If you’re like me, you’ve probably been sobbing along with every new episode of Arcane Season 2. Between the fallout from Jinx’s (Ella Purnell) Season 1 attack on Piltover’s council and Vi (Hailee Steinfeld) watching Caitlyn (Katie Leung) succumb to the same rage that corrupted her sister, the series’ long-awaited follow-up has been as gut-wrenching as its animation has been breathtaking, and the release of last week’s second act is no different. Vander’s (JB Blanc) beastly return marks a tragic end for his character at the same time as Isha (Lucy Lowe) gives the show its most unthinkable sacrifice, but one of this week’s most poignant moments actually turns back time to tug at our collective heartstrings.
‘Arcane’ Gives Us a Glimpse of Silco and Vander’s Good Old Days in Season 2, Episode 5
Arcane‘s newest batch of episodes kicks into gear with a storyline that’s strangely heartwarming for the show’s otherwise somber, unforgiving second season. After Vi buries her grief over Episode 3’s unsuccessful confrontation with Jinx in booze and brutal cage matches, Piltover’s Most Wanted pulls Vi into a cathartic family reunion, convincing her sister to help her hunt the beast that aided Jinx’s revolutionary jailbreak in Episode 4. This underground quest gives Vi and Jinx time to finally clear the air between them, but things quickly turn horrifying when Vander’s beast form, Warwick, tracks his former daughters using Isha’s blood. As Singed (Brett Tucker) explains to his Piltover captors in the same episode, the beast he created possesses only a sliver of Vander’s former humanity, turning Season 2, Episode 5, “Blisters and Bedrock,” into a quest to restore Vi and Jinx’s adopted father.
The way this episode captures Vander’s wavering humanity is largely through flashbacks, which are triggered when Warwick confronts Vi and Jinx and sinks deep into his human memories. Yet, in a larger sense, Episode 5 largely feels like an epilogue to the Undercity backstoryfirst established in Arcane Season 1. From Vi and Jinx discovering the apology Vander wrote to Silco after betraying him to seeing both father figures’ old mining uniforms, Arcane gradually shows us more of the pair’s intimate relationship until Warwick finally locates Vi later in the episode. Here Arcane combines its epic animation and suspenseful sound mixing to great effect, initiating the longest and most heartbreaking trip into Vander’s past.
The flashback takes place shortly after Vander opens the bar showcased throughout Arcane Season 1, featuring a younger version of Vander alongside a younger Silco (Jason Spisak), and, most notably, Vi and Powder’s mother, Felicia (Jeannie Tirado). In the scene, Felicia dances to an old record before revealing her pregnancy to her two friends, giving us a glimpse at the unexpected trio back when the three were filled with hope and happiness. Ironically, however, what makes this scene so enjoyable is also what ultimately makes it so sad, as the trio’s short-lived joy doubles as a reminder of what all three are destined to lose. Considering his jaded, scarred persona throughout Arcane‘s first season, seeing Silco joke around with his friends and diligently scribble in his journal is particularly hard to watch, as is Felicia’s unmistakable resemblance to the daughters who will barely get the chance to know their mother.
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‘Arcane’s Season 2 Flashback Puts the Series’ Main Themes in an Even More Tragic Context
On a surface level, the revelations Arcane showcases in this flashback exacerbate the most traumatic events of the series’ backstory. In particular, the show’s opening sequence depicting Felicia’s death during Vander’s rebellion hits even harder knowing the depth of her friendship with Vander, and Vander’s letter to Silco further attests to Felicia’s importance by explaining that his attack on his friend partially resulted from his volatile emotions following her death. Before this point, Arcane hadn’t devoted significant screentime to showcasing Felicia’s character, so her increased presence in Season 2, Episode 5 essentially transforms Vi and Powder’s mother from a one-note tragic parent into a symbol of the relationships lost during the Undercity’s past conflicts with Piltover.
In a season that’s taken an increased interest in wild runes and Runeterra’s supernatural side, this flashback also refocuses Arcane back to the more universal themes that define the series, specifically the idea of fatherhood. Felicia’s insistence on not raising her children alone foreshadows the paternal connections both Vander and Silco exhibit raising Vi and Jinx, and their reactions to Felicia’s remarks in the scene are equally telling. While Vander focuses more on the idea of raising a child, strengthening his fatherly connection to Vi by suggesting her name, Silco uses Felicia’s zeal to reaffirm his commitment to the nation of Zaun, underscoring his more political nature at heart.
Silco’s presence during Felicia’s announcement also implies a personal failure on his part, however, as Vander ultimately raised Felicia’s children, while Silco seemingly ignored them to build his criminal empire. Since we don’t know the full story behind the pair’s falling out, it’s entirely possible Silco still felt too betrayed by Vander’s attack to care for Vi or Powder, but it’s also equally likely that Silco’s combative nature chose to continue fighting for Zaun rather than considering a career as a father. Of course, the irony is that Silco’s determination to topple Piltover is exactly what led him back to Felicia’s daughter at the moment that Powder became Jinx, with Arcane‘s Season 2 flashback both suggesting Silco’s attachment to Felicia informed his love for Jinx and demonstrating that it’s never too late to be a dad.
This flashback also carries even more profound implications for Vander as a character and Arcane‘s future. The fact that the memory coincides with Vander’s return to his sanity proves that these past relationships define his humanity, adding one last note of tragedy to the character’s ending by reminding audiences of his idealistic beginnings. The series’ latest emphasis on the Undercity’s doomed revolutionaries also bodes poorly for the political plotlines at play in this week’s upcoming finale. Vander and Silco perfectly embody the cost of fighting for freedom in Arcane, with both men having now been turned into monsters for the sake of the Undercity, and both Caitlyn’s dictatorship and Jayce’s (Kevin Alejandro) unraveling Hextech reiterate the self-destructive cost of power in the series.
The series finale of Arcane Season 2 streams on Netflix on November 23.
WATCH ON NETFLIX
Set in Utopian Piltover and the oppressed underground of Zaun, the story follows the origins of two iconic League Of Legends champions and the power that will tear them apart.
- Release Date
- November 6, 2021
- Seasons
- 1
