I find it ridiculous that Jinx grieved Isha, whom she has known for a few days, more than she grieved for Silco, her FATHER whom she has known for YEARS.
She knew Isha for months at least, there was a timeskip between S02E3 and S02E4. That timeskip was however long it takes for Noxus to set up entire checkpoint systems, for Vi to turn into a pitfighter and have dozens of fights, and however long it took for Isha's hair to grow as much as it did. I'd guess 6+ months at least. I find it ridiculous to think for a second that Jinx wouldn't care more about Isha than Silco. All of the things she said to Silco before she killed him she believed. She still loved him, but, it's incredibly complicated. Considering how much devastation Silco brought to Jinx and comparing it to how much purpose, development, and joy Isha brings to Jinx, it doesn't seem like a stretch at all. Silco was never Jinx's tether to (healthy)stability or her beacon for hope, that was Isha.
The show really needed to be told in three seasons. The show really needed a season's worth of character development of Jinx gradually warming up to Isha.
@ I disagree with everything you’ve said. It doesn’t matter if she knew Isha for months, she STILL mourned Isha more than Silco which makes no sense because her whole story was about being accepted, not finding ‘a beacon for hope’ like it is in S2 - and so what if Silco wasn’t the best role model? He’s not perfect, like most parents, and neither was Vi I’ll remind you and everyone else. And yes, it is ridiculous to see her being willing to kill herself over this mute child because unlike Silco, we never found out WHY Jinx even likes Isha apart from the fact that she’s a kid and mute, and we actually got to see inside Silco’s head, we heard him having meaningful conversations and he ACTUALLY had character development and a personality, unlike Isha. And last thing, saying that Jinx mourned Silco less because he’s not a stable figure in her life is the EXACT SAME THING as saying that Vi wouldn’t mourn Jinx’s death as much because she tried to murder her and her girlfriend, or that Jinx shouldn’t wouldn’t mourn Vi’s death as much because she slapped her, called her worthless and a Jinx and so on - in other words, it DOESN’T matter who caused her the most mental instability, what matters to Jinx is who accepted her and loved her the way she is, which is Silco. She never needed a beacon of hope = Isha, because that is NOT what the character of Jinx was about, it was about acceptance.
There were so many places to go with this character. Or just take her out completely. 1. Catelyn accidentally kills her trying to get jinx. This actually pays off the whole dictator arc. Bonus points if jinx was just starting to mellow out and reconcile with Vi . Jinx then goes absolutely crazy and sides with Victor or something. 2. Jinx repeats the toxic relationship cycle but this time she's the Silco. Teacher the kid how to fight to protect herself but the the kid ( who can actually talk btw) goes off on her own mission to impress jinx like jinx did with Silco but winds up getting herself killed when something goes wrong.
When I saw Arcane use the Tokyo Ghoul ass flashbacks to get you invested in a character seconds before they die my jaw dropped, this show was supposed to be so much better than that amateurish nonsense. That trope needs to go, no good story should rely on cheap emotional manipulation to get you invested in a character seconds before they die.
It was so jaw droppingly amateurish, I lost my faith in the show runners then and there. And I was right, it just went straight down to the bottom after it.
I think Isha could have been an amazing character if she was imaginary, it would be wild to gradually realize that Isha is just Jinx's imaginary friend and then all the plot holes and inconsistencies you mentioned about her character disappear just like that
I think Jinx needed a real human to teach her to love and let go of the past. I don't think another imaginary person would do it. It is an interesting idea though.
@@WickedHumor maybe. but realistically, isha's and jinx's relationship would be toxic af. here's a kid who's running away from people and has no one to go to. she meets jinx, a literal mentally ill terrorist who's casual about violence and also is downright suicidal sometimes, who is her older sister figure, i guess. that can't be good for a kid. it's like powder and silco all over again
@@WickedHumor But that could be the point. Jinx is so far gone that she doesn't even realize which are the hallucinations and which are real. It could have been a gut wrenching twist breaking her mind instead of having a real child doing a self-sacrifice
Not just the fact that it was clear she would die the second she was shown, but also that with her, they recycled the "parents adopts child" story line for the THIRD TIME. With Vander and Silco, it made sense and was even masterfully handled since the entire point was making Silco understand Vander's perspective. But with Isha, it just teaches us nothing we haven't already seen executed with other characters, and done better at that. Also, I just wanna mention that it annoyed the living hell out of me how Isha was shoved into the Jinx and Vi reuniting plotline. I watched 1 1/2 seasons for the sisters to finally get back together just for a random character we barely know to haggle along and interfere with their moments. Jinx and Vi fighting? Nope, it's about Isha getting accidentally slapped. Hugging WW? Just brute force Isha into a moment that should have been reserved only for the sisters and Vander. Seriously, I know I'm nitpicking, but the wide angle shot on the four of them hugging? Imagine how much more impactful it would have been without having a random kid hanging there at the bottom of the frame. Just the three characters we've known for so long, finally reunited. I cried like a baby during that scene. But this part still made me roll my eyes.
I actually liked Isha's character, and I reckon you also would've loved her too IF they had given more time to develop Jinx's relationship with Isha. If they had spent more time with Jinx gradually warming up to Isha, I'd have no problem believing that a lot more people would've loved Isha as much as she deserved to be loved by the audience, imo
@chrishaven1489 I personally would have hated her regardless, because the story was never about Isha and Jinx, it was about Vi and Jinx. Isha just distracted from the core story; spending more time with her wouldn't have fixed that fundemental flaw of her inclusion. Even if she had had more development, she would have served no purpose beyond giving Jinx more trauma. Whether Jinx needed/was set up to have a redemption arc at all is debatable, but it definitely should have involved Vi more than it did, instead of Isha.
@@totallynameless8861 " because the story was never about Isha and Jinx, it was about Vi and Jinx" That's silly. Side characters exist and they're allowed to exist. By this logic, you should be hating on Caitlyn as well. "Even if she had had more development, she would have served no purpose beyond giving Jinx more trauma." No. Isha's purpose in the story is to serve as proof of concept that Jinx can be a force for good. That she doesn't always have to be the villain, or a Jinx. She can inspire heroism in others. It's a good character arc. The problem is, it was rushed and unearned. It needed more time to cook. We needed a season's worth of Jinx warming up to Isha and being gradually influenced by her before they became faux sisters. Without that character arc and progression, their relationship shift just feels like narrative whiplash, which is a common issue with multiple character arcs within this season.
The writers gave us no reason to care about her. We don't know anything about who she is, her backstory, how she ended up being chased by a gang (which you think would've been expanded upon). She's an uninteresting character that exists for the sole reason to move the plot and be there for contrived emotional story beats.
I personally cared for Isha. But I really do wish the creators spent more time fleshing out Jinx and Isha's relationship, have her gradually warm up to the kid before they eventually became faux sisters
I waited the whole season for some kind of backstory or development for her but we got literally nothing. Her existence annoyed and confused me, the whole time I was like, "Why's she even here? Who tf IS she?" and there was just no explanation. I hated that so much.
They did this so Jinx's character was on hold until the other plot points happened. Isha was made solely to revert Jinx's development from season 1 and then turn her back in when it was needed. Jinx should have been creating actual mayhem during season 2 from the start, but Arcane writers wanted to explore other stuff so they had to restrain her with a toy much like a an annoying toddler.
So true. I was at first weirded out by how stable Jinx seemed this season, barely any hallucinations and such. Then, I turned on apologist-mode and tried to make sense of it since she finally "found herself" by the end of S1. But if you rly think about it, she should have gone the opposite route. I was just coping too much to realize at the time
What they were trying to do is show that Silco was right “is there anything more undoing than a daughter” Vander stopped fighting to protect his adopted daughters and then Silco gave up on his dream for his adopted daughter and Jinx nearly killed herself after her adopted daughter Isha died.
What I'm wondering is why Jinx didn't get angry and just "surrendered." She got angry when Vander died and latched onto Silco, and she got angry when Silco died and attacked the Council. She doesn't get angry in that scene.
@@blacktigerpaw1 as she says to Silco in the cell, "I'm done running in circles". Isha's death helped her break the pattern, even though it's what broke her. Luckily Ekko can save-scum her suicide, so she doesn't end up finishing the job. But without Isha, she's not open to that possibility. She's just in the same spot Vi left her after their near deathmatch.
@@blacktigerpaw1 Caitlyn said that she’s too tired to hate Jinx maybe she feels the same way? That’s why she’s not angry when she try’s to kill herself she’s just tired
You don't need to follow the same story beats that were concluded in the season prior. For Silco and Vander, that worked, because their split was ideological, here Jinx is just insane from the trauma and retreading the old ideas is just annoying. Isha was not developed as a character, like every unimportant character in season 2 she has no dialogue at all, she's a plot device and is used for Jinx's development only.
