Why Does Silco Choose JINX Over ZAUN? | ARCANE Theory

[@schnee1]

OH i meant to say this at the end, totally forgot: The one Silco nut I couldn't crack was why he never went to war during the timeskip. Anyone have any theories on that? I've heard people say he needed time to build up his forces, but I don't buy it, 6-7 years is a LONG time to do nothing (especially given the undercity's impatience we see with that scene with vander/sevika in act 1)

[@mathies3598]

Vander: "Even with your monsters, you won't win a war against piltover" Silco: "I don't need to. I just need to scare them. They will never dare set foot in the underground again." He wasn't ever planning a full-on war. Now that he has Marcus on strings, he has everything he needs for Zaun to become what he envisions for it. That's why he got angry that Jinx attacked the academy square, That put them at huge risk of going to war. The only reason he was okay with it is that maybe with the gemstone she stole, they might just have a chance if actual war broke out.

[@avalikus47]

@schnee I suppose one answer for this is that Silco thought he was biding his time, waiting for the perfect moment to strike, but in reality he was just stalling. He is accumulating power with the ostensible purpose of using it against Piltover when the "time is right". However, I don't know if I completely agree with this theory. It is a common trope, especially for antagonists, to believe they are gathering power for a certain cause, until subconsciously that cause just becomes accumulating power for power's sake. It's especially prevalent in Empire stories like The Traitor Baru Cormorant. Another reason may be that while Silco himself is ready to strike at Piltover, other Zaunites aren't. They may have grown comfortable under Vander's fragile peace, and Silco is taking strides to "rectify" the general populace's beliefs. After all, he can't fight a war against topside with just himself and a couple hundred or so people, especially considering Piltover has Hextech. The final reason, which corresponds with the second, is that Silco needed time to perfect and stabilize Shimmer, and we don't know exactly how long that took (this could also make sense for why he gives it out to people; he's testing it.) A war with Piltover would be pointless if his soldiers were dying from their own weapon.

[@elenaekanathapetrova2282]

@@johuk8699 power of chaos including jinx is in unpredictability)

[@nopalmlbb3524]

@@avalikus47 I would agree with most of your statement. It is difficult to go to war when people in your city if they had a chance they would take you down remember what the lady said in the sex shop. Few tried but Silco has the money and the power. If the under city people have the opportunity to partner with topside that would leave silco vulnerable to inside sabotage

[@beastmonger4821]

Cuz Shimmer should be his weapon for taht war BUT... he lost all shimmer during "MY MONKEY BOMB FINNALY WORK" accident?

[@Sereaph]

Everything Silco loves about Zaun, he sees in Jinx. To him, she IS Zaun. She is broken, betrayed, and neglected just like Zaun. But Silco also sees a strength in that. When that broken, betrayed person is pushed to their limit their "inner monster" as he calls it, is awakened and it is terrifying and powerful. That is everything Jinx is and becomes. She's been pushed to her limits and is chaotic, unstable, and unpredictable. Everyone fears her or will fear her. SHE becomes "what they fear." So when he's asked to give up Jinx he cannot do it, because he would be giving up the most perfect representation of Zaun that he loves.

[@alaljarensi6990]

He would have done well in Noxus. Also, why hasn't Noxus tried to take over Zaun and Piltover? It is a strategic location of trade. It is a center of industrial might and wealth. Though they have their own security forces, they don't have a full standing army. I'm kind of surprised Ambessa has not returned with a big fleet.

[@alaljarensi6990]

Her and her city needs some Noxien discipline to be reforged into something greater.

[@karolinakuc4783]

@@alaljarensi6990 They are preoccupied with serious war somewhere else. Ambessa wanted to expand her influence without needless bloodshed. That's why she sent Mel. Perhaps they have status of free city and feel safe granted International treaties not knowing they do not hold much value. Like it was with League of Nations And Dancing in real world

[@DraidtheSpacePirate]

I've always kind of thought of Jinx as Silco's 'princess' daughter because of the role he played, but now I know why I thought that was because of what you just said. She IS the embodiment of generations of neglect and pain, but what makes her perfect is her ability to act beyond that.

[@alfredorivera5764]

Not only that, he sees himself in her as well. And not just that, for him she is an extension of himself.

[@prufan]

he adopts Powder for clearly shown reasons, when he comes across and is tackled by Powder, she says "She left me, she is NOT my sister anymore" and Silco's eyes are wide open in shock, he looks at Vanders body and sees a connection with Powder, who's also been betrayed and abandoned. That's why he takes her in.

[@travelingnome87]

Also loyalty. He values loyalty above all else.

[@ViNncentSmith]

schnee totally fucked up by saying ''i totally couldnot see a reason why he adopted her'' then laughed like an idiot about his stupid statment

[@andrewmalinowski6673]

When he and his people come across Powder he's intending to kill her, likely because he believes she'd be like Vander and could get in his way, but after she tackles him he's caught off-guard and it wasn't until she says that line that he first looks at Vander and then puts the knife away to embrace her. He was betrayed and didn't see Vander as his brother (though referring to the relationship before killing him) and knew they were both broken, emotionally vulnerable, and betrayed

[@al-mamluk]

I agree. He saw himself in Powder, and wanted to save her from all the pain and suffering he went through when he was betrayed by Vander.

[@supermonstars]

One thing I felt you could've also pointed out: Silco is explicitly shown multiple times to have absolutely NO control of Jinx, and it's hammered home over and over again. Yet he never seemed to mind. He never stopped believing in it even if the faith made him look weak to others. He nurtured chaos but couldn't ever hope to control it and, like any revolutionary, didn't expect to be one of the first to be killed by it. What makes him stand out as one of my all time favorite villains though is the fact that he was fine with it. He loved that little embodiment of chaos, he was never once afraid of it, could never let go of it, and in the end had no regrets when it claimed him. You don't see that absolute commitment to an ideal very often, the adoration and awe at something greater than himself but with no envy and desire to bend it to his will. He only ever wanted it to be what it is, consequences be damned. A true patriot to a fault, in a way.

[@JoseRamirez-dv5uo]

"one of the first" ehhhhhhhhh??????? she killed mylo and clagger..... "made him look weak" no it didn't, sevika proves that... she left vandor for silco cuz she thought vandor was weak, she even says it out loud............ then left vandor for silco........ "greater than himself" he was still teaching jinx... example, "weaponize the gemstone" jinx" ican't, i keep seeing that day" silco" we all have something to fear"............. then "don't cry, ur perfect" still teaching, his last words were still teaching her..... and now she ahs him talking in her head constantly....

[@jdogzerosilverblade299]

@@JoseRamirez-dv5uo she left Vander cuz he looked weak but the reason he looked weak is because he wouldnt literally fight back. And no he can't control jinx. He does teach her but that's not the same as controlling her. You can teach someone to use a gun but may not be able to control who they shoot. As an example.

[@JoseRamirez-dv5uo]

@@jdogzerosilverblade299 silco "today will cost us weeks.... make sure it doesn't happen again" jinx "it won't ever happen again" silco "i know" onto the next one.... and what he said was very true, "in war accidents happen, but most firelights r dead"...... he is right, jinx did lose her shit tho, but, shit happens in war, in battle.... i stand behind jinx, cz i sure as shit won't stand in front of her...

[@JoseRamirez-dv5uo]

@@jdogzerosilverblade299 also, yea, she left... woh? sevika? yea, she left vandor for silco.....

[@jdogzerosilverblade299]

@@JoseRamirez-dv5uo saying something and doing something are 2 different things. also whats with you and quotes.

[@stuffynosepatrol]

Not exactly the same subject, but I noticed how he says "you're perfect" and not "Jinx is perfect" like how he did in the baptism scene. I think this is because he thinks she chose to be Powder over Jinx and he wanted to support that choice because he loved her. "You're perfect" as in "you, no matter who you choose to be, are perfect to me."

[@samon101]

Idk seems like a stretch to me, he was talking to Jinx so saying "you're perfect" is saying "jinx is perfect"

[@beyondviolet]

@@samon101 why do you think he was talking to Jinx? Based on her actions it would seem as if she had chosen to side with Vi and stay Powder.

[@mumhustler]

I think he just loved her. He hoped that she would be his daughter. I guess he then never knew it, but she did honor his memory.

[@stuffynosepatrol]

@@samon101 he would not know she was still Jinx, to him she shot him to protect her sister, not out of instinct, so in his eyes it would look like she chose to be Powder

[@aludenom9932]

@@beyondviolet because she just killed him, and what is more Jinx than screwing up and accidentally killing a loved one? I always interpreted that change (from "Jinx is perfect" to "you are perfect") as him not only accepting her as she is, but accepting that there's no Powder or Jinx as some pseudo-distinct personalities, coz they aren't. There's just the girl in front of him at that moment. And that girl is a jinx.

[@RockyKThao]

After having some deep thinking and rewatching, “you’re perfect” is probably more of a reassurance Silco wanted to tell jinx. Throughout her life, she’s always been seen as less than, as a problem, as someone who’s not ready. Even Vi who does care for her did not accept her for who she had become always pushing her back to who she was. Only Silco has been able to truly accept all of her flaws and embraced her for who she is. That’s how I would interpret it.

[@sunnywestside4210]

thank you! i thought this as well

[@Thewhiteandorange]

this. powder is handled like a child by everyone. no one but silco aknowledges her rated MA trauma - which, in itself, was the rite into adulthood. would even make an argument that powder plays a submissive "baby-sister" role to vi, because that's what vi needs.

[@lockekappa500]

I've been preaching this the entire time. Jinx has always been the embodiment of his principles. If anything Jinx was who he COULDNT be. "Be what they fear." "True power comes to those who will do anything to achieve it." He found out HE was never able to FULLY be those things, and not because of Jinx, but because he wasnt truly 100% Zaun personified. Jinx was.

[@JoseRamirez-dv5uo]

silco did become what they fear..... or did u miss how vander reacted to benzo's death? in fact, he knew something was up, he tried to stop benzo cuz he knew, there was something up.... he was in fear so bad, he went to his knees, didn't even fight, and got knocked out...... ur wrong, example, he still had to teach jinx how all people fear.... "u must weaponize the gem" jinx "i can't... i keep seeing that day...." silco "we all fear girl"......

[@gireiiiiiiii7615]

amen brother

[@alaljarensi6990]

Jinx but Jinx doesn't have the attributes of a leader or a symbol of a movement. How can she inspire Silcos henchman to follow her when it seems like she doesn't even know what she wants? Silco was the only one willing to tolerate her, except for bartenders. Even if it gets out that she was the lady who blew up the council, she doesn't have a convincing frame of authority.

[@JoseRamirez-dv5uo]

@@alaljarensi6990 yes she does, a leader of herself... she isn't a follower lol...... "how can she inspire" cuz she will do anything for power.... "doesn't know what she wants" ehhh she showed what she wanted at the end, war.... fuck the top siders, just some wanna be street trash. "convincing frame of authority" yea she does, she just bombed the leaders of their enemies, jayce just had his words crammed straight up his ass... "if we went to war, u would be annihilated" ehhhh i don't think u would with jinx running around...... in fact, thats answers all ur questions, people will believe in her, cuz she is willing, has done something, and its pretty much impossible to get her cuz 1. she is sneaky as fuck, how many people has she tied up for instance? she kidnapped 3 people at the end, including her sister, which is kinda scary... yea she ganked vi, but still, the planning, the execution, even silco? i woulda liked to see how she pulled that off..... she shows initiative, "lead by example"

[@alaljarensi6990]

@@JoseRamirez-dv5uo She has cleverness beneath her psychosis. And she knows Vi and Silco will hesitate because they are family. But she's not clever or manipulative enough to lead an army. She can barely get a grip on herself, self sabotaging herself. much of the time. She is not perfect. She is broken. Too broken to be functional, as the leader of a movement or otherwise. As a random agent of chaos who mostly works alone, that is how she can survive. You need to give more than fear too convince someone else to support you. Neither the barons or the other gang leaders will trust her. Someone else will take charge of the rebellion.

