SCREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEECH

And we are BACK, folks!

As much as I have mixed feelings about the whole “wait a week to release more episodes” format (because I want it all nowwwwwwww), it was super fun walking into work on Saturday knowing that once I survived, I would have more Arcane to watch!

(is that sad? Maybe. Let me have this)

I will preface this post by saying I THOROUGHLY enjoyed Act 2–I think it did a great job of fleshing out the more overlooked key characters from Act 1 (CAITLYN MY BELOVED) while also still focusing on the ones already fleshed out nicely in Act 1. Plus we still had stellar animation and STELLAR music.

Were there questionable moments?

Yes.

Do I tentatively hope those moments were included for an actual reason and not just…to make us all feel uncomfortable?

Also yes.

(Seriously…did anyone ask for that sex scene? Anyone at all? Yeah. That’s what I thought. More on that later, though.)

Without any further ado, let us dive in!

(Also, spoiler warning now in effect!!)

THE STORY

We begin somewhat innocently with a conversation between Jayce and Heimerdinger. It starts out as a subtle way to show the audience that some undisclosed amount of time has passed–enough so that Jayce has like, forgotten how to shave? And also so that Jayce is now viewed as Piltover’s golden boy after successfully incorporating Hextech into a brand new feature for the city: the Hexgates. Heimerdinger tells a layered story to Jayce about a scientist of the past who was like, terrible at everything, but realized his students could change the world for the better. It’s a harmless enough conversation unless you’re watching it again after finishing the Act in which case o h n o

It’s apparently Progress Day for Piltover, (as well as a Bicentennial!) a day where the city celebrates its founding on the principles of science and progress in order to make the world a better place. This involves celebrations, visiting dignitaries, and a big speech where someone (usually Heimerdinger, as the city’s founder) talks about plans for the future and happiness and so on and so forth. This year however, Heimerdinger explains that the Council would like Jayce to give the speech instead, and Heimerdinger agrees with them–after all, even though Jayce explicitly went against Heimerdinger’s wishes years ago to work with Hextech, it is now undoubtedly helping the city prosper, so…yay!

We then catch up with Jayce’s buddy Caitlyn, who has joined the Enforcers against her family’s wishes (because she is a lady of good upbringing after all, why would she want to dirty her dainty hands being an Enforcer, smh). The audience learns that Caitlyn joined because she wants to make a difference, to serve the people of the city and protect them, but because of her family’s influence, she gets stuck with jobs like “standing outside her mother’s tent” and “the graveyard shift of walking around but out of any actual danger.” She’s frustrated, but congratulates Jayce on being asked to give the speech this year (after she makes fun of him for it a lil bit.)

We then finally catch up with Jayce’s lab partner and resident lanky disaster man, Viktor, who has…looked better, to put it lightly. Viktor and Jayce want to present what they are calling “the next chapter of Hextech,” a stabilized version of the tech that can put it into the hands of the common folk to help them and make their lives easier (this scene includes notable nods to both Vi’s eventual signature weapon as well as Viktor’s). Heimerdinger is suitably impressed, but he also tells them that they need to take more time perfecting it and guaranteeing its safety. This frustrates both men, Viktor in particular–this is their Hextech DREAM, after all! Later, when Jayce brings up Heimerdinger’s decision to Mel, she encourages him to throw aside his professor’s advice and instead give the people what they want. So who will Jayce listen to?

MEANWHILE, there seems to be a new gang causing trouble for both the citizens of Piltover AND the citizens (or rather, mostly just the criminals) of Zaun–the Firelights. These funky guys fly around on hoverboards of some sort, sporting angular full-face masks and wreaking havoc, though their end-goal is unclear. They interrupt a smuggling operation aboard an airship, and just when it seems like they’ve foiled the plans of the Zaun crew who are smuggling in Shimmer (remember that ominous purple liquid from Act 1 that turned people all beasty? It’s a drug problem now, and they’ve called it the very ominous sounding…Shimmer), our favorite blue-haired gal makes a comeback and destroys…basically everything.

Sporting twin braids and an arsenal of gadgets and weapons, Powder is back, but she goes by Jinx now. In the ensuing fight between her and the Firelights, she accidentally knocks the mask off one of them, revealing a girl with pink hair. It’s not Vi, but Jinx thinks it is for a moment, and it throws her off. Fractured by the memories that come flooding back to her, she opens fire on the entire ship, shooting some of her own Zaun-mates in the chaos.

