Yeah as someone who loved episode 7 originally, Ive slowly realized overtime how bad Ekko’s character arc is in season 2. He should’ve been present to witness Vi with Cait and the enforcers flooding her own people with the grey, it would’ve created great conflict (and have them actually interact at all), especially since Vi in season 1 tried to convince Ekko that Caitlyn was different from the others. But instead of this, The Anomaly Appears 😦 and does freaky magic shit. Honestly, I feel The Anomaly perfectly encapsulates everything wrong with season 2, the interaction between Ekko and Jayce about the unequal treatment between Piltover and Zuan only to get suddenly course shifted by some random magic shenanigans perfectly drives home this point. You could almost see The Anomaly as the writers themselves honestly.
After meeting AU Power, Ekko has a crush on Jinx, the one who was complicit in the murders of a number of his FireLight friends, and believes she can change and become a good person. That's like if Gwen Stacy from Across the Spiderverse met evil AU (Prowler) Miles Morales and began to hate Spider-Man Miles Morales cuz she thought that he was going to become a villain
Bad comparisons aside (BTSV isn't even out yet, we have no idea where Prowler Miles lies on the moral spectrum), I think you're underestimating how much falling in love again with an AU version of someone you know is gonna change your perception of them. That's without mentioning that he was already hesitant to kill her in Season 1 when Powder slipped out for a few seconds, so imagine the impact a couple days with her would have on him. It's easy to subconsciously justify murder when you know that the person responsible still has some good left inside of them. A lot of people call Ekko the only true hero of Arcane, but the reality is that he gave in to his heart as soon as he prioritised finding Jinx above everything else as soon as he left the AU. "Love is blind" and all of that. Psychotic behaviour and murder aren't exceptions to that principle.
@ My point is that Ekko was too blinded by his feelings to care about Jinx having murdered his fellow Firelights in the past. Contrary to popular belief he was not a selfless hero through and through, this was the one time he gave in to his heart (though in the end it turned out for the better)
@finixmoon127 it's crazy to think that the leader of the Firelights could just stop caring about murder of the friends they went to war with, who were probably family to them, just cuz he had a prom dance with a blue haired girl. I wonder how easy it would be for me to want to date the girl who murders my best friend and make her my wife
They turned Ekko into a blank slate "cool" wish fulfillment character for the teenage boy audience to project themselves in. I guess it's my fault for thinking this was a show for adults.
Ekko, what happened to you man? What happened to the guy who was built up to be the new leader of the undercity? The line of his "its not enough to give people what they need to survive, you have to give them what they need to live" is so iconic!!! He clearly knows where Vander failed and has shown in both seasons the potential to be a great leader. We could have also gotten more scenes with him, Vi and Cait, and seeing his and Heimerdingers reaction to Jinx killing silco and blowing up the Council, Ekko's reaction to Vi becoming an enforcer, Cait gassing Zaun, Cait becoming a dictator, Jinx becoming a symbol, Vander/Warwick, etc. But nope nows its all bout Jinx. Now heres the thing, I dont mind them spending more time exploring Ekko and Powder/Jinx relationship, hell that was the biggest criticism I had of season 1 in that theyre relationship is never really explored at all. They dont even have one scene together where it just the two of them talking, tinkering, etc. Hell Ekko and Claggor got a scene together(nothing against my boy Claggor but I wouldve prefer it be Powder). Its kinda why the scene and music video of the two on the bridge while done very well and conveys what it needs to, doesnt hold alot of emotional weight cuz up til that point theyre practically strangers to the viewers. But either way its clear Ekko (and possibly Jinx as well) still care about each other to some degree so exploring their past relationship and possibly rebuilding their friendship was something I wasnt against. Too bad we didnt get that. The show writers said multiple times that they planned to have multiple scenes of the two in season 2 and explore how they became enemies. We dont explore them becoming enemies and we dont get multiple scenes of the two. Instead we get one scene of the two together (the same amount of season 1) and a meaningless AU episode that doesnt do anything for Ekko or Powder/Jinx, and yet this is suppose to count as development for the two. Overton even said that the reason that they didnt include scene after Ekko stops Jinx from killing herself is because it would be too similar to ep7. BULL!! FUCKING!! SHIT!! AU Powder wasnt the one who accidentally killed her family and was seemingly abandoned by Vi!! AU Powder didnt join Silco and become his enemy and kill many of his fellow Firelights!! AU Powder didnt kill Silco, blow up the Council, adopt (and later lose) a mute girl, and become a symbol for Zaun!! That not even going into checking with the Firelights and their reaction to him being alive, their reaction to Jinx joining forces with Sevika and the rest of Zaun, learning what Sevika was doing during that time and her hearing about Iaha, mourning Heimerdinger and rallying Zaun to fight even though most of them initially didnt want to!!! Also as many have said Ekko should still hold resentment for Jinx for all the bad stuff she did to him and the Firelights so him saving her makes little sense. Now if they actually spend some time at all together like Ekko seeing Jinx becoming a symbol for Zaun and seeing her help people and free people from Stillwater, or have the both of them get transported to the AU and they use that time to reconnect and talk about things then maybe it could work. And dont even get me started on that Enemy music video or Amandas Overton explanation of what happened between Ekko and Jinx during the timeskip. On second thought please do Im looking foward to shitting on that as well.
Exactly if they wanted to develop and create a relationship with jinx and ekko they should have had them interact throughout the season , ekko should see how jinx is changing to justify him saving her later, address their issues with eachother and rekindle their bond and rally zaun together and do what Vander and silco couldn't , instead we got a fan service episode and ekko saving jinx from suicide off screen and all of a sudden they are locked together elbow to elbow as if they haven't been trying to kill eachother for years we got the beginning and end point of a potential romance but they completely left out the most important part the middle.
Perfect comment. Now that you said it Ekko doesn’t even have a scene with her even when she’s young, that’s crazy lol. I know there’s the ennemy music video and all but they’re material outside the show. A majority of people will overlook it. The viewers doesn’t know about their friendship, they shouldn’t expect people to get it when there’s so little of it in the show. Maybe they thought it would have overshadowed Jinx relationship with Vi (which is wild if they thought it would have) or just it would have showed how bad Vi is when it comes to understand Jinx compared to Ekko… The Funniest part is that it’s exactly what they’ve done in the end. Even if the Parellel Universe doesn’t make sense.
An extension of the issue with Ekko's characterisation in season 2 means that the firelights have absolutely nothing to do in the season, which makes their entire purpose in the show pointless. The firelights were such a cool concept in the first season, an entity separate from the feud between Piltover and Zaun fighting for change. Then they end the season with Heimendinger paring up with Ekko and it just cemented an amazing foundation for season 2, having the man who oversaw the oppression of Zaun teaming up with the most moral character to help fix it. But then they don't do anything with this. Heimendinger and Ekko get shafted for 6 episodes, and all we see of the firelights is the purple creature guy teaming up with Sevika and Jinx (who they were at war with the last season and had killed multiple firelights) in some attempted revolution that goes nowhere. Why set up the firelights in season 1 if you aren't going to do anything with them in season 2?
