The INSANE Non-Verbal Storytelling of JINX vs EKKO

#arcane #leagueoflegends
Loved this scene so much, crazy how much they accomplished story-wise in 2min
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[@michaelsykes911]

That grenade at the end was 100% a suicide attempt. Not "Jinx wins". She lost. And she realized that. She realized things have gone too far and it's time to put an end to it. If she just wanted to take down Ekko at all cost, she could have stuck the nade onto his body, we know those grenades stick. Her expression shows no hostility towards Ekko, no anger, no resistance. Just regret and resignation. You can see in the last second that she simply looks away and pulls the pin.

[@Daxdax006]

And then the sound of the grenade and ekko’s armor simultaneously - he threw himself on the grenade to save her.

[@Merlincat007]

@@Daxdax006 Uh, nope? What? Have you watched through the end of the season?

[@Merlincat007]

@@Daxdax006 He may have kicked or whacked the grenade away, which may be what you're hearing, and might help explain how even Jinx survived (barely). But he was less injured than she was - there's literally no way he jumped on it.

[@danielfarfudinov3193]

@@Merlincat007 Powder died. At that moment, completely. She wanted to kill Jinx too, but Silco saved her. Also, the kick actually aligns pretty well with Ekko's leg injury, since he didn't have it before the explosion. But then, the burn marks clearly show that the grenade exploded pretty close to Jinx, so I believe Ekko used his board to escape the blast but it still got his leg.

[@kevinmshields]

Came here looking for this. Agree 100%

[@tinyblueflame7813]

The scene has just one dialogue and even that is perfect. She could have said anything after "Look who it is"; she could have said "Ekko" or "Littleman". Both would have gotten the point across that she know who he is. But instead, she said "the boy saviour" dripping with sarcasm. In this one phrase, she summarizes her whole view on Ekko and all his efforts with the fire lights. Arcane is just a master class in super efficient story telling

[@praveenvijeyakumar741]

Calling him "The Boy Saviour" also implies that Ekko tried to save Powder from Silco at some point during the time-skip between Acts 1 and 2. The fact that Jinx is still with Silco implies that the attempt failed, which would also explain why Ekko was so adamant that Powder was gone when talking to Vi. Plus, the creators themselves said that they'd planned a scene actually showing Ekko's attempt at saving Powder during the time-skip, but the scene was scrapped.

[@dylandarnell3657]

@@praveenvijeyakumar741 Especially when connected with the "suicide grenade" theory - I bet her choice to call him that was Powder asking him to save her from Jinx (i.e., kill her before there really isn't anything of Powder left). And when he couldn't, she tried to do it herself - but he "saved" her from that as well.

[@praveenvijeyakumar741]

@@dylandarnell3657 That actually makes a lot of sense.

[@thatratinahatt]

I imagine Jinx’s smile being like she didn’t want to be Jinx anymore, she wanted to go back to playing with her childhood friend and staying with Vi. Then it goes to her giving up ie her looking away and pulling the pin. I wish there’d be more scenes like this or with Ekko, but with how Jinx is in the games, it’ll never come to be.

[@verified_tinker1818]

A detail I'd like to add: Jinx and Ekko's interactions form a three-beat. The first time they fight, Jinx wins. The second ends in a draw. Ekko wins the last. In a way, this relates to the theme of change you talked about. I also agree with David's comment that this was Powder trying to kill herself more than Ekko. And she succeeded. I think Powder died on the bridge where everything began, and with the Shimmer-infused, purple eyes, Jinx was reborn in her place. Episode 9 may be her coming to terms with that.

[@BobEsBeans]

that's what I took from her death too

[@freshairkaboom8171]

Yeah, the shimmer really sealed the deal. I think in that moment Jinx was content dying as Ekko's childhood friend, knowing that her psychological issues would not allow her anything but mere moments of being Powder again, and in that moment she wanted to stay Powder, and in her mind killing herself would allow for that to happen. She had remembered how fun it was to just be a kid with Ekko.

[@sorenkair]

When did they draw?

[@dingus42]

@@sorenkair maybe the firelights v jinx fight on the shimmer smuggling ship at the start of act II? Since both got away

[@calebmorri]

@@dingus42 I thought that was the Jinx win... What would be the Jinx win then? I don't remember them fighting before that moment. I would have said that the draw was during the fight where Vi and Cupcake (I forgot her name haha) were taken by the Firelights and Jinx was left alone. Neither beat the other, and the Firelights weren't chased off like they were in the scene from the start of Act II, they left because they had gotten Vi, the Hextech Gemstone, and Cupcake (who had the Gemstone for a bit).

[@Lovetheoddones]

In that moment of hesitation I hear this conversation between them where Ekko is asking if Powder is still there (partly hoping that Vi was right about Powder still being in there somewhere) and Jinx is replying no, almost like she shook her head with that faint sad smile to show that the friend he once had was sadly gone

[@dailycatsandgaming3178]

I believe he was fighting powder not jinx I believe jinx wouldn't be playing that game and would be throwing bombs and really trying to kill him by backing up and not missing shots because she has hit a bunch of moving targets perfectly and has been shown to be very athletic And I believe it was powder trying to kill herself so she wouldn't fully become jinx But there are a bunch of ways to view this fight and that's why it's amazing

[@chiderakalaji7206]

I disagree and think Ecko was fighting Jinx on the bridge because this wasn't their first violent encounter. You say that the reason why Jinx was at her strongest was because Powder was in control. But if that were the case, why would she fight him in the first place? Ecko was used to Jinx's attack patterns which was why she was struggling trying to kill him. Not because Jinx wasn't there. To me, there was no hesitation during the fight. Only when she had her back against the wall did Jinx "surrender" and Powder accepted her fate.

[@Nemo.404]

I mean, jinx and powder are the same person. She has schizophrenia, not multiple personalities. It's like a Anakin/Vader situation... They bury their pasts and change attitudes to endure traumatic events but that doesn't mean they now have two separate consciousness living inside the same body, it's still the same consciousness 🙂. I don't understand why people are dividing powder and jinx like if they were two different people

[@chiderakalaji7206]

@@Nemo.404 Because in essence they are. You can't deny that Powder and Jinx have two different personalities, they just happen to share the same body. No one is saying that they are 2 different people. It's just easier to differentiate the two when talking about a specific instance.

[@HazelAmarie]

@@chiderakalaji7206 They’re not split personalities… Jinx is still Powder… just the more damaged/more experienced/trauma filled version.

[@chiderakalaji7206]

@@HazelAmarie My apologies, I wasn't trying to imply that she had split personality disorder. Just trying to say how different Jinx and Powder are from each despite them being the same

[@Waryfuls2]

*_"I had a crush… until you started talking to the gun" it makes even more sense now that i've seen arcane_*

[@natahliazaring5291]

Also in the context of Jinx/Powder being related to countdowns and timed bombs, this game could be used as a lens to view her entire tragectory through the final Act. Can they reach her before she shoots/explodes? And on some level I think Jinx/Powder has "agreed" to play by those rules - she could have fired at Piltover with the Hextech weapon at any point after she made the gun, but she wanted to give Vi a chance to reach her, to stop her, to do what she can. Before the fight with Ekko, Jinx is fairly fast and effective when she tries to do something, even if her means are somewhat off the wall and her goals maybe aren't aligned with those of others. But when she agrees to play this game, she doesn't just change in the fight, she changes how she operates overall.

[@Merlincat007]

Damn. Awesome and unique analysis!

[@marianaalves4601]

Yeah! she had the time to shot him and didn't do it (1:51 to 1:53 in their fight) she choose not to put the granade attached to his robes too.

