@@shadowgamer4306 It was mainly the last act that made it that way. Too much arcane bs going on. Not to mention Ekko didn't say a single word to Vi the entire season lol.
@@blueflare4139yeah they got along WAY to quickly in the village, the pit fighter montage made it look like vi wants nothing more then to punch Kate in the face, you see her screaming and crying and punching someone because she thought they were Kate for a second, only to then have vi and Kate all buddy buddy again the moment they meet again, that’s bullshit
@@jaysadler2476 another thing I don’t like is the gray, it literally went nowhere, it feels pointless for the story and they didn’t even use it against jinx, and when jinx released the gray into piltover, nothing came out of it, I wrote a whole ass fanfic where the gray was the worst mistake ever made in the show, VI hates herself because the gray orphaned many children and killed many civilians, the use of the gray fuels the fire of rebellion in all of zaun, and storing the gray in the vents of the hexgate caused the gray to get corrupted by the arcane and become sentient, and it becomes arcane’s vision of ZAC from LOL, Over all I feel that the Grey as a plot point was just wasted without any real consequences
For me it felt a bit like some characters were getting yanked from one emotional state to the other and you could see every string being pulled to get them there in a way that wasn't organic. Its one of the reasons that I didn't like Isha's inclusion in the show. You could tell from scene 1 what her purpose and eventual fate was going to be and it can take someone completely out of the story.
Fr, when I was watching 1st act and saw her falling down on Jinx I thought "Gee it's almost like she conviniently falls out of skies onto Jinx to change her life for the better. There's no way they're going to turn her into a plot device, these people wrote the first Season after all". At this moment I considered it nothing but a funny assumption. But by the end of Seasons 2, reflecting on what I just saw, I noticed that she actually is a convinient little plot-device and has no meaning beyond that (which can be proven by writers never mentioning her again in act 3 at all)
@@jonathanjohnson6727 meanwhile fortiche wanted to do 5 more minutes of the cait and vi seggs scene instead of using those minutes for what the actual story needed
Arcane season 2 just left me frustreted. These people are are more then capable of creating an incredible story and it feels like the only thing that went horribly wrong is them attempting to tell too much in too little time. The ideas are good, they just dont get enough build up.
The ending left me empty and that's weird because I loved everything in the first season but the ending of the second season made me say "What is this ,I can't understand anything and for God sake make any thing a little bit more clear instead of leaving me in the fog alone"
Me too! I felt I didnt understand half the things that were going on at the end. I loved the show till they go back in time. But the last two episodes felt weird to me. I wasnt invested as much and I dont know. I felt like they had really good ideas, but I think we would have need more time to understand everything and every character involved . I liked it, but felt empty at the end.
@japaniamanga3191 I just found out that the scene with Echo trying to stop Jinx from blowing herself up was much longer and almost ready but was cut due to a request from Netflix because the episode got too long.
I think 3 more episodes (one per Act) or at least 1 more episode at the end of Act 3 as an epilogue of sorts would've been the cherry on top of Arcane. I wish we could've seen the state of Piltover & Zaun after the show, more of what the characters are up to after the ending (Mel, Singed, Vi & Cait, WW, etc.) and and also the state of the world, maybe even teasing some of the other champions who never appeared on the show (Renata, Camille, etc.). Considering they had 9 episodes only I'd say they did a masterful job at wrapping up the character's stories though, they cooked with what they had and they cooked an amazing dish. Even if it wasn't truly perfect, remember what Jayce said about imperfections.
More episodes were needed. Caitlin betraying Ambassa also happened too quick and it didnt really make sense. And I thought just too much back and forth with Jinx and Vi. I honestly wouldn't have minded if the show had them barely involved for an entire act and focused on Jayce and Victor more. Those two ended up being the better story this season. Also, how did Isha die exactly, and why did Vander have lava coming out of him? A lot of things kind of just happened and they didnt explain things because it felt like they needed to get to the next story beat.
While we all can debate how much time was needed to properly tell the S2 story (personally I'm on the far extreme that believe S2 had enough material that it could've been split into 3 seasons and not feel slow), what's not debatable is that it DID need more time. I think part of the problem, and I posted this on a couple other videos, might be related to a major S1 writer named Ash Brannon--who also wrote and co-directed Toy Story 2--being unavailable for S2 due to other projects. He apparently helped Linke and Yee nail down the S1 story for over a year and was given writing credit for all 9 episodes. He also directly wrote The Base Violence Necessary for Change. Now there's no way to know for sure how much of an effect this had, but I wouldn't be surprised if the absence of an experienced and talented writer like Brannon played a role in the rushed storyline that many felt.
I doubt ONE missing writer can cause this. Most of the things that went wrong with this season felt like the most basic writing mistakes, time constraints, poor time management and failure to grasp why people liked the first season. I suspect Riot was rushing the production because of budget and time problems. They probably wanted to wrap this up quickly so they can make other shows
@@lukasimundza7741 I mean we’ll never know. From what I gather there were only 5ish writers on S1, so if you remove the most experienced and talented, there’s likely going to be a a drop in quality. Again we’ll never know for sure, but it’s something to consider.
I feel like this season suffered from stuff being cut like the final being originally 1 he 30 mins still loved the season tho just wish we got more time
This season had a lot of good things in it, but it definitely did not hit the same as the first. They jampacked it with a lot of cool stuff, but it wasn’t as poignant. I can appreciate the craftsmanship though.
Writers bit off more than they can chew and gradually lost the plot as they attempted to cram more and more stakes on top of each other, forgetting what made the first season so acclaimed.
I'd agree on most except Isha which I found the most off-putting part of the show. It was a very ham-fisted addition, and horribly underdeveloped - a sort of non-character intended only to pull some emotional strings that had already been pulled much better and more naturally in S1. I also find her death... disturbing but not in a tragic way, like Jinx's story was. Powder had no idea what she was doing, she was innocent with good intentions which is what makes it tragic - likewise Jinx's sacrifice at the end is just that - a poetic sacrifice (or not totally sacrificial, depending on what you think) Isha by contrast, is a child who cult-worships, idolises, even imitates Jinx (in a somewhat creepy way) and then is willing to essentially suicide-bomb herself, for her idol. I'm not sure what the creators were trying to get at, but that is neither tragic nor heroic - it's messed up, icky and a bit... eugh... when you actually stop to think about what it is.
Dude Jinx is like her mom/older sister and actually good addition to the story. The first scene we see of Jinx this season is her trying to drown herself after throwing Silco into the water. Isha is Jinx’s lifeline if gives her meaning purpose after Silco’s death without Isha Jinx is lost. And that is why her death is so important and tragic because when Isha died so did Jinx and what came back was a broken powder. But yeah there is my two cents.
Problem was the story got too big. End of times/saving the world stuff isn't something you can rush into. I would have had Jinx and Vi playing cat and mouse the whole season with Caitlin coming to terms with avenging her mother vs understanding Vi's connection to Jinx, and then through Warwick in about Episode 3 or 4 and have the rest of the season be about him hunting them, them learning who he is and then them hunting him. Trying to fix or redeem Vander from Warwick might be nice in Arcane land but it really doesn't respect Warwick as his own character from the games. (What made season 1 work was everyone was a little different but mostly the same, Warwick playing nice isn't Warwick, he's a tragic character and needed a more tragic storyline). Viktors transformation should have been less benevolent from the beginning. He's a mad man who kidnaps people and takes away their free will by turning them into machines. They only got him there about the end of the season and it was in a big "the world will end" kind of way instead of a small contained terror which is what he is. Should have been Jace having to say good by to his friend and having to put an end to him. Again, story got too big. I honestly think Ekko was handled great, his story was small and contained to his character, only issue was he had the smallest role to play this season. Then again, who am I to complain. I don't know how to write scripts or animate. Just my personal ideas of what would have made the season feel less saturated
I like all those ideas. And yeah just because we can't write scripts or animate doesn't mean we can't point out when something doesn't quite work. Personally I think people should bring up constructive criticism in film, helps makes storytelling better.
@@rawdasalmataman7908his episode was pretty much entirely self-contained and his entire role boiled down to just punching victor in the face at the end and that’s it for the most part.
@theeslippy4167 what do you mean his episode was "self contained"? The "punching viktor in the face" saved everybody like it's not some small role although yes I agree I wanted more screentime for him because he is my favourite but I am satisfied with his scenes for now and I am happy he got to be the hero and save everyone. Currently I am feeling pretty hopeful for his character since the creator confirmed him,jinx and Mel 's stories aren't complete and they will appear in the spin offs.
For a show to spend one and a third of a season to build up to Zaun VS Piltover war and deliver nothing was extremely anticlimactic. There could've been a whole season centered around it between act 1 and 2. Instead we got a fairly out of nowhere Warwick drama, Vi and Caitlyn flipfloping in their ideology every episode without rhyme or reason, Black rose being a nothing burger, and everything just rushed out of the door. All of this should've been explored and expanded in an extra season.
i was confused for sooo much of the time because I just didn't understand what the hell was going on hahaha, especially the black rose stuff ... but overall really enjoyed it nevertheless. looks like they'll produce another series focusing on the other regions and i'm super excited for that!
The rushed pacing is but a symptom of a larger problem. Basically Season 2 left aside what made Season 1 so great while trying to do a lot of other things nobody asked for. Substance and masterful character writing and worldbuilding replaced by spectacle, cheap surprises and LoL fanservice.
They also butchered everything related to already established things in S1. Like if Silco did knew Vi and Powder daughters why would he attempt to kill them and not talk them down to turn their back on Vander? Or the most irritating thing in this whole Season being that in S1 finale Jinx made a tough, hard choice and finally merged with Jinx persona completely. Yet in S2 a few episodes later after beginning she says: "Jinx is dead." Like wtf? Who are you now then? And am I really supposed to believe in this type of "character development" when it contradicts the path she was set on in the S1 finale? This seasons is crawling with inconsistencies and contadictions, absolutely terrible writing
@aaltuxov Both Vi and Jinx got sidelined in their own series by a werewolf, a robotic army and a lot of other things that never got fully explained. That hurts.
