Arcane season 2 could bring the curtain down on Vi and Jinx's story – and fans of the hit series aren't ready for that possibility to play out.
Fans began speculating online about the chances of that happening after the final episode of Bridging the Rift, a five-part YouTube series that charts the six-year development of Arcane, was released. The League of Legends (LoL) animated show's first season, which debuted on Netflix in November 2021, was met with universal acclaim from fans and critics alike, and went on to win multiple awards throughout 2022.
Unsurprisingly, another entry – Arcane season 2 – is on the way, although there's no time frame for when one of the best Netflix series' next installment will arrive. And, while LoL and Arcane creators Riot Games have teased a couple of things regarding the show's second season in Bridging the Rift, it's the prospect of Vi and Jinx's story ending after Arcane season 2 that fans are most interested in.
Speaking during the final few minutes of Bridging the Rift episode 5 – skip to the 33:10 mark to hear it for yourself – Riot co-founder Brandon Beck said: "The fact that we can spend five hours in Piltover and Zaun [in season 1], and then do it again in a second season, before we start to zoom out of this one little corner of the world and this handful of characters, just the possibility space is so wild."
Exciting as it is that Arcane will open up the world of Runeterra – the world in which Arcane and League of Legends is set – in future seasons, fans have expressed concern that one more season of Arcane isn't enough time to wrap up Vi and Jinx's story.
Taking to Reddit after watching episode five, multiple Arcane and LoL fans said that, despite having full faith in Arcane's creative team, they were worried about whether two seasons was enough time to fully explore Vi and Jinx's complex relationship.
Reddit user Vernitzsche wrote they "can't really figure out how they [Riot] are gonna do all this in a way that doesn't feel rushed", adding that the show also needed to factor in character development for Arcane's supporting cast, such as Ekko, Caitlyn, and Viktor.
Meanwhile, Anxious_Mango_4589 said "one more season really doesn't feel like enough time to wrap everything up, and the idea of entirely shifting focus within the same show just really rubs me the wrong way". Redditor POWDERed_Jinx agreed, saying it was "worrisome" and that they want a "really good ending" for the duo. Bloom_after_rain added they were "conflicted about" the prospect of saying goodbye to Vi and Jinx after just two seasons, while ThuBiejaMan said wrapping up the Piltover/Zaun story arc after two seasons would be silly, given that Riot hasn't introduced "half of the champions in the region" yet.
Other fans are less concerned. DawnSennin wrote they had "absolute faith" in Arcane's showrunners, regardless of whether season 2 marks the end of Vi and Jinx's journey. Spyrothefox said moving onto other regions and heroes in Runeterra "sounds great to me", while EternalPain791 suggested that Piltover and Zaun could still be key locations in future seasons, meaning we might run into Vi, Jinx, and company again.
Redditor _harleys, though, claimed that everyone was simply reading too much into Beck's comments. That's a strong possibility – Beck could simply have been teasing the prospect of introducing more heroes and territories in Runeterra in Arcane, but that Vi and Jinx's story would continue to be the primary narrative thread that runs through the series.
We've reached out to Riot Games and Arcane's external PR team for clarification on Beck's comments. If we receive a response, we'll update this article accordingly.
Arcane season 2 is yet to receive an official release date, but Riot CEO Nicolo Laurent has previously confirmed it won't arrive until sometime in 2023. Based on snippets of footage and other comments made throughout Bridging the Rift, though, it sounds like Arcane season 2 could be with us in the first half of 2023, rather than the second.
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