The Complexity And Nuance Of Arcane Isn’t That There’s A Class Conflict. That’s The Straightforward,

The complexity and nuance of Arcane isn’t that there’s a class conflict. That’s the straightforward, obvious, surface conflict. If your analysis of Arcane doesn’t get beyond that, you are very shallowly scratching the surface.

When it comes to the class themes of Arcane (which are not the only ones) the nuance and depth come from realizing that such conflicts are rarely so simple. People who come from the oppressed class can, in turn, oppress their own people. People can benefit from being part of the rich/oppressor class without realizing how they benefit from the system, and even those who see it can struggle to break from their own privilege. Some people are most concerned with harm reduction while others seek radical change. Sometimes, the only way to move forward is in step with the person who was just holding you back. Arcane lays all of this out, and, yes, that can be unsatisfying. Black and white stories where there’s a clear good guy and bad guy can be comforting, and there are certainly some very good stories that are that way, but that wasn’t what Arcane set out to do.

Arcane did its best (which I personally believe was fantastic) to humanize everyone, even Silco and Ambessa—to not necessarily excuse but to explain why we do the horrible things we do. For love? Yes. And fear, anger, greed, pride, altruism, hope, and despair. It was not interested in condemning its characters for their flaws but rather showing them either fighting to overcome them or falling victim to them like any decent tragedy would do.

It’s a disservice to the narrative to flatten that complexity to rich = bad, poor = good.