@@titoleon3101 *Sigh* That's true, and it's really pity it is the way it is. They should've focused on the story of the two cities and the story of the two siblings. But we got... something
Something that I really notice by the end, Piltover caused this war and the Zaunites had to pay for it more. Every Piltover character got a decent or satisfying conclusion. But then there’s Ekko and Jinx who lose the most out of anyone. Jinx became a terrorist and the plot brought her to her knees Caitlyn became a terrorist and Vi got on her knees 💀
i totally get why they went for the pacing they did but it lost a lot of what made season 1 such a breath of fresh air and groundbreaking, people saying there wasn't enough time isn't being greedy it's literally a fact when there were things very much skipped over in favor of moving the plot, which is a shame!
lots of character development and motivations were difficult to understand because it was so fast paced. there's the scene where vi is telling caitlyn in the first act that they need to pull out the other members of their force because jinx would keep messing with them emotionlly. but that was after one instance of jinx spooking them. like last time vi and cait saw jinx she was grieving and clearly in pain, that's a pretty quick turn around for vi to take
I'm glad that although it certainly wasn't as good as the (basically) perfect season 1, it was still a great season overall. I think it, really, just needed a few more episodes to tell the story at a slower pace. Still absolutely love it, and I'm so glad it didn't somehow "ruin" season 1 in retrospect, we still have peak television, and the decent sequel to it.
5:38 i originally thought that it was stupid how one person's death can trigger sooooo much change in a broken city like zaun within like 3-4 years, but i realized that that's not really the point. The point was to show Ekko a new perspective on everything, and especially a new perspective on Jinx. How i see it, after seeing how just one change in this universe was enough to completely alter events, he realized that such a feat can be applicable anywhere and everywhere, and that is why he decided to actually start believing in HIS Jinx again after losing his faith in her.
I'll be far less charitable. The reality is that this isn't just a step down from season 1 this is a disaster on level of final season of GoT, the difference being that season 1 thankfully works as a full package. The characters were obliterated, none of them make any goddamn sense besides Rictus, Singed and bloody Smeech. The plot moves at breakneck pace and the animation rarely serves to enhance the story (which is a shame as it's still incredible). Thematic through line is at odds with season 1 and any sense of grounded world are obliterated. Mark my words this season will age like a jar of piss
Real 😭 I feel like I’m going crazy with so many people praising this. It’s spectacle over storytelling and spectacle will loose its shine after a few years, than hopefully people will realize this is a travesty.
Nope I think this season will age pretty well because yeah sure Arcane season 2 had it’s issues but overall it is absolutely fantastic once you look at the little things in terms of the writing for example I hear a lot complain how they should have focused more on the class war between Zaun and Piltover although they did just not in the way most people except. Because the struggle was continued but in a more symbolic and less you know big battle way. For Example the Episode 3 fight between is Caitlyn, Vi, Jinx, and Sevika is the battle between Zaun and Piltover. They serve as the icons of their respective parties and represent the conflict between Piltover and Zaun in a way that may be hard notice the first watch but once you look at things a bit more closely you start understand trust me. Because yeah the season is very fast paced you can miss out on a lot your first go around but once you start paying attention you will notice somethings. Like for example you bring up the point that Character don’t sense well I beg to differ the actions the characters make plenty of sense Caitlyn anger and grief less her into a downward spiral of rage we she eventually turns her back on the one she loves because of her own hatred towards her sister. Yet over time regrets here decision due to love she had for Vi and after to seeing Vander Isha and Vi and Jinx she starts to regret her actions. Jinx fears around herself leads her to almost kill herself after “burying” Silco. Yet as the episode progresses we meet Isha who is very important for Jinx’s arc in this season which Jinx is learning how to become a leader. Now I know that how sounds but just think it about for a second do you remember Sevika invited Jinx to that rally yet declines saying that she was no longer Jinx yet when Isha gets captured she preforms a stealth operation into Stillwater to rescue her where she meets the Jinxers for the first time (but yeah that hand on shoulder sense is so cool once you understand the importance of it). Isha helps Jinx grow as a person and leader which all leads up to final episode she leads where she leads Zaun as one united force Jinx character arc is season 2 is her learning how to become a symbol of more of than destruction but as a symbol of hope and unity among Zaun. But season 2 Arcane is so good once you actually start to look deeper into the season and start to understand what it is trying to do. Now is it perfect no absolutely the pacing definitely could have been better but the visuals and storytelling is so well done and I think people who are complaining about the show were not paying attention to the what the story was telling people in more a subtle manner.
@iainheffel7855 Look, "show don't tell" is a good rule, but you can't "symbolism" your way through a plot point as important as Piltover vs Zaun. You can't point at a fight between 3 characters and whatnot and say that's all you need
@Quinn-he3vnOf course not, that is not the point I’m trying to make here. Rather I’m explaining what it is the creator of Arcane did to represent the conflict and keep the themes that first season made 1 as more of a focus on the character rather than on scale like the first season did. Season 1 of Arcane did a fantastic job in displaying scale of the conflict between Piltover and Zaun displaying the key differences between the different cities through the usage of colour character, design, dialogue and other factors that made the cities seem uncompromising that they could never find unity in the face of greater threat because they are just too different. Season 2 Challenges that notion through character; the conflict between Piltover and Zaun becomes less about the scale and more about the individual characters. The show focused less on the character being a part of the environment and became more of a representation of the environment. The fight scene in the tunnels is not the only scene that does this a lot of act 2 does this with Vi and Jinx’s storyline as well and it works out not too terribly with the ending of the show. Of course it is not perfect I’m on your side of wanting more for the class conflict but I don’t how they could have done it without it either dragging on or feeling like season 1 all over again which is having like an 3 episode would have been good although it would be a matter on where to place them. But yeah I think major problem Arcane season 2 is this it was too ambitious it had a lot on its plate developing different story’s and dynamics that it needed more time to do and I think season 1 ending did not help that the Hexcore, Ambessa motives there was a lot that could wrong for what they had and unfortunately a lot did go wrong does make it bad no Arcane season 2 is not a bad work of fiction far from it just flawed it certain details should have been expanded on certainly new doubt but overall the emotional weight that Arcane season 2 left was heavy the ending for me left a bittersweet feeling sure they were things I wished were closed or discussed or done better. The Black Rose did feel like a weird arc although I do like they left it open ended because we are getting more shows after Arcane. Which means that sure it not exactly how I wanted it to be I’m not overly happy about how it all went but that does mean I still can’t appreciate for all that it got right. Arcane is a masterpiece in storytelling visually and dialogue but no masterpiece is without its flaws. There have been plenty of great shows, video games, and movies with annoying flaws and things that can make it lose its shine. But the reason we like them is not because we are always looking for the flaws they are simply there and they may take some of the lustre but a gem is still a gem even if the shine is less bright. I disagree with Op sentiment that this season will “age like a jar of piss” we cannot truly say what will will happen like seriously I rewatched the Star Wars prequels recently and they are terrible the writing is chunky and awkward the pacing can jump from tedious to insanely in all aspects they are not good films the only redeeming quality is the action yet people still love them. Wanting something to fail because you did not like it personally like it is so petty I find. It's alright to dislike something. Believe me I have been through this before on both sides and I’m tired of it. Let people enjoy stop trying to say something is bad because you personally didn’t like it. I hate the people who do nothing but complain about something when it is bad because yes some things are just in others the more you pull the scab the worse it gets. The reason I clicked on this video and watched all the way through is because the guy who made it cares about Arcane and who understands that sure it is not perfect but that does not mean I don’t love it. but yeah art is not made to pick a part to find every little problem with it you can be critical of absolutely something but don’t try to ruin your enjoyment of it. Because personally the only time I notice the flaws in something is when I go looking for it. (lol you have no idea how cathartic this I have been trying to write an essay for school for past four days with a headache this made me feel so good)
Definitely need an act 4 i think the season 1 format didnt work for a story this large an extra 3 episode probably wouldve tied up the piltover/zaun story nicely and have enough time to setup the next series which is seemingly noxus
I absolutely adored Season 1 with its grounded characters, social themes, its non-obvious good/evil conflicts and its emotional beats. Season 2 on the other hand left me confused and wondering what and why things are happening about 80% of the time. Heck even some of the fight scenes left me confused and disoriented with the hyperstylised editing. Season 2 even ramped up the magical/fantastical aspect where it was more peripheral in S1 leading to an anything-goes feeling to story because almost anything can explained away with magic.
@@KarminsLynn Exactly. At least Hextech existed on the edge of science in S1, but in S2 it suffers from the 'black goo trope'. An undefined substance that can be whatever writers need it to be at the moment. Energy source, weapon, consciousness-expanding drug, time-travel device, hyper-travel portal. Automatically everything becomes weightless because nothing has consequences anymore, not even death itself.
I do love the way you can get so much from the show in so little time. Its almost every day I see a new video highlighting something I've somehow missed in my 4 viewings of the series. I don't think I've thought about a show as much as Arcane.
Pacing isn't the only issue, the quality of writing went way down, not only was everything happening way too fast with entire plotlines contained within music videos, what was happening wasn't making sense, none of the new characters ended up meaning anything, that's Arcane season 2's failure
The only thing I down right didn’t like at all was the Viktor and Jayce plot. So many contrivances to get them to that show down episode 9. Jayce wasn’t even Jayce till the final bit. So many actions of him felt they weren’t character but plot based. It was presented well but the story with them when you think about it is just confusing for no character reason.
Involving multiple timelines, multiverses and paradoxes ALWAYS causes nonsensical problems. In my opinion it almost never works and just makes things silly and/or disappointing. Jayce and Viktor and their friendship is all that’s propping up that multi-dimension mess and making it tolerable. I really wish all writers would take a break from this weak and convoluted plot device.
season 2 barely featured zaun, like wtf happened to the whole zaun vs piltower war? also what happened to all the shimmer? did it just vanish now that silco died? in the process of gaslighting myself into believing season 2 isnt canon because its such a mess.
Yep the whole plot of arcane got replaced, just so random, I don't hate season 2 but don't like it either, just watched it to tick the box of watch list that's it
When you realize Viktor losing means everyone goes to eventually create League of Legends, and you wonder if Future Viktor’s choice to stop himself might’ve been a little hasty…
I don't think we needed three more episodes I think we just needed to cut some superfluous plotlines. Noxus, Black Rose, even Warwick to an extent didn't go anywhere meaningful enough to be worth including in this story and meanwhile Viktor's descent into villainy and the Piltover/Zaun conflict didn't get nearly enough time to develop and satisfyingly conclude
I felt like Caitlin bit the short end of the stick when it came to this Season. You’ve got 3 episodes of awesomeness and then a time skip with a bunch of missed character development, then 2 episodes of awesome progression and then Caitlin suddenly becomes a plot device and hollow romance for Vi just so they can reach the end. I see loads of people joking about it or praising it blindly, but it made me feel hollow when it came to her sex scene with Vi… like this was just another one of Vi’s heartbroken hallucinations. There’s also the fact that they use Caitlin as an excuse to streamline the final verbal confrontation between Mel and Ambessa, which I felt was such a shame leading into Ambessa’s death and Mel’s betrayal of the Black Rose.
