Very good video, I think you really captured well the jinx x vi dinamic. My only critic is that you might have passed the wrong ideia about silco. He is evil. Terrible person. Atrocius parenting skils. However, he really believes that he is helping jinx, all that manipulation you spoke of exists, but I honestly think its not on purpose, like the video suggests. That said, would love more arcane videos, maybe victor and jayce next?
i agree with you. he believed in what he said, and some manipulation is conscious, some isn’t at all. i have so many thoughts on this universe in general
@@5x5Takes also I dont see that Silco tries to teach Powder to burry her trauma. He is trying to teach her to acknowledge and overcome it. In his view trauma can either break you or mold you into something stronger. Thats what he thinks of himself and what he wants for Jinx. The difference between him and her is that she had to deal with guilt and he with betrayel.
@@nostalji93 The problem with that is that Silco was lying to himself about his own Trauma and becoming a different person. He could also never leave Vander behind, Jinx even states that herself when she is alone with Vi at that dinner table.
It's not just about malicious intent; A lot, if not all of the ways he ends up manipulating Jinx are all ways in which he wants to show that he cares. It started with deciding not to kill her, then deciding to raise her, then deciding to teach her how to focus her anger, betrayal and everything motivating her at the moment into tipping her decision making into Jinx, rather than Powder. Even at the end, he makes it sound like he's been holding the "you are perfect just the way you are" speech in that "I don't want to compliment you too often because it will go to your head" way parents sometimes think about positive enforcement. Because it feels like that's what he thinks it is. In his own way, he cares about her, and the way he shows he cares, often is in how he manipulates her to his own ends. Hell, it's probably how he himself got treated by the people that raised him, and how he treats all of his friends, but especially his loved ones, most definitely how he treats Jinx. It's like, he got to get away with emotional manipulation and also genuinely cares about powder in his own twisted way.
never liked elsa and anna's version of the story. There's a reason why arcane's sense of emotional impact works better. We see conflict trying to break their relationship but their love endures even in the worst possible situations. Love that exists not in a cringe way of singing to each other but by caring and encouraging each other. And I appreciate arcane tearing them apart, which is something most movies and shows wouldn't do. I love the aspect of taking away something that would feel good, and is so well built. It drives home quite a horrible but good emotional reaction
I feel like this can apply in both ways to the sisters, funny enough. Vi grew up too quickly in the sense of having to be the leader and be responsible for her peers and sister when she was a teen, but at the same time her stint in Stillwater effectively put a stop to the rest of her childhood and paused her passage of time in a way. Vi never really moved on from what happened when she was younger, even 8 or so years later when she's fully into adulthood. She comes out of Stillwater with the same expectations of how things used to be that she had when she went in. With Jinx, it's obvious to see that she never really grew up as she maintains that childlike mentality that comes from arrested development throughout most of the show, but at the same time, she grew up too quickly due to the life Silco exposed her to since he got her. She's fully immune to the violence and destruction that she causes other people (enemies and allies alike!) because that's what she's been exposed to for almost half her life. Aside from that, accidentally taking the life of your father figure would take a toll on anyone and make them mature faster than normal.
@@falconeshieldthat's exactly why Cait fits right in the middle. She has everything that Vi and Jinx wanted. But despite that she remains down to earth and kind. I like that part a lot because very rarely you see people who are privileged that is portrayed positively. They almost always being characterized by mean, selfish and spoiled types of trope. I like the part where the character who has experienced love is the one doing the job to spread it. Instead of expecting the troubled characters to express something they never even felt before. Caitlyn just has too much love that she's willing to share it outside of her own bubble.
@metomyself9253 Agreed, the scene where Vi first sees The Last Drop with Cait after it was taken over by Silco, Cait made a comment not knowing about the location, and it made Vi upset. Vi bumped shoulders with her and said, "You don't know anything." I know most of us, including myself, would not have let that slide, but Cait never got onto Vi about it. Instead, she stayed quiet and possibly thought about it. Love Cait's character, she's not arrogant and is willing to learn more from other people, she looks passed the aggression of others and wants to build an understanding as to why they are reacting the way they do.
I just want to point out that when Jinx kidnapped Cait she dresses her in her enforcer uniform. This is despite the fact that she only ever saw her in the clothes from Zaun. She is only capable of seeing Caitlyn as the enforcer that Vi choose over her.
In that same light Vi can only see Silco as the monster who killed Vander and Benzo, ordered Claggor, Mylo (and possibly Ekko (her second rate family) killed and tried to kill her on three occasions. Besides that, he also tried to kill Powder/Jinx the very same night of their separation. Jinx acknowledges this and the fact the he lied or twisted the truth about Vi to her, yet she still has feelings for him and chooses his path of destruction and mistrust of any other person rather than himself. Vi's reaction is more justifiable but Jinx's is more tragic considering her mental state that Silco gaslighted ('with all of his rants' (ep 9)). Hope they'll be able to meet in the middle. Both of them wanting to be together again and working through the trauma of their separation (both physically and psychologically) caused by Silco (and his goons like Sevika). I really hope Vi will be able to help Jinx break free of the feeling of obligation that Jinx has towards the man who destroyed the life she has knew and the sister who was always there for her (and still is...).
¿Y qué te hace pensar que Caitlyn todavía lo tenía?, acordate que se presentó con VI en la asamblea con la ropa de Piltover, quizás la ropa de Zaun la tiró a la basura, solo la usó para mezclarse y no llamar la atención.
@@Casper8855 it would be pretty hard to see him any other way if thats what he actually did to my family. Caitlyn, on the other hand, broke vi out of jail, didnt realize what the enforcers had been doing down in the undercity, and didnt give jinx any reason to have that perspective of her
Jist like to add vi's tattoo are of cogs and gears and things that represent powder and her engineering the thing that makes her special in her own words
@@5x5Takes 🤗😇😇🤯🤯 just want to add thus video I'd the first have watched of your channel and it's good 👍 appreciate the perspective will be keen to see more 😀
Arcane is somehow one of the most amazing animated shows I’ve ever seen despite being only one season so far. Seriously, it’s only one season but I can’t stop thinking about it. And the tragedy of Vi and Powder/Jinx is just amazing as well as heartbreak.
Same here. I’d seen it pop up in my Netflix feed, and roundly ignored it until last week, figuring “Meh, not really interested in a cartoon about magic.” Then I saw a couple reviews going on about how deep and amazing it was, and when I checked to make sure the authors weren’t twelve, I figured I’d give it a go. Five minutes in, first shot of the demonic enforcer on the bridge, blasting a man he’d already shot down, I was hooked. Now I can’t stop thinking about Powder’s serene smile as she tumbles after the monkey bomb goes off, thinking she’s finally done something right by the gang.
@@SCharlesDennicon They are taking their time with season 2. It took 6 years to make the first season. It won't take as long to make the second, but Riot Games and Fortiche Studios don't like releasing projects that are only half baked.
I mean.. they're both animated, gay, and have great, deep characters Plus they both have a protagonist who wants to repair a relationship with someone who felt betrayed and was left behind by them and then grew into an antagonist because of the influence of a mastermind evil guy.. 👀
This was incredibly well done. It touches on so many things that often seem to be neglected or glossed over in the story. In particular I appreciated the brief but pointed mention that Vi has suffered many of the same tragedies as Powder did on top of her own unique trauma's and the added weight of having had to be Powder's surrogate mother since Vi herself was preteen. It's something that rarely seems to get talked about. Probably because the in the show itself we only get a couple very small moments regarding what Vi has endured. You could accidentally talk over the whole two lines about the "chats" inflicted on her in prison and completely miss that the poor child spent over half a decade being routinely beaten. it's also refreshing not having yet another edgelord take about how Jinx being a mentally broken serial killer is somehow a good thing, that Silco was actually a great dad for turning her into that and Vi was actually the true villain all along. This series has generated some truly bizarre and even unsettling takes from people. The only thing I would add, and it's admittedly likely not wholly relevant in terms of this specific analysis given it's focused on Vi and Powder, is that while there is tragedy in the "almost" of the council voting for peace; The peace they were voting for would only have handed Undercity over to the complete control of Silco and his Chem Barons. It's nice that Jayce finally took a stand, it's nice that Mel ostensibly wants to avoid bloodshed and that they seem to have talked the other counselors around to the same mind set. But the ugly side of that is that act really does nothing but let them wash their hands of suffering they, or at least the systems in place within their city that they benefit from, created while all but ensuring that suffering would continue. Effectively it's Jayce, and the council, doing exactly what Vi accused him of- burying his head in the sand because he cannot bear to look at the ugly reality that exists effectively right next door to him nor can he bear the weight of the cost he now knows it would take to address it. Arcane did a great job of showing just how messy systemic problems that have existed for generations can make things. There likely is no solution to the Undercity and Topside dilemma that would not come with it's own heavy costs in lives and suffering. But despite it's position as a point of tragic irony at the very end.. I don't really think peace was the fully virtuous choice either.
That point about Vi is something I’ve thought about more frequently than is probably healthy. Here’s another discomfiting angle; who is Vi going to complain to? In seven years (ish) she’s had no family, no friends, probably no lawyers, visit her. It’s just been herself and the guards’ “visits” (which, I’m guessing, would involve a lot more than just the occasional beating). When Caitlin first sees her, she mentions that there’s no arrest record, no charge sheet, nothing. So has Vi been kept in this cell for six or seven years without charge? Or, she was charged, and then Marcus made sure the charges “disappeared,” because, let’s face it, who’s going to advocate for her? Or, is Piltover justice just generally that corrupt? The ability to make somebody, especially one of the poors, disappear like that is generally the sign of a fascist regime. All I know for sure is that during these “talks,” Vi would not have sat quietly and taken it. She would have punched, kicked, bit, and spat, she would have made them regret every single atrocity upon her. They’d have to restrain her completely. It’s actually a wonder she survived.
To be fair, every bit of media generates bizarre and disturbing takes from people. There are people out there who genuinely think Harley Quinn and the Joker are "couples goals" in a healthy relationship. I like to hope most of those people are kids who don't know any better and just see a flashy, "cool" character they want to identify with. But that's probably overly optimistic.
@@Pete...NoNotThatOne Yes. Same here. I feel Vi very deeply, especially how she puts so much on herself. And her trauma is heartbreaking, and it hurts to see people painting Vi as toxis while understanding characters like Jinx and Silco. Each of the characters are understandable, we just watch the show through the eyes of Jinx and Silco more and people seem to often have a harder time understanding Vi. On the outside, Vi is able to hold herself together a lot more, but in those small quiet moments you can see how broken and sad she is and I just want to give her a hug.
@@silver9wolf6 Yeah, definitely. When Vi gets out, she’s been institutionalised for years. She’s been out for two days. She would still have the prisoner mindset in everything she does. Sad to say, the _only_ thing keeping her halfway sane was the thought of finding Powder, and that was only because Vander’s very last words were “Look after Powder.” Every other consideration, including her own health and safety, has now taken a backseat to that ‘mission,’ which is finding Powder and apologising to Powder for Vi’s perceived ‘mistake.’ Finding out Powder has now become Silco’s attack dog, wrestling with her own demons, just amplifies Vi’s guilt over that one single mistake. There’s an attachment type called Dismissive Avoidance. This is where the person concerned grew up with random or non-existent responses to emotional needs, so they grow up to be loners, with ingrained trust issues which makes them seem distant and aloof. Inside though, they crave to be close to someone, but are also scared of closeness, because they’re convinced that there’s something intrinsically _wrong_ with them - after all, they always end up alone, of course there’s something wrong with them (they justify). It’s very difficult for a DA to ask for help, and express emotional needs, because for most of their lives, they’ve never had those needs met, so why bother? Now that she’s out, she only knows two emotional states; anger and fear. Anger because it’s easy to just let go and hit, and fear because she’s terrified of making another ‘mistake.’ These responses kept her alive in Stillwater, so that’s what she defaults to - punch or walk away. If you asked Vi what she plans to do next, she would say “I don’t think that far ahead.” If you asked her where she saw herself in five years, she’d say “Maybe not dead.” She literally has no concept of long-term goals anymore, her default is just to react to whatever is in front of her. Vi needs a stable, understanding relationship to even begin to heal from a literal lifetime of trauma. She basically has to learn emotional intelligence all over again. Aaaaaand here comes Caitlyn! 😊
I had difficulty understanding/sympathizing with Jinx before this, but now I get it. This whole time, she's been trying to prove herself, be useful to people so they don't leave her. She wants to be their top and only priority, so when Silco dies and Vi doesn't kill Cait, she chooses the only option she knows, the one that's been ingrained into her since Vi first left: hurt everyone so that they know how she feels. 'Look what you did to me.' What a fantastic video. Edit: A great comment someone left, but for some reason it’s been deleted now: When “What Could’ve Been” plays in the final episode, the lyrics “I want you to hurt like you hurt me today” play the same time Jinx is getting ready to fire her missile and Silco’s words echo in her head: “We’ll show them. We will show them all.”
i think the biggest thing that made me sympathise w jinx is knowledge of trauma and the fact that shes like. 16? 17? she clearly suffers from psychosis and all the symptoms of trauma. she is a child and deeply hurting, and the situation keeps her from receiving the care she so badly needs to be okay :(
@@zorro...... Every time I remember just how young Jinx still is and how she's been moulded by the world around her, I just feel so sad all over again.
I believe that Jinx has an anxious attachment style and deeply rooted abandonment issues: this gives her an unhealthy drive to prove herself useful to her significant others so that they won’t discard her again.
you had me at dialectical behavioral therapy and radical acceptance (but seriously though, love this video and your takes on the show, thanks for sharing!!)
@@5x5Takes yeah i think people see how Silco genuinely loves Jinx and thinks he’s Best Dad. But he’s not. He does love and care for Jinx as she is, but I think it’s conditional on that part. He accepts Jinx for “who she is now” sure, partly bc she sort of embodies the chaos of zaun that he loves - but he can’t control her. Now, parents shouldn’t be controlling, but they’re obligated to set boundaries and let their children experience consequences of their actions so they mature and learn restraint. Silco does neither, he enables jinx to do whatever she wants without care and the one time he’s upset at her it’s mostly just him yelling and her shrugging it off and him accepting that he has to clean up her mess. He also lies about Vi being alive and tried to kill her before Jinx found out - his beloved daughters only remaining family. Who he knows probably wants to kill him bc of what he did to Vander. He knows that if allowed access then Vi could sway Jinx away from him and become a different person. And then he lies about Vi’s intentions to sow doubt in Jinx’s mind against her. That’s not really an act of true love. It’s commendable that his love for her is what keeps him from turning her in, ultimately undoing everything he’s fought for. And he doesn’t care, he wants Jinx over anything else. Partly because he projects his feelings of betrayal and “no one understands us but us”. But that doesn’t excuse the way he manipulates her to keep her tied and loyal to him. Loyalty really is his tragic flaw, because if he actually set boundaries for Jinx, let her grow and/or didnt interfere with a relationship with her sister, then she would become someone who could potentially leave him. And that would be the most unbearable thing
It's often hard to tell the difference between unconditional love and co-dependency. And we see almost everything from Jinx's perspective, even visually, so we're almost as manipulated as she is. It's really hard NOT to root for Silco in every scene he has with her.
to be fair though, hes a product of his environment and experiences of betrayal and poverty. Hes not TOXIC to jinx, he thinks hes doing the right thing, though he doesn't have the scruples of Vander. If you notice, he never lays a hand in jinx in anger, never treats her like a lesser person. Paternal instincts are not exclusive to good guys, and thats refreshing. Moustache twirling bad guy he is not. Only at the end does he see why Vander chose the path he did, and he LAMENTS it. Welcome to human psychology 101. The show purposely makes it so that you can understand there are no black and white areas, the good people arent entirely good, and the bad people arent entirely bad. Everyone has legitimate motivations for their actions given their personal backgrounds and situations. Slow your roll Toxic Trollvenger.
@@mkocel one can be the product of their environment, have entirely sympathetic and understandable motivations, entirely believe what theyre doing is the right thing, truly love or think they love another person, and still be toxic to certain people or in certain situations Rather than focus on the definition of toxic though, I’d say Silco is a fascinating character because he truly loves Jinx, he’s a loving father, and yet, a terrible and flawed parent. It’s amazing because of how realistic it is. He never provided proper boundaries or guidance when it came to her impulsivity or mental illnesses. He probably tried early on but just didn’t know how. He let her be free because he loved her chaos, but that wasn’t exactly what she needed to be emotionally stable. It also became his undoing, because her unpredictable actions undermined his operations and eventually killed him. Which is a fantastically written tragedy, narratively speaking. He also projected a lot of his own abandonment issues onto Jinx, because he loved her and sees himself and Zaun in her. But projections aren’t fair to kids, especially vulnerable ones who’d just witnessed their family torn apart (indirectly by Silco), even if understandable. He lied about Vi’s motivations when jinx was threatening him because he was in a moment of weakness - Vi being back means Jinx could leave him for her sister if they got to have enough time together, especially since said sister hates his guts. Manipulation is understandable in the moment makes total sense for him, but its not justifiable as it’s not whats best for Jinx. A good parent would be able to separate their own desires and allow their child to develop on their own, have their own relationships outside of the parent, and not have an enmeshed identity with their kid, which Silco really doesn’t allow because of his own trauma around past betrayal. Many parents love their kids deeply but still fuck them up because of their own unresolved trauma that’s passed down to the next generation
Five by Five Takes making a nearly hour long video about Arcane? Well if this isn't the best notification I've gotten in years; I better get ready to cry because I know how this channel works.
