Before I talk about what Viktor understood, just a word on the “loneliness rule”. I expect to see comments objecting by bringing specifics that don’t align (Singed was with Silco during X, Jayce was with Viktor during Y), which is all valid counter-evidence. But with thematic motifs like this that are expressed strongly enough that it’s clear the story is trying to convey something to the audience, the counter-evidence needs to be MUCH more diametrically opposed for me to start questioning a proposed theme. This is because what I’m for are patterns established firmly enough to conclude that the story is creating a focal point. These are not 1-to-1 formulas, but strong patterns of association meant to convey a message, which can co-exist with counter examples (just not with diametrically opposed counter examples). Just thought I’d head off that category of question early. As for “The mutation must survive”/what Viktor understood, there are two main answers I’ve seen: 1 - LIFE should be valued over everything - This has Viktor identifying with Rio as a child and as an adult in two different ways. As a child, he identifies with this being who is in pain and can’t understand why Singed is torturing such a beautiful creature in this way. As an adult, he understands that survival is more important even if it means great sacrifice and pain. This answer fits adult Viktor’s arc well, but I don’t know if it’s quite true for the character. Would Viktor really value his life in a state of incapacitative pain like Rio’s in when he sees her? He wants to stay alive to do science, because he values his work, and the type of “survival” Singed values doesn’t seem to match up. We see Rio floating in a tank, presumably unconscious or even vegetative, and I don’t think Viktor would value that type of survival. And, the question I mentioned in the video, there’s no reason Singed should expect a child to understand or agree with him on this. It’s a crackpot position to have in the first place, to value life even if it’s unconscious in a tank, and there’s nothing to make him suspect this random 9 year old would also value life under torturous pain or in a coma. 2 - SCIENCE is more important for the world than ethics. - This is saying that ethical values like not causing pain are important, but since science will do a LOT more for the world in the long run, science should outweigh ethics. This is almost my theory, but a bit different. In my answer, Singed basically denies ethics altogether as infantile figments of the foolish masses. They’re rules that categorically shouldn’t be accepted by those with gifted minds. This answer is basically an ends justify the means argument. Though this seems simpler and more familiar as position, I have the same objection: that there’s no reason to suspect a kid to randomly agree with him on this. ESPECIALLY given Singed’s past. He knows that basically NO ONE agrees with him on this, the rest of Piltover’s scientific community cast him out (probably) because of things like this, stemming from his extreme position on scientific ethics. Even without that, this is an extremely complex philosophical topic to expect a 9 year old to have any position on, let alone a radical one. I like my answer because it relates directly to the situation Singed found Viktor in. The children won’t play with you, society won’t play with me, but it’s because we’re above them and our intellectual values are superior to their fake moral ones.
this is stupid and tired trope. I'm married to a scientist and I have scientists in my family. I'm an artist and I'm tired of scientists portraited as lonely lunatics. the only lonely scientists are the ones that went looney and posted non peer reviewed approved pseudoscience that harmed civilians by fueling conspiracies. They get their licenses retracted like lawyers get their too to for harming ppl.
@@HisameArtwork What about Nikola Tesla, who was basically pushed out of polite society by greedy business interest (sound familiar) despite most of his theories on electricity being correct (not that he didn't also get alot wrong but that wasn't why he was suppressed). Yes obviously most scientist are normal people like you and me but we're not talking about most normal people as this is a fictional setting looking at extreme hypotheticals and there's something valuable in that.
Video idea...most people simply blame silco for how zaun got "worse" under him...I propose a setting anysis of how the conditions in and around zaun made things worse
I loved you analysis of this. I think what we have to understand about Singed is he is the kind of person who plays the long game. He definitely did not expect a child to "understand." What he did do was plant a seed in Viktor's brain. Obviously Viktor would remember Singed and that moment for the rest of his life. Because it was a situation he related to on a deep level. Singed knew that. He knew that even if Viktor didn't understand now, he would come back to him later. Because Viktor is on the same or a similar path to Singed. I don't know exactly what Singed wants out of his relationship with Viktor, but I am sure you will one day make another amazing video about that. Point of the matter is, Singed gets what he wants and he will wait patiently to get it.
Regarding the "loneliness rule": The loneliest people can still be surrounded by many loved ones. It's not about how many people you have in your life. It's about how those people make you feel, or how you perceive your relationship with them. Like; do they love you unconditionally? Accept you for who you are? Understand you? Do they express how they feel or hide their feelings, and if so do you undestand or accept that? Do you hide a part of yourself because you think people will reject you for it? Viktor is a great example here because he did have people who cared about him, looked up to him, and wanted to help him in any way (Sky even gave her life trying to save his - no hesitation, she just ran in there). But he was blind to it all and he felt like he had no one. There is a difference between "being alone" and "feeling lonely".
“Euologizing him to his face while he’s alive” OMG I couldn’t put into words why that part made me so mad and I knew it was more than “Heimer is being really insensitive right now”
@@matheussanthiago9685 Living inside it makes you no better. "we lost ourselves" as spoken by a man threatened by the concept about people who threat other people with the concept. Whatever we do. Mortal or not we are slaves of death. Even if Heimer told him to jump right away, he would be kinder to him than whatever it is life has in stock for Viktor. Heimer understood that. Who'd thought that living contless lifetimes among people, not on some saint glorified mountain top, would give you deeper understanding of them than they themselves have? We(You guys, since in My eyes he is a God.) deny Heimer, because he symbolises the answer we have had all along but have never listened to.
@@-the_emperor-1660 Off Topic: who would have thought who'd have thought who'd've thought(from spoken English(sometimes sounds like: who'd'a' thought)) ---- who'd thought who would thought The missing word makes the sentence feel weird.
Ekko says "It's not enough to give people what they need to survive, you have to give them what they need to live." Interesting how that contrasts with Singed's, and eventually Viktor's, viewpoint.
That's because, despite Viktor and Jayce's ideas on science helping in the present, science really is a matter of future. You can't predict what you experiments now can do for the tomorrow. Which is the same theme of progress day. On the opposite side of the spectrum, Ekko and Fireflights are the only force in Arcane who are thinking about the present. About be alive in the now. They are the only one to actively doing things to shape their reality like it is. Jinx and Vi are stuck in the past. Jayce, Singed, Viktor, Silco, Mel... They are all looking for a hypothetical future, while Heimerdinger is or too far in the past or too far in the future for even see the present.
@@concettasorvillo3719 i was thinking more on the words 'survive and live'. viktor was a zaunite cripple, and because of that not only did he never fully get the chance to actually 'live' but because he was a cripple i believe his main priority was on his physical trauma. you can see this first in how he valued replacing his body via science over ever seeing sky's love for him-cripple or no she valued his mind, his personality. you can also see this in how after becoming the 'herald' he healed those afflicted with shimmer physically, and therefore apparently allowed them to start a new life-for most they managed to build the community we see; working together to build a new, safe haven, however its much different for others like huck; he thought he could completely let go of the past-and perhaps he did to an extent- however when vi, someone who used to be part of his life-sees him, the first thing she says is 'you filthy traitor'. he accepts this, yet claims he is trying to be a new, better person-even after his massive mistake impacting cait and vi heavily. sure he now has remorse, but he never attempted to properly fix the wrong. viktor may have successfully managed to heal himself and others, however he never helped them heal from their trauma. this is also kinda parallels how silco attempted to help jinx the only way he knew how too; by getting her to let go of her past self, and emerging as someone new. sry this was quite lengthy :/ tho i can totally see how the time motif intertwined in this-by focusing on the present ekko IS 'living'. i love ur viewpoint :)
@@monzy3345 Yes, I agree with all you said. I supposed thinking about “big value systems” I just think Viktor is more on the future spectrum. He wants to control magic to help people but: 1) He isn’t that naïve to think he can do it right away; 2) He can do it just through his studies and researches because he knows he isn’t physically capable of; 3) He kind of lost himself during season 1, shifting form “helping the undercity” to “helping myself”, with his bad health being the turning point. Thats why Sky’s death impacted so hard: he lost a friend yes, but also it was a direct consequence of his wrong path. For me Ekko and Firelights are the only fore looking at the present because they’re the one actively doing stuff to change the present whilst giving people, in the present, something to live for. We can say that the other character living the present was Vander, but he was all about maintaining the status quo and not changing the present for good. Thank you for this exchange! Please don’t spoil me season 2, I didn’t watch it yet 😊
@ ofc i LOVE character analysis and arcane has so much potential for it :) apologies for the spoilers i shouldve written a disclaimer. i’ve noticed a LOT of people are taking the show slower than me. i guess arguably the time motif has more significance both story (in general) wise and character (specific) wise than trauma. however i still think trauma has the higher power than a character’s perspective of/choice regarding time. in regards to ekko, it COULD be argued that because he chose to avoid trauma by not going with vi and seeing the destruction created there, he didnt have anything holding him back-nothing keeping him stuck in a time loop of ‘what happened then’-like vi and jinx do. which is why he could grow and have a unique mindset to other characters-specifically the ones that were there when vander died. by evading the conflict then, and imo not being AS horribly traumatised as others, he understood the power of choosing how u spend ur time. tho in regards to viktor, the opposite could be true bc his physical trauma caused him to forgo the importance of time that he actually had-and how this loss of living in the present caused him to become a new person in s2 (*spoiler* part; he chose to live in the ‘now’ focusing on building a haven whilst still using the power he gained, sort of like a redemption arc to an extent) i dont rlly have any actual experience with trauma tho myself, so naturally others with types of trauma will have a very different interpretation of these characters compared to me. tysm for this discussion :)
I'd say Arcane is a demonstration of how different personalities react to isolation through its characters, different kinds of isolation with different outcomes.
Hey can we stop saying that the monkey bomb was the first INVENTION of powder's to work. It definitely was not, it was the first EXPLOSIVE of hers that we saw work. She was an accomplished little engineer, the problem wasn't that she couldn't make things work it was that the things she made weren't useful the way she felt like she needed to be (in combat) for her to be accepted by the group. She single handedly kept that arcade running for her and her friends, she built a security system that Vander uses to warn them about the enforcers coming. Doesn't hurt the message of the video it's just a pet peeve of mine, powder did make things that worked.
Aha a kindred spirit. Yes as an Engineer who in the Military Industrial Complex wouldn't hire her (along with a great therapist, loyal body guard, and medical help). She's amazing but did she get the encouragement we all need as a kid?
That keeps with Arcane's motif of the main cast of characters not fully understanding themselves, let alone others. Often good writing can be the victim of the "misunderstanding" trope between characters, but Arcane understands that this misunderstanding rarely occurs in reality unless the individuals in question misunderstand themselves first. Powder believes herself to be useless to the group (during their heists) but is mistaken due to her other QOL contributions back home. Vi believes she abandoned Powder (twice) when in reality she was looking out for her best interest, however the course of fate punished her for it. Jayce believes himself to be singlemindedly trying to improve the world through "magic" but is naïve to the arms race it would begin in every adjacent nation (and Zaun). Viktor believes he has nothing to live for but his research and the possibility of extending his life or healing what is broken, yet is surrounded by people who appreciate and believe in him (in contrast to his Ep. 1 line "Nobody believed in me" to Jayce). Silco believes he won't become as weak as Vander and allow himself to become soft-hearted and willing to "play ball" with Piltover, but finds himself exactly in the same position by the end, with his destruction coming by accident by the same person who did so to Vander. We do not always know ourselves best, and that can be to our ruin.
