Summary
“The Boy Savior” reunites Vi with an old friend, as most characters wrestle with their allegiances to kick off the final act.
This recap of Arcane season 1, episode 7, “The Boy Savior”, contains spoilers.
So, here we are, at the beginning of the end. Netflix’s Arcane, a video game adaptation no less, has been one of the year’s most pleasant surprises, but it still remains to be seen whether or not it can stick the landing in its final Act. “The Boy Savior”, though, is a good indicator that it can, leaning into the plights of various key characters and the conflicting allegiances that they’re all wrestling with while providing a good, late burst of action to raise the stakes further still.
Arcane season 1, episode 7 recap
The bulk of the drama concerns Vi and Caitlyn and continues on directly after their capture by the Firelights at the end of the second Act, so we’ll deal with that last. Elsewhere, the crucial matter of Viktor’s health, and the lengths both he and Jayce will go to in order to preserve it, not to mention the lengths Silco will go to in order to preserve his power, are both of the utmost importance.
There are lots of themes and different dynamics buried in all this — Viktor being offered Shimmer, Mel trying to convince Jayce and Viktor to use Hextech to build weapons “just in case”, Silco stamping out dissent by reminding his acolytes of what he has done for them — but the essentials are pretty simple. Jayce doesn’t want Viktor to die; Silco doesn’t want to die (and being deposed is the same thing, more or less). A lot of “The Boy Savior” comprises quieter scenes really hammering this sentiment home.
Silco quelling a leadership dispute led by Finn is a highlight, though, in the kind of way that a villain doing something grim always is. It’s smart because Silco doesn’t necessarily look all that imposing, so reinforcing his efficiency is a good idea. Having Sevika behind him as a kind of personal bodyguard also helps. It’s obvious “we’re approaching the end and this guy is due a showdown with the heroes” stuff, but like most other things that Arcane does, it’s of a distinguished variety.
Jinx’s personal spiral is also well-handled, and a good excuse for a lot of flourishes in the animation, as are the two extended sequences that play out like animated rap music videos. This remains an impressive and unique-looking show without being pretentious about its style.
But anyway, here’s the main thrust of the plot. As it turns out, the Firelight’s leader is a grown-up Ekko, who reveals his identity to Vi and gives her a tour of his little community, its citizens displaced from the Lanes thanks to the unchecked distribution of Shimmer. A hand-painted mural on one of the walls, depicting everyone who has been lost in the long-running conflict, is a clear metaphor for both Vi and Powder having grown up and grown apart — both are on there as we met them in the very first episode when Jinx was still Powder and didn’t hear voices in her head.
There is understandable tension between Ekko and Caitlyn — the Enforcers have done so much to the people of the Undercity, most of it without Caitlyn’s knowledge, that it isn’t easy to just forgive and forget. But all these tested loyalties are building towards the big set-piece of the episode, during which Caitlyn and Ekko attempt to give Marcus proof that Silco is behind everything. On a level beyond the obvious, it’s Ekko putting his trust in Vi, who vouched for Caitlyn; it’s him believing that things can be different, better. Of course, when Marcus sees the Gemstone, he shoots Ekko. This just isn’t the most positive show. Both Vi and Jinx are summoned by the commotion (the former was attempting to find and talk down the latter), and the Firelights detonate on the bridge where the meeting is taking place, killing Marcus. Ekko fights Jinx so that Vi and Caitlyn can escape with the Gemstone, and when the fight reaches a stalemate, Jinx arms one of her bombs, which seems to kill them both.
How’s that for a cliffhanger? As I said at the top, Arcane might very much stick the landing after all.
You can stream Arcane season 1, episode 7, “The Boy Savior”, exclusively on Netflix.
