Arcane season 2 ending explained: Which spin-off shows are teased?

After we take a breath after another explosive season finale, here's a recap of all the major twists and turns in the final three episodes of Arcane season 2 and how they set up several spin-offs in the beloved Runeterra universe.

Arcane season 2 ending explained

What happened in the wild anomaly?

The unstable wild rune anomaly - and the corruption of the Hextech - are undoubtedly one of the most intriguing unexplained mysteries in Arcane’s second season, with Ekko, Heimerdinger and Jayce all seemingly disappearing into the increasingly volatile element.

While a significantly dishevelled Jayce made his return in the final episode of Act 2, shockingly blasting a hole straight through his friend Viktor with his Hextech hammer, episode 7 (Pretend Like It’s the First Time) finally lifts the lid on his surprising actions, along with just where Ekko and Heimerdinger ended up.

While the leader of the Firelights and Heimerdinger find each other in an alternate universe not too dissimilar from their own, Jayce is thrust into a desolate apocalyptic wasteland which appears to be the aftermath of Viktor enacting his Glorious Evolution.

Jayce is haunted by his actions (“I was trying to create magic”) and voices warning him of the dangerous effects of Hextech (“you must destroy it. It corrupts, it consumes. I’ve seen nations destroyed exactly like this.”) He’s eventually led through the wasteland by dragonflies to a statue holding a staff and it’s here where he meets a mysterious hooded figure who sends him back to his timeline - with one major promise.

In the final episode (The Dirt Under Your Nails) the hooded figure is revealed to be Viktor, the mage who saved him and gave him the Hexgem when he was a child.

The regretful Viktor admits the error of his ways, thinking he could bring an end to the world’s suffering by unifying humanity under his Glorious Evolution. He tells Jayce that in all the timelines, he is the only person who can show him this truth and in turn, use the wild rune given to him to restore balance to the Arcane.

Meanwhile, fan favourite Ekko is finally giving his time to shine in this episode, with a bittersweet arc which sees what his life could have been. In this alternate universe, he works closely with Powder and Heimerdinger to create a time loop device (his signature Z-drive in League of Legends) for the upcoming innovators competition - eventually becoming his LoL counterpart, The Boy Who Shattered Time, later in the series.

Throughout the experiments, he spends more and more time with Powder and the two share a moving dance and eventual kiss, as he heartbreakingly asks her “you ever wish you could just stay in one moment?”

What happens in the Piltover and Noxus war?

As Singed transforms a gravely injured Viktor into his iconic LoL counterpart - the Machine Herald - with the fusion of Warwick’s Shimmer-infused blood, he finally exclaims his signature quote (“this is the glorious evolution!”) and joins forces with Ambessa and her Noxus army to storm Piltover.

Jayce implores the nations' major players to take a stand with him, Mel, Cait and the city’s soldiers against the incoming forces, as they stage their defence at the Hex gates and fight for the fate of Piltover and the wider universe.

Zaun and Piltover finally unite to help stop the incoming onslaught, but following a shocking betrayal, Cait is captured by Ambessa. Cait then challenges her to hand-to-hand combat, while Mel cleverly involves the Wild Rose to help capture her mother and stop the threat of the Noxus army. But they unfortunately can’t stop the onslaught of Viktor’s incoming followers, as they capture and claim control of many of Piltover’s fighters to the hive mind.

Meanwhile, Ekko saves Jinx from herself and the pair - along with the Firelights - come to Vi’s aid in the battle. But unfortunately they crash into the Hexgate and the two sisters find themselves once again facing off against Warwick.

Jayce takes a last stand protecting the Hexgate core but Viktor overpowers him and uses the tech to gain control of humanity under his hive mind, until Ekko launches his Z-drive contraption at him, shattering Viktor's armour. Jayce is then freed from his grasp and uses this opportunity to reason with his old friend with an emotional plea: “You’ve always wanted to cure what you thought were weaknesses. But you were never broken Viktor, there is beauty in imperfections. They made you who you are and what I admired about you.”

