Arcane S2 | the problem with Caitlyn

Arcane season 2 act 2 has gotten some mixed reactions. Mainly centering on Caitlyn as a character and how quickly her arc has changed in act 2 of season 2 arcane. This analysis videoessay tries to break down the problems with Caitlyn in arcane why it's not so simple and why episode 6 is a triumph.

TIMESTAMPS
00:00 Intro
01:30 Caitlyn
08:26 Evolution
13:43 Isha

MUSIC
JaydenSMusic - Enemy but its lofi hiphop
LonelyBoy - Radioactive lofi
Tedi Mercury x Saturn Night x Alien Cake Music - Wonderwall

Thankyou to my small thought tree patrons: Alexa Rives, Apple Chip, Ava Erickson, CapoXproductions, Cormac Walsh, Daniel Zafer-Joyce, Eugene, Hailey Hantzen Stapert, Maria Verghelet, Matt Carlson, Paul Wilson, Sam Moore, A Baby Loaf of Tillamook Smoked Medium Cheddar, anonymous_patron, Blackbeard_TX, Britt Caldwell, Darragh, Jeremy Coyle, John McKean, Kevin Alphenaar, Meredith, Stevie G, tim timmy, Ugne Tartilaite, voo csgo, Kevin Alphenaar, A Baby Loaf of Tillamook Smoked Medium Cheddar, tim timmy, Emily Hanser, Jenni, fearz._., valerie blassey, Katina, dev67, Daniel J Coetzer, Darinka Zobenica, Artyskepty, and Antifa Count Duckula
#arcane #caitlyn #season2

[RowanRayne]

They stated the theme of Caitlyn's story through Ambessa: "We've lost so many. The anger. The sorrow. It's tiring. I know it's tiring. But, you will never rest knowing that she's out there. Or maybe I underestimated you. Maybe you have the strength I do not. To forgive and trust in tomorrow. The decision is yours, commander."
We're going to see that play out going forward. When Ambessa picked Caitlyn as commander, my wife said: "Oh, that was a mistake" precisely because Caitlyn has a good heart and a good head on her shoulders. Even if she stepped over the edge from time to time, I don't think she ever truly lost that nor did she lose her love for Vi.

[BuddyChy]

I think people misunderstood, exaggerated, and oversimplified where Caitlyn’s character was at the end of act 1 and throughout act 2. No one should’ve been surprised how easily she flipped on Ambessa in episode 6 because she was never that far gone in the first place. Despite her misguided actions stemming from her grief and hyper fixation on Jinx, she didn’t actually change who she really is. She doesn’t want violence to be the answer to every problem as she made clear in episode 4 and she still cares about trying to do good. It wasn’t a hard decision for her to believe Vi about Warwick being her father and doing what she could to help them. She even already made it clear how disgusted she was by Singed and his experiments. It was easy for her to realize Warwick was a victim

[Attya-yy]

Yeah, it's crazy to me that some people think Caitlyn deciding to side with Vi is illogical.
For me, the opposite would have been illogical.
Choosing loyalty to Ambessa in that situation, over Vi? When we've been given clues this whole time that she doesn't agree with Ambessa's methods. And also that she obviously still cares deeply for Vi. She doesn't care for Ambessa, they just happened to have been on the same side regarding Zaun and Jinx, nothing more nothing less.

Also the end of act 1 is obviously Ambessa forcing her hand, Caitlyn herself didn't want to become any kind of dictator, and after that there is a time jump anyways.

[MsPBJTime]

The throw that Caitlyn does with Vi isn't completely identical to what Ambessa did. Ambessa unnecessary used excessive force at the end of the maneuver, twisting Caitlin's shoulder and intentionally causing injury. Caitlyn's throw did not. She's precise, measured, and methodical. And she has no idea at that point that it's Vi she's taking down. This shows us her character. She's not cruel.

[wrbk]

You could clearly see Cait being unsure about Ambessa when they were training. The foreshadowing of her backstabbing Ambessa was when Ambessa was walking away after throwing Cait down, and then Cait stood up and attacked Ambessa while her back was turned.

I don't know how clear cut you want it to be but actions always speak louder than words.

