arcane. season two, episode eight.
vi: “[jinx] saved your life […] even knowing you’d never have done the same for her.”
caitlyn: “we’ll never know, will we? you didn’t let me in on that part of your plan.”
vi: “clearly the right call since you can’t trust her enough not to shove her in a box.”
caitlyn: “trust? you believe i’m so daft i can’t recognize a contingency? she wasn’t there for my benefit. she was there because you didn’t trust me to follow through.”
there is something ironic about caitlyn and jinx thinking they're removed from one another. that their actions are not in direct correlation to the other’s or comparable by any metric.
in the same breath that caitlyn is offended vi would ever expect her to trust jinx, she then goes on to complain that vi didn't trust her, as though caitlyn herself poses no risk. caitlyn displays an interesting lack of self-awareness here that i wouldn't normally associate with her character.
caitlyn: “we can’t erase our mistakes. none of us.”
vi: “who decides who gets a second chance?”
who decides who gets a second chance? it's not caitlyn. it's not jinx.
if anyone, it's vi. despite her valid reasons not to trust either caitlyn or jinx, vi consistently chooses to give them the benefit of the doubt. for love.
i maintain that this moment, when caitlyn’s rigid thinking is challenged, is when things finally click into place for her. as vi walks away, caitlyn is visibly wrestling with what was discussed. it's a hard pill to swallow, but the fact that we transition directly into caitlyn and jinx identifying their faults and shared responsibility is evidence that caitlyn took vi words to heart.
caitlyn: “no amount of good deeds can undo our crimes!”
caitlyn, jinx, and vi have hurt each other to varying degrees—there's no doubt about that. however, caitlyn and jinx have hurt vi in ways that are too similar for them not to acknowledge.
caitlyn and jinx are both liabilities, and they are both given the opportunity to earn vi's trust back. recognizing that they're in that same boat, and recognizing what they've put vi through by making her constantly choose between them and abandon herself in the process, is a step towards all three of them healing.