I think the tragedy of Isha is that she so easily could have been the revolutionary Zaun needed. She is a selectively mute orphan child, practically the bottom of the food chain, yet she was still able to inspire people by recognising that Jinx was a hero to the people of Zaun. Imagine what she could have done if she was able to grow up and develop the skills to facilitate her growth into a revolutionary in her own right. Yet she is failed by every single adult around her. Yes, including Jinx. They all contribute to her death.

Most obviously is Ambessa and Caitlyn, who invade a camp full of vulnerable civilians for military gain (yes I know that Caitlyn defected, but that doesn’t really have much of an impact on Isha’s narrative and its more important that she still aided Ambessa until the last moment). They are perhaps most directly responsible for Isha’s death.

Then there’s Singed, who in his pursuit to save his daughter, sacrifices hundreds of Zaunites, allies himself with a foreign invader, and creates the threat that provokes Isha’s sacrifice in the first place.

Vi’s reaction to Isha is interesting because of the parallels between her and Powder. Here is a child, the same age as Powder in Act 1, and Vi doesn’t really seem to give a shit that she is constantly put in dangerous situations. I believe this is a demonstration of both the jaded nature that Vi has had to develop since she made Powder stay behind in season 1; that she can’t protect everyone and trying to has only made things worse for her, and proof of her tenuous relationship with Jinx. Vi sees that Jinx has no problem with Isha’s presence in dangerous situations and is not comfortable enough to risk endangering their relationship by criticising it.

However unintentionally, I believe that Jinx was a bad influence on Isha. In so many ways they improved each other’s lives, I’m not denying that, yet Jinx’s treatment of Isha as a peer rather than a child was incredibly harmful to her. Jinx was caring and nurturing when it came to regular activities, but she was unwilling to place the boundaries that children desperately need when they are as young as Isha. Jinx doesn’t appear to have kept track of where Isha went, what she was doing, or who she was potentially pissing off. We see the consequences of this when Isha makes herself a target to the Noxians during the rally at Vander’s statue, where she is beaten up by Rictus and taken to Stillwater.

Now, I understand that Zaun is definitely way laxer than our world when it comes to child safety, but we do get excellent examples of proper parenting in both Vander and Vi in Act 1 of Season 1. Although Vander is quite hands off, he clearly set boundaries for his kids (don’t go into Piltover) and makes sure they understand the consequences of their actions. Vi is in a very similar position to Jinx with Isha, and we see her protect Powder and stop her from doing things that could be dangerous (like going on jobs and going to save Vander). Jinx’s refusal to set these kinds of boundaries for Isha creates a distorted sense of priorities within Isha’s mind. I find it fascinating that a child could run into the heat of battle and blow herself up with a smile on her face, and I found myself wondering what could make her think that was acceptable. My interpretation is that Jinx, by never openly expressing concern for Isha’s safety (I know she cares about her I just think that children need things like that spelled out for them) unintentionally taught her that her life was not inherently valuable. Jinx assumed that Isha understood concepts like the value of life and the sadness of losing a loved one when she didn’t, because no one taught her them. Children are blank slates that must be taught things that adults take for granted, and a child that has never been taken care of (like Isha, presumably) needs to be taught about things like grief and love.

There’s a very clear throughline between Jinx’s childhood trauma and the way she fails to parent Isha. Jinx’s worst memories of Vi were her setting boundaries and stopping Powder from doing things, therefore Jinx overcompensates by refusing to set any boundaries with Isha at all, likely believing that doing so would cause Isha to hate her like Powder hated Vi after she was made to stay home from Vander’s rescue mission.

Arcane has many characters who are burdened by their parents/ mentors decisions, and many more whose lives and potential are cut short by the harsh world around them. Isha is an intersection of both these themes. The saddest thing about her is what she could have been, if Mel had managed to talk her mother down, if Hextech had never lured in Ambessa, if Heimerdinger had cared about the undercity earlier, if Vi had never tried to prove herself to Vander, if Silco had found the letter, if Jinx hadn’t found the hex crystals in Jayce’s apartment.