Jayce killing that kid is one of my favorite developments in the show... I know how it sounds haha, but hear me out. Up to this point we've been told and shown countless times that violence doesn't give good results, that both Vi and Jayce rarely think things through, and that Zaun isn't some uniform group of evil people... so when two reckless characters decided to play vigilantes despite everyone telling them its a bad idea and it turned into one of the best action sequences in the show, I got a bit worried that the writers are muddling their own message. Until the kid gets shot, and it turns out that not only did they show us exactly the thing they were warning us about, they also managed to make the viewer feel like shit for getting pumped up by the action.
@@ninjatoriumnova2483 your comment had one hell of an opening pitch 😂 but I definitely see where you’re coming from. I was initially skeptical of the entire thing until the action started and I got lost in all the spectacle, then BOOM, a kid is killed and I’m suddenly remembering why this was a horrible idea
@@artxroyalty It also adds more nuance to when they show a lot of children being used as labor in a toxic and dangerous environment. Sure, everyone is probably just trying to survive, but a choice of blindly compromising to Silco's demands isn't necessarily the best for everyone in the undercity when he is willing to sacrifice anything to gain power.
@@artxroyalty It arguably goes a level even deeper than that. In episode 2, Heimerdinger says he's "seen this power in the wrong hands," and Jayce tries to make the case that it's okay if that power is wielded by the "right hands," presuming those hands are his own and those of the scientists of Piltover. And here in episode 8, he learns in an instant that maybe his hands aren't the right hands, but by that time it's far, far too late.
You're all very correct but I also want to push back a little bit with Vi's POV from the start of Ep9: if children are being forced to work in dangerous factories all the time, and dying constantly in the process, as heartless as it sounds, one dead kid to terminate the shimmer factories (which products by the way ALSO cause more deaths down in the depths of the city) isn't necessarily a bad thing. Jayce is very hung up about the fact that his hands are what caused the kids death, but his position as a councilor already makes him responsible for letting this childlabor happen right under their noses. Doing nothing about it and leaving silco unchecked is something that has also cost lots of people including childrens lives.
@@mathies3598 butt the onus of all that ultimately lies on the other councilors not Jayce, who've only been at it for like a week. Heimerdinger has been at it for centuries tunnel visioned to the idealism of progress to the detriment of Zaun. I feel like Jayce and Victor are the only ones who are quick to abandon naive ideals for the betterment of those they see are affected. Sure it took seeing the consequences of their actions directly in their dying face for them to change but compared to Silco's, the counsilors, and even Vi's stubbornness, the science bros seem to grasp their flaws pragmatically in the end.
5:24 I find this scene way funnier considering the creators basically confirmed that Caitlyn has had a trend of sneaking girls into her bedroom. Amanda Overton (writer for Arcane) was asked about this on Twitter and responded with "there was certainly *something* familiar to Caitlyn's mom in that sequence." XD
Viktor's arc is definitely one of the harder ones to fully track on the first watch through, but it's one of my favorites! So to answer some of your questions (no spoilers): Early on it's established that the hexcore reacts to organic matter. It can make plants grow massive almost instantaneously, but they end up being consumed by the transmutation and turn to dust. When Viktor consults Singed about it, he's told the problem isn't his calculations - it's that his subjects aren't strong enough to survive. That's why Viktor needs the shimmer; he needs to strengthen his body to survive the transmutation. On a related note, Singed mentions it's a "variant" of shimmer. He's had many years at this point to refine the product, so it doesn't necessarily make you a monstrous addict now. When Viktor does the first transmutation, he tests it on his leg. He only has transmutation runes carved into his leg and prosthesis, and he injects the entire vial of shimmer into his leg. So while he can now walk again, he's still dying - he needs new lungs. But... He's out of shimmer. He decides to risk it, and carves runes into his chest to prepare for a final transmutation. A failed transmutation he likely wouldn't have survived, if not for Sky's unwitting sacrifice.
@@enteruniquehandlehere now this makes so much more sense, thank you! I didn’t get what the symbols he’d been carving on himself meant and the fact that you explained them and their placements as well, honestly thank you 💜
I agree with everything you said but ill add that the hexcore needs energy to complete the transformations. Because its had no other source its just been using the plants/entities own evergy which is why they basically disintegrate afterwards. The shimmer viktor took is what stabilized his body and prevented his body from falling apart. But later without the shimmer he would have died but skye intervened at the last moment
when Singed asked Silco whether he was "prepared to lose her" he didn't mean what Silco thought he meant. Singed also told Vicktor that "they will despise you..." when he gave him the Shimmer. Singed has his own priorities, none of which concern themselves with other peoples. LOL Jinx is born.
Don't worry about not catching everything. The people in the comment section watched every analysis video available on RU-vid, no wonder they know more than what you can catch.
This is the first episode where we really and unquestionable see that Silco really loves Jinx like a daughter. Sure he values her for her tinkering skills and wants her to finish "the weapon" but that's not his reason for keeping her around. There have been other moments that suggested this was the case but this episode really hammers it home. I remember watching the analysis of a Psychologist/Therapist who noted that Silco was flanked by two big, strong guys when he found Jinx on the bridge. He could have asked them to carry her. They might even have been quicker to the doctor but instead he picked her up himself and carried her all the way down there (you can see that he was out of breath when he arrived there). Not only that, but this could actually undermine his authority with the others. It's showing weakness in front of his enforcers, who're already starting to ask questions.
@@midnight1672 it’s nice to see that nuance, but it’s also a bit conflicting for me bc to see that (in a sense) unconditional love he gives her, it’s both good and damning for her. I love that she finally has that support and acceptance she’s always craved but him igniting her worst impulses too? Idk…it’s wholesome but also extremely toxic.
