'Devil May Cry' Season 2 Ending Explained: Are Arius And Argosax Dead?

Devil May Cry Season 2’s ending was about Dante, Vergil, and Lady (Mary) stopping Arius (who had become the vessel for Argosax) from destroying both Makai and Earth and then stopping Mundus for expanding Makai’s borders to Earth. Why did they have to deal with not one but two tyrannical leaders from Hell? Well, you see, Arius’ whole plan was to combine this collection of unholy objects, collectively known as the Arcana, and activate it so as to bind his body with Argosax. Despite Dante, Vergil, and Lady’s best efforts, they couldn’t stop Arius and, during the hybrid solar eclipse, he did become Argosax, and started consuming the life-force of humans so that he could become powerful enough to destroy both Makai and Earth, and build his new empire atop their ashes. So, Dante threw a final Hail Mary and asked Vergil whether or not Mundus would be able to defeat Argosax. When Vergil said that Mundus was powerful enough to take on Argosax, Dante told Lady to open the rift with the help of Sparda’s sword so that they could send Argosax into Makai, seal up the rift, and let Mundus kill Argosax. While the first part of that plan went well, and the brothers were able to send Argosax into Makai, the second part flopped, because Lady lost her grip on Sparda’s sword, thereby sending the artefact into Makai, along with Argosax, Dante, and Vergil. What happened next? Let’s find out.

Spoiler Alert

Before the showdown between Mundus and Argosax in the finale of Devil May Cry Season 2, we saw Beowulf (one of Mundus’ minions) talking about Vergil exposing his identity to the world via television. Beowulf also name-dropped White Rabbit, the major antagonist of Season 1 who was looking to open the barrier between Makai and Earth to liberate those who had been oppressed by the rulers of the aforementioned realms and also exact revenge on Darkcom. Actually, Vergil had helped White Rabbit create a rift between Earth and Makai and bring his plan to fruition. However, Dante and Lady put a stop to White Rabbit and Vergil’s plan, and they killed White Rabbit. Hence, Mundus wasn’t all that interested in the connection between Vergil and White Rabbit. But Beowulf kept insisting that Mundus shouldn’t put so much trust in Vergil, because he could be a turncoat. Mundus banished Beowulf from his court, with the reminder that he shouldn’t question his master’s decisions under any circumstances. As Beowulf was cursing himself for overstepping, Jester arrived to mock him before going into the court to perform for Mundus and his minions. As soon as Jester’s account of Mundus’ exploits came to a close, the rift that Lady had opened finally became visible in the sky of Makai, and Mundus and his minions spotted Dante, Vergil, and Argosax coming through it. 

Without wasting another second, Mundus launched an attack on Argosax and killed him (thereby making this the second time that Mundus killed Argosax) as well as Arius. His dying words were that he didn’t mind spending 28 lifetimes to bring a god to life and be his vessel for a few minutes. I mean, that’s certainly “a cope” if I have ever seen one. Arius could have used his resources and powers to do so much good for the world. He was bestowed the ability to reincarnate in a new body every time he died, and he used it just to benefit Argosax; what a waste. But I suppose that’s the whole point of his arc: use your powers for good and you’ll be remembered for generations; use your powers for someone else’s nefarious purpose and you’ll be forgotten as soon as you die. By the way, I am sure I’m not the only one wondering if Arius and Argosax really died or not. From what I understood, Argosax’s soul was tethered to the Arcana, and as long as the Arcana existed (especially the one with that looked like the rod of Asclepius), Arius was able to reincarnate and Argosax’s soul thrived as well. However, the manner in which Mundus defeated Argosax made it seem like he destroyed the Arcana as well. If that’s the case, then both Arius and Argosax are dead. If not, then we’ll probably see these two make a return in Season 3.

