TSA Escalation League 2025: Giacommo Di Merlo, Empire Captain

 Having served well as a general for the first round, it is time for my hedgewizard to relinquish command to a true general.

Or well, that is what it looks like...

My Captain of the Empire now takes command of the force, and what better model is suitable for a Marienburg army then the classic Imperial Noble from Warhammer Quest, still one of the coolest models around in my opinion.

He is only equipped with light armour though (and of course a pistol) as that is just what the model looks like.  For magic items it was all dependant on my battle result from round 1, as I was low on points, but he goes to war with XXX.

Now the plan is that in later rounds a true general of the Empire will take over command from the captain, but that will all depend on how the points acquisition will go during the course of the League.  For now, this foppish nobleman will lead the army of Marienburg in battle though!

And together with the command groups and the Doomseeker, that also rounds out the additions to the force for the second round of the League...

Obi-Wan Kenobi

 Time to work away some more on that backlog, and this time it is the 6 episode long series around Obi-Wan Kenobi.

Taking place after Revenge of the Sith, it follows Obi-Wan as he exiled himself to Tattooine to oversee the safety of Anakin's son, Luke Skywalker.

 

It has been ten years since Order 66 and the near extinction of the Jedi, as Obi-Wan, now going by the name of Ben, is living on Tattooine to watch over and protect one of the children of his former padawan.  Obi-Wan has lost his connection with the The Force,  and Owen, Luke's uncle, doesn't like him, thinking his presence is a danger for the boy.  Inquisitors, led by the Grand Inquisitor, arrive to hunt down a Jedi named Nari, but one of them, the Third Sister, is obsessed with finding Kenobi instead.

She even goes so far to have bounty hunters kidnap Leia from Alderaan, in an effort to lure out the ageing Jedi master.  Nari looks for help with Kenobi, but he refuses and tells the man to go hide instead.  But he is flushed out and hanged from a bridge in the city, and when Bail Organa visits Obi-Wan, he reluctantly agrees to go out and look for Leia.  He tracks her kidnappers to the planet Daiyu, but with the help of a con-man he manages to rescue her.

However, as the Grand Inquisitor learns of this, he puts the city in lockdown, but they escape with the help of the con-man Haja as the Grand Inquisitor is stabbed by the Third Sister, who doesn't want her leader to get all the glory for her hard work, but causing as such their quarry to get away, but not before she reveals to Obi-Wan that Anakin is still alive and is actually Darth Vader.

Vader instructs her to find Kenobi, promising her the rank of Grand Inquisitor is she succeeds in doing so.  About to be captured at the relay point, they are helped by a woman named Tala, who is a member of an underground movement to smuggle dissidents out of Imperial reach.  Vader arrives and orders the execution of innocents, drawing out Kenobi as such to confront him.  He is saved by Tala, but the Third Sister captures Leia and brings her to the Inquisitorial fortress.

Kenobi and Tala set out after her, and inside he finds a trophy vault of dead Jedi, including one of the younglings from the Revenge of the Sith.  They escape and Vader takes out his anger on the Third Sister, only sparing her as she revealed she had a tracker put on their ship.  They follow them and lay siege to the base of the underground movement, as Kenobi learn the Third Sisters name, Reva, who was a youngling in the Jedi temple during the massacre, and she wants his favor to come close to him and kill him for revenge.  Tala is killed in helping with the retreat, as Reva tries to take down Vader when he is not paying attention, but is quickly defeated by him.  Left for the dead, the original Grand Inquisitor arrives, reaffirming his status and telling how she was tricked.  

But she survives and learns of Luke's presence of Tattooine, setting course there.  Kenobi confronts Vader in an epic duel, and during the battle his true powers and connection with the Force reawaken, as he realizes Anakin is truly gone and taken over by the Vader personae.  He defeats Vader, but leaves him alive (why Obi-Wan, you could have ended a lot of misery... twice), as he sets course after Reva as he learns Luke is in danger.  Reva had managed to overpower Owen and Beru and take Luke, but can't bring herself to kill him.  She brings him back, throwing off the yokes of the Empire as she leaves.

