Silco's WEIRD Eye Drops Scenes (EXPLAINED) | 1min Analysis

#LeagueOfLegends #Netflix
Are these scenes just TOTALLY RANDOM? Or do they have some purpose? Arcane is amazing at using scenes for multiple functions, and Silco’s eye drops scenes with Jinx are a perfect example. These scenes are used to build and define the nature of the relationship between these two characters and provide material for them to use as vehicles to express aspects of their personalities and their feelings. Once again, Arcane’s writing is airtight!
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[@ivanhunter6492]

I think that Silo's weird eye is a result of Vander submerging him and the eye was the bit that was effected the most and those shots are to stop the mutation from spreading further

[@KnuckleTF2]

Even though I partly agree with you, could it instead be that Silco is in fact stopping the mutation from healing properly? He always goes on about how one has to become the monster everyone fears them to be, and his mutation is a physical representation of the monster inside him. It would be a way of keeping image.

[@Lusor_Caterpillar]

I kinda think when Vander has hurt his eye he got blind on it and wasn't able to see and all that on this eye. So he mutated the eye with shimmer to be able to see again on it

[@optimisticnihilist3417]

@@KnuckleTF2 I really doubt Silco would deliberately keep his eye damaged for the sake of image. He's shown using concealer to hide the worst of his scarring in acts 2 and 3. It's more likely the shimmer he injects into his eye somehow keeps the infection/mutation from spreading

[@syedsirajuddin6710]

This was also what I thought. Silco even states that the poison in the river infected his wound, and if you look at the time skip, you can see the scar/mutation grow larger. Silco's whole persona is control, including control over himself, and the only time he really loses that control is whenever he deals with Jinx. I don't think he would be the sort of person who would become addicted. Silco probably began having a professional relationship with Singed because he needed help in stopping the poison in his eye from slowly spreading and killing him before he could liberate Zuan. Also, the very fact that he injects the simmer in his eye, which looks like a painful and dangerous procedure, seems entirely unnecessary if the only thing he wanted to do was get high, and we see other characters take the drug in other ways. Also, the final evidence I can think of is that Singed uses the drug to bring back Jinx, which means that it has to have some healing/medicinal properties.

[@Mortal-Knite]

I agree with you, but the last part I don't.... just saying

[@kurtri8649]

I think that Jinx being all close to her father figure as if she was a child is because the tramua she experienced stunned her emotionally. She's a very clingy person in general. It can be similar to a small puppy climbing on your lap and you allow it but when it gets bigger it still climbs on your lap and you still allow not because you like being suffocated by the weight of the dog but because you love it so much you don't want to hurt its feelings by pushing it away even when it's making you uncomfortable.

[@judgmentallemon2771]

Finally, a sane interpretation of the situation. People immediately jump to sexual conclusions and it's kinda fucked. I appreciate your logical analysis.

[@kurtri8649]

@@judgmentallemon2771 Thank you!

[@NottherealLucifer]

​@@judgmentallemon2771I see it as the opposite of sexual. In my opinion those scenes are meant to show that Silco truly sees Jinx as his daughter. Sure, a young woman who isn't related to him is sitting on his lap, but Silco never shows a single moment of being physically attracted to Jinx. Those scenes are to show the lack of sexuality in their relationship, the innocence of it. People who see it as sexual must also think adopted children are always being sexualized when they show affection for their parents, which is a creepy thing for them to imply.

[@LindyLime]

​​​@@NottherealLucifer I think you (and OP) are right in that there are no sexual intentions here on the part of either character and the show does a good job getting that across, but we do have to take into account that her being all over him the way she is is not considered appropriate at her age, even if he were her biological father. When a kid is very little parents change their diaper, dress and bathe them (some even bathe with them) but when they get older that's no longer normal or ok (unless they are unable to care for themselves due to mental health issues of course). That's why what's going on with Jinx and Silco is a great way to show that she's basically a nine year old trapped in a seventeen year old's body due to her trauma arresting her development. At nine climbing all over her parent would be no big deal, but to see a mature (in body) young woman do it rightfully raises eyebrows. Under healthy development this behavior should lessen with each passing year. I think what I'm trying to say is that both things can be true: we can understand that there's no sexual intent, but it's also not wrong for us to see it as abnormal.

[@ImDoneArguingOnYTComments]

Most deffinetly. The issue is Jinx almost being a grown up (still a teenager, but not a child anymore) and still acting WAY below her age. Sitting on his fathers lap, not taking anything seriously, acting like a child etc. It shows her messed up mental health and how she is still a 9 year old inside a 17 year old's body due to severe trauma. This scene is creepy for me, because it is terrifying and pretty sad to see an unstable, manic, 9 year old in a fully capable 17 year old's body who can build weapons and threaten people.

[@sabrina0013]

"it's crazy that they got five solid uses out of this" says the guy who so readily conveys all these points and more in the space of 59 seconds :P

[@presidentjesus5063]

I've also thought that he's micro-dosing? Like even though he runs a drug empire he's still exercising that self-control. I think that says a lot

[@optimisticnihilist3417]

I figured it was a way to stop the damage to his eye from worsening tbh.

[@lockekappa500]

@@optimisticnihilist3417 I think what Jesus is saying is that despite using Shimmer, a highly addictive drug, every day, he never gets addicted to it. Which also show's a character trait of his. Restraint and self control.

[@heatskneecaps3594]

@@lockekappa500 sorry for this being off topic but i didn’t realise that op’s username is jesus and got so confused,, i didn’t read your whole comment at first too and thought you were one of those weird christian spam bots

[@lockekappa500]

@@heatskneecaps3594 Confess your sins to Jesus or go to Hell!

[@christopherballard1348]

@@optimisticnihilist3417 Something like that, the drug is shown to have regenerative effects.

[@benhill70]

Here's my read. Silco's eye nerves are constantly radiating pain due to the river toxin contamination. Shimmer has healing properties, so he applies it to the eye to control the pain. Like Victor, Silco's condition is worsening over time. The damaged area appears to be spreading. Also, it might be effecting his hand-eye coordination. Hence, why he needs Jinx now. Either way, you're right that it's a great way to show their bond.

[@lucyandecember2843]

o.o

[@keegy.weegy.]

Wait that’s literally so smart✋

[@arighostea]

So medical use cocaine then?