She was immediately drawn to the music box in Jayce's apartment. She recognized it at first glance. She'd learned the names of engineers who designed things simply meant to be beautiful in a city where survival is so rough. She kept it all those years, and set it out during her tea party. She wasn't meant to destroy, she was meant to fix and help. She just had bad luck with her circumstances and never got the chance that Viktor did. She was too young and distressed to realize her hands weren't meant to only hurt the way Vi did. Powder's whole existence is a jinx and there was never any escaping it.
A small thing that I noticed watching this, whenever Viktor goes to pick up one of Sky's notes in the lab after she died, you can hear the metal of his hand or leg clinking against the stone as he moves about, and it sounds almost exactly like the clinking sound made by the cane used by the Warden of Stillwater in Episode 4. Why is that important? Because that sound defined the prison, Vi's own isolation from society and the story for the time skip, as well as heralding her punishment beatings from the guards. How is that linked? Viktor has now entered a prison of his own making, an enforced isolation where he's already beating himself for his failures and is pulled back from the brink by the desire to make the whole mess into something worth it.
Viktor's choice to go to Singed is doubly tragic, because he is volunteering to become both Singed AND Rio. He is succumbing to the 'loneliness is the byproduct of a gifted mind' philosophy, by putting the science first, but he is also succumbing to become the experiment, the mutation that MUST survive, no matter how painful that existence might be. If Viktor dies, the entire experiment will fail, because no one else is willing or able to follow up on his work. He can only save other people if he first survives, and he can only survive if be becomes his own Rio.
Interesting points, but you left out what imo is the most crucial quote when it comes to Viktor: 'We lost ourselves. Lost our dream. In the pursuit of great, we failed to do good.' When Singed says 'I thought you understood' I believe he meant 'I thought you understood that when it comes to science, there are no ethics'. And later Viktor says 'I understand now' because now that he knows he's dying, he's willing to do whatever it takes in order to survive. BUT then Sky dies. And he isn't crying because he realized that she loved him. Personally, I don't think Viktor is interested in relationships. No, he's crying because he saw the cost of setting ethics aside when it comes to science. He got Sky killed, which parallels Singed tormenting Rio. Viktor is devastated because the science he intended to use to heal himself and help other people as well, ended up killing someone instead. Which is why he later asks Jayce to destroy the Hexcore. Right now Viktor is resigned to dying. But obviously something will happen in s2 that will make him change his mind and set ethics aside once again.
yeah this one is what I felt about the whole situation Viktor is just going through the motions like a rocking doll with every hit swinging him one way or the other (science/ethics) until he finally centers and stands up (choosing his idealised version of reality/the glorious evolution)
That's how I saw it too. Especially since I don't believe he even realizes Sky had feelings for him, other than admiration, since her letter doesn't mention it outright. It definitely felt more like he was so distraught because not only did his actions result with a person dying, but that person was a hard worker trying to make the world a better place, the same motivation that he used to live by. It really will be interesting to see how they'll take his character from where he ends up in s1 to the unwavering conviction of the Machine Herald _without_ making it feel like a regression.
@@merlumili if you read his biography on the universe page it kinda explains the events that lead to that but it doesn't fit perfectly in line with arcanes plot so not sure how they'll go about it but as per bio, long story short, his whole thing that pushes him in the full mech direction is that he keeps encountering events that make him feel as though "emotions" are a hindrance to humanity and they keep leading to negative/destructive outcomes and going full mechanised is the way to evolve past that but our current arcane viktor is so sensitive so it's gonna take a lot for him to get like that unless they use a different direction completely but i do think the "i understand now" is about him leaning in the "emotions are a hindrance" direction but it's not necessarily seen as "positive" where singed is portrayed slightly as problematic/villain character and the show is almost telling us like "don't be like singed" (even though I love how arcane really doesn't do that like doesn't pick sides) so they kinda used sky as a plot tool to push the narrative that even if Viktor "gets it" now "it" isn't necessarily the "rightest" thing to "get"
well, there's also the fact that "where we left him" at the end of season one is litteraly "half a second away from being hit by a rocket". No doubt that this will change him a bit.
Yeah, I feel he more is crying to the fact that this is it. This is the true cost, not self isolation, this is true isolation. This isn’t something he can come back from. When he makes the biggest scientific achievement throughout the entire show, he also reaches the deepest pits of isolation possible. He is recognizing that he has officially crossed the line, that if anyone ever found out about this that it would be over. I don’t think this causes him to start putting ethics above science again though, I think he’s just crying cause he realizes he’s crossed that line and that he must go forward now. Nothing in season two will have to get him back because at the end of the day he still “understands”, he’s still on that track regardless.
As a scientist myself, I was really moved by the way Arcane portrays science and this scene is absolutely relevant. Lonelyness is definitely a real issue for scientists, even when we are in a supportive social environment. You see, science is niche, it's complicated and most people don't care. It bothers them. So as a scientist, it's easy to end up isolated in you work, even if you have an active social life. It's also a hard line to walk : sometimes you have to loose yourself in your work to make progress. How much of your personal life are you ready to give up for science ?
14:03 "Society has always failed him and some part of Viktor has always realized that." Dude this line is so important, because he was idealistic but not naive. Viktor came from the Undercity, he knew what it was like to have nothing while others had everything, and no matter what that'll make someone grow up jaded. Going off of the backstory that he lied to get into the Academy, society made him shed facets of his identity (albeit temporarily) just to give him a remote chance of acceptance. The fall of Piltover is not his first time questioning society, even if before he had a somewhat less extreme response. The central difference is Viktor assumed Piltover had greatness that Zaun didn't, and that was where the unfairness lay. His act 2 and 3 arc is realizing that Piltover may not even be great to begin with, or at the very least its greatness is too easily corrupted. So how dare they spit in the face of Zaun like they're any better? Viktor's experiencing intense disenchantment, almost loss of innocence or coming of age, but it's not the first time. I think that's an important parallel
I think many people misinterpreted sevika in the "betrayal" scene. I would talk about this in the next video, but it would be pointless as it would probably be covered (either agreeing or disagreeing with my opinion). My take is that Sevika could have betrayed at some point silco. When he asked her: "were you tempted?" She answered "not for a worm like him" (regarding Fin). In other words she stayed loyal to silco because fin was only after money, disregarding the peopleof zaun. She cared for her people, clearly, so silco seemed a better choice, even though he seemed weak cause of jinx. Imo she would have betrayed him if there was a young competend new silco, because herself couldn't manage running the complex tasks of a city leader.
@@schnee1 someone called sevika a kingmaker and I thought that was super interesting. Whoever she followed, the rest of undercity followed because she's feared and respected.
This loyalty from Sevika reminds me of Vi, and how both Sevika and Vi have opposing yet similar views of Jinx (as a nuisance-a child, a screw-up, but one forgives while the other sees her as a threat). Pre-timeskip Vi parallels current Jinx, if only that their ‘father’ (the owner of the Last Drop) tries to stop them from causing problems (stealing from Jayce’s lab), and indirectly is killed by said daughter. But the dads’ final words were opposites in content (“Take care of your sister” vs “you’re perfect” are selfless vs selfish), their goals (reassuring the daughter and not blaming them for their death) are consistent.
@@cvltclassic893 Sevika's more than that. She's the kingmaker and king unmaker. She's the most powerful Chess piece--the queen. The king gets the glory; the queen has the power. The queen protects the king because she's the strongest.
I think Viktors relationship with science is also tragic, because he sees his inventions like him. He was never given a chance, he was told that he would die, that he should die, that he was a burden to those around him. A crippled kid in an underprivileged city? His parents would have had to pay an arm and a leg every month to keep him alive. He probably saw himself as a waste of recourses that only people stupid enough to care actually put into him. And now, he has his inventions, he has these things that he knows can help people, just as he helped people, he sees that his inventions aren't wanted just as he wasn't wanted but he knows how he turned out, he helped people, he did something. Someone standing up for him, someone putting their foot down and demanding his right to live regardless of how heavy a burden he was made something great that revolutionised piltover. And now, these hexcores, these twisting purple masses that could give him a working body again are a "burden" a "waste of recourses" and he sees it once again: something too risky must be destroyed, but that's a fools mindset. I think that's why he can't go through with destroying it, not because it's his life's work, but because he knows that he was once a helpless "thing" sitting on a desk, breathing and living while he waited for people with recourses to decide if he was "worthy" of recieving them or not, and he just can't kill that, or else he'd be admitting that he should've died as well.
I figured the "Glorious Evolution" mad science archetypal was an ersatz Dr. Doom because League of Legends runs more on archetype than character, more lore than story. That Arcane Viktor will still become a cyborg but embrace a revolutionary philosophy like Sylas of the Damacian story arc. I agree with the idea that Viktor will see piltover society as failure, but I never thought he would still become the Machine herald because I thought the Piltover/Zaun story arc is about social problems not technological. The failure of techno-utopianism, not and branch of it via trans-humanism. Though damn interesting analysis!
We should also remember that Viktor's lines are the original ones, way before they retckoned the lore. Reading some of Viktor's lore, paired with how detached he actually is from the glorious evolution movement, gives you a completely different perspective. I'd say his modern lore is more in tune with Arcane's depiction, but wouldn't be surprised if he actually pushed the suppression of his emotions and humanity into the twisted self closer to his depiction in-game.
Technology is deeply linked to society, and viceversa. Progress changes how societies work, who rises, who loses, and creates friction and new problems.
@@dajim1342 critics of techo-utopianism would say scientific progress has little correlation to social progress. Most would point to the neo-libral age that is post 1980's as the latest evidence to the contrary
The are totaly linked and unable to be isolated with one another because humans just work that way, our gig is to be able to make tools out of pretty much anything. In a way all humans are cyborgs.
Also note when Singed invites Victor to join him he phrases it as "Lets be lonely together." Its mutual acknowledgement of their lonelyness, not an abatement of it. He fully expected Victor to have already understood at that point.
Bravo. Excellent video. However, I believe it was more Jayce’s childhood experience of being rescued by the mage in the snowstorm that informs his confidence in Hextech and less his ego.
I feel like himer was pretty lonely while he still had a seat on the council, yeah we saw him attend shows and always be in the public eye but we never actually saw him have a bond with anyone in particular. At most he was talking to Jayce about his old mate Stan but based on the willingness of the other council members to quickly kick him off the council and how quickly he left Piltover after being kicked out it didnt seem like he actually had any bonds with anyone in Piltover.
Agreed-some of his lines about “time; that is a burden *I alone* must carry…” Heimerdinger is just as lonely, if thanks more to the nature of his species than society.
