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Arcane Season 1 Episode 3 Recap – The Base Violence Necessary for Change
BY Harris
Published 3 years ago
Arrest
We get to see Silco’s past. He is falling to the ocean depths, almost at his last breath. He remembers the past rebellion and his fight with his old friend. Images of Vander strangling Silco underwater flash into his mind.
In the present day, Vander finds Vi in Benzo’s shop. He traps her in a room downstairs as he entrusts her to protect the family. The enforcers are about to arrest Vi when Vander turns himself in instead. Grayson stops him, telling him he is the only one who can keep things together in the Undercity. He insists, leaving Benzo to take over for him. Vander is cuffed while Vi cries for him not to go.
Monsters
From a vantage point in Vi’s window, she notices the commotion outside. An enforcer is murdered, smearing blood on the stained glass. Grayson is dead, and Silco appears from the fog to meet Vander. Benzo tries to fight back but is killed. Deckard’s body is under the influence of Shimmer, turning him into a strong and violent brute. He knocks Vander out and picks him up. Vi sees this from inside her prison. Powerless, she breaks down and cries.
Ekko opens up Vi’s chamber, also witnessing everything that happened.
Silco and his crew bring Vander to their hideout, where they manufacture more Shimmer. Vander and Silco relive their past disagreements. Silco feels betrayed by Vander, and his hate has festered over the years. He sees the other man as a lapdog for Piltover but still respects and considers him a brother. Silco offers him the power of Shimmer, which has the potential for Zaun to win over Piltover. Vander urges him it isn’t the right way; his methods will take the lives of so many innocent people.
For Science
Back in their lab, Viktor and Jayce discuss the details of their research. They come up with a solution, but they need the crystals back to make Hextech a reality.
Viktor and Jayce sneak into Heimerdinger’s lab to retrieve their equipment when Councilor Medarda finds them. They negotiate and try to convince her their tech has potential. The councilor gives them one last chance to prove themselves and lets them go.
Jayce and Viktor finish their experiment using a contraption powered by a crystal and a series of runes. The first phase of the experiments works, but the energies are volatile — light spills from the lab, and shards of glass shower over them. They manage to contain it but not without a few cuts and bruises.
To the Rescue
Mylo and Claggor arm themselves for the fight when Vi arrives. She tells her what happened. The three set out to help Vander. Powder insists on joining them, but Vi stops her, telling her she’s not ready and she can’t afford to lose her.
Left alone in her room, Powder is upset and breaks down crying. She’s about to break her monkey bomb when the blue crystals spill out — she is struck with inspiration. She finds new hope to help Vander.
Vi’s party moves through the rooftops and sneaks into Silco’s lair. They find Vander alone and chained into a chair. They realize Silco’s gang isn’t guarding the entrances — it’s a trap all along.
The crime lord appears with his minions on the opposite corridor. They had already spread the word of Vander fleeing Zaun with his children.
Vi wears Vander’s old bracers. She steps forth to fight one of the henchmen. She gains the upper hand with her superior technique, but more comes to fight her.
Claggor tries to breach an exit through the wall as Mylo tries to free Vander from his bonds. Meanwhile, Powder finds her way to the lair alone.
As Vi defeats most of Silco’s henchmen, Deckard takes in a canister of Shimmer from Silco, transforming him into an oversized brute. Vi leaps into the air, but Deckard swiftly catches her. Powder sees this from one of the windows. Eager to help, she takes out one of her bombs. Desperate, Vi manages to close the door behind Deckard.
Innovations in Magic
Jayce’s experiment continues when Heimerdinger and the enforcers discover their actions. They bar the door as the professor orders them to stop. Jayce takes a deep breath, remembering the wizard’s spell from last time as he adjusts his machine’s runes and dials. He manages to replicate the spell. An explosion of blue light fills the room. He and Victor hover through the air, and an arcane orb hovers in front of them. The orb is capable of teleporting objects from one side to another. Heimerdinger breaks in and sees their work. He disapproves, but Medarda comes in and refutes him. It is for the council to decide the fate of Piltover and Hextech.
In Silco’s lair, Powder hurriedly arms her monkey bomb with a blue crystal. Deckard is about to barge into the room where her family is. Powder winds the spring, and the creature walks towards Deckard. The blue crystal stops and hums.
Claggor manages to blast through the wall, but the monkey bomb detonates. The explosion is massive, blowing everyone away, including Powder, who marvels at the lights. Deckard is thrown back, but Claggor and Mylo are killed in the blast. Vander and Vi are trapped under the rubble.
Brothers
Deckard is still alive. Vander sets himself free with a renewed rage; he wounds Deckard but is overpowered. Vi looks at his dead brothers and notices Powder’s monkey head staring at her. Silco stabs Vander’s back. He strangles Silco, but the crime lord manages to stab him again. Vander is defeated as he falls under a stack of Shimmer canisters.
Deckard finds Vi unable to move, but the ground shakes. Vander has ingested the Shimmer, turning him into an abomination himself. With Vi about to die on one side and Silco about to escape, Vander makes a choice. He grabs Vi and jumps from high up the building.
Vi cries as Vander dies from the fall. In his last breath, he tells her to take care of Powder. Vi screams into the night, accompanied by fire and thunder. Powder appears behind her. She tells Vi her monkey bomb finally worked. Upset, Vi asks her why she did such.
Sisters
Powder sees Vander’s body and realizes the others are also dead. She cries and insists she only wants to help. Vi scolds her, telling her Mylo was right — she is a jinx. Vi looks into her crying eyes, conflict brewing in her stomach. She leaves Powder.
Silco approaches Powder as she weeps on the ground. On the other side, Marcus finds Vi. Before Vi can help her sister from Silco, she is drugged unconscious as the enforcer takes her away.
Silco asks Powder where her sister is. She cries and hugs him — Vi left her — she isn’t her sister anymore. Silco’s hands take her in, and he hugs her back. He tells her it’s okay, that they will show them all.
Our Thoughts
It’s an explosive episode in every sense of the word, a perfect joining of plot threads and character arcs. It completes the initial story for Silco, Vander, Powder, and Vi — notice how closely paralleled these two stories are. It also sets up the future of our two main characters. If you’re a League of Legends fan, you already know the rivalry between Vi and Jinx. I like how their stories are given this much care and attention. I rate this episode a perfect 4.9/5.
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