With Arius gone, Dante and Vergil wanted to seal the rift again by removing the amulet from Sparda’s sword so that Mundus didn’t get any ideas about going to Earth. But Mundus’ minions surrounded the sons of Sparda, thereby giving Vergil the opportunity to confront Mundus about his role in Eva’s death. Mundus didn’t deny anything and admitted that he did misrepresent Eva’s death so as to mold Vergil into his greatest warrior. When the picture became clear to Dante, he stated that he wanted to join Vergil on his revenge quest. Given how Beowulf harbored a deep level of disdain for Vergil, he asked Mundus if they should attack the Sparda brothers and finish them off. Mundus lowkey surprised everyone by saying that he didn’t want any more fights; he wanted the Sparda siblings to join hands and help him expand the horizons of Makai. Both Dante and Vergil were against that, because they didn’t want Makai and Earth under Mundus’ reign. But then Mundus surprised them by admitting that he had no ill-feelings towards Sparda. He said that Sparda was righteous, and he couldn’t stand Mundus’ overambitious nature; Mundus had become exactly like Argosax, and since Mundus was too blind to see that, Sparda took matters into his own hands to make Mundus reflect on his actions. Mundus’ hubris didn’t allow him to seek out Sparda’s help; hence, Sparda left Mundus in Makai without the ability to open a rift to Earth. Mundus probably hoped that accepting his mistake of misjudging the reason behind Sparda’s defection would turn Dante and Vergil over to his side. When that didn’t work, he began dismantling Dante and Vergil’s love for Eva. He degraded her value in front of the Sparda brothers’ eyes, even going so far as to label Eva’s murder a necessary step in killing the “sapien” half of Dante and Vergil and making them truly Makaian. That approach backfired as well, and Dante and Vergil proceeded to slaughter Mundus’ minions. However, when the time came to go back to Earth with Dante and seal the rift, Vergil chose to stay in Makai. Why? Because he was siding with Mundus? Nope. 

From what I could gather, Vergil truly believed that Makai was his home and that Mundus didn’t deserve to rule over it. Vergil knew that if he stayed in Makai, he could gain the power to defeat Mundus. If he went to Earth with Dante, his “sapien” side wouldn’t allow him to reach the level of ruthlessness that was needed to kill Mundus. Dante thought that Vergil was betraying him, but Vergil was actually sacrificing whatever humanity was left in him to put an end to the monster that had killed their mother. I suppose when Vergil chucked him back to Earth, along with the amulet (thereby re-sealing the rift), he did realize the gravity of Vergil’s actions. We didn’t get to see Mundus and Vergil’s fight though; maybe they’re saving that for Season 3. As for Vergil saying that Makai will invade Earth under his rule, I don’t think he actually intends to do that; he was merely hyping himself up for his fight with Mundus. It’s interesting that both Sparda and Vergil decided to defect against Mundus, but while Sparda deserted Makai, Vergil chose to stay there and fight. I don’t know if Vergil will be able to defeat Mundus, but whatever the result may be, it’ll be a win for Mundus. Think about it; if Mundus defeats Vergil, it’ll be a literal win, and if Vergil defeats Mundus, it’ll mean that Mundus has trained him well, which’d make it a sort of spiritual win for Mundus.

Throughout the show, Baines and Arius were hinting at the existence of a spy deep within Mundus’ court. After that, Baines revealed to Lady that her father, John Arkham, was still alive and was in cahoots with Arius. Additionally, Baines said that Arkham was instrumental in Lady’s recruitment into Darkcom. Now, before going through the rift, Dante told Arius to meet him at a diner. Since Lady was knocked out when Dante returned from Makai and fell far away from the rendezvous point, she decided to embark on a journey to find her father. She extracted the laptop on which Baines had shown a video of the meeting between Arius and John and watched its extended version, where it was revealed that John was not only alive, but he had in fact become the demon known as Jester (game fans probably already knew about this). For some reason, Jester, or John, knew that Lady was on her way to meet him and, well, he was correct because, despite the curfew imposed all over the USA due to the recent demon activity, Lady had embarked on a journey to reunite with her father. Why? Of course, to avenge her mother, Kalina Ann. But how’s she actually going to get to him, given the rift between Makai and Earth has been closed? Vergil’s sword is one of the instruments that allows people to walk between realms, but that’s on Makai. 

Arius’ cybernetic left arm had the power to send people from one realm to another, but that’s also on Makai. The amulet (both pieces) are in Dante’s possession, but Sparda’s sword is with Vergil on Makai. Lady did acquire something from Nell Goldstein. Maybe that’s the key to reaching Makai? You tell me. By the way, Jester evidently has the ability to walk between realms. So, it’s possible that Lady only needs to get Jester’s attention, call him to Earth, and then make him pay for his sins. Even though we know that John has turned into Jester, it’s still unclear how he made it all the way to Mundus’ court. With Arius gone, what is he supposed to do? Will he start working with Vergil? Or is he willingly going to fall into whatever trap Lady is setting for him so that he can have a heart-to-heart with his long-lost daughter? Is there any chance for Jester to redeem himself? I don’t know, but I have a feeling that, if Season 3 gets greenlit, Jester will be the major antagonist of that season. We have a lot of family-drama going on thanks to the sons of Sparda. With the reveal that Jester is Lady’s father, the writers basically went “Why should the boys have all the fun?” And I am genuinely invested in this story arc. What about you? Let me know in the comments below.