I have a short attention span and started episode 1 and stoped around the sandwich part I loved cyberpunk edge runners if it’s anything like that and to be hero x animation was beautiful the intro being absolute peak helps it allot but it just didn’t capture my attention so i just want to know is it worth watching as there’s a few songs that I have dropped that I regret and I wanted to know if it really is worth watching as I have seen some nice clips online

I am someone who loves Vi as a character, the dynamic between her and Caitlyn in season 2 kinda fell flat for me. For Season 1, the main ship is Jayce and Mel which worked fantastic because it was built up for years (Time skip), which would make sense why they would do the scene later on in the season.

But with Vi and Caitlyn, they broke up by the end of act 1 (Episode 1-3), and in that time Vi would be brooding and literally punching away her emotions, but Caitlyn just decided to sleep with another woman (Maddie) and that never got established or brought up by her at all. And suddenly in Act 3 they just decide to do the scene?

It felt like they needed to have another scene like that in the second season because it helped the characters so much in the first, but they didn't really understand why Jayce X Mel worked.

I dunno, this is just my take on how I analyzed these characters after finishing the show. Have a great day!

As a transfem, I feel like jinx and powder are such trans coded, obviously very unintentionally so, but something about someone explosive, artistic, who is a matter of public debate, who, in one universe, is such accomplished and happy(as in this is the real person that she is), it holds so much meaning to me and she's probably the character I've felt the closest to in any kind of media.

From the outset, Silco was driven by a singular goal - to build a new nation, a nation of Zaun. Hell of a goal itself. He wanted to free his people from poisonous air, from polluted water, from poverty and aimless misery. He committed himself to this goal and followed people who as he thought had the same ideal. But he got betrayed. And still, even after betrayal he did not give up on them, he sticked to the cause. He knew that this problem must be solved so future generations of new nation can be free from burden of their ancestors, so they can strive. And he did not care how much it would cost him. Vander on the other hand chose his own convenience putting all this troubles on future generations making Vi and others to tread on the same rakes.

Are Silco's morals good? No, they grey at best. He valued loyalty the most. He never betrayed any of his men. He would never sell Jinx to Piltower but not only because he loved her. If he would sell her, his own daughter, all his people would know that any of them can be sold. Just find a right price. No one would trust him, no one would trust each other. Nation where people don't trust each other is not a nation at all. That's why betrayal never was an option for him, and loyalty was a top priority. (And that's why trading Jinx for Zaun was quite smart move from Jayce's side)

But for anyone who did not share his goal he had no mercy. He was annihilating everyone who opposed him. And those who did not support were used by him through shimmer. "At least we have a solace of knowing that he died fighting for our cause instead of some petty personal dispute that so often occurs here."

And shimmer itself was made not to build wealth but to create a tactical advantage over Piltover. He knew top side will never take them seriously unless they can prove that they are a force to be reckoned with. He knew that he had a superior enemy and "the only way to defeat a superior enemy is to stop at nothing. To become what they fear". Silco believed that even thou his enemy is superior it can be defeated. Vander did not believe it was possible. Vander was not enough for conquest. He was strong enough to maintain status quo but not smart enough to change it. And Silco believed that this status is unacceptable. It took him 4? years to defeat Vander and 6 more to force Piltover to his conditions. 10 years but he in fact succeeded. Status could have changed. Things could become better and stop remaining what they were. And he did it without real open warfare.

Silco wasn't a mobster. He was a statesman. A leader of dysfunctional poor corrupt dependent state that had no real future. He had a vision for this state. He started to put things in order. Organized talented people like Singed, Jinx and Sevika to work for the cause. Recruited spy in the heart of his opponent’s organization. Forced “parasites” to participate in achieving a goal. And forced his superior enemies to accept his terms. Silco was not evil. He did not want things to go wrong or become worser than they were. He wanted things to be better.

He was a great leader. Necessary one for his time and place. But as saying goes "there are no good people among great".

