Thank you all for the support on these Arcane videos. I am LOVING this series and I can't wait for the next one!! As a heads up, we try to release videos every Thursday. Hit the bell to turn on your notifications so you don't miss the latest upload. ❤
I wonder if you could do Bojack Horseman after Arcane? There's no other show (as someone diagnosed with major dep dis) I can relate to but that show. It's a long series though.. but really dark and nihilistic. It's core is generational trauma and abuse. Plus, I am kind of concerned how others perceived Bojack (they are justifying his actions) while the creators deliberately stated that Bojack is a horrible person that ruin people around him.
I don't believe you are a doctor. What doctor has their body all over tattooed and most of them are really ugly tattoos not beautiful... like the weird skull tattoo on the right arm. It looks like something a drunk child would draw. So what person with a PhD has this on themselves???
Yeah. I see a lot of people saying things like, "If Silco really cared about Powder, he would have tried to re-unite her with her old friend group." He clearly thought Vi (her only living relative at the time they met) was dead, and Ekko was the stay out of sight type, especially when it came to Silco and his goons. Who exactly was he supposed to help her re-connect with? By the time Vi is confirmed to be alive, the fate of Zaun rests on his and Jinx's shoulders. He could not allow distractions at that point.
I think it's also fitting that, along with surprise, he looks genuinely afraid. (Understandably given how teenage Vi took out most of his men; who even knows what she's capable of as an adult?) Which is especially perfect juxtaposed against his earlier speech about letting go of the past, letting go of fear; showing that no matter what he tells himself, he is still afraid of some things. And if that part of his philosophy is wrong, everything else also gets called into question.
@@ColdGoldLazarus At this point I think he's less afraid of what Vi might be capable of physically and more about what her being alive could do to his connection with Jinx.
@@lolnoob5015 That is Death of the Author, which I do not regard as canon. I have heard that too though. The thing is, that confirms Jinx chose Silco over Ekko and her past (minus Vi) so I wish I could have counted it. It doesn't change my take of the events, but that scene could have made it clear to more people that my take was meant to be canon. What a shame it was cut.
I’m really glad you gave Marcus the time he deserved. People just don’t get that even characters who keep making the wrong decisions are still complex and have humanity. Everyone is so quick to throw his character away.
I think most people get so mad whit Marcus is cuz the show have this "show don't tell" theme going on.. and Marcus is kinda the opposite. He say it a lot of things on the show (like in ep 2 in the bar whit Vander) but at the end we don't see him doing it.
@@erickeker8761 **FUTURE EPISODE SPOILERS AHEAD** It's intentional though that we don't see Marcus "doing" a lot of what he says. It's key to his entire story and why we have empathy for him. Even via our first impressions of him in the lanes, we're not supposed to like him because he's a bully and a bag of hot air. It isn't until Silco uproots their deal that we see this other side of him that's regretful and ashamed of what his arrogance brought about. All he ever wanted was to get Vander arrested, not to get anyone--especially Grayson--killed. We see multiple times him wanting to reverse his role but not being allowed to without his daughter paying the price. He can't pull the pin on the grenade like he envisions because of this. He can't let Vi intervene and get killed by Silco because of it. He actively tries, in the small ways he can, to undermine Silco until the man shows up in his house and makes the threats perfectly understood. The fact is, Marcus is powerless in this situation. A lot of people don't like Marcus because they treat him like a one-dimensional character, not the complex person--struggling between being in over his head (with no way out) and protecting his daughter--that he is. He's a tragedy; someone that realized the error of their ways but never got a chance to turn it around. After the alley scene, Silco owned him, leveraging his wrongdoings to get him to continue down the rabbit hole, lest his daughter grow up without a father. Not really much of a choice...
Yes! I've never seen anyone Behr receptive to this. I see Marcus as arrive who grew up with a warped works view, as most in Piltover do. Think about it: they only see undercity guys when they are doing crime or violence. I think Marcus saw them all as dangerous and corrupt and thought Greyson just didn't have the balls to do what needed to be done. One he struck the deal and saw what happened, he immediately rejected it and tried to help in what little way he could, but was powerless against Silco and now forever bound to him by the bribe he accepted. He dreams of breaking free of Silco and doing him in, but he knows what will happen if he tries. He's not a good person, but he isn't very bad either. How many people are assholes when they are young? He is perfect to understand how ordinary people become functionally evil, by which I mean doubt a lot of harm in their function/position in society.
There is another aspect that I personally think is likely. The beating of the score could be more of a reflection that Powder/Jinx wants to overcome her weakness she had as a child. Failing to beat the top score after all these years means she still has not reached the level of Vi solidifying her own insecurity.
Had Jinx’s score been half of Vi’s highest score, that would’ve solidified the “twice the person at half her age” callback. A bittersweet twist of the knife with that one! If only…
It's Mylo's nagging beating out Vi's advice that she doesn't need to compare herself to Vi in areas which are Vi's strong points and Powder's weak points when Powder clearly has her own strong points. "Had Jinx’s score been half of Vi’s highest score" That would be a bit excessive and on the nose imo. Vi at 15 is slightly stronger than Powder at 18 but Powder is still incredibly quick and physically capable, so she's never gonna have half her score. I prefer that they put internal consistency first and only hint at the message.
i really like that scene where jayce asked viktor ''are you sure this is safe'' and he responds, slightly annoyed, ''of course not''. because jayce had changed his priorities, he isnt working on the hextech anymore like they used to, when they were just experimenting without knowing if its safe at all, to help people in the undercity rather than push topside further forward and away from the underside
I don't read annoyance from Viktor and it is in fact irresponsible to conduct research when it is "unsafe" unsafe. Repercussions from unsafe laboratory conducts extend far beyond just the personnel in the lab, and you are ultimately not contributing to progress by injuring or killing yourself.
I just always found it interesting that even though the advice Silco is giving jinx is 'unhealthy', in the sense its getting rid of Powder, he truly believes what he's saying is true and what's best for her
I think Vi, in her years of being locked up, has some idolized memories of Powder. Vi just jumped and ran across several building roofs and told Caitlynn "My little sister could do that since she was seven." No, she very much could not have. Episode 1 we see she struggles with a much simpler jump in comparison at 10/11.
I feel like people focus to much on the jump. Let’s be real, even the most skilled person could still misstep. Powder was still able to scale building by herself and unassisted which I would call impressive.
I felt that Vi was just "busting Caitlyns balls" a bit. Vi was really leaning on getting the message across to Cait that you're in my world now and I'm the one in charge here.
Totally agree this may have been just a slip up on powders part and she does a lot better typically. But Arcane typically doesn’t do this. The writers had so little time in act one so I’d generally assume that this is how powder was most of the time. The other reason I agree with this is because Powder has always had trouble with not having the same skills as Vi. Vi Is definitely one of the best people we see when it comes to parkour. (We don’t see much but Vis is emphasized so much I’d assume she one of if not the best) so powder not being good at this makes sense. Vi putting their moments on a pedestal also makes sense.
i think Vi was referring to Jinx got her almost killed back in the day about "my little sister could do that since she was s ever" and i thought that was funny as heck XD
I don't think Silco's "baptism" is all that devious. He is simply trying to do for her what worked for him - to his mind, he adapted to his environment in the moment when his friend tried to murder him, becoming what he needed to be to survive and, to some extent, thrive, and that is what he is trying to impart to Jinx here - a sense of mastery of her fate, swimming in it instead of drowning in it. I am no doctor, but I also note that there seems to be no therapists available in this society, no mental health professionals. Those who have psychological insight seem to use it for political gain rather than healing, and this seems to be one of the fairly rare cases we've seen in the show so far of someone truly trying their best to help. The problem is that Silco doesn't value the past - his own or anyone else's. His notion of healing is bound up in toppling the (absolutely horrifying) status quo for his city and its people, and I think he may be right. Living in an oppressed colony without the opportunity for freedom, expression or escape probably isn't doing anyone's mental health any good. It's worth noting that whereas Piltover is full of people who could be living in pretty much any peaceful, western society... schemers, dreamers, workers, drifters, people trying to live their lives in a fairly good situation... Zaun's adults have come in two major varieties ever since episode one. Hardened... and broken.
Well I think Zilco is manipulative even if its his own way of helping Jinx. He pushes onto her that she has no one only him because everyone leaves and betrays them. He would rather have her completely erase even the good of her past to focus only on what he wants for her to be. Like him. You can be manipulative and still think you are doing what's best.
@@kellharris2491 I don't think he sees it as a clever way to manipulate her, I think he sees it as a profound bonding moment where he is passing on his wisdom and experience to his daughter, who is clearly struggling and who is unable to move on from the pain of the past, and sharing a profound experience that made him what he is, and that he believes will help her become strong and let go of who she used to be the same way he himself once did. I also think that for him it is just a fact that they only have each other. Vi left Powder when she needed her the most, Vander betrayed HIM when he was supposed to be a trusted brother that had his back... he KNOWS that Vi is very like Vander, and wouldn't approve of Jinx as is, and he doesn't want that pain for her where she yet again feels she has to earn her sisters love and respect by being what her sister wants her to be, because who she is isn't good enough. I think he is a little harsh in that, but not ultimately wrong as Vi is CLEARLY horrified by what her sister has become. I also think Silco and Jinx share the fear of betrayal and abandonment, and as such the fear of loosing the daughter he so clearly loves beyond all else makes him refuse to even think that there might be others who could love her as genuinely and fully as he does. I also think he fails to see WHY someone who loves Jinx would ever consider her less than perfect, because what we and Vi see as problematic behaviors, mental health issues and bad coping mechanisms he sees as the chaos and uncontrollable ferocity that he loves about Zaun. Not saying he is the perfect father in the way we would consider it with our mental health glasses on, but his love is genuine and truly unconditional, he has her best interest at heart even when he falls short in our eyes, and their bond is so strong and real BECAUSE he was genuinely a good dad to her. She has NO fear of him, she is open and honest with him and seeks comfort from him without fear of judgment or rejection, she trusts him and his advice/guidance, and wants to do right by him and make him proud. He has encouraged her interests, helped her hone her skills, made her a VERY capable young woman who fears very little and is more than a match for anyone stupid enough to take her on... Despite her mental health struggles I actually think he did an amazing job, even if my moral compass isn't 100% aligned with his, which obviously means I don't agree with all the things he has passed on to Jinx.
