Arcane Analysis - Tumblr Posts
Gus and Jinx: A Story of Two Prodigies
If there is something that I could notice is that thanks to Labyrinth Runners I noticed that Gus has some similarities with Jinx from Arcane.
They are both considered prodigies despite how young they’re (Gus is a prodigy with illusion magic and Jinx is a talented inventor and mechanic).
They both have so many insecurities about themselves that they even doubt the perception of their reality and their ability to trust others, believing that people will betray them at the slightest opportunity.
However, Gus has positive and healthy support from his friends who value him for who he is and genuinely care about him and don't want to take advantage of him
while Jinx never had a healthy support system so her paranoia doesn't stop to grow and ends up harming herself
and those around her.
It's pretty scary and sad to think that Gus could have ended up as Jinx if he hadn't had friends who really appreciate him for who he is regardless of his talent.
Jayce Tails: Impotence and Lack of Control
Maybe everyone dislike Jayce but that doesn't take away from the fact that he's a well written character.
Many people believe that Jayce's story is about the acquisition of power and how it can corrupt you but in reality Jayce's story is about how changing society for the better isn’t easy and how you can lose control of your own life even if you have much power.
Let's go from the beginning to demonstrate this.
Due to him and his mother almost die in a snowstorm until they're saved by an arcane magic user, Jayce gains an admiration and curiosity about arcane magic and this makes Jayce think about how he can help society with it. and leads to experiments with it but he never expected that Vi and her companions destroy his workshop and expose his illegal experiments.
This causes Jayce to go to trial and there he explains from the bottom of his heart about his belief that magic can be controlled through science and how it can improve the lives of others but no one believes him or they just don't care. This is the first contact that Jayce has with the system and he can perceive how he is a small unimportant gear, so much so that if it were not for his mother he wouldn't be able to continue living in Piltover.
Jayce feels betrayed that he was forced to undermine both his work and his dreams and, in desperation, tries to commit suicide in what used to be his workshop.
This scene is important because it makes it clear that what Jayce cares about the most are his inventions, he is a scientist at heart and if he doesn't have control over his inventions then he has nothing. Viktor stops him and they both continue to experiment with arcane magic until they achieve what they set out to do, they both manage to create hextech technology.
Years pass and Jayce becomes a symbol of Piltover: the Man of Progress. The people who despised him now want favors and alliances with him. This can be seen at a high society party during Jayce's speech.
Now everything revolves around him, the Man of Progress. It's a very big title that he must carry on his shoulders.
At this point Heimerdinger suggests that they postpone the experiment while Mel wants them to go ahead. Jayce doesn't know what to decide and more importantly he doesn't understand why he should decide because Viktor has the same amount of merits as him, both were the ones who created hextech technology but Jayce is credited with leadership for stupid and superficial reasons: he isn't disabled, he has good looking and he was born in Piltover. Obviously Jayce has this in mind and that is why he isn't happy when he goes on stage because he just wants to be a scientist who invents things to do good.
Shortly after Jinx steals the hextech gem and Jayce takes responsibility before the Council and proposes to stop all investigations until the matter is resolved but they don't support him. Jayce realizes that instead of being concerned about the safety of the citizens, the leaders of Piltover care more about appearances and the solution that the Council proposes is equally questionable since they name Jayce, a scientist with no experience in politic, as one of their members but this isn't a security measure nor does it solve the problem, but rather it's a way to keep the masses calm, giving them a false sense of security since they will think that there will be no way for something bad to happen if the Man of Progress is one of the leaders of Piltover.
Jayce, being the only member of the Council who really cares about the safety of its citizens, decides to increase the security measures behind the back of his fellow Council members, which makes them not happy with him and make illegal transactions, this shows the fact that they only care about benefiting themselves and not the population. Jayce to make amends for his actions must talk to each of them and earn his favor through empty promises and fake smiles.
Something that I liked is how during the scene where the promises that Jayce makes with the members of the council take place, the instrumental becomes more unrestrained and chaotic because it symbolizes Jayce's lack of control over his own life.