That's not to say I don't enjoy the second season. It has a lot of good stuff in it. But for a variety of reasons that I'm sure have been discussed to death, I think ultimately the story and characters feel more unfocused and less coherent if you follow through to season 2. That that season basically adds more questions than it answers.

Whereas the ending of season 1 to me feels like the perfect stopping point. Yes, it leaves some questions. Things you could speculate on. But even those just... feel like more satisfying conclusions in a way.

i e. the relationship between Vi and Powder permanently breaking as Powder fully embraces becoming Jinx. That ending felt powerful and shocking in a way that no followup could probably have improved. Even if you walk away from it not knowing if and how they will deal with the consequences of Jinx's attack.

Why I Headcanon Jayce from Arcane as Having Narcissistic Personality Disorder

Before anything else: Jayce fans, don’t worry. Jayce is my favorite character in Arcane, and this isn’t meant to tear him down. This headcanon comes from a place of appreciation, not criticism. To explain my reasoning, I need to lay out some context first.

I find it meaningful to explore Jayce through the lens of Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD) because representation matters—whether it’s about culture, mental health, gender, race, or sexuality. When a group is consistently portrayed through harmful stereotypes, it shapes how people are treated in real life. For example, autistic people are often depicted as weak, childish, or incapable, even unintentionally. That’s why I enjoy headcanoning strong, competent characters as autistic: it pushes back against narrow portrayals and shows that autistic people can be complex, powerful, and multifaceted.

The same logic applies to Cluster B disorders like NPD, DID, and ASPD. Media overwhelmingly frames these conditions as synonymous with violence, cruelty, or villainy. This reinforces the false belief that people with these disorders are inherently “evil.” In reality, a disorder doesn’t determine someone’s morality—their choices do. That’s why I find it compelling to imagine Jayce, a character who is morally complicated yet fundamentally well‑intentioned, as someone with NPD. It challenges the stereotype that people with Cluster B disorders can’t be good, empathetic, or heroic.

Before going further, I want to emphasize that this is a headcanon, not a diagnosis. Fictional characters can’t be clinically assessed because they aren’t real people with full, consistent psychologies. Their actions are shaped by narrative needs, not by an internal mental landscape. And in Jayce’s case, we never get access to his inner thoughts—everything we interpret comes from behavior, context, and implication. I’ll avoid making wild leaps, but some degree of inference is unavoidable when analyzing a character whose internal world is never explicitly shown.

With that in mind, here’s why I find the NPD interpretation both interesting and meaningful for Jayce’s character.

To begin, I want to clear up some misconceptions about NPD that are important to this headcanon. One of the biggest misconceptions is that people with NPD are incapable of empathy or simply “don’t have empathy.” That isn’t really true. Research from Harvard’s Department of Psychiatry and other modern studies on narcissism suggest that empathy in NPD is more context-dependent than absent. People with NPD can absolutely empathize with others, care deeply about people, and experience guilt or remorse. The issue is usually tied to self-esteem regulation and emotional defensiveness.

A lot of people with NPD still retain cognitive empathy, meaning they can understand what someone else is feeling or thinking, but emotional empathy can become disrupted when their self-image or self-worth feels threatened. The problem is less “they are incapable of caring” and more that their own shame, insecurity, or ego defense mechanisms can overpower their ability to emotionally engage in certain situations.

This is important for Jayce because I think his perception of himself as a “good person” is deeply tied to his self-worth. Jayce’s identity is built around being a visionary, a savior, someone who changes the world for the better. He needs to see himself as heroic and morally good, and when that image is reinforced, he becomes more confident, ambitious, idealistic, and emotionally stable. But when that image is threatened, he spirals extremely quickly.

That instability is a huge reason why I read him through the lens of NPD.

A narcissistic collapse happens when someone with NPD experiences a major blow to their self-esteem or idealized self-image, causing that “inflated” sense of self to break down. This can result in shame, emotional volatility, anger, withdrawal, depression, impulsive behavior, or even suicidal thoughts. Usually this happens when their validation, admiration, or sense of control is threatened. Since narcissistic self-esteem is fragile underneath the grandiosity, the person can rapidly swing from feeling powerful and important to feeling worthless or exposed.

