I like to compare him to Thanos who thought he loved his daughter Gamora, but Gamora didn't love Thanos. Silko chose Jinx over his dream. Thanos did not.
Exactly, i think he’s as good of a father as he is capable of. Because he is so twisted and broken himself, he cannot be a healthy father. But definitely not a parenting tactic to emulate
I think that Silco too love more the idea of Jinx that Jinx herself. And this is in fact why I don’t understand people believing that Silco love Jinx unconditionally while Vi not. It’s the contrary for me. The fact is simply that Silco approve her action why Vi do not.
The development of Silco's feelings towards Jinx can be explained visually in two scenes. The first is when Jinx gives him the Hex gem and hugs him. Silco keeps his attention on the Hex gem and ignores Jinx. The second is when he finds her, near death, on the bridge. Silco sees that Jinx has the Hex gem, but now he focuses on Jinx and ignores the Hex gem.
He doesn't ignore Jinx. He's both confused and touched, like "Okay, I realize this is a gift and I appreciate it... but WHAT is this exactly? Must be something important for her to go to these lengths." Silco wouldn't instantly know this is a new Hextech core until Jinx herself explains it and he realizes she just stole a new and improved Magitek Arc Reactor for Zaun.
Silco I think is a good example that there's more to being a parent than sincerely caring about your child. Love alone isn't enough to be a healthy influence.
I think the saddest thing about Jinx sitting in the Jinx chair is that it’s one of the few times where there are no voices, no visions, nothing screaming at her, no delusions, no tricks…nothing… None of the characteristics of Jinx are present as she makes that decision. It is a decision unusually made out of calmness and silence. She just calmly sits down and quietly accepts that Vi will never accept her the way she did before. And it’s brutally heartbreaking to see her make that decision without any of the demons that got her there to begin with.
I noticed that too. I think the reason for this is that she has finally accepted herself as Jinx, leaving all the hallucinations behind as it was not what she did that haunted her but her trying to come to terms with what she did. In accepting herself as Jinx, she accepts those things as having formed her and being apart of her, leaving her calmer than ever… a new Jinx
She would have never chosen powder in a calm way because for her to accept those events that haunted her, she has to accept herself as Jinx. Powder would still require the acceptance of others, some kind of forgiveness that she would never receive and it’s not who she is… she has changed. Therefore she had to choose Jinx or else she would be lying to herself. I think it’s heartbreaking not that she chose Jinx over Powder, but that she was forced to do so and there’s nothing that could change that. Let me know what you think (if anyone ever reads this, that is)
Silco's love for Jinx is mirrored in how he shows his love for Zaun He cares for both, but is a toxic influence to them. Yes, they grow but at a heavy cost. Shimmer is quite literally empowering Zaun and is what saves Jinx, but it changes them in more ways than one...and not all of them good. It's a delightful depiction of toxic love.
Better to be strong then weak & exploited... even the council who were finally agreeing to let Piltover go were only doing so in response to the violence and problems that Piktover was causing Zaun. It's super easy to be judgemental of the necessary lengths that Silco goes to for the comfort of your own safety... but even the peace that was possible came as direct result of the violence that Silco embodied. Zaun would have kept abusing & exploiting Piltover forever if Silco didn't keep the partisan rebellion going to increasing intensity
22:26 I guess what people actually mean is that he's a loving father, which they see as being a 'good father'. He's absolutely not a good father in terms of being a good role model and teaching her the right things, but he's a good father in the way that he is emotionally present and supportive of his child.
I think it's more that he's as good a father as he is capable of being, twisted and broken as he is. He gave her the best parts of himself, even though that's still not "good" by any standard.
As Jinx was someone always seeking approval, Silco was exactly what she wanted. Silco acts as an enabler... They met at her worst moment and when she was full of sorrow and anger, he embraced her. When she was full of rage, he let her harness it. When she was lashed out with violence and destruction, he praised her abilities. And when she made mistakes that would bring wrath upon her, he sheltered her from the consequences of her actions. Her formative years were spent learning that anger doesn't need to be tempered, that violence solves problems, and that rules do not apply to her. She got all the approval she ever wanted, but none of the life lessons she truly needed in order to be a well-adjusted individual, and with her father figure being the man in control of everything she got to be the spoiled child who never had to face the music. Silco definitely loved Jinx and gave her everything she ever wanted, but that's a large reason of why he's such a bad father - all good parents know that children must learn from their mistakes, they must face the consequences of their actions, and that letting them run wild will only damage them in the long run. Silco took a sad little girl who was burning with anger and instead of helping her heal, he handed her the gasoline and told her to have fun playing with the fire.
One thing I REALLY love about this scene is that Jinx had already chosen where to sit, she just didn't realize it yet. When she asked Vi to kill Caitlyn, she showed how gone she was, no way she could be Powder again in Vi's eye after making such an insane request. I think the last time she was Powder was in that bridge fight with Ekko, but when she decided to blow herself up and tried to take Ekko with her, she sealed her fate. After taking copious amounts of shimmer to survive the explosion, there is no way she could be Powder again.
@@Deadflower019 I agree with this, I think Powder died there, and not in the baptism. It's more fitting that the last person to see Powder would be her former best friend
I think one thing that should be mentioned about why Powder hugs Silco - She has an unhealthy form of attachment. She ties her self worth to pleasing Vi and being useful to her. In the mind of someone like that, in order for life to be worth living, you need to be of use to someone, anyone. With that form of attachment, the person you attach yourself to is like your life raft and you're stuck in a vast ocean. When she felt Vi abandoned her, she effectively had no self worth and started drowning in that ocean. Whether it be consciously or subconsciously, she formed an attachment to Silco as an act of self preservation.
That's a great explanation. I always found it annoying that Powder instantly gave up on Vi ("She's not my sister anymore") and didn't even seem too upset that basically her entire family died because of her. But what you said makes a bit more sense to me of why she acted that way.
Notice how in the end when Vi and Silco are fighting verbally over Jinx, Silco is trying to calm her down, whereas Vi is telling her to picture everyone that she sees as demons from her past. Silco understands the pain that Jinx went through when she thought Vi left her, same as Vander leaving him (almost killing him), Whereas Vi doesn't understand what Jinx has gone through, that sisterly bond might be strong, but its also damaging to Jinx at this point.
Yeah, Vi thought that reminding Jinx of their adopted family would be grounding for her. But she didn't realize that it was only triggering. Vi did her best. If she and Jinx could finally have an uninterrupted conversation, they could clear up a lot of things and she can learn how to help her with her mental health. They both need healing
So, just one thing I want to comment on. The moment when Jinx hands Vi the gun and asks her to "Make her go away". The obvious implication here is that Jinx wants Vi to kill Cait. But I'm not so sure that is what's happening. In an earlier scene Vi tells Cait about a game she and Powder used to play, making up scarier and scarier monsters until Powder got too scared and asked Vi to "Make them go away". In this scene, Jinx says it was Vi who made Jinx, "The Monster You Created". I think she is asking Vi to make Jinx go away so she can be Powder again. So they can go back to the way things were. Granted, the way to make Jinx go away, at least in her mind, might be killing Cait, but the significance of the line, I think, runs deeper.
I agree with this and would like to offer supporting evidence. On the bridge fight scene between Jinx and Ekko. Jinx was suffering accurately with her traumatic hallucinations leading up to the confrontation. They flashed back to their childhood and when Ekko was about to finish things you see a flash of lucidity in Jinxes face. I don't think that flash was manipulation. I think Jinx knew If she kept living she would 1 continue to suffer and 2 keep hurting people she loves. So she wanted to die in that moment as Powder instead of living as Jinx. Then when Jinx is being treated by Singed and loses her grip on sanity, it is Vi and Caitlyn she sees turning her into the monster.
I think you're close but not quite. I think she WAS speaking specifically about Cait. It was a test, really. Just like the 'I made her a snack!' quip was also a test. But this one, it was about loyalty. It was about whether or not they were still sisters. Vi was the one who made the monsters go away when she was little. And what's the biggest monster to Powder? Enforcers. Caitlyn isn't even a person to her, she's just an enforcer. "Sevika wasn't lying?? You're with an ENFORCER?" What does Vi want more than anything in the world? Her sister, Powder. If Vi will 'make her [the monster/Cait/the enforcer] go away, she can have Powder back' Her sister would never have hesitated before. She would've made the monster go away, just like she always did. But Vi hesitated. Vi failed the test. Hence the "But you changed, too."
Always loved that Silcos words "youre perfect" are because he was always changed by how Vander betrayed him, so to have Jinx kill him to save her sister was the biggest show of loyalty from her in his eyes
Omg I never thoght of this but it makes sense. I was confused how he could say that after Jinx clearly just experienced a psychological meltdown. One thing though. He didn't resent Vander for his betrayel. In his opinion it made him stronger. So technically Jinx betrayed Silco to protect family. Similar to how Vander "betrayed" Silco also to protect two little girls who he basicly adopts. I still think Silco must be delusional by his love for Jinx to feel like she is "perfect".
One of my favorite things about Silcos last line is the deep meaning it has for both him and for Jinx. Earlier in the show, he has a similar line but he says "Jinx is perfect." He is reassuring and manipulating his daughter once again that she is Jinx. She is no longer Powder. That JINX is perfect. This final scene makes his last words so powerful because her internal struggle through this scene is between being Jinx or Powder. Her old self or her new. The person Vi wants her to be or the person her father figure wants her to be. When she snaps, firing the gun, it is an extremely shocking moment. As I watched her say goodbye, I expected him to stray her away from Vi one last time but he didn't. He reassured his daughter that he would never sacrifice her and he repeated his previous statement but modified it. "You are perfect." This statement tells her that whoever she chooses to be is perfect. He notices her struggle, the one he had failed to spot before. I think this statement does influence Jinx's final choice but ultimately, she chose to be the person he father raised her to be. His last moments of genuine reassurance convince her who she is. One single line sets her villain arc into complete action. This being said I do not think Silco is by definition a good father. He has many flaws. He does many things wrong. But I do think he truly cares about her. He sees his own struggles in her and wants to protect her. This is shown clearly through his choice between his daughter and Zaun. Zaun has been his lifelong goal and it was just within his reach but Silco refused to sacrifice Jinx. I think that this shows that she means a lot more to him than just a weapon or a puppet to manipulate. He will do anything for her. In conclusion, I love this show. I can go on for paragraphs and paragraphs about Silco and Jinx's relationship. There is so much detail and work put into it story-wise and that doesn't even include the art of the show. It is so beautiful and is definitely among one of my favorite shows.
One of the aspects that you touch on for this scene, but I think deserved more attention, is the aspect of acceptance... particularly that of Vi's accepting of Jinx. Other than the one time in anger, where she calls her a jinx, Vi never addresses her sister as Jinx... only as Powder. Vi wants her sister back, but she clings to the past and the ideal of Powder even when Jinx tells her, "Stop calling me that, it's Jinx now. Powder fell down a well." From the time they reunite, Jinx tells her that she's no longer Powder, but Vi never accepts that. In having the two seats, one with Jinx and one with Powder, she's asking Vi to accept her for what she's become. She asks if they're still sisters because Vi seems to only want Powder and doesn't seem to even acknowledge Jinx, as if to imply that Powder is her sister while Jinx is not. In the end, all she wanted from Vi was her love and approval, but she only gets that as Powder... Her first words after killing Silco say as much, "I used to think that you could love me like you used to, even though I'm different, but you changed too... so here's to the new us." In that statement, Jinx acknowledges what Vi seems to deny - they've both changed, even if they try to deny it. Finally, as she fires the missile at the council chambers, she does so with an angry and anguished scream... as it's the second time in her life where she's all alone - for a second time she's lost a father figure and her sister, as she faces the realization that Vi will never accept Jinx. The outro song, "What Could Have been," was composed specifically for the show and it's placement was no mistake... the lyrics up through the first chorus fully encapsulate the state of the relationship between the sisters, as seen through the eyes of Jinx, because she knows that she has to let go of the desire to be accepted by Vi (And worst of all, for me to live, I gotta kill the part of me that saw that I needed you more)... and the music swells as the missile fires to the sound of the question that Jinx internalized the entire time... "Why don't you love who I am?"
I’m sorry but I just don’t really empathize with this viewpoint. The “Jinx” that you want Violet to accept is a murder machine with no empathy for life. Vi literally just left prison where the only view of Jinx she has is the little girl who feared violence, not reveled in it. That is a impossible thing to ask of Vi, especially so quickly.
For you to understand so deeply the Jinx value process you must either have suffered as much or deconstruct yourself so much to the point of suffering. Be it aggregation or disgregation your comment is felt. A huge hug
@@lotus2001erm but yeah thats the point. the whole time jinx has felt that her true persona was that of a curse, and she desperately has sought acceptance. as a child, what she sought was more her desire to have someone see her as NOT that, to be affirmed as someone good and worthy (which she got from vi), but now as a young adult the acceptance she seeks is from someone who acknowledges her true nature and still cares for her (which she got from silco). what infinus said about vi not actually accepting jinx is *extremely* poignant: from the very beginning, we saw vi always defending her sister and affirming her positive values, and now after a long time in prison vi still clings onto that vision, even though its no longer the reality. vi loves powder, but does she love jinx? im sure vi *wants* to be able to love her sister, but especially after her adventures with caitlin, it may be impossible for her to accept everything jinx has done. thats what makes it so compelling.
Vi and Jinx are the embodiment of Piltover and Zaun. Vi wants Powder yet doesn’t realize that Powder like Zaun suffered during this period. It’s further expanded upon throughout the entire series that Vi refuses to recognize that Jinx is a part of Powder almost depriving Jinx of any say in her life similar to Piltover gunning down protesters wanting change making it clear that Zaun/Jinx can either give up who they are or split from Piltover/Vi and carve a new path.
Think of what the name "Jinx" actually means to Powder/Jinx. She didn't just pick it out of a hat. She's internalizing and identifying with a painful personal insult denying she has any worth. It's like she's injuring herself every time she says her name. People who love her shouldn't just step back and accept that, and Vi doesn't. Does she navigate this extremely delicate psychological situation with perfection? Maybe not. But she has the right instinct. More broadly, Vi doesn't accept that she has to choose between Powder and Jinx at all. That choice is something Powder/Jinx tries to impose on her. But Powder and Jinx aren't two different people; there's no hint that she's dissociative. And Vi unquestionably loves the one person to whom both those names refer. The one person who can't see that is Powder/Jinx... precisely because she doesn't think she's worthy of being loved. In fact, I'm going to go out on a limb here and speculate that *there is no possible chain of events that doesn't end with her sitting in the Jinx chair*. Whatever Vi (and Silco) might say to her in that room, she is going to interpret it in the worst possible light and respond with behavior that further sabotages the situation until it reaches a breaking point, because that's the self-destructive pattern she's been displaying all season long. tl;dr: Don't ask whether Vi loves Jinx; ask whether Jinx loves Jinx.
I think people love Silko because in THAT moment he trades everything he's dreamed of for Jynx and they (Validly) believe that he loves Jynx more than Vi, if only because the person he loves is Jynx and the person Vi loves was Powder. He's flawed but in the end he realizes how much more important his legacy through Jynx is than anything else in his life.
“Power, real power, doesn’t come to those who were born strongest, or fastest, or smartest. No. It comes to those who will do *_anything_* to achieve it.” There's just one thing he wouldn't do.
@@KesinX And that was his downfall. Honestly, it's completely fair to say Silco was manipulative. He definitely was, but I think a lot of his actions in the last episode at least were genuine. In the end, when you've stripped away the ambition and the hate, he did love Jinx and in his twisted way he believed he's doing what's best for her.
Silco doesn't like Jinx, he loves HER. Violet, on the other hand, loves a memory, the past, and cannot tolerate change. Do not separate Powder and Jinx. These names are one body, one mind.
I feel like you need to consider the scene right after Silco talks with Jayce. The one by the fountain where Silco is "taking to Vander" (so to speak) and laments "is there anything so undoing as a daughter". His love for her has literally undone his entire lifework, his purpose. Everything he does in the series is to accomplish the one single goal of freedom for Zaun. He was betrayed by his brother for it, and in turn killed his own brother for it. Its everything he worked towards and he gives it up because he loves his daughter more. You can't say he's manipulating her into a weapon for his own use, when he is literally putting her life ahead of the one thing he would do it for. Yes, he may have only taken Powder in as his daughter initially to turn Vander's child against what Vander died for, a "middle finger" to the brother that betrayed him. But he also saw a parallel between the relationship between himself and Vander, and the relationship between Powder and Vi. He saw himself in her, which I think can be argued for with the line "we'll show them, we'll show them all", as he embraces her. There is also evidence from other character interactions with Silco, regarding Jinx, such as Singe (who had a daughter of his own once) sedating Silco before operating on Jinx, because he knows how hard it would be for a father to watch what was going to happen. The scene leading up to that didn't have Silco stood nefariously in a corner ordering Singe to stop Jinx from dying, he's frantic, desperate, pleading. He's a bad person, and not a great father considering he's the villain of the story, but he loves her as a father. And as Jinx points out at the end, Silco didn't make Jinx, Vi did. And Vi doesn't love Jinx, but Silco does.
22:26 Silco throws away everything he was doing to save her, and throws away everything he wanted to protect her. Those are the qualities that make him a "good parent". He tries (tries) to teach her not to make the same mistakes he made and views her as someone like him. Remember Silco was betrayed first and almost killed by someone he considered a friend. Those things aside, being a responsible parental figure and being a "morally good" person are not mutually exclusive things. Silco attempted as much as he could within the bounds of his world to be an anchor for Jinx. Sure he's an unrepentant murderer, sure he's a deviant that would flip the world on its head, sure he's a criminal overlord that would gun you down should you get in his way... except for Jinx. He would see the world burn and throw away things he desires, for her. He is a dysfunctional human, but honestly in that show who wasn't broken in some way?
