More than its beginning, a journey is always defined by the way it ends. As the third part of the ongoing second season marks the conclusion of Netflix’s acclaimed animated series, Arcane, all the distinct plot threads get neatly rounded up to present a satisfactory, bittersweet ending. The complex relationship dynamics between some of our favorite characters get resolved in the only way they could have; the road ends for some while a new vista opens for others. With emotions running high and resplendent animation coloring the horizons, the final lap of Arcane is all about second chances, making amends, new journeys, and family ties. Although the pacing in this segment feels a bit rushed, series fans will find themselves pleasantly surprised by how well the final act handles diversified storylines while paying off the expectations of the viewers at the same time.
Spoilers Ahead
Jayce Sees The Past and The Present
Ekko, Heimerdinger, and Jayce were previously pulled inside the Hexcore singularity, and the seventh episode of the second season highlights the parallel journey both disciples of Heimerdinger make. While the singularity sent Jayce to a dark alternate reality, where Viktor’s quest for perfection ended up destroying Piltover, destroying humanity, and transforming them into synthezoids in their place. Jayce finds the mage who saved his life all those years ago, and like chasing a wraith, he goes after her elusive presence, desperate to make sense of the harrowing reality he has found himself in. To survive in the hellish reality, Jayce goes through a major transformation, which solidifies his aversion to Hextech, the rot that caused this reality to perish in the first place. At last, Jayce meets the mage and questions him why he gave him the runestone, which sent him on the quest to share magic with humanity in the first place—causing Hextech to be born and misery all around. The mage turns out to be this alternate reality’s Viktor, who realized the error of his ways, and to stop any other reality from repeating the same mistake, he had met with young Jayce from each of the realities, offering them runestones. This action carries greater significance as shown in the latter half of the finale. However, following this meeting, the prime version of Jayce was hell-bent on eliminating Viktor’s corporeal body in the previous segment.
Ekko Brings Hope
Ekko and Heimerdinger end up in an alternate timeline where Vi had passed away, Hextech doesn’t exist, and Powder never turned into Jinx by losing her sanity. In this reality, Ekko and Powder shared a strong bond—and the prime version of Ekko gets a chance to live the life he always wanted. With the help of Heimerdinger and Powder, Ekko tries to find a way to use fragments of a Hex crystal to return to his timeline, when he accidentally invents a time rewinder. After experiencing a happy life with Powder, which he could never have, prime Ekko manages to return to his timeline, although it takes Heimerdinger sacrificing himself to allow Ekko to harness the power of the Hex crystal. Ekko’s journey to the alternate timeline wasn’t merely included to hint about his abilities in “League of Legends”; instead, it gave him a chance to reconnect with his childhood friend, who is still present inside the troubled mind of Jinx, and Ekko won’t give up on her.
Mel Gets A Glowup And Viktor’s Plan Explained
Inside the imprisonment of the Black Rose, Mel’s birth heritage triggers her transformation into a mage of the Order, and she comes across a chief of the Order, possibly Leblanc, whose ability to take on the appearances of others confirms her identity. From her, Mel learns about Ambessa’s deceit, who allegedly sacrificed her son, Kino, to obtain power. Determined to stop her mother, Mel makes her way to Piltover, where she comes across a troubled Jayce. The duo is attacked by one of Viktor’s synthezoids and they learn about his motive of taking humanity to their glorious evolution; in his attempt to find perfection and root out the differences, Viktor now exists in an ethereal form in a transcended place. Viktor wants to curb the so-called human imperfections by taking control over everyone through a hive mind of sorts, which will operate under the single transcended consciousness of his, thereby being immune to emotional fluctuations. To put such a plan in motion, Viktor takes help from Ambessa and Singed, both of whom have their personal reasons to stand by his side. Ambessa needs an army of enhanced soldiers, which Viktor has promised to deliver to her if she manages to take him to the Hexgate of Piltover, from where he will be able to connect and take control over all of humanity. Singed helps Viktor to achieve his final form as he infuses a Shimmer-afflicted Warwick’s blood into Viktor’s techno-organic system, thereby transforming him into Machine Herald Viktor. In exchange, he needs Viktor to bring Orianna back to life. After learning about Viktor’s true motive, Jayce rallies citizens of both Piltover and Zaun to unite against a common threat, but a number of Jinx loyalists of Zaun refuse to do so.
