NOOOO! Vi! Powder! Vander! Everything has gone wrong, this is the worst timeline possible! If you want to see the next episode's reaction right now, check out our Patreon: www.patreon.com/semblanceofsanity
SPOILER.... viktor as a child trying to catch up to the toy boat, then as an adult, running and surpassing an actual boat, but running in the opposite direction.
Regarding Vi. My take on it her "walking away" from Powder was that Vi had realized just how out of control that SHE was in that moment & that she could do further damage to Powder if she stayed. She walked away to calm down enough to deal with situation rationally. If Silco & Marcus had not turned up I believe Vi would have gone back to Powder.
I think so too, but either way, I think it was too late. Calling Powder a jinx and then seemingly abandoning her had already broken her and their relationship irreparably. Coming back for her later wouldn't have changed that.
@@Birthday888 this^ it's extremely understandable that she reacted the way that she did (it's easily forgotten bc of how mature Vi is but she's just a kid herself and her best friends & father figure had just been brutally murdered and it was seemingly entirely a result of powder's actions; she needed space to cool off before going back to powder --- I would've very likely reacted in a similar way), but it still had devastating consequences
Agreed. She stayed close but I think she was walking away to 1. make sure she didn't physically hurt Powder again and 2. deal with her own grief because she doesn't want Powder to see her break down
seemed she walked away to take a sec to cd since she just made her bleed and she was looking at her hands like what did i do. would of come back a second or 2 later to take her home and instantly ran to her when silco showed up but Marcus prevented that. powder did just accidentally kill their entire family and with vi being 10-12 she acted pretty reasonable.
Also there’s a lot of shame there too, she was so caught up in the moment that when she sees Powder’s blood trickling down her palm she’s shocked at what she just realizes she did to her and can’t bear to look her in the eye at the moment, you can visibly see her struggling to maintain eye contact with her and how that anger is just gone the moment she’s behind that corner.
@@mfgeedorah479 yeah but silco still have shimmer that he couldve gave to the other goons. Theres no way they will outrun them when silco's men are on shimmer
I dont believe the idea that they wouldve all got out. Not when silco's men have huge amounts of shimmer (look at all those shimmer that vander fell on).
@@AJ-jx5gm From a storytelling point of view, there is literally zero reason whatsoever to cut to Mylo freeing Vandar and Clagger breaking through the wall OTHER than to show that they were free and clear and had gotten out of their own accord before the bomb went off. Thats storytelling 101. And in a well written, really tight piece like Arcane that's never going to be an accident.
I feel like a lot of people are so used to extremely selfless heroes written in a way where they barely experience any sort of trauma even though hell is happening around them. This is why people completely forget the possible trauma, physical and mental exhaustion on Vi's part-- oh and a lot of people also forget she's just a kid too. Just because she's older doesn't mean she's an adult in the first act. What Vi did was very human and understandable, she didn't want to hurt powder further than what she had already done. I found this relatable as I was the same when I was a kid-- I get super aggressive when I was angry. So I've learned to lock myself in a room whenever I am angry, so I would never accidentally punch someone and regret it later.
@@fedwyn Sadly it was the wrong one... not of a leader, nor sister or anyone who knows this place is still dangerous.. another human reaction. Getting out of thier with your sister to safety. But no you failed as a leader, and sister. She is impulsive. Less thinking more doing. It failed her.
honestly Vi's behaviour there was beyond understandable. it was outright reasonable I'd say. before the bomb went off they were about to get out, Vander was freed from the chair and Claggor had opened a hole in the wall for them to all escape. then the bomb killed Mylo and Claggor and set up the circumstances for Vander's death (though the blame for Vander's death ultimately lies with Silco). Powder's bomb had killed 2 members of their family and then she just goes up to Violet to celebrate the fact that it had worked.
Exactly, Arcane's portrayals of its protagonists are much more realistic. People aren't black and white, and the people looking down on VI would likely be no better in her shoes.
Powder: "I can help them" Other reactors: Yes the bombs are finally going to work it's Powder's time to shine she's going to save them!! SOS Bros: NOOOOOO
This is why I enjoy the SOS bros so much - they see the implications far quicker than the average reactor. 🧠 (Like how they could immediately tell that it was one bomb from different perspectives, and not multiple bombs going off when only one was sent in. 🙄) Hats off to them! 😁
We need to put ourselves in Vi's shoes. She was a teenager, she saw her new family die IN FRONT OF HER EYES, Clagor and Mylo once again followed her and we saw how it ended, she was extremely close to Vander (way closer than Powder seem to have ever been), he was her new dad and then had the culprit in front of her before she could even fully catch her breath after everything happened, maybe some people are saints but I'm pretty sure the majority of us would have snaped, broke down and said/do things we would regret just like Vi. She needed time but never got it.
Exactly! People seem to forget that teenagers (Vi is like 15, 14 at best) are not the most rational, emotionally or physically mature people around. Vi caught herself after that first punch, but she needed some space and to cool off or else she might've done something else.
@@Алексей545-т6б Vi needed to cool off because she was afraid that she might hit her sister again (in her anger and grief). She literally saw the blood on her hands from striking Powder and decided to distance herself.
It's hilarious that they think (well Caleb) that Silco's going to "spit Jinx out like Deckard.." Like, I get it, I thought he was just a "Bond Villain" when I first watched this episode too. I don't think they are expecting such a well written villain. He's incredible (and the voice acting by Jason Spisak is fucking perfection).
@@Xemnas283 I think this comes back to the whole “This show has no right to be this good.” statement said by many others. Why would a video game tv show have the level of writing that Arcane does and why would someone going in blind (or as blind as possible) expect anything other than tv troupe characters. Eventually they’ll key into things being special but for now Silco will just = bond antagonist.
One of my favorite things about it is the close-up to Silco's hand moving really slowly and hesitantly, like a gesture of physical comfort in itself is completely alien to him and he himself doesn't quite know what he's doing.
Or the look of surprise and almost admiration of Vi when Silco sees her fight on the bridge. The understated meaning and guided misinterpretation behind his motivation during his discussion with Vander on that cannery bridge earlier in the episode, "For respect." That is, his desire for basic human respect towards the people of the Undercity and his belief that violence is the only manner to receive it; in contrast to the common interpretation of an egotistical "I'm the boss villain and people must fear me" trope. So many great subtleties throughout this show. Love it.
It's also perfect in context with the Jayce and Viktor parts that precedes it. Where they haphazardly activate their magic crystals (and even have a small explosion themselves), but find their success. These two things happening at the same time is also thematically fitting because ..of course Piltover finds success and the oppressed Undercity is left more damaged than before.
@@jessemaleh8145 Like in what world would that monkey stay in one piece for more than 1 blast? How did people think it was multiple from the same monkey?
@@jessemaleh8145 Right? Seeing most reactors to this think it was multiple explosions really forced me to realize that a lot of people interpret things incorrectly, even when it seems completely obvious. It's kinda aggravating.
“Whatever happens, it’s on you.” I’m sure that won’t be something Vi carries with her for the rest of her life. What I like is that, Vi didn’t leave. She lashed out, and was overwhelmed with all these emotions, and so she walked off just to clear her head and have a moment to just…. Grieve. She even tried to run back to Powder when she saw her in danger because, despite everything, she still loves and cares about her sister. But unfortunately, this is a story of tragedy. Let’s just give a big round of applause for Powder’s VA. Girl sold that emotional and mental breakdown.
Don't care. Your the leader you don't have time to be selfish. You failed, don't disappoint me again... Wait she disappointed me again and again. Vi is not a good leader. Impulsive.
She was a child that lost almost her entire family, and found out her sister caused it. She was a teenager, dude. She’s allowed a moment to grieve after all that compounded trauma. She’s allowed to have feelings and emotions, and a moment to herself.
@@lolicongang.4974 How can people even be dumb enough to arrive at logic like this? It's insane that we watched the same show and your takeaway on all of this tragedy is, "Vi shouldn't have been in any way affected by all of the surrounding loss." What?!
Please don't discount everything Vi went through both physically and emotionally when you put all the blame on her. She just had a heavy door explode into her and land on top of her after slugging her way through a gauntlet of thugs in addition to the obvious loss of the rest of her family. Vi needed to cool off, to say the least. If Powder had followed her Vi wouldn't have pushed her away as long as she gave Vi the room she needed.
Absolutely. She did try her best, and her best was awesome. That said, the universe doesn't give participation prizes. Her awesome best wasn't enough. Neither was Powder's or Vander's. Not even Silko's. In the end, it was nobody's fault - and everybody's. That's a tragedy, after all.
I totally agree. And I'm amazed on how an animation was able to depict such a humanly emotion and reaction. What Vi did and how she dealt with all this tragedy is completely human and understandable, and yet she was willing to return to Powder after processing for a while what just happened. This show is amazing in that (and so many other) sense.
it was her fault tho, this entire show wouldn’t have happened if she had just listened to vander in the first place and not gone to the topside. that of course doesn’t mean that it’s not understandable. she’s a child who was doing what she thought was right
I don't blame vi or powder in this scenario tbh Powder obviously thought she was helping and had the purest intentions; it was just tragic luck it turned out the way it did. Vi had a very honest/understandable reaction in needing a moment to cool down after almost everyone who was close to her just died bc of powder and if she had stayed, I feel like the situation would have gotten worse with all of her emotions exploding even more towards powder in that moment obviously not knowing how to process what just happened bc vi is young too. the worst part tho is before the bomb was set off it showed the hope of vander getting out of the cuffs and the brick wall being broken down as they can finally escape just for everything to go wrong again, tragic.
