Jayce Talis was a main character in Arcane. An ambitious, intelligent, and compassionate man, he and his mother were saved by arcane magic and he became dedicated to finding a way to harness this magic. By becoming partners with the Zaunite inventor Viktor, they successfully achieve his goal in creating Hextech. Jayce is later appointed councillor and supported by his lover, Mel Medarda, but struggles between these new responsibilities and his and Viktor's dream of saving lives.
Biography[]
Early life[]
When Jayce was young, he and his mother got caught in a snowstorm, seemingly with no one around for miles. Just when his mother collapsed, a cloaked man arrived who used magic to warp them a safe distance away from the blizzard. The man left Jayce the crystal he'd used for his spell. This encounter shaped young Jayce's desire to learn more about magic and conduct research to harness magic through science later in his life.[2]
Being part of House Talis, a family of renowned toolmakers most known for their hammers and the collapsible pocket wrench, most expected Jayce to join their family business.[2][3] Jayce, however, was determined in his research into science and the Arcane. Eventually, he became a scholar at the Academy in Piltover, where he was favored by the Dean and the Head of the Council, Professor Heimerdinger, and by the Kirammans, who saw his ambition and decided to support him as his patron.[2]
Season 1[]
Act 1[]
Sometime after buying supplies from Benzo's in the Lanes,[4][2] Jayce returned to his workshop just in time for him to realize that it had been broken into. One of the children inside accidentally dropped one of his many unstable crystals and caused an explosion. This alerted Heimerdinger, the authorities, and the Council of his unauthorized research, and he was put on trial in front of the Council.
Despite Heimerdinger's suggestion, Jayce told the Council about his research being for harnessing magic through science, invoking fear among the Council of the dangers of unchecked magic in the hands of those with no innate Arcane talent. Councilor Bolbok moved to have Jayce exiled, after which Jayce's mother stepped forward and pled his case. Heimerdinger allowed it and instead asked the Council for a more lenient punishment—Jayce's expulsion from the Academy. Councilor Kiramman turned her back on Jayce. However, their daughter Caitlyn maintained her belief in him, and he was resigned to the idea that he would have to follow in his father's footsteps after all.
That research is everything. My… my whole life.
To Jayce, his punishment was worse than death, to the point where he contemplated jumping off of his former workshop's building before he was stopped by Viktor, the Dean's assistant, who decided to help him with his research.[2] With Viktor's advice, Jayce realized how he could stabilize the crystals. Racing against time to prove the efficacy of his research the day before his equipment is scheduled to be destroyed, Viktor helped him break into Heimerdinger's laboratory to reclaim his crystals and test their theory.
Their attempts with their new calculations caused bright lights and a minor explosion that caught the attention of Heimerdinger and the enforcers. Still, by the time they'd forced their way into the laboratory, the crystal had stabilized, with Jayce, Viktor, and other objects around them floating in the air with the crystal. Though Heimerdinger was impressed, he was still conflicted about embracing it due to the risks it posed, but the ambitious Councilor Medarda arrived and proclaimed that they should bring it to the Council.[5]
Act 2[]
- Mel Medarda
- Jayce
- — "The Base Violence Necessary for Change"
Uh, Hextech. For the era of Hextech.
Jayce eventually earned the support of the other Councilors. Years later, Jayce met the Council's conditions to allow him and Viktor to continue their research—they further stabilized the crystal and created Hexgates that revolutionized trade and transportation for Piltover and the world, putting Piltover on the map as the global shipping lane. He and Viktor hoped to present their latest findings where their stable Hextech Gemstone could be used to power tools to make work easier for their laborers. Though impressed, Heimerdinger advised the two that they needed more time to ensure its safety.
For Progress Day, the Council had Jayce give the speech addressing the attendees, an honor usually only done by Heimerdinger. Before the end of the day, a Zaunite stole the Gemstone; in fear of the thief potentially weaponizing it, Jayce suggested to the Council that they shut down all Hextech operations, worrying the Councilors who had business dependent on the gates. Mel then recommended that Jayce be instated as a Council member to serve his goal of safeguarding the Hexgates better and thus all matters dependent on it—a radical suggestion since the Council has traditionally only held seven seats. With Heimerdinger's agreement, the rest of the Council followed, and Jayce became the eighth Councilor.[3]
Jayce along with Viktor go to the inside of the Piltovan Hexgate, where he contemplates the blueprints of the structure and realizes how many discrepancies lay inside. Viktor tells him that they should be more worried about the people that need their help instead of politics, but Marcus arrives and Jayce aggressively pushes the man about the corruption in their government and provides a list of suspicious transactions. Marcus tells him that their lead suspect of who stole the gemstone being the Firelights. Jayce sees Viktor coughing over the rails of the Hexgate and asks if he is alright, but is brushed off as Viktor leaves.
