*I need therapy...* Arcane: League of Legends S1 Ep: 7-9 | First Time Watching | (reaction/review)

Jinx's VA said in an interview that this was her first voice role. And she's not even American.
You can imagine how happy I was to learn she got a role in the new Fallout series.

Jinx wasn't blaming Vi, she was thanking her. We're expecting Jinx to blame her, and I think that programmed many of us on first watch to think she was - but:
"You never left. I always heard you. Shadows in the streets, prickles on the back of my neck. Your voice. Pushing me. Picking me up when all the colors were black. You're the reason I'm still alive."
Perhaps the difference in our minds between Powder and Jinx is "innocent child" vs "emotionally damaged killer" - but I don't think that's how she sees it herself: Powder was weak and afraid, Jinx is strong and confident. Both have mental problems that she'd rather not have.

"I never would have given you to them. Not for anything. Don't cry, you're perfect."

Even after two years, I still cry watching this scene 😢

What I took away from that scene with viktor disarming the jinx bomb is I think he briefly considered just letting it go off. If he just let it explode then he and jayce, the only ones who really KNOW hextech, would be gone and so would the possibility of it being used to make weapons. But he decided to disarm it and put his faith in Jayce making the right decision. I think that adds even more weight to his "there is ALWAYS a choice" line after he does so.

BTW at the part where Victor started running with the boats in the background, its a reference to how when he was a kid he couldn't run fast enough to catch a paper boat, they show how now he could run faster than actual boats
Also when the creator asked to describe season 2 in 1 word, he said "war". Cast members and other people who so far worked on the season have spoken and to summarize what they said, season 2 will be incredible and sad and hella traumatic

“What could’ve been” is probably my favorite song from this show. It’s quite underrated. Though I am a Sting fan and enjoy somber violin 😂

To answer your question about what Jinx has-- while not technically confirmed by writers the running theory is that intense childhood trauma resulted in the development of a personality disorder (most likely BPD, we can already see some symptoms in the first 3 eps), PTSD, and her dealing with bouts of psychosis. It's a common misconception that only people diagnosed with schizophrenia can experience hallucinations/delusions, psychosis can occur for a number of reasons! But I would likely say in her case that it does appear to be a classic case of schizophrenia, not just because of the hallucinations/delusions but also because of her disorganized thoughts and speech. She is an absolutely fascinating character, and imo is one of the best depictions of what psychosis can look like!

Medarda's past scene is interesting because the proposal she makes for taking care of the prisoner is the fate she is given by her mother when she fails the test.

something many people miss

sevika improved her arm, not just the blade but the shimmer injection sysytem

she saw the tank on the shoulder was a weakness

so now she has the cartridges in the arm, safer if smaller capacity

shows that everyone is a thinking, living, breathing person

Mel is such an underrated character in this season. She had a full arc that was as subtle as she is, as opposed to the other obvious arcs in our faces.

Here's the best way to sum up this show:

It's a series of people with conflicting opinions that say and do the wrong things at the wrong places and at the wrong time and everyone loses as a result.

The last song "What Could Have Been" is that statement in a nutshell.

I keep waiting for the next season to cure me of my post-Arcane depression when I know it's only gonna make me need therapy even more 😭

As horrible as a father Silco was, he was a 'good' one for Jinx in terms of who would accept her the way she was and encourage her to create new gadgets, like she figured out that gemstone real quick and then the shark weapon at the end she made that, she's so smart and clearly on level with Victor and Jace! Most of the opinions about Jinx were bad ones from those around Silco yet he always either brushed away their comments or defended her actions even if he knew they were bad ones and caused problems. He genuinely loved Jinx like a daughter and one of my favorite details is a few of his items on his desk have her scribbles on them, it's so cute because that's such a parent thing to keep their kid's little crafts.
And before anyone says I'm defending him, I'm not, he was an awful person and yes while he loved Jinx to the best of his abilities, he definitely shouldn't have been taking care of a mentally ill child let alone any child for that matter! However, I do not expect a man like Silco to raise a child and that child to turn out 'normal' especially when she was already having mental health issues before Silco even came into the picture. In the very opening of the series on that bridge, Powder, who was like 5 and had seen so much death, already had those scratchy imageries over the enforcers' faces. Tbh I believe Powder had little to no chance of not becoming some version of Jinx at some point in her life unless she got professional help which was definitely not available in the Undercity.