I blame the leader. Poor decisions. Didn't handle the situation right. Emotions. Vander said it best (although I didnt care much for vander) You can't be selfish. In the moment where you needed to get out of there, you get out of there... you couldn't control yourself. You failed.
Before Arcane, 2 League characters with voice lines hinting towards Jinx’s past are Swain and Fiddlesticks. Swain: “Faces fading in the flames. It was all her fault.” Fiddlesticks: “All your fault! All your fault!” And with Arcane, it hurts to see it happen.
The thing I found most impressive was that scene of Powder breaking down after being left alone. Firstly, the voice actress (Who was around TEN??? at the time???? Oh my god) did an INCREDIBLE job really showing the pain and unstable-ness in her voice. The animators absolutely killed it too. But the part where she's mid break down, sobbing, crying, she watches the Monkey still moving, and its almost like everything goes unfocused for a moment. The act of being midbreakdown and just locking in on some movement or object and everything else disappearing is such a realistic way for a character to calm down and be grounded. I've had moments where I was going through such traumatic events and it's such a realistic moment to just see something which... makes the pain go away. I love Riot and Fortische, so much.
Vi was traumetized as much as Powder. Do not forget these are still Kids/Pre-Teens. Vi had to handle the Fact that her beloved sister just killed her "brothers" and her Father while they almost escaped savely. Eventho she had "more" time handle it, it was a matter of secs or a min. And also Vi DID see how out of control she was and therefore she needed space from powder, just for a couple minutes to calm down, u can see it in the moment Vi looked at her hand when she slapped Powder and then wanted to go back to powder when she saw silco. So we really cant blame anyone, since Powder and Vi are kids, who had to go through a war, loose their parents and then again loose their family. And MOst importantly respect to the brothers for also risking their life and trusting in Vi and went to save Vender without questioning anything. Brave kids
the creators did confirm that vi was never intending to actually leave power there, but that she was walking away to cool off so that she wouldnt hurt her any more
Vi walked away to calm down, she had already hit powder once and didn’t want to do something she would regret cause of the overwhelming emotions of that moment after she saw all her family died!! So she went to get herself together and the moment she saw powder in danger she run towards her. I don’t get how people get mad and blame Vi in that scene. If anything she was super mature to take a moment to cool down
@@kyopium3676 I guess? Mostly, though, Silco could have just... not attempted to kill a man and his 4 adopted children with like 20 thugs and a drugged up superhuman. I feel like people gloss over that part a lot when talking about Silco. Like, people will praise him for being a "good father" to Jinx (and that's also highly debatable considering he indulged her worst impulses and at best didn't stop her from hurting and killing people if it benefited him, and at worst directly instructed her to kill people for his own gain), but like. If Silco hadn't done anything Powder's family would've been alive. Yeah Vander would've still, like, gone to prison or something, but if Silco hadn't fuckin murdered two children and their adoptive dad and tried to murder two other children then maybe Powder wouldn't have had such a shitty fucking life. I don't know how many "father-points" Silco has amassed throughout him taking care of Powder and turning her into Jinx, but, like, killing your future-adopted daughter's previous family feels like a solid negative 1000000 father-points.
That scene with Silko is so heartbreaking, from mercilessly going to stab Powder to loosing all will to fight when he sees someone like himself, abandoned by their family
Powder/Jinx is literally the most accurate representation of Borderline Personality Disorder that I have ever seen in any media. Her journey is so heartbreaking, but they did it so tastefully. You dont often see BPD portrayed in an empathetic light and as someone who suffers from it myself, I greatly appreciate this.
YES omg I finally see someone saying it. Jinx/Powder is the most realistic BPD portrayed character in media, not like sparkly-quirky Harley Quinn, but realistic, creepy and saddening disorder ruining your life and lifes of people surrounding you.
I have bpd myself and oh man it was sooo difficult for me to watch Jinx development as much as I love this series. I just couldn't take it at some point. I don't have severe bpd, since I got help in time. Jinx didn't get help she needed and had terrible path of traumas after traumas. Her story is sickening.
It’s amazing how attached they’ve made you feel to these characters after such a small amount of screen time. I loved this reaction! Everything I hoped for and I’m glad you realised that the explosion was seen from multiple perspectives and not just 5 explosions (which I’ve seen some reactors do 🤣)
Yep, I fell for that--thinking it was multiple blasts. In my case, I thought we were seeing the crystal put out pulses with each hit, therefore causing individual blasts, before finally exploding on the last one.
@@AppleBaron i guess I never thought of that lol, I thought it was multiple explosions too just because the toy monkey was shown to bang the cymbals multiple times
To be fair, Vi didn’t “continuously” tell Powder she wasn’t ready. She only told Powder she wasn’t ready that one time, in this episode. Every other interaction we see between them or where Vi’s talking about Powder is her encouraging Powder, or shutting Mylo down when he says that Powder wasn’t ready. I took what she said this episode to be her actually listening to Vander’s advice and trying not to endanger Powder. Also, the only reason that the mission Vi led in the first episode went wrong was because of the magic bomb, and honestly I don’t think anyone would be ready for something that just looks like a pretty gemstone to actually be a powerful explosive.
@@TheJamieellis i mean the first few seconds of that scene made me deathly scared it was gonna be gross, thankfully the relationship that silco and jinx actually have was amazingly executed and the lack of boundaries they have as father-daughter just highlights how broken the whole situation is, jinx with abandonment issues and silco projecting and seeing himself in jinx
@@violetbitch9492 Fair. To me it was a lil bit more obvious based on the fact that we know Jinx has abandonment issues and the fact Silco is never the one to initiate that close intimate contact, such as resting their heads on each other. He realises she can be skittish and is allowing her to be physically affectionate and in control of that affection so that she feels safe. Which also ties into him allowing her to microdose his eye with Shimmer. He's showing her that he feels comfortable enough around her to be in such a vulnerable state, in her hands. There's definite closeness and intimacy between them and Silco, turns out, is being a pretty fantastic dad.
Vi was in an emotional unstable state (she even hits Powder, which she wouldn‘t have done under good conscience). After the hit she relised that. Vi needed space to cool off and walked away from her, just around the corner.
Everything in Arcane is about duality. Episode 3 is a good example that proves what Heimerdinger said. Magic, in the wrong hands, is dangerous. Here we see Jayce and Viktor use magic correctly and make a spell work beautifully. But we also see Powder use the crystals to basically primitively explode, leading to massive consequences. I dont have to explain the duality of Powder/Vi compared to Silco/Vander because yall knew that one well.
I think Silco sees himself in Jinx, but that what also brings them together at this moment is shared grief. Both have lost Vander. In a way, Silco is grieving the loss of who was once his brother, another emotion that allows him to connect with Powder. The visual parallels between Powder's tears and the raindrops running down Silco's face, in the corner of his eye, is telling. Well done for noticing that! The "we' Silco uses also struck me. It felt as if he really meant it: they're together now, in grief, loss, and vengeance. It's not at all how we could have expected this scene to happen, what the audience and Vi expected when they saw Silco looming like death over the devastated Powder. Nope, we avoid the mustach-twirling cliché villain who smirks as he says "Welcome to the family, little one.", and instead we get to see a zoom out on who was once a one-dimensional villain comforting a crying little girl, staying at her level so he can hold her more comfortably, uncaring of what his goons or anyone might think.
For sure, I mean he had been planning on killing all 4 of the kids along with Vander originally to make it seem like they ran away. I think it was a little her hugging onto him and also her saying "she's not my sister anymore" and his seeing Vander's body behind her - Silco immediately felt a kinship/similarity with Powder's situation.
He felt that he understood the sentiment of "betrayal," of abandonment, she's feeling, when Powder said: *"She left me, she is not my sister anymore."* In Powder's POV, Vi left her bc she never saw Vi trying to return for her. From Powder's POV you couldn't see where Vi was hidding in that alley, you could only see a black alley, so, of course she thought Vi left her for good, bceause she caused the death of their family (unintentionally tho) Vi smack her, calls her a Jinx for it and leaves her. From Vi's POV she was able to see Powder from where she was. *Sorry for my bad english, it's not my native language*
Have you noticed: Whilst the (Hex-stones) were utilized for progress/good by Jayce and Viktor. Powder - used them as a weapon. Whilst (shimmer) was utilized by Silco as a weapon. Vanders drank it to save VI. In this single episode - they demonstrated that technology/chemistry can be used for great evil and great evil. Both.
The visual storytelling and voice acting for this series, and especially this episode, is incredibly good. Powder's voice actress did an especially fantastic performance. As you two said, there's plenty of blame to go around for this tragedy, or conversely, maybe you don't blame anyone, and just see it as a series of events that eventually led to a disaster. Powder is a traumatized young girl, *literally* playing with bombs. And the reaction to that, both in and out of universe, is not to tell her to stop, but to tell/encourage her to make them work. So, she manages her biggest success yet; she's happy and excited, thinking she saved her family and her sister, the most important person in the world to her, will be proud of her... And then the mind shattering truth is revealed to her; her sister slaps her, hard, yells at her, calls her a jinx, and then storms off, leaving Powder mentally shattered, alone with the dead bodies, and crying, *screaming,** for her sister to come back to her. On Vi's side, she physically, mentally, and emotionally exhausted. She just went through harrowing fights, watched her adopted brothers get killed, and saw her father figure die in front of her. She full of adrenaline, rage, grief, and guilt. And Powder comes up, eager to tell her how her bomb finally worked. And Vi, whom we've seen has a temper, is impulsive, and tends to try and solve problems with violence, does what is guaranteed to hurt Powder the most: she slaps her and says Mylo was right, Powder is a jinx. Almost immediately afterwards, you see her realize what she's done; the guilt and anger at herself adds on to the already overwhelming amounts of emotions she's dealing with. It's too much, and Vi knows that if she stays there, she'll do/say other things she will regret. So she walks away, trying to pull herself together and calm down. And when she sees Silco approaching Powder, she tries to go back to her, only for Marcus to drug her and carry her away. And thus the sisters are torn apart, and from there...we'll, you'll find out as you continue watching the series.
