"Imagine the wonders they could create if we put magic in their hands."
— Jayce
Caitlyn has Vi released from jail so the latter can escort her around Zaun in her quest to uncover more about Silco. Vi takes her to an underground brothel, where she learns from the proprietor, an old friend of Vander's, that Powder is still alive and working with Silco. Later, Vi fights Sevika in the Lanes. Though Sevika gains the advantage and injures Vi, Caitlyn interferes to save her. Because she doesn't kill Sevika, the latter informs Silco that Vi is back and looking for Jinx.
Jinx herself is hesitant to work on the Gemstone because it reminds her of her family. Silco takes her to the water where he nearly drowned to be 'reborn'.
In Piltover, Marcus plots to put the blame for the explosion on the Firelights. Mel teaches Jayce to schmooze around with the other councilors, and the two eventually consummate their attraction as Viktor's condition worsens.
Tropes in this episode include:
- 21-Gun Salute: Evidently Enforcer funerals are like real-world police funerals, complete with volleys.
- Ambiguously Gay: Both Vi and Caitlyn.
- Caitlyn is flustered when Vi does a Wall Pin of Love on her, and appears far more comfortable chatting up a female brothel patron than she did the previous male one Vi grabbed at random.
- Vi is slightly less ambiguous, however, as her interactions with Caitlyn drip with Lesbian Subtext, from checking out her rear appreciatively to being pleasantly surprised seeing her chatting up another woman, presumably with the thought that perhaps she has a chance with her.Vi: You're hot, cupcake.
- Armor-Piercing Question: In the opening flashback, Grayson asks a young Caitlyn what it is that she's shooting for, with the implication that the conversation is what led to Caitlyn decision to become an officer.
- At the Opera Tonight: Mel invites Jayce to see a concert with her teaching and convincing of the necessity of smoozing and making corrupt deals with the other councilors/elites in general. Heimerdinger is the only one focused on the performance, and he's having a great time.
- Backstab Backfire: Played With. Vi has defeated Sevika and is interrogating her about her sister's whereabouts. She has a minor Heroic BSoD when Sevika tells her that Powder, now called Jinx, is willingly working for Silco; Sevika uses this moment to stab Vi with her mechanical claws. But before Sevika can land the Coup de Grâce, Caitlyn shoots out her Shimmer ampule and renders her arm useless, forcing her to run.
- "Back to Camera" Pose: When Vi returns to the undercity after many years away, we get a shot of her looking down at the neon Wretched Hive from the back.
- Big Damn Heroes: Caitlyn rescues Vi from Sevika by shooting the Shimmer ampule on the latter's mechanical arm, disabling it and forcing her to run away.
- Bizarre Instrument: A musician is seen playing something that looks like a violin with a tuba coming out the back. It sounds like a violin, so the tuba part may have simply been to amplify the sound.
- Blowing Smoke Rings: Silco blows smoke rings from his cigar after his conversation with Marcus.
- Bring It: Sevika does the typical hand gesture to Vi with her mechanical arm just before they truly start fighting. A battered Vi sarcastically does it back to her in the middle of their brawl.
- Brutal Brawl: Vi and Sevika put the beatdown on each other in the Zaun alleyways. There's punching, kneeing, grappling, and sending each other into (and sometimes through) the walls and floor. At the end they're both quite bloody and bruised.
- Buffy Speak: Jinx describes Hexgates as "mathy, magicky gateway[s] to the realm of heebie-jeebies."
- The Cameo: Animated avatars of Imagine Dragons show up to perform the title song In-Universe.
- Chekhov's Skill: The opening flashback establishes that Caitlyn is an excellent shot, which we see in the present when she shoots the (small) Shimmer injector on Sevika's arm.
- The Coats Are Off: Soon after Vi attacks Sevika, the two do this trope, Sevika with far more flourish by dramatically tossing her shawl behind her to reveal her mechanical arm with a Shimmer injector while Vi just pulls her jacket down and leaves it at her feet.
- Combat Breakdown: Vi and Sevika start brawling with fast-paced blows, quick maneuvers, and creative technique. By the end, they're both thoroughly beaten and exhausted, barely able to stand without stumbling, and the fight closes with Vi sluggishly throwing unsophisticated slams and haymakers that Sevika is too rattled to defend against.
- Continuity Nod: The boxing robot part that Vi used to knock out an Enforcer in episode 2 is still in apparently the exact same position it landed in when Jinx finds it.note
- Death Faked for You: Marcus sent Vi to Stillwater Hold as an anonymous inmate and claimed she was dead to Silco.
- Death Glare: A closeup on Vi's lowered eyebrows as she spots Sevika at the Undercity.
- Den of Iniquity: The brothel Vi and Caitlyn pay a visit to.
- Diegetic Soundtrack Usage: The title song for the series is played by animated versions of Imagine Dragons in the club in the Lanes where Sevika plays cards.
