Reflecting on Arcane’s Second Season

When a family friend first recommended Arcane a couple of years ago, I raised my eyebrows at the idea of an animated League of Legends spinoff living up to its internet hype. I just didn’t see the point in investing hours watching a steampunk video game remake.

But I watched it anyway—and I couldn’t have been more wrong in my initial judgements. What I initially thought would be a glorified cash grab ended up being a thoughtful, nuanced series. 

The show begins with sisters Vi and Powder (later known as Jinx) being orphaned at a young age in the aftermath of an unsuccessful rebellion. The rest of the series is framed around their relationship, as successive tragedies push the sisters further and further apart. The two of them struggle to navigate their turbulent relationship in the face of the growing moral conflicts that divide them. In spite of this, they still deeply care for one another—in fact, one of Jinx’s final lines to Vi is “I’m always with you—even when we’re worlds apart.”

The two sisters are the heart of the show. Having the story unfold through their relationship grounds the series, adding nuance to its discussion of classism, power disparity, and justice (Motamayor, 2021). Emphasising this character-driven story structure is what led the first season to critical acclaim, with critics citing Arcane’s “endlessly complex characters” as a driving force behind the show’s success (Rotten Tomatoes). 

When the series’ second season was released this November, hopes were high among fans and critics alike. The standard set by the first season was difficult to live up to, though. Arcane’s final season is far from perfect, with numerous glaring pitfalls. 

Arguably, the problems within the series’ second season can be boiled down to a single narrative choice: the decision to move away from a character-driven story in favor of a plot-driven one.

The writers’ choice to move away from the sisterly framework led to a drastically different product. Arcane’s second season, while engaging, felt overstuffed. Opting for a plot driven structure in hopes of setting up a Marvel-esque “cinematic universe” muddled the clarity of the series’ structure. Many felt confused with some of the key story elements of the season, and were forced to seek clarification online. The choice to incorporate more lore from League of Legends resulted in fast-paced episodes and half-baked plotlines. Character development subsequently suffered, as the characterization that led the show to success seemed to waver in its sophomore season. The decision to develop fantasy-driven, sci-fi plotlines over the story’s central sisterly relationship was quite disorienting. I found myself confused with the choice to sideline Vi, a protagonist of the show, and was surprised by her limited character development in the series’ final act. 

The choice to emphasize a plot-driven narrative also led to many viewers’ biggest complaint with the last season: pacing. This narrative decision warranted a lot of exposition—which given the wide cast of characters, took up a significant portion of screen time. Ironically, this resulted in less time being devoted to expanding on key plot points, and the series was forced to rely on inference to connect the dots between scenes. While not an inherently negative writing choice, its overuse led to a fast-paced yet undercooked finale. 

I should address that not all pacing problems are directly the fault of the writers. Arcane remains the most expensive animated TV show ever created, and its estimated budget of hundreds of millions of dollars is evident in its dazzling visuals (ScreenRant, 2024). Each animation choice is intentional - even in the opening sequence, flashes of altered frames foreshadow the episode’s key events. French animation studio Fortiche uses color and texture beautifully to illustrate the fantasy aspects of the show, with 3D and 2D elements juxtaposed to create an otherworldly, painterly effect. The expressive, weighted animation brings characters to life, conveying complex emotions even without words. Conversely, action sequences are chaotic and engaging, incorporating camera shake techniques to amplify their turbulent nature. 

However, this restricts the series to nine-episode seasons, with each episode consisting of only forty minutes. Therein lies another choice: longer run time, or better visuals?

Ultimately, Riot! Games opted for the latter. The issue of budget constraints and episode length limits the story the writers were able to tell, explaining some of the pacing issues of the season. Showrunner Christian Linke admitted that key parts of the finale felt slightly unfinished in retrospect, mostly due to time limits restricting the development of character storylines (Netflix, 2024). Despite this, I believe many of the pacing issues this season would be resolved simply by removing a couple of storylines. Given that some plotlines weren’t completely necessary for the story’s progression, excluding them could have left the series with more time to explore individual characters—which was what drew many to Arcane in the first place. For instance, a meaty portion of the second act revolves around tritagonist Mel discovering her magical abilities and introducing the possibility of a potential spinoff. However, the storyline has little payoff aside from a fight scene in the finale, making it seem haphazard and confusing. By cutting or altering this plot point, the season would have more time to breathe, allowing for more prominent storylines to be further developed.  

While it may not have lived up to the high bar set by the first season, the final season is far from the failure that online discourse may lead you to believe. Though not as nuanced as its precursor, the season remains complex and engaging in its discussions of loyalty, grief, and morality. To quote the finale, “There is beauty in imperfection”, a sentiment that summed up my viewing experience. In spite of my gripes with this season—of which there are many—I still enjoyed watching it. This series feels distinctly human, leading diverse audiences to connect with it and its message. Regardless of the genres you typically gravitate towards, this show is for you. Though undoubtedly flawed, Arcane remains a series well worth watching.

References

Bythrow, Nick. 2024. “Arcane Season 2 Sets Massive Animation Record Ahead Of Premiere.” ScreenRant. November 6. https://screenrant.com/arcane-season-2-budget-animation-record/.

“Arcane Afterglow: Act 3 | Arcane Season 2 Aftershow”. 2024. Netflix. November 27. https://youtu.be/S0RJSOuBS6s?si=CH4e6ZwHpmthXCMG

“Arcane: League of Legends: Season 1.” 2021. Rotten Tomatoes. November 6. https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/arcane_league_of_legends/s01.

“Arcane Season 1 Review.” 2021. IGN Southeast Asia. November 20. https://sea.ign.com/league-of-legends-arcane/179113/review/arcane-season-1-review.