How are we doing

Have we recovered yet

I have not

(“But it’s been over a month and now it’s literally a whole new year how are you still not–”

“I KNOW THAT THANKS AND NO, I AM STILL NOT OKAY”)

I mean, I knew it wasn’t going to end HAPPILY or anything, but I could still dream, right? I ALSO DIDN’T THINK IT WOULD END LIKE THAT MY GOD AHHHHHHHHH

When I first finished Act 3, I sat in shock for a good like…3 full minutes, at least. To say the ending felt like a gut punch is a serious understatement–like in a good way. I mean, I thought so, at least.

I wasn’t entirely sure what I felt about it, though–my brain just like, couldn’t process everything they threw at us.

So I watched the entire thing again, naturally. Having finished the re-watch, I am now here with my thoughts.

And my tears.

SPOILER WARNING NOW IN EFFECT–PLEASE GO WATCH THIS FOR YOURSELF I AM BEGGING YOU IT’S LIKE. GOOD.

I MEAN IT WILL CRUSH YOUR EMOTIONS BUT WE ALL NEED A GOOD EMOTION-CRUSHING NOW AND AGAIN, RIGHT

ANYWAY

SPOILERS

THE STORY

Picking up right where we left off at the end of Act 2 (no time-skip this time), it turns out both Vi AND Caitlyn were taken by the Firelights, and yes, they also nabbed the crystal. Vi and Caitlyn are arguing about who’s at fault here, who was lying about what, so on and so forth, all the usual flirty banter, until one of the Firelights comes in and takes Vi away, leaving Caitlyn alone.

Vi is led to the leader of the Firelights, who is revealed to be, drumroll please….EKKO. Wow shocking none of us saw that coming omgggggg

okay anyway

Ekko is initially furious at Vi, because he hasn’t seen her since pre-timeskip, a.k.a., since the factory explosion–he assumed she was killed in the blast like Mylo, Claggor, and (presumably) Vander. Now here she is, with an ENFORCER, so he has no idea whose side she’s on. Vi manages to convince him that she never meant to make him think she died or abandoned anyone, it was just the circumstances of being knocked out and imprisoned for years ya know, and they have a really heartwarming lil hug. Vi tells him that Caitlyn is actually like, decent, and she’s completely oblivious to everything happening in the Undercity and everything bad the Enforcers are doing. Caitlyn thinks if she can get the gemstone back topside and to Jayce (who’s like, in charge now or something I guess), she can make a case for the Firelights and get help against Silco and all that jazz. Ekko is skeptical, and says he will join Cait and Vi on their trek back to Piltover and to the Council, not wanting to let the gemstone go that easily. Caitlyn agrees, and the group head out.

Unfortunately, they’re about to run into trouble. You see Jayce, in his never-ending crusade of just the absolute worst decisions but people keep listening to him because he’s pretty I guess, set up a huge blockade on the bridge. He claims it’s for safety, and to stop those nasty Undercity folks from like, blowing anything else up or whatever, but it’s a massive show of power and it’s about to cause a huge amount of problems.

For example, let’s take a second to catch up with local lanky disaster boy Viktor–we last left him on his way to meet up with Singed to get help with the hexcore. Singed basically tells him “this is gonna suck and be really painful, but you can use Shimmer to ease the pain caused by using the hexcore to heal you yayyyy” and Viktor is like “UGHHHHHHH” but he’s also really desperate, so. On his way back to Piltover (because Singed hides out in the Undercity, of course), he gets stopped at the blockade. Jayce comes over personally to bail Viktor out, but he’s FURIOUS about it. He’s basically like “I SET UP A BLOCKADE FOR SAFETY AND THEN MY OWN PARTNER VIOLATES IT CAN YOU EVEN UNDERSTAND WHAT THIS WILL DO TO MY IMAGE” and Viktor is like “I’m sorry what now” and Jayce goes on this whole ugly thing about how the blockade is supposed to keep Undercity freaks out because they’re dangerous and can’t be trusted and Viktor just gives him this glare and is like “I’M from the Undercity.” so Jayce has to backtrack like “oh uh everyone from the Undercity but you of course you’re different ha ha love you” like. My guy.

Viktor then does some freaky science fun with the hexcore, using the Shimmer and carving various runes onto his own skin as well as this contraption thing he has around his leg, and it turns his leg all purple-y glowy. It’s not explained explicitly, but it does kind of sound like his leg might now be made of metal of some sort, if the sound design for when he walks around is anything to go bye–oh yeah, Viktor can walk now! Kind of. There’s a gorgeous scene where Viktor runs along the bank and it’s just *chef’s kiss* but it seems like he has to keep doing the runes and Shimmer stuff with the hexcore, because the effects don’t last. Or something? It’s not blatantly explained, unless it just went right over my head, which is entirely possible. I’m sure none of this freaky science fun can go wrong in any way, ha ha. Um.

We’ll check in with him later.

