Let's... talk about Arcane's ending

[@agentmoss8274]

Riot could've just gave us at least one more episode 😭🙏

[@TheFakeChristian]

one more season

[@dots2692]

@@TheFakeChristian one more show

[@darao.4907]

apparently the last episode was supposed to be 1hr 30 minutes and they cut it down a lot so 😃

[@gimmeyourrights8292]

​@@TheFakeChristian There were planned to be five but they got scrapped because of budget cuts.

[@Jordanxx13]

SO REAL

[@vivibangtan0613]

also in season 1 vi was astablished as a main character if not THE main character connecting both sized of zawn with her persuit of bringing jinx back and also piltover and zawn through her relationship with caitlyn. but this season, because the villains were victor and ambessa which she had nothing to do with neither of them, she was put aside and didn't have any important role in the overall plot and just cried the whole season. also as much as i have a crush on her, her presence (since she wasn't important to anything) was just for fanservice and looking cool, and she could've offered much more

[@doornumb]

I wish Vi represented Vander more

[@elpepo0]

both the sisters are the main character, jinx just has a bigger role

[@kingcsage6824]

@@elpepo0 that's the point, non of them had big role in the last act

[@kokuwifeyyy]

I completely agree, and felt the same! Honestly, all the problems with plot in act III aside, I feel like the ending itself, as in the last few minutes, was super inconclusive and unsatisfying. To say that this is the end of the entire show, I found it so weird that we didn’t even get a montage to commemorate all the characters, or even a more substantial epilogue showing how each character is doing after the events of the finale. We basically just got a few seconds of Mel and Ekko sat alone, and CaitVi cuddling. Literally no conclusion to Zaun, which has been the focus of the entire show. But why? Why is there a cliffhanger when this is literally the end of arcane? As much as I, too, was unhappy with how the plot diverged to just being about arcane magic, I feel like even just spending AT LEAST a few minutes of our time in an epilogue to catch us up to speed, mention every character whose deaths were left completely unmentioned, and leave all of the open-ended questions actually answered to a satisfactory degree would have felt like a somewhat better ending.

[@HeavensEuphori]

It just felt like they completely shifted the focus of arcane, like during the climax I felt absolutely nothing, even when Jinx supposedly “died” without me even realizing she was likely alive I barely felt anything, it felt like an afterthought, like a conclusion to a side plot rather than the main focus. I wanted to see Jinxes grief more, Vi’s grief, after losing everyone I wanted to see what she thought more, like I just felt nothing, I was thinking less about the characters and more bout the writers, which was pretty disappointing

[@stigmata.diaboli]

Literally the same experience, act 2 was way more impactful emotionwise

[@theworld6710]

While I disagree on the ‘feeling nothing’, I get the feeling it was really lacking in depth in that area.

[@HeavensEuphori]

@@theworld6710 yeah, I mean it was just me personally but I can see how someone else feels something

[@Sanakudou]

Season 2 runs into the story developmental issue referred to as the Promise of the Premise, the climatic finale of a story is predetermined by the logline premise as it presents the conflict the story is all about resolving. If you wrote a logline based on Season 2’s ending, it would not match what the rest of the story was presenting as its main conflict. Ensemble casts in a story can be difficult but season 1 actually pulled it off really well but season 2 did not, for an ensemble cast to work writers have to treat them as a single entity when writing out the logline premise as doing so avoids having the characters all diverge and have no shared central conflict, if they don’t share the central conflict then the story has an identity crisis that leads to a concurrents premises fighting to be what the story’s central conflict is really about. Mel’s plotline is a perfect example of her diverging from the premise and introducing a second central conflict that has no relevancy to the original central conflict the rest of the story is focused on. If not for Mel’s black rose plotline, the central conflict for season 2 wouldn’t have diverged like it did, as Ambessa in particular is guilty for removing the topside/undercity conflict from being the main focus. Vicktor’s plotline could’ve worked if Ambessa wasn’t in it and he was instead coming to his radical conclusions based on the never ending topside/undercity fighting, basically functioning like a cosmic punishment for the two sides being unable to resolve their differences. Likewise, instead of it being “stop Ambessa” in the finale, it needed to be Piltover vs Zaun and require the main characters to finally do something that brings the fighting to an end, that way it would also make thematic sense for Vicktor to be stopped, as the characters would have finally done something to prove they are cable of stopping the cycle of violence and recognise the humanity in one another, etc. It honestly felt like Ekko’s alt timeline episode was trying to prove that peaceful coexist was possible, so it should’ve narratively aided Ekko’s ability to reengage with the central conflict and do his part in bringing the fight between the two sides to an end. Instead, Vickor’s attack is strangely contextualised alongside Ambessa who is aiding him based on her belief that doing so will allow her to gain the power needed to defeat the black rose. Seriously, you can see how absurdly removed from the central conflict that is. Considering how overt Vicktor is about his goal it makes Ambessa look like an idiot for continuing to help him, as it’s not actually in her interest if Vicktor succeeds, likewise it would be a weird contradiction of Vicktor’s goal for him to actually let Ambessa succeed and continue doing the very thing Vicktor classifies as senseless conflict that humans need to be forced to evolve beyond. Ambessa seems totally oblivious to how Vicktor’s success is an existential threat to her ability to ever succeed at her own goal.

[@kittykatforever998]

man you cooked. i always felt ambessa was out of place

[@parakeetriot]

@@kittykatforever998 I think Ambessa was a good addition to the story but was executed poorly in the finale. I feel like her purpose in the story was to show how foreign interests keep oppressive systems in power, and there was an interesting shift when she realized how useful Singed could be for her purpose. Where Ambessa's arc went sour was when she joined forces with Viktor. I get that she wanted an immortal legion, but this is Viktor's legion, not hers. She always struck me as someone who wanted to secure her family's legacy. How exactly does giving so much power to Viktor accomplish that? It just didn't make sense upon closer inspection.

[@rafaelmartinez4803]

The Black Rose conflict and Mel was such a weird decision for me, like how tf did we get here? And I get that they had to explain why Mel has that golden power, but they could have left it like something for the next show, not this one. And yeah, it was kinda dissapointing how the conflict between Piltover and Zaun was resolved by just taking out Ambessa, like, the trope of two opposites sides have to get along to take a bigger threat down it's such a cheap narrative choice to resolve the main conflict.

[@kingcsage6824]

brother, you cooked with this one. i also was really disappointed of how little world building we got at the end and how little set up they did. Piltover is literally at the centar of the world of Runterra and is the most visited place (because of the hexgates) and the only other mention of a nation we got was Noxus? like why? nothing about Shurima, Ionia? nothing about some legends or something?

[@drteletubby]

Solid writeup.

[@Yeneney]

This is such a refreshing take. The subreddit has just been crawling with people either yelling that the pacing was off or hating on Vi and I'm so happy to see an actual well thought criticism of the ending. I was one of those people who felt the pacing of the third act was just right but now that you point it out, this is exactly what did feel a little off, thank you for putting it so well.

[@inanis6707]

You are 100% correct, ep 7 felt so nice and so did ep 5 because of the character development, I too was disappointed that besdies a tiny ass flashback we did not get much of Isha, literally making her a plot device rather than a character. I rly do think that there was some massive ass clash in the writers department, and act 3 rly did show that, from ep 7 to 8 was a brutal tonal shift that felt like the ppl were trying to see which of these do ppl like more. Hopefuly their next projects actaully takes this criticism well.

[@pekar43]

Dude I know you want me to hate on you but you are spitting straight facts here my boy Especially the Marvel comparison that is spot on, Endgame vibes throughout Act 3. I didn't think acts 1 and 2 were perfect, but they felt like Arcane anyhow, then act 3 happened and left a sour taste in my mouth. I love this show a lot, I watched season 1 nine times it is literally my comfort show and I would glaze and defend season 1 with all my heart. But I really don't feel as strongly about season 2. Although I am open to watching it a couple of more times, it can definitely grow on me.But, just like you, I feel unmotivated because of the ending. The Season 1 ending was just perfect, I think Arcane could have ended on the council attack scene and I wouldn't have necessarily been bothered. I'm glad we got more arcane but this was not the way to go out, and people are talking about potentially having a season 3 which is a whole other thing I would disagree with us needing.

[@math_bat]

Thank you for this video, it's been pretty alienating feeling let down by the ending while so many people loved it. I'm very much in the same camp: I felt like the S2 complaining was way excessive and I had full trust that the writers can pick and choose threads to tie or leave open to deliver a satisfying finale, and I personally got none of that. There were some incredibly beautiful scenes in episodes 8 and 9 (the Ekko and Jinx conversation being the highlight for me), but overall I feel like I had a lot of trouble buying how everything was going to go down. Viktor's descent into villainy was particularly weak in my opinion: he gave up on humanity quoting it as the reason for "all our failures in the commune," except, what failures? Outside of Jayce and Ambessa crashing the party, he seemed to have a grasp on most of everything going on, and Jayce shooting him without exchanging any words felt like a cliche miscommunication-turned-tragedy, which Arcane has been so good at avoiding so far. Hell, the fact that all it took was a peek at Jayce's memories to convince Viktor of the error of his ways (which is something he had already been doing for every person stepping foot into his commune, mind you) makes it even harder to take him seriously as a villain. And we're not even getting into him allying with a literal warlord, after speaking out against weaponizing Hextech for the entire series. I think what hurts me the most, though, is throughout the final fight I kept feeling like I'm watching an ad for a new skin line. Jinx's new costume and makeshift battleship had an incredible amount of detail put into them, and the fact that she went from being suicidal to whatever this was completely off-screen is an insane missed opportunity to showcase how she changed after Isha's death, and what her reason for staying alive was (otherwise, why would she not take the very convenient chance to die at the end, like she's been trying to do for the entire season?). For a series that has consistently put substance before spectacle, the final really felt like incredible missed potential.