Viktor then sees what Jayce experienced in the apocalyptic future, with Jayce attempting to save Viktor from himself, and the pair embrace while absorbing Jayce’s gem, seemingly disappearing into the exploding anomaly.

Do Vi and Jinx reconcile?

In a way, yes. A major recurring thread throughout the show explores the consequences of our actions, whether we can truly be redeemed and mankind’s cycle of violence and self destruction. Jinx/Powder is integral to this exploration, with her actions inexplicably tied to the show’s most pivotal moments. Her battle with her identity, the loss of her family and whether she’s truly a villain is one of the major arcs in the series.

Despite Vi’s attempts to save her from herself, it appears that Jinx has embraced her destiny, admitting to Silco that there’s no good version of her. However, thanks to Ekko’s persuasion (and the help of his Z-drive tech) Jinx tries to make amends and joins Piltover’s side in the war, standing side by side with her sister. “You still don’t get it sis, I’m always with you. Even when we’re worlds apart."

In the climactic showdown, we see Jinx heroically sacrificing herself to save her sister from Warwick’s attack, finally redeeming her violent actions.

In an exclusive interview with showrunners Christian Linke and Alex Yee, the pair previously teased that: “a big part of season 2 is they've crossed lines that they can't come back from. And so they can never be the same family again.”

“What can you really recover from? And where is it just, you know, too far? That was always the question from the beginning for us. Like, can they ever be sisters again? You know, there's a unique opportunity. There are specific moments that created Jinx. And so the question really is can they be undone, and I think that's really what it's all about.”

“Can they be a new family? Can something like that work, especially with the other elements, you know, like what feels like family to them? So I think something that has been asked of a lot of the characters in the series.”

Do Caitlin and Vi finally get their happy ending?

Great news for CaitVi fans as yes, the pair survive and are seen snuggled up together in front of a fire at the end of the season finale.

It appears that the pair are indeed a couple and both are dedicated to a mysterious cause with Caitlyn asking "Are you still in this fight, Violet?". Vi replies "I am the dirt under your nails, cupcake. Nothing's gonna clean me out."

With Caitlyn examining the blueprints of the Hexgates, the pair may be travelling across Runeterra to destroy the remaining gates used in trade, as they’re still concerned about the dangers of the tech.

Or the pair could be possibly searching for Vi’s sister amongst the air ducts, what with Caitlyn holding on to a piece of Jinx's explosive monkey parts…

What’s next for the Runterra universe?

With the series coming to a close following the destruction of the hexgate and Viktor uniting Zaun and Piltover, there’s plenty of threads teased in the closing moments to explore future spinoffs in the franchise.

Along with Caitlyn and Vi’s continuing journey, the showrunners hinted at an expanded look at the Kingdom of Noxus, with a glimpse at a three eyed raven pecking at the remnants of the hex tech possibly teasing LoL character Swain.

There’s also the major factor of Mel’s betrayal of the mysterious leader of the Black Rose which could come back to haunt her. She has kept her mother’s iconic golden mask and has taken her place, but will she continue her mother's fight against the Black Rose? Especially given the revelation that they recently killed her brother.

Meanwhile, we see a glimpse of Singed and his reanimated daughter in the mirror of the ballerina music box, teasing a spinoff for LoL Lady of Clockwork champion, Orianna. It certainly looks like Dr Reveck’s twisted experiments with Warwick’s blood paid off!

When speaking to RadioTimes.com about potential spinoffs, showrunner Christian Linke said he’d like to explore “different regions, you know. Like, Piltover and Zaun have been such a home to us for so long, like, but there's Noxus, there is Ionia. Bilgewater is really fun. There's Bandal city, the more quirky part, like we're looking at all of them really, because we love this IP and we love these characters.”

“You take them all as far as you can and see which ones you know have the wings. So that's our job right now. There's nothing kind of set in stone yet, nothing in production yet. But right now, we're developing those.”

Arcane season 2 part III is currently streaming on Netflix. Sign up for Netflix from £4.99 a month. Netflix is also available on Sky Glass and Virgin Media Stream.

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