Pretty sad. S1 made a beautiful sutile point about marginalization and deteriorating communities. Jinx is a problem to everyone, but we get to see the broken environment she grew up, where violence is normal and aproved. The sadness of knowing why she doesnt have a properly developed moral compass or emotional stability, but acknowledging it is what it is. She is the source of problems to almost everyone, even if we know that there are factors that escape her control that mafe things that way. Apparently now it wasnt her, but the family member that was willing to eat up all the shit without complain if only her sister got to have it better than her. Thats the real source of instability now or something? Wasnt even Silco's radicalism, also a byproduct of the environment he grew up.
Biggest character assassination in episode 6 was Jayce coming from the shadow realm to kill Viktor... We all know the REAL Jayce would have killed that kid and Isha. We know he ain't above kid deletion!
Jayce knew that by killing Viktor, all of the children at the village would also die as a result. Jayce also predicted that Isha would blow herself up in the end because of what he did. Jayce made the calculated move to kill as many children as possible. It wouldn't be character assassination. If anything, it would be character development.
@@Red_Cap5 okay that is a very good point. You've clearly seen the bigger picture ahahah. Yeah very true, Jayce unaliving Viktor led to a village full of dead kids
@@HeckDescender2184 Never would I have ever guessed this show would eventually get me to the point that I would be actually rooting for more “youngling casualties.” I know Discount-Newt/Grogu was supposed to evoke Powder to the audience, but ironically by the end she was nothing but powder lol
What pisses me off the most about the Vander history retcon is that Mylo and Claggor were also his adopted children. Vander didn't adopt Vi and Powder because of a pre existing relationship but because he felt responsible for orphaning several children through his action. The conversation that he has with Vi on the bridge made it clear that the main difference between Vander and Silco was how much they were willing to sacrifice for their dream of a nation of Zaun. But no. This flashback implies that the reason he decided to stop is really just cause he wanted to save his surrogate daughters. The writers really don't understand what the had with season 1
You know in retrospect Silco was really dumb in season 1 , all he had to do was use the power of friendship Why did he even try to use violence ?? doesn't he know it's cringe and that friendship is based ?? Happy to see season 2 is course correcting
Timestamps 0:00 Trading Cards 1:56 Starting Up 4:08 Where We Were 5:00 Viktor 16:30 Ambessa & Caitlyn 33:11 Warwick 37:37 Addiction To Shimmer 49:45 The Elephant In The Room 48:56 Weapons 52:50 Warwick & Grogu 54:12 Viktor & Vander 1:11:37 Music Video 1:21:35 Viktor Evolution 1:38:28 Invasion 1:42:00 The Triangle 1:43:17 Singed & Viktor 2:08:14 Contrivance 2:14:42 Plotting 2:17:35 Vi captured! Jayce returns! 2:20:40 Duels: Ambessa v Vi, Caitlyn v Singed, Jayce v Child, Jinx v Rictus, Rictus v Warwick 2:39:18 It’s All About Family 2:43:02 Jayce Kills Viktor 2:45:44 Rictus Dies & MVPs 2:49:50 Viktor’s Last Words 2:51:44 Battle & Sacrifice 3:06:50 Ratings 3:08:31 Episode 7: The Happy Dimension 3:22:30 Heimerdinger & Ekko 3:35:33 Jayce 3:42:18 Ekko & Powder 3:47:50 Music Video 3:56:33 Jayce 4:01:18 Save The World 4:05:49 In A Hole 4:09:18 Vi Sanctuary 4:12:42 The Swamp 4:14:25 Music Video 4:21:26 The Limit 4:31:21 Platform Game 4:32:18 Ekko 4:36:00 Forgiveness & The Problem With The Alternate Universe 4:47:40 Ekko & Powder 5:05:10 Multidimentional Travel, Meme, Death & Consequences 5:26:22 Last Analysis & Conclusions 5:46:15 Closing
(Reposted from unlisted) I gotta say, of all the fantastic characters from the first season who either got cast aside or put through the ringer this go-around, Jinx's flanderization is the one that sticks with me most. She has more screentime by a slim margin in season two- Season One: 1hr 32m Season Two: 1hr 41m But it feels like she's not only lost a lot of the depth everyone remembers, but also a lot of tiny things which add up and make her feel like a real person. A big thing that's remarkably absent from season two is that mean streak she used to have. Jinx had a brand of sadism that I perceive as really childish? She'd scare or hurt people who may be on her team for no other reason than she's bored, she'd bite her lip in anticipation whenever she pointed a gun at something alive and pulled the trigger, she'll mock people trying to save a kid in a burning building before blowing them up and giggle about it later. She felt like a child soldier. No reason to learn empathy on a battlefield so blowing someone away just feels like winning. (Not getting into whether or not she had a sadistic streak pre-Silco, considering her eagerness to use a nail-shrapnel grenade in a street fight with other kids). A great example is the scene where she confronts Silco in his office. She's angry and works herself up until she's mad enough to stab him, then does it again whenever he irks her. She loves the man like a father but she doesn't think to do anything but hurt who she percieves to be the source of a problem until he directs her elsewhere cause that's all she knows how to do. In season 2 she doesn't really like making things pop for the sake of it, doesn't habitually hurt anybody, doesn't get violent during arguments. With the added screentime she doesn't have any of the scenes like Season 1 where we navigate her fractured emotional state to understand any leaps in logic or deluded vendettas she makes when she's alone. Also lost a few tiny quirks like her old man-isms that would show up sometimes ("Sevika's a real Johnny-on-the-spot,", "I'm in no mood," "You're a class-act, Sister," "Ten outta ten, toots,") Which made her sound different from the rest of the cast even in casual dialogue.
One easy way to make Caytlin flip (again) is to make her aware Ambessa staged the memorial attack. Does she ever even learn that? Still wouldn't have forgiven Jinx so easily, though.
The philosophy of Occam's razor dictates that the simplest explanation is most likely the correct one. Therefore, the simplest explanation as to why this season sucks so much is that the writers of season 1 were replaced with body snatchers who are trying to replicate the talents of their hosts... and failing.
On a serious note, I assume there was some brilliant writer who is no longer part of the project and likely left it before season 1 was completed. He either was some kind of bid writer who did a lot of the groundwork to set this up when it was still super early in production or he was some kind of anti-wormtongue whispering in the ear of someone with a lot of power of the production. If the first, he was probably dropped before they had more than a half-dozen people involved, but they just followed his outline almost exactly. If the second, he probably lost that influence by the time the second season work started.
@@Alex_FaheyI still stand by my theory that I explained on the first EFAP for Season 2 that it probably came down to being forced to wrap up the story in just one season and having next to no time to rewrite before getting started on animating in half the time as Season 1… but again, that’s only a theory and I’m more invested than ever to find out what led to this abomination…
@@TheRetroRenegade That seems reasonable, but a lot of the prominent people involved seem to not realize just how flawed this was rather than excusing their own actions by arguing that they didn't have enough time. Rather than the writing team being really skilled but just screwed over, I'm guessing there was some member of the team who was far more important to the project than anyone realized. It just seems inconceivable that this good idea fairy could still be on the team and not kick up a fuss over all the story decisions of season 2.
@ Seems reasonable, but keep in mind I don’t think anyone who worked on this is going to publicly share anything that could violate any sort of NDA or diminish the property. They might just have to bullshit their way out of things in the public eye and try to convince people that it’s all good - like that comment about Vi and Jinx: “Either they team up or they don’t” (paraphrasing). Whether they truly think this is quality or not, they have to play it up, especially if the majority of people so far still seem to insist this is good…
@@TheRetroRenegade I would agree in the case where I think the team just got lucky. However, if we think the team is really good and just screwed over by time constraints, then I would expect the leaders of that team to be able to come up with better lies if contracts are requiring them to come up with bs saying season 2 is actually good.
I'm still seething over that ending, especially since Mage Viktor was the man behind it all and the fact Jayce and Viktor got yoinked out of existence in a shipper bait scene.
That scene with Vi and Caitlyn doing the thing in the same cell Jinx was contemplating game-overing in was like staring into the infinite void and witnessing the death of God… [being a bit melodramatic, but still… that was disgusting]
@@TheRetroRenegade. Same here. That scene might genuinely be one of the worst written scenes that I’ve witnessed in my life. Vi knows that Jinx plans on ending herself, so when Caitlyn gets her out of that cell, Vi should be like: “Thank God you got me out of there! Come on! Jinx is going to do something stupid! We need to hurry!” But instead, Vi’s just like: “OMG! You’re so hot Caitlyn, let’s have sex, RIGHT NOW!” And then they waste almost TWO MINUTES making out, completely ignoring Jinx entirely. This season is utterly abysmal.
