#act 1 jayce

[jeremiahhawkinsfanfics]

I’m so curious to know what you guys think 🤩

Read the fic on AO3 😉

[ankosblog]

JAYCE BRINGS A MATTRESS AT THE LAB (One bed for two 🛏️❤️😉)

Extract from Loving is Caring 😊

READ THE FULL FIC ON AO3

The door of the silent lab slammed open. When Viktor turned around, he was not facing his lab partner, but an unexpected cube of tissue and foam, pressed against the entrance. Somewhere behind it, he could hear muffled swears.

“Jayce?!”

“Viktor? You’re there already?” the familiar voice peaked with surprise and joy.

“What are you doing, Jayce?” Viktor laughed, raising an eyebrow at the sight of his new partner fighting against a mattress that had no intention of moving through their lab’s door.

“Do you… Do you mind giving me a hand with this?”

Rolling his eyes, more out of amusement than annoyance, Viktor put down his crutch, and started to pull on the mattress, being as careful as he could with his leg.

“Maybe try to put it more like… no… if you push on this side a bit… yes… Ok, on the count of three. One… Two… Three… Aaah!”

Without warning, the mattress bumped into the room, and Viktor fell backward to the floor.

“Kurva…” he swore between his gritted teeth.

In front of him, having tripped on their just defeated enemy, Jayce Talis was lying face down on the soft fabric.

“I really didn’t expect it to be that hard!” he laughed while getting back on his feet.

When he saw his partner on the floor, he approached and offered a hand. Viktor took it, reached for his crutch, and helped himself up. The young zaunite observed the mattress with amused disbelief.

“What is this? Did you also make your mother’s house explode?” he teased. “You need to permanently move to our lab?”

Jayce patted his shoulder playfully.

“Not yet, though I have been considering it. I’m not sure how much longer I can stand my old teenage room.”

He disappeared again and came back with two bags of what appeared to be pillows, blankets, and bed sheets.

“So I thought this could be a good solution for interim.”

“Where did you get this? And how did you even drag all these things up here?” Viktor asked.

“We had that old mattress in the attic. After we broke our backs sleeping at our desk the other night, I thought it would be great to have a proper bed for next time.”

“That… That actually sounds like a good idea”, Viktor admitted.

“We should try to find one for you too, but in the meantime it’s definitely big enough for both of us. If you don’t mind of course.”

“Sleeping in the same bed as Jayce Talis?” he cocked a teasing eyebrow. “How could I pass? Some girls have waited many academic years to get such an opportunity.”

Jayce laughed, an embarrassed pink flushing over his cheeks. Viktor watched him drag the mattress in a corner of the room – the one further away from any explosive material – and throw the blankets and pillows over. He continued to rummage in the bags.

“Aaaaand I brought lunch!” he announced before his partner could worry on what other nonsense he decided to bring in their lab. “My mother cooked it for us, sometimes I wonder if she ever realizes that I’m 24. I think getting me back home makes her a bit nostalgic. Also, she assumes because we spend all day in the lab, we don’t take time to eat. To be fair she’s not entirely wrong. There, here’s your share.”

Ignoring the surprised expression on Viktor’s face, the young piltie shoved a box in his hands.

“My… my share?”

“Yes! You’ll see this is really good.”

Viktor looked back and forth at the box and his partner, eyes as round as microscope lenses. He was certain he had never met Jayce’s mother, he even struggled to remember her name since he only mentioned it a few times.

“But Jayce, I… I do not know your mother. How come she cooked for me?”

Jayce shrugged his shoulders casually.

“Well, obviously she knows I’m not working here alone. I may have slipped one too many good words about you. I hope you don’t mind.”