Jayce later joins Viktor at the lab and learns of the Hexcore. He asks if it is safe, to which Viktor replies “of course not”.
Jayce joins Mel at the theater where a musician plays. She warns Jayce that by enforcing more security, he’s made himself the enemy of several merchants and councilors. He tells her that he is reluctant to compromise the safety of the Hexgates for what he views as the other councilors' corruption, but Mel assures him that he would only be doing “favors among friends”, and as a symbol of the future, he should be able to shape his own destiny. A merchant, Amara, arrives and Jayce uses this opportunity to strike a deal with her. He agrees to restore her trading privileges as well as gain further benefits as an enterprise partner in exchange for financial support. One by one, he meets other councilors (except Heimerdinger) and begins to strike deals with them much to Mel’s pleasure.
Mel joins the man as he returns home, and commends him for his work at the theater and they talk further about Hextech’s future. Jayce is suddenly kissed by Mel, and they go on to have sex. Jayce learns that Viktor had had an episode of his sickness and leaves Mel to be by Viktor’s side. When the man wakes up, Jayce tells him that he has limited time to live. [6]
Jayce appears at Mel’s home and apologizes for his sudden disappearance. He sits down and tells Mel that Viktor was dying, to which Mel asks why he came to her. Jayce says that nothing feels impossible when he’s with her, and Mel confesses that she is an exile from her family. Mel suggests that he should be by Viktor’s side.
Later, Viktor shows him the capabilities of the Hexcore and how it brought immense and rapid growth to a plant, potentially signifying that it could cure Viktor. Though, the plant would shrivel up and die soon after. Jayce tries to cheer the man up, and claims that they could make it work somehow. Heimerdinger joins them and watches the demonstration but says they should destroy it, but Jayce stands in his way and claims it is for the council to decide. Viktor decides to go to an old friend, and Jayce gets ready for the council meeting.
At the council meeting Heimerdinger argues his side to the council of why the hexcore should be destroyed, but Jayce steps up and claims they should hold Heimerdinger responsible, citing shimmer’s influence on the undercity and the attacks on the city square. Jayce wins the side of the council and by a vote, has Heimerdinger retired. [7]
Act 3[]
Jayce is working in his family’s blacksmithing forge, where Mel appears and compliments his work. She discusses the displeasure of the shutdown border between the undercity and uppercity, to which Jayce claims that they should be. Mel sees the explosive device “from the firelights” Jayce had received from Marcus, and asks if that is why he is agitated. Jayce adds the fact that he betrayed his mentor, to which Mel consoles him. Jayce tells her that he doesn't know where Viktor nor Caitlyn are, and Mel leaves him in the forge with the promise that she would stall the council so he could continue on working.
Jayce gets word from Marcus that Viktor had crossed the shutdown border, and goes to the bridge to talk to him. Viktor is shocked that Jayce was the one who ordered the blockade, to which Jayce asks him why he was down in the undercity. Viktor tells him that he was consoling a friend (Singed), and Jayce retorts that the people from the undercity are dangerous. Viktor reminds him that he himself is from the undercity, and refuses the man's help. Jayce apologies.
At the workshop, Viktor inspects the explosive device as Jayce and Mel watch. Jayce thinks they have made a crack in Hextech, and Viktor doesn’t rule out the possibility. Mel suggests that they should have weapons prepared in case they have cracked the technology to Jayce and Viktor’s angered response saying that Hextech is against making weapons. Mel leaves the decision to Jayce, of which he hesitates and wonders if Mel is right. Viktor questions if he is really thinking about making the weapons, which leads to a further strain in their partnership.
Jayce goes to his mother's house, hugs her, and tells her that he is afraid that he may have to do something he never thought he had in him.[8]
Jayce arrives at the Bridge of Progress with Mel and sees the countless dead bodies of enforcers due to the Ekko vs Jinx fight, and he vomits into the river.
Later, Jayce meets with Ambessa Medarda (Mel’s mother) as she is taking a bath. She strongly encourages him to create Hextech weaponry, and he is initially dismissive of her advice because of her different government ideals in Noxus, but she eventually convinces him of the true dangers of the undercity.
At the council meeting Jayce presents the explosive Marcus had given him and Vi tells him it was Jinx who made it. He proposes using force against the undercity but the other councillors are unwilling to proceed further with force unless all diplomatic choices are unavailable, to which Vi angrily leaves.