Not only is he making a lot of promises that he had not previously premeditated or discussed with his partner, but he no longer has control of his inventions and, even as part of the Council, he doesn't have the control to change the things that he considers to be necessary.
Little by little the conflict between Piltover and Zaun is increasing and Jayce, despite being a member and leader of the Council, he doesn't know what to do, everyone suggests and even demands how she should deal with this delicate situation: Mel says something, the Council says another thing, Viktor thinks differently, Vi wants to act, Caitlyn wants diplomacy, Ambessa wants war. All this confuses Jayce and the fact that he can't make a decision and stick with it makes the audience annoyed with him, it's like Shinji who doesn't want to get on the EVA, but there's the funny thing: Jayce doesn't know what to do, he is only a scientist who never aspired to have the responsibilities he has today, he has no experience, leadership or will to play this role and he knows it better than anyone.
Remember the suicide scene? At this point in the story Jayce has no control over his inventions and the only reason he doesn't plan on ending his life is because it doesn't even belong to him anymore. He is similar to All Might from My Hero Academia or Satoru Gojo from Jujutsu Kaisen because, like them, Jayce has gradually become a tool that everyone depends on, he as an individual is nobody, he has no value and people don't care about Jayce as a person, they just care about his role and fachade as the Man of Progress.
After going with Vi to fight in Zaun he realizes that he can't solve anything by this way. He kills a child unintentionally and this marks him for life for which he decides to take the diplomatic way to solve the conflict.
At this point it isn't known if the negotiation with Silco is because Jayce genuinely doesn't want to exterminate the inhabitants of Zaun or if he's simply afraid that they will end Piltover, the only thing that is known is that Jayce is tired and desperately wants to find an immediate solution to all this conflict.
After a great discussion with the Council, Jayce manages to convince them that diplomacy is the best solution and it's shown that if you can make a decision that does not have selfish ends involved, but as said before, changing things isn't easy by many external factors, this is seen when Jinx decides to end Piltover. It's the only time that Jayce as a political figure manages to do something good, something that could bring benefits in the future but it does not matter because something that he cannot control (Jinx) will ruin everything he achieved.
That's what his story is about, about impotence and lack of control. As I said before, Jayce's situation is reminiscent of Shinji's, they are disowned by people because they both function as a mirror. Both Jayce and Shinji reflect as a real life person who is given so much power and responsibilities and so little experience overnight, it's easy to say that Jayce and Shinji made mistakes because we are bystanders but what would we do if we were in a situation like that? If we were in Jayce's position we would obviously make the same bad decisions as Jayce and even make worse decisions than him.
That's why Jayce easily upsets people because he reminds us that we are inexperienced, that we have little control over things and that we are but an insignificant part of a society that will advance with or without us.
Piltover and Zaun, Hextech and Shimmer
We all know that Piltover and Zaun are cities that share many elements with each other: rulers disconnected from their respective cities (Piltover Council for Piltover Chem-barons for Zaun), intelligent personalities (Jayce and Jinx) and other similarities, another of the elements that equate the two cities and that I liked the most are
the Hextech
and the Shimmer.
Hextech and Shimmer are means that both cities use to make their citizens more powerful, to advance and evolve.
Piltover is the city of progress, the cradle of the greatest technological advances, it always has its eyes on the horizon, on tomorrow. Hextech is Jayce and Viktor's masterpiece created with the purpose of improving people's lives and giving them a better future: the portals that improve the transport of goods between cities, the Atlas Gauntlets so that miners can work faster, they get less tired and protect them from possible landslides in the mines or the hexclaw to improve the work of artificers. In Jayce's words, he wanted his technology to be a tool to build a new and better world. Hextech has the ability to learn from its environment and adapt to the needs of its user without losing the purpose of its creation (example: the Atlas Gauntlets create a shield for Vi because it adapted to her need to protect herself and also the Atlas Gauntlets fulfill the purpose of their creation which is to protect their users in the mines).