[@charliesmart3008]

Between your comment and the original video, this is exactly how I feel about the whole thing. Thank you for putting to words what I was struggling to.

[@ronb2008]

The problem with the 'save the world' type climaxes is the audience KNOWS the protagonists can't fail, and there's no real tension as a result. Look at The Dark Knight trilogy. The climax of Batman Begins and The Dark Knight Rises both involve the complete destruction of Gotham City--the 'world' for those specific movies. Which obviously can't happen, because what are you left with? But what's the climax of The Dark Knight? Two boats. One with criminals, one with civilians. Less than 1000 people. Each has a remote to blow up the other boat and if they don't by midnight, they both blow up. In this case the audience has doubt; and that doubt creates an UNBELIEVABLE amount of tension. Because the question isn't 'HOW will the protagonists succeed', it's 'WILL THEY succeed'. Arcane needed to go smaller and more personal (like season 1) for the climax. Bigger isn't always better.

[@avezmar97]

arcane s1 was framed as the story of zaun and piltover, but come s2 they become besties in a montage, that was my biggest point of contention, piltover and zaun above all were the biggest drivers of the story, and this season it was just gone!!! i think execs wanted to build towards a bigger universe and in doing so forsook so many characters whose dynamic was very much affected and rotted in piltover and zaun, the world was a character that died this season! and you feel it. for everyone but jayce and viktor really, this just felt like less an ending and more SETUP (they were not subtle with caits final words being "the story isn't over" or whtevr)

[@j1nx.y-y]

I'm still recovering from this season 😔 After 5 rewatches, I've come to the conclusion season 2 ends on the happy warwick, vi, jinx and isha scene

[@waluigiw.8132]

I almost stopped there. I've honestly haven't finished the season since I had a bad feeling about the end. I stopped right before the end of episode 7 instead since I thought, "Happy Ekko and Powder, happy life." I'm ok with ending there.

[@rockholmes8711]

If you re watch season1.. Youll relize thats Vi is the badluck-bringer. 😅 Bezo dies when vi hide in his basement. Vander die. Also mylo and clogger. Even though silco never intended to kill vander. Traumatic powder start when vi left. Silco died couse vi talk to much. Councils died couse of it too. Vi is the real Jinx

[@j1nx.y-y]

@@rockholmes8711 Trust me, I get what you mean 😭😭 I've seen season one about 73 times 😔

[@guevarajeanty8224]

Or the episode 7

[@TheRoyalGherkin]

After season 1 i was genuinely expecting this magical arms race style war between Piltover and zaun

[@eebbaa5560]

a war between piltover and zaun at all would've been nice, but no, caitlyn just sold out to ambessa and let her take over the whole city without any resistance from either piltover or zaun and the entire conflict was ignored in favor of destroying a world-ending threat.

[@ExclusiveExcellence]

Problem with that is 1.) the characters would become so much more rigid and less dynamic in the range of emotions it would likely make for a less compelling story, and 2.) it has to end somewhere right? Like all arms races especially ones where a missile has already been fired end with one side being leveled. So if they were to go that route, the region that still has many stories to tell is cooked.

[@justaghostinthesea]

I think this season is slightly weaker than season 1... but whatever. That just means it's a 9/10 instead of an 11/10. Still a phenomenal piece of television

[@rolandorban6248]

oh yeah like worst case scenario is like an 8.5 lower than what we expected but only because as far as we know it is the last season for this specific story. Given 1 or even 2 more seasons would have helped a lot to wash away the problems and work out things nicely

[@LunamrathP]

I think a big problem that season 2 faces is that season 1 was peak television. I am not exaggerating when I say I don't think there is a lot that is as tightly made. So when suddenly this perfect thing has problems, it hits pretty hard. Even when those problems are, in any other show, not deal breakers.

[@kokoberi600]

Idk i would say season 1 9.5/10 this was 7/10. Viktor was 2 op, ambessa was dumb to trust him, and it didnt feel grounded or relatable at all unlike season 1.

[@hatexson]

​@@kokoberi600absolutely 100% yes. Season 1 had very tragic, realistic story that still conveyed hope in the unfair world without being preachy. Viktor becoming omnipotent all powerful being, moving through time and space or whatever was just not it. While in the previous season we had a very grounded story of a man losing himself to illness, his growing disgust with limitations of his body and pursuit of overcoming such a human obstacle as mortality. Aaaaaand we got Jesus, maker of universes, healer of masses or shit like this, and at the end they backtrack bc imperfections are good and make you human 👍 Mkay, very revolutionary, very human, very demure There were very on the nose messages (especially last act), poorly in my opinion made decisions about plotlines and character dev. I love Jinx but we deserved much more of others psyche explored and their dynamics. It's not good that while watching you continuously think about writers and their decisions in the writers room. It's packed with symbolisms, parallels and nice Easter Eggs which is amazing to look for but that doesn't automatically make a great story. 7/10 to me is a fair score.

[@kokoberi600]

@@hatexson yea easter eggs are the marvel route of writing. We can wish future projects become more grounded, but i fear that might not happen anymore. Everything has to be a world ending threat.

[@exari1]

Although I still give the show a 10/10 (probably biased) I just wish there was more episodes explaining what happened between Ekko and Jinx after he came back from the alternative universe, instead of just rushing into battle. I wish they gave us a little more information about the aftermath, and what’s going on with Piltover & Zaun after the whole finale fight. I think just a few more episodes would make this season a lot more enjoyable, but I guess we’ll never know.

[@krakatoa1374]

Honestly I don't think Victor is a bad final villan, but the journey to get there is just not well done. We haphazardly join the forces of piltover and zaun, but we really needed to build a zaun strong enough to stand as its own nation. The two cities joining forces against a bigger threat should have massive payoff and be the goal the series is building to. Technically we get both zaun and piltover uniting, but its practically in the background as focus is squarely on Victor and people sorta just fall into place for the finale. This show desperately needed more time and that fact that it didn't completely fall apart is impressive, just not as impressive as the tight writing in season 1.

[@Sithoid]

Thank you, my thoughts exactly. I kept saying "please no" during s7; a multiverse completely shattered the stakes (if the best universe is the one where Vi died, why should I care what happens to her "worse" world?), and the ending felt like an MCU movie. I would be fine with anyone being the villain as long as it came with character arcs, character mistakes and character decisions, not epic stakes and plot twists. With that said, act 1 was still amazing and Isha's arc was beautiful.

[@quynhd.2334]

Honestly, I still don't understand why Ambessa fought Piltover ...

[@rafaelmartinez4803]

I really feel like the writers got carried on by the more fantastic elements of the show and forgot about resolving the MAIN CONFLICT of the story that was Jinx and Vi realationship. It really felt like it was a sideplot. The finale was more focused on Viktor and Jayce than Jinx and Vi. Also, it really seems like Riot forced the writers to add plotlines about the lore to make the gamers happy or something. Like, the Black Rose plot felt so out of place and it took Mel out of the show completely to set her up for her spinoff or something. The pacing was weird. Isha, who was a very important character in the first 2 acts of the second season, was shown for three seconds and then was never mentioned again. Loris seem to be important for Vi but we got 2 minutes with him amd most of the time he didn't even speak. Most of the main characters just decided to have their own epic side story that make it feel like I was watching 3 shows at once. And, the resolution for most of the characters arcs were off, except for Vi, Jinx and maybe Caitlyn, the characters just shifted completely from what the first season presented. They transformed into different characters with different goals OFF SCREEN. Jinx revolution was something the trailers made look like it was going to be the focus of this season, and then it wasn't even resolve, like Jinx didn't CARE at all about Zaun and at the end the only sign about Zaun and Piltover's conflict being resolve is Sevika getting a sit on the council, and that's it. We got 2 seasons of this top side and bottom civil war, to be """resolve""" in a 5 second scene. Amazing. It really feels like a exagerated fanfiction sometimes. Like, if the writers were like: "wouldn't it be cool if we..." and then proceeded to change every character into a "cooler" version of themselves instead of continuing their stories. 1) Jayce started off as a naive inventor who had good intentions that was easily manipulated and now he's trying to stop the end of the world. 2) Viktor was an inventor that wanted to help the people of Zaun and now he's a literal god who wants to take over humanity. 3) Vi was a poor girl who wanted to protect her family at all cost and now she's a pit fighter in her emo phase. 4) And Mel, the worst of them all. She was orginally a manipulative and power hungry woman who wanted to exploit the inventions and potential of Jayce and Viktor for the benefit of the city, AND NOW SHE'S THE CHOSEN ONE OF SOMETHING, SISTER OF "LEBLANC" (I GUESS) AND A POWERFUL MAGE THAT WILL AVENGE THE DEAD OF HER BROTHER AND DESTROY THE BLACK ROSE. What? Why???

