Arcane Season Two, Episode Eight, Killing Is a Cycle Review: In a Prison Cell?

The penultimate episode of Arcane, “Killing Is a Cycle” begins by continuing Mel’s storyline from the fantastic Episode Five.
After exposing the Black Rose’s disguise of her brother, she is chained up, only to escape using her mysterious power, which reveals her as a mage.
It turns out her captor referring to her as “sister” was meant in terms of a sisterhood, rather than a familial sense.
This captor, a sorceress in her own right, attempts to convince Mel to join her, tasking her with stopping her mother.
Kind of unnecessary, considering Mel was planning on doing that anyway, but her magical powers certainly make that task easier.
Unfortunately, this is all we really get in regards to the Black Rose.
The identity of the sorceress is never revealed, and neither is the overall goal of her and the Black Rose.
It feels like the storyline in Season Two was mainly buildup for another show set in the Arcane universe.
Don’t get me wrong, I would certainly watch such a show, given how great Arcane is, but I would have liked a little more answers.
My only other option is to either wait years for the explanation or look up the League lore.
Following the intro, we fittingly cut from Mel to Ambessa, who has given Singed the task of reviving Viktor.
He succeeds and, like Episode Six showed, Viktor’s mindset has changed to wanting to evolve others beyond humanity in what he calls, “the glorious evolution.”
Ambessa makes a deal to get him to the Hexgates if he will empower her own soldiers.
I have heard some argue that Ambessa’s decision to help Viktor does not make sense, what with how obviously shady and powerful he is, but I guess it just goes to show how desperate she is to find a way to defeat the Black Rose.
Meanwhile, Vi awakens in Piltover to learn that Jinx has been imprisoned.
She and Caitlyn get into an argument about it, with Vi stating, “You can’t trust her enough not to shove her in a box.”
Well, it’s kind of hard to trust someone when they kill your mother, Vi.
I’m surprised Caitlyn didn’t bring that up, to be honest.
She does reveal that Jinx surrendered on her own, though, and Vi’s pleas do convince her to talk to Jinx.
Traveling to the bunker cells below, Caitlyn meets with Jinx, who is understandably in a pretty bad state after Isha’s tragic death in Episode Six.
Her braids are undone, she is not eating, and she is self-harming.
She ends the conversation by admitting she did not know Caitlyn’s mother was there when she fired the rocket, not that it would have made a difference.
Seeing Jinx in this state ultimately convinces Caitlyn to give Vi the chance to free her.
Before that, however, Jinx hallucinates Silco, seeing his scarred eye as a Hex Crystal.
Silco talks about the cycle of killing stating, “Jinx, I think the cycle only ends when you find the will to walk away.”
This line has multiple implications, both disturbing and hopeful, as shown in the next episode.
For now, it is at this moment when Vi shows up to free Jinx, only for her to lock Vi in the cell to stop her from following.
Jinx tragically declares there is no good version of her, which we know is not true.
Not only did we see a good alternate version of her in the last episode but Jinx herself has also done plenty of good as well as bad.
She gave Isha a family and inspired countless Zaunites.
After Jinx’s departure, Caitlyn comes to free Vi and reveals her part in allowing Vi to free her sister.
Vi throws herself at Caitlyn and what follows is a pretty explicit sex scene, which I found kind of funny because of how much the shippers were demanding one.
The writers certainly knew how to play with their feelings.
First, they had the two kiss and then immediately break up in Episode Three.
Second, they had Caitlyn rebound with a barely established character, crushing the shippers’ spirits.
Now, they rebuild those spirits with this sex scene in a dank prison cell.
That being said, the scene has also received some criticism, as a few viewers have said Vi should be rushing to stop Jinx’s suicide attempt, not have sex with Caitlyn in the exact same prison cell.
However, to be fair to Vi, I think her statement of, “I really believed she’d help” makes it pretty clear she did not think her sister planned to kill herself.
If she did know this, she would have run to save her the moment Caitlyn freed her.
Vi and Caitlyn’s storyline this episode ends with their intimate moment, but they are not the only couple featured in “Killing Is a Cycle” because we earlier see Jayce and Mel reunite.
