Arcane

[Draconi Redfir]

have not fully read thread yet, so apologies if this stuff has already been covered. just eager to post some thoughts.

Spoiler: episodes 4-6

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So what do you think Jinx is going to make with the Hextech gem? (assuming she gets it back). My guess? That glowing blue pistol she's got in the game / music video. I noticed she seems to have that pistol already, but i'm also seeing a distinct lack of glowing blue and energy-shooting, so i think it just shoots bullets right now?

Shouldn't Jinx have / had another unstable crystal? Could have sworn she swiped four in the first episode, but only used three in the monkey bomb. was i wrong there?

Speaking of the Jinx music video, seems that song is canon in the show, and she listens to it. So what do you think, did Jinx go through a brief music stint and record her own song while growing up? Or is it an unnamed musician singing a song that just coincidentally REALLY fits with Jinx? Personally I'm assuming the former, more funny that way.

Wasn't the guy who helped Caitlen get the medicine (with the big blob eye) the white-hair kid from the first three episodes? Thought that's what they were going for there, but people keep saying that kid is still missing.

Only major questions / comments for now, going to catch up on the rest of the thread.

[Psyren]

have not fully read thread yet, so apologies if this stuff has already been covered. just eager to post some thoughts.

Spoiler: episodes 4-6

Show

So what do you think Jinx is going to make with the Hextech gem? (assuming she gets it back). My guess? That glowing blue pistol she's got in the game / music video. I noticed she seems to have that pistol already, but i'm also seeing a distinct lack of glowing blue and energy-shooting, so i think it just shoots bullets right now?

Shouldn't Jinx have / had another unstable crystal? Could have sworn she swiped four in the first episode, but only used three in the monkey bomb. was i wrong there?

Speaking of the Jinx music video, seems that song is canon in the show, and she listens to it. So what do you think, did Jinx go through a brief music stint and record her own song while growing up? Or is it an unnamed musician singing a song that just coincidentally REALLY fits with Jinx? Personally I'm assuming the former, more funny that way.

Wasn't the guy who helped Caitlen get the medicine (with the big blob eye) the white-hair kid from the first three episodes? Thought that's what they were going for there, but people keep saying that kid is still missing.

Only major questions / comments for now, going to catch up on the rest of the thread.

I didn't think that Gollum-type was Ekko but I could be wrong, I'm not familiar enough with these characters to spot any tells.

[Draconi Redfir]

same. my only real "clue" for that idea is him saying he knew Vi for her whole life, which sounds like something ekko would say? And he had glasses... and Ekko was a smart kid? *Shrug*

not a lot to hold up on, but he seemed like an important character we should know about, and Ekko is the only character i can remember from the first three episodes who A) isn't already present, and B) isn't explicitly dead.

[Rodin]

Spoiler: Gollum kid

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Look at the glasses. They appear to be the same ones Claggor (the chubby kid in Vi's childhood gang) was wearing. They're basically destroyed at this point, but I think the design is the same. This makes me think he survived the explosion, but only barely. Silco saved his life, but his injuries plus the effects from the drugs given to him reduced him to that pitiful state. That tracks with knowing Vi her whole life but not wanting to be seen by her now.

As for Ekko, I'd say it's near 100% that he's going to be one of the Fireflies.

[D-naras]

Spoiler: Gollum kid

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The mutant that helps Vi and Cait is the person Vander helped out in the first episode from being ripped off in his bar.

[Ivellius]

I just want to talk to people about this show!

Spoiler: How many problems can one girl cause?

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One thing I'm confused about is Sherriff Marco. Pre-Timeskip the Council was up in arms about getting the perpetrator of the burglary/attack, because the thought of the problems in the Lanes spilling out into Piltover terrified them. Marco gets the ringleader, and apparently just anonymously locks her up while telling Silco she's dead? Maybe he told the Council the same thing? Or he dragged her in, and once the Council saw that the robber they were causing such a fuss about was a child they decided it was better to just bury the whole thing rather than putting on a big show. Especially with the discovery of Hextech distracting people.

Or maybe the council just Forgot about the robbery (what with Hextech and all), and Marco couldn't bring himself to kill a child, so he just threw her in jail with no records.