Indeed, in other videos, schnee has highlighted how being immortal disconnected him from relating to mortal problems and mortals in general. He doesn't relate to others and no one can really know his perspective either. It's a less visible form of isolation, but isolation none the less. But in context of this video, I think it's really about a place in society and being outcast from it, which in that regard, Heimer is doing pretty ok with until he's kicked out. Perhaps we could talk of Emotional Isolation and Social Isolation? Emotional Isolation often comes with the other, but can be there without it as well.
the first part of your analysis especially till reaching Viktor's self annihilation theme coincides perfectly with a big theme Arcane has been sharing: you need awareness and ethics to know what the consequences of dealing with more and more power be it magic or technology or leadership
8:00 I never noticed before, but when he's running, the backdrop is boats - he's now outrunning the boat! These tiny - often missed - details are what makes Arcane great. Such things, I suspect, resonate in the subconscious.
"The mutation must survive" he thought lil viktor understood the price of progression. Progression at all cost, losing his mind, connections, loved ones and his body/life.
I like that you point out that Singed and Heimerdinger both comment on Viktor's isolation. I think it's interesting that Jayce never does - too wrapped up in himself to notice, I'm guessing - but I just realized that there's one more person who comments on Viktor's loneliness. MEL. When Jayce goes to Mel for comfort when he learns that Viktor is dying, Mel is visibly affected by the news and tells Jayce, "We can't change what fate has in store for us, but we don't have to face it alone." She's clearly talking about Viktor while encouraging Jayce to end Viktor's loneliness by being with him. AND JAYCE DOESN'T GO TO HIM. Which makes her quote all the more mysterious to me. Especially since we know Viktor IS going to change his fate. I guess the question is, is he gonna do it alone? That would be crazy if Mel is involved somehow. Viktor is my favorite character and I love this video for affirming how Viktor's goodness and want for connection is so tragically smothered by his position in society and by his struggle for his own life. I'm not sure that Sky and Viktor would have ever worked, but the point is that he lost someone who cared about him for him and he didn't even see it. That part of the video hit me right in the feels. I really, really hope that Viktor's story in future seasons continues to emphasize his connections rather than just his illness and disability so that his attempts to self-annihilate through MH hurt me even worse, lol.
4:55 hits different. I remember when I first got into science when I was 14, I used to spend so much time alone learning about it, but it also made me lonely
"Everyone will despise you" Meanwhile in league lore it said there was a cult around Victor and his glorious evolution. Which is even worse than being widely despised.
Well it can tie into this theory, when Victor starts to realise he has these followers he will stop inventing and improving and instead he will begin the revolution
The whole ardent desire for knowledge which leads to self destruction reminds me HEAVILY of the story of Icarus and Mary Shelly's Frankenstein, ace video man
Okay, Singed was looking at Viktor's mind when he was a child and made a very specific observational comment about being alone leading to genius. No distractions are why your theory works. Distractions contaminate the mind's (brains) mutation into beyond genius. Viktor was hurt about the lizard thing because, as a child, his vulnerabilities of his body are what drew him to the pretty lizards exceptional body, not brain. Then he comes back, and Singed has restrained the first thing he identified as a like himself, born different. When he makes that comment, he has finally seen that to go beyond his own physical limitations, "The mutation must survive."and sacrifices have to be made! That's what he now understands. As a child, it was a visceral reaction of "How could you to his body!?" As a scientist, he now sees what needs to happen to himself in order to escape his already mutated body and mind, moving beyond genius. Singed actually was looking at Viktor as a lab animal, just like the lizard. You're gifted so you must survive; the frail body was the cost to be born with an already "gifted" mind...(Is that what he says gifted?) Anyhow, my mind is gifted in its own way, where, short-term memory becomes inaccessible for at least a day and only if I sleep properly. 😴 I'm off to 'try' and sleep again as my brain overloaded on how great this was in my eyes at least and I am no one but thank you for a most wonderful mind expanding theory that has already made Arcane better! I appreciate the share, cheers! 🤩🥰
Holy fuck, man. This was THE best video essay I've ever watched in my life. I think I'm beginning to understand new things about myself from this video. You're so throughout and put so much thought into your arguments, it's inspiring. Thank you for the great video! Keep it up. You have a great mind
Stan wasn't a bad scientist, finding out what doesn't work is just as important as finding out what works. Because it allows future generations to avoid dead ends. A bad scientist will be one who never acknowledges that they're wrong.
Me too, I hope this channel goes big because he deserves the recognition. He helps us understand the characters more than how we already know them. From his previous videos I've learnt a lot (especially about Mel Medarda because at first I thought she was a manipulative seductress) about the characters and the words he uses and how he breaks down the lines the characters say is pretty helpful, genius maybe. Overall, this channel deserves recognition ❤️👍
All of the video is really cool but the Sky section actually opened my eyes about her character. Thank you for helping us see so much more in this show ♥
Incredible analysis, as usual. You drew a line from Viktor of Arcane S1 to Victor of LoL in a much more convincing way than I've seen otherwise. Something that struck me about Singed -- he's the only character in Arcane whose actions lead to their intended outcomes. I attribute that to the way that his moral/ethical view of the world is entirely divorced from the morality shared by everyone else. And I agree with your interpretation that *that* is what Viktor now understands -- it paints a very grim picture for his development from here. Which, you know, we kinda saw coming.
i would honestly be incredibly surprised if riot/fortiche/etc DIDN’T have at least one disabled writer or consultant on staff for viktor’s character, because as a disabled person they really hit his view of himself on the nose. growing up disabled means you internalize a lot of really horrible things about yourself, both to survive and because we live in an ableist society, and they captured the way that informs viktor’s decisions SO well. thank you so much for this analysis, spot on and very respectful!
you’re videos are so genuine it makes me want to use my brain to understand and to further breakdown the mysteries of arcane and anything in this world thank you .
What I find interesting that goes against the theme of "loneliness is the product of a gifted mind," is that most of the scientific breakthroughs don't happen when people are alone, but when they appear in pairs. Singed got his two breakthroughs with shimmer when he was either working with Victor or Silco. Jayce unlocked the secret of hexcore when working with victor. heimerdinger's passion for science/ being challenged was reawakened when he came across Ekko. Only Jinx works completely alone, and she use to invent for her family. Either her original one with Vi and the boys, or later with Silco. And all her inventions are inherently unstable. Also she steals a lot of her breakthroughs from Jayce.
It's crazy how one line from a side character can serve as a pretty significant theme for the show. Just another example of how well thought out Arcane is and how great you are at finding/analysing these concepts. Amazing analysis as always!
I'm so used with movies, series with lack of a deep meaning behind everything that I just skipped/didn't care thinking about the valuable insight of Arcane. Ty for bringing it to light for me.
Your takes are always so incredibly interesting- The other day, I was watching some other show and found myself saying ‘Wow- I really want to go watch schnee’s take on this’ then got my phone and looked up the channel only to inevitably realize ‘huh- He doesn’t have videos about everything.. that sucks 😅’
@@JimJamJom i dont remember clearly the series, but i dont recall any deep messages or characters Unfortunately i can't think of a show myself, arcane seems trully unique as a series regarding the depth of any aspect. The closest thing that comes to my mind is swort art online ABRIDGED which ytber "explanation point" analyzed already or breaking bad, which has been analyzed to death already.
@@kinjulhggffkl1330 I agree- 3% clearly isn’t as deep as arcane but any show analyzed here would be amazing. (Also arcane level of depth is a pretty high standard to uphold) I’ve watched an unhealthy amount of analysis videos but theses are my personal favourites out of any I’ve ever stumbled upon.
Great video as usual but at 3:59, I don't think Heimerdinger was in any way trying to subtly boast about his immortality to Viktor, I think it that scene he was genuinely trying to comfort him.
I'm sure Heimer had good intentions with Viktor but it's just showing how our of touch he is with human mortality, that's exactly why he's fine destroying the Hex Core and Jayce even mentions it later on
I think so too, but the effect is the same. Himerdiger has sympathy for Viktor but can't empathize with the human timescale, and even more so with a shortened human timescale. I don't know if Yordles are effective immortal in this version of LOL, but it definitely seems he has trouble understanding the motivations of those with limited life spans.
@@schnee1 One of heimerdinger’s consistent themes seems to be missing things under his nose. He’s built from the ground up to be hopelessly out of touch. Right from the outset - the glib way he deals with imprisonment when we all know and get to see how it actually affects someone later on with Vi. When I first heard his mind comment I thought it was something I disagreed with personally, but having watched through a few times now I’m convinced *everyone* is supposed to find Heimer’s comments a little jarring and naive.
@@schnee1 if you want to understand more about Heimer maybe you can learn about how Yordles work in Runeterra. In my own understanding they can be like sponges they soak in the character of people around in them. That's pretty obvious with Poppy a very patriotic and loyal character which embodies Demacia, Kled a war mongering-charge-in-battle character from Noxus, Kennen who is like a protector of balance or something which Ionia is all about. And veigar this wannabee evil Yordle (if I'm not mistaken he was once tortured by Morde an evil character) but actually fails to do evil stuff.
Obviously I really liked the video analysis, but thanks for the visual when charting isolation and science. It was extremely helpful in seeing your point. Love your videos dude!
Love this, Viktor is such a tragic and understated character, can't wait to see how season 2 drives him post-trauma of losing Sky. Looking forward to Sevika next week! 😁
Vikor is my favorite character. Idk what it is about him but whenever the show starts following him I get hyped. My personal character top 3 is 1. Vikor 2.Silko 3. Jinx
I love how Singed is wrote in arcane. When both Silico and Viktor coming to him for help he gives them a warning sorta like "Are you sure you want this?" He isnt sugar coating the risks, or hiding the risks
I wouldn't say Jayce's hammer is an invention. It's basicaly just the gloves and Viktor's laser repackaged as his family's trademark tool. A symbolic redesign more than anything else.
Thank you for talking about Skye! Though she does have very little screentime, I think they packed a lot into a minor character. I think your video is on point, but very chilling considering where Viktor's arc is going.
Loved the analysis, Schnee! Can’t wait for Sevika-her loyalty reveals the similarities between the sisters in a fascinating way. Current Sevika and Vi have opposing yet similar views of Jinx (as a nuisance-a child, a screw-up, but one forgives while the other sees her as a threat). Pre-timeskip Vi parallels current Jinx, if only that their ‘father’ (the owner of the Last Drop) tries to stop them from causing problems (stealing from Jayce’s lab), and indirectly is killed by said daughter. But the dads’ final words were opposites in content (“Take care of your sister” vs “you’re perfect” are selfless vs selfish), their goals (reassuring the daughter and not blaming them for their death) are consistent.
i think what you're saying is that singed gives viktor this narrative of having to be lonely and it sticks because he's been framing himself as a loner for some reason (and i hadn't really worked that out and i'm sooo glad you made this video) (and i would guess the reason is internalised ableism actually) and he gives him another narrative about science being a place of no ethics. and singed is wrong about both of these, but i imagine viktor believes him because it's the first adult who ever took an interest in him? i also thought that him loving the creature, or being upset about it dying etc, was a motivation that sort of held on, and singed really twisted this for him to reject that idea of quality of life being more important than a concept of whatever they mean by the mutation. either way, me being knee-deep in mad scientist tropes already, this is so much cool analysis, thank you so much!