Honestly the Silco praising for basic parenting despite being the main reason Jinx lost her family in the first place shows how low the bar is for many people on the Internet. Oh, he was decent! What a good dad!
I have a little bit of a different opinion on silco and vi. Okay here goes Vi has good intentions but didn’t know what or how to help Jinx. For example she could have powder a job so she would feel useful. Silco was able to do this by constantly giving her jobs and responsibilities despite of her messing up. Granted in crime but he still supports her. Vi simply doesn’t understand Jinx when she tells Jinx she is hurting her but doesn’t understand and silco did that’s why I prefer Silco to Vi. That’s just my opinion
@@falconeshieldYes! Thank you! It's almost infuriating how much so many people have deluded themselves when talking about Silco. He was a TERRIBLE person AND a terrible father. His one redeeming quality was that he genuinely loved Jinx, but any sane person should understand that doesn't remotely make their relationship healthy. If a dynamic like there's existed in real life, no one would be praising it, let alone giving Silco the benefit of the doubt.
Great video, thank you. I'm a little surprised you didn't touch more on Jinx's willingness to kill herself with her own grenade. I believe that moment between her and Ekko speaks louder about who she is than anything else. Jinx is in pain, such unimaginable pain.
And why Jinx is in pain? The sister she loved most left her again. I have feelings Jinx is only crazy when it comes to Vi, like everything related to Vi makes Jinx unstable and can’t control her thoughts (never see Jinx this crazy when she’s around Silco)
@@Lebpnguyen You see her have flashes and triggers when she's around Silco. We also see her have multiple manic episodes when she didn't even know Vi was around. So yes, she's very much in constant mental and emotional pain. The uncontrollable kind.
This is so good?? And completely changed my view on parts of the show, holy shit. Like the part where you explain how Jinx's trauma AND Silco's teachings impacted the decision she forced on Vi at the dinner party scene (+ how killing Caitlyn would be like a recreation of Powder killing their family), and how Silco encouraging her to never face her trauma head-on could also have literally stunted her personality development. It seems so obvious now that I've written it out, but I guess I never thought about the reasons behind Jinx's overwhelming insecurity past the initial trauma of Vi "leaving" her. AND THE CONNECTION BTWN RECONCILING JINX'S WARRING HALVES BEING CENTRAL TO THE RECONCILIATION OF PILTOVER AND ZAUN GODDAMN!! This video is criminally under-watched, best Arcane analysis I've seen so far.
Killing Cait is not about recreating Jinx killing her family. In Jinx mind Caitlyn is "a monster". They depict this by giving Cait, in Jinx's mind, the devil horns and the evil smile at the bridge in episode 7. When they were kids, Vi promised that no monster would ever get Powder, that she would "make the monsters go away". Jinx is now holding Vi to her promis and literally asks Vi to "Make her go away". Its to test where Vis loyalty lies.
@@F1rstWorldNomaD I doubt it's as simple as Jinx merely seeing Caitlyn as a some evil monster. The metaphor is definitely there in the way she asks Vi to "make her go away," but there's no way Jinx wasn't entirely aware that she was being delusional, lol. Jinx isn't stupid. She knows that Caitlyn hasn't _actually_ done anything to her. Whether or not Vi replaces her is, by definition, Vi's decision to make (therefore Caitlyn litterally can't be held responsible). She also knows that Vi loves her (hence jokingly reffering to Caitlyn as her "girlfriend"). And why would Vi love a "monster" that's trying to hurt her sister? Obviously she doesn't, which is why Jinx never appeals to the idea of Caitlyn being a horrible or guilty person. Her actual objective is for Vi to engage in an unhealthy, co-dependent relationship, akin to the one she had with Silco. She doesn't want Vi to love anyone else as much as her, because that would mean Vi doesn't need her, and thus, would be free to "abandon" her again. Thus, she attempts to manipulate Vi into killing Caitlyn by offering her"Powder" back. She knows this is impossible (she just wants Vi to accept her for who she is now), but Jinx becomes desperate after she sees Caitlyn plead for her life, becuase she knows it will cause Vi to hesitate. If Vi accepted, then she would be left just as broken as Jinx, which would hopefully allow her to engage in the co-dependency she wanted. It's all a deranged, cruel way to ensure she won't be left alone again. Even if it means hurting her sister by bringer her down to her level.
I'd like to maybe add another perspective to Vi's words in the rain. I don't think she necessarily believes the words she's saying 100%. I think half of it is to push Caitlyn away so she can go about things on her own, like she always has. Vi's stubborn and hard headed, and has motivations to take down Silco and get Powder back which aren't in line with how others feel. Vi's motivation to go after Jinx can be paralleled with Viktor's fight for his own life. They're both doing things that are against their morals, pushing those close to them away, in order to achieve an end goal that they will aim to achieve at all cost. Vi in her mind is doing this all for Powder. So I don't think she's as hopeless about the two sides being irreconcilable, but she will present it to Cait in that moment, if she feels Cait will hold her back. How could she possibly go after Jinx and talk Powder down knowing what Cait symbolizes to Jinx. I think all of this is backed up by Vi's obvious care that she still has for Caitlyn during the dinner scene. There's no love loss. There's no obvious mentality shift in how much she cares for Caitlyn. When push comes to shove, and Vi's true feelings about her are forced to come out, she's shown to deeply care for her, and fear for her loss. This doesn't seem like someone who feels like her and Cait are "oil and water." Vi gives that speech because Vi doesnt know how to work alongside people. She's always been the protector, always a loner. Sacrifice herself so others don't have to experience pain or fear. It's one of her virtues, but also ultimately her biggest downfall. Even Jayce notices it. "You won't make it alone." And he was right. Without Cait I genuinely think Vi dies in that dinner scene. I think Silco wins the fight for Powder, and maybe Silco even manages to silence her in a manner that Powder can't stop. Anyway, just something that came up. Your analysis is spot on, and as deep a dive as I've been wanting to hear for a long time about this show. You have an absolute knack for presenting these heavy subjects while still keeping the script moving along and interesting. I think all of those asking for you to defend Silco in his actions are missing the point of this video. Silco ABSOLUTELY has a culpability in how Jinx and Vi end up, and to shy away from that is to honestly shy away from the duality of the man he was to these two girls.
Love this video for many reasons. I'm glad you illustrated the toxicity/manipulation between silco and Jinx. I've seen so many others gloss over it because of Silco's "intentions" when in reality, his ACTIONS do irreparable damage to Jinx's emotional progress. Please make more videos!
3:40 clever choice of words, seeing how "What could have been" are very deliberately the last words of the show, delivered in hauntingly beatiful manner by our boy Feyd-Rautha...
Tiny but underrated detail: Jinx has been toting around Pow-Pow the minigun and Fishbones the rocket launcher for a decade, and Arcane reveals both their origins. Pow-Pow was Vi's old nickname for her. Fishbones was Jinx's magnum opus, a weapon meant as her gift to Silco- hence the shark theme, Silco loves his sea monsters. She's literally turned the remnants of her past into weapons. Heck, she even talks to them. Kinda wack
i was LOOKING forward to this and you did not disappoint. i've seen soooo many videos about arcane since i've watched it but yours is my fave. the tragedy of the ending of act 1 in particular will stick with me for a looooong time. i knew absolutely nothing about league of legends and didn't pay enough attention to the intro so i didn't really expect what ended up happening and it tore my heart apart
This video is criminally underappreciated. After a deluge of essays across RUclips about the brilliance of Arcane, your discourse (especially on tragedy) touches on several points I haven't seen anyone else analyze. Your take on characterization (particularly in regards to trauma) is always a huge selling point and this video did not disappoint.
"The greeks dont have a monopoly on tragedies, but they at least have a few hotels" is an incredible line and it absolutely belongs in a video about arcane. It made me pause my sims build to go back a few seconds. Edit: Oh wow thank you for the like!! I love your content! :)
First of all, I think this is a wonderful video analysis for Vi and Jinx’s relationship and how it reflects the duality that the show uses as a recurring motif. While I agree that Silco is not the person best equipped for parenting, I don’t believe he intended to be malicious/manipulative, and I do have a different interpretation of some of Silco’s actions you brought up. I think although Silco is portrayed as kind of a “criminal mastermind” type within Arcane, he doesn’t always make the logically optimal decisions (especially when it comes to Jinx) and his actions are very much driven by his own trauma 13:14 I don’t think his behavior was calculated. If it was, I think he’d realize that a child is ultimately a liability and wouldn’t have taken her in. He doesn’t know Powder and has no evidence pointing to her being the cause of explosion; for all he knows, she was there with Mylo and Claggor while Vi was protecting them, just out of view. My interpretation of Silco’s expressions in this scene, rather than him realizing “well Powder basically did all the work I wanted,” is that Silco realizes what Powder went through was very similar to what he went through, especially after she says “she is NOT my sister anymore.” I’m sure prior to that, Silco was 100% intending to take her as a hostage or something to lure Vi out, but the moment she said that line, that’s when Silco realizes their similarities and then, like you said, starts projecting onto her after taking her in. As much as Silco says “as time passed, so did my hate,” I don’t think Silco really fully dealt with that trauma either. His entire character is centered on betrayal vs loyalty. If he really was able to move beyond that, then I’d like to think that he realized he shouldn't be raising Powder into “someone people feared” etc… but he didn't move on. Being "what people feared" is the philosophy Silco adopted to deal with his own trauma and he thinks it worked, so that’s how he raises Jinx as well. 17:48 small detail but I don’t think Silco rewards just any chaotic behavior from Jinx. During that scene, Silco tells Jinx to “go work on your gadgetry and take some time off.” I think at this point everyone knows Jinx is basically scrambling to prove herself worthy by tagging along with jobs, but she really oversteps this time, so Silco’s punishment for her is basically “you’re grounded.” And when she kills all the enforcers later, Silco is clearly pissed off at her actions (the whole “Half a dozen enforcers! Dead!” scene), but after Jinx shows the hex crystal, he forgives her because he realized she was doing it for him, she was doing it to “prove herself,” she had a reason for the violence and it wasn't just random chaotic behavior. I know Arcane has a lot of plot threads and a lot of scenes spliced together which makes things mixed up sometimes, but its easier to get a clearer vision of a character’s actions by just isolating their scenes. Jinx gets PTSD with the pinked haired Firelight girl, and then again when she’s working on the Hextech crystal. She gets tells Silco about it, and Silco realizes how much it’s bothering her, so he tries to make her feel better (the pseudo baptism thing in the river) by telling her about his own experiences and how he was able to grow from it. Unfortunately like I said before his way of dealing with trauma isn’t the healthiest either, but…it’s not like there are therapists in Zaun so his actions are based off of only the things he knows. 20:14 I don’t think Silco is keeping his damage and trauma hidden the same way Jinx does, rather he thinks he got over it and thus wears it like a badge of pride. He could’ve easily gotten an eyepatch to cover it (like Vander does to his arm wound), but I think that betrayal is what he defines himself with, and by reminding himself of it everyday, he embraces it and "becomes strong". Obviously, this isn’t what’s going to work with Jinx, but I think Silco projects himself so much onto Jinx that he thinks whatever helps him is going to help Jinx. That’s my theory on why everyone calls her Jinx in the first place; Silco thinks that if Powder is able to face her trauma like that, by wearing her “Jinx” identity proudly and fully embracing that, it’s going to help her like it helped him (which I don’t think it did lol) Some things I wish you touched upon were the parallels on the bridge after the Jinx and Ekko fight. There was a significant few seconds in the beginning of episode 8 where a few shots where cut as if Silco and Vi were looking at each other. Both of them would have been risking a lot to get to Jinx; Vi would’ve have to find some way to get through the enforcers, and while although technically Silco could’ve just sent some people to get her, he himself went, which would’ve definitely implicated him in the crime. But we see Vi staring, unmoving, staying with Caitlyn, while Silco carries Jinx in his own arms and takes her away. And then later, Vi readily offered up “Jinx” to the council, when Jayce asks who was responsible for everything. At this point, to me, it’s clear that Vi is trying to reconcile the fact that her sister is no longer “Powder,” but also “Jinx,” and I don’t think Vi is very sure if she accepts Jinx as her sister anymore. 39:33 I’ve seen a couple people think he said “you’re perfect” in an attempt to manipulate Jinx into choosing the Jinx chair, and I honestly don’t think Silco thought that far lmao. I think right up to the very end, he believes every word he said, including the fact that Vi would leave Jinx the moment she realizes Jinx isn’t Powder anymore. Silco doesn’t know Vi, he sees her as an extension of Vander, who betrayed him before. Silco doesn’t know that Vi loves Jinx, he knows that Vi loves the Powder from 7 years ago. He has no reason to say “you’re all she has, take care of her,” because multiple times in act 2 and 3 Vi has cemented herself as someone who wouldn’t protect Jinx. Vi did not come back for Jinx on the bridge, Vi gave up Jinx’s name as the person responsible for the two explosions (hence why Jayce asked Silco to hand over Jinx), Vi has been publicly working with Caitlyn and we all know how Zaunites view enforcers. Silco has no trust in Vi to do the right thing, so why would he make his last words to her? Instead, Silco says four things. “I never would’ve given you to them." He once again clears up the misunderstanding that happened at Vander’s statue. "Not for anything.” He tells Jinx how important she is to him. “Don’t cry.” He tells her there’s nothing wrong for what she did and forgives her. “You’re perfect.” He tells Jinx that no matter what, she isn’t a broken person and whoever she is, whatever she is, she will be perfect in his eyes. And like you mentioned, this is a direct parallel for what happened at the end of Act 1. Both times, Powder/Jinx screws up big time because she was trying to protect someone she loves. How does Vi and Silco react to this? Vi takes out her anger on Powder, blames her for everything, and calls her a name that Powder’s been tormented by. Silco consoles Jinx, forgives her, and says “you’re perfect” to Jinx. Not “Jinx is perfect,” like he said at the river, but “you’re perfect,” that ultimately, no matter her choice between Powder or Jinx, Silco loves her no matter what. Granted, Vi was also a child when this happened. Her reaction was completely understandable, and I’m not blaming Vi for acting that way. However, from Jinx’s perspective, these two different reactions from the two people she loves gave her a clear choice of which identity she embraces in the end. Anyways I ended up typing way more than I initially intended, but I hope that gives some insight for a slightly different interpretation for Silco and his relationship with Jinx! I don’t like the takes that just make him like “uwu Silco did nothing wrong he’s misunderstood,” but I also don’t like it where every action of his gets interpreted as “manipulative” or with some ulterior purpose. Ultimately for me, Silco is another character that’s deeply driven by his trauma and his actions are reflective of what he’s gone through.
i pinned the comment with my reply, because i realize this is a point i may have not gotten across: not all silco’s actions are motivated by manipulation, and, most significantly, not all manipulative actions are done consciously. when i refer to jinx’s violence, i’m not referring to her rogue attack on enforcers, but to the 6-7 years she’s developed into his “big gun” weapon. a child becoming a war machine doesn’t happen by accident; it’s taught. re: vi not being someone to protect jinx: silco fully lies to jinx about vi’s intentions (not here for you, there for the crystal), which is plain false. poor vi just got out of jail a day ago and is playing an extreme game of catch up, sticks by jinx’s side even with a gun to her face in ep 6. then in ep 7, she goes back to presumably find jinx-who’s now working off the misinformation fed to her by silco and sevika both. who fires a machine gun at her sister, with no other exchange. vi has nothing to go off of. vi loves her sister deeply, but again-shot at with a machine gun. that’ll more than rattle you. this is all just a whole tragic mess. i think we agree on quite a bit. that said-the act of telling the girl that just had a dissociative violent break, and killed you, that she’s perfect, intentions aside, is discombobulating. i believe silco meant it, and meant it with love. of course he did. but that’s one mixed signal too many to process. a long reply to your long comment. very much appreciate your thoughts, friend.
*i hope you don’t mind, but i’m pinning this comment and reply instead, because it‘s more thorough a comment, and reply on my part. when making a video (even a 50 min one 🥴) there are bound to be things i wish i’d clarified my view on better. thanks for giving me the opportunity to do so.
