Arcane Season 2, Act 1: Our Biggest Burning Questions for the Rest of the Season

This article contains spoilers for Arcane Seasons 1 & 2.

After a two year wait, Arcane Season 2 has arrived. Well, at least the first three episodes. Thanks to the popularity of the series, Netflix is dropping the final season of the show in three three-episode acts, the first of which debuted on Nov 9.

Picking up directly where the critically acclaimed last season ended, we rejoin Vi (Hailee Steinfeld), Caitlin (Katie Leung), Jayce (Kevin Alejandro), Jinx (Ella Purnell), Mel (Toks Olagundoye), and the rest of the cast of the steampunk video game adaptation right where we left them. They’re struggling in the wake of a deadly Hextech attack by Jinx that, as we quickly learn, left multiple members of Piltover’s ruling council dead, including — most shockingly — Caitlyn’s mother, Cassandra Kiramman (Abigail Marlowe).

The first three episodes left us with more questions than answers, so we’re here to dig into the return of the highly-anticipated series and our biggest questions as we wait for Act 2.

Will Caitlyn and Vi Ever, Ever Get (Back) Together?

While we finally get their first — very sensual — kiss, the first act leaves us once again in the wake of a furious split between the pair, making us wonder if they’re ever going to get their version of a happily ever after, especially now that war with the Undercity is all but certain.

The pair’s slowburn, star crossed romance has been at the heart of what made many fans fall in love with the show. But it feels likely that we’ll see the pair struggling to come together as they both try to work out where they stand in the face of the coming war, and the reality that Vi and Jinx are still connected and will feel for each other no matter what. The separation between Caitlin and Vi will make their inevitable reunion more powerful, though who knows how long it’ll last.

With all of that said, the creators of the series have hinted that we’ll get more hot and heavy action like the now infamous Jayce/Mel sex scene in Season 1. So we’d bet that we’ll see Vi and Cait finally get to have their moment in the saucy sun before the second season and series as a whole ends.

What is Ambassa’s Plan?

Ever since she first appeared in Arcane Season 1, Ambassa has been more like a force of nature than a council member’s mother. As Act 1 ends, we see that her arrival in Piltover with hopes of getting Hextech was actually hiding a deeper agenda. After the attack on the council, Ambessa plans to take advantage of the power void to bring her Noxian army to help “take down” Zaun, though it feels like she could have her sights set on taking control of Piltover completely as the war takes over and she gets to flex her warlord muscles through the chaos.

Of course, she’ll have a fight on her hands as both Mel and Jayce are likely to resist her warmongering, especially now that Jayce is down in the Undercity with Heimerdinger (Mick Wingert) and Ekko (Reed Lorenzo Shannon) gaining even more empathy for its inhabitants and connections with the Firelights and his old mentor. Mel has never been a fan of her mother or her appearance in Piltover. But seeing as the rest of the city and the Enforcers seem eager to embark on the war after the Chem Baron’s latest attack, it feels like Noxia will be welcomed into Piltover for now. That could give Ambessa even more power than Mel expects.

What Happened to Viktor?

After almost dying during the lab explosion in Season 1, Jayce finds that his best frenemy Viktor has also survived and decides to use Hextech to save him. Completely submerging him in Hextech goo does manage to extend Viktor’s lifespan, but it also changes him forever. After the events of the first act, we see that the scientist has essentially become a piece of living Hextech, with only a few pieces of his human body left. This is far closer to the “Machine Herald” version of Viktor that players know from League of Legends, who has fused his body together with science and steel, and presents as more of a classic robot/cyborg. Where we leave him after Act 1 is inline with the popular video game version too.

We see the origins of Viktor’s “glorious evolution” in the third episode as he transforms Huck (Bill Lobley) from a shimmer-wrecked broken man into a half-Hextech/half-human being, inspiring the rest of his shimmer-crew to follow Viktor into whatever dark future he has planned for the Undercity. It’s likely we’ll see him trying to create an army of Hex-humans going forward as a way to raise the Undercity and its inhabitants up in the face of Piltover’s reign.

Who is Vi’s New Drinking Buddy?

After falling out with Caitlyn again, Vi heads out on a bender and ends up with her head in a fountain, lamenting her war-starting family drama. But she’s not alone. We meet a bearded burly giant who takes interest in the fact that Vi is being called up to join the Enforcers. Soon the pair are both in the Enforcers on Caitlyn’s special team for heading into the tunnels. We know very little about him, don’t hear his name, and he’s not an obvious analog for any Champion from the games, but it’s clear he’s going to become a key part of the cast for the next few episodes.

Interestingly, as quick as he was to join the Enforcers, he doesn’t seem to be a fan of Ambessa and her plan for war. That means he could be a veteran or even someone familiar with Noxia and Ambessa’s version of leadership. His stormy response to her authoritarian behavior likely hints that he’ll be an ally to Vi as the more morally complex of our heroines rather than Caitlyn, who is now in charge of the Council. It’ll be interesting to see how he plays into the greater war and potentially setting up future spinoffs.

What Did Jinx and Sevika Release into Piltover?

The big cliffhanger at the end of this act is that we see Jinx and Sevika (Amirah Vann) accomplish their plan to reverse the filtration system that protects Piltover from the dangerous substance known as the Gray, seemingly flooding the city with a strange overpowering smoke. But it doesn’t appear like the Gray as we’ve seen it depicted before, instead looking more akin to the brightly colored shades of Shimmer or Hex than the obviously gray-tone of the Gray. So the big question is, what did they actually release? It does seem like a Jinx-coded plan to release Shimmer and get a bunch of Piltovians get addicted to the drug. Or potentially some kind of Hex-poison, like we’ve been seeing impact the Firelight’s tree.

Whatever the answer, it’s going to be a huge source of conflict going forward, especially as it once again moves Jinx away from a possible redemption and reconnection with Vi and Caitlyn. And it’s one more reason for Caitlyn and Ambessa to go to war against the Undercity and the Chem Barons that rule it, setting the stage for an epic final six episodes.

When Is Arcane Season 2, Act 2?

Now that you’ve finished the first three episodes of the season, here’s when you can watch the other two acts of Arcane Season 2.

• Arcane Season 2 Act 2 releases November 16
• Arcane Season 2 Act 3 releases November 23

Season 2 of Arcane is the final season of the Netflix series.