Hey everyone! Just wanted to quickly address I know my views on Silco are somewhat controversial, regarding Jinx, his faults and failures, and his character arc. But this is why I wanted to make a video talking about things from my perspective, and I hope you enjoy. Please leave your interpretations of this wonderful character so we can talk about him more. And yes should have said, "The definitive moment the show became human" because the show displays humanity it many scenes, but this was the scene that hammered the point home for me.

Another thing to note is how Silco, during his meeting with Jayce, actually took responsibility for Jinx’s killing of the enforcers when it was literally the *only* criminal event that he actually *wasn’t* responsible for.

True writing talent is being able to kill off a terrible person and still make everyone cry

Jinx is so profoundly broken. And the fracture lines were there from the start. Silco seems to approach the relationship as though he's carving a statue, cutting away all the parts that aren't Jinx. He does love her. That's evident from every action that he takes. But he doesn't realize that he's breaking her instead of carving away the wrong parts.

I love so much that Silco is introduced and framed as basically a Bond villain - silhouetted in darkness with his skinny Nosferatu build and his disfigured red eye - in his underwater mad scientist lair with a freaking Dunkleosteus swimming by - delivering a villainous sermon about how power belongs to those who will do anything to claim it. And that could've been it. That could've been his character. On a lot of other shows that WOULD have been his character. But they weren't content to stop there. They set him up that way to subvert it with all the complexities he built up over the series.

One thing that Silco did that no one in Jinx's life did, was forgiving her and staying with her despite her mistakes. He gave her what she wanted: someone that would never leave her. That's how Jinx was created When she was a kid and made a couple of mistakes, her friends mess with her and bully her for them, she feels useless. When she ultimately causes the death of her friends: Vi calls her Jinx, punches Powder and "leaves her". While, later in her life, Silco forgives and stays after every mistake Jinx makes. Even after every member of Silco's mob wants her out, he stands up for her. And in the final scene, where JINX KILLS HIM, the worst fuck up, he still tells her how much he loves her, that she is perfect, and that no matter what, he will always choose her That, I believe, is what finally made Jinx choose her chair

Arcane is one of the best examples of "everyone's right and wrong and there's fault on both sides" that I've ever watched 😊

the phrase "is there anything more undoing than a daughter" capsulates so well silco admitting what vander went through. i feel like that scene is silco finally coming to terms with the fact, that even though jayce almost gave zaun for free (in jayce's pov), it was a deal silco was never ready to agree with. and vander basically went through the same refusing to riot and rebel again bc he had vi (and the others, but that's an essay for another day where i believe vander was more vi's father figure than the rest and left vi to care for the others). this was an amazing video essay, silco constantly made me uncomfortable as a character i guess it's his complexities that make me understand him less than other characters, but either way i'm fascinated by him.

"He showed the human side of evil" That quote just hit me in the chest. I'll never forget that line, thank you

Arcane has the deepest understanding of psychology, written into every character, of any show I have watched. And you are spot on in this video. Really nice commentary.

"He shows the human side of evil" PREACH. Silco is such a complex character, so well written in every aspects. I think that the ben thing about Arcane is this: every characters is real. They're not just villains, heroes, champs etc; they're people. I fell in love with this show, with Silco, Jinx, Vi, Vander, Ekko, Cait .. Everyone. And yes, Silco is not a good father to Jinx, but he's exactly what Powder wanted from a father figure: a dad who loves her unconditionally. It's so sad to think that she's the one who kills him in the end - MAN I'M GONNA CRY AGAIN BYE

"Is there anything so undoing as a daughter?" is a line that has stuck with me since I watched Arcane back in December. It's such an impactful moment and you can truly see the change in Silco. Credit to Jason Spisak for doing a fantastic job voicing him as well.

12:17 That's actually not poison. It's just zaun's natural air. Due to the fact that piltover kinda just pushes all of it's problems in zaun, it has made the air there practically unbreathable... if you weren't born there. The reason silco isn't affected is because he litterally grew up breathing this air for most of his life.

Silco is the definition of "The best villains are the ones that think they are the heroes of their own story"

In that scene Silco eloquently stated "I love my daughter." From episode 4 to 9 they have to remind us of this. And Jinx does have to be reminded as well that he cares so much for her. Not saying it's the best thing (him spoiling her made her already unpredictable tendencies that come out more from lack of consequences) but he did love her so much, and all of her quirks and mistakes. Also Silco's gaze shifts more to Jinx every time the Gemstone is presented to him.

