This video was uploaded in a kind of fugue state in the middle of the night after fighting 2346 copyright claims from netflix for six hours. I recorded a section about Caitlyn which I eventually had to just remove completely because of those. And I forgot to post the damn discord link. Here it is: discord.gg/2bHnkybw
Could that section not be reincluded but without any background shots from Arcane? Like just your avatar and nothing else. Don't think Netflix could copyright anything there (I hope)
Any chance you could post Caitilyn's section as its own video without extra footage? Сate’s actions in Act 2 are so confusing to me, and I was really looking forward to your analysis to make sense of it. We’d really appreciate it
I think Leblanc calling Mel sister can be interpreted in 2 ways. one is Leblanc mocks Mel as her doppleganger brother. another is "sister in coven" as calling Mel a powerful sorceress just like leblanc herself.
As a non league lore head....since Mel is an affair child could she not mean it literally if ther father some old lived race/has a curse or something? After all leblanc may have gotten her long life from inheritance possibly
@@OneofmanyASMRI find it doubtful that that will be the case simply because it fundamentally requires us to know more about Leblanc, when a central tenet of her is how little we concretely know about her. She’s an ancient sorceress whose past and goals are both steeped in mystery. For example, we don’t actually know how exactly Leblanc is immortal. My theory (and I only have vague evidence of this, so don’t quote me on it) is that Leblanc’s body is in fact mortal, she just possesses a new host as her current one ages, and in fact controls multiple hosts simultaneously - hence her quote “I am everywhere. I am everyone.” Finding out that Mel is Leblanc’s literal sister frankly makes Leblanc a bit too knowable, to the point it’s a little anticlimactic.
your media analysis is such a breath of fresh air. i appreciate the fact that you're critical without being nitpicky and enthusiastic without blindly defending everything a show does, so much. and you pick up on many things that other people overlook, you understand the complexities and the characters and the themes etc. plus, based political takes, quite important for a political show like arcane
And he's very knowledgeable about League lore, which is awesome for non-League players like myself, who enjoy lore but don't want to play League to get to it.
necrit said this but i agree: this season wouldve benefited SO much with just another act, or even just another episode. the pace of act 2 is overwhelming; makes me nervous for act 3 but i have faith in fortiche
Only if you can come up with something to fill the extra arc with, Arcane never had filler. I on the other hand think you could cut things, the Black Rose plot is too disconnected from the core story, you could cut those scenes and maybe add more stuff from the sisters and not have to add another 3 full episodes.
@@BillyVellI was terrified I was going to hate this season after act 1, but act 2 eased some of my fears by bringing a more focused pacing and emotion in. Act 2 has noticeably better pacing
Honestly Act 2 pacing feels much more natural. It's still fast and try to balance a few too many things, and uses the damn musical clips as crutches, but it's better paced and at least with the main plot points it works better than Act 1, imo.
I think with Viktor, everyone is overlooking his last speech where he says "I see it now" and called humanity and human emotions out, saying it hold people down, so he's definitely going to his "Humanity is weak become something more" arc.
It is the inherent tragedy of Viktor, even his Main Canon version, a man who wants to do good, to make the world better, but in pursuing that he loses what drove him to do good in the first place
I feel like Ambessa’s monologue is precisely because everything is going wrong for her now, and her talking to VI there, is almost her telling herself that she has control, trying to convince herself that she “filled the hole Vi left” and got Cait’s trust
It's similar to Silco's meeting with the Chembarons which was also an attempt to flex power by someone clearly on the edge. Despite his attempt to show strength, he only really demonstrated he had no actual answers for the, from their perspective, legitimate problems they raised. Which is why Finn wasn't cowed by it. Here Ambessa, like Silco, just demonstrates she does not have the control she thinks she does, caits drive for revenge had never actually supplanted the empathy that is the core of her character and she has not embraced the "ends justify means" philosophy the way Ambessa does.
@@troikas3353 exactly. If you really think about Silco’s scene, when he tries to prove he has things under control and he is the only one capable of keeping Zaun, the only thing he can show is the change he already made, by saying the air is better now, but he doesn’t show any progress on anything new
In my opinion, I agree. Vander IS Warwick now, all the horrors, trauma and pain that he suffered add up to what he is now, despite we the audience loving him for who he was in season one. But I believe that the "ideal" Vander is the one that reunited with Jinx and Vi, the one that formed a connection with Isha, the one that found help. If there's anything that Warwick deserves to be ridden of is Singed's grasp, who tortured and disfigured him into a monster against his will, who is being used as a tool, weapon and meat for the slaughter. Vander is Warwick now, but just as Jinx and the others, Warwick deserves freedom from the Pain.
The only thing I'm wondering is if they're even gonna call him Warwick at all. Singed goes nameless until his full retcon reveal as Reveck. I'd be happy if his name just happens to be Vander Warwick or something.
I kinda disagree, I think Warwick is specifically the Monster, the instinct and bloodlust, all of it created by Singed. Vander isn't who he used to be, for sure, but Vander isn't a monster.
9:40 Actually, if Powder and Vi already knew Silco, it might make more sense that Powder tackles Silco at the end of Ep.3! Like, there's no way that they told Powder why Silco wasn't around any more. So to her it would just be her weird uncle turning back up.
It's a bit strange that Silco calls Powder little girl instead of by her name but it makes sense The intro to s1 e1 it seems Vi knew Vander, through her parents or something, so them knowing Vanders bff isn't out if the question
9:29 season 1 Silco knows who Vi and Powder are. It’s made very clear about that cuz he sics Marcus on them in episode 2. And in episode 3 he sees Vi fighting and he even asks Powder “where’s your sister?” In episode 5 he tells Vi that he never got a chance to really speak to her before then. He KNEW who they were from the start.
good memory, altho im not sure that part shows evidence that he knew them BEFORE all the business with the breakin and the crystals and enforcers or even knew their parents. that still seems to be retroactive or at least a VERY delayed reveal
@ I mean, he literally calls Vi “Vander’s prized pupil.” That’s not something you say if you only just learned they were related to Vander. That sounds more like he knew they existed, but was kept away and was watching from afar. 🤷
yes, he definitely knew who they were, but they didn't know who HE was, which is what's most interesting to me. Powder we know now was young enough when Felicia died that she doesn't remember what she looked like, so it wouldn't be strange for her to not recognize Silco after that long, and with his scars, but even Vi says she didn't recognize who took Vander away, suggesting that he was notably absent for pretty much their entire childhood. I hope we get some closure on that, bc it doesn't FEEL like a retcon so much as just another missing piece of the puzzle for what really happened that night on the bridge.
Silco’s whole MO became killing the past (his past self, his past brother from another mother, etc) so I don’t think it’s out of character for him to endanger his past friend’s kids and not bother bringing up all past relationships.
I think Silco and Vander's friendship ended not long after the uprising and Felicia's death. Vi was around 10 yo probably (seeing Powder, she was probably no more than 6 because she seemed very young, then 6+4). Silco seemed more reserved (scene with Felicia, Vander and Silco), and is not as present as Vander in the clip (when we see Vander train with Vi, etc.), this, combined with trauma, I can imagine Vi not remembering Silco (and even more Powder). He also changed quite a lot: scar, hair cut, chemlord and criminal persona, etc. It always seemed weird to me to see Silco adopt Jinx, even though yes I understand that he saw himself in her, etc. The Felicia factor adds sense to it, imo, that this child is even more special to him.
19:21 I think the reasoning behind this scene, and why Ambessa seemed so nonchalant, is not that she underestimated Vi, but overestimated Caitlyn by trusting her too much. That was the point of what Rictus told Cait later, that her betreyal is "a deep cut".
Dude shut up with a 3h analysis of you being to long. If anything at all, it was too short. Ppl just love listening to you and your analysis and thoughts and you just being you. Never stop (or shorten ;) )!
exactly. he’s articulate and thoughtful and critical and fair. he never blindly praises the show but never downright condemns it either. I honestly wish there were more people like him in the arcane community.
No one's talking about the Jinx/Jayce inverse arcs. Jayce was appointed “Golden Boy” of Piltover, acclaimed inventor of Hextech (Viktor was pushed out of the spotlight), while Jinx was the pariah who lost everything and became Silco's scourge, haunted by hallucinations and killing anyone in her way. Now they've switched roles. Jayce disappeared, and returned looking like the ragged remnant of a dissolved Council, plagued by visions and wielding unpredictable technology, killing anyone in his way (Salo, a child), while Jinx is the reluctant figurehead of Zaun's independence and resistance, slowly regaining her stability and using her talents to fix things instead of destroy them. Hextech--Jayce's pride and joy, created to fix everyone's lives--might be the key that breaks the world. And Jinx--the wrecking ball who destroys everything she touches--is just what Zaun needs to destroy the city that's overshadowed her entire life.
1:33:11 THIS!!! This is EXACTLY what I’ve been trying to articulate about Arcane. It has flaws, it’s strained by the amount of information it has to share. It’s not the perfect show it was in season one, and yet I still love it so much. There is truly nothing like Arcane!
I wish people would make the distinction between Arcane needing more time and them wanting more Arcane. Yeah, the pace is breakneck and I would love more time to breathe and soak it in. But part of the charm of this series is how densely packed the narrative and world building is, so much so that whole careers have been made rewatching and dissecting it. I think most of what we need to make sense of Arcane is there. I want more of it, but that’s not a failing of the season.
Just like in season 1, not everyone’s brain automatically fills in the implied space. For example, you cannot argue against that for some people Jinx vs Ekko fell flat because they had literally not spoken the whole series. I can imagine some elements in season 2 are equally implied and wouldn’t work for everyone
I think ambessa underestimated Caitlyns willingness to turn on her rather than underestimating vi. She really was just fully confident that she had her in pocket
So the Silco/Powder things is a little messy but I think it ultimately makes perfect sense. When the girls mum says (paraphrasing) "You guys are gonna take care of this Zaun thing, for me and the kids" both Vander and Silco take different emphasises from that. Vander hears "for the kids", hence the "what's the point if you can't raise an ankle biter or two" comment. Which is why he's willing to sell out the revolution (and Silco) to take care of Vi and Powder. Silco on the other hand hears "take care of this Zaun thing", which is why he's all in on the revolution, probably to the point he doesn't make time for the kids (he is characterised as a workaholic after all). When she dies he doubles down, if the revolution doesn't succeed, her death was meaningless after all. By then the kids are with Vander who's sold out, so he'd have no contact by then. It also explains why he's willing to kill (or possibly in his mind; "sacrifice") them in season 1, act 1. He's distant enough to not be particularly familiar with them, personally, and has adopted the "at any cost" mentality. It also expands on why he latches onto powder so quickly. Some of this is headcanon, sure, but I feel it's all well supported by the text.