I wished each episodes were at least 1 hour long. 40 mins was peak Cinema but some things felt rushed. They got the emotions right and me having watched arcane when it came out 3 years ago as well as playing lol and knowing these characters probably heightened them. But we definitely needed more time with the characters.
Just finished watching it at 2:18 am and I honestly should’ve stopped at episode 8 and saved the last episode for the next day. Finale didn’t hit as hard is it should’ve because I was still processing what had happened on episode 8 lol
Watched the ENTIRE show in 24 hours. I don't know if that was the best or worst decision being my first time watching. While I understood most of it, by the end of season two I was in two different places thinking about what was even happening.
had to stop watching after episode 6. the quality fell off a cliff, a random little girl used as a plot device twice, vi easily defeating ambessa and getting away, vi and jinx are just randomly all good. i gave season 1 9/10 but this season is literally a 6/10
I had some issues with it too, but there were like 3 characters that had no voice lines. Warwick didn't speak at all and barely did nothing, he felt so rushed. Then there's blue vastayan fish boi, then that little Jinx girl. I'm fine with characters not speaking, but 3? And Warwick had so much more potential, just to say nothing.
Focusing on bringing Jinx back from the edge and having her still sacrifice herself felt like such a step backwards. Same with Vi who says that every choice she makes is wrong and she loses everyone only to reinforce her words the next episode
Well i think the jinx thing is dfferent before she was trying to end things out of guilt, but sacrificing herself to save vi is a entirely different thing. Nothing wouldve come out of her ending things at the start or the ep, but her sacrafice at the end of the ep wouldve ment something because she did it to perserve a life instead of trying to end 2 for no reason. Its about her mindset not the action. Not to mention its partly her fault vander ended up like this anyways, i feel it was her sorta trying to make right with what shes done the best she could, she probably knew she wouldnt be able to stay in piltover and vi wouldn't be able to move on with her there. "im always with you, even if were worlds apart" i really saw that as her saying even if she is "dead" or whats more likely left piltover she and vi would still always be together, kinda like telling vi she will be okay and to live on and be happy.
@@pugisherpug4366 If she lives it’s a fake out death (lame) and if they decide to retcon that and she’s actually dead they literally just had Ekko save her so she could die for the plot. Both are dumb for me idk 😭
@@lumilvr I think the big reason it would be considered lame is it impedes on giving vi an arc and really choice in the finale. Her knowing jinx lived and letting go would be big for her character. I think the show shouldn’t have made it or Jayce and Viktor’s “deaths” up in the air. Just telling us she lived but faked her death being a terrorist and left all the narratives surrounding her in p and z it would be fine. It’s the fake out with the audience that is the biggest issue. Not the context of it but the framing.
Yeah, my wife and I were a little befuddled at the end of the second season. The first was amazing and seemed only to get moreso on each rewatch. Season 2 had some great stuff and got me excited often, but it seemed to cut that excitement or intrigue short often. I lay in bed just thinking about it that night, trying to figure out what was wrong, which storyline didn't work. I realized they were all great, but it was too much. I wouldn't want to lose any of it. I finally figured out (IMO) that the biggest issue was the Viktor/end of the world plot. CAREFUL OF SPOILERS GOING FORWARD... That seems like such a huge part of the season and is the entire cause of the finale, but it sucked so much air out of the room, none of the rest of the plots or characters had time to breath or be developed like they were in the first season. Looking at that Viktor plot, one of the biggest pay-offs is supposed to be the Jayce and Viktor connection. Going back to Jayce's childhood and reinforcing their bond. However, there was such little time developing that in this season that it failed to hit very strong. It also wasn't a real character motivating thing for any of the other characters. They all came together because no one wanted to die, but that seemed to cut off the progression of their individual and group arcs. Think of it, if Viktor stayed in his cocoon this whole season, we would have been able to focus on the topside/undercity conflict weaving successfully the Ambessa manipulation and involvement. We would have been able to explore the Vi/Jink fallout, the Caitllyn reaction, the undercity revolution, even the return of Vander. Once Vander became a techno-drone that whole storyline felt pointless. They almost gave up trying to resolve it. It was just "He's lost and it makes us sad, but no time to think about it, got to save the world from ending." Move Viktor's whole thing to a third season, tease it by having him come out and leave towards the end of the third act, then the last scene is him healing the wretches in the Undercity, teasing a big change for the final story. Those are just some of my thoughts so far.
Definition of a let down. The whole story is full of holes and its just confusing, for example they go from finding vander to healing vander to killing viktor but not killing him to transforming vander. Whats black rose and how did actually ambessa die like its cool that somethings happening but WHAT THE FUCK IS HAPPENING??? It would be cool if we could get aome info now but we cant so its like watching a random seasson of some random show bcs the characters have a soul but the story doesnt.
I am in general agreement. What I found remarkable about Arcane is how efficient, concise yet effective its storytelling is. Every scene adds to the story and is connected to the central themes and threads. Via microexpressions, short but sharp dialogue, music and cinematic framing it tells what it needs the audience to know in a few seconds. It never has to use more scenes to explain and flesh out every little thing cause that is not what the story needs. It is lean yet full and powerful. Yet considering how much more dense Season Two is with how many themes, plots and arcs it had to carry over and wrap up from S1 and what was introduced, it was inevitable they had to lean very hard into the efficiency of editing and storytelling in order to wrap things up in nine episodes. It needed at 2 - 3 more episodes total. In order to give the plot and arcs time to breathe. To allow us watchers to digest such powerful stuff, to at least better explore some of the subplots and themes like Zaun's failed uprisings and Pitfighter Vi or Dictator Cait's struggles. Ultimately I feel this season was a tad overstuffed without the runtime to accommodate it. It left it feeling more plot-driven as a result even when the characters are the ones driving things. Ultimately however given their self-imposed limit of keeping this show within a two seasons of eighteen episode, they did a masterful job.
I enjoyed my watch but I felt like I was being dragged at 100 mph. I think it needed another 2-3 more ep and I think it would have gone from good to damn near flawless
For me the things that are missing because "it was rushed" are places where rewatches with attention to smaller details and rethinking different meanings in conversations is given elbow room. Even dialog I initially thought was crap gets better with time and exposure.
i feel like we needed more flashbacks with silco. plus him knowing vi and jinx's mom, at least knowing she had kids, felt like a retcon. and for the life of me, i could not understand what purpose mel had this season. she gets these powers out of nowhere, and the black rose doesn't have anything to do with the final conflict.
Agree we went from family issues between jinx and vi and discrimination in people zaun and piltover to freaking saving the world from a villain trying to destroy the world and a forced hero and character change and characters just appearing for plot then die and no one cares lol, I don't hate the season 2 per say but I definitely don't love it or like it either just watched it to take it off my list of series to finish, hope whatever next they follow the steps of season 1 and let the characters build the world not the other way around
i loved season 1 and the only complaint that i had about it was that they had to make the characters not talk and constantly get yanked away from meaningful conversations in order to get jinx to the point shes at at the end of the season, i was exited for season 2 because now that they dont have to tell a whole story in one season they will actually be able to show the characters talk and reunite the way they should've in the water tower scene in s1.. nope, there is no reunion between jinx and vi, vi just randomly switches side every 10 seconds to further the plot while jinxs only reason for getting over her insanity is a little plot device disguised as a girl that kills her self in 4 episodes, i thought that the only mistake that they could make was that 1 small mistake in season 1 and that they would fix it in season 2, but instead they decided to make the whole season one giant mistake :(
It certainly was way too rushed, but imho I dont even think s2 plot was good to begin with. It was completely different genre than s1 and not something people might have evpected. S1 was character heavy, s2 was action packed Marvel-like, in a bad way.
Watching the season, I felt a lot of story beats could’ve been the ending of an episode 22 Tv episode. but because we have 9 40 minute episodes we have to cut back to something else. The pace stayed elevated all the time
I feel like Ekko's episode should have been a stand alone episode of sorts, where it didn't take up a precious spot in act 3. The episode by itself is amazing, as it is completely focused on one subject, but leaves only two episodes left to conclude everything in the end.
Yeah, I enjoyed watching episode 7, but the whole time, I'm thinking, "you don't have time for this, guys." The show really needed more to connect the end of episode 6 to the beginning of episode 8.
Wanna be different plus gotta pay the rent, even if it's a show amazing as arcane they'll find one flaw on it to vandalize and people would be automatically drawn to it as it stands out. That's how scarcity works
Like one thing that came as a surprise to me was Vi ? Vi in season 1 was all about why don’t we fight the upper people or whatever, and then she got out of prison 🤷🏽♀️and completely forgot about that
I feel like they didn't bother with Vi this season. All her thoughts, morals and pain is just brushed off and her charachter feels so bland this season. Idk how to explain but I feel like we needed more scenes regarding her. We dont knew wtf is going on in her head and what she thinks about things around her. She is my fav caharachter so seeing her brushed off to the side like this makes me angry.
I hope they continue to develop multi-season stories with time to breathe after s2. The Ori and Swain teasers are probably a hint, and agreed on the Jinx theory - personally hoping to see Bilgewater sometime (always love thalassaphobic terrors)
I still don’t quite understand the side story about black rose and why Ambessa recruited Singed and Cait was fine with it. Then all of a sudden she formed an alliance with Victor and stood against everyone, then died in vain.
By the end of Act 2, I was hoping that they would leave a lot of loose ends and resolve stories in future projects. My fear was that they would try to do too much in act 3. It wasn't terrible, but man did it feel rushed.
