The way she looks to VI when their parents die can also be interpreted as her being small child that doesn’t know the meaning of death and therefore looks at VI to learn “how to react to a situation like this”

As someone who experienced the loss of a parent at a very similar age to powder I can say that I also didn't really react, I never cried or anything about it and I would like to think I am not a monster. To me it would be a better explanation that she grew emotionally stunted and detached because of all her trauma, her mind choosing to not feel the emotions rather than suffering through them as much as it could, only growing attached to the one constant in her life so when even that failed in her eyes she just completely lost it

this is a fair point with Powder seeing Vander dead and all but I think her saying that "she only wanted to help" can be interpreted as her being shocked and in denial at what just happend, then when Vi punched her the focus goes back to her abandonment issues

She was really young when her parents died, likely didn't know the meaning and so she looked at Vi to understand. Later when Vander and the step brothers died she seemed truly distraught. And immediately started to justify to herself that she was helping and it was actually Vi's fault for leaving her. That's deeply human, we all tend to protect our ideas of ourselves, and with children and some adults it is often despite real events.

This is another great example of the high-level psychology in the writing of the show. Children at that age aren't capable of feeling and engaging with the emotions you're talking about here. In fact, that's part of the reason why Jinx is the way she is: her trauma has hindered her emotional development. At the age Powder was when her parents died, children are still completely self-centered. They literally cannot think about the world being something that exists outside themselves and without them. Everything that happens in their world relates directly to them. This is part of the reason why children whose parents get divorced between the ages of 5-7 blame themselves; in the mind of that child, the terrible thing that happened is directly tied to them. They aren't able to articulate these feelings. They don't have the emotional tools that older people have. They have to do the best they can with what they've got. In Powder's case, it is almost certainly the root cause of her anxious-attachment issues, among other things. But I wouldn't say that her behavior in early childhood is a sign of some kind of sociopathy or general lack of empathy. You raised a great point though, and this question was something I had on my mind as well when I went back and re-watched how Powder acted as a child. Great video as always

I caught this as well and thought of it more as a way of showing how children can react to being brought up in war and poverty. vi was older than powder at the time of the war, so she has a harder time adjusting to it, while powder was young enough for it to permanently shape her perception to where violence and death are trivial

Yes! I was literally just thinking about this minutes before you made this video! Jinx's mental issues did not necessarily come about because of episode 3. I believe that they were always there as small seeds. Keep in mind that after Vi "abandoned" her, the FIRST thing she did was immediately attach herself to the FIRST person are saw. Silco. I'm not a therapist, but that is not regular behavior for a child. (I believe this is because she only sees value in herself if others see value in her. But that's for another day.) It's easy to say that Jinx was a result of Power's environment. A little girl who was pushed to the edges of her sanity by circumstance, but as I've been thinking more about it, I've realized that even as Powder she was never completely sane/mentally regular. I love this show! It feels like the more layers you peel back, the better it gets. Truly a masterpiece. Excellent analysis as always.

I think Powders reaction to when Vi leaves her behind to save Vander was very intentionally portrayed as a mental breakdown and not some childish tantrum, you can really feel her desperation and realize how deep her need for validation cuts. She definitely was very mentally unstable as a child and the sad thing is she never got a chance to heal, as her caretakers didn't have the tools to help her no matter how much they loved her. Vander left Vi to take care of her but Vi was just another child, and later Silco projects his own issues onto her which is obviously terrible. I don't think she lacks empathy though, at the bridge she probably didn't fully understand what was going on and with Vander she's in denial (who wouldn't be). Her desensitisation is probably another coping mechanism validated by the people around her and the violent environment, and which fucks her up even further in the long run. Sad shit

I think in the bridge scene she is really confused because she's five, I don.t think it's her lacking empathy. Plus when she sees Vanders body she is almost immediately in shock, she's scared and overwhelmed like a normal 11 year old would be. She feels intense guilt when she realises it's because of her, she tries to justify it and understand it by saying "I was only trying to help,". Neither Powder nor Jinx, in my opinion, totally lack empathy or understanding. Jinx feels empathy when she hurts someone she cares about, but she's also incredible desensitised to death so when she doesn't know the person it doesn't matter. Powder is definitely empathetic towards others but she's very young and has experience extreme trauma from an extremely young age. Age matters and it all contributed to who she became; Her parents death, the death of Vander and Co, Vi abandoning her, Silco's death, etc.

I also thought about it that way, it's like her obsession is with Vi and the rest of the world is like something distant from her

Two things.

What I thought when powder said, “Why did you leave me?” Was that she was so overwhelmed by the guilt that she had to redirect the blame. It wasn’t HER fault it was VI’s for leaving.

I think in the first scene Powder is too young to understand death so she is not as affected by it but she sees Vi cry and she hugs her because she doesn't want to see her sister in distress. Powder is often clinging to Vi because Vi is the only one that reassures her and encourages her. Others are either too busy to look after her, like Vander, or blame her for the group's shortcomings, like Mylo.

I already see people pointing this out in the comments, but I'll reiterate (and warn that any exclamations are for emphasis, not outbursts against anyone)

I’ve copied this from an earlier post I made concerning this very topic, but I think it explains a lot.

I have trouble interpreting any small child as 'evil' or even socipathic or what have you. I see this as what's probably some kind of shutting down of feellings as some kind of trauma response

We don't generally diagnose children because it's difficult and uncertain, but with Powder/Jinx we see enough of her in various stages of her life to make an educated guess.

I think the reason she doesn't cry seeing her parents' bodies is cause she doesn't understand death yet but she understands sadness and sees her sister sad and comforts her (which I would argue is a sign of empathy). Reminds me of when my grandmother died and my 6year old sister comforted me (8-9 at the time) cause she didn't fully grasp what had happened yet but understood that I needed comforting. I don't think Powder is meant to be over 6 in the opening scene.

I assumed she is already traumatised in the opening scene, since we see Poder/Jinx's scribbles pop up before she see her parents.

Makes sense. Psychology accepts that mental illnesses arise from an concoction of environmental, genetic, and neurological problems. This also explains why Violet was still able to keep her sanity and didn't react her traumas like her sister. Despite Powder had the potential of being Jinx from the start, she wouldn't become her if a healthy environment and family was provided.