Another level to this that I think is extra sad is that the Ekko of League of Legends had quite a lot of story of his own. He had parents, Wyeth and Inna, and one of the most moving short stories in the League canon ("Lullaby") concerned his relationship with them. He had his spinoff game, Convergence. He had a canonical supporting cast, characters like Arjuna Lem, Shomi, Kay, Aximander, etc, the Lost Children of Zaun, who appeared across multiple short stories, comics, were even referenced in his ingame teaser trailer ("Seconds"). All of that is gone, wiped away by Arcane Is The New Canon retcon. He had one voice line referencing a past crush on Jinx ("before you started talking to the gun"), and that's the entire basis of their connection prior to Arcane. They don't ever interact except for a boss fight in Convergence where his dialogue to her is, I shit you not, "We interact a perfect amount Jinx - never!" Arcane Ekko, his parents are gone, his supporting cast is replaced by the Firelights, who are awesome, but only Scar gets a name or personality, and his whole plotline with his community and the tree and the undercity gets thrown away so he can be a Last Minute Love Interest for ...alternate universe Powder? Not even Our Jinx, with whom he exchanges maybe 5 lines across the course of the entire show, being generous. Boy am I tired of being screamed at for saying they didn't hook up offscreen 😂and if we're supposed to assume they did, that's even worse. The Ekko of League of Legends got almost completely wiped away for the sake of The Ship.
It's not even his arc for me. He's just a stand up dude. He accidentally ruined everything and did everything to make it right and never took the easy way out.
Thank you for saying this out loud! I've said a few times before that Ekko's character became a love interest, and based on what the writers say about the possible Ekko/Jinx spinoff, his character will forever remain Jinx's love interest from now on. Even the sudden, paired skins show that. Sad that such nuanced and interesting characters from season one all became fan service for the shippers. I have zero problems with shipping until the writers start that too, because that always ruins every good show/character... I also don't really like that Ekko needed TWO people to help him build his Z-drive (so that they can show the romantic split screen working together with Powder in full harmony scene). In his original lore, he is a literal child genius and he builds his time winder from just hex crystal dust completely on his own. They dumbed him down in every aspect possible :(
I was initially actually kind of impressed by the decision to have Ekko reject Powder's kiss, only for it to dive right in to Wonder Woman 1984 level creepiness. Actually worse than WW84, because at least there only 1 person was being violated instead of 2. Overall it just feels pretty childish to me for the show to have a character this season that does literally nothing wrong, saves the day multiple times, and gets a full episode dedicated to him and his AU waifu. So of course he's most Arcane fans' favorite.
It's not childish to have a character that does nothing wrong necessarily (and on that note, Jinx did nothing wrong in this season either, despite essentially being a terrorist before and having every reason to go all out). The problem in Season 2 is that the writing for all of the other character makes them difficult to like, causing their mistakes to be more noticeable and unlikable. You're right about everything else though.
I agree he wasn't given more screentime, which he deserved. Season 2 was truly rushed, and the show's focus was on the relationship between the two sisters. Episode 7 was a pivotal point for both Ekko and Jayce. It gave them reasons to fight for their universe. But it was NOT fan service-focused. You clearly see Ekko avoiding AU Powder at the beginning. When he goes back, there's a time skip. He doesn't go directly to Jinx, you can see he wasn't using his jacket when he got to her. Also, it's just the hype about him "saving" the world. If you watch the last episode, Ekko didn't actually save the world. He gave a better chance for Jayce to persuade Viktor to stop the madness.
If they HAD to go with AU shit, Ekko and Heimer shouldn't've been in the same universe. Each universe should have been something important to show the character. Heimer should've been tempted by a world without hextech, but decides to leave it by inventing hextech so he can save the people he cares about. Jayce needed to be shown the consequences of directionless altruism in the form of a world where hextech causes disaster. Of ALL the things to do for Ekko, having him randomly have a waifu has literally nothing to do with who he was in S1. If anything however, this wasn't a good thing to do for Ekko as we know him anyway, because what exactly has Ekko done wrong? Nothing. Ekko hasn't made any serious mistakes, he's only ever been moral and tried to do his best, and he's succeeded without making any severe mistake. In order to warrant giving Ekko a lesson in an AU, the season first needed to establish what exact character flaw Ekko has that needs addressing. But... they didn't do that. They pretended they had something to address by having Ekko say he's "'given up" on Zaun, but that's outright not true. He's the only one who DIDN'T give up after Silco took control and started bribing the Enforcers. So, there's no lesson that Ekko needs to be shown, he's just a bystander to the whole AU theme teaching characters lessons they need to be taught. And of course, writing Ekko the way they did in e7 subsequently causes him to behave immorally and idiotically, in essence reversing his values he had in S1. They could have solved this in many ways, like perhaps making it so he's half our Ekko but half the AU Ekko, so he has memories of both characters simultaneously or something, which would then justify the romance with Powder, because AU Ekko would be consenting. But in that case, our Ekko should NOT be consenting. But I'm off in the weeds now; it's just all so frustrating how easy it could've been to write this all so much better.
thank you for roasting arcane s2, like literally you put every single thought I had while watching that season finale into words. We know Ekko is cool and we all love him but I can't disagree the season finale reduced him to fanservice and spiderverse references or something. Like really his whole thing with Jinx wasn't even asked for, how can you hold a crush for someone that killed many of your friends and even tried to make you explode LOL'?? Like for real episode 7 was cool looking and we were all so pity for Ekko but I wasn't buying a second of it, I was waiting for something else entirely fr...
