Is Jinx dead in Arcane?

There is uncertainty around Jinx’s death due to the show not showing us her body. Arcane instead makes a point to show us Vi’s face and focus on her loss rather than letting us mourn Jinx, as we did for Heimerdinger and Isha.

So, if you’re losing sleep like I am, wondering if Jinx really did die in Arcane, here is our interpretation of Arcane season two’s shocking ending.

Did Jinx die in Arcane season two? Our theories and interpretations

We believe Jinx isn’t dead. Here are our theories of why.

Jinx’s explosives

Throughout the show, Jinx’s explosions are often seen as a distraction. While these are typically colorful smoke decoys, this explosion resembles what Powder used back in Arcane season one act one (resulting in the death of Claggor and Mylo). Our heroes tend to survive fatal injuries and falls to high places, but this fall from the top of the tower would likely kill Jinx.

We’ve also seen Jinx use a similar explosive after Ekko defeated her in season one act three. This however, didn’t kill her but she required Shimmer to be restored as she was critically injured. Now with Shimmer flowing through her, it’s highly likely that Jinx is far harder to kill than Vi.

Hexgate blueprints

The question is: Is there enough evidence that we can assume Jinx is actually dead? Well, seeing as we never saw a body (and she didn’t get a burial), we then have to study one of the final scenes of episode nine that stars Caitlyn.

In this scene, Cait is holding onto one of Jinx’s monkey grenades. With only the top of the monkey head intact—but badly damaged and burnt—we have to assume that this was pulled directly from the site of the explosion. This hints that Cait already looked for Jinx’s body and didn’t find it. Using the Kiramman name, she studies the Hexgates blueprints and focuses on the air ducts and cooling systems. She lets out a little smile, suggesting Jinx may have escaped using the ducts.

Whose name did Ekko write down?

It’s worth noting too that Ekko, sitting in the same spot where he kissed Powder for the first time (in the alternate timeline), burnt a single paper strip. Assuming these are the names of people’s loved ones who passed in the war, Ekko would write down either Heimerdinger or Jinx’s name. But which name did he write?

When Heimerdinger sacrificed himself for Ekko to return to his timeline, was Heimerdinger erased from existence meaning he was never born, or does Ekko still remember him? Ekko could simply be mourning the loss of his friend and mentor, holding out hope that Jinx is still alive. There’s also a small chance (based on where he was sitting) that he wrote Powder’s name down to mourn a love he lost by leaving the alternate timeline. Powder mourned him too by placing his necklace in Vi’s drawer at her shrine at the end of episode seven.

Our conclusion

If we were to guess/hope what might have happened is this: Jinx was spared in the fall because of Warwick’s body. It’d be poetic if Vander remerged for the final time to save her again. Therefore, we strongly believe Jinx is alive and managed to escape inside Hexgate’s air ducts.

What happened to Jinx in Arcane season two? Jinx death summarized

After Ekko and Jayce save the day by restoring Viktor’s humanity before their timeline is permanently damaged by the Arcane, the followers and those taken by Viktor’s hand are let go. With Vander returning to his Warwick state, his mind lost forever in the ether, the bloodthirsty beast turns his attention to Vi. But the platform Vi and Warwick awake on is unstable, and Jinx knows this. Aware that Vander is gone, Jinx begs Vi to move but she’s frozen thinking about her past with her adoptive father figure. This hesitation results in Warwick attacking Vi.

Knowing the Hexgate platform will collapse any moment, Jinx tackles Warwick, and the two begin their descent through the tower. Although Vi tries to save her sister one more time, Jinx finds peace with her choice. Releasing the Hextech gemstone from Vi’s gauntlet, she sacrifices herself so Vi doesn’t fall with them. The grenade she had on her when Ekko reversed time to stop her from taking her own life makes a reappearance. But without Ekko around to reverse time again, Jinx uses the gemstone, and we see Vi’s reaction to the explosion.

This scene implies Jinx killed Warwick and took herself out in the process. But after Jinx’s development throughout season two, is this really where her story ends?