Spoiler: Silco

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So, it's interesting.

Pre-Timeskip, it looked like Silco was about ready to restart his war with Topside. He had his new weapon (Shimmer), tensions were high, and the man standing in his way (Vander) was gone.

Post-timeskip, it looks like he never really took steps in that direction. He's set himself up as a slumlord/kingpin, he's known Topside as an Industrialist, he's smuggling Shimmer across the world and has taken over Vander's old seat of power, but we havn't gotten any sense that he's actually taken a lot of direct steps towards revolution against the topsiders.

Jinx forces his hand by attacking Topside and stealing the gemstone, at which point he wants her to weaponize it for him, but before that point he seems more like a powerful mob boss than a revolutionary, a marked contrast with how he was pre-timeskip. Maybe he's playing some long game? Or he's just kind of mellowed out now that he's in a position of power.

Spoiler: Jinx

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Considering the character's whole...thing, it feels a little odd to call out her characterization as being inconsistent, but it did kind of bug me. A lot of the time she acts like a surly teenager, and she lashes out when stressed, but there's a few moments (like the whole scene with the bartender) where she's a lot more childlike. It seems like those scenes were written early as character pieces for a take that was closer to how she is in-game, but the rest of the writing didn't really keep her at that level.

Spoiler: Collection of thoughts

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I guess the intention probably is that the death of Grayson (and the other Enforcers) mostly did blow over. The most satisfying head-canon I can give is that they probably blamed Vander and his band of orphans after all, with Vi and Jinx being written off as dead in the explosion? Covering up something that big would be difficult, and the correct connection between the robbery and explosion at the warehouse would be an easy / obvious out. Not that it's really mentioned when Jayce is confronted with the implications of hextech gemstones, where it would make sense, but I think it lines up.

Silco himself does seem to have gotten complacent. I would probably justify it as being scared of hextech: he's seen its destructive power and likely doesn't know all of the implications / uses that Piltover might have for it, and while Shimmer-mutated thugs are handy as a start, I'd say Episode 6 may have indirectly highlighted that going that route didn't work out terribly well. Singed may have withdrawn some support, too, after dealing with his injuries, though the prevalence of Shimmer makes me think that's unlikely. I suppose it's also possible that raising Jinx distracted him a bit. (But yeah, I love the irony that he basically just took Vander's place and got bogged down with being the unofficial crime lord of Zaun.)

Jinx I think is intended to be very...stunted in her development. Silco presumably doesn't have a lot of experience with kids, and her upbringing with Vander was likely not ideal, either. I actually like that she's "off" in her development, though I can see why it might feel inconsistent. Oh, and I loved Vi's calling her Pow-Pow (it will later be the name she attaches to her minigun).

Spoiler: Responses

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Silco seems to have the Sherriff in his pocket, so it's possible none of his people have been in and out of the prison. People who HAVE been in and out of the prison might know about an angry girl with pink hair, but not necessarily connect it to Vander's old daughter.
Vi also doesn't seem to be aware of a young blue-haired maniac named Jinx who works for Silco, so it's possible she just didn't get much interaction with the other Inmates. She assumes Caitlyn works for Silco, but since Silco doesn't even know Vi is alive, it seems likely that Vi hasn't actually had much interaction with Silco's organization, she just assumes that all the corrupt guards and other prisoners she meets are on Silco's payroll. It was basically luck that her belief (Silco is behind everything) happened to match up with Reality, as well as being the lead Caitlyn was looking for as far as the identity of her mastermind.

Shimmer appears to have been turned from a weapon into a drug, he's exporting a lot of it and using it to build up his power base. As I mentioned, the Revolution he promised in Act 1 hasn't really manifested, and he seems to be comfortably settling into his role as a crime lord. Possibly he's spreading the addiction so he can build up a critical mass of volunteers to take it? The Shimmer-Monster from Act 1 was pretty tough, but a handful of them wouldn't do anything against gun-wielding enforcers. He'd need to build an army of people willing to take the monster-drug and follow his orders.