Another great scene is where Finn tries to take over business through Sevika and Silco holds his loyalty speech. It would have been easy for the writers to make Silco react unmoved, stoic and in control, but the moment Sevika lashes out, you see a moment of panic and relief on Silco's face, from which he had to compose himself before moving on. It shows he wasn't absolutely sure Sevika wouldn't betray him and is a very human and understandable reaction for somebody that just avoided death. It's one of the many moments that show the characters are human, not just some cartoon figures.

One thing I wanna point out. We're applying a certain type of understanding to the shimmer operations. Ie Drugs are bad, the operation creates poison... But there's something to stop and consider. The reason why Silco and Shimmer took over the underground, which gets represented in 2 scenes pretty perfectly. The first being in his rant at the Chem Barons, how the toxic gas they're choking on was a Constant Reality of life in the Underground. How as children they were in those mines working in that choking air just to get by. The second being when we find out that the child that Jayce killed was the Son of a Chem Baron. Ie... one of the child workers of the factory is the child of one of the people who could be considered the Highest and Most powerful in the Underground. ... put 2 and 2 together and you see suddenly how much of a huge deal the Shimmer factories were. The children who would other wise be scrounging around in far more dangerous mining work, are now working in the Shimmer factory, a place prestigious enough among the underground that the people who literally run the place have their own children working there. And beyond that... Shimmer for all the damage it did, didn't only do damage... it also was the tool that saw a large portion of the underground become MORE prosperous. The Highs were Higher... the Lows were Lower... those who crashed and burned under that system burned hard. Contrast that with Vander's underground, which was safer... or at least more community oriented... but at the same time stagnant and beaten down. Unable to advance. The Enforcer holding dominion over Vander for keeping the peace. Where as Silco's turn sees the dynamic changed, the Enforcer is being used to keep the peace but it is the Underground through Silco who have dominion over them. Essentially the show invites us to have a relatively superficial look at Silco and all the reasons why he's 'The Bad Guy'... but if you actually examine the pieces of it you see a pattern of us being tricked into viewing him under a certain lens (Modern Storytelling tropes) until closer examination often shows up that while he was distinctly not a good person... his influence on the world around him was not nearly as negative as the first light seems to shed.

Silco dying actually had me almost crying. His story is, I think, relatable to most people and that is a fact. Trying to do better and ended up the same way as the other person. This is sadder than anything

“A human being is the most dangerous villain.” Jinx is Silco’s greatest failure AND greatest success!

I don’t actually think Silco sees himself as having failed Jinx, I do think he sees himself as being helpless to stop Vi from from taking her from him though which is why he went feral in that one scene and why he pulls the gun on her.

One of my favorite Silco moments that I don’t see many talk about is when he’s speaking to Jayce at the pier. He looks so smug and so happy because he’s getting everything he ever wanted, but the second Jayce says “I want Jinx,” the micro shifts in expression when his face drops and his entire demeanor/energy changes instantly. The moment those words left Jayce’s mouth the deal was a bust and Silco knew it. Chills every time. The animators are insane and the storytelling is so phenomenal.

This is the best analysis I've seen of Silco. I think what made him so compelling are his 'imperfect' actions; that he doesn't neatly fit one trope. He's not evil, but he does evil. He's a bad father, but cares dearly for his daughter. The fact that there aren't easy labels for him displays his humanity. When was the last time you could explain all of a friend's actions by one clear motive? Silco is easy to empathize with, understand his motives...but at the end of the day he's human; he's imperfect. That's what makes his writing (and voice acting) brilliant.

My daughter talked me into watching this show with her. I have grown to love it and has become one of my favorites. When watching it- at that moment when Silco said "Is there anything as undoing as a daughter" I blurted out "NO" and my daughter just laughed. Great video and great incites.

