Arcane fans celebrate gay Jayce and Viktor ship becoming ‘canon’ in series finale
“Gay sex is less gay than whatever the hell these two did in this finale,” was the message after the finale of Netflix’s hit League of Legends adaption, Arcane, delivered an emotional end to Jayce and Viktor’s storyline.
Warning: Spoilers ahead for Arcane season two
The first season of Arcane premiered in 2021, thrilling fans of the game and bringing a legion of newcomers on board, with critics praising the show’s animation, writing, complex characters and in-depth relationships.
Across two seasons, Arcane weaved together numerous interconnected stories, set against the backdrop of unrest between progressive mecca Piltover and its deprived, polluted under-city Zaun.
The final three episodes of the animated series dropped on the streaming platform on Saturday (23 November), providing an explosive conclusion to the Piltover-Zaun war as well as tying up other plot points, including the relationship between Vi, voiced by Hailee Steinfeld, and Jinx (Ella Purnell), Vi and Caitlyn’s (Katie Leung) dramas, and the truth about Mel’s (Toks Olagundoye) link to the Black Rose.
And then there was the end of Viktor (Harry Lloyd) and Jayce’s (Kevin Alejandro) conflict over the use of magical Hextech. Fans were blow away by the conclusion of their two favourite characters’ storyline, describing it as beautiful, artistic, poetic and insane.
Throughout the second season, Viktor’s journey took him from near death to being saved by Hextech before going on to become a Christ-like figure after healing Zaun’s addiction to the dangerous Shimmer.
Viktor “glorious evolution” was to unite humanity under one hive mind, ridding the world of the painful human emotions of loss and trauma.
Meanwhile Jayce’s mission to bring Hextech to the people, after being saved as a child by a magical mage, was linked to the ending of the Piltover-Zaun war and Viktor all along.
In one segment Jayce was thrust into an alternate universe where he met an older Viktor, who was lost and alone.
It turned out that Viktor was the mage, giving a young Jayce a crystal which would take him on a journey into the upper echelons of Piltover’s politics – and Viktor himself.
kissing wasn’t enough, bro, I need to fuse with you.
— 🧃alicia ⭑.ᐟ (@bloodyhal0) November 23, 2024
this is the most beautiful, artistic, poetic way I’ve seen a ship become canon. #arcane #jayvik pic.twitter.com/7MFD66tCiQ
they started it together and ended it together. #arcane #jayvik pic.twitter.com/GabUTRY8a0
— fia 🧣arcane spoilers (@wildflowerlevi) November 23, 2024
“You’ve always wanted to cure what you thought were weaknesses. Your leg, your disease. But you were never broken, Viktor. There is beauty in imperfections. They made you who you are,” Jayce said as the two men come together to sacrifice themselves to stop Hextech.
Gay sex is less gay than whatever the hell these two did in this finale. I’m going insane. #jayvik #Arcane2 pic.twitter.com/oG7YaSznRF
— Camo (@kmo7110) November 23, 2024
gay people can never just say "i love you"!!!!!!!! it's always gotta be some shit like this!!!!🤦♂️ #arcanesseason2 #jayvik pic.twitter.com/PczK8URZc2
— ari (@falinarc) November 23, 2024
One fan wrote on social media “Kissing wasn’t enough, bro, I need to fuse with you.” Another said: “They started it together and ended it together,” sharing an image from the finale and the scene in season one where they make Hextech work.
Someone else proclaimed: “Gay sex is less gay than whatever the hell these two did in this finale. I’m going insane.”
Jayvik is the realest thing in the entire world. They saved each other and now they die together. They were always each other’s humanity, home and destiny. They were always each other’s answer. #arcane2spoilers pic.twitter.com/BKUANOTmoI
— Camo (@kmo7110) November 23, 2024
jayce and viktor will just always be together forever in any universe they always find each other and they always save each other and, in every timeline, they love each other. two sides of the same coin, inextricably bound. pic.twitter.com/YOj4uEV2pn
— bunt chugley | arcane s2 spoilers (@fangfilet) November 23, 2024
Fans of the two characters, which they ship as JayVik, are, it seems, a passionate bunch.
The Jayce/Viktor tag on AO3 currently has more than 3,000 works on it and there has been an outpouring of fan art shared across social media platforms.
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