In Season One of Arcane, they always saved the best episode of every act for last.
It seems Season Two will be no different because Episode Three, “Finally Got the Name Right” is definitely the best episode of the three, setting up a lot of ominous events and having a spectacular and tragic fight scene.
The episode begins with, you guessed it, a music video scene, just like the past two.
This one explains how Caitlyn’s strike team is controlling the Grey.
It turns out her mother had ventilation systems constructed in the Undercity to stop the factories’ fumes because, “The people of the underground deserve to breathe.”
Well, Caitlyn takes her mother’s good intentioned act and corrupts it, weaponizing the Grey as chemical warfare.
She and her squad flood areas with this dangerous gas to incapacitate the Zaunites and then move in to make arrests and get information.
Now, you could argue the people they are using the Grey on are gangsters but, even then, the montage makes the horrible effects the Grey can have on the body quite clear.
It is also easy to imagine civilians getting caught up in the crossfire, so I would argue Caitlyn is definitely not in the right here.
Vi picks up on the way Caitlyn is changing for the worse and talks with her alone, begging her not to change.
This leads to their first kiss, an emotional moment which I knew would not end well because of the teaser showing Vi as a cage fighter.
While Vi and Caitlyn go to confront Jinx, Ambessa is having troubles of her own.
She meets with Amara, who you may remember as the merchant Jayce made a deal with way back in Act Two of Season One.
In a truly unexpected moment, Amara reveals herself to be some kind of witch associated with the Black Rose, a mysterious group which killed Ambessa’s son.
Ambessa is able to eventually gain the upper hand and kill Amara, but this is far from the end of the Black Rose Threat.
Mel is one step behind her mother, investigating her actions through an informant but, before she can do anything with what she knows, it is revealed that her own assistant Elora is either part of the Black Rose, or been possessed by them.
She is consumed and Mel is kidnapped to who knows where.
So, whoever the Black Rose are, they now have a stranglehold on Ambessa since they hold her daughter hostage.
Maybe Ambessa distancing herself from Mel would have kept her safer, if she had not told Amara how much family meant to her.
Along with the mystery of the Blase Rose, there is also the mystery of what is going on with the Arcane.
We see Jayce explain the concept of Wild Runes to Ekko and thus us as the audience.
Wild Runes act as fingerprints of the Arcane, but in a wild and unpredictable manner.
These fingerprints are then seen underground by Heimerdinger when he, Ekko and Jayce travel to the Hextech’s failsafe.
Before Heimerdinger can warn the two about the fingerprint on the ground, it transports the three of them right to a Wild Rune just as Vi and Caitlyn are confronting Jinx.
Vi calls her sister by her new name, while Jinx calls Vi out for using the Grey on Zaunites.
While Jinx is certainly no saint, it is hard to argue with a lot of her points about Vi’s actions.
Both sisters are walking down dark paths.
Jinx is a terrorist and Vi has engaged in chemical warfare.
Now both are prepared to fight to the death.
Neither is alone, however, with Sevika and Caitlyn also duking it out, all the while Jayce, Ekko and Heimerdinger are affected by the afflictions of the Wild Rune.
What follows is an intense fight sequence, with Woodkid’s “Ashes and Blood” playing in the background.
This is already one of my favorite Arcane OSTs and I have listened to it multiple times since watching the episode.
Its vocalist’s deep voice and the wild orchestral chanting works incredibly well with the tragedy of the fight, as we literally see Jinx and Vi smash through graffiti of their childhood innocence.
At the same time, Jayce’s interactions with the Wild Rune cause the Hextech to go crazy, influencing the fight and giving Caitlyn the chance to defeat Sevika.
The interference ends when Jayce strikes the Wild Rune with his hammer, leaving his, Ekko and Heimerdinger’s fates unknown.
Caitlyn overcoming Sevika allows her to take a shot at Jinx, shooting off her middle finger.
Vi tackles Jinx down onto the alter and prepares to deliver the final blow, to which Jinx says, “I’m glad it’s you. Had to be you.”
So, when Jinx said in Episode Two that she was planning “to finish what’s left of my family” was she referring to herself?
Well, thankfully, it does not end here for Jinx because, at that moment, Isha jumps in to save her, putting a gun between her and Vi.
I am not sure if Jinx’s following “No!” is because Isha is interfering with her suicide attempt, out of concern for her, or a plea for her not shoot Vi.
Probably a mixture of all three.
Isha’s interference snaps Vi out of it and she steps in Caitlyn’s way when she attempts to shoot Jinx, despite Isha still being in the way.