[@mkbthekid2041]

I saw some reactors mention how silco wasn’t grooming her to be a weapon, but a replacement and I agree. Phrases like “jinx will handle it” or “when jinx gets back” are just like a mob boss trying to garner faith in their successor. I suspect the see sevika fail to lead zaun in season 2 and jinx eventually replace her.

[@unseenw0lf647]

Chembarons won't be talking shit with Jinx heading the table.

[@optimisticnihilist3417]

Nah. Jinx was never going to be a leader like Silco. Absolute wrong personality type. We see Silco doing a hell of a lot of sitting at his desk, doing paperwork and reading reports. There's no way in hell Jinx has the patience for that. On top of that, Jinx isn't really a believer in Silco's cause. She's loyal to him personally, but if Silco for some reason packed it all in and decided to leave town, Jinx would be going with him, Zaunite independence be damned.

[@mkbthekid2041]

I can see that. If you play league you know who will likely end up as the leader of zaun in the end anyway. So having people try and assume throne is possible even if they fail in the end.

[@cinderspirit4229]

​@@mkbthekid2041 As a League player it makes even less sense to think Jinx would really try to "lead" Zaun in any way, most I can see is that she could side with Sevika again in spirit to Silco. Other than that I do think that Jinx will just do her own thing spreading chaos. She will most likely attract people who celebrate her acts and try to do similiar things, but I don't think she will directly lead such a group. The most I can see is that she will be kind of the leader of a small group of friends who all like to destroy things. Guys like Twitch or Ziggs who haven't been introduced in Arcane yet. While I think it's not very propable I would like it if the zaunite crazies would form a group of friends in Arcane. It would then also make more sense as to why neither the Chembarons, nor the Resistence (Firelights and others) do anything about the likes of Jinx, Twitch, Mundo and so on if they end up in a little ragtag group of zaunite outcasts. But it is really hard to tell what they are doing with Season 2, I don't think introducing too many new Champions would be a good idea, Warwick is a given, and Urgot, Blitzcrank and Ziggs are kinda likely. That could already close the deal. But maybe Urgot will still come in a later season, and we will just see the Chembarons and Sevika in charge for now. Also Jinx and Urgot really working together is a thing I wouldn't predict, I do think Urgot honors Jinx and wouldn't harm her, as she is kinda the archetype of his principles, and Jinx just wouldn't care about Urgot. But that's already about it. "This city is calling for chaos, she is just the first to answer."

[@leandronieves220]

@@optimisticnihilist3417 á

[@bkrcovers2906]

The reason why Silco adopts Jinx is because he empathise with her. Like him, she's also betrayed by someone she loved. Silco betrayed by his brother and Jinx is betrayed by her sister.

[@Aunix]

were silco and vander actual brothers? Or like friends brothers.

[@bkrcovers2906]

@@Aunix They weren't actual brothers, but they were pretty close and called themselves brothers.

[@liv-uu1fi]

That's what I thought too.

[@acroeites4727]

@@Aunix They are described as blood brothers. Not from the womb, but from a pact.

[@keithstone8693]

Bruh. Jinx wasn't betrayed by her sister. At all. Silco ordered Vi killed and manipulated Jinx to make it SEEM like she was abandoned (for good reason) by Vi. Screw Jinx

[@aliyahstinard3038]

I think the reason Silco didn't give up jinx is simply that he is human, and let emotion get in the way of his goal. When Jinx said "She left me," Silco saw himself in her. As the show goes on, he realizes why Vander didn't go to war, and that he made the same "mistake" Vander did by allowing emotion for a small girl to influence his plans. I think we can see that conflict when he talks to Vander's statue towards the end of the series.

[@justchlxe]

Yeah

[@NoMustang273]

This theory makes perfect sense although I feel like it undermines that scene where he talks to Vander's statue and how like Vander he abandoned his dream for his daughter and the themes of parenthood in the show in general.

[@schnee1]

Interesting, I don't see it that way. I think during the statue scene he was sorting out this exact problem, which he had never been put into a situation to think about. I'm curious how you see the themes of parenthood in arcane, could you elaborate on that? I want to make a video about all the parent/child relationships, but I think we see a lot of this theme of embodying ideals being wrapped up with love: vi embodying vander's ideals, jinx abandoning vi's ideals to in favor of silco's, mel casting off ambessa's.

[@cameronbennett6230]

​@@schnee1 I think we are to assume, given what Silco says at the beginning of this scene, that Silco actually does trust that Jayce, and, by extension, the council at large, will honor the deal Jayce proposed if Jinx is punished; "A thousand times I've imagined this moment" ... "All we've ever wanted." I think this level of trust can be attributed to the fact that Jayce is a relatively fresh face whose empathy and idealism were readily apparent to everyone, as well as the fact that Jayce clearly wields a uniquely significant degree of influence and is actively defying the council, or, at the very least, going behind their backs. In other words, Jayce is distinct from what Silco might define as classic Piltover. You can tell, during the scene in which the two discuss the potential deal, that Silco thinks his plan has worked to perfection, and that Jayce is admitting defeat after all Silco has accomplished. This all changes when Jayce mentions Jinx. The deal he thought he was making up until that point would have provided him with all of the power he had so desperately wanted to achieve over the course of the story. In his sense, he wasn't being "given" power, as you suggest - he was taking it, after doing everything he could to achieve it. He tells Jayce, "you're afraid," which is a callback to when he told Vander that all he needs to do to realize his dream is "scare" Piltover. Jayce, being as impressionable as he is, was the perfect means of achieving this end, until he introduces his caveat. In this sense, I believe that Silco is indeed in a position wherein he is forced to choose between Jinx and Zaun. That said, I do not believe my interpretation of the scene and yours are mutually exclusive. You did, after all, cite Jason Spisak himself in your explanation of the character, so I couldn't very well dispute your claims outright. Jinx is absolutely the personification of everything Silco believes that Zaun embodies, and this is part of why he loves her as much as he does. I do think it is important, however, to recognize that he does indeed love her, as opposed to simply valuing what she represents. Both things can be, and are, true. The choice he ultimately makes is between his dream and Jinx, both of which fall under the umbrella of "Zaun." In this sense, the choice itself is somewhat paradoxical. That said, his love for Jinx goes much deeper than that: it is also quite clear that Silco sees himself in Jinx, both to the extent that they were both betrayed by loved ones and to the extent that he believes neither can trust anybody but the other. That was a projection on his part, but it is how he believes she feels nonetheless, and consequently strengthens the bond and his sense of worth. As Singed said, they were "loners together." That particular parallel was one that I did not notice independently; I would give credit to the source if I could remember who they were. I also think it's important to recognize the parallels between Silco's dilemma in Act III and Vi's dilemma in Act I: Vander asks Vi what she's willing to lose in the fight against Piltover, which changes Vi's perspective concerning the conflict between the two cities. She wanted to hurt Piltover, but she wasn't willing to lose Powder. Until Silco is faced with the very same decision, he believes this kind of trepidation, which is something Vander, Vi, and Marcus all have in common, is a weakness - one that he does not possess. When he says, "is there anything so undoing as a daughter," he is acknowledging that he finally understands why Vander forsook their cause, and that his love for Jinx overrides his desire to achieve his dream, just as Vander's love was the undoing of his ambitions. Of course, as we've already established, Jinx is the embodiment of this dream, but, at this point, this fact is best understood as a reason behind his love for her, not necessarily as an extension of his subsequent choice. I say this because, although Jinx is "Zaun" in Silco's mind, her safety must now come at the expense of Silco's power, which was important element of his dream. He is ultimately choosing love over power. Finally, when he tells Jinx that she is perfect, I don't believe he is necessarily encouraging her to make the choice that she subsequently makes, nor do I believe he necessarily would have endorsed that choice. Instead, I believe he is simply reassuring her that he loves her for who she is, because he knows that's what she needs in that moment. It appears to work, which happened to be bad news for Vi and the council. I acknowledge that he would have absolutely wanted her to continue the fight in his wake; I simply don't believe that was on his mind when he bid Jinx farewell. Such is the nature of his arc. I think it's important to realize that the fight against Piltover always had a personal element to it, and that Silco wasn't exclusively motivated by his desire for justice and independence even before he met Powder. When he says, "we will show them all," I think he is referring to Vander just as much he is referring to their oppressors. Just as Powder spends the story trying to prove to herself and Vi, perhaps subconsciously, that she didn't deserve to be abandoned, so too was Silco trying to prove to Vander that he had been right all along, and that sometimes, someone does win in war. Jinx recognized this, which is why we hear Silco's voice in her head right before she fires the rocket. Her final act of the season was not about the conflict between Piltover and Zaun, but about the conflict between herself and Vi. The two relationships are analogous from the beginning of the story to the end.

[@Pennyinacobweb]

I think instead of abandoning their dreams, Vander and Silco realized Vi and jinx ARE the personification of their dreams. That is why in the end they both chose parenthood (Vander sells out to piltover for “peace” to give Vi a better chance at her rough life and silco says Jinx is perfect and refuses to hand her over) because they already achieved everything they wanted to through their children.

[@NoMustang273]

@@schnee1 I'm replying super late so I have no idea if you'll see this now. Sorry XD. But I think one very notable theme in Arcane is how impactful parenthood is on a person. For both Vander and Silco, they both started out as being much more idealistic and violent. Vander after seeing what his revolution did, kill the parents of 2 innocent children, adopted 2 and later 4 kids and we can see how fundamentally different he became in how he teaches Vi and his role in the undercity. He's patient and co-operative and clearly cafes about the people around him but isn't willing to jump to violence unless he has to even if it means the Undercity will continue to be oppressed by Piltover because the cost is the safety of his children. At the end end Act 3, the only reason he had the will to get up and fight was because he saw that Vi was still alive. His children also cause his downfall because his inaction is what pushes people to Silco at the end, him stopping Vi from trying to take the fall for her actions causes him to get captured and later Powder ends up causing his death with the Monkey bomb. Silco is similar albeit rather than abandoning his old ways, he instead taught Jinx to embrace them and be more like him. He had no qualms about threatening to kill children and probably is more than willing to do so, he teaches Jinx to use her talents but also enables her psychoticsm. But she also ultimately like Vander proves his downfall. Sevika and the ChemBarons notice he's slipping. Despite all his talk, it's becoming evident he's losing control especially since Shimmer simply cannot compete with hextech. And once he's been given the ultimatum by Piltovdf it's over for him because he knows that even though his lifelong dream that he's given everything for is right in front of him he cannot give up his daughter and eventually Sevika and the the others would find out, and it'd be over for him. And of course, again just like how Vander's daughter killed him (albeit indirectly in his case), Jinx kills him. But rather than think about how he was about to die, his last words were to make her not to reassure her that he would have neved given her up and that he did genuinely love her. Tldr; Arcane's theme about parenthood, is about how children can completely transform even the worst of people in some ways how our parents shape us. (Again Vi and Jinx turning out to be completely different people because of how they were raised.) Also, to be clear Silco is definitely still a bad person for obvious reasons lol, but I think that makes his relationship with Jinx more compelling even if it is very muddled in how much of a positive and at the same time negative influence he had on her.

[@kryt7955]

he didnt abandon his dream by not agreeing to the peace treaty. accepting it would take everything that zaun stood for (at least for silco) away.

[@hoinkydoink1862]

I personally interpreted the line “You’re perfect” as his confession of affection in his generally detached, careful manner. A flood of emotional words would be out of character, but he can’t just die quietly in Jinx’s arms. That would only leave her desperate and undirected. So, he tells her she’s perfect. It’s a succinct way to tell her he loves her and encourage her to get stuff done. That said, I like your analysis much better because of how much more weight it carries in the overall narrative.

[@violetsfromanothertime3512]

one of my favourite little details about the “rebirth by water” scene is that Silco HELPS Jinx into the water, HE’S the one lowering her into the water, he’s helping her let go of Powder. and jinx TRUSTS him, she fully makes herself vulnerable in that moment. nothing else in this show makes me cry, but this little moment, and the trust that they both show towards each other, makes me bawl every single time

[@lala2686]

i really hope we get insight into what kind of father silco was to powder when she was a child in season 2, maybe through flashbacks or something. their relationship is so fascinating id love to see more

[@schnee1]

I'm just as curious about Powder and Vander, who we barely got to see together at all.