@@artxroyalty Keep in mind, too, that while Silco's love is undisputed, it's twisted and toxic and controlling. He repeatedly lies to her and plays on her insecurities to keep him loyal to him. And the symbolism of Jinx administering that jab to the eye is not an accident. Silco has taught Jinx that love=pain. Her care of him is to inflict pain on him, so she's more willing to accept his abusive pain he inflicts, and interpret it as "love". It's simultaneously a tender and abusive bond -- much like many real-life abusive relationships I've witnessed. It's easy to paint the assholes as monsters, or to justify their badness with "but . . . their love is genuine". If only it were black and white. It plays out in how he runs the undercity, too -- he "takes care" of the undercity by exploiting the people that live there for the "greater good". I really love that part about this show. We can both sympathize with and curse Silco, right up until the very end. Almost like real human relationships.
Mel mentions to Jayce that she is in exile from her family for "not living up to Medarda standards" when he first talks to her about Viktor dying and mentions it again when Jayce talks about his guilt for betraying Heimerdinger.
Mel pushed Jayce to make weapons because she knows what's out there; other countries (like Noxus, her own counrtry with a history of violence) could very well use violence against Piltover and she wanted the city to be ready, she wanted to protect it. As far as Viktor's leg, the hexcore does seems to have cure it. But it did so with another power source: shimmer. When Viktor tried for a second time, he didn't have Shimmer in his system. The theory is that the hexcore had to use something else as fuel....in this case Sky had the misfortune to be there.
@@Shaevar hmmm ok, so if he had another supply of Shimmer, do you think it’s a possibility he could actually fully heal himself using the hex core? I need to find some kind of video that goes into detail as to what the hex core is fully capable of because it confuses me a bit
@@artxroyalty A big idea behind the Hexcore is that not even Viktor, who invented it, really knows what it is capable of. It seems to be able to drive biological life into overdrive, before burning it out. And according to Viktor he has been trying to make some kind of Hextech device that evolves and adapts. Something that is less equivalent to a magic spell and more equivalent to magic speaking to and through the mage that is using it. Except Hextech has no mages. There isn't a soul or whatever mediating between magic and reality. There is only technology. No one has any idea yet how something like that is supposed to work. It looks pretty scary though, especially after absorbing more and more of Viktors blood, and then Skye's whole body.
@@artxroyalty Potentially, though its hard to say with certainty. They're in uncharted scientific territory, and no one really knows what could happen. The Hexcore capabilities are unknown.
@@artxroyalty there is a video here in youtube that explains about what hexcore really is. But at this point, we in the league community who follow the lore, dont actually know if the known lore of it is still the same or will be retconned. Basically it goes like this: When arcane first came out, the story is based on the current lore of the league universe with sone pretty minor tweaks and changes to fit the story. So we treat the arcane universe as its own universe same with marvel multiverse. But this year recently, a dev blog from riot employee, stated that from this point on onward, any content (gamemode, events, series, cinematics, or music videos) released by riot will be tied to the canon universe universe and also claiming that arcane is fully canon now. So now we are not sure which from the old lore will be retconned to fit the current canon universe. I suggest that you refrain searching anything related to viktor because it will be spoiler territory for season 2. We are 100% sure that viktor and the hextech would be a huge subplot of the 2nd season
I just noticed it while watching this video, but one reason I LOVE this show is, it's always a back to reality. When Jayce is shooting, in rampage, you're like "wow badass, cool moment etc." then they are like "it's not a show for super heroes where everything is great, this is war, this is not bad people vs good people." and he kills a kid. Viktor was doing "great", was getting the formula kind of, and then, he "killed" Skye, because he went too far. Same with Ekko VS Jinx, the fight is badass and really cool, we can enjoy the reference to their past, the art style, the music, but then : they cut the music, the fight is fast, and it's a back to the reality of this fight. Two friends who changed but still saw the child in each others (More Ekko than Jinx) Or Vi and Jinx's reunion : it's cute, lovely, and you are just so happy to see them together again. But Jinx is still Jinx, with her bad mental health, Cait is still trying to find her, etc. etc. You can't have a sweet moment, or a badass moment, without it having its back to the reality of the characters.
This is probably the best summary I've seen of the show so far. And while I have zero hope for it, I do still want a happy fairy tale ending though. They don't have to pull us back to reality at the very end. 😨😨
Sevika is loyal to the cause. She wants the Undercity to be free. She "betrayed" Vander when it became clear he lost his bite and wouldn't fight for the cause. That's what she meant by "weak".
Liking Silco is perfectly reasonable, he's an excellent character. I'm also impressed that you clocked how assaulting Zaun with Vi isn't a very good idea. Most react channel people are ready to sign up immediately, but it's a half-cocked plan based on a severe lack of information, and Vi isn't... smart. In fact, she tends to be wrong in almost everything she believes strongly and make stupid decisions in general. I think Jinx was already way more dangerous than Vi, except in a pure boxing match, probably. Jinx may not have beaten Vi's high score, but Vi had played the boxing game a LOT. Jinx probably hadn't played it much, and she nearly matches Vi when she was about her age, and that's in her weakest skillset... Jinx is an inventor, gunslinger and genius, not a brawler. In any kind of balanced fight, Vi would have little chance, probably, even though her fisticuffs is much better. Also grr grr disrespect disrespect, and so on :P
So arcane did relate this to how have a drug lord and when they use kids and innocent civilians to make them work because the drug lord made it the only option for someone to work and provide food for their families. Jayce shooting the kid symbolize what Mel was talking about, their are always civilians caught in the crossfire.
We don`t really know if there wasn`t other option. Maybe there was, but not as benefitial as cooking shimmer. The only people we saw harming them were enforcers. :D
@@bowwing333as silco says in the next one, normally children in this factory die due to "some petty personal dispute". Yeah death of children is for sure a very common occurence in the shimmer factory
@@mathies3598 Don't think that's what he's referring to at all, he's talking about his relationship to her and the rest of the spoiled barons right then. It's a layered response.
