that the cocreator confirmed her alive
Besties, as long as we don't see Powder in flesh and blood, I can't tell myself that she's alive 😔
@@toan.2764 I'm betting she'll randomly show up for a quick cameo in whatever the next show will be
35:00 Thank you. Piltover and Zaun have very culturally specific issues, and I absolutely hate that those issues were sidelined to introduce an endgame final battle with the Noxians. I hate that so much
it's literally not sidelined, and idk how tf you thought they could've had those complicated and nuanced issues resolved or addressed in like a single episode, they'd need a whole season for that at least
wow, it’s almost like that’s what this season was supposed to be…
real talk where was the war?? war is usually long term and calculated, the ep 9 fight took ONE DAY and it wasn’t even the civil war we’ve been building up to
@@Dell-ol6hbI feel like without being willfully ignorant it's quite obvious that it's implied in MULTIPLE comments, including the one you replied to, that alot of people who criticize the show would have preferred a grounded zaun/piltiver conclusion instead of "unite to save the world"
It quite literally resolved in a compilation sequence, it was sidelined bro
@@Dell-ol6hb In the initial lore, Zaun was supposed to get its independence after Piltover fks them over so bad, they had to give them independence as recompense for what they did to them. In the lore, the Piltovans blow up a significant portion of the undercity to make way for a canal that'd be good for business. That part kinda gets retconned because of the hexgates, but they could've easily come up with another reason for blowing up Zaun. But Piltover's horrible actions were largely replaced by Noxians doing most of the bad stuff.
That change isn't something I appreciate.
Introducing the Black Rose and the Noxians felt more like a reason to introduce another region's conflicts instead of focusing on Piltover and Zaunite problems. It's like introducing Loki and the Chitauri in the first Iron Man Movie. They're focused more on the spin-off than they are on the actual story they're trying to tell.
There's a lack of world-building restraint there that disappoints me immensely.
@@Dell-ol6hbthey were addressing all of those complicated and nuanced issues PERFECTLY until act 3, they didn't have to deliver the perfect fix, just a satisfying ending would do
i feel like arcane as we knew it, the political drama between 2 cities, the study of characters under those systems and their relationships- ended in act 1 s2. the last 2 acts felt like i was watching a completely different show, and that includes the writing for the characters, and the lack of focus on what even the theme of the show is anymore. on top of the confused, all over the place writing, they added a lot of magic bullshit (with mel and the hexcore) time travel and multiverse, by design this makes the realism and groundedness of the show, what i think was the strongest suit of arcane s1 and act 1 of s2, dissolve and feel more like a marvel movie than arcane.
yea. i honestly don't mind the eldritch horror direction they took because it was sort of hinted in s1 but there was almost no exploration of how this new horror is going to change the dynamics between piltover and zaun and how class plays a role in this beyond "let's team up to fight the big bad!". nor was there any build up to it at all. it really did feel like they forgot to keep the actual character drama at the heart of it, because up until s2 was released i would've described it as a greek tragedy before i described it as a fantasy show. like, guys, the characters are what people loved about this - episode 7 is overwhelmingly the most well received by everyone and that's because it re-centres on the tension between ekko and jinx.
"in the pursuit of great, we failed to do good" sums it up for me.
It was called arcane sooner or later there was gonna be a lot of magic involved
@@kei7540 Magic is fine. All the ingredients were there, but they weren't thematically unified in a satisfying way.
I wholeheartedly agree.
I mean, the show is called Arcane, it's in a world with full op magic BS. Mel wasn't that op, more like an assist. It was always about characters first then the cities. Especially Vi/Jinx & Jayce/Viktor.
The politics aspects stops as soon as Caitlyn becomes the commander. A bit sad we didn't have an episode that shows her gradually going full commando on Zaun.
I disagree on the marvel thing. It has nothing to do with marvel type of movies/shows (thanks god). Its biggest flaw is the show being confined to 3 acts where it would have benefited of a 4th.
I think overall ppl need to chill more. It's an incredible show with minor flaws. The rest was on point (writing, dialogues, visuals, soundtrack and so on).
Ekko is without a doubt the MVP of the story, the kid came in clutch throughout the entire series and sacrificed a perfect life to save his world.
Why is everyone always on about Ekko? I thought he was among the least interesting or consequential characters. They just gave him things to do to serve the plot. He had no arc of his own.
@@vaporwave4880 he technically did: seeing Jinx/Powder as someone still worth saving. That was his conflict.
Throughout Season 1, he kept telling himself that Powder is gone and that Jinx needs to be stopped. After meeting a reality where he sees Jinx/Powder for what she could be, he goes back to help his version of her; he accepts that she's Jinx and wants to help her.
It's a more personal arc than normally written.
@@patrickcarter2829 His arc is. "I can fix her"
@@vaporwave4880 I dont know why people think that Ekko delivering the core is him being the super MVP. If Jayce doesnt convince Viktor and they dont activate the rune nothing changes
@@jormungandr4690Ekko invented the Z-Drive through the inversion of the Acceleration rune Viktor gave to Jayce (in all the other timelines he gave Jayce a different rune) and in those other timelines Jayce either never convinced Viktor or it never got to where Hextech was invented. Because of that, Ekko’s presence is the key difference between whether or not Jayce succeeds
Totally with you on the focus on systemic issues in the first season. I was very disappointed with them taking the easy solution of having the city unite to fight an external threat. That's not how you repair long-term systemic issues. If they wanted to tackle an external threat it should have been in a third season after the Piltover / Zaun resolution.
I was under the impression that societal issues will still exist. Yeah someone from Zaun is on the council now, but the other councillors looked pissed that Sevetka was now on the council, that to me shows the societal issues haven’t been fixed overnight.
@@Zero-mn8bt Also, Cait outright said that there will be more conflict. This show doesn't do the whole "hey we're back to the status quo with minimal changes and everything is great now." It's explicitly stated that conflict still exists and will continue. Things are just beginning in Piltover
Ya I agree. I get obviously systemic oppression can't be undone in one season but it was pretty disappointing how it was handled. For Zaunites to sacrifice their lives in a war for a nation that never cared about their lives in the undercity, and in enforcer uniforms at that, is just very poor in taste. All we get is a small moment of Sevika on the council chair after having zero lines in all of Act 3. Getting invested in the politics of season 1 for it to take a backseat to fight Viktor in season 2 is validly disappointing.
@@oomay1925 It wasn’t for a nation that oppressed them, tho. It was about saving Zaun, too. The Noxians also started the war against them, using Caitlyn as a pawn. They’re not safe when Piltover falls.
@@mhawang8204 ya but Noxians wouldn't have taken up so much power if the enforcers (cough Caitlyn cough) didn't let them input martial law in the first place. The issue with the whole common enemy thing is that it really forced the undercity and the top siders to put aside their differences to fight an outside force to avoid addressing the inner turmoil that was so strongly developed in season 1. Sure we can logically explain why Zaunites had to become enforcers, but that doesn't mean it was a good writing choice tbh.
I'm here like so what about Ekko's tree? Is the solution to the class war really just Sevika being on the council? She didn't even get any lines this act! What was the point of Officer "We have Vander at home" Loris. Hey Cait, what fight are you talking about Vi still being in? I understand that you needed the black rose to set up whatever next series you're gonna do next but if that wasn't there, I'd feel like we'd have enough time to develop other things. I really like this season but I'm conflicted. I do love that Heimer went "ain't no way I'm returning to that godforsaken timeline, I play guitar here" and how is it that Singed is the only one who really got what he wanted?!? Commiting war crimes, ruining everything for everyone and getting his daughter back.
Devils advocate here but I found it obvious to me personally that Caitlyn was talking about the fight in Piltover, like she knows everything isn't all shiny and new and good now. Zaun and Piltover still have the issues they had in S1 and it's only now they are at the starting line for conversations between the two.
I mean the wild rune was destroying echos tree, so now that its gone it should be fine. I agree sevika should have gotten some more screen time and lines but her getting a seat on the council makes sense as in act 1 shes proven herself to try and unite zaun plus she was present in the battle. Also idk LoL lore but apparently singed getting away with everything is a common theme in all of these stories. Like its the most lore accurate thing about this show which i find funny
@@jessicac8090*Riven seething in the background*
I think singed got what he wanted because out of all of the characters he kind of kept his eye on the prize the whole way through. Other characters like, Victor, Vi, Jayce, Jinx they all had wildly different things in their journeys to worry about. And only so much time and energy to give to them all. Singed however did whatever he needed to achieve his goal, as messed up as he is, he practically made sure he got what he wanted with no room for error
Caits fight is subjugating Zaun ofc.
The most frustrating thing for me is that Vi just does not learn. She constantly switches between beliving in Powder/Jinx and then not and then again and then not since season 1. It never works out. She always gets angry at herself for always fucking up (Which i agree with) and it never feels like she really gets any consequences that are important enough to really change her mind. And then, her sister betrays her (again) and goes to off herself and what does she do once she has the chance to get out? Follow her? No, get laid. Good for her, but not the time or the place.
Vi was done SO dirty. We never got a chance to actually explore her emotions, never got a chance for her to express her feelings about anything that's going on. She has to put on the uniform of the people who killed her parents and we barely see how she feels about it. Caitlyn beats her and leaves her crying in a sewer, and she doesn't say anything about it when they reunite. Caitlyn allows the Noxians to take control of the Undercity and Vi has one line of dialogue about it and that's it. She spirals into depression and alcoholism and that's used exclusively for a 2 minute montage and never affects anything else in the story. I'm pretty sure she only got 3 lines in the entire final episode????
And worst of all I think, the whole series has Vi torn between Caitlyn and Jinx, and her inability to commit to one of them causes so many problems. And it ends with Jinx TAKING THAT DECISION AWAY FROM VI. Vi doesn't even get to choose in the end because Jinx "kills" herself so that Vi DOESN'T have to choose.
Do the writers even care about Vi?
Vi got absolutely no justice this season. It’s especially bewildering how little contempt she has for Caitlyn after being beaten by her in Episode 3 and 6. Just baffling.
Nothing upsets me more than the fact that Vi wasn't allowed a single moment of agency this entire season by the show's writers. Nothing. She was treated like a non-character who only gets in the way and has to be accommodated for instead of, you know, the deuteragonist?
The good universe where everything is great with the only noted difference being vi dying in jayce's apartment is sick imo
Finally someone points this out, I really did not like that part, we were made to believe the entire time that VI cares about her sister. To just allow her to commit suicide and not blink a eye. It just did not make sense.
