CAN'T SLOW ME DOWN

CAN'T SLOW ME DOWN Music Video

The CAN'T SLOW ME DOWN Music Video was released on February 23rd, 2022, as a part of the Episode 4: Act 1 Agent Takeovers. The Music in this MV features artists lIlBOI, Mirani and GroovyRoom. The MV itself shows Agent 10, namely Jett, running through the streets of Seoul and enjoying herself in her home country of South Korea.

## Synopsis

The music video depicts Jett running through the streets and rooftops of Seoul. In between animated, fast-paced sequences of Jett traveling around and about, we see epic shots of gameplay scenes from Jett's POV, boasting her fighting skills with her guns and knives.

Although the cinematic doesn't aim to provide a deep understanding of Jett's lore to the audience, it serves as a beautiful depiction of her culture and her origins by featuring various historical details throughout. The message that this cinematic tries to illustrate, although subtle, can be interpreted as Jett improving herself and breaking her own personal records; striving to be a faster, more confident version of herself.

## Plot

### Running

* Jett Arriving at Seoul
* Jett Arriving at Seoul
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The cinematic starts with a shot of Jett flying in a black wingsuit as she descends down to the earth. When she lands on a flat rooftop of a building, Jett takes in the sight before her, admiring the beautiful streets of the Gangnam District before taking in a nostalgic sigh.

In the next animated scene, we see Jett in a different outfit— dressed in a white, oversized raincoat. After stretching, she starts a timer on her smartwatch, on a mission to run through the streets of Seoul to reach her destination.

* Range Bots
* Range Bots
* Range Bots
* Jett using her "Blade Storm" Ability
1/4
After multiple shots of Jett running through narrow alleys, jumping from building-to-building and over dead ends, she ends up in a rooftop with multiple non-animated range bots. Confident in her abilities, Jett brings out her knives using her *Blade Storm* ability, aiming them towards the range bots. She's so sure in her aim that she uses her *Tailwind* ability to race her own knives, enveloping the range bot before the knives even land. As she'd confidently predicted, her knives land right on the head of the bot, and she brings out her phone to take a selfie with her masterpiece, successfully unscathed.

* Jett facing her reflection
* Jett facing her reflection
* Jett facing her reflection
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The next shots of Jett running through the streets of Seoul represent the music video's possible message with precision. As Jett is running by a tower, she sees her own reflection— dressed differently, with her usual battle attire— in the building's shiny windows. After a brief moment of sharing gazes with her reflection, Jett smiles proudly— a striking contrast from her reflection who looks defeated in comparison— and is able to run faster than her. She jumps to the air in triumph, elated to have gone beyond the boundaries of her past self.

* Arrival "도착" Written on the ground in front of Jett's Mural
* Jett's Smarwatch Timer that Reads "경기 시간" (English: Playtime)
* Shoe Box that reads "For Gift"
* Jett opening the shoe gift
* Jett Admiring Her Gifted Shoes
* Jett's Gifted Shoes
1/6

Finally, Jett arrives at her destination, and stops the timer on her smartwatch with a smile on her face. After opening a can of spray paint, Jett writes 15'23'' on her mural, the time it took for her to run through the streets of Seoul. Proud in her work and and performance, Jett moves out of the frame, leaving the audience to take in the beauty of her mural.

### The Room

In multiple scenes throughout the Music Video, we see Jett inside a specific room. This room is significant because it reflects various aspects of Jett's culture and personality, and as it is the the only indoor place Jett is seen in throughout the video.

We see Jett spending her time alone in this room by texting, playing with her knives, and dozing off. Aside from killing time, we see Jett opening a box of shoes that read "FOR GIFT". Taking into consideration her surprised reaction at seeing the shoes, it's thought that she has received these shoes as a gift from someone. From this scene's inclusion in the music video, it is theorized that shoes are likely a symbol of growth and change for Jett.

## Lore

### Cultural Details

#### The Room

Inside the room, many things catch our attention. From the neon pink "안녕? #제트" ('Hello? #Jett') sign on the wall, to the blue Maebyeong (매병) Vase on the bottom left corner of the shot, we are reminded of Jett's cultural heritage once more. The mirror to the left side of the shot includes scribblings, some in English (like "XOXO", "Muse" and "Valorant") and some in Korean, like 제트 ('Jett') and 나는 바람 ('I'm the wind').