Old Viktor looks like an old Marvel villain while the new Viktor looks like the MCU's attempt at making a gray "realistic and threatening" take on the character
Viktor was always the most inconsistent character in LoL. In the game he used to be a Saturday morning cartoon villain, spouting catchphrase left and right. In lore he was a reclusive scientist/medic helping willing people transcend their organic limitations. In card game he's a gang boss robbing bank. So for him to be mecha Jesus in the show is quite on brand.
@@DrNiradino Shut the fuck up bro. The argument has never been "oh it doesn't match the lore/game/card game." The main problem here is that Viktor doesn't match SEASON ONE VIKTOR, and is even inconsistent with himself in S2. Quit coping.
Seeing the Silco cameo in Episode 7 - and how it was presented - really solidified my belief that the writers really wanted this season to have the same tone as a Marvel movie. Any nuance or subtlety has been completely tossed out and replaced with gimmicks, quips, contrivances and retcons.
I can't wait for them to get to Jayce's grand final argument to try and convince Victor in episode 9 He had the choice between telling him the future, or telling him that being a dying cripple isn't something that should be fixed. And Gollum won the argument.
"Ever wonder what it's like to drown? Story of opposites. There's peace in water, like it's holding you, whispering in low tones to let it in and every problem in the world will fade away. But then, there's this thing in your head, and it's raging, lighting every nerve with madness to fight, to survive. And all the while this question lingers before you: "Have you had enough?" It's funny. You could pass a lifetime without ever facing a choice like that. But it changes you forever. For that I thank you... old friend." Ok season one Silco but have you ever considered that forgiveness is really cool? Didn't think so.
Heimerdinger: I WILL have the Hexcore destroyed Jayce! Jayce: Come on…I need a professor. Better yet, a partner. Heimerdinger: Alright, carry on making your demon cube! I’ll ignore it completely! If only Jayce has said that to Heimerdinger in Season 1, then so much drama could have been avoided.
Episode 7 is sadly another example of the writers putting feels and spectactle before good writing. When you stop and think about it, that altermate universe makes no sense. So many questions need answering, and they just aren't. If the timelime diverges after Vi dies, that means that up to that point Vander and Silco are irreconcilable enemies, Sevika is Silcos top lieutenant, Singed is producing Shimmer, and Zaun is a sketchy shit hole. Somehow, Vi dying not only causes Silco to make up with Vander, but to shut down Singed, and fire Sevika. Vander not only accepts this, but necessarily must forgive the crimes Silco has committed up to this point, not to mention the rest of Zaun must accept and forgive his crimes as well. What could have been a good episode is reduced to mere fanservice and shipping wish fulfillment because it's clear the writers cared more about getting from A to B than HOW they got there.
This season feels like a fever dream. Things just kinda happen with no real explanation why and then your off to some completely unrelated sequence of events without time to breathe. It also feels like it’s play acting at being mature, everything feels a bit too desperate at forcing gravitas and importance in dialogue making the ROP parallels very unfortunate as RFT pointed out. Also the bouncy movements when people talk started to get on my nerves. Like their whole body just moves so much in every frame it’s distractingly busy. It’s like that Chinese Beaver meme. (Edit): Also I would have paid to have Caitlyn freak out during the cringe family reunion scene with Warwick/Vander only for him to proceed to smear her reactively to protect his 'daughters' turning that seemingly overly convenient sudden innocence on its head. It would create a division again between Vi and Jinx over protecting Vander, made him a legitimate threat and tragic without resorting to mindless beast mode again, been actually shocking, and pissed off the shippers all in one move.
Characters just aren't allowed to have perspectives that last longer than a single decision. It's how Vi went from actively working to kill Jinx, to just waking up with her in the room and going on an adventure with her. Her mind didn't get changed by anything that happened, she just was dragged into the next plot situation.
Possessing the body of your AU self, and making romantic advances with the AU self’s love interest is some next level NTR. And to add insult to injury, AU Powder might have feelings for OG Ekko, instead of her Ekko, and AU Ekko has no idea; that certainly complicates things.
idk why, but i got it into my head that OG Ekko had explained to AU Powder who he actually was. probably just my brain desperately filling in the massive holes left by the plot in some vain attempt at self-preservation
@@Chirishman343 On my first watch, I thought so, too. Surely, during the time Ekko, Heimerdinger, and Powder were talking at the table or whenever they were building the machine, they would mention that they are a part of a different timeline, right? But, that kind of information would be too important to leave out without the audience knowing, so it's hard to tell whether or not she was actually told this.
They wanted to make her good, which is not something unachievable on it's own, but you'd need at least 3 seasons to make that a believable continuation to what was build in season 1. Doing this transformation in just one season, was never going to work.
@@Hitman-cq2ywYep, they needed at least one season of Joker Jinx just unleashing chaos because "fuck everyone", then do something big happen, something decisive and climatic with her sister that forces her to come out of her self- impossed role of monster and do something good that actually works for once. Then through s3 and s4 you maybe work out a Kratos type of story in the modern games: she goes away where no one knows her, and a story centered about her maturing, searching for peace of mind, and accepting that there is no redemption for what she has done. Sometimes doing something normal well just works. Imagine Jinx in a western style village doing tech stuff for the community, and she is appreciated for it. Some outlaws come to town, and she is so anxious, fearing the voices will come back if she picks her weapons again, even if its for a good cause. That she would loose her cool as always. You can do whatever there, from keeping up the drama of her life because she looses her cool again , or she actually has gain some discipline over herself, ironically finally becoming more like Silco wanted her to be (a beast, but a self-controlled beast). Now she can trust herself when she didnt before, a small step into self-improvement. You then made something about The Jinx, about that persona being whatever she makes of it, not just a ragging beast, then S4-5 you have a return of an antiheroic Jinx that want to blow some shit up, yes, but with standarts this time.
@@albertocruzado2899 Well, they are clearly trying to do the whole western type spin-off thing with her, in some other region, which is why they left her alive and sent her away. And if they learn something, after season 2, they might even make a good story. The issue is that they completely messed up her character, even removed her iconic braids, to give her a f**king side shave for "character progression". And I fear that with all her problems basically gone, she has very high chances of just turning into some comic relief cameo in the future projects. And if that will become true, then they might as well just have her die, ffs.
Hearing LOL Victor makes me sad... I would've much, much preferred mechanical evolution Victor, spurred on by his disability and his dying body, than... well, than Arcane-oid, an emotionless magical dude who is spurred on by magic because he is fused with magic. Jayce's final speech also reads way more like it was directed towards other Victor, even though it'd still be ass with him anyway.
You know, the alt timeline flashback in ep 9 makes Jayce's actions in ep 6 even worse. Alt Timeline Viktor: "you are the only one who can change the other me's mind" Jayce: talks past Salo-Viktor with a few vague lines, then immediately goes to murder Viktor, thereby almost causing the exact scenario alt-Viktor sent Jayce back to stop. (Originally posted on the unlisted vod. My thoughts are in 2 separate comments since they concern different topics)
I think show was trying to imply that he was "corrupted" after Arcane touched him in the wrong place. That why his face was twitching half the time and he had strange visions. Maybe he even got an cyberpsychosis after he traveled to the future.
"Jayce, can you show me on the doll where the arcane touched you?" Yea they didn't show us how or what made Jayce snap the way he did, his vision didn't seem to be that idk, agressive or corruptive.
3 years of waiting, just to see Arcane degrade into a cheap Spiderverse parody. Welp, serves me right. This is what you get when you believe in a multi-billion company, nowadays.
It probably would’ve gone on to be relatively good if it hadn’t become so popular. Once the investors saw the money and popularity they got their grubby hands all over it.
You have not seen Arcane Twitter and TikTok losing their minds over that. The people who believe in the Wachowskis saying the Matrix was a trans allegory won't accept the co creator here, and will use animators who think black women are beards as proof it was canon all along. arcane Twitter is 1488 at this point.n
I'm fine with people who want to entertain that perspective. The problem is the people who pretend their headcanon is the only possible interpretation, as if men can't have meaningful relationships with anyone that aren't based on sexual attraction. Jayce and Viktor have an intensely deep connection. They both risked everything, their own lives and reputations, out of an intense desire to do what's right. Together they literally changed the world with the invention of HexTech, dragging the entire world forward into a new era-because HexTech has implications that carry far beyond Piltover. The mere existence of the Hex Gates redraws the world map. And the two of them did this together through sheer force of will and shared vision. It's why, despite how terrible it is, I really felt something in the finale. I was doing all the work in my head, and it's a shame. There's a great story to tell about two men who work so hard to help others, doing what they think is right, only to end up with diverging visions that put them at odds with each other. Having them become enemies and then reconciling is a fantastic story because of how impactful they were as a partnership. The show just skips the process of both the division and the reconciliation and yet it's so easy to write in my head that it still gives me the feels. If fanboys and fangirls want to layer a shipping narrative over top of all of it, it's fine, as long as they recognize it's their own view. The story doesn't require it.
