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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.
You know what time it is: Arcane trailer dissection time!!
Just your old Arcane obsessed terminally online person reviewing the most interesting screens (biased) from the teaser that just dropped.
Mamma Medarda just looks DOPE as FUCK in this mask, nothing else to say. She seems to be speaking to Mel, which would indicate she survives, which I hope for. We're clearly dealing with a soft Noxus invasion given the prevalence of Ambessa's troops.
Very interesting to see these troops activating. You have to wonder if they're a failsafe to Silco dying, or if they are being activated by Silco loyalists.
Not doing our girl any favours with that one.
VERY interesting to see Singed getting arrested in a teaser, because that hints it'll happen early on. I figure then that Warwick's escape would probably happen early as well. We may be looking at Singed and Heimerdinger old pal reunions weee
Gotta wonder if he ACTUALLY gets captured though, because Warwick might be a great get out of arrest card.
SEVIKA!!! WITH!! jINX'S GUN!!! I first though for SURE she must have stolen it, or found it, but do you know what?? She has a custom made Jinx arm!!!!
It doesn't seem haphazard, even if it's ungainly. There's a non zero chance that these two are united by Silco's death, instead of split apart!
This strike is clearly showing Medarda's fist. Mommy will be VERY active in this early on.
The previous fist image with projectile launch happens right after those shots. I wonder if that contraption has anything to do with Medarda instead of Jinx or someone else, because poison (spilling from the mouth?) is also a very Noxian thing (thank you, Singed)
What's with Smeech getting SUCH a highlight? What a dope design. Also that shot is the same colours and location style as Sevika shooting with her Jinx augment, so I am wondering if Sevika won't be the one killing him.
Freedom fight Jinx style art? Wow. With blue haired minions behind her? Unexpected! I wonder what Ekko and his firelights think about this, and whether they'll take her in despite everything. This seems to be very Zaun vs. Piltover now.
Our only proof of Viktor in season 2. He's in the Zaun depth with caped figures, most likely shimmer addicts. I wonder if the explosion is him saving them and starting his machine cult, or him defending himself. Anyway, he survives, and I also wonder how many physical augments he needs to heal himself from the explosion, courtesy of the hex core?
Of course the only proof we need that Jayce is alive is that Cait has an Arcane sniper rifle. I don't see Viktor making her one after the explosion........
All in all, interesting stuff!!
Caitlyn's Objectives for Zaun are Vague and Terrible.
"Locate Jinx."
Plenty of people have already talked about this one, but there's a clear "and" missing to this statement. Caitlyn isn't going to just find Jinx say mission accomplished and go back to Piltover. She's left her intentions for Jinx ambiguous to her superiors (Ambessa) and subordinates alike, which leaves room for the situation to escalate.
"Dismantle shimmer."
I cannot overstate how bad of an idea it is. It seems simple in excution. Secure the refineries, detain Singed and other chemists that manufacture it, and destroy any existing supplies. But everything else that comes with it will turn the situation even worse.
I'm not even talking about the fact that Caitlyn is suggesting everyone in Zaun addicted to shimmer immediately go cold turkey without warning, preparation, or their consent. It's that fact that she's essentially destroying the only form of healthcare infrastructure that exists in Zaun.
For all the bad shimmer can do, it's still an effective medicine when used right. It's not a coincidence that once Silco took over and introduced shimmer there's suddenly people with visible disabilities and prosthetics on screen existing in Zaun. They exist because shimmer makes it possible. Even 5 out the 6 chembarons, the richest and most powerful people in Zaun, are disabled or use mobility aids. Chembarons like Smeech quite obviously use shimmer (his eyes are pink in every scene including his character sheet) to manage his prosthetics, he's had all four limbs replaced.
How many people live like Silco, with a chronic illness (probably a dangerous infection because Zaun is Piltover's human/industrial wastepit) that needs to be treated daily? How many people are practically dead and buried if the enforcers manage to destroy all remaining shimmer?
"Neutralize any agents still loyal to Silco."
What does that even mean? What does being loyal to Silco mean when he's dead? They're getting rid of all infrastructure related to shimmer production. The only thing that remains of Silco that anyone can be loyal to is the belief he left behind (and maybe Jinx but that's complicated).
Above all else (except Jinx), Silco wanted an independent Zaun. Will That's his whole thing, and shimmer was just the mechanism to make it happen. Will anyone who agrees that Zaun should be independent be considered a Silco loyalist? If so, then Caitlyn's mission isn't just about finding Jinx and getting shimmer off the streets, this is about crushing an independence movement AGAIN.
How will she characterize Silco's loyalists? Is she talking about chembarons that worked with Silco? Former members of his gang? People who worked in Silco's factories and liked the paycheck? Silco was the defacto leader of Zaun, most if not all figures in Zaun with influence were essentially complicit in his agenda.
Is there any real difference between anti-Piltovan sentiment and pro-Zaunite independence at this point?
The Birth of Jinx
This shot from Arcane is the one most used to promote the show. It’s all over the internet and is probably the most noticeable of all the frames of the show (besides maybe the “you’re hot cupcake” frame with Vi pinning Caitlyn). And it’s also the moment I would argue Jinx was born. Many people would argue that Jinx was born much earlier and I would be inclined to agree but I think the moment Jinx takes her seat in episode 9 is the moment that Jinx the loose cannon was born. This moment and the scenes that directly lead up to and follow it are so masterfully framed with the use of music only solidifying it as a rebirth of sorts and I’d like to get into why. This is my (probably) overly long analysis/breakdown of a scene that is one of my favorites in the whole show. The film nerd/student in me couldn’t resist a thorough breakdown of this scene.
