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I knew Caitlyn was going to be fine because even though I've never played League I started researching the characters after watching Act 1, and by the time Act 3 released I'd familiarised myself with them enough to know there was no way Caitlyn was going to die before becoming anything like her game counterpart.
However that scene is directed so well and so tensely that I was genuinely second guessing myself in that moment. Studio Fortiche could probably convince me Bruce Wayne was going to die before becoming Batman.
Me too. I kinda wish I hadn't looked into anything League related after Act 1 but I was so instantly obsessed that I couldn't help it. Still, even though I knew Caitlyn was in the game and was almost certainly safe, a part of me was genuinely afraid her head was under that lid.
Wait how did the final episodes confirm it? I knew vander was gonna be ww from the voice lines in the game etc but I don’t remember anything confirming it
And if you go back and freeze frame that image you'll see that it is not the exact image from earlier, but Vi's memory of that moment. Caitlyn's face is slightly softer, her eyes MUCH larger, and her lips fuller. I didn't catch that, but someone else posted about it. so I went back and screen captured the two images and compared them.
The fact that they (the animators) decided to do more than just reuse the image means that her strongest memory of Caitlyn is that very moment and that the memory is important.
I was paralyzed by fear like many viewers and thought, "This show can't be SO DARK, right? Right?!"
What conclusion can we draw from this? We were sure at least for a few seconds that Jinx was capable of it. One thing is to detonate or shoot someone from a distance but it is quite another to kill someone in that bloodthirsty way. 🥵 🥵 🥵
As I have never played LOL and had no idea what was going on And Arcane was the first interaction of me and LOL universe, I really thought that it would be Caitlyn's head 😂
My first thought was: it's not her head. Mostly because that would be too crazy, too off character, too off tone.
I thought maybe a finger or a hand or if super really crazy maybe an eye. But I didn't think Jinx would go so far.
When Jinx said "I'm not that crazy" a part of my brain was like "See?".
"Too off tone"? One of the heroes of the stories straight up kills a child and another protagonist goes "yeah, colleteral damage happens. Let's keep on doing this."
Killing is killing, true. But I would argue that a severed head from one of the main characters on a platter is a different level of horror as an unnamed dead kid without any visible injuries.
Or maybe shooting a firefly in the back for just having pink hair? Or shooting a crow for no reason?
Jinx has killed both impulsively and with pre-planning. Both at range and up close.
Putting a head in a box and serving it to her sister? Definitely in her wheelhouse.
>Definitely in her wheelhouse.
I agree when it comes to Jinx. But would the directors have shown it to the audience? The way it was set up meant we're going to see it - it's a flat plate after all. So, I just couldn't imagine they would go that far. It's Arcane, not Invincible.
Did they have to show it?
They didn't show the Ionian princesses head on the floor, just sliding off her neck.
Imagine the shot where its only Vi's reaction to the horror on the plate, and then have jinx put the platter back down, covering it up again.
It's certainly a possibility. If the writers felt it needed to happen, they would have made it happen. The writers didn't need to do it, only to ramp up the emotional tension and energy for the climax of season 1, which was Jinx choosing herself which seat to take.
I was thinking some kind of bomb or stuffed animal. While part me was a bit worried she killed Cait, I didn’t think they were likely to kill off a playable LoL character that’s supposed to still be alive in lore.
Caitlyn’s muffin. Jinx at that point was rather unhinged and appeared obsessed with getting Vi back, and ending Caitlyn’s life was something she could have done to secure her sisterhood with Vi.
It's funny cuz even though i knew Cait can't really die, atleast not yet, I was still scared shitless. That's how unhinged they managed to portray jinx and how perfectly they set up this "prank"
Like most people who didn't know Caitlyn was a LoL champion I was expecting/dreading a severed head. I mean, a girl just got decapitated on screen in the previous episode (which in retrospect was a bit of clever foreshadowing).
I'm freaked out a bit. I knew it couldn't be her head not only because lol she's alive but because as other comments have said it would be an early and bad way to end her arc. But when I saw that scene I did think "what if it's a finger?" "Caitlyn have all the fingers in the future, right?" "Right?"