Ekko is exist only when he’s physically on screen when he’s not he doesn’t exist. I think episode 7 would be more digestible for some if they decided to show us the aftermath of Jinx's suicidal attempts after being prevented by Ekko. The fact that they offscreen that shows that they didn’t care that much for his character in the first place. It’s like he’s been reudced to an extension of Jinx character. That’s horrible. Plus by doing this they offscreened Jinx’s last character arc lol. I should have seen that coming when they told us that a scene of him trying to "rescue" Powder from Silco because he thought he was being held hostage by him was deleted in season 1. Powder told him that she was named Jinx and didn’t wanted to be saved, she slapped him when he tried to take her out. This is where the name "Boy Savior" comes. This nickname is not supposed to be positive because Jinx mocks him. I guess this scene being left off isn’t bad since we got a good intro of him and the firelights in season 1 and the fight on the bridge with Jinx. (Although the context of "the Boy Savior" is misinterpreted somehow) Not showing the aftermath makes his scenes with episode 7 fall a flat. Even though Ekko has forgiven Jinx with the help of his experience in the Parallel Universe, she's still part of his trauma. She's done things that a majority wouldn't condone, so maybe seeing the two overcome their past tense trough discussion and finally pick up their relationship where it left off would have brought it full circle. But they didn’t bother so why was the point ? Did they forgot that he is a leader? That he need to take care of his people? That his universe have A TON of hextexh gem that can lead to the creation of his Z-Drive? That Jinx already exists in his universe? idk, if they wanted to show him that Jinx isn’t the bad person he thought she became well, idk, let him discuss with her, let him see Isha and try to reconnect in some way, i don’t think it’s impossible to not do something about it. Ennemies to lover is a popular trope. Silco is dead, There's nothing stopping him to talk to her… Oh seems like they forgot about it. I ship both (I’m guilty of it, sorry) but that doesn’t mean i want a good and comprehensive story. Ep 7 isn’t even real like this is not what i expected or wanted for these character relationships. This parallel universe Powder isn’t the one he knows, so it doesn’t apply to Jinx. I can see why they think it does but they lived different experiences at a certain point of their lives. They were definitely teasing it but i got a trap instead of a great story. And now people are putting him these montage with Miles Morales and Gwen Stancy maaaaaan… i didn’t ask for this, we didn’t ask for this. His old lore didn’t die for this. Ekko is my fav character and i was very frustrated and angry when i didn't see him in act 2. he deserved WAY better. The thing is that he doesn’t really work in the narrative which Arcane is trying to tell since he is basically shown as the "exception to the rule". For exemple if he stayed in the Main Universe, the Firelight wouldn’t have participated in the Jinxers revolution and would’ve probably talk Sevika out of it in some way. So they put him in an episode somewhat "disconnected" from the plot which can be considered as "filler". Although saying the ""mini-character growth"" they gave him (and Jayce's one too) means redicing it to filler to. He already doesnt have a lot of screentime so yeah it's a mess. I guess there’s still hope for his character since it’s been confirmed that his Z-Drive was a prototype, not the main thing and that they wanted to show us the potential of the character in the last episode, at least it worked. (It’s said on an Netflix article about the Making of the show). We will probably see him again in some way in this big animated universe they’re trying to make. Cope i know, but it is what it is.
All right, so the surface level explanations for some of the questions in this video. Ekko somehow teleports straight to jinx, this is cause the device they built was in that exact same location in the other world. The bigger issue is simply the perfect timing. As for Ekko & Powder, it's probably just because he got to know her for months, and even with all the trauma from jinx, that's a lot of time he's working with to stay locked in when the happy ending version of his once best friend is living right next to him. According to bonus content in the LoL client, after he grabbed jinx he went straight back to his people and had a meeting about saving piltover, probably after being given the rundown by scar or something. Complaints still stand, but im just not a fan of critiques using open ended questions with easy answers yet not answering them to emphasize flaws. Answering those plot choices and showing why even then theyre still bad is more preferable imo.
I've watched all your videos and just agree with everything you said. But this one... this one hurts especially brutally, man. Ekko went from being the future of Zaun to a simp. It broke my heart to see, I'm still not over it. What they did to other characters angers me to no end and makes me breath fire, but this one - this offends me on a deep personal level. The only other character assassination that offends me to this extent is Silco. These two make my blood boil.
Now I actually agree on the point of Heimerdinger and Ekko's tree being forgotten. Although we do know Ekko's people are doing okay through animation since we see them again we don't know what happened to the tree so i agree on those two points. The rest of your points however are just looking at stuff from a very surface level and ignoring alot of complexity and nuances.
awww Ekko was the chosen one!!! He was the Jon Snow of Arcane. Since I did not buy his relationship with Jinx or AU_Powder for a second, I mostly ignored it... so if you cut the hormonal teenage shipping out, Ekko wasn't much in season 2 at all. He goes from the boy who wants to save his tree to boy who saves the world. It's a big jump and rather random but I feel it's in character for him. He would save the world, I just wish it meant something. To me, it's just insane that Ekko and Victor didn't have a single conversation. Ekko became a plot point, and sure they dummed him down, BUT at least they didn't manage to destroy his character from season 1, cause they showed so little of him and the blanks were so big you basically had to write the story for him in your own head...
It's beside the point of this video topic, but I still don't understand why they thought Heimerdinger needed to die in ep 7. I'm meant to believe he finished that whole machine and couldn't figure out a way to get that last cable plugged in nonlethally? I assume they just thought the rest of the story would be cleaner without him in it, but ... I don't really see why. It's not like he has superpowers that could've changed the stakes of the final battle or anything. And it wasn't an Isha situation where they needed the characters close to him to feel something, because they literally don't.
He didn't die lol Yordles are immortal. I agree that it's annoying they didn't explain that in Arcane so it kinda just looks like he disintegrates but just to let you know.
@finixmoon127 I feel like S2 really heavily implies that Smeech dies, in a way where we should imagine him as being permanently dead, so I don't know what to think
Him occupying the body of another ekko and kissing a powder that isnt his and isnt aware of the fact that he is another person really solodified some things for me: the writers and fandom have no idea what love and morality are. And they have a fundamental misunderstanding pf every character one of them being ekko
I still like how it ended regardless of how they handled Season 2 and trust me I can nit pick the HELL out of it. One of the things I did like was Ekko finding out that Powder could've been different changed his very grounded perspective and it took an event that was un-grounded and into absurdism to cause him to realize more about how he can go about things and I just love it.
Excited to see if you will make a video on Viktor, and what criticisms will you have to say about him, to me he is one of the best characters of season 2 even though he has flaws
@@The_Fridger_CZ I’m definitely going too in do time . He’s a really tricky one for me to work on because both his growth and downfall are so complex .
@ no no haha I’m saving him jinx and silco for last because I think those 3 were particularly destroyed . I honestly thought the writers were going to have a lot of great stuff to say about viktor and it ended up being an absolute disgrace
I don't like ships with Jinx because I think if they make a ship with her, it will just ruin the essence of her character. Jinx is such a unique and complex individual, shaped by her trauma, chaos, and struggle with her identity. Forcing a romantic relationship into her story would feel unnecessary and out of place. It’s frustrating how so many shows and movies rely on love as the ‘magic solution’ or default subplot-it’s overdone and often undermines characters who are already strong and interesting on their own. Jinx doesn’t need a romance to be compelling; her story stands out because of her independence and unique perspective. And I really don’t think we will get a romance between Jinx and Ekko because their relationship is deeply scarred by their shared past, pain, and opposing ideals-JINX LITERALLY KILLED PEOPLE EKKO LOVED. Ekko embodies hope and rebuilding, while Jinx is consumed by chaos and her own inner struggle, making a romantic relationship inconsistent with their narrative development. (I don’t see Jinx having any romantic interest in anyone.)
To be honest I disagree other than dating Powder being unethical, his story is believable bc we didn't see much of him in Season 1 Since he knows Powder's hideout.. he decided to drop by it to find out what's there in his world I think Ekko spawned at the Hexcore thingy underground where he dissapeared.. thought about if he tried enough to reconcile with his traumatised friend.. I'm assuming he realised Powder/Jinx liked to help people so he saw her as anoher child who needs to be rescued by the Firelights Since he's been watching what she and Silco are up to I'm sure he recognises some patterns.. I think people like Ekko alot bc his story is one of the few that actually still work in Season 2? Just my opinion.. I think the Firelights accepting Jinx was foreshadowed by bat guy nodding to Sevika after Jinx saved them randomly lol.. so pacing for the Firelights is still shit but Ekko still works
I see alot of comments about what should've happened.. and people are describing a completely different turn of events? To be honest.. that's weird bc that's what fanfiction is right? 😂
After watching Castlevania Nocturne Season 2, I've come to realise why it's better than Arcane Season 2. It's because it doesn't overcrowd the show with characters. Yes, we get new characters, but they don't overstay their welcome. The story is simple and wraps every current arc and story beat for a fresh season 3, all while hinting at what could happen next with Old Man Coyote.