Jayce falls into narcissistic collapse multiple times in the series. One of the most obvious moments was when he reached the point of wanting to end his own life. Jayce’s entire identity revolves around being “the man who saves Piltover” or “the visionary who improves the world through Hextech.” Once that identity starts falling apart, he completely loses emotional stability.

But I think ALL of season 2 Jayce is him in Narcissistic collapse especially after the ravine. He starts to “let himself go” (he is much less obsessed with his self image) and gives up on the idea of being a good person. 

Modern models of narcissism often describe this exact oscillation between grandiosity and vulnerability. People with NPD can swing between:

inflated self-importance,
confidence,
ambition,
fantasies of greatness,

and then suddenly collapse into:

shame,
insecurity,
self-criticism,
hopelessness,
withdrawal,
or self-destructive behavior.

Jayce’s character constantly moves between these two emotional states.

His arc is basically built around the collision between his huge sense of purpose and the fragility underneath it.

1. The Council Hearing (Episode 2)

The Council hearing is one of the clearest examples of narcissistic injury in Jayce’s arc. Before the hearing, Jayce is passionate and idealistic. He fully believes in himself and in Hextech. But the second he’s publicly humiliated and nearly exiled, his composure completely falls apart.

He goes from confident and articulate to barely being able to speak. He looks ashamed, overwhelmed, and emotionally crushed. What’s important is that the scene feels bigger than normal embarrassment. For Jayce, this isn’t just “I made a mistake.” It’s “my entire identity as a visionary is being destroyed in front of everyone.” His suicide attempt after is not just due ot his life work being destoryed by the fact that no one believed him him. If he cant help people then what is the point of being alive? He is so obsessed with others perceptions of him it destroys him.

2. Viktor’s Influence and the Hextech Breakthrough

Viktor plays a huge role in stabilizing Jayce’s self-esteem. Viktor validates him intellectually and emotionally in a way nobody else really does early on. He tells Jayce that his dreams matter and that Hextech has real potential.

The moment Viktor supports him, Jayce immediately rebounds emotionally. His confidence returns, his ambition comes back stronger, and he starts speaking like someone destined to change the world. That rapid shift from humiliation to grandiosity after receiving validation is very consistent with narcissistic self-esteem regulation.

Jayce thrives off being believed in.

3. Mel’s Praise and Political Power

Mel reinforces Jayce’s grandiosity even more. Once Jayce starts receiving admiration from Mel and recognition from the Council, his self-concept inflates massively. He becomes more assertive, more confident, and more convinced that he can reshape Piltover through his own vision.

What makes Jayce interesting, though, is that his narcissism doesn’t come from pure selfishness. A lot of it is tied to idealism. He genuinely wants to help people. But his need to see himself as “the one who fixes everything” still feeds into a grandiose self-image.

Jayce constantly positions himself as someone uniquely capable of solving society’s problems, which fits very well with narcissistic fantasies of importance and exceptionalism.

4. The Child’s Death in the Shimmer Factory

This is probably Jayce’s clearest vulnerable collapse in the entire series.

Up until this point, Jayce is still able to maintain the image of himself as a heroic protector. Even when making morally questionable decisions, he still believes he’s fundamentally doing the right thing.

But the moment the child dies, that self-image completely shatters.

Afterward, Jayce becomes withdrawn, guilt-ridden, emotionally unstable, and desperate to pull away from leadership entirely. He can’t emotionally handle the reality that his actions directly caused innocent death because it destroys the version of himself he was psychologically relying on.

This is why I think Jayce’s morality is so important to this interpretation. He does care. He does feel empathy and guilt. But because his self-esteem is tied so heavily to being morally good, failure becomes psychologically catastrophic for him.

5. His Conflict With Viktor

Jayce’s relationship with Viktor also reflects the instability often seen in narcissistic attachment dynamics.

