Summary
“When These Walls Come Tumbling Down” capably sets the stage for the final three episodes, leaving the story wide open.
This recap of Arcane season 1, episode 6, “When These Walls Come Tumbling Down”, contains spoilers.
The allure of magic is defying inevitability. Fun what-if conversations always revolve around whether someone would, say, prefer flight over invisibility, but the crux of the matter is that what we all want is to stave off death; to be able to save those we love, to spare ourselves the pain of loss. Virtually every terrible weapon ever created had its origin in some noble endeavor; that compulsion is what leads us to obsession and excess. If only we could cure that terrible disease. If only we could give ourselves more time.
Arcane season 1, episode 6 recap
If only, asks “When These Walls Come Tumbling Down”, we could reverse what’s happening to Viktor by harnessing a dangerous evolution of magic. It’s a risk, granted, but isn’t the payoff worth it?
Following on from the previous episode, news of Vi’s survival has reached Silco, and now Jinx. Silco not-to-subtly threatens Marcus’s daughter to make him play ball when it comes to tracking Vi down, but that might be easier said than done since she’s already badly injured and her only ally is Caitlyn. Caitlyn is determined, though. Her descent, under even the Undercity, where she trades her rifle for life-saving medicine, is symbolic of that determination.
Of course – aside from some deviations exploring Jayce gradually finagling power in Piltover – this is all building toward a long-awaited confrontation between Vi and Jinx, which we get in an all-action climax evoking the finale of the first Act, full of great visuals, cool action, and resonant moments. The relationship between Vi and Jinx is complex and complicated further by the involvement of Caitlyn and the gemstones. Motivations aren’t clear, or at least aren’t to someone like Jinx, who is tortured by her past losses and experiences. The arrival of the Firelights only makes things harder to manage, especially once they whisk away both the gemstone and Vi, leaving Jinx alone with her screams.
It’s a big cliff-hanger, obviously, but there’s still an Act to come next week, and it’s hard to imagine it won’t be eagerly anticipated by then. A big fight is obviously on the horizon, and with Heimerdinger having been ousted from the council and the gemstone in possession of the Firelights, there’s everything to play for in the final three episodes.
