When Jayce commented about Piltover being a bastion of equality and enlightenment, entirely unironically... Oof. That was some serious privilege.

I think Piltover and Zaun is the most politically interesting area of Runeterra, it has so much potential and with the story of Arcane focusing on two sisters just surviving I’m really excited to see what they do.

Politics? In *my* show about poor people getting opressed? No way!

Imo Caitlyns dynamic with Vi&Jinx and how it's framed will be integral to the framing of politics in Arcane. She is the sympathetic topsider being taken on a trip through Zaun by two very radical people, her perspective in the end will be telling on what Arcane is trying to show

"this video is not sponsored by riot" I'm eleven minutes in, and I can see why they probably wouldn't wanna sponsor it haha

I truly worry for the people employed by RIOT. If the politics writers are *forced to put into their games by the execs* follow the model of "a bad ruler is better than a disobedient citizen" then it's safe to assume that RIOT itself is run on the model of "a bad boss is better than a disobedient employee" and that's a terrifying thought.

It was very funny hearing Caitlyn sarcastically say to Vi "I suppose topsiders are responsible for all your problems?" Because Piltover is literally responsible for everything going on in The Lanes. The only thing anyone in Piltover does for The Lanes that isn't entirely negative is maintaining a relationship with the effective leader to keep the peace. But there's no benefit for The Lanes other than not getting violently attacked again. And it's not any figures of particular power that maintain this parasitic, yet empathetic deal; It's an Enforcer. None of the council members make efforts to properly negotiate better conditions for the underground, they merely want a pacified populace to let them continue running their city into the ground with pollution and total disregard for safety/health. Vander has a good heart, but he's not a hero for constantly telling his people to avoid fighting for a better future. In fact we see from Jayce's story a positive take on fighting the system to improve the future, but as his rebellion was bloodless it was shown as good and heroic. Zaun does not have that luxury, and their inevitable conflict is displayed as not entirely justifiable as though there's a peaceful solution to getting Piltover's boot off their collective throats. I am sure it'll end with that centrist message, so my main concern is how Vi's character can be reconciled when she's seen firsthand the corruption of Piltover and all the terrible effects on The Lanes it's had. Piltover doesn't need her near as much as Zaun does, so why would she go and stay? I suppose this also captures my interest as I am increasingly curious what direction Vi takes to justify her future choices; Will she just not care? Will she gain a more self-centered perspective? Can she really forget everyone down there for the city responsible for the horrors she's seen? Many questions yet to be answered, and will hopefully be answered in the final act.

Before this video: Jinx is crazy for blowing up parts of Piltover After watching this video: You have to be crazy for not trying to blow up Piltover. Get Jinxed!

Sylas is a forever fave of mine and I am continually mad with his portrayal as a villain for trying to overthrow a system that has systemically abused and murdered people for being born different.

As a person whose only experience with any runeterra lore and other riot content is your content, I really appreciate this.

Skyen: *Warns us that he is being payed to talk Arcane and has motivation to be positive* Also Skyen: *Produces an eloquent and blistering spicy piece, dismantling Riot's story telling structure and presenting that what riot tells us to think isn't the only, let alone best, perspective to take.*

"Having conceived Babel, yet unable to build it themselves, they had thousands to build it for them. But those who toiled knew nothing of the dreams of those who planned. And the minds that planned the Tower of Babel cared nothing for the workers who built it. The hymns of praise of the few became the curses of the many." Metropolis continues to stay relevant nearly 100 years after. I will be so disappointed if they don't pay at least some homage to the Ur-example of Cyberpunk.

I wanna know your thoughts now. I think that Piltover is portrayed as scum throughout the series. The only redeeming people are the young and innocent. I feel like Jayce is a redeemable idiot, but still doesn’t get the inequality between him and Viktor. And Zaun is portrayed as an animal pushed to its limits. Violent and scary, but you can’t blame them.