You guys are one of the few rare people to understand that the monkey bomb went off once and that there were different perspectives of the people who got caught in the explosion.
I like your reactions, great afteranalysis, but i feel the need to say that not just you but in general vi gets blamed for leaving powder, but she didn't walk away, after she hit powder she realized that she indeed was acting against vanders last wish and so she left just some meters to breath and get a clear mind, she would have come back and also she is just a teenager who lost basically her emotional father and her 2 brothers.
You guys are super perceptive. I thought Powder would become the hero till the very last second lol. Probably because I didn't know squat about Jinx then. Had no idea it would be a tragedy instead of a hero's journey till episode 3.
*Powder sees hex crystals* SOS: "OH, NO!"" Here comes the pain. What's the saying? Sometimes the best of intentions can lead to tragic outcomes, and Powder surely came with the best of intentions. Same with Marcus. Even though he saved Vi's life by taking her away from Silco's gang, in doing so, she lost the chance to mend her relationship with Powder at that moment.
Vi didn't have time to deal with it - she was literally just thrown out the building, her dad died, and then Powder told her it was her doing. Vi DID spend time with the bodies - she was stuck under rubble and saw her friends' corpses while she could do nothing to help Vander and just had to lay there. Vi snapping is completely understandable. Honestly, blaming either Vi or Powder is meaningless. Both of them are just children and Silco was obviously plotting for a lot of this - he set up a trap for the kids to sneak in, after all. This was a case of kids trying to deal with adult problems and - of course - failing at it because ... well, they're kids and even the adults are doing a pretty terrible job
The most heartbreaking part of this tragedy, if you're paying attention, is that Powder not only fucked up, but her family didn't need her "help" to begin with, so their deaths could have been easily avoided had she not been desperate to prove herself. Right before the bomb goes off, we see Mylo finish freeing Vander and Claggor finish breaking open an escape route through the wall - which lead right outside. And the door Deckard was banging against was still holding - monster or no, it's doubtful he'd break through before they'd have been able to escape. You can blame Vi for hitting Powder and calling her a jinx - though it's clear she realized she went too far and regretted it straight away - but don't blame her for walking away. If you've ever been deeply upset by someone, you'll understand that she needed to do it to clear her head and calm down. She never meant to truly abandon Powder - as evidenced by the fact she didn't go far, and the moment she saw Silco she tried to rush back to protect Powder. Silco, for his part, almost certainly intended to kill Powder the moment he saw her there. Taking her in wasn't part of his plan until she reached out to him (with the hug) and he found in her struggle something he could relate to.
FUN FACT: There's the monkey bomb card in the Legend of Runeterra, a card game based on LoL universe, called Get Excited. To use it, you have to discard a card to deal 3 damage to the enemy. After this episode, I lose more than a card and it deals me more than 3 damage.
And in order to get Jinx's ult in the game, you have to discard all of the cards in your hand. So you're basically sacrificing everything you have just to have a big explosion.
I could feel how legitimetely stressed you guys were by the end of the episode. Love your reactions! Also, when you go into League lore, Fiddlesticks, the demon of Fear, that screams out the champions' worst fears, when he interacts with jinx, he says "Jinx, ALL YOUR FAULT! ALL YOUR FAULT" This hurts
The cut at the end was such a beautiful definition of a ‘downward spiral’. I love how the show isn’t afraid of giving their characters real, raw emotions. No silent, composed crying, no excitement or joy in the fight scenes, which have a give and take in the blows on each side.
It just keeps building from here. Keep going! Edit: Also, Powder has a panic attack in the bedroom when she's left. She has a crippling fear of abandonment, probably due to her parents dying.
You are the first reactors to immediately know that Powder "helping" was gonna be bad before it actually happened🥲 I love this channel, you guys could really write a show yourselves😊
@@Esthoneal Well we must not have seen the same ones. Most of the ones I saw were like " yeah you go girl make it work ! GO GO MONKEY BOMB : ", and then it happened, and they were like " you stupid bitch " " yeah punch her again I would have given her three of those. "
Literally everyone I've seen has said "no powder stay there" lol They were the first to realize the explosion wasnt changing time or reversing, but just shown through multiple perspectives tho
One of the best observations I've read about this show is that every character is a product of their environment. They're all doing what they think is right, based on their life experiences.
Powder's voice actor(from what I've heard 10 years old when she did this voice acting lines ) was VERY young doing these voice scenes, and even now(she is 16) is very impressive.
Like you said, we all knew exactly what's going to happen - perhaps not the specifics, but we know how it'll end - but man the cinematography, expression changes and especially the voice acting sold it for me. Powder's cries _hurt._
Okay but i can't even bring myself to blame Vi. She just lost everything right there. And she even left because she realises in that moment she was a danger to Powder. But she immediately tried to come back after collecting her thoughts.
There's a lot of focus on Silco's bad eye, but look at his good eye when he's looking at dead Vander and hears Powder talking about Vi no longer being her sister. You can see the understanding in Silco's eye, her pain is his pain. He doesn't have to deceive or cheat her, he was just there to take her at her most vulnerable out of genuine compassion.
Oh man, the way you talk about the potential aftermath of all of the events that have happened this episode and how it will affect these characters reminds me of the discussions I had with my own brother after finishing Act 1. And knowing what actually ends up happening makes listening to this so much more fun. I can’t wait until you get to Act 2 because I am still not over how Marcus ended up dealing with Vi.
This show is such a great depiction of trauma that it manages to slightly traumatize it's audience too! I also didn't interpret Vanders failure to choke out Silco as some submission to his fate, or not being willing enough to go through with it. I think he literally would have killed Silco there if he had been in the condition to do so, but taking several blows and stab wounds prevented him from doing so physically. Not any mental block.
Same here, I saw it as he waited too long to see/act on what Silco had become. By the time he saw how dangerous Silco really was, it was too late for Vander to stop him
I think Vi's reaction was just a visceral reaction to seeing her entire family destroyed. She regreted it and tried to come back. I can't blame Vi because she's human, it's a gut reaction.
And yet, Arcane will STILL subvert their expectations when it reveals that Vi and Jinx still love each other so, so much. I don't think they can ever bring themselves to hate each other.
Best for me was Oddtaxi. But Arcane, Shigguang Dailiren and Mushoku Tensei come really close to Oddtaxi's greatness. Such incredible shows. 2021 blessed us with great anime
@@justinw8916 the anime is like 10 times better than the LN. The studio was basically made for this anime only and the quality is off the chart, let's not even start with the music.
The reaction of horror and realisation of Powder to what she have done. It make a shiver go down your spine. They went in really Hard on the animation and the voice acting. And its refreshing to see Strong females charcters that arn't obnoxious, forced or mary sues, and actually complexe, nuanced and feels real. This show was the best surprise of 2021, and that comes from someone who doesn't like LoL.
I cant tell you how many reactors have been like, "Powder is trash". Thank you for the genuine empathy in your discussion. Both of yall saw that this girl only wanted to help and it resulted in a terrible accident. Like yall really put yourself in her shoes and I appreciated the hell out of that.
I am a bit disappointed that the bros don’t understand why Vi had to walk away. Actually we can’t blame both Powder and Vi for they only did what they thought was right. The whole situation was just a tragedy and the consequence would still be the same if it happened in real life I would say. It is a perfect script btw.
True, but I also understand their point of view. We are so used to characters knowing what to do in every situation (especially, in action movies), that the mere idea of them needing time to cool off is almost unthinkable.
@@Алексей545-т6б like she knows those fucking goons will survive in that explosion anyway. And you're only saying that because you're an outsider looking in. But if you're in that situation flesh and blood. I bet you'd do worse.
@@Алексей545-т6б bring her where? Vi needs to cool off NOW. There's no place she can bring powder in the state of anger that she's in without potentially hurting her.
It's so sad that they needed very different things in that moments. Vi needed to cool down and Powder needs some attachment/attention💔💔. That situation couldn't give both of them that at the same time and that's just tragic😭.
I love the detail you guys interpreted about the "warning" monkey being destroyed by Powder. Also, small something I thought of when you guys were mentioning it. Vi was denied the "We", the opportunity to participate when Vander said "I'll figure something out" while Powder had the opposite treatment.
My favorite episode of the series by far. Powder's breakdown at 10:07 is one of the best in the show (imo) with how raw the emotion is being put out alongside an incredibly haunting score for such a short scene.
Very observant and thoughtful, as usual. I hadn't notice Powder little smile during her breakdown in the bedroom, incredible detail. The whole sequence of events of Powder seeing Vi leave, understanding on some level what is going on, getting her sister back only to see how distraught she is, then being left behind and breaking down. It's so intense and with so little words. The immense amount of work Fortiche put in the facial animation is truly astonishing.