I'm watching BoB again, and the amount of brotherhood and closeness - without a hint of the gay - is incredible. So many guys fought and died together, that fortifies a real relationship that is in no way sexual.
how many more times will shows play that tired trope of someone running towards the heroic character in the middle of a noble self sacrifice, got held down, but fights and screams anyway? Guess this will never go away - just like the 'falling on the knees, screaming to the sky' or the 'bring back the dead to diminish their ending, and create more tension'. Or the time travel/dimension travel for real or in a dream/vision to see an alternative version of ourselves. And all of these cliches were crammed into this season. great.
Because it is a really effective trope. Tropes exist for a reason. They're effective. If you're wiritng a tropey story and actively try to subvert everything, you end up with the Last Jedi.
Arcane season 2 keeps having the problem of the narrative voice perpetually overriding the character voices, reducing and compromising how the characters were previously written. it makes the characters so much worse
I just realized, Ambessa knows Viktor and his partnership with Jayce. Like, not only should she be extremely interested in a miraculous healer, but she would've also found out he is Viktor, the co-creator of hextech, and the only scientist around who could actually make the weapons she wanted.
She doesn't actually know Viktor was the co-creator of Hextech, because she would have mentioned him by name during the goat scene. Viktor was routinely overlooked as the second hand. But she never discovers this nor brings this up.
@@blacktigerpaw1 You're literally describing the problem with the writing. You're trying to tell me, Ambessa, the political mastermind that was in the middle of taking over Piltover in season 1, didn't know hextech had two people to its credit? That Jayce never credited Viktor in the creation of the hexgate?
@@blacktigerpaw1 I see, so you think Jayce snubbed his partner, and the person that basically saved his life, out of the scientific discovery of a life time, where over the course of years of working on hextech together, no one documented Viktor's contributions, because Ambessa didn't mention him to Rictus. Do you think this is more likely, or that the writers dropped the ball?
5:36:24 The reason for the drop in quality could be that creating a masterpiece and sustaining a masterpiece are two VERY different set of skills. - The 'hard' way is to build on the existing characters and expand on the world in a logical and consistent way. - The 'lazy' way is to appeal to the character-shipping, Twitter reacting crowd for cheap "omg" moments, regardless of pace or consistency. Game of Thrones shifted from one to the other over the course of 8 seasons. Arcane is not there yet (thank god), but it definitely picked many elements from the 'lazy' path to sustain itself in season 2.
Just the style of writing is fundamentally different. Arcane S1 wasn't afraid for characters to have conversations where they share their viewpoints and attempt to sway people over. Season 2 does the Rings of Power thing of just setting up to a dramatic line, and then cutting away from the actual conversation. "We tracked some sort of new chemweapon down here. A bloodthirsty, murderous beast. What are you doing here?" "Trying to save...my dad." (end scene) That's so dramatically insufficient for Cait and Vi healing their rift and Cait deciding to stop being fascist, but it's all we get. Whereas, look at any conversation Vander had with Vi in Season 1, where he shares his values with her and tries to lead her away from his own mistakes. Or the work Heimerdinger does when he's trying to convince Jayce about the dangers of messing with the arcane. Characters actually have viewpoints and are willing to argue and articulate them.
I know nothing about "Arcane" and I don't care about it. I'm just playing a game that doesn't require my absolute full attention - and I found myself somewhat addicted to the cold, yet humorous, and methodical banter of EFAP.
On my first viewing of Episode 7, despite the flaws that I found with it, I thought it was the best episode of the season. And in retrospect, I would still consider it the best, it's just no where near as high as what I put it as originally. Which I suppose says something about the quality of the other episodes of this season.
Season two absolutely broke my heart. I really loved season one and loved following the EFAP crews loving dissection of each episode. It is such a shame that season two’s reviews has evolved into a gripe session. I was really hoping for another great season of viewing, alas. And I was really looking forward to nerding out with some people about it.
I guess milo and clagger didn't mean anything to Vander. Hell, even powder is clearly not his favorite either. Watch it somehow turns out Vander is actually Vi's bio father, and somehow silco is powders. I wouldn't put it past the terrible writing on display here. Vi and powder had a hoe of a mother and a cuck for a claimed father.
@rabbittv8399 I'm talking in reference to the discussion of the Vander water color flashback Viktor brought out. How this damages Vander so badly. Vi, and her mother were the main focus, with powder in the background, with only a flash of milo and clagger. And as far as the bio parent comments, I am speaking hyperbolically and sarcastically, making fun of the terrible writing this season. I don't literally think vi is vanders bio daughter, and powder is silcos.
I love how insane the alternative universe is in regards to what cannon events actually happen. We're shown that the world got better, because Vi died during the raid. Kids weren't jailed for some reason, presumably Jayce was instead, and everything got better without hextech. Why though? Silco's plans weren't related to said event. His shimmer research wouldn't go away, there's no reason for him to abandon a dream of Zaun, end of act 1 of season 1 should've happened regardless. Some people would say that Heimer was messing with this timeline and actually improving lives of the people. I have one counter argument - Silco has his eye injury. Meaning, revolution, driven by horrible living conditions in Undercity, happened regardless of Heimers actions and played the same way. There's actually a third thing. Both Heimer and Ekko were tossed in the same alternative past and present respectively. Jayce was tossed to the future. Problem is, in the alternative hextechless universe future that he was shown couldn't exist. Viktor should die from plotivitus without hextech research the Jayce provided, meaning he couldn't nether create a hexcore nor become a science Jesus. This problem becomes even bigger with season 9 "Ryze" reveal, since show establishes that there was a timeloop, where none could be formed.
Yeah, the only thing that would change is that the undercity wouldn't be massively filled with enforcers looking for the kids and Vander could still be alive and jinx wouldn't join Silco. But with the shimmer being developed eventually it would end up in a similar situation considering that Vander's team would be severally under matched. Best case scenario is that the war is contained in Zaun and doesn't affect Piltover as much. Also if i'm not mistaken Heimer enters the timeline about 4 years after the events of ep 1. So he might be able to change something but not enough to prevent all the events that unfold
@@DrNiradino 1128 days, so almost 4 years before Ekko comes in. a tousand years would be insane. in that scenario he would have been in that universe long before the creation of Piltover
I like the cosmetic change for Victor a lot. I loved the way he looked in Arcane. Instantly added him to my "hear me out" list, the weird, lanky bastard. But, I hardly ever played him in game.
1:17:53 Is it me or is anyone else confused here? From what I’ve heard most of the writing team of Season 1 left or were booted out and the only two of the og writers stuck around, just kind of surprised they haven’t mentioned that yet
@brat7489 Looking into it I found a stream one of the writers did, it was called “Arcane S2 E4 Watch Party with Amanda Overton and Katy Townsend” and Amanda is one of the writers for both seasons. In the video around 1:30:00 she explains how they had a writers room for season 1 and they at first did the same thing for Season 2 but Covid happened at the time so they worked at home and she describes it as “the team shrunk to me, Alex, and Christian.” Now I’m not an expert, I only found this recently so maybe take this with a grain of salt but to me it sounds like the writers shrunk and that explains a lot about how this season feels so different from Season 1.
@@mediadetective6104 Damn. I've watched that part and you might be right. even if the team eventually got back to its original size there is no guarantee that the same people got rehired and even if they did maybe the damage war already done. Who knows, it's difficult to say for certain. Hope we get confirmation eventually
I half-saw a photo of a friend once, through their discord profile before it was immediately changed. I managed to draw a pretty accurate picture of them from memory. It's unlikely but do-able, however like you said, it's just weird that there are so many Vi's and not like a Powder or Vander or anyone.
That "Nightmare on Reroll Street" really does a good job of solidifying the "art vs. entertainment" point... Seriously, look up that TFT short and tell me it doesn't remind you of the most cringe-inducing post shark jump MCU content.
The only possible thing I think Ambessa could be referring to by "sacrifice" is Caitlyn losing her mother. I suppose the writers wanted to draw a connection in that both had lost family members, but the problem is, Caitlyn's mother dying wasn't sacrifice. It's just suffering.
