The facial features of Powder when she realized what she did and the voice acting of the 14 year old actress lines that matched where amazing. Deeply expressive and emotional, this type of animation and acting is pretty ground breaking.

Rana: "Let's see if Powder's bombs work! :)" Literally everyone: "Are you sure about that?"

Rana: maybe she is a jinx People who don't know: 😄 People who know: 💀

I like how everyone who saw this thought, "USE IT AS A BOMB" and then after they see how destructive it is it's like, "DAMN IT DON'T USE IT". Similar to how Vi told Powder "They'll work, I know it", and then she get's upset at Powder after the bomb ruins everything. Cool similarity.

Rana: "Thank god Powder was there" Everyone: "About that"

As Nahid would say: "This is not a kid's show!"

Fun Fact: In game there is a character named Fiddlesticks and he's a demon that knows everyone's biggest fears or some shit, and in an interaction with Jinx (Powder) he says in a creepy, eerie voice "Jinx! All your fault. ALL YOUR FAULT."

I now understand Fidlesticks interaction with Jinx: "Jinx, all your fault! All your fault!"

It wasnt five explosions, it was one explosion from different points of view

Can we please talk about jinx's voice actress in the last scene? it was insane!!! that "I just wanted to help" hit harder than my mother's chancla

"You can't animate something like that" You can, you just need time and talent, and a fantastic animation library!

The scene of the explosion shows different perspectives, that's why there are so many haha. I'm glad you liked Act 1! Now we are all waiting for Saturday!

"thank god powder was there" famous last words

23:53 is the very moment Vi realises she is just as much to blame as powder is. She remembered vander saying "THIS (her fists) are not gonna solve problems. Just makes more of them." And she made more problems. Then she needs just a second too long to recollect herself.

I feel like Silco initially took in Powder out of empathy and genuine sadness which is apparent in his reaction when she hugs him. His eyes widen, he hesitates, he looks at the corpse of his pretty much brother, and sees Powder as a younger version of him.

Man I didn’t expect this show to be this good. I actually teared up at the end and can’t wait for the next episodes.

Glad you guys picked up on Silco likely empathizing with Powder. That's, honestly, brilliant writing

I really like the perspective of someone who doesn't know the lore, that "because you are a jinx" really gives a lot of depth to Jinx, that is awesome character-building!!!!

If Viktor doesn't say "function over form" before the show's over, I'll be sad.

I love how Red shirt was trying to do mental gymnastics as the explosion killed off main characters. "Maybe they'll come back with super powers". We're so conditioned to expect good things to happen after a protagonist builds up a plot-device that we didn't even consider they would yank out the rug from under us. Not only did Powder's bomb not save the day, but actually caused the death of her family. Imagine the ptsd from an event like that. That subversion of expectations, and the emotional depth the characters must journey through have made this show one of the greatest shows in recent history. Truly, anything is possible in this story

Rana just got it immediately and that makes me happy. Silco knows what Powder is going through and takes her in. The writing of this show is pitch perfect.

Zoom on Rana, happy, celebrating in anticipation: "Let's see if Powder's bombs work!" I see you, editor. You are a mean bastard and I appreciate you.

I feel like everyone is misinterpreting the monkey hitting the magic stones scene...it's not continuously exploding as if there are multiple monkeys, it's basically repeating the scene to portray it's effects on everyone in that one giant explosion and what each stones ricochet did

"Thank god Powder was there." Famous words before disaster.

Just so y'all know, until recently the fact that Vi and "Powder" were sisters wasn't even officially confirmed, just hinted and tiptoed around. Even League players don't know entirely what to expect from Arcane, especially not the end of this episode holy shit it was fucking heartbreaking.

"I hope Powder's nail bombs work now" -- That AGED like milk during a single episode, my god.

Batman believes everyone can be redeemed. He believes this even when it should be obvious that someone cannot be redeemed. Conversely, Joker believes everyone is corruptible. In Killing Joke, Joker argues that everyone is "one bad day" away from becoming him. This was Powder's one bad day.

Silco is by far my most favourite antagonist of a show I am so impressed with his backstory and complex motives, You can tell he is such a deeper character than a greedy dude that hates the topsiders. His monologue in the intro got me SOLD on him.

Before the announcement of this show, the player-base technically didn't know that Vi and Powder's characters in the game were sisters (it was kind of leaked by a developer when they first got released, and there was one voice line alluding to it, though). The two characters were released one after another (9 years ago now) and we knew they were connected in some way.