Jinx Finds Her Will to Live
Following Isha’s demise, Jinx has found herself at the lowest point of her life, and after ensuring her elder sister Vi’s safety, she surrenders. Inability to save people close to her agonizes Jinx and leads her to a depressed state of mind. Jinx’s tormented psyche conjures up a vision of Silco, who advises her to walk away from the cycle of violence, and Jinx decides to do so in her own way as well. After Vi learns about her sister’s predicament, she mistakenly gets mad at Caitlyn for taking her captive and tries to free her sister, hoping Jinx will try to redeem herself by making noble efforts in the upcoming conflict. However, Jinx frees herself while locking Vi up, advises her to not keep herself bogged down by concerns for her sister, and takes off. Vi beats herself up for believing in Jinx’s ability to change and reconciles with Caitlyn. Back in her lair in the Undercity, Jinx destroys everything related to the past and prepares to end her life by detonating a bomb made by her, but right at that moment, Ekko intervenes by using his time rewinder. Ekko’s recent experience in the alternate timeline has allowed him to find the connection he once had with Powder, and he manages to convince Jinx not to give up on life.
Viktor and Jayce Reconcile
Mel tries to convince her mother, Ambessa, to withdraw forces for a final time, which ends in vain; however, as she confronts her about Kino’s fate, Mel realizes that Leblanc hasn’t been honest with her, as Black Rose had a much more nefarious role to play in Kino’s demise than she previously assumed.
The battle between Ambessa’s forces and the combined might of Piltover and Zaun begins, and as Jinx and Ekko join the battle, their loyalists pour in as well. Vi and Jinx fight side by side, and they face an enhanced Warwick, who no longer harbors Vander’s consciousness. Once again, it’s an emotionally charged moment for the sister duo, and Vi still considers their father figure to be alive somewhere within the beast. On the other hand, a fierce warrior, Ambessa takes on both Mel and Caitlyn on the battlefield and dominates over them with ease. Jayce faces Machine Herald Viktor in Hexgate but fails to stop him as he connects all of humanity with his consciousness in the spiritual plane of the Arcane. Just when it seems all is over, Ekko uses his rewinder to free himself from Viktor’s neural entanglement and blasts the rewinder on Viktor’s face, which allows Jayce to show the truth to his friend at long last. It was an alternate reality version of Viktor himself, who had caused catastrophe in his own reality by going through the great evolutionary plan. This version of Viktor inspired Jayce and a number of other versions of him to get inspired by the Arcane in order to lead them in a journey where they will eventually end up stopping Viktor of their reality from making the biggest mistake. Jayce helps Viktor to see the error in his ways—due to his paraplegic condition, Viktor considered himself broken, imperfect, and saw a mirror reflection of himself in the follies of humanity. Jayce helps him realize that without these imperfections, humanity loses individuality—and in his efforts to bind everyone to one thread, Jayce had become a totalitarian figure who denied free will. Finally, with the same runestone the alternate reality Viktor had given to him, Jayce manages to undo Viktor’s machination, and both the friends disappear in the dark depths of the Arcane after freeing the world from Viktor’s entrapment. On the other hand, Mel decided to stop her mother by taking her inside the Black Rose entrapment, but she turned her back on Leblanc/ whoever the chief mage was at the same time and presumably warded her off when she tried to end Ambessa. But by the time Mel brings her mother outside the Black Rose machination, she has sustained fatal shock—and dies in Mel’s arms, putting an end to the conflict once and for all.
Is Jinx Dead?
On the other hand, as Jinx and Vi struggled with Warwick, Vi’s hopeless attempt to rescue Vander—who is no longer there—ends up jeopardizing her life. Jinx sacrifices her own life to save her sister, as while freefalling with Warwick through Hexgate, she activates the bomb at her disposal, presumably killing both herself and Warwick in the explosion. It was Powder’s inventions that resulted in Vander’s fatal accident and her psyche getting broken as a result, and at the end, it was her invention once again that brings her and Warwick’s arc to a befitting end. However, Jinx might have survived the explosion, as in the final moments of the series, Caitlyn is seen observing the slides of the Hexgate mechanism, showing a fortified cooling section/air vent where Jinx might have escaped from. But what we do know for certain is Jinx will no longer return to her sister and go on her own way; after all things are said and done, it’s for the best for both of them.
Vander’s vision of a united Piltover-Zaun is realized by the end, as Sevika is seen to be a part of the newly formed Piltover council. Mel decides to follow the legacy of her mother, and to avenge the deaths of her family, she decides to return to Noxus—where she will find her true heritage and the root of the entire Black Rose fiasco. Singed has found solace as well, as his daughter Orianna – in the form of a synthezoid, is seen by his side, possible Viktor’s machinations gave her a second chance at life. The Hextech seems to be lost in the annals of time, but as a hint for the future events, a three-eyed raven is seen taking Jayce’s Hex crystal from his Warhammer, which implies the conflict will never end after all; it will merely change settings. Ekko is seen sulking alone, pining for a life he will never have with Jinx gone, but on the off chance that she has survived the accident, there could be some hope for Ekko after all.