The idea that Viktor is literally creating Philosophical Zombies is... chilling. Given the visions Jayce keep seeing are of these hollow husks wearing a smeared mask of a face, it's clear that whatever Viktor is doing is... removing something from people. How much of a person can you remove before they stop being a person? Not just the person they were before, but... *a person.*
The league lore for the void also works to backup your "order and chaos" theory The void existed in perfect orderly silence, and then life erupted, and the voice works to snuff it out just to have some peace and quiet again
Jayce and viktor are in opposite parallels of disillusion and dreaming, as jayce contiunes he becomes more disillusioned while viktor instead becomes more ambitious and he comes to dream for more
its kinda bittersweet to watch this video after watching the finale and realizing that a few things were rushed or resolved in a unsatisfying way. But also arcane has a subtext, a overall message that is so clear that you cant deny that is a show made with so much love and care and thought... Skyen final thoughts about vander/warwick perfectly matches jayce's final speech to viktor, which results in them saving the world. Like yeah, thats the core of arcane, the beauty in imperfections, in tragedy, the two sides of human condition.
i kinda thought that the memory showing silco and vander knew each other really well showed that silco didnt just randomly take in jinx he already knew her and maybe thats why he kept her around and could never let her go.
His whole initial plan was to murder her, and her sister, despite his relationship to their mother. And it wasn't any fond memories of her or them that stopped him, it was just his own narcissism latching on to the superficial details of the situation he found her in that made him able to make her problems all about himself.
Would love to hear your thoughts on Caitlyn in this act. Personally I was disappointed that her dictator arc was condensed into a music video. Honestly that’s my problem with act 2 generally, too many music montages covering things that would have really benefited from being explored in more depth
She didn't have a dictator arc though. She was never set up as one, nor would she ever become one. To think she would shows a fundamental misunderstanding of her character. The end of ep3 is all about ambessa, not caitlyn. Even the music track says so.
@@gustavgustav2670 okay geez, “dictator arc” was hyperbole, calm down. I only meant that Caitlyn ended the first act in a dark place and I would have appreciated seeing more of that inner conflict on screen.
i feel the same way! i was expecting for her descent into becoming a dictator/successor for ambessa to have a lot more time and focus, but it was so short. more expansion on her mindset would've made her defection from ambessa a lot more significant.
I would’ve hoped to get more too but I think it is important to consider how much time it takes them to do a single scene, it costs them sooo much money and time that I think the music videos (though I agree, as beautiful and magnificent as they are they do fall a bit short) are a good way to summarize some parts of the plot so that we can get more of the other scenes. I think he said it in another video, that arcane and it’s animation is so perfect that it doesn’t leave room for more exploration; kind of they trade time for quality.
@@gustavgustav2670 But... she kinda DID? In the time skip between Acts 1 and 2 she canonically DID in fact, allow Ambessa to manipulate her and push for heavier police presence in Zaun. That DID happen. We see Noxians and Enforcers beating up and arresting Zaunites under her command in the montage, and we see a checkpoint being put down to keep Zaunites out of Piltover. But we just skip through all of that. That's the problem - her "dictator arc" did happen in the show, it just happened almost entirely offscreen. We don't see how Ambessa manipulates her. We don't see her struggle over what the right choice is. We just skip through it, and the first scene of Act 2 is her already beginning to question the occupation that we know happened but didn't get to see happen.
I feel like season 2 is the only season where arcane has those time issues though. It feels like they were trying so hard to make cool visuals and music videos, they kinda put the story second and didn't use their time correctly. They wasted so much time on the mvs sometimes and they usually felt like cheap exposition. I wanted to see how the gangs fought, what did the undercity looked like after silco died. But no, instead we get a montage that explains it to the viewer as if we were dumb. Whyyy ??? Inseltead we could have seen the undercity through ishas eyes, we could see her reaction, maybe an insight to her personality. Maybe she was being persued bc she stole smth, and wtvr that thing was could've tell us something about her personality and then she would have been more of a character. Bc season one also has a lot of things going but is more contained and every character matters and everyone feels human and real. The story is solid, it works. Season 2 however, it kinda loses a lot of what made arcane so brilliant.
Personally, I think Isha being killed off is just a disservice to her entire identity as a character. As it stands, the way she's written makes it seem like her entire purpose was just to die as a way to make Jinx suffer even more. We don't know anything about Isha's life before meeting jinx, we don't know why the thugs were chasing her in her first appearance, and we don't really know why she's following jinx specifically cause her being mute means she can't voice out these things. To me it just feels shoddy to write characters with their big defining moment being their death, and her passing really just rubbed me the wrong way cause looking back, it made it seem like all of her appearances were supposed to lead up to her finale scene.
I personally really like the musical montages that just cover massive amounts of story. For me that gives me enough space to extrapolate out what I believe happened. I would prefer a narrative leave a gap that I can then fill because ultimately what I imagined is going to be far more satisfying to me than anything they could put on screen. As long as we get the barebone basics and we know where things are going these musical montages that cover massive amounts of story in my opinion leave room for audience theorization and audience engagement.
I had an interesting idea they could do with the time travel. Make Ekko unable to alter anything that would prevent him from getting access to time travel in the first place. That would mostly limit him to the events of season 2, he wouldn't be able to fundamentally change the plot even if he wanted to. (Like stopping Jinx from firing her rocket at the council, or even going back to make sure Vander doesn't die and Jinx and Vi don't get separated as kids.)
When Singed is talking to Ambessa about Warwick while it cuts to Warwick running through the mines. singed comments on looking for right catalyst for healing his mind, while at the same time it shows Warwick honing in on young powder I think the reason Singed attended the meeting at Vanders statue was in hope that jinx would show up to be that catalyst.
50:40 I'm in the opposite boat; this season has sacrificed everything to accelerate the plot. Making Ekko undo half of it with time travel (which would be a complete surprise to any non-League watchers) would be unsatisfying and a waste. The Hexcore plot may have time travel, but otherwise, time travel will show sad alternate realities and add fight mechanics, not undercut the plot. It's precisely because Isha changes Jinx's life that it's a test to see if Jinx maintains that progress once she's gone. Jinx has Vi now, she can take care of herself, and she has the respect of Zaun, which she never had before. And furthermore, Isha did not die because of Jinx; she SACRIFICED herself for her, because she loved her. Jinx isn't just haunted by messing up: she's haunted because incompetence meant a revocation of affection. It meant Vi left her behind, it meant Silco told her to "take time off" and lost his respect and trust in her. Jinx was competent enough to protect Isha, and Isha exercised her agency by saving Jinx, returning that favor, mirroring Jinx occupying Warwick in Stillwater to protect Isha. Isha was inspired by Jinx, and Jinx knows that. So she's going to stay a figurehead, she's going to earn that trust, earn Isha's sacrifice. Giving Isha back at the end might be fair, but first, Jinx has to prove she can stand on her own. (I do wish Vi had gotten the chance to pull herself out of her slump and find a purpose separate from her family and other people, but if she can't, at least Jinx should.) Ultimately, yes, Isha is a prop. A prop with agency, but every character--even the main ones--are all tools in each other's story to move others along. Like Sky being fridged, like Mylo, Claggor, Benzo, Grayson, Silco (though we didn't see Jinx spiral after killing him, since Isha appeared so soon). Arcane gives those characters as much depth and personality as they can, so we feel sad about losing them as people--and the fans' agony is proof that they ARE grieved as people. But they do still have to serve their function, so the best Arcane can do is make Isha's sacrifice an expression of her choice and identity. She staged a public appearance while wearing a cloak to help Jinx's image and spur her to fight. Without words, actions are how Isha communicates. That scene and the sacrifice were the purest expression of Isha's will, at moments where it diverged from Jinx's. It was her way of goading Jinx, not merely loving her. Isha feels prop-like because she is. I am miffed that Jinx's psychosis is 'healed' by Isha, only re-appearing when she's kidnapped and Silco is mentioned. As someone with mentally ill loved ones and friends, the message that someone (particularly a child) can 'heal' a loved one's mental illness by loving them enough is...hollow at best, damaging at worst. Jinx battling her demons, pushing away Isha out of fear once she realizes she cares--that would've provided more chances for Isha to show why she's drawn to Jinx, and why Jinx would risk heartbreak to keep Isha. Maybe that's what's missing. I agree thought that using this to make Jinx her League self would be a massive disservice. I feel like they've used League lore as checkpoints, not endpoints, maneuvering the characters into and out of phases that resemble their League counterparts, without being confined by them. They have confirmed that they prioritize story over canon, and I'm hoping that means they use Isha's death to CEMENT Jinx's development, instead of undoing it. Likewise for Caitlyn and Vi; making them Enforcers after this would be a kick to their characters, and Arcane's class themes. Fortunately, Jinx's hair hints that's not the case! If they're making her League Jinx, why remove her defining feature? It'll take Jinx year to grow back those braids, more years than the gap between Arcane and League. I think the pixie cut is Jinx's tribute to Isha, and Fortiche's way of separating their Jinx from League's.
I'm not sure how you read the Jinx-Isha relationship as a mother-daughter relationship, they clearly draw parallels between Jinx-Isha and Vi-Powder, it's much more sisterly than anything else.
Yes, vi even looks at it as a 'what could have been' when they are in the mine. Jinx is being the older sister now, which sets up the parallel with the ending.
Exactly, jinx herself draws parallels to her and VI when they were younger I will never get how people see her and isha as mom and daughter, it definitely shows the 'what could of been' if VI didn't blame vanders death on powder
I actually prefer to look at is as mother-daughter. I know that's probably not the intention, but I honestly think it works better than just adding another sister into the story. Jinx had a lot of people taken from her, but the first was her mom. And she gets to finally have the relationship that was taken from her before any others. Again, I know this is probably not the creators intention, but I personally prefer it and think it can work just as well if not better when interpreted this way.
I think it can fit perfectly. Arcane loves putting parallels and repeating paterns. Whether you call it older sister or mother is more a question of personal preference, but it's pretty much the same thing. A big sister is the figure of a surrogate mother, with some inexperience. Isha copies Jinx just like a child would copy their parent. Vi follows in Vander's footsteps, Jinx followed in Silco's.
THANK YOU, I feel this season has been a compilation of montages that break the character depth we worked with on season 1. I hate the pacing of this season due to that, the story needs more air for us to process what's going on and honestly this season should have been divided in 2 or at least 4 acts. The part where Caitlyn literally commits war crimes, the whole black rose thing, the arcane things, Vi's character deeply falling behind even if she was the protagonist of season 1 with Jinx, the revolution, the police brutality of Ambessa's forces, I....ugh. It's done beautifully with the resources they have but it really falls apart on its previous strong points due to the rushed times.
It's not a shortage of resources. The show was written for the number of acts it currently has, and budgeted accordingly. Any additional episodes wouldn't be coming for several more years, if at all. Thus: What would you remove or change in order to accommodate what you want?
