Mel Medarda and Caitlyn Kiramman Are Sisters: A Character Analysis, Partial Rewrite, and Headcanon Thread
(Reposting from my twitter thread, but have my long-ass Medarda Kiramman sister analysis/headcanon post!)
(NOTE: A lot of this will be about my headcanons in addition to material obtained from the show. I try to fill in the gaps of what I know. Feel free to add to this with additional context, either from the Ambessa book, or other material!)
I believe one could consider Mel and Caitlyn to be versions of each other at different stages of life. Mel, as a character, could be viewed as a less naive and more patient Caitlyn, while Caitlyn could be viewed as a guileless and honest-to-a-fault Mel.
Their similarities lie in the fact that they both work within systems to bring about their own ideas of positive change, whether that’s upholding law and order or benefitting their city economically/technologically. It's important to note that those ideas are heavily mired in imperialist and classist ideology, with both characters never fully dismantling those systems of thought in their minds. Mel, as a councilor, neglected and likely directly exploited Zaun in her pursuit of economic and technological advancement, while Caitlyn advanced the fascist institution of the Enforcers and expanded their powers to form a police state.
In childhood, Mel was soft-hearted with a knack for the art of statecraft. She leaned into the political strategems of her family's ambitions as opposed to the physical violence wrought by her mother's wars. She was someone who did seek prestige and power, as valued by Noxians, but in a more humane way that clashed with the "might makes right" values of her time. Mel, as a character, abhors (though is no stranger to) the use of physical violence.
In contrast, Caitlyn was raised for a career as a skillful politician. She was someone brought up to rely on wit and guile to advance the aims of the state. But she always sought respect and honor, earned not by the station allotted to her by birth, but by her own hands. This put her at odds with her mother, who set up and organized her life to take her place one day, while Caitlyn sought honor and control in her own right, through more physical and involved institutions such as Enforcement. She has no guile or cunning, instead seeking a brute-force, but "respectable" approach to the "rule of law".
Now, here is my headcanon: When Mel was exiled to Piltover, Cassandra Kiramman gravitated towards her as a protege. The young girl possessed a political acumen lacking in the other councilors and the sensibilities necessary to socialize and blend well with Piltover’s culture. So she's hired as Cassandra's aide to draft policy and shape Piltover into the city of tomorrow.
In many ways, Cassandra could've been the mother to Mel she sometimes wished she had: compassionate, abhorring bloodshed, but still ruthless and cunning. With, of course, a respect for power and the appearance of order (regardless of the actual human expense).
In this environment, I can see Mel hanging around the Kiramman manor, to work on policy or seek advice from Cassandra, while taking a liking to a young Caitlyn. Mel would’ve understood the younger girl’s struggle with her mother’s ambitions for her and might’ve encouraged Cait to pursue her dreams. She could’ve put in a word for Caitlyn to Cassandra, encouraging her to let Cait attend Enforcing academy and support her at graduation.
Conversely, there is potential for angst here. As Caitlyn sees her mother gravitate to Mel and treat her like the daughter she’d wanted, it might’ve closed her off to Cassandra. She might’ve even built up minor resentment towards Mel, though she couldn’t truly blame her for that.
The two could drift apart as a result, and there might even be an argument between them where Caitlyn remarks about Mel being the “real daughter” that Cassandra desired.
Back in canon, this perfect storm accelerates when Cassandra is killed in Jinx’s attack. With her mother gone, but Ambessa present, Caitlyn is emotionally vulnerable. When Ambessa sees this, she urges her to accelerate tensions with Zaun, Caitlyn steps into the role instantly. She isn't supplanting desires into Caitlyn's head, much like Piltover's turn to martial law isn't a Noxian takeover. This is instead an unearthing of the fascist and classist roots underpinning Caitlyn and Piltover's pursuit of respect, law, and order. It has always been violent and retributive. Ambessa only exposes and guides it to her advantage.
We see how even in her training with Ambessa, Caitlyn nearly hangs on Ambessa’s every word. She trusts both implicitly and explicitly, because this is a woman who understands “doing what needs to be done” without letting “civility” or “war crimes” get in the way. I don't believe that Ambessa ever saw Caitlyn as a suitable or even viable "replacement" for her daughter, but rather someone with the skills, resources, and position necessary to advance Noxian (really House Medarda) interests. Because, as seen in that last fight scene, she didn't have a single qualm about putting paws on the sheriff.
She understands vengeance and honor, two things Caitlyn seeks after Cassandra’s death. And when Ambessa gives her that cloak, tells her job well done, gives her a nod of approval during training, Caitlyn feels the hole in her heart stitch itself closed little by little.
Here is where my next headcanon comes in. Just like with Jayce, Mel confronts her mother, telling her to stay away from Caitlyn. In her time in Piltover, Mel knew how deeply Caitlyn yearned to prove herself via might, and feared (correctly) that Ambessa would quickly lock onto this in the young Kiramman and validate it. And more than once, Mel had wondered if she was more like the young Kiramman, more enthusiastic about physically fighting, less constrained by mercy and a spotty moral compass, would Ambessa have loved her the way she needed?
So when she sees Ambessa advising Caitlyn more and more, hanging around the council rooms, or observing the enforcers, the alarm bells go off. I could see her trying to be a support to Caitlyn at that time, trying her best not to leave the young woman alone in her grief. She tells Caitlyn she understands her pain, something that widens the rift between them because at least Mel's mom is alive. Tobias is a shell of himself, and Vi is gone. Caitlyn has no one but a woman who wears the strength and might needed to exact revenge on her sleeve, and validates that side of Caitlyn. This cuts Mel because she has no one but a mother who won't put aside her own paranoia and ambition to make amends with the only family she has left.
She tries not to give up on Cait, to get her to see reason and salvage the crumbling state of the city, but her pleas fall on deaf ears. And for her wealth, she doesn't directly own the enforcers. She has no army to fight for the city back. Up until her kidnapping by the Black Rose, Mel tries to hold the city together and her from playing into her mother’s hands.
That's the end of it for now! I could try to make a part two about post-canon, but by then it would be a total rewrite. Having Mel disappear for all of Act Two was such a weak decision as she could've given us more moral complexity and insight with Caitlyn and Ambessa. If you want a part two that includes my vision for Act Two, let me know. This was really fun to write, and I tried to make it engaging, but finding high-quality screencaps is not easy.
