One of the only things that REALLY pissed me off about season 2 was what they did to Vi. As someone that really loved her and resonated with her character, seeing all of her agency and power taken away and solely centered around Caitlyn and Jinx was devastating. It went farther than just having little role in the plot. Even in the thing that Vi was supposedly the best at- hand to hand combat- she was repeatedly bested (EASILY) by JINX and CAITLYN, both of whom are RANGED FIGHTERS. All of Vi’s years and years of training just get completely thrown out the window and she’s relegated to some barely competent boxer far from the level she was at in season 1. Ultimately, this specifically is not that important, but it sets a precedent for what they did with the rest of her character that I really disliked.
You literally summed up everything I thought about this season perfectly. There definitely needed to be 3 more episodes in act 3 to fully tie up the plot lines. What’s sad is the co creator said that they scrapped a lot of scenes due to pacing issues. Apparently there was over an hour of footage of Jinx and Ekko bonding before the final battle. They end up making each other’s costumes, which Jinx does wear Ekkos coat in the finale, it’s all painted and modified (they’re so cute 😊). But yeah, this finale just felt rushed and a lot of the plot lines just felt open ended 😔
I think the scene would’ve really enhanced both jinx and ekko character. Apparently they would prepare together and these scenes would parallel the scene of AU Ekko and jinx building the Time Machine. I would love to see Ekko smiling at jinx like he did with AU powder seeing the good in her and connecting with her. Ekko finally letting go of powder and seeing the good in jinx would bring his character arc to a close. I’m a bit more mad they cut this because Ekko my favorite character
They initially planned to have last episode to be double the length of what was released, I think that would have been much better but in the end it didn't happen for, ... well reasons I don't know
The whole season feels like 2 seasons smushed together into one. A lot of plot points are just rushed through and characters act in a manner just to facilitate the plot. Jace despite still being a member of the council is never asked for his opinion or involved in any vote. Vi has no issue with using the gas on her own people to find Jinx and from episode 3 to 5 goes from “kill Jinx if you have a chance. She’s not sister anymore” to “get in here sis and give dad and me a hug”. This season moves so fast that I feel it’s hard to understand why anyone in the under city sees Jinx as a hero when she herself says she’s hiding and not involved. Feels like the writers forget Jinx is a terrorist who killed tons of Firefly’s in season one. Also they completely forget about Ekko, Heimer and Jayce. No one even brings them up despite how significant they are in universe. The whole season just bugged me and felt off from the start and the finale left me numb
@@Gaia1054 yeah for some reason everyone seems to get selective amnesia and forget that jace is incredibly influential one of the only leaders of piltover
I wish we had a bit more time with each character. For instance, I wanted to know how Mel would mourn Jayce's disappearance or see her reaction from finding out he was gone. Also Vi's input on Isha's sacrifice. We also did not see in what way Sevika gained the trust of the remaining Chem-Barons.
In my opinion they basically avoided class conflict for the arcane plot. Writers held back both sides from doing unrepairable damage to each other so they can make peace after taking down evil enemy together. Sevika getting a seat in council is just an easy way to resolve the plot.
I like how people say they ignored the class conflict when Vander literally comes back to life to stop Jinx from becoming another Silco. We see the cost of "symbols of resistance" playout with Isha. We see the "sacrifice yourself to the greater good" explored with Victor and the zaunites that join Piltover in ep 8. We see the answer to the question of "how do we coexist" explored in ep 7 and the finale. We get a parallel to the class struggle with the Black Rose/Ambessa story(Mages = Piltover, Non-Mages = Zaun) But since we don't get another scene of Sevika "uniting the lanes" or another scene of enforcers brutalizing zaun while politicians lament the cost of safety. (we get this so much in S1 and it's great but you can't just rehash this stuff in S2).
@@Joeda89 You can't just rehash this stuff in S2? You mean.....the classist themes that have been underpinning the entire story since the beginning. All the themes you've mentioned are all undermined by the conflict at the end which has nothing to do with Piltover's oppression/neglect of the undercity. The big bad guy was a foreign warmonger. It's kinda thematically removed from the rest of the deeper conflicts of the story.
@@chrishaven1489 Yes you can't just do S1 again. no these themes are not dropped they evolve. We follow Ambessa and the black rose (Mage vs non-mage showing this isn't limited to just Zaun/Piltover) We see the sisters coming together, being able to forgive each other, for Vander's sake (this is the Piltover/Zaun conflict, these characters introduced us to the conflict) We see the sisters desperate to trust Victor and that trust cost them Vander because Jayce must preserve the potential for progress even at the costs of some zaun citizens. Is it clean? No, the pace is lightning fast we don't get those slow scenes of character staking it in what just happened. Saying it is thematically removed is like saying Moby-Dick is just a book about whale hunting.
@@Joeda89 tbh the Zaunites siding with Piltolver's enforcers made zero sense. If you look at it either with an outside, real world perspective, no group of oppressed people would simply choose to help their oppressors. And inside the story as well, Piltover promised nothing to Zaun in order to gain their trust and help in battle. Even Sevika in the council would probably mean very little since that's just 1 Zaun seat against many Piltover ones. The class conflict in both seasons is shallow (with S02 being even more so) because it's simply a product by an American company. And that's fine, not everything has to have that much political consciousness to be good. But it did affect the story because of the inconsistencies they didn't solve :/
I thought that Viktor’s transition into wanting to rid everyone of their humanity was pretty sudden. We had a montage of him working tirelessly to save Vander even though it apparently was seriously costing him, but what? He meditates a bit, gets shot, and decides he’s totally cool with sacrificing Vander for his own gain?
While I agree that this season needed a little more time to let things breathe (though at 14 million per episode producing at a loss that's easy to say). But as I see it. Viktor build a peaceful community of people from the undercity and piltover. A refuge for the ones that were ill and broken like him. Healing them, connecting all but leaving them their individuality. Everyone was welcome and no one judged, even a dangerous monster. He tries to heal Vander and the goal is not to heal his body but to save who he is. His personality, his individuality, his humanity. He is trying to separate humanity from it's monstrous side, alleviate suffering. Which I think is symbolic for what he is trying to achieve for humanity at large. Then his best friend tries to kill him, and his entire peaceful utopia sinks into chaos and war. Vander is at his most out of control and monstrous. People die and it shows him that no matter how much he heals and brings people together, humanity in his eyes is flawed/imperfect. So he wants to go further in his attempt to remove all suffering and this time remove all individuality/choice/humanity. A perfect world without suffering. For that he was willing to sacrifice everything. In that moment he let's go of his own humanity and let's go of his memory/connection to Sky Young. And in that context, sacrificing Vander was understandable. But 30 more minutes could've strengthened the point.
the end result of his character arc makes perfect sense, given that everything he does in the show is outwardly altruistic while more accurately representing his inner desire to "cure" his imperfections. the problem is that the writing did not allow viktor to develop the agency or take the logical steps necessary to get from point A to point B, leaving his arc feeling needlessly confused when his motivations should have been clear from what was built upon in season 1.
I think a lot of people are calling ep 7 the best because their is a lot of Ekko fans including myself and also the music and the fact that the episode took its time and was very immersive. Not to mention one episode managed to elevate Ekko character even more and showcase why he’s a heroic character. His loyalty to his home and people. It’s a beautiful episode for Ekko.
It's a masterpiece because it's the only episode that did not include Ambessa and the Noxians, which I believe that storyline was a disgrace. They should not have added that in Season 1
@@CzarsSalad it had potential and i found ambessa to be a decently compelling character, much more so than either vi or caitlyn, but the execution of the black rose plotline left a lot to be desired.
episode 7 was the best in the series to me for a few reasons. i'm personally biased because i used to main ekko in league, and i feel like this episode perfectly encapsulated the ethos of his character's in-game lore. additionally, both the setting and pacing of this episode felt grounded and meaningful, and i felt that character moments actually got a chance to breathe compared to the rest of the act.
This season started so strong but by the end I was just confused. It felt like there wasn't nearly enough time to explain what was going on, especially for those of us who don't play League.
i think it started out kind of weak tbh. the cracks were already showing in season 1; there was a lot of wasted screen time and i felt as though the act was just rehashing the finale of season 1 without making meaningful progress in the larger story. the pacing was also quite slow and the plot felt like it was meandering too much without giving any of the character arcs a proper focus.
this is just the thing. you not understanding what is going on in Season 2 isnt really their fault. they only have 9 episodes to work with. they cannot explain or show everything just because yall arent informed on it. Arcane is the best animated show. Hell it might even become the best show in general with all the people that are talking about it. but its going the same way like all other good shows. Senseless hate and arguing about things that arent even the producers fault. if you dont know what was happening, then do sum research. its not their fault you dont understand what is being said. (Im not saying you are hating or sum. im just saying its BS what you are sayin)
@@TronixToad Sorry, but everything you said is wrong, my friend. You, the viewer, are not obligated to do the producers homework "if you don't understand, do some research" so does that mean that, in order for you to understand Arcane, you have to know the history of the Black Rose, the war between Ionia and Noxus, the nine demons of Runeterra, Swain's coup, etc? The series does have production problems that were beyond their control (there was supposed to be a whole scene with Jin and Ekko talking about the other reality). Riot wasted all of Arcane's money on useless things and now the series suffers because of it, People are giving genuine criticism to Arcane, this is different from hate.
I love Arcane but after I finished Act 3 I couldn't help but feel kinda underwhelmed and disappointed, particularly from the last 2 episodes. I initially couldn't quite articulate why and everyone else seemed to be only talking about how amazing it was, but this video literally perfectly validates everything I was thinking. When Act 2 released, it was actually my favorite act so far, but I now realize that it really set up the plot and characters in directions that negatively impacted the final 2 episodes.
One of the few complaints I have for the ending is that we never really see anyone react to any of the characters that died. We never see anyone react to Jinx’s death except for Vi. We never see anyone react to Jayce or Viktor’s deaths. And we never even see anyone acknowledge that Heimerdinger died. At the very least I figured we’d get a funeral scene where they acknowledge everyone that died, but we didn’t even really get that. This is especially strange in the case of Jinx. In the first two acts, they were really building up Jinx as a beacon of hope for the Zaunites, and she forms a pretty interesting relationship with Sevika. I thought for sure that they were building up a scene at the end where Sevika and the Zaunites pay their respects at Jinx’s funeral, but we didn’t get that. And the fact that we didn’t see Mel or Caitlyn react to Jayce or Viktor’s deaths is just weird. I’m not saying I needed a happy ending or anything, but I feel like showing some of the characters reacting to the ones that died would’ve helped the ending feel a little less rushed (And yes, I’m aware that Jinx and Heimerdinger are probably both alive, but most of the other characters don’t know that and we are never explicitly told that)
"Show, dont tell". But also "Dont feed your audience with everything like a baby". Many things that you are talking about (funeral scenes, people reaction to death) are tropes that are seen in too much shows, and often an artificial way to procure emotions in shows that are often weak at storytelling.
@@philippes.9571 that seems needlessly facetious. the world doesn't feel realistic if characters that interact with each other and should have some semblance of connection to one another don't have meaningful reactions to the plot and the world changing around them. "show don't tell" is way more of a cop-out than any overdramatic funeral scene could be.
Disagree with you completely. Showing how characters react to something as emotional as death is not bad storytelling, it's literally the opposite. Glossing over important emotional beats can give audiences whiplash as it decentralizes the importance of the event, and it's why it's become a common criticism of s2. @@philippes.9571
There are a lot of issue but for me the main one is in the plot. What is Arcane about ? Piltover VS the undercity. That’s literally the core of the show. Now, what is season 2 about ? NOT the conflict between Piltover and Zaun.
I wish they’d gotten another season or at least more episode to tie the civil war and Arcane plotlines together in a satisfying way. Not whatever we got.
So many people seem to disagree with any criticism of this season. The attention to detail, the masterful animation, the callbacks to the game, and the beautiful music and symbolism were amazing. However, even as a longtime player of league of legends, I was still left wanting after the credits rolled. I understand that we will be getting to explore further stories in Noxus, Demacia, and Ionia in the future, but so much about the Zaun/Piltover story felt unresolved or rushed to me, much like you expressed in the video. Season 1 felt simply flawless, but I feel many still have rose colored glasses on when critically thinking about season 2.
I feel like when anyone try’s to view the series with the same criticism it always gets shutdown I do believe the series is still amazing and season 2 didn’t change that but that doesn’t mean it’s flawless and talking about said flaws won’t hurt the series
The fast pacing made each characters decisions feel shocking and unprovoked and I know there we’re meant to they just had to cut so many scenes that you are left understanding how the conclusion should be cathartic but you weren’t given all the pieces of the puzzle
Overall, I do think season two is a 9 or an 8 out of 10 comparative to season one’s 10 out of 10. But I still really like season two. Season one was establishing these characters, and two focused more exploring them and taking them into different directions. I do think the series could’ve benefited from one more episode in each act, but I still think the overall product is a good product.
@@jaredtheastralartist2510 season 1 is 10/10? are you fucking kidding me? all the problems in Season 2 are from Season 1 stupid side stories. Take Ambessa and the Noxians out of Season 1 and Season 2 will be alot better
Arcane is a masterpiece, but I have to admit that S1 is stronger than S2. Jinx's storyline left me with a bit of a bitter taste. I understand the intention behind her redemption arc, but it felt rushed. At the end of Season 1, Jinx was portrayed as completely psychotic and broken. Yet in S2, we encounter a more stable version of her, which felt like a sudden shift. The reunion with Vi also happened too quickly. With a character like Jinx, there are two main paths to explore: keeping her as a villain or diving deep into a redemption arc. However, I believe a character like Jinx doesn’t necessarily need redemption. Sometimes, it’s more compelling to delve into the abyss and embrace her chaos. Characters like Jinx are beloved for their unpredictability and raw, chaotic nature. Trying to smooth out her edges risks losing what makes her so captivating.