Obi-Wan settles things with Owen and gets to meet Luke for the first time "really", before heading into the Sand Dunes to retake his watch, and reconnecting with the Force spirit of his master Qui-Gon...

So this was a fun adventure series, with an excellent Ewan McGregor giving a closure to his character, and some nice plot hole fillings.  Definitly one of the better Star Wars series released, and just good fun to watch for some space opera action.

Doctor Who special: Revolution of the Daleks

 Set between seasons 12 and 13, this special features Jodie Whittaker as The Doctor, and follows directly on the season 12 finale.

Which does make it a sort of required viewing between those two...

 

Becuase it begins with the Doctor still in the Judoon prison, while back on Earth a reconnaisance Dalek shell is intercepted by Jack Robertson to fund a defence drone program.  Graham, Ryan and Yaz confront him about it, but they are revoked as it is for a government contract to make the UK safe again.

 

One of his scientists, Leo, discovers organic cells in the remains of the Dalek, and clones it into a creature which escapes and takes control of him.  In the meantime, the Doctor is sprung from jail by Jack Harkness and rejoins her companions, being away far longer then she thought she had been.  The Dalek's reveal their plan to take over Earth, causing the Doctor to send a signal and lead a Death Squad of Dalek's to Earth, who are only looking to make the Dalek race free of impurities.  They destroy the cloned models, but as Robertson tries to make a deal, he reveals the Doctor is on Earth as well.

 

 

The Dalek's give chase to her, but she manages to trick them using the Master's old Tardis, and sending them into the Void.  Once calm has returned though, Ryan and Graham say their goodbye's to the Doctor, having found their purpose and go off to pursue their new life goals.

 

And so we are ready for season 13 when the Doctor returns, and up to date with the changes that this has brought along compared to the season 12 finale!

Fabelzel 3D printed Blunderbuss additions and some odds and ends

 Time to boost the forces a bit with the upcoming tournaments!

 

And to that end, I painted up some more Blunderbusses for my regiment.

 

Like the initial "line of 10", they are 3D printed models from the excellent Fabelzel line, which gives an updated look to the old school big hat esthetic.

 

 With this addition, the regiment now features 20 strong, so we can go blasting away at short but deadly range, with a theoretical potential of 60 shots in The Old World for them.

 

I also finished some small things alongside them, in the form of a small wall section, and a movement tray for the warriors.  Nothing fancy, but it needs to be done in the end...

 

 

 

That won't be happining to soon, but one never knows after all...

Doctor Who season 12

 It's the second season of Jodie Whittaker as the Doctor, and this has been one hell of a rollercoaster ride season for sure!

Though, the downside is that it lacked some "lighter" episodes that are often around in seasons of Doctor Who, the 10 epsiodes brimmed with dark and gloomy arcs this time.

Because we get to see Jack Harkness return, but aslo the Cybermen, a strange unknown incarnation of The Doctor and the secret of the Timeless Child.  But it all starts when the Doctor is summoned to MI6, after secret agents from various agencies have been put in a coma that is rewriting their DNA.  Their only lead is Daniel Barton, the CEO of a multimedia company, as they seek out Agent O who has been monitoring extraterrestial life.  It turns out that the cullprits are an alien race called the Kasaavin, but that Agent O is in charge of it all, being none other then a returned and regenerated Master.  

Captured in the aliens dimension, the Doctor meets Ada Lovelace, and they both go back to 1834.  Through circumstances though, they end up in Paris during world war II, where the Doctor meets with the Master who tells her Gallifrey has been destroyed.  The Master is exposed to the Kasaavin, and they take him away as the Doctor goes to see the destroyed Gallifrey for herself, and learns from a recording by the Master that their lives are based on lies.

