Gaming
esports
8 things we learned from the Arcane Season 2 official trailer
The final season of Arcane is going to be incredible if this trailer is anything to go by. Especially with all the surprises that were just teased…
The League of Legends Netflix series Arcane has received a massive new trailer with over two minutes of breathtaking animation which gives us just a taste of what’s to come.
Arcane Season 2 will have an even greater focus on Jinx (Powder) and Vi’s relationship as the latter tries to stop her sister from leading a revolution as tensions rise between Piltover and its underbelly neighbours in Zaun.
So much happens in the action-packed 120 seconds of the trailer that it’s easy to miss potentially key details. Here’s what you might not have noticed.
01
Jinx has become a symbol for Zaun
Jinx's blue hair has become an icon for the revolution
© Riot Games
Whether she likes it or not, Jinx is the face of the upcoming civil war. After launching a giant rocket at the Piltover Council at the end of Season 1, she probably should have seen this coming.
“You have the chance to rally the undercity together. You’re a symbol.” Those are the inspirational words Sevika offers Jinx as the two will seemingly team up again despite Jinx murdering her mentor, Silco.
The trailer shows Sevika is clearly right. One shot sees many citizens of Zaun greeting Jinx with their hair dyed blue to match hers. We then see Vi staring up at a mural starring Jinx, but interestingly in the art she’s accompanied by Vander, not Silco. Vander, Jinx’s now-deceased adoptive father, was a popular figure in Zaun working as a bartender, so it makes sense that his reputation would help the population rally people behind Jinx’s actions.
02
There’s still no sign of Jayce or Viktor… or is there?
Is this frame a sign that Viktor's still with us?
© Riot Games
The trailer heavily focuses on the dynamics between Jinx, Vi and Caitlyn with seemingly no sign of Jayce or Viktor. Obviously, Riot Games don’t want to spoil whether they survive last season’s cliffhanger ending or not.
But there is a small hint that they’re OK. A very quick frame at the 1m 53s mark shows a man with a piece of Hextech embedded into his arm. This is exactly the type of body augmentation that LoL fans know Viktor’s story arc is headed towards. And Jayce previously wore a Hextech crystal in an armband on his wrist similar to the position in the image above. The picture see’s the mystery figure picking up a weapon which could easily be Jayce’s Mercury Hammer.
03
New champions will appear in season 2
Warwick puts in an appearance
© Riot Games
Any keen-eyed LoL fans would have already noticed hints in Season 1 of other champions joining the fray and the new trailer has doubled down on fans’ suspicions. Anyone who wants to avoid potential spoilers should skip to the next heading.
The doctor who helped Viktor and also invented shimmer reminded many LoL veterans of Singed. This was confirmed to be the case by Netflix subtitles, but the series otherwise kept it secret by never naming him. At the 1m 13s mark of the trailer we see the doctor with scarring and clothes over his mouth in a very similar fashion as to how Singed wears his bandages.
But the more exciting tease is that we’re finally going to meet Warwick, the werewolf who was one of LoL’s original 17 champions. We briefly see a shadowy beast with glowing red eyes at 1m 15s which closely resembles Warwick and a much clearer silhouette which is clearly him appears at at 1m 53s as he stares down Vi.
However, just one frame before that is a possible hint to another champion who might make their Netflix debut: Le Blanc.
Is Le Blanc about to join the cast?
© Riot Games
The shadowy figure somewhat looks like Silco, but the symbol around the eyes heavily resembles Le Blanc’s make-up and the yellow glow could absolutely represent her magic. With the region of Noxus having a heavier influence in Season 2, there’s a good chance the mischievous assassin and her secret organisation, The Black Rose, will wreak havoc in Piltover and Zaun.
04
We’re still waiting for an official Arcane Season 2 release date
We already knew Arcane Season 2 will release sometime in November 2024, but unfortunately this trailer offered no specifics on exactly when we can watch it.
Although, with the LoL World Championships culminating in the final on November 2, don’t be surprised if we get an announcement or even the first release of episodes that same day.
Season 1 released in three separate instalments of three episodes each, until told otherwise we can expect that to be the case for Season 2 as well.
05
Vi is torn as to which side to take
Vi is seriously conflicted
© Riot Games
Back to the main storyline and we can see that Vi has some difficult decisions to make. We see that she will join her girlfriend, Caitlyn, as part of Piltover’s armed police, but the trailer also shows the same police enforcing martial law on Zaun, Vi’s hometown.
Vi is also seen walking around Zaun outside of her uniform, not only when looking at the Jinx mural but also in a fighting pit wearing a rather gothic outfit that will almost certainly be turned into an in-game skin.
We’re going to see Vi on both sides of the region as she struggles with her emotions and conscience. Battling with what happened to her sister and what Jinx has become is going to be agonising for Vi, but for us it’s going to be spectacular entertainment.
06
We have the first confirmed song of the new soundtrack
Season 1 of Arcane had phenomenal music. Imagine Dragons, loved by the LoL community for the 2014 Worlds theme song Warriors, dropped another banger for the series with Everybody Wants To Be My Enemy and the season even featured a Sting song with What Could Have Been.
The first song of Season 2, used throughout the trailer, is called Paint The Town Blue and was crafted by American singer and rapper Ashnikko specifically for the series.
Ashnikko, whose song Daisy has racked up over 520m plays on Spotify, previously made an anthem for Valorant called Fire Again and has blue hair very reminiscent of Jinx. The artist is a huge fan of the character and says writing a song for her is a career highlight.
And there’s more big music announcements to come as Arcane Creative Director Christian Linke teased that they have created a song for Season 2 with a “very big” music artist, but there’s a battle with a record label to allow them to use it.
07
Ekko has his Z-Drive working
Ekko can now rewind time
© Riot Games
We’re finally going to see Ekko’s true potential next season as the trailer showed he has finished building the Z-Drive which allows him to rewind time by a few seconds.
The item can be seen attached to Ekko’s belt as he assists Vi towards the end of the trailer and we then briefly see him using it in a short frame a couple of seconds later.
Considering his relationship with Heimerdinger, it’s possible the genius Yordle helped Ekko finish this great invention. The trailer at one point shows Heimerdinger caught in an explosion, but judging by the sounds and effects in this moment, Ekko’s time travel will (hopefully) save him.
08
The next LoL Netflix series might be based in Demacia
That's definitely Jarvan IV back there, right?
© Riot Games
Finishing off we have a nice little Easter Egg that we’re obviously going to read too much into.
In the background of this explosion in Piltover, we can see a banner with a face on it that clearly resembles LoL champion Jarvan IV, king of the Demacia region.
It could just be a small nod to character who uses a flag in the game but it could also be a massive hint as to what LoL series Riot are cooking up next once Arcane reaches its conclusion.
Demacia has a lot of story potential. For starters, it has a huge rivalry with the people of Noxus who have already been introduced in Arcane. Lux is just as iconic to LoL as Jinx and her lore could be a fantastic story as she of struggles to keep her powers secret in her home of Demacia where magic is strictly forbidden. Said story could include Sylas, the mage who can steal others’ powers and uses this ability to escape a Demacian prison and build a revolutionary army in the icey region of Freijlord – taking another step towards tying together all the Runeterra regions on-screen.
