Generational Conflict

I'm rewatching Arcane and man, that Vander-Vi conflict hits and hurts so hard.

Vander’s been Vi, he’s been young and hopped up on righteous anger and justified rage at how the Undercity is treated; he’s been in a place where he wanted to hurt Piltover for what they’re doing, maybe even was willing to die to prove a point. But he’s also seen what that mindset does. It leads to a lot of death and a lot of suffering on both sides--and given how outgunned the Undercity is, he has a lot of reason to think any similar efforts would end as fruitlessly as his own did, leaving them with nothing but more blood in the streets and no better off. He could end up watching his kids die young for nothing. He’s willing to compromise and settle for less to avoid more of that.

Vi thinks things are different this time; she’s young and idealistic and full of fury at their oppression. She thinks Vander’s efforts were noble and wants to follow down that path, and her youth and inexperience give her the narrowness of vision not to think beyond proving a point to Piltover and making them listen. She doesn’t see a future for herself or her family but more of the same drudgery that it’s been. Because of Vander’s deal with Grayson, she’s been able to grow up in relative peace, which has given her the freedom to want more. Vander is happy to survive in relative quiet; Vi wants to thrive. She thinks she’s willing to pay the price to stick it to Piltover, but she hasn’t buried comrades who followed her orders into a fight.

You can see both of their perspectives so well and why it’s so hard to reconcile them, and it just breaks the heart </3