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Fridge Brilliance

Season 1

Silco's henchmen are not equipped with guns in his canning facility/Shimmer production plant during Episode 3. The main reason for that is likely because of the highly volatile nature of Shimmer. Silco wouldn't want his operation to literally go up in flames due to stray gunfire. On a meta level, this places Vi in a situation where she has to fight a swarm of low effort Mooks coming at her one at a time down a narrow lane… just like a battle against a wave of minions in League of Legends.
- In general guns seem to be primarily used by Piltover, something that makes sense when you realize Zaun is probably an absolute hotbed of volatile chemicals both natural and unnatural, so any kind of gunfire would risk setting something off. The primary exception to this is Jinx, which also makes sense since she either doesn't care about any kind of collateral or would love to watch the resulting explosion.
Singed surviving Powder's explosion in Act I makes perfect sense, aside from being Saved by Canon. After all, the good doctor is a tank, so it makes logical sense that he would survive such a deadly incident!
In the intervening years between Acts I and II, several of the characters have found themselves becoming the very people they struggled against.
- In her youth, Vi held contempt against Piltover and its Enforcers. Understandably, she felt anger towards Vander for his clandestine collaboration with Sheriff Grayson. By Act 2, she's now cooperating with Caitlyn (who is both a Piltoverian and an Enforcer). Quite similar to Vander's relationship with Sheriff Grayson, both Vi and Caitlyn share respect for each other despite their differing backgrounds and goals.
- Silco has replaced Vander as the head of Zaun's underground, forced to keep the peace between Zaun and Piltover. He rages at Jinx over the killing of Enforcers and the mess it will bring, a stark contrast to the brutal murder of Grayson and her squad in Act I.
- Jayce is becoming the very sort of politicking, backroom-dealing councilor that nearly got him banished for his experiments in the first place.
- Marcus, whose overzealous approach to cleaning up the undercity ultimately helped get Grayson killed, has become the new Grayson: a chief of police who looks the other way, keeps his troops in check when it comes to the underworld, and has an understanding with Zaunite leadership.
Vi's prisoner number, 516, is written in roman numerals on her left cheek - coincidentally spelling out "VI" (V, I, VI) in the process.
Silco turns Zaun into a mirror of Piltover. Piltover was ruled by a governing council of seemingly legitimate business people who - as Jayce finds out - "bend" laws to increase their personal wealth or gain certain luxuries, who through lack of awareness and compassion let down the Zaunites, allowing pollution and wide spread corruption within the Enforcers and customs officials. Zaun itself is ruled by the Chem Barons who presumably like Silco are seen as a group of legitimate business people, who as seen by the fact that they can no longer breathe Zaunite air have become detached from the plight of the lowest levels. This is foreshadowed by Vander in ep. 3 "...in fighting topside you'd sacrifice everything that we are. That's not the way. Please, kill me, but spare the Lanes".
Heimerdinger saying Piltover has "traded honor for prestige" could be seen as a veiled Biting-the-Hand Humor reference to League of Legends' honor system, and the introduction of prestige skins.
During the concerto, Heimerdinger's Fatal Flaw is foreshadowed - he is the only member of the Council who's actively listening to and enjoying the music, completely oblivious to all the scheming the other members are busy with.
Why does Silco choose his blinded eye for his Shimmer dose injection, despite the visible pain it causes? Seeing that Shimmer seems to deteriorate one's body and he will definitely need his limbs for experimenting or fighting, his already useless eye would be the least harmful place for his injection.
- That, or the useless eye is the core of the infection.
Silco attempts to use a sort of baptism to help Jinx completely remove the Powder side of her psyche. Aside from certain exceptions, what happens when actual powder is put in water? It's not powder anymore.
- This can either be in a way that Powder is "dissolved" or...
- Certain powders (like concrete) will solidify, thus the baptism solidified Powder as who she is now, Jinx.
Silco applies concealer to hide the extent of his scarring. When he goes under the surface of the river, he's also getting rid of his pretensions to normalcy, which is what he wants Jinx to do.
Silco's rage after Vi escapes him (with Caitlyn) may be deeper than just frustration that his plans are being disrupted. The first thing he does when they meet is call her "Vander's prodigy." Because that's what Vi is in Silco's eyes: a girl following Vander's way of life and a living reminder of the man he once called brother. Seeing her might be digging up painful memories for Silco, who's proven to be both bitter and slightly melancholic over Vander's death, judging by how he acts at the latter's memorial. And Silco could be interpreting Vi's escape as yet another offense Vander has indirectly done against him.
One of Vi’s nicknames for Powder is “Pow-Pow”… the same name that adult Jinx will end up calling her mini gun, the same one she fires erratically and wildly, and frequently while screaming, and that seems to have just as much chance of hitting her allies as her enemies. Whether Jinx understands the appropriate “loose cannon” connotations given the defining moment of her childhood, or chose the name subconsciously, it’s a startlingly appropriate allegory for her.
There's an interesting parallel between Vander's and Silco's deaths: both are accidentally caused by Powder/Jinx, and she is driven to tears when she realizes what happened. Vi in her own anguish hits Powder and calls her a "jinx", effectively blaming her for everything that happened, leaving Silco to find her. In the wake of his own fatal shooting, Silco tenderly assures Jinx that neither would he have given her to Piltover no matter what they offered him nor does he blame her for his death. His last words to her are "You're perfect". Just as he did when he first met her, during another extremely heartbreaking moment in her life, in his final moments, Silco reinforces and enables Powder/Jinx's most self-destructive tendencies, this time to the point where any chance for her to heal and reclaim any sort of normalcy is permanently lost.
Going further on what has been pointed out above, the parallel stretches itself to the entire end of both arcs. In both cases, a conflict was on the verge of being somewhat solved, but chaos was brought back thanks to Powder/Jinx. In the first act, we have Claggor, Vi, and Mylo almost succeeding in freeing Vander, only for Powder to accidentally kill everyone in a failed explosion. In the final act, she not only kills someone she cares about by accident, but once again she instigates chaos. The council was about to agree on a peace treaty when she launches a full blown attack on them. Once again she sets off a new conflict, for a new arc. The only difference being that this time, she did it on purpose.
- If you count the burglary of Jayce's lab too, it's interesting to see how many plot points were quite literally detonated by explosions caused by Jinx.
While Jinx created doll versions of Mylo and Claggor, it’s Mylo, the one who constantly antagonized her- and is shown to be the voice of her fear and anxiety- who gets a life-sized and detailed representation, while Claggor, the nicer brother, is a small doll with only the boy’s goggles to signify who it is. This can be seen as a visual representation of how much each of them still affects her. Mylo and his taunts are a much bigger presence in Jinx’s head, constantly talking and exacerbating her stresses.
- And remember that when Vi explodes at Jinx, she angrily states that "Mylo was right!" And given how Jinx admired Vi and was traumatized by what just happened, she clearly took what her older sister said to heart.
The explicitly contrasting technologies of Shimmer and Hextech also serve as symbolic of the cities of Zaun and Piltover, as well as the story.
- Shimmer has ugly results with bulging purple veins, deforming the body but providing extreme physical power at the cost of addiction. It's tested ruthlessly by Singed on Silco's orders. Even with refinement of years, even Sevika has some minor noticeable physical indicators of its use. In other words, much like Zaun, Shimmer even at its best or highest levels has an ugliness and cost.
- Hextech is oftentimes beautiful, fitting perfectly with the neat aesthetics of Piltover. Users seemingly face no side effect, especially once the crystals are modified to not explode from impact. But Skarner's backstory reveals that these crystals contain the souls of innocent beings. Like Piltover, it is sleek and impressive but built on the suffering of countless others that the people of Piltover can't or won't see.
That Jinx was able to produce a functional Hextech weapon in such a short time from nothing but a handful of stolen research notes is not (only) because she is "just that good with gadgets", but because her weapon is essentially a smaller version of Piltover's airship accelerator tower, firing an otherwise mostly mundane rocket. The tower was the first major application Jayce and Viktor came up with, so it would be their most understood and best documented design.
