Were They Lovers? Worse.
they were PARTNERS.
I started this draft after I finished Arcane S2 because of how much it affected me (especially the ending), but guys, I am still in this Arcane brain rot. It has not left. I am still reading Jayvik fanfics and watching edits of this show because I love it so much that it hurts.
Spoilers for Arcane, including season 2, from this point on.
After watching this show, as I’ve said, I was watching edits and reading fanfics so abundantly that I didn’t pick up an actual book in December for days after finishing the show. I have been able to read since then, as it has died down (a little). Still, as the Arcane high started fizzling out, I started thinking more about the show's complexities rather than just the devastating ending of Jayce sacrificing himself with his partner. (I am keeping the title of this piece because I am not over it).
Some things came up that made me rethink season 2 and how things were portrayed as compared to season 1, and the interviews with the creators of Arcane certainly did not help.
Asexual Representation
The main thing I have seen was the discourse surrounding the confirmation of Viktor’s asexual identity from Christian Linke, the co-creator of Arcane, in an interview where he was asked about the portrayal of Jayce and Viktor’s relationship as romantic. He says that he wanted to bring in more ace rep since it is not usually seen in other media, but I feel the way he went about this was very disingenuous.
First of all, the confirmation of Viktor’s asexuality came as a rebuttal to the idea of Jayce and Viktor being in a romantic relationship, which just shows that Linke has no idea how asexuality works. Asexual is the lack of sexual desire, not romantic desire. To add to this, asexuality is a spectrum. People who identify as ace can still feel a level of sexual desire depending on the person.
Second of all, you can be ace and still want to be in a romantic relationship. For some reason, Linke is so opposed to the idea of Jayce and Viktor being together and this has been going on since the release of season 2, but maybe even before that. It’s possible that Linke didn’t think of the many romantic implications in Jayce and Viktor’s interactions — ESPECIALLY the ending — and that’s fine. But to be so vehemently opposed to the idea is just… weird? Arcane is phenomenal when it comes to representation across a myriad of identities, so why is another gay ship so disconcerting to him?
While ace rep in popular media is nice, this did not seem to be genuine. Maybe Linke really did envision Viktor as asexual; however, confirming it in this way as a counter to a ship that the fans created, and with clearly little to no actual knowledge of asexuality, is just harmful.
Oppressor x Oppressed
I don’t think the Arcane creators fully fleshed out a lot of character arcs that seemed very promising in season 1, like Cait and Vi’s — which I am still upset about. I get it, Cait is upset that her mother died, but to go to that extent? To completely dehumanize the Zaunite people and use the Grey against them? And Vi joining her???
Caitlyn’s character was completely ruined. I don’t care that she betrayed Ambessa for Vi as some sort of apology — which is not even close enough to a proper apology, in my opinion — she is still an enforcer at the end of season 2. This creator made a great point, saying that Cait and Vi’s relationship shifted from “privileged and oppressed to oppressor and oppressed”. This is why I am not as interested in Cait and Vi’s relationship after season 2. In season 1 they were so much better.
Their banter and chemistry were very prominent in season 1. Yeah, season 2 has a very intimate scene, but before and after that? I don’t know; it wasn’t as well produced, in my opinion. Season 1 Caitvi > Season 2.
Additionally, this fandom is seriously something else. I’ve seen way too many people going so far to defend Cait’s actions on the Zaunites by gassing them and when she was about to shoot Jinx with Isha hugging her. I don’t care how good of a shot she thinks she is — it was a possibility, a high one, probably, that she would’ve hit Isha too. And the fact that Vi telling her this didn’t get her to see some sense is where it went even more downhill.
It seems that the Arcane fandom needs a reminder that gassing people, whether in “controlled” areas or not, is bad. There was no guarantee that the gas wouldn’t reach innocent people in other areas of Zaun. The Grey is dangerous. Viktor’s terminal illness was caused by air pollution in the Undercity.
Many argue that Cait is a well-written character because of this, and sure, maybe she is, but I can’t get myself to like her. I thought she had a lot of potential to learn about her privileges and what it meant that she was an enforcer after experiencing the Undercity, but instead went backwards.
Zaun and Piltover
In season 1, we get a good look at the tensions between Zaun and Piltover. The enforcers are completely oppressive towards any Zaunite citizen, and we see the complicated “partnership”, for lack of a better term, between Silco and the sheriff, Marcus. This is very reminiscent of the deal between Vander and the former sheriff, Grayson, in Act 1 of Season 1.
I think Arcane did a great job at highlighting the oppression that Zaun goes through under Piltover and their enforcers, and that storyline was lacking in season 2. There was a scene of Ambessa’s guard (I think that’s what he was) unrightfully causing harm to a Zaunite with blue hair, and Caitlyn, despite all her faults, actually says something very interesting:
“Why is peace always the justification for violence?”
