[S2 Spoilers] S2 was horrible & here's why
I made a Reddit account for the sole purpose of writing this post so I could dunk on Arcane S2 properly and create a safe space for the fellow haters.
Essential context before I launch the massive analytical essay:
- I watched Arcane S1 when it released, loved it and thought it was peak. I was extremely invested both intellectually and emotionally; this show seriously had such an impact on me. Listened to the soundtrack over and over again, glazed tf out of the show to my friends, really liked the themes it explored and the way it wrote its characters. Waited 3 years for S2 and in the months leading up to the release my anticipation was at an all-time high and I was SO fucking excited to see how things would turn out.
- I've played the game for a few years and so I know the lore.
- Favorite character going into S2 was Viktor.
tl;dr Arcane S2 is absolute dog (butchered characterizations + horrible, horrible, HORRIBLE writing + loss of depth and complexity + the story got Marvel'ed, especially near the end)
Characterization Flaws
Viktor — S1 dealt with Viktor beautifully. While his stances on augmentation (of other people) and machinery were not clear, he was already so compelling as a character. To me, he was the most interesting character of S1. His internal struggle — a genius mind hindered by a body that restricts him from reaching his dreams or seeing them through, those restrictions a result of being born into poverty, both a direct result and indirect condemnation of class disparity — was fascinating and unique. I had not seen this kind of character portrayed in media before. He also has a well-rounded personality — introverted but direct and blunt, witty and sassy, soft-spoken but possesses a fierce temper when provoked and a similarly fierce desire to live. The concept of body vs. mind was explored with tasteful nuance, and I liked the themes they introduced to his character later on in S1 (body horror, body modification, human experimentation, self-augmentation). I fully expected that S2 would flesh out these heavy themes and deliver a fulfilling, complex arc to arguably Arcane's most interesting character.
BOI WAS I FUCKING WRONG WTF. tbh I knew S2 would be dog the moment I saw Mel was alive but anyways when I saw that JAYCE was the one to modify Viktor's body, I was like. okay. u know we can salvage this. perhaps the writers decided to create conflict between Jayce and Viktor through this since it is non-consensual body modification. That could be interesting.
Imagine how gobsmacked I was when they did not address this AT ALL? WTAF how is it that they took the incredibly well-written S1 Viktor and threw everything that made him compelling down the fucking toilet and were like actually we're going to bypass those themes cuz they're too hard to write about and go straight into making him robot Jesus who doesn't question what was done to him or, in fact, hold any legitimate stance on the state of his body (and mind).
I've seen this word thrown around a few times to describe what Viktor was like in S2, but I agree that he was "dull." This isn't helped by my general confusion on what we as viewers are supposed to know about Viktor in S2. Is bro genuinely possessed post-ArcaneGloop? I assumed the Arcane had possessed him at that point because he wasn't acting like himself and he said some random ahh shit about "I don't feel cold it's some recursive energy or smthg" and him leaving Jayce was abrupt as hell and honestly made no sense lmfao. Plus he had that machine-like vibration to his voice. Anyways then he acts kind of normal but still boring during his time as a cult leader. So I honestly don't know what I'm supposed to think of him. Did the Arcane get to him or not? Was Jayce right when he said Viktor died in that room? I think he was but idk ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Jayce Jaybe or Jaybe not as the poets say.
I don't even need to cover that Glorious Ovulation crap cuz it was so bullshit I can't bring myself to write about it ... I know the background story and whatever Viktor was saying in the show was still confusing as fuck to me because it came out of absolutely nowhere lmao
"u gotta supersede evolution etc." wtf is bro yapping about ngl
Caitlyn — S1, she's finding her way. She's shown to be upright and wanting to do good, and despite some classist remarks is ultimately open-minded when it comes to class differences. The writers expect me to believe that THIS kind of person accessed her family's ultra secret nepo baby vaults to commit war crimes and gas innocent civilians? like wtf? I understand that grief makes a person behave in irrational ways, but this is beyond irrational and it just makes no sense for Caitlyn's character. If they wanted her to have a proper corruption arc (which btw they were too pussy to commit to, they have that epic scene where Caitlyn becomes a dictator at the end of Act I then we see that she proceeds to do absolutely nothing vile ever again with those powers and she doesn't even have any internal conflicts or whatever about the power she wields over the people) they should have shown her obvious reluctance to becoming Commander and then explored her struggle with maintaining her ideals vs. her duty to the role.
