“There’s a monster inside all of us. It’s time to unleash the monster,” says undercity crime lord Silko in the Arcane season 2 trailer – and from the trio of episodes I’ve seen, it’s clear that everyone is breaking the tough ropes of love, hate and loyalty. he brought them together.
At the Egyptian Theater of Netflix in Los Angeles, the streaming service gave the media a look at the first few episodes of the second and final season of Arcane, its show set in the universe of League of Legends. I saw Act I before its release on November 9th to a crowd full of fans excited for the next chapters in the story of Jinx, Vi, Caitlyn, Jayce and others clashing over the future of the city of Piltover.
The first three episodes set the tone for season 2, and while it spends a lot of time laying the groundwork, it also has plenty of fist-pumping moments and interesting developments that kept me entertained for the last six episodes. I’ll be sad to leave Piltover and all the vivid characters that make Arcane such a fun and heartbreaking song.
If you haven’t seen season 1 of Arcane, it’s worth watching to prepare for season 2 — but here’s a quick recap to catch you up. Warning: Spoilers ahead for the first season.
Arcane takes strategies from League of Legends lore, but has its own unique history. It’s in the wonderful city of Piltover, which is widely divided between a high-class world of aristocracy and scientific progress ruled by a council of privileged upper-crust people — and Heimerdinger, a spirited, long-lived Yordle scientist and de facto elder. of the city. His prodigy, Jayce, develops magically infused Hextech that furthers the city’s progress, but pits it against the meagerness of the impoverished citizens crying out for freedom to build their own nation of Zaun.
During Arcane’s first season, the crimelord Silco rules the undercity, injuring the Vi sisters, a brawler, and the unstable Powder – who, after being abandoned, becomes the insane Jinx of a bomb in Silco’s right hand. Tensions boil between the self-proclaimed Zaun and Piltover council and the military, with the town’s honorable soldier Caitlyn trying to bring Jinx to justice (crossing Vi in the process). In the season 1 finale, this culminates in a brutal battle that leaves Silco dead and Jinx bombing the council — confirming the storm to come as the upper and lower factions of Piltover go to war.
Act I of Arcane season 2 picks up where the first season left off — and if you thought season one’s expected team-up between the top and bottom Piltover characters was surprising, you ain’t seen nothing yet.
When is Arcane season 2 coming to Netflix?
The first three episodes of Arcane season 2, titled Act I, arrive on November 9. The second episode, Act II, drops on Nov. 16, and the final three episodes of the show, Act III, arrive Nov. 23. There are no current plans to make a season 3 of Arcane.
Caitlyn (left) persuades Vi (right) to hunt down her sister Jinx.
What happened in Arcane season 2 first three episodes?
Generally, Act I is about dealing with the impact of Jinx’s attack on the council and the subsequent power vacuums that reorganize the board. Season 2 spoilers below — but only the first three episodes, which drop today on Netflix.
Act I begins immediately after Jinx’s attack, with three council members lying dead — including Caitlyn’s mother. The nobles of Piltover are eager to hold down the underground city and attack with soldiers. Vi, from the town itself, gives a Piltover soldier’s badge when he pleads with Caitlyn to bring Jinx to justice rather than punish innocent civilians. A small group descends to take on anyone who is Vi’s little sister, and her relationship with the noble soldier deepens. But after a brutal fight in which Caitlyn and Vi confront Jinx and the undercity guard Sevika, the former couple split up.
Caitlyn, a noble and a soldier, pauses before the terrible scene.
This is the main theme of the first three episodes: Covenants of the characters are broken and others are made, showing the changing consciences of the characters as the battle rages on. While surviving council member Mel tries to uncover a conspiracy between the drug-ridden city and Piltover’s elite, her mother Ambessa — a Noxian noble who arrived in the first season with a bodyguard — continues her political chess moves, quietly playing the town. powerful against another to raise his own influence.
After Jinx unwittingly shoots crime lord Silco at the end of season 1, the underworld crime lords step into a power vacuum. Some attack the nobles of Piltover during a ceremony to reunite the fallen council members, but mostly they fight among themselves and make life worse for the townspeople — including the little girl Jinx saves from the family’s thugs and becomes a young vigilante. It’s a nice match and a chance for Jinx to reflect, but it doesn’t bring it back to the original episodes.
More secrets are revealed about Hextech — and the titular arcane magic itself.
What changes, in another sad sequence, is the friendship of founder Jayce and his assistant Victor, who was injured in the bombing of the council and put into bio-stasis, thanks to the Hextech core. Emerging from his chrysalis in a newly transformed body, Victor shares bitter words with Jayce and poisons their friendship, choosing to descend into the depths of the slums among the wretched victims of Shimmer, the Silco drug that has permeated the inner city. In a murky way, Victor lays hands on an addict and unleashes a shocking new power that heals them of their suffering (though transforms them, too) — and creates his own holy following.
Jayce, impulsive and neglecting his council duties to focus on Hextech, finds his lab invaded by unexpected villains: his old mentor, Heimerdinger, and Ekko, the young leader of the Fireflies, a vigilante group that fights crime bosses and Jinx. . Returning to Firefly’s headquarters built near a giant underground tree, the three develop a shocking new theory: New, wild magic is a reaction to the magic power itself, which serves to balance the proliferation of Hextech that includes magic. This seems to be the basis of the whole series, so we will wait until it pays off.
Ambessa, a noble from the city of Noxus, plays her political game in Piltover.
As the final episode closes, a new show emerges. As shown in the first season, Ambessa had fled her homeland of Noxus due to a factional feud that killed her son and her entire family. A magical force abducts Mel, pulling him out of the board. In his absence, Ambessa uses another member of the council to rally Piltover’s officials at war once and for all — and takes her place by appointing an angry Caitlyn to control the city’s power.
As the curtain closes on Act I of Arcane’s second season, hearts are broken and new alliances are formed, but Piltover is ready to attack the undercity en masse, no matter the human cost — a powder keg (pun intended) waiting to explode inside. teams and winners. And lurking in the background, someone is slowly coming back from death which is something completely different.
The first three episodes of Arcane season 2, like Act I, dropped today on Netflix.
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