History Recap / ArcaneS1E1WelcomeToThePlayground

* GoryDiscretionShot: We only see the blood splatter on the glass wall when the cat gets murdered by the mutant rat at the lab.

* TheHunterBecomesTheHunted: The cat that was placed in Singed lab's terrarium to eat the rat suddenly becomes the rat's victim after the Shimmer infusion.

* KillerRabbit: The rat infused with Shimmer turns into a killer machine.

* KillerRabit: The rat infused with Shimmer turns into a killer machine.

* BlowTheHorn: When the break-in gets detected, horns ring out in the city to alert Enforcers.

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* DiesWideOpen: Vi and Power's mother did, as shown when her body is revealed.

* SecurityCling: Power clings to Vi when they spot Vander's shadow in the opening scene.

* SoMuchForStealth: Power almost loses her pursuer behind a corner but then she tips over a wooden board at the last moment.
* TakeMyHand: Vi saves Power by grabbing her hand when the latter almost falls backwards off the roof after her jump.

* SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome:
** Going from Grayson's implications, the explosions in this series aren't to be taken lightly.
--->'''Vander:''' Was... anyone hurt?\\
'''Grayson:''' A building was blown to bits. What do you think?
** At the end of the BrutalBrawl, Deckard attempts to intimidate Vi and her crew into surrendering by pulling out a shiv. However, he's just been beaten the living crap out of, is visibly shaking, and it's three-to-one in Vi's favor. Vi [[RefugeInAudacity even gets in his face and]] [[ImpliedDeathThreat questions "Do you want to see how that ends?"]] Deckard [[KnowWhenToFoldEm reluctantly backs down.]] Even if Deckard COULD kill Vi with that shiv in his state, he's not going to be able to overpower Milo and Claggor together by himself before the two could get the better of him.
** Powder doesn't participate in the streetfight because she's TheBabyOfTheBunch, and has very little to offer physically, meaning she would easily be overpowered going up against young adults like Deckard and his crew. She's easily overwhelmed by the violence, and when a not quite defeated thug lands next to her with the bag her in hands, [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere she runs]].

-->'''Vander:''' Was... anyone hurt?\\

* SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome: Going from Grayson's implications, the explosions in this series aren't to be taken lightly.

* CurbStompBattle: The Uncercity's fight against Piltover clearly went very poorly.
* DiesWideOpen: Vi and Power's mother did.

* DramaticDrop: In an EstablishingCharacterMoment, Vander drops his cast-iron gauntlets so he can pick up and carry Vi and Powder to safety, literally and symbolically choosing to protect children over weapons. He is revealed to eventually have gone back and retrieved them to hang in his bar.

** The show and Vi's first scene as a child showcase many of the character traits that define her. She's trying to protect Powder from the violence around them by having her sing a song while covering her eyes, but Powder still ends up seeing the corpses of their parents; this showing that despite her best intentions, Vi can't protect Powder from everything and can still indirectly cause her harm. Vi visibly tries to hold it together yet can't help but break down crying, foreshadowing that despite her tough personality, she's still just as emotionally vulnerable as anyone else. Finally, when she's being carried away by Vander, she curls her fist while glaring pure hate at the Enforcers, revealing the desire to solve problems with violence that she'll carry for the rest of her life.

** The show and Vi's first scene as a child showcase many of the character traits that define her. She's trying to protect Powder from the violence around them by having her sing a song while covering her eyes, but Powder still ends up seeing the corpses of their parents showing that despite her best intentions, she can harm Powder (or at least, fail to protect her). Vi visibly tries to hold it together yet can't help but break down crying, foreshadowing that despite her tough personality, she's still just as emotionally vulnerable as anyone else. Finally, when she's being carried away by Vander, she curls her fist while glaring pure hate at the Enforcers, revealing the desire to solve problems with violence that she'll carry for the rest of her life.

* IronicNurseryRhyme: Powder sings one of these during the brutal opening sequence of the episode: It's about a Zaunite singing to his "friend across the river" to spare some coin.
* IronicNurseryTune: In the opening scene, Powder sings a song about being poor and asking a friend across the river for a penny, promising not to envy. This as she covers her eyes to hide from the violence and dead bodies from Enforcers of Piltover gunning down an uprising by the people of Zaun furious at the wealth disparity.

* DownerBeginning: The very first scene of the episode--and of the series as a whole--shows a young Vi and Powder walking across a bridge where a violent conflict has taken place, only to discover the dead bodies of their parents.

* DownerBeginning: The very first scene shows a young Vi and Powder walking across a bridge where a violent conflict has taken place, only to discover the dead bodies of their parents.

* EstablishingCharacterMoment: The show and Vi's first scene as a child showcase many of the character traits that define her. She's trying to protect Powder from the violence around them by having her sing a song while covering her eyes, but Powder still ends up seeing the corpses of their parents showing that despite her best intentions, she can harm Powder (or at least, fail to protect her). Vi visibly tries to hold it together yet can't help but break down crying, foreshadowing that despite her tough personality, she's still just as emotionally vulnerable as anyone else. Finally, when she's being carried away by Vander, she curls her fist while glaring pure hate at the Enforcers, revealing the desire to solve problems with violence that she'll carry for the rest of her life.

* ProperlyParanoid: Mylo complains about the door on Jayce's balcony being locked in a "Who locks their balcony doors?" kind of way. Considering he's trying to break in, evidently it was a good decision. [[spoiler: If anything, Jayce should have been more paranoid and locked up his hextech crystals.]]

* CoverInnocentEyesAndEars: Powder covers her own eyes in the opening sequence, implied to be at Vi's behest, while they walk across the bridge where a brutal fight has just taken place. Unfortunately, Powder still ends up seeing her and Vi's dead bodies.