Second Time’s the Charm For Arcane
Voice Actors: Hailee Steinfeld, Ella Purnell, Katie Leung, Kevin Alejandro, Harry Lloyd, Toks Olagundoye
Created by: Christian Linke and Alex Yee
Caitlyn: “I will lead a strike team into Zaun with three objectives: Locate Jinx, dismantle Shimmer, and neutralize any agents still loyal to Silco.”
“Heavy is the Crown” (Season 2, Episode 1)
Arcane is an animated adaptation of the world’s most popular video game, League of Legends. It explored the twin cities of Piltover and Zaun edging towards war through the tragedy of sisters Vi and Jinx. Now the cities approach a flashpoint and war seems inevitable.
Will Arcane’s final season be legendary or will its failure cause a riot? Let’s find out.
Scene Select
The Good
Champions Rise in Arcane Season 2
Silco: We build our own prisons. Bars forged of oaths, codes, and commitments. Walls of self-doubt and accepted limitation. We inhabit these cells, these identities, and call them “us.”
“Killing is a Cycle” (Season 2, Episode 8)
Arcane season 2 has much higher stakes than the first. The former was a crime drama with political overtones. Season 2 is a nascent war story with the fate of two cities hanging in the balance.
Caitlyn is desperate to take down Jinx and avenge her mother’s death. She convinces a reluctant Vi to join the Enforcers and capture her sister. They are joined by eager recruit Maddie, gentle giant Loris, and fish-man Steb. Their strike team is equipped with Hextech weapons and a poisonous chemical mist called The Grey that poisons Zaunites.
Jayce is left floundering after an attack on Piltover’s Council and witnessing Hextech’s devastating potential. He uses the Hexcore to save Viktor’s life at the cost of intrinsically changing Viktor. Jayce works with Ekko to negate Hextech’s worst effects on civilians.
Mel’s story is based on subterfuge and international politics. She buys time for Caitlyn’s strike team to capture Jinx while working to stop other councilors from declaring the war her own mother eggs on. Mel’s task grows more perilous as enemies from her homeland of Noxus move against Piltover.
Paint the Town Blue
Vi: “JINX!”
“Finally Got the Name Right” (Season 2, Episode 3)
Jinx: “Finally got the name right.”
Jinx was the star of Arcane season one. Her character became a symbol of revolution for Zaun at great personal cost. Now her reputation has made her a figurehead. What is she up to in Arcane Season 2?
Zaun has erupted into a gang war following crime boss Silco’s death. Jinx wanders the city, trying to stay uninvolved while coping with her mental health issues. She is hunted by the strike team and prepares for a final battle against Vi.
A ray of hope arrives in Isha, a non-verbal girl who Jinx saves from a gang. Isha worms her way into Jinx’s life, idolizing the fugitive she sees as an older sister. Their bond helps Jinx manage her own problems, but is risky when Isha is targeted by enemies and gets into trouble.
Viktor also becomes a power player in struggling Zaun. The Hexcore gives him the power to heal drug abusers and chemical weapons victims. Guided by The Hexcore through visions of his lost love Skye, Viktor founds a commune and becomes a messianic figure.
Noxious Noxians
Ambessa: “What greater cause is there than returning peace to the city?”
“Paint the Town Blue” (Season 2, Episode 4)
Caitlyn: “Why is peace always the justification for violence?”
Arcane has ended. There will be no third season, but Netflix is already looking to new horizons. Three nations are being considered for their own shows, Ionia, Demacia, and the one given a trial run in Arcane season 2: Noxus.
Ambessa arrived late in season one to procure Hextech weaponry for her army, but was stymied by Jayce and Mel. Following a disaster, she volunteers her soldiers and service to the Council, slowly building power as she courts warmongers and a vengeful Caitlyn.
Mel fends off her mother’s fifth column strategy, manipulating spies and courtiers to prevent a devastating war between Piltover and Zaun. Mel also struggles to reconcile her duty as a Councilor with her love for her abusive mother.
A new threat emerges in LeBlanc, an agent of the Black Rose and Ambessa’s enemy. She kidnaps and manipulates Mel to use as a weapon against her mother, revealing secrets that Ambessa never told Mel about her powers and family. Her role is small, but sets up a much greater conflict in future shows.
Arcane Anthems
“If you wanna come play
“Come Play” by Stray Kids, Young Miko, and Tom Morello
You gotta start with me
And the monsters in my head
In my head
I got blood on my hands
And you’re my revenge
And you pushed me to the edge
The edge
Do you wanna come play?!”
Arcane is no stranger to music. Songs always punctuate big scenes, like an animated steampunk Guardians of the Galaxy. Arcane season 2 has new earworms.
The music varies wildly in tone, style, and language. I Can’t Hear it Now starts the show on a dour note as Caitlyn mourns her mother, heralding other dirges such as What Have They Done to Us and Wasteland. Darker scenes are scored to quiet, but passionate songs like The Line, and Isha’s Song.
Hope plays the counterpoint to those songs. Idealistic tunes like Spin the Wheel, Ma Meilleure Ennemie, and Fantastic help characters accept what has happened and come to terms with it. That sets them up for action scenes set to in-your-face showstoppers like Renegades (We Never Run), Paint the Town Blue, and Come Play.
The Bad
Faint Ekko
Powder: [dancing] “Where’d you learn those moves?”
“Pretend Like It’s The First Time” (Season 2, Episode 7)
Ekko: “Oh, I was just following your lead.”
Powder: “Hm, he’s got lines.”
Arcane is dense and features many moving parts. Unfortunately, this means that someone was always going to get lost in the shuffle. In the first and second season, the show simply ran out of time for one of its Champions.
Ekko was introduced in the first season as Vi and Powder’s friend. He is only a recurring character, despite being billed and treated as part of the main cast. Ekko’s scenes are impactful, but he was never given a chance to shine because he’s not central to the conflict.
Arcane Season 2 continued that oversight. Ekko was given a subplot about Hextech corrupting his gang’s home and endangering civilians. He works with Jayce to find the cause, but the subplot is thrown aside when they are sent hurtling through time and space by The Hexcore.
Ekko is MIA for most of the season before finally claiming the spotlight in a focus episode unrelated to the main story. That episode is sorely needed to build Ekko up and give him his signature time powers, but forces the final act to rush everyone else’s character arcs. It’s too little, too late, and diminishes his heroic moment against the Big Bad he’s never met.
The Verdict of Arcane Season 2
Arcane Season 2 lives up to the first season’s legacy. The characters deepen and mature, the larger world of Runeterra is teased without detracting from the plot, and the music remains awesome. Ekko’s character was done a disservice and damage control rushed the ending, but that’s an acceptable trade-off. Arcane season 2 is worth your time.
Image: Courtesy of Netflix
Jared Bounacos has written for Movie Rewind since 2016.
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