This idea of this unknown woman taking the time and effort to cook a meal for a perfect stranger was utmost absurd to Viktor. Looking closely at the box, he started to wonder if there was a hidden message in this gift – he had learnt the hard way that pilties tend to hide certain intentions under the cover of apparently harmless interactions. Yet, Jayce was acting as if handing him a meal cooked by his mother was a perfectly normal thing to do. Was it a Piltover custom he didn’t know about yet? If so, it was bit embarrassing. Such gestures were to be repaid for, and he knew all too well how far below any acceptable standards his own cooking skills were.

Viktor’s eyebrows furrowed in confusion. Jayce caught the expression on his face.

“Is there a problem?” he asked. “Do you… is there something you don’t eat?”

“No, no problem. That’s… very kind of her. I just… It’s just very much unexpected. I’m not sure how to thank her.”

“Ah don’t worry about that, I will let her know. To be fair, you may have the chance to thank her by yourself: she keeps scolding me like a teenager because I haven’t taken you home for dinner yet.”

The young zaunite blinked in disbelief, wondering if he heard right. Despite having managed to cross the bridge for few years now, an invitation into a piltovian house was something he never expected to receive – let alone one in a family as renowned as Talis. To the eyes of the pilties, you may leave Zaun, but Zaun never leaves you.

“Did you… did you tell your mother I am from the undercity?” Viktor asked.

Jayce shrugged his shoulder.

“What difference does that make?”

Read more on AO3 😊

[infinitelystrangemachinex]

The stewards of the old world are always keen to give you a glimpse of their might... According to legend, the ancients built specialized chambers to seal away false prophets.

The Arcane is waking up.

[twomoreseconds]

I don’t think we talk enough about the fact that the blanket Jayce gives Viktor when he wakes up is quite literally Jayces blanket. They would have no reason to keep a blanket in their lab. The only reason (in my opinion) for there being a blanket is because Jayce was sleeping there waiting for Viktor to wake up.

This leads to the only logical conclusion that Viktor despite breaking off their partnership still very deeply cares for and loves Jayce. As he wears the damn blanket for the rest of the whole show.

They are in love, a love that is deeper then our understanding of love. I rest my case.

[noka-exe]

Divorce

[mofsblog]

If there's one shot that's stuck with me during the whole jayce and viktor sequence, it's this one short flashback from season 1. We see almost see Viktor through Jayce's eyes and he looks so? Soft? And the way Viktor looks at him with such tenderness and love in this eyes (his eyes literally soften when he looks at him). This shot just feels so intimate. I feel like I'm walking in on something that I shouldn't

[alasion-art]

Feeling strong things right now

[t0xicn30n]

My baby, my baby

You're my baby, say it to me

I bet on losing dogs

I know they're losing and I'll pay for my place by the ring

Where I'll be looking in their eyes when they're down

I'll be there on their side

I'm losing by their side

[chronalshifts]

caitvi in act 2: reunion, cute banter, extremely good double-cross subplot, will probably get back together

jayvik in act 2:

[ashidaii]

arcane but its 2d animated

[jeremiahhawkinsfanfics]

VIKTOR’S BACK OPERATION 🩻💉😱

Extract from Jayvik Loving is Caring - Chapter 7

Read the whole fic on AO3

The Piltover clock tower chimed six times, each ring reverberating in his skull. Viktor’s eyelids grew heavy, the pull of sleep too powerful to resist. The exhaustion was overwhelming, but his mind was caught in a whirlwind of memories. As the tide of sleep surged over him, it dragged him into unconsciousness, his lamp still burning bright and the pencil slipping from his fingers.

Through the fog of his fevered dreams, memories began to leak in. He was fifteen again—bent over his cane, his back twisted in pain. He stood in Singed’s laboratory, barely clothed, surrounded by instruments that seemed as ancient as they were terrifying. The glint of copper screws, rows of syringes, and sharp, gleaming scalpels shimmered on the counter.

“On the table.”

The Doctor’s voice, cold and commanding, echoed through the cavernous room. His words repeated in a never-ending loop, an eerie chant that made Viktor's skin crawl. His pulse hammered in his ears, drowning out all other sounds, while his breath came in shallow gasps. Sweat slid down his body, each drop a cold reminder of his fear.

