Why is it a problem ? There were always 3 (mains) stories but season 1 was focused on VI/Powder(Jinx) as their journey crystalize (?) everything : VI complicated relation with this sister (straight from the begining) is litterally the spark that ignites the powder (and i understand only now why they chose that name for Jinx previous self). The 2 others story are (i) the political struggle between Piltover/Zaund but also the coming storm through Ambessa and the noxian, (ii) the journey of Viktor and Jayce in their quest to improve the humanity. Those two strories are not yet interwined with the more intimate conflict between VI and Jinx. Not until the cliffhanger of season 1 and 1rs episode of season 2. In season 2, those 3 stories becomes embedded with each other like russian puppets : the conflict jinx/Vi lead to the reinforcement of the conflict Piltover/Zaun. Vi role is almost finished : she has ignited the fire. The conclusion won't come from her. The conflict Piltover/Zaun is embedded in a more general conflict (that occurs in fact elsewhere in the Noxian-Empire) through the machination of Ambessa who seek power to fight her own political fight in a far away empire. And that search of power lead her toward the ideological and more spiritual conflict betwen Viktor and Jayce who seek to improve society and humanity. I see season 1 like the wick that slowly burns out (through the story seen with the perspective of VI/Powder(Jinx)) till the explosion that constitute the cliffhanger at the end of season 1, explosion that will interwine the 3 stories. And Season 2 show how those 3 stories collide until their resolution. Some people did not like the change of perspective and would have like to remain on the arc Piltover/Zaun (and it social class struggle message). But personaly, i like the change of perspective in season 2. It broaden the scope of the story and shows how all those stories become linked, with different issues that goes far beyond the relationship between 2 sisters and the social conflict in Piltover/Zaun. At least, this is my view of the serie.
I agree, the story in season 2 was so big that I wished they were able to split it into 2 more seasons and have 18 episodes instead of 9, allowing the episodes to focus more on characters than plot.
nah nah... They did not follow the correct 3 act structure in Season 1. The 3rd act should be the resolution. The biggest problem was introducing Ambessa in the 8th episode. That was the start of the mess.
It feels like them going "well she's one in LoL so we HAVE to make her one" instead of doing something natural to her development set up in the show. Which is weird because Arcane doesn't even really fit into LoL that well, especially with around 4 playable champions in League seemingly dying in Arcane. Now I'm no League expert so correct me if I'm wrong on this, but seeing as there were already alternate universes, why not make Arcane the alternate universe where Vi doesn't become an enforcer?
I don't think vi was ok with being an enforcer, it felt like she was pushed into it by Cait and jinx. Her guilt over Cait not killing jinx when she had the chance and the guilt she felt for not protecting powder causing her to become jinx. It made it feel like even when she thought jinx was too far gone it was still her responsibility to fix
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.
@@chrishaven1489 Imo Viktor doesn't "decay", he is killed and at that moment the last of his human-self dies and his conciuosness is replaced/consumed by the Hexcore (AI simil?). Viktor completely transcends his humanity and becomes something else with a different set of directives (morality has no sense any more). It all make sense.
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.
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 :/
@@klariissocoollike There's more going on with that scene than just "Join together against the bad guy" I don't think it was an accident that the two zaunites(that attention was drawn to) that join die, Gert and Punk dad. I think that scene is about identity. We see two very distinct individuals give up their identity to join Piltover and what happens, they both die and not heroically. It doesn't celebrate their decision. The contrast between their deaths vs Jinx/Ekko showing up, identity/personality radiating in every shot, to save Piltover. This is, silco finding the Letter, this is zaun establishing themselves. Piltover doesn't give them independence cause they feel bad for them, Zaun takes control of their own future. I find it interesting that the only time we learn Gert's name is in the alternate universe. A place where "the cause" doesnt swallow anyone up(Everyone Silco kills/ Isha /many others including Gert and Punk dad). So why is it ok for Zaun to rally and fight Noxians / fight against Victor? Cause Victor is all about erasing Identity forcefully. Yes piltover asked them to join and lose themselves but PIltover didn't force them. Victor will force them to become one. You can say Im just grasping at straws or whatever, but in a show where the lyrics to last episode of act 1 set up acts 2 and 3, I feel like there was a lot of planning and care put into every aspect of the show and the contrast between how Zaunites that joined the enforcers end vs Zaunites that rally behind Jinx/Ekko (The Zaun royalty) it seems to much to be coincidence.
This is proof at how animation, music, and general presentation can do a lot of heavy lifting for rushed and sometimes poorly thought out writing. So many scenes are "this is cool, but when you think about how we got here, it makes no sense." Season 2's drastic downgrade from Season 1 hurts because the first season set expectations so high.
@@TomEyeTheSFMguylol it really doesn’t. How can you have basically 3 individual plots be introduced and then resolved at the same time in one season. Even shows/movies with complex story building like LOTR or AOT did not have this much convoluted story telling. Those scripts took their damn time to explain and developing their plot before executing important moments, that’s why they are such well revered movies or shows. Arcane literally set up a Zaun vs Piltover war at the end of season 1 just to have space gods, magic and Noxus shoehorn themselves in. These storylines aren’t a bad idea, but it was way too soon and and way too much plot to be involved in Season Two. I can think of a more appropriate storyline off the top of my head that would have been much more cohesive then whatever Season 2 was.
@@liemduong6729 I was talking about a scene, not the entire season, but yeah, the season makes sense, too. The other three plotlines were not "shoehorned", as most of them were indeed introduced and set up within the first season. So, yeah, the Zaun-Piltover War was the main connecting factor to all this. And they took enough time to set up all the important bits of season 2: Viktor and the Hexcore, Ambessa's arrival, Mel's magic shield, etc. Honestly, it is VERY possible to have three plotlines in an entire season. Look at Breaking Bad. Or better yet, Better Call Saul. Those shows can have two, three, FOUR plotlines in one entire season, and have them all come together for one amazing climax at the end. Even Barry did it. None of them rushed. Season 2 may have been rushed production wise, but I'd argue we didn't need more episodes, let alone more seasons. Maybe slightly longer episodes, but that's all the fix that would be needed. Season 2 managed to tell its story wonderfully. If you didn't get everything you want, that's fine. But it is very well possible to fit 3 plotlines into a short season. Arcane did it, and multiple other shows did it before.
@ lol all of it was rushed. It’s not hard to see that. Simply setting them up isn’t enough, you need to develop them a lot, espcially the hexcore part because that was easily the most confusing and the most boring element of the show, not a good combination. Ambessa did not need to an integral part of this season, she has so much time to be a bigger villain later in the show. She could have been pulling the strings without fully involving herself in the conflict, so after this interwar sequence ended then she can start her invasion when both cities are weakened, that’s a much more convincing story and has much better potential for character development. The same thing with the hexcores, as the video said the main reason why it was introduced was because it could have improved living standards for all people. Season 2 was all about using it to make viktor a god. How can u go from discovery to being nigh unstoppable in 2 seasons…. Literally we don’t ever see it connected to its original devices when it was just getting started. The magic is also just a horrible inclusion, if the black rose was going to be a thing it needed a way better explanation then whatever that crap was. Here’s the thing, just because it’s possible doesn’t mean it’s a good idea. Here, it was executed and was a very bad execution especially given what happened in season 1. There so little carried over from what people loved about that show, which was the Piltover Zaun conflict and the character arcs that developed from that. Here’s the difference between shows like breaking bad and this one, they don’t use all their shit up in one season unless it’s the actual end. No show does that. In arcane it wrapped up the noxian, the inter city wars, and the hexcore plotlines and resolved all the character conflicts in between all of them, how. What climax, all I saw what a mishmash of all three having to be squashed into one hour. LOTR, Harry Potter and AOT examples in a masterclass of running multiple storylines in parallel, and they never had to resort to solve everything in one go. U don’t see Smaug and Bolg get defeated in the same battle during the five armies. You don’t see Eren just wipe the earth 2 months after he found out he had powers. U don’t see Harry kill Voldemort by the end of book one when he just learned to perform magic. That is essentially what arcane does, it’s bad storytelling. The game has so many characters to easily create a story after season 1 to continue and widen the plot. Ambessa and viktor being thanos and all that nonsense could have simply be replaced with the introduction of Camille and renata, how can u get better then having the baddest women of both cities waging an all out war against each other. You could throw Jhin or Zac or Warwick, the combinations were all sitting on the table. See what I just said makes sense, unlike Season 2 which went one direction just to bulldoze over it with another.
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
@@S4DC4T He got himself out of his council sit the moment the accident happened. And by episode 3, he, heimer and ekko were gone. There is nothing to be asked or any input, he had that sit because of his knowledge of the Hexgates, not for his brilliant political decisions. And again, he cant have a full input because he was no longer a council member. Also, selective gas use, is waaaaay better decision than a full on enforcer assault and police brutality. WHICH is exactly what happens the moment she steps down and lets Cait go for that route. But I do agree with the previous points on the pacing about character feelings towards each other changing very clickly.
@pedrogutierrez4972 That wasn't for 3 eps and you can't tell me Jayce wouldn't have cared about the city after what happened. It's character assassination.
@@pedrogutierrez4972 the issue is at the end of season 1 Jayce says he’s going to resign from the council but before he can the attack happens. Meaning Jayce is still a member of the council and should be involved in all the votes but is continently left out by the writers so that the votes can’t tie
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!!!)
100%. That feeling about shoving in new ideas then abandoning them resonates with me. I feel like they had an original idea for the storyline when they made season 1, but then started changing it around after getting fan feedback on season 1. The strike team felt added in, those 3 other characters were not fleshed out at all and had no impact on the plot. You could remove them entirely and the show would actually be better for it. It makes me think that originally Caitlyn wasnt supposed to try and turn dictator, since she basically 180 turns from that 1-2 episodes later. Season 2 was gorgeous, and had many amazing moments and pieces of fantastic writing, but like this video says, the overall plot, story, and many characters were much weaker than Season 1 due to what feels like retroactive changes.
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.
That’s actually not the core of the plot, it drive much of the plot but the core has always been humanity. The main protagonists would be jayce viktor, vi and jinx.
Silco and Vander absolutely get character assassination in this season. The reveal they were essentially the girls godparents from before their birth recontextualises so many of their actions from season 1 in a negative way it leaves my head spinning.
@thegoldman25 Vander giving up on vengeance against the enforcers to protect a couple of orphan girls sets him up as being a selfless and honorable man. After that scene we discover that he has a personal connection with those orphan girls, which makes his actions appear to be far less selfless. I'm left wondering if the boys weren't also nephews or something now as it hasn't been established that he's been taking in strays. And Silco..... I find it impossible to believe that after all these years when he's captured Vander he doesn't recognize either Vi or Powder. If Powder really is his god-daughter then why doesn't he mention the girls mother at all while he's monologing at Vanders statue in the first season? How stupid would he have to be to have not figured it out in 7 years even if he didn't know who they were in season 1 episode 3? The wholething smacks of poorly thought-out retconning to me.
@@Golmov_the_Wretched exactly. If their mother was a friend of Silco, why would he try to kill the girls?? Even if Silco cut ties with Vander and the mom years ago, he would have known the girls. Zhaun is not that big! And Vander would have told him: hey Silco, stop trying to kill us, Powder and Vi are the daughters of our friends!"