Later, Caitlyn sneaks aboard the wreck of the airship to investigate on her own, sneaking some pictures of the damage and trying to recreate what happened for herself. Alas, she’s not supposed to be there (because, you know, she’s supposed to be “standing outside her mother’s tent and this blown up airship is definitely not a tent Caitlyn c’mon”), and the new sheriff of the Enforcers, Marcus (whom you may remember from Act 1 as Grayson’s hotheaded second-in-command, and also the Enforcer who knocked Vi out at the end before she could get back to Powder), tells her this isn’t her place and now she’s gonna take the graveyard shift and she’s gonna ENJOY IT.

Jayce’s big speech goes well, and he chooses in the moment to follow Heimerdinger’s advice, not yet revealing the new Hextech stuff to the general public. This disappoints Mel and frustrates Viktor, but don’t worry, soon he’ll be impressing Mel and…still…frustrating and upsetting Viktor….

wait that’s not what we wanted–

That night, one of the tents mysteriously gets set on fire. Caitlyn and the Enforcers go to investigate, hearing a little girl’s voice drawing them inside. Caitlyn recognizes some of the same imagery from the airship wreck, and yells for her fellow Enforcers to get out, but it comes too late–it turns out the little girl luring them inside is actually Jinx, causing chaos yet again. She blasts the tent and steals Jayce’s stabilized Hextech crystal thing he decided against showing to the public. Six Enforcers are killed, Caitlyn survives but with some injuries, and she uh…she also gets fired. Literally. Ba dum tssss

Back in Zaun, we learn that Jinx is a bit of a, uh, loose cannon, shall we say–Silco, who now runs the Undercity now that Vander is “gone,” vouches for her when everyone tells him she can’t be controlled, and it’s clear the two have an interesting if extremely not healthy father-daughter relationship. Because she wasn’t actually supposed to blow up an entire airship when the Firelights showed up, Silco tells her to sit out for a while and focus on her gadgets. Determined to prove herself, she blows up the tent and steals the Hextech crystal, which she presents as a Progress Day gift to Silco. (It’s around this time that we also learn that Silco and Marcus are working together, and it’s heavily implied that it’s due to Silco that Marcus is now the Sheriff–it’s an interesting juxtaposition to the previous relationship Vander and Grayson shared).

In order to patch up the problem of an entire Hextech crystal being stolen, Mel proposes that Jayce be made a new Council member in order to more effectively oversee Hextech safety. This is met with some skepticism, but it does work. Jayce attempts to enlist Caitlyn into his personal Council security (since she got fired and all), but she’s not content with a new desk job and is determined to get to the bottom of both the airship blast and the Progress Day attack. Her search leads her to a very gnarly prison, where we finally, FINALLY, see Vi again, having been likely locked up since she was first taken back at the end of Act 1 (it’s hinted that Silco told Marcus to kill her so that there wasn’t a danger of her coming back to steal Powder/Jinx from him, but Marcus wasn’t able to do so, and instead kept her locked up). Caitlyn and Vi team up, but what will Jinx do when she learns that her sister is back in town?

What will Silco do?

THE ART

This section is purely in here so I can reiterate that THE ART IS STILL INCREDIBLE AHHHHHH but also so I can give proper credit to Fortiche, the studio behind the animation and also one of the producers for the show. It’s great, it’s lovely, it makes me feel things. Thanks guys!

The glimpses of sketchy overlays from Act 1 (and seen more in the “Enemy” music video) are more prominent in this Act, which makes sense as they directly tie into being a visual representation of Jinx’s mental state. The quick cuts and overlays do a great job of helping us see into Jinx’s head a little bit, and specifically how it can really start messing with her even in/especially in the heat of battle. That first moment when she unmasks the Firelight and thinks it’s Vi? Iconic. Depressing. Beautiful.

