Arcane Ep 2 “Some Mysteries Are Better Left Unsolved,” Recap and Review

Things start on a brighter note, with Jayce talking to Caitlyn about the parts he just got from the Undercity. It becomes very clear quickly this is the place that we saw the gang rob at the start of the first episode of the series. We see the more direct fallout of the explosion, like the side of the building getting blown out just as Jayce gets the door to his lab open to get a portion of the blast himself. He gets through against the wall, dazed before losing consciousness. As he falls, a flashback begins. We're taken back to when he was a kid, traveling through a blizzard with his mother. His mother passed out while in the winds and he couldn't revive her. A mysterious robed figure appears with a shard of the powerful substance. Jayce thinks he's going to leave, but the figure casts a spell, teleporting all of them to a different world, if not just a different reality. They go from being surrounded by snow to a pastoral field. The child Jayce asks “How” and the figure gives him the gem, its power expended.

 

We come back to present day with Grayson interviewing Jayce about what happened with the damage to the lab itself. We also find out the Assistant to the Dean is here to oversee the removal of anything dangerous, which includes Jayce (much to Jayce's surprise). This is a matter that will be decided in the council. Grayson pulls out cuffs for Jayce. Next we're get a quick exterior shot of the station before going inside with Jayce, who is looking at the depleted shard from the man who saved him and his mother. We then meet Jayce's mentor, Professor Heimerdinger, who is espousing his academic views on science before long. He gives Jayce a way out with only a proverbial “slap on the wrist.”

 

The scene jumps to Vi boxing against a hovering drone, her score climbing. Mylo is bored, and Claggor just taunts him. Mylo is talking about not bringing Powder on the next job. Powder proceeds to hit every target she aims for while Mylo missed most of his shots. Noise outside their little refuge has Powder look through a small break in the glass, just before one of the people the Enforcers are talking to gets thrown through the window, revealing the teens. The group is almost all relaxed, except for Powder, who has the gems on her! Vi notices her sister's panic before having Claggor throw a black light switch, giving everyone a chance to scatter and start creating a distraction. Powder gets grabbed by her braid before she gets the chance to escape. She gets some space with a machine that chomps on the Enforcer's arm before the rest of the group catches up with her and they all run out o the building. They almost get caught in an unintentional pincher when Ekko drops a ladder down to them. Vi and Powder agree that the Crystals need to be hidden.

 

We meet some more new players this episode: Mal, a scion of House Medarda, talking with her aide, Elora about business matters. She is one of the councilors that we've heard about so far. She seems to be low-key dealing with a puzzle merchant, and she chooses something that is a child's toy is very happy with it as well as Prof Heimerdinger's favor for the boy. Then we're off to a ball (or some other social function). We're introduced to Caitlyn's family, her mother and father, who are the patrons of Jayce. They make it clear they'll support the boy.

 

From that quick jaunt topside, we're back in the Underground with people very angry. It's clear more and more of them want to take the fight to the Topsiders. We see one faction starting to split from the greater whole that Vander's cultivated. Ekko has no poker face around the ohters. He reveals to the gang that Vander's got a deal with the Enforcers. Then, speaking of the Enforcers, we see Grayson escorting Jayce to is trial. Mel gives the child's toy to another of the councilors for his birthday just before Jayce is brought in. Jayce has a chance to say his piece, but then the council's politics seem to take over. Jayce breaks his silence, revealing what he'd been working on. We learn that magic has nearly wiped out an automaton race. Though Heimerdinger looks disappointing in him. He then reveals that he knows what magic can do to a civilization, revealing the follies of magic that apparently only he knew. Jayce's mother speaks, Ximena, and Heimerdinger suggest that Jayce just expelled from the Academy and remanded to the care of his parents. The majority agree and Jayce is expelled.

 

The scene changes after that. The man from the end of the first episode makes an appearance for a quick scene. He appears to be offering the 4 children to the Enforcers or something to aid in their capture. It's just a quick aside before we're back to Jayce in his family's home. Ximena comes in to talk with him about what happened. Jayce leaves his room in a huff after a brief conversation. And we're over to Viktor, the man from the start of the episode, the assistant. Him and Heimerdinger are looking at Jayce's research. Viktor thinks there could be something there, it just might take Heimerdinger's help to stabilize it. Heimerdinger continues to make it clear that magic is something everyone should leave alone. Viktor takes Jayce's notebook.

 

We're back with Deckard and Silco, the red-eyed man, talking. Silco makes the path forward clear, offering Deckard a vial of the powerful substance. Silco convinces Deckard to drink the potion.

 

Jayce heads to Caitlyn's house. There, he learns they've cut him off and told Caitlyn to stay away from him. Caitlyn and him talk a little but then she's called inside by her mother. Jayce is left alone in the rain. It then goes to the council talking with Grayson. They want the culprits of the robbery apprehended, whatever the cost. The person with Grayson makes note of this, likely the same Enforcer who was talking with Silco earlier.

 

The scene jumps to the Last Drop with Vander bored. The Enforcers come in, looking for the kids. The masked ones head away to search for the kids. Vander offers the leader a drink, hitting an alarm he'd set up under the bar. The kids get the alert and expertly hide. An Enforcer searches where they were just moments earlier. The stand-off continues in the bar with both the Enforcer leader and Vander poses a bit. We get a quick reveal of the kids hidden in the machinery between the levels. But it also shows a problem, with Powder straining to hang on with the Enforcer still searching the room below them. For once, Powder has some good luck and the Enforcer leaves before she falls. Vi makes it clear she's more than willing to fight and feels this is the only way to resolve matters. Vi is having a serious conversation with Vander. He explains his role in what happened in the last Underground uprising, which cost Vi and Powder their parents. She plainly decides something before the scene ends.