I don’t think the dolls were twisted trophies but physical embodiments of the voices in her head. Claggor said so little to her, so in he’s depicted as a small doll due to his small impact on her and her emotions. Milo however, still has the same impact on her emotions as he did when he was alive. Making him more life-size in her mind, constantly looming and constantly bringing her down. The stuffy was a symbol of Vi’s love and her symbol of her childhood. Since Vi was still alive, she didn’t need a new body. As for Vander, she kept his gauntlets. Probably the most impactful part of him to Powder. Since he didn’t share much of a fatherly bond with her. He was more a protector. (But maybe she didn’t make a Vander a body because she knew that he was in Singe’s basement). So yeah. During the last episode when she said “some things never stay dead” this is at least my understanding of what she meant.
About the cupcake moment, I like it because it shows that vi has already lost faith in jinx. Seeing the platter, she just assumes jinx did something horrendous, even before the thingy is lifted. Although it’s played off as a joke, it’s kind of tragic, because it shows to jinx, even Vi to some extent believes powder is dead. As for silco, he’s a bad father, because being a father isn’t just about loving unconditionally and showing support for all one does. That being said, I believe that he would have never given her up, she wasn’t a means to an end at least not purposefully. Silco sees jinx as basically himself, he wants to save her from the pain of the internal conflict between jinx and powder, just as he likely struggled between himself and Vander. That’s why he does so much to drown powder out.
Silco isn't a good father, but unlike everyone you compared him too, he was someone willing to die for her, to give up his dream for her. He learned what being a father was like after bringing Powder to his side and for the first time learned why his blood brother turned against their people. He isn't a good father, he didn't know how to be a father, but he was more than many in that he was willing to raise her.
Here is a wonderfully explained analysis PeaceAndLove USA PeaceAndLove USA 8 gün önce I think the reason a lot of people think Silco was a bad father is because they apply their own standards of "good" to other cultures, in this case, Zaun. Is it bad parenting to allow or even encourage your child to build explosives in, say, the U.S.? Yes, of course. But is it bad parenting to do the same thing in Zaun? Well, we don't see a single instance of anyone condemning Jinx/Powder's hobby (which she chose on her own, not Silco). In fact, we see she has only ever received criticism for the bombs failing. Culturally, this is seen as a positive thing. Encouraging your child to pursue their passions is not manipulative, it is good parenting. "But he used her in his criminal enterprise!" Some might cry. But, again, consider the culture of Zaun. It is stated in the show that "there is a crime behind every coin that changes hands in Zaun." Crime is not just culturally accepted, it is the norm. Therefore, Silco's criminal enterprise is no different, culturally speaking, to owning a corner market. Not teaching her how to earn a living and get by in life would be far worse parenting, in this context, than having her be a part of the family business. It is no more "using her as a tool," than having your child work as a cashier at your store is "using them as a tool." He is teaching her important life lessons such as responsibility and how to survive in the harsh reality of their world. That, again, is good parenting. Silco is not "parent of the year," but he is objectively a good parent, and that is why many people say he is. Silco did a lot more right than he did wrong as a parent, so much so that Jinx rightly identifies he is not responsible for who she became, her trauma is. Girl was building bombs in her parent's basement as a small child, then got hit with tenfold the trauma, all before Silco ever took her in. She would have turned out messed up under anyone's care, but she gained a lot from being under Silco's that she simply would not have under anyone else's care. Under someone like Vi or Vander's care? She would have turned out useless and full of self-doubt, on top of the fascination with making things go boom, and a general disregard for human lives. Under someone's care with values that more closely reflect our own? She would have been dead in a week. Silco did not make Jinx, he made Jinx strong and resourceful enough to survive. He made her confident in her abilities and gave her the platform to showcase them to the world. He gave her purpose, and a cause truly worth fighting for. One cannot overstate how important and positive Silco was to Jinx's development, and that all comes down to his parenting.
12:38 I think you misread the totems. It's important to keep in mind that while Milo berated her, it's all but stated that he and Clagger were effectively her brothers. Siblings will fight, bicker, and bully, but that doesn't stop them from being your siblings. The totems of her brothers are there for the same reason Jinx regularly hallucinates their ghosts. They aren't trophies or reminders, but actual stand-ins constructed during a psychotic break.
i see it differently... silco didnt raise her to get at vander imo he raised her since she is what he was... abandoned, betrayed and misunderstood... he isnt a good person no but he tries to safe her threwout the years he doesnt know how to treat her mental health or anything but what he knows is that she deserves better and he tries all he can to give her everything... he gives her comfort he gives her love he gives her stuff to do in her spare time sure the stuff isnt really the good kind but the rules go differently in zaun... for me personally silco is my most loved charackter ... he was betrayed eaten up by hatred went a dark path to get revenge... after he achieved it he saw that he isnt the only one so he helped powder/jinx in the way he knows worked for him
Great video! One thing I might add is the key misunderstanding that Vi had about Powder in that scene that ultimately led to her going fully mad: Vi believes that Jinx/Powder holds all the things she does with the same value. Vander, Mylo, Claggor, their parents. All those things are sources of comfort to Vi because they remind her of happier times before Silco and Jinx. But to Powder, those names and memories are sources of pain and guilt; people she'd rather not remember and wished they'd never existed. Vi tries to bring Powder back by reminding her of things that made Vi happy, and instead pushes Powder further into her own trauma, until eventually Powder doesn't exist anymore, and only Jinx is left.
Silco is a bad father, but he was still a loving one. At the last moment though, he did one thing right as a "good father". He showed forgiveness and moreover (I think), understanding for Jinx/Powder to have chosen Vi in his eyes and expressed his feelings of genuine care until the very last moment. It was just all too late. Please don't get the idea I'm glorifying the relationship. Silco is a terrible person. Personally Flying Walrus's video described this relationship the best. A blind person leading the blind, a beautiful painting drawn by blood. Silco did his best, and his best was terrible.
Silco is a terrible person, but he has the same abandonment issues as Jinx. Vander was his brother. And Vander betrayed him. He sees a lot of himself on Jinx. That's why he didn't kill her. Yes, he lies to her, he manipulates her. Like I said, terrible person. But he did mean it when he said he rather lose Zawn than lose Jinx. And I think for many people who watched the show, that's what makes him a 'good father'. Because those people are also traumatized children who would love to have a father willing to give up the world for them.
@@sebastianaristizabal3871 he states it clearly - everything he ever wanted, true political power, and Zaun's independence, and he only barely considers it. Silco, like any normal person just doesn't consider his adopted daughter something to trade.
Just because a character is tragic doesn't mean they're not a villain. Villain doesn't mean Skeletor or Megatron, evil is evil and villains are villains, it doesn't matter if they had a bad childhood or were put through trauma or suffered some great betrayal or lost a loved one. In the case of Jinx she fits all of these but that doesn't matter. Villains are still human, being sympathetic doesn't change that.
Regarding Silco, Gab did not bring up on one of the most, if not the most, important scenes in his arc. The drink with Vander. Where he acknowledges his full understanding of what made Vander abandon the way of a revolutionary and, at the time, lose his respect. The fatherhood.
@@Gab2671 Point taken, yet it felt like You did Silco a wee bit dirty here. I am firmly in a camp considering Silco a villain and not a good person overall, yet it's hard to deny that he stepped into the role of Jinx's father as best as he could. Saying that he was a product of his environment and his best only went so far...
Silco fought for a revolution, he fought for better conditions in Zaun. And he did achieve a type of good for a lot of people. He created the groundwork so that there's trade and not exploitation of the undercity. There is actually a type of ultimate evil with invisible hands in the background, and it's the political foundations. There's also a hard choice. Do you choose to stand still and stagnate, and do nothing against the suffering and injustice? You could also act instead... On the scale of complicated+peaceful and simple+violent, what do you see as possible? Is one of them too slow? Is there too much corruption? Does the calculation add up? do you value the peace? How far can you take the excuse of doing something for the sake of others - to justify your crimes? How much corruption stands in your way to achieve prosperity for all?
"Are you real?" and, in this scene, "You never left..." tells me that Vi is another person Jinx has hallucinated during her psychotic episodes. We even see an example of it with the pink-haired woman she hesitates to shoot. Powders reaction when she's left behind in the rescue of Vander is likely a triggering point for her schizoid personality disorder.
this scene gave me a panic attack ngl, i couldn't string a thought together after watching it... like, 15 minutes of my brain racing in every possible direction... it wasn't fun-- that said i loved it and can't wait for another season.
12:45 From experience, it's a familiarity thing very likely. It took me years to stop carrying around things that reminded me of an abuser & trauma inducing situations that damaged me as a kid. Sometimes when people get fractured, we get stuck in 'familiarity loops', clinging to artefacts that remind us, repeatedly taking jobs that replicate abusive dynamics, etc. Because it's a comfortable familiarity we know, even if it hurts us it's still a familiar place we know how to exist in. And fuck is it hard to try to grow past the need for that known-familiarity. "The ghosts that live in our heads, are the ones that haunt us the most severely ." ~Arii Tesh
I won't defend Silco, nor do I think any love he had for Jinx makes up for his actions, but I do think he was in danger of turning into a different man. Vander was supposedly known as the "hound of the underground." Silco repeatedly mentions how Vander had been some kind of monster during their time of leading the uprisings. "I knew you still had it in you" after Vander tried to choke Silco, or him telling Vander "I'll show you what you really are" and threatening to use Shimmer to turn Vander into a monster. Vander had once done monstrous things. That's why Silco was so in disbelief about how Vander could roll over for Piltover, because this was the same ruthless, driven man that had been instrumental in their rebellion. It was also the same man who had decided he couldn't let Silco live and tried to drown him in the river. It was Vander finding the kids and becoming their father figure that made him leave that old life behind. He found something he couldn't sacrifice, even for the cause. He became a different man. This is why I think Silco is such an incredible character, because he's going through the same transformation. Before Jinx, he had given his speech about how power comes to those who are willing to give up anything, but as the show goes on we see how power is slipping away from him because Jinx is the one person he'll never sacrifice. His business partners were turning into rivals, his second in command was questioning his judgment, his corrupt sheriff was beginning to crack, and all because he wouldn't give up Jinx. It took Jace flat out forcing the ultimatum for him to realize how far he'd fallen, prompting the scene where he drinks in front of Vander's statue and says, "It all makes sense now, brother" and "Is there anything so undoing as a daughter?" So yes, Silco was a monster and a terrible influence, but he was in real danger of becoming a good man.
I have to mention this every time someone says Silco is a bad father: if we're talking about OUR world, absolutely. Call CPS on him, get Powder out of there. But in the world of Runeterra, and especially in the nation of Zaun, Powder can't exist. She NEEDS to he Jinx, and Silco prepares her perfectly for the world. Alot of people say "he manipulates her, making her think how he thinks", and I just have to say, yeah? Obviously? All parents do that. That's what it is to raise a kid. You're imprinting your ideologies and morals onto the child in an attempt to make them the best person they can be, to prepare them for the world.
Holy crap, I didn’t notice that Jinx’s hallucinations represented by scratches and scribbles say “Vi” when she’s in the arcade they used to play in as kids. 😱
Oh, she's well aware they're dead. But she still feels like they're haunting her, in a metaphorical sense. I imagine it was more along the lines of having something to remember them by, a way to put a body to the voices she was already hearing. Or, considering she doesn't have one for Vi even though she admits to hearing Vi's voice through her childhood (in the scene where they reunite, the first time she realizes Vi isn't dead as well) they might be ways to take out her anger. Vi was pushing her forward, positively, but we see Milo speaking to her negatively, maybe Claggor to a lesser degree as well (explaining why his doll was smaller, potentially), so it's entirely possible that she might've made them as a way to hit back when she got sick of listening to their voices demean her.
Though this is a great opinion piece, it's mistaken on several parts. You are correct on many of the aspects of these characters a small and yet important oversight to many of the key points that was both written and animated to show, not tell, the nuances. First, let's address Jinx. Her confusion was always between Vi's words and actions. See Jinx was unsure about who was lying between Silco and Vi because they BOTH were lying to her. Vi, in her actions, and Silco, in his omission. Silco, like Jinx, believed Vi was dead and treated her as such. Which make Vi's abandonment a circumstance of death not of choice. One Silco expressed in turn with his actions towards Vander. Jinx, like Silco, trying their best to help save the people they care about ultimately costing lives and being labeled the villain. Jinx, despite her errors and traumatic triggers, found someone who regardless of severity and opinions of others sided with her. Just how Vi did with her words but not her actions. Silco had no obligation to Jinx, for she's not family and she's the one who destroyed his operations. And yet, Silco couldn't turn his back on her. This is why Jinx believed so much in Silco, because he placed his trust in her regardless if she messed up or felt incompetent. Jinx, with Vi was the opposite. Vi took everything in her own hands despite voicing support for others. This is seen in the lockpicking scene with Milo, where Vi didn't place her trust in his skills and kicked the door down anyway. Where Vander, a wiser leader, reassured Milo and guided him through the pressure. This is because Vi, is a child herself dealing with her own issues. Jinx and Vi reunion is key to how Vi wasn't there for Jinx but to her own guilt for correction. Jinx points her gun at Vi and she says "Powder, I'm here for you and ONLY you. You can fire that thing at me all you want but I'm not going anywhere." Here's two biggest problems with this scene. Vi isn't acknowledging Powders growth into Jinx and she makes a statement about her loyalty which she later breaks. Now Jinx and Ekko have been fighting from the beginning of the time skip. Shooting to kill. He tries convincing Vi, Powder isn't there anymore. Which is key because he has the will and mindset to Kill Jinx. Jinx, her bombs killed everyone on that bridge except two people. Cait and Ekko. That's because they weren't her targets. Even Marcus point blank range from Cait died as well as the enforcers in the back and yet Cait only got hit with shrapnel from the bombs on Marcus. Here is where Vi's action turn. Jinx not aiming for Vi or Cait but between them to separate the two end up with Vi giving Ekko the ok not only to stop Jinx knowing HE has the will to kill her because he doesn't see her as Powder anymore. Ekko was shot and had the Hextech. Cait injured on her leg. The plan was to get Ekko infront of the council on behalf of the firelights and Zaun to show good faith and built rapport. Vi was telling everyone she's there for her sister and yet in the moment of truth Vi takes the Hextech and Cait and turns her back on her sister. Remember, she said "fire that thing at me all you want I"m not leave you." Her actions proved Silco words true. She wasn't there for Jinx. She was there to apologize to Powder to free herself from her guilt. If Vi was there for Powder, she would be there for Jinx or whatever other name she might call herself because it's her she's there for. Vi was there only for Powder which Jinx knew and poses Vi those two questions, "Are we still sisters?" and "are you only here for Powder?" Super deep commentary, where Silco passes those test. He more than anyone else, in his dying moments put Jinx's needs above his own dreams and desires. Here with limited time and speech he knows her pain and sees her suffering and says three things all for her mental well being. 1) "I would have never given you to them." That regardless of what you over heard regardless of what it might have looked like, giving you up was never an option. Not when their crew complained and not for a deal for everything he's ever wanted. We know this because of two scenes. His confrontation and his faith he put in sevleka letting her choose to kill him or not. And his scene with Vanders statue, saying "I can have all that I've ever dreamed of ... I understand now. Daughters undo that." He understood why Vander gave up the fight for a slow death, it was for his daughters future. That Silco too would give up his dream for one of those very same daughters. 2)" Don't Cry... " for him. For choosing to protect Vi. For making that choice because He was doing exactly that. He was trying to kill Vi to save Jinx. To keep her safe. He at every step tried to help her broken mind. From helping her tackle her traumas, to giving her space to emotionally recuperate "take some time anyway" to trying to shut Vi up while her words were triggering and spiraling out Jinx trauma responses. On the surface it looked like Vi was trying to "bring Powder back" but that's the flaw and irony behind it all. Jinx isn't multiple personality disorder where JINX takes away Powder's free will. POWDER IS JINX and JINX is POWDER. She schizophrenic which isnt DID (dissociative identity disorder) Vi was hurting powder/Jinx because she couldn't see that powder is Jinx. Ekko did, that' why he stopped because he realized, powder never left... powder grew into Jinx. Exactly what Jinx was trying to tell Vi "you never left. you were always there whispering in my ear and prickles on my neck." She's explaining her own identity of Jinx, it's Powder+Vi+Silco+Milo. Silco, knew that and that's why he said "fear... haunts us all, child." It's her fear, her flight or fight reaction due to her trauma. 3) "... you're perfect." Not Powder is perfect. Not Jinx is perfect as he said before to her. He specifically says, "you're perfect" whoever you decide to call yourself, you are not broken, not a messup , not a burden but you are perfect as you are. If he wanted to manipulate her, here is the best moment to say "JINX is perfect" but he didn't. He didn't care about that. He only cared about her well being. YOU the person behind the name, is perfect. Silco loved Jinx more than Vi ever could. Vi is stunted mentally and emotionally. She couldn't understand what Jinx needed. She only knew she felt responsible for what happened to Jinx. That's not acceptance nor love. Silco, was like any other drug lord driven to do what the government wasn't. He was trying to improve the lives of people. True, the drugs he used damage many lives as well. He also fed, clothed and gave jobs to the children of those addicts. The true villainy is the oppression and exploitation of the people of Zaun. One that even Heimerdinger, who lived before the creation of either city and who could have helped but never did. His idea of wait and see, slow movement toward progress because he does live longer doesn't translate to people who are struggling today and now. Though Silco and Vander were enemies and through his actions caused Vanders death, he wanted them to be on the same side again. "Show you who you really are." Words he spoke to Vander that buried beneath the fake peace Vander had negotiated between topside and the Lanes was more than a compromise but cowering while people were abused, suffered and ultimately exploited regardless without any clear way out. That it was a slow death for the undercity. Silco, despite rising in success didn't abandon the Zaunite dream of liberation once being respected by the councilors.