I’m really not convinced by your argument on this one. The point of Isha was to give Jinx hope and make her realize she had good in her. Killing Isha was a setback on Jinx’s emotional journey, but without her, Jinx being able to rally the under city at the end wouldn’t have felt believable. Also, Jinx being able to still keep fighting after Isha’s death reinforced the theme of the story, which is that no matter what happened in the past, there’s still always hope for the future. I’m not saying her character couldn’t have been handled better, and I respect your criticism, but saying Isha only brought Jinx from “A to B then back to A” is not accurate and I think misses the point.
Season 2 was very disappointing for so many reasons. Isha made me cringe as soon as she was introduced. There is no reason for this character other than for her to die, and you could tell that from the very moment she started following Jinx. I hated her, I'm sorry to say. Even though she was cute.
I hated the fact that they tried to patch this plot device with cuteness and montages of "look how happy Jinx is with her", everything involving Isha felt like emotional manipulation her sacrifice just made me roll my eyes. It felt so painfully amateurish.
The show didn't even care to mention her anymore after episode 6. I bet if any of us watch the first 6 episodes of season 2 without the scenes that include Isha, we'd assume there's a whole different reason for why Jinx went through that period of despair and despondency.
This is what I can’t stand about Jinx or the writing around her. Why is Jinx dead now? Because she’s a child who loves you unconditionally?? Vi and Ekko loved you unconditionally. They just held you accountable….
@@maddmira9888the audacity of the show to try and justify a random child falling from the sky having SIGNIFICANTLY more impact in jinx life in 6 months then Vi and Ekko did in 8-9 years it’s absolutely insane .
It was Vi who "killed" Jinx, not Isha. Vi couldn't kill Jinx when it came down to it, and I think Jinx started to realize that there was some hope. Her sister really hadn't truly given up on her. Jinx was always defined by her primary influence, negative or positive. It was Silco end of season 1, Vi, Isha, and then Vander in season 2. Isha pulled that hope out of her, but Vi started the process. She does go after Vi when Vander comes back before anyone else.
@@maddmira9888 I thought it was obvious, this has nothing to do with Isha's love for her, it has to do with the fact that she broke the promise of Jinx by being Isha's biggest fortune. Jinx is a curse, Jinx is evil, if she fails to fullfill this, then Jinx is dead
@@justarandomgirlvx3578I still don’t think it’s enough for her to ditch her identity entirely. It would’ve made more sense if it happened after she saved her along with the Jinxers or if something had happened between the time that her and Isha were getting to know each other after her and VI’s fight. There’s a huge chunk of story missing that just doesn’t make things feel right.
Finally, I was so surprised when I saw the comments like: "I cried so much at Isha's death scene" - because my reaction was something like: "Well, okay, she died. Why should I care?". It's just empty character without a character, just mute Jinx wannabe whose only purpose is to sacrifice herself to make sentimental babies sad. Unfortunately all new characters presented in season 2 are empty NPCs without a story and proper development
I honestly cannot wait for you to cover Vander. He was my fave character ever and honestly feels like a dad to me because he is so much like my dad. He was so gentle and clever, I agreed with him msy og the time about war and loss. But having him be stripped into nothing but a sad pup in this season was like a brick being shoved down my throat. I don't mind his Arcane Warwick stle, but the fact that his "Warwick" story is so different from when it was in game is..depressing. And the marble twat he was turned into inthe edn was awful though. The flashback scene is terrible too. I would of prefered it if Vander was the only one who knew Felicia and not Silco, therefore he also knew the kids and it would of made Silco's motives in s1 make more sense, because it makes it out that he was willing to kill his goddaughters also..yeah, makes no sense.
We really needed to see Vi actually interact with those characters while they were hunting down the chembarons. But instead we got a cool-looking comic book montage. Visually spectacular, but that monstage really skipped over a lot of important character developments for both Vi and Caitlyn. So disappointing.
Vander got erased after Isha shot him. He got erased when Singed put that device in Warwick, and connected him blood to Viktor to kick off the "glorious evolution." Vander went insane in that scene because he was part of a hivemind, and it's leader got shot, sending the whole think into agony, and making Vander/Warwick feel all of it. Vander was still there, he was crying and couldn't control himself, but he wasn't erased there. That happened later
Yeah, I think in just about every scene she's in, Isha feels like she's cheapening the story, and making every character look like their incompetent or an a-hole. In Vi's case it's both. She kinda Ruins the ep 3 fight for me. For starters, why is Isha there at all? I can buy Jinx being stupid enough to bring her to this dangerous situation. That's literally what she did the whole season, but Jinx stans will never be ready for that conversation(they'll just scream about her childhood trauma because that's just always going to be her "Get out of jail free"card. Poor Vi wishes she had one. Both in universe and out). Why did Sevika think it would be a good idea though? Remember, she literally lost an arm because child Powder went on the dangerous rescue mission that her siblings told her to sit out. Her getting in the way of Vi and Caitlyn's shot to kill Jinx also feels like an easy out. If Isha wasn't there then Vi would genuinely have to wrestle with the questions of "Is my sister really to far gone?" and "If so, do I have it in me to end her?" If the answer was "No" then she's gone back on what she said to Caitlyn, and Caitlyn has lost the chance to avenge her mom because of Vi, instead of the plot device child. Thanks to Isha being there though, Vi doesn't need to worry about those implications, she instead needs worry about a child being in the line of fire. And Caitlyn.... wtf were the writers on when they thought this would be a good idea? I don't care if she's confident in her abilities, Cait being willing to shot Jinx when there's a chance she might murder a child is f*cked. The whole season basically did to Cait what Grant Morrison did to Talia al Ghul. I genuinely understand every Talia fan's anger now. At least Grant regretted destroying her character. Ms. Overton, Linke, and Yee actually thought having Cait commit police brutality, gassing and likely killing innocent civilians, attempting child murder, and becoming a dictator was a good thing.
In a better version of the show that isn't rushed garbage, I could see Isha's pointless sacrifice being the POINT and actually hitting home with the message. They could have expanded on it, showing Jinx mistakening putting delusions into Isha about their lifestyle until Isha loves Jinx so much she mistakenly sacrifices herself to do something that doesn't even resolve the conflict, and then that would be Jinx's entire fault that she then has to come to terms with. This is *kinda* what they did in the show itself but it's so rushed and ultimately unacknowledged that it falls flat on it's face as it moves on to it's next nonsensical, underdeveloped plot point.
isha's purpose wasn't just about destroying jinx mentally, isha also made vi and jinx's relationship actually heal, at the end of s1 they were practically enemies, vi literally wanted to kill jinx at that point because none of what she loved about powder was within jinx anymore, vi viewed jinx as a monster that must be put down to to honor powder and grief losing her, but with isha being in the picture and "fixing" jinx somewhat, vi finally realizes that jinx is worth saving again, that jinx isn't as far gone as vi thought before, in seing jinx and isha interact with eachother, vi was forced to realize that powder still exists, she's still worth fighting for. not to mention that isha made jinx actually realize that she can be loved for who she is, for the first time in her life after losing her family, there's this person who isn't trying to change jinx at all, both vi and silco cared for jinx, but it's twisted, silco wanted her to morph into something she isn't going to be (at least not in a healthy way) vi wanted jinx to return to what she was before (even if it was a source of trauma for her) so they both couldn't accept jinx as she was or meet her where she's at, but isha did, isha wasn't trying to change jinx in anyway, isha simply accepted jinx the way she is, saw the good in her, and simply loved her, and in all honesty that's all jinx ever needed in her life (aside from therapy) something else to mention is that Jinx is actually inspired to be a better person through isha's love, in a natural way, in a way jinx actually wants, for isha's sake, i haven't watched act III yet as I'm already still processing act II emotionally so i don't know what happens next, but jinx in her post s1 state would have never cared enough about the zaun revolution or ever wanted to become their hero, she can't view herself as a hero after s1, but isha made her see the good parts of herself (maybe that's more of ekko's doing but again, i haven't watched act III yet) also, sevika never really cared that much for isha, but a scene like the one you described where they at least talked about it would have been a good addition. there's nothing wrong with using minor characters in the story to build up the actual main characters, be it vander, sevika, mel's friend (forgot her name) heimerdinger, or even isha for that matter edit: i also think isha was meant to make us sympathetic towards Jinx again, it was the writers telling us that jinx isn't simply a villain now, and it's more complicated than that, because a lot of my friends actually lost sympathy for jinx is s1, especially after the last scene, so the writers needed a way to endear her to us again.
Isha just gave a reason for Jinx to become more altruistic, not so much for her mental health. She is the mid point before Jinx turns good. Jinx is bad, she meets Isha (who thinks Jinx is good and a hero), Isha dies, Jinx becomes that hero.
When Isha was introduced, I was already under the assumption that Jinx was going to die or dissappear at the end of the season, so I thought that Isha would probably end up being taken care of by Vi, which would have left Vi with a connection to Jinx and given her the chance to relive the missed years of having a little sister. But no, she was just trauma bait. Also, her sacrfice is meaningless since Vander/Warwick can be brought back to life as many times as the plot requires. And even if Isha were better utilized as a character, it would still be entirely out of character for a child that age to understand sacrificing themself or have any desire to do it. It would have made more sense if she tried to attack some other way, failed and was killed, rather than actively trying to end herself.