- Dirty Harriet: Vi has Caitlyn pretend she works at the brothel in order to get info from people, saying it ought to be easy given she's a Fair Cop. Caitlyn is mortified at the idea, but goes along with it. It's implied Vi did that just to get Caitlyn out of the way while also annoying her, and Vi is visibly surprised later when she spots Caitlyn seemingly successfully chatting up a female client.
- Double Take: As she's leaving the brothel, Vi glances absentmindedly at the contents of the rooms before stopping and rechecking upon seeing Caitlyn chatting up a woman in one of the rooms. Vi leaves with a surprised but happy smirk.
- Dramatic High Perching: A shot of Vi looking down from a utility pipe unto the Undercity below.
- Due to the Dead: We see a funeral for the Enforcers killed by Jinx in the previous episode. Marcus also takes his daughter to see Grayson's tomb, and notes she was "a good person".
- Dynamic Entry: Vi begins her attack on Sevika by jumping in from the left to knee her in the head while Sevika's about to grab her gambling winnings.
- False Flag Operation: In an effort to hide his schemes, Silco has Marcus plant false evidence to make the Firelights look like Bomb-Throwing Anarchists and thus blame them for Jinx's violence in the eyes of the Council.
- Female Flatfoot and Snarky Guy: Gender-Inverted in regards to Vi being a Snarky Girl, but Caitlyn and Vi have this relationship as they investigate the undercity, with Caitlyn being a naïve By-the-Book Cop in contrast to Vi being a Street Smart criminal.
- Foreign Queasine: A fantasy spin on it. Jericho the giant fish man serves up various seafood dishes at his street food stall and doesn't speak English. The denizens of the Undercity enjoy it but for people from Piltover like Caitlyn, tentacles in orange slop is rather unappealing.
- Groin Attack: Vi knees Sevika in the crotch to break a hold.
- Happy Flashback: There's a flashback early in the episode of a younger Caitlyn competing with Grayson in a firearms contest. It's implied that this experience is what led to her becoming a police officer.
- Ignored Enamored Underling: Viktor would rather work himself into an early grave than take the night off with the Sweet Glasses Girl who secretly admires him.
- Indulgent Fantasy Segue: Marcus, growing increasingly belligerent with Silco, is told if he desired to, he could easily kill Silco and go down in history as a martyr. Marcus immediately sets off a grenade taking him and Silco in an explosion... only to cut back to reality with Silco telling Marcus to get a move on.
- Internal Reveal: Vi learns from Sevika that Powder (now going by Jinx) is working for Silco willingly.
- Sevika then informs Silco that Vi is still alive, and back in the undercity.
- Interplay of Sex and Violence: Jayce and Mel make love while Viktor's symptoms become more severe and he coughs up more blood. A drop of blood is absorbed in the experimental device he was working on, which implies what is likely to happen between Jayce and Mel.
- In the Hood: Vi uses her hoody when she enters the Undercity. After they get replacement garments, it's Caitlyn who wears the hood.
- Kick the Dog: Jinx casually kills a bird for no reason.
- Le Parkour: There's an extended sequence of Vi parkouring across the Lanes after she returns there for the first time in years. Caitlyn tries her best to keep up, with mixed results.
- Match Cut: At the end, while Jinx is working in her lab, a bead of sweat rolls off her chin on the right side of the frame. This motion is continued in the next shot, which is a cut to Sevika dripping Shimmer on the floor of Silco's office.
- The Modest Orgasm: When Jayce and Mel are making love, we get close-up shots of Mel's hands clenching and of her face twisting in pleasure, just as the background music reaches a crescendo.
- Modesty Bedsheet: The next time we see Mel after she sleeps with Jayce, she's nude in her bed with the sheet covering her to her shoulders, with Jayce nowhere in sight.
- Mugged for Disguise: Vi beats up some Undercity thugs offscreen so she can take their clothes, so Caitlyn can wear them to blend in.
- Mugging the Monster: Played for Laughs. Some hoodlums try to mug Violet when she comes back to Zaun for the first time in years after Caitlyn secures her release. By the time Caitlyn catches up with her, Violet has brutalized them and thrown them into a dumpster offscreen, in addition to taking some of their clothing articles to help them with blending in.
- Never Recycle a Building: The arcade hasn't been touched by anyone since it was destroyed years back. It adds to the nostalgia Jinx feels when returning to the ruins of her childhood.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Vi attacking and Caitlyn subsequently not killing Sevika allowed her to report news of Vi and Caitlyn to Silco.
- Not Staying for Breakfast: Mel is shown waking up alone after spending the night with Jayce. The very next scene shows he has a good reason to have left, since he's in the hospital with Viktor.
- Parental Substitute: Lampshaded by Sevika re Jinx/Silco (to Vi's shock).
- A Place Holds Memories: While walking through the arcade, Jinx is visibly reflecting on the past and her relationship to her siblings.
- Prosthetic Limb Reveal: After getting ambushed by Vi, Sevika dramatically throws off the cape, revealing her prosthetic arm.
