I haven’t posted anything on this blog since 2018 and yet I found out yesterday that I was shadowbanned for some reason. I had no post flagged and my blog wasn’t even considered explicit, but it wasn’t showing up in search results.
I swear, every time I think tumblr couldn’t sink any lower, it finds a way to prove me wrong. The bottom has been reached a while ago but then it decided to start digging...
Anyway, I was considering coming back and posting new things here. Now I don’t really want to. So to whoever may find this blog, you can find me here:
OK this is going to be a little long but I need it out of my head so I can function and who knows maybe someone will appreciate the analysis !
Big spoilers for the last two episodes of arcane. You've been warned~
The final of arcane was very beautiful animation wise and does close around two (maybe three) of the storyline started before. But, and that's my problem it completely throw out of the window any and everything about zaun and piltover... in the worst way possible for me.
And that's what we're gonna talk about here.
And now that I know the episode was supposed to be 1h30 instead of 50minutes it makes a lot more sense. Riot, give me at least the storyboard, or the scripts, or the unused voicelines, anything really. Thank you.
So. To put it simply. The entire final is from the point of view of piltover only and yes, that's a problem.
"But Herk, it's a greater evil ! We don't have to discuss about the zaun/piltover situation it's about unification !"
Let's deconstruct that statement shall we ?
First "the greater evil" :
Up until episode 6, Viktor got a thriving and peaceful community going on in a place that was a wasteland before. None of the people here are drones yet (yes they are eerily peaceful, yes it was the beginning of the 'evolution' but at that point they werent yet drones), as proven by vander situation itself :
We clearly see Viktor searching for his personality in the terrible work Singed did on him. And finding him while talking with Sky that this is using is very finite resources but it is worth it.
When warwick says "don't touch my daughter" it's not Viktor talking. It's vander.
He is disagreeing with Singed on using his method and we don't know at that point if people would have died with him if his death hadn't been brutal... which leads me to :
Then Jayce comes around and kills him, starting the chain of events that leads to the final. (Because "you can make me see the glorious evolution is not worth it" becomes "if I murder him it will stop everything." Instead of, i dont know, talking to him and saying "look in my mind". Dumbass.)
We have no clue what could have been (haha) if Jayce had talk to Viktor then. Maybe he could have severed his link with the commune in a gentle way, maybe not. But we don't get to see that. Because jayce jump-start the actual Glorious Evolution.
Now for the "it's about unification" part :
Pilltover has been keeping Zaun under dictatorship for months, wagonning people to prison without as much as a trial (but hey, they didn't use the _worst_ cells yet. Because 10 people in a room with no bed is very human. Fuck you).
Used the "grey" which is basically mustard gas in zaun's street as a way to "keep people safe". Do I really have to say thay it is bullshit or ? (Especially as we see victims of the grey beat up and left IN IT after the enforcers passage !)
And have the confirmation that pilltover is very aware of the gas problem in zaun (even over their enforcers having gas mask instead of. I don't know. Making sure the air is breathable without risk in zaun.)
And all of this for ? Ha yes, allegedly capturing one person. Again, not taking any responsibility in why this person exists in the first place (exploitation for decades > violent repression > murdering her parents > corrupt police making their money with gangs and not caring about it because what consequences? haha we are up they are down).
While using a foreign military to do so.
( "but Cait is grieving!" I don't care. It doesn't justify her putting thousands of people through fascism.)
And we see sevika and zaun trying to defend itself but with limited resources as always and an internal situation extremely messy because of the gangs that are left (chembarons who wouldn't have existed without the corrupted pilltover police doing their bread on it and the council not caring, as ever, just as a reminder).
Now for some details :
In the first two acts we hear "our people"/"our city" to talk solely of piltovians.
Caitlyn and her great "i keep telling myself you're different, but you have the same blood in your veins".
Great to remind us that she does still think people of zaun are not the same breed as her and are filthy to the core by their fucking blood itself no less.
Considering her mother was on the council when the last revolt from zaun happened and so she was part of the people that took the decision to kill all the protesters.. including vi parents. Her statement becomes very ironic on top of being atrocious.
And let's not forget how she forced her into an enforcer costume while saying "I understand your pain"... yeah you don't. Your mom died in a result of the decade of action and inaction of her own council, you're an adult and still have your father. Both vi and jinx parents died trying to get under the heel of their oppressors and when they were children no less. Fuck you.
Jayce and "we build the core of the hexgate in the fissures it's fine" and ekko telling him that they didn't think about zaun water and air supply that go through the fissure and would have been destroyed if the hexgate had a problem.
Because, as always, they don't actually care about the people in zaun.