Spoiler: Imprisonment and Drugs

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I think it's possible that a lot of the people Vi was roughing up didn't really work for Silco or at least not closely--more like general thugs that may have been loosely in the "organization" but so far down the ladder they didn't know anything about Jinx / Silco's direct activities. Judging from the Council Archives, it seems that Vi was at least willing to consider that Powder was dead, so yeah, more or less a coincidence.

I agree about the Shimmer usage, and I think Episode 6 showed why that critical mass didn't really happen.

Spoiler: Jayce and Viktor

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All that "he's like a brother to me" felt so wishy-washy. There's definite chemistry between those two, far more than between Jayce and Medarda. Don't be cowards Netflix!!!

Spoiler: Shipping

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Everyone is bi in this show. #ChangeMyMind

Spoiler: episodes 4-6

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So what do you think Jinx is going to make with the Hextech gem? (assuming she gets it back). My guess? That glowing blue pistol she's got in the game / music video. I noticed she seems to have that pistol already, but i'm also seeing a distinct lack of glowing blue and energy-shooting, so i think it just shoots bullets right now?

Shouldn't Jinx have / had another unstable crystal? Could have sworn she swiped four in the first episode, but only used three in the monkey bomb. was i wrong there?

Spoiler: Hextech

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Hm, Zapper does kind of seem to be powered by Hextech, but that feels a little low-stakes to me. I don't know if they're keeping track of swiped crystals or not: I'd assume she doesn't have any others at this point given, well...everything, but I guess it's possible.

[BRC]

Spoiler: Silco and Jinx

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I'm of the opinion that Silco THINKS he's helping Jinx process her trauma, but that's because he has his own unprocessed trauma that he's projecting onto her.


Silco's Trauma is Betrayal. When the cost of the revolution turned out to be too high Vander tried to drown him. He's never moved on from that, but he THINKS he has. He thinks that what you do when betrayed is that you let the experience harden you and strip away your weakness.

He only saw Powder get "Betrayed" by Vi. He saw the hit and Vi walking away, and he's projecting HARD onto Jinx because of that. But, Jinx doesn't just have trauma from Vi's actions. Silco never felt guilty about the rebellion, only anger at being betrayed. Jinx's Trauma is deeply rooted in Guilt. So, not only is he giving her bad advice (Silco is not exactly the picture of mental health), he's also unable to actually help her because he's so full of his own issues that he's unable to see that she's got something different going on.

That said, Silco thinks Jinx is "Perfect" because, as we've already seen, his philosophy is that Power comes from a lack of restraint, "Letting the Monster out", and Jinx is very much Unrestrained. For Silco, his lack of restraint comes from anger and dedication to a cause. For Jinx, it mostly seems to be fear of being abandoned for being Useless, combined with intense stress due to her trauma.

Spoiler: Silco's Game

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Silco's Goal is rebellion against Topside. In Act 1, he had Shimmer, and talked about using it as a weapon.

By act 2, he's mostly a drug lord. It's possible that the side-effects of Shimmer means he can't get enough people to take it, not in "Hulk Mode" Doses anyway. He's spread it through the underground as a drug, and is smuggling it elsewhere, but he's not exactly recruiting for an army.


That said, he does mention that he had assumed Vi was the prize of Vander's family, presumably because she's a prodigy brawler, but that Jinx was the real gem. It's very possible that his long game is based around having at least two mad scientists: Jinx and Singed, in his employ. He mentions the smuggling going bad will set them back "Weeks", implying some sort of reasonably imminent plan, unless he's just talking about money.

Spoiler: Gollum Kid

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That's not a kid. It's the Merchant Vander helps out in Episode 1. His voice and glasses are distinctive.

[Psyren]

Spoiler: Gollum kid

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Look at the glasses. They appear to be the same ones Claggor (the chubby kid in Vi's childhood gang) was wearing. They're basically destroyed at this point, but I think the design is the same. This makes me think he survived the explosion, but only barely. Silco saved his life, but his injuries plus the effects from the drugs given to him reduced him to that pitiful state. That tracks with knowing Vi her whole life but not wanting to be seen by her now.

As for Ekko, I'd say it's near 100% that he's going to be one of the Fireflies.