@@lotus2001 you absolutely can, but I don't agree that he is a terrible father, just a very damaged man doing the best he knows how in a very broken world. Vi DID abandon Powder. She was coming back, and her not doing so was only because of things out of her control, but she left a crying and broken little girl to feel she had been left and rejected by a sister who no longer loved her or cared about her after her mistake had those those catastrophic consequences. Vi was also just a kid, and had just suffered the trauma and loss of the same people as Jinx, so I get WHY. Even for an adult with no teauma or big mental health issues of their own it would be hard to not lose your temper and focus on being there for Powder right after! But that doesn't erase the fact that she left without any assurance that she would come back or getting Powder to a safe location before leaving her on her own. You can spin that any way you want, but to the one being left like that it WILL be considered as being abandoned. As for Silco, I don't think he is manipulating at all, I just think that is his view of what Vi did. As I said, he is too harsh on Vi, and there are circumstances that he ignores because he sees Vi and Vander as being basically the same which means she will just betray Jinx the way Vander did to him, but... I don't think he is saying anything he believes to be wrong or false. I don't even think he IS wrong, because Vi clearly can't love or accept Jinx and wants her to be Powder again. I just think it isn't wrong of Vi to want Powder back, or to want to stabilise Jinx as she is clearly not in a good place when it comes to her mental health. Basically, Vi is a much better sister than Silco gives her credit for, and also a far worse one than a lot of people are willing to acknowledge. It's complicated 😂
I think my favorite story beat in this episode relates to Caitlyn. In the beginning, Grayson asks what she is shooting for, and the very next time we see her shoot, it's to save Vi. I like the implied layers here: shooting to protect the innocent/downtrodden, shooting to prove her worth at the thing SHE desires in life, and shooting to protect someone she personally cares about. It's clear that while Vi is brash and very different from the people Caitlyn is used to dealing with, she is growing to respect and care for her. She sees something admirable in Vi's directness and acceptance of self, her sort of disregard of what others think and her willingness to do what has to be done. Caitlyn spent her entire life being told who she was supposed to be and how she should act, and I think Vi's ability to show her a different way of life (one that she's searched for for a long time) is key in this new relationship. There really isn't a single wasted scene (or line) in this show. ❤
So, the thing I like about this watch-a-long is how we went from: "I'm watching this so I can analyze it" to "I'm watching this!... and also analyzing it."
Jinx’s psychosis is represented by scratches. Those scratches and demon-like faces are present in episode 1 on the bridge. I think it’s a safe assumption that Powder had some PTSD/mental illness going on from the get-go.
So, it is not shown in the show who her original parents were, but other lore suggests that she was the one that convinced her parents to do something that got them killed.
I find the assumption for a lack of empathy in Powders behavior a bit strange. To me it seemed more like she was just not sure how to react to all of this and when her older sister, to whom she looked up to, broke down crying, then she was trying to comfort her and vent her own pain.
It's also notable that she's about 4 or 5 in that intro bridge scene and kids at that age really don't have that part of emotional intelligence fully developed as of yet.
@@hawkins347 Totally! I think it’s hard for most kids that young to grasp death/understand the gravity of that kind of situation. I feel like for her in that moment it’s was scary rather than sad.
To me it gives off major compartmentalization vibes, like she seems very empathetic(Powder immediately picking up on the emotions of people around her and clearly understanding the way they feel and trying to comfort, etc. them) but she's really good at repression, just boxing away her emotions and never bringing them back up to process. Also she was like 5 yknow? I couldn't process the gravity of death properly until I was at least 8. She empathizes with Vi immediately in that scene too. Also also in the enemy music video you see her sad that she can't help someone getting beaten up because she is too weak. People with empathy issues don't do that. Anyways Jinx clearly has and always has had empathy that she repressed because it was the only way she could cope/live with herself and especially her life with silco.
I love the new Parallels shown in this show. The new and corrupted version of Vander and Greyson with Marcus and Silco. Its something I think is very interesting. I beleive Marcus thinks hes doing what Greyson was, and that this dark side was something she also had to deal with
It WAS what Greyson had to deal with. The underworld was not nearly as dark when Vander was in charge but it was still shady and filled to the brim with crime and violence.
I think silco is doing the best he can. Objectively it can be wrong/misguided, but he's trying to help Jinx the only way he knows how. Great episode as always!
I believe Silco cares for Jinx and helps her the best he can... but he does this informed by his OWN trauma and deep problems; his help is somewhat toxic.
Silco is an amazing example of love not being enough. Spoilers for the rest of the show: He loves Jinx, 100%, but he isn't a good father. He wants the best for her, but his idea of what's best is flawed at best. He is incredibly permissive, excusing Jinx's mistakes and encouraging her worst habits (y'know, like murder) and not knowing how to deal with her trauma.
you all assume that his ideas are wrong, because killing is wrong. but that isn't necessarily true for that violent environment in which you are the underdog that has been tormented by another group of people. it's easy to say that killing is wrong when living a kushy life, because in that situation you want nothing to change.
I'm really glad they had the scene near the end when they showed Jinx tinkering away in her workshop. For the first time, she seems completely happy. She's completely focused on a task, and she seems carefree.
As to the signs of mental illness in episode 1, the big clue that was subtly disguised was during the bridge screen there were scratches on the screen. The same scratches we see now when Jinx has a mental episode. She wasn't so violently deadly expressive when she was a child so it wasn't as obvious as it is now, but I do think there was trauma there. I do disagree with others in that, I wouldn't say she lacked empathy then, but she did have signs that she wasn't possibly processing things in a healthy manner. For example when she tore the head off her monkey and threw it in episode 3 when she was left behind. That rage was not the healthiest expression of her feelings. So I think the bridge may have been the start of her trauma that wasn't properly handled and was only built upon from there. There are reasons that I won't go too deeply into because it involves later episodes, but I believe Vi was a kind of ward against the voices for Powder. I think she always had issues, and when she lost Vi, she lost the only healthy outlet/coping mechanism/positive influence, which is why she's degraded to her current state. I think the scratches on screen are visual representation of the moments when her trauma is overwhelming her. They weren't as big or often in the first act though, so it often slips under the radar. As for Marcus and Grayson. I think Marcus sees the parallels between the Grayson/Vander relationship and the Marcus/Silco relationship. I think back when he was under her he hated how Grayson ran things, but now that he's in charge and sees the similarities, he realizes how tremendously he fails compared to her. I think its why in the next scene he tries to stand up to Silco and again fails, and why he then imagines pulling the pin later. I also do think Silco believes what he's saying with letting the weak version of you die. I think its very much how he tried to process his falling out with Vander. Which is why he is the way he is today. I think in his mind, he successfully processed his trauma. We've never seen the before, only the after, but I think there is enough there that shows he only believes in strength and shows disgust towards weakness and failure in others. And his monologue with Vander in the opening sequence of ep 3 also reflects these ideals. The idea of the weak part of him wanting to let the water drown him and the violent voice being the strength that allowed him to survive. And in the monologue he's not trying to BS anyone, his monologue is him thanking Vander for teaching him that lesson. So while he may panic at the prospect of Vi influencing Jinx, I think in his mind he actually sees it as Vi would be a negative influence and he's the positive influence teaching her to be strong. I think Silco just has a twisted view on strength and weakness. So I believe his help is genuinely well meaning, just totally twisted. Also Vi as a kid took out half his goons in a fight so even without the Jinx aspect, so now as an adult she's still a force to be feared.
++ I agree with you I love the similarities and parallels of Vander and Vi, Silco and Jinx they have a lot in common. And it makes me happy to see that every father figure takes action to protect their daughters.
It is also established that none of Jinx's older friend-group wanted to kill anyone, meanwhile she was making bombs. She points out in episode 2(?) that some of her bombs are smoke and some are actual bombs. When she makes a bomb blow up an entire factory in episode 3, she exclaims, "It worked! It finally worked!" Which means she intended to cause that much devastation.. in a rescue mission. She was by no means "healthy" as a child. Silco did not make Jinx. Silco only made her feel perfect.
@@peaceandloveusa6656 Ugh, nobody who was an adult or a "person-who-didn't-want-to-kill-anyone" ever told Powder she should stop making bombs. Not Vander, not Vi. Vi learned boxing from Vander and that's cool, but you think nobody showed Powder how to make bombs or encouraged her to make them?
I also love that you recognize that when Jinx says, "it was a mistake." That was a PTSD flashback. She's talking about her doomed attempt to save her family.
Omg hahah yay!!! I’m the editor and this was my favorite part lol. I’m watching this along with Dr. Tracy as I edit so I’m so excited for Caitlyn/Vi and also prepared to be heartbroken haha
During the show, a lot of Crows will appear. Most if not all of them, when Jinx is on the Screen. From my understanding, crows symbolize, among other things, "change", and especifically emotional change. We can see how Jinx "shots" at the crow, not accepting the change yet. Would love to see your perspective on these on future episodes, and your interpretation of the crows.
Idk if someone said this but, if you pay attention, there are pauses in every scene with jinx as if mylo and claggor are talking to her. Sometimes you hear them. Sometimes it pans to a doll she made of them. How they show her hallucinations throughout with everything is amazing to me.
I agree with you that Powder wasn't merely reflecting Vi's grief in the opening scene of Ep 1. How old was she in that scene? Like... 4? She doesn't really have the ability to contextualize what she's seeing at that age so of course she's going to look to the people around her for emotional cues. I do think the panic-attack scene in Ep 3 was an explicit suggestion by the writers that this potential for an ego-death / mind fracture was already there.
First of all I love your reactions to this and will continue to watch them. I think it's interesting that Vi says "My sister could do that when she was seven" when the last time she saw her jump off a roof she nearly fell. I think that really tells you about how the Powder Vi remembered, and the actual powder are not quite the same person.
Regarding the scene in the brothel, there is a pretty dark side to it. Vi spent last 6-7 in prison, so the last time she was in the Undercity, she was a teenager. So the fact, that she knows, how to behave and what to do in the brothel to get information, is pretty concerning.
I think you're reaching for a connection that isn't there. It's simply a byproduct of the environment she's been surrounded by her entire life. She already knew the brothel's headmistress and had a close enough relationship (and the sense) to come find her for info--despite being in jail all that time--indicating she's well-traveled around the lanes and has a very strong grasp on how the area runs. It tells us that Vi spent a lot of her time learning to be resourceful, which is rightfully why she was the leader of her group. All that scene really conveys, as far as the brothel goes, is that organizations like these are frequent and highly accepted in Zaunite culture--that there isn't a stigma around them like there often are in first-world societies. It's certainly not saying anything as dark as you're presenting.
@@LockeNarshe Agreed. Similar to the fact that there doesn't seem to be a stigma with being gay. Vi doesn't just assume that Cait likes men, when the subject comes up she just asks "So what'll it be? Man or Woman?" like either one is an acceptable choice.
@@babette5918 Well, to a prostitute, both should acceptable choice, if it's all just to earn money. Not get genuine sexual pleasure. Plenty of porn actors today do both, regardless of their actual preference. Think of straight actors playing queer characters on film, like "Brokeneck Mountain". I understand that Vi may have used that as a cover to see how Cait swings, but, like I said, if all you want money (or information) you could do what you need to do.
Yessss another Arcane drop! I loved this one. Great job. I feel like the editing and your reactions are just getting better and better. Also thank you for responding to comments and actually building a community. As someone who’s a big RUclipsr person it’s always cool when that happens. 😻
One thing that always sticks out to me with this episode is the juxtaposition between Jinx and Vi at the boxing machine/game. You can see the turmoil in Jinx in the way she fights. Jinx is wild and violent whereas Vi is calm and collected.
I think Jayce did not lose his focus on his goal, he just had reached what he wanted, by showing the world that magic can do good things and make his opinion about it respected in his social enviroment, while Viktors goal was, to utilize everything he could find and turn it into remedies for all sort of problems he saw, to deal with the restrictions that his body gave him, you will find more hints about this in further episodes but it is only really shown in his in game character design.
That scene where present day Jinx cannot beast young Vi's score is just a masterpiece from a visual story telling ... and zero dialogue but the message is so strong.
Your Arcane reactions deserve more views - not simply for entertainment, but for the unique insight and information you share connected to mental health.