On an uninhabital world, the Doctor and her companions come into contact with Dregs, who are out to kill all the inhabitants of a spa located there.  Even though a few people are rescued by the Doctor, this was an episode that had serious "Alien" influences, and perhaps the grimmest of the series.  They next need to ward of an alien invasion with the help of Thomas Edison and Nicola Tesla, as later the Judoon arrive looking for a fugitive.  Her companions are snagged away to a spaceship, piloted by Captain Jack, who sends them back to the Doctor with the warning from the future.  As Ruth, the target of the Judoon, regains her memories, she and the Doctor unbury the Tardis near a light house, as Ruth is seemingly a reincarnation of the Doctor, but neither can remember the other, and the mystery of the two Doctors remains unexplained.

With an ecological crisis averted next, they are faced by a nightmare inducing alien that claims to be an ancient god, and who tricks them into freeing his companion.  But they manage to turn the tables on them, as they go to 1816 afterwards meeting Mary Shelly.  

 

 

There the words of Captain Jack come into being, as a lone cyberman called Ashad is looking for the Cyberium, containing all the knowledge of the destroyed empire of the Cybermen.  Arriving at the last outpost in the future of humanity, they must face and stop the reawakening Cybermen empire, and they learn of a portal carrying people to safety.  Opening it, it brings them to Gallifrey, where the Master reappears and imprisons her in the Matrix of Knowledge.  It reveals to her that she is actually an orphaned child from another dimension, and through genome extraction her finder created the race of Time-Lords.  The Master absorbs the Cyberium as Ashad and the Cybermen arrive, and converts dead Time Lords into special Cybermen, the CyberMasters.  Ruth reappears, helping the Doctor escape the Matrix, and together with the last rebellion soldier from the Cybermen war the Master is stopped.  But as they return to Earth, Judoon appear, putting a personality crisis suffering Doctor away in a prison far in space...

And so the season ends, and it was one with a lot of twists and turns for sure.  Now seperated from her companions and in prison, the Doctor not only has to figure out a way to get back, but also to figure out who or what she actually is.

Guess we get to see some answers to those in the upcoming Christmas Special then!

Pariah Nexus

 Right, time to give another one of those Games Workshop franchise made cartoons a go.

Though I must admit, I liked Blacktalons for the story, the style of animation, for a "connoisseur" of the japanese anime style, isn't really down my alley.  Luckily, this series is a full CGI project, making it look more as an exquisite videogame cutscene movie of high definition.

But, never the less, I sat down and watched this short 3 episode series set in the Warhammer 40k universe.  Set on the planet Paradyce, overrun by Necrons, sister Danica of the Adeptus Sororitas is fighting a desperate last stand.  When teamed up with a guardsman, she runs into Sa'Kar of the Salamanders chapter, who is trying to save the civilians she seems unworthy of saving, fuelled by her hate for the planet to have fallen.

The Necron Illuminor Szeras activated a Deathmark assassin to hunt them down, and just when Danica comes through her hate-fuelled hallucinations, the assassin shoots her down before the Salamander destroys it.  Sa'Kan manages to save a children, sending them west, he goes to hunt Szeras.

But in true 40k style, when the children arrive at the next camp, they are gunned down by the military in order to prevent a brain affecting sickness infesting them...

So, short and grim, and fitting for the 40k universe.  The opposing points of view between Sa'Kar and Danica play out nicely though for such a short series, and it is worth the watch if you are into the game.  

After all, worst that can happen if you don't like it, is that you only spend an hour of your time...

On Tour to the Frituur 13: Don Potatoes in Wijnegem

 It was a wet and cold winter's day, when I wandered the streets of Wijnegem (okay, I had to drop something of at the MR point there), when the smell of fries filled my nostrils.

And following my nose, it brought me to Don Potatoes in Wijnegem, located on the mainstreet near the market.

The owners are chinese, so I knew the fries would be well baked, as they all seem to have mastered the art of the non-greasy, dry baking style.  I went in, and placed my order as such with the friendly lady at the counter, while her husband toiled away baking fries.

 

 

It has a wide selection of snacks, and a very ample sitting room to consume your food, making use of those electronic beepers to indicate when your meal is ready for collection.  

