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Spoilers for Ambessa: Chosen of the Wolf if you haven’t read it already.

I once saw someone on here say that Mel manipulated Leblanc and…that’s a lie. Did she trick her? Absolutely , but she didn’t manipulate her. However, Leblanc totally manipulated Mel to kill Ambessa. If you haven’t read Chosen of the Wolf I suggest you do cuz it makes that even clearer. Ambessa got in Leblanc’s way and would continue to do so as long as she was alive. Now, Ambessa is many things but she’s a mother through and through. She was not going to use Mel as a weapon. Leblanc made it seem like Ambessa knew Mel was a mage hence the “she covets you because you’re a weapon” line. She preyed on Mel’s shock and confusion in the moment it was revealed she was a mage and the child of an affair. Ambessa did not know her daughter was a mage. Did she know there was a possibility of it? Yes, but Mel had not shown any signs of it. Besides, her father, who is revealed in the book and even has POVs, infused runes that would keep any magic dormant, keep her hidden from other mages, and protect her into her tattoos. This is why the first time Mel breaks Leblanc’s chains it seems like a burst of power. Her magic had been awakened and was allowed to be activated because Mel’s shield at the end of season 1 used up all the magic in the runes as was explained to Ambessa in the book. This is also why I wish that the book came out between season 1 and 2 like it was supposed to. It was going to set up Mel and Ambessa’s storyline for season 2, but they pushed it back and it didn’t get released until this year. Like if you read it and then go back and watch season 2, everything between Mel and Ambessa makes so much more sense and makes their story as mother and daughter even more heartbreaking.

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I am finally back at arcanes fanart ! And latest lol trailer gives me more idea !

This one is planned to be paired with my Mel one ! Would you accept the gift of the dark rose ?

#art #ewy art #digital art #fantasy art #artist on tumblr #ewy fanart #black rose #lol #league of legends #arcane season two #arcane #arcane black rose #arcane spoilers #arcane leblanc #leblanc lol

An Arcane Hexcess Of Power: The Soul's Reflection

Mel, the head of House Medarda, is one of Arcane's original characters that takes an important role in the story and world of Runeterra. She is a complex character that links the stories of Piltover/Zaun with Noxus and even beyond; as her character leads us into the next story which will revolve mostly around Noxus. But how does her character arc hold up now, almost one year later ? Let's find out.

Medarda

Our first interaction with Mel is in her chambers where she's told she is now the richest person in Piltover and she replies that she is still the poorest Medarda & to remedy to that she seeks something fresh & innovative that will strengthen her positions & wealth both in Piltover and her familly which I think gives a clear view of what her character is about in the story, in Season 1 at least.

Her place in her family is important, even if she might not fully agree with all of it's workings, mainly in her mother's side, she still seeks maybe a form of validation or belonging from it, from her mother who exiled her to Piltover from being more open to use diplomacy, knowledge and progress rather than the warmongering nature that was demanded of her. We don't know much about the rest of the Merdada clan apart from her brother Kino & adoptive father who seemed to be closer to her in terms of their philosophies which Ambessa notes is what influenced Mel but one could also argue, it is part of her nature: Mel is a mage, connected to the Arcane, an empath and sensitive to the ethereal, it is in her nature to be connected with her emotions and in a way others, as such, her being more in favor of diplomacy or knowledge makes sense.

She is a fox however, underneath that surface does lie a ruthless person that will do anything to strengthen her position to benefit herself, her and inside her family plus her city. She was part of a council that oppressed the undercity and she never pays any consequences for that despite being one of the most powerful and influential person on that council plus Piltover which stings a lot when the problems that were literally at the center of the story get thrown to the side to focus, yes, on the Arcane on a show called "Arcane" but were too developped to be left out like this. It wasn't just context or world-building, it was literally in the story but like with many other plots & characters' storylines, they were scared to actually go further on what they were talking about & characters like Mel kinda escape responsability & consequences on the chaos & suffering they've created.

Regardless, Mel decides to put her faith and ambition in Jayce after he and Viktor where able to make use of the Hex Crystals without blowing everything up. She sees an opportunity in this and it is interesting that now, the first mage presented to us in the whole series is indeed the one that pushes this new technology that harnesses the power of the Arcane in motion. Maybe she felt the connection to it due to her own nature as well instead of just a need to reinforce her position in the city plus the city itself in the largel scale of the world. The era of magic she calls it before Jayce corrects her and calls it...