Thank you for saying all of this, many of my own thoughts - started strong then dropped the ball, ignoring so many themes that made me love the show in S1 and think it was glorious like the class conflict and the fully fleshed out individual narratives. Ignoring the struggle of Zaunites after forcing them to endure mass disabling conditions, chemical warfare, and police brutality at the hands of Piltover only to... give their lives defending Piltover dressed as the people who have been oppressing & hurting them their whole lives and making my favourite character who spent the entire season struggling with suicidal ideation sacrifice herself at the end... hurt.
Perhaps Arcane needed a third season in order to give it more breathing room to explore the ideas and plot threads they laid down. S1 = how Piltover and Zaun start fighting. S2 = Piltover and Zaun war but are forced to ally against Ambessa & Viktor, tensions remain high and they narrowly win. Without further cooperation, they will perish. S3 = Piltover and Zaun learn how to live with each other, needing to combine the merits of their societies in order to defeat Ambessa and Viktor. Healing between them has begun but it will be a long road ahead.
nah a whole other season would have the exact opposite problem, show would drag. The conflict between piltover and zaun had been so explored by the time S2 arc 2 happens that the show's move to exploring solutions to the conflict is warranted. The show exploring those solutions via The family and Victor is the kind of big brain writing decision that makes S2 feel so satisfying as an answer to S1's setup. Could the last act use an extra episode or 2? Yes, that would have probably been a noticeable improvement. 9 more episodes? Probably not.
Dude, you have just vocalised all my own thoughts about season 2. I've refrained from being too negative about S2 in comments sections since overall i am still so grateful for what we have a show like arcane at all. But the word i kept coming back to in my head after act 3 was complete was underwhelmed. You've nailed most of the points i would have made & i would personally add the lack of importance or emotional weight that was given to jinx's final sacrifice. A great vid TGM, i think you summed up the feelings of many fans. However, i am forever thankful that i lived at a time when we have shows like arcane & blue eye samurai that are helping redefine animation & storytelling forever.
@@thegoldman25 Mel's my favourite character. Glad she's a champion, Mel and her mom's dynamic is very much like me and my mother's too. She's a mama bear who annihilates anyone who harms her kids and I prefer to de-escalate conflict.
Not perfect but so glad it exists. Hopefully, it serves as a pillar for better projects in the future. Appreciate the criticisms and thoughts, even the ones I don’t agree with.
very excited to hear abt the flawes it has in your opinion. Personally the only flaw it had was the pacing for me. Everything happened so quickly and it could have had some additional episodes but other than that i really liked the show and it´s in the S Tier for me
I think what would have helped Season 2 a lot is there being an extra episode for each of the acts; meaning there would be 12 episodes (4 for each act) rather then 9. I feel like this would complete a lot of my issues with the show. My main one being what one of my friends called "The Slaughter of the Side Characters." To start off with, I really wish they showed more of the Chembarons Civil War rather then just do a music recap (though I love "Sucker" that is my favorite song out of this season). It would have justified all the time we get to seeing these Chembarons despite them never showing up again. Also would help Sevika since after midway of Act 2, she does virtually nothing. I also think that episode would help with showing Caitlyn's Task Force more, as we do not get nearly enough time. Believe it or not, I actually liked Loris and thought he was cool. To bad he only had 8 lines of dialogue in total. Same goes for Steb. Apparently, he is supposed to be mute but that still doesn't make up for the fact we don't see nearly enough of him. As for Act 2, the extra episode would have gone to showing more of the Zaun occupation and Victor's commune growing. I feel like my second biggest annoyance with these season is how they use a music video to recap what should have been at least half a episode. And finally for Act 3... this is where I am more mixed. Episode 7 is fine, that is probably my favorite episode in the entire season. As for the rest of the Act, I feel like there could have been a better build-up and ending to the battle. The battle itself I am fine with for the most part as I think it is very good. I do have an issue with how suddenly it ends. But this comment has gone on for long enough. If someone wants me to, I'll continue the discussion and defend the points I have made.
The pacing was fine for me. Arcane season 2 builds on sn1 without handholding you, no filler, no fluff, no over-simplification, no over repetitively *FORCED* toddler-ish "comedy" and no spoon feeding while encouraging deductive participation from the audience/ viewers to follow the plot complimented by an ABSOLUTE BANGER of hyper-cinematic induction all culminating to higher immersive experience. There are many online still scratching their head about how or why Silco and Vander became buddies again in the alternate timeline yet they COMPLETELY forgot about the LETTER from Vance addressed to Silco IN SEASON 1 which Silco never read in the main timeline so it becomes BLATANTLY OBVIOUS that he read the letter and "found the will to forgive" in the alternate timeline. Brilliant compact and impactful writing. But instead many are demanding to be spoon-fed. The only main issue for me (personal bias) is the finale should have been longer and bigger battle filled will much more multiple character moments AND we should have SEEN how Ekko united Zaun after saving Jinx including seeing Jinx make a new arm for Sevika. Also we never got to know WHO the other leading families of Piltover are but i am okay and content with what we got on screen. Especially considering how INSANELY EXPENSIVE the budget was (Arcane sn1+2 budget= $250m, most expensive animation ever) so it's understandable how and why they made the writing tight and compact while giving the audience some participatory deduction and generate interest to research into the lore. What they delivered is still very peak in my opinion. We all wanted more eps but there is cost-benefit situation with that. Perhaps in future projects they could make each ep 10mins longer from 40mins-50mins then the final can be like 1hr. This can be a perfect middle ground to give more time to more avenues of the plot without adding more full eps. It might cost a little more but still significantly LESS than making additional FULL eps. Either way, both Arcane sn1+2 have been incredibly amazing.
Is it perfect? No. Can we discuss what we really, really wanted? Sure. But Season 2 is still better than 95% of everything out right now because Season 1 was a masterclass set-up to build to this point.
Just want to add, Caitlyn’s decision to switch sides is far more complex than a single conversation with Vi. Meeting Vi serves as the tipping point, not the sole catalyst. By this time, Caitlyn has already realized Ambessa is manipulating her, and she’s been grappling with the morality of her actions. Her decision to let Jinx escape stems from two key factors: 1. The Time Jump: Episodes 1-3, Caitlyn is consumed by rage and vengeance, but as time passes, she begins to heal and reflect. When confronting Jinx, she admits, “Hating you, I have hated myself,” and acknowledges, “No amount of good deeds can undo *OUR* crimes.” (jinx's and her own crimes). Caitlyn realizes how far she’s strayed from the person she wants to be. Her decision to help Vi is a step toward redeeming herself and breaking free from the cycle of violence. Which is herself once wanted to do in s1 e7. 2. Love Over Vengeance: Caitlyn recognizes that her hatred for Jinx has overshadowed her love for Vi. By leaving the decision to Vi-whether to let Jinx escape or not-Caitlyn shows her trust and love, even knowing that Vi will choose Jinx and might leave forever. (Who decides who gets a 2nd chance?) She answers this by giving jinx and 2nd chance. This reflects Caitlyn’s desire to redeem herself by prioritizing her love for Vi over her thirst for vengeance. Finally, Caitlyn relinquishes her Kiramman chair to Sevika, marking the beginning of an effort to bridge the class divide between Zaun and Piltover. This act symbolizes Caitlyn’s commitment to rebuilding Zaun and creating a better, more equitable future for its people.
I understood all of that. But it's very clear that Vi and Cait's relationship arc was missing a few beats. They break up. And after one meeting, they hook back up together again? Why break up in the first place? That arc needed more friction before they united again
@@chrishaven1489I get the same feeling but they were never really togerther in the first place. Vi just lost her opportunity of love but they both never experience it until later…you know that scene.
I also believe one of the first tipping points is when caitlyn meets singed. she views him as an irredeemable monster who represents the undergrounds atrocities, linking his actions with jinx, but when she questions him about his intentions and creating shimmer, he pointedly adds that he does it out of love. I think that moment is what started her shift in world view because she lowers her gun and looks stunned, and i fully believe she was linking that idea to both herself and jinx. she knows jinx fired the rocket while in pain due to silco dying, she was there, and she knows everything shes done is out of love of her mother and wanting justice. I believe that is the moment she realizes one can commit acts "others deem unspeakable" and fully realizes it becasue she can see how shes done the same thing, and then starts to hate who shes become. I think even after realizing that she felt trapped iwth ambessa, she couldnt fully go against her so starts instead making snide remarks and trying to take down ambessa whenever she let her gaurd down. I think vi coming in just made caitlyn more brazen because she believed in vis strength and saw an opportunity to break free from ambessa with this ally shes trusted before and whos had her back. it is subtle but that link makes her whole arc make a ton more sense personally.
@chrishaven1489 yea I feel that but we can assume after Vi and Caitlyn spoke about why they were there Vi expanded that WW is her father; thus Caitlyn who already was hesitant about using the monster, that tore apart the prison and at least a couple dozen of guards, in the first place was even more incentivized to turn on Ambessa (also from her pov it’s probably the only realistic opportunity)
In my point of view, the council is treated as "less of a deal" in Season 2 beacuse it is a "lesser thing". As the Arcane wolrd shows, the council is no the representation off Top-Side, but the sum of the families with more influence over other families; you may have influence by means of resources or knwoledge, or by aliances with other families. The families that allied with the council are not death, so they move to the next best thing. The next-best-thing is the third party enemy that comes up "conviniently". In the end, to me it makes sence that the death of most to the council isnt the thread accros season 2, beacuse the Top-Side is gobern by influences, not merley by the council. As allways: great video.
I haven't thought of a possibility for another Jinx and Vi reconnection, not through Vander but through saving Isha. That would have been definitely a better way to solve their conflict.
This season wound up being very rushed at the end. The last two episodes had to tie up so much plot and character arcs that everything moved forward at breakneck speed. Its very unfortunate they needed to rush the conclusion here. The pieces were so well set up. The major plotlines were addressed by all the secondary ones were dropped. Surprised they kept episode 7 purely just Echo and Powder, I'd have cut that down and switched back to the main timeline for some of it.
At first I did feel it was rushed but honestly just watching everything and how everything in media fails to conclude. Arcane is a modern masterpiece. No let down everything has come together and done amazingly.
@@thegoldman25 of course nothing gonna be perfect but if the individual loves the conclusion and what it presents then to them like me love the hell out of it. Always a pleasure hearing your thoughts Gold.
Honestly i absolutely loved this season, but it’s a weird reason why. I agree with all the points you made. So many things are unresolved which actually made me obsess with the show more (rewatching it, filling the missing pieces with my immagination is kinda fun). Since it’s so open ended it kinda keeps you hooked. Overall though i agree with everything you said. Except maybe that i felt like caitlyn’s development was good (just too quick) going from seeking vengance/justice to choosing love as well as stepping away from hating jinx. That decision is what allowed jinx, ekko and the whole of zaun to go to join the war. Here too i would have appreciated to see jinx and ekko, what they talked about for jinx to change so much as well as them rallying the undercity. I guess that’ll stay in my immagination. Overall, i understand the criticism. Personally though if i look at arcane overall it’s the best show i watched ever. Period
some people say that most side characters or most of the characters shown didnt get involved with the story much and it just felt like they were watching from the side lines in silence. but i dont think thats all true. the producers said themselves "We have more shows coming up" who says Arcane is all about Jinx and Vi and Caitlyn. maybe the next show its about sum other LOL characters. its kinda realistic in my opinion. In life not everyone is involved with things or has the right to say smth. i think they did a perfect job on Season 2.
To be fair, Jayce's death was acknowledged at the end. They showed Jayce's mom put a piece of paper (likely with Jayce's name on it) in the bowl. The paper was burned on the bridge, along with the rest of the paper of the folks who died during the battle. While I don't believe Arcane S2 was flawless, I do believe it was a masterpiece. I hope to see more stories from the Runeterra universe. ^_^
Arcane ending reminds me of what Game of Thrones finale could have been. The Game of Thrones rushed due to David Benioff and DB Weiss wanted to move on with other projects, so Game of Thrones characters didn't feel like themselves they went for what was more shocking then character driven and logic that made Game of Thrones great to watch not knowing what's going to happen It's funny, Arcane is seen as more adult than many adult live action shows, but people won't watch it because it's based on a video game, and it's animated 😂
For me part of the question is not "did this series need more time?" more so : "how much more time did it need?". Like sure you could have one more season: but do you risk re-treading old ground or letting stories run too long? I think if they wanted to make this a grand final season, I think either a 4th act of 3 eps or 4 acts of 4 episodes would really seal the deal. With Vander coming back. From a lore perspective that was inevitable. Like, as soon as his character poster was revealed before season one; we all knew. And with Singed/Dr Reveck being the mad scientist he is. But then again the issue is that, While the execution of what they did was cool (i.e. Warwick rampage in Stillwater), Like most of the series, their bigger beats feel unearned. We should've had Jinx needing to work more to earn Vi's trust and maybe more to "fix" Vi like she was doing with Sevika. And with Warwick, I think there should've been some more inner conflict with Vander and the beat, Warwick's identity, where the Vander personality coming through amongst the beast means something. I think this also brings up an interesting point when it comes to making adaptations; Staying true to established Lore Vs. telling a good story. I joke about the Mel subplot as "it could've been and email" but I feel like it was just used as a means to introduce the Black Rose more than anything else. I don't have an issue with Noxus being involved in this plot; Noxians value strength and there's certainly strength & power to be had in the hextech, but I feel like with the black rose, they were letting in too much lore/world building than needed. Sure, you can allude to them, but having them be as involved as they were I feel like was a little too excessive. Also on the point of things feeling unearned, That's definitely the problem with the ending. I don' minx Piltover & Zaun teaming up against the Noxians & Viktor, because Noxus & Viktor succeeding would certainly affect both for the worse. But again, we didn't get time with them acknowledging an uneasy alliance and really learning and earning that being more trusting would benefit both would help. Like imagine if there was a slower paced episode dedicated to Piltover & Zaun reps airing out grievances in an attempt to make an alliance. Sure, it doesn't have to be successful, but it would be something. and as much with the conclusion, Yes you don't need them to be completely peaceful and good with each other for it to be satisfying; just show there's potential for progress and the big question for following seasons would be; can they co-exist/will things be better? Regardless, It's ironic that the season that focused more on magic, kind of lost the magic of what made season one special. I certainly have more thoughts, but these are the ones that come to mind atm.