Something I only catched after a second watch, but really liked is that Vi projected her beliefes onto Silco, when she was talking to the council. Silco is a politician, his whole dream is to make the undercity independent and even before hextech he aknowledged in episode 3 taht he will not be able to defeat Piltover. So when Vi said that Silco will never listen to them and hates them with all his being she was talking about herself.
Yessss! I love your comment, I have never seen someone talk about this in the comment section. It's very frustrating that in all reaction channels everyone in this part hates Jayce and criticizes him but when Vi has the same way of dealing with things as him everyone is on her side. Don't get me wrong I don't agree with Jayce obviously, but it is important to listen to what the characters are saying not only support them because they are cool or if you personally like them like with Vi. The beauty of this show is that it all makes sense, Vi and Jayce reaction to the problem are completely understandable because of their life experiences. We as an audience know what Silco wants, he talks about it with Vander and we can see him act when he is alone or with other characters. Jayce haven't even met Silco in person, for him he is only a bad guy and sees only danger from Zaun because he just saw a bunch of dead people blown to pieces in the bridge, people that he put there so he is feeling guilt and fear exacerbated with Ambessa's comments. Vi knows Silco as the person that is responsible for her family's death, Vi is very reckless and has a very simple way of thinking, the only way she learned to solve problems is with fighting people and hitting things, she wants to do exactly that, she thinks that with only hitting Sevika and Silco everything will be solved , but that is not true and it is shown to us not only here with the kid but also in the next episode, not going to say what scene because of spoilers, Vi doesn't take into consideration that even if she just kills Silco the people will suffer because there will be a power vacuum in the undercity with the drug lords, she doesn't take into account that there are people that are angry and will want to start a fight with Piltover just like in act one, Vi has been in a box for seven years so she repeats her mistakes because she didn't have the chance to learn how to better do things in all this years, she just want to punch things and she doesn't understand how the council works, you can't just arrive and start yelling at them for them to hear you out but Vi can't punch them to make them do what she wants so she yells at them because she doesn't know what else to do. As an audience seeing this and how the council reacts is very easy to side with Vi because we know how corrupt they are, they have been doing a horrible job to secure the livelihood of Zaun and they are the rich people that have a very easy life, but in this case they are right and actually thinking in a way that has less death, they are incompetent, corrupt, selfish idiots but they are not evil just for the sake of it.
And I don't think Silco is a good guy either, he wants the independence of Zaun but he is the reason why the people are suffering in his city, he drugs and exploits them, he is not a liberator, he is just as bad as the council in Piltover with all the other crime lords, and I say this as someone that really likes Silco's character.
You're right, thanks for pointing that out. Although, experiences might be a better word. Vi's childhood taught her that most people will exploit you if you show weakness. That's why she doesn't bargain with Decker's (?) crew in ep1. They'd just demand a bigger cut next time, see also the scene with Finn in the Last Drop. She's probably not entirely wrong, either. Sure, Silco's current plan is to scare Piltover enough to get independence, but I'm not convinced he'll stop there if he gets his way. I think the scene with Vander on the catwalk is a mirror of that: he hates Piltover, yet respects it's strength, and won't hesitate to knife it in the back if a chance arises. Jayce has opposite experiences. For much of his life value is measured in persuasion and productivity. If one experiment fails you clear the bench and start another. He hasn't had to deal with problems that are rooted several generations deep, or groups of people with a wide range of goals and morals. I love this show exactly because it shows how sometimes there just aren't good, clear solutions.
@@Belbecat (spoiler for last episode )Silco was angry with Vander because he made a deal with just the sheriff of Piltover, it was a secret deal that helped the section of the undercity that Vander had but the status quo was kept the same, the thing Vander and Grayson had going on helped to save from police brutality just some of the people that were under Vanders protection but the situation didn't get better for the undercity, and even with that if something extraordinary happened Vander had to give away somebody to take the blame so the police wouldn't get involved, that's why Silco saw Vander as a lap dog subservient to Piltover. What Silco wants is the independence of Zaun and he was shown to be very willing to talk with Jayce, the moment he received Jayce's letter he went to talk, and he was ready to accept peace the only thing that stoped the deal was the same thing that stoped Vander in the past, he was going to have to give away his daughter. Again I don't think Silco is a good guy, he says he wants independence for Zaun but he doesn't do it to help his people, he wants to feel powerful and prove to Piltover that the person they as a city mistreated and had working in the toxic mines now is in control, he is willing to destroy, drug and abuse the people from Zaun just to scare Piltover so that they can negotiate, is what he tells Vander "I only need to scare them", the fact that Jinx stole the gemstone was the thing that made Piltover really scared, because like Jayce said, Piltover can obliterate Zaun with their technology but if Zaun have gemstones and weapons with gemstones as well as Piltover things will get even worse for both sides, ironically the fact that Jinx stole the stone is also the thing that makes the deal imposible because Piltover wants Jinx in jail. It's just a tragedy. We can only guess if Silco would stay put and happy if he had obtained the independence or if after a while he was going to attack anyway if he had managed to build better weapons or monsters but we will never find that out because he is dead now and even if he was still alive he wouldn't give up Jinx. And nobody in the council knows any of this, whether Silco would want or not to talk they have no idea, their solution of trying to first talk and negotiate is the best option in any scenario instead of just deciding to go to war without thinking about all the possible deaths.
My favourite line to ponder in this episode is "then a real monster showed up... and I just ran away" cause like, who is she referring to? Many options: -Silco, more specifically when he's picking wounded Jinx up -Jinx, when she's holding an injured Cait up and Ekko tells them to go. Vi has this look on her face of disbelief, fear almost -Herself, the moment she punched Powder
Something I just noticed for the first time: when Vi is talking to the council about Silco, she is projecting. She HATES Silco, and blames him for everything that's happened to her family. Objectively, most of it was Powder's fault, but in Vi's mind, Powder was just as much a victim as anyone (and in a way, she is). It's not that she thinks there's no path to peace between Silco and Piltover, it's that she thinks there's no path to peace between Silco and HER. She doesn't WANT a diplomatic solution, because then, Silco doesn't pay for what he's done.
