The award-winning TV show “Arcane” has famously never pulled its punches in terms of gut-wrenching plot points and tragic backstories. Now, after Season 2 hit the screen on Netflix on Saturday, the creators are proving that they have no intention of starting now.
The series doesn’t hold back, especially as a character-driven show. Plucked right out of the world of the video game “League of Legends,” the show features little girls accidentally becoming killers, brothers feuding to the death and young men risking everything to prove the merit of their invention — and that’s just the first act of Season 1.
The seasons are divided into three acts. Each act consists of three episodes dropped weekly, neatly separating the overarching narrative into a three-act structure.
“Arcane” has always been political in nature; rebellion against oppression is the foundation of the show. The brutal depictions of classism, police brutality and this fictional world’s equivalent of the opioid epidemic elicit a visceral, and sometimes uncomfortable, reaction.
The narrative may be framed around the story of two sisters caught on opposing sides of a war, but the real conflict lies between the sister-cities Piltover and Zaun.
The first act of Season 2 hits the ground running in a similar way, picking up exactly where it left off. Jinx, the infamous loose cannon of the Undercity, has accidentally killed another adoptive father figure in an identity crisis fueled by childhood trauma. She copes by carrying out his plan to free their budding nation, Zaun, by launching a nuke at the council chamber of Piltover, which ironically had just voted to let Zaun have its independence.
Jinx’s estranged sister, Vi, and Vi’s top-sider love interest, Caitlyn Kiramman, are forced to watch in horror. Caitlyn swears to bring Jinx to justice, while Vi accepts that the little sister she knew and loved is gone.
As Zaun continues to fight for emancipation from Piltover, the so-called “City of Progress,” Season 2’s first act seamlessly incorporates the dangers of radicalization and propaganda into the returning themes of class division and the cycle of violence.
The ease with which people in a position of privilege can be radicalized is demonstrated in Caitlyn. Caitlyn is a wealthy woman from an influential family in Piltover and a former pillar of morality in the narrative. She previously used her position of power as an Enforcer, this world’s equivalent of a cop, to advocate for the people of Zaun. But after facing a personal tragedy at the hands of Jinx, Caitlyn is quickly going down a dark path.
Despite Jinx being an orphan from an oppressed city, she draws a distinct parallel to Caitlyn: They’ve both just lost a parent to sudden, gruesome circumstances they could have prevented, and both are being thrust into positions of power and responsibility.
But while Caitlyn is buckling under pressure, Jinx is unexpectedly coherent.
It doesn’t hurt that a new character, a young girl named Isha, has taken to following Jinx around the streets of Zaun. Jinx has now been placed in the same position as her adoptive father Silco was last season, and she has the chance to break the cycle of violence that has been dogging her since childhood
The new influence in Caitlyn’s life, however, has a much more sinister purpose. Ambessa Medarda, a famous foreign warlord, is slowly but surely goading Caitlyn in the direction of war.
A welcome addition to the narrative is the expanding use of magic. Before, the magic in the series was limited to hex crystals, which are little gems of magic used to fuel fantastical machines and which serve as the occasional MacGuffin. This season, magic itself has been promoted from a background dressing that powers the Hex crystals to a vital concern as the arcane begins to spin out of human control.
While the pacing is a bit clunky at times, speeding through the setup to get to the major plot points, the first act of Season 2 breathes new life into somewhat predictable dynamics. The show continues to subvert expectations. Despite having four Emmys under its belt and being ranked No. 26 on IMDb’s list of top TV series, “Arcane” will be ending after Season 2, which could explain the rush.
What it lacks in proper pacing is made up for by the stunning animation and expansion of the universe. Three episodes alone have shown more magic and world building than the entirety of Season 1, and we get a peek into the culture of Noxus, a neighboring continent that is currently meddling in Piltover’s affairs.
As foreign wizards and warlords close in to take advantage of Piltover’s fractured state, Jinx’s act of grief has proved to be what her adoptive father called a necessity: The base violence necessary for change.
