Arcane Season 2 Episode 9 Review

Warning! This article contains spoilers for the end of Arcane Season 2.

After almost a decade of work, Arcane’s Season 2 finale brings Riot Games and Fortiche’s animated series to a close with a satisfying conclusion that is worthy of the League of Legends adaptation has set.

Arcane’s finale, titled “Dirt Under Your Nails” pulls out all the stops. It has large-scale action sequences and emotional character deaths, plus it manages to resolve at least half a dozen story arcs, all the while looking brilliant thanks to Fortiche’s animation. Arcane rarely stops to breathe in its final act, but maintains a standard of quality consistent with the high bar the Netflix series has established throughout its two seasons.

A World At War

The last episode of Arcane delivers on the war that has been brewing all season. The warriors of Piltover and Zaun are finally allied against the threat of Viktor and the Noxians, with the goal being to stop the enemies from gaining access to the Hexgates. The battle that ensues is massive in scale with characters like Caitlyn, Vi, Mel, and Jayce all scattered around the city at strategic points. The action feels epic thanks to creative framing and editing, which keeps things fast-paced, and the episode does a great job of making the war hit emotionally, with every character’s life feeling valuable, even those who are unnamed.

The battle has a great dynamic with both sides feeling like they have an equal chance at winning or losing, and there are plenty of unexpected twists and turning points throughout. At one point, Caitlyn’s squad plants a bomb on Viktor’s convoy, only for the tide to turn when the enforcer Maddie Nolen is revealed to be a traitor, who hands Caitlyn over to Ambessa. Mel gets the chance to fully unleash her magic powers as she comes to Caitlyn’s aid and the two hash out their issues with Ambessa. This results in a nail-biting fight, which leaves Maddie dead, Caitlyn without an eye, and Ambessa at the mercy of the Black Rose.

Arcane Final Battle Evokes Moments From Avengers: Endgame

All the character interactions in the episode have so much weight thanks to the hours of development that have gone into building their relationships up until this point. When Ekko returns in the episode, it’s at the exact right time to talk Jinx out of her downward spiral and get her back into the fight, which pays off their interactions in the alternate universe from the prior episode. There are also plenty of Avengers: Endgame-level moments that elevate the battle sequence as fans finally get the chance to see the champions they know and love fighting side-by-side.

Arcane Reaches Its Endgame

The action reaches its height when the Noxians reveal their Trojan horse has successfully allowed Viktor, in his new game-accurate form, to breach the Hexgates. Inside Viktor and Jayce square off, with Jayce trying to appeal to any shred of humanity in Viktor that’s left. Viktor’s powers have revealed to him that human emotion and imperfection is the root of suffering, hence his final glorious evolution will unify all minds into a perfect society. The fight takes them to the top of the Hexgate, where Jinx and Vi are engaged in battle with a newer and deadlier Warwick. Arcane has established it is not afraid to kill off major characters, and that all pays off here as the stakes for every character are high, making for gripping television.

Viktor’s plan starts to come to fruition and everyone in Piltover is connected to the hive mind, including Jayce. Ekko comes to the rescue, using his Z-Drive to reverse time just long enough to dodge Viktor’s forces and throw the Z-Drive at Viktor, which destabilizes his power long enough to free Jayce of his control. In a flashback, it’s revealed that the hooded figure Jayce met in the anomaly was a future version of Viktor, who tells him that Jayce is the only person in all timelines who can convince Viktor that perfection is not the end of progress, not the goal. Jayce reminds Viktor that his imperfections made him human, and the two agree to put an end to what they created, which results in both of them vanishing into the ether. While Jayce and Viktor’s storylines may have veered into weirdly cosmic and often esoteric territory in this season of Arcane, the finale manages to pull it all together into an important thematic message which ultimately paid off.

Jinx and Vi’s Family Comes To A Tragic End

Following this, all of those ensnared by Viktor’s brainwashing are freed, which leaves Jinx and Vi on a ledge in the Hexgate. Vi takes a moment to grieve for Warwick, the beast who once housed the mind of their father, Vander. However, Warwick is not dead and attacks Vi, further destabilizing the platform they’re on. Jinx intervenes just in time and knocks Warwick over the edge with Vi managing to grab hold of her sister at the last moment. Unfortunately, Warwick also gets a hold of Jinx, leaving them both dangling perilously. Jinx knows Vi will never let her go, so she takes things into her own hands and sacrifices herself, falling to her death along with Warwick. Jinx’s actions not only save Vi, but also bring an end to a cycle of death and violence she’s been trying to escape since she was a child, offering a heartbreaking yet satisfying conclusion to the siblings’ arc.

The Dust Settles

In the aftermath of the war, the city comes together to grieve its losses and pull itself back together. A new Piltover council is formed, one which includes Sevika as a representative of Zaun. Singed’s experiments with evolution successfully bring his daughter back. Mel leads the Noxians away from Piltover, and Ekko grieves the loss of his friends. Vi and Caitlyn are still together and living happily after the battle, although Vi is still grieving the loss of her sister.

The series ends on a hopeful note as Caitlyn overlooks schematics of the Hexgates, which indicate that Jinx may have exited the Hexgate via a series of air ducts. The finale leaves the fate of many of Arcane’s champions definitive but also ambiguous enough for audiences to form their own opinions, which is an elegant way to avoid the trappings of League of Legends canonicity.

A Worthy Finale

Episode 9 is a culmination of two seasons of incredible work from Riot and Fortiche. The finale of the Netflix series fires on all cylinders, with epic musical moments and gorgeous animation working in tandem to ensure the emotional punches hit hard, and all character arcs are resolved satisfyingly. Arcane’s final act, like the majority of the series, moves at a rapid pace, but the storytelling is so eloquent that things rarely feel unearned. While it would’ve been nice to have additional episodes to dig into certain aspects of the world and characters, perhaps that is more of a selfish desire to see more from this wonderful series. Arcane could be considered legendary thanks to its animation alone, but it’s the series’ commitment to every little detail of its production that truly makes it one of the best in the genre.

All episodes of Arcane are available on Netflix.

Arcane is an animated series developed by Alex Yee and Christian Linke that follows a the story of Piltover and Zaun, two pivotal locations in the League of Legends universe. The first season follows the stories of Jynx and Vi, as well as Jayce and Viktor.

Release Date

November 6, 2021

Cast

Hailee Steinfeld , Ella Purnell , Kevin Alejandro , Katie Leung , jason spisak , Toks Olagundoye , Harry Lloyd , JB Blanc , Reed Shannon , Mick Wingert

Seasons

2

Writers

Christian Linke , Alex Yee

Franchise(s)

League of Legends

Directors

Pascal Charrue , Arnaud Delord

Showrunner

Christian Linke , Alex Yee

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