Arcane (2021) s02e03 Episode Script

1
[pensive music playing]
[Cassandra] But remember:
You're a Kiramman.
[Caitlyn] I will lead a strike team
into Zaun with three objectives:
Locate Jinx, dismantle Shimmer,
and neutralize any agents
still loyal to Silco.
[Cassandra] The rise of industry
in the fissures
has led to the air
becoming increasingly toxic.
They call it the Grey.
I've instructed our architects
to devise a ventilation system.
The people of the underground
deserve to breathe.
[intense electropop music playing]
[people screaming]
Can I do the right thing
For the wrong reason? ♪
Is it bad that I'm making friends
With my demons? ♪
Keep in mind a couple tendencies ♪
Just to make sure I finish
What you began ♪
And I ain't afraid to lose a life or ten
If it means that I get to win in the end ♪
Whoo! So I'm gonna do this on my own
Step into the danger zone ♪
Pull the pin and watch it blow
I would rather die alone ♪
Huh? I would rather die alone ♪
Oh, I would rather die ♪
Come out and play ♪
Let it rain down hellfire ♪
Can't hide away ♪
It's judgment day
And no one can stop the rain ♪
[music fades]
[Cassandra] They call it the Grey.
[distorted laughter in distance]
[wheezing]
[sneezes]
[coughing]
[rope whizzing]
[eerie music playing]
[gasps]
[distorted laughter]
[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 ♪
[suspenseful music playing]
[sneezes]
[breathing deeply]
Thanks. I thought I was a goner.
[Vi] You're Smeech's man.
[Heenot] Was.
Not anymore. Name's Heenot.
I [sneezes]
Oh, I decided
it was time for me to retire.
Looks more like
someone decided to retire you.
Yeah, well, timing was never my strong
[sneezes]
Sorry.
Sorry, it's It's the Grey.
It gives me the [sneezes]
Tell us how you wound up here.
[Heenot] Hey, wait, wait.
Jinx is off the rails, even for her.
She's got a real fire lit under her ass.
She's planning something big,
right here in the pipeworks.
- It's a pretty big place down here.
- [grunts]
She was headed towards the old tunnels.
Something about rerouting the vents.
- This is it, then. Cuff him.
- Hey, I told you everything I know.
[Caitlyn] You're a confessed criminal.
You'll spend your retirement in a cell.
Check your gear.
This is what we've trained for.
Can I get a minute?
[Ambessa] Your first request
for an audience was uninteresting.
The second, inappropriate
for someone of your station.
The third
plain annoying.
People have lost their heads for less.
So tell me, Amara,
what does a member
of Piltover's merchant guild want from me?
I'm not here representing the guild.
I've come here to settle a debt.
My bookkeeper is down the hall.
What you've stolen
[with hissing echo]
is more precious than any gold.
[suspenseful music playing]
[screeching]
Did you truly believe
Piltover was beyond our reach?
My son is dead.
Is that not enough to sate your bloodlust?
I haven't insulted
your intelligence, Ambessa.
Do not insult mine.
We know what you're chasing in Piltover.
We will not allow it.
Allow?
Thank you.
Your visit only confirms my suspicions.
Try to stop me, insolent witch.
[groaning]
[gurgles]
My death means nothing.
You should have given up the feud.
[wheezes]
You have no inkling what family is to me.
[knife pierces deeper]
[gasping]
Triple the guard.
This will have consequences.
We need control now.
Salo isn't ready.
Perhaps it's time we involved Mel.
No. We must distance ourselves.
She's safer as our enemy.
I'll handle Salo.
Mm.
Her disappearance
won't go unnoticed for long.
It's worse than that.
[screeching]
We should cut the others loose.
[scoffs]
Listen, if that Heenot idiot
is telling the truth,
Jinx is gonna have surprises
in store for us.
All the more reason to bring backup.
She'll smell their nerves a mile away
and find a way to use them against us.
Tell me I'm wrong.
I can't let her get away again.
Are you sure you're ready to?
My sister is gone.
There's only Jinx now.
It has to end.
I'm so sorry about your mother.
I'm sorry I can't bring her back,
but please just
Everyone in my life has changed.
Promise me you won't change.
[tender music playing]
I won't.
[lilting folk music playing in distance]
[crowd clamoring in distance]
[footsteps approaching]
- [sighs]
- Out.
Do you realize how easy it was
for me to track you down here?
Hmm. Well, I do own the place.
It's enough work propping you up
without you dulling what few wits
are left rattling around in there.
If you propped as well as you prod,
maybe I'd have better uses for my time
than sitting around waiting for an update
on Princess Kiramman's
underground escapades.
She's gotten no closer to Jinx.
But that doesn't seem
to steal the stars from anyone's eyes.
Perhaps if you hadn't let a child
overpower you in your own chamber.
It's not the girl.
It's the name.
It bewitches people.
You should know.
Do you really think
Mel could have succeeded?
Never speak ill of my family.
[gasping]
Why are you here?
To sober you up.
Mission accomplished.
It's time.
Rally every house and family
with even a modicum of influence.
Can you manage that?
Wait. For certain?