Besides the blue Maebyeong (매병) Vase, another very important cultural detail that catches our attention is the tiger rug. Koreans are known to have a significant reverence for tigers, as it is a significant part of the land's history and mythology. The tiger rug and the green tiger wallpaper in Jett's room provide nice nods to Jett's heritage, paying homage to her culture and representing her nationality in a beautiful and elaborate way.

#### The Rooftop

As Jett lands on a rooftop of a building in the Gangnam District in Seoul, we see three Easter eggs. In the upper right corner of the scene, a billboard with a promotional poster for the show *Arcane* is visible. On the upper left corner of the scene, there is a VALORANT poster that had been used as promotional material during the initial stages of the game's release, including the closed beta period. And finally, towards the bottom of the shot, a neon sign that reads "RIOT" is seen, likely referring to Riot Games.

Right after Jett lands in Seoul, she pauses to take in the scenery, and we are invited to do so with her. In the gorgeous shot of the city, many recognizable buildings are seen in the distance— including 강남 타워 (Gangnam Tower) and 남산 타워 (Namsan Tower). By the presence of the Gangnam Tower in the scene, it is thought that Jett's exploration of the city starts from the famous Gangnam District.

#### The Streets

As Jett is running through the streets of Seoul, she goes through narrow alleys that are illuminated by shop signs, a familiar image for many districts in Korea. In the background, several shops can be seen; such as an arcade (은성 오락실) , a snack shop (날원 스낵), and a possible seafood restaurant whose name translates to "Delicious Shells" (맛나네 껍데기). Perhaps the most interesting shop in all of these scenes, though, is the one that's titled "J. 픅로랄 아카데미". This roughly translates to "Floral Academy" in English, a possible reference to a Thai Comics series titled "LaFlora, the Princess Academy", which is known to have a Korean-translated version.

In the same street, we encounter many other shops that are a staple in many streets in Seoul. From left to the right, we see "HJ" Pharmacy (HJ 약국), the aforementioned Floral Academy (J. 픅로랄 아카데미), a Coffee & Dessert Shop (...쿠키), a Billiards Hall titled "Marble Marble" (구슬구슬 당구장), and a Karaoke Shop titled Song Club (노래 크럽) .

Towards the end of the street, from left to right, we see a shop titled "Baskin Bobbins" (a reference to the ice-cream food chain Baskin Robbins which is quite popular in Korea), the same arcade (은성 오락실) and the same Floral Academy (J. 픅로랄 아카데미") from previous scenes. The truck right in front of these shops has a license plate that reads "경기", suggesting this street is from the Gyeonggi Province in Seoul. Right behind the truck, an orange sign reads "No Parking" (주차 금지), and the orange road barrier next to it reads "Safety First" (안전 제일). On the right side of the road, the "Delicious Shells" (맛나네) restaurant's billboard is visible.

A little to the right, we see a standing poster reading "오늘도 달려보자 애들아!" which translates to "Let's run today, kids!" in English. This is a subtle nod to Korean culture's drinking habits and their way of speech while being equally humorous since the sign seems to be there to encourage Jett to run faster.

Lastly, we see a billboard titled "형제상회", which translates to "Brotherhood" in English. This shop is a reference to the real-life seafood shop by the same name, 형제상회, which is one of the most famous shops in the Noryangjin (노량진) Fish Market.

Right beyond the metal construction poles, we see a lottery shop (복권판매점), and a place titled "골목길집" which literally translates to "house in the alleyway". Lastly, at the end of the road, we see a mural centered around the in-game "Lobster?" spray, providing yet another quirky Easter egg for players.

#### The Mural

Jett's mural at the end of the cinematic features the in-game spray titled "Jett Spray" at the center. Around this familiar spray, we see various texts, some unintelligible, scribbled around and about.

The most prominent one, perhaps, is towards the right side of the mural, which reads "인사동" ('Insadong'): a neighborhood located in the heart of Seoul. As this Korean text "인사동" is a part of the official spray in the game, it is heavily speculated that Jett might be from the Insadong area. The other intelligible Korean texts we see are 좋아! 가자! (roughly, 'Good! Let's go!'); #제트 ('#Jett'); 나는 바람이다 ('I am the wind'); and 발로란트, which is the Korean transcription of "VALORANT".

#### Temples

* Irworobongdo
* Irworobongdo
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In two scenes of the music video, we see Jett, standing on the roof of a typical Korean temple. This temple's roofing represents the Dancheong (단청) style with vibrant colors— blue, red, yellow, white and black— which are reputable to be the five cardinal colors in the traditional Korean color spectrum, also known as Obangsaek (오방색).

