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The dirt under your nails - ARCANE

It's honestly kind of fascinating to watch episode 6, almost entirely set inside Viktor's beautiful commune, his design and the visualisation of his powers, or Jayce's changed Mercury Hammer, and then go and look up what the original equivalent looks like. Not a new observation or anything but it's funny how League of Legends has spawned a lot of really impressive art design that is much less evenly present in the game itself lol
 
So for people more versed in LoL lore, any idea what Jayce might have encountered during his 'visit' to the Arcane? Because it very much looked he'd been given the proverbial marching orders (along with his SAN score taking a nasty beating).
 
This entire Noxus storyline feels unnecessary. The divide between Piltover and Zaun was plenty by itself, and while the Noxian characters are interesting I feel they'd be more interesting if they hadn't established Noxus and the Black Rose as distinct factions halfway through the series.
 
Citrakayah said:
This entire Noxus storyline feels unnecessary. The divide between Piltover and Zaun was plenty by itself, and while the Noxian characters are interesting I feel they'd be more interesting if they hadn't established Noxus and the Black Rose as distinct factions halfway through the series.
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The thing is, Ambessa needed some sort of outside force that made her worried enough to try and make a play for Hextech. So there needed to be another faction outside of Piltover with enough power/influence to push her to this point.
 
Tyran said:
Alternatively, look at Wild Rift trailer and Jinx's tendency to wander the world looking for cool people. You could square that as a way of grieving.
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That is an add.
Meanwhile between her debut trailer "Get Jinxed" (also done by Fortiche), character stories and the Piltover stuff in Legends of Runeterra, Jinx is still living in the twin cities causing chaos for The Sheriff and her Enforcer.
 
Pugman said:
That is an add.
Meanwhile between her debut trailer "Get Jinxed" (also done by Fortiche), character stories and the Piltover stuff in Legends of Runeterra, Jinx is still living in the twin cities causing chaos for The Sheriff and her Enforcer.
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The only way I see that sort of ending is if Arcane winds up with Piltover and Zaun on explicitly teeth clenching cooperative terms. i.e. the two cities hate each other, but also need each other, and treat the resulting casualties as the result of a low scale war.

Yes Jinx's little act of terrorism killed the council at the exact moment they were about to give Zaun everything they'd wanted. On the other hand, it's the same council that also, y'know, gleefully financed the enforcers and oppressed Zaun for centuries, comfortable in the fact that the Zaunites couldn't fight back.

So it's tragic. But it's tragic for what could have been rather than because anyone particular non-complicit was hurt.
 
Triggerhappy said:
The only way I see that sort of ending is if Arcane winds up with Piltover and Zaun on explicitly teeth clenching cooperative terms. i.e. the two cities hate each other, but also need each other, and treat the resulting casualties as the result of a low scale war.

Yes Jinx's little act of terrorism killed the council at the exact moment they were about to give Zaun everything they'd wanted. On the other hand, it's the same council that also, y'know, gleefully financed the enforcers and oppressed Zaun for centuries, comfortable in the fact that the Zaunites couldn't fight back.

So it's tragic. But it's tragic for what could have been rather than because anyone particular non-complicit was hurt.
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I mean, with Noxus RIGHT THERE in their cities trying to control things, why not put the bad blood aside for mutual defence?
Like, "We hate each others guts, but if one of us goes down we BOTH go down." or something like that.
 
Isha's self sacrifice made me cry when I was watching it. Jinx was finally in Vi's shoes, raising a little Powder of her own, and also realising why Vi didn't want to bring her back when they were rescuing Vander in season 1. I liked seeing Powder pop out from Jinx, soft spoken, calmer.

Sucks that Mel's brother was killed by the black rose organisation, makes sense why Ambessa was lowkey panicking with how powerful they are.

bluntblade said:
Which seems to be getting somewhat lost in the discourse as a large part of the fandom declares that Caitlyn went straight to Full Hitler.
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You gotta admit Adolf Kiramman was a little bit funny.