Viktor being the mage that saved Jayce when he was little was such an unnecesary plot twist that left me feeling like they just took it from a fanfiction or something. It doesn't make any sense, how tf is Viktor there to begin with and he has the power to go back in time, then why didn't he just stopped himself? Or why did he even gave Jayce the gem if that was going to basically inspire him to create Hextech? Like, why? Why was that a thing?
it's also very clearly supposed to be Ryze, the fuckin' rune mage, doing a realm warp
none of the magic was remotely like anything Viktor is known to do in game
Id say its the way time is set up victor got the ability to go through time and jump universe because ekko threw the time loop at him and it combinded with him and so the way time is set up here is that everything that did happen will happen. Meaning he saved jace in the past at first unknowingly leading him down this path we get to the end but he does it again over and over trying to make a timeline where its different but somethings always wrong so finally in this timeline/ universe instead of going back really he breaks or destroys the loop, thats what i got from it atleast time travel can be tricky thats why i hate it in media a lot of times
I mean if aas kind of obvious as soon as viktor pug on the hood, I just really think it needed more timr
@@kadegetslaid634 yeah it would have benefited from atleast 12 episodes this season instead
Well they did probably copy it from a fanfiction, because in the original concept art the Mage looks like Ryze lmao
Jinx is alive 100%:
- There's a stray purple streak that goes to the side right when the explosion happens
- Cait's last scene right before cuddling with Vi is looking through her family's documents about vents in the Hexcore area, and she then looks at the monkeybomb fragment with a smile
- The airship with the split-second "The End" in Jinx's style is a callback to S1 E1 where she mentions wanting to be on one, and continues the "walk away" theme in this last act where Jinx is stepping away so there can be peace (and probably going to Noxus or somewhere else)
0:52 i think you might like the text here
Bro thank you for this! I was so disappointed in how her death was handled because I was so upset because I knew she could have not died. There were ways for her to have fallen and not die still, like Jayce did. These little bits you pointed out were things I did not see and/or properly piece together during my first watch. So after reading your comment I watched those scenes and I totally am on board. She faked her death. Go Jinx, you rock. You had me fooled hard.
The problem is who fucking cares anymore when you realize the writers are retarded now and the story is butchered
you know the proverbial shit has hit the fans when Sarcastic does a face video
That was my thought too. I was seeing his face and I was like „oooh the ending must be something.“ and after I ve watched itmyself I get it. I am still trying to process it
Season 1 was a masterpiece of pacing, but season 2 needed 10 maybe 11 episodes. Them needing to fit into 9 episodes was an unfortunate constraint that did the show no favors.
Worse that act 3 dealt with multiverse, timetravel somewhat and higher dimensions of consciousness. They really tried a lot and it feels like it just managed to work.
The show need 3 seasons. Take the first 6 episodes of season two and add 3 episodes to flesh out caitlins abuse of power and jinx's saviour of zaurn time. Then take episode 7,8,9 and add that to season 3, plus 6 episodes to build the final conflict, ekko and dingers escapades, vanders reveal and jinx and vi's reconciliation and caitlins conflict with ambessa after her realising she's been manipulated. Add actual characterisation to lorris, maddie to add more to her betrayal, actually have saveka do something. There is so much missed and skipped over this season, and the writing and dialogue is sub par, style over substance which is such a bloody shame, don't know what happened.
@@joeandrew8752 Not a multiverse. Plus LoL already has one. A version of Ekko looked at different realities
It didn't help that the episodes were barely 35-40 minutes each. S1 had almost every episode longer than 40 minutes and some got close to 50. That's like 2-3 episodes of content after 9 episodes.
They rushed the end and stuffed the events to act 3 ...to the point that the brain couldn't handle it.😂💔
The craziest part to me was jinx implying to vi that she was off to go off herself, and then cait shows up a few minutes later and they fuck with not a single care in the world
you said it yourself, "implying". Vi just didn't get that at all, she thought Jinx is going rogue again and was mad at herself for making the wrong decision (trusting Jinx). It's a misunderstanding more than anything
Might be a controversial view but I felt the ending was very rushed and I feel like it didn't properly wrap up everyone's stories, I also believe that Warwick definitely deserved better, especially since it's implied that he's now dead. But for me, Ambessa's death also felt very quick. These are all my opinions, but I definitely believe that the final act should maybe have had a few more episodes, two at most, just to fully wrap up everyone's character arcs. Other than that, the show was amazing, and I'm definitely going to miss it a lot because I know it's going to be a very long time before we get something similar ever again.
The only character that is definitely death is Ambessa , the rest are just plots for future histories, Warwick is coming back when Cait/Vi fight Urgot the next time we see Piltover/Zaun, as well as Jinx, while Viktor and Jayce we'll have to wait
I didnt even notice Ambessa dying until I saw a reaction.
@@soulstealer5625 bro is the ignorerrr
@@Julian-ec5bgthat feels so annoying tho, I was expecting a finale that would wrap everything up and give us closure, not a "you'll know what happened to all of your favorite characters... Sometime. Maybe in the next show with a totally different thematic and cast and story. Or an easter egg! Who knows?"
I feel so bad for LoL Warwick fans they shafted him so extremely hard
I like how OG Ekko caught a glimpse of AU Powder and was like, "Can I have this Powder instead?"
He wanted her to be the powder on his cake
I hope Sarcastic makes a Ekko x Jinx/Powder video because they ended up being surprisingly adorable
@@philly_sports1558They were so cute!! That episode’s one of my favs from this season.
the shippers are going to take the Good!Powder AU shipping with Ekko to the next level and i am SO READY for the heavenly fanart it is going to produce
@@auliamatethere’s a lot of fanart of Jinx x Ekko as is too- it’s all amazing, I’ve been saving pictures all damn day. I think people don’t seem to understand that Ekko does indeed love Jinx too, not just the good Powder. That’s why he tried so hard to save her, that’s why he rode into battle with her sporting her colors and on a blimp that had both of their symbols. That’s why he finally calls her Jinx
arcane should've been three seasons, it should've had more time to settle. it's extremely upsetting that they were forced to fit everything into nine episodes. but it's still one of my favorite shows ever, nothing can change that.
Classic netflix not giving writers enough time to conclude their stories. Smh
@@w..1113 netflix didn't do anything
I wish we got more time with a lot of the overlooked characters introduced into the season. I think it could've been fun exploring Loris and his friendship with Vi. Also I loved Smeech I thought his design was so cool (he reminded me of General Grevious) I would've loved to see him be a temporary main antagonist of the season, in which the underworld has to struggle more with infighting and gangs trying to take advantage of the power vacuum created after silco's death. Instead we get Smeech for like one episode before he eats shit.
@@w..1113 Netflix is not the problem this time, the creator was adamant about it being two seasons
@@Louigiart cap
I'm still trying to recover what I saw from the finale, but I still consider Arcane to be one of the absolute phenomenal shows and one of my all time favorites in general. The episode with Ekko in the alternate timeline is the best.
Yeah Season 2 Episode 7 was the best episode of the whole show in my opinion
I feel like it’s the best because it’s the only episode this season that doesn’t feel like it’s racing lol
It takes its time, it lets us focus on Ekko and his feelings and his relationships with other characters. No running from one plot beat to another, no drastic shifts in personality and motivation.
If you enjoyed the show that's great but sn 2 is a disaster that forgets everything that made season one good.
Cait and Vi's character arcs were really sidelined by their romance. Vi had genuine reasons to hate enforcers and wanted her sister back again, and then when Jinx leaves to kill herself Vi says "I thought she changed 😡" and has sex with Cait in a jail cell instead of being worried about Jinx. What the fuck.
yea a huge source of tension between the two is the whole piltover vs zaun thing and jinx being responsible for cait's mum's death - and yet neither of those played a part in their relationship at all??? i loved caitvi in season 1 for those obstacles and romantic tension but there was almost none of that in this season
This is why CaitVi is a garbage ship that should have never become a thing in Arcane, tbh. It ruined Vi's sisterly aspect and reduces her to just a sexual object for Cait.
@@SpideyfanX Disagreed, Vi was always supposed to be Cait's partner. We see in season 1 how wonderfully that relationship built itself up with lots of tension. In season 2 it got sidelined and rushed through arcs very quickly. Just cause it was done kinda disappointingly doesn't mean it shouldn't have happened at all
Honestly I think heimerdinger had a solid arc, he started as an ancient grandfather of piltover who was largely ignorant and apathetic to the suffering of the undercity and the underlying problems, only for him to get voted off the council due to his failure to properly mentor jayce and help him through his journey, then he meets Ekko an undercity kid who goes against everything he ever thought about life, he flips his entire perspective on life and goes from a prim and proper counselor to a silly and whimsical yordle, he became more down to earth and was willing to actually use his intellect to make a difference in the moment and help Ekko along his journey.
His song perfectly encapsulates this too with it being a folk song about living in the moment and moving forward alongside those around you. It’s subtle and off to the side when compared to the rest of the episode but it’s just as deep if you take the time to really think about it and understand what his side story was about.
whats really funny about heimer's death for me is that yordles respawn upon death so like to him his sacrifice was just a inconvient respawn timer
Something I noticed about both Viktor and Jayce after they got "touched" by the Arcane, is that neither of them are in their right minds in their physical form. Jayce, after returning to his timeline, carried just as much a corruption within him as Viktor did, just that they were on opposite ends of the spectrum - Viktor being detached from his own humanity by seeing the world through the veil of the Arcane, still trying to follow his wish to help others and striving for peace, while Jayce having been touched by pure utter chaos, messing with his emotions, having barely any control over his own mind and lashing out, driven by the glimpses of memories of the promise he made to future Viktor.
But it is in the mindscape of the Arcane, when Viktor invites Jayce into his energetical space, that Jayce feels clear-headed again. All of that aggression towards Viktor in the physical plane is gone completely and whenever we saw Viktor in this realm, his eyes also looked clear, wide awake, he seemed himself. Viktor simply got blinded by the arcane in how he sees the world through it, overwhelmed and excited at the possibilities of how he could establish peace with this newfound power without realizing what that would mean for humanity itself. But it was still Viktor in there. It's on the physical plane the corruption of the Arcane shows and when its consciousness intertwines with that of Viktor and Jayce (with Viktor it's most eminent with his distant, detached, almost alien-like stare and whenever his voice gets this dark sound effect, which is not prominent in ALL of his dialog if you listen closely).
Like, the arcane clearly has a consciousness, it's alive and can adapt, we established that in S1, but it simply isn't human and has no ill intend like humans do. It doesn't know emotions and the importance of contrast in life. So there wasn't really an active manipulation going on, just Viktor losing himself in the arcane as time passed on.
Jayce meanwhile is on the edge 24/7 with his mind a mess from the anomaly he got in touch with, always on guard, aggressive, low levels of trust, haunted by the images he saw. Only in the mindscape he feels like Jayce again.
That's why I don't think brutally killing Viktor was Jayce's or future Viktors original intend, as the future version clearly wanted him to talk sense into him and show his past self his faults - but he could not save Jayce from the corruption he experienced traveling through the Arcane, and that's why things got so messy until they were FINALLY able to truly talk and interact in Episode 9.
I really like this as an explanation to the jayce/viktor time travel shenanigans... but if that was the authorial intent it was NOT communicated well.
In ep 8 all of Viktor's eeeevil dialogue shows him speaking from that mental/arcane space.
