This review contains spoilers for the series finale of Netflix’s Arcane, especially as it pertains to its queer characters.

Well, Arcane fam, here we are, together at the end. What a wild ride it’s been, three years of fan theories and gay angst and stunning animation and perfect music choices. They packed a lot into this season, and while I wish we had more time with these characters, I loved going on this journey with them, and with you all. And I (Valerie Anne) ESPECIALLY have loved going on this journey with Nic, who is here with me to break down this final set of Arcane episodes.

Let’s paint the town blue, one last time.

First things first, let’s discuss that Alternate Universe that Ekko popped into in episode 207.

Nic: I loved everything about this episode. Maybe it’s because Into and Across the Spider-Verse are two of my favorite movies and I felt those vibes HEAVY here. Maybe it’s because AUs represent pure possibility. For his entire life Ekko’s only been able to dream about what a joyful and prosperous Zaun could be like. And suddenly he’s thrust into a world where his dreams are a reality, where his mentors Vander and Benzo are alive and well, where Powder is helpful and selfless, but where Vi is dead. In this world he’s a creator and inventor whose ideas are respected by his people. He gets to feel loved by Powder. Even Heimerdinger is like, I don’t know man, we’ve got a good thing going here, let’s just stay. But Ekko knows he has to get back to the people he left behind. So he decides to lean into the joy of this world, to dance with Powder, and bask in the love of his friends for as long as time will allow. It broke my heart for him a little, but it’s also why I love his character so much.

To grieve a life you never lived.

Valerie: I also loved this episode. As much as I missed Vi, it made sense; it couldn’t be a perfect universe, or WE would hardly want to leave it, let alone Ekko. But it always fascinates me to think about cause and effect; if one thing changed, how much else would too? Although in this case I do think a few things changed — I’m not sure that one heist going right would have made Silco forgive Vander — so there must have been other differences besides Vi’s death and Vander’s survival. But you nailed it, that on one hand Ekko sees his dreams come true, but also he knows it’s not HIS world. His world has Vi in it, for one thing. But also I think that through his Powder who is stuck, stifling her real skills, he sees a beauty in Jinx.

Nic: Do we need to talk about the visuals? Because wow the animators really outdid themselves with this one. Even the vinyl at the opening of the episode showed Ekko and Powder instead of Vi and Jinx. From a tactical perspective, I also thought it was super dope that contrary to the Spider-Verse films, it’s Ekko’s consciousness that’s transferred rather than his body only existing in one universe or another. AU! Ekko had a life and experiences before our Ekko jumped into his mind. It’s what made his, “Can we pretend like it’s the first time?” request so sweet and real.

Valerie: SO visually stunning. I especially loved when he was about to leave, and the magic was swirling around him, you could see the two Ekkos flickering in and out. It was just really well done overall. And! Just imagining a Zaun that’s different from how they animated it for all these years. Stunning work all around.

Nic: And then there’s Powder. We see who she could have been without Silco’s influence, but with a different kind of sister trauma, Vi’s death, hanging over her. It makes me wonder if there are any versions of this universe where Vi and Powder just get to be happy together?

Valerie: Well, ouch.

Nic: One thing that made me laugh, however unintentionally, was the juxtaposition of Ekko and Heimerdinger having the time of their lives in AU Zaun vs. Jayce fighting for his entire life in AU apocalyptic Piltover. A+ editing, team.

What are your thoughts on Jinx’s mental state in the wake of Isha’s death?

Nic: This was really hard to watch, honestly. Knowing that Jinx made sure Vi was safe before turning herself in? She gave up on herself, but not her sister. And when Vi goes to get Jinx out of her cell, Jinx is a shell of herself. Isha is gone and Jinx has lost the hope that Vi never seems to run out of. The hope that she can use her power and talents for good. And when she says, “you’re never going to give up on me, are you?”…it’s with resignation.