The show neeed three seasons 😅. Or it should have eneded in a cliffhanger. Now...I am basic I did love ep 7 bc...I am a shipper. BUT I get your point. I feel like characters who didn't have a conclusive ending is because we are coming back to these characters....The issue is it takes 3 to 4 damn years per season. Even though i am confident we will see Ekko again...It'll be a damn near decade.
If only they had the budget for another season, and the desire to actually make one. Maybe they did, or maybe not, maybe it was up to Riot and they wanted to push other shows out faster; Regardless, time is the issue. Funny for someone who is all about time. Season 1 only gave Ekko a few scenes, he had a ton more screentime in Season 2, but ironically, they had even LESS time to work with him in Season 2, because of the role he needed to play. I don't think Ekko betrays his character. He remains true to it, all the way through. Arcane didn't kill Ekko, it only failed to explore his character properly, a mistake they make many, many times. A mistake they had to make, because giving him more time = less time for everything else. That's why he was absent from the first few episodes. But, his character was already shown and built up in Season 1 very well. And he is not a main character, he was never meant to be, wasn't in Season 1, and was barely in Season 2. As for everything you said about S02 EP07, you have a few points, and very good points at that. I can go on to say that there is evidence both for and against the AU Powder and Ekko being together, and also both for and against AU Powder being aware this wasn't "her" Ekko, she is shown both starting to understand who he is and also sad that he might be leaving, indicating she didn't understand it truly, but I don't think this body-snatcher thing is entirely horrible either way. It wasn't Ekko's choice, she tried to kiss him first / she didn't know, he also couldn't bring himself to tell her, et cetera. Yes, the episode is very weak in some crucial aspects, and can easily come apart, not to forge to mention that it points us in different directions, and so people can arrive at all sorts of conclusions. But as much as I too wanted to hate it, I can see the art in every frame. There was a vision behind this episode, and it truly might be the best episode overall when it comes to leaving hints and utilizing visual storytelling. And yes, Powder is a different person in the AU, but genetically 100% the same as main timeline Powder, and very much the person Powder could have become. A people person, a people pleaser, someone who will spend themselves helping and being there for others, a kind, gentle, innocent, pure-hearted person, so saying that just because she's different it doesn't make any sense for it to mean anything is flat out wrong, and I disagree with that entirely. Ekko saw the Powder that could've been, had it not been for all the tragedy she went through, and that's what he needed to see in order to try and reach out to her and save her. You could call it cheap, throwing a perfect universe at him so he'd stop Jinx from killing herself and set up their team up, but I think if he was shown there was still a bit of Powder left in her, he would've tried again regardless. Yes, she killed his friends, and they would never end up together, but I believe he would've found the power to forgive. That wasn't just what Silco told him, Ekko had that in him the whole time. On the bridge, if she hadn't pulled the pin, I find it very unlikely he would've continued beating to death. As for why he entertained the whole thing, he didn't even know they were gonna dance. And then it was a momentary thing, he saw the ghost of the person his childhood friend could've been, a person that was the second most important person in his life back then, and he wanted to dance with her. There is absolutely no reasoning behind him rejecting that. A few minutes or hours wont make a difference, and by the way, he didn't even know the AU Ekko was still alive, or would even return. For all he knew, he would just go back to his universe with that body, like he traveled from his own, into AU Ekko's body. It's entirely possible he refused to think about that because it would mean he killed his alternative self, et cetera. It's possible. And as for your last point, yeah, it does make sense. The Firelights forgive her way too easily, they should be hating her guts because she killed 5 of them, and they are not a mere gang, but a family. Ekko forgiving her is one thing, but them forgiving her is another thing entirely. However, they needed her for the final fight. It was on a need basis, and not like they'd let her live with them afterward. Jinx was one of the strongest fighters in Zaun. By the way, he could've gone back to the Firelights. He doesn't have his coat on when he meets her; He had it when he was leaving in the AU, going back to his own body, and he wore the coat back then. Therefore, he took it off, likely because it was warmer, and then made his way on foot to her lair, because he knew where it was. Or rather, assumed it was the place to look for her, given that her genetic clone (AU Powder) had her own place there. It was his best bet. I believe he did check on the Firelights first, that makes the most sense. The real question is how he managed to get out of the Hexgate room, THAT is the unrealistic part. He could've also "spawned" right next to Jinx, because he exited the AU in her lair. However, then where is his coat? That's another issue. Anyways this comment is way too long, and I don't wanna write a book so I'll stop here. I personally love that episode, but ever since I first watched it, I realized there are things that could be interpereted as very, very bad, and borderline horrific/terrifying if you think about it long enough. Still, I don't think they wanted us to, not for this episode, that ironically has the most depth out of any other. I just wish they gave us 3 seasons man. Arcane had the potential to become the greatest TV show in the history of mankind, period. Instead, we got a masterpiece of a season 1, and a flawed 9/10 for Season 2, that we keep now picking apart because the perfection of season 1 can't be matched. But it could have been. If they only split it into 3 seasons, 6 acts, 18 episodes, and gave us a proper story. Origins, Zaun and Piltover conflict, Glorious Evolution. Ah well. Let's hope Iron and Chains can live up to Arcane at least, if not maybe surpass it! (I highly doubt that latter part, but we'll see)
Aside from episode 7 alternate universe being one of the worst things i have ever watched, ekko's device isn't really useful, the writers want u to think it is and shove it in there bc they didn't think about the power system Thourogly. Ekko's device is pointless bc Viktor was already going yo be inside jayce's gead anyway, he is shown to have access to people's minds sometimes even without touching them! So Ekko is inserted there bc the writers forgot about Viktor's powers and wanted to give ekko something to do to please his fans.
This really feels like the opposite experience of Arcane S1 where any analysis I saw afterwards made my appreciation go up and up
@@LISA.WANG. 🥲
writers literally forgot he exists until they needed his powers for a couple of cool shots
Yeah as someone who loved episode 7 originally, Ive slowly realized overtime how bad Ekko’s character arc is in season 2. He should’ve been present to witness Vi with Cait and the enforcers flooding her own people with the grey, it would’ve created great conflict (and have them actually interact at all), especially since Vi in season 1 tried to convince Ekko that Caitlyn was different from the others. But instead of this, The Anomaly Appears 😦 and does freaky magic shit.
Honestly, I feel The Anomaly perfectly encapsulates everything wrong with season 2, the interaction between Ekko and Jayce about the unequal treatment between Piltover and Zuan only to get suddenly course shifted by some random magic shenanigans perfectly drives home this point. You could almost see The Anomaly as the writers themselves honestly.