Back with our Undercity + Cait crew, let’s see how the blockade ruins THEIR day–as the crew works on crossing the bridge, Vi suddenly stops, saying she can’t go with them because she can’t leave her sister behind again, she won’t do it. Ekko keeps trying to convince her that Jinx is too far gone, but Vi is determined that she can reach her. Ekko and Vi hug goodbye, wish each other luck, and then Cait and Vi have this really emotional hug and it’s very sweet and uh-OH JINX IS WATCHING THEM FROM ON TOP OF THE BRIDGE. Understandably, she’s confused and upset that Vi is now friends with an Enforcer, of all people, but she believes that Vi is saying goodbye because she wouldn’t leave Jinx again, not again.

However, the blockade kicks in. Marcus is there with the other Enforcers, ready to attack Ekko, but Caitlyn desperately tries to talk them down, saying that she has proof that Silco is behind everything, they can fix this (if you’re caught up to this point, you will note that Caitlyn saying this is actually a problem because remember–Marcus and Silco are in cahoots, and so far, Marcus has not turned on Silco…probably won’t be too excited about Caitlyn being all “I HAVE PROOF SILCO IS THE BAD GUY WE’RE LOOKING FOR” ya know). Marcus has Caitlyn and Ekko at gunpoint, and Vi, seeing this, starts to turn back because CaitLYN IS AT GUNPOINT COME ON. Also Marcus does actually shoot Ekko which is rather rude of him.

Right then, the bridge is swarmed by firelights (I didn’t mention this previously, but firelights are these cute lil green glowing bugs (essentially fireflies) that were swarming around Ekko’s hideout in the Undercity–hence why their lil gang is probably called the Firelights), or at least, what appear to be firelights. One lands on the hand of one of the Enforcers, and the wings ominously click into place right before all of the “firelights” explode. The carnage takes out basically everyone on the bridge; Marcus asks Caitlyn to tell his daughter that he…right before he dies. Caitlyn is trying to pull herself up after being caught in her second Jinx-related explosion of the series so far and Vi races to her side to help her. Just then, Jinx emerges from the smoke, looking less than thrilled about Vi running to help Caitlyn. Vi looks torn between wanting to get Caitlyn to safety and help, and wanting to try and talk her sister down. Ekko steps forward then–he survived Marcus shooting him!–tossing Caitlyn and Vi the bag with the gemstone and telling them to get out of there, facing down Jinx himself.

What follows is a FANTASTIC fight sequence between Jinx and Ekko. I’ll talk about it more in the Art section, because holy cow, but I don’t think I can fully do it justice. It’s just. Wow. At the end, Ekko has Jinx pinned, but he pauses before delivering the final blow, seeing the scared look in her eyes. She uses the moment to release another bomb, leaving their fate unknown.

Hearing the explosion, Vi sets Caitlyn down and gets ready to turn back, worried, but she’s too late–Silco emerges from the smoke and picks Jinx up, meeting Vi’s eyes across the bridge. Caitlyn then tells Vi that the gemstone isn’t in the bag anymore. It’s gone. So it was “all for nothing.”

Later, Caitlyn and Vi make it to Caitlyn’s house, where Caitlyn’s mother says that she can get the two of them an audience with the Council to explain everything (remember, Caitlyn’s mother is a member of the Council. This is, sadly, relevant later). The two have a very sweet bonding moment that is just the definition of the word “peace” and I adore it. Jayce, meanwhile, is confronted with the massacre at the bridge, and he’s uh, he’s a little thrown-off. Like, barfing-over-the-side-of-the-bridge thrown-off. Like, maybe-this-whole-blockade-thing-was-actually-a-bad-idea-and-they-should-not-have-put-me-in-charge-I-just-like-science-I-didn’t-sign-up-for-this thrown-off.

MEANWHILE MEANWHILE, Mel’s mother arrives to try and get her foot in the door for some hextech weapons, and Mel is…less than thrilled, to say the least. I mean, Mel’s mother did kind of disown her when she kept refusing to like, endorse her mother’s decisions to like, behead people. Which is fair.

MEANWHILE MEANWHILE MEANWHILE, Silco is dealing with what seems to be the Undercity version of the Council from Piltover, although they’re a lot less “round table” and a lot more “when they question Silco’s leadership he almost poisons all of them ha ha.” The Undercity Council people are not excited about Jinx’s actions of late, but anytime anyone questions Jinx, Silco shuts them down immediately. Jinx is his precious murder daughter, okay? Leave her alone.

Speaking of Jinx, she’s in terrible shape when Silco takes her from the explosion on the bridge. He takes her right to Singed, telling him that she absolutely cannot die. Singed knocks Silco out so he doesn’t disturb the evil science and then he basically just injects Jinx with a whole lot of Shimmer (it’s possible there was more to the evil science than just that, but the main point is that Jinx has Shimmer now). She goes through a horrendous transformation sequence where the Shimmer messes with her body and already incredibly fragile mental state, and she keeps seeing Vi and Caitlyn teasing her, saying she’s been replaced. She survives, and now she has cool glowing purple-pink Shimmer eyes. But now she’s extra mad at Vi and ESPECIALLY Caitlyn, and soon, she’ll be extra mad at Silco.