I think another reason why this scene is so great is the fact that Jynx is so crazy and gone that you the viewer genuinely don’t know what Jynx should do. You want her to be with Vi but you understand why she believes Silco. It’s an interesting device that’s so realistic that the viewer is also torn on what Jynx should choose.
I think it was interesting you point out how Vander wasn't particularly present in Powders life. I think there's a few aspects to this. I think Vander really did care for her like she was his own daughter, and did his best for her, but didn't know how to connect with her like he did with Vi. This isn't helped by Powders natural tendancy to cling to Vi, which I think would have made it harder for her to open up to Vander as a father figure, also perhaps not really wanting her biological parents to be "replaced". So while Vi does take on a motherly role, thats only a possibility because they were close siblings to start with. Moreover, when Vi goes to hand herself in, it is to Vander that Powder goes. Though they may not have the same sort of mentor style relationship he has with Vi its clear that Vanders presence is comforting to Powder. So I'd argue that though the two probably don't go over life lessons like Vander does with Vi, they do still have a reasonably close relationship given the circumstances, at least emotionally.
Silco is a very loving father but he's a horrible person and a pretty bad father, I don't necessarily think he was manipulating Jinx at least not intentionally he just taught her what he knew.
It's so tragic that Jinx literally ruined everything. From being responsible for the death od Vander, Mylo and Claggor, to ruining chances for Zaun and Piltover peace. She unintentionally put Vi in prison and in consequence gave Silco a great weapon-maker (of herself). I guess only positive outcome that came from her actions was Vi and Cait encounter and relationship (and therefore changing Cait's mind about Zaunites).
I believe Vander and Powder had a good father-daughter relationship. That scene where she comes up to the bar after Vi leaves and he gives her a special cup for him to immediately become concerned when she doesn't perk up was enough to show, for me at least, that he is still highly attentive to Powder. But, unfortunately, their relationship isn't as vital to the plot as his relationship with Vi. And with Arcane's very limited run time, on top of the plethora of characters it has to juggle, it was left as more of an implication. And with the clear parallels between Vander and Vi, and Silco and Jinx, I can see why they kept the relationship of Vander and Powder a more minor detail. Had I seen more of their relationship, I probably wouldn't have been so sympathetic to Silco as he took over that role. One thing I love about Arcane, we all interpret pieces of it a little differently, especially when it comes to things such as this.
For jinx dolls. U can see how they influence her. Mailo has big doll skinny and tall, most memory of him are bad and they reflect, it's large as he had a lot of influence on her Clager has a teddy bear symboliezing how he was nice and fluffy for her Vander has only his mementos, representing his little influence
So i wanted to give my view on one specific thing jinx's puppets for Milo and her other lost friend. Jinx has not, for the entire season, accepted the reality of what she did. She only does so in that final scene, a twisted "last supper" for her past. The puppets are the materialisation of her reaction of reality. For her, clagger and Milo are alive, sitting right there with her. She even hears their voices. Only once she shoots her secret weapon and destroys her past the voices stop. Powder is no more and jinx can thrive
Silco can be an appreciative father who loves Jinx without being a good father or a good person. He's clearly not in the right, but it's also clear he cares for her, more than other bad (or even good) guys have done in similar situations (good old "good for me or the greater good?"). I believe he truly loves her and she truly feels loved by him. Neither of them knows what a good family looks like and Jinx is even more of a troubled person than arguably every other character in the show combined, so one might even say he did as good a job as he could in that situation. Anyways, obviously he did a lot of wrong stuff, but I can't bring myself to say Silco was a bad father.
One thing I find facinating about that moment when Vi is trying to remind Jinx about all the people that have loved her is that we see Jinx have visions of all of them...except for her parents. We very briefly see their mom on the bridge scene at the start of the show, but we actually see their mom a second time when Vi is having halucioations after she's been stabbed. But Jinx doesn't, which implies she doesn't even remember what her birth parents look like.
Also random added detail that I hadn’t noticed till about the fourth time watching this scene. When she’s wearing Vi’s gauntlets as she brings the cupcake platter out, if you look close you can she that she’s scribbled across them, including adding her pink and blue nail colors to the finger tips
Silco is a good caring father, that does not mean he is a good person. He cares for jinx he pushes her to develop her instrests and yes he wants her to do thing to help his bussiness. Thats every parent teaching how to take over teaching to help them survive a world. He sees a world that will destroy him so he wants to see her ready for that.
Exactly this! Powder has essentially three paths in life - to become nothing but a Victim/Pawn in Zaun, with no control over her life, to become a Victimizer in Zaun, with the power to control her life to as great a degree as her power lets her, or the one that is not explored in the least (and I find it interesting that it is NOT explored), becoming an Oppressor in Piltover. The responsibility falls to Silco, and he chooses to make her a Victimizer in Zaun, along with the power to hopefully choose her own destiny. There really are no other options for Silco. He doesn't want her to be Weak, a pawn who is at the mercy of people with Power. He doesn't want to turn her into an Oppressor, which is what Piltover would do with her (Viktor and Skye are both Zaunites working for Piltover, working on things that will give Piltover more power over Zaun, even if Viktor hopes that these things will free Zaun), so the only responsible option is Strength.
3:04 the frame before, that little spinning globe thingy (i forget the name) was only shown in episode 1, and was thrown into the river. This means that Powder went down there to go and get it at some point, decorated it with sparklers, and then used it to try and ring a bell in Vi’s mind that she’s is still in there, more than 10 years later. For 10 years she’s sat there with a trinket from her last ever trip anywhere with her sister. Ooooooooooooooo that’s good. She’d have just been marinading in guilt, anxiety and paranoia for /years/, stewing in self loathing. Oooooh the arcane writers are good at their jobs
The thing is Jinx and Silco had a toxic interdependent relationship. People often forget/dont realize Silco needed Jinx just as much if not more than Jinx needed him. Just like Jinx had abandonment issues from Vi leaving her, Slico had abandonment issues from Vander leaving him and that's why he was so desperate to get rid if Vi because he feared she would cause Jinx to abandon him just like Vander (notice how the mental break down he has when Vi escapes at the end of episode 6 is similar to the mental break down Powder had in episode 3). In the end Silco is a "good" father because he genuinely cares for her, tries his best to help her mental issues (but sadly relates them too much like his own so can't properly help her), and is willing to give up his dreams and goals just to protect her, but at the same time he's also extremely toxic because he's constantly manipulating her to be what he thinks she should be (even if she is aware this is what he is doing and to some extent allows him to so she can prove herself to him) and refuses to allow her to seek comphert for anyone else besides him (though he truly does believe Vi is just like Vander and will abandon Jinx again so in his mind he's trying to protect her not manipulator her, again he fails to see the difference between his relationship and Jinx/Vi's relationship)
Honestly, I feel like a lot of people are conflating the idea of affection with responsibility when it comes to parenting. Silco does love Jinx, but not in a healthy way, and that’s the point of their relationship. Silco was willing to toss away the treaty for Jinx’s sake, took her in when she had no one, and comforts her in ways that no one else is capable of because of their closeness. To say he doesn’t love her AT ALL would be untrue. On the other hand… he’s also enabled her mental issues and not allowed her to get genuine help with her trauma, and has effectively turned her into a weapon to be used in his quest for violence. I don’t think he was planning this from when he first got her, but I think it simply happened along the way because of his dysfunctional parenting. Not to mention that he projects a LOT onto Jinx. He constantly compares his relationship with Vander to Jinx and Vi, but uses that to convince Jinx that her sister is incapable of loving her for who she is. Silco tries to treat their relationship and his old one with Vander as a 1-1. Yet, this also gives an unsettling edge to their relationship: Silco wouldn’t give this same level of attention to anyone he wasn’t personally invested in. He’s surrounded by business relationships and people who fear him, yet Jinx never does, and this allows for a rare moment of emotional vulnerability from him. It heavily mirrors real life dysfunctional parents and their children: the affection is there, but it is buried under decades of unresolved trauma, anger, resentment, and baggage. “Jinx and Silco’s relationship is unhealthy” and “Jinx and Silco’s relationship is as healthy as it could be given the people involved” are two statements that can coexist. Does Silco love Jinx? Yes. Is he a good parent? HELL NO. Sadly, you can love someone and still not give them the things they actually need to improve or heal. Love is not a cure all, and it wasn’t enough for Jinx to heal; not from Silco, and not from Vi.
I think good parent is a perspective thing. If Silco was some savior good guy figure where he is very morally just and he let Jinx act how she does that is a very more clear example of being blinded by love for your child. But Silco is not that type of person and he is going to raise and appreciate things that fall within what he feels is right. As he said, Jinx was perfect to him. A lot of people hold a lot of weight on the sacrifices someone is willing to make in the name of love/caring for an individual. Many even believe that is the most important aspect of being a good parent.
Everyone seems to fail to note the correlation between Vander and Slico, who called themselves brothers who betrayed, and Vi and Powder. Vi is Vander and Powder is Silco, or at least Powder is going down the Silco path. The betrayed by her sister (brother for Silco).
Coming from the standpoint of someone who has a lot of trouble trusting their own perception of reality and has a lot of abandonment issues the way silco acts makes him feel like a good father even though im aware he isnt. Im definitely easy to manipulate because of it but if someone is open and constant for me Id jump in front of a bus for them because it genuinely feels like the one time im not getting constantly pricked by needles. Like I am very aware that silco is a manipulative person but if Im looking at it from a purely internal (my own world view) silco is a good person twisted by his environment so I could see how people think hes a good father. I honestly related a lot to jinx not with the murder trauma but with not being able to trust (or form/solidify) your own perceptions of reality and lashing out because of it. I liked seeing the ending not because jinx became an evil badass but because it felt like the character I identified most with finally got a win (in the sense that she chose a reality for herself albeit with significant influence from silco's dying words)
I can't figure a way to say it as well, so here's a comment from another video. ReelRai 5 months ago Silco blew me away in this series. He's one of the best villains I remember in a looooong time. He started out as a hideous villain. Someone who hated Vander for leaving the cause. And throughout the series we're not sure, if his care for Jinx is geniune or if he's just playing her, using her for his needs. I'm sure in the beginning, Silco just wanted to use her, and saw a little bit of himself in her. But by the end... oh damn. Silco is in the same position as Vander was and... he understands. He can't give up Jinx for Zaun. Zaun that he has worked his entire life to achieve, all undone by a daughter. Vi loved Powder, and wanted Powder back. But Powder changed, and there was nothing but Jinx left. The only one who unconditionally loved Jinx, was Silco, and I think that's what the end scene is about. Jinx wanted Vi to love her, love what she had become, love Jinx. But after killing Silco she realizes he was the only one who really cared for her, no matter what she had become, and thus Jinx chose to sat on the Jinx chair. It's a twisted father-daughter relationship, but goddamn if it isn't well done, and goddamn if I didn't tear up when Silco died
I see it a bit different. Silco wanted revenge on Vander indeed. But they had a level of mutual respect. Mostly because they had the same goal, the independence and freedom of Zaun. Taking Jinx in was a way to show respect to his dead rival. As a favor that the winner does. Silco will do anything to reach his objective, he would lie, abandon, steal, kill and betray if needed to reach his objective. He was still fighting Vander, he was fighting Vander's values. In the end If Silco stayed true to his beliefs he would've won. Not only the freedom of Zaun but even the argument against Vander. But boy as my favorite scene goes ,he lost so hard : "A thousand times I've imagined this moment. All we've ever wanted-- the boy didn't even haggle. And what do I lose but problems. Oh it all makes sense now brother. Is there anything so undoing as a daughter?"
That's one of the amazing parts of Arcane. There really aren't any true villains. Maybe I'm forgetting something, but no one is truly evil, although maybe first appearing that way.
I dunno, man, a revolutionary gang leader killing a civilian of his turf and abducting someone he personally respects, for the express purpose of catching the kids that gave Topside a bloody nose… and killing them to make a point? Kinda sounds evil to me. “He had his reasons” We all do. Heck, even if he was bluffing _hard_ (which I don’t think he’d have gotten away with, _if_ so), going that far opened the door to what wound up happening.
Silco taking Jinx as one last jab at Vander may have been a beginning positive for why he should, but he didn't think of it like that by the end, and the scene before Jinx kidnaps him is the one that tells it as it is. Even pouring one drink for him for being right about an argument they never had.
I strongly disagree with the idea that Silco molded Jinx into a tool. That completely dismisses her interests that were already displayed in Act One. Jinx already wanted to build bombs and weapons that would have started working at some point without Silco kidnapping Vander. We never see him make her create anything against her will and he doesn't even really see her as an employee. Silco just got lucky that he happened to take in a kid that would turn out to be a hextech hacking genius. I'm sure that unlike Vander and Vi he had the resources to give Jinx a workshop and whatever tools/materials she wanted which def aided in her finally getting her inventions to work.
My two cents… First, I don’t think you’re giving Silco enough credit. While he is a terrible person, cruel and vicious, he genuinely loved Jinx and any manipulations he aimed at her, I feel it was ‘for the best’ in his mind. If it was actually detrimental to her (I.E. selling her out for his own goals) he refused. I think they loved each other and any bad aspects of their relationship (manipulation, mental illness) is because thy don’t know how to do better. I think Silco would have been a better father if he actually knew how… it doesn’t excuse his choices, but it wasn’t malicious on his part. Second, I completely disagree that Silco adopted Powder just to get back at a dead man. Especially after he got his revenge. I think he saw himself in Jinx and tried to give her the comfort he didn’t get after Vander’s betrayal. Third, fantastic video and I thoroughly enjoyed your analysis! I like hearing other people’s opinions and hope you make more! (Especially for Arcane. Possibly my favorite tv series.) P.S. I completely agree that anything other than a father/daughter relationship is just not right. *Micheal Scott voice “don’t.”
Well, technically parenting is a form of manipulation. Once a child is born, they’re mostly blank slates, ready to be primed by their parents. Silco found her in a very vulnerable state and raised her as he thought he should to make her resilient for a world that he had depicted in a certain manner both to her and to himself.
I agree, I feel like a good amount of video essayist miss the bond Silco and Jinx share. It's not all manipulation, he took her in because he saw himself in her, and he did try his best to raise her, but he himself barely understands love amd what's ok.
Yeah, he is a manipulative evil man, that's all true. But his parental love towards Jinx is completely genuine. He might not be a "good parent" if you look at it from a parenting skills way. But he is a good parent emotionally.
Fantastic video. Arcane is truly one of the best modern soon to be a classic show we have gotten in the last few years and a prove that adaptations of any kind as long you are willing to put the work and have the talent to do so right and well, can be done terrifically amazing. Jinx arc was one of the many in the show and all where accomplished so well, but Jinx take the cake as the best developed character in a show FULL of great characters, this scene is a masterclass of story telling.....there are 200 billions budget shows that WISH have this amazing talent of writers on their staff (cof, cof, Rings of. cof, cof Powaaa cof), This entire scene is hunting and dreading with tension, you truly cared about every character...hell I know as a fan of the games Caitlin couldn't be kill off and yet when Jinx bring it that big plate......my heart was pounding my chest, and my hands where cold, I was scare Jinx already cut Caitlin head off and served to Vi on a plate, I genuine believe and fear they did it, despite all my instinct should know it was impossible, this is how talented this team is and how well written the show was at building tension and fear. A magnificent scene in a sea of incredible wonderful collection of beautiful scenes, Arcane is a masterpiece.
I don't think Silco took Jinx in cause he wanted to get back at Vander, but because she was hurting and abandoned the same way he was. I don't think Silco was a good person by any means but throughout the series I don't think he ever lied to or manipulated Vander, Savika, or Jinx. I think those people he trusted (at least at one point) and so he was always truthful with them. I think he at one point truly cared for Vander, and I think he truly cares for Jinx (I don't know if he cares for Savika, but he at least trusts and respects her). I think he was a goof father in the sense that he did his best for Jinx, but I think his flaws as a person (seeing only value in strength (and while the diversity of strength he saw is good, that mindset is still horrible), the manipulation, the lack of trust, yhe focus on the mission above all else, the abandonment issues, etc) were passed onto Jinx and worsened her own issues. I think his worldview and experiences said "this is good and okie" and so he gave it to Jinx. I think he truly had unconditional love for her, and it's why he'd let her explain herself, why he only yelled at her when he thought she'd just sunk their mission for nothing, why he tried to give her those life lesson, why he didnt lie to her (from his point of view), why he defended her, why he trusted her, why he encouraged her, and in the end dispite all she'd done he was still proud of her. I dont think Silco was a good father, but I think he was the best father a man like him could be
Silco saw himself in the girl he found, abandoned, betrayed, alone, and in immense pain, so he took her in. He raised her as best he knew how, and taught her skills she needed to survive in the world as he knew it. He grew into fatherhood, and told his daughter a variation of what my mother told me, "Even if the world is against you, I'll be here" but, that message in a situation where the world is actually seemingly against you comes out as "The rest of the world will betray you as it has me, but I never will". A thing that I noticed while writing this is that Silco growing into fatherhood means he became more like Vander as Jinx became more like how he was.
I think the problem with the discussion about Silco being a good or bad father is that it describes him as a person rather than his actions. As a father, Silco is a good father because he loves his adoptive daughter so much that he is willing to sacrifice his entire life for her. Morally, that's a good character trait to see in any parent and we wouldn't expect less. But is Silco good at parenting i.e. performing actions related to being a parent? No. Silco doesn't know how to set boundaries between himself and Jinx, and Silco uses Jinx as much as emotional support as she does him. Their relationship is extremely dysfunctional because neither of them know how to form healthy relationships and they're both codependent on each other. Silco is a good father because morally he possesses a lot of qualities we expect from a good parent. But that doesn't mean he's good at actually being a parent as in taking good parental actions like setting healthy boundaries or processing past trauma. Silco tries his best (the scene when he yells at her for playing loud music and she doesn't care always cracks me up because it's such a typical parent-teenager scene that almost makes them look like a normal family) but his fear of hurting Jinx and turning her away from him is also the reason she ultimately did leave him.