Another interesting subversion in Silco's portrayal as a villain-...and he is a villain insofar as there is any singular villain. His methods include violence, coercion, terrorism, the weaponizing of his own people, and the flooding of a dangerous drug onto the streets. The means a character is willing to achieve even a noble goal often determine their status as a hero or a villain. And it could certainly be said that Silco's ultimate goal of a free, independent, and strong Zaun was noble. But the interesting thing about him as a villain is that...his villainous methods were working. His actions were terrible. But under Silco the Enforcers didn't just take a light touch, they stayed entirely our of the Lanes. Marcus was all but under Silco's thumb. While it was fueled by drugs, the economy in the Undercity was booming. And he came within a hair's breadth of securing his ultimate, and noble, goal of taking Zaun out from under the exploitive thumb of Piltover. And that's a pretty amazing approach for a story, to have a villain's villainous methods actually working. The Council didn't suddenly dig in its heels and proclaim they would not be intimidated or declare that they wouldn't negotiate with a terrorist. It wasn't any of the heroes or even the actions of someone intentionally trying to stop him or undermine Silco's methods that "thwarted" him. And further, this stands in contrast to Vander's much more conventionally noble and heroic methods, of sacrificing no one, using diplomacy, and seeking to maintain peace. For all of Vander's efforts, the Lanes were still poorer than poor with even other outsiders trying to take advantage of its people. The Enforcers were a constant presence. And at the end of the day, the people were still regularly walking around breathing air so poisonous that most topsiders wore rebreathers. And this was the status quo, one that he was intentionally trying not to upset for the sake of protecting lives. They're an amazing contrast in the two ideas "The ends justify the means" and "The means justify the ends" and shows just how darkly either ideological end can be. It's easy to say you believe in one or the other. But then to see the what those respective "means" and "ends" are...I think both Vander and Silco were broken by it.

I didn't see this scene as him feeling he'd failed Jinx at all, but rather him admitting that he can't live up to his own ideals. It harkens back to Vander's discussion with Vi on the bridge where he asks who she's willing to lose. Now that Silco has someone he won't lose, he can't lose (to paraphrase his answer to Singed), it all makes sense now why Vander would abandon his dream to spare his people and why Silco has to do the same. Seeing a well defended view of this scene from such a different angle than mine is amazing. This season's story is like Socratic dialogue for a generation raised on light sabers and gratuitous explosions :-) Also gonna go waaay out on a limb and say that, far from failing, Silco was a more successful mentor than Vander was. Vander tried to convince his chosen daughter that her fists wouldn't solve her problems and would instead create more. Vi never heeds this. Even the successful attack on the shimmer factory she initiates would have resulted in Silco getting everything he wanted if not for the big deal breaker. Silco saw Powder's self doubt as weakness and insisted Jinx let her die. Because Fortiche are gods we get to see the exact moment that happens on Jinx'es face. Silco is kaput. There is no Powder left to reconcile with Vi. Jinx is free to be the wacky loose canon esports expects. Even further into the weeds... Powder's raison d'etre is to prove that she's capable. When she and Silco first meet Silco essentially gives her a mantra: "We'll show them." When Jinx fears Silco has lost confidence in her after the blimp debacle (it's a balloon, ain't it?) Jinx resolves that "I'll show him!" before wildly overachieving his instruction to work on her gadgets by stealing the mechanical butterfly design and the hextech stuff. Finally, in what completes the bookends of his influence on Jinx, we hear Silco in her head confirming that "We will show them all" as she unleashes her opus. In my mind's eye there's a #temple channel on Discord a few hundred hears from now where cyber-rabbi are arguing over the moral hierarchy of Vander vs Silco vs mom Medarda vs Heimerdinger.

Vander became a literal monster to save Vi. Silco became human to save Jynx.

You know that Silco is a beautifully complex character when there's so much debate on what kind of character he actually was. The writers of Arcane really reflected the human condition in him.