[@chonkeboi]

They absolutely should have had some more episodes in each arc, just one extra to give some of the characters that were sidelined some more exposure, like vi in the last arc and also Sevika as well.

[@wolfnoir730]

THIS! You said perfectly what I felt with this ending. Episode 7 was soooo good because it was focused on character development and all of its nuances, managing to give Ekko an amazing development in just one episode. Then, episodes 8 and 9 felt like a marvel movie. All the complexity that was around Zaun and Piltover was forgotten, and it almost looks like it never happened. This season began with Jinx starting a war against Piltover, the tension between both cities was higher than ever; Piltover oppressed Zaun more than ever, Jinx was a symbol for Zaun, Zaunities were ready to fight for their freedom, and where did all of that go? Exactly, NOWHERE. That plot which was the main one was forgotten after episode 4, and then in episode 8 some zaunities just joined to fight against Noxus; we didn't see the civil war that was built THE WHOLE SERIES, only to Noxus become the main threat to solve the conflict as fast as possible. Sevika, who promised to be very important in Act 1, DIDN'T EVEN HAVE A LINE. Jinx went from being mentally destroyed in the beggining of episode 9 to helping Piltover OFF SCREEN, We got NOTHING of that development. Then, how can Vi live peacefully with Caitlyn since Zaun is far from being free??? She suffered a lot and suddenly she forgot that?? And all of the plot of Mel this season being a mage felt so random, like what the hell?? It felt like a random power up from a Marvel movie. The season wanted to do a lot without enough time; the Black rose plot was unnecessary, also the Noxus one because Ambessa was not even the final villain. Even though this season felt rushed, until episode 7 it was still peak, it was still about character development and their complexity, but these two final episodes were just visually amazing, and just that. It hurts because I haven't been as invested in a show for years, and I really wanted to enjoy this ending... Pd: Maddie betraying Caitlyn was such a cheap plot twist for a Series like this. It felt so unnecessary and just created to impact the viewer in a lazy way, when Arcane has been more than that....

[@maofone]

With Maddie switching I think she just saw the tides of battle and switched..but she did have an ominous shot after vi woke up and confronted cait

[@Strix2031]

​​@@maofone im fairly sure Maddie was a spy all along, she salutes Ambessa and while shooting Caitltn if you pause just right you can see her with a evil fucking grin Biggest issue with Maddie for me is that we dont see anything of her it just feels like she turned on a switch

[@Meh_idk__]

I know that people say the black rose stuff was a setup for future stuff but I feel like we wasted time on it, it would’ve been better if there were hints and stuff all throughout but Mel being a mage felt out of place imo, also the Vi and Cait jail scene felt out of place for me (I genuinely never like the hookup before big battle/war stuff) but it felt like shoehorned fan-service because of its placing in the story, in comparison to S1 Jayce and Mel’s scene it drove the plot forward and was somewhat of a manipulation tactic while introducing Jayce to politics and corruption, I mean we see Vi always striving to help the people she loves even if they don’t want her to help but even after what Jinx says, you don’t think Vi would try and find her or something? Idk maybe I misinterpreted it but that’s what it felt like to me 🤷‍♀️

[@darao.4907]

right like as a non league player i literally had no idea what was going on and i was just wishing it was in a future season so they could flesh it out and i could understand it better cuz at this current moment idrc i care about piltover and zaun more

[@kosairain69]

Dude, I agree with the jail scene. Like honestly, it went on way too long. Like with the Jayce and Mel hook-up, we had scenes of victor fainting during the hook up which made it more impactful, while the jail scene was just: Sex 👍, which isn't a bad thing, if done correctly

[@qeoku]

my thoughts exactly gosh. episodes 8 and 9 were so disappointing imo...why did we go from class conflict and fascism with undertones of magic and such (and the amazingly written interplay between them) to astral twink brainwashes everyone? i wouldn't care as much if it was executed more effectively, episode 9 was so rushed it was comical. i was like this...cannot be it. also the whole 'viktor being the original mage that visits jayce' thing felt so forced i'm sorry, i rolled my eyes hard

[@pd7484]

This is literally the only grounded review that I've seen so far. Thank you for being genuine and not conforming to the cult-like praise that the show is being given. I too love arcane , and I criticize it because I love it. I wish that it rode the wave of quality that it showed in season one.

[@maofone]

My comments don't hold back and Ive gotten better at presenting info (not perfect ofc). I give that respect back to arcane

[@Is27318]

My personal Theory is that Riot (the head Executives of Riot) wanted this ending for continuing series and continuing story for League of Legends and I think that they forced the creators of Arcane into this ending, completely overriding what the original ending was. So don't be surprised if the Arcane creators come out and say that Riot force them to write that ending Just my personal Theory And as much as I want to hate on the Jinx being the big bad that would have worked perfectly

[@PillowEgg]

I agree the last two episodes were totally weak. It wasn't a great satisfying ending. Jinx pulled a Dark Knight Rises/ Star Wars ending. Jinx talking to an aspirtion of Silco in a jail is similar to Bruce Wayne speaking to Ras Al Ghul. Jinx falling and escaping through a air vent thus faking her death is very much like Luke Skywalker falling and also escaping through a shaft, but like The Dark Knight Rises, Batman faked his death. We needed at least more screen time for the last 2 episodes to develop. What discussion did Ekko have with Jinx to prevent her suicide afterwards, it is left extremely unambigious. It would have been nice if there was some Back to the Future reference like Ekko having a group photo of alive Vander and Silco with grown up Milo and Clagger in a photo to show to Jinx. Jinx would then be more inclided to fix her problems and maybe perhaps excape to the past like Ekko did to a better future to be with her pas Powder, and if two bodies can exist in the universe Ship both Powder and Jinx, like they do with Loki. Rio the pixiemander wasn't rescued or brought alive like Singe;s daughter. WTH happened to Heimendinger? What did alternate future Powder do afterwards? Where did Jayce and Viktor go after they left that universe? Why did they left Jinx's escape not as obvious. Where was Isha's cameo in the alternate timeline? I was afraid that this series wouldn't land well. But at least we got some good music videos. I'm sure they will listen to the feedback and push it out like House of the Dragon. GoT rushed its ending and Arcane kinda felt the same. It could have fleshed and paced it well with a longer run time for the last 2 episodes.

[@jckl_1882]

Exactly this. I would have loved to have one more scene between Ekko and Jinx. Episode 7 did so much to build up Ekko. Him mentioning that he gave up on jinx only to be reassured that he is not one to give up. Loved the intro for episode 9 for that reason but just a little more payoff would have been nice.

[@gimmeyourrights8292]

Well Jinx saw the little monkeys in Ekko's Z drive and figured that it had something to do with her in some way.

[@parakeetriot]

I thought I was crazy with how everyone seemed to be saying they enjoyed this ending. This review puts all of my thoughts into words. After episode 7, I was so excited, thinking "Oh, I know exactly how this is going to end" only for it to... well not end that way. Episode 7 leaned heavily into the Zaun and Piltover conflict with Ekko seeing a beautiful alternate Zaun while Jayce seeing a ruined Piltover. I thought Jayce's fear of this potential future would ignite further tension between the two cities and that the undercity would side with Viktor and that it would ultimately lead to Vi trying to kill Jinx just like how Vander tried to kill Silco. I had a brief moment of hope in episode 8 when Silco appeared to Jinx, telling her how to break the cycle. I was thinking, oh they are going for this ending. I thought the cycle would be broken because Jinx will be able to walk away when Silco couldn't. Yes, Jinx walked away, breaking the cycle, but not in a way that gave any real closure to Zaun and Piltover.

[@christopherlormant8083]

i completly agree on you, the ending of e3s1 feels 10x more important and meaningfull then the actual ending of the whole series XD

[@adabuilder6711]

I wish Victor becoming his final form was more just teased, the show ending with him being Victor Jesus with his little community. More time could have been spent on the 2 cities realizing the threat of Noxus and uniting against Ambessa's forces. So much of that happened off screen.

[@SteveGamesOnline]

I don’t understand why the authors had vi go down on some carpet without a care in the world while her sister was mentally unstable and about to commit suicide. Both scenes taint one another when paired together and leaves the viewer extremely confused and awkward.

[@samaraifood]

I just realized that the main reason Ambessa started the war on Piltover was for hex tech(right?) because she needed it to fight the black rose. If so then why didn’t see just ask Viktor for help since they were technically alliances But Ik the answer is plot progression

[@SlugRiot]

so real for giving the ending a 6/10.

[@ivorkvarantan3031]

Try viewing it from an artistic point of view: I think that Viktor's development was perfect. It showed us what it means to be human, and what it means to make mistakes. This season isn't perfect, but there is beauty in imperfection. And yeah, maybe it didn't start on such a large scale, but I am glad we got what we got. I think it would be underwelming for Jinx to go back to being the antagonist after everything she went through. That being said, I would love to see a spin-off show about the Black Rose, as it was the part that I didn't understand at all as a non-league player. I agree that there should have been more grounded moments, but I am still happy with what we got. People seem to hate the fact that we didn't get a happy ending, but I think that this was a way for the writers to express themselves as artists. Would still give it a 10/10

[@blacktigerpaw1]

Jayce's comment is tone deaf because Viktor has his imperfections due to Piltover's pollution.