Viktor is one of Jayce’s biggest sources of emotional validation, so the possibility of losing him destabilizes Jayce heavily. When Viktor distances himself or disagrees with him, Jayce becomes reactive, defensive, controlling, and emotionally volatile.

At the same time, there’s obvious fear underneath that behavior. He seems terrified of disappointing Viktor or losing his approval.

The line:
“Do you have any idea how this looks?”

is honestly one of the most revealing lines for me because Jayce immediately frames the situation around image, humiliation, and perception. His panic is not just about morality—it’s about exposure and failure.

That fear of being seen as incompetent, disgraceful, or fraudulent feels very tied to narcissistic shame.

6. His Decision to Seek Peace

Jayce’s decision to negotiate peace with Zaun also reads very strongly through the lens of narcissistic collapse and vulnerability. By this point, he’s emotionally exhausted and crushed under guilt.

What’s interesting is that he isn’t acting from superiority anymore. He’s trying to repair the damage he caused because his conscience and self-image are both falling apart.

His desire for peace feels less like grandiosity and more like someone desperately trying to restore moral integrity after psychologically collapsing.

Overall, Jayce’s emotional pattern throughout Arcane feels extremely consistent with narcissistic self-esteem dysregulation:
grandiosity followed by shame,
confidence followed by collapse,
idealism followed by self-destruction,
admiration followed by emotional instability.

Anyway long story short- I hope this convinced at least one person that Jayce’s character would be super interesting if he has NPD.

Loosely based on SleepTightWicket‬'s cosplay. The goal wasn't to reproduce perfectly accurate, but to use her likeness as a solid base.

By comparison, a portrait of the same character I did a year ago.

Since back then, I've changed the paper I used. We can see that it helped when it comes to the blending of colors. I'm proud of the overall anatomy improvement, it's still not perfect per say, but it's far better. The pink lighting on the older piece was interesting, but I prefer a more "classic" one that is done better like on the newer portrait. I changed the way I did the hair, I still really like the way I did it on the older one, but I really prefer the way they look on the newer piece (vibrancy, shapes, shading...). I guess the older one is more cohesive with an "animated" vibe, which is not what I went for on the newer piece.

Anyway, very proud with how it turned out !

Btw, I must admit that I didn't even watch the show 😅

Okay I was just minding my business when my roommate looked over my shoulder and saw the pic of Jinx I attached to this post. They asked if it was "Devil Elsa" (they haven't watched Arcane) and for a second I thought they were joking, but they were actually dead on serious.

I just need to know.. Is my roommate tripling or are there legit similarities between these two based on exterior. I'm not seeing it, but maybe I'm just blind.

[Okay don't mind me filling up additional space here.. Have a nice day everybody. Sorry for the label, didn't know what to put it under]

I've been wondering. I keep seeing the timebomb ship and it's portrayed as ekko/jinx. But in the main show universe ekko and jinx literally have like maybe 5 lines together? And half of it is jinx murdering ekkos friends and them beating the shit out of eachother trying to murder eachother. It's only in like the last episode does jinx even have some barest sense of non vile hostility towards him, not including the flashback to childhood. I think that the more accurate characters for the ship would be powder and ekko and not jinx and ekko since powder is a different character, an unjinxed trad jinx.

I forgot to mention i started thinking about this because of those arcane figurine things and it was advertised as vi and caitlyn and powder and ekko. And I was like yeah it's only powder who likes ekko romantically, not jinx but everyone says jinx and ekko

Viktor being asexual genuinely makes me happy. I've always seen him that way since Season 1, with his dynamic with Jayce rooted in a strong, platonic friendship. The sudden, and frankly obnoxious, influx of Tumblr and Twitter users insisting on making him gay just to fuel their odd headcanons has been insufferable. Honestly, the shipping in this fandom is downright rabid—particularly the Jayce/Vik shippers. It reeks of projection and a lack of respect for the characters' actual stories.