Silco is probably one of the most complicated characters that I've come across, and my feelings about him shift from day to day. But one thing that I can't personally wrap my head around is calling him a bad father. A misguided father, sure, but a bad one? I'm not so sure about that. To answer the question of whether he's a good or bad dad, we'd have to first ask, *what is the measure of a bad father*? Because he doesn't check any of the boxes I'd personally attribute to one. He's not abusive, he's not impatient, he's not dismissive, he's not driven by anger, he's not even--in my view--possessive. And I know that might sound crazy, I know people often interpret his interactions with Vi as being possessive of Jinx, but I think his hatred of Vi is out of *genuine concern for what Vi would do to Jinx's psyche*. By the point in the story that Vi is reintroduced into their lives, Jinx has already fully established herself over Powder. Powder doesn't exist anymore, and all that's left is Jinx. Even Ekko knows this. And of course it's easy to blame Silco for that--I saw one discussion on Reddit not long ago that blames him for splitting Powder's psyche between two essential personalities. But my problem with this is that the split in her psyche already exists without any input from Silco, and it happened because of the trauma she suffered in episode 3. She's introduced in Act II as fighting a constant battle within herself, a Powder vs Jinx. Whenever reminders of Powder happen to Jinx, she panics, lashes out, has severe psychotic breaks, and hurts everyone around her. Silco's response to this isn't to lash at her in turn, it's to calmly listen to her side of the story, encourage her to take some time off, and focus on her hobbies. Regardless of Silco's status as a villain, that is exactly how a good father *should* behave toward a person coming off of a mental health crisis. Silco doesn't get angry at her for clinging on to the past, he understands on a deeply personal level how that works, and he doesn't encourage her to let Powder die until Jinx's mental health crisis persists to the point to where Jinx has become hobbled by self doubt. For Silco, encouraging Jinx to let go of Powder is his way of encouraging her to let go of her traumas. At this point in the story, as far as either of them are concerned, Vi not only abandoned Powder, but she's dead. When Sevika reports to Silco that Vi is back, Silco isn't angered, he's actually *surprised*. "Back from the dead?" The only way forward before that, in either of their eyes, is for Jinx to shore up the split in her psyche and allow herself to move on from the fear that is holding her back. After this point, Jinx isn't fully healed, but she's regained her sense of self. Her inventiveness has returned, she's confident again, and she's happier. So Vi coming back will only serve to reopen the wound that Silco had worked with her to help close. And Vi's attitude toward the whole situation doesn't help. Vi loves *Powder*, she loves the memory of who she was eight years removed from where she is now. And her mistake is thinking that things can just go back to the way they were, refusing to listen to others, even Ekko, who insist that Powder is too far gone. Vi's insistence on calling her Powder and then, at the dinner scene, reminding her of all of her traumas, isn't helping Powder. It's just hurting Jinx, causing a psychotic episode like she hasn't experienced since before the baptism scene where she began to cement herself around Jinx. Silco sees this, and he lashes out and tries to pull a gun on her. I don't view Silco's responses to Vi's attempts to get back at Powder as possessive so much as they are *protective*. There is a tendency of wish fulfillment in media to think trauma can be cured in a nice, clean way, and that people can go back to the way things were before the trauma. Vi is a personification of that misguided belief, and we inherently root for her. But as Silco says "she'll be with you for a day before she realizes you're not that little girl anymore," wanting to prevent Jinx from being abandoned again and getting hurt more. And Jinx, later, rightfully agrees. "I thought you could go back to loving me the way you used too, but I was wrong." For as much love might exist in Vi for Powder, she can't love Jinx. Vi is afraid of her. And nothing can change that, nor can anything Vi do change Jinx back into who she used to be. And honestly, I don't think she really wants to go back to that fear-dominated part of her life. When Silco tells Jinx she's perfect, he's validating her for who she is, and that's something Vi is incapable of giving her. Silco gave Jinx the tools she needed to survive in the underground, the strength, confidence, tenacity, but most importantly *personal validation* to grow past her traumas. Vi is a living reminder of everything that causes Jinx to suffer. Silco may be misguided , a broken man damaged by his own traumas that color his view of the world, but all fathers and all mothers carry their traumas forward and pass them to their children. I wouldn't say that makes him a bad father, just a tragically misguided one.

Holy shit I actually teared up during this. Haven't done that since the series ended. Bravo man, you told Silco's story in a way that got to me like no other analysis of Arcane.

The best villains are the ones that aren't completely wrong. Need more villains like Silco and Killmonger

11:35 Silco and Vi also share a moment of similariy at the factory. When Vi asks Jayce "what's one more death kid to stop Silco?" which is exactly the justifications that Silco uses earlier on. Yes he knows the damage Shimmer causes but it's a weapon that gets Zaun freedom from the enforcers. And he's right in that, the enforcers are scared to start shit in Zaun due to the Shimmer. But it comes at the cost of a few more death kids.

This scene by far is my favorite of the show. Everything comes to light. And it’s full of symbolism and Parallels as well, ekko: “he paid in gold and didn’t even haggle” Silco: “the boy didn’t even haggle” and this scene to me solidified silcos character arc. You can tell when he meets with jayce as soon as jayce says he needs jinx. Silco becomes fidgety and instantly claims responsibility to the crimes similar to how vander offered himself up for vi. The scene with jayce tells us that he isn’t going to give jinx up, and his speech to the statue is him coming to terms with that choice, giving up everything and sacrificing the nation of zany for his daughter. Vander was willing to sacrifice. Zaun and kneel to piltover to maintain peace to protect vi and others, Silco was willing to sacrifice zaun and start a war with piltover to protect jinx. This show is 10/10

The scene with Silco and Marcus’ daughter ended up as my favorite in the show. You just don’t get scenes like that in media where the villain so blatantly threats to murder a child, to the point that when Marcus opens that door and both he and the audience realize that Silco is on the other side, I felt every bit of fear and apprehension that he did. Seeing him so casually playing with his daughter while you and Marcus know exactly what he would do to keep his people in line is the peak of Arcane’s writing. I felt every bit of tension and concern for that girl in that scene and it still sticks with me because no other scene put me in the shoes of a character like that one did.

