Arcane: Everything You Need To Know Before The New Season
Good news, Arcane fans: after three years of waiting, season two is finally going to release this week. Bad news: it’s also the final season of Netflix’s animated League of Legends adaptation. After the wild cliffhanger the show left us on in 2021, there are still a lot of questions that need to be answered before the series finale airs on November 23. If you don’t have enough time to marathon the show before act one of season two drops on November 9, you’ll probably need a refresher.
Despite only having nine episodes clocking in around 40 minutes each, a lot of stuff happened in the first season of Arcane. Maybe you don’t remember the overarching conflict between the cities of Piltover and Zaun, or perhaps you still don’t quite have a grasp on what the beef is between Vi and Jinx. Then there are the more nitty gritty details like how magic is getting brought in or what exactly happened in the final scene of season one. Well we have all the info you need to go into season two.
So… who died in that wild season one ending?
Great question! We have no idea! Season one didn’t really wrap up any of the larger conflicts at play in the world of Arcane. Instead, it left things on the precipice of all out war. To that end, Jinx launched a rocket directly into the chambers of Piltover’s ruling council. That leaves a lot of major players from season one with a big question mark over their heads. Jayce, Mel, and Caitlyn’s mother Cassandra are all within the council at the time. Trailers for season two have kept the fallout of this attack underwraps but Caitlyn appears on the warpath, so it is likely her mom was a casualty of the attack. Whatever the death toll is revealed to be, you can be sure this battle will be the match that lights the powder keg of season two.
Two cities at war
The central conflict around which all of Arcane revolves is the growing tension between the cities of Piltover and Zaun. The former is a thriving city full of wealth and technology and home to people like Caitlyn and Jayce. The latter is an undercity beneath it that is a relative slum in comparison to the grandeur of Piltover. Due to the constant pollution of Zaun it has become the home of the poor and disenfranchised, which also means crime runs rampant. As a result, Piltover heavily polices the area and has created a major class divide. This is where Vi and Jinx grew up.
Season one saw these class tensions come to a head in a huge skirmish on the streets of Zaun that ended with the death of de facto leader and crime lord Silco. Season two teasers tell us that the production of the drug Shimmer is still occuring in Zaun, even without Silco, so Caitlyn and a group of Enforcers are coming in to put an end to it all. I’m sure nothing bad will happen.
Sisters divided
While Arcane is a tale of two cities, it is even more a tale of two sisters. Vi and Powder (who grows up to be Jinx during the events of season one) are the heart of the show. Act one of season one focused on the pair’s upbringing in Zaun, which ended in their separation with Vi thinking Powder was dead and Powder being taken under the wing of Silco. The rest of the season revolved around Vi’s attempt to save her sister (now going by the name Jinx) from the influence of Silco.
That didn’t end up working out and by season one’s end Vi had come to terms with the idea that Jinx is no longer her sister. Season two positions their final confrontation as the main event, with Vi even admitting her sister is gone and that only Jinx remains. Along with Caitlyn, she’s ready to take down Jinx no matter what.
Caitlyn is conflicted
At the start of season one Caitlyn is shown to be a Piltover citizen whose heart is in the right place, even if she doesn’t understand the realities of the world. As a rookie enforcer she wants to uphold justice and the law, but quickly finds after teaming up with Vi and falling into the city’s larger conflict that no side is without blood on its hands. Vi opens her up to the humanity of Zaun’s inhabitants, while betrayals from crooked enforcers above her show her that maybe this isn’t all black and white. Even after the final skirmish of season one, Caitlyn seems like a person who truly wants to change the relationship between Zaun and Piltover to change for the betterment of both sides.
Of course if her mom is dead that changes things. Season two already looks to put Caitlyn on the warpath, but grief may be blinding her temporarily. With the council attacked, Caitlyn seems to be something of a leader for the city now, and Jinx has fallen into a similar role in Zaun. Maybe the two will still find a way to overcome the cycles of violence their cities have been stuck in for years.
Don’t ignore Ambessa
Mel’s mother played a relatively small part in Arcane season one, but that will likely change in the final season. When she arrived in Piltover, Ambessa quickly showed herself to be a cunning political and military mind who is very interested in guiding the city in a way that benefits her. Specifically she wants in on weaponized Hextech, the technology Jayce invented. With the council potentially out of the way, Ambessa is in a great position to grab control of Piltover, which would only mean bad things for the relationship between it and Zaun.
Magic is closer than ever
League of Legends is full of magic wielders, but Arcane has almost none in its first season. The closest thing we have is a mysterious mage saving Jayce in his youth as well as the understanding that Hextech is essentially using science to harness magical potential. Throughout season one, Viktor’s experiments with Hexteach leaned closer and closer to unlocking the mysteries of the arcane. With the promise that Arcane’s end will open the path for more LoL adaptations in the future, it’s a pretty sure bet that these loose ends will be tied up soon. This show is called Arcane after all.
The final season of Arcane will air on Netflix in three acts. With the first releasing on November 9, the second on November 16, and the third on November 23.
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