Arcane 1x09 Edited & Full

What a great finale. I cannot help but weep for Powder and love Jinx at the same time. She's so broken, yet so amazing.

Thoughts Part 2: The sunset behind Jayce and Silco negotiating was just beautiful and symbolic at the same time: The sun goes down on both leaders and the cities they reign as we knew them. First it seems that Silco has the upper hand and maintaines an aura of superiority, but you see his eye slide when Jayce mentions Jinx. From this moment on, the dominance changes to Jayce and when Jayce said: "Get me Jinx and I give you your nation of Zaun", I couldn't help but thinking that just like that, he checkmated Silco. No matter what Silco will do now, he will lose. Silcos monologue at Vanders statue is one of the strongest moments of the entire show. Finally he understood Vander and made peace with him. Oh the pain of Jinx hearing those words from her father, you can see it in her shimmer eyes. She didn't get that he does not want to give her up, she took his words literal. 🙈 It mirrors the scene from episode one, where she overhears Mylos and Vis conversation, but leaves hurt and sad, before she could hear that her sister was actually defending her. Once again she comes to the wrong conclusion. Then Vi could talk with her about it and repair the damage, now it has fatal consequences. DETAIL: In the shot where the Vander statue is seen in full size and Silco sits in front of it, you can see a bit of Jinx' head behind Vanders shoulder, before it is revealed that she is there. It even moves slightly. DETAIL: In the close up, when Silco poors a drink for Vander, you can see that someone scratched Ekkos name into the base of the statue (my guess is, it was the young Ekko himself). The final confrontation of the sisters went so different from what I expected and it was so so heartbreaking. 💔😭 DETAIL: The little music box with the sparklers is the "real Valdiani" Powder stole from Jayce in episode 1. She must have put it in one of the pockets on her belt, instead of the backpack with the rest of the haul. 😍 Jinx is wrong and right at the same time. Despite what she believes, Vi - and I can't emphasize this enough - did NOT make Jinx, Powder made Jinx. Jinx was born that fateful day when two little girls went on a battlefield to look for their parents, she was just kept at bay as long as there was someone there for Powder who loved and protected her. Vi layed the ground though for Jinx to grow, by reacting the wrong way in a key moment. Don't get me wrong, I don't blame Vi for reacting the way she did at that moment at all, it just had awful consequences. That and her "inner" Vi that helped Jinx to survive, lead her to the conclusion that Vi created her. 😨😭 The one time I was on Silcos side is when he desperately tries to stop Vi from torturing her sister by calling the names of her past. Vi can't know, but she triggers trauma after trauma and it tortures Jinx so much. For Vi these names are mostly connected with positive memories, but for Jinx it is just painful. Thats why he tries to shoot Vi, because he sees the pain it causes Jinx. It had the desired effect though, it prevented Jinx from killing Caitlyn. 😱😭 After killing Silco, you can see the exact moment where Jinx chooses to embrace Jinx and let Powder go. You can see the lights go out in her eyes and hear the voices in her head vanish. Not only did she kill her second (and most important) fatherfigure, it was also because of her shooting at the Mylo mannequin, that the glass got in reach of Caitlyn and gave her the opportunity to free herself and let the situation escalate. She fully believes now, that she actually is... a jinx. 😭😨🙈

Thoughts Part 1: As has been said before, now imagine you have to wait three years to know how they solved the cliffhanger...😅🙈 "Jayce ... did not think a lot for himself..." - Yeah, that's exactly why Mel chose him initially, he is moldable (see my comment under the last episode). She just didn't reckon with developing feelings for him. Even now - Viktor says "We must end it" and Jayce goes off and tries to end it...🤔 You're in good company - a lot of people liked Silco. His character is so fascinating, he is one of the best, most complex written villains I've ever seen. I myself wouldn't say I liked him - he is and stays the villain who did horrible things after all - but you can always see where he is coming from and why he thinks he is doing a good thing for his people here...😊 All these (impossible) choices the characters had to face in this episode: Vi - Kill Caitlyn or you won't get Powder back. Silco - Protect Jinx or give her up and get the nation of Zaun. Viktor - Die or stay alive, but lose yourself. Mel Medarda - Let a war unfold and return to your family with a new weapon technology or stay loyal to Piltover (and Jayce) and try to save the cities. Jinx - Be Powder or be Jinx. Jayce - Negotiate peace with Silco or start a war and be responsible for everything that arises from the decision, including the deaths of lots of innocent people on both sides. Viktor claimed that there is always a choice and technically he is right, but this episode showed that if the consequences of the given choices are too severe, than there is no real choice: Vi - She would never ever kill Caitlyn and even if she did, she never would have gotten Powder back. Silco - He likewise would never ever give Jinx up, the only thing he was always true about was his paternal love of Jinx. Jinx - She had locked what was left of Powder deep inside her. Even though she decided to embrace Jinx, there has never been a way for her to be Powder again. 😭 Viktor - He lost his will to fight for his life the moment he saw the prize others had to pay for it. Mel - She never forgot how her mother treated her and was hugely disappointed when she only reached out to benefit from her daughters success, not to mention Mels feelings for Jayce. Jayce - He saw first hand several times the costs of war and finally realised that would not be an option. As I guessed, mother Medarda has a serious war of her own coming and tries to get weaponized hextech from her daughter. 🤔 "In the pursuit of great, we failed to do good." 💖 What a great line and so true. When Viktor asked Jayce to destroy "it", Jayce looks at his hammer and nods - while Viktor was talking about the Hexcore. For the first time, seeing it's negative aspects, they get a feeling why Heimerdinger was so adamant about leaving the Arcane alone. Viktor by losing Sky and turning into some kind of hextech-human mixture, Jayce by seeing what harm an army with hextech weapons could cause to the people of the undercity. Did you see the extreme relief on Silcos face? He wasn't sure whose side Sevika would take at all. Thats why he appealed to her. He may have looked at Finn, but his words about loyalty were clearly meant for Sevika. Her decision pro Silco was not that big surprise for me though. As Finn said, there are bigger fishes out there, but it was pretty clear he wasn't one of them. She told Silco as much when she said: "Not for a worm like him, but there will be others." She puts pressure on him to finally do what he promised or she will be gone. I can't exactly put a finger on it why I somehow like Sevika, but I actually do. Maybe it is her no-nonsense badass attitude. And she is the only one able to fight Vi at eye-level. 🤔😄

Three years. That's how long it was. 3. Years.

Great episode, season and reaction! This is a beautiful episode from start to finish. Particularly the dinner scene was so intense and amazing. I was stressed out and fascinated the entire time. What makes Jinx so great is that you never know what she will do. Almost anything is in play. You both fear her and fear for her. And what will be the impact of her actions at the end? She blew up the council. I won't say what happens to the people inside, but it obviously will not help the peace talks. Also, what will be the impact to Jinx? She has lost her third father, with the last two being her fault! That has to take an unimaginable toll on someone that is already unstable. Such a strange show that we shed tears for the Villain and worry about the feelings of the character that just blew up her own government. I want to call out again the animation of that last scene and the music that went with it. I have never seen anything like what this show does. So, allow me to plug the Bridging the Rift YouTube videos on the making of season 1. It provides such great color into all that went into making this season and really makes you appreciate it even more. You asked about if there is a season 3. Arcane is only 2 seasons, but they said they are making other series in different parts of the League of Legends world, so we may see characters appear in those shows or some of the stories introduced here continue there. Hope you are doing well. Can't wait for season 2. "Wish I could say it gets easier kiddo, but I would be lying." - Vander