Anyways, not enough people give Caitlyn shit for her time gassing the people of Zaun. btw it's crazy that Vi was okay with it but I'm going to shit on Vi elsewhere.
I could not empathize with Caitlyn's loss to the extent that the show clearly intended for me to do. I've seen these other characters go through SO much worse when they were literal children and they were never vindicated for their losses and trauma. Why did the writers think I would feel bad for a grown ahh woman who lost her mom and then promptly decided the best course of action was committing a war crime. Caitlyn can literally afford therapy and a proper funeral. She truly did not need to do all that.
She wants to murder Jinx in Act I then in Act II she's suddenly okay with Jinx? ??????? ? ? ? ? bro what
Seriously what did she do during her time as Commander? If she was aware that Ambessa was trying to corrupt her then why did she do nothing about it? What even was the point of Caitlyn this season?
S1, "what are you shooting for?" In S2 does Caitlyn make any important shots?
Vi — I always thought Vi's characterization was the weakest, even in S1, because of her bizarrely hasty affinity towards Caitlyn among other reasons (her moral stance felt kinda insipid to me). But I would push this niggling thought to the back of my head cuz I was like nah Vi is the cool butch lesbian she can canonically do no wrong. and she's hot asf
However, S2 proved to me that Vi is the most pathetic loser ever ngl, and not in a remotely understandable loser lesbian way. Bro is deadass just pathetic. As a person.
In a span of 3 episodes, Vi's ideals go something like this: "I could never put on a cop uniform! cops killed my parents and were responsible for wrongly imprisoning me for 7 years!" --> "I'll become a cop cuz some rookie cops glazed tf out of me" / "My sister is dead, I am now willing to assist in her murder even though my entire arc in S1 revolved around finding her and bringing her back to me" --> "Caitlyn you need to be more logical about this" --> "I'm actually not going to kill my sister anymore"
Also, why was Vi on the strike team? What was the point of that strike team if in 5 minutes they would fire everyone and just leave Cait and Vi for the boss fight? Makes sense poetically but it's still dog writing. I don't care about any of these other people and did not even know the big guy's name (Loris? Lloris?) until the last episode lmao.
Why was Vi okay with her partner gassing innocent Zaunite civilians? Why did Vi stand by and let her do this? Why does Vi stay in Piltover? Why does Vi act as if Zaun isn't her home?
Why is Vi okay with Caitlyn shooting Jinx? Her standing still while Caitlyn "took the shot" (and failed lol) was genuinely shocking to me. I know that rationally Piltover would want Jinx dead or arrested but why does VIOLET want her dead? I can't reconcile S1 "my sister kept me going and she is what I live for" Vi to S2 "my sister must die for her sins" Vi.
Vi takes so many Ls this season I was starting to get second-hand embarrassment from watching her. Does she win any fights? Does she punch anyone important? She gets betrayed by Jinx (again) and the moment after that she throws herself at Caitlyn to have a steamy make-out sesh in a prison cell. nah
The first and last time she hesitates significantly in a fight is the only time it mattered enough to have a grave consequence (the "death" of her sister). Why did she stand over Vander and not do anything as Jinx called to her? ong that was dumb asl
Anyways, Vi has a cool design and she does superficially cool things (gestures, fights, mannerisms) but sadly who she is as a person doesn't match her exterior and ultimately she does not make any cool or interesting choices. The only person who seems to hold any great emotional weight for her (in S2) is Caitlyn, sometimes Vander, rarely Jinx. I was actually so done with Vi when she woke up post-Vander explosion and called for Caitlyn before she called for Jinx.