- In addition, as we see with Victor, give Hextech blood and focusing solely on it can also reveal more runes and their functions. Since what we see of Jinx is that she is mostly spending time alone, and frequently injured, around Hextech, no wonder it reveals itself to her!
Why does Vi shout for Caitlyn on the bridge when she hears the gunshot, but not her childhood friend Ekko? Besides the obvious Ship Tease, Caitlyn is the most vulnerable in that situation. She sold her rifle to get Vi’s medicine, and the previous episode showed that she gets knocked out easily with one punch. Meanwhile, Ekko is self-sufficient with his street-fighting and has his Firelight gadgets for protection. Vi would be more worried about someone who is defenseless and without a weapon than someone who could manage on their own.
Ekko has nothing but contempt and hatred for Jinx for the things she's done, and when he had the chance to finish her off once and for all in The Boy Savior, he stayed his hand the moment he looked into her eyes and gave Jinx the opening she needed to set off a grenade. Why did Ekko hesitate to finish off Jinx when he had her dead to rights? He was ready to kill Jinx, but he wasn't ready to kill Powder.
- More specifically, in order to execute his strategy to taunt her into an old game and get past Jinx’s gunfire to strike her, he had to get them both to remember their childhood, and get Jinx to act more like Powder so he could predict her actions. Considering how it’s suggested by the mural and his dialogue he usually treats both personas as different people, having to acknowledge she’s both got around his self-imposed mental block.
Ekko and Jinx are both Undercity orphans with talent for gadgets, but end up being polar opposites in literally everything they represent, not just their social life or how they use their inventions, but even in how they live: Ekko's home is at the very bottom of the city, but full of life despite everything, filled with people that have made it beautiful through cooperation. Jinx's is at the top of the shaft - above the people of the lower levels, but constantly hanging over a Bottomless Pit. Not only is it dark and filled with weapons and traumatic souvenirs, the 'floor' itself is a giant ventilation fan - a machine that could likely do wonders for the lives of the people below, but allowed to waste its potential because nobody showed the good will to make it work.
Fishbones (Jinx's Hand Cannon) being shaped like a shark, appropriately, is given additional weight beyond what the original lore shows us. Silco, Jinx's adoptive father, has taken predatory aquatic animals as a metaphor for his survival and aspirations for Zaun. What better way for them, then, to strike back against Piltover's decades-long overlordship (consequences of war be damned) than with what symbolizes Silco's brutalized vengeance?
The series ends up answering something from the game: when Jinx uses Fishbones, why is she spending mana? Shouldn't it be like Pow-pow and use ammo instead? Well, it turns out that, at the end of Season 1, Jinx finishes building Fishbones, which in turn is powered by the Hexgem, meaning that her rockets and Ult are propelled by it and in turn deplete her mana per shot.
When Jayce tells Silco that he doesn't want war between Piltover and the Undercity, it's because he believes they don't stand a chance. While this could just be because he's overconfident of his Hextech, it should be pointed out that Jayce himself is no fighter, at least before the raid. He's a scientist and a hammer forger first. But this does make his point true, for if even a commoner like him, with no prior training or experience in combat, is fully capable of defeating several of Silco's Chem Tanks with one Hextech weapon alone, imagine what could happen if Jayce and the Council manages to outfit their entire forces with these kinds of weapons? As Jayce said, they don't stand a chance.
In the intro, all the characters are depicted as freestanding stone statues, with the sole exception of Caitlyn, who is "trapped" on a relief sculpture before later being depicted as freestanding as well. Also note the lyrics that accompany hers and Heimerdinger's appearances:
Caitlyn: "I'm searching to behold, the stories that are told"
Heimerdinger: "When my back is to the world, that was smiling when I turned"
Vi and Powder's hair styles grow further and further apart as they grow older. As children their hairstyles are very similar, with the few loose braids on Powder being the major difference. As Vi becomes a teenager, her hair is more stylized differentiating◊ her from Powder. And of course, Jinx's incredibly long braids show how different she's become from both who she was as Powder and Vi.
It might seem overly convenient that Vi just happens to activate the shield of the Atlas gauntlets right when Sevika is about to land a falling strike. But remember that the gauntlets are mining equipment. Cave-ins, falling rocks, and dropped tools are all potential hazards in mining, and the cover position Vi takes is one someone might use to protect themselves from such a danger. With that posture and the presence of a falling object (in this case, Sevika), the gauntlets perhaps sensed this combination and activated the shield automatically, which would be preferable to a manual activation.
Jinx gives us a beautiful example from the self-fulfilling prophecy. All she wants is to have Vi's approval and affirmations. But by acting out the way she does, she actually pushes Vi further and further away from her. The fact that she's actually the one that indirectly brought Caitlyn and Vi together, makes all of it an extremely sad irony.
- In fact, she did so twice. Caitlyn and Vi met because of the former investigating Jinx and the latter joining in. Later in the series, after Vi left Caitlyn and told her to forget about her, Jinx kidnaps both of them, re-uniting the two once again.
Jinx feels as if Vi had replaced her with Caitlyn. Leaving aside their similarities in weapon choice and hair color, this also applies in a bit of a meta way in regard to their roles in League; among all the main characters, each of them who is playable in-game is of one particular role on a normal team composition. Vi is a jungler, Jayce is a top-laner, and Viktor is a mid-laner. However, there's one exception; both Jinx and Caitlyn are bot-lane Marksmen/AD Carries, so naturally most teams would replace one with the other instead of having both.
Why is Powder/Jinx so desperate to be with Vi? Bottom Lane Marksmen are more vulnerable and require a partner to be at their best.
A weakened and delirious Vi angrily bats away Caitlyn attempting to clean her with a handkerchief. Besides still not trusting Caitlyn, this moment makes sense for one reason: the last time an Enforcer used a handkerchief on her, it was to chloroform her before throwing her in Stillwater.
Despite Ekko making his hatred for Piltover and its Council well-known, he does not have the same hostility towards Heimerdinger when they meet (despite not knowing he is no longer on the council). Two things could explain this: One, Heimerdinger is the only council member who has ever bothered to visit the Undercity and offer help. Two, like Ekko, he is an inventor. They both believe in building a better future through invention, so Ekko would have more in common with the Yordle Professor more than the greedy merchants who run both cities.
- Also, Ekko meets Heimerdinger after meeting Caitlyn, a Piltovan Enforcer. The said Piltovan who he was initially hostile to who revealed to her more corruption from her home. And the same Piltovan who didn't act demanding because of her background, didn't keep denying Ekko's anger, and didn't treat him as beneath her simply for being Zaunite. Instead, she validates his concerns and asks him for his help to heal the Undercity. After this encounter, Ekko likely came to understand that his perception that all Piltovans being greedy, selfish Rich Bitches isn't as true as he once thought.
- Tying into the above statement it was Caitlyn, a rich Piltovan Enforcer who released Vi from jail and saved her life after a near-fatal wound from Sevika; information that Vi most likely revealed to Ekko after their hug. And now Heimerdinger is offering to assist an injured Ekko.
- Ekko may also be taking a page from Vi. Remember, Ekko (like Vi's siblings) admired her and he's known Vi to be an avid Piltovan and Enforcer hater since they were children. Now, he sees her openly trusting and protecting Caitlyn, a Piltovan Enforcer. In other words, Ekko deciding to trust Heimerdinger might be because he was following the example of the person he looked up to as a child.
Marcus shows nothing but annoyance, if not outright contempt, to Caitlyn. This attitude can be explained by various reasons:
- She reminds him of himself — Like Marcus, Caitlyn is something of a Hot-Blooded Cowboy Cop, often doing things behind their superior's backs to do what they think is right. However, Marcus comes to very much regret these traits as they got Grayson and other Enforcers killed and made him forced to work for Silco. Seeing these traits in Caitlyn and treating her dismissively, is a way for him to (indirectly) admonish himself.
- She reminds him of Jinx — Both are blue-haired, intelligent young women who are deadly with a gun, and also happen to be the only child of the ruler of their respective homes (Silco for Jinx, Cassandra for Caitlyn). And said parents do everything in their power to protect their children, even if it means doing something morally unfounded. Marcus can't confront Jinx openly given her volatile nature but it's easier to take his frustrations out on Caitlyn because she's not as violent and is his subordinate.
