MEL: I'm one of you? A mage?
LEBLANC: We each have our own expressions. Yours is quite rare. An empath. Attuned to the ethereal. Able to sense others' inner selves and bend their magic. A conduit and a mirror. [...] [Ambessa] hid you because you are that which she covets most: a weapon.
Above, we have the snippet of dialogue from the intro of s2e8 âKilling Is a Cycleâ thatâs been haunting my thoughts, because while I do think Melâs mage arc could have been executed better and not crammed into a handful of scenes across *checks notes* two episodes, thereâs a lot of interesting information packed into here
So empath is a loaded word, especially since the way it's used within the general "narcissist" discourse on tiktok (i believe, i don't have nor plan to get on there anytime soon), but it's originally from the ancient greek áźÎźĎΏθ which more closely correlates to passion, and then there's the self-proclaimed clairvoyant Judith Orloff, who identifies "empaths" as people able to both sense emotion and use it to the benefit of those around themâthe classic definition found in scifi and fantasy literature, but in Mel's case, I'll argue that the more important words are the ones Leblanc says (aligning with the first part of Orloff's definition): "A conduit and a mirror"
So obviously this has the technical application where Mel's powers work as a mirror, from deflecting Maddie's bullet to being able to hijack Leblanc's black rose shadow dimension with light, but then there's the emotional aspect: apart from simply having high emotional intelligence, throughout season one, Mel is Piltover's clearest "mirror" and enactor of its principles, despite being an outsider: she rewards scientific brilliance coinciding with economic gain and dreams of pushing the city to the future and brings enterprise directly into the decision-making room with Jayce, and also takes on its faults, making deals in shadowed balconies of opera houses and not fully acknowledging Piltover's responsibility in having laid the grounds of the conflict, as Ambessa points out
Thus: in regards to Mel's political modus operandi and magical powers, I'd argue that the primary key to both is reflection rather than the healing/nurturing associations that the word "empath" has, and we can see this immediately when Leblanc adds "[Ambessa] hid you because you are that which she covets most: a weapon", which of course could be Leblanc attempting to turn Mel against her mother by playing on Mel's aversion to violence, but in context of the previous quote I think there's a chance Leblanc genuinely believes that this "reflecting" power is what makes Ambessa love Mel by seeing herself in her
And maybe that's why she reveals her true nature and her plans to Mel so soon after she destroys the Oculorum, hoping that, destabilized, she'll mirror Leblanc's cloak-and-dagger mannerisms as she once mirrored Piltover's elite, but then the finale Mel manages to outsmart her by "reflecting" both of her mentor figuresâLeblanc by turning on her ("sly girl") and Ambessa by defeating her ("you are the wolf")
All this to say I think it could be a very interesting set-up having Mel's empath powers get in the way of her sense of justice, especially she's going back to Noxus where the ideologies that she attempted to push back on are going to be present in full forceâif your power is being a mirror, who is going to cast their reflection onto you?