Me personally though, I liked Caitlyn's descent into fascism, it shows that abusing authority, using brutality can't be justified even if your initials intentions are good, however debatable that is. There's a reason they showed the grey as a monster with enforcers hiding within in, the enforcers are essentially the grey monsters poisoning Zaun, I really love the visuals of this show.

Pugman said:
I mean, with Noxus RIGHT THERE in their cities trying to control things, why not put the bad blood aside for mutual defence?
Like, "We hate each others guts, but if one of us goes down we BOTH go down." or something like that.
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I think it's because the bad blood has gone well past the boiling point, they mentioned that half of zaun or was it the lanes? had been arrested and sent to stillwater prison, it might be an exaggeration, but it shows that a lot of people were unrightfully arrested. Someone was also tortured for information on Jinx. The zaunites would probably celebrate if Ambessa ripped into Piltover, enemy of my enemy type of thing.

I still think there's gonna be a team up, but it might towards the last episode since the bad blood is recent and it's gonna take time to work through, or maybe they'll turn it into a music video so we can get into the meat of things quicker, either way I'm fine it. And also because they need to go through the time travel/alternate timelines arc, especially with how much Jayce has changed because of it, who knows what Ekko or Heimer went through

Pugman said:
Jayce made the original Hexgems, and if I remember correctly he didn't properly seal the box he had them in (fitting his messy room) and that led to Powder obtaining them and kicking everything off.
Now, when things were starting to look up for Jinx and the others and Vander was being healed, here comes Jayce (though not in his right mind) and he blasts Viktor, leading to all the Herald had touched to fall and everything is once again ripped away from Jinx.

though I am only half serious about all of this.
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To be fair, Viktor's "Healing" is probably false. I go deeper into it in the second spoiler.
jwolfe_beta said:
So for people more versed in LoL lore, any idea what Jayce might have encountered during his 'visit' to the Arcane? Because it very much looked he'd been given the proverbial marching orders (along with his SAN score taking a nasty beating).
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I'm not too well versed in league of legends lore, but you can check my second spoiler and see if you agree or disagree. It's at the end.
Maybe Jayce saved everyone from whatever apocalypse Viktor's "healing" would bring about? It seems to me that Jayce went to the future or alternate future, he's aged enough to grow a beard, and his clothes which were pristine are now showing a lot wear & tear. They also mentioned a portal.

Is the Hexcore self-propagating when Viktor is "healing" people? Or is it puppetiz-ing them and using Viktor as the core of some sort of Hivemind? I think it's the latter through these points mainly because of how the people Viktor has "healed" come across.
  • They're fine with being taken over by Viktor.
  • Their personalities are all the same or it's been stripped of them.
  • They're eerily calm.
  • They died the moment Viktor died
  • Their dying scream
  • How they look to Jayce (Is he seeing their true appearance through the Arcane? Or what they'd turn into eventually?)
  • Hexcore colors shining through the five marks when Jayce is looking at them (The five marks being where Viktor has touched them to do his healing)
  • When they're dying the mark is glowing and something is leaving their body (Is Viktor/The Hexcore absorbing them back?)
How the Hexcore was portrayed in the first season
  • It being self learning and evolving, almost like a magical AI.
  • It wanting control over Viktor and punishing him when he tries to escape it
  • killing & absorbing Sky when she tried saving Viktor (Maybe it absorbed sky to gain sapience?)
  • It trying to fuse with Viktor (Achieved it's goal when Jayce saved Viktor with it and unintentionally doomed him)
It makes me think I'm right to believe it not to be something benevolent, and that it's aiming to manipulate Viktor or at least use him as a way to increase it's influence or reach. Is Viktor actually himself? He seems dimmer idk how else to describe.