I found your videos a few days ago and have already watched several of them. Your clear, no-filler writing is brilliant, and the way you perfectly pair your words with visual examples is wonderful. You let me experience (and therefore appreciate) this show with new eyes. Fantastic work. Definitely subscribed.
I would like to say I don't think singed was talking about literally being away from people/being sociable I think he was talking about psychological loneliness. My favorite way of saying this is "you could be in a crowd of over one thousand people and still be alone" in other words uniqueness is the same as loneliness
I would first like to say that this was an amazing video and it really like what it explains but I would like to say that isolation and loneliness are two different things. Loneliness is a feeling that you get with no interaction and felling with others, Isolation can be many things. Isolation from groups, people, places. In the video you use both isolation and loneliness like synonyms but I don't think that its fair. In Ekko's part of the video you talk about how his group has been isolated but this doesn't mean that Ekkos isolated. In fact the opposite. I think that this means that he is less lonely because he has a place that he is able to fit in to. Idk, this is just my opinion but I just think that the words loneliness and isolation mean two very different things and and in the topic of your video you say that on the scale Ekko is not social but I would argue that he is the most social and the least lonely. Again, this is my opinion and I could be totally wrong.
This is a great video but I’m most blown away by the fact that that random little girl in Viktor’s flashback scene IS SKY???? What the hell? Totally missed that. Guess there relationship goes deeper than we thought. Hopefully we get more back story in season 2.
Theme that stood out to me was that these ‘inventors’ were trying to fix problems, and those who failed to overcome their roadblocks got stuck in the cycle of inventing more stuff, rather than moving on to applying those inventions. I’m not sure those on the more social side of their scale really ceased to be inventors, but instead might represent the more successful inventors who saw their works reach an actual audience they then had to socialize with.
Wow, that was a profoundly astounding use of observation psychology! I think you cut straight to the heart of Arcane. All of these characters and environments have classical tragic flaws. Tragic flaws are very easy to write because the human heart, mind, and being are completely corruptable. It is why being called by a summoner for League of Legends matches is held as the highest honor! Now, I understand I'm breaking the 4th wall back to the origin of Riot's characters in general but look at every character background and you can still see the trauma and your observation of the stated traumatic event that makes the character need to make up for some kind of mistake or misgiving and that includes birth, social pillars, family, etc. I really could go on and on. I got spoiled for the ending of the season slightly because your concept made me watch you first, which will make watching more enjoyable in my head because I'm going to look even deepen into the theory. I'll address Viktor and Singed in another text box.
Wanted to point something out: Jayce was utterly alone in his initial theories of hextech. Everyone wanted him to stop and the only reason he managed to get "support" was because Mel used her influence to convince others to allow it. I think people surround him because of the prosperity he was able to give them. If he wasn't able to make them rich beyond belief, they wouldn't be there with him. Heimerdinger is also utterly alone because nobody believes him when he says that hextech is dangerous. He gets voted out because of this. You've even said it in other videos that his intelligence makes him unable to see the humanity and suffering right under his nose. The reason intelligence is isolating is because intelligent people think in more abstract fields than a regular person. There is a threshold in abstraction of thought where it becomes impossible for an average person to understand the concepts being told to them. Jayce's abstractions of thought stemmed from witnessing something that nobody else has knowledge of. His own mother was there during the event, but she was unconscious, and did not believe in him. Heimerdinger's abstraction of thought stems from him being alive for hundreds of years, and [again] witnessing something that nobody else has knowledge of. Nobody knows of or understands what he saw, so nobody believes in him. The only reason Jayce and Heimerdinger had support was because of greed. If they were not able to turn Piltover into a rich super power, they would not have support.
I love Viktor so much. He is my favourit character from the series. Maybe bc I can understand him well and see myself in him too with all that lonelieness and his obsession with science, mainly bc he want to cure himself.
Can't thank you enough for doing these. For those of us who have been greatly effected by this show, and our obsession with these characters, it is so nice to know that every few days I will get new insight and discussion about the show.
New thought: Jinx's lab, the giant fan in a deep shaft, what was it for before it became her sanctuary? Zaun's heavy air pollution from the mines is a constant, what might help with that? Something to move the heavy toxic air out. My speculation: Zaun once had infrastructure for making the air more breathable, but it's broken down, and now one of Zaun's most gifted scientists lives on it and it's not something she cares about or notices at all. There's an intense story about the degradation of Zaun implied in just the visual background. Just like Silco's ashtray, the animators really went all out for this show.
Thank you for having a good pace to the video instead of slowly moving through a high school filler essay script. Makes you much more enjoyable and comprehensible.
To those who say the female charater was just fringed she was in the same sense Uncle Ben was they both only mattered to the character they effected by design and that isn't necessarily a bad thing
Fridging isn't necessarily bad if it is done in the correct way, and Skye's death was done somewhat correctly. But it is true that in nearly all media, modern or old, it was the majority of the female characters who were killed just for furthering a male character's plot. In Arcane, we have plenty of meaningful deaths and character arcs regardless of gender, so it works.
This has aged in a very interesting way, w (the first 6 eps of) season 2. Not in a bad or good way, just an interesting way. Once arcane 2 finishes, it could be interesting to revisit this topic.
So schnee do you think viktor is sort of a dark hiccup outcast, smart, and now disabled. And Rio is his toothless that never flew. Or nox from wakfu. And the hexcore is sort of like a combo of dnd dice probably gave viktor plus five speed to make up for his body.
Jinx literally used Piltover’s own invention against them, in the place it was invented. Ironic how the only successful merging of Zaun and Piltover’s technologies (Fishbones, using the hextech crystal and Jinx’s engineering) was when one side was obliterating the other.
i have rewatched most of your analysis videos, they are amazing. i loved arcane but watching these and exploring so much deeper into the show makes me fall in love with it again
I get your justifications for all of these characters and these two scales are so interesting but i'd argue that Ekko could be an exception to the rule if we value the quality of their social lives. Jace the politician and celebrity has an active social life and less isolation but only through corruption and manipulation. The only scientist on this list that has social relations that aren't in some way corrupt or exploitative is Ekko with his community. So, is he isolated from most people of the two cities? Yes, hence why he could be middle of the road on these scales, but he's part of a new society that rejects the two cities' corruption and genuinely loves him. He also is the only one to create tech For the community successfully which could place him further up the social scale. Could be interesting to consider as a continuation of his character arc, that his way of doing science is how to escape the isolation of scientific innovation
I just want to say your videos are amazing. I've finally subscribed and it's been cool to see your sub count grow. Viktor is my favourite character so this video gave me more of an insight to him. Keep doing what you're doing man. :)
I’ve already enjoyed Arcane, but you put into words exactly why. Along with the other videos, you do such a well job of explaining the humanity within each character which the creatures of Arcane lovingly made. I chose to respond to this one because I relate to Viktor’s loneliness, and you did bring to light my own blindness. Thank you
AMAZING VIDEO MAN!! Viktor is by far my favorite character in the whole show. I wish they focused more on him but i guess with all of this build up we will see much more of him in season 2
I think the argument you make here better suits a different Singed quote than the one you focus on (though you do also mention this quote in the video). Instead of “Loneliness is the byproduct of a gifted mind”, “Love and Legacy are the sacrifices we make for progress. See your scientist vs social scale isn’t measuring the intellectual capability of a character. Jinx smart weather making a breakthrough or not. So is Viktor and so is Jayce. What the sliding scale does measure is level of isolation vs progress. As you point out, when characters are the most alone is when the breakthroughs happen. But again they are not less intelligent when doing not achieving scientific breakthroughs, but they are not sacrificing love and legacy at these moments in order to make scientific progress. Jayce is still somewhat of an issue because hextech is portrayed as a positive legacy but that is debatable (see hextech weapons and how nothing improved in Zaun even with hextech’s rise).
I'm late, but as a person with a disability, I really related to Viktor. Always wanting to show what I made but never wanting the attention on me because, well, I'm me lol. I sympathized with him a ton and it's a bittersweet feeling watching his story unfold.
Before I talk about what Viktor understood, just a word on the “loneliness rule”. I expect to see comments objecting by bringing specifics that don’t align (Singed was with Silco during X, Jayce was with Viktor during Y), which is all valid counter-evidence. But with thematic motifs like this that are expressed strongly enough that it’s clear the story is trying to convey something to the audience, the counter-evidence needs to be MUCH more diametrically opposed for me to start questioning a proposed theme. This is because what I’m for are patterns established firmly enough to conclude that the story is creating a focal point. These are not 1-to-1 formulas, but strong patterns of association meant to convey a message, which can co-exist with counter examples (just not with diametrically opposed counter examples). Just thought I’d head off that category of question early.
As for “The mutation must survive”/what Viktor understood, there are two main answers I’ve seen:
1 - LIFE should be valued over everything - This has Viktor identifying with Rio as a child and as an adult in two different ways. As a child, he identifies with this being who is in pain and can’t understand why Singed is torturing such a beautiful creature in this way. As an adult, he understands that survival is more important even if it means great sacrifice and pain.
This answer fits adult Viktor’s arc well, but I don’t know if it’s quite true for the character. Would Viktor really value his life in a state of incapacitative pain like Rio’s in when he sees her? He wants to stay alive to do science, because he values his work, and the type of “survival” Singed values doesn’t seem to match up. We see Rio floating in a tank, presumably unconscious or even vegetative, and I don’t think Viktor would value that type of survival.
And, the question I mentioned in the video, there’s no reason Singed should expect a child to understand or agree with him on this. It’s a crackpot position to have in the first place, to value life even if it’s unconscious in a tank, and there’s nothing to make him suspect this random 9 year old would also value life under torturous pain or in a coma.
2 - SCIENCE is more important for the world than ethics. - This is saying that ethical values like not causing pain are important, but since science will do a LOT more for the world in the long run, science should outweigh ethics. This is almost my theory, but a bit different. In my answer, Singed basically denies ethics altogether as infantile figments of the foolish masses. They’re rules that categorically shouldn’t be accepted by those with gifted minds. This answer is basically an ends justify the means argument.
Though this seems simpler and more familiar as position, I have the same objection: that there’s no reason to suspect a kid to randomly agree with him on this. ESPECIALLY given Singed’s past. He knows that basically NO ONE agrees with him on this, the rest of Piltover’s scientific community cast him out (probably) because of things like this, stemming from his extreme position on scientific ethics. Even without that, this is an extremely complex philosophical topic to expect a 9 year old to have any position on, let alone a radical one.