Commenting on a thing in episode 7 : you gotta realise Jinx is wildly violent with Silco, who never was with her, ever. The worse he does to her is grab a pen from her hand after she potentially ruined his plans. He BELIEVES it when he makes that pleading speech to her. He truly thinks they're family and it's just two of them... because it's an unhealthy as codependent relationship x'D
He had nobody after Vander, betrayed as all hell, married to his fucked up cause. Then he latches on to Jinx the same way she does on to him. Look at his desk. It's covered in gifts for him, all covered in colourful doodles. She drew his face on the helix of her lair, called him dad there. They're fucked but they're in it together in a weird way. From the way Marcus and others speak about Jinx, she's been a "problem" forever and Silco just covers for her and refuses to hear anything. They're both very broken, and sadly in different ways.
Silco, when he was beaten by Vander and nearly killed, was at his weakest, hence his 'letting a weak man die' speech. But this doesn't translate to Powder, who, when she killed her family, was the (unwitting) aggressor, not the victim, and also, she was AT HER STRONGEST. Her weapons she was praised for and encouraged to make finally worked. And then... tadah. Orphaned.
So Silco's poor attempts at therapy aren't a good fix, because their issues may be similar, but the way they got there are radically opposite.
Also, if you go back to episode 1 on the bridge, there are already "jinx effects" appearing, hinting that Powder already had mental issues.

It's a terrible story of cycles of abuse that trickle down the generations, all under the boot of Piltover.

[41:35] Except Jinx wasn't BLAMING Vi for making Jinx, she was CREDITING her for it. That's something that most people seem to read wrong when first watching it.

@21:43 “What happened to her?” Being born into this conflict is what happened. If you rewatch the opening scene of episode 1, you will notice the scratch marks illustrating the fractured, broken perspective of tiny (4-5yo?) Powder. This child’s core memories are that of gruesome massacres, terrifying enforcers and slaughtered parents. It’s the very first pov we are shown. So far as this girl is concerned blowing people up is what life IS about. It’s all she’s known. I enjoyed your reactions. Lucky you only have to wait until this November for season 2! #masterpiece

What I love most about the show is the fact that there are no good or evil characters. No one does good or bad decisions. Everything is just choice, perspective and unexpectancy from every single character. Vander - good person, but scared to go to war, think again, he tried to kill his best friend. Jinx - tries to save everyone and think that she is helping, while actually it ends horribly. Silco - bad guy of the story, but is he? He loves Jinx like daughter so of course he is doing things that father would do seeing their child suffering. And so on, and on, and on.. There are no heroes in this story, and there are no villains. And I think that is why I felt in love with this show. It is just a such a good representation for life itself. No one is entirely good and no one is entirely evil. It is just people, and their stories and choices, and perspective from which you look into that. I love how deep it is.

Fun fact and amazing small detail: in the actual League of Legends main lore, Ekko is able to manipulate time and go back exactly 6 seconds into the past. In the fight he had with Jinx in the bridge, in the song animation, you can see that little Ekko got shot before he threw his clock, a rewind effect played, and the show proceeded to show the actual fight, which lasted exactly 6 seconds up to the point Ekko got shot! It might just be a fun easter egg or reference for League fans, but with that it mind, it's way more emotional to think that Jinx actually managed to shot him the first time, he rewinded time, and was able to avoid the bullet the second time.

At this point, we need the studio to pay for group therapy for all of us after this show. And then season 2 was reported to be so emotional, even the voice actress of Jinx said she cried….I’m gonna need to be checked into a psych faculty

One of the parallels you possibly missed is how when viktor is a kid he cant keep up with his toy boat, but when he takes the shimmer as an adult he runs past all the boats in the backround, finally doing what he never could

😭 ARCANE!!!!!!! 😭
After nearly 50 years of watching animated shows- this is one of the BEST EVER MADE.
Let’s Go Season Two