Does Viktor actually speak with Sky or could he be speaking with the Hexcore masquerading as Sky? I doubt it's Sky personally since she died in agony when the Hexcore consumed her, and it's suspicious how she's suddenly happy and all onboard with the plan of spreading the Hexcore malicious influence to other people haphazardly.

Let's take Salo as an example, the fact that he isn't breathing when he's speaking is a hint at him and the other followers of Viktor not being human anymore, or just them being husks of people. I was wondering why the animators included it in act 1, but now it makes sense.
View: https://youtu.be/G1-3LMISfDs?si=2Yuid8AAx0WuK1eQ&t=95

Maybe since Viktor "revived" Vander it'd mean that Vander is now gone since all the other husks died and the only thing left in that psyche is the beast? If so that'd be heartbreaking.

Speaking of Jayce, is he also controlled? If so by what? Viktor mentioned that Jayce had touched the Arcane as well, he had also said that there was another will working within him, that it also was ancient voice, could it be the mage that saved him as a child? The crystal he merged with is still pure blue and not like Viktors Hexcore, it could be the original one that the mage gave him, if so that'd perhaps be a way for them to connect. It could also be more like a mission given to him by someone he met in the future or what he originally promised Viktor which was to destroy the Hexcore, now more personal since he knows what not destroying it would lead to.
 
Something regarding Viktor's followers is that the hexgate chamber is really cold, everyone's breath is misting there, it's especially noticeable when Jayce reappears in episode 5. But in the same scene you cannot see Salo's breath at all.
 
I don't get the paranoia about Victor's followers. Are they probably partially mechanical or what have you? Yeah of course, what's the issue, why is that bad
 
Ultrackius said:
I don't get the paranoia about Victor's followers. Are they probably partially mechanical or what have you? Yeah of course, what's the issue, why is that bad
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It's not the biomechanical legs bit that's raising concerns
It's an open question whether they're still them
There's something off about the way its presented

Like maybe Salo's just a born again Christian
But his personality just took a complete 180

Salo and Huck are eerily similar in their insistence that they were broken and bad, but now Viktor's fixed them so they're better now
And now that they're better, they've realized that their purpose in life is to assist Viktor and the commune
And they're seemingly all like that, we don't see any of Viktor's converts who aren't a hardcore part of the commune
Sure, having Hextech Jesus heal all your afflictions with a miracle would inspire awe and devotion
But absolutely everybody Viktor heals deciding to put on the white robes is... mildly concerning

Jayce seeing the converts as blank dolls with literally empty heads is also not very subtle imagery when it comes to implying their personhood
Sure, Viktor tells us that Jayce is clearly being influenced by an outside force and isn't in his right mind, and therefore we shouldn't believe what Jayce is seeing is real
But that's Viktor talking, who has also started seeing and hearing Skye talk to him, something that only started to be a thing after merging with the Hexcore

And then there's the fact that Viktor can just go all "assuming direct control" on any of his converts, which is usually something of a red flag when dealing with the question of whether those people still have agency
And that he jumped into Salo's body all of the sudden when Jayce appeared out of nowhere would indicate that Viktor's just automatically aware of anything his converts are aware of
Again, concerning
Even if we just automatically assume that Viktor is the most responsible person in the world and can be trusted with that kind of power, it's weird that none of his followers have any issues or concerns with it
Like, idk, maybe it's just me but I would have serious reservations about someone else being able to see out of my eyes, let alone walk around in my body, even if they cured my paralysis

And then there's the fact that Viktor getting a hole blown through his chest puts all of them out of commission too
Once again, bit of a red flag
The narrative implications of your personal agency and will, if your consciousness, if not your actual life, are bound to a central control unit are not good
There's a reason why that stuff tends to happen to drone armies
 
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CrimsonOddball said:

Jayce seeing the converts as dolls with literally empty heads is also not very subtle imagery when it comes to implying their personhood
Sure, Viktor tells us that Jayce is clearly being influenced by an outside force and isn't in his right mind, and therefore we shouldn't believe what Jayce is seeing is real
But that's Viktor talking, who has also started seeing and hearing Skye talk to him, something that only started to be a thing after merging with the Hexcore
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I mean, there's nothing saying that they aren't both being influenced by something.

