Arcane Season 1 Ending Explained

Key Takeaways

• Arcane Season 1 ends on a cliffhanger that sets up many questions for Season 2.
• Season 1 explores the complicated sibling relationship between Vi and Jinx and the tension between Piltover and Zaun.
• The season 1 finale sees Jinx firing a missile at Piltover’s council, with their fate unknown.

Arcane: League of Legends will soon release its second and final season, which will finally provide answers to a cliffhanger fans have been wondering about for three years.

Arcane’s first season was released in 2021. The series, which is an adaptation of Riot’s League of Legends online multiplayer game, was quickly hailed as one of the best video game TV series of all time. Arcane wowed audiences with its gripping storytelling, engaging characters, and unique blended animation style, which comes from the French animation studio, Fortiche. Arcane Season 1 won accolades at the Primetime Emmy Awards and the Annie Awards, along with a perfect score on Rotten Tomatoes. With the ending of Arcane Season 1 remaining unexplained since 2021, Season 2 has plenty of questions to answer.

What Happened in Arcane Season 1?

Arcane Act 1 Recap

Arcane is set in the fantasy world of Runeterra, focusing specifically on the prosperous city of Piltover, as well as its impoverished undercity, Zaun. The series is centered around two sisters, Vi and Powder, who become separated on either side of the growing tensions between Piltover and Zaun.

Introduced in Act 1 of Arcane as children, it’s established Vi and Powder lost their parents to Piltover’s enforcers and were adopted by Vander, a leader in the undercity. Vi is protective of Powder and fights to get things done with her fists. Meanwhile, Powder is a brilliant inventor but is often overlooked by her adoptive siblings, Mylo and Claggor. In an attempt to prove themselves, Vi leads the group to rob a wealthy Piltover penthouse (that belongs to Jayce Talis), from which they steal a handful of magic crystals. This sets off a chain of events that leads to the Piltover enforcers demanding blood for the damage caused.

Vander offers himself up as a sacrifice to protect the children, but his past catches up with him when he is apprehended by Silco, a man he once considered a brother who he betrayed and tried to kill. During Vi’s rescue mission to save Vander, Powder attempts to help by setting off an explosion that inadvertently kills Vander, Mylo, and Clagger. In a fit of rage and grief, Vi abandons her sister in the street and is captured by enforcers before she can turn back. Silco ends up finding Powder and takes her in.

Elsewhere in Piltover, Jayce is rescued from near death by a mage as a child and then spends his life attempting to recreate that power, by blending magic with science. This is frowned upon by Piltover’s academy and Jayce ends up being expelled. He teams up with a crippled scientist from the undercity, Viktor, who believes in his ideas, and together they create Hextech.

Arcane Act 2 Recap

Several years after these events, Piltover has been transformed into a city of progress thanks to Hextech. After forming an alliance (and romance) with Piltover council member Mel Medarda, Jayce is promoted to councilor and he and Viktor prepare to introduce the next chapter of Hextech. However, they hesitate due to concerns their tools could become weapons.

Powder is no more and has grown up under Silco’s guidance to become Jinx, a chaos-inducing and manic young woman who still suffers from the trauma of her abandonment by her sister. After Jinx mounts an attack on Piltover and steals Hextech’s gemstone, an enforcer, Caitlyn Kirraman, begins investigating. She releases Vi from where she’s been kept in Stillwater Prison for years, and the two work together to uncover Silco’s plans. Vi and Jinx eventually reunite, but Jinx is mistrustful of Vi allying herself with an enforcer. Their reunion is interrupted by an attack from the Firelights.

Arcane Act 3 Recap

Act 3 of Arcane reveals that the Firelights are led by Ekko, a childhood friend of Vi’s. Ekko has been helping to build a sanctuary for his community in the undercity, which has been ravaged by Silco’s drug, Shimmer. Jayce orders a blockade between Piltover and the undercity, which Ekko, Caitlyn and, Ekko cross so that they can warn the council of Silco’s plans. Jinx, growing jealous of Vi’s bond with Caitlyn, mounts an attack on them as they cross the bridge, escalating tensions between Piltover and the undercity. The attack leaves Jinx in critical condition, and Silco turns to his friend Singed, for a Shimmer-induced treatment that saves her life.

Caitlyn and Vi present their evidence to the council, who reject the idea of invading the undercity to stop Silco. Vi and Jayce team up to mount an attack of their own on Silco, but the resulting deaths lead to Jayce having a change of heart about engaging in war. Elsewhere in Piltover, Viktor experiments with the magical Hexcore, combining it with Shimmer to help him cure his terminal illness. However, the process has devastating results, and leads to Viktor vowing to destroy the Hexcore. Mel Medarda’s mother, Ambessa, also arrives with plans to negotiate the use of Hextech’s weapons for use in their war back in Noxus.

How Does Arcane Season 1 End?

Arcane’s first season ends with an explosive finale. Jayce brokers peace with Silco, promising that he will give Zaun its independence, in exchange for Jinx. As Jinx begins to mistrust everyone in her life, she kidnaps Vi, Silco, and Caitlyn and holds them captive as she grapples with her identity. She asks Vi to choose between her and Caitlyn, which Vi refuses. Silco manages to free himself and pull a weapon on Vi, which causes Jinx to react and shoot him. With her father now out of her life and her sister no longer who she once was, Jinx accepts her new self. She places the stolen Hextech gemstone into a rocket launcher and fires a missile at the Piltover council chambers, in which all the council members are currently gathered and are voting to give Zaun its independence.

Arcane Season 1 ends with Vi and Jinx divided and the fate of the entire Piltover council in jeopardy. It leaves the series with many questions to answer in Season 2.

Arcane Season 2 will be released in three parts on Netflix, with the first part dropping on November 9.