There’s literally so much that happens, but to kind of crash-course it before we move on:

Vi and Caitlyn meet with the Council, and they seem determined to try and eventually maybe just like talk things out with Silco? They basically want to avoid war. Vi also wants to avoid war, but she tries to explain that you cannot negotiate with Silco. She wants them to charge down there, take him out, and then once Silco is gone, surely the Undercity will go back to sort of the way it was before everything went terrible!

(It’s sweet. And sad.)

Ultimately the Council is like “yeahhhhhhhh but resources, let’s chat with him instead” and Vi storms out, feeling like they’re not taking her or the problems of the Undercity seriously (and like teeeeechnically she’s not wrong). Caitlyn chases after her, saying they’ll figure something out, begging her to stay, but Vi shuts her down, saying that both Piltover and Zaun are like oil and water–not meant to be. Caitlyn says “what about us?” and Vi repeats herself: “oil and water. Wasn’t meant to be.”

And it’s totally fine and I’m not crying about it don’t worry.

Vi seeks out Jayce, convinced maybe HE’LL do something if the rest of the Council won’t. She takes on the hextech gauntlets from Act 2, and Jayce takes the big hextech hammer also from Act 2, and they go down and just absolutely decimate one of Silco’s big Shimmer mine place things. It’s another delightfully choreographed fight scene, but it ultimately ends with Jayce accidentally hitting a child with this big laser blast, and that’s enough for him to be like “HAHA OKAY NO MORE OF THAT I’M OUT.” Vi, frustrated yet again because unfortunately dead kids are really just another day in the Undercity, refuses to give the gauntlets back and stalks away.

One of the other Undercity Council members finds Sevika, Silco’s second-in-command, strongly hinting that Silco’s time as leader of Zaun is up, and maybe she should consider helping out the next leader. By this point, Sevika is definitely frustrated with Jinx and Silco’s attachment to her, so it’s unclear how this will pan out. The Council people go to confront Silco, however, and Sevika takes them out, standing by Silco till the end. It’s a nice, layered little scene that involves the audience (and even Silco) truly not knowing if Sevika will help Silco or betray him, all while he gives a lengthy speech about loyalty.

Later, Vi finds Sevika at The Last Drop and challenges her to yet another fight (as you may recall, Sevika is someone she’s had frequent clashes with but has yet to actually win against)–it’s another brilliantly choreographed fight sequence, and there’s a sweet little moment when Vi gets knocked down where she sees Vander and talks to him before she gets back up to knock Sevika out. While she does win a fight, finally, it’s unclear if that’s even what she wants anymore.

Jayce, meanwhile, takes matters into his own hands and meets with Silco. He agrees to give Silco the independent nation of Zaun that he so craves–if Silco will hand Jinx over. That’s his deal.

Heartbroken, we catch up with Silco at this big memorial statue of Vander, which he talks to. Silco seems torn–Jayce has offered him everything he ever wanted, but it’s in exchange for Jinx, the one person it’s clear he would do absolutely anything for. Jinx overhears this, of course, and seems to think that Silco is leaning towards turning her in.

We follow Jinx as she takes Caitlyn, Silco, and eventually Vi, keeping them all together for the big finale scene, which we’ll discuss later because it deserves its own section. And I’ll start crying again as soon as I talk about it so

THE ART

HNNNNNNNNNNNNNNGOHMYGAWDYALL THIS SHOW IS SO PRETTY

The thought that goes into every little detail is just. I can’t talk about it enough. Every time I think I’ve exhausted every possible thing I’m reminded about something else and have to go “AND ANOTHER THING”

I mean it’s. It’s the way that each and every character has a unique nose (yep–even the WOMEN!!). It’s the weight that all the character’s bodies have, so we feel each punch or each time they collide with something (Vi’s parkour scenes come to mind in particular). It’s the subtle changes in the way the characters look at things, how you can watch their eyes moving to take in different objects or people. It’s the way the audience is so seamlessly taken from Jinx’s perspective filled with static and neon scribbles and ghosts to any other character’s, seeing her from the outside instead. It’s the colors and how they come to life in each and every setting, no matter how different they are. It’s the way Jinx’s comically long braids always move the way you’d expect real hair to. It’s the NUMBER of parallels that are present all the way through, from Jinx playing with the clockwork firelights that later blow up the bridge, to Vi and Powder mirroring Vander and Silco’s last confrontation and relationship in general, to Viktor and Jayce saving each other on opposite ends of the series with that same phrase of “am I interrupting?”

It’s the way I feel like I could watch the series multiple times and still miss a ton of details–it’s the love and care you can absolutely tell went into every blissful second of this series.