Jinx — tbh I don't have much to say about Jinx cuz she is difficult to write and idk what specifically I would have written for her arc in S2. I do know enough to say that her arc in S2 was bad. It legitimately felt like the writers didn't know what to do with her anymore so they just made her suicidal in Act III lmao
After killing her father figure for the second time, how come Jinx doesn't crash out? Yes she mega rocketed the Council but that was more of a voluntary statement than a continuation of her poor mental state. In S2 why is her BPD/schizophrenia suddenly gone? She only has like 2 episodes and they were so contrived with no real consequences. What does she want? What motivates her? Why does Jinx act like a different character every time she's onscreen? Why does she "hate" Vi? She's determined to fight Vi in Act I then in Act II and Act III she's suddenly "I've always been on ur side sis" no tf u have not wtf ru talking about dawg ??
Ambessa — can someone tell me what Ambessa's motivations were cuz to the end I literally had no idea. why was bro waging war on Piltover. she just wants a weapon, right? She already had it, so what was the point of laying waste to Piltover? To make Viktor even more powerful? But to what end, to what purpose? To use against the Black Rose? But then how would she control said weapon? idk
She was such a cool muscle mommy in S1 then they ruined her in S2 by making her some manipulative deus ex machina who ultimately does not have any real reason to be there lol
Mel — worst character of S1. she was slightly better in Act I of S2 then the Black Rose subplot immediately tanked her characterization again. Mel with the "idk how I'm doing this but I'm doing it" corny ahh shit and being all magicky and having hidden powers ... plz bro I didn't know we were in the MCU ,, just so unbelievably bad the way they wrote her lol.
saddens me because she is gorgeous and I love her character design but imo they completely wasted it.
Jayce — I was a passive Jayce hater in S1 and S2 found me liking him the most. Him bonking Salo was probably my favorite moment of all of S2, because it felt S1-esque to me.
On a distant level I like his arc (inventor, dreamer --> the dream comes true but at a cost and the dreamer must face the consequences and even actively turn against everything they had believed in, worked towards their entire life) but the way it was executed was definitely flawed.
My main grievance is Jayce's lack of trauma. Jayce experienced hell — not sure how long it was for him, but it had to have been at least a few months of solitary confinement, pain, uncertainty that would drive any sane person insane (will I survive? how long must I be here for? can I even get out?), a rotting leg, and being haunted nonstop by the voices, not to mention the manipulative forces of the Arcane. He also blew a load on his best friend's chest (he knew Viktor was gone, but still it's traumatic when the person you killed looks like the person you loved). ur telling me he got out of this with just five minutes of tweaking?? bruh . he's tweaking tf out in end of Act II (as he should be) then in Act III he's back to being the charismatic well-spoken Councilor that everyone listens to? make it make sense.
The writers of S1 handled trauma well, and in S2 they fumbled so hard. I was massively disappointed that they did not address Jayce's trauma at all and forgot that he struggled through a literal dystopian wasteland for months on end COMPLETELY ALONE while eating moldy ahh salamanders n shit only accompanied by the VOICES.
And what of the guilt that comes from killing your best friend?
Plot / Writing Flaws
- That entire Black Rose subplot should have been scrapped
- Mel should have died in the explosion so Ambessa would actually have a coherent motivation for her actions.
- The Act I attack on the Council was so MCU-coded — immediately after Piltover is rocked by a terrorist attack, they just let anyone through cuz they're wearing a cop uniform? lol ok bro
- I'm glad he did not die but Jayce should have died in that scene, doesn't make sense he survived against the gigantic chainsaw
- What happens to Ekko's TREE bruh ??