In response to the normies initial reaction to season 2 of Arcane Dan & Dave were heard to ask "WTF?!?! Forgetting everything, rushing, and not really caring about your story is fine now? For NOUGH reason?!?". Probably.
Yeah there would be no point in grading a card if you can remove it from the case, ruin it and then put it back in. at that point it might be cheaper to buy an ungraded card. Man, I don't know much about pokemon cards but my friends nerd autism spreads to me passively
I think you all made quite a mess with the evolution discussion. Viktor is talking about human achievements and de development of events as part of the evolution of the world. Natural phenomena made us and we are evolving beyond that through our technology and organization. So according to Viktor, the end of evolution, its purpose in the universe, is the overcoming of nature.
Why does the explosion prevent hextech... Two possibilities: either the unsanctioned research is never allowed due to the death, e.g. Jayce is banished as almost happened anyway, or Jayce and Cait were killed outside the foor in the explosion. You guys really are just in a negative stupour about things fairly logicial...
@blacktigerpaw1 Think you may be confusing timelines. In the Ekko timeline the crude runes are locked away. There is some risk that Powder is inspired, but Jayce and Viktor are not mentioned to my knowledge. In the Jayce timeline you're right that Viktor does invent it.
Pretty sure that Isha's death wasn't supposed to be justified. It’s obviously avoidable and a dumb kid's mistake, just like Mylo's and Claggor's deaths in the first season, which leads to Jinx's depression in act 3.
Except that they accidentally did. They made it look like a big heroic sacrifice so the others can get away, and it works. Jinx turns herself in but Isha’s sacrifice prevents the rest of them from being captured by Noxus. She even closes her eyes, looking resolute with her actions, before pulling the trigger. No matter their intention, theyre justifying it They even put memory flashbacks and failed to indicate it being a “dumb kid mistake”, because unlike powder’s fuckup, it works as intended and the only one who dies is the one who did it
4:43:35 - would minors be neccessarily have to be traeted as responsible adults? Id say the reprecussions would be minimal. Maybe vander would have been responsible or they will all go to prison for kids. Either i doubt this would get more serious. I think Jayces illegal things would overshadow guiltyness of Vis group
2:31:00 . Also whats the point of even capturing Vi at this point? If they didnt want to kill ambessa (cause vi didint when she had chance) then why even capture her. Just let her go and attack the big guard dude, singed with combined forces of Vi Cait and Jinx?
Time & time again, these sorts of shows reveal how easily general or specific audiences are easily pleased. Lacking critical thinking skills to be able to truly determine if what the audience is consuming is truly worthy of their time. Truly a travesty.
The fact so many people are defending the bootstrap paradox makes me want to eat a brick. "Oh Jayce and Viktor were fated to be together!" Lmao no they weren't, mage Viktor played matchmaker.
And yet that sort of dopamine hit never carries anything lasting. How many people still have positive things to say about Black Panther 2? Or Mandalorian season 2? Arcane Season 1 is one of those things that continues to endure, while Arcane season 2 is going to quickly be forgotten.
One way Ambessas "triangle of strength" meme pays of later is when Caitlyn and Ambessa face off in the last episode and Caitlyn sacrifices her eye in order to cut of the runes on Ambessas arm. She defeats her by using her own lesson about sacrifice against her in the end.
To be clear, Im a dummy! I watch your show to pick up details in shows i miss, to help me articulate what i hate or love about a show or movie. To listen to interesting discussions or debates on a topic of interest in a show or movie. That being said why tf do you get ppl like metal on!? FFS they are just like me, a DUMMY! why the f do i have to listen to there dumb inarticulate takes!? There is nothing new from metal repeating what maulers already said but dumber!
"Is there anything so undoing as a daughter?"
Season 2 writers: "Hold my crayon."
Season 2 writers: "What's a crayon again?"
No they eat their crayons.
@@thedoobieshrew0244"Food" they wold answer.
I think, like Homer, they keep their crayons up their noses.
At least Silco is fucking dead so they can't retard him with bad dialogue.
Season 1: Jinx is the reason why everything fell apart
Season 2, episode 7: Actually, it was Vi.
Vi **and** Jayce. But this last one is an actually defensible point.
That will never stop being hilarious to me. “Vi is the source of all our problems”.
@@bc-cu4onJayce is literally the cause of the apocalypse all because Mage Viktor couldn't let go. Literally sadism at this point
Pretty sad. S1 made a beautiful sutile point about marginalization and deteriorating communities. Jinx is a problem to everyone, but we get to see the broken environment she grew up, where violence is normal and aproved. The sadness of knowing why she doesnt have a properly developed moral compass or emotional stability, but acknowledging it is what it is. She is the source of problems to almost everyone, even if we know that there are factors that escape her control that mafe things that way.
Apparently now it wasnt her, but the family member that was willing to eat up all the shit without complain if only her sister got to have it better than her. Thats the real source of instability now or something? Wasnt even Silco's radicalism, also a byproduct of the environment he grew up.
Wrong in both instances, they dono't ever just blame it all solely on one person.
Biggest character assassination in episode 6 was Jayce coming from the shadow realm to kill Viktor... We all know the REAL Jayce would have killed that kid and Isha. We know he ain't above kid deletion!
Jayce knew that by killing Viktor, all of the children at the village would also die as a result. Jayce also predicted that Isha would blow herself up in the end because of what he did. Jayce made the calculated move to kill as many children as possible. It wouldn't be character assassination. If anything, it would be character development.
@@Red_Cap5I'd fully support this vs the "oh wow you're beautiful" speech he did at the end
@@Red_Cap5 okay that is a very good point. You've clearly seen the bigger picture ahahah. Yeah very true, Jayce unaliving Viktor led to a village full of dead kids
Remember when Jayce killed a kid, and Vi was like lol.
Then Caitlyn was gonna kill a kid and she was all like, "You've got to do better, Enforced."
@@HeckDescender2184 Never would I have ever guessed this show would eventually get me to the point that I would be actually rooting for more “youngling casualties.”
I know Discount-Newt/Grogu was supposed to evoke Powder to the audience, but ironically by the end she was nothing but powder lol
What pisses me off the most about the Vander history retcon is that Mylo and Claggor were also his adopted children. Vander didn't adopt Vi and Powder because of a pre existing relationship but because he felt responsible for orphaning several children through his action. The conversation that he has with Vi on the bridge made it clear that the main difference between Vander and Silco was how much they were willing to sacrifice for their dream of a nation of Zaun. But no. This flashback implies that the reason he decided to stop is really just cause he wanted to save his surrogate daughters. The writers really don't understand what the had with season 1
You know what two things have been proven to suck in fiction?
Multiverse and timetravel (especially time loops).
We got both in one episode.
Also sequels, most of the time they suck.
Also sexual assault after the body got possessed by someone else
RIP Rictus, the Don of Arcane
I love big, bruiser types who actual have a brain and are wildly competant.
You know in retrospect Silco was really dumb in season 1 , all he had to do was use the power of friendship
Why did he even try to use violence ?? doesn't he know it's cringe and that friendship is based ??
Happy to see season 2 is course correcting
I can taste bile in my mouth just reading this… mission accomplished
Friendship so based, Silco so sillky
@ you know that video of the dog walking out of the pond gagging on pondscum water? That’s how I feel right now…
Timestamps
0:00 Trading Cards
1:56 Starting Up
4:08 Where We Were
5:00 Viktor
16:30 Ambessa & Caitlyn
33:11 Warwick
37:37 Addiction To Shimmer
49:45 The Elephant In The Room
48:56 Weapons
52:50 Warwick & Grogu
54:12 Viktor & Vander
1:11:37 Music Video
1:21:35 Viktor Evolution
1:38:28 Invasion
1:42:00 The Triangle
1:43:17 Singed & Viktor
2:08:14 Contrivance
2:14:42 Plotting
2:17:35 Vi captured! Jayce returns!
2:20:40 Duels: Ambessa v Vi, Caitlyn v Singed, Jayce v Child, Jinx v Rictus, Rictus v Warwick
2:39:18 It’s All About Family
2:43:02 Jayce Kills Viktor
2:45:44 Rictus Dies & MVPs
2:49:50 Viktor’s Last Words
2:51:44 Battle & Sacrifice
3:06:50 Ratings
3:08:31 Episode 7: The Happy Dimension
3:22:30 Heimerdinger & Ekko
3:35:33 Jayce
3:42:18 Ekko & Powder
3:47:50 Music Video
3:56:33 Jayce
4:01:18 Save The World
4:05:49 In A Hole
4:09:18 Vi Sanctuary
4:12:42 The Swamp
4:14:25 Music Video
4:21:26 The Limit
4:31:21 Platform Game
4:32:18 Ekko
4:36:00 Forgiveness & The Problem With The Alternate Universe
4:47:40 Ekko & Powder
5:05:10 Multidimentional Travel, Meme, Death & Consequences
5:26:22 Last Analysis & Conclusions
5:46:15 Closing
Jesus Christ dude, it’s been 6 minutes.