They didn’t wanted Ekko to talk his shit to Cait and Vi, unfortunately.
After meeting AU Power, Ekko has a crush on Jinx, the one who was complicit in the murders of a number of his FireLight friends, and believes she can change and become a good person. That's like if Gwen Stacy from Across the Spiderverse met evil AU (Prowler) Miles Morales and began to hate Spider-Man Miles Morales cuz she thought that he was going to become a villain
Bad comparisons aside (BTSV isn't even out yet, we have no idea where Prowler Miles lies on the moral spectrum), I think you're underestimating how much falling in love again with an AU version of someone you know is gonna change your perception of them. That's without mentioning that he was already hesitant to kill her in Season 1 when Powder slipped out for a few seconds, so imagine the impact a couple days with her would have on him. It's easy to subconsciously justify murder when you know that the person responsible still has some good left inside of them. A lot of people call Ekko the only true hero of Arcane, but the reality is that he gave in to his heart as soon as he prioritised finding Jinx above everything else as soon as he left the AU. "Love is blind" and all of that. Psychotic behaviour and murder aren't exceptions to that principle.
@finixmoon127 I'm not reading all that. I don't think you need to put a near essay in a RUclips comment. Just give your points straightforward
@ My point is that Ekko was too blinded by his feelings to care about Jinx having murdered his fellow Firelights in the past. Contrary to popular belief he was not a selfless hero through and through, this was the one time he gave in to his heart (though in the end it turned out for the better)
@@BestLife-i4v It wasn't even that long...
@finixmoon127 it's crazy to think that the leader of the Firelights could just stop caring about murder of the friends they went to war with, who were probably family to them, just cuz he had a prom dance with a blue haired girl. I wonder how easy it would be for me to want to date the girl who murders my best friend and make her my wife
They turned Ekko into a blank slate "cool" wish fulfillment character for the teenage boy audience to project themselves in. I guess it's my fault for thinking this was a show for adults.
Ekko, what happened to you man? What happened to the guy who was built up to be the new leader of the undercity? The line of his "its not enough to give people what they need to survive, you have to give them what they need to live" is so iconic!!! He clearly knows where Vander failed and has shown in both seasons the potential to be a great leader. We could have also gotten more scenes with him, Vi and Cait, and seeing his and Heimerdingers reaction to Jinx killing silco and blowing up the Council, Ekko's reaction to Vi becoming an enforcer, Cait gassing Zaun, Cait becoming a dictator, Jinx becoming a symbol, Vander/Warwick, etc. But nope nows its all bout Jinx.
Now heres the thing, I dont mind them spending more time exploring Ekko and Powder/Jinx relationship, hell that was the biggest criticism I had of season 1 in that theyre relationship is never really explored at all. They dont even have one scene together where it just the two of them talking, tinkering, etc. Hell Ekko and Claggor got a scene together(nothing against my boy Claggor but I wouldve prefer it be Powder). Its kinda why the scene and music video of the two on the bridge while done very well and conveys what it needs to, doesnt hold alot of emotional weight cuz up til that point theyre practically strangers to the viewers. But either way its clear Ekko (and possibly Jinx as well) still care about each other to some degree so exploring their past relationship and possibly rebuilding their friendship was something I wasnt against. Too bad we didnt get that.
The show writers said multiple times that they planned to have multiple scenes of the two in season 2 and explore how they became enemies. We dont explore them becoming enemies and we dont get multiple scenes of the two.
Instead we get one scene of the two together (the same amount of season 1) and a meaningless AU episode that doesnt do anything for Ekko or Powder/Jinx, and yet this is suppose to count as development for the two. Overton even said that the reason that they didnt include scene after Ekko stops Jinx from killing herself is because it would be too similar to ep7.
BULL!! FUCKING!! SHIT!! AU Powder wasnt the one who accidentally killed her family and was seemingly abandoned by Vi!! AU Powder didnt join Silco and become his enemy and kill many of his fellow Firelights!! AU Powder didnt kill Silco, blow up the Council, adopt (and later lose) a mute girl, and become a symbol for Zaun!! That not even going into checking with the Firelights and their reaction to him being alive, their reaction to Jinx joining forces with Sevika and the rest of Zaun, learning what Sevika was doing during that time and her hearing about Iaha, mourning Heimerdinger and rallying Zaun to fight even though most of them initially didnt want to!!!
Also as many have said Ekko should still hold resentment for Jinx for all the bad stuff she did to him and the Firelights so him saving her makes little sense. Now if they actually spend some time at all together like Ekko seeing Jinx becoming a symbol for Zaun and seeing her help people and free people from Stillwater, or have the both of them get transported to the AU and they use that time to reconnect and talk about things then maybe it could work.
And dont even get me started on that Enemy music video or Amandas Overton explanation of what happened between Ekko and Jinx during the timeskip. On second thought please do Im looking foward to shitting on that as well.
😭 god tier comment
@@Constantine_James 😅Thanks lol but wait til we get to Powder/Jinx and her relationship with Vi. I got a good feeling thats gonna be my masterpiece.
@ in due time I promise .
Exactly if they wanted to develop and create a relationship with jinx and ekko they should have had them interact throughout the season , ekko should see how jinx is changing to justify him saving her later, address their issues with eachother and rekindle their bond and rally zaun together and do what Vander and silco couldn't , instead we got a fan service episode and ekko saving jinx from suicide off screen and all of a sudden they are locked together elbow to elbow as if they haven't been trying to kill eachother for years we got the beginning and end point of a potential romance but they completely left out the most important part the middle.
Perfect comment.
Now that you said it Ekko doesn’t even have a scene with her even when she’s young, that’s crazy lol. I know there’s the ennemy music video and all but they’re material outside the show. A majority of people will overlook it. The viewers doesn’t know about their friendship, they shouldn’t expect people to get it when there’s so little of it in the show.
Maybe they thought it would have overshadowed Jinx relationship with Vi (which is wild if they thought it would have) or just it would have showed how bad Vi is when it comes to understand Jinx compared to Ekko…
The Funniest part is that it’s exactly what they’ve done in the end. Even if the Parellel Universe doesn’t make sense.
An extension of the issue with Ekko's characterisation in season 2 means that the firelights have absolutely nothing to do in the season, which makes their entire purpose in the show pointless. The firelights were such a cool concept in the first season, an entity separate from the feud between Piltover and Zaun fighting for change. Then they end the season with Heimendinger paring up with Ekko and it just cemented an amazing foundation for season 2, having the man who oversaw the oppression of Zaun teaming up with the most moral character to help fix it.
But then they don't do anything with this. Heimendinger and Ekko get shafted for 6 episodes, and all we see of the firelights is the purple creature guy teaming up with Sevika and Jinx (who they were at war with the last season and had killed multiple firelights) in some attempted revolution that goes nowhere. Why set up the firelights in season 1 if you aren't going to do anything with them in season 2?
Another level to this that I think is extra sad is that the Ekko of League of Legends had quite a lot of story of his own.