There’s also even more of a pointed visual difference between Piltover and Zaun this Act, which again, makes sense story-wise. The elegant, muted colors of Piltover during Progress Day are a stark contrast to the almost blinding colors and sharp angles of Zaun now that Silco is directly in charge and distributing Shimmer freely. Zaun’s initial introduction in Act 1 with Bea Miller’s “Playground” playing over it wasn’t necessarily inviting, but it felt downright homey in comparison to the Undercity we’re introduced to in Act 2, and rightly so. Especially that scene showing off the transition of The Last Drop from a comforting sort of tavern into a drug-addled nightclub–it feels like a slap in the face, and it brings the audience right into how Vi must have felt once she’s finally able to return.

Visually, there’s one scene in particular we have to discuss, unfortunately, but it really deserves its own section…

THAT ONE SCENE

Have a sweet picture of baby Viktor because I refuse to include a picture of the actual scene in question.

So…if any of you have watched Downton Abbey, there’s a scene in Season 4 where our dearly beloved Anna is assaulted during a concert at the house. It’s a visceral scene and one that stays with you, for better or worse. I bring it up because the editing for the scene was an interesting choice–cuts of Anna were spliced with the peaceful music from upstairs in a jarring, almost whiplash-esque effect. It was an intriguing if divisive way to show this juxtaposition of two completely different events occurring at the exact same moment in time.

Episode 5 of Act 2 brings us a scene similar in that fashion–and visually it’s striking, which is why I feel like I have to bring it up. It’s also…very uncomfortable, and I have to hope that it was presented in such a way on purpose for whatever Act 3 has in store for us.

To set the scene–

As previously mentioned, Viktor doesn’t look so well from the very start of the Act. He seems to be limping more, he has permanent bags under his eyes, and he just generally looks more shaggy than he did previously, especially in comparison to Jayce. There’s a moment when Jayce is overlooking Hexgate transportation and shipping logs when Viktor coughs, leaving some blood on the railing (classic movie/TV trope of YOU BE DYING). He has similar coughing fits throughout the Act, but insists on waving off anyone who shows concern. Feeling snubbed by Jayce’s refusal to show off the next chapter of Hextech and by the fact that Jayce is spending more and more time in politics rather than in the science that initially inspired and bonded the two of them, Viktor locks himself away in the lab, night after night, determined to come up with something impressive. Specifically, he wants to crack what it is exactly that bonds mages to the Arcane so they can use it naturally and without danger (mages being folks who are born with the natural ability for magic, all of whom are banned from Piltover because they a city of SCIENCE and also because Heimerdinger had seen some nasty stuff from them and just wants peace, this poor tired immortal fuzzball). He works on it night after night, but can’t crack the code.

At the same time, Jayce is focusing more and more on politics and schmoozing with the Council members. Specifically, Mel. After all, she’s the one who allowed them to start Hextech work in the first place, and she’s the one who pushed to make Jayce a full new member of the Council. After Jayce decides to really step up Hexgate security in the wake of the smuggling disaster and his crystal being stolen, Mel brings to light the fact that now the entire Council is mad at him because he unintentionally ruined all of their black market deals. Ah, politics. In order to continue his push for safety while also keeping the Council on his side, he follows Mel’s footsteps and makes deals with the Council members so they can keep drinking illegal alcohol or whatever. The scary thing is that he’s good at it, too, and really impresses Mel.

The main point is that in Act 1, Jayce and Viktor became a team, they became partners. Viktor literally saved Jayce’s life when he was at his lowest point, and believed in him and his work when no one else did. Viktor risked everything to help Jayce with his research that first night, and in return, Jayce was determined to share the credit for the project (it was “OUR HEXTECH DREAM” aaaaaahhhhhhh). Act 2 shows how much that has changed. They still work and create together, but Jayce is receiving all the credit. He’s the face of the city, the only face of the city. Now it is implied that Jayce isn’t necessarily doing this on purpose, at least not currently. Before his big speech, he does say that Viktor should be up there with him, and Viktor says no, “not in front of all these people.”

(There’s a lot to unpack there when it comes to why he says no here–does he really mean yes, he wants to take the credit he is due, but he’s just as socially awkward as the rest of us and he’s hoping Jayce will understand what he actually wants and he doesn’t because bless Jayce he’s just so, so dumb? Possibly. I think it probably has more to do with Viktor’s past–he grew up a cripple from the Undercity, after all. As we see in his flashback, he’s used to being alone, possibly because he was bullied for his condition. How can he hope to stand beside Jayce, the golden boy, a perfect physical specimen of the city of progress, and claim any sort of right to those scientific breakthroughs? It’s mostly speculation at this point, so we’ll have to wait and see if Act 3 brings us the uh, robot Viktor we all know from LoL and the feud he has with Jayce.)