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.
remember its a game 5v5 they're winners and losers. your fell that impact just, your champion won/lost you get up and make sure i don't happen again or if anything make sure it doesn't happen to your team. So close but yet to far. its a League of legends thing. its not about you its about your team
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
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.
I think this is a great point, although i think an anti-hero would be her best arc. Sometimes we get too caught up on redeeming villains and forget that Jinx actually murdered like . . . a lot of people. Arcane did a good job providing the only redemption you could to her - a scarification death, which is criticized by the video 21:30 as if she were just someone struggling with depression.
All your criticisms are bang on, but then it’s hardly a masterpiece. Everyone needs to stop calling it that, especially when we can all follow with 50 points where they missed the mark now. It could have been a masterpiece, but the writers and creators went all Game of Thrones to move on to better things and sacrificed the story, and that’s upsetting. S1 is fantastic, had S2 been the same then I’d happily call it a masterpiece but as you yourself have said, it’s not the case and has too many flaws and short falls 😔 Such a shame.
Honestly, if you removed Vi from the story of Season 2, very little would've changed. Her greatest contribution was saving Jayce in the first episode during the attack at the memorial. The 'Blisters and Bedrock' flashback with Vander, Silco and Felicia, while touching, is character breaking revisionism that leaves a gaping plot hole in Act 1 of season 1. Pure fanfic for the 'feels'. This is season 2's biggest crime to me. For all of season 2's flaws, Season 1 remains near perfect but episode 5 stains that for no other purpose than give us another contrived emotional moment.
I loved it when Silco said “I never would given you to the league, not even to become a legend” and then said “Don’t cry, you’re *Arcane: League of Legends now streaming on Netlfix* “
From what we´re seeing now (new league season), apparently, its just the thread to tie this season with the next show, literally just that for now, whatever actual purpose it may have had, we won't know until the next show comes out
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.
I don’t think Act 2 is bad per se since it’s also one I really liked. However, it felt like what should’ve been the finale of Season 2 had there been a Season 3. The entirety of Season 2 suffered from massive screen time miss use in my opinion. Many scenes simply brought no development or undid all the prior development of the characters or plot. Also, why Mel didn’t die in the Episode 1 explosion, I have no idea. She brought absolutely nothing to Season 2 and actually was my biggest gripe as she used up so much time for what amounted to nothing in the end. I guess it introduced the Black Rose, but literally nobody cared about that except League of Legends lore masters. Didn’t belong in Arcane in my opinion. Honestly wish all of Mel’s scenes had simply been cut and replaced with ones that actually develop characters like Vi and Jayce who both felt really underused in Season 2. So yeah, I don’t think Act 2 was bad. The problem was more so that Mel wasted so much screen time that should’ve instead been used to flesh out the character developments of both Vi and Jinx reuniting together in Act 2. Unarguably though, the ending of Act 2 really was bad since it nailed the final nail in the coffin for what would be a rushed and underwhelming final act. Undoing all of Vi and Jinx’s development from the end of Episode 5 in the matter of one episode is a decision I still cannot comprehend. Felt like Act 2 amounted to nothing because of it.
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.
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
This is why I felt dedicating an entire episode to multiverse bullshit was such a waste of time when the entire season was rushed. We needed more of the main cast
There was a funeral scene, on the bridge where the people of Zaun and Piltover were burning the paper (presumably with the names of people that died in the final battle). Ekko is doing the same by himself, mourning Jinx.
Imo the second season lost focus. They abandoned themes that were crucial in the first season for things far less effective and complex; there was very little counter theme to generate the needed contradiction for reaching complexity. They took jinx and vi out of the deuteragonist role and that's risky because the story is no longer keyed by those characters. From a plot perspective: They needed to lean into jinx's insanity more, make the story rotate around the war between zaun and pilltover, and leave fully resolving the arcane stuff for later. I think in terms of character development, the writers seemed afraid of the darker aspects in favor of writing saccharin union; let character fall into despair at the end of the story, that's okay. Most of all, they did my boy heimerdinger so dirty. They also need to understand that montages are superior forms of exposition but are not a good way to open every episode.
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.
@@michaelarias3310 I mean, ATLA can be considered one of the best TV shows ever made. Even if it's animated. I feel like this comment is only stigmatizing animation as a medium.
You touched on this but I think this is the most major thing of all: They completely eradicated the tension between Vi and Jinx through Vander. I almost wish he never existed just so I could see how Vi and Jinx could have connected through their own personal desires ratherr than as you say, an obligation. Vi and Jinx both go through so much as people, and they have changed so much after 7 years. At this point, they hardly know eachother anymore. Vi hardly knows herself; shes been isolated and stunted for 7 years living on hope. They hardly confront eachother and air out obvious negative feelings they have towards eachother, I mean you do not so easily let go of your sister holding your girlfriend hostage and asking you to kill her. And on that note, I completely agree that Vis trauma was swept under the rug just to progress Jinxs redemption arc. Vi is clearly in a selfloathing, prone to self-harm crazed alcoholic state, and none of that is reflected on her character during act 2 or 3. And they seem to be pushing the narrative that Vi wanting to protect her sister is a bad thing, but its not. What she needs to change is her clear selfhatred she has that makes her reckless in combat and destructive, and fighting for herself and her life. We know that not giving up on Jinx is not a flaw, because Ekko literally gains this in Episode 7 and its as you say, extremely and scarily crucial to the plot. Ekko (using Powders words of course) convinces Jinx to fight for another day, and that she can build a life for herself. But Vi is punished for this, for her inability to give up; her bleeding heart does more harm than good in act 3 cause she cannot let go of Vander (which is honestly pushing it because when Vander died in S1 Vi did accept this and left Powder in order to process this loss). And Jinx is left with no choice but to protect Vi because she doesnt have that fight in her anymore, i think she genuinely wants to die (which is rarely touched on but... its kind of obvious by her defeatist attitude). Jinx forcefully leaves Vis hand and as you say, she is a Bystander. Shes left exactly where she was in season 1. Seeing Powder/Jinx get taken away from her and she has no clue about her wellbeing. She is just stuck in this guilt and her feelings in ep 8 of "making wrong decisions and losing everyone" is literally validated. Did they not think what such a moment would mean for Vi and her sanity? To always see family dying around her, how helpless of a situation that is to see you rlittle sister fall to your death because of you. But I have diverged from Vi and Jinx as sisters to Vi, because Vis arc depresses me a lot. Also Id like to add, Jinx went to kill herself in ep 8/9, did some soul searching and came back ready to fight and Vi is none the wiser? Like they wrote that Vi wouldnt be able to tell Jinx is in clear pain in front of her. The writing is so flimsy and weak here, Why must Vi and Jinx still be miscommunicating at the end of act 3 when Jinx is trying to sell the idea that "they will always be together". They were hardly there for eachother then so what do you mean??? Adult Vi and Jinx have not actually had a heart to heart conversation yet. Their relationship was so underutilised its insane, and thats what made the ending so horrible for me. Oh and this is also something thats really confused me. Its pretty clear Jinx is set up as silcos daughter and Vi as Vanders daughter, so why in season 2 when Vander comes back as a reformed furry, there is no significant moment between Vi and Vander? This is such a miss, because a lot of teachings that is holding Vi back is from Vander. Vander kept telling Vi that no matter what happens, "its all on you", and that "she cannot be selfish" when other people look up to her. That wouldve been really interesting to see, to see Vander in this changed state, maybe it wouldve inspired Vi to embrace change within herself too. Like father like daughter, no? But actually, Vander had two or three great moments with Jinx, which is nice and cool but this is the most explicit way I feel like Vi has been cucked over in this season. But yes.
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.
I genuinely thought that was the angle. It makes perfect sense; Vi and Jinx have lived completely different lives, they dont understand eachother that much at all. Isha allows Jinx to have Vis perspective, to be a protector. So for Jinx to lose isha, just as Vi feared she would with Powder (which is why she didnt allow powder to come with her that night to save Vander) theres no reason why that wouldnt have brought them closer together. Its something they mutually share. And above it all, Isha looks exactly like Powder, and arcane writers want me to believe Vi wouldnt react to that at all in the tunnel scene... right.
Maybe I am already too old, but I couldn't grasp the following? - Why did future Viktor not just simply gave the rune to Jayce? Instead he made him fight presumably months for his life, humping around with a broken leg. - What was going on with the black magic stuff, people turning into zombies and being chained into another dimension? What's the deal with Ambessor and her son? She had to kill her son in order to give birth to her daughter who then became a magician? What's that all about? - Why did Jayce try to disable the hexgates at the end? Was it not to stop Viktor from coming to Piltower? But he came anyway. Why did he not just use his hammer to blow em up?
You nailed everything, especially Jinx’s ending. I get that “death by sacrifice” arcs pack a big emotional punch and that’s why they went for it, but since Jinx wanted to die anyway, it didn’t have that same impact.
Yeah sacrificing your life when you don't want to exist anyway is just two birds with one stone. If she was shown wanting to live and desperately fighting for it would have made that impact.
What bothered me most is Singed. His character intrigued me and he was a chilling presence, especially when he surrendered at the Zaun and set up the Warwick attack. He seemed like a Palpatine pulling the strings quietly. I wanted to see what his endgame was and, hopefully, have some poignant moment of reckoning. I almost forgot about him in the finale until they show him with his daughter for a few seconds. Apparently everything worked out for him and all his problems were solved offscreen. That was a ton of intrigue for no payoff in the end.
He's my favorite character in the entire show outside of silco, he was one of the best written this season. but i do think it was a little jarring to go from him having a fully preserved body to having a fully manufactured robot version of his daughter. I wanted to see how that came to be, and more importantly, what happened to him and her after that.
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
Thank you… People are all like “it’s a masterpiece!” Then listing 50 things that disappointed them.. that’s not a masterpiece. It could have been, had season 2 been like season 1. It was rushed, and the plot and characters suffered. I hope the creators hear the feedback as it had such potential and was upsetting how it fizzled out.
Yes, the common enemy of Viktor killed all interesting character and story conflict and replaced it with sky lasers and a fight to not die with a world ending event.
they could have made it work if they focus on just an escalating war with the underworld and upperworld. and had the central characters of the sisters falling into an ever-increasing divide that leads to vi killing jinx instead of this
My biggest issue with S2 was WTF happened to my class oppression story??? The first season was real, gritty conflicts of man. Then they dropped it for a save the world story. Like… am I supposed to believe the oppression just “ended”? Like everyone just held hands and sung it out I’m after viktor died?
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.
Season 2 had the same writers from season 1, just…3 of them though. The real point is that the writers that weren’t present for season 2 were the ones that actually made Arcane magical.
@ I should have said head writers because that’s really what I meant. Also, based on the recent LOL trailer it’s become abundantly obvious season 2 had different priorities with the characters.
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.
Dude, thank you SO much for not just saying that the whole thing was "trash" or "ruined" like so many people are saying lately, it's so infuriating, it seems that when something doesn't go someone's way, it's automatically ruined.
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.
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.
Ambessa definitely could’ve used more depth. Compared to basically every other big player in this show she’s much more cruel and and unambiguous in her misdeeds, so her prominent presence really muddies a lot of the complexity, especially for characters like Caitlyn and Viktor. Same goes for the Black Rose. Very sloppy introduction and explanation. Mel’s awakening is somewhat interesting but entirely separated from the rest of the story until it’s time for her to fight in the final battle. It ends up being more of a power up than anything else. The Noxian stuff in general had a pretty intriguing introduction but took so much screen time from plots that could’ve breathed more.
