In Defense of Caitlyn Kiramman (Spoilers for all of Arcane)
This will be kind of long I apologize- **again spoilers for all of Arcane season 1 and 2**
I'm sure among the various posts this has been discussed and documented already but man people are driving me crazy. Caitlyn's Arc in season 2 while rushed (because the whole season is rushed) just gets better the more I think about it.
When we meet Caitlyn in Act 2, season 1 she is in her early twenties. She is hopeful, idealistic, and bright. Her very first interaction with Jinx is when Jinx detonates the bombs that kill the other enforcers while she steals the hex gem. Then of course we watch her journey with Vi as the two grow closer and learn from each other. Of note during that time:
While clearly nervous and afraid, she never mistreats or disrespects the citizens of the undercity while there
She gives up her prized weapon to save Vi's life
She hugs a shimmer mutated stranger with no sign of disgust or disrespect
She then has her second interaction with Jinx. Jinx is manic and violent, threatening both she and Vi before the brawl with the firelights kicks off. Following this, Caitlyn is cooperative, caring and respectful towards Echo and his people, willing to work with them even after they abduct her and Vi. Leading to her third interaction with jinx, the fight on the bridge in which Jinx kills many enforcers, and almost kills Caitlyn, Vi and Echo. Following this, we still see her try to convince the council of Piltover to make peace with the undercity and help deal with Silco, his shimmer production and his violence. She then has her fourth interaction with Jinx. Being abducted from her own bathroom and made to be a part of jinx's dinner party. This whole incident in the story is extremely intense and frightening for all the characters involved. Keeping in mind again, before this all started, Caitlyn was an idealistic happy young woman in her early twenties who has never had an ounce of negativity toward the undercity. Caitlyn has an opportunity to take the shot at Jinx, and doesn't because of her feelings for Vi. Her mercy, and attempt at understanding is rewarded by her fifth (second half of fourth I suppose) interaction with Jinx in which Jinx murders her mother and two other members of the Council, wounding the rest.
We pick up with season 2. Caitlyn is grieving, trying to hold it together, but is still advocating in defense of the undercity, testifying to the surviving council members that its only Jinx who was responsible. She is actively standing against invasion or occupation of the undercity. It is only after the memorial attack FOR HER MOTHER that she starts to go down that darker path. Leading the strike team, asking Vi to be an enforcer and weaponizing the grey. Of note:
Before asking Vi to put on the uniform Caitlyn states explicitly she is afraid if she does this without Vi, she or Jinx will be killed.
Piltover retaliation is guaranteed before even the memorial attack, even more so afterward. The alternative to the strike team was going to be a full military incursion.
While Jinx did not appear at the memorial attack, Caitlyn had just finished assuring the council that the undercity were still decent folk and this was all the fault of only one person. Only for a group of several undercity assassins to strike almost killing her. There would be no way to keep Jinx separate from the incident mentally, and I would say it would have been reasonable for them to assume Jinx had sent the attackers at that point in the story.
The use of the grey while of course wrong, and a heartbreaking warping of her mother’s good work for the undercity, is not fatal. We see multiple examples of that. And as Vi explains it was primarily used to keep the innocents off of the streets and out of the fighting. This doesn't make it right of course. But all the people talking about her using "Sarin" on the Zaunites and such comparisons are completely full of it.
Of course we come to her fifth interaction with Jinx, the battle in the Chamber of Janna (what I'm calling it). She has a vicious fight with Sevika, sees Jinx trying to kill Vi and her, after hearing Jinx say she plans to do so. This of course ends in that heartbreaking sequence of events ending her saying Vi is no better than jinx due to the blood in her veins and striking her with her rifle stock. This is heartbreaking, and the rage and hate in her eyes when it happens is terrible. But I reiterate that she is still in her early twenties, has lost her mother from a person who has essentially terrorized her. And now the woman she loves (even though it was the right thing to do) has stopped her from satiating that dark, hungry need for revenge that has been growing in her.
