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What League of Legends can tell us about what’s next in Arcane Act 3
Arcane Season 2 has been filled to the brim with easter eggs and fan service. All of those references might give us a clue as to what will happen next and how the series will end.
Season 2 of Arcane has been incredible. It was emotionally draining but incredible nonetheless. If you haven’t caught up yet, do yourself a favour and go watch it immediately. And if you are caught up but want to watch Act 3 without knowing anything, please note that the speculation below could lead to spoilers – you’ve been warned.
It's always a good time to watch Arcane
© Red Bull
The week-long wait for Season 2 Act 3 is excruciating, especially knowing those will be the last-ever episodes of Riot Games and Fortiche’s masterpiece. And that wait has been made even more painful by the heartwrenching cliffhanger the Netflix series has left us with.
There are so many questions… What will happen to Warwick? Is Viktor alive? Will Vi and Jinx still hang out? Where on earth is Ekko?
Fortunately, LoL’s lore might be able to give us some clues.
01
Will Ekko save the day?
Ekko has been sorely missed
© Netflix
With the possibility of multiple beloved characters dying, many LoL fans are hoping that Ekko will zoom in and use his signature in-game ability to rewind time and save the day. Then we can all return to Vander, Vi, Jinx and Isha being together as a family and give Arcane a happy ending.
But that feels unlikely.
We know from the trailers that Ekko, while in the anomaly, will likely figure out his iconic Z-drive invention, allowing him to rewind time. And he very well might be able to save people with such an ability.
However, that ability can only rewind time by six seconds. That doesn’t give him a big window to save all the characters we’ve immediately become attached to. But it will certainly lead to heroics and some incredible sequences, so it will be fascinating to see what role he will play upon his inevitable return.
02
Viktor’s “Glorious Evolution”
Is Viktor actually dead?
© Netflix
When Viktor uttered those two words, LoL fans all around the world jumped out of their seats and pointed at their screens in excitement.
It was the first hint towards the true form of Viktor, the in-game version which bares very little resemblance to his Arcane counterpart. Because of that, many fans strongly believe that Viktor isn’t dead. Or at least if he is, he’s going to be revived one more time to complete his full transformation.
The so-called Mechanical Herald might be about to become more machine than man. Take a look at the image of Viktor below and you’ll a see man covered head to toe in steel in an augmented and weaponised suit.
This is what Viktor is supposed to look like
© Riot Games
Viktor has the same goal in LoL and Arcane, working on the advancement of humankind in a bid to help uplift Zaun. After exploring Hextech and Arcane wizardry, it might be time for Viktor’s final roll of the dice: turn everyone into cyborgs with technological augments to eliminate the chance of human error.
This so-called evolution may end up aiding Zaun’s revolution as they fight for independence from Piltover. If Viktor does return, it won’t be as a peaceful messiah frolicking through flowers.
03
Warwick’s fate
Will Warwick/Vander die in Arcane’s finale?
© Netflix
The reimagining of Warwick’s lore has been incredible. The decision to turn him into Vander after a cruel science experiment is equally genius as it is cruel.
The heartwrenching character arc looks like it’s about to meet a sudden end, with Isha seemingly about to blow his head off and her own with Jinx’s overly-juiced zap gun.
I’m sorry to say Warwick/Vander will likely have his head blown off. However, one popular fan theory believes that he will not die. You see, Viktor isn’t the only champion who looks very different in the series compared to the game. In LoL, Warwick does not have a humanoid face but the head of a wolf.
So this incident with Isha seems like the perfect opportunity to retcon that. This may well be where Warwick’s resemblance and possibly even connection to Vander ends. Singed is right there on the battlefield, and we know he has wolfheads left in his lab.
It seems entirely possible that Singed will bring his creation back to life and, in doing so, will turn Warwick into even more of a monstrosity in the process.
04
Singed is trying to bring one more champion into Arcane
Human Orianna
© Netflix
It turns out Singed is a crucial character in the story that Riot and Fortiche are telling. He is another champion who has had his backstory drastically changed as they have combined his story with another character from LoL’s lore, Dr Corin Reveck.
In the lore, Reveck is a genius inventor who goes through the tragedy of losing his young daughter. Desperate to save her, he begins replacing her body with machinery such as clockwork lungs until all that remains of his daughter is her human heart. His daughter becomes more and more detached from the person she used to be, but she still saves her dying father by transplanting her heart into him and replacing her own with a clockwork ball containing a Hextech crystal.
Singed’s in-game daughter is clearly the “Lady of Clockwork” Orianna, a very popular champion in the game. The music box with a ballet dancer and the similar hairstyle in the daughter's photo suggests we could soon see her in the series or even a future show from the same creators.
05
Singed could be key to the next series after Arcane
Singed partnering with Noxus could end in disaster
© Netflix
Seriously, who knew Singed would be this impactful?
As we’ve seen, Singed is helping Noxus and has partnered with Ambessa Medarda. If you’ve read Singed’s original lore, you’ll know that will likely lead to some rather catastrophic events.
In his original story, Singed creates a toxic substance which Noxus uses to invade Ionia to devastating effect. This toxic weapon wipes out the village of Master Yi kills the forces of Irelia and Karma and scars a young Riven, who watches this all unfold.
With this and the subplot of the Black Rose with Le Blanc and Mel Medarda, it seems increasingly likely that the next series will focus on Noxus and their invasion of the magical region of Ionia.
06
Heimerdinger could join the fight
Is Heimerdinger creating weapons?
© Netflix
Of course, Ekko isn’t the only one missing in the weird Arcane/anomaly thing. Heimerdinger is in there too, and we know from previous episodes that he has encountered this dangerous sort of magic before and during his long life.
It’s safe to guess that he’ll probably handle being trapped in there better than Jayce did. Still, it’s fascinating to think about how Heimerdinger will fit into this final section of the show.
Having seen the potential of people in Zaun and the struggles they go through daily, it’s entirely possible that even Heimerdinger will help them fight, whether it’s against Piltover or Noxus.
LoL has shown us that Heimerdinger can hold his own in battle by using his inventive turrets to fight for him. And from the picture above taken from episode 2, we now know that the Arcane version of Heimerdinger has started making said turrets.
While this one only spouts out bubbles to entertain children, it’s possible Heimerdinger has also invented some with more violent intentions born out of necessity with the current state of Piltover and Zaun.
Get a sneak peek at what Act 3 has in store for us:
