Arcane writer shares reason behind cut Ekko, Jinx content in season 2—and fans strongly disagree

Following the end of Arcane’s second season, fans of the Netflix show have taken to social media and online forums to ask the question “what if?” regarding one of the series most popular pairings: Ekko and Jinx. And now, we’ve now got an idea for what could’ve been between the two characters.

In one Reddit post, a user asked Arcane writer Amanda Overton about Ekko and Jinx’s time together as the characters prepared for the war between Piltover/Zaun and Ambessa’s Noxian forces at the end of season two. And the response they shared sent other Arcane fans into an understandable tizzy, to say the least.

For those of you who still haven’t seen Arcane season two, what are you doing? Go watch it. But if you choose to keep reading: Beware, there are spoilers below.

“We deliberately left that to the audience’s imagination,” the response reads. “Since we spent so much time with them in episode 7 every scene between during that time felt like rehashing what we had already shown.”

Episode seven of Arcane’s second season follows Ekko in his time in the alternate universe where Powder survives. The two share a few romantic moments together before Ekko must return to save his original timeline. This response suggests that, in the moments leading up to the war with Ambessa’s forces, Ekko and Jinx connect in a way similar to Powder and Ekko, with the pair rekindling a similar flame. But fans of the Netflix series strongly disagreed with this reported decision to exclude scenes between the two—and with how it would’ve turned out.

“May be the only decision in Season 2 I can’t agree with. Let’s use the Most Simple logic here… AU Powder is not Jinx:D,” one Redditor wrote. Other users agreed, pointing out how the history between Jinx and Ekko is filled with dead Firelights and years of trauma. Although Jinx and the alternate-universe Powder might fundamentally be the same person, the lived experiences and environments of each character are simply not the same, resulting in what would be different reactions to the world and the people around them.

We now know Arcane reportedly surpassed its budget, according to Bloomberg, and Riot Games needed to make difficult decisions about how to best make use of the show’s limited screentime. This has led many fans to filling in the gaps with their own headcannons and wishes for the Arcane characters. And while many people may love the idea of Ekko and Jinx reconnecting after years apart—a pairing the fanbase has so lovingly coined as “Timebomb”—those same fans would’ve preferred to see the steps needed to get there.

Unfortunately, there won’t be a season three of Arcane, so we’ll likely never get those scenes in an official capacity. But the creators of the Netflix series have already confirmed more League of Legends shows are on the way—including one that’s already a year into development, according to co-creator Christian Linke (via GamesRadar). Until then, we’re still holding out hope for more information regarding the fate of Timebomb.