This gives Sevika enough time to activate Jinx’s plan, sending the Grey up to Piltover in colorful fumes which pollute the city.
The force of the fumes blows Vi and Caitlyn away and we expectedly get the big break up scene.
Caitlyn is angered that Vi stopped her from killing Jinx, but Vi calls out Caitlyn’s own actions, which results in Caitlyn hitting Vi in the gut with her rifle.
She then leaves a crying Vi behind in a moment that is extremely reminiscent of Vi leaving Powder.
The big difference there is that Vi only left Powder to cool off before she was kidnapped.
Caitlyn does not come back for Vi, showing how far she has fallen since the death of her mother.
And, if the ending of the episode is any indication, Caitlyn’s morality is only going to grow greyer (if you will excuse the pun).
Following the Grey being unleashed upon Piltover, Ambessa suggests naming a general to lead their forces against Zaun and nominates Caitlyn.
Councillor Salo is shocked at this, clearly having expected himself to be chosen, but it is no surprise that Ambessa chose Caitlyn when you look back at how Salo himself described her.
“She’s gotten no closer to Jinx. But that doesn’t seem to steal the stars from anyone’s eyes… it’s not the girl. It’s the name (Kiramman). It bewitches people.”
Ambessa’s face shows intrigue during this scene, revealing exactly why she chose Caitlyn.
Her actions against Zaun and important family name have made her a symbol for Piltover.
Ambessa also believes she can control Caitlyn, literally calling her a child.
Whether Caitlyn will remain childlike under Ambessa’s thumb or if she will break free we do not yet know.
What we do know now is what the symbolism in the opening means.
We see Vi and Caitlyn getting closer, foreshadowing their kiss, before Caitlyn shoves her away, representing their breakup.
The next visual shows Caitlyn cradling her face in despair, while her shadow makes it look like she is wearing a crown.
This symbolizes her rise to becoming Piltover’s general and essentially a dictator, which is going to naturally haunt her.
Caitlyn is not the only character in the opening Episode Three gives symbolic understanding, because Ambessa holding a black rose and Mel being surrounded by shadowy hands represents the kidnapping plotline.
As for Ambessa herself, it is also revealed this episode that she really was behind the memorial attack.
She will do anything so long as it benefits her family but, again, she will probably be locked in a stranglehold with Mel’s kidnapping.
Episode Three then ends with a final Singed tease in which we see what he was doing with the body of the two-headed wolf he killed.
It is revealed he is using it to create a giant werewolf monster.
I will discuss the implications of this in an Act Two prediction section, which you will find below.
In conclusion, “Finally Got the Name Right” is definitely the best episode of Season Two’s Act One.
The final fight is excellent with its tragedy, incredible animation and score.
As for character arcs, Caitlyn is on the fast-track to being a puppet dictator and I am personally enjoying this dark turn for her character.
I hope she can pull herself out of it.
Finally, the third episode also does an excellent job of raising plenty of mysteries for the following acts to resolve, namely the ones surrounding the Black Rose and the Wild Rune.
I would call “Finally Got the Name Right” a top five Arcane episode, and I am eager to see if any episodes in Acts Two or Three can surpass it.

Act Two Predictions:
So, let’s start with talking about the massive werewolf Singed is creating.
This wolf is clearly Warwick, whose lore I looked up before watching Season Two.
In all likelihood, he will turn out to be a resurrected Vander.
Ordinarily, this would ruin the impact of Vander’s sacrifice, but Warwick looks to be a completely different character, making his resurrection tragic.
This tragedy will be amplified when Jinx and Vi have to fight him, as seen in the Act Two teaser.
We see Jinx shooting at Warwick in one shot, and Vi facing off against him in another.
The Vi shot is ironic, considering the back of her jacket has a two-headed wolf on it, the same creature Singed used to create Warwick.
There is also the matter of the predicted time skip where Vi becomes a cage fighter.
Originally, I thought this time skip was going to be right at the beginning of Act Two but, given how we have yet to see Jinx become a symbol, it will probably be Episode Five or Six when it happens.
When we do get the time skip, I expect that Ekko will be presumed dead by the Firelights.
I believe this because you can see his face on the mural with other dead characters.
This probably means that whatever happened with the Wild Rune caused Ekko, Jayce and Heimerdinger to be trapped in some alternate dimension.
The shot of Jayce in the teaser looking grizzled and with a beard supports my theory.
What I am less sure about is what will happen to Mel.
We see her attempting to escape the Black Rose, only to be pulled back by its red tentacle-like force.
There are so many mysteries for the rest of the season to unpack and I, for one, cannot wait for Act Two.