[@bella_daze3092]

This makes a lot of sense ngl

[@battleriteroyalevietnam8447]

@@arighosteamedical use a lot of drug. if you dont know. my grandfather live with morphine until his death. because its the best way of pain killer in the final state of cancer.

[@Nuu_Muun]

i love how easily he used it on himself in the first episode but then post time skip he struggles to line it up with his eye when jinx isn't there. it implies she's been doing it for him the whole time and reflects how dependent he is on her.

[@charliecheadle9154]

Yes!! I remember seeing a similar comment like this too!! 😮

[@sproutglob7126]

At first I thought Jinx sitting in Silco's lap was a bit weird until realizing that Jinx is still mentally still as young as when the monkey bomb explosion happened. She's both mentally and physically clinging to him in a child-like sense.

[@Garl_Vinland]

I just think it’s kinda hot. Like, daddy, yaaaaass

[@Oculir]

​@@Garl_Vinlandcould i pay you to delete this

[@Garl_Vinland]

@@Oculir How much?

[@Oculir]

@@Garl_Vinland name your price

[@Dressup_Doll]

@@Garl_Vinland$12,000

[@bkrcovers2906]

I think shimmer is not as harmful as we initially led to believe, the scene where it saved Vi's life and frequent use by Silco and Sevika are proof of that. After all the difference between medicine and poison is the dosage. So in that sense it's like any other drug, and like any other drug when consumed unchecked it can be addictive .

[@annagrant3328]

take dr. mundo, for example. that man is very clearly pumped full of shimmer and his whole schtick is health regeneration through that.

[@Etaukan]

I like the idea that there's a whole family of Shimmer variants, some aimed more at producing a 'rush' of euphoria for pure pleasure, others aimed at temporarily supercharging the body, within a safe limit, to promote fast and complete healing or boosted combat abilities, and then there's the overload category where the body is burning itself alive to produce incredible (but self-destructive) amounts of strength and speed and pain resistance. Silco and Sevika are doubtless using the highest-quality stuff, and know very well how to handle it and when to stop (though it's certainly possible that Sevika is shortening her life by a few months every time she powers all the way up for a brawl like the one in the bar, and is fine with that because she's willing to do what it takes to win (and losing a fight like that usually means you're dead anyway). One of the things I don't like is how two people with Hex-tech were able to beat down that force of Chem-Tanks without taking even one serious hit in the process--that's too unbalanced. Isn't it enough that the Shimmer users are wrecking themselves to keep up with Hex-Tech? Couldn't it at least give them a decent chance of winning? But maybe that was just the Jayce and Vi's plot armor, not the actual weapons they were using.

[@LangkeeLongkee]

Also the composition. The vial Singed gives Victor he says he's it's a variant of shimmer. So there's different kinds.

[@lucyandecember2843]

o.o

[@plantcrone9662]

@@Etaukan I think hextech being stronger is the whole point, its suppose to be more powerful then shimmer.

[@feduckil9238]

Viewing Shimmer as only a drug is a bit misleading; in the show it parallels hextech - a technological feat. Shimmer is Zaun’s technology. Throughout the show we see that if used correctly Shimmer has healing properties (Sevika, Victor, Jinx). The reason we see Silco using it is not to discredit his character but to show that Shimmer isn’t inherently bad, the problem is in how it’s used. And that creates a parallel with Silco’s motivations. Another good point I picked up from reading other comments: the fact that Silco uses Shimmer to heal himself despite it being addictive highlights his self-restraint and willpower. A good way to establish his distinction from the other undercity barons and explain why he was able to breathe the gases from the mines.

[@LangkeeLongkee]

Actually it IS a drug but that's not a bad thing. Painkillers are drugs, and like any drug there are good uses and ways to abuse it.

[@lucyandecember2843]

o.o

[@HauntingSpectre]

Many people also ignore the fact that Silco doesn't flood the streets with Shimmer on a whim to get them addicted. We learn this from the little Mutant guy who helps Vi, and then also turns her in. A Drop of Shimmer is used to save Vi's life, so it's clear it's got healing properties, and gives super human abilities as seen in Sevika and Jinx. But what the Mutant says is very important. Shimmer isn't about Euphoria, or regular drug use. It's not a "Pleasure drug" in the sense that getting high makes one happy, or content. When asked WHY he takes shimmer he says "I wanted to know what it was like to be the powerful one". A man who has presumably always been a victim unless people like Vander stand up for him, as he did in the beginning. He doesn't take Shimmer to get high and have fun, or escape. He takes shimmer to be POWERFUL, and people get addicted to the Rush of being Strong. Of feeling invincible. Drugs like Cocaine can give you that effect, but they are more often used as a party drug. Except in the use of Soldiers from various regimes. Shimmer's intent was always about creating super soldiers. About making the weak, strong enough to fight. So that Zaun could have soldiers to rival or surpass Piltovers technology and military might. He definitely field tested it on people, to perfect it, but to claim he was merely flooding the streets with something like Heroine is not the case.

[@fumikoh6231]

It’s very similar to how opioids are heavily abused now

[@kacebest1741]

Also it healed Vi

[@supermonstars]

One more interpretation that I feel is the main one: Silco's eye symbolizes his vision for the future as he's the only character in the show who thinks long-term (other than Ambessa), and in episode 1 you see him calmly and cleanly administering the eye drop himself. No hesitation and no mistakes. Pure purpose. Later on, both he and his cause become dependent on Jinx. Without her, it's doubtful he'd ever scare topside enough for a peace talk even with the Shimmer Tanks. He's become so emotionally and strategically dependent on her that, next time we see him try to do the eye drop on his own, he struggles and is clearly not able to do it as easily as in episode 1. His vision is unfocused, he can't "stop at nothing to achieve power" anymore, he's been dulled. The way she says "let me help you with that," almost lording it over him, is packed with meaning for me.

[@schnee1]

love it! excellent interpretation!

[@lockekappa500]

Love this. Especially love your interpretation (which I've always shared) of why he's so attached to Jinx. She's what he could never truly become, "Do whatever it takes to acquire power." "Become what they most fear." She's pure Zaun, like what the Silco VA stated.

[@feduckil9238]

Wow, that’s very insightful!

