by Eric P., Guest Reviewer

Back in 2021, a certain animated series called Arcane: League of Legends debuted on Netflix. It made a certain mark, and fans eagerly anticipated the inevitable follow-up in those three years since. The trailer for it dropped, with the announcement of it being the Arcane storyline’s final season coming as a shock of those fans. Would just one more season really round out to a finale that did justice to the story they followed and felt was something special? All they could do to find out was wait until Season 2 finally arrived.

Where last we left off, councilwoman Mel and hextech creator Jayce called together the special council of Piltover to finalize a peace treaty with the counterpart undercity of Zaun. Meanwhile, sisters Vi and Jinx had reached the point where seemingly too much irreparable damage was done to save their relationship. The only response Jinx could unearth from her loss and anger was aim her powerful hextech cannon at the special council, and all Vi and her potential girlfriend, enforcer Caitlyn, could do was watch it happen.

Picking up right where Season 1 stopped, most council members have been severely injured or even killed in the explosion, Caitlyn’s mother included. Jayce and Mel stand as the only two survivors without a scratch, but how is that possible? That is just the first mystery introduced, and Season 2’s narrative wastes no time in getting going as the characters of both Piltover and Zaun react to the domestic terrorist act in their own separate ways, growing a whole new chaos. Ambessa, Mel’s mother and warlord of the nation of Noxus, seems to take special interest in taking advantage of it all by influencing Caitlyn to lead a military rule. Mel contemplates where she should stand, Jayce grows more convinced hextech itself was a grave mistake, and Vi and Jinx go through their own struggles in figuring out where they now fit or can fit in everything.

One of my favorite subplots is where Vi and Jinx’s childhood friend, Ekko, is transported via hextech to an alternate world—and offered a glimpse of what could have been. This is where hextech was never created, Piltover and Zaun live in relative peace, people that died in the past are still alive, and Jinx is still Powder. She and Ekko were allowed to blossom a whole new relationship that was just not possible in the original world, and yet it is that world Ekko makes it his mission to return to. Is it partly because the original world is the “right” one, and this 2^nd world is “wrong”? Ekko admits there is nothing wrong at all with the 2^nd world—he just cannot stay for the simple reason that he did not earn it, as well as due to his own responsibilities that anchor him to his home world.

This is just one of several narrative elements to appreciate and enjoy about Season 2, and I mean several, delivering much more than just the star relationship relevant to Okazu. Mystery and complication keep following one after the other like a running stream, with new and returning characters continually being added to and taken out of the mix from the beginning all the way to its epic end. Upon reaching the start of the final episode itself, it especially left this reviewer wondering as well as worrying—can this really stick the landing? Yes, it has been announced that there will be branching spin-offs, but with everything they have already done on this one series alone, can they properly wrap up the Arcane storyline on a reasonably satisfying closed loop before making way for new bonus chapters?

Short answer—I would say yep. After the wild, crazy, often unbelievable ride the animation took its viewers on, after all the tragedies that often bluntly overtook the triumphs, we get payoffs and full-circle resolutions galore that hurt so good like they should, just as much unexpected as well as partly expected. One of many things I appreciate about this story’s ending is that it makes clear regardless of whoever wins the final battle, it does not mean peace and harmony of any kind will follow. As long as humanity exists there will forever be conflict, and for that we can only do the best we can and never be off our guard. That kind of message is especially resonating in our world now more than ever, for better and for worse. This message is also what helps set up (along with the ambiguity of a couple characters’ fates) the promised future stories that could go literally anywhere from this point, and I have no doubt plenty of fans are already intrigued to see what the creators cook up next.

Ratings:

Art-10 This is said to be the most expensive animated series ever made, which absolutely shows and is well-spent on a handful of gorgeous imagery I certainly have never seen before—while also illustrating no matter how brutal and grim the world is, there remains an underlying beauty regardless

Story-10 Almost overwhelming while just succeeding in not being messy, it is really hard to imagine what could be improved when all is said and done. Then again, I heard somewhere that the final episode was originally a full 90 minutes, which I never would have guessed but makes me hope we might get the uncut version for this season’s possible Blu-ray release

Characters-9½ There was a traitor reveal toward the end that I did not care for, but I may well be in the minority on that. Otherwise, the characters all have their moments of making morally questionable choices, but it shows they are just people doing what makes sense to them and their personal circumstances, rather than just simply be protagonists one unconditionally roots for

Service-4 There are really only two scenes of serious intimacy I can recall offhand, but they pack quite a bit especially in the second one while managing to stay confined within its PG-13 rating

Yuri-7 Vi and Caitlyn are inevitably canonized. Beyond that, it is a payoff (amongst many) one should see for oneself