Arcane Season 2 Act 2: The Side Quest

     This blog post will be discussing spoilers for Arcane Seasons 1 & 2. I am writing this after watching the entirety of Season 2 in order to have a better informed opinion on the series as a whole, though I will only be discussing a specific Act in this blog. Enjoy reading!

    While I thoroughly enjoyed Season 2 Act 1, the hype had only built up further in the week leading up to the second act's release. Act 1 had answered lingering questions from the first season, and had introduced new storylines and questions for audiences to ask, but with the benefit of having a much shorter wait between answers being reached than before. Having said this, I was super interested in seeing how character dynamics like Ambessa and Caitlyn's fascist partnership would develop, or what had happened to the three scientists after being zapped by the wild rune, and most importantly, the hyped-up reveal of Warwick, a character that had been getting teased throughout end credits scene in Act 1. 

    Putting it bluntly, this act had a lot to deliver on. And did it deliver? Eeehhhhh... Kind of.  The good news is that Episode 4 is almost perfect for me, delivering on all of the hype, art, and writing that we have come to expect from Arcane. The bad news? This is the last episode I don't have any major complaints for.

    Episode 4, "Paint the Town Blue," opens with a very grungy, punk music video illustrating the Zaunite rebellion against Piltoven forces as they get more and more violent under Ambessa and Caitlyn's leadership. While it wasn't my favorite music video, I recognize that this sequence had to do a lot of the heavy lifting when it came to depicting the rise and development of the fascist partnership that now rules Piltover and Zaun. The reveal that Act 2 would come bearing a time skip from the ending of the first act was a little disappointing, since I felt that by simply skipping ahead, the show had cheated the audience of watching that relationship grow, seeing how Vi reacted to Cait's descent into fascism, or the development of Viktor's cult in the undercity. Instead, the audiences are launched into a few months from where they were left off, resulting in a little bit of confusion at first.

    Regardless, I thought that the scenes with Jinx, Isha, and Sevika were pretty sweet, as they had formed a sort of family unit together. Sevika urges Jinx to show up to Zaunite rallies to support the rebellion, but when she declines, it inspires Isha to imitate Jinx and inspire Zaunites with the image of Jinx, which I thought was a cool way to represent how she has become a symbol of the Zaunite resistance against Piltoven oppression. However, the rally is flooded with enforcers, resulting in the arrest of most Zaunites, Isha, and interestingly, Singed. Singed is a character that I had little to no expectation of being important in the show, mostly because of how few lines he had and how his involvement always boils down to "weird guy invents something to fit the needs of the bad guys" every time.

    However, his presence in an open space is shocking to the audience, and immediately demands attention once he cuts himself, allowing blood to wake up the wolf-beast that has been teased in the last few end credit scenes. League fans were already super hyped to see the long-awaited reveal of Warwick, and Arcane fans were intrigued by the weight given to this wolf's scenes, as well as the unique blood-trail art effects used to illustrate his perspective. Everything about Warwick and his arrival is treated with the thrilling weight I hoped it would have, and so I was literally kicking my feet as I watched with high anticipation. I especially adored the ominous music mixed in with snarls and growls that plays during the sequences of Warwick's hunt, as it immerses the audience into the eyes of the beast, and how animalistic this threat is, unlike anything else in the show.

    Jinx and Sevika's entry into the prison was pretty funny and charming, allowing for a little more whimsy into the already serious predicament the characters are in. The show does a good job with mixing comedy and lightheartedness with moments of anxious tension, like when Ambessa suddenly shows up right next to them as they pass through the guard gate. But as much as I'd like to talk about smaller details about the prison break scene, once again I have to shift my attention towards Warwick. To me, the scene where he breaks into the prison, massacring everyone in his path, and his fight with Jinx is the best instance of fanservice to the game's fanbase. After years of theorizing and hype, Warwick's entry into the series is explosive, intense, and bloody, satisfying every desire fans had for the character. The heavy metal music (which I'm going to link here since its one of my favorite parts of the soundtrack) , the dark red lighting, and the monster obscured in darkness makes for one of my personal favorite action scenes in the entire show. Truly, this was a standout episode.

    You will note that my thoughts on the next two episodes aren't as in-depth as I went for this first one. This isn't a product of laziness, but instead I just didn't like these two episodes as much. Obviously, I'll go into a bit more detail as to what I didn't like about them in a bit, but I think the main flaw is that they feel like they're disconnected from the core plot of the show. As much as I adore Warwick's character, I wasn't a fan of how it feels like the show pivots to focus on him and healing him so much instead of showing other conflicts, like following up on what happened to the scientists, or the development of Ambessa and Caitlyn's partnership. I think this is mostly because they needed to bring Jinx and Vi together for something, because their story from season 1 was left a little open-ended, and each of them had their own new season 2 arc to deal with instead of resolving their sister issues. By reintroducing Vander, there is a reason for the two of them to put aside their differences to save their dad, but in all honesty, I personally just wasn't as invested in this story as I was the other storylines in the show, and I had growing qualms with how Warwick was depicted as the show progressed.

