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homuraakemis · 2 days ago

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the story of Vi and Jinx

(This was originally written as a comment on reddit about the imbalance of Jinx's and Vi's arcs so it's a little rough. But I figured I could post it here, especially since I've complained a lot on this blog and have really changed my mind on a lot of things)

Vi and Jinx's stories were written pretty equally, IMO. (On paper. On screen, they were executed in such different ways that you've got a part of the audience convinced Vi didn't have an arc at all, which is just… huh. Simply not true).

But you can't separate Vi's arc from Jinx's. They're the reverse of each other.

Vi's about a letting go of the feelings of responsibility placed on her as a child, Jinx's is about taking that mantle and owning up for her actions. Vi needs to overcome her trauma by learning to think about herself and her own needs for once, Jinx needs to overcome hers by (re)learning empathy for others. Vi needs to unlearn Vander's lessons, Jinx needs to unlearn Silco's. Both have an arc of learning who they are without each other and taking control of their lives. Both feel like they've terribly messed up their own lives, for wildly different reasons, and it affects them in opposite ways. Vi turns the blame inward. Jinx turns the blame outward. Both need to break out of that big sister / little sister dynamic they're trapped in. Vi gets to see Jinx as an adult, Jinx gets to see Vi be broken and vulnerable. Etc. etc.

Episode 8 is where it all comes together. Vi has already come to see Jinx as someone who can take care of herself, she's relied on her before in act II and is no longer thinking of her as just Powder, but she can't let her go to prison, because she loves her and wants the best for her, and believes in her potential. Vi still won't think of herself first - she makes the decision to free Jinx thinking she's stabbing Caitlyn in the back and will lose her love for it (or rather, she's not thinking at all, she's acting on pure instinct and is completely unraveling). It's the wrong decision for the right reason: she is right not to give up on Jinx! But she needs to slow tf down and think of her own needs too.

Jinx decides she needs to get out of Vi's life and let her be happy - a decision coming from a place of empathy for what Vi had been through and a way to make up for her previous actions (you know, that time when she actively and cruelly tried to sabotage Vi and Caitlyn's relationship? Caitlyn's not the only one who apologizes through actions this episode). It's the right decision for the wrong reason: at this point Jinx also thinks there's no good version of her and that she needs to dip out of life permanently, but she's obviously very wrong in that.

Jinx's departure is the last straw for Vi who is left alone for hours and comes to terms with the fact that she "chose wrong", and losing Caitlyn wasn't worth it. This is where the dialogue is sparse and a little more would have really really helped, but Vi would have never, ever thrown herself at Caitlyn with such an uncharacteristic lack of restraint if she hadn't made the decision to 1) go for it all the way 2) stop making Jinx come first and 3) there's no turning back after this. Scene direction, framing and body language, y'all. This is the right decision for the right reason, at last.

Then we get to episode 9 and Jinx comes out of her suicidal bout ready to move on and kick ass. She, too, has finally made the right decision for the right reason: to build a new life for herself, on her terms. All season people have wanted her to be the hero of Zaun, the perfect revolutionary leader. But she's no revolutionary leader. Not who she is, not what she wants. She's an inventor, a free spirit, someone whose ideas "change the world" but not someone who will busy herself with leading others. So she decides to use this image that has been pushed on her, in order to honor the wishes of both Vi and Ekko, who ironically have both strong reasons to wish for peace rather than revolution now. And then she plans to dip out of that particular conflict, so she can go explore the world and discover herself without the burden of that image. By doing this, she is taking back control of her own life, all the while knowing Vi will always love her no matter what.

And remember when she says "even when we're worlds apart"? Vi has a reaction to that. Up to interpretation, but I think she understands Jinx's implied goodbye here. They're finally understanding each other! They're ready to say goodbye…

But this is the part where it gets tricky: unlike Jinx, Vi has been looking like she's getting panic attacks left and right during the whole battle. Gert's death is reminiscent of Felicia's, and I think (need to check) Loris' death is reminiscent of Mylo's or Claggor's. Then we get to Vander and it's no longer implied, we are shown that flashback, that scene from S1E3. Vi is having a PTSD episode and can't do anything about it. Why now? It's her trauma coming out, coming out now because she can't hide it behind her guilt and need to play the protector anymore. She's not focusing on Jinx anymore. Jinx tries to talk to her but she doesn't listen. Jinx fades in the background. The lid is off.

For the first time, Vi's walls are not just down, they're shattered and scattered on the floor, leaving her with raw, pure, agonizing pain. And for the first time, Jinx is in a position to protect her. It's her turn to take care of her sister, to catch her at the most vulnerable moment of her life. And she does.

Vi has been everyone's support system her whole life (Vander was hers before he died, which makes his death all the more significant). In act 3, it's Caitlyn and Jinx's turn. And it's about time.

Skip to the ending and you've got Caitlyn casually checking on Jinx's odds while Vi is humming a song from her past, thinking of her mother and holding Vander's glass in her hand - that glass! Remember episode 5? That scene in the mines, before they read the letter, where Jinx was having a #moment with Vander's jacket and Vi was just standing there closed off like none of it meant anything? That glass was just something for Vi to move aside then. But now it has become an object worth keeping.

There is no plausible interpretation of this scene where Vi and Caitlyn haven't talked about Jinx already. Plenty of reasons, and I've yapped about it enough, but the simplest one boils down to: Caitlyn wouldn't hide something like that from Vi, it would be a terrible place for them to end as a couple if she did, and we know wasn't the writers' intentions. If we can read between the lines regarding Jinx's true fate, we can read between the lines about Caitlyn and Vi's unseen conversation.

So Vi isn't wearing any protection, no jacket, no wraps, she's just sitting there and remembering. For the first time she's not trying to be strong for someone else's sake. She knows Jinx is out there starting a new life and she knows she can finally start doing the same. But she's got something like seven years of trauma to heal from. It'll be hard, but she'll get there.

Meanwhile, Jinx probably expected her to go look for her body and figure it out. Jinx gets to go out with a bang. She gets to build something new for herself, knows how much she is loved, and is free realize her true potential and become the best version of herself. The one both Vi and Ekko believe she can be.

That's truly the best and most meaningful ending they both could possibly get.

#amazingly well said #arcane #arcane meta #vi #jinx #honestly i don't understand how people don't get this

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homuraakemis · 3 days ago

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