i would eat his heart in the marketplace

Oh, I wonder if we’re going to hear Caitlyn’s name being said at all during her low arc, or if she’s going to disappear completely into being Commander Kiramman.

She doesn’t even want this power or position, in fact this is everything she’s been trying to get away from but she’s so broken at this point. She’s not even angry anymore, just completely checked out and accepting the role because, of course. She’s a Kiramman, she’ll never escape being a Kiramman, and she believes the only person who’s ever seen her for being Caitlyn betrayed her, doesn’t love her (as much as she loves her sister). If she can’t be loved for Caitlyn, the next closest thing is to be respected for being a Kiramman.

She really is acting just like Jinx, retreating into the worst part of herself because she believes that’s all anyone sees anyway.

Also thematically I love the contrasting parallels where Powder/Jinx’s final moments in season 1 ep 3 are loud; screaming, sobbing, while Caitlyn is completely silent/mute for hers. Powder actively embraces (Silco) her change, while Caitlyn passively allows it (Ambessa) to cloak her.

#ambessa weaponizing cait's grief #cait doesn't lose her shit until after the memorial service is attacked#you can see in the first scene when she's the council room staring around at the rubble that she still stands up for zaun#saying it's the act of one individual#but then the memorial gets attacked--and it hits her that it's not just jinx--and she snaps#not knowing it was ambessa who arranged the attack#and now ambessa has entangled her in this new General role#with ambessa as the spider and cait as the one trapped in the web

No one is fully immune to Miss Kiramman's charm.

It’s the gloves tbh

Captain Matilda Kiramman ("MAH PARENTS NAMED ME MATILDA AFTER MY GREAT GRANDMOTHER MATILDA THE .. UH... PIRATE.")

Can we talk about this scene? I wanna talk about this scene. I love this scene. A lot. I feel it’s sorta underrated because there’s a lot going on but not so up in your face.

The writer’s could’ve easily written Vi’s response as “Ekko, you’re right, but she’s not the enemy.” I guess that would’ve been acceptable; yet, when I visualize it in my head it lacks the oomph and the negotiation skills. It says so much about Vi’s character and her relationship with Ekko and Caitlyn.

Gonna give the fast forward as seven years because Ekko, from what I read in LOL lore, is canonically seventeen (as of now). So this is the probably the first time he’s ever had the opportunity to verbalize his and his people’s oppression in front of their oppressors. 

In the second panel he very much as the “This bitch has the audacity to lie,” because he’s faced these monsters up close and personal. He knows monsters don’t live under his bed but above his head. 

For Caitlyn? I feel a little bad for her. Ekko is telling her that the system she’s prided in and believes is fundamentally good is inherently flawed and corrupt as sin. Which it is. The system Grayson upheld is full of corruption, and you can see her processing this information, even after saying Ekko is wrong.

I’ll say it. The moment he stated the truth, Caitlyn started to doubt her belief. If you look into her eyes, the way they move, you can see she started to doubt everything but probably said this as a reflex because it can’t be. But it is. She needed to hear it because Marcus is absolute trash.

But Vi swept in and showed kindness to both of them. Not just kindness but an astute understanding of their communication. That’s why I love this scene so much. She could’ve said “Ekko’s right, but she’s not our enemy.” Her main objective was to convince Ekko to see Caitlyn’s side of things (which is, she really doesn’t know the depths of Silco’s infiltration in Piltover’s law enforcement). “She’s not lying to you, she genuinely believes they aren’t affiliated with Silco.”

Vi knows Caitlyn at this point. She knows Caitlyn is naive, sheltered but also very resourceful, empathetic, compassionate and is all about the facts. When presented with evidence, she can be swayed. She learns, at least…the hard way because Marcus is trash, but you get what I’m saying.

The writers did an extremely well done job in subverting expectations. 

I also like how Vi didn’t invalidate Ekko’s feelings in order to defend Caitlyn either. I’m always weary when it comes to the “Hey Leave X alone”, “Not All X are Bad!” or even “You’re wrong Ekko,” type lines that come up when it comes to an oppressed person confronting someone who they believe to have a hand in the reason they’re suffering, or was shielded from it while those who out up the blinders neglected or allowed the suffering to happen under their ruling.

Vi has been a victim of the system, she has an understanding of what Silco and Piltover put Ekko and his folks through, and is able to give the perfect response to this situation that points out Caitlyn’s thought process but also her naivety. And Caitlyn after spending a few hours in the Lanes, completely changes her position and defends them, after earning Ekko’s trust by acknowledging where her thought process was wrong, and promising to help make things right, without demanding sympathy or exception, where it could have (and possibly did) get his friends killed.

It is extremely easy to get that line wrong, and the writers didn’t. It is easy to invalidate Ekko’s feelings by making him seem overly aggressive on sweet cupcake Caitlyn. Vi did not do that. Vi validated him, but her objective was to build a bridge between two people she trusts. It was probably why she was in the middle, representing that bridge.

Exactly! You’ve put what I was trying to say so succinctly. She found a way on the spot to validate Ekko and sum up Caitlyn’s thought process to him. Ekko trusts Vi. He listens to her. But Caitlyn does what you say, and Ekko realizes on his own that she’s someone who can be trusted. Not that he trusts her 100%, but he sees the potential.

Caitlyn’s development isn’t subtle. It isn’t really in your face either. What I really enjoy from the series is facial expressions. You can see how she’s taking all of this information in, processing it and reconfiguring her perspective.