He looked at the table. He had seen so many test subjects lie on it… and he saw what happened to them. His heart pounded so loud in his ears that he could barely hear anything else. His breath was short, nearly erratic, and sweat trailed down his body in thin, tickling streams that felt like crawling spiders on his skin.

In lethal silence, the Doctor was preparing his tools, calmly filling tubes with strange liquids, and sharpening his scalpel.

Viktor’s eyes were drawn to Rio — swollen and floating in formaldehyde — and every instinct in him screamed to run.

Run as far away from here and never come back.

Run before it was too late.

Run for his life.

But Viktor couldn’t run. His back — his damned, traitorous back — left him no choice.

“Do you need help?” the Doctor asked, his voice unbothered by the terror Viktor was trying desperately to mask.

Viktor took a shaky breath and forced himself to ignore all his most critical instincts. “At least if it fails, I’ll die. Not like Rio” he thought bitterly. Cold comfort.

With every ounce of willpower his fifteen years of existence had to offer, Viktor stepped forward and climbed onto Doctor Singed’s operating table.

“Lay down.”

His muscles locked up. His whole body fought against the command. But he forced his limbs to obey, folding onto the cold metal surface, lying on his stomach. Never in his whole life had he ever felt more vulnerable, laid bare under the cold, emotionless gaze of a man that he had seen perform countless unspeakable experiences before. His hands trembled, and he clenched them into fists so tight his knuckles went white.

“Does your mother know you’re here?” he asked, checking the long — far too long — needle of a syringe.

“Y-yes…” Viktor stammered. “T-Told her. Said I’d be b-back home… late.”

“You do realize you’re not going home tonight?”

The words ran like ice through his spine, chilling him from tailbone to crown.

“I… I…”

“If the operation is successful, it will take a few days to heal. She will worry.”

Viktor’s words caught in his throat, suffocating him.

Then came the leather restraints, clicking around his limbs, pinning him to the operation table like that poor little larva that didn’t survive its painful vivisection. He was trapped.

His stomach churned. Viktor clenched his jaw, fighting the rising nausea, fighting the panic that screamed for him to flee. All alarms rang full force in his brain. Get out. Run. Scream. He could feel Rio’s presence behind him. His eyes burned, but he refused to cry.

“Shhhh… It’s okay… I will tell her.” the Doctor’s voice slithered around him, meant to soothe but only amplifying his terror.

Cold, gloved fingers traced the curve of his twisted spine. Viktor squeezed his eyes shut, trying to block out the sensation.

“You understand that even once this is done, it won’t be straight, right? It will take months to correct your posture. You’ll have to wear the corset I built—for the rest of your life.”

Viktor nodded, his teeth clenched so hard that he feared they might crack.

“Out loud.” Singer ordered.

“Yes. I. Understand.” Viktor’s voice shook, but he forced the words out.

He was craving the chemical oblivion of anaesthesia to deliver him from this devastating fear.

Just start already. Let the gas knock me out.

“Good.” Singed replied, satisfied.

Singed continued to move slowly around the table. Viktor could hear the metal and glass cluttering moving around him. Not seeing him was even worse.

Then the small gas mask appeared in the Doctor’s hand. Viktor’s heart raced, and his breath caught in his chest as Singed methodically fitted the mask over his face.

“Deep breaths”

Viktor obeyed, but the gas burned as it filled his lungs, acrid and foul. He fought the urge to cough, feeling his body begin to shut down as the chemical fog filled his senses. The air in the mask grew thick, suffocating.

“Janna, let me fall asleep. Please. Let this be over.”

Over the wild beat of his heart, his hurling instincts, and his breathe echoing in the smelly mask, he could overhear the countdown of Singed echoing endlessly on the walls of the cave.