Meanwhile all of Jayce's actions and dialogue in ep 5, 6, and 8 leave no hint that he truly believed he could talk Viktor down, going straight to violence every time. "My partner died in this room", but he didn't dude, and you already KNOW THAT. The moment where he refrained from shooting that child showed us that he still had some self-control.
Jayce never looked confused, just in pain/fearful or something. He had the same determined look on his face before and after he was sent back through time. There was never a moment where he was like, "Shit, I shouldn't have done that..." he was single-minded focused like he knew exactly what he needed to do. And what he thought he needed to do was nonsensical.
So accurate, i agree with every word. Really well put!
@@laurennightingale4752 Agreed, it really bothers me how how Jayce after having been sent back by Viktor doesn't act at all like he had that conversation with him. The whole time loop/paradox really seems not fully thought out, like it works emotionally on a first watch without thinking much about it, but the more I think about it the less it makes sense. And rewatching episodes 6, 8 and 9 knowing that this version of Jayce already had a conversation with future Viktor, and that the mysterious hooded figure in the wasteland is Viktor kinda makes everything that is happening bizzare.
Might be that I'm just dumb though and overlooking things, but as you said, even if that is the case it means it's badly communicated in the show if it isn't clear even after rewatching the scenes and I see so many other people being confused by it as well
@@nimadarillian8573 I don't think you're overlooking anything, on a rewatch it totally falls apart.
ALL Jayce had to do was TOUCH Viktor in episode 6 instead of blasting a fucking hole through his chest. Ep 6 establishes that Viktor could see into the thoughts and memories of the people he touched. He would have seen his future self and bam... problem solved.
And if Jayce's corruption/mental instability was the problem, then why tf did Viktor take him to the future and leave him to fuck up his brain in that cave the first place lmao.. it didn't help anything.
Also if the hooded figure in episode 7 has been Viktor all the time, why didn't he say anything? Of course it was way more cinematic to have Jayce suffer and become unhinged in that canyon and have the reveal and conversation with Viktor on that beautiful plain, but there is no in-story reason for it. If Viktor was there with him already, why didn't he say anything? He seemingly has powerful magic now, there was no need for Jayce to be injured, and starved and climb his way up. Even if for some reason Viktor just doesn't have the ability to teleport him on the plain, or heal him, still talking to him would've been so much better for Jayce. They honestly could have had the exact same conversation the moment Jayce entered that dimension. The only reason for them to even have to go to the plain on top is so Jayce can get the other hammer. And even then he could've been much more optimistic and hopeful and also probably avoid hurting himself if Viktor just explained everything to him before and then guided him to the top to get the hammer.
I love it when shows turn out to be actual tv shows and not junk thrown on a screen. Theres so much rich story and its very well done. And Arcane is a great example of that. I hope media comes back to this standard, even if we dont get a new movie every few years.
You know how the show was about Piltover's systemic oppression of Zaun and its liberation? Anyway, here's a multiverse and some time travel.
They literally use the time travel and multiverse to explore those themes wdym
exactly. I don’t understand why people are yapping about the lack of these themes when they are so blatantly there all throughout the show. It begins with Zaunites trying to figure out how to regain control after Silcos death, and Jinx eventually becoming a heroic leader for them. It shows their literal encampment and oppression during Cait and Ambessa’s campaign. Throughout the overarching plot, the fight for Zaun always exists. Viktors entire arc is so heavily linked to the betterment of Zaun, so is Ekkos. People reducing this season to emotional mush and missing out on the political landscape of the show is baffling to me.
@@nawalmalik2410 Ok you guys seem a bit confused as to what the actual criticism is, so allow me to elaborate. No one is saying that Zaun is dropped from the story or that many characters' motivations weren't still largely connected to their respective tribe or whatever. What we're saying is that the fantastical/mechanical aspect of the multiverse and time travel stuff took so much space in the story that the political themes weren't explored/wrapped up in a particularly deep or meaningful way. Their resolution of the Piltover/Zaun conflict falls flat on its face if you think about it for longer than 5 seconds.
The problem is that in the end, nothing actually changes from what it was before. S1/the first half of S2 did such a great job of articulating the flaws in the system- the consequences of giving so much political power to a handful of individuals who are just as flawed and boxed in by their personal circumstances as everyone else- but then at the end apparently the system isn't the problem, the Council itself wasn't inherently bad- it was merely missing a token Zaunite. Nevermind that the majority of it is still stuck-up Piltovan nobles who I'm sure have made their fortune in very ethical ways and were previously shown to refuse to fight even for their own city, nevermind that Piltover and Zaun only came together briefly in an alliance of mutual interest in the face of a literal world-ending threat with otherwise nothing in common except for bad blood, nevermind all the decades of Piltover's oppression and exploitation of Zaun. This is totally different and all will be better, pinky promise, don't worry, don't think about it too much.
Oh, and don't give me the "it's not meant to read as a wholly happy ending, the show literally ends with Caitlyn giving a speech about how they have a long road ahead of them and how the story isn't over". Firstly, this speech would be much more impactful if it wasn't delivered by a nepobaby who became a dictator, got directly and indirectly blood on her hands by giving a foreign warlord free reign to further oppress Zaunites (self-admittedly *knowing* that it was wrong the whole time) only for the story to chicken out of having to actually depict her as such and treat her as fully redeemed without as much as an apology or consequence on her personal relationship with her Zaunite gf (who she had previously hit, no less). Making Ambessa the true villain behind the escalation of the conflict, then not giving Caitlyn as much as a slap on the wrist for her self-aware participation in those same crimes is a grave mishandling and oversimplification of the political themes. And no, her easily getting off the hook and the Council not being abolished isn't "the point". At no point did I get the vibe it was meant to feel unfair she gets a happy ending free of any and all consequences. At no point did I feel like the "new and improved" Council was meant to feel like a tragic regression in Zaun's liberation. This is how I see these events, but I don't think the story wanted me to see them that way. Secondly, the fact that Piltover and Zaun will be revisited in a future show doesn't make this ending appear like an unsatisfying fence-sitter solution any less. Arcane was promised to us as a self-contained story, so it's fair to judge it for its lackluster, non-committal ending. It should've been able to wrap its main plotlines up in a satisfying way and stand on its own.
And you know, MAYBE they could have explored all those ideas if the political exploration hadn't taken the backseat towards the end because they also had to have the big final battle with *all* of the cool action scenes AND establish a multiverse for Riot's IP nonsense AND save the world from magical murder robots AND explain/wrap up Jayce and Viktor's time travel plot AND do the emotional climax of each individual character's arc (shockingly few of which actually did anything for the political themes tbh).
This was just too naive and simplistic a resolution to all the complex systemic issues they had previously so expertly illustrated- I'm sorry. You would *think* a story that was about the intricate relationship between its characters and political systems would allocate more time to that in its final episode than its action and fantastical plot elements, but no. Doing a good job exploring a problem, only to give it a band-aid solution without actually fixing what caused it and end the story with a spectacle so big it doesn't leave room for any more meaningful exploration is apparently valid to criticize when, say, Marvel movies do it, but apparently when Arcane falls into the same trap it's illegal to point it out.
@@chiefpurrfect8389 this guy gets it 100 puh cent. Wish I could upvote this more so the people in the back get it.
@@chiefpurrfect8389 id like to add something to your rant. HOW DOES NO ONE KNOW OR QUESTION HOW/WHY SILCO IS GONE/DEAD?
One of the last things Jinx says to Sevika is "I'm going to send Silco a message" and next thing she's aware of, he's dead/gone. Not once does she use her brain, which I know she has, to ponder "hmm, maybe the person who was making thinly veiled threats and expressing feelings of betrayal, might be linked somehow to Silco's vanishing."
I'm just realizing that my biggest issue with the viktor time travel thing is how much it robs everyone of agency in the story. he is setting up all the events of the first season, which was supposed to be a tragedy of everyone making decisions they thought would help the most actually being the actions that set the most harm in motion. Viktor being behind all of it is such a waste of that theme! ALSO this completely takes away any choice Jayce had in their friendship in the first place!
AND ANOTHER THING - I genuinely think his whole arc essentially shaping up to "humanity's biggest flaw is our emotions" is such a character assassination. Viktor never believed humanity was flawed like that! His goals were never even in the realm of 'fixing' humanity. He only ever wanted to help people by giving them access to technology. there is no way he could have made the jump to 'helping' people by taking away their emotions
LOL I totally should have just watched the video he makes all the same points and has the exact same thoughts I did!
The biggest annoyances for me were the pacing, Isha never being mentioned after her death, and Vi hooking up with Cait rather than IMMEDIATELY chasing after Jinx following that very ominous ‘breaking the cycle speech.’
No yeah I get that people were anticipating the sex scene but imo it felt too rushed into and out of place. People try to say Vi didn’t realize Jinx would kill herself, but Vo already knows Jinx is suicidal from the ending of act 1, plus how can you listen to that speech from Jinx and not see how heavily she was implying she was gonna kill herself. Vi is someone who values her family above all else (especially since she and Jinx just became family again), so her not immediately going after Jinx when Cait opened the cell felt odd to me.
More episodes
Also they put Sevika on a poster, making everyone think we were about to get some badass scenes with her, only for her to have basically no voice lines, show up in a few scenes, and then bam she’s a council member now yay. Like bro…
@@riymeep6708people forget just how much Vi would sacrifice to get back to Cait. She stopped Cait from killing Jinx but her heart is always on Cait, she hallucinates HER and not Jinx.
@@magniwalterbutnotwaltermag1479 She hallucinated Cait because Cait had betrayed and abandoned her in order to become a dictator, and Jinx was the reason it had happed. Then Jinx comes and pulls her out of her spiral and they find their dad again and have a hug, and they team up to save him... So ya know... a lot happened after the hallucinating Cait thing.
anyone remember Isha? No? Thats fine, the writers didnt either!
But was her death not the reason for Jinx going down the suicidal path in act 3? Sure, Vander died as well but I thought it was pretty clear that Isha had a major impact on Jinx's psyche, at least in episode 7. Ofc as with everything it could have used more time in universe to settle in.
@@Ver_Caejinx was already suicidal at the beginning of act 1 because of killing Silco……it was pointless to introduce a character like Isha if the writers were just going to make her suicidal again…?
Some things I like and dislike.
LIKE:
- EKKO finally has an episode dedicated to him and it’s GREAT. His Time Machine making was actually good too! I expected it to be a heavy-handed ex machina but it *wasn’t*.
- Noxus: the Noxians were great. Ambessa was a FANTASTIC final enemy. Brutal, intimidating, worthy of a final boss and her death.
- Easter eggs, Swain, Noxus, the void, I hope it’s a teaser for next show.
- Maddie’s betrayal. Rewatching it makes SO MUCH SINCE. Like… I’m surprised I was surprised, it’s so subtle but it ADDS UP SO WELL.
- Viktor. Just Viktor. Dude was aces. Intimidating, omniscient.
