Arcane Producer Answers Burning Season 2 Questions In New After Show

Warning! This article contains spoilers about Arcane Season 2 Act 2.

Key Takeaways

• The new Netflix after-show Arcane Afterglow provides insights into major plot points of Arcane Season 2.
• Season 2 Act 3 will serve as the series finale and is set to tie up loose ends, including addressing unanswered questions.
• Christian Linke discusses Vi and Caitlny’s relationship, the Black Rose, and the anomaly.

Arcane’s second season has raised as many questions as it has answered, but thanks to a new Netflix after-show, some of these lingering questions have been answered by the show’s cast and co-creator.

Arcane Season 2 continues the story of the League of Legends champions introduced in Season 1, including Vi, Jinx, Caitlyn, Jayce, and Viktor. Act 2 of Season 2 was released on November 16 and took some massive swings with the story, resurrecting some characters, and killing off more than a few. The act ended on a cliffhanger, leaving audiences with some unanswered questions until Act 3 is released on November 23 – which will also serve as the series finale. Thankfully, Netflix commissioned a special after-show titled Arcane Afterglow, which sees the cast and producers sit down and discuss some of the major plot points of the series, giving new insight into why certain choices were made and what they might mean for the future of the characters in Arcane.

Why Did Isha Sacrifice Herself?

One of the most heartbreaking moments out of Arcane came in Episode 6 of Season 2. After Viktor’s death caused all the enlightened to die with him, this also killed the part of Warwick that was Vander, leaving only the beast behind. A battle breaks out between the Noxians and Warwick, as well as Jinx and Vi, who attempt to stop them from killing their father. Then Isha, the little girl who has become Jinx’s rock throughout Season 2, loads a pistol with Hextech crystals and throws herself into the fray, sacrificing her own life to put an end to Warwick.

Speaking about this moment during the second episode of Arcane Afterglow, co-creator Christian Linke said that Isha was somewhat inspired by the chaos that comes with destruction and that this moment was designed to remind Jinx, “You can’t escape this.”

“It is kind of a terrible reminder for Jinx that Isha is inspired by the chaos of the havoc and the destruction. I think it’s just another remind of like ‘you’ll never be able to escape this.’ It’s so tough especially when it happens to someone as innocent as Isha.”

Ella Purnell, who voices Jinx in the series added that Isha’s belief in Jinx was designed to make the audience feel that maybe she could turn over a new leaf. “Isha is a lot like [Jinx]. She’s everything I think Powder wishes Powder was at that time.” Purnell spoke about the leadership arc that Jinx is be undertaking in Season 2, saying “I don’t think [Jinx] ever fully accepts it.” The actress added that Jinx is weighed down by guilt and struggles with changing the way she sees herself, but this starts to shift thanks to Isha. “I think she does start to see herself as a leader and she’s fighting for something that she really cares about, and it’s also something that Powder and Vi connected on very deeply when they were younger.”

What is In Store For Vi and Caitlyn?

Another relationship many fans are waiting to see play out is that of Vi and Caitlyn. After growing close in Season, Vi and Caitlyn confessed their feelings for each other in Episode 3 of Season 2, only for their relationship to abruptly end after Vi came between Jinx and Caitlyn. Getting revenge on Jinx for murdering her mother has been Caitlyn’s driving force throughout Season 2, causing her to take up the role of Commander in Piltover and hunt down Jinx without remorse. But in Episode 6, Caitlyn and Vi’s reunion caused the enforcer to swap sides, turning on Ambessa and supporting Vi in her quest to save her father.

Speaking about their relationship, Linke said he believes “there is love” between the two characters, but was unsure whether it could survive their circumstances. “Caitlyn has this huge weight on her shoulders and in that position, I feel like she definitely feels like she can’t allow herself to indulge in any of her personal feelings and seem vulnerable and let that distract her,” Linke explained. Coming into Act 3, the repressed feelings between Caitlyn and Vi will no doubt be forced into the open. The question is whether they can work out their differences and come back together before the series ends.

What is the Anomaly in Arcane?

A major plot element that was introduced at the end of Arcane’s first act this season was the arcane anomaly that has formed in response to Jayce and Viktor’s meddling with Hextech. The end of Episode 3 saw Jayce, Viktor and Heimerdinger discover the anomaly, only to be sucked into it and disappear. Jayce returned at the end of Episode 5, looking far more traumatized than when he left, and with a new mission to destroy Hextech. Linke avoided revealing too much about the anomaly, leaving these answers for the final act of Season 2, however, the creator did reveal it has something to do with the Hexcore and that it may be connected to Viktor:

“There is the Hexcore which is actually the thing that Jayce and Viktor invented in the beginning that has somewhat of its own agenda and mind, and reacts to Viktor in the beginning and tries to save him. The anomaly? I don’t want to say too much yet because I think we’re just up to the second Act here… It is the work of Viktor.”

Why Has the Black Rose Come to Piltover?

The final plot element that the group addressed was the Black Rose’s arrival in Piltover, which was revealed in Episode 3 of Arcane Season 2. The group has followed Ambessa Medarda to Piltover and seems to want to put an end to a blood feud. In Episode 5, the group is seen torturing Mel, Ambessa’s daughter, in their quest to find a child of Ambessa’s that seemingly has a power of great importance to the Black Rose. During Arcane: Afterglow, Linke said that the Black Rose is designed to represent the power of mages in Runeterra and that Hextech’s commoditization of magic caught their attention.

“We always thought of the black rose as an organization that represents mages in the world. So when this place, Piltover, invents Hextech it kind of threatens the order of the world, where there’s a certain supremacy as a mage. If you commoditize magic that is scary but also very potent and I think Ambessa sees the opportunity especially when you oppose someone like the Black Rose. Needless to say there is a blood feud and Ambessa sees the opportunity in what her daughter has built here in Piltover.”

Based on Linke’s comments, the final act of Arcane will see all the disparate plot threads come together. The Black Rose seemingly wants to put a stop to Hextech, particularly before Ambessa can get her hands on it and use it for her own gain. How this will play out now that Viktor is dead and Jayce is intent on destroying Hextech remains to be seen.

The final episodes of Arcane Season 2 will be released on November 23 on Netflix.