@@RaptieFeathers not OP, but I would either add another episode between 3 and 4 (making Act 2 four episodes, which breaks the pattern but would help the pacing), or I would cut out Black Rose. I don't know how important that gets during Act 3 yet so maybe it will prove to be too integral to the story to remove, but as of now... I'm not a League player, I don't know the lore, and from that perspective Black Rose feels like an unnecessary addition to an already stacked plot. It's also very confusing. Like with Jayce killing Viktor, we have no idea why any of this is happening yet and it's feeling like this is mostly for the viewers who are familiar with League lore already. So, I'd either cut it or add another episode to expand on character arcs and add context.
What i don't see getting mentioned that much is just how docile the core made viktor, he was in the middle of a civil war and he had no way of protecting these people. An army of noxians where outside his door and he bearly did anything abaut it.
Skyen I discovered your channel because of your Arcane videos, and have since enjoyed more of your character and animation analysis. I just have to say what a treat your thought process and media criticism has been. I know you’ll probably never seen this comment in a sea of comments, but I hope it brightens your day if you do! You don’t know me and I don’t quite know you, but you’ve really inspired me to become a better artist, thinker, and person. I wanted to reach out and say I sincerely love your work, and your thoughtful ending note of this video will stick with me for a long time. Looking forward to your response to the last act!
Jinx and isha relationship was NOT healthy. Jinx from the moment they met showed isha that in order to feel safe at best resort to violence and at worst sacrifice yourself. Before isha and jinx met isha ran away to keep herself alive but afterwards she is running toward danger and intentionally unaliving herself.
24:40 i do think hucks change would be explainable, he didn't really change much, he wasn't someone like Salo he was a scared addict, so being healed would be a motivation for him to change rapidly bc he wouldn't want to go back when he was so miserable
One thing that I recently noticed that I have not seen anyone point out: In episode 2 Isha helps Jinx in a fight by throwing a glitter bomb at one of the goons The bomb has the exact same design as a bomb Powder was working on in episodes 1 and 2 of season 1 Vi asked her what she's going to call it and Powder said Whisker We see her still working on it during Markus's raid And she packs it later in episode 2 when 'preparing to fight' I think it's a cool detail. Jinx repurposed one of her old bombs that 'didn't work' to actually help in a fight
one thing I saw people point put on Twitter is that when Jayce comes back from being trapped in the hexcore, we can see his breath bc of how cold the chamber is, but Salo's is conspicuously missing
I really appreciate that they are pushing Jinx beyond the manic, quirky wacky chaos pixy. I really hope she just doesn't totally regress tomorrow. Leblanc trying to sow distrust between Mel and Ambessa and lol... Lady, you got bad Intel... That ship is so long past.
i think theyre gonna push Jinx to be somewhere between her Season 1 more dreary personality and the league one, with her already being noticably more goofy and silly this season than the previous
My perspective on Isha’s behavior was quite different from yours. To me it showed us most of that. The jinx we know, because we have all of the history, is different from the hero Isha would see her as. Instead of being a ball of trauma and effort to over come it, Jinx is the mural. She watched jinx time and time again face danger head on with reckless abandon. She wants to save others like jinx saved her, as we seen with how she jumped at Rictus during the raid instead of self-preservation, because jinx has never shown any of that. The first “lesson” she taught Isha was, enjoy risking your life, it’s the best feeling. She even witnessed Jinx prepare for her own death prior to her fight with enforcers, and prepare to make it a spectacle. Self preservation especially in the face of overwhelming odds. More importantly, her influence made that child Vi. I also don’t think they’re making her crazy real, I think they’re pivoting to make her “crazy” an act, another part of the spectacle. She spends so much of the show just trying to learn to be witty again, and the first season shows she exaggerates her “crazy” as a tool. Except for the delusions, the other times are to illicit fear in people.
My theory: Zilean will be teased and *He's* why Ekko can't go farther back. Zilean has a reason to stop time travel magic from doing too many changes because he's the most aware of what that does. What Time magic does and can *do* . But I don't think he'll actually appear in person because that's too many characters in general but I think Ekko will allude to someone or something guiding Ekko on how to save the most people from the bad future. I think Skyen is right in that Ekko will save Isha but I think this is because this actually leads to League Jinx, and this is the actual best outcome. League Jinx is crazy yes but she's able to be controlled and contained. She hasn't destroyed Zaun or Piltover for the years she's been active and I think this is likely the best outcome and this is why Ekko saves Isha. It's kinda hard to destroy either city when the ensuing chaos would make her precious daughter homeless. So I think Ekko will encounter Zilean off screen and then with Hemierdinger’s help get to Zaun and save Isha at the last moment then League Jinx will begin showing through as now despite the crazy despite the hardship she has a reason to really live. I think this is generally one thing that Jinx of league has, her crazy can be seen as a zeal for the impermanence of life, or it can be seen as “just crazy”. But given all her in canon interactions I have to lean towards this manic zeal for the impermanence and what better way to bring that to the forefront make that the centerpiece of Jinx then to have her see the impermanence of life create this crazy if somewhat beautiful moment like Isha’s failed sacrifice? We've already seen that even when she's more stable Jinx has that love of “let's break things” so this could be turned up to 11 with that moment. Alternatively maybe they do save Isha but the hexcore tries to save itself by finding a new host and…well Jinx *is* right there.
At 9:13, I have my own little headcanon/excuse, just to make the pain last longer: Silco didn't know them that well, because he was covering for the parents' Shifts in the mines, doing all that extra work, so they actually had time to go home and spend with the family and make those memories :3
I think maybe the falling out of Vander and Silco could have been before the sisters were actually born… which doesn’t make sense either given their age at bridge incident in the start of the show. I like your headcanon fellow internet individual
Silco was never shown around the sisters before S1 EP 3, not in Vanders memories or anything else. I don't know why people think this is a retcon? I kind of like this twist. It doesn't affect too much, it gives Vander a closer relation to the sisters, it gives reason to Vander being so enraged with Silco that he would try to drown him in the flashback scene of them fighting (Silco threw the molotov, started a riot and might of got Felicia killed, it's left uncertain).
The conversations around Arcane have been really enjoyable. Thanks for a particularly great vid. Regarding Viktor and Singed's talk on evolution, the "destination" Viktor mentions reads like an idea of a 'perfect being' to me. I also think Viktor is referring to himself and the community he is developing but I cant base this off of anything more than my own feeling. More importantly, who was actually speaking during that conversation. I don't think it sounded like Viktor. Neither in content or voice. When Jayce asks if 'Salo' is still in there he seems to decide he isn't, should the same be asked about Viktor. Viktor in that same conversation also seems to disassociate from his past self, just like his followers, stating "back then I was clouded by emotion." His followers also seem to have lost their emotions. Viktor talks of there being another will inside Jayce and describes the Hextech "singularity" as "self-replicating." Since Viktor's current state is also a product of Hextech I think this describes him as well, the "self-replicating" portion certainly fits how Viktor has grown his community (regarding the aesthetic) and altered his followers (their personalities). As a final note when Viktor dies it seems like only a single scream is let out from the entire community, as though only a single organism has died and not a bunch of separate people. Obviously all just my view points and interpretation. Maybe part 3 changes things, but I'm impressed with how much can be taken and discussed from the show.
48: 12 I love the fan theory that said Jayce blasting Viktor WITH HIS ARCANE HAMMER actually supercharged him, and so the Arcane sent Jayce back and alerted Viktor, pitting them against each other to empower itself, like an ouroboros.
Gorgeous outro about Vander, whoa. That tied all the themes together--about magic, transformation, change, mechanics, shimmer, ending relationships, revolution--beautifully. This has been a magnificent fucking ride.
Ok so i have a few crackpot theories on Mel: 1) Ambessa became the Chosen of the Wolf, and fetal Mel was giften the Chosen of the Lamb title, thus her ult power is something akin to Kindred's in game ult of protection from death + minor heal upon ult end (maybe even saved Mama Ambessa from the womb in the music video) oooor.... 2) Ambessa really did get it on with an aspect. Pantheon/Atreus saw her, liked her and uh things got steamy - Mel could have inherited the Aspect of War powers kinda like Kayle/Morgana inherited powers from their mother. 3) Mel's power has something to do with the Blessed Isles bloodlines. Their magics were golden glowing light, right? And also the symbols on her arms kinda look similiar to the Sentinels of Light emblem...could this be hinting at an inheritence from a blessed Isles bloodline who survived the fall and relocated? There's evidence for each of these as possibilities but I really don't know where they are taking things. It's going to be interesting either way.
Past TB talking about Isha and basically expounding my theory and.. past TBS? I'm here for you. SPOILERS FOR ATC 3 * * * * * I think Isha did get a little screwed over BUT I do think JInx processed it in a good way rather than falling backwards. She needed help out of her sadness but didn't turn into the wacky psycho pixie girl. She became what Isha wanted her to be. Still, I think it's fair to say Isha was fridged. Not as bad as some stories but I think she was low key a plot device with big, sad eyes. I don't think it's awful but it was a little cheap.
That’s the problem with the music videos, in season 1 the audience was able to fill in the blanks using our imagination after the time skip so it felt satisfying. Whereas the musical montages gave us condensed flashes which came across as shallow and the audience wanted more. For example Vi: if Vi had woken up in that tiny flat surrounded by empty bottles, and Jinx sassed her about how much money she’d lost betting on Vi in the pit fights, that would be all the information we’d need to know about Vi’s spiral
When Vander tries to kill Silco he has no beard and they are young. During the bridge scene (where Vi and Jinx mom's died) Vander has a "beard" and looks older. Meaning Silco got away from the family before Vi was born or maybe a little after. My only question is, why was he shown young on the bridge scene over the dead corpse of Jinx's mother. Maybe it was because Vander's mind was a mess and different memories where melting? Probably.
Same opinion for the Isha & Jinx part, I would be mad too, I think even if Isha stays dead, Jinx doesn't have to spiral, because she has Vi back too. But yeah I prefer the time travel stuff too.
ooooh i 100% agree on isha, thanks for saying that!! i've been trying to explain to others why i hated that part. it's so predictable... lazy... cheap shock value that everybody saw coming anyway. and it's very mean spirited to kill a kid character to regress (or progress?) another character's growth and to give said mentally ill, traumatized character a "you're not actually doomed to poison the lives of the people you care about" arc just to undo that; pointless and cruel. hope i'm wrong and she's not definitively dead
I believe, or perhaps hope, that Isha will still have a positive impact on Jinx and any regression will be powerful but temporary. Still, I don't like how cheap it felt to do, especially with how little time they had to make her anything more than adorably endearing. They did make her endearing in the little time they had, which I was afraid they wouldn't be able to do after the first arc, but it was done with shock value in mind for sure. I will say that I didn't see it coming or hoped it wouldn't happen because it felt so obvious, and it was effective and very much the intent of the story no matter how much we can go after it for being a cheap shot. Arcane has not been devoid of those before, after all.