Jayce begins creating Hextech weapons at his family’s forge, creating the Mercury Hammer. Vi appears, and offers him a chance to use force against Silco and the undericty’s corruption. Jayce initially threatens to arrest her but Vi convinces him against it, as they both share the goal of wanting to make Silco pay. Together, they go against the council and attack one of Silco’s shimmer manufacturing facilities. Jayce brings enforcers that begin arresting the workers (who are mainly children), when an army of Chemtanks arrive. He and Vi begin fighting them off with the use of the Mercury Hammer and Atlas Gauntlets, when Jayce accidentally blasts a child with his weapon. Seeing the boy’s dead body, Jayce tearfully tells Vi that he will no longer attack. Vi argues that people have been dying and that Jayce was just never there to watch, and Jayce demands that she take off the gauntlets. Vi refuses and claims he would have to fight her, to which Jayce and the enforcers leave. [9]
Jayce joins Viktor at the waters of Zaun where the man was about to jump, and the two have a heart-to-heart about their past and how everything has changed. Viktor tells Jayce that he must destroy the Hexcore, to which Jayce initially hesitates as it would be the only thing to save Viktor, but then agrees.
By dusk, Jayce meets with Silco and the two discuss diplomatic agreements to stop the fighting between the two cities. Silco wants independence for Zaun, access to the Hexgates, and more, to which Jayce is upset by. But, Jayce makes arrangements of his own and tells Silco that for Zaunite independence, he must hand over Jinx.
Jayce holds a meeting at the council and denounces the other councillors. He focuses on his recent unsanctioned, underground activities, but no longer cares what the council thinks of him. Viktor presents the arrangements Jayce had made with Silco much to the council’s shock and outrage, but after more talks, all vote for Zaun’s independence. Suddenly though, Jinx’s rocket crashes into the building. [10]
Season 2[]
Act 1[]
Jayce awakens after Jinx’s rocket devastated the council, and helps Mel up from the rubble. She and him look around, seeing Shoola walk by with an eye injury, Salo crushed underneath a large piece of wall and screaming, Irius Bolbok and Torman Hoskel’s dead bodies, but Jayce then sees Cassandra Kiramman’s body. He runs over to her to try and wake her up, only to realize that she is deceased. He then catches sight of Viktor who lays wounded in the rubble unresponsive. Tearing up, he grabs his partner’s body and begins to run to their lab. Jayce goes through Viktor’s notes about the Hexcore, realizing that he could use it to save his life. He uses tongs to grab the Hexcore, moving towards Viktor’s body where the two fuse into a cocoon-like structure.
Later, Jayce sits in the lab. Mel enters and ponders the cocoon Viktor is in, and Jayce tells her he can't figure out the Hexcore's intentions except that it wants to keep Viktor alive. Mel tells him of Ambessa’s plans with Salo and pushing for Hextech weaponry, which Jayce refuses to be involved in as it would break his promise to Viktor. Mel assures him that she won’t let the council go against his wishes.
Jayce finds Caitlyn at a garden, where the both of them console each other about the grief they are facing. Caitlyn tells him her conflicting feelings of wanting to kill Jinx, her love for Vi, and her grief for her mother. Jayce tells her about Viktor’s status as well as the Hextech weapons problem.
Jayce attends the Councillors memorial in the front row, before a cloaked figure appears behind him. It is revealed to be Renni, the Chem-baron mother of the boy he had killed in the shimmer factories. Jayce narrowly dodges her chainsaw weapon, and chaos breaks out amongst the crowd. He escapes into the backstage of the councillor statue where Renni follows, and Jayce grabs a hammer to try and fight back. While doing this Renni cuts through his back leaving a deep wound, leaving Jayce to crawl out onto the stage. Renni is about to deal the final blow when Vi appears with Jayce’s Mercury Hammer and blasts her backwards. Vi and him then see the Chemtanks fighting the others, where Jayce uses the last of his strength to help Vi charge the hammer. They miss the chemtank, but are saved by Ambessa.
In the forge, Jayce breaks his promise to Viktor as he creates a Hextech sniper, gun, shield, and fixes the Atlas Gauntlets for Caitlyn’s strike team, convinced from the attacks that the weapons were needed to win.[11]
Act 2[]
Act 3[]
Characteristics[]
Personality[]
Jayce is an ambitious, somewhat gullible (in earlier episodes), and creative person. In Act 1 of Season 1, he has a dream for Hextech and is confident in its potential. He has a passion for his invention and when he and Viktor successfully harness the Hex crystal, we see a child-like happiness from Jayce.
Later in Season 1, he becomes less gullible as he makes his way up to be the de-facto leader of The Council. He is more strong-willed with his decisions in politics. We also see his caring side when Viktor grows more sick, and he leaves Mel’s bedside to be with him.
In Season 2 he leaves behind his occupation as a Council member to pursue his and Viktor’s true dream for Hextech. He acted upon his emotions to save Viktor; by fusing him with the Hexcore to revive him. When Viktor leaves he becomes even more emotional, sleeping in the lab in hopes he would return.