It's so strange seeing these surface level criticism channels which reference plot points at face value without tying in any from the larger themes. I watched 3-4 of your videos before painting you with this brush, but every one I watched (Arcane Sold out and Lost its Way, Blisters and Bedrock Doesn't work, and this one) make terribly illogical leaps or ignore potential other avenues of analysis to support this "writing bad because money or fewer writers" conclusion. I only mention this in the case that you've already thought about what I'll type below, and don't find it to be compelling analysis, include these counter arguments in some of your videos so the arguments aren't these binary statements in a vacuum without any contextualization. My main argument will be that Isha objectively wasn't pointless. Saying Jinx post Isha's death was the same Jinx pre Isha's death isn't something that can be said by anyone who both watched the show and has even the slightest idea about human psychology. I don't understand the notion that Isha's introduction and resolution wasn't either necessary, on theme, or useful. Firstly, the show loves parallels. Vander->Silco, Vi->Jinx, Jinx->Isha. I'm sure everyone knows that, but just want to be thorough. It served multiple purposes. It: -Humanized Jinx to Vi, making it impossible for Vi to hold a grudge. This might seem trivial, but family members fall out all the time, it's not terribly easy to reconcile a conflict as extreme as Vi and Jinx's. This point helps extend the bridge from Vi -> Jinx. A potent catalyst can be necessary to merge divides of this size. -It gave Jinx a chance to develop herself significantly more. I won't list every way, but Jinx in season 01E4-02E2 and season 02E3 onwards are entirely different characters. Powder let Jinx die, she was joking around playing bug battles, not hallucinating(generally), she wasn't living for Silco or Zaun, just herself and Isha until she was thrust back into things. Isha was a character which Jinx was allowed to be vulnerable with for the first time in her life post S01E3. It can't be stressed enough how important that dynamic is for Jinx's psychological development. No other character could have served this purpose for Jinx as well as Isha was able to. A younger sibling/carer dynamic is one where Jinx can be vulnerable in a way which is virtually emotionally risk free in a way she couldn't otherwise, even with Vi. -Gave Jinx perspective on how Powder's reckless, poorly calculated but altruistic plan, affected Vi. As Isha behaved identically to how powder did. Saw loved ones in danger, didn't calculate outcome due to overwhelming duty to help, caused their loved ones grief. I understand the notion that maybe Jinx didn't need more trauma as she obviously has mountains of it already, but, she survived that trauma and is a wholer person for it. This sort of archetype of Powder and Isha also perfectly displays the tragic mindsets these wars and conflicts put into the minds of people willing to do anything they can to ensure their loved ones aren't lost. This helped extend the bridge from Jinx -> Vi. Which is why after it is the first time Jinx has ever commented on something related to what Vi might be going through(when she was walking away from the prison cell). All of the signs were there constantly that Isha was as reckless and impulsive as Powder/Jinx. She jumped off of the building at the rally and attacked a 10 foot tall armored Noxian. She was being carried away from a ravenous wolf beast which just killed dozens and was kicking and screaming for Sevika to let her go so she could try to help Jinx. When Jinx and Vi were fighting in S02E5 Isha starts bashing Vi in the back of the head and biting her. In episode 3 Isha actually pulled the trigger on the gun pointing at Vi which obviously would have killed Vi. All of the signs were there that Isha would be willing to do something as impulsive as what she did. I truly think Isha serves as a great character for showing the mindset this environment can force a child to adopt, and we've seen it countless times. I don't think this should be thought of as "let's introduce something to Jinx and then take it away to make her suffer" but rather "Everything good will turn bad in this environment/dynamic, so it must change". That is why it's so tragic, and that tragedy supports the main theme of the show. You mention "Isha is unaliving a monster and she does this for the sake of protecting her family??" in an incredulous tone. Despite it being demonstrated repeatedly that she'd be just the person to do that. The focus on "what did Isha accomplish with her actions" is a pointless topic. And you're wrong on multiple points on that topic regardless. You mention that Warwick is stronger than ever after Isha's actions. You mention that Vander wasn't in warwick anymore at all, the scene you showed of the memories burning up happens in S02E8, Isha dies in S02E6. You mention that Warwick is stronger than ever after Isha's actions. No, he's for all intents and purposes dead. If someone has the goal of killing someone, they kill that person, then god swoops down and revive them, that doesn't mean that person x failed to kill y. When doing an action you can't predict all possible actions which one might take to undo the result of your action when deciding if you should commit that action. There are a few other points which aren't sound criticisms, but I won't drag this on. The show never for a single second tried to make it seem like Isha's actions resulted in any serious material change to any of the events happening. She suicide bombed Warwick and a few Noxians. Isha might have *thought* she would save the day, but so did Powder when she used the gemstones, again, the whole point. Isha's sacrifice wasn't supposed to save the day, she might have thought it would, but no one else was under that impression. Is isha on her own anywhere near as compelling as the main cast? No, but she's not a pointless character, there are a dozen good reasons for her to have existed, and she represents the established themes well. Agreed that we should have gotten plenty more scenes though similar to the one you mentioned between Sevika and Jinx talking about Isha, or something similar.
Thank you for making this comment! I also do not find it productive to expect a side character to have the same amount of complexity as a main character. Isha was strongly characterised for the purpose she served and the screentime that she had. Not only that, but she had her own character development. She was someone to run away rather than to fight back. She was afraid, she was a little insecure, but that changed when she got to know jinx and grew into confidence (which was also unhealthy and lead to recklessness). She looks up to Jinx. She sees all of these revolutionary paintings of her and she wants to emulate that, because she too was wronged by the world, that much she understands. She wants to be the protector she sees in Jinx. She wants to grow into the person she needed to watch over her when she was unprotected. And she fullfills that role in the end, understanding that Jinx is not willing to harm Vander/Warwick on her own to save her life. I also believe that Isha just can't imagine to live without Jinx. Her attachment to her is justifiably strong. There is a lot to analyse about her characterisation and decisions, she has a lot of agency! I don't think we needed to see more of that.
i really disliked her. btw i'm not mute but i was wondering if people who are find this offensive. she's the only mute character in the show, and she's a complete plot device, like a human puppy. it feels like it could be a little insulting, but i'm not from the community, so i'll let them decide lol
@@Constantine_James😂I mean tell me I'm wrong, we saw her reflexes, her merciless shimmerly bubbly personality, the trajectory silco death sent to full on jinx, it was the most logical conclusion 🥹 then we'll hate her more and drama. But it will feel pointless as we already know where she at in the head. Isha should've been introduced differently and oh boi it won't be pretty or cute. If she's jinx's solution you best bet the trigger finger and presence of isha is gonna bump up the anxiety meter Everytime she's there trying to challenge jinx in the head
Its the way that it was noticed that on the battlefield after Isha's death, there are graves set up for the Noxian soldiers who died in the battle, presumably by Ambessa or just the Noxian forces in general, and one of them has Isha's hat and goggles on top of it. I think it says a lot how out of the entire cast, its only the Noxians who went out of their way to honor her death.
I don't think Isha was pointless. I think she didn't get enough time for us to get to know her more. They really should've given us a season's worth of Jinx gradually warming up to Isha.
In order to pull Jinx out of her shame, guilt, and self-hatred, she needed an external force. That is core to who she is. She always looked to others for dependence and comfort. There always had to be another character that would pull her out. Ekko couldn't because he saw her as a lost cause. Vi couldn't because of their history. Sevika doesn't know how, nor is it really her concern. Isha was someone who only saw the good in her, not the pile of bodies and misery in her past. She loved Jinx unconditionally and gave Jinx someone to care for aside from herself and learn positive love from. Isha was most definitely a plot device used to get Jinx a few steps towards her character's redemption until Ekko stepped in to pull her over the last hurdle. But it had to be some character not already associated with Jinx. I think it's nice that they went with a mute child, someone who, despite being a Zaunite, is innocent and loving and can't ever say anything that Jinx will internalize like all the words in her past that she holds onto.
@@WickedHumor Vi most definitely should have and could have been the one to pull jinx twords any sort of redemption or reconciliation. It’s a shame she’s the character who gets hit the worst with the S2 writing .
@@Constantine_James I think given their shared history and Vi's familial ties to Jinx, she couldn't. Vi didn't give up on Jinx even after she saw her at her worst. It seems like Vi would be the perfect person to do it for Jinx, but Jinx can also say, "Oh, Vi loves me no matter what. She's my sister. That doesn't really count". Jinx needed someone outside of family to do it. She needed someone who fully CHOSE to love her, not someone who was obligated like Vi. I'm not saying Vi doesn't really love Jinx, she clearly does more than anyone. But Vi's core character is "protect Powder" from end of act 1 season 1. Jinx needed something pure and untainted given how broken she was.
@@WickedHumor I'd like to add on that Vi doesn't know modern day Jinx super well. Every single character sees jinx for who she was at different moments, whether it was her lowest killing clagor and the other one, or seeing her as a the Piltover terrorist. What makes Isha and Ekko work with redeeming her is that Isha can only see her in the moment, and Ekko was finally able to see what she could be. Both perspectives needed to redeem herself. Vi definetly couldn't see Jinx for who she was in that moment, because Vi at some point or another knew Powder and that will never change.
