Arcane Ep 8, “Oil and Water” Recap and Review

 

 

 

This episode actually opens with Mel. Her mother has brought her to the ruins of a castle, apparently part of the aftermath of “The Battle of Hildenard.” She relays a story about her father offer her a gold coin for each blade she retrieved from the ruins. We get to see her Mother teaching Mel a brutal lesson, much like she was taught: to know Death. It's revealed to just be a dream when Mel startles awake next to Jayce. Not much later, Jayce, for the first time, is confronted with the hard reality of having command. People will die. He does find the remains of one of the devices. Mel is on the bridge with him and what happened here only works to steel her resolve.

 

Then we're on the bridge that Jinx blasted at the end of the last episode with the Firelight Bombs. Marcus is dead with Silco seeing the remains of him and the Enforcers who were on the bridge when the bombs went off. We do see an unconcious Jinx, but no sign of Ekko. Cait and Vi and stumbling their way away from the scene. Vi leaves Cait to check on her sister, having to hide from Enforcers as she attempts to reach her. Silco comes and picks up Jinx, finding the Gemstone in Jinx's hand. Enforcers are coming, so Silco has to leave with Jinx; taking her away from Vi.

 

Vi works with Cait to sneak her back into her own home. Her parents rush in quickly, Cait gives a quick introduction and then her parents want to talk to her. Alone. Her mother talks about the political ramifications and Cait is talking about the reality of the Piltover below the upper strata. Vi isn't enthused about presenting what they know to the council. The two talk a bit, with Vi talking about her childhood with Powder while their parents were alive. We skip away from them and catch up with them at the council session. Cait and Vi present what they know of Silco and his ties to the undercity, the nation of Zaun. As they present the information to Jayce, he jumps almost immediately toward war, seeing that Hextech could stand up to the Shimmer used for Berserkers in Zaun. Mel and another councilor call for diplomacy, saving war as the last resort. Vi sees that no one wants to fight Silco, gives them the truth and leaves when they ask the Enforcers to take her out. Vi makes it clear that she thinks that the Zaun and Piltover will never mix; being oil and water. Vi pushes Cait away saying they're the same: just not meant to be.

 

With Jinx, we get a surprise that Silco takes her to Singed, who we haven't seen for for an episode, for treatment from her blast. Singed hits surprises Silco with an injection of a green liquid and sets him on a chair. Then Singed gets to work on Jinx. Jinx has strange hallucinations as the Shimmer variant works on healing her. Her paranoia and delusions only grow as the injections from Singed continue. After a long while, Silco manages to recover and force himself up, stumbling over to the now empty operating table where Jinx was.

 

We get a little bit of a surprise with Sevika working on her arm. Then one of the Underbarons, Finn, comes to talk to her. What started as play on her ego works to more a swaying of getting her against Silco.

 

Mel, after everything at the bridge, is face to face with her mother for the first time in a decade. Elora bows and is there for the rest. Mel and her mother catch up, and she explains that her brother is dead now. After that bit of news, Mel's mother leaves to “sample the local cuisine.”

 

Mel's mother is later having a soak with her sample giving her a massage. She's talking to Jayce, and offering her assistance in so many words.

 

Heimerdinger gets a bit of screen time in this episode. He is wandering the Undercity of Piltover and seeing the lawlessness and chaos inherent to it. He gets to see the hardened life where even his small act of kindess is regarded with suspicion. He is about to leave the Undercity when the light from a damaged device catches his eye: he's found one of the Firelight's hoverboards. As he admires the board, we find its owner: Ekko talking back about it, in a lot of pain.

 

There is another surprise in the episode with Viktor. He drops his cane and we get to see his leg now changed by Shimmer and Hextech. Just watching him shamble, walk, and eventually run for the first time is amazing. Then we get a quick glance of him back in the lab with a scaple, injector, and standing in front of the Hex cube. His assistant Skye is shown rehearsing what she'll say to Viktor about a personal project. This is interspersed with Viktor attaching something to himself, and extracting a piece of the Shimmer. Skye is focused on what she's going to ask before see the result of Viktor's experiment to infuse himself with Hextech. She walks in as he is grasping the Hexcube and becoming more infused with magic. She holds him tight and then the magics consumes her as a blast comes from both Viktor and the cube. Viktor is aghast at what he did. The Hexcube is changed for these experiments though, having a more webbed appearance now.

