How Arcane Masters Tragedy, Trauma, and Tone

Come check out the writing of Arcane!

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Music:
Early Avril
Russian River
Life After Death
Drop
Feels

[kira-dkmx]

"Is there anything more undoing than a daughter?" That line literally speaks about almost every major character in the show.

[TechNinjaSigma]

Whoever was in charge of Arcane is on that Hexillionaire Mindset

[TakeTheWorld]

I just love how League of Legends fans are telling people to NOT play the game and only watch the show 😆😆😆

[Tyrantofthewind]

Silco's relationship with Jinx was an incredibly well written one. I think if you pay attention to the sub-text in their relationship, there is never ANY DOUBT he will refuse to give her up. People talk about how he is choosing her over his dream of a free Zaun, but I don't think he saw that as the choice. It was a choice between someone who embodied everything he thought Zaun was and a free Zaun. Jinx is a broken creature who has been betrayed (at least Silco sees it that way) and yet not only survived the harsh environment that enveloped her, but became stronger (as Silco sees strength anyway). That is, he sees her as "perfect".

One thing shows with poor writing miss in similar situations is that there needs to be something that ties characters together - being adopted by a guardian does not suddenly make that person significant or the ties between them strong. Silco and Jinx's relationship works because you can see that they both value a part of the other.

I hope the writing stays at this quality in the subsequent seasons.

[neldjpi]

Even when the show was still in that lighter tone in the first two episodes like you mentioned, I was impressed with how much respect they gave to a group of teenagers getting into a fight. It didn't turn into a big cartoon dustball with fists flying all over the place, people were grabbing each other's hair, bodyslamming others, fighting dirty, the works. Also, Powder throws a nail bomb at somebody. Granted it's a dud, but she was going to straight up maim a kid in a fight. Same thing with a knife coming out at the end of the fight in episode 1, the kid doesn't have the nerve to use it, but that whole scenario was on the razor's edge of turning into a murder. I guess if I had to pick one word for the tone, it would be grounded. Super cool show.

[LadCarmichael]

The thing that amazed me the most in Arcane in the end is the lack Big Bad. Plenty of nuanced tales fail in the end I feel because they decide to go what I consider an "easy" route by revealing a Big Bad that is defeated, making the watcher feel good by having a "moral" victory. But Arcane doesn't do that, on the contrary. Silco started as the Big Bad of the show, but the more it progressed, the more you realize that Silco is just another cog in a machine consisting of people having their own agenda.
And that's the strength of Arcane, each character is someone with interests, hopes and dreams. It could have been so easy to reveal Mel to be manipulating Jayce for her own benefit, but on the contrary it's revealed that it's precisely her caring for people that made her an exile in her own country. Victor could have doubled down after her assistant death, but instead he gives up when he realizes that sometime the cost is too great, even if your life is at stake. Jinx could have gone through with her death game but in the end it's Silco that forces her hand.
Even the less important people in the council, that were shown to be corrupt, howl when Jayce first propose to go through with Zaun independence, but by the time the series end, they came around to realize that it was the only way forward possible and unanimously voted for it. Which makes Jinx taking Silco's mantle and blowing the council all the more tragic.

[loneoakgrls]

It's frustrating how so many people haven't understood that Vi didn't mean to abandon Powder. Vi was just a kid too. Albeit older than Powder, but still just a kid. She needed to process what she just witnessed. Tragic

[Apolloz]

One thing I really love about the first act of Arcane is that basically sets up a three trial act for Powder. Her first trial was looting Jayces home, which she ended up failing by blowing it up. The second trial, was getting the bag safely to The Last Drop. She failed that by dropping the bag into the river. Now In most shows they set it up where the protagonists fails two times, and succeeds on the third time to prove themselves. And that’s what I was completely expecting with Powder. When I saw Vi losing against the monster I figured that was when Powder would swoop in and save the rest of the characters. But then we see the characters about to escape without her help, and that’s when you know everything’s about to go wrong. Instead of the third trial being Powders success, it’s her greatest failure and transformation to her character. And what’s great about it is that it’s not just subversive, it genuinely takes the story to more interesting places. You get the conflict with Vi and Jinx, you see Jinx’s mental struggles, and Silco becomes infinitely more compelling by seeing his parental role with Jinx. Arcane is just so damn good, I’m seriously excited to see more of it

[sirdamned]

This show messed me up man. Can't stop thinking about how innocent Powder was... to the point where she didn't even realize what she'd done. She was just happy her little contraption worked. And her realization (and the ultra realistic facial expressions) was very hard to watch.

