Arcane (2021) s02e01 Episode Script

1
[distorted crackling and rumbling]
[groans]
[somber music playing]
[distorted] Mel.
Mel, are you okay?
[crackling and rumbling continues]
[man coughing in distance]
[distorted chatter in distance]
It's okay.
[grunting]
[screaming in distance]
No.
[gasps]
- Are you hurt?
- I'm fine.
[distorted shouting]
Go, go.
[panting]
[grunts]
[dramatic music playing]
[yelling]
[music stops]
[theme music playing]
I wake up to the sounds
Of the silence that allows ♪
For my mind to run around
With my ear up to the ground ♪
I'm searching to behold
The stories that are told ♪
When my back is to the world
That was smiling when I turned ♪
Tell you you're the greatest ♪
But once you turn, they hate us ♪
Oh, the misery ♪
Everybody wants to be my enemy ♪
Oh, spare the sympathy ♪
Everybody wants to be my enemy ♪
Pray it away, I swear
I'll never be a saint, no way ♪
My enemy ♪
Pray it away, I swear
I'll never be a saint ♪
Look out for yourself ♪
[melancholy music playing]
There is an ocean so dark
Down below the waves ♪
Where you watch
While these dreams gently float away ♪
And there's a silence so soft
It's only memory ♪
Like the way your voice always sounds
When you sing to me ♪
But I can't hear it now ♪
Just tell me how to keep breathing ♪
While pretending I'm not drowning ♪
I don't know if I could ♪
Force the door closed for good ♪
'Cause I couldn't keep it open ♪
I just watched as the door ♪
Closed for good ♪
'Cause I couldn't keep it open ♪
[thunder rumbling]
[footsteps approaching]
She was a great woman.
A good friend.
I don't know
how we'll face this crisis without her.
[door clunks]
[wheels squeaking]
To think we nearly extended sovereignty
to the creatures who did this.
We're charged with imposing order.
And we've been asleep at our posts.
Well, my eyes are open.
There will be no more fairy tales of peace
until we scour our basement of its demons.
So kind of you
to assist Councilor Salo, Mother.
As we are at war,
I thought it prudent to solicit the advice
of such an experienced veteran.
Let us address the matter at hand.
Our people are scared, suffering.
They need to know their leaders
have the situation under control.
An unprecedented show of force.
We flood the undercity with Enforcers,
armed with Hextech.
Innocents will be caught
in the cross fire.
How many more councilors have to be
blown to pieces before you wake up?
We are under siege.
What is she doing here?
Officer Kiramman witnessed
the attack firsthand.
She confirmed this was the act
of a single deranged individual.
Jinx.
[Mel] Silco is dead.
The underground, leaderless.
If we follow your plan,
we risk unifying them against us.
So, what is your solution? Chastisement?
A firm reprimand?
We use their division against them.
Pin the attack on Jinx,
post a reward too substantial to ignore.
I'm sorry, Mel. I'm not comfortable
trusting our fates to chance.
Jinx has proven elusive.
Our healing can only begin
once she's been brought to justice.
Then it's settled, 2 to 1.
We invade.
[sighs]
If I may? In crises such as these,
it's imperative you present
a unified front to the public,
whatever your personal feelings.
How wise.
I'll agree to endorse the invasion.
But I draw the line at Hextech.
We have an ethos.
Such force must be a final resort.
Agreed.
[thunder crashes]
Then it's settled, 2 to 1.
[thunder rumbling]
[melancholy music playing]
[footsteps approaching]
I had the shot.
Your mother left this to you.
[Caitlyn] The Kiramman Key?
No, I'm not
I don't deserve it.
It's your legacy now, Caitlyn.
What is she still doing here?
Hey.
[Caitlyn sobbing]
You were right, Cait.
Powder's gone.
I can make this right.
If you get Jayce to fix the gauntlets,
I can do this myself.
No one else needs to get hurt.
No.
No more rogue mission.
No more reckless plans.
My mother was right.