The Era Of Hextech

Hextech is what connects Mel & Jayce together as it also does for Jayce & Viktor. And this storyline is not short of parallels between those two relationships, a romantic one between Mel & Jayce & well, a "partner"ship between Viktor & Jayce, Mel becomes more of a different choice, world and way of thinking in that storyline for Jayce like Jinx and Caitlyn for Vi. Weaponry/Profit/Piltover's glory vs Tools to help the people of the undercity.

Some people have been saying that the relationship between Mel & Jayce was fake and that she was only profiting off of him to get what she wants, (without also pointing out that Jayce, very aspiring and ambitious scientist, was maybe doing the same thing given he had more to gain from it than she did given that she was already the richest person in Piltover) but I don't think that's true. Of course, Mel was born a noble plus is from Noxus, relationships to advance in status, possessions or strength are a thing & Jayce is no different BUT why would that mean she might not have been genuinely into him ? Between the time they first interact and then, become a couple, there are years between and likely a lot of getting to know one another, it's very much possible she was into him while considering he was a match because of what he would bring to her. She's a complex character and reasonings for her choices are as well. She is a woman that was exiled from her country & family at a young age and while she is obviously very much capable socially speaking, she has probably lived very lonely times.

Sadly their relationship is cut quite short in the show and Jayce gets more focused on Viktor and we get a very short conclusion to their relationship that was quite integral to Season 1 but that's Season 2 for you.

Speaking of Viktor, Mel & Viktor also parallel each other in their different manifestation of the Arcane, Mel is naturally born & tuned to the Arcane while Viktor is not & become connected to it via experimentation. It's also reflected in their designs, asymmetrical vs symmetrical, mutation vs tattoos, blue-ish purple vs gold, changing people's nature vs understanding them & getting magic from them.

Curiously though that moral dilemma for Jayce is ended rather quickly as Mel only sees Hextech weaponry as a last minute chance against threats from the undercity and doesn't really want them to be used or made for any other thing. She is also against invading the undercity as in her eyes, would do more harm than good...

Which sadly collides with the person that is all for it and at the core of most of her issues:

Ambessa Dearest

The brutal nature of Ambessa always went at odds with the more diplomatic one of her daughter, the very complicated relationship that was built over the years due to Ambessa's difficult upbringing & cold choices has made them walk completely different roads.

Couple that with Ambessa coming to take advantage of her daughter's achievements for reasons that goes against what Mel wishes Hextech becomes, the lies hidden from her plus the chaos & problems she brings with her, the relationship doesn't start well and doesn't go well for the rest of the series.

Ambessa pushes Mel to choose the side of confrontation against the undercity after Jinx's attack which Mel has tried to avoid as best as possible and the best Mel could have hoped for, thanks to Caitlyn, is a very specific mission with a smaller squad to avoid the warfare like attitude Ambessa seeked to throw on the undercity. Sadly, their fight and different vision about that is pretty much resolved in one episode or act if you want to be nice, without Mel being present. Again, the storyline about the relationship & problems between the two cities is pretty much ignored and with an outside invader like Noxus, an imperialist nation, we could've explored more of it like in Season 1 when Ambessa was trying to convince Jayce directly to invade the undercity plus create Hextech weaponry she could use against the Black Rose.

A lot of Ambessa's justification for her action comes down to family but is that really true ? To me, Ambessa has a form of care for the rest of her family but the need for her house to be powerful and also to expand her power and her reach, sadly, passes over that. She supposedly cares for Mel but also says she weakens her but the truth is that Mel got in the way of what she wanted and the way she wanted to do things which is brutal & through violence.

Their relationship in the show, sadly, doesn't evolve much; they remain opposite to each other and the conflict they had about Piltover dissapears as their conflicts transforms in not letting her build an army to fight the Black Rose & take PIltover via Victor which is quite valid but isn't as interesting as their original conflict.

Sadly that comes from Mel getting involved in the Black Rose storyline at a point where perhaps maybe that storyline should've waited for longer even if it is interesting & setting up the future and larger story of Runeterra.

A Gift

The Black Rose storyline sets up much of the next show that is centered around Noxus but also the larger story they will explore with other shows with the last remaining elements of Hextech.

The beef between Ambessa & The Black Rose seemed to be something that existed for quite a while now, based on infos I found about the novel, that young woman we see in Mel's flashback is an Ionian noble that had ties with The Black Rose. (Which makes me wonder where is that throne room she ended up in again ? It didn't look like Ionia outside, was it the same throne room anyway ?) For some reason, Ambessa seems to know about them and what they get up to and one of the reasons she is so against them is that they control or affect Noxus from the shadows & that their powers, especially in magic exceed her own which goes against her plans of making her house the one at the top of the food chain.

