Arcane Season 2 is less than a week away, with the first of three acts set to arrive on Netflix this weekend. We’ll have reviews of the first two acts dropping throughout November, but will be keeping our lips sealed until then. However, if you’re eager to catch up on all things Vi and Jinx before it drops, we’ve run down all the big things you’ll need to know before tuning into the second season of Netflix’s League of Legends animation.
The Piltover Council Is In Ruins
During the first season finale, we saw the death of Silco at the hands of Jinx, then seconds later she fires a missile directly at the Piltover council chamber. We saw the rocket hit, but the aftermath is being deliberately kept from us as a tantalising cliffhanger.
Season 2 will once again be split into three acts consisting of three episodes each.
We know that Jayce, Mel, and Cassandra Kirraman were all inside the council chamber at the time, alongside a couple of other supporting characters who are more likely to bite the dust than anyone else. However, trailers appear to show Caitlyn on a warpath of revenge against Jinx as she leads Enforcers deep into the tunnels of Zaun, so perhaps her mother is killed and her perspective shifts to one fueled by vengeance. Speaking of…
Caitlyn Is On A Warpath
After being kidnapped by Jinx alongside Vi during the final act of season one, Caitlyn is very aware of everything the blue-haired demon is capable of. She isn’t afraid to kill loved ones or put thousands of people in danger to get what she wants, and that includes Vi. Trailers seem to acknowledge that the person Jinx used to be is gone, and Vi is willing to join the enforcers and stop her before a much larger conflict breaks out.
Vi also becomes an enforcer, which, considering her upbringing and the fact she saw her parents murdered by them, needs to be a decision she has a hard time making.
This opens up some fascinating repercussions for Caitlyn as a character, and whether she will allow her family line and sense of duty to be consumed by revenge, or will she eventually rise above it to do what’s right. If someone killed my mother and I had them in my crosshairs, I wouldn’t hesitate to pull the trigger in Riot’s world, so I can’t imagine how she’d feel. That’s if Cassandra even dies in the council explosion. If she doesn’t, what exactly is Caitlyn miffed about?
Everyone Has Blood On Their Hands
At the centre of Arcane is a class divide between Piltover and Zaun. One is rich and takes advantage of growing Hextech technology, while the other struggles to make ends meet as criminal syndicates try to fill the void Silco’s death has left behind. The first season excelled at showcasing how different characters weave between both settings, and how, no matter who you are or where you were raised, you are using everything at your disposal to try and survive. Some go about it the righteous way, while others are significantly more diabolical.
Caitlyn and Vi are likely trying to put a stop to Jinx before she inevitably lights the spark that sends the city into all-out war. With the council explosion and consistent terrorist attacks, it’s not surprising to see the public growing restless and looking for an excuse to rise up. Season 2 is going to focus heavily on this conflict and the dynamics present within it.
Vander Is Going To Return As Warwick
This twist has been rumoured ever since the first season came to an end, and we saw some of Silco’s minions experimenting with a familiar corpse. The teaser trailer and screenshots all released by Netflix all but confirm that Vander – or at least some form of Vi and Jinx’s thought-to-be dead father – is going to return as a bloodthirsty werewolf.
I bet this will be the defining moment that either brings Vi and Jinx closer together to settle all their differences, or pushes them further apart. Vander’s death was the catalyst to everything in their lives changing, and knowing he lives, and could potentially be brought back, is huge.
Vi And Caitlyn’s Lesbian Situationship Returns
Only lesbians can have a dramatic breakup in the pouring rain despite only knowing each other for a couple of days. It’s the Arcane equivalent of U-Hauling across the country to live with your newfound squeeze, and I expect the second season to keep building on Vi and Caitlyn’s romantic relationship.
I doubt it’s going to go through with it, but I will eat my non-existent collection of hats if Vi and Caitlyn do the deed in the final act. Please, it would make my year.
But things are definitely going to get worse before they get better, especially if Caitlyn is on a warpath to find Jinx and Vi has a sudden change of heart. With a timeskip also being on the cards again, what if our two favourite gay enforcers are all lovey-dovey before things hit the fan? I’m not sure my heart can take it…
Don’t Underestimate Ambessa
Ambessa was a strange force in the opening season, asserting her influence on Piltover, knowing that, as Mel’s mother, she could eventually sneak in and wrap her hands around the throat of the council. Judging by her presence in the trailers and press materials for season two, she’s going to play a massive role in what’s to come.
She is physically assertive, emotionally strong, and doesn’t have a side in this conflict. She is all about power, resources, and protecting those she cares about by any means.
We Are Finally Going To Experience The Arcane
This show has always existed on the precipice of something magical. Jayce and Viktor are able to gain a reputation and ascend the societal ranks because they harnessed the power of Hextech and changed the world forever. All of a sudden, Piltover became a bursting hub of commerce, culture, and politics with no equal. But this also opened the floodgates to a far more dangerous future, with Viktor pleading with Jayce to destroy his work in the past finale.
My money is on this advice being ignored to save Viktor, and thus putting him on the path to become the magical machine man he is in the game. We also see Jayce hanging out along with Ekko and Heimedinger in recent trailers and screens, so maybe they’re after something.
This Is The Final Season
Riot and Netflix have confirmed that this will be the final season of Arcane, meaning it has so much ground to cover. It once again being split into three acts means it will be able to dictate its own narrative pacing, but that still has me concerned that some characters or events can’t receive the appropriate depth to feel worthwhile. Only time will tell.
Set in the League of Legends universe, Arcane focuses on sisters Violet and Powder (later Jinx) as they end up on opposite sides of a growing conflict between the wealthy utopia of Piltover and its dark undercity whose citizens wish to break away from their oppressors. Hailee Steinfeld, Ella Purnell, and Kevin Alejandro star in this animated adventure.