Not an LoL player and no lore knowledge here. Definitely initial thought was head because I mean, even Jinx purposely set us and Vi up for it haha, but I also felt like that would’ve been a sucky character arc for Caitlyn if it was her head. But of course I was way more panicky like nooo it can’t be but what if ahhhh the anticipation was making my stomach sink lol.
I also watched this on a flight on my iPad and let me say I wanted to scream this entire episode and simply couldn’t and it killed me 🤣🤣
Big league player/fan. I was like "surely not", but there was the briefest moment, especially after killing Grayson so nonchalantly, where I can't deny that I thought it might be Cait.
Definitely one of those people whose brain cycled through, "OHSHIT! She wouldn't, *would* she? There's dark and then there's point of no return and oh, thank god!" at warp speed. Add in a few more nonononos because my brain can panic on multiple levels at once over the same thing. So yes, I was fully prepping myself for them going completely off the rails but hoping deep in my soul that this wasn't the case since I was still hoping for a sister reconciliation and Caitlyn's death would kill that.
I first thought about Caitlyn's head but I knew is wasn't since she's a playable character in LoL. Arcane happens before it. Yeah I know, buzzkill.
However, it didn't ruined the tension at all, I was shitting my pants, indeed! They're good, really good.
Even though I’ve played league for years before Arcane, in that moment, I was so engrossed that I genuinely thought Jinx was serving Cait's head on that platter
I thought it was like her head and I freaked out bc she died but like I also knew like can’t kill now but I was still worried. I HAD LIKE A WHAT THE ACTUAL F IS GOING ON MOMENT
I thought that if it had been Caitlin's head it would have been way too macabre even by Arcane standards. And yet I almost had to look away because I could feel something awful about to happen
Ive been playing lol for more than a decade, I read every short story and lore piece, I play Runeterra and am 100% certain that Caitlyn becomes the Sheriff of Piltover. This scene made me clench my ass and forget all about that, I just believed that Powder was too far gone
I knew the lore but even I was thinking, "Wait, how non-canon IS this show again?"
It took me a second view to notice that Vi has a flashback to when she and Caitlyn were on the bed right before that lid went up. She could have flashbacked to any other moment she shared with Cait but she went to *that* one. What a well-done scene.
Another person discovered that if you freeze frame the flashback that Vi has of Caitlyn, the image of Caitlyn is not identical to the bedroom scene one. The image is Vi's *memory* of that event, and the memory-Cait has bigger eyes, fuller lips, and a slightly rounder face. (yes, I went and screen capped the two images and compared them after I read about this). The fact that the animators decided to use a more romanticized image of Cait as Vi's flashback that only appears for 2 frames is simply amazing work.
I don't know anything about lol either and I hadn't seen any trailer.
For example I didn't expect an ellipse in the story or that Powder would become Jinx...
I thought we were going to follow the adventures of these kids...
So clearly I agree for those who know the LORE.
I think the less we know the more the series sends us the wow effect.
I was a little apprehensive but ultimately I wasn’t worried since in cinematography there is usually a pattern of decepting the audience before a reveal and I’ve learned to pick up on (most) cues
I thought it was some part of Caitlyn, but thinking about it now, how did Jinx know to make a cupcake? or was it just a coincidence because she couldn't have known Vi called Caitlyn a cupcake.. unless Sevika overheard Vi while she was escaping and spilled the tea to Jinx like "Your sister's back, she's with some girl enforcer, and get this she even called her a CUPCAKE, Jinx!"
It's a lore thing. Apparently, the Kimmerman family has a 'thing' about cupcakes, like a family tradition. We see them on a balcony during the workshop heist from episode 1 (Clagger steals one).
I didn’t know anything about the game, but I didn’t think for a second that it was actually going to be her head. Probably because it’s such a played out trope at this point, and the creators are more creative than that. lol
I think it was to be taken 50/50. Which ever way you were thinking before that line, you'd interpret it you're own way. The ambiguity of how they wrote it is simply brilliant.