@@5x5Takes ahh I'm honored!! honestly I'm here for any video essays on Arcane in general, it's such a well written show with solid characters and I'm glad people can have nuanced discussion about it, even if people's interpretations differ
totally. and to your wishes about other scenes i’d covered-that’s the nature of this whole thing. i had pieces drafted about the significance of jinx kickboxing against vi’s old high scores, mylo’s specific voice calling out to her, the cait and vi scene on the bed talking about chasing her monsters away… i WISH i could talk about everything. making videos, you always end up leaving *something* on the table. but like you said: arcane is *so* rich-almost overwhelmingly, so this is far from the last i write on it (though i’m capping my next one at 30 minutes or i’ll go insane)
How I understand you... I think it has something to do with the way he was shown in the first two episodes. The creators deliberately labeled him a "villain" to see if people could abstract away the label and still understand Silco as a person capable of feeling. And not just manipulative...
another wonderful analysis :) originally I struggled to understand jinx's motives for staying with silco even though he was responsible for her family's death. the way you put it together made me appreciate on another level how crazy well-written jinx and vi are and makes their relationship even more hopelessly tragic
This is legitimately one of the best video essays I've ever seen! So informative, so poignant and despite it's length so concise. This deserves 100x the views it has.
As a high school English teacher, I am consistently impressed with the detailed, structured, and entertaining way that you use literay and media analysis in your video essays. I hope this channel hits it big; not just because you deserve it, but also because of the potential immense educational benefits others can get from seeing how you make your craft.
i’ve seen a few videos that talk about the “you’re perfect” moment when Jinx kills Silco as an ultimately affirming thing for him to have said. but it’s reinforcing the thing that brought them together in the first place-violence. he isolated her, inhibited her ability to process the immense trauma she experienced, and enabled her destructive power. he reminds me of stage parents who force their kids into acting or singing bc the kid is good at it and the parent is living vicariously through the kid. only instead of making her a child star, Silco made Jinx a weapon. he reduced her to a singular trait-destructive. certainly, she was a daughter to him. but he was never a good father. even if he was doing his best, his best freaking sucked. he didn’t want Jinx to heal or to reunite with her sister or to be anything but what he saw her as-impulsively, ruthlessly violent. that’s what he calls perfect. that’s the part of her he loves. that’s the part of her that kills him.
anyway! your arcane videos are leagues (haha) above most arcane analysis videos (in my opinion). they scratch an itch others don’t. maybe i just really agree with you but i feel like you really see through to the heart of Vi and especially Jinx. love your videos
I firmly believe that the sisters still love each other, but that they have a lot to work through. I'm grateful for what Legends of Runeterra did with both of them and Vi's plush toy, because it gave me something to hold on to, which the series missed for me in the end. I don't want the Runeterra universe to be lore-chained to the bare bones/one dimensional stuff that is just in the MOBA. I don't know if this is considered a hot take, but I'm rooting for the sisters to eventually make up above any other plot line with these characters. I know they can find a way forward together while remaining true to who they are.
I cannot thank you enough for portraying Silco has he was. A man who projected himself onto a literal child. It doesn't matter if he wasn't conscious of it, it still caused harm.
Your channel hits on character and plot truths that are so interesting and unique every single time. I think this is my favorite arcane video essay I’ve seen. I loved bringing in the elements of Greek tragedy. I also love that you brought in radical acceptance. And the analysis of both Vi and Jinx’s relationship to Silco is so fascinating. This video was so incredible!
@@grey29825 listen. the use of music ALONE. the appeal to FATE--and the way that's done w the interconnectedness of everyone's story, the visual parallels, the Larger than Life Forces usually exerted by gods of war, gods of revenge.... listen.
32:45 I’d say that Silco does genuinely believe in what he says about Vi. Remember, he only knew Vi from seeing her beat up his gang in the factory. He sees her as “Vander’s prodigy”. He doesn’t witness what happened between Vi and Powder after the factory blew up. He just finds Powder, alone and abandoned. He definitely is projecting his relationship with Vander onto the sisters, projecting Vander’s qualities onto Vi. Silco is definitely afraid of losing Powder to Vi because Powder had become an emotional crutch for him. But he weaponizes what he assumes to be truth, that Vi will absolutely abandon Powder again, and uses it against Jinx, to keep her ‘safe’ and on his side.
++ Some viewers like to see it from the perspective of characters like vi and powder. But , viewers refuse to see it from the silco's own point of view and completely ignore it . The family destroyer fixes him as the worst villain of the series, someone who loves chaos, loves to kill people. But the silco character is a very deep and detailed character. I pity those who see it as a one-dimensional villain. I don't think there is a character they wouldn't like if they examined the characters objectively. It is very simple to take a certain side and say that you are bad, you are good. But this is not a series like that, I hope people can realize this until season 2.
Precisely! “jinx is empathetic because we are hit in the face constantly with an emotional sledgehammer of her trauma, Silco evil bad man because there is no sledgehammer To beat empathy into us of his trauma…” ~big 🧠 ~
@@n0bleonline222What are you even talking about? The OP referenced a moment in the video where the commentator simply pointed out a fact: Silco uses the fact that he took Powder in and raised her as a excuse for her not to hate him. But the reality is that HE is the reason Powder sent out the bomb that killed her family. HE is the reason she had to be "given a home" in the first place. The sisters were separated (or otherwise would've been killed) by circumstances HE created. Therefore, the argument he presents in that moment isn't just manipulative, it's wrong. It's dishonest. It actively tries to distract her from the fact that he was (in large part) responsible for her trauma. This isn’t anyone "missing the nuance" of Silco's character. Rather, YOU seem to be fundamentally misunderstanding what the argument even is. Acknowledging that Silco, in that moment, selfishly manipulated her so she wouldn't leave him and he wouldn't have to be alone again, doesn't _negate_ the fact that he cared about her. We know that. It's explicitly shown. However, that doesn't change the fact that he was objectively being a bad father (and a bad person) in that scene. He was wrong. He lied about Vi not being there for her (she made her desire to see Powder again *explicit* when Silco tried to have her killed by Shimmer junkies, there is no debating involved here). His words in that scene accomplished nothing other than keeping Jinx from hating him, and had no other purpose outside of that (saying that Vi "wasn't there for her" and "everyone betrays them" didn't comfort Jinx, it visibly upset her). To say otherwise would require text that does not exist.
@@n0bleonline222completely agree! Seeing Silco and Jinx relationship is so complex (the series didn’t show how Silco took care of baby Jinx, but dropped countless hints about it) that lots of people still see Silco as the villain toxic dad. I’m tired of hearing those assumptions.
THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THIS THANK YOU FOR ARTICULATING SO WELL ALL THE WHYS AND HOWS I LOVE THIS SHOW SM THERE'S FIREWORKS GOING OFF IN MY BRAIN RN AND SO MUCH LOVE FOR YOU I HOPE THAT'S NOT WEIRD TO SAY special thanks for the bits where you talk about silco and his relationship with powder/jinx, i see way too many people claiming he's a good father and im at a loss at how to explain how most of it it's just projection and convenience instead of actual genuine love and care this story is indeed a tragedy, a greek tragedy like you put it with all those concepts i had long forgotten from my college classes, i came for the lesbians (she-ra to arcane pipeline definitely) and stayed for the heartbreaking story of two sisters who have faced too much injustice and pain your analysis is just the best, seriously thank you so much for it, i felt a lot while watching arcane but it's hard to conceptualize it and put into words, to explain all the whys and hows this is hitting so much, but you do it you do that work and like i said my brain is on fireworks, thank you thank you thank you, i know i'll be rewatching this one just like your she-ra videos, and guess i'll have to get into buffy too just to watch your other vids!
buffy is a masterpiece. it’s also a long journey, i hope you enjoy it! and totally-everything is multiple things. silco’s love was genuine, but very loaded.
Loved this analysis, though I'd be lying if I said it didn't bum me out. I'd love to see an analysis of Cait and Vi, and on how Cait's behavior contrasts with Vi's past traumas and relationships with loved ones.
i'd also love to. thanks for your vote! i toss you this piece of juicy parallelism: vander's defining act w the girls is to put down his weapons as he picks them up. when vi is injured....cait....trades....her rifle..... for medicine....
@@5x5Takes Yeah. And there's also a contrast between those two. Vi's been unable to be vulnerable for her entire life. First she was living on the streets, and then she was imprisoned and beaten. But even when she had people around her who loved her, most of them were dependent on her. And even though Vander cares for her, he puts so much responsibility and guilt onto her shoulders. Everyone sees Vi's pain through the lens of what they need from her. But when Vi confesses how she failed her sister to Caitlyn, Cait doesn't. She just strokes her face. That moment is intensely romantic, but I think it goes deeper than romance. It's also Vi's first experience, at least the first that we see, with unconditional comfort and compassion. That had to hit Vi like a ton of bricks. I think that's why, in Episode 9 when we get a single frame of Cait's face when Jinx uncovers the dish, that it's that exact moment.
I just finished Arcane half a week ago, so it's fresh in my mind. This analysis, like all of your analysis, enhances my appreciation of the media consumed. I deeply respect and appreciate your walkthrough of the Tragedy and the Trauma of these two characters. Thank you for making this video; it's an important piece of work that pushes the limits of understanding out to be more encompassing.
Absolutely brilliant commentary & analysis. Since watching the show (many times over) I’ve been inspired to dig deeper and have spent an embarrassing number of hours listening to essays & commentaries covering nearly all aspects…animation, storytelling, character arcs, etc. You crystallized my feelings about the real Silco in a manner in which I couldn’t quite pinpoint & verbalize. So much is being written & posited about how, in spite of his twisted nature, he really loved Jinx. Perhaps. But I am in agreement with you in regards to the calculation of his final sentiment to Jinx of “you’re perfect”. The possibility that he was undermining Vi to the very end is more than simply plausible…it makes a lot of sense. He didn’t want Jinx healed. He wanted her unhinged. I’ve been in a gratitude stupor since my first viewing….grateful a bunch of somebodies took such care in crafting this masterpiece. Bravo Fortiche studios. Bravo Riot games. And bravo to you for this deep & intricate exploration of this amazing work of art. 🙏🏼
I think you did an excellent job as always. I have one question though I guess: I see significant growth and change from Silco in the final scenes with him. He finally understands where Vander was coming from. He finally understands that his daughter is not worth losing. I think your analysis of his character neglects this. I think it is part of the tragedy that he was beginning to change and was pressed into old habits of violence and jealousy by Vi's threat to his value (his value to Jinx ofc). Does that make sense? I think he in particular is more complicated than your analysis makes out. Everything else though *chef's kiss* hot damn y'all do the best video essays it's unreal.
certainly. i’ll say i did want to expand more, but focusing on the sisters primarily had it running long as is. that said-the evolved love for jinx by the end isn’t fully redemptive, nor a huge character vault in my eyes. it’s a step.
@@5x5Takes Oh absolutely! Definitely not fully redemptive by any stretch. I see it as mirroring the council literally deciding to take steps towards peace and giving the undercity dignity only for that to be destroyed by circumstance (the rocket). Like the growth is there and it's small but the glimmer of hope makes the tragedy more potent!
Wow, what an incredible analysis! The best I have seen so far. Even though Vi and Jinx are sisters, they really do have a dysfunctional parent-child relationship. And thank you for pointing out how people romanticize Silco and his relationship with Jinx. It's....disturbing to say the least. Well done!
@@5x5Takes Veeerrryyy messy. 😂 In the Legends of Runeterra card game, Caitlyn calls Vi her partner, and Jinx gets butthurt. 😂 I hope in future seasons of Arcane Jinx/Powder will be able to integrate herself.
Your atention to detail is always astonishing Your careful, sharp and deeply empathetic way of looking at things never fails to make my cry! I'm so glad you made this video I've been avoiding Arcane videos for a while now, because I thought people didn't really have much more to say about it, but you always prove me wrong Thank you very much!
OMG thank you so much! I'm just halfway through, but your analysis of how Jinx is basically the source of her own perpetual re-traumatisation, is fucking brilliant! Also, love how blunt oyu are about everything Silco, I'm totally of your opinion regarding this. People love to intentionally overlook, sugarcoat, deny or defend the sinister aspects of his relationship with Jinx, up do disgusting lengths, frankly. I love him as a character and antagonist, but as a surviver of abusive & narcissistic parents, it sickens me when pple confuse toxic parenting (may it be intentional or not, or half so) with "unconditional love". Silco to a mentally unstable teenager, plagued by abandonment issues: "No one will ever love you but me, you can't ever trust anybody but me, your whole former family is shit, and now go and make me my super-weapon!" 99% of the internet: "Ah yes, the perfect father!"
i will say, the difference in forgiveness/apologism for adult men who cause harm vs teen/young adult girls who do the same… always fascinating to me. i understand the dynamism of silco’s motivations-and at the same time, there’s a point where the harm you cause, as a grown (in his 50s?) adult is on. you.
@@5x5Takes Completely agreed. (Cue unwritten essays here.) It's honestly relieving and comforting to hear someone speak about mental illness with such competence and commitment. A lot of otherwise brilliant video essayists manage to mess this one certain aspect up / get it wrong / ignore it. Even with really good video essays on story-telling etc, this special kind of insight and sensitivity, re:mental illness, is rare. So, a big, fat, heartfelt Thank You for that!
@Five by Five Takes To me, it seems like people are much more likely to defend a villain with sympathetic qualities than a hero with faults. Simply saying, if you portray your character as a hero and they make a mistake, people will be much more critical of that than if a villain does something bad, because it’s already pre-established that they are bad. People defend Silco more because he has unexpected traits that don’t go with his title, mainly good ones, and the opposite is also true with Vi.
rewatching this while waiting for season 2 after the teaser trailer came out, and once again - this is such a stellar analyis! I feel like there are a lot of people who see powder breaking down on her own as well as her not grieving after the explosion as her being "psycho", but it is so much more nuanced than that. I'm not sure if we know how old exactly powder is supposed to be, but she can't be older than 12. For such a young child to go through all of that (disregarding any trauma before that point) is tragic, and of course she wouldn't know how to deal with it. She is alone in both instances. And in the very first scene, Vi has Powder cover her eyes. Much like that, she doesn't look at the destruction an death she caused.
Arcane will go down in history as one of the best tragedies ever created. I think its success will spark a new wave of tragic story telling over the coming years which will bring a catharsis our society has been starved of for quite some time now.
I've watched way too many hours of both Arcane and non-Arcane video essays in my time, and I think this one is one of the best essays I've ever seen. I cannot even imagine the amount of hard work it took to brilliantly deliver such an impactful analysis, but I hope you know it definitely paid off. Watching this show with my own sister, I felt especially heartbroken by Vi and Jinx's story. The way you described their tragedy with ages old literary devices is so spot on. If I was an Arcane writer, I would be delighted to see such an amazing breakdown of my work. Sidenote - I noticed after first watching this that you had done some She-ra video essays and that (along with the great fanarts I've come across) was the final push for me to watch the show. After binging it in its entirety in a couple days, I was so excited to return here to watch them. Needless to say, those too were (unsurprisingly) amazing. Thank you for sharing these amazing thoughts with us, and I can't wait to see whatever you talk about next.
This is incredible. Blown away by how well you weave the literary/plot analysis with the more psychological pieces around trauma. Learned so much! Especially liked the "both/and" analysis at the end. And maybe this is a personal focus, but your analysis of Silco's harm of Jinx/Powder is refreshing and needed. No romanticizing, no fixating on one or two lines (like "you're perfect") while ignoring context. Just a great video!
One other thing I want to mention - Jinx's ending is definitely a tragedy, but I do think the writers intended us to feel some amount of success/closure/something with Jinx being the one to kill story's main villain. They take the story trope of a protagonist turned bad, but ultimately being the one to finally defeat the villain and add all the depth and layers. Rather than it just being good guy turns good again bad guy loses all is well, we actually see how years of trauma and abuse and harm affect her, and so even when she does choose her sister's life over Silco's and "frees" herself from her abuser, it's heartbreaking to watch.
@@Jaysil2Ya know.. it kinda reminds me of when Gamora personally tried to murder Thanos in Infinity War. She despised him and even relished in his despair later on, but in that moment, when she genuinely thought she killed him, she broke into tears. Even though Thanos was her abuser, part of her still loved him. It's the same with Jinx and Silco.