The line that made Silco for me was "and what do I have to lose but problems" which goes back to his line about power. When he says it comes to those who would do anything, he really means it, it means filling the streets with drugs, surrounding yourself with traitorous thugs, dangerous weapons and a crazy girl that makes explosives for fun. I find it funny when people ask if he's really a villain, because he very much chose to be so, he put himself in such a low position that everything he has to sacrifice is a net positive, something he would have get rid of at one point or another in order to achieve his goal of creating the nation of Zaun. He's a person that keeps his enemies closer, all the things he would need power to fight in the first place, and his downfall was realizing one of those things was too precious for him.

I just wanna thank you for addressing the fact that Silco and Jinx’s relationship was incredibly toxic. I’ve seen so many fans romanticize it and claim Silco was an excellent father who really loved his daughter, and I just wanna scream sometimes. It doesn’t matter that he loved her, he did this child absolutely no favors whatsoever

"You MUST finish the weapon." He said this multiple times to Jinx. He always knew they'd demand he turn over Jinx... but he would never do so. Silco is the absolute best "villain" ever. I find myself siding with him over Piltover's side. He doesn't corrupt Powder. He enables what was already there. He didn't create Jinx. He "released" her. No doubt, he loved her unquestionably and unconditionally.

I don’t really see that. In regards to him thinking he failed her somehow. He doesn’t ever apologize to her, he doesn’t think she needs to be saved. When he takes her in, there is an element of “We both share the same pain, let’s figure it out together.”, but mainly, he believes he knows already what to do about it. That last scene isn’t the first time he calls Jinx “perfect”. He says it as his most lucid moment at the pond with her. He is always trying to impart his experience onto her, she confirms as much to Vi that he’s always lecturing her about what she should do, how she should be. But what makes his desperation isn’t just love for her due to shared trauma, it’s validation. Respect. Self-assurance. He truly knows that they both share the same pain and are equally as hurt by it, but he has found his way out of it, and if he can’t make her do the same, be the same, then he could love her all he wants but the fact would remain… He’d be alone. Alone in the pain he has learned to push away with twisted rationality that would fall apart if this person he empathizes with went down the same path and chose differently. When he’s sitting there at the fountain, talking to his dead brother, he’s conflicted because someone just made him choose between Zaun and his daughter… And at no point did he consider giving up the latter. That scene is him coming to realize just how much she means to him at the cost of his lofty dreams for the undercity that he now realizes how comparatively little he cares about, as his lifelong dream has just crumbled as soon as they presented themselves to him, handed to him on a silver platter, now undone by a daughter. But therein lies the difference between him and his late (murdered) brother. Vander bears responsibility. Silco would rather just let everyone else “BURN”. Silco would never give himself over to the authorities even if Jayce had offered to, because he has NEVER considered the repercussions of his actions like Vander does. He could have offered to trade himself in to spare Jinx punishment whilst letting his loyal and capable right hand woman Sevika run his empire (like Vander turned himself in while letting Benzo take his place), but no. And of course he wouldn’t, because he doesn’t feel responsible for Jinx, he’s psychologically dependent on her. At the end the only firm thing left in his mind is that NO ONE will take her from him and there’s no price he will put on her. His development is a decline, a breakdown in his prattle of Zaun, of ideology, of doing this for anyone but himself and his child (Jinx even mocks his pretentious lectures as he sits gagged at the table), boiling his character identity down to its most essential parts, a broken man who will stop at nothing, not to attain power or respect, but to escape his feelings of loneliness and dejection. And that was his downfall, going so far as to murder his daughter’s sister in cold blood right in front of her just to stop her from leaving him. And that’s what makes his own daughter kill him.

This was worth the wait, thanks. Silco is such a strange character, the more I think about the show the more I love his character, on initial viewing I would die on the Jinx hill as best character, but now I would die on Silco’s hill without a doubt. Really it’s the classic “subverting their expectations” done right. I can’t wait for season 2, I hope his character gets to come back somehow, flashbacks or as voices in Jinx’s mind. The voice actor knocked it out of the park, like all the others.

It's actually cool that instead of Silco forcing the kid to take shimmer, Silco gives such a compelling speech that he makes the kid want to take it.

Jinx graffiti on statue. Ekko's name written in graffiti. Jinx hiding behind statue (she comes here often)? Jinx calls Ekko "boy savior." Ekko/Vander parallels. Silco pours one out. Wanted to be a savior, too. But couldn't save Jinx. Right in the feels, man.