[@itzplant3196]

I also think the choice of weapons wasnt accidental. There's a contrast between a sword an an axe. While an axe is more of a brutal weapon(kind of like the reality), you always see a sword in fables and myths. It's a more noble weapon. It has more of a child-like quality to it? or maybe that's just my interpretation.

[@Sonserf369]

Pretty sure it's a pipe, not an axe, but the point still stands. Swords have this honourable aura to them in fantasy media. But beating the shit out of someone with a pipe? Not so much.

[@Merlincat007]

@@Sonserf369 Yeah. I think Ekko's weapon of choice also speaks to his reluctance to kill though! He tries to knock people unconscious or incapacitate them with crystal bombs instead, like we saw on the shimmer ship.

[@Sebastian-oz1lj]

nah ekko just uses sword in game and jinx is adc

[@jonohuni3977]

i noticed a subtle detail that i wish would be true. Before the fight has happened a close up shot of Jinx's blue eyes are seen indicating she is currently just jinx. But after the fight and remembering how they used to play her eyes become brown like Powder. I want to believe Ekko saw Powder on the ground which added to the hesitation. Then before she pulls the gernade her eyes subtly changed to blue indicating jinx pulled the gernade while Powder was scared and begging for mercy.

[@aniket8350]

Glad that I wasn't the only one to notice that

[@Masturbation65]

Jinx's eyes are canonically purple and there's an implication that it's of her being addicted to/being a user of Shimmer. I'm more of the theory that brown indicated a mixture of the incompleteness of the transition of both Powder to Jinx and vice-versa, an internal battle between both personalities. With blue indicating that there's still a glimmer of Powder in her and purple indicating the complete transformation to/control of Jinx. If you notice in Episode 8 at the end when Jinx infiltrates Caitlyn's shower and is behind her, her eyes glimmer purple and remain this way throughout episode 9. Powder's eyes as a child were brown and they were blue throughout the series as she battled internally with herself. I believe this bridge scene to be, in comparison to Silco's river scene, her rebirth as truly Jinx.

[@atlas_boi8094]

Like a lot of others are saying, Jinx pulls the grenade to try and kill herself to save the ones she still cares for or to finally kill Powder and fully become Jinx, I see it as Powder coming back and trying to kill herself cause she sees it as her fault that everyone else died so she thinks she should die to save the ones she loves that are still alive

[@CypressDahlia]

What this scene teaches us is that Ekko is Powder's foil (in the literary sense). Not Vi. Vi is not Powder's opposite. Ekko is. Ekko and Powder are children who grew up in the same, harsh environment. But Ekko grew up in a loving home with Benzo as a father figure and becomes the new savior of the Undercity. Powder grew up with less familial support and ended up becoming Jinx. Jinx acknowledges this. You can hear bitterness when she calls him the boy savior. She knows they came from the same place, but he grew up to be everything she couldn't be: a hero. The irony being that the previous hero of the undercity, Vander, ended up raising Jinx and Benzo ended up raising the new Vander. Benzo taught Ekko how to build, how to learn, how to nurture and care for things. Vander--even tho he was a good man at heart--only ended up teaching his kids how to fight.

[@CayeDaws]

This video legit feels like a commentary you see on dvds and Blu Rays and I love that

[@R_o_o_k_i_n_g_t_o_n]

what i love absolutely most was how much you could see both of them sad and angry knowing what had to happen with ekko knowing she not only killed his friends (ecen tho he knows she did it unknowingly) but she also works for silco who he sees as poisoning the undercity and her knowing and her knowing his feelings about shimmer and knowing what she did to the people he cared about and that she took away from him some of what she wanted absolutely most of all which was love and compaasion and people you can trust. i love how you see them both understand that at least once they HAVE to fight with some intent to kill but she likely coulda dodged with how agile she seems and he coulda kept hitting but i think both of them wanted to at least for what could be their last interaction with eachother take one last chance to remember the good and almost try to for their own benefits see if the other still cares about them like they use to with first we see jynx acknowledge his challenge and basically be like "your right... if we have to do this we should do it right..." and than we see ekko as he hit jynx and had her pinned and yet stopped hitting her seeing that for however much like him, she changed she is still the same girl he knew as i feel he is probably the most emotionally mature character in the show and wasnt saying dont trust her because she and powder are different people but dont trust her because of what she feels she has to do. i will say the thing i like most is while its easy to see jynx dropping the grenade as taking advantage of his LONG moment of hesitation its a matter of if she wanted him dead she would have attached that grenade to his pant leg, kicked him off of her and dove off the bridge as in the scene just before she took the hextech gemstone we see just how long one of those grenades timers can be when not latched onto something as im certain it speeds up if it latches on. because of this i feel its clear her stopping struggling and seeing that he wasnt gonna finish her and finish the game as the only way to win the game NOW is to at least knock her out if not kill her and to me it feels like the way she pointed his attention to the grenade and slowly dropped it while seemingly not even trying to run from the spot she was in it seems clear to me she basically was almost saying "thanks for still caring about me like you used to and being the only person to truly accept me for who i am even if we have different things to fight for.... as thanks ill help you finish this like your supposed to with im certain she knew he coulda just jumped off the bridge in the time and been fine but she didnt count on him hitting the grenade away as just before the explosion you can actually hear the same metallic ding from when he hit jynx eariler so it seems rather than run he almost tried to save jynx as well as himself but seemingly got blown off the bridge with hell based on the fact only his leg was hurt and considering jynx's condition it almost seems like seeing him not run and try to save her to maybe made her decide to jump infont of the explosion to try to save him.

[@ViewTube_Emperor_of_Mankind]

WHY DOES NOBODY MENTION HOW THE ANIMATION CHANGES WHEN YOU SEE SOMETHING OUT OF THE EYES OF A CHARACTER? Jinx looks totally different out of Ekkos eyes. More like powder than Jinx and thats on purpose. He sees he with big eyes, totally different animation

[@Kaan-on8mn]

This is my absoulute favourite scene in the series, this also reminds me the scene of the old obi-wan vs maul fight in the cartoons.

[@averhamilton]

IT WAS A MASTERPIECE ITS SO GOOD

[@MrMirhen]

First, I love this analysis, which opened my eyes to so many details I never considered and which added meaning to a scene I already loved at first sight. Where I differ (like a few other here) is in the assertion that Jinx 'won' this fight; my take on it is that from the moment Ekko has her pinned, she reverts to Powder (the Powder-grey eyes and her facial expression being a great visual clue). I took this moment as her being reunited with her childhood friend and - beaten and (apparently) once more abandoned by her sister - decides to end her life with her childhood friend at her side (killing him in the process, too, making this ever more tragic). Had she been Jinx at the time, I think she would have grinned, yelled or quipped rather than smiling a wistful little smile - this was not a 'gotcha sucker' moment. I believe these different views just underline how complex and mind-bogglingly open to interpretation Arcane is - underpinning it's status as a great work of (film-making) art.

[@saikebonexe9547]

This sceme hurt a lot when i watched cuz if you play the game, there is a interaction where ekko admits to jinx that he used to have feelings for her before she crazy and started to work with Silco, and the fact that for all of the time that passed since the incident where vander died ekko coul see how powder changed, at the point where he calls her jinx and not by her name, and he slowly started to realize she was gone until the last seconds of the fight, where he watched her into her eyes, reconecting to the past and remembering that she used to be someone he loved. I truly love this charcter , both in game that in arcane and i simply have no words to explain why i think this is the peack of perfection.

