Who is Kino? What happened to Mel’s brother in Arcane

Notice! This article contains spoilers for Arcane Season 2, Act II.

Arcane Season 2 reveals more about Mel’s brother Kino, expanding the mystery of what happened to him. The end of Arcane the first season allowed Ambessa Medarda, Mel and Kino’s mother, to become a more influential figure in Piltover. The vacuum left by the deaths of Piltover’s council members has led the ruthless Noxian leader to exert her power over the city’s more malleable surviving councilors. This has led to some major developments in Arcane Season 2, Act I finale, from Caitlyn being turned into Piltover’s general to hints about Ambessa’s plan.

Ambessa’s plan in Arcane is tied to an ongoing rivalry she has with a mysterious conspiracy from her home kingdom of Noxus. This group is made up of witches with incredible magical powers, with Arcane Season 2, Episode 3 revealing more about the rivalry between them and Ambessa. Known as Black Rose in Arcanethe witches want something from Ambessa that relates to both Mel and the former’s other son, named Kino.

Kino was a diplomatic leader of Noxus in Arcane before he was presumed dead

Arcane Season 1 Revealed Information About Kino

In Arcane In the first season, Kino was the main reason Ambessa went to Piltover. Kino has been described as a more diplomatic leader of Noxus, which is considered out of character for the usually ruthless and warmongering kingdom. Regardless of Kino’s temperance, Ambessa revealed to Mel in Arcane Season 1 she is in Piltover due to her apparent murderwith Kino thus being instrumental in affecting two of the Arcanecentral characters.

Ambessa insisted that Kino was killed due to a war brewing in Noxus, and that she traveled to Piltover to keep Mel safe. Mel was skeptical about this due to her strained relationship with her mother, with Arcane the second season proving that this skepticism was justified. In fact, Ambessa traveled to Piltover to gain control of the city and its resources, including Arcaneof powerful Hextech weapons, to combat the group that murdered Kino, the aforementioned Black Rose.

Kino’s disappearance is linked to Mel’s kidnapping and Ambessa’s mysterious past

Arcane season two developed this storyline further thanks to Mel’s kidnapping. In Arcane Season 2, Episode 3, Mel is taken by the witches of the Black Rose, with Act II investigating what happened to her. It was revealed that Mel was trapped in a mysterious prison where she found an unexpected cellmate: Kino. Kino reveals the truth about his “murder”, stating that it was linked to Ambessa’s story. Kino tells Mel that Black Rose is looking for a son that Ambessa fathered in an affair that the two former brothers were unaware of.

Rumor has it that this child has powers that Black Rose wishes to exploit in some way, with Arcane Season 2, Act II apparently revealing that this child is Mel, also explaining how she survived Jinx’s attack in Season 1. Shockingly, it is revealed that Mel’s cellmate was not Kino, but a manifestation created by the witches to discover Mel’s powers, leaving his true fate unclear. How is this resolved in Arcane Season 2, Act III, remains to be seen, but Kino, Mel and Ambessa are at the center of this mystery.