Although there are pacing issues in this season where certain aspects seemed rush, I still think that this is an amazing season of television. I think the highest points of this season heavily outshine the lows that are still prevalent in this season. The animation, the character work, the story, writing, action and acting are all still at such highs in this season. Yes this season prob needed 2 more episodes in my opinion but they did as much as they can with 9 episodes and I still believe this season was Netflix’s magnum opus. Season 1: 10/10 Season 2: 9-9.5/10
8:11 "so, that didn't last long" Only a couple of months (almost a year), there are lines backing this up. Dude, if you want to form an opinion at least get the facts together... I need to vomit all the time when people judge development and realism in a movie or show based on how fast they received an event. Like, dude, do you really need fckin' SEASONS to accept this between them? One of many things I really liked about this show is how tight and relatively laconic it is based on how much stuff they needed to pump into it. It isn't Stargate that's for sure.
My biggest issue is that after the massive success of S1, it's clear that Riot wanted to move on quickly to new champions from LoL. This was the biggest mistake imo. There are lots of fans who watched S1 of Arcane who had never played LoL, but got so invested because of the care and time that went into Jinx, Vi and the rest of the S1 characters. It really feels like all of that love and passion was thrown away just so that other champions could have their TV spotlight. It feels like such a waste.
Yeah, Arcane could have topped ATLA as the best series ever made, but now I can only recommend for someone to watch S1 as an example of fantastic writing and character development, and to ignore S2 in that regard.
I wouldn't say the plot direction is bad by any means. It is said by Heirmerdinger in the first season that Piltover was founded as a safe harbour to withstand against the common enemy - the mages and their mishandling of the Arcane (which PERFECTLY fits "Arcane"s story of Viktor). It's just needed more time, from 1-3 episodes to a whole season.
about your point with the council exploding i believe that it didnt affect zaun because they had already wanted to be seperate from piltover rather than a conjoined state. they didnt care because they dont want to have anything to do with piltover. and the explosion had killed multiple council members and specifically the ones at war with zaun. the reason that the conflict between zaun and piltover was thrown away when viktor became the villian was because the only council members that had enough power to stop zaun were killed/removed from the council. jayce had already experience what would happen if they didnt stop viktor so he didnt try to stop zaun, and mel didnt try to stop zaun as she went through the black rose arc which helped her realize that everyone needs to come together to solve problems or else they wont be able to defeat viktor
This season was like an 8-8.5 for me mostly because of the same flaws you laid out, but hey, season one is still one of the greatest seasons of television I’ve ever watched so I’m just glad they didn’t ruin it by having a terrible second season.
Ep 7 has to by my fav too but i truly belive ekko my boi deserved more screentime coz he is totallly the main character!!!! he's story and personality is much more interesting than Vi for one. My boi was ripped off :( we were ripped offf:( The boy saviour and he big fat hero's lovestory was ripped off.
I agree with most points of the video, I feel like this season should have been mabey 4 acts instead of 3 and have it between 1 and 2 so we can explore the consequences of act 1 before getting to the resolutions of act 2 and give a better motive for it to feel more earn. I don't think this is something necessary but it would benefit a lot the season
i don't mind vander being warwick. i always saw it as a way for the sisters to set aside their issues for a moment to help vander... only for a moment though. i always wanted some sort of confrontation between the two sisters about everything that's happened. and we could've gotten that when they were in the commune... but we didn't. which is lowkey frustrating.
It's not like it was bad/less good compared to season 1, but the fact that season 1 managed explaining and providing more with short scene while we get so many stuffs, but felt empty
The only thing I would disagree on is that I think Jinx understands her sister so well she understands that if Vi had an inkling that there was an opportunity for Jinx to be family again with her she will pursue that. Jinx and Katlyn by extension of knowing, are trying to unburden Vi of the her perennial need to feel responsible for Jinx/Powder when Jinx has proven she is her own person. Jinx is trying to do the kind thing if giving everyone as clean of an opportunity to move forward based on what has already happened.
I think your video perfectly describes what it must feel like producing a show for Netflix, an organisation that sells stories and has, controversely, absolutely no patience and capacity for what good storytelling actually needs. I have no proof of them actually meddling with runtime or number of episodes. But when you look at how meticulous the story was build in season 1 and how some conflicts seem rather rushed (Caitlyn's a dictator, now she's not; Vi has an aggressive rant, now she doesn't; the people of Piltover rebell, now they don't...), I wouldn't be surprised if that was a Netflix problem rather than a riot or writers problem.
7:44 Caitlyn's strike team attempting to "clean up" Zaun, but not really having much impact makes sense to me tho. Her intention never was to change all of Zaun, all she was looking for is jinx. Since Caitlyn is now in charge without any previous experience and is fueled by blind rage, it makes sense that she doesn't act that rationally or make up the most effective plan. If she were more experienced in leading, she would've probably found a different strategy that does a lot more damage to Zaun (if we assume thats what she wanted) And since Vi and Caitlyn are together, i see why Cait doesn't have a hatred towards all of Zaun...
3 Seasons...3 seasons could have FIXED everything, S2 was rushed, they had to get to that crazy finale...again they did what they could, 1 in between season would of fixed so much and the finale season could of been Viktor finally becoming the herald and a whole 9 episodes (or 6 of war) things again felt so rushed
I had pretty much the same thoughts while watching the season. It felt like they made too many compromises to get the story to where they wanted it to go by the end of the season. I agree they took the easy way out having Piltover and Zaun unite against an external threat. Unfortunate, since so little fictional media covers structural issues as well as the first season. I think at its best this season lived up to, and occasionally exceeded the first, but at its worst it became exactly what I feared a LoL adaptation would be. Some of my favourite episodes of the entire show are in season 2, and MANY of my favourite moments, but they sacrificed on the connective tissue to get to that finale. Overall I still think the season was fantastic, and I'm glad it was made... but oh what we could have had if the story of season 2 was spread out over two full seasons...
17:04 personally I do think that: Jinx genuinely had no idea how to approach Vi to reconnect, as seen by her attempt to do so where she almost gets choked to death and can barely get out the most valid reason to bother her ever😂😭
My exact thoughts are that too much was left unresolved for this to feel like a concluded story. I feel these future spin offs had too much set up in this series to make the Jinx/Vi and Viktor/Jayce story truly conclude them. I feel like I’m waiting for season 3 and not a new story.
i think the biggest problem is not enough time. the creators wanteds to add last 3 episode to be 1hr and 30 min each, but netflix declined.im sure they had the ideas to more to the story just limited screen time for the season for soo many things
I agree with a lot of these criticisms, but personally I feel like people are focusing way too much on the flaws here. Everyone loves throwing around phrases like “flawed but beautiful” to describe season 2, but that’s how you could describe pretty much any show that’s considered a masterpiece. There isn’t a single series out there that you couldn’t find a flaw or two in, no matter how good it is, and Arcane is clearly one of the best. So for me, I find it weird that there is such a focus on its imperfections rather than the fact that it’s one of the greatest series ever produced. I think it deserves so much more praise than criticism, and I just haven’t been seeing that balance.
Animation, music, editing, all that stuff is great, but if the characters are making weird decisions and scenes are left out to rush the plot forward, it loses its magic. People wouldn't be complaining about this for no reason. Everyone acknowledges that it's a beautiful show, but if the character writing doesn't logically flow for the viewer, it takes them out of it. I spent the entire last 2 episodes going.... wait.. why are they doing this? Why is this happening? How did Cait, Vi, Jayce, and Jinx get away from Ambessa after the explosion? Why did Jayce meet Jinx for the first time entirely offscreen? Why didn't we get to see Cait and Jayce reunite? Did she even know he was missing? Why on earth would Ambessa team up with Viktor, the guy creepily speaking through all his dead followers? If Viktor told Jayce he was the only one to get through to him with the power of love, why did Jayce try to kill him in ep 6 and 8? What is the rune doing to Viktor? Oh they got sucked into it. Where did they go? Did Ekko know what just happened, or does he think he accidentally killed Jayce? All of these questions made me just go ????? instead of feeling anything. Which is really annoying because I WANTED to enjoy it!!
Agree with pretty much everything you said here, the conflict between Zaun and Piltover being sidelined was a big mistake imo, and while I get that they needed to make victor more like how is in the game I feel like they could have done that elsewhere, either in another season or another show. Jinx was easily the best part but a lot of other characters felt like they had less attention put on them by the writers, even being completely absent for prolonged stretches of episodes, not having any impact on the story until the end. It overall just felt much less focused than s1, still a joy to watch cause of how amazing it looks and sounds but left more to be desired
The show’s final shot focuses on Caitlyn’s close-up, even though Vi is resting on her shoulder. This framing choice carries significant weight and can be interpreted in two ways. First, both Vi and Caitlyn are mourning the loss of their siblings-Jinx and Jayce. Caitlyn, however, knows that if Vi discovers Jinx is alive, she will inevitably go after her. This is why Caitlyn questions Vi, asking if she’s still committed to this fight, subtly probing whether Vi will remain by her side despite everything they’ve lost. When Vi reassures her, Caitlyn feels conflicted about whether to share her suspicions about Jinx possibly surviving. Caitlyn’s won’t give Vi false hope without solid evidence, but the possibility weighs heavily on her. This internal conflict is captured in her close-up, a moment of quiet turmoil. The scene then shifts to the airship, leaving an open ending.
I think people really need to watch this season twice before judging it. It does intentionally move fast and rely on the audience infer things based on clues left in seemingly unrelated scenes. But once you go back and realize how much you missed on the first watch, S2 hits differently. It's right up there with S1 in my opinion.
here's one of my main problems with season 2 and its call out of character decisions the biggest one coming from Kaitlyn. Though out the first trailer and at the end of episode one Kaitlyn says "I will lead a strike team into Zaun with three objectives locate Jinx,dismantle Shimmer and neutralize any agents still loyal to Silco" and in the finale we see Kaitlyn give up house Keiraman's seat to Zaun for their representation but who does the seat go to not Ekko a loyal allie and friend who happens to be a Zaunite it goes to Sevika SILCO'S number two and the only person more loyal to Silco's cause than Silco himself and his adoptive daughter Jinx. Fuck season 2 pisses me off, season 2 to me can be summed up by a quote from season 1 or a song title from season 1 those being "in the pursuit of great we failed to do good" and "What Could Have Been"
im 300% sure this was 2 seasons combined into one. 2nd season would be more about Piltover vs Zaun, then the 3rd season would probably be more on Arcane and Noxus. I'm sure Riot was probably rushing the creators behind the scenes, especially after the success of the first season. They probably want to expand the world faster and explore other (more profitable) characters *cough* Lux and Sylas *cough*. Honestly, with this in mind, I'm glad they're still able to deliver a beautiful show that has an acceptable plot. I'm just hoping that Riot DOES NOT take the overall good reception of season 2 to be THE direction that the next shows should go to
Perfectly described my feelings here. I enjoyed the second season, but I would have enjoyed it significantly more if they focused more heavily upon the tragedy of Piltover vs Zaun, the class warfare that is inherent in that dynamic, and how that conflict ripples outwards to affect all of the character bonds/dynamics.
i dont think jinx and vi meeting up for wander the beast was a bad point in direction at all. it was a little out of the blue yes (most of the act 2/3 was because the pacing was too fast) but it was important, there seemed hope and future for the the two sisters with unresolved trauma, and to me more than anything it felt like a few moments of closure from the incident that changed everything when wander died. Also jinx saying 'this time we should both be there' highlights it enough that according to her the last time when they weren't together was when the conflict began and that is the her character motivation for reaching out to vi. It also showed how jinx matured and that as she got a reason and was able to move forward inspite of the trauma. but after all this Jinx still thinking she had to go away for vi to move on? that was the surprising part!! because here i was thinking that the complex sisterhood is resolving and that they can be there for each other in the future, is not what jinx thought? here sacrificing herself proved that she loved vi (and she probably understood and forgive her) and wanted her to move on.. but why? why not move on together? y make vi belive that she died. ?
tbh, there was a falloff from s1 and s2. Not in terms of the graphics, the graphics were awesome, music awesome. It was the story line. There was a lot of confusion and so many things happened at random. The fight scenes were good but what led to the fight scenes were questionable. I ask myself why this is happening sometimes. They set such a high standard in S1, unfortunately it wasn't maintained.
I totally agree with it being a mistake that Piltover focused too much on Jinx and not Zaun as a whole. I honestly thought that Caitlyn, at the end of episode 3, was going to descend into being a facist dictator, blinded by the trauma just one Zaunite did to her and taking it out on the whole group. But no, and the whole class conflict, the underlying theme connecting everything, was just… dropped?? It honestly feels like the writers kept getting cool ideas this season and immediately shoved them in and quickly abandoned them for the next cool idea. I’m sure that’s not true, since this is just based off league lore, but it all feels very sloppily thrown together. Also, as someone who will never touch LoL… why should I have to do homework just to understand a story? I didn’t have to in season 1, why now?? Honestly, this season just feels like more spectacle than substance, and much less grounded than the last (especially with Mel and the Black Rose. I am never getting over that dumbass plotline!!!)
I think Arcane is a once in a life time masterpiece of artwork. Even if you might have a issue with it, the beauty of in its imperfection is simply too incredible to change its impact on you.
Tbh i want jinx to have died, shes been suicidal since the very start of s2 probably in s1 too, if she dies to save the only person that has always tried to save her, id say its a very good ending.