You forgot the near-literal cherry on top of her arrangement: the magic crystal on top of the cupcake (which itself is a callback to the nickname of Vi's lover). She served it on a silver plate. It is pretty much what every fraction was chasing after and only she can deliver. So much unused potential and all she can do with it is cause destruction...
Silco didn't lie to Jinx in the beginning when he said Vi was gone, he genuinely believed that. He did lie however when Jinx confronted him near the end of the season. Just wanted to clear that one up because a lot of people think he was lying from the start.
Jinx is not a villain. Depends on perspective. For Zaun Piltover are the villains and for Piltover Zaun is the enemy. Jinx is the hero to Zaun and a villain to Piltover. Her character arc has both complete hero and villain arcs
bit of a controversial take here I think slice was not a good father but he was a good "dad". What I mean by that is he did end up caring for jinx and when he was raising her probably tried to teach her how to handle the situation she was going through by doing the same thing that he did when he was a younger with vander. The only problem was his way wasn't healthy or even remotely good for their mental health. Yeah, he stilled tried to teach her his ways and yeah there relationship is still real weird, but I don't think in the end him raising her was just a way to get back at Vander. The "your perfect" line was I think a way to relieve the stress of killing another person that she loved on accident and as a way to help with one of her mental health issues the feeling that she was never quite enough or that she was never quite "perfect enough" for anybody.
Silco is different, while he is a manipulative person, he does not manipulate Jinx. What he says to jinx is genuine. He never lies to her or use her. He tells her what he truly thinks. Now wether or not it's the thing to do is another debate, but jinx is the only person he doesn't manipulate in the show. I think you must have seen it already but there's great videos of a therapist, (Georgia Dow) analysing the silco jinx relationship, and it's really interesting.
@@janchvatal1538 I hate this kind of argument, we can afford to say that through the comfort of our lives... But faced with plagues and death, hunger, war, REAL oppression what would we do? What was Silco supposed to do? He can't cuddle her in that kind of environment, because if he did... She'd instantly die. He was a good father within what he could do and what he tried. Faced with a big decision he chose HER and sacrificed everything for her... And that's exactly what a real father does.
For Silco, Vander was weak When Silco started loving Jinx as a Daughter, he too became weak He even has a scene where is speaking to the statue of Vander saying he now understands Vander
I wouldn't say Silco is a terrible father, but I won't deny that he's a manipulator. I think he's a bad person trying to be a good father, while also tiptoeing around anything that might make her turn or snap because he knows she's a loose cannon
I think Jinx keeps Milo and Claggor's dolls are to symbolize that she still can't let them go (they're her adopted siblings afterall, they're a family) and that the guilt is still eating at her. It's to keep herself grounded, that she has company, she has abandonment issues afterall.
at the end when you talk about Jinx shooting wildly and barely missing Vi I thought it was Silco firing the pistol and only because Jinx shot him he missed - giving it maybe a bit of a differenet context than just her shooting wildly
something most of you dont really touch, is silco's definition of being a "good father". Solco was born and raised in the preuprising era, in other words the second most worst era of the undercity next to silco's rule. they were not raised to have the same moral compass we have, hell, vander tried to kill silco because of them wanting to choose different approaches against the top-siders. Silco raised Jinx the way he thought would be the best, he indulged her in whatever she wanted. im 90% sure silco never wanted to raise her as a weapon. jinx is an inventor by heart, as seen in her childhood, she wanted to use said skills to help vi and the same probably happened with silco, just this time, she now had the time and resources to make something that works. i would not call Silco a good father by our standards. he is a bad person trying to be a good father all the while working tirelessly to complete his goal in life.
Not a League player, but I am so deeply obsessed with Arcane. I think it's the best piece of media I have consumed in my lifetime, to be honest. Cannot wait for seasonal 2
As someone who's played League since the Beta, be glad you don't play league, you dodged a bullet. The majority of the playerbase only continues to play because of either Stockholm syndrome towards the game or relapsing when they open the client to play TFT.
Silco, a good father? No. But Jinx does change him, just as he changed her. You cannot spend years with a person in your life without being changed. For Silco, the change is especially insidious. He is ruthlessly driven to achieve his goals...yet at the moment of victory, he found that there was something he couldn't do.
From what we were shown Silco was always a good father to jinx. He is just a violent person in a violent environment that eats weak people like powder. He protected her and guided her to the best of his knowledge. Imo Silco isn't even a villain, more like an antihero who appears evil and plays antagonist for a short period of the story, but not the whole thing. I think the show asks wheter the means justify the result. Rebelling against oppression is a good thing. Sacrificing innocent life isn't. And neither Vander nor Silco were willing to sacrifice Jinx. Both Vander and Silco needed to experience fatherhood to be able to understand the harm their actions are doing. It was Vander who got Powders Parents killed. Silco didn't even kill Vi, but he did embrace a innocent girl in the need of help, because he could see his pain in her. Whats a good father, but a dude who is trying to do his best? You can't blaime them for the world they were born into.
Exactly! That is why silco dumped out his drink at vanders statue, his brother, he finally understood what family and not being able to sacrifice his daughter, even though everything, everything he gave up to offically be called zuan was right there! He stated he would never take the deal becuase it would mean losing jinx. Vander loved powder, the innocence of the underdark. And silco loved jinx, the chaos and driven part of the underdark. Silco kills vander, powder kills her freinds, poweder kills silco, jinx kills powder.
Also, everyone in "zuan" is allready zuan, they ceased being a part of piltover long ago. Piltover just denys that fact. They never needed that offical paper to say they were them, which is why silco says he cannot take the deal, since loyalty is above all else, no matter how sweet the deal is. Vander and silco both wanted the same thing, just could not see eye to eye at the same time, again, hence the killing.
so i love your video but i dont think that Silco has raised Jynx as some type of revenge against Vander, he dont adopted Jynx because of that, Silco adopt Jynx because she is him, he was planing to kill her, until she talk how she was betrayed by her sister, this make Silco feel a connection because he was also betrayed by his brother, he see himself on Jynx. One of my favorite theories about Arcane is the theory that Jynx is the soul of Zaun, she is the avatar of the undercity, and that also show on her relationship with Silco, Silco loves Zaun, his primary goal is to see Zaun free and strong, as a nation that will not be slaved and abused, but to get that, he corrupt Zaun, he feel Zaun with shimmer and turn Zaun into a weapon, is a direct reflexion of what he does to Jynx, not because he see Jynx as a tool or Weapon, she is his daughter, but because he believe is necessary for the greater good of Jynx, it will make her stronger, it will make harder for her to be slaved and abused. In the end Silco refuse to betray Jynx, because selling Jynx for Zaun is pointless, they are the same, if he betray Jynx he betray his goal, in the end while he die, he see Jynx as the perfect manifestation of everything he loves about Zaun.
12:55 Here is what I think that is going on in Jinx's head. Part of the reason why Jinx's trauma manifests is the loss of her family. Pretending Milo and Claggor are still alive is part of her survival mechanism to think that she didn't destroy her family. Even though Milo's words are hurtful its probably more comforting to hear harsh words than recall that Milo is dead. Some evidence is when she has to face Ekko or any detail that said Vi is still alive. If she has to confront this fact she also has to confront the fact she killed everyone, and when Ekko was fighting her she went suicidal. The only options for Jinx's Psyche to convince her she wasn't someone that deserved to die was to pretend that she didn't kill everyone. Jinx is having a hard time as she finds more evidence that she is someone that kills the people she loves, but she is identifying that as part of her more and more. And I think that next we might find that Jinx starts to hide from connection itself due to what it tends to inevitably mean. She has killed 2 parental figures, 2 brothers, she probably thinks she killed Ekko at this point, and doesn't think that Vi is even capable of loving who she is currently.
"The human heart in conflict with itself is the only thing worth writing about", as GRRM likes to quote from Faulkner. Jinx' arc is a hell of a conflict.
Quick point to 13:03 It is common for psychologically challenged people that are suffering from trauma and blame themselves to hold on to things that hurt them. A sort of self harm that I believe is caused by the toxic unconscious thought, that you deserve the torture. Kinda similiar to how depression is essentially a train of thought that travels in circles, never letting you go even though it should be easy to "just not think bad thoughts". I'm not trained in psychology, this is just my general life experience, so take that with a side of salt. also that place that symbolizes family as you put it, could also mean that it is the stand in for vander with his gloves hanging on the chair
Jinx never shot at Vi during the dinner party, Silco fired the shot that missed Vi, if you slow the scene down you can see as Jinx rises, the tables candles are on Jinx's right side, aiming her at silco, when you see the shot going at Vi it misses her shoulder, the path of the bullet travels in a way that shows it came from across the table, not the side, and lastly when silco drops the pistol, the barrel is smoking, showing he fired. Sico shot at Vi and Jinx responds by shooting at Silco. You can also tell it's Silco that gets shot because Vi's chair has a large gouge in the backing, that Silco's does not, the chair back we see get shot through doesn't have a huge chunk missing, showing that it's silco that gets shot before the reveal.
You can also see that the moment Jinx comes back to reality (she turns her head as the camera zooms into her eye) is when she hears Silco remove the gun safety. We see multiple times through the show that Jinx's perception of reality is altered, yet she manages to avoid getting hurt in combat situations despite that clear handicap. She likely manages to do that by reacting to things like movements and noises before trying to understand what happened. Instead of asserting the threat before shooting, she shoots first, then analyse the aftermath. Silco arming the gun triggered her sense that she was in danger, and she reacted immediately out of survival instinct. She probably didn't even realize who she was shooting at until after she stopped.
If there is a Villain in this show, then its the system of oppression and indifference that created Zaun and its people in the first place. Jinx herself is only a product of this system and not more villainous then terrorists and child soldiers would be in real life. It should also be mentioned that she shows very clear signs of borderline personality disorder throughout the entire show, beginning in her childhood. This mental illness is among other things defined by extreme fear of abandonment, an unstable image of self, uncontrollable anger and in some cases even brief psychotic episodes and paranoid delusions. She asked "where should I sit" to simply get clarity about her own identity - wether she is a jinx or not - and where she stands in relation to her sister, especially after those horrible hallucinations she had during the shimmer transformation. After what subseqnetly happened on that dinner table as a consequnce of her self-sabotaging actions, she decided to take the "Jinx" chair not out of malice, but because SIlcos death and last words made it very clear to her that she is indeed a jinx and that she only brings bad luck and destruction to her loved ones. She probably also perceived Vis unwillingness to get rid of Caitlyn as a sign of rejection and abandonment. As a result she then decided that Vi is now her enemy, because she couldn`t deal with the pain of no longer being loved by her own sister. Remember her last words: "I thought maybe you could love me like you used to, even though i`m different (a total jinx). But you`ve changed too... So here`s to the new us!"
You say the expressions are exaggerated, but I find them to be extremely subdued and realistic in comparison to mainstream animation. They hit the perfect balance between reality and fiction, I think. Some have also said it's "almost as good as actual actors," and it's not, it's even better. Compare this animation to the mo-cap of God of War (2018 & Rangnorok): Kratos _barely_ emotes and they have to do extreme close ups to catch what little there is, when before, he was wild and extremely cartoony in his expressions--you could see them from meters away--almost to the point of comedy. (That face he makes just before letting go of Pandora just sends me 🤣 It comes off more as gastrointestinal distress than the epitome of rage.) So in GoW's case, they're now too wooden where before, they were too wild. Arcane is perfectly balanced in comparison to the two God of War eras. Aside from that, the only other thing I slightly disagree with is Silco; he's not nearly as unhinged as the others you compared him to, for they actually attack their loved ones. Silco didn't. Look back, not once was Jinx ever struck. Yes, she got screamed at because Silco has his own issues, but he never struck her. He never even really punishes her when everyone and their mother thinks he should. Yes, he's manipulating Jinx into a weapon, but that's not his only goal. He clearly loves her, allows her to be creative, actually uses her inventions (as unstable as they are) and cherishes every piece of artwork, as seen by the ashtray on his desk the desecration all over his ceilings. There are countless creatives who don't have those privileges because their art isn't practical or profitable. Besides, if manipulation is all it takes to be a bad parent, then no one is a good one because we all manipulate our children in one way or another. It's unavoidable, I find. He also gave Powder the time and attention Vander never gave her. He gave it to Vi because she was easy, she was basically a younger version of himself while Jinx was (and is) like Silco; a neurodivergent child made evil by current events outside of their control. It doesn't excuse Vander's neglect, but I can see how Powder would be difficult [triggering] for him to deal with.
Love the video. Just a couple of thoughts I had, where my impression differs slightly from how I interpreted what you put forward. Art is subjective and Arcane is beautifully layered, so not asserting I am definitively right or anything, just putting the perspective forward 😊 When Powder arrived at the cannery it looked to her that they were in a very dangerous position. She saw Vi getting attacked. And they were still a bit away from being confident in their ability to get out themselves at that point. I think Vi always intended to go back at the end of episode 3. She was angry/shocked at herself more than anything in the moment she hit Powder. She walked away to get control, to not hurt Powder again. I don't think there was any doubt she was intending to head back and look after Powder. And I believe Vi's decision to leave Powder behind was motivated more by the danger it presented to Powder than Powder's penchant for accidents. It happens in quick succession after her chat with Vander on the bridge. "What are you willing to loose?". Her motivation to fight in the first place was for Powder. The answer is not Powder. She decides to hand herself in predominantly to protect Powder. Upon seeing that go distriously wrong she heads back to grab things. She has had no time to process and has yet to complete her goal of protect Powder. She lashes out when Powder doesn't acquiesce. She is hot headed and lashes out angrily in general. In the Enemy film clip it shows that Powder has caught the brunt of her anger before (not an attack on Vi - she is a child then a teen who has gone through hell and lives a difficult life with what I am assuming are limited mental health services - it happens, far too often). So still stressed she responds angrily before getting some control and being more rational and trying to explain- but Jinx is already spiralling in her mind by then. It is fear for Powder that motivates her. Same at the end of episode 3 she lashes out angrily. Not because she doesn't love her sister, not that the feelings are not valid. But her learned behaviour has been to lash out in physically aggressive ways. Before getting her shit together and repairing. Silco never actually "lied" to Jinx. He thought Vi was dead. While he didn't seek Jinx out to tell her that Vi was alive, I don't think they actually interact for him to actually lie. And prior to that I think he believes everything he says to her. Manipulative or not. Just to be clear. Silco is a shit father. He is a horrible person. And I agree that people that idolise him have missed something or need to reflect and address those feelings. He is manipulative, like mentioned. But I think he genuinely believes what he says. And he did give her some things that she had missed. He did care. He did protect. He did support her interests and in developing her strengths. If you look at his desk in arc 2 and 3, you can see mugs and ash trays and things she has decorated that he uses, like a proud parent accepting the little gifts from your kids that mean the world. He trusts her to be in missions. He stands up for her. He trusts her to administer his medication. He is vulnerable with her. And when she is acting out at him, he stays supportive and doesn't lash out back. He takes it and validates her feelings. Things she didn't consistently have with Vi and Vander. Horrible person and he did some things that were really destructive to her. But I think he actually believed what he said to and about her. That was what made him so dangerous. He believed he was doing what was best for Jinx, and for the people of "Zaun". And in so, he didn't have regrets or feel shame or guilt. In his mind he had nothing to feel that for.
Silco: good father, no. Loving father, yes. He doesn't know how to be a parent so he sticks with what he does know.
I like to compare him to Thanos who thought he loved his daughter Gamora, but Gamora didn't love Thanos. Silko chose Jinx over his dream. Thanos did not.
@@artloveranimation another way to look at it is silco loved his daughter, thanos loved the idea of a daughter
Silco was the father Powder/Jinx wanted, not the one she needed
Exactly, i think he’s as good of a father as he is capable of. Because he is so twisted and broken himself, he cannot be a healthy father. But definitely not a parenting tactic to emulate
I think that Silco too love more the idea of Jinx that Jinx herself. And this is in fact why I don’t understand people believing that Silco love Jinx unconditionally while Vi not. It’s the contrary for me. The fact is simply that Silco approve her action why Vi do not.
The development of Silco's feelings towards Jinx can be explained visually in two scenes. The first is when Jinx gives him the Hex gem and hugs him. Silco keeps his attention on the Hex gem and ignores Jinx. The second is when he finds her, near death, on the bridge. Silco sees that Jinx has the Hex gem, but now he focuses on Jinx and ignores the Hex gem.
Love those two moments!
He doesn't ignore Jinx. He's both confused and touched, like "Okay, I realize this is a gift and I appreciate it... but WHAT is this exactly? Must be something important for her to go to these lengths."
Silco wouldn't instantly know this is a new Hextech core until Jinx herself explains it and he realizes she just stole a new and improved Magitek Arc Reactor for Zaun.
When vi said “Mylo was right” jinx took that to heart and mylo became her voice of reason from that point forward.
Silco I think is a good example that there's more to being a parent than sincerely caring about your child. Love alone isn't enough to be a healthy influence.
If parents are meant to only healthily influence their children I've never met a parent.
I think the saddest thing about Jinx sitting in the Jinx chair is that it’s one of the few times where there are no voices, no visions, nothing screaming at her, no delusions, no tricks…nothing… None of the characteristics of Jinx are present as she makes that decision. It is a decision unusually made out of calmness and silence.
She just calmly sits down and quietly accepts that Vi will never accept her the way she did before. And it’s brutally heartbreaking to see her make that decision without any of the demons that got her there to begin with.
