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Therapist REACTS

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Arcane S01E06

Comments

Jinx wanted closer weither that would be to show Vi was alive or dead and if silcos was lying.

Crystal Raeth

Very excited for the next!

anadoob

I think it's less to do with budget and more to do with them feeling that a S2 BTS would largely be repeating what was already covered by the S1 BTS.

Matt Sturgeon

I agree, Matt. I think it was because of budget issues!

Benjamin

Same, Sarockinon!

Benjamin

YES, I love Viktor so much. Definitely one of my top characters in all of League lore, not just Arcane. I would absolutely LOVE some videos focusing on him.

TheCakeMachine

Regarding your questions about Heimerdinger's involvement in creating the current Undercity and thus the divide between the two since he's the founder of Piltover: The show never mentioned this during its run, but in the broader League of Legends lore you learn that the Undercity is an ancient city of the Shuriman Empire that has existed for a long time (under a different name that you will hear mentioned later), and thus came first. Piltover was built on top of it. The Undercity exists on the Pilt river, and the city built above it after it was decimated in an accident was named Piltover because of its location... well, over Pilt.

Maki

I'm not sure if someone has pointed it out already, but a tiny detail I loved about this episode is when Jinx says "Sister, thought I missed her, bet you wouldn't miss her" She's talking to her gun. Unsure if it's actually ever mentioned in the show but she has named all her weapons. Or well I guess even as Powder, she named her "grenades".

Martin

One little detail you may have missed is that the girl that looked at young Viktor at the start of the episode is the same as the assistant that has a crush on current Viktor, her name is Sky Young

Ludo

Vi's power over Silco is as Silco's power over Marcus. That is a nice parallel I did not see. Nice catch!

Valeria Antelo

I don’t believe she’s branding Silco a liar, it’s Sevika she calls a liar, she even references this when she sees Caitlin for the first time

C_Forde

I'm sad there's no ‘Bridging the Rift’ equivalent for S2; BtR was 5x30m, while ‘Making Arcane’ for S2 was only 10m long... The S2 BTS was still good, but 10m does not compare to 2.5h.

Matt Sturgeon

Even for season 2, I doubt you'd catch the differences on an initial viewing. Most of them are hidden in flash frames, and those that aren't hidden are still pretty subtle.

Matt Sturgeon

100% — although I always saw the bridge checkpoints as Marcus's solution for tracking down Vi and Caitlyn, as instructed by Silco. Note how Marcus ‘accidentally’ suggests the idea to Jayce immediately after the scene where Silco threatened his daughter. Although Silco is definitely loosing trust in Marcus, so I think your point still stands.

Matt Sturgeon

Jinx thought Vi was dead until Sevika let her know. We know this because Silco believed that Marcus had handled her (which he sort of did, just not by killing her). So Jinx immediately set off the flare.

anadoob

I hope Stu does reactions on Bridging the Rift before season 2! It'd be a lot of extra content (5 episodes if my memory is correct?) but worth it in my mind. It would be a pure fan reaction rather than a therapy lens, but I'm signed up for all of Stu's thoughts on Arcane at this point.

Sarockinon

This episode has one of my favorite little moments in the series - the conversation between Mel and Jayce. Mel is set up as this manipulative femme fatale that is interesting but fairly one dimensional. When Jayce comes to her with open pain and vulnerability, she responds to him like any compassionate person would - with reassurance and a display of vulnerability of her own. This is in direct opposition to everything we’ve been led to expect from her based on the character moments we’ve seen. Her response just feels so human, and more intimate to me then the sex scene between them we just saw. It’s a subtle shift but it speaks volumes to how well the show is written. I find it really frustrating when characters act like caricatures instead of people to further the plot or conflict.

Saja

As someone with MS, Viktor is my ride or die for this show.

AmbushIntheDark

Same here! *_*

Aline Wunneburg

Yes! A common misconception is that Guns for Hire (the song played in Episode 6) is about Jinx, but it's actually about Silco and how practically all of his plans and important connections are falling apart. Vi is out and causing trouble, Jinx has abandoned him, Marcus is done helping him (signified by the bridge checkpoints being back up), and the only true ally he has left is Sevika who just got played bigtime by Jinx.