I'm not understanding the logic behind the Vi discussion in this video. Vi is a teenager, who was just as traumatised, if not more so, as Powder. "Powder needed this, Powder needed that." Powder is a child that just bombed her family. I know it's a fantasy show, but let's not lose sight of that. Powder then jumped into the arms of the guy who killed Vander and said her sister was her enemy, seconds later. I'm not saying you criticism isn't deserved, but you're asking a lot of any character in that moment.
Silco lowering his guard and predatory vibe once Powder embraces him is great character development. He was trying to finish off the family, Powder included, but this broken child disarmed him literally and figuratively. The one moment of being needed was able to change my whole opinion of him instantly. "We'll show them, we'll show them all" *instant chills*
My heart breaks for Powder. *She only wanted to help* 😭 Vi needed time to step back and process that Powder just killed the rest of her family, she had nowhere near enough time to process. She would of came back for her & she was coming back when she saw Silco standing over her but Marcus stopped her.
i am sooo impressed by your insights, seing where this was going, and reaction to the 2 steps towards the BOMB for example. And still being surprised by it, and the extent of it. And Seeing you react with all your heart after being so intellectual about it , is heart candy for me , as i so want to talk and share and feel again about the show , like i think we all do. Does it makes us all masochists? :-) This is Reacting! i must say i followed one of your link because i saw you at least twice in reactions mashups on the show, and was telling me "Oh that's the guy who gets all emotional! " ,-). Again , that was a great pleasure making you acointance. i'm gonna binge your arcane reactions right now.
Joyful Powder appearing sayin "Vi It worked!" is so painful. And those "I only wanted to help" break me every times. The voice actress for Powder is just amazing. I can't imagine any better delivery. And about Vi leaving Powder behind: After hitting her sister, Vi realized she had Power's blood on her hand. Considering she is the kind of person who like to be in control, she probably doesn't know how to deal with losing control.. She should have comforted her sister but she panicked. She ran away (from herself) to protect Powder. She still stayed, stayed close enough so she could still hear her sister and go back to her when she would manage to get her own mind back together.
Yep, she needed a few minutes to process her feelings and grieve, so she didn't take out all her anger and frustration on Powder, who was in an even worse place after realizing what she did.
I love that Silco genuinely feels for Powder, him taking her in isn't some maniacal, evil way to turn her against Vi, it's an act of compassion from someone who understands what it feels like to be betrayed.
Just want to say you two are some of the most thoughtful and engaged reactors I have seen in a long time. Look forward to seeing more of your content! (P.S. WHERE DID YOU GET THE RIZA HAWKEYE SHIRT?! ITS AMAZING!!!)
Voice acting in this show is insane. Mia Sinclair Jinesse absolutely nailed this performance for Powder. Absolutely fantastic. Voice acting 10/10. Animation 10/10. World building 10/10. Character development 10/10. What a fantastic show.
Lads, I will be brutally honest with ya. I'm gonna need more than a weeks wait between ep reacts. I'm dying to see your perspective on the whole season. You are my favourite reactors on this website. I'm crackfiending out here man.
I know everybody's talking about the emotional parts of the show but can we talk about the fight scenes? This is the first time we see champs fight serious enemies in the show and it got me hyped the first time I saw it! Looking forward to guys' reaction to the rest of it!
The thing is they didn't know it was the balls that blew up the apartment. So they couldn't really tell Powder they were dangerous. Vi even asks Powder what they do and she says she doesn't know. Powder realized they caused the explosion when she dropped them in her room and they started sparkling.
The one thing that makes Arcane so captivating are micro-expressions. The attention to facial expressions really helps this show flourish past a 10 to an 11 out of 10 rating.
It is worth noting that this actually a tragic event in the classic greek sense. We nowadays use the term much broader. What it meant is what is shown here. Trying to prevent something and in doing so, causing it to happen.
Sheldon Cooper: "You told me it's mind-blowing, so my mind is going into it pre-blown, and once a mind is *pre*-blown, it cannot be *re*-blown." I think telling them ep 3 is mindblowing etc is kinda heavily spoiling them even without mentioning the actual plot. 😐
The orange backdrop of the flames behind powder in that final scene is a callback to the very first scene in the show. Vi and powder finding their parents in the flames and smoke and learning that they're alone. Then being adopted by vander and starting a new family only to end up in the same place again. For powder however she believes it all her fault now and that's she's the reason that everyone around her dies and leaves her. She latches onto silco as that's preferable to being alone again regardless of the situation. As fate would have it silco is the one person who immediately understands what powder is going through and sympathises with her as he went through the same thing himself. Absolutely brilliant writing in this show great reaction guys 👍
Everyone always comments on how when Vi sees the monkey after the explosion “she knows it was powder” but I don’t think that’s quite right. Her face when she sees it is distraught, lining up with her either thinking powder was here and is probably dead, or that now she’s about to die and powder is going to be alone. It’s why she was so surprised when Powder said her bomb worked, she didn’t think it was Powder until that moment.
Dang I actually watched the whole thing. Great video you guys! I especially liked when you pointed out how "in character" they always are and how they are "consistent in their disfunction". It's so true and it keeps being true throughout the entire show. I really think this is one of the things that elevates this show above and beyond.
23:17 cmon this is none of vi's doing. they show us that they (the kids) almost succeed in saving vander when the bomb explodes 14:24. the door still stand and nothing deckard and silco can do to them while they escape if only there's no fricking bomb killing everyone.
NOOOO! Vi! Powder! Vander! Everything has gone wrong, this is the worst timeline possible!
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I honestly wasn't expecting Powder to turn evil. It was an incredible surprise
I tear up every time I see this. jeebus.
"Sure it is Abed"
There is a great symmetry in Silco’s birth by water and Jinx’s birth backdropped by fire.
that's asymmetry and oh my god why am i such a nazi
☝️underrated comment
lot's of symmetries in this story. Compare the lives, gadgets, company and personalities of
spoiler
Jinx and Ekko.
@@marcusc9931 chemtech vs hextech
So much duality
SPOILER....
viktor as a child trying to catch up to the toy boat, then as an adult, running and surpassing an actual boat, but running in the opposite direction.
Regarding Vi. My take on it her "walking away" from Powder was that Vi had realized just how out of control that SHE was in that moment & that she could do further damage to Powder if she stayed. She walked away to calm down enough to deal with situation rationally. If Silco & Marcus had not turned up I believe Vi would have gone back to Powder.
I think so too, but either way, I think it was too late. Calling Powder a jinx and then seemingly abandoning her had already broken her and their relationship irreparably. Coming back for her later wouldn't have changed that.
@@Birthday888 this^
it's extremely understandable that she reacted the way that she did (it's easily forgotten bc of how mature Vi is but she's just a kid herself and her best friends & father figure had just been brutally murdered and it was seemingly entirely a result of powder's actions; she needed space to cool off before going back to powder --- I would've very likely reacted in a similar way), but it still had devastating consequences
Agreed. She stayed close but I think she was walking away to 1. make sure she didn't physically hurt Powder again and 2. deal with her own grief because she doesn't want Powder to see her break down
seemed she walked away to take a sec to cd since she just made her bleed and she was looking at her hands like what did i do. would of come back a second or 2 later to take her home and instantly ran to her when silco showed up but Marcus prevented that. powder did just accidentally kill their entire family and with vi being 10-12 she acted pretty reasonable.
Also there’s a lot of shame there too, she was so caught up in the moment that when she sees Powder’s blood trickling down her palm she’s shocked at what she just realizes she did to her and can’t bear to look her in the eye at the moment, you can visibly see her struggling to maintain eye contact with her and how that anger is just gone the moment she’s behind that corner.
The fact that Vi and everyone else would have absolutely all got out together without the monkey bomb is so unbelievably tragic
Yeah well that isn't a fact that they would've gotten out
@@jarvisfowlkes3200 vander was free, claggor broke out the wall completely, vi was recovering. I think it’s very heavily implied that they would
@@mfgeedorah479 yeah but silco still have shimmer that he couldve gave to the other goons. Theres no way they will outrun them when silco's men are on shimmer
I dont believe the idea that they wouldve all got out. Not when silco's men have huge amounts of shimmer (look at all those shimmer that vander fell on).
@@AJ-jx5gm From a storytelling point of view, there is literally zero reason whatsoever to cut to Mylo freeing Vandar and Clagger breaking through the wall OTHER than to show that they were free and clear and had gotten out of their own accord before the bomb went off.
Thats storytelling 101. And in a well written, really tight piece like Arcane that's never going to be an accident.
I feel like a lot of people are so used to extremely selfless heroes written in a way where they barely experience any sort of trauma even though hell is happening around them. This is why people completely forget the possible trauma, physical and mental exhaustion on Vi's part-- oh and a lot of people also forget she's just a kid too. Just because she's older doesn't mean she's an adult in the first act.
What Vi did was very human and understandable, she didn't want to hurt powder further than what she had already done. I found this relatable as I was the same when I was a kid-- I get super aggressive when I was angry. So I've learned to lock myself in a room whenever I am angry, so I would never accidentally punch someone and regret it later.
I think the meta of Jinx being "LoL's main character" has turned them against Vi's very human reaction
@@fedwyn
Sadly it was the wrong one... not of a leader, nor sister or anyone who knows this place is still dangerous.. another human reaction.
Getting out of thier with your sister to safety.
But no you failed as a leader, and sister.
She is impulsive.
Less thinking more doing.
It failed her.