He had parents, Wyeth and Inna, and one of the most moving short stories in the League canon ("Lullaby") concerned his relationship with them.
He had his spinoff game, Convergence. He had a canonical supporting cast, characters like Arjuna Lem, Shomi, Kay, Aximander, etc, the Lost Children of Zaun, who appeared across multiple short stories, comics, were even referenced in his ingame teaser trailer ("Seconds").
All of that is gone, wiped away by Arcane Is The New Canon retcon.
He had one voice line referencing a past crush on Jinx ("before you started talking to the gun"), and that's the entire basis of their connection prior to Arcane. They don't ever interact except for a boss fight in Convergence where his dialogue to her is, I shit you not, "We interact a perfect amount Jinx - never!"
Arcane Ekko, his parents are gone, his supporting cast is replaced by the Firelights, who are awesome, but only Scar gets a name or personality, and his whole plotline with his community and the tree and the undercity gets thrown away so he can be a Last Minute Love Interest for ...alternate universe Powder?
Not even Our Jinx, with whom he exchanges maybe 5 lines across the course of the entire show, being generous.
Boy am I tired of being screamed at for saying they didn't hook up offscreen 😂and if we're supposed to assume they did, that's even worse.
The Ekko of League of Legends got almost completely wiped away for the sake of The Ship.
It's not even his arc for me. He's just a stand up dude. He accidentally ruined everything and did everything to make it right and never took the easy way out.
Thank you for saying this out loud! I've said a few times before that Ekko's character became a love interest, and based on what the writers say about the possible Ekko/Jinx spinoff, his character will forever remain Jinx's love interest from now on. Even the sudden, paired skins show that. Sad that such nuanced and interesting characters from season one all became fan service for the shippers. I have zero problems with shipping until the writers start that too, because that always ruins every good show/character... I also don't really like that Ekko needed TWO people to help him build his Z-drive (so that they can show the romantic split screen working together with Powder in full harmony scene). In his original lore, he is a literal child genius and he builds his time winder from just hex crystal dust completely on his own. They dumbed him down in every aspect possible :(
I was initially actually kind of impressed by the decision to have Ekko reject Powder's kiss, only for it to dive right in to Wonder Woman 1984 level creepiness. Actually worse than WW84, because at least there only 1 person was being violated instead of 2.
Overall it just feels pretty childish to me for the show to have a character this season that does literally nothing wrong, saves the day multiple times, and gets a full episode dedicated to him and his AU waifu. So of course he's most Arcane fans' favorite.
It's not childish to have a character that does nothing wrong necessarily (and on that note, Jinx did nothing wrong in this season either, despite essentially being a terrorist before and having every reason to go all out). The problem in Season 2 is that the writing for all of the other character makes them difficult to like, causing their mistakes to be more noticeable and unlikable.
You're right about everything else though.
I agree he wasn't given more screentime, which he deserved. Season 2 was truly rushed, and the show's focus was on the relationship between the two sisters. Episode 7 was a pivotal point for both Ekko and Jayce. It gave them reasons to fight for their universe. But it was NOT fan service-focused. You clearly see Ekko avoiding AU Powder at the beginning. When he goes back, there's a time skip. He doesn't go directly to Jinx, you can see he wasn't using his jacket when he got to her. Also, it's just the hype about him "saving" the world. If you watch the last episode, Ekko didn't actually save the world. He gave a better chance for Jayce to persuade Viktor to stop the madness.
If they HAD to go with AU shit, Ekko and Heimer shouldn't've been in the same universe. Each universe should have been something important to show the character. Heimer should've been tempted by a world without hextech, but decides to leave it by inventing hextech so he can save the people he cares about. Jayce needed to be shown the consequences of directionless altruism in the form of a world where hextech causes disaster. Of ALL the things to do for Ekko, having him randomly have a waifu has literally nothing to do with who he was in S1.
If anything however, this wasn't a good thing to do for Ekko as we know him anyway, because what exactly has Ekko done wrong? Nothing. Ekko hasn't made any serious mistakes, he's only ever been moral and tried to do his best, and he's succeeded without making any severe mistake. In order to warrant giving Ekko a lesson in an AU, the season first needed to establish what exact character flaw Ekko has that needs addressing. But... they didn't do that. They pretended they had something to address by having Ekko say he's "'given up" on Zaun, but that's outright not true. He's the only one who DIDN'T give up after Silco took control and started bribing the Enforcers. So, there's no lesson that Ekko needs to be shown, he's just a bystander to the whole AU theme teaching characters lessons they need to be taught.
And of course, writing Ekko the way they did in e7 subsequently causes him to behave immorally and idiotically, in essence reversing his values he had in S1. They could have solved this in many ways, like perhaps making it so he's half our Ekko but half the AU Ekko, so he has memories of both characters simultaneously or something, which would then justify the romance with Powder, because AU Ekko would be consenting. But in that case, our Ekko should NOT be consenting. But I'm off in the weeds now; it's just all so frustrating how easy it could've been to write this all so much better.
thank you for roasting arcane s2, like literally you put every single thought I had while watching that season finale into words. We know Ekko is cool and we all love him but I can't disagree the season finale reduced him to fanservice and spiderverse references or something. Like really his whole thing with Jinx wasn't even asked for, how can you hold a crush for someone that killed many of your friends and even tried to make you explode LOL'?? Like for real episode 7 was cool looking and we were all so pity for Ekko but I wasn't buying a second of it, I was waiting for something else entirely fr...
Ekko is exist only when he’s physically on screen when he’s not he doesn’t exist.
I think episode 7 would be more digestible for some if they decided to show us the aftermath of Jinx's suicidal attempts after being prevented by Ekko. The fact that they offscreen that shows that they didn’t care that much for his character in the first place. It’s like he’s been reudced to an extension of Jinx character. That’s horrible. Plus by doing this they offscreened Jinx’s last character arc lol.
I should have seen that coming when they told us that a scene of him trying to "rescue" Powder from Silco because he thought he was being held hostage by him was deleted in season 1. Powder told him that she was named Jinx and didn’t wanted to be saved, she slapped him when he tried to take her out. This is where the name "Boy Savior" comes. This nickname is not supposed to be positive because Jinx mocks him. I guess this scene being left off isn’t bad since we got a good intro of him and the firelights in season 1 and the fight on the bridge with Jinx. (Although the context of "the Boy Savior" is misinterpreted somehow)
Not showing the aftermath makes his scenes with episode 7 fall a flat. Even though Ekko has forgiven Jinx with the help of his experience in the Parallel Universe, she's still part of his trauma. She's done things that a majority wouldn't condone, so maybe seeing the two overcome their past tense trough discussion and finally pick up their relationship where it left off would have brought it full circle. But they didn’t bother so why was the point ? Did they forgot that he is a leader? That he need to take care of his people? That his universe have A TON of hextexh gem that can lead to the creation of his Z-Drive? That Jinx already exists in his universe? idk, if they wanted to show him that Jinx isn’t the bad person he thought she became well, idk, let him discuss with her, let him see Isha and try to reconnect in some way, i don’t think it’s impossible to not do something about it. Ennemies to lover is a popular trope. Silco is dead, There's nothing stopping him to talk to her… Oh seems like they forgot about it.
