After the greatness that was Episode Five, Episode Six of Arcane Season Two closes the second act with a bang, along with a whole lot of mysteries still unsolved.
“The Message Hidden Within the Pattern” begins, not with a music video scene, like every previous episode this season, but with a cold open depicting Viktor’s perspective on Jayce killing Salo.
We see that his power allows him to astrally project himself to see what those he has healed see.
Curiously, he comments, “That isn’t Jayce. But there is another will at work within him.”
What this means, I have no idea, but the questions we all have about him will hopefully be answered in Act Three.
We also see that Sky is still a part of Viktor and is helping him with studies of the Arcane.
I am still of the belief that she is actually the Hexcore attempting to influence him but, if so, that is also not revealed this episode.
The main plot instead focuses on Vi and Jinx trying to receive help from Viktor in curing Vander.
They arrive at his community, which has grown exponentially over the time-skip, and we see that multiple sick and injured people have traveled to be healed by “the Herald.”
Although, heal may not be the right word considering how creepy and cult-like Viktor’s followers are.
I mean, the metallic imprint of Viktor’s fingerprints are literally covering all of their faces, and Jayce did say in Act One that Wild Runes are the Arcane’s fingerprints.
Vi and Jinx do not know any of this though and, after a tense reunion with Huck, enter the community without their weapons.
Huck takes them to see Viktor, who has had quite the glow-up and also seems to live in a structure which looks suspiciously like a Wild Rune.
He attempts to heal Vander but is forced back by Warwick’s presence.
Still, Viktor does seem to have some effect on Vander because his fingerprint marks can be seen on his face, if slightly.
And, even if Viktor is being manipulated by the Hexcore in his body, he still clearly has good intentions about helping Vander, stating, “He is worth the risk.”
Jinx is also skeptical about Viktor, until he calls her Powder, proving his capabilities.
It is great to see Viktor finally meeting and interacting with the sisters, even if it is brief.
This scene also gives us a good look at how Vi and Jinx’s relationship is being mended, as Vi cares to ask her opinion, which shocks Jinx.
We next get a montage of Viktor trying to help Vander, journeying through his psyche, eventually resulting in seeing his memories through watercolor-like paintings.
The emotional sequence eventually transfers to Vi’s memories of those times, before transitioning to the present as Vi and Jinx hang around what little remains of their old house.
It is striking to see the change from Season One, where the area was dark and desolate but now, under Viktor’s guardianship, it has become green and plentiful.
Just as Vi suggests staying together to help the community out, the writers, of course, send a wave of misery towards them.
Singed has tracked Vander to the community and lead Caitlyn, Ambessa and her Noxian forces there.
Singed convinces Ambessa to let him speak with Viktor before marching in, most likely saving many lives, although this is certainly not why Singed suggested it.
No, he clearly has his own goals in mind, as he meets his former pupil for the first time since Season One.
It is revealed that Viktor’s condition is declining through every use of his power, making his attempts to save Vander even more noble.
Singed, naturally, attempts to twist this, telling Viktor he could stabilize himself if he took Vander’s healing abilities for himself.
Viktor is unwilling to do so, while also learning about Singed’s motivations, seeing a memory of Singed reading to his daughter when he touches him.
The story Singed is reading perfectly reflects his own dark turn and, depending on how Viktor’s story goes, could also reflect him.
After all, Viktor does say that evolution’s goal is to supersede nature.
“The final, glorious evolution,” he calls it, which is a line he has in League.
Viktor tells Singed to leave but receives a warning that if he dies, his community will also fall, a grim bit of foreshadowing for what is to come.
After Singed leaves, he is followed by Vi, who is quickly intercepted and taken down by Caitlyn, using a move Ambessa showed her earlier in the episode.
And, just like that, the writers have the excuse to tease the Cait and Vi shippers with all of the gooey stuff we saw of them in Season One.
Caitlyn tells Vi she looks like “an angry oil slick,” calling back to the oil and water speech Vi gave way back in Episode Eight, and Vi once again calls her cupcake.
It was this scene which made the whole bit where Caitlyn pretended to have captured Vi pretty obvious.
Although, I am not sure if the writers wanted us to buy into the idea of Caitlyn betraying Vi, or if it was supposed to be obvious that it was an act.
Either way, it fools Ambessa, giving Vi the chance to subdue her with Caitlyn’s electrified net.
Back in the community, we can see that Jinx is watching over Vander from afar, when Isha arrives, having stolen back Jinx’s gun.
It is at this point that Jinx decides to tell Isha just how much she means to her.
It felt like the writers were planting death flags right around the child’s feet.
Down by Vander, Singed sneaks in to inject him with a serum that will ruin Viktor’s efforts to save him.
He is ambushed by Caitlyn but then she is ironically ambushed by Rictus.
But who should save Caitlyn other than the woman she most despises, Jinx?
The following fight between her and Rictus is great at showing off Jinx’s cheeky ingenuity, but her hair nearly gets her killed when Rictus grabs it.
It is at that moment when Vander steps in for the save, blocking Rictus’ attack and telling him, “Don’t touch my daughter!”