[@ysgramorssoupspoon2261]

I like the OSP's explanation of the grenade scene being Jinx recognizing Ekko as family but being so used to hurting her family (at least so she sees herself) that her first reaction is to blow both of them up.

[@toonvanboxstael254]

Good point about the restraint; it's incredible in this series (especially as it's based on a fighting game) how almost every fight scene changes the participants, or drives the plot forward, in a meaningful way. There's simply no filler scenes.

[@jwoellhof]

If ever a scene deserved the most prestigious award possible, it's this one.

[@MisterofBattle]

This series was so good because it trusted the audience. It didn't explain everything. It just did it and trusted the audience to realize what was in front of them.

[@chitoge7816]

*Some* of my thoughts about this fight scene in an 11 min video. I loved this scene so much, it's so simple and yet i find it to be the most brilliant scene in all of s1. Arcane had moments in each episode that blew me away but none like this, this was its own league. Great video mate, i wholeheartedly agree with everything you said. Listen i wouldn't mind if you made another 25 min long video about that same scene.

[@schnee1]

after reading all these comments, i think i could probably make a part 2 about this scene that's about 25min... ::eyes::

[@chitoge7816]

@@schnee1 waiting 👀 One of the things that i noticed was the use of crows that i took as sign of bad luck. You can see it behind jinx in this fight when there's literally no details. But crows weren't there every single time jinx brought bad luck with her. People who know about the game and know more about the lore said the crows are there for different-unrelated to jinx reason. Potential spoiler lore info - the crows work like raven did in game of thrones. They're eyes for someone else.

[@schnee1]

​@@chitoge7816 (New vid is up btw if you want to watch that!) Funny you mention the crows, I was wracking my brains to figure out if there was something deeper behind the crow for jinx, but if it's lore/plot related then I'm not surprised I couldn't figure it out. It did seem odd that the firelight behind Ekko clearly represented him, but Jinx's animal didn't seem to represent her.

[@chitoge7816]

@@schnee1 even after hearing about the lore, i gotta say putting the crow behind her doesn't really make sense. The scene literally has no details apart from powder/jinx being there with her gun. Creators felt the need to put a crow in the background in this weird flashback-mash. So there has to be a deeper connection to her with the crows. A lot of cultures do think a crows sitting at your door/window and cawing at nothing is a sign of bad luck or is a bad omen. That's what we saw in arcane. Crows follow death and the dead to feed off of. They don't just mindlessly spend energy for cawing at nothing just because they can. So them being sign of bad luck sounds symbolically pretty sensible to me. That's what i'll believe as long as i'm not given any specific reason to not to by the show itself.

[@Merlincat007]

@@chitoge7816 You could call them sitting on your window an omen, or you might call it a Jinx!

[@rhelie9397]

I think also both characters thought they were going to get some sort of relief from either winning or losing but when it came down to it it was just too painful and as you said ugly it didn't feel good it didn't feel right it just felt gutwrenching

[@FlRELAlR]

"The Pixar Rule: don't show the audience '4' show them '2+2'." Love that line! Your channel was recommended with the Madness video. You expertly meshed the themes and video clips of so many shows, movies, and historical documentaries into a beautifully cohesive, visually exciting 45 min video that it was easy to hold on for the whole ride! I loved listening to your take, at the end, from a writer's perspective (RIP to your instructor). Thank you for the wealth of information you're providing! I went from that first (current) video, to this earlier video and can't wait to devour everything between! Keep up the amazing and informative storytelling!

[@mattmattmatt13]

Excellent analysis!

[@fallenshadow9629]

Yesterday this guy had 15.6k subs, today he has 16.2k

[@liquid_x]

Very well done! I love the articulation and explanation of all the little things going on. So good! I also loved the jump back in this scene, kinda like the boxing fight in Sherlock Holmes with Robert Downing Jr.

[@kosnk]

I understood that moment with Jinx/Powder setting off a grenade is that Powder decides to die there. Jinx is born at the end of Act I, and Powder dies at the start of Act III. The next time we see her - she has purple eyes.

[@neofluxmachina]

I love your arcane analyses !

[@hiotsobo]

This effing show is a MASTERPIECE

[@melvinjoseph952]

Marvel is thanking its lucky stars that they released What if before Arcane came out

[@Deadknight67]

When I saw it the first time I understood it as if it was Jinx's point of view on the first shot. Ekko Proposes the game and that's how jinx sees the event unfold. Ekko loses and has to use the time watch to go back in time and get another go to win on the second time. You even see the blood splatter as Jinx hit him before he rewinds time. When he restarts we see it through his perspective and when he hit Jinx on the head that's where jinx's perspective realign with the world and isn't in her own head. I never see Jinx faking any emotions in the serie, I don't think she was faking anything she was just defeated, hurt and sad. To me the grenade isn't "haha I still won", to me it's just a "Good bye cruel world, I've lost everything, my sister, my friend and myself." At that moment if Vi would have gone back to Powder, I think she could have had a chance of salvation, but that was the last time. After she gets saved and injected with the purple fluid, that's when powder is really gone and jinx is.

[@coolestRIPmoments]

"Good bye cruel world, I've lost everything, my sister, my friend and myself-- and I'm going to blow you up and kill you Ekko." like wtf

[@SplitSniper7]

I appreciate you breaking down this scene. I absolutely loved this scene but didn't pick up on these nuances. I thought to myself that I wish we had at least 1 scene with them together when they were kids prior to this to get that emotional pay off that I felt was a little lacking. Still absolutely loved this and its visuals.

[@fluffynova12376]

Great analysis! Would love to see more

[@dillonevans5090]

Not sure how significant it is but jinx's eyes return to Powders grey colour when she is on the floor rather than her usual blue colour.

[@superitgel1]

Hesitation is death. He almost died.

[@redacted5866]

I thought the first childhood game scene was the fight and that powder killed echo and I yelled and then he showed up and I was shocked

[@coolestRIPmoments]

So if she did feel remorse for Ekko before pulling the pin, what is there to be gained? The orb is still going to the police whether or not Ekko dies. So it kinda seems like she tries to murder her childhood friend for no reason?

[@marvinseneque]

great video, please make more

[@Matt-bg5wg]

The music video for Enemy has a lot of Powder & Ekko scenes which really drive home the notion of how close they were. It also makes this scene so much more tragic. m.kzbin.info/www/bejne/emqqYomFn7OSbpY

[@loganpoe5125]

Holy shit they recreated they Kakashi vs Obito scene but with Jinx and Ekko there’s no way you cannot tell me they weren’t inspired by that Naruto fight.

[@wdkaye]

One of my favorite parts of this sequence: we see Jinx in Ekko's mind's eye in 1:12, biting her lip and smiling, as if she's enjoying this as much as when they were kids. But when reality unfolds, we see her real facial expression at 6:03 - she's not enjoying this at all.

[@Ulfrang]

Can we talk about how Ekko clearly loves Powder but hates Jinx? That was the only reason he didn't land that last punch

[@AXELEMASTER]

Something I haven’t seen mentioned here is the firefly and crow visuals. For me it represents what they were and how they grew up, Ekko embracing the firefly as well as the past and becoming stronger while Jinx shoots a crow in one scene, kinda saying she negates her past, negating and hating powder.

[@MistahJay7]

I low key thought Ekko was going to die by him getting stabbed or something in the side when they were having that moment. Glad they didn't' do that cause I see that too much Lol

[@marcusc9931]

Did you notice how mirrored their homes are? I wonder how much good that giant fan could have done if someone cared to fix it.