Even now as I’m listing things I’m SURE I’m missing stuff that I’ve thought of–I’ll probably come back and edit as I think of more because EVERYTHING deserves to be called out, I mean it’s just INSANE.

In particular, there are 4 standout scenes for this Act that we absolutely must discuss for art purposes.

1. THE EKKO AND JINX FIGHT–hooooooooo boy none of us were ready for this. One of my absolute weaknesses in any sort of storytelling piece is silent storytelling, when so much is said without a single word. This fight at the end of episode 7 is ABSOLUTELY one of those. We didn’t see much interaction between Jinx and Ekko when they were kids. We knew they knew each other and probably hung out, but we had no idea to what degree (it’s hinted at in the Enemy music video, but how canon is that??). THIS FIGHT THOUGH. The transitions between the graffiti art showing two kids messing around together and the art style of the show depicting two lost kids with broken childhoods suddenly at life or death odds with each other is just…like from what I remember, there’s not any sort of exposition line that is like “oh yeah Ekko and Powder are off playing together again ha ha tryna figure out Ekko’s watch or something” but we get ALL of that from just the visuals of this fight, and it’s shown in such a heartbreaking way. I just. AHHHHHHHHHH. Okay. I’m fine. This is fine.
2. THE BEDROOM SCENE–please send help I will never recover from Caitlyn and Vi. These two are just like, constantly in danger or getting beat up or blown up or stalked or yelled at or who KNOWS what else, so to have this sweet, simple moment where for the first time they just got to relax and just TALK to each other and just be in each other’s presence and just ahhhhhh?? It’s beautifully done and just such a nice break for these characters, I hope Jinx gets a break scene at some point too. No? Please?
3. THE SHOWER SCENE–Another DELIGHTFUL moment of silent storytelling here. I mean, I’m sure there are so many layers to this scene, with Caitlyn brooding in her super fancy Piltover shower while she thinks about Vi walking away from her in the rain, telling her to go back to her fancy house and forget about her because they’re oil and water, not meant to be. And then when the blood from her leg wound starts mixing with the shower water?? LIKE THERE ARE SO MANY METAPHORS I’M PROBABLY NOT EVEN ABLE TO PROCESS PROPERLY BECAUSE IT JUST???? IT’S SO WELL DONE
4. THE FINAL DINNER PARTY SCENE–See the upcoming section about this which will be filled with mostly me, sobbing.

There is probably also a lot to be said for how color is used in the show–Piltover is all golds and whites, with some rich blues and reds and the occasional purple thrown in (because they have to emphasize that “holier than thou” aesthetic ha ha love the city of progress am I right). Zaun is all dark browns and blacks with blinding neon accents in purples, pinks, blues, and the occasional green (it’s a bit of a jumbled mess and somewhat disorienting, which fits). The Firelights’ hideout, meanwhile, is all incredible earthy tones, with gorgeous greens and lighter browns, tans, and warm golds and creams. The visual vibe from each location is simply *chef’s kiss* and I am living for it every second.

THE MUSIC

IT’S. SO. GOOD.

New songs from this Act include: “Misfit Toys,” “Dynasties and Dystopia,” “Snakes,” “When Everything Went Wrong,” and “What Could Have Been,” all of which are BOPS as always (“What Could Have Been” will be discussed more when we talk about that final scene ha ha oh look I’m crying again already). From the score, my favorites from this Act are “The Price of Our Freedom,” “Everyone Else Betrays Us,” “We Call Them Firelights,” “Old Friend,” “First Steps,” and “You’re Perfect,” because it’s incredibly important to me to have at least one song from every Act pop up while I’m listening that makes me sob on cue.

It’s amazing to me how they manage to blend the orchestral score with all the other like, BOPS, so seamlessly? And have it work so well?

Also did anyone else watch The Game Awards and can we talk about how they started right off the bat with a performance of “What Could Have Been” with the RED MOON IN THE BACKGROUND AND EVERYTHING HOW DARE THEY????

Ahem. Yes. We’ll get to that.

THE YIKES

Alright, alright, but before we get to all that…

Look, it’s clear that I don’t have enough good things to say about this show, and I recognize that. I’m sure I sound like a broken record at this point, but I truly do believe that we have something special on our hands with this show and I will ABSOLUTELY never shut up about it. If I had to sit through years of people screaming at me about Hamilton, y’all can put up with this, thanks.

HAVING SAID THAT–the show isn’t perfect, of course, and there’s one scene in particular from Act 3 that just…it makes me feel a lil uncomfy, and I haven’t really seen anyone else talking about it? I’m sure someone has and I just haven’t come across it yet, but nonetheless…

So one of the characters I haven’t talked about much is Sky, and it was somewhat on purpose–she’s not a League champion as far as we know, and her reactions with other characters were on a fairly minimal scale, so I just wasn’t sure how important she was in the grand scheme of things. She seemed like a perfectly delightful individual, but again, she just didn’t have as much screentime as some others so it just wasn’t clear how she measured up. Sky seems to be the lab assistant for Jayce and Viktor, and you realize fairly early on that she has feelings for Viktor. Viktor doesn’t shut her down or anything, he’s just so absorbed in figuring out the hexcore that he doesn’t even notice her attempts, but he seems fairly nice to her. Also Viktor is literally dying, so…so I mean there’s that.