Not the only time the show does that, either. Think of Marcus's angry rant in The Last Drop at Vander and the others in Ep. 2. There are probably others, but that one sticks in my head because Marcus ends up being someone "the world forgot to bury" in this episode...
Huh? Vi is right to blame Silco, who killed Vander precisely BECAUSE he was working with Piltover diplomatically. Nothing Vi said was wrong? How did all that become Powder's fault? Because her bomb literally did the job that Silco was in the middle of trying to do himself...?
When you see Mel wake after the beheading, the headboard behind her has the blood and amulet painted on it, probably by Mel herself. It's quite an insight into her that she's made that the last thing she sees when going to bed every night. No wonder she has bad dreams.
It's in the same style as her other painting, so yeah, I think we're meant to infer it's hers. I also love that the painting we see on the much more public balcony (where we've seen her entertain guests during the party in E4) is of how Noxus presents itself, but this is the painting she hangs in her bedroom, and right over the bed too. Talk about a complicated relationship with her family! If I'm remembering it right Mel's paintings show up in all of 4 scenes in this season, and they do a lot of heavy lifting every time they appear on screen.
I swear, Arcane's storytelling with all its parallel's is insaneee. So glad you clocked the craziness of Vi and Jace teaming up, and linked it to how Vi was literally the one who tried to steal his equipment, which caused him to get him an audience with the counselors, and interest from Mel and eventually gain prominence in Piltover as the "Golden Boy" and then to team up Vi again!? Just insane. As always, loved the reaction....make sure that that box of tissues stays close by for the finale!!!
The penultimate episode! Here we go! Can't wait to watch your reaction. EDIT: yes, Viktor's leg merged with the Hexcore. He's a part of it, and it's a part of him. Poor Sky was way too pure for this world. It took her because there was no shimmer. She deserved so much better. On a lighter note, it's a bit funny that Jinx saw Cait naked before Vi did. 😂
@@Morbacounet I kind of understand. I’ve developed a bit of a bias when it comes to Jinx. She can do no wrong (obviously she can), but it’s mainly because I still see her as “little sis” and as someone who’s always wanted a little sister everything in me really loves Powder/Jinx regardless that’s she a mf menace to society
@artxroyalty Silco's love for Jinx is genuine but it's also super toxic. They're both broken people and the only positive thing in their lives is the other one. It's striking how many people resonate with the siblings and parent/child relationships in the show. I'm a middle child, a Mylo without the bullying part but I also had trouble finding my place between an older and more capable big brother and the younger one who was a bit overprotected.
I just wanna say that, sure, killing a kid is tragic, but how many kids do you think have already died due to Silco's regime? And how many more would die if he got an even freer hand to rule the Undercity, now with the blessing of a Council seeking peace and compromise? That kid died because most of Silco's drug production factory workers were literally child laborers. While the adults were partially catatonic addicts locked in suits waiting that the alarm provides them with a high dose hit so they can slaughter people. Some other non-spoiler detail: Mel said in episode 2 that she was the richest person in Piltover, yet the poorest Medarda (though that was before Hexgates made Piltover an even richer trade harbor). And now we see her mother traveling around in a fully equipped warship and a personal small army for a friendly visit. In the flashback we also see that she has been involved in toppling at least one kingdom. What do you think the "traditional" way for Medardas to get rich is? And how might that relate to a Medarda being interested in Piltover developing new and powerful weapons due to some internal dispute she otherwise doesn't care about? And one last thing: The Shimmer that made that boy into a hulk that could beat up Vander and then made Vander into an even more terrifying monster was the prototype. Since then we've seen it used in various forms and dosages for all kinds of effects. Silco microdoses it in order to keep his deteriorating eye in check. People on the street seem to occasionally inhale it recreationally without going mad. That witchdoctor in the drug slums used a drop of it to make her healing potion more potent, which seems to have worked wonders on Vi's relatively serious injuries. Viktor used a variant of it to reinforce his body to better receive magic mutations. And now whatever Singed did to Jinx over several dosages saved her life and didn't transform her outwardly into a monster either (from what we could see in Caitlyn's bathroom). So while Shimmer is volatile and dangerous I think it is fair to say that it is not all bad. Or at least it wouldn't be if it wasn't controlled by Silco. P.S.: In episode 4 we saw *very* large shipments of Shimmer going on an airship. Since it is created in Piltover's undercity that means that Silco must have been exporting quite a lot of it outside Piltover. I wonder who his buyers are and what effect it has on their communities and geopolitics and such.
On Viktors leg, he got Shimmer from the Doctor in Episode 7, when he tried to figure out how to stabilize the transmutation (organic matter mixed with Hextech). Then he microdosed Shimmer with Hextech runes on his leg, so I guess the combination worked. If that was the question. But on that running scene, the first time he met the Doctor, he lost his Toy-Ship, because he couldnt keep up with his bad leg. Now he outrunes the Ship that sails in the background. Love these little things!
I love that the end of the last episode (with jinx's grenade on the bridge) isn't really a cliffhanger. They show Ekko's watch broken, but still moving. It's a metaphor for Ekko being wounded but alive.
The Vi and Jayce team up was awesome! As well as Ekko and Heimerdinger meeting. Mel quickly became one of my favorite characters with this episode. Her mom is so intimidating. The bath house scene was great with the way it was composed in the long shot. Yup, Viktor's leg was changed after the experiment and he went back for a second dose, maybe to completely heal himself. Poor sky.
I love how almost everyone that watches Arcane comments on how nice Caitlyns bathroom is, especially the shower controls. They ought to do a sponsorship deal with a plumbing company. 😜 I'm not sure I'd buy one, but I'd get a good quality version of Caitlyn's umbrella from episode 2.
when kaitlin says "its all for nothing" it shows the stone in jinx's hand indicating what she care about is the retrieve the stone, and she failed, and she doesn't care about anything else(at least not immediately). and right away in the same sentence it shows slice holding jinx with the stone, as if its also what he was thinking :"its all for nothing", because jinx is more important that the stone. he wouldn't loss jinx for it, at least for that moment. the controversy and symmetry of it.