[@blacktigerpaw1]

One thing I hated was how Viktor lost his agency. He went from someone willing to go above and beyond to transcend human weakness to becoming "normal" by the power of homoerotic friendship. He's the Machine Herald of ...what, exactly?

[@hatexson]

Omg, this. I hated how everything and omnipotent being in the form of Viktor was 'defeated' by love, 'humans are beautifully imperfect' talk no jutsu and 'with the power of friendship I redeem/compel thee'. Viktor not being in control, doing bad things bc this thing made him do it was so disrespectful to his character. Like there's no nuance in that. To answer your rhetorical question: Viktor, the -Machine- Herald of good, did nothing wrong bois

[@collecter343]

Wasn't the power of friendship that made him decide to go back on his plans, it was a vision/message from his future self about what would happen if he continued on this path. The power of friendship was just that Jayce decided to come along with him to take care of the rune.

[@austinparks5917]

Jinx being the big bad would have been terrible. She’s clever but her inventions/plans never work right. She could never be the threat the franchise needed to end Arcane with. I like that she used her chaos for good at the end. I agree that the ending was weak but it would have been worse with her being some type of half assed joker.

[@maofone]

Well a lot of people said that her not being a bad guy would be good writing and I said no because the narrative would be shallow otherwise and that's literally what happened and why everyone is complaining.

[@ckicgi6154]

​@@maofoneif jinx was the final boss it would simply be a step back for the character, a return to her old self, which would undo her development. The only problem I have with the Jinx stuff is that the scene needed more time to breathe and they should have comitted into her being alive definitively or being dead definitively. Instead they try to do both.

[@maofone]

@ckicgi6154 not really, if she took responsibility and decided to lead the undercity as an actual leader instead of chilling in a cave there is a lot of room for developments. Also jinx wanting to blow herself up is literally a character regression anyways, so they were okay with that as long as she gets redeemed at the end

[@gogetathestrongestfusion]

I don’t think so bro them going back and forth on Zombie Wander and whatever the fuck Victor became left a bad taste, Warwick coulda pretty good and had good build all the way from the beginning of S2, Victor on the other hand was so undercooked that I didn’t really feel anything upon the finale.

[@gimmeyourrights8292]

​@@maofone She's not threatening enough to hold her own as a "final boss." She couldn't even defeat her sister.

[@Cfourreal]

btw: the airship at 0:18 is the same exact airship that powder talked about flying in (in s1 ep1) with the main difference being a huge blue line on the side of it, and we all know what blue means in arcane...

[@jessejames209]

Thought it was obvious: the blimp came right after Vi and Caitlin were talking in what looked to be a ship cabin. Just means Cait and Vi are going to Noxus. No doubt Jinx is alive tho

[@anabrans2]

​@@jessejames209 No, Vi is in Caitlyn's home.

[@my2randomcents]

Jinx' "death "scene was absolutely unnecessary We needed a heartfelt goodbye between sisters not Vander going against the plot and waking up when the army was ALREADY dead

[@SoySauce9]

I just realise that. 😢

[@amateur-madman3047]

Thankyou! I’m sitting there wondering why the hell he’s not finally dead. He’s not normal werewolf Warwick he’s one of Viktor’s slaves so he should be dead.

[@fluidicrift]

you clearly ignored the foreshadowing where Viktor was unable to "insta-heal" Vander because he has two personalities. The Vander personality was successfully assimilated into the hivemind of the arcane by Viktor which is why he was in control and more precise while Viktor was linked to him. Once Viktor vanished from the equation all that remained was the "beast" which is why it was attacking Vi and Jinx, hell bent on killing them like a berserker. The beast persona is at the helm now and there is no longer any Vander just Warwick.

[@SoySauce9]

@@fluidicrift Still though they made that the case just so Jinx had that opportunity to do a fake out and go on her zeppelin i have no enemies journey. (Which i support)

[@DMrKunst2]

​@@fluidicriftThat's a great point

[@meskahmusic]

Ekko true MVP and you won’t convince me otherwise

[@watchover5054]

I really feel like riot wanted to finish this chapter fast. Also I don’t think i will watch it if the next season will be more fantasy, league of legends like( i heard they dont want to do a serious story as arcane and more fantastical). They should have made the evil viktor thing on a 3rd season and finishing the conflict between zaun and Piltover in this one.

[@Thecrunkcoco]

Its true. You can tell there was an original 5 season plan since the last two episodes have essentially every character sprinting to the finish line to reach their "end game" form. Where as the Ekko and Jayce episode had more time to breath and flesh things out and keep things grounded about the characters and themes (even while introducing the multiverse bafoonery). You feel exactly what the creators want you to feel in that episode. Contrast that with the final two episodes where there is just soooo much stuff thrown at you plus all the time travel shinanigans with viktor which sort of just retroactively makes everything else worse because it adds this whole "it was all preordained" nature to everything. Its just thematically and tonally all off which is why nobody really cared much as characters fought and died. Just leaves me wishing they were able to go through with their initial 5 season plan.

[@maofone]

I don't think a 5 season show would've helped if they ended up with Viktor being the bad guy and Piltover and zaun uniting and being (mostly) chill afterwards. Pacing was not the root cause issue of the ending for a lot of people. It's the direction

[@Thecrunkcoco]

@@maofone Yeah they would have to come up with something better than the whole time travel Viktor and Jayce thing. Which it sounds like they may have originally. Many people have pointed out the OG mage had tattoos on the hand and end game Jesus Viktor did not. It all just feels cobbled together at the last minute to have a big Thanos Avengers fight.

[@SolisFennec]

Hextech was always a huge part of the show, i always expected it to continue along with viktors glorious evolution... I think the only complaints i have is arc 2 was rushed, and the black rose arc felt confusing. I loved this show, season one was perfect, and season 2 was good. At least, thats my opinion. Jinx went through a lot of character development, and vi had a lot of struggle. The arcane made complete sense to me to be the main center of story, and i loved it. The people who once fought joined together in the end as one. The show could have used another arc maybe to let viewers understand... But i think its getting way more hate than it should

[@SolisFennec]

There definitely was a lot of room for improvement, but to me, it gave a solid follow up to the first season. I watched to simply enjoy and I did.. the people I watched with though searched for every flaw and got stuck on it... Yeah, I see it has flaws, but the also is so many good scenes. I've seen too many people saying it's awful as if it's a fact, but instead it would be better to talk about the flaws, and try to see the good the show had... Not get stuck in what you expected

[@christopherlormant8083]

the issue to me is that they pushed aside zaun vs piltover conlfict after episode 4, its like they tried to half ass and ending to that plot to then istantly build up the arcane storyline

[@aooide]

​@@SolisFennec💯

[@Bigboigoinlong]

@@christopherlormant8083 I honestly want to know how much more they could really do with the Zaun/Piltover conflict without it just being some overwhelming blood bath. You needed some kind of narrative to come in that redirects things otherwise it would have meandered on without a way to have some form of satisfying resolution. The issue since season 1 was the lack of unity between Piltover and Zaun. There seemed to be nothing that really could have mended that divide with all of the events that had happened without some run of the mill rebellion story with neo liberal sensibilities about just replacing the bad guys with the good guys, which is just lacks any nuance. The point of act 3, the main theme, was unity. It was something that no one was considering until The Arcane came in and tore that conflict in 2. Viktor was a reaction to the conflict that was occurring. He believed his ideas were what would bring an end to the endless violence and conflict. But he never considered that conflict and differing ideas are what creates a better world to live in. You can’t fix every single issue with the wave of a magic wand without sacrificing everything that makes life beautiful. The writers of the Arcane wanted to send a message about our own approaches to conflict. How we other each other to the point of dehumanization. That we rather live in echo chambers than having any meaningful discussions and try to actual mend the things that cause our conflicts. They didn’t push the Piltover/Zaun conflict to the side, this was all still about that conflict. It was just more nuanced and less direct.

[@pandavikingguy6193]

@@Bigboigoinlong Well ain't it ironic how much disscourse there is about an ending that is about unity. This is goofy as all hell.

[@_o_]

Don't dismiss the general default of any fanbase: When things are wrapped up, they want more and are disappointed that the dopamine vein they've been suckling on will no longer be distributing. It's incredibly brave for the creators to say they are done with this show, when we know the pressure will be to keep the cash cow going. Wrap it up in 2 seasons, in a way that doesn't completely piss off the drooling detail-junkies...resulting in a 8.x-9 out of 10? It's a win, and I hope they can keep the wolves at bay long enough the spirit of these 2 seasons isn't ruined by people hooked on the juice. Let's see another realm/timeline/reality of runeterra in full force in the next iteration, not a fan-service resurrection of jynx and negation of the legitimization of her arc as martyr.

