Arcane act 1 really said “we’re gonna give you this misfit band of kids that you’ll grow to love then we’re gonna take that away from you and you’ll have to deal with it” huh.
We’re introduced to Vander’s kids and they way it goes it’s as it were any other type of team of friends type beat. Mischievous kids who’re together as a team get into big trouble trying to do a thing but don’t worry it won’t have dire long term consequences right?
That’s where Arcane gets you. If this were a show aimed at kids, or heck, any other show cause we know kids tend to be a protected entity in most adult media too, then that would be the end of it. Vander would’ve solved it, maybe wave Grayson away, and the kids would’ve been back to doing misadventures. Or if they want the kids to be more proactive, have them “make up” for it some other way (like help defeat Silco or something) through the power of friendship and it would be the end of that.
But’s that not what happened. Things escalated, there aren’t clear answers cause it’s not just a thing between Vander - Grayson - and some abstract entity representing Piltover that would concede to what Grayson deems acceptable. There’s a lot of pressure there, and it’s present even before Silco walks up to the plate. And unlike a kids’ show the kids aren’t immune when the pressure finally blows up. Heck, Vi makes a heroic decision to sacrifice herself, but she’s a kid out of her league and doesn’t know the whole picture and it all comes crashing down.
It’s part of how Arcane does subversion so well. Kids aren’t protected entities in this fiction (it doesn’t stop there after all, Jayce does kill that kid later on). The fact it sells you this early on really puts the stakes into the show and really gets you into the narrative, which is heighten by how go everything else is (voice acting, animation, etc.) and seals the impact there.
The best thing about it for me is how the writers play your expectations so well. Like they know exactly what they’re doing when they lay the groundwork with all these tropes and set you up to expect a certain (mostly positive) outcome. Like sure maybe Vander will die making a noble sacrifice because wise father figure and that’s what they often do, but also the kids are definitely going to beat Silco and come out of it mostly unscathed, and the picked-on runt of the litter is definitely, finally going to prove how useful she is.
But then, it just goes completely sideways because *of course* it would. Like if this were a real world event, these kids going up against this gang of thugs would end very badly for the kids. No question. A ten year old messing around with powerful explosives isnt going to pull a miracle out of the air, she’s going to cause a terrible disaster because *of course* she would. It’s like you’re watching all your familiar hopeful childhood tropes (done really well to be clear, but retreading the same familiar, comforting territory) and then you just get a brutal reality check like a bucket of ice water thrown in your face.
I’ve made this comparison before but it’s like if you did Stranger Things season 1 where everything’s the same but in the final episode half the kids die and Eleven gets recaptured by the government and turned back into a weapon. Like…what the fuck just happened???
I also think in the back of your head or in the front, you’re worried about Powder’s bomb not working.
That’s the main fear for us in that tense moment.
Arcane does such a smart thing. They made us think like Powder, whose 10-years-old and can’t foresee the consequences of her action.
Powder and us, are terrier that she and her bombs are going to fail again. That’s the worse case Powder is imagining, because again she’s 10 and her bombs never work.
She even tells the monkey that it has to work this time, for her sake.
And then we and her get what “we wanted.” It worked!