Girl, you literally gassed Zaun to find Jinx, but okay.
Maybe it’s supposed to signify her character growth, but whatever.
Moving on, I think it was really rushed in season 2. The tensions between Zaun and Piltover were the core of season 1. At the end of season 2, they put Sevika on a council seat as if that was enough to repair the damage.
The creators forgot their main plot line, brushing it aside and making them fight together against Noxus without addressing the horrible things Piltover put them through. The ending makes it seem like things will be repaired between the two cities, but I don’t really believe that. There is way too much that happened to just brush it under the rug. We can also see that the other councillors clearly do not agree with Sevika being there, but we probably won’t see that development since the Arcane creators decided to make a new series based on other places in that universe.
While there were a few things that I thought could’ve been done better, there was also a lot that I loved about season 2.
Fight Scenes
The animation in Arcane is stunning, and the music they use overtop of that? It makes it such a surreal experience while watching. What I loved in particular were the fight scenes. In season 1 they were amazing, but in season 2, phenomenal. I think my favourite one was the one between Jinx and Vi.
The animation, the music, the emotion behind it, just everything made it such a great fight scene. I hate that people discredit it just because it is animated because so many of them are seriously missing out on an amazing show. Despite the flaws I pointed out earlier, the relationships built between characters, the tragedies, the fights, the individual character’s backstories, and more, just make it such a worthwhile watch.
Jinx and Isha
⚠️ Trigger warning for mention of suicide ⚠️
Yeah, I’m not over this either. I love them so much. How could they give Jinx happiness and just rip it away from her 😭 Thinking about Isha’s sacrifice just makes me so upset all over again but it was ALL FOR NOTHING! Well, okay, maybe not nothing because she saved Jinx, but Viktor and Singed just “revived” Warwick anyway 😭😭
And not to even mention the parallels between Isha’s death and Powder’s mission to save her family and killing most of them instead because of the three Hextech orbs. Anyways…
Isha revived Jinx (metaphorically), giving her someone to care about and to fight for. With that gone… and Vander gone, too, she lost her family again. She went through that pain and more again, pretty much breaking her down to the point of contemplating suicide (and going through with it, until Ekko comes in and time travels back before she succeeds).
It’s so painful, but god did I love seeing the dynamic between them, and Jinx’s love for her growing to the point of seeing Isha as a younger sister. Arcane, the embodiment of tragedy.
TimeBomb
⚠️ Trigger warning for brief mention of suicide ⚠️
God, I didn’t think I would like this ship, but episode 7 of season 2 really changed my mind. I honestly didn’t think much of Timebomb in season 1, but this was so well done in one episode. I know I said a lot of things were rushed in season 2, but somehow, this one episode created such a beautiful relationship between Powder and Ekko that translated into the normal universe.
As mentioned earlier, Ekko stops Jinx from committing suicide by rewinding time 4 seconds every time she attempts and somehow brings her out of it completely and back into the fight against Noxus. Many people say that he is the only one who could bring Powder back, and that is so beautiful.
But like almost every other person in Arcane, they don’t exactly get a happy ending. The parallel between Ekko and Powder kissing in au and then Ekko sitting alone in the same spot in the normal universe after Jinx’s “death” is just devastating. Was that really necessary…. 💔
In All Timelines… In All Possibilities… Only You….
Saved for last……
I don’t think I will be able to articulate my feelings that well on this but I will certainly try (through the tears).
I really do not care if people only see them as a platonic or a brotherly pair, you can think whatever you want. But this scene… They transcend any kind of relationship. They are soulmates who sacrificed themselves for the greater good. Jayce just wanted his partner back.
In every single timeline, Jayce is the one to show Viktor that:
“There is no prize to perfection. Only an end to pursuit.”
And Jayce…
“But you were never broken Viktor. There is beauty in imperfections. They made you who you are. An inseparable piece of everything, I admired about you.”
Yeah. I don’t know what to say. Their relationship is very complicated, and the way they care for each other is so apparent, even before this scene. But this really just cemented it. I am not exactly satisfied with this ending, because we don’t know if they really died or were just… like, transported somewhere else or something. But still, what a beautiful, beautiful scene. My mind goes back to it every day.
There is a lot more that I loved about Arcane, but these were true highlights of the season. I’m not really sure what I wanted to do with this piece, it kind of turned into me yapping about how much I love it and how Jayvik invades my mind, but I hope it’s comprehensive and you guys enjoyed it anyway.
As always, let me know your thoughts! If you watched Arcane tell me about it! If you didn’t, and for some reason read to the end with all the spoilers, watch it anyway. It’s a show I think everyone should watch.
i’ve yet to watch Arcane but this post makes me want to even more, i’m not ready for the inevitable heartache 😟😟