Arcane has officially come to an end – here’s how the animated Netflix show wrapped up Vi and Jinx’s story, and potentially sets up future League of Legends projects.
Full spoilers follow for Arcane season 2 act 3.
After two critically-acclaimed seasons, multiple award wins, and millions of hours streamed, Arcane has ended – and what an ending it was. Following the release of season 2’s final trailer on Tuesday (November 19), the hugely popular Netflix series has bowed out with an emotionally stunning finale, and I’m certainly struggling to comprehend how Arcane season 2’s third and final act could end in such bittersweet fashion.
As one of the best Netflix shows‘ final credits roll and the dust begins to settle on an animated masterpiece that’ll stand the test of time, I imagine you’ve got plenty of questions rattling around your head. Well, as I fight back tears, I’ll do my best to answer them. This is your final warning: full spoilers immediately follow for the entirerty of Arcane, including its final three episodes.Arcane season 2 act 3 ending explained: is Jinx dead?
Let’s start off with the big one: did Jinx die? It certainly seems that way, but I’m not buying she is.
In the final 15 minutes of season 2’s mind-bending and bloody ninth episode, titled ‚The Dirt Under Your Nails‘, Vi, Jinx, and an apparently dead Warwick are left strewn across the dilapidated Hexgate tower, with Jinx marooned on a steel beam above another that Vi and Warwick are perched on.
As Jinx and Vi stagger to their feet, the latter looks down at the monster that used to be Vander, aka the siblings‘ surrogate father. Intuitively knowing that Vi will try to save Vander once more, Jinx pleads with her older sister to leave it be and head for a safer metal beam. Ever the stubborn individual, Vi ignores her sister’s pleas and, as she reaches out to Vander/Warwick, the beast awakens and begins lashing out at Vi.
With every attack from Warwick further destabilizing the beam that it and Vi are on, Jinx – using her shimmer-based powers – leaps from her girder, ploughs into Warwick, and knocks them off Vi’s beam. Vi reaches out and grabs Jinx’s right hand with one of her Hextech gauntlets to try and haul her sibling to safety, but Warwick grabs Jinx’s waist; the pair’s combined weight meaning Vi must make a choice: save herself, or they’ll all perish in the inevitable fall.
Jinx, realizing that Vi needs to let her go but knowing full well she won’t, delivers a tear-jerking goodbye to her sister, saying „Always with you, sis“. Using her free hand, she removes the Hextech gemstone from Vi’s gauntlet, which causes it to power down, and release Jinx and Warwick. As the pair seemingly fall to their death, Jinx pulls out the Hextech gemstone bomb she’d originally made to kill herself at the start of episode 9, pulls the pin, and seemingly kills her and Warwick as a grief-stricken Vi watches on.
All of that would suggest Jinx is dead, right? Not quite. You see, during episode 9’s final scenic medley, Caitlyn is seen scrolling through the Kiramman family archives and stumbles upon the Hexgate’s construction plans. There, she spots a set of cooling tunnels (see the image above for more) that branch off from the building, which leads to a wry smile spreading across Caitlyn’s face.
To me, this implies that Caitlyn thinks Jinx used one of said tunnels to escape her own bomb blast. Additionally, as the screen cuts to black after the season 2 finale’s last scene, a Jinx-style smile and a graffiti-esque ‚The End‘ quickly flashes on the screen. The revelation about the cooling tunnel, coupled with this obvious Jinx reference, lead me to believe that Zaun’s self-appointed „big, fat hero“ lives to fight another day.Arcane season 2 act 3 ending explained: do Caitlyn and Vi end up together?
Yes! After almost two seasons‘ worth of teases, the couple affectionately dubbed ‚CaitVi‘ by Arcane’s fanbase get their happy ending. They’re seen snuggling in one of the last scenes in ‚The Dirt Under Your Nails‘.
It’s been a long road to get to this point. Indeed, season 1 was full of hints that Caitlyn and Vi had feelings for each other, but it wasn’t until season 2’s third episode that Arcane finally gave us a huge ‚CaitVi‘ moment – that being their first kiss, which the show’s creators told me they „couldn’t have done in season one.“
Regardless, Caitlyn and Vi’s dynamic suffered some significant setbacks throughout this season, not least because Caitlyn’s mom was one of three Piltover councillors who died in Jinx’s attack in the season 1 finale. Given the diverging nature of their journeys from season 2 episode 3 onwards, there was no guarantee that ‚CaitVi‘ would survive this season’s explosive storyline. Thankfully, they did – and it came after they finally consummated their relationship by having sex for the first time, too, albeit we only got a tasteful glimpse at that in episode 8 before that chapter moved onto other matters.
The duo have been impacted by some truly traumatic events before and since we’ve met them, including Caitlyn losing her left eye in her final showdown with Ambessa and Vi losing, well, everyone she’s loved (Jinx’s undetermined fate notwithstanding) apart from Caitlyn.