On the other hand, Zaun cannot look to the horizon. Its people are always underground, in the shadow of Piltover and the light hardly reaches. In addition, poisonous gases flood the streets, causing damage to the health of children who are unlucky enough to be born on this side of the river, as happened with Viktor. In Zaun everyone consumes Shimmer but why would anyone want to consume something so toxic and deadly, sacrificing their physical and mental health in the process? that's because zaunites don't have a longer life expectancy. Many zaunites died from the noxious gases, others from hunger and cold, and others simply died in an alley during a fight. In Zaun people don't live but survive and that is why they are willing to sacrifice tomorrow to have a guaranteed today. Another reason why the zaunites consume Shimmer is because by giving its users greater physical strength, Shimmer invites them to have a fantasy of power because, being aware of their precarious situation and how the piltovians live in great luxury, they also want to be strong, big and powerful like the piltovians. It's the same case as that of people who smoke or use drugs: they know that they are damaging their health but they seek an escape from reality and forget their problems temporarily, being more powerful but Shimmer, like any other drug, corrupts and converts its users into monsters stripping them of their humanity.
This contrast is even seen in the colors of both: the blue color of Hextech is related to the aesthetic of Piltover and its ideals of goodness and progress, it symbolizes the color of the sky of the horizon that the piltovians look at constantly looking for progress, looking for tomorrow. While the Shimmer is purple because in a certain way, purple is a corrupted version of blue, a color that has the beautiful and noble blue of Hextech and Piltover plus the red that represents blood, in this way the purple of Shimmer represents Zaun's connection to Piltover (blue) and the zaunites' blood who die daily and the rest who struggle to survive another day (red).
Hextech was created by a piltovian (Jayce) and a zaunite (Viktor) to help others and ensure a future while Shimmer was created by an ex-piltovian (Singed) in collaboration with a zaunite (Silco) to improve and strengthen the body of anyone at the cost of their humanity just to have one more day of life.
Gus and Jinx: A Story of Two Prodigies
If there is something that I could notice is that thanks to Labyrinth Runners I noticed that Gus has some similarities with Jinx from Arcane.
They are both considered prodigies despite how young they’re (Gus is a prodigy with illusion magic and Jinx is a talented inventor and mechanic).
They both have so many insecurities about themselves that they even doubt the perception of their reality and their ability to trust others, believing that people will betray them at the slightest opportunity.
However, Gus has positive and healthy support from his friends who value him for who he is and genuinely care about him and don't want to take advantage of him
while Jinx never had a healthy support system so her paranoia doesn't stop to grow and ends up harming herself
and those around her.
It's pretty scary and sad to think that Gus could have ended up as Jinx if he hadn't had friends who really appreciate him for who he is regardless of his talent.
Jayce Tails: Impotence and Lack of Control
Maybe everyone dislike Jayce but that doesn't take away from the fact that he's a well written character.
Many people believe that Jayce's story is about the acquisition of power and how it can corrupt you but in reality Jayce's story is about how changing society for the better isn’t easy and how you can lose control of your own life even if you have much power.
Let's go from the beginning to demonstrate this.
Due to him and his mother almost die in a snowstorm until they're saved by an arcane magic user, Jayce gains an admiration and curiosity about arcane magic and this makes Jayce think about how he can help society with it. and leads to experiments with it but he never expected that Vi and her companions destroy his workshop and expose his illegal experiments.
This causes Jayce to go to trial and there he explains from the bottom of his heart about his belief that magic can be controlled through science and how it can improve the lives of others but no one believes him or they just don't care. This is the first contact that Jayce has with the system and he can perceive how he is a small unimportant gear, so much so that if it were not for his mother he wouldn't be able to continue living in Piltover.
Jayce feels betrayed that he was forced to undermine both his work and his dreams and, in desperation, tries to commit suicide in what used to be his workshop.
This scene is important because it makes it clear that what Jayce cares about the most are his inventions, he is a scientist at heart and if he doesn't have control over his inventions then he has nothing. Viktor stops him and they both continue to experiment with arcane magic until they achieve what they set out to do, they both manage to create hextech technology.