I really liked your words about Vi because so many people forget that she also lost everyone, she has her own trauma and her way to deal with it. ‘’He didn't make Jinx. You did’’ I glad Heard your conment about that because Jinx said it, it doesn’t mean is the truth. I feel that Jinx doesn’t think or doesn’t matter that her stayed with Silco, it’s a kind of betrayal to her family, that silco is father for her that´s why Vi can’t accept her. There is certain similarity between this and jinx’s reaction about Cait. But Silco is the reason because they ended as they ended
Your words are so true. So many people speak about the 'choice' of Vi replacing Powder with Caitlyn, or at least in Jinx' mind (both because of her paranoia and years of lies with Silco and Sevika). But few point out that it took Powder/Jinx only 90 seconds (or close enough) to side with her family's killers and help them take over her home and spend every waking moment helping them build a drug empire on the graves of her family. Never once did she hold them accountable or offer a word of protest in the defence of the people who raised her. Instead she gladly kills anyone who stands in the way of her new 'family', like the firelights when they have trapped Silco's goons (2 of whom were there the night she lost her family). When it comes to change I don't think Vi would mind her mental issues, most families would want to help someone like that. Vi wouldn't mind the fact that she can kill, others have done (she herself whenever she faces Silco's goons); but the fact that Jinx knows Silco destroyed her family and now she gladly helps him continue his work for a pat on the back from the monster who killed Vander, destroyed her family, took over her home and used every method to kill her..... that is a bit difficult to swallow for Vi. It certainly would be for me. I hope Vi goes on the offensive next season about this betrayal.
An hour long video about Arcane? One that breaks down the psychological core of the show? And that relates the story back to Greek tragedies? You guys are too good for this site
This video essay exceeded my expectation and is the best on this channel so far. Thank you so much for this deep dive! There are a few details I didn't catch, and this video made me appreciate Arcane even more.
Your way of telling is so soothing, you are able to summarize the story with such emotion and reflection I have tears in my eyes at the sad scenes even in this video
Powder also seems to show a lack of empathy first at her biological parents’ death, and then a lack of empathy at Claggor, Mylo, and Vander’s death… and she does look at Vander’s body. It is only after (both times) that she sees Vi’s horror and sadness that she has a reaction, but only that Vi is unhappy. She also does some violent tendencies, as before Vi leaves, Powder is building pipe bombs to kill enforcers… Silco cultivated both.
I don't think a child somewhere between the age of 6 to 9 would be able to process such a heavy concept that is death of parents, and I most certainly doubt she knew that Vander, Claggor, and Mylo were killed by her bomb so soon. I doubt you can discern the faces of people in the dark while fires are burning behind them...
I'm still in the middle of my Arcane brainrot and this definitely helped fuel it. This was so well done. From the application and explanation of the Greek story telling methods, to explaining the psychological journey and moments of both sisters, this was just incredible start to finish.
Perfect timing! I just rewatched the entire series this week. So good. My lord, they really knocked this out of the park. There's literally not a single thing I can think of about the show that was anything but amazing. Love the break down, now to rewatch it with my husband!
This is one of the best and well detailed arcane analysis I’ve seen, you should be so proud of yourself for your insight and articulation, thank you for entertaining me for almost an hour at my boring job ❤️✨
the amount of times i have rewatched this video the past 6 months is slightly embarrassing but deserved!!!! i could rewatch this video a million times and never get sick of it! the pacing, the analysis, the extremely complimentary background music choices make this my top fave arcane essay video ever, you somehow made me fall in love with the story of these two sisters even more and i didn’t think it was possible. arcane is so damn good annd such a special piece of art (minus some criticism i have) and i’m so happy that this video essay exists ❤️
this warms my heart. i spent (as you can probably tell) an egregious amount of time and energy making this, so the fact that you’re enjoying it enough to comment this is all could i ask for. thank you!
This is the most beautiful analysis of Arcane that I've ever seen. It captures so many of the layers of nuanced details symbolism in the worldbuilding and characters that I missed. I especially loved how you pointed out the duality between Silco and Ekko it's actually one of the dualities that stuck out to me the most that I hadn't really heard talked about before this video. I really think that Ekko represents the ideal response to the trauma that oppressive structures inflict upon us. He embodies something beautifully organic and egalitarian that is a ray of hope not only in the world of Arcane but also in our world. I would love to live in a world modelled after Ekko's ideals one built not on absolutist hiearchy but solidarity and mutual aid oriented toward the collective fulfillment of all living things.
I fell deeply in love with Arcane after I first saw it. Since then, I've watched literally dozens of analysis videos about it and yours is the best one, hands down. Thank you so much for providing such an amazing content! I'd love to get more Arcane videos from you and, in particular, to see your take on Vi and Caitlyn's relationship.
we need to talk about the shera to arcane pipeline more often. ive watched arcane twice in the past 3 weeks, rewatched all of shera in 4 days and im still crying! favorite arcane fanfic so far is "first vice, last virtue" by cityseeker gotta find something to hold me over until the ... eventual season 2
ive said this multiple times now and im sorry for spamming this comment section, but _goddamn_ your analysis is so fucking perfect. you talk about things which are usually glossed over or not acklowledged and you look at things from other perspectives and understand every single character SO WELL. i dont know how to proplerly express my feelings, just know that i love you and this channel.
this video is sooooo good and well-made I really hope it does well despite its length... im watching it all though, it somehow manages to keep my attention the whole time.
I went to a DBT treatment center for 2 years and i have to say that arcane does a great job of not only showing that everything is a gray area but also teaching the audience that one thing can be good but also bad. Very great video, i love the depth of arcane and you did such a great job talking about it all.
With your comment about Silco still living in on the bottom. I haven't seen anyone else specifically mention/address/discuss the similarities between Silco and Vi, so far. The moments in the show that made me look at this was for Silco, the chem baron scene emphasising his connection to Zaun through his ability to, and unphasedness for, breathing the air. Combined with Vi, when she first gets out and ditches Caitlyn to run free, she lands in the street, stands up and takes a deep breath in. It is a scene and action usually occurring in movies when people are free and breathing fresh air for the first time or for a while, yet for Vi she got this feeling from taking a deep breath of the air that many actively avoid and filter and most are striving to leave/avoid.
In the bit you discuss the firelight tree scene vs the chem baron scene, Ekko also values his identity as rooted in the undercity. The chem barons built a high green house filtering out the gases - rising above the undercity. Silco lives in the undercity. Ekko and the firelight created something new, down in the undercity, in the lanes. They didn't run away, but re built a home in their home. Even the hoverboards are optimised for the lanes - like Silco they don't want to be piltover, they want to be their own unique selves.
wow. wowowow. I'm blown away. This is honestly the first one of these that actually expanded my understanding and appreciation for this show in a meaningful way. Amazing work. A lot about these characters has really clicked for me now, thank you.
What a beautiful essay, thank you. This adds another level to my appreciation of Arcane. I truly hope that they keep to this way of storytelling. I've heard people wanting more of League's lore incorporated, and while I get the sentiment, I don't want Arcane watered down by too much "outside noise". That being said, I'm very confident in the production team to continue how they started.
SUBSCRIBED. I watch an unhealthy amount of pop media essays, and you are instantly one of my favourites. Your insight and articulation are up there with the best of them, and there were multiple times in this video where I felt absolutely *seen* by how you explained observations that I had felt while watching the show but couldn't begin to convey, and hadn't heard anyone else pick up on or properly describe. On a personal note part of this is because Jinx's story and the way it's told wrenched up and named a lot of old, core trauma for me, and in your dissection of her trauma you actually revealed some of my own cognitive blind spots and gave me some tools for healing I didn't have before. But don't let that colour my praise, you're also just objectively damn good. If you've read this far, thank you, really. ...But I actually have a question that I'd love to hear your thoughts on in particular. Does the first season of Arcane work as a complete story, beginning to end? Going in blind, not knowing that some characters would have to live and some would have to die, and viewing it as a story in isolation, I thought the ending was perfect. A lot of people call it a cliffhanger, but I don't feel like any of the truly important questions are left unanswered. The conflict between the cities was the setting more than the focus of the story, and the questions of who survives and what they do next really has little bearing on the themes and events that came before. It feels like maybe some people are calling it a cliffhanger not because their questions were unanswered, but because they're waiting for better answers. Which makes me sound like a salty GoT cast member but what I mean is that 'heroes win, everyone goes home' is so ingrained in most media that if the heroes don't win, it creates an instinctual expectation of another act where things will turn around. Does any of this have merit? Do you think it stands without a second season? Even if you don't reply, you are amazing for reading all of this. Thank you again, for your time and your content. 🌟
istg i cried because of how much i love this video. your takes are always the best, this absolutely shattered me but thats a good thing cause you _get_ these characters and their story.
I love your analysis, I met you with she-ra, and you're just getting better at this, I'm not even a native English speaker, but I love your videos, and it totally worth the try of understanding everything that your saying, not only for the language barrier, but for the deep thoughts you're throwing at me! Thanks for giving us such a piece of Analysis, and plsssss never stop
Just wanted to say I thought this video was awesome, you inspired me to watch She-Ra through your videos and it was so fun to watch your analysis of something I had already enjoyed :)
the part when you mention about how physical their affection was just puts more emphasis on how traumatizing vi hitting powder must have, how it was even more of a betrayal
I still believe the last thing silco says to jinx he definitely meant like he really did love her as his own, i mean he literally goes to his brothers statue and talks with him. Silco is a more complex character then just evil manipulator
GOD I wish I could like this video multiple times! You're one of the first Arcane analyzers I've watched who hasn't glorified Silco in some way... I completely agree that though he did care about Jinx, that love often bordered on obsession and was largely self-serving. Whether he was manipulating her intentionally or not (probably both), he said a lot of fucked up things to her throughout the show that would harm anyone psychically, especially someone as mentally/emotionally vulnerable as Jinx. 10/10, would watch again
Replying to myself because I am ~That Bitch (tm)~: I also wanted to add an extra thank-you for describing pain as something to be accepted and acknowledged!!! In the tea party scene, SO MANY analyses I've watched (and the comments underneath) have been all about how Vi trying to get Jinx to remember her past is hurting her, and how "Silco was just trying to protect his daughter from feeling pain uwu," but my immediate gut reaction has always been that yes, she is in pain, but if she ever wants to move forward and get unstuck, she has to confront that pain from her past. Vi was encouraging her to really face that discomfort, in a desperate attempt to get her back. Maybe that did end up triggering a panic attack or PTSD episode, but I also think it can be read as Jinx finally being encouraged (begged, even) by her older sister to try and remember who she once was. Yes, she is no longer the little girl that Vi remembers, but she isn't a whole new person. Contrary to what the name change suggests, Powder and Jinx *are* the same person, and to try to "kill" Powder is invariably going to be extremely damaging. You can't remove a part of yourself. Powder has never really been dead, despite Jinx saying she "fell down a well" (really haunting imagery there), she's just been repressed and/or buried somewhere in Jinx's mind this whole time. When Vi tries to essentially unbury Powder, Silco tries to stop this from happening by shooting Vi. Even after all his talk about killing your past self, I think Silco knows on some level that Jinx could unearth this part of herself, and he can't allow that to happen under any circumstances. He can't lose Jinx, the daughter he so carefully constructed for himself, to Powder and Vi, who he sees as enemies. Sorry for the ramble lol. Anyway that's just me, TL;DR: Pain sometimes necessary, Vi did a good thing at the tea party (maybe)
@@edenpk8541 I mean, can't both those things be true? He WAS trying to calm her, when Vi's worse seemed to be torturing her. He did this out of love. But also, he doesn't want to lose her. Aaaand VI might have been trying to force her to face the past, also out of love - but she's also refusing to face the reality of Jinx and wants that littel girl back. Like, they're both fucked up and selfish AND they both love her AND they're both trying to do what they think she needs AND they're both insufficient.
I absolutely believe that he was trying to help her. I mean, he was saying what he thought would protect her and help her move forward into a life of self-acceptance. his unquestioning embrace of Jinx did calm her more than her sister insisting only only remembering the little girl and rejecting the new woman, or Vi's reciting all the names of the dead and sending her into torment. He was right. But like, nobody in their situation could be healthy or free of trauma and of course he was projecting all his intense betrayal shit onto her as this video points out. His love of her is inherently burdened by all the things he's projecting -and of course, he's passing on his own trauma. cycles, cycles of love and violence.
im saving this video for times when i feel angry about people completely destroying vi and jinx's relationship with their atrocious takes so i can feel some peace.
This video was good!✨ I usually don't watch this long videos unless it's many videos in one video. If the topic is arcane I seem to be able to watch really long videos🌹🔥
As someone with BPD, who's gone through alot of past trauma... I find Jinx deeply intriguing and relatable. I've cried many, many times watching Arcane. The writing is just so well done.
OMG i loved this video so much. Your essay using the greek tragedy , psychological research to explain the psyche of characters , got me hooked to watch it without any interruptions. But when you made a reference to Buffy , i fell in love with it and i appreciate the effort ok making such a perfect writing about one of my favorite series , and pointing at stuff i didnt realize. I expect your video and channel get more likes and views because is dell deserved. Love and hugs from México
I love SILCO and forever refuse to believe that his last words were any form of manipulation. As evil as he may have been or as manipulative with Jinx as he "was seen", he genuinely loved her. His love for her was even greater than his love for his dream (E.g. Thanos loved Gamora but killed her for his dream as heart-breaking as it may have been.) Silco is an "evil" person so everything he does goes through that negative filter and is warped into something more sinister like his love appears to be MANIPULATIVE. I think Silco is both a terrible dad and an awesome dad; he reinforces Jinx's harmful tendencies but also reassure her and cares for her (greatest example is when SAVIKA advices him on his relationship with Jinx.) I see Silco as someone who has 2 great love; his dream & his daughter. At times the two doesn't go well together but he always strives for harmony between the two and as such appears to be manipulative. Throughout the show I always seen Silco's hate for Vi (and the fact he tries to kill her after act1) to be caused by the fear that she will take his daughter from him and as any jealous person he tries to undermine VI and twist all she does but again he is an "evil guy" so it is to an even greater degree. As for his dream of Zaun; I fully support his "Base Violence necessary for change" alas his violence is absolutely more than the minimum necessary like how he uses shimmer on his own people he is supposely building a nation for. Silco is a big hypocrite on that.
Just so everyone knows, what Jinx feels most of the time is what people with Borderline Personality Disorder go through. I feel connected to Vi and Jinx for me personally being beaten by my mother and her lie to everyone around us while I was growing up that the marks weren’t from her… physical and mental scarring from 4-26. You can also develop copes similar to both Vi and Jinx when you are gaslit and lied to on top of stress, physically abusing someone weaker or less in the power position of control of the situation. Over correction at its finest. Thank you for posting 💗
Very good video, I think you really captured well the jinx x vi dinamic. My only critic is that you might have passed the wrong ideia about silco. He is evil. Terrible person. Atrocius parenting skils. However, he really believes that he is helping jinx, all that manipulation you spoke of exists, but I honestly think its not on purpose, like the video suggests. That said, would love more arcane videos, maybe victor and jayce next?
i agree with you. he believed in what he said, and some manipulation is conscious, some isn’t at all. i have so many thoughts on this universe in general
@@5x5Takes waiting patiently to listen to them all
@@5x5Takes also I dont see that Silco tries to teach Powder to burry her trauma. He is trying to teach her to acknowledge and overcome it. In his view trauma can either break you or mold you into something stronger. Thats what he thinks of himself and what he wants for Jinx. The difference between him and her is that she had to deal with guilt and he with betrayel.
@@nostalji93 The problem with that is that Silco was lying to himself about his own Trauma and becoming a different person. He could also never leave Vander behind, Jinx even states that herself when she is alone with Vi at that dinner table.
It's not just about malicious intent; A lot, if not all of the ways he ends up manipulating Jinx are all ways in which he wants to show that he cares. It started with deciding not to kill her, then deciding to raise her, then deciding to teach her how to focus her anger, betrayal and everything motivating her at the moment into tipping her decision making into Jinx, rather than Powder. Even at the end, he makes it sound like he's been holding the "you are perfect just the way you are" speech in that "I don't want to compliment you too often because it will go to your head" way parents sometimes think about positive enforcement. Because it feels like that's what he thinks it is. In his own way, he cares about her, and the way he shows he cares, often is in how he manipulates her to his own ends. Hell, it's probably how he himself got treated by the people that raised him, and how he treats all of his friends, but especially his loved ones, most definitely how he treats Jinx. It's like, he got to get away with emotional manipulation and also genuinely cares about powder in his own twisted way.
Vi and Jinx is like what Disney wanted us to feel with Anna and Elsa but on steroids
I agree but it's more like 'on shimmer' in this case
OMG youre so right! even the cool/warm hair colours fit o.O
never liked elsa and anna's version of the story. There's a reason why arcane's sense of emotional impact works better. We see conflict trying to break their relationship but their love endures even in the worst possible situations. Love that exists not in a cringe way of singing to each other but by caring and encouraging each other. And I appreciate arcane tearing them apart, which is something most movies and shows wouldn't do. I love the aspect of taking away something that would feel good, and is so well built. It drives home quite a horrible but good emotional reaction
Yeah. *Sigh* I mean they probably could have sold it better ig if there was just more raw complex trauma and death ofc. Rip Disney. Next time.
Disney doesn't even deserve to rest in peace
One grew up too quickly, the other one never got to.