Caitlyn's disgust at corrupt Enforcers and the horrifying circumstances of Zaun's citizens all comes down to her believing in a fair and equal system. That attitude most likely stems from how often her parents would use their power and prestige to get Caitlyn to win competitions in her youth.
How both Vander and Silco's first actions/fate cement what kind of person Vi and Powder/Jinx will be respectively. For Vander and Vi, they are selfless protectors; for Silco and Powder/Jinx, they are selfish avengers.
- How they each met their respective daughters — Both have weapons on them (Vander has his gauntlets visibly out, Silco has a knife hidden behind his back). Vander willingly chooses to give up his weapons and take the girls away from the death and violence, Silco loses the knife only because it got knocked away by Powder's surprise hug and only starts to comfort her when she appeases his own past issues, and doesn't take her from the carnage eve after he consoles her. Vander selflessly chose to care for the children he felt he orphaned while Silco selfishly took in Powder/Jinx because she reminded him of himself.
- Their deaths — Vander gives up the chance to kill Silco to protect Vi and his last words to his eldest daughter was to take care of Powder; Silco attempted to kill Vi after being freed from his restraints but was accidentally shot by a confused Jinx, caring more about killing Vander's "prodigy" at the end than comforting his spiraling daughter.
- Vander dies near the fire, by a light. In contrast, Silco dies in the darkness.
It's left up in the air if Jinx forced Caitlyn into her Enforcer uniform for the "dinner party" or if the latter just chose it out of fear. Either way, it makes perfect sense:
- If Jinx did force her, it would be because she's trying to reinforced to Vi what Caitlyn is - An Enforcer. The people who killed their parents. The people who routinely and unjustly hounded Zaunites. The people who forcibly imprisoned Vi. Jinx only sees Caitlyn as one of the many cruel and corrupt Enforcers who made her life miserable (she even once referred to Caitlyn as "some stupid Enforcer"). She also very likely remembers Vi's own intense hatred of them during their and is trying to remind Vi see Caitlyn as an enemy.
- If the above moment didn't happen, then it still makes sense in another thematic reasoning - Vi is going to become the future Piltover Enforcer and throughout Acts 2 and 3, she has been shown through Caitlyn's action that not every Piltovan or even Enforcer is an enemy. And when it came to Jinx's Sadistic Choice, Vi chooses to not harm Caitlyn. And when freed, Vi doesn't go to Jinx but to help an injured Caitlyn. Vi may not know it yet but she's chosen her path as an Enforcer.
Vi was captured and bound by both Ekko (with the Firelights) and Jinx at the end of Acts 2 and 3, respectively. However, she was able to free herself from the former but not the latter. Why? Well, there are actually logical reasons as to why.
- 1. Vi's energy - In the former case, Vi was recently healed from a near fatal wound with a liquid-like Shimmer (thanks to Caitlyn) and was likely still feeling the effects of it. And while she was knocked out by Scar, there was an unknown amount of time between that and being interrogated by Ekko, in the middle she woke up, with a bag over her head and bound. Thus, she was able to re-energize. In the latter case, she had just been through two major fights, the latter being with a newly armed and fighting expert Sevika. And in that fight with Sevika, Vi nearly went down. And after she did win, she was in an exhausted state before being hit over the head with the butt of a gun by her shimmer-enhanced sister. And unlike the former, she didn't wake up on her own, Jinx woke her up, thus Vi didn't have time to fully recuperate.
- 2. Interrogator - In the first case, Ekko interrogates with straight and honest questions in calm (if distrusting) manner and doesn't use any sort of violence and/or intimidation; as such, Vi was able to calmly unlock herself while during their conversation. On the other hand, Jinx was emotionally manipulative, volatile, and use the threat of violence to get her way, so Vi was constantly on edge to keep her sister calm.
- 3. The Types of Binding - In the former case, Vi's hands were tied behind her back, so she could freely unbind herself without alerting Ekko's suspicions. With Jinx, her hands were bound right in front of her and tied to a chair, so an already dangerously impulsive Jinx would be able to see if Vi were to pull any kind of stunt.
In each of Vi's kidnappings at the end of each of the three Parts, they are tied to Powder/Jinx and gradually becomes more personal:
- Part 1 - she is drugged and kidnapped by Marcus while being too focused on getting back to Powder, who at the time was being confronted by Silco and his gang.
- Part 2 - Again, Vi's attention is drawn away from the main fight because she was horrified to see how violent and brutal her little sister has become. It leads to Scar knocking her and being reunited with Ekko, her little brother figure.
- Part 3 - After her exhausting fight with Sevika, Vi is knocked out by a sneaky Jinx, who then takes her back to the "dinner party".
While pleading with Jinx in the season finale, Vi doesn't shout "Dad" despite shouting out "Mom" and their adoptive brothers and father. Seeing that Jinx and Silco have a father-daughter relationship, reminding her of father figures might turn her against Vi in favour of Silco.
"Goodbye" is not only a temporary goodbye between Vi and Powder due to their physical separation, but also a permanent goodbye to Powder, who will never be the same when Vi returns to her. Another interpretation is that it's also saying goodbye to the girls' innocence, when they are forever changed by the trauma of their family's deaths and separation from each other.
When he offers himself in place of Jinx, why doesn’t Silco tell Jayce that he will turn himself in and leave the city in the hands of someone else? He likely doesn’t fully trust Sevika, or anyone else but himself and Jinx, to have good intentions (or sufficient competence) with Zaun, and he definitely doesn’t trust that Sevika won’t have Jinx killed or sold out to Piltover.
Marcus' hesitation in killing Caitlyn makes sense for a number of reasons:
- Pragmatism — Caitlyn is the sole heir to one of the richest families of Piltover, her mother is a member of the Piltover Council, and her parents (mainly her mother) have a habit of using their status to protect their daughter. Plus, she has a brother/sister bond with Jayce, a genius inventor and another Council member who already suspected that Marcus was dirty. As such, if Marcus actually went through with murdering Caitlyn, the latter's death wouldn't go unnoticed. Her parents and Jayce would use everything in their power to find the murderer and Marcus would likely be found out relatively easily.
- Respect - Given Marcus' own self-hatred over being a forced Dirty Cop, it's also possible his delay in murdering Caitlyn comes from knowing she is a competent cop. From their conversations, it's hinted that she has involved (and possibly solved) other cases. And despite his dress down over her supposed entitlement, he recognizes her skill and doesn't want that to disappear.
- Regret — In Act 1, he unwittingly got Grayson and other Enforcers murdered and is now being ordered to kill another one. In that moment, Marcus was reliving his worst nightmare.
Why does Jinx want Vi to kill Caitlyn? The last time Vi loved someone else other than Powder, she slapped her for killing them, told her she was nothing but a Jinx and abandoned her. To Jinx, as long as Vi loves someone else, she'll never safely love her.
Why does Jinx use some old timey expressions in her speech? The only people she hangs out with her are Silco and his goons. She doesn't have any friends her age.
Jinx's odd choice of wardrobe starts to make sense when you consider her emotionally stunted condition. She most likely got the outfit from Silco several years ago, when it would have been relatively modest on a young teen, but grew to like it so much that she refused to get a new set ever again until she could barely fit in it, any more.
In light of Season 2, "What Could have Been" can be read to have a more meta interpretation. We knew where the characters were going to end up-then Jinx bombed the council, and the Lore and Canon were changed forever. So in a real sense, the old lore of League of Legends itself is What Could Have Been.
In the opening scene, little Powder sings a lullaby to distract herself from the surrounding carnage, a song from the perspective of a beggar pleading for alms from a "dear friend across the river." It is a metaphor for the disparity of wealth between the poor city of Zaun and the rich city of Piltover. It could also be a metaphor for the girls on one side and Vander on the other. Both of their parents just died in a horrible, senseless way. Vander is already a "dear friend" to them, because he knows their parents. "I ask of you a penny / My fortune it will be." They're not asking flat-out to be adopted. What they need is comfort and reassurance. It wouldn't cost him anything (except maybe the chance to finish that Enforcer whose head he was pounding in), but it would mean the world to them. They need someone to hug them and tell them it will be okay. And he does that, and so much more.
After Jinx is injected with Shimmer, she and Vi each have eyes that are the color of the opposite sibling. Jinx has violet-colored eyes, while Vi has powder blue eyes.