Rushy

I really love how you analyze Jinx and silently pray you will take a deeper look at Viktor at some point! He's such a fascinating character, dealing with his own trauma, and I would die to hear your thoughts on him.

jo

On the Piltover side of the story, I love that you picked up on the parallel between Viktor and Rio (the mutated salamander). It’s such a significant detail—and one that’s often overlooked or misunderstood—that plays a big role throughout the rest of the story. Heimerdinger’s flawed perspective really stands out in this episode. While he means well, he’s too detached from humanity’s struggles, as seen in his inaction toward the Undercity’s growing issues and his inability to grasp the transient nature of human life. This is evident in how he fails to truly comfort Viktor during their conversation about legacy and death, as well as in how he neglected to help the Undercity throughout his long time as a Council member. As for Jayce, we were led to believe that his and Viktor’s priorities were diverging (the mug scene being a perfect example). However, in one single moment—Jayce being there for Viktor at the hospital in Ep 5—that path (or trope) was subverted. What he does to Heimerdinger is something that usually stems from a character being power-hungry, but Jayce does it for Viktor. Like his initial determination to fight corruption the moment he was nominated as a Councilor, his desire to help Viktor being the driving force behind his “coup” says so much about his character. I also love that, for the first time, Jayce is the one manipulating the rest of the Council to vote against Heimerdinger by using the influence he gained from being manipulated himself. He was put on the Council against his will and forced to turn a blind eye to their corruption, but here, he reclaims that control—not for power, but for a chance to save Viktor. Mel has always viewed Jayce as nothing more than an investment up until this point. She hasn’t cared about him as a person with a life and meaningful relationships, which is why she was unaware of the strong bond between him and Viktor. Here, however, she shows the first hint of genuine care, seeming surprised that Jayce even came to her. She then delivers what I believe is one of the series' key quotes: "We can't change what fate has in store for us, but we don't have to face it alone." Anyway, I'm really excited for all the future discussions we'll be having ❤️

luana_reads

Thanks for another great reaction! I completely agree with Sarockinon’s comment about Jinx and her reasoning for lighting the flare. It’s such a powerful moment—one that never fails to give me goosebumps and make me tear up. And Silco completely losing it when Vi gets away is just so telling. She’s the greatest threat to him at the moment because she’s the only one who could take his daughter away from him. One could even argue that Vi unknowingly holds the same power over Silco as Silco holds over Marcus.

luana_reads

Thank you for the video. About Heimerdinger and Jayce. Yes, Heimerdinger is a founder of a city, but he wasn't its single ruler. There was a council. And no one from that council did anything with the Undercity. (I mean, we know something from S2, but we are not there yet). Mel did nothing, other did nothing/ And the most interesting part is that Jayce also was a member of a council (well, for a few days, but still). And he also did nothing. He wanted. But then he started to play politics and forgot. (I think, that scene with a cup "man of progress", when Viktor was behind the cup, was kinda about it). And also I think that Jayce saw in Heimerdinger same weakness that he has himself. Because Jayce wanted to help people, but all he did was helping rich people of Piltover (with his hextech). And he blamed Heimerdinger and didn't even understand that he did the same. I think it's like when you blame someone for something, like for being egoistical, but you do it just because you are the same and you see this egoistical thing because of your own egoism. And also - yes, R&D's need many years in development, Heimerdinger is right. You can't just build a plane, put some people there and be good. And yes - people are dying, sometimes you just need to cope and don't play saviours. It's sad, but it is what it is. Man, I hate Jayce since I first saw this episode. Nothing in S2 has changed it. I realise that he has a great arc, one of the best, but for me this was unethical and douche. And about Mel saying "I didn't think you are so close" - I think it's because he didn't spend much time with Viktor since he became politician.

RagingMoonkin

Wow that is really significant, it is indeed a shame the show doesn't mention it! I feel like it could have been covered with a couple lines of dialogue. Thank you for letting us know!