[@tell-me-a-story-]

I think they’re still kids, right? They are older, but they’re still only like, 16.

[@shadowclaw8607]

I think the reason Jinx used the grenade because some of Powder came out. Silco said to let Powder die. Might as we blow herself up

[@Manu2222221]

I love analisis like this! Ilive for great storytelling

[@cherrycola542]

I sincerely think Jinx shared that moment with Ekko during the pause but in her mind he was her friend when she was Powder and she's trying to kill powder like Slico said -& maybe she thinks In order to do that she needs to defeat the people from her past???- Idk the things I crossed out I'm not sure about

[@vurified]

Western Kakashi vs Obito

[@raven5048]

Is nobody gonna talk about the Raven and the bug? I'm confused on these

[@jaylunwilliams1544]

What's up with the crow behind jinx? I get the firelight obv behind ekko

[@lilywhetsell8106]

I think jinx definitely hesitated irl. Maybe Ekko just knew her pattens and used it against her, but she had a clear shot (albeit a very short time frame) and even as a kid she was really good with guns. she could have shot Ekko, but she didn't. Whether or not its subconscious, idk if I fully believe that Ekko just flat out beat her. that's j my take tho and I love jinx so maybe im j looking too far into it bc I wanna defend her lmao💀 when I 1st watched it, I didn't take it as a game they played as kids or a flashback. at least not a specific one. I took it more as playing the exact scene but showing how tragic it is that these childhood friends are trying to kill each other/ showing them as their "true" selves before as much trauma and corruption. maybe that's what u meant and I misinterpreted what u said tho. like to me it was less ekko knowing her patterns bc they used to play like that and more just artistically showing the contrast between the past and present, averting expectations, and ekko being a badass and dodging til the last one where jinx hesitated. (im not done w the video. Maybe u cover this idk)

[@lilywhetsell8106]

@Tom Ford im sorry im bad at explaining 😭

[@lilywhetsell8106]

@Tom Ford i also was in extreme sleep deprivation (going on 50 hours) when i wrote that and definitely wasnt fully in reality

[@darkmerc02]

Best scene in the show in my opinion. Also the only one where two “champions” fight, but the fight wasn’t overly choreographed beyond that important story beat of their past. No it was quick, it was ugly, it was brutal like a real fight usually is.

[@nathanoosthuizen3241]

Shite brother expected more lol

[@Mr_Wavy]

Stop calling this a fight this was a OSAW! Ekko was whooping Jinx’s ass! Still, the Animation was astonishing 🔥🔥🔥

[@AnyHeroBlake]

This is why "show, don't tell" is so incredibly important This scene also really drives home how Ekko and Jinx are polar opposites due to the events they lived through. Ekko could have gone down the same path as Jinx. He was alone after everyone tried to save Vander.

[@schnee1]

I wish we got to see more of how Ekko dealt with his trauma. Would have loved to compare the 3 trajectories of him, Vi, and Powder and how they turned out as a result

[@animagamer2]

@@schnee1 I mean, they've gotta if they plan to elevate him to main character status at some point. And considering he's one of the most popular Zuan champions, I can't see them not doing so.

[@liviasantana1683]

I think Jinx’s trauma isn’t really comparable to Ekko’s, bc she was responsible for her own family’s death as a kid while tryna save her sister, who then hits her and bails on her bc of it. The guilt from something that terrible at such a young age can destroy someone forever.

[@rogersepulveda9871]

​@@schnee1 There's a scene in Avatar Legend of Korra, where Iroh says: “Sometimes the best way to solve your own problems is to help someone else” which is what Ekko does. Beatiful videos... I've been binge watching your analysys. Great job thank you.

[@ArinyaXoriGMVs]

@@rogersepulveda9871 I don't watch any Avatar, but that's a really nice quote. Same lesson is in the Bible :)

[@Nata-ch2bk]

The smile of Jinx at the end of the scene can be interpreted in different ways. For me, it was actually a smile of sympathy towards Ekko. But she still realises that things have gone too far, and the grenade is her giving up and actually being fine with dying here together with her childhood friend Ekko. As far as she knew, she wasn't supposed to survive that grenade.

[@GetJinxedOnLoop]

Yeah I see it this way too. This gives double meaning to her line "Nothing ever stays dead" in the last episode. It cpuld even give it triple meaning since that applies to her old family (as hallucinations)

[@TaldrenDR]

I agree, she had no intention of living through that grenade.

[@Ілля-й6ы2щ]

hardly agree. i felt it rly that way - for me that smile was kind of a farewell to her old friend. and i trully felt like she shared that moment as well as ekko did. it just rly gone too far...

[@sorenkair]

I don't think that was a smile. A grimace of resignation perhaps.

[@GeneralKnightmare]

The fact that this isn't the popular sentiment really confuses me, this show has a grounded and dark tone so how does everyone have the mindset that she was supposed to live through a POINTBLANK grenade?

[@Kyoril]

It is worth mentioning to point out that Powder's friendship with "little Man" Ekko, and hanging out at Benzo's shop is likely where Powder learned to differentiate between what's junk and what's valuable. As we see in Episode 1 when Mylo is haphazardly tossing junk into the sack while Powder is more studiously looking at everything and picking out the items with the most value.

[@mikkermikker5908]

That really does make sence!

[@Sky-ll2xy]

Great insight! Are you an arcane screenwriter?

[@Kyoril]

@@Sky-ll2xy Arcane screenwriter?! Ha! I so wish! And thank you for that compliment. You just totally made my day. Nah. Truth is. I am currently on my 8th playthrough of all 9 episodes. Totally addicted to this show and I pick up new information with each rewatch. For example. We have all, already seen what Jinx will look like in Season 2. Rewatch the Imagine Dragons Enemy video. You will see three distinct versions of Powder/Jinx. 10 yr old Powder who we all know and love from the first 3 episodes. Calling out too and being protected by 16 yr old Jinx. But there is also an older 20 something looking Jinx in screenshots. Most notably when Jid is doing his solo and we see this older version of Jinx in a screenshot with Fishbones, her rocket launcher strapped across her back. So yeah, we can expect a 5 year or so time leap between Season 1 and 2.

[@RepstarVixen]

@@Kyoril the oldest jinx they cut to in the music video is in game jinx

[@Kyoril]

@@RepstarVixen yeah, in game Jinx is 21. So season 1 of Arcane is a prequel to League of Legends.

[@HNblaz]

What people don't know if they don't play League too, is that Ekko had a crush on Powder, and seeing Jinx tore his heart apart. When Ekko meets an enemy Jinx, he would say : "I had a crush until you started talking to the guns." and "Guns. Original." So Ekko doesn't only see Powder, he's also reminded how much he cared and loved her.

[@schnee1]

definitely is consistent with how he acts here, i can totally see that now

[@sorenkair]

I wish they had that in the show

[@HNblaz]

@@sorenkair maybe in S2 as a flashback or second confrontation between Ekko and Jinx ?

[@Nemo.404]

I mean, the show isn't canon, so they could totally just be friends and nothing else

[@HNblaz]

@@Nemo.404 Welp, it still works with League of Runeterra and Arcane seems closer to this game than LoL

[@iXSIKOBOIXi]

Something people need to really really pay attention to in not just this scene but in the entire show is Powder's eyes. She starts off with dull eyes, brown or grey looking eyes. These are just her normal eyes as Powder. When she uses the Hextech Crystals to kill everyone her eyes stay blue. This is still powder but she's different. She's scarred by the event. It never leaves her minds eye. That explosion is constantly there. When she is Jinx, truly Jinx, her eyes are Purple. Powder is dead and Jinx has taken her place. In this fight scene, at the very end when Ekko is looking down on Powder, yes Powder, her eyes are the dull dark brownish colour that they were back then. So this action isn't Jinx trying to kill Ekko, this is Powder trying to stop it all right there. It's more of the Non-Verbal storytelling and it's absolutely a masterful detail.