Powder/Jinx’s character arc is one of the best of all time, and I’ll die on that hill.

Nic: So when she locked Vi in that cell, I was truly afraid of what might come next.

I did not anticipate it being Caitlyn. *rimshot*

Valerie: Ayyy. But yes, in all seriousness, Jinx in that cell broke my whole heart. She couldn’t even bring herself to do her braids, probably because they reminded her of doing Isha’s. The resignation in Jinx’s voice you mentioned was devastating. As she said a few episodes ago, she feels like everyone who gets close to her dies. And she is realizing in this moment that no amount of pushing Vi away emotionally is going to work, so she has to keep her physically away.

Nic: I also loved both the visuals and the emotion of Ekko using the time loop to stop Jinx’s attempts.

Valerie: Gods, yeah, that was beautifully done. Also, can I just say, the Jinx song used in this episode, Wasteland, was absolutely perfect. I can’t find any proof of it yet, but I feel like Royal & The Serpent had to have written this FOR Arcane‘s Jinx specifically. Lines like, “I used to have strength but I ran out of hope,” were just too perfect. It perfectly encapsulates Jinx’s state of mind after Isha died.

“If I could just lay my head down and rest. If there was nothing to fight or protect, maybe then I could finally be free.”

Now, the moment we’ve all been waiting for: THAT CaitVi scene

Nic: We did it, Joe. This was incredibly hot and gorgeously animated.

What’s a little escapism sex between gal pals.

Nic: I do have questions about Vi’s state of mind in this specific moment though. After such an intense interaction with a suicidal Jinx, what do you think was going through Vi’s mind when she made the move on Caitlyn?

Valerie: I think Vi felt like she fucked everything up. I think she felt like she lost everything she ever fought for, everyone she ever loved. And then Caitlyn came in and made it clear Vi hadn’t lost her yet, that Caitlyn was still thinking of her, still making decisions to help her and her sister, despite everything. So I think Vi felt like it was kind of a “now or never” thing. She had to shoot her shot then and there, or she truly wouldn’t have anything left. And luckily Caitlyn was more than happy to prove that she was still there for Vi.

They found love in a hopeless place.

Valerie: It really was such a great, sexy scene. People have been juxtaposing the last shot of this scene with a clip of Vi telling Caitlyn in Season 1, “The Undercity is going to eat you alive,” and I admit, it makes me laugh every time.

Nic: OMG, haha! I love this fandom.

I love that they were able to giggle amidst the steaminess.

So, this batch of episodes were big ones for Mel and Ambessa, eh?

Nic: MEL, THE WOMAN THAT YOU ARE. She somehow got hotter after discovering her magic?! I shouldn’t be surprised, AND YET. Ahem.

I’d go down the witches’ road with Mel, if you know what I mean.

Nic: As much as I loved Mel’s arc and watching her impact that final battle, I would have liked a bit more explanation around her powers and literal glow up. We hear the sorceress tell her that she is an empath, a conduit, and a mirror. Intellectually I know what those words mean, but one or two extra scenes about what that means in this specific context would have been perfect in my mind.

Giving jewelry already, are we?

Nic: But if losing out on that context meant getting to see our girl tear up the battlefield, then I’ll allow it. We get a glimpse of the scope of Mel’s power when she infiltrates the sorceress’ hold on Ambessa and seemingly destroys her as she tries to use her power to kill Ambessa. Mel is able to save her mother from the Black Rose but it’s too late and Ambessa succumbs to her injuries anyway.

RIP to a legend.

Nic: I can appreciate Mel betraying the Black Rose in favor of doing things on her own terms, I just wanted more! Something tells me this is setting up the next League of Legends show or movie though.

Valerie: There are a lot of reasons I wish we were able to get the full five seasons originally ordered of this show, not the least of which is wanting more time with Mel. I hope you’re right that it’s setting us up for more of that, because it seemed so fascinating but we just didn’t have time to get into it with everything else going on. The jump from Mel being like “wait I’m a witch?” to being able to BODY people with her powers was so quick.