I noticed that too. I think the reason for this is that she has finally accepted herself as Jinx, leaving all the hallucinations behind as it was not what she did that haunted her but her trying to come to terms with what she did. In accepting herself as Jinx, she accepts those things as having formed her and being apart of her, leaving her calmer than ever… a new Jinx
She would have never chosen powder in a calm way because for her to accept those events that haunted her, she has to accept herself as Jinx. Powder would still require the acceptance of others, some kind of forgiveness that she would never receive and it’s not who she is… she has changed. Therefore she had to choose Jinx or else she would be lying to herself. I think it’s heartbreaking not that she chose Jinx over Powder, but that she was forced to do so and there’s nothing that could change that. Let me know what you think (if anyone ever reads this, that is)
I love this
Silco's love for Jinx is mirrored in how he shows his love for Zaun
He cares for both, but is a toxic influence to them. Yes, they grow but at a heavy cost. Shimmer is quite literally empowering Zaun and is what saves Jinx, but it changes them in more ways than one...and not all of them good. It's a delightful depiction of toxic love.
Better to be strong then weak & exploited... even the council who were finally agreeing to let Piltover go were only doing so in response to the violence and problems that Piktover was causing Zaun. It's super easy to be judgemental of the necessary lengths that Silco goes to for the comfort of your own safety... but even the peace that was possible came as direct result of the violence that Silco embodied. Zaun would have kept abusing & exploiting Piltover forever if Silco didn't keep the partisan rebellion going to increasing intensity
22:26 I guess what people actually mean is that he's a loving father, which they see as being a 'good father'.
He's absolutely not a good father in terms of being a good role model and teaching her the right things, but he's a good father in the way that he is emotionally present and supportive of his child.
I agree. That's a really good way of putting it.
I think it's more that he's as good a father as he is capable of being, twisted and broken as he is. He gave her the best parts of himself, even though that's still not "good" by any standard.
As Jinx was someone always seeking approval, Silco was exactly what she wanted. Silco acts as an enabler... They met at her worst moment and when she was full of sorrow and anger, he embraced her. When she was full of rage, he let her harness it. When she was lashed out with violence and destruction, he praised her abilities. And when she made mistakes that would bring wrath upon her, he sheltered her from the consequences of her actions. Her formative years were spent learning that anger doesn't need to be tempered, that violence solves problems, and that rules do not apply to her. She got all the approval she ever wanted, but none of the life lessons she truly needed in order to be a well-adjusted individual, and with her father figure being the man in control of everything she got to be the spoiled child who never had to face the music.
Silco definitely loved Jinx and gave her everything she ever wanted, but that's a large reason of why he's such a bad father - all good parents know that children must learn from their mistakes, they must face the consequences of their actions, and that letting them run wild will only damage them in the long run. Silco took a sad little girl who was burning with anger and instead of helping her heal, he handed her the gasoline and told her to have fun playing with the fire.
One thing I REALLY love about this scene is that Jinx had already chosen where to sit, she just didn't realize it yet. When she asked Vi to kill Caitlyn, she showed how gone she was, no way she could be Powder again in Vi's eye after making such an insane request. I think the last time she was Powder was in that bridge fight with Ekko, but when she decided to blow herself up and tried to take Ekko with her, she sealed her fate. After taking copious amounts of shimmer to survive the explosion, there is no way she could be Powder again.
I guess in that way Powder didn't die during the baptism, but after the fight with Ekko.
@@Deadflower019 I agree with this, I think Powder died there, and not in the baptism. It's more fitting that the last person to see Powder would be her former best friend
I think one thing that should be mentioned about why Powder hugs Silco - She has an unhealthy form of attachment. She ties her self worth to pleasing Vi and being useful to her. In the mind of someone like that, in order for life to be worth living, you need to be of use to someone, anyone. With that form of attachment, the person you attach yourself to is like your life raft and you're stuck in a vast ocean. When she felt Vi abandoned her, she effectively had no self worth and started drowning in that ocean. Whether it be consciously or subconsciously, she formed an attachment to Silco as an act of self preservation.
Good take.
That's a great explanation. I always found it annoying that Powder instantly gave up on Vi ("She's not my sister anymore") and didn't even seem too upset that basically her entire family died because of her. But what you said makes a bit more sense to me of why she acted that way.
Notice how in the end when Vi and Silco are fighting verbally over Jinx, Silco is trying to calm her down, whereas Vi is telling her to picture everyone that she sees as demons from her past. Silco understands the pain that Jinx went through when she thought Vi left her, same as Vander leaving him (almost killing him), Whereas Vi doesn't understand what Jinx has gone through, that sisterly bond might be strong, but its also damaging to Jinx at this point.
Yeah, Vi thought that reminding Jinx of their adopted family would be grounding for her. But she didn't realize that it was only triggering. Vi did her best. If she and Jinx could finally have an uninterrupted conversation, they could clear up a lot of things and she can learn how to help her with her mental health. They both need healing
Ironically, Jinx is the structural protagonist of Arcane. Her decisions drive all the act transitions.
So, just one thing I want to comment on. The moment when Jinx hands Vi the gun and asks her to "Make her go away". The obvious implication here is that Jinx wants Vi to kill Cait. But I'm not so sure that is what's happening. In an earlier scene Vi tells Cait about a game she and Powder used to play, making up scarier and scarier monsters until Powder got too scared and asked Vi to "Make them go away". In this scene, Jinx says it was Vi who made Jinx, "The Monster You Created". I think she is asking Vi to make Jinx go away so she can be Powder again. So they can go back to the way things were. Granted, the way to make Jinx go away, at least in her mind, might be killing Cait, but the significance of the line, I think, runs deeper.
I agree with this and would like to offer supporting evidence.
On the bridge fight scene between Jinx and Ekko. Jinx was suffering accurately with her traumatic hallucinations leading up to the confrontation. They flashed back to their childhood and when Ekko was about to finish things you see a flash of lucidity in Jinxes face.
I don't think that flash was manipulation. I think Jinx knew If she kept living she would 1 continue to suffer and 2 keep hurting people she loves. So she wanted to die in that moment as Powder instead of living as Jinx.
Then when Jinx is being treated by Singed and loses her grip on sanity, it is Vi and Caitlyn she sees turning her into the monster.
Underrated coment
Bro said one of the smartest read of a character I have ever seen
I think you're close but not quite. I think she WAS speaking specifically about Cait.
It was a test, really. Just like the 'I made her a snack!' quip was also a test.
But this one, it was about loyalty. It was about whether or not they were still sisters.
Vi was the one who made the monsters go away when she was little. And what's the biggest monster to Powder?
Enforcers.
Caitlyn isn't even a person to her, she's just an enforcer. "Sevika wasn't lying?? You're with an ENFORCER?"
What does Vi want more than anything in the world? Her sister, Powder.
If Vi will 'make her [the monster/Cait/the enforcer] go away, she can have Powder back'
Her sister would never have hesitated before. She would've made the monster go away, just like she always did.
But Vi hesitated.
Vi failed the test.
Hence the "But you changed, too."
This is so interesting, I never thought about it this way or heard anyone break the scene down like this.
Always loved that Silcos words "youre perfect" are because he was always changed by how Vander betrayed him, so to have Jinx kill him to save her sister was the biggest show of loyalty from her in his eyes
Omg I never thoght of this but it makes sense. I was confused how he could say that after Jinx clearly just experienced a psychological meltdown. One thing though. He didn't resent Vander for his betrayel. In his opinion it made him stronger. So technically Jinx betrayed Silco to protect family. Similar to how Vander "betrayed" Silco also to protect two little girls who he basicly adopts. I still think Silco must be delusional by his love for Jinx to feel like she is "perfect".
Powder killed Silco to protect Vi. Then Jinx killed Powder to avenge him.
Someone said ….
Powders last act was to kill silco..
And her first act as jinx was to avenge him.
True
Very beautifully put :)
The amount of ananlysis videos Jinx got on youtube is INSANE. You know a character is well crafted when she gets this kind of reception and attention.
One of my favorite things about Silcos last line is the deep meaning it has for both him and for Jinx. Earlier in the show, he has a similar line but he says "Jinx is perfect." He is reassuring and manipulating his daughter once again that she is Jinx. She is no longer Powder. That JINX is perfect.
This final scene makes his last words so powerful because her internal struggle through this scene is between being Jinx or Powder. Her old self or her new. The person Vi wants her to be or the person her father figure wants her to be. When she snaps, firing the gun, it is an extremely shocking moment. As I watched her say goodbye, I expected him to stray her away from Vi one last time but he didn't. He reassured his daughter that he would never sacrifice her and he repeated his previous statement but modified it.
"You are perfect."
This statement tells her that whoever she chooses to be is perfect. He notices her struggle, the one he had failed to spot before. I think this statement does influence Jinx's final choice but ultimately, she chose to be the person he father raised her to be. His last moments of genuine reassurance convince her who she is. One single line sets her villain arc into complete action.
This being said I do not think Silco is by definition a good father. He has many flaws. He does many things wrong. But I do think he truly cares about her. He sees his own struggles in her and wants to protect her. This is shown clearly through his choice between his daughter and Zaun. Zaun has been his lifelong goal and it was just within his reach but Silco refused to sacrifice Jinx. I think that this shows that she means a lot more to him than just a weapon or a puppet to manipulate. He will do anything for her.
In conclusion, I love this show. I can go on for paragraphs and paragraphs about Silco and Jinx's relationship. There is so much detail and work put into it story-wise and that doesn't even include the art of the show. It is so beautiful and is definitely among one of my favorite shows.
The animation of Powder sobbing uncontrollably was both perfectly done and gut-wrenching.
One of the aspects that you touch on for this scene, but I think deserved more attention, is the aspect of acceptance... particularly that of Vi's accepting of Jinx. Other than the one time in anger, where she calls her a jinx, Vi never addresses her sister as Jinx... only as Powder. Vi wants her sister back, but she clings to the past and the ideal of Powder even when Jinx tells her, "Stop calling me that, it's Jinx now. Powder fell down a well." From the time they reunite, Jinx tells her that she's no longer Powder, but Vi never accepts that.
In having the two seats, one with Jinx and one with Powder, she's asking Vi to accept her for what she's become. She asks if they're still sisters because Vi seems to only want Powder and doesn't seem to even acknowledge Jinx, as if to imply that Powder is her sister while Jinx is not. In the end, all she wanted from Vi was her love and approval, but she only gets that as Powder... Her first words after killing Silco say as much, "I used to think that you could love me like you used to, even though I'm different, but you changed too... so here's to the new us." In that statement, Jinx acknowledges what Vi seems to deny - they've both changed, even if they try to deny it. Finally, as she fires the missile at the council chambers, she does so with an angry and anguished scream... as it's the second time in her life where she's all alone - for a second time she's lost a father figure and her sister, as she faces the realization that Vi will never accept Jinx.
The outro song, "What Could Have been," was composed specifically for the show and it's placement was no mistake... the lyrics up through the first chorus fully encapsulate the state of the relationship between the sisters, as seen through the eyes of Jinx, because she knows that she has to let go of the desire to be accepted by Vi (And worst of all, for me to live, I gotta kill the part of me that saw that I needed you more)... and the music swells as the missile fires to the sound of the question that Jinx internalized the entire time... "Why don't you love who I am?"
I’m sorry but I just don’t really empathize with this viewpoint. The “Jinx” that you want Violet to accept is a murder machine with no empathy for life. Vi literally just left prison where the only view of Jinx she has is the little girl who feared violence, not reveled in it. That is a impossible thing to ask of Vi, especially so quickly.
For you to understand so deeply the Jinx value process you must either have suffered as much or deconstruct yourself so much to the point of suffering. Be it aggregation or disgregation your comment is felt. A huge hug
@@lotus2001erm but yeah thats the point. the whole time jinx has felt that her true persona was that of a curse, and she desperately has sought acceptance. as a child, what she sought was more her desire to have someone see her as NOT that, to be affirmed as someone good and worthy (which she got from vi), but now as a young adult the acceptance she seeks is from someone who acknowledges her true nature and still cares for her (which she got from silco). what infinus said about vi not actually accepting jinx is *extremely* poignant: from the very beginning, we saw vi always defending her sister and affirming her positive values, and now after a long time in prison vi still clings onto that vision, even though its no longer the reality. vi loves powder, but does she love jinx? im sure vi *wants* to be able to love her sister, but especially after her adventures with caitlin, it may be impossible for her to accept everything jinx has done. thats what makes it so compelling.
Vi and Jinx are the embodiment of Piltover and Zaun. Vi wants Powder yet doesn’t realize that Powder like Zaun suffered during this period. It’s further expanded upon throughout the entire series that Vi refuses to recognize that Jinx is a part of Powder almost depriving Jinx of any say in her life similar to Piltover gunning down protesters wanting change making it clear that Zaun/Jinx can either give up who they are or split from Piltover/Vi and carve a new path.
Think of what the name "Jinx" actually means to Powder/Jinx. She didn't just pick it out of a hat. She's internalizing and identifying with a painful personal insult denying she has any worth. It's like she's injuring herself every time she says her name. People who love her shouldn't just step back and accept that, and Vi doesn't. Does she navigate this extremely delicate psychological situation with perfection? Maybe not. But she has the right instinct.
More broadly, Vi doesn't accept that she has to choose between Powder and Jinx at all. That choice is something Powder/Jinx tries to impose on her. But Powder and Jinx aren't two different people; there's no hint that she's dissociative. And Vi unquestionably loves the one person to whom both those names refer. The one person who can't see that is Powder/Jinx... precisely because she doesn't think she's worthy of being loved. In fact, I'm going to go out on a limb here and speculate that *there is no possible chain of events that doesn't end with her sitting in the Jinx chair*. Whatever Vi (and Silco) might say to her in that room, she is going to interpret it in the worst possible light and respond with behavior that further sabotages the situation until it reaches a breaking point, because that's the self-destructive pattern she's been displaying all season long.
tl;dr: Don't ask whether Vi loves Jinx; ask whether Jinx loves Jinx.
I think people love Silko because in THAT moment he trades everything he's dreamed of for Jynx and they (Validly) believe that he loves Jynx more than Vi, if only because the person he loves is Jynx and the person Vi loves was Powder. He's flawed but in the end he realizes how much more important his legacy through Jynx is than anything else in his life.
“Power, real power, doesn’t come to those who were born strongest, or fastest, or smartest. No. It comes to those who will do *_anything_* to achieve it.”
There's just one thing he wouldn't do.
@@KesinX And that was his downfall.
Honestly, it's completely fair to say Silco was manipulative. He definitely was, but I think a lot of his actions in the last episode at least were genuine.
In the end, when you've stripped away the ambition and the hate, he did love Jinx and in his twisted way he believed he's doing what's best for her.
Silco doesn't like Jinx, he loves HER.
Violet, on the other hand, loves a memory, the past, and cannot tolerate change.
Do not separate Powder and Jinx. These names are one body, one mind.
I feel like you need to consider the scene right after Silco talks with Jayce. The one by the fountain where Silco is "taking to Vander" (so to speak) and laments "is there anything so undoing as a daughter". His love for her has literally undone his entire lifework, his purpose. Everything he does in the series is to accomplish the one single goal of freedom for Zaun. He was betrayed by his brother for it, and in turn killed his own brother for it. Its everything he worked towards and he gives it up because he loves his daughter more. You can't say he's manipulating her into a weapon for his own use, when he is literally putting her life ahead of the one thing he would do it for. Yes, he may have only taken Powder in as his daughter initially to turn Vander's child against what Vander died for, a "middle finger" to the brother that betrayed him. But he also saw a parallel between the relationship between himself and Vander, and the relationship between Powder and Vi. He saw himself in her, which I think can be argued for with the line "we'll show them, we'll show them all", as he embraces her. There is also evidence from other character interactions with Silco, regarding Jinx, such as Singe (who had a daughter of his own once) sedating Silco before operating on Jinx, because he knows how hard it would be for a father to watch what was going to happen. The scene leading up to that didn't have Silco stood nefariously in a corner ordering Singe to stop Jinx from dying, he's frantic, desperate, pleading. He's a bad person, and not a great father considering he's the villain of the story, but he loves her as a father. And as Jinx points out at the end, Silco didn't make Jinx, Vi did. And Vi doesn't love Jinx, but Silco does.
22:26 Silco throws away everything he was doing to save her, and throws away everything he wanted to protect her. Those are the qualities that make him a "good parent". He tries (tries) to teach her not to make the same mistakes he made and views her as someone like him. Remember Silco was betrayed first and almost killed by someone he considered a friend. Those things aside, being a responsible parental figure and being a "morally good" person are not mutually exclusive things. Silco attempted as much as he could within the bounds of his world to be an anchor for Jinx. Sure he's an unrepentant murderer, sure he's a deviant that would flip the world on its head, sure he's a criminal overlord that would gun you down should you get in his way... except for Jinx. He would see the world burn and throw away things he desires, for her. He is a dysfunctional human, but honestly in that show who wasn't broken in some way?
He's more of a loving parent in that case. And not all loving parents are good parents unfortunately.
I don’t think the dolls were twisted trophies but physical embodiments of the voices in her head. Claggor said so little to her, so in he’s depicted as a small doll due to his small impact on her and her emotions. Milo however, still has the same impact on her emotions as he did when he was alive. Making him more life-size in her mind, constantly looming and constantly bringing her down. The stuffy was a symbol of Vi’s love and her symbol of her childhood. Since Vi was still alive, she didn’t need a new body. As for Vander, she kept his gauntlets. Probably the most impactful part of him to Powder. Since he didn’t share much of a fatherly bond with her. He was more a protector. (But maybe she didn’t make a Vander a body because she knew that he was in Singe’s basement). So yeah. During the last episode when she said “some things never stay dead” this is at least my understanding of what she meant.