[@lucyandecember2843]

o.o

[@error8119]

@@lockekappa500 indeed, also why her becoming the leader of Zaun and being the first one to start the official war was so impactful to me. She’s the personification of what Silco views a citizen of Zaun should be like

[@Icetemplar]

It's kinda... fucked how good you are at 1 minute analysis

[@schnee1]

much appreciated!

[@lockekappa500]

It's only fitting for a show that is also able to tell so much in 1min.

[@tomglendinning6165]

Agree. He’s too good. Like arcane.

[@ArukiTsukaru]

True! Hopefully he becomes a non-SJW version of TB Skyen

[@jacktheripper7735]

@@ArukiTsukaru Why is Skyen an SJW, I dont actually know why, if you can give me good reasoning for it, I'd accept it but I don't really see it.

[@bellamycollins2318]

I think the reason why they made jinx and silco so physically close was to show they were never shown boundaries its almost like this is how they show affection and silco doesn't force her to think its wrong cause really it's just a daughter sitting on her father's lap nothing more nothing less

[@svscrib8922]

its also pretty cool how all of silco's underlings view jinx as untrustworthy and a loose canon, like how sevika chastised her for not guarding the cargo correctly in ep 4. it draws similarities to how mylo always demeaned her ability to do jobs correctly. its the forces in jinx's life that made her second guess herself so many times, but the fact that silco has so much trust in her that he depends on her to do much a precise maneuver w the needle shows how much faith he has in her abilities and potential

[@lucyandecember2843]

o.o

[@immortes]

Exactly!

[@SparSA-xl7td]

& honestly rightfully so. She might have a lot of screws loose, she's still shown multiple times being very clear headed when it comes to achieving her goals! A lot of big plot points showed that although crazy she is indeed a genius. & after taking care of her for so many years & witnessing her way of thinking firsthand, he obviously figured it out. One of them being how she kept coming up with new creative ways to use explosives & weapons for years. Or the way she stole the hextech balls (forgot how they were called) to give him without telling or being told to do it by anyone. Even if she went & killed people to get them, she knew what she was there for. How she still took it back it after her fight with ekko & especially how she literally figured out how to use them from one single notebook even without any background information or even education, when Victor & Jace assured themselves she wouldn't lmao.

[@masterblaster2678]

Exactly, Silco was the ONLY one who ever put their faith in Jinx, which is why she always stayed loyal to him despite getting angry with him. And she killed the only one that trusted her in a manic episode. Arcane was absolutely insane at pulling the heartstrings just the right way. Hope the second season turns out as great, maybe even better than the first.

[@o-wolf]

Silco spoiled Powder and gave her no sense of accountability, constantly reworking his plans around her (unnecessary) failures due to her freakouts, I've literally seen this stuff close up when a younger sibling has a "gangster" dad and rough older brother, neither of whom discipline them and other people they interact with are afraid of them because they're afraid of upsetting the dad or the brother, this kid then loses their gourd whenever confronted with anything they don't like,and will even start crying whilst trying to maim and harm people or taking little scuffles WAY too far cause they can't process "taking an L" so they skitz out on any and everyone who crosses that perceived line That's what jinx is a result of the worst possible human raising a precocious talented child of incredible trauma any child who experiences what jinx did would need special attention and care, instead she got a "dad" who set no boundaries, encouraged her WORST impulses, and gave her no moral compass whatsoever

[@adamstevenson86]

I have a sixth, kind of. At the end Jinx cries what looks like shimmer for her eye as she uses Fishbones. Also it's the same eye that Silco had to inject Shimmer into. That is an artistic choice not a coincidence.

[@lucyandecember2843]

o.o

[@charliecheadle9154]

🤯

[@Solace-writer]

Another thing I noticed with this was how easily Silco did the process himself in Episode 1, versus how he struggled to do it later on when Jinx wasn't there to help him. For a moment before she comes to challenge him about Vi, he sits in his chair and handles the device awkwardly, trying to aim it himself. This shows how much he grew to depend on Jinx.

[@govind.m86]

When we first see Silco in episode 1, he uses the eye dropper in one smooth motion and we don't see him having a painful reaction to it. Regaining his sense of pain along with his muddy iris after the time skip, do you think it's another allegory of him regaining his humanity as he grew to care for Jinx?

[@schnee1]

This might sound crazy, but I assumed those were just normal eye drops lol? Singed is still doing animal testing at that point and I think Deckard is the first human to use shimmer. Could be a special formula, but it would be counter-intuitive in my mind for Singed to have perfected a specialized shimmer drug before making the normal "become a monster" kind. Would make sense that Silco might need regular eye drops for his prosthetic eye even before he had shimmer to use for it.

[@govind.m86]

@@schnee1 Huh, could be. Given how it's the same tool I think I'm just gonna Occam's Razor and settle for it being an early varient of Shimmer. I think Deckard was just the first test subject for the Hulk body varient of Shimmer. Sevika and Victor don't buff up despite them injecting a similar amount and we know the Hulk varient is still the same because Silco feeds it to those addicts when he confronts Vi in the slums.

[@Sleawzor]

@@schnee1 I was thinking about the opposite theory - that Silco first met Singed (a known disgraced doctor in the Undercity) looking for help with the toxins in his eye/face that were killing him, and Singed introduced him to the experimental substance he was working on. After that, Silco recognized the potential power that lay within different uses of shimmer and teamed up with Singed, funding his research into shimmer as a weapon and drug. I have no basis for this theory other than that it sounds plausible to me though.

[@Lusor_Caterpillar]

I think Silcos body/ eye starts not fitting with it anymore. A body changes after some time of taking drugs. His eye probably started feeling painful after taking shimmer...

[@optimisticnihilist3417]

@@schnee1 I never got the impression that Silco's eye is a prosthetic, since he's literally injecting medication into it.

[@th3voice]

Given that the eye deteriorates over time... in the first episode the iris of his mutated eye is a nice circle against the black sclera, later it grows disorderly... I don't know, but in Silco's character, I find it most likely that he is using the minor doses of Shimmer to slow the mutation, or at the very least keep the eye functional while it deteriorates. He seems to indulge in other vices, and he was injecting his eye before the shimmer formula was ready in episode one, so clearly he was always using something. In addition, his relationship with Jinx makes me think this, simply because while he is not a GOOD father, he sees himself as a father to Jinx, and her as a child, and he clearly feels affection, trust and protectiveness for her. I doubt he would involve her in his drug habit, or even indulge in it in her sight. So while this is not explicitly stated either way, I am fairly certain that the PURPOSE Silco is trying to achieve with the injections is the continued use of his eye. There may be a high, but if so I believe that is a side effect, and not necessarily a welcome one.