Ma’am.

Speaking of the battle, let’s talk about it.

Valerie: The final battle in this show was the culmination of all the amazing animation we have come to love this whole season. It was like a damn dance, with high stakes and stunning visuals.

I’m also obsessed with the way Jinx and Ekko came swooping in, with Jinx in a bandage wrap like Vi’s, and with Vi’s haircut, and the stuffed bunny they shared, and Jinx’s signature X on her chest spray-painted like Isha’s was. Two of the most important people in her life, on her like armor.

“Surprise, Bitch. I bet you thought you’d seen the last of me!”

Nic: Yes! Everything about that battle was GORGEOUS! Jinx and Ekko’s entrance had me cheering and yelling as if they were my own friends. And that sequence of Ekko using the time loop to adjust his movements when he attacked Viktor and his robots?! UNREAL.

Before we move on, I just need to say one thing about a moment that happens near the middle of the battle, before Mel makes her entrance. *ahem* KARMA IS A GIRL SHOOTING HERSELF IN THE FACE AFTER BETRAYING HER CAPTAIN! I knew we couldn’t trust that girl and her fuckass bob. Shout out to Mel for putting that shield fully around that bitch so the bullet would for sure ricochet into her dumb skull. *ahem* I’m sorry, I’m back now.

Valerie: You TOTALLY called that. You didn’t trust her from the jump, and I applaud you for it. I’ll admit I didn’t suspect anything was off until Ambessa looked toward Caitlyn and Maddie’s sniper nest and said, “Bold, little one.” And I didn’t think Ambessa had ever called Caitlyn “little one” before? “Child,” sure, but not “little one.” But maybe she has and I just forgot in the heat of the battle. But yes, Mel pulling an Uno Reverse on her was EPIC.

Any opinions about the big picture, with the magic and the science of it all?

Valerie: I won’t lie, I felt a little “hextech shmexshmech” about things in the end, which is hilarious considering the arcane of it all is literally the titular role. But that isn’t why I watch this show, and it isn’t what I was most invested in. I only care insofar as it pertains to our friends, and whether or not Ekko could ctrl+z them back to safety.

Nic: And they said “arcane” so much! But hard agree. To me, the technology acted as a catalyst for both the interpersonal and class conflict that our faves experienced. To that point though, looking at the big picture, the shift from Piltover vs. Zaun to Piltover/Zaun vs. Ambessa/Viktor felt a bit confusing and rushed to me, but not enough to pull me out of the story. What I love about this show is that the “hextech shmexshmech” and the relationships we love complement each other in a way that feels true to the core themes of love, family, trauma, destruction, and humanity.

Valerie: It was kind of ironic that in the beginning of the series, they were like “We want to give magic to the people! Don’t worry, we’ll make sure they don’t abuse it!” and then it was literally those two dopes who almost broke the world misusing it.

In the finale, Jinx’s life hung in the balance, and she chose to fall to save Vi and defeat Warwick once and for all, since their father was no longer anywhere to be found inside the monster. What did you think of this epic moment?

Valerie: All Jinx has ever wanted was to help her sister. To be part of the team. For one of her inventions to be useful. To be needed. And now she got just that. She saved her sister’s life, her homemade bomb the only thing that could stop Warwick. After being turned into a villain’s puppet, she finally broke free and became her own person. She finally became a hero. She learned to be strong from Vi, and she learned to be brave from Isha. It’s the hero’s ending she deserved.

And the song “Wasteland” comes back here, and where earlier the first chorus said, “I know it’s my fault that I’m here all alone,” this final chorus says, “If it weren’t for you I’d be here all alone.”

Sisters.

