Arcane (TV series)

Arcane
Also known as	Arcane: League of Legends
Genre	Adult animation Action Adventure Drama Science fantasy Steampunk
Created by	Christian Linke Alex Yee
Based on	League of Legends by Riot Games
Story by	Christian Linke Alex Yee Conor Sheehy Ash Brannon
Directed by	Pascal Charrue Arnaud Delord
Voices of	Hailee Steinfeld Ella Purnell Kevin Alejandro Katie Leung Jason Spisak Harry Lloyd Toks Olagundoye JB Blanc Reed Shannon Mick Wingert
Theme music composer	Imagine Dragons JID
Opening theme	"Enemy" (performed by Imagine Dragons and JID)
Composers	Alexander Temple Alex Seaver
Country of origin	France United States
Original language	English
No. of seasons	1
No. of episodes	9
Production
Executive producers	Christian Linke Marc Merill Brandon Beck Jane Chung Thomas Vu
Running time	39–44 minutes
Production companies	Riot Games Fortiche
Original release
Network	Netflix
Release	November 6, 2021 (2021-11-06) – present (present)

Arcane (titled onscreen as Arcane: League of Legends) is an adult computer-animated action-adventure streaming television series created by Christian Linke and Alex Yee for Netflix. Produced by Fortiche under the supervision of Riot Games, it is set in the League of Legends fictional universe, and primarily focuses on sisters Vi and Jinx. The series was announced at the League of Legends 10th anniversary celebration in 2019, and first released in November 2021.

Arcane's first season was released to critical acclaim, with praise directed at its animation, story, worldbuilding, action sequences, characters, emotional weight and voice acting. Some have noted the series' appeal to both casual viewers who have never played League of Legends and to long-time fans of the game. It also set the record as Netflix's highest-rated series so far within a week of its premiere, ranked first on the Netflix Top 10 Chart in 52 countries, and ranked second on the chart in the United States.

On November 20, 2021, following the conclusion of Arcane's first season, Riot Games and Netflix announced that a second season was in production for a post-2022 release.

Premise

Amidst the escalating unrest between the rich, utopian city of Piltover and the seedy, oppressed undercity of Zaun, sisters Vi and Jinx find themselves on opposing sides of a brewing war over clashing convictions and arcane technologies.

Cast and characters

Main

• Hailee Steinfeld as Violet "Vi"
• Ella Purnell as Powder / Jinx
  • Mia Sinclair Jenness as young Powder
• Kevin Alejandro as Jayce Talis
• Katie Leung as Caitlyn Kiramman
  • Molly Harris as young Caitlyn Kiramman
• Jason Spisak as Silco
• Harry Lloyd as Viktor
• Toks Olagundoye as Mel Medarda
• JB Blanc as Vander
• Reed Shannon as Ekko
  • Miles Brown as young Ekko
• Mick Wingert as Cecil B. Heimerdinger

Supporting

• Amirah Vann as Sevika
• Remy Hii as Marcus and Tobias Kiramman
• Abigail Marlowe as Cassandra Kiramman and Eve
• Yuri Lowenthal as Mylo
• Roger Craig Smith as Claggor
• Josh Keaton as Deckard and Salo
• Fred Tatasciore as Benzo
• Bill Lobley as Huck
• Shohreh Aghdashloo as Grayson
• Brett Tucker as Singed
• Mara Junot as Shoola and Jules
• Dave B. Mitchell as Vern, Hoskel, and Harold
• Miyavi as Finn
• Erica Lindbeck as Elora
• Ellen Thomas as Ambessa Medarda
• Mira Furlan as Babette
• Kimberly Brooks as Sky Young
• Imagine Dragons as themselves
• JID as himself
• Ray Chen as himself

Episodes

"Everybody Wants to Be My Enemy" redirects here. For the Imagine Dragons song, see Enemy (Imagine Dragons and JID song).

