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I feel ill about this show in the best possible way

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I made an Arcane Act 3 watch party server: https://discord.gg/bdRz9dVmGe

(I plan on yelling directly into my mic)

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prepared my Act 3 bingo board!

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the theory that Viktor is a victim of "eldritch gaslighting" is getting more and more convincing...

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brothers

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Running Up That Hill.

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Salo: I can't wait to use my fully healed legs to walk all the way back up the hex gate, across the bridge, and all the way to the back of the fissures to the commune!

Jayce:

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Act 2 Review + Act 3 theories (FULL spoilers)

ouch

Maddie is up there waiting in Caitlyn's bed while this Shakespearean bloodbath is going down lmaoooooo

Jayce pancaking Salo made me cackle like an idiot, I heard the mario bros game over theme play when he did that, put that thing down you murderhobo omg

Vi didn't see the slap coming because Jinx was winding that one up since Season 1, Episode 3

I really thought Cait army vs. Jinx army was going to be a more fleshed out / dramatic arc but I'm not against the Metal Gear Powder episode we got instead.

My previous theory of it not being LeBlanc is essentially debunked in this batch - I was theorizing against it because of power scaling but looking at Mel's power, I thought she would have a force field but she's got some sort of phoenix force thing going on. (There's theories out now that MEL technically blew up the council in reflex to deflect the jinx rocket). I'll leave the Du Couteau theory on the shelf, but if were going all the way up to LeBlanc's office + reading all of Ambessa's lines, what on earth did Kino do to piss off DRACULA!?

To go further, because of in game descriptions people were speculating if the "Pantheon" in Ambessa's music video was just some Noxian stand in. But the Ambessa plot snippet + Mel's power maybe being hereditary makes me think actual Pantheon might be on the menu, as in, Mel is the child of the Matriarch and Aspect of War. Pin this for now, I'll browse the wiki again later.

Silco, Vander, Felicia flashback: new context dropped. Literal actual godfathers of Zaun. At this point how many generations back does sibling conflict go omg, Felicia's a descendent of Morgana or something.

Cait doing a 180 out of her heel turn felt a little rushed to me. We didn't see "commander" Caitlyn command anything?? It felt like she was in that ceremonial position Jayce offered her in season 1, it's like, "I'm a dictator /j" - Vi also didn't seem mad enough idk, off screen timeskip call her cupcake kiss and make up end scene bleh. They switch back sides with very little conflict idk.

"I won't fail, I swear it." Did Jayce enter the Viktorverse? Who else would he swear to if he's tasked with crossing that line?

Isha. Fortiche established 2 new cinnamon rolls in Act 1. The way they terrorize us with both of them in opposite ways omfg.

Overall, Act 2 felt like a lot of bullet points wanted to be covered. but still keeping Vi & Jinx as the through line. It's not perfectly paced, but I still think that they will stick the landing (especially after the end of this batch aaaaa).

Act 3 thoughts:

The Noxian invasion seems to be kicking off in Act 3, I wonder if there are any other tricks remaining up Ambessa's sleeve or if another Noxian character is who show's up with the air balloons / army. (Cast feels pretty full as it is but still)

It looks like Mel escapes and returns to Piltover maaaaybe in episode 7? The thing with Mel's story is again, I don't know what Piltover should do if LeBlanc actually rolls up. Everyone fire all their abilities I guess.

On that note, I really doubt any other characters are coming in as backup for Piltover. Maybe some from Zaun? (Urgot clutch LOL no). "Prototype Blitzcranks" might be used idk.

Heimerdinger might hard carry. Also, the in-game Arcane theme turrets looking like hex gates I think is intentional. Potential Piltover death laser incoming?

I'm hopping on the train of thought that Act 3 will have a scene of everyone dying and Ekko going "you're probably wondering how we got here" *rewinds the tape*

I think Viktor will be the final boss.

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Arcane animatic - EVIL Caitlyn

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UPGRADES, PEOPLE! UPGRADES! gifs via @arcanegifs

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moralton and arcane are at the top of my tags list going forward!

this blog began with arcane shitposting, it's an odd thing because all of my covid era posts were basically me in pre-media literacy. (not that I'm literate now but moralton might have actually gave me sentience lmao)

also silco was a gateway drug to clay.

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Act 2 Predictions / Theories

Theories based on Arcane & League of Legends lore, no leaks! Names of unrevealed characters are omitted. gifs via @arcanegifs

I feel like Maddie is going to die by Caitlyn's ult. As in, that gauss cannon in the trailer is aimed at Jinx, but is going through Maddie.

Symbolically (and tactically?) I think Jinx will blow up the bridge.

That shot of Vi going noooo in the season trailer might be Loris dying.

All the lore channels are saying the leader of the black rose is coming to town... but I think they are above everyone's power scale. (Act 3 maybe?) When researching for crumbs for "the man Ambessa's son offended" who has "greater resources" and who can "cover their tracks" I found out that a Noxian Assassin's parents have direct ties to the Black Rose hmmmm... (I think the time frame just barely works too based on Vi's age)

Team Heimerdinger look like they've been "putting too much bread through the teleporter" with whatever that Arcane radiation goop is. UnemployedJayce.jpg gives me time dilation vibes, they might be stuck in the acid trip for MONTHS.

In general I think the Jayce route is going toward the old-lore ideas surrounding Nexuses / Leylines.

I am losing my mind trying to figure out what "Ambessa stole" and what "Ambessa is looking for in Piltover." Some people think she wants The Grey, but I can' tell what for. This one's a reach, maybe Singed's wolf monster could be commissioned by Ambessa for like a super soldier serum test, as Ambessa's music video underlines her Wolf motif (not to be confused with the other wolf in that video). I don't know who else Singed could be talking to in the season trailer. (Viktor's busy, Jayce maybe??)

On that note I think it's a coin toss whether we get a Sevika or Singed flashback (might also be none, but Sevika's dad and Singed's daughter are cards on the table still.)

Mel's force field (confirmed by the top down shot of the council in episode 1) might get ripped out of her. We don't know what it is or how it works yet but still.

Serial Experiments Viktor might be making a crystal gem cluster??? In the trailer we see Ambessa leading a charge toward the structure but not fighting any Viktor cultists. That could also be a Nexus too.

We've seen Heimerdinger's bubble turret, this might go toward Act 3 but I feel like Caitlyn's enforcers might torch the firelight tree... and after that, Heimerdinger will start blasting.

The trailer shows both Jinx and Vi fighting the wolf monster. Probably a cold take that the fight occurs at The Last Drop.