Though their friendship is still present, it’s clear that there are cracks starting to show, and it’s this state of things that brings us to…

that scene.

So basically, Viktor is working alone in the lab, again, desperately trying to get this new Hextech thing to work the way he wants it to. Jayce isn’t there, who knows how long it’s been since he’s been there, because he was busy schmoozing and impressing the Council members, but particularly, Mel. At the same time that Viktor has another coughing fit, his vision blurring, his blood splattering the console in front of him, Mel turns and kisses Jayce. We then experience this absolute insane sequence that, I kid you not, goes back and forth between a Jayce and Mel sex scene and Viktor LITERALLY DYING. The hextech thing Viktor has been working on reacts with his blood–that’s the key Viktor had been missing this whole time (which makes sense when you think about it–he’d been trying to figure out why mages, those born with the ability to bond with and control the arcane, are able to do just that, and it could be because they have a personal connection to it–it’s literally in their blood). He almost misses it, however, collapsing to the floor, and the crystal’s melding with his blood and changing is spliced with moments of Jayce and Mel…getting it on.

While it’s absolutely one of the most stunning visuals of the show, it also comes across as just…insanely uncomfortable. Mel and Jayce have a weird relationship already, but it never felt like it was leading towards any sort of “romance” prior to this point (and honestly, it still doesn’t feel like that). It’s also unclear if Mel actually has any sort of feelings for Jayce, or if she’s focusing on manipulating him for her own gains. I like Mel as a character–she’s incredibly clever, and we have seen her manipulate others to get her way in previous episodes (she manipulates a council vote this way in Act 1). It more seems like she likes having the golden boy under her thumb–when she’s frustrated that he left her after their “night together,” it’s unclear if it’s because she’s upset that they slept together but he left without a goodbye or a “hey call ya tomorrow,” or because she’s starting to learn that maybe she doesn’t totally control him as much as she would like. It’s an interesting dynamic, but again, it makes the whole scene with them reeeeaaaaally uncomfortable. And it’s unclear at this point if the scene is SUPPOSED to be uncomfortable, or if we’re supposed to be like “awwww yay romance” because it SURE doesn’t feel like it.

As many fans in the tumblr tag will tell you, Jayce and Viktor had WAYYYYYY more chemistry together than Jayce and Mel, and also a way more developed relationship?

(So do Vi and Caitlyn…we will absolutely get to that, don’t worry)

Now, in the story’s defense, there really wasn’t any point where it was confirmed that Jayce and Viktor even thought about being more than ~lab partners~ ya know? I mean, is it frustrating because we’re all just overly starved for queer content? Yes. Is it also frustrating because, as previously stated, Mel and Jayce have almost zero development and this whole thing came out of NOWHERE? Also yes.

On the flip side, I’m cautiously optimistic simply because the storytelling up to this point has been grand, and everything has felt in place the way it is for a reason. It is a WEIRD choice to juxtapose Viktor’s almost-death with Jayce and Mel’s sex scene, and weird enough that I’m, again, cautiously optimistic that there has to be a reason for it. I dunno what it is yet, we’ll just have to wait and see.

Anyway. Weird scene. Bleh. Moving on.

THE MUSIC

IT IS SO GOOD, ONCE AGAIN.

New bops incorporated through the episodes with the score include “Dirty Little Animals” and “Guns for Hire,” both of which are excellent in like, completely different ways.

As for the score, my new favorites include “A Bicentennial,” “She’s Here,” “Too Risky,” and “Showdown,” but ohhhhhhh bOI THEY’RE ALL SO GOOD.

Also??? Ray Chen???? Violinist extraordinaire????? Incredible. Amazing. 400/10.

THE AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH

Okay. Alright. Okay.

So I was vaguely aware going into this show that Caitlyn x Vi was a popular ship, but also like, there’s a zillion characters in LoL and therefore a zillion ships and again, the present lore is kind of a hot mess so confirmations on any sort of…anything are rare, really.

I would also like to state that TECHNICALLY. TECHNICALLY. AS OF NOW. THEY’RE STILL NOT. NECESSARILY. CANON.

HOWEVER.