@@lolicongang.4974 she's a child.
honestly Vi's behaviour there was beyond understandable. it was outright reasonable I'd say. before the bomb went off they were about to get out, Vander was freed from the chair and Claggor had opened a hole in the wall for them to all escape. then the bomb killed Mylo and Claggor and set up the circumstances for Vander's death (though the blame for Vander's death ultimately lies with Silco). Powder's bomb had killed 2 members of their family and then she just goes up to Violet to celebrate the fact that it had worked.
Exactly, Arcane's portrayals of its protagonists are much more realistic. People aren't black and white, and the people looking down on VI would likely be no better in her shoes.
Powder: "I can help them"
Other reactors: Yes the bombs are finally going to work it's Powder's time to shine she's going to save them!!
SOS Bros: NOOOOOO
That was me, I had the same reaction as the bros
I saw the opposite.
This is why I enjoy the SOS bros so much - they see the implications far quicker than the average reactor. 🧠 (Like how they could immediately tell that it was one bomb from different perspectives, and not multiple bombs going off when only one was sent in. 🙄)
Hats off to them! 😁
Everyone stayed true to their character except Mylo who finally gets over himself, shuts up and saves Vander. Total hero moment for Mr. All Talk.
Well, even in death he cant just shut up...
Not for nothing but Milo had a point. Taking her a long only made the situation that much wors
@@justinrivera1618 Well, they could left her with adults, or Ekko or give her aa save job, so Powder wont feel herself a useless bagage
@@Алексей545-т6б well that isn't him. It's just Jinx hallucinations.
@@Алексей545-т6б yeah like you could think about those at that situation.lmao.
We need to put ourselves in Vi's shoes. She was a teenager, she saw her new family die IN FRONT OF HER EYES, Clagor and Mylo once again followed her and we saw how it ended, she was extremely close to Vander (way closer than Powder seem to have ever been), he was her new dad and then had the culprit in front of her before she could even fully catch her breath after everything happened, maybe some people are saints but I'm pretty sure the majority of us would have snaped, broke down and said/do things we would regret just like Vi. She needed time but never got it.
She need at least bring Powder in safe place first
And when your whole world and foundation is shifting under your feet, it's hard to make clear headed rational decisions especially when you're young.
@@vahl1471 That would hunt Vi down for the rest of her life
Exactly! People seem to forget that teenagers (Vi is like 15, 14 at best) are not the most rational, emotionally or physically mature people around. Vi caught herself after that first punch, but she needed some space and to cool off or else she might've done something else.
@@Алексей545-т6б Vi needed to cool off because she was afraid that she might hit her sister again (in her anger and grief). She literally saw the blood on her hands from striking Powder and decided to distance herself.
The “Drowning Monologue” is fantastic as is all of Silco’s dialogue in the show.
Silco’s writing is amazing
It's hilarious that they think (well Caleb) that Silco's going to "spit Jinx out like Deckard.." Like, I get it, I thought he was just a "Bond Villain" when I first watched this episode too. I don't think they are expecting such a well written villain. He's incredible (and the voice acting by Jason Spisak is fucking perfection).
He's such a great character
@@Kirathian1234 Yeah tbh it triggers me just a bit when they keep calling him a “Bond villain”
@@Xemnas283 I think this comes back to the whole “This show has no right to be this good.” statement said by many others. Why would a video game tv show have the level of writing that Arcane does and why would someone going in blind (or as blind as possible) expect anything other than tv troupe characters. Eventually they’ll key into things being special but for now Silco will just = bond antagonist.
One understated thing is the absolute shock Silco's goons have when he hugs Powder, like it's all:
"Is he really doing this?"
One of my favorite things about it is the close-up to Silco's hand moving really slowly and hesitantly, like a gesture of physical comfort in itself is completely alien to him and he himself doesn't quite know what he's doing.
Or the look of surprise and almost admiration of Vi when Silco sees her fight on the bridge. The understated meaning and guided misinterpretation behind his motivation during his discussion with Vander on that cannery bridge earlier in the episode, "For respect." That is, his desire for basic human respect towards the people of the Undercity and his belief that violence is the only manner to receive it; in contrast to the common interpretation of an egotistical "I'm the boss villain and people must fear me" trope. So many great subtleties throughout this show. Love it.
@@Alex-gn6iihe also says that he thought she was the prize of her family in episode 6 (until jinx of course), he truly appreciated her strength
The replaying of the explosion from different perspectives was such a brilliant idea. It gave me chills
It's also perfect in context with the Jayce and Viktor parts that precedes it. Where they haphazardly activate their magic crystals (and even have a small explosion themselves), but find their success. These two things happening at the same time is also thematically fitting because ..of course Piltover finds success and the oppressed Undercity is left more damaged than before.
it’s wild to see so many people think that it was going off multiple times.
@@jessemaleh8145 Like in what world would that monkey stay in one piece for more than 1 blast? How did people think it was multiple from the same monkey?
@@jessemaleh8145 Right? Seeing most reactors to this think it was multiple explosions really forced me to realize that a lot of people interpret things incorrectly, even when it seems completely obvious. It's kinda aggravating.
@@jessemaleh8145 Normies made me facepalm like always lol
“Whatever happens, it’s on you.” I’m sure that won’t be something Vi carries with her for the rest of her life.
What I like is that, Vi didn’t leave. She lashed out, and was overwhelmed with all these emotions, and so she walked off just to clear her head and have a moment to just…. Grieve. She even tried to run back to Powder when she saw her in danger because, despite everything, she still loves and cares about her sister. But unfortunately, this is a story of tragedy.
Let’s just give a big round of applause for Powder’s VA. Girl sold that emotional and mental breakdown.
Don't care.
Your the leader you don't have time to be selfish.
You failed, don't disappoint me again...
Wait she disappointed me again and again.
Vi is not a good leader.
Impulsive.
She was a child that lost almost her entire family, and found out her sister caused it. She was a teenager, dude. She’s allowed a moment to grieve after all that compounded trauma. She’s allowed to have feelings and emotions, and a moment to herself.
@@lolicongang.4974 How can people even be dumb enough to arrive at logic like this? It's insane that we watched the same show and your takeaway on all of this tragedy is, "Vi shouldn't have been in any way affected by all of the surrounding loss." What?!
@@lolicongang.4974 of course your name is lolicon gang
@@cakey6636
Of course your name is Cakey.
What a useless comment.
Please don't discount everything Vi went through both physically and emotionally when you put all the blame on her. She just had a heavy door explode into her and land on top of her after slugging her way through a gauntlet of thugs in addition to the obvious loss of the rest of her family. Vi needed to cool off, to say the least. If Powder had followed her Vi wouldn't have pushed her away as long as she gave Vi the room she needed.
@Kyle schroeder yes, but Vi needed to take a moment to calm down alone. Don't forget Vi is also a child, and she is no less traumatized than Powder
Absolutely. She did try her best, and her best was awesome. That said, the universe doesn't give participation prizes. Her awesome best wasn't enough. Neither was Powder's or Vander's. Not even Silko's. In the end, it was nobody's fault - and everybody's.
That's a tragedy, after all.
I totally agree. And I'm amazed on how an animation was able to depict such a humanly emotion and reaction. What Vi did and how she dealt with all this tragedy is completely human and understandable, and yet she was willing to return to Powder after processing for a while what just happened. This show is amazing in that (and so many other) sense.
@Kyle schroeder she was going to come back she just wanted to calm down so she wouldn't hurt her again.
it was her fault tho, this entire show wouldn’t have happened if she had just listened to vander in the first place and not gone to the topside. that of course doesn’t mean that it’s not understandable. she’s a child who was doing what she thought was right
The slowly mounting dread as the episode goes on, finally climaxing with a heartbreaking tragedy... a perfect way to end the first arc.
The creators of Arcane said in an interview they built the story around the concept of “duality”. You can find this concept all over the show.
I don't blame vi or powder in this scenario tbh Powder obviously thought she was helping and had the purest intentions; it was just tragic luck it turned out the way it did. Vi had a very honest/understandable reaction in needing a moment to cool down after almost everyone who was close to her just died bc of powder and if she had stayed, I feel like the situation would have gotten worse with all of her emotions exploding even more towards powder in that moment obviously not knowing how to process what just happened bc vi is young too. the worst part tho is before the bomb was set off it showed the hope of vander getting out of the cuffs and the brick wall being broken down as they can finally escape just for everything to go wrong again, tragic.
I blame the leader.
Poor decisions.
Didn't handle the situation right.
Emotions.
Vander said it best (although I didnt care much for vander)
You can't be selfish.
In the moment where you needed to get out of there, you get out of there... you couldn't control yourself.
You failed.
Before Arcane, 2 League characters with voice lines hinting towards Jinx’s past are Swain and Fiddlesticks.
Swain: “Faces fading in the flames. It was all her fault.”
Fiddlesticks: “All your fault! All your fault!”
And with Arcane, it hurts to see it happen.
The thing I found most impressive was that scene of Powder breaking down after being left alone. Firstly, the voice actress (Who was around TEN??? at the time???? Oh my god) did an INCREDIBLE job really showing the pain and unstable-ness in her voice. The animators absolutely killed it too.
But the part where she's mid break down, sobbing, crying, she watches the Monkey still moving, and its almost like everything goes unfocused for a moment. The act of being midbreakdown and just locking in on some movement or object and everything else disappearing is such a realistic way for a character to calm down and be grounded. I've had moments where I was going through such traumatic events and it's such a realistic moment to just see something which... makes the pain go away.
I love Riot and Fortische, so much.