No.	Title	Written by	Original release date
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1	"Welcome to the Playground"	Christian Linke	November 6, 2021 (2021-11-06)
Rebels from the repressed undercity of Zaun march across a bridge into Piltover, resulting in the brutal pushback by Piltover enforcers. During the ensuing violence, sisters Powder and Vi find their parents dead in the rubble and are taken in by Vander, the leader of the failed rebellion, as his own children. Years later, Vi and Powder rob a Piltovan penthouse with their adopted brothers, Mylo and Claggor, after receiving a tip from their friend Ekko. Powder steals a set of magical crystals, accidentally shattering one when the owner of the penthouse returns. The resulting explosion destroys a large portion of the building and alerts enforcers to their presence, whom they narrowly escape. Returning to the undercity, the siblings encounter Deckard and his thugs; while they beat them in a fistfight, Powder is chased and loses the loot. Vander, now a barman and a de facto community leader in the undercity, scolds the children for their carelessness, and attempts to smooth things over with Grayson, the Sheriff of the enforcers. Vi berates Mylo for calling Powder a "jinx" and reassures her sister that things will get better. In the lowest parts of the undercity, crime lord Silco extracts information from Deckard and tests a new mutagen known as Shimmer on a rat.
2	"Some Mysteries Are Better Left Unsolved"	Nick Luddington	November 6, 2021 (2021-11-06)
Jayce, a student at Piltover's academy, is revealed to be the one who crafted the magical crystals that Powder and Vi stole, and Piltover's ruling council calls him to testify for illegally experimenting with arcane magic. As he was saved by arcane magic as a child, Jayce believes it can be a new resource to advance Piltover to greater heights, but is expelled from the academy for endangering the city, and his research is expected to be trashed. Jayce's beliefs are renewed, however, when Viktor, the disabled assistant of the academy's professor Heimerdinger, offers to help him complete his research. Back in Zaun, Grayson and her partner Marcus pressure Vander to reveal the true culprits of the robbery, other Zaun citizens pressure him to fight back against the enforcers overreaching their boundaries. He chooses to keep his family safe and remain neutral. Vi does not agree with his passivity and eventually decides to turn herself in. Meanwhile, Silco coerces Deckard to swallow a potion of Shimmer.
3	"The Base Violence Necessary for Change"	Ash Brannon	November 6, 2021 (2021-11-06)
Years ago, Silco and Vander were like brothers and fought together to free the undercity from Piltover. All changed when Vander betrayed Silco and tried to drown him in the river. In the present day, Vander stops Vi from turning herself in. He is then taken hostage by Silco after the mutated Deckard kills Grayson and her men, sparing only Marcus. Vi, Mylo, and Claggor go rescue him, leaving Powder and Ekko behind for their own safety. In Piltover, Jayce and Viktor secretly work with the crystals under the discretion of councilor Mel Medarda and invent Hextech, a new arcane technology. Back in the undercity, the siblings reach Vander but are cut off by Silco. Vi fights off Silco's thugs, but is badly beaten by Deckard. Powder, attempting to save her, detonates one of the crystals in a massive explosion that kills Claggor and Mylo. Vander, fatally wounded by Silco, injects himself with Shimmer, kills Deckard and ultimately saves Vi before dying. In her grief, Vi hits Powder, angrily calling her a "jinx" before walking away. She sees Silco approach and attempts to return to her sister but is ambushed and captured by Marcus. A grief-stricken Powder, believing Vi has abandoned her, breaks down in Silco's arms; he embraces Powder and tells her that "We'll show them all."
'
4	"Happy Progress Day!"	David Dunne	November 13, 2021 (2021-11-13)
Several years later, Piltover is prospering with Jayce's Hextech technology and celebrates its 200th anniversary on a holiday called 'Progress Day'. Jayce initially hopes to reveal his and Viktor's latest gemstone device at the ceremony, but decides not to after Heimerdinger warns him on the dangers it could possess. Elsewhere, Powder, now a teenager going by the name of Jinx, works for Silco and helps him smuggle materials, mainly Shimmer, into Piltover. When a job goes awry thanks to the involvement of an undercity gang known as the Firelights and a brief hallucination of Vi, Jinx attempts to impress Silco by stealing Jayce's gemstone and setting off an explosion that kills six enforcers. Piltover's ruling council gives Jayce a seat to protect their people from the stolen gemstone. Caitlyn, an inexperienced enforcer and Jayce's childhood friend, travels to Stillwater prison to gather information about Jinx from one of Silco's goons. Instead, she encounters an adult Vi, having been imprisoned by Marcus.
5	"Everybody Wants to Be My Enemy"	Amanda Overton	November 13, 2021 (2021-11-13)