[@maofone]

We shall see. I didn't want to upload this yesterday to let it breathe but it's been on my mind. Still hopeful and wish I will enjoy it with time

[@danielabobora6236]

Bro, i finish watching the show and felt the same about the ending being shifted towards victor and less focused in the caracters like season one, but nobody was saying nothing about that and then youtube recomends me your video. I am glad someone thalked about this aspect 🙏

[@sophiefredrickson9370]

I’d rather have Jinx and Vi be sisters then Caitlyn and Vi ending up together

[@MissLizzy882]

AGREE!

[@anastasia_852]

They're still sisters? You got what you wanted

[@werenostrangerstolove7739]

Well rito needs a ship to sail, and clearly vi x cait is more of a priority to them than ekko x jinx, because reasons

[@Keish340]

Frrr 😭

[@gogetathestrongestfusion]

@@anastasia_852a finale goodbye with them actually reconciling woulda been better I really didn’t care much for vi and Cait in the end

[@davidr981]

here r my thoughts: WHAT THE FUCK. Arcane is literally about Zaun vs Piltover, Silco vs Vander, Vi vs Jinx, etc. The parallels. Why the hell would they make the “final battle” some stupid underdeveloped version of viktor and an Ambessa who died for nothing and her motives questionable (she betrayed Mel for viktor despite her being known for her prioritization of family.) Why was Jayce and Mel’s relationship forgotten? Why did Jinx seem suicidal and Vi knew this and instead of chasing her just bangs Caitlyn? Why did Jinx’s biggest development (what must’ve been the conversation between Jinx and Ekko after he talked her out of suicide) not shown? Jinx and Vi do reconcile-but the stupid outcome of the whole show comes from a ghost imaginary Silco who tells jinx to “walk away”. Plus, after so much development to their relationship (jinx and vi), why do they get barely any screen time and not even a talk about their reconciliation? Why was vander revived used to bring jinx and vi together (same with isha kinda) but when vander and isha died jinx just went back to square one? Why did sevika get ZERO voice lines in act 3? Why did arcane leave jinx’s fate, like the entire point of the show basically, up for debate? And yeah, she’s on the airship, but why, after everything that’s happened, does she run away? And vi doesn’t even care she just cares about her and Caitlyn from the last scene it looks like. I can’t believe they made the ending so so terrible. Despite the bad ending, I love Arcane, and I guess no matter what the ending is it will never make me think this show is bad. Just a bit disappointing. What’s important to keep in mind is that the characters we love were created, just misused in the last 2 episodes. Anyway just my thoughts lol

[@ambrosianonyt]

id say overall arcane s1 was the better half of the story. the only s2 felt like arcane again at least to me was in act 2. act 3 felt like all the hired writers jumped ship and after episode 7 and was overall not well written

[@rengli_hang]

It seems like every difficult scene they had to deal with they just decided to skip it. 1) As you mentioned the conversation between Jinx and Ekko. (It's maybe the most important conversation in her whole life and we didn't see anything of it) 2) A skip after the ending of ep6(We woke up after the explosion and next scene Vi woke up in Cait's bedroom and we got one sentence from Cait that explained everything...) 3) A skip after the ending of ep3. Man almost every episode starts with a skip. 4) A skip after the ending of ep4.(How Jinx and Vander left prison?) 5) A skip after the ending of ep5.(How did they know about Victor?) 6) A skip to the war.(We don't even know how the war started) Nothing... Why do we need to explain it? No we are just gonna use a skip and leave it so without an explanation or we just give one sentence/music video that explains everything. We all say that they use these skips because of budget or to keep dynamic or for other reasons but we never thought about maybe we just overestimated them and they just don't know how to write these scenes correctly and put them in the story in the right way. Nevertheless I do like this show but these gaps don't make me feel like I see the full picture. It makes me feel like the story initially was written keeping in mind that we would be using skips every time we want to and it doesn't feel good.

[@malimal]

Whatever the outcome, they should have never left Jinx's arch open.

[@unicorn1655]

Season 2 didn’t stick the landing with most of it’s themes. Revolution, civil war, police brutality, full on war, the Arcane, the Black Rose, Caitlyn‘s Hitler arc, redemption and building back of trust with Vi all fell short because 9 episodes isn’t enough. So many characters got barely any screentime and so many relationships were half assed. They should have had S2 be about the revolution, civil war, dictator and police stuff and then moved on to S3.

[@NotTheYuddas]

This video is pretty much my exact feelings about Act 3

[@moonlightdraws]

I heard the rumor that ep 9 was gonna be far longer than the other episodes, and I was like "phew, y'know I would never know how they wrapped up all those plot lines satisifyingly if the last episode wasn't longer!" turns out it was only 10 minutes longer and they did not wrap up all the plot lines satisfyingly I still feel like they could of done the Viktor and Zaun against Noxus and Piltover and still have it work, the whole Viktor not being in the ball thing was such a cop out, like they had so much of an emphasis on Ambessa being the wolf and fox but also how she values fairness in fights (a win is a win, straight up), so for her to con Piltover out like that (and not just be taking advantage of them which is just purely fox) basically taking away the fairness cheapened her character, but having Zaun do that would be very fitting, with their whole view following Jinx's lead of making a spectacle of things and how "power comes to those who will do anything (aka play dirty and break the rules) to achieve it" Here's my rewrite thingy: Have the Viktor and Singed stuff stay, have Viktor reason with Jayce and fail, get the immortal army, but then have Viktor be like to the escaped Jinx (no death yet) "hey, rally the undercity together to me and I'll bring Isha back". Jinx trusts Viktor from him trying to help Vander before, rallies Undercity for him, Viktor brings Isha back but she just becomes a hivemind member and Jinx feels betrayed and hopeless, she goes on the whole almost k!ll!ng (idk the filters here) herself and Ekko reasoning her back scene Big fight between the two sides, Viktor turns out to not be in the ball and Ambessa goes on a rampage, Firelights and Jinx make an entrance and fight on Piltover's side (Firelights have always been the third player in this conflict, and they'll follow what Ekko says, and Ekko knows how this will end if this goes wrong, Jinx despite not liking topside, knows what damage Viktor will cause as she saw it happen on someone she loves and doesn't want that to happen on the last two people she loves - Ekko and Vi - and those two decided to be on Piltover's side so she will be to, she has loyalty to people not cities, seen in both seasons) but not against Zaun, against Viktor's army and Ambessa now because her army is killing everyone and anyone in the room after realising Viktor is nowhere to be found Mel realises during the fight "oh no, my mum doesn't care who she kills, topside or bottom, she just wants to take the Hextech, and is now choosing the wolf option (taking Hextech by force) over the fox option (in debt to her for helping them with the war and now they have to give her the Hextech to pay her back)", then we have the 2 v 1 fight Most of the rest of the act plays as normal because the Jayce and Viktor conclusion is great and Mel and Ambessa one is fine, but this change that Jinx is no longer playing on Zaun's side but on her own side makes the "what makes you different makes you strong" and family message about her and Vi stronger, as she too will defy her past identity so tied to Zaun, Jinx identity, to go save the future of the world for her sister Also, solution to lack of Vi and Cait (as individuals not as ship) build up and development? Get rid of all the Maddie scenes! And I'm sorry because they are my fav of the trio of enforcers but also Loris. Maddie is so predictable and by the end both add nothing, the oh no, people we care about can die moment is already accomplished with Ambessa dying (which also let's viewers know that "yeah, we can kill off playable characters" which is an 10/10 moment) and that 20ish minutes where both are featured could be used to flesh out Vi and Cait more! Also less time walking down that hallway that in universe lasts a couple hours in episode 4, more time on Vi pitfighter arc which last actual months, thank you Is this perfect? No I am a random KZbin commenter, but I do think this fixes some of the problems stated in the video with the no Piltover and Zaun conflict, no mention of Isha and contributes a more character development but also still fulfills the coporate side (big Marvel fight, Jinx being a hero and magic *jazz hands*)

[@laurennightingale4752]

YES everything Jayce did directly led to the moment on the roof where EKKO had to come in and save everyone. Either he knew how to save the day or he didn't, and neither option explains his actions. 1) He tried to prevent Viktor's future with no greater plan. THEN WHY did Jayce immediately try to kill him, if he knew he was "the only one" who could show Viktor that his goal wasn't worth it? Maybe don't attack him every time you see him, then? Or 2) Jayce knew the moment on the roof was inevitable, and let it all happen as part of his plan with Viktor from the future. THEN WHY did he order all of his soldiers to give their lives trying to keep Viktor from reaching the Hexgate? You got a ton of people killed for no reason... Great job. Stupid, nonsensical writing.

[@arthur.b7851]

8/9 are perfect, i cant agree.

[@kingcsage6824]

explain, make me see your point, cuz right now i just can't

[@pugisherpug4366]

Reportedly (this is a rumor) there was a scene of Jinx , Ekko, and Sevika coming together and rallying together Zaun and Isha's goggles and bunny ears being painted by Jinx on her balloon, but it got cut for the battle which sucks. They wanted the cool entrance to happen suddenly.