It seemed rushed compared to Arcane Season 1. And that the things just quickly happen from scene to scene Even for someone who doesn't play League nor know the Lore of the game, it seems disconnected and rushed. Me and my gf, who never played league nor care about the lore, rewatched Season 1 days before Season 2 came out and our first impression of Act 1 is that everything was hella rushed. The events were happening inside music videos, gimme a break. However the animation and the story behind was very impressive.
finally, a good review video and criticism for s2. every other one i’ve seen has been negative and the person only complaining. i couldn’t even watch their video lol. yours is truly refreshing! also, conflicting opinions aside and everything. we all wished we could’ve had more time with these characters. which is sad we didn’t get, but i think this is where arcane succeeds. they made these characters so interesting, flawed, and realistic. which makes the audience loves them so much and wants more of them.
So many big things in episode 8 and 9 to try and get over and its a surprise it wasn’t an absolute trainwreck but even I felt the sense of dread when I was blown away by episode 7 being so character focused, a neat and cute study of who ekko is (even though theres still more they could do with him) episodes 8 and 9 like you said don’t linger on super important stuff. Jinx literally about to end it all, ekko saving her life, and going into the war all new and less depressed. All this skipped over right after we have a whole episode of him understanding himself just felt so…dirty. the piltover and zaun confilcts being silent and not much progress really made at all between either city, mel becoming this kind of god. (Hot take but black rose coulda been minigated or dumped for other stuff cuz a lot of it just feels like noxus setup). These massive things that all end up with the series going “well time for a new path” its so weird man Ps: this sucks for vi, I read the writers deadass said “jinx needs to abandon her sister or die for the yuri ship to happen. Thats so stupid it just put me at a loss for words
From my POV considering how good the storytelling Arcane is the rush ending is not a problem. Because there are more story to the key character in the Runeterra and Arcane is just a part of the story. RIOT already change a lot of LoL Lore in the making of Arcane and wrapping everything up in a single series is just impossible. Its like puting End Game in Captain America. So please understand people.
Re-playability; ever heard of it? That said, that doesn't ameliorate the issue of timing. I believe that really the "pacing" was the issue you've tried to elucidate.
I feel like they should have had at least one more season. Keep Jinx becoming a revolutionary and Caitlyn becoming a dictator in Season 2 and save Viktor becoming the Machine Herald and Vander becoming Warwick for Season 3.
this season was rushed. It still perfect but well said. Impactful moments needed more time to linger. this feels like it should have been 12 episodes honestly
Personally, it wasn't as rushed as some peoply said it was. It perfectly tied up everything for our characters. The only real rushed part of it imo was the noticeable absence of the Chembarons in the war against Ambessa. Even for Piltover's Council, despite not doing much, they were STILL present in the battle, you can actually see them. Meanwhile, the only person acknowledged within Zaun during the conflict was Sevika. My headcanon is that the Chembarons got taken out after Caitlyn occupied Zaun during her crusade against Jinx, but even then, it wasn't mentioned. Said mention wouldn't even take long too, just drop it off on a conversation between Cait and Maddiea or even Cait and Ambessa, or Sevika And Jinx. This series always had a fast feel to it, and even tho it did ramp up in this final season, it wasn't to the detriment of the show, like so many people claim. But idk, i guess its cuz im viewing it through the lens of someone who KNOWS that this is meant to be the final season for this show, but at the same time, knowing that it ISN'T the last time we'll see these characters. Another thing that kinda bummed some people out was some of the more out there stuff with Jayce and Viktor, particularly with the final showdown between them, saying that they like the more "grounded" feel but like... it was super obvious that they were going this route??? Like, off rip, in the first season, we already knew that some weird shit was gonna happen with Viktor and the Arcane, and for this season, the fact that they were able to cohesively tie that all together is an accomplishment in and of itself. Like some say that they got lost in the sauce for the last two episodes, but cmon man, the shit with Jayce and Viktor??? Ts was peak. Peak character writing. Ekko's characterization in episode 7??? Peak character writing. Whole situation of that episode was to change how he sees things, and it perfectly worked. And for the jinx and vi situation, although it isn't fully resolved, idk what most people's expectations are, but me personally just seeing Vi and Jinx back together side by side isn't possible cuz despite everything that's happened, the public isn't just going to forget about her crimes. I didn't expect the fakeout death, its sucks, but it still ended up going to basically the same conclusion i had with her character. Idk how to explain it, but it just wasn't as rushed as some people say it is. You want rushed, look at jjk. Besides that, the only thing i trult did not like was Isha. She was obviously nothing more than a plot device to further Jinx's character, her whole existence is tied to her. Don't really like that, since she's not even a real person, just a dumb trope (little kid lightens up the bad guys heart) it was obvious she was gonna die. Contrast that with the background characters who had their time to shine, they KNEW what they were. Background characters. They didn't hide who they were. Love that detail since it brings out more to the world. Cuz irl, the "main" characters aren't the only ones who gets their time to shine. Ordinary people are capable of such things as well. Look at the time they showed for the blue fish guy cop, Loris, and that one new army kid who fired the cannon at the fake Egg thing. All just oridinary people who pitched in to help. This is explicitly shown in the aid of oridnsry Zaunite folk in the battle. But yeah, overall a great ending to a great show. It's actually better than season 1 to my surprise.
In all fairness I think following up the majesty that the first season of arcane was incredibly hard, season 2 of arcane would've been the best season of many other shows
I will tell you what happened. Riot Games did not pay enough attention to their IP this season as they did in first season and 4 of the best writers where not writers in S2 So netfux did what netfux always does when left it its own devices with an IP and fucked it up!
Vi and Caitlyn making out while Jinx is suicidal and Vi saying "I don't care" alienated the entire rest of the show.... Jinx, Ekko and Vi were played dirty in S2... Vi and Ekko didn't even spoke 1 word to each other in S2, let that sink in... this is certified GOT S8 2.0 for me... Arcane s1: 9.5/10 Arcane s2: 6/10
What bothered me most was that there was no romantic relationship for heterosexuals that had two people of the same race. Asian prefers asian, white prefers white and black prefer black. And almost all of humanity is heterosexual. But for some reason, in piltover etc., everyone is either same race and homosexual or it is interracial. As if the creators wanted to follow a certain agenda.
Season two is an awful season! Mostly because the main characters have all these supernatural powers, for some reason! And they brought back characters with heartbreaking death scenes back for some unknown reason!
Arcane Season 2 definitely felt rushed. However that ending killed me. WHERE IS THE RESOLUTION WITH THE CHARACTERS? IT JUST LEAVES US THERE? 😠😩 I still love the show tho. Great video analysis. I extremely agree with your takes. How rushed season 2 was still isn't as bad as how rushed Cyberpunk Edgerunners was. 😂
Officially Jinx is not Dead her fate is unknown same for Warwick and Heimerdinger. Unlike Jayce,Victor and Ambessa who are officially Dead. The Creators left Jinx unknown because of the last couple scenes where they hint Jinx could have survived, and left it open. During the Afterglow Watch Party the Creators were asked if Jinx die, They all had bad Poker faces, including Ella Purnell who voiced Jinx. The Question was Jinx not Powder from the alternate reality, she is certainly ALIVE. Well Ella cracked first hiding behind her question card then Alex and Christian said the cliche line when you know the character is actually Alive but they so want to wait until it is revealed later, Well, maybe,don't know, Leaving it open. Was what they said. I've heard this question so many times with other popular character seemly sacrificing themselves only to be revealed they are in fact ALIVE later to hype everyone up. They John Wick'd Jinx. She escaped and was on that airship....maybe "wink" regardless officially she is not dead but Jayce and Victor are dead.
It's a shame lots of great stories end up rushing themselves off the cliff.... I remember your great reviews about AoT. You and I both could not comprehend how they ended AoT (and GOT). At least.... The ending of Arcane was fine, but still needed more time.
Jayes i hate him man he cause all the problems victor was desided to heal people and make great environment without thinking about removing feelings about humanity but jayce destroy him when he was trying to help vandar i think jayce relize that he can’t deafte victor by force that why he gave up in the end and decided to sacrifice himself with victor remmber when jayce was thinking to use hixic power to destroy all zon people I don’t know how people love jayce man
3 more episodes would’ve done wonders for the season. I think they forgot that this is a character based show for the last 2 episodes.
They forgot this throughout the entire season.
@@shadowgamer4306 It was mainly the last act that made it that way. Too much arcane bs going on. Not to mention Ekko didn't say a single word to Vi the entire season lol.
true
i low key was expecting pit fighter vi and dictator Kate to have their own full episodes
Sounds like they should’ve
@@blueflare4139yeah they got along WAY to quickly in the village, the pit fighter montage made it look like vi wants nothing more then to punch Kate in the face, you see her screaming and crying and punching someone because she thought they were Kate for a second, only to then have vi and Kate all buddy buddy again the moment they meet again, that’s bullshit
@@mitab1 finally someone noticed it
@@jaysadler2476 another thing I don’t like is the gray, it literally went nowhere, it feels pointless for the story and they didn’t even use it against jinx, and when jinx released the gray into piltover, nothing came out of it,
I wrote a whole ass fanfic where the gray was the worst mistake ever made in the show, VI hates herself because the gray orphaned many children and killed many civilians, the use of the gray fuels the fire of rebellion in all of zaun, and storing the gray in the vents of the hexgate caused the gray to get corrupted by the arcane and become sentient, and it becomes arcane’s vision of ZAC from LOL,
Over all I feel that the Grey as a plot point was just wasted without any real consequences
omg me too. I thought I was the only one
For me it felt a bit like some characters were getting yanked from one emotional state to the other and you could see every string being pulled to get them there in a way that wasn't organic. Its one of the reasons that I didn't like Isha's inclusion in the show. You could tell from scene 1 what her purpose and eventual fate was going to be and it can take someone completely out of the story.
Fr, when I was watching 1st act and saw her falling down on Jinx I thought "Gee it's almost like she conviniently falls out of skies onto Jinx to change her life for the better. There's no way they're going to turn her into a plot device, these people wrote the first Season after all". At this moment I considered it nothing but a funny assumption. But by the end of Seasons 2, reflecting on what I just saw, I noticed that she actually is a convinient little plot-device and has no meaning beyond that (which can be proven by writers never mentioning her again in act 3 at all)
The show creators said they were the ones cutting things down. Fortiche wanted to do more.
That really makes me angry
Sounds like Fortiche knows whats best for telling a story. While the creators succumbed to the classic executive/production interference.
