Arcane ending with Season 2 might be sad, but creators Christian Linke and Alex Yee have explained why it was the right decision – and it would have been “dangerous” to keep it going.
The first chapter of the League of Legends series was critically and commercially acclaimed, so it’s understandable that news of Arcane Season 2 being the final installment has been met with mixed emotions.
Thankfully, there are still nine new episodes to look forward to, which will wrap up the story of estranged sisters Vi and Jinx, and the burgeoning war between Piltover and Zaun.
Ahead of the release of Season 2 Part 1, Dexerto caught up with Linke and Yee to find out why they chose to end the story here.
As Linke explained, “It was never an open concept. It was always like, ‘Hey, there’s a story to tell.’ There’s a beginning and an end with the character relationships that we had in mind, especially for Vi and Jinx and for Jayce and Viktor.
“Not so much the plot – I mean, parts of it – but really there was a specific thing here that I wanted to explore and say with this story. So that’s just what we set out to do.”
“I think it’s also dangerous to stretch and keep something going forever,” he continued. Yee explained that this was “difficult” even when creating a second season for Arcane.
“We knew where we wanted to be headed with the story but… you need the ambitions of your characters in the first season to really result in something that is going to kind of take its own new angle in the second season,” he said.
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“It’s always about change. I think that’s why a lot of shows, you know, when they go too long they start unraveling because you can only have big changes so many times before it just starts feeling loose and unfocused.”
“The other thing is that this came from League of Legends where there’s so many champions, so many other regions,” Yee added.
“Our original intention was always to bring that world to life and so I think getting to see more aspects of that and have more players get to see their favorite parts was something that was also motivating us.”
If you didn’t know this already, Arcane is only the first entry in Riot Games’ planned League of Legends cinematic universe.
So, Season 2 might be the end of this particular storyline, but it’s just the beginning of what’s to come.
Arcane Season 2 Part 1 drops on Netflix on November 9. For more Arcane content, check out the Season 2 soundtrack, our ranking of the most powerful Arcane characters, and a rundown of the ‘Vander is Warwick’ theory.