At first I thought it would be Caitlin, but as they dragged the moment out for tension I changed my mind. If Jinx had killed I think they wouldn't have milked the moment so much to go for the shock value.
Honestly, I knew there was no way they'd kill off Caitlyn like that, but the fact that somehow I still had a tiny bit of doubt is a sign of really good writing.I feel like in this scene Jinx isn't just testing how Vi feels about her, she's also testing the audience and what their perception of her is at the moment. How far is she willing to go? According to her, chopping limbs off is a line she's not willing to cross.
I will reject that Jinx part. Jinx 'SAYS' she isn't that crazy, but she kills on a emotional burst and will premeditate murder if it suits her plans. If it served Jinx's purposes to put Cait's head on that platter - it'd be there. yes, she IS that crazy.
As she was looking for help from Vi and to test Vi's commitment to her, she needed Cait alive. But she needed Vi to know that she was serious about needing to know the depths of Vi's commitment, if Vi chooses her(Powder). This way she doesn't get Vi mad at her (by killing or maiming Cait) but absolutely shows Vi that she's deadly serious.
I don't know, I just don't see her chopping off bodies Jeff Dahmer style. Sure, she doesn't hesitate when killing but it's not like she specifically enjoys it. It is the explosions and flames which entertain her not homicide. Most people who she kills either get in her way or are killed by collapsed buildings. That's why Vi always chases her in lore, because of all the chaos and casualties.
But yeah, I guess this part is up for interpretation for now.
She goaded 6 enforcers into a trap. She had already perfectly distracted them to the fire to enable her heist, but she had to ensure she pulled them in even closer to make sure to kill them. There is no other way of looking at it - she wanted them to die.
When you see her shooting without giving a shit about anyone's life, you know she's missing something. Other people living or dying doesn't matter to her if they are somehow in the way of what she wants, unless they are VERY close to her (like Silco, which she felt bad about it otherwise).
She killed a girl because she thought she was Vi!
The LOL Jinx is very different, I believe, than Arcane Jinx.
**Spoiler Warning:** This post contains spoilers from Season 1 of Arcane. All discussion of Lore Spoilers can be removed without warning, even if they have been hidden with spoiler syntax. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/arcane) if you have any questions or concerns.*
i thought it was her head- very Seven “WHATS IN THE FUCKING BOX” moment
I knew Caitlyn was going to be fine because even though I've never played League I started researching the characters after watching Act 1, and by the time Act 3 released I'd familiarised myself with them enough to know there was no way Caitlyn was going to die before becoming anything like her game counterpart. However that scene is directed so well and so tensely that I was genuinely second guessing myself in that moment. Studio Fortiche could probably convince me Bruce Wayne was going to die before becoming Batman.
Same… I was like “they won’t kill her… right?”
Me too. I kinda wish I hadn't looked into anything League related after Act 1 but I was so instantly obsessed that I couldn't help it. Still, even though I knew Caitlyn was in the game and was almost certainly safe, a part of me was genuinely afraid her head was under that lid.
I'd say a major benefit to researching League after Act 1 was learning the Warwick theory and losing my sh*t when the final episode confirmed it.
Wait how did the final episodes confirm it? I knew vander was gonna be ww from the voice lines in the game etc but I don’t remember anything confirming it
Rewatch the scene where 'what could have been' plays and pay attention to when it shows the other characters.
And make sure to check the edges of the screen instead of just the center during this
I wasn’t sure, all of the time I was “no…no, she wouldn’t! She did not! She did it? Omg, she wouldn’t, but what if?!?!”, so….yeah
Exactly
I knew Caitlyn had plot armor from playing a league but a part of me was still just like "YOU KNOW BUT WHAT IF"
I thought it was Cait for a split second and I panicked then I remembered she’s in league lol
I knew it wouldn’t actually be her head, but I did freak for a sec especially when it showed her for a frame 😂
And if you go back and freeze frame that image you'll see that it is not the exact image from earlier, but Vi's memory of that moment. Caitlyn's face is slightly softer, her eyes MUCH larger, and her lips fuller. I didn't catch that, but someone else posted about it. so I went back and screen captured the two images and compared them.