[@lucyandecember2843]

o.o

[@failurextreme7084]

I like that it shows how shimmer could have been used medically. It's a great expression of the duality the show prides itself on.

[@talynhastime9343]

To me, Jinx being that comfortable with Silco and sitting on his lap shows 1) She’s still emotionally a 10-12 year old, and 2) Silco indulges her need for closeness and has never set a boundary for her that someone whose emotional age matched their physical age would eventually need to follow. It MIGHT be unnerving for some people who immediately think of sexual implications, but as you can clearly see, Silco and Jinx display no sexual tension with each other or show any attraction to any other character or even the thought of another character. If anything, it reflects how selfless and pure Silco’s love for Jinx is, because culturally we are taught and made to assume that extreme emotional closeness of a father and daughter is incestuous. But Silco does not once treat Jinx like a wife or a romantic partner, but instead a child, his child, because that is what she is to him. He even calls her “child”. The relationship is established and repeated. If ANYTHING, this display of physical closeness between them is refreshing to see. It is odd, yes, but there is nothing sinister about it. Again, if anything it showcases Jinx’s need to touch the people she loves, and Silco understands that.

[@ArukiTsukaru]

I agree with almost everything except the fact that he's "using the very same drug" as if it's a recreational activity... I think it's more like painkillers, Silco uses only what he needs, while the addicts take too much

[@Lightice1]

I'm not sure if the eyedrop actually contains Shimmer, at least didn't originally. We first see Silco using the eye-needle all on his own in the first scene we see him in. In that he is composed and calm with no sign of discomfort. This is also before Shimmer becomes safe(er) to use, and still has horrible side-effects. After the timeskip Silco has grown reliant on Jinx to give him the injections, and when he tries to do it himself he appears uncertain and hesitant. They also seem to have gotten more painful than they originally were, or else Silco was just that good at hiding discomfort in the company Singed before the timeskip.

[@tj3603]

There's also another little detail with eye treatment, illustrating how close they are and how toxic their relationship really is. In first episode he can use this thing easily on his own, and in later episode he struggling to do it without Jinx, showing that he needs her. Coincedentaly, this scene continues with them sort of torturing each other. Jinx stab him with syringe all over the face, and he messing with her head by pushing on her fears of abandonment and betrayal, almost triggering panic attack. It's like, they have this really deep intimacy and need for each other, and they seek out each other's company in the moment if stress, but they so traumatized and fucked up that instead of comforting one another, as healthy people do, they poke each other's most vulnerable spots.

[@o-wolf]

Typical trauma bonding

[@robbylawlor4259]

I always thought Silco used Shimmer as a way to heal, or at least slow down the degeneration of, his eye. We see in episode 6 where Vi was injured that Shimmer has actual regenerative capabilities. At the same time, we also see Silco applying makeup to cover up his eye scars as well as the fact that his marks on his eye seem to get worse over time. This lends me to believe that he's using the Shimmer not as a way to get high, but to help regenerate his eye, whether for health purposes or aesthetic purposes in order to maintain his image. It seems in line with his character, since Silco's not really one to do something for the hell of it (like getting high), he always does things with intention. I do agree though that the Shimmer injection scenes are used as very effective vehicle to convey just how close, affectionate, and unnervingly strange Jinx and Silco's relationship is. Anyways that's just my take. Great video as always, probably the best Arcane analysis channel on KZbin imo.

[@castlesteinway7741]

We see him applying makeup...?

[@churrassco]

over the past 24 hours, i’ve discovered your channel, watched nearly all of your arcane analysis videos, and subscribed. keep up the incredible work man!!!

[@schnee1]

awesome! glad you enjoyed, thx!!

[@boredhuman6512]

Past characters and more of the world I also think its an interesting way to show how shimmer is used in different ways, obviously silco uses it to gain power and influence because people can feel strong when using it and get addicted. But using it on himself while he knows about how it works and how to properly use it, he just takes a drop of it into his eye which helps him ease the pain. It makes me wonder if someone else made it not silco and singed they could actually use it for good.

[@mobhandholder7741]

there's actually more to it! there's a scene in the earlier episodes where silco is shown to administer the syringe on himself, and a scene in the later episodes where he attempts to do it by himself but struggles to; this shows that silco's gotten used to jinx, to having her around and helping him carry out this task. and i dont think silco is shooting up, personally. i always assumed the shimmer helps his eye to not deteriorate further.

[@gzix.]

"trigger happy ball of chaos" 💀

[@bumble9207]

I feel like you may have talked about this before, but this scene kind of shows how silko doesn’t set boundaries for Jinx, as in he sees nothing wrong with the way she acts but to us it’s kind of creepy. I think it illustrates really well how subverted their relationship is and further emphasises why Jinx is the way she is and why Silko isn’t fit for being a father, no matter how much he cares for her

[@snappylobster3118]

Completely agree- a big part of being a parent is guiding a kid into adulthood. He violently opposes the idea of Jinx growing, changing, or moving away from him in any way. Having an 11-y-o sit in your lap is way different then a 16 y-o; He doesn't acknowledge that change because it acknowledges that she is growing up and away from him.