And bonus point, he doesn't apologize for making the tree and everything else sick. It's just "we didn't thought about that". AGAIN, no ownership of what pilltover is doing to anybody else.
Now that the set is ready let's go back to episodes 8 and 9, through the zaun/pilltover lense.
Jinx is in prison. She does apologize to Cait for her mom.
Cait doesn't even apologize to Vi.
Cait doesn't stop officially the dictatorship or apologize to zaun's people for what she did and left be done to them.
Cait doesn't even take responsibility in giving grace publicly to jinx, no, she let's the responsibility of getting jinx out to vi.
Leaving jinx to be a fugitive still if she actually gets out.
That is NOT owning to one "bad actions". That is being a coward and a hypocrite. And making someone else responsible for whatever happens next (yes she gives vi the choice and leaves her jinx' vendetta in the past gnagnagna, it's still completely self centered and hypocritical).
Jayce, which just murdered a number of people and provoked vander and Isha's deaths, tells people that Viktor is a menace.
For all vi knows he isn't. She saw him help vander and people nobody cared about. There is no reason for her to help here. And there is no reason for zaun people either.
We do not see the inside of zaun, at all.
We get a few people leaving and a few enrolling in the enforcers because... yeah who cares that person beat the shit out of me for month we should fight side by side and die together as one. No. Just no.
For all we know, and is being said to us, Viktor and Noxus want the hexgate. They do not need to do anything to zaun for that. They can literally (and apparently that's what they do) just roll past zaun and go directly to pilltover. The only zaunites we see dead are the ones who fight for pilltover.
Jayce talks solely of pilltover and its "undercity" there is no recognition of zaun or what has been happening for decades.
At least in that scene we see sevika and Scar leave in a :
"Ho yeah ? Noxus that you used against us for all this time is now a menace to you? Tough luck."
"But Herk ! Jayce puts down the barbebwire doors around zaun !!!!"
And that makes it OK? It makes everything before it OK? "I let you out of the camp I made around you so you can fight for me". NO. Just no. Even less considering none of the people who actually took the decision to get the dictatorship running and those gates up owns up to having done it; again.
Side note : it clearly takes a few days between the beginning of ep8 and the actual attack of noxus.
Explain to me why jayce didn't shut down the hexgate at that point, keep using hexteck' weapons and a literal arcane hammer while preaching how bad it is ??!!! That man is stupid but apparently everybody around him is too.
(And Don't tell me "but the hexgate was getting people out" just. Don't. The ships could have just fly away on their own with the hexgate shut down. Come on).
Ekko and jinx have the beginning of a conversation (i love this scene tho) and then we are back with pilltover only.
Fast-forward to the fight and HO WAIT people of zaun arrive "to help" because its a greater evil ! It makes everything fine right ?
No.
And here the details of why for me :
We do not get any closure of the zaunites storylines : Sevika and Scar don't even have a single line together or with jinx and ekko.
Ekko and Scar have been making the tree and their sanctuary one the only safe place of zaun for more than 6 years.
Ekko has been missing for months and we don't even get to see him reunite with the firefights ?? Not even one second ?
Sevika was there for Jinx then Isha during the whole of act 1 and 2 of season 2. But we don't even see them talk or sevika being made aware that Isha is dead.
Yes. Jinx' balloons got elements in honor of Isha and her depression is about that part of her that died with Isha. Sure. And it's very well done _for HER character_.
But what about sevika ? She got a very good arc that kept getting better during the season 2 and suddenly she is a background character that doesn't even deserve to have any feelings?
And it's the same for the firelights. They are here during the fight, we can even spot a few other minor characters of zaun.
But they are props.
They have no feelings or emotions (except angry yelling of fight). You are not here to empathize with them because they don't even exist as characters in that moment.
If you like them already you'll be scared for them (I yelled when I thought sevika would die, not gonna lie) but nothing more.
Jayce and Viktor... very pretty, gay being unable to say I love you and all that BUT ALSO "I'm sure there is still a bit of you in there" / "why do you persist after everything I've done"
I... You KILLED HIM you absolute dumbass of a man. You murdered him and made him lose his humanity THAT HE STILL HAD and then you call to it !?? And then Viktor blames himself
.. I can't even. I know it's because he wants jayce to say he loves him but haaaaaaaaa !!!!
Jayve has always been an idiot but that takes the cake. Most toxic ex ever, Viktor must really love him because for fuck sake xD
Ekko saves the world.
Because jayce is so bad at this and being a self-fulfilling prophecy guy that he condemned the world (like in apparently all realities where that version of the story happens).