Both have been through a lot and their relationship is clearly strained, with Jayce realizing it was Mel’s mage powers which saved them from Jinx’s attack.
Any separation or reconciliation between them is halted with the arrival of Viktor, using a transformed Huck’s body as an avatar.
He tries to convince Jayce to let him reach the Hexgates peacefully, but Jayce has seen what will transpire if Viktor is allowed to do so.
A fight ensues, in which Viktor’s avatar is only defeated because he is distracted by something, which I think is Ekko returning from the alternate dimension.
Following their fight with Viktor, Jayce holds a meeting with the Piltovan and Zaunite leaders, including Sevika, to propose they join together to stop Viktor and Ambessa.
It is here where my big issue with Act Three comes into play.
While Sevika and some of the Piltovan elites do not agree to join Jayce, many others do, and I don’t really think there was enough justification for this.
For starters, not only did none of the Piltovans see the fight with Viktor, but why are so many of them okay with fighting Noxus?
They were allies just a few episodes ago.
Yes, Caitlyn betrayed them, but she did that on her own.
I feel like the Piltovans either should have learned about Ambessa orchestrating the attack on the memorial, or we should have seen them also suffering under the Noxian martial law, maybe both.
As for the Zaunites, their reasoning for joining the fight also does not make much sense.
Piltover has been oppressing them for years so why do they suddenly believe them when they announce the threat Viktor poses?
If I were them, I would assume this was a ploy to arrest more Zaunites and put them in Stillwater.
Again, this could have been explained away if the Zaunites saw the threat of Viktor’s glorious evolution.
His sanctuary was in Zaun so maybe a few residents could be attacked by his avatars, which proves to the Zaunites that they need to help.
I think Act Three really needed more scenes to help explain these things and, unfortunately, this issue does persist into the final episode.
Going back to Episode Eight, though, its final scene sees Mel visiting her mother in a final attempt to convince her to back off.
Ambessa’s resolve is firm, however, for Viktor has already created his army of metal avatars.
We see this process in a flashback, where Viktor doing so results in the sacrifice of Sky.
Was she real, a hallucination, or a facade created by the Hexcore to manipulate Viktor?
I still have no idea.
Whatever the answer is, Sky as a character felt pretty underdeveloped.
Using Warwick, Singed fully revives Viktor, resulting in the tragic erasure of all his memories, killing Vander forever.
The episode then ends with Viktor fully transforming inside his cocoon, his face splitting open to reveal an ominous, shadowed face, revealing the big threat for the final episode.
Overall, I would still say “Killing Is a Cycle” is a good episode, despite its issues.
It reconnects certain characters and sets up the main threat for the finale well.
I just wish there was more time to explore the wider Zaun and Piltover conflict, which was the main overall conflict for Season One.

Arcane Season Two, Episode Six, The Message Hidden Within the Pattern Review: The Final, Glorious Evolution.

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!

Arcane Season Two, Episode Five, Blisters and Bedrock Review: Best Episode of Act Two?

Usually, the best episode of every Arcane Act is the last one.
Well, this trend changed with Episode Five “Blisters and Bedrock”, which is not only the best episode of Act Two but also the best episode of Season Two so far.
It begins with the same pit fighter Vi tease we got before Act One released.
In this scene, we see Vi at her lowest.
She has lost Caitlyn and now spends her nights fighting for money, wasting that money on getting blackout drunk, pushing away any friends she has, until she even starts losing fights.
It is at rock bottom where Jinx finds her, returning to tell her about Vander’s return.
Naturally, Vi does not take too kindly to seeing her sister after their last, violent interaction.
Still, seeing her start to strangle Jinx was pretty uncomfortable, and the following shot of Vi’s face in the cracked mirror shows just how far she has fallen.
It is a good thing that the episode works towards bringing the sisters together.
But, since this is the best storyline of the episode, I will save talking about it for later.
First, I will talk about Ambessa recruiting Singed.
I had a feeling she would, given how desperate she is for a weapon to combat the Black Rose.
Her recruiting him also lead to quite a few revelations about Singed.