@@jonathanjohnson6727 meanwhile fortiche wanted to do 5 more minutes of the cait and vi seggs scene instead of using those minutes for what the actual story needed
@@Zero-zr6xx no thats a corporate thing it ain't "for modern audiences" if it don't got at least one uninterrupted gay 6 scene
Arcane season 2 just left me frustreted. These people are are more then capable of creating an incredible story and it feels like the only thing that went horribly wrong is them attempting to tell too much in too little time. The ideas are good, they just dont get enough build up.
The ending left me empty and that's weird because I loved everything in the first season but the ending of the second season made me say "What is this ,I can't understand anything and for God sake make any thing a little bit more clear instead of leaving me in the fog alone"
I feel the same way, I hate how hollow I felt afterwards
not their fault that you are dumb
From act 2 onwards, I felt more and more disconnected from the story
Me too! I felt I didnt understand half the things that were going on at the end. I loved the show till they go back in time. But the last two episodes felt weird to me. I wasnt invested as much and I dont know. I felt like they had really good ideas, but I think we would have need more time to understand everything and every character involved . I liked it, but felt empty at the end.
@japaniamanga3191 I just found out that the scene with Echo trying to stop Jinx from blowing herself up was much longer and almost ready but was cut due to a request from Netflix because the episode got too long.
I think 3 more episodes (one per Act) or at least 1 more episode at the end of Act 3 as an epilogue of sorts would've been the cherry on top of Arcane. I wish we could've seen the state of Piltover & Zaun after the show, more of what the characters are up to after the ending (Mel, Singed, Vi & Cait, WW, etc.) and and also the state of the world, maybe even teasing some of the other champions who never appeared on the show (Renata, Camille, etc.).
Considering they had 9 episodes only I'd say they did a masterful job at wrapping up the character's stories though, they cooked with what they had and they cooked an amazing dish. Even if it wasn't truly perfect, remember what Jayce said about imperfections.
Perfection is Overrated
-Jace (probably)
More episodes were needed. Caitlin betraying Ambassa also happened too quick and it didnt really make sense. And I thought just too much back and forth with Jinx and Vi. I honestly wouldn't have minded if the show had them barely involved for an entire act and focused on Jayce and Victor more. Those two ended up being the better story this season. Also, how did Isha die exactly, and why did Vander have lava coming out of him? A lot of things kind of just happened and they didnt explain things because it felt like they needed to get to the next story beat.
isha blew herself up, and vander was injected with rage serum by singed
Those are not even the key points that are the problems
While we all can debate how much time was needed to properly tell the S2 story (personally I'm on the far extreme that believe S2 had enough material that it could've been split into 3 seasons and not feel slow), what's not debatable is that it DID need more time.
I think part of the problem, and I posted this on a couple other videos, might be related to a major S1 writer named Ash Brannon--who also wrote and co-directed Toy Story 2--being unavailable for S2 due to other projects. He apparently helped Linke and Yee nail down the S1 story for over a year and was given writing credit for all 9 episodes. He also directly wrote The Base Violence Necessary for Change. Now there's no way to know for sure how much of an effect this had, but I wouldn't be surprised if the absence of an experienced and talented writer like Brannon played a role in the rushed storyline that many felt.
Woah, this is the first time I’m hearing about this. That makes so much sense
I doubt ONE missing writer can cause this. Most of the things that went wrong with this season felt like the most basic writing mistakes, time constraints, poor time management and failure to grasp why people liked the first season. I suspect Riot was rushing the production because of budget and time problems. They probably wanted to wrap this up quickly so they can make other shows
@@lukasimundza7741 I mean we’ll never know. From what I gather there were only 5ish writers on S1, so if you remove the most experienced and talented, there’s likely going to be a a drop in quality. Again we’ll never know for sure, but it’s something to consider.
I feel like this season suffered from stuff being cut like the final being originally 1 he 30 mins still loved the season tho just wish we got more time
The dev said this?
@ yes said it in a live stream after the show ended
They should release an extended or uncut version frfr.
This season had a lot of good things in it, but it definitely did not hit the same as the first. They jampacked it with a lot of cool stuff, but it wasn’t as poignant. I can appreciate the craftsmanship though.
Writers bit off more than they can chew and gradually lost the plot as they attempted to cram more and more stakes on top of each other, forgetting what made the first season so acclaimed.
I'd agree on most except Isha which I found the most off-putting part of the show. It was a very ham-fisted addition, and horribly underdeveloped - a sort of non-character intended only to pull some emotional strings that had already been pulled much better and more naturally in S1. I also find her death... disturbing but not in a tragic way, like Jinx's story was. Powder had no idea what she was doing, she was innocent with good intentions which is what makes it tragic - likewise Jinx's sacrifice at the end is just that - a poetic sacrifice (or not totally sacrificial, depending on what you think) Isha by contrast, is a child who cult-worships, idolises, even imitates Jinx (in a somewhat creepy way) and then is willing to essentially suicide-bomb herself, for her idol. I'm not sure what the creators were trying to get at, but that is neither tragic nor heroic - it's messed up, icky and a bit... eugh... when you actually stop to think about what it is.
Jinx is supposed to be a mother figure to isha?? She doesnt "worship her" 💀
Isha is a shit character indeed
Dude Jinx is like her mom/older sister and actually good addition to the story. The first scene we see of Jinx this season is her trying to drown herself after throwing Silco into the water. Isha is Jinx’s lifeline if gives her meaning purpose after Silco’s death without Isha Jinx is lost. And that is why her death is so important and tragic because when Isha died so did Jinx and what came back was a broken powder. But yeah there is my two cents.
tbh. The hive mind, ambessa and the black rose were unfitting plot devices
Idk the LoL lore but the whole Black rose storyline was so redundant in my opinion
It’s heavy set up for next season but I agree I think there wasn’t time for it
@@jld1706 what next season?
Literally had to know the lore to understand it. Yet, they spent so much time on it.
Yeah. They didn't explain it properly and it was just confusing.
@@jld1706there’s not going to be a season 3; they’re only making 2 seasons
Problem was the story got too big. End of times/saving the world stuff isn't something you can rush into.
I would have had Jinx and Vi playing cat and mouse the whole season with Caitlin coming to terms with avenging her mother vs understanding Vi's connection to Jinx, and then through Warwick in about Episode 3 or 4 and have the rest of the season be about him hunting them, them learning who he is and then them hunting him. Trying to fix or redeem Vander from Warwick might be nice in Arcane land but it really doesn't respect Warwick as his own character from the games. (What made season 1 work was everyone was a little different but mostly the same, Warwick playing nice isn't Warwick, he's a tragic character and needed a more tragic storyline).
Viktors transformation should have been less benevolent from the beginning. He's a mad man who kidnaps people and takes away their free will by turning them into machines. They only got him there about the end of the season and it was in a big "the world will end" kind of way instead of a small contained terror which is what he is. Should have been Jace having to say good by to his friend and having to put an end to him. Again, story got too big.
I honestly think Ekko was handled great, his story was small and contained to his character, only issue was he had the smallest role to play this season.
Then again, who am I to complain. I don't know how to write scripts or animate. Just my personal ideas of what would have made the season feel less saturated
I like all those ideas. And yeah just because we can't write scripts or animate doesn't mean we can't point out when something doesn't quite work. Personally I think people should bring up constructive criticism in film, helps makes storytelling better.
Ekko had the smallest role in this season??
He got a whole episode for himself and he basically saved everybody.
@@rawdasalmataman7908his episode was pretty much entirely self-contained and his entire role boiled down to just punching victor in the face at the end and that’s it for the most part.
@theeslippy4167 what do you mean his episode was "self contained"?
The "punching viktor in the face" saved everybody like it's not some small role although yes I agree I wanted more screentime for him because he is my favourite but I am satisfied with his scenes for now and I am happy he got to be the hero and save everyone.
Currently I am feeling pretty hopeful for his character since the creator confirmed him,jinx and Mel 's stories aren't complete and they will appear in the spin offs.
For a show to spend one and a third of a season to build up to Zaun VS Piltover war and deliver nothing was extremely anticlimactic. There could've been a whole season centered around it between act 1 and 2. Instead we got a fairly out of nowhere Warwick drama, Vi and Caitlyn flipfloping in their ideology every episode without rhyme or reason, Black rose being a nothing burger, and everything just rushed out of the door. All of this should've been explored and expanded in an extra season.
100%
There was only gonna be 2 seasons
@@yoweze1213 And they should've managed time allocated to them WAY better.
i was confused for sooo much of the time because I just didn't understand what the hell was going on hahaha, especially the black rose stuff ... but overall really enjoyed it nevertheless. looks like they'll produce another series focusing on the other regions and i'm super excited for that!
I still don't understand a damn thing with what's going on with the black rose .-.
@@xiaros8208 i think with the next series theyll explain more!
@@LunipuWhile that is nice, you shouldn't need "the next series" to understand what's going on 😭
The rushed pacing is but a symptom of a larger problem. Basically Season 2 left aside what made Season 1 so great while trying to do a lot of other things nobody asked for. Substance and masterful character writing and worldbuilding replaced by spectacle, cheap surprises and LoL fanservice.
They also butchered everything related to already established things in S1. Like if Silco did knew Vi and Powder daughters why would he attempt to kill them and not talk them down to turn their back on Vander? Or the most irritating thing in this whole Season being that in S1 finale Jinx made a tough, hard choice and finally merged with Jinx persona completely. Yet in S2 a few episodes later after beginning she says: "Jinx is dead." Like wtf? Who are you now then? And am I really supposed to believe in this type of "character development" when it contradicts the path she was set on in the S1 finale?
This seasons is crawling with inconsistencies and contadictions, absolutely terrible writing
@aaltuxov Both Vi and Jinx got sidelined in their own series by a werewolf, a robotic army and a lot of other things that never got fully explained. That hurts.
@@titoleon3101
*Sigh* That's true, and it's really pity it is the way it is. They should've focused on the story of the two cities and the story of the two siblings. But we got... something
Something that I really notice by the end, Piltover caused this war and the Zaunites had to pay for it more.
Every Piltover character got a decent or satisfying conclusion. But then there’s Ekko and Jinx who lose the most out of anyone.
