anyway, if you got this far, thanks for reading.

p.s. this moment answers the question regarding who ran to the other first when the bomb hit the council. toodles.

but seriously: why would you ask your (supposedly) insignificant situationship if your relationship is 'beyond repair' if you two meant nothing to each other?

and if you did but had grown apart then the ask of 'are we beyond repair?' would imply you want what you used to have with said person.

image showing the text of when mel medarda encounters an enemy jayce in-game. the text reads: what will prevail? our affection or our ambition?

image of text from arcane survivor jayce's voiceline when encountering an enemy mel in-game. the text reads: we've both changed, mel. but are we beyond repair?

"okay, but answer the question: did meljay break up?"

i don't know. if they did, they're some 40+ year old losers yearning in league. embarrassing i yell ya!

(if you got this far, thanks for reading)

this thread isn't meant to get anyone to suddenly start shipping meljay - i really don't care.

i do, however, care about when people selectively look at a narrative.

image of mel medarda and jayce talis looking up at the hexgate

jayce raising his hand to the hexgate

image of mel after she's freed from the hexcore's control and looks up at the hexgate

image of mel's view as she looks up at the hexgates, potentially realizing jayce is gone

looking back, mel and jayce don't have much time to naturally 'grow apart' within the narrative if that's meant to be the takeaway.

if anything, the parallels, the callbacks to their prior (romantic) scenes, and showing them working together conflicts with that.

i don't think there's a right or wrong answer here.

i do think it's ultimately part of his apology - for believing for a second that the same woman he felt like nothing was impossible with could ever be controlled by the arcane or anything else.

we're left with his final words to mel: you'll never be a passenger.

this is a....layered line. there's multiple ways to take it. is it an affirmation? a vow that she'll never be controlled by anything if he can stop the future he visited. is it neither?

even still, the scene ends on a somewhat positive, although bittersweet, note for them.

despite all the horrors they've both endured, there's one constant: how much jayce talis believes in mel medarda.

throughout this scene we see the physical scars of their trauma inflicted upon them. even as they talk on better terms, they hide their pain from each other: mel uses her white cloak to hide her body while jayce wears a glove to hide the rune being embedded into his wrist.

this moment is really the only time mel actually vocalizes her pain regarding what happened to her.

it's in character for her to confide in jayce about this - the same person she confided in before about her exile.

now to jayce and mel's final scene.

one of the reasons i find myself a bit baffled at takes that latch onto jayce's words in the council as law is because jayce *himself* doesn't treat what he himself says that way.

he apologizes and acknowledges that mel is hurting too.

image showing the text from arcane survivor jayce's voiceline when with a mel on the team. the text reads: mel. whatever happens, if you're me, i'm with you.

hmm.

i wonder why they wrote this.

these were choices made by the writers.

it is a choice to show them still finding a way to be a team - in-sync and fighting to protect each other - despite all that has happened to them prior.

notice that jayce doesn't look away from mel until *she* pulls away from his gaze.

and when mel needs him, jayce rushes to protect her - even if its to his own detriment (pain in his leg).

a scene that starts with them arguing ends with them holding onto each after facing danger in the council room.

it's a parallel to the opening of act one.

fear, however, can also be a motivator.

mel and jayce's lives are on the line during this fight and we see them both lock in to protect each other despite jayce being weary of mel being a mage and mel being scared of her own powers.

that same magic saves jayce's life - again.

mel and jayce end up having to fight off viktor's puppet (and are losing, they are truly #loser4loser).

having jayce specifically gaze at *mel* during the 'fear cloud's your judgement' line also reinforces everything said before.

fear IS clouding his judgement.

image of jayce looking back at mel

is it not....odd to place yourself in front of the woman you were just arguing with if you see her as a threat and dangerous? if you hate and resent her?

unless.....you don't.

narrator voice: he does not hate her.

back to the council room: mel and jayce's argument is interrupted and despite everything said, we have this brief moment before jayce begins to talk with viktor.

jayce steps in front of mel, glancing back to her before focusing his attention on the puppet in front of them.

we see this when mel confides in jayce about her family and how the medardas only 'take from the world'.

mel believed in jayce's vision and many of her actions in season one that are framed as manipulative, often are done for jayce's benefit more than her own.

despite everything, mel doesn't regret taking a chance on jayce & viktor that night. she was *begged* to by the way, as it seems people forget.

mel was looking for something to 'put piltover on the map', that's true but jayce also inspires mel to give back unlike a medarda - these are her own words

during this entire exchange, mel really hasn't been herself honestly. she's very solemn and demure compared to the charming and calculating councilor we meet her as.

however, when it comes to defending choosing to invest in jayce and viktor...she honestly locks the fuck in lol

another addendum: it is also interesting that despite his distrust of mel because of her magic - it's why he specifically asks her 'how long have you known?' - it's ultimately not her that he ends up attacking.

image showing the text of one of arcane survivor jayce's voicelines to an enemy mel. the text reads: mel. show me who you've become show me you're the one in control!

especially not when the driving force behind what he's saying is fear.

he's afraid of mel not being the mel he fell in love with - that she's not in control. this is reinforced by the arcane savior jayce voicelines (which the co-creators of the show were involved in).

jayce shoots viktor in the chest before even talking to him (whether a jayce in another timeline attempted that and failed, i don't know). he's now accusing mel of intentionally letting multiple people die.

i don't think we as the audience are supposed to wholeheartedly agree with him here.

ultimately, while i think we're supposed to empathize with jayce, i do not think you're meant to *agree* with him here.

this is due to jayce's actions prior to this and mel's own response.

now we get to the 'you used me' moment.

aside from thinking this scene is a lil nonsensical - jayce was nowhere near mel and elora when the latter mentions jayce being a good investment so it's a bit odd.

with that said, i'll try to talk about it in good faith/not dismiss it.

so we have a traumatized jayce that's distrustful of magic now distrustful of mel.

on the other side is mel, traumatized herself - we see it in how she communicates in this. mel, normally calm and self-assured is stuttering and fumbling with her hands while defending herself.

image of jayce looking at an unknown figure (mel) enter the council room

after his hammer suddenly reacts, jayce grabs his hammer to defend himself.

remember that this scene initially starts off with jayce grabbing his hammer after it reacts to a presence - you're meant to think it's reacting to the approaching figure (mel) and jayce during this exchange probably thinks it was.

it's really reacting to viktor's puppet hiding in the room.

despite all they've been through, there's a mutual relief upon seeing each other again.

jayce doesn't become openly closed off and distrustful of mel until realizing she is a mage! that is a fundamental part of this entire exchange that's often overlooked.

when mel takes her hood off and jayce realizes who it is, he gives a visible sigh of relief. a strange reaction to have to a woman he hates, no?

he's nearly about to smile back at her when he realizes mel's changes and his brow furrows. jayce is back on guard again.