The Arcane Season 2 Part 2 preview hints at the arrival of one of League of Legends’ most chilling champions yet, as the story delves deeper into the dark mystery of Black Rose.
In the games, Black Rose is a shadowy organization with deep roots in Noxian society, known for manipulating powerful figures and practicing dark sorcery to pursue its own agenda.
We got our first small screen taster of the group in Arcane Season 2 Part 1, when Ambessa is paid an unexpected visit from a Black Rose mage. They allude to a debt she owes, revealing Ambessa’s desire for Hextech weaponry isn’t just driven by ambition.
Although Ambessa tries to cover it up, she’s clearly rattled, and the stakes are raised further when her daughter Mel is kidnapped by the Black Rose. Could the kidnapper be none other than LeBlanc?
LeBlanc might be leading Black Rose in Arcane Season 2
In a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it clip, the Arcane Season 2 Part 2 preview shows Mel trapped in a Black Rose prison. As she tries to run, thorny stalks twist and engulf her, before one morphs into a limb and pulls her back.
What we know for certain is we’ll be learning more about the shadowy organization. But it could also be paving the way for the introduction of the League of Legends champion LeBlanc.
As the matron of the Black Rose, this would make a lot of sense. What’s more, LeBlanc possesses the ability to shapeshift and can appear in numerous places at once, which might mean she took on Amara’s form to visit Ambessa in Episode 3.
This would also give her the power to watch over Mel, all the while putting a stop to Ambessa’s plans to wield Hextech and lead Piltover to war.
This isn’t the first time LeBlanc’s name has come up in Arcane Season 2 discussions. When the trailer dropped, eagle-eyed fans noticed a shape-shifting figure with gold markings under the eye that appear to mimic LeBlanc’s.
What makes the champ so chilling is not just her manipulative nature, but her ability to control reality itself, causing chaos from the shadows. She’s understated and elusive, making her a threat in the physical realm.
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Whether LeBlanc really is pulling the strings or Black Rose is simply working as an entity, whatever has the power to make Ambessa quake in her boots has got to be terrifying.
LeBlanc could set the stage for future League of Legends stories
There’s another reason we might see LeBlanc showing up at the end of Arcane Season 2 – it’d be the perfect way to set up future League of Legends series as Riot Games flesh out their TV universe.
Obviously, co-creators Christian Linke and Alex Yee can’t reveal which story they’ll tackle next, but they have spoken about making the next story a continuation of Arcane.
In a conversation with Dexerto, Linke explained, “Right now, we’re exploring different stories. We want to focus on different characters, different regions, and really figure out how we can tell war stories. A lot of balls in the air.”
Yee added, “From looking at Arcane, this is the first region that we’re telling stories about. But for Christian and I, we’ve been telling stories in this world for a long time.
“So it’s kind of like Arcane is actually a continuation of that. It continues to be a continuation, right? And looking at new avenues to explore and also new ways to tell stories… both of those are really exciting.”
One of the leading theories is that we’ll head to Noxus, where both Ambessa and Black Rose hail from. This would allow Riot Games to explore this new world while also tying back to the characters of Arcane.
But it’s best not to speculate too much. For now, we’ve got the rest of Arcane Season 2 to enjoy. Part 2 lands on Netflix on November 16, while Part 3 arrives on November 23.
Until then, check out the animated shows to watch while you wait, read about who “Baby Jinx” Isha is, and take a look at the ‘Warwick is Vander’ theory.
