‘Arcane’ Season Two Review: Paint the Town Blue

In 2009, Riot Games released League of Legends aka LoL, an online multiplayer battle game that was inspired by Defense of the Ancients (DoTA), a custom map for Warcraft III. Over the years, it has expanded into pretty much every type of media.  

In 2014, Riot introduced Pentakill, a heavy metal band comprising characters from the game. This was followed by K/DA, their virtual K-pop girl group, True Damage (hip-hop) and the new Heartsteel (K-pop boy band). All of these characters have corresponding ‘skins’ one can purchase in-game, if you wanted to look like your favorite virtual musician. This smart idea really worked for them.

In 2018, Riot collaborated with Marvel Comics to translate its extensive lore into a comic book format.

And in 2021, in collaboration with Fortiche Production, Riot dropped the animated series Arcane.

Previously the discourse around LoL among laypeople was that it was primarily a game dominated by a player base who spent all day locked up in a room screaming at a computer screen. They functioned as a vexing source of amusement.

Arcane changed all that. With its complex cast of characters, intriguing plot and gorgeous visuals, even non-LoL enthusiasts were forced to admit that they were wrong and now, LoL did indeed have a very engaging plot.

There are two radically different worlds in Arcane. Above, we have a sprawling, utopian metropolis dominated by the wealthy, Piltover. Below, is the dark, seedy poverty-struck Zaun. The difference between the quality of life in Piltover and Zaun is night and day. Idealistic scientists in Piltover develop Hextech, a revolutionary yet dangerous arcane technology.  

Meanwhile in Zaun, a mutagen known as Shimmer (think DC’s Bane’s Venom) is circulated by a crime lord who wants to see Zaun free. In other words, the city is a powder keg, waiting to blow. Orphaned sisters, Vi (Hailee Steinfeld) and Jinx (Ella Purnell), soon find themselves on opposing sides of the battlefield as victims of circumstances, unable to see eye to eye.

Arcane’s colorful world doesn’t have ‘good’ or ‘evil’ characters. Instead, the vast majority operate in varying shades of gray. ‘Complicated’ or better yet ‘morally ambiguous’ would be a fitting description. Everyone wants the best for their people, no matter what the cost.

Multiple stories revolve around characters from vastly different backgrounds, moving in tandem to the explosive ending.

Season Two picks up right where the first one ends, opening with the fallout and consequences of the actions of unchecked hubris and misplaced self-righteousness. The damage is devastating for citizens of both Piltover and Zaun. The dead lie broken on the streets and the living struggle to pick up the pieces. No one is spared from the suffering.

Thanks to Jinx’s actions, a lot of the major political players of Piltover are dead and there’s a power vacuum. Naturally, there are those who seek to take advantage of the opportunity. Meanwhile, the steep price to pay for Hextech is slowly making itself known. Once again, the world of Arcane is barely holding on, its fragile existence threatened to disintegrate at the slightest provocation.

Arcane Season One focused on the characters. You got to know them, who they were, their hopes, dreams, desires and motivations. Every episode dwelled on each character for just the right amount of time, so that everyone was on the same page. The worldbuilding was secondary, and the characters were responsible for moving the plot forward.

Season Two however has a different approach. The world is the one responsible for propelling the plot while the characters are trying to find their feet in this entirely alien scenario. There’s a lot that Arcane juggles with this season. There are also new characters introduced which are intended to be playable champions in the game. In the three episodes that are out, a lot of worldbuilding is going on, which does seem a little overwhelming at times due to two reasons.

First, there’s a substantial gap of three years between the release of this season and the first. Two, LoL, and by extension Arcane has a very, very vast and intricate lore. Season Two is meant to wrap up the saga of Vi, Jinx and the consequences of their actions in a mere nine episodes. There’s a lot to pack in and while the pacing of the show doesn’t have any issues yet, it does get a bit confusing. You definitely can’t go in blind.

The simple solution to this (if you don’t want to play LoL yourself) is to get a Lore-master to watch with you (this is what I did!). A Lore-master much like the name suggests, is someone who plays LoL. A lot. They’ll be a walking dictionary and expert of the world, a true scholar of the Arcane arts who will be able to give you a detailed and thorough explanation if you find yourself a little lost.

Make no mistake, just because this season focuses on the world, doesn’t mean there’s no character development. On the contrary, the characters react to the world around them. Caitlyn Kiramman (Katie Leung) especially stands out. Her mother is killed as a result of Jinx’s actions causing a heavy set of responsibilities to fall on her shoulders. Driven by hunger for revenge, her moral compass now points in whatever direction is the quickest path to victory. It leaves her vulnerable to those who wish to use her position for power to their advantage.

Caitlyn’s girlfriend Vi has her own set of problems to deal with. She is partially responsible for the creation of Jinx. Is her sister truly lost to her? Can she end her (Jinx)? She is saddled with a balancing act of attempting to steer this dangerous, new version of Caitlyn back to shore and deal with the aftermath that is Jinx.

Jinx, on the other hand, wrestles with her own demons, losing everyone who gets close to her as the consequence of her actions. She rails against the world hopelessly, wandering Zaun wondering what is next? What is the point? She’s a jinx, to herself and everyone else.

In Piltover, Jayce (Kevin Alejandro) is now confronted with the consequences of creating Hextech. His attempt to help make the world a better place has backfired quite dramatically. His collaborator Viktor (Harry Lloyd), the only one who believed in him, has now abandoned Jayce.

Viktor, brought back from the precipice of death by Jayce, goes off on a path of soul searching. He’s part of the reason the world is so broken; he helped create Hextech. The suffering of the victims and the collateral damage affects him deeply.

The dramatic shift in narrative technique and personalities due to the consequences of the actions of many is handled really well. The world of Arcane is dominated by Victor Frankensteins who are creating their own uncontrollable monsters.

The art and animation of Arcane in Season Two stands out even more than it did in Season One. Say what you want about LoL, but one has to admit they are really good at character designs. There is so much left unsaid between the characters. Body language and facial expressions ring louder than words, and there are so many details packed into a single frame. The fight sequences are especially noteworthy. It is more brutal, more bloody, more gory; there is so much of emotion packed into a single punch. At the same time, there’s a lot of color, whimsy and stylized elements to it.

With only three episodes out, the second season of Arcane is setting itself up for an even more explosive finale. With tensions running high and stakes even higher, it is genuinely difficult to tell who’s going to come out on top, let alone if they will at all.