Im very curious about powder and vi's upbringing by their parents because vi seemed very close to them while powder seems to cling to vi as a caretaker despite both parents being alive during her formative years. This implies that their parents were more active before powder was born and vi remembers that fondly, but they left vi to raise powder more most likely to work more to feed them. Either that or powder just isn't attached to any figure more emotionally than vi, which is weird considering the instinctive connection between a child and mother, and their mother was alive and seemed active in their childhoods due to vi having no ill will towards their parents after their death
I know you didn't like the crow getting shot, but the crow, throughout the show, represents change, specifically her change to Jynx. It plays out through the whole show, and you'll see it much more later on in the series. But if you go back and watch, the crow is hanging around powder... waiting
You can't really tell from just one scene, but taken as a whole, the first three episodes really show Powder having problems from early age. First of all, the scratch marks on dead bodies in the intro of E1 suggest that her trauma originated there and was just amplified by later events. Then, you can see her clearly ignoring other people and blindly bumping into Vi in several scenes, barely interacting with anybody else except Milo (who usually initiated the interaction by criticizing her). Also, in the first episode she makes a nail bomb and throws it at a kid, biting her lip in glee while waiting for it to go off. Her first reaction to realizing that the hextech crystals caused the explosion that leveled a building is "i can help them". In the third episode she just glances over Vander's body without any reaction and her lines are "But... I was saving you", "I only wanted to help" "Why did you leave me" "I need you", "She left me". She is justifying herself to Vi and then Silco, not showing any remorse for her dead family members. There are other scenes later in the show, you'll see. Any of them by itself is not really telling, but it's clear that her dependence on Vi to the point of dangerous and self-destructive behaviour goes very deep, especially when you add to that her relationship with Silco, who when replacing Vi as her anchor profoundly influences her transformation and mannerisms.
Just pointing out something I said to another person. At first glance, Vander did not look like Vander. He looked a lot more like that creature that she was trying to save Vi from. At no point did she act like she realized it was Vander. She started to realize something was wrong when she saw Clager's googles broken on the ground. At that point she still didn't know what was wrong, but Clager was probably hurt. Right up to when Silco showed up she still didn't know what was wrong. She just knew that she screwed up somehow and her sister abandoned her. ... The rest are good points, but I don't know why people think that she was ignoring Vander instead of just not paying attention to the deformed monster that she just saw attacking Vi.
Regarding Powder's reaction to death in episode 1, I think that she reacted that way to her mom's death because she's a child and doesn't understand death. I saw her reaction as a very natural reaction for a small child who doesn't understand death. It's interesting to me to see people taking that moment as a "she doesn't feel anything" moment.
I would consider the Powder/Jinx dichotomy as a case of D.I.D. Powder and Jinx are two separate alters, trauma-holder little, and persecutor-protector respectively. The "he thinks I'm weak, I'll show him" is Jinx fronting, while the visceral reaction to the hextech device malfunction "it was a mistake, it was a mistake" was Powder trauma fronting, hence the childlike voice and mannerisms. Powder ran from the event, Jinx would have shot the device in outrage.
There can be disassociation and dissonance without it being DID lol, Powder/Jinx doesn’t fit the diagnosis for DID, and ‘Powder and Jinx’ are clearly two integrated aspects of one person as there is shared memory, etc.
I do think that Powder went into the experience on the bridge with some level of pre-existing trauma. Like she'd already bonded more to her sister than to others. Definitely, by the time of the break-in in episode 1, she's become emotionally dependent on the bond with her sister in... honestly, an unhealthy way, in that she's not able to handle being really separated from Vi. I just think that process had already begun before the bridge and had only become more pronounced over the years without anyone realizing it because Powder had never been put in the position that she was in episode 3 of being expressly denied the right to go with her sister to do something dangerous.
Yeah, knowing the Runeterra lore gives you some ideas about the general trajectory of the plot and what the overall world is likely to be like, but it's far from essential.
League of legends game actually don't have any story it's Just an online gamę when People are chosing champions and fight against each other, but the world behind the gamę is very big, they are cinematics, stories and comics
I think the idea with scene of Jinx's "baptism" is not that Silco knows that the cure he is offering Jinx is not right and that he didn't become new person. It is opposite, he honestly believes he did at this point, and as any good father would he tries to teach his child lessons he learned from his hard won experience, missing that either that could be a wrong solution for Jinx or may be it wasn't even a good lesson for himself to begin with. And it is in itself a lesson for any parent.
parent? idk dude, when they met powder told him that her sister abandoned her, which was very similar to him bneing betrayed/abandoned by vander, so it's not just father daughter but more of a kinship. one might suspect that he sees a lot of himself in her and maybe even projects stuff onto her that might not be there. his solution helped him, so he assumes it will also help her. it's a reasonable assumption, given that silko has no training in the field of mental health :P also considering the world they live in it seems like a very practical solution, one that helped him move into power and is essential to survive.
@@MegaMilenche yeh, but since they are not related they form an attachement based on kinship, shared experience. you can call it parental, it's not exactly wrong, particularly since silko refers to her as a daughter. I'd say it's more of a mentorship.
The contrast between Vi and Cait is so fun. One is a roughed up thug who spent years in prison, other is an upper class idealist law enforcer. Like night and day.
our beautiful therapist continues our favorite series, happiness, also everything will be more fantastic when you know that the series is just budding and the remaining episodes of the series are even better
I feel like one of the core principles that Riot and Fortiche nailed for this show was: each character feels like themselves. We get to see enough of the enviroment and how each character fits in that environment to the point where nothing comes out of left field. There is no "that person wouldn't've done that." I think the ups and downs of how each character acts hurts that much more because it isn't "they wouldn't make that choice" but it is "why did you make that choice?" It's very much like a Shakespearian/Greecian tragedy. It's a trainwreck in slowmotion. Non sequitur, glad you highlighted Vi saying "you hot. You gay?" And Caitlin's response is *don't make eye contact*. I do hope, maybe in a post season review, you take time to talk about the development of the relationships seen in the show as their developments feel grounded and natural (as opposed to boy meets girl, 2 seconds of eye contact, connection made). I think your insights would bring a new and interesting angle to appreciate what we see beyond just fitting the story well.
I believe Marcus and Silco were able to work so well together for so long because they have the same motives. Each man wants to protect his daughter and his people, and is willing to do anything for those goals. They also both show a deep desire for respect and power. I'm pretty sure that when they were at the brothel, Vi was testing the waters, to see if Caitlyn even had a compatible orientation. To me, when she saw Cait enjoying being pampered by a female attendant, she looked... hopeful.
Ik this video is 2 years old but I find it interesting how at some moment you compared Jinx's face to Powder's, because the animators genuinely made Jinx's model with a rig capable of basically switching between the sharper, more serious "Jinx" and the more rounded, innocent "Powder" faces, and they use that masterfully throughout the show. It's very subtle, but really cool.
Great video!! I have been enjoying and learning a lot from your videos, looking forward to more. I love the way you talk about social issues and how much it affects us even with our particularities. I really love the way you talked about this idea of “killing” your old self that is very present in a lot of different media, and how it can be harmful. No one is perfect and I think dealing with that is important to be able to understand who we are and learn how to be comfortable and/or work to change or improve. Living with mental illness is a constant struggle and I feel this idea of perfection is a dangerous one. One thing that is shown this episode and that I have to say always confuses me when I watch reactions or reviews about Arcane is how often it's not acknowledge what Vi went through in prison, how longe she was there, the physical and emotional abuse she endured as teenager to her early adulthood, she pretty much had to grieve her whole family right after losing them in that horrible place without knowing why she was even there, dealing with the regret of calling Powder Jinx and with her issues that were already present before what happens in the third episode. It would be interesting to hear from a therapist the potential emotional scars this might leave on a individual in VI's circumstances and how do you think this affects her, tho I know you just didn’t have enough time with the character to say much about it yet haha. Sorry for any mistakes, english is not my first language. Sorry for any mistakes, English is not my native language.
oh, also all of the visual aids you insert are great! pulling up shots from the show that demonstrate what you are talking about, or things from other sources that relate to the conversation. great touch!
"Has Power always lacked empathy?" The more that I rewatch it, the more I think so. Or maybe she only has empathy for Vi. All of her interactions with people other than Vi are very limited (mostly she is talked about but not talked to, even when she's in the same scene), but what really convinces me that there was something always off about her is the way she doesn't even acknowledge Vander's corpse at the end of episode 3. Vander should be in her field of view when she finds Vi, but she doesn't glance at him and instead acts excited that her bomb worked. And through that whole scene she doesn't look at Vander or acknowledge his death, even though Vi is kneeling next to him. It just seems like people who aren't Vi barely even exist to Powder. She really seems like she is only capable of having one person in her life at a time.The writers didn't just neglect to show her connecting with other people - they put her in loads of scenes with other characters but didn't give her any dialogue with them. Caitlyn's family judgement and perception. I really like the way Cait's family is handled in the series, because there is that clash between them and Cait, but both sides still respect one another. I also like the Councilor Kiraman is very judgmental, but she's convincible. She was willing to go out on a limb for Jayce until he lashed out, and she was willing to accept Cait being an enforcer until it became dangerous. The Councilor isn't totally accepting, but she does actually compromise, and she definitely has Cait's best interests at heart. For her part, while Cait is a bit rebellious, she isn't insulting about it, and she still values her mother's opinion even as she goes off to do her own thing. While there is conflict, it comes off as fairly realistic and healthy. There is no doubt that there is still love there. Just a General thought about Vi Vi is "faking it til she makes it" in most of the series. In the first three episodes she's a child, and then she was in jail for around 7 years, so she really can't be as worldly and experienced as she pretends to be. She walks into the brothel like it's nothing for her, but she was a 15-year-old tomboy and then she was in prison, so that had to have been Vi's first time there as well. Vi flirts aggressively as if she's done all of this before, but she couldn't have ever even been on a date before; it's very likely that Caitlyn is more experienced with romantic relationships than Vi. The only thing Vi has actual experience with is fighting, all the rest is just the character pretending to be the person she wants the rest of the world to see her as. I mean, I love Vi as a character, but her so much of her bravado is just an act.
Re: the general thought about Vi comment - I had never thought of it that way before but I think you're exactly right! We all know Vi as the "tough as nails" character and I hadn't really paid much attention to the background scenes and settings and how it might truly affect her based on the circumstances in the first act. I was very passive about it because, "oh...it's just Vi...being her usual badass self", but I gotta say...that's a good catch! Now I'll have to rewatch the series again with that perspective in mind.
@@nutrybe I wouldn't have caught it if I hadn't rewatched the series. She is definitely a good fighter and has a lot of experience with that, but she's out of her depth with virtually everything else. In the first act of the series, she's really trying to be Vander. In the second act I don't think she yet knows who she wants to be, but she's still faking comfort and experience a lot. Which is something that many successful people do, but Vi is still just pretending. I think the strong image she presents makes people miss a lot about Vi. She presents as a typical action movie hero, but I think she has a lot more going on. The brothel scene is just what made it pop out for me, because she acts so cool and assertive, but we know exactly what she was doing for all her formative years, and even if she knew where and what that building was, there is no way she was ever inside.
In fact, one of the writers confirmed on Twitter that Cait has had experiences sneaking girls "friends" into her house before haha, so yeah, Cait is more experienced.