I like my answer because it relates directly to the situation Singed found Viktor in. The children won’t play with you, society won’t play with me, but it’s because we’re above them and our intellectual values are superior to their fake moral ones.
this is stupid and tired trope. I'm married to a scientist and I have scientists in my family.
I'm an artist and I'm tired of scientists portraited as lonely lunatics. the only lonely scientists are the ones that went looney and posted non peer reviewed approved pseudoscience that harmed civilians by fueling conspiracies. They get their licenses retracted like lawyers get their too to for harming ppl.
@@HisameArtwork What about Nikola Tesla, who was basically pushed out of polite society by greedy business interest (sound familiar) despite most of his theories on electricity being correct (not that he didn't also get alot wrong but that wasn't why he was suppressed).
Yes obviously most scientist are normal people like you and me but we're not talking about most normal people as this is a fictional setting looking at extreme hypotheticals and there's something valuable in that.
Video idea...most people simply blame silco for how zaun got "worse" under him...I propose a setting anysis of how the conditions in and around zaun made things worse
I loved you analysis of this. I think what we have to understand about Singed is he is the kind of person who plays the long game. He definitely did not expect a child to "understand." What he did do was plant a seed in Viktor's brain. Obviously Viktor would remember Singed and that moment for the rest of his life. Because it was a situation he related to on a deep level. Singed knew that. He knew that even if Viktor didn't understand now, he would come back to him later. Because Viktor is on the same or a similar path to Singed. I don't know exactly what Singed wants out of his relationship with Viktor, but I am sure you will one day make another amazing video about that.
Point of the matter is, Singed gets what he wants and he will wait patiently to get it.
Regarding the "loneliness rule": The loneliest people can still be surrounded by many loved ones. It's not about how many people you have in your life. It's about how those people make you feel, or how you perceive your relationship with them. Like; do they love you unconditionally? Accept you for who you are? Understand you? Do they express how they feel or hide their feelings, and if so do you undestand or accept that? Do you hide a part of yourself because you think people will reject you for it?
Viktor is a great example here because he did have people who cared about him, looked up to him, and wanted to help him in any way (Sky even gave her life trying to save his - no hesitation, she just ran in there). But he was blind to it all and he felt like he had no one. There is a difference between "being alone" and "feeling lonely".
“Euologizing him to his face while he’s alive” OMG I couldn’t put into words why that part made me so mad and I knew it was more than “Heimer is being really insensitive right now”
Heimer wouldn't see it an insensitive either. He would view it as having said kind words.
@@Thulgore who'd thought that living outside the concept of mortality would mean getting out of touch with mortals
@@matheussanthiago9685 Living inside it makes you no better. "we lost ourselves" as spoken by a man threatened by the concept about people who threat other people with the concept. Whatever we do. Mortal or not we are slaves of death. Even if Heimer told him to jump right away, he would be kinder to him than whatever it is life has in stock for Viktor. Heimer understood that. Who'd thought that living contless lifetimes among people, not on some saint glorified mountain top, would give you deeper understanding of them than they themselves have?
We(You guys, since in My eyes he is a God.) deny Heimer, because he symbolises the answer we have had all along but have never listened to.
@@-the_emperor-1660 Off Topic:
who would have thought
who'd have thought
who'd've thought(from spoken English(sometimes sounds like: who'd'a' thought))
----
who'd thought
who would thought
The missing word makes the sentence feel weird.
Viktor is great because a solid 90% of his story hasn't happened yet and he's still one of the best characters
he about commit some genocide
Glorious Evolution.
This isn’t an explanation, this is a loop paradox.
@@The_Sleepiest_Socialist no, Viktor being great and being one of the best characters don’t inherently mean the same thing
I agree, i loved him from the first time on screen. He is such a deep character and so well written.
Ekko says "It's not enough to give people what they need to survive, you have to give them what they need to live." Interesting how that contrasts with Singed's, and eventually Viktor's, viewpoint.
That's because, despite Viktor and Jayce's ideas on science helping in the present, science really is a matter of future. You can't predict what you experiments now can do for the tomorrow. Which is the same theme of progress day.
On the opposite side of the spectrum, Ekko and Fireflights are the only force in Arcane who are thinking about the present. About be alive in the now. They are the only one to actively doing things to shape their reality like it is.
Jinx and Vi are stuck in the past.
Jayce, Singed, Viktor, Silco, Mel... They are all looking for a hypothetical future, while Heimerdinger is or too far in the past or too far in the future for even see the present.
@@concettasorvillo3719 Great viewpoint
@@concettasorvillo3719 i was thinking more on the words 'survive and live'. viktor was a zaunite cripple, and because of that not only did he never fully get the chance to actually 'live' but because he was a cripple i believe his main priority was on his physical trauma.
you can see this first in how he valued replacing his body via science over ever seeing sky's love for him-cripple or no she valued his mind, his personality. you can also see this in how after becoming the 'herald' he healed those afflicted with shimmer physically, and therefore apparently allowed them to start a new life-for most they managed to build the community we see; working together to build a new, safe haven, however its much different for others like huck; he thought he could completely let go of the past-and perhaps he did to an extent- however when vi, someone who used to be part of his life-sees him, the first thing she says is 'you filthy traitor'. he accepts this, yet claims he is trying to be a new, better person-even after his massive mistake impacting cait and vi heavily. sure he now has remorse, but he never attempted to properly fix the wrong.
viktor may have successfully managed to heal himself and others, however he never helped them heal from their trauma. this is also kinda parallels how silco attempted to help jinx the only way he knew how too; by getting her to let go of her past self, and emerging as someone new.
sry this was quite lengthy :/ tho i can totally see how the time motif intertwined in this-by focusing on the present ekko IS 'living'.
i love ur viewpoint :)
@@monzy3345 Yes, I agree with all you said. I supposed thinking about “big value systems” I just think Viktor is more on the future spectrum. He wants to control magic to help people but: 1) He isn’t that naïve to think he can do it right away; 2) He can do it just through his studies and researches because he knows he isn’t physically capable of; 3) He kind of lost himself during season 1, shifting form “helping the undercity” to “helping myself”, with his bad health being the turning point. Thats why Sky’s death impacted so hard: he lost a friend yes, but also it was a direct consequence of his wrong path. For me Ekko and Firelights are the only fore looking at the present because they’re the one actively doing stuff to change the present whilst giving people, in the present, something to live for. We can say that the other character living the present was Vander, but he was all about maintaining the status quo and not changing the present for good. Thank you for this exchange!
Please don’t spoil me season 2, I didn’t watch it yet 😊
@ ofc i LOVE character analysis and arcane has so much potential for it :)
apologies for the spoilers i shouldve written a disclaimer. i’ve noticed a LOT of people are taking the show slower than me.
i guess arguably the time motif has more significance both story (in general) wise and character (specific) wise than trauma. however i still think trauma has the higher power than a character’s perspective of/choice regarding time. in regards to ekko, it COULD be argued that because he chose to avoid trauma by not going with vi and seeing the destruction created there, he didnt have anything holding him back-nothing keeping him stuck in a time loop of ‘what happened then’-like vi and jinx do. which is why he could grow and have a unique mindset to other characters-specifically the ones that were there when vander died. by evading the conflict then, and imo not being AS horribly traumatised as others, he understood the power of choosing how u spend ur time.
tho in regards to viktor, the opposite could be true bc his physical trauma caused him to forgo the importance of time that he actually had-and how this loss of living in the present caused him to become a new person in s2 (*spoiler* part; he chose to live in the ‘now’ focusing on building a haven whilst still using the power he gained, sort of like a redemption arc to an extent)
i dont rlly have any actual experience with trauma tho myself, so naturally others with types of trauma will have a very different interpretation of these characters compared to me.
tysm for this discussion :)
I'd say Arcane is a demonstration of how different personalities react to isolation through its characters, different kinds of isolation with different outcomes.
Ok no joke the bit about Viktor realising what he lost in Sky brought tears to my eyes. Exceptional analysis.
I thought I was the only one who almost cried on that part of the video TT
Hey can we stop saying that the monkey bomb was the first INVENTION of powder's to work. It definitely was not, it was the first EXPLOSIVE of hers that we saw work. She was an accomplished little engineer, the problem wasn't that she couldn't make things work it was that the things she made weren't useful the way she felt like she needed to be (in combat) for her to be accepted by the group. She single handedly kept that arcade running for her and her friends, she built a security system that Vander uses to warn them about the enforcers coming. Doesn't hurt the message of the video it's just a pet peeve of mine, powder did make things that worked.
True true
Yes! Her security alarm was genius!
Aha a kindred spirit. Yes as an Engineer who in the Military Industrial Complex wouldn't hire her (along with a great therapist, loyal body guard, and medical help). She's amazing but did she get the encouragement we all need as a kid?
That keeps with Arcane's motif of the main cast of characters not fully understanding themselves, let alone others. Often good writing can be the victim of the "misunderstanding" trope between characters, but Arcane understands that this misunderstanding rarely occurs in reality unless the individuals in question misunderstand themselves first.
Powder believes herself to be useless to the group (during their heists) but is mistaken due to her other QOL contributions back home.
Vi believes she abandoned Powder (twice) when in reality she was looking out for her best interest, however the course of fate punished her for it.
Jayce believes himself to be singlemindedly trying to improve the world through "magic" but is naïve to the arms race it would begin in every adjacent nation (and Zaun).
Viktor believes he has nothing to live for but his research and the possibility of extending his life or healing what is broken, yet is surrounded by people who appreciate and believe in him (in contrast to his Ep. 1 line "Nobody believed in me" to Jayce).
Silco believes he won't become as weak as Vander and allow himself to become soft-hearted and willing to "play ball" with Piltover, but finds himself exactly in the same position by the end, with his destruction coming by accident by the same person who did so to Vander.
We do not always know ourselves best, and that can be to our ruin.
She was immediately drawn to the music box in Jayce's apartment. She recognized it at first glance. She'd learned the names of engineers who designed things simply meant to be beautiful in a city where survival is so rough. She kept it all those years, and set it out during her tea party.
She wasn't meant to destroy, she was meant to fix and help. She just had bad luck with her circumstances and never got the chance that Viktor did. She was too young and distressed to realize her hands weren't meant to only hurt the way Vi did. Powder's whole existence is a jinx and there was never any escaping it.
A small thing that I noticed watching this, whenever Viktor goes to pick up one of Sky's notes in the lab after she died, you can hear the metal of his hand or leg clinking against the stone as he moves about, and it sounds almost exactly like the clinking sound made by the cane used by the Warden of Stillwater in Episode 4.
Why is that important? Because that sound defined the prison, Vi's own isolation from society and the story for the time skip, as well as heralding her punishment beatings from the guards. How is that linked? Viktor has now entered a prison of his own making, an enforced isolation where he's already beating himself for his failures and is pulled back from the brink by the desire to make the whole mess into something worth it.
Big brained
Good ear. The things you don't realise you miss because you only have one and subtitles don't give those sorts of details away.
Jesus Christ, HOW MUCH DETAIL IS IN THIS SHOW?!
