#i do think vi had a point before tho. powder Was in there and while that doesnt negate jinx she could still reach her | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

cantwritethisdown · 2 years

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the bridge fight

i absolutely loved arcane but think i agree with people who say it was weird that the bridge scene in ‘the boy saviour’ had ekko stay on the bridge to fight jinx instead of vi? like, i appreciate people’s points about ekko and jinx being foils and their clash having important symbolic/thematic value but, since the time Vi got out of prison, her main priority had been getting back to powder. the plan before going on the bridge was that vi would stay behind to try and get through to powder.

why does she then leave with caitlyn? or rather, after ekko grabs the gemstone and tells them to leave, why wouldn't she insist that she stay behind instead and ekko leave with caitlyn, like originally planned? especially since ekko was so determined to face the council himself as well. I’ve been trying to reconcile this in my head for ages. i think i may have reached an answer that satisfies my weird fixation with this? but i think the way the scene expects the reader to fill in some gaps makes it less effective.

I understand that on screen, it kind of makes sense. ekko is just physically the best person to hold jinx off at that point. they don’t have time to argue about who goes with caitlyn, especially not when she’s badly injured and while jinx is clearly v volatile and likely to start spraying bullets any second, so vi has to take caitlyn just because she is most physically close to her. vi is still recovering physically and mentally from her ordeal in the lanes, reeling from jinx shooting at her, reeling from knowing caitlyn, who she now deeply cares about, is injured, and possibly injured because of her association with vi and therefore not thinking straight and this is screwing w her priorities. since she has always been told to protect people, maybe she fell back on that instinct to protect when things got turbulent. also, since caitlyn is injured, vi would want to be there for her, especially since caitlyn saved her life twice before.

there’s the added touch of this being another moment where ekko stands up to vi and tells her what to do, showing her that he’s grown up, no longer the younger brother figure that she could boss around but a leader in his own right, handling threats against his people (jinx, whose killed multiple firelights on screen) by himself. its somewhat clear that he has wanted a stand off like this against jinx for a long time.

but Vi says over and over again that powder is her first priority! that she understands that even tho powder has changed, has become more violent and vicious, she still wants to be there for her, be near her, show her that vi loves her unconditionally, even if she won’t enable her worst behaviours.

and ekko’s main priority is being the person who will represent the undercity when they return the gemstone. he’s the one whose worked to overturn silco’s influence, with no help from piltover. he’s the one who’s better versed on the undercity’s dynamics and possibly has a plan of how to move forward to reduce silco’s influence, if only piltover would get their heads out of their asses and actually help.

i find it hard to accept that vi would give up a chance to talk to powder, one on one, and ekko would give up a chance to finally confront piltover when he’s so close.

i think the way the scene is written, ekko would still have to throw the gemstone. its clear that its in everyone’s best interest to get the gemstone away from jinx which would work best by throwing it to vi and caitlyn and stalling jinx. he knows this and is probably frustrated by it, he sounds pretty anguished when he yells ‘GO’ knowing he’s going to have to throw away his chance at meeting the council to keep jinx away from it.

this would require Vi then being the one to insist staying on the bridge with jinx. again, this is awkward considering that she’s the one holding caitlyn up. it would require ekko and vi to probably argue about who stays, ekko still actually wanting that confrontation with jinx to avenge his friends and arguing that there’s no time, vi and cait have to get away as soon as possible. and vi arguing back that no, she said she wouldn’t abandon powder again and she wants to stay to talk to her. this would require ekko hovering back to them, Vi handing her over to ekko and them hobbling away while Vi positions herself to talk to Jinx. at any point during this, jinx could start shooting again, screwing them all over.