Surprised nobody has talked about how cheap and badly written Jinx'"death" scene was. They made a point in showing how Warwick's consciousness got deleted by Singed and Viktor, so there is ZERO reason for the creature to wake up after dying when Viktor's army got Phantom Menaced. Both sisters deserved a goodbye scene, not an MCU ish final fight, specially when it's a fakeout
I think season 2 should only have addressed the Piltover vs Zaun conflict and just teased the victor "ultron" plot and left a cliffhanger at the end. Then finally get all the resolutions in Season 3. It was way too rushed compared to season 1.
at least to me my criticisms (before i watch the video): 1. i wanted more episodes (i do for each show i like but in this case it needed at least 1 more) 2. the final episode had far too little dialogue and too much action 3. Maddie's death was pure fan service and offered nothing to the plot 4. Loris death was underwelming he should have at least gotten a shot (you could remove him and nothing from the plot changes), in VI's short emo arc where she fights on the ring he looks like her coach had they expanded it more or show him box it could be sth 5. the black rose was underwelming (at this point they could remove most of it, have mel awoken her powers at the ending to save ppl from an explosion or sth and kill ambessa with her mentioning it and then the scene of her heading to noxus to find what is the black rose and lead into the upcoming arcane series)
Saying that Jinx should have gone the way of Frodo and moved on is a misunderstanding of the ending and the themes in the books, Frodo dies because he cannot take the burdens of life anymore
To speak on the unsatisfying unending in terms of Piltover vs. Zaun, a major issue that can't be overlooked (And I'm not using this to defend the show persay) is that half of the Piltover and Zaun champions in League of Legends haven't been brought into this new vision for Runeterra's lore. This conflict can't be resolved yet, there are still major players in this class feud (Renata and Camille probably being the two biggest) that need to be brought forward first. By the nature of what it's adapting this needs to be setting up a second stage of the war, rather than wrapping everything up in a neat little bow. Again, not a defense, this aspect should have been better communicated more in both the marketing and the shows conclusion, and acknowledging it still doesn't remedy the rushed pace. But it does make this ending a bit more palatable for me when viewed as the end of this specific chapter for the region, of the current arcs of these characters, rather than the overall climax. With everything the showrunners have been talking about in interviews it certainly doesn't sound like they're done with most of these characters. "I'm not done with Heimerdinger", "I think Ekko and Jinx's dynamic is worth exploring more moving forward", "Either the beast or man within Warwick will have to win" to paraphrase a few, there's definitely more planned to be done with this story. I dunno, does that perspective help in any way? It's a bizarre adaptation issue for a game like League, there's too many goddamn characters in the game to the point a single show can't reasonably cover a full region. Noxus is gonna face the same problem, there's almost the same amount of characters there as Piltover and Zaun combined. I'd be curious to see how Season 2's ending holds up once the region is inevitably revisited again in the future.
@@thegoldman25 That's the correct decision lol I'm oversimplifying a lot here, but were they to wrap everything up in this season a good majority of the remaining characters can no longer exist within this world, as there would no longer be any room for their narratives to take place. Changes in the show has already left several of them in narrative limbo (Hextech used to powered by ancient mythical scorpion souls, it's an absurd can of worms), so until they can figure out how all these pieces fit together in this new canon they've decided to embrace... well, how can you implement the singer character trying to platform unity between Piltover and Zaun if that unity is already achieved? How does the blade legged Hextech-infused grandma continue exploiting Zaun, creating the Gray, if that problem has been resolved? And how does the sentient ooze vigilante that eventually arises from that exploitation to fight injustice come to be when there's no more injustice! It's a big ole mess, centered around an arguably naïve decision that everything related to League must be canon when compared to every other thing that's involved with League. And I have no idea how they're going to put all these pieces back together.
In my opinion, Act 1 should have been the entirety of season 2, and then acts 2 and 3 could have been season 3. The story was great, but they just needed more breathing room.
(A) The Piltover vs Zaun issue... I think it was NOT discarded and ultimately still addressed and resolved in the end. Frankly i do not think we would have seen anything deeply riveting with too much focus on riots and raids then attack and counter attack going back and forth in the Piltover vs Zaun when already knew it was happening so we mention it and allude to it and move on to what ACTUALLY matters and important. Perhaps we could have gotten some screentime dedicated to knowing the other houses on the Piltover leadership council and the other gangs/ factions in Zaun but it becomes filler whereby we just get shown politics just for politicking sake which are ultimately inconsequential to the primary characters and the central plot going forward. It was still Piltover vs Zaun then Victor and Ambessa issues became a higher threat level to *BOTH factions* until Ekko the boy savior did thing not only for Jinx but also uniting Zaun to join the fight which ultimately led to a Zaun representative seat on the leadership high table in Piltover towards peace and reconciliation as both sides lost many lives to save Piltover and Zaun from Ambessa's and Victor's ambitions. This probably leads... Hopefully... to a future similar to Ekko's alternate timeline where Zaun and Piltover melded together in harmony. (B) Regarding the focus of magic issue... B1) Folks complaining that the magic story came from nowhere in sn2 when IN FACT a literal wizard was shown giving Jayce the rune stone/ hex stone IN SEASON 1 and the entire hex-tech inspired from that also based on MAGIC right from season 1. B2) Bases on B1), it also makes sense to show there are other types of magic in this world aka BLACK ROSE MAGES as a SUB-PLOT tied to character development of Mel and Ambessa. B3) The same magic provides pay off to the Jayce and Viktor dichotomy whereby both of them want to do good for humanity but diverged on ideology with different circumstances for their motivations only to find out the Viktor himself used Jayce as a silver bullet to stop himself from his compassionate ambitions for a perfect world which would have ultimately destroyed everything. (C) Ekko... Period! Ekko ... Oh boy... This dude had little scream time but carried the BULK of the final act INCLUDING [i assume] uniting and convincing Zaun to join the war to save Piltover against Viktor and Ambessa based on the lessons he witnessed, learned and experienced in the alternate timeline about forgiveness (Silco and Vance) and "sometimes to take a leap forward you gotta leave some things behind". For all we know Ekko kept using that time device repeatedly with Jinx by his said after saving her until he was able to successfully unite Zaun to join the war. My only gripe here is Ekko should also have a seat on the leadership council to balance the more peaceful [Ekko] and violent-prone gangster [Sevika] sides of Zaun. This also have Ekko placing Sevika in check so that she never develops any ambitions that will ruin the peace between Piltover + Zaun on the leadership council. I still IMMENSELY enjoyed Arcane sn2 . My rating= at least 9/10
while im not nearly as let down by the direction they took, i loved it still, i do earnestly believe that season 1 was the real surprise superstar of the decade while 2 ended up being more along the lines of what i would expect for a league of legends show. i enjoyed it immensely but i can also confidently say it was a rushed mess that i can't help but compare to hotd, especially when i'm seeing viserys' absence in the wake of his death similar to silco's, causing this chaotic swirl of choices. a flawed masterpiece though, i'll agree to that entirely.
Yeah, not much to add to the review. It was good, but it wasn't as great as the first season. They would have needed another episode (or stretch the last one for another 15-30 min) to wrap up everything in a more satisfying manner.
one of my complaints was for some reason me not caring about the whole hexcore viktor ambessa arc at all!! i think the emotional grip the rest of the characters had was stronger and i was finding myself more interested in their story. also everything was happening at such a rapid pace it was hard to keep up. The ending definitely needed a longer sequence to tie everything up well with the same love and care it started with because it was the final season and there is no more arcane coming out. :( also are viktor and jayce really ded? because how and when did victor time travel and became the figure that made jayce follow magic. ?
I appreciate your opinion. I just have to disagree. Maybe you think Arcane is a class-struggle story, but it's a character story in a world of magic. The class-struggle setting was just a vehicle for character development. Season 2 broadened the scope of the setting into something more immense and far reaching. These are made up characters will made up powers. To have them trapped in a class-struggle setting forever would become tiresome very quickly.
I dont think they moved away from the class conflict as much as you think. I think it just proved the " the enemy of my enemy is my friend" and the topside and bottom needed to defeat Victor and the a whole other nation to stay alive
Arcane Season 2's CONTENT is a Masterpiece. Everything they do, everything they tell, everything is actually perfect. The question is... Is there a better story to be had. Arcane Season 1, there is no better story. There is nothing else that the viewer needs to know, or wants to know, or wants to see, or has to see. Arcane Season 2 leaves a lot of to the imagination and instead focuses on the big question the show has had from the beginning. "CAN YOU FORGIVE A MONSTER?" Can Silco Forgive Vander? No. Can Jinx forgive Vi? Yes, No, Yes, No, Yes... Can Vi Forgive Jinx? Yes, No, Yes, Yes... Can Caitlyn forgive Jinx? No, Yes. Can Piltover Forgive Zaun? Viktor Forgive Jace for not destroying the hextec? Yes and No. Can Jace forgive Viktor for trying to enslave mankind? Yes. Can Mel forgive Ambessa's coldness and cruelty? Yes. The entire theme, from every aspect, is consequences, forgiveness, and choices. Every episode is as close to perfection for a narrative show. But the pieces are greater than the sum of its whole, because there's so many stories we want to see. Yeah, we have an understanding of what's happening in them. But man they sound interesting and it'd be cool if they showed us what happened, instead of the after effects of it happenings. The story they decided to tell was to a question that has been in the back of the narrative and the heart of the narrative, "Can A Monster Be Redeemed?" The entire narrative has been about that one question, How Far is Too Far To Be Forgiven? If you realize that Jinx was never a revolutionary and that her actions were one of chaos and destruction and not politics, then you realize that it was her attempt to go too far that there's no coming back from it. There's no undoing the evil she's done. This is the story they wanted to answer. Right down to Viktor and Jace, both knowing the monstrous horrors Viktor will unleash, and the evil he will do, and has done, again, and again, and again, and yet they end the loop. Also, the narrative is around breaking the cycle. The entire story runs on cycles. The destructive power of love over hate. The death of parents continues the cycle, but the death of a child can alter the cycle. We learn this in Episode 7, that Vi's death drastically changes the entire timeline. Thus Isha's Death changes Jinx. The show delivers on everything it gives you. But it's not always what the viewer wants to see. This doesn't get better that the story has to end on an open-ended feeling, making it even more incomplete... There's still long massive ways to go in that community and to know the story is over makes us feel a little underwhelmed. The question you asked on the first part from the Reddit Post on whether the series nullifies what happened with Jinx attack on the council. No it didn't. It hijacked the narrative, through the use of Ambessa, who took the emergency, utilized the Zaunities, and got them to attack the memorial service as well. Again, this comes with expectation, to whether or not it works and it's done well, with the proper motivations. And it is. Isha's death breaks the cycle and Silco told Jinx what to do to break the cycle. She has to walk away. That's the lesson for her. Sometimes, it's not about whether or not you keep fighting, keep killing, or die, sometimes the strongest thing anyone can do, is just walk away. Jinx is a terrorist with a huge amount of innocent bodies, not to mention the aide of literally introducing shimmer to the underworld. She's been there at ground zero through all the horror and cruelty and death and destruction. She couldn't live as Jinx. It would've always been that role and expectation. Vi is 16 year old girl who went to prison for several years, was beaten often, came out, losing everything, and then gets a chance to get it all back. Like, her trauma is in the loss of those she loves. She has little grudge. And with the chaos that Ambessa and Caitlyn are causing in Zaun, her feelings on Jinx's actions are likely massively muted by that point. It does have the Joker vibe with Isha. Isha is Jinx the revolutionary that everyone wanted. Her actions, mind you, are a direct image of what she believes Jinx would do and Jinx represents. She doesn't know anything about Jinx besides the revolutionary and the savior. And so she sees her only as the revolutionary and the savior, and literally forces Jinx into that role. It's an act of brilliant writing, but it's not the story that people were expecting and it takes a lot of time to build up that takes away from everything else that could be told. I get the criticisms. I fully do. And I get that there's an entire different series here, with just the information they provided, and the things they bring up. But dammit all.. I still loved it. It's still a masterpiece. It's just not perfection like the first one. I think they needed another 3 years and 100 million dollars to get it to the first one.
As someone who watched the first season 3 times in the same week it came out cause it was so good, i think season 2 should have had 1 more arc/2-3 more eps cause the final fight kinda came out of no where but exept for that i do agree about your points but at the ends its not THAT flawed
One of the only things that REALLY pissed me off about season 2 was what they did to Vi. As someone that really loved her and resonated with her character, seeing all of her agency and power taken away and solely centered around Caitlyn and Jinx was devastating. It went farther than just having little role in the plot. Even in the thing that Vi was supposedly the best at- hand to hand combat- she was repeatedly bested (EASILY) by JINX and CAITLYN, both of whom are RANGED FIGHTERS. All of Vi’s years and years of training just get completely thrown out the window and she’s relegated to some barely competent boxer far from the level she was at in season 1. Ultimately, this specifically is not that important, but it sets a precedent for what they did with the rest of her character that I really disliked.
I'm with you
Thank You! Vi was so watered down this season, but as usual everyone was too obsessed with Jinx to notice.
You literally summed up everything I thought about this season perfectly. There definitely needed to be 3 more episodes in act 3 to fully tie up the plot lines. What’s sad is the co creator said that they scrapped a lot of scenes due to pacing issues. Apparently there was over an hour of footage of Jinx and Ekko bonding before the final battle. They end up making each other’s costumes, which Jinx does wear Ekkos coat in the finale, it’s all painted and modified (they’re so cute 😊). But yeah, this finale just felt rushed and a lot of the plot lines just felt open ended 😔
I think the scene would’ve really enhanced both jinx and ekko character. Apparently they would prepare together and these scenes would parallel the scene of AU Ekko and jinx building the Time Machine.
I would love to see Ekko smiling at jinx like he did with AU powder seeing the good in her and connecting with her.
Ekko finally letting go of powder and seeing the good in jinx would bring his character arc to a close. I’m a bit more mad they cut this because Ekko my favorite character
Didn't Christian already debunk those claims? I think he said that the script got barely changed over 6 years.
But having like 3 minutes of vi and cate in the jail cell was completely needed😂great use of time writers
No. An extra act would've blown out the budget. The show needed another season with a separate budget.