For an endless, terrifying second, Viktor realized this may be the very last thing he would hear in his entire life.

“Janna, please…” he begged in silence, as he felt chemical coma swiping him away. “Please, let me live…”

Suddenly, knocks resonated through the cave – strong, heavy… alien.

More knocking, sharper this time. Someone was pounding on a door. But… Singed’s lab never had a door.

A voice broke the thin veil of sleep — faint at first, then clearer, louder

“Viktor? Are you in there?”

“Jayce?” Viktor’s thoughts stuttered in disbelief.

The dream twisted and shifted, everything spiralling out of control — and Viktor fell.

He jolted awake, breathless, eyes wide with fear, his face and neck slick with cold sweat.

He was back in his dorm. His room. Not in his mentor’s laboratory.

A trembling hand pressed against his chest, feeling the frantic thud of his heart.

He was safe.

He was alive.

Thank you for reading 😊

Read more on AO3

[ankosblog]

VIKTOR BRINGS JAYCE AT JERICHO’S FOOD STALL 🐌🧀🌶️

Link to the full fic on AO3

“Hi Jericho! Long time no see!” Viktor greeted, his voice warm.

Jayce sat next to him, waving a silent salutation, but the cook laughed — a laugh that didn’t exactly sound welcoming — and jabbered something unintelligible in reply.

“See, I bring Piltie clientele now” Viktor joked. “You’re getting famous.”

The cook laughed again, this time more genuinely, and Jayce caught a glimpse of Viktor’s grin. He shot a look at his partner — didn’t Viktor want to remain discrete? Was it really wise to sell him out to the first person they encountered?

“I thought we were supposed not to attract attention?” he whispered.

“You’re kidding yourself if you think you’re fooling anyone who look at you more for than a few seconds. Disguise avoid to attract attention, but doesn’t hide where you’re from. Trust me, Piltover taught me the lesson.” Viktor replied with acidic irony. “Jericho, do you still serve your chili octopus? I’ve been craving it for months” he continued, unfazed.

“Aren’t we here for information?” Jayce insisted.

But Viktor simply ignored him. Worse, he turned to him with a sparkle of mischief in his eyes.

“And a bowl of cheesy slugs.” he added with a devilish smirk.

The cook jabbered something in approval, and began moving around.

“It’s not polite to ask for information without ordering, Jayce,” Viktor pointed out. “And I’ve missed Zaun’s food — especially Jericho’s. Take this as a chance to expand your... cultural understanding of the Undercity.”

Whatever that meant, Jayce knew it wasn’t good for him.

Waves of rich, smoky scents rose from the stove as the cook worked his magic, leaving Jayce plenty of time to mentally catalog every single violation of basic hygiene. His worst fears were confirmed when two bowls were placed before them — one filled with fried octopus tentacles smothered in a thick red sauce that looked hot enough to melt Demacian steel, and the other with what looked like blue sea slugs swimming in melted cheese.

Jayce swallowed hard when his plate landed in front of him. He turned to Viktor, silently hoping that his partner had only ordered for the sake of politeness and that they wouldn’t actually eat the dishes. Besides, there was no cutlery in sight.

He was stunned by the sight before him. His jaw dropped as he watched Viktor – his Viktor, the well mannered man he ate next to everyday at the Academy Cafeteria – dig into his plate with his bare fingers, not caring about the sauce staining his chin, leaning over his bowl with ease.

Jayce realized he was staring when his partners’ eyes met his, his face a silent “What?” as he licked sauce from his thumb.

All things considered, Jayce decided he was wrong to judge – after all, this was not Piltover. Manners were different down there, and he should probably follow a Zaunite’s example rather than sticking to his own ways. “Expanding my cultural understanding of the Undercity, uh?” he thought.

His eyes fell back to the plate in front of him – tiger-blue slugs soaking in gooey cheese, with a sort of broth peaking from underneath. The smell wasn’t bad. In fact, it was almost... inviting. But the sight of the slugs was anything but appetizing, especially considering the questionable cooking methods.