Lily Luna

Absolutely! It's rare to have a behind the scenes series almost as good as the show itself! It would be cool to see a reaction to it before season two!

Benjamin

That's only for season 2, all season 1 intros are the same

Bea

I see you skip the intros xD but the intros are a bit diferent everytime, they have easter eggs in the middle.

21vegeta

Just finished. Oh boy, I’m so ready for the coming livestreams

yo_boy_Wolfie

Yeah but the word Clagger kept trying to come out.

StuBoy

I just finished watching the documentary Arcane: Bridging the Rift (available on YouTube), and I highly recommend it. It’s about how S1 was created, and all I can say is: WOW! The level of artistic detail in every aspect —animation, music, design, etc.— is simply impressive. Every second of any episode required days of work by the Fortiche team. In S2, all that effort was taken even further. It’s such an extraordinary visual experience that, if you blink, you might miss a detail

Drabolik Lz

I laughed at the Little Shop of Horrors reference! The cliffhangers at the end of each episode are killer. Is clanging the thing you were trying to think of when Jinx said "sister, thought you missed her"?

Alanna Roff

As others have already pointed out, the Counselors all made deals with Jayce for a piece of hex techs' future.. Even Mel seemed at least a little reluctant, (or maybe it was guilt) but she votes with him knowing it wouldn't look good to vote against him right after all those deals they made. The other counselors are also pretty nervous about the idea as we see with their expressions. I also love how this scene reflects the one where Jayce gets expelled. Heimerdinger is now reaping the consequences of how hard he was on Jayce about magic in the first place. Also another note about Heimerdinger. While I won't argue if kicking him out was the right call or not, Jayce had a point and you brought it up as well. He's the founder of Piltover, which means he is most certainly partly responsible for the growing divide between the undercity. Even if you think back to Act 1. We see him interacting a lot with Jayce's point of view regarding the explosion in his lab, but he's never present when the others are demanding the enforcers escalate the situation with the undercity. The likely answer is that he just doesn't care about that stuff. As you said, time is so different for him and he clearly is motivated by science and learning. So he tries his best to mentor Jayce, just as he was mentoring Viktor before the explosive incident. He doesn't care about thieves or a political divide, he lets the others deal with it. There are probably a lot of ways to look at this, this far in the show, but the one fact is, he's definitely to blame for the divide. Maybe not all of it, but the founder should have concern for that sort of thing. He goes on a speech trying to wax nostalgic about what Piltover is really about, all the while, half their nation is living beyond poverty, in deadly conditions (as we see with Viktor.) and he never even speaks about that.

Ghost Mom

(Forgive if any of this was gone over in the most recent Powder livestream, wasn't able to watch it) I'd argue Powder's core want was "be useful for my group in the underground". After episode 3, she had to settle for "be useful for something that resembles a representation of the underground", which is Silco. In the context of being born into this environment in the underground, you're only as good as your ability to contribute, practically speaking. The pressure to be useful is pretty overwhelming, and Powder being the runt of the group must have felt that more than everyone. This core want is why Mylo is the one haunting her and continuing to poke at her greatest insecurity even after his death. My read is that this validation need is a bit higher on the needs list for Jinx than just the general concept of abandonment. The abandonment hurts downstream from Powder having to consider herself useless. She's abandoned because of her uselessness, or, worse, her being actively harmful(a Jinx). I feel as though she'd be willing to do anything to stabilize that aspect of herself, and her perception of it. Silco's acceptance and validation was what was available to Powder, but it's never been what she aimed for, Vi's. Silco's validation was also much safer, as if she does have a sort of innate destructive and chaotic element to her, Silco's violent rebellion is the perfect place for it. As for the choice of music when she's lighting the flare. I feel like it's really supposed to be an emotional triumph. One can only imagine how hard it is to allow yourself to be vulnerable with such an over display. Jinx lighting the flare at the top of that vantage point is her exclaiming that she needs Vi, for everyone to see. She knows how she'll spiral if she performs this display and is let down again. The last time she said "I need you, Vi" in literal words was at the end of episode 3. Sobbing on her knees and begging for Vi to come back. That's one of the most emotionally vulnerable displays you can have, and in her mind she was ignored. I would love to see more formalized analysis on the components of this action from Jinx when it comes to displays of vulnerability while having abandonment trauma. Back to the validation hierarchy, that's why she sought Vi out, dropped the fortified hextech gemstone without a second thought, and was entirely open to the reunion. It was going exactly how she imagined it could go until Cait showed up and the insecurities flared up again. So, IMO, Jinx lit the flair because she was given an option to just maybe align with her initial core want again. If Vi wasn't apologetic, then Jinx could have been inquisitive, or combative, but, Jinx got her answers and her apologies from Vi immediately, and then went into full reconciliation mode. Oversimplified to keep things as short as possible.