They initially planned to have last episode to be double the length of what was released, I think that would have been much better but in the end it didn't happen for, ... well reasons I don't know
The whole season feels like 2 seasons smushed together into one. A lot of plot points are just rushed through and characters act in a manner just to facilitate the plot. Jace despite still being a member of the council is never asked for his opinion or involved in any vote. Vi has no issue with using the gas on her own people to find Jinx and from episode 3 to 5 goes from “kill Jinx if you have a chance. She’s not sister anymore” to “get in here sis and give dad and me a hug”. This season moves so fast that I feel it’s hard to understand why anyone in the under city sees Jinx as a hero when she herself says she’s hiding and not involved. Feels like the writers forget Jinx is a terrorist who killed tons of Firefly’s in season one. Also they completely forget about Ekko, Heimer and Jayce. No one even brings them up despite how significant they are in universe. The whole season just bugged me and felt off from the start and the finale left me numb
couldn't agree more
@@Gaia1054 yeah for some reason everyone seems to get selective amnesia and forget that jace is incredibly influential one of the only leaders of piltover
I wish we had a bit more time with each character. For instance, I wanted to know how Mel would mourn Jayce's disappearance or see her reaction from finding out he was gone. Also Vi's input on Isha's sacrifice. We also did not see in what way Sevika gained the trust of the remaining Chem-Barons.
Honestly, maybe 10 more minutes for the resolution could've worked
There are no chem-barons remain. The last two were taken down in the "Hellfire" montage. 2 seconds of screentime, basically, too easy to miss.
In my opinion they basically avoided class conflict for the arcane plot. Writers held back both sides from doing unrepairable damage to each other so they can make peace after taking down evil enemy together. Sevika getting a seat in council is just an easy way to resolve the plot.
I like how people say they ignored the class conflict when Vander literally comes back to life to stop Jinx from becoming another Silco. We see the cost of "symbols of resistance" playout with Isha. We see the "sacrifice yourself to the greater good" explored with Victor and the zaunites that join Piltover in ep 8. We see the answer to the question of "how do we coexist" explored in ep 7 and the finale. We get a parallel to the class struggle with the Black Rose/Ambessa story(Mages = Piltover, Non-Mages = Zaun) But since we don't get another scene of Sevika "uniting the lanes" or another scene of enforcers brutalizing zaun while politicians lament the cost of safety. (we get this so much in S1 and it's great but you can't just rehash this stuff in S2).
@@Joeda89 You can't just rehash this stuff in S2? You mean.....the classist themes that have been underpinning the entire story since the beginning. All the themes you've mentioned are all undermined by the conflict at the end which has nothing to do with Piltover's oppression/neglect of the undercity. The big bad guy was a foreign warmonger. It's kinda thematically removed from the rest of the deeper conflicts of the story.
@@chrishaven1489 Yes you can't just do S1 again. no these themes are not dropped they evolve. We follow Ambessa and the black rose (Mage vs non-mage showing this isn't limited to just Zaun/Piltover) We see the sisters coming together, being able to forgive each other, for Vander's sake (this is the Piltover/Zaun conflict, these characters introduced us to the conflict) We see the sisters desperate to trust Victor and that trust cost them Vander because Jayce must preserve the potential for progress even at the costs of some zaun citizens. Is it clean? No, the pace is lightning fast we don't get those slow scenes of character staking it in what just happened. Saying it is thematically removed is like saying Moby-Dick is just a book about whale hunting.
@@Joeda89 tbh the Zaunites siding with Piltolver's enforcers made zero sense. If you look at it either with an outside, real world perspective, no group of oppressed people would simply choose to help their oppressors. And inside the story as well, Piltover promised nothing to Zaun in order to gain their trust and help in battle. Even Sevika in the council would probably mean very little since that's just 1 Zaun seat against many Piltover ones. The class conflict in both seasons is shallow (with S02 being even more so) because it's simply a product by an American company. And that's fine, not everything has to have that much political consciousness to be good. But it did affect the story because of the inconsistencies they didn't solve :/
I thought that Viktor’s transition into wanting to rid everyone of their humanity was pretty sudden. We had a montage of him working tirelessly to save Vander even though it apparently was seriously costing him, but what? He meditates a bit, gets shot, and decides he’s totally cool with sacrificing Vander for his own gain?
I understand why Viktor did it, but I do agree that it was sudden. That character arc needed more time to decay
Not to mention joining forces with the warmongerer who wants to weaponize hextech...the ONLY thing Viktor was against
While I agree that this season needed a little more time to let things breathe (though at 14 million per episode producing at a loss that's easy to say).
But as I see it.
Viktor build a peaceful community of people from the undercity and piltover. A refuge for the ones that were ill and broken like him. Healing them, connecting all but leaving them their individuality. Everyone was welcome and no one judged, even a dangerous monster. He tries to heal Vander and the goal is not to heal his body but to save who he is. His personality, his individuality, his humanity. He is trying to separate humanity from it's monstrous side, alleviate suffering. Which I think is symbolic for what he is trying to achieve for humanity at large.
Then his best friend tries to kill him, and his entire peaceful utopia sinks into chaos and war. Vander is at his most out of control and monstrous. People die and it shows him that no matter how much he heals and brings people together, humanity in his eyes is flawed/imperfect. So he wants to go further in his attempt to remove all suffering and this time remove all individuality/choice/humanity.
A perfect world without suffering. For that he was willing to sacrifice everything. In that moment he let's go of his own humanity and let's go of his memory/connection to Sky Young. And in that context, sacrificing Vander was understandable.
But 30 more minutes could've strengthened the point.
the end result of his character arc makes perfect sense, given that everything he does in the show is outwardly altruistic while more accurately representing his inner desire to "cure" his imperfections. the problem is that the writing did not allow viktor to develop the agency or take the logical steps necessary to get from point A to point B, leaving his arc feeling needlessly confused when his motivations should have been clear from what was built upon in season 1.
My favorite scene is when Viktor said "I am the Arcane" and Jayce league of legended all over Viktor's chest
dude hahaha
hey that was literally my favourite scene too 🎉
what episode was this? I can't recall Victor saying that
I think a lot of people are calling ep 7 the best because their is a lot of Ekko fans including myself and also the music and the fact that the episode took its time and was very immersive.
Not to mention one episode managed to elevate Ekko character even more and showcase why he’s a heroic character. His loyalty to his home and people. It’s a beautiful episode for Ekko.
Ep7 was really good! The rest.... not so much.
It's a masterpiece because it's the only episode that did not include Ambessa and the Noxians, which I believe that storyline was a disgrace. They should not have added that in Season 1
@@CzarsSalad it had potential and i found ambessa to be a decently compelling character, much more so than either vi or caitlyn, but the execution of the black rose plotline left a lot to be desired.
episode 7 was the best in the series to me for a few reasons. i'm personally biased because i used to main ekko in league, and i feel like this episode perfectly encapsulated the ethos of his character's in-game lore. additionally, both the setting and pacing of this episode felt grounded and meaningful, and i felt that character moments actually got a chance to breathe compared to the rest of the act.
This season started so strong but by the end I was just confused. It felt like there wasn't nearly enough time to explain what was going on, especially for those of us who don't play League.
im the same way, honestly Act 1 feels like Season 1 completely
i think it started out kind of weak tbh. the cracks were already showing in season 1; there was a lot of wasted screen time and i felt as though the act was just rehashing the finale of season 1 without making meaningful progress in the larger story. the pacing was also quite slow and the plot felt like it was meandering too much without giving any of the character arcs a proper focus.
this is just the thing. you not understanding what is going on in Season 2 isnt really their fault. they only have 9 episodes to work with. they cannot explain or show everything just because yall arent informed on it. Arcane is the best animated show. Hell it might even become the best show in general with all the people that are talking about it. but its going the same way like all other good shows. Senseless hate and arguing about things that arent even the producers fault. if you dont know what was happening, then do sum research. its not their fault you dont understand what is being said.
(Im not saying you are hating or sum. im just saying its BS what you are sayin)
@@TronixToad Sorry, but everything you said is wrong, my friend. You, the viewer, are not obligated to do the producers homework "if you don't understand, do some research" so does that mean that, in order for you to understand Arcane, you have to know the history of the Black Rose, the war between Ionia and Noxus, the nine demons of Runeterra, Swain's coup, etc? The series does have production problems that were beyond their control (there was supposed to be a whole scene with Jin and Ekko talking about the other reality). Riot wasted all of Arcane's money on useless things and now the series suffers because of it, People are giving genuine criticism to Arcane, this is different from hate.
I play league and i thought i was quite informed about the lore but they changed most of it anyways so it wouldnt give you more context
I love Arcane but after I finished Act 3 I couldn't help but feel kinda underwhelmed and disappointed, particularly from the last 2 episodes. I initially couldn't quite articulate why and everyone else seemed to be only talking about how amazing it was, but this video literally perfectly validates everything I was thinking. When Act 2 released, it was actually my favorite act so far, but I now realize that it really set up the plot and characters in directions that negatively impacted the final 2 episodes.
One of the few complaints I have for the ending is that we never really see anyone react to any of the characters that died. We never see anyone react to Jinx’s death except for Vi. We never see anyone react to Jayce or Viktor’s deaths. And we never even see anyone acknowledge that Heimerdinger died. At the very least I figured we’d get a funeral scene where they acknowledge everyone that died, but we didn’t even really get that. This is especially strange in the case of Jinx. In the first two acts, they were really building up Jinx as a beacon of hope for the Zaunites, and she forms a pretty interesting relationship with Sevika. I thought for sure that they were building up a scene at the end where Sevika and the Zaunites pay their respects at Jinx’s funeral, but we didn’t get that. And the fact that we didn’t see Mel or Caitlyn react to Jayce or Viktor’s deaths is just weird. I’m not saying I needed a happy ending or anything, but I feel like showing some of the characters reacting to the ones that died would’ve helped the ending feel a little less rushed
(And yes, I’m aware that Jinx and Heimerdinger are probably both alive, but most of the other characters don’t know that and we are never explicitly told that)
"Show, dont tell". But also "Dont feed your audience with everything like a baby". Many things that you are talking about (funeral scenes, people reaction to death) are tropes that are seen in too much shows, and often an artificial way to procure emotions in shows that are often weak at storytelling.
@@philippes.9571 that seems needlessly facetious. the world doesn't feel realistic if characters that interact with each other and should have some semblance of connection to one another don't have meaningful reactions to the plot and the world changing around them. "show don't tell" is way more of a cop-out than any overdramatic funeral scene could be.
Disagree with you completely. Showing how characters react to something as emotional as death is not bad storytelling, it's literally the opposite. Glossing over important emotional beats can give audiences whiplash as it decentralizes the importance of the event, and it's why it's become a common criticism of s2. @@philippes.9571
There are a lot of issue but for me the main one is in the plot. What is Arcane about ? Piltover VS the undercity. That’s literally the core of the show. Now, what is season 2 about ? NOT the conflict between Piltover and Zaun.
I wish they’d gotten another season or at least more episode to tie the civil war and Arcane plotlines together in a satisfying way. Not whatever we got.
same
So many people seem to disagree with any criticism of this season. The attention to detail, the masterful animation, the callbacks to the game, and the beautiful music and symbolism were amazing. However, even as a longtime player of league of legends, I was still left wanting after the credits rolled. I understand that we will be getting to explore further stories in Noxus, Demacia, and Ionia in the future, but so much about the Zaun/Piltover story felt unresolved or rushed to me, much like you expressed in the video. Season 1 felt simply flawless, but I feel many still have rose colored glasses on when critically thinking about season 2.
I feel like when anyone try’s to view the series with the same criticism it always gets shutdown I do believe the series is still amazing and season 2 didn’t change that but that doesn’t mean it’s flawless and talking about said flaws won’t hurt the series
The fast pacing made each characters decisions feel shocking and unprovoked and I know there we’re meant to they just had to cut so many scenes that you are left understanding how the conclusion should be cathartic
but you weren’t given all the pieces of the puzzle
Overall, I do think season two is a 9 or an 8 out of 10 comparative to season one’s 10 out of 10. But I still really like season two. Season one was establishing these characters, and two focused more exploring them and taking them into different directions. I do think the series could’ve benefited from one more episode in each act, but I still think the overall product is a good product.
@@jaredtheastralartist2510 season 1 is 10/10? are you fucking kidding me? all the problems in Season 2 are from Season 1 stupid side stories. Take Ambessa and the Noxians out of Season 1 and Season 2 will be alot better
Arcane is a masterpiece, but I have to admit that S1 is stronger than S2. Jinx's storyline left me with a bit of a bitter taste. I understand the intention behind her redemption arc, but it felt rushed. At the end of Season 1, Jinx was portrayed as completely psychotic and broken. Yet in S2, we encounter a more stable version of her, which felt like a sudden shift. The reunion with Vi also happened too quickly. With a character like Jinx, there are two main paths to explore: keeping her as a villain or diving deep into a redemption arc. However, I believe a character like Jinx doesn’t necessarily need redemption. Sometimes, it’s more compelling to delve into the abyss and embrace her chaos. Characters like Jinx are beloved for their unpredictability and raw, chaotic nature. Trying to smooth out her edges risks losing what makes her so captivating.
Thank you for saying all of this, many of my own thoughts - started strong then dropped the ball, ignoring so many themes that made me love the show in S1 and think it was glorious like the class conflict and the fully fleshed out individual narratives. Ignoring the struggle of Zaunites after forcing them to endure mass disabling conditions, chemical warfare, and police brutality at the hands of Piltover only to... give their lives defending Piltover dressed as the people who have been oppressing & hurting them their whole lives and making my favourite character who spent the entire season struggling with suicidal ideation sacrifice herself at the end... hurt.
Perhaps Arcane needed a third season in order to give it more breathing room to explore the ideas and plot threads they laid down.
S1 = how Piltover and Zaun start fighting.
S2 = Piltover and Zaun war but are forced to ally against Ambessa & Viktor, tensions remain high and they narrowly win. Without further cooperation, they will perish.
S3 = Piltover and Zaun learn how to live with each other, needing to combine the merits of their societies in order to defeat Ambessa and Viktor. Healing between them has begun but it will be a long road ahead.
Piltover and Zaun conflict wasn't meant to be resolved. They made a temporary alliance to defeat a common existential threat.
Canonicaly Zaun does gains independence eventually.
nah a whole other season would have the exact opposite problem, show would drag. The conflict between piltover and zaun had been so explored by the time S2 arc 2 happens that the show's move to exploring solutions to the conflict is warranted. The show exploring those solutions via The family and Victor is the kind of big brain writing decision that makes S2 feel so satisfying as an answer to S1's setup. Could the last act use an extra episode or 2? Yes, that would have probably been a noticeable improvement. 9 more episodes? Probably not.