Season 2

In the new season introduction, all of the main characters are dressed in very casual, comfortable clothing with no tattoos or makeup, and are wearing shades of white or beige. The three characters who are dressed in dark colors (Viktor, Ambessa, and Caitlyn) signal who the antagonists of the season are going to be.
In the first episode, Ambessa is pushing Salo's wheelchair, with the camera placing special emphasis on how the wheels of his wheelchair are ungracefully slamming down onto the steps. Fitting symbolism for the fact that Salo is actually Ambessa's Puppet King in that it seems like she's subservient to him, but in actuality he's nothing but an undignified asset. Mel herself pointedly lampshades how she's the one really pushing him around and deciding where he's going irrespective of what Salo thinks.
Mel: So kind of you to assist counsellor Salo, Mother.
- Furthermore, the wheelchair's undignified entry into the chamber highlights Piltover's tendency to exclude or discriminate against "others", even unintentionally. Even in the council meeting room itself, which is supposed to bring representatives from many different races and walks of life together, they don't have wheelchair access.
After undergoing a massive Sanity Slippage following the emergency Shimmer operation, Jinx appears to have returned to her previous self, albeit more melancholic to everything around her, and most interestingly, she experiences little to no hallucinations now. Why was the alteration to her psyche not permanent? Her bout of insanity was likely the result of adrenaline caused by being operated on while awake, and her decisions and actions at the dinner party were because her brain was still riding on that high. Now that the rush is gone and her body/mind has had time to adapt to the Shimmer in her veins, she is able to calm herself down and return to relative stability, only faltering if she is confronted by trauma (as seen with seeing Vi as an Enforcer, being reminded of Silco, and later hearing about Isha's kidnapping.)
Smeech justifies trying to win Zaun’s turf war despite warnings that he has no resources to do so by claiming Silco took over the Undercity with nothing but “his bare teeth,” apparently forgetting or ignoring that Silco had spent years plotting his takeover, and maintained his power by having “the muscle and the money,” highlighting that Smeech is ambitious but not very bright, with a tendency to bite off more than he can chew.
During the Chembaron meeting, Smeech is the one to bring up that Piltover just wants Jinx. Given the spooky silhouettes we see in the Grey is the strike team. Cait possibly gave Smeech an ultimatum: hand over Jinx, and Topside will leave the rest of Zaun alone, or suffer like the other Zaunites. Smeech is also very power hungry, and vying to be the new head of Zaun, so he'd take any option to get it. Getting rid of Jinx was an added bonus.
- After cornering Jinx, he comments about a "finder's fee" and how there's "always a deal to be struck". Making it clearer he made a deal with the strike team to turn in Jinx.
When Jinx is reminiscing about helping Silco with his eye injections, she kicks his chair, which spins it around and allows Sevika to be in the frame. The two of them vying for Silco's attention and loyalty are why they hated each other in Season 1. With him out of the equation, there's nothing keeping them from mending the fences and joining forces, which rewards them in unique ways: Sevika gains a new arm specifically designed for her, and Jinx gains a source of emotional support alongside Isha.
Silco is surprisingly shaky when giving himself a shot in the eye after the timeskip when before he calmly did it. Jinx complaining that Silco was a big baby who needed her to do it everyday nicely explains why he's so out of practice.
It's been pointed out by many that Silco apparently had a certain degree of Motive Decay in season one, going from a revolutionary fighting for the Undercity's independence, to a drug lord with the forward progress towards revolution stalling out in favor of maintaining his criminal empire. Come Season 2, episode 2, and we get some insight into why and how this happens; with Silco dead, the surviving Chembarons immediately turn on each other in a brutal turf war to try and establish dominance over the undercity, even as Topside is threatening an invasion. Keeping the Chembarons in line and not trying to kill each other must have been a constant struggle for Silco, explaining why he wasn't able to devote his time and resources towards the advancement of his cause until opportunity provided.
Jinx installing a slot machine mechanic into Sevika's new Artificial Arm might just be a case of Jinx being quirky for the sake of it. But we've seen Sevika has something of a love of gambling both times she clashes with Vi. Jinx created a weapon that fits Sevika's personality and combines both gambling and fighting, two things Sevika really likes.
- If you pay attention during her fight with Smeech, you'll notice that despite her initial reaction, Sevika actually seems to get a bit of a gambling high after getting some of the more powerful results from the arm, hence why she keeps doing so even after she realizes it's random. She's getting just as much excitement as she does when she gambles.
Caitlyn shows signs of becoming as bad as Jinx, which Vi even notices. Meanwhile, Vi doesn't show as much corruption, with the worst being participating in the others' usage of chemical warfare. Why? Vi's life has been filled with suffering since childhood, while Caitlyn grew up pampered until adulthood. Of course, Vi is by no measures mentally healthy, but she can at least handle the trauma a little better.
One major reason why Caitlyn ignores Vi's warning not to shoot during their fight with Jinx is because the last time Caitlyn didn't fire because of Vi, Jinx knocked her out and then killed her mom.
Both Vi and Jinx recognize Isha as a Mirror Character to Powder at the end of Act 1. Their reactions, however, both reflect their opinions on Powder herself.
- Vi sees Isha running in to protect Jinx and immediately seems to have a bit of a Heel Realization about Caitlyn's hunt for Jinx. She recognizes Isha as sharing traits with both Powder and her own younger self, and realizes all she's doing is repeating the same actions that made her and Jinx who they are today.
- Jinx on the other hand, sees Isha protecting her as a bad thing, and is visibly shocked she'd do so. Considering her comments on killing both her father figures, she sees Isha as either repeating the same mistakes Vander and Silco made by getting close to her, or recognizes that she is playing the same role to Isha as Silco did to her... a role that ended in Jinx alone and miserable, something she doesn't want her Morality Pet to go through as well.
During the Memorial Attack, Vi grabs Jayce’s hammer to use against the massive Chemotank attacking Caitlin’s group. She can’t activate it on her own so a wounded Jayce helps her, lifting the weapon together, forming a seemingly symbolic union and resistance against hostile forces that control Zaun, only for a Noxian spear to kill it before being hit by their shot, foreshadowing as well that both sides are being manipulated into fighting between each other and wasting their energy on such conflict while the real enemy is watching and waiting to strike.
The Memorial Attack also sees the vanguard henchman conspicuously forsake a chance to kill Mel outright while his boss goes for Jayce, and Ambessa’s reinforcements only arrive when the Shimmer-fueled berserkers threaten to break into the Councilors’ escape vehicle where Mel has fled to... with both likely being either intentional on Ambessa’s part, or with the latter pushing her to cut her allowance of the attack short, while Jayce and the rest of the councilors were imminently expendable.
In the Arc 2 clip "Nothing To Lose", Vi begins to undergo a gradual Sanity Slippage due to isolation from her loved ones and all of her trauma rearing it's ugly head. Signs of her debilitating mental state include hallucinations, disassociation, emotional instability and her fighting form becoming sloppier as her mindset gets worse, just like Jinx's symptoms. It is quite common for immediate family members to inherit similar psychiatric disorders; no matter how much Vi denies Jinx is her sister, the similarities are still there.
Caitlyn manages to subdue Sevika during the showdown with Jinx by holding her glitching rifle to her throat, which seems to cause her to get wracked with pain until the Hextech backlash stops. This seems odd, as Jinx, Vi, and Caitlyn herself don't seem to experience any physical issues from holding their weapons while they're glitching... until you realize Caitlyn was holding her rifle near the scars on Sevika's cheek. Said scars are from Powder's gemstone bomb, and are still bright blue years later, indicating they're actually bits of Hextech crystals that got stuck in her body from the explosion. Sevika's agonized reaction was likely the result of feeling the backlash go directly through her body, Caitlyn's rifle causing the dormant bits of crystal to react when it got close enough.
For a song that fits Jinx’s image, it can come across as odd to hear Paint the Town Blue for the opening sequence of Episode 4…complete with a montage of people taking her iconic blue hair as they riot against the increasing Enforcers and Noxian soldiers despite Jinx’s absence. The song even sounds different, as the artist confirms it is an unmixed demo with different lyrics and when she had a cold. However, it also represents Zaun’s impromptu revolution without a clear plan for fighting back. They are merely following an incomplete and unfulfilling image that lacks Jinx’s effective or accurate influence, just like the song’s unfinished demo. Only with the right voice, attitude and sound could craft the final product of the song that sounds as badass and confident as Jinx could be in the future.
- On a similar note, Jinx is outright baffled when an Enforcer refuses to believe her as the real Jinx, even criticizing her pants. At the time, there are so many copycats that no one is sure who the real infamous Jinx is, even with Caitlyn’s knowledge of her looks. Her active absence from the spotlight only leaves a flimsy, unrealistic image of herself that is constantly mimicked and questioned by others.
- In contrast, when Isha shows up pretending to be Jinx, the song "Rebel Heart" that plays sounds closer to the kind of music Jinx would be into (sung by the very person who originally sang "Get Jinxed"). Since Isha is closest to Jinx even her copycat bombs fool Caitlyn.
Ambessa seethes that she wasn't able to secure "the scientists" to activate the hexcrystal properly, mentioning Heimerdinger and Jayce. Even at this point Viktor was still never credited for his part in creating Hextech. So most people assumed Heimerdinger had to be Jayce's collaborator.
Notably, Jinx and Sevika seem to take care to knock out the Enforcers guarding Stillwater instead of killing them, with Jinx's new shock pistol being designed to potentially be non-lethal unlike her previous regular one. It's likely at this point they've realized that every lethal attack on the Enforcers just invites more heat on the Undercity, and with most of Zaun's shimmer facilities destroyed and their leaders gone, they can't really afford to escalate to an all out war.
On closer inspection Warwick's gory trail of destruction through Stillwater Prison mostly targets Piltovan Enforcers rather than the Zaunites and even the Noxians. The next episode reveals that Warwick is at least some part of Vander, and Warwick's POV is characterized by Vander's hazy, violent memories of the first uprising, where Enforcers massacred the Zaunite resistance.
In season 2 episode 6 “The Message Hidden Within the Pattern,” Jinx helps Isha use a telescope lens when scouting out Viktor’s camp in a similar way that Vi helped Powder view the Undercity’s landmarks back in Act 1 of season 1. In both occasions the elder girl voices hopes that she can give the younger a better life, and this time instead of a rusty pipe, Isha’s able to look through a proper telescope onto a seemingly utopian commune, symbolizing the hope that she’ll escape the tragic cycle that consumed Vi and Jinx.
Season 2 Act 3 introducing The Multiverse and alternate timelines (specifically, that the future Viktor planted the seeds for his and Jayce meeting each other in countless timelines) can explain the discrepancies between Arcane and League of Legends without one invalidating the other.
In the non-Hextech timeline shown in “Pretend Like It’s The First Time”, Vi died in the explosion at Jayce’s lab. The fact that Jayce’s illegal experiments indirectly caused the death of a teenager (in front of her younger siblings, no less) likely resulted in the Piltover Council being much less forgiving of Jayce during his trial with how dangerous his research has proven, hence why Hextech never took off.