In the Arcane, Jayce grows paranoid and aggressive. Between seeing hallucinations of Mel and Viktor, Viktor’s Soldiers, the pain of his broken leg, etc., he comes back to the normal universe with a strong passion to kill Viktor in hopes of saving everyone. He is aggressive in his actions, but only from his paranoia of the Soldiers and his experiences in the Arcane.
In Act 3, he is slightly less paranoid but still strong-willed about ending Viktor. In the Cosmic Realm where he talks to Viktor, he shows his true compassion for his partner. He says that Viktor’s “imperfections” were apart of what made Jayce admire him. In the end, he chooses to sacrifice himself to aid Viktor in ending the magic.
Appearance[]
Season 1[]
Jayce has a muscular build with tan skin. He has short dark brown hair with shaved sides. In Act 1, he wears his academy outfit that consists of a maroon dress shirt, white and blue vest, red necktie, and black pants. In the rest of the season, he wears a white and gold jacket with dark red shoulder pads that contain the Talis family crest. He has dark red pants and black boots.
Season 2[]
While stuck in the Arcane, Jayce becomes disheveled and dirty. His hair grows out into a middle part, and he grows a beard. His regular outfit is now un-buttoned; revealing a grey shirt underneath. His lips are chapped and scarred, and the Rune he had on his bracelet is now fused into his wrist. He disassembled his hammer to build a brace for his left leg.
Later on in the season, he cleans himself up and wears a black dress shirt and white jacket. He has brown gloves, large black and gold shoulder pads, and other gold detailing on his jacket.
In his Astral form, his body and hair change colors. His body is typically white, teal, pink, purple, and blue, while his hair is typically white or other colors his body shifts to. His face and hands remain his normal skin color, but with the edition of Viktor’s fingerprint on his forehead that are an array of iridescent colors (normally purple).
Abilities[]
- Ingenuity: Jayce can create many different inventions with passion. Such as his Mercury Hammer, Atlas Gauntlets, and Hexgates (with Viktor's help)
- Durability: He is able to survive for an extended period of time in a deserted cave and leg injury.
- Strength: Jayce is physically strong, as we see in the forge as well as his ability to use the Mercury Hammer.
Trivia[]
- In the Alternate Universe, it's been theorized that due to his explosion causing Vi to die, Viktor never came to partner with him and in term, nobody was there to stop him from committing suicide. Amanda Overton, co-writer of Arcane, confirmed via social media that Jayce and Viktor never met in this timeline.
- According to Christian Linke, one of the co-creators of Arcane, he confirmed that both Jayce and Viktor have disintegrated.
- In a Polygon interview with the executive producer of League of Legends, Paul Bellezza tossed around the idea of Viktor's ending in Arcane not being definitive when asked about League Viktor's death. This implies that Jayce's ending in Arcane wasn't definitive as well as Bellezza states, "so like the audience, we have to interpret what the show showed us of Jayce and Viktor's conclusion."[12]
- Amanda Overton, co-writer of Arcane, confirmed in a interview that they were writing Jayce and Viktor to have a "loving, brotherly relationship" but also said that she understands other fan interpretations.
Gallery[]
Relationships[]
Appearances[]
| Season One appearances: 8/9 | ||
| "Welcome to the Playground": Appears; Identity hidden |
"Some Mysteries Are Better Left Unsolved": In main story and flashback |
"The Base Violence Necessary for Change": Appears |
| "Happy Progress Day!": Appears |
"Everybody Wants to Be My Enemy": Appears |
"When These Walls Come Tumbling Down": Appears |
| "The Boy Savior": Appears |
"Oil and Water": Appears |
"The Monster You Created": Appears |
| Season Two appearances: 8/9 | ||
| "Heavy Is the Crown": Appears |
"Watch It All Burn": Appears |
"Finally Got the Name Right": Appears |
| "Paint The Town Blue": Mentioned only |
"Blisters And Bedrock": Appears |
"The Message Hidden Within The Pattern": Appears |
| "Pretend Like It's the First Time": Appears |
"Killing Is a Cycle": Appears |
"The Dirt Under Your Nails": Appears |
References[]
- ↑ Some Mysteries Are Better Left Unsolved, 1x02
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 Some Mysteries Are Better Left Unsolved, 1x02
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Happy Progress Day!, 1x04
- ↑ Welcome to the Playground, 1x01
- ↑ The Base Violence Necessary for Change, 1x03
- ↑ Everybody Wants to Be My Enemy, 1x05
- ↑ When These Walls Come Tumbling Down, 1x06
- ↑ The Boy Savior, 1x07
- ↑ Oil and Water, 1x08
- ↑ The Monster You Created, 1x09
- ↑ Heavy is the Crown, 2x01
- ↑ Bellezza on Jayce and Viktor's conclusion
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