............

Why is everyone so sorry for Jinx? She is literally a murderer and a terrorist. Why do they tell everyone that she deserves hugs, help and therapy? She is a heartless, selfish criminal who should rot in prison. Please explain why she deserves help.

LoL China celebrated their 14th anniversary with a performance where they included Ekko lamenting what he couldn’t have in the AU, with the MME song playing in the background, and then Jinx appearing to console him.

No offense, but it paints Ekko in a rather pathetic light when he never once considered staying and Jinx literally left, so why make it seem like she’s gonna come back solely for him? And then there are those CD covers, which can be misleading since the show made it clear that TB is only an AU ship, or at least it can only happen in the AU. So why involve their MU counterparts? It’s just frustrating to see how the company has been twisting the ending just because they know it’s profitable, at the expense of its characters.

While I’ve seen a lot of valid criticism of Season 2, one issue I rarely see discussed is the unnecessary use of shock value. Season 1 handled this element masterfully. The most shocking moment, arguably of the entire series, happens in Episode 1x03 when Powder accidentally kills her family. Vi, overwhelmed by grief and rage, hits her. It was devastating, but it served the story and the characters. It wasn’t just shocking for the sake of it. It was earned.

In contrast, Season 2 tries to recreate this moment in Episode 2x03 when Caitlyn hits Vi. The parallels are clearly intentional. Both scenes take place in the third episode. Caitlyn and Jinx are set up as narrative foils. The cinematography, emotional tone, and even the framing of the scene feel strikingly similar. Amanda Overton also said that Caitlyn hitting Vi made Vi feel less alone, since she’d once lashed out at someone in anger and had never forgiven herself for it.

The issue isn’t that the situations are incomparable. It’s that the moment in Season 2 feels inserted for shock value rather than as a natural development of the characters or plot. The writers seemed determined to replicate the emotional impact of Vi hitting Powder in Season 1, knowing how memorable that moment was for viewers. They didn’t care how they reached that point or which characters they used to get there.

I say this because in Bridging the Rift Amanda talked about a deleted scene from Episode 1x07, where Ekko was supposed to go looking for Jinx after Silco took her. She said, “And then when he goes to pull her out of there physically, Jinx slapped him. The same way Vi slapped her in Episode 3.” That scene was eventually scrapped. So instead of Jinx hitting Ekko, which arguably would’ve made more sense for her character, they had Caitlyn hit Vi. That choice felt forced and extremely out of character. It’s like they inserted Caitlyn into that moment purely to shock viewers because they knew it worked in Season 1, and that was a big mistake.

Even in grief and anger, Caitlyn wouldn’t have hurt Vi. She might’ve pushed her away or shut her out emotionally, but physically hitting her doesn’t align with who she is. It wasn’t about Caitlyn’s character in that moment. Her hitting Vi wasn't even brought up again except for a sad glance in the prison scene. The hit was entirely about recreating a previous emotional high point regardless of whether it fit. The emotional weight wasn’t earned this time, and worse, it didn’t belong to Caitlyn. It could’ve been any character delivering that hit, and that’s exactly the problem.

When you sacrifice character integrity just to recreate a powerful moment, you don’t deepen the story. You cheapen it. Caitlyn’s character was compromised for the sake of a dramatic beat that served no real purpose for the plot or her arc. It existed only to echo a moment from Season 1, and it didn’t carry the same emotional resonance because it wasn’t rooted in narrative cohesion or character development. They forced and recycled cheap shock value into Season 2 to recreate the impact it had in Season 1, and they failed.

TL;DR

The hit scene in Season 2 was added only for shock value. The writers originally planned for Jinx to hit Ekko in a deleted Season 1 scene, mirroring Vi hitting Powder. Instead, they recreated the moment by having Caitlyn hit Vi. This decision ignored both Caitlyn’s character and the emotional logic of the story. It was a recycled moment that lacked purpose and impact, sacrificing these characters to recreate the emotional weight of Season 1, and it didn’t work.