I think Silco has the same relationship with Jinx that he does with the Undercity. He loves them desperately and would do just about anything for them, but the only way he can wrap his head around helping them is by making them STRONG, and by any means necessary. Filling them with poison, pushing them further and further into brutality, killing off all the "weak" parts and making a monster out of what remains Making either the city or Jinx HEALTHY, though? Is not only beyond his abilities, it's something that would never even occur to him, given his past and his values
Don't feel bad about missing things on the first watch. Arcane is dense and it throws several plotlines at you in an episode, all of which assume you've memorized everything that's been said and done in all the other episodes. Mel says she's an exile from her family in the same scene that Jayce is lamenting Viktor dying and the viewer is still trying to understand what she really feels for him. They show Viktor's leg has vastly improved by having him run, which can easily lead you to think his lungs must also be cured. Also, that he's doing this without shimmer gets only a second of acknowledgment--they probably should have included a scene where he needs to go back for more, but the blockage prevents it. Yeah, the version Singed gave Jinx would increase her healing as well as make her stronger/faster/more robust.
Mel's mom is from "NOXUS" a region in "Runeterra" (League Of Legends World). There are entirely 11 regions in this world including Piltover and Zaun. Mel's mom also mentioned that Mel's brother is dead, and the person who killed her brother thinks "the score is not settled", this person must be big time. That's why Mel's mom is in piltover, she want to weaponize the hextech so she can have them and fight back.
No fr, episode 8 kind of solidified me liking Silco after seeing him actually care for Jinx To this day, I still can't help but tear up whenever I see Viktor run probably for the first time in his life What Silco wants is "the nation of Zaun" so that independence and peace would be giving him exactly what he wants without any bloodshed and pain :"D
A few snippets of lore, there's a League of Legends animation called "After Victory" which illustrates the Noxian psyche/culture. It's not something you need to see before finishing Arcane like the Enemy music video, but it may be worth a watch on your own time and echoes Mel's backstory in the intro. I don't know how far down the lore rabbit hole you intend to go to, or what else you may react to once the series is done. But all that said, Noxus is a nation of "might makes right." physical might, intellectual might, along with the will to use it. Mel's line, "Piltover isn't like Noxus, war isn't our first and every recourse" gives deeper meaning to an otherwise throw-away line in episode 4. After Jinx steals the gemstone and Jayce tells the counsel to shutdown the hexgates, one of the counselors remarks, "Am I to tell the Noxians that their next shipment of wine will be vinegar?" On its face, it sounds like he's just worried about profits. but when you understand just how willing and able Noxians are to resort to violence, you begin to see that remark is made not from greed, but from fear, and deservedly so.
Vi boxing in the music video. Vi Bandages and her putting Vander iron gauntlets in act 1, her just having only bandages in act 2, to her having hextec gauntlets in act 3. The for shadow is very good. 🎉🎉🎉
What shimmer did was change the natural genetics of Viktor to allow the merge between the hexcore and Viktor. Shimmer’s power is to change, enhance and/or cure(with an appropriate dose). The shimmer basically enhanced his leg changing it from a regular human leg to something else, something that would allow Viktor to resist the drawbacks of the hexcore. So yes the hexcore+shimmer did cure Viktor’s leg. Viktor wanted to go back and cure his whole body from the sickness he has but he had no more shimmer to inject but he tried to touch the hexcore anyway thinking that the shimmer in his leg would be enough, however it was not. If you noticed what happens to any natural living thing that touches the hexcore, it dies, then that explains what happened to skye. I don’t think Viktor was going to die since he already has some shimmer in his body but since Skye didn’t have any shimmer then she dies because she was indirectly touching the hexcore. Magic is known to everyone as something that chooses who can wield it. It speaks to the mage that can do magic through magic. Which is what Viktor wanted to make with hextech which this damn genius did it. He basically created a “magical” AI that can help life grow BUT natural life is too weak to merge with it/use it. Which is why Viktor went to see Singed because he knew that Singed was working on something to keep life alive no matter what(that animal is yes still alive in one of his containers, you see it when Viktor walks in). That animal is actually the source of Shimmer I believe which is why Singed wants to keep it alive for as long as possible.
Viktor combined Hextech into his leg, but like the plants, he would have died from it if he didn't take the Shimmer to make his body stronger temporarily. This time, he tried to change his lungs but was out of Shimmer, so he would have died if Skye hadn't shown up. Unexpectedly, the Hexcore managed to take her life instead of Viktor's in order to fuel the transformation, probably because it has gained intelligence now and knows that Viktor will be of more use to it alive Also Noxus, the land Mel comes from, is VERY much the Fire Nation. They are a massive empire led by a council of generals who are constantly at war to expand their territory, and their southeastern border is not that far from Piltover If I had to guess, a lot of Mel's motivation comes from knowing that the Noxian legion could show up on their doorstep at any time, and without something like Hextech weaponry, Piltover would stand literally 0 chance against them
Yeah, every frame has a purpose, and even after watching it several times and watching dozens of reactions, I notice new details. Lots to unpack in these.
Victor had that brace on his leg. He drew runes on it, and took shimmer, then used the hexcore to fuse the brace to his leg. The shimmer is helping him survive the process, and ensuring the leg and the brace combine. Im assuming.
Vi hates silco so much and thinks that if she can get powder/jinx away from his influence that she can "save her" and bring powder back, that she can't have the council simply just negotiating with silco like some sort of renewed version of the collaboration he had with Marcus.