Taking a deep breath, he pinched one of the slugs between his fingers, closed his eyes, and took a bite.

To his surprise... it didn’t taste bad. It even tasted pretty good. The texture was squishy, almost squeaky against his teeth, but it didn’t feel wrong. The slugs tasted like fermented anchovies, their bitterness mixing unexpectedly well with the greasiness of the melted cheese, balanced by the strength of the broth. If he had been told what it was beforehand, he’d have probably frowned, but now it made sense. This could easily keep a man full for a whole day.

He surprised himself by going back for more, again and again, until he realized he had completely forgotten about his manners. He wasn’t the only one surprised — Viktor was watching him with his jaw dropped, eyes wide in disbelief. Jayce met his gaze, offering a silent “What?” in return. Viktor chuckled, visibly impressed – a look that Jayce couldn’t get enough of – and focused back on his plate.

“Would you like to try?” he asked, handing him a fried tentacle dipped in red sauce. “That may be a bit too spicy for you, though”.

There was no trace of challenge in his voice – only a genuine offer. But telling Jayce Talis that something might be too much for him was a mistake.

“What? You think I’m too Piltie for this?” Jayce replied with an arrogant smile.

Without missing a beat, he leaned forward and took the food directly from Viktor’s fingers, not bothering to take it into his own hands. Viktor froze for a moment, completely unprepared for the closeness. His breath hitched as Jayce’s lips brushed against his fingers.

Jayce didn’t notice the flustered look on his partner’s face. Instead, he had to face the consequences of his action.

That wasn’t “spicy”… not even anywhere near that… that was DAMN HOT! He coughed, his face turning bright red, tears at the corners of his eyes. How could such a small bite light a fire as fierce as his family’s forge in his mouth?

“Fine” Jayce managed between laugh and cough, hastily drinking from his broth to soothe the fire in his mouth, “I may have overestimated myself on this one.”

Viktor cleared his throat, attempting to regain composure. His voice was softer now, and there was a slight tremor in his words. “It’s not for the faint of heart. But you survived. Impressive.”

Jayce grinned, barely noticing the subtle shift in Viktor’s tone.

“This in amazing Jericho! Thanks!” Viktor praised the cook with a smile. “By the way... I checked on Benzo this morning... I noticed his shop was robbed. What happened down there?”.

The cook jabbered again, his voice taking on a darker, more somber tone as he turned back to his stove. Jayce was starting to wonder how his partner planned on getting any useful information from someone speaking such an unintelligible language, but his train of thought was interrupted by an unfamiliar voice.

“Well well… Look who’s back in the Lanes.”

Viktor froze, his blood running cold and his muscles tensing…

Read more on AO3 😊

[vidding-is-my-passion]

How are we holding up?

[feralenby]

Very excited to watch people completely ignore the fact that Jayce was obviously having some kind of episode and definitely went through some shit both mentally and physically while in the hexcore universe place in favor of acting like this is something Jayce wouldve always done

[221buckythesoldier]

in my humble lesbian opinion, in the case of yurified jayvik, viktor is the butch-est of the two of them. jayce fits piltover's expectations to a T, she'd have longgg hair and wear fancy dresses to galas and viktor'd be rolling into the lab looking the exact same as canon vik

[infinitelystrangemachinex]

Jayce and the fallacy of the butterfly effect in Arcane's narrative

If Jayce's symbol is the butterfly, then my theory is that we're going into a full "butterfly effect" narrative in Act 2. Either we'll watch it happen, or we'll only see Jayce come out the other side of it changed by the experience, knowing - or more importantly, THINKING he knows - what to do to change the future. Literally, to "defend tomorrow."

tl;dr: Jayce will encounter the butterfly effect in season 2. Viktor and Mel both foreshadowed this in season 1. I think Jayce will fixate on Viktor and will believe that stopping or changing Viktor either in the past or the present - most likely the present - will mean he can save the future. I believe this will lead to an even worse tragedy and may have the same effect as a self-fulfilling prophecy. Ekko's approach to changing the future by sticking closer to the present - considering only tiny increments of time to alter more immediate future outcomes - will be the superior approach. I also think that Jayce attempting to change the future will create the conditions that push Viktor to become the Machine Herald.