 

We're back in the remains of the lab with Jayce. He's considering something heavy. Before anything happens through, Viktor interrupts. Viktor wants to talk to Jayce about his “hextech.” He also explains more of who he came from, being from the Undercity without any influence in the Topside at all. He tells Jayce that he wants to help him complete his research.

 

Time for a few things to get tied up to end the episode. Back to the Undercity. Vi gives a Powder a few words of encouragement in before getting up and leaving. Then we're with the Enforcers where Grayson is chewing out the one who went to the Last Drop. They're interrupted by a message cylinder clanking in. A montage plays with Powder with a toy bunny and Vander. Vander notices the toy bunny and his eyes widen in realization of what it means. The Enforcers are on the streets with a purpose, likely after Vi for the break-in. Vi breaks into Benzo's to get herself arrested. The episode ends with te door to Benzo's opening, leaving who came for her first a mystery.

Things definitely are built up in a good way in this second episode. We got more of the fallout from the robbery that could have gone better thanks to that Crystal.

 

This episode REALLY loves just jumping form one section of story to the next. It's just immediately onto the next scene and from there onto the next. While it did remain all comprehensible, it was a small point of annoyance throughout. Maybe it was just a day for me to be noticing that. It followed all the normal leads and such for it.

 

The matters with the council are going to be a reoccurring thing. Jayce needs something to rally against, at least something more tangible. Mostly through to set stakes and give us more of an understanding of the world, especially if you're unfamiliar with League of Legends (like myself). Magic is regarded as a dangerous force of nature here. We've seen that it can be used for good, but it is easy for any technology or power to be abused. Heimerdinger does warn people about it, likely for a good reason. However, it does not rule out the potential for something amazing to come from a restoration of magic to the world. Sometimes just a few bad people are what is remembered and not the thousands that used it properly for the greater good. Something I hope happens is Jayce and Heimerdinger get together and Heimerdinger explains what happened in the past with magic. We saw a blast of a massive explosion, but that is it. Him having all that experience is great, but its useless to the audience and Jayce if no one else knows. Warnings don't do anything for a scientist, cautionary tales help them avoid past pitfalls, and history is the best teacher for them.

 

Heimerdinger is one character I'm curious to learn more about. All we know so far is that he deals in theortical sciences. He's overall very jovial and it seems like he does not bestow much favor often. To earn his favor, you need to be exceptional as well as driven. Working with him, he'll do whatever he can to help. Disappointing him looks to have a high cost. Just what that entails, we will have to find out later. Heimerdinger did lessen Jayce's sentence from exile to simply expulsion from the Academy. So, all avenues to him are not closed off just yet.

 

Viktor is someone we only got a little bit of information on. Even with captions, his name wasn't revealed until his second appearance later in the episode. He didn't introduce himself until the very end when talking with Jayce. Right now he is intentionally someone it is hard to get a read on. We know only that he's an aide to one of the councilors (and met them too). He's interested in the hextech and wants to help Jayce figure it out. It is a question of what he's after, aside from likely stealing some credit or being nice.

 

The relationship between Vi, Powder, and Vander is the one I'm most invested into at this point. Learning that Vander's leading of the previous uprising resulted in the death of Vi and Powder's parents explained a lot about what is happening. The deal with Grayson and the Enforcers to just keep everyone a bit safer, his unwillingness to pull down his weapons, and the stronger emphasis on a protective community. The strife has been building a while with Vander stuck in an untenable position. With Vander's deal, he's stuck, and there's only so much he can do with his moral standards. Vi sees a way out and is acting out of her desire to protect Powder.

 

Jayce is a fun person to have involved. It does stink that we meet him on what is his (second) worst day. Learning about his drive to harness magic is unique. Most of the time, in this genre, the technology already exists. Here, we are seeing that foundation being built for a change. He's got some good ideas. It really is a question of whether or not he'll be able to do what he's after. Jayce is plainly working with some powerful objects with those strange blue gems. He has a good idea with letting more people utilize magic beyond just those born with the innate talent.

 

Finally we have the antagonist, Silco. He is mysterious, but also charismatic and influential. Just the leading conversation to his first real appearance this episode, asking how long he'll live after. That told us a lot, and later confirmed by what he told Deckard. It was likely this attitude that lead to whatever happened to the left side of his face and its black, glowing eye. He isn't sympathetic, but he is understandable; a good thing for a villian.

 

While this show is going a good job of building its plot lines at once, it is a little annoying with the frequency it's jumping between them. It does finally seem like everyone's working within the same time frame now. It is moving around a bit with who is being revealed for what part of which storyline. We'll know all the players before everything is revealed. That is a good thing, but sometimes having something left around for the finale, especially if you want another season.

 

It was about time to write this piece and continue the series overall. It does provide a nice bit of intrigue and a good bit of character development. There is more than can be revealed and it is definitely something that I do want to keep coming back to. But with every else coming on, this could take another while to write the next one. I like the partnership that seems to be building between Viktor and Jayce. Getting the backstory on Jayce was informative to how the world this story is set in can work. We've only really been in the two parts of Pilover. One city in a vast world is a very small place, no matter how intricate.


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