We learn from Caitlyn that his name used to be Reveck, a once respected doctor in Piltover who was banished for a crime that was buried, most likely by Heimerdinger.
Singed tells Caitlyn he committed many unspeakable acts “for love” and then reveals his daughter to her and Ambessa.
Like Mr Freeze, he has sealed his loved one away, all in the hope of eventually curing death itself, only to become more of a monster with each passing day.
Because, as Silco said back in Season One, “Is there anything so undoing as a daughter?”
Singed is not the only character we receive a few revelations about this episode because we also see what has happened to Mel after being kidnapped by the Black Rose at the end of Episode Three.
She is locked up in an Oculorum, a chamber used to seal away false prophets.
Or, as Mel’s fellow prisoner calls it, “the fancy pits peacock princes like to toss their friends into.”
This line causes Mel to realize that the man is her brother, Kino, thought dead by their mother.
Sadly, it turns out that Kino most likely is dead because the brother Mel is seeing is later revealed to be a hallucination made by the Black Rose to try and get whatever power Mel has.
The Black Rose, disguised as Kino, tells Mel that what she inherited, “is of terrible interest to our captors.”
When the disguise is broken, whoever is holding Mel captive also calls her “sister”, but it is unclear if this person is her actual sibling or just referencing Mel as Kino’s sister.
Either way, there are a lot of mysteries to unpack her, and we will have to wait until Act Three to have them answered because this is the last time we see Mel in Act Two.
At least we have one answer, which is how she and Jayce survived Jinx’s rocket at the beginning of the season.
When she is held by the Black Rose’s chains, Mel’s eyes start to glow, and her golden armor shines before releasing a wave of power which frees her.
This pretty much confirms this power is what saved her and Jayce, and I am very interested to see what it is and why the Black Rose want it.
With Singed and Mel’s storylines out of the way, I can now get to discussing the main storyline of Jinx and Vi searching for Vander.
Traveling down into the mines below Zaun, the two sisters quickly begin to bicker.
In my opinion, Jinx easily wins the comeback duel, hilariously referring to Vi’s gauntlets as “bitch mittens” before proving she can last one second in a fight against her.
Isha quickly gets involved in the fight on the side of Jinx, and Vi hits her, resulting in a bloody nose.
I cannot help but wonder if that brought Vi back to the night when she slapped Powder.
Jinx references that night, saying she recruited Vi to help Vander so things would end differently this time.
“Besides,” she says. “He’s your father too.”
This was a great scene between the sisters, and the use of mushrooms which glow whenever someone claps or lands a punch was a nice touch.
Eventually, the trio find out why Vander fled into the mines.
This place used to be a hideout for him and Silco, and we see a letter Vander addressed to him, apologizing for his betrayal and telling Silco he knows where to find him, meaning the Last Drop.
The letter makes me think Vander attacked Silco after the Bridge fight which orphaned Vi and Powder.
Seeing the deaths his revolution had caused, Vander decided to live a peaceful life.
The only problem with that was Silco wanted to keep fighting, leading to Vander attempting to drown him so the peace he was attempting to forge could be maintained.
He only realized the enormity of what he had done after it was over and left the letter to Silco in the hopes of patching things up.
Unfortunately, Silco never went back to those mines so never read the letter.
If he had, as Jinx says, “everything might have been different.”
During this moment, we see the first sign of the bridging rift between the sisters when Vi almost puts a comforting hand on Jinx’s shoulder but stops herself.
They leave the hideout, but the three are quickly confronted by Vander, who was drawn in by Isha’s blood.
Vi understandably does not recognize Vander under the bloody visage of Warwick, and fights him off, only for Jinx’s pleading to convince her to reach out to him.
In an imposing shot, Vi faces off against Vander, shouting his name, which draws us into a flashback before Vi and Powder’s births.
We see that both Vander and Silco were close with the girls’ mother, Felicia.
As she dances to “Our Love” from Season One, she tells the two of her pregnancy, putting them on the hook to look out for her kids.
She tells them, “You two are gonna figure this Zaun thing out. I don’t care if you have to carve it out of the bedrock, covered in blisters. You’re not allowed to fail anymore. For her. For me.”