Spoiler: Gollum kid

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The mutant that helps Vi and Cait is the person Vander helped out in the first episode from being ripped off in his bar.

Spoiler: Gollum Kid

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That's not a kid. It's the Merchant Vander helps out in Episode 1. His voice and glasses are distinctive.

Thanks! I figured that wasn't him.

And yes, definitely looking forward to seeing what Ekko's been up to all this time.

Question: League has a lot of factions, and we've so far seen two(?). What are the odds we see more, and where are the Fireflies likely to fit in?

Spoiler: Shipping

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Everyone is bi in this show. #ChangeMyMind

I'm getting massive vibes between Vi and Caitlyn too. And Silco and Vander had more than a little jilted lovers subtext going on. Open the floodgates dammit

[Draconi Redfir]

And Silco and Vander had more than a little jilted lovers subtext going on. Open the floodgates dammit

They were brothers man! don't be weird! (Comment made with intent of humor, not hostility)

[Ivellius]

Question: League has a lot of factions, and we've so far seen two(?). What are the odds we see more, and where are the Fireflies likely to fit in?

I'm getting massive vibes between Vi and Caitlyn too. And Silco and Vander had more than a little jilted lovers subtext going on. Open the floodgates dammit

The ones along the lines of national factions are going to be basically in the background (like Noxus has gotten a few mentions, and Mel seems to be connected with Shurima, more or less). With the more local ones like we're getting in this show, they're just city-level groups. One of the things Legends of Runeterra did was basically give every champion such a "local" faction,* for better or for worse, so the Firelights are probably just [redacted]'s gang: a small group with a distinct theme held together by their leader. In terms of a more formal structure, Zaun doesn't really have that (the Chem-Barons each have their own organizations in mirror of Piltover's noble houses, I guess)

Vi / Cait has always had those undertones, for what it's worth.

* For instance, even the revenant Sion has a whole cadre of hemomancers / reborn soldiers now, and the fallen Ascended / locked away for 10,000 years Xerath gets a dark cult.

[Psyren]

They were brothers man! don't be weird! (Comment made with intent of humor, not hostility)

Oh I actually missed the adoption detail redacted! Genuinely thought they were just close friends / co-conspirators.

[Draconi Redfir]

Pretty sure Silco said they were brothers at one point or another during his drowning speech. entirely possible I'm wrong, but I'm like, 80% positive on that.

Nothing wrong with dudes just being close friends either way.

[Psyren]

I mean, Jayce said Viktor was his "brother" too, which I also didn't take literally; meeting these characters for the first time it's difficult for me to keep all the relationships straight. (Heh, straight.) But I digress.

So is the thought then that we'll be focusing exclusively on Piltover vs. Zaun for this show? I was really hoping to learn more about Demacia. And is the Shimmer stuff connected to the Void in some way?

[Draconi Redfir]

I mean, Jayce said Viktor was his "brother" too, which I also didn't take literally

He said like a brother, which is an entirely different thing :P

[Tvtyrant]

Also I have to say Jayce and Victor have one of my favorite relationships in a show. Genuinely close and supportive male friendships is extremely under utilized.

[Ivellius]

Pretty sure Silco said they were brothers at one point or another during his drowning speech. entirely possible I'm wrong, but I'm like, 80% positive on that.

Nothing wrong with dudes just being close friends either way.

He did use the term "brother," though whether that means biological or voluntary isn't fully established, I wouldn't say.

So is the thought then that we'll be focusing exclusively on Piltover vs. Zaun for this show? I was really hoping to learn more about Demacia. And is the Shimmer stuff connected to the Void in some way?

Yeah, I don't expect Demacia to feature really at all--they're a small (even if powerful) nation halfway across the world, and they don't have a lot of natural ties to Piltover (being a generic fantasy kingdom focused on anti-magic). Noxus-Zaun have a fairly close connection, and Shurima is much more geographically close, but this was always going to be mainly a P/Z show. (But if it does well I wouldn't be surprised to see other series in this world.)

Spoiler: Shimmer, more speculation than spoiler

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Given the colors and its effects on Rio, I'd say it probably is connected to the Void somehow. The flowers are very purple and underground; both correlate with Void corruption. The regenerative properties also suggest that to me, as the Void can twist but also strengthen living things. I think it'd be a nice tie, at least.

