One of the many reasons Arcane deserved its recent Emmy win was its powerful and deeply nuanced world building. Piltover and Zaun are filled with a vast array of interesting and complex character parallels, each with their own distinctive motivations and personalities, designs and mannerisms. However, what made the world feel so real was its incredible attention to detail. One such aspect that viewers might have missed upon first watch, though, is the infamous eye of Zaun. What exactly is it?
Something Arcane does very well is create world realism through the inclusion of random storyline snippets, glimpses into people's lives that either don't go anywhere or are irrelevant to the story. They do this with the characters' weapons, but also the design of the landscapes. This is most impressive in regard to the idea of, and the physical representation of, the eye of Zaun. The physical eye can be seen in two places during the show. One is in what looks like the deep slums of Zaun, above the building where Vi and Powder took refuge when they were children. The other is above the entrance of The Last Drop, Vander's old Bar and Vi’s home before her prison sentence.
The eye in the shimmer slums is the most powerful in terms of allegory, as it is knocked down by Vi during her escape from master villain Silco. The eye, while not given a name in the show, is called the eye of Zaun, and is the perfect middle finger to Piltover from Silco and his supporters. The eye is open, juxtaposing the blind or closed eyes of those in Piltover. They are oblivious, ignorant, or just indifferent to the suffering they are causing to Zaun, their undercity. The notion of Piltover having its eyes closed is referenced multiple times. Council members are ignorant of dire conditions present in Zaun, and Ambessa delivers the fantastic line: ‘Slaughtered with your eyes closed.’
The people of Piltover have grown complacent over the years. They are so obsessed with progress, lonely science, and their own personal gain that they have neglected the threat posed to them from people they deem ‘unworthy’ of attention. This, of course, comes back to bite them with the fire caused by Jinx, the theft of the Hex crystal, and of course with the ultimate shark missile fired at their capitol building.
Interestingly, the eye of Zaun is also an alias for Silco. He not only pioneers the ideals of the symbol, but also embodies it completely. It goes deeper, however, as one of Silco’s biggest design features is his mutilated eye. That eye is another unavoidable reminder of the oppression of Piltover, having been caused by the horrifically polluted waters of Zaun. For a wound to fester so badly, the water must have been incredibly toxic, an unacceptable degree of pollution caused by the industrial obsessions of the big city. The eye is also a symbol of knowledge, something Silco has an abundance of. He is a powerful figure with fingers in many pies, able to manipulate and control almost every situation he is in. Piltover and its people are known to be smart, scientists of high caliber. However, there are potentially more geniuses born from Zaun. What they lack in material wealth, they make up for in intellect.
Eyes themselves play an important part within the narrative of Arcane. They used throughout to symbolize corruption when unnatural in color. The biggest example is in the purple hue they gain when the person has taken shimmer, the mind-altering and people-oppressing drug that Silco used to gain power and control the people of Zaun. It’s no accident, then, that the physical Eye of Zaun burns a neon purple. It's a shining beacon of everything that Silco believes in, and represents the nefarious methods he has used to get there. It’s a powerful moment then when Vi brings the tower down, almost killing Silco in the process. It not only shows that she is the one who will bring the kingpin down, along with his polluted notion of an independent nation down. It also suggests that Silco's vision itself will ultimately be his own downfall, nearly being killed by his own dream.
Arcane continues to surprise viewers well after its release, even those who have no knowledge of the game. Seemingly unending hidden detail has been built into the now-infamous world. The writers and animators of Riot Games and Fortiche Productions have done a masterful job of building these details in various different layers. So much allegory can to be taken from what seems, at first glance, to be just a background prop. The eye of Zaun plays a pivotal part in flavoring the world, all from the sidelines. It's an idea that will surely live on into the second season.