One of the most touching scenes in Arcane Season 2 comes when Jinx confronts the specter of her adoptive father, now metamorphized by a science experiment into an inhumane beast named Warwick. Eyes seething red, he’s poised to take her out, but something within him stops him, despite himself. A flicker of faint recognition. Just before the fog seeps in again. It’s a heartbreaking long beat.
Season 2, which finished up earlier this year on Netflix, is full of pensive moments like this, quiet montages that say more with pictures than with words. It is quite the tonal shift and departure from its source material, League of Legends, where Warwick is more likely to be your trolling Jungle teammate who is missing all his abilities, and Jinx your recklessly useless bottom lane ally, constantly assassinated by the opponent. Both characters are given a new lease on life in Arcane, expanding beyond simple caricatures into a profound exploration of grief. These and more creative liberties were happily taken by French animation studio Fortiche with the oversight from League parent company Riot Games.