@@OJorEm she pushed Jinx to be more open emotionally and learn to love again. All she had after Silco died was hate or indifference. Some characters are used to push others where they need to go when they can't do it themselves. It happens in real life all the time.
In my opinion instead of Isha, they should have doubled down in the beginning of S2 of Jinx going full dark side. Ambessa was looking for somebody who can use hextech, Jinx could utilize hextech, has no issue with murder. Ambessa could have give her "everything", respect, another mother figure. It would have been great for both sides. Then you can still go the redemption route when Vi is in danger, Jinx saves her.
Tbh I never hated her I was mostly indifferent. At the time before I realized all the issues I was just happy to see Jinx happy and improving mentally as thats what I was hoping for in regards to Jinx. However as time went on it became clear what isha was; shes a plot device meant for Jinx to reconcile the Powder side of her and to start Jinx redemption arc. Once her role was fufilled, though even thats debatable, she was taken out of the story with only a few blink and youll miss it easter eggs and references to acknowledge she ever existed in the first place. Putting aside how pointless her sacrifice was and how easily it couldve, and honestly shouldve, backfired (hell Vi almost died in the explosion), when she died I was more sad for what it would do to Jinx than her dying. The worst part is that this couldve worked if 1) we knew anything substantial about her aside from her hero worship of Jinx and 2) if we saw how her presence curbed Jinx psychosis, abandonment issues, trust issues, shimmer effects, etc. As is it doesnt hold a candle to other relationships in the show thus tragic element doesnt evolve past a "well that kinda sucks" moment for me.
@ they could of had him do something while he’s in the other world. We should of gotten a scene of him seeing his counsil friends. They just make him a comic relief, we don’t see him grieve about his council friends.
I don’t think it mattered if isha mattered. There’s nothing wrong with a plot device . I knew she was a plot device and was still invested. Don’t get me wrong g, I completely see where ur coming from with this and I respect ur opinion. For me, I just found it to be a moving scene. I like the rollercoaster we got with jinx’s mental state. I feel as though where jinx’s mental was after season one made sense because in the end she just couldn’t care and she had no one to tell her what to do.. she had no vander, silco or vi. She was alone and trying to deal with that.
Personally I would have rathered them follow through with what they seemed to be setting up with her as a pillar for her community, like with the people in the prison. It would have been nice to see her hit this rock bottom, lowest point possible, only to realize that she's never been alone because as long as she has the backs of the people of Zaun, they'll have her's. Instead, they introduced this meaningless Powder clone to have her sink even deeper into her individualism, shutting herself off from the world to keep Isha safe, and inevitably ending back at square one after Isha dies. Isha literally didn't matter, you could have cut her and Act 2 out entirely and still have Jinx end up in the state she was in at the beginning of Act 3 by just cutting straight there from the end of Act 1.
@@gyozapunk I disagree. I thought that isha represented hope for jinx and that it didn’t matter if she mattered to the bigger story because she was important to jinx. It helped jinx evolve into her ‘fractured jinx’ self which is evident by her design. Isha was essential to her final self.. a mixture of powder and jinx. I agree that she’s a plot device but it doesn’t really matter because jinx still grew due to isha. She might have become more depressed after her death but she realised that she needed to fight for who and what she loves. I would recommend this video on isha ua-cam.com/video/5qi1OSIX8Xw/v-deo.htmlsi=eabi6P60PBeOsQWu It rlly changed my perspective. I personally think that jinx’s story and rollercoaster of emotions in s1 and 2 was fine brilliantly. I could go on and on about how I loved jinx in this season.. it’s other characters like vi I had a main problem. Rlly brought this season down. Don’t get me wrong.. still absolutely love it and will continue to.. it’s just that I understand the criticisms
@@atomicaaron6720 I would agree with you on that. It would have been interesting to see how Jinx turning into the villain would have played out, but I liked what we got.
@@WickedHumor yhhh.. I could see that. It would have been food for thought. I do like jinx’s arc, but it would have been interesting to see her lean into her dark side more. Overall I have little to no complaints about jinx’s arc tbh, even though I could see how an evil arc could be cool. It was Just other characters like vi that rlly brought the writing down for me. It’s unfortunate but I’m still grateful for what arcane did as a whole. I will still love both seasons even though I can see why others don’t This is the kind of discussions I like. I’ve seen too many videos and comments just arguing to eachother about how each other’s ’opinions’ are wrong. Everyone has a valid opinion and it’s up 2 you if u like certain arcs, characters or seasons.
If isha didn't exist everything would have still been the same and we could've gotten a better storyline for the sister's story. Instead of isha saving Jinx, Vi should've been the one to stop Caitlyn because she just can't kill her then Caitlyn would separate from Vi because of her always choosing her sister then we get Jinx approaching Vi to fix their relationship. Vi have spent time in stillwater she would ask Jinx to free the prisoner with her( a better character arc for vi aswell) then they both fight Vander which would be even more exciting and after all that the end sacrifice would feel even more impactful
Don't know what I hate more isha or that they barely showed vander despite hyping it all oh I also hate ambessa attacking piltover and being happy about it like why and I also hate how viktor seems to have 0 braincells and tried to kill everyone replacing them with machine parts like why not just fix their body's and leave their minds alone fr also maddie why did they make her a villain I hate it all
many problems with your conclusions. 1) 2:27, you are completely wrong, Vander gets erased when Viktor becomes the Messias/hive mind of the arcane, not before. get it right 2) How was Jinx in the position of being suicidal before meeting Isha, in season 1 she is supposed to embrace Jinx. Killing Silco/Saving Vi was the last act as powder and by killing Silco she embraces jinx, why is this position A supposed to be her becoming completely hopeless and broken? 3) why do you assume Sevika loves Isha? Isha was just adopted by Jinx and Vi went to confort jinx about her death in the prison, when jinx said "you will never give up on me will ya? what did you think that meant? and excuse that people can't find some time to talk about it more when they have an angry warlord with the strongest force of runaterra and a god that can lobotomize you and turn you into an android knocking on their door. jesus dude while some of your points in previous videos are good, man you are coming off as a nitpicker trying to hard to be a mauler ripoff while failing miserably cause you don't even get the timeline of the events right
While I agree with a vast majority of this video I would like to point that Vander burns away in episode 8 "After Isha's sacrifice". Warwick was simply affected Viktors death due to their link. As for Jinx's relationship with Isha. Its less that her death is meant to devastate Jinx and more like its suppose to make Jinx realize she will always be a Jinx. You see Jinx at the end of season 1 accepted her role as nothing more than "A Jinx" which was a mantle she accepted at the end of the season. Isha is someone who make her realize being Jinx means she can do good. And it with her death that makes Jinx realize that even when she tries to do good she will still do bad. And so this makes her want to end it all. However Ekko "using the words of the alternate Powder" was able to save Jinx by making her realize her past doesn't define her. Now I know that a lot of this doesn't sound engaging, and that's because it is. The whole basis of Jinx's arc is people coming in nudging her into a specific direction.
It’s pretty telling that most of the viewers knew Isha was gonna die If I were in charge of season 2, but had to keep Isha, the main thing I would do to give her a proper character would be lean more into the idea of her running away from the chembarons. Why was she running away from them? Was she trying to escape the horrible conditions in the mines? Basically those questions would drive her character
Most people who review the character of Isha are wrong. She is not a plot device, Isha is what in narratology is called an impact character. Except that it is a very badly constructed impact character. However, Isha is not the biggest problem of the second season, there are many far worse ones.
I find it ridiculous that Jinx grieved Isha, whom she has known for a few days, more than she grieved for Silco, her FATHER whom she has known for YEARS.
She knew Isha for months at least, there was a timeskip between S02E3 and S02E4. That timeskip was however long it takes for Noxus to set up entire checkpoint systems, for Vi to turn into a pitfighter and have dozens of fights, and however long it took for Isha's hair to grow as much as it did. I'd guess 6+ months at least.
I find it ridiculous to think for a second that Jinx wouldn't care more about Isha than Silco. All of the things she said to Silco before she killed him she believed. She still loved him, but, it's incredibly complicated. Considering how much devastation Silco brought to Jinx and comparing it to how much purpose, development, and joy Isha brings to Jinx, it doesn't seem like a stretch at all.
Silco was never Jinx's tether to (healthy)stability or her beacon for hope, that was Isha.
The show really needed to be told in three seasons. The show really needed a season's worth of character development of Jinx gradually warming up to Isha.