- There is also a Realpolitik reason for the Council to destroy Jayce’s research in that timeline. Vi was the adopted daughter of a prominent Zaunite, one who led an uprising against Piltover in the past. The Council feared Vander could lead another uprising from outrage over Vi’s death, so they destroyed what had killed her as a peace offering.
- In the first timeline, Viktor took an interest in Jayce’s Hextech research, which helped save it. Here, he wouldn’t have gained an interest in something that ended up killing a child so horribly, especially as Vi was a Zaunite just like him.
Marcus can be briefly seen as one of the Enforcers who arrive on the scene of the explosion in the non-Hextech timeline and are horrified the moment they see a child was killed. In the current timeline, he doesn't get over his prejudice for the Zaunites until it's too late and he's deep into Silco's pocket. Here, he sees that Vi is just a child who got caught in a horrible accident. Combined with the fact that there were three younger, traumatized, and grief-stricken kids at the scene likely aided in him seeing the people of Zaun as actual civilians instead of just crooks.
- Another layer of tragedy added to him overcoming this prejudice is that Ren, his daughter, was likely just born during the year the heist took place in Season 1 Part 1, based on how old she was in Part 2. Marcus, a brand new father, witnessed a young girl die in an explosion while being surrounded by her siblings, would have learned why they were there in the first place, and would have to report that death to Vander. That's a parent's worst nightmare, and a scenario that could have applied easily to Ren if she was old enough and the circumstances were flipped. This also would have forced Marcus to see how Zaunites are people too, especially the children.
Mylo and Powder having a healthier sibling dynamic in the non-Hextech timeline is likely due to Vi's death. With all of the siblings mourning over her loss, it possibly brought them closer together and lead to Mylo dropping his condescending attitude towards Powder as a result.
- This could also explain why Powder is still mentally healthy despite the tragedy of her sister’s death. Unlike Jinx, she still had her older brothers (who also witnessed Vi’s death) and Vander, all of whom would have helped Powder grieve in a healthy way.
- Ekko likely helped her along as well, since it's hinted that he's the one who paints the portraits of Vi, with one used as her memorial image. Powder and Ekko getting together due to bonding over Vi's loss could be a factor in their relationship. Since both would probably feel immense guilt and blame themselves for causing Vi's death. Powder, by grabbing the crystals and accidentally dropping one, and Ekko being the one who gave the group the tip for that job.
It's hard to not see the poetic irony in Vi's death making everyone's lives infinitely better. Throughout the show, Jinx has been shown to unintentionally be, well, a jinx! Everytime she shows up things go south even if her plans are reasonable or her actions understandable the worst possible scenario always seems happens inexplicably. Jinx is filled with self-loathing with the thought that she is the cause of everyone's suffering and everything would be better if she didn't exist. Except the alternate time shows it's Vi who is in fact the ultimate jinx whose existence and actions unintentionally ruins everything.
In season 1 Heimerdinger has shown an appreciation for the musical arts, since he was the only one enjoying the one man orchestra show the council had attended. In the alternate timeline where that doesn't have his councilor position, he took up learning music in his free time where he can now "truly live".
During his walk through the ruined Piltover in the apocalyptic future, Jayce spots two bodies huddled together and holding one another. Awaiting their ends, but at least in the embrace of another. This foreshadows how Jayce and Viktor end up giving their lives to save their timeline in the finale, scared, but with someone they care for as they face their end.
- It may also be a reference to bodies found like that in Pompeii.
Viktor can see through the eyes of those he had touched, shown when he takes over Salo to see Jayce again. In the bad timeline, all of the "evolved" figures are all watching Jayce, but overall do nothing to harm him. Viktor was likely keeping tabs on Jayce to see where he would go and awaiting his arrival at the top of the Hexgates.
Jayce ends up with a leg splint and using a staff as a crutch when sent to the Bad Future. This experience gives his speech to Viktor that his physical disabilities did not mean he was broken and that he was beautiful because of his imperfection a lot more weight.
Amongst the other bodies that are buried, you can spot a blackened miner's helmet placed on one of the makeshift headstones. Ambessa and the other Noxians are likely respecting Isha's sacrifice, and honored her with a Noxian warrior's burial.
Jinx tells Caitlyn that she didn't know her mother was in the council chamber when she blew it up. That seems like an odd statement; Cassandra was an established member of the council who never missed a session, why wouldn't she be there during a meeting? However, it makes more sense if Jinx thought the council chamber was empty. Jayce called the session specifically to discuss the treaty with Zaun; it likely was an emergency session that was not part of the normal schedule. Jinx was just blowing up the symbol of her problems without expecting the people to actually be inside. As she notes, it probably wouldn't have changed anything if she knew, but it still puts her actions in a different light.
At the councilroom, Viktor jumps and kicks during his scuffle with Jayce and Mel in Huck's evolved form. Being disabled all his life and not being able to have the full use of his legs, Viktor is likely indulging in this newfound ability now that he can move without an aide in a "perfect" body.
Jinx doesn't listen to Ekko's pleas for her to not commit suicide until he sits down and tries to convince her not to blow them both up again. Jinx likely assumed Ekko had died on the bridge and was another one of her hallucinations, as she used a similar statement to address him as she did Silco's hallucination. Given her current mental state, that wouldn't be a surprising thing for her. When she realizes that Ekko is in fact real, she decides to throw herself off the bridge so she doesn't hurt him.
Maddie being The Mole is actually foreshadowed throughout the second season.
- Maddie already knows Vi's name when meeting her on the street, despite them having not met before. While she explains this away by knowing of Vi second hand and also pointing out that her name is written on her face, it was still a strange assumption for her to make. In fact, given the way Vi was lying down and the distance from her Maddie was when she called her name, it seems implausible that she would have been able to see the tattoo. The tattoo in question is also a Roman Numeral, and would presumably still be seen as a number in-universe, making the assumption even stranger even if Maddie did somehow catch a glimpse of it.
- Maddie already knows a fair bit about Vi's actions, bringing up how she went after Silco against the council's wishes. Not only is it strange for seemingly bright-eyed Naïve Newcomer to condone vigilantism, but she also dodges the question when Vi asked if Caitlyn was the one to tell her about that. And despite claiming that Vi is a legend amongst the Enforcers, she is the only one to express such admiration. By contrast, Steb spends the interaction eying the bottles of alcohol skeptically, while Maddie doesn't even appear to notice or care that her 'idol' is passed out drunk on the streets despite supposedly being a recently enlisted Enforcer. She also ignores Loris, despite him laying down drunk being pretty much a disgrace to uniform, while Steb checks on him.
- During the memorial day attack, Maddie was driving the car that was supposed to get the council members, Mel in particular, to safety. It makes sense Ambessa, who set the attack up, would want someone she can trust to look after her daughter. That Maddie ended on the Strike Team as a result was a happy coincidence - and one that allowed Ambessa to have a first-hand insight into what kind of person Caitlyn is becoming.
- Maddie introduced herself as being a "Junior Officer", indicating fresh training and a lack of experience. She however turns out to be quite competent and capable of being part of an elite strike team. She even avoids any apparent injuries during her time in Zaun, in contrast to the more experienced Loris who triggers a trap left by Jinx. While this could all simply be a case of her having natural competence and drive, it also fits her being a Noxian spy. As Ambessa would not have sent a novice for the role, and Maddie's junior status could be due to only having been sent to enlist when Ambessa set her sights on Piltover.
- Maddie is the first Enforcer to start beating her chest in a Noxian salute after Ambessa proposes declaring martial law with Caitlyn as commander. Despite encouraging Caitlyn to agree by doing so, Maddie is later shown telling Caitlyn she can end martial law and re-establish the council if she wants to. This can be seen as her showing a duplicitous nature, supporting Caitlyn and telling her what she wants to hear.
  - On a similar note, throughout Arcane it is shown how people can disagree, argue and become angry with even those they deeply care about. However, Maddie displays nothing but unconditional love and support for Caitlyn, assuring her she is in control and the leader whom everyone follows, and that things are not her fault. This can be seen as reflecting her less than genuine nature, showing that she is not being honest but rather just feeding Caitlyn nice words and unquestioning admiration to endear herself to her and give her a false sense of control.
- When you listen to what she is telling Caitlyn in their bedroom scene, it carries the same undertone as what Ambessa tells hear later - that Caitlyn is a good person and is in control, able to stop martial law whenever she wants. Which is exactly what Ambessa wants her to believe.
- Caitlyn did not trust Ambessa, yet Ambessa knew she's in love with Vi. The only people Ambessa had an access to, who were around both of them long enough to know that, were Maddie and Steb, former members of the Strike Team.
- Ambessa mocks Vi by saying that with her gone, she was able to fill the hole in Caitlyn's heart. At the time, it seemed a weird comparison, since, if anything, she was personally filling a maternal role for Cait, whose whole corruption arc started with losing Cassandra. But she actually meant she gave Cait a new lover.
- When Vi storms into the room in episode 8, Maddie's eyes narrow even before Vi speaks. She also attempts to stop Vi in her tracks without a word despite having claimed to admire her. When Caitlyn sends her away, Maddie only pretends to leave but instead eavesdrops on them. While all this could be explained by her noticing Vi's hostility and coming to see her as a romantic rival, it also makes sense as the work of a double agent who needs to remain Caitlyn's primary confidant as part of her mission.
While it was never specified when or how Maddie became The Mole, it is likely she was a Noxian agent from the beginning.
- Her having always been a spy would explain the various instances of potentially strange and suspicious behaviour displayed by Maddie starting from her very first scene, which is outlined above.
- Ambessa's attempts to kill Vi despite being impressed by her, not even attempting to persuade her due to considering her a distraction for Caitlyn. This would raise the question of why she has apparently not sought to do the same for Maddie, who would also be a distraction, especially since Ambessa is no stranger to False Flag Operations... unless, as it turns out, that Maddie was working for her. Why would Ambessa see Maddie as more worthy of recruitment than Vi even if both are romantic interests for Caitlyn?
  - The acknowledgement of Vi's resilience by Ambessa and lamenting how she would have offered her a place in her organization under different circumstances gives another perspective for Maddie's introduction to Vi. The praising of Vi's vigilantism and generally buttering her up could have been prodding her for potential recruitment. This could also explain why Maddie never mentions Vi, despite admiring her as a legend, after Act 1, because Vi was no longer a potential recruit.