The latest timestamper in the west
The absolute speed on this lad
Jayce v Child got me
Thanks
(Reposted from unlisted)
I gotta say, of all the fantastic characters from the first season who either got cast aside or put through the ringer this go-around, Jinx's flanderization is the one that sticks with me most.
She has more screentime by a slim margin in season two-
Season One: 1hr 32m
Season Two: 1hr 41m
But it feels like she's not only lost a lot of the depth everyone remembers, but also a lot of tiny things which add up and make her feel like a real person.
A big thing that's remarkably absent from season two is that mean streak she used to have. Jinx had a brand of sadism that I perceive as really childish?
She'd scare or hurt people who may be on her team for no other reason than she's bored, she'd bite her lip in anticipation whenever she pointed a gun at something alive and pulled the trigger, she'll mock people trying to save a kid in a burning building before blowing them up and giggle about it later.
She felt like a child soldier. No reason to learn empathy on a battlefield so blowing someone away just feels like winning. (Not getting into whether or not she had a sadistic streak pre-Silco, considering her eagerness to use a nail-shrapnel grenade in a street fight with other kids).
A great example is the scene where she confronts Silco in his office. She's angry and works herself up until she's mad enough to stab him, then does it again whenever he irks her. She loves the man like a father but she doesn't think to do anything but hurt who she percieves to be the source of a problem until he directs her elsewhere cause that's all she knows how to do.
In season 2 she doesn't really like making things pop for the sake of it, doesn't habitually hurt anybody, doesn't get violent during arguments.
With the added screentime she doesn't have any of the scenes like Season 1 where we navigate her fractured emotional state to understand any leaps in logic or deluded vendettas she makes when she's alone.
Also lost a few tiny quirks like her old man-isms that would show up sometimes
("Sevika's a real Johnny-on-the-spot,", "I'm in no mood," "You're a class-act, Sister," "Ten outta ten, toots,")
Which made her sound different from the rest of the cast even in casual dialogue.
Embessa explaining the Noxus qualities to Cait sounded like the Spanish Inquisition from Monty Python
"Our three main weapons are..."
🔴 "There are many sides to the Infinite sided triangle pyramid" - Famous Scientist Ambessa Medarda
Silco's line about the power of forgiveness gave me an aneurysm. it's straight out of My Little Pony
"But Ekko, me and Vander are friends! And friendship? Friendship, is magic!"
Forgiveness is a trait missing from the woke
Are you really surprised when friendship saves the day at the climax?
@@kcrrlemme just say the ending took that and made it so much worse
@@blacktigerpaw1 yep :/
One easy way to make Caytlin flip (again) is to make her aware Ambessa staged the memorial attack. Does she ever even learn that?
Still wouldn't have forgiven Jinx so easily, though.
Nope. No one ever learns that was an inside job. It was conveniently forgotten.
The philosophy of Occam's razor dictates that the simplest explanation is most likely the correct one. Therefore, the simplest explanation as to why this season sucks so much is that the writers of season 1 were replaced with body snatchers who are trying to replicate the talents of their hosts... and failing.
On a serious note, I assume there was some brilliant writer who is no longer part of the project and likely left it before season 1 was completed. He either was some kind of bid writer who did a lot of the groundwork to set this up when it was still super early in production or he was some kind of anti-wormtongue whispering in the ear of someone with a lot of power of the production.
If the first, he was probably dropped before they had more than a half-dozen people involved, but they just followed his outline almost exactly. If the second, he probably lost that influence by the time the second season work started.
@@Alex_FaheyI still stand by my theory that I explained on the first EFAP for Season 2 that it probably came down to being forced to wrap up the story in just one season and having next to no time to rewrite before getting started on animating in half the time as Season 1… but again, that’s only a theory and I’m more invested than ever to find out what led to this abomination…
@@TheRetroRenegade That seems reasonable, but a lot of the prominent people involved seem to not realize just how flawed this was rather than excusing their own actions by arguing that they didn't have enough time. Rather than the writing team being really skilled but just screwed over, I'm guessing there was some member of the team who was far more important to the project than anyone realized. It just seems inconceivable that this good idea fairy could still be on the team and not kick up a fuss over all the story decisions of season 2.
@ Seems reasonable, but keep in mind I don’t think anyone who worked on this is going to publicly share anything that could violate any sort of NDA or diminish the property. They might just have to bullshit their way out of things in the public eye and try to convince people that it’s all good - like that comment about Vi and Jinx: “Either they team up or they don’t” (paraphrasing). Whether they truly think this is quality or not, they have to play it up, especially if the majority of people so far still seem to insist this is good…
@@TheRetroRenegade I would agree in the case where I think the team just got lucky. However, if we think the team is really good and just screwed over by time constraints, then I would expect the leaders of that team to be able to come up with better lies if contracts are requiring them to come up with bs saying season 2 is actually good.
Just wait til episode 8 and 9. They will have a field day with that.
I'm still seething over that ending, especially since Mage Viktor was the man behind it all and the fact Jayce and Viktor got yoinked out of existence in a shipper bait scene.
That scene with Vi and Caitlyn doing the thing in the same cell Jinx was contemplating game-overing in was like staring into the infinite void and witnessing the death of God…
[being a bit melodramatic, but still… that was disgusting]
@@TheRetroRenegade. Same here. That scene might genuinely be one of the worst written scenes that I’ve witnessed in my life. Vi knows that Jinx plans on ending herself, so when Caitlyn gets her out of that cell, Vi should be like: “Thank God you got me out of there! Come on! Jinx is going to do something stupid! We need to hurry!”
But instead, Vi’s just like: “OMG! You’re so hot Caitlyn, let’s have sex, RIGHT NOW!”
And then they waste almost TWO MINUTES making out, completely ignoring Jinx entirely. This season is utterly abysmal.
Old Viktor looks like an old Marvel villain while the new Viktor looks like the MCU's attempt at making a gray "realistic and threatening" take on the character
Old Viktor is Dr Doom
Arcane Viktor is Fant4stic Dr Doom
"...attempt at making a gay* realistic and threatening take..."
Viktor was always the most inconsistent character in LoL. In the game he used to be a Saturday morning cartoon villain, spouting catchphrase left and right. In lore he was a reclusive scientist/medic helping willing people transcend their organic limitations. In card game he's a gang boss robbing bank. So for him to be mecha Jesus in the show is quite on brand.
@@DrNiradino Shut the fuck up bro. The argument has never been "oh it doesn't match the lore/game/card game."
The main problem here is that Viktor doesn't match SEASON ONE VIKTOR, and is even inconsistent with himself in S2.
Quit coping.
In Noxus, all triangles are 4-dimensional hypertriangles
I like how in the good timeline, the aggressive lesbian was dead and everyone had a good life.
These degens can't help but own themselves.
Seeing the Silco cameo in Episode 7 - and how it was presented - really solidified my belief that the writers really wanted this season to have the same tone as a Marvel movie. Any nuance or subtlety has been completely tossed out and replaced with gimmicks, quips, contrivances and retcons.
And musicvids which didn't quite hit the mark in atmosphere, seems they just wanted to force a certain kind of music.
I can't wait for them to get to Jayce's grand final argument to try and convince Victor in episode 9
He had the choice between telling him the future, or telling him that being a dying cripple isn't something that should be fixed. And Gollum won the argument.
The best part? People think that's a beautiful piece of dialogue. Go to that scene and see the comments on it.
@@blacktigerpaw1 I mean...they arent really wrong tbf.
People were happy with ep 7 because our ekko finally got to drool a squeaky with jynx from another timeline
And without the consent of Powder and Ekko at that!
Double points for other Ekko!
Meanwhile, Punished Jayce is straight up not having a good time.
@@nhagan001 Well they're basically the same person and Powder and Ekko would have drooled the squeaky anyway so I don't think it matters
@@jonbaxter2254 Yeah, didn't Jayce know he can upgrade his Estus flask?
Meanwhile, alternate Heimerdinger not only got his body hijacked but also was forced to commit a suicide bombing without his consent.