Years pass and Jayce becomes a symbol of Piltover: the Man of Progress. The people who despised him now want favors and alliances with him. This can be seen at a high society party during Jayce's speech.
Now everything revolves around him, the Man of Progress. It's a very big title that he must carry on his shoulders.
At this point Heimerdinger suggests that they postpone the experiment while Mel wants them to go ahead. Jayce doesn't know what to decide and more importantly he doesn't understand why he should decide because Viktor has the same amount of merits as him, both were the ones who created hextech technology but Jayce is credited with leadership for stupid and superficial reasons: he isn't disabled, he has good looking and he was born in Piltover. Obviously Jayce has this in mind and that is why he isn't happy when he goes on stage because he just wants to be a scientist who invents things to do good.
Shortly after Jinx steals the hextech gem and Jayce takes responsibility before the Council and proposes to stop all investigations until the matter is resolved but they don't support him. Jayce realizes that instead of being concerned about the safety of the citizens, the leaders of Piltover care more about appearances and the solution that the Council proposes is equally questionable since they name Jayce, a scientist with no experience in politic, as one of their members but this isn't a security measure nor does it solve the problem, but rather it's a way to keep the masses calm, giving them a false sense of security since they will think that there will be no way for something bad to happen if the Man of Progress is one of the leaders of Piltover.
Jayce, being the only member of the Council who really cares about the safety of its citizens, decides to increase the security measures behind the back of his fellow Council members, which makes them not happy with him and make illegal transactions, this shows the fact that they only care about benefiting themselves and not the population. Jayce to make amends for his actions must talk to each of them and earn his favor through empty promises and fake smiles.
Something that I liked is how during the scene where the promises that Jayce makes with the members of the council take place, the instrumental becomes more unrestrained and chaotic because it symbolizes Jayce's lack of control over his own life.
Not only is he making a lot of promises that he had not previously premeditated or discussed with his partner, but he no longer has control of his inventions and, even as part of the Council, he doesn't have the control to change the things that he considers to be necessary.
Little by little the conflict between Piltover and Zaun is increasing and Jayce, despite being a member and leader of the Council, he doesn't know what to do, everyone suggests and even demands how she should deal with this delicate situation: Mel says something, the Council says another thing, Viktor thinks differently, Vi wants to act, Caitlyn wants diplomacy, Ambessa wants war. All this confuses Jayce and the fact that he can't make a decision and stick with it makes the audience annoyed with him, it's like Shinji who doesn't want to get on the EVA, but there's the funny thing: Jayce doesn't know what to do, he is only a scientist who never aspired to have the responsibilities he has today, he has no experience, leadership or will to play this role and he knows it better than anyone.
Remember the suicide scene? At this point in the story Jayce has no control over his inventions and the only reason he doesn't plan on ending his life is because it doesn't even belong to him anymore. He is similar to All Might from My Hero Academia or Satoru Gojo from Jujutsu Kaisen because, like them, Jayce has gradually become a tool that everyone depends on, he as an individual is nobody, he has no value and people don't care about Jayce as a person, they just care about his role and fachade as the Man of Progress.
After going with Vi to fight in Zaun he realizes that he can't solve anything by this way. He kills a child unintentionally and this marks him for life for which he decides to take the diplomatic way to solve the conflict.
At this point it isn't known if the negotiation with Silco is because Jayce genuinely doesn't want to exterminate the inhabitants of Zaun or if he's simply afraid that they will end Piltover, the only thing that is known is that Jayce is tired and desperately wants to find an immediate solution to all this conflict.
After a great discussion with the Council, Jayce manages to convince them that diplomacy is the best solution and it's shown that if you can make a decision that does not have selfish ends involved, but as said before, changing things isn't easy by many external factors, this is seen when Jinx decides to end Piltover. It's the only time that Jayce as a political figure manages to do something good, something that could bring benefits in the future but it does not matter because something that he cannot control (Jinx) will ruin everything he achieved.