    Episode 5, "Blisters and Bedrock," opens with a quick sequence showing how Vi's life has gone down the shitter following her fight with Caitlyn, working at an underground fighting ring and drinking her nights away. Instead of getting more time to flesh out what Vi has been up to in the months during the timeskip, Jinx shows up to ask for her help on healing Vander, which robs the audience of a lot of important context for where her character is mentally. They argue for a little, with some physical violence for good measure, but Vi is surprisingly willing to see what's up with Vander and Jinx.

    My personal favorite moments from this episode are the ones focused on Singed, who had remained at the prison following Warwick's massacre. He is interrogated by Ambessa and Caitlyn, which was a dynamic I found fascinating: Caitlyn being the more hot-headed, inexperienced one, Ambessa being more reserved and calculating than usual, and Singed dominating the scene with his patient silence. I always love scenes where other characters recognize the intellectual threat someone poses, in spite of their physical appearance, and Ambessa's recognition of Singed's potential as an ally, which she later seeks for his weaponry. Additionally, this was another big fanservice moment for League lore fans, as it is known that Singed's weaponry was used in famed Noxian invasions, so seeing this partnership happen onscreen was a big nerd-out moment for many.

    Otherwise, this episode is pretty meh, in my opinion. I've already expressed my disinterest in Jinx and Vi's joint story with Warwick this season, but I still enjoyed some of the calmer, talking moments between the two in the caves. It felt like a very real conversation between two estranged sisters, filled with spite for each other but still holding some care for the other, deep deep down. I did enjoy their sequence where they discovered Vander's apology letter to Silco, which could have saved hundreds of lives if it had been found earlier. Setting up the parallel between the two sisters and their fathers was already cool enough, but that sensation of "If only they communicated and apologized first" really strikes a chord with both characters, and I think this was the best way to explain their improved relationship with each other, even if Warwick/Vander wasn't present. Recognizing the mistakes of the past and making an effort to improve is a good message, and it feels apt to have this moment before encountering Warwick a second time, which was the final push they needed to bond together again.

    Mel's storyline feels the most out of place this season, which is a real shame. I always liked Mel and what she represented in the story: the good intent of politicians that is eventually twisted and shifted into being more of a "game" to them than actually helping people. Her dynamic with Jayce, Heimerdinger, and Ambessa was an excellent insight into the politics of this world, especially with the themes of progress and risk associated with technological development, which she put aside to further her own ambitions for prosperity and riches for Piltover. Her greatest strength, in my eyes, has always been how she can talk people into doing what she wants from them, and in other cases, her most interesting dynamics is when she can't get away with that, like with Ambessa or when Jayce makes Hextech weaponry. 

    However, by removing her from the entire cast and placing her within a solitary confinement prison, the show wastes her character, as it feels like all she does is serve as an instrument for hearing exposition about Ambessa and her story with the Black Rose, which already felt out of place. The Arcane writers knew she didn't really fit in with any of the character groupings this season, as she isn't "science-y" enough to fit in with the inventor trio and their misadventures with the wild rune, and she's also much too level-headed to allow Ambessa and Caitlyn to get away with their fascistic rule over Piltover. The writers simply had to remove her from all other situations, but they couldn't kill her off outright, since she has a part to play in the final act of the show. Therefore, they throw her in a prison where she can develop her magic powers (largely offscreen) only to bring her back at the end of the season as a very powerful mage that can defeat the likes of Ambessa with a little assistance. So needless to say, I wasn't big on her arc this season in general.

    Before moving onto the final episode of the act, however, I wanted to quickly mention that the last scene for episode 5 with Jayce's return from the wild rune is great! The physical change in his appearance, with longer hair, an augmented body, and a scraggly beard, is already more than enough to communicate to the audience of the development he has gone through, however, subtle details like his being out of breath, the focus he has on his hammer, and the wild glint in his eye really sells that this is not the same Jayce that entered the rune. His conversation with Viktor through a possessed Salo is insightful on what both characters have been up to since they were last seen, and Jayce's aggressive attitude towards it confuses both Viktor and the audience, unaware of what he went through. That final shot where he suddenly crushes Salo with the hammer with a crazy expression sells the potential new threat of an insane Jayce running around, which pays off in the next episode.