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 and magics-dimentions-multiverse-timetravel tools could have been toned down a bit. When you have this many plot devices, how am i able to persieve anything as a treat?
I think arcane should have had another season. So, here's my skit for how it would've looked: (warning: ‘tis long) The end of the season 2 would be when Embessa makes Caitlyn a dictator, Vi and Jinx teaming up to go after Vander, and Mel being kidnapped somewhere at episodes 8-9. The end of episode 6 will be pretty much the same as the end of the current episode 3, with the epic fight and the anomaly. Arcs: Mel throughout the season tries to hold off the production of hextech weapons, combating her mother on the political front while trying to uncover her family's secrets. Until episode 6, Vi will try to protect both Jinx and Caitlyn until she's left with no one to protect. Then, she'll start her arc for her understanding she also needs to look out for herself. That arc would accompany her spiral, which will take place in the third act. We'll further explore how Ekko can't see the reality for more of what it is, with interaction of Vi and her strike team. In episode 6 he and Himerdinger will go to Jayce and to the hexgates. Jayce will grapple with the concept that the Arcane has a destructive nature. He’ll interact with Embessa a lot, as he'll fall more and more towards the production of weapons, until in episode 6 he disappears. Embessa will precue Salo, Caitlyn and Jayce. At the last act Embessa will need to face the consequences of hextech and how it can be unsafe, and is going to start exploring looking for other weapons. Singed is going to get kidnapped by the cambarrons. Yep. They'd need him for shimmer manufacturing, which will make him a target for Caitlyn’s strike team, which will set Warwick loose in the undercity. Jinx's arc is the same as act 1 of season 2 in episodes 1 to 6. Then, after separating from Vi and being more with Isha, her hero part of her arc is going to appear, which will take form in the menace which is Warwick harming Zaun. She’ll eventually fight him, knowing he exists previously, to save people from the undercity, but only because Isha’s there and she's trying to save her, just like in episode 4 of season 2. Then she'll find out that Warwick is Vander, which will cause her to come to Vi at the end of the season. We'll see more of Victor, even though I'm not sure what can fill the fart of his arc between his appearances in episode 2 and episode 6. I think it's important to see how he develops his community but that's a part I can't really figure out because in this part of his arc he's really isolated, and I don't want this to be a documentary about Jesus. I have a tough time understanding what was Himerdinger’s arc in season 2, because he seems pretty complete, but maybe we'll see Himerdinger as a firelight more actively trying to help people. Maybe he'll meet with Victor in his ventures as a firelight in the undercity. How will season 3 basically go: Along with necessary changes, the ending of the show will be pretty much the same. The first act of season 3 will be about catching up with everyone - first will Caitlyn, Embessa and Sevika in the war effort, then with Mel at her captors and with Jinx Vi and Isha as they look for Vander end reconcile, and then with Jayce, who will appear back at the end of the first arc to kill Salo. 4 will be the infamous episode 7 of season 2, and will be pretty much the same. We'll explore a lot more the war through Sevika (and a little bit with what's left of the cambarrons) as she's trying to unite Zaun, and ally with the firelights. When Ekko comes back (still not certain when) before he’ll help Jinx, he'll first meet Sevika, and they'll do kind of a team up like Vi and Caitlyn did in season 1. When Ekko helps Jinx he'll already do it with the entirety of Zaun behind him. The major turn point of Jayce shooting Victor will still happen at episode 6, but we'll have 3 episodes instead of 2 to wrap up the series. War - for a war there need to be objectives. While Sevika’s objective is a united Zaun, and maybe independence, I don't think it'll work out. I think somewhere at act two Sevika will abandon that idea, because the people who now “follow her”, the firelights, the Jinxers, and united Zaun she worked for - they don't all want independence, and also because it wouldn't seem realistic. I think an interesting thing for her will be to connect to that bold councillor who I can never remember her name, and together they would start working towards a diplomatic way to end the war, with Zaun getting a seat (maybe two so Ekko or Scar?:-)) in the council, because considering what I've said about objectives, what's Piltovetr’s objective in this war? They wanna find Jinx but she hasn't been seen for months nor is she causing problems for Piltover, shimmer is already dismantled, and the cambarrons are mostly defeated. Sure, there are still insurgents, more than before, but that's a product of the war, not an end goal to end insurgency. Embessa out there looking for other weapons after she's given up on hextech. Considering all of this I wrote in this war paragraph, I think it'll explain how the war fades out, thanks to the efforts of Sevika and - is her name Shilla? The Zaunites won't join the final fight immediately, but with Jinx and Ekko, because of something in the third arc that will be a bump in that peace process, but that's the general idea. I think also another thing is that we could see more of Vander, and how he's affected and affects Victor. As for Caitlyn, as she's already met Singed in season two in her strike team days, when Embessa teams up with Singed… Actually now when I think about it, I don't really know how Embessa will meet Singed. She'll obviously know about Warwick and will try to catch him… Maybe dictator Caitlyn will hear about this monster ramping in the undercity, and will conclude that the war could not end as long as it's alive. She'll know Singed so she and Embessa will go to him demanding to know how to take the beast down, but when Embessa will make Singed her advisor, will Caitlyn already knowing how he is, that he made shimmer and the beast, she'll start to lose trust at Embessa, and after she'll remeet with Vi after almost five episodes, her betrayal will be way more felt. Side characters: We'll obviously explore more Maddie, Lorris and Steb at the first two arcs of season 2 with Caitlyn's strike force. We'll really explore Lorris and his connection to Vi in the third act as he tries to support her. As for the bold councillor, we'll get a lot more out of her in season 3, and also a lot more from Salo in season 2. With Smeech down in episode 2, we'll explore more the remaining Cambarrons and how they're dealing with the strike force in Zaun. One of them will kidnap Singed to get more shimmer or stronger shimmer or whatever, and the other will maybe join Sevika? I don't know. Scar will definitely join forces with Sevika at some point, with him practically being the leader of the firelights at act 3 of season 2 and act 1 of season 3. I don't care about Rictus. Elora will help Mel uncover her family's secrets and her death at the end of season 2 will be more felt. Other stuff: Sevika will be with Jinx throughout season 2. Up until episode 6 she'll help her with her plans to “kill the rest of her family” and afterwards she'll accompany her hero arc. But I need to emphasize - we won't have a lot of screen time with Jinx in season 2 (just like in season 1). We'll have a few scenes of her teaming up with Sevika, eluding Vi, (maybe meeting with Caitlyn? And other members of the strike team) meeting with Ekko, but not a lot. I really want to further explore the things about the consequences of hextech, to the point of maybe we'll see less use of hextech, or maybe a new generation of hextech. Maybe part of Jayce’s arc at the end of the show would be about what he promised to do - to use hextech to fix the undercity. Maybe that's what will stop the peace attempts with Sevika, as he'll be more focused on Victor. Himerdinger, Jayce, Victor, Embessa and Jinx (presumably) will all still die. (I don't know about Lorris) The last episode will still be the same as the current last episode, but if will be longer (it's customary for last episodes to be longer) as we'll see more of the aftermath, we'll see the firelights with Scar and Ekko, we'll see that Caitlyn is now a sheriff, we'll she more of the council, maybe a scene of them addressing something with Zaun, we'll get a scene of Mel leaving Piltover, and we'll take time for characters to recognise the deaths of characters. And maybe, maybe! We'll get hints that Warwick survived.;) So yeah that's my semi general semi specific idea. Of course there's a lot of things to tidy up and holes to fill in, but I think it's a better template for what I truly believe was the greatest of arcane season 2. I truly believe it was good, genius, felt, and with good directions. I just think it didn't feel like it earned a lot of its moments, including the ending, because we didn't get enough time exploring the ideas that were presented. This is my attempt to fix that.
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.
21:04, I really disagree here, mainly because in episode 8 (the title is "Killing is a cycle"), jinx's whole hallucination about silco basically is jinx telling herself that if she or vi continues the ending of others, the whole story will repeat; if person A and B are on a team, and person C and D are on a team, and A kills C, then D will want to get revenge and try to kill A. that is silco's whole monologue in that scene, so jinx sacrificing herself will end the killing is a cycle, because it is sacrifice and not murder. while jinx is in prison, she is reflecting on all the bad things she has done in her life, and that is emphasized when caitlyn says the line "No amount of good deeds can undo our crimes", and jinx hears that, and that is why she betrays vi, and traps her in the jail cell. jinx realizes that all of the pain and suffering that she has caused is part of the "cycle", and if she takes herself out of the cycle, it can't continue. this idea is stalled however, when ekko convinces jinx from ending herself, and lets her "build something new", which is a direct reference to caitlyn's line "I'm giving you this one chance to account for your actions, all the pain you've caused", both are telling jinx to do good, and to jinx, that contradicts silco's killing is a cycle idea, but at the end of the episode 9, jinx realizes she can do both; instead of sacrificing herself, she can make everyone think she did that, and build a new life, and we see this with the airship flying off at the conclusion of episode 9. leaving is another way of breaking the cycle, because throughout both seasons, all of the characters stuck in the cycle are fighting for freedom/equal rights, and so if you leave the place, you are leaving the cycle.
7:57, Caitlyn had 3 objectives, which was eliminating shimmer, and also removing the chem-barons, along with capturing jinx. The montage shows the strike team removing the chem-barons, but could have also shown the destruction of shimmer, a bit better, but your argument only focuses on jinx, which is a main plot point, but when isolated, there is holes that aren't filled, and makes it seem worse. The main problem with the zaun is that they just want freedom from piltover, and whats corrupting them is shimmer, and mainly the chem-barons, as seen in episode 2's montage. So when piltover starts to invade the streets of zaun, the people need a figuerhead to give them hope, and because all of the rest of them are gone (vander, silco, ekko, chem-barons), they resort on jinx, and when most of zaun gets imprisoned, they lose that hope. Also, when singed gets captured by ambessa and forced to work for her, the production of shimmer fully ceases to exist, and there is a pretty important scene of that during act 2, where caitlyn confronts him.
17:00 “If jinx goes to vi because jinx’s perspective on sisterhood has changed.” would have been perfect because it would be just like when Silco went to Vanders statue after his perspective on parenthood changed.
This whole merry reconnecting to defeat a common enemy trope seems like a generic patch to all the plot holes in season 2. Underwhelming beyond imaginable.
To me, it lead to A LOT of an unsatisfying ending. I needed to rant about it with my friends for a few days to get over it, that’s how unsatisfying it was ☹️ How they managed to ruin so many things that had been cooking from season one. I just can’t. To wait 3 years for such a disappointing ending.
Season 2 devolved further and further into fanfic land with each episode. The character motivations and overall themes of the show were lost. Plot twists for the sake of it. The whole character of Isha was straight up fanfic writing. And also ep 7 even though I liked it
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.
The direction that the show took in season 2 really didn't make a lot of sense considering what they were going for in the first season. I wonder what happened? It might have something to do with a rush production because it doesn't seem like this conflict should have been wrapped up in a second season with only Nine episodes. Something about the plot reeks of corporate oversight...