[@razeredits6303]

@@schnee1 actually we did see them , vander made a drink for powder, but it was made clear that Vander is more loving towards Vi than powder.

[@emilyriley6029]

Ooh, I hope so! I never thought of that. In the end, I really liked Silco’s character and I cried over a villain’s death. So now that he’s out of the picture, I was wondering who the enemy might be. I hope we get a reprisal role with Silco!

[@weird_kinda_human5138]

@@schnee1 Ik its late but i'e always thought that Vander didn't exactly seem to parent Jinx much at all. He very much parented vi, and clangour and Mylo he did but less so, and they could handle that because they were older, but Jinx's main parental figure was Vi, not Vander.

[@ivanhunter6492]

As someone else has said he accepted and loved Jinx unconditionally like the daughter he never had and thus selling her out was a no brainer

[@oinkleberry]

Children are often the embodiment of the future in the eyes of the parents. If the parents have an ideal, they will unconsciously attempt to mold children into their ideal, or at least in that direction. To this end Silco originally was using Jinx as an agent, but he came to understand that she was more than that, hence why after the meeting with Jayce, he finally understood Vander. Protecting your children is synonymous with protecting the future. Giving up your children, while seemingly "selfless" on the surface, is very much you giving up on the future, in principle. That is the dichotomy of parenthood. It's selfish but selfless. It's you wanting to make a mark on the universe by raising another human to be greater than yourself, and by extension they will improve the future while you fade peacefully in their shadow. Silco did not understand this in the beginning, he thought Vander was selfish yet simultaneously weak in his selfishness. The deconstruction of his misconception begins when Powder hugs him. When he sees pained desperation in the wake of abandonment, he draws up empathy for such an emotional state. He sees himself. Knowing what Powder feels in that moment, he gives her what he wished he had received when he was in her position: someone who understood him. By the time we reach the scene at the fountain, Silco finally understands Vander. Protecting his children was protecting everything he believed in. When Vander said "there isn't anything I'd do for them I wouldn't do for all of you," it wasn't a bluff to keep the people in the Last Drop complacent, he truly believed in that statement. The crossroads now wasn't Silco misunderstanding Vander's perspective, but simply disagreeing with his ideology. Silco now knew that in order to protect Zaun, he had to protect Jinx, because she is the future, his ideal, his child, & the city embodied. She is perfect.

[@jip789]

Brilliant analysis! However, rather than simply 'disagreeing' with Silco both Vi and Vander *turn their back on Zaun*, on the violence and chaotic potential which Shimmer embodied. By renouncing violence altogether and cutting deals with Greyson Vander fundamentally betrayed who he was and what he came from - Vi as his protégé then outdoes him and outright joins the same organisation which murdered her parents.

[@jukori]

Silco loves Jinx so much that his last words are not about him but about soothing her pain. Still, he is a very egoistical character - It's not so much about choosing Zaun or Jinx, as demanding a world in which he can have both. he is simply delaying his ultimate victory, there is no reason for him to believe he can't have Zaun later on.

[@cinderspirit4229]

The question is if he would have the guts to continue, as he would have to further use Jinx in his plans. She already almost died to get the gemstone back, which I am sure he felt guilty about, and the upper city already has a big crosshair on her head. His talk at the statue really felt like he would resign completely, as "there is nothing as undoing as a daughter".

[@jukori]

@@cinderspirit4229 I think he would. He does not send her to die but he trusts that she can handle herself if given a fighting chance. Jinx dying would undo him but in a way, he knows that this is the risk he needs to take for their dreams. he views her as his greatest accomplishment and he would do them both a disservice if he loses the faith in her and her abilities.

[@Hobbes09R]

On Silco and order and chaos, I enjoy this line of thought. Silco is organized and ordered, but does not thrive on either. If you put him in Piltover he might function, but he wouldn't be anything special. No, Silco thrives by embracing chaos and bringing order to it. He is the eye of the storm. Jinx is a personification of this. She is pure chaos. With Silco this is molded to a purpose. He doesn't control her, but in caring for her, nurturing her, he can influence that chaos and thrive with it. And you can further see this in her interactions. As wild and crazed as she is, he is almost always calm and collected with her and this in turn tends to calm her around him. And interesting to note is that the one or two times we see he is not calm with her, she is with him. She is chaos, but he has brought order to her, not by controlling her with an iron fist, but by nurturing her. Similar, he could have demanded peace in Zaun, never brought about the drug trade, made deals and rooted out all corruption, but they just would have rebelled and rejected him. Instead he nurtures this chaos to make it a strength, to make it a threat and the result is numerous advances and a city which largely bows to him, even when it could so easily destroy him.

[@schnee1]

That's interesting to think about, what Silco would be like if he was born topside. I hear a discussion the other day on the AU where Jayce and Cait break into the apartment before the crystals explode, meet Vi/Powder etc, and then get Powder into the academy, how her chaoticness would manifest under those circumstances, cool to explore the characters that way

[@sorchanolan3006]

@@schnee1 if this discussion was in a Reddit post or in another forum, would you be able to provide a link?

[@schnee1]

@@sorchanolan3006 it was on discord, sorry!

[@ThomasBomb45]

@@schnee1 Ah yes, the first thing I do when someone breaks into my workshop/house is to help them get into the academy lol. It is still interesting to think about

[@kervala]

Excellent analysis :) Someone deducted something similar but about the different outfits styles :) Piltover style = symmetrical, Zaun style = asymmetric :) And Silco is wearing Piltover's style ;p

[@schnee1]

oh wow, thats such a cool pick up!! :O

[@tryoncemore8570]

@@schnee1 It might be a video from TBSkyen, he was even sponsored by Riot for his contribution kzbin.info/www/bejne/rma5ZoB_dsqpmbM

[@Aisha_Luv]

That makes me see the scene where Vi loses one of her gauntlets because jinx kidnaps her differently.

[@kervala]

@@tryoncemore8570 Ah, indeed it was that video :)

[@Nimblescape]

What makes the adoption unsurprising is bc Silco found her in the exact same position he was in, except she was like 7 or 8. He saw himself in her.

[@sebrussell]

It's interesting, when you mention the accent thing, Silco's not speaking British RP, it's stereotypical "American does an English accent" English. Which, if anything, is a better support of your accent analysis (though the accent thing is always going to be weird, especially when a lot of the cast are putting on accents. From a quick skim through the voice cast, the only English actor with an English-accented chatacter was Toks as Mel. The other Brits are Katie doing Caitlyn (but she's Scottish, not English, so she's accent swapping), Ella as Jinx, JB as Vander and Harry as Viktor. I do actually wonder how much thought really went into the exact accents of the characters, since there does seem to be a significant hodgepodge of accents from people who should have relatively similar ones (like, Silco, Vander, Vi, Powder, Viktor, Sky, Sevika, Finn and other Zaunites). Of course, there is the added wrinkle that certain characters had to have certain accents due to their in-game voice lines, but that doesn't explain the original characters.

[@unknownentity9468]

In a Q&A Jason Spisak (Silco voice actor) said that the accent was purposefully made ambiguous, so that you couldn’t ascertain Silco’s origins or background

[@liddolmenace]

Wtf Jinx is not British.

[@liddolmenace]

Wtf Jinx is not British.

[@sebrussell]

@@liddolmenace I'm not sure if this is just an exclamation of surprise or if you're disagreeing with me, but while Jinx is not British, Ella Purnell, who voices her, absolutely is. I mentioned her because she, Vander and Viktor all have English voice actors doing non-English accents in the show.

[@Dilligff]

The disparity of accents in Zaun are mostly due to the fact that it is somewhat a caricature of early industrial American cities, where the working class were comprised mostly of immigrants from all sorts of nations. This is made more obvious visually as you can see a far greater number of 'alien' looking races in the undercity whereas most of those seen in Piltover are human. My initial thoughts were that Piltover was just a fantasy version of Victorian Era London, but on further viewing it seems more like a version of Britain and America had the war for independence not taken place until further into the late 19th, early 20th century.

[@tryoncemore8570]

With the amount of emphasis in the show about trauma and mental health issues, my simple guess would be that he was not able to choose Zaun over Jinx, because of his abandoment issues and his resulting dependence on Jinx. Not as his main enforcer or because of her weapons expertise, but out of his own fear of feeling the pain again from being abandoned. That's why he tried so desperately to kill Vi, before Jinx got to her and why he lied to her about Vi's intension. I don't think that Silco is as complicated and nuanced as people make him out to be, it all comes down to him never really overcoming his trauma, even though he often meanders about how he "let a weak man die that day". He just tried to run from it, but it never left him.

[@Graid]

I personally think you're right that Silco's own issues play heavily into the 'why' of his attitude to Jinx but I also think that the analysis given in this video also makes complete sense, and rather than being contradictory, you need both sides to fully understand Silco- Silco the wounded man with abandonment issues who loves Jinx as a father and doesn't want to lose her, and Silco the man who has become invested in the kind of Zaun that she embodies. Silco, who felt so betrayed by the one person he seems to have trusted most, adopted Jinx because he saw himself and his own situation in her. Abandoned and betrayed by her sister, he gave her the understanding and the freedom he himself perhaps wished he had had, and above all, the loyalty, to his last dying breath. He nurtured the wounded, 'I'll show them all' chaos in Jinx that had been ignited in himself, but never given free expression, which, as this video points out, is very much symbolic of Zaun. What does it say, I wonder, that he embraces this only AFTER his betrayal of a more moral, orderly sort of fighting for Zaun, the kind that may have had principles? Vi there, with her principles, definitely does become an echo of Vander, something that had betrayed and rejected him. The embrace of the chaotic, shimmer addled aspect of Zaun comes after, perhaps, he feels betrayed by that approach. Yet, he maintains that more ordered approach, as the video points out, because that is who he is, personally, where Jinx is chaos.

[@PB-rj1xr]

I was looking at the shots... when Silco tried to kill Vi... he missed There's no ways he could miss that Shor she was right in front of him. He missed on purpose to get Vi to stop triggering Jinx

[@PB-rj1xr]

Another thing. Nowhere once did Silco say "don't go Jinx" or "I will not let you take Jinx away" he just tried to stop Vi from triggering Jinx

[@hurricaneofcats]

I'm surprised this analysis doesn't mention Silco's reaction when Jinx hugs him right before he adopts her. The show focuses on his subtle reaction when Jinx cries about being abandoned. That was the first scene where we saw genuine emotion from Silco. He saw himself in her sense of betrayal and abandonment and that was the moment he decided not to kill her.

[@justchlxe]

I agree with this

[@error8119]

It also brings that new meaning to that last scene. This isn’t Silco and Vi fighting for Jinx. This isn’t them trying to get a person on their side, this is them pleading to Zaun itself. Notice how Jinx is in FULL control here. They are just two individuals while Jinx is the idea, she is the mass. Like a song once stated, “I am the people, I am the storm, I am the riot, I am the swarm” this is Jinx in this moment. This is Silco and Vi in one last push for their ideals over the city. It’s like an election for the next leader. Is this city gonna turn into the little brother of Piltover that is working to be equal, or is it going to be a completely different entity with no shame in how it operates. In the end when all the dust settles, just like in real life, the martyr is more powerful than anything. Silco dies and in that moment Zaun decides, Zaun decides that it will fully embrace what Silco saw it as. It will live and push through with Silco’s dying wishes pushing it towards the chaotic, broken self that he envisioned as.

