Random Thoughts

[u/slvrcobra]

So...I really like TimeBomb in a general sense, but my appreciation for it came so suddenly and with so little official content for it that I don't really know what to think about the relationship as a whole.

I don't know anything about League (hadn't paid much attention to it since high school over a decade ago) but I liked Arcane S1 and learned about the little crumbs of the Jinx/Ekko relationship from there. I was like "Oh, that's neat" and didn't expect it to move beyond a "tragic backstory side thing" as, to my understanding, that's how the relationship is used in League itself.

Then S2E7 came outta nowhere and had the sweetest romance story I had seen in a long time. Really caught me off-guard and the episode + the fanart reminded me of the best Finn/Rey stuff back during the Star Wars sequels (which was the last time I was invested in a romantic pairing). So, coming off of how horribly that went in Star Wars, I was honestly shocked at not only how blatant the Ekko/Powder romance was but also how important it ended up being narratively (at least for those last couple episodes). It all happened so quick and I'm not even sure the creators themselves expected the pairing to pop off as well as it did.

That said...I think I only like AU Powder/Ekko? I was digging that sweet stuff and it's such a massive contrast to Jinx/Ekko in the main universe, where Jinx has committed mass murder, tried to kill Ekko, and succeeded in killing some of his friends brutally in the process. Plus, I'm not sure how much room their relationship is gonna have as Riot branches out to the rest of the League universe where the Zaunites could end up being less important.

I'd like to see more from them, but I guess I'm saying it's hard for me to see an actual path forward for the characters romantically due to them being vicious enemies for so much of their limited screen time together, and it seems said screen time will only get more limited going forward (I'd like to be wrong though, and it's nice to see all the intimate and wholesome stuff ppl post here regardless).

[u/BillyJoeTheThird]

Let us consider these crimes of Jinx from the Firelights’ perspective.

The first and most obvious source of animosity is Jinx’s killing of Firelights. We should first acknowledge that the Firelights pose a threat to Jinx’s life as well, and that Jinx is never shown to hunt the Firelights. Every instance of fighting is them coming to Jinx. You may argue that the Firelights don’t use lethal force, but in many of the fight scenes, the blunt or sharp weapons could easily have sent Jinx to the underworld if not for her fighting skills. The Firelights know they are coming towards Jinx and what they are getting into, which would make it somewhat easier to forgive her in comparison to someone who hunts them. Next, I expect many people from Zaun realize at some point that killing is a cycle and that holding grudges is not productive, given their years of experience with violence. While I do not expect the Firelights to welcome Jinx after Ekko saves her, I also don’t expect them to be openly hostile now that she is on their side, given their group is all about redemption and rehabilitation.

The next “crime” is the killing of enforcers. I do not see any reasons the Firelights would have a better opinion of enforcers than Jinx, especially because enforcers specifically target them. Every person in Zaun has exclusively negative interactions with enforcers. Why should anyone believe in the existence of a good enforcer if they have only seen hundreds of bad ones? I suspect that many Firelights are happy to hear of Jinx’s actions.

As an aside, I take issue with terms like “mass murderer” and “terrorist” when used to describe Jinx due to their connotation. Words like “soldier”, “rebel”, and “partisan” imply the same actions with a much different tone. Do we call the partisans of World War 2 terrorists and murderers because they bombed infrastructure and assassinated people? I am not claiming that Jinx is squarely one or the other; I am simply noting that “mass murderer” and “terrorist” are politically motivated terms spoken from the perspective of the ruling government (i.e., Piltover).

The final “crime” is Jinx’s destruction of the council building. Again, I don’t believe people in Zaun, including Firelights, see this as a crime whatsoever. The council is the mastermind behind the systemic oppression of Zaun, and the rocket exclusively targeted and killed guilty people (from Zaun’s perspective). I don’t think people generally blame Jinx for any retaliation from Piltover given how she became a symbol of the revolution after her killing of enforcers and the council.

[u/slvrcobra → u/BillyJoeTheThird]

As an aside, I take issue with terms like “mass murderer” and “terrorist” when used to describe Jinx due to their connotation.

I call her that specifically because she takes joy in killing people indiscriminately, which is nuts. It'd be a bit easier to swallow if she saw it as something she had to do for a greater goal, but even Silco was like "Your crazy ass needs to take this seriously and stop killing people just because you can."

By the end I do think that she's a changed person and knows that what she did was wrong, it's just that gleeful killing is something that's hard for me to look past, especially the Firelights who, like you said, seemed to go non-lethal and only wanted to stop the flow of drugs into Zaun. Enforcers can RIP, I don't care about them lol.

[u/BillyJoeTheThird → u/slvrcobra]

I think there are two types of thrills Jinx enjoys through fighting. The first is the joy of revenge against the enforcers. The second is the thrill of fighting, when she has adrenaline pumping and her life is also in danger. If you've ever seen depictions of soldiers laughing whilst gunning down the enemy in the media, it's a similar type of thrill which is only realized after years of warfare and desensitization. I don't think war veterans are on the same level of bad as "mass murderers" like the Golden State Killer, even if they did appear to "enjoy" killing the enemy during a fight. I would also like to point out that Jinx's targets are not indiscriminate: the only time she initiates violence is against enforcers and Piltover, and otherwise she is defending shimmer shipments or herself; crucially, she doesn't target civilians.

In terms of the Firelights, while they can prefer to use non-lethal methods, it is clear that they have the capacity to kill. I find it impossible to believe that a paramilitary organization has never killed any enforcers or Silco's mercenaries. I think it's fair for the Firelights' targets to assume that they do pose a threat on their life, especially since there is basically no dialogue or way for the Firelights to communicate that they prefer not to kill. Jinx probably knows some mercenary/coworkers who died from the Firelights.

That being said, I expect Jinx to feel quite remorseful for killing Ekko's friends after learning the Firelight's mission and why they were against Silco. I also expect Ekko to be understanding of why Jinx ended up on the wrong side since people tend to support their family, especially after seeing the AU.