- Deaths for champions. This is just mind blowing to me, cause now for all future stories we KNOW not even the champions are safe either. Not actually convinced Heimer or Jinx died-died but Ambessa seems dead, Viktor, Vander, and Jayce are a solid *maybe*. This brings stakes to future stories.
DISLIKE
- the lack of focus on Zaun/Piltover working together. I actually missed having a story surrounding the relationship between the two cities, the shift to Viktor being the final boss felt too fast. They also kinda banded together too fast for me.
- Mel. It needed… better context. I was afraid Ekko’s power would feel like an ex-machina but it didn’t….. Mel kinda… *did* feel like one. Which I hate, cause I LOVE Mel.
Champion’s deaths feeling snuffy. Yeah at around Jayce/Viktor’s death it felt less thematic and more like death for the sake of death.
Jayce’s decisions. He’s Erin from AOT sent by future Viktor? Why did he SHOOT Viktor then instead of talking and sharing his memories then? Like… I get STOPPING HIM, but he didn’t even have a dialogue before just shooting him, which expedited the whole near-apocalypse.
Overall thoughts: still a REALLY good show. It’s just no longer peak. First season was a genuine 10/10 no notes aside from minor nitpicks. This season was like an 8.5/10. Still good just not as much. It felt a bit rushed at points and the storylines reached their mid/endpoints so freakin fast, or they’re trying to fit in so much stuff in it feels bad to move on so fast. But that’s basically the only problems.
Yordles cannot die...
They respawn in Bundle City every time their bodies are destroyed.
That's why he said "see you soon" before being vaporized.
@ I figured he wasn’t actually dead. I just thought he’d likely have been ported to a new reality if anything. He just kinda *poofed*
My thoughts on Jayce's decisions are that he was in a haze after being transported back to his reality. He's shown constantly 'fidgeting' between realities with the phrase "I won't fail" sounding in his head. I assume that he didn't even remember the full events with Victor until either after he is mind melded and Ekko bombed OR after he recovers from summoning sickness (could be either).
Also want to add bc I neglected this too, but when he first comes back to their reality he *does* talk to Victor, through Salo. They do talk and Jayce does try to come to terms with it there but by the time he's left that room, his mind is made. Doesn't seem to matter that he finally *sees* Victor, bc they've already spoken and the memories of the alternate reality they caused is too much for him...
If there's something that I really didn't like is how they managed Vi and Caitlyn's whole 'reconciliation'. The fact that Cait did Vi so dirty before, that she hurt her so personally and she NEVER addressed it or apologized about it, made me feel like the sex scene was pure fanservice. Like, Vi was clearly having a mental breakdown at prison and that was coherent with her already established identity crisis. However, Caitlyn instead of reassuring her or apologizing or making her realize of her worth they just start fucking ✨ And after that, Vi becomes Caitlyn's dog until the ending of the story. Can't believe they made me hate this ship.
Also there was a lot heavy stuff going on, so it felt really awkward all things considered.
@@thomasraines1396Especially with Vi blatantly ignoring Jinx's suicidal tendencies at that. For someone who supposedly cares about her sister, Vi sure doesn't seem to show that.
@@SpideyfanX yeah. I’ve seen some people try to justify it but it still feels weirdly written.
@@thomasraines1396 And that's what disgusts me the most about CaitVi and its shippers trying to justify abandoning your family just to get laid.
@@SpideyfanX yeah, it’s crazy.
This video is cathartic 😂I thought I was just too stupid to understand what was going on in season 2. Glad that there are other people who thought some of the decisions didn't make sense.
Act 1 was actually so good but then acts 2 and 3 really killed it for me. They really needed three seasons or at least a fourth act. I really hate how season 1 sets up Piltover v. Zaun and that conflict kind of just gets dropped so that Ambessa could be the villain
@@squirrel1226 I came upon the conclusion as to why Act 1 feels much better than Act 2/3, it's because Act literally acts as an ending to S1 much more than a start to S2. I think S2 starts in Act 2 and so basically we are left with a season of 2 Acts instead of 3 and couple it the mind boggling amount of plots dumped in to S2, it is safe to say it's partly a reason why S2 feels the way it does.
Jayce straight up "your imperfections are beautiful"'d Viktor
Also, am I the only person who read Ep7 as an homage to Remember from She-Ra?
okay so maybe don't break me?
Yup! It was like a grown up version of that. Held no punches compared to the og.
Oh my god so I'm not the only one that immediately thought about Entrapta and Hordak
@@worldfuturestar It was a very Entrapdak moment, but that's actually the core of their relationship so it feels genuine. On the other hand, I felt Jayce said that way out of the blue .
YES!! i immediately thought of shera when he said that line
Why the fuck did they do my boi warwick like that? He was so fucking cool in act 2 and then they just turn him into one of viktor's goons? I thought for sure he was gonna complete his wolf transformation and turn into the true warwick but nah let's make him a gold zombie. Also why the fuck did zaun and piltover immediately unite? Now every zaunite champion needs a retcon because they never existed anymore.
I can’t wait for viktor to come back and build blitzcrank
They don't lol. Sevika just gets a seat to negotiate. And the nobles seem real pissed off about it and Cait says there's gonna be more conflict around the corner. What's likely is we're gonna get a Noxus series next and we hear about a proper civil-war popping up if Sevika gets snubbed too much.
Also in act 2 Warwick was just Singed goon who managed to escape, here Singed transfers that to Viktor after he agreed to the plan (which singed already said will destroy the man). Simple.
@@kharizma1734can’t forget singed and urgot
@@aerickmon3350OH MY GOD WHERE IS URGOT OH NO
I liked to think Sky was what remained of victors Humanity, and when she disappeared, so did his humanity. In my head, Sky was always a figment of Victor's imagination, what he assumed she was like, what he assumed she would say and do. The "good" in humanity.
"What could have been"... yeah, if it was a different setting than Piltover and Zaun... I think the creators forgot the whole inequality as a massive theme of the series up to and including season 2 ep 7. Every character wasn't defined by it, but it shaped every character and faction in some way. Like, the undercity was awful under Vander too. It wasn't just evil guy taking over that ruined everything.
one of my biggest issues is the lack of acknowledgment to the revolution between zaun and piltover..? it was only for a few episodes which hardly led to anything since the zaun people had to work with their own oppressors to save their city. this rebellion wouldve had jinx and vi much more involved in the main story and discuss, lets be honest, vi's bootlicking attitude and caitlyn's chemical war crimes / police brutality against zaun. the story's fine of course.. but caitlyn's actions seemed brushed under the rug far too easily everytime it was ever mentioned
Its so clear that the Black Rose plot was just a soft pilot of the next league show, taking place in Noxus. i dont play league, i deliberately did not read up on the black rose because i trusted arcane would make it clear to me as a non-player (the way season 1 also made league related stuff clear without having to know the lore beforehand)
and im as confused as when it was first introduced.
ok so the black rose is... a group of mages, i guess? and theyre fighting ambessa because, uhm, ambessa wants to start/help with the robot uprising, i guess (even tho this was before her team up with Viktor), i guess? and mel just knows how to use her powers without practise, because mages of the black rose (which are all mages, i guess?) are just that special? and mel is an empath, but has the power to energy blast and create shields, because, uhm, thats how empaths work?
im so annoyed. this plot was clearly forced in. they could have given Mel a plot wherein she was confronted with her complicity in the oppression of Zaun. where she was shown that her inaction (as a compensation for her mothers aggresive action in the past) is just as harmfull as the outright hatred of the other councilors.
but, nope. magical girl mel. i fucking guess. im tired.
As someone who does know the lore, it's kinda ironic. Learning more about the Black Rose allowed for an easier time grasping how the Medardas fit into Arcane's conflict.
This is definitely a, "if you know, you know" moment in the story, for lore enthusiasts.
oh imagine if they sent mel to zaun for example! such a cool plot opportunity
I agree Mel should've had more to do, but the Mel/Zaun plotline would have been redundant because she already knew all that. That's why she brokered for peace at the end of S1 and didn't want to invade, or use Hextech in S2. She also sponsored Hextech, which included technology to help the undercity.
Her subplot was so tedious, bro. I was doing the Judge Judy Hurry Up meme to try to make whatever the hell was happening relevant to the plot, and all it did was give her some new powers? Did we really need like 4 episodes to establish this??
I was interested in how Mel was going to stand up until an even more war hungry Ambessa after the Council attack, but if they were just gonna rip her away from the rest of the cast for so long, she might as well have been iced then and that's what drives Ambessa over the edge. Someone else could've taken out Maddie, because Mel didn't do fuck else this season.
Ong the black rose was so detrimental to the plot, and if you watch just the show ur just left in the dark. I have a friend who plays league and he gave me like a basic breakdown but even then the black rose’s presence in the show felt so unnatural, especially since the evil sorcerer kinda just dies at the end after being (barely) established as something incredibly dangerous. Also since the first season felt like normal humans tampering with things they shouldn’t (the arcane) suddenly having magic in the new season was so jarring, esp as a non LoL fan.
10:31 no- SC, it’s the letter. Jinx and Vi were in the cave and found Vander and Silco’s gay hideout. Jinx then reads out an apology letter Vander wrote, and she literally comments “if Silco read this… things could have been so different”. That’s why silco is there in this universe!! Because he got an apology!! And he forgave vander!!
It's so fucking funny to me that SC can go on about the subtext between Viktor and Jayce (even before the big homoerotic ending), a relationship where the writers said they intended it to be platonic and completely misses the hints about the pairing that probably actually was intended by the writers to be read that way, Silco and Vander.
@@notmynamedammitsweetie, what are you doing looking for a serious analitic reading of a show like arcane in this channel of all places?? This moron has showed too many times the way his brain is wired makes him incapable of doing something like that with a show that has a complexity beyond early 2000's cartoons 😅
Arcane needed at least one more season. as much as they like to say it was always the plan to do two seasons, it clearly needed more. I'm still happy with season 2, but it needed more time.
Lol wrote my comment thinking I was the hero. 😢
@notmynamedammit To be fair, a lot of people are probably hung up on the 'you were like a brother to me' dynamic that they specified they had in the past, yes they aren't ACTUALLY brothers but people don't often see beyond the text for those type of things
Ekko's true nickname is "The Boy Who Shattered Time"
I WILL die on this hill
Honestly agree with your point about Isha -- I liked her in act 2, she was cute, her and Jinx were fun to watch and, though expected, her death still hit. Then act three came around and I just kind of... forgot she ever existed lol
The bad guy was always systematic issues, so it feels weird that it doesn't properly address it. Cait is one momemt being a dictator, and then the next she was apparently able to recruit Zaunites to die fighting a conflict that Piltover created. With how Jinx was made to be a symbol, it looks obvious that she would have needed to be the one who convinced them to join. Probably also Ekko in his journey seeing yhe corruption so he would know Zaun needs to fight.
Also, I would like Viktor to be a bit more extra, like what I saw of the character. The one thing we saw is that Viktor was entirely still inside there, and could have been entirely reasoned with if Jace explained things and showed a bit of empathy. I could like the idea of a Viktor who became aware of the flaws in the dead end future, and might have what he sees as a happy medium of a glorious evolution.
