The world of League of Legends is back, with a thunderous second season of Arcane on Netflix. An eventful and surprisingly good first season back in 2021 took over streaming trends like a storm, with an engaging story of the class divide, sibling rivalry, and a dubious ‘hextech’—all based on the popular game League of Legends by Riot Games in 2009. But as we all know, seldom does a sequel season eclipse a solid first outing… and the new one did start off slow.
The first twenty minutes of the new season were painful to sit through. Especially, after the cliffhanger where they ended the last one. There are only a few moments you wish Netflix added the 1.5x speed function on your TV apps, and this was one such time for me. But then, the season comes alive and how!
The fancy top world of Piltover is given a taste of what it means to live in Zaun—the poor counterpart that runs beneath Piltover—as it reels over a brutal attack by the now empowered and deranged Jinx, voiced by the brilliant Ella Purnell.
Jinx is no longer the little girl we once knew as Powder (younger version voiced by Mia Sinclair Jenness). And her elder sister Vi, portrayed by Hailee Steinfeld, comes to terms with that, launching an offensive with a team led by the revenge-hungry enforcer, Caitlyn, played by the excellent Katie Leung.
The MVP, Ambessa Medarda
This season’s standout character for me was Ellen Thomas’s portrayal of the warlord Ambessa Medarda. She was introduced much later in the first season as a brawler chief who wanted to weaponise hextech, but throughout the second season, the estranged mother of Piltover councilwoman Mel shows us what she is really made of. A kingmaker indeed, Ambessa is the real MVP of the first three episodes for me—equal parts cunning and brutal.
The complicated relationship between Vi and Caitlyn takes on new layers as both undergo a sea of emotions as they rush to capture (or maybe finish off) Jinx. They seem to be at a crossroads of what to do with the authority recently bestowed on each one of them, and we see the cracks developing. This complicates matters further, for Jinx is also picking up strays in the Lanes at Zaun.
As we go further and further into the labyrinth of Zaun, a complex relationship of class struggles, the use of technology, magic, and the ethics behind it, and the grey area surrounding who is right and wrong, depending on where you are at life when you watch the story, all factor in. This, in its entirety, makes for an animated journey that really punches you in the gut. If you have siblings, the story gets to you over and above the wonderfully stitched action sequences.
Season 2 is a major upgrade on the already visually stunning series. You are quickly engrossed by the level of detail, and as an ardent fan of animation, I’m looking forward to the conclusion of this epic series.
ARCANE Season 2
Rating: 4 out of 5 | ★★★★☆
Where to watch: NETFLIX
Release date:
Act I: November 9
Act II: November 16
Act III: November 23