 

We see Jayce working on a side project, likely a Hextech hammer from what we've seen already. Vi slips into his workshop and offers a plan to hit Silco where it hurts: Shimmer. She offers to help hit the manufacturing plants of Shimmer. Vi also picks up the hextech gauntlets made for mining the fissures. She puts it on and is immediately at home with them. A quick cutaway and we see Jayce executing on this plan, leading an assault on a Shimmer factory with his Enforcers and his custom warhammer. Alongside the Enforcers, the Factory is quickly taken over. One of the workers manages to reach the alarm and this unleashes Shimmer-enhanced Thugs to come after the Enforcerers. The Thugs clear the Enforcers and start closing on Jayce. Vi makes a grand entrance and the fight gets a lot of color to it with her gauntlet breaking the helmet and sending a Thug slamming into the distant ground. Unfortunately, a stray shot hits the worker, a child, who hit the alarm. There is no glory after the fight, just the stark reality of the cost of this fight. Jayce does see another side to it: the liberation of a number of children.

 

The episode ends with Caitlyn in the shower. She's playing back the last conversation with Vi. She does find something more that's there. We do see the blood from her injury getting washed away by the water. As she comes out of the shower, markings are revealed on her mirror. Something only shown with the condescension. A marking left by Jinx...

Time to get back to “Arcane,” especially with only one episode left after this one. This episode begins with the aftermath of the explosion: Vi and Cait fleeing the scene wounded, Marcus dead from the blast, Silco seeing the results of it. He does find Jinx and retrieves her before Vi has the chance and before the Enforcers arrive at the scene. The lines are getting clearer and clearer; a bigger fight is on the horizon for everyone here. It really is getting to see what the first stone thrown is going to be.

 

This is a hard time for Jayce. He saw what the blast did to the Enforcers that were cordoning the Bridge on his orders. He has to face this reality of being in charge: his orders will get people killed. Having a background in research, this is not something he would have expected. On the bridge we see this hit him very hard and its does threaten his resolve seriously. Over the course of the episode we see him subtly that diplomacy isn't going to be the best path. Instead of making deals, he comes to understand that they'll have to fight to deal with Silco. He does take on this more aggressive calling and understands that he is going to fail sometimes. Undoubtedly there were plenty of references to his move-sets in League of Legends with this hammer of his. But there was also the boy he accidentally shot. He does take it very personally, but he does seem to regard things better when he realizes just how many children he has prospectively freed. This is part of something bigger and it's going to be a bit longer to see who he is going to shape into.

 

Mel is something curious here. We learn slightly more about her and her family. Starting the past with Mel in the ruins with her mother, Ambressa. The reality of Ambressa wanting to share many of the same lessons and Mel wanting to take her own path. This part mixed with the limited interactions we see between them later in the episode shows the differences: Ambressa favors War while Mel favors Diplomacy. This gives Mel a very different approach and she tends to be more manipulative (constructively).

 

There were a lot of more tender moments: Vi letting her guard down a bit around Cait. Just hearing her talking her and Powder a children and playing make believe. It helps round her out and not just be the hardened person that she would become over the years in Stonewall and in Zaun. While shorter, seeing the end of the scene with Heimerdinger was just as needed. Him looking at the problem with Ekko and going to help was nice.

 

Those moments of quiet get a very sharp contrast with Jinx, and Silco. Overall a bit more mysterious with what happened to Jinx. She was strapped down by Singed and injected with Shimmer. It's likely the more advanced version that Viktor got from Singed. It is something meant either to sustain or repair. Very little is given up about the process just what Jinx “saw.” Jinx undergoing the procedure from Singed, having more and more shimmer put into her was scary. After her hallucinations about Vi, we completely lose sight of her. Singed just tells Silco that she survived. It isn't until the end of the episode we have any idea of where she is. Even then, it makes sense. She's insecure about every relationship she has. She's shown just how volatile she can be even with people she “trusts” or regards well.