Just a few more episodes to help with pacing. Definitely rushed. The ending was so sudden.
3 seasons would of been amazing...bit i feel the war should be the finale season, especially with that finale
Dude, you have just vocalised all my own thoughts about season 2. I've refrained from being too negative about S2 in comments sections since overall i am still so grateful for what we have a show like arcane at all. But the word i kept coming back to in my head after act 3 was complete was underwhelmed. You've nailed most of the points i would have made & i would personally add the lack of importance or emotional weight that was given to jinx's final sacrifice. A great vid TGM, i think you summed up the feelings of many fans. However, i am forever thankful that i lived at a time when we have shows like arcane & blue eye samurai that are helping redefine animation & storytelling forever.
you're always allowed to be critical of something you love. thank you for watching!
@@thegoldman25 Mel's my favourite character. Glad she's a champion, Mel and her mom's dynamic is very much like me and my mother's too. She's a mama bear who annihilates anyone who harms her kids and I prefer to de-escalate conflict.
Not perfect but so glad it exists. Hopefully, it serves as a pillar for better projects in the future. Appreciate the criticisms and thoughts, even the ones I don’t agree with.
Thank you for pointing these things out. I completely agree and find that each chapter deserves a own season
very excited to hear abt the flawes it has in your opinion. Personally the only flaw it had was the pacing for me. Everything happened so quickly and it could have had some additional episodes but other than that i really liked the show and it´s in the S Tier for me
Also slightly unfortunate that all the people with suicidal ideation end up sacrificing themselves to resolve the finale...
i am not a fan of that trope
@thegoldman25 Apparently people just need to find a socially acceptable way of ending things...
I think what would have helped Season 2 a lot is there being an extra episode for each of the acts; meaning there would be 12 episodes (4 for each act) rather then 9. I feel like this would complete a lot of my issues with the show. My main one being what one of my friends called "The Slaughter of the Side Characters." To start off with, I really wish they showed more of the Chembarons Civil War rather then just do a music recap (though I love "Sucker" that is my favorite song out of this season). It would have justified all the time we get to seeing these Chembarons despite them never showing up again. Also would help Sevika since after midway of Act 2, she does virtually nothing. I also think that episode would help with showing Caitlyn's Task Force more, as we do not get nearly enough time. Believe it or not, I actually liked Loris and thought he was cool. To bad he only had 8 lines of dialogue in total. Same goes for Steb. Apparently, he is supposed to be mute but that still doesn't make up for the fact we don't see nearly enough of him.
As for Act 2, the extra episode would have gone to showing more of the Zaun occupation and Victor's commune growing. I feel like my second biggest annoyance with these season is how they use a music video to recap what should have been at least half a episode.
And finally for Act 3... this is where I am more mixed. Episode 7 is fine, that is probably my favorite episode in the entire season. As for the rest of the Act, I feel like there could have been a better build-up and ending to the battle. The battle itself I am fine with for the most part as I think it is very good. I do have an issue with how suddenly it ends. But this comment has gone on for long enough. If someone wants me to, I'll continue the discussion and defend the points I have made.
I think the problem is that Season 1 felt like one story told in 3 acts. Season two felt like 3 stories told in 1 season.
good way to put it
The pacing was fine for me. Arcane season 2 builds on sn1 without handholding you, no filler, no fluff, no over-simplification, no over repetitively *FORCED* toddler-ish "comedy" and no spoon feeding while encouraging deductive participation from the audience/ viewers to follow the plot complimented by an ABSOLUTE BANGER of hyper-cinematic induction all culminating to higher immersive experience. There are many online still scratching their head about how or why Silco and Vander became buddies again in the alternate timeline yet they COMPLETELY forgot about the LETTER from Vance addressed to Silco IN SEASON 1 which Silco never read in the main timeline so it becomes BLATANTLY OBVIOUS that he read the letter and "found the will to forgive" in the alternate timeline. Brilliant compact and impactful writing. But instead many are demanding to be spoon-fed.
The only main issue for me (personal bias) is the finale should have been longer and bigger battle filled will much more multiple character moments AND we should have SEEN how Ekko united Zaun after saving Jinx including seeing Jinx make a new arm for Sevika. Also we never got to know WHO the other leading families of Piltover are but i am okay and content with what we got on screen.
Especially considering how INSANELY EXPENSIVE the budget was (Arcane sn1+2 budget= $250m, most expensive animation ever) so it's understandable how and why they made the writing tight and compact while giving the audience some participatory deduction and generate interest to research into the lore.
What they delivered is still very peak in my opinion. We all wanted more eps but there is cost-benefit situation with that. Perhaps in future projects they could make each ep 10mins longer from 40mins-50mins then the final can be like 1hr. This can be a perfect middle ground to give more time to more avenues of the plot without adding more full eps. It might cost a little more but still significantly LESS than making additional FULL eps. Either way, both Arcane sn1+2 have been incredibly amazing.
Is it perfect? No. Can we discuss what we really, really wanted? Sure. But Season 2 is still better than 95% of everything out right now because Season 1 was a masterclass set-up to build to this point.
Just want to add,
Caitlyn’s decision to switch sides is far more complex than a single conversation with Vi. Meeting Vi serves as the tipping point, not the sole catalyst. By this time, Caitlyn has already realized Ambessa is manipulating her, and she’s been grappling with the morality of her actions.
Her decision to let Jinx escape stems from two key factors:
1. The Time Jump: Episodes 1-3, Caitlyn is consumed by rage and vengeance, but as time passes, she begins to heal and reflect. When confronting Jinx, she admits, “Hating you, I have hated myself,” and acknowledges, “No amount of good deeds can undo *OUR* crimes.” (jinx's and her own crimes). Caitlyn realizes how far she’s strayed from the person she wants to be. Her decision to help Vi is a step toward redeeming herself and breaking free from the cycle of violence. Which is herself once wanted to do in s1 e7.
2. Love Over Vengeance: Caitlyn recognizes that her hatred for Jinx has overshadowed her love for Vi. By leaving the decision to Vi-whether to let Jinx escape or not-Caitlyn shows her trust and love, even knowing that Vi will choose Jinx and might leave forever. (Who decides who gets a 2nd chance?) She answers this by giving jinx and 2nd chance. This reflects Caitlyn’s desire to redeem herself by prioritizing her love for Vi over her thirst for vengeance.
Finally, Caitlyn relinquishes her Kiramman chair to Sevika, marking the beginning of an effort to bridge the class divide between Zaun and Piltover. This act symbolizes Caitlyn’s commitment to rebuilding Zaun and creating a better, more equitable future for its people.
I understood all of that. But it's very clear that Vi and Cait's relationship arc was missing a few beats. They break up. And after one meeting, they hook back up together again? Why break up in the first place? That arc needed more friction before they united again
@@chrishaven1489I get the same feeling but they were never really togerther in the first place. Vi just lost her opportunity of love but they both never experience it until later…you know that scene.
I also believe one of the first tipping points is when caitlyn meets singed. she views him as an irredeemable monster who represents the undergrounds atrocities, linking his actions with jinx, but when she questions him about his intentions and creating shimmer, he pointedly adds that he does it out of love. I think that moment is what started her shift in world view because she lowers her gun and looks stunned, and i fully believe she was linking that idea to both herself and jinx. she knows jinx fired the rocket while in pain due to silco dying, she was there, and she knows everything shes done is out of love of her mother and wanting justice. I believe that is the moment she realizes one can commit acts "others deem unspeakable" and fully realizes it becasue she can see how shes done the same thing, and then starts to hate who shes become. I think even after realizing that she felt trapped iwth ambessa, she couldnt fully go against her so starts instead making snide remarks and trying to take down ambessa whenever she let her gaurd down. I think vi coming in just made caitlyn more brazen because she believed in vis strength and saw an opportunity to break free from ambessa with this ally shes trusted before and whos had her back. it is subtle but that link makes her whole arc make a ton more sense personally.
@chrishaven1489 yea I feel that but we can assume after Vi and Caitlyn spoke about why they were there Vi expanded that WW is her father; thus Caitlyn who already was hesitant about using the monster, that tore apart the prison and at least a couple dozen of guards, in the first place was even more incentivized to turn on Ambessa (also from her pov it’s probably the only realistic opportunity)
@@JoeEver123 "they were never really togerther in the first place"
They literally kissed moments before they broke up
In my point of view, the council is treated as "less of a deal" in Season 2 beacuse it is a "lesser thing". As the Arcane wolrd shows, the council is no the representation off Top-Side, but the sum of the families with more influence over other families; you may have influence by means of resources or knwoledge, or by aliances with other families. The families that allied with the council are not death, so they move to the next best thing. The next-best-thing is the third party enemy that comes up "conviniently".
In the end, to me it makes sence that the death of most to the council isnt the thread accros season 2, beacuse the Top-Side is gobern by influences, not merley by the council.
As allways: great video.
I haven't thought of a possibility for another Jinx and Vi reconnection, not through Vander but through saving Isha. That would have been definitely a better way to solve their conflict.
@@sunnygrassx216 i agree completely
This season wound up being very rushed at the end. The last two episodes had to tie up so much plot and character arcs that everything moved forward at breakneck speed.
Its very unfortunate they needed to rush the conclusion here. The pieces were so well set up. The major plotlines were addressed by all the secondary ones were dropped. Surprised they kept episode 7 purely just Echo and Powder, I'd have cut that down and switched back to the main timeline for some of it.
At first I did feel it was rushed but honestly just watching everything and how everything in media fails to conclude. Arcane is a modern masterpiece. No let down everything has come together and done amazingly.
Even with it's flaws, arcane is still fantastic
@@thegoldman25 of course nothing gonna be perfect but if the individual loves the conclusion and what it presents then to them like me love the hell out of it. Always a pleasure hearing your thoughts Gold.
@@thegoldman25 it would have been flawless if Season 1 did not include messy storylines
Honestly i absolutely loved this season, but it’s a weird reason why. I agree with all the points you made. So many things are unresolved which actually made me obsess with the show more (rewatching it, filling the missing pieces with my immagination is kinda fun). Since it’s so open ended it kinda keeps you hooked.
Overall though i agree with everything you said. Except maybe that i felt like caitlyn’s development was good (just too quick) going from seeking vengance/justice to choosing love as well as stepping away from hating jinx. That decision is what allowed jinx, ekko and the whole of zaun to go to join the war. Here too i would have appreciated to see jinx and ekko, what they talked about for jinx to change so much as well as them rallying the undercity. I guess that’ll stay in my immagination.
Overall, i understand the criticism. Personally though if i look at arcane overall it’s the best show i watched ever. Period
even with it's flaws it's still one of the best
some people say that most side characters or most of the characters shown didnt get involved with the story much and it just felt like they were watching from the side lines in silence. but i dont think thats all true. the producers said themselves "We have more shows coming up" who says Arcane is all about Jinx and Vi and Caitlyn. maybe the next show its about sum other LOL characters. its kinda realistic in my opinion. In life not everyone is involved with things or has the right to say smth. i think they did a perfect job on Season 2.
To be fair, Jayce's death was acknowledged at the end. They showed Jayce's mom put a piece of paper (likely with Jayce's name on it) in the bowl. The paper was burned on the bridge, along with the rest of the paper of the folks who died during the battle.
While I don't believe Arcane S2 was flawless, I do believe it was a masterpiece. I hope to see more stories from the Runeterra universe. ^_^
I think he's only referring to the main characters like Mel and Cait.
this video almost perfectly encapsulated my problems with the second season
Thank you for watching!
Arcane ending reminds me of what Game of Thrones finale could have been. The Game of Thrones rushed due to David Benioff and DB Weiss wanted to move on with other projects, so Game of Thrones characters didn't feel like themselves they went for what was more shocking then character driven and logic that made Game of Thrones great to watch not knowing what's going to happen
It's funny, Arcane is seen as more adult than many adult live action shows, but people won't watch it because it's based on a video game, and it's animated 😂
Arcane definitely needs more episodes or a season 3. If I had to wait for 2 or 3 years, I would have been happy to wait ❤
For me part of the question is not "did this series need more time?" more so : "how much more time did it need?". Like sure you could have one more season: but do you risk re-treading old ground or letting stories run too long? I think if they wanted to make this a grand final season, I think either a 4th act of 3 eps or 4 acts of 4 episodes would really seal the deal.
With Vander coming back. From a lore perspective that was inevitable. Like, as soon as his character poster was revealed before season one; we all knew. And with Singed/Dr Reveck being the mad scientist he is. But then again the issue is that, While the execution of what they did was cool (i.e. Warwick rampage in Stillwater), Like most of the series, their bigger beats feel unearned. We should've had Jinx needing to work more to earn Vi's trust and maybe more to "fix" Vi like she was doing with Sevika. And with Warwick, I think there should've been some more inner conflict with Vander and the beat, Warwick's identity, where the Vander personality coming through amongst the beast means something.
I think this also brings up an interesting point when it comes to making adaptations; Staying true to established Lore Vs. telling a good story. I joke about the Mel subplot as "it could've been and email" but I feel like it was just used as a means to introduce the Black Rose more than anything else. I don't have an issue with Noxus being involved in this plot; Noxians value strength and there's certainly strength & power to be had in the hextech, but I feel like with the black rose, they were letting in too much lore/world building than needed. Sure, you can allude to them, but having them be as involved as they were I feel like was a little too excessive.
Also on the point of things feeling unearned, That's definitely the problem with the ending. I don' minx Piltover & Zaun teaming up against the Noxians & Viktor, because Noxus & Viktor succeeding would certainly affect both for the worse. But again, we didn't get time with them acknowledging an uneasy alliance and really learning and earning that being more trusting would benefit both would help. Like imagine if there was a slower paced episode dedicated to Piltover & Zaun reps airing out grievances in an attempt to make an alliance. Sure, it doesn't have to be successful, but it would be something. and as much with the conclusion, Yes you don't need them to be completely peaceful and good with each other for it to be satisfying; just show there's potential for progress and the big question for following seasons would be; can they co-exist/will things be better?