Like how Milo, Claggor, Remi's son, and deckard all died for the same reasons? Honestly I think people just struggle with the challenging narrative because they wanted the happy funtimes of seeing Jinx do cool things without consequence. That's not and never has been what this show is.
What's wrong with being predictable? Stories that follow up their internal logic and themes are by extension predictable. A non-predictable story would be one that cant quite follow a through line.
Yeah… I think this show has a BIG problem with introducing side characters only to fridge them later. Some side characters feel fleshed out and “allowed” to live like Mel, but it’s a bit hard to get invested in them when they have “I’m gonna die” flags all over them.
I think you people looking schematically at stories too much. "Oh, this character has that role, this one is fridged, this one is plot device". Its not that serious, take it as just a story, you're not a reviewer, you're not writing a dissertation on it. Just killing the experience for yourself, and for other people. Because community definitely worsened the experience for me
I know that the budget invested in Arcane is huge right now, but I think the series would have benefitted from having 3 seasons at least. Although I'm really liking Arcane (the best series of the last ten years) I would have liked a slower pace to really dive in every character with much more time.
I just really love that they let Jinx be a bit more silly this season with the dancing, the scuttle crab fight and more laughing and more jokes and at least HINT towards her game incarnation(and maybe working towards at least partially becoming more like game jinx. not fully because that would be a bit much, but at least partially). She was already my favorite character in the show together with Mel, but i still definitely missed her fun and chaotic part of her in season 1, where it was way more subdued part of her (mostly represented by the scribbles and a tiny bit of chuckling/giggling sometimes). the part with Isha i kind of both agree and disagree with you on her part. i agree that just making Jinx insane off of Isha's death would be very cheap and treat Isha as a prop, but on the other hand she already kind of is a prop character, because just having her show up out of nowhere to redeem and soften and heal Jinx by her presence is ALSO her being a prop if we're being honest (and also way too easy for Jinx and way too neat of a potential end for Jinx). As much as i enjoy their dynamic, this is just kind of the problem they've built themselves with how they introduced and used her so far and i feel like not matter the outcome she's not gonna be fully fleshed out either way. Also Jinx isn't Isha's mom, she acts as her older sister as a parrallel to Jinx and Vi.
1:11:20 I’m thinking the “Sister” is more-so in a organization way, like “Come join your fellow Sisters of the Black Rose”, applying the family terminology to the Black Rose itself and trying to bring Mel in as the child of some black rose member
Not seen act 3 yet If the void is going to be from the arcane, what if it’s what happens when organic matter channels the arcane? We’ve seen that the arcane attracts and uses metal, and the most metallic part of our bodies is blood. We’ve seen in the hexgate reactor that blood that was spilled on the floor was kind of the start of the corruption, and the only body we’ve seen not be totally warped by magic in a weird way is Victor’s who already had runes to channel magic carved into his skin. Maybe hextech weapons that get bloody also get warped, hence Jayce’s hammer? And since all the other hextech weapons have runes to properly channel power and have been kept clean they haven’t been corrupted
while I agree that the scene with Ambessa and Vi made Mommy Medarda kinda seem.. totally super lame- I think the narrative point of it was not "Ambessa underestimates Vi and has become overconfident" and is more "Ambessa has come to trust Caitlyn SO HARD that she doesn't even think to have her guard up around her anymore"
I'm glad you talked about that conundrum with Vander and his innate capacity for brutality, because it's a nuance I really loved about his character back in s1, and appreciate even more now that we've seen it mirrored with Silco, and further emphasized with Warwick. It also really ties in with Viktor concluding that all human emotion is a problem, positive and negative, and that the solution is to get rid of it entirely. I feel like he's probably gonna end up changing his mind on that, but I still have a really hard time believing that Jayce's actions are at all the path to a Good End and not just a whole new Bad End getting unlocked. Even if Singed doesn't revive him, I don't think it would have been the end so easily. Is it too much to hope that because he's a champion in League, he won't have to die after all? Or maybe at least one timeline version of him gets to survive? 😭 I'm so bad with character deaths...
I'd love to see Isha come back, but frankly I don't think she will (I'd be beyond happy to be proven wrong). I ALSO don't think Jinx is going to regress. I'm sure she'll have an "it's my fault because I'm a jinx, now let me rot inside my hideout in peace as all hell breaks loose in Zaun" phase. I just think that Isha brought many good things in her life to hold onto even after she's gone. She and Vander helped her reconnect with Vi, who is now cool with her even after they lose them. Isha helped further establish Jinx as a symbol by taking action pretending to be her and she was the reason Jinx broke all those people out of Stillwater (and actually shared a genuine moment with them, that again, Isha's loss can't take away). Not to mention, the trailers (even those pre-Act I) imply that when Ekko gets back, she will team up with him (alongside Vi and perhaps even Caitlyn, since the Noxians are shown fighting with the enforcers. Act III is the Timebomb arc, I'm telling you 🤡). I really don't see them teaming up with Jinx if she implodes and decides to freestyle explode everyone like so many people seem to think she's going to do. Another thing to keep in mind is that Isha's loss is very different from those Jinx has had to deal with so far. For one- she wasn't the one pulling the pin for a change. While I'm sure she'll blame herself for failing to protect Isha, she had no hand in it this time (I'm sure there's a lesson for her somewhere in there). For two, she didn't lose a parent figure she was over-reliant on as a neurotic child, she was the adult and parent-like figure in the relationship. She has has shown a lot of growth, imo she's in a better place to handle loss now vs before. For three, again, she's not left all alone. She still has Vi, Sevika, the Jinxers, and soon Ekko. Fourthly, I don't think Isha even *can* haunt her the way the others do. The people she's lost one way or another come to her as voices. Isha however, is mute. I think this will prevent Jinx's mind from weaponizing Isha against her and ultimately allow her to remain the positive influence that she was in life. Nothing ever stays dead, but in Isha's case she won't come back as another monstrous figure inside Jinx's head. If any character could have a positive spin on this theme, it *would* be Isha. Arcane is tragic, but I've never felt it was tragic for tragedy’s sake. I don't think the ending will be uncomplicatedly happy, but I don’t think it will be as tragic as most people think. My take is that Jinx’s endgame will be integrating Powder and Jinx- she will save those she loves as Powder wanted to do, but she'll do it as Jinx.
my theory is that mel is the daughter of an aspect more specifically she’s the daughter of the aspect of war pantheon,what makes me speculate this is what we know about ambessa her ambitions n ideals how she believes in war as a classic noxian so that would make sense for her to fall in love with the literal aspect of war. in addition from the flashback of mels past we can see on her attire symbols that look very similar to solari ones and also her gear that she wears on her back also resembles the locket of iron solari in game. i can also mention how ambessas launch skin which has her with specific characters that are all related to her in some way,swain is her nemesis,katarina is swains follower,kindered is the embodiment of death that gave her a second chance n then there’s pantheon i do not think it’s a coincidence so that would make mel something like morgana and kayle who are also half human n half daughters of the vessel of the aspect of justice that makes them next in line to be a host for the aspect
There was already a League of Legends Jinx that existed at one point in the Arcane timeline, they have already accomplished in creating that character, anything and everything past that and forward should be just Arcane Jinx story. Even with Isha not coming back, and I maybe am reading too deep into it, but Isha's Song had lyrics that seemed to carry Isha's message to Jinx, wishing for her to live on, live free from all the grief, and guilt, and trauma that have been haunting her, there's no better way to celebrate Isha as a character and not just a plot device than giving Jinx the chance to finally heal as Isha had once healed her. That's how I personally wish things would go, but we will see how it all ends in about 2 hours (after ep 7 and 8)
This video was uploaded in a kind of fugue state in the middle of the night after fighting 2346 copyright claims from netflix for six hours. I recorded a section about Caitlyn which I eventually had to just remove completely because of those. And I forgot to post the damn discord link. Here it is: discord.gg/2bHnkybw
Could that section not be reincluded but without any background shots from Arcane? Like just your avatar and nothing else. Don't think Netflix could copyright anything there (I hope)
Any chance you could post Caitilyn's section as its own video without extra footage? Сate’s actions in Act 2 are so confusing to me, and I was really looking forward to your analysis to make sense of it. We’d really appreciate it
It’s expired :(
NOOOO I MISSED IT!!! I NEED ACCESS TO THE DISCORD
It's expired
Arcane is just a very elaborate Orianna origin story.
🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️
Fr though. She’s the reason Singed made Shimmer, why he kept developing it. Without Shimmer, the whole show doesn’t happen
Damn...
Turns out you were actually right.
singed was the main character all along
I think Leblanc calling Mel sister can be interpreted in 2 ways. one is Leblanc mocks Mel as her doppleganger brother. another is "sister in coven" as calling Mel a powerful sorceress just like leblanc herself.
As a non league lore head....since Mel is an affair child could she not mean it literally if ther father some old lived race/has a curse or something?
After all leblanc may have gotten her long life from inheritance possibly
@@OneofmanyASMRI find it doubtful that that will be the case simply because it fundamentally requires us to know more about Leblanc, when a central tenet of her is how little we concretely know about her. She’s an ancient sorceress whose past and goals are both steeped in mystery.
For example, we don’t actually know how exactly Leblanc is immortal. My theory (and I only have vague evidence of this, so don’t quote me on it) is that Leblanc’s body is in fact mortal, she just possesses a new host as her current one ages, and in fact controls multiple hosts simultaneously - hence her quote “I am everywhere. I am everyone.”
Finding out that Mel is Leblanc’s literal sister frankly makes Leblanc a bit too knowable, to the point it’s a little anticlimactic.
I'm leaning towards the latter sister as in sister of our cult, sister in magic etc
@@OneofmanyASMRkinda what I thought
Honestly I think it's just Leblanc being a smartass by talking as if she's still Mel's brother
your media analysis is such a breath of fresh air. i appreciate the fact that you're critical without being nitpicky and enthusiastic without blindly defending everything a show does, so much. and you pick up on many things that other people overlook, you understand the complexities and the characters and the themes etc. plus, based political takes, quite important for a political show like arcane
someone finally said it
Tb skyen is legit one of the best nuanced analysis channel i have the pleasure of subbing!
I'm glad you said it, I agree with every single word!!!
Same, I tend to lean right wing, but no one does analysis like Skyen.
And he's very knowledgeable about League lore, which is awesome for non-League players like myself, who enjoy lore but don't want to play League to get to it.
necrit said this but i agree: this season wouldve benefited SO much with just another act, or even just another episode. the pace of act 2 is overwhelming; makes me nervous for act 3 but i have faith in fortiche
Only if you can come up with something to fill the extra arc with, Arcane never had filler. I on the other hand think you could cut things, the Black Rose plot is too disconnected from the core story, you could cut those scenes and maybe add more stuff from the sisters and not have to add another 3 full episodes.
