Did THAT Character Really Die? Major Arcane Season 2 Theory Explained (2024)

Warning! This article contains spoilers for Arcane season 2.

One specific character's death broke audiences' hearts in Arcane season 2, but a compelling theory has been crafted to explain that they may have survived after all. As was to be expected with the final installment of a TV show, Arcane season 2's ending featured the deaths of several major characters. Some of Arcane's League of Legends champions were killed off in the final battle, from Heimerdinger's sacrifice that allowed Ekko to live another day to the tragic deaths of Viktor, Jayce, and Vander/Warwick.

Evidently, Arcane's cast of characters was drastically reduced in size by the time of season 2, episode 9's credits. Although spin-offs of Arcane's League of Legends-inspired story are confirmed to be in production, the many aforementioned characters who met a grim fate will likely not be part of them. Aside from those mentioned, another major Arcane character was thought to have sacrificed themselves in Arcane's final episode. However, Arcane left plenty of hints that this fan-favorite character actually survived, leading to an incredibly plausible theory being formulated.

Jinx Seemingly Sacrificed Herself In Arcane Season 2’s Ending

Jinx's Story Came To An End, Or Did It?

The character in question is Jinx. Jinx's supposed death in Arcane season 2 was not only a tragic sacrifice to save her sister but also had important thematic meaning regarding why the show is ending. Jinx was integral to every major plot point in Arcane, often being the beginning of multiple butterfly effects that led to the show's conclusion. Regarding how it happened, Jinx seemed to have sacrificed herself to save Vi from Warwick.

The ending of Arcane season 2 saw Viktor defeated by Jayce, rendering the former's metallic soldiers inert. However, Arcane's Warwick-Vander werewolf beast was not entirely under Viktor's control like the others, meaning he returned to his bloodthirsty tendencies after the Machine Herald's defeat. In an effort to save Vi, Jinx tackled Warwick into the chasm of the Hexgate tower beneath them. Despite Vi's attempts to catch Jinx, the latter and Warwick fell below, with Jinx's detonation of one of her grenades seemingly confirming their deaths.

Arcane Theory: Jinx Used Her Shimmer Powers To Escape The Explosion

Eagle-Eyed Viewers Spotted An Interesting Detail

All that being said, Jinx's potential survival of the explosion in Arcane may have been hidden in plain sight. In an effort to formulate evidence that supports their favorite character surviving, Arcane viewers began pouring over the scene that depicted Jinx's apparent death. Intriguingly, their efforts bore fruit. After a variety of freeze frames were gathered, there may have been a speck of evidence that Jinx used her Shimmer powers to evade the explosion and survive the events of Arcane season 2.

In one frame, the blue explosion of Jinx's grenade can be clearly seen filling the bottom of the Hexgate tower. In the top-right section of the explosion, though, a streak of pink is shown blasting outwards. This streak draws to mind the artistic effect used to portray Jinx's Shimmer powers when she avoids attacks and moves at inhuman speeds, which utilizes fading pink lines stretching from Jinx's eyes. This provided the basis of the theory that Jinx survived, with other elements of Arcane season 2 adding kindling, fuel, and matches to the fire and spark it into life.

Caitlyn’s Final Scene Teases Jinx Survived Arcane’s Ending

The Hexgate Tower Is Important

The next piece of evidence that audiences found to support the idea of Jinx's survival came from Caitlyn. After all is said and done, Arcane season 2's epilogue shows Caitlyn and Vi reckoning with the events of the finale. Caitlyn is shown sitting at her family computer, which was first shown when she used Arcane's Kiramman key in season 2, Act I. Upon seeing what Caitlyn is looking at, the theory of Jinx being alive gains more credence.

Caitlyn is shown viewing schematics of the Hexgate tower while holding one of Jinx's defunct grenades. Caitlyn then zooms into the bottom of the Hexgate blueprints, revealing that several vents and ducts spread out from the bottom of the tower, bringing a small smirk to the face of Piltover's sheriff. This implied to hopeful audiences that Jinx's aforementioned Shimmer powers were used to propel her into one of these ducts, escaping the explosion and living to fight another day.

Jinx’s Silco Vision Hints At Her Survival

Arcane's Themes Make Jinx's Death Less Likely

In Arcane season 2, episode 8, Jinx is shown reckoning with Isha's death. Jinx, devastated by the loss of what was essentially her daughter, is shown completely dejected in a cell after surrendering to Piltover's enforcers, even leading her to attempt death by suicide in episode 9. During her incapacitation, Jinx has a vision of Silco in which he relays many of Arcane's themes to Jinx and, thus, the audience. Silco explores the cycle of violence and how it will always be part of humanity, insisting that many ways humans think to break the cycle actually continue it.

Silco's final words are that there is one way to break the cycle of violence - to willingly walk away from it. If Jinx survived Arcane season 2, she would have done exactly that. This is supported by one final piece of evidence that Arcane season 2 presents, hinting that Jinx did survive as this theory states and that she heeded Silco's words and walked away from the violence that plagues humanity.

Arcane Season 1’s First Jinx Line Supports This Theory

Arcane's Bookends Surround Jinx

The evidence in question that hints Jinx walked away from the cycle of violence is Arcane's very last shot. Before the credits of the final episode in Arcane season 2, episode 9 roll, a white Piltover airship is shown flying out across the ocean. The show does not divulge who is in the airship, leading many to assume it is Caitlyn and Vi, who - in the previous scene - vowed to continue the fight against injustice. However, Jinx's first line in Arcane season 1 hints it could actually be her in the airship.

In Arcane season 1, episode 1, Vi and Jinx, then known as Powder, are shown climbing up to Piltover alongside Claggor and Mylo. Powder is shown to be awe-struck by Piltover's technological advancement as a white airship flies overhead. Her first line in the entire show follows: "Whoa. One day, I'm gonna ride in one of those things." If Jinx survived as the aforementioned pieces of evidence seem to imply, Jinx flying away from Piltover in the white airship would pay off her first line in Arcane and prove her to have overcome a generational issue by walking away from humanity's violence.

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Arcane

TV-14

Set in the League of Legends universe, Arcane focuses on sisters Violet and Powder (later Jinx) as they end up on opposite sides of a growing conflict between the wealthy utopia of Piltover and its dark undercity whose citizens wish to break away from their oppressors. Hailee Steinfeld, Ella Purnell, and Kevin Alejandro star in this animated adventure.

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Cast

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

Release Date

November 6, 2021

Writers

Christian Linke , Alex Yee

Directors

Pascal Charrue , Arnaud Delord

Showrunner

Christian Linke , Alex Yee