One night when Viktor is hard at work sacrificing himself to the hexcore and whatnot, as you do, Sky is on her way to ask him out. When she walks in, it looks a lot like the hexcore is trying to like, suck the literal life out of Viktor (he’s not really reacting to it much, though, so it’s not entirely clear what is actually happening). Determined to rescue him, Sky runs to him and grabs him, trying to pull him away from the hexcore’s grip. However, she is unable to do so, and the hexcore like…literally incinerates her and releases Viktor, leaving him in a pile of ash that used to be Sky.

(maybe it’s like a “Little Shop of Horrors” kind of deal? Except instead of alien man-eating plants it’s magical bloodthirsty magic glowing cubes?)

Shocked and appalled, Viktor is now determined to get the hexcore destroyed. Any chance it might have of saving him from death is not worth the death of others. He takes Sky’s ashes and scatters them, and his follow-up conversation with Jayce has one of my favorite lines in the whole series:

“In our pursuit of great, we failed to do good.”

MMMM. THAT’S SOME GOOD STUFF RIGHT THERE.

But…there’s just a lot about that whole scene that is just…not great, ya know? I mean it’s frustrating any time a good side character dies too early (SEE MYLO AND CLAGGOR MY BELOVEDS), but so much about Sky’s death feels extra icky. For starters, it hits a little too close to the “fridged woman” trope, where a female character is killed off just to further the character development of the male counterpart (remember–Viktor only comes to his conclusion about the dangers of the hexcore AFTER it incinerates Sky, not after it like, literally uses his blood to grow more powerful). That trope is bad enough, but to make it worse, Sky is one of the few female POCs of the series, and she died so that signature lanky WHITE MAN Viktor can have more of a backstory.

Now, absolutely, the tragedy of her death fits in well with the series as a whole–I’m just not sure why it had to be HER, ya know? If she was always going to be a side character whose only purpose was to die so Viktor could feel guilty, why did they design her to be a woman of color? Why couldn’t they have had some white guy lab assistant or something? (we can’t have him also be in love with Viktor because he still would have to die presumably, which brings us to BURY YOUR GAYS HAHAHAHA NOPE)

In a show filled with wonderfully layered characters and stunning storytelling decisions, I don’t understand why this scene was carried out as such.

I mean, maybe she’s not actually dead or something. That would be fun! But as it stands, there’s a lot about this scene that just doesn’t sit well with me, and it’s unfortunate, because so many other things are carried out so well, and then…there’s this. And I just don’t understand why it was written and executed this way.

Sky deserved better. And so do we.

THE CHARACTERS

I’m sure I’ve said this before, but by and large one of the things I think the series does really well is present us with incredibly layered, complex characters–what affects them and their choices are their circumstances and in turn, how they react to them. No one is simply evil or good just for the sake of it–there’s more to every single one of them.

With Jinx for example–it would have been so easy to write off her violence by simply saying “yeah–she’s crazy!” and leave it at that, but they don’t. They don’t excuse her actions by any means, but they present us with a character who feels like a real person. It almost never seems like Jinx enjoys the chaos and violence she creates, because we have scenes like her visiting the old hideout from when she was a kid and desperately trying to beat Vi’s high score on the boxing machine and still not being able to. We have scenes like the one when she reunites with Vi and is scared to tell her what she’s become, all the things she’s done. More than anything, we get the impression that she’s good at what she does because she had to be. She constantly feels like she has to prove herself to everyone, because if she doesn’t get it right, she’ll be left behind again. Again, it’s never presented as an excuse for her, simply a fact.

Silco is a fascinating character, creating a perfect foil to Jinx with his calm, collected demeanor and his low-voiced threats. The Silco we see in Act 1 is presented as power-hungry, obsessive, and driven by vengeance, and yet his choice to take in Jinx and raise her after seeing a bit of himself in her changes him. He’s not a great person, obviously, but to see the love and care he has for Jinx is just super intriguing. It’s a fascinating contrast to even Viktor’s arc involving Sky–Silco is presented as a typical villain, and yet when given the chance to change the world he owns and get everything he’s ever fought for, he turns it down, all for the love of one person. Viktor, meanwhile, was so focused on the hexcore and changing his world that he didn’t realize how important the love of one person could be until it was too late for her.