In the background of the scenes that feature the Korean temple is a modernized version of the Irworobongdo (일월오봉도). The Irworobongdo (일월오봉도) is an image that is featured in many Korean Palaces today, including Gyeongbokgung (경복궁) Palace and Changgyeonggung (창경궁) Palace. The stylized image that typically depicts five mountains, a forest, a sun and a moon is known to represent the majesty of the Joseon royal court.

## Notes

As this cinematic was released around the release date of *Arcane*, a few billboards promoting this series can be observed throughout the cinematic.

In the first street that Jett runs through, a street sign reads "동은사로 12길", transcribing to Dongeunsaro 12-Gil in English. Although 동은사로 12길 sounds like a stereotypical Korean street name, it is not a real location.

In the scene where Jett fights the range bots, a triangular skyscraper can be seen in the distance. This is skyscraper is also known as the Lotte Tower (롯데월드타워) located in the heart of Seoul. This building is famous for being the tallest skyscraper in all of South Korea.

Like Lotte Tower (롯데월드타워), another famous building can be seen throughout the cinematic: the N Seoul Tower (N 서울타워). This tower, aside from its function as a radio wave tower, is a tourist destination that is favored by foreigners and South Koreans alike.

### Reflection

As mentioned before, a scene towards the end of the video shows Jett running against a reflection of herself in the glass windows of a nearby tower. This has a metaphorical meaning relating to Jett's backstory, of which there are two major interpretations.

The first one is that her reflection is a representation of her earlier self - Jett's traumatic past of having accidentally destroyed a restaurant somewhere in Seoul (this was the event hinted at in her tier 9 contact playercard, *Mirrored Edge*). In this scenario, Jett can be said to be running from the shadow of her past self and mistakes, with her leap at the end the act of finally making peace with herself.

The second major interpretation is that the reflection is meant to represent Omega Jett. This is because the Jett in the reflection (literally, 'Mirror Jett', a reference to the name of the other Earth used before the Alpha/Omega terminology was established) can be seen carrying a bag on her back, identical to Ω-Jett in *DUELISTS* and the bag she used to carry the spike.

Ω-Jett here would be an embodiment of the Rise of Venice, and the horrible tarnishing of α-Jett's reputation that came with it. Due to an image captured of Ω-Jett during cinematic, α-Jett was in large part blamed for the terrible event, and labeled as an 'enemy of the world'. α-Jett running faster than her double can thus be seen as overcoming her fear of the world's opinion of her, and stepping out of the figurative shadow cast over her life by Ω-Jett.

In both cases, the race of the two Jetts is a metaphor for her finally being free from her past, an empowering moment of self-actualization. Both the interpretations show Jett contending against one of the worst moments of her past (each has had a bad enough toll on Jett to get a special mention to themselves in her dossier), and coming out on top.

### Shoes

Although it's merely a theory, the sender of the gifted shoes is suspected to be Agent 9, namely Phoenix, who is known to be huge fan of sneakers.

## Images

ARCANE Easter EggVictoria Vector BillboardENEMY Easter EggIrworobongdoIrworobongdoIrworobongdoJETT MuralJett Admiring her muralNamsan TowerJETT Reflection 1JETT Reflection 2Range Bot 1Range Bot 2Range Bot 3
## References

1. ↑ Jett using her Blade Storm Ability Go
2. ↑ Jett Using her Tailwind Ability Go
3. ↑ Wikipedia Page for the Maebyeong (매병) Vase Go
4. ↑ Article About The Korean Tiger Go
5. ↑ The League of Legends Wiki's Page for Arcane Go
6. ↑ An article about Dancheong (단청) Go
7. ↑ The Wikipedia Page for Obangsaek (오방색) Go
8. ↑ The Wikipedia Page for Irworobongdo (일월오봉도) Go
9. ↑ The Wikipedia Page for Gyeongbokgung (경복궁) Palace Go
10. ↑ The Wikipedia Page for Changgyeonggung (창경궁) Palace Go
11. ↑ The Wikipedia Page for Lotte Tower (롯데월드타워) Go
12. ↑ The Wikipedia Page for N Seoul Tower (N 서울타워) Go
13. ↑ While this remained just a theory for a long time, it was confirmed to be canon in her Dossier released by Fade