OhhhhhhhhhhhmyWORD. I also agree with everyone saying there is no heterosexual explanation for this??? Like Vi does this to Cait in the brothel scene??? She says “you’re hot, cupcake”????? She asks “man or woman” and Cait just panics and then Vi sees her flirting with a woman no problem????? “Stop calling me that.” “But you’re so sweet…like a cupcake…”?????? Not to mention the apothecary scene where Caitlyn trades her rifle for a potion to save Vi’s life and she barely knows her I’m????? And then when Vi comes back to consciousness and she’s holding her face that way I’m?????????

Now is it very possible that we will still get no confirmation by the end of Act 3 YES. But again–I am, perhaps against my better judgment, cautiously optimistic? There’s too much there, right? SURELY THERE’S TOO MUCH THERE.

Not to mention when Jayce comes to see Caitlyn earlier on and gives her a bouquet of flowers and she LITERALLY TOSSES THEM ASIDE???????

Again, I am fully prepared to be let down. However I am also. Cautiously optimistic.

Caitlyn was also the first character I really loved in LoL so she holds a dear place in my heart and I wiLL LOSE MY MIND IF WE GET CANON QUEER CAITLYN. AAAAAAHHHHHHHHH.

THE CHARACTERS

JINX–I really enjoy how they’re handling her so far. Though years have passed since Act 1, she’s still very much a scared child, and circumstances being what they are, she’s fallen into very much the wrong crowd. Silco was her lifeline at the end of Act 1, and he still is here. Interestingly, he genuinely seems to care about her, perhaps because he sees much of himself in her, and she would do anything for him and his approval. Combine that with the clear moments where she is tinkering and inventing and creating, we have a very smart girl who was handed a really bad hand. Also, her recreations of Mylo and Claggor in her room (lair?) are just heartbreaking, thanks.

VI–It absolutely destroys me that Vi has likely been in prison since the end of Act 1. Seeing her come back to Zaun was heartbreaking–she still fits in, but so much of it has changed with Vander’s absence. Her teamup with Caitlyn is, of course, delightful, but her determination for her sister is what brought us all here, of course (at least initially. The tumblr tag may have you thinking otherwise). She has quips for days and muscles that are just yeah. Yep. She’s extremely likable, even when she’s making brash decisions, which is good.

CAITLYN–We saw so much more of my love this Act which was delightful!! One review I saw talked about how Caitlyn’s arc is so interesting specifically because she genuinely wants to do good and help people, but at this stage, she’s still so naive about everything. It never occurs to her that the Enforcers running the prison would be taking prisoners and beating them up for fun, because aren’t they the good guys? She genuinely didn’t know what life in Zaun was like. Her whole world is turned upside down in this Act, and her determination to actually be the good guy is what drives her forward. And probably her determination to stay with Vi and honestly, same.

JAYCE–Ohhhhhh my poor man is so, so dumb. I guess Jayce in LoL lore is supposed to be like, a total asshole, so everyone was all “aw he’s nice in this!” but we’re starting to see where that potential for asshole-ism can come from. He started out as a total science bro, but as we saw in this Act, he likes attention. He likes the power. He’s still not totally overrun by it yet, but that scene where he schmoozes with the other Council members about their illegal dealings was like, gross. He was too good at it. I don’t like it. But what’s fascinating is that as disgusting as some of his decisions were in this Act, it’s all written in such a way that it all makes sense with the way his character is right now. He made the choices he did because why wouldn’t he?

VIKTOR–OHHHHH MY POOR MAN. HE NEEDS A HUG. OR SOMETHING. I said most of my Viktor thoughts in the section about, uh, that scene, so there’s not much to revisit. The big news is that Viktor is officially dying (though we all kind of knew that) and his new discovery with Hextech, which he’s calling the Hexcore, could potentially save him. Curious to see when he transforms into Viktor Robot, as he is in LoL.

I don’t have a lot of specific things to say about Silco, Heimerdinger, or Mel, as I’ve said some things already. I will say for Heimerdinger that I think he’s really interestingly written–he’s frustrating because it seems like, as the founder of the City of Progress, he’s weirdly intent on stifling the progress that Viktor and Jayce want to make, but we know he has reasons. The Rune Wars have only been alluded to so far, but they are the reason Heimerdinger is skeptical of magic and intent on safety when it comes to science. Again, it does make him frustrating sometimes, HOWEVER…he deserved better than that ending thank you.