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 believe the reason why Vi was asking Cait not to change was because she was afraid Cait would become something like Jinx and she would lose her as well. I don't think it's because she hates change, seemed like she was afraid Cait might change for the worse.
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
My biggest issues w the second season is how they reduced viktor from a character with his own ambitious, traumas, and motivations into just a plot point for the sake of the story. Im not gonna get into how his "arc" is conpletely antithetical to his character cause itd take too long, but the fact that you could replace viktor in season 2 with basically any Zaunite cripple shows how little his character was shown and utilized
Totally disagree that jinx's attack had no impact. It turned Zaun into a police state where people's movements were severely limited and Ambessas goons were beating anyone with blue hair at the checkpoints. Also i don't think Ambessas could have taken over had half the council not been killed. Mel had almost everyone in her pocket including Salo. The only reason she lost the vote on whether to invade is because Salo was bitter about his injury from the attack
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. ?
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.
U know, what I think should have happened? Season 1: Class conflict, Season 2: Class conflict with a bit of Ambessa, Victor shit at the end, Season 3: Ambessa and Victor shit with Zaun 'helping', Season 4: Zaun taking over Piltover
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)
To me the biggest difficulty of season 2 is how to relate Viktor's "glorious evolution" to the conflict between the two cities. Viktor's transition is a plot point that's inevitable, however, it's not as grounded as the class war any more. I don't have a good idea of how to approach this and meanwhile feeling the multiverse trope kinda of cheap shot.
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
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
Something that really stands out to me is just how poorly Zaun as a whole was handled. It felt like a completely different city from what we got in season 1. I mean, none of what made it interesting in season 1 was represented in season 2.
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.
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.
Where almost everyone else got their fan service, ships both heterosexual and homosexual, and cool and sometimes thought provoking moments, Warwick Mains were left with Budget Galio with Yuumi's face imprinted on him instead of Warwick in his Full Furry Wolf/Fox/Bat/Murder Machine Glory.
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
15:40, the main reason vi was so aggressive towards jinx is because in season 1, vi's whole motive is to save powder from jinx, but now she has accepted that powder is gone (we see this in season 2 episode 3 "finally got the name right"), so she fights along caitlyn to capture/kill jinx. Then when isha enters the picture to protect jinx, vi sees her as a new powder, and feels to guilty to kill jinx (that is why vi stops caitlyn from taking the shot at the end of act 1). when caitlyn breaks up with vi, vi gets depressed, everyone she cares about is either dead, or gone, and she starts to go insane. while this is happening, jinx stops her rebellious acts against piltover, to spend time with isha, and be like an older sister to her, like vi was to powder. so when jinx gets vi out of the dust pit she was knocked out in, vi only sees someone who killed her sister, even though jinx isn't the same person who blew up the counsel room anymore, and we see this in the line "I don't wanna hear another word out of your mouth." followed by "I'm not falling for another one of you tricks" when jinx tries to tell vi about vander being alive. these two lines of dialog shows us how depressed vi is, because again, everyone she knows/loved is gone, and since vi thought she had watched vander die, she in under the impression that jinx is trying to trick her, but once vi learned that vander is still alive, vi now has something to fight for, which is her family. family is everything to vi, and vander's survival means that she and jinx both have a father that they can help, which is now something that they both agree on, so it is a mending point in their lives... Act 1 is about vi accepting that powder is gone. Act 2 is about jinx and vi mending their family. Act 3 is about breaking the cycle of death that has been surrounding their family since they were born. we see this in episode 8, when jinx is in jail, and she starts to hallucinate silco, who tells her that she must break the cycle (this is a way to show that jinx is going back to her old self, when she thought she had lost vi, and was constantly hallucinating mylo and clagger). this is enforced by episode 7, which gives us the line "Sometimes taking a leap forward means leaving a few things behind", which essentially says: that if you keep fighting for the same reasons, nothing will change; you got to let of of the past if you want to move forward.
16:38, I do agree that jinx should have gone to vi instead of sevika, but it was sevika who told jinx that isha was taken, because sevika watched it happen. If this were to happen, we wouldn't get to see vi's emo era, as the focus would be on isha instead of vi (episode 4s premise is about jinx's soft side/sisterly side. episode 5s premise is about vi's views on her life and thinking she has lost everyone, but then learning she still has a family).
I don’t dislike any direction they took the characters or plot points. They clearly storyboarded something great but didn’t pace themselves well enough to fit it into 2 seasons. Whether it was their choice to do so, who knows, but what’s clear to me is that every story beat is easily justified by giving the story the benefit of the doubt and assuming a scene we never saw took place… ergo, where the heck are those scenes. It makes for oddly a really great opportunity to fill in the missing scenes later down the line. Would be strange, and I highly doubt it would ever happened (the creators are likely emotionally spent on this series), but it’s always possible for a “director’s cut” or “remaster” down the line that adds the equivalent of 3 more episodes to it.
Hot take, i hated the time travel episode. For only 9 episodes, that was wasted time that could of been used to flesh out other story lines. Also the mel dark rose arc was trash. Then we got all the plot holes with Victor. Other than that, show would of been way better
honestly what im seeing is that s2 just needs more episodes, time, and maybe a couple revisions. Id really love to see a “directors cut” of sorts or just like something to add on because I do really like the ideas of s2, especially the beginning.
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.
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.
So much rushed. As a non-LoL watcher, 1 was magnificent and left me wanting more. Season 2 was incoherent and rushed. That whole alternate universe episode felt useless... could have captured most of the message (which I did not glean, just was a wasted episode to me). Apparently there was a point to it, could have been conveyed in about the same time as Vi's makeup/sex scene with Kate (makeup scene fine, but rest could have been implied). So much was implied and glossed over that would have benefited from more time. And then an episode wasted on that which could have been glossed over. Anyway, if they cancel after 2, I won't care.
24:00, the whole reason vi is depressed, and has experienced all of this trauma is because her whole motive in life is her family, and this is because she watched her parents die, and so when she learns that vander is still alive (her adopted father), she gets her motive for living again, and all of her deep-rooted issues get resolved so easily because she has her family back (minus mylo and clagger).
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 😂
Season one I could not turn off and had to fight to stop watching and go to sleep. Season two I could not keep on and had to fight to keep watching. What a supremely disappointing season. The last three episodes were a chore to endure.
Because i knew about Runeterra lore, i was excited to see how Viktor would become the Viktor in the games same with Enforcer Vi how would this person become an enforcer working with Caitlyn, but it was rushed.
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.
Also using a child to treat one’s trauma and mental health is NOT a good message. A child is not a crutch to be used for you to feel better that’s deeply toxic behavior psychologically for the child. Not to mention Isha is allowed to follow Jinx’s behavior and it’s what gets her killed. Isha is an example of bad parenting and inherited trauma
I think it could’ve been used better, for example Jinx learning to grow up for Isha’s sake because when you’re being relied upon you have to step up. The problem I think is that Isha isn’t really a character. We don’t what she wants and is beyond learning from Jinx and looking up to jinx. Harsh as it is, the only thing differentiating her from a dog narratively is understanding the concept of the struggles in Zaun and the ability to use a gun. Otherwise, she serves the same function as a puppy Jinx takes in. Her being mute doesn’t help since it further restricts her characterization. By the time she died I wasn’t in shock, I wasn’t just expecting it, I was ambivalent.
Not everything needs to be a message. Jinxs relationship with Silco also isnt exactly healthy. A kid to take care of is a classic in writing. Not everything needs to send a great message.
@JustCrash cope? What? Bro all i said was that giving an evil character a kid to take care of is a common trope in writing. Plus that not everything needs to be a message. Not sure where the cope kicks in here, or what you mean by it
@@JustCrash Yeah I don’t think the writers are saying “giving mentally ill murderers children solves their problems.” That’s not a message they’re agreeing with. It just happened
25:50, caitlyn goes back to vi so easily because she had realized that she had become a dictator with ambessa as the devil on her shoulder. we clearly see this when ambessa is having her conversation with vi in the tent: "You've been quite the curiosity. One who captured Caitlyn's heart. I owe you thanks. Your absence provided a vacuum I was able to fill." ambessa just admitted to using caitlyn and her hatred towards what the undercity has done to her family to grab power. caitlyn didn't know vi was at the commune, and the first thing she says to vi after ambushing her is: "You can't be here". caitlyn also sympathizes with vi about saving her father, as she already knows what it feels like to lose a parent, and she had learned in season 1 that vi watched her parents die by authority (the same ones she dedicated her life to). caitlyn still also hates jinx, she didn't know jinx was at the commune, and we see this after jinx saves her from ricktus (the hot buff guy that is ambessa's second in command). This is also seen in episode 8, when jinx is in prison. in the final fight between ambessa and, mel and caitlyn, there is no time for grief, and her conversation with jinx in stillwater kind of cements that, when jinx says "I didn't know your mom was there. It probably wouldn't have made a difference, but... I didn't know". this allows caitlyn to cope a bit, and focus on taking out ambessa, who she now realizes, has been using her to fully take control of piltover/zaun. caitlyn's hatred for ambessa really amplifies when maddie betrays her in the execution scene. "I warned you of the hazards of professional entanglement. Desperation is the doorway to oblivion, child". this line from ambessa directly tells caitlyn, "I have used you".
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
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
Why is it a problem ? There were always 3 (mains) stories but season 1 was focused on VI/Powder(Jinx) as their journey crystalize (?) everything : VI complicated relation with this sister (straight from the begining) is litterally the spark that ignites the powder (and i understand only now why they chose that name for Jinx previous self). The 2 others story are (i) the political struggle between Piltover/Zaund but also the coming storm through Ambessa and the noxian, (ii) the journey of Viktor and Jayce in their quest to improve the humanity. Those two strories are not yet interwined with the more intimate conflict between VI and Jinx. Not until the cliffhanger of season 1 and 1rs episode of season 2. In season 2, those 3 stories becomes embedded with each other like russian puppets : the conflict jinx/Vi lead to the reinforcement of the conflict Piltover/Zaun. Vi role is almost finished : she has ignited the fire. The conclusion won't come from her. The conflict Piltover/Zaun is embedded in a more general conflict (that occurs in fact elsewhere in the Noxian-Empire) through the machination of Ambessa who seek power to fight her own political fight in a far away empire. And that search of power lead her toward the ideological and more spiritual conflict betwen Viktor and Jayce who seek to improve society and humanity.
I see season 1 like the wick that slowly burns out (through the story seen with the perspective of VI/Powder(Jinx)) till the explosion that constitute the cliffhanger at the end of season 1, explosion that will interwine the 3 stories. And Season 2 show how those 3 stories collide until their resolution. Some people did not like the change of perspective and would have like to remain on the arc Piltover/Zaun (and it social class struggle message). But personaly, i like the change of perspective in season 2. It broaden the scope of the story and shows how all those stories become linked, with different issues that goes far beyond the relationship between 2 sisters and the social conflict in Piltover/Zaun. At least, this is my view of the serie.
I agree, the story in season 2 was so big that I wished they were able to split it into 2 more seasons and have 18 episodes instead of 9, allowing the episodes to focus more on characters than plot.
Couldnt have said it any better
nah nah... They did not follow the correct 3 act structure in Season 1. The 3rd act should be the resolution. The biggest problem was introducing Ambessa in the 8th episode. That was the start of the mess.