Still made me cry when he said to Jinx" I wouldn't given them to you, not for anything. Don't cry, you're perfect."

10:24 - little error like many ppl here: silco shoot at vi to protects Jinx from torment that vi was putting on his beloved daughter.. and Jinx shoots at the direction she hears click of a loading gun at. killers instinct, parnoia.. who knows.. some specific people have this fast reflex to attack without thinking in some situations when threatened. It was pure reflex. Jinx was not defending Vi as U said. Jinx was not thinking. It was pure reflex. That makes the tragedy out of human proportions.. that Silco loved her to madness level and she loved him back.. and she killed him.. by accident.. and he still loved her beyond comprehension. This kind of trauma is unimaginable, unbearable and unmeasurable.

I think it can also be talked about how forming a family can change a person's perspective on life, how their priorities change. When silco was basically alone, every sacrfice was tolerable, even encouraged... until he developed a fatherlike conection with Jinx.... when she became his priority. It's reflects alot of human behaviours. Young people, fueled by an idealistic sense of glory, adventure or selfish reasons are perfectly fine to abandon all, even sacrificing their lives for a cause... but the moment they find a special someone... that self sacrifice changes to protection. Protecting the ones close to you forgetting the idea that pushed one in the beginning.

Silco is probably my favorite character along Jinx (and Viktor). Love your analysis. Please, don't stop making more Arcane videos ❤

Personally, I have come around to the thematic theory that part of why Silco couldn't forsake Jinx is because Jinx, in her way, is a personification of Zaun itself. Her transition from Powder to Jinx thematically mirrors the Undercity's transformation into Zaun. Sure, she is unstable, damaged, and twisted on so many levels, but so too is their home. Vander might have kept the denizens safe, but one can also argue that his actions also helped to perpetuate the Undercity's subservice to Topside. Thus, as Powder began to evolve into something stronger, something new, so too did the Undercity evolve into something separate from Piltover. Because of this, it made the decision of giving up Jinx impossible for Silco. Not only was she his daughter, but in a way she has become his vision of Zaun. Sure, he has made it a shimmer-ridden den of vice, but it was an addiction made *by* the Undercity, something it could nonetheless draw strength from. When he ended up dying, not only did his daughter complete her transformation into Jinx, but so too did Zaun take its first breath; a scream of chaotic violence against the city that oppressed it. apologies for the long-winded comment, just my two-cents on the matter.

I won't even lie, that "we'll show them, we'll show them all" scene is still my favourite, even after rewatching the show many many times

What else can you ask for a person who thinks is doing the right thing. Silco did what he believe to be right, and taught Jinx every mistake and lesson that he had learned throughout the years. Silco himself is an example of his own ideal that he told Deckard. He isn't as strong and fast as other people in the Show and he isn't that smart compared with Jayce, Ekko, Victor, etc. But he was able to get to where he is by following his own ideal up until the last episode. He taught her what HE thinks is right

These characters had so much life written into them it was painfully obvious just how real the performance was. Cast and crew made a masterpiece.

4:24 "absorbed by the hextech" and you cut the last bit of that scene where Silco worriedly look back at Jinx

I feel Silco may be the greatest antagonist ever written. I’ve never felt my gut literally sink nor shed tears for a villain’s death in tv, film, or even in books. He feels more human than any live action villain I’ve seen on a tv screen. It’s insane. This kind of character work is so inspiring for me, and it urges me to start writing again. How could I ever even come close to matching a character with this amount of depth? I’m still going to try. Silco would’ve tried (even if he knew he would inevitably fail). Damn good analysis my friend. Subscribed.

Something I love very much is that, because Silco is Jinx's creator and father, he is so devoted to his craft that he shares her pain and panic. We see him in his most uncontrollable state, when he is unable to help Jinx. Like when he threatens to kill Vi in the final act. Vi is hurting Jinx, forcing all her traumas upon her at once. The tension in the room and the panic Jinx is fighting effects our calm, level headed leader so much that he makes a poorly calculated, incredibly impulsive decision. He's like a sculptor who's accidentally grown too fond of his own creation.

My feeling of his rage, especially going after vi. Its not hatred, its Fear that's pushing him to the extreme. He knows vi might be able to reach her and take his daughter away and that sends him into a rage.

Strange that Silco is my favourite character in the show but not the one I actually like the most (that’s Viktor). Like Viktor, Silco found a way to rise above the trauma of his past, not in such an admirable way but in the ONLY way he understood. He abandoned his own resentment & hatred (even for Piltover) for his conviction of creating Zaun. Vander succumbed to apathy, Jinx succumbed to resentment and then further to madness & chaos. In the end Silco failed Jinx and Jinx, at the same time, broke Silco. My favourite line of Silco is the one he says to Vander after capturing him. “You’re willing to die for a cause but you’re not willing to fight for one.” It’s such a fantastic line.