I ship both (I’m guilty of it, sorry) but that doesn’t mean i want a good and comprehensive story. Ep 7 isn’t even real like this is not what i expected or wanted for these character relationships. This parallel universe Powder isn’t the one he knows, so it doesn’t apply to Jinx. I can see why they think it does but they lived different experiences at a certain point of their lives. They were definitely teasing it but i got a trap instead of a great story. And now people are putting him these montage with Miles Morales and Gwen Stancy maaaaaan… i didn’t ask for this, we didn’t ask for this. His old lore didn’t die for this.
Ekko is my fav character and i was very frustrated and angry when i didn't see him in act 2. he deserved WAY better. The thing is that he doesn’t really work in the narrative which Arcane is trying to tell since he is basically shown as the "exception to the rule". For exemple if he stayed in the Main Universe, the Firelight wouldn’t have participated in the Jinxers revolution and would’ve probably talk Sevika out of it in some way. So they put him in an episode somewhat "disconnected" from the plot which can be considered as "filler". Although saying the ""mini-character growth"" they gave him (and Jayce's one too) means redicing it to filler to. He already doesnt have a lot of screentime so yeah it's a mess.
I guess there’s still hope for his character since it’s been confirmed that his Z-Drive was a prototype, not the main thing and that they wanted to show us the potential of the character in the last episode, at least it worked. (It’s said on an Netflix article about the Making of the show). We will probably see him again in some way in this big animated universe they’re trying to make. Cope i know, but it is what it is.
All right, so the surface level explanations for some of the questions in this video. Ekko somehow teleports straight to jinx, this is cause the device they built was in that exact same location in the other world. The bigger issue is simply the perfect timing.
As for Ekko & Powder, it's probably just because he got to know her for months, and even with all the trauma from jinx, that's a lot of time he's working with to stay locked in when the happy ending version of his once best friend is living right next to him.
According to bonus content in the LoL client, after he grabbed jinx he went straight back to his people and had a meeting about saving piltover, probably after being given the rundown by scar or something.
Complaints still stand, but im just not a fan of critiques using open ended questions with easy answers yet not answering them to emphasize flaws. Answering those plot choices and showing why even then theyre still bad is more preferable imo.
I've watched all your videos and just agree with everything you said. But this one... this one hurts especially brutally, man. Ekko went from being the future of Zaun to a simp. It broke my heart to see, I'm still not over it. What they did to other characters angers me to no end and makes me breath fire, but this one - this offends me on a deep personal level. The only other character assassination that offends me to this extent is Silco. These two make my blood boil.
I just turn off my brain and enjoy the trainwreck when I watch ep 7.
Now I actually agree on the point of Heimerdinger and Ekko's tree being forgotten.
Although we do know Ekko's people are doing okay through animation since we see them again we don't know what happened to the tree so i agree on those two points.
The rest of your points however are just looking at stuff from a very surface level and ignoring alot of complexity and nuances.
FOR REAL they butchered my favourite boy 😭
awww Ekko was the chosen one!!! He was the Jon Snow of Arcane. Since I did not buy his relationship with Jinx or AU_Powder for a second, I mostly ignored it... so if you cut the hormonal teenage shipping out, Ekko wasn't much in season 2 at all. He goes from the boy who wants to save his tree to boy who saves the world. It's a big jump and rather random but I feel it's in character for him. He would save the world, I just wish it meant something. To me, it's just insane that Ekko and Victor didn't have a single conversation. Ekko became a plot point, and sure they dummed him down, BUT at least they didn't manage to destroy his character from season 1, cause they showed so little of him and the blanks were so big you basically had to write the story for him in your own head...
It's beside the point of this video topic, but I still don't understand why they thought Heimerdinger needed to die in ep 7. I'm meant to believe he finished that whole machine and couldn't figure out a way to get that last cable plugged in nonlethally? I assume they just thought the rest of the story would be cleaner without him in it, but ... I don't really see why. It's not like he has superpowers that could've changed the stakes of the final battle or anything. And it wasn't an Isha situation where they needed the characters close to him to feel something, because they literally don't.
He didn't die lol Yordles are immortal. I agree that it's annoying they didn't explain that in Arcane so it kinda just looks like he disintegrates but just to let you know.
@finixmoon127 I feel like S2 really heavily implies that Smeech dies, in a way where we should imagine him as being permanently dead, so I don't know what to think
Him occupying the body of another ekko and kissing a powder that isnt his and isnt aware of the fact that he is another person really solodified some things for me: the writers and fandom have no idea what love and morality are. And they have a fundamental misunderstanding pf every character one of them being ekko
I still like how it ended regardless of how they handled Season 2 and trust me I can nit pick the HELL out of it. One of the things I did like was Ekko finding out that Powder could've been different changed his very grounded perspective and it took an event that was un-grounded and into absurdism to cause him to realize more about how he can go about things and I just love it.
Excited to see if you will make a video on Viktor, and what criticisms will you have to say about him, to me he is one of the best characters of season 2 even though he has flaws
@@The_Fridger_CZ I’m definitely going too in do time . He’s a really tricky one for me to work on because both his growth and downfall are so complex .
@@Constantine_JamesSo you don't think Viktor's character was "ruined" or "killed"
@RsaRsa-d7b oh no it very much is . It’s so bad in fact that I’m gonna need to take a lot of time to make the video .
@@Constantine_James Oh well that's more consistent from you.
I thought for a minute the one replying wasn't you.
@ no no haha I’m saving him jinx and silco for last because I think those 3 were particularly destroyed . I honestly thought the writers were going to have a lot of great stuff to say about viktor and it ended up being an absolute disgrace
I don't like ships with Jinx because I think if they make a ship with her, it will just ruin the essence of her character. Jinx is such a unique and complex individual, shaped by her trauma, chaos, and struggle with her identity. Forcing a romantic relationship into her story would feel unnecessary and out of place. It’s frustrating how so many shows and movies rely on love as the ‘magic solution’ or default subplot-it’s overdone and often undermines characters who are already strong and interesting on their own.
Jinx doesn’t need a romance to be compelling; her story stands out because of her independence and unique perspective. And I really don’t think we will get a romance between Jinx and Ekko because their relationship is deeply scarred by their shared past, pain, and opposing ideals-JINX LITERALLY KILLED PEOPLE EKKO LOVED. Ekko embodies hope and rebuilding, while Jinx is consumed by chaos and her own inner struggle, making a romantic relationship inconsistent with their narrative development. (I don’t see Jinx having any romantic interest in anyone.)
To be honest I disagree other than dating Powder being unethical, his story is believable bc we didn't see much of him in Season 1
Since he knows Powder's hideout.. he decided to drop by it to find out what's there in his world
I think Ekko spawned at the Hexcore thingy underground where he dissapeared.. thought about if he tried enough to reconcile with his traumatised friend.. I'm assuming he realised Powder/Jinx liked to help people so he saw her as anoher child who needs to be rescued by the Firelights
Since he's been watching what she and Silco are up to I'm sure he recognises some patterns.. I think people like Ekko alot bc his story is one of the few that actually still work in Season 2?