Along with delivering the title for this episode, Felicia’s lines also add another layer of tragedy because Vander and Silco did fail.
Their fallout led to the tragedy that separated Vi and Jinx, a separation which is only now just beginning to heal.
Although, the flashback does end on a hopeful note, by revealing that Vander was the one to name Vi.
The scene then cuts back to the present day with Jinx and Isha alone in the darkness, unsure of the fates of Vi and Vander.
They walk through the dark, until they find the two in an embrace.
Vi reaches a hand out to Jinx.
“What are you waiting for,” she says, paying off Jinx’s earlier statement. “He’s your dad too.”
And, with that, the water works officially started.
Yeah, I was a mess during this scene.
Seeing the sisters reunite and embrace their father after so much tragedy just broke me.
But this is Arcane so, of course, something bad is on the horizon.
We see Salo, who has been cured of his paralysis thanks to Viktor, attempting to take something from the Hexgate’s failsafe.
This coincides with the return of Jayce from whatever alternate dimension he, Ekko and Heimerdinger were trapped in at the end of Episode Three.
Jayce has clearly had it rough, what with his grizzled appearance, beard, and even his arcane crystal infused into his hand.
As for Salo, he is oddly upbeat, a complete turnaround from his prior personality.
You could say that he is just happy to have the use of his legs back but, as some Arcane fans have pointed out, Salo is not breathing.
We have seen the breath of every character in this room, whether it be Jayce, Ekko or Heimerdinger.
Salo is the only character whose breath we do not see, suggesting a much more sinister nature to Viktor’s cures.
Backing this up is Viktor’s creepy takeover of Salo’s body to talk with Jayce.
Through this, we can see how the two’s perspectives have flipped.
Viktor originally wanted the Hexcore destroyed, but now he uses it to help others, or at least that is how he sees it.
Jayce used the Hexcore to save Viktor but, through whatever traumatic experience he has had, now realizes the danger of all Hextech, wanting to destroy it.
The episode ends with him killing Salo, another showcase of his development.
Back in Season One, he told Vi he could not allow her to leave with the gauntlets but, in the end, relented.
Jayce does no such thing now, killing Salo without hesitation and, on that grim note, the episode ends.
Overall, I would say that “Blisters and Bedrock” is the best episode of the season so far.
Mel’s storyline deepens the mystery of the Black Rose.
Singed’s storyline perfectly falls into Arcane‘s theme about the lengths fathers will go to for their daughters.
Speaking of, Vi and Jinx reuniting with their adopted father got the tears flowing.
To top it all off, the episode ends on the dark return of Jayce, building to his and Viktor’s meeting in the next episode.
“Blisters and Bedrock” is not only a fantastic Arcane episode, but the first one that was the best of its Act without being the final episode.

Arcane Season Two, Episode Four, Paint the Town Blue Review: A Very Familiar Wolf Man.

Arcane Season Two had a great start with Act One.
Episode One delivered the Piltover Perspective, Episode Two the Zaunite one, and Episode Three brought those perspectives together with the tragic fight between Vi and Jinx.
Having seen Act Two, I can say Season Two’s middle portion of episodes are just as good, with one of them being my favorite of the season so far.
As for Episode Four, “Paint the Town Blue”, it is another great one, ending on a long-awaited reunion, which would have been surprising for viewers who did not know League lore.
The episode begins just like most of those from Act One, with a music video, the titular “Paint the Town Blue.”
This music video is used to show the progression of time since Episode Three.
In my review for that episode, I predicted we would not be getting a time skip until maybe Episode Five, since we had yet to see Jinx become a symbol.
Well, turns out I was wrong because the time skip is in Episode Four, and it covers probably only half a year, compared to the few years I was expecting.
In the music video, we see Ambessa and Caitlyn’s forces cracking down on Zaunites who have come to revere and emulate Jinx following her attacks on Piltover.
As for Caitlyn, we catch up with her after the opening and see that, in the aftermath of her fallout with Vi, she has been hooking up with Maddie.
I find it funny that, with all the other insane stuff to happen in this episode, Caitlyn and Maddie drew in the biggest shock from the fandom.