My arrogance led me
to take on more than I could handle,
and she paid the price.
They're sending
all the Enforcers after Jinx.
I'm going with them.
Please, I have to help.
You can.
As one of us.
Cait, I can't wear this.
People are calling for blood.
The Council won't stop them.
You can show
that not all of Zaun supports Jinx.
We can show them.
Together.
I watched them kill my parents.
Do you have any idea how that feels?
Yes. I do.
I thought you were on our side.
You didn't think at all.
- [yells]
- [man grunts]
[man] Hey, watch it.
Sorry.
[man] Not my first.
You all right?
[sighs, then grunts]
You, uh
lose someone in the attack?
[somber music playing]
[liquid burbling]
How is he?
Same as before. Breathing.
Pulse is consistent.
Beyond that,
your guess is good as mine.
[gasps]
What's it doing to him?
The Hexcore has been evolving.
Shifting through runic patterns
faster than I can keep up.
All I know for certain
is that it's keeping him alive.
It's the sort of puzzle
Viktor would love if he wasn't
It should be me up there instead of him.
Don't say that.
He'll come back to us.
[Jayce] I still don't understand.
He was right next to me.
How does the explosion do that to him,
and I just?
I just walk out without a scratch?
There's no sense to these things, Jayce.
How'd it go with the Council?
[scoffs] My mother's entered the game.
She's already gotten her hooks into Salo.
Using his grief
to make a play for Hextech.
Mel, I promised Viktor,
never again.
It's all right.
I handled it.
I won't let them corrupt your dream.
Caitlyn was there.
You might pay her a visit.
She hides it admirably,
but the poor girl's in so much pain.
[wind chimes tinkling]
[ethereal music playing]
[distant laughter]
[Jayce] Hey, Sprout.
[footsteps approaching]
How'd you find me?
Your dad.
Mother and I used to come here
when we needed an escape.
[chuckles dryly]
One of the few places we never argued.
I'm sorry I haven't been around.
How's Viktor?
[Jayce sighs]
I can't even tell if he's still in there.
Ever since it happened
three faces keep spinning through my mind.
I see Mother.
When they found her.
And every fiber of me just sinks,
like a stone swallowed in dark water.
But then there's Jinx.
Laughing.
I want to tear that laugh
from her throat forever.
Cait.
I know.
I just understand now
how easy it is to hate them.
One vicious act.
Then I see Vi.
I asked her to put on the uniform.
Suffice to say, she declined.
Vi? Wear a badge?
She thinks those gauntlets of yours
will solve all her problems.
What if she's right?
Hextech may keep us alive, Jayce,
but it's not what will save us.
Me.
Join the peanut patrol. Ha.
And I thought she had no sense of humor.
[man yawns] I like peanuts.
Her dad's right.
There's no point
in sticking around up here.
Except
I'm the one who created the monster.
[woman] Vi?
Who are you? And how do you know my name?
Junior Officer Nolen.
Maddie.
And, uh
it's written on your face.
[scoffs]
So, what is it?
Random search?
Escort off the property?
Or you just here to waste my time?
Search? No.
No, no. Heh.
Uh, you're something of a legend
amongst the Enforcers.
Caitlyn made quite a scene at the station
when they tried to deny your enlistment.
Now I have to ask,
is it all true?
You went after Silco alone
when the Council wouldn't back you?
Took on his whole gang?
Cait said all that?
She said if every Enforcer
had a heart like yours,
we could take on Noxus itself.
[Maddie chuckles]
Then she threatened
to withdraw her family's funding.
Anyhow, I'm glad you're joining up.
Hmm.
[Maddie] After the sheriff betrayed us
Well, let's just say
it's nice to know
there are still good ones left.
[fanfare playing]
[man] Officer Nolen.
[Maddie] Duty calls.
A real honor, Vi.
[snoring]
[sighs]
[snoring]
[solemn music playing]
- Go ahead, ma'am.
- This way, ma'am.
- Stop.