That's what his story is about, about impotence and lack of control. As I said before, Jayce's situation is reminiscent of Shinji's, they are disowned by people because they both function as a mirror. Both Jayce and Shinji reflect as a real life person who is given so much power and responsibilities and so little experience overnight, it's easy to say that Jayce and Shinji made mistakes because we are bystanders but what would we do if we were in a situation like that? If we were in Jayce's position we would obviously make the same bad decisions as Jayce and even make worse decisions than him.
That's why Jayce easily upsets people because he reminds us that we are inexperienced, that we have little control over things and that we are but an insignificant part of a society that will advance with or without us.
Piltover and Zaun, Hextech and Shimmer
We all know that Piltover and Zaun are cities that share many elements with each other: rulers disconnected from their respective cities (Piltover Council for Piltover Chem-barons for Zaun), intelligent personalities (Jayce and Jinx) and other similarities, another of the elements that equate the two cities and that I liked the most are
the Hextech
and the Shimmer.
Hextech and Shimmer are means that both cities use to make their citizens more powerful, to advance and evolve.
Piltover is the city of progress, the cradle of the greatest technological advances, it always has its eyes on the horizon, on tomorrow. Hextech is Jayce and Viktor's masterpiece created with the purpose of improving people's lives and giving them a better future: the portals that improve the transport of goods between cities, the Atlas Gauntlets so that miners can work faster, they get less tired and protect them from possible landslides in the mines or the hexclaw to improve the work of artificers. In Jayce's words, he wanted his technology to be a tool to build a new and better world. Hextech has the ability to learn from its environment and adapt to the needs of its user without losing the purpose of its creation (example: the Atlas Gauntlets create a shield for Vi because it adapted to her need to protect herself and also the Atlas Gauntlets fulfill the purpose of their creation which is to protect their users in the mines).
On the other hand, Zaun cannot look to the horizon. Its people are always underground, in the shadow of Piltover and the light hardly reaches. In addition, poisonous gases flood the streets, causing damage to the health of children who are unlucky enough to be born on this side of the river, as happened with Viktor. In Zaun everyone consumes Shimmer but why would anyone want to consume something so toxic and deadly, sacrificing their physical and mental health in the process? that's because zaunites don't have a longer life expectancy. Many zaunites died from the noxious gases, others from hunger and cold, and others simply died in an alley during a fight. In Zaun people don't live but survive and that is why they are willing to sacrifice tomorrow to have a guaranteed today. Another reason why the zaunites consume Shimmer is because by giving its users greater physical strength, Shimmer invites them to have a fantasy of power because, being aware of their precarious situation and how the piltovians live in great luxury, they also want to be strong, big and powerful like the piltovians. It's the same case as that of people who smoke or use drugs: they know that they are damaging their health but they seek an escape from reality and forget their problems temporarily, being more powerful but Shimmer, like any other drug, corrupts and converts its users into monsters stripping them of their humanity.
This contrast is even seen in the colors of both: the blue color of Hextech is related to the aesthetic of Piltover and its ideals of goodness and progress, it symbolizes the color of the sky of the horizon that the piltovians look at constantly looking for progress, looking for tomorrow. While the Shimmer is purple because in a certain way, purple is a corrupted version of blue, a color that has the beautiful and noble blue of Hextech and Piltover plus the red that represents blood, in this way the purple of Shimmer represents Zaun's connection to Piltover (blue) and the zaunites' blood who die daily and the rest who struggle to survive another day (red).
Hextech was created by a piltovian (Jayce) and a zaunite (Viktor) to help others and ensure a future while Shimmer was created by an ex-piltovian (Singed) in collaboration with a zaunite (Silco) to improve and strengthen the body of anyone at the cost of their humanity just to have one more day of life.