Me, being dragged by two nurses through a hallway back to my room: SYLAS WAS RIGHT! BURN DEMACIA! The nurses, paid by Riot: it's nap time, night night both sides are right~

As a latinamerican, me, and my friends, we always though that Zaun was a representation of our continent. A common day for us involves poverty, fear of the police, being robbed, being hungry. The norm for us is violence and corruption and loose of hope. We can only dream for the chance to get out of here. Even countries that seem to be in a good spot, are not, those are usually silent hells. You can imagine our surprise when Ixtal came out, and our not so much of a surprise to see it being forgoten, like our continent is ussaly be by riot. We were excited to finally see a latin representation, and we had a Hella Thicc mean girl. yeah... About Zaun, i crave for the exploration of Piltover's society and i trully want to see a story of the low class rising. The idea of the academy giving oportunities to "everyone" for a chance of growth is trully inspiring and i would like to see actual poor characters getting a better life and using it to help others In The Real Way. Tecnology is fine, but a kid starving won't be helped by it easily. Ekko is trully my hero, is someone i wanted to be as a child, smart and skilled and someone who can protect the ones around him. I remember having 11y.o. (i'm the older of six sibblings) and thinking that my parents won't be home because they are working and i have to take care of the house, and some days we had enough rize to pass the night. I remember going with my father every weekind since i was 5 to seel the cartoon and the plastincs we gathered and celebrate with coockies and soda, until the inflation made the money worth less so we had so buy only the necessary. I remember feeling hungry because i gave my food to my siblings. I trully hope Riot tells the story in the way it should be. Systemic violence is what creates all we live everyday in my continent. Systemic violence should not be treated respectfully.

The funny thing about "don't judge" or "don't choose a side" is that the person who tells it always chooses the side. Still, there is someone good and someone bad. And only in recent years has there been a mania to please everyone at once. Which made some characters more complex and better revealed motivation. On the other hand, it removed from the focus of the characters whose motivation is really bad things: greed, malice, corruption, insidiousness. Which in general makes the stories too vanilla-sweet. Like a cartoon about a pony. But bad people exist.

I just realised that Zed similarly is portrayed as evil for trying to have the Kinkou take a more active role in defending ionic, also falling into this pattern.

"Remember to act with solidarity towards those who are worse off than yourself" Best signoff I've heard in a long time, thanks for keeping it real. You got me really interested in the show, I'll be watching it!

"I have no poli-sci degree" He says as he proceeds to dismantle some questionable story telling perfectly and eloquently. This is why he is my favorite League KZfaqr and the only one tbh. And I dont even play any Riot Games games anymore. Awesome video TB keep the high quality commentary coming.

You're pretty spot on with how the story is playing out. We learn right off the bat that at some point the people of Zaun attempted to overthrow Piltover in a rebellion that catastrophically failed, leaving Vander scarred for life and unwilling to take further action against them lest he have further blood on "his hands". His attitude of increasingly suicidal pacifism, even when they repeatedly and directly threaten his children and surprise raid his home/business, is "good" because he's "avoiding pointless bloodshed", while Silco attempting to reunite Piltover and Zaum as one nation by force is "evil" because he's an "evil and ambitious opportunist crime boss who doesn't care if people get hurt". Note that at no point when someone tries to get Vander to actively resist or fight Piltover does he advocate peaceful reform or that violence is wrong. His only rebuttal boils down to "we can't win". **At no point does Vander ever state that Piltover doesn't deserve to be overthrown**, it's that he no longer believes it's *possible* and is now content to placate his oppressors in the hopes they won't oppress him further. It's pretty clear the direction the story is going to go. The people of Zaum will eventually be "duped" into rallying around Silco's super drug-fuelled rebellion (totally ignoring the fact that Zaum has every right to want Piltover overthrown for being a corrupt oligarchy that gets off on oppressing them and literally drowning them in their trash and pollution), while the Piltover council will be "manipulated" by Mel into taking a "hard stance" and being needlessly cruel to Zaun to pour fuel on the fire (ignoring the fact that the Council is morally bankrupt and totally okay with screwing over Zaum on a good day, if not outright gunning them down en masse if they its people ever forget "their place"). Eventually Silco will get killed and Mel will be arrested, the tension will suddenly deescalate as if these two goons had mind-controlled everyone into following them rather than their existence being the symptom of the real problem, and we'll end on the non-ending of "now that Jayce and Caitlyn are in high-ranking positions in Piltover and Vy is a Warden policing Zaum's streets, we can peacefully reform the system from within and end the class divide *the right way*".

The two sides ended up being presented not as two sides piltover and Zaun but much more about the two (or more) sides of the various character stories. Jinx and Vic, Jayce and Victor, Silco and Vander. While there is some happy memories associated with the peace Vander sought with Officer Grayson, it is still represented as tenuous and, in some ways, one made in fear. Vander is afraid and Silco is violent, but we see that it was Vander who betrayed the cause and Silco who took it down a darker road. The conflict between Vander and Vi is also hinged on this idea, peace in misery versus violence towards progress. I'll be interested to see how it all progresses

the way riot portrays class oppression, or just oppression in general makes it very painfully clear who is in the writers room lol.