Cait was really lucky in comparison
I feel like this can apply in both ways to the sisters, funny enough. Vi grew up too quickly in the sense of having to be the leader and be responsible for her peers and sister when she was a teen, but at the same time her stint in Stillwater effectively put a stop to the rest of her childhood and paused her passage of time in a way. Vi never really moved on from what happened when she was younger, even 8 or so years later when she's fully into adulthood. She comes out of Stillwater with the same expectations of how things used to be that she had when she went in.
With Jinx, it's obvious to see that she never really grew up as she maintains that childlike mentality that comes from arrested development throughout most of the show, but at the same time, she grew up too quickly due to the life Silco exposed her to since he got her. She's fully immune to the violence and destruction that she causes other people (enemies and allies alike!) because that's what she's been exposed to for almost half her life. Aside from that, accidentally taking the life of your father figure would take a toll on anyone and make them mature faster than normal.
@@AwesomeAsadaf oooh this is actually so on point, good one :)
@@falconeshieldthat's exactly why Cait fits right in the middle. She has everything that Vi and Jinx wanted. But despite that she remains down to earth and kind. I like that part a lot because very rarely you see people who are privileged that is portrayed positively. They almost always being characterized by mean, selfish and spoiled types of trope. I like the part where the character who has experienced love is the one doing the job to spread it. Instead of expecting the troubled characters to express something they never even felt before. Caitlyn just has too much love that she's willing to share it outside of her own bubble.
@metomyself9253 Agreed, the scene where Vi first sees The Last Drop with Cait after it was taken over by Silco, Cait made a comment not knowing about the location, and it made Vi upset. Vi bumped shoulders with her and said, "You don't know anything." I know most of us, including myself, would not have let that slide, but Cait never got onto Vi about it. Instead, she stayed quiet and possibly thought about it. Love Cait's character, she's not arrogant and is willing to learn more from other people, she looks passed the aggression of others and wants to build an understanding as to why they are reacting the way they do.
I just want to point out that when Jinx kidnapped Cait she dresses her in her enforcer uniform. This is despite the fact that she only ever saw her in the clothes from Zaun. She is only capable of seeing Caitlyn as the enforcer that Vi choose over her.
why is the mental image of jinx kidnapping cait and angrily dressing her in her enforcer uniform so funny to me
In that same light Vi can only see Silco as the monster who killed Vander and Benzo, ordered Claggor, Mylo (and possibly Ekko (her second rate family) killed and tried to kill her on three occasions. Besides that, he also tried to kill Powder/Jinx the very same night of their separation. Jinx acknowledges this and the fact the he lied or twisted the truth about Vi to her, yet she still has feelings for him and chooses his path of destruction and mistrust of any other person rather than himself.
Vi's reaction is more justifiable but Jinx's is more tragic considering her mental state that Silco gaslighted ('with all of his rants' (ep 9)). Hope they'll be able to meet in the middle. Both of them wanting to be together again and working through the trauma of their separation (both physically and psychologically) caused by Silco (and his goons like Sevika). I really hope Vi will be able to help Jinx break free of the feeling of obligation that Jinx has towards the man who destroyed the life she has knew and the sister who was always there for her (and still is...).
I'd like to think ythat she forced Caitlyn to dress herself on gunpoint then knocked her out. This is funnier though.
¿Y qué te hace pensar que Caitlyn todavía lo tenía?, acordate que se presentó con VI en la asamblea con la ropa de Piltover, quizás la ropa de Zaun la tiró a la basura, solo la usó para mezclarse y no llamar la atención.
@@Casper8855 it would be pretty hard to see him any other way if thats what he actually did to my family. Caitlyn, on the other hand, broke vi out of jail, didnt realize what the enforcers had been doing down in the undercity, and didnt give jinx any reason to have that perspective of her
Jinx's tattoos are blue clouds - like those of the signal Vi gave her so Vi could find her.
yup. or of the explosion.
Jist like to add vi's tattoo are of cogs and gears and things that represent powder and her engineering the thing that makes her special in her own words
@@grimm516 i dig that
@@5x5Takes 🤗😇😇🤯🤯 just want to add thus video I'd the first have watched of your channel and it's good 👍 appreciate the perspective will be keen to see more 😀
@@5x5Takes thank you 😊
Arcane is somehow one of the most amazing animated shows I’ve ever seen despite being only one season so far. Seriously, it’s only one season but I can’t stop thinking about it. And the tragedy of Vi and Powder/Jinx is just amazing as well as heartbreak.
they break me.
@@5x5Takes
And the crazy part is that I don’t the first season of a show has felt me an impact as much as Arcane and the sister tragedy.
@@abigailaceves9230 same. it’s so much
Same here. I’d seen it pop up in my Netflix feed, and roundly ignored it until last week, figuring “Meh, not really interested in a cartoon about magic.” Then I saw a couple reviews going on about how deep and amazing it was, and when I checked to make sure the authors weren’t twelve, I figured I’d give it a go.
Five minutes in, first shot of the demonic enforcer on the bridge, blasting a man he’d already shot down, I was hooked.
Now I can’t stop thinking about Powder’s serene smile as she tumbles after the monkey bomb goes off, thinking she’s finally done something right by the gang.
@@SCharlesDennicon They are taking their time with season 2. It took 6 years to make the first season. It won't take as long to make the second, but Riot Games and Fortiche Studios don't like releasing projects that are only half baked.
"The She-Ra to Arcane pipeline"
I feel called out
My exact thought lmao
Ditto
It was so highly specific too, like?? 😭😭😭
I mean.. they're both animated, gay, and have great, deep characters
Plus they both have a protagonist who wants to repair a relationship with someone who felt betrayed and was left behind by them and then grew into an antagonist because of the influence of a mastermind evil guy.. 👀
I actually watched She-Ra after Arcane because of this channel. 😅
*Finally, the Arcane essay is here, I’m ready to cry over my kids*
This was incredibly well done. It touches on so many things that often seem to be neglected or glossed over in the story. In particular I appreciated the brief but pointed mention that Vi has suffered many of the same tragedies as Powder did on top of her own unique trauma's and the added weight of having had to be Powder's surrogate mother since Vi herself was preteen. It's something that rarely seems to get talked about. Probably because the in the show itself we only get a couple very small moments regarding what Vi has endured. You could accidentally talk over the whole two lines about the "chats" inflicted on her in prison and completely miss that the poor child spent over half a decade being routinely beaten. it's also refreshing not having yet another edgelord take about how Jinx being a mentally broken serial killer is somehow a good thing, that Silco was actually a great dad for turning her into that and Vi was actually the true villain all along. This series has generated some truly bizarre and even unsettling takes from people.
The only thing I would add, and it's admittedly likely not wholly relevant in terms of this specific analysis given it's focused on Vi and Powder, is that while there is tragedy in the "almost" of the council voting for peace; The peace they were voting for would only have handed Undercity over to the complete control of Silco and his Chem Barons. It's nice that Jayce finally took a stand, it's nice that Mel ostensibly wants to avoid bloodshed and that they seem to have talked the other counselors around to the same mind set. But the ugly side of that is that act really does nothing but let them wash their hands of suffering they, or at least the systems in place within their city that they benefit from, created while all but ensuring that suffering would continue. Effectively it's Jayce, and the council, doing exactly what Vi accused him of- burying his head in the sand because he cannot bear to look at the ugly reality that exists effectively right next door to him nor can he bear the weight of the cost he now knows it would take to address it. Arcane did a great job of showing just how messy systemic problems that have existed for generations can make things. There likely is no solution to the Undercity and Topside dilemma that would not come with it's own heavy costs in lives and suffering. But despite it's position as a point of tragic irony at the very end.. I don't really think peace was the fully virtuous choice either.
well said. and thank you
That point about Vi is something I’ve thought about more frequently than is probably healthy. Here’s another discomfiting angle; who is Vi going to complain to? In seven years (ish) she’s had no family, no friends, probably no lawyers, visit her. It’s just been herself and the guards’ “visits” (which, I’m guessing, would involve a lot more than just the occasional beating). When Caitlin first sees her, she mentions that there’s no arrest record, no charge sheet, nothing. So has Vi been kept in this cell for six or seven years without charge? Or, she was charged, and then Marcus made sure the charges “disappeared,” because, let’s face it, who’s going to advocate for her? Or, is Piltover justice just generally that corrupt?
The ability to make somebody, especially one of the poors, disappear like that is generally the sign of a fascist regime.
All I know for sure is that during these “talks,” Vi would not have sat quietly and taken it. She would have punched, kicked, bit, and spat, she would have made them regret every single atrocity upon her. They’d have to restrain her completely. It’s actually a wonder she survived.
To be fair, every bit of media generates bizarre and disturbing takes from people. There are people out there who genuinely think Harley Quinn and the Joker are "couples goals" in a healthy relationship. I like to hope most of those people are kids who don't know any better and just see a flashy, "cool" character they want to identify with. But that's probably overly optimistic.
@@Pete...NoNotThatOne Yes. Same here. I feel Vi very deeply, especially how she puts so much on herself. And her trauma is heartbreaking, and it hurts to see people painting Vi as toxis while understanding characters like Jinx and Silco. Each of the characters are understandable, we just watch the show through the eyes of Jinx and Silco more and people seem to often have a harder time understanding Vi. On the outside, Vi is able to hold herself together a lot more, but in those small quiet moments you can see how broken and sad she is and I just want to give her a hug.
@@silver9wolf6 Yeah, definitely. When Vi gets out, she’s been institutionalised for years. She’s been out for two days. She would still have the prisoner mindset in everything she does. Sad to say, the _only_ thing keeping her halfway sane was the thought of finding Powder, and that was only because Vander’s very last words were “Look after Powder.” Every other consideration, including her own health and safety, has now taken a backseat to that ‘mission,’ which is finding Powder and apologising to Powder for Vi’s perceived ‘mistake.’ Finding out Powder has now become Silco’s attack dog, wrestling with her own demons, just amplifies Vi’s guilt over that one single mistake.
There’s an attachment type called Dismissive Avoidance. This is where the person concerned grew up with random or non-existent responses to emotional needs, so they grow up to be loners, with ingrained trust issues which makes them seem distant and aloof. Inside though, they crave to be close to someone, but are also scared of closeness, because they’re convinced that there’s something intrinsically _wrong_ with them - after all, they always end up alone, of course there’s something wrong with them (they justify). It’s very difficult for a DA to ask for help, and express emotional needs, because for most of their lives, they’ve never had those needs met, so why bother?
Now that she’s out, she only knows two emotional states; anger and fear. Anger because it’s easy to just let go and hit, and fear because she’s terrified of making another ‘mistake.’ These responses kept her alive in Stillwater, so that’s what she defaults to - punch or walk away.
If you asked Vi what she plans to do next, she would say “I don’t think that far ahead.” If you asked her where she saw herself in five years, she’d say “Maybe not dead.” She literally has no concept of long-term goals anymore, her default is just to react to whatever is in front of her.
Vi needs a stable, understanding relationship to even begin to heal from a literal lifetime of trauma. She basically has to learn emotional intelligence all over again.
Aaaaaand here comes Caitlyn! 😊
I had difficulty understanding/sympathizing with Jinx before this, but now I get it. This whole time, she's been trying to prove herself, be useful to people so they don't leave her. She wants to be their top and only priority, so when Silco dies and Vi doesn't kill Cait, she chooses the only option she knows, the one that's been ingrained into her since Vi first left: hurt everyone so that they know how she feels. 'Look what you did to me.' What a fantastic video.
Edit: A great comment someone left, but for some reason it’s been deleted now: When “What Could’ve Been” plays in the final episode, the lyrics “I want you to hurt like you hurt me today” play the same time Jinx is getting ready to fire her missile and Silco’s words echo in her head: “We’ll show them. We will show them all.”
a VERY relatable feeling
i think the biggest thing that made me sympathise w jinx is knowledge of trauma and the fact that shes like. 16? 17? she clearly suffers from psychosis and all the symptoms of trauma. she is a child and deeply hurting, and the situation keeps her from receiving the care she so badly needs to be okay :(
@@zorro...... Every time I remember just how young Jinx still is and how she's been moulded by the world around her, I just feel so sad all over again.
I believe that Jinx has an anxious attachment style and deeply rooted abandonment issues: this gives her an unhealthy drive to prove herself useful to her significant others so that they won’t discard her again.
you had me at dialectical behavioral therapy and radical acceptance (but seriously though, love this video and your takes on the show, thanks for sharing!!)
DBT IS ALL ABOUT RECONCILING DUALITIES!!!! IT’S SO PERFECT
@@5x5Takes IT REALLY IS!!!
@@5x5Takes LOVE SOME GOOD DIALECTICS !!!!!!!!
Unfortunately Hegel was a cringe idiot whose worldview demands victory as the only moral vindication possible.
WHY IS EVERYONE YELLING?!!
Appreciating the toxicity of Silco's treatment of Jinx being acknowledged - so many videos act like he's such a great father figure.
bizarre. he’s fascinating, but sharpening a child’s trauma into a self serving weapon is… inherently abusive.
@@5x5Takes yeah i think people see how Silco genuinely loves Jinx and thinks he’s Best Dad. But he’s not.
He does love and care for Jinx as she is, but I think it’s conditional on that part. He accepts Jinx for “who she is now” sure, partly bc she sort of embodies the chaos of zaun that he loves - but he can’t control her. Now, parents shouldn’t be controlling, but they’re obligated to set boundaries and let their children experience consequences of their actions so they mature and learn restraint.
Silco does neither, he enables jinx to do whatever she wants without care and the one time he’s upset at her it’s mostly just him yelling and her shrugging it off and him accepting that he has to clean up her mess.
He also lies about Vi being alive and tried to kill her before Jinx found out - his beloved daughters only remaining family. Who he knows probably wants to kill him bc of what he did to Vander. He knows that if allowed access then Vi could sway Jinx away from him and become a different person. And then he lies about Vi’s intentions to sow doubt in Jinx’s mind against her. That’s not really an act of true love.
It’s commendable that his love for her is what keeps him from turning her in, ultimately undoing everything he’s fought for. And he doesn’t care, he wants Jinx over anything else. Partly because he projects his feelings of betrayal and “no one understands us but us”. But that doesn’t excuse the way he manipulates her to keep her tied and loyal to him.
Loyalty really is his tragic flaw, because if he actually set boundaries for Jinx, let her grow and/or didnt interfere with a relationship with her sister, then she would become someone who could potentially leave him. And that would be the most unbearable thing
It's often hard to tell the difference between unconditional love and co-dependency. And we see almost everything from Jinx's perspective, even visually, so we're almost as manipulated as she is. It's really hard NOT to root for Silco in every scene he has with her.
to be fair though, hes a product of his environment and experiences of betrayal and poverty. Hes not TOXIC to jinx, he thinks hes doing the right thing, though he doesn't have the scruples of Vander. If you notice, he never lays a hand in jinx in anger, never treats her like a lesser person. Paternal instincts are not exclusive to good guys, and thats refreshing. Moustache twirling bad guy he is not. Only at the end does he see why Vander chose the path he did, and he LAMENTS it. Welcome to human psychology 101. The show purposely makes it so that you can understand there are no black and white areas, the good people arent entirely good, and the bad people arent entirely bad. Everyone has legitimate motivations for their actions given their personal backgrounds and situations. Slow your roll Toxic Trollvenger.
@@mkocel one can be the product of their environment, have entirely sympathetic and understandable motivations, entirely believe what theyre doing is the right thing, truly love or think they love another person, and still be toxic to certain people or in certain situations
Rather than focus on the definition of toxic though, I’d say Silco is a fascinating character because he truly loves Jinx, he’s a loving father, and yet, a terrible and flawed parent. It’s amazing because of how realistic it is.
He never provided proper boundaries or guidance when it came to her impulsivity or mental illnesses. He probably tried early on but just didn’t know how. He let her be free because he loved her chaos, but that wasn’t exactly what she needed to be emotionally stable. It also became his undoing, because her unpredictable actions undermined his operations and eventually killed him. Which is a fantastically written tragedy, narratively speaking.
He also projected a lot of his own abandonment issues onto Jinx, because he loved her and sees himself and Zaun in her. But projections aren’t fair to kids, especially vulnerable ones who’d just witnessed their family torn apart (indirectly by Silco), even if understandable. He lied about Vi’s motivations when jinx was threatening him because he was in a moment of weakness - Vi being back means Jinx could leave him for her sister if they got to have enough time together, especially since said sister hates his guts. Manipulation is understandable in the moment makes total sense for him, but its not justifiable as it’s not whats best for Jinx.
A good parent would be able to separate their own desires and allow their child to develop on their own, have their own relationships outside of the parent, and not have an enmeshed identity with their kid, which Silco really doesn’t allow because of his own trauma around past betrayal. Many parents love their kids deeply but still fuck them up because of their own unresolved trauma that’s passed down to the next generation
Five by Five Takes making a nearly hour long video about Arcane?
Well if this isn't the best notification I've gotten in years; I better get ready to cry because I know how this channel works.