[@nanakakitano9724]

Arcane S1: 9.8/10 Arcane S2: 3/10 (and that's being generous, all of those points are for the visuals really)

[@matthewlugo2417]

Arcane s1 is a 10 Arcane s2 is a 2 to 3 unfortunately

[@gimmeyourrights8292]

The show was planned to have 5 seasons but it ended up getting scrapped because of budget cuts, you kinda see some of that, where Season 2 established a lot of factions really fast such as the Black Rose and didn't set up its villains as fast (or in some cases too fast). Character arcs felt wrapped up way too quick, and we knew next to nothing about some of the new characters, with that said I liked the final battle and the little bits and pieces of Viktor as a villain but it was quite clear that season 2 was more plot focused where Season 1 was more character focused. One final point is that I would change the final battle to be against Piltover with the Noxians' help up against Zaun, it would've made felt less "Marvel" like what you mentioned, and still would've grounded the story in its themes and characters, with Viktor being a potential cliff hanger character.

[@Strix2031]

Arcane is also a obvious prequel so a lot of stuff will be left open

[@algoalgo-q9p]

This ending is just pure sadness, I couldn’t stop crying the last 2 episodes and then, they just disappear like nothing happened. wtf

[@rZxsty]

This video is just perfection, very valid points, and reasonable explanation to back them up, and the quote at the end ties it all together, amazing video, no reason to hate

[@opaljessthegothdragon]

I honestly have no issues with season 2 but I am confused of why Victor is like a villain when we got more focus on Ambessa, bla bla. Moreover I still find it amazing, I agree it’s slightly less than the first but it’s still good regardless imo. Besides, CaitVi fans have got what they wanted, 😏yea?

[@mrsparkx7088]

Act 5 was a great act that focused more in the zaun setting but still managed to balance with some piltover scenes, this is where I feel act 6 fails with its strong focus on piltover but disregarded zaun almost entirely, I would personally sacrifice the sex scene for a Sevika in Zaun scene in the last drop of the Zaunites considering whether or not they should fight with Piltover, not only would it have given more respect to sevika but also Zaun too in the last act. The other big issue was the open ending, It was WAY TOO open that it didn't even feel like an ending at all. Honestly if they actually decided to conclude some characters and actually verify those major deaths or give the minor deaths more impact such as Loris, and Maddie + give zaun an extra scene or two, the act would have been fine at the very least.

[@The-Qwertyuiop123]

The whole season was trash but i can never forgive them for killing silco at the end of season 1 and STILL absolutely ruining his character in s2 i seriously cant take any of as canon. And younger silco's hair was garbage

[@kingcsage6824]

thay didn't ruin anything about Silco, from the beginning we knew that he and Vandir were like brothers and were really close, thay just ended up haveing different objectives

[@mr_0n10n5]

A couple notes: 1) Up until the fighting started, Jayce used the hex gates to evacuate the city 2) Jayce wanted to destroy the Hex core from the get go. If all he wanted was to show Viktor the vision, he would have done so before Viktor evolved. The vision was more like a final play more than anything. 3) By far, Ekko was the mvp

[@reptipis148]

Jinx literally wanted to die 1 episode before. Now you wanna tell me that she was convinced so much by Ekko to live on. Dream on. She just delayed the time of her death to be able to at least save one person correctly - Vi. Her arc is finished the same way as her life. Jinx is DEAD. No if's.

[@maofone]

Guess Mel is dead since she was right in front of the rocket in season 1 then

[@ashleybrown3390]

You know…I was saying to myself in season 1 every single episode was good. Never did I ever want to skip. Probably rewatched the whole season about 10x. Season 2 wasn’t bad just think they dropped the ball the last 3 episodes. Still LOVE this show and would always recommend to others.

[@kokoberi600]

Fix season by: reducing black rose to 1/2 scenes max, remove arcane "glitching", remove arcane "corruption", make viktor only have power to turn people into robotos 1 by 1 so he isnt op, rework warwick storyline, bring conflict to be mostly about zaun/piltover, maybe unite at last moment against Noxus, remove alternative universe stuff and timetravel viktor.

[@SomeGuy77727]

When Cait smiles, it's because she hears Vi humming, but after looking at the air ducts, we do see her thinking to herself

[@durzostern]

They totally dropped the ball on Jinx mental issues in season 2. I loved how the the used animation in season 1 to show her struggling with inner voices. In season 2 it's barely relevant. They also really destroyed Vi and Caitlyn as characters. I loved season 1 but the second season was a downgrade from the first episode. First season had a tight, well written plot. The second season tried to do too many things in too little time. Very disappointing overall

[@maofone]

I'm totally okay with the dropped voices cuz it was built up that those were symptoms of power and she's jinx now

[@Malax_1M]

i feel like viktor was forced to be the main villain since “arcane” is suppose to be about magic. it’s so stupid since they tried to make a complex and incredible story without even continuing the story we had in season 1. also the development? awfully shown for the main characters especially vi. they put some emo side of her and call it change? smh! also i love that ekko got his moment but genuinely it might’ve been a bit too much. episode 7 is happy and a refresher from whatever happened. but guess what? nobody asked for a side where everyone was happy. we wanted the war, jinx and vi development, and something worth rewatching.

[@cafeconleche0343]

Episode 7 was actually my favorite so i disagree

[@Malax_1M]

@@cafeconleche0343 can you tell me why? and if it’s your favorite only because we see ekko happy please don’t bother going into detail

[@Jun-sx9yg]

I don't know about you but unlike all the other episodes in the season, I rewatched only ep 7 and several times at that No one asked for a side where everyone is happy because we did not know yet that that was an option, but it's clear from the reception that it was something fans wanted as for many it was their favourite episode of the season Vi did get shafted though, her only significant scenes in the third act is her banging Cait and her mourning over Warwick, then holding on to Jinx, they did Vi so dirty, we spend more time walking in the hallway of a mineshaft that takes place in a couple hours than on Vi's 6 months alone with no purpose in life

[@SolisFennec]

The hextech and arcane have always been the focus of the show

[@Malax_1M]

@@Jun-sx9ygi just feel like the side was too focused on all the “good side of things” they didnt show anything important but a time lapse of ekko and heimer and alternate powder inventing the time travel device. and they also didn’t explain what happened to heimerdinger. but yes i do agree vi deserved more contribution to this season.

[@bruh33270]

I like that they are not afraid anymore to kill in game champions but the other question is what is gonna happen with ambessa now? if she will stay dead without any go back to noxus and blood magic resurestion ritual thing happening then players that love her character ( despite there is not too many of them but there will always be someone) cant really expect anything in lore going further with her since she is... well.., dead, i know they can still explore her character by skinlines but still players thaT would like to see how she might evolve wont see that anymore . And i dont think they will just remove her from the game cuz of that like they did with gangplank for one week but he came back after all... living with feeling that one of your favourite characters can just die and there wont be anything new happening to them in lore is kinda sad

[@andreapedroni3256]

Heimer ain't dead tho, yordles just respawn in bandle city. The dude has just gone back home and is gonna talk about a few funny stories with the lads.

[@maofone]

He's in alternate universe bandle city and point still stands, his story in arcane will end with dying

[@cancerconnoisseur]

I feel like Jayce/Viktor and Jinx/Vi should have been separate shows. They tried to do too much, and change too much, and pursue too much without the time to give them the proper attention and conclusion. Season 1 was perfect. Season 2 lost the plot.

[@darthinfection6367]

Watching week to week kinda sucked, it felt like they kept introducing huge plot points only for it to not mean so much the next week, and viktor should have been in his final form in act 2 at least man he gets like 5 lines of dialogue not even until they go into viktors mind

[@eebbaa5560]

my overall assessment of arcane season 2 is that the plot itself, while not perfect, was less of an issue than the actual execution of its elements. there was a lot of wasted time, especially in act 1, that could have been used to expand upon important character moments, interactions, transitions, etc. to improve the structure and narrative. i also believe that the resolution of the plot would have been greatly improved simply by adding a few minutes to each episode in order to flesh out the narrative and setting with more meaningful transition scenes and letting characters and moments breathe as the story developed. additionally, many characters, namely vi and especially caitlyn, suffered from subpar character writing that made their motivations and relationship feel extremely contrived and unworthy of the viewer's investment. arcane wasn't bad by any means, and season 2 still had its fair share of highlights, but the show was ultimately hurt by the writers making suboptimal decisions that made the conclusion feel less than satisfying - season 2: 6.5/10, overall: 8/10

[@banhammer6438]

Agree that the ending wasn't perfect, but I do think there are a couple points to push back on. First, I disagree about Isha's death being brushed over. At first, I felt the same way, but then I remembered that literally the only person Isha mattered to was Jinx. She had no ties to anyone else in the show. And Jinx tried to end herself over it. Just because no one ever said "I miss Isha" doesn't mean her death wasn't felt (they did sort of drop the Heimerdinger death though). Second, while I do think Villain Viktor and the Piltover/Zaun alliance needed more time to breathe, I don't hate it as a concept. They spent most of the series (all the way back to Vander talking to Vi in S1 Act 1) showing how that sort of generational conflict builds on itself over time (violence begets violence and all that). And in the end, they showed that the only way to end it was for people to swallow their pride and let go of their hatred. We even got the point at a micro level with Jinx, Vi, and Cait. And I apologize if this is addressed in another one of your videos, but what would have been the endgame if the conflict stayed focused on Piltover v Zaun? I truly have difficulty imagining a way to end that conflict that would have felt any better. Maybe have Jinx purposefully do something that unites both sides against her? But that just feels like it substitutes Viktor for Jinx... I don't know. But I do agree that the ending felt a little rushed. I genuinely believe one more Act would have smoothed things out a lot. We could have had more time to adjust to Evil Viktor, they could have shown more of those final bits of character growth, and they could have shown more friction/negotiations between Piltover and Zaun (and Jinx, Vi, and Cait) to make the big team-up feel more realistic. For me, the finale is a 7-8, Season 2 is a 9, and Arcane as a whole is still a 10.