[@LangkeeLongkee]

@@snappylobster3118 i disagree with that cause guess what? Age regression is not inherently harmful. Shocking. I know. (I'm a psychology student btw, I'm staying this plainly because I've had someone accuse me of making this up because I didn't say it in my first comment to them so, do with that information what you will.) Age regression is not an inherently harmful coping mechanism for trauma, especially childhood trauma. Your therapist or psychologist might even encourage it. It's off putting to the outside because we are socialised that "that behaviour is inappropriate" but there's nothing inherently inappropriate about it as opposed to him actually have some sort of sexual relationship with her, which would be inherently inappropriate I take I don't have to get into why a father and daughter having that sort of relationship is unhealthy. You'd see an adult choosing to wear a diaper and use a pacifier in the comfort of their own home, with no sexual aspect to it(not that there's anything wrong with that also) and think "Ew what's wrong with them?" But there's nothing wrong with that. Don't get me wrong, Silco has done bad things for Jinx like manipulating her to only trust and rely on him, but allowing her to feel phsyically comforted through her age regression is not one of them. He doesn't treat her like a child per se, he speaks to her on a level of being equals, he allows her to understand the consequences of her actions, when she's playing while he's trying to be serious he draws her attention to the issue and she snaps out of it, he has also shown good parenting skills in the way he responds to her make mistakes and when she's overwhelmed. Silco isn't all good but he's not all bad either. There's many things about him we can critique but allowing his daughter to use the coping mechanism that works for her, and doesn't innately cause any damage, is not one of them. He also doesn't oppose her changing. She became Jinx of her own free will and he told her Jinx is perfect because who ever she choses to become is perfect. That's why in his final moments he says "you're perfect" cause whether she says Jinx, becomes Powder again or creates a new identity right on the spot she's perfect to him. Yes there are things he should have done to guide her personality by our standards, like raise her to be less rude, but he genuinely thinks she's fine however she wants to be as long as she's comfortable.

[@lucyandecember2843]

o.o

[@vasilenavacheva68]

@@LangkeeLongkee Completely Agree!

[@LangkeeLongkee]

@@vasilenavacheva68 thanks for seeing it too. I don’t age regress personally but I am clearly an adult, and also autistic, so it really pushes my buttons when people act like comfort behaviour is bad because it registers as being childlike. Flapping my arms and squealing over a cartoon doesn’t hurt me the same way leaning her head onto her father’s when she’s sad doesn’t hurt Jinx.

[@fionarahl9399]

I never thought the way they show affection for each other was weird/ creepy. The fact that so many ppl say it is, probably says something about me xD

[@mathies3598]

Jinx is unusually clingy to her "dad" for like a 17-19 YO. I'm not a girl either but the only physical touch I still have with my parents is a hug when I visit and leave. She still sits on his lap, still comes close with her face to Silco's regarding emotions other than anger, and still leans on him, like she would around the age when she lost her own parents, or when she lost Vi.

[@mathies3598]

@@HisameArtwork i wouldn't say incestuous. It's not sexual, Jinx is clingy because she's mentally about as young as when her trauma happened. It's a young kid kind of clingy.

[@optimisticnihilist3417]

@@HisameArtwork no idea how your dad's weird self-defense advice is relevant to the relationship between Silco and Jinx.

[@Lusor_Caterpillar]

@@mathies3598 tbh ofc she does. It's pretty obvious her mentality didn't get any further of that from about 13-14 yo Powder. She might is older is more clever and way stronger but it's pretty clear she still is a little child. But I don't really think it's ahown off by her sitting on Silco's lap. She was always attached to love and was scared of being left. I think that is why she is like that to him. She isn't to Vi tho. When Vi hugged her she wasn't like she was to silco even tho she showed how much she missed Vi.

[@Lusor_Caterpillar]

@Andrei Salvaleon tbh it's stupid think that yes. But it's kinda mean from the show too. In that episodeeeeee... Don't let me lie... Episode 5 was it I think when they were in the water... That was a pretty intense scene. We must be fair enough to say that. I was Hella scared and about to puke there.

[@EnglisherThanThou]

The first time they did one of those scenes I thought they were going with the father/lover trope and I'm so glad they swerved that, it would have been so ick

[@ls-rk6hw]

yeah that would've ruined the show for me lmao

[@goten339]

I think many movies, books and other shows would have pushed that angle because Silco's an antagonist, it's easy to push all these horrible qualities onto a character we're meant to dislike anyway. It happens all the time, and whilst it is usually effective at making us dislike an antagonist, it also usually comes across as... narratively superfluous? Like that detail is just thrown in, the character's just straight up the most evil dude etc etc, no real thought is put behind it. It's incredibly refreshing to encounter a story which intentionally holds back on that sort of thing. This and other qualities makes Silco a much more enjoyable, understandable character whilst still being an antagonist. And it makes his relationship with Jinx so much more nuanced. Arcane just feels like it's been crafted with so much care. Really hope season 2 is the same way

[@rootin_tootin_rem]

Same!! Every single time they were on screen I was uncomfortable but, they kept saying they had a father-daughter relationship so I thought I was just crazy and picking up weird vibes LMAO

[@kittykatt8092]

Honestly, while I'm happy they swerve away from that trope, I'm also happy they kept these scenes. I think it adds more to the overpowering abusive status of silco and also makes the icky relationship more icky without being overly done if you get me

[@ReblazeGaming]

@@rootin_tootin_rem Honestly there were only a couple times where I felt weird by their interactions. For a second where Silco baptised Jinx it looked like they were about to kiss but she quickly got dunked into the water after. Then the first time Jinx was giving Silco his eye thing and got really close. But after that I realised they were just father and daughter.

[@Prefix1998]

I also think that it made them seem similar to the joker-harley dynamic which is portrayed as joker being abusive and only using jinx and then harley having this misplaced and twisted love for the joker which they then subverted the expectations and made it an actual father-daughter duo that actually cares about each other. Just gotta say thank god, I was very uncomfortable when it seemed like riot was going to make a romantic relationship between the two with so many "sexual tension" going on between them only to then be finally be interpreted as what they are: a father and daughter dynamic that does not know how to act with each other but still cares about one another.

[@lucyandecember2843]

o.o

[@ebutuoyotwen]

I thought it also was used well to demonstrate that shimmer had the ability to save Silco's dying eye, as well as the innumerable havoc it's overuse reaps. Funny how this show never misses a chance to impress both sides. Very rarely in life is anything all evil or all good.

[@eggsby27]

bro puts 5 mins of info in a 1 min short like its nothing

[@calebcollins5887]

I love that they made a still fleshed out villain, because while I love and understand the motivations behind him, he’s a monster.

[@abidanrodriguez5604]

Upon 2nd viewing, I noticed how Silco was able to administer the eye drop perfectly fine in the first scene we see him in. After Jinx wasn't there, he was clumsy with it, demonstrating he has become dependent on her as much as she has on him.