Ambessa said that Mel's brother was killed and the man who killed him is still after their family, that's why she was hextech weapons. It would give them an advantage since there's nothing similar in Noxus (the region they're from). Also, as Mel states, Noxus is known for war, so if there's a way to build new weapons, Noxus will be the first on it. I also found it hard to understand Mel when I first watched Arcane but I think mainly she's never satisfied bc she feels as if she wasn't enough for her mom, and she didn't fit in with the rest of her family. We learn in ep2 she's the richest person in Piltover and holds an important position in the council but that still isn't enough, she's constantly trying to prove herself (and also doing it diplomatically instead of resorting to violence as her mother does). It's why she invests in hextech, she thinks by turning Piltover into a more important city she'll be proving herself in a way. I think that's why she asks Viktor and Jayce to build weapons, to protect Piltover's progress from the threat of the undercity and so it doesn't look vulnerable to outsiders as Elora said. If Piltover falls her mom would be right.
You should rewatch the Victor and Singed part in episode 7. you talked over the part where Singed said it's a variant of Shimmer that has everything one needs to survive a violent transition. The Hexcore used the Shimmer variant the first time like a sacrifice to change him, and Victor tried to use it again without a sacrifice a second time so it used Sky.
A consistent pattern in this show is that the big fight sequences never end up working out well for anyone: * the street fight in E1 is over the loot; everyone ends up beat up and the loot is lost by the end of it * the arcade sequence in E2 is the kids failing to lie low and the enforcers failing to catch them * In Vi's catwalk fight in E3, she knocks several of Silco's goons out and maybe buys Claggor and Mylo a few minutes, but then again, she ends up just running back to the room she started out in and latching the door closed, which she probably could've just done to begin with and which would've still bought them enough time. (And more generally, the whole rescue attempt is a huge fiasco for everyone involved.) * The airship fight in E4 ends up with the Firelights losing half their crew, one of Silco's goons made and arrested, the shimmer destroyed and everyone mad at Jinx * Vi/Sevika in E5 ends with Vi learning that Jinx now goes by Jinx and was never a prisoner. Vi also gets stabbed, and Sevika likewise gets badly beat and just ends up running. * Vi/Jinx/Caitlyn/Firelights in E6 is a complete mess from the start; the Firelights do manage to grab Vi+Caitlyn in the end but, safe to say, probably not the way they wanted, and Jinx isn't exactly a winner either * The bridge fight in E7 ends with Jinx on death's door, the gem not actually in Vi/Caitlyn's hands (which is what Ekko was trying to accomplish), and Ekko immobilized * and of course the shimmer factory fight in this episode ends up with Vi/Jayce/the enforcers "winning" only to notice that aside from the few Chemtank defenders, the facility is literally staffed by kids, great job everyone In "Bridging the Rift" the writers mention that the short-form videos Riot had produced for League of Legends for the first few years were all (their words) "fight porn", and that that wasn't where they wanted to go with Arcane, and it shows. The characters in the show may believe that they can solve their problems with violence, but the writers sure don't seem to think so.
Ok time for those parallels we were talking about earlier. I told you one parallel would become very apparent between Jinx and Caitlin, which is, Jinx sees Caitlin as a blue haired sharpshooter who is threatening to take her place with Vi. (Which isnt really the case, but the show lines up why Jinx feels that way including that hallucination she has while being slammed with shimmer by Singed
What I think of Mel is that she has a lot of problems with her self worth, She is the richest person in Piltover, she is inteligent, she is the person with more power and control in the council and she is one of the most beautiful animated characters i have seen in my life but even with all of that, for her it isn't enough. She is stuck with the fact that her mother pushed her away, all the things she acomplished by her own in Piltover are ways to show her mother that she can handle things. Mel without noticing does similar things her mother did with her, if you see how Ambessa (Mels mom) teaches Mel her way of thinking it is very similar as how Mel "teaches" Jayce how to work in the council, Mel has her mothers way of thinking in her head, when Mel sees her mother and sees what making weapons will lead to she starts to reconsider what she wanted, Mel has affection for Jayce but she is very manipulative in the begining and also takes the roll of his "teacher" just like her own mother did to her. One of the things I love about this series is how they show the influence of the parents on their children, you can see characteristics of the characters mothers or fathers in them even if they are adults now, the way they act or talk, even the way they move, sit or microexpresions. Vi is very similar to Vander, the protector, the way they fight, in the first episode you can see that Vi mimic how Vander sits and she still does it. Jinx even if Silco is not her biological father has a lot of resemblance to him, she has movements that are very similar to Silcos movements and also she has the same abandonment issues that Silco has, she can be very manipulative like Silco as well. We dont know about Jayce dad and we know very little about his mom but we can tell that she is very important for Jayce, even as an adult with all the power he has he goes to get a hug from his mother when he feels bad. Caitlyn is a perfect mix between her mother and father, her mother is serious, determined and very elegant and her father is very sweet and caring, he gives big soft hugs, throughout the series you see how determined Cait is and the way she stands and moves is very proper and elegant when she is in an enviroment she feels safe and we can see how soft her movements are and everytime she gives a hug to anyone you can see she gives it with all her heart just like her dad. The face Caitlyn makes when she is surprised by something is the same expresion that her mother does, I love all the beautiful details in writing and in the animation ❤
In the last episode we saw that exposing a plant to the hexcore made it grow (and die) super fast. That is why he visited Singed (the doctor who wanted to save 'the mutation'). So now we see what it looks like if you survive the fast transmutation. This is the 'hexcore look' (spoiler free label by me). I think it is really interesting, that in this episode both at the start and the end a kid looses their life. In case you didn't notice Skye was the kid who saw Victor when he played with his ship as a kid.
There are certainly other opinions about this, but my personal take is that the "monster" Vi "ran away" from isn't Silco or shimmered-up Deckard - it's her own anger. .. and then we get the most jarring transition in the show - from the tenderest touch of Cautlyn's hand to Vi's face, to the tortured anguish of Jinx. Eugh - but also, so good.
in the previous episode Victor carved these runes into his leg, and now the leg is transformed and "healed" the one injury that held him back his entire life, so this time around he wanted to focus on his chest, aka the thing that's killing him right now. and yeah the details arent shown/explizitly stated but somehow the runes, the shimmer and the hexcore together caused this change in his leg.