This was spot on and exactly why the story started to drop off towards the second half. Silco was introduced as a revolutionary willing to fight for change at any cost, and took in Jinx out of a connection through betrayal. By the second half he's just a drug pushing manipulator interested in personal power while Piltover's corruption is seen as just minor trade regulation breaches

It always bothered me that Sylas was portrayed as just a villain, instead of someone who was desperate and broken by so many years of torture and unfair treatment... and was driven to take extreme actions.

Just watched the first arc and with how horrifying Silco is I really hope we get some kind of Piltover equivalent, even if its in a roundabout way like comparing the system itself to Silco. Whether Piltover rulers know about him or not he is their responsibility and they allowed Zaun to get to that point in the first place. No matter how horrifying or power hungry Silco is he is a product of Zaun. This will not end when Silco is defeated. WIth the opening shot of arcane literally being a cop killing civilians I really don't have an idea of how Vi becomes a police officer without serious overhaul to the police force, Caitlyn is nice and Vi's views can change to understand the police better, but damn i really hope they don't just show her more Zaunite atrocities and have her go "ah i guess there ARE worse things than Enforcers better join the Enforcers" as if a person who had seen their own parents murdered in cold blood could ever rationalize that as less of a threat. Unless the point is how Vi is utterly broken and beaten to the point she'll do anything to have a place even if it's join the police, but i highly doubt thats gonna be the case? Also how will Caitlyn react to being told of the atrocities the Enforcers have commited. Will she fire people? Will she vow to help rebuild a broken police force even if it rejects her? Will she become vigilante Batman and serve and protect all of Piltover and Zaun saying fuck the piltover rule i have gadgets? I highly doubt that last one would happen but it would be cool and be able to have Cait's sense of duty conflict with her upbringing.

I think the problem is, and believe me I struggle with this all the time too, is that these stories are not *about* politics, they just have politics in them. At the end of the day, whether Piltover remains corrupt or not is irrelevant to the stories at large being told here. The political unrest is merely set-dressing or world-building meant to establish context for why these events might be happening, but it itself is not the main focus of the story. None of the characters are fighting a political revolution, except for of course, Silco, whose only purpose in the show is to serve as the antagonist. Even his political revolution plot is set-dressing meant to explain his motives, but his purpose is in how his revolution impacts all of the Champion/main characters and their stories. The only aspect of the government that really plays a significant role in any story is how The Council, namely Heimerdinger, impacts Jayce and Viktor's stories which have nothing really to do with equality and are more about the study of magic with regards to Hextech.

Skyen did what no other content creator had the guts to do: he tackled the politics of piltover and zaun in one of the biggest media releases on one of the biggest and most toxic gaming communities out there. i have nothing but utmost respect for you, my man. Also prepare for the shitstorm that is going to come from this here and on twitter on the following days

“Trust the process” thinking: the tragic end of Arcane is the council unilaterally voting to “save” Zaun while an impatient and violent agent fires a bazooka at them.

Man, now after watching the show it's crazy how well Heimerdinger encapsulates your last point. He is a politician and founding father of the city and is depicted as the ultimate "moral good" of the story despite the fact that he perpetuates a system that exploits, demeans, and kills the people of the undercity. He sees magic as terrifying and evil and tells Jayce that magic has caused great harm in the past but never expands upon what happened; keeping that information to himself and expecting Jayce to just accept what he says is true. If you haven't watched past episode 3 stop reading but his conversation with Victor was pretty chilling when you think about it. Here is Victor, dying and about to have a breakthrough on research that could save his life, and Heimerdinger basically says my condolences but you have to stop. What is Heimer so scared of? That magic may get in the "wrong hands" and cause death and destruction. If access to power with the potential to do both great good and great hard would lead to death and destruction if it got in the hands of the lower class what does that say about your society? Heimer wants to maintain the status quo and Victor is expected to martyr himself for it.

Your content is immaculate. I think the concept of a character like Sylas being "flawed" could lead to an interesting story, but not when he is portraid as a villain for not only questioning the system, but to stand up, and stand against said system. Also it's very interesting that the name of the company is y'know...Riot, and yet if the character does so much as point a finger at the flaws of the system they are treated as a "bad guy".

"The system is good! The problem is that a few bad apples created the bad situation! As soon as the good apple is in the right place evwrything will be good again!" Uhh... Why would you consider a system good if a few people can throw a wrench into it and screw evwrything up? A system with a clear and crucial flaw is not a good one! Failsafes people! Mechanisms that forbid "a few bad apples" to ruin everything for everyone else!

