Arcane 1x06 - Edited & Full

The way they animate Powder/Jinx's mental issues is amazing. It really helps understand her better.

Phew, what a heart-wrenching ending of act 2. Once again Vi was taken away from Powder/Jinx, once again Powder/Jinx was left behind, feeling abandoned. The little girl in the flashback, who is looking at young Viktor is Sky, his and Jayce's lab-assistant. She has apparently a crush on him since their childhood days in the undercity, but never had the courage to tell him. But it inspired her to follow his footsteps right into the academy of Piltover. Who knows how much it had cost her to ask him to walk home together with her in the last epsiode, only to be turned down by him. He only seems to live for his work. And now that his time is drastically shortened, even more so. Until this morning Jayce was Mel's useful toy, her second vote in the council (the old councillor being the third) and her way to more power, wealth and - I assume 😉 - great sex. Now he shows his vulnerability and to her surprise, she is touched by it. She seems to develop feelings for him as well and opens up to him a bit. Jayce was always attracted to her, right from their first real meeting that night at the academy. Jinx get's her drink in the same cup she used as a child, from the same kind of bottle we saw Vander pouring her a drink. She get's it with a straw, just like from Vander. She even sits in the same spot. Oh these little moments where Powder shines through. The more I learn about Jinx, the more it breaks my heart. Vi didn't lead Cait to the water tower so they can escape Silcos goons. She is severly wounded and since she learned that her little sister is with Silco now she lost all hope. She let Cait help her get to her old childhood home - to die. She wanted her end to be in a familiar place with happier memories. Her determination to follow her initial plan only comes back after the potion healed her and rekindled her spirits. Did you notice the little moment between the girls after Cait gave Vi the potion? The look from Caitlyn lingering on Vis eyes and Vis alternating look between Caits eyes and her lips? Cait noticed that moment too, she got flustered and quickly changed the subject. Such a fantastically detailed animation - real life actors couldn't have played it better...😍 This show is so wonderfully written, directed and edited. They're so commited to visual storytelling, that every single picture tells far more than just the dialogue, if there is any at all. My favourite example for this is the opening sequence of the first episode, where you can practically hear the whole dialogue in your head without the characters saying a single word. This is a gold mine for every attentive viewer. If you would re-watch the season another 3 or 4 times, you would still discover new details and story elements...😊 DETAIL: When Vi regaines conciousness, she sees her mother and little Powder looking at her, and her mother calling her name, but with Caitlyns voice. Caitlyn traded her gun! Her custom-made gun she had since she was old enough to hold a gun (as you could see in the painting in the second episode). It was pretty much an extension of herself and she traded it for medicine for Vi without any hesitation...❤️ The whole sequence from the water tower to the end of the episode was just brilliant. It was tragic, moving, heartbreaking and so extremely well done. Vi finally worked together with Caitlyn, she saw her trying to bring the water tower down and picked up on it instead of fighting against Silcos shimmer monsters. I got goosebumps when Jinx used the flare she got all those years ago from Vi. The music! The tormented ghosts of Mylo and Clagger on Jinx' back! "Are you real?" were the most heartbreaking words I've heard since episode three. Vi and Powder didn't get the chance to really reunite - when Caitlyn entered the scene Sevikas words took full effect and turned Jinx immediatly against her. Of course it didn't help that Caitlyn indeed is an enforcer, the ultimate enemy from Jinx' point of view. The attack of the firelights then ended all attempts to talk. I don't see Heimerdinger as the "poor professor". Kicking him out of the council seems a bit much, but what choice did Jayce have? I guess Heimerdinger has seen terrible things that happend because of the (mis)use of magic and that fear lead him to do nothing and suppressing the research of magic - much like Vanders fear for the safety of his adopted children prevented him from fighting against the topside and turned the people to Silco. I am with Jayce on that matter, Heimerdingers inactions widened the rift between Piltover and Zaun. And he threatened to destroy the hexcore. That is nothing but a death sentence for Viktor. Should Jayce stand aside and watch his best friend die, while they have the technology to highly likely prevent that? Heimerdinger also never answers one of the questions Jayce and Viktor ask him. He always deflects and changes the subject.

This is a great episode. The scene with Jinx holding up the blue smoke with that amazing music playing never fails to give me goose bumps. Also, you are right about the expectations of the scene. I expected some kind of clash, but what we got was so much more interesting. We got a tearful and supportive reunion, followed by the realization by Vi of how much her sister has changed, Both Powder and Jinx are in there and it is fascinating to see which direction she will go.