"Ever wonder what it's like to drown? Story of opposites. There's peace in water, like it's holding you, whispering in low tones to let it in and every problem in the world will fade away. But then, there's this thing in your head, and it's raging, lighting every nerve with madness to fight, to survive. And all the while this question lingers before you: "Have you had enough?" It's funny. You could pass a lifetime without ever facing a choice like that. But it changes you forever. For that I thank you... old friend."
Ok season one Silco but have you ever considered that forgiveness is really cool? Didn't think so.
What's hilarious is that Amanda Overton wrote that dialogue...and wrote the letter scene in S2.
Heimerdinger: I WILL have the Hexcore destroyed Jayce!
Jayce: Come on…I need a professor. Better yet, a partner.
Heimerdinger: Alright, carry on making your demon cube! I’ll ignore it completely!
If only Jayce has said that to Heimerdinger in Season 1, then so much drama could have been avoided.
"Heimerdinger...your imperfections made you what you are... you're beautiful"
"My boy what the f.uck are you talking about"
Episode 7 is sadly another example of the writers putting feels and spectactle before good writing. When you stop and think about it, that altermate universe makes no sense. So many questions need answering, and they just aren't. If the timelime diverges after Vi dies, that means that up to that point Vander and Silco are irreconcilable enemies, Sevika is Silcos top lieutenant, Singed is producing Shimmer, and Zaun is a sketchy shit hole.
Somehow, Vi dying not only causes Silco to make up with Vander, but to shut down Singed, and fire Sevika. Vander not only accepts this, but necessarily must forgive the crimes Silco has committed up to this point, not to mention the rest of Zaun must accept and forgive his crimes as well. What could have been a good episode is reduced to mere fanservice and shipping wish fulfillment because it's clear the writers cared more about getting from A to B than HOW they got there.
This season and season 1 are like oil and water. They got the quality difference of GoT's first and final season in just one! That is insane!
This season feels like a fever dream. Things just kinda happen with no real explanation why and then your off to some completely unrelated sequence of events without time to breathe. It also feels like it’s play acting at being mature, everything feels a bit too desperate at forcing gravitas and importance in dialogue making the ROP parallels very unfortunate as RFT pointed out.
Also the bouncy movements when people talk started to get on my nerves. Like their whole body just moves so much in every frame it’s distractingly busy. It’s like that Chinese Beaver meme.
(Edit): Also I would have paid to have Caitlyn freak out during the cringe family reunion scene with Warwick/Vander only for him to proceed to smear her reactively to protect his 'daughters' turning that seemingly overly convenient sudden innocence on its head. It would create a division again between Vi and Jinx over protecting Vander, made him a legitimate threat and tragic without resorting to mindless beast mode again, been actually shocking, and pissed off the shippers all in one move.
Characters just aren't allowed to have perspectives that last longer than a single decision. It's how Vi went from actively working to kill Jinx, to just waking up with her in the room and going on an adventure with her. Her mind didn't get changed by anything that happened, she just was dragged into the next plot situation.
Holding out for Andor and that is it.
Possessing the body of your AU self, and making romantic advances with the AU self’s love interest is some next level NTR.
And to add insult to injury, AU Powder might have feelings for OG Ekko, instead of her Ekko, and AU Ekko has no idea; that certainly complicates things.
Shh, the twitter mob said that this is romantic and you should not delve into the details. Obey, mortal
idk why, but i got it into my head that OG Ekko had explained to AU Powder who he actually was. probably just my brain desperately filling in the massive holes left by the plot in some vain attempt at self-preservation
@@Chirishman343 On my first watch, I thought so, too. Surely, during the time Ekko, Heimerdinger, and Powder were talking at the table or whenever they were building the machine, they would mention that they are a part of a different timeline, right? But, that kind of information would be too important to leave out without the audience knowing, so it's hard to tell whether or not she was actually told this.
I loved the part when Vi said to Jinx: "It was you! You were the Arcane: Fractured Jinx" all along! And then turned her into a 200$ skin for LoL.
She didn't say that.
This is a greentext I'm playing along with, relax guys...
This show's got us droolin' for a squeaky
"Release the hound!"
-Mr. Burned
Love it when Warwick said “It’s Warwicking time” in the trailer, and then Vanders all over the show
Loris is underrated. That one scene when he walks away from the newly appointed Commander Caitlyn is the best character moment of the season.
Viktor : from ad mech horror to tea cup Ultron.
what did they do to jinx???😭character assassination at it s finest
They wanted to make her good, which is not something unachievable on it's own, but you'd need at least 3 seasons to make that a believable continuation to what was build in season 1. Doing this transformation in just one season, was never going to work.
@@Hitman-cq2ywYep, they needed at least one season of Joker Jinx just unleashing chaos because "fuck everyone", then do something big happen, something decisive and climatic with her sister that forces her to come out of her self- impossed role of monster and do something good that actually works for once. Then through s3 and s4 you maybe work out a Kratos type of story in the modern games: she goes away where no one knows her, and a story centered about her maturing, searching for peace of mind, and accepting that there is no redemption for what she has done. Sometimes doing something normal well just works. Imagine Jinx in a western style village doing tech stuff for the community, and she is appreciated for it. Some outlaws come to town, and she is so anxious, fearing the voices will come back if she picks her weapons again, even if its for a good cause. That she would loose her cool as always.
You can do whatever there, from keeping up the drama of her life because she looses her cool again , or she actually has gain some discipline over herself, ironically finally becoming more like Silco wanted her to be (a beast, but a self-controlled beast). Now she can trust herself when she didnt before, a small step into self-improvement.
You then made something about The Jinx, about that persona being whatever she makes of it, not just a ragging beast, then S4-5 you have a return of an antiheroic Jinx that want to blow some shit up, yes, but with standarts this time.
@@albertocruzado2899 Well, they are clearly trying to do the whole western type spin-off thing with her, in some other region, which is why they left her alive and sent her away. And if they learn something, after season 2, they might even make a good story. The issue is that they completely messed up her character, even removed her iconic braids, to give her a f**king side shave for "character progression". And I fear that with all her problems basically gone, she has very high chances of just turning into some comic relief cameo in the future projects. And if that will become true, then they might as well just have her die, ffs.
She was irredeemable after series one.
Now she's good again and people look up to her, despite barely any of Zaun knowing her.
Hearing LOL Victor makes me sad... I would've much, much preferred mechanical evolution Victor, spurred on by his disability and his dying body, than...
well, than Arcane-oid, an emotionless magical dude who is spurred on by magic because he is fused with magic.
Jayce's final speech also reads way more like it was directed towards other Victor, even though it'd still be ass with him anyway.
Really liked Ambessa's big, brute henchman.
He looks like a dumb guy, but he is crazy capable, and I liked his runes he can use to absorb power.
RIP Rictus. Best character in Seasen 2.
@@reactiondavant-garde3391 Him and Ambessa, they got shit done, and I respect it.
You know, the alt timeline flashback in ep 9 makes Jayce's actions in ep 6 even worse.
Alt Timeline Viktor: "you are the only one who can change the other me's mind"
Jayce: talks past Salo-Viktor with a few vague lines, then immediately goes to murder Viktor, thereby almost causing the exact scenario alt-Viktor sent Jayce back to stop.
(Originally posted on the unlisted vod. My thoughts are in 2 separate comments since they concern different topics)
I think show was trying to imply that he was "corrupted" after Arcane touched him in the wrong place. That why his face was twitching half the time and he had strange visions. Maybe he even got an cyberpsychosis after he traveled to the future.
"Jayce, can you show me on the doll where the arcane touched you?"
Yea they didn't show us how or what made Jayce snap the way he did, his vision didn't seem to be that idk, agressive or corruptive.
3 years of waiting, just to see Arcane degrade into a cheap Spiderverse parody. Welp, serves me right. This is what you get when you believe in a multi-billion company, nowadays.
It probably would’ve gone on to be relatively good if it hadn’t become so popular. Once the investors saw the money and popularity they got their grubby hands all over it.
Never again.
The cope of shipping Jayce and Viktor it’s the same thing that happens to Frodo and Sam where two guys can’t be platonic friends
You have not seen Arcane Twitter and TikTok losing their minds over that. The people who believe in the Wachowskis saying the Matrix was a trans allegory won't accept the co creator here, and will use animators who think black women are beards as proof it was canon all along. arcane Twitter is 1488 at this point.n
I'm fine with people who want to entertain that perspective. The problem is the people who pretend their headcanon is the only possible interpretation, as if men can't have meaningful relationships with anyone that aren't based on sexual attraction.