(am I reading too much into this ABSOLUTELY YES next question)

Mel has been such a fascinating character the whole series, but to see a glimpse of her past and see her go head-to-head with her mother was just *chef’s kiss*. Also that moment?? Where her mom sees the last painting she did???? JUST SLATHERED IN GOLD PAINT????? I don’t know WHAT it means but I LIKE IT

THE TRAGEDY

I’m using the above picture of Ekko and Heimerdinger on purpose I swear

So often when people recommend things to me and I shy away, I get hit with the ol’ “oh it’s just because you don’t like SAD STORIES”

(ask anyone who tried to get me to watch “La La Land”)

And like–they’re right! A lot of times I DON’T like sad stories! The world is sad enough right now and I think we all could use a lot more happiness and I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that!

But the caveat is also this–I don’t like poorly written sad stories. And I completely blame my obsession with Shakespeare for this. One of the things I love about Shakespearean tragedies is that they are incredibly well-written (this is a hill I will die on) AND they are really never presented without hope. What makes a Shakespeare tragedy a tragedy is because of how incredibly human it all is. Characters are layered and complex, they make decisions in ways that completely make sense with their personalities and identities (even if they’re horrible, horrible decisions), they are often victims of circumstance more than anything else, and it’s never 100% all bad all the time–there is pretty much always a glimmer of hope.

“Arcane” is incredibly Shakespearean in this way. The true villain of the story isn’t Silco, or Jinx, or Mel’s mom, or Sevika, or any one person–it’s society. It’s wealth. It’s class warfare. It’s the building tension between a rich, well-off “city of progress” and their drug-and-crime-addled Undercity whom they largely ignore. If one thing had gone differently in Vi and Powder’s story, and they never got separated and Powder never became Jinx, it would have been another kid. All of this would have blown up in everyone’s faces eventually.

The initial separation of Vi and Powder as kids, presented as Vi turning away from her sister in a moment of grief and then being unable to get back to her because Silco shows up right then and Marcus knocks her out right then absolutely reeks of the finale in “Romeo and Juliet,” doesn’t it? The unfortunate timing of it all?

Jinx being so haunted by the ghosts of her dead friends to the point where she ultimately destroys the one thing that mattered most to her is so incredibly “Hamlet” it hurts.

There is so much of each character’s story that seems hopeless by the end–Vi and Jinx are still separated, unable to come to terms with a broken childhood and how they have both changed as individuals without the other one being present. Caitlyn may have lost her whole family at the end, and her entire worldview has been shattered by the realities of the Undercity. Jayce and Viktor set out to change the world and help people in need, and instead they got caught up in glory, power, and an incurable illness and selfishness rather than selflessness. Mel is now seemingly at odds with both her own mother and her love interest, unable to protect the city she swore to save. Heimerdinger has been cast out of the city he created. Ekko has lost more friends than he can count. Singed has been cast aside for his obsession with his experiments. Sevika has lost almost life and definitely limb in the fight for a unified Undercity. Silco has presumably died. Vander has presumably died. Sky…Mylo…Claggor…

and yet

One of my most favorite and most unexpected scenes from Act 3 comes in the midst of all the other chaos and tragedy and craziness–Heimerdinger runs into an injured Ekko, and two incredibly brilliant minds connect. Heimerdinger has been so focused on how far Piltover has come as the City of Progress, it seems he too has been disconnected from what Zaun was going through in the meantime. He’s so convinced that true peace can only come with caution, and only after years and years of safety checks and living precariously, it shocks him when Ekko takes him to the Firelights’ hideout and shows him this beautiful thing he built in such a short time. I’m so excited to see where this partnership goes in the future, because it’s such an unlikely combination and yet, it makes perfect sense. Heimerdinger has seen so many friends and students come and go, all with grand ideas and plans, but none of them have accomplished what Ekko has with the Firelights, and I think he says it best when he tells Heimerdinger that you can’t just give people what they need to survive, you have to give them what they need to live.

In the midst of the broken-down, chaos-ridden, and violence-driven environment of Zaun, the Firelights have a safe haven, in the form of a beautiful tree. There’s so much metaphor there about resiliency, new beginnings, nature, I just…AAAAHHHHHH IT’S GREAT.

And it’s so important. There’s a reason why Pandora found hope at the bottom of the box, and why the best tragedies capitalize on it in some way–it’s our greatest superpower, I think. The ability to be kind even in the face of horrible things, to do good even at the cost to oneself, to keep going for the sake of someone else when you can’t do it for yourself anymore, it’s all because of hope, and hope is always there. That’s what makes these stories relatable, and what makes them and their themes last for centuries, told in all forms from a story around a campfire to a speech on a stage to a mission in a video game; it’s the hope.

Alright that’s enough profound speeches from me, time for some sobbing as we discuss…

THE FINAL SCENE

I am already crying

The finale of Act 3 (and of season 1 aaaaaaahhhh) is…a lot. I mean it’s the sequence that made me just sit in utter shock after watching it the first time for a good three straight minutes at least. I wasn’t even actively crying I was just sitting, staring at the credits with my mouth open while tears rolled down my face.

It was fine

ANYWAY

The final moments bring together a majority of our main players from the series as a whole–at the dinner scene, we have Jinx, Vi, Silco, and Caitlyn, and then on the opposite end at the Council meeting we have Jayce, Viktor, and Mel (plus the other Council members, like Caitlyn’s mother, and that one member with the cool clockwork collar).