And finally we come to the real focal point of her descent. Her becoming "The Commander" under Ambessa's tutelage. As the commander she is culpable in the abuse, imprisonment, and you would have to assume death (probably not personally but certainly through policy and decision) of innocent Zaunites. As well as the full scale occupation with military checkpoints and martial law in place in Piltover and Zaun. These things are all wrong, that is not in dispute. However there is a much deeper conversation here that people are seemingly going out of their way to ignore:
The prevailing ignorance that is being directed toward this character is something to the tune of "Zaunites live in constant oppression, death and fear and Caitlyn gets to lose her mind because one family member died?! Kuklux Kiramman!". This is idiocy of the highest order. Grief and loss are not a competition. Before becoming entangled in these events Caitlyn has grown up in peace, prosperity, and yes privilege. And while she is very wealthy, that’s not what I mean in terms of privilege. She has always had her family. Yes its horrific what the people of Zaun go through in no small part due to the neglect of the wealthy elite of Piltover. But if you grow up surrounded by death each day, it does not shatter your world in the same way as experiencing it for the first time as a young adult. And at the hands of the woman you love's sister who has terrorized you, and who you may have stopped no less. Again, its not that the suffering of Zaun is irrelevant as a whole, but it is irrelevant to how Caitlyn is processing her suffering and grief. For any of you who have stuck with me this far, I would ask you. The last time you lost someone you loved, did you berate yourself for being devastated because someone somewhere has it worse? No. That is not reasonable. And it’s not human.
Taking all of that into account. You have a young woman in her early twenties, she has been terrorized and nearly killed by the focal point of her rage repeatedly. She feels betrayed by the woman she loves. Her mother is gone. And along comes a smart, ruthless, charismatic WARLORD (A literal leader of men) telling her "Hey, come with me. I'm gonna get you justice, all you must do is follow my lead". And Caitlyn takes the bait. OF COURSE SHE DOES. She's only human.
When we pick back up with her in Season 2 act 2 we are watching her journey to redemption from that point forward. This show is immaculately animated for a reason and its clear from when we see her with Maddie on that she is not happy. She is frequently cast in shadow, her expressions pained and her movement stiff and cold. She questions Ambessa's decisions, and you really get the sense she is aware she is not in charge and that Ambessa is. The first big topic from this point to the end is she and Vi's relationship. I, like all of you would have liked to see an actual conversation between them on her wrong doing and an apology. I suspect the primary reason we did not comes down to how rushed the second season was. But there is also an argument to be made for she and Vi being people of action, not words. And looking at it from that point of view:
She helps to save Vander as soon as she and Vi reunite.
When she sees Jinx, she is clearly angry but makes no move to harm or arrest her
As she explains, she did not arrest Jinx after the battle of the commune. Jinx surrendered herself.
During the conversation with Vi about Jinx's arrest Caitlyn admits she knows she let Ambessa twist her up.
During her conversation with Jinx she says "No good deed can erase OUR CRIMES". She knows she messed up. She also admits how she has hated herself.
She opens the way for Vi to try and break Jinx, the woman who murdered her mother out of jail.
She fights on the frontline of the battle against Ambessa during the last episode. Ambessa is a noted warlord who people fear all over the world. Caitlyn sacrificed her eye to give Mel the opening to take Ambessa out. By the end Caitlyn is who we know her to be, fearless and selfless.
I think the show did itself a disservice with the rushed pacing in terms of fleshing out Caitlyn's redemption, but it was there. It just went too quickly. But all it takes is the slightest effort to see the nuance in this character to see that all of these simplistic stances people are taking are non-sense. To cap it all off, I am not seeing nearly enough conversation about she and Jinx being each other's parallels. And it’s not to say that her losing her mother as a young woman is comparable to the suffering powder went through. But bear with me here:
1. Both suffer an unexpected shifting of their entire reality due to death and loss
2. Both of them are "taken in" by an older cleverer role model filling the same parental role as what they have just lost (Powder loses Vander, gets new dad in Silco, Caitlyn loses her mother, gets new mom in Ambessa) who takes their grief and rage and pain and directs it toward their enemies
3. Both must learn the lesson of "Breaking the Cycle". Jinx of course has the whole vision of Silco, and then realizes the only way she and Vi can know peace is if she leaves Piltover (yes i know its suicide at first but we all know she’s alive at the end and that’s why she didn’t tell Vi). While Caitlyn tells Jinx she doesn't have the energy to keep hating her anymore and it must end. They literally suffer the same sort of altering experience, and have to learn the same sort of lesson to get back on track.
I know this is long and I apologize. If you actually read it I appreciate it. Also, if you just don't like the character I get that to! But I'm afraid if people keep completely missing the mark in terms of media literacy studios will give us even less content with beautiful, nuanced and complex characters.