I was also unconvinced about Vi so quickly being okay with becoming an enforcer.
agreed
It feels like them going "well she's one in LoL so we HAVE to make her one" instead of doing something natural to her development set up in the show.
Which is weird because Arcane doesn't even really fit into LoL that well, especially with around 4 playable champions in League seemingly dying in Arcane. Now I'm no League expert so correct me if I'm wrong on this, but seeing as there were already alternate universes, why not make Arcane the alternate universe where Vi doesn't become an enforcer?
@@haveagoodday7021 oh I've never played league. I see why they did it lol. I agree that she should never have joined.
I don't think vi was ok with being an enforcer, it felt like she was pushed into it by Cait and jinx. Her guilt over Cait not killing jinx when she had the chance and the guilt she felt for not protecting powder causing her to become jinx. It made it feel like even when she thought jinx was too far gone it was still her responsibility to fix
In my head I thought they change it so they never make her one
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.
@@chrishaven1489 Imo Viktor doesn't "decay", he is killed and at that moment the last of his human-self dies and his conciuosness is replaced/consumed by the Hexcore (AI simil?). Viktor completely transcends his humanity and becomes something else with a different set of directives (morality has no sense any more). It all make sense.
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.
exactly !! she was one of my fav characters in season 1 and I still like her but I don't like what they did to her in season 2.
Honestly, I never liked vi in this entire series. Everyone else just felt way more interesting to me, season 2 didn’t do any favors😂
100% VI had zero agency this season. Your main characters should NEVER be this passive. That’s writing 101
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 :/
@@klariissocoollike There's more going on with that scene than just "Join together against the bad guy" I don't think it was an accident that the two zaunites(that attention was drawn to) that join die, Gert and Punk dad. I think that scene is about identity. We see two very distinct individuals give up their identity to join Piltover and what happens, they both die and not heroically. It doesn't celebrate their decision. The contrast between their deaths vs Jinx/Ekko showing up, identity/personality radiating in every shot, to save Piltover. This is, silco finding the Letter, this is zaun establishing themselves. Piltover doesn't give them independence cause they feel bad for them, Zaun takes control of their own future. I find it interesting that the only time we learn Gert's name is in the alternate universe. A place where "the cause" doesnt swallow anyone up(Everyone Silco kills/ Isha /many others including Gert and Punk dad).
So why is it ok for Zaun to rally and fight Noxians / fight against Victor? Cause Victor is all about erasing Identity forcefully. Yes piltover asked them to join and lose themselves but PIltover didn't force them. Victor will force them to become one.
You can say Im just grasping at straws or whatever, but in a show where the lyrics to last episode of act 1 set up acts 2 and 3, I feel like there was a lot of planning and care put into every aspect of the show and the contrast between how Zaunites that joined the enforcers end vs Zaunites that rally behind Jinx/Ekko (The Zaun royalty) it seems to much to be coincidence.
By the time I finished S2 all I could think to myself was "Wow, I REALLY miss Silco"
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...
Yes! Jinx’s ending really did not sit well with me 😑 honestly this season felt like a marvel movie
@@REAVER117 to be fair one could argue what is socially acceptable way for dealing with war criminals or mass murderers?
literally all three of them. That's wild they really didn't think that through
This is proof at how animation, music, and general presentation can do a lot of heavy lifting for rushed and sometimes poorly thought out writing. So many scenes are "this is cool, but when you think about how we got here, it makes no sense." Season 2's drastic downgrade from Season 1 hurts because the first season set expectations so high.
Same phenomenon as amazing game graphics doing heavy lifting for games with poor stories and gameplay.
But when I think about how we got into a scene, it does make sense, though.
@@TomEyeTheSFMguylol it really doesn’t. How can you have basically 3 individual plots be introduced and then resolved at the same time in one season.
Even shows/movies with complex story building like LOTR or AOT did not have this much convoluted story telling. Those scripts took their damn time to explain and developing their plot before executing important moments, that’s why they are such well revered movies or shows.
Arcane literally set up a Zaun vs Piltover war at the end of season 1 just to have space gods, magic and Noxus shoehorn themselves in. These storylines aren’t a bad idea, but it was way too soon and and way too much plot to be involved in Season Two.
I can think of a more appropriate storyline off the top of my head that would have been much more cohesive then whatever Season 2 was.
@@liemduong6729 I was talking about a scene, not the entire season, but yeah, the season makes sense, too. The other three plotlines were not "shoehorned", as most of them were indeed introduced and set up within the first season. So, yeah, the Zaun-Piltover War was the main connecting factor to all this. And they took enough time to set up all the important bits of season 2: Viktor and the Hexcore, Ambessa's arrival, Mel's magic shield, etc. Honestly, it is VERY possible to have three plotlines in an entire season. Look at Breaking Bad. Or better yet, Better Call Saul. Those shows can have two, three, FOUR plotlines in one entire season, and have them all come together for one amazing climax at the end. Even Barry did it. None of them rushed. Season 2 may have been rushed production wise, but I'd argue we didn't need more episodes, let alone more seasons. Maybe slightly longer episodes, but that's all the fix that would be needed. Season 2 managed to tell its story wonderfully. If you didn't get everything you want, that's fine. But it is very well possible to fit 3 plotlines into a short season. Arcane did it, and multiple other shows did it before.
@ lol all of it was rushed. It’s not hard to see that. Simply setting them up isn’t enough, you need to develop them a lot, espcially the hexcore part because that was easily the most confusing and the most boring element of the show, not a good combination. Ambessa did not need to an integral part of this season, she has so much time to be a bigger villain later in the show. She could have been pulling the strings without fully involving herself in the conflict, so after this interwar sequence ended then she can start her invasion when both cities are weakened, that’s a much more convincing story and has much better potential for character development. The same thing with the hexcores, as the video said the main reason why it was introduced was because it could have improved living standards for all people. Season 2 was all about using it to make viktor a god. How can u go from discovery to being nigh unstoppable in 2 seasons…. Literally we don’t ever see it connected to its original devices when it was just getting started.
The magic is also just a horrible inclusion, if the black rose was going to be a thing it needed a way better explanation then whatever that crap was. Here’s the thing, just because it’s possible doesn’t mean it’s a good idea. Here, it was executed and was a very bad execution especially given what happened in season 1. There so little carried over from what people loved about that show, which was the Piltover Zaun conflict and the character arcs that developed from that.
Here’s the difference between shows like breaking bad and this one, they don’t use all their shit up in one season unless it’s the actual end. No show does that. In arcane it wrapped up the noxian, the inter city wars, and the hexcore plotlines and resolved all the character conflicts in between all of them, how. What climax, all I saw what a mishmash of all three having to be squashed into one hour.
LOTR, Harry Potter and AOT examples in a masterclass of running multiple storylines in parallel, and they never had to resort to solve everything in one go. U don’t see Smaug and Bolg get defeated in the same battle during the five armies. You don’t see Eren just wipe the earth 2 months after he found out he had powers. U don’t see Harry kill Voldemort by the end of book one when he just learned to perform magic. That is essentially what arcane does, it’s bad storytelling.
The game has so many characters to easily create a story after season 1 to continue and widen the plot. Ambessa and viktor being thanos and all that nonsense could have simply be replaced with the introduction of Camille and renata, how can u get better then having the baddest women of both cities waging an all out war against each other. You could throw Jhin or Zac or Warwick, the combinations were all sitting on the table. See what I just said makes sense, unlike Season 2 which went one direction just to bulldoze over it with another.
The fact that like almost 80% of the character segment is just about Jinx tells you how little character work anyone else got in this rushed season.
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
@@S4DC4T He got himself out of his council sit the moment the accident happened. And by episode 3, he, heimer and ekko were gone. There is nothing to be asked or any input, he had that sit because of his knowledge of the Hexgates, not for his brilliant political decisions. And again, he cant have a full input because he was no longer a council member. Also, selective gas use, is waaaaay better decision than a full on enforcer assault and police brutality. WHICH is exactly what happens the moment she steps down and lets Cait go for that route. But I do agree with the previous points on the pacing about character feelings towards each other changing very clickly.
@pedrogutierrez4972 That wasn't for 3 eps and you can't tell me Jayce wouldn't have cared about the city after what happened. It's character assassination.
@@pedrogutierrez4972 the issue is at the end of season 1 Jayce says he’s going to resign from the council but before he can the attack happens. Meaning Jayce is still a member of the council and should be involved in all the votes but is continently left out by the writers so that the votes can’t tie
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!!!)
100%. That feeling about shoving in new ideas then abandoning them resonates with me. I feel like they had an original idea for the storyline when they made season 1, but then started changing it around after getting fan feedback on season 1. The strike team felt added in, those 3 other characters were not fleshed out at all and had no impact on the plot. You could remove them entirely and the show would actually be better for it. It makes me think that originally Caitlyn wasnt supposed to try and turn dictator, since she basically 180 turns from that 1-2 episodes later. Season 2 was gorgeous, and had many amazing moments and pieces of fantastic writing, but like this video says, the overall plot, story, and many characters were much weaker than Season 1 due to what feels like retroactive changes.
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
That’s actually not the core of the plot, it drive much of the plot but the core has always been humanity. The main protagonists would be jayce viktor, vi and jinx.
Listen again to Viktor's monologue and you'll get it.
“I was reminded recently of what brought us together in the first place. The threats beyond our walls.” -Jayce, Season 1
i don’t like how they just say Jayce and Caitlyn are friends but then they just move on to different people and forget of each other’s existanse.
Silco and Vander absolutely get character assassination in this season. The reveal they were essentially the girls godparents from before their birth recontextualises so many of their actions from season 1 in a negative way it leaves my head spinning.
elaborate on that, i'm not sure i agree
@thegoldman25 Vander giving up on vengeance against the enforcers to protect a couple of orphan girls sets him up as being a selfless and honorable man. After that scene we discover that he has a personal connection with those orphan girls, which makes his actions appear to be far less selfless. I'm left wondering if the boys weren't also nephews or something now as it hasn't been established that he's been taking in strays.
And Silco..... I find it impossible to believe that after all these years when he's captured Vander he doesn't recognize either Vi or Powder. If Powder really is his god-daughter then why doesn't he mention the girls mother at all while he's monologing at Vanders statue in the first season? How stupid would he have to be to have not figured it out in 7 years even if he didn't know who they were in season 1 episode 3?
The wholething smacks of poorly thought-out retconning to me.
@@Golmov_the_Wretched exactly. If their mother was a friend of Silco, why would he try to kill the girls?? Even if Silco cut ties with Vander and the mom years ago, he would have known the girls. Zhaun is not that big! And Vander would have told him: hey Silco, stop trying to kill us, Powder and Vi are the daughters of our friends!"
Ooooooh yeah
@@Golmov_the_WretchedPerhaps Silco and Vander had their falling out before the girls were born.
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.
@Barmaglott17 They're talking about before that when she's leading the meeting in ep2.
remember its a game 5v5 they're winners and losers. your fell that impact just, your champion won/lost you get up and make sure i don't happen again or if anything make sure it doesn't happen to your team. So close but yet to far. its a League of legends thing. its not about you its about your team
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
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.