i think my difficulty in reconciling this scene came from my view that somehow. this awkwardness/logistical difficulty (terrible phrasing, i know lol) is a weird way of stopping vi from trying to stay with powder. she just made it so clear that she was determined to not abandon powder again. the only reason she would leave is if she was so overwhelmed by everything going on on the bridge that she couldn’t think straight and somehow, considering how capable she is and her consistent attitude towards powder/jinx thus far (in terms of still loving/caring about her and wanting to reunite with her), i’m not convinced she was. this means that the story expects us to believe that vi leaves jinx behind (again!) literally only because she is physically in the best position at the time to leave with caitlyn, which really lessens the impact of the scene.

but when i think about the actual steps it would take to get vi and ekko to switch places at that point, it really becomes untenable. from what i understand, her thinking is that caitlyn needs to be moved, that any stalling risks her life bc of her current impairment, especially bc its almost impossible for her to evade jinx. and i understand that its a volatile situation, its unlikely that anyone is able to think straight, so she falls back on ‘protect the person who’s vulnerable right now’. this is arguably the first time she is forced to choose between protecting someone and saving her relationship with powder. the second time is when jinx stages the tea party and demands she kill caitlyn, again putting Vi in a situation where her determination to get through to powder comes at the potential cost of another of her loved one’s lives.

I try to play out the scene in my head where Vi protests, says she wants to stay on the bridge with powder and it just doesn’t end well. in Vi’s mind at least, there’s almost certainly no way powder, who has just tried to kill her, will let her wait long enough to hand over both caitlyn and the gemstone to ekko, not when she just used so much violence and destruction (the bombs) to get the gemstone back. she doesn’t know that it was part of jinx’s personal vendetta against enforcers and also her chance to right the wrongs of the time their parents were murdered on the bridge.

this also plays into the dramatic irony that arcane does really well in that, at this point, the audience also suspects that thing jinx wants most is also to reunite with her sister! vi came back for her, despite all odds! when she lit the flare, Vi showed up and fought by her side, she only left because she was taken (again!). on the bridge, it even indicates that she believed that vi was hugging caitlyn to say goodbye so that she could come back to her! so if Vi just yelled that she did in fact want to stay with jinx, to talk to her, then i think its actually debatable that she would have kept shooting. i think its possible she would have allowed it. I will admit, this is my weakest point because jinx is clearly going through an episode, its unclear how clearly she is able to think here beyond her own hurt and paranoia. also, its unclear how much she actually cares about getting the gemstone back relative to reuniting with Vi as she very clearly wants to make the weapon that silco needs.

ultimately, i think its touch and go but after considering it, i think the scene successfully establishes that there is a high chance that caitlyn would have died if they tried to Vi insist that ekko leave with her and the gemstone, at least in Vi and ekko’s mind, considering how intense the situation is. Vi has to choose between saving her life and reuniting with Jinx and because of Vi’s inherent goodness and need to protect people she cares about, and also because she is so overwhelmed by everything she has been through from coming back to the lanes and being shot at by her sister, makes the split second decision to leave with caitlyn before jinx starts shooting again. this ties into the fact that jinx seems to have an increasing sense that she can’t accept that Vi loves her if Vi doesn’t accept everything she does, and therefore puts her in impossible positions to make her prove that she loves Jinx and will choose her over anything, even another person’s life, especially if that person is caitlyn. the issue is that the audience has to fill in for themselves any sense of internal conflict Vi feels about this situation.

its just frustrating that this scene comes right after Vi declaring that she will stay and get through to powder, even after learning after the atrocities powder has committed. arcane is so good with facial expressions and there is no conflict on her face about what to choose, no frustration that an opportunity to get reach powder is slipping through her fingers yet again. she’s spent YEARS thinking about powder and somehow, when this person who she’s known for literally a few days, gets hurt, she faces no internal conflict, just chooses her instantly. surely, after all that time being away from powder, thinking she failed/abandoned her, even the most goodhearted person would consider trying to take advantage of this opportunity to talk to her sister, even for a second. she doesn’t even seem to care that ekko clearly wants to physically hurt jinx, even kill her, and that maybe she could fix that by staying and making ekko leave.

