Arcane Season 1 was released in 2021 and instantly became a hit animated series of all time. To be honest, for me, the nine-episodic series set the standard for every upcoming animated show. Set in the popular League of Legends universe, Arcane captivated the fanatics with its storytelling, animation, and cinematography. I never felt as connected to any other animated character as with Vi and Power (Jinx). The TV Show was packed with several mind-bending twists and turns, so it’s challenging to remember all of them. Now that we are heading towards the release of Arcane Season 2, we have discussed the recap of Arcane Season 1 so that you don’t face any problems while catching up with the new episodes.
The Act That Started It All
Following a failed uprising against Piltover, Vander encounters two sisters, Vi and Power, who lost their parents in the battle. He began to feel that the poor girls were orphaned because of him. So, even though he can’t bring their parents back, he takes the girls with him to raise them as his own. He also decides to give up on the life he has been leading until now to start a new life that will not see any violence.
The undercity of Zaun and Piltover were never the best friends, of course, but it wasn’t until Powder’s actions that things became even worse. Powder, Vi, Claggor, and Mylo head toward the wealthy city of Piltover to commit petty thefts. They break into an apartment and get mesmerized by the things over there. Later, the series allows us to learn that the apartment belonged to Jayce, the one who invented Hextech. While Powder and the boys start filling their bags with normal stuff, Powder finds Jayce’s crystal and keeps it in her pocket. Vi hears the footsteps of the enforcers, so she grabs Powder’s hand and heads toward the back door. While running, the crystal slipped out of Powder’s pocket, creating an explosion.
Breaking into the apartment of an influential family is never going to be easy. Even though it was a failed heist, the enforcers of Piltover City started approaching the Zaunites for the leads. They also encounter Vander in a bar and question him about the culprits. Vander reacts as if he is not aware of any such thing. However, Grayson and Marcus tell him that they will certainly come back repeatedly until the case is solved.
The explosion caused by Powder and Vi somehow became the reason for Jayce’s imprisonment. He was accused of playing with magic and pushing Piltover towards danger. While some council members were against Jayce, there were some, including Mel, who supported his ambition. Eventually, Jayce, with the help of Viktor, conducted the experiments and succeeded after failing multiple times.
In the finale of Act 1, Silco abducts Vander to seek revenge. However, before he can harm Vander, Vi, Mylo, and Claggor arrive and help their adoptive father break from the hideout. Due to Powder’s rash decision-making, Vander, Mylo, and Claggor lose their lives. Vi’s anger and Powder’s guilt send both of them on different paths, with Powder siding with Silco.
Vi and Powder’s Different Paths
A few years later, we see Piltover becoming the most vigorous city because of technological advancements – all thanks to Jayce and Viktor. Powder, on the other hand, now flaunts the title of “Jinx.” She has been creating a lot of trouble for Piltover and has taken the first spot on Enforcers’ most wanted list.
Caitlyn, who’s close to Jayce, takes things into her own hands and frees Vi from prison. She knows that only Vi can stop Jinx and put an end to her terrorism. Eventually, Vi and Jinx met, but their meeting did not end on a good note. Jinx is too far gone, and even though she wants Vi’s love, she can’t stop hating and comparing herself to her elder sister.
On the other hand, Viktor seeks the help of Hex to cure his leg, which doesn’t work out well. The Hex starts manipulating Viktor, and we might actually see him turning towards a darker side. Silco sees Jinx as his daughter, so, in a way, he now understands why Vander stopped fighting Piltover – he also wanted his daughters to be safe. However, there’s too much hate inside Jinx’s heart, and there’s no stopping her.
Things now get more political as the Council gets divided over what to do with the Underworld. While most members want to cut off the Underworld from the Piltover, Jayce wants to take a different path. Jayce has a change of heart after he accidentally kills a kid in his act of anger. He knows that the people of Zaun are living off the scraps, and he can’t take away their right to live a good life. In the midst of all this, Heimerdinger questions the irresponsible use of Hex, and well, this constant questioning gets him kicked out of the Council.
The Ultimate Act of Terrorism
Even with Caitlyn’s help, Vi couldn’t stop Jinx; instead, Jinx started getting jealous of Caitlyn for getting closer to Vi. Ekko, who’s all grown up, has an incredible face-off with Jinx – she almost dies in that fight, but Singed brings her back to life through his experiments.
In fact, after these experiments, Jinx gets more powerful and loses that last ounce of humanity that was inside of her. Vi defeats Sevika with the help of Jayce’s gadget knuckles; however, before she can enjoy her win against the person who plotted against Vander, Jinx kidnaps her. Along with her, Jinx also kidnaps Silco and Caitlyn. We all know why she kidnaps Caitlyn, but Silco gets on Jinx’s bad side because he lied to her about Vi. Apparently, he hid the fact that Vi was behind bars, letting Jinx believe that her sister had abandoned her.
Nevertheless, in the final act, Jinx asks Vi to kill Caitlyn if she wants her younger sister back. Vi obviously couldn’t do that; instead, she asked Jinx to remember their time together and tap into her good side. However, Jinx’s mind is all messed up, and in an act of frustration, she fires her machine gun blindly across the room – Caitlyn and Vi survive, but Silco gets shot. Taking his last breaths, Silco says to Jinx that he always considered her as his daughter.
At this point, Jinx has lost all sense of good. She gets up and aims her Bazooka towards the Council room, where the Council votes to help and sport Zaun. Unaware of the fact that she’s destroying the last chance of Zaun having peace, Jinx fires her Ultimate. The finale doesn’t show the aftermath of the explosion, but it’s safe to say that Jinx has killed some crucial people and started a war between Zaun and Piltover. There’s a chance that Mel has died, too, and maybe that’s why Mel’s mother, Medarda, is leading the Piltover army toward Zaun in the second season.
Aparna Ukil
