What you forgot from Arcane season 1

Arcane Season 2 is finally here, but after the three-year hiatus between seasons, we can’t blame you if you don’t quite remember what happened in Piltover and Zaun. To help you prepare for the new season of the show, we’ve got reminders about what exactly happened in Season 1, and more specifically, the exact places the characters were the last time we saw them.

Where did Jinx and Vi (and Caitlyn) leave each other?

After a season-long dance between sisters and their loyalties – to each other, to the underworld, to peace in the kingdom – it all came to a head in the finale. The final moments of Season 1 saw Jinx firing her makeshift Hextech missile into Piltover’s council chamber, promising untold chaos, death, and destruction.

Vi and Caitlyn tried to stop her, and Caitlyn even had a shot before Jinx fired her missile, but the pair failed. As for Jinx and Vi’s relationship, it seems safe to say that the rocket was Vi’s last straw in the hope that she could still find her sister Powder in Jinx.

What happened to Silco, and what is the condition of the Lanes?

The head of Zaun’s criminal underworld, Silco, was murdered by adopted daughter Jinx. Near the end of the season, Jinx captured Vi, Caitlyn, and Silco in an attempt to interrogate them altogether (and under the impression that Silco was about to betray her). When Silco tries to kill Vi, Jinx shoots him and immediately starts crying as he tells her he still loves her.

Silco had used violence, Shimmer-enhanced henchmen, and his right-hand man, Sevika, to more or less keep Zaun’s various criminal organizations under control since Vander’s ‘disappearance’ – along with the help of some bribes for Piltover’s corrupt sheriff. But with Silco dead and out of the way, the city under Piltover fell into an even more lawless wasteland, with each faction vying for control.

Wait, what exactly is Shimmer again?

Shimmer is a type of drug that Silco’s team – including and especially Singed – developed that gives users excessive, monstrous strength and uncontrollable rage, making them perfect for inflicting violence on anyone who needs Silco. The drug is highly addictive, but also permanently changes the user’s body after use.

Singed is Silco’s chief scientist and an old friend and mentor of Viktor. He is a scientific genius from Zaun who doesn’t really concern himself with petty matters like ethics or morality. In the first season we saw him help Viktor machine the Hexcore to connect it to his body, and we know he was in a cave keeping an alien creature alive in a giant tank.

Where are Viktor and Jayce?

Viktor, Jayce, and Mel are all in the council chamber that Jinx blew up, so we’ll just have to wait and see how they fare after the rocket blast. As for their own relationships, Jayce and Mel are still dating, while Viktor and Jayce are somewhat on the run, as Jayce considers the creation of Hextech weapons, something Viktor firmly opposes.

What’s Ambessa’s whole deal?

Ambessa is Mel’s mother and a proven Noxian commander. It’s not entirely clear why she’s in Piltover, other than to keep an eye on her daughter. But it is clear that she is trying to promote her own interests within the City of Progress.

Is Heimerdinger also in the council chamber?

Heimerdinger was kicked off the council on Jayce’s advice, which means he’s not in the council chambers, but that doesn’t mean he’s out of the story. Heimerdinger’s expulsion was mainly due to him trying to slow down Hextech’s development in the hopes of making it more secure. But without the council keeping him in Piltover, Heimerdinger wandered to Zaun and met Ekko there.