I honestly think you're being too harsh on Powder. There's something off about her, but when her parents were killed she was really too young to understand what was going on or even what death was. After being adopted almost all her interactions were with the group of 4 kids. Of the 4, we already agree that she had a relationship going on with Vi. She and Milo had a freaking rivalry going on, so you can't say they weren't interacting with people either. The only one of the 4 that she didn't interact with much was Clager, and that was more him than her. He was always in the background watching over everyone and spoke a lot less than Powder did! Outside those 4, she was a shy kid. She'd seen some stuff and regularly hid behind the others for protection, though we've seen in glimpses that she also had a good relationship with Ekko at the time, the only person actually close to her age. Now onto Vander's death in episode 3, because it is definitely important. You have to remember that when Powder showed up, Vander didn't look like Vander. All Powder saw was that Vi was in front of something like that monster that she was trying to save Vi from. She did it! The monster attacking Vi was dead! She's a hero! ... Why was Vi crying? When Vi snapped at her Powder noticed Clager's googles on the ground and started to suspect something was wrong, but she still didn't recognize Vander. She didn't know what had happened, but something was seriously wrong. Right up to the end of the episode there was no indication that she actually knew that body was Vander. All she knew is that something had gone wrong, and her sister had abandoned her like she always feared. Now as Jinx, there is some truth that she could only have one person in her life, but that was because after episode 3 she learned that the only way to keep someone is to completely devote herself to that person. For her connections had to be absolute and there just wasn't anything left for others. That's why she was so threatened by Caitlyn. Vi had replaced her. There's only enough room for one person to really be important, and Powder wasn't that person in Vi's life. As for the other two, I'd say that's pretty accurate, though I'm sure there was some prison sex going on for Vi. Maybe not romance, but lust? I think she knew a bit. ;)
I think Powder is Autistic. Or some type of Neurodivergent. Especially when she was younger the emotional outbursts. She struggles socially. Then it's compounded with PTSD and maybe bpd or schizophrenia. I don't think she lacks empathy I think she has trouble understanding others emotions as well as her own. As for Vi you are underestimating something. Vi grew up in the underworld. Just how sheltered do you think she was? She was 15. And then she was in prison. You do know how sexual prison is? People have little time but to work out and have sex.
I'm glad you talked about being able to change your mind on a character/person as you get to know them. Sometimes, especially in reaction video comments, we get people trying to steer the reactor into liking/disliking a character because of what comes next. But the person reacting doesn't know that yet. So if a person starts out doing bad things and a reactor says they don't like them, the comments flood with people telling them that they will love them "soon" or just coming to their defense without accepting the fact that the reactor is not yet on that level with that character. A few examples are Darryl from WD, Gabby from AOT, or Jamie Lannister in GOT.
I just want to say I am LOVING your reactions, I love arcane so this series is how I found your channel and I look forward to your videos on the remaining episodes! 💖
I'm glad you're having a great time with this show. I'd never spoil anyone but this gets incredibly dark. I'll be interested to see your reaction to the final episode. (I'm still interested in the other episodes as well)
Something important about this show is where we should be treating the characters like people and where we should be treating them like characters. There are a lot of times where the show will hint something that can go in multiple directions where you could treat it like a real life scenario or like a narrative it’s interesting to see therapists do this vs people who do deep dives that are more narrative based. TLDR these are some of my favorite videos of yours that make me want to re watch arcane even more
10:04 Love this scene for a few reasons - Powder was lamenting in the first act that she's "not a fighter", undervaluing her actual talents. Now, when she's of a comparable age to what her sister was when all those high scores were set, she is frustrated that she still can't measure up to her... however, Vi was a skilled and dedicated boxer who had lots of practice on the machine (as seen by the long streak of high scores), and that was her primary focus, her core competency. Jinx, meanwhile, is primarily an inventor, gunslinger, engineer and, quite frankly, a genius. The fact that she is able to very nearly match her sister's best performance in her core competency is incredible - and Jinx doesn't value it. I think her entire being is bound up in a "no prize for second place" mentality, and she clearly fears that if she is not useful, she will be discarded. Her entire being is bound up in having to excel in everything she does, but it's never quite enough. A lesson that is relevant and transferrable to a lot of people's lives, I think.
I did notice looking at the scoreboard in Vi's scene that the high score that Jinx doesn't beat was set on the day that room was raided, so she beat every previous performance of Vi on what from the size of Powder was almost certainly her first try.
@@KarlJeager Yup... and to me, at least, it's very relatable to not see how amazing what you did truly was, just because you came in second. Psychologically, that's an interesting and significant detail, I think :)
Definitely noticed that pause before you called Jericho a person. But I consider that a good thing. Didn't call him weird fish guy, called him an equal. I would have nicknamed him Sharky long ago because I'm a bad person.
While I don't agree with the one community comment saying that Powder was entirely lacking in empathy, I do agree with the point they brought up that Powder did seem to have mental health issues from the beginning. If you rewatch the opening scene of episode 1, you'll notice that there's some editing in there that's only really used after to represent Powder/Jynx's hallucinations and flashbacks (reality being scratched out in places with high-saturation colors and such). Granted, that could be a showcase of her being traumatized by the violent situation she was surrounded by in that moment, but I think it's worth noting that the editing of that scene, and how that editing is used throughout the rest of the show, indicates Powder having mental health issues already in her first ever appearance.
there's a line in Miracle Of Sound's Arcane themed song "Perfect" that is performed by Gavin himself, as if talking to Jinx: "Oh you're perfect. Don't cry, don't change". I strongly recommend that you give a listen to the song, there's a lot to unpack from it and a _perfect_ companion to the show.
The "Silco's biggest fear" thing is something I understood after watching the series a couple of times, and it becomes VERY apparent in the next episode (in what is probably the best scene of the series).
Been loving these reactions. I adore Arcane and seeing your insight into the characters is a ton of fun as well as the further discussion you are able to springboard into from it. Great stuff! Its interesting to see how much the psychological state of the characters is able to ring true. From a layperson perspective they felt very real and authentic but its interesting to see it examined from an expert perspective to get at the underpinnings of these characters and get a sense of why the emotions of it work so well.
Yes! I rly like that you mention the distinction btw critiquing a behaviour in the moment but also evolve as we learn more And how that they should be done in unison I feel like we had a moment in (at least online) society where we hyper-reacted to info on ppl and "cancel culture" at least as a term was coined And then now, at least on more liberal/left spaces, we somehow saw some harm done then and then now we're overcorrecting And slinging around terms like "rehabilitation" for ppl haven't even reversed the massive harm they have caused esp for those who are massive public figures with a huge reach Bcos ppl are now scared to "jump on the bandwagon" But being able to point out smth seems bad, an action looks bad, should NOT be smth wereievet afraid to do Even en masse. Even joining up with others who feel the same We shouldn't back down from criticizing ppl for present actions that do seem bad with the info we have And then as things unfold, we should be allowed to freely adjust our criticisms or pull them back and not get criticized for "jumping to conclusions" Obviously there are ways we can stretch our interpretations of certain info when it first breaks as well But we can take that into consideration AND still make strong stances and be allowed to change it as more is revealed Without feeling shame for it Pls don't attack ppl standing up for others Edit: 12:21 haha that Vi sticker is so cute
Thank you for the intelligent discussion, I am learning so much and thinking about a lot of other areas of my life in different ways because of your Arcane reactions, one of my favorite shows (and games) X)
The thing that people were referring to with the first episode in regards to Jinx's psychosis is that there is a flash of the sort of scratchy art style that becomes more prevalent in Act 2 and 3 for when Jinx has an episode. It's only there for like a second, so if you blink you'll miss it.
I'm enjoying your program you've made here. I actually think psychiatrists and PHDs in psychology are very fun to chat with people. Not my own psychiatrist of course you do need to keep a professional distance on that one. But I actually have two friends with psych degrees that I hang out with all the time and they are both quite entertaining and educational. Keep up the good work :D
I love the way you go about things and have you watched Everything Everywhere All At Once? I think you would really enjoy it and get really good feel and material from this film. Just a suggestion. Love all your content.
3:56 I don't understand why, though. Sure, even convicts have a right to humane treatment. But Caitlyn doesn't know why Vi is in jail, if she is truly dangerous or malicious etc.
You will see later on but I personally believe that Silco wasnt telling Jinx to kill her old self off. She just needs to be braver, remove that fear from her memories and be who she is and always has been. She needs to be herself, remove that fear of being herself and stay true to who she is even through what she did in her past or what others did to her in her past.
If you go back to episode 1, the very first scene, you will see that there are the Jinx hallucinations during that bridge scene. The question then arises why is powder having Jinx hallucinations when she was just a little girl. Then episode 3 if you look closely when she throws the briefcase down and the gemstones rollaway, one of them rolls across a drawing and you can see a drawing that looks like jinx and also what looks like her future dolls of Milo and clagger. If you go back and rewatch those two scenes makes you ask a question to yourself, was powder always jinx?
Thank you all for the support on these Arcane videos. I am LOVING this series and I can't wait for the next one!! As a heads up, we try to release videos every Thursday. Hit the bell to turn on your notifications so you don't miss the latest upload. ❤
I wonder if you could do Bojack Horseman after Arcane? There's no other show (as someone diagnosed with major dep dis) I can relate to but that show.
It's a long series though.. but really dark and nihilistic. It's core is generational trauma and abuse. Plus, I am kind of concerned how others perceived Bojack (they are justifying his actions) while the creators deliberately stated that Bojack is a horrible person that ruin people around him.
Are you planing on an audiobook ? I'm not much of a reader but I do listen to a lot of books.
That’s wayyyyyyyyyy too long for some of us to wait 😭
thank you for continuing this series! I'm loving your reactions and education
I don't believe you are a doctor. What doctor has their body all over tattooed and most of them are really ugly tattoos not beautiful... like the weird skull tattoo on the right arm.
It looks like something a drunk child would draw.
So what person with a PhD has this on themselves???
"What are you shooting for?"
And the next time we see Kaitlin shooting, it was to protect VI
One very important thing a lot of people seem to miss is that SIlco is genuinely surprised that Vi is still alive.
Yeah. I see a lot of people saying things like, "If Silco really cared about Powder, he would have tried to re-unite her with her old friend group." He clearly thought Vi (her only living relative at the time they met) was dead, and Ekko was the stay out of sight type, especially when it came to Silco and his goons. Who exactly was he supposed to help her re-connect with? By the time Vi is confirmed to be alive, the fate of Zaun rests on his and Jinx's shoulders. He could not allow distractions at that point.
I think it's also fitting that, along with surprise, he looks genuinely afraid. (Understandably given how teenage Vi took out most of his men; who even knows what she's capable of as an adult?)
Which is especially perfect juxtaposed against his earlier speech about letting go of the past, letting go of fear; showing that no matter what he tells himself, he is still afraid of some things. And if that part of his philosophy is wrong, everything else also gets called into question.
@@ColdGoldLazarus At this point I think he's less afraid of what Vi might be capable of physically and more about what her being alive could do to his connection with Jinx.
@@peaceandloveusa6656 also, it was revealed there was a removed scene where Ekko meets Jinx, that’s where the phrase “boy savior” comes from
@@lolnoob5015 That is Death of the Author, which I do not regard as canon. I have heard that too though. The thing is, that confirms Jinx chose Silco over Ekko and her past (minus Vi) so I wish I could have counted it. It doesn't change my take of the events, but that scene could have made it clear to more people that my take was meant to be canon. What a shame it was cut.