About the cupcake moment, I like it because it shows that vi has already lost faith in jinx. Seeing the platter, she just assumes jinx did something horrendous, even before the thingy is lifted. Although it’s played off as a joke, it’s kind of tragic, because it shows to jinx, even Vi to some extent believes powder is dead.
As for silco, he’s a bad father, because being a father isn’t just about loving unconditionally and showing support for all one does. That being said, I believe that he would have never given her up, she wasn’t a means to an end at least not purposefully. Silco sees jinx as basically himself, he wants to save her from the pain of the internal conflict between jinx and powder, just as he likely struggled between himself and Vander. That’s why he does so much to drown powder out.
Silco isn't a good father, but unlike everyone you compared him too, he was someone willing to die for her, to give up his dream for her. He learned what being a father was like after bringing Powder to his side and for the first time learned why his blood brother turned against their people.
He isn't a good father, he didn't know how to be a father, but he was more than many in that he was willing to raise her.
Silco isn’t a good father, but he is a loving one
Here is a wonderfully explained analysis
PeaceAndLove USA
PeaceAndLove USA
8 gün önce
I think the reason a lot of people think Silco was a bad father is because they apply their own standards of "good" to other cultures, in this case, Zaun. Is it bad parenting to allow or even encourage your child to build explosives in, say, the U.S.? Yes, of course. But is it bad parenting to do the same thing in Zaun? Well, we don't see a single instance of anyone condemning Jinx/Powder's hobby (which she chose on her own, not Silco). In fact, we see she has only ever received criticism for the bombs failing. Culturally, this is seen as a positive thing. Encouraging your child to pursue their passions is not manipulative, it is good parenting.
"But he used her in his criminal enterprise!" Some might cry. But, again, consider the culture of Zaun. It is stated in the show that "there is a crime behind every coin that changes hands in Zaun." Crime is not just culturally accepted, it is the norm. Therefore, Silco's criminal enterprise is no different, culturally speaking, to owning a corner market. Not teaching her how to earn a living and get by in life would be far worse parenting, in this context, than having her be a part of the family business. It is no more "using her as a tool," than having your child work as a cashier at your store is "using them as a tool." He is teaching her important life lessons such as responsibility and how to survive in the harsh reality of their world. That, again, is good parenting.
Silco is not "parent of the year," but he is objectively a good parent, and that is why many people say he is. Silco did a lot more right than he did wrong as a parent, so much so that Jinx rightly identifies he is not responsible for who she became, her trauma is. Girl was building bombs in her parent's basement as a small child, then got hit with tenfold the trauma, all before Silco ever took her in. She would have turned out messed up under anyone's care, but she gained a lot from being under Silco's that she simply would not have under anyone else's care. Under someone like Vi or Vander's care? She would have turned out useless and full of self-doubt, on top of the fascination with making things go boom, and a general disregard for human lives. Under someone's care with values that more closely reflect our own? She would have been dead in a week. Silco did not make Jinx, he made Jinx strong and resourceful enough to survive. He made her confident in her abilities and gave her the platform to showcase them to the world. He gave her purpose, and a cause truly worth fighting for. One cannot overstate how important and positive Silco was to Jinx's development, and that all comes down to his parenting.
12:38
I think you misread the totems. It's important to keep in mind that while Milo berated her, it's all but stated that he and Clagger were effectively her brothers. Siblings will fight, bicker, and bully, but that doesn't stop them from being your siblings.
The totems of her brothers are there for the same reason Jinx regularly hallucinates their ghosts. They aren't trophies or reminders, but actual stand-ins constructed during a psychotic break.
i see it differently... silco didnt raise her to get at vander imo he raised her since she is what he was... abandoned, betrayed and misunderstood... he isnt a good person no but he tries to safe her threwout the years he doesnt know how to treat her mental health or anything but what he knows is that she deserves better and he tries all he can to give her everything... he gives her comfort he gives her love he gives her stuff to do in her spare time sure the stuff isnt really the good kind but the rules go differently in zaun... for me personally silco is my most loved charackter ... he was betrayed eaten up by hatred went a dark path to get revenge... after he achieved it he saw that he isnt the only one so he helped powder/jinx in the way he knows worked for him
Great video! One thing I might add is the key misunderstanding that Vi had about Powder in that scene that ultimately led to her going fully mad: Vi believes that Jinx/Powder holds all the things she does with the same value. Vander, Mylo, Claggor, their parents. All those things are sources of comfort to Vi because they remind her of happier times before Silco and Jinx. But to Powder, those names and memories are sources of pain and guilt; people she'd rather not remember and wished they'd never existed. Vi tries to bring Powder back by reminding her of things that made Vi happy, and instead pushes Powder further into her own trauma, until eventually Powder doesn't exist anymore, and only Jinx is left.
Silco is a bad father, but he was still a loving one.
At the last moment though, he did one thing right as a "good father".
He showed forgiveness and moreover (I think), understanding for Jinx/Powder to have chosen Vi in his eyes and expressed his feelings of genuine care until the very last moment. It was just all too late.
Please don't get the idea I'm glorifying the relationship. Silco is a terrible person. Personally Flying Walrus's video described this relationship the best. A blind person leading the blind, a beautiful painting drawn by blood. Silco did his best, and his best was terrible.
I love that video Flying Walrus did!
Silco telling Jinx that he wouldn't have given her up for anything always gets me😢❤
Silco is a terrible person, but he has the same abandonment issues as Jinx. Vander was his brother. And Vander betrayed him. He sees a lot of himself on Jinx. That's why he didn't kill her. Yes, he lies to her, he manipulates her. Like I said, terrible person. But he did mean it when he said he rather lose Zawn than lose Jinx. And I think for many people who watched the show, that's what makes him a 'good father'. Because those people are also traumatized children who would love to have a father willing to give up the world for them.
Silco loved her? Yes. hell yes. Was he a loving father? Yes. Was he a good father? FUCK NO. Was he a decent father? Not even close
💅ZAWN✨
@@sebastianaristizabal3871 he states it clearly - everything he ever wanted, true political power, and Zaun's independence, and he only barely considers it. Silco, like any normal person just doesn't consider his adopted daughter something to trade.
17:20
Well. Thats incredible .
Just because a character is tragic doesn't mean they're not a villain. Villain doesn't mean Skeletor or Megatron, evil is evil and villains are villains, it doesn't matter if they had a bad childhood or were put through trauma or suffered some great betrayal or lost a loved one. In the case of Jinx she fits all of these but that doesn't matter.
Villains are still human, being sympathetic doesn't change that.
Agreed
Regarding Silco, Gab did not bring up on one of the most, if not the most, important scenes in his arc. The drink with Vander. Where he acknowledges his full understanding of what made Vander abandon the way of a revolutionary and, at the time, lose his respect. The fatherhood.
I would have if I was specifically talking about Silco's arc. I was mostly focused on Jinx. But you are definitely right of course.
@@Gab2671 Point taken, yet it felt like You did Silco a wee bit dirty here. I am firmly in a camp considering Silco a villain and not a good person overall, yet it's hard to deny that he stepped into the role of Jinx's father as best as he could. Saying that he was a product of his environment and his best only went so far...
Silco fought for a revolution, he fought for better conditions in Zaun.
And he did achieve a type of good for a lot of people. He created the groundwork so that there's trade and not exploitation of the undercity.
There is actually a type of ultimate evil with invisible hands in the background, and it's the political foundations.
There's also a hard choice. Do you choose to stand still and stagnate, and do nothing against the suffering and injustice? You could also act instead...
On the scale of complicated+peaceful and simple+violent, what do you see as possible? Is one of them too slow? Is there too much corruption? Does the calculation add up?
do you value the peace? How far can you take the excuse of doing something for the sake of others - to justify your crimes?
How much corruption stands in your way to achieve prosperity for all?
"Are you real?" and, in this scene, "You never left..." tells me that Vi is another person Jinx has hallucinated during her psychotic episodes. We even see an example of it with the pink-haired woman she hesitates to shoot. Powders reaction when she's left behind in the rescue of Vander is likely a triggering point for her schizoid personality disorder.
this scene gave me a panic attack ngl, i couldn't string a thought together after watching it... like, 15 minutes of my brain racing in every possible direction... it wasn't fun-- that said i loved it and can't wait for another season.
SAME
12:45 From experience, it's a familiarity thing very likely. It took me years to stop carrying around things that reminded me of an abuser & trauma inducing situations that damaged me as a kid. Sometimes when people get fractured, we get stuck in 'familiarity loops', clinging to artefacts that remind us, repeatedly taking jobs that replicate abusive dynamics, etc. Because it's a comfortable familiarity we know, even if it hurts us it's still a familiar place we know how to exist in. And fuck is it hard to try to grow past the need for that known-familiarity.
"The ghosts that live in our heads, are the ones that haunt us the most severely ." ~Arii Tesh
Vi defending powder: "She's a problem, but its my problem!"
Silco dying breath: "Don't cry. Jinx is perfect."
Not even that
Silco: "You're Perfect."
No matter who she chose to be, he would accept her because she was his little girl.
I like vi's approach. she actually considers her a human being with flaws while silco puts her in a pedestal
I won't defend Silco, nor do I think any love he had for Jinx makes up for his actions, but I do think he was in danger of turning into a different man.
Vander was supposedly known as the "hound of the underground." Silco repeatedly mentions how Vander had been some kind of monster during their time of leading the uprisings. "I knew you still had it in you" after Vander tried to choke Silco, or him telling Vander "I'll show you what you really are" and threatening to use Shimmer to turn Vander into a monster. Vander had once done monstrous things. That's why Silco was so in disbelief about how Vander could roll over for Piltover, because this was the same ruthless, driven man that had been instrumental in their rebellion. It was also the same man who had decided he couldn't let Silco live and tried to drown him in the river. It was Vander finding the kids and becoming their father figure that made him leave that old life behind. He found something he couldn't sacrifice, even for the cause. He became a different man.
This is why I think Silco is such an incredible character, because he's going through the same transformation. Before Jinx, he had given his speech about how power comes to those who are willing to give up anything, but as the show goes on we see how power is slipping away from him because Jinx is the one person he'll never sacrifice. His business partners were turning into rivals, his second in command was questioning his judgment, his corrupt sheriff was beginning to crack, and all because he wouldn't give up Jinx. It took Jace flat out forcing the ultimatum for him to realize how far he'd fallen, prompting the scene where he drinks in front of Vander's statue and says, "It all makes sense now, brother" and "Is there anything so undoing as a daughter?"
So yes, Silco was a monster and a terrible influence, but he was in real danger of becoming a good man.
I have to mention this every time someone says Silco is a bad father: if we're talking about OUR world, absolutely. Call CPS on him, get Powder out of there.
But in the world of Runeterra, and especially in the nation of Zaun, Powder can't exist. She NEEDS to he Jinx, and Silco prepares her perfectly for the world.
Alot of people say "he manipulates her, making her think how he thinks", and I just have to say, yeah? Obviously? All parents do that. That's what it is to raise a kid. You're imprinting your ideologies and morals onto the child in an attempt to make them the best person they can be, to prepare them for the world.
Holy crap, I didn’t notice that Jinx’s hallucinations represented by scratches and scribbles say “Vi” when she’s in the arcade they used to play in as kids. 😱
Love the insane attention to detail in this show!
Jinx keeps Milo and Clagger dolls because she doesn't want to believe that they're actually dead due to what she did in the first act.
Oh, she's well aware they're dead. But she still feels like they're haunting her, in a metaphorical sense. I imagine it was more along the lines of having something to remember them by, a way to put a body to the voices she was already hearing. Or, considering she doesn't have one for Vi even though she admits to hearing Vi's voice through her childhood (in the scene where they reunite, the first time she realizes Vi isn't dead as well) they might be ways to take out her anger. Vi was pushing her forward, positively, but we see Milo speaking to her negatively, maybe Claggor to a lesser degree as well (explaining why his doll was smaller, potentially), so it's entirely possible that she might've made them as a way to hit back when she got sick of listening to their voices demean her.
Though this is a great opinion piece, it's mistaken on several parts. You are correct on many of the aspects of these characters a small and yet important oversight to many of the key points that was both written and animated to show, not tell, the nuances. First, let's address Jinx. Her confusion was always between Vi's words and actions. See Jinx was unsure about who was lying between Silco and Vi because they BOTH were lying to her. Vi, in her actions, and Silco, in his omission. Silco, like Jinx, believed Vi was dead and treated her as such. Which make Vi's abandonment a circumstance of death not of choice. One Silco expressed in turn with his actions towards Vander. Jinx, like Silco, trying their best to help save the people they care about ultimately costing lives and being labeled the villain. Jinx, despite her errors and traumatic triggers, found someone who regardless of severity and opinions of others sided with her. Just how Vi did with her words but not her actions. Silco had no obligation to Jinx, for she's not family and she's the one who destroyed his operations. And yet, Silco couldn't turn his back on her. This is why Jinx believed so much in Silco, because he placed his trust in her regardless if she messed up or felt incompetent. Jinx, with Vi was the opposite. Vi took everything in her own hands despite voicing support for others. This is seen in the lockpicking scene with Milo, where Vi didn't place her trust in his skills and kicked the door down anyway. Where Vander, a wiser leader, reassured Milo and guided him through the pressure. This is because Vi, is a child herself dealing with her own issues. Jinx and Vi reunion is key to how Vi wasn't there for Jinx but to her own guilt for correction. Jinx points her gun at Vi and she says "Powder, I'm here for you and ONLY you. You can fire that thing at me all you want but I'm not going anywhere." Here's two biggest problems with this scene. Vi isn't acknowledging Powders growth into Jinx and she makes a statement about her loyalty which she later breaks. Now Jinx and Ekko have been fighting from the beginning of the time skip. Shooting to kill. He tries convincing Vi, Powder isn't there anymore. Which is key because he has the will and mindset to Kill Jinx. Jinx, her bombs killed everyone on that bridge except two people. Cait and Ekko. That's because they weren't her targets. Even Marcus point blank range from Cait died as well as the enforcers in the back and yet Cait only got hit with shrapnel from the bombs on Marcus. Here is where Vi's action turn. Jinx not aiming for Vi or Cait but between them to separate the two end up with Vi giving Ekko the ok not only to stop Jinx knowing HE has the will to kill her because he doesn't see her as Powder anymore. Ekko was shot and had the Hextech. Cait injured on her leg. The plan was to get Ekko infront of the council on behalf of the firelights and Zaun to show good faith and built rapport. Vi was telling everyone she's there for her sister and yet in the moment of truth Vi takes the Hextech and Cait and turns her back on her sister. Remember, she said "fire that thing at me all you want I"m not leave you." Her actions proved Silco words true. She wasn't there for Jinx. She was there to apologize to Powder to free herself from her guilt. If Vi was there for Powder, she would be there for Jinx or whatever other name she might call herself because it's her she's there for. Vi was there only for Powder which Jinx knew and poses Vi those two questions, "Are we still sisters?" and "are you only here for Powder?" Super deep commentary, where Silco passes those test. He more than anyone else, in his dying moments put Jinx's needs above his own dreams and desires. Here with limited time and speech he knows her pain and sees her suffering and says three things all for her mental well being.
1) "I would have never given you to them." That regardless of what you over heard regardless of what it might have looked like, giving you up was never an option. Not when their crew complained and not for a deal for everything he's ever wanted. We know this because of two scenes. His confrontation and his faith he put in sevleka letting her choose to kill him or not. And his scene with Vanders statue, saying "I can have all that I've ever dreamed of ... I understand now. Daughters undo that." He understood why Vander gave up the fight for a slow death, it was for his daughters future. That Silco too would give up his dream for one of those very same daughters.
2)" Don't Cry... " for him. For choosing to protect Vi. For making that choice because He was doing exactly that. He was trying to kill Vi to save Jinx. To keep her safe. He at every step tried to help her broken mind. From helping her tackle her traumas, to giving her space to emotionally recuperate "take some time anyway" to trying to shut Vi up while her words were triggering and spiraling out Jinx trauma responses. On the surface it looked like Vi was trying to "bring Powder back" but that's the flaw and irony behind it all. Jinx isn't multiple personality disorder where JINX takes away Powder's free will. POWDER IS JINX and JINX is POWDER. She schizophrenic which isnt DID (dissociative identity disorder) Vi was hurting powder/Jinx because she couldn't see that powder is Jinx. Ekko did, that' why he stopped because he realized, powder never left... powder grew into Jinx. Exactly what Jinx was trying to tell Vi "you never left. you were always there whispering in my ear and prickles on my neck." She's explaining her own identity of Jinx, it's Powder+Vi+Silco+Milo. Silco, knew that and that's why he said "fear... haunts us all, child." It's her fear, her flight or fight reaction due to her trauma.
3) "... you're perfect." Not Powder is perfect. Not Jinx is perfect as he said before to her. He specifically says, "you're perfect" whoever you decide to call yourself, you are not broken, not a messup , not a burden but you are perfect as you are. If he wanted to manipulate her, here is the best moment to say "JINX is perfect" but he didn't. He didn't care about that. He only cared about her well being. YOU the person behind the name, is perfect. Silco loved Jinx more than Vi ever could. Vi is stunted mentally and emotionally. She couldn't understand what Jinx needed. She only knew she felt responsible for what happened to Jinx. That's not acceptance nor love. Silco, was like any other drug lord driven to do what the government wasn't. He was trying to improve the lives of people. True, the drugs he used damage many lives as well. He also fed, clothed and gave jobs to the children of those addicts.
The true villainy is the oppression and exploitation of the people of Zaun. One that even Heimerdinger, who lived before the creation of either city and who could have helped but never did. His idea of wait and see, slow movement toward progress because he does live longer doesn't translate to people who are struggling today and now.