4:08 I can't say I agree with that statement. He is actually a great Father to her, just an a**hole to everyone else. It's just they are both seriously battling co-dependency issues. Jinx needs to feel powerful, useful and loved unconditionally as she always felt otherwise. And Silco is battling past trauma involving betrayal, but has found healing in Jinx. But that also blinds him when it comes to making decisions and keeping his goals in sight when it comes to her. I loved the messed up dynamics of it all.

This was so well done, thank you for making this.

I love that Silco has a pretty typical villain design that looks evil and scorned, with a fantastic voice actor. He is definitely "obvious villain" for most of the show, but Powder needed him. We knew he cared about her when Sevika said "everybody knows she's a screw up" and Silco said, "who?" implying that he does not include himself in that statement. Just like how Vi loved and stood up for Powder to their friend who was saying bad things about her.

Silco felt too real

Arcane is beautiful in it's embrace of being grey.

You really did a fantastic job writing this script for this video. You encapsulated everything I love about this series. Thank you!

This was a well written video essay. I think you did a great job keeping it focused on that one scene while also talking about important stuff about Silco and Jinx from the beginning to the end of season 1. I had the same reactions and thoughts as you did about his introduction, the uncomfortable moments, and the gut-wrenching sympathy for what he said before he died. So it was fun finding this video that talked about all those things.

Yo, this video was perfect. I mean, it helps to have such a great story to base it on, but I can tell you put a lot of thought into every line of this video. Great job.

Y'know, in the hurly-burly of the last however many years it's been since the world's fallen off the deep end, I'm glad shows like Arcane exist. Just to show that, in the middle of all these hyper-polished, watered down movies, TV shows, books, and video games, there's still phenomenal, human stories being told.

Damn this was really well made. The dialogue you wrote, the clip compilations, the voice acting, and the message were all so well delivered.

to be honest, Silco is one of my favorite characters because of how complex he is, just like Jinx (who is my favorite) and they wrote him so well to be just on the edge of creepy and yet understandable. Seeing how he was, I understood where he came from seeing how he was pushed and pulled, and did so to jinx, on purpose at first then slowly he realized he had done things wrong. I keep rewatching the show, if nothing else, for Silco and Jinx's story. I love this video because you said it so well, and joked around too, keep it up. :)

Something arcane does extremely well is that all the character motivations make sense and are not random. They fall explicitly within each individual's goals, desires, and philosophy. Almost every action taken follows a path to achieve their ends and never feels contradictory. Whether it's Jayce, torn between loyalty to his benefactors, saving his freind, his control over his own technology and by extention, his life, or Marcus, torn between blood on his hands, the right thing, his daughter, and a continuing spiral to keep a legacy, all the actions taken, follow. That is good writing and is irreplaceable.

This video evoked the same feeling I held after finishing Arcane. That deep sadness for all of the characters, everything they experienced, and the way it all led perfectly to human experiences. The heavy hearted depression of hopelessness, and the pain of those who tried their best to make it better yet failed the ones they were trying to save.

I just watched arcane and found your channel, and you're making me fall in love with the show all over again.

Silco comes full circle: he realizes in this moment that won't do anything for power anymore.

This video is simply amazing

Just finished the series literal moments ago and I’ve been waiting to watch this video soon after. It left me speechless. It was absolutely beautiful.

“Is there anything more undoing than a daughter?” As an oldest daughter who is close with my father, this line impacts me *deeply* . I don’t know how or why that is. It’s so so beautiful yet so chilling at the same time. The writers were pure genius.

This was one of the best analyses I've ever watched. Thank you for creating such a great work of art making a grown man like me cry.

Beautiful analysis - learned so much more about Arcane thanks to this video. Love to see it!

I really enjoy watching your videos about Arcane. This show is, for me too, a very special one and some aspects, that I just "felt" while watching and rewatching are put in words and explained in your videos in a very well made way. Nice to see that Arcane made such big a impact on different ppl which share ideas about the show in different ways, like I too tried.

I don't think I've seen much of your videos but came up upon this one, and I just have to say, your editing and delivery of this was absolutely phenomenal. Definently watching more from you.

Holy balls. I just noticed that in this shot 5:11 when it shows silco running at the camera, Silco's good eye basically takes up the whole frame when he gets closer. It's a blink and you'll miss it detail in that one shot, but it just goes to show the visual storytelling of Silco that his opinion of Jinx and how he really does care for her. The good, caring side of Silco is seen as he runs towards his dying daughter.