I’m really glad you gave Marcus the time he deserved. People just don’t get that even characters who keep making the wrong decisions are still complex and have humanity. Everyone is so quick to throw his character away.
I think most people get so mad whit Marcus is cuz the show have this "show don't tell" theme going on.. and Marcus is kinda the opposite. He say it a lot of things on the show (like in ep 2 in the bar whit Vander) but at the end we don't see him doing it.
@@erickeker8761 **FUTURE EPISODE SPOILERS AHEAD**
It's intentional though that we don't see Marcus "doing" a lot of what he says. It's key to his entire story and why we have empathy for him. Even via our first impressions of him in the lanes, we're not supposed to like him because he's a bully and a bag of hot air. It isn't until Silco uproots their deal that we see this other side of him that's regretful and ashamed of what his arrogance brought about. All he ever wanted was to get Vander arrested, not to get anyone--especially Grayson--killed. We see multiple times him wanting to reverse his role but not being allowed to without his daughter paying the price. He can't pull the pin on the grenade like he envisions because of this. He can't let Vi intervene and get killed by Silco because of it. He actively tries, in the small ways he can, to undermine Silco until the man shows up in his house and makes the threats perfectly understood. The fact is, Marcus is powerless in this situation.
A lot of people don't like Marcus because they treat him like a one-dimensional character, not the complex person--struggling between being in over his head (with no way out) and protecting his daughter--that he is. He's a tragedy; someone that realized the error of their ways but never got a chance to turn it around. After the alley scene, Silco owned him, leveraging his wrongdoings to get him to continue down the rabbit hole, lest his daughter grow up without a father. Not really much of a choice...
@@LockeNarshe very well said
@@LockeNarshe yeah I don’t understood the hate he gets
Yes! I've never seen anyone Behr receptive to this. I see Marcus as arrive who grew up with a warped works view, as most in Piltover do. Think about it: they only see undercity guys when they are doing crime or violence. I think Marcus saw them all as dangerous and corrupt and thought Greyson just didn't have the balls to do what needed to be done. One he struck the deal and saw what happened, he immediately rejected it and tried to help in what little way he could, but was powerless against Silco and now forever bound to him by the bribe he accepted. He dreams of breaking free of Silco and doing him in, but he knows what will happen if he tries. He's not a good person, but he isn't very bad either. How many people are assholes when they are young? He is perfect to understand how ordinary people become functionally evil, by which I mean doubt a lot of harm in their function/position in society.
As far as Jinx not beating Vi's score, I feel like it solidified what Mylo said about her in her mind. Vi was, "Twice the person at half her age."
There is another aspect that I personally think is likely. The beating of the score could be more of a reflection that Powder/Jinx wants to overcome her weakness she had as a child. Failing to beat the top score after all these years means she still has not reached the level of Vi solidifying her own insecurity.
Had Jinx’s score been half of Vi’s highest score, that would’ve solidified the “twice the person at half her age” callback. A bittersweet twist of the knife with that one! If only…
It's Mylo's nagging beating out Vi's advice that she doesn't need to compare herself to Vi in areas which are Vi's strong points and Powder's weak points when Powder clearly has her own strong points.
"Had Jinx’s score been half of Vi’s highest score"
That would be a bit excessive and on the nose imo. Vi at 15 is slightly stronger than Powder at 18 but Powder is still incredibly quick and physically capable, so she's never gonna have half her score. I prefer that they put internal consistency first and only hint at the message.
i really like that scene where jayce asked viktor ''are you sure this is safe'' and he responds, slightly annoyed, ''of course not''. because jayce had changed his priorities, he isnt working on the hextech anymore like they used to, when they were just experimenting without knowing if its safe at all, to help people in the undercity rather than push topside further forward and away from the underside
I love how up-front Viktor is in this and past interactions.
I don't read annoyance from Viktor and it is in fact irresponsible to conduct research when it is "unsafe" unsafe. Repercussions from unsafe laboratory conducts extend far beyond just the personnel in the lab, and you are ultimately not contributing to progress by injuring or killing yourself.
I just always found it interesting that even though the advice Silco is giving jinx is 'unhealthy', in the sense its getting rid of Powder, he truly believes what he's saying is true and what's best for her
It's a case of "blind leading the bling".
I think Vi, in her years of being locked up, has some idolized memories of Powder. Vi just jumped and ran across several building roofs and told Caitlynn "My little sister could do that since she was seven." No, she very much could not have. Episode 1 we see she struggles with a much simpler jump in comparison at 10/11.
i interpreted as "my sister did as good as you when she was 7"
I feel like people focus to much on the jump. Let’s be real, even the most skilled person could still misstep. Powder was still able to scale building by herself and unassisted which I would call impressive.
I felt that Vi was just "busting Caitlyns balls" a bit. Vi was really leaning on getting the message across to Cait that you're in my world now and I'm the one in charge here.
Totally agree this may have been just a slip up on powders part and she does a lot better typically. But Arcane typically doesn’t do this. The writers had so little time in act one so I’d generally assume that this is how powder was most of the time. The other reason I agree with this is because Powder has always had trouble with not having the same skills as Vi. Vi Is definitely one of the best people we see when it comes to parkour. (We don’t see much but Vis is emphasized so much I’d assume she one of if not the best) so powder not being good at this makes sense. Vi putting their moments on a pedestal also makes sense.
i think Vi was referring to Jinx got her almost killed back in the day about "my little sister could do that since she was s ever" and i thought that was funny as heck XD
I don't think Silco's "baptism" is all that devious. He is simply trying to do for her what worked for him - to his mind, he adapted to his environment in the moment when his friend tried to murder him, becoming what he needed to be to survive and, to some extent, thrive, and that is what he is trying to impart to Jinx here - a sense of mastery of her fate, swimming in it instead of drowning in it. I am no doctor, but I also note that there seems to be no therapists available in this society, no mental health professionals. Those who have psychological insight seem to use it for political gain rather than healing, and this seems to be one of the fairly rare cases we've seen in the show so far of someone truly trying their best to help. The problem is that Silco doesn't value the past - his own or anyone else's. His notion of healing is bound up in toppling the (absolutely horrifying) status quo for his city and its people, and I think he may be right. Living in an oppressed colony without the opportunity for freedom, expression or escape probably isn't doing anyone's mental health any good. It's worth noting that whereas Piltover is full of people who could be living in pretty much any peaceful, western society... schemers, dreamers, workers, drifters, people trying to live their lives in a fairly good situation... Zaun's adults have come in two major varieties ever since episode one. Hardened... and broken.
Well I think Zilco is manipulative even if its his own way of helping Jinx. He pushes onto her that she has no one only him because everyone leaves and betrays them. He would rather have her completely erase even the good of her past to focus only on what he wants for her to be. Like him. You can be manipulative and still think you are doing what's best.
@@kellharris2491 I don't think he sees it as a clever way to manipulate her, I think he sees it as a profound bonding moment where he is passing on his wisdom and experience to his daughter, who is clearly struggling and who is unable to move on from the pain of the past, and sharing a profound experience that made him what he is, and that he believes will help her become strong and let go of who she used to be the same way he himself once did.
I also think that for him it is just a fact that they only have each other. Vi left Powder when she needed her the most, Vander betrayed HIM when he was supposed to be a trusted brother that had his back... he KNOWS that Vi is very like Vander, and wouldn't approve of Jinx as is, and he doesn't want that pain for her where she yet again feels she has to earn her sisters love and respect by being what her sister wants her to be, because who she is isn't good enough.
I think he is a little harsh in that, but not ultimately wrong as Vi is CLEARLY horrified by what her sister has become. I also think Silco and Jinx share the fear of betrayal and abandonment, and as such the fear of loosing the daughter he so clearly loves beyond all else makes him refuse to even think that there might be others who could love her as genuinely and fully as he does. I also think he fails to see WHY someone who loves Jinx would ever consider her less than perfect, because what we and Vi see as problematic behaviors, mental health issues and bad coping mechanisms he sees as the chaos and uncontrollable ferocity that he loves about Zaun.
Not saying he is the perfect father in the way we would consider it with our mental health glasses on, but his love is genuine and truly unconditional, he has her best interest at heart even when he falls short in our eyes, and their bond is so strong and real BECAUSE he was genuinely a good dad to her. She has NO fear of him, she is open and honest with him and seeks comfort from him without fear of judgment or rejection, she trusts him and his advice/guidance, and wants to do right by him and make him proud. He has encouraged her interests, helped her hone her skills, made her a VERY capable young woman who fears very little and is more than a match for anyone stupid enough to take her on... Despite her mental health struggles I actually think he did an amazing job, even if my moral compass isn't 100% aligned with his, which obviously means I don't agree with all the things he has passed on to Jinx.
@@sarah4hpyou can be a terrible father and love your child. also Vi never abandoned Powder that’s Silco manipulating you and Jinx
@@lotus2001 you absolutely can, but I don't agree that he is a terrible father, just a very damaged man doing the best he knows how in a very broken world.
Vi DID abandon Powder. She was coming back, and her not doing so was only because of things out of her control, but she left a crying and broken little girl to feel she had been left and rejected by a sister who no longer loved her or cared about her after her mistake had those those catastrophic consequences.
Vi was also just a kid, and had just suffered the trauma and loss of the same people as Jinx, so I get WHY. Even for an adult with no teauma or big mental health issues of their own it would be hard to not lose your temper and focus on being there for Powder right after! But that doesn't erase the fact that she left without any assurance that she would come back or getting Powder to a safe location before leaving her on her own. You can spin that any way you want, but to the one being left like that it WILL be considered as being abandoned.
As for Silco, I don't think he is manipulating at all, I just think that is his view of what Vi did. As I said, he is too harsh on Vi, and there are circumstances that he ignores because he sees Vi and Vander as being basically the same which means she will just betray Jinx the way Vander did to him, but... I don't think he is saying anything he believes to be wrong or false. I don't even think he IS wrong, because Vi clearly can't love or accept Jinx and wants her to be Powder again. I just think it isn't wrong of Vi to want Powder back, or to want to stabilise Jinx as she is clearly not in a good place when it comes to her mental health.
Basically, Vi is a much better sister than Silco gives her credit for, and also a far worse one than a lot of people are willing to acknowledge. It's complicated 😂
@@sarah4hp When it comes to Powder/Jinx, Silco is well-meaning but horribly misguided. Simply because he himself is also a broken, lost human.
I think my favorite story beat in this episode relates to Caitlyn. In the beginning, Grayson asks what she is shooting for, and the very next time we see her shoot, it's to save Vi. I like the implied layers here: shooting to protect the innocent/downtrodden, shooting to prove her worth at the thing SHE desires in life, and shooting to protect someone she personally cares about. It's clear that while Vi is brash and very different from the people Caitlyn is used to dealing with, she is growing to respect and care for her. She sees something admirable in Vi's directness and acceptance of self, her sort of disregard of what others think and her willingness to do what has to be done. Caitlyn spent her entire life being told who she was supposed to be and how she should act, and I think Vi's ability to show her a different way of life (one that she's searched for for a long time) is key in this new relationship. There really isn't a single wasted scene (or line) in this show. ❤
So, the thing I like about this watch-a-long is how we went from: "I'm watching this so I can analyze it" to "I'm watching this!... and also analyzing it."