(Sevika is notably absent, likely recovering from Vi’s bashing in the previous scene, and Ekko and Heimerdinger are busy being science buddies together and it’s so wholesome and pure and good and I’D RATHER FOCUS ON THAT BUT OKAY HERE WE GO)

So on the Piltover side of things, Jayce is addressing the Council about the deal he made with Silco for the independent nation of Zaun. They are all less than thrilled about this and to some degree I don’t blame them because literally all Jayce has done since getting added to the Council is act alone without discussing anything with any of them?? Which like, has its pros and cons because the Council is a hot mess, but that’s a discussion for another day. What I do like about this moment is that Jayce is present with Viktor, and including him, which is a nice change. Mel also ends up agreeing with Jayce, hoping that this is the best step forward for peace between the two cities before it all dissolves into war.

Meanwhile, Jinx has forcibly gathered all her favorite people back in the cannery from way back in Act 1, which was where Silco had initially set up shop, and therefore is where Jinx accidentally blew up her friends and family ha ha oops.

Jinx initially starts out just talking to Vi, and their back-and-forth here is fascinating. As Jinx slowly unveils more of the scene and more of the players involved, it becomes clear that what she’s trying to do is figure out who she is based on the people in her life (or, as it turns out, not in her life…ha ha…..*sobs*). She has created an elaborate dinner scene that absolutely brings to mind the Mad Hatter’s tea party–on one end of the long table she has Vi chained to a chair, and on the other end: Silco. Partway through she brings out a cupcake with the magical gemstone stuck on top in the frosting, and then she wheels in a chained-up Caitlyn as well.

(This is, of course, after the famous “I paid a visit to your girlfriend this morning” line which, if you’re wondering, I have also still not recovered from, either)

With all the key players in place, (this includes the replicas of Claggor and Mylo that she made, which Vi is seeing for the very first time which ha ha that’s super fun right) Jinx almost lets them have it out amongst themselves for who they want her to be. She has one chair on one end of the table with the name “Powder” written on it, and on the other end, a chair with the name “Jinx” splashed across it. She makes it very clear that it’s up to them, but especially Vi, who will leave the table after everything is said and done–Jinx, (Team Silco) or Powder (Team Vi).

Although it’s worth noting as I think back on this now that one of the fascinating elements of this scene is a massive miscommunication on everyone’s parts. Jinx is assuming that Vi wants her to go back in time to be Powder while Silco wants her to embrace her new way of life and move forward with Jinx while ignoring her past and where she came from. She’s operating from the standpoint of “they both want me to be different people from who I am currently, and I don’t know how to choose for myself.”

What Jinx misses, however, is that I think ultimately both Vi and Silco want her to just be herself–with some caveats. Vi doesn’t want her to go back to being the Powder she remembers, because it’s clear that she has grown and changed and Vi doesn’t know who her sister is anymore but she wants to know. Vi wants her to remember the good parts of her past and how those shaped her as an individual because she believes that can be more powerful than the pain and the suffering. Silco, on the other hand, wants her to embrace that pain and that suffering because it is a part of her and, in his mind, a necessary part of her. He purposefully makes all these comparisons between Jinx and himself because he sees a lot of his own pain reflected in her, and he knows that he has set his whole life around how his pain changed him.

Caitlyn is…honestly just stuck there because she had the audacity to get involved with Vi, and it’s just a poor timing thing.

But truly everyone is there just with completely different ideas of what is happening and goals and they’re all doing a terrible job at communicating what they want exactly and honestly it’s due in no small part to the fact that Jinx has everyone chained up and also she’s waving a big gun around like, yeah, that’ll certainly not help things, and it’s all just…it’s tragic.

And it gets worse.

In a moment of rage, Jinx breaks one of the glasses on the table, which Caitlyn is able to snag and use to free herself from her chair. Caitlyn has Jinx in her sights, she’s threatening to shoot, Jinx is giving her these sad puppy eyes, Vi is begging her not to shoot because that’s her sister, and ultimately Caitlyn’s hesitation costs her and Jinx is able to knock her out cold and take the gun from her. So now Jinx has a bigger gun, Silco has the smaller gun, Vi has her usual like, big muscle arms as her guns but that’s about it, and in the ensuing chaos and arguing and trying to pull her one way or the other, Jinx shoots–

and hits Silco.

Realizing what she’s done, she rushes over to him, apologizing, crying, begging, and Silco, very calmly, reassures her that he would never have given her over to them. Never.

She kneels before him, tears falling, and with his last breath, tells her “don’t cry. You’re perfect.”

It’s shocking. I mean, I didn’t necessarily expect Silco to make it through, but…I mean maybe I did? But more than anything, what that final moment with him does is solidify both what a fascinating character he was, and also how wrong Jinx was about him.