[Tvtyrant]

They actually mentioned the Shadow Isles earlier, so there is a chance of Karthus in the next series!

[MCerberus]

Future series speculation: I think the next Arcane, or whatever they call it, depends on how big they want to go. Noxus or Demacia don't require much setup and you could do similar sized stories like an ongoing mage rebellion or the Noxian politics. Next size up is to get the Ionian/Noxus war, which used to be the big recent event in the lore. Then there's "we're making season 8 of GoT and doing it right this time" Freljord. Long story short, actual living demigods are mad at each other, and there's a civil war going on at the same time the apocalypse is leaking.

More details under the cut.

Spoiler

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Alright so currently the main characters are either echos, fated leaders, or reincarnation of three tribal leaders that rebelled against an ultimate evil. They then tricked the god of craftsmanship (Aesir style) into building a seal over where the endless pit into the depths they cast the evil down into. Except they lied to the god so he built flaws into his work and it will crumble.

Alright so fast forward hundreds of years. Leader one, Ashe, is trying to unite the tribes and is engaged in a civil war with leader 2, Sejuani, who is trying to keep the old ways alive. Leader 3 has been corrupted by the evil and is currently working on bringing forth the end of days, and part of the plan is to corrupt and control a living god that happens to be one of the only unambiguously good characters in the setting.

Oh and there's a third god running around who's always been a raging wildcard of destruction. The grim reaper of the ice is a giant bear that shoots lightning and he's got a complicated relationship to the two gods mentioned earlier, Ornn and Anivia. It involves mass murder.

So yah there's a lot going on there that needs resolved. And that's not even talking about more grounded characters like Braum. Oh, and they have a lot of sweet music in the tank they can use

[PhantomFox]

Future series speculation: I think the next Arcane, or whatever they call it, depends on how big they want to go. Noxus or Demacia don't require much setup and you could do similar sized stories like an ongoing mage rebellion or the Noxian politics. Next size up is to get the Ionian/Noxus war, which used to be the big recent event in the lore. Then there's "we're making season 8 of GoT and doing it right this time" Freljord. Long story short, actual living demigods are mad at each other, and there's a civil war going on at the same time the apocalypse is leaking.

More details under the cut.

Spoiler

Show

Alright so currently the main characters are either echos, fated leaders, or reincarnation of three tribal leaders that rebelled against an ultimate evil. They then tricked the god of craftsmanship (Aesir style) into building a seal over where the endless pit into the depths they cast the evil down into. Except they lied to the god so he built flaws into his work and it will crumble.

Alright so fast forward hundreds of years. Leader one, Ashe, is trying to unite the tribes and is engaged in a civil war with leader 2, Sejuani, who is trying to keep the old ways alive. Leader 3 has been corrupted by the evil and is currently working on bringing forth the end of days, and part of the plan is to corrupt and control a living god that happens to be one of the only unambiguously good characters in the setting.

Oh and there's a third god running around who's always been a raging wildcard of destruction. The grim reaper of the ice is a giant bear that shoots lightning and he's got a complicated relationship to the two gods mentioned earlier, Ornn and Anivia. It involves mass murder.

So yah there's a lot going on there that needs resolved. And that's not even talking about more grounded characters like Braum. Oh, and they have a lot of sweet music in the tank they can use

I was under the impression that Ornn's bridge would have held if Lissandra hadn't magiced it up.
"It's always the magic bits that break first..."

[MCerberus]

I was under the impression that Ornn's bridge would have held if Lissandra hadn't magiced it up.
"It's always the magic bits that break first..."

Wouldn't be surprised if the story of building the bridge were embellished, but it could be that in order to fail there needed to be a physical and magical defect. Or it could be the millions of bored people blowing up the bridge for funsies every week.

[Ivellius]

Spoiler: Act III Factional Stuff based on the teaser

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Looks like we're getting to see some Noxians!