@ I disagree with everything you’ve said. It doesn’t matter if she knew Isha for months, she STILL mourned Isha more than Silco which makes no sense because her whole story was about being accepted, not finding ‘a beacon for hope’ like it is in S2 - and so what if Silco wasn’t the best role model? He’s not perfect, like most parents, and neither was Vi I’ll remind you and everyone else. And yes, it is ridiculous to see her being willing to kill herself over this mute child because unlike Silco, we never found out WHY Jinx even likes Isha apart from the fact that she’s a kid and mute, and we actually got to see inside Silco’s head, we heard him having meaningful conversations and he ACTUALLY had character development and a personality, unlike Isha. And last thing, saying that Jinx mourned Silco less because he’s not a stable figure in her life is the EXACT SAME THING as saying that Vi wouldn’t mourn Jinx’s death as much because she tried to murder her and her girlfriend, or that Jinx shouldn’t wouldn’t mourn Vi’s death as much because she slapped her, called her worthless and a Jinx and so on - in other words, it DOESN’T matter who caused her the most mental instability, what matters to Jinx is who accepted her and loved her the way she is, which is Silco. She never needed a beacon of hope = Isha, because that is NOT what the character of Jinx was about, it was about acceptance.
Literally she's grogu, an emotional plot device to move the plot for a character
@@a.r.h9919 that Grogu merch tho
There were so many places to go with this character. Or just take her out completely.
1. Catelyn accidentally kills her trying to get jinx. This actually pays off the whole dictator arc. Bonus points if jinx was just starting to mellow out and reconcile with Vi . Jinx then goes absolutely crazy and sides with Victor or something.
2. Jinx repeats the toxic relationship cycle but this time she's the Silco. Teacher the kid how to fight to protect herself but the the kid ( who can actually talk btw) goes off on her own mission to impress jinx like jinx did with Silco but winds up getting herself killed when something goes wrong.
When I saw Arcane use the Tokyo Ghoul ass flashbacks to get you invested in a character seconds before they die my jaw dropped, this show was supposed to be so much better than that amateurish nonsense. That trope needs to go, no good story should rely on cheap emotional manipulation to get you invested in a character seconds before they die.
It was so jaw droppingly amateurish, I lost my faith in the show runners then and there. And I was right, it just went straight down to the bottom after it.
I think Isha could have been an amazing character if she was imaginary, it would be wild to gradually realize that Isha is just Jinx's imaginary friend and then all the plot holes and inconsistencies you mentioned about her character disappear just like that
@@cooldude-gb2mq oh man what could have been haha .
Dude, that's brilliant.
I think Jinx needed a real human to teach her to love and let go of the past. I don't think another imaginary person would do it. It is an interesting idea though.
@@WickedHumor maybe. but realistically, isha's and jinx's relationship would be toxic af. here's a kid who's running away from people and has no one to go to. she meets jinx, a literal mentally ill terrorist who's casual about violence and also is downright suicidal sometimes, who is her older sister figure, i guess. that can't be good for a kid. it's like powder and silco all over again
@@WickedHumor But that could be the point. Jinx is so far gone that she doesn't even realize which are the hallucinations and which are real. It could have been a gut wrenching twist breaking her mind instead of having a real child doing a self-sacrifice
hearing you get angry at something that makes me angry feels validating.
2:00 We see Vander "burn away" AFTER Isha shoots him, not before. Vander "dies" in episode 8.
Not just the fact that it was clear she would die the second she was shown, but also that with her, they recycled the "parents adopts child" story line for the THIRD TIME. With Vander and Silco, it made sense and was even masterfully handled since the entire point was making Silco understand Vander's perspective. But with Isha, it just teaches us nothing we haven't already seen executed with other characters, and done better at that.
Also, I just wanna mention that it annoyed the living hell out of me how Isha was shoved into the Jinx and Vi reuniting plotline. I watched 1 1/2 seasons for the sisters to finally get back together just for a random character we barely know to haggle along and interfere with their moments.
Jinx and Vi fighting? Nope, it's about Isha getting accidentally slapped.
Hugging WW? Just brute force Isha into a moment that should have been reserved only for the sisters and Vander.
Seriously, I know I'm nitpicking, but the wide angle shot on the four of them hugging? Imagine how much more impactful it would have been without having a random kid hanging there at the bottom of the frame. Just the three characters we've known for so long, finally reunited.
I cried like a baby during that scene. But this part still made me roll my eyes.
@akamered4483 Had to check to make sure I didn't write this comment lol.
@totallynameless8861 haha thank you ❤️
I actually liked Isha's character, and I reckon you also would've loved her too IF they had given more time to develop Jinx's relationship with Isha. If they had spent more time with Jinx gradually warming up to Isha, I'd have no problem believing that a lot more people would've loved Isha as much as she deserved to be loved by the audience, imo
@chrishaven1489 I personally would have hated her regardless, because the story was never about Isha and Jinx, it was about Vi and Jinx. Isha just distracted from the core story; spending more time with her wouldn't have fixed that fundemental flaw of her inclusion. Even if she had had more development, she would have served no purpose beyond giving Jinx more trauma.
Whether Jinx needed/was set up to have a redemption arc at all is debatable, but it definitely should have involved Vi more than it did, instead of Isha.
@@totallynameless8861 " because the story was never about Isha and Jinx, it was about Vi and Jinx"
That's silly. Side characters exist and they're allowed to exist. By this logic, you should be hating on Caitlyn as well.
"Even if she had had more development, she would have served no purpose beyond giving Jinx more trauma."
No. Isha's purpose in the story is to serve as proof of concept that Jinx can be a force for good. That she doesn't always have to be the villain, or a Jinx. She can inspire heroism in others. It's a good character arc. The problem is, it was rushed and unearned. It needed more time to cook. We needed a season's worth of Jinx warming up to Isha and being gradually influenced by her before they became faux sisters. Without that character arc and progression, their relationship shift just feels like narrative whiplash, which is a common issue with multiple character arcs within this season.
The writers gave us no reason to care about her. We don't know anything about who she is, her backstory, how she ended up being chased by a gang (which you think would've been expanded upon). She's an uninteresting character that exists for the sole reason to move the plot and be there for contrived emotional story beats.
@@lowpolykc they show a lot, but its quick and easy to miss.
@@WickedHumorsuch as? Only hint we get is that she's a child labourer for Kross.
I personally cared for Isha. But I really do wish the creators spent more time fleshing out Jinx and Isha's relationship, have her gradually warm up to the kid before they eventually became faux sisters
It’s almost like despair and death are this cycle Jinx knows all too well and wants to break or something…
thank you ! I felt bad immediately hating her but I did. and you’re so right. no depth just plot device.
Same
I waited the whole season for some kind of backstory or development for her but we got literally nothing. Her existence annoyed and confused me, the whole time I was like, "Why's she even here? Who tf IS she?" and there was just no explanation. I hated that so much.
They did this so Jinx's character was on hold until the other plot points happened. Isha was made solely to revert Jinx's development from season 1 and then turn her back in when it was needed. Jinx should have been creating actual mayhem during season 2 from the start, but Arcane writers wanted to explore other stuff so they had to restrain her with a toy much like a an annoying toddler.
@@JackWalkerAssault 😭
So true. I was at first weirded out by how stable Jinx seemed this season, barely any hallucinations and such. Then, I turned on apologist-mode and tried to make sense of it since she finally "found herself" by the end of S1.
But if you rly think about it, she should have gone the opposite route. I was just coping too much to realize at the time
What they were trying to do is show that Silco was right “is there anything more undoing than a daughter”
Vander stopped fighting to protect his adopted daughters and then Silco gave up on his dream for his adopted daughter and Jinx nearly killed herself after her adopted daughter Isha died.
What I'm wondering is why Jinx didn't get angry and just "surrendered." She got angry when Vander died and latched onto Silco, and she got angry when Silco died and attacked the Council. She doesn't get angry in that scene.
@@blacktigerpaw1 as she says to Silco in the cell, "I'm done running in circles". Isha's death helped her break the pattern, even though it's what broke her. Luckily Ekko can save-scum her suicide, so she doesn't end up finishing the job. But without Isha, she's not open to that possibility. She's just in the same spot Vi left her after their near deathmatch.
@@DJ_Music_Man2 which if done properly would have conveyed the message far better
@@blacktigerpaw1 Caitlyn said that she’s too tired to hate Jinx maybe she feels the same way? That’s why she’s not angry when she try’s to kill herself she’s just tired
You don't need to follow the same story beats that were concluded in the season prior. For Silco and Vander, that worked, because their split was ideological, here Jinx is just insane from the trauma and retreading the old ideas is just annoying. Isha was not developed as a character, like every unimportant character in season 2 she has no dialogue at all, she's a plot device and is used for Jinx's development only.
I’m really not convinced by your argument on this one. The point of Isha was to give Jinx hope and make her realize she had good in her. Killing Isha was a setback on Jinx’s emotional journey, but without her, Jinx being able to rally the under city at the end wouldn’t have felt believable. Also, Jinx being able to still keep fighting after Isha’s death reinforced the theme of the story, which is that no matter what happened in the past, there’s still always hope for the future. I’m not saying her character couldn’t have been handled better, and I respect your criticism, but saying Isha only brought Jinx from “A to B then back to A” is not accurate and I think misses the point.
Season 2 was very disappointing for so many reasons. Isha made me cringe as soon as she was introduced. There is no reason for this character other than for her to die, and you could tell that from the very moment she started following Jinx.
I hated her, I'm sorry to say. Even though she was cute.