Though Silco and Vander were enemies and through his actions caused Vanders death, he wanted them to be on the same side again. "Show you who you really are." Words he spoke to Vander that buried beneath the fake peace Vander had negotiated between topside and the Lanes was more than a compromise but cowering while people were abused, suffered and ultimately exploited regardless without any clear way out. That it was a slow death for the undercity. Silco, despite rising in success didn't abandon the Zaunite dream of liberation once being respected by the councilors.
this is super solid, this needs more recognition
congrats, you explained the whole show jk just this aspect very well and as a whole. should be said more often
I think another reason why this scene is so great is the fact that Jynx is so crazy and gone that you the viewer genuinely don’t know what Jynx should do. You want her to be with Vi but you understand why she believes Silco. It’s an interesting device that’s so realistic that the viewer is also torn on what Jynx should choose.
I think it was interesting you point out how Vander wasn't particularly present in Powders life. I think there's a few aspects to this. I think Vander really did care for her like she was his own daughter, and did his best for her, but didn't know how to connect with her like he did with Vi. This isn't helped by Powders natural tendancy to cling to Vi, which I think would have made it harder for her to open up to Vander as a father figure, also perhaps not really wanting her biological parents to be "replaced". So while Vi does take on a motherly role, thats only a possibility because they were close siblings to start with. Moreover, when Vi goes to hand herself in, it is to Vander that Powder goes. Though they may not have the same sort of mentor style relationship he has with Vi its clear that Vanders presence is comforting to Powder. So I'd argue that though the two probably don't go over life lessons like Vander does with Vi, they do still have a reasonably close relationship given the circumstances, at least emotionally.
Silco is a very loving father but he's a horrible person and a pretty bad father, I don't necessarily think he was manipulating Jinx at least not intentionally he just taught her what he knew.
It's so tragic that Jinx literally ruined everything. From being responsible for the death od Vander, Mylo and Claggor, to ruining chances for Zaun and Piltover peace. She unintentionally put Vi in prison and in consequence gave Silco a great weapon-maker (of herself). I guess only positive outcome that came from her actions was Vi and Cait encounter and relationship (and therefore changing Cait's mind about Zaunites).
I believe Vander and Powder had a good father-daughter relationship. That scene where she comes up to the bar after Vi leaves and he gives her a special cup for him to immediately become concerned when she doesn't perk up was enough to show, for me at least, that he is still highly attentive to Powder. But, unfortunately, their relationship isn't as vital to the plot as his relationship with Vi. And with Arcane's very limited run time, on top of the plethora of characters it has to juggle, it was left as more of an implication.
And with the clear parallels between Vander and Vi, and Silco and Jinx, I can see why they kept the relationship of Vander and Powder a more minor detail. Had I seen more of their relationship, I probably wouldn't have been so sympathetic to Silco as he took over that role.
One thing I love about Arcane, we all interpret pieces of it a little differently, especially when it comes to things such as this.
For jinx dolls.
U can see how they influence her.
Mailo has big doll skinny and tall, most memory of him are bad and they reflect, it's large as he had a lot of influence on her
Clager has a teddy bear symboliezing how he was nice and fluffy for her
Vander has only his mementos, representing his little influence
So i wanted to give my view on one specific thing jinx's puppets for Milo and her other lost friend.
Jinx has not, for the entire season, accepted the reality of what she did. She only does so in that final scene, a twisted "last supper" for her past.
The puppets are the materialisation of her reaction of reality. For her, clagger and Milo are alive, sitting right there with her. She even hears their voices.
Only once she shoots her secret weapon and destroys her past the voices stop. Powder is no more and jinx can thrive
Silco can be an appreciative father who loves Jinx without being a good father or a good person. He's clearly not in the right, but it's also clear he cares for her, more than other bad (or even good) guys have done in similar situations (good old "good for me or the greater good?").
I believe he truly loves her and she truly feels loved by him. Neither of them knows what a good family looks like and Jinx is even more of a troubled person than arguably every other character in the show combined, so one might even say he did as good a job as he could in that situation.
Anyways, obviously he did a lot of wrong stuff, but I can't bring myself to say Silco was a bad father.
One thing I find facinating about that moment when Vi is trying to remind Jinx about all the people that have loved her is that we see Jinx have visions of all of them...except for her parents. We very briefly see their mom on the bridge scene at the start of the show, but we actually see their mom a second time when Vi is having halucioations after she's been stabbed. But Jinx doesn't, which implies she doesn't even remember what her birth parents look like.
Also random added detail that I hadn’t noticed till about the fourth time watching this scene. When she’s wearing Vi’s gauntlets as she brings the cupcake platter out, if you look close you can she that she’s scribbled across them, including adding her pink and blue nail colors to the finger tips
Silco is a good caring father, that does not mean he is a good person. He cares for jinx he pushes her to develop her instrests and yes he wants her to do thing to help his bussiness. Thats every parent teaching how to take over teaching to help them survive a world. He sees a world that will destroy him so he wants to see her ready for that.
Exactly this!
Powder has essentially three paths in life - to become nothing but a Victim/Pawn in Zaun, with no control over her life, to become a Victimizer in Zaun, with the power to control her life to as great a degree as her power lets her, or the one that is not explored in the least (and I find it interesting that it is NOT explored), becoming an Oppressor in Piltover. The responsibility falls to Silco, and he chooses to make her a Victimizer in Zaun, along with the power to hopefully choose her own destiny.
There really are no other options for Silco. He doesn't want her to be Weak, a pawn who is at the mercy of people with Power. He doesn't want to turn her into an Oppressor, which is what Piltover would do with her (Viktor and Skye are both Zaunites working for Piltover, working on things that will give Piltover more power over Zaun, even if Viktor hopes that these things will free Zaun), so the only responsible option is Strength.
3:04 the frame before, that little spinning globe thingy (i forget the name) was only shown in episode 1, and was thrown into the river. This means that Powder went down there to go and get it at some point, decorated it with sparklers, and then used it to try and ring a bell in Vi’s mind that she’s is still in there, more than 10 years later. For 10 years she’s sat there with a trinket from her last ever trip anywhere with her sister. Ooooooooooooooo that’s good. She’d have just been marinading in guilt, anxiety and paranoia for /years/, stewing in self loathing. Oooooh the arcane writers are good at their jobs
The thing is Jinx and Silco had a toxic interdependent relationship. People often forget/dont realize Silco needed Jinx just as much if not more than Jinx needed him. Just like Jinx had abandonment issues from Vi leaving her, Slico had abandonment issues from Vander leaving him and that's why he was so desperate to get rid if Vi because he feared she would cause Jinx to abandon him just like Vander (notice how the mental break down he has when Vi escapes at the end of episode 6 is similar to the mental break down Powder had in episode 3). In the end Silco is a "good" father because he genuinely cares for her, tries his best to help her mental issues (but sadly relates them too much like his own so can't properly help her), and is willing to give up his dreams and goals just to protect her, but at the same time he's also extremely toxic because he's constantly manipulating her to be what he thinks she should be (even if she is aware this is what he is doing and to some extent allows him to so she can prove herself to him) and refuses to allow her to seek comphert for anyone else besides him (though he truly does believe Vi is just like Vander and will abandon Jinx again so in his mind he's trying to protect her not manipulator her, again he fails to see the difference between his relationship and Jinx/Vi's relationship)
You can also take her action of her killing silco as her last action as power and her shooting the rocket as her first action as jinx
id disagree, i think the persona of jinx has always been a part of her, but the moment she kills silco is actually also the moment powder dies.
Honestly, I feel like a lot of people are conflating the idea of affection with responsibility when it comes to parenting. Silco does love Jinx, but not in a healthy way, and that’s the point of their relationship.
Silco was willing to toss away the treaty for Jinx’s sake, took her in when she had no one, and comforts her in ways that no one else is capable of because of their closeness. To say he doesn’t love her AT ALL would be untrue.
On the other hand… he’s also enabled her mental issues and not allowed her to get genuine help with her trauma, and has effectively turned her into a weapon to be used in his quest for violence. I don’t think he was planning this from when he first got her, but I think it simply happened along the way because of his dysfunctional parenting.
Not to mention that he projects a LOT onto Jinx. He constantly compares his relationship with Vander to Jinx and Vi, but uses that to convince Jinx that her sister is incapable of loving her for who she is. Silco tries to treat their relationship and his old one with Vander as a 1-1.
Yet, this also gives an unsettling edge to their relationship: Silco wouldn’t give this same level of attention to anyone he wasn’t personally invested in. He’s surrounded by business relationships and people who fear him, yet Jinx never does, and this allows for a rare moment of emotional vulnerability from him. It heavily mirrors real life dysfunctional parents and their children: the affection is there, but it is buried under decades of unresolved trauma, anger, resentment, and baggage.
“Jinx and Silco’s relationship is unhealthy” and “Jinx and Silco’s relationship is as healthy as it could be given the people involved” are two statements that can coexist.
Does Silco love Jinx? Yes. Is he a good parent? HELL NO. Sadly, you can love someone and still not give them the things they actually need to improve or heal. Love is not a cure all, and it wasn’t enough for Jinx to heal; not from Silco, and not from Vi.
I think good parent is a perspective thing. If Silco was some savior good guy figure where he is very morally just and he let Jinx act how she does that is a very more clear example of being blinded by love for your child. But Silco is not that type of person and he is going to raise and appreciate things that fall within what he feels is right.
As he said, Jinx was perfect to him. A lot of people hold a lot of weight on the sacrifices someone is willing to make in the name of love/caring for an individual. Many even believe that is the most important aspect of being a good parent.
Everyone seems to fail to note the correlation between Vander and Slico, who called themselves brothers who betrayed, and Vi and Powder. Vi is Vander and Powder is Silco, or at least Powder is going down the Silco path. The betrayed by her sister (brother for Silco).
Coming from the standpoint of someone who has a lot of trouble trusting their own perception of reality and has a lot of abandonment issues the way silco acts makes him feel like a good father even though im aware he isnt. Im definitely easy to manipulate because of it but if someone is open and constant for me Id jump in front of a bus for them because it genuinely feels like the one time im not getting constantly pricked by needles. Like I am very aware that silco is a manipulative person but if Im looking at it from a purely internal (my own world view) silco is a good person twisted by his environment so I could see how people think hes a good father. I honestly related a lot to jinx not with the murder trauma but with not being able to trust (or form/solidify) your own perceptions of reality and lashing out because of it. I liked seeing the ending not because jinx became an evil badass but because it felt like the character I identified most with finally got a win (in the sense that she chose a reality for herself albeit with significant influence from silco's dying words)
I can't figure a way to say it as well, so here's a comment from another video.
ReelRai
5 months ago
Silco blew me away in this series. He's one of the best villains I remember in a looooong time.
He started out as a hideous villain. Someone who hated Vander for leaving the cause. And throughout the series we're not sure, if his care for Jinx is geniune or if he's just playing her, using her for his needs. I'm sure in the beginning, Silco just wanted to use her, and saw a little bit of himself in her. But by the end... oh damn. Silco is in the same position as Vander was and... he understands. He can't give up Jinx for Zaun. Zaun that he has worked his entire life to achieve, all undone by a daughter.
Vi loved Powder, and wanted Powder back. But Powder changed, and there was nothing but Jinx left. The only one who unconditionally loved Jinx, was Silco, and I think that's what the end scene is about. Jinx wanted Vi to love her, love what she had become, love Jinx. But after killing Silco she realizes he was the only one who really cared for her, no matter what she had become, and thus Jinx chose to sat on the Jinx chair.
It's a twisted father-daughter relationship, but goddamn if it isn't well done, and goddamn if I didn't tear up when Silco died
Completely agree :)
You put my feelings into words, thanks
I see it a bit different.
Silco wanted revenge on Vander indeed. But they had a level of mutual respect. Mostly because they had the same goal, the independence and freedom of Zaun.
Taking Jinx in was a way to show respect to his dead rival. As a favor that the winner does.
Silco will do anything to reach his objective, he would lie, abandon, steal, kill and betray if needed to reach his objective.
He was still fighting Vander, he was fighting Vander's values.
In the end If Silco stayed true to his beliefs he would've won. Not only the freedom of Zaun but even the argument against Vander.
But boy as my favorite scene goes ,he lost so hard : "A thousand times I've imagined this moment. All we've ever wanted-- the boy didn't even haggle. And what do I lose but problems. Oh it all makes sense now brother. Is there anything so undoing as a daughter?"
That's one of the amazing parts of Arcane. There really aren't any true villains. Maybe I'm forgetting something, but no one is truly evil, although maybe first appearing that way.
I dunno, man, a revolutionary gang leader killing a civilian of his turf and abducting someone he personally respects, for the express purpose of catching the kids that gave Topside a bloody nose… and killing them to make a point? Kinda sounds evil to me.
“He had his reasons” We all do. Heck, even if he was bluffing _hard_ (which I don’t think he’d have gotten away with, _if_ so), going that far opened the door to what wound up happening.
Silco taking Jinx as one last jab at Vander may have been a beginning positive for why he should, but he didn't think of it like that by the end, and the scene before Jinx kidnaps him is the one that tells it as it is.
Even pouring one drink for him for being right about an argument they never had.
13:14 I think that pipe was Vander's, so that spot is supposed to be for him
I strongly disagree with the idea that Silco molded Jinx into a tool. That completely dismisses her interests that were already displayed in Act One. Jinx already wanted to build bombs and weapons that would have started working at some point without Silco kidnapping Vander. We never see him make her create anything against her will and he doesn't even really see her as an employee. Silco just got lucky that he happened to take in a kid that would turn out to be a hextech hacking genius. I'm sure that unlike Vander and Vi he had the resources to give Jinx a workshop and whatever tools/materials she wanted which def aided in her finally getting her inventions to work.
Jinx molded herself into a tool, Silco ironically was trying to save her from it.
My two cents… First, I don’t think you’re giving Silco enough credit. While he is a terrible person, cruel and vicious, he genuinely loved Jinx and any manipulations he aimed at her, I feel it was ‘for the best’ in his mind. If it was actually detrimental to her (I.E. selling her out for his own goals) he refused. I think they loved each other and any bad aspects of their relationship (manipulation, mental illness) is because thy don’t know how to do better. I think Silco would have been a better father if he actually knew how… it doesn’t excuse his choices, but it wasn’t malicious on his part.
Second, I completely disagree that Silco adopted Powder just to get back at a dead man. Especially after he got his revenge. I think he saw himself in Jinx and tried to give her the comfort he didn’t get after Vander’s betrayal.
Third, fantastic video and I thoroughly enjoyed your analysis! I like hearing other people’s opinions and hope you make more! (Especially for Arcane. Possibly my favorite tv series.)
P.S. I completely agree that anything other than a father/daughter relationship is just not right.
*Micheal Scott voice “don’t.”
Well, technically parenting is a form of manipulation. Once a child is born, they’re mostly blank slates, ready to be primed by their parents. Silco found her in a very vulnerable state and raised her as he thought he should to make her resilient for a world that he had depicted in a certain manner both to her and to himself.
I agree, I feel like a good amount of video essayist miss the bond Silco and Jinx share. It's not all manipulation, he took her in because he saw himself in her, and he did try his best to raise her, but he himself barely understands love amd what's ok.
Yeah, he is a manipulative evil man, that's all true.
But his parental love towards Jinx is completely genuine.
He might not be a "good parent" if you look at it from a parenting skills way.
But he is a good parent emotionally.
Fantastic video. Arcane is truly one of the best modern soon to be a classic show we have gotten in the last few years and a prove that adaptations of any kind as long you are willing to put the work and have the talent to do so right and well, can be done terrifically amazing. Jinx arc was one of the many in the show and all where accomplished so well, but Jinx take the cake as the best developed character in a show FULL of great characters, this scene is a masterclass of story telling.....there are 200 billions budget shows that WISH have this amazing talent of writers on their staff (cof, cof, Rings of. cof, cof Powaaa cof), This entire scene is hunting and dreading with tension, you truly cared about every character...hell I know as a fan of the games Caitlin couldn't be kill off and yet when Jinx bring it that big plate......my heart was pounding my chest, and my hands where cold, I was scare Jinx already cut Caitlin head off and served to Vi on a plate, I genuine believe and fear they did it, despite all my instinct should know it was impossible, this is how talented this team is and how well written the show was at building tension and fear. A magnificent scene in a sea of incredible wonderful collection of beautiful scenes, Arcane is a masterpiece.
17:18 STIIIIT THAT TRANSITION THOOOO
I don't think Silco took Jinx in cause he wanted to get back at Vander, but because she was hurting and abandoned the same way he was. I don't think Silco was a good person by any means but throughout the series I don't think he ever lied to or manipulated Vander, Savika, or Jinx. I think those people he trusted (at least at one point) and so he was always truthful with them. I think he at one point truly cared for Vander, and I think he truly cares for Jinx (I don't know if he cares for Savika, but he at least trusts and respects her). I think he was a goof father in the sense that he did his best for Jinx, but I think his flaws as a person (seeing only value in strength (and while the diversity of strength he saw is good, that mindset is still horrible), the manipulation, the lack of trust, yhe focus on the mission above all else, the abandonment issues, etc) were passed onto Jinx and worsened her own issues. I think his worldview and experiences said "this is good and okie" and so he gave it to Jinx. I think he truly had unconditional love for her, and it's why he'd let her explain herself, why he only yelled at her when he thought she'd just sunk their mission for nothing, why he tried to give her those life lesson, why he didnt lie to her (from his point of view), why he defended her, why he trusted her, why he encouraged her, and in the end dispite all she'd done he was still proud of her. I dont think Silco was a good father, but I think he was the best father a man like him could be
Silco saw himself in the girl he found, abandoned, betrayed, alone, and in immense pain, so he took her in. He raised her as best he knew how, and taught her skills she needed to survive in the world as he knew it. He grew into fatherhood, and told his daughter a variation of what my mother told me, "Even if the world is against you, I'll be here" but, that message in a situation where the world is actually seemingly against you comes out as "The rest of the world will betray you as it has me, but I never will".