Can we take a moment to apreciate the fact that this group of reactors actually take a moment to fully understand whats happening and also take notes and raise good points? thats one of the best reactions ive seen, my favorite reactor is Rana, i want to be friends with her so bad shes so cool.

That line that Vi said: "Because you're a Jinx. Do you hear me?" It's so good because in the game, Powder is named Jinx. People who play the game didn't even knew Jinx wasn't her original name, so it's cool that she got it from some event in her life and it's part of her "transformation" into what she is in the game.

No motion capture at all, everything was hand key animated by the amazing animators at fortiche studios, but i guess that the fact that you guys belived it was mocap is the highest compliment they can get

I watched the three episodes in a row during the premiere and goddamn, they made me almost tear up for a character I didnt even know just before, that scene with powder/jinx and vi was crazy

The thing that makes this hit different for like hardcore league fans is that it answered A LOT of unanswered questions in their lore/backstories in game. And going back to react and connect the dots between certain characters and how they interact with each other using unique dialog is absolutely mind blowing to me

The monkey didn't explode many times, just once. They just show different perspectives from the same explosion

It was one explosion - replayed multiple times for the audience so you can see how it affected every party involved :)

February 2018 a champ was introduced into the game, who had the power to collect soul fragments of other champions and look into their memories. When he meets Powder in the game he has the line "Faces, fading in flames. It was all her fault" March 2020 a champ was introduced into the game, who is a great evil and has the ability to see the biggest trauma of people he is facing to use them against them. When he meets Powder he screams at her "ALL YOUR FAULT! ALL YOUR FAULT"

19:46 to be clear, thebomb didn't go off multiple times, they're just showing you in sequence what happened to all the characters 24:41 - also there is no reversing. The stuff that happened in heimerdinger's lab wasn't time reversal, it was just the shards being sucked back into the backdraft the magic made. it cut up jayce and vyktor on the way back in

They just showed you the 4 different angles of the Explosion. Scientist blowing up, Bodyguard losing her arm, Kids dying, Powder falling. They weren't actually different explosions. Besides I think you interpret a lot of time stuff, when all that was shown was more of an implosion effect after the explosion, I do think that timey wimey stuff usually is shown to repair things or like make a bite in an apple reappear or smthn along those lines.

Guys, it was one explosion shown multiple times from multiple perspectives

“Maybe Powder will be more introspective and careful later…” (Insane Hysterical Laughter)

The final of this story was only very roughly teased... and it was FOUR YEARS AGO. There is ingame interaction, where character that is pretty much omniscient meets Powder in-game he says: "Faces fading in the flames... it was all her fault" This is all we knew for 4 years.

"Let's see if Powder's bombs work" "Man, I hope Powder's nail bombs work now" "Put those in your bombs" Yall really got what you asked for huh

3:48 "I am excited for Powder! Let's see if Powder's bombs work!" Fans:

Aww man missed Viktor’s line of “Oh, this isnt my bedroom?!”

"Hey did you know we can use radiation as a means of electricity that will last hundreds and hundreds of years?" "Oh I just turned it into a bomb." The Manhattan project in a nutshell lmao

This is where my love-hate relationship with the name “Jinx” started. Because on one hand It sounds so cool! on the other hand she calls herself that because her sister calls her that when she leaves her and Mylo called her that a lot too) but it sounds SO COOL!

ON THE SAME DAY! Oh this is amazing

i cried on vi crying i balled my brains out on vi screaming as vander passes and i was a wreck on powder's crying... GOD THIS SHOW IS SO FUCKING GOOD.

The studio Fortiche confirmed they didn't use any motion capture for their animation. All those incredible moves and emoting is the result of the fantastic artists knowing how to do both action and emotion.

“red wedding” is exactly what i’m gonna use to describe the shift in tone this episode gave the show, so using that comparison thank you @ whoever said that lol

I love how on one end, Jayce and Viktor are shown using hectech and floating is seen as beautiful, paralleled with Powder using it and being blasted off the roof (in a similar floating way), both of which parallels the opening shot with Silco floating in the water

RIP Vander you were "a good boi" ;)

Well here's my takeaway after watching the first 3 episodes: ...... I was NOT expecting this show to crush me as much as it did with this episode. It takes a LOT to get me to shed some tears, but they were indeed shed with this episode's end. Holy hell, the animation of the faces, the emotion, the voice acting is all unbelievable!