Jinx became a terrorist and the plot brought her to her knees
Caitlyn became a terrorist and Vi got on her knees 💀
i totally get why they went for the pacing they did but it lost a lot of what made season 1 such a breath of fresh air and groundbreaking, people saying there wasn't enough time isn't being greedy it's literally a fact when there were things very much skipped over in favor of moving the plot, which is a shame!
lots of character development and motivations were difficult to understand because it was so fast paced. there's the scene where vi is telling caitlyn in the first act that they need to pull out the other members of their force because jinx would keep messing with them emotionlly. but that was after one instance of jinx spooking them. like last time vi and cait saw jinx she was grieving and clearly in pain, that's a pretty quick turn around for vi to take
I'm glad that although it certainly wasn't as good as the (basically) perfect season 1, it was still a great season overall.
I think it, really, just needed a few more episodes to tell the story at a slower pace.
Still absolutely love it, and I'm so glad it didn't somehow "ruin" season 1 in retrospect, we still have peak television, and the decent sequel to it.
I didn’t even realize that shit about Jinx. She’s definitely alive
5:38 i originally thought that it was stupid how one person's death can trigger sooooo much change in a broken city like zaun within like 3-4 years, but i realized that that's not really the point.
The point was to show Ekko a new perspective on everything, and especially a new perspective on Jinx.
How i see it, after seeing how just one change in this universe was enough to completely alter events, he realized that such a feat can be applicable anywhere and everywhere, and that is why he decided to actually start believing in HIS Jinx again after losing his faith in her.
I'll be far less charitable. The reality is that this isn't just a step down from season 1 this is a disaster on level of final season of GoT, the difference being that season 1 thankfully works as a full package.
The characters were obliterated, none of them make any goddamn sense besides Rictus, Singed and bloody Smeech.
The plot moves at breakneck pace and the animation rarely serves to enhance the story (which is a shame as it's still incredible).
Thematic through line is at odds with season 1 and any sense of grounded world are obliterated.
Mark my words this season will age like a jar of piss
Real 😭 I feel like I’m going crazy with so many people praising this. It’s spectacle over storytelling and spectacle will loose its shine after a few years, than hopefully people will realize this is a travesty.
Nope I think this season will age pretty well because yeah sure Arcane season 2 had it’s issues but overall it is absolutely fantastic once you look at the little things in terms of the writing for example I hear a lot complain how they should have focused more on the class war between Zaun and Piltover although they did just not in the way most people except. Because the struggle was continued but in a more symbolic and less you know big battle way. For Example the Episode 3 fight between is Caitlyn, Vi, Jinx, and Sevika is the battle between Zaun and Piltover. They serve as the icons of their respective parties and represent the conflict between Piltover and Zaun in a way that may be hard notice the first watch but once you look at things a bit more closely you start understand trust me. Because yeah the season is very fast paced you can miss out on a lot your first go around but once you start paying attention you will notice somethings. Like for example you bring up the point that Character don’t sense well I beg to differ the actions the characters make plenty of sense Caitlyn anger and grief less her into a downward spiral of rage we she eventually turns her back on the one she loves because of her own hatred towards her sister. Yet over time regrets here decision due to love she had for Vi and after to seeing Vander Isha and Vi and Jinx she starts to regret her actions. Jinx fears around herself leads her to almost kill herself after “burying” Silco. Yet as the episode progresses we meet Isha who is very important for Jinx’s arc in this season which Jinx is learning how to become a leader. Now I know that how sounds but just think it about for a second do you remember Sevika invited Jinx to that rally yet declines saying that she was no longer Jinx yet when Isha gets captured she preforms a stealth operation into Stillwater to rescue her where she meets the Jinxers for the first time (but yeah that hand on shoulder sense is so cool once you understand the importance of it). Isha helps Jinx grow as a person and leader which all leads up to final episode she leads where she leads Zaun as one united force Jinx character arc is season 2 is her learning how to become a symbol of more of than destruction but as a symbol of hope and unity among Zaun. But season 2 Arcane is so good once you actually start to look deeper into the season and start to understand what it is trying to do. Now is it perfect no absolutely the pacing definitely could have been better but the visuals and storytelling is so well done and I think people who are complaining about the show were not paying attention to the what the story was telling people in more a subtle manner.
@@iainheffel7855You can't just throw "symbolism" around 😭 "symbolism" doesn't actually do anything in regards to op's complaint.
@iainheffel7855 Look, "show don't tell" is a good rule, but you can't "symbolism" your way through a plot point as important as Piltover vs Zaun. You can't point at a fight between 3 characters and whatnot and say that's all you need
@Quinn-he3vnOf course not, that is not the point I’m trying to make here. Rather I’m explaining what it is the creator of Arcane did to represent the conflict and keep the themes that first season made 1 as more of a focus on the character rather than on scale like the first season did. Season 1 of Arcane did a fantastic job in displaying scale of the conflict between Piltover and Zaun displaying the key differences between the different cities through the usage of colour character, design, dialogue and other factors that made the cities seem uncompromising that they could never find unity in the face of greater threat because they are just too different. Season 2 Challenges that notion through character; the conflict between Piltover and Zaun becomes less about the scale and more about the individual characters. The show focused less on the character being a part of the environment and became more of a representation of the environment. The fight scene in the tunnels is not the only scene that does this a lot of act 2 does this with Vi and Jinx’s storyline as well and it works out not too terribly with the ending of the show. Of course it is not perfect I’m on your side of wanting more for the class conflict but I don’t how they could have done it without it either dragging on or feeling like season 1 all over again which is having like an 3 episode would have been good although it would be a matter on where to place them.
But yeah I think major problem Arcane season 2 is this it was too ambitious it had a lot on its plate developing different story’s and dynamics that it needed more time to do and I think season 1 ending did not help that the Hexcore, Ambessa motives there was a lot that could wrong for what they had and unfortunately a lot did go wrong does make it bad no Arcane season 2 is not a bad work of fiction far from it just flawed it certain details should have been expanded on certainly new doubt but overall the emotional weight that Arcane season 2 left was heavy the ending for me left a bittersweet feeling sure they were things I wished were closed or discussed or done better. The Black Rose did feel like a weird arc although I do like they left it open ended because we are getting more shows after Arcane. Which means that sure it not exactly how I wanted it to be I’m not overly happy about how it all went but that does mean I still can’t appreciate for all that it got right. Arcane is a masterpiece in storytelling visually and dialogue but no masterpiece is without its flaws. There have been plenty of great shows, video games, and movies with annoying flaws and things that can make it lose its shine. But the reason we like them is not because we are always looking for the flaws they are simply there and they may take some of the lustre but a gem is still a gem even if the shine is less bright.
I disagree with Op sentiment that this season will “age like a jar of piss” we cannot truly say what will will happen like seriously I rewatched the Star Wars prequels recently and they are terrible the writing is chunky and awkward the pacing can jump from tedious to insanely in all aspects they are not good films the only redeeming quality is the action yet people still love them. Wanting something to fail because you did not like it personally like it is so petty I find. It's alright to dislike something. Believe me I have been through this before on both sides and I’m tired of it. Let people enjoy stop trying to say something is bad because you personally didn’t like it. I hate the people who do nothing but complain about something when it is bad because yes some things are just in others the more you pull the scab the worse it gets. The reason I clicked on this video and watched all the way through is because the guy who made it cares about Arcane and who understands that sure it is not perfect but that does not mean I don’t love it. but yeah art is not made to pick a part to find every little problem with it you can be critical of absolutely something but don’t try to ruin your enjoyment of it. Because personally the only time I notice the flaws in something is when I go looking for it. (lol you have no idea how cathartic this I have been trying to write an essay for school for past four days with a headache this made me feel so good)
Definitely need an act 4 i think the season 1 format didnt work for a story this large an extra 3 episode probably wouldve tied up the piltover/zaun story nicely and have enough time to setup the next series which is seemingly noxus
I absolutely adored Season 1 with its grounded characters, social themes, its non-obvious good/evil conflicts and its emotional beats. Season 2 on the other hand left me confused and wondering what and why things are happening about 80% of the time. Heck even some of the fight scenes left me confused and disoriented with the hyperstylised editing. Season 2 even ramped up the magical/fantastical aspect where it was more peripheral in S1 leading to an anything-goes feeling to story because almost anything can explained away with magic.
Yeah magic, extra dimensions, multiverses, time machines make story less interesting, you literally can't not predict anything
@@KarminsLynn Exactly. At least Hextech existed on the edge of science in S1, but in S2 it suffers from the 'black goo trope'. An undefined substance that can be whatever writers need it to be at the moment. Energy source, weapon, consciousness-expanding drug, time-travel device, hyper-travel portal. Automatically everything becomes weightless because nothing has consequences anymore, not even death itself.
I do love the way you can get so much from the show in so little time. Its almost every day I see a new video highlighting something I've somehow missed in my 4 viewings of the series. I don't think I've thought about a show as much as Arcane.
Pacing isn't the only issue, the quality of writing went way down, not only was everything happening way too fast with entire plotlines contained within music videos, what was happening wasn't making sense, none of the new characters ended up meaning anything, that's Arcane season 2's failure
Some example?
@@Allex1171the fat dude died before he could do anything, fish face didn’t do anything the entire show either for example
@@Allex1171oh and the entire victor noxus collab was illogical
@@pain002 You're complaining about the extras not getting fleshed out enough?
@tripp9277 people like you are the reason that bad writers get away with this shit. Just shut up
The only thing I down right didn’t like at all was the Viktor and Jayce plot. So many contrivances to get them to that show down episode 9. Jayce wasn’t even Jayce till the final bit. So many actions of him felt they weren’t character but plot based. It was presented well but the story with them when you think about it is just confusing for no character reason.
Involving multiple timelines, multiverses and paradoxes ALWAYS causes nonsensical problems. In my opinion it almost never works and just makes things silly and/or disappointing.
Jayce and Viktor and their friendship is all that’s propping up that multi-dimension mess and making it tolerable.
I really wish all writers would take a break from this weak and convoluted plot device.
@@julitakamaki4386Ekko’s multiverse episode was great tho
season 2 barely featured zaun, like wtf happened to the whole zaun vs piltower war? also what happened to all the shimmer? did it just vanish now that silco died? in the process of gaslighting myself into believing season 2 isnt canon because its such a mess.