I’m going to focus on Jinx in this post (clearly) and it will almost be a shot for shot breakdown of the moments leading up to the shot above.
I’m going to start here, right after Silco passes away in Jinx’s arms (in yet another masterful contrast to Vi and Vander). Right here when she opens her eyes. The look on her face is one of resignation. The voices whisper incoherently and then stop as the music quietens. And Jinx rises to her feet. Right here is the shift within Jinx and it’s shown most prominently in the framing, which goes from a wide shot of Jinx on her knees crying before a dead Silco to a close up shot of her resigned and tired face, and the sound, which goes from the score “You’re perfect” being the loudest noise in the scene to becoming quieter and overtaken by the whispers in her head.
The next part has Jinx standing up and slowly walking away from Silco’s chair. She stops to look back at Silco one more time while Vi is trying to comfort her. She avoids looking over at Vi Until she sits in the chair (a little bit later). The score turns from sad to more sinister. This shift in the music is very notable because of when it happens, right after Vi calls Jinx “Powder”. Jinx doesn’t show any acknowledgement to Vi. That isn’t who Jinx is anymore. There’s no ounce of Powder left.
There’s a very purposeful divide between Jinx and everything else. She’s boxed in by candles on each side. She’s separated from the back of Silco’s chair and the hex crystal and the edge of the frame. She’s noticeably boxed in with the Jinx chair. It makes her look trapped. Almost like a sealing of her fate but also it shows that all her allegiances are gone. She’s separated from the most notable symbols of Zaun (Silco) and Piltover (the hex crystal) in the room. Her only allegiance now is to herself, Jinx. The candlestick at the edge of the frame can also signify her divide and separation from her sister. Further separating her from everything else.
Then we get another close up of Jinx from the middle of her chest up with her eyes obscured. These frames are noticeably separated by Vi trying and failing to reassure Powder. It cuts from Vi when she says “It’s okay” to this shot back to Vi again when she says “We’ll be okay” back to this same shot. Jinx is trying to keep her breathing even and just like Vi we can’t totally tell what Jinx is thinking. We know that she doesn’t agree with Vi based on her body language and the hitch in her breathing each time Vi tries to say they’re okay, but the hair in her eyes keeps us from getting the full picture.
Jinx uses her gun to tap on the chair and move it out to sit on. The score has one final sinister tone that matches with Jinx’s first tap before cutting out all together and the only noise is diegetic (noise that the characters in the story can hear). The lack of outside noise simultaneously makes the following scenes more eerie and more personal.
It cuts to a shot from above of Jinx in front of the chair. It’s at what could be a bird's eye view above the scene. It’s a high angle which is commonly used to convey the psychological vulnerability of the character in the scene or how something holds power over the character in frame. It’s not necessarily the chair that has power over Jinx but the name written on the chair. This is emphasized by the fact that the name Jinx is legible even from this angle and the bright color it is written in is in complete contrast with all the rest of the much more muted colors of the scene. Even Jinx’s blue hair is lit in a way that makes it blend in more with the surroundings than it.
This shot is used to be put in contrast with the next one that utilizes the superior angle. The name has power over Jinx but she is accepting the name or reclaiming it in a way. It’s meant to be different than when she first took on the name all those years ago where she seems to have taken it out of guilt and a blind attempt to reclaim it.
The next shot is of Jinx alone in the frame from the waist up. Everyone else is angled out of the frame and the angle of the camera is a superior angle from the top of the chair looking up at Jinx. This shot is used to make the character in frame seem strong and powerful, imposing. This scene is eerily quiet as Jinx stands above the seat. The only source of light is hitting her from behind causing her front to be bathed in shadow making the glowing purple of her eyes stand out. Because everyone else is angled out of the frame she is surrounded by inky blackness. She isn’t framed like a lone figure rising or coming into her power. It instead feels like a tragic moment of someone who held so much promise and potential to change the world for the better falling to her darker nature due to failings outside her control (the shimmer which is glowing in her eyes, Silco who she is facing, and the dinner table of her dead family and Vi which she has her back to). She has also literally and metaphorically turned her back to the light (which can be the candles or Vi or any semblance of peace that she will shatter with fishbones).
It’s important though that this final choice is all her’s. There’s no one behind her pushing her towards the chair. The whispering is quiet for once so all the thoughts running through her head are her own. It’s a tragedy because of all the things outside of her control but also because this choice is purely her own.
Jinx then sits and it starts on a close up of her face with her eyes closed, the music is still nonexistent, we are left to stew in the moment with Vi and Jinx before she looks up and we get the iconic shot.
This is the first time she has looked at Vi since she shot Silco. And it’s at this moment that the song “What could have been” starts playing softly in the background. Jinx has made that final leap, she has made the decision to become the loose cannon that she is in canon and her next actions will solidify that. The song starting up is indicative of the sad reality that in this moment all those what ifs that the audience and Vi have been hoping for are only “what could have been”. Jinx the loose cannon is a reality and Powder and the idea of Vi and her becoming a family again are gone. The shot is straight on. We are looking at Jinx as who she really is for the first time. We are witnessing a rebirth.