Regardless, It's ironic that the season that focused more on magic, kind of lost the magic of what made season one special. I certainly have more thoughts, but these are the ones that come to mind atm.
Nobody seems to be talking about Mage Viktor’s existence in itself.
im not familiar with the games much so i can't comment
Was not expecting to catch a stray as a Chicago Bears fan😂
hahaha sorry, i had to, it made me laugh
Although there are pacing issues in this season where certain aspects seemed rush, I still think that this is an amazing season of television. I think the highest points of this season heavily outshine the lows that are still prevalent in this season. The animation, the character work, the story, writing, action and acting are all still at such highs in this season. Yes this season prob needed 2 more episodes in my opinion but they did as much as they can with 9 episodes and I still believe this season was Netflix’s magnum opus.
Season 1: 10/10
Season 2: 9-9.5/10
8:11 "so, that didn't last long"
Only a couple of months (almost a year), there are lines backing this up. Dude, if you want to form an opinion at least get the facts together...
I need to vomit all the time when people judge development and realism in a movie or show based on how fast they received an event. Like, dude, do you really need fckin' SEASONS to accept this between them? One of many things I really liked about this show is how tight and relatively laconic it is based on how much stuff they needed to pump into it. It isn't Stargate that's for sure.
My biggest issue is that after the massive success of S1, it's clear that Riot wanted to move on quickly to new champions from LoL. This was the biggest mistake imo. There are lots of fans who watched S1 of Arcane who had never played LoL, but got so invested because of the care and time that went into Jinx, Vi and the rest of the S1 characters. It really feels like all of that love and passion was thrown away just so that other champions could have their TV spotlight. It feels like such a waste.
yeah that's crazy. I know nothing about LoL, but this show was so damn good, wanting to move on from it is crazy
Yeah, Arcane could have topped ATLA as the best series ever made, but now I can only recommend for someone to watch S1 as an example of fantastic writing and character development, and to ignore S2 in that regard.
A point about Arcanes ending is that its not simple to solve it. Thats whats Caitlyns speak at the end is about. The fight is not over.
I wouldn't say the plot direction is bad by any means. It is said by Heirmerdinger in the first season that Piltover was founded as a safe harbour to withstand against the common enemy - the mages and their mishandling of the Arcane (which PERFECTLY fits "Arcane"s story of Viktor). It's just needed more time, from 1-3 episodes to a whole season.
about your point with the council exploding i believe that it didnt affect zaun because they had already wanted to be seperate from piltover rather than a conjoined state. they didnt care because they dont want to have anything to do with piltover. and the explosion had killed multiple council members and specifically the ones at war with zaun. the reason that the conflict between zaun and piltover was thrown away when viktor became the villian was because the only council members that had enough power to stop zaun were killed/removed from the council. jayce had already experience what would happen if they didnt stop viktor so he didnt try to stop zaun, and mel didnt try to stop zaun as she went through the black rose arc which helped her realize that everyone needs to come together to solve problems or else they wont be able to defeat viktor
This season was like an 8-8.5 for me mostly because of the same flaws you laid out, but hey, season one is still one of the greatest seasons of television I’ve ever watched so I’m just glad they didn’t ruin it by having a terrible second season.
Ep 7 has to by my fav too but i truly belive ekko my boi deserved more screentime coz he is totallly the main character!!!! he's story and personality is much more interesting than Vi for one.
My boi was ripped off :( we were ripped offf:( The boy saviour and he big fat hero's lovestory was ripped off.
such a good episode
I agree with most points of the video, I feel like this season should have been mabey 4 acts instead of 3 and have it between 1 and 2 so we can explore the consequences of act 1 before getting to the resolutions of act 2 and give a better motive for it to feel more earn. I don't think this is something necessary but it would benefit a lot the season
i don't mind vander being warwick. i always saw it as a way for the sisters to set aside their issues for a moment to help vander... only for a moment though. i always wanted some sort of confrontation between the two sisters about everything that's happened. and we could've gotten that when they were in the commune... but we didn't. which is lowkey frustrating.
It's not like it was bad/less good compared to season 1, but the fact that season 1 managed explaining and providing more with short scene while we get so many stuffs, but felt empty
The only thing I would disagree on is that I think Jinx understands her sister so well she understands that if Vi had an inkling that there was an opportunity for Jinx to be family again with her she will pursue that. Jinx and Katlyn by extension of knowing, are trying to unburden Vi of the her perennial need to feel responsible for Jinx/Powder when Jinx has proven she is her own person.
Jinx is trying to do the kind thing if giving everyone as clean of an opportunity to move forward based on what has already happened.
I think your video perfectly describes what it must feel like producing a show for Netflix, an organisation that sells stories and has, controversely, absolutely no patience and capacity for what good storytelling actually needs.
I have no proof of them actually meddling with runtime or number of episodes. But when you look at how meticulous the story was build in season 1 and how some conflicts seem rather rushed (Caitlyn's a dictator, now she's not; Vi has an aggressive rant, now she doesn't; the people of Piltover rebell, now they don't...), I wouldn't be surprised if that was a Netflix problem rather than a riot or writers problem.
Netflix has a history of this, so you're not wrong
7:44
Caitlyn's strike team attempting to "clean up" Zaun, but not really having much impact makes sense to me tho. Her intention never was to change all of Zaun, all she was looking for is jinx. Since Caitlyn is now in charge without any previous experience and is fueled by blind rage, it makes sense that she doesn't act that rationally or make up the most effective plan. If she were more experienced in leading, she would've probably found a different strategy that does a lot more damage to Zaun (if we assume thats what she wanted)
And since Vi and Caitlyn are together, i see why Cait doesn't have a hatred towards all of Zaun...
Thank you, i thought i was going crazy because everyone was glazing the finale whic was very confusing.
Glad I could help!
3 Seasons...3 seasons could have FIXED everything, S2 was rushed, they had to get to that crazy finale...again they did what they could, 1 in between season would of fixed so much and the finale season could of been Viktor finally becoming the herald and a whole 9 episodes (or 6 of war) things again felt so rushed
A 3rd season would be great, but I wouldn't want to wait another 3 years
I had pretty much the same thoughts while watching the season. It felt like they made too many compromises to get the story to where they wanted it to go by the end of the season. I agree they took the easy way out having Piltover and Zaun unite against an external threat. Unfortunate, since so little fictional media covers structural issues as well as the first season. I think at its best this season lived up to, and occasionally exceeded the first, but at its worst it became exactly what I feared a LoL adaptation would be. Some of my favourite episodes of the entire show are in season 2, and MANY of my favourite moments, but they sacrificed on the connective tissue to get to that finale. Overall I still think the season was fantastic, and I'm glad it was made... but oh what we could have had if the story of season 2 was spread out over two full seasons...
17:04 personally I do think that: Jinx genuinely had no idea how to approach Vi to reconnect, as seen by her attempt to do so where she almost gets choked to death and can barely get out the most valid reason to bother her ever😂😭
My exact thoughts are that too much was left unresolved for this to feel like a concluded story. I feel these future spin offs had too much set up in this series to make the Jinx/Vi and Viktor/Jayce story truly conclude them. I feel like I’m waiting for season 3 and not a new story.
I was beginning to think I was the only one.
Trust me, you are not alone.
Womp womp
Vi did not abandon Jinx or betray her 🥲🥲🥲
From Jinx's perspective she did, and that's the point I was trying to make because I was talking about how it affected her
Man i disagree with you on so many levels that I don’t even have the patience to write them all out.
i'd like to hear them
i think the biggest problem is not enough time. the creators wanteds to add last 3 episode to be 1hr and 30 min each, but netflix declined.im sure they had the ideas to more to the story just limited screen time for the season for soo many things
you're probably right
I agree with a lot of these criticisms, but personally I feel like people are focusing way too much on the flaws here. Everyone loves throwing around phrases like “flawed but beautiful” to describe season 2, but that’s how you could describe pretty much any show that’s considered a masterpiece. There isn’t a single series out there that you couldn’t find a flaw or two in, no matter how good it is, and Arcane is clearly one of the best. So for me, I find it weird that there is such a focus on its imperfections rather than the fact that it’s one of the greatest series ever produced. I think it deserves so much more praise than criticism, and I just haven’t been seeing that balance.
Animation, music, editing, all that stuff is great, but if the characters are making weird decisions and scenes are left out to rush the plot forward, it loses its magic. People wouldn't be complaining about this for no reason. Everyone acknowledges that it's a beautiful show, but if the character writing doesn't logically flow for the viewer, it takes them out of it.
I spent the entire last 2 episodes going.... wait.. why are they doing this? Why is this happening? How did Cait, Vi, Jayce, and Jinx get away from Ambessa after the explosion? Why did Jayce meet Jinx for the first time entirely offscreen? Why didn't we get to see Cait and Jayce reunite? Did she even know he was missing? Why on earth would Ambessa team up with Viktor, the guy creepily speaking through all his dead followers? If Viktor told Jayce he was the only one to get through to him with the power of love, why did Jayce try to kill him in ep 6 and 8? What is the rune doing to Viktor? Oh they got sucked into it. Where did they go? Did Ekko know what just happened, or does he think he accidentally killed Jayce? All of these questions made me just go ????? instead of feeling anything. Which is really annoying because I WANTED to enjoy it!!
Arcane season 2, specifically act 3 was literally lazy writing.
i wasn't a fan
Season 1: Intrigueing character-driven Drama Thriller
Season 2: Marvelfication that prefers skipping character growth for cool looking fights
That. Exactly.
Agree with pretty much everything you said here, the conflict between Zaun and Piltover being sidelined was a big mistake imo, and while I get that they needed to make victor more like how is in the game I feel like they could have done that elsewhere, either in another season or another show. Jinx was easily the best part but a lot of other characters felt like they had less attention put on them by the writers, even being completely absent for prolonged stretches of episodes, not having any impact on the story until the end. It overall just felt much less focused than s1, still a joy to watch cause of how amazing it looks and sounds but left more to be desired
The show’s final shot focuses on Caitlyn’s close-up, even though Vi is resting on her shoulder. This framing choice carries significant weight and can be interpreted in two ways.
First, both Vi and Caitlyn are mourning the loss of their siblings-Jinx and Jayce. Caitlyn, however, knows that if Vi discovers Jinx is alive, she will inevitably go after her. This is why Caitlyn questions Vi, asking if she’s still committed to this fight, subtly probing whether Vi will remain by her side despite everything they’ve lost. When Vi reassures her, Caitlyn feels conflicted about whether to share her suspicions about Jinx possibly surviving.
Caitlyn’s won’t give Vi false hope without solid evidence, but the possibility weighs heavily on her. This internal conflict is captured in her close-up, a moment of quiet turmoil. The scene then shifts to the airship, leaving an open ending.
I think people really need to watch this season twice before judging it. It does intentionally move fast and rely on the audience infer things based on clues left in seemingly unrelated scenes. But once you go back and realize how much you missed on the first watch, S2 hits differently. It's right up there with S1 in my opinion.
here's one of my main problems with season 2 and its call out of character decisions the biggest one coming from Kaitlyn. Though out the first trailer and at the end of episode one Kaitlyn says "I will lead a strike team into Zaun with three objectives locate Jinx,dismantle Shimmer and neutralize any agents still loyal to Silco" and in the finale we see Kaitlyn give up house Keiraman's seat to Zaun for their representation but who does the seat go to not Ekko a loyal allie and friend who happens to be a Zaunite it goes to Sevika SILCO'S number two and the only person more loyal to Silco's cause than Silco himself and his adoptive daughter Jinx. Fuck season 2 pisses me off, season 2 to me can be summed up by a quote from season 1 or a song title from season 1 those being "in the pursuit of great we failed to do good" and "What Could Have Been"
im 300% sure this was 2 seasons combined into one. 2nd season would be more about Piltover vs Zaun, then the 3rd season would probably be more on Arcane and Noxus.
I'm sure Riot was probably rushing the creators behind the scenes, especially after the success of the first season. They probably want to expand the world faster and explore other (more profitable) characters *cough* Lux and Sylas *cough*.
Honestly, with this in mind, I'm glad they're still able to deliver a beautiful show that has an acceptable plot.
I'm just hoping that Riot DOES NOT take the overall good reception of season 2 to be THE direction that the next shows should go to
Perfectly described my feelings here. I enjoyed the second season, but I would have enjoyed it significantly more if they focused more heavily upon the tragedy of Piltover vs Zaun, the class warfare that is inherent in that dynamic, and how that conflict ripples outwards to affect all of the character bonds/dynamics.
Yay! We're talking about Arcane on this channel!
i dont think jinx and vi meeting up for wander the beast was a bad point in direction at all. it was a little out of the blue yes (most of the act 2/3 was because the pacing was too fast) but it was important, there seemed hope and future for the the two sisters with unresolved trauma, and to me more than anything it felt like a few moments of closure from the incident that changed everything when wander died. Also jinx saying 'this time we should both be there' highlights it enough that according to her the last time when they weren't together was when the conflict began and that is the her character motivation for reaching out to vi. It also showed how jinx matured and that as she got a reason and was able to move forward inspite of the trauma.
but after all this Jinx still thinking she had to go away for vi to move on? that was the surprising part!! because here i was thinking that the complex sisterhood is resolving and that they can be there for each other in the future, is not what jinx thought? here sacrificing herself proved that she loved vi (and she probably understood and forgive her) and wanted her to move on.. but why? why not move on together? y make vi belive that she died. ?
tbh, there was a falloff from s1 and s2. Not in terms of the graphics, the graphics were awesome, music awesome. It was the story line. There was a lot of confusion and so many things happened at random. The fight scenes were good but what led to the fight scenes were questionable. I ask myself why this is happening sometimes. They set such a high standard in S1, unfortunately it wasn't maintained.
I totally agree with it being a mistake that Piltover focused too much on Jinx and not Zaun as a whole. I honestly thought that Caitlyn, at the end of episode 3, was going to descend into being a facist dictator, blinded by the trauma just one Zaunite did to her and taking it out on the whole group. But no, and the whole class conflict, the underlying theme connecting everything, was just… dropped??
