In November 2024, the long awaited second season of “Arcane” had fans on the edge of their seats, and their sanity, to see how “Riot Games” would conclude the epic stories of some of the most loved characters in the animated series. Season one ended on a cliffhanger, with many wondering if there would even be a second season.
It took six years to make season one, and with a massive fanbase gained from the first season, the creators would be under high pressure to match the intensity in that second season.
In the last scenes of season one, we see Jinx, formerly known as Powder, shooting a massive rocket missile at the corrupt council of Piltover. Piltover is a high society who has long oppressed Zaun and the people in it. Jinx is a product of Zaun; the exact type of person who would end up this way growing up in a city full of pollution and poverty. She has quite literally lost her sanity, or so we thought. Her older sister, Vi, is one of the best people in Zaun. She has not given up on hope, or her sister, up until this point.
Jinx shoots a rocket at the building full of people who have long caused problems for Zaun through greed, corruption, and sticking their heads in the sand. Vi and her girlfriend, Caitlyn Kiramman, who is a Piltover enforcer, watch in horror as multiple deaths are inescapable. One of them being Caitlyn’s mother, who is a council member herself.
Vi should have every reason to hate Piltover and enforcers, but she chooses not to because she sees complication within the black-and-white view of things she once believed to be true. The main reason being her girlfriend, Caitlyn, who decided to go against the status quo and do the right thing; break Vi out of jail and investigate the corruption.
As we see complex relationships and plot unfold throughout season one, season two expands on everything we were hoping for as fans. It feels like the writers didn’t miss a beat. Jayce, one of the main characters whose personality has always been kind and caring, has his challenge with choosing between saving an entire city, or saving Viktor, his best friend.
Jayce’s ambition is part of what makes him such a great character. But it is also his downfall, and where his issues come from. Which ties into a major theme of the show: how far are we willing to go for progress? What could we lose in the process? Is it truly progress if it sacrifices all that we are as people?
These questions tie into almost every main character’s arc in some way in season two. Although some fans were bitter over season two, the vast majority see a work of art in everything done by the creators. Many fans enjoyed season two better than season one because there was already such a thick plot built up from the first season. Therefore, it made season two better in every way.
A show will always have critics, but when it’s based on very little to pick apart and hate on, it’s most likely better than you think. Despite every loss and painful moment in the show, it is heartwarming in the end to see all these characters fight for a better life. Regardless of what happened in the past, it’s never too late to build something new.