Yes, of course.
Whatever you need.
There is another matter,
concerning your guild merchant Amara.
[choir singing traditional music]
[man] And, yes.
Lift.
Fantastic stuff.
[choir resumes singing]
[Mel] Good to see you again, Lest.
[Lest] I'm out.
Keeping an eye on a councilor
with peculiar tastes doesn't rattle me.
But that woman
You met my mother? What did she want?
I don't know. They kicked me out
before I could hear any of it.
We both know you heard every word.
I'm sorry, but I really can't.
Lest, this is vitally important.
I need to know.
This was never about Salo.
You're using me to get to her.
And then what?
You take what you need,
hang me out to dry? Hmm?
I'm expendable?
No, no one is expendable.
That's what this is all about.
Everything with my mother
is a calculated risk.
I'd love to promise your safety,
but I can't make any assurances
other than this:
If my mother gets what she wants,
the whole city will suffer.
And right now you're the only one
who can stand in her way.
They're setting up some big announcement.
All the who's who.
Aiming to take over
and put Salo in the hot seat, but
we know who's really pulling the strings.
I caught a name. Amara.
I don't know what you make of that.
Here, brand-new cocktail. All the rage.
It's made with Shimmer.
Leaves traces on the body.
That should be all you need
to shut Salo down.
Thank you.
For what it's worth
dangerous as she is,
your mother was spooked.
I could smell it.
Like a cat backed into a corner.
[machinery whirring, groaning]
[eerie music playing]
[vapor hissing nearby]
Viktor hypothesized that there may be
something he called "wild runes."
Patterns that occur naturally
where the border
between our world and the Arcane is thin.
[Ekko] Runes like the ones
you use in Hextech.
What's the difference
between those and wild runes?
[Jayce] Pass me a tome.
I used words you understood
in order to elicit your action.
This is what Hextech runes are.
Pass me a tome.
- Pass me a tome.
- [sighs]
There, you sighed.
Still a kind of language.
A sound, but not words.
Something raw. Natural.
That's wild runes.
Most places, the Arcane is dormant,
but here and there, it's more active.
- Wild runes are
- Sort of like its fingerprints.
[Jayce] Exactly.
So you're telling me
that pattern is on my tree
because you pissed the Arcane off
with all your demands?
That's That's not what I
Oh, the lad may be onto something.
Every action sparks a reaction.
Oh, ball sockets.
Do you think this could actually
be a result of overuse of Hextech?
I've seen miracles spring
from the hands of mages many times,
but so often,
they turned to horrors.
I'd always presumed
it was due to mankind's
turbulent relationship with power.
But perhaps it is a property
of the Arcane itself.
We tested our Hextech under
every conceivable condition for years.
If there's some reaction taking place,
how come we've never seen
any sign of it until now?
And why would it appear
on a tree, deep underground?
Hmm.
[dramatic music playing]
[door opens]
[footsteps approaching]
[Elora] Your source panned out.
I've confirmed Salo met privately
with members of several houses today.
I should have been first
to bring this to you.
I promise I wouldn't have missed it.
It's just such a bold move.
And at this moment, it's
[Mel] Foolish.
Of course, your mother
is anything but a fool.
There must be an angle I'm missing.
Hmm.
Did you look into the other matter?
There's a rat's nest of misinformation
surrounding your brother's passing.
Whomever he crossed knows
how to cover their tracks.
Moreover, they've managed to strip
your mother of most of her holdings.
She's desperate.
Which makes her all the more dangerous.
What are we going to do?
Summon the apothecary.
I'll want his opinion of this.
And check in on Amara.
[Ekko] This is still part of the Hexgates?
We must be at least 200 feet
below the surface.
[Jayce] The entire structure is a channel,
focusing the Hextech energy
into a precise beam.
[suspenseful music playing]
[distorted laughter]
Cait.
If you see an opening
take the shot.
[Caitlyn] Vi.
[Jayce] How do you
know so much about its design?
[Ekko] Read what I could,
deduced what I couldn't.
Plus, I didn't think the Topside
would trust anything that important
below the surface.
[dramatic music playing]
I thought the gemstone mesh
was installed aboveground.
[Jayce] The mesh is aboveground,
but we weren't sure what would happen
if the gate overloaded,
so we installed a failsafe at the base.
So instead of it exploding
in your neighborhood,
it would blow up in ours.
We're miles from the main fissures.
These are the same utility ducts
that carry our water
and facilitate our ventilation.
That would explain it affecting the tree.
Inconceivable.
[Ekko] You know, you say we should
feel like we're all one people.
But whenever it rains,
we're the ones that get wet
What the?
Jinx!
[echoing] Jinx! Jinx! Jinx!
[Jinx] Finally got the name right.
Guess there really isn't
a crack in the earth
where you won't find me.
What is this place?
[Jinx] Don't you remember
the old Janna bedtime stories
Vander used to tell us?
[in melodramatic voice]
Miners trapped underground.
Air running thin!
But then some wispy wind woman
wafts to their rescue.
[Jinx snickers]
Wild the kind of crap people get up to
when you choke them out.
We used the Grey to clear the streets.