    Episode 6, "The Message Hidden Within the Pattern," is probably one of my least favorite episodes in the show. However, since I'll rant about what I didn't like for a good while, let me first mention what I did find interesting or enjoyable from this episode:

    Seeing Huck once again as the gatekeeper to Viktor's cult commune brought a smile to my face, as I like seeing recurring background characters throughout a series develop, and Huck's journey from businessman to addict to gatekeeper has been a pretty engaging journey for a D-list character to undergo in the margins of the show. Also, seeing Viktor interact with Vi, Jinx, and Vander felt surreal and exciting in all the right ways, as it feels like they are all characters from completely different shows, and their dynamics are fascinating to watch (I almost wish we got more of life in the commune, as a sort of peaceful ground for characters to just talk things out rather than fight). Finally, the return of Jayce in the show comes with heavy tension, as the audience isn't quite sure what his motivations are. When he finally meets with Viktor and blows a hole through his chest, killing him, its a shocking event that screws up pretty much everyone else, halting Vander's healing, and pushing Ambessa to attack after her right-hand man Rictus is killed by Warwick. That's pretty much all the positives I have to say about this episode though...

    This episode is functionally a bottle episode. At Viktor's commune, there are a wide variety of characters all present in one area with a strict no-violence rule. While Jinx and Vi work with Viktor on healing Vander, Ambessa and Singed also enter the area, in an effort to ally themselves with Viktor. When I was watching this, I was thrilled with the idea that all of these violent characters on opposing sides would have to be in close-quarters with each other and unable to kill each other, forcing some dialogue between them. However, this didn't really happen. The majority of the episode was centered around Warwick's healing into Vander process, which I didn't care for. All of the spiritual Warwick mind castle mumbo jumbo was not my cup of tea, even if the visuals were stunning.

     It really boils down to a personal disagreement with how the writers chose to use Warwick throughout the season: I love the animalistic brutalism of him, the uncompromising bloodlust, and the moral issue Vi and Jinx have with the beast being their dad, debating whether to kill him or not. I believe that by reducing Warwick's time as the beast, you just get a mute time bomb that serves some narrative tension and stakes, but I just didn't resonate with the emotional story they were going for with his healing. My personal opinions with how they should've handled his character clashed with my frustrations on how the show was sidelining every other story in favor for this healing arc, and that ultimately resulted in me having some pretty negative feelings about the show moving forward. 

    The premise of a bottle episode isn't inherently uninteresting- in fact, some of my favorite episodes in shows have been bottle episodes (ex. Community) due to the character-based drama and interactions the audience is privy to, with characters being forced to confront each other since they can't avoid their issues. However, in Arcane's version of the bottle episode in Viktor's commune, there isn't really any character growth this episode: Vi and Jinx do get along a little better, but that's as a result of the previous episode's strengths, not this one. When Singed and Viktor talk, neither of them submit to the other, leaving them to just walk away from each other. As much as I would've loved it, there was no interacting between Vi and Jinx with Caitlyn, Ambessa, or Singed within the commune. It just felt a little static and boring, especially for someone uninterested in the direction Warwick's story had taken.

    Caitlyn's betrayal of Ambessa is lightning-quick, with her turning her back on the fascist government she has built for months within minutes of meeting with Vi again outside of the commune. The power of lesbian love, I guess? While I'm sure she had her reservations on some aspects of the whole dictator thing, this isn't something she was forced into, or even manipulated into doing. Even with Vi by her side at the start of the season, she was still all for mass incarceration, torture, and police brutality, so I find it extremely strange that she turns her back on everything simply after meeting with Vi for a few minutes and hearing that Warwick is Vi's father. I genuinely have no idea why the writers thought that this was a scene they could cut, since we only see a brief snippet of their conversation after the reveal that Caitlyn helped Vi escape Ambessa. It just felt weird and rushed and out of character, which I really didn't like.

    Finally, I'll briefly touch on the big finale for this act, which was Isha's sacrifice to defeat Warwick following the assassination of Viktor. While I know this was meant to be a big emotional moment for the fans and Jinx, I really couldn't get behind it. The second that Isha showed up for the first time this season, I knew she was written to die as motivation for Jinx. Despite having some cute moments with Jinx, it never made her more than what I knew she was meant to be from the start: a sacrificial lamb. What I don't understand is why they didn't use a more established character like Sevika for the emotional sacrifice motivator rather than a newly introduced character that has only been around for 4 episodes. Maybe I'm a heartless bastard, but Isha's character felt irrelevant, redundant, and one-dimensional from the start. If it was me writing the story, I would've loved to explore the idea of her taking up the "mantle" of Jinx, fully realizing Jinx as a symbol of Zaunite resistance rather than the name that defines her character. Allowing Isha to grow a little and help shoulder some of Jinx's burden when it comes to being an unwilling revolutionary would have been more interesting, in my opinion.

    SO, overall, while this act had some great moments, like Warwick's introduction, it really felt like my excitement for each episode dwindled as the story got more and more disconnected from the main narrative in favor of found family trauma healing story. Still, it was mostly an enjoyable watch, and it hyped me up for the final act of Arcane! Stay tuned for my thoughts on that!!