Jayce and Viktor have an intensely deep connection. They both risked everything, their own lives and reputations, out of an intense desire to do what's right. Together they literally changed the world with the invention of HexTech, dragging the entire world forward into a new era-because HexTech has implications that carry far beyond Piltover. The mere existence of the Hex Gates redraws the world map. And the two of them did this together through sheer force of will and shared vision.
It's why, despite how terrible it is, I really felt something in the finale. I was doing all the work in my head, and it's a shame. There's a great story to tell about two men who work so hard to help others, doing what they think is right, only to end up with diverging visions that put them at odds with each other. Having them become enemies and then reconciling is a fantastic story because of how impactful they were as a partnership. The show just skips the process of both the division and the reconciliation and yet it's so easy to write in my head that it still gives me the feels.
If fanboys and fangirls want to layer a shipping narrative over top of all of it, it's fine, as long as they recognize it's their own view. The story doesn't require it.
@@TheNoonishgood point. Shipping is fine as long as people don’t view their head cannons as reality.
I'm watching BoB again, and the amount of brotherhood and closeness - without a hint of the gay - is incredible.
So many guys fought and died together, that fortifies a real relationship that is in no way sexual.
@TheNoonish It's sad but true about a lot of the writing in this season, promising setups that didn't earn the payoff.
You're not allowed to bring coins in the writing room, due to the staff constantly swallowing them.
how many more times will shows play that tired trope of someone running towards the heroic character in the middle of a noble self sacrifice, got held down, but fights and screams anyway? Guess this will never go away - just like the 'falling on the knees, screaming to the sky' or the 'bring back the dead to diminish their ending, and create more tension'. Or the time travel/dimension travel for real or in a dream/vision to see an alternative version of ourselves.
And all of these cliches were crammed into this season.
great.
Because it is a really effective trope.
Tropes exist for a reason. They're effective. If you're wiritng a tropey story and actively try to subvert everything, you end up with the Last Jedi.
In the pursuit of great they failed to do good...
Arcane season 2 keeps having the problem of the narrative voice perpetually overriding the character voices, reducing and compromising how the characters were previously written.
it makes the characters so much worse
Hoping the segment about game Viktor’s redesign gets a highlight clip
I just realized, Ambessa knows Viktor and his partnership with Jayce. Like, not only should she be extremely interested in a miraculous healer, but she would've also found out he is Viktor, the co-creator of hextech, and the only scientist around who could actually make the weapons she wanted.
She doesn't actually know Viktor was the co-creator of Hextech, because she would have mentioned him by name during the goat scene. Viktor was routinely overlooked as the second hand. But she never discovers this nor brings this up.
@@blacktigerpaw1 You're literally describing the problem with the writing. You're trying to tell me, Ambessa, the political mastermind that was in the middle of taking over Piltover in season 1, didn't know hextech had two people to its credit? That Jayce never credited Viktor in the creation of the hexgate?
@@uttrikYeah. Because she only ever mentioned Jayce to Rictus, and never Viktor.
@@blacktigerpaw1 I see, so you think Jayce snubbed his partner, and the person that basically saved his life, out of the scientific discovery of a life time, where over the course of years of working on hextech together, no one documented Viktor's contributions, because Ambessa didn't mention him to Rictus. Do you think this is more likely, or that the writers dropped the ball?
The correct title should read, Arcane: Breaking Down - Episodes Staying in my garagae and Letting the car engine run.
5:36:24 The reason for the drop in quality could be that creating a masterpiece and sustaining a masterpiece are two VERY different set of skills.
- The 'hard' way is to build on the existing characters and expand on the world in a logical and consistent way.
- The 'lazy' way is to appeal to the character-shipping, Twitter reacting crowd for cheap "omg" moments, regardless of pace or consistency.
Game of Thrones shifted from one to the other over the course of 8 seasons. Arcane is not there yet (thank god), but it definitely picked many elements from the 'lazy' path to sustain itself in season 2.
Just the style of writing is fundamentally different. Arcane S1 wasn't afraid for characters to have conversations where they share their viewpoints and attempt to sway people over. Season 2 does the Rings of Power thing of just setting up to a dramatic line, and then cutting away from the actual conversation.
"We tracked some sort of new chemweapon down here. A bloodthirsty, murderous beast. What are you doing here?"
"Trying to save...my dad." (end scene) That's so dramatically insufficient for Cait and Vi healing their rift and Cait deciding to stop being fascist, but it's all we get.
Whereas, look at any conversation Vander had with Vi in Season 1, where he shares his values with her and tries to lead her away from his own mistakes. Or the work Heimerdinger does when he's trying to convince Jayce about the dangers of messing with the arcane. Characters actually have viewpoints and are willing to argue and articulate them.
I know nothing about "Arcane" and I don't care about it.
I'm just playing a game that doesn't require my absolute full attention - and I found myself somewhat addicted to the cold, yet humorous, and methodical banter of EFAP.
I didn't even get that Isha is dead 😅
I thought they forgot her writing wise and that she definitely survived because of plot armor...
Her wearing the Teemo hat and later in flashbacks everyone wearing Teemo hats annoyed the fk out of me.
4:31:21 This explains everything, Arcane season 2 was a gollumlike all along...
On my first viewing of Episode 7, despite the flaws that I found with it, I thought it was the best episode of the season. And in retrospect, I would still consider it the best, it's just no where near as high as what I put it as originally. Which I suppose says something about the quality of the other episodes of this season.
I felt the same way and it made me angry/sad thinking about how emotionally impactful this idea would have been in the context of a great season.
Season two absolutely broke my heart. I really loved season one and loved following the EFAP crews loving dissection of each episode. It is such a shame that season two’s reviews has evolved into a gripe session. I was really hoping for another great season of viewing, alas. And I was really looking forward to nerding out with some people about it.
They will retcon what ever is necesary
it's so over bros
In short: don't bother, it sucks.
Watch penguin instead!
I have no interest in the penguin though. This at least entertained me somewhat and I was interested going in despite how it turned out
@@bordocofrivia2896 They'll ruin Penguin before it's over. Why bother?
I guess milo and clagger didn't mean anything to Vander. Hell, even powder is clearly not his favorite either.
Watch it somehow turns out Vander is actually Vi's bio father, and somehow silco is powders. I wouldn't put it past the terrible writing on display here. Vi and powder had a hoe of a mother and a cuck for a claimed father.
That's a nice argument Senator. But I don't think this was anywhere in the season. So how about you back it up with a source?
@rabbittv8399 I'm talking in reference to the discussion of the Vander water color flashback Viktor brought out. How this damages Vander so badly. Vi, and her mother were the main focus, with powder in the background, with only a flash of milo and clagger.
And as far as the bio parent comments, I am speaking hyperbolically and sarcastically, making fun of the terrible writing this season. I don't literally think vi is vanders bio daughter, and powder is silcos.
@@rhade3845 Oh, good. From your comment I couldn't really tell.
episode 7 was my favorite because it’s the only one that finally slowed the fuck down
So I’m guessing it was a good thing I didn’t give this season a chance.
A once-wise character once said: Some mysteries are better left unsolved…
Let your imagination fill in the gaps after Season 1 ended.
@ noted
5:00:57 Don’t forget another thing.
Hailee Steinfeld is the lead in both media.
She plays Gwen in Spider-verse.
She plays Jinx’s sister in Arcane.
I don’t think I could’ve made it to the ending of Season 2 without drinking…
This comment is sponsored by AA
I love how insane the alternative universe is in regards to what cannon events actually happen. We're shown that the world got better, because Vi died during the raid. Kids weren't jailed for some reason, presumably Jayce was instead, and everything got better without hextech. Why though? Silco's plans weren't related to said event. His shimmer research wouldn't go away, there's no reason for him to abandon a dream of Zaun, end of act 1 of season 1 should've happened regardless.
Some people would say that Heimer was messing with this timeline and actually improving lives of the people. I have one counter argument - Silco has his eye injury. Meaning, revolution, driven by horrible living conditions in Undercity, happened regardless of Heimers actions and played the same way.
There's actually a third thing. Both Heimer and Ekko were tossed in the same alternative past and present respectively. Jayce was tossed to the future. Problem is, in the alternative hextechless universe future that he was shown couldn't exist. Viktor should die from plotivitus without hextech research the Jayce provided, meaning he couldn't nether create a hexcore nor become a science Jesus. This problem becomes even bigger with season 9 "Ryze" reveal, since show establishes that there was a timeloop, where none could be formed.