 

Silco and Sevka do need to be addressed as well. Silco has a very keen mind and works best with surprise and setting the engagements on his terms. When he's caught off guard, he does not recover well. We've seen this happen throughout the season. He's shrew and ruthless throughout, except where Jinx is involved. It is a major weak point for him but there are serious teeth to protect that part of himself from those who've thought to try to use it against him. He might not be strong, but he does understand how to make a point and make it memorable. Sevka could be a form of an ambush we never really see coming. Finn is working her a bit, presenting her as a better leader than Silco (but likely only one that can more easily be manipulated). She is more a brawler and not much of one to really look to lead. The thing is she is strong and sometimes strength is all you need to take charge.

 

Mel's Mother, Ambressa, offers something very different from a lot of what we've seen so far. She is a creature of both military and politics. A lot like the generals of Grecian times (and sharing a number of their appetites as well). From the second she in on screen, lioness is more what springs to mind. Even getting close to her golden years she exudes both confidence and deadly grace. She knows what she can do and what she can offer. She is an established Warlord and tends to take a very aggressive stance. Mel was quick to call out her ulterior motive of wanting Hextech weaponry and Ambressa admitted it. She also establishes herself as a resource for Jayce. I won't be surprised if he does consult with her to plan some of the raids.

 

Finally, the person we spent the least time on: Viktor. The infusion of metal and magic into his body has given him some hope. He is independent of his cane for the first time. Seeing him run, you could tell his enthusiasm. Plus him just seeing the potential for him to clear out more of the disease through further infusions; transforming his body more. No one has said just anything much about the illness within him beyond he doesn't have much time left. Still, him pursuing to further infuse himself with the arcane energies does create a problem. The Hexcube seems to be growing and changing with its bond to him. The big problem is the cost. Viktor is giving his body over to Magic and Shimmer as well as losing his assist, Skee. Skye could have had something that could have helped him. We got no information and have seen her just become dust. Plus he lost one of the very few people he trusted. She is the one who brought him to the hospital after he had his bloody coughing fit and passed out. I don't think we're going a lot more here though this season.

 

Time for a few predictions for the last episode. We are definitely seeing the sisters Vi and Jinx coming to blows. While they are sisters, that relationship is strained to its maximum. A lot needs to be said between them and there is no real opening with everything as it lies for them to actually have that conversation. This has to be the biggest set piece of the final episode for sure. Heimerdinger and Ekko are likely to start working together. The Firelights likely have plenty to offer that Heimerdinger could contribute to. It remains sad that he had to get removed, but it does give him the best chance to actually continue to grow. This will give him a chance to help grow something within the Zaun, the Undercity. Just what remains to be seen. I think we'll get a bit of closure but not all that much with Heimerdinger and Ekko. They are good characters, but there is too much else that needs attention. They have a good story beginning, but it's not a principle one for this season. I wish I could say we start to see the romance between Cait and Vi really start, but that seems outside the scope of the story. I want it, but I don't think it'll be much than “will they won't they” at this point in the story. There is more focus on Jacye, Jinx, and Vi. Cait is an important character for sure with her ties to Jayce, her active role in the investigations, as well as the budding friendship between her and Vi (as much as Vi wants to push her away). Sevka and Silco are going to clash as well is another prediction I have. She started in the background but has been coming forward more over the course of the season. It's unlikely Silco is just going to let anyone knock him out of his position of power. Sevka is muscle and Silco is the brains and leader. There could be more there, but that is how it looks. Lastly, there is Viktor. The transformation is very noticeable by now. I do see people asking about what the cost is to him. It is likely to put some strain on between him and Jayce as well. Well, time to see where all this goes. Until next week!