As I listen to this video, I couldn't help but think that you would be a good professor.

"Long essay you won't read in response to things you haven't said." COMMENTS FOR THE ALGORITHM GOD.

The downright psychotic degree of insistence so much media demonstrates that all arguments be treated as if both sides are equally valid is deeply, deeply frustrating.

“It’s a good thing League of Legends isn’t a political game or id have some choice words with the design team” Well then, TBSkyen.

Hey no I totally get that, I felt the same way about the demcia story especially. That's why when they produced or showed the new Caitlyn voice lines I was kind of mad about it. Why is she all of a sudden the voice of reason and reform within P&Z and wants to bridge the gap but wasn't that the reason behind Vi?

The reason they consistently fuck up these stories that are so close to the point it’s painful is the same reason they retconned Zac into slime Batman. The logical, inescapable conclusion of the stories they themselves are telling are things they fundamentally disagree with. Conservative storytellers will always fail because, if they do they’re job correctly, they will consistently disprove their own perspective. So the obfuscate at the last second when they realize that their heroes, the Monarchs, the Oligarchs, the Slave owners, were actually the bad guys the whole time. They get so close and instead of realizing their own stance is bunk they say “oopsie, can’t have that, it must the the traumatized slave that’s REALLY at fault.” But it falls apart under the barest scrutiny.

I can kind of see where Riot is coming from with trying to make their stories less black and white, as i think it makes stories much more interesting (at least for my tastes). But I will agree that most of their execution about making these themes more "grey" in a sense has been lacking to say the least. It remains to be seen wether or not arcane will succeed in these points but i think that piltover and zaun is one of the better narratives at the moment, and I hope it won't get dragged dowm by their apparent need for "impartiality"

The class conflict here is unavoidable. I don't think Riot quite understands what they've done here with this whole war between the rich and the working class. Zaun is right to be upset. They are living in the worst of conditions. If they don't address that, I'll be pretty upset. But then again, it's Riot, and as you've mentioned it's far from the first time they've taken a moral conflict and made it into a "both sides are evil" problem when that's far from the case

Even if you do make a "two sides" argument with Piltover and Zaun, and show both to be corrupt and have their leaders be drunk with power, that would still not make them equally bad or serve as an excuse to keep the status quo. I hope that even if Riot does intend to show both sides as evil, or at least more complex than "good side, bad side", they do address Zaun being entirely justified in wanting Piltover gone. Exploitation is horrible and even trying to make a case for maintaining the status quo is morally bankrupt and not easy for the audience to relate to if they know anything about the history of the two cities. I don't have high hopes, but until I see the series, I can still dream.

after watching the first 3 episodes, i think i can conclude that this time it is not from an authoritarian bias, but actually examining the politics. silco, though a bit power hungry, genuinely tries to do what's best for the people of zaun, whilst his former partner, vander, is collaborating with piltover, betraying his former self to make his life easier. silco and jinx, are the heroes of the story because they stay true to themselves. whilst vi, and all of piltover, are the villains for accepting a system of oppression

i have a degree in political science your discussion was great skyen, will return to flesh out my thoughts after work ok, i have some time, so I'm just gonna have a long stream of consciousness because i can't organize my thoughts on break. first i want to discuss the "right of revolution" that you may have come across before. this political philosophy indicates that a people has the right to revolt against a tyrannical government that directly endangers their wellbeing. american revolution, french revolution, iranian revolution. oppressors don't have any right to sovereignty. sovereignty lies within the people, and unless the people all willingly agree to bestow sovereignty onto a body, then there is no "rightful" overseer. using the american government as an example: we have traded in personal liberties and freedoms in exchange for the governing body ensuring their people very broad and general basic rights (bill of rights, constitution, amendments, you know the deal). in exchange for the government protecting these rights, we vest in them powers like creating laws, passing judgement, etc. they have a constituency to help the people - congress at a local level, the president at a national level. the concept in theory *should* work well. the issue is that we went from 13 states to 50, and the history of this country has been violent, bloody, full of horrible oppression that still loves to rear its ugly head today. the national constituency is often at odds with the local constituency. the pro being that many voices are heard, the con being that the two parties will always butt heads and progress is rarely ever made. the upper class control the direction of the country with their wallets while the working class have to figure out how to keep their liveliness. hey, what does that remind you of? sylas was not wrong. xerath was not wrong. when ekko trash talks piltover, he isn't wrong. they exploit the working class and use agents like camille to periodically remind zaunites that they will never, EVER be anything better than that. they allow the chem barons to abuse the working class, have no sympathy to people struggling to survive in hazardous living conditions, make no attempt to improve their lifestyle. sure, you could argue zaun is on the cusp of being an anarchist state, and anarchy = bad, but said anarchy is inflicted by piltover's governing body. they keep just enough control to ensure that the flow of goods and resources into their own hands remains steady, while letting the working class suffer and struggle to live day to day. it's pure, rampant, unchecked capitalism with no love for the common man.