- If Maddie was not a spy from the beginning, and only turned traitor later on, that would raise confusion and questions regarding her motives. Caitlyn acts cold at times with Maddie despite sleeping together, but she is still her close confidant and Maddie betraying her lover and city on the basis of the former acting somewhat cold would be beyond extreme.
- While a case of Woman Scorned due to jealously of Vi could present a possible motive, Maddie could only become aware of Vi re-entering Caitlyn's life after Caitlyn had already cut ties with Ambessa. This would leave no potential opportunity for Ambessa to manipulate Maddie into joining her.
- The only time in which Ambessa could have manipulatedMaddie, assuming they were not working together from the start, would be during martial law. But not only would Maddie lack clear motive for turning against Caitlyn, as already mentioned, but it would also be a very risky move by Ambessa since she would have no guarantee Maddie would not just report the manipulation attempts to Caitlyn.
- When Maddie is revealed as a traitor, she naturally gives Ambessa a Noxian salute despite having had no reason to become accustomed to such a thing since the declaration of martial law. Ambessa also places her hand on Maddie's shoulder, as if congratulating her on a job well done.
- Ambessa is completely confident in Maddie's loyalty to her, so much so that she turns her back to her as she is about to shoot Caitlyn. Ambessa had no fear that Maddie would have a last-minute change of heart and shoot her instead. Maddie also remains loyal to Ambessa despite having been almost exploded by a Noxian cannon, suggesting her commitment runs deeper than being a recent turncloak.
- Maddie likely IS Noxian and was sent as a sleeper agent of sorts. Ambessa had sent Mel to Piltover and given her protective nature of her daughter she likely sent other Noxians to Piltover in case Mel needed protection. There is also the simple practicality of having spies everywhere, especially in places like law enforcement. Maddie was most likely sent years ago, even before the events of Arcane, as she could blend in as a natural Piltover resident. When Ambessa noticed Piltover's Hextech growth she likely called Maddie and instructed her to infiltrate the enforcers as a recruit and went from there.
  - Adding to this, in the League of Legends canon and in Legends of Runeterra, it is known that several military and political groups from Noxus insert trained spies into the ranks of the other nations' governments to give them advantages across beyond their borders, either in preparation for invasions or to spread their influence. Amara was one other example in Arcane for the Black Rose; there are many others revealed to have infiltrated Demacia and Shurima. No surprise that a prestigious and powerful house like the Medarda's would have their own network planted in the City of Progress, especially if the exiled heir of said house happened to become one of it's ruling council's members.
- The extent to any possible regret displayed by Maddie is her, possibly solemnly, saying she appreciated the warmth Caitlyn provided. But she otherwise showed no hesitation, no tears, no bitterness, no anger, no accusations of coldness or infidelity. This would all suggest this was not an emotionally charged decision, such as Woman Scorned, but rather her coldly doing her duty by executing someone she possibly does not even care about, or might even enjoy killing, judging by the brief Slasher Smile when shooting Caitlyn the second time.
Ekko is the Spanner in the Works that prevents the Bad Future that Jayce experienced in "Pretend Like It's The First Time." The biggest difference is that he literally wasn't there: Jayce returns home before he does, so there's the possibility of a timeline where Ekko never came back but Jayce did, and that leads to the doomed future. The fact that in "The Dirt Under Your Nails" Jayce ends up in the exact same position as his corpse in the future supports this. Similarly, or alternatively, the Z-Drive being a literal time-bending hexcore anomaly made in an alternate timeline that even the Machine Herald cannot comprehend means that it literally cannot factor into the potential future.
Ambessa's final words being to proudly acknowledge Mel as a true wolf seems out of place with her earlier distain for magic, especially since she was only felled by Mel's subterfuge with the Black Rose. However, she actually has every reason to be proud; Mel at that point had showcased all three major Noxian virtues:
- Vision: Mel was already shown to have an eye for politics and planning out the future, but she had also shown she refused to let her path be chosen for her by the Black Rose or Ambessa herself. She did not fall for Black Roses offer for an alliance. She kept true to her vision for herself and Piltover's future, even when offered everything by those whose ideals ran counter to her own.
- Might: While most mages had their power from a young age, Mel had shown her ability to master it for her own remarkably quickly, enough to be able to match Noxian troops and challenge Ambessa herself. Moreover, she fought up close in the heat of battle instead of cowering behind her forces, proving her strength was physical instead of merely political.
- Guile: She was able to trick Ambessa into being close enough for the Black Rose to claim, then backstab the Black Rose as well to ensure her victory above their own. She was also able to put together an admirable defense of the Hexgates in a matter of days, finding a way to bridge the gap between Piltover and Zaun for the sake of them both. She also eliminated black rose as an obvious future threat while it was distracted by the delivery of its prize.
Both times Ambessa is defeated, it is through combination of the same four principles she follows:
- In episode 6, Caitlyn comes with a plan to outsmart her, personifying the vision. Vi, who executes it to capture Ambessa, is the might. Jinx, whose intervention to save Caitlyn's life no one else could have seen coming, is the guile. While Ambessa retaliates, this is interrupted by Warwick going berserk, and both threat are stopped by Isha's Heroic Sacrifice.
- In the finale, Mel has the might to take Ambessa down, but cannot use it due to Ambessa's Anti-Magic. Caitlyn takes on vision, by quickly formulaing the plan, sacrifice by giving up her eye, and guile to use it as a distraction to steal Ambessa's amulet, allowing Mel to finish her mother off.
There are a few brief scenes showing a father from Zaun who volunteers to join the fight. He is part of Caitlyn's raid against what they think is Viktor's orb. This neatly demonstrates how hasty and desperate they are, if even their important commando force is using the rawest of raw recruits.
When Caitlyn's attack against Viktor's orb is foiled, she gets to symbolically experience a number of her bad or morally questionable decisions this season come back to hit her. She inhales the Grey and even begins hallucinating from it, just as she subjected the Chembarons to. She is betrayed by Maddie, with whom she selfishly sought a rebound after losing Vi. She gets hit with back of the rifle twice, just as she hit Vi twice with it.
Jayce Iconic Item is his hammer, which can be used to build or destroy. Viktor's starts as a cane (to support himself), then becomes a staff (still to support himself, but also a symbol of how he's "shepherding" people. Also, it can be used as a staff of office.).
- In the bad future, Jayce ends up with an injured leg, and has to use his hammer as a crutch. Which kinda shows how their positions reversed.
The song "Ma Meilleure Ennemie":
- In the music video, Jinx is lying on the floor looking sad and tired, makeup running and surrounded by bits of confetti, as if she were hungover the day after a big party. Her hair is chopped short and the white string from her tank top is missing, which means the video takes place after she lost Isha. Throughout the show, she has always indulged her own Ax-Crazy tendencies and participated in violent fights for one reason or another. The violence was the "party." But during the last battle she was in, she lost the person who gave her hope for the future, hope that things could be better, and came to realize all the senseless violence she either committed or participated in was doing nothing but making things worse, harming the few loved ones she had left and pushing them further away. Thus, the "hangover."
- The opening lines of the song are "T'es la meilleure chose qui m'est arrivée / Mais aussi la pire chose qui m'est arrivéе" ("You're the best thing to ever happen to me / But also the worst thing to ever happen to me.") Implicitly it is about her and Ekko, but in a non-romantic sense it could also be referring to Isha, although she isn't in the video. Isha brought new happiness and joy into Jinx's life, and made her realize she could be more than someone who does nothing but kill, destroy, blow things up, cause pain and misery, and "jinx" everything. But, for all the terrible things that happen to Jinx throughout her life, nothing truly shatters her and drives her to the Despair Event Horizon until she loses Isha. Even when Jinx was at the point of wanting Vi to kill her, she clearly still had life in her and wanted to go down swinging. The thought probably entered her head that Isha might have lived longer had she not chosen to follow Jinx—if she was the worst thing to ever happen to Isha.
Jinx's implied departure at the ending of The Dirt Between Your Nails, makes sense in multiple angles:
- For starters, she just had lost Isha in a Heroic Sacrifice, but one that was still meaningless since Vander was still ressurected and turned into Viktor's Elite Mook, hence she knew things were still likely to get worse for either Vi, Caitlyn or especially Ekko if she remained. This also makes sense in her not informing anyone, not even Ekko himself, as it's clear she'd be traced and followed if she were to leave a clue (beyond the ones Caitlyn found that imply Jinx is still alive, at least).
- Then there is her status as a heroine of Zaun, but also as the terrorist whom brought terror to Piltover. If she remained, she'd very likely be tracked down and captured to be either blackmailed or brainwashed by any future Chem-Baron or crime lord to do his/her bidding, which would put her at odds with Vi and Caitlyn yet again.
- In addition, most parties Jinx is leaving behind have something to care for, and that'd be in danger if Jinx remained in the cities: Vi and Caitlyn now have each other, Ekko still has the Firelights to take care of and Sevika is now pretty much the voice of Zaun in the reformed Council. All of these are too precious to lose, hence Jinx is making the decision to leave since, if things do turn sour this, it won't be either because of her, nor for her.
- In Killing Is A Cycle, Jinx's hallucination of Silco did mention that "perhaps the only way to break the cycle is to just walk away". While this was first interpreted by Jinx being Driven to Suicide, her reformed but brief interaction with Ekko now has her see she just has to leave Piltover. She's essentially removing herself from the equation in arguably the best result ever, since Jinx will be fondly remembered even by her enemies and Vi will be able to live her life, now.
- When reuniting with Vi, Jinx's line of "I'm always with you, sis. Even when we're worlds apart." is essentially a direct message to Vi. She was set in leaving Piltover even if they won. Which makes her fake death moment simply a convenient opportunity.
- It can be said that Piltover, even if they were indeed rescued by their greatest enemy seconded only by Ambessa and Viktor, would not let Jinx go scot-free since she still destroyed the Council and, aside from Cassandra, victimized both Hoskel and Bolbok as well. The search would likely still continue and this would both continue the tensions between both cities as well as force Caitlyn into a Friend-or-Idol Decision that would cost Vi, inevitably. Also, as Caitlyn stated before, there wouldn't be a trial if Jinx turned herself in again.
- Finally, even if Ekko were always at her side... Jinx herself definitely would not want to remain in a place where just too many deaths and tragedies affected her. Isha, Vander, Mylo, Claggor, Silco, the Firelights she killed while under Silco's employ, the enforcers and Sheriff Marcus, plus Cassandra, Bolbok and Hoskel, to not mentioned being indirectly responsible for Viktor's transformation. And the trouble is that Ekko would remain solely because of the Firelights. This became an impossible situation for Jinx which, either she burned that bridge or everything else would burn because of that bridge, since Ekko's Firelights would inevitably get caught in the crossfire.