Cait didnt recruit the Zaunites though. Her or Jayce invited representatives from Zaun and explained the threat of Ambessa and Viktor to them. The people of Zaun helped the people of Piltover because Jinx rallied them to their cause.
Caitlyn was never fully corrupted as everyone made out, yeah she obviously did bad things, but she knows she did wrong and tries to course correct.
@Zero-mn8bt I just find it hard to believe that Caitlyn and Jayce could just go in and convince a bunch of Zaunites to help. They have both led raids into Zaun, killing kids and using weaponised gas. It was really only a short time that, under Kaitlyn's direction, a bunch of protestors had been arrested and locked up on a prison island.
Apparently, it took some nice words for those who looked up to Jinx, dying hair, to dress up and be the people who were just crushing them. It would have needed to have leaders or symbols like Jinx, Ekko, and Sevika, who could get punks to trust the other side. Not Jayce, who also logically would need to admit that he was accidentally poisoning the underground.
It is really the most interesting bit for the whole story, and we just speed through it by Jayce showing a dead robot, which would prove nothing.
@@DuskyPredator Agreed. Especially after Isha's sacrifice, when Isha believed in Zaun's independence, and tried to get Jinx involved in it. Isha's stunt with Sevika and at the checkpoint proved that. And Jinx freed the Zaunites, and was moved by their sincere appreciation.
Losing Isha could've been the catalyst for Jinx accepting the role of revolutionary. Instead, it felt like Ekko just postponed what Jinx was as her inevitable and welcome death.
I'm so confused, Jinx and Ekko and Sevika *did* show up with a lot of Zaunites after Ekko convinces Jinx, don't they? We actively see Sevika and others walk away from Piltover when asked for help at first.
@Sleawzor But at least one of Jinx's followers dressed up as an enforcer. And we don't really see Jinx, Sevika, and Ekko convincing people.
It's weird that Jayce and Cait never find out that it was Vi and Powder that originally robbed them based on a tip from Ekko, like I'm not sure what it would have accomplished for them to find out but its weird that they never did. Literally the inciting incident. Also its insane that for how much everyone is connected, Jayce never interacts with jinx.
A lot of people didn't find out things about other people so 🤷🏾♂️
Jayce never interacting with Jinx honestly made me quite sad.
24:11 see
Act 3 weirdly contradicts act 2, on act 2 Viktor became so chaotically good that hed rather go powerless than"sacrifice Vander's and other 's humanity"
And act 3 acts like"making them dead robots"was always his plan.
I know it was Singed who changed his mind in ep. 6 but why did he tell Ambessa that this was"always his intent"? It takes away from everything he did and his development.
Mylo and Claggor are adopted brothers. Claggor was just happy to see Mylo having a nice time, nothing romantic about it
that wont stop the shippers
Bro really thinks he's gonna convince these ppl otherwise 😂🫵
Dude I thought it was a bit suspicious and it shocked me to my core😭
Bro is trying his damnest to try explain basic logic to shippers😂
Yeah Isha was just a plot device to me. As an orphan myself i wanted to like her, but she doesnt integrate in the story too well. The death was rushed, and kinda...why? We were just getting to really know her. if they kept her around longer (instead of erasing her existence after) then she'd have way more potential as a character.
In honesty, I feel this show just needed 1 more 9 episode season to fully flesh its ideas out properly but still build to that same target ending.
My personal feel is that this season should have ended where Act 2 ended and then a season 3 focusing more on bringing things together.
Or alternatively increase the duration of each episode from 40 min to 50 or 60 and have the finale be 60 or 70 minutes.
As much as i adore arcane (which, trust me; its a lot. i was dying when s1 dropped and it actually gave me drive to get better), season 2 just felt ... empty. it left me dissapointed, because it simply did not deliver well on any of the things set up in season 1, and leaves more questions than answers - something which a season finale should NOT do..
A few problems i have (buckle in kiddos)
> remember when this show was about discrimination, oppression, conflict and corrupt governments? dont worry, the writers didnt remember either! why do they spend whole season 1 setting up the tension and breaking point between Zaun and Piltover, only for season 2 to be like "uhm well akshually Noxus is the big baddie and with the power of friendship we must defeat them!!!" like... thats so fucking lazy. Its borderline insulting how the Zaunites were faced with police aggression from Piltover their whole existence, only to be expected to pick up the enforcer uniform in s2act3 and fight to defend the city which has let them rot. its mindboggling to me that they decided to not go into the conflict between those cities (the CORE OF THE SHOW), and instead end it with Sevika gaining a seat in the council, wildly outnumbered by topsiders and without any hints as to what happened between the cities further.
> also remember when it was about conflict between different ideologies? again, dont worry, the writers didnt either! Vi VS Jinx, Mel VS Ambessa, Jayce VS Viktor, Vander VS Silco (dont get me started on how they retconned their backstory lmao). its just a whole bunch of nothingness now. just. complete emptiness. this season has nothing to say. nothing. remember the banger lines in s1 ("in the pursuit of great, we failed to do good", "weapons cant be unmade, and they are always used", and i can go on)... what hardcore, borderline radical lines did we have this season?
> the black rose plot. I get they wanted to give Mel a plot, and probably added this as a soft introduction to their next League series, but it was just completely random and a mess if you dont know any of the lore. what is the black rose, really? what is the Actual reason the black rose and Ambessa are fighting? and, with Mel: in episode 8 she was struggling with holding back Viktor's puppet and didnt understand her powers yet, and in e9 she suddenly knows how to create shields and energy blasts? why does she, an empath who can control and change the inner power of others, do these things?
s1 arcane was easy to follow without any league lore, and everything from league introduced got explained well and thoroughly. this season, however, clearly thinks all viewers have some base league knowledge. i dont! my fathers, who i watch this with, both dont! one of them who has a literature degree and is an english teacher, so its not due to any bad media literacy!
> sorry; the Viktor and the hexcore jesus plot. What were the footsteps in episode 2, that led him to the undercity? was the hexcore controlling him, guiding him to a place it knew the arcane was strong? but, if the hexcore was possesing him, why did Jayce in e9 act like it was all Viktor's own deliberate doing? why did Viktor just... know what to dow with his powers? why would Viktor, who was TERRIFIED of the hexcore, suddenly force others to merge with it?
> and, what the FUCK do you mean the mage is Viktor?? Huh?? how does that even WORK?Viktor turns bad in universe A, is like 'i must stop this from happening in other universes' and can just... travel the multiverse i guess. But then, why did he still give Jayce the stone, and not just let Jayce and Ximena die on the plain, resulting in no hextech in Piltover, and so no hexcore that entices Viktor, and so no Arcane Jesus Viktor? Why does he still give Jayce the stone? and who gave Jayce the stone in the original universe wherein Viktor went all Evil? (my theory is; the mage ISNT viktor, but viktor means that, from all universes wherein Jayce gets the stone - one wherein Vi dies > no hextech, one wherein he succeeds with a different ruin > viktor becomes Evil - OUR jayce is the only one that can save OUR viktor. im coping shut up)
> and finally abt Viktor; so its never gonna be confirmed if Sky was an hallucination made up by him to combat loneliness (which, why would she then guide him to corrupt others with arcane?), if she was an apperation from the hexcore itself (in which case, why does she leave when Viktor fully turns?, or if she was simply also taken into the hexcore when she died? season 1 would have explained it, and season 2 is like.... ahhh dont worry abt it she was there and now shes gone!
> wait no im not done. it is vile, VILE, to act like a terminally ill character who tried to save his own life was bad for trying to do so. that his stage 4 lung cancer was merely a small 'imperfection'. thats absolutely vile.
> Vi's character arc. I mean, the character arc which simply WASNT THERE. What did she do this season that was driven by her own desires? she just reacts to outside forces, seems to have no particular goals in mind, and loses everything. Her fall into alcoholism was hyped up, only for it to be 1 amv within the show and no further depth to it. it was said she was gonna learn how to not be a protector, but she didnt! she protected Isha in act 1, Jinx and vander in act 2, and whole pitover in act 3. like, ok, good character arc.
i can actually go on longer than this, but im too frustrated. IMPORTANT: i do not hate the show. i love arcane, and season 1 will always be one of, if not the best (animated or general) series ever produced in the west. season 2 has its merits; its entertaining, it has drama, etc., but the decline between season 1 and season 2 is difficult not to notice. season 2 really makes you realise: oh, yeah, this is based on League of Legends.
Your comments under this video are therapy to me after this absolute fever dream of a season, thank you so much i'm in love with you
@@isaw9969 yes the Hexcore in act 3 just... Completely vanished as a plot point, despite season 1 building it up as this evolving intelligence, corrupting influence. What was in Sky's notebook? Her project that they kept drawing attention to when Vik woke up? All Irrelevant I guess!!
I do think saving Jayce makes sense from future Vik's pov. If Jayce was the only person in all timelines who COULD convince Vik that the loneliness wasn't worth it. Jayce HAD to be saved, assuming Vik always finds his way to power.
But none of that means JAYCE'S actions in ep 5 and 6 make sense... Why wouldn't he just hug Vik to show him that future instead of blowing a fucking hole in his chest like tf. It was established Vik could read people by touching them.. he could have seen his future self so much sooner.
I couldn't have put it better and there's even more stuff that in my opinion suffered a bit, like the whole of act one building up to dictator Caitlyn only for her to be inmediatly depicted the same way she was in season 1 (where are the war crimes? The realization that what she's doing is bonkers?? I don't want it implied I want to see Cait actually have a redemption arc!) or Heimerdinger being there and then... Not (I think it's supposed to be a bit more emotionally capturing but I personally went "Well that happened")
Nailed everything I was disappointed by. One more thing tho that Ekko just chills in the other universe and says weird shit for who knows how long and doesn’t remember anything about that ekko’s life, but… nobody really questions him? Powder, his lover, just kinda thinks he’s being rude when he’s obviously completely different
TLDR: They DEFINITELY needed a 3rd season to properly flesh everything out.
Honestly most of my complaints boil down to “they didn’t have enough time.” Like I appreciate that they put us in the middle of the fight, but you know in any other show there would have been some hold up before the first strike. I appreciate that this show does give its audience credit and assumes they’ll pick up on things, but you know if they’d had even one more episode they would have shown us a couple of those things we’re just meant to infer.
One of those things being the Zaun/Piltover relation. While, yeah, Zaun now has a voice on the council (let’s go Sevika!) you can tell that she’s still not exactly welcome. The other/new council members are not happy she’s here and Sevika herself looks uncomfortable. So it’s not all fixed but it’s a step forward… there’s just a never ending line of steps to go.
Honestly though, overall I had a great time with season two, it just had to juggle so much in a short amount of time when compared to season 1 where, yes they still moved a little briskly, they genuinely had the better pacing.