A big tell will be seeing how Heimerdinger and Ekko end up when we see them next week.
 
Ultrackius said:
I don't get the paranoia about Victor's followers. Are they probably partially mechanical or what have you? Yeah of course, what's the issue, why is that bad
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Ford Prefect said:
Because like basically everything in the series there's always at least a little bad in the good and a little good in the bad.
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Also, keep in mind that SOMETHING is clearly corrupting the Hex Gate core. It's NEVER good when your high tech doodad that accesses alternate dimensions starts growing meat moss, technicolor or otherwise.

. . .

As far as I can tell, Jayce and Victor understood just enough about the Arcane to hurt themselves. They were correct that a technological interface was possible with the Arcane. Where they erred was believing that only their intended stimulus would illicit a reaction, where instead the Arcane is also reacting to the Hextech itself.
 
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In Lore there are some entities that can body jack people, NONE of which are 100% Benevolent.

You have the Celestials/Aspects that are usually associated with an area called Mount Targon. Their magic was also used by the old and long fallen Empire of Shurima, which is the continent South of the twin cities, and which Zaun (the original city) was once part of in the far forgotten past.
However, also in the dark past of Shurima rose another force....The Void. There once was a city that did not want to be under Shurima's rule, and to combat the power of gods they used dark magics to tear open a rift in space, and from it came eldritch horrors that drove man and god warrior insane (this would eventually give the world Darkin and Bloodmagic). The Void has long since been a horror corrupting man and beast across the sands for generations, with monsters from The Void itself settingling into the region and claiming territory.

Then, even further back still, there was an event known as the Rune Wars. Heimerdinger in Season 1 once spoke of the horrors of the Arcane, the Rune Wars were a World Ending threat that ravaged the land. It is why the Kingdom of Demacia has access to a material known as Petricite which they belief cancels/nulifies magic and why people fleeing the mages of that war managed to safely settle the area. Part of what made the Rune War as bad as it was was due to the use of artifacts known as World Runes. Magic McGuffins that hold TREMENDOUS magic power that could absolutely decimate entire Kingdoms. The League of Legends character known as Ryze is a mage from this time who has spent AGES traversing the land collecting these Runes to make sure they never fall into the wrong hands. However there was a time where he had a pupil, and sadly this pupil let his rage and anger consume him and he fell to his dark desires like Anakin from Star Wars. Now this former pupil who already had potent magical skill had claimed a World Rune for himself and is now known as the League of Legends character, Brand. Currently sealed away by Ryze, the Brand you see in game is a charred husk of a man in brown pants, but his literal fire power is no joke.

In short, Heimerdinger was right to fear it, because as far as we have been shown in show and in game, Arcane Might is not benevolent at it's core. It is wild, natural, and does not like being told what to do.
 
Zablorg said:
I'm still mulling over this, but the season has been broadly way more reconciliatory for Jinx than I'd imagined it would.
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Kinda hard to tell an interesting story if she's alwayd spiraling.

And it is worth remembering that while Jinx is unstable she's also self aware about her instability. And she hates herself for it.

That's part of why losing Isha is going to hit her so hard. She failed again.
 
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OverseerEX said:
"Can't have nice shit in Arcane"
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One of the most resonant things in Arcane is that you almost can. The Council for all their faults were able to peacefully grant Zaun independence. After Jayce and Vander saw what their violent methods cost they realized it wasn't worth it. People are short sighted, self centered and emotional hypocrites but they aren't really evil, usually.