Some really great writing here. The monkey had 3 orbs. We saw the destructive path that each of those orbs took in that repeat scene. We see Vi come back in shock from Benzos and still mostly put together. Then see her heart breaking when she sees Powder and can't bring herself to say anything to her. Vi scared the shit out of herself after she strikes the one person she loved most. She needed a moment and no moments were given to her. Beautiful pacing and tension building from a storytelling art perspective. Powder consumed by the thoughts of "never good enough" to help any of the people she has loved her entire life. Little Powder lost her parents in war just a few years ago. Then she goes through life growing up feeling like a burden to the people she loves. She can't help on jobs. She can't help provide for anyone she cares about. Then her sister gives her a vague goodbye and leaves her wondering in her room with Mylo and Clagger in episode 2. Then she gets a small reprieve when her sister comes back only to get bombarded with the information that her basically adopted uncle is dead and her new father is abducted. Has to come to terms with her brothers and sister leaving her behind on what could be the last time she sees any of them alive again all while she's still being hunted by the enforcers in the back of her mind. As this next level trauma starts unfolding and she's at risk to lose the only family she has left, sees another small glimmer of hope weaponizing her monkey. Finally feels like she has contributed once in her life to her family only to realize that she killed her family and has the one remaining source of hope and comfort in her life (Vi) confirm her greatest fears: that she is a jinx that causes nothing but pain, hurt and anguish to the people she cares most about. Then we have Silco's character, this villain made from his environment. A dreamer who believes his end vision justifies his means. Witnesses a sister abandoned by her family and empathizes and offers comfort to her in the way he knows best. Not the one dimensional character the trailers would lead you to believe. Really excited for this weekend when the next three drop. Can't wait to see how these characters develop in this terrible world they're a part of.

This Show is literally 10/10 after Invincible.

There was only one explosion, just from different points of view.

Well now we know why Powder is called "Jinx" in the game. Oh, and by the way, this is not what League of Legends is about only, this is just the lore of a city and a couple of characters, the world is much bigger and has a lot of characters with a fantastic lore. Vi, Jinx and a few others are just members of the league, but they are not the only ones haha. And yeah, there is no go back after this haha.

This show is a masterpiece. One of the best shows of the year by far.

It was just one explosion (minus the second bomb bouncing where Vander was captive), they just showed what happend from the perspective of everyone.

"Boomerang reverse time shit" If you're a league player, you know 😉

I love how everyone is just simping for Mel. Also, who is that cute doggo?!

The subtle tone change in Silcos tone when he "comforts" powder Just 😘😘😘

Notice how Silco looks at his former friend when Powder says Vi isn’t her sister. He took her in because he felt abandoned like her

“Let’s see if Powder’s bombs work” That did not age well…

Rana is love, Rana is life.

The animation is made by Fortiche Studio. This show is their first "big" work, but you could already see that they were great in their previous works. Indeed, they have worked wih Riot for a decade, and of the tons of small videos Riot has made, most of the best ones were with Fortiche: They did "Get Jinxed", "Warriors", "Seconds", "Rise", "KDA Pop/Star" (and of course "Enemy"). BTW, they don't use mocap. Everything is hand animated. Or to be more accurate, there is some mocap for prototyping a scene, and for characters in the background sometimes. But apparently, mocap is bad for the visual style the animators try to achieve. The studio produces in average 0.7 seconds of movie per day of work. They have expanded in recent years (from 20 before partenering with Riot to 40 when the Arcane project started, to 300 now working on Arcane season 2). While they are a french studio from Paris, they have extended a bit and are now also present in spain. Riot has invested in Fortiche in march this year. Finally, while they have already annouced they are working on Arcane season 2, the rise in the number of employee is also due to the facts that they are partenering in other not yet announced projects.

I honestly think Vander had one of the greatest "return to the field" scenes in history. You see him for so little, and only see him use his gauntlets once. But the tension after he breaks from the rubble, knowing at least one kid is alive, and that moment when he walks out with the blades, the chills I got! The absolute fury on his face. Incredible scene and show!

Awesome reaction! I think you're a bit confused about the explosion - the monkey did not explode multiple times (as it would have been destroyed in the first explosion); rather, it blew up once, and the camera went back to that moment several times to show you multiple angles of the explosion.