Finished arcane second watch now. What a incredible piece of art. So is this video of yours. Well fucking done.

So much good writing and superb animation, including living breathing characters, packed into one series.

Captivating! Thanks for this, mate.

“Being human means duality…” that phrase had me stop and have a philosophical revelation. Great video man!!

The scene that broke me was the one of Powder going through her anxiety attack during Ep3.

🌻Gorgeous all Around!! You did a fantastic job breaking down this video!!!! Please know that all your hard work typing up the script, editing the video, and background noise paid off beautifully. Thank you🌻

I reacted to this whole season and loved every second of it! Soooo many amazing scenes and the attention to detail is TOP NOTCH! Yet a scene as simple as this one still stands out! A++++ show EASY!

I'd love to see a video of this style on the Ekko vs Jinx fight. That scene was incredible, so much emotion from what was in reality a 5 second fight

Silco wasn't a villain. I disagree that he wanted power, not in terms of wanting power for the sake of power. Silco and Vander are the two opposites of the argument "Does the end justify the means?" The end in this case is a free Zaun, free from the economic oppression of Piltover. For Vander, that end does not justify the means if the means involves death, the cost inflicted on the others is too much. For Silco, that end is worth any price... until the price is Jinx, then he discovers that Vander's position had merit as well. Both arguments have merit - sure Vander saves a few lives in the short term, but he condemns thousands to live in abject poverty, pollution and despair. Silco is willing to employ child labour, kill numerous people and flood the city with drugs, is that short term pain worth the long term economic freedom? Going back to the he doesn't seek power point... This is demonstrated perfectly with the scene with the other crime bosses. He is less susceptible to the poison because he hasn't allowed himself to forget the oppression by Piltover. If he wanted power, he could have sourced clean air like they did, but he didn't. He didn't allow himself the weakness. He also readily agrees to cease the production of shimmer, which is a big source of power and income. His only goal is to be free from Piltover. It is a laudable goal, he just goes about it in a slightly wonky way. Although, would it have worked if he didn't?

this is one of my top 3 scenes even though i saw it coming from episode 3 and its so cathartic to see something play out so perfectly

I see that video, see all the other content people created after watching Arcane and finally understand, what an Art is. They poured so much soul in this show that it overflowed, inspiring a freaking waterfall of human feelings, many pieces of which are an inspiring art by themselves, as is this video. Art changes the world, changes lives. Great Job, Walrus, congratulations about your channel growing at last, seems that Arcane changed it too :D.

Silco reminds me of the song When Legends Die by Tom Russell. Especially the lyrics," behind the makeup and the Cowboy hats and the guitars yeah there might be a human being somewhere. Don't stare into the eye of the clown kid, you might find a broken heart in there." Arcane does a great job of making people stare into the eyes of Silco and truly understand him and care for him. I find that I get the motivation for most complex villains, but I don't care about them. But Arcane made me care for him and find the human inside him.

I know this is going in an ocean of comments but I have NEVER ever in my life cried over a youtube video, This show now has a part of my heart and always will be, plus the video is insanely good, when you said " arcane did a wonderful job of doing more emotional damage to me in just 9 episodes than my depression has for my entire existence " this quote really hit me, I thought I was alone on this I watched arcane in the middle of the most depressing days in college where there are exams everywhere and a lot on my back with no one to comfort me, arcane was my escape at that point and I fell in love and now I can't even believe that I cried over a show like this Idk man I watched it like 5 times so far and still I feel the pain, Thank you so much for this video

Thank you for an absolutely brilliant analysis and summary

What a great video! You're a natural story teller and voice actor, really well done

Great essay. Well done :)

powder drew silco toward her because of their idea of shared betrayal and trauma, the reason he adopted her is the reason he hated vander; and the moment he thinks about the real threat of having to lose her, he realizes that he has become vander… he understands now, and it hurts more than any loss could.

you know arcane is an amazing show because its been around 2 months since i last rewatched it and just listening to the story being told gives me the same lump in my throat as actually watching it does

Dude this essay was excellent. Bravo.

silco is one of my favorite characters that has ever existed, and this scene is one of my favorites as well. you have done him and his relationship with jinx so much justice with this video.

Love that scene so much

great video man, i actually was thinking these things when the credits rolled on watching arcane for the first time

your analysis is incredible thank you

Silco was a great father. He was an awful person but his relationship with his daughter humanized his position in life. Life is so fickle