Triggerhappy said:
Not gonna lie, seeing Silko happy genuinely hurt. Arcane has done a good job of spelling out how the man he became was not good for Zaun. And now it makes you sorry for the man he was.
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Agreed. It makes me wonder how much of his extremism was because of how little else of him was left. We saw in Season One that when it was the cause or his daughter he chose his daughter. Or niece. I also wonder how much this backfilled backstory makes him favoring Jinx while (thinking he was) killing Vi comes down to Jinx resembling her mother more. The VA even sounded like Jinx's.

Citrakayah said:
This entire Noxus storyline feels unnecessary. The divide between Piltover and Zaun was plenty by itself, and while the Noxian characters are interesting I feel they'd be more interesting if they hadn't established Noxus and the Black Rose as distinct factions halfway through the series.
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The characters might feel unnecessary but I like the Noxian's role. It shows that Piltover doesn't exist in a vacuum that when they invent something 'strategically necessary' to the wider world even if few people take notice at first those that do immediately leap on it. Seeing the colonizer become the colonized ironically makes the story feel less like a moral fable even if that sounds like one.
 
JevvyPython said:
Agreed. It makes me wonder how much of his extremism was because of how little else of him was left.
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He not only saw Zaun's, comparatively peaceful, efforts to petition for their independence fail. His loved ones were butchered and his best friend tried to kill him, self admittedly to assuage his own guilt.

Yeah, combined with the chem addiction to treat his injuries, it's not surprising how Silco ended up the way he did.
 
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An important element of Silco's character is that he was completely sincere. Whether it was his commitment to the cause or his love for Jinx, it was all real and genuine. He's positioned in such a way that in basically any other show there would be a reveal that actually it was all for his own greed and he didn't really care about either, but there's an irony that the one thing that Jayce does that actually rocks Silco on is giving him what he wants. Silco achieves his win condition but doesn't know what to do because he genuinely wants Zaun's freedom, but he genuinely loves Jinx.

That he is willing to accept certain downsides on this path is just reflective of his character, in that he does not believe in a clean victory or one without sacrifice. But that meeting with the chem-barons in season one is instructive.
 
Can't sleep, and need to vent a single quite mad theory about the final arc.

First off, an assumption: very little is unintentional. Every scene, every gesture, every word, etc., is intentionally crafted, and many may be serving multiple purposes within the overall narrative that are not obvious without hindsight.

The hexcore corruption/sex sequence in S1 has always stood out to me as a) beautiful and b) unecessarily indulgent. What purpose does it serve, beside absolutely spelling out Jayce and Mel's relationship status?

Well, I think the answer is to be found in that wonderful thing Arcane does so well where later episodes reframe and recontextualise and deepen the events of the past. In S2Ep5, when it is revealed there's a mystery surrounding one of Ambessa's children, the camera reframes to Mel instinctively reaching to her abdomen. I think she's pregnant, and the Black Rose is very interested in this opportunity stemming Mel's heritage, whatever it may be. Possibly whatever helped her survive the rocket, and likely whatever set off the last time we saw her. And now potentially an infant from the same heritage.

Jayce, Ekko, and Heimerdinger have been bounced forward to a hextech bad-end future, and are stuck. These circumstances shape Heimerdinger into the more familiar game figure, habing to build defences and automatons to defend the group from whatever creatures have been spawned from the hextech disaster. They might be here years, with the three scientists working to complete Ekko's prototype Z-Drive in an attempt to go back and save Piltover, Zaun and maybe the world.

If Mel is present in this dark future, having escaped the Black Rose, maybe she finds them. Perhaps this all takes long enough to give birth and she struggles to raise the child in this terrible world: a direct parallel to Felicia in Ep5. Jayce, Ekko, and Heimerdinger stand in for Vander and Silco. The prototype Z-Drive ultimately works, but it's imperfect. The group is scattered, returning to the past at very different times, and Jayce is only the second of the group to arrive back.

And.
Basically.
This is a very long drawn out way of saying that there's a world where Mel and Jayce's kid is Isha.

Even if it's 10000% wrong, there's a fun potential fanfic somewhere in there.
 
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