I think this is a great point, although i think an anti-hero would be her best arc. Sometimes we get too caught up on redeeming villains and forget that Jinx actually murdered like . . . a lot of people. Arcane did a good job providing the only redemption you could to her - a scarification death, which is criticized by the video 21:30 as if she were just someone struggling with depression.
All your criticisms are bang on, but then it’s hardly a masterpiece. Everyone needs to stop calling it that, especially when we can all follow with 50 points where they missed the mark now. It could have been a masterpiece, but the writers and creators went all Game of Thrones to move on to better things and sacrificed the story, and that’s upsetting. S1 is fantastic, had S2 been the same then I’d happily call it a masterpiece but as you yourself have said, it’s not the case and has too many flaws and short falls 😔 Such a shame.
I don’t think you know what the term masterpiece means lol
Honestly, if you removed Vi from the story of Season 2, very little would've changed. Her greatest contribution was saving Jayce in the first episode during the attack at the memorial.
The 'Blisters and Bedrock' flashback with Vander, Silco and Felicia, while touching, is character breaking revisionism that leaves a gaping plot hole in Act 1 of season 1. Pure fanfic for the 'feels'. This is season 2's biggest crime to me. For all of season 2's flaws, Season 1 remains near perfect but episode 5 stains that for no other purpose than give us another contrived emotional moment.
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
Episode 6
I loved it when Silco said “I never would given you to the league, not even to become a legend” and then said “Don’t cry, you’re *Arcane: League of Legends now streaming on Netlfix* “
i literally still have no clue what happened with/what the purpose was of the whole black rose thing and mel's subplot tbh lol
Agreed.
From what we´re seeing now (new league season), apparently, its just the thread to tie this season with the next show, literally just that for now, whatever actual purpose it may have had, we won't know until the next show comes out
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.
I don’t think Act 2 is bad per se since it’s also one I really liked. However, it felt like what should’ve been the finale of Season 2 had there been a Season 3.
The entirety of Season 2 suffered from massive screen time miss use in my opinion. Many scenes simply brought no development or undid all the prior development of the characters or plot. Also, why Mel didn’t die in the Episode 1 explosion, I have no idea. She brought absolutely nothing to Season 2 and actually was my biggest gripe as she used up so much time for what amounted to nothing in the end. I guess it introduced the Black Rose, but literally nobody cared about that except League of Legends lore masters. Didn’t belong in Arcane in my opinion. Honestly wish all of Mel’s scenes had simply been cut and replaced with ones that actually develop characters like Vi and Jayce who both felt really underused in Season 2.
So yeah, I don’t think Act 2 was bad. The problem was more so that Mel wasted so much screen time that should’ve instead been used to flesh out the character developments of both Vi and Jinx reuniting together in Act 2.
Unarguably though, the ending of Act 2 really was bad since it nailed the final nail in the coffin for what would be a rushed and underwhelming final act. Undoing all of Vi and Jinx’s development from the end of Episode 5 in the matter of one episode is a decision I still cannot comprehend. Felt like Act 2 amounted to nothing because of it.
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.
@@CzarsSalad the reasons that season 2 was flawed didn't have much to do with Ambessa and the noxians
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
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
This is why I felt dedicating an entire episode to multiverse bullshit was such a waste of time when the entire season was rushed. We needed more of the main cast
There was a funeral scene, on the bridge where the people of Zaun and Piltover were burning the paper (presumably with the names of people that died in the final battle). Ekko is doing the same by himself, mourning Jinx.
Imo the second season lost focus. They abandoned themes that were crucial in the first season for things far less effective and complex; there was very little counter theme to generate the needed contradiction for reaching complexity. They took jinx and vi out of the deuteragonist role and that's risky because the story is no longer keyed by those characters. From a plot perspective: They needed to lean into jinx's insanity more, make the story rotate around the war between zaun and pilltover, and leave fully resolving the arcane stuff for later. I think in terms of character development, the writers seemed afraid of the darker aspects in favor of writing saccharin union; let character fall into despair at the end of the story, that's okay. Most of all, they did my boy heimerdinger so dirty. They also need to understand that montages are superior forms of exposition but are not a good way to open every episode.
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.
@@Interstellar19 atla isn't even the best series ever made. Do you mean animated? I'm pretty sure the best show is breaking bad or something else
@@michaelarias3310 I mean, ATLA can be considered one of the best TV shows ever made. Even if it's animated. I feel like this comment is only stigmatizing animation as a medium.
That's always how it happens. The same thing happened with Game of Thrones. Such a shame
You touched on this but I think this is the most major thing of all: They completely eradicated the tension between Vi and Jinx through Vander. I almost wish he never existed just so I could see how Vi and Jinx could have connected through their own personal desires ratherr than as you say, an obligation. Vi and Jinx both go through so much as people, and they have changed so much after 7 years. At this point, they hardly know eachother anymore. Vi hardly knows herself; shes been isolated and stunted for 7 years living on hope. They hardly confront eachother and air out obvious negative feelings they have towards eachother, I mean you do not so easily let go of your sister holding your girlfriend hostage and asking you to kill her. And on that note, I completely agree that Vis trauma was swept under the rug just to progress Jinxs redemption arc. Vi is clearly in a selfloathing, prone to self-harm crazed alcoholic state, and none of that is reflected on her character during act 2 or 3. And they seem to be pushing the narrative that Vi wanting to protect her sister is a bad thing, but its not. What she needs to change is her clear selfhatred she has that makes her reckless in combat and destructive, and fighting for herself and her life. We know that not giving up on Jinx is not a flaw, because Ekko literally gains this in Episode 7 and its as you say, extremely and scarily crucial to the plot. Ekko (using Powders words of course) convinces Jinx to fight for another day, and that she can build a life for herself. But Vi is punished for this, for her inability to give up; her bleeding heart does more harm than good in act 3 cause she cannot let go of Vander (which is honestly pushing it because when Vander died in S1 Vi did accept this and left Powder in order to process this loss). And Jinx is left with no choice but to protect Vi because she doesnt have that fight in her anymore, i think she genuinely wants to die (which is rarely touched on but... its kind of obvious by her defeatist attitude). Jinx forcefully leaves Vis hand and as you say, she is a Bystander. Shes left exactly where she was in season 1. Seeing Powder/Jinx get taken away from her and she has no clue about her wellbeing. She is just stuck in this guilt and her feelings in ep 8 of "making wrong decisions and losing everyone" is literally validated. Did they not think what such a moment would mean for Vi and her sanity? To always see family dying around her, how helpless of a situation that is to see you rlittle sister fall to your death because of you. But I have diverged from Vi and Jinx as sisters to Vi, because Vis arc depresses me a lot. Also Id like to add, Jinx went to kill herself in ep 8/9, did some soul searching and came back ready to fight and Vi is none the wiser? Like they wrote that Vi wouldnt be able to tell Jinx is in clear pain in front of her. The writing is so flimsy and weak here, Why must Vi and Jinx still be miscommunicating at the end of act 3 when Jinx is trying to sell the idea that "they will always be together". They were hardly there for eachother then so what do you mean??? Adult Vi and Jinx have not actually had a heart to heart conversation yet. Their relationship was so underutilised its insane, and thats what made the ending so horrible for me.
Oh and this is also something thats really confused me. Its pretty clear Jinx is set up as silcos daughter and Vi as Vanders daughter, so why in season 2 when Vander comes back as a reformed furry, there is no significant moment between Vi and Vander? This is such a miss, because a lot of teachings that is holding Vi back is from Vander. Vander kept telling Vi that no matter what happens, "its all on you", and that "she cannot be selfish" when other people look up to her. That wouldve been really interesting to see, to see Vander in this changed state, maybe it wouldve inspired Vi to embrace change within herself too. Like father like daughter, no? But actually, Vander had two or three great moments with Jinx, which is nice and cool but this is the most explicit way I feel like Vi has been cucked over in this season. But yes.
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
I genuinely thought that was the angle. It makes perfect sense; Vi and Jinx have lived completely different lives, they dont understand eachother that much at all. Isha allows Jinx to have Vis perspective, to be a protector. So for Jinx to lose isha, just as Vi feared she would with Powder (which is why she didnt allow powder to come with her that night to save Vander) theres no reason why that wouldnt have brought them closer together. Its something they mutually share. And above it all, Isha looks exactly like Powder, and arcane writers want me to believe Vi wouldnt react to that at all in the tunnel scene... right.
Maybe I am already too old, but I couldn't grasp the following?
- Why did future Viktor not just simply gave the rune to Jayce? Instead he made him fight presumably months for his life, humping around with a broken leg.
- What was going on with the black magic stuff, people turning into zombies and being chained into another dimension? What's the deal with Ambessor and her son? She had to kill her son in order to give birth to her daughter who then became a magician? What's that all about?
- Why did Jayce try to disable the hexgates at the end? Was it not to stop Viktor from coming to Piltower? But he came anyway. Why did he not just use his hammer to blow em up?
You nailed everything, especially Jinx’s ending. I get that “death by sacrifice” arcs pack a big emotional punch and that’s why they went for it, but since Jinx wanted to die anyway, it didn’t have that same impact.
I appreciate you saying that, thanks for tuning in!
Yeah sacrificing your life when you don't want to exist anyway is just two birds with one stone. If she was shown wanting to live and desperately fighting for it would have made that impact.
What bothered me most is Singed.
His character intrigued me and he was a chilling presence, especially when he surrendered at the Zaun and set up the Warwick attack. He seemed like a Palpatine pulling the strings quietly. I wanted to see what his endgame was and, hopefully, have some poignant moment of reckoning. I almost forgot about him in the finale until they show him with his daughter for a few seconds.
Apparently everything worked out for him and all his problems were solved offscreen. That was a ton of intrigue for no payoff in the end.
I must have zoned out because of my confusion. I didn't notice when that happened 😂
He's my favorite character in the entire show outside of silco, he was one of the best written this season. but i do think it was a little jarring to go from him having a fully preserved body to having a fully manufactured robot version of his daughter. I wanted to see how that came to be, and more importantly, what happened to him and her after that.
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
Thank you… People are all like “it’s a masterpiece!” Then listing 50 things that disappointed them.. that’s not a masterpiece. It could have been, had season 2 been like season 1. It was rushed, and the plot and characters suffered. I hope the creators hear the feedback as it had such potential and was upsetting how it fizzled out.
"Arcanes version of Ultron" that was a good one.
Yes, the common enemy of Viktor killed all interesting character and story conflict and replaced it with sky lasers and a fight to not die with a world ending event.
they could have made it work if they focus on just an escalating war with the underworld and upperworld. and had the central characters of the sisters falling into an ever-increasing divide that leads to vi killing jinx instead of this
My biggest issue with S2 was WTF happened to my class oppression story??? The first season was real, gritty conflicts of man. Then they dropped it for a save the world story. Like… am I supposed to believe the oppression just “ended”? Like everyone just held hands and sung it out I’m after viktor died?
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
Season 2 had a different set of writers and you can tell.
Season 2 had the same writers from season 1, just…3 of them though. The real point is that the writers that weren’t present for season 2 were the ones that actually made Arcane magical.
@ I should have said head writers because that’s really what I meant. Also, based on the recent LOL trailer it’s become abundantly obvious season 2 had different priorities with the characters.
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.
Dude, thank you SO much for not just saying that the whole thing was "trash" or "ruined" like so many people are saying lately, it's so infuriating, it seems that when something doesn't go someone's way, it's automatically ruined.