My Order

I went for the usual to start out, being a small fries with spices and fresh tartare sauce, together with a berepoot.  But I also took a curryworst special (I had asked a cervela but it seems she misheard), which is mayonaisse, ketchup and fresh onion sauce, and a can of coke.  All this put me back 13.00 euro, which are the regular prices all around here for that size of order.

The fries where baked just fine, but the spices (or salt if you prefer) are to be added yourself, and the pot was empty.  I didn't ask for a refill, for no other reason then that I was to lazy, so nothing against that for the matter.  The meat was also baked fine, though I can't seem to find another place like my homestretch frituur where they actually put a whole onion in a berepoot, being some slices here instead.

Conclusion

Nothing wrong to say about this place, but I must say also nothing spectacular standing out.  It is just a decent place, good food, normal prizes, ample seating... just how it all should be, no more, no less and as such I will give it a decent 7.5 score.

A fine spot to drop by as such, though on the midday hour it might get busy with a big school almost right next door, so keep that in mind for a quick lunch!

Warlord Games Bad Santa Pike & Shotte Mystery Box

 So I decided to try one of those mystery boxes Warlord Games releases every now and then.

And for Bad Santa, they had the option between a variety of them, so to have a look at what all this is about, I took the jump and ordered the Pike & Shotte one.

The boxes are priced at 60 euro (and 15 euro shipping to Belgium), and stated to have at least double the value in them.  Now, if it is not the epic scale stuff, that would mean a win in any case, as the full range can be used in my budding Empire force, OR if it are Feudal Japan sets they can go into the still someday planned to finish, Great Wall movie inspired Cathay army for 8th edition warhammer.

As they where released to the public on the 20th of january, my box duly arrived at the XXth, and let's have a look at what is inside!  In an ideal world for my Escalation League, that would be a box of Landsknechts with Zweihanders and some sort of Cannon or Mortar, while pure pike armed troops would be of the least use.

 

So those are the contents of the box, and that means it is time to make a little calculation of what the RRP of all the items together is, and it defintily was worth the value!

I will be buying more of these boxes in the future, and even while this box contained basically everything for a starter army in the English Civil War, the models will all be drafted into the Empire of course...

Plus-sized Elf Specials

 After the fun series, it is time for the two specials: Muffin Top Lovers and Calorie Lovers.

These bonus episodes where released on the Blu-Ray after initially being aired on the streaming service.

In the first special, Muffin Top Island, the girls are invited by Tomoatsu and his boss, Akiho, to a secluded island resort.  But while the girls are trying to enjoy themselves, mysterious things start to happen, like Laika being pulled down in the sand when she tries to capture a tentacle.  Later, they have a barbeque, a kraken emerges, responsible for the misschief caused so far.  The girls face off, but their powers are insufficient against a creature of that size.  

But Gonda, mad that the beast tries to ruin their island experience, angrily attacks it with her flaming dragon breath, inadvertently burning off the other girl's swimsuits.  The girls see the beast retreat and tend to Tomoatsu, who is in shock after witnessing Gonda's attack...

In the second special, Calorie Lovers, Tomoatsu finds himself in an alternate high school romatic comedy setting, surrounded by the girls all vying for his attention.  This even goes as far as Oeda, their teacher, trying to seduce him and the girls all pouring water over themselves to expose their breasts after they see him offer his jacket to Kusahanada.  It turns out he promised to marry one of them back when they where children, and they all still swoon over him for that.  But a new diet supplement has started turning people into zombies which shifts the romcom to a zombie survival... and it all turns out to be a nightmare imposed on him by Satero, and while she is defeated by Kuroeda, he wakes up finding both girls naked on top of him.

So, two more episodes in the trend of the original series: quite funny and quite ecchi, so I wasn't complaining hehehe.

On the Painting Desk 314

 This week's update is rather modest in progress, yet "behind the scenes" I got some serious stuff done.

Mainly glueing together models for near-future projects, like my Combat Patrol for a tournament in may.