[rizwanzaman]

I really didn’t want Isha to die
I really, really, really, really didn’t

[satanexe]

i feel like caitlyn never wanted to be a dictator. she only wanted to do what was right. her morals never changed it was stress and misguidance on ambessas part that lead her away from who she was. besdies if you think about it she was really forced into the position she was. it was an impossible situation.

[HeyPretty_boy]

In my opinion Cait's meeting with Singed is the turning point. She realized that death and letting people go is the fate you can't stop it or if you try it get too messy/cynical to prevent the consequences. In this case she witnessed shimmer. She is intelligent, knew she is already in the trap of Ambessa, without Jayce, Mel or anyone in her side, who could trust her and give her the strength, she can not do anything. And the use of "death" in Arcane is something I love so much, it's something when happened you just can't rewrite it and if you try to do that there are consequences, also viktor curing everyone is not ethically right, or is it?

[no.]

Caitlyn never came off as fully "turned" to me. From what we know of her incredible intellect displayed by her in season 1(that board is immaculate), and her constant friction with Ambessa(e.g calling out her man for being cruel to a Jinx fan), I don't think it was fair for people to really just assume she was being manipulated so easily. I mean, subtlety is not Ambessa's strong suit and Caitlyn has always been a pacifist. Something interesting to me is that even in the grip of her grief, when she's expeessing her most hateful thoughts to Jayce, she has the self awareness to say "It's so easy to hate them..."

[mkraulis]

To be sure, I feel like the Caitlyn story line is a bit of a misdirection so far.
I don't fully buy the narrative that Caitlyn was only out for vengeance. She somewhat reluctantly accepted the nomination of "Commander" probably more so she may act as a stop gap to the war hawks. Consider how bad things might have been if Salo had been appointed Commander. She constantly is looking to find Jinx, imo, to be able to end the suffering caused by the Martial Law. Caitlyn is very aware of Ambessa's manipulations, but knows her course forward is full of potentially lethal traps ( because Ambessa seems psychopathic at times). As a call back to episode 1 of this season, like she told Vi in the hallway, I think Caitlyn will admit that she bit off more than she could handle later on.
By the time Caitlyn helps Vi with Vander, Caitlyn feels that the duo of Singed and Ambessa (especially if they get hold of Warwick) is the greater threat.

[awhitney]

I'm amazed at how many people think characters can't be the type to have internal thoughts different than what they convey on screen. I feel like Caitlin was never gung-ho on being a Dictator, Ambessa clearly orchestrated and nudged her into it; she allowed it, waiting to see what would come of it, if it would get her what she thought she wanted. It didn't, and over time clearly she started to second guess Ambessa and her teachings; she even gives her pushback during their sparring match clearly showing that she doesn't see Ambessa as this pure mentor who she should emulate to be, but simply another person who has a different outlook that maybe she can get some value out of, but also maybe she can't. She's watching and waiting, trying to discern; it's a valuable character trait, but apparently one that is lost on some audiences. Caitlyn isn't like Vi, she's not going to wear her heart on her sleeve and make her allegiances obvious and plain, she's a chess player and y'all are acting like she's playing checkers.

[NH-hqly]

As many may have missed, Caitlyn found out about Ambessa secretly meeting with Singed in his lab.

[loycos]

im a big caitlyn fan and i felt like her arc was pushed to the side for.... things that feel like fan service filler? i dont understand why we needed so many vander flashbacks.

i agree with u- logically caitlyn's actions make sense. but caitlyn, unlike jinx, doesnt tend to talk to herself, so we dont hear her thoughts. she doesnt lash out like vi. her expressions are harder to read- shes closed off and reserved. she is a VERY hard character for people to pick out, and shes been like this since s1- just look how many ppl completely glaced over her character in that season. thats why i loved act 1 so much- when given the time and attention, shes brilliant. but u cant just expect ppl to pick up on her cues like they do with jinx and vi. she didnt have enough emotional exploration in this act that the audience can SEE. so she feels rushed, and it felt like that to me too until a second watch. even me, who love her dearly and pay extra attention in every scene shes in, had a hard time picking up on her emotional arc. so i can't imagine how just someone who's normal about caitlyn would pick up on it on a first watch.