[wergar_the_warwolf]

Just saying, re: Vicktor and Jayce
I realized that Jayce is on the bottom of the totem pole of Piltover(noble family but a smaller/weaker one), while Viktor is the top of the top heap for the undercity(rose to live in Piltover). It gives them alternative perspectives unique to their origin places and let's them contrast further, especially with how they take advancement
Viktor is much more pragmatic when it comes to advancement, willing to destroy the hexcore after he sees what it can do, but at the same time, regarding humans, is much more idealistic; willing to reach out for peace, understands the nuances of the undercity and how it could benefit from hextech
Jayce is more idealistic when it comes to hextech, rambling about what it could do in the future and advertising it to his poltilca friends, but is much more pragmatic; he has to, he's a politician
Both of them being brilliant, hard-working scientists only benefits this contrast. When two characters have alike traits, their differences stand out more

[redwings]

The thing I find so fascinating about Arcane is its ability to make its characters likeable, even in this morally grey dystopia. Most characters in Arcane are just legitimately trying to protect and help the ones they love, but they're navigating the world which is designed to set them against each other. Usually in shows like this, say, Game of Thrones, most characters end up looking like complete jerks, but here I actually find myself loving the characters and understanding their motivations, even when they sometimes do terrible things.

[tobenamed]

Vi didn't abandon Powder, I hate it when people can't even pick up on that. She left Powder to go cool down so that she didn't hurt Powder anymore, she had no intention of leaving and just needed a few minutes. Powder thinks Vi left her because an enforcer took her while she was going back. It's what makes this whole scene hurt the absolute most and you didn't even get that.

[pridemoth_]

I think Silco is the perfect example of how to make a villain multi-layered without necessarily making them sympathetic or subtracting from their villainy. He's a violent drug lord, essentially, an idealist who doesn't live up to his promises (he basically takes charge of the Undercity, but still can't established the nation of Zaun he envisioned), but he also IS an idealist at all. He wants his people to be free of the oppression they've faced and he is a loving father figure to Jinx, even if still a toxic one (he uses her for personal gain a lot of the time and doesn't fully empathize with her mental issues, and they both kind of bring out the worst in each other). He feels like a real person without ever feeling like a good person. He's just... A whole fucked up person and that's so cool to me.

[eduardoserpa]

I like how despite making us empathize with both sides, the show still makes it mostly clear where the problem stems from. There isn't and there can be no reconciliation while the interests are not aligned.

Not when some are worried about maintaining status and luxury while others are in locked in a violent and self-destructive struggle to survive. And those wounds can only get deeper with time.

[turmaeac]

I think what arcane did most diferent from other game adaptations is that it isn’t trying to be an adaptation it’s trying to tell a good story.
That’s why it’s perfectly understandable for people who have never played the game or read about the characters.
Add to that, great writing, great animation and soundtrack

[AnotherCrazyClown]

I thought the same about Silco, being a manipulative kingpin who adopts Powder to change her into Jynx fueled by her anger at his sister but in the end with his last act it made me doubt about his character but it was beautiful in a way, even in his wicked state of mind i wanted him to achieve his goal, his Nation of Zaun, to see if he could run it the same way he did in the underworld but he paid the ultimate price for it long ago when he saved Jynx from dying by taking her to Singed and in his last moment of emotional breakdown which he encouraged with his speeches, he died by the hand of his own "daughter" without knowing what could have been of Zaun, even for an antagonist it was poetically tragic.

That's why Silco it's my favorite character from Arcane and i can't believe how well designed it was.

[bsballlord]

Vi did NOT abandon jinx. She was about to run in and suicide for her when she saw Silco but got taken away. To call that abandonment is so viscerally wrong

[crlow]

What I also like about Singed's character is he doesn't need to lie and manipulate people. He is needed, he shows what he truly believe and explains the consequences without any sugar coating.

[notoffensivenpc]

a part that i love about the show is the scene with the rocket travelling to the council window. it's long enough to understand many things. how everything changes. the relationships between vi and jinx, caitlyn and jinx, probably jayce with viktor. the little tidbits into future characters and who will come back. but the most important thing you realize there is how close everyone was to peace. the decision had been made for zaun to become it's own country, in light of how much the two citites had drifted ideologically and how piltover, through neglect or greed, could not help zaun. but as the rocket flew through the sky, you could see that one moment of true peace die out.

[malakai_adam]

"the show starts with a lighter tone"
The first scene; orphans on a bridge covered in bodies draped in tear gas and darth vadar breathing.