[@applechip6748]

I like to think that Shimmer was initially created by Singed for medical purposes, specifically for Rio, and then was adapted for Silco's eye as a treatment for cell decay or something along those lines, and then continued to evolve from there into what we saw in most of Arcane. If you look in Silco's first scene at the end of episode 1, he's holding the needle, and Shimmer hadn't even been successfully tested on animals yet, as we saw the first successful test with the cat and mouse. In that scene, we see him dose himself without the shakey hands and without the violent reaction that we see every other time when Powder does it for him. I think after the warehouse collapsed they at least temporarily lost the means to make Shimmer both as a medicine for Silco, and as a drug to flood the Lanes with. Singed would've indefinitely kept a private stash of the medicine for Rio and kept it away from Silco, and Silco would have been fine enough coping with the drug so long as it still got the job done. The problem being once they did have the means to make the medicine, he liked the drug more than the medicine despite the harsher side effects, probably because the drug is a performance enhancer as well as a steroid and the medicine is just a steroid.

[@Prefix1998]

Pretty sure shimmer came from rio after eating that weird flower. And I also believe that he has plenty of other strains of shimmer; the ones most addicting and easy to produce being sold on the black market for profit and a more stable variant that increases strength, agility, and regeneration abilities which were used on jinx, silco, and viktor.

[@Lusor_Caterpillar]

Nice opinions. I thought so too... I loved how she slowed down and even when she headed those voices after silco remembering she slowed down for a second to stimm him and ran away after. You can really see her being careful by Stimming him which makes those scenes gorgeous. I also love the fact how silco after trying it once alone after a long time was struggling because he was addicted to Jinx doing it. It also kinda shows the relation between them not only that he trusts her fully but when she said first time "it won't happen again" and he said "I know". To show those scenes where she stimms him is strengthening those words of trust. He even let her stim him after she stabbed him multiple times and seemed angry. Those Stimming scenes was always one of my favourite parts of the series. It makes me love their relationship.

[@Vxedra]

Well their relationship isn't really weird, you're just thinking of it like that

[@AmberGemnia]

I agree with everything but the eye injection. I believe Silco uses it for medicinal purposes. And since it's confirmed it CAN be used for healing (healed Vi from her stab wound) I think it was an infected wound from the fight with Vander and Silco when they were younger when they fought in the water. When Silco talks to Vander in episode 3 he asks Vander if he "knew what it was like to have your blood mixed with the filth and river toxins?" Most likely, the infection never got better but slightly stabilized by the use of Shimmer. It probably started as a medicine before someone suggested that it could be used as a steroid. Another thing to note is that at the end of episode 1 Silco can apply the eye injection all by himself. Meaning that A. It didn't hurt him back then B. It never got him high and C. it only hurts after the timeskip where you can see how his eye is deteriorating. You can see that from episode 2 when Silco talks to Deckard that his right eye is glowing an orange yellow ring. But on episode 4 when you see the close-up of Silcos' eye it's misshapened and not even a complete ring anymore. Hope this was helpful for you to understand! That would make a cool 1 min analysis video!

[@811chelseafc]

I will say the “don’t get high on your own supply” rule doesn’t really apply here. Silco is clearly using shimmer as medication not as a recreational drug. It’s shown to have powerful healing capabilities so it’s probably the only thing he can use.

[@myth86715]

I think the creators knew that people would draw parallels between Jinx/Silco and Joker/Harley, so they deliberately played into it and then subverted it ^^

[@PeacePham1991]

Can you explain more on this please? I'm not really comprehend your point. TIA

[@warruor]

Joker and harley relationship is extremely dysfunctional....joker doesnt give a crap what happens to her...but silco genuinely loves jinx

[@lockekappa500]

Yup, they knew they were going to have to tackle that from the old League lore. She's very one dimensional in league. They did a beautiful job of subverting her shallowness.

[@mateusnicolinibezerra9757]

Nah they just wanted to hint that they were actually lovers 😳

[@LangkeeLongkee]

@@mateusnicolinibezerra9757 you're done.

[@lockekappa500]

Any chance of a Sky video in the future? Specifically on her death. Probably the most contentious subject I've seen discussed on this show. Opinions range from "she was fridged" to she's wholey underdeveloped, one dimensional and there simply to die. Curious what you thought. Seems maybe not quite worth a video, but definitely more than a 1min video. Was she fridged? Is fridging even by nature a bad thing?

[@schnee1]

Ooh good idea! Benzo was also seemingly fridged btw, could be interesting to compare the two events. Personally I think Sky served a purpose importance enough to justify her amount of characterization and not more, and I do have a nice little bit to say about her. I'll tell you this much... you're asking about her in very timely fashion :) Check back Sunday!

[@lockekappa500]

@@schnee1 Haha, I feel like every time I have a question you have an answer lined up in record time. Appreciate it!

[@artofket]

The relationships in Arcane were so stressful for me cause I could never tell what they wanted me to know so I was like UMmM

[@GiRR007]

I feel like the eye drops are a form a medication for his eye.

[@_snapple_bapple_]

here's my take on these eye drops scene : I believe that it most likely symbolizes the close bond that jinx and silco has. I agree with you at the fact that jinx is chaotic and pretty much uncontrollable, which is shown of course with chaotic camera shots and the way she is around other characters. her mannerisms are uncontrollable and inconsistent, but when she's around silco is when we see her actually " stay in place ". in the scene she's careful with his eye drops, and actually one of the few scenes where we see her completely still, or consistent. it's because of her attachment and her trust with silco is what makes her so " careful " or " still " around him. sort of how a wild animal is around a someone or something who trusts them, like a hyena for example. and her being careful with his eye drops symbolizes that. and silco of course, when it came to the incompetence of his other lackeys, he intimidates them, reacts with violence, or some sort of domination. barely tolerates ANYONE who does him dirty. sort of like a " force of nature " if you will, that no one can break. again, like a wild beast, but more hawk-like, and calculated. but when it came to jinx, he pretty much lets her do whatever she wants, and jinx CONSTANTLY made mistakes, and reaps little to no repercussions. and not only that, jinx is the only one ( besides vander ) who's gotten that physically close to silco, and have him ALLOW it. all because of the fact that he sees jinx as his daughter. he decided to love her and accept the " jinx " that everyone rejected. they kind of calm and domesticate each other in a wierd and kind of wholesome way that can't exactly be explained. since they're seen as these scary, fearful pillars of fear, they've got nothing to fear about each other. now, during the scene where she's interrogating him, the camera is chaotic, because jinx is lashing out at him, for good reason too. he lied about her sister being dead, and found herself questioning her reality, her foundation. the very thing she trusts. silco. and again, she's ANGRY. confused. and by her sticking the eye drops in his face, it symbolizes and physically showing us her increasing distrust in silco. but when jinx is calmer, the cameras stop, and it's calm again. but the funny thing is that silco doesn't even, ( or barely even ) fights back against jinx. he just kinda sits there and let's it happen. he could easily push her off but he didn't even do that. again, I'd like to think that jinx is this wild animal that could easily rip you apart of she could, or that's her overall reputation. but when she's around people she can trust, she becomes more " domesticated ". but that's a I gotta say for now. man arcane hit diff lol