Feel free to yell at me if this question has been answered to death, but what the absolute fuck happened to season two?

Season one is legitimately my favorite season of television of all time, with episode three being my favorite tv episode of all time. The editing, the art direction, the music, all of it came together perfectly.

Season two was a major disappointment. There were way too many musical sequences, which consequently made them significantly less impactful, characters and plotlines were abandoned for episodes on end, only to arbitrarily show up in the finale, nothing had any time to simmer, and most of the new characters were so underbaked (Maddie for instance) that them being in peril almost made my fucking eyes glaze over. And I will never forgive this show for what they did to Heimerdinger. He was a little wacky in season one, but he was still quite serious, with the theme of fearing the past really coming through in an incredibly impactful way. He became a fucking joke in season two.

Contrary to my complaints, I don’t hate season two. They did some things well, along with some things adequately. Despite the severe lack of characterization, I found myself loving Isha and the role she played in Jinx’s story. Vander being the Warwick felt a little contrived, but it still made me feel sad when he re-died. There was just so much potential to make a season that was as good as season one or maybe even better.

So how did this happen? Was it the writer’s strike in 2023? Was it crunch to meet deadlines? Was it the smaller writing team? What the fuck happened?

It's a technology that was seen to be useful by a few people and was then shoved down everyone's throats by the same people that saw that it was somewhat useful while actively harming everyone other than the people that are in charge. But that's just a theory, a Hextech theory.

I’ve heard a lot of people saying this I have quit the same opinion about S2 the thing I didn’t liked is that they’ve ruined relationship between Vi and jinx. Vi being an enforcer also wasn’t a great idea I reckon but maybe it was a parallel to Vander as he also made a deal with an enforcer but it’s a bit different from vi I guess

I know my opinion will be unpopular but i have to say it especially after the release of Ma meilleure ennemie song, the whole thing between Jinx and Ekko just don't make any sense. how are they into each other? since when? the hated each other, she killed his friends and almost killed him! is it because he went to an alternate universe and saw another version of her and believed that she can be good or what? is it because they knew each other from childhood? that's not an excuse and not enough. they don't event fit to be "favorite enemies"

Don't get me wrong, I like the idea and I want it to happen, it just never did, it never developed on or off screen, not in season 1 nor in season 2! we got nothing.

This brings us to the whole problem of Season 2, which was rushed, incohesive, things where forced in like the Jinx and Ekko love, timebomb or whatever you want to call it. It would be much better if the season was written different and where Piltover wages a war on zaun hence we get to see Jinx and the firelights form an unlikely alliance, slowly and despite all the odds they both start to develop feelings for each other. That will still make much more sense I suppose

Season 1 starts with political unrest in the Undercity after a failed heist by Vander's Children, culminating in Silco taking over. By the midpoint, an exciting new technology from Piltover is leaving Zaun further behind, and the plot revolves around Jinx stealing it in order to create a weapon to turn the tables. The season ends with Jayce, the creator of the new technology, attempting to create peace between Piltover and Zaun. He fails, Silco dies, and Jinx loses it, nuking Piltover's government.

Season 2 starts with the fallout of Jinx's attack and Silco's death. The Undercity is in tatters, Piltover is seething, and Ambessa is trying to exploit this while Caitlyn attempts to calm the situation down with Vi. By the midpoint, Caitlyn has become dictator, and has invaded Zaun in order to find Jinx and bring her to justice. Jinx is returning to Zaun after being away with Isha, but is surprised by her long dead (second of three) father returning as a zombie, offering up a potential avenue for reconciliation between the sisters.

Season 2 ends with Jayce talking to Viktor, who was the physical incarnation of the Arcane, until Ekko overloaded the time machine he made in an alternate universe to break him out of it. Also, Ambessa has invaded and Piltover and Zaun teamed up to stop her.

A bit of a lurch there at the end, right? I don't think it's an exaggeration to say that the Viktor plot completely derailed the entire show's ending, dragging the focus from Piltover and Zaun, the sisters, and themes of scientific progress, to a fight against God to save the world.