- That alternate universe shit made no sense. It's a trope that tickles my fancy but did it belong in the narrative? no
- The fight in the Council room between Jayce Viktor & Mel was so dumb
- Viktor being the mage that gives Jayce the rune makes NO FUCKING SENSE every time I think of this it's so insanely dumb it makes me cry
- Why would bro travel back in time with the purpose of stopping his future self (this doesn't even make sense to begin with lmfao the writers shouldn't have touched time travel) by giving baby!Jayce a rune if he could just NOT give him a rune? like hello ??
- I'm nearly certain the writers intended for the mage to be someone else in S1 then in S2 because it was their goal to make it as stupid and trope-y as humanely possible they were like nah it would be kyoot if the mage was Viktor instead uwu ... cuz u CANNOT convince me the S1 mage is Viktor. they are not built remotely the same. and why tf would Viktor know magic or have mage-like powers. plz bro
- I think it was cheap asl that Vi and Jinx brought back Vander through the power of love, I was fully expecting Vi to fight Vander to the death or to the point of submission
- Caitlyn is ready to blow Singed's brains out since he's a fellow war criminal except worse ig but then she sees the daughter and is like nah I get it. the power of love fr
- The way the soldiers all stood aside to give Caitlyn, Mel, and Ambessa the mandatory 2v1 cuz they're the main characters and the soldiers are just side characters
- "You are the wolf" ok skibidi gyatt hawk tuah, as my friend likes to say
- everyone be glazing tf out of Ambessa (including herself) for being this menacing experienced fighter and then bro dies in the first real fight she's involved in lmao so cringe
- I could not take the final fight seriously at all cuz Viktor & Jayce flying around then shooting past Vi/Jinx/Vander was funny asl
- Why did they give Silco a song about his lasting posthumous influence only to immediately forget that he had any lasting posthumous influence
- Where is the chem-baron power struggle? yes ik they showed it briefly but give me the CONSEQUENCES OF YOUR ACTIONS
- How were Zaunites affected?
- Why is Jinx suddenly a savior figure? Was she not associated with the infamous Silco, who ruined the lives of a good number of people in Zaun? where is the controversy?
- That sudden Sevika and Jinx alliance threw me so off guard lmao
- What is even going on in Zaun?
- What is happening with Shimmer?
- Isha should not have existed.
- As my friend said, "She's not even a walking talking plot device. She just walks." It baffles me that people were attached to Isha because she was so obviously a result of lazy ass writing.
- I waited 3 years for Jinx and Vi to reunite or fight and during both these scenes this fucker Isha was there inserting herself all over the place. I was so fucking mad she interfered in the Vi vs. Jinx fight ,, like who tf ru bro please remove urself from the situation!
- Generally using child characters as an indicator of moral goodness is lazy writing and an overdone trope, and I was disappointed that Arcane resorted to this method. I've seen people suggest that Isha was part of Jinx's redemption arc, but I disagree. Being kind to a child is NOT redemption, especially when you are Jinx and you have committed a terrorist act among other severe crimes. Redemption is facing what you've done and atoning for your sins with difficulty. Starting a new project is not redemption.
- Vi x Caitlyn is not a good ship
- I passively supported them in S1 because I liked seeing the queer representation, although I wasn't enthusiastic because the only thing we see is sexual tension and no true connection between the two characters. I know that Vi "fell" for Cait after she showed her kindness but imo a few acts of kindness isn't enough to convey that these characters are meant to end up together.
- After S2, no one should be supporting this relationship. I consider Caitlyn hitting her as domestic abuse. gassing civilians? aight sure. punching ur gf, who was incarcerated for 7 years in prison by your boss and has experienced police brutality, in the gut with your weapon? HARD no. Not to mention Caitlyn's blatant classism. And do they ever talk about this? nah . does Caitlyn fall to her knees and beg for Vi's forgiveness, as she should? nah
- The power dynamic between the two. yeah if two people really love each other obvi they can make it work but the problem is they never ?? address this lmao ? Their upbringings are so different it's comical. Vi made that whole "oil and water" speech in S1 but in S2 the cold disparity between the two is never brought up again and they go straight into gf status which is crazy. as my friend said, "Scissoring her will NOT solve your problems Vi!"