THIS
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.
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.
Ambessa definitely could’ve used more depth. Compared to basically every other big player in this show she’s much more cruel and and unambiguous in her misdeeds, so her prominent presence really muddies a lot of the complexity, especially for characters like Caitlyn and Viktor.
Same goes for the Black Rose. Very sloppy introduction and explanation. Mel’s awakening is somewhat interesting but entirely separated from the rest of the story until it’s time for her to fight in the final battle. It ends up being more of a power up than anything else.
The Noxian stuff in general had a pretty intriguing introduction but took so much screen time from plots that could’ve breathed more.
I wish they couldve had a season 3, to let everything marinate and breathe. I really hope theres spinoffs coming. Need to see everyone
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
That and magics-dimentions-multiverse-timetravel tools could have been toned down a bit. When you have this many plot devices, how am i able to persieve anything as a treat?
@@KarminsLynnIt's not even that, it's because of how all the tech side of things weren't explained properly
I think arcane should have had another season. So, here's my skit for how it would've looked: (warning: ‘tis long)
The end of the season 2 would be when Embessa makes Caitlyn a dictator, Vi and Jinx teaming up to go after Vander, and Mel being kidnapped somewhere at episodes 8-9.
The end of episode 6 will be pretty much the same as the end of the current episode 3, with the epic fight and the anomaly.
Arcs:
Mel throughout the season tries to hold off the production of hextech weapons, combating her mother on the political front while trying to uncover her family's secrets.
Until episode 6, Vi will try to protect both Jinx and Caitlyn until she's left with no one to protect. Then, she'll start her arc for her understanding she also needs to look out for herself. That arc would accompany her spiral, which will take place in the third act.
We'll further explore how Ekko can't see the reality for more of what it is, with interaction of Vi and her strike team. In episode 6 he and Himerdinger will go to Jayce and to the hexgates.
Jayce will grapple with the concept that the Arcane has a destructive nature. He’ll interact with Embessa a lot, as he'll fall more and more towards the production of weapons, until in episode 6 he disappears.
Embessa will precue Salo, Caitlyn and Jayce. At the last act Embessa will need to face the consequences of hextech and how it can be unsafe, and is going to start exploring looking for other weapons.
Singed is going to get kidnapped by the cambarrons. Yep. They'd need him for shimmer manufacturing, which will make him a target for Caitlyn’s strike team, which will set Warwick loose in the undercity.
Jinx's arc is the same as act 1 of season 2 in episodes 1 to 6. Then, after separating from Vi and being more with Isha, her hero part of her arc is going to appear, which will take form in the menace which is Warwick harming Zaun. She’ll eventually fight him, knowing he exists previously, to save people from the undercity, but only because Isha’s there and she's trying to save her, just like in episode 4 of season 2. Then she'll find out that Warwick is Vander, which will cause her to come to Vi at the end of the season.
We'll see more of Victor, even though I'm not sure what can fill the fart of his arc between his appearances in episode 2 and episode 6. I think it's important to see how he develops his community but that's a part I can't really figure out because in this part of his arc he's really isolated, and I don't want this to be a documentary about Jesus.
I have a tough time understanding what was Himerdinger’s arc in season 2, because he seems pretty complete, but maybe we'll see Himerdinger as a firelight more actively trying to help people. Maybe he'll meet with Victor in his ventures as a firelight in the undercity.
How will season 3 basically go:
Along with necessary changes, the ending of the show will be pretty much the same.
The first act of season 3 will be about catching up with everyone - first will Caitlyn, Embessa and Sevika in the war effort, then with Mel at her captors and with Jinx Vi and Isha as they look for Vander end reconcile, and then with Jayce, who will appear back at the end of the first arc to kill Salo. 4 will be the infamous episode 7 of season 2, and will be pretty much the same.
We'll explore a lot more the war through Sevika (and a little bit with what's left of the cambarrons) as she's trying to unite Zaun, and ally with the firelights. When Ekko comes back (still not certain when) before he’ll help Jinx, he'll first meet Sevika, and they'll do kind of a team up like Vi and Caitlyn did in season 1. When Ekko helps Jinx he'll already do it with the entirety of Zaun behind him.
The major turn point of Jayce shooting Victor will still happen at episode 6, but we'll have 3 episodes instead of 2 to wrap up the series.
War - for a war there need to be objectives. While Sevika’s objective is a united Zaun, and maybe independence, I don't think it'll work out. I think somewhere at act two Sevika will abandon that idea, because the people who now “follow her”, the firelights, the Jinxers, and united Zaun she worked for - they don't all want independence, and also because it wouldn't seem realistic. I think an interesting thing for her will be to connect to that bold councillor who I can never remember her name, and together they would start working towards a diplomatic way to end the war, with Zaun getting a seat (maybe two so Ekko or Scar?:-)) in the council, because considering what I've said about objectives, what's Piltovetr’s objective in this war? They wanna find Jinx but she hasn't been seen for months nor is she causing problems for Piltover, shimmer is already dismantled, and the cambarrons are mostly defeated. Sure, there are still insurgents, more than before, but that's a product of the war, not an end goal to end insurgency. Embessa out there looking for other weapons after she's given up on hextech. Considering all of this I wrote in this war paragraph, I think it'll explain how the war fades out, thanks to the efforts of Sevika and - is her name Shilla?
The Zaunites won't join the final fight immediately, but with Jinx and Ekko, because of something in the third arc that will be a bump in that peace process, but that's the general idea.
I think also another thing is that we could see more of Vander, and how he's affected and affects Victor.
As for Caitlyn, as she's already met Singed in season two in her strike team days, when Embessa teams up with Singed… Actually now when I think about it, I don't really know how Embessa will meet Singed. She'll obviously know about Warwick and will try to catch him… Maybe dictator Caitlyn will hear about this monster ramping in the undercity, and will conclude that the war could not end as long as it's alive. She'll know Singed so she and Embessa will go to him demanding to know how to take the beast down, but when Embessa will make Singed her advisor, will Caitlyn already knowing how he is, that he made shimmer and the beast, she'll start to lose trust at Embessa, and after she'll remeet with Vi after almost five episodes, her betrayal will be way more felt.
Side characters:
We'll obviously explore more Maddie, Lorris and Steb at the first two arcs of season 2 with Caitlyn's strike force. We'll really explore Lorris and his connection to Vi in the third act as he tries to support her. As for the bold councillor, we'll get a lot more out of her in season 3, and also a lot more from Salo in season 2. With Smeech down in episode 2, we'll explore more the remaining Cambarrons and how they're dealing with the strike force in Zaun. One of them will kidnap Singed to get more shimmer or stronger shimmer or whatever, and the other will maybe join Sevika? I don't know. Scar will definitely join forces with Sevika at some point, with him practically being the leader of the firelights at act 3 of season 2 and act 1 of season 3. I don't care about Rictus. Elora will help Mel uncover her family's secrets and her death at the end of season 2 will be more felt.
Other stuff:
Sevika will be with Jinx throughout season 2. Up until episode 6 she'll help her with her plans to “kill the rest of her family” and afterwards she'll accompany her hero arc. But I need to emphasize - we won't have a lot of screen time with Jinx in season 2 (just like in season 1). We'll have a few scenes of her teaming up with Sevika, eluding Vi, (maybe meeting with Caitlyn? And other members of the strike team) meeting with Ekko, but not a lot.
I really want to further explore the things about the consequences of hextech, to the point of maybe we'll see less use of hextech, or maybe a new generation of hextech. Maybe part of Jayce’s arc at the end of the show would be about what he promised to do - to use hextech to fix the undercity. Maybe that's what will stop the peace attempts with Sevika, as he'll be more focused on Victor.
Himerdinger, Jayce, Victor, Embessa and Jinx (presumably) will all still die. (I don't know about Lorris) The last episode will still be the same as the current last episode, but if will be longer (it's customary for last episodes to be longer) as we'll see more of the aftermath, we'll see the firelights with Scar and Ekko, we'll see that Caitlyn is now a sheriff, we'll she more of the council, maybe a scene of them addressing something with Zaun, we'll get a scene of Mel leaving Piltover, and we'll take time for characters to recognise the deaths of characters. And maybe, maybe! We'll get hints that Warwick survived.;)
So yeah that's my semi general semi specific idea. Of course there's a lot of things to tidy up and holes to fill in, but I think it's a better template for what I truly believe was the greatest of arcane season 2. I truly believe it was good, genius, felt, and with good directions. I just think it didn't feel like it earned a lot of its moments, including the ending, because we didn't get enough time exploring the ideas that were presented. This is my attempt to fix that.
Hope there’s eventually a director’s cut up for purchase. So many scenes were cut for the runtime that I think we the audience really needed
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
It really felt like this was a 3 season story told in 2 seasons. Season 2 felt really rushed
We are finally back to the Video Game Movie Adaptation curse.
21:04, I really disagree here, mainly because in episode 8 (the title is "Killing is a cycle"), jinx's whole hallucination about silco basically is jinx telling herself that if she or vi continues the ending of others, the whole story will repeat; if person A and B are on a team, and person C and D are on a team, and A kills C, then D will want to get revenge and try to kill A. that is silco's whole monologue in that scene, so jinx sacrificing herself will end the killing is a cycle, because it is sacrifice and not murder.
while jinx is in prison, she is reflecting on all the bad things she has done in her life, and that is emphasized when caitlyn says the line "No amount of good deeds can undo our crimes", and jinx hears that, and that is why she betrays vi, and traps her in the jail cell. jinx realizes that all of the pain and suffering that she has caused is part of the "cycle", and if she takes herself out of the cycle, it can't continue.
this idea is stalled however, when ekko convinces jinx from ending herself, and lets her "build something new", which is a direct reference to caitlyn's line "I'm giving you this one chance to account for your actions, all the pain you've caused", both are telling jinx to do good, and to jinx, that contradicts silco's killing is a cycle idea, but at the end of the episode 9, jinx realizes she can do both; instead of sacrificing herself, she can make everyone think she did that, and build a new life, and we see this with the airship flying off at the conclusion of episode 9. leaving is another way of breaking the cycle, because throughout both seasons, all of the characters stuck in the cycle are fighting for freedom/equal rights, and so if you leave the place, you are leaving the cycle.
7:57, Caitlyn had 3 objectives, which was eliminating shimmer, and also removing the chem-barons, along with capturing jinx. The montage shows the strike team removing the chem-barons, but could have also shown the destruction of shimmer, a bit better, but your argument only focuses on jinx, which is a main plot point, but when isolated, there is holes that aren't filled, and makes it seem worse.
The main problem with the zaun is that they just want freedom from piltover, and whats corrupting them is shimmer, and mainly the chem-barons, as seen in episode 2's montage. So when piltover starts to invade the streets of zaun, the people need a figuerhead to give them hope, and because all of the rest of them are gone (vander, silco, ekko, chem-barons), they resort on jinx, and when most of zaun gets imprisoned, they lose that hope.
Also, when singed gets captured by ambessa and forced to work for her, the production of shimmer fully ceases to exist, and there is a pretty important scene of that during act 2, where caitlyn confronts him.
17:00 “If jinx goes to vi because jinx’s perspective on sisterhood has changed.” would have been perfect because it would be just like when Silco went to Vanders statue after his perspective on parenthood changed.
