Arcane Season 2: Why Jayce Killed Viktor, Explained

Arcane Season 2 has had nothing but high stakes in its first six episodes, but the final of Act 2 resulted in the death of one of its major characters, Viktor.

Both Viktor and Jayce are champions from Riot Games' League of Legends. Netflix's Arcane has provided a backstory for the video game characters, depicting them as friends and partners who use their great knowledge of science, and their limited knowledge of magic, to create something new known as Hextech.

Season 2 of Arcane has seen the two friends diverge, with Viktor becoming a religious-like figure known as the herald, and Jayce disappearing into an arcane anomaly. 

What Leads Jayce to Kill Viktor?

Warning - the rest of this article contains spoilers for Arcane Season 2.

Episode 6 in Season 2 of Arcane saw Jayce and Viktor's paths converge again. 

After Jayce emerged, haunted, from the anomaly he killed Salo and vowed to end Hextech. Meanwhile, Viktor's cosmic new powers revealed to him that Jayce's interactions with the arcane are influencing his decisions.

While it's unclear what exactly happened to Jayce during his time in the anomaly, whatever it was has him terrified of Hextech and everything to do with it. Singed referred to Viktor earlier in the episode as "the apex form of Hextech" which means his destruction is a number one priority for Jayce in order to complete his mission.

Jayce's fear of Hextech is heightened when he arrives at Viktor's community and through his twisted vision sees the enlightened members as evil beings. He is taken to the heart of the compound and finds Viktor meditating peacefully. Here Jayce takes the chance to blast a hole right through Viktor's chest with his Hextech hammer, not even waiting to converse with Viktor first. 

Viktor can be seen taking his last breath in the next scene, which results in all the members he has healed in his community dying along with him (including the newly-returned Vander). 

Is Victor Dead In Arcane?

While Viktor is definitely dead at the end of Episode 6, it may be the case that Jayce only destroyed his physical form.

As League of Legends players know, the version of Viktor depicted in Arcane thus far is far from what his champion is like in the video game. In LoL, Viktor is known as the machine herald who believes in a glorious evolution of technology that will raise humanity to its full potential. 

Physically, Viktor's body is machine-like with augmentations made from steel and science. This has been somewhat represented in Arcane with Viktor shown augmenting his body into a strange new form thanks to the Hexcore. But his appearance is still not akin to that of his champion in the game. 

Viktor's death in Episode 6 could be paving the way for his next evolution, so to speak. It's possible, given his arcane powers, that Viktor's consciousness is still alive somewhere in the ether and there's a chance he could reappear in the final episodes in a new, and potentially robot, body. 

Season 2 of Arcane is set to be the series' last, meaning that the final episodes are the last opportunity for the Netflix series to finalize each of its champions stories.

Audiences will find out how it all ends when Arcane Season 2 Act 3 drops on Netflix on November 23.