The second act of Riot Games’ highly anticipated animated series Arcane launched on Netflix earlier today. The show has garnered positive impressions from the audience and topped the global charts of Netflix, giving evidence of its soaring popularity.
Arcane delves deep into the internal politics between the utopian city of Piltover and the Undercity of Zaun. The series illustrates the nuances between Vi and Jinx (who goes by Powder in the first act of the show) during their childhood in Zaun. The show quenched the thirst for many League of Legends fans looking to know more about the game’s lore.
Act two sheds some light on the adult versions of Vi and Jinx and kicks the story into high gear. A teaser at the end of act one showed a passage of time throughout the series, which may tell viewers what happened to Powder and Vi between the two acts.
The first act tells the story of Vi, Powder, and their friends. In the first episode, they break into a building in Piltover based on a tip from a friend. The building turns out to be a laboratory owned by Jayce, who was researching Hextech. Powder gets her hands on the Hextech crystals during the break-in, but Jayce cut the heist short by coming back to the lab while the crew was inside.
Vi, Powder, and their friends blocked the door to keep Jayce out and buy them time to escape the building. However, one of Powder’s Hextech crystals fell while they ran away and caused an explosion—much to the dismay of the Upper City. Piltover sent Enforcers to Zaun to look for the perpetrators of the explosion, but they couldn’t get much information. Vander, the protector of the Undercity, refused to tell on Vi, Powder, and their friends.
In Piltover, viewers could see characters like Jayce, Viktor, and Caitlyn. Jayce tried to defend his life’s work with Hextech and plead his innocence. He also worked hand in hand with Heimerdinger’s assistant Viktor. The two showed the potential of Hextech to the Academy to win its support and change Piltover’s future.
The first act also introduced Silco, arguably the series’ antagonist. He experimented on subjects using a purple serum, which changed the strength of an individual upon consumption. Vander tried to surrender to the Enforcers to save Vi, but Silco intercepted them and captured Vander.
The series shows Vander and Silco had a connection in the past, when both had a similar view for Zaun. The two fought and went their separate ways, and their connection could continue as a plot point throughout the rest of Arcane.
After Silco snatched Vander, Vi led a rescue mission to Silco’s compound, making for a thrilling last episode of act one. Although Vi told Powder to sit out of the action, the younger sibling made a last-minute bomb with Hextech, which ended up backfiring and costing the lives of most of her friends—including Vander (at least for now). The episode ends with an Enforcer taking Vi away, and Silco joining hands with Powder to wreak havoc in Piltover.
Based on the small teaser at the end of the last episode, the story should see the characters grow up at some point throughout Arcane. We could also see some more champions like Warwick or Urgot making an appearance in the show.
Arcane’s act two is out now exclusively on Netflix.
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Published: Nov 13, 2021 11:53 am