[@corabloom5959]

As much as I love Silco as a character am going to say it's not as innocent as you think. Arcane nails showing relationships like family friends and partners but they show variations of them. In a perfect world every relationship would be wholesome and healthy but Arcane isn't a perfect world and neither is ours. I really think the eye drops are implementing a way for us to feel uncomfortable on purpose because yes Jinx is mentally more like a child. We also can't ignore that Jinx met Silco just before puberty so even if Silco doesn't view her romantically or sexually that's not necessarily the same on Jinx's mind. Jinx can't tell the difference between romantic, platonic and familial bonds because to her unconditional love is unconditional love. In a way it is a cautionary tale because if Vi didn't appreciate Powder than Powder will go looking for that attention and it may not be always the healthiest or safest since she's mentally a child.

[@frostspork6930]

The eye drops aren’t him being a user it’s him trying to keep his eye and not let the infection spread. That’s why it’s such an impactful scene

[@caavalca]

i always assumed that the shimmer was being used to contain the infection of his eye (bcus it spread from before and after the time skip). i thought it wasn’t necessarily him “shooting up” but more him trying to slow the process of the toxins spreading to the rest of his face/brain edit: shimmer also was used to save vi from her stab wound, so i believe in small doses it’s medicinal but in larger doses it’s more harmful (like benadryl but not)

[@lillietracy8737]

I think it's intresting to see the odd things jinx does with him that would be uncomfortable with an actual father. It does make her seem more traumatized and like she is clinging to the person that was there when vi left her.

[@ovencake523]

+1 more use, in act 1 silco uses administers his drops himself, and does it in a calm, perfectly controlled motion

[@phoenixsystem8587]

In the first episode Silco was able to give himself the shot, later he wasn't anymore. I think that also shows how he has grown to heavily rely on Jinx.

[@NyJoanzy]

I hadn't considered Silco was shooting up. I thought he had to periodically draw fluid from the eye because it was inflamed.

[@jade-coolcat-8439]

Me also

[@dvklaveren]

A very subtle aspect for the eyedrops; Vander used to do this independently, but we see that without Jinx, he can't do it anymore. Foreshadowing that he's growing softer and more hesitant with his plans to take over Piltover with an army of shimmer soldiers and him to have no familial connections so he can let the monster out. Jinx has become his monster and it was forged from their trust rather than their distrust like what Silco always preached.

[@nicydarko552]

Jinx is traumatized which does stop mental growth until it is healed.

[@juuls___2177]

Unpopular opinion that should be popular: People that see the eyedrop scene as Jinx trying to be romantic or sxual to Silco are weird and YES IVE RUN INTO THOSE PPL BEFORE

[@SpartanOli]

For the point #3, i don't think Silco enjoys using it, but it's necessary for him. In small doses, the drug can heal injuries (as seen with Vi's stab wound). So he's trying to either heal his eye completely, or his injury is growing and the shimmer is stopping the progression

[@arberd2436]

I'm pretty sure shimmer has regenerative abilities but you have to take it in small doses and as we see in the show people get addicted to it very easily so they take bigger doses that cause health problems. It also shows how strong silco is that he is able to not overdo it

[@joeyclemons8621]

Their relationship definitely looked weird. When Silco was "baptising" Jinx for one horrifying moment I thought he was going for a kiss.

[@Atory2259]

It did make me uncomfortable to see Jinx (in her late teens) straddling her fully grown adult father figure, but it was a genius way to show how she is not mentally healthy (along with the many other ways they show it), and how she still has a child-like mind

[@borkborkie5471]

I always absolutely adore this scene, their bond is absolutely amazing between them.

[@pinstripe5487]

This one scene inspired an entire D&D setting for me. The idea of a drug injected into the eye is so visceral and uncomfortable and was the source of my inspiration.

[@saylorcassady1163]

I always thought the drug was to make his eye work. Just like how the drug makes you stronger, I thought he did it to make his dead eye actually work.

[@Erlynbebe]

I don’t like people saying jinx is mentally younger than her age. She’s hyper aware of her actions and the pain it can cause someone, I think it’s more of a loss of childhood than anything else. Silco is a safe place so she feels she can act out like kid, be selfish and whiny but still realizes she has a job and place by him

[@redaurora8602]

The amount of uncomftarble you feel whenever he and Jinx interact is deliberate, they wanted us to feel like we were watching a grooming going on because we were, it was a way to make us see how much Silco was messing up Jinx

[@LangkeeLongkee]

He's not using the drug for recreation, he uses it for his eye infection. It's medicine. That was the first way we see shimmer is used for medicinal purposes before we see Vi healed by it. (Also stop using the word straddle, that's not what she did, and I know some writers said you were supposed to be off put by their physical relationship, but it personally ticks me off, cause there's nothing OBJECTIVELY wrong or harmful about a girl with trauma age regressing as a coping mechanism and being so affectionate with her dad, as long as she can do what she needs to do still, the only reason it's "creepy" is cause of socialisation and as an autistic psych student it bothers me deeply when people act like there's something WRONG with actions that aren't inherently harmful. Age regression is not wrong, there are therapists who will encourage it for their patients, it just bothers me.)

[@pacrat6271]

I think he more does it for relief than addiction, yes it’s addiction to the relief it gives but it’s still using it in a more medical sense and micro dosing

[@drfate7863]

He was using it to stop the mutation in his eye from worsening.