It honestly feels like the writers kept getting cool ideas this season and immediately shoved them in and quickly abandoned them for the next cool idea. I’m sure that’s not true, since this is just based off league lore, but it all feels very sloppily thrown together. Also, as someone who will never touch LoL… why should I have to do homework just to understand a story? I didn’t have to in season 1, why now?? Honestly, this season just feels like more spectacle than substance, and much less grounded than the last (especially with Mel and the Black Rose. I am never getting over that dumbass plotline!!!)
IT'S HERE!!
I think Arcane is a once in a life time masterpiece of artwork. Even if you might have a issue with it, the beauty of in its imperfection is simply too incredible to change its impact on you.
Tbh i want jinx to have died, shes been suicidal since the very start of s2 probably in s1 too, if she dies to save the only person that has always tried to save her, id say its a very good ending.
Surprised nobody has talked about how cheap and badly written Jinx'"death" scene was.
They made a point in showing how Warwick's consciousness got deleted by Singed and Viktor, so there is ZERO reason for the creature to wake up after dying when Viktor's army got Phantom Menaced.
Both sisters deserved a goodbye scene, not an MCU ish final fight, specially when it's a fakeout
I completely agree.
I still like the show, it just wasn’t perfect, which is a shame because it so easily could have been.
It was a bit of a let down
0:04 "Arcane S2 was a bit disappointing"
Okay, good, I'm not the only one 😅
I’ve never clicked on a video so fast
I think season 2 should only have addressed the Piltover vs Zaun conflict and just teased the victor "ultron" plot and left a cliffhanger at the end. Then finally get all the resolutions in Season 3. It was way too rushed compared to season 1.
I don’t agree
at least to me my criticisms (before i watch the video):
1. i wanted more episodes (i do for each show i like but in this case it needed at least 1 more)
2. the final episode had far too little dialogue and too much action
3. Maddie's death was pure fan service and offered nothing to the plot
4. Loris death was underwelming he should have at least gotten a shot (you could remove him and nothing from the plot changes), in VI's short emo arc where she fights on the ring he looks like her coach had they expanded it more or show him box it could be sth
5. the black rose was underwelming (at this point they could remove most of it, have mel awoken her powers at the ending to save ppl from an explosion or sth and kill ambessa with her mentioning it and then the scene of her heading to noxus to find what is the black rose and lead into the upcoming arcane series)
Arcane shits on clone wars tbh
Can you do some more Game of Thrones reviews, those are my favorites?
maybe in the future
Saying that Jinx should have gone the way of Frodo and moved on is a misunderstanding of the ending and the themes in the books, Frodo dies because he cannot take the burdens of life anymore
To speak on the unsatisfying unending in terms of Piltover vs. Zaun, a major issue that can't be overlooked (And I'm not using this to defend the show persay) is that half of the Piltover and Zaun champions in League of Legends haven't been brought into this new vision for Runeterra's lore. This conflict can't be resolved yet, there are still major players in this class feud (Renata and Camille probably being the two biggest) that need to be brought forward first. By the nature of what it's adapting this needs to be setting up a second stage of the war, rather than wrapping everything up in a neat little bow.
Again, not a defense, this aspect should have been better communicated more in both the marketing and the shows conclusion, and acknowledging it still doesn't remedy the rushed pace. But it does make this ending a bit more palatable for me when viewed as the end of this specific chapter for the region, of the current arcs of these characters, rather than the overall climax. With everything the showrunners have been talking about in interviews it certainly doesn't sound like they're done with most of these characters. "I'm not done with Heimerdinger", "I think Ekko and Jinx's dynamic is worth exploring more moving forward", "Either the beast or man within Warwick will have to win" to paraphrase a few, there's definitely more planned to be done with this story.
I dunno, does that perspective help in any way? It's a bizarre adaptation issue for a game like League, there's too many goddamn characters in the game to the point a single show can't reasonably cover a full region. Noxus is gonna face the same problem, there's almost the same amount of characters there as Piltover and Zaun combined. I'd be curious to see how Season 2's ending holds up once the region is inevitably revisited again in the future.
I have never played LoL so I have no idea how this would change anything
@@thegoldman25 That's the correct decision lol
I'm oversimplifying a lot here, but were they to wrap everything up in this season a good majority of the remaining characters can no longer exist within this world, as there would no longer be any room for their narratives to take place. Changes in the show has already left several of them in narrative limbo (Hextech used to powered by ancient mythical scorpion souls, it's an absurd can of worms), so until they can figure out how all these pieces fit together in this new canon they've decided to embrace... well, how can you implement the singer character trying to platform unity between Piltover and Zaun if that unity is already achieved? How does the blade legged Hextech-infused grandma continue exploiting Zaun, creating the Gray, if that problem has been resolved? And how does the sentient ooze vigilante that eventually arises from that exploitation to fight injustice come to be when there's no more injustice!
It's a big ole mess, centered around an arguably naïve decision that everything related to League must be canon when compared to every other thing that's involved with League. And I have no idea how they're going to put all these pieces back together.
In my opinion, Act 1 should have been the entirety of season 2, and then acts 2 and 3 could have been season 3. The story was great, but they just needed more breathing room.
that could maybe work
(A) The Piltover vs Zaun issue...
I think it was NOT discarded and ultimately still addressed and resolved in the end. Frankly i do not think we would have seen anything deeply riveting with too much focus on riots and raids then attack and counter attack going back and forth in the Piltover vs Zaun when already knew it was happening so we mention it and allude to it and move on to what ACTUALLY matters and important.
Perhaps we could have gotten some screentime dedicated to knowing the other houses on the Piltover leadership council and the other gangs/ factions in Zaun but it becomes filler whereby we just get shown politics just for politicking sake which are ultimately inconsequential to the primary characters and the central plot going forward.
It was still Piltover vs Zaun then Victor and Ambessa issues became a higher threat level to *BOTH factions* until Ekko the boy savior did thing not only for Jinx but also uniting Zaun to join the fight which ultimately led to a Zaun representative seat on the leadership high table in Piltover towards peace and reconciliation as both sides lost many lives to save Piltover and Zaun from Ambessa's and Victor's ambitions. This probably leads... Hopefully... to a future similar to Ekko's alternate timeline where Zaun and Piltover melded together in harmony.
(B) Regarding the focus of magic issue...
B1) Folks complaining that the magic story came from nowhere in sn2 when IN FACT a literal wizard was shown giving Jayce the rune stone/ hex stone IN SEASON 1 and the entire hex-tech inspired from that also based on MAGIC right from season 1.
B2) Bases on B1), it also makes sense to show there are other types of magic in this world aka BLACK ROSE MAGES as a SUB-PLOT tied to character development of Mel and Ambessa.
B3) The same magic provides pay off to the Jayce and Viktor dichotomy whereby both of them want to do good for humanity but diverged on ideology with different circumstances for their motivations only to find out the Viktor himself used Jayce as a silver bullet to stop himself from his compassionate ambitions for a perfect world which would have ultimately destroyed everything.
(C) Ekko... Period!
Ekko ... Oh boy... This dude had little scream time but carried the BULK of the final act INCLUDING [i assume] uniting and convincing Zaun to join the war to save Piltover against Viktor and Ambessa based on the lessons he witnessed, learned and experienced in the alternate timeline about forgiveness (Silco and Vance) and "sometimes to take a leap forward you gotta leave some things behind".
For all we know Ekko kept using that time device repeatedly with Jinx by his said after saving her until he was able to successfully unite Zaun to join the war.
My only gripe here is Ekko should also have a seat on the leadership council to balance the more peaceful [Ekko] and violent-prone gangster [Sevika] sides of Zaun. This also have Ekko placing Sevika in check so that she never develops any ambitions that will ruin the peace between Piltover + Zaun on the leadership council.
I still IMMENSELY enjoyed Arcane sn2 .
My rating= at least 9/10
while im not nearly as let down by the direction they took, i loved it still, i do earnestly believe that season 1 was the real surprise superstar of the decade while 2 ended up being more along the lines of what i would expect for a league of legends show. i enjoyed it immensely but i can also confidently say it was a rushed mess that i can't help but compare to hotd, especially when i'm seeing viserys' absence in the wake of his death similar to silco's, causing this chaotic swirl of choices. a flawed masterpiece though, i'll agree to that entirely.
Yeah, not much to add to the review. It was good, but it wasn't as great as the first season.
They would have needed another episode (or stretch the last one for another 15-30 min) to wrap up everything in a more satisfying manner.
one of my complaints was for some reason me not caring about the whole hexcore viktor ambessa arc at all!! i think the emotional grip the rest of the characters had was stronger and i was finding myself more interested in their story. also everything was happening at such a rapid pace it was hard to keep up. The ending definitely needed a longer sequence to tie everything up well with the same love and care it started with because it was the final season and there is no more arcane coming out. :(
also are viktor and jayce really ded? because how and when did victor time travel and became the figure that made jayce follow magic. ?
great analysis but you pronounced Sevika's name wrong and it bothered me so much.
my bad, thank you for watching
I appreciate your opinion. I just have to disagree. Maybe you think Arcane is a class-struggle story, but it's a character story in a world of magic. The class-struggle setting was just a vehicle for character development. Season 2 broadened the scope of the setting into something more immense and far reaching. These are made up characters will made up powers. To have them trapped in a class-struggle setting forever would become tiresome very quickly.
Flawed yes. Masterpiece? Just season 1
fair!
I dont think they moved away from the class conflict as much as you think. I think it just proved the " the enemy of my enemy is my friend" and the topside and bottom needed to defeat Victor and the a whole other nation to stay alive
Arcane Season 2's CONTENT is a Masterpiece. Everything they do, everything they tell, everything is actually perfect. The question is... Is there a better story to be had.
Arcane Season 1, there is no better story. There is nothing else that the viewer needs to know, or wants to know, or wants to see, or has to see.
Arcane Season 2 leaves a lot of to the imagination and instead focuses on the big question the show has had from the beginning. "CAN YOU FORGIVE A MONSTER?"
Can Silco Forgive Vander? No.
Can Jinx forgive Vi? Yes, No, Yes, No, Yes...
Can Vi Forgive Jinx? Yes, No, Yes, Yes...
Can Caitlyn forgive Jinx? No, Yes.
Can Piltover Forgive Zaun?
Viktor Forgive Jace for not destroying the hextec? Yes and No.
Can Jace forgive Viktor for trying to enslave mankind? Yes.
Can Mel forgive Ambessa's coldness and cruelty? Yes.
The entire theme, from every aspect, is consequences, forgiveness, and choices.
Every episode is as close to perfection for a narrative show. But the pieces are greater than the sum of its whole, because there's so many stories we want to see. Yeah, we have an understanding of what's happening in them. But man they sound interesting and it'd be cool if they showed us what happened, instead of the after effects of it happenings.
The story they decided to tell was to a question that has been in the back of the narrative and the heart of the narrative, "Can A Monster Be Redeemed?"
The entire narrative has been about that one question, How Far is Too Far To Be Forgiven?
If you realize that Jinx was never a revolutionary and that her actions were one of chaos and destruction and not politics, then you realize that it was her attempt to go too far that there's no coming back from it.
There's no undoing the evil she's done.
This is the story they wanted to answer. Right down to Viktor and Jace, both knowing the monstrous horrors Viktor will unleash, and the evil he will do, and has done, again, and again, and again, and yet they end the loop.
Also, the narrative is around breaking the cycle. The entire story runs on cycles.
The destructive power of love over hate. The death of parents continues the cycle, but the death of a child can alter the cycle.
We learn this in Episode 7, that Vi's death drastically changes the entire timeline.
Thus Isha's Death changes Jinx.
The show delivers on everything it gives you. But it's not always what the viewer wants to see.
This doesn't get better that the story has to end on an open-ended feeling, making it even more incomplete... There's still long massive ways to go in that community and to know the story is over makes us feel a little underwhelmed.
The question you asked on the first part from the Reddit Post on whether the series nullifies what happened with Jinx attack on the council.
No it didn't. It hijacked the narrative, through the use of Ambessa, who took the emergency, utilized the Zaunities, and got them to attack the memorial service as well. Again, this comes with expectation, to whether or not it works and it's done well, with the proper motivations.
And it is.
Isha's death breaks the cycle and Silco told Jinx what to do to break the cycle. She has to walk away. That's the lesson for her. Sometimes, it's not about whether or not you keep fighting, keep killing, or die, sometimes the strongest thing anyone can do, is just walk away.
Jinx is a terrorist with a huge amount of innocent bodies, not to mention the aide of literally introducing shimmer to the underworld. She's been there at ground zero through all the horror and cruelty and death and destruction. She couldn't live as Jinx. It would've always been that role and expectation.
Vi is 16 year old girl who went to prison for several years, was beaten often, came out, losing everything, and then gets a chance to get it all back. Like, her trauma is in the loss of those she loves. She has little grudge. And with the chaos that Ambessa and Caitlyn are causing in Zaun, her feelings on Jinx's actions are likely massively muted by that point.
It does have the Joker vibe with Isha. Isha is Jinx the revolutionary that everyone wanted. Her actions, mind you, are a direct image of what she believes Jinx would do and Jinx represents. She doesn't know anything about Jinx besides the revolutionary and the savior. And so she sees her only as the revolutionary and the savior, and literally forces Jinx into that role. It's an act of brilliant writing, but it's not the story that people were expecting and it takes a lot of time to build up that takes away from everything else that could be told.
I get the criticisms. I fully do. And I get that there's an entire different series here, with just the information they provided, and the things they bring up. But dammit all.. I still loved it. It's still a masterpiece. It's just not perfection like the first one. I think they needed another 3 years and 100 million dollars to get it to the first one.
As someone who watched the first season 3 times in the same week it came out cause it was so good, i think season 2 should have had 1 more arc/2-3 more eps cause the final fight kinda came out of no where but exept for that i do agree about your points but at the ends its not THAT flawed
Same. I was thinking that I'm the only one who feels this way
This is outrageous
how so?