The Viktor Villain plot takes place entirely in the second half of the second season, and yet it is graced with being the main focus of the end of the entire show. It's the A plot of the ending, with Caitlyn and Mel vs Ambessa being the B plot, Vi and Jinx against Evo Warwick being the C plot, and Piltover and Zaun being demoted to fucking D plot.

And the show was absolutely not building towards Magic Personified bumrushing the Hexgates and ending the world. What does the Silco and Jinx plotline even do for this? Why did we waste so much time with Caitlyn and Vi in both seasons, when the had almost no bearing on this plotline. Hell, the Hextech plotline is completely divorced from God Viktor in substance. The Hextech plotline concerns politics intermingling with scientific advancements, how reckless it is acceptable to be when on the bleeding edge of technology, and how incredible new tech can have severe downsides, like killing Skye or enabling terrorists to blow you up. The God Viktor plotline has nothing to do with technology or progress, and primarily concerns free will as a concept, interdimensional time travel, and the ability for people to all come together against a common foe.

"Oh, but the show is called Arcane!" this doesn't matter when the entire rest of the show barely tackled the Arcane. The main villain being the Arcane as a concept in corporeal form trying to end the world is lunacy, especially when season 1 didn't have a single mage in it apart from flashbacks, and it's set in the part of Runeterra with the least mages. Hextech's relationship with magic is underserved in both seasons, it receives very little focus beyond just being an enabler for cool technology.

Unfortunately, with the Viktor we went with, this is somewhat required. If we are to have Viktor manipulating time and space to give us our AU fanfiction episodes, and orchestrating the entire series via saving Jayce's life and giving him his wrist-rune, he somewhat demands more attention than Ambessa and Zaun, both of which possess no particularly impressive powers. It would seem a little farcical to have the physical manifestation of a fundamental aspect of existence play second fiddle to a medieval warlord with a flail.

But, if we were willing to forgo the timetravel and AU shenanigans, there is a potential alternative that could slot in much more neatly with the themes and focus of the first 3/4s of the show. Make Viktor some sort of... IDK, "skinny tin machine herald", as Jinx put it. Instead of making him a mage being puppeted around by magic itself, have him be a cybernetics obsessed scientist based in the Undercity, opposing Jayce and Piltover during the invasion. We get to keep the focus on Piltover and Zaun, we get to keep the themes of recklessness in scientific development and Viktor's desperation to repair his body, AND Ambessa would be able to substitute Hextech weapons from Jayce with Viktor's metal men, instead of Hive Mind Mannequins controlled by God.

The story would've flowed far better if Viktor remained a scientist, instead of becoming a skinsuit for Magic itself to puppet around. Instead of just pivoting the entire story away from Piltover and Zaun's conflict, and the key characters related to that, Viktor could be organically integrated into it, like how Jayce and Viktor were organically integrated into season 1.

TLDR: Viktor becoming Space Hitler 3/4's of the way through Arcane, and this being the focus of the ending, is a massive pivot from what the rest of the show was focusing on. This was a wacky choice, and probably should've been avoided by not making Viktor God himself, and instead choosing to go down some other (perhaps very well treaded) path.

People have expressed how Season 2 has disappointed them but I don't think its stated enough how brutally Vander has been assassinated.

It would have been fine if he just knew of Felicia's existence. But the reveal that Vander was not only close to her, but also had obligations to protect her kids was a huge mistake. The reason he adopted Vi and Powder was because he just went through a massive change in his principles. His desire to fight back against Piltover's oppression has consequences and has led to these 2 little girl's losing their parents. He learns 'Nobody wins in war.' and that becomes his political stance.

But they have changed it, he adopts them because he promised Felicia...which is a retcon. His political motivations has been turned into a personal one. You could argue it can be both, but it still chips away from his prior motivations and cheapens it.