Vi was traumetized as much as Powder. Do not forget these are still Kids/Pre-Teens. Vi had to handle the Fact that her beloved sister just killed her "brothers" and her Father while they almost escaped savely. Eventho she had "more" time handle it, it was a matter of secs or a min.
And also Vi DID see how out of control she was and therefore she needed space from powder, just for a couple minutes to calm down, u can see it in the moment Vi looked at her hand when she slapped Powder and then wanted to go back to powder when she saw silco. So we really cant blame anyone, since Powder and Vi are kids, who had to go through a war, loose their parents and then again loose their family.
And MOst importantly respect to the brothers for also risking their life and trusting in Vi and went to save Vender without questioning anything.
Brave kids
Vi is not a preteen. Powder is.
the creators did confirm that vi was never intending to actually leave power there, but that she was walking away to cool off so that she wouldnt hurt her any more
Vi walked away to calm down, she had already hit powder once and didn’t want to do something she would regret cause of the overwhelming emotions of that moment after she saw all her family died!! So she went to get herself together and the moment she saw powder in danger she run towards her. I don’t get how people get mad and blame Vi in that scene. If anything she was super mature to take a moment to cool down
I agree, I personally don't think anyone is at fault tbh, there's no way anyone could've known that things would escalate to this extent!!
@@Anu32148 I mean, Silco is at fault.
@@shiki780 so was Marcus tbh
@@kyopium3676 I guess? Mostly, though, Silco could have just... not attempted to kill a man and his 4 adopted children with like 20 thugs and a drugged up superhuman.
I feel like people gloss over that part a lot when talking about Silco. Like, people will praise him for being a "good father" to Jinx (and that's also highly debatable considering he indulged her worst impulses and at best didn't stop her from hurting and killing people if it benefited him, and at worst directly instructed her to kill people for his own gain), but like. If Silco hadn't done anything Powder's family would've been alive. Yeah Vander would've still, like, gone to prison or something, but if Silco hadn't fuckin murdered two children and their adoptive dad and tried to murder two other children then maybe Powder wouldn't have had such a shitty fucking life.
I don't know how many "father-points" Silco has amassed throughout him taking care of Powder and turning her into Jinx, but, like, killing your future-adopted daughter's previous family feels like a solid negative 1000000 father-points.
I agree. She was doing the best she could in a frankly overwhelming situation.
That scene with Silko is so heartbreaking, from mercilessly going to stab Powder to loosing all will to fight when he sees someone like himself, abandoned by their family
Powder/Jinx is literally the most accurate representation of Borderline Personality Disorder that I have ever seen in any media. Her journey is so heartbreaking, but they did it so tastefully. You dont often see BPD portrayed in an empathetic light and as someone who suffers from it myself, I greatly appreciate this.
Harley's the prototype, Jinx is the Meruem to what Cell was, but DC fans aren't ready to have that conversation.
If you haven't seen it yet Crazy Ex-Girlfriend is also pretty accurate representation of BPD.
@@X3MAntics I like that description :)
YES omg I finally see someone saying it. Jinx/Powder is the most realistic BPD portrayed character in media, not like sparkly-quirky Harley Quinn, but realistic, creepy and saddening disorder ruining your life and lifes of people surrounding you.
I have bpd myself and oh man it was sooo difficult for me to watch Jinx development as much as I love this series. I just couldn't take it at some point. I don't have severe bpd, since I got help in time. Jinx didn't get help she needed and had terrible path of traumas after traumas. Her story is sickening.
It’s amazing how attached they’ve made you feel to these characters after such a small amount of screen time. I loved this reaction! Everything I hoped for and I’m glad you realised that the explosion was seen from multiple perspectives and not just 5 explosions (which I’ve seen some reactors do 🤣)
Yep, I fell for that--thinking it was multiple blasts. In my case, I thought we were seeing the crystal put out pulses with each hit, therefore causing individual blasts, before finally exploding on the last one.
@@Lavi____ Wouldn't make sense, since the first explosion would already destroy the monkey itself.
@@AppleBaron i guess I never thought of that lol, I thought it was multiple explosions too just because the toy monkey was shown to bang the cymbals multiple times
@@AppleBaron You can also see Deckard standing right next to it in every shot except Marcus'.
tbh it doesn't really matter how many explosions happed cuz the result is the same so idk why everyone gets so focused on it.
To be fair, Vi didn’t “continuously” tell Powder she wasn’t ready. She only told Powder she wasn’t ready that one time, in this episode. Every other interaction we see between them or where Vi’s talking about Powder is her encouraging Powder, or shutting Mylo down when he says that Powder wasn’t ready. I took what she said this episode to be her actually listening to Vander’s advice and trying not to endanger Powder.
Also, the only reason that the mission Vi led in the first episode went wrong was because of the magic bomb, and honestly I don’t think anyone would be ready for something that just looks like a pretty gemstone to actually be a powerful explosive.
You may be pleasantly suprised how dramatically different Jinx and Silco are from Harley Quinn and the Joker.
But that 1 scene from the next episode is going to make them feel that way..that's the feeling I am getting
@@Anu32148 Which? The father/daughter scene? How is it like harley and the joker?
@@TheJamieellis i mean the first few seconds of that scene made me deathly scared it was gonna be gross, thankfully the relationship that silco and jinx actually have was amazingly executed and the lack of boundaries they have as father-daughter just highlights how broken the whole situation is, jinx with abandonment issues and silco projecting and seeing himself in jinx
@@violetbitch9492 Fair. To me it was a lil bit more obvious based on the fact that we know Jinx has abandonment issues and the fact Silco is never the one to initiate that close intimate contact, such as resting their heads on each other. He realises she can be skittish and is allowing her to be physically affectionate and in control of that affection so that she feels safe. Which also ties into him allowing her to microdose his eye with Shimmer. He's showing her that he feels comfortable enough around her to be in such a vulnerable state, in her hands. There's definite closeness and intimacy between them and Silco, turns out, is being a pretty fantastic dad.
Vi was in an emotional unstable state (she even hits Powder, which she wouldn‘t have done under good conscience). After the hit she relised that. Vi needed space to cool off and walked away from her, just around the corner.
right! She was always going to come back. She wasn't abandoning Powder.
Everything in Arcane is about duality. Episode 3 is a good example that proves what Heimerdinger said. Magic, in the wrong hands, is dangerous. Here we see Jayce and Viktor use magic correctly and make a spell work beautifully. But we also see Powder use the crystals to basically primitively explode, leading to massive consequences.
I dont have to explain the duality of Powder/Vi compared to Silco/Vander because yall knew that one well.
I think Silco sees himself in Jinx, but that what also brings them together at this moment is shared grief. Both have lost Vander. In a way, Silco is grieving the loss of who was once his brother, another emotion that allows him to connect with Powder. The visual parallels between Powder's tears and the raindrops running down Silco's face, in the corner of his eye, is telling. Well done for noticing that! The "we' Silco uses also struck me. It felt as if he really meant it: they're together now, in grief, loss, and vengeance.
It's not at all how we could have expected this scene to happen, what the audience and Vi expected when they saw Silco looming like death over the devastated Powder. Nope, we avoid the mustach-twirling cliché villain who smirks as he says "Welcome to the family, little one.", and instead we get to see a zoom out on who was once a one-dimensional villain comforting a crying little girl, staying at her level so he can hold her more comfortably, uncaring of what his goons or anyone might think.
Every powder scene is a heartbreak for me, she's such an adorable innocent child and they capture her innocence, struggles and pain so well
Mia Sinclair Jenness. What a performance. Watching and hearing Powder break down is gut-wrenching.
Silco absolutely would've killed Powder the moment he met her, only stopping after she hugged him... making him show some humanity and empathy.
For sure, I mean he had been planning on killing all 4 of the kids along with Vander originally to make it seem like they ran away. I think it was a little her hugging onto him and also her saying "she's not my sister anymore" and his seeing Vander's body behind her - Silco immediately felt a kinship/similarity with Powder's situation.
He felt that he understood the sentiment of "betrayal," of abandonment, she's feeling, when Powder said: *"She left me, she is not my sister anymore."* In Powder's POV, Vi left her bc she never saw Vi trying to return for her. From Powder's POV you couldn't see where Vi was hidding in that alley, you could only see a black alley, so, of course she thought Vi left her for good, bceause she caused the death of their family (unintentionally tho) Vi smack her, calls her a Jinx for it and leaves her. From Vi's POV she was able to see Powder from where she was.
*Sorry for my bad english, it's not my native language*
@@QueenOfTheZombieApocalypse he wanted Vi alive tho. He saw the spark in her
@@cprw10 Oh yeah, Silco saw himself in Powder
Have you noticed: Whilst the (Hex-stones) were utilized for progress/good by Jayce and Viktor. Powder - used them as a weapon. Whilst (shimmer) was utilized by Silco as a weapon. Vanders drank it to save VI. In this single episode - they demonstrated that technology/chemistry can be used for great evil and great evil. Both.
You're right and shimmer (a drop of it) was able to save Vi's life 😮😊.
The visual storytelling and voice acting for this series, and especially this episode, is incredibly good. Powder's voice actress did an especially fantastic performance.
As you two said, there's plenty of blame to go around for this tragedy, or conversely, maybe you don't blame anyone, and just see it as a series of events that eventually led to a disaster.
Powder is a traumatized young girl, *literally* playing with bombs. And the reaction to that, both in and out of universe, is not to tell her to stop, but to tell/encourage her to make them work. So, she manages her biggest success yet; she's happy and excited, thinking she saved her family and her sister, the most important person in the world to her, will be proud of her...