My personal problem with Demacia is that even though they made Sylas extremally monstrous and really hard to sympathize with, as a person from Poland, I find it really hard to NOT sympathize with him. While I don't remember personally the days when our people faced genocide and enslavement ourselves I remember when my late grandfather told me stories about how he survived under the occupant and then under the communist regime. Those stories were a lot of times horrifying in how both the nazis and communists treated normal, everyday people and my grandfather didn't even live in the big city where oppression was even more extreme. I think that's the reason why I find Sylas sympathetic while Demacia seems absolutely monstrous. Like you said Jarvan IV and Garen have good intentions and believe they are the good guys but Hitler and Stalin believed that as well.

The interesting topic would also be: How far would you go, in your despair to end the awful situation that you're in because of people who disregard other people's life, to end it? Sometimes we see these tragic characters (not heroes nor villains) become the people that they; in first instance, swore vengeance upon due to "necessity" and "not having any other option other than take action". Morally, where do those people end up when they had to do things not so "good"? Is it all only a cycle? Are they better than their former oppressors?

Riot: "let's fund this youtuber to make an Arcane video." TB: "so here is how Riot wrote Shurima to support slavery." Jokes aside though, I wouldn't be surprised if the writers wanted to tell a more reasonable story, but the Chinese censorship prohibited portraying anti-government characters in a positive light, so they smooth the edges.

This video was so much better than I expected! Blown away

From what I have seen thus far the show actually criticizes Piltover quite a lot. In an episode Caitlyn actually sees that the lower levels of Zoan are horrible nightmarish and all kinds of fucked up, while Vi confronts her by saying "do you forget about this place, up there?" (or something along those lines). The kids are poor and trying to survive against the enforcers who are shown to be vicious and, all around assholes. So I'd say that the shows sides with the little guy, which I say it's a good change of pace. It also portrays the higher ups to be corrupt as all hell.

i rly hope that singed will be in the storyline of arcane cuz he matches the story so much! there is the possibility that the barmen guy in the trailers is warwick and if warwick is in this story, singed has a high chance of being in the series.

Watched the final clip and thought: Dammit, it was going so well and guess how it ends. The system was about to do peace thing with the thing they oppressed. Jinx was out of line and ruined it. Jinx is portraited as lost and piltover was redeemable because they where bout to offer peace. Not shitting on the series, but Skyen freaking called it.

Much like data, there's no such thing as unbiased politics.

Arcane is going to be my first time directly interacting with LoL lore and plot, and while I already was cautious about Riot (with its MANY problems) presenting the series, I'm even more on my edge over the "both sides" comment. however. you've already talked a lot about this show, about the people's work and thoughts coming into it outside of pure "company think", about the animation *and* the politics that it's based on, and I've got some hope on having a good time without cringing about Some Choices. thanks for the vid!!

It's funny the whole time watching arcane I was like 'ok I know who is supposed to be the bad guys but I definitely agree with them way more than the the people who are supposed to be the good guys' this is an excellent vid to break down the subtext in arcane. The final scene is a perfect example of the whole idea of the 'antagonist' being impatient

Now I think about it - they had to push REALLY hard to make Silco the bad guy. Everything Silco says about Piltover is correct; the only reason the audience has any reason to dislike him is because he’s an extremist. It’s just that his methods, like human experimentation and blackmailing cops, are too far. From his perspective, Zaunite independence is a goal worth paying any cost for. It’s like he was TOO good at being the justifiable villain, because they had to make him use some really terrible methods to come across as a villain. The way he’s shot in every scene he’s in makes him look sinister though, and it seems like it’s trying to draw a conclusion for you. In reality, how far is “too far” for self determination, democracy and the lives of Zaunites? Is Vander really a “good guy” because he gave up the fight for independence because the personal stakes were too high, and was his peaceful compromise worth it? Had Silco succeeded, he might have been remembered as a hero and a freedom fighter in Zaun.