Also just a side note, Cait taking a page out of VI’s book and striking first while injured, only to have a moment of “oh shit” when she realizes she’s punching way above her weight made me cackle. I loved her and Mel teaming up against Ambessa though because that fight was sick. The camera work when Ambessa kicks Caitlyn and it follows her landing? I love that shit. This show has used that trick a few times and every time I love it.
"Shut up and fight" while ambessa is trying to monologue made me laugh. I really enjoyed what a bad Caitlyn became.
Overall, I agree it was a great experience but I want to push back a little on the Zaun/Piltover relation. I thought it was brushed over for the sake of a Marvel battle which wasn't bad just not as compelling as the class struggle.
@neatral_narr That boils down to “not enough time” but also the fact that they even bothered to even hint that things were still not all hunky dory is more than I even expected to get. Is it perfect? No. Still, as I said, Sevika being on the council is a step in the right direction.
@BGTitanAvatar You can't deny that it was brushed aside for a larger battle. No one is saying that it wasn't a step in the right direction. it just comes off uninterested in the broader politics of the conflict.
Jinx wanting to kill herself was surprisingly triggering for me. Really unsettled me how her story ended, I didn’t realize it was implied that she “survived” or whatever, but it would’ve been so meaningful to me personally if we had seen her make an effort to reconstruct her relationship with Violet. And this isn’t like a fan service request, this is in line with the themes of the season.
There is an inevitability to the multifaceted tendencies of these characters, but then there’s an even more powerful and fateful pull: the way their love for each other is never something they can truly erase. The beginning of the season, the two sisters insist on convincing themselves that they want each other dead, because it’s easier than confronting the heartbreak of how divided they’ve become. But then they have to put in the work to fight for each other, for a future together, again.
There could’ve been a deeply fulfilling moment here, that kicked off the beginning of healing. Jinx would never be safe from the law…maybe Caitlin would step down in part because she can’t be a cop in a relationship with Vi. Idk
As Silco's ghost said, the only way to stop the violence is to walk away.
In the universe that was fine Vi was dead. In this universe, Jinx is seemingly dead (either fully dead or moved away unkown to everyone else). Jinx is a Jinx. And Vi is also a Jinx. They just can't be together.
I think you forget how straightforward Jayce's problem solving skills are, he's literally just a hammer who's good at everything he does way too fast to realize consequences of potential flaws in the design. Kill Salo, Kill Viktor, go home... Viktor is still coming for the core? Kill the the core, kill Viktor.... can't kill Viktor? Viktor wants to make everything perfect? Tell him/show him perfection sucks. The end.
A thing that bothered me was that Arcane had never shy away from death. When characters die, important characters, you saw it and saw the impact and brutality. But in the third act all the main characters "death" are just dissapering. I don't think is somethimg necesserly bad but there was a moment where it felt like a pattern, they cut away from Isha and we don't see her dead, Heimerdinger dissapears, so do Jayce and Viktor, and Jinx vanishes in a colorful explosion. It got worse because in the finale they do show the death of the minor characters, so the only thing I could think when seeing those "deaths" was the "if there is no body they are still alive" which took me out of a show that had been really good in keeping me grounded in this world where death was very real.
(I still love it, it just didn't have the same perfection that season 1 did)
Here are some things that I hated/disliked about Act 3.
1. Maddie's reveal as a traitor was predictable, It felt very forced because Instead of making her an actual character. they just just did it as an excuse to get Vi and Caitlyn back together.
2. Loris was one of the most pointless characters in the show, he barely gets any development, we learn nothing about him and he just dies in the second and not even Vi is like sad about it.
3. I hate how when Ekko came back to the main timeline and he meets up with Jinx we dont even get a scene where he's trying to convince Jinx to help. and the next time we see them they're just all cool with eachother.
4. the pacing is genuily awful.
the Act 3 it self can make a hole season. They really run out of time to just end the season and story line 😢
Nobody talked about Isha’s death either.
@@guesta9822TBF, Jinx is completely destroyed as a result. Plus, the bunny ears on the balloon can represent her.
@@guesta9822Vi is more focused on the fact that Jinx is actively suicidal, Warwick got morphed, Caitlin barely knew the kid existed, and Ekko is entirely unaware of her existence. There is no character available to bring her up aside from Jinx, who is actively suicidal from seeing her death.
@@guesta9822ya i know there was too much shit going on to address it but it makes her death kind of dumb if all it was to make Jinx more depressed without ever reconciling loss. Isha sacrificed herself for Jinx and because she looked up to Jinx as a pillar of Zaun, so realizing that would have been a really sweet moment for Jinx to decide to join the war but we just don't ever get to see that.
Jinx arc was so unsatisfying, she never mentions Isha again, no symbolic burial, never interact with sevika on scree again, she only talk with Ekko for like a minute and a half, we get hints they are now at the very least friends again based on their outfit, but that's not enough, we needed more scenes, also Silco telling her to walk away didn't need to be literally, now she is completely alone, depressed, suffering hallucinations, without any support network, I don't think that's what she needs, feels super cruel. If the writers really needed her to leave to have her somewhere else in the next show, there could have done it in a more mature way, having her explaining why she needs to leave and saying goodbye to Vì and Ekko, it could have been more emotional than faking her death.
So like apparently her getup and the blimp were decorated with Isha's symbolism - but this is honestly part of what I hate about the end of Jynx arc. Everything is left to tiny details and hints to the audience which is super unsatisfying compared to how episode 6 was told.
Since they didn't really take advantage of Isha's sacrifice for storytelling it just felt like the writers only did it to fick with the audience
@@christopherjohnston6343I feel like they didn’t take advantage of Isha at all. She kind of just shows up and gets a couple scenes with Jinx like haha look Jinx is a good older sister to this orphan. And then bam, Isha dies and everyone’s sad. Feels like her character just set her up for the emotional payoff and didn’t really take the time to develop her a lil more but idk if I’m just dumb asf (after all I don’t fully understand the whole Black Rose and Ambessa plot line)
@squirrel1226 no youre not the only one. The show didn't really have the time to explain what the Black rose is to non- league of legends players
I think the biggest problem I had with season 2, was something called the Tarzan syndrome. With that, the songs very specifically tell you what the character is feeling, and how you should feel. They did this because of the actual biggest issue; the pacing. In season 1, the only songs that outright TELL you what's up are as follows: Misfit Toys which details what the Firelights are all about, What Could Have Been, and Goodbye. They work because they're used sparingly. In season 2, I'm pretty sure in EVERY episode we have a song number telling us what's up. And that got REALLY annoying.
Season 2 isn't BAD. But it certainly doesn't have that same caliber of writing that season 1 had. Where once I would've PROUDLY said that Arcane was the best show on TV even overtaking Avatar the Last Airbender...after season 2's finale...yeah no ATLA still holds the crown for the best show on TV. It gets literally ever important aspect of telling a story right. Including the pacing. Tropes that are normally seen as cliches are used to the show's advantage; such as the flashbacks. In the Storm, it sets up Aang and Zuko's parallel journeys. Here? What was the narrative point to Vander's flashbacks only to then lose his humanity anyways?
While the ending was fine....I was left asking "what was the point" for a lot of moments leading up to it and even afterwards. To me, if a finished story is making you "What was the point?" vs being satisfied with what you witnessed, then it didn't do its job in getting you emotionally invested. It didn't do its job in getting you to care about the story, about the characters. I cared about the characters in season 1. In season 2, by the end, because of all the songs telling me how I SHOULD feel...I just felt annoyed. I think this desperately needed a third season, to really let things ruminate and sink in, to let the characters just SIT and BREATHE. One of the best moments in season 1 was Silco sitting at Vander's statue.
Less than a hundred words were spoken, and yet that scene said everything it needed to say. And we got NOTHING like that in season 2. And that sucks.
damn
They needed another season. Warwick/Vander’s return could’ve been two acts alone.
Wonderfully said
My sister had the same problem as you as well. The songs were overdone and she felt being spoon fed. And she was asking what the point of anything was or what were the motivations behind character’s actions. She liked the season but described it as unfocused
@CoreyAdolfi they introduced too many plot threads and then just dumped them. Pit fighter Vi, Ekko and his tree, Caitlyn becoming a dictator, Jinx becoming a symbol of Zaun... it all needed another season to build it up to the war between Piltover and Noxus
They did Vi and Jinx dirty :( Jinx was wayyyy to toned down and Vi got sent to the back, which I hated because I love Vi. I agree with everything you said. The show desperately needed at least one season more.
None of the robots try to kill Jayce in the future. He just makes an assumption and busts up his leg because of it. Later in the sequence he will start to just walk past them because he understood that they were not here to attack him.
Nope, Silco being in the alternate timeline makes perfect sense. The reason he was able to make his deal in our timeline was because of Markus' inexperience/naivety and no culprits for the heist both of which are removed in that one. Piltover unknowingly offed Vi so they had to give reparations etc. it adds up
I dont think its a huge plothole, being a different universe, a lot of things could be different, but. excuse me? Are you suggesting that Piltover would give reperations for Vi dying in a heist gone wrong? What?
@@pascalalieller Well, yeah. They are burglars, but they are also children. Like in season 1, there would be investigations as to what caused the explosion, and, same as season 1, they would be baffled by "you were trying to create MAGIC?? ARE YOU INSANE? you know it's forbidden in Piltover!!" And since a CHILD died because of this illegal experiences, even though yes they are technically thieves, there would be reparations to the Undercity. "they shouldn't have tried to steal, but there shouldn't have been so dangerous materials, and if literal children are trying to steal to get by, maybe you need some help." And later down the line Heimerdinger arrives and doubles down on helping the Undercity.
I think it's less about Vi's death and more about the letter in Vander's hideout, meaning that most likely the two were friends/friendly again way before the kids went on to do the job
@pascalalieller yeah shocked me the most that none of them were arrested at least
@@pascalalieller Yes, they didn't end up stealing anything and Vi died so Jayce got all the shlt for it. Vander is still friends with Grayson at that point, it makes perfect sense.
jayce telling Viktor "youve always wanted to cure what you thought were imperfections: your leg, your disease" made me livid. he was DYING, jayce. he had the arcane version of stage 10 lung cancer. thats not an imperfection, thats a death sentence. comparing a deadly disease to a physical disability is just... insane to me.
and remember; Jayce in s1 did everything he could to save Viktor. he banished heimerdinger, his MENTOR from the council just so they could keep trying to save Viktor. who, again, was actively dying ("i can feel my body... eroding" is more than just an imperfection, yall. fuck im so mad lmao) season 1 Viktor was never motivated by such shallow desires as getting rid of imperfections, and the writers trying to retcon that made me so annoyed. season 1 viktor wanted to help, he wanted to save the people in need. it was only after he fused with the hexcore that this got changed into 'save them /by perfecting them/".
nothing, and i mean nothing in season 1 implies viktor hates his imperfections. he wanted to stay alive, because he wanted to have the chance to help people ("i suppose your legacy is well secured" talk with Heimer, where Viktor laments that he didnt get to do anything Good in hus life,)
the trope of 'this disabled character is evil, cause they want to get rid of their disability. theyre good as they are!!' is a trope so focused on abled people it drives me up the wall. yes, a disabled person does not need to be able bodied to be worthy of life, and to be perfect; thats true! but villainising the desire disabled people have to be treated as equal, to pretend like its THEIR ableism, instead of that of the surrounding world which makes them be critical of their disability, is vile.
i get the message was intended to be 'your perfect even if you think your not. your disability doesnt make you any less perfect', but in the same breath acting as if Viktor was only ever motivated by his desire to overcome imperfections, instead of motivated by his desire to help, and desire to keep on living SO HE COULD HELP, is just horrible. i almost wanna call it mean. no it is mean they massacred my boys whole character.