This is also quite the shocking reveal for League players. The relationship between Vi and Powder (in game name is Jinx) as sisters is only hinted at. No explicit evidence. Only info that was had was that Vi and Jinx/Powder were at two sides of an opposition, and Jinx is one hell of a violence/explosion-loving maniac. A loose cannon if you will, pun intended (since she carries a bazooka in game). So every progression made in this first act is very much a hard-to-swallow pill, despite knowing the end-product. This is quite the spectacle, masterfully made.

"You can't animate stuff like that..." Fortiche: "Hold my baguette!"

Thanks for having empathy. I really feel for so many of them, even silco.

Didn’t think this show would make me upset but damn this episode was close to getting me

Vi and Jinx (powder) were made specifically for this show, it's been in the works for years. Even though it's just a game, there's a whole universe behind it and really great lore tied to each (100+) character. There's clans, cities, and so much more in this world. Zaun and Piltover are a small portion of how vast Runeterra is.

There is a scene showing Powder putting all the "magic bombs" inside the monkey toy, the magic bomb outside was just to create the spark to explode all of them at once. When it exploded, the bombs were launched in many directions, the one that killed Clagger, was launch from the monkey to inside the room and them exploded right above clagger. But the event was one. The scene was just repeating the event to show all perspectives. Even the perspective of a person outside of the conflict, who was the officer who took Vi a little after that.

One of the best reactions to anything ever I've seen. Y'all just different Normies 💯💯💯 TY 🙏🏾

You know the series is so fucking good when The Normies upload 2 episodes of it.

WE WANT MORE!!!

im so glad you guys are watching this. its quickly becoming one of my favorite shows out

I'm so happy to see the team member in the white turtleneck. She was always in the Avatar and Korra reaction vids but I hadn't seen her in recent vids from this channel.

No spoilers, but for context, we as League players and/or lore readers know the end game for most of the characters like Jayce, Viktor, Violet and Powder but their story was never told to us, it was always context clues, dialog interactions and implied comments and little tid-bits, we know the ending but we never went on the journey

When they finnished the series they should most definifitly watch the Get Jinxed music video.

No motion capture. Just raw talent.

Loved ur reaction guys ❤️❤️

League of Legends lore is just ridiculous, there are so many possibilities that i get chills just thinking about what is coming after Arcane, thats the beginning of LOLCU (like MCU, but bigger and maybe better)

Rana is on point on her comments! They're just comments but somehow most are predictions that hit the nail every time!

Powder's reaction after blowing up everything: Look sis I did it!!

So glad you guys are enjoying this as much as me

powder's reaction reminds me of kazutora's from tokyo revengers. they tried doing something good for someone they loved but it backfired and they ended up causing more pain for them. in their heads they dont know who to blame. if they blame themselves, the guilt would be too much for them to bear. so through a lot of twisted thinking they end up blaming their loved ones for not understanding that they were just trying to help.

28:00 That's not motion capture... Fortiche did a phenomenal job with animating all the micro-expressions in each and every character.

Thank you for releasing all the episodes before the new ones drop. Love watching your reactions, greetings from Croatia.

it doesnt take a genius to understand that it wasnt multiple explosions, it was just different perspectives

As a league player vi is one of my favorite champions but I never knew what the reason was for the hate between her and jinx now I know. I'm glad more people are getting into league because of arcane

Btw, the way you react to Heimerdinger makes me think, you guys need to watch the cinematic short called "don't mess with yordles", it's just a 4min. short but it's a good one ;)

This was all key framed mates. 3D key frame animations + 2D backgrounds and effects.

‘I have the BEST intentions!!’ She means it.

30:47 remember the first episode! there were 6 hextech crystals in the chest in jayces lab. powder took em all and lost 1 on the way out. that makes still 5 crystals. 3 were in her posession before she went to "help". so there must be 2 more of those crystals! she may hid them somewhere or she put them in the bag that she threw into the water! so maybe they will retrieve the bag after all and silco may get an even more powerful weapon or powder uses them when shes older to forge weapons.

18:22 "Thank god powder was there" -.- yeah fuck no hahaha

How are there 4 different people watching this and none of them thought that the successive explosions was just an animated montage to just show different perspectives of only one explosion ? :D

The dog be like "Why are you yelling!?" to "Fine! Don't pay attention to me!" to "Nappy time."