Fridge Horror

Season 1

Creepy Crows sure seem to show up around Jinx a lot, especially when she's close to having a breakdown. Now, who else in League proper has a crow motif, loves inducing fear and despair in its victims, and even has a unique voiceline with Jinx echoing the events of Arcane? Fidd le sticks.
- Other people believe the birds are ravens, and therefore point to Swain. Both characters force Jinx to remember that fateful night.
Fiddlesticks: "Jinx! All your fault! All your fault!"^note
Swain: "Faces... fading in the flames... it was all her fault."^note
As established by this series, even individual Hextech crystal is both incredibly powerful sources of magical power and incredibly important to how Piltover functions in the modern day. However, as we know from League of Legends, in reality they contain the souls of Skarner's people, and he will stop at nothing to retrieve all of them. Considering Skarner is himself equipped with one of the most powerful namestones/Hextech crystals in existence, and his species naturally knows exactly how to use them to full potential, this would naturally make him extremely powerful in the actual lore. Now, what exactly would happen if/when he finds Piltover?
- To make matters worse, Skarner's lore points out that said Crystals/namestones basically contain centuries of his people's knowledge, experiences, and even their previous holders' consciousnesses. They are also implied to be absolutely vital to their life cycle, as young Brackern seem to need them in order to mature. And Powder, and quite possibly Jayce as well over the course of his experiments, have destroyed several of them.
In episode 9, Jinx mentions she kidnapped Caitlyn in the morning. However, when she leaves the scene to fire the rocket, it is night (complete with Bad Moon Rising). What did Jinx do to Caitlyn for the whole day?
- Figuring out how to get her from the family manor to the cannery across the bridge without anybody noticing.
  - She made her a snack! (A cupcake)
- Possibly picking out an outfit for her. And maybe dressing her in it.
In a single day, Ekko lost most of his surrogate family, saw one of his closest friends become Silco's top goon, and he saw many other Zaunites (possibly other friends) become addicted to Shimmer. And he was still a child.
If Powder/Jinx hadn't appealed to Silco's humanity, she would've ended up dead like her adoptive father and brothers.
If Marcus wasn't there and Vi managed to run to Powder, chances are both she and Powder would have been murdered by Silco and his goons. She lost Powder the moment she left her.
Marcus made up bogus charges and bribed the corrupt warden to keep Vi imprisoned. Makes one wonder how many innocent Zaunite civilians were wrongly imprisoned at Stillwater by other corrupt Enforcers. And unlike Marcus, did it not out of remorse for their actions, but just to be petty.
Mel's mother has been appointed ambassador of Noxus in Piltower. That means an attack on the Council, you know, like the one done by Jinx at the end of the series, could be seen as attack on the ambassador, and therefore a declaration of war. And considering in the game Noxus is The Empire that's always looking for new conquests, it may show just enough ill will to do exactly that.
Imagine Vi's reaction and demeanor when she first woke up in Stillwater after being drugged and kidnapped by Marcus.
Imagine Marcus' last thoughts as he laid dying — he was still under Silco's thumb and didn't fulfill his mission to kill Caitlyn and Vi. And his daughter is alone and Silco has no problem killing a child. Had Silco not been concerned with Jinx's life, there's a strong possibility he would've killed Marcus' daughter out of pettiness.
Besides the pink-haired Firelight, a couple of other members were killed by Jinx. Ekko and Scar (his surviving companion) had to inform their families of their deaths.
Some of those children in Silco's mines may end up with fatal illnesses because of the environment they "worked" in. Meaning that while they were taken into custody, their lives may have already been shortened.
Some of the residents of the Firelights hideout may not have the best opinion of their mural containing a younger Jinx. Since, she's still alive and is one of Silco's top goons who is making Zaun life harder for them. They have to see the painting of the person who has caused them pain in one way or another. And the probable main reason they don't deface it is out of respect for Ekko.
If Vi wasn't quick, she or Caitlyn could've been hit by one of her bullets. And had Vi been hit and killed, Jinx would've most likely lost any sense of sanity and started murdering people without caution.
It's implied that Mel and her older brother, Kino, had a close relationship (given how Mel developed her cunningness from him). And then she was banished by her mother. As such, Kino was unable to spend his last moments in life with his younger sister.
Cassandra and Tobias spent at least two days knowing their daughter was in the dangerous Undercity but left wondering if she would be used for ransom or worse.
A young, guilty, and traumatized Powder had to retrieve the bodies of her adoptive family that she accidentally killed.
Besides Vi and Powder, there's a good chance other children were left orphaned from Zaun's failed uprising against Piltover. This may have included the girls' adoptive brothers, Mylo and Claggor. And knowing that may have increased Vander's already heavy guilt.
Vi recounts to Powder how Claggor was chased by Enforcers and got stuck. He wasn't taken by the Enforcers but spent the night stuck, unable to get out. His family must've been wondering all night what happened to him.
At some point, Caitlyn had to be told that Grayson, someone she befriended, was killed while on duty.
The loved ones of the Enforcers that Jinx killed in Episode 5, had to be informed of their deaths on a day (Progress Day) that was supposed to be a happy one.
Vi and Powder's parents died in the failed uprising without knowing if their daughters would be properly taken care of.
- This is actually a bit diluted by Season 2, which reveals they actually told Vander and Silco to help take care of their daughters if anything happened to them.