like, just an added expressions, one where Vi starts to try to call ekko and another where caitlyn makes a sound of pain and looks at Vi to silently ask her for help, knowing how vulnerable she is right now, and Vi acquiescing. like, this moment should have been framed as a CHOICE, her choosing to save cait instead of reunite with powder, instead of an inevitability that she had to save cait. otherwise, it feels like it contradicts her established priorities in a jarring way and makes her dedication to caitlyn feel puzzling, when powder/jinx is RIGHT THERE. the way the scene plays out absolves Vi of any internal conflict whatsoever which just makes her seem inconsistent and makes her dedication to cait feel rushed.

#arcane #vi #jinx #ekko #caitlyn kiramman #arcane ep 7 #arcane the boy saviour #i don't mind constructive criticism but anyone being rude will be blocked lol #feel free to disagree #just be cool about it

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lostatsea303 · 2 years

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Alright Y’all immediate thoughts on Arcane

Spoilers ahead

Alright first and foremost holy shit, that show was incredible and not just as an animated attachment to a video game but as a show. That was truly special.

The characters are amazing, the performances were top notch. The music and sound design? A-fucking-plus. The writing? Superb. The animation? This and spiderverse are on the same damn level, yeah I said it.

I heard a quote once saying there are three things you should do everyday: Laugh, think, and cry. If you do that you’ve had one heck of a day. This show made me do all three. The story was a nuanced personal and global tragedy. The destruction of innocence, the unfair cruelty of the world, how people become broken and the often unintentional part we play in it. In spite of that darkness it also gives up hope, that no matter where we’re from or what we’ve done we can choose to be better, to try. I won’t ramble on too long, but if you told me years ago that League of Legends would produce a story this moving and resonant I would have never believed you.

Excellent work to all involved.

That being said my brain wants next season right now so assuming we’re getting one I’m gonna throw out predictions:

A bunch of the council is gonna die, this one is pretty obvious but my guess is obviously Mel will be dead as well as Caitlyn’s mom plus a few less important ones.

This leads to Mel’s mom getting involved and possibly dissolving the council entirely taking power for herself bringing her faction from Noxus into the city which leads too...

This wouldn’t be a forefront plot point but I believe we would start to see some champs from Noxus show up and the threat of Noxus being a S3 thing (yes I’m already resigned to there being a season 3)

Jinx isn’t going to be as primary a fixture, I think she’ll be pursued by the likes of the enforcers like Caitlyn Jayce and Vi but I think she takes a back seat to the looming social turmoil caused by her killing of the council.

Said turmoil will lead to more violent conflict between Piltover and Zaun which eventually forces Viktor to become what he is in game to defend Zaun so we get so Jayce v. Viktor

Speaking of champions fighting, while I think it’s now pretty clear they have feelings for each other, Caitlyn and Vi are not going to be in a good way to start. Caitlyn will either blame Vi for stopping her from killing Jinx thus leading to the death of her mother (mirroring what happened between Vi and Powder in episode 3) and push her away too harshly that they end up being on opposite sides of the battles between Zaun and Piltover OR Vi blames herself so much that she pushes Caitlyn away forcing Caitlyn to try and find her while...

Caitlyn becomes the new Sheriff of Piltover (yeah this isn’t too deep)

Ekko and Heimerdinger become more important to the story as they become the middle ground of the story (in a similar role to Vi and Cait this season less romantic tho) working together to make peace with both sides.

Singed becomes the main bad guy

Another time skip probably occurs either right at the beginning where we get to piece together the now fractured city and relationships within it or near the end which....

If I had to guess Vi officially becomes an enforcer at the end of the season before a foreboding shot of the next threat is shown.

Alright that’s all I got FOR NOW. Thanks for reading and happy arcane season 1!

Bonus prediction: we’re gonna get a Vi and Cait kiss

#arcane #arcane spoilers #vi #caitlyn #piltover's finest #jayce #powder #jinx #viktor

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