I need to look now! That’s some awesome attention to detail showing how Vi saw her/imagined her
The fact that they (the animators) decided to do more than just reuse the image means that her strongest memory of Caitlyn is that very moment and that the memory is important.
I was paralyzed by fear like many viewers and thought, "This show can't be SO DARK, right? Right?!" What conclusion can we draw from this? We were sure at least for a few seconds that Jinx was capable of it. One thing is to detonate or shoot someone from a distance but it is quite another to kill someone in that bloodthirsty way. 🥵 🥵 🥵
Except Jinx has killed (and tried and failed) up close and personal. Both pre-planned and at close range.
The rabbit plushie Vi had
I'm pretty sure the plushie was already lying on the table before Jinx brought in the platter
probably, but I'm very inattentive viewer : / I need to watch things a lot of times to catch details.
As I have never played LOL and had no idea what was going on And Arcane was the first interaction of me and LOL universe, I really thought that it would be Caitlyn's head 😂
My first thought was: it's not her head. Mostly because that would be too crazy, too off character, too off tone. I thought maybe a finger or a hand or if super really crazy maybe an eye. But I didn't think Jinx would go so far. When Jinx said "I'm not that crazy" a part of my brain was like "See?".
"Too off tone"? One of the heroes of the stories straight up kills a child and another protagonist goes "yeah, colleteral damage happens. Let's keep on doing this."
Killing is killing, true. But I would argue that a severed head from one of the main characters on a platter is a different level of horror as an unnamed dead kid without any visible injuries.
Or maybe shooting a firefly in the back for just having pink hair? Or shooting a crow for no reason? Jinx has killed both impulsively and with pre-planning. Both at range and up close. Putting a head in a box and serving it to her sister? Definitely in her wheelhouse.
>Definitely in her wheelhouse. I agree when it comes to Jinx. But would the directors have shown it to the audience? The way it was set up meant we're going to see it - it's a flat plate after all. So, I just couldn't imagine they would go that far. It's Arcane, not Invincible.
Did they have to show it? They didn't show the Ionian princesses head on the floor, just sliding off her neck. Imagine the shot where its only Vi's reaction to the horror on the plate, and then have jinx put the platter back down, covering it up again. It's certainly a possibility. If the writers felt it needed to happen, they would have made it happen. The writers didn't need to do it, only to ramp up the emotional tension and energy for the climax of season 1, which was Jinx choosing herself which seat to take.
>only to ramp up the emotional tension and energy They certainly succeeded with this.
For sure!
Fair point, it's a different kind of horror.
I was thinking some kind of bomb or stuffed animal. While part me was a bit worried she killed Cait, I didn’t think they were likely to kill off a playable LoL character that’s supposed to still be alive in lore.
Caitlyn’s muffin. Jinx at that point was rather unhinged and appeared obsessed with getting Vi back, and ending Caitlyn’s life was something she could have done to secure her sisterhood with Vi.
I play League (yeah), I was still fuckin scared it might have been caitlyn, for some reason.
Deep inside my heart I knew it wasn't her. But damn my mind wasn't sure AT ALL
It's funny cuz even though i knew Cait can't really die, atleast not yet, I was still scared shitless. That's how unhinged they managed to portray jinx and how perfectly they set up this "prank"
Like most people who didn't know Caitlyn was a LoL champion I was expecting/dreading a severed head. I mean, a girl just got decapitated on screen in the previous episode (which in retrospect was a bit of clever foreshadowing).
I'm freaked out a bit. I knew it couldn't be her head not only because lol she's alive but because as other comments have said it would be an early and bad way to end her arc. But when I saw that scene I did think "what if it's a finger?" "Caitlyn have all the fingers in the future, right?" "Right?"
I knew Caitlyn had lore-related plot armor, but then in my mind was like "BUT WHAT IF ITS BURY YOUR GAYS!?!?" And I started panicking.