[@Kurogane335]

While I think you're partially right about Silco's contempt for Vi, I think you're misjudging something : he hates her because he knows she loves Powder/Jinx as much as she does, but in an aopposite way, and she is the only person whose unconditional love for Jinx could rob him of his daughter and that perfect embodiment of Zaun. Silco's love is absolute in that he allows Jinx to do anything, and she is the only person he genuinely care about. Even Sevika isn't well-treated by him and she lost an arm protecting him from that explosion in episode 3. That's because for Silco, betrayal is at the core of what Zaun is : betrayal by the well-off of Piltover, who exploit them and doesn't care about them, who probably made promises and never kept it. And betrayal is also what alsmot killed him, when Vander let his rage loose and was about to kill him - for reasons we still didn't know mind. Vi's love in absolute in that she never relents in her idea that Jinx can be saved, that she has the capacity for good. No matter what happens, no matter what she sees her do, no matter that Jinx shoot at her (twice) or threaten her or anything like that, she still loves her sister. She still believe that Jinx can take another road, that she doesn't have to become a monster to be strong, to be whole. That's just as unconditional as Silco's love, and from the sound of it in the announcement of a Season 2 being made, I think she still does. The end scene isn't just Powder having to choose between two irreconciliable vision of what Zaun is; either a place below which needs to become "better", or closer to Piltover like Vi thinks perhaps* or a wild and deadly place where the strong rule the weak without pretense of higher morales or values, where if one can get away with what he or she does, then he or she is respected. There is a reason why the chembarons aren't the power-holders of Vander's time; that's because they were far more ruthless and lacked the morality to stay their hands. They took what they wanted, associated with Silco and ran the show. That's what Silco want, a place who will look up at Piltover and say 'you're no better than we already are!" No, it's also her having to choose between two form of loves which are absolute but can't be reconcilied. That's also probably why she cries at the end and shoot at the Council. Because they are the ones who made her lose both those loves : she killed the one who loved her as she already was, and so she had to avenge him and carry his wrath and pain forward, but doing so meant losing her sister for ever - at least in her mind. All because the Council has ruthlessly exploited Zaun, in the grand scheme of thing. At least that's how I see things. *I'd argue that Vi's vision of Piltover and Zaun isn't that clear cut, precisely because of the years she spent in prison : she didn't see Zaun change. She knew it as she left it and when she came back, it had the mark of the one person she hates more than anything all over itself - she can't love it anymore. She's like a flower which has been cut off its root. Either she's transplanted elsewhere or she'll die. I'm pretty sure Season 2 will see a suicidal Vi charging into battle with the hope of someone ending her pain, by the way.

[@TheFrogspawnedOne]

Absolutely. Silco knows power and politics - there is no dealing with Piltover from a position of weakness, not really. The council wants him to surrender his best weapons, his best agent, betray his people (even his daughter) and trust in the goodwill of Piltover, that has abused and ignored Zaun for decades... to achieve something he basically already has. He knows Jinx is developing a hextech weapon, which would nullify the advantage that Piltover has and leave the ball in his court, with Shimmer - that Piltover doesn't have. That means Zaun has the advantage, and Piltover can't know just how much of an advantage Zaun has because there is no way that the topsiders could predict the genius of Jinx herself, specifically. So Silco approaches his negotiations with Jayce in that mindset. He essentially already has everything he needs to topple Piltover, and even accounting for all Silco's demands, a peace like they offered only benefits the upper class Pilts. If he takes the deal, he loses all credibility with his underlings, with Sevika and the rest, because they see that he's willing to "give up" on his dreams, his plans and even the people he cares most about - in exchange for only promises of fair treatment from a ruling class that never respected the lanes. His words about loyalty are shown to be meaningless the moment he gives Jinx up, even if some of his people would be glad to see her go. That's a bad deal. He'd lose his leadership in a second. But the way I see it he does finally come to a revelation about himself and Vander and fatherhood. I don't think he expected to be so rattled about being asked to give up Jinx, and he realised that he wouldn't give her up even if they'd offered him the world. In the negotiation with Jayce he *immediately* offered to go in her place, because then he's martyring himself and not asking any of his people to sacrifice themselves for a compromise with Piltover and he can keep their respect even as he goes down, but if he has to compromise on his ideals of Zaun for peace? Then he'll fight, like he always planned.

[@tripster103]

Interesting perspective, but if they asked for anyone else I believe Silco would give them up without second thoughts. It's the fact that he sees Jynx as his daughter and actually cares for her and is the one person that he loves unconditionally that he is unwilling to give her up, as well as her being the "perfect" embodiment of Zaun in Silco's eyes.

[@AcidicGumdrops]

GOD you always knock it right out the park with these character analyses. I love how in the beginning you really point out the inconsistencies, but then you explain why it is like that and what it's meant to mean, AND you give us a fresh way of looking at the character and the story. I'm OBSESSED!

[@HxH2011DRA]

Many to this day who make hour long analysis videos STILL don't get Silco the way this 10 minute video does

[@HauntingSpectre]

We are led to believe Silco was betrayed by Vander. It's not said why, but we can assume Vander didn't even talk things out. He was given a deal, presumably to kill Silco and call off the Rebellion. This relates deeply to his whole fixation on drowning and being born again new. In his original form, he was too weak to stop Vander, or take control. It's quite possible before the betrayal Silco was a much more light-hearted and compassionate person. We aren't given the details of who he was before the betrayal. Only that he wanted Zaun, as did the rest of the Inner circle with Vander. Even if Silco was his cruel and ruthless self pre-betrayal, he is still shown to have a lot of compassion. He never immediately kills anyone, or punishes them, but offers choices. Loaded choices, but choices none the less. His transformation during his "Death" taught him that in order to be stronger, he needs to lower himself to pick it up. You see this quote in many things. Vikings has it's own version. "Power corrupts, because you must lower yourself to pick it up." With this in mind, and with the assistance of the mad Chemist Singed, he finds his own way to have power, through Shimmer. People see him as just flooding the streets with it, but as you mention he does everything with reason. He isn't trying to destroy Zaun, and poison his inhabitants, it's just him having to lower himself, to attain that power he needs to create Zaun. The experiments, and testing of Shimmer as a super soldier serum while unfathomable, is a step in the "Right direction" of liberation. There's no way he can compete on a financial level, Presumably the industrial capactiy to create weapons isn't there, and neither is the man-power for an open war. You can't drop an Atomic bomb, with out first testing it and perfecting it. As the Allies did on numerous deserts and oceans. He mentions - as you highlight. That he only needs to scare Piltover into submission. This is a common military tactic. Artillery Barrages, Mustard Gas, Jericho Sirens on Stuka Bombers, All sorts of weapons, that while ineffective in a combat sense, provoke fear. The Schwerer Gustav (railway train that could reach London from France) was one of these terror weapons. If Piltover is afraid of the Super solders, or worse yet - Shimmer being weaponized to turn Piltover Topsiders into Shimmer monsters, they are much more likely to surrender. What more terrifying thing could there be, than a weaponized gas version of shimmer? And while this is never explored in Arcane, presumably Piltover is smart enough to be wary of even the possibility. Even if it can't be in a gas, Silco could poison the water supply. There are plenty of ways to administer the drug for poisoning a population - but he's shown to take the super-soldier route instead. Leading back to Jinx, while the theory that Silco was much more compassionate pre-betrayal may not hold water. It's safe to say that as a human, Silco does indeed need human connection with someone. He's obsessed with betrayal, because it's obviously caused him great emotional/mental damage. His trust in loyalty, and belief in it above other more material things, show that he himself is probably quite loyal -- To the right people, and probably was to Vander before he was betrayed. Thus this more human side of Silco is naturally drawn to Jinx. Somewhere underneath it all. Silco does have redeeming qualities. Very few people are ever completely devoid of humanity. He sees kinship, in those betrayed by the people they love. When Jayce offers him his peace, he's probably completely skeptical. As anyone would be. With out the things that make Piltover fear him, they are free to just invade or reneg the deal at any time. Buying themselves time for a counter attack, and while Silco too could lie, he would have to Betray someone who trusts him completely. Something he isn't willing to do. His moral conviction lies in his belief in loyalty, and while he will lower himself to pick up power, he will not lower himself to betray family. Not like Vander did to him. After all what is a kingdom worth, if it is built on nothing? A Kingdom with out loyalty is nothing. A foundation made of sand. If he were to turn in his own daughter, even for the greater good. He would have no loyalty among his own people. If he would give up his daughter, of all things, who would he not give up? He is visibly worried and surprised when Sevika kills the Chemlord and not him. Which further strengthens his theory that Loyalty is a currency worth even more than material things. It's one thing to be ruthless, and cruel, and to dish out punishment where it is due. It's entirely another to betray those who work alongside you. Something that will never be forgotten, and even if Piltover kept it's promise and gave him Zaun for Jinx, Sevika and the others would be much more willing to Scheme, and betray him, and the infighting would never stop. A room full of paranoid people with loaded guns, all plotting against each other. Making themselves weaker, while their enemies grow stronger. With War always on the horizon. While 6-7 years is a long time to prepare for war -- Perhaps the reason the Undercity was willing to bide their time, was because Silco was indeed planning another Rebellion. With Vander, it was completely off the table. He sold the Undercity out for some orphans. He keeps his family safe, but tells Vi not to rob the North side -- North being the rich part of Piltover. So presumably -- as we know the Undercity is full of Crime, Drugs, and poverty while Vander is in charge, Vander doesn't give a shit about the Undercity clawing itself apart with in-fighting. As long as it stay away from his family, friends, and his business. Vi and co are free to do jobs on other undercity residents, or outside of town. But not on the upper-piltover residents. Where as with Silco, they know, he is working in the shadows, developing weapons and serums in order to fight Piltover. He is working with the police yes, but to a much different degree. He bribes the police for information, to continue to grow his power, and get the shimmer shipments through. He is not simply protecting Piltover, for his families protection and for enforcers to stay out of his business. He is actively using the topside bribes to gain information, and power. Where as Vander is actively working with them to keep Piltover in power - so long as they leave him alone.

[@matthiuskoenig3378]

artillery barages are not ineffective. more than half of all soldiers killed in and since ww1 died to artillery. artillery shrapnel is the number 1 killer and number 1 wounder of all weapons in modern warfare. artillery barrages are effective AND have a moral impact. I think your misconception comes from the long ww1 bombardments not breaking the lines, but not only does this ignore the fact that similar bombardments in ww2 were extremely effective but that the main reason said artillery were ineffective was the soldiers following up the aritllery were slower (due to no-mans land) than the defenders moveing in to take up positions in the shelled areas.

[@lastrazi]

I agree with everything that you said 👏

[@jip789]

🔥🔥🔥

[@HoopzBarkleyy]

Nice interpretation, but there's one thing, that maybe i misunderstood, but you said that his final words gave Jinx a nudge towards her future actions. This i can't get behind, i really don't think that even in his final moments as he is dying, Silco had a master plan and knew the perfect words that would push Jinx in his desired direction. I interpret the final "you're perfect" as a complete and honest acceptence of who she is, who she's been and who she'll choose to be, that is different from a previous "Jinx is perfect" that he says, to which che doesn't have a particular strong reaction

[@chapstikcrazy]

I agree. It really upsets me when people think Silco was manipulating her in that moment because in that moment he's just being vulnerable. He knew she'd been having this war for years now about Powder/Jinx and knew how much it weighed on her mind and tormented her. He tried to help her sort through it the way he did, and it helped for a bit, but she'd always fall back into this war of identity. In that moment of him saying "You're perfect" I really believe he was saying, "Hey I know I've wanted you to be Jinx because being strong and independent is what helped me, but it might not be helping you and I know you've struggled for so long. Whoever you choose, I will love and accept. You mean everything to me, no matter who you are." It's so beautiful. I don't think he ever "manipulated" her to become who she is. He just nurtured her strengths, which just happened to be engineering genius and an extra helping of chaos. And it made perfect sense to me on my first watch that he would take her in. This broken, cast aside, betrayed, suffering child. It was a moment of genuine empathy and acceptance. He knew where she was because he had been there. He knew the pain because he'd felt it. He knew the loneliness and wanted to keep her from that pain. "We will show them all" in my mind was a really unifying sentiment. "We have each other now, and we can be strong. We can show them they were wrong."

