Arcane, the review of the animated series of League of Legends

Arcane

From midnight on Saturday November 20, all nine episodes of Arcane, the new animated series that explores the universe created by Riot Games, are finally available to stream on Netflix!

Announced during League's 10th anniversary of Legends, was produced and created by the American video game house together with the French studio Fortiche, with which Riot had already collaborated on several occasions for some music videos and game trailers.

Composed of three acts, of three episodes of about forty minutes each, Arcane aims to tell the different origin stories of some of its champions, starting perhaps with the two most famous characters: Jinx the loose cannon and his sister Vi. After an extremely popular and acclaimed release, will the series have managed to keep the expectations created?

Arcane: the first act

Before talking about the past episodes of Arcane, we warn you that if you haven't seen them yet, you might run into spoilers. So in this case, we recommend that you skip this paragraph and maybe retrieve our preview review (which you can find at this link) made at the release of the first act. Having made the necessary premises, let's go back to taking stock of the situation of the series!

The first three episodes of Arcane lay fundamental foundations, especially for those approaching the world of League of Legends for the first time. In fact, in the first images of the series, viewers are directly catapulted into the clash between the two towns that form the background of Arcane: Piltover and Zaun. As you can discover by continuing with the series or by reading the archives of League of Legends, the former is a decidedly affluent urban district, a cultural center that bases its success especially on trade and scientific and technological progress.

Zaun, on the other hand, is the opposite of Piltover, making it a much poorer, extremely polluted and dangerous town. Two sides of the same coin of progress, which sees one prevail over the other, but both need their own counterpart. Due to one of these clashes, the two sisters Vi and Powder become orphans and are taken under the protective wing of Vander, owner of The Last Drop pub and leader of the underground city rebellion.

The two sisters they learn from him how to survive in Zaun, earning a living by stealing tech parts from Piltover. However, one of these hits does not go as expected and, causing an explosion, they trigger a series of events that undermine the precarious balance between the two towns. And while Vander tries to limit the damage, Silco finds a way to instigate the monstrous part in humans through a kind of drug, called Shimmer.

To Piltover, Jayce, the researcher from whom the two sisters have stolen some magic crystals, he clashes with the city council and is ousted from the academy where he studies, as his research has endangered the whole city. However Viktor, an assistant at the academy, finds his research very interesting and decides to help him convince the council to review their position on magic.

Meanwhile, in the underground city Silco and Vander clash after years that their paths had gone their separate ways when the owner of The Last Drop managed to strike a deal with Piltover for peace. Silco then decides to capture and imprison Vander, which will lead Vi, Mylo and Claggor to decide to save him, leaving behind Powder, deemed too small.

The girl, however, picking up some of her explosive devices, follows them thinking of being able to help them: unfortunately for her, things don't go as planned causing yet another explosion in which Vi's two friends are killed. To protect Vi and make her escape, Vander uses Silco's serum, which leads him to make up for his injuries. Due to all these losses, An angry Vi abandons Powder, who is greeted by Silco and his gang, while in Piltover Jayce and Viktor perfect the technology that uses crystals to create Hextechs.

The second act

The second part of Arcane begins its plot a few years after the scientific and magical discoveries of Piltover, who is preparing to celebrate the “Day of Progress”. After Jayce postpones the announcement of the new technologies with the arcane crystals under Heimerdinger's threat, the Hextech laboratory and part of the Piltover academy are destroyed and the refined gems stolen.

The author of this gesture does not is none other than Jinx, or a grown up and mentally unstable Powder, who to impress Silco decides to act on her own, after having clashed with Sevika who considers her only a weak link. To solve the case of this destruction, Agent Caitlyn is on the trail of the only remaining witness, but ends up meeting in the prison where Jinx's sister is held: Vi.

Their collaboration begins to find the principal who takes them to Zaun, while Sheriff Marcus tries to cover it up by blaming the subversive group of Firelights, having a deal with Silco. And as Jinx is reborn leaving Powder altogether in the past, Viktor's illness escalates as he tries to find out more about the runes that control the crystals.

Together with Jayce, they discover that gems react to organic matter and Viktor, convinced that he can thus be cured of his illness, contacts an alchemist in Zaun asking for help in perfecting the Hexcore. And when Jayce becomes Piltover's new head of technological advancement, the balance with the underground city thins and both sides prepare for a fight that is ready to erupt at any moment.

Meanwhile, Vi and Caitlyn continue their research and collide with one of Silco's henchmen: they are forced to flee, but they find Jinx and the two sisters are finally reunited. The reunion soon ends, due to the interruption of the Firelight gang, who attack the three and steal the refined crystal, while kidnapping Caitlyn and Vi.

Arcane: the final act

While the groundwork has been laid in the first six episodes for understanding the origin stories of Jinx and Vi, as well as Caitlyn and Jayce, the final three will help viewers get to know other League of Legends world champions and show the sagging of the equilibrium between Zaun and Piltover. New alliances will be formed and others will be definitively broken, while someone will seek their own salvation by risking their life.

The last act of Arcane therefore promises to be the worthy conclusion of this first exciting season, managing to maintain the expectations created and satisfying all fans, veteran or new. Nothing is left to chance and every little detail is meticulously checked to keep viewers glued to the screen. The narrative rhythm, the songs that accompany the most important moments of the story, everything that surrounds Arcane only completes the experience.

All-round marketing

What if this series doesn't were enough for you, Riot Games has thought of you too: gadgets, collectibles, stories to read to deepen your knowledge on Arcane, there is something for every taste! So much so that the American house has decided to start some collaborations on the occasion of the streaming of the show. In addition to some dedicated events in other Riot games such as Wildrift and Runeterra, other titles have joined the celebrations: Among us, Fortnite and the latest novelty, Magic the Gathering!

Not just online though. The Arcane series has seen several events dedicate around the world. Some shop windows in numerous world cities such as Paris and Singapore have been decorated like those of a Hextech Expo store that is about to open. All the places, however, have been mysteriously vandalized and the inauguration of the fair prevented…

Summing up

There is no doubt therefore that Riot Games really knows how to deal with marketing and that Arcane is the new event series that in a short time has been able to win the hearts of a huge crowd of fans all over the world, including veterans of its video games and new interested followers of the show.

Than watching the last act of Arcane, available from midnight November 20th on Netflix! And happy progress day to you too!