I actually felt like act ONE was the one that was too fast and two had slightly better pacing
@@BillyVellI was terrified I was going to hate this season after act 1, but act 2 eased some of my fears by bringing a more focused pacing and emotion in. Act 2 has noticeably better pacing
I wonder why they didn't have 3 seasons to round out that each act has an arc, each season has a larger arc, and the show has an overall arc
Honestly Act 2 pacing feels much more natural. It's still fast and try to balance a few too many things, and uses the damn musical clips as crutches, but it's better paced and at least with the main plot points it works better than Act 1, imo.
I think with Viktor, everyone is overlooking his last speech where he says "I see it now" and called humanity and human emotions out, saying it hold people down, so he's definitely going to his "Humanity is weak become something more" arc.
It is the inherent tragedy of Viktor, even his Main Canon version, a man who wants to do good, to make the world better, but in pursuing that he loses what drove him to do good in the first place
"Let's move on to caitlyn"
Titlecard: "Ambessa"
and then we never went back to cait lol
He wrote 4h after you posted this that the cait part was there, but was removed due to copyright :(
@@Smithington_ wahhh how can analysis be copyright claimed??
@@6ofrozes657 because fair use is not a right, it's a legal defense!
@@6ofrozes657 It's bots auto-claiming the copyright violation.
I feel like Ambessa’s monologue is precisely because everything is going wrong for her now, and her talking to VI there, is almost her telling herself that she has control, trying to convince herself that she “filled the hole Vi left” and got Cait’s trust
It's similar to Silco's meeting with the Chembarons which was also an attempt to flex power by someone clearly on the edge. Despite his attempt to show strength, he only really demonstrated he had no actual answers for the, from their perspective, legitimate problems they raised. Which is why Finn wasn't cowed by it. Here Ambessa, like Silco, just demonstrates she does not have the control she thinks she does, caits drive for revenge had never actually supplanted the empathy that is the core of her character and she has not embraced the "ends justify means" philosophy the way Ambessa does.
@@troikas3353 exactly. If you really think about Silco’s scene, when he tries to prove he has things under control and he is the only one capable of keeping Zaun, the only thing he can show is the change he already made, by saying the air is better now, but he doesn’t show any progress on anything new
In my opinion, I agree. Vander IS Warwick now, all the horrors, trauma and pain that he suffered add up to what he is now, despite we the audience loving him for who he was in season one. But I believe that the "ideal" Vander is the one that reunited with Jinx and Vi, the one that formed a connection with Isha, the one that found help. If there's anything that Warwick deserves to be ridden of is Singed's grasp, who tortured and disfigured him into a monster against his will, who is being used as a tool, weapon and meat for the slaughter. Vander is Warwick now, but just as Jinx and the others, Warwick deserves freedom from the Pain.
The only thing I'm wondering is if they're even gonna call him Warwick at all. Singed goes nameless until his full retcon reveal as Reveck. I'd be happy if his name just happens to be Vander Warwick or something.
@@Vektorien545 The subtitles and credits do call him Warwick but you are right that he never got called that in the show.
I kinda disagree, I think Warwick is specifically the Monster, the instinct and bloodlust, all of it created by Singed. Vander isn't who he used to be, for sure, but Vander isn't a monster.
9:40 Actually, if Powder and Vi already knew Silco, it might make more sense that Powder tackles Silco at the end of Ep.3! Like, there's no way that they told Powder why Silco wasn't around any more. So to her it would just be her weird uncle turning back up.
It's a bit strange that Silco calls Powder little girl instead of by her name but it makes sense
The intro to s1 e1 it seems Vi knew Vander, through her parents or something, so them knowing Vanders bff isn't out if the question
Powder was so little though
But Silco knew them, but maybe everyone does because it Vanders children
9:29 season 1 Silco knows who Vi and Powder are. It’s made very clear about that cuz he sics Marcus on them in episode 2. And in episode 3 he sees Vi fighting and he even asks Powder “where’s your sister?” In episode 5 he tells Vi that he never got a chance to really speak to her before then. He KNEW who they were from the start.
good memory, altho im not sure that part shows evidence that he knew them BEFORE all the business with the breakin and the crystals and enforcers or even knew their parents. that still seems to be retroactive or at least a VERY delayed reveal
@ I mean, he literally calls Vi “Vander’s prized pupil.” That’s not something you say if you only just learned they were related to Vander. That sounds more like he knew they existed, but was kept away and was watching from afar. 🤷
yes, he definitely knew who they were, but they didn't know who HE was, which is what's most interesting to me. Powder we know now was young enough when Felicia died that she doesn't remember what she looked like, so it wouldn't be strange for her to not recognize Silco after that long, and with his scars, but even Vi says she didn't recognize who took Vander away, suggesting that he was notably absent for pretty much their entire childhood. I hope we get some closure on that, bc it doesn't FEEL like a retcon so much as just another missing piece of the puzzle for what really happened that night on the bridge.
Silco’s whole MO became killing the past (his past self, his past brother from another mother, etc) so I don’t think it’s out of character for him to endanger his past friend’s kids and not bother bringing up all past relationships.
I think Silco and Vander's friendship ended not long after the uprising and Felicia's death. Vi was around 10 yo probably (seeing Powder, she was probably no more than 6 because she seemed very young, then 6+4). Silco seemed more reserved (scene with Felicia, Vander and Silco), and is not as present as Vander in the clip (when we see Vander train with Vi, etc.), this, combined with trauma, I can imagine Vi not remembering Silco (and even more Powder). He also changed quite a lot: scar, hair cut, chemlord and criminal persona, etc.
It always seemed weird to me to see Silco adopt Jinx, even though yes I understand that he saw himself in her, etc. The Felicia factor adds sense to it, imo, that this child is even more special to him.
19:21 I think the reasoning behind this scene, and why Ambessa seemed so nonchalant, is not that she underestimated Vi, but overestimated Caitlyn by trusting her too much. That was the point of what Rictus told Cait later, that her betreyal is "a deep cut".
three hours is NOT too long. Please skyen. We wanna see you rant :)
Dude shut up with a 3h analysis of you being to long.
If anything at all, it was too short. Ppl just love listening to you and your analysis and thoughts and you just being you. Never stop (or shorten ;) )!
exactly. he’s articulate and thoughtful and critical and fair. he never blindly praises the show but never downright condemns it either. I honestly wish there were more people like him in the arcane community.
8:39 "fortiche when i find you" very well summarised, i agree.
No one's talking about the Jinx/Jayce inverse arcs. Jayce was appointed “Golden Boy” of Piltover, acclaimed inventor of Hextech (Viktor was pushed out of the spotlight), while Jinx was the pariah who lost everything and became Silco's scourge, haunted by hallucinations and killing anyone in her way.
Now they've switched roles. Jayce disappeared, and returned looking like the ragged remnant of a dissolved Council, plagued by visions and wielding unpredictable technology, killing anyone in his way (Salo, a child), while Jinx is the reluctant figurehead of Zaun's independence and resistance, slowly regaining her stability and using her talents to fix things instead of destroy them.
Hextech--Jayce's pride and joy, created to fix everyone's lives--might be the key that breaks the world. And Jinx--the wrecking ball who destroys everything she touches--is just what Zaun needs to destroy the city that's overshadowed her entire life.
1:33:11 THIS!!! This is EXACTLY what I’ve been trying to articulate about Arcane. It has flaws, it’s strained by the amount of information it has to share. It’s not the perfect show it was in season one, and yet I still love it so much. There is truly nothing like Arcane!
Arcanes message has always been: "what could have been"
It could have been a good show, but oh boy did the blow the finale worse than S8 of game of thrones.
hits different after season 2 episode 7
@@DuBstep115 it's a good show if it isn't canon, but if Riot are still pushing it as canon then it is so bad
I think you are looking for too much on Isha, based on the mining helmet she probanly escaped child labor and eas being chased by Chross goons
I wish people would make the distinction between Arcane needing more time and them wanting more Arcane.
Yeah, the pace is breakneck and I would love more time to breathe and soak it in. But part of the charm of this series is how densely packed the narrative and world building is, so much so that whole careers have been made rewatching and dissecting it.
I think most of what we need to make sense of Arcane is there. I want more of it, but that’s not a failing of the season.
This. 2 seasons of Arcane is really a test of "Can this work?" so, better to play it safe. Now the creators know we're hanging on every minute of it.
Just like in season 1, not everyone’s brain automatically fills in the implied space. For example, you cannot argue against that for some people Jinx vs Ekko fell flat because they had literally not spoken the whole series.
I can imagine some elements in season 2 are equally implied and wouldn’t work for everyone
I think ambessa underestimated Caitlyns willingness to turn on her rather than underestimating vi. She really was just fully confident that she had her in pocket
So the Silco/Powder things is a little messy but I think it ultimately makes perfect sense.
When the girls mum says (paraphrasing) "You guys are gonna take care of this Zaun thing, for me and the kids" both Vander and Silco take different emphasises from that.
Vander hears "for the kids", hence the "what's the point if you can't raise an ankle biter or two" comment. Which is why he's willing to sell out the revolution (and Silco) to take care of Vi and Powder.
Silco on the other hand hears "take care of this Zaun thing", which is why he's all in on the revolution, probably to the point he doesn't make time for the kids (he is characterised as a workaholic after all). When she dies he doubles down, if the revolution doesn't succeed, her death was meaningless after all. By then the kids are with Vander who's sold out, so he'd have no contact by then.
It also explains why he's willing to kill (or possibly in his mind; "sacrifice") them in season 1, act 1. He's distant enough to not be particularly familiar with them, personally, and has adopted the "at any cost" mentality. It also expands on why he latches onto powder so quickly.
Some of this is headcanon, sure, but I feel it's all well supported by the text.
The idea that Viktor is literally creating Philosophical Zombies is... chilling. Given the visions Jayce keep seeing are of these hollow husks wearing a smeared mask of a face, it's clear that whatever Viktor is doing is... removing something from people. How much of a person can you remove before they stop being a person? Not just the person they were before, but... *a person.*
I'm ready for act 3 Viktor to go full: "You are being rescued, please do not resist."
The league lore for the void also works to backup your "order and chaos" theory
The void existed in perfect orderly silence, and then life erupted, and the voice works to snuff it out just to have some peace and quiet again
Reversing any death is more cheap than the death happening.
Yeah that's exactly what I'm thinking, we could maybe learn more about who Isha is, or rather was, but she's not coming back.