Silco loves her deeply and he genuinely tries to help, but he's also horrible for her and they've developed an extremely unhealthy emotional codependency. He's also a really bad role model, and she has effectively built herself up in his image. I don't think he molded her though, which is something I see a lot of people say. When she was with Vi, she tried to model herself on Vi and mirror Vi. Now she's been doing it with Silco, and also in both cases they projected their solutions onto her too. They both tried to help her in the ways that helped them, but as many similarities as she has with them and as many lessons as she can genuinely learn from them, she needs different things than they do. At this point, Silco knows Jinx better than Vi does, including the trauma she associates with Powder, and her personality and tolerances, but he's simply not equipped to be or provide what she needs to actually start processing her trauma.
The saddest thing you might ever see, just bring multiple boxes of tissues. Studio Ghibli 'Grave of the Fireflies' Watch it with someone. I love Cait's standing up to her mother. But poor Jinx, all that Shimmer on top of her already unstable mind. Mel's mom, one power move after another. Heimerdinger, finally seeing what his inattention has brought to the other half. BTW, that first scene with Viktor, 40 seconds of absolute perfection, followed by a minute of absolute horror
I MASSIVELY have to respect the writers for having the guts to finally give us the big champion fight scene that fans of the game have been wanting this whole time, only to slam us in the face with the human cost of it all. It just... kinda takes the edge right off of that unbridled joy we were just feeling at seeing Jayce and Vi just laying waste to the goons. And yes, Silco is a bastard for employing children at his shimmer factory. Still, it was brilliant, because, to these kids, shimmer is how they are able to help support themselves and their families, letting them keep their heads above water in Silco's Zaun. On top of that, the moment the place is raided, and one of the kids dies, he's got a rallying point for the citizens of Zaun to rise up against Piltover. Yes, he cares about Jinx in a very genuine way, but 1) he's never really... raised her in any kind of a mentally healthy way, or worked with her to curtail her destructive tendencies, and 2) he is still completely indifferent to the suffering of anyone in the world, aside from Jinx. Yes, the father-daughter bond is strong, but that doesn't make it good or healthy.
YES, going into to this scene I was uneasy. I kept saying, "this is a bad idea", but the moment the fighting started I got swept away in the spectacle of it all...only to be thrust back to reality. Regardless if that kid was working in a shimmer factory, he lost his life and that's something you never want to see or desensitize yourself from. Thank you for acknowledging both sides of that!
As many have said before in these comments, you watched this at an extremely good time. Been waiting for 2 years for the second season, and it's right around the corner now🎉🎉🎉🎉 You best believe that I've been watching arcane vids and listening to the ost ever since Edit: I typed this out before I saw the very end of the vid lmao, you were right on the same line of thinking
Once youre done with the show, id recommend watching it again to better catch the foreshadowing and callbacks. For example, younk viktor couldnt keep up with the boat, now he outruns one. When cait and vi are talking on the bed about the monsters, go back to Episode 6 and you can see them on the walls of vi's childhood home. Pkus a ton more you havent caught onto yet.
It comes with posting on the internet, so it’s not something I was surprised about. However, it’s not something I have to or will tolerate. I appreciate your comment! At the end of the day it’s never that serious where people should be getting angry or rude in the comments. It’s all for fun!
OMG if I wasn't already watching these I *still* would have instant clicked just for your expression in the thumbnail. This is going to be a good reaction.... :D
I think mel's really affected by her mom, seeing her mom push for weapons like that prob made her realize she'd started to become like her. And I think that's really scary and eye opening to mel. But that's just my read on it, it's not really openly stated why she switched up on weapons. Maybe to her, making weapons for self defense made sense but now its scary to see them pushing to attack the under city, also possible It's not totally clear what the hexcore is doing to viktor, I've heard its a bit different from his story in the video game. But I think the hexcore is modifying his body magically, which could save him from his sickness but its makin him purple or whatever
Victor decided to change his body with the help of crystal magic. But living beings reject the power of the crystal. So that he would not die, like the plants that the crystal had grown, he affected himself with a Shimmer. But he did not take into account the fact that the Shimmer would also fall into the crystal matrix. The crystal matrix turned into something alive with the help of Shimmer. At this point, Victor learns something else. That the crystal matrix has a will of its own. It is not just a tool that obeys him. V wants to eliminate Silko in order to get his sister back and avenge Vander. She doesn't give a damn about Piltover and its people. Jace, who has accepted V's plan, falls into Silko's trap. Silko took into account the fact that his factory could be stormed. It is after storming the factory that Jace realizes that he will not be able to negotiate with Silko, and he will not be able to fight with Silko. A war with the Lower City using such methods will turn the inhabitants of Piltover into monsters. Silko had calculated all this in advance. Vander was dangerous to Silko because, as a human, he would not allow the Lower City to act in this way.
I only played league for a little bit, so I'm not the best one to explain certain things. But many of the main characters of arcane are following similar paths to how their league counterparts developed. The developers of arcane intend on turning our current cast into the cast of league of legends. Hardcore fans of league will know the history of the entire world of arcane. Arcane is simply being rewritten as the new canon lore for league.
I don't know why there's suddenly an uprising of "Vi just didn't want Piltover to negotiate with Silco" - Silco killed Vander while openly stating that he still respected Vander until he started dealing peacefully with topsiders. Vi correctly believes that Silco would never negotiate peacefully with them himself, and Silco would have stayed like that until he almost lost Jinx on the bridge.
@@artxroyalty Oh I agree, the point is there's no totally correct action in these situations. This comment was directed at the other comments here, not your video.
Is that a little nod of approval to Caitlyn from her mother (Cassandra) at the end of the council scene? If it is, is it approving of how Caitlyn handled herself.. or for Caitlyn to go after Vi?