[@prufan]

@@chapstikcrazy there's an interview on KZbin with Silco's voice actor(it's easy to find) and in it he explains the mindset of his character and the meaning of that "Your perfect" line. basically, what he says does contradict your reading of the line

[@chapstikcrazy]

@@prufan I think things can have more than one meaning

[@emmanuelletumulak2487]

​@@chapstikcrazy YESSS i 100% agree with this ❤

[@aksjhdbaksjhdbNotASpam]

@@chapstikcrazy So I know I'm wayyy late on this one. But in this interview he kind of confirms what you said. At around the 3 min mark kzbin.info/www/bejne/n2nOdZd5oL-Ugqs

[@povijestpovijest9569]

Hextech is the reason why he didn't start a war with Piltover. Shimmer was supposed to somewhat even out the powers, just enough for them to be able to fight back and win the independence. But with hextech the Piltover left them behind in the dirt.

[@silentstar1776]

I remember hearing once that when you help someone, it is because you pity them, or see yourself in them. I think Silco saw himself in powder. She was betrayed by her sister, like he by his brother and was all alone. He understood her, and embraced her. I have seen many comments where people say that Silco used Jinx and cotrolled her, but I think they are worng. We don't see him using her, making her do a job, or making her kill someone. Maybe he loved her as his daughter in the end? I kind of forgot what I was talking about, but I think that Silco and Jinx found a person who understand them

[@govind.m86]

I get where this line of thinking comes from, especially from Jason's interview where he puts it out pretty clearly but I like to think that his overall affection towards Jinx was more influenced by genuine love for his daughter rather than kinship or identification of Jinx as Zaun's personification, especially towards the end. Silco's eye is the representation of the suffering Zaun suffers under Piltover. The monster that Piltover created. A sidenote on how Silco kept it out in the open while Vander hid his scars from that day under his armband. Now what's interesting here is that we see his iris become less focused following the timeskip and more importantly, injecting Shimmer seems to hurt him immensely now. That wasn't a thing in episode 1. An easy explanation is that Shimmer is healing him but I think there's more to it. It's symbolic of him slowly becoming human again due to his new found love for his daughter. His daughter being the one administering the medicine aka "healing it" by poking the iris being the cherry on the top. That, along with "Oh it all makes sense now, brother" which implies that he's finally able to understand why Vander changed his mind about revolution. I don't think that line would make sense if he continued to always see Jinx as Zaun's representation from start to finish. I'm sure he drew the parallels too but fatherly love was firmly in the driving seat at the end.

[@AetherTales]

5:53 on - “Big Comfy Pilty” is a cute formation, and it is a temptation for Vi. But she has the sense and fortitude to walk away from it. Repeatedly. It’s Jinx that keeps putting Vi back together with Cait, even as Vi is single-mindedly trying to liberate Powder from Silco. Silco’s “ordered chaos” is a fragile house of cards, as episode 6 on clearly demonstrates. Vi may smile at sampling herself some Big Comfy Pilty, but it brings her no contentment. Vi. Walks. Away. That’s her main offer to Powder at the end, too: “We can just leave.” Vi is HAPPIEST bringing Silco’s house of cards down, but is willing to leave him alive if it means she’s with her sister again. This vid also elides the foil to the dichotomy: The Firelights. The spirit of Vander and Benzo is very much alive, and Vi seems plenty happy reuniting with Ekko on very Undercity terms. But thank you again for making these vids! Very meaty food for thought.

[@SSJ_EWGF]

Cuz Sisco loves her unconditionally, she's practically his daughter in his mind and slowly but surely, became the most important thing to him. Of course, he doesn't concisely realize that until he is offered the Nation of Zaun like he always wanted, but at the price of selling out Jinx, and he immediately knows that is a trade he won't even entertain.

[@TykoBrian7]

Dramatic irony at it’s finest.

[@gogetathestrongestfusion]

@@TykoBrian7between the two brothers and the sisters the irony is very strong

[@VirtuesOfSin]

Everyone watching arcane: "Silco is so cartoony..." Me: "You haven't observed humanity, have you?"

[@myth86715]

Though I see what you're going for, I disagree. For me the answer is a lot more simple. Silco took Powder in because of what she said: 'She left me. She's not my sister anymore' It even cuts to Vander's body as Silco glances at it, realizing that this little girl is exactly how he was when Vander tried to kill him. Betrayed and abandoned. And this is further emphasized by, like you said, how much Vi resembles Vander. As for the 'you're perfect' line at the end, sure it can be all these things mentioned here, but even if they are, they're secondary. What you don't mention here is Silco's moment at Vander's statue: 'Is there anything so undoing as a daughter?' Because Silco finally understands Vander. Why Vander was willing to die for a cause and not fight for one. For me, Silco didn't choose Jinx because she's Zaun. He chose her because, for the first time in his life, he cares more about a specific person than he does for his nation of Zaun. Your point that the deal with Jayce is a bit sus and that they were trying to weaken Zaun while having no intention of honoring it is interesting. But I think they would've honored it and Silco had every intention of taking it, up until the moment Jayce asks for Jinx. Because, above all else, Silco is a businessman. And for a businessman, trading Shimmer and the Gemstone for free trade routes, blanket amnesty, unrestricted access to the Hexgates and sovereignty is a no-brainer. He even says in episode 4 how, because of the Hexgates, Piltover is leaving Zaun more and more behind. Silco uses chaos because he's prepared to use everything in his disposal. But if he could turn Zaun into another Piltover he would without a second thought. The reason he hates Vi is because of her resemblance to Vander but mostly because he's afraid Jinx will choose Vi over him. This turned out much longer than I intended...but this is my take ^^

[@al-mamluk]

At 3:44, Silco was prepared to discontinue the production of shimmer, and return the arcane gemstone. He only drew the line when Jayce demanded Silco also give over Jinx. As controversial as it may seem, I believe Silco genuinely loved Jinx in his own twisted way, hence why he refused to give her up, even if it meant giving up his ideals.

[@modelsclameater]

I think Silco's statue Chat line, "What is more undoing than a Daughter," changes this theory a bit.

[@mathies3598]

Yeah, and "it all makes sense now brother". He finally understood vander, that means he stopped hating the mentality of Piltover wannabe.

[@foggyforest2625]

Not really I mean yeah he now understands vander but he still did everything in his own ordered chaotic way this is basically vander's loving mentality but with silco's philosophy

[@modelsclameater]

He did do things in his owned ordered chaotic way, but there were always exemptions and breaking of both personal character traits when it came to Jinx.

[@joseOGrove]

The perfect voice actor choice doesn't exist. Arcane: hold my shimmer

[@SycomMC]

With recent revelations this video mitght need an update.

[@zefanyaraysanevadalaput7371]

Damn ur breakdown is so crazy it's so clear I'm waiting for season 2 breakdown bruh keep going

[@NotThePoint-r7n]

When I heard what he said I thought "that's so sweet he doesn't want her to be haunted by this nightmare too, rather he wants her to embrace herself and be proud of who she is instead of her life being filled with regret". I think it's beautiful what he told her in the end because I think that was exactly what she needed to hear to finally be okay with herself.

[@corinschweigert2715]

That's your best video imo. I didn't quite see Silco literally that way but subconsciously I felt that Silco had a bigger plan than was shown in his scenes. Jinx was the embodyment of everything he wanted to achieve. Jinx is extremely intelligent, creative and capable and imo if not for the looming shadow of Vi she wouldn't have that much mental attacks and would've therefore caused less chaos and destruction for Silco and his goons which would've probably ended in him and Jinx achieving an independent Zaun. Jinx herself most likely was aware of Silco's plans and dreams and probably even agreed to them. Her problems with Vi didn't diminish the hatred she felt for Piltover as she most likely blames the city for most of her problems. Caitlin isn't just the person who took away Vi from her perspective but also a representative of Zaun and therefore an embodyment of something she truly hates. That she didn't kill her in the end is a testament for her truly caring about her sister and Jinx still not being capable of hurting her sister consciously. She hummened the same song she sung on the bridge when she witnessed her parents die so she definitly felt satisfaction when so many enforcers died in the same place where her life was ruined. Shimmer is also currently the only way for someone of Zaun to face someone with the power of those crystals. Silco bringing this drug on the black market could've also been his way of ensuring that most people of Zaun are capable of defending themselves should Piltover strike. It's also been used as medicine and as very few people of Zaun have access to normal medicine it could've also been his way of bringing healthcare to his people. Maybe after the introduction of those crystals he saw, that a war between Zaun and Piltover would be a lost cause so instead of militerising Zaun he did the things I mentioned plus slowly bringing the drugs to Piltover in order to make them dependent on financing him. With this money he could've slowly improved the living conditions for Zaun.

[@William488]

Also he had already made great improvements to the undercity at the beginning of the season any enforcer of topsides had to wear a gas mask yet later in the show caitlin is completely fine he had already improved the air quality to the point of Finn and the other 'leaders' forgetting what it was like to breath the bad air, he is 100% an anti hero he had very good intentions in a way but has rlly scuffed methods

[@corinschweigert2715]

@@William488 Huh I totally forgot about that one...

[@William488]

@@corinschweigert2715 they rlly hide that detail like they make no explicit mention of it it's very subtle in the assembly scene

[@javascriptsophie4958]

My opinion on the "you're perfect" line is that it's just what Jinx needed in that moment of vulnerability but it also shattered any chance Jinx had of redemption, after Silco said "you're perfect" Jinx embraces chaos and is doomed to a be lonely hated outcast for life.

[@foggyforest2625]

Yeah it's fu**ing sad

[@javascriptsophie4958]

@@foggyforest2625 My dad's side is always the Baa Baa black sheep scapegoat family.

[@the-boy-who-lived]

I think there’s more going on when Silco adopts Powder in that moment. The look on his face when he’s hugging her-it’s like he really understands what she’s feeling and can relate to it. It makes me think something similar happened to him when he was a kid. We never really found out what happened between him and Vander, but what if Vander betrayed Silco the same way Vi betrayed Powder? Like, they were as close as brothers, and that’s what changed Silco into who he is now. I don’t know if it’s true, but I have a feeling we’re going to see a really interesting backstory for Silco in season 2.

[@beastmonger4821]

ACTUALLY! Viktor's voice actor said hes inspiration for Viktor's accent was a "flat accent" of Czech language... i never was more proud to be Czech! xD

[@schnee1]

OH cool!! I saw people referring to his accent in lol as russian, but in the show it sounded slavic to me but not russian exactly, so that makes sense!

[@chrisbaldwin8570]

I think I got Silco around the speech about monsters. We know he believes in this Zaun ideal and then we get this scene where he is talking about the inherit beauty and power of these monsters that no one ever notices or knows about (Undercity anyone?) while talking about how everyone has an inner monster and that power has to be seized. Then his death speech seals it, where he talks about the peace he found drowning (death) but that he had something deep inside him begin to rage (the inner monster) and that he had to make a choice of which one to embrace. I think he sees the Undercity as a place of inherent struggle and that this struggle breeds a people stronger and more capable in his eyes. This is why he chastises his seconds for losing the ability to breath the bad air, why he continues to make the Undercity a living hell, why he tries to keep up the conflict as it creates, evolves his people into a people capable of achieving his dream.

[@mkbthekid2041]

With the accents, atleast in the main lore, people of zuan were descendants of prisoners and poor people from all around who were sent to mine for piltover. ALOT of Zaun champs are from other nations so it makes sense that zaun wouldn’t have a single accent.

[@kylehahn4410]

One thing that's especially important about Jinx in Silco's eyes is the realization that she is Zaun's Jace. Piltover progressed technologically to the point that Jace looked Silco in the eye during their meeting and said "We'd slaughter you", and that progress was because of Jace. Meanwhile, except for Singe and Ekko (both of whom are independently aligned and not with Silco's ideals), Jinx is the only Zaunite capable of competing in this arms race with Piltover, who can engineer hextech. Without her, the dream of Zaun was always doomed. He may have recognized that's what Jace feared in their meeting, why he asked for Jinx's head: Jace feared that Jinx represented the nightmare of hextech weaponry, one who would make it an innovation of death rather than one of life (making peoples' lives easier). Thus Jace's fear, and all of Piltover's fear, of Jinx made her more valuable than any tenuous peace they could offer. That's all to say, Jinx is the only thing that makes Zaun equal to Piltover, the only reason the Piltover council could be dragged to the negotiation table after so many years, and therefore it was antithetical to ever give her over to them.