There is also this issue with her biological father who was a mage but we don't know exactly what kind of mage he was, nor do we know any of his origins. Ambessa's conquests could have been anywhere really & given Mel's powers & how they look, there could be some celestial origin to them but if there is an Ionian connection, well who know, it could be spiritual given how Ioania is tied to the Arcane. Could her father have been a member of the Black Rose ? This would explain why LeBlanc is after her, she believes Mel is hers due to the connection she has with her father who was also a mage & maybe a powerful one at that.

LeBlanc told Mel that Ambessa was looking for a weapon, but outside of the fact that it looked like a projection on her part since she's literally going a 100% on her let's play for all magical artifacts that can kick Mordekaiser's ass, we don't know how Mel was conceived or what exactly happened. And Ambessa gave up on making her a warrior & never trained her magic in any specific ways.

LeBlanc is the one that seeks Mel as a weapon for whatever that is to come and given the Bite Marks music video, she's getting desperate. Which, I wonder why she never specifically went against Ambessa & Viktor herself given the gravity of the situation, I would suspect LeBlanc to be extremely strong so why waste so much time & effort on assassins that clearly can be killef easily plus the mage daughter of your enemy who has every reason not to vibe with you ? Ambessa while dangerous was not as dangerous at what Viktor was becoming.

I guess you could believe she did not plan or prepare something like him would come about but there was a point where she could've done more than again she's obsessed by Mordekaiser, so she may not want to waste any ressources on anything else.

Ambessa dies due to this alliance, LeBlanc wins and gets mostly what she wants but Mel asserts her independence against her by using her powers.

You Are The Wolf

This "victory" is bitter for Mel, her relationship with her mother was complicated and we haven't seen the better moments that existed apart from a few hints here & here.

She becomes the wolf but sacrifices her values in becoming it and also becomes something she never wanted to be, especially that way. Those words are somber coming from Ambessa, she may mean it with pride but for Mel, it just announces the path she sadly will fall into now.

A Temporary Tragedy ?

Her mother dead, her city greatly destroyed, her lover & his partner dissapeared including other council members plus friends dissapearing or dying. Doing the worst for a terrible outcome, there's not much left for Mel at the end of series. She becomes the head or one of the heirs to be head of House Medarda which forces to go back to Noxus, a nation that doesn't align with her values with her ways of doing.

It's likely going to get worse from here but this might be an opportunity to turn the tides around and make of House Medarda what she thinks is representative of her and her values plus do the best for it as someone with positions & assets in both Noxus & Piltove. She could be very powerful and could change the nation for the better.

One of Raum's birds follows her, LeBlanc, Swain, someone else ? Or the demon itself ? She could make a lot of allies there, as well as enemies but she is still alive & she still has much to do as part of such powerful house. We do not know the relationship she has with other family members of hers but this could be a chance for her to undo the colder & harder relationships people like Ambessa have forced onto the family.

Bite Marks

Noxus is a harsher place than Piltover. Some would call it "more fair" given you can rise in it's society because of your strength and abilities, especially if you use them for Noxus but it's imperialist nature makes it's elements climb on top of each other and we still do have the presence of social classes there, so trading an opressive culture for another doesn't really change anything or make the other better.

The character of Swain has aimed to change that in the show and I could see him becoming an ally to Mel to change Noxus and overthrow the influence of the Black Rose on it. He may even respond to her values about diplomacy & progress.

The Black Rose, while with good intentions, have terrible ways of doing things and not every ends justify the means. Not even for Mordekaiser and playing with Darkin weapons could turn against them.

And whatever Beatrice picked up above the Hexgate is connected to whatever happened to Viktor & Jayce. Add this to a place with a lot of Arcane presence, if the veil between the two worlds gets thinner or becomes too connected to whatever lies in the Immortal Bastion or even Mordekaiser if it decides to show up, Viktor will be just a small Progress Day next to it.

Evil is easily more present in Noxus and in ways that are also connected to the Arcane. Mel, as a mage, an empath, could fall victims to such influences if her state of mind gets worse. Whatever she's going into, it is something different that she might not be prepared for.

But her character seems to be able to adapt to the worst situations, will she be able to face such complicated "evils" there ? Especially since she will have to play by the rules that have been imposed by such "evils".

And certain members of the Medarda House could potentially feel they have a claim to be the head of House Medarda. They should remember that wolves work better in packs, especially in a place were being alone can get you easily taken care of.

But for that we will have to wait a LOOOOOOONG time, I hope not but I think so sadly.

There's only one post left in this Arcane series and I think it's time to talk about the sisters' journey and the mixed bag their storyline and tragedy gave us in the end. Alongside the very controversial Caitlyn which... well, there's a lot to go over there.

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