three objectives
but what we are lead to belive are these objectives could not be... is possible its audio from sonewhere else if you pay attention the mouth lines up pretty well with "with three objectives" but then we dont actually see cait say and we arnt presented with numbering what we think they are - i know thats really picky but anything is possible -
anyway
capture jinx - *capture* that tells me keep her alive we want to hold to to justice. so why does it look like vi is fighting jinx to the death
dismantle shimmer - shimmer as we know it is a drug a substance but then why is is "dismantle" kinda makes me thing its Shimmer capital S an organization a new faction of zaun
and neutralize any agents still loyal to silco - neutralize not capture not dismantle
three objectives
but what we are lead to belive are these objectives could not be... is possible its audio from sonewhere else if you pay attention the mouth lines up pretty well with "with three objectives" but then we dont actually see cait say and we arnt presented with numbering what we think they are - i know thats really picky but anything is possible -
anyway
capture jinx - *capture* that tells me keep her alive we want to hold to to justice. so why does it look like vi is fighting jinx to the death
dismantle shimmer - shimmer as we know it is a drug a substance but then why is is "dismantle" kinda makes me thing its Shimmer capital S an organization a new faction of zaun
and neutralize any agents still loyal to silco - neutralize not capture not dismantle
Listen I KNOW this very few seconds are right after the missile hit and this is someone´s POV (look at the camera movement) and that someone is either Jayce, Viktor or Mel and whoever it is ITS GOING TO MAKE ME CRY
Alright bear with me here, I’m about to get delulu as feck. But assuming that this circular looking object is the decoration embedded in the floor at the center of the council table…
And assuming this is a piece of the table and not roof/wall debris…
Then by perspective, it has to be someone who was in this general area…
👀👀👀👀
ANALYSIS TIME!! Part Two (Because My Battery Died, and I Need Glorious Evolution So I Can Power My Devices From My Wrist.. Or something.):
So we know this looks like Viktor. That’s his cane, and my boi has got some serious red lined cloaked edgy drip goin’ on there, which we also see in League of Legends, although it’s a bit more raggedy there. He’s also already wearing a mask by the looks of it. His face is probably scarred up from the explosion, and he’d prefer to be seen looking like an automaton. Also, maybe like Darth Vader, it serves as a breathing apparatus, because boi’s lungs aren’t any good anymore. The thing I’m prolly most looking forward to seeing in Season Two is the development of Glorious Evolution. I personally am a big advocate of this and I can’t wait to see his transformation from sickly, on-the-cusp-of-death adorkable nerd to brilliant, seemingly unstoppable Darth Vader Arc Cyborg Nerd who will stop at nothing to reach unlimited potential and power, ergo saving his people.
Uh- anyway, to the shot- This seems to be the Undercity where he is surrounded by a few Shimmer addicts/ victims. The bright light appears to be emanating from Viktor’s hand as he passes it to the hooded figure next to him. This purple colour suggests he is weilding unstable or corrupted Hexcore technology, but not the Hexcore itself. It’s too small We know that in League he still uses it, so Jayce tooootally failed in destroying it. Major L, my dude.
The place is a shambles- crates and tools are strewn all over the place. Is this just typical, run-down wear and tear of the Undercity, or did a fight recently break out? I feel like this will be in Episode 2 or 3 for some reason. Maybe we will get a relatively smaller time-skip than Season 1.
Also, can I just say broski has augmented himself some HEIGHT. What the Hell. Bro’s taller than Cait. Vastly taller than Jayce, even, if you’ve seen the Bridging the Rift reveal. I wanna see him and Jayce argue or duke it out while he towers over him like that. Quality entertainment, peeps.
Okay, that’s all I can get out of that shot. Sorry.
I feel like this shot is overlooked. Like, there are no significant characters. No parallels, I think. What is its REAL purpose in the trailer? What’s that big purple smog? Weaponised Shimmer, or some other Chemtech ‘splosion? I thought Singed didn’t like people weaponising shimmer. There’s been speculation that part of the reason he created Warwick was to neutralise its effects with that green stuff and a blood transfusion.
Also, this isn’t Viktor. That cloak is different. There’s a new setting, Jinx’s graffiti is visible on a wall behind like later on in the trailer. It’s not Jinx- the physique doesn’t seem right-, or the mysterious Mage that saved Jayce in his youth. I bet it’s a new character.
Also, no proof yet, but I predict Sevika will die.