Just my opinion.. I think the Firelights accepting Jinx was foreshadowed by bat guy nodding to Sevika after Jinx saved them randomly lol.. so pacing for the Firelights is still shit but Ekko still works
I see alot of comments about what should've happened.. and people are describing a completely different turn of events?
To be honest.. that's weird bc that's what fanfiction is right? 😂
i disagree about _everything_ but thats my opinion good vid and ıt does sound weird when you say it like that
After watching Castlevania Nocturne Season 2, I've come to realise why it's better than Arcane Season 2. It's because it doesn't overcrowd the show with characters. Yes, we get new characters, but they don't overstay their welcome. The story is simple and wraps every current arc and story beat for a fresh season 3, all while hinting at what could happen next with Old Man Coyote.
I will never watch another video game adaptation
The show neeed three seasons 😅. Or it should have eneded in a cliffhanger. Now...I am basic I did love ep 7 bc...I am a shipper. BUT I get your point. I feel like characters who didn't have a conclusive ending is because we are coming back to these characters....The issue is it takes 3 to 4 damn years per season. Even though i am confident we will see Ekko again...It'll be a damn near decade.
Finally!! Someone said it
bills can't be this high
@emubeatbox3733 I haven’t made a single scent from yt 😭
Cent *^^
@@Constantine_James u might if u keep posting at your rate
If only they had the budget for another season, and the desire to actually make one. Maybe they did, or maybe not, maybe it was up to Riot and they wanted to push other shows out faster; Regardless, time is the issue. Funny for someone who is all about time. Season 1 only gave Ekko a few scenes, he had a ton more screentime in Season 2, but ironically, they had even LESS time to work with him in Season 2, because of the role he needed to play.
I don't think Ekko betrays his character. He remains true to it, all the way through. Arcane didn't kill Ekko, it only failed to explore his character properly, a mistake they make many, many times. A mistake they had to make, because giving him more time = less time for everything else. That's why he was absent from the first few episodes. But, his character was already shown and built up in Season 1 very well. And he is not a main character, he was never meant to be, wasn't in Season 1, and was barely in Season 2.
As for everything you said about S02 EP07, you have a few points, and very good points at that. I can go on to say that there is evidence both for and against the AU Powder and Ekko being together, and also both for and against AU Powder being aware this wasn't "her" Ekko, she is shown both starting to understand who he is and also sad that he might be leaving, indicating she didn't understand it truly, but I don't think this body-snatcher thing is entirely horrible either way. It wasn't Ekko's choice, she tried to kiss him first / she didn't know, he also couldn't bring himself to tell her, et cetera.
Yes, the episode is very weak in some crucial aspects, and can easily come apart, not to forge to mention that it points us in different directions, and so people can arrive at all sorts of conclusions. But as much as I too wanted to hate it, I can see the art in every frame. There was a vision behind this episode, and it truly might be the best episode overall when it comes to leaving hints and utilizing visual storytelling.
And yes, Powder is a different person in the AU, but genetically 100% the same as main timeline Powder, and very much the person Powder could have become. A people person, a people pleaser, someone who will spend themselves helping and being there for others, a kind, gentle, innocent, pure-hearted person, so saying that just because she's different it doesn't make any sense for it to mean anything is flat out wrong, and I disagree with that entirely.
Ekko saw the Powder that could've been, had it not been for all the tragedy she went through, and that's what he needed to see in order to try and reach out to her and save her. You could call it cheap, throwing a perfect universe at him so he'd stop Jinx from killing herself and set up their team up, but I think if he was shown there was still a bit of Powder left in her, he would've tried again regardless. Yes, she killed his friends, and they would never end up together, but I believe he would've found the power to forgive. That wasn't just what Silco told him, Ekko had that in him the whole time. On the bridge, if she hadn't pulled the pin, I find it very unlikely he would've continued beating to death.
As for why he entertained the whole thing, he didn't even know they were gonna dance. And then it was a momentary thing, he saw the ghost of the person his childhood friend could've been, a person that was the second most important person in his life back then, and he wanted to dance with her. There is absolutely no reasoning behind him rejecting that. A few minutes or hours wont make a difference, and by the way, he didn't even know the AU Ekko was still alive, or would even return. For all he knew, he would just go back to his universe with that body, like he traveled from his own, into AU Ekko's body. It's entirely possible he refused to think about that because it would mean he killed his alternative self, et cetera. It's possible.
And as for your last point, yeah, it does make sense. The Firelights forgive her way too easily, they should be hating her guts because she killed 5 of them, and they are not a mere gang, but a family. Ekko forgiving her is one thing, but them forgiving her is another thing entirely. However, they needed her for the final fight. It was on a need basis, and not like they'd let her live with them afterward. Jinx was one of the strongest fighters in Zaun.
By the way, he could've gone back to the Firelights. He doesn't have his coat on when he meets her; He had it when he was leaving in the AU, going back to his own body, and he wore the coat back then. Therefore, he took it off, likely because it was warmer, and then made his way on foot to her lair, because he knew where it was. Or rather, assumed it was the place to look for her, given that her genetic clone (AU Powder) had her own place there. It was his best bet. I believe he did check on the Firelights first, that makes the most sense. The real question is how he managed to get out of the Hexgate room, THAT is the unrealistic part.
He could've also "spawned" right next to Jinx, because he exited the AU in her lair. However, then where is his coat? That's another issue.
Anyways this comment is way too long, and I don't wanna write a book so I'll stop here. I personally love that episode, but ever since I first watched it, I realized there are things that could be interpereted as very, very bad, and borderline horrific/terrifying if you think about it long enough. Still, I don't think they wanted us to, not for this episode, that ironically has the most depth out of any other. I just wish they gave us 3 seasons man.
Arcane had the potential to become the greatest TV show in the history of mankind, period. Instead, we got a masterpiece of a season 1, and a flawed 9/10 for Season 2, that we keep now picking apart because the perfection of season 1 can't be matched. But it could have been. If they only split it into 3 seasons, 6 acts, 18 episodes, and gave us a proper story. Origins, Zaun and Piltover conflict, Glorious Evolution.
Ah well. Let's hope Iron and Chains can live up to Arcane at least, if not maybe surpass it! (I highly doubt that latter part, but we'll see)
What happened to the game I love man...
False savior , what a title !!!
The worse part is: it's accurate
ick...
Aside from episode 7 alternate universe being one of the worst things i have ever watched, ekko's device isn't really useful, the writers want u to think it is and shove it in there bc they didn't think about the power system Thourogly.
Ekko's device is pointless bc Viktor was already going yo be inside jayce's gead anyway, he is shown to have access to people's minds sometimes even without touching them! So Ekko is inserted there bc the writers forgot about Viktor's powers and wanted to give ekko something to do to please his fans.