Jayce and viktor are in opposite parallels of disillusion and dreaming, as jayce contiunes he becomes more disillusioned while viktor instead becomes more ambitious and he comes to dream for more
its kinda bittersweet to watch this video after watching the finale and realizing that a few things were rushed or resolved in a unsatisfying way. But also arcane has a subtext, a overall message that is so clear that you cant deny that is a show made with so much love and care and thought... Skyen final thoughts about vander/warwick perfectly matches jayce's final speech to viktor, which results in them saving the world. Like yeah, thats the core of arcane, the beauty in imperfections, in tragedy, the two sides of human condition.
Sir a second hours-long analysis video has hit the Arcane fandom
i kinda thought that the memory showing silco and vander knew each other really well showed that silco didnt just randomly take in jinx he already knew her and maybe thats why he kept her around and could never let her go.
His whole initial plan was to murder her, and her sister, despite his relationship to their mother. And it wasn't any fond memories of her or them that stopped him, it was just his own narcissism latching on to the superficial details of the situation he found her in that made him able to make her problems all about himself.
Would love to hear your thoughts on Caitlyn in this act. Personally I was disappointed that her dictator arc was condensed into a music video. Honestly that’s my problem with act 2 generally, too many music montages covering things that would have really benefited from being explored in more depth
She didn't have a dictator arc though. She was never set up as one, nor would she ever become one. To think she would shows a fundamental misunderstanding of her character.
The end of ep3 is all about ambessa, not caitlyn. Even the music track says so.
@@gustavgustav2670 okay geez, “dictator arc” was hyperbole, calm down. I only meant that Caitlyn ended the first act in a dark place and I would have appreciated seeing more of that inner conflict on screen.
i feel the same way! i was expecting for her descent into becoming a dictator/successor for ambessa to have a lot more time and focus, but it was so short. more expansion on her mindset would've made her defection from ambessa a lot more significant.
I would’ve hoped to get more too but I think it is important to consider how much time it takes them to do a single scene, it costs them sooo much money and time that I think the music videos (though I agree, as beautiful and magnificent as they are they do fall a bit short) are a good way to summarize some parts of the plot so that we can get more of the other scenes. I think he said it in another video, that arcane and it’s animation is so perfect that it doesn’t leave room for more exploration; kind of they trade time for quality.
@@gustavgustav2670 But... she kinda DID?
In the time skip between Acts 1 and 2 she canonically DID in fact, allow Ambessa to manipulate her and push for heavier police presence in Zaun. That DID happen. We see Noxians and Enforcers beating up and arresting Zaunites under her command in the montage, and we see a checkpoint being put down to keep Zaunites out of Piltover.
But we just skip through all of that. That's the problem - her "dictator arc" did happen in the show, it just happened almost entirely offscreen. We don't see how Ambessa manipulates her. We don't see her struggle over what the right choice is. We just skip through it, and the first scene of Act 2 is her already beginning to question the occupation that we know happened but didn't get to see happen.
Did you cut the Caitlyn segment? You said there would be one but it doesn't seem to be anywhere in the video
good question
The ADHD got to him.
He put a pinned comment later explaining that it had to be cut due to copyright claims
Just in time for dinner
Same (it's 12 am)
same (it's 01.00)
same (it's 8:36 PM)
I feel like season 2 is the only season where arcane has those time issues though. It feels like they were trying so hard to make cool visuals and music videos, they kinda put the story second and didn't use their time correctly. They wasted so much time on the mvs sometimes and they usually felt like cheap exposition. I wanted to see how the gangs fought, what did the undercity looked like after silco died. But no, instead we get a montage that explains it to the viewer as if we were dumb. Whyyy ??? Inseltead we could have seen the undercity through ishas eyes, we could see her reaction, maybe an insight to her personality. Maybe she was being persued bc she stole smth, and wtvr that thing was could've tell us something about her personality and then she would have been more of a character.
Bc season one also has a lot of things going but is more contained and every character matters and everyone feels human and real. The story is solid, it works. Season 2 however, it kinda loses a lot of what made arcane so brilliant.
"Last time the video was 2h so we going to do this a bit shorter this time"
*makes 1,5h video*
Nice.
Personally, I think Isha being killed off is just a disservice to her entire identity as a character. As it stands, the way she's written makes it seem like her entire purpose was just to die as a way to make Jinx suffer even more. We don't know anything about Isha's life before meeting jinx, we don't know why the thugs were chasing her in her first appearance, and we don't really know why she's following jinx specifically cause her being mute means she can't voice out these things.
To me it just feels shoddy to write characters with their big defining moment being their death, and her passing really just rubbed me the wrong way cause looking back, it made it seem like all of her appearances were supposed to lead up to her finale scene.
We know as much about Isha as we do about every other child that died in the show. more honestly.
I personally really like the musical montages that just cover massive amounts of story. For me that gives me enough space to extrapolate out what I believe happened. I would prefer a narrative leave a gap that I can then fill because ultimately what I imagined is going to be far more satisfying to me than anything they could put on screen. As long as we get the barebone basics and we know where things are going these musical montages that cover massive amounts of story in my opinion leave room for audience theorization and audience engagement.
I had an interesting idea they could do with the time travel. Make Ekko unable to alter anything that would prevent him from getting access to time travel in the first place. That would mostly limit him to the events of season 2, he wouldn't be able to fundamentally change the plot even if he wanted to. (Like stopping Jinx from firing her rocket at the council, or even going back to make sure Vander doesn't die and Jinx and Vi don't get separated as kids.)
The thought of a two minute Jayce Disaster Music Video at the start is the worst most hilarious concept I have heard lol
but also seems kind of probable lmao
it is even tho there is a high chance that's what we're going to get considering how many plotlines they need to finished in 3 episodes
When Singed is talking to Ambessa about Warwick while it cuts to Warwick running through the mines. singed comments on looking for right catalyst for healing his mind, while at the same time it shows Warwick honing in on young powder
I think the reason Singed attended the meeting at Vanders statue was in hope that jinx would show up to be that catalyst.
Don’t think that quite works. I think he only realises that Vander’s family is the key after he recognises Jinx in the prison
50:40 I'm in the opposite boat; this season has sacrificed everything to accelerate the plot. Making Ekko undo half of it with time travel (which would be a complete surprise to any non-League watchers) would be unsatisfying and a waste. The Hexcore plot may have time travel, but otherwise, time travel will show sad alternate realities and add fight mechanics, not undercut the plot.
It's precisely because Isha changes Jinx's life that it's a test to see if Jinx maintains that progress once she's gone. Jinx has Vi now, she can take care of herself, and she has the respect of Zaun, which she never had before. And furthermore, Isha did not die because of Jinx; she SACRIFICED herself for her, because she loved her. Jinx isn't just haunted by messing up: she's haunted because incompetence meant a revocation of affection. It meant Vi left her behind, it meant Silco told her to "take time off" and lost his respect and trust in her. Jinx was competent enough to protect Isha, and Isha exercised her agency by saving Jinx, returning that favor, mirroring Jinx occupying Warwick in Stillwater to protect Isha. Isha was inspired by Jinx, and Jinx knows that. So she's going to stay a figurehead, she's going to earn that trust, earn Isha's sacrifice. Giving Isha back at the end might be fair, but first, Jinx has to prove she can stand on her own.
(I do wish Vi had gotten the chance to pull herself out of her slump and find a purpose separate from her family and other people, but if she can't, at least Jinx should.)
Ultimately, yes, Isha is a prop. A prop with agency, but every character--even the main ones--are all tools in each other's story to move others along. Like Sky being fridged, like Mylo, Claggor, Benzo, Grayson, Silco (though we didn't see Jinx spiral after killing him, since Isha appeared so soon). Arcane gives those characters as much depth and personality as they can, so we feel sad about losing them as people--and the fans' agony is proof that they ARE grieved as people. But they do still have to serve their function, so the best Arcane can do is make Isha's sacrifice an expression of her choice and identity. She staged a public appearance while wearing a cloak to help Jinx's image and spur her to fight. Without words, actions are how Isha communicates. That scene and the sacrifice were the purest expression of Isha's will, at moments where it diverged from Jinx's. It was her way of goading Jinx, not merely loving her.
Isha feels prop-like because she is. I am miffed that Jinx's psychosis is 'healed' by Isha, only re-appearing when she's kidnapped and Silco is mentioned. As someone with mentally ill loved ones and friends, the message that someone (particularly a child) can 'heal' a loved one's mental illness by loving them enough is...hollow at best, damaging at worst. Jinx battling her demons, pushing away Isha out of fear once she realizes she cares--that would've provided more chances for Isha to show why she's drawn to Jinx, and why Jinx would risk heartbreak to keep Isha. Maybe that's what's missing.
I agree thought that using this to make Jinx her League self would be a massive disservice. I feel like they've used League lore as checkpoints, not endpoints, maneuvering the characters into and out of phases that resemble their League counterparts, without being confined by them. They have confirmed that they prioritize story over canon, and I'm hoping that means they use Isha's death to CEMENT Jinx's development, instead of undoing it. Likewise for Caitlyn and Vi; making them Enforcers after this would be a kick to their characters, and Arcane's class themes.
Fortunately, Jinx's hair hints that's not the case! If they're making her League Jinx, why remove her defining feature? It'll take Jinx year to grow back those braids, more years than the gap between Arcane and League. I think the pixie cut is Jinx's tribute to Isha, and Fortiche's way of separating their Jinx from League's.
I'm not sure how you read the Jinx-Isha relationship as a mother-daughter relationship, they clearly draw parallels between Jinx-Isha and Vi-Powder, it's much more sisterly than anything else.
Yes, vi even looks at it as a 'what could have been' when they are in the mine.
Jinx is being the older sister now, which sets up the parallel with the ending.
Exactly, jinx herself draws parallels to her and VI when they were younger
I will never get how people see her and isha as mom and daughter, it definitely shows the 'what could of been' if VI didn't blame vanders death on powder
I actually prefer to look at is as mother-daughter. I know that's probably not the intention, but I honestly think it works better than just adding another sister into the story. Jinx had a lot of people taken from her, but the first was her mom. And she gets to finally have the relationship that was taken from her before any others. Again, I know this is probably not the creators intention, but I personally prefer it and think it can work just as well if not better when interpreted this way.
considering that Vi HAD to be both sister and mother to Powder, it's not strange for Jinx and Isha to have a similarly complex dynamic.
I think it can fit perfectly. Arcane loves putting parallels and repeating paterns. Whether you call it older sister or mother is more a question of personal preference, but it's pretty much the same thing. A big sister is the figure of a surrogate mother, with some inexperience. Isha copies Jinx just like a child would copy their parent. Vi follows in Vander's footsteps, Jinx followed in Silco's.
viktor gave huck hair transplants 😭
THANK YOU, I feel this season has been a compilation of montages that break the character depth we worked with on season 1. I hate the pacing of this season due to that, the story needs more air for us to process what's going on and honestly this season should have been divided in 2 or at least 4 acts. The part where Caitlyn literally commits war crimes, the whole black rose thing, the arcane things, Vi's character deeply falling behind even if she was the protagonist of season 1 with Jinx, the revolution, the police brutality of Ambessa's forces, I....ugh. It's done beautifully with the resources they have but it really falls apart on its previous strong points due to the rushed times.