[Draconi Redfir]

Spoiler: Episodes 7-9

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Well! That was quite the ending wasn't it!? Was surprised to see it was Jinx's rocket launcher that became her hextech weapon, was still holding out hope it'd be the pistol. maybe that's something that will come up in a future season? Either way, that's one HELL of a way to go out!

Still a lot of interesting places this could go. Heimerdinger with the firelights, the council likely being killed, whatever is happening with that mutation scientist and victor... interesting places indeed...

Also that fight scene between Ekko and Jinx was FANTASTIC!

[MCerberus]

Watched through ep 7 and something hit me, general theming and tone spoilers

Spoiler

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This is the darkest piece of media I've seen in a long long time. We're not talking edgy dark.
The entire premise is that every person is broken and led to tragedy by decisions that were made inevitable by what the world has done to them.

Look at the undersiders. They could have done it. They were rescued, raised, and given the dream that they could have made the world better. Then the events of the first series happened.
Viktor would have changed the world. But he was raised in a toxic hellpit that gave him his fatal illness.
Jayce and his GF dreamed of peace in a way their past let them.
Even Silco lets his mask drop. He's as broken as everyone.
Jinx, even Jinx was vulnerable. To be clear, she's had trauma enough to completely break someone, taken in and warped. She can easily be interpreted to have schizophrenic episodes, and that was also used to break her.

and everything is misery. You can feel the dread. You see the inevitability of it all. You know what's going to happen. You hope someone, anyone will break the cycle.
They won't.
Because they're broken people.
spongebob quote here

And I actually can't help but wonder if the (we are talking the purely academic term here) Marxist undertones about society aren't super intentional

edit aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand episode 8 fits in with this

Spoiler

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Victor no
Jaynce no. no. nononononono

[BRC]

Watched through ep 7 and something hit me, general theming and tone spoilers

Spoiler

Show

This is the darkest piece of media I've seen in a long long time. We're not talking edgy dark.
The entire premise is that every person is broken and led to tragedy by decisions that were made inevitable by what the world has done to them.

Look at the undersiders. They could have done it. They were rescued, raised, and given the dream that they could have made the world better. Then the events of the first series happened.
Viktor would have changed the world. But he was raised in a toxic hellpit that gave him his fatal illness.
Jayce and his GF dreamed of peace in a way their past let them.
Even Silco lets his mask drop. He's as broken as everyone.
Jinx, even Jinx was vulnerable. To be clear, she's had trauma enough to completely break someone, taken in and warped. She can easily be interpreted to have schizophrenic episodes, and that was also used to break her.

and everything is misery. You can feel the dread. You see the inevitability of it all. You know what's going to happen. You hope someone, anyone will break the cycle.
They won't.
Because they're broken people.
spongebob quote here

And I actually can't help but wonder if the (we are talking the purely academic term here) Marxist undertones about society aren't super intentional

Spoiler: On the nature of Tragedy

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This series has really crystalized how I define a good Tragedy. That combination of Inevitability and Avoidability.

Like, all the horrible events of the series were AVOIDABLE, but each step of the way made enough sense that it all comes together as Inevitable.

I'll have more thoughts later, but what really drove it home for me was the shot when Jinx sits down in her chair, treating it like a throne.

That shot of Jinx in the chair has been the header art for the series, Jinx has been staring at me from that chair every time I've opened up Netflix for the past few weeks. And so it kind of drove home "Oh, it ends here. Of course it ends here".

[MCerberus]

Spoiler: On the nature of Tragedy

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This series has really crystalized how I define a good Tragedy. That combination of Inevitability and Avoidability.

Like, all the horrible events of the series were AVOIDABLE, but each step of the way made enough sense that it all comes together as Inevitable.

I'll have more thoughts later, but what really drove it home for me was the shot when Jinx sits down in her chair, treating it like a throne.

That shot of Jinx in the chair has been the header art for the series, Jinx has been staring at me from that chair every time I've opened up Netflix for the past few weeks. And so it kind of drove home "Oh, it ends here. Of course it ends here".