- [guard] Please keep moving, folks.
Mm-hm.
One of the many privileges
of serving as your councilor
is having the occasion now and again
to stand behind this podium
to behold so many
joined together not by birth or dictum
but by all that we share.
Our hope.
Our curiosity.
Our compulsion to leave behind us
a world better than that before.
These things we share
are what make us one people.
Today we share an unthinkable loss.
Councilor Irius Bolbok,
Councilor Torman Hoskel,
and Councilor Cassandra Kiramman
were taken from us.
But they shall not be forgotten.
We commissioned this statue
so we may remember them
for their countless contributions
their lifetimes of service.
Not for the craven act
that stole them away.
[guard] Ma'am, you can't go in
[distorted dialogue]
[Mel] Though we've suffered
a terrible blow,
I assure you,
the rule of law prevails in Piltover.
- No.
- [Mel] We will find those responsible.
And they will account for their crimes.
Awful, isn't it?
Losing a loved one.
[gasps]
[crowd screaming]
[dramatic music playing]
[leader] You aren't safe up here, toppers.
None of you are safe.
[screams]
[man] Look out!
[crowd screaming]
[roars]
[gasping]
[growls]
Go.
[screams]
[yells]
[yells]
[solemn music playing]
Get the counselors out of here.
I have an idea.
What are you doing?
[suspenseful music playing]
[growls]
[heavy footsteps from above]
[screaming]
[laughs]
[dramatic music playing]
[screams]
For my son.
[groans]
[solemn music playing]
[metal creaking]
[Vi] Come on.
Shit.
[both yelling]
[somber music playing]
[Enforcer 1] Perimeter secured.
We'll see.
Thought you were gonna
get yourself killed.
[child sobbing]
[Enforcer 2] Here, come with me.
A memorial.
I got you.
What kind of animals?
They wanted the spectacle.
They're trying to scare you.
All they did is piss me off.
You
You need to find a way
to call off the invasion.
What?
This battle was on your soil.
Down there, you'll be on their terms.
None of this is on our terms.
- [Vi] Maybe you should change that.
- I don't know how, okay?
She dies and leaves this giant hole,
and I'm just supposed to fill it.
Like she was never there to begin with.
[Vi] Hey.
You won't.
The hole gets smaller, but
you never fill it.
I was wrong to spring the badge on you.
It's just
every way I slice it,
if I go after your sister alone,
one of us comes back in a box.
It's all coming apart.
[Vi] No, it isn't.
We won't let it.
[moody music playing]
[Cassandra] I know you doubt
the merit of your birthright, Caitlyn.
There's wisdom in that.
But remember:
You're a Kiramman.
This is what you ask for ♪
Heavy is the crown ♪
Fire in the sun
As ash is raining down ♪
Try to hold it in ♪
But it keeps bleeding out ♪
This is what you ask for
Heavy is the ♪
Heavy is the crown ♪
Heavy is the crown ♪
Never in our lifetimes
has Piltover's leadership been forced
into the dungeons of our capitol.
But here we are.
Does anyone still doubt that our enemy
is greater than one deranged individual?
How did they sneak so many
of these things into the ceremony?
I thought we took every measure
to secure it.
They must have had help.
From someone up here.
[Salo] We can't afford
any more handwringing.
If we do not defend ourselves
with Hextech,
our principles will mean nothing.
- I
- [door opens]
[Caitlyn] We aren't prepared
for a full-scale invasion.
The undercity's attack proved that.
This is a closed Council meeting.
Who let you in here?
I am a decorated officer.
Leader of House Kiramman.
Address me with respect,
or keep your mouth shut.
I will lead a strike team into Zaun
with three objectives:
locate Jinx,
dismantle Shimmer,
and neutralize any agents
still loyal to Silco.
What makes you think
you'll fare better than our forces today?
[Caitlyn] We've got a few surprises
of our own.
[dramatic music playing]
[eerie music playing]
[snarling]
[melancholy music playing]