Get ready. I literally cried
IKR
finally, someone who acknowledges that Silco wasnt a good parent
Honestly the Silco praising for basic parenting despite being the main reason Jinx lost her family in the first place shows how low the bar is for many people on the Internet. Oh, he was decent! What a good dad!
I have a little bit of a different opinion on silco and vi. Okay here goes Vi has good intentions but didn’t know what or how to help Jinx. For example she could have powder a job so she would feel useful. Silco was able to do this by constantly giving her jobs and responsibilities despite of her messing up. Granted in crime but he still supports her. Vi simply doesn’t understand Jinx when she tells Jinx she is hurting her but doesn’t understand and silco did that’s why I prefer Silco to Vi. That’s just my opinion
The best way I can accurately describe Silco and Jynx's relationship is the following: "Silko is a loving father, but terrible parent/person".
@@falconeshieldYes! Thank you! It's almost infuriating how much so many people have deluded themselves when talking about Silco. He was a TERRIBLE person AND a terrible father. His one redeeming quality was that he genuinely loved Jinx, but any sane person should understand that doesn't remotely make their relationship healthy. If a dynamic like there's existed in real life, no one would be praising it, let alone giving Silco the benefit of the doubt.
Great video, thank you. I'm a little surprised you didn't touch more on Jinx's willingness to kill herself with her own grenade. I believe that moment between her and Ekko speaks louder about who she is than anything else. Jinx is in pain, such unimaginable pain.
yup. that’s why she just makes me sad, more than anything.
And why Jinx is in pain? The sister she loved most left her again.
I have feelings Jinx is only crazy when it comes to Vi, like everything related to Vi makes Jinx unstable and can’t control her thoughts (never see Jinx this crazy when she’s around Silco)
@@Lebpnguyen You see her have flashes and triggers when she's around Silco. We also see her have multiple manic episodes when she didn't even know Vi was around. So yes, she's very much in constant mental and emotional pain. The uncontrollable kind.
This is so good?? And completely changed my view on parts of the show, holy shit. Like the part where you explain how Jinx's trauma AND Silco's teachings impacted the decision she forced on Vi at the dinner party scene (+ how killing Caitlyn would be like a recreation of Powder killing their family), and how Silco encouraging her to never face her trauma head-on could also have literally stunted her personality development. It seems so obvious now that I've written it out, but I guess I never thought about the reasons behind Jinx's overwhelming insecurity past the initial trauma of Vi "leaving" her. AND THE CONNECTION BTWN RECONCILING JINX'S WARRING HALVES BEING CENTRAL TO THE RECONCILIATION OF PILTOVER AND ZAUN GODDAMN!! This video is criminally under-watched, best Arcane analysis I've seen so far.
I also had so much to say about the other points mentioned in the video as I was watching it, but I've half-forgotten what they were now😭
Killing Cait is not about recreating Jinx killing her family.
In Jinx mind Caitlyn is "a monster".
They depict this by giving Cait, in Jinx's mind, the devil horns and the evil smile at the bridge in episode 7.
When they were kids, Vi promised that no monster would ever get Powder, that she would "make the monsters go away".
Jinx is now holding Vi to her promis and literally asks Vi to "Make her go away".
Its to test where Vis loyalty lies.
@@F1rstWorldNomaD ooh that's really interesting, I never thought abt it that way before
@@F1rstWorldNomaD I doubt it's as simple as Jinx merely seeing Caitlyn as a some evil monster. The metaphor is definitely there in the way she asks Vi to "make her go away," but there's no way Jinx wasn't entirely aware that she was being delusional, lol.
Jinx isn't stupid. She knows that Caitlyn hasn't _actually_ done anything to her. Whether or not Vi replaces her is, by definition, Vi's decision to make (therefore Caitlyn litterally can't be held responsible). She also knows that Vi loves her (hence jokingly reffering to Caitlyn as her "girlfriend"). And why would Vi love a "monster" that's trying to hurt her sister? Obviously she doesn't, which is why Jinx never appeals to the idea of Caitlyn being a horrible or guilty person.
Her actual objective is for Vi to engage in an unhealthy, co-dependent relationship, akin to the one she had with Silco. She doesn't want Vi to love anyone else as much as her, because that would mean Vi doesn't need her, and thus, would be free to "abandon" her again.
Thus, she attempts to manipulate Vi into killing Caitlyn by offering her"Powder" back. She knows this is impossible (she just wants Vi to accept her for who she is now), but Jinx becomes desperate after she sees Caitlyn plead for her life, becuase she knows it will cause Vi to hesitate. If Vi accepted, then she would be left just as broken as Jinx, which would hopefully allow her to engage in the co-dependency she wanted.
It's all a deranged, cruel way to ensure she won't be left alone again. Even if it means hurting her sister by bringer her down to her level.
13:35 this scene with Powder's eye in focus is also a reference to a famous painting called Fallen Angel by Alexandre Cabanel.
yup!
I'd like to maybe add another perspective to Vi's words in the rain. I don't think she necessarily believes the words she's saying 100%. I think half of it is to push Caitlyn away so she can go about things on her own, like she always has. Vi's stubborn and hard headed, and has motivations to take down Silco and get Powder back which aren't in line with how others feel. Vi's motivation to go after Jinx can be paralleled with Viktor's fight for his own life. They're both doing things that are against their morals, pushing those close to them away, in order to achieve an end goal that they will aim to achieve at all cost. Vi in her mind is doing this all for Powder. So I don't think she's as hopeless about the two sides being irreconcilable, but she will present it to Cait in that moment, if she feels Cait will hold her back. How could she possibly go after Jinx and talk Powder down knowing what Cait symbolizes to Jinx.
I think all of this is backed up by Vi's obvious care that she still has for Caitlyn during the dinner scene. There's no love loss. There's no obvious mentality shift in how much she cares for Caitlyn. When push comes to shove, and Vi's true feelings about her are forced to come out, she's shown to deeply care for her, and fear for her loss. This doesn't seem like someone who feels like her and Cait are "oil and water." Vi gives that speech because Vi doesnt know how to work alongside people. She's always been the protector, always a loner. Sacrifice herself so others don't have to experience pain or fear. It's one of her virtues, but also ultimately her biggest downfall. Even Jayce notices it. "You won't make it alone." And he was right. Without Cait I genuinely think Vi dies in that dinner scene. I think Silco wins the fight for Powder, and maybe Silco even manages to silence her in a manner that Powder can't stop.
Anyway, just something that came up. Your analysis is spot on, and as deep a dive as I've been wanting to hear for a long time about this show. You have an absolute knack for presenting these heavy subjects while still keeping the script moving along and interesting. I think all of those asking for you to defend Silco in his actions are missing the point of this video. Silco ABSOLUTELY has a culpability in how Jinx and Vi end up, and to shy away from that is to honestly shy away from the duality of the man he was to these two girls.
🔥🔥🔥
AMAZING parallel between vi and viktor. good catch!
Love this video for many reasons. I'm glad you illustrated the toxicity/manipulation between silco and Jinx. I've seen so many others gloss over it because of Silco's "intentions" when in reality, his ACTIONS do irreparable damage to Jinx's emotional progress. Please make more videos!
3:40 clever choice of words, seeing how "What could have been" are very deliberately the last words of the show, delivered in hauntingly beatiful manner by our boy Feyd-Rautha...
;)
Tiny but underrated detail: Jinx has been toting around Pow-Pow the minigun and Fishbones the rocket launcher for a decade, and Arcane reveals both their origins. Pow-Pow was Vi's old nickname for her. Fishbones was Jinx's magnum opus, a weapon meant as her gift to Silco- hence the shark theme, Silco loves his sea monsters. She's literally turned the remnants of her past into weapons. Heck, she even talks to them.
Kinda wack
i was LOOKING forward to this and you did not disappoint. i've seen soooo many videos about arcane since i've watched it but yours is my fave. the tragedy of the ending of act 1 in particular will stick with me for a looooong time. i knew absolutely nothing about league of legends and didn't pay enough attention to the intro so i didn't really expect what ended up happening and it tore my heart apart
This video is criminally underappreciated. After a deluge of essays across RUclips about the brilliance of Arcane, your discourse (especially on tragedy) touches on several points I haven't seen anyone else analyze. Your take on characterization (particularly in regards to trauma) is always a huge selling point and this video did not disappoint.
"The greeks dont have a monopoly on tragedies, but they at least have a few hotels" is an incredible line and it absolutely belongs in a video about arcane. It made me pause my sims build to go back a few seconds.
Edit: Oh wow thank you for the like!! I love your content! :)
literally already rewatching lol
First of all, I think this is a wonderful video analysis for Vi and Jinx’s relationship and how it reflects the duality that the show uses as a recurring motif. While I agree that Silco is not the person best equipped for parenting, I don’t believe he intended to be malicious/manipulative, and I do have a different interpretation of some of Silco’s actions you brought up.
I think although Silco is portrayed as kind of a “criminal mastermind” type within Arcane, he doesn’t always make the logically optimal decisions (especially when it comes to Jinx) and his actions are very much driven by his own trauma
13:14 I don’t think his behavior was calculated. If it was, I think he’d realize that a child is ultimately a liability and wouldn’t have taken her in. He doesn’t know Powder and has no evidence pointing to her being the cause of explosion; for all he knows, she was there with Mylo and Claggor while Vi was protecting them, just out of view.
My interpretation of Silco’s expressions in this scene, rather than him realizing “well Powder basically did all the work I wanted,” is that Silco realizes what Powder went through was very similar to what he went through, especially after she says “she is NOT my sister anymore.” I’m sure prior to that, Silco was 100% intending to take her as a hostage or something to lure Vi out, but the moment she said that line, that’s when Silco realizes their similarities and then, like you said, starts projecting onto her after taking her in.
As much as Silco says “as time passed, so did my hate,” I don’t think Silco really fully dealt with that trauma either. His entire character is centered on betrayal vs loyalty. If he really was able to move beyond that, then I’d like to think that he realized he shouldn't be raising Powder into “someone people feared” etc… but he didn't move on. Being "what people feared" is the philosophy Silco adopted to deal with his own trauma and he thinks it worked, so that’s how he raises Jinx as well.
17:48 small detail but I don’t think Silco rewards just any chaotic behavior from Jinx. During that scene, Silco tells Jinx to “go work on your gadgetry and take some time off.” I think at this point everyone knows Jinx is basically scrambling to prove herself worthy by tagging along with jobs, but she really oversteps this time, so Silco’s punishment for her is basically “you’re grounded.” And when she kills all the enforcers later, Silco is clearly pissed off at her actions (the whole “Half a dozen enforcers! Dead!” scene), but after Jinx shows the hex crystal, he forgives her because he realized she was doing it for him, she was doing it to “prove herself,” she had a reason for the violence and it wasn't just random chaotic behavior.
I know Arcane has a lot of plot threads and a lot of scenes spliced together which makes things mixed up sometimes, but its easier to get a clearer vision of a character’s actions by just isolating their scenes. Jinx gets PTSD with the pinked haired Firelight girl, and then again when she’s working on the Hextech crystal. She gets tells Silco about it, and Silco realizes how much it’s bothering her, so he tries to make her feel better (the pseudo baptism thing in the river) by telling her about his own experiences and how he was able to grow from it. Unfortunately like I said before his way of dealing with trauma isn’t the healthiest either, but…it’s not like there are therapists in Zaun so his actions are based off of only the things he knows.
20:14 I don’t think Silco is keeping his damage and trauma hidden the same way Jinx does, rather he thinks he got over it and thus wears it like a badge of pride. He could’ve easily gotten an eyepatch to cover it (like Vander does to his arm wound), but I think that betrayal is what he defines himself with, and by reminding himself of it everyday, he embraces it and "becomes strong". Obviously, this isn’t what’s going to work with Jinx, but I think Silco projects himself so much onto Jinx that he thinks whatever helps him is going to help Jinx. That’s my theory on why everyone calls her Jinx in the first place; Silco thinks that if Powder is able to face her trauma like that, by wearing her “Jinx” identity proudly and fully embracing that, it’s going to help her like it helped him (which I don’t think it did lol)
Some things I wish you touched upon were the parallels on the bridge after the Jinx and Ekko fight. There was a significant few seconds in the beginning of episode 8 where a few shots where cut as if Silco and Vi were looking at each other. Both of them would have been risking a lot to get to Jinx; Vi would’ve have to find some way to get through the enforcers, and while although technically Silco could’ve just sent some people to get her, he himself went, which would’ve definitely implicated him in the crime. But we see Vi staring, unmoving, staying with Caitlyn, while Silco carries Jinx in his own arms and takes her away. And then later, Vi readily offered up “Jinx” to the council, when Jayce asks who was responsible for everything. At this point, to me, it’s clear that Vi is trying to reconcile the fact that her sister is no longer “Powder,” but also “Jinx,” and I don’t think Vi is very sure if she accepts Jinx as her sister anymore.
39:33 I’ve seen a couple people think he said “you’re perfect” in an attempt to manipulate Jinx into choosing the Jinx chair, and I honestly don’t think Silco thought that far lmao. I think right up to the very end, he believes every word he said, including the fact that Vi would leave Jinx the moment she realizes Jinx isn’t Powder anymore. Silco doesn’t know Vi, he sees her as an extension of Vander, who betrayed him before. Silco doesn’t know that Vi loves Jinx, he knows that Vi loves the Powder from 7 years ago. He has no reason to say “you’re all she has, take care of her,” because multiple times in act 2 and 3 Vi has cemented herself as someone who wouldn’t protect Jinx. Vi did not come back for Jinx on the bridge, Vi gave up Jinx’s name as the person responsible for the two explosions (hence why Jayce asked Silco to hand over Jinx), Vi has been publicly working with Caitlyn and we all know how Zaunites view enforcers. Silco has no trust in Vi to do the right thing, so why would he make his last words to her?
Instead, Silco says four things. “I never would’ve given you to them." He once again clears up the misunderstanding that happened at Vander’s statue. "Not for anything.” He tells Jinx how important she is to him. “Don’t cry.” He tells her there’s nothing wrong for what she did and forgives her. “You’re perfect.” He tells Jinx that no matter what, she isn’t a broken person and whoever she is, whatever she is, she will be perfect in his eyes.
And like you mentioned, this is a direct parallel for what happened at the end of Act 1. Both times, Powder/Jinx screws up big time because she was trying to protect someone she loves. How does Vi and Silco react to this? Vi takes out her anger on Powder, blames her for everything, and calls her a name that Powder’s been tormented by. Silco consoles Jinx, forgives her, and says “you’re perfect” to Jinx. Not “Jinx is perfect,” like he said at the river, but “you’re perfect,” that ultimately, no matter her choice between Powder or Jinx, Silco loves her no matter what.
Granted, Vi was also a child when this happened. Her reaction was completely understandable, and I’m not blaming Vi for acting that way. However, from Jinx’s perspective, these two different reactions from the two people she loves gave her a clear choice of which identity she embraces in the end.
Anyways I ended up typing way more than I initially intended, but I hope that gives some insight for a slightly different interpretation for Silco and his relationship with Jinx! I don’t like the takes that just make him like “uwu Silco did nothing wrong he’s misunderstood,” but I also don’t like it where every action of his gets interpreted as “manipulative” or with some ulterior purpose. Ultimately for me, Silco is another character that’s deeply driven by his trauma and his actions are reflective of what he’s gone through.
i pinned the comment with my reply, because i realize this is a point i may have not gotten across: not all silco’s actions are motivated by manipulation, and, most significantly, not all manipulative actions are done consciously.
when i refer to jinx’s violence, i’m not referring to her rogue attack on enforcers, but to the 6-7 years she’s developed into his “big gun” weapon. a child becoming a war machine doesn’t happen by accident; it’s taught.
re: vi not being someone to protect jinx: silco fully lies to jinx about vi’s intentions (not here for you, there for the crystal), which is plain false.
poor vi just got out of jail a day ago and is playing an extreme game of catch up, sticks by jinx’s side even with a gun to her face in ep 6.
then in ep 7, she goes back to presumably find jinx-who’s now working off the misinformation fed to her by silco and sevika both. who fires a machine gun at her sister, with no other exchange. vi has nothing to go off of.
vi loves her sister deeply, but again-shot at with a machine gun. that’ll more than rattle you. this is all just a whole tragic mess.
i think we agree on quite a bit.
that said-the act of telling the girl that just had a dissociative violent break, and killed you, that she’s perfect, intentions aside, is discombobulating. i believe silco meant it, and meant it with love. of course he did. but that’s one mixed signal too many to process.
a long reply to your long comment. very much appreciate your thoughts, friend.
*i hope you don’t mind, but i’m pinning this comment and reply instead, because it‘s more thorough a comment, and reply on my part. when making a video (even a 50 min one 🥴) there are bound to be things i wish i’d clarified my view on better. thanks for giving me the opportunity to do so.