Spoiler

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What's really interesting is that this is post-Greek and post-Gothic views on tragedy.
The Greeks saw tragedy as great people laid low by their flaws. Everyone starts mortal with all the potential and flaws shown.
In Gothic tragedies you always have the over-large heroes. Maybe they lose, sacrifice on the way, but the moral character is never in question.
This series is very modern in how it treats characters. Name a villain, and they deliberately point out their humanity, how they came to that point. Name a hero... oh you kind of can't.
Well maybe Viktor's a gothic hero.

It's actually pretty refreshing to see this kind of stuff in a storyline targeted at mass audience appeal. This is, if anything, FRESH. I know I'm ignoring a lot of flaws because of it, but there's effort and newness and it's all mixed with technical competence.

[BRC]

Spoiler

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What's really interesting is that this is post-Greek and post-Gothic views on tragedy.
The Greeks saw tragedy as great people laid low by their flaws. Everyone starts mortal with all the potential and flaws shown.
In Gothic tragedies you always have the over-large heroes. Maybe they lose, sacrifice on the way, but the moral character is never in question.
This series is very modern in how it treats characters. Name a villain, and they deliberately point out their humanity, how they came to that point. Name a hero... oh you kind of can't.
Well maybe Viktor's a gothic hero.

It's actually pretty refreshing to see this kind of stuff in a storyline targeted at mass audience appeal. This is, if anything, FRESH. I know I'm ignoring a lot of flaws because of it, but there's effort and newness and it's all mixed with technical competence.

Spoiler: On the Subject of Heroes

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Heroes is an interesting concept here because...this story doesn't really have any.

We WANT there to be a Hero, somebody who is Standing Up against Silco and the Council.

Like, we have Vander, but Vander's quiet nobility is that he recognizes that the fight isnt' worth it, which most stories would paint him as a coward.

We have Silco, who decides that the fight IS worth it, but he's a monster.

Jayce talks the talk and his heart is in the right zip code, if not the right place, but he's an idiot who talks about "helping the people of the undercity" while seeing them as animals who the proper citizens of Piltover must be protected from.

Vi? Vi seems like our go-to hero, but she's in this to save her sister and fight Silco. We see that in the Refinery scene. The events of her life have burned any sense of heroism out of her. When she see's Jayce kill a child by mistake, Jayce is horrified, but she considers that a low cost. She's ended up in the same place as Silco.


The people who best fit the role of Hero in our story are those with less grand ambitions. Caitlyn is a fool who thinks she's solving a mystery until the brokeneness of the system is shoved in her face. Viktor wants to help the people of the undercity, but unlike Jayce he's not a politician. The closest he comes is refusing to make weapons. Ekko would be our Hero, but he seems primarily concerned with protecting his little enclave and styming Silco. Ekko is the Hope in this story, but he's not a solution.


Because there isn't a solution. For there to be a Solution separates everybody into the camps of "Right" and "Wrong", and this is a tragedy. A tragedy is where nobody is Wrong, but everything ends badly.

[MCerberus]

Ending spoilers

Spoiler

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YOU PULL THAT ENDING WHEN YOU DIDN'T KNOW IF YOU WERE MAKING A SECOND SEASON?!

[Draconi Redfir]

Ending spoilers

Spoiler

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YOU PULL THAT ENDING WHEN YOU DIDN'T KNOW IF YOU WERE MAKING A SECOND SEASON?!

Spoiler: Re:Ending

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lots of shows do that. they'll leave an intentional cliffhanger to try and drive up demand for another season. Terra Nova comes to mind, can't think of any others off the top of my head but i know they're there.

Plus this ending kind of mimics the beginning of "Get Jinxed" where a whole bunch of missiles are flying towards Pilltover. So you could potentially say the ending of Arcane and the beginning of Get Jinxed are the same event, but with Jinxed just told through an unreliable narrator.

[slayerx]

Ending spoilers

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YOU PULL THAT ENDING WHEN YOU DIDN'T KNOW IF YOU WERE MAKING A SECOND SEASON?!

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nu9HTOIUxLk

[HalfTangible]

I hope you know we had everything
But you broke me and left these pieces
I want you to hurt like you hurt me today
I want you to lose like I lose when I play

I want you to hurt like you hurt me today
I want you to lose like I lose when I play

What could've been...

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Arcane has the same problem Runeterra has always had, that Riot seems unable to advance the plot of its universe without at least 3 retcons.