The gravity of that voice would have anyone apologizing and pleading for mercy.
After Rictus’ defeat, Caitlyn regains her senses and is understandably none too pleased about Jinx’s presence.
Still, with Vi’s arrival, there was always the potential of things to calm down and end happily.
I say “was” because, at that moment, Jayce reaches Viktor and blasts him with his Hextech Hammer, supposedly killing him.
As Singed predicted, this causes the end of Viktor’s community, with all of his followers releasing a ghoulish scream before collapsing dead.
To make matters worse, Vander then loses himself completely to Warwick, either because of Viktor’s death or Signed awakening to inject him with the serum.
Personally, I am going with Singed doing the deed because Vander was still able to resist Warwick’s bloodlust without Viktor because of Jinx and Vi.
Rictus is the first victim of Warwick’s rage, and he is brutally beaten to death.
Vi and Caitlyn attempt to fight off Ambessa’s charging forces, while Jinx tries to bring Vander back but is slammed back onto the ground by him.
It is then, both predictably and tragically, that we get Isha’s sacrifice.
The kid had massive death flags ever since she showed up, and I expected her to die at some point during Act Two, but the death still hit me like a ton of bricks.
Loading Jinx’s gun with multiple Hextech crystals, Isha runs onto the battlefield, her colorful memories with Jinx playing to crush the viewer’s soul.
She flashes past Jinx, as if she were strengthened by her own adopted sister’s power, and the Loose Canon has to be held back by Vi.
Positioning herself under Warwick, Isha says her goodbye to Jinx with a final shooting gesture, and then fires, supposedly ending both her and Warwick.
The episode then ends on an ominous note with Viktor’s dying narration, “That which inspires us to our greatest good is also the cause of our greatest evil.”
So, Jayce just screwed everything up, right?
He murdered Viktor, resulting in Vander’s full transformation into Warwick, leading to his and Isha’s deaths.
Well, I think things are a little more complicated than that.
We still do not know what Jayce saw when he was trapped with Ekko and Heimerdinger by the Wild Rune.
Hell, we still don’t even know what happened to Ekko and Heimerdinger.
However, we do get a hint about what Jayce knows because he keeps seeing members of Viktor’s community as purple monsters.
Given this, and the multitude of other red flags regarding Viktor and his community, I think it is safe to say that Jayce was trying to prevent something terrible from happening.
Whether he achieved this or not is another matter entirely.
I do not believe this is the end for Viktor yet, and his final narration does suggest him going down a darker path, with him stating “humanity” to be the reason for his failures.
So, if Viktor is revived, he may strive to purge that humanity from people.
As for Warwick, I am unsure if he is truly dead, for reasons I will get into in my Act Three Predictions section below.
And Isha?
Well, unfortunately, she is definitely gone.
It will be interesting to see how this shapes Jinx, though.
Hopefully, she will not completely sink into nihilism without her adopted sister, although I think it may start out that way.
As for Episode Six itself, it is another really good one that ended Act Two well.
There were a lot of emotional moments, and some good action set pieces.
That being said, I think I will have to wait for Act Three before I know where I would rank it among the other episodes.
I need context for what Jayce knows and what is really going on with Viktor.
I hope to get the answers tonight with Act Three.
Act Three Predictions:
The teaser for Act Three absolutely confirms Viktor’s survival.
Caitlyn mentions him, we see him in what looks like a cocoon, and Singed is shown experimenting on Warwick.
He is probably using his body to power Viktor, like he suggested doing earlier.
It is not clear if Warwick is alive or dead at the point of Singed’s experimentation.
Either way, Singed will also strengthen Ambessa’s forces using Shimmer.
We see Vi fighting one of these Shimmer soldiers in the teaser.
Caitlyn is shown fighting Ambessa, and we also see Mel at the table with Jayce, Vi and Caitlyn, so she managed to escape the Black Rose.
But the most interesting part of the teaser is Jinx.
Vi is heard telling her, “If you come, use all that explosive potential of yours for good, maybe we could rewrite your story.”
In one shot of Ambessa, we also see a colorful balloon shooting out pink smoke in the background.
This is most likely piloted by Jinx, with a new outfit, designed to honor Isha and also remove the issue of her braids getting caught.
But what will convince Jinx to return?
Ekko.
I would not be surprised if his statement from the trailer, “Sometimes taking a leap forward means leaving a few things behind,” was being said to Jinx.
Maybe after he and Heimerdinger return to the story, he will run into Jinx, learn about Isha, and convince her to help.
It seems like a role Ekko could be given, and he sorely needs a role because of how little he has been used this season.
He only appeared in a few scenes before disappearing entirely.
Well, we are about to find out what role he will play in the ending tonight, along with the fate of every other character.
Going into Act Three, I am curious to see if the spoiler I regretfully saw is true or not.
Whatever the case, I hope the writers can stick the landing with this ending.
If I know Arcane though, it will most likely be tragic.
Fingers crossed that some hope can be injected in there.
Onto Act Three!
THE REVIEW MONSTER 