@@5x5Takes ahh I'm honored!! honestly I'm here for any video essays on Arcane in general, it's such a well written show with solid characters and I'm glad people can have nuanced discussion about it, even if people's interpretations differ
totally. and to your wishes about other scenes i’d covered-that’s the nature of this whole thing. i had pieces drafted about the significance of jinx kickboxing against vi’s old high scores, mylo’s specific voice calling out to her, the cait and vi scene on the bed talking about chasing her monsters away… i WISH i could talk about everything. making videos, you always end up leaving *something* on the table.
but like you said: arcane is *so* rich-almost overwhelmingly, so this is far from the last i write on it (though i’m capping my next one at 30 minutes or i’ll go insane)
How I understand you... I think it has something to do with the way he was shown in the first two episodes. The creators deliberately labeled him a "villain" to see if people could abstract away the label and still understand Silco as a person capable of feeling. And not just manipulative...
another wonderful analysis :) originally I struggled to understand jinx's motives for staying with silco even though he was responsible for her family's death. the way you put it together made me appreciate on another level how crazy well-written jinx and vi are and makes their relationship even more hopelessly tragic
Holy shit that was genuinely the best video I've seen this year. Bloody loved it
This is legitimately one of the best video essays I've ever seen! So informative, so poignant and despite it's length so concise. This deserves 100x the views it has.
As a high school English teacher, I am consistently impressed with the detailed, structured, and entertaining way that you use literay and media analysis in your video essays. I hope this channel hits it big; not just because you deserve it, but also because of the potential immense educational benefits others can get from seeing how you make your craft.
i’ve seen a few videos that talk about the “you’re perfect” moment when Jinx kills Silco as an ultimately affirming thing for him to have said. but it’s reinforcing the thing that brought them together in the first place-violence. he isolated her, inhibited her ability to process the immense trauma she experienced, and enabled her destructive power. he reminds me of stage parents who force their kids into acting or singing bc the kid is good at it and the parent is living vicariously through the kid. only instead of making her a child star, Silco made Jinx a weapon. he reduced her to a singular trait-destructive. certainly, she was a daughter to him. but he was never a good father. even if he was doing his best, his best freaking sucked.
he didn’t want Jinx to heal or to reunite with her sister or to be anything but what he saw her as-impulsively, ruthlessly violent. that’s what he calls perfect. that’s the part of her he loves. that’s the part of her that kills him.
anyway! your arcane videos are leagues (haha) above most arcane analysis videos (in my opinion). they scratch an itch others don’t. maybe i just really agree with you but i feel like you really see through to the heart of Vi and especially Jinx. love your videos
A year ago I was obsessed with your takes on Catradora, and now I am SO pumped about getting obsessed over your takes on Arcane
I firmly believe that the sisters still love each other, but that they have a lot to work through. I'm grateful for what Legends of Runeterra did with both of them and Vi's plush toy, because it gave me something to hold on to, which the series missed for me in the end. I don't want the Runeterra universe to be lore-chained to the bare bones/one dimensional stuff that is just in the MOBA. I don't know if this is considered a hot take, but I'm rooting for the sisters to eventually make up above any other plot line with these characters. I know they can find a way forward together while remaining true to who they are.
what plush toy? Can you share more?
I cannot thank you enough for portraying Silco has he was. A man who projected himself onto a literal child. It doesn't matter if he wasn't conscious of it, it still caused harm.
Your channel hits on character and plot truths that are so interesting and unique every single time. I think this is my favorite arcane video essay I’ve seen. I loved bringing in the elements of Greek tragedy. I also love that you brought in radical acceptance. And the analysis of both Vi and Jinx’s relationship to Silco is so fascinating. This video was so incredible!
I HAVE A WHOLE GREEK TRAGEDY SCRIPT OUTLINE FOR THE REST OF THE SHOW IT’S INSANE
@@5x5Takes Ooooh...I am so looking forward to that!
@@5x5Takes omg that sounds amazing! I’m currently studying Oedipus for school and it feels so relevant.
@@grey29825 listen. the use of music ALONE. the appeal to FATE--and the way that's done w the interconnectedness of everyone's story, the visual parallels, the Larger than Life Forces usually exerted by gods of war, gods of revenge.... listen.
@@5x5Takes omg you’re so so right 😳 there’s so many parallels
32:45 I’d say that Silco does genuinely believe in what he says about Vi. Remember, he only knew Vi from seeing her beat up his gang in the factory. He sees her as “Vander’s prodigy”. He doesn’t witness what happened between Vi and Powder after the factory blew up. He just finds Powder, alone and abandoned. He definitely is projecting his relationship with Vander onto the sisters, projecting Vander’s qualities onto Vi.
Silco is definitely afraid of losing Powder to Vi because Powder had become an emotional crutch for him. But he weaponizes what he assumes to be truth, that Vi will absolutely abandon Powder again, and uses it against Jinx, to keep her ‘safe’ and on his side.
++
Some viewers like to see it from the perspective of characters like vi and powder. But , viewers refuse to see it from the silco's own point of view and completely ignore it . The family destroyer fixes him as the worst villain of the series, someone who loves chaos, loves to kill people.
But the silco character is a very deep and detailed character. I pity those who see it as a one-dimensional villain.
I don't think there is a character they wouldn't like if they examined the characters objectively.
It is very simple to take a certain side and say that you are bad, you are good.
But this is not a series like that, I hope people can realize this until season 2.
Precisely! “jinx is empathetic because we are hit in the face constantly with an emotional sledgehammer of her trauma, Silco evil bad man because there is no sledgehammer To beat empathy into us of his trauma…” ~big 🧠 ~
@@n0bleonline222What are you even talking about? The OP referenced a moment in the video where the commentator simply pointed out a fact:
Silco uses the fact that he took Powder in and raised her as a excuse for her not to hate him. But the reality is that HE is the reason Powder sent out the bomb that killed her family. HE is the reason she had to be "given a home" in the first place. The sisters were separated (or otherwise would've been killed) by circumstances HE created. Therefore, the argument he presents in that moment isn't just manipulative, it's wrong. It's dishonest. It actively tries to distract her from the fact that he was (in large part) responsible for her trauma.
This isn’t anyone "missing the nuance" of Silco's character. Rather, YOU seem to be fundamentally misunderstanding what the argument even is. Acknowledging that Silco, in that moment, selfishly manipulated her so she wouldn't leave him and he wouldn't have to be alone again, doesn't _negate_ the fact that he cared about her. We know that. It's explicitly shown.
However, that doesn't change the fact that he was objectively being a bad father (and a bad person) in that scene. He was wrong. He lied about Vi not being there for her (she made her desire to see Powder again *explicit* when Silco tried to have her killed by Shimmer junkies, there is no debating involved here). His words in that scene accomplished nothing other than keeping Jinx from hating him, and had no other purpose outside of that (saying that Vi "wasn't there for her" and "everyone betrays them" didn't comfort Jinx, it visibly upset her). To say otherwise would require text that does not exist.
@@n0bleonline222completely agree!
Seeing Silco and Jinx relationship is so complex (the series didn’t show how Silco took care of baby Jinx, but dropped countless hints about it) that lots of people still see Silco as the villain toxic dad.
I’m tired of hearing those assumptions.
THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THIS THANK YOU FOR ARTICULATING SO WELL ALL THE WHYS AND HOWS I LOVE THIS SHOW SM THERE'S FIREWORKS GOING OFF IN MY BRAIN RN AND SO MUCH LOVE FOR YOU I HOPE THAT'S NOT WEIRD TO SAY
special thanks for the bits where you talk about silco and his relationship with powder/jinx, i see way too many people claiming he's a good father and im at a loss at how to explain how most of it it's just projection and convenience instead of actual genuine love and care
this story is indeed a tragedy, a greek tragedy like you put it with all those concepts i had long forgotten from my college classes, i came for the lesbians (she-ra to arcane pipeline definitely) and stayed for the heartbreaking story of two sisters who have faced too much injustice and pain
your analysis is just the best, seriously thank you so much for it, i felt a lot while watching arcane but it's hard to conceptualize it and put into words, to explain all the whys and hows this is hitting so much, but you do it you do that work and like i said my brain is on fireworks, thank you thank you thank you, i know i'll be rewatching this one just like your she-ra videos, and guess i'll have to get into buffy too just to watch your other vids!
buffy is a masterpiece. it’s also a long journey, i hope you enjoy it!
and totally-everything is multiple things. silco’s love was genuine, but very loaded.
Loved this analysis, though I'd be lying if I said it didn't bum me out.
I'd love to see an analysis of Cait and Vi, and on how Cait's behavior contrasts with Vi's past traumas and relationships with loved ones.
i'd also love to. thanks for your vote! i toss you this piece of juicy parallelism: vander's defining act w the girls is to put down his weapons as he picks them up. when vi is injured....cait....trades....her rifle..... for medicine....
@@5x5Takes holy shit
@@5x5Takes Yeah. And there's also a contrast between those two. Vi's been unable to be vulnerable for her entire life. First she was living on the streets, and then she was imprisoned and beaten. But even when she had people around her who loved her, most of them were dependent on her. And even though Vander cares for her, he puts so much responsibility and guilt onto her shoulders. Everyone sees Vi's pain through the lens of what they need from her.
But when Vi confesses how she failed her sister to Caitlyn, Cait doesn't. She just strokes her face. That moment is intensely romantic, but I think it goes deeper than romance. It's also Vi's first experience, at least the first that we see, with unconditional comfort and compassion.
That had to hit Vi like a ton of bricks. I think that's why, in Episode 9 when we get a single frame of Cait's face when Jinx uncovers the dish, that it's that exact moment.
@@jadegecko you’re making me want to write about them
@@5x5Takes GOOD
I just finished Arcane half a week ago, so it's fresh in my mind. This analysis, like all of your analysis, enhances my appreciation of the media consumed. I deeply respect and appreciate your walkthrough of the Tragedy and the Trauma of these two characters. Thank you for making this video; it's an important piece of work that pushes the limits of understanding out to be more encompassing.
Absolutely brilliant commentary & analysis. Since watching the show (many times over) I’ve been inspired to dig deeper and have spent an embarrassing number of hours listening to essays & commentaries covering nearly all aspects…animation, storytelling, character arcs, etc. You crystallized my feelings about the real Silco in a manner in which I couldn’t quite pinpoint & verbalize. So much is being written & posited about how, in spite of his twisted nature, he really loved Jinx. Perhaps. But I am in agreement with you in regards to the calculation of his final sentiment to Jinx of “you’re perfect”. The possibility that he was undermining Vi to the very end is more than simply plausible…it makes a lot of sense. He didn’t want Jinx healed. He wanted her unhinged. I’ve been in a gratitude stupor since my first viewing….grateful a bunch of somebodies took such care in crafting this masterpiece. Bravo Fortiche studios. Bravo Riot games. And bravo to you for this deep & intricate exploration of this amazing work of art. 🙏🏼
I think you did an excellent job as always. I have one question though I guess: I see significant growth and change from Silco in the final scenes with him. He finally understands where Vander was coming from. He finally understands that his daughter is not worth losing. I think your analysis of his character neglects this. I think it is part of the tragedy that he was beginning to change and was pressed into old habits of violence and jealousy by Vi's threat to his value (his value to Jinx ofc). Does that make sense? I think he in particular is more complicated than your analysis makes out. Everything else though *chef's kiss* hot damn y'all do the best video essays it's unreal.
certainly. i’ll say i did want to expand more, but focusing on the sisters primarily had it running long as is. that said-the evolved love for jinx by the end isn’t fully redemptive, nor a huge character vault in my eyes. it’s a step.
@@5x5Takes Oh absolutely! Definitely not fully redemptive by any stretch. I see it as mirroring the council literally deciding to take steps towards peace and giving the undercity dignity only for that to be destroyed by circumstance (the rocket). Like the growth is there and it's small but the glimmer of hope makes the tragedy more potent!
Wow, what an incredible analysis! The best I have seen so far. Even though Vi and Jinx are sisters, they really do have a dysfunctional parent-child relationship. And thank you for pointing out how people romanticize Silco and his relationship with Jinx. It's....disturbing to say the least. Well done!
everything is a whooooooole mess
@@5x5Takes Veeerrryyy messy. 😂 In the Legends of Runeterra card game, Caitlyn calls Vi her partner, and Jinx gets butthurt. 😂 I hope in future seasons of Arcane Jinx/Powder will be able to integrate herself.
Your atention to detail is always astonishing
Your careful, sharp and deeply empathetic way of looking at things never fails to make my cry! I'm so glad you made this video
I've been avoiding Arcane videos for a while now, because I thought people didn't really have much more to say about it, but you always prove me wrong
Thank you very much!
thank you much. i worked extremely hard on this, so i appreciate it
OMG thank you so much! I'm just halfway through, but your analysis of how Jinx is basically the source of her own perpetual re-traumatisation, is fucking brilliant! Also, love how blunt oyu are about everything Silco, I'm totally of your opinion regarding this. People love to intentionally overlook, sugarcoat, deny or defend the sinister aspects of his relationship with Jinx, up do disgusting lengths, frankly. I love him as a character and antagonist, but as a surviver of abusive & narcissistic parents, it sickens me when pple confuse toxic parenting (may it be intentional or not, or half so) with "unconditional love".
Silco to a mentally unstable teenager, plagued by abandonment issues: "No one will ever love you but me, you can't ever trust anybody but me, your whole former family is shit, and now go and make me my super-weapon!"
99% of the internet: "Ah yes, the perfect father!"
i will say, the difference in forgiveness/apologism for adult men who cause harm vs teen/young adult girls who do the same… always fascinating to me. i understand the dynamism of silco’s motivations-and at the same time, there’s a point where the harm you cause, as a grown (in his 50s?) adult is on. you.
@@5x5Takes Completely agreed. (Cue unwritten essays here.)
It's honestly relieving and comforting to hear someone speak about mental illness with such competence and commitment. A lot of otherwise brilliant video essayists manage to mess this one certain aspect up / get it wrong / ignore it. Even with really good video essays on story-telling etc, this special kind of insight and sensitivity, re:mental illness, is rare. So, a big, fat, heartfelt Thank You for that!
a big thank you right back
@Five by Five Takes
To me, it seems like people are much more likely to defend a villain with sympathetic qualities than a hero with faults. Simply saying, if you portray your character as a hero and they make a mistake, people will be much more critical of that than if a villain does something bad, because it’s already pre-established that they are bad. People defend Silco more because he has unexpected traits that don’t go with his title, mainly good ones, and the opposite is also true with Vi.
rewatching this while waiting for season 2 after the teaser trailer came out, and once again - this is such a stellar analyis! I feel like there are a lot of people who see powder breaking down on her own as well as her not grieving after the explosion as her being "psycho", but it is so much more nuanced than that. I'm not sure if we know how old exactly powder is supposed to be, but she can't be older than 12. For such a young child to go through all of that (disregarding any trauma before that point) is tragic, and of course she wouldn't know how to deal with it. She is alone in both instances. And in the very first scene, Vi has Powder cover her eyes. Much like that, she doesn't look at the destruction an death she caused.
Arcane will go down in history as one of the best tragedies ever created. I think its success will spark a new wave of tragic story telling over the coming years which will bring a catharsis our society has been starved of for quite some time now.
I've watched way too many hours of both Arcane and non-Arcane video essays in my time, and I think this one is one of the best essays I've ever seen. I cannot even imagine the amount of hard work it took to brilliantly deliver such an impactful analysis, but I hope you know it definitely paid off. Watching this show with my own sister, I felt especially heartbroken by Vi and Jinx's story. The way you described their tragedy with ages old literary devices is so spot on. If I was an Arcane writer, I would be delighted to see such an amazing breakdown of my work.
Sidenote - I noticed after first watching this that you had done some She-ra video essays and that (along with the great fanarts I've come across) was the final push for me to watch the show. After binging it in its entirety in a couple days, I was so excited to return here to watch them. Needless to say, those too were (unsurprisingly) amazing. Thank you for sharing these amazing thoughts with us, and I can't wait to see whatever you talk about next.
I’ve been waiting for this, thank you!
This video is pure poetry.
This is incredible. Blown away by how well you weave the literary/plot analysis with the more psychological pieces around trauma. Learned so much! Especially liked the "both/and" analysis at the end.
And maybe this is a personal focus, but your analysis of Silco's harm of Jinx/Powder is refreshing and needed. No romanticizing, no fixating on one or two lines (like "you're perfect") while ignoring context. Just a great video!
One other thing I want to mention - Jinx's ending is definitely a tragedy, but I do think the writers intended us to feel some amount of success/closure/something with Jinx being the one to kill story's main villain. They take the story trope of a protagonist turned bad, but ultimately being the one to finally defeat the villain and add all the depth and layers. Rather than it just being good guy turns good again bad guy loses all is well, we actually see how years of trauma and abuse and harm affect her, and so even when she does choose her sister's life over Silco's and "frees" herself from her abuser, it's heartbreaking to watch.
glad you dug! thanks friend
@@Jaysil2Ya know.. it kinda reminds me of when Gamora personally tried to murder Thanos in Infinity War. She despised him and even relished in his despair later on, but in that moment, when she genuinely thought she killed him, she broke into tears. Even though Thanos was her abuser, part of her still loved him. It's the same with Jinx and Silco.