Due to Vi's expertise of Zaun and her knowledge of Jinx's explosives, Caitlyn releases her from prison and works with her to find Silco. Arriving in an underground brothel, they quickly learn of Jinx's relationship with Silco. Vi tries to interrogate Silco's second-in-command, Sevika, but is stabbed in the ensuing fight. Meanwhile, it is revealed that, with Silco's help, Marcus was promoted to sheriff of the enforcers. In exchange, he has to allow Shimmer to be smuggled and put the blame of the Progress Day bombing and hextech robbery on the Firelights. Jinx refuses to work on the new Hextech gemstones because of the trauma of killing her family with a similar device and Silco takes her to be "reborn" in the lakes of Zaun, beginning the process of Powder truly accepting her identity as Jinx. Back in Piltover, Jayce starts a romantic relationship with fellow councillor Mel Medarda and Viktor grows drastically ill as he attempts to learn more about the potential of Hextech technology.
6	"When These Walls Come Tumbling Down"	Alex Yee	November 13, 2021 (2021-11-13)
After Viktor collapses in the lab from his illness, he and Jayce begin to study the "Hexcore", a new Hextech machine that reacts to organic matter and can potentially cure him. Heimerdinger tries to have it destroyed due to its potential danger, prompting Jayce to betray him and orchestrate his firing from the council. Viktor approaches Singed, his childhood mentor, to help perfect the Hexcore. Marcus is ordered by Silco to kill Caitlyn and Vi and, knowing this conflict will lead to a battle with Zaun, he prepares Piltover's defenses. Underground, Vi and Caitlyn find a safehouse so Vi can recover from her fight with Sevika, but Silco finds them after bribing the locals with Shimmer. The pair manages to escape. Having recently learned about Vi's return, Jinx lights up a flare Vi gave her in their childhood. Vi spots it and the two sisters reunite, although it is short-lived due to Caitlyn's presence and the sudden appearance of the Firelights, who steal the gemstone and kidnap both Caitlyn and Vi.
'
7	"The Boy Saviour"	Nick Luddington	November 20, 2021 (2021-11-20)
The leader of the Firelights turns out to be Ekko, who has become gruff and battle-hardened ever since he was forced to grow up alone after Vander's death. He explains to Vi that Powder is gone and only Jinx remains, dedicated to Silco, while he's been at the forefront of keeping Shimmer off the streets. Jinx gets angry at Silco for hiding Vi's return from her, but he persuades her into continuing to do his will. Following the growing unrest between the two cities, Mel convinces Jayce to work on Hextech weaponry. At Singed's suggestions, Viktor uses Shimmer to enable the Hexcore to modify his failing body, in the process growing distant from an untrustworthy Jayce. Ekko and Caitlyn seek to return the gemstone to Piltover, meeting with Marcus on a bridge while Vi returns to look for Jinx. After Marcus betrays Caitlyn, Vi heads back to help her, convincing an onlooking Jinx that she has betrayed her for Caitlyn. Jinx detonates a massive swarm of robotic insects on the bridge, killing Marcus and the enforcers and wounding Caitlyn. Ekko holds Jinx off as Caitlyn and Vi retreat to Piltover; he beats her, but finds himself unable to deliver the final blow, allowing Jinx to detonate a grenade near them.
8	"Oil and Water"	Ben St. John & Mollie St. John	November 20, 2021 (2021-11-20)
Silco finds Jinx in the aftermath of her fight with Ekko and discovers that she managed to steal back the Hextech gemstone. He takes her to Singed to heal her wounds. As Jinx endures the treatment for her wounds, she hallucinates that it is Vi and Caitlyn inflicting the pain, and her eyes turn violet when Singed injects a massive amount of Shimmer into her body. Meanwhile, Mel's mother arrives in Piltover following the assassination of Mel's brother and attempts to prepare her for the brewing war with Zaun. After being forcibly retired from the council, Heimerdinger visits Zaun to help the struggling locals and encounters Ekko, who broke his leg from Jinx's grenade. Viktor's efforts to heal his body through the Hexcore allow him to heal his leg and run for the first time, but also results in the death of his childhood friend and assistant Sky. After her testimony to the council fails to convince them that Silco is a threat, Vi partners with Jayce to take down Silco's Shimmer factories. Armed with Hextech weaponry, they defeat an army of Shimmer-enhanced soldiers, but in the process Jayce accidentally kills a child worker. Abandoned by Vi, who claimed the two were "like oil and water," Caitlyn is kidnapped by Jinx.
9	"The Monster You Created"	Christian Linke & Alex Yee	November 20, 2021 (2021-11-20)
After their disastrous raid, Jayce realizes the potential cost of intra-city war and resolves to broker a peace treaty with Silco, offering Zaun's independence in exchange for Jinx. Ekko reveals his hideout to Heimerdinger and they begin working to help the undercity together. Viktor's guilt over the death of Sky almost drives him to suicide before Jayce intervenes. Understanding the danger that Hextech poses, he makes Jayce promise to destroy the Hexcore. Silco laments his predicament of choosing between Zaun and Jinx to a statue of Vander, where Jinx is secretly listening. Vi defeats Sevika but is subsequently abducted by Jinx. Vi awakens at a table where Silco and Caitlyn are also restrained. Jinx gives Vi a pistol, telling her to choose between Caitlyn and herself. Vi refuses and appeals to Powder's memories, causing Jinx to suffer a traumatic attack. Silco breaks free and almost shoots Vi before Jinx, in a manic fit, guns him down. Comforted by Silco, who reaffirms his love for her before dying, Jinx finally accepts her new identity and acknowledges that she and Vi have diverged. Having weaponized the Hextech gemstone into a rocket launcher, Jinx fires the weapon at the Piltover council chamber right as the council approves Jayce's proposal to grant Zaun its independence.