A thing that I noticed while writing this is that Silco growing into fatherhood means he became more like Vander as Jinx became more like how he was.
I think the problem with the discussion about Silco being a good or bad father is that it describes him as a person rather than his actions. As a father, Silco is a good father because he loves his adoptive daughter so much that he is willing to sacrifice his entire life for her. Morally, that's a good character trait to see in any parent and we wouldn't expect less. But is Silco good at parenting i.e. performing actions related to being a parent? No. Silco doesn't know how to set boundaries between himself and Jinx, and Silco uses Jinx as much as emotional support as she does him. Their relationship is extremely dysfunctional because neither of them know how to form healthy relationships and they're both codependent on each other.
Silco is a good father because morally he possesses a lot of qualities we expect from a good parent. But that doesn't mean he's good at actually being a parent as in taking good parental actions like setting healthy boundaries or processing past trauma. Silco tries his best (the scene when he yells at her for playing loud music and she doesn't care always cracks me up because it's such a typical parent-teenager scene that almost makes them look like a normal family) but his fear of hurting Jinx and turning her away from him is also the reason she ultimately did leave him.
My favorite thing about Jinx, is that nobody told her this was an action show… she thinks it’s a slasher… and she’s the monster
You forgot the near-literal cherry on top of her arrangement: the magic crystal on top of the cupcake (which itself is a callback to the nickname of Vi's lover). She served it on a silver plate. It is pretty much what every fraction was chasing after and only she can deliver. So much unused potential and all she can do with it is cause destruction...
On wikipedia these characters are villains, in the series they are humans
Silco didn't lie to Jinx in the beginning when he said Vi was gone, he genuinely believed that. He did lie however when Jinx confronted him near the end of the season. Just wanted to clear that one up because a lot of people think he was lying from the start.
Jinx is not a villain. Depends on perspective. For Zaun Piltover are the villains and for Piltover Zaun is the enemy. Jinx is the hero to Zaun and a villain to Piltover. Her character arc has both complete hero and villain arcs
But jinx doesn’t care about zaun. She’s a villain to all, it’s why zavika hates her. It’s more accurate to say she’s more victim than a villain
Ekko is the hero of Zaun. Not jinx
@@SirKickz I don't think Zaun agrees with that. We are never shown the Firelights having any real influence to the average Zaun
bit of a controversial take here I think slice was not a good father but he was a good "dad". What I mean by that is he did end up caring for jinx and when he was raising her probably tried to teach her how to handle the situation she was going through by doing the same thing that he did when he was a younger with vander. The only problem was his way wasn't healthy or even remotely good for their mental health. Yeah, he stilled tried to teach her his ways and yeah there relationship is still real weird, but I don't think in the end him raising her was just a way to get back at Vander. The "your perfect" line was I think a way to relieve the stress of killing another person that she loved on accident and as a way to help with one of her mental health issues the feeling that she was never quite enough or that she was never quite "perfect enough" for anybody.
Silco is different, while he is a manipulative person, he does not manipulate Jinx. What he says to jinx is genuine. He never lies to her or use her. He tells her what he truly thinks. Now wether or not it's the thing to do is another debate, but jinx is the only person he doesn't manipulate in the show. I think you must have seen it already but there's great videos of a therapist, (Georgia Dow) analysing the silco jinx relationship, and it's really interesting.
Yet he still lets her kill and sends her in when he needs havoc to be caused. Real father would never do that.
@@janchvatal1538 I hate this kind of argument, we can afford to say that through the comfort of our lives... But faced with plagues and death, hunger, war, REAL oppression what would we do? What was Silco supposed to do? He can't cuddle her in that kind of environment, because if he did... She'd instantly die. He was a good father within what he could do and what he tried. Faced with a big decision he chose HER and sacrificed everything for her... And that's exactly what a real father does.
@@MPOfficielle Yeah. What they are doing is basically comparable to an average parent trusting us to do grocery shopping while they are away.
@@BraveLilToasty Exactly, I love this analogy!
@@janchvatal1538 Yeah, he is a criminal. He is fine with killing himself so of course he is also fine with his daughter killing.
For Silco, Vander was weak
When Silco started loving Jinx as a Daughter, he too became weak
He even has a scene where is speaking to the statue of Vander saying he now understands Vander
I wouldn't say Silco is a terrible father, but I won't deny that he's a manipulator. I think he's a bad person trying to be a good father, while also tiptoeing around anything that might make her turn or snap because he knows she's a loose cannon
I think Jinx keeps Milo and Claggor's dolls are to symbolize that she still can't let them go (they're her adopted siblings afterall, they're a family) and that the guilt is still eating at her. It's to keep herself grounded, that she has company, she has abandonment issues afterall.
at the end when you talk about Jinx shooting wildly and barely missing Vi I thought it was Silco firing the pistol and only because Jinx shot him he missed - giving it maybe a bit of a differenet context than just her shooting wildly
something most of you dont really touch, is silco's definition of being a "good father". Solco was born and raised in the preuprising era, in other words the second most worst era of the undercity next to silco's rule. they were not raised to have the same moral compass we have, hell, vander tried to kill silco because of them wanting to choose different approaches against the top-siders. Silco raised Jinx the way he thought would be the best, he indulged her in whatever she wanted.
im 90% sure silco never wanted to raise her as a weapon. jinx is an inventor by heart, as seen in her childhood, she wanted to use said skills to help vi and the same probably happened with silco, just this time, she now had the time and resources to make something that works.
i would not call Silco a good father by our standards. he is a bad person trying to be a good father all the while working tirelessly to complete his goal in life.
Not a League player, but I am so deeply obsessed with Arcane. I think it's the best piece of media I have consumed in my lifetime, to be honest. Cannot wait for seasonal 2
As someone who's played League since the Beta, be glad you don't play league, you dodged a bullet. The majority of the playerbase only continues to play because of either Stockholm syndrome towards the game or relapsing when they open the client to play TFT.
Silco is the World’s Okayest Dad.
Regarding even Jinx knows she's crazy, Cait says "she's too far gone" and I feel like Jinx's giggle is saying "I'm pretty far gone..."
Silco, a good father? No. But Jinx does change him, just as he changed her. You cannot spend years with a person in your life without being changed. For Silco, the change is especially insidious. He is ruthlessly driven to achieve his goals...yet at the moment of victory, he found that there was something he couldn't do.
From what we were shown Silco was always a good father to jinx. He is just a violent person in a violent environment that eats weak people like powder. He protected her and guided her to the best of his knowledge. Imo Silco isn't even a villain, more like an antihero who appears evil and plays antagonist for a short period of the story, but not the whole thing. I think the show asks wheter the means justify the result. Rebelling against oppression is a good thing. Sacrificing innocent life isn't. And neither Vander nor Silco were willing to sacrifice Jinx. Both Vander and Silco needed to experience fatherhood to be able to understand the harm their actions are doing. It was Vander who got Powders Parents killed. Silco didn't even kill Vi, but he did embrace a innocent girl in the need of help, because he could see his pain in her. Whats a good father, but a dude who is trying to do his best? You can't blaime them for the world they were born into.
Exactly! That is why silco dumped out his drink at vanders statue, his brother, he finally understood what family and not being able to sacrifice his daughter, even though everything, everything he gave up to offically be called zuan was right there! He stated he would never take the deal becuase it would mean losing jinx. Vander loved powder, the innocence of the underdark. And silco loved jinx, the chaos and driven part of the underdark. Silco kills vander, powder kills her freinds, poweder kills silco, jinx kills powder.
Also, everyone in "zuan" is allready zuan, they ceased being a part of piltover long ago. Piltover just denys that fact. They never needed that offical paper to say they were them, which is why silco says he cannot take the deal, since loyalty is above all else, no matter how sweet the deal is. Vander and silco both wanted the same thing, just could not see eye to eye at the same time, again, hence the killing.
so i love your video but i dont think that Silco has raised Jynx as some type of revenge against Vander, he dont adopted Jynx because of that, Silco adopt Jynx because she is him, he was planing to kill her, until she talk how she was betrayed by her sister, this make Silco feel a connection because he was also betrayed by his brother, he see himself on Jynx.
One of my favorite theories about Arcane is the theory that Jynx is the soul of Zaun, she is the avatar of the undercity, and that also show on her relationship with Silco, Silco loves Zaun, his primary goal is to see Zaun free and strong, as a nation that will not be slaved and abused, but to get that, he corrupt Zaun, he feel Zaun with shimmer and turn Zaun into a weapon, is a direct reflexion of what he does to Jynx, not because he see Jynx as a tool or Weapon, she is his daughter, but because he believe is necessary for the greater good of Jynx, it will make her stronger, it will make harder for her to be slaved and abused.
In the end Silco refuse to betray Jynx, because selling Jynx for Zaun is pointless, they are the same, if he betray Jynx he betray his goal, in the end while he die, he see Jynx as the perfect manifestation of everything he loves about Zaun.
12:55
Here is what I think that is going on in Jinx's head. Part of the reason why Jinx's trauma manifests is the loss of her family. Pretending Milo and Claggor are still alive is part of her survival mechanism to think that she didn't destroy her family. Even though Milo's words are hurtful its probably more comforting to hear harsh words than recall that Milo is dead. Some evidence is when she has to face Ekko or any detail that said Vi is still alive. If she has to confront this fact she also has to confront the fact she killed everyone, and when Ekko was fighting her she went suicidal. The only options for Jinx's Psyche to convince her she wasn't someone that deserved to die was to pretend that she didn't kill everyone. Jinx is having a hard time as she finds more evidence that she is someone that kills the people she loves, but she is identifying that as part of her more and more. And I think that next we might find that Jinx starts to hide from connection itself due to what it tends to inevitably mean. She has killed 2 parental figures, 2 brothers, she probably thinks she killed Ekko at this point, and doesn't think that Vi is even capable of loving who she is currently.
"The human heart in conflict with itself is the only thing worth writing about", as GRRM likes to quote from Faulkner. Jinx' arc is a hell of a conflict.
Quick point to 13:03 It is common for psychologically challenged people that are suffering from trauma and blame themselves to hold on to things that hurt them. A sort of self harm that I believe is caused by the toxic unconscious thought, that you deserve the torture.
Kinda similiar to how depression is essentially a train of thought that travels in circles, never letting you go even though it should be easy to "just not think bad thoughts". I'm not trained in psychology, this is just my general life experience, so take that with a side of salt.
also that place that symbolizes family as you put it, could also mean that it is the stand in for vander with his gloves hanging on the chair
Jinx never shot at Vi during the dinner party, Silco fired the shot that missed Vi, if you slow the scene down you can see as Jinx rises, the tables candles are on Jinx's right side, aiming her at silco, when you see the shot going at Vi it misses her shoulder, the path of the bullet travels in a way that shows it came from across the table, not the side, and lastly when silco drops the pistol, the barrel is smoking, showing he fired. Sico shot at Vi and Jinx responds by shooting at Silco. You can also tell it's Silco that gets shot because Vi's chair has a large gouge in the backing, that Silco's does not, the chair back we see get shot through doesn't have a huge chunk missing, showing that it's silco that gets shot before the reveal.
I actually didn’t notice that until now. That’s an insane attention to detail in such a brief moment.
You can also see that the moment Jinx comes back to reality (she turns her head as the camera zooms into her eye) is when she hears Silco remove the gun safety.
We see multiple times through the show that Jinx's perception of reality is altered, yet she manages to avoid getting hurt in combat situations despite that clear handicap. She likely manages to do that by reacting to things like movements and noises before trying to understand what happened. Instead of asserting the threat before shooting, she shoots first, then analyse the aftermath.
Silco arming the gun triggered her sense that she was in danger, and she reacted immediately out of survival instinct. She probably didn't even realize who she was shooting at until after she stopped.
If there is a Villain in this show, then its the system of oppression and indifference that created Zaun and its people in the first place. Jinx herself is only a product of this system and not more villainous then terrorists and child soldiers would be in real life. It should also be mentioned that she shows very clear signs of borderline personality disorder throughout the entire show, beginning in her childhood. This mental illness is among other things defined by extreme fear of abandonment, an unstable image of self, uncontrollable anger and in some cases even brief psychotic episodes and paranoid delusions.
She asked "where should I sit" to simply get clarity about her own identity - wether she is a jinx or not - and where she stands in relation to her sister, especially after those horrible hallucinations she had during the shimmer transformation. After what subseqnetly happened on that dinner table as a consequnce of her self-sabotaging actions, she decided to take the "Jinx" chair not out of malice, but because SIlcos death and last words made it very clear to her that she is indeed a jinx and that she only brings bad luck and destruction to her loved ones. She probably also perceived Vis unwillingness to get rid of Caitlyn as a sign of rejection and abandonment. As a result she then decided that Vi is now her enemy, because she couldn`t deal with the pain of no longer being loved by her own sister. Remember her last words: "I thought maybe you could love me like you used to, even though i`m different (a total jinx). But you`ve changed too... So here`s to the new us!"
You say the expressions are exaggerated, but I find them to be extremely subdued and realistic in comparison to mainstream animation. They hit the perfect balance between reality and fiction, I think. Some have also said it's "almost as good as actual actors," and it's not, it's even better.
Compare this animation to the mo-cap of God of War (2018 & Rangnorok): Kratos _barely_ emotes and they have to do extreme close ups to catch what little there is, when before, he was wild and extremely cartoony in his expressions--you could see them from meters away--almost to the point of comedy. (That face he makes just before letting go of Pandora just sends me 🤣 It comes off more as gastrointestinal distress than the epitome of rage.)
So in GoW's case, they're now too wooden where before, they were too wild. Arcane is perfectly balanced in comparison to the two God of War eras.
Aside from that, the only other thing I slightly disagree with is Silco; he's not nearly as unhinged as the others you compared him to, for they actually attack their loved ones. Silco didn't.
Look back, not once was Jinx ever struck. Yes, she got screamed at because Silco has his own issues, but he never struck her. He never even really punishes her when everyone and their mother thinks he should.
Yes, he's manipulating Jinx into a weapon, but that's not his only goal. He clearly loves her, allows her to be creative, actually uses her inventions (as unstable as they are) and cherishes every piece of artwork, as seen by the ashtray on his desk the desecration all over his ceilings. There are countless creatives who don't have those privileges because their art isn't practical or profitable.
Besides, if manipulation is all it takes to be a bad parent, then no one is a good one because we all manipulate our children in one way or another. It's unavoidable, I find.
He also gave Powder the time and attention Vander never gave her. He gave it to Vi because she was easy, she was basically a younger version of himself while Jinx was (and is) like Silco; a neurodivergent child made evil by current events outside of their control.
It doesn't excuse Vander's neglect, but I can see how Powder would be difficult [triggering] for him to deal with.
Love the video. Just a couple of thoughts I had, where my impression differs slightly from how I interpreted what you put forward. Art is subjective and Arcane is beautifully layered, so not asserting I am definitively right or anything, just putting the perspective forward 😊
When Powder arrived at the cannery it looked to her that they were in a very dangerous position. She saw Vi getting attacked. And they were still a bit away from being confident in their ability to get out themselves at that point.
I think Vi always intended to go back at the end of episode 3. She was angry/shocked at herself more than anything in the moment she hit Powder. She walked away to get control, to not hurt Powder again. I don't think there was any doubt she was intending to head back and look after Powder.
And I believe Vi's decision to leave Powder behind was motivated more by the danger it presented to Powder than Powder's penchant for accidents. It happens in quick succession after her chat with Vander on the bridge. "What are you willing to loose?". Her motivation to fight in the first place was for Powder. The answer is not Powder. She decides to hand herself in predominantly to protect Powder. Upon seeing that go distriously wrong she heads back to grab things. She has had no time to process and has yet to complete her goal of protect Powder. She lashes out when Powder doesn't acquiesce. She is hot headed and lashes out angrily in general. In the Enemy film clip it shows that Powder has caught the brunt of her anger before (not an attack on Vi - she is a child then a teen who has gone through hell and lives a difficult life with what I am assuming are limited mental health services - it happens, far too often). So still stressed she responds angrily before getting some control and being more rational and trying to explain- but Jinx is already spiralling in her mind by then. It is fear for Powder that motivates her. Same at the end of episode 3 she lashes out angrily. Not because she doesn't love her sister, not that the feelings are not valid. But her learned behaviour has been to lash out in physically aggressive ways. Before getting her shit together and repairing.
Silco never actually "lied" to Jinx. He thought Vi was dead. While he didn't seek Jinx out to tell her that Vi was alive, I don't think they actually interact for him to actually lie. And prior to that I think he believes everything he says to her. Manipulative or not.
Just to be clear. Silco is a shit father. He is a horrible person. And I agree that people that idolise him have missed something or need to reflect and address those feelings. He is manipulative, like mentioned. But I think he genuinely believes what he says. And he did give her some things that she had missed. He did care. He did protect. He did support her interests and in developing her strengths. If you look at his desk in arc 2 and 3, you can see mugs and ash trays and things she has decorated that he uses, like a proud parent accepting the little gifts from your kids that mean the world. He trusts her to be in missions. He stands up for her. He trusts her to administer his medication. He is vulnerable with her. And when she is acting out at him, he stays supportive and doesn't lash out back. He takes it and validates her feelings. Things she didn't consistently have with Vi and Vander. Horrible person and he did some things that were really destructive to her. But I think he actually believed what he said to and about her. That was what made him so dangerous. He believed he was doing what was best for Jinx, and for the people of "Zaun". And in so, he didn't have regrets or feel shame or guilt. In his mind he had nothing to feel that for.
Silco is one of my favorite antagonists of all time
This is a really nice breakdown of what is going to be an iconic scene of an iconic show.
Thanks, glad you enjoyed it!
I 100% believed the platter moment. I was screaming at the screen, "NOOOOOOOOO". Incredible set piece that speaks so much about the show.