[@esmeraldaloschuetz9120]

Thank you, great vid, I've heard that take before, it makes sense. I'd like to add sth: On a psychological level, Silco also sees himself personally in Powder when he first encounters her; her being abandoned and "betrayed" mirrors his own trauma with Vander; it's then & there he starts seeing her as an extention of himself and actively works to shape her in his image. Second, people forget that he was hellbent on finding Vi when he knelt down to Powder; before, during the fight scene on the bridge, between Vi & the large tattooed goon, we see several reaction shots of Silco, when he realizes how gifted Vi is as a fighter; at that moment, he decides to take her for himself imo, somehow utilize her as a weapon, while psychologically sticking it to Vander in the process; insetad, he gets Powder, the "lesser child". He refers to this in the stand-off with Vi in the slums: Everybody thought Vi was Vander's trophy, but Powder "turned out to be so much more", he marvels in awe at the great use he got out of her, against all expectations. At least, that's how I see it. I don't think he would have kept her if she hand't proven herself useful and succeptive, and I very much doubt Jinx would have come about in the way she did without his influence. Jinx said that Vi made Jinx, but Jinx hasn't a clear view of the events, or Silco and his manipulations, for that matter. He literally drilled into her that no one would ever love her but him, that it was them against the world; mind you, without ever saying "I love you". His love was a narcissistic, possessive one, reflective of his own trauma-shaped worldviews, that's why he was terrified of Vi's influence, which he knew might pull her away from him / make her into Powder again aka make him lose her. That's why he insisted on her name being Jinx. That's why he tried everything to kill Vi, right up to the end. He wasn't interested in her being happy or healthy or healing, he was interested in not losing her, for selfish reaosns (psychological & political ones). It pisses me off to no end that people want to see this stellar dad in Silco, when he actively manipulated her, made use of her trauma for his gains, giving toxic lessons and encouraging her mental decline, never even trying to make her mental issues better or setting any boundaries, keeping her away from her family, poisoning her view of them, and fucking TRYING TO KILL HER SISTER. "Your sister can't possibly love you, no one will ever love you but me, now go and make me my super-weapon" - dad of the year, everybody. I don't deny that he loved her on some level, in his own twisted way, but that alone doesn't make a good parent. Parents don't need to be raging alcoholics or physically abusive to be bad parents.

[@bikeuke]

Even after being shot, he doesn't abandon her.

[@therealtaydev]

You made an excellent point about Vi that I hadn’t thought of. I always wondered what would make her become a Piltie enforcer knowing her history with them. Wow. Thanks for the enlightenment lol.

[@destinimitchell268]

love the analysis. When I see Jinx, I picture her chaos being that of a tidal wave or riptides. Dangerous, fast paced, no order. However, Silco is like a beautiful lake that looks cool n all until you jump inside it and die from several deadly beast resting underneath the surface. ordered chaos as u said.

[@mudshrooze]

Something I'm gonna say Silco does absolutely love Jinx genuinly. It isnt just because Jinx is the heart of Zaun. He wouldnt have turned Jinx in regardless. Its definitely a wierd and uncanny relationship between the two but it is a genuine father daughter love.

[@Home_Of..The..Mayfields]

9:18 “the creepy eye the creepy drugs”I must start watching 💀

[@d0b13L37]

I know I'm a little late for the show, but I really want to speak my mind about this topic. I believe there is a really important trait which connects Silco, Jinx and even Zaun as a nation and this is being casted away. Jinx was rejected by Vi, Silco was rejected by Vander and Zaun is being rejected by upper city all the time. I think when Silco saw Jinx for the first time he connected to her on a such deep and emotional level because he knew she got casted away by her sibling just as he got. He mentioned it during their talk on a lake and Jinx reacts as if she had already heard that sentence multiple times from him. It's also what Zaun nation is in some way, not being at the bottom, but being unified at the bottom. So when Silco gets proposition to reject Jinx, he knows that he would do excatly what Vander did to him even for the same reason which is greater good of whole city (I guess that was the reason why Vander tried to kill Silco, but i'm not sure whether it was directly said in the show). After rejecting this option Silco goes to talk with statue of Vander because this whole situation reminded him so badly of his ex-brother. We can also see this fear of rejection in another character from undercity - Viktor, in his relation with Jayce, where there is literally a montage of Viktor nearly dying during his research, moment when he needs his fellow scientist-mate the most and simultaneously his friend goes all into politics and new relation by having sex with Mel. After this i thought he might even join Silcos's club of betrayed people but no, though he went to Singed and then different things happened to his character, so afterall it wasn't exactly the case. It was partly mentioned in the video, but I felt as if there was so much more to talk about, so here is this comment. I hope someone will come across this opinion on nearly 2 years old video and find something valuable or just entertaining. Have a great day reader :DDD

[@internetaccounttt]

This is truly incredible, I am beyond happy you created this. You've built on so many unorganized thoughts I was pondering over myself, and allowed me to reach deeper understandings of Silco, as well as build upon my own conclusions after the fact. Now one of my favorite Arcane analysis videos, and very impressive given such a short amount of time.

[@sleepyhappiness]

I think we DID get an answer as to why Silco never attacked in the middle years. The answer came at the very end, in the form of Jinx sending a missle right into the heart of Piltover. Silco, during those middle years, could have attacked at any time, sure. I think it was important to Silco that Jinx be the one to start the war, to lead the battle. As others have said, I believe Silco was grooming Jinx to take over as the leader of Zuan one day, and he wanted her victory in the war against Piltover to be her crowning achievment. He was waiting for Jinx to be ready though, as we've seen he doesn't control Jinx, and doesn't even seem to want to. He was waiting for Jinx to get that final push that makes her want to join the battle. He had the resources, people, and power all ready, and a lot of his actions (convincing the underbosses to wait and not revolt, humoring Piltover law enforcement and Jace, etc) read as him biding time. And he did it all because, as we saw in at the end, Jinx was capable of taking on PIltover the whole time. The whole time, the greatest weapon Silco had was always Jinx. She had the smarts and the skills necessary to sneak in and out of the city, attack law enforcment without getting hurt, go toe-to-toe with all of the city's greatest fighters, create her own weapons and figure out and re-verse engineer other's. Silco got what he wanted, in the end, as his death gave Jinx that final push she needed to take up the battle against Piltover. Ultimately Silco won, and he always knew he was going to win. He just needed to wait for his greatest weapon to be ready.

[@chickensalad3535]

Great analysis, but I do think that Silco’s decision was just as much about his genuine love for Jinx as it was his reluctance to let go of power, if not more so.

[@rampantporcupineandfriends3793]

Sorta unrelated but your conclusion that jinx is the spirit if zaun made me realize how jinx and jayce are foils to each other. Jayce is the spirit of piltover and she is the spirit of zaun. Story if opposites. I always thought they were eachothers primary foil but I didn't know how to describe them until I watched this video. They both perfectly embody there respective cities.

[@schnee1]

I didn't think of Jayce like that, but I hear it! Over-ambitious, inner morals not matching outer blindness, outer composure not matching inner mess -- that does sum up piltover!

[@rampantporcupineandfriends3793]

@@schnee1 Yeah! Exactly the kind of character traits I identified. They are also similar in some key ways which helps to emphasize their differences. They are both scientest but jinx chooses to create weapons and jayce chooses to create tools. Hmm I was going to come up with more similarities and differences but I can't think of any right now. I feel like there are more that I just can't think if right now. I think I'll try writing about it myself soon. I've been doing my own analysis of the show and am wanting to but together some kind of blog post about it. Hopefully I can follow through! I think jayce jinx comparison might make for an interesting video or short.

[@schnee1]

Best of luck with your analysis! I'm hoping we get to see some Jinx/Jayce scenes in season 2 bc of the parallels, they both like sandwiches a lot so maybe that could lead to somethin.. 🤔

[@rampantporcupineandfriends3793]

@@schnee1 Yeah that would be great! They haven't even met face to face yet. :0 Maybe in season 2 we will see them bond over their love for sandwiches and peace will come to the city. But jinx would probably jinx it RIP

[@Requiemreverie]

What an amazing video. I’ve seen so many theory and analyzing videos, watched Arcane five times, and mulled over it for more than a month now, yet this video was PACKED with revelations I never thought of. I never realized these things. Silco was already awesome in my eyes, now he is incredible. How is it that I keep learning things about this amazing show every single day? I learn and notice more simply by thinking about it long enough. It’s absolutely incredible

[@schnee1]

TOTALLY feel the same way, crazy how much depth there is in this show

[@Requiemreverie]

@@schnee1 It’s insanity. Is there anything else that even remotely compares? Is anything else worth my time more than Arcane? Probably not. It’s kinda sad that I’ve seen the peak. Everything else is so much smaller by comparison

[@feduckil9238]

A lot of very interesting points in this video! But one point that I think is a bit absent from the analysis is actual empathy and love that Silco has (or at least might have) for Jinx. Not everything he does has to be perfectly rational and calculated. He’s still just a human - prone to emotion, and fear. I believe he loves Jinx not as embodiment of Zaun (or not only as such), but as a daughter. As someone who he understands and who understands him, as they both share very similar experience in being betrayed or abandoned. And that fear of being abandoned I suspect is also prevalent in his decision making.

[@datguy6745]

Another thing: Jinx is THE most honest person you will ever come across. Not necessarily in a good way, but in a true "100% honesty" way. She doesnt manipulate, she doesnt plot, not a single lie comes out her mouth during the whole show i think. If she doesnt like you, she tells you or even attacks you. Sometimes she even listens to see if she is the one in the wrong. She's kinda like an animal. If something crosses her mind, she acts on it.

[@thornerg2]

0:44 You ACTUALLY SEE Silco's bullet hit Vi's chair right next to her head. He wasn't shooting at Jinx.

[@madalynsmith6717]

You need to stop being so good at explaining things I'm literally balling my eyes out rn

[@schnee1]

sry i'll stop 🤐

[@madalynsmith6717]

@@schnee1 well don't do that

[@NicholasJFury]

I think it can all be pin pointed the moment Jinx finds the stone. He looks at her first and then the stone, ultimately he would choose his daughter over power

[@martisole6249]

THANK YOU for not stopping the arcane vids flow. I watched it last week and i'm totally obsessed and your vids are the best in all youtube (believe me i've checked alt least a hundred)

[@dardaraxthebasementmonster3423]

The idea of Jinx being Zaun personified actually makes a lot of sense. I remember reading up on Jinx after Arcane came out and I swear I read somewhere that, apparently, the people of Zaun started to believe she was a spirit of vengeance who was coming to piltover to get revenge for all the people of zaun who suffered because of Piltover. But now that I'm looking for it to quote I can't find it. If I do I'll put it in a reply to this comment.

[@CertainlyCynical]

Hey have you found it yet? Sounds interesting!