Although, there is a theory going around that Maddie is a spy for Ambessa, so that would be interesting.
It would certainly give a point to Caitlyn’s squad existing, since those characters all seem pretty useless to Season Two’s plot so far.
Is there any evidence of Maddie being a spy?
Well, she does remind Caitlyn that the Noxians are there to “keep us safe”, and Ambessa later says that Maddie is “quite the familiar face these days.”
So, make of that what you will.
Whether Maddie is a spy or not, Caitlyn is still setting her sights on capturing or killing Jinx.
Speak of the devil, we next see the Loose Canon as the ring master of a brutal fight between two giant insect monsters.
This turns out to be a hilarious misdirect, as Jinx is merely putting on a show for Isha with two tiny insects.
She has taken Isha under her wing following Episode Three, seeing who she used to be in her.
Isha certainly proves she has Powder’s drive because she later poses as Jinx to help save some of her fellow Zaunites from Ambessa’s right hand man, Rictus.
Right from that moment, I thought I knew where the episode was going.
Jinx would be reluctant to step forward as Zaun’s hero, so Isha would keep posing as her until she got herself killed, leading to a vengeful Jinx finally taking on the mantle.
Kind of like an Achilles and Patroclus situation.
Thankfully, this is not where the story goes but I was still constantly expecting Isha to die at some point throughout Act Two.
The writers had constantly proven themselves cruel enough to do so, after all.
Instead of being killed, Isha is captured by Rictus, along with many other Zaunites from different factions.
Unfortunately for the Enforcers, they also arrest Singed, who has the advantage of having a giant mutated werewolf in his basement named Warwick.
All it takes is a drop of his own blood for Singed to activate Warwick, which begins pursuing him.
When Jinx learns of Isha’s arrest from Sevika, she sets off to Stillwater to rescue her.
Before doing so though, she once again hears voices tormenting her.
I think this goes to show just how good her bond with Isha is for her mental health.
She seemed to have a lot less hallucinations when Isha was around but the moment she gets taken Jinx experiences a breakdown.
Thankfully, it is not big enough of one to halt her and Sevika’s rescue attempt, which is filled with about as much hijinks as you would expect.
First, Jinx distracts an Enforcer long enough for Sevika to knock them out, allowing Jinx to disguise herself.
Their interaction is also pretty funny, with the Enforcer not believing Jinx’s identity because of how she is dressed.
Another comedic moment follows when Jinx flips off an Enforcer who attempts to flirt with her.
But, man, that guard was pretty incompetent, considering he failed to notice Jinx’s mechanical finger had a smile spray painted onto it.
Guess he was too embarrassed to realize.
The comedy vanishes, however, when Ambessa passes Jinx and Sevika inside Stillwater and looks like she might stop them for a moment.
Instead, she keeps walking, and Jinx and Sevika execute their escape plan, freeing the Zaunites, and allowing Jinx to see firsthand what she means to her followers.
They each pass her, touching her shoulder as they go, and even the Firelights look grateful.
The happy times end quickly, however, with the arrival of Warwick.
What follows feels like something out of a Doom game, as Warwick bloodily tears through the Enforcers while the heavy metal soundtrack booms.
While Sevika gets Isha to safety, Jinx fights Warwick.
The two Singed experiments go head-to-head, with Warwick eventually winning, only to be stopped from killing Jinx when he sees her bomb and remembers her as a child.
“Dear Friend, Across the River” begins to play, and the violence fades from Warwick’s eyes, revealing a very familiar face.
“Powder?” The resurrected Vander asks, bringing an end to the episode.
Having read Warwick’s lore before Season Two, I knew he was most likely going to be Vander.
Despite knowing this, it did not stop the emotion from hitting me full force when he recognized Powder.
It made me a little teary eyed, to be honest, which served as the perfect setup for Episode Five where the water works really started for me.
Keeping on topic with Episode Four, “Paint the Town Blue” was a great start to Act Two.
It did a good job of building up Jinx and Isha’s bond, along with showing off how Jinx has become a symbol to Zaun, and, of course, features the return of Vander as Warwick.
I was incredibly excited to watch the next episode after this one and, boy, did it not disappoint.