Yep the whole plot of arcane got replaced, just so random, I don't hate season 2 but don't like it either, just watched it to tick the box of watch list that's it
When you realize Viktor losing means everyone goes to eventually create League of Legends, and you wonder if Future Viktor’s choice to stop himself might’ve been a little hasty…
I don't think we needed three more episodes I think we just needed to cut some superfluous plotlines. Noxus, Black Rose, even Warwick to an extent didn't go anywhere meaningful enough to be worth including in this story and meanwhile Viktor's descent into villainy and the Piltover/Zaun conflict didn't get nearly enough time to develop and satisfyingly conclude
I felt like Caitlin bit the short end of the stick when it came to this Season. You’ve got 3 episodes of awesomeness and then a time skip with a bunch of missed character development, then 2 episodes of awesome progression and then Caitlin suddenly becomes a plot device and hollow romance for Vi just so they can reach the end. I see loads of people joking about it or praising it blindly, but it made me feel hollow when it came to her sex scene with Vi… like this was just another one of Vi’s heartbroken hallucinations. There’s also the fact that they use Caitlin as an excuse to streamline the final verbal confrontation between Mel and Ambessa, which I felt was such a shame leading into Ambessa’s death and Mel’s betrayal of the Black Rose.
I wished each episodes were at least 1 hour long. 40 mins was peak Cinema but some things felt rushed. They got the emotions right and me having watched arcane when it came out 3 years ago as well as playing lol and knowing these characters probably heightened them. But we definitely needed more time with the characters.
Just finished watching it at 2:18 am and I honestly should’ve stopped at episode 8 and saved the last episode for the next day. Finale didn’t hit as hard is it should’ve because I was still processing what had happened on episode 8 lol
Watched the ENTIRE show in 24 hours. I don't know if that was the best or worst decision being my first time watching. While I understood most of it, by the end of season two I was in two different places thinking about what was even happening.
had to stop watching after episode 6. the quality fell off a cliff, a random little girl used as a plot device twice, vi easily defeating ambessa and getting away, vi and jinx are just randomly all good. i gave season 1 9/10 but this season is literally a 6/10
I had some issues with it too, but there were like 3 characters that had no voice lines. Warwick didn't speak at all and barely did nothing, he felt so rushed. Then there's blue vastayan fish boi, then that little Jinx girl. I'm fine with characters not speaking, but 3? And Warwick had so much more potential, just to say nothing.
Focusing on bringing Jinx back from the edge and having her still sacrifice herself felt like such a step backwards. Same with Vi who says that every choice she makes is wrong and she loses everyone only to reinforce her words the next episode
She didn’t sacrifice herself and die. She left. It’s been basically confirmed at this point.
Well i think the jinx thing is dfferent before she was trying to end things out of guilt, but sacrificing herself to save vi is a entirely different thing. Nothing wouldve come out of her ending things at the start or the ep, but her sacrafice at the end of the ep wouldve ment something because she did it to perserve a life instead of trying to end 2 for no reason. Its about her mindset not the action. Not to mention its partly her fault vander ended up like this anyways, i feel it was her sorta trying to make right with what shes done the best she could, she probably knew she wouldnt be able to stay in piltover and vi wouldn't be able to move on with her there.
"im always with you, even if were worlds apart" i really saw that as her saying even if she is "dead" or whats more likely left piltover she and vi would still always be together, kinda like telling vi she will be okay and to live on and be happy.
@@pugisherpug4366 If she lives it’s a fake out death (lame) and if they decide to retcon that and she’s actually dead they literally just had Ekko save her so she could die for the plot. Both are dumb for me idk 😭
@@lumilvr I think the big reason it would be considered lame is it impedes on giving vi an arc and really choice in the finale. Her knowing jinx lived and letting go would be big for her character. I think the show shouldn’t have made it or Jayce and Viktor’s “deaths” up in the air. Just telling us she lived but faked her death being a terrorist and left all the narratives surrounding her in p and z it would be fine. It’s the fake out with the audience that is the biggest issue. Not the context of it but the framing.
Yeah, my wife and I were a little befuddled at the end of the second season. The first was amazing and seemed only to get moreso on each rewatch. Season 2 had some great stuff and got me excited often, but it seemed to cut that excitement or intrigue short often.
I lay in bed just thinking about it that night, trying to figure out what was wrong, which storyline didn't work. I realized they were all great, but it was too much. I wouldn't want to lose any of it.
I finally figured out (IMO) that the biggest issue was the Viktor/end of the world plot.
CAREFUL OF SPOILERS GOING FORWARD...
That seems like such a huge part of the season and is the entire cause of the finale, but it sucked so much air out of the room, none of the rest of the plots or characters had time to breath or be developed like they were in the first season. Looking at that Viktor plot, one of the biggest pay-offs is supposed to be the Jayce and Viktor connection. Going back to Jayce's childhood and reinforcing their bond. However, there was such little time developing that in this season that it failed to hit very strong. It also wasn't a real character motivating thing for any of the other characters. They all came together because no one wanted to die, but that seemed to cut off the progression of their individual and group arcs.
Think of it, if Viktor stayed in his cocoon this whole season, we would have been able to focus on the topside/undercity conflict weaving successfully the Ambessa manipulation and involvement. We would have been able to explore the Vi/Jink fallout, the Caitllyn reaction, the undercity revolution, even the return of Vander. Once Vander became a techno-drone that whole storyline felt pointless. They almost gave up trying to resolve it. It was just "He's lost and it makes us sad, but no time to think about it, got to save the world from ending."
Move Viktor's whole thing to a third season, tease it by having him come out and leave towards the end of the third act, then the last scene is him healing the wretches in the Undercity, teasing a big change for the final story.
Those are just some of my thoughts so far.
Season 2 needed to be stretched out in to a 3rd in my opinion. S2 was way too fast. Was just a acid trip/music video of events
Definition of a let down. The whole story is full of holes and its just confusing, for example they go from finding vander to healing vander to killing viktor but not killing him to transforming vander. Whats black rose and how did actually ambessa die like its cool that somethings happening but WHAT THE FUCK IS HAPPENING??? It would be cool if we could get aome info now but we cant so its like watching a random seasson of some random show bcs the characters have a soul but the story doesnt.
1 more act would’ve been perfect
God, your voice is so sweet - could listen to it for hours
I am in general agreement. What I found remarkable about Arcane is how efficient, concise yet effective its storytelling is. Every scene adds to the story and is connected to the central themes and threads. Via microexpressions, short but sharp dialogue, music and cinematic framing it tells what it needs the audience to know in a few seconds. It never has to use more scenes to explain and flesh out every little thing cause that is not what the story needs.
It is lean yet full and powerful.
Yet considering how much more dense Season Two is with how many themes, plots and arcs it had to carry over and wrap up from S1 and what was introduced, it was inevitable they had to lean very hard into the efficiency of editing and storytelling in order to wrap things up in nine episodes.
It needed at 2 - 3 more episodes total. In order to give the plot and arcs time to breathe. To allow us watchers to digest such powerful stuff, to at least better explore some of the subplots and themes like Zaun's failed uprisings and Pitfighter Vi or Dictator Cait's struggles. Ultimately I feel this season was a tad overstuffed without the runtime to accommodate it. It left it feeling more plot-driven as a result even when the characters are the ones driving things.
Ultimately however given their self-imposed limit of keeping this show within a two seasons of eighteen episode, they did a masterful job.
time alone isnt enough to make this atrocity stand side by side with season 1
I enjoyed my watch but I felt like I was being dragged at 100 mph. I think it needed another 2-3 more ep and I think it would have gone from good to damn near flawless
Yeah i was watching it trying to figure out the main picture but I barely understood what was happening lol
For me the things that are missing because "it was rushed" are places where rewatches with attention to smaller details and rethinking different meanings in conversations is given elbow room. Even dialog I initially thought was crap gets better with time and exposure.
i feel like we needed more flashbacks with silco. plus him knowing vi and jinx's mom, at least knowing she had kids, felt like a retcon. and for the life of me, i could not understand what purpose mel had this season. she gets these powers out of nowhere, and the black rose doesn't have anything to do with the final conflict.
8:32 personallyz i thought that her death was just Vi's own version of a "Powder" moment, where because of her, the one you love most died.
Not sure why people have to make everything so confusing? Twisted plots don’t make for a better story.
Agree we went from family issues between jinx and vi and discrimination in people zaun and piltover to freaking saving the world from a villain trying to destroy the world and a forced hero and character change and characters just appearing for plot then die and no one cares lol, I don't hate the season 2 per say but I definitely don't love it or like it either just watched it to take it off my list of series to finish, hope whatever next they follow the steps of season 1 and let the characters build the world not the other way around
They just mess everything up with how jinx keep messing up things and the way VI Stalled on that ledge
i loved season 1 and the only complaint that i had about it was that they had to make the characters not talk and constantly get yanked away from meaningful conversations in order to get jinx to the point shes at at the end of the season, i was exited for season 2 because now that they dont have to tell a whole story in one season they will actually be able to show the characters talk and reunite the way they should've in the water tower scene in s1.. nope, there is no reunion between jinx and vi, vi just randomly switches side every 10 seconds to further the plot while jinxs only reason for getting over her insanity is a little plot device disguised as a girl that kills her self in 4 episodes, i thought that the only mistake that they could make was that 1 small mistake in season 1 and that they would fix it in season 2, but instead they decided to make the whole season one giant mistake :(
Totally disagree. I hate what they did with jinx. That’s not my jinx.
It certainly was way too rushed, but imho I dont even think s2 plot was good to begin with. It was completely different genre than s1 and not something people might have evpected. S1 was character heavy, s2 was action packed Marvel-like, in a bad way.
Exactly finally someone else said it, the whole store didn't continue it changed from season 1
Watching the season, I felt a lot of story beats could’ve been the ending of an episode 22 Tv episode. but because we have 9 40 minute episodes we have to cut back to something else. The pace stayed elevated all the time
ex fascist dictator having having a better ending than the dude who literally sacrificed so much just to save everyones asses was CRAZY work
i love jayce and viktor AHHHHHH
I feel like Ekko's episode should have been a stand alone episode of sorts, where it didn't take up a precious spot in act 3. The episode by itself is amazing, as it is completely focused on one subject, but leaves only two episodes left to conclude everything in the end.
Yeah, I enjoyed watching episode 7, but the whole time, I'm thinking, "you don't have time for this, guys." The show really needed more to connect the end of episode 6 to the beginning of episode 8.
I just feel like so many things where left unanswered or unexplained. That was my only issue.
People just love to hate arcane season 2
Wanna be different plus gotta pay the rent, even if it's a show amazing as arcane they'll find one flaw on it to vandalize and people would be automatically drawn to it as it stands out. That's how scarcity works
İf it wasn't for the mesmerizing animation quality, people would be harsher towards this season for its storytelling
Ya. It was definitely rushed.
