Arcane Scene Analysis …pt.1?

-The scene where Jayce is made councillor.-

(Im going to be focusing on Viktor in this scene because he’s my second favourite character (My favourite being Ekko)

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* (YT link to the scene Im talking about https://youtu.be/gEXwW6Wlreo) 

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So first off Viktor is off centre in this scene, Jayce is the centre despite the scene supposedly being about both of them since the council is discussing Hextech which Jayce and Viktor’s are partners in.  The chairs and scene in general could have moved Jayce and Viktor’s chairs a little to the right -> but they put Viktor off to the side on purpose. This foreshadows how the council would very obviously neglect Viktor in the next few seconds. This very first neglect is seen with the robot dude (I do not know if they even mention this guys name in the series, correct me if Im wrong.) where he asks Jayce directly “Mr. Talis, can the trenchers build a weapon with the stolen crystals.” While Viktor who is literally from the Undercity is completely ignored even though he would likely have more knowledge on the topic. Also it is shown very obviously with almost everything each council says that they do not respect the citizens of the Undercity as much as they do those of Piltover, the robot casually calling them “trenchers” shows this as well. 

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This part pisses me off the most and makes me want to absolutely slap Jayce across the room (This show is so good with its little subtitles Im in love with it.) 

When Caitlin’s Mom (another one of the councillors) says they have to address the issue immediately Viktor goes to stand up and speak but Jayce wave his hand at Viktor (This makes me hate Jayce) motioning for him to sit back down. In Jayce’s eyes he believes he’s protecting Viktor, to which he then goes forward and takes the blame and asks for all Hextech stuff to be stopped. Now not only is this selfish in that he obviously hasn’t discussed the idea with Viktor given the surprise shown on Viktor’s face in the next few seconds, but he also just didn’t let Viktor speak. Viktor is from the Undercity and Jayce knows this, as well as being a partner just as invested in Hextech he has much more knowledge and should be the one to be doing most of the talking during this meeting which is dissing both the UNDERCITY AND HEXTECH. (Sorry I just really fucking hate how Viktor gets completely ignored.) Viktor should get a say in what happens and deserves to have his opinion heard, he doesn’t need Jayce ‘protecting’ or speaking for him.

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In this shot Jayce is literally covering our view from Viktor literally showing how Viktor is being completely ignored and the writers only double down by have Mel say “He’s willing to sacrifice his own enterprise, and it seems to me only Mr. Talis has the knowledge necessary to secure the Hexgates.” Like Viktor is literally not sitting right there as a partner and as someone who has just as much knowledge on the Hexgates. The camera doesn’t even show Viktor for the rest of the scene besides for when they on over to this shot…

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In this shot Viktor is in the shadows sitting while Jayce stands at the center in the sun. Also you can hear a sigh of dissatisfaction come from Viktor, almost like he’s trying to calm himself down (I love how the voice lines and the animations make the characters feel so real and the sigh is such a nice and small detail that shows Viktor’s reaction to what’s going on despite us not being able to see his face, I love it). As Jayce is made councillor when Viktor is ignored despite all the hard work he had put in, his voice wasn’t even heard the entire meeting. The lighting shows just how neglected Viktor is and in this three minute scene alone so much is shown from the characters. 

This scene makes me dislike Jayce even more, and while I understand Jayce has good intentions in his speaking for Viktor and he believes he is protecting him, it still was selfish to not let Viktor speak and it might show that maybe Jyace looks down on Viktor a little that he doesn’t trust that he will say the right things in front of the council or maybe just doesn’t have the confidence to speak properly for himself (That’s just my interpretation, perhaps the next season will reveal more). Either way what Jayce should have done is let Viktor speak and supported Viktor if he needed to be supported while talking to the councillors, not just wave his hand at him and tell him to sit down.