Harris

I read a lot about the lore, what you said was all accurate. To compliment, something I really wished Arcane had covered at some point was that the crack was not an natural phenomenon, it was an accident caused by the city's wealthy trying to open a canal near the city using calculated explosions. The canal ended up being successfully opened (which is a big reason why Piltover is so rich today), but a miscalculation led to part of the city being torn apart. Just like you said, the wealthy simply moved to the other side of the canal and named it "Piltover", and the poor that had no means of reallocation simply fixed their homes in the fissures and lived with it. The worst part is that Piltover actually celebrates this event even today, calling it "Progress Day".

Luís

Jinx can sense something is off with Silco and seeks information. She’s not used to having secrets kept from her; she hangs out freely in the rafters of his office privy to all sorts of sensitive dealings. I don’t think she typically cares about what goes on in Silco’s office, but she wants to know why all of a sudden there’s this hubbub and she hasn’t been called to action. My read of these scenes is that she is quick to brand Silco a liar (instead of assuming he was misled about Vi’s death) because of his reaction - panic and concealment. And if she believes Silco has been deceiving her for years, there’s a glimmer of hope that she was not purposely discarded. Jinx is assembling the puzzle of Vi’s appearance as she goes, she identifies the missing “Marcus” piece almost immediately after just a few words are exchanged. Her hopeful, impulsive, vulnerable, tearful, happy reunion is built on the foundation that Silco&Sevika=liars. This immediately gets rocked when Caitlyn shows up - why is her sister teamed up with an enforcer, one who is clearly looking for the gemstone? Could it be that Vi is the liar and is trying to manipulate her? Of course there are a million complex emotions tied up in it all, but that’s my read of Jinx’s thought process in attempting to make sense of the situation and of the world as she knows it.

Sarockinon

Jinx did believe Vi was dead, because Silco told her (having been told that by Marcus). So I think simply learning Vi was alive caused Jinx to question her understanding of everything that had happened after Vi "abandoned" her, which was enough by itself to prompt the flare. I do believe that Jinx likely also wanted to confront Vi about leaving her and probably had some distant hope of undoing everything, but my take on her main motivation for the flare was a need to confirm whether her whole life and persona rested on a lie.

Jonah Jackson

The lyrics too: “As these marionettes cut their strings, and run away” 🎶

Matt Sturgeon

I find it interesting how one of the few times Silco looses his composure, is when Vi slips through his fingers and he fears that as a result he will also lose his one true attachment, Jinx. Not only is it one of the only times he loses composure, it's also by far the most visceral and disregulated we ever see Silco.

Matt Sturgeon

To clarify why the other councilor’s went along with Jayce’s motion to remove Heimerdinger: When he spent episode 5 making deals with Mel’s help one thing Mel says is basically that “we will share our new hextech with whoever embraces Jayce’s vision”. Thus because Jayce is in charge of hextech use and security, whoever follows Jayce gets to stay in his good graces with regards to their illicit trade and other things he was cracking down on. Heimerdinger may not have been holding back the other councilors since he wasn’t involved in the corruption, but Mel taught Jayce to actively get the other councilors in his corner so to speak.

HeyItsVayy

I missed that Cait is Vis mom too, notice just watching this reaction :D

Carol Grein Ericson

I thought it would have been due to the industriallization poisoning everything but that could be the case to, or a combination.