I still liked it, but I was left quite disappointed
Like one thing that came as a surprise to me was Vi ? Vi in season 1 was all about why don’t we fight the upper people or whatever, and then she got out of prison 🤷🏽♀️and completely forgot about that
I feel like they didn't bother with Vi this season. All her thoughts, morals and pain is just brushed off and her charachter feels so bland this season. Idk how to explain but I feel like we needed more scenes regarding her. We dont knew wtf is going on in her head and what she thinks about things around her. She is my fav caharachter so seeing her brushed off to the side like this makes me angry.
I hope they continue to develop multi-season stories with time to breathe after s2. The Ori and Swain teasers are probably a hint, and agreed on the Jinx theory - personally hoping to see Bilgewater sometime (always love thalassaphobic terrors)
I still don’t quite understand the side story about black rose and why Ambessa recruited Singed and Cait was fine with it. Then all of a sudden she formed an alliance with Victor and stood against everyone, then died in vain.
It would've been perfect if it's an actual hour per episode rather than 36 to 40mins with the credits and intro included
By the end of Act 2, I was hoping that they would leave a lot of loose ends and resolve stories in future projects. My fear was that they would try to do too much in act 3. It wasn't terrible, but man did it feel rushed.
It seemed rushed compared to Arcane Season 1. And that the things just quickly happen from scene to scene
Even for someone who doesn't play League nor know the Lore of the game, it seems disconnected and rushed.
Me and my gf, who never played league nor care about the lore, rewatched Season 1 days before Season 2 came out and our first impression of Act 1 is that everything was hella rushed.
The events were happening inside music videos, gimme a break. However the animation and the story behind was very impressive.
finally, a good review video and criticism for s2. every other one i’ve seen has been negative and the person only complaining. i couldn’t even watch their video lol. yours is truly refreshing!
also, conflicting opinions aside and everything. we all wished we could’ve had more time with these characters. which is sad we didn’t get, but i think this is where arcane succeeds. they made these characters so interesting, flawed, and realistic. which makes the audience loves them so much and wants more of them.
I think there is a difference here due to how unsatisfying it all was.
So many big things in episode 8 and 9 to try and get over and its a surprise it wasn’t an absolute trainwreck but even I felt the sense of dread when I was blown away by episode 7 being so character focused, a neat and cute study of who ekko is (even though theres still more they could do with him) episodes 8 and 9 like you said don’t linger on super important stuff. Jinx literally about to end it all, ekko saving her life, and going into the war all new and less depressed. All this skipped over right after we have a whole episode of him understanding himself just felt so…dirty. the piltover and zaun confilcts being silent and not much progress really made at all between either city, mel becoming this kind of god. (Hot take but black rose coulda been minigated or dumped for other stuff cuz a lot of it just feels like noxus setup). These massive things that all end up with the series going “well time for a new path” its so weird man
Ps: this sucks for vi, I read the writers deadass said “jinx needs to abandon her sister or die for the yuri ship to happen. Thats so stupid it just put me at a loss for words
The show could have really benefitted from a few more episodes, or another season.
'There is beauty in imperfections'
-JAYCE TALIS
From my POV considering how good the storytelling Arcane is the rush ending is not a problem. Because there are more story to the key character in the Runeterra and Arcane is just a part of the story. RIOT already change a lot of LoL Lore in the making of Arcane and wrapping everything up in a single series is just impossible. Its like puting End Game in Captain America. So please understand people.
Re-playability; ever heard of it? That said, that doesn't ameliorate the issue of timing. I believe that really the "pacing" was the issue you've tried to elucidate.
I have one question: what was the anomaly. I must have missed it
i didn't understood anything after 1st act if season 02
I feel like they should have had at least one more season. Keep Jinx becoming a revolutionary and Caitlyn becoming a dictator in Season 2 and save Viktor becoming the Machine Herald and Vander becoming Warwick for Season 3.
How to ruin a great show ending : Arcane S2
this season was rushed. It still perfect but well said. Impactful moments needed more time to linger. this feels like it should have been 12 episodes honestly
The best parts were the ones with less music. I love the series but the music videos get in the way of properly conveying the story.
Personally, it wasn't as rushed as some peoply said it was. It perfectly tied up everything for our characters.
The only real rushed part of it imo was the noticeable absence of the Chembarons in the war against Ambessa.
Even for Piltover's Council, despite not doing much, they were STILL present in the battle, you can actually see them.
Meanwhile, the only person acknowledged within Zaun during the conflict was Sevika.
My headcanon is that the Chembarons got taken out after Caitlyn occupied Zaun during her crusade against Jinx, but even then, it wasn't mentioned.
Said mention wouldn't even take long too, just drop it off on a conversation between Cait and Maddiea or even Cait and Ambessa, or Sevika And Jinx.
This series always had a fast feel to it, and even tho it did ramp up in this final season, it wasn't to the detriment of the show, like so many people claim.
But idk, i guess its cuz im viewing it through the lens of someone who KNOWS that this is meant to be the final season for this show, but at the same time, knowing that it ISN'T the last time we'll see these characters.
Another thing that kinda bummed some people out was some of the more out there stuff with Jayce and Viktor, particularly with the final showdown between them, saying that they like the more "grounded" feel but like... it was super obvious that they were going this route???
Like, off rip, in the first season, we already knew that some weird shit was gonna happen with Viktor and the Arcane, and for this season, the fact that they were able to cohesively tie that all together is an accomplishment in and of itself.
Like some say that they got lost in the sauce for the last two episodes, but cmon man, the shit with Jayce and Viktor??? Ts was peak. Peak character writing. Ekko's characterization in episode 7??? Peak character writing. Whole situation of that episode was to change how he sees things, and it perfectly worked.
And for the jinx and vi situation, although it isn't fully resolved, idk what most people's expectations are, but me personally just seeing Vi and Jinx back together side by side isn't possible cuz despite everything that's happened, the public isn't just going to forget about her crimes.
I didn't expect the fakeout death, its sucks, but it still ended up going to basically the same conclusion i had with her character.
Idk how to explain it, but it just wasn't as rushed as some people say it is. You want rushed, look at jjk.
Besides that, the only thing i trult did not like was Isha. She was obviously nothing more than a plot device to further Jinx's character, her whole existence is tied to her.
Don't really like that, since she's not even a real person, just a dumb trope (little kid lightens up the bad guys heart) it was obvious she was gonna die.
Contrast that with the background characters who had their time to shine, they KNEW what they were. Background characters. They didn't hide who they were.
Love that detail since it brings out more to the world. Cuz irl, the "main" characters aren't the only ones who gets their time to shine. Ordinary people are capable of such things as well.
Look at the time they showed for the blue fish guy cop, Loris, and that one new army kid who fired the cannon at the fake Egg thing.
All just oridinary people who pitched in to help. This is explicitly shown in the aid of oridnsry Zaunite folk in the battle.
But yeah, overall a great ending to a great show. It's actually better than season 1 to my surprise.
In all fairness I think following up the majesty that the first season of arcane was incredibly hard, season 2 of arcane would've been the best season of many other shows
I will tell you what happened. Riot Games did not pay enough attention to their IP this season as they did in first season and 4 of the best writers where not writers in S2 So netfux did what netfux always does when left it its own devices with an IP and fucked it up!
Yeah
I actually thought just 5 min. longer cut per episode would do the trick... just to slightly slow it down.
We need a season 3.
Vi and Caitlyn making out while Jinx is suicidal and Vi saying "I don't care" alienated the entire rest of the show.... Jinx, Ekko and Vi were played dirty in S2... Vi and Ekko didn't even spoke 1 word to each other in S2, let that sink in... this is certified GOT S8 2.0 for me...
Arcane s1: 9.5/10
Arcane s2: 6/10
Am I the only one who saw change in vanders eye when jinx was pulling a grenade. Or am I crazy ?
A show leaving you wishing there was more shows it's quality to begin with
its literally marvel-esque ending 😩
What bothered me most was that there was no romantic relationship for heterosexuals that had two people of the same race. Asian prefers asian, white prefers white and black prefer black. And almost all of humanity is heterosexual. But for some reason, in piltover etc., everyone is either same race and homosexual or it is interracial.
As if the creators wanted to follow a certain agenda.
Based on that thumbnail I thought it was a jinx and echo AMV
The story feels lackluster
Classic Netflix move, rush the last season
Season two is an awful season! Mostly because the main characters have all these supernatural powers, for some reason! And they brought back characters with heartbreaking death scenes back for some unknown reason!
Arcane Season 2 definitely felt rushed. However that ending killed me. WHERE IS THE RESOLUTION WITH THE CHARACTERS? IT JUST LEAVES US THERE? 😠😩
I still love the show tho. Great video analysis. I extremely agree with your takes. How rushed season 2 was still isn't as bad as how rushed Cyberpunk Edgerunners was. 😂
Officially Jinx is not Dead her fate is unknown same for Warwick and Heimerdinger. Unlike Jayce,Victor and Ambessa who are officially Dead. The Creators left Jinx unknown because of the last couple scenes where they hint Jinx could have survived, and left it open. During the Afterglow Watch Party the Creators were asked if Jinx die, They all had bad Poker faces, including Ella Purnell who voiced Jinx. The Question was Jinx not Powder from the alternate reality, she is certainly ALIVE. Well Ella cracked first hiding behind her question card then Alex and Christian said the cliche line when you know the character is actually Alive but they so want to wait until it is revealed later, Well, maybe,don't know, Leaving it open. Was what they said. I've heard this question so many times with other popular character seemly sacrificing themselves only to be revealed they are in fact ALIVE later to hype everyone up. They John Wick'd Jinx. She escaped and was on that airship....maybe "wink" regardless officially she is not dead but Jayce and Victor are dead.
It's a shame lots of great stories end up rushing themselves off the cliff....
I remember your great reviews about AoT. You and I both could not comprehend how they ended AoT (and GOT). At least.... The ending of Arcane was fine, but still needed more time.
Jayes i hate him man he cause all the problems victor was desided to heal people and make great environment without thinking about removing feelings about humanity but jayce destroy him when he was trying to help vandar i think jayce relize that he can’t deafte victor by force that why he gave up in the end and decided to sacrifice himself with victor remmber when jayce was thinking to use hixic power to destroy all zon people I don’t know how people love jayce man