HEADING INTO ACT 3…

Awww man it all comes to a head on November 20, so what do we have to look forward to?

Furious that she’d been lied to about her sister’s life and whereabouts, Jinx leaves Silco and lights a flare in an attempt to encourage Vi to find her. Vi, meanwhile, has been hunted down by Silco, who is determined to get rid of her so he can keep his relationship with Jinx intact. Caitlyn and Vi manage to escape, much to Silco’s frustration, and on their way out, Vi catches sight of the flare Jinx lit up.

Meanwhile, Jayce, potentially drunk on power and I guess, Mel, is determined to make real change in the city, but Heimerdinger thinks they need to change their focus back to what made Piltover so successful to begin with–good ol’ fashioned SCIENCE. It should also be noted that Jayce is a little miffed at Heimerdinger for wanting to get rid of the Hexcore, despite its potential to be able to save Viktor’s life (maybe). Again, in Heimerdinger’s defense, he can tell the thing is downright dangerous, and let’s be real, nothing good in these stories has ever come from something that needs blood to work properly. With all of this urging him on, Jayce puts forth a vote to forcibly remove Heimerdinger from his head seat on the Council, stating that perhaps it’s time for a well-deserved retirement. At this point, Jayce essentially has the entire Council in his pocket thanks to his earlier schmoozing and sex…ing, so the vote is unanimous, and Heimerdinger is ousted. His lil face is VERY SAD ABOUT THIS AND IT MAKES ME VERY SAD ALSO.

Meanwhile meanwhile, Viktor is off to seek the help of an old ally of his from when he was a kid, someone who knows a thing or two about mutations and magic and weird stuff like that–essentially, someone who can help with his Hexcore problem. Basically as it is now, it has the power to react with living things and make them flourish, but then they die almost instantly. So that’s not ideal. So yeah, our buddy Singed is back! You may remember him briefly from the initial lab experiments with Shimmer before Jinx accidentally blew everything up, and he met Viktor when Viktor was a kid and they formed sort of a temporary friendship over a giant axolotl dragon, as you do.

Back with our main girls, just as the flare burns out, Vi does manage to reach Jinx. Right then, however, they are attacked by the Firelights. The battle starts out well enough with Jinx and Vi actually working together, but Jinx’s cracked psyche comes into play and she almost hits Vi with one of her shots. We get this really heartbreaking moment where Vi realizes that her sister didn’t just become this way because she did what she had to to survive, like she’d originally thought–some part of her actually enjoys this, so much that she can’t always control it. What’s interesting though is that even when Jinx hallucinates in the heat of battle, her body still reacts before she does, often saving her from being hit.

At the end of it all, the Firelights knock Vi out and take her away, leaving Jinx alone. Again.

SO THERE’S A LOT TO DEAL WITH.

We also still have some questions not dealt with from Act 1–for example, where was Ekko this Act? The popular theory is that he’s actually the leader of the Firelights, which would explain their inclusion to begin with, but we don’t know for sure yet. We also saw no further hint of Vander being confirmed as Warwick, and again, I’m assuming Robot Viktor has to come into play at some point.

I’ll need to watch it again, because I also can’t recall where Caitlyn or the Hextech crystal that Jinx stole ended up at the very end–did the Firelights take Caitlyn too, or just Vi? I know Jinx doesn’t have the crystal anymore and Caitlyn was trying to get it, but I think it might be with the Firelights also. Unclear, must watch again. Oh noooooooo.

There’s also a little speculation that the violinist from the concert scene where Jayce schmoozes might be JHIN which would be amazing, I love that crazy man, one of my favorite characters to play in LoL.

HAVE YOU WATCHED THIS FOR YOURSELF YET AND WHY NOT

Seriously, if you haven’t hopped aboard the Arcane train yet, I still highly recommend it. Act 2, at least in my opinion, absolutely lived up to the impressive standard Act 1 set, and expanded the world and the characters introduced to us. Plus if you get into it now, you can enjoy the countdown to the Final Act! Yayyyyy!

All in all, I give Arcane Act 2….

5/5 CUPCAKES!!

Do you…do you get it…it’s because…….because Vi calls Caitlyn cupcake…………..andthatwillbetheendofmebye