@@jacksondavies3595 when you have 4 or so years to create something, you can put a lot into it
Yeah i think they just used the same sound effect...
Viktor's choice to go to Singed is doubly tragic, because he is volunteering to become both Singed AND Rio.
He is succumbing to the 'loneliness is the byproduct of a gifted mind' philosophy, by putting the science first, but he is also succumbing to become the experiment, the mutation that MUST survive, no matter how painful that existence might be.
If Viktor dies, the entire experiment will fail, because no one else is willing or able to follow up on his work. He can only save other people if he first survives, and he can only survive if be becomes his own Rio.
Damn, pity is equal to contempt indeed
This was my interpretations of these scenes too
that hit me in the feels so hard
Oh you are absolutely right.
he will embrace "glorious evolution" as he says in game
Interesting points, but you left out what imo is the most crucial quote when it comes to Viktor:
'We lost ourselves. Lost our dream. In the pursuit of great, we failed to do good.'
When Singed says 'I thought you understood' I believe he meant 'I thought you understood that when it comes to science, there are no ethics'.
And later Viktor says 'I understand now' because now that he knows he's dying, he's willing to do whatever it takes in order to survive.
BUT then Sky dies. And he isn't crying because he realized that she loved him. Personally, I don't think Viktor is interested in relationships. No, he's crying because he saw the cost of setting ethics aside when it comes to science. He got Sky killed, which parallels Singed tormenting Rio. Viktor is devastated because the science he intended to use to heal himself and help other people as well, ended up killing someone instead. Which is why he later asks Jayce to destroy the Hexcore.
Right now Viktor is resigned to dying. But obviously something will happen in s2 that will make him change his mind and set ethics aside once again.
yeah this one is what I felt about the whole situation
Viktor is just going through the motions like a rocking doll with every hit swinging him one way or the other (science/ethics)
until he finally centers and stands up (choosing his idealised version of reality/the glorious evolution)
That's how I saw it too. Especially since I don't believe he even realizes Sky had feelings for him, other than admiration, since her letter doesn't mention it outright. It definitely felt more like he was so distraught because not only did his actions result with a person dying, but that person was a hard worker trying to make the world a better place, the same motivation that he used to live by.
It really will be interesting to see how they'll take his character from where he ends up in s1 to the unwavering conviction of the Machine Herald _without_ making it feel like a regression.
@@merlumili if you read his biography on the universe page it kinda explains the events that lead to that
but it doesn't fit perfectly in line with arcanes plot so not sure how they'll go about it
but as per bio, long story short, his whole thing that pushes him in the full mech direction is that he keeps encountering events that make him feel as though "emotions" are a hindrance to humanity and they keep leading to negative/destructive outcomes and going full mechanised is the way to evolve past that
but our current arcane viktor is so sensitive so it's gonna take a lot for him to get like that unless they use a different direction completely
but i do think the "i understand now" is about him leaning in the "emotions are a hindrance" direction
but it's not necessarily seen as "positive" where singed is portrayed slightly as problematic/villain character and the show is almost telling us like "don't be like singed" (even though I love how arcane really doesn't do that like doesn't pick sides)
so they kinda used sky as a plot tool to push the narrative that even if Viktor "gets it" now
"it" isn't necessarily the "rightest" thing to "get"
well, there's also the fact that "where we left him" at the end of season one is litteraly "half a second away from being hit by a rocket".
No doubt that this will change him a bit.
Yeah, I feel he more is crying to the fact that this is it. This is the true cost, not self isolation, this is true isolation. This isn’t something he can come back from. When he makes the biggest scientific achievement throughout the entire show, he also reaches the deepest pits of isolation possible. He is recognizing that he has officially crossed the line, that if anyone ever found out about this that it would be over. I don’t think this causes him to start putting ethics above science again though, I think he’s just crying cause he realizes he’s crossed that line and that he must go forward now. Nothing in season two will have to get him back because at the end of the day he still “understands”, he’s still on that track regardless.
As a scientist myself, I was really moved by the way Arcane portrays science and this scene is absolutely relevant. Lonelyness is definitely a real issue for scientists, even when we are in a supportive social environment. You see, science is niche, it's complicated and most people don't care. It bothers them. So as a scientist, it's easy to end up isolated in you work, even if you have an active social life. It's also a hard line to walk : sometimes you have to loose yourself in your work to make progress. How much of your personal life are you ready to give up for science ?
14:03 "Society has always failed him and some part of Viktor has always realized that." Dude this line is so important, because he was idealistic but not naive. Viktor came from the Undercity, he knew what it was like to have nothing while others had everything, and no matter what that'll make someone grow up jaded. Going off of the backstory that he lied to get into the Academy, society made him shed facets of his identity (albeit temporarily) just to give him a remote chance of acceptance.
The fall of Piltover is not his first time questioning society, even if before he had a somewhat less extreme response.
The central difference is Viktor assumed Piltover had greatness that Zaun didn't, and that was where the unfairness lay. His act 2 and 3 arc is realizing that Piltover may not even be great to begin with, or at the very least its greatness is too easily corrupted. So how dare they spit in the face of Zaun like they're any better? Viktor's experiencing intense disenchantment, almost loss of innocence or coming of age, but it's not the first time. I think that's an important parallel
I think many people misinterpreted sevika in the "betrayal" scene.
I would talk about this in the next video, but it would be pointless as it would probably be covered (either agreeing or disagreeing with my opinion).
My take is that Sevika could have betrayed at some point silco. When he asked her: "were you tempted?" She answered "not for a worm like him" (regarding Fin). In other words she stayed loyal to silco because fin was only after money, disregarding the peopleof zaun. She cared for her people, clearly, so silco seemed a better choice, even though he seemed weak cause of jinx. Imo she would have betrayed him if there was a young competend new silco, because herself couldn't manage running the complex tasks of a city leader.
Yeah, that's a really interesting scene. Sevika's loyalty and how people misunderstand it will be a huge part of next week's video for usre
@@schnee1 someone called sevika a kingmaker and I thought that was super interesting. Whoever she followed, the rest of undercity followed because she's feared and respected.
This loyalty from Sevika reminds me of Vi, and how both Sevika and Vi have opposing yet similar views of Jinx (as a nuisance-a child, a screw-up, but one forgives while the other sees her as a threat).
Pre-timeskip Vi parallels current Jinx, if only that their ‘father’ (the owner of the Last Drop) tries to stop them from causing problems (stealing from Jayce’s lab), and indirectly is killed by said daughter.
But the dads’ final words were opposites in content (“Take care of your sister” vs “you’re perfect” are selfless vs selfish), their goals (reassuring the daughter and not blaming them for their death) are consistent.
@@cvltclassic893 Sevika's more than that. She's the kingmaker and king unmaker. She's the most powerful Chess piece--the queen. The king gets the glory; the queen has the power. The queen protects the king because she's the strongest.
I think Viktors relationship with science is also tragic, because he sees his inventions like him. He was never given a chance, he was told that he would die, that he should die, that he was a burden to those around him. A crippled kid in an underprivileged city? His parents would have had to pay an arm and a leg every month to keep him alive. He probably saw himself as a waste of recourses that only people stupid enough to care actually put into him.
And now, he has his inventions, he has these things that he knows can help people, just as he helped people, he sees that his inventions aren't wanted just as he wasn't wanted but he knows how he turned out, he helped people, he did something. Someone standing up for him, someone putting their foot down and demanding his right to live regardless of how heavy a burden he was made something great that revolutionised piltover. And now, these hexcores, these twisting purple masses that could give him a working body again are a "burden" a "waste of recourses" and he sees it once again: something too risky must be destroyed, but that's a fools mindset.
I think that's why he can't go through with destroying it, not because it's his life's work, but because he knows that he was once a helpless "thing" sitting on a desk, breathing and living while he waited for people with recourses to decide if he was "worthy" of recieving them or not, and he just can't kill that, or else he'd be admitting that he should've died as well.
Goddamn. True.
I figured the "Glorious Evolution" mad science archetypal was an ersatz Dr. Doom because League of Legends runs more on archetype than character, more lore than story. That Arcane Viktor will still become a cyborg but embrace a revolutionary philosophy like Sylas of the Damacian story arc. I agree with the idea that Viktor will see piltover society as failure, but I never thought he would still become the Machine herald because I thought the Piltover/Zaun story arc is about social problems not technological. The failure of techno-utopianism, not and branch of it via trans-humanism. Though damn interesting analysis!
We should also remember that Viktor's lines are the original ones, way before they retckoned the lore. Reading some of Viktor's lore, paired with how detached he actually is from the glorious evolution movement, gives you a completely different perspective. I'd say his modern lore is more in tune with Arcane's depiction, but wouldn't be surprised if he actually pushed the suppression of his emotions and humanity into the twisted self closer to his depiction in-game.
Social problems and technological problems can be linked
and so he can do both at the same time
Technology is deeply linked to society, and viceversa. Progress changes how societies work, who rises, who loses, and creates friction and new problems.
@@dajim1342 critics of techo-utopianism would say scientific progress has little correlation to social progress. Most would point to the neo-libral age that is post 1980's as the latest evidence to the contrary
The are totaly linked and unable to be isolated with one another because humans just work that way, our gig is to be able to make tools out of pretty much anything. In a way all humans are cyborgs.
11:23 his “you did this?” Idk why but it’s so heartbreaking (btw I love love love how viktor sounds as a kid with we got more of it ngl)
Also note when Singed invites Victor to join him he phrases it as "Lets be lonely together." Its mutual acknowledgement of their lonelyness, not an abatement of it. He fully expected Victor to have already understood at that point.
Bravo. Excellent video. However, I believe it was more Jayce’s childhood experience of being rescued by the mage in the snowstorm that informs his confidence in Hextech and less his ego.
Exactly. He knows it'll work because he's seen it work. His ego has nothing to do with it.
I feel like himer was pretty lonely while he still had a seat on the council, yeah we saw him attend shows and always be in the public eye but we never actually saw him have a bond with anyone in particular. At most he was talking to Jayce about his old mate Stan but based on the willingness of the other council members to quickly kick him off the council and how quickly he left Piltover after being kicked out it didnt seem like he actually had any bonds with anyone in Piltover.
Agreed-some of his lines about “time; that is a burden *I alone* must carry…” Heimerdinger is just as lonely, if thanks more to the nature of his species than society.
Indeed, in other videos, schnee has highlighted how being immortal disconnected him from relating to mortal problems and mortals in general. He doesn't relate to others and no one can really know his perspective either. It's a less visible form of isolation, but isolation none the less.
But in context of this video, I think it's really about a place in society and being outcast from it, which in that regard, Heimer is doing pretty ok with until he's kicked out. Perhaps we could talk of Emotional Isolation and Social Isolation? Emotional Isolation often comes with the other, but can be there without it as well.
the first part of your analysis especially till reaching Viktor's self annihilation theme coincides perfectly with a big theme Arcane has been sharing: you need awareness and ethics to know what the consequences of dealing with more and more power be it magic or technology or leadership
8:00 I never noticed before, but when he's running, the backdrop is boats - he's now outrunning the boat! These tiny - often missed - details are what makes Arcane great. Such things, I suspect, resonate in the subconscious.
