Jayce has undergone a dramatic transformation when he returns in Act 2 of Arcane Season 2.

Once known as the “Man of Progress” in Piltover, Jayce Talis looked dramatically different when he returned after the time jump in Arcane Season 2, Act 2.

Arcane serves as an origin story of many of the champions from Riot Games’ League of Legends, including Jayce (voiced by Kevin Alejandro in Arcane). When audiences first meet Jayce, he is an ambitious young scholar with dreams of blending magic and science.

After Jayce teams up with fellow outcast academic Viktor, the duo creates Hextech, a technology that revolutionizes Piltover into the City of Progress.

Where Has Jayce Been in Arcane Season 2?

Jayce’s first few episodes in Arcane Season 2 saw the character survive Jinx’s terrorist attack on the council, save Viktor with the Hexcore, and craft a new arsenal of Hextech weapons for the Piltover enforcers.

Soon after this, Heimerdinger and Ekko bring to his attention that Jayce and Viktor’s attempts to control arcane magic have resulted in strange corruption spreading through the city. Together, the group speculates it may be the result of wild runes reacting (angrily) to Hextech.

After visiting Hextech’s failsafe deep underground, Jayce encounters a giant magical anomaly that captures him, Ekko, and Heimerdinger.

Sometime later, Jayce reappears from within the anomaly, much more haggard and haunted than when he left. His appearance is rougher and wilder, and the anomaly has altered his Hextech hammer.

Upon returning, Jayce meets with Salo, one of Viktor’s enlightened community members. Unfortunately for Salo, Jayce’s time away seems to have changed his mindset, and he returns with the mission to destroy Hextech, which includes anything touched by its magic.

After slaughtering Salo, Jayce continues to murder Viktor, who he views as the apex form of Hextech, which results in the downfall of Viktor and his entire community.

What Happened to Jayce?

Arcane has yet to fully explain what happened to Jayce during his time in the anomaly and will likely save those answers for Act 3. However, the series dropped some clues about his condition.

When Jayce first arrives back in Piltover, Viktor says that he “touched the arcane” and that his “mind suffered” from it:

“You seem different. Something happened. Now I see it, you too have touched the arcane. Your mind suffered.”

Later, after Salo’s death, Viktor theorizes that there is “another will at work” within Jayce, something that he believes to be a “sophisticated conjuration:”

Viktor: “That isn’t Jayce. There is another will at work within him.

Sky: “I thought I heard something right before the portal closed. Ancient, like a…”

Viktor: “Like a voice. This is a sophisticated conjuration. A singularity simultaneously self-replicating and self-annihilating. Flawless, exquisite, chaos.”

Earlier in the season, Heimerdinger revealed he had always been cautious of the arcane, believing that the miracles of magic often turned to horrors due to mankind’s relationship with power. However, Heimerdinger later revised his theory, pondering whether the arcane could have caused these horrors.

If there is some truth to any of this, it could mean that the arcane has corrupted Jayce’s mind and is now forcing him to destroy what he created, possibly so that balance is restored to the runes.

In Episode 6, it was also revealed that Jayce sees Viktor and any of the people touched by his magic as terrifying monsters. So, the ancient voice Viktor referred to may be altering Jayce’s mind to perceive the things he has created as scary so that he will have no remorse for destroying them.

Jayce has always valued peace over conflict in Arcane, so his sudden turn to murder is quite drastic for his character.

Some fans theorized that Jayce may have spent time in the Void, a place in League of Legends lore home to the “unknowable nothingness that lies beyond.” The mythology also stipulates that any mortals who touch the power of the Void suffer an agonizing glimpse of eternal unreality, which can shatter their minds.

This theory seems to align with what Jayce is going through in Episode 6, but audiences won’t know for sure until Arcane finalizes its story in Season 2, Act 3.

Arcane Season 2 Episodes 1-6 are streaming on Netflix. Act 3 will be released on Saturday, November 23.