[thatotherguy]

Too much of what happened in Act 2 happened "Off Screen". That, to me, is the biggest problem with Act 2. Zaun losing to Noxus. Caitlyn and Maddie becoming lovers. Jayce - everything about him. Viktor creating a new "Firelight" place in Zaun after we're shown and told how unique and impossible people thought the Firelight place was. The Black Rose infiltrating Piltover. Etc. Maybe we'll get flashbacks in Act 3 (and we likely will, with Jayce) but the rest, I think, we're just going to have to go with the time skip.

[VeryGreenFrug]

I agree with a lot of your points. I feel like the issue with arcane isn't that the pacing is bad, but that it relies too much on show instead of sometimes relying on telling. To fully understand what they are trying to say you need to analyze a lot (such as facial expressions, motifs, and other symbols) which most people won't take the effort to do. A result of this is some moments not being as impactful or being misinterpreted. The issue you have with Caitlyn's scene turning against Ambessa has a point, but I think they cut it to build suspence and also because it was assumed vi explained off screen/ the change in Caitlyn's facial expression is supposed to show realization. Otherwise great video!

[tathabarcellos]

What made me fall in love with arcane was the family theme. Arcane has always been about that, and I'm glad they didn't neglect it. About Cait's character, I've always seen her as a secondary character since s1, so from the beginning I wasn't very involved in where her character was going, maybe that's why I didn't find her change strange.

[chrishaven]

I had no problem with Caitlyn siding with Vi. That all made sense to me. They've always had a connection and I don't think either of them would have discarded that connection, despite their initial break-up.
But personally, I really wish we would've seen more of dictator Caitlyn instead of having that arc rushed through a music montage. That's a little disappointing

[ManiacForStorysyMusi]

I honestly don´t agree about us not seeing Caitlyn´s thought process. It´s all in her eyes. Right when you mention we should be shown the fact that she is conflicted in the training scene you show her clearly looking conflicted but trying to be subtle about it because she isn´t going to express that in front of her superior. Same thi ng with her encounter with Vi. We are focused on her expretion after she is told who they are really going after to show us that exact process. Before this season I rewatched season 1 so I am fairly certain of this. It´s a bit like how the third part of season 1 treats Jinx, we aren´t fully told about her thought process, but in the moments we see with her, we are at least shown that the gears are turning, which leads into the "family dinner" in the last episode. If anything I think the person the show should focus more on is Jinx.

After she meets with Vander in episode 4 she imediatly goes to Vi... but why? I´m not saying that she wouldn´t do this, but after the last two times they met, her and Vi had their own declarations of "you are no longer my sister" I think it would have been important to show her thought process. Yes, none of them fully comit tto their declarations, but still. I think that´s what people mean when they talk about the pacing issues... It feels like there are chunks of some plotlines (including the main one with Vi and Jinx) that seem to be missing.

[janationaltreasure]

It really hurts me when people overhate Caitlyn. Caitlyn got kidnapped while naked by Jinx, then watched as Jinx dropped a gun in Vi's lap and get rid of her, then watched Jinx blow up her mom. Then, at the memorial, they get attacked. And people act like she was just going to be like "oh okay." People are quick to call her a facist or a dictator, and they use The Gray against her, but she didn't gas the entire undercity. She did it to get Jinx and to dismantle Shimmer. She was also wildly manipulated by both Ambessa and Maddie. She didn't choose to become a Commander, Ambessa saw her as moldable. A lot of people are saying that because Jinx had more trauma that Caitlyn is just a bad person and character. Most would've gone off the rails, but Caitlyn's good heart won in the end. The same people that preach "your trauma is valid!" are quick to hate Caitlyn and quick to forgive Jinx. Caitlyn got kidnapped, and her captor killed her mother. Then the same person who kidnapped her and killed her mother is hailed as a hero. She's not wrong for going after a criminal. Of course, she's not perfect and made many mistakes, but if we can forgive Jinx, we should be able to forgive Caitlyn.

[КристинаКрицкая-йр]

Maddie quoted Cait in the first episode: "If every enforcer had a heart like yours we could bit Noxus itself". Damn, Cait was against Noxus from the start! How people can think that she is with Ambessa?