"The mutation must survive" he thought lil viktor understood the price of progression. Progression at all cost, losing his mind, connections, loved ones and his body/life.
I like that you point out that Singed and Heimerdinger both comment on Viktor's isolation. I think it's interesting that Jayce never does - too wrapped up in himself to notice, I'm guessing - but I just realized that there's one more person who comments on Viktor's loneliness. MEL.
When Jayce goes to Mel for comfort when he learns that Viktor is dying, Mel is visibly affected by the news and tells Jayce, "We can't change what fate has in store for us, but we don't have to face it alone." She's clearly talking about Viktor while encouraging Jayce to end Viktor's loneliness by being with him. AND JAYCE DOESN'T GO TO HIM. Which makes her quote all the more mysterious to me. Especially since we know Viktor IS going to change his fate. I guess the question is, is he gonna do it alone? That would be crazy if Mel is involved somehow.
Viktor is my favorite character and I love this video for affirming how Viktor's goodness and want for connection is so tragically smothered by his position in society and by his struggle for his own life. I'm not sure that Sky and Viktor would have ever worked, but the point is that he lost someone who cared about him for him and he didn't even see it. That part of the video hit me right in the feels. I really, really hope that Viktor's story in future seasons continues to emphasize his connections rather than just his illness and disability so that his attempts to self-annihilate through MH hurt me even worse, lol.
You know a show is well written when theres an audience who'll watch review after review of its characters, long after watching the show itself.
4:55 hits different. I remember when I first got into science when I was 14, I used to spend so much time alone learning about it, but it also made me lonely
I'm a physicist so this hits home. Those who give themselves completely to science have nothing left to give to those around them.
"Everyone will despise you"
Meanwhile in league lore it said there was a cult around Victor and his glorious evolution.
Which is even worse than being widely despised.
Well it can tie into this theory, when Victor starts to realise he has these followers he will stop inventing and improving and instead he will begin the revolution
The whole ardent desire for knowledge which leads to self destruction reminds me HEAVILY of the story of Icarus and Mary Shelly's Frankenstein, ace video man
Yep. I mean, his name *is* Viktor.
@@lindenshepherd6085OMG I GET IT NOW :O
Thanks for this analysis, Viktor is my favorite character
Okay, Singed was looking at Viktor's mind when he was a child and made a very specific observational comment about being alone leading to genius. No distractions are why your theory works. Distractions contaminate the mind's (brains) mutation into beyond genius. Viktor was hurt about the lizard thing because, as a child, his vulnerabilities of his body are what drew him to the pretty lizards exceptional body, not brain. Then he comes back, and Singed has restrained the first thing he identified as a like himself, born different.
When he makes that comment, he has finally seen that to go beyond his own physical limitations, "The mutation must survive."and sacrifices have to be made! That's what he now understands. As a child, it was a visceral reaction of "How could you to his body!?" As a scientist, he now sees what needs to happen to himself in order to escape his already mutated body and mind, moving beyond genius.
Singed actually was looking at Viktor as a lab animal, just like the lizard. You're gifted so you must survive; the frail body was the cost to be born with an already "gifted" mind...(Is that what he says gifted?)
Anyhow, my mind is gifted in its own way, where, short-term memory becomes inaccessible for at least a day and only if I sleep properly. 😴 I'm off to 'try' and sleep again as my brain overloaded on how great this was in my eyes at least and I am no one but thank you for a most wonderful mind expanding theory that has already made Arcane better! I appreciate the share, cheers! 🤩🥰
This is very transhumanist, relates to viktor a lot. Well done
Viktor is one of the things I'm most excited for in the next season, I really hope we get further down his road.
Holy fuck, man. This was THE best video essay I've ever watched in my life. I think I'm beginning to understand new things about myself from this video. You're so throughout and put so much thought into your arguments, it's inspiring. Thank you for the great video! Keep it up. You have a great mind
Stan wasn't a bad scientist, finding out what doesn't work is just as important as finding out what works. Because it allows future generations to avoid dead ends. A bad scientist will be one who never acknowledges that they're wrong.
wonderful stuff dude. god i love this channel, cant wait for it to go big!
nonono thanks. when they go big they go to shit
Me too, I hope this channel goes big because he deserves the recognition. He helps us understand the characters more than how we already know them.
From his previous videos I've learnt a lot (especially about Mel Medarda because at first I thought she was a manipulative seductress) about the characters and the words he uses and how he breaks down the lines the characters say is pretty helpful, genius maybe.
Overall, this channel deserves recognition ❤️👍
All of the video is really cool but the Sky section actually opened my eyes about her character. Thank you for helping us see so much more in this show ♥
The more I watch videos like this the more I begin to appreciate how nuanced and incredibly well written Viktor is.
Incredible analysis, as usual. You drew a line from Viktor of Arcane S1 to Victor of LoL in a much more convincing way than I've seen otherwise.
Something that struck me about Singed -- he's the only character in Arcane whose actions lead to their intended outcomes. I attribute that to the way that his moral/ethical view of the world is entirely divorced from the morality shared by everyone else. And I agree with your interpretation that *that* is what Viktor now understands -- it paints a very grim picture for his development from here. Which, you know, we kinda saw coming.
Viktors eventual full change from the glorious evolution is going to break me, I can feel it.
i would honestly be incredibly surprised if riot/fortiche/etc DIDN’T have at least one disabled writer or consultant on staff for viktor’s character, because as a disabled person they really hit his view of himself on the nose. growing up disabled means you internalize a lot of really horrible things about yourself, both to survive and because we live in an ableist society, and they captured the way that informs viktor’s decisions SO well. thank you so much for this analysis, spot on and very respectful!
I think "science" can stand in for work, art, any solitary endeavor that could lead to isolation.
you’re videos are so genuine it makes me want to use my brain to understand and to further breakdown the mysteries of arcane and anything in this world thank you .
What I find interesting that goes against the theme of "loneliness is the product of a gifted mind," is that most of the scientific breakthroughs don't happen when people are alone, but when they appear in pairs.
Singed got his two breakthroughs with shimmer when he was either working with Victor or Silco.
Jayce unlocked the secret of hexcore when working with victor.
heimerdinger's passion for science/ being challenged was reawakened when he came across Ekko.
Only Jinx works completely alone, and she use to invent for her family. Either her original one with Vi and the boys, or later with Silco. And all her inventions are inherently unstable. Also she steals a lot of her breakthroughs from Jayce.
It's crazy how one line from a side character can serve as a pretty significant theme for the show. Just another example of how well thought out Arcane is and how great you are at finding/analysing these concepts. Amazing analysis as always!
I'm so used with movies, series with lack of a deep meaning behind everything that I just skipped/didn't care thinking about the valuable insight of Arcane. Ty for bringing it to light for me.
Your takes are always so incredibly interesting- The other day, I was watching some other show and found myself saying ‘Wow- I really want to go watch schnee’s take on this’ then got my phone and looked up the channel only to inevitably realize ‘huh- He doesn’t have videos about everything.. that sucks 😅’
now im curious if i have a take... what show was it?
@@schnee1 3% on Netflix. Not exactly a great show for analysis I guess since it’s originally in Portuguese.
@@JimJamJom lol well you got me looking it up now, I'll come back here and post any thoughts if I end up watching 😅
@@JimJamJom i dont remember clearly the series, but i dont recall any deep messages or characters
Unfortunately i can't think of a show myself, arcane seems trully unique as a series regarding the depth of any aspect. The closest thing that comes to my mind is swort art online ABRIDGED which ytber "explanation point" analyzed already or breaking bad, which has been analyzed to death already.
@@kinjulhggffkl1330 I agree- 3% clearly isn’t as deep as arcane but any show analyzed here would be amazing. (Also arcane level of depth is a pretty high standard to uphold) I’ve watched an unhealthy amount of analysis videos but theses are my personal favourites out of any I’ve ever stumbled upon.
Great video as usual but at 3:59, I don't think Heimerdinger was in any way trying to subtly boast about his immortality to Viktor, I think it that scene he was genuinely trying to comfort him.
I'm sure Heimer had good intentions with Viktor but it's just showing how our of touch he is with human mortality, that's exactly why he's fine destroying the Hex Core and Jayce even mentions it later on
I think so too, but the effect is the same. Himerdiger has sympathy for Viktor but can't empathize with the human timescale, and even more so with a shortened human timescale. I don't know if Yordles are effective immortal in this version of LOL, but it definitely seems he has trouble understanding the motivations of those with limited life spans.
@The Mandalorian totally agree with this, not as much about intention but Heim should have read the room a bit..
@@schnee1 One of heimerdinger’s consistent themes seems to be missing things under his nose. He’s built from the ground up to be hopelessly out of touch. Right from the outset - the glib way he deals with imprisonment when we all know and get to see how it actually affects someone later on with Vi. When I first heard his mind comment I thought it was something I disagreed with personally, but having watched through a few times now I’m convinced *everyone* is supposed to find Heimer’s comments a little jarring and naive.
@@schnee1 if you want to understand more about Heimer maybe you can learn about how Yordles work in Runeterra. In my own understanding they can be like sponges they soak in the character of people around in them. That's pretty obvious with Poppy a very patriotic and loyal character which embodies Demacia, Kled a war mongering-charge-in-battle character from Noxus, Kennen who is like a protector of balance or something which Ionia is all about. And veigar this wannabee evil Yordle (if I'm not mistaken he was once tortured by Morde an evil character) but actually fails to do evil stuff.
Obviously I really liked the video analysis, but thanks for the visual when charting isolation and science. It was extremely helpful in seeing your point. Love your videos dude!
Love this, Viktor is such a tragic and understated character, can't wait to see how season 2 drives him post-trauma of losing Sky. Looking forward to Sevika next week! 😁
So, progression through science comes at a great price: isolation from society in forms of loss of loved ones / being cast out / death of self.
Vikor is my favorite character. Idk what it is about him but whenever the show starts following him I get hyped. My personal character top 3 is
1. Vikor
2.Silko
3. Jinx
I love how Singed is wrote in arcane. When both Silico and Viktor coming to him for help he gives them a warning sorta like "Are you sure you want this?" He isnt sugar coating the risks, or hiding the risks
Listen, all I really want is the ability to hold Viktor in my arms and tell him how wonderful he is.
I think Arcane supports the notion that “Isolation powers innovation” more than “gifted minds are lonely people” but that’s just my 2 cents
I wouldn't say Jayce's hammer is an invention. It's basicaly just the gloves and Viktor's laser repackaged as his family's trademark tool.
A symbolic redesign more than anything else.
Thank you for talking about Skye! Though she does have very little screentime, I think they packed a lot into a minor character.
I think your video is on point, but very chilling considering where Viktor's arc is going.
Loved the analysis, Schnee!
Can’t wait for Sevika-her loyalty reveals the similarities between the sisters in a fascinating way.