[@blueicer101]

I love how Silco is a character who understand power. Vander and Silco both had the exact opposite arc where Vander in the revolution found out that just because he had physical power himself, he thought it would be enough to bring change but the cost was too high, he's seen how using his power through violence, doesn't work and how he had to do something smarter, that didn't require sacrificing his people. Silco had the exact opposite epiphony where he gets drowned, seemingly a lack of physical power to threaten violence himself. He came to the conclusion that even though he lacked the power from birth he had to take it, even Vander wanted this entirely peaceful solution and ended up drowning his closest friend for the power over the decision of the direction of Zaun. When power is had, it will be used even by his trusted ally, to kill him and maintain itself. This is a truth he learned the hard way, no one will give up power. He finds the power in the pain and chaos of almost dying, and learns to create something from the negative, such as zaun, a world where they all feel powerless, he sells drugs that "gives power" to the powerless, unironically benefiting the people and in the long run gives him the economic power to control the underworld. He understands how to keep up appearances with his red and black suit, the colours of power/death, and uses makeup to hide his weakensses from his enemies. His character finds a way to channel the chaos represented by his scarred eye contrasting with his unaffected eye. He is able to look at both top side and bottom side and see them as 1 image. He's cast away the perception of "top-side/bottom side" More or less they are all the same, and everyone is an enemy, apart from powder who is his family. He probably adopted powder because he needs a family to root for and not even be on his side, but someone he could be on their side. He treats them all the similarly, if he doesn't have a personal relationship with them, like jinx he will keep them below him just like sevika who he keeps under him with virtue signalling and the promise for change in the underworld whereas she's just a bodyguard, she's not family but jinx is. This is why Sevika doesn't like jinx because even though she is less valuable to the "cause" silco prioritizes his family over the cause. He doesn't sell drugs to accumulate wealth for the "cause", he does it for himself and jinx who benefits the most from it. You don't get the feeling that jinx has to worry about food or shelter, as she's not really yearning for any of those things but thinks about vi a lot. You can even see this twisted dynamic between jinx and silco when she gets shouted at and scalded because she killed a few enforcers. She's care-free about it in a twisted teenage sort of way, and silco is mad like a dad. Lastly, silco doesn't even struggle to breathe in the undercity because he microdoses. The funny thing is he sells the drug so people can have super strength but he knows how to effectively does himself to get insanely less sideeffects. He never discloses this information and I have this theory that he micro-doses with jinx. He only shares his power with his family again. This is probably why they're both so pale and have ridiculous strength even though they're both so skinny. Jinx lugs around massive guns like they're toys made from plastic and silco stomps a guys face when he loses it, seemingly with a lot of force even though he's a thin for a man. Again, he breathes toxic air and supposedly doesn't cough, have you ever seen jinx look sick out in the streets apart from mentally? And when he put on the mask in the scene threatening the barons, he seems to take a breathe from the mask before handing it over but probably just did it as a "power move" or to through people off that he has tech that lets him breathe apart from a mask. Sevika also has a chemtech arm. People don't even need shimmer and he's selling it in pure form.

[@Hey-Its-Dingo]

Silco's British accent, as you mentioned accents applying to status, is also a way he is opposite to Vi: Vi is a natural Zaunite who desperately wishes she was a "True Pilty," and Silco is ACTUALLY a natural Pilty who wishes he a "True Zaunite." Their wishes contrast their goals, and make things harder. If Vi wished to be a Zaunite, she would have been able to fix the Undercity, and if Silco wished to be a Pilty, he would have probably been a powerful councilor.

[@DanteYewToob]

I firmly believe that Silco and Vander would’ve traded places had they swapped locations on the bridge. They started in the same place, both fighting Piltover to better Zaun and they both used the same violent methods… the difference is that one of them got a hard wake-up call. When Vander saw Vi and Powder he saw the true cost of his war, the ugly side of the fighting no matter how just it feels. Those kids are orphans because of this fight and he saw that violence isn’t the answer, so he did the right thing, took responsibility for his actions and decided to look after the orphans created by his fight. Later on, we see Silco do the same… blinded by rage, and consumed with violence he saw the same little girl in the same position and made a similar choice… he took in Vanders child because he made her an orphan. The only difference is that Silco was in too deep already. We know Silco was equally as capable of change for the better and had a decent man somewhere deep inside him but he waited too long to listen to his voice. Had Silco found the girls instead I believe he would’ve been Papa Silco and Vander the Hound of the Underground would still be fighting for Zaun and using his old violent ways to hurt Piltover. As far as we understand they fought over differences in methods when Vander quit… Silco felt abandoned in his fight and would stop so Vander tried to stop him before he made more orphans. Maybe it would’ve gone differently had Silco found the girls instead. Silco clearly fell victim to the “sunk cost fallacy” which is where you refuse to quit, or leave because you’ve put too much into it already. People keep trying to fix something broken, wasting money… stay in abusive relationships, or keep doing bad things because they believe that if they stop everything will be a waste and we know Silco felt that way… he changed much slower because he had Jinx who was an angry and unstable child who seemingly wanted to fight and hurt people so Silco justified his actions even further. They enabled the worst in each other while the good in them slowly grew in the background. It’s sad but I’d be interested in a “what if” scenario of Silco finding the kids first and becoming the more reasonable one while Vander became the crime lord. I believe both are equally possible. For people who say “but Vander is a good guy” just remember this… good men don’t need rules. Good men don’t need reminders to not hurt people or do bad things.. Complex and conflicted people do. Vander knew he had rage and hatred in his heart, he knew he was a bad day away from being Silco and vice versa. They both started on the same page and ended up in two different books, but those books could have either of them on the cover. Who knows, Maybe Jinx would never exist with Silco… but that’s a theory for another day.

[@gravitywolf5129]

I think It's funny that because my first language is not english I did not notice that Silco was speaking british, american and british english sounds' same to me Oh and as an add to the text", Jinx is a perfect picture of underground people. She does not have manners and is carefree since there is nothing holding her down, she could probably be the next leader of the underground city✨

[@sweetgreenlettuce]

Another fantastic video! I'm enjoying catching up on the conversation. My mind was totally blown when you put together that Vi's rejection of Powder was mirrored in opposite with Silco accepting her even when she kills him 🤯

[@Baldarq]

I agree, the "You're Perfect" line is more about giving Jinx the nudge she needs to be what he couldn't be. Part of being a father is making your children into something better than you are. Its about making them do the things you couldn't do yourself and become something great. I think that's what all of his lessons to Jinx are about and its why he is completely comfortable with her instability. If you notice during the dinner scene everyone is completely shocked by the situation and Jinx's behavior, except Silco. He is totally comfortable with her shooting random shit at the table, the only time he seems upset is when Cait gets the gun and then he doesn't know what Cait will do. He only takes an action when Vi is calling in Jinx's demons and shutting her down...I guess that's a potential weakness for Jinx in S2...hopefully S2 is somewhere else because honestly I feel like this story is told completely and I don't know if I want to see anymore of it, I don't think it could possibly measure up to the standard this season set.

[@kaleb749]

Wow. So much fits into place with this. Every line from Silco, especially “we will show them all” makes so much more sense. Thank you

[@HxH2011DRA]

It gets deep fam

[@Ghoulza]

well we know now after season 2 why he choose jinx

[@leannesmook746]

Yes! This is exactly how I interpretted their whole relationship - and you managed to sum it up in an eloquent, 10 min vid. Thank you!

[@Killerwale-hk4wy]

Silco relates to jinx on many levels. He loves her. He doesn't seem to manipulate her or control her at all. For Silco, Jinx IS Zaun. She's also one of the people he's fighting for.

[@sabby0208]

what a perfect analysis. i never thought deeply about this regarding silco but i loved every moment of this video essay, truly fascinating

[@Zavrael]

Silco would never ever give up Jinx, Because Zaun is helpless without Jinx anyway. Only a Hextech weapon would guarantee Zaun's independence. SHE made the Hextech powered weapon, she brought fear and destruction to Piltover, she is the great innovator able to crack their Hextech gemstones and turn it against the Topsiders. She is indeed the rogue embodiment of chaos that Silco has directed towards Piltover. And Jayce demanded not only the return of the Gemstone but also for Shimmer production to stop, which would end Zaun's leverage and source of income and power anyway. Zaun would be completely at Piltover's mercy without any means of self-defence or self-reliance. It'd be a false independence, only in name not reality, kinda like a Brexit in name only Lol. Peace was NEVER an option, so Jinx was never on the table. Also Silco is the best dad ever, I hope Riot brings him back and Jinx can finally be happy 😢 P.s. Silco's accent is British, but normal, neutral middle class, good and not uppity or posh and annoying like Caitlyn's or working class cockney. He is a balanced and well-centred character. Final note: Jinx is perfect :D

[@joyuz6583]

Yeah I kind of thought that when he said that it was like everything Jinx embodied. It's not that I didn't sense any love or care in that at all, because I feel like Silco did actually care and love Jinx, but what she was and the things that she embodied were more important than the person could ever be. This is to me the reason why he didn't say I love you, is because the reasons that he would never give her up follow the same sort of outline to his pursuit of power. Power comes to those who are willing to do anything, and he, even in death was thinking of Jinx and his own power and vision that would live on within her.

[@nikolaydikliev1829]

Great analysis. Fully agree. He can't give up all his power and hope Piltover would honor the agreement, he'll lose his bargaining tools. He does not know Jayce so he can't know he is honest. For him he's just another fancy topsider, who can't be trusted. That's why he can't go along with the deal. On the other side I had a crazy theory, what if during Vander's rebelión the topsiders offered a truse but one of the conditions was that Vander had to kill Silco, let's say he was the mastermind behind their attacks, hence that's why Vander was drowning him and now Silco having experienced such thing refuses to repeat it cus he knows nothing will change if he follows the council.

[@dfasfaasdfasdfsdf301]

i love your analytical view on arcane. i would’ve never looked at arcane like this without your videos, thank you.

[@gvic14]

Silco tells Vander in episode 2 that he's not going to war for pride but for RESPECT, and the way (for him) to get that respect is through fear. He's always talking about that ("be what they fear", "I just need to scare them"). But when Jayce offers him peace and Zaun's independence is not out of respect but out of pity, the complete opposite (he tells him he's trying to save Zaun from annihilation, a spat in the face for Silco if you ask me). So yeah, he would've never given Jinx up, Piltover is terrified of her, she IS perfect.

[@joaquinsantillan4130]

Seeing it this way, maybe "you are perfect" wasn't meant for jinx, it was meant for zaun. No matter how much zaun was excluded and mistreated, how ugly it may seem. Silco acepts zaun as it is, silco loves jinx and his city. He is saying goodbye to the city that he grew in, he is embracing it, letting it take him away, he was killed by zaun, he was drowned in the chaos, and this time he accepted it.

[@mumhustler]

Thank you for this video, I disagreed your earlier takes on Silco (and Jinx) The rest of your content was far more convincing, but this brings it all together I would never want to live in a city with silco in it, but if I was unlucky enough to, I would want silco fighting on my side. I still think Silco is a Libertarian/An Cap in that he wants people to be independent, and their unrestrained creativity is going to be the engine of progress (also very similar to Singed's views and they work together for that reason). He even makes a joke about "progress" in the parley with Jayce. Except I think it was a tongue in cheek joke, that they have their own separate visions for progress. In that way the 2 cities have a different vision and approach to progress. This leads me to a topic / symbolism that I have not seen you or many other people pick up on. The two cities' respective magical sources of power. Its funny no one points out the symbolism of the two technologies. They are 2 different philosophic / axiomatic systems - external / technological vs the internal / biological No one seems to ever talk about this analysis angle. In particular w/ Silco and Singed / Zaun being the invested in Chemtech, while Jayce/Council being in Hextech. It even plays into the audience tropes with Hextech being given a good/blue/ethereal visual, while Chemtech/Shimmer is mysterious purple ooze/goo/nasty. I actually found that one of the most blatant, least nuanced and lease immersive imaginings in the entire show.

[@UnderwaterStars]

Although I agree with everything you said about Jinx being the embodiment of Zaun, I had always believed that Silco originally adopted Powder because he saw himself in her. He understood her pain of being betrayed by somebody close to her because he was ‘betrayed’ by Vander, who he considered a brother as Powder was betrayed by Vi who was her sister.

[@dylan.8801]

If Silco didn't want the deal from Jayce to work out, then why is he so crestfallen in front of the Vander statue?

[@ajud]

its still a tempting offer I think

[@redblu]

Just watched Arcane this last weekend. I loved it instantly and told my girlfriend that I could write a book on every episode. You’ve basically done what I wanted to do. You understand Arcane the same way I do and you phrase what you mean so intricately. I’ve watched nearly every Arcane video you’ve released and I’m so happy to have watched so many of your analyses. Thank you. From the bottom of my heart: thank you for all this fantastic content concerning a series that reset my rating scale for films/series’s(es?). Can’t wait to hear more from you as I continue to watch and rewatch every minute of Arcane content that you’ve posted.

[@HxH2011DRA]

Which ones your fav so far?