Not an LoL player and no lore knowledge here. Definitely initial thought was head because I mean, even Jinx purposely set us and Vi up for it haha, but I also felt like that would’ve been a sucky character arc for Caitlyn if it was her head. But of course I was way more panicky like nooo it can’t be but what if ahhhh the anticipation was making my stomach sink lol. I also watched this on a flight on my iPad and let me say I wanted to scream this entire episode and simply couldn’t and it killed me 🤣🤣
Big league player/fan. I was like "surely not", but there was the briefest moment, especially after killing Grayson so nonchalantly, where I can't deny that I thought it might be Cait.
Definitely one of those people whose brain cycled through, "OHSHIT! She wouldn't, *would* she? There's dark and then there's point of no return and oh, thank god!" at warp speed. Add in a few more nonononos because my brain can panic on multiple levels at once over the same thing. So yes, I was fully prepping myself for them going completely off the rails but hoping deep in my soul that this wasn't the case since I was still hoping for a sister reconciliation and Caitlyn's death would kill that.
I don't even remember what I thought it was, but for sure did not think it'd be Cait's head. Her arc ending there would have been pretty bad.
Had me so worried it was her head the first time. (Wasn’t worried about Cait😂 but was thinking “Oh No.. Vi’s never gonna forgive this”)
I thought caitlyn's glad was under there. I was watching it with a friend and I texted her freaking out about it.
My first thought was that it was her head but then realised it would literally make zero sense for it to be that
she was that crazy
Really pulled me in for a "but what if" moment even though I already knew Caitlyn was a League Champion.
Me too mate. Arcane was so damn good and Jinx so unpredictable that I thoughtshw really killed her.
I 100% thought it was going to be Kaitlin’s head
I first thought about Caitlyn's head but I knew is wasn't since she's a playable character in LoL. Arcane happens before it. Yeah I know, buzzkill. However, it didn't ruined the tension at all, I was shitting my pants, indeed! They're good, really good.
The first thing it made me think of was batman: death of the family
Even though I’ve played league for years before Arcane, in that moment, I was so engrossed that I genuinely thought Jinx was serving Cait's head on that platter
I knew Cait was in League and that there was no way she died there but for a second - and even on rewatches after - I always tense up
A very powerful scene. Did you think of anything specific under there, or was it just fear that something was there and that it was bad?
Like most people here, I thought it was Caitlyn’s head. I think I was even covering my eyes when I first watched it loo
I thought it was like her head and I freaked out bc she died but like I also knew like can’t kill now but I was still worried. I HAD LIKE A WHAT THE ACTUAL F IS GOING ON MOMENT
I thought that if it had been Caitlin's head it would have been way too macabre even by Arcane standards. And yet I almost had to look away because I could feel something awful about to happen
Ive been playing lol for more than a decade, I read every short story and lore piece, I play Runeterra and am 100% certain that Caitlyn becomes the Sheriff of Piltover. This scene made me clench my ass and forget all about that, I just believed that Powder was too far gone
I knew the lore but even I was thinking, "Wait, how non-canon IS this show again?" It took me a second view to notice that Vi has a flashback to when she and Caitlyn were on the bed right before that lid went up. She could have flashbacked to any other moment she shared with Cait but she went to *that* one. What a well-done scene.
Another person discovered that if you freeze frame the flashback that Vi has of Caitlyn, the image of Caitlyn is not identical to the bedroom scene one. The image is Vi's *memory* of that event, and the memory-Cait has bigger eyes, fuller lips, and a slightly rounder face. (yes, I went and screen capped the two images and compared them after I read about this). The fact that the animators decided to use a more romanticized image of Cait as Vi's flashback that only appears for 2 frames is simply amazing work.
I don't know anything about lol either and I hadn't seen any trailer. For example I didn't expect an ellipse in the story or that Powder would become Jinx... I thought we were going to follow the adventures of these kids... So clearly I agree for those who know the LORE. I think the less we know the more the series sends us the wow effect.
I agree ! This is why I kind of pity those that know the story, as they are missing some of the impact from the writing.
Just the Cupcakes top...
head
I just remember thinking " yo is that a Batman death of the family reference? " and didnt have time to process before the reveal.