The character assassination of Vi in Season 2 is actually insane. It's not "Ralph Breaks the Internet" levels of bad, but it's still awful
This whole merry reconnecting to defeat a common enemy trope seems like a generic patch to all the plot holes in season 2. Underwhelming beyond imaginable.
To me, it lead to A LOT of an unsatisfying ending. I needed to rant about it with my friends for a few days to get over it, that’s how unsatisfying it was ☹️ How they managed to ruin so many things that had been cooking from season one. I just can’t. To wait 3 years for such a disappointing ending.
Season 2 devolved further and further into fanfic land with each episode. The character motivations and overall themes of the show were lost. Plot twists for the sake of it. The whole character of Isha was straight up fanfic writing. And also ep 7 even though I liked it
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.
I knew this season was lost the moment they said “timelines” and “multiverses”
We all know that NEVER ENDS WELL
That's it. It feels like there's a season missing between S1 and S2
The direction that the show took in season 2 really didn't make a lot of sense considering what they were going for in the first season. I wonder what happened? It might have something to do with a rush production because it doesn't seem like this conflict should have been wrapped up in a second season with only Nine episodes.
Something about the plot reeks of corporate oversight...
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 believe the reason why Vi was asking Cait not to change was because she was afraid Cait would become something like Jinx and she would lose her as well. I don't think it's because she hates change, seemed like she was afraid Cait might change for the worse.
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
My biggest issues w the second season is how they reduced viktor from a character with his own ambitious, traumas, and motivations into just a plot point for the sake of the story. Im not gonna get into how his "arc" is conpletely antithetical to his character cause itd take too long, but the fact that you could replace viktor in season 2 with basically any Zaunite cripple shows how little his character was shown and utilized
Totally disagree that jinx's attack had no impact. It turned Zaun into a police state where people's movements were severely limited and Ambessas goons were beating anyone with blue hair at the checkpoints.
Also i don't think Ambessas could have taken over had half the council not been killed. Mel had almost everyone in her pocket including Salo. The only reason she lost the vote on whether to invade is because Salo was bitter about his injury from the attack
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. ?
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.
U know, what I think should have happened? Season 1: Class conflict, Season 2: Class conflict with a bit of Ambessa, Victor shit at the end,
Season 3: Ambessa and Victor shit with Zaun 'helping', Season 4: Zaun taking over Piltover
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
To me the biggest difficulty of season 2 is how to relate Viktor's "glorious evolution" to the conflict between the two cities. Viktor's transition is a plot point that's inevitable, however, it's not as grounded as the class war any more. I don't have a good idea of how to approach this and meanwhile feeling the multiverse trope kinda of cheap shot.
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
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
this video almost perfectly encapsulated my problems with the second season
Thank you for watching!
Something that really stands out to me is just how poorly Zaun as a whole was handled. It felt like a completely different city from what we got in season 1. I mean, none of what made it interesting in season 1 was represented in season 2.
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.
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.
What's so messed up about the "perfect" universe is, Vi has to die to make it happen. They could've gone somewhere with that but nah.
And potentially Cait. Piltover wouldn't care if a Zaunite died
And it doesn't make any sense
Where almost everyone else got their fan service, ships both heterosexual and homosexual, and cool and sometimes thought provoking moments, Warwick Mains were left with Budget Galio with Yuumi's face imprinted on him instead of Warwick in his Full Furry Wolf/Fox/Bat/Murder Machine Glory.
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
15:40, the main reason vi was so aggressive towards jinx is because in season 1, vi's whole motive is to save powder from jinx, but now she has accepted that powder is gone (we see this in season 2 episode 3 "finally got the name right"), so she fights along caitlyn to capture/kill jinx. Then when isha enters the picture to protect jinx, vi sees her as a new powder, and feels to guilty to kill jinx (that is why vi stops caitlyn from taking the shot at the end of act 1). when caitlyn breaks up with vi, vi gets depressed, everyone she cares about is either dead, or gone, and she starts to go insane. while this is happening, jinx stops her rebellious acts against piltover, to spend time with isha, and be like an older sister to her, like vi was to powder.
so when jinx gets vi out of the dust pit she was knocked out in, vi only sees someone who killed her sister, even though jinx isn't the same person who blew up the counsel room anymore, and we see this in the line "I don't wanna hear another word out of your mouth." followed by "I'm not falling for another one of you tricks" when jinx tries to tell vi about vander being alive. these two lines of dialog shows us how depressed vi is, because again, everyone she knows/loved is gone, and since vi thought she had watched vander die, she in under the impression that jinx is trying to trick her, but once vi learned that vander is still alive, vi now has something to fight for, which is her family.
family is everything to vi, and vander's survival means that she and jinx both have a father that they can help, which is now something that they both agree on, so it is a mending point in their lives...
Act 1 is about vi accepting that powder is gone. Act 2 is about jinx and vi mending their family. Act 3 is about breaking the cycle of death that has been surrounding their family since they were born. we see this in episode 8, when jinx is in jail, and she starts to hallucinate silco, who tells her that she must break the cycle (this is a way to show that jinx is going back to her old self, when she thought she had lost vi, and was constantly hallucinating mylo and clagger). this is enforced by episode 7, which gives us the line "Sometimes taking a leap forward means leaving a few things behind", which essentially says: that if you keep fighting for the same reasons, nothing will change; you got to let of of the past if you want to move forward.
16:38, I do agree that jinx should have gone to vi instead of sevika, but it was sevika who told jinx that isha was taken, because sevika watched it happen. If this were to happen, we wouldn't get to see vi's emo era, as the focus would be on isha instead of vi (episode 4s premise is about jinx's soft side/sisterly side. episode 5s premise is about vi's views on her life and thinking she has lost everyone, but then learning she still has a family).
I don’t dislike any direction they took the characters or plot points. They clearly storyboarded something great but didn’t pace themselves well enough to fit it into 2 seasons. Whether it was their choice to do so, who knows, but what’s clear to me is that every story beat is easily justified by giving the story the benefit of the doubt and assuming a scene we never saw took place… ergo, where the heck are those scenes.
It makes for oddly a really great opportunity to fill in the missing scenes later down the line. Would be strange, and I highly doubt it would ever happened (the creators are likely emotionally spent on this series), but it’s always possible for a “director’s cut” or “remaster” down the line that adds the equivalent of 3 more episodes to it.
If you place Isha with a dog, the story remians the same....
3 seasons would've done wonders
What went wrong? The plot.
Hot take, i hated the time travel episode. For only 9 episodes, that was wasted time that could of been used to flesh out other story lines. Also the mel dark rose arc was trash. Then we got all the plot holes with Victor. Other than that, show would of been way better
The very slight Arcane theme playing in the background for the whole video was a great little detail 🦟
I'm glad you caught that! I thought it would be a nice little touch
@thegoldman25 it was really a great touch, Enjoyed the video 👍
honestly what im seeing is that s2 just needs more episodes, time, and maybe a couple revisions. Id really love to see a “directors cut” of sorts or just like something to add on because I do really like the ideas of s2, especially the beginning.
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
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.
So much rushed. As a non-LoL watcher, 1 was magnificent and left me wanting more.
Season 2 was incoherent and rushed. That whole alternate universe episode felt useless... could have captured most of the message (which I did not glean, just was a wasted episode to me).
Apparently there was a point to it, could have been conveyed in about the same time as Vi's makeup/sex scene with Kate (makeup scene fine, but rest could have been implied).
So much was implied and glossed over that would have benefited from more time. And then an episode wasted on that which could have been glossed over.
Anyway, if they cancel after 2, I won't care.
24:00, the whole reason vi is depressed, and has experienced all of this trauma is because her whole motive in life is her family, and this is because she watched her parents die, and so when she learns that vander is still alive (her adopted father), she gets her motive for living again, and all of her deep-rooted issues get resolved so easily because she has her family back (minus mylo and clagger).
I was beginning to think I was the only one.
Trust me, you are not alone.
Womp womp
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 ❤
Season one I could not turn off and had to fight to stop watching and go to sleep.
Season two I could not keep on and had to fight to keep watching.
What a supremely disappointing season. The last three episodes were a chore to endure.
Thank you for pointing these things out. I completely agree and find that each chapter deserves a own season
Because i knew about Runeterra lore, i was excited to see how Viktor would become the Viktor in the games same with Enforcer Vi how would this person become an enforcer working with Caitlyn, but it was rushed.
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.
Also using a child to treat one’s trauma and mental health is NOT a good message. A child is not a crutch to be used for you to feel better that’s deeply toxic behavior psychologically for the child. Not to mention Isha is allowed to follow Jinx’s behavior and it’s what gets her killed. Isha is an example of bad parenting and inherited trauma
I think it could’ve been used better, for example Jinx learning to grow up for Isha’s sake because when you’re being relied upon you have to step up. The problem I think is that Isha isn’t really a character. We don’t what she wants and is beyond learning from Jinx and looking up to jinx. Harsh as it is, the only thing differentiating her from a dog narratively is understanding the concept of the struggles in Zaun and the ability to use a gun. Otherwise, she serves the same function as a puppy Jinx takes in. Her being mute doesn’t help since it further restricts her characterization. By the time she died I wasn’t in shock, I wasn’t just expecting it, I was ambivalent.
Not everything needs to be a message. Jinxs relationship with Silco also isnt exactly healthy. A kid to take care of is a classic in writing. Not everything needs to send a great message.
@@trafalgarlaw8373 so much cope in one comment, I hope you get off it soon 🙏🏼
@JustCrash cope? What? Bro all i said was that giving an evil character a kid to take care of is a common trope in writing. Plus that not everything needs to be a message. Not sure where the cope kicks in here, or what you mean by it
@@JustCrash
Yeah
I don’t think the writers are saying “giving mentally ill murderers children solves their problems.”
That’s not a message they’re agreeing with. It just happened
25:50, caitlyn goes back to vi so easily because she had realized that she had become a dictator with ambessa as the devil on her shoulder. we clearly see this when ambessa is having her conversation with vi in the tent: "You've been quite the curiosity. One who captured Caitlyn's heart. I owe you thanks. Your absence provided a vacuum I was able to fill." ambessa just admitted to using caitlyn and her hatred towards what the undercity has done to her family to grab power.
caitlyn didn't know vi was at the commune, and the first thing she says to vi after ambushing her is: "You can't be here". caitlyn also sympathizes with vi about saving her father, as she already knows what it feels like to lose a parent, and she had learned in season 1 that vi watched her parents die by authority (the same ones she dedicated her life to). caitlyn still also hates jinx, she didn't know jinx was at the commune, and we see this after jinx saves her from ricktus (the hot buff guy that is ambessa's second in command). This is also seen in episode 8, when jinx is in prison.
in the final fight between ambessa and, mel and caitlyn, there is no time for grief, and her conversation with jinx in stillwater kind of cements that, when jinx says "I didn't know your mom was there. It probably wouldn't have made a difference, but... I didn't know". this allows caitlyn to cope a bit, and focus on taking out ambessa, who she now realizes, has been using her to fully take control of piltover/zaun. caitlyn's hatred for ambessa really amplifies when maddie betrays her in the execution scene. "I warned you of the hazards of professional entanglement. Desperation is the doorway to oblivion, child". this line from ambessa directly tells caitlyn, "I have used you".
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