[Lore Spoilers] Hear me out (Isha theory)

I genuinely believe that Isha could very well be alive and will grow into the role of Zeri in a future sequel/spinoff in this cinematic universe. After providing my evidence I will look at arguments against Isha being Zeri and attempt to dispute them. Let me first explain how I believe Isha could have survived:

Firstly, it's VERY important to differentiate the differences between hexcrystals and hextech gemstones. The hexcrystals are the volatile and dangerous gems seen in act 1 used by Powder, whilst the hextech gemstones are the significantly safer upgraded version that are "completely safe" in Jayce's own words. They also have different functions, as the hexcrystals are used for their raw energy and presumably used to power the hexgates, whilst hextech gemstones are used like batteries to power portable devices such as Vi's gauntlets. Their safety is demonstrated by Jayce in episode 4 when he slams a gemstone with his hammer and it causes a huge flash of light but no damage is caused. Obviously this does not account for the blast created from Jinx's gun itself, but it certainly implies the explosion may have been more theatrical than destructive.

When looking to the scene where Isha takes the hextech gemstones from Vi's gauntlets in season 2 episode 6, there is a notable diminishing glow from Vi's gauntlets before the gemstones are removed. Normally I would dismiss such a seemingly small detail, but Arcane has proven itself to be a show where every miniscule detail has a connotation, so I feel this at least needs inspecting. This diminishing glow is never seen before or after this episode as far as I can tell, meaning that it is a unique detail for this scene. It can be logical to assume that if Hextech gemstones are likened to batteries, they could very well need recharging or replacing after a period of time, and let's not forget that Vi has just been letting the gauntlets gather dust for the past six months without giving attention to the gemstones. If this means that the hextech gemstones in Vi's gauntlets were indeed diminishing, its logical to assume that this would weaken the blast from Jinx's gun.

I also want to take note of how across the series we see that hexcrystals and hextech gemstones seem to naturally have an upward trajectory when they are activated. Looking at the incident in season 1 episode 3 let's set the scene: Deckard was standing close to the volatile hexcrystals whilst Sevika and Silco were standing on the other side of the bridge, and some of Silco's goons were laying down on the bridge floor. After the explosion, Sevika guards Silco and loses an arm whilst Deckard is knocked to the other side of the bridge injured but without any significant damage, although this can be explained as a resistance due to shimmer. However what I would like to focus on is the goons on the bridge: although seemingly more exposed than Sevika, none of these goons seem to be injured by the hexcrystals at all, implying that the energy from the hexcrystals may naturally project upwards. This could be further evidenced in Jayce's apartment, as even though the walls take enough damage to collapse, the floor appears unscathed after excluding the mess from the walls and ceiling falling down onto it. A feat even more incredible when considering that the hexcrystal blew up on the floor. All this is to say that when this logic is applied to shots energised by hextech gemstones, especially when overloaded and already pointed to the sky, the blast may not direct downwards much. At this point the biggest danger for Isha seems to be Jinx's gun itself which likely splintered all over the battlefield after being overloaded.

We should also consider how many Noxian deaths there were. In episode 8, there is a total of six Noxian graves seen including Rictus'. This already suggests that the explosion did not have a significant blast radius, but then when we note that the other Noxian deaths were very likely also due to Vander/Warwick, that strongly implies the explosion was non fatal. A counterpoint may be made when considering the amount of damage Warwick received following the explosion, seemingly putting him into a sleep like state, However considering that Singed had injected chemicals in Warwick shortly beforehand, Warwick's state following the explosion may have been due to that rather than the explosion itself. Neither Singed nor Ambessa wanted Warwick dead, so enraging him without a contingency plan seems dumb considering their usual intelligence.