And then the mind shattering truth is revealed to her; her sister slaps her, hard, yells at her, calls her a jinx, and then storms off, leaving Powder mentally shattered, alone with the dead bodies, and crying, *screaming,** for her sister to come back to her.
On Vi's side, she physically, mentally, and emotionally exhausted. She just went through harrowing fights, watched her adopted brothers get killed, and saw her father figure die in front of her. She full of adrenaline, rage, grief, and guilt. And Powder comes up, eager to tell her how her bomb finally worked.
And Vi, whom we've seen has a temper, is impulsive, and tends to try and solve problems with violence, does what is guaranteed to hurt Powder the most: she slaps her and says Mylo was right, Powder is a jinx. Almost immediately afterwards, you see her realize what she's done; the guilt and anger at herself adds on to the already overwhelming amounts of emotions she's dealing with.
It's too much, and Vi knows that if she stays there, she'll do/say other things she will regret. So she walks away, trying to pull herself together and calm down. And when she sees Silco approaching Powder, she tries to go back to her, only for Marcus to drug her and carry her away.
And thus the sisters are torn apart, and from there...we'll, you'll find out as you continue watching the series.
You guys are one of the few rare people to understand that the monkey bomb went off once and that there were different perspectives of the people who got caught in the explosion.
I admired them so much for that… I cannot tell you how many times I heard “aNoTheR oNe?” 😅
I like your reactions, great afteranalysis, but i feel the need to say that not just you but in general vi gets blamed for leaving powder, but she didn't walk away, after she hit powder she realized that she indeed was acting against vanders last wish and so she left just some meters to breath and get a clear mind, she would have come back and also she is just a teenager who lost basically her emotional father and her 2 brothers.
You guys are super perceptive. I thought Powder would become the hero till the very last second lol. Probably because I didn't know squat about Jinx then. Had no idea it would be a tragedy instead of a hero's journey till episode 3.
Ye most league players know jinx is crazy and hates vi so it was only a matter of how and when it happens.
Yup, this is the episode that breaks grown men. Im a 44 year old dude, I was straight up ugly crying at the end of the episode.
*Powder sees hex crystals*
SOS: "OH, NO!""
Here comes the pain. What's the saying? Sometimes the best of intentions can lead to tragic outcomes, and Powder surely came with the best of intentions. Same with Marcus. Even though he saved Vi's life by taking her away from Silco's gang, in doing so, she lost the chance to mend her relationship with Powder at that moment.
Vi didn't have time to deal with it - she was literally just thrown out the building, her dad died, and then Powder told her it was her doing. Vi DID spend time with the bodies - she was stuck under rubble and saw her friends' corpses while she could do nothing to help Vander and just had to lay there.
Vi snapping is completely understandable. Honestly, blaming either Vi or Powder is meaningless. Both of them are just children and Silco was obviously plotting for a lot of this - he set up a trap for the kids to sneak in, after all. This was a case of kids trying to deal with adult problems and - of course - failing at it because ... well, they're kids and even the adults are doing a pretty terrible job
The most heartbreaking part of this tragedy, if you're paying attention, is that Powder not only fucked up, but her family didn't need her "help" to begin with, so their deaths could have been easily avoided had she not been desperate to prove herself. Right before the bomb goes off, we see Mylo finish freeing Vander and Claggor finish breaking open an escape route through the wall - which lead right outside. And the door Deckard was banging against was still holding - monster or no, it's doubtful he'd break through before they'd have been able to escape.
You can blame Vi for hitting Powder and calling her a jinx - though it's clear she realized she went too far and regretted it straight away - but don't blame her for walking away. If you've ever been deeply upset by someone, you'll understand that she needed to do it to clear her head and calm down. She never meant to truly abandon Powder - as evidenced by the fact she didn't go far, and the moment she saw Silco she tried to rush back to protect Powder.
Silco, for his part, almost certainly intended to kill Powder the moment he saw her there. Taking her in wasn't part of his plan until she reached out to him (with the hug) and he found in her struggle something he could relate to.
FUN FACT: There's the monkey bomb card in the Legend of Runeterra, a card game based on LoL universe, called Get Excited. To use it, you have to discard a card to deal 3 damage to the enemy.
After this episode, I lose more than a card and it deals me more than 3 damage.
And in order to get Jinx's ult in the game, you have to discard all of the cards in your hand. So you're basically sacrificing everything you have just to have a big explosion.
I could feel how legitimetely stressed you guys were by the end of the episode. Love your reactions!
Also, when you go into League lore, Fiddlesticks, the demon of Fear, that screams out the champions' worst fears, when he interacts with jinx, he says "Jinx, ALL YOUR FAULT! ALL YOUR FAULT"
This hurts
✨ emotional damage ✨
The cut at the end was such a beautiful definition of a ‘downward spiral’. I love how the show isn’t afraid of giving their characters real, raw emotions. No silent, composed crying, no excitement or joy in the fight scenes, which have a give and take in the blows on each side.
It just keeps building from here. Keep going!
Edit: Also, Powder has a panic attack in the bedroom when she's left. She has a crippling fear of abandonment, probably due to her parents dying.
You are the first reactors to immediately know that Powder "helping" was gonna be bad before it actually happened🥲 I love this channel, you guys could really write a show yourselves😊
Really? Every reactor I've watched was like "oh shit" when powder said she'd help
@@Esthoneal Well we must not have seen the same ones. Most of the ones I saw were like " yeah you go girl make it work ! GO GO MONKEY BOMB : ", and then it happened, and they were like " you stupid bitch " " yeah punch her again I would have given her three of those. "
Literally everyone I've seen has said "no powder stay there" lol
They were the first to realize the explosion wasnt changing time or reversing, but just shown through multiple perspectives tho
One of the best observations I've read about this show is that every character is a product of their environment. They're all doing what they think is right, based on their life experiences.
i love the way everyone cheers that jinx bomb worked.....to absolute shock when it kills cleggor and mylo
I love how these guys legit start the video by pondering all the potential ways they could be hurt by the story
Call me a masochist, but I love when shows absolutely destroy me. I live for the emotional impact, it's my *life force*
@@UltimaPhoenix-dx3kt same, I rate a show higher the more it makes me cry
Powder's voice actor(from what I've heard 10 years old when she did this voice acting lines
) was VERY young doing these voice scenes, and even now(she is 16) is very impressive.
Like you said, we all knew exactly what's going to happen - perhaps not the specifics, but we know how it'll end - but man the cinematography, expression changes and especially the voice acting sold it for me. Powder's cries _hurt._
"Oh man, he doesn't even want to..." I thought was a super perceptive point. You could tell in that moment he looked at Vi with pity.
Okay but i can't even bring myself to blame Vi. She just lost everything right there. And she even left because she realises in that moment she was a danger to Powder. But she immediately tried to come back after collecting her thoughts.
No, she tries to come back after seeing Silco. She makes no attempt to come back before that moment. Why do so many people misrepresent this?
@@darksaint0124 she hadnt collected her thoughts yet, so how am i wrong? What if she came back still angry enough to physically hurt her💀
There's a lot of focus on Silco's bad eye, but look at his good eye when he's looking at dead Vander and hears Powder talking about Vi no longer being her sister. You can see the understanding in Silco's eye, her pain is his pain. He doesn't have to deceive or cheat her, he was just there to take her at her most vulnerable out of genuine compassion.
and to think, this is only the _start_ of the trauma
start of the trauma is losing her parents, she went through a lot
@@lmao4982 I was referring to the viewers
Oh man, the way you talk about the potential aftermath of all of the events that have happened this episode and how it will affect these characters reminds me of the discussions I had with my own brother after finishing Act 1. And knowing what actually ends up happening makes listening to this so much more fun. I can’t wait until you get to Act 2 because I am still not over how Marcus ended up dealing with Vi.
This show is such a great depiction of trauma that it manages to slightly traumatize it's audience too!
I also didn't interpret Vanders failure to choke out Silco as some submission to his fate, or not being willing enough to go through with it. I think he literally would have killed Silco there if he had been in the condition to do so, but taking several blows and stab wounds prevented him from doing so physically. Not any mental block.
Same here, I saw it as he waited too long to see/act on what Silco had become. By the time he saw how dangerous Silco really was, it was too late for Vander to stop him
Also, if you haven't noticed, he was choking Silco with the same hand that Silco had cut in the flashback, so he probably couldn't get a good grip.
I think Vi's reaction was just a visceral reaction to seeing her entire family destroyed. She regreted it and tried to come back. I can't blame Vi because she's human, it's a gut reaction.
That scene with powder and her breakdown is a perfect visual example of a full-on panic attack
And yet, Arcane will STILL subvert their expectations when it reveals that Vi and Jinx still love each other so, so much. I don't think they can ever bring themselves to hate each other.
"THAT WAS AMAZING... BUT FUCK THAT HURT!!" 😭😭😂😂
This episode made me realise that Arcane isn't just another show. This truly was the best show this year
great show indeed, best show of the year was Mushoku Tensei for me though.
@@dohalimilqarasdeldemenanci8483 holy crap i read the light novel for that but not the anime. Is the anime really that good?
Best for me was Oddtaxi. But Arcane, Shigguang Dailiren and Mushoku Tensei come really close to Oddtaxi's greatness. Such incredible shows. 2021 blessed us with great anime
@@justinw8916 the anime is like 10 times better than the LN. The studio was basically made for this anime only and the quality is off the chart, let's not even start with the music.
