Hi! I've read some of your Arcane takes and I was curious to ask what do you think/how do you interpret Vi rejoining the enforcers after the breakup? I haven't read anyone doing an actual analysis on it, most people complain that she's "washed" or that the writers hate her, which doesn't feel like doing a deep dive into her character at all. Thank you! Have a lovely day.
ooh thank you for this ask!! i hope you have a great day too <33
i have a post (and a jokey joke) touching on why "vi's views suddenly changed" from her childhood disdain for enforcers to joining the hellfire squad.
here i'd like to also remind vi originally refused to join the enforcers after jinx bombed the council (caitlyn even seemed to understand/reflect on it in her conversation w/ jayce and apologized for offering it later on, despite having logical and utilitarian reasons for suggesting it - "no matter which way i slice it, one of us comes back in a box"): vi accepted the badge and joined the hellfire squad, which was a specific mission/operation, not a full time position, only after the memorial massacre, where she saw how unprepared piltover was to handle what she thought was jinx/silco's goons and how powerless she was in that situation. and in those posts i don't even delve into her guilt for what jinx has done, her fear of losing caitlyn to jinx and her conversation with maddie, which also affect her decision but don't exactly answer your question:
why does she rejoin the enforcers after the breakup?
i have two answers and one of them is kind of a cop-out, so let's start there:
i know she's an enforcer in league lore, but arcane lore (which overrides league lore) didn't explicitly show her becoming an enforcer. it showed us she was there in the strategy planning stage of the war with mel and jayce - this wasn't an enforcer-only meeting, and she was likely allowed to be there because of caitlyn and due to her fighting ability (the fact she's the only person we've seen wield the atlas gauntlets and wreak absolute havoc with them) and her desire to help.
during the battle for the hexgates itself, she wore the badge (which she also kept and wore in her pitfighter era, just flipped backwards) but no enforcers uniform. now, even if we make the argument that she was just dressed differently for other armor-related reasons, it could've still just been for that battle (bcuz there was no post-war indication of her being an enforcer).
i couldn't find it but i had another post where i talked abt why other zaunites, firelights and jinxers alike, put on enforcer uniforms when they joined the war, and the short answer is, again, ✨utilitarian reasons✨ in order to effectively fight in that battle for a chance at saving their lives but also all of humanity - bcuz viktor would not have spared the undercity lol - they needed to receive training, weapons/equipment, be easily identifiable, have some sort of shared identity for morale, be told the plan/battle strategy, assigned what to do, etc. they did not willingly, fully, effectively, ideologically or longterm become enforcers, and i think this was the case for vi too.
she joins the enforcers to try and change something.
if we take it that vi did join the enforcers longterm after the war like she does in league lore, and we only didn't see it because she was still grieving, then this could tie in with caitlyn's "are you still in this fight, violet?" - which i personally interpreted as caitlyn and vi using their influence and knowledge post-war to try and change the oppressive systems and institutions of piltover. i think such an effort is a great reason for vi to rejoin the enforcers. like, she can't live in the kirammam mansion and do nothing all day every day, right? at some point she needs to find her calling. she can oversee the enforcers and work to reform them from within. she's a character built on the idea of protecting others and fighting, so under the condition that she can enact change within the system, i think her place is there. it's autonomous enough that she doesn't feel like an extension of caitlyn, and it's close enough to her for comfort too.