I hated the fact that they tried to patch this plot device with cuteness and montages of "look how happy Jinx is with her", everything involving Isha felt like emotional manipulation her sacrifice just made me roll my eyes. It felt so painfully amateurish.
@@Sizifus Me too. It was very stylish and beautiful on a surface level (enough to make me cry), but I did want to roll my eyes at the same time.
One of the MANY problems with season two.
The show didn't even care to mention her anymore after episode 6. I bet if any of us watch the first 6 episodes of season 2 without the scenes that include Isha, we'd assume there's a whole different reason for why Jinx went through that period of despair and despondency.
There are motifs on her airship and a single doll, but that's it. Even the Mylo and Claggor dolls in S1 got more attention.
Jinx at the end of season one: accept and embraces her identity as Jinx.
Jinx at the beginning of season two: Jinx is dead.
I hate Isha
This is what I can’t stand about Jinx or the writing around her. Why is Jinx dead now? Because she’s a child who loves you unconditionally?? Vi and Ekko loved you unconditionally. They just held you accountable….
@@maddmira9888the audacity of the show to try and justify a random child falling from the sky having SIGNIFICANTLY more impact in jinx life in 6 months then Vi and Ekko did in 8-9 years it’s absolutely insane .
It was Vi who "killed" Jinx, not Isha. Vi couldn't kill Jinx when it came down to it, and I think Jinx started to realize that there was some hope. Her sister really hadn't truly given up on her. Jinx was always defined by her primary influence, negative or positive. It was Silco end of season 1, Vi, Isha, and then Vander in season 2. Isha pulled that hope out of her, but Vi started the process. She does go after Vi when Vander comes back before anyone else.
@@maddmira9888 I thought it was obvious, this has nothing to do with Isha's love for her, it has to do with the fact that she broke the promise of Jinx by being Isha's biggest fortune. Jinx is a curse, Jinx is evil, if she fails to fullfill this, then Jinx is dead
@@justarandomgirlvx3578I still don’t think it’s enough for her to ditch her identity entirely. It would’ve made more sense if it happened after she saved her along with the Jinxers or if something had happened between the time that her and Isha were getting to know each other after her and VI’s fight. There’s a huge chunk of story missing that just doesn’t make things feel right.
Finally, I was so surprised when I saw the comments like: "I cried so much at Isha's death scene" - because my reaction was something like: "Well, okay, she died. Why should I care?". It's just empty character without a character, just mute Jinx wannabe whose only purpose is to sacrifice herself to make sentimental babies sad. Unfortunately all new characters presented in season 2 are empty NPCs without a story and proper development
I honestly cannot wait for you to cover Vander. He was my fave character ever and honestly feels like a dad to me because he is so much like my dad. He was so gentle and clever, I agreed with him msy og the time about war and loss. But having him be stripped into nothing but a sad pup in this season was like a brick being shoved down my throat. I don't mind his Arcane Warwick stle, but the fact that his "Warwick" story is so different from when it was in game is..depressing. And the marble twat he was turned into inthe edn was awful though. The flashback scene is terrible too. I would of prefered it if Vander was the only one who knew Felicia and not Silco, therefore he also knew the kids and it would of made Silco's motives in s1 make more sense, because it makes it out that he was willing to kill his goddaughters also..yeah, makes no sense.
In the lore, Warwick was supposed to end up as a vigilante in Zaun. And the creators got rid of that lore for some stupid reason
THANK YOU. Season 2 could’ve been so much better. Jinx chose to be jinx in season 1 and they just threw it away for no reason
Don't forget the other forgettable characters like loris maddie and steb (the fish guy)
@@erikroman1880 this series of vids I’m doing is gonna be at least 25 vids long not kidding .
@Constantine_James understandable but not surprising
Never forget Loris.
We really needed to see Vi actually interact with those characters while they were hunting down the chembarons. But instead we got a cool-looking comic book montage. Visually spectacular, but that monstage really skipped over a lot of important character developments for both Vi and Caitlyn. So disappointing.
Vander got erased after Isha shot him. He got erased when Singed put that device in Warwick, and connected him blood to Viktor to kick off the "glorious evolution." Vander went insane in that scene because he was part of a hivemind, and it's leader got shot, sending the whole think into agony, and making Vander/Warwick feel all of it. Vander was still there, he was crying and couldn't control himself, but he wasn't erased there. That happened later
Yeah, I think in just about every scene she's in, Isha feels like she's cheapening the story, and making every character look like their incompetent or an a-hole. In Vi's case it's both.
She kinda Ruins the ep 3 fight for me.
For starters, why is Isha there at all? I can buy Jinx being stupid enough to bring her to this dangerous situation. That's literally what she did the whole season, but Jinx stans will never be ready for that conversation(they'll just scream about her childhood trauma because that's just always going to be her "Get out of jail free"card. Poor Vi wishes she had one. Both in universe and out). Why did Sevika think it would be a good idea though? Remember, she literally lost an arm because child Powder went on the dangerous rescue mission that her siblings told her to sit out. Her getting in the way of Vi and Caitlyn's shot to kill Jinx also feels like an easy out.
If Isha wasn't there then Vi would genuinely have to wrestle with the questions of "Is my sister really to far gone?" and "If so, do I have it in me to end her?" If the answer was "No" then she's gone back on what she said to Caitlyn, and Caitlyn has lost the chance to avenge her mom because of Vi, instead of the plot device child. Thanks to Isha being there though, Vi doesn't need to worry about those implications, she instead needs worry about a child being in the line of fire.
And Caitlyn.... wtf were the writers on when they thought this would be a good idea? I don't care if she's confident in her abilities, Cait being willing to shot Jinx when there's a chance she might murder a child is f*cked.
The whole season basically did to Cait what Grant Morrison did to Talia al Ghul. I genuinely understand every Talia fan's anger now. At least Grant regretted destroying her character. Ms. Overton, Linke, and Yee actually thought having Cait commit police brutality, gassing and likely killing innocent civilians, attempting child murder, and becoming a dictator was a good thing.
In a better version of the show that isn't rushed garbage, I could see Isha's pointless sacrifice being the POINT and actually hitting home with the message. They could have expanded on it, showing Jinx mistakening putting delusions into Isha about their lifestyle until Isha loves Jinx so much she mistakenly sacrifices herself to do something that doesn't even resolve the conflict, and then that would be Jinx's entire fault that she then has to come to terms with. This is *kinda* what they did in the show itself but it's so rushed and ultimately unacknowledged that it falls flat on it's face as it moves on to it's next nonsensical, underdeveloped plot point.
isha's purpose wasn't just about destroying jinx mentally, isha also made vi and jinx's relationship actually heal, at the end of s1 they were practically enemies, vi literally wanted to kill jinx at that point because none of what she loved about powder was within jinx anymore, vi viewed jinx as a monster that must be put down to to honor powder and grief losing her, but with isha being in the picture and "fixing" jinx somewhat, vi finally realizes that jinx is worth saving again, that jinx isn't as far gone as vi thought before, in seing jinx and isha interact with eachother, vi was forced to realize that powder still exists, she's still worth fighting for. not to mention that isha made jinx actually realize that she can be loved for who she is, for the first time in her life after losing her family, there's this person who isn't trying to change jinx at all, both vi and silco cared for jinx, but it's twisted, silco wanted her to morph into something she isn't going to be (at least not in a healthy way) vi wanted jinx to return to what she was before (even if it was a source of trauma for her) so they both couldn't accept jinx as she was or meet her where she's at, but isha did, isha wasn't trying to change jinx in anyway, isha simply accepted jinx the way she is, saw the good in her, and simply loved her, and in all honesty that's all jinx ever needed in her life (aside from therapy)
something else to mention is that Jinx is actually inspired to be a better person through isha's love, in a natural way, in a way jinx actually wants, for isha's sake, i haven't watched act III yet as I'm already still processing act II emotionally so i don't know what happens next, but jinx in her post s1 state would have never cared enough about the zaun revolution or ever wanted to become their hero, she can't view herself as a hero after s1, but isha made her see the good parts of herself (maybe that's more of ekko's doing but again, i haven't watched act III yet)
also, sevika never really cared that much for isha, but a scene like the one you described where they at least talked about it would have been a good addition.
there's nothing wrong with using minor characters in the story to build up the actual main characters, be it vander, sevika, mel's friend (forgot her name) heimerdinger, or even isha for that matter
edit: i also think isha was meant to make us sympathetic towards Jinx again, it was the writers telling us that jinx isn't simply a villain now, and it's more complicated than that, because a lot of my friends actually lost sympathy for jinx is s1, especially after the last scene, so the writers needed a way to endear her to us again.
Isha just gave a reason for Jinx to become more altruistic, not so much for her mental health. She is the mid point before Jinx turns good. Jinx is bad, she meets Isha (who thinks Jinx is good and a hero), Isha dies, Jinx becomes that hero.
When Isha was introduced, I was already under the assumption that Jinx was going to die or dissappear at the end of the season, so I thought that Isha would probably end up being taken care of by Vi, which would have left Vi with a connection to Jinx and given her the chance to relive the missed years of having a little sister. But no, she was just trauma bait.