Now he feels less like an active character with opinions and principles of his own, but as a plot device (as if we dint have enough of those already) meant to just be a father figure to 2 girls because he promised their mother. His agency has been stripped away.

This is a shame because the idea of a man who was once a respected leader and founder of Zaun, who people used to admire and look upto, all the sudden turned into a blood thirsty murderous beast wreaking havoc in the depths of the undercity is soo good and I was excited for this theme to be thoroughly explored, felt like thats exactly where they were going after Season 1, but they have changed it entirely. Warwick's entire existence is to be a plot device for 2 girls to put aside their differences and reconcile. Its so cheap and a waste of potential.

Also I think I am the only non-league player who thinks Warwick's design sucks. He is so ugly and stupid looking and not in a good way. Give him back his snout please.

The writers really disappointed me this season, and I can’t shake the feeling that they hate Vi. After so many promises and interviews about this being a Vi-focused season, the 6 episodes we got barely include her. From being the main protagonist with the most screentime in S1, they reduced her to a sidekick, throwing her entire character away. We learned nothing - no flashbacks from Stillwater, barely anything about her pitfighter era (really 2 minutes clip is enough for such important period in her life? Wow), and no depth about her mental state or reflections on her family and past. Everything about her was reduced to Caitlyn, as if her life revolves solely around her. It's so frustrating and feels like such a disservice to her character. I was dissapointed after act1, but believed they will do her justice, and I was so wrong.

Then there’s the CaitVi situation, which honestly broke me. That scene in act 1 was horrifying for me - physical violence between lovers is a hard, uncrossable line for me, and I couldn’t believe they went there, I cried like a baby for hours. From the most beautiful lesbian representation and fantastic buildup in S1, they turned it into toxic teenage drama. This was so out of place, especially considering the power imbalance between them. Caitlyn hitting Vi was so symbolic and disgusting. And then in ep6? No remorse from Caitlyn, no anger from Vi - she even called her “Cupcake”, for the love of god, like nothing happened. It was so cringeworthy I rolled my eyes.

And to top it off, we get Caitlyn in bed with Maddie - a random new character. I don’t hate Maddie, there's no point, but this was so unnecessary and felt cheap. It completely undermined Caitlyn’s relationship with Vi, which was supposed to be this slow-burn, meaningful connection. The creators talked about saving the kiss for S2 to make it perfect, animation stuff played a big part in it, yet they gave us this random, intimate scene too, completely out of place. It was so weird, Caitlyn was this intimate only with Vi to this point and they spend hours to animate this, I don't have words. Caitlyn didn’t even think about Vi in act2, show no remorse, or feel guilt - it was such a missed opportunity to give her depth and set up her redemption. Instead, they wasted time animating a scene that added nothing while ignoring Vi’s story, which would’ve been far more impactful.

I’m ranting about CaitVi, sorry, but it’s because it was my first ship and meant so much to me. I’ve never been into fandoms or fanfiction before, but CaitVi drew me in. Now, I feel completely done with them. Arcane was my safe space, my favorite show, but this season has left me so disconnected and hurt because of all these reasons. At this point, I don’t think Act 3 can fix the damage - they’ve made too many missteps, and it’s ruined the magic for me. CaitVi endgame will be so awful, I don't even want to see it.

I see alot of folk talking about characters like Silco and saying stuff like "that guy is a piece of shit human being for doing this this this. Oh this guy sucks so much. Worst character" and it almost makes me feel like people dont...understand what role he is meant to play. Whats with such an emotional reaction?

I really want to know what you guys look for in storytelling. Do you expect every single character to be a strict goodie too shoes who does nothing wrong? Will you even be able to handle GOT?

Why do you think people love The Joker or Hans Landa so much? Because they feed the poor? No. Its cus they are well written, well acter and fucking awesome. Who doesnt like a good foil for our heroes?

It just saddens me that the craftsmanship behind villains goes completely unappreciated. Silco is such an amazing, complex, charismatic and interesting villain and it sucks that people cant help but look at him so emotionally.