[@kewaruchavendi4706]

I mean her eyes turn purple because of the shimmer treatment to save her life.

[@iXSIKOBOIXi]

@@kewaruchavendi4706 Yes, but they change her eye colours very thematically. It's not just for story reasons, they have used it very significantly to differentiate between Jinxes 3 phases.

[@starbournehero771]

@@kewaruchavendi4706 you also see the purple eyes at the end of episode 3 when in Silco's arms

[@Nadiesezarpa]

Remember that you are seeing that through ekko's eyes. I believe that's what he was seeing and even tho there is still some powder in there, jinx decided to kill them both

[@look4thestarss]

Her eyes are greyish when she’s powder and Blue when Jinx. At least before she was loaded with shimmer

[@TaldrenDR]

I disagree with your assessment at the end. Looking at the expressions of Jinx at the end, It went from fear, to sadness of the situation, to the small smile in recognition that Ekko still believed she was redeemable, and finally to the looking away as she gave up on herself and tried to kill herself with the grenade. Attempted suicide has been a theme in this show as this was the 3rd in the series. First was Jayce, then Victor, and now Jinx.

[@schnee1]

definitely a fair theory, totally hear it

[@Shon_-]

@The Hollow Called White LMAO Marcus got forgotten once again

[@Shon_-]

@The Hollow Called White yeah, Marcus is mostly a character to expand the lore of other characters not interesting himself that much Edit:my amazing grammar

[@aidannatsume9550]

@@schnee1 A point to this theory is Jinx eye's color. Jinx's color pre-shimmer is blue but Powder is gray. a.k.a. the eyes color in that instance.

[@Shon_-]

@@aidannatsume9550 Nice finding man this show is full of them

[@davids182]

Very well done! One thing I'll add is I have heard the theory that at the end when Jinx is lying there she's basically at rock bottom with everyone abandoning her or betraying her then her recognizing that the old friend whom she was trying to kill now showed mercy to her. So at that moment she might have set the bomb off more to end it all and kill herself more than to kill Ekko.

[@schnee1]

Ooh that hits hard just to read, what a tragic theory, but very reasonable too. Thanks for sharing!

[@KC_Smooth]

I agree with this 100%

[@BobEsBeans]

I think it was a flash of Powder coming back because of Ekko then trying to kill herself because she she's through Ekko what she had become. So in her mind she was gonna be Powder when she died but then because Silko saved her and Jinx came back full force.

[@braxon]

I agree. Jinx was seeing her childhood friend too. She was seeing what she lost.

[@promethean7032]

👍

[@SpiraSpiraSpira]

Right before the grenade explodes you hear a "DING" sound, it is the same sound that was played before when Ekko hit Jinx's gun with his bat-thing so I think that Ekko at the last second knocked away the grenade right before / as it exploded to save Jinx, or at least to attempt to save her instead of just leaping away. This would also provide an explanation other than "plot armor" as to why both parties survived such an explosion that otherwise would have been undoubtedly fatal to both of them..

[@kyndalesilva]

the bridge theory ^

[@santasett3093]

he probably kicked it away, but the blast still went off mid flight hitting jinx mostly and blasting ekko away from the bridge

[@nicklikethesoup]

Another element missed is that up until this point, Ekko denies Powder’s existence. But then, he sees Powder and that causes his hesitation because Vi kept insisting Powder was there to save and this moment of hesitation is him realizing Vi is correct. But it also gives us our first glimpse of Jinx using Powder as a mask at times as she takes more and more control.

[@Steph4973]

I dont think Jinx used Powder. Jinx really looks soo sad before droping that bomb.

[@nicklikethesoup]

@@Steph4973 Watch the slight facial switches that she demonstrates throughout the show when Jinx seems to fade and Powder appears. It's subtle, but it gets increasingly more prominent throughout the series where Powder's face twitches into a different expression just before she does something Jinx-like until you get to the very end scene where she blatantly uses Powder to disarm Caitlyn before attacking her. There's this subtle difference in Jinx pretending to be Powder and Powder behavior as well where Jinx is clearly pretending to be a cowed enemy with her movements that we never see Powder use throughout the entire show. Like the prominent display of her setting the gun down. It's very well done throughout the series as you can see the split personalities and schizophrenia destroying Powder until she's just Jinx.

[@mrkyurem5499]

@@nicklikethesoup yeah but that happens AFTER she was "revived" by Singed and "shimmered up" making her almost fully Jinx (and 100% Jinx after Silco's death), so it is reasonable and actually very clear she was faking being Powder for at least some of the moments (but not all of them tho, because even in the last episode she still showed some signs of still being a bit of Powder before, well, she gets up from the Jinx chair and ults...) in the end of that fight scene with ekko, i genuinely think she was actually more Powder than Jinx with that smile before arming the bomb, because maybe she knew Ekko would have a chance to escape the explosion (like he did) but she wouldn't, so, for me, it was not only a random kamikaze moment of Jinx while faking helplessness, it was a suicide attempt of Powder after losing the fight for her old best friend, while also showing Ekko that Powder is gone and if he didn't snap out, he would have died too.

[@nicklikethesoup]

@@mrkyurem5499 I agree that Powder was there and active. My point is that they slowly also showed that Jinx was using Powder as a mask with people as well. I think the suicide attempt interpretation though is wrong, because even after Powder is revived using Shimmer, she doesn't try to kill herself. She never really showed a propensity for suicide prior to that either. Suicide seems out of character from what we see in the series.

[@yeeeboyprod]

I don’t think jinx used powder as a mask Jinx told vi she wanted vi to love her like she used to but vi couldn’t, I think jinx thought of ekko the same way And that’s why she blew up both of them cause she knows she can’t return back to powder

[@v.s8212]

Great analysis. Couple things to point out though, in those last seconds where Ekko hesitates Jinx really was Powder, I'd go as far to say she mas remniscing too. The shows loves to use the eyes to demonstrate that, Powder and Vi'´s eyes are grey when they're children, showing them as incomplete, Jinx eyes then turn blue when she's with Silco and later on Purple when she's fully complete, same with Vi, grey eyes, they turn blue when she picks up the gauntlets. And in those last moments JInx eyes go back to grey, this is super important because it is the last moment she is ever Powder. The bridge is what the river was to Silco, the batism didn't work because that is Silco's river, not Jinx's. I've even seen some people say that the granade wasn't even intented for Ekko. Also one more thing, the reference to Ekko's Z-drive, it's a nice forshodowing and I for real though he'd rewinded time for a second there, which could still be true, like in the enemy music video when VI and Powder are pillow fighting till Vi pushes her too hard and then it cuts to the present where she'd doing the same thing.

[@greenbee09]

Love the way you described the parallel between the bridge and Silco’s river. Excellent point!

[@alx123094]

@Tofrako this analysis is fire 🔥 🔥 🔥

[@MademoiselleCl3]

Great analysis specially for the eyes colors, I knew something was important about it, now I get it.

[@anaphchan6783]

Yeah I noticed that in the Enemy music video too. Vi glitched and started punching again, and then it zooms in on Ekko looking confused like he’s the only that noticed the Vi just glitched or whatever.

[@elchoppa.]