Current Sevika and Vi have opposing yet similar views of Jinx (as a nuisance-a child, a screw-up, but one forgives while the other sees her as a threat).
Pre-timeskip Vi parallels current Jinx, if only that their ‘father’ (the owner of the Last Drop) tries to stop them from causing problems (stealing from Jayce’s lab), and indirectly is killed by said daughter.
But the dads’ final words were opposites in content (“Take care of your sister” vs “you’re perfect” are selfless vs selfish), their goals (reassuring the daughter and not blaming them for their death) are consistent.
Viktor is genuinely my favourite character in the show, I think his story is the most impactful to me.
i think what you're saying is that singed gives viktor this narrative of having to be lonely and it sticks because he's been framing himself as a loner for some reason (and i hadn't really worked that out and i'm sooo glad you made this video) (and i would guess the reason is internalised ableism actually) and he gives him another narrative about science being a place of no ethics.
and singed is wrong about both of these, but i imagine viktor believes him because it's the first adult who ever took an interest in him?
i also thought that him loving the creature, or being upset about it dying etc, was a motivation that sort of held on, and singed really twisted this for him to reject that idea of quality of life being more important than a concept of whatever they mean by the mutation.
either way, me being knee-deep in mad scientist tropes already, this is so much cool analysis, thank you so much!
I have watched every arcane video you have made. These are so interesting, can't wait for Sevika's video✨
I was heart broken when sky died. Literally she was such a small part but hit so much
I found your videos a few days ago and have already watched several of them. Your clear, no-filler writing is brilliant, and the way you perfectly pair your words with visual examples is wonderful. You let me experience (and therefore appreciate) this show with new eyes. Fantastic work. Definitely subscribed.
Awesome video! Looking forward to the Sevika one.
I would like to say I don't think singed was talking about literally being away from people/being sociable I think he was talking about psychological loneliness. My favorite way of saying this is "you could be in a crowd of over one thousand people and still be alone" in other words uniqueness is the same as loneliness
I would first like to say that this was an amazing video and it really like what it explains but I would like to say that isolation and loneliness are two different things. Loneliness is a feeling that you get with no interaction and felling with others, Isolation can be many things. Isolation from groups, people, places. In the video you use both isolation and loneliness like synonyms but I don't think that its fair. In Ekko's part of the video you talk about how his group has been isolated but this doesn't mean that Ekkos isolated. In fact the opposite. I think that this means that he is less lonely because he has a place that he is able to fit in to. Idk, this is just my opinion but I just think that the words loneliness and isolation mean two very different things and and in the topic of your video you say that on the scale Ekko is not social but I would argue that he is the most social and the least lonely. Again, this is my opinion and I could be totally wrong.
Dude. At 7:20 you summarised the entirety of their in-game design as well like WOW!
This is a great video but I’m most blown away by the fact that that random little girl in Viktor’s flashback scene IS SKY???? What the hell? Totally missed that. Guess there relationship goes deeper than we thought. Hopefully we get more back story in season 2.
Theme that stood out to me was that these ‘inventors’ were trying to fix problems, and those who failed to overcome their roadblocks got stuck in the cycle of inventing more stuff, rather than moving on to applying those inventions. I’m not sure those on the more social side of their scale really ceased to be inventors, but instead might represent the more successful inventors who saw their works reach an actual audience they then had to socialize with.
I love watching your Arcane videos when I am unbearably bored because they make my mind feel less stuffy and more clear if that makes sense
Viktor has been one of my favorite characters for awhile. The section talking about Sky made me cry.. I can't believe I didn't notice that till now.
Wow, that was a profoundly astounding use of observation psychology! I think you cut straight to the heart of Arcane. All of these characters and environments have classical tragic flaws. Tragic flaws are very easy to write because the human heart, mind, and being are completely corruptable. It is why being called by a summoner for League of Legends matches is held as the highest honor!
Now, I understand I'm breaking the 4th wall back to the origin of Riot's characters in general but look at every character background and you can still see the trauma and your observation of the stated traumatic event that makes the character need to make up for some kind of mistake or misgiving and that includes birth, social pillars, family, etc. I really could go on and on. I got spoiled for the ending of the season slightly because your concept made me watch you first, which will make watching more enjoyable in my head because I'm going to look even deepen into the theory. I'll address Viktor and Singed in another text box.
Us as the audience only really seeing Skye when she died reflects how Viktor only saw her at that time!
Wanted to point something out:
Jayce was utterly alone in his initial theories of hextech. Everyone wanted him to stop and the only reason he managed to get "support" was because Mel used her influence to convince others to allow it. I think people surround him because of the prosperity he was able to give them. If he wasn't able to make them rich beyond belief, they wouldn't be there with him.
Heimerdinger is also utterly alone because nobody believes him when he says that hextech is dangerous. He gets voted out because of this. You've even said it in other videos that his intelligence makes him unable to see the humanity and suffering right under his nose.
The reason intelligence is isolating is because intelligent people think in more abstract fields than a regular person. There is a threshold in abstraction of thought where it becomes impossible for an average person to understand the concepts being told to them.
Jayce's abstractions of thought stemmed from witnessing something that nobody else has knowledge of. His own mother was there during the event, but she was unconscious, and did not believe in him.
Heimerdinger's abstraction of thought stems from him being alive for hundreds of years, and [again] witnessing something that nobody else has knowledge of. Nobody knows of or understands what he saw, so nobody believes in him.
The only reason Jayce and Heimerdinger had support was because of greed. If they were not able to turn Piltover into a rich super power, they would not have support.
I love Viktor so much. He is my favourit character from the series. Maybe bc I can understand him well and see myself in him too with all that lonelieness and his obsession with science, mainly bc he want to cure himself.
Can't thank you enough for doing these. For those of us who have been greatly effected by this show, and our obsession with these characters, it is so nice to know that every few days I will get new insight and discussion about the show.
New thought: Jinx's lab, the giant fan in a deep shaft, what was it for before it became her sanctuary? Zaun's heavy air pollution from the mines is a constant, what might help with that? Something to move the heavy toxic air out. My speculation: Zaun once had infrastructure for making the air more breathable, but it's broken down, and now one of Zaun's most gifted scientists lives on it and it's not something she cares about or notices at all. There's an intense story about the degradation of Zaun implied in just the visual background. Just like Silco's ashtray, the animators really went all out for this show.
You really are putting out the most thoughtful & engaging Arcane content out there. Can’t wait for the Sevika (best girl!) video.
Thank you for having a good pace to the video instead of slowly moving through a high school filler essay script. Makes you much more enjoyable and comprehensible.
this is a great take and it makes a ton of sense, wish i had something else to contribute, but i'm just in awe. thank you!
To those who say the female charater was just fringed she was in the same sense Uncle Ben was they both only mattered to the character they effected by design and that isn't necessarily a bad thing
Fridging isn't necessarily bad if it is done in the correct way, and Skye's death was done somewhat correctly. But it is true that in nearly all media, modern or old, it was the majority of the female characters who were killed just for furthering a male character's plot. In Arcane, we have plenty of meaningful deaths and character arcs regardless of gender, so it works.
Thank you so much for these #arcane contents.
This has aged in a very interesting way, w (the first 6 eps of) season 2. Not in a bad or good way, just an interesting way. Once arcane 2 finishes, it could be interesting to revisit this topic.
So schnee do you think viktor is sort of a dark hiccup outcast, smart, and now disabled. And Rio is his toothless that never flew. Or nox from wakfu. And the hexcore is sort of like a combo of dnd dice probably gave viktor plus five speed to make up for his body.
Jinx literally used Piltover’s own invention against them, in the place it was invented.
Ironic how the only successful merging of Zaun and Piltover’s technologies (Fishbones, using the hextech crystal and Jinx’s engineering) was when one side was obliterating the other.
I can not stress enough, both to myself and someone else, how damn outstanding this series' writing is.
What a brilliant essay and breakdown of such a fascinating character.
i have rewatched most of your analysis videos, they are amazing. i loved arcane but watching these and exploring so much deeper into the show makes me fall in love with it again
I get your justifications for all of these characters and these two scales are so interesting but i'd argue that Ekko could be an exception to the rule if we value the quality of their social lives. Jace the politician and celebrity has an active social life and less isolation but only through corruption and manipulation. The only scientist on this list that has social relations that aren't in some way corrupt or exploitative is Ekko with his community. So, is he isolated from most people of the two cities? Yes, hence why he could be middle of the road on these scales, but he's part of a new society that rejects the two cities' corruption and genuinely loves him. He also is the only one to create tech For the community successfully which could place him further up the social scale. Could be interesting to consider as a continuation of his character arc, that his way of doing science is how to escape the isolation of scientific innovation
I'm amazed how every one of your videos are so damn good! Love your analysis and observations, makes me appreciate the show even more if it's possible
I just want to say your videos are amazing. I've finally subscribed and it's been cool to see your sub count grow. Viktor is my favourite character so this video gave me more of an insight to him. Keep doing what you're doing man. :)
I’m quite interested to see if they maybe explore a bit into heimerdinger and singed’s history
I’ve already enjoyed Arcane, but you put into words exactly why. Along with the other videos, you do such a well job of explaining the humanity within each character which the creatures of Arcane lovingly made. I chose to respond to this one because I relate to Viktor’s loneliness, and you did bring to light my own blindness. Thank you
AMAZING VIDEO MAN!! Viktor is by far my favorite character in the whole show. I wish they focused more on him but i guess with all of this build up we will see much more of him in season 2
im so f***ing happy we are still talking about Arcane!! thank you :))
Everything he ever built either exploded, melted, or toppled over.
And yet here he stans.
I wonder if Viktor’s hexcore technology will become as societally relevant as Singed’s shimmer, to further the parallels between the characters.
i love watching your videos so much and i dont know why but its always the highlight of my day
I think the argument you make here better suits a different Singed quote than the one you focus on (though you do also mention this quote in the video). Instead of “Loneliness is the byproduct of a gifted mind”, “Love and Legacy are the sacrifices we make for progress.
See your scientist vs social scale isn’t measuring the intellectual capability of a character. Jinx smart weather making a breakthrough or not. So is Viktor and so is Jayce. What the sliding scale does measure is level of isolation vs progress. As you point out, when characters are the most alone is when the breakthroughs happen. But again they are not less intelligent when doing not achieving scientific breakthroughs, but they are not sacrificing love and legacy at these moments in order to make scientific progress.
Jayce is still somewhat of an issue because hextech is portrayed as a positive legacy but that is debatable (see hextech weapons and how nothing improved in Zaun even with hextech’s rise).
I'm late, but as a person with a disability, I really related to Viktor. Always wanting to show what I made but never wanting the attention on me because, well, I'm me lol. I sympathized with him a ton and it's a bittersweet feeling watching his story unfold.
Your analyses are better than porn.
Keep up the good work dude, honestly it's very very on point.
wow what a compliment XD
Thank you for the insight Sir. It really helped me appreciate Viktor as a character.