“Arcane,” a show based on characters from the game League of Legends, released its first season on Nov. 6, 2021 and achieved critical acclaim. With high demand from audiences for more content after the success of the first season, the team behind the show began working on a second season almost immediately after the show’s debut.

After three years of production with a $250 million budget, the second season arrived on Netflix on Nov. 9, 2024, releasing in three acts with the final act being released on Nov. 23.

While the new season may not have met viewers’ expectations, it still provides an amazing watch for audiences, with stellar animation and character arcs.

The story takes place in the fictional cities of Piltover and Zaun, which are in constant conflict with each other over political and social tensions. These tensions affect the many people involved in the conflict, separating families and resulting in many deaths.

The show follows a variety of characters but has a couple main storylines. Two sisters, Vi and Jinx, are separated after experiencing childhood trauma, and spend the show trying to reunite. At the same time two inventors, Jayce and Viktor, work together to create magical weapons called “hextech,” but disagree on who should have access to the technology and if they should even continue producing it at all.

There are also other characters followed, such as Ekko, an inventor and leader of a group called the Firelights who was a childhood friend of Jinx, and Mel, a noble on the city council of Piltover who takes an interest in Jayce’s experiments.

Season two continues from the cliffhanger that season one left off on: a terrorist attack on the council of Piltover. This event shook and changed the city’s leadership and caused greater tensions with Zaun. It also caused the characters to change their views and the sides they stood on.

Each act focuses on a different development in the story and ends with a dramatic climax. These scenes have by far the best character moments and animation in the whole series, although the animation for the show as a whole is beautiful. Throughout the season the animation styles change with different moments, like with flashbacks and montages. The animation experimentation in “Arcane” pays off tremendously, allowing for the creation of a show in which every frame looks stunning.

The show also has an amazing soundtrack. While sometimes it feels like “Arcane” halts its plot so that songs can have mini music videos, the music really adds to the episodes and succeeds in expressing the emotions of the characters.

One of the best songs from the soundtrack is found in episode seven, “Ma Meilleure Ennemie.” The song is sung entirely in French, but even for people who cannot understand the lyrics the song is catchy and memorable. It all compliments the beautiful scene between Ekko and Jinx in an alternate reality, highlighting what could have been had the events of the show been different.

Although the story of season two itself has some of the best character moments in the entire show, it is not without its flaws. The season really feels like it did not have a lot of time to flesh out every character and storyline, resulting in seemingly rushed developments. This is very apparent in act two of the season. There are so many ideas presented in the first two episodes of the act–probably enough to be a season in itself–that by the act’s last episode everything appears to wrap up in too little time.

Another instance of this rushed feeling is found in the conclusion: there were a lot of characters’ stories left unfinished and open-ended. It seems that if the season had been longer the show could have focused on the characters as much as it had in season one. Instead though, season two prioritizes getting characters from one point to another and neglects slowing down to explore the depths of their stories.

This, however, does not dramatically harm the story itself, as the emotional moments the audience does get are beautiful and well executed.

“Arcane” is a very special show. It is a great video game adaptation with an amazing story that people can really get invested in. Fans’ expectations were extremely high after season one and, even though the show is not perfect, it succeeded in delivering an emotional and breathtaking end to the series. In season two’s case the words of Jayce in the final episode ring true: “There is beauty in imperfection.”