She always gets left behind. Her defining moment that sets the tone for the rest of the story is when Vi leaves her, just for a moment, except then it becomes forever. It is so embedded in her that people she loves will leave her, so when she overhears Silco talking about the deal that was offered to him, she just assumes that he will hand her over because how could she be worth more than the dream he has fought for for years and years and sacrificed so much for?

Except she was worth more to him. She was worth everything to him. He literally picked her up in the ruins of the cannery that day back in Act 1 and said “yep, I am a father now.”

All Jinx wants is for someone to love, accept, and see her for exactly who she is–not who she was, or who she will be. She wanted it to be Vi. And yet, it was Silco.

Except now he’s gone.

Steeling her resolve, she stands up and stalks over to the “Jinx” chair, which she collapses in.

Then she takes the gemstone, leaving Vi behind, and she stalks up to a sort of scaffolding where she can see the Council room in Piltover. She sticks the gemstone in the gun (it’s Fishbones, one of her weapons she uses in League and yes it’s a shark and yes it’s GLORIOUS), takes aim, narrows her eyes, and fires.

We then get this horrendous slow-motion montage of the missile Jinx fires, which is heading right for the Council, whom you may remember just finished agreeing to broker peace between the two cities.

Awkward.

Right before it goes through the window, we see a glint on Mel’s…armor? Outfit? The fancy lil gold things she wears, and she turns–we see Caitlyn and Vi stumbling out of the cannery together, seeing the missile, seeing where it’s headed…Vi is watching on in shock, Caitlyn is screaming (her mom is on the council remember so that’s cool that’s fun)

The screen cuts to black, and that’s the end.

WE ALL HAVING FUN YET HA HA HA THIS IS SUCH A FUN SHOW ABOUT FRIENDSHIP AND FAMILY AND ALSO CLASSISM AND OPPRESSION AND TRAUMA AND I AM NOT OKAY

This whole end moment with the missile is set to “What Could Have Been” sung by Sting and flourished with beautiful violin by Ray Chen and it’s juST. IT’S. FINE.

THIS IS FINE. I AM FINE.

Everything about the final scene is such a punch to the gut–like it’s not even a cliffhanger, it literally brings you to the edge of the cliff and then just sucker punches you right off of it and just when you manage to grab a branch to hold on to it comes up to you and says “no, I think not” and then breaks the branch you’re holding so that you’re falling again. We’re all gonna be in just massive freefall for the next probably couple years until Season 2, everybody hold hands, we’re going down together.

I could honestly just write an entire post about that final scene alone and dissect every little detail, because you just know an insane amount of thought went into it–partly because the team knows what’s coming next and we all have NO IDEA, THANKS FAM. Thanks for that. Love it.

Send help.

THE SECOND SEASON

So yes, we are getting season 2, it’s just likely we’re gonna have to wait quite a while. I mean, they said it took like…what, 6 years to make season 1? Yeah. Love that.

(but no actually I do because that means that season 1 gets to be as good as it is because so much time was taken for it–does it physically pain me to wait for season 2 because I will be stuck falling off that cliff until then yes it’s FINE)

All we know is from a short little announcement clip where we hear short lines from Vi, Caitlyn, and Jinx telling us…virtually nothing, honestly. Vi and Caitlyn imply they’re going after Jinx, someone’s probably gonna die, Vi insists it has to be just her so no one else gets hurt, Jinx says something like “I knew it was going to be you. It had to be you.” So…I mean I’m assuming that’s about Vi?

Or maybe that’s referring to Vander finally coming back. Who knows!

Anyway–will I post eventual updates once we have even the slightest CRUMB of knowledge??? Yes.

NO REALLY PLEASE WATCH THIS FOR YOURSELF

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again–seriously for reals, give this show a try. I mean, absolutely the tragedy of it all is a punch to the gut but like…it’s a good punch, ya know? It makes me sad but at the same time I’m like “honestly this is like…a masterpiece?”

Like in a time where we’re “looking forward to” the, what, 200th Marvel film or the next unnecessary sequel to a beloved movie that absolutely should just be left the fuck alone or the live-action origin story to, what, Ursula’s evil eels from The Little Mermaid?–it’s so genuinely nice to consume a piece of media that is just good. I realize there are money-making ties to it because it’s a LoL property but like, that’s precisely one of the reasons I feel good recommending it. Like, y’all, things that are created because they tie to a franchise that makes a lot of money can actually be GOOD. LIKE. GENUINELY.

They have set the bar SO high and I love them for it.

So, yeah, give it a shot. It’s a gorgeous show with beautifully written characters and an incredibly compelling story in a stunning setting.

Also I need more people to cry about it with.

All in all, I give Act 3 of Season 1 of “Arcane”…

5/5 EMOTIONALLY TRAUMATIZED AND STILL CRYING ABOUT IT RED MOONS!!

(Before we go, please enjoy this picture from the bedroom scene between Caitlyn and Vi:

PRECIOUS!!! I LOVE THEM!!!!)

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