[@erenja3ger871]

The excuse that piltover and zaun can only come together because of a greater evil is one I can't comprehend how the people like you saying it don't understand how shallow that sounds. It also doesn't even tie well to the overall narrative. Yes everyone life is affected by the conflict between piltover and zaun but some were more close to that conflict than others and viktor was just not that close enough. I also don't get what you mean by "idk how it would have concluded any other way" yeah no shit. It's the writers who are in charge of delivering that. I can excuse any bad story ending by using that same logic

[@kingcsage6824]

u summarized every theme we got from season 1 to just "conflict and violence between Piltover and zoun"? it setted up so many more thing that needed to conclude and culminate that it was streight up insulting to just make Victor go from 0 to 100 and fix it all turing them into robots. don't get me wrong it was not HORRIBLE, but it is not good eather and from arcane i expected nothing less then a masterpiace

[@vezaks4613]

Based, absolutely based, man. You speak the truth, i feel the same way about ep 8 and 9. That wasnt it. I hope they will learn next time, not to betray the initial vision. There was wisdom in season one. This MCU "saving the world from the big bad" stuff is not the way We need more people like you

[@ashleybrown3390]

Loved how you wrapped up your video with the quote 👏👏👏👏

[@austrapiteco]

The only thing that I'll have to disagree is about Heimerdinger's death: it was not by any means, a unmeaningful death. Time travel was only possible if someone was to operate the machine while someone is in it (though they didn't especify what, is probably about the right rune patterns that makes them time travel), and he made it possible to make the right person (Ekko) to do that. Heimer is a yordle, thus making him immortal. Even if he got obliterated by the anomaly, he would only get back to bandle city, and essentially find his way. And beyond that, we don't even know if he's actually dead, because his body vanished without any trace (like what happened to the goat guy in EP 4), so he could actually have gotten into a different time-line, then making a new story for Heimerdinger. Like you said yourself, this show loves to makes us believe that something happens in first sight, but there's a lot of layers above it. Hell, I don't even think Viktor and Jayce are dead! (but that can be me just coping); But I totally think that making this evil generic mass machines the final bosses of arcane kind of lame. I wish we got to see more about the Zaun-Piltover conflict into a certain conclusion than what we got (i mean, yeah, they put Sevika into the council yippee.... but what about their rights, their agreements? you can still even see the prejudice when she sits in the chair..)

[@maofone]

It was definitely meaningful, but a disservice how it happened in like 5 seconds and Ekko never brought it up again, not the weight of such an impactful individual to the dynamic of the two cities.

[@theworld6710]

I feel like a little montage helping show what happened after the end and where the characters ended would’ve really helped.

[@ExclusiveExcellence]

Personally I think that this was absolutely the best move as the issues of Piltover and Zuan are systemic and would take much longer than the story of Jinx and Vi could possibly stretch, plus if they were to stay in the Piltover v Zuan line things would have to get to the point where only one prevails or they destroy each other; thus making the region a wasteland for the future stories required to complete the greater story of Runeterra(Camille, Zeri, Ez, Seraphine, etc.).

[@Nooobus_]

this is the reason i REALLY hope that the new shows that are confirmed in the works are not completely and utterly disconnected from arcane besides some fan service and references. Arcane’s finale COULD be given some better and proper closure in the noxus show if done right. Coping that they just surprise drop the first act of that within like a month and it fixes everything 😭😭 kinda the only thing im holding onto atp besides the fact that the AU still exists and everyones happy there 😭

[@crisssstopher]

after more than 100 comments, i'm finally first lol

[@maofone]

Lucky you

[@DMrKunst2]

The arcane has been the driving force behind a lot of character decisions since the very first episode.... Including victor.... Much of what we saw in act three was an evolution from what heimerdinger was warning about from the beginning. Aling with the hexcore. It just ramped up much more after victor died in the opening of season two. The ARCANE(title of the show mind you) is the driving force of the show because it is part of the fundamental building blocks of the runeterra universe. Playing God with the magic and its negative effects is part of what kept accelerating the already escalating conflict. Which Jayce, viktor & powder both made the mistake of evolving/weaponizing. Much of what you've been complaining about how there is no buildup for the arcane threat was largely already built up in the first season. But I can definitely agree that the focus of the evolution of victor and the arcane's involvement ramped up significantly once the war started. You should check out DarkSideJinx's yt channel. She did a wonderful job predicting almost exaclear.How the arcane is involved in the story and how it would become the greater threat in season two

[@DMrKunst2]

Also Jinx development was not all offscreen. They literally show it to you when she joins the fight

[@maofone]

Name is not a good argument since Chinese name is "conflict of two cities". The reasons for anyone wanting hextech or magic have never been about the magic itself, but the impact on the city and people

[@DMrKunst2]

@@maofone Fair argument to an extent , minus the chinese bit. But it does not change the fact that the arcane is the driving force behind the show with direct and indirect consequences for all of its characters who have been affected by it. Much of which has to do with the intention of the people that are using it. It's just a fictionalized version inspired by the actual occult. Now whether or not someone believes in all that stuff is a different story of course. To say that threat has not been properly built up is not true at all as it was shown to us early in the first season where it would lead. Things only escalated further the more the hexcore got involved. Viktor & the arcane becoming the greater threat has always been right in front of us. The sisters represent the part of the story YOU are talking about, which is the impact on the cities and its people. That is why they are the heart of the story. I don't think there's anything that suggests they lost sight of any of that.

[@DMrKunst2]

@@maofone However I can definitely agree that there were some aspects of the cities that I wish had been touched on a little more and I think that's why they end up using some of those music montages because they need to make longer episodes for some of that. So I can agree that some aspects needed to be fleshed out a little more. My only beef was your commentary about the arcane.Because it simply was not accurate to what we have been shown.

[@maofone]

@DMrKunst2 @DMrKunst2 how is the Chinese argument not accurate? The point of a title is just to convey the focus of the show and for an audience arguably larger then the English speaking one they wanted to focus it on the city's conflict. The title argument is just a bad one is my point, and using the English title is not a good one either. The point about sisters is correct as that conflict was the last one to be resolved. But it wasn't the narratively important conflict since stakes were lower and overall the magic stuff was just a way of heightening the relationship between piltover and zaun but I guess they didn't care about that anymore.

[@Canal-01b]

It's super weird to me seeing people dislike act 3 more than 2. To me act 2 was easily a 6/10, a massive drop that made me almost lose faith this could end well. Important things ignored, an easy narrative trick of ''oh look a cute child, isnt it sad that she died?'' as a crutch for writing, etc. But I quite liked act 3, which to me made the whole second season add up to like an 8. Viktor being the final boss was always on my bingo card, or at least something to do with this whole side of the plot. It wouldn't have made much sense to just brush over the magic/hextech side of things. Especially cause the personal stakes from characters like Vi and Jinx are completely independent of it, but it is quite impactful for the world at large. I do think, however, that the final fight didn't really make sense: why the hell did viktor need Ambessa? His machine things just breezed through everyone when they arrived. Sevika being on the council also feels fitting, and it comes from something they were forced to work together in. It would make no sense for them to just quickly be ok with her and this whole situation. I didn't expect to get a final resolution to the tensions between the cities, getting a sign that a concrete move had been made to work on it is about the level of closure I hoped for. (or something to permanently damage it beyond repair, if they went that route)

[@Giancarlo-l3g]

I would give arcanes ending a 9/10 it would be 10/10 if tgere were not so many cliffhangers

[@Giancarlo-l3g]

Also it makes sense for zaun and pilthover ti target the bugger threat the entire point of the first and 2nd act was bringing zaun together and the sister fight obs act 3 was abiut bringing them both together also when is hiemerdong pic coming out

[@Giancarlo-l3g]

For example zaun and pilthover basically became zaun with the war families were separated and killed

[@Giancarlo-l3g]

The shiw has been about magic not the main focus but it is the entire reason for half the things in arcane is cause of magic

[@Giancarlo-l3g]

Bro you usually cook there was a lot of character development with jinx finally learning to be better echo getting time travel and learning that jinx is not entirely bad which kind of happened in episode seven actually and vi went back to loving the one she cared about instead of wanting to kill them and it makes sense for Victor to be the final villain from the start. Basically, we had hints that the arcane was evil. It makes sense that Victor the one who was entirely using the arcane as his way to walk became the final villain the arcane Victors entire plot line in season one was that he usually arcane, and it makes sense for him to be the villain if he only uses it, and we knew that the arcane was evil

[@SolisFennec]

I completely agree with you

[@Gobrus]

I heard that there used to be 5 seasons planned until the higher-ups decided to cut it, you can really tell they wanted to wrap all of it up considering how dense the final few episodes are

[@ukumayu]

I personally love re watching, re reading over and over the stories I like. But Arcane is particularly fantastic to rewatch

[@TheVofR]

I agree that the 'end of the world' stakes of the final episode was a departure from the more grounded and relatable conflict of Season 1. I think if they had a bit more time they could have made it better. What I would have done I think is shown a failure in Piltover/Zaun uniting for the final battle, then use that for Viktor to be like "See? Even when they think it's in their own best interest, people are unable to overcome their resentments. We wanted to bring a world of peace, free from pain. There is simply no way to do that with people able to make their own choices. Their true nature will always inevitably reveal itself." And during this whole villain monologue we can intersplice current Zaun/Piltover conflict with events of the first season, trying to reinforce Viktors point that conflict is a cycle that won't end and reliving the most traumatic moments that make us almost wish for that peaceful world he is talking about. Then Jinx can show up and at first Piltover is like "oh shit", but then she either gives a short speech or does something to indicate they should work together. This would A) Do more to address the Piltover/Zaun conflict, and B) tie the threat of Viktor to that conflict, by showing that he wants to end it and only sees one way of doing so

[@williamlaney7208]

also the rework on skarner the crystals make no sense now wtf are they where they come from did piltover mind anything? its just not well written its like they gave up and just threw somthing together. ww being a robot was wack too what?