Devil's real shitty advocate here but Jayce's "your imperfections are beautiful" speechh didn't work in universe - we see that in the form of the future he went to where the world was destroyed - a world where Ekko wasn't present or had found the time altering rune. In that world, Jayce said his spiele and Victor still assimilated the world - What defeated Viktor was being bitch slapped by alternate time by Ekko giving Jayce enough time for him to hug Viktor and show him what he'd seen and an alternate Viktor which had found perfection and solution to all pain and suffering and it wasn't what was hyped to be - something which mecha Viktor was now trying to form (and which I see as the corrupted hexcore taking him over)
T H I S
As a chronically ill person who walks with a cane, I felt very tied to Viktor on a spiritual level. He never wanted to “cure” his disability, he wanted to prolong his life. None of his motivations, especially in the second season, have anything to do with his disability or illness so Jayce’s little speech feels like bullshit. He should know better than anyone that Viktor didn’t think his leg was an imperfection.
@@vamplinvamp shakes ur hand we're in the same boat brother (genderneutral)
like. i have a lung disease and something other which drains my energy. one way or the other; when i die, these things will be de direct or indirect cause. me trying to find ways to prolong my life, to make the most of the limited time i know i have, is not me 'trying to be perfect'.
its just such a slap in the face to us and all others with dissabilities (or other chronic sickness) to hear this extremely able-bodied/healthy opinion abt how we should just... lay down and accept it?
what i have is not a physical dissability, so i cannot talk abt that part of the speech. but the disease thing just made me livid. what a way to find out that, aparently, Viktor's disease was Not A Flaw - even tho Viktor never acted like it was. He didnt see it as an imperfection, he saw it as something which made his life significantly harder than the life of others, which is what it was!!
im just. im so upset about it its actually insane. viktor was such a well written disabled character, and now its like "oh actually he HATED his disabilities and he thought he was IMPERFECT bc of them" like oh okay. guess we're doing internalised ableism with a character that doesnt need that trope!
While I agree that Viktor's deal was always about altruism, I still think there was a bit of him that felt shackled by his own body. To me, that's what the boat scene was about. I think they're trying to imply that Viktor's obsession with saving everyone eventually made him associate his disability with what he wanted to fix. The more he became obessed, the more he starting thinking in black and white (binary, cuz y'know, viktor.. robots..). You see that as he talks about order vs chaos, him embodying the idea of pure order.
Don't get me wrong, I think Jayce's quote is still *really* bad, but I don't think it's completely disconnected to Viktor's pov.
I think merging with the arcane corrupted him. The noble and good intent of victor was corrupted and twisted to something bad. This is a theme throughout Arcane. Jayce only wanted to help but hex tech corrupted that. Powder only wanted to help but the power of hex tech corrupted that. Vander only wanted to help but the power he gained through revolution corrupted that. Silco only wanted to help but we all know what happened there. Power corrupts and that which inspired our greatest good also drives our greatest evils. So yes Victor changed because power corrupts and it does so by twisting the initial good motives we have. No one thinks they are evil even Hitler thought he was the good guy.
I don’t think it was much to do ableism to be honest. Well that’s not the message I got. Speaking as a carer of a disabled son, so it’s not something I’m unfamiliar with but just didn’t get that message from this at all.
We really got animated sesbian lex before gta6
From Korrasami to Violyn, this pipeline is winning
Buddy sesbian lex has been animated a thousand times before
animated lesbian sex was invented in 2016 with the release of Overwatch
@@falconeshieldHOLY CRAP VIOLYN IS MY NEW FAV SHIP NAME, LIKE ITS A RUNNER UP AFTER LUMITY FOR BEST WLW NAME MESHUP
@@julianbello8376what about really big budget animated lesbian sex before gta 6 then lmao
Viktor being actual factual godlike and repeating time to find the perfect timeline is honestly such a high concept thing it makes the entire universe of the show feel smaller, like we're supposed to believe his control is so fine-tuned he can manipulate entire universes to his liking? So what do the actions of everyone else matter then? This is why time travel and multiverses always depend on emotional beats rather than logical ones. They try to hit that "Oh, it's all CONNECTED because a single character caused all of it!" moment rather than "Oh, that's why all these things happened in a logical sequence, even if it's not the outcome the characters wanted."
Couldn't have said it better myself.
The ending battle feels pushed for me. Felt like something from marvel where they trying to have everyone assemble in a unnatural way.
Honestly, I was pretty disappointed with episode 9 and a ton of little things that caused the season to really fuck up the final act. It just didn’t feel right. Warwick ended feeling more like a plot device rather than a character, Vi literally lost everything, Caitlyn just felt off, and so many side characters were built up to be important just to die in the final fight. Watching Zaunite fight in Enforcer armor felt like a really, really bizarre choice and all the loose plot points hinting at future shows that just ended making Arcane ending feeling incomplete. Worst of all was Sevika, who got hinted at having more importance just to barely appear in the final fight.
Edit: I immediately got an ad right as Maddie died lol
I would argue Warwick did not have an ending but Vander is dead completely. Vi lost almost everything. She still has her cupcake. And if anything, Vi losing almost everything is kinda the inver of the good universe where she had everything except she was dead. Caitlyn was … yeah, can’t argue with that. Maybe the story could have done better with one extra season or just an additional act between act 1 and 2 to smooth out the transition. And it makes sense for the Zaunites to fight along with and in the enforcers because if they lose… everyone dies. And yeah, wish Sevika had more to do but hey, she is not a representative of the underground and now has political sway.
Even if Warwick is alive, I see no reason for him to ever come back. His final design looked awful, any bit of personality he had was literally killed off. While I never played LOL, I would have rather had him end up where his League version. Maybe they could’ve had the remnants of Vander break through, similar to how he kicked Viktor out of his mind in act 2 (maybe even disabling him for a few moments). Maybe his healing factor could cause them metal body to break and rip off, revealing a design more akin to the werewolf design from league.
I agree to an extent with the Warwick cause he was practically singes resume/tool to join ambassa. I enjoyed the scenes where him jinx and vi got back together until the story hooked line and sinker my emotions. I figured singe would use war wick to attack piltover again but not in the way arcane did it.
I thought he was gonna be under mind control and have him go on a killing spree until vi or jinx brings him back, but nah, he's gone like he's mentally dead. He was pretty much was a mcguffin. I wanted him to still be alive or realize he cant be around anyone including his family because how much of a threat he is so vi and jinx will continue to go after him to try and save him or convince him to stay
As for zaunite wearing piltover armor. It's pretty reasonable, idk if they have their own armor.
I thought Jinx would go batshit after losing Isha but I can tolerate with what we got
Me too I got the ad in the middle of the ad
I disagree with you about Caitlyn. Her storyline was probably my favourite of the season. Her being blinded by grief and rage turned her into a monster, but she never fully trusted Ambessa and knew in Act 2 that she was being used by her. Ambessa even says that she knows Caitlyn doesn’t trust her. Her storyline was realising that her hatred made her hate herself and blinded herself to Ambessa and Maddie’s machinations. She knows that the good she does going forward won’t undo the bad she’s committed. Her not forgiving Jinx, but instead telling her that she’s let go of her hatred for her was powerful to me. Vi still has Caitlyn and Ekko. I agree with you about Warwick though
Pacing is the worst aspect of this show, they definitely realized they bit off too much than they could chew and had to make more predictable/simplified pay-offs to wrap things up
I wonder how much Mel’s popularity pushed her character in this direction. It seems like they wanted to make her a champion but she would be very underpowered as she was in season 1. I do wish she got to stay in her element in Piltover more. Once the black rose straight kidnapped her I could feel her being pulled away for sequel material.
That said, she is so fucking pretty and the new gold marking just make her hotter
I think it was planned from the start : at the very end of season 1 we see Mel activating her power
@@liamerty3523yeah I definitely see that as a foreshadowing moment, but also vague enough that they could have taken it in different directions if they chose too
As soon as I heard they were making Me; a champion, I knew something like this would happen. In S1, she was a politician; her power was manipulation, tactics, talking--which does not translate to League fighting. They could either train her in hand-to-hand combat, make her a mechanical genius, or make her a mage. We got the third.
Mel was so fascinating to watch maneuver in S1, and even when removed from her relationships and influence, she was still formidable. But because her powers are too loosely-defined, they warp to fit whichever situation she needs to get out of. She overpowers Le Blanc (shadow lady) to save her mother and fights the Noxian soldiers without issue, and none of it feels earned , because we don't understand how her power works or see her train, only explore the world. Even a training sequence with Le Blanc would've fixed the gap in her skills, even if her powers are too vague.
Honestly, without the sequel obligations, I think Mel would've been killed to fuel Ambessa. Or better yet, Mel AND Ambessa die in the missile explosion, so Caitlyn becomes interim General. Removing Noxus positions Piltover/Zaun back as the central conflict and gives Cait total agency, perhaps with the other noble houses enabling her actions.
Her storyline in S2 was: become a mage, then everyone she loves dies. I hope there is a spin-off to give her SOME closure. But I doubt it will happen.
Pretty sure S2 was already in deep production as S1 was airing. 9 out of 10 times they can't make split decisions due to fan reactions when it comes to animated shows.
I wish they made it explicit that Jinx didn't die. I was in a lot of intense pain from all that, especially after the "building new" talk. Even just a glance of her blue hair in the window, or some decoration on the blimp would have been better. I know some of this is just due to personal connection, I've had some friends stand on that ledge, but it just hurt to see so much hope for Jinx only for it to imply that she will have a better life. I know she did it to "leave things behind to move forward" but the audience could have been told.
Also Ekko really deserved better. He literally did EVERYTHING AND HE WAS LEFT COMPLETLY ALONE. WHY TF DID THAT HAPPEN. I'm so mad.
The cities and their conflict were de-centered, both Vi and Jinx leaving the undercity in the end. Like how could they do that? also we never follow up in the Undercity or Ekko’s tree community. The ending takes place in Piltover, and we see Sevika on the council, but we don’t see the undercity. Granted it could be because Jinx burned the bar which was our main location, but the undercity didn’t receive its own ending, and it needed one in my opinion.
