Connor Misko

Staff Writer

“Arcane’s” long anticipated second season has finally come to an end. The show’s first season instantly became a smash hit with fans for its deep storytelling and incredible animation. Jinx choosing to shoot the rocket at the Piltover council was a cliffhanger that would keep fans hungry for more. Three years after season one ended, fans would finally get what they were searching for.

Season two of “Arcane” had big shoes to fill to live up to the hype that season one did. While there are glaring problems with this season, it still offers an absolutely stunning nine-episode story that runs with the momentum season one gave it.

Season two somehow finds a way to be even more visually striking than season one. Everything from the brilliantly brutal fight choreography, to its vibrant atmosphere exudes style. Audiences will find it hard not to get sucked into this world through its stellar art direction alone. “Arcane” had a 250 million dollar budget for both seasons, and every dollar of that was used wisely.

“Arcane” is not afraid to push boundaries when it comes to its animation and music. It frequently utilizes different styles of animation and seamlessly blends 2D and 3D animation together to make scenes pop. These artistic choices not only look cool, but also enhance the storytelling using visuals as a means to represent emotion and characterization.

“Arcane” also has an extremely diverse soundtrack that adds an extra layer of immersion into its world. Almost every episode of season two has a unique song that plays almost like a music video.

The tension between Piltover and Zaun’s relationship was palpable at the end of season one. Season two brings it to its breaking point. Jinx’s attack on the council severed any hopes for peace between the two nations. The death of Caitlyn’s mom in the attack lights an unyielding fire under her. She rises to power as the new leader of the council and rules with an iron fist. Caitlyn becomes ruthlessly obsessed with eliminating Jinx and anyone still loyal to Silco.

With Silco dead, Zaun becomes a leaderless and even more dangerous hellscape. Different crime organizations struggle for power as shimmer still runs rampant. Without Silco, Jinx yet again must deal with abandonment as she struggles to find a purpose.

Vi must come to terms with the fact that her sister is a lost cause. She frequently changes motivations and relationships as she struggles to find the right path of action.

Viktor and Jayce part ways in their increasingly tumultuous partnership after Jayce saves his life with hextech instead of destroying it like he promised. However, as the story progresses, their positions quickly shift. Viktor becomes corrupted by hextech and adopts a twisted world view built from good intentions. Jayce, on the other hand, realizes just how horrific hextech can be and will stop at nothing in order to destroy it.

The strongest aspect of season two was Jinx’s character. I wasn’t sure how the writers would approach exploring new territory with her character, but I think they did a very solid job. At the start of this season, Jinx is at her absolute lowest. She lost Silco who she considered her only family, and she felt betrayed by Vi because she was close with Caitlyn. Jinx resorts to attacking the Piltover council, but all that did was spark even more animosity between the two nations.

Jinx can’t seem to fill the void in her heart and truly has no one left to lean on. Introducing Isha into the story was a perfect way to explore new territory with her character. Isha is able to fill the void in Jinx’s heart by being the sister-figure she has always wanted. The two form a very close bond that highlights a soft and caring side of Jinx. It’s a very heartwarming dynamic, and is a genius way of humanizing someone like Jinx who has done despicable things in the past.

Piltover’s increasing militarisation against an unaligned Zaun has also allowed Jinx to become a legend and unifying force among its people. It’s fascinating watching as Jinx shifts from being the main villain of the show, to becoming something akin to a hero.

The biggest problem this season faced was its pacing. Plotlines that I felt should’ve been given more time to breathe like Vi and Caitlyn’s relationship seemed very rushed and oftentimes under-developed. Vi and Caitlyn go from loving each other, to hating each other and then back to loving each other again in a super small time span. The black rose plotline with Mel and the Medarda family was interesting, but it was not nearly developed enough to make me care or even understand what was happening at certain times. Without getting into spoilers, there are several plotlines that I feel did not close properly during the finale as well.

I wish the show went more in depth with how the hextech magic system worked. The show introduces a lot of abilities and properties of hextech without really explaining what was happening. Oftentimes it felt like the plot influenced the magic instead of the magic influencing the plot. Instances like how the wild rune was able to transport Jayce, Ekko and Heimerdinger to alternate timelines felt more like a plot device than an actual proper storybeat.

Despite these flaws, Arcane season two has much to like. It’s a super fun show from beginning to end and is great if you are looking to get completely swept away into another world.