Season 1 spoilers below ... There is one element of the show that gives me hope for a more nuanced political story in season 2: Ekko and the Firelights. They seem like a pretty classically punk anarchist group, living outside the system and taking the fight to both the enforcers and the chembarons, exploiters from the upper city and the lower. And while Silco and his ilk are a bunch of violent mobsters and the enforcers look like actual stormtroopers, the Firelights come out of the season looking like ... the good guys, actually. Their sanctuary is an oasis of light and life amidst and darkness and pollution. What if Ekko and his group step up to fill the power vacuum left by Silco, and start to actually fight for the best interests of the people of Zaun? Will Heimerdinger stand up against the corrupt system he built? This one line from Ekko in episode 9 gives me hope that I'm not just making all this up: "It's not enough to give people what they need to survive. You have to give them what they need to LIVE." Bread and roses, anyone?

Great video! Very informative, I enjoyed this one a lot. You pointed out a lot of invisible things I never noticed before in riots lore.

I feel like there is a degree of evil wherein violence and revolution is absolutily needed to overcome it. But I'm still skeptical cause most revolutions generally don't work out as planned.

Welp, this video aged pretty well I think... since the show ends s1 with that "if only they had been more patient/less radical" scenario you point out, in the most literal way. The politics of the show are really really green and definitely use centrist tropes but in the end, I would say that it's not completely painting the situation as "both sides are good and bad". Worst sin Arcane committed was not seeing more of the firelights and Ekko tho. I feel like they were supposed to be the example of ""good"" rebellion against an oppressive system, but we never see them fight directly against the status quo. Even though we're told they're a problem for _both_ Silco and Piltover, what we actually see doesn't support that narrative (Ekko even admits most of their casualties are because of Silco)

Dude this video fucking rocks your analysis is on point. Even the terms you use are top notch. Immediate subscribe

First video I've watched of yours, great quality and the outro sealed it. Hats off sir!

The centrist stance, the painting of slaves as vile for being impatient with their situation and the ever redeemable elites...this was more insightful than I’d expect from a show review on KZfaq in 2021. Impressive. Subscribed!

As a great man said, you don't fight capitalism with black capitalism, you fight it with socialism.

I gotta think about how vander in the show at some point says ‘everybody loses in war’…. Like dude you are already losing!!!

Another great video, and I say this as someone who DOES have a degree in political science. Thanks for your analyses TB, always a pleasure to listen to. TBH it's kinda motivating me to keep me writing my own stories, though of course they're never gonna become popular Netflix series lmao

After the show coming out, here's a quote that's exactly what you are getting at "I'm not putting you away Vander." "Without you down here, it all falls apart." That with the right people on top, "trust the process" and it'll work out. Or maybe I'm just bad at interpretation.

SPOILER WARNING!!! So far with what I've seen with Arcane they are doing a fairly good job of not falling into this tarp though there are some parts I am kind of cynical of. I think the best example is that Silco plan worked. While it is hard to seem Vander as necessarily wrong, he's strategy did help prevent mass collateral damage that would the under-city residents would have suffered if war broke out, and Silco's actions are irredeemable, especially mass disrupting the drug Shimmer which hurt a massive number of undercity residents. At the same time his strategy sort of worked. Jace might have agreed to make peace because he was traumatized seeing a kid killed as collateral damage, but let's be honest, the rest of the Piltover elites were just cared shitless of a war, probably did not want to damage all the side deals they had with Silco and his ilk, and Mel probably had a lot of dirt on all of them. Also, there is the long running double standard you seem multiple time for Piltover verses, Under-City residents, Jace refusing to crack down on Piltover corruption, him getting a promotion for his dangerous experiments, while Vi hunted down and thrown into a prison that's shock Gitmo guards, for indirectly causing it. Which also lends itself to examining how the Piltover system creates its own problems. Corruption and negligence is just as responsible for every as Silco of Jinx, the last episode is even called "The monster you Create". I think in this case the showing also side comment was more about understand the complexities of not only these issues but how we address them. You can both respect and be frustrated by Vanders policy, and both hate Silco's actions and understand where they are coming from. Also, the fact he has resistance from other undercity residences is important to note. It can of shows the rebellion can be done "right", but you got to be careful to not latch on to whatever demagogue claims to be fighting for the greater good and blindly fallows his strategies without though for the consequences.

A thought, screamed into the void, long after anyone will read it: Corporate stories will always hold establishment continuity as a value onto themselves, because corporations as a structure (and the rich fucks that own them) need to value those things out of their own interests. There cannot be a rich reformer, because they would reform away their own position, if they had not already used up their means on trying to affect that reform. Stories of resistance and revolution can only ever be told positively by individuals, which makes it highly unlikely that they succeed in a media landscape as corporate as we have it. Whenever they do, they succeed *before* reaching established outlets, forcing those to carry them on the profit they bring, even against their own political goals.

this is my first time watching any of your content- i have to say, it’s extremely high quality. i love the way you present ideas

Thanks for making this video Skyen, very interesting perspective and good thought food.