One of the most common reactions even the casual viewer had to Arcane season 1 was this: "If [character] had just done this one small thing a little differently, [tragic event] wouldn't have happened!"

Arcane has been called a Greek tragedy for the main reason that because of how well built up the characters' personalities and reasonings are, there's no other way season 1 could have gone. There was no stopping the multiple tragedies that occurred, because with one event leading to another, the chain of seemingly inevitable events goes too far back to identify what one singular event caused everything, what one character made what one decision to put our characters on the terrible paths they walked.

Arcane is about to investigate this idea in its own narrative, and I think that Jayce will be the character to stumble into the flawed idea that you can change one event, or stop one character, and change the future for the better. This is because Jayce struggles with a few very interesting character flaws, one of them being that he believes himself to be the main character, and it is therefore his responsibility to intervene, be a hero, and fix things.

Viktor and Mel both foreshadow Jayce's future encounter with the butterfly effect.

Recall that Viktor said: "There is always a choice."

Jayce sees choices in black and white, believes that he has no other options but to go along with what he's persuaded and pushed into, and acts too boldly with too much power multiple times.

Recall that Mel said: "We can't change what fate has in store for us, but we don't have to face it alone."

Jayce tries to solve big problems on his own, and though he delegates to Enforcers and the like, Jayce relies on his reasoning and his alone to make important decisions if he doesn't simply become persuaded - usually through strong emotions like fear - by other characters. In addition, since Mel is specifically talking about Viktor's plight here, it's worth mentioning that while Jayce did say that he would help Viktor in acts 2 and 3 of season 1, Jayce does wind up leaving Viktor to face his fate alone. When Jayce tries to change that fate in s2 ep1, ep2 shows that only tragedy can come of this as well.

Viktor and Mel's statements here are not contradictory. Viktor makes the point that you can always make a choice. In context, he's literally referring to the classic "secret third option," because given a choice between aggression and passivity, war and surrender, Viktor chooses to defuse the bomb instead. Mel, interestingly, seems to believe that destiny is fixed in a broad sense, and she operates as a politician and diplomat and investor who navigates that line of destiny in the most optimal way possible. In reality, in context, she is referring to the fact that Viktor can't change the way he was born and so he has no way to change his fate and therefore must face it, which is true - she's only missing the information that Viktor actually does have the means to change his illness and his body. Her wisdom still applies however, because he'll have to accept the hand that fate deals him after he makes that choice. Will he face it alone, or not?

There is always a choice, there's even secret third options, because having a fate doesn't mean that you are doomed to make only one possible series of choices. What it does mean is that each choice comes with a hand that fate deals you. It is impossible to know what all of these branching choices and consequences are in advance, and it is just as impossible in hindsight - the branches are too complex and the end outcomes are all equally meaningful, just different. If Arcane season 2 is to be a tragedy, it may show us that each possible outcome is still tragic if you fall for the fallacy of the butterfly effect.

Jayce is counseled by some of the wisest, cleverest characters with the deepest life experiences in Arcane, but he hardly ever takes that counsel to heart. If he does, he still acts on that counsel in flawed ways that have unintended consequences. This will come to a head in season 2.

Viktor and Jayce both have a butterfly following them around in season 1. The butterfly effect refers to one small seemingly insignificant event changing the course of history, and changing that event therefore changes history. Viktor bled over the railing of a Hexgate in season 1:

And Heimerdinger sees what we can only assume is Viktor's blood contaminating (?) the Hexgate in s2 ep3:

This might be the seemingly unimportant "inciting incident" that Jayce (and Heimerdinger and Ekko) settle on as something that should be avoided or erased by changing the past (if they time-travel with Ekko, for example).

