Unresolved mysteries and ultimate fates: The ‘Arcade’ finale, explained

Warning: The following article contains spoilers for Arcane and its final episode and ending.

After that last Arcane episode, I now have an inkling as to why this is the most expensive animated TV series ever because Riot is going to pay for everyone’s therapy.

To say this last outing with the characters we’ve grown to love so much was emotional would be an understatement. I think many of us feel like the show could’ve run for another season, or at least a few more episodes to wrap everything up properly. But I guess even adding two or three more episodes would’ve meant going another full year without Arcane (the second season took more than three years to produce) and that’s not something the fandom would’ve necessarily chosen.

So, as all good things must come to an end, so did Arcane today with the release of the last three episodes, titled “Pretend Like It’s the First Time,” “Killing Is a Cycle,” and “The Dirt Under Your Nails.” Here’s everything that went down in the final arc, and specifically, the series finale.

What happened to Viktor and Jayce?

Having completed his ascension, Viktor decided to infiltrate Piltover and take over the hexgates, using them to turn the entire population into an extension of his conscious and creating a hive mind. Jayce opposed this and tried to appeal to the humanity left in his former partner. After a short and one-sided bout where Viktor completely overpowered Jayce, we learn that the mage who has been guiding the latter from the get-go was none other than Viktor himself, who has seen all futures and realized that only Jayce can save him from walking down the path of destruction. The two then come together and release Piltover from the hextech, joining the great beyond or some such plane by embracing each other.

What happened to Mel and Ambessa?

After unlocking her powers as a mage, Mel and Jayce banded together to protect Piltover from Ambessa and her army of Noxian warriors. The character ultimately confronted her mother and fought her with the help of Caitlyn. Our hearty Kiramman cut away the rune enchantments from Ambessa, leaving her open to Mel’s attacks. Ambessa’s daughter trapped her in the Black Rose dimension, where her sister mage planned to finish Ambessa off. But this was apparently Mel’s plan all along. Distracted by Ambessa in chains, the sinister mage never sees Mel coming, which allows her to destroy their family’s enemy once and for all. Ambessa dies in Mel’s embrace, calling her the “wolf” and passing the mantle of the Medardas to her.

What happened to Vi and Caitlyn?

Vi wakes up from the events of act 2 badly hurt. She confronts Caitlyn and then breaks into the prison cells to free Jinx. The prodigal younger sibling betrays Vi yet again, and tells her that she should be with Caitlyn, which is precisely what happens next. The two seal the deal after two seasons and three years of waiting, but the fight is not over by any means. By the end of the story, Vi is still with Caitlyn and reaffirms her commitment to her by repeating that she’s “the dirt under your nails.” Well, at least two people got their happy ending.

What happened to Jinx?

Now, I think the biggest question everybody is asking themselves is what happened to Jinx in the Arcane series finale. To give you a quick recap, Act 3 shows Jinx completely broken following Isha’s sacrifice. Silco finally appears and talks to her, or rather, she talks to herself, realizing that the only way to break the cycle of death and violence is to go away. The finale begins with Jinx trying to kill herself, only to be interrupted by Ekko when he jumps out of the alternate universe. Ekko convinces Jinx to help in the fighting, and the next time we see her is when she is with the rest of the Zaun warriors to reinforce Vi and the defenders.

Jinx and Vi fight side by side against Viktor’s machines, and they end up wrestling yet again with the ascended version of Warwick, aka their dad Vander. When Viktor and Jayce sacrifice themselves to put things right, Warwick awakens and jumps on Vi, but Jinx barrels into him with a Shimmer-enhanced jump. The two of them fall down into the hexcore, but Vi catches Jinx by the wrists. Jinx lets go of the gauntlet, seemingly falling to her death alongside Vander.

But here’s the tricky part. The next scene shows Caitlyn checking the maps of the air ducts in the lower citadel while holding the remains of a Jinx monkey bomb in her hand. This, with the final shot of the series showing a Zeppelin moving away to the horizon (the first sentence Powder ever said was that she wanted to fly in one of these), seems to imply that Jinx survived the explosion. Ultimately, though, this ending is supposed to be vague and up to the viewer’s interpretation.