I agree with everything you said, but I wouldn't say that the baptism didn't work. The scene in the river with Silco is what allowed for Jinx to power through her trauma and work on the hextech gemstone after she had that PTSD episode and wanted to let Singed do it.

[@loneoakgrls]

I definitely see Jinx setting off the grenade as a suicide attempt, as most other people here have stated. It's the only time in this season we see her facial expressions turn back into Powder. Even when she reunited with Vi for the first time and they hugged, it didn't seem as 100% genuine as it did with Ekko. With Ekko she accepted defeat and was okay with it, she realized what she had become. Ekko was her age when they were younger and the only one who didn't make her feel left behind or left out. When he took out his pocketwatch to initiate their fight, it was more of a playful battle like when they were kids. She accepted his challenge. She could have ripped him to shreds in an instant but she chose to dual him fairly, so she then accepted her defeat. He bested her and she was okay with it, because he never left her behind when they were kids. So much was told in this scene without even saying anything, as you discussed, and it was phenomenal. I'm so looking forward to seeing them interact in Season 2 and see if Ekko still has the same affect on her.

[@neohleza24]

and the fact that this scene is also a foreshadowing of Ekko's time travelling abilities makes this fight a whole lot more meta..

[@mistercleff8819]

That was my favorite part. Like, if you don’t know about it, it’s just an amazingly cool fight. But if you know league lore, it’s EVEN COOLER. I love how the managed to make the show accesible to everyone but still give those lil special things to the fans that were there before the show

[@neohleza24]

@@mistercleff8819 that's the show's biggest strength in my opinion..

[@FranciscoSilva-xk4hg]

At the end it shows him talking to Heimer and then it focuses on the clock, there’s another foreshadowing of the time travel abilities

[@Spidd124]

Something else I started noticing after it was pointed out to me was their eye colours change and signifies major moments for the characters. Before Powder blows up hex monkey her eyes are grey, in that moment they turn blue and stay blue until she gets shimmered where they remain pink/purply (and glowy occasionally). But here when Ekko has her pinned down they are grey again. Same story with Jayce's eyes, they are a dull yellow mostly grey before his trial and only become as golden after he proves hextec to Heimerdinger, But note that Vi's eyes are still grey even at the end.

[@schnee1]

wow, cool detail! thanks for sharing, i would never have noticed!

[@rolkflameraven1483]

Vi's eyes do go blue right when she gets her gloves, but then they go right back to being grey. Its there, but not for long as Violet isn't Vi just yet, not really.

[@sumansaha295]

Oh she wore that pan for head protection! damn that's a layer of irony that completely went over my head. Now she doesn't have one it truly is life or death for both of them.

[@freshairkaboom8171]

Yeah, no helmet for her and real bullets for Ekko.

[@DLxxx]

​@@sky_da_foox5557 Yeah, same. But it makes sense looking back. The only protection Ekko wore was for his chest. The only protection Powder wore was for her head. When Ekko reached Jinx he smacked her across the head, and when Powder beat Ekko, she aimed for the board on his chest.

[@ssj4rit]

This scene is the pinnacle of “show, don’t tell”

[@zoneco9013]

I really like your analysis of this but I have to disagree massively on the last few seconds of it. Ekko sees the remnants of Powder within Jinx which is what causes him to hesitate, seeing this juxtaposition of what Ekko thinks of Jinx vs Powder causes Powder to get a clear look at what has happened to her over the years and who she has become which causes her to pull the grenade in an effort to stop herself / save her old friends through suicide. Ekko and Jinx both went into this fight thinking that who they used to be was dead and they had changed to much to ever reconcile, In the last moment Ekko came to the conclusion that Powder was still in there and could be saved, meanwhile Powder came to the conclusion that she couldn't be saved and needed to die in order to save Ekko. As with everything in Arcane, we get the worst possible outcome :(

[@schnee1]

totally hear that interpretation, especially since that self-destructiveness you're talking about here here would act as a foreshadowing the last scene of the final ep where she's basically in the same position and responds the same way

[@unleuadevarat6339]

my hopes are still up for jinx,on universe, there is a story of jinx robbing a bank and luring vi in it that is left without an ending so maybe that is the way jinx actually gets a moment to reconcile with vi

[@zoopothecary]

Yes, yes, yes! He took them both back to a time long gone, and both of their expressions at the end were infused with the bittersweet pain of nostalgia after trauma. My vibe on it was 100% suicidal intent on Powder/Jinx’s part but also with a certain reckless disregard for whether she took Ekko with her or not. She wasn’t trying to, and because if that and his quick reflexes he was spared (and is maybe he is the reason she survived), but it felt to me like a certain ‘those good times are lost, everything is fubar now, it’s time to end it’ motivation on her part.

[@smuggrog9821]

@@zoopothecary Yep and if you read Jinx's diary which was part of the Arcane Archives, which was released alongside Arcane, and is canon too the show. It gives good insight into how Jinx views death and it pretty much shows us that as a way to cope with the trauma and guilt of accidently killing her family, she believes in a afterlife that is better then then the messed world she is living in. Thier is even a really sad part in her diary where she believes she will reunite with Vi in the afterlife. So she doesn't value the lives of others or her own, because in twisted, yet really tragic way, she believes that killing or her dying isn't a bad thing because she or her victims will go to a "better place". I would recommend checking out Jinx's diary for yourself since it gives a lot more context to Jinx's actions, you can still find it on the LoL wiki and I am pretty sure thier are some videos on youtube that cover it to. But when you have that context, it makes it pretty clear that it was a suicide attempt by Jinx, I also don't believe it was her intent to take Ekko with her but I don't think she would have minded if he died with her either. Ekko and Jinx have fought each other a lot, so she is probably well aware of what Ekko is capable of and he seems to be fast asf, the dude can dodge bullets. So her showing him the grenade could be Jinx trying to give Ekko enough time to escape, since she believed that he was fast enough to jump of the bridge before the grenade went off. But if he died with her, she would be fine with that to since in her perspective, her and Ekko would end up in the afterlife together. So yeah, real sad stuff....

[@gabbylikeskicks]

We had similar thoughts on the fight, mine is slightly different We see as they were kids they used to play this game, but when Ekko brought back that memory with the watch, he made Powder relive it. We can see how the camera angle of the watch portrays a way of hypnosis, when Jinx became Powder, that was the moment Jinx got suckered into seeing the past. He manipulated Jinx to make predictable shots, because Ekko remembers where Powder was aiming at when they were kids in that game, where he failed to dodge that last bullet, and at present day he dodged them. It wouldn't work on a sane person, but to a crazy person like Jinx, where playing a game in the middle of a heated battle is normal? He figured it would work In a sense he "rewound time" to make the seconds count towards his favor, without literally rewinding time at all. A crude form of timetravel. Which eventually we might see him pulling it off with the Zdrive in S2 To those new to Runeterran lore, Ekko uses his genius to invent a device that can let him rewind time in seconds to minutes. Turning every unfavorable outcome within the Zdrive's limits, into a favorable one. Whereas you brought in the idea that Ekko was all for playing a game once again with Powder, to show how much he's changed too, I dwelled on the idea that Ekko really thinks Powder is too far gone, no more mercy, no more redemption, and that she's crazy, and he used her crazy to his advantage. But he hesitated in the end

[@masterkutai]

The fact that people can choose a scene and talk details about it shows how great and layered the writing/direction is. And there is a lot of scenes to choose. This shows exemplifies the passion that goes into the series, along with the ungodly amount of money. Good thing Riot’s printing money.