Season 2, the sisters’ motives and emotional discoveries feel like they have a lot less plot impact. Like the plot in season 1 hung on their emotional beats and choices, and had lasting consequences in a way that didn’t translate to season 2, which is fine. You could say Jayce and Victor got to be the main “agency” characters to a certain extent (until it’s revealed to not be agency, but to be Viktor’s plan, and Jayce just doing what’s asked of him, but I do still love those boys)
The characters with agency were definitely Mel and Ambessa, and Ekko but Mel/Ekko were gone for so much of season 2. Would have loved more character moments with Mel, or for Mel to just have more breathing room with her confrontation at the end.
Love Jinx, and I have some issues with Vi a bit after season 2, but the writers went a little too hard treating Jinx as favorite girlie, by trying to have her get the ultimate good ending by being hope for the undercity and a community pillar, but also wrapped up in an individual arc where she leaves without saying goodbye, enjoying/stewarding the community she’s helped build.
You are so right. I think Mel didn't get too much focus bc they'll be doing another series focused on Noxus, but they should have showed us Ekko returning to the undercity, to give us the ending of both. I also hate that Jinx in implied to leave, without even saying goodbye, it feels like a slap in the face to our investment in the relationships.
I don't think Viktor had an over-arching plan, I think he knew Jayce interacting with the hexcore was his best chance, but that's just my interpretation.
@@vanesasteves6922 yes! Ekko returning would’ve been a perfect beat for the ending. So glad Mel will have a spin off but I did miss her in this show. Like her confrontation with Ambessa was *chefs kiss* but also would’ve benefited from more time imo. Jinx breaks my heart with this ending!
As far as Jayce and Viktor not feeling like they had a lot of plot agency, (it’s a small thing) but at the end, when Jayce decided to go to war against Viktor, he’s technically going with future-Viktor’s blessing.
I don’t think it’s inherently bad, it’s just a step back from the first season where huge, risky emotional stakes dictated the plot. You didn’t know how people were going to respond or act, but you understood their motives the whole time. Jayce knows he has Viktor’s blessing to fight him, so the relationship isn’t at stake the same way and he doesn’t need to internal-conflict over it. Granted, there wasn’t enough time lol. another few episodes in act 3 would’ve been great.
@@kyliecrawfishin Totally, they needed even 1 extra episode to let things breathe or use time better (like why are you showing me like 20 sec of Piltover affected by the arcane, instead of Zaun as well?) and show us the emotional impact of situations, leading to the *understandable* reactions of characters.
Still a great season, but needed more agency on the main characters and more time to give us a satisfying end.
Man Poor Ekko dude sacrificed everything to save the world and he lost his pow pow
I’m hoping Jinx is alive and they can get together
My man Jayce really started with the whole blow-a-gaping-hole-through-his-chest thing and not the hug. Could have saved a lot of people had we started with the hug.
I thought the exact same thing like how do you confuse "show me perfection is stagnation" with "kill me and don't stop trying"
At this point I just kind of assumed the writers forgot to explicitly say that the hexcore wouldn't have stopped trying to manipulate him to its own ends
The hug would've probably turned him into one of those fuckass cult people. Not to mention my boy just went through months (maybe years?) of physical and mental torture
Vi and Cait having sex right after powder more or less told Vi that she was gonna go off herself was weird af
Jinx did not say she was going to kll herself, she said she will break the cycle. 🤷
@@modkip25it still felt off. Jinx was at her lowest but this time Vi is there to help. She did try but she should have pursued her sister instead of sleeping with Cait. Especially not knowing what state she’d see her in again. Ekko being the one to save jinx’s life says a lot. It’s out of character for Vi to do that.
@@Thesilentvoice...it didn’t feel off to me at all. It was two people finally giving into their desire for one another.
@modkip25 In today's lesson we will learn about CONTEXT AND SUBTEXT. Very rarely do we need someone to say exactly what they're feeling in order to infer it. 90% of communication is non-verbal. Also VI's initial reaction strongly suggested that she understood what Jinx was hinting at
@@Zero-mn8bt Yea... nothing to get you in the mood like your depressed sibling (who has nothing to live for and believes her self to be a curse) cryptically telling you good by
Cait and Vi’s relationship was such an afterthought. They needed more heartfelt dialogue before or after the prison scene
we were waiting for a great apology and never really got it. lots of things in this season happened off screen and are left up to our imagination
I really disagree. I think their relationship was one of the highlights, there was a lot of push and pull. I didn’t need more dialogue between them as they clearly moved past what happened between them in the past, and they were both ready to fight for a future together. Like when they were hooking up Cait touched the place where she previously hit Vi, and Vi yanked her hand away and pulled her closer. This lets me know Vi has moved pst what Cait did and it’s already been forgiven without needing to say anything. I could be reading too much into it, but that’s my interpretation. Vi telling Cait that she’s “the dirt under her nails” speaks volumes about how they feel about one another imo
Ekko and Powder was Arcane version of Miles and Gwen
Jinx simply did what Silco advised her to do in the first season. WALK. AWAY.
Act 1 of Season 2 was really good and set up a lot of potential. And while Act 2 might be my favorite Act of Season 2 (Because of Jinx, Vi, Vander and Isha being a family) I think that's when things started to go downhill a bit. I still think this season was amazing but it can never live up to Season 1, Season 1 is a masterpiece.
Im just so disappointed by the way they did caitvi's writing. Literally, everyone on Twitter is saying that they didn't deserve a happy ending, plus people saying the whole sex scene was so out of place, and i hate to say it, but i kinda agree, at least with the second take. I think they focused too much on making it canon, much more than they focused on making caitvi the way we loved them from season 1. They were flirty and caring, and i loved that about them, but it seems in Act 3 they lost everything that made them a couple if that makes sense. Like Vi legit found out her sister was about to kill herself and then she goes and devours caitlyn, IN JINXS CELL? Idk it just felt so out of place to me. Maybe i need more time to think, but idk im kinda numb rn. Btw when i say this, im literally the biggest caitvi shipper no matter what season 2 gave me.
I just wished they flushed out everyones arc- which they could've done if there was another season - like did they think they needed to rush this season just so they could move onto different storylines? Like the entire sevika, isha and jinx arc just didn't exist in Act 3 even though it has such an impact on jinxs character.
Anyway, I think that's legit all my criticisms of this season.
Keep in mind that stale food was probably still in that cell lol, jinx’s piss and blood from her fingers lmao. This made me feel the same way about Arya’s sex scene in GOT s8, like good for them but it just felt forced or out of place.
I also hate to say it, but as good as a queer rep in thos show is... it feels a little catered toward a straight male audience. You're telling me Cait and Vi will have in explicit scene in Jinx's jail cell while Viktor and Jayce just... hug and put their heads together? Seriously? It seemed like they wanted to make every romance or sex scene with a woman in it explicit, but the men? Nah, they're just gonna hug and only imply they could be together. It's weird.
They didn't cuz mel is officially with jayce and you need to understand that
Not every same gender relationship is gay
They were like brothers (their words not mine)
So obv, they didn't show them hugging or kissing cuz they had no such relationship to begin with@@zalamazu
Dude you still pay attention to Xitter? It's a cesspool. Arcane wouldn't even exist if it had its way.
@@falconeshield please don't call it that. It's even worse than "X" somehow
So many things were icky
- Caitlyn becoming a dictator because her mom died??? OMG. For cait to meet vi, both of vi's parents died, her stepdad died, her stepbrothers died, she lost her sister, and she was illegally imprisoned for years. But go off cait, ur mom died.
- season 1 depicted systematic abuse as a systematic issue. Each player has a piece to play but ultimately those with power r in control. Season 2 literally had zaunites defend piltover and walk back into their toxic home?? Wat?
- vi NEVER tells cait to shut up. She let's her become a dictator and never goes "babe...I've lost everyone. I only have shelter because of u. U have so much. Please just stop"
- I wanted to see more ekko ):
- is heimerdinger dead?
56:00 that perfectly summarises my feelings about the ending. It left me frustrated both for the reasons you mentioned and for the fact that how the scene of her faking her death was done is just so un-original, the fall, the "bad guy" grabbing her and Vi being unable to pull her back is just ugh seen that a couple dozen times. And honesty, knowing how Jinx's story ends, I dont even want to rewatch it because it's so unsatisfying.
Totally agree though.
Isha's Sacrfice meant nothing other then taking out a few Noxian soldiers. I thought the bunny ears were first meant to be Vi's bunny still cause before Isha that's what Jinx held close to her.
She didnt tho... he literally killed vandar for the final last time and the rest of the army to save everyone. The theme of the entire show is you sacrifice something for power. She is the only character to sacrifice something and not get "power" for herself. Its the only ever noble sacrifice
Props to the Noxian soldiers, they where pretty effective considering how advanced Piltover is.
I mean think about it, Piltover alone has guns, magical artillery, airships, and toxic gas, Zaun brings more people, body augments, and the hoverboards of the firelights to the table, on top of all that their position was pretty defendable.
Noxius is literally the strongest region in runeterra, considering Targon has literal gods amongst them, and shurima has soldiers who ascended to godhood, Noxius was still the strongest region, also Mordekaiser (human form) the old emperor of Noxius literally submitted 3 demons into being his b***ches, and Swain (the current Noxian General) has submitted a demon into becoming his new arm.
Piltover enforcers are very effective at fighting unarmed civilians and children but not so much when it comes to actual military.
@@moremoneyplease6838 mordekaiser is literally the emperor from 40k. Current noxus is still a world conquering superpower but they aren't the invincible powerhouse that mordekaiser led.
Noxian soldiers are Spetsnaz, enforcers are simply cops.
No lie the Vi and cait sex scene rubbed me the wrong way. Especially after Vi heard Jinx hinting at offing herself. Just wasn't the right moment for that.
Right, like I thought she's gonna run out of that cell as soon as its open. That was so not the place for this. I do ship Vi/Cait but come on. I saw some people say that Vi didn't go after her because she didn't know where she went, but isn't Vi's thing to never give up on family? Why didn't she care to even try and find her suicidal sister? Like, this character trait (never giving up )is the only explanation I'll accept when she stayed with Vander in a dangerous situation, which made Jinx "sacrifice herself". Because, I'm not gonna lie, the sacrifice felt really flat for me (no matter if she died or not) because of how we got there. But anyway, my point is that these two scenes contradict Vi's motivations.
Nah this is wrong. They had to show that all was forgiven and that sex scene represents that in the most human way possible
@@dr.wolfstar1765 Imo the sex scene is not the problem, it's the placement of it.
@@dr.wolfstar1765Jinx is literally on her way to go die, and instead of being a decent human being and tracking her down with Caitlyn, Vi decides it’s time to get laid.
It’s not even a good parallel to Mel and Jayce, it’s just poorly-timed.
Yeah I remember being like, really man? in the cell your sister was depressing in???
I'm sad that Season 2 was such a step down from the first season, I know the team said they decided to end it here for creative reasons but the whole thing screams "we wrote our story for 45 episodes but the higher ups say we have to wrap it up in 9" which, like, why man? Why did it have to be Arcane?