Today, Netflix and Riot Games revealed the official trailer for Arcane Season 2, although with a couple of new images. And, in news that might come as a shock to fans, series creators Christian Linke and Alex Yee also revealed that the second season of Arcane will also be its last — although they may not be done with League of Legends lore yet.
The hunt is on.
— Netflix (@netflix) June 11, 2024
The final chapter of the award winning series, Arcane premieres this November. pic.twitter.com/cZJ576rAlT
Spoiler warning for the ending of Arcane Season 1 below.
Arcane’s second season picks up right off the heels of its first, wherein Jinx’s cataclysmic attack on the Council sparks an all-out war between the diametrically opposed cities of Piltover and Zaun. Key among Pilltover’s counter-offensive strike team is Caitlyn Kirraman and Vi. Their mission is as follows: locate Jinx, dismantle the shimmer manufacturing plants, and “neutralize” any devoted follower of Zaun’s recently deceased criminal Kingpin, Silko.
While the teaser trailer highlights Vi's newfound allegiance to Piltover through her donning an officer’s uniform and acknowledging her sister as “Jinx” instead of Powder, the allegiances of other key players in the trailer, like Ekko and Heimerdinger, are unclear. Returning Arcane characters whose allegiances aren’t up for debate are Silko’s right-hand woman, Sevika, and the all-powerful Noxus matriarch, Ambessa Medarda, the latter of which appears more than eager to meet Jinx’s wrath with a fury of her own. Seeing as how Jinx’s destruction of the Council may have resulted in the death of Ambessa’s estranged daughter, Mel — whose whereabouts are unknown — it’s hard to fault her.
Although Arcane’s second season will bookend the falling out of Jinx and Vi, it may not be the last time League of Legends fans will see the video game adapted into an animated series. Earlier today during a League Dev, Arcane co-creator and Riot Games creative director Christian Linke said Arcane is far from the last League of Legends-inspired story the team wants to tell.
“Arcane is just the beginning of our larger storytelling journey and partnership with the wonderful animation studio that is Fortiche," Linke said. "From the very beginning, since we started working on this project, we had a very specific ending in mind, which means the story of Arcane wraps up with this second season. But Arcane is just the first of many stories that we want to tell in Runeterra.”
The release of Arcane Season 2’s teaser trailer comes a day after Gkids announced its acquisition of the physical and digital global home video rights of Arcane Season 1. According to Deadline, Gkids will announce Arcane's home video release dates — which includes a 4K version — sometime later this year.
Arcane is heralded as one of the best video game adaptations of all time. Key among Arcane’s illustrious list of accolades includes winning four Emmys—one of which made it the first streaming series to win an award for Outstanding Animated Program, winning five Annie Awards, and winning The Game Award for Best Adaptation in 2022.
In our review of Arcane, we gave the show a perfect 10 out of 10, saying, “Arcane is the first video game adaptation that’s truly a masterpiece, breaking new ground for what’s possible in TV animation.”
Arcane Season 2 premieres on Netflix in November.
Isaiah Colbert is a freelance writer for IGN. You can follow them on Twitter @ShinEyeZehUhh.