[@Merlincat007]

@Im_bored_877 I think they deserve at least half the credit! I've heard them getting quite a lot of it though, I'm happy to say.

[@TurkuSama]

I agree with everything until Jinx "winning". I feel she shared that same moment with Ekko. She tapped into when they were both kids also. Right before the music and color change we see them both as kids on the bridge. And when she gets defeated by Ekko, her eyes are sad. She didn't win. She agreed that they were no longer the same kids they once were and they both had changed. She wanted to end it in that moment with that grenade.

[@o-wolf]

Something else that tiny piece of dialogue told us is Jinx has always known Ekko was the leader of The Firelights.. &is also her polar opposite.. it also hints at him possibly trying to "save" her from herself (in the game they were an item/childhood crushes) in the past. also Powder IS NOT responsible for Ekkos growth 🤦🏾‍♂️ She got taken in by Silco not long after the scene of them playing she was his childhood BFF/crush.. who he kept trying to save along with the undercity as he grew.. Eventually over the 8 years (&many close calls) he realised what jcole knew all along.. no role models. all jokes aside I don't think PowderJinx was trying to kill Ekko either.. that look was a "let me go" she knew Ekkos fast enough to get clear of the blast.. but this encounter with her only surviving childhood friend took it out of her (right before this she'd given up on Vi) She just wanted to go out with a bang with her last memory being the purest one she had.. playing paintball tag with her boy. (fun fact if u listen really closely u can hear Ekko slap the grenade away right before it goes off. Essentially saving her life)

[@Matt-jp6if]

Yeah I don’t hear it lol

[@bonnyas9998]

I heard that, nice one pal

[@secretegret3595]

Not just that but I think there's a pregnant pause there where Ekko is midair and JInx's eyes go wide. In the flashback that's where Jinx wins the game. In reality though she would have to put a shot through Ekko's chest. I think we're left to wonder if she froze out of fear or was unable to outright kill him.

[@poly.fcracka9362]

@@Matt-jp6if go to the fight scene here on KZbin, 2:09

[@LUCIAN8016]

@@secretegret3595 yup, same expression with that pink hair girl on airship "is that you?"

[@JMK248]

This fight is up there with the kakashi vs obito fight in naruto. this fight is similar to that fight to throwback to when they was younger than showing them as adults and with war experience. Pretty good scene no doubt.

[@the_sky_is_blue_and_so_am_I]

I agree

[@Jadedquinn]

Agreed

[@konashak4115]

Really great analysis love to see more like this.

[@schnee1]

Thx a lot!!

[@xaviercharles9616]

@@schnee1 Great analysis, although I believe you can also see something from Jinx's point of view. Even though Ekko manages to win the fight by "inviting" Jinx to play their childhood game, I think this only really works if Jinx herself visualises it as well, which is what happens in the scene. But when Ekko struggles to beat Jinx more than he already is, because he sees Powder in her, it feels to me that from Jinx's perspective, she is also transported back into her former self, and momentarely forgets she is Jinx. This is a bit far fetched but on the slowmo shot after ekko Dodges the bullets and is in the air, she has the gun pointed directly at him and in my opinion could shoot, but doesn't because in the past their fights never went to that extent, and she was always able to shoot ekko down first. Afterwards when Ekko looks at her and believes he is seeing Powder, I believe in her mind she is being powder, but snaps back to reality at that moment, and realises that she is too far gone to ever be Powder again, because she is fighting and getting beaten by the one who was her dearest childhood friend from the time she was still Powder.

[@TheAdmiralMoses]

You're the start of it all, the first comment on his Arcane analysis, amazing

[@giantpunda2911]

There's a subtle thing with the real world fight that can be hard to pick up on but shows how his past knowledge of powder's moves and his remembrance of them works in his favour to win the fight. Rather than just leaping straight at jinx like he did with powder, he takes a side step to the right which catches jinx off guard and surprises her. Her aim is totally off by the time he comes down on her with the pipe. Otherwise great take. I like many others really love this sequence as there are so many layers to it, from a story telling aspect, to the flashback functioning as an allegorical z drive to the tragedy of the whole situation where two childhood friends are now enemies trying to kill each other.

[@bemyguest29]

One of the writers was doing Q&A on twitter and one of the questions was about the grenade at the end, whether Jinx was trying to kill herself. She answered that Jinx generally has an unhealthy lack of fear of death, so I guess it's a yes. Also what many mentioned, she wanted to end everything that has changed for the worst for her. This scene and the ending scene are both so heartbreaking. Such raw emotion, achieved with great acting, animation and music.

[@schmooplesthesecond5997]

shame, guilt, and anger toward self are common causes for depression and suicide. Powder is very susceptible to this as shown in her panic attack episode 3. The whole reason she wanted to be Jinx is her way of self defense towards the fear of being called a killer(bad luck), so she becomes an actual killer. That last smile of hers in this episode indicates that she cannot bear the shame of who she became, as Ekko, her old friend, the person she betrayed the most from her killings, actually shows her the mercy she didn't deserve at the end.

[@Danne1886]

I think Powder was still there in this fight, and if Vi had stayed with or instead of Ekko she probably could have reached her. Ekko sees it in her eyes and hesitates. Then Powder kills herself after watching her sister turn her back for the second time. The little bit of a smile on her face isn't a devious Jinx grin. It's like she feels a little bit relieved that Ekko still cares, and she probably knew he is fast enough to jump off the bridge in time. It's dark as fuck, but I think Powder just wanted to die while she had the tinest bit of peace in her mind.

[@kriss9940]

We also see marcus shoot Ekko in his chest plate, meaning he still wears the plate to protect himself like he during his games with powder

[@andrewpenny4676]

Yeah with jinx now the loose cannon with fish bones ekko needs his zero drive but I think he and heimer are gonna have a luke Skywalker and yoda moment to make the zero drive and I wonder if zilean will appear or a chronomancer. And I wonder who will win round 2. And strangely enough I could ship jinx and ekko now that silco is dead are they still enemies.

[@thefiendish186]

I disagree at one part. At the end of the fight scene we saw Powder, not jinx for a short time. She was afraid, the fear in her eyes wasnt just a bait. And her look befor she dropped the grenade was like, she really felt sorry for what shes about to do. What that scene showed imo is that Powder is still in there, but Jinx is just the dominant personality at this point.

[@gudspellar3605]

I love your break down as well as the comments on Jinx sharing the moment with Ekko and letting go with the grenade. I just keep rewatching that expression on her face in that last second. It's not maniacal or devious like she shows in many other scenes. I have the scene paused and she just looks at peace finally.

[@urallnutz5294]

There was a whole bonus season they stuffed into these three minutes

[@thwomp1542]

Dear lord, it hurts how many ways there are to interpret all of the scenes in Arcane. My brain..

[@lolli_popples]

This reminds me of how kittens from the same litter develop a body language to ask each other play-fight. It’s a ask and a response. If there’s no response, they don’t fight. This sign is specific to each litter, so cats from different litters can’t have this communication. But they keep the knowledge of this sign into adulthood, and continue to use it to ask to play-fight. This reminded me of that because it’s that same call and response, known only to them because they used it when they were young to indicate the same thing.

[@Minjoph]

I don't think it was Jinx at the end. I think it was Powder or a mix of the two, recognising that this is yet another bond broken beyond repair. They played the game like they used to, and yet nothing was the same. From my perspective, Jinx wants so badly to have the past, she's stuck in the past. And the pain of seeing the bond she had with anyone that mattered to her twisted beyond recognition, I think it's resignation and wanting to erase it all (through the grenade).