Jinx’s psychosis is represented by scratches. Those scratches and demon-like faces are present in episode 1 on the bridge. I think it’s a safe assumption that Powder had some PTSD/mental illness going on from the get-go.
So, it is not shown in the show who her original parents were, but other lore suggests that she was the one that convinced her parents to do something that got them killed.
@@FlatMarssSociety her mum is shown on the bridge
I find the assumption for a lack of empathy in Powders behavior a bit strange. To me it seemed more like she was just not sure how to react to all of this and when her older sister, to whom she looked up to, broke down crying, then she was trying to comfort her and vent her own pain.
It's also notable that she's about 4 or 5 in that intro bridge scene and kids at that age really don't have that part of emotional intelligence fully developed as of yet.
@@hawkins347 Totally! I think it’s hard for most kids that young to grasp death/understand the gravity of that kind of situation. I feel like for her in that moment it’s was scary rather than sad.
To me it gives off major compartmentalization vibes, like she seems very empathetic(Powder immediately picking up on the emotions of people around her and clearly understanding the way they feel and trying to comfort, etc. them) but she's really good at repression, just boxing away her emotions and never bringing them back up to process.
Also she was like 5 yknow? I couldn't process the gravity of death properly until I was at least 8. She empathizes with Vi immediately in that scene too.
Also also in the enemy music video you see her sad that she can't help someone getting beaten up because she is too weak. People with empathy issues don't do that.
Anyways Jinx clearly has and always has had empathy that she repressed because it was the only way she could cope/live with herself and especially her life with silco.
I love the new Parallels shown in this show. The new and corrupted version of Vander and Greyson with Marcus and Silco. Its something I think is very interesting. I beleive Marcus thinks hes doing what Greyson was, and that this dark side was something she also had to deal with
It WAS what Greyson had to deal with. The underworld was not nearly as dark when Vander was in charge but it was still shady and filled to the brim with crime and violence.
she DID have to deal with it though
I think silco is doing the best he can. Objectively it can be wrong/misguided, but he's trying to help Jinx the only way he knows how.
Great episode as always!
I believe Silco cares for Jinx and helps her the best he can... but he does this informed by his OWN trauma and deep problems; his help is somewhat toxic.
It's basically blind leading the blind.
Silco is an amazing example of love not being enough.
Spoilers for the rest of the show:
He loves Jinx, 100%, but he isn't a good father. He wants the best for her, but his idea of what's best is flawed at best. He is incredibly permissive, excusing Jinx's mistakes and encouraging her worst habits (y'know, like murder) and not knowing how to deal with her trauma.
you all assume that his ideas are wrong, because killing is wrong. but that isn't necessarily true for that violent environment in which you are the underdog that has been tormented by another group of people. it's easy to say that killing is wrong when living a kushy life, because in that situation you want nothing to change.
@@Addam_ ++
I'm really glad they had the scene near the end when they showed Jinx tinkering away in her workshop. For the first time, she seems completely happy. She's completely focused on a task, and she seems carefree.
As to the signs of mental illness in episode 1, the big clue that was subtly disguised was during the bridge screen there were scratches on the screen. The same scratches we see now when Jinx has a mental episode. She wasn't so violently deadly expressive when she was a child so it wasn't as obvious as it is now, but I do think there was trauma there. I do disagree with others in that, I wouldn't say she lacked empathy then, but she did have signs that she wasn't possibly processing things in a healthy manner. For example when she tore the head off her monkey and threw it in episode 3 when she was left behind. That rage was not the healthiest expression of her feelings. So I think the bridge may have been the start of her trauma that wasn't properly handled and was only built upon from there. There are reasons that I won't go too deeply into because it involves later episodes, but I believe Vi was a kind of ward against the voices for Powder. I think she always had issues, and when she lost Vi, she lost the only healthy outlet/coping mechanism/positive influence, which is why she's degraded to her current state. I think the scratches on screen are visual representation of the moments when her trauma is overwhelming her. They weren't as big or often in the first act though, so it often slips under the radar.
As for Marcus and Grayson. I think Marcus sees the parallels between the Grayson/Vander relationship and the Marcus/Silco relationship. I think back when he was under her he hated how Grayson ran things, but now that he's in charge and sees the similarities, he realizes how tremendously he fails compared to her. I think its why in the next scene he tries to stand up to Silco and again fails, and why he then imagines pulling the pin later.
I also do think Silco believes what he's saying with letting the weak version of you die. I think its very much how he tried to process his falling out with Vander. Which is why he is the way he is today. I think in his mind, he successfully processed his trauma. We've never seen the before, only the after, but I think there is enough there that shows he only believes in strength and shows disgust towards weakness and failure in others. And his monologue with Vander in the opening sequence of ep 3 also reflects these ideals. The idea of the weak part of him wanting to let the water drown him and the violent voice being the strength that allowed him to survive. And in the monologue he's not trying to BS anyone, his monologue is him thanking Vander for teaching him that lesson. So while he may panic at the prospect of Vi influencing Jinx, I think in his mind he actually sees it as Vi would be a negative influence and he's the positive influence teaching her to be strong. I think Silco just has a twisted view on strength and weakness. So I believe his help is genuinely well meaning, just totally twisted. Also Vi as a kid took out half his goons in a fight so even without the Jinx aspect, so now as an adult she's still a force to be feared.
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I agree with you
I love the similarities and parallels of Vander and Vi, Silco and Jinx they have a lot in common. And it makes me happy to see that every father figure takes action to protect their daughters.
It is also established that none of Jinx's older friend-group wanted to kill anyone, meanwhile she was making bombs. She points out in episode 2(?) that some of her bombs are smoke and some are actual bombs. When she makes a bomb blow up an entire factory in episode 3, she exclaims, "It worked! It finally worked!" Which means she intended to cause that much devastation.. in a rescue mission. She was by no means "healthy" as a child. Silco did not make Jinx. Silco only made her feel perfect.
@@peaceandloveusa6656 Ugh, nobody who was an adult or a "person-who-didn't-want-to-kill-anyone" ever told Powder she should stop making bombs. Not Vander, not Vi. Vi learned boxing from Vander and that's cool, but you think nobody showed Powder how to make bombs or encouraged her to make them?
I also love that you recognize that when Jinx says, "it was a mistake."
That was a PTSD flashback. She's talking about her doomed attempt to save her family.
12:03 the way I CACKLED 💀
Omg hahah yay!!! I’m the editor and this was my favorite part lol. I’m watching this along with Dr. Tracy as I edit so I’m so excited for Caitlyn/Vi and also prepared to be heartbroken haha
I really enjoy your arcane series😊
Thank you so much. I am really loving this show and community. ❤
During the show, a lot of Crows will appear. Most if not all of them, when Jinx is on the Screen. From my understanding, crows symbolize, among other things, "change", and especifically emotional change. We can see how Jinx "shots" at the crow, not accepting the change yet. Would love to see your perspective on these on future episodes, and your interpretation of the crows.
Idk if someone said this but, if you pay attention, there are pauses in every scene with jinx as if mylo and claggor are talking to her. Sometimes you hear them. Sometimes it pans to a doll she made of them. How they show her hallucinations throughout with everything is amazing to me.
9:47 Thanks for stopping there. That moment is crucial in forming Jinx's-Powder ark, but many people just deem it insignificant and barely stop there
I agree with you that Powder wasn't merely reflecting Vi's grief in the opening scene of Ep 1. How old was she in that scene? Like... 4? She doesn't really have the ability to contextualize what she's seeing at that age so of course she's going to look to the people around her for emotional cues. I do think the panic-attack scene in Ep 3 was an explicit suggestion by the writers that this potential for an ego-death / mind fracture was already there.
First of all I love your reactions to this and will continue to watch them.
I think it's interesting that Vi says "My sister could do that when she was seven" when the last time she saw her jump off a roof she nearly fell. I think that really tells you about how the Powder Vi remembered, and the actual powder are not quite the same person.
Or she's just trying to put Caitlin down a bit. There has to be a lot of initial Topside resentment in Vi at the start of their relationship.
@JustLies I think it's a combination of the two.
Regarding the scene in the brothel, there is a pretty dark side to it. Vi spent last 6-7 in prison, so the last time she was in the Undercity, she was a teenager. So the fact, that she knows, how to behave and what to do in the brothel to get information, is pretty concerning.
I think you're reaching for a connection that isn't there. It's simply a byproduct of the environment she's been surrounded by her entire life. She already knew the brothel's headmistress and had a close enough relationship (and the sense) to come find her for info--despite being in jail all that time--indicating she's well-traveled around the lanes and has a very strong grasp on how the area runs. It tells us that Vi spent a lot of her time learning to be resourceful, which is rightfully why she was the leader of her group. All that scene really conveys, as far as the brothel goes, is that organizations like these are frequent and highly accepted in Zaunite culture--that there isn't a stigma around them like there often are in first-world societies. It's certainly not saying anything as dark as you're presenting.
@@LockeNarshe Agreed. Similar to the fact that there doesn't seem to be a stigma with being gay. Vi doesn't just assume that Cait likes men, when the subject comes up she just asks "So what'll it be? Man or Woman?" like either one is an acceptable choice.
@@babette5918 Well, to a prostitute, both should acceptable choice, if it's all just to earn money. Not get genuine sexual pleasure. Plenty of porn actors today do both, regardless of their actual preference. Think of straight actors playing queer characters on film, like "Brokeneck Mountain". I understand that Vi may have used that as a cover to see how Cait swings, but, like I said, if all you want money (or information) you could do what you need to do.
I have become so excited for every episode of this series! From your tiktoks to this, I love all of your content.
Yessss another Arcane drop! I loved this one. Great job. I feel like the editing and your reactions are just getting better and better. Also thank you for responding to comments and actually building a community. As someone who’s a big RUclipsr person it’s always cool when that happens. 😻
Honestly this has become my favorite reaction to Arcane, your analysis is not only super entertaining, but hella insightful
One thing that always sticks out to me with this episode is the juxtaposition between Jinx and Vi at the boxing machine/game. You can see the turmoil in Jinx in the way she fights. Jinx is wild and violent whereas Vi is calm and collected.
Man, I was taking a drink and cracked up at "he fell into it!!" at 14:26 oh if you knew what was coming lmaoo 😂
I think Jayce did not lose his focus on his goal, he just had reached what he wanted, by showing the world that magic can do good things and make his opinion about it respected in his social enviroment, while Viktors goal was, to utilize everything he could find and turn it into remedies for all sort of problems he saw, to deal with the restrictions that his body gave him, you will find more hints about this in further episodes but it is only really shown in his in game character design.
That scene where present day Jinx cannot beast young Vi's score is just a masterpiece from a visual story telling ... and zero dialogue but the message is so strong.
Your Arcane reactions deserve more views - not simply for entertainment, but for the unique insight and information you share connected to mental health.
Im very curious about powder and vi's upbringing by their parents because vi seemed very close to them while powder seems to cling to vi as a caretaker despite both parents being alive during her formative years. This implies that their parents were more active before powder was born and vi remembers that fondly, but they left vi to raise powder more most likely to work more to feed them. Either that or powder just isn't attached to any figure more emotionally than vi, which is weird considering the instinctive connection between a child and mother, and their mother was alive and seemed active in their childhoods due to vi having no ill will towards their parents after their death
At around 11:00 with Jinx vs Scoreboard, it just reminded me of "Twice the person at half the age."