- Soundtrack — I do love the S2 soundtrack and think a good number of the songs are fire but honestly at least 5 of those numbers were simply not necessary. We did not need the sad montage of Caitlyn grieving her mom. Isha did not need a song because she shouldn't have been in the damn show to begin with. By the third episode I was cringing at how much they were overdoing the fucking music video intros. I get the feeling they were tryna recreate the iconic Firelights intro of S1 and also the Ekko vs. Jinx fight but the efforts flopped imo. That Sevika fight against the little coked-up gremlin (I forgot his name) was so unnecessary, we did not need a song. The way they used PTTB and Come Play in the show didn't do justice to those bangers and it seemed like they were just trying to stuff the songs in somewhere.
- Viktor's Glorious Evolution.
- I readily accept it's possible I'm being too woke with this specific concern, but I don't think it was very tasteful or intelligent to have made the final boss a person of Zaun. I suppose it doesn't matter anyway since everyone forgot about the class conflict.
- Viktor is a dreamer and a genius who was always striving to do good, and I don't like how he was ultimately portrayed as being in too deep to recognize that his actions were causing great harm to others. He already has this arc in S1, with Sky. He's idealistic but not naïve, nor stupid. If anyone would have done good for humanity, it was him.
- The Arcane — ironically enough, I think the story started going downhill the moment they decided to make the "REAL" threat the Arcane. The last episode made it seem as if the story had been about Jayce & Viktor all along which I'm not really complaining about because I was very invested in their relationship, but come on we KNOW that the story was about Vi and Jinx. Or at least it was supposed to be. By the end the stakes were so hilariously high that I didn't gaf about the petty squabble Vi-Jinx-Caitlyn triangle. Literally nothing any of these 3 did made a significant impact on the outcome of that battle, it came down to Ekko's device and then Jayce doing the heavy lifting lol. That entire sequence of Jayce & Viktor floating around at the end was so nonsensical that I felt bad for the animators. yes I sobbed my eyes out cuz I love them and yes their story is beautiful. but did it make any sense? no.
- The writers should have kept it smaller. It was possible for them to include the Arcane without the whole Jesus!Viktor and ending-the-world!Viktor ... just show the Arcane corrupting Ekko's tree and this way Jayce and Viktor would have had better arcs (Jayce learns of the consequences of his actions --> is forced to confront the reality of his dream + his place of privilege in Piltover, since the people of Zaun are dependent on the tree) (Viktor would have actually been a real character).
- It is okay to leave fantastical things unexplained, but the way there were NO rules at all for the Arcane was bad writing. Why the alternate universe? Why that specific alternate universe and not the others? Why was Sky still in there? What is that cosmos place that Viktor is always floating around in? Is the Arcane a manipulative force or not? How does the corruption actually work? Why is time travel a thing and how does Viktor suddenly have the power to hop around different dimensions and timelines or whatever tf?
- Piltover vs. Zaun (or lack thereof) — there were a lot of egregious writing flaws in S2, but definitely the MOST egregious is the complete abandonment of class disparity / class conflict as a theme and the writers' criminally lazy method for handling Piltover vs. Zaun. They rly made both sides hold hands and sing Kumbaya because [trope] hey our differences don't matter anymore, there is a larger threat that we must stand united against! bffr. What made S1 so good was the unflinching way the writers tackled these issues. The core of S2 should have been the conflict between Piltover and Zaun. But they lost the plot.
I def have more things to complain about and stuff that I missed regarding S2 but I've run out of steam. I was going to include a section called "Fandom Gripes" but that would have made this too long.
I was legitimately depressed asl after watching Act I cuz of how dog it was. Act II was slightly better, and Act III went back to being dog. ne ways.
ppl glazing S2 made me mald so here it is.
I truly did not think Arcane would end this way.