‘Arcane’ Season 2 gets downright Shakespearean (and I’m here for it)

By Ben Konuch

“No beast is as savage as man.”

“Arcane” is great. That’s a known fact by now, and I don’t think I’m going to win any originality points in this review by saying that. Over two-thirds of the way through its second and final season, “Arcane” has found a way to somehow keep doing more of what makes it such a phenomenal series. Unfortunately for us viewers, that includes the emotional stakes.

The series has always balanced great action, good humor and emotional drama well, but act two of season two elevates the game entirely. This season has reached an almost Shakespearean level of tragedy, as it’s given our most loved characters a chance to reach happiness, only to rip it away, leaving us desperate for answers and desperate for hope.

And I love every second of it.

Many things make “Arcane” a unique show, from the gorgeous animation (that somehow keeps getting better with every episode) to a soundtrack full of songs that perfectly complement the scenes they’re paired with, whether soft and emotional or exciting and angry. 

To address the elephant in the room, the animation and the soundtrack are as excellent as ever. They evolve with the demands of the story, as different art styles emphasize emotional flashback sequences and the angry drums and guitars peel back for soft piano keys and lyrics that cut deep. I specifically want to thank d4vd for the song “Remember Me” and the animated montage that pairs with it for making me cry.

But what keeps bringing me back to “Arcane” is its characters. Without nuanced characters that an audience wants to get invested in, it wouldn’t matter how much beauty or action the show contains. “Arcane’s” characters are truly its heartbeat, and this act has found the perfect balance of character development and excitement.

There is not a single character in this season who is what they appear to be. Jinx, who is left at the end of season one broken and insane, slowly starts to heal her trauma through caring for another young girl, Isha, and the unlikely bond the two of them form. Vi, who in act one was on a path to join Piltover and reform the enforcers, is betrayed by the person she cares for most and is left more broken than Jinx. And Jayce and Mel, the last figures of good leadership in Piltover, are carried away to dark and desolate journeys of their own.

If handled poorly, these developments could feel like cheap reversals, but instead speak to how well-written “Arcane” truly is. Particularly, Jinx’s arc into becoming the older sister to a young character who mirrors her own childhood seems unorthodox on paper, yet is enacted with such heart and nuance that it just makes sense. This is a character who is broken but has a chance at healing through caring for someone else the way she never was. 

Vi’s arc finally sees her crumble under the massive weight of responsibility and betrayals that she has shouldered since the beginning of season one. And Jayce’s arc, while shrouded in dark mystery and remains better left unspoiled, is layered in callbacks established long ago in season one.

But this theme of change and the reversal of the paths we find ourselves on is a theme that “Arcane” keeps coming back to. Although change as both a positive and a destructive force is something that touches almost every aspect of the series, the one stable factor is that the fallout of every decision must always catch up to these characters.

As I watched this act, I began to wonder if the story of “Arcane” is not about some inevitable fate or even the freedom to change, but if it’s about the damnation of the consequences of our’ actions being inescapable no matter how much characters or circumstances have changed. 

While act one showed us that though these characters can truly become better and can break free of who they once were, act two tells us that they still can’t outrun the consequences of who they once were and what they once did.

Jinx will always carry Powder within her, as Isha has proven to her, but she’ll never lose this insanity. Vi can fight for something better, but she can never shake the sting of betrayal. Jayce fights for a better tomorrow but forever carries the scars of what that tomorrow has cost him.

But the Arcane never changes. It evolves, but it is constant. It is the glorious evolution that changes everything about the world our characters live in, marring them and taking their peace and destroying their goodness, yet it spins ever constant.

As new characters bring new questions and themes, and the return and losses of old faces take the story in bold new directions, the evolution of how the Arcane reveals itself takes on nuclear impact. 

Make no mistake, “Arcane” is still a story of love, loss, heart and hatred, but it is also something mystical and something dangerous. It has lurked in the background of subplots, and in the corners of characters like Jayce and Viktor, but now it is coming out louder, bolder and more dangerously than ever before.

The Arcane, the Hex the Black Rose and every power that is tapped into but never harnessed is inescapable. It is at war with human nature, harnessing both its good and its bad as early as Powder’s use of the hex to save or condemn her family, and the Arcane pits these aspects of human nature forever against one another.

As we head into act three, all we have to wonder is who embodies which side. 

I give the second act of “Arcane” season two a 9/10

“Arcane” season two, act three will be available on Netflix on November 23rd. All previous episodes are available on Netflix

Ben Konuch is a senior Strategic Communication student who serves as a writer for Cedars A&E and as their social media lead. He enjoys getting sucked into good stories, playing video games and swing dancing in the rain.

Images courtesy of Netflix