To keep people safe.
"We."
Never thought my sister
would turn bluebelly.
Never thought mine would orphan kids.
[Jinx] Ha! Why not?
Done it to myself enough.
But plastering my face all over
so someone else would do your dirty work?
Poisoning our air?
[Jinx whistles]
You've turned a leaf, sister.
I'm done blaming myself for your mistakes.
Done pretending you're my sister.
You're not.
You killed her.
I'm not gonna let you
stain her memory anymore.
[Jinx] Then stop me.
'Cause no matter what I do,
I just can't seem to die.
[whispers] I'm sorry.
I'm sorry too.
[laughs]
[Jinx] I know you're sweet on her.
Hope you got a chance to, you know
Before [laughs]
I'm ready.
[gasps]
Is that a wild rune?
[Jayce] I have no idea what that is.
[gloomy music playing]
You walk along the edge of danger ♪
And it will change you ♪
Why would you let
This voice set in your head? ♪
It is meant to destroy you ♪
You summon storms and play with nature ♪
Now watch it hurt you ♪
Why would you want
To shake the world in your hands? ♪
You will never make it ♪
[choir singing indistinctly]
When you try to gain power ♪
You shift to gain moves ♪
How does it feel to reach the mind
Of no one as it goes across? ♪
Does it make you uncomfortable? ♪
Every sin will be forgiven ♪
As you lay down your weapons
To the ground ♪
[choir singing indistinctly]
Gaseous fire burning out your soul ♪
Just when you've done it all ♪
You will turn it all ♪
To ashes and blood ♪
To ashes and blood ♪
To ashes and blood ♪
To ashes and blood ♪
[Jayce] What have we done?
[yelling]
[choir singing indistinctly]
To ashes and blood ♪
Gaseous fire burning out your soul ♪
[groans]
Just when you've done it all ♪
You will turn it all ♪
To ashes and blood ♪
[whimpering]
[coughs] Go on. I'm ready.
I'm glad it's you.
Had to be you.
No!
[Isha panting, whimpering]
[Isha panting, whimpering]
[Vi yells]
- [Isha cries]
- [Jinx] What are you?
Get off me.
[Caitlyn] Get away from her.
- [Vi] Cait.
- Move.
Scram, kid.
Cait, she's a child.
Move. She's not getting away again.
Cait.
- [Caitlyn] Move.
- [Vi] Cait!
[weapon fires]
[Isha whimpers]
No, no, this isn't how it's supposed to
[dramatic music playing]
[birds squawking]
[ground rumbling]
[dramatic music playing]
[woman] We have to go now!
[explosions booming]
[music fades]
[grunting]
Cait.
You stopped me.
[Vi] I shouldn't have had to.
I had the shot.
That was a kid. What if you missed?
I wasn't going to miss.
[solemn music playing]
What's wrong with you?
I keep telling myself
that you're different.
But you're not.
It's her blood in your veins.
Then why are you the one acting like her?
[grunting]
[whimpering]
[footsteps retreating]
[solemn music continues]
[Elora gasping]
Elora?
What's wrong?
[tense music playing]
[hisses] Black Rose.
[horns blowing]
[Salo] Thank you all
for answering my summons.
I've come to trust the expertise
of Ambessa Medarda.
You no doubt recognize the name.
She's just shared with me
some very upsetting,
but sadly unsurprising, news.
Good evening.
Yesterday I met
with your guild merchant Amara.
We spoke of rebuilding,
restoring this great city
to its former glory,
when two Zaunite assassins fell upon us.
I tried to save her.
But the blade pierced her heart.
[crowd murmuring]
[Ambessa] Our families should not need
fear an assassin's dagger in the night.
It's time to end this.
You've given Zaun
opportunity after opportunity
to repair their wrongs,
and how have they answered?
Half your council is dead.
Your memorial is made a massacre.
Well, no more.
Wrath must be met with wrath.
[crowd murmuring]
You must declare martial law.
Appoint a general to lead
until this threat is vanquished.
Someone who will not pale
when faced with Zaun's degeneracy.
Whose conviction never wavers.
A pillar of your community
whose house has always stood for progress.
Who may consider my experience
and my entire detachment
of Noxian soldiers
at their disposal.
Until all our families are safe.
Of course, I could only be referring to
Caitlyn Kiramman.
[gasps]
- [gasps]
- [crowd murmuring]
[dramatic music playing]
[music intensifies]
[fists thumping]
[Rictus] Vengeance for your son.
It's you.
[fists thumping]
Come, child.
[thumping continues]
Your mother will have justice.
I swear it.
[thumping stops]
[beast snarling]
[eerie lullaby playing]
[gloomy music playing]
You walk along the edge of danger ♪
And it will change you ♪
Why would you let
This voice set in your head? ♪
It is meant to destroy you ♪
You summon storms and play with nature ♪
Now watch it hurt you ♪
Why would you want
To shake the world in your hands? ♪
You will never make it ♪
[choir singing indistinctly]
Gaseous fire burning out your soul ♪
Just when you've done it all ♪
You will turn it all ♪
To ashes and blood ♪
[music stops]