[@Jeod]

One little thing I disagree with: Jinx didn't just show that she's 'just Jinx' when she pulled the pin. We see a flash of Powder when she's helpless and afraid, then she sees Ekko's very obvious regret and SMILES at him. I can't grasp how Fortiche done it but I interpret this smile without doubt as a smile of appreciation for him. She remembered and appreciated how good a friend he was to her. This and the bitter acknowledgement that things changed and there is no coming back. Finally she found a kind of twisted solace in the fact that at least she is going to die next to a friend she's killing. Intended or not, this might be the only moment in the entire season where Powder and Jinx cohesively came *together.* In a Jinx way, she attempted to trap the moment of reexperiencing the emotions of the past.

[@TrulyFatherGhost]

one thing i sure know this fight sure showed jinx can actually fight as powder without getting glitches beside ekko so yeah she can be her true self next to ekko and her smile at the end is definitely the smile of "im sorry" "u dont deserve this" because to use everyone abandoned powder but to ekko he was the one left behind as u can see one the wall paint of the dead people he thought they were all dead (he most defo must have gotten suicidal thoughts to join them but the sake of the clan he stayed to develop them) but for me it would be cool if in season 2 if ekko and jinx can do sum similar to lelouch and suzaku from code geass ofc except the last part but just the two of them work up a plan to fix all this bullshit and not tell anyone else and since i ship jinx and ekko the only way i can see their relationship working for me is if jinx gives ekko the "kiss of death" but yeah this is all just my one sided storymaking for the jinx x ekko part

[@rion2499]

I also just love the way that this whole scene is a ploy by Ekko to get Jinx to be overconfident. So in the flashback, Powder (always?) won. Ekko gets so close but ultimately Powder wins. So Jinx goes into this thinking she will win no problem. But she doesn’t. Which makes this scene a great showcase of how Ekko has grown as said. But again, it’s also a great play, because on top of it all, in the game Powder was aiming for the “chestplate.” Which we already know from Marcus’ attempt at killing Ekko, is strong enough to stop a bullet. So even in the end, where it’s not needed and Jinx is unable to shoot Ekko there due to Ekko’s own improvement over the years, this scene showcases Ekko’s sharp mind, in that he was able to make her over confident, aim for the one part of his armour that’s reinforced and also just aim in one general region so that he could better dodge, because he knows exactly where the shots will be aiming. Which of course is then all undone, as you said, because the very act of doing this, has the unfortunate side effect of also playing Ekko as it were, because now for the first time in years, he looks at Jinx and sees Powder: a comparison he’s been avoiding all season. Hoisted by his own petard, if you were. :P But yeah, amazing video! Can’t wait to see what else you have to say. ;)

[@prehistoricorchid3455]

Personally, I like to think this was her giving up. Just think, she thinks silco abandoned her, Vi lied and chose Kate, her childhood best friend wants to kill her. She has nothing at this point. Even her pulling the bomb. It was a ticker. She didn't attach it to him; she didn't smile or laugh; she didn't even try to run. She gave ekko time to run. This wasn't "jinx winning." This was her ending it herself. Either way, I adore everything else you had to say, and certainly, everything is up to interpretation.

[@DHREAVER]

The tension watching the child fight scene is immense for me. They have this cool, playful veneer over the top but you know they’re killing each other. The obfuscation of the fantasy layer puts me on the edge of my seat and the whiplash as it goes into the brutal beat down at the end is visceral.

[@fedens6510]

Another detail that I don't think many noticed: when they are children Ekko jumps straight when charging ahead and Powder manages to hit him in the chest, BUT, when the real fight happens Ekko jumps at the end slightly angled to his right, which leaves Jinx surprised and aiming to a blank space, with Ekko already too close to adjust her aim. Ekko's inner projection allowed him to learn and finally win, ultimately saving his life. What a fantastic series :)

[@yarisainati5237]

he also wear that vest because jinx usually shoot him there, meaning she saved his life against markus

[@nimblesheepvenomous3811]

no, Jinx wasn't surprised, she purposefully didn't fire the last shot. In the real fight, you can actually hear the sound effect of a last shot being fired even though there is no final shot. The sound effect happens while Ekko is still completing his twirl that dodged the previous shots. In the child fight, Powder hits Ekko while he's still jumping over the previous shots. And that's exactly the timing of the unfired shot in the real fight, when Ekko is still completing his twirl over the previous shots. Jinx didn't fire and miss the last shot. She just didn't even try for it. But, they played the sound effect of the 4th shot to show when it would have happened. Why? Who really knows. But Jinx threw the fight on purpose, and Ekko followed the same choreography with the faith that Jinx would let him win.

[@joakimsandroos3339]

Hey @schnee Awesome, this is a really good analysis. The scene blew me away as well and of course I also had to go back and re-watch it several times for closer analysis. at round 06:20 until about 10:00 @schnee discusses the internal rationalizations of the characters. There are a few things I see slightly differently, so hear me out. Ekko does not only hesitate due to him realizing Powder is still 'in there' - that he is beating up a childhood friend is also a trigger which makes him to evaluate what kind of person he wants to be. He has Jinx completely at his mercy at this point and THAT is another part to what makes him hesitate. Not that he forgot that change happens. How can he deny powder's existence? - He just had a childhood fight with her. He sees the genuine fear on her face and in this he also sees a sort of mirror of who he is. This ties in with his earlier dialogue with Vi and the whole theme of whether conflict, fighting and violence are really viable solutions. What kind of person would he become if he killed her in cold blood? Where would it lead and what kind of world would that leave him with? And what of his friendship with Vi, who firmly believes they can all restore their friendship? The rethoric which @schnee uses surrounding the reasoning behind Ekko's motivation look to be based in an American culture tradition in which 'doing what is necessary' is seen as a universally positive thing. Ekko exactly challenges this notion as he hesitates - does the ends really justify the means? How will it change the world and him if he continues. He has just a second or two to ask these questions of himself before Jinx reacts. The world is not simply black and white, good or evil like in the fairy tales or many of the pop-culture narratives that are so common. Ekko stops to ponder the consequences of his actions, whether he can face and live with the future he would cause by killing Jinx. You can call it lack of conviction - or strength of character. I would say it is exactly his convictions which make him hesitate. It takes a strong will to ask yourself whether what you are doing is the right cause of action, and even more so to change course if you realize you are in the wrong. To draw a parallel to Star Wars like @schnee did: Anakin never asks any of these questions. What Ekko displays here is that he is a worthy leader of the firelights. From Jinx's facial expression I see that she is genuinely scared. For a moment their eyes meet and Jinx recognizes just as well as Ekko does that they were good friends. This is shown by her letting out a small sigh - you can see the exchange at 09:42-09:45 in the video. This is when they both realize what has happened to them. at 09:52 you see Jinx's face first changes to sadness, as she also, and then onwards to resignation and apology. While she is sorry for what things have come to, she resigns herself to sharing death with old friend. The character building, storytelling and composition come together in this scene to create more than the sum of their parts and really underline what a masterpiece Arcane as a whole is.

[@theconstellationofboredom8635]

Dude, as a huge Ekko fan I love how you described Ekko and whilst I read it came to my mind that what you were referring to him was his time traveling abilities . Every action has its own corresponding effect which leads to a permanent outcome. As a time traveler you would think he should weigh his actions before causing changes to the current timeline. Or if he wants to change the events to his most desired outcome, which is peace. I really love his character 😭 😍 💕 basically I can go on a longer rant but it's all personal so I'll leave it at that as just a random thought in your comment.