Yeah, the only thing that would change is that the undercity wouldn't be massively filled with enforcers looking for the kids and Vander could still be alive and jinx wouldn't join Silco. But with the shimmer being developed eventually it would end up in a similar situation considering that Vander's team would be severally under matched. Best case scenario is that the war is contained in Zaun and doesn't affect Piltover as much. Also if i'm not mistaken Heimer enters the timeline about 4 years after the events of ep 1. So he might be able to change something but not enough to prevent all the events that unfold
@@brat7489 If I remember correctly, Heimer said that he went back a thousand or so years in the past. He kinda was there for a while.
@@DrNiradino 1128 days, so almost 4 years before Ekko comes in. a tousand years would be insane. in that scenario he would have been in that universe long before the creation of Piltover
I like the cosmetic change for Victor a lot. I loved the way he looked in Arcane. Instantly added him to my "hear me out" list, the weird, lanky bastard.
But, I hardly ever played him in game.
1:17:53 Is it me or is anyone else confused here? From what I’ve heard most of the writing team of Season 1 left or were booted out and the only two of the og writers stuck around, just kind of surprised they haven’t mentioned that yet
Really? is it just twitter rumors or is that legit? Cause if it is it would go a long way to explain this disaster of a show.
@brat7489 Looking into it I found a stream one of the writers did, it was called “Arcane S2 E4 Watch Party with Amanda Overton and Katy Townsend” and Amanda is one of the writers for both seasons. In the video around 1:30:00 she explains how they had a writers room for season 1 and they at first did the same thing for Season 2 but Covid happened at the time so they worked at home and she describes it as “the team shrunk to me, Alex, and Christian.” Now I’m not an expert, I only found this recently so maybe take this with a grain of salt but to me it sounds like the writers shrunk and that explains a lot about how this season feels so different from Season 1.
@@mediadetective6104 Damn. I've watched that part and you might be right. even if the team eventually got back to its original size there is no guarantee that the same people got rehired and even if they did maybe the damage war already done. Who knows, it's difficult to say for certain. Hope we get confirmation eventually
This will all be worth it if one of the spinoffs this show was rushed to get to is a Gromp and Gert series
5:00:10 that whole bit about comparing relationships and fringy's answer is the hardest I laughed during an EFAP in a while.
I half-saw a photo of a friend once, through their discord profile before it was immediately changed. I managed to draw a pretty accurate picture of them from memory. It's unlikely but do-able, however like you said, it's just weird that there are so many Vi's and not like a Powder or Vander or anyone.
Now you know what I felt when Riot deleted Twisted Treeline...
Good times.
That "Nightmare on Reroll Street" really does a good job of solidifying the "art vs. entertainment" point...
Seriously, look up that TFT short and tell me it doesn't remind you of the most cringe-inducing post shark jump MCU content.
I love "What Could Have Been" but now I get so annoyed hearing that ad.
Arcane is a 8/10, i was entertained with the good and the bad 😂😂😂
The only possible thing I think Ambessa could be referring to by "sacrifice" is Caitlyn losing her mother. I suppose the writers wanted to draw a connection in that both had lost family members, but the problem is, Caitlyn's mother dying wasn't sacrifice. It's just suffering.
4:34:30
His eye doesn't look okay. It is discolored, meaning he is likely blind in that eye.
Wouldn’t be it cool if all the characters that died on the best episode of season 1 were alive!?!?!?
Me:… No why would you do this?
That’s great when are we getting more boogie content
In response to the normies initial reaction to season 2 of Arcane Dan & Dave were heard to ask "WTF?!?! Forgetting everything, rushing, and not really caring about your story is fine now? For NOUGH reason?!?". Probably.
Lesbians, emo kids and music videos. This is arcane
Interracial couples too. Very important for the points.
@@bc-cu4onComplete with doomed yaoi at the end, because the bait wasn't enough. Least in S1 it was subtle.
@@blacktigerpaw1kinda weird they made Vi look extra masculine in that scene, for ppl who push lesbian reddit ships down our throats.
Always was tbh
Yes, tell as more about meta ! The only thing that interest me now about Arcane now is how authors of this series managed to turn gold into crap ?
Isn’t the point of the grading and the case to protect the card and verify the authenticity? Why are you breaking it out?
Yeah there would be no point in grading a card if you can remove it from the case, ruin it and then put it back in. at that point it might be cheaper to buy an ungraded card. Man, I don't know much about pokemon cards but my friends nerd autism spreads to me passively
1:00:50 so basically Vander is a chimera, or homunculus, is what y'all are describing 🤔😮💨
1:35:27 Your hopes are too high, Theo.
Damn I’m glad I barely played the game and didn’t watch the show. This IP has been murdered.
What do you mean getting Vander back? That never truly happens
They kissed and brought joy to their only lives!
Graham McNeil was given a lot of writing credit in the show. He's been fired. Any hope?
I think you all made quite a mess with the evolution discussion.
Viktor is talking about human achievements and de development of events as part of the evolution of the world. Natural phenomena made us and we are evolving beyond that through our technology and organization. So according to Viktor, the end of evolution, its purpose in the universe, is the overcoming of nature.
Why does the explosion prevent hextech...
Two possibilities: either the unsanctioned research is never allowed due to the death, e.g. Jayce is banished as almost happened anyway, or Jayce and Cait were killed outside the foor in the explosion.
You guys really are just in a negative stupour about things fairly logicial...
Yet we're told Viktor develops Hextech anyways 🤨
@blacktigerpaw1 Think you may be confusing timelines. In the Ekko timeline the crude runes are locked away. There is some risk that Powder is inspired, but Jayce and Viktor are not mentioned to my knowledge. In the Jayce timeline you're right that Viktor does invent it.
I totally avow Count Dykula!
Good of Jinx and Ekko to waste time painting each other when people were dying. Such heroes.
Pretty sure that Isha's death wasn't supposed to be justified. It’s obviously avoidable and a dumb kid's mistake, just like Mylo's and Claggor's deaths in the first season, which leads to Jinx's depression in act 3.
Except that they accidentally did. They made it look like a big heroic sacrifice so the others can get away, and it works. Jinx turns herself in but Isha’s sacrifice prevents the rest of them from being captured by Noxus. She even closes her eyes, looking resolute with her actions, before pulling the trigger. No matter their intention, theyre justifying it
They even put memory flashbacks and failed to indicate it being a “dumb kid mistake”, because unlike powder’s fuckup, it works as intended and the only one who dies is the one who did it
1:38:09
2:02:50
2:03:50
2:09:00
2:54:40 😂😂
2:58:00
4:43:35 - would minors be neccessarily have to be traeted as responsible adults? Id say the reprecussions would be minimal. Maybe vander would have been responsible or they will all go to prison for kids. Either i doubt this would get more serious. I think Jayces illegal things would overshadow guiltyness of Vis group
What took you so long
2:31:00 . Also whats the point of even capturing Vi at this point? If they didnt want to kill ambessa (cause vi didint when she had chance) then why even capture her. Just let her go and attack the big guard dude, singed with combined forces of Vi Cait and Jinx?
Time & time again, these sorts of shows reveal how easily general or specific audiences are easily pleased. Lacking critical thinking skills to be able to truly determine if what the audience is consuming is truly worthy of their time.
Truly a travesty.
The fact so many people are defending the bootstrap paradox makes me want to eat a brick. "Oh Jayce and Viktor were fated to be together!" Lmao no they weren't, mage Viktor played matchmaker.
And yet that sort of dopamine hit never carries anything lasting. How many people still have positive things to say about Black Panther 2? Or Mandalorian season 2? Arcane Season 1 is one of those things that continues to endure, while Arcane season 2 is going to quickly be forgotten.
efap nailed it when they said ppl just wanted quirky family drama
No rags, it’s not illegal to shoot at things you own. You just can’t do it in your apartment.
Ambessa: Don’t think act
Don’t act feel
Don’t feel think
One way Ambessas "triangle of strength" meme pays of later is when Caitlyn and Ambessa face off in the last episode and Caitlyn sacrifices her eye in order to cut of the runes on Ambessas arm. She defeats her by using her own lesson about sacrifice against her in the end.
It's dumb cuz she's a sniper and still is so ingame so she needs that eye. Big Oof if they change her arcane skin to have an eyepatch now.
To be clear, Im a dummy! I watch your show to pick up details in shows i miss, to help me articulate what i hate or love about a show or movie. To listen to interesting discussions or debates on a topic of interest in a show or movie.
That being said why tf do you get ppl like metal on!? FFS they are just like me, a DUMMY! why the f do i have to listen to there dumb inarticulate takes!?
There is nothing new from metal repeating what maulers already said but dumber!
.
ignore me I am here purely to see theo suffer (I remember him and boorin glazing arcane in the discord).
Another metal appearances, to remind us of his pointless existence 😂