Talking tournaments, the painting that did get done this week is on the blunderbusses, as these are the first in line to complete.  The mortar is just tagging along for the ride, as they share the same colours.

Once they are done, the little classic halfling will be done, before starting on the next tournament unit with the Sneaky Gitz, as well as the Pistoliers for the Escalation League.  Busy times ahead in other words!

Check back next week on how far we have got!

TSA Escalation League 2025: Round 1 - Civil War

 And so we are off in the Escalation League, as the lines are put down for the first battle in the campaign for my Marienburg force.

And opposing me in the 500 points game was Jason, who also brought along the Empire of Man, so a civil war is the ideal skirmish to begin the campaign with...

So my force stood ready for battle, though "efficient" might be something else, as I wanted the feel of a ragtag band of local soldiers, not even carrying colours or the likes as they are taken aback by a roving hedgewizard shouting they are under attack.

Opposing me was another Empire of Man force from Middenheim, which consisted of a level 2 wizard with Ring of Ruin and Battle Magic, 5 Knights, 10 Crossbowmen, 5 Outriders and 2 units of 5 Archer scouts.

Generating my spells, I got Summon Elemental Spirit, so I would be able to use my vortex model, and Wind Blast.  The scenario was a straight Open Battle, and the campaign bonus objective was Hold the Ground, so from turn 2 onwards scoring units (on my side only the general, for him the general and the knights) needed to be within 6" of the central skull to generate tokens.  Most tokens at the end would claim the bonus objective.

I had first turn, and my force advanced forward.  My wizard managed to manifest the Summon Elemental Spirit in front of his knights, blocking their route to the heart of my force.

I did some minor casualties, with one scouting archer unit reduced to a single member, and the other losing only a single one.

The knights moved sideways to evade the spirit, as the first handgunners where shot down.

Combined fire from those spooky Outriders, Fireballs and Crossbows wreaked havoc on my Greatswords, nearly half their number falling but they remained steady.

With turn 2 now on, it was time I tried to do some real damage though, or this would be a very swift defeat.

My wizard casted Wind Blast, causing a panic test on the crossbows with his general.  They where first pushed back 2 inches, then failed their panic test and ran away a further 11 inch.  As they had deployed 12 inch in, this meant they ran off the battlefield, taking his general along with them!

His knights readied themselves to charge my crossbowmen though, as my Greatswords where obliterated.   My general decided to leg it as a result, as a unit was destroyed within 6 inches...

He failed to rally in my turn, and the crossbows couldn't take down a single knight in front of them.  But then they charged, and as a result of the stand and shoot lost one of their number.  They failed the panic, running through the Elemental Spirit but taking no loss from it.  

 

On the other side, the Handgunners where all shot down by the sick amount of dice the Outriders throw out, and they hit rather easily as well.  I think lady Margritta needs to send a fat paycheck to the Engineers guild in the nearby future...

My halberdiers charged on his knights, pushing them closer to their own edge, but my wizard failed to rally, running onwards.

In his turn the knights had rallied, and I moved my forces closer to receive the charge.  In the meantime, my wizard had rallied and he re-cast the vortex in the hope it would become an annoyance for his Outriders.  The inevitable charge of the knights came on the halberdiers in his next turn.

My wizard was then (just) gunned down, but the halberds managed to draw combat in the first round, taking down his standard in doing so, while in my turn they killed the last remaining Knight for no loss of their own.

His missile fire dwindled them down a bit, but as the game kept continuing, they charged the Outriders and the archer.  The Outriders Fire and Fled, but where shot down by the crossbows as they did so, while the lone archer was hacked down by the halberds.

In the final turn, his last two archers where taken out, leaving the field to the forces of Marienburg.  

Victory was my part to kick off the campaign, and I had scored the bonus objective thanks to the turn my general and his greatswords had lingered next to the objective.  The Wind Blast was the moment of the match, but the real winner for me was the Crossbowmen, who got, admittedly, lucky on the Stand and Shoot, but eliminated stragglers afterwards as well.