[@medeasherbs]

I think we need to stop saying that vi betrayed powder or that powder was betrayed by anyone Vi was a child too who saw her father die in her arms and her entire family wiped out by an explosion which she finds out seconds later that her sister was the one who set the bomb off That's a hard thing to deal with and it's natural for her to lash out It was wrong to hit her little sister of course, even more for smth she didn't do on purpose But it was totally okay to step aside so vi can calm down I think vi stepped aside to actually protect powder because if she had stayed there with powder she would have lashed out even more And we have to acknowledge that she didn't even went that far, she could still keep an eye on powder which is why she could have gone back when she saw silco approaching powder, if she wasn't kidnapped by marcus And that's where I draw the conclusion that if powder was ever betrayed by anything it was by the unbalanced power of zaun and piltover, just like anyone as broken as powder in zaun was betrayed by that

[@cinderspirit4229]

Of course Vi didn't really betray Powder, but I do think both of them felt like she was, because what happens in their heads isn't a logical thing. As with all humans. Vi did feel like she betrayed her, as she left her alone when she needed her most. Yes she was taken away by Marcus, but that is not how the human brain works. Vi is totally telling herself this was her fault. And she is all about getting out of prison and making up for her past fault. And there lies her big problem, to her everything her sister is now is an embodiement of her failing in the past. She wants her sister back as she was before everything happened, as the way her sister is now is her fault. Atleast according to her own thought process. While Powder also really felt betrayed, she was left alone by her sister, the last family she got. But she was also ready to forgive her instantly, if she would come back. Yes she shot the girl she mistook for Vi, but only after she started to run away, basically symbolizing Vi leaving her again. That moment she felt the rage of being betrayed by her own sister again, causing her breakdown. When Vi was meeting her in Episode 6 Powder was not hostile, she was happy to really see her sister again. It was only when Caitlyn appeared, that her brain told her again that Vi is a betrayer. She wants for Vi to love her like she used to in the old days, but she notices that Vi isn't able to love her how she is now. This is their conflict, Vi thinks the way Jinx turned out is her fault and needs to be reverted, while Jinx thinks how she is now is a good thing, she finally suceeded in being strong.

[@mkmc94]

@@cinderspirit4229 I don't think Jinx see what she's now as a good things she admit her change like she's ashamed of it. Look in episode 6 when she tell Vi she changed she tell it like she's afraid of Vi not accepting it and in episode 9 when she says she different you can see how she throw the word "different" with a lot of sadness. We can even look at the way she look at Ekko at the end of their fight in episode 7 it's like she regret what she became. I think Jinx felt like she's gone too far to be something else and because Silco push her to her Jinx identity and give her the accemptance she always craved she decided to stick with it.

[@Creaform003]

Ordered Chaos, the calm and the monster. Silco: "story of opposites" I loved this touch of editing.

[@cornphone]

Grayson/Vander was not a relationship of equals - Grayson was wearing the pants there (give me what I want or I'll bring an army of enforcers down here to take it anyway). Marcus/Silco is the opposite (Silco wearing the pants). Neither relationship was healthy. Caitlyn/Vi has the potential to develop into a true relationship of equals (season 2 pending), though obviously it wouldn't function the same as Grayson/Vander or Marcus/Silco, since Vi doesn't have power over Zaun. Still, it may at least be symbolic of what can ultimately be achieved between Piltover and Zaun in the long term.

[@schnee1]

I hear, that's a fair critique. Vander also was probably similar to Marcus in thinking/hoping it was more equal than it was, but being unable to see the relationship accurately until too much was demanded of him.

[@noxturn8620]

I think Ekko is the one who will eventually fill Vanders shoes and not Vi. As we know Vi isn't a real Zaunite anymore, she's from the past and wants to go back to it and returning to the past requires the destruction of Silco's work which is not peace. Vi is going side with the Pilties and I expect a lot more of Vi beating up Sevika scenes in the future. The fire lights are the side fighting for peace and progress in Zaun, like Vander they are willing to work with enforcers but they won't tolerate enforcer brutality while Vi has already shown that she thinks enforcer brutality is acceptable as long as it is targeted against people working for Silco in the child murder scene

[@yuriisheliah9105]

Thank you for your deep analysis. You are the single guy on KZbin whom I listen on slower speed :)

[@niktri8312]

See, the thing about Silco is that he intentionally starts off as a cartoonish super-villain, and gradually grows out of that role due to his relationship with Jinx, and therefore, becomes 'weak'. It's the main thread of conflict in his story, the reason the rest of the Underworld is plotting against him, the reason Jayce and Vi destroyed his factory, the reason even Sevika was considering offing him. His relationship with the Piltover police or that fact that he chooses to de-escalate the conflict by making peace with Jayce instead of going to war isn't an accidental mirroring of Vander's behaviour, it's a fully intentional parallel meant to symbolize the way Jinx changed his perspective in life (that's why his penultimate scene shows him finally understanding Vander's choice to sacrifice everything for his own 'daughter's', Vi's, sake) as well as underline the tragic irony of how, the closer he came to achieving his goal, the more unsuited his character became for actually seeing it through. His spirit and his ideals live on in Jinx, sure, but it's a more supporting "Go. Set yourself free. You can finally realize what I was only able to grasp at" instead of a cold, calculative, purely utalitarian "Now the final masterstroke in my plan is complete", since Jinx constantly undermined his plans by her catastrophic behaviour (By killing Marcus, she sparked the attack on the factory, and therefore put himself in a position of having to shut down his production and hand Jinx over to Jayce, none of which benefit Silco's cause in any way, not to mention how she tried to run away from him to find Vi).

[@inactive_subs]

This show definitely has a theme of daughters. Marcus dying because he had his daughter to lose - Mel’s mother saying Mel made her weak. Vander dying for Vi. Silco dying for Jinx. Caitlyn and her mother.

[@the_rabidsquirel]

This is exactly what I've thought and tried to argue. The show is all about parallels. The first three episodes build up the father-daughter relationship between Vander and Vi. At one point by the bridge Vi leans over and rests her head on Vander. After the time skip with the first interaction we see between Silco and Jinx, what happens? She ends up leaning over and resting her head on him in a very similar way. They're immediately trying to get you to compare the two relationships. I don't think their relationship is at all built on Silco scheming and manipulating Jinx like a lot of people seem to think. We can question lots of things. When first meeting Powder in the alley and she jumps on him, as she says "she left me" Silco looks up at Vander's body. "She is *not* my sister anymore." Silco looks back at her with what I feel is genuine empathy, I feel that connection was there from the start. Other people might see it differently though, maybe he is just seeing an opportunity. What I feel the nail in the coffin is though is the scene in front of Vander's statue. Silco thinks he's talking to himself, he's not lying or putting on a show for anyone else, we're seeing what he genuinely feels, him finally getting what Vander went through only after being put in his position. "All we ever wanted. The boy didn't even haggle. And what do I lose but problems?" He is acknowledging it's a tempting deal, and that Jinx has caused him nothing but trouble. He's done a pretty poor job of manipulating her if he thinks that of her. But he can't turn her over, because he now truly understands a father's love for his daughter, perfectly parallelling with Vander.

[@eg285]

When jinx shot silco I rlly thought silco was gonna say things like ''how could you do this'' ''i should‘ve given you to them'' ''you‘re a disgrace'' or hurt/kill her before he dies himself but no, he loved her till the very end, told her that he would’ve never given her to them and that she‘s perfect.. that‘s one beautiful villain/father.

[@VolanteJones]

I think the fact that he went to Vanders statue, to talk to him and said now I understand, and that he was drinking, shows how he did love Jinx and was struggling as to what decision to make. And, decided then he was not going to give her up. He is the one who carried her off that bridge when he had two big goons who could have. The doctor even had to knock Silco out because he knew Silco love for Jinx. And that he would be able to save her or watch him perform surgery on her. Plus, she was the only one he trusted to shoot medicine in his eye. Even when she confronted him about lying and she stabbed him in his face several times and then shot it in his eye shows that he trusted her. Also Sevika was so jealous of Jinx when she could have embraced her chaotic ways, plus she hated Vi. She manipulated Jinx before Vi could get to her. He saw her discarded, abandoned, just like he was. And you said it your self he was a very calm man. He could stab Vander in the back because Vander was the one who was trying to drown him and damaged his eye. When he saw Jinx as a young girl and embraced Her in her sadness and took her in, there was no way for him to know she was going to grow up mentally ill. Her flashbacks were always about her struggling with getting her friends killed and Vi abandoning her. They were never about Silcos because…he loved her, just as she was, Perfect. It had nothing to do with using her chaos against the upper class. And he always scolded, like a father would, when she would be disruptive. He was never initially happy about that. I believed was a genuine love for her and not manipulative like you suggested. Great theory and point to bring up for discussion. New follower.🤗

[@inactive_subs]

Didn’t she know that Silco caused all of her worse memories to unfold, though? He ruined her life but was then her “savior”, of sorts.

[@mkmc94]

@@inactive_subs She knows it she tell it at the start of the tea party "He took everything from us"

[@inactive_subs]

@@mkmc94 Right but she still loved him despite it because of her attachment issues, sadly.

[@allieroze278]

5:02 AND IT WAS AT THAT MOMENT that I truly realized why I didn’t like Vi…I loved an ideal world in which a she could have her sister back but they live in the undercity and most times when she was with her sister the damage she was doing was not being acknowledge which is the one thing I can’t stand doing for heros: NEVER taking responsibility truly and and almost always GIVING EXCUSES even for her sister’s trauma and the behavior coming from it but BEYOND her she embodies surrender at its finest and me personally I can’t jive with that…Silco is a form of absolute resolve with the ability to change without forgetting why he ended up here in the first place and not making excuses (Jinx was growing into this although I hated the way it went down because it felt like manipulation)…man I love this show all that to say the only person I was ever really rooting for is EKKO and honestly if he was the hero I might have had something to root for he’s a great balance 😂❤destruction is needed for creation but in measured bits EKKO was doing this while Vi was only focused on the creation from nothing (even though something existed but disregarding it won’t make your problems leave and so you will always have to create new because you don’t want to maintain it) and Jinx is uncontrolled destruction (occasionally creating but to out of control to maintain anything)

[@Hugh-mz1ul]

Might’ve gotten what you wanted

[@parasemprealice5684]

And that's why *_EKKO_* is the leader Zaun really needs. You can be proud of your roots *AND* still acknowledges that changes are need. (As a Brazilian I can just tell)

[@msk-qp6fn]

The only one of the young three who is a balance of the two sides

[@Xezian]

He doesn't go to war with piltover because he knows he'd lose the war with piltover he doesn't want to bring about piltover's end he wants to scare piltover so they choose peace before a war ever breaks out on a large scale (he succeeds btw) he turns the people of zaun into junkies because he needs control, he can't have people opposing him, both for his ego and for his master plan to work he doesn't want power through sheer might he wants respect, and to alot of people the line between fear and respect is non-existent, when he controls the addicted masses of zaun, those hooked on shimmer a drug that makes you inhumanely strong, fast, and increases your reflexes, piltover will respect him because they fear him he adopts jinx because he says himself in her, just as vander betrayed silco, vi betrayed powder, and silco recognized this and in a moment of perfect human weakness, takes pity on a poor child neglected by a world who told her she'd never be good enough and was rejected by the person closest to her, her sister silco is still human, he still has a heart, he can still love, and he saw a broken child, and when powder did the one thing that could break through silco's defenses, remind silco of himself, that humanity shown through and he couldn't help but do the one thing all humans are biologically programmed to do, love, protect, and take care of our youngest jinx broke silco, because she is what brought out silco's humanity, jinx reminded silco everyday what he was really fighting for.

[@crown1346]

I think one of the things that also supports this theory is that when Jayce asks for Jinx he says "they're no her crimes their mine" or something, sacrificing himself over Jinx. This might initially be seen as love but in reality, he might just know that Jinx will serve (and be a better leader for Zaun than he is, she represents it more). Furthermore, he says to Vi "I used to think that you were the prize of your family" meaning that he thought Vi represents Zaun more but then goes on to say that Jinx is way more valuable than he could have ever imagined. Silco has realized that Jinx embodies Zaun far more than Vi does. (Maybe even that he planned on using one of Vander's kids as this mentor... that's why he left the trap for them? Idk. It's just a theory).

[@MonkeeKnucklez2]

Power that can be given is power that can be taken away.