It has been a good while since I have actually watched an episode of Arcane. The last post was pre-made from a little while ago when I watched the first episode, but I am finally getting around to watching the second episode. Again, I am going to be live scribing throughout the length of the episode, with amendments and any additional thoughts written up at the end.
The episode recaps the other side to the events in episode one, when Powder and the rest of the gang broke into the house. We are briefly introduced to Jayce and the immediate aftermath after Jayce comes to harm. This thrusts us into a bit of backstory for Jayce, his mother falling in the blizzard when he was younger and the encounter with the wizard, who seems to have inspired his approach to science with the gift of the already-used crystal.
During this sequence, we get two of the most beautiful backgrounds so far. The blizzard itself was exceptional, but the environment in the image below is breathtakingly well-realised. It does so much to feel safe and large, really accenting that, indeed, they were saved by this wizard.
The sequence doesn’t have much of a lead-in, Jayce just gets caught in the explosion and it thrusts us into this scene. It isn’t a massive problem, but it didn’t feel super cohesive as a transition to me.
Jayce, having been conducting slightly illegal experiments, is arrested and imprisoned, where Heimerdinger (another iconic League of Legends champion the episode is quickly introducing) visits him. This episode already seems to have been geared towards introducing the other players in this story. The conversation between the two scientists is interesting. Jayce is trying to harness magic through science, but the professor shuts down the idea, saying that forgoing the ambition would be the best play at the current time in order to get out safely.
We are left with enough lingering shots here to assume that this is not something Jayce wants to do, regardless of whether he would say it to the council or not, which is a nice way of non-verbally explaining to us that Jayce is driven to experiment and to learn, this is something he does certainly plan to continue chasing.
We now return to the underworld, where Vi is training. Again, the colour palette is red and darker, not quite as dark as the cell, mind. This is a natural continuation of the content from last episode. With the gang all hanging out, we see more of the light conflict between Powder and Mylo. In this scene, Powder, sick of the bemoaning that is done at her expense, she demonstrates her proficiency with a gun in the target practice they set up. The enforcers are outside looking for them, but the resident being questioned ends up being thrown through the window for spitting on the enforcers shoe, leading to the orphans having to escape in order to not be reprimanded, since they are still in possession of the mana crystals from earlier.
The following escape sequence is one of the best scenes so far. The camera work is very fluid and the shots are quick and snappy, but not too hectic that we get lost. The use of different heights also makes our eyes jump around the shots rather effectively. One moment we are looking down, then there is a cut and a voice from above so we look slightly up, see who the voice is coming from, following which is another cut and the scene of Vi climbing up to the point in which our eyes are now focused. It is great composition.
Another example, moments later, shows Vi kick down the ladder with one of the enforcers on it, our eyes following the fall and being focused lower down on the screen, which makes the next cut have our eyes on the lower portion of Vi’s body. We then look upwards towards her face, which is orientated in such a way that she is high in the frame, which adds to this image of her being this confident person that we have had on various occasions.
It was a short and simple scene, but it was exceptionally-well put together. Again, the next scene creates a strong contrast with the underground in Piltover, where we are introduced to the Councillor, who very obviously is wealthy. This is on-the-nose a bit, but it works. The shots of artwork, the accents, the wide shots of the wide array of expensive items when we see Caitlyn with her family are cut directly into busy, simple scenes of Vandor and the other habitants of the underground.
The trial is next. The dialogue here is a bit hit-or-miss. Jayce and Caitlyn’s mother have some really good lines, though lots of the other lines are a little goofy and cartoonish. There is a debate on what Jayce’s wrongdoings should lead to, with the eventual decision from Heimerdinger being exile from the Academy.
During the debate, we see Heimerdinger speaking about the dangers of this magic, having seen a city destroyed before. The art that accompanies this little aside is gorgeous. There are so many shots in this show that are really pretty. I wasn’t a huge fan of this scene, it wasn’t too interesting in and of itself, though it certainly wasn’t bad.
We return to our villains. Not a lot of time has been spent on them, but it is very obvious that they are up to something. Silco gets Deckard to drink the potion that the rat was given at the end of the previous episode, changing him in a way we haven’t been able to realise just yet, at least not much more than “It’s time to let the monster out.” He does grow in size, bulk more than anything, mutating into something.