I doubt that, if this is what this crew chooses to fixate on, it will be the only event that is considered as something to change. But let's take this and run with it for the sake of discussion.

As silly as it sounds, how do you stop Viktor from allowing his blood to come into contact with the arcane? Stop Viktor's involvement with the Academy entirely? Don't invent Hextech at all? But what if someone else invents Hextech besides Jayce? What if future tragedy befalls Piltover because it didn't invent Hextech?

The possibilities and what-ifs could branch on forever. But because Jayce is who he is, and because his tragedy with Viktor is still raw and recent and frightening, I think Jayce's butterfly effect experience will have to do with Viktor.

My personal prediction is that the timeskip between s2 ep3 and ep4 will be Jayce experiencing a timeline where Viktor, taken over by the Hexcore, brings about an apocalyptic event similar to what Heimerdinger experienced in his past. Either Jayce and co. can't go into the past to change the present, or Heimerdinger and/or Ekko advise strongly against it to avoid a paradox. This will lead to them re-entering the canon Arcane timeline before this apocalypse, but still after the timeskip. Jayce, believing that destroying Viktor and his cult will save the future, and believing that resurrecting Viktor was Jayce's mistake to fix, attacks him. But the consequences don't unfold the way he hopes, because trying to change fate once the cards have already been dealt has led to tragedy before.

The butterfly is a symbol of something other than just the butterfly effect - change, evolution, and rebirth. If the butterfly symbolizes the butterfly effect for Jayce, then I think it has a different meaning for Viktor - the change and rebirth meaning.

I've always found it very interesting that we see a similar-looking butterfly on Progress Day... but made of metal.

Every time Viktor's situation changes, he adapts and evolves. If Jayce attacks him, if his cult is destroyed, if the Hexcore is causing Viktor to decay, if all of these things happen at once - he'll just evolve again, and I think the Machine Herald is the next step. And the Machine Herald will be a triumph for Viktor, but Jayce will believe that he's created something even worse. The resulting feud will be a personal nightmare for both of them.

I think this still allows Viktor to use his own agency to choose to become the Machine Herald (the MH will probably be the "secret third option" that saves Viktor, or there will be a secret third option that ends the feud) while still allowing Jayce to be offended and horrified at whatever the Machine Herald represents or is trying to do in the undercity. Introducing the element of time travel allows Arcane to explore the meta concept of tragedy and fate that season 1 was built on while showing that you can't "solve" a tragedy, because there are other terrible possibilities lurking behind alternate choices. Especially if what you're trying to change is singular people or events and not systems of power.

This is why Ekko's approach with his Z-drive will be superior to Jayce's sweeping attempt at changing the future. Ekko's goal has always been societal change. He creates his own punk society in the undercity, more progressive and successful than anything Vander or Silco ever created, and a better bastion of safety, hope, and progress than what Heimerdinger founded in Piltover. Trying to change systems by going back in time is most likely futile. But taking what Ekko has already built in the Firelights, curing his tree, and fighting for the Firelights' survival bit by bit by optimizing the present with the Z-drive shows that:

It's more worth it to focus on becoming wise (Ekko's mask is an owl) and making choices you won't regret

It's best if you don't face your fate alone (act as a collective and take care of each other)

Consider every option, not just the obvious black and white choices

Maintain and fix what you've already built instead of abandoning it once things get difficult

Adapt as needed if the choices you made lead to dark consequences, and once again, stick together and take care of each other when the bad times do come

That's my Act 2 but, ultimately, my season 2 prediction based on the butterfly symbolism we've already seen. Ekko's involvement is what will give the series the at least partial happy ending that the creators have referred to. I personally don't think that the Viktor/Jayce feud will end quite so well, but maybe, they will still survive.