Also, her sacrfice is meaningless since Vander/Warwick can be brought back to life as many times as the plot requires. And even if Isha were better utilized as a character, it would still be entirely out of character for a child that age to understand sacrificing themself or have any desire to do it. It would have made more sense if she tried to attack some other way, failed and was killed, rather than actively trying to end herself.
It's so strange seeing these surface level criticism channels which reference plot points at face value without tying in any from the larger themes. I watched 3-4 of your videos before painting you with this brush, but every one I watched (Arcane Sold out and Lost its Way, Blisters and Bedrock Doesn't work, and this one) make terribly illogical leaps or ignore potential other avenues of analysis to support this "writing bad because money or fewer writers" conclusion. I only mention this in the case that you've already thought about what I'll type below, and don't find it to be compelling analysis, include these counter arguments in some of your videos so the arguments aren't these binary statements in a vacuum without any contextualization.
My main argument will be that Isha objectively wasn't pointless. Saying Jinx post Isha's death was the same Jinx pre Isha's death isn't something that can be said by anyone who both watched the show and has even the slightest idea about human psychology.
I don't understand the notion that Isha's introduction and resolution wasn't either necessary, on theme, or useful.
Firstly, the show loves parallels. Vander->Silco, Vi->Jinx, Jinx->Isha. I'm sure everyone knows that, but just want to be thorough.
It served multiple purposes. It:
-Humanized Jinx to Vi, making it impossible for Vi to hold a grudge. This might seem trivial, but family members fall out all the time, it's not terribly easy to reconcile a conflict as extreme as Vi and Jinx's. This point helps extend the bridge from Vi -> Jinx. A potent catalyst can be necessary to merge divides of this size.
-It gave Jinx a chance to develop herself significantly more. I won't list every way, but Jinx in season 01E4-02E2 and season 02E3 onwards are entirely different characters. Powder let Jinx die, she was joking around playing bug battles, not hallucinating(generally), she wasn't living for Silco or Zaun, just herself and Isha until she was thrust back into things.
Isha was a character which Jinx was allowed to be vulnerable with for the first time in her life post S01E3. It can't be stressed enough how important that dynamic is for Jinx's psychological development. No other character could have served this purpose for Jinx as well as Isha was able to. A younger sibling/carer dynamic is one where Jinx can be vulnerable in a way which is virtually emotionally risk free in a way she couldn't otherwise, even with Vi.
-Gave Jinx perspective on how Powder's reckless, poorly calculated but altruistic plan, affected Vi. As Isha behaved identically to how powder did. Saw loved ones in danger, didn't calculate outcome due to overwhelming duty to help, caused their loved ones grief. I understand the notion that maybe Jinx didn't need more trauma as she obviously has mountains of it already, but, she survived that trauma and is a wholer person for it. This sort of archetype of Powder and Isha also perfectly displays the tragic mindsets these wars and conflicts put into the minds of people willing to do anything they can to ensure their loved ones aren't lost. This helped extend the bridge from Jinx -> Vi. Which is why after it is the first time Jinx has ever commented on something related to what Vi might be going through(when she was walking away from the prison cell).
All of the signs were there constantly that Isha was as reckless and impulsive as Powder/Jinx. She jumped off of the building at the rally and attacked a 10 foot tall armored Noxian. She was being carried away from a ravenous wolf beast which just killed dozens and was kicking and screaming for Sevika to let her go so she could try to help Jinx. When Jinx and Vi were fighting in S02E5 Isha starts bashing Vi in the back of the head and biting her. In episode 3 Isha actually pulled the trigger on the gun pointing at Vi which obviously would have killed Vi.
All of the signs were there that Isha would be willing to do something as impulsive as what she did.
I truly think Isha serves as a great character for showing the mindset this environment can force a child to adopt, and we've seen it countless times. I don't think this should be thought of as "let's introduce something to Jinx and then take it away to make her suffer" but rather "Everything good will turn bad in this environment/dynamic, so it must change". That is why it's so tragic, and that tragedy supports the main theme of the show.
You mention "Isha is unaliving a monster and she does this for the sake of protecting her family??" in an incredulous tone. Despite it being demonstrated repeatedly that she'd be just the person to do that.
The focus on "what did Isha accomplish with her actions" is a pointless topic. And you're wrong on multiple points on that topic regardless.
You mention that Warwick is stronger than ever after Isha's actions. You mention that Vander wasn't in warwick anymore at all, the scene you showed of the memories burning up happens in S02E8, Isha dies in S02E6. You mention that Warwick is stronger than ever after Isha's actions. No, he's for all intents and purposes dead. If someone has the goal of killing someone, they kill that person, then god swoops down and revive them, that doesn't mean that person x failed to kill y. When doing an action you can't predict all possible actions which one might take to undo the result of your action when deciding if you should commit that action.
There are a few other points which aren't sound criticisms, but I won't drag this on.
The show never for a single second tried to make it seem like Isha's actions resulted in any serious material change to any of the events happening. She suicide bombed Warwick and a few Noxians. Isha might have *thought* she would save the day, but so did Powder when she used the gemstones, again, the whole point.
Isha's sacrifice wasn't supposed to save the day, she might have thought it would, but no one else was under that impression.
Is isha on her own anywhere near as compelling as the main cast? No, but she's not a pointless character, there are a dozen good reasons for her to have existed, and she represents the established themes well.
Agreed that we should have gotten plenty more scenes though similar to the one you mentioned between Sevika and Jinx talking about Isha, or something similar.
Thank you for making this comment! I also do not find it productive to expect a side character to have the same amount of complexity as a main character. Isha was strongly characterised for the purpose she served and the screentime that she had. Not only that, but she had her own character development. She was someone to run away rather than to fight back. She was afraid, she was a little insecure, but that changed when she got to know jinx and grew into confidence (which was also unhealthy and lead to recklessness). She looks up to Jinx. She sees all of these revolutionary paintings of her and she wants to emulate that, because she too was wronged by the world, that much she understands. She wants to be the protector she sees in Jinx. She wants to grow into the person she needed to watch over her when she was unprotected. And she fullfills that role in the end, understanding that Jinx is not willing to harm Vander/Warwick on her own to save her life. I also believe that Isha just can't imagine to live without Jinx. Her attachment to her is justifiably strong. There is a lot to analyse about her characterisation and decisions, she has a lot of agency! I don't think we needed to see more of that.
i really disliked her. btw i'm not mute but i was wondering if people who are find this offensive. she's the only mute character in the show, and she's a complete plot device, like a human puppy. it feels like it could be a little insulting, but i'm not from the community, so i'll let them decide lol
I immediately knew she was a tool when she fell on jinx and wasn't immediately shot like the crow in season 1
@@sersnuggles7697 😭
@@Constantine_James😂I mean tell me I'm wrong, we saw her reflexes, her merciless shimmerly bubbly personality, the trajectory silco death sent to full on jinx, it was the most logical conclusion 🥹 then we'll hate her more and drama. But it will feel pointless as we already know where she at in the head. Isha should've been introduced differently and oh boi it won't be pretty or cute. If she's jinx's solution you best bet the trigger finger and presence of isha is gonna bump up the anxiety meter Everytime she's there trying to challenge jinx in the head
Maybe Jinx just went complete schizo and Tyler Durden'ed Isha into existence, lmao
Its the way that it was noticed that on the battlefield after Isha's death, there are graves set up for the Noxian soldiers who died in the battle, presumably by Ambessa or just the Noxian forces in general, and one of them has Isha's hat and goggles on top of it. I think it says a lot how out of the entire cast, its only the Noxians who went out of their way to honor her death.
Leave it to a small scene like that to actually give depth to her character.
I don't think Isha was pointless. I think she didn't get enough time for us to get to know her more. They really should've given us a season's worth of Jinx gradually warming up to Isha.
In order to pull Jinx out of her shame, guilt, and self-hatred, she needed an external force. That is core to who she is. She always looked to others for dependence and comfort. There always had to be another character that would pull her out. Ekko couldn't because he saw her as a lost cause. Vi couldn't because of their history. Sevika doesn't know how, nor is it really her concern.
Isha was someone who only saw the good in her, not the pile of bodies and misery in her past. She loved Jinx unconditionally and gave Jinx someone to care for aside from herself and learn positive love from.
Isha was most definitely a plot device used to get Jinx a few steps towards her character's redemption until Ekko stepped in to pull her over the last hurdle. But it had to be some character not already associated with Jinx. I think it's nice that they went with a mute child, someone who, despite being a Zaunite, is innocent and loving and can't ever say anything that Jinx will internalize like all the words in her past that she holds onto.
@@WickedHumor Vi most definitely should have and could have been the one to pull jinx twords any sort of redemption or reconciliation. It’s a shame she’s the character who gets hit the worst with the S2 writing .
