"That which inspires us to our greatest good is also the cause of our greatest evil."
Writing about the conclusion of Arcane Season Two feels daunting, not least because of the high expectations set by the monumental success of its debut in 2021. Season One’s tightly woven narrative and groundbreaking animation captivated audiences, earning Arcane a place among the most celebrated animated series in history. Yet, as the show concluded on its sophomore season, it became clear that the ambition that elevated Arcane to greatness also introduced cracks too wide to ignore.
The Long Shadow of a “Perfect” First Season
Season One of Arcane was a masterpiece of storytelling. It deftly explored themes of family, grief, power, morality, and humanity's double-edged pursuit of knowledge and progress. Each of its 9 episodes balanced intricate character development with a fast-paced narrative, delivering moments of profound emotional resonance. The series captivated with its bold ideas, anchored by relatable character arcs, and brought to life with Fortiche’s dazzling animation. Revisiting the first season, it’s easy to understand how Arcane became a cultural and critical phenomenon.
Season Two continues this legacy of visual excellence. Fortiche’s artistry is nothing short of spectacular, blending diverse animation styles into a cohesive whole that makes every frame a feast for the eyes. Yet, even as the animation reaches new heights, it can no longer mask the widening fissures in the show’s storytelling.
Backdoor Pilots & Too Many Stories
Season Two attempts to juggle a bunch of plot lines, characters, and themes, but the pacing—a feature once lauded—has now become its Achilles’ heel. The narrative rushes to tie up loose ends, leaving several arcs underdeveloped.
One narrative device that lays this bare is something League of Legends gamers are very familiar with–the character cinematic. Essentially a music video trailer set to some catchy pop-rock track or a dramatic classical score that offers a window into a playable champion’s lore. The cinematics are often great fun, cool and beautiful to look at but they don’t take the place of deeper storytelling. Someone must have forgotten this. Where Season One used smartly crafted character prologues to build emotional depth for each main character, this season opts for montage-heavy openings and mid-episode music video-like sequences. While visually engaging, these montages often fail to provide the depth necessary for the weighty character decisions and events they attempt to convey. The reliance on style over substance detracts from the show’s emotional impact, and the cracks become harder to ignore.
Several characters bear the brunt this season. There’s Vi with her disjointed arc, full of decisions that frequently feel unearned and undercooked. While there are moments of poignancy via her touchstone relationships with Jinx/Powder and Vander/Warwick, the gaps in her character development left me dissatisfied by season’s end. Caitlyn fares even worse. While the grief she bears for the loss of her mother in the opening episode is heart wrenching, the sheer extremes her story takes in subsequent episodes (#KluKluxKiramman, anyone?) are difficult to stomach or justify. The fact that the character never seems to suffer much consequence for becoming a fascist police quasi dictator nor does she ever have to explicitly face the weight of her actions was certainly a choice by the Arcane writing team.
Jinx, on the other hand, shines, particularly in the season’s first half. Her emotional journey is compelling, though even she is shortchanged by the season’s breakneck pace. I understood why the writers felt they needed the character of Isha to spur Jinx’s development but I can’t help but feel there were far more economical ways to do this story-wise. I may stand alone on this but I didn’t require a physical externalization of Jinx’s childhood self to exist and promptly die to push the character over the edge. It’s brazen audience manipulation that grates more than anything else.
Among the more successful arcs is (my personal fave character) Mel Medarda, whose storyline remains one of the season’s highlights. Mel’s character is expanded upon in meaningful ways, with her journey of self-discovery as a mage bringing some of the cool storytelling that made Season One so impactful. Her thorny bond with her ruthless warrior mother, Ambessa, and her struggles with identity, magic, and legacy are some of the season’s most resonant moments for me. And even though her story takes place on the periphery for much of the season, there is a lot of meat to work with for any observant viewer. Her ending also serves as the obvious bridge to potential sequel show(s) and other video game content that Riot Games has confirmed.
Other Notable Points
Despite its shortcomings, Season Two does deliver moments of genuine emotional depth and delight.
Episode 7’s parallel world, where Ekko and Heimerdinger land in an alternate reality where tragedy struck in a slightly different way but Hextech was never invented, is a bittersweet reminder of the main universe’s relentless despair. I loved seeing the alternate versions of all the characters we’d lost along the way. The episode is a season standout, though it underscores the uneven focus on secondary (who should be primary) characters like Ekko, who remains criminally underused.
The reunion of Vander in his Warwick form with Vi and Jinx tugged at the heartstrings, offering a brief glimpse of hope amidst the chaos. Of course, it was brutally ripped away from us before we could enjoy it too much.
The Z-Drive Ekko subplot, Singed’s paternal grief and the dark experiments it spawned in his attempts to cure his daughter, Orianna, are intriguing glimpses into the wider Runeterra lore and its possibilities.
Some Missteps
Season One’s nuanced exploration of Piltover and Zaun’s socio-political dynamics—rampant wealth extraction, inequality, drug epidemics, trauma and systemic oppression—was one of its greatest strengths. Season Two largely abandons these threads in favor of more far-flung, character-specific conflicts. The decision to end with a centrist resolution where everyone comes together to face a common enemy with few intra-conflicts, featuring Sevika as the sole Zaunite face on a Piltover-dominated council, feels like a betrayal of the more progressive spirit that animated the first season.
I can’t help but think that the desire to push that backdoor pilot (to Noxus) and getting distracted with alternate universe/time travel shenanigans along with a need to just get the show done, meant complexity and nuance were sacrificed for expediency and fan service.
Jayce and Viktor’s storyline had some solid moments but was probably the least interesting story thread this season. Where I expected and hoped for some sort of iconic Professor X vs. Magneto conflict to emerge between the two of them as they increasingly diverged on ethics when it comes to Hextech - what I got was a significantly less compelling non-resolution to their story, that shortchanged both characters.
The Future of Arcane
Despite its flaws, Arcane remains a singular achievement in animation, and its potential to tell compelling stories within the League of Legends universe is far from exhausted. Season Two may have stumbled under the weight of its ambition, but it still has glimmers of brilliance that remind us why we fell in love with this world in the first place.
As the universe looks ahead to its next chapter, there’s hope that lessons will be learned. The promise of exploring new territories like Noxus and delving deeper into the Medarda story is thrilling. While Season Two fell short of its predecessor’s towering heights, it remains an imperfect masterpiece—flawed but unforgettable. I know Viktor would certainly agree with me.
What did you think?
Loved it
Hated it
So/So
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