We intersperse this with scenes of Jayce and Viktor, a member of the Academy that took an interest in Jayce’s work. Knowing the research is to be disposed of, he takes it for himself and returns to Jayce. This could well be an interesting dynamic, and though it is slightly out of order, I will talk about their meeting now.
Jayce argues with his mother, who’s words might have been enough to convince the council to exclude him from the Academy rather than a full exile, but Jayce feels he could have won the council over, so is angry. It feels a bit naïve, so I am interested which route his character goes. It could be him growing from being this naïve childish character into someone able to understand the circumstances properly, or he could be able to justify himself. Either could be rather satisfying if done well.
After leaving, Jayce goes to meet Caitlyn, who’s family wants her to have nothing to do with him any longer. This is another kind of example of this class theme that has been going on throughout, with them seeing him as someone who could hurt their status to be associated with. Caitlyn herself sees it differently and seems to want to continue being friends, but doesn’t have the agency or power to face her parents in this way just yet.
Jayce, at a rather low point having been rejected and now isolated and with a sponsorship revoked, returns to his house. It is quite clearly set up that Jayce is going to kill himself, only to be interrupted by Viktor, who then speaks to him about the research and how he was only able to reach the point he had through self-belief. It is enough to motivate Jayce into getting up. I don’t think these scene was handled horribly, it is something really hard to get quite right and it felt like it wasn’t given the perfect amount of time and emotion, but it wasn’t bad.
And then on the other side, the enforcers arrive at the Last Drop to search, again, for the orphans. The council is terrified that the crystals, in the wrong hands, could lead to the sort of thing Heimerdinger warned, so it was imperative for the enforcers to find the gang.
There’s some pretty good composition in the backroom with the search for the orphans. The ceiling seems high enough that hiding above the enforcers actually seems realistic enough here, which is a problem I usually have with this kind of scene. The camera looking down on the room when the enforcer enters is a nice way to make them seem more imposing. I think the best bit was when we were focused underneath the bed, the enforcer walked by so we assumed that we were in the eyes of one of the hiding orphans and only when the enforcer comes back to check underneath do we find we are a static camera rather than a character POV, that was really well done.
We do get some answers here about the day Vi’s parents died. Vander led a small army in the past, including the parents of Vi, to their death when trying to oppose the enforcers. This is done in such a way to try to reason with Vi into not trying on her own to go up against the force in a fight. This scene, on the bridge, ends with the line “Nobody wins in war, Vi.” which is simple but effective, and is given enough room to breathe as an idea. It is good.
War is coming, in some form. We see Mylo and Claggor (I am sure one of them will probably die next episode as we’ve had very little actual development for either and it feels like they are just there for character motivation and growth) preparing for battle, we see Powder’s explosives she’d been working on. It is clear with how this scene ends that Vi is planning something.
The other side is then shown, the enforcers arguing that Marcus has set the stage for inevitable war, only to receive a message tube and Grayson hopes that there might be a chance it isn’t too late.
The final scene of the episode, again there is a nice musical contrast with what is actually happening on screen. Upbeat music plays whilst we see Powder looking dejected at the bar with Vandor, who makes her a drink. Powder has Vi’s bunny, Vandor realising that Vi is up to something and expresses worry (I haven’t spoken about it enough but the character animation, like facial expressions, is so good).
It looks, with how the final scenes come together, that Vi is going to turn herself in to save Powder, but there could certainly be a twist here. We will have to see next episode, which is finely balanced.
The episode was another very nice establishing episode. We have now got an introduction to a fairly large cast of characters. There was a few too many jumps here for me, but it was still cohesive and comprehensible, with some definite stand-out moments that I have already spoken about. The world is being fleshed out rather nicely.
Of the new characters, I am interested mostly in Jayce, so I hope to see a satisfying continuation of whichever route they take his arc in. I talked a fair bit about the composition this episode, which has been wholly impressive throughout the show so far. The art remains beautiful, and when my biggest problem so far is the opening song, it is clear that I am enjoying this show a good amount.
soraspaceblog 