Major spoilers follow for Arcane season 1.
The first trailer for Arcane season 2 has finally been revealed – and it confirms that the hugely popular Netflix show will end once it's released in full this November.
Debuted during an Arcane presentation at Annecy Animation Festival 2024, the hit animated series' story will wrap after its second and final installment later this year. Based on its explosively dramatic and incredibly foreboding teaser, it looks like the League of Legends (LoL) show will go out with an almighty bang, too.
Curiously, this isn't the first we've heard of Arcane's end. In September 2022, fans became convinced that season 2 would mark the end of Vi and Jinx's story following comments made by Riot co-founder Brandon Beck. Sure enough, those who read a little too much into what Beck said have been proved right. A doff of the cap to you, if you were among that contingent.
Arcane might be ending, but this doesn't mean that Netflix, Riot Games (Arcane and LoL's creator), and animation studio Fortiche are ending their creative partnership. Indeed, speaking during a LoL Dev Update today (June 11), Arcane's co-showrunner Christian Linke confirmed that there'll be more projects set in LoL's world of Runeterra in the future.
"Arcane is just the beginning of our larger storytelling journey and partnership with the wonderful animation studio that is Fortiche," Linke said. "From the very beginning, since we started working on this project, we had a very specific ending in mind, which means the story of Arcane wraps up with this second season. But, Arcane is just the first of many stories that we want to tell in Runeterra."
A message from #Arcane show co-creator @praeco on bringing the story to a close. pic.twitter.com/TlEhH1EWmYJune 11, 2024
In a follow-up video posted on Arcane's various social media channels, including X/Twitter (see above), Linke provided more insight into the decision to bring its story to a close, before teasing what else is in the works at Riot and Fortiche.
"Vi and Jinx's arcs have grown so far beyond our original dreams for them," he said, "So we wanted to give the same treatment to more [LoL] champions. We're currently working on our next projects across television and film, and we're hopeful we can share more by the end of the year. We're still really early in the stages of that process, and these things do take a lot of time, but we'd like to share updates with you whenever we can."
Arcane's official trailer arrives a mere four days (at the time of publication) after its first one teased new heroes, another possible time skip, and Vi's new costume. That sizzle heel followed hot on the heels of Arcane season 2's gorgeous first poster that also hinted at a fan-favorite character's return, albeit not as a hero this time around.
As for what its latest trailer is hinting at, a war is brewing between the rich, progressive city of Piltover and the poor, underbelly district known as Zaun. Indeed, with Jinx installed as Piltover public enemy number one following her terrorist attack on its council, everyone – including Vi's new bestie Caitlyn – is out for blood. With Vi seemingly set to reluctantly accept Caitlyn's offer to join the hunt for Jinx (Vi's sister, remember) as one of Piltover's new Wardens, it appears as if her allegiance to her blood relative and friend/potential love interest will be tested much of season 2's episode count. Well, until that likely brutal showdown between Jinx and Vi – as teased in season 2's first proper trailer – is instigated, anyway.
Said trailer notwithstanding, there's very little else we know about the plot of Arcane's final season. In a press release, Netflix only provided the briefest of story synopses, which reads: "In this final chapter, Jinx’s attack on the Council sets the stage for a dire escalation of the conflict between Piltover and Zaun". However one of the best Netflix shows ends, we know its finale will be emotionally devastating – Jinx voice actor Ella Purnell saying "I cried" when I asked her for some clues about season 2's plot back in April. Have plenty of tissues at the ready, everyone.
