I could write papers on the complexity of Jayce's relationship with Viktor.
I don't think any other relationship is as complex, as co-dependent, as beautiful, as toxic, as entwined with other characters, specifically Jinx, Mel and Heimerdinger. Jinx doesn't even know this relationship exists but she's been affecting them since the day she tossed her first accidental bomb. She created them, and now it seems she's going to end them.
I've talked nonstop about Jayce's trauma. How he was thrown into politics as a pawn that was doomed to fail from the start. Manipulated, trapped and pulled every which way by nearly every single character because he's so stupid and naïve.
But when you look at it from Viktor's perspective it's easy to see why people hate Jayce.
Viktor's story is that of a lonely scientist with intense social anxiety and an extremely low self esteem. He has lived all of his life as someone else's shadow. People don't even know or remember his name. Think about it. How many people call Viktor by name?
That is three people in the entire Arcane verse.
Everyone else calls him assistant or partner, nameless without another name to stand on.
As time goes on even Heimerdinger stops acknowledging his existence. As soon as he finds out Viktor is sick, he so easily let's go. He really only showed up to tell him to give up on his dreams and die. This doesn't mean Heimerdinger doesn't care about Viktor but he's too old and Viktor's really not his first and he won't be his last. He also knows encouraging him to do dangerous things is no good, but damn Heimerdinger.
You gave this boy his name.
Viktor said he came to the topside without a name and Heimerdinger said he picked Viktor up from the undercity. This means not even Viktor's sort of stand in 'lab father' knows his name. He really just recognises him as the cripple.
Heimerdinger doesn't even show up when Viktor gets sent to the hospital. Jayce is the only one at his side when he opens his eyes.
Can you imagine how suffocating it must be to have no identity whatsoever. People love to call out Jayce as someone who stole credit for Viktor's work without realising the reason Viktor is slowly going insane is because it is in fact NOT his work. It's Jayce's idea, Jayce's plan, Jayce's dream, and no matter how many times Jayce says "Our", Viktor still knows that it's originality comes from Jayce.
For the first few years their relationship is stable because Jayce is there to constantly to remind Viktor that he's important and keep pushing him to go on. Jayce is the first person to see him and even acknowledge him as superior (because Jayce also has a sort of inferiority complex). It fills Viktor with life, because for the first time in his entire existence he feels needed.
And then Mel comes out of nowhere and snatches that away.
She makes Jayce a politician, which suffocates Jayce with work. So much work that he can barely find time to be in the lab anymore. But then he does find time and that sincerely impresses me about Jayce.
The second he has any form of free time he's spending it with Viktor. He's asking about his health. He's trying to see if he's okay, but he's also so easily manipulated that before he knows it he's back before Mel.
I can see Jayce struggling and fighting and drowning, doing everything possible to be there for Viktor in every way that he can.
But what Viktor sees is a friend who keeps leaving and coming back and leaving and coming back and leaving and coming back on constant repeat. There is no knowing when Jayce will leave and when he will come back. That sort of uncertainty starts to cause a dent in their relationship. Especially when Jayce can't even remember that Viktor is from the undercity.
Because now Viktor isn't scared of dying without Jayce, he's scared that Jayce won't even remember him, and that one thought destroys him more than anything.
Viktor starts attempting to take big steps on his own. He starts doing more. Becomes reckless. Stops sleeping, stops eating, starts going mad. He wants to create something independent of Jayce. He wants to live. He wants to be remembered. He's tired of being nothing more than a shadow.
And in the process of struggling and risking, Sky gets hurt.
Now I always wondered, why Sky getting hurt is what stopped Viktor, because everything in Arcane is significant. And he clearly never once saw her before.
And THAT IS EXACTLY THE REASON.
Because Sky was also invisible 🥺 And he made that permanent. He became the very thing that he was terrified of, at the exact same time that Jayce did.
When Jayce hurt that little kid from the Undercity it was like he'd just hurt Viktor. The very life that he was trying to protect. He'd tormented himself on and on about his technology being used to hurt people and went and did the exact thing he was scared of others doing. That ended things for Jayce.
The same way Sky ended things for Viktor.
No one.... remembered her. Not even Jayce.
It was terrible. Viktor broke down.
He'd never seen her once. The entire time she'd been right there. A shadow, and he'd ended her.
And he realised in that moment that being remembered didn't matter if this was the kind of memory he became.
He and Jayce choose to give up at the same time.
Jayce decided to end his politician career to give it all up and return to Viktor's side. Viktor gives up trying to achieve his break through and choses to live the rest of his life as a shadow, whether or not he's remembered by Jayce.
It is a difficult decision.
They both even seem to decide to shut down the lab. They are absolutely done.
They pushed so far and hit rock bottom hard, and then had the common sense to give up.
Which is impressive because a lot of people would have made excuses to keep going. But Jayce and Viktor didn't do that. They stop.
They chose peace. It's hard but they chose peace. No matter how much it destroys them both thinking of what this peace will cost they chose it.
Viktor struggling so hard to hold on to sanity because he doesn't want to ever hurt Jayce.
And Jinx throws it all out the window.
Jinx really goes "The mental asylum has room for two more."