The way I view Shimmer is to compare it to something like steroids, it can have medicinal purposes, such as helping Vi recover from a stab wound or help Jinx overcome heavy injuries, but it's addictive and misuse can cause physical anomalies.
Great reaction! You're catching a lot for your first reaction. I love hearing all your thoughts and I'm sorry if there's been some rude comments. Here's to the next episode! Also about the bridge, while it was for sure Marcus, I don't think any enforcers survived, so the council probably thinks it's another attack like the one where Jinx stole the gemstone
You have come in at the perfect time as season 2 is releasing this year. Mel is absolutely my fav character as you caught (again you just have that eye for story) her intelligence keeps me as the viewer always a little suspicious. Not to mention her lineage brings in a totally different part of the world. ANYWAYS FUN WATCHING WITH YOU.
Can't tell more about Viktor's leg without spoilers, just know that what you're shown is what's meant to be known at the time. We league of legend's players know what all the characters will be in the future but we don't know all the details on how they get there and that's what the arcane is showing us. So everytime you ask for clarification there's a high chance of people spoiling you, they tend to get overexcited with their answers.
about viktors leg, we know that "Nature is resistant to this kind of change" so Viktor needed to "change his nature". That is where the shimmer comes in. We already saw with the plants that the hexcore can change bioligy on it's own, but the plant died, so Viktor used shimmer to resist the consequences and was thus able to accept the changes that the hexcore did to him. At least that is how understood it with the context we have until know.
I don't see this take anywhere, and it could just be how it's written is a bit off or how I saw it, but: In the scene with Vi talking to the council, it almost feels like she is mildly defending Silco. Not intentionally, but her whole "he hates you, he will never back down"; that is the perspective of an Undercity Citizen, and not entirely Silco. Vi is almost venting her own frustration. This is the first time in her life she has ever had the opportunity to confront a council that killed her parents, expended large amounts of effort to imprison herself and her friends, and other Enforcer atrocities throughout her life that she has likely witnessed. I have always viewed this scene as Vi confronting the council and while she hates Silco, she has hated the council longer. She hates them, and SHE will never back down, the Undercity will never back down. She also knows the idea of the council invading will involve them just going in attacking all Undercity folk instead of going straight to Silco; they wouldn't see a difference. To me, this felt like a careful balance of "Silco is to blame", and "dont invade the undercity", but also "fuck you, Council." The Council is naive and incapable of nuance when dealing with the people of the Undercity. Once that conversation came into play about invasion, Vi made a big mess of it, and then went to talk to Jayce in private to do a more targeted attack.
If you go back and rewatch the explosion that got Jinx and Ekko, you hear a thunk before the explosion. I think when Ekko saw the grenade, he knocked it away from both of them before it went off, saving both of them.
There are parts of this series that make me cry no matter how many times I watch them. Can't wait to see your reaction to episode 9. And then after you should check out the season 2 teaser trailers!
"I've never really been like an emotional television watcher"; I uh... I have some recommendations that might change that if you want 👀 I haven't been looking at the other comments, but ok girl, lay down the law on people being rude 😎 And then at the end of the video, "you guys always have very _interesting_ takes" 🤭
Sorry to hear you've had some disrespectful comments😔 I'm really enjoying your Arcane-journey! Hope to see more Arcane/League-content after you've finished season 1😊
All good, it’s the price of posting online! People can kind of take the fun out of it though and go too far if you perceive things a different way or don’t automatically take to characters that they might like but thankfully I didn’t continue this series for them. I continue because I genuinely love this show and all the gorgeous work that was put into it.
I've never really challenged this from Caitlyn's mother before. "You've broken several laws." Like what? Does her mother know she (probably) faked Vi release? Other than that, what? Moved around the undercity, got chased, knocked out and captured, talked to some people, almost got shot by Marcus, and then blown up by Jinx.
i mean in ep 4,, her parents spoke with marcus about her job as an enforcer and jayce offered a job to caitlyn so its safe to say she got fired. if caitlyn did get fired then she would be impersonating an officer ( she wore her uniform ) and she also carried around and used her gun. also yeah she did fake jayces signature
I would love to see you react to Vox machina after this series is over. It is similar to arcane and also has a short amount of episodes. Please consider it!!!
When it comes to the mafia/cartells/gangs - If you lived in the hood or near these groups, would you feel comforted if your governor say they'll negotiate and try to bargain with them? Will any of these groups actually change anything if the fancy city folk spoke to them? Basically from Vi's perspective, the fancy council will at most get Silco to stop bothering topside, but she and the rest of the undercity will still be victims of shimmer and the nice community Vander will never return under Silco's rule while the current undercity will continue to perpetuate the reputation of everyone down there being criminals and bad people. She knows the second the council come to Silco with "peace", he will simply take advantage of that weakness. The point is, both options are problematic, and everyone has a point. Yes killing a kid is bad, but the kid is there in the line of fire in the first place because Silco uses child labour to make drugs.
I see it more as a matter of poor circumstances, the hand he was dealt in life. For some of these kids I’m sure that’s the only way they’re able to make any kind of income. On top of that, I’ll never be okay with children being killed.
"Powder... Jinx I should say". Did anyone else have problems calling her Jinx ep4 onwards? Not as a slip of the tongue... as something that you just didn't want to do.
@@Hohum37 I try to use the names to differentiate and considering her last act at that point she was leaning more towards Jinx, in my mind Jinx sounded more appropriate. But I still find it rather…strange not calling her Powder. I still see her as “little sis” not “Silco’s daughter”.
Silco is such a interesting character and I am always glad that people don't see him as just a bad guy! He does love Jinx, but Jinx only and not Powder because Powder is "weak" and reminds him of his relationship with Vander, which is also complicated. Silco does not know how to love healthly and manipulatres her for his own benefits uncountiously (sorry if i spelled some words wrong, english isn't my first language)
Can't you just ban disrespectful people? I am all for free speech and disagreement, but nobody has to tolerate insulting comments. On the other hand, nice comment, hateful comment, they all help with the algorithm ;)
