We don’t talk enough about how the Arcane started influencing Viktor back at the Hexgate scene where he has his vision. The Arcane plopped the idea for the Hexcore into his brain!! He is blatantly shown to be drawn to the Hexcore in a magical/paranormal way long before experimenting on himself. Heimderdinger even points it out, “Viktor, something’s different. You’ve changed. What did you do?” “It’s that thing! It must be destroyed!” All he’s done at that point is stare at it and touch it.
It makes me wonder, why Viktor? Could the Arcane speak to him because he was dying? Did it latch on to him solely because he bled where the Arcane was active (at the Hexgates)? Does he have a connection to the Arcane outside of Hextech? Was he always destined to become the Arcane Herald?
It has interesting implications for his agency throughout the show. My man made bad choices, I’m not denying that, but he was being manipulated by something that eventually shaped his very reality (there’s a reason he remained just as expressive in “the Hexzone” while his physical self was muted). He clung to the desire to help people throughout, but his perception of what that meant and how to do it became warped beyond recognition.
He was resisting the Glorious Evolution, believing humanity shouldn’t be sacrificed for the cause, right up until Jayce’s “betrayal.” And even then, I don’t think he was acting solely out of anger. He says, “I understand, now.” He believes he understands why the Arcane wants him to bring forth the Glorious Evolution, and that he should stop resisting.
I think there was a part of him that, after Jayce refused to join him, was hurt to the point that he didn’t want to feel, and in that way he acted selfishly. I also think there was a part of him that thought, “If Jayce is capable of hurting me in such a way, the Arcane must be right. We would be better off, would thrive even, without emotions.” And I truly think because of this, he rationalized to himself that what he did to Vander, destroying his essence by taking away his humanity, was a blessing.
I also don’t think much of him was left after the final transformation (after all, he’s mimicking Vander throughout the entire scene, indicating his own loss of self). And I think that’s why, when Ekko cracked open his mask, he hid. He doesn’t want to be there, he doesn’t want to be human or truly present. And I think his cracked mask gives him a moment of clarity, or at least more control. “Why do you persist? After everything I’ve done?”
There’s just a lot of complexity, here. Yes, Viktor technically had control of his actions. Yes, he was manipulated. Yes, his intentions were good. Yes, his actions resulted in the deaths of hundreds. In a post-canon universe where he and Jayce live, how does this complexity affect Viktor’s punishment, his treatment, after the fact? That’s not even getting into how he’d blame himself, just as he blamed himself for Sky’s death. How do you advocate for someone who refuses to minimize the role he played and refuses to use the fact that he was manipulated as a defense?
How do you adjust to being thrust back into a human body, alone and finite, after experiencing divine communion? How do you insist on death when the person who gave up everything for you begs, sobs, fights for you to live?
How could you possibly live with yourself, and for how long must you?
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