[@miguelrubin8921]

I agree with most of the sentiments in the video. Longer developement and a climax that prioritized character conflicts ( beyond Viktor/Jayce) would have definitely made ep. 8 and 9 feel less disconected from the rest of the show, specially when ep.7 was literal perfection. I do think, however, he is a bit too invested in Jinx being the proper final " villain" ( a word he uses but one which I would never use to describe anybody in Arcane). Hes seemed to be a bit clouded by his personal wishes because he contantly says in the video how Viktor's ultimate position in the climax was rushed whilst Jinx's conflict was naturally a better fit. However, Season 1 and 2 go to great lenghts to establish Viktor's conflicts and there was plenty of signs that showed this was coming..... I think this was the only point in the video where I thought he was construing his personal wants for the narrative as a flaw, not a wish ( which we all do, at times). Regardless, good review!

[@darkmoongaboonga1594]

Would be 10/10 if the final villain had been Caitlyn! But for real, I do think scaling up the conflict from "2 cities at odds" to "end of the world" could have worked with an extra season to do the build up, expanding on the effects of the hexcore, the true nature of the people in Victor's commune, the hextech corruption on the undercity, Singed's experiments... and then at the end, have the Victor/Noxus attack interact with the conflict between cities not just by eroding it and forcing them to unite, but by exposing their differences, like Zaun getting more ravaged by hexcorruption, or Piltover's hextech devices becoming faulty and unstable, or something else. That said, apparently Necrit had an interview with an arcane cocreator reveals that season 2, unlike season 1, was made with the understanding that this show would become the new canon and so, it had to do some things to make itself somewhat more able to coexist with the league champions and Runeterra at large, as well as tease new stuff for new projects in a big cinematic universe, so... Yeah, I blame the executives.

[@EatTheRichAndTheState]

I give season one a 9 and season two a 7 with some 10/10 highs, like episode 7 and 8 are my favorites because they feel like season one, even isha, for as much as i love her, since the start felt like a prop to move jinx's character from one point to another and not like anothe person trying to survive in arcane's world like many other side characters in season one, so yeah i love it but in my head it is not the cotinuation to the story but just an oficial and amazing fanfic

[@kazsVVS]

u are real and spitting real shii. Cant wait for your takes on Noxus story/ other league oriented.

[@pencil8393]

I feel like they put too much emphasis on each and every plot line, It never felt like there was one main plot, where as season 1 we knew the entire goal was for vi to save jinx. I think if we had just one more season the show would easily be 10/10

[@JavelinAngel1295]

Jinx was in hiding and was unnoticed in the beginning of Season 2. Ain't gonna be hard to not be noticed again in Demacia when she gets there.

[@juanmanuel8303]

Is Jinx not gonna get a stop in Ionia? Considering is the next series and she's free to go anywhere, wouldn't we get her be in Ionia like a clip of 10 seconds there or something before keep going

[@juanmanuel8303]

At least that's what I think cause, Jinx is Riot's spiderman and someone will ask to put her in the next series to sell more

[@Strix2031]

Why Demacia, she seems perfect for bilgewater

[@juanmanuel8303]

@@Strix2031 Because of Lux and maybe Ezreal if they decide to put him there, I thought at first they would do Lux x Jinx in the end with like they did with other characters in arcane, but seems like she will end up with Ekko in an open story down the line after some comments made by the cocreator in an interview, but still even without that Lux and Jinx are 2 iconic characters from the franchise and they sell hard, people would watch a series with them in a blink, just like they would watch Yasuo, Irelia and Akali in a series

[@juanmanuel8303]

@@Strix2031 Also they could just move the character around for a while like Marvel did with the main avengers, the Arcane ending is a brilliant move in marketing and selling iconic characters to people to get them hooked in the series, and in the end even if controversial it's benefiting them in the short run and long run

[@DianaDonineaux]

It is good to see they are people who feel the same than me . I felt like the crazy one during all this week . Season 2 is supposed to be the season finale with all characters developped to what they are somewhat supposed to be in the game (somewhat because Arcane is supposed to be the new canon ) . Did Caitlyn was kicked out the Council or she resignated herself , did she become Sheriff of Pilltover ? Tobias disseapeared only mentioned by Caitlyn to dismiss Maddie? Vi , enforcer or not ? One of the most important theme in season 1 was the cost of progress , an ideological clash between Heimendiger , Victor and Jayce . Magic is bad vs magic is great and can be controlled through science . I thought the conclusion would be a middle ground magic is like a knife it can be used for good like it can be used for bad . But it seems that the lifetime work of Jayce was worthless all along ? Why ? It is not the hexcore the specific problem ? Did all people working in the hexgates mentioned in S1 finally lose all their job ? If not , it is because of the corruption of the council who likes money above all ? HOW THE CITY VIEW CAITLYN, MEL MEDARDA AND JAYCE after all the fiasco etc... I thought that Ambessa would lose and return to Noxus with Singed , but no ,she died despite being a new character in the game , AND SINGED GOT FREE ? REALLY ? And how his daughter is alive ?

[@ronel71]

Jinx's death is a cliffhanger and I tend to believe she did die because it's just so perfect for the story 1.it perfects what silco told her in ss 2 ep 8 that killing is a cycle and she needs to find a way to leave the cycle and her way to leave it was to die But I have a better reason for why this was perfect 2.jinx's character tragedy is basically being powerless to protect the ones close to her and it happened several times across the series (their mom's death, silco's death and isha's death😢) but with vi she finally was able to correct it and save someone close to her and that's when she finishes her arc and becomes the best character ever

[@argentbrav0]

I had the same idea like you did but the amount of hate I got from normies that high on copium and in denial of Jinx's death is astronomical. The mass don't see the beauty of bitter sweet ending. They just want a full on fairy tale ending.

[@Jotakyy]

@@argentbrav0 i mean i agree that Jinx dying would be perfect, but the final scene with cait tells otherwise, they didnt put that there for no reason

[@sammmarru9105]

I agree with a lot of your points. I still think that Arcane should've been 3 season - or 2 season with a movie or couple of movies to wrap it up or something. I like the Viktor and Jayce finale but yeah in a show like Arcane, that emotion should've been carried over to all of the other characters to. The season was good but needed a LOT more time to breathe. IMO. Overall tho, still one of my fav tv shows. 9/10

[@kingcsage6824]

brother, you cooked with this one. i also was really disappointed of how little world building we got at the end and how little set up they did. Piltover is literally at the centar of the world of Runterra and is the most visited place (because of the hexgates) and the only other mention of a nation we got was Noxus? like why? nothing about Shurima, Ionia? nothing about some legends or something?

[@Buddhaboppa]

ouuff debunked, Necrit already confirmed Heimerdinger is still alive but totally agree about ending

[@maofone]

Thank god cuz I hated how he died

[@Buddhaboppa]

@ same here, so much so I went back and relooked at all hextech related incidents and it didn’t add up. Would love to hear your speculations on the alternate universe and what other changes took place besides VI’s death, as I noticed a couple things that were very odd

[@conniefan123]

For me s1 is an 11/10 and s2 is just a 10/10 :

[@xDieGoVAx]

I didn't like the last two episodes either, not only because the change lore and character identities, but also because I feel there are some plotholes. Like, no one is really gonna talk about how Viktor being the one that gives Jayce the rune generates a time paradox? Viktor gives him the rune to save him from his wrong ideal of evolution, but Jayce starts researching Hextech because of that, so if Viktor doesn't save him from the begining, there's no Hextech, and there's no Viktor becoming that arcane being. And why does Ekko gets into the body of his other dimension self (he gets separated only when he is about to turn back to the original timeline), while Jayce keeps his original body (the one from that timeline is stoned there with the hammer)? Edit: Also, why does Warwick comes back to life if Viktor and Jayce already died/desapeared? He should be either dead like the people that turned into complete machines, or turned back into his normal non metalic state just like the people who started to be controlled by Viktor.