The Arcane finale delivered, and the series ends as one of the best animated series of all time and one the best Netflix series of all time, animated or otherwise. Though it did not manage to concoct an ending without a whole lot of tragedy and major character deaths. Minus, perhaps, one. Spoilers follow.
The biggest death in the finale is no doubt Jinx, who forced Vi to let go of her and Warwick so she wouldn’t fall herself. We see them plummet all the way down the Hexgate as Jinx also pulls the pin on a grenade to ensure Warwick doesn’t survive. But the would kill her too, right? Right??
There is some pretty clear evidence that Jinx actually survived this, though if you blink you might miss it, or if you forgot some lines from a long time ago, you might not quite understand what’s happening here.
The most clear, I would say actual confirmation that Jinx is alive is a finale montage scene in which we see Caitlyn scrolling through the blueprints of the Hexgate, where at on point she zooms in near the bottom where we can clearly read “AIR DUCTS AND COOLING SYSTEM.”
The vents are also at an angle before the level off, so the idea is that Jinx was probably after to shift into one of them, away from the explosion and avoiding smashing herself at the bottom. There are also fans going frame by frame who believe they’ve caught a glimpse of Jinx’s shimmer effect in the explosion. After all, she’s pulled off crazier moves before.
But if she’s alive, where is she? Shouldn’t she be living happily ever after with her sister? Well, that’s where you have to remember Jinx’s mindset, that she is taking the advice that you “need to walk away” to break a cycle of violence, and that she fundamentally believes that Vi would be better off without her, and has told her “you don’t need to worry about me anymore.”
One final clue about Jinx’s fate is that we see the kind of airship that Jinx once said she would someday ride as a kid in season 1, the implication being that’s what she’s boarded and is now sailing away from her old life to a new one, separate from Vi who is obviously living pretty well now with Caitlyn and a Piltover that is no longer under siege, and on its way to being perhaps a little bit more equal.
No, there is no third season of Arcane. Some have pointed to the scratched backward “E” in the “THE END” title card as implying that, but it’s not happening. Riot has been clear they are making other, new stories in this universe, but Arcane itself is over. Will Jinx show up in new place, a new show? Her being alive makes that possible, but I doubt we will see another series with her as a lead. For now, her story is done. And she survived it.
