Arcane Season 2 has been and gone, breaking our little hearts along the way. It’s a show that very much puts the focus on relationships, with characters like Caitlyn and Vi, Jinx and Vi, and many more that don’t involve Vi. One of the more beloved relationships in the series is Jayce and Victor, two passionate inventors that deeply care about each other, driven apart by their own mistakes.

Outside the hot and steamy scene with Vi and Cait in that now infamous jail cell, the conclusion of Viktor and Jayce’s story is easily one of the most talked about aspects of Season 2, as the duo brawl and eventually die together by destroying the Hexcore. Before they go up in smoke, the two hold hands and put their foreheads together, cementing the opinion of some people that Viktor and Jayce’s relationship was rocky but romantic.

Arcane’s Jayce And Viktor Aren’t In A Romantic Relationship

While not officially canon, it’s a popular ship among Arcane fans, but it’s not one that lead writer Christian Linke sees himself. In a recent interview with League of Legends content creator Necrit, Linke says that he’s not a huge fan of how media only really portrays very close relationships between men “as a couple”, and that the team behind Arcane wanted to focus on “really close friendships” and “brotherhoods”.

“There are really close friendships, brotherhoods if you will, really being there for each other,” says Linke. “That was actually really important for us to explore. It seems like there’s no other version for some fans that say “there must be romance”. These relationships can be really layered, really complex, you know?”

He goes on to explain that he does believe that “there is a love” between Jayce and Viktor, but that it isn’t romantic. In a series like Arcane, with a fanbase that can feel dominated by shippers, it is kind of refreshing for the series to show a really close, loving relationship between two men that doesn’t end up being romantic. Linke’s comments won’t stop the shippers out there from headcanoning them as lovers, but it’s nice to see Arcane skew toxic masculinity and show a relationship between two guys that just really love each other.