TRAILER: Arcane Season 2 (2024)

“Sometimes, taking a leap forward means leaving a few things behind.”

Television

Today, Netflix and Fortiche Productions dropped a second and ostensibly final trailer for season 2 of Arcane. Season 1 of Riot Games’ League of Legends adaptation dropped on the streaming giant in November 2021 to surprising rave reviews. Suffice it to say, I am definitely amongst Arcane’s fans, and I’ve never played League in my life. Even in my limited game time, I was a World of Warcraft girl. They released a poster and a shorter trailer for the second and final season a couple of months ago, but this one gives us a better look at the state of Piltover in the wake of Jinx’s actions. Arcane season 2 hits Netflix this November, three years after season 1. Check out the trailer here: 

I have a lot of thoughts on this trailer, but mostly emotions. WOW. I won’t say the animation looks better than that of the revolutionary first season, but it does not disappoint. And I’m loving the new looks of characters like Vi, Jinx, and even Sevika. I’m shocked to see Sevika is apparently on team Jinx now? She always hated Jinx and fought with her for Silco’s favor, and Jinx killed Silco. Sevika should hate her more than ever, but I’m beyond intrigued to see what this partnership could look like. And you know what? They would both see Vi as a traitor for palling around with topsiders like Caitlyn, who absolutely means business in this clip. 

This brings me to the dialogue in the trailer, which is already absolute fire. I can’t wait to see what the rest of the writing is like this season; I’m still haunted by season 1 lines like “in the pursuit of greatness, we failed to do good.” In the season 1 trailer and in the show itself, Jinx asked Vi if they were still sisters, to Vi’s reply, “Nothing will ever change that.” In the season 2 trailer, Vi tells Caitlyn that she was right all along, “(Vi’s) sister is gone. There’s only Jinx now.” Chilling. I don’t know what it is about shows like this, how they make the characters and relationships feel so real and raw. It’s a rare thing, and I’m already heartbroken to see Arcane end after two seasons. But I’m so glad this show exists, that it will be available on physical discs, and that they clearly want to go out on a high note. There are other great lines in this trailer, like Ekko saying, “Sometimes, taking a leap forward means leaving a few things behind.” I’m unsure who utters, “The arcane is waking up,” but I got chills. It reminds me of the scene in season 1 where Councilman Bolbok remarked that the arcane was the scourge of the world and that it destroyed his homeland. I think I just like it when they say the word arcane in the show; I turn into that Leonardo DiCaprio meme from Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood. And Caitlyn is so badass remarking of Jinx,  “I want to tear that laugh from her throat forever.” Cait and everyone else in Piltover has plenty of reason to hate Jinx. She’s crazy, lacks empathy, and is a terrorist. But I think at the end of season 1, when Jinx took aim at the Council building in Piltover, she killed Caitlyn’s mom, who was on the Council. Jinx may not have sympathy for the suffering of others, but I imagine she will come to regret that decision.

Caitlyn is generally a kind, understanding person. She worked and fell in love with Vi despite the latter being a criminal with tattoos and a rebellious haircut; most police, let alone upper-class, respectable women, wouldn’t even consider it. But making an enemy out of her was Jinx’s mistake, and I think she will learn that in season 2, before hopefully dying. I rewatched season 1 recently to show my sister, who now loves Arcane too. I never noticed before the back-and-forth in season 1 regarding Powder/Jinx. Over and over again, people, mostly Vi, make excuses for her or say it’s still little Powder in there. Time and again, they’re proven wrong, and Jinx murders innocent, helpless people for no reason at all. This is particularly effective in the first season’s iconic “Dynasties and Dystopia” scene. This is the most heavily critiqued and discussed sequence in the show so far, and that’s for good reason. The song and Ekko’s fight with Jinx work seamlessly with flashbacks to their childhood as friends playing a game. It’s emotionally electrifying, forcing the viewer to swirl through joy, grief, nostalgia, and outright terror for Ekko’s well-being, all within a minute or two. But do you know what really gets me? I can’t stop thinking about Ekko’s reaction, his split-second hesitation to strike the killing blow. He knows it’s the right thing to do, and so do we. Jinx isn’t his friend anymore. She isn’t a sweet, helpless young girl who just wants to find her place. She’s a murderer. But when Ekko sees fear in his old friend’s eyes, it’s like being transported back in time. He would never hurt Powder. But because of that moment’s hesitation, she nearly kills him, escapes, kidnaps Vi and Cait, and kills the whole Council. Piltover is in turmoil now with no leadership, and both Piltover and Zaun are in greater danger than ever. But I still can’t say I don’t understand or that his feelings were wrong; could you kill one of your oldest friends, someone who grew up with you? Wouldn’t you hope, deep down, that reconciliation was possible? 

That said, I’m a little mad that Zaun sees Jinx as a hero, her portrait painted alongside Vander’s. She killed Silco, who, for better or worse (mostly worse), wanted to free Zaun. Jinx is a terrorist who doesn’t care about anyone or their freedom; she just wants to kill Caitlyn and possibly Vi, her own sister. Jinx is not a hero, and she doesn’t care about helping anyone. I’m disgusted to see her put beside Vander, a man who loved his children and his people more than anything. He died to save his children, and he would have done the same for anyone who needed him. Although I still suspect that that is Vander’s re-animated corpse Singed is working on. Am I crazy? Do any League players have insight on this theory? Sound off in the comments. 

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