Valerie: Because she’s right, what she said. Jinx said, “Always with ya, sis.” And that’s always been true. Every decision Vi has ever made has been for, or because of, her sister. Whether it was trying to keep Powder safe, trying to stop Jinx, trying to see the Powder in Jinx, or trying to love the Jinx that Powder became. So even if she’s gone, she was and always will be inextricable from who Vi is. She’ll always be with her.

THIS SHATTERED MY HEART AND I AM A BROKEN PERSON NOW.

Nic: I completely agree with everything you’ve so beautifully said. If Jinx perished in that blast, as we’re led to believe, her story feels complete and whole and her memory will always live on in the people left behind; especially her sister. That was my first takeaway when I watched this play out and it’s why I wept for her journey.

Unfortunately because of who I am as a person, there’s part of me that loves a good clown theory and I’ve seen quite a few about Jinx managing to escape through the tunnels we see on the blueprints Cait is looking at. And add to that the fact that Jinx is VERY fast, and her violet-colored speed light appears almost immediately as the blast is going off. One extra gut punch is that final shot of an airship (before a “the end” title card in Jinx font), the very machine that a young Jinx vowed to fly in one day. Like I said, fully admitting to buying a ticket to the clown show. But either way, Jinx got to write her own ending, she got to choose, and she got to matter.

Sometimes, the only way to break a cycle is to walk away.

Valerie: You know what, SOLD. They did a lot of work this season showing Jinx using her shimmer-pink eyes to glitch away from people at superspeed during fights. And I was wondering why a) Caitlyn was looking so seriously at those plans while also holding Jinx’s bomb remnants, and b) why Vi was WHISTLING. That girl would not be whistling if she believed her sister is dead, she would be punching walls and taking names. So scoot over, I’m getting in the clown car. And you know what, while I’m here, I just thought of something: If the song Vi is humming is the same song Vi’s mother played on the jukebox in the flashback (the one with the vinyl that mimics the Vi/Jinx one from the opening), the one she called a “familiar song,” so therefore it stands to reason she would hum it from time to time. That song (“Our Love”) starts with the lyrics, “There’s a girl in town and word’s gone around she’s just fine. So I don’t worry my head, ’cause I know her heart is tied to mine.”

So now we’ve come to the very end of our Arcane journey. Final thoughts and feelings?

Nic: I loved this show so much. The story and the characters and the setting are all so rich and beautiful and it’s easily become one of my all-time favorites. Plus, the lesbians didn’t die and they got a happy-ish ending?!

Our girls made it, and I couldn’t be prouder.

Nic: When Vi tells Cait that she’s the dirt under her fingernails, yes she’s saying she’s not going anywhere, but to me it also read as an acknowledgment of where she came from. She’s the girl from the undercity, and that place and its people are forever tattooed on her heart. Vi’s been through it, and it’s so nice to see her finally able to just…be.

Valerie: You’re exactly right. This show is a masterpiece, top to bottom — no lesbian pun intended — and our non-evil gays made it out alright.

Caitlyn has an eye patch now. Which is hot (chicks dig scars), but also symbolic. She lost sight of what was important, and then she had an eye plucked from her by the very person her misguided trust was placed in. She sees more clearly than ever, even though she only has one eye to do it with.

Vi has a scar across the tattoo of her name on her cheek which is hot (chicks dig scars), but also symbolic. She’s still Vi, but she’ll never be the same. She got the girl, but she lost a lot along the way. She has a scar on her heart where her family once was, blood and found. But she can be at peace now, because her sister went out a hero, whether she died saving her or fled Piltover to start over. She’s the most relaxed we’ve seen her in a long time, if ever. And now that she’ll be working with the new council to create a unified city, instead of having something to fight against, she has something to fight for, and someone to fight by her side.

Watch the Arcane finale and the series in its entirety on Netflix.

Before you go! Autostraddle runs on the reader support of our AF+ Members. If this article meant something to you today — if it informed you or made you smile or feel seen, will you consider joining AF and supporting the people who make this queer media site possible?

Join AF+!