The reaction of horror and realisation of Powder to what she have done.
It make a shiver go down your spine.
They went in really Hard on the animation and the voice acting.
And its refreshing to see Strong females charcters that arn't obnoxious, forced or mary sues, and actually complexe, nuanced and feels real.
This show was the best surprise of 2021, and that comes from someone who doesn't like LoL.
Remember fiddlesticks' line to Jinx
"JINX! ALL YOUR FAULT! ALL YOUR FAULT!"
I cant tell you how many reactors have been like, "Powder is trash". Thank you for the genuine empathy in your discussion. Both of yall saw that this girl only wanted to help and it resulted in a terrible accident. Like yall really put yourself in her shoes and I appreciated the hell out of that.
I am a bit disappointed that the bros don’t understand why Vi had to walk away. Actually we can’t blame both Powder and Vi for they only did what they thought was right. The whole situation was just a tragedy and the consequence would still be the same if it happened in real life I would say. It is a perfect script btw.
True, but I also understand their point of view. We are so used to characters knowing what to do in every situation (especially, in action movies), that the mere idea of them needing time to cool off is almost unthinkable.
Vi need at least bring Powder in safe place with her. Not let her stay in monster cave
@@Алексей545-т6б like she knows those fucking goons will survive in that explosion anyway. And you're only saying that because you're an outsider looking in. But if you're in that situation flesh and blood. I bet you'd do worse.
@@Алексей545-т6б bring her where? Vi needs to cool off NOW. There's no place she can bring powder in the state of anger that she's in without potentially hurting her.
@@mathies3598 Bring her Out from fucking Gang base? As far as possible? So survived gangsters cant possibly hurt Powder?
It's so sad that they needed very different things in that moments. Vi needed to cool down and Powder needs some attachment/attention💔💔. That situation couldn't give both of them that at the same time and that's just tragic😭.
I love the detail you guys interpreted about the "warning" monkey being destroyed by Powder.
Also, small something I thought of when you guys were mentioning it. Vi was denied the "We", the opportunity to participate when Vander said "I'll figure something out" while Powder had the opposite treatment.
My favorite episode of the series by far. Powder's breakdown at 10:07 is one of the best in the show (imo) with how raw the emotion is being put out alongside an incredibly haunting score for such a short scene.
Very observant and thoughtful, as usual. I hadn't notice Powder little smile during her breakdown in the bedroom, incredible detail. The whole sequence of events of Powder seeing Vi leave, understanding on some level what is going on, getting her sister back only to see how distraught she is, then being left behind and breaking down. It's so intense and with so little words. The immense amount of work Fortiche put in the facial animation is truly astonishing.
I'm not understanding the logic behind the Vi discussion in this video. Vi is a teenager, who was just as traumatised, if not more so, as Powder. "Powder needed this, Powder needed that." Powder is a child that just bombed her family. I know it's a fantasy show, but let's not lose sight of that. Powder then jumped into the arms of the guy who killed Vander and said her sister was her enemy, seconds later. I'm not saying you criticism isn't deserved, but you're asking a lot of any character in that moment.
Silco lowering his guard and predatory vibe once Powder embraces him is great character development. He was trying to finish off the family, Powder included, but this broken child disarmed him literally and figuratively. The one moment of being needed was able to change my whole opinion of him instantly. "We'll show them, we'll show them all" *instant chills*
It's always the same, Powder ape works and everyone is super happy, then absolute horror sets in.
My heart breaks for Powder. *She only wanted to help* 😭
Vi needed time to step back and process that Powder just killed the rest of her family, she had nowhere near enough time to process.
She would of came back for her & she was coming back when she saw Silco standing over her but Marcus stopped her.
"They're giving us hope😧"
"I know😟"
"I'm so scared😫"
Absolutely love this part!😆
These guys get it.
The first scene of the season showed the point at which Vander gave up on,
His and Silco's Dream, The Nation of Zaun.
I believe this is the first time we see the Knife-Licker, he is in almost every episode after this as one of Silco's personal goons
same with the bald lady. (episode 9 when Vi went into the bar) "the og", if you will
As we've seen in episode 9, he likes to lick not only knives.
the emo person, ran, is also there in a lot of scenes
i am sooo impressed by your insights, seing where this was going, and reaction to the 2 steps towards the BOMB for example. And still being surprised by it, and the extent of it.
And Seeing you react with all your heart after being so intellectual about it , is heart candy for me , as i so want to talk and share and feel again about the show , like i think we all do. Does it makes us all masochists? :-)
This is Reacting!
i must say i followed one of your link because i saw you at least twice in reactions mashups on the show, and was telling me "Oh that's the guy who gets all emotional! " ,-).
Again , that was a great pleasure making you acointance. i'm gonna binge your arcane reactions right now.
Joyful Powder appearing sayin "Vi It worked!" is so painful. And those "I only wanted to help" break me every times. The voice actress for Powder is just amazing. I can't imagine any better delivery.
And about Vi leaving Powder behind: After hitting her sister, Vi realized she had Power's blood on her hand. Considering she is the kind of person who like to be in control, she probably doesn't know how to deal with losing control.. She should have comforted her sister but she panicked. She ran away (from herself) to protect Powder. She still stayed, stayed close enough so she could still hear her sister and go back to her when she would manage to get her own mind back together.
"That was BEAUTIFUL! But F@#$ THAT HURT!" Perfect description of the end of Episode 3.
VI was probably not going to abandon Powder and just needed to step away because it was just to painful.
Yep, she needed a few minutes to process her feelings and grieve, so she didn't take out all her anger and frustration on Powder, who was in an even worse place after realizing what she did.
I love that Silco genuinely feels for Powder, him taking her in isn't some maniacal, evil way to turn her against Vi, it's an act of compassion from someone who understands what it feels like to be betrayed.
Just want to say you two are some of the most thoughtful and engaged reactors I have seen in a long time. Look forward to seeing more of your content! (P.S. WHERE DID YOU GET THE RIZA HAWKEYE SHIRT?! ITS AMAZING!!!)
"He's not gonna do it, he didn't do it back then so he- oh"
That "Oh" in unison got me lol
Voice acting in this show is insane. Mia Sinclair Jinesse absolutely nailed this performance for Powder. Absolutely fantastic.
Voice acting 10/10.
Animation 10/10.
World building 10/10.
Character development 10/10.
What a fantastic show.
Lads, I will be brutally honest with ya. I'm gonna need more than a weeks wait between ep reacts. I'm dying to see your perspective on the whole season. You are my favourite reactors on this website. I'm crackfiending out here man.
I know everybody's talking about the emotional parts of the show but can we talk about the fight scenes? This is the first time we see champs fight serious enemies in the show and it got me hyped the first time I saw it! Looking forward to guys' reaction to the rest of it!
The thing is they didn't know it was the balls that blew up the apartment.
So they couldn't really tell Powder they were dangerous.
Vi even asks Powder what they do and she says she doesn't know.
Powder realized they caused the explosion when she dropped them in her room and they started sparkling.
“Emotional healing”
… sure let’s call it that.
"The b̶e̶a̶t̶i̶n̶g̶s̶ trauma will continue until morale improves!"
The one thing that makes Arcane so captivating are micro-expressions. The attention to facial expressions really helps this show flourish past a 10 to an 11 out of 10 rating.
It is worth noting that this actually a tragic event in the classic greek sense. We nowadays use the term much broader. What it meant is what is shown here. Trying to prevent something and in doing so, causing it to happen.
Sheldon Cooper: "You told me it's mind-blowing, so my mind is going into it pre-blown, and once a mind is *pre*-blown, it cannot be *re*-blown."
I think telling them ep 3 is mindblowing etc is kinda heavily spoiling them even without mentioning the actual plot. 😐
The orange backdrop of the flames behind powder in that final scene is a callback to the very first scene in the show. Vi and powder finding their parents in the flames and smoke and learning that they're alone. Then being adopted by vander and starting a new family only to end up in the same place again. For powder however she believes it all her fault now and that's she's the reason that everyone around her dies and leaves her. She latches onto silco as that's preferable to being alone again regardless of the situation. As fate would have it silco is the one person who immediately understands what powder is going through and sympathises with her as he went through the same thing himself. Absolutely brilliant writing in this show great reaction guys 👍
"Well episode 3 could be an emotional dick punch". Well Caleb and Jacob, you were definitely right.
How the fuck can it be so good, how can i be so invested after three episodes. Damn dude.
Everyone always comments on how when Vi sees the monkey after the explosion “she knows it was powder” but I don’t think that’s quite right.
Her face when she sees it is distraught, lining up with her either thinking powder was here and is probably dead, or that now she’s about to die and powder is going to be alone. It’s why she was so surprised when Powder said her bomb worked, she didn’t think it was Powder until that moment.
Dang I actually watched the whole thing. Great video you guys!
I especially liked when you pointed out how "in character" they always are and how they are
"consistent in their disfunction". It's so true and it keeps being true throughout the entire show. I really think this is one of the things that elevates this show above and beyond.
"That was amazing! But fuck that hurt!" lol EXACTLY!
Love how Vi leaves and Silco enters like a stage play. It makes it comical, in a good way and dark hilarious way. Yall ge what i mean?
23:17
cmon this is none of vi's doing. they show us that they (the kids) almost succeed in saving vander when the bomb explodes 14:24. the door still stand and nothing deckard and silco can do to them while they escape if only there's no fricking bomb killing everyone.