Do we see anybody acknowledge it in the aftermath ? Do we see any recognition of a zaunite saving the situation?
Nope.
"The battle of pilltover will long be remember".
Pilltover. Just Pilltover.
Ekko's action or any zaunite's deaths during that war that Pilltover fabricated all through its own action and decisions ?
Erased. Forgotten. Not important in the Grand History. It was only Pilltover all along.
"But Herk. You're unfair, we see the little paper scene at the end ! And sevika becomes a councilor !"
Yeah. We do, and it's still shown in the show that the situation is not actually resolved : just look at the new counsilors' expressions when sevika sits down.
They still think she is beneath them and shouldn't be there... BECAUSE nobody in pilltover acknowledge anything done to zaun. Still.
And I'm glad she is a councilor don't get me wrong. I'm happy we at least get one element for zaun by the end.
But its too little and still with not even a line of dialogue.
Also, why not Ekko or Scar too ?? Sevika was a leader of a certain group in zaun, but Ekko/Scar represent a lot of people too.
So zaun is still not fully there. (And ya know, not too many zaunites come on, one for the show but not too much).
And worse. Nothing is even acknowledged to the public. Listen to the two episodes and notice how nobody say "zaun" in them, it's only undercity/topside and pilltover.
The conflict is totally erased from the narration except for that one dirty look the councilor gives Sevika.
And don't tell me I'm exaggerating because I saw, in less than a week since the final, enough take on how pilltover was absolutely not responsible for anything/zaunites were the sole responsible for their hardships and any act of resistance from them was terrorism (thanks usa), that I know a lot of people sadly took that ending in the most stupidest way possible.
Also, a detail but... Nobody is there to put a paper for Viktor.
He will stay the "Villain" of the story, forever. Because people only got Jayce telling them he was bad and never knowing the actual truth of what happened.
And that's quite disheartening too.
Jayce the piltie was a hero. Viktor the zaunite was a villain. That's it. Who cares Jayce literally provoked Viktor transformation, twice. Who cares the fight happened because of pilltover and their hexteck...
Hell, even then we see Ekko being utterly alone. Thanks for saving the world from a piltovian manufactured war and losing all in the process my guy, nobody said ever in the show.
And Singed, who is a piltovian, gets everything his way while being the absolute worst. Which ya know, forces my respect but also i hate this guy.
Because in case you hadn't realised, even shimmer was made by someone from pilltover ready to sacrifice anyone and first zaunite lives for his goal.
And the final nail in the coffin ? The last sentence of the show.
"But but it's so romantic!!! Its vi saying she's choosing to stay with Cait !!"
Really ? You think saying you're the filth under someone perfect manicure, that no matter how much they wash they can't get out... is romantic ? Damn. I knew about dirty talk but that takes it to another level (this is a joke btw).
But no matter if romantic or not, Cait never apologized to her, zaun or anybody else. She didn't own up to anything she did the entire show.
(And do remember that the whole base of the show happens because of jayce lab having dangerous materials in the middle of town; and because a kiramman was there, the council needed someone guilty from zaun).
What it is on the other hand, is still a comparison between zaun and pilltover.
They are on top, clean, except for the filth that stays under them and they can't get rid of.
And that pisses me off a lot.
Because with those 40 extra minutes we could have had the characterisation of the zaunites.
Sevika learning about Isha.
Ekko reuniting with the firelights.
Zaun actually being shown in danger and why they would help pilltover (where again jayce brings no reason to. Its just his word against everything pilltover put them through).
We could have had just a beginning of acknowledgement from pilltover OR a call out about it not happening by the people of zaun !!!
Ekko calling out Caitlyn (and Vi too honestly) would have been amazing! And a call back to season 1 where she went on about how he should not continue the cycle of violence, the audacity of a bitch I swear.
It could have fixed the problem I have with the ending. And that's really a miss for me...
Even if I did like the episodes in themselves ! They were gorgeous (mind!herald be looking fiiiiine) and the noxus and arcane storylines got finished (arguably the sisters one too). But please gimme what's missing about zaun.
Well. Now that I got it out of my system... I'm gonna go live in ep7 ! XD where my fav characters are all alive and grown up !!! *happy*
Have a good day !!!
Ps : I made a few arcane fancomics centering on the 6years gap between act 1 and act 2 of season 1.
Focusing on claggor, deckard, ekko and the firelights~
Please don't hesitate to take a look if that sounds like something that could interest you ^^
As stated before, I’m not planning on coming back here in the foreseeable future. But since the drawings posted here are a couple years old, I thought I could at least post a couple of my recent works if anyone is interested in following me