But that's the *worst* I can say about it, and even then the series isn't over so the retcons are debatable. It's one of the best shows I've seen in years.

Spoiler: Thoughts in no particular order

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Powder starts out the series a little unstable, and so when Vi's outburst breaks her it fits perfectly.

Joker: "All it takes is one bad day..."

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I did not go into this expecting to see Viktor pull Jayce back from suicide (and vice versa later on), nor to see the wedge grow between their priorities in real time. But it's an incredibly welcome element.

These two aren't even the main character pairing but I could talk about them for hours.

The contrast between Viktor missing his lab assistant's signals and Jayce banging Mel is incredible. While Viktor falls lower, Jayce soars higher.

But then Jayce abandons his lady to go be with Viktor when he learns he's dying. You KNOW these two are friends. It's such a bittersweet thing to see, because you know how they're both going to end up. With Jayce as the self-absorbed iron man in an eternal war with Viktor Von Doom.

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I wasn't expecting Vandred to be the origin of Vi's fighting style, but in context it works, and it gives Vi's future as an Enforcer a good basis.

Also he's probably Warwick.

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"Vi, it worked!! =D"

One of the saddest lines in the entire show said so happily.

It's pretty clear even before the explosion at Siloc's that Powder is mentally unstable and fraying at the edges. You can see Jinx starting to form, from her very first gadget and the punk paintings she puts on everything.

And the fire at Siloc's... my god.

Going in, I expected that Powder would get caught somehow and the group would need to throw themselves back into danger to save her. But that's not what happened. Vi's outburst, while extreme, is completely understandable. There are so many stories that have this sort of sibling/family break-up thing but they don't do anything to earn it.

And listening to Powder sob and beg Vi to come back is just heartbreaking.

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One thing that makes Arcane truly amazing imo is that even the show's few contrivances have character beats.

Example: Vi still cares about Powder, but right before she goes back, she gets caught by an Enforcer. The same enforcer who becomes Sheriff later.

He thinks he's saving her. And honestly, he probably is. If Vi had gone in there, she and Powder would both be dead. Instead, we plant the seed that the sheriff is having misgivings about Silco right from the start, and we give Silco a connection to Powder that drives him to take her in. In a lesser show, the enforcer would've just *been there* to prevent Vi from going back and making up for what she'd said.

Here, though? You establish and develop 4 separate character arcs in a single go.

Love it. And I'm just scratching the surface with all of this.

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... Seeing how Jayce is unintentionally overshadowing Viktor is so sad to see, knowing where it ends up

He's sickly and has a hard time standing up. So Jayce holds out a hand to basically say "i got this, you don't gotta stand"

And without realizing it pushes him into the shadows. For the second time that episode.

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Mel is initially miffed that Jayce left her to wake up alone, until he explains that A) Viktor's dying, and B) he went to talk to her about it because "nothing feels impossible when I'm with you"

Which is just

D'aw

You don't always need drama. Surprisingly, sometimes two characters are banging because they like each other

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"What about us?"

... Caitlyn you've known Vi for all of like 2 days. Been some cute bonding, I will grant, and some serious danger, but it's not like you were in a relationship.

Not that I wouldn't support it; Vi and Caitlyn clearly have chemistry. They never really have a moment where they become a couple but they certainly care about and like each other.

Maybe they will be Riot's big LGBT couple and Diana x Leona can finally friggen die

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"I made her a snack~"
>Vi freaking out
"... geez! I'm not that crazy!!"

Jinx you know exactly what you were implying!

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... Silco is an amazing villain. And a great example of a villain with a character arc.

He starts out a violent revolutionary who can't even imagine why Vandren would value the lives of friends and family over the freedom of Zaun...
...and by the end of the series he's presented with everything he could want - sovereignty for Zaun, blanket amnesty for their crimes, unrestricted trade (including through the hexgates) - in exchange for his daughter. And he can't do it.

And he realizes it, too. He pours one out for a man he once hated and lost all respect for because he finally understands. And the last thing he does is assure his daughter that he loves her, that she's perfect.

He's still an evil monster, but he's human. And it's amazing.