There's also the notability that this death scene is an anomaly in the series, a break in the pattern. In terms of pacing we can split death scenes into two types: quick deaths, or slower deaths that are purposefully designed to impact the audience emotionally. Quick deaths always result in the character being permanently deceased: Mylo, Claggor, Silco (his actual death was sudden and relatively quick), Loris, Maddie etc. However, slower deaths are consistently fake outs in the series: Vander survives episode 3 after his absolute boss fight, we get a slow build up to Sky's death where she pours her heart out to the audience only for her to essentially be revived as Viktor's conscience, and of course Jinx survived the finale after the fake out. I believe this would be the only instance of a slow purposefully emotional death NOT being a fake out if Isha didn't survive, which seems odd especially when there is a certain amount of ambiguity around this death already. Could this be a message within the pattern?

There are also more subtle indicators of potential survival, such as Jinx's statement that Isha is "slippery as an eel", which seems like an interesting comment for the writers to include knowing that Isha would be in a seemingly fatal explosion only ten minutes after. There is also Vi's flashback in episode 8, notably when Isha holds the gun up to the sky ready to fire, the blinding light doesn't emit from Jinx's gun but is rather like a curtain as Vi wakes up. This means it blinds Vi and the audience from seeing what actually happened and the immediate aftermath the writers seem so intent at hiding.

With all this in mind, I believe Isha survived the explosion and in time will grow up to become the champion Zeri.

Why Isha could be Zeri?

-Her personality is almost exactly like Zeri's. The League of Legends Wiki describes Zeri as "headstrong but friendly", "energetic", "rebellious" and "impulsive". Isha is shown to be all these things when she goes behind Jinx's back to stand up for the people of Zaun, and impulsively tries to fight Rictus when he attacks the citizens at Vander's statue. Isha also has similar physical attributes such as her yellow eyes and similar skin tone.

-Isha has repeated yellow and electrical motifs, which are also the themes of Zeri. One of the most obvious examples of this is during the bug fight in season 2 episode 4, where the bugs' names appear in bold yellow text with a lightning effect. This is attributed to Isha because it clearly represents her imagination, as we see the bug fight from her exaggerated perspective.

-People point to the speed at which Isha ran in episode 6 as a sign, linking to Zeri's speed ability. I wasn't going to include this as a point as I felt it was just for dramatic effect for the scene, but it does have to be pointed out that she runs fast enough that there is a zooming sound effect, and she runs at such a high speed that Jinx's hair blows from Isha rushing past her.

-Additionally, there are multiple parallels in the actions of Zeri and Isha. one of Zeri's signature moves, as seen in her short story, is a punch to the air with her left fist representing a symbol of hope, rebellion and unity among the citizens of Zaun. Isha parallels this in episode 4 when she performs the same action (with the same fist) on Vander's statue to represent those same values, a spark of rebellion in Zaun against oppressors. Then there is the obvious similarity in making finger gun gestures between Isha and Zeri, another striking similarity between the two characters.

-Zeri's champion theme, The Spark of Zaun, has some lyrics that intrigue me:

"This electricity

A part of me that's under pressure

Charged up, my fuse igniting

A sight you'll want to see

Arm held high, pointing to the sky

Gonna make the earth shake 'cause you can't contain me

Voltage burns through the black of my eyes

Put my finger on the trigger and I'll shock ya, baby

Against the odds (I'm still standing)"

Okay but is that not an exact summary of the episode 6 scene? Isha feels a part of her "under pressure" seeing all of her loved ones struggling, having an "electricity" inside her as she is determined to help. Obviously "arm held high, pointing to the sky" is straight up a description of the scene, as well as the rest of the stanza. When put into the context of episode 6, the lyrics are strikingly similar to what happens, possibly implying the scene was purposefully designed to be an allusion to Zeri's theme. Then "against the odds (I'm still standing)".