Last Thing

Yes, and he tells Jinx something like "you know your sister's gone" in episode 4 - I don't think there would be any point in him pretending she was alive but somewhere else, so it's safe to assume they both believed Vi was dead

Lily Luna

My perspective on Heimerdinger is that of a typical scientist — someone so focused on progress and order that they overlook the consequences it can bring. Progress can also cause division. I don’t think Heimerdinger acted with bad intentions, but he isolated himself in his “tower of knowledge” and leaned too heavily on his immortal nature. He became blind to the problems happening in the Undercity, also To him, humans are fleeting, like he told Viktor, and in that mindset, he ends up forgetting about the people behind the progress(the inactive position again). And on top of that, we have the corrupted Marcus, who was likely manipulating all the information about the Undercity to protect Silco’s business.

Carol Grein Ericson

Yes! I would add, about Shimmer being developed as a weapon - this is what Silco uses it as and pushes for, but originally we see that the doctor was making it to preserve Rio's life. The purple flowers he and Viktor feed her are what Shimmer comes from, so there was always an element of healing (with horrendous side effects at that early stage, and not a whole lot better now from what we see of Shimmer addicts). In small doses though it doesn't seem as bad, as we can see Silco injecting his eye with it and he doesn't show any side effects, and Sevika's arm injects her with Shimmer in her fight scene with Vi last episode, and she also doesn't show side-effects at this point. Could easily be that she will with repeated use though, or that they're just not obvious. About Vi's hallucinations, I also think they're mostly due to her injuries, but also being back in the place she used to live in with her parents and Powder, potentially reawakening memories like the bridge did in her discussion with Vander Stu made a video on. Stu I think you missed that, but at some point she sees Caitlyn as her mom, just before she gets the potion I think. You commented on her seeing Powder there, but though Vi hears Cait's voice, she sees her mom instead.

Lily Luna

In my opinion, Jinx sought out Vi because she had lost confidence in Silco — the word “liar” symbolizes her broken trust in him and the collapse of her sense of protection. Sevika played a part in this as well, provoking Jinx with the line, “Oh, he didn’t tell you?” Her intention seemed to be to push Jinx away, as Jinx’s instability was disrupting the plan for an independent Undercity (Zaun). I believe Jinx’s main motivation was to see her “dead” sister and confront Silco’s lie face-to-face.

Carol Grein Ericson

Great reaction as always! For the divide between Piltover and Zaun/the undercity and Heimerdinger watching it happen - I don't think it's explained in the show and I'm not super knowledgeable about the lore from League of Legends, but my understanding is that part of the original city's terrain broke open into what are now called the fissures, which then allowed for mining to happen. I imagine anyone wealthy enough would have moved to more secure terrain (now topside, or Piltover) while the miners and everyone else too poor to move had to remain in the various levels of the undercity. So the original crack between the two was literal and quite quick, but it seems it has gotten steadily worse from then on. If anybody knows better please do correct me in the comments!