- Recruiting the Criminal: Caitlyn forges orders to free Vi to get her help in solving the criminal conspiracy she's working on. She initially scoffs at Vi's offer but when Vi casually reveals Silco's name as the underworld Don when Caitlyn only knew him as a wealthy industrialist, she realizes Vi's parting sting that Caitlyn wouldn't survive Zaun without insider help is right.
- Rule of Symbolism:
- Mel manipulates Jayce into becoming more ruthless and leaning into his corrupt politician side more while they're watching a violinist perform at the opera house. She's playing him like a fiddle.
- Heimerdinger is the only councilor actually enjoying the music and is merrily nodding along to it while the rest are focused on their political dealings. While the rest of them are in private boxes, he's seated in amongst the crowd. This symbolizes how he is closer to the common people than the other councilors, but also blind to the corruption around him.
- Short Cuts Make Long Delays: Played for Laughs. Caitlyn initially suggests that her and Vi take an elevator-like "Bathysphere" into Zaun, while helping an elderly yordle board it. Vi instead opts to go down the old-fashioned way, and Caitlyn reluctantly decides to follow her, with frequent cuts between Vi effortlessly leaping across the rooftops and poor Caitlyn fearfully stumbling after her. By the time an exhausted and nerve-wracked Caitlyn reaches Zaun's streets, the old yordle she had helped is walking past the alley she and Vi are standing in, meaning she could have just taken the Bathysphere to get there in the same time without the hassle.
- Sudden Soundtrack Stop: "Enemy" has a warbled cutout right as Vi knees Sevika in the face.
- Symbolic Baptism: Silco describes his attempted drowning by Vander as one in hindsight, resulting in the death of his old self and the birth of his current one. He likewise submerges Jinx her own while explaining that she needs to let her old "Powder" persona go.
- Tarot Motifs: The scene with Viktor in the hospital cuts right to Sevika and two cronies playing tarot, with Sevika throwing down Death and the Magician as her winning hand. Death symbolizes change, transformations, and endings and new beginnings, while the Magician symbolizes realizing potential, and the Magician is even drawn with a mask and a third arm coming out of his back, as Viktor will have when he becomes the Machine Herald.
- Throwing the Fight: In the opening flashback, Caitlyn notes that Grayson let her win the shooting contest. Grayson admits this, but denies that Caitlyn's parents bribed her. She simply thought Caitlyn deserved to win.
- Titled After the Song: After the show's own theme, no less.[Beat drop]
Oh, the misery
Everybody wants to be my enemy - Title Drop: By way of an extended version of the show's theme.
- Trauma Button: The energy released from the Hex crystal causes Jinx to flashback to the day her bomb killed most of her adopted family.
- Un-person: Marcus used his connections to get Vi sent to prison without any record of her identity or arrest, even to the staff of the prison. This was to make sure Silco wouldn't find out she survived, though it also effectively condemned her to an infinite prison sentence that only Marcus has the means to revoke (until Caitlyn shows up).
- Unusual Euphemism: The evil warden uses the term "to chat" for "beating the crap out of a prison inmate".
- Use Your Head: Sevika headbutts Vi a couple of times during their fight.
- Villain with Good Publicity: When Silco's name first comes up as the criminal mastermind behind events, Caitlyn says in a surprised voice: "The industrialist?" Marcus probably has a lot to do with stopping what's common knowledge in the undercity from reaching Piltover.
- Wall Pin of Love: Vi gives one of these to Caitlyn while convincing her to pretend she works at the brothel in order to get the information they need, and although she's surprised by the act, Caitlyn doesn't make any indication that it was unwelcome. The trope is played with since Vi has known Caitlyn for less than a day and is mainly doing it to mess with her, but the Ship Tease is still clearly there.Vi: So what'll it be, man or woman?
- Wardens Are Evil: The Warden of the Stillwater Prison is a loathsome man who is indifferent to the fact that some of his prisoners haven't even been sentenced for any crime and has them beaten regularly as a matter of course. Caitlyn is horrified when she finds out he seems to regularly "chat" with Vi, with the implication he tortures and beats her up. When Caitlyn asks how often he does this, the warden just shrugs and says he doesn't keep count.
- What the Hell Is That Accent?: Caitlyn affects what could only generously be described as a Cockney accent when pretending to be a worker at the brothel.
- Why Don't You Just Shoot Him?: Early on in Vi's fight with Sevika, Sevika catches Vi's arm in a hold with her own arm. Despite later showing a willingness to kill Vi by stabbing her with her mechanical arm's claws, Sevika largely cancels her advantage against Vi in this instance by simply headbutting Vi and dropping her rather than breaking Vi's arm as she easily could have in that hold.
- Working Out Their Emotions: After suffering a trauma-induced flashback from the familiar energy of the Hex crystal, Jinx goes to the old arcade hideout and works off some steam against the sparring robot. She becomes even more enraged as she remembers Vi and the fateful night at Silco's warehouse, and ends up repeatedly punching the bot's metal faceplate with, essentially, her bare fists. Despite this, she only manages a second-place spot on the leaderboard, just behind Vi, and remains pissed off.