I really liked your words about Vi because so many people forget that she also lost everyone, she has her own trauma and her way to deal with it. ‘’He didn't make Jinx. You did’’ I glad Heard your conment about that because Jinx said it, it doesn’t mean is the truth.
I feel that Jinx doesn’t think or doesn’t matter that her stayed with Silco, it’s a kind of betrayal to her family, that silco is father for her that´s why Vi can’t accept her. There is certain similarity between this and jinx’s reaction about Cait. But Silco is the reason because they ended as they ended
Your words are so true. So many people speak about the 'choice' of Vi replacing Powder with Caitlyn, or at least in Jinx' mind (both because of her paranoia and years of lies with Silco and Sevika). But few point out that it took Powder/Jinx only 90 seconds (or close enough) to side with her family's killers and help them take over her home and spend every waking moment helping them build a drug empire on the graves of her family. Never once did she hold them accountable or offer a word of protest in the defence of the people who raised her. Instead she gladly kills anyone who stands in the way of her new 'family', like the firelights when they have trapped Silco's goons (2 of whom were there the night she lost her family).
When it comes to change I don't think Vi would mind her mental issues, most families would want to help someone like that. Vi wouldn't mind the fact that she can kill, others have done (she herself whenever she faces Silco's goons); but the fact that Jinx knows Silco destroyed her family and now she gladly helps him continue his work for a pat on the back from the monster who killed Vander, destroyed her family, took over her home and used every method to kill her..... that is a bit difficult to swallow for Vi. It certainly would be for me. I hope Vi goes on the offensive next season about this betrayal.
An hour long video about Arcane? One that breaks down the psychological core of the show? And that relates the story back to Greek tragedies? You guys are too good for this site
wait til u hear i have another arcane as greek tragedy script
@@5x5Takes lesss gooo
Wow. Simply wow. The tender beauty and intelligent depth with which this analysis is rendered fills my heart. Thank you.
ive binge watched every single arcane related essay on youtube and this one is so far the best. you nailed it
This video essay exceeded my expectation and is the best on this channel so far. Thank you so much for this deep dive! There are a few details I didn't catch, and this video made me appreciate Arcane even more.
Your way of telling is so soothing, you are able to summarize the story with such emotion and reflection I have tears in my eyes at the sad scenes even in this video
Powder also seems to show a lack of empathy first at her biological parents’ death, and then a lack of empathy at Claggor, Mylo, and Vander’s death… and she does look at Vander’s body. It is only after (both times) that she sees Vi’s horror and sadness that she has a reaction, but only that Vi is unhappy. She also does some violent tendencies, as before Vi leaves, Powder is building pipe bombs to kill enforcers… Silco cultivated both.
I don't think a child somewhere between the age of 6 to 9 would be able to process such a heavy concept that is death of parents, and I most certainly doubt she knew that Vander, Claggor, and Mylo were killed by her bomb so soon. I doubt you can discern the faces of people in the dark while fires are burning behind them...
I'm still in the middle of my Arcane brainrot and this definitely helped fuel it. This was so well done. From the application and explanation of the Greek story telling methods, to explaining the psychological journey and moments of both sisters, this was just incredible start to finish.
one of the best breakdowns of probably the greatest animated show of all time. well done!
Perfect timing! I just rewatched the entire series this week. So good. My lord, they really knocked this out of the park. There's literally not a single thing I can think of about the show that was anything but amazing. Love the break down, now to rewatch it with my husband!
This is one of the best and well detailed arcane analysis I’ve seen, you should be so proud of yourself for your insight and articulation, thank you for entertaining me for almost an hour at my boring job ❤️✨
This was amazing! Thank you for going through all that work to make it. I need to go watch the show again with all this new knowledge lol
the amount of times i have rewatched this video the past 6 months is slightly embarrassing but deserved!!!! i could rewatch this video a million times and never get sick of it! the pacing, the analysis, the extremely complimentary background music choices make this my top fave arcane essay video ever, you somehow made me fall in love with the story of these two sisters even more and i didn’t think it was possible. arcane is so damn good annd such a special piece of art (minus some criticism i have) and i’m so happy that this video essay exists ❤️
this warms my heart. i spent (as you can probably tell) an egregious amount of time and energy making this, so the fact that you’re enjoying it enough to comment this is all could i ask for. thank you!
This is the most beautiful analysis of Arcane that I've ever seen. It captures so many of the layers of nuanced details symbolism in the worldbuilding and characters that I missed.
I especially loved how you pointed out the duality between Silco and Ekko it's actually one of the dualities that stuck out to me the most that I hadn't really heard talked about before this video.
I really think that Ekko represents the ideal response to the trauma that oppressive structures inflict upon us.
He embodies something beautifully organic and egalitarian that is a ray of hope not only in the world of Arcane but also in our world.
I would love to live in a world modelled after Ekko's ideals one built not on absolutist hiearchy but solidarity and mutual aid oriented toward the collective fulfillment of all living things.
I fell deeply in love with Arcane after I first saw it. Since then, I've watched literally dozens of analysis videos about it and yours is the best one, hands down. Thank you so much for providing such an amazing content! I'd love to get more Arcane videos from you and, in particular, to see your take on Vi and Caitlyn's relationship.
I think this is my favourite Arcane video essay
we need to talk about the shera to arcane pipeline more often. ive watched arcane twice in the past 3 weeks, rewatched all of shera in 4 days and im still crying! favorite arcane fanfic so far is "first vice, last virtue" by cityseeker gotta find something to hold me over until the ... eventual season 2
Faith and the mayor comparison is great, makes so much sense
I watched Arcane for the first time last week and I wasn't expecting it to hit so hard
ive said this multiple times now and im sorry for spamming this comment section, but _goddamn_ your analysis is so fucking perfect. you talk about things which are usually glossed over or not acklowledged and you look at things from other perspectives and understand every single character SO WELL. i dont know how to proplerly express my feelings, just know that i love you and this channel.
this video is sooooo good and well-made I really hope it does well despite its length...
im watching it all though, it somehow manages to keep my attention the whole time.
It is so telling that everyone else is afraid of Jinx but Silco's biggest fear is Powder.
I went to a DBT treatment center for 2 years and i have to say that arcane does a great job of not only showing that everything is a gray area but also teaching the audience that one thing can be good but also bad. Very great video, i love the depth of arcane and you did such a great job talking about it all.
With your comment about Silco still living in on the bottom. I haven't seen anyone else specifically mention/address/discuss the similarities between Silco and Vi, so far. The moments in the show that made me look at this was for Silco, the chem baron scene emphasising his connection to Zaun through his ability to, and unphasedness for, breathing the air. Combined with Vi, when she first gets out and ditches Caitlyn to run free, she lands in the street, stands up and takes a deep breath in. It is a scene and action usually occurring in movies when people are free and breathing fresh air for the first time or for a while, yet for Vi she got this feeling from taking a deep breath of the air that many actively avoid and filter and most are striving to leave/avoid.
In the bit you discuss the firelight tree scene vs the chem baron scene, Ekko also values his identity as rooted in the undercity. The chem barons built a high green house filtering out the gases - rising above the undercity. Silco lives in the undercity. Ekko and the firelight created something new, down in the undercity, in the lanes. They didn't run away, but re built a home in their home. Even the hoverboards are optimised for the lanes - like Silco they don't want to be piltover, they want to be their own unique selves.
Wow, this is one of the best breakdowns I've seen. I just want to say thank you for exploring both of these characters with so much care and empathy.
This is seriously one of the best videos I've ever seen in my life, thank you so much
thank you! i worked very hard on it.
you know it’s a good day when Five By Five Takes uploads
wow. wowowow. I'm blown away. This is honestly the first one of these that actually expanded my understanding and appreciation for this show in a meaningful way. Amazing work. A lot about these characters has really clicked for me now, thank you.
What a beautiful essay, thank you. This adds another level to my appreciation of Arcane.
I truly hope that they keep to this way of storytelling. I've heard people wanting more of League's lore incorporated, and while I get the sentiment, I don't want Arcane watered down by too much "outside noise". That being said, I'm very confident in the production team to continue how they started.
really wish it had more views because your work(s) deserve it
SUBSCRIBED.
I watch an unhealthy amount of pop media essays, and you are instantly one of my favourites. Your insight and articulation are up there with the best of them, and there were multiple times in this video where I felt absolutely *seen* by how you explained observations that I had felt while watching the show but couldn't begin to convey, and hadn't heard anyone else pick up on or properly describe. On a personal note part of this is because Jinx's story and the way it's told wrenched up and named a lot of old, core trauma for me, and in your dissection of her trauma you actually revealed some of my own cognitive blind spots and gave me some tools for healing I didn't have before. But don't let that colour my praise, you're also just objectively damn good.
If you've read this far, thank you, really. ...But I actually have a question that I'd love to hear your thoughts on in particular.
Does the first season of Arcane work as a complete story, beginning to end? Going in blind, not knowing that some characters would have to live and some would have to die, and viewing it as a story in isolation, I thought the ending was perfect. A lot of people call it a cliffhanger, but I don't feel like any of the truly important questions are left unanswered. The conflict between the cities was the setting more than the focus of the story, and the questions of who survives and what they do next really has little bearing on the themes and events that came before.
It feels like maybe some people are calling it a cliffhanger not because their questions were unanswered, but because they're waiting for better answers. Which makes me sound like a salty GoT cast member but what I mean is that 'heroes win, everyone goes home' is so ingrained in most media that if the heroes don't win, it creates an instinctual expectation of another act where things will turn around.
Does any of this have merit? Do you think it stands without a second season? Even if you don't reply, you are amazing for reading all of this. Thank you again, for your time and your content. 🌟
istg i cried because of how much i love this video. your takes are always the best, this absolutely shattered me but thats a good thing cause you _get_ these characters and their story.
I have watched alot of commentary about Arcane and this is among the most intelligent
I love your analysis, I met you with she-ra, and you're just getting better at this, I'm not even a native English speaker, but I love your videos, and it totally worth the try of understanding everything that your saying, not only for the language barrier, but for the deep thoughts you're throwing at me! Thanks for giving us such a piece of Analysis, and plsssss never stop
Just wanted to say I thought this video was awesome, you inspired me to watch She-Ra through your videos and it was so fun to watch your analysis of something I had already enjoyed :)
the part when you mention about how physical their affection was just puts more emphasis on how traumatizing vi hitting powder must have, how it was even more of a betrayal
This is so amazing! I love your videos, they really make me think about and empathize with the characters
This was the very best of the various video essays I've watched about this show. Well done.
I still believe the last thing silco says to jinx he definitely meant like he really did love her as his own, i mean he literally goes to his brothers statue and talks with him. Silco is a more complex character then just evil manipulator
absolutely!
This is without question one of the best video essay I have ever had the pleasure of watching. Bravo!
GOD I wish I could like this video multiple times! You're one of the first Arcane analyzers I've watched who hasn't glorified Silco in some way... I completely agree that though he did care about Jinx, that love often bordered on obsession and was largely self-serving. Whether he was manipulating her intentionally or not (probably both), he said a lot of fucked up things to her throughout the show that would harm anyone psychically, especially someone as mentally/emotionally vulnerable as Jinx. 10/10, would watch again
Replying to myself because I am ~That Bitch (tm)~: I also wanted to add an extra thank-you for describing pain as something to be accepted and acknowledged!!! In the tea party scene, SO MANY analyses I've watched (and the comments underneath) have been all about how Vi trying to get Jinx to remember her past is hurting her, and how "Silco was just trying to protect his daughter from feeling pain uwu," but my immediate gut reaction has always been that yes, she is in pain, but if she ever wants to move forward and get unstuck, she has to confront that pain from her past. Vi was encouraging her to really face that discomfort, in a desperate attempt to get her back. Maybe that did end up triggering a panic attack or PTSD episode, but I also think it can be read as Jinx finally being encouraged (begged, even) by her older sister to try and remember who she once was. Yes, she is no longer the little girl that Vi remembers, but she isn't a whole new person. Contrary to what the name change suggests, Powder and Jinx *are* the same person, and to try to "kill" Powder is invariably going to be extremely damaging. You can't remove a part of yourself.
Powder has never really been dead, despite Jinx saying she "fell down a well" (really haunting imagery there), she's just been repressed and/or buried somewhere in Jinx's mind this whole time. When Vi tries to essentially unbury Powder, Silco tries to stop this from happening by shooting Vi. Even after all his talk about killing your past self, I think Silco knows on some level that Jinx could unearth this part of herself, and he can't allow that to happen under any circumstances. He can't lose Jinx, the daughter he so carefully constructed for himself, to Powder and Vi, who he sees as enemies.
Sorry for the ramble lol. Anyway that's just me,
TL;DR: Pain sometimes necessary, Vi did a good thing at the tea party (maybe)
@@edenpk8541 I mean, can't both those things be true? He WAS trying to calm her, when Vi's worse seemed to be torturing her. He did this out of love. But also, he doesn't want to lose her.
Aaaand VI might have been trying to force her to face the past, also out of love - but she's also refusing to face the reality of Jinx and wants that littel girl back. Like, they're both fucked up and selfish AND they both love her AND they're both trying to do what they think she needs AND they're both insufficient.
I absolutely believe that he was trying to help her. I mean, he was saying what he thought would protect her and help her move forward into a life of self-acceptance. his unquestioning embrace of Jinx did calm her more than her sister insisting only only remembering the little girl and rejecting the new woman, or Vi's reciting all the names of the dead and sending her into torment. He was right. But like, nobody in their situation could be healthy or free of trauma and of course he was projecting all his intense betrayal shit onto her as this video points out. His love of her is inherently burdened by all the things he's projecting -and of course, he's passing on his own trauma. cycles, cycles of love and violence.
This is one of the best video analisis I've ever seen, incredible work!
im saving this video for times when i feel angry about people completely destroying vi and jinx's relationship with their atrocious takes so i can feel some peace.
Bloody brilliant and comprehensive analysis of "Arcane". So many details I missed, and I thought I caught a fair bit on my watch.
This video was good!✨ I usually don't watch this long videos unless it's many videos in one video. If the topic is arcane I seem to be able to watch really long videos🌹🔥
As someone with BPD, who's gone through alot of past trauma... I find Jinx deeply intriguing and relatable. I've cried many, many times watching Arcane. The writing is just so well done.
OMG i loved this video so much.
Your essay using the greek tragedy , psychological research to explain the psyche of characters , got me hooked to watch it without any interruptions.
But when you made a reference to Buffy , i fell in love with it and i appreciate the effort ok making such a perfect writing about one of my favorite series , and pointing at stuff i didnt realize.
I expect your video and channel get more likes and views because is dell deserved.
Love and hugs from México
Bruh this is such a good video, your analysis is so so so amazing, I can’t even fully articulate how good this video was
I love SILCO and forever refuse to believe that his last words were any form of manipulation. As evil as he may have been or as manipulative with Jinx as he "was seen", he genuinely loved her. His love for her was even greater than his love for his dream (E.g. Thanos loved Gamora but killed her for his dream as heart-breaking as it may have been.) Silco is an "evil" person so everything he does goes through that negative filter and is warped into something more sinister like his love appears to be MANIPULATIVE. I think Silco is both a terrible dad and an awesome dad; he reinforces Jinx's harmful tendencies but also reassure her and cares for her (greatest example is when SAVIKA advices him on his relationship with Jinx.)
I see Silco as someone who has 2 great love; his dream & his daughter. At times the two doesn't go well together but he always strives for harmony between the two and as such appears to be manipulative. Throughout the show I always seen Silco's hate for Vi (and the fact he tries to kill her after act1) to be caused by the fear that she will take his daughter from him and as any jealous person he tries to undermine VI and twist all she does but again he is an "evil guy" so it is to an even greater degree.
As for his dream of Zaun; I fully support his "Base Violence necessary for change" alas his violence is absolutely more than the minimum necessary like how he uses shimmer on his own people he is supposely building a nation for. Silco is a big hypocrite on that.
manipulation isn’t always conscious. he definitely felt sincere love in that moment
Just got around to binging this show and thought it was incredible. This was a fantastic deep dive; thanks for putting it together.
Been waiting for this one . .
Just so everyone knows, what Jinx feels most of the time is what people with Borderline Personality Disorder go through. I feel connected to Vi and Jinx for me personally being beaten by my mother and her lie to everyone around us while I was growing up that the marks weren’t from her… physical and mental scarring from 4-26. You can also develop copes similar to both Vi and Jinx when you are gaslit and lied to on top of stress, physically abusing someone weaker or less in the power position of control of the situation. Over correction at its finest. Thank you for posting 💗