Lily Luna

Once again my thoughts, opinions, and some details I like If you notice at the begining of the episode the water Victor is next to (and where the kids are playing) is discollored and has streaks of somthing running through it. Its contaminated. Might be another reason why Victor wasn't playing with them. Also you recognized the name Sky it shows up one other time in the episode if you didn't catch that. i don't know if you recognized it but the person young victor meets is the Doctor Silco was working with in episodes 1-3. Yes Victors condition is terminal an understandable detail to miss as its only mentioned once up to this point, It happens last epsiode victor asks Jayce "how much time to I have". Good catch on Mel not really being invested in Jayce's personal life up until this point I beleive she has seen him as mostly "quite the investment". But she softens up this episode and shows Jayce some real human connection. Also there are often parrellel scenes in this show where 2 people are having a bonding and another one is alone and suffering. Like in this episode Jayce is with Mel and it cuts to Viktor suffering alone. If it makes you feel any better about Jinx I'm pretty sure being a little silly and theatrical is part of her personallity rather than an effect of trama. So I feel laughter is appropriate at the bar scene. (also that scene shows how afraid silco's men are of Jinx, willing to beleive she may kill them on a simple whim, which I don't think is true) Remember that sevika planted the Idea that Jinx was being replaced by Caitlyn (some girl enforcer). Painfully Caitlyn also has blue hair. Silco is losing control over Marcus "he's faltering" (episode 5). He needs to buy some cheap time while Jinx weaponizes the hextech and he needs to make sure Vi and Caitlyn can't get word out on him. So he decides to threaten marcus's daughter. I think its surprising he does a very good job at making sure marcus's daughter is unaware of the threat. I don't know if silco would actually follow through as I feel he would think that would push marcus to the brink and possibly decide to expose silco. Silco actually spends a lot of time this episode trying to reassert control. I think Vi's hallucinations are from bloodloss but they definatly are somewhat rooted in her psychologically as well. The person who took Caitlyn to the healer is named Huck he's the man vander bailed out of that situation at the bar in episode 1. We see in this epsiode 2 things with shimmer. 1 Silco has been selling it to whoever buys it (no safeguards), which is rooted in his belief of the undercitys unrestricted freedom. it also shows us that he isn't working on many of zauns internal struggles, focusing instead on piltovers opression over it. 2. We see shimmer being very valuable as a medicine (or when combined with it) it patches Vi right up. Interesting how what was developed as a weapon can have outstanding use in other areas. I think searching the people who cross the bridges for Jayce means no shimmer can come across. For marcus it gives him the opportunity to catch Vi and Caitlyn. If you want my 2 cents as to how piltover and Zaun split it was due to the industriallization in the undercity poisoning its air and water. those that were rich enough could afford to move wheras those who weren't had to keep working in the mines, factorys, and refinery's Interesting that Vi and Powders original home (with there biological parents) was in the poorest part of the underground. We don't see any children down there anymore though I wonder where they could have ended up. Vi is still very much under the impression that Jinx is being forced to work by silco. Frankly I think silco at least before she stole the Gemstone would have been fine with her staying home. We see silco at his lowest. Vander's Prodigy returns and is threatening to take away Jinx. (note silco is still under the impression vi left volunarily) She escapes and nearly kills silco in the process. Silco doesn't take it well its all falling apart and he's so close to Zauns freedom from piltover. He resorts to a state of panic and attacks anything in sight. Jinx's line "bet you wouldn't miss her" is actually her talking to her gun which is a big part of her in game adaptation. Vi said it was ok that powder had changed and "did what she had to to survive" but she is still (understandably) shocked at powders actions. I wonder if she is really ok with powder's changes. I think Jinx wanted to see Vi because she felt lied to. (its improtant to note silco really believed Vi died) Jinx really is a comunicator at heart she starts every interaction (even if they so often turn out bloody) with it so it makes sense she would want to hear what vi has to say.

Last Thing

I don't think we know exactly what Silco told Jinx about Vi, but Silco himself thought that Vi is dead.

Kabidu

The delivery on "Are you real?" and the final "No!" are so gut wrenching. Jinx lights up the flare at Sevika tells her Vi is alive and in the undercity. As to why, I find it hard to pinpoint one specific reason, meaning to the betrayal, closure to what happened, re evaluating who in her life cares for her? She just called Silco a liar, after Ví was gone he was the only one she felt needed by, but suddenly she is betrayed again by the person she latched onto, and now her sister is back from the dead, just the perfect storm of events.

LegionaresCZ

Hiemerdinger stalling progress on Hextech is a threat to the councilors' investment in it, I see it a them towing the Mel/Jayce line as it is in their best interest now that they've ingratiated themselves to Jayce.

LegionaresCZ

Unholy time. 😂 Thankfully I have my day off tomorrow and time to enjoy your newest reaction. Good night!

Aline Wunneburg

Another episode i think is absolutely masterful in its construction, the kind of thing that so few even great shows manage.

Patrick Dawson

Will watch tomorrow Stu haha

Soldier 69

Thank you💯

C-rad


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