 

This means that all the available bonus points for round 2 have been scored, and the force will be boosted to 740 points for the next game, which will be against the Orcs and Goblin tribes of Patrick.  Now to go on a shopping spree to bump the quality up this time round instead of the numbers...

But that will be a tale for next month!

TSA Escalation League 2025: Jinxie the Doomseeker

 Okay, this is a little special addition to my budding Empire of Man army for The Old World, drawn from the Mercenary section.

Just a little innocent Dwarfess hailing from nearby Karak Zaun, looking for her step-sister who apparently joined some local militia... and who is so rebellious, she even refused to dye her hair that unfashionably, boring orange...

 

It felt fitting to include Mercenaries, as I themed my army around Marienburg who buys it's army more then train it after all.  I also deny any coincidence in looks and names with a certain other crazed long blue haired pop culture icon!

And the cheapest mercenary that as such could be included is a Doomseeker, a crazed Dwarf Slayer whose general goal in life if to end it's life.  The model was bought ages ago from a polish company, as I was upping the collection for solo games and adventures, no idea what one it exactly was though.

But I painted this lovely naked Dwarfess up, so if you like them thick, she is ideal.  I also opted for obvious reasons to paint her hair blue instead of orange, namely it contrasts better against the bare skin and goes along with the tattoos rather well that way.  And the fact as a Chaos Dwarf player by heart, every dead regular Dwarf is a good Dwarf, so it is great if they actually help to achieve this!

Now to start thinkering away on a unit of Ogre mercenaries as well...

Fafner Dead Aggressor - Heaven and Earth

 Time to watch some more of my Fafner backlog, the excellent mecha anime which I failed to watch all during last year's backlog goal.

But, that doesn't mean I would cast it aside for long, and I sat down and watched this OVA movie, Heaven and Earth.

 

Set around two years after the events of the original series, where the Festum have been defeated and left the world in peace.  Soushi promised Kazuki that he would one day return, but instead stays hidden from his friends on Tatsumiya Island.

 

 

One day a mysterious boy arrives on the island, Misao Kurusu, who may not be entirely human and claims that Soushi has send him, but with his arrival hostilities start up again.  The island becomes the target of a faction of the now fractured Festum forces, who arrive with a carrier with their Mir core aboard.

 

The pilots, the younger ones of the series now full pilots but without experience, and the veterans with their scars are tossed in a fierce battle against the aliens, while a young girl called Miwa might become the new core of the island as she can seemingly talk with the Mir.  

The battle gets desperate, but then Soushi enters the fray through Misao, tipping the balance and preventing the island from falling, the peace of no less then two races riding on their shoulders and bringing a truce back to the island.  

This was a high action movie of an excellent mecha franchise, and it didn't spend to much time on looking back or explaining who is who.  This does mean you will have to have seen the original series in order to be able to get a notion of what happens, as it sets us up for the Exodus series for the anime franchise.

Worth watching if you like high paced mecha anime, and the Fafner story!

Arcane season 2

 First thing I noticed: they added League of Legends to the title.

Second thing: Stromae made his comeback after years of being away from the public eye, and his new song My Meilleure Ennemie has trashed the streaming numbers for 2024, even though it only came out end of november.

The series begins with Jayce and Mel surviving the rocket attack alongside a few other councillors, but Caitlyn's mother is amongst the casualties.  Viktor is mortally wounded, prompting Jayce to fuse the Hexcore with him to save his life.  Pushed by Ambessa, retaliation is planned against Zaun, but the use of Hextech weapons is blocked by Mel.

During an attack at a funeral for the fallen councilors, Renni and her men attack but Ambessa and her Noxian warriors arrive and kill them all.  A taskforce led by Caitlyn is formed to go and capture Jinx and to end the shimmer production.  But in Zaum, there is distrust amongst the Chem-barons, one of them, Smeech, even proposing to hand over Jinx to have their production not disturbed.  Jinx runs into a young orphan, Isha, and they decide to tag along together after she is saved from an ambush by her.  Ekko and Heimerdinger decide to sneak into the Academy to discuss a magical corruption manifesting at the tree in the Firelight's hideout.