I know you didn't like the crow getting shot, but the crow, throughout the show, represents change, specifically her change to Jynx. It plays out through the whole show, and you'll see it much more later on in the series. But if you go back and watch, the crow is hanging around powder... waiting
You can't really tell from just one scene, but taken as a whole, the first three episodes really show Powder having problems from early age.
First of all, the scratch marks on dead bodies in the intro of E1 suggest that her trauma originated there and was just amplified by later events.
Then, you can see her clearly ignoring other people and blindly bumping into Vi in several scenes, barely interacting with anybody else except Milo (who usually initiated the interaction by criticizing her).
Also, in the first episode she makes a nail bomb and throws it at a kid, biting her lip in glee while waiting for it to go off.
Her first reaction to realizing that the hextech crystals caused the explosion that leveled a building is "i can help them".
In the third episode she just glances over Vander's body without any reaction and her lines are "But... I was saving you", "I only wanted to help" "Why did you leave me" "I need you", "She left me". She is justifying herself to Vi and then Silco, not showing any remorse for her dead family members.
There are other scenes later in the show, you'll see. Any of them by itself is not really telling, but it's clear that her dependence on Vi to the point of dangerous and self-destructive behaviour goes very deep, especially when you add to that her relationship with Silco, who when replacing Vi as her anchor profoundly influences her transformation and mannerisms.
Just pointing out something I said to another person. At first glance, Vander did not look like Vander. He looked a lot more like that creature that she was trying to save Vi from. At no point did she act like she realized it was Vander. She started to realize something was wrong when she saw Clager's googles broken on the ground. At that point she still didn't know what was wrong, but Clager was probably hurt. Right up to when Silco showed up she still didn't know what was wrong. She just knew that she screwed up somehow and her sister abandoned her. ... The rest are good points, but I don't know why people think that she was ignoring Vander instead of just not paying attention to the deformed monster that she just saw attacking Vi.
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15:47 Oh. The irony of this moment.
Regarding Powder's reaction to death in episode 1, I think that she reacted that way to her mom's death because she's a child and doesn't understand death. I saw her reaction as a very natural reaction for a small child who doesn't understand death. It's interesting to me to see people taking that moment as a "she doesn't feel anything" moment.
I just checked by your channel earlier to see if this was up and was sad to see it wasn’t yet. Then it just pops up in recommended. Nice! 😁
I would consider the Powder/Jinx dichotomy as a case of D.I.D. Powder and Jinx are two separate alters, trauma-holder little, and persecutor-protector respectively. The "he thinks I'm weak, I'll show him" is Jinx fronting, while the visceral reaction to the hextech device malfunction "it was a mistake, it was a mistake" was Powder trauma fronting, hence the childlike voice and mannerisms. Powder ran from the event, Jinx would have shot the device in outrage.
There can be disassociation and dissonance without it being DID lol, Powder/Jinx doesn’t fit the diagnosis for DID, and ‘Powder and Jinx’ are clearly two integrated aspects of one person as there is shared memory, etc.
I do think that Powder went into the experience on the bridge with some level of pre-existing trauma. Like she'd already bonded more to her sister than to others. Definitely, by the time of the break-in in episode 1, she's become emotionally dependent on the bond with her sister in... honestly, an unhealthy way, in that she's not able to handle being really separated from Vi. I just think that process had already begun before the bridge and had only become more pronounced over the years without anyone realizing it because Powder had never been put in the position that she was in episode 3 of being expressly denied the right to go with her sister to do something dangerous.
"-That's how we should treat people in life," Aaaand Subscribed, PREACH!
I've never played League of Legends either and don't think you really need to play or even understand the game in order to follow this story.
you 100% don't
Yeah, knowing the Runeterra lore gives you some ideas about the general trajectory of the plot and what the overall world is likely to be like, but it's far from essential.
League of legends game actually don't have any story it's Just an online gamę when People are chosing champions and fight against each other, but the world behind the gamę is very big, they are cinematics, stories and comics
I think the idea with scene of Jinx's "baptism" is not that Silco knows that the cure he is offering Jinx is not right and that he didn't become new person. It is opposite, he honestly believes he did at this point, and as any good father would he tries to teach his child lessons he learned from his hard won experience, missing that either that could be a wrong solution for Jinx or may be it wasn't even a good lesson for himself to begin with. And it is in itself a lesson for any parent.
parent? idk dude, when they met powder told him that her sister abandoned her, which was very similar to him bneing betrayed/abandoned by vander, so it's not just father daughter but more of a kinship. one might suspect that he sees a lot of himself in her and maybe even projects stuff onto her that might not be there. his solution helped him, so he assumes it will also help her. it's a reasonable assumption, given that silko has no training in the field of mental health :P
also considering the world they live in it seems like a very practical solution, one that helped him move into power and is essential to survive.
@@danii7584 I agree
@@danii7584 Yes, Silco is a parental figure to Jinx. They don't have brother-sister dynamic and they are not inappropriately romantic.
@@MegaMilenche yeh, but since they are not related they form an attachement based on kinship, shared experience. you can call it parental, it's not exactly wrong, particularly since silko refers to her as a daughter.
I'd say it's more of a mentorship.
@@danii7584 Parents often "mentor" their children on "life". They are still a parent.
The contrast between Vi and Cait is so fun. One is a roughed up thug who spent years in prison, other is an upper class idealist law enforcer. Like night and day.
The violinist on stage is a cameo by the guy who did the violins for the soundtrack. You'll notice them a lot if you listen for them.
our beautiful therapist continues our favorite series, happiness, also everything will be more fantastic when you know that the series is just budding and the remaining episodes of the series are even better
Really enjoying this react series, some great insights! to be sure.
I feel like one of the core principles that Riot and Fortiche nailed for this show was: each character feels like themselves.
We get to see enough of the enviroment and how each character fits in that environment to the point where nothing comes out of left field. There is no "that person wouldn't've done that." I think the ups and downs of how each character acts hurts that much more because it isn't "they wouldn't make that choice" but it is "why did you make that choice?"
It's very much like a Shakespearian/Greecian tragedy. It's a trainwreck in slowmotion.
Non sequitur, glad you highlighted Vi saying "you hot. You gay?" And Caitlin's response is *don't make eye contact*. I do hope, maybe in a post season review, you take time to talk about the development of the relationships seen in the show as their developments feel grounded and natural (as opposed to boy meets girl, 2 seconds of eye contact, connection made). I think your insights would bring a new and interesting angle to appreciate what we see beyond just fitting the story well.
We appreciate your breakdowns and giving us a more phycological analysis of this masterpiece of this generation's classical fairytale.
Nice analysis .. cant wait for next episode !!!!!! ;)
I believe Marcus and Silco were able to work so well together for so long because they have the same motives. Each man wants to protect his daughter and his people, and is willing to do anything for those goals. They also both show a deep desire for respect and power.
I'm pretty sure that when they were at the brothel, Vi was testing the waters, to see if Caitlyn even had a compatible orientation. To me, when she saw Cait enjoying being pampered by a female attendant, she looked... hopeful.
Ik this video is 2 years old but I find it interesting how at some moment you compared Jinx's face to Powder's, because the animators genuinely made Jinx's model with a rig capable of basically switching between the sharper, more serious "Jinx" and the more rounded, innocent "Powder" faces, and they use that masterfully throughout the show. It's very subtle, but really cool.
im really impressed by the details she picked up on, they're really insightful. I doubt this will happen but a season 2 series would be so great too
Great video!! I have been enjoying and learning a lot from your videos, looking forward to more. I love the way you talk about social issues and how much it affects us even with our particularities. I really love the way you talked about this idea of “killing” your old self that is very present in a lot of different media, and how it can be harmful. No one is perfect and I think dealing with that is important to be able to understand who we are and learn how to be comfortable and/or work to change or improve. Living with mental illness is a constant struggle and I feel this idea of perfection is a dangerous one.
One thing that is shown this episode and that I have to say always confuses me when I watch reactions or reviews about Arcane is how often it's not acknowledge what Vi went through in prison, how longe she was there, the physical and emotional abuse she endured as teenager to her early adulthood, she pretty much had to grieve her whole family right after losing them in that horrible place without knowing why she was even there, dealing with the regret of calling Powder Jinx and with her issues that were already present before what happens in the third episode. It would be interesting to hear from a therapist the potential emotional scars this might leave on a individual in VI's circumstances and how do you think this affects her, tho I know you just didn’t have enough time with the character to say much about it yet haha. Sorry for any mistakes, english is not my first language. Sorry for any mistakes, English is not my native language.
i'm really liking how you are responding to comments throughout the episode as they come up!
oh, also all of the visual aids you insert are great! pulling up shots from the show that demonstrate what you are talking about, or things from other sources that relate to the conversation. great touch!
"Has Power always lacked empathy?"
The more that I rewatch it, the more I think so. Or maybe she only has empathy for Vi. All of her interactions with people other than Vi are very limited (mostly she is talked about but not talked to, even when she's in the same scene), but what really convinces me that there was something always off about her is the way she doesn't even acknowledge Vander's corpse at the end of episode 3. Vander should be in her field of view when she finds Vi, but she doesn't glance at him and instead acts excited that her bomb worked. And through that whole scene she doesn't look at Vander or acknowledge his death, even though Vi is kneeling next to him.
It just seems like people who aren't Vi barely even exist to Powder. She really seems like she is only capable of having one person in her life at a time.The writers didn't just neglect to show her connecting with other people - they put her in loads of scenes with other characters but didn't give her any dialogue with them.
Caitlyn's family judgement and perception.
I really like the way Cait's family is handled in the series, because there is that clash between them and Cait, but both sides still respect one another. I also like the Councilor Kiraman is very judgmental, but she's convincible. She was willing to go out on a limb for Jayce until he lashed out, and she was willing to accept Cait being an enforcer until it became dangerous. The Councilor isn't totally accepting, but she does actually compromise, and she definitely has Cait's best interests at heart. For her part, while Cait is a bit rebellious, she isn't insulting about it, and she still values her mother's opinion even as she goes off to do her own thing. While there is conflict, it comes off as fairly realistic and healthy. There is no doubt that there is still love there.
Just a General thought about Vi
Vi is "faking it til she makes it" in most of the series. In the first three episodes she's a child, and then she was in jail for around 7 years, so she really can't be as worldly and experienced as she pretends to be. She walks into the brothel like it's nothing for her, but she was a 15-year-old tomboy and then she was in prison, so that had to have been Vi's first time there as well. Vi flirts aggressively as if she's done all of this before, but she couldn't have ever even been on a date before; it's very likely that Caitlyn is more experienced with romantic relationships than Vi. The only thing Vi has actual experience with is fighting, all the rest is just the character pretending to be the person she wants the rest of the world to see her as.
I mean, I love Vi as a character, but her so much of her bravado is just an act.
Re: the general thought about Vi comment - I had never thought of it that way before but I think you're exactly right! We all know Vi as the "tough as nails" character and I hadn't really paid much attention to the background scenes and settings and how it might truly affect her based on the circumstances in the first act. I was very passive about it because, "oh...it's just Vi...being her usual badass self", but I gotta say...that's a good catch! Now I'll have to rewatch the series again with that perspective in mind.