[@Destroyanor]

Arcane is a tragedy executed so perfectly. Even with small details like these

[@rustkarl]

Silco doesn’t do Shimmer because he’s looking for a high. He uses it because it helps keep the corrupted tissue in his eye and face under control. He only ever uses a tiny amount compared to the entire vials the other addicts take. There’s actually 3 scenes where we see him use it. The first time is when we’re first introduced to him. It’s shot in silhouette but with the depiction of the scene later we know what he’s doing. That time however, he’s doing it himself. He’s steady and aligned it easily which shows that he’s been allowing Jinx to do it for him for quite a while now if he now has difficulty doing it again (right before Jinx starts interrogating him.)

[@Terminaterk2]

He's using the shimmer to keep his eye alive, after it got infected by the polluted river

[@orangepeelqueen2787]

I totally just assumed it was a shimmer variant that keeps his eye working.

[@ragnarian]

Episode 1: we see silco injecting his eye easily without trouble Whatever episode jinx jumps on silco and questions him about Vi: he is struggling to apply the eye drops He has become reliant on jinx to administer it, maybe it's just me, but I wouldn't trust most of my family to stick something on my eye!!

[@sharoconnell9634]

It’s to calm the infection down so it doesn’t spread. In the last episode you can see it spread across his face because he hasn’t gotten his injection yet

[@deldarel]

Eye drops? I guess I missed something but I always interpreted as pressure building up in the messed up eye that needs to be released by puncturing it. The 'drops' come from inside the eye, not outside. It's an amazing way to force him to be vulnerable while he's known for conceiving his vulnerabilities. This shows his feelings towards Jinx are true, not just a ploy

[@smella1829]

i just noticed in the beginning of this vid silco’s shimmer creates a tear, much like jinx’s purple tear after her last *incident* with him

[@Smushe]

I thought maybe instead of him being a user of his drug, it's more about keeping his dead eye alive or stopping the infection from the dirty water with the vander scene.

[@LadyMad02]

i love ur content! PLEASE please consider making a full video on this subject-you’re crazy good at the shorts! but my adhd needs me to rewatch them like 5x just to understand everything u say *cries in slow*

[@austincde]

This is exactly how it feels going to the eye doctor and they blow that puff of air in your eye lmao

[@taddad2641]

he's likely using a version of shimmer that is more 'medical' in use, vs the performance enhancer.

[@ranniwolves]

shimmer is basically opiates, addictive as hell but can be helpful to heal if you can control your addictive tendencies.

[@shanec3098]

Calling that an eyedrop is putting it very nicely

[@vixo4369]

Well, Renata also uses shimmer as a medicine and a drug

[@ronkristiancapin6371]

another thing i found out: it shows that silco depended on jinx for a long time. near the end of episode one, silco was fine using the eye drop alone. during jinx's rebelious stage, silco was struggling. he's been letting jinx help him with the eye drops for a long time that silco forgot how to do it himself

[@HxH2011DRA]

You've gotten damn goid at these

[@PaniniWasteland]

I was shock when she sat on his lap like... aint this the man you call father??

[@LOKandThelastairbender56]

It's the fact that Silco never hurt her, physically.

[@deyliramirez382]

These 5 reasons can be used to explain what Silco means when he says to Jinx, “Don’t cry, you’re perfect”. These all show a dependency on Jinx & so tolerance for her child-like state, but what definitely shows he cares for her as an adoptive father is the fact that he lets her set bombs and spray paint all over his office where he makes important decisions to the point where Sevika gets exasperated soon after she comes in & it’s clear that this is something she regularly gets exasperated about Great analysis! I think most of these reasons occurred to me while watching the scene, but I didn’t put them all together

[@jorickthekek2660]

You missed one. At the start of the serious he uses it on himself confidently but when jinx isn’t there to do it for him right away when she’s angry at him he’s clearly visibly struggling

[@rai9355]

This is the only thing keeping me from lashing out as I'm waiting for s2 😅

[@DodacLA]

What i like most about these scenes. I am not sure when exactly but some time during the first 3 episodes we see Silco use the injector on itself with a steady hand and complete confidence. Just as we would expect from someone like Silco. When we then see him try doing the same later right before jinx flips on him after finding out he lied about VI, we see his hand unsteady and uncertain as he tries bringing it up to his eye. A first time that Jinx made him weak. That she IS his weakness even before we are explicitly told so as he is seen having to rely on her to do it for her. It is such a powerful but subtle way to show his Dependance on Jinx and i love it.

[@SteamShinobi]

Maybe it builds off the idea of like shimmer "Causing rapid, continuous, but destructive growth that can be exploited by the hex core" (you), then hes using shimmer to save a dying limb like he intends to use it to save a dying people in the face of a piltover that exploits their every growth.

[@SirTimbo]

Silco using small amounts for a medical use shows that the issue isnt the drug but its application.

[@moonlitlaurel8103]

I also think it shows that silco doesn't care about Jinx (physically) inflicting pain on him. It sets up that he isn't mad that she kills him in the end.

[@Graph3.14]

Just think of it like an old man's medication nothing more to it.

[@alexanderdrummond3343]

I always saw it as a kinda treatment for Silco's ganked up eye

[@chowrites6179]

This is one of those moments where you are seeing this playout and even if the audience can't put it to words they feel all of this and it makes sense. That to me is good writing

[@elysemeyers1256]

I think it’s literally a metaphors for Silco’s level of Ambition and willingness to do ANYTHING for Zaun. When he does it in Act 1 he does it easily alone and barely flinches, after the time jump we see he has given the job to Jinx, and it’s harder for him to do. He’s handing the duty of his vengeance and goals over to his daughter, and when Jinx questions Silco’s cause she keeps ‘missing’ but Silco brings her back around, tells her to finish the weapon against Piltover, and she makes the shot. Also showing he literally *can’t do it without her.* Eventually once he’s gone and left it up to her, she takes the shot with the weapon she made for Silco (fishbones looks like the injector, fight me) RIGHT INTO THE EYE of Piltover (and the red moon looks like his bad eye)

[@elanacreepy5321]

The straddling thing! Absolutely!!

[@Shovel________________]

another thing is that it adds a bit of consistency with the worldbuilding, which i though was incredibly neat. sevika's arm is fueled by shimmer just as silco's eye is. it is noted how well designed the prosthetics produced in the undercity are, and i can imagine the reason these replacement limbs function almost as well, if not better, than the real thing is because they are powered on shimmer.

[@laghymclagherson3487]

It’s not him taking drugs it’s him stopping the mutation from spreading