-Zeri often speaks of her aunt and grandma, which on first thought appears to be a limitation of this theory. However, it's important to consider Isha's connection to Jinx who she evidently looks up to as a mother figure. To be clear, Jinx very obviously thinks of her and Isha's relationship to be sisterly, but I think Isha might view Jinx as more of a mother to her, a sister is what Jinx needed, but a parent/guardian is what Isha needed. If we view Isha as Jinx's daughter, then the aunt Zeri speaks of would be Vi (or alternatively Caitlyn). In game when she is running Zeri says "no one can catch me. Except my aunt, man nothing gets past her", Zeri protests for Zaun and its people, so it makes sense that Vi or Caitlyn, as enforcers, would have run ins with Zeri. I also believe the grandma Zeri speaks of could be Sevika, based of the dynamic between Isha, Jinx and Sevika seen in eps 2, 3 and 4 of season 2. Zeri states that her grandma said to "never back down from a fight" and that "guards are lazier at night". These quotes feel exactly like what Sevika would say based on her personality, implying Sevika and Zeri's grandma may be one in the same.

-4 weeks ago, Vanille Velasquez (the voice actress of Zeri) uploaded a video of her giving Isha an inner monologue during episode 6 and literally voice acting Isha! This seems to have been sponsored by Teamfight Tactics, and after searching there doesn't appear to be anything related to Zeri going on in the game right now. Of course I understand advertising their game, but why specifically with the voice of Zeri voicing over the final scene of Isha, a character not even involved in the current Arcane event in Teamfight Tactics? Isha does have a China exclusive chibi character in the Chinese version of the game, though it still doesn't answer why they had Vanille voice Isha, a regularly mute character, during the explosion in episode 6.

-Additionally, with the previously mentioned Chinese exclusive character, when observing her animations you can see a frequent electrical aura surrounding her, such as in her first animation when she does the iconic finger gun gesture with an electrical surge underneath her. In another animation she is surrounded by the glowing orbs from episode 5 which glows when she claps, but noticeably they also create yellow and blue electricity which is an effect not present in the original scenes.

Now let's address some frequent arguments against Isha being Zeri (that we have not already covered):

Isha is mute whilst Zeri is fairly talkative - Mutism is a lot more complex than just "they can't speak and never will be able to", there are instances when that is the case but there are also types of mutism such as being selectively mute, which is when a person can't speak in certain situations, but may be chatty in other scenarios. I believe Isha could be traumatically mute, a type of mutism onset by a traumatic experience and can be treated with cognitive therapy in real life. It is worth pointing out that Isha's opening scene saw her being chased by the Hush Company, a spy network involved in espionage. This connotes that she has witnessed sensitive information and has had a troubled past with this group. If we see Isha grow to become Zeri, her arc could involve overcoming past traumas and her disorder, allowing her to be more capable of speaking.

Zeri is the same age as Ekko and Jinx - To me this seems fairly trivial and could be very easily retconned for her to be younger. Additionally the character of Zeri already appears to have an alternate universe persona as Neon from Valorant, meaning that the route of variants has already been explored for this character making her already one of the best and easiest characters to adapt slightly differently.

Isha does not demonstrate having electrical powers whilst Zeri had them from birth - I can see this going in multiple possible directions. Perhaps the Hush Company inhibited her powers, or they were simply undeveloped before now. Alternatively they may retcon her powers being from birth and instead caused by the hextech explosion.

Goat man exploded from a hextech gemstone in season 2 episode 4 - The two situations seem too different to base what happened to him around Isha, Ambessa and Rictus were messing around with runes that they knew nothing about whilst Isha simply overloaded a gun, it seems like quite different scenarios to me at least. I understand that goat man may have been more familiar with hextech, but he was following Ambessa's orders and, again, they were messing with runes around the hextech gemstone whilst Isha was not.

We see a Noxian Grave for her - Some refer to one of the Noxian graves and state that it is for Isha due to there being a silhouette reminiscent of Isha's helmet. However on closer examination it cannot be Isha's helmet, as what people point to as her helmet is so comically large that she would be capable of hiding in a hat that big yet alone try to wear it. It also lacks the characteristic drawings of her helmet, and seems pretty unambiguously just some rocks on the Noxian grave.

I can really see a future with a Zaun spinoff/sequel where Isha is given the time and space to be fleshed out as a character and grow into the role of Zeri. Perhaps in a firelights spinoff with Ekko and Isha/Zeri going up against Renata, Chross and other villains in Zaun.