Completely agree this show is such a downgrade from S1
It's not a shortage of resources.
The show was written for the number of acts it currently has, and budgeted accordingly.
Any additional episodes wouldn't be coming for several more years, if at all.
Thus: What would you remove or change in order to accommodate what you want?
@@RaptieFeathers not OP, but I would either add another episode between 3 and 4 (making Act 2 four episodes, which breaks the pattern but would help the pacing), or I would cut out Black Rose. I don't know how important that gets during Act 3 yet so maybe it will prove to be too integral to the story to remove, but as of now... I'm not a League player, I don't know the lore, and from that perspective Black Rose feels like an unnecessary addition to an already stacked plot. It's also very confusing. Like with Jayce killing Viktor, we have no idea why any of this is happening yet and it's feeling like this is mostly for the viewers who are familiar with League lore already. So, I'd either cut it or add another episode to expand on character arcs and add context.
What i don't see getting mentioned that much is just how docile the core made viktor, he was in the middle of a civil war and he had no way of protecting these people.
An army of noxians where outside his door and he bearly did anything abaut it.
No it's not. 0:19
It was the perfect video length imo rahhh
@sanyasalat if nothing else all modern videos need to be minimum of 3+ hours
Skyen I discovered your channel because of your Arcane videos, and have since enjoyed more of your character and animation analysis. I just have to say what a treat your thought process and media criticism has been. I know you’ll probably never seen this comment in a sea of comments, but I hope it brightens your day if you do! You don’t know me and I don’t quite know you, but you’ve really inspired me to become a better artist, thinker, and person. I wanted to reach out and say I sincerely love your work, and your thoughtful ending note of this video will stick with me for a long time. Looking forward to your response to the last act!
That feeling when your flatmate spreads their lunch corruption into you.
Jinx and isha relationship was NOT healthy. Jinx from the moment they met showed isha that in order to feel safe at best resort to violence and at worst sacrifice yourself. Before isha and jinx met isha ran away to keep herself alive but afterwards she is running toward danger and intentionally unaliving herself.
53:27 as much as that is a sweet idea, the reason Isha couldn’t get out of her cell was because she was pulling on a slide door 😅
Oh TB Skyen you wonderful guy, this was just in time! I needed it
14:59 Lets move onto Cait *ambessa appears* Skyen doing some fortiche lvl foreshadowing kekw
24:40 i do think hucks change would be explainable, he didn't really change much, he wasn't someone like Salo he was a scared addict, so being healed would be a motivation for him to change rapidly bc he wouldn't want to go back when he was so miserable
you're missing your Caitlin section! Still good video.
One thing that I recently noticed that I have not seen anyone point out:
In episode 2 Isha helps Jinx in a fight by throwing a glitter bomb at one of the goons
The bomb has the exact same design as a bomb Powder was working on in episodes 1 and 2 of season 1
Vi asked her what she's going to call it and Powder said Whisker
We see her still working on it during Markus's raid
And she packs it later in episode 2 when 'preparing to fight'
I think it's a cool detail. Jinx repurposed one of her old bombs that 'didn't work' to actually help in a fight
"Let's move onto Caitlyn"
AMBESSA
I feel like Arcane's pacing makes it very adhd-friendly... and I love it! haha
YES
Now that we've seen act 3 its really interesting how this video is almost perfectly 50/50 absolutely correct and absolutely wrong
To me, the biggest problem with Ambessa in this act was, that she stood firmly in the shadow of Singed honestly.
Maybe so, but it really fulfilled the fantasy Singed's character is going for so theres pros and cons here :,)
8:33 i love how he transformsjhghjj into a demon for a second
The keyboard betrayed me
one thing I saw people point put on Twitter is that when Jayce comes back from being trapped in the hexcore, we can see his breath bc of how cold the chamber is, but Salo's is conspicuously missing
I really appreciate that they are pushing Jinx beyond the manic, quirky wacky chaos pixy. I really hope she just doesn't totally regress tomorrow.
Leblanc trying to sow distrust between Mel and Ambessa and lol... Lady, you got bad Intel... That ship is so long past.
Arcane's version of Jinx has never really been that.
No, she hasn't, but that's her in League.
i think theyre gonna push Jinx to be somewhere between her Season 1 more dreary personality and the league one, with her already being noticably more goofy and silly this season than the previous
40:06 spot on mr. skyen...
Right on time for me to watch before Act 3, also, we love your 3 hour analysis, keep them coming.
AHHHHHHHH MOTHER F- AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH FORTICE YOUR DAYS ARE NUMBERED
My perspective on Isha’s behavior was quite different from yours. To me it showed us most of that. The jinx we know, because we have all of the history, is different from the hero Isha would see her as. Instead of being a ball of trauma and effort to over come it, Jinx is the mural. She watched jinx time and time again face danger head on with reckless abandon. She wants to save others like jinx saved her, as we seen with how she jumped at Rictus during the raid instead of self-preservation, because jinx has never shown any of that. The first “lesson” she taught Isha was, enjoy risking your life, it’s the best feeling. She even witnessed Jinx prepare for her own death prior to her fight with enforcers, and prepare to make it a spectacle.
Self preservation especially in the face of overwhelming odds. More importantly, her influence made that child Vi. I also don’t think they’re making her crazy real, I think they’re pivoting to make her “crazy” an act, another part of the spectacle. She spends so much of the show just trying to learn to be witty again, and the first season shows she exaggerates her “crazy” as a tool. Except for the delusions, the other times are to illicit fear in people.
My theory: Zilean will be teased and *He's* why Ekko can't go farther back. Zilean has a reason to stop time travel magic from doing too many changes because he's the most aware of what that does. What Time magic does and can *do* .
But I don't think he'll actually appear in person because that's too many characters in general but I think Ekko will allude to someone or something guiding Ekko on how to save the most people from the bad future.
I think Skyen is right in that Ekko will save Isha but I think this is because this actually leads to League Jinx, and this is the actual best outcome.
League Jinx is crazy yes but she's able to be controlled and contained. She hasn't destroyed Zaun or Piltover for the years she's been active and I think this is likely the best outcome and this is why Ekko saves Isha. It's kinda hard to destroy either city when the ensuing chaos would make her precious daughter homeless.
So I think Ekko will encounter Zilean off screen and then with Hemierdinger’s help get to Zaun and save Isha at the last moment then League Jinx will begin showing through as now despite the crazy despite the hardship she has a reason to really live.
I think this is generally one thing that Jinx of league has, her crazy can be seen as a zeal for the impermanence of life, or it can be seen as “just crazy”. But given all her in canon interactions I have to lean towards this manic zeal for the impermanence and what better way to bring that to the forefront make that the centerpiece of Jinx then to have her see the impermanence of life create this crazy if somewhat beautiful moment like Isha’s failed sacrifice? We've already seen that even when she's more stable Jinx has that love of “let's break things” so this could be turned up to 11 with that moment.
Alternatively maybe they do save Isha but the hexcore tries to save itself by finding a new host and…well Jinx *is* right there.
At 9:13, I have my own little headcanon/excuse, just to make the pain last longer: Silco didn't know them that well, because he was covering for the parents' Shifts in the mines, doing all that extra work, so they actually had time to go home and spend with the family and make those memories :3
I think maybe the falling out of Vander and Silco could have been before the sisters were actually born…
which doesn’t make sense either given their age at bridge incident in the start of the show.
I like your headcanon fellow internet individual
Silco was never shown around the sisters before S1 EP 3, not in Vanders memories or anything else. I don't know why people think this is a retcon? I kind of like this twist. It doesn't affect too much, it gives Vander a closer relation to the sisters, it gives reason to Vander being so enraged with Silco that he would try to drown him in the flashback scene of them fighting (Silco threw the molotov, started a riot and might of got Felicia killed, it's left uncertain).
The conversations around Arcane have been really enjoyable. Thanks for a particularly great vid.
Regarding Viktor and Singed's talk on evolution, the "destination" Viktor mentions reads like an idea of a 'perfect being' to me.
I also think Viktor is referring to himself and the community he is developing but I cant base this off of anything more than my own feeling.
More importantly, who was actually speaking during that conversation. I don't think it sounded like Viktor. Neither in content or voice. When Jayce asks if 'Salo' is still in there he seems to decide he isn't, should the same be asked about Viktor.
Viktor in that same conversation also seems to disassociate from his past self, just like his followers, stating "back then I was clouded by emotion." His followers also seem to have lost their emotions.
Viktor talks of there being another will inside Jayce and describes the Hextech "singularity" as "self-replicating." Since Viktor's current state is also a product of Hextech I think this describes him as well, the "self-replicating" portion certainly fits how Viktor has grown his community (regarding the aesthetic) and altered his followers (their personalities).
As a final note when Viktor dies it seems like only a single scream is let out from the entire community, as though only a single organism has died and not a bunch of separate people.
Obviously all just my view points and interpretation. Maybe part 3 changes things, but I'm impressed with how much can be taken and discussed from the show.
48: 12 I love the fan theory that said Jayce blasting Viktor WITH HIS ARCANE HAMMER actually supercharged him, and so the Arcane sent Jayce back and alerted Viktor, pitting them against each other to empower itself, like an ouroboros.
Gorgeous outro about Vander, whoa. That tied all the themes together--about magic, transformation, change, mechanics, shimmer, ending relationships, revolution--beautifully.
This has been a magnificent fucking ride.
Ok so i have a few crackpot theories on Mel:
1) Ambessa became the Chosen of the Wolf, and fetal Mel was giften the Chosen of the Lamb title, thus her ult power is something akin to Kindred's in game ult of protection from death + minor heal upon ult end (maybe even saved Mama Ambessa from the womb in the music video) oooor....
2) Ambessa really did get it on with an aspect. Pantheon/Atreus saw her, liked her and uh things got steamy - Mel could have inherited the Aspect of War powers kinda like Kayle/Morgana inherited powers from their mother.
3) Mel's power has something to do with the Blessed Isles bloodlines. Their magics were golden glowing light, right? And also the symbols on her arms kinda look similiar to the Sentinels of Light emblem...could this be hinting at an inheritence from a blessed Isles bloodline who survived the fall and relocated?
There's evidence for each of these as possibilities but I really don't know where they are taking things. It's going to be interesting either way.
It's definitely implied that Mel inherited her magic from whoever her father is, so I like the aspect theory.
Past TB talking about Isha and basically expounding my theory and.. past TBS? I'm here for you.