Season 2

The fact that the Season 2 clip shows Vi's Sanity Slippage as her having similar symptoms to Jinx, implying some hereditary link to mental illness. How long has it been going on in their family?
In a world where there is a clear line shown of how excessive consumption of resources carries horrifying consequences, such as the fumes and toxins born from the work in the fissures, is it any wonder that the Arcane is reacting violently to having been treated as a endless supply of power and technology?
Some have pointed out that the corruption Heimderdinger sees at the Hexgates core is probably from Viktor. In season 1, he had coughed up blood while Jayce was inspecting the gates and some of it likely fell down towards the core. It probably started to corrupt when Viktor began the experiments on himself with the Hexcore and slowly started to spread more towards Ekko's tree.
When Sevika informs Jinx that Isha was among the civilians captured by the Enforcers, Jinx's hallucinations start to act up again. If you look closely, there's a little golden figure with a helmet like Isha's coming between her and the screaming figures. The little girl is not just close to Jinx but a shield against her past issues, therefore being a person she could possibly lose due to her status as a "jinx", which terrifies her.
Ambessa couldn't get Hextech to work no matter how many other scientists she went through. Had she caught Jinx at the prison, she would have found out Jinx is currently the only person who knows how to work it. Things may have gone differently and more horribly for Jinx if not for Warwick arriving when he did.
While the alternate timeline Ekko and Heimderdinger visit in "Pretend Like It's the First Time" is seemingly idyllic and near-perfection with the exception of Vi's death. There are still a few darker implication and threats which may remain.
- Ekko and Heimerdinger leave the blueprints to Hextech behind in the alternate timeline, a world that prospered from not having it. Additionally Powder has kept a large pouch of Hextech crystals. Half of the episode is showing us a world where that can go horribly wrong... Let's just hope that knowledge stays with Powder.
  - If Powder did end up inventing Hextech, then that could also bring the attention of Ambessa to Piltover in this timeline as well.
- Why wasn't Jayce transported to the same timeline as Ekko and Heimerdinger? Given how little information we are given about the heist, it's entirely possible that Jayce died there too, which would also explain why Hextech is nowhere to be found.
  - Even worse, in that timeline it seems like the explosion at his lab wound up uniting Piltover and Zaun against Hextech due to it being associated with the death of an innocent child in front of her siblings... which means that, assuming Jayce didn't get exiled and perished from that, no one stopped him from taking the plunge off that ledge.
- Viktor is also noticeably absent, and given his degenerative health condition there is a high probability that he passed away without Hextech.
  - Even if Viktor is still alive, that could also present its own problems if he ends up on the path of "Glorious Evolution" one way or another. With Jayce most likely either dead, imprisoned or exiled due to the death of Vi from his experiments, he would not be there in this timeline to befriend Viktor and convince him to stop. This almost utopian reality could very well end up the same as the dystopian apocalyptic future Jayce witnessed.
- While the better conditions of the Undercity and Silco reconciling with Vander means that the Chem-Barons likely never rose to power by profiteering from the drug abuse of Shimmer, it is likely Singed is still at large. Who is to say that he will not tamper with the brighter status quo, or even aid those against it, so that he can secure funding for his research into saving his daughter?
- Powder is apparently given repeated Lamenting Wasted Potential speeches by Vander, and also only aids others in their projects while never working on her own despite being a brilliant inventor in her own right. Even if she is more mentally healthy than the main timeline Jinx, could Powder be experiencing some form of depression from Vi's death, leading to her lack of motivation and ambition? If Vi died due to Powder meddling with the magic crystals or some other contraption in Jayce's workshop, could she be guilty and so associates working on things of her own initiative with her sister's death?
- The key difference that changed this timeline and resulted in Vi's death can be noticed by sharp eyed viewers. Powder took far fewer hex tech crystals which left many more behind to fuel a larger more chaotic explosion.
  - This may have resulted in Caitlyn's death as well due to her proximity to the blast, meaning that daughters of high status members from each city were lost, uniting both in grief.
Viktor's commune is surrounded by a field of flowers, which is from Sky's notes. It's shown in the alternate timeline that Ekko travels to that they were created to help purify the air in Zaun. However, they weren't that effective unless they "planted a million of them". Using his new arcane abilities, Viktor likely created these to honor Sky's memory. Unfortunately, Viktor is unaware that the people he's "healed" no longer need to breathe, shown when Salo speaks with Jayce and his breath in the hexgate chamber is not visible. In Mage Viktor's timeline, in what seems to be a show of remorse, he still attempts to grow these flowers in the now ruined Runeterra under heavy arcane polluted air.
In Jinx's cell she's missing her clothing accessories, specifically the "X" cloth that decorated her shirt. This was likely something Caitlin ordered, to make sure Jinx didn't have anything that would allow her to further hurt herself. So the most she could do with what little energy she had was picking at her nails until they bled.
- Another reason Jinx has her hair down is likely because it now reminded her too much of Isha, who tied her hair in similar pigtails to Jinx's. Or since her pigtails were such a big part of her identity, the enforcers took them out to strip them of their current symbol to the people of Zaun.
Similarly, Ekko saw Heimerdinger be disintegrated into nothingness and to his knowledge, Jinx was annihilated in the explosion. He doesn't get the closure of saying goodbye to their bodies. And even in Jinx's case, it's all but stated she's fled to a new place entirely.
Does the alternate-timeline Ekko remember anything from while the main timeline Ekko inhabited his body? It's implied that Ekko was stuck in the alternate timeline for months, which means the native Ekko would wake up missing a large chunk of his life.
As Jinx prepares to commit suicide, she prepares a similar looking monkey bomb like in the very first act to do it. As if saying that she should have been the one to have perished in that explosion as she prepares to pull the pin.
This season revealed there were at least two Noxian spies (albeit from different factions) operating in Piltover who managed to individually attain important positions, that the Black Rose can kidnap a councilor from her own office, and that Noxian martial ability is enough that even a relatively small force without the support of the empire as a whole was able to pose a significant threat to Piltover in spite of the technological disparity. Piltovan Enforcers armed with rifles were barely able to defend against Noxian soldiers with spears and crossbows. This displayed weakness of Piltovan counter-espionage and military defenses is quite alarming, especially given how the mass causalities of Enforcers and losing anyone capable of developing Hextech would only serve to weaken Piltover further. By the end of Arcane, the city is likely going to be on a long road for recovery and be in a very vulnerable position.
When we see Vi as a pit fighter, she's hallucinating Caitlyn due to her despair at having been coldly hit by her. At the end, even though she has Caitlyn back, she has lost her sister and adoptive father for what she thinks is the definitive time, as well as Loris. It's safe to say her mental state has been strained enough that she'll be the one hallucinating her loved ones instead of Jinx.
When Maddie's attempted execution of Cait gets thwarted, note the path of the bullet. Maddie was aiming at the base of Caitlyn's neck and not the back of her head, which wouldn't have killed Cait instantly (or possibly at all on its own), leading to either a slow death or a second shot to do the job. Maddie was intending to make Cait suffer.
- A shot to the head would've been quicker, but the exit wound would undoubtedly ruin Caitlyn's face. Assuming Maddie still felt some attraction towards her, she was willing to give Cait a slower, more painful death either as misguided "mercy" or out of a disturbing desire to keep her pretty face intact.
Even if Jayce chose to leave Viktor in the astral plane at the end, it's highly unlikely he would have lived long after the fact. From his fight in the council room with Viktor, the arcane corruption from his rune seems to grow every time he uses his hammer which he briefly glances at. If Viktor didn't fully "heal" Jayce, he still would have probably died from the infection in his leg or the corruption from the rune sooner or later.
It's heartbreaking and horrifying to realize that Jinx is arguably a real "jinx" as her every attempt at helping, fixing, making things right in the show ends in disaster, usually because of nothing more then bad luck or timing. Not only do they go bad but it's often in the form of worst possible outcome, as though everything that could go wrong happens. As soon as jinx shows up and gets involved things seem doomed to fail.

Fridge Sadness

Jinx's departure from Piltover, while necessary, does nevertheless bring some sadness to those involved as well.
- Vi, in particular, while it WAS necessary for Jinx to "walk away" and thus allow Vi to live her life along with Caitlyn, will still keep blaming herself for essentially failing to protect her family, since Mylo, Claggor and Vander are all gone for good.
- Caitlyn may have in essence forfeited her hatred for Jinx to get Vi back at her side, but justice for Cassandra will have been felt empty. Not to mention Piltover would never let go that Caitlyn did not bring Jinx in after the whole conflict with Ambessa and Viktor or didn't execute her when she turned herself in after Isha's sacrifice.
- Ekko is definitely the saddest case of all - he practically saved Jinx from suicide and forfeited a potential future with Powder in the alternate universe in Pretend Like It's The First Time, only for him to lose it all because of Viktor's Elite Mook Warwick. And, even if against all odds he and Jinx reunited again... she'd still be determined to leave the cities behind, while Ekko wouldn't because of the Firelights, even if they arguably do have a capable replacement leader in Scar (whom kept them going even after Ekko spent six months missing). This casts a limelight in that, just as "Jinx" is a curse to Powder... "The Boy Savior" is a curse to Ekko, as well.
- Perhaps a more arguable case worse than Ekko is Sevika of all people. Because most people she could rely on is practically gone, including Jinx. Even if Caitlyn, Ekko or Shoola were to support her, Sevika's totally alone, otherwise. Jinx essentially became a sister in spirit to her, especially during the time they've both been in hiding along with Isha.

Arcane

3 Following

Fridge Brilliance

Fridge Horror

Fridge Sadness

Alternative Title(s): Arcane League Of Legends

Fridge / Arcane 3 Following

Fridge Brilliance

Fridge Horror

Fridge Sadness

Alternative Title(s): Arcane League Of Legends

Arcane

3 Following