@@Constantine_James I think given their shared history and Vi's familial ties to Jinx, she couldn't. Vi didn't give up on Jinx even after she saw her at her worst. It seems like Vi would be the perfect person to do it for Jinx, but Jinx can also say, "Oh, Vi loves me no matter what. She's my sister. That doesn't really count". Jinx needed someone outside of family to do it. She needed someone who fully CHOSE to love her, not someone who was obligated like Vi. I'm not saying Vi doesn't really love Jinx, she clearly does more than anyone. But Vi's core character is "protect Powder" from end of act 1 season 1. Jinx needed something pure and untainted given how broken she was.
Yeah it's so nice of them to create this random child character just to kill her off in order to push Jinx closer to suicide, right? :D Come on now.
@@WickedHumor I'd like to add on that Vi doesn't know modern day Jinx super well. Every single character sees jinx for who she was at different moments, whether it was her lowest killing clagor and the other one, or seeing her as a the Piltover terrorist. What makes Isha and Ekko work with redeeming her is that Isha can only see her in the moment, and Ekko was finally able to see what she could be. Both perspectives needed to redeem herself. Vi definetly couldn't see Jinx for who she was in that moment, because Vi at some point or another knew Powder and that will never change.
@@OJorEm she pushed Jinx to be more open emotionally and learn to love again. All she had after Silco died was hate or indifference. Some characters are used to push others where they need to go when they can't do it themselves. It happens in real life all the time.
In my opinion instead of Isha, they should have doubled down in the beginning of S2 of Jinx going full dark side. Ambessa was looking for somebody who can use hextech, Jinx could utilize hextech, has no issue with murder. Ambessa could have give her "everything", respect, another mother figure. It would have been great for both sides.
Then you can still go the redemption route when Vi is in danger, Jinx saves her.
Replace isha with a box schizofrenia medication and the story doesn't change 💀
If you have any criticism on Viktor's arc I'd love to hear them. He got done dirty.
Tbh I never hated her I was mostly indifferent. At the time before I realized all the issues I was just happy to see Jinx happy and improving mentally as thats what I was hoping for in regards to Jinx. However as time went on it became clear what isha was; shes a plot device meant for Jinx to reconcile the Powder side of her and to start Jinx redemption arc. Once her role was fufilled, though even thats debatable, she was taken out of the story with only a few blink and youll miss it easter eggs and references to acknowledge she ever existed in the first place.
Putting aside how pointless her sacrifice was and how easily it couldve, and honestly shouldve, backfired (hell Vi almost died in the explosion), when she died I was more sad for what it would do to Jinx than her dying.
The worst part is that this couldve worked if 1) we knew anything substantial about her aside from her hero worship of Jinx and 2) if we saw how her presence curbed Jinx psychosis, abandonment issues, trust issues, shimmer effects, etc. As is it doesnt hold a candle to other relationships in the show thus tragic element doesnt evolve past a "well that kinda sucks" moment for me.
We should of have More screen time for himaldinger instead of
@@mrkaji8913 wdym the writers didn’t like him so obviously he never mattered. ( my fav )
@ they could of had him do something while he’s in the other world. We should of gotten a scene of him seeing his counsil friends. They just make him a comic relief, we don’t see him grieve about his council friends.
@ dude is the founder of Piltover and not a single person even mentioned him in season 2 .
@ exactly. He’s like the Lorax of arcane
I don’t think it mattered if isha mattered. There’s nothing wrong with a plot device . I knew she was a plot device and was still invested. Don’t get me wrong g, I completely see where ur coming from with this and I respect ur opinion. For me, I just found it to be a moving scene. I like the rollercoaster we got with jinx’s mental state. I feel as though where jinx’s mental was after season one made sense because in the end she just couldn’t care and she had no one to tell her what to do.. she had no vander, silco or vi. She was alone and trying to deal with that.
It was also rlly annoying that Noone talked about isha after 😢made me annoyed and sad. I wish vi mentioned her or something
Personally I would have rathered them follow through with what they seemed to be setting up with her as a pillar for her community, like with the people in the prison. It would have been nice to see her hit this rock bottom, lowest point possible, only to realize that she's never been alone because as long as she has the backs of the people of Zaun, they'll have her's. Instead, they introduced this meaningless Powder clone to have her sink even deeper into her individualism, shutting herself off from the world to keep Isha safe, and inevitably ending back at square one after Isha dies. Isha literally didn't matter, you could have cut her and Act 2 out entirely and still have Jinx end up in the state she was in at the beginning of Act 3 by just cutting straight there from the end of Act 1.
@@gyozapunk I disagree. I thought that isha represented hope for jinx and that it didn’t matter if she mattered to the bigger story because she was important to jinx. It helped jinx evolve into her ‘fractured jinx’ self which is evident by her design. Isha was essential to her final self.. a mixture of powder and jinx. I agree that she’s a plot device but it doesn’t really matter because jinx still grew due to isha. She might have become more depressed after her death but she realised that she needed to fight for who and what she loves.
I would recommend this video on isha
ua-cam.com/video/5qi1OSIX8Xw/v-deo.htmlsi=eabi6P60PBeOsQWu
It rlly changed my perspective.
I personally think that jinx’s story and rollercoaster of emotions in s1 and 2 was fine brilliantly. I could go on and on about how I loved jinx in this season.. it’s other characters like vi I had a main problem. Rlly brought this season down. Don’t get me wrong.. still absolutely love it and will continue to.. it’s just that I understand the criticisms
@@atomicaaron6720 I would agree with you on that. It would have been interesting to see how Jinx turning into the villain would have played out, but I liked what we got.
@@WickedHumor yhhh.. I could see that. It would have been food for thought. I do like jinx’s arc, but it would have been interesting to see her lean into her dark side more. Overall I have little to no complaints about jinx’s arc tbh, even though I could see how an evil arc could be cool. It was Just other characters like vi that rlly brought the writing down for me. It’s unfortunate but I’m still grateful for what arcane did as a whole. I will still love both seasons even though I can see why others don’t
This is the kind of discussions I like. I’ve seen too many videos and comments just arguing to eachother about how each other’s ’opinions’ are wrong. Everyone has a valid opinion and it’s up 2 you if u like certain arcs, characters or seasons.
If isha didn't exist everything would have still been the same and we could've gotten a better storyline for the sister's story. Instead of isha saving Jinx, Vi should've been the one to stop Caitlyn because she just can't kill her then Caitlyn would separate from Vi because of her always choosing her sister then we get Jinx approaching Vi to fix their relationship. Vi have spent time in stillwater she would ask Jinx to free the prisoner with her( a better character arc for vi aswell) then they both fight Vander which would be even more exciting and after all that the end sacrifice would feel even more impactful
Don't know what I hate more isha or that they barely showed vander despite hyping it all oh I also hate ambessa attacking piltover and being happy about it like why and I also hate how viktor seems to have 0 braincells and tried to kill everyone replacing them with machine parts like why not just fix their body's and leave their minds alone fr also maddie why did they make her a villain I hate it all
Can't wait for Warwick 🫡
I agree.
many problems with your conclusions.
1) 2:27, you are completely wrong, Vander gets erased when Viktor becomes the Messias/hive mind of the arcane, not before. get it right
2) How was Jinx in the position of being suicidal before meeting Isha, in season 1 she is supposed to embrace Jinx. Killing Silco/Saving Vi was the last act as powder and by killing Silco she embraces jinx, why is this position A supposed to be her becoming completely hopeless and broken?
3) why do you assume Sevika loves Isha? Isha was just adopted by Jinx and Vi went to confort jinx about her death in the prison, when jinx said "you will never give up on me will ya? what did you think that meant? and excuse that people can't find some time to talk about it more when they have an angry warlord with the strongest force of runaterra and a god that can lobotomize you and turn you into an android knocking on their door.
jesus dude while some of your points in previous videos are good, man you are coming off as a nitpicker trying to hard to be a mauler ripoff while failing miserably cause you don't even get the timeline of the events right
While I agree with a vast majority of this video I would like to point that Vander burns away in episode 8 "After Isha's sacrifice". Warwick was simply affected Viktors death due to their link.
As for Jinx's relationship with Isha. Its less that her death is meant to devastate Jinx and more like its suppose to make Jinx realize she will always be a Jinx. You see Jinx at the end of season 1 accepted her role as nothing more than "A Jinx" which was a mantle she accepted at the end of the season.
Isha is someone who make her realize being Jinx means she can do good. And it with her death that makes Jinx realize that even when she tries to do good she will still do bad.
And so this makes her want to end it all. However Ekko "using the words of the alternate Powder" was able to save Jinx by making her realize her past doesn't define her.
Now I know that a lot of this doesn't sound engaging, and that's because it is. The whole basis of Jinx's arc is people coming in nudging her into a specific direction.
It’s pretty telling that most of the viewers knew Isha was gonna die
If I were in charge of season 2, but had to keep Isha, the main thing I would do to give her a proper character would be lean more into the idea of her running away from the chembarons. Why was she running away from them? Was she trying to escape the horrible conditions in the mines? Basically those questions would drive her character
Most people who review the character of Isha are wrong. She is not a plot device, Isha is what in narratology is called an impact character. Except that it is a very badly constructed impact character. However, Isha is not the biggest problem of the second season, there are many far worse ones.