This video feels like a thesis statement for Skyen's entire channel, or at least the parts that aren't tied to character design. 9:05: In a literal sense, showing the conflict and letting the audience come to their conclusions is a good thing. In practice, though, the author should probably be leading the audience to one particular set of conclusions. You shouldn't outright say the xenophobic fascist empire is evil, but you probably shouldn't give the impression that their view of the world is equally valid to those egalitarian heroic rebels. For the record, I think Riot (and other "apolitical" game publishers) _does_ lead the audience to certain sets of conclusions-they just don't want to admit it.

holy crap Skyen... a fantastic video... the politics of Runeterra is something i didn't know i wanted to study

Insightful and thoughtful as always Skyen!

I love the transparency behind your financial situation in regards to this topic. It’s an incredibly refreshing thing to see.

I would say to your criticisms of Demacia and Shurima stories that there have been multiple historical precedents where the revolutionaries turn out to be worse dictators than the regime they overthrew. You portray Zaun as this worker region that should rise up and topple Piltover. While the portrayal of the Zaun villain does show that revolutionary does not always do things for you. Sometimes he just uses popular dissent to make a power grab.

Vey well put, this is exactly what I feel might disappoint me with Arcane. I've had the same issue with Legend of Korra where the first season had a very bad dynamics between factions and all grievances of non benders vs benders where just thrown out as jealousy and the main issue was never examined

Thank you for your service, Skyen.

I appreciate your videos so much! one of my favorite youtubers easily! thank you for making thoughtful interesting videos! joining your patreon rn

He has a point I have the same problem with other popular fictional series like X-men The oppressed are demonized while the oppressor’s are humanized.

It's interesting to come back to this after Philosophy Tube's "Violence & Protest" video essay dropped. A lot of points dovetail together well here. Above all else, the show suggests explicit (often intentional) violence is unredeemable while implied (often unintentional) violence isn't. To pull from Zizek's "Violence": "He [Nikolai Lossky] simply couldn't understand who would want to destroy his way of life. What had the Losskys and their kind done? His boys and their friends, as they inherited the best of what Russia had to offer, helped fill the world with talk of literature and music and art, and they led gentle lives. What was wrong with that? While Lossky was without doubt a sincere and benevolent person, really caring for the poor and trying to civilise Russian life, such an attitude betrays a breathtaking insensitivity to the systemic violence that had to go on in order for such a comfortable life to be possible. We're talking here of the violence inherent in a system: not only direct physical violence, but also the more subtle forms of coercion that sustain relations of domination and exploitation, including the threat of violence."

The analysis that takes place in your Bad Apple segment was chef's kiss, very well done!!!! @T B Skyen

Great video, great rhetoric, great arguments. Very interesting to hear and your voice is great too. I'll definitely subscribe!

I suspect that they see the Piltover-Zaun conflict more in light of the conflict between the Piltover Aristocrats and the Zaun Chem-Barons, as opposed to a true class conflict between those with political power and those without.

No DO the politics of Arcane now the show has aired. It is super intresting to compare the politics between the real world, it is super informative!

Absolutely amazing video and what a great message to deliver at the end. Love your content.

I think your point about the rebellious being seen as bad and the ones that rule being seen as flawed but redeemable interesting because it seems like you are going what Riot have asked you to do: "we shall make it neutral and you can decide what you believe". I won't comment on Surima because I am not well versed with its lore, but Sylas is still portrayed as redeemable and sympathetic. Not all the time, sure, but that is the same for every person in the demacia story. Lux is an optomist that wants a better world for everyone but still benefits from her noble status and hides her magic and let's her own family hunt people just like her so she can save herself. Garen is a complicit soldier of the state even when he knows the mages that they hunt are often innocent of any crime beyond how they were born, but stays in line to protect his sister as out of fear of not being able to defend his home from other threats. Sylas is no different. He is someone that witnessed the torture and murder of hundreds of innocent people and then saw himself imprisoned for 15 years, even after being a loyal dog to the state. He fights to change the status quo knowing that no meaningful change could happen without forcing it to happen. Yet he doesn't kill the king, and is worried when he realises the message the the Kings death would send. He kills people, but only to exact change, to him it isn't revenge but the cracked eggs that must be sacrifices to save more people. The way modern league portrays it lore is less "I I scared to take strong opinions either way" and more "these characters all have detailed motivations and histories that we are trying to make as human and believable as possible". It represents a drive to move away from "this guy is bad" and "this guy is good", because everyone is grey, and only a very select few characters will ever fit into the "unredeemable bad"- the only one I can think of is Morde and even then he has layers to his villainy. It isn't just bad people bring bad for the sake of it.