@@nutrybe I wouldn't have caught it if I hadn't rewatched the series. She is definitely a good fighter and has a lot of experience with that, but she's out of her depth with virtually everything else. In the first act of the series, she's really trying to be Vander. In the second act I don't think she yet knows who she wants to be, but she's still faking comfort and experience a lot.
Which is something that many successful people do, but Vi is still just pretending.
I think the strong image she presents makes people miss a lot about Vi. She presents as a typical action movie hero, but I think she has a lot more going on.
The brothel scene is just what made it pop out for me, because she acts so cool and assertive, but we know exactly what she was doing for all her formative years, and even if she knew where and what that building was, there is no way she was ever inside.
In fact, one of the writers confirmed on Twitter that Cait has had experiences sneaking girls "friends" into her house before haha, so yeah, Cait is more experienced.
I honestly think you're being too harsh on Powder. There's something off about her, but when her parents were killed she was really too young to understand what was going on or even what death was. After being adopted almost all her interactions were with the group of 4 kids. Of the 4, we already agree that she had a relationship going on with Vi. She and Milo had a freaking rivalry going on, so you can't say they weren't interacting with people either. The only one of the 4 that she didn't interact with much was Clager, and that was more him than her. He was always in the background watching over everyone and spoke a lot less than Powder did! Outside those 4, she was a shy kid. She'd seen some stuff and regularly hid behind the others for protection, though we've seen in glimpses that she also had a good relationship with Ekko at the time, the only person actually close to her age.
Now onto Vander's death in episode 3, because it is definitely important. You have to remember that when Powder showed up, Vander didn't look like Vander. All Powder saw was that Vi was in front of something like that monster that she was trying to save Vi from. She did it! The monster attacking Vi was dead! She's a hero! ... Why was Vi crying? When Vi snapped at her Powder noticed Clager's googles on the ground and started to suspect something was wrong, but she still didn't recognize Vander. She didn't know what had happened, but something was seriously wrong. Right up to the end of the episode there was no indication that she actually knew that body was Vander. All she knew is that something had gone wrong, and her sister had abandoned her like she always feared.
Now as Jinx, there is some truth that she could only have one person in her life, but that was because after episode 3 she learned that the only way to keep someone is to completely devote herself to that person. For her connections had to be absolute and there just wasn't anything left for others. That's why she was so threatened by Caitlyn. Vi had replaced her. There's only enough room for one person to really be important, and Powder wasn't that person in Vi's life.
As for the other two, I'd say that's pretty accurate, though I'm sure there was some prison sex going on for Vi. Maybe not romance, but lust? I think she knew a bit. ;)
I think Powder is Autistic. Or some type of Neurodivergent. Especially when she was younger the emotional outbursts. She struggles socially. Then it's compounded with PTSD and maybe bpd or schizophrenia. I don't think she lacks empathy I think she has trouble understanding others emotions as well as her own.
As for Vi you are underestimating something. Vi grew up in the underworld. Just how sheltered do you think she was? She was 15. And then she was in prison. You do know how sexual prison is? People have little time but to work out and have sex.
I'm glad you talked about being able to change your mind on a character/person as you get to know them. Sometimes, especially in reaction video comments, we get people trying to steer the reactor into liking/disliking a character because of what comes next. But the person reacting doesn't know that yet. So if a person starts out doing bad things and a reactor says they don't like them, the comments flood with people telling them that they will love them "soon" or just coming to their defense without accepting the fact that the reactor is not yet on that level with that character. A few examples are Darryl from WD, Gabby from AOT, or Jamie Lannister in GOT.
Love your reaction and analysis
I just want to say I am LOVING your reactions, I love arcane so this series is how I found your channel and I look forward to your videos on the remaining episodes! 💖
I LOVE YOUR ANALYSIS!!!!
I'm glad you're having a great time with this show. I'd never spoil anyone but this gets incredibly dark. I'll be interested to see your reaction to the final episode. (I'm still interested in the other episodes as well)
I think the next episode (6) is my favorite in the whole series. Such AMAZING voice work and cinematography.
Something important about this show is where we should be treating the characters like people and where we should be treating them like characters. There are a lot of times where the show will hint something that can go in multiple directions where you could treat it like a real life scenario or like a narrative it’s interesting to see therapists do this vs people who do deep dives that are more narrative based.
TLDR these are some of my favorite videos of yours that make me want to re watch arcane even more
It makes me happy to hear more doctors are embracing the biopsychosocial model 🙂
Glorious Evolution!
10:04 Love this scene for a few reasons - Powder was lamenting in the first act that she's "not a fighter", undervaluing her actual talents. Now, when she's of a comparable age to what her sister was when all those high scores were set, she is frustrated that she still can't measure up to her... however, Vi was a skilled and dedicated boxer who had lots of practice on the machine (as seen by the long streak of high scores), and that was her primary focus, her core competency. Jinx, meanwhile, is primarily an inventor, gunslinger, engineer and, quite frankly, a genius. The fact that she is able to very nearly match her sister's best performance in her core competency is incredible - and Jinx doesn't value it. I think her entire being is bound up in a "no prize for second place" mentality, and she clearly fears that if she is not useful, she will be discarded. Her entire being is bound up in having to excel in everything she does, but it's never quite enough. A lesson that is relevant and transferrable to a lot of people's lives, I think.
I did notice looking at the scoreboard in Vi's scene that the high score that Jinx doesn't beat was set on the day that room was raided, so she beat every previous performance of Vi on what from the size of Powder was almost certainly her first try.
@@KarlJeager Yup... and to me, at least, it's very relatable to not see how amazing what you did truly was, just because you came in second. Psychologically, that's an interesting and significant detail, I think :)
The combo of people interacting in this episode is full of juicy things to breakdown.
Definitely noticed that pause before you called Jericho a person. But I consider that a good thing. Didn't call him weird fish guy, called him an equal. I would have nicknamed him Sharky long ago because I'm a bad person.
17:00 "Jinx is perfect" ... oh god
While I don't agree with the one community comment saying that Powder was entirely lacking in empathy, I do agree with the point they brought up that Powder did seem to have mental health issues from the beginning. If you rewatch the opening scene of episode 1, you'll notice that there's some editing in there that's only really used after to represent Powder/Jynx's hallucinations and flashbacks (reality being scratched out in places with high-saturation colors and such). Granted, that could be a showcase of her being traumatized by the violent situation she was surrounded by in that moment, but I think it's worth noting that the editing of that scene, and how that editing is used throughout the rest of the show, indicates Powder having mental health issues already in her first ever appearance.
I love your analysis, it makes the show even better
Loving the reactions. You made so many great points and it's really interesting to hear your perspective!
I feel like Silco is trying to give Jinx what he wanted when he was younger and what he needed but Jinx needs something different.
there's a line in Miracle Of Sound's Arcane themed song "Perfect" that is performed by Gavin himself, as if talking to Jinx: "Oh you're perfect. Don't cry, don't change". I strongly recommend that you give a listen to the song, there's a lot to unpack from it and a _perfect_ companion to the show.
The "Silco's biggest fear" thing is something I understood after watching the series a couple of times, and it becomes VERY apparent in the next episode (in what is probably the best scene of the series).
Been loving these reactions. I adore Arcane and seeing your insight into the characters is a ton of fun as well as the further discussion you are able to springboard into from it. Great stuff! Its interesting to see how much the psychological state of the characters is able to ring true. From a layperson perspective they felt very real and authentic but its interesting to see it examined from an expert perspective to get at the underpinnings of these characters and get a sense of why the emotions of it work so well.
Yes! I rly like that you mention the distinction btw critiquing a behaviour in the moment but also evolve as we learn more
And how that they should be done in unison
I feel like we had a moment in (at least online) society where we hyper-reacted to info on ppl and "cancel culture" at least as a term was coined
And then now, at least on more liberal/left spaces, we somehow saw some harm done then and then now we're overcorrecting
And slinging around terms like "rehabilitation" for ppl haven't even reversed the massive harm they have caused esp for those who are massive public figures with a huge reach
Bcos ppl are now scared to "jump on the bandwagon"
But being able to point out smth seems bad, an action looks bad, should NOT be smth wereievet afraid to do
Even en masse. Even joining up with others who feel the same
We shouldn't back down from criticizing ppl for present actions that do seem bad with the info we have
And then as things unfold, we should be allowed to freely adjust our criticisms or pull them back and not get criticized for "jumping to conclusions"
Obviously there are ways we can stretch our interpretations of certain info when it first breaks as well
But we can take that into consideration AND still make strong stances and be allowed to change it as more is revealed
Without feeling shame for it
Pls don't attack ppl standing up for others
Edit: 12:21 haha that Vi sticker is so cute
Love your thoughts on Vi, Jinx, Mel, Jayce, Viktor, and Marcus.
I always watch your vlogs. Especially arcane. Watching from the Philippines ❤
Thank you for the intelligent discussion, I am learning so much and thinking about a lot of other areas of my life in different ways because of your Arcane reactions, one of my favorite shows (and games) X)
I just found your channel yesterday and binged all of these 🔥🙌🏾 really enlightening besides the finale, I'm looking forward to episode 7
The thing that people were referring to with the first episode in regards to Jinx's psychosis is that there is a flash of the sort of scratchy art style that becomes more prevalent in Act 2 and 3 for when Jinx has an episode. It's only there for like a second, so if you blink you'll miss it.
I'm enjoying your program you've made here. I actually think psychiatrists and PHDs in psychology are very fun to chat with people. Not my own psychiatrist of course you do need to keep a professional distance on that one. But I actually have two friends with psych degrees that I hang out with all the time and they are both quite entertaining and educational. Keep up the good work :D
I love the way you go about things and have you watched Everything Everywhere All At Once? I think you would really enjoy it and get really good feel and material from this film. Just a suggestion. Love all your content.
how is it so therapeutic just listening to you talk XD
I love your tattoos!
Viktor: pursuing Hextech
Jayce: pursuing Sextech 😏
Great breakdown as always!
Loving this
3:56 I don't understand why, though. Sure, even convicts have a right to humane treatment. But Caitlyn doesn't know why Vi is in jail, if she is truly dangerous or malicious etc.
she really needs to watch "bridging the rift". to think she caught the face morph detail in the first watch...
Also arcane came out in 3 episode arcs on Netflix.
So you can see a tone and story difference from 1-3 4-6 7-9.
jeez, I can't wait for you to get to episode 9
You will see later on but I personally believe that Silco wasnt telling Jinx to kill her old self off. She just needs to be braver, remove that fear from her memories and be who she is and always has been. She needs to be herself, remove that fear of being herself and stay true to who she is even through what she did in her past or what others did to her in her past.
The only complaint I have is that you cut out that awesome uppercut Vi through under sevikas arm :D
I love thw way you break down Jinx. The old us is always in us. Deep down
If you go back to episode 1, the very first scene, you will see that there are the Jinx hallucinations during that bridge scene. The question then arises why is powder having Jinx hallucinations when she was just a little girl. Then episode 3 if you look closely when she throws the briefcase down and the gemstones rollaway, one of them rolls across a drawing and you can see a drawing that looks like jinx and also what looks like her future dolls of Milo and clagger. If you go back and rewatch those two scenes makes you ask a question to yourself, was powder always jinx?
Did anyone else so the scoreboard scene as a reference to Vi being twice the person at half the age