SPOILERS FOR ATC 3
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I think Isha did get a little screwed over BUT I do think JInx processed it in a good way rather than falling backwards. She needed help out of her sadness but didn't turn into the wacky psycho pixie girl. She became what Isha wanted her to be. Still, I think it's fair to say Isha was fridged. Not as bad as some stories but I think she was low key a plot device with big, sad eyes. I don't think it's awful but it was a little cheap.
That’s the problem with the music videos, in season 1 the audience was able to fill in the blanks using our imagination after the time skip so it felt satisfying. Whereas the musical montages gave us condensed flashes which came across as shallow and the audience wanted more.
For example Vi: if Vi had woken up in that tiny flat surrounded by empty bottles, and Jinx sassed her about how much money she’d lost betting on Vi in the pit fights, that would be all the information we’d need to know about Vi’s spiral
There’s no Caitlyn section 😭😭😭 I NEED to know your thoughts PLEASE
When Vander tries to kill Silco he has no beard and they are young. During the bridge scene (where Vi and Jinx mom's died) Vander has a "beard" and looks older. Meaning Silco got away from the family before Vi was born or maybe a little after. My only question is, why was he shown young on the bridge scene over the dead corpse of Jinx's mother. Maybe it was because Vander's mind was a mess and different memories where melting? Probably.
40:08 BASED skyen
I giggled
In time before The Big Crying tomorrow
Same opinion for the Isha & Jinx part, I would be mad too, I think even if Isha stays dead, Jinx doesn't have to spiral, because she has Vi back too. But yeah I prefer the time travel stuff too.
Thumbnail got me thinking abt skyen reviewing netflix's dark. Oh boy i'd watch 25 hour videos about it LMAO
ooooh i 100% agree on isha, thanks for saying that!! i've been trying to explain to others why i hated that part. it's so predictable... lazy... cheap shock value that everybody saw coming anyway. and it's very mean spirited to kill a kid character to regress (or progress?) another character's growth and to give said mentally ill, traumatized character a "you're not actually doomed to poison the lives of the people you care about" arc just to undo that; pointless and cruel. hope i'm wrong and she's not definitively dead
I believe, or perhaps hope, that Isha will still have a positive impact on Jinx and any regression will be powerful but temporary. Still, I don't like how cheap it felt to do, especially with how little time they had to make her anything more than adorably endearing. They did make her endearing in the little time they had, which I was afraid they wouldn't be able to do after the first arc, but it was done with shock value in mind for sure. I will say that I didn't see it coming or hoped it wouldn't happen because it felt so obvious, and it was effective and very much the intent of the story no matter how much we can go after it for being a cheap shot. Arcane has not been devoid of those before, after all.
Like how Milo, Claggor, Remi's son, and deckard all died for the same reasons? Honestly I think people just struggle with the challenging narrative because they wanted the happy funtimes of seeing Jinx do cool things without consequence. That's not and never has been what this show is.
What's wrong with being predictable? Stories that follow up their internal logic and themes are by extension predictable. A non-predictable story would be one that cant quite follow a through line.
Yeah… I think this show has a BIG problem with introducing side characters only to fridge them later. Some side characters feel fleshed out and “allowed” to live like Mel, but it’s a bit hard to get invested in them when they have “I’m gonna die” flags all over them.
I think you people looking schematically at stories too much. "Oh, this character has that role, this one is fridged, this one is plot device". Its not that serious, take it as just a story, you're not a reviewer, you're not writing a dissertation on it. Just killing the experience for yourself, and for other people. Because community definitely worsened the experience for me
I know that the budget invested in Arcane is huge right now, but I think the series would have benefitted from having 3 seasons at least. Although I'm really liking Arcane (the best series of the last ten years) I would have liked a slower pace to really dive in every character with much more time.
24:39 Even Huck's hairline got "healed" lol
"Basicly what im saying is that they should fu-" 40:07
Kain: "Flip a coin enough times and what happens if one day it lands on it's edge?"
I just really love that they let Jinx be a bit more silly this season with the dancing, the scuttle crab fight and more laughing and more jokes and at least HINT towards her game incarnation(and maybe working towards at least partially becoming more like game jinx. not fully because that would be a bit much, but at least partially). She was already my favorite character in the show together with Mel, but i still definitely missed her fun and chaotic part of her in season 1, where it was way more subdued part of her (mostly represented by the scribbles and a tiny bit of chuckling/giggling sometimes).
the part with Isha i kind of both agree and disagree with you on her part. i agree that just making Jinx insane off of Isha's death would be very cheap and treat Isha as a prop, but on the other hand she already kind of is a prop character, because just having her show up out of nowhere to redeem and soften and heal Jinx by her presence is ALSO her being a prop if we're being honest (and also way too easy for Jinx and way too neat of a potential end for Jinx). As much as i enjoy their dynamic, this is just kind of the problem they've built themselves with how they introduced and used her so far and i feel like not matter the outcome she's not gonna be fully fleshed out either way.
Also Jinx isn't Isha's mom, she acts as her older sister as a parrallel to Jinx and Vi.
Excellent! A fine video to add to my collection.
1:11:20 I’m thinking the “Sister” is more-so in a organization way, like “Come join your fellow Sisters of the Black Rose”, applying the family terminology to the Black Rose itself and trying to bring Mel in as the child of some black rose member
Not seen act 3 yet
If the void is going to be from the arcane, what if it’s what happens when organic matter channels the arcane? We’ve seen that the arcane attracts and uses metal, and the most metallic part of our bodies is blood. We’ve seen in the hexgate reactor that blood that was spilled on the floor was kind of the start of the corruption, and the only body we’ve seen not be totally warped by magic in a weird way is Victor’s who already had runes to channel magic carved into his skin. Maybe hextech weapons that get bloody also get warped, hence Jayce’s hammer?
And since all the other hextech weapons have runes to properly channel power and have been kept clean they haven’t been corrupted
while I agree that the scene with Ambessa and Vi made Mommy Medarda kinda seem.. totally super lame- I think the narrative point of it was not "Ambessa underestimates Vi and has become overconfident" and is more "Ambessa has come to trust Caitlyn SO HARD that she doesn't even think to have her guard up around her anymore"
I'm glad you talked about that conundrum with Vander and his innate capacity for brutality, because it's a nuance I really loved about his character back in s1, and appreciate even more now that we've seen it mirrored with Silco, and further emphasized with Warwick. It also really ties in with Viktor concluding that all human emotion is a problem, positive and negative, and that the solution is to get rid of it entirely. I feel like he's probably gonna end up changing his mind on that, but I still have a really hard time believing that Jayce's actions are at all the path to a Good End and not just a whole new Bad End getting unlocked. Even if Singed doesn't revive him, I don't think it would have been the end so easily.
Is it too much to hope that because he's a champion in League, he won't have to die after all? Or maybe at least one timeline version of him gets to survive? 😭 I'm so bad with character deaths...
Cait and Vi better have a big gay finale.
This I demand.
I'd love to see Isha come back, but frankly I don't think she will (I'd be beyond happy to be proven wrong). I ALSO don't think Jinx is going to regress. I'm sure she'll have an "it's my fault because I'm a jinx, now let me rot inside my hideout in peace as all hell breaks loose in Zaun" phase. I just think that Isha brought many good things in her life to hold onto even after she's gone. She and Vander helped her reconnect with Vi, who is now cool with her even after they lose them. Isha helped further establish Jinx as a symbol by taking action pretending to be her and she was the reason Jinx broke all those people out of Stillwater (and actually shared a genuine moment with them, that again, Isha's loss can't take away). Not to mention, the trailers (even those pre-Act I) imply that when Ekko gets back, she will team up with him (alongside Vi and perhaps even Caitlyn, since the Noxians are shown fighting with the enforcers. Act III is the Timebomb arc, I'm telling you 🤡). I really don't see them teaming up with Jinx if she implodes and decides to freestyle explode everyone like so many people seem to think she's going to do.
Another thing to keep in mind is that Isha's loss is very different from those Jinx has had to deal with so far. For one- she wasn't the one pulling the pin for a change. While I'm sure she'll blame herself for failing to protect Isha, she had no hand in it this time (I'm sure there's a lesson for her somewhere in there). For two, she didn't lose a parent figure she was over-reliant on as a neurotic child, she was the adult and parent-like figure in the relationship. She has has shown a lot of growth, imo she's in a better place to handle loss now vs before. For three, again, she's not left all alone. She still has Vi, Sevika, the Jinxers, and soon Ekko. Fourthly, I don't think Isha even *can* haunt her the way the others do. The people she's lost one way or another come to her as voices. Isha however, is mute. I think this will prevent Jinx's mind from weaponizing Isha against her and ultimately allow her to remain the positive influence that she was in life. Nothing ever stays dead, but in Isha's case she won't come back as another monstrous figure inside Jinx's head. If any character could have a positive spin on this theme, it *would* be Isha.
Arcane is tragic, but I've never felt it was tragic for tragedy’s sake. I don't think the ending will be uncomplicatedly happy, but I don’t think it will be as tragic as most people think. My take is that Jinx’s endgame will be integrating Powder and Jinx- she will save those she loves as Powder wanted to do, but she'll do it as Jinx.
0:06 The comment about editing being cut off is hilarious.
To be fair, you got this out insanely quick, and just in time. So, props!
Mell is Karma. Cracked prediction. =^)
I love your take on Arcane. It's quite possibly more entertaining than the show itself. Thank you.
see I am currently rewatching act 2 before bed and I got no time for this video soooo now I guess I am watching both now at the same time
Hey, I'm actually early. The emotions in this act! I was not expecting the ww therapy arcane, so good.
my theory is that mel is the daughter of an aspect
more specifically she’s the daughter of the aspect of war pantheon,what makes me speculate this is what we know about ambessa her ambitions n ideals how she believes in war as a classic noxian so that would make sense for her to fall in love with the literal aspect of war. in addition from the flashback of mels past we can see on her attire symbols that look very similar to solari ones and also her gear that she wears on her back also resembles the locket of iron solari in game. i can also mention how ambessas launch skin which has her with specific characters that are all related to her in some way,swain is her nemesis,katarina is swains follower,kindered is the embodiment of death that gave her a second chance n then there’s pantheon i do not think it’s a coincidence so that would make mel something like morgana and kayle who are also half human n half daughters of the vessel of the aspect of justice that makes them next in line to be a host for the aspect
There was already a League of Legends Jinx that existed at one point in the Arcane timeline, they have already accomplished in creating that character, anything and everything past that and forward should be just Arcane Jinx story. Even with Isha not coming back, and I maybe am reading too deep into it, but Isha's Song had lyrics that seemed to carry Isha's message to Jinx, wishing for her to live on, live free from all the grief, and guilt, and trauma that have been haunting her, there's no better way to celebrate Isha as a character and not just a plot device than giving Jinx the chance to finally heal as Isha had once healed her. That's how I personally wish things would go, but we will see how it all ends in about 2 hours (after ep 7 and 8)