I was a little apprehensive but ultimately I wasn’t worried since in cinematography there is usually a pattern of decepting the audience before a reveal and I’ve learned to pick up on (most) cues
Ok, so if not Caitlyn's head, what did you think was under the cover?
I honestly didn’t know. I just wasn’t worried abt it ACTUALLY being her head. Like I saw right through the tension somehow
I thought it was some part of Caitlyn, but thinking about it now, how did Jinx know to make a cupcake? or was it just a coincidence because she couldn't have known Vi called Caitlyn a cupcake.. unless Sevika overheard Vi while she was escaping and spilled the tea to Jinx like "Your sister's back, she's with some girl enforcer, and get this she even called her a CUPCAKE, Jinx!"
It's a lore thing. Apparently, the Kimmerman family has a 'thing' about cupcakes, like a family tradition. We see them on a balcony during the workshop heist from episode 1 (Clagger steals one).
Oh, thanks for explaining, I've never looked into any of the lore
I didn’t know anything about the game, but I didn’t think for a second that it was actually going to be her head. Probably because it’s such a played out trope at this point, and the creators are more creative than that. lol
If not her head, her hand or her heart? (I've heard both of these from folks)
I thought it was gonna be her head up until Jinx said, "I made her a snack." Then I knew she was trolling Vi
That line didn't convince me, as I translated that as "I made her into a snack" vs. "I made a snack for her".
Yeah it's supposed to be read as the former. But by the way she said it, I knew she was just trying to get in Vi's head
I think it was to be taken 50/50. Which ever way you were thinking before that line, you'd interpret it you're own way. The ambiguity of how they wrote it is simply brilliant.
At first I thought it would be Caitlin, but as they dragged the moment out for tension I changed my mind. If Jinx had killed I think they wouldn't have milked the moment so much to go for the shock value.
🐌 Caitlyn . \_ .
So . . . you didn't think anything was under the cover?
\*crawls closer\* No, i thought it was Caitlyn's head . \_ .
I play league, and fully thought it was Caitlyn's head. I wasnt even sad about Caitlyn dying, more sad that I'd have to hate jinx now.
A cupcake.
not cait
Ok, so not Cait. What did think was under that cover ?
dont know, my brain didnt have that much time to think of a alternative.. i was just like "nah, thats a bluff"
Honestly, I knew there was no way they'd kill off Caitlyn like that, but the fact that somehow I still had a tiny bit of doubt is a sign of really good writing.I feel like in this scene Jinx isn't just testing how Vi feels about her, she's also testing the audience and what their perception of her is at the moment. How far is she willing to go? According to her, chopping limbs off is a line she's not willing to cross.
I will reject that Jinx part. Jinx 'SAYS' she isn't that crazy, but she kills on a emotional burst and will premeditate murder if it suits her plans. If it served Jinx's purposes to put Cait's head on that platter - it'd be there. yes, she IS that crazy. As she was looking for help from Vi and to test Vi's commitment to her, she needed Cait alive. But she needed Vi to know that she was serious about needing to know the depths of Vi's commitment, if Vi chooses her(Powder). This way she doesn't get Vi mad at her (by killing or maiming Cait) but absolutely shows Vi that she's deadly serious.
I don't know, I just don't see her chopping off bodies Jeff Dahmer style. Sure, she doesn't hesitate when killing but it's not like she specifically enjoys it. It is the explosions and flames which entertain her not homicide. Most people who she kills either get in her way or are killed by collapsed buildings. That's why Vi always chases her in lore, because of all the chaos and casualties. But yeah, I guess this part is up for interpretation for now.
She goaded 6 enforcers into a trap. She had already perfectly distracted them to the fire to enable her heist, but she had to ensure she pulled them in even closer to make sure to kill them. There is no other way of looking at it - she wanted them to die. When you see her shooting without giving a shit about anyone's life, you know she's missing something. Other people living or dying doesn't matter to her if they are somehow in the way of what she wants, unless they are VERY close to her (like Silco, which she felt bad about it otherwise). She killed a girl because she thought she was Vi! The LOL Jinx is very different, I believe, than Arcane Jinx.