Really nice video. Honestly a lot of mainstream media have really bland takes on social conflict or power struggles or all that, there's some popular anime and games with the same problems.

Came here because I was starved of Arcane content, and instead got a really interesting lesson about the politics of Runeterra, and seemingly the kind of politics Riot Games is advocating. Would love to hear more breakdowns of this nature, quite honestly. Even on a meta-level of what Riot is doing.

Awesome take, thank you so much for doing these awesome videos

Great video like always. I enjoy hearing your perspective. Rock on!

I know I’m way late but I wanted to talk about my biggest annoyance with Arcane so far. My biggest annoyance is the fact that no one from Piltover recognises Piltover’s fault in the state of Zaun and it’s effects. For all Joyce talks about his family making the hammers that built the city’s he doesn’t say the people wielding them were underpaid, starving and exploited workers from Zaun. And for all Caitlin blames Silco and Jinx for all the bad that happens and for the situation Zaun is in she never acknowledges that Piltover made Zaun what it is and exploits them to this day. It makes it seem like Piltover has no fault in creating what Zaun is and has tried to help them instead. It just rubs me the wrong way.

I started watching Arcane for the escapism from the monotony, repetitiveness, and loneliness of my everyday life, and didn’t really consider the political and social themes as all I desired was a fantastical world of magic, adventure, and heroism where I didn’t need to think as hard but sit back and enjoy the romantic themes and animation. Now, after watching act one, I’m staying for that deeper subject matter as I realized that it was what I had been yearning for in my other favorite shows. This video was extremely illuminating, and I hate that the story tellers are falling, once again, into their ways of defining the different classes/factions by a single representative, whilst pushing the ideals of the establishment’s superiority and that we shouldn’t revolt against an unjust system. I’m gonna keep watching though, I’m too far in to stop now. Thank you for this eloquent breakdown and analysis!

Great video, I truly love how open you are with your thoughts and ideas. And even though I believe we disagree on many of the subjects you went over, I believe you to be a person that I could have a real discussion with. And I thank you for broadening my views on how to interpret stories.

You see Mr Skyen, a piece of media is not political when it discusses real life political topics. A piece of media is political when there is gay people in it. Now if you will excuse me i am gonna go play Bioshock and Fallout: New vegas, my favorite Politic-free videogames.

I watched this after seeing the show itself. I see your points, but I found that Silco was addressed in a far more nuanced way. I thought he was a master class in who to write a strong antagonist.

I don't know anything about LoL or Arcane, but as a Sociology PhD student, this was solid, well-explained, interesting, and valid.

21:50 was very clever. LOL Your ideas are so thought provoking that I took notes.

Well, that explains a lot. I was confused why others said the leaders of Piltover were corrupt, as in the story, that was treated as normal. Now I know why, it's exactly as you said, "a bad leader is better than a bad citizen" sort of thing. And it explains why I hold resentment towards characters like Jayce and the council, and feel extremely sympathetic and loving towards characters like Jinx. Jinx is good, despite her chaos. I really like her. It's why I grew to like Silco at the end of the season.

Literally was thinking to myself "hey one more day till arcane i wonder if skyen is going to do a 'things to know' vid like necrit and dinka" and then (♡˙︶˙♡)

I am still really hopeful having watched the first 2 parts that it has something interesting to say beyond centrism. Nobably in the show's criticisms of Heimerdinger we get some resistance to King's the myth of time and it's done by one of our piltover heroes. Heim is a good vehicle for this due to his longevity. It's gonna be interesting to see if they stick to that idea or if it's revealed to be portrayed as a character flaw in part 3. It was really hard to say what it would be in the moment. I honestly just hope they don't do Vi and Victor dirty in this. Even though I know her backstory, I hope she doesn't end up as a cop and I hope he's portrayed sympathetically. Basically it's make or break for part 3 and it's kinda interesting not knowing where they're going to go with it. I know my hopes will probably be dashed but based on a lot of what I've seen so far I'm willing to take the risk.

I gotta say... it is one of the most interesting vidéo I have seen so far. Thanks for the work !

I feel like fan boy culture drives this notion of if someone critics something that I like then they want to cancel it, the end result is I just hold my critics to myself as it just becomes a head ache.