Vi is concerned by the aggressive take Caitlyn displays on their mission, as Mel is abducted by a Noxian sorceress cult, the Black Rose, who are linked to Ambessa.  Jayce, Heimerdinger and Ekko discover a "wild rune" in the Hextech vault.  Vi and Cailtyn corner Jinx, but Vi stops Caitlyn shooting at Jinx with the child Isha shielding her, allowing Jinx to escape.  This leads to Ambessa declaring martial law in Piltover.  A force of Piltover and Noxians occupy Zaun, as the series makes a short time jump forward, with Jayce, Heimerdinger and Ekko missing, Caitlyn and Vi having broken up, and Jinx becoming a legend...

Starting a revolt, and encoutering a werewolf hybrid Singed has created in secret, Jinx and Sevika decide to free Zaun from their oppressors.  The beast is none other then Vander, and Jinx goes to seek out Vi who has become a pit fighter after her break-up with Caitlyn.  Singed through identity is deducted by Caitlyn, as Mel finds herself in a Black Rose prison where she is reunited with her thought dead brother Kino.  But he is al illusion, and it causes her latent powers to be manifest.  Jayce, having encountered visions inside the Wild Rune, is released by it and scarred by the experience vows to destroy all Hextech.

Jinx, Vi and Isha take Vander to Viktor's hideout in an effort to have him healed, as Viktor tries to bring his humanity to the fore.  But they are tracked by Ambessa and Caitlyn, and Vi is captured by them.  Ambessa orders Viktor's progress to be reversed, but it is revealed Caitlyn and Vi where in league with each other, as Jayce infiltrates the camp and kills Viktor, provoking a physical backlash of those he healed.  Vander goes berserk, and Isha sacrifices herself to try and stop him.  Ekko and Heimerdinger find themselves in a parallel universe, where Hextech was never invented.  They need to work together with Powder, who never became Jinx in this universe, to create a time-reversal device... and here the awesome song enters the fray.  

A small sidenote: I was driving the car at 9.07 in the morning, the moment the song actually hit, and heard the radio go all crazy as our elected "Greatest Belgian" made his comeback.  And boy, what a comeback that was!

 

Ekko is returned to his universe, at the cost of Heimerdinger, who vanishes with his fate unknown.  Jayce is transported to a post-apocalyptic world, reuniting with the hooded figure that gave him the runestone when he was a child.  Learning that this future is the result of Viktor's actions, he promises to stop him before being send back by the figure, leading to the events that happened at the sanctuary.  Following the attack, Singed used Vander's remains to save Viktor as Vi confronts Caitlyn about Jinx's arrest.  But as she goes to see her sister she is outsmarted and Jinx escapes.  Mel has become fully embraced by her magical powers, escaping her prison, and encounters Jayce, as they are attacked by an emmisary of Viktor.  Caitlyn finds Vi in the cell, and they reconcile in a sweaty way, I love Vi's back tattoo ;-)

 

 

Ambessa allies with Viktor and they prepare to attack Piltover, as the troops, joined by the Zaunites, hold the line.  Jinx, persuaded from suicide by Ekko, arrive to save the city from falling just in the nick of time, as our heroes face off their enemies.  Caitlyn and Mel face Ambessa, overcoming her at the cost of the eye of the former, while Vi and Jinx face Vander.  Viktor uses his powers as he controls the Wild Rune, but Ekko remains out of the brainwashing grasp thanks to his time device.  He reveals the hooded figure from his past was none other then a future Viktor, who wants to stop the destruction his current version is about to cause.

But Vander remains feral, and Jinx seems to sacrifice herself to finally stop him, as the attack is stopped.  Vi and Caitlyn ponder their future, but Caitlyn suspects Jinx did escape at the final moment, having gone in hiding to break the cycle of violence...

So this was a fantastic series for certain, even though the second is a bit weaker then the first, it still was a stand out production with awesome art.  Go watch this if you haven't, even like me you never played the game more then 2 weeks...