Production

In September 2021, it was announced that Hailee Steinfeld, Ella Purnell, Kevin Alejandro, Katie Leung, Jason Spisak, Toks Olagundoye, JB Blanc and Harry Lloyd had joined the voice cast.

Broadcast

Marketing

Riot Games promoted the launch of Arcane through events in their games, including League of Legends, Legends of Runeterra, Teamfight Tactics, League of Legends: Wild Rift, and Valorant as "RiotX Arcane". It launched promotional collaborations with non-Riot games such as PUBG Mobile, Fortnite, and Among Us.

On November 6, 2021, for the global premiere, Riot Games streamed the first episode on Twitch. Some content creators were allowed to co-stream the first three episodes of the series once they received permission from Riot Games, a first for a Netflix series, which also allowed viewers to retrieve in-game drops during the premiere. Drops were only included in the games League of Legends (Arcane Capsule), Wild Rift (“A Single Tear” Emote), Teamfight Tactics (Gizmos & Gadgets Little Legends Egg), Legends of Runeterra (“Fascinating” Emote), and Valorant ("Fishbones" Gun Buddy). The premiere received 1.8 million concurrent viewers on Twitch.

On November 21, Netflix and Riot Games partnered with Secret Cinema to bring players directly into the world of Arcane with an in-person experience in Los Angeles, California. The experience was "equipped with bespoke backstories and missions, the line between actors and audience is truly blurred as players explore the dark and dangerous underworld and encounter its inhabitants—the strange, the sinister and sometimes even the friendly".

Release

Originally set for a 2020 release, the show was rescheduled for a release in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It was scheduled for a simultaneous November 6, 2021, release on Netflix and China's Tencent Video, with the series broken into nine episodes, with three episode "acts" being released once a week over three weeks.

Soundtrack

On November 20, 2021, songs from the first season were released on Amazon Music. The series had a different opening theme in China — "孤勇者 (Gu Yong Zhe)" performed by Eason Chan.

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Playground"	Bea Miller	3:50
2.	"Our Love"	Curtis Harding	3:38
3.	"Goodbye"	Ramsey	3:51
4.	"Dirty Little Animals"	BONES UK	3:25
5.	"Enemy" (feat. J.I.D.)	Imagine Dragons	2:53
6.	"Guns for Hire"	Woodkid	3:46
7.	"Misfit Toys"	Pusha T Mako	3:09
8.	"Dynasties and Dystopia"	Denzel Curry Gizzle Bren Joy	2:58
9.	"Snakes"	Pvris Miyavi	2:41
10.	"When Everything Went Wrong"	Fantastic Negrito	3:13
11.	"What Could Have Been" (feat. Ray Chen)	Sting	3:33
Total length:			36:57

Reception

Critical reception

The voice performances of Hailee Steinfeld (top) and Ella Purnell (bottom), who respectively played Vi and Jinx, received praise.

The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported a 100% approval rating with an average rating of 9.10/10, based on 25 reviews. The site's critical consensus reads, "Arcane makes an arresting first impression, combining a spectacular mix of 2D and 3D animation with an emotionally compelling story to deliver a video game adaptation that could become legendary." The series also became Netflix's number-one program in November 2021, setting the record as Netflix's highest-rated series so far within a week of its premiere, ranked first on the Netflix Top 10 Chart in 52 countries, and ranked second on the chart in the United States.

Writing for IGN, Rafael Motamayor called Arcane's first season a "classic in the making, and the nail in the coffin of the so-called video game curse." He noted that the show worked for fans of League of Legends and newcomers, saying that "the character stories are what keep you engaged episode after episode; the lore is just icing on the cake." He also praised the voice cast, highlighting the performances of Leung, Purnell, Aghdashloo and Steinfeld, calling the latter performance the show's standout. Praising the animation, Motamayor called it the "most stunning piece of animation since Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse" and compared it to Invincible in terms of episode structure. He concluded by saying that Arcane "delivers a killing blow to the idea that video games cannot be masterfully adapted... with compelling characters, an endearing story, and fascinating lore and worldbuilding, as well as striking visuals" calling it a "masterpiece" and giving it a 10 out of 10 rating.

Andrew Webster of The Verge praised the "fantasy-meets-steampunk world" and how no knowledge of League was needed to understand the show. Despite calling Act 1 "a fairly typical fantasy tale" he lauded the animation, saying that "each frame looks like a gorgeous piece of hand-painted concept art; in motion, it's like nothing I've ever seen" and that "it's also a world that feels lived-in and fully realized." Matt Cabral of Common Sense Media called the first season "visually stunning" and that it "features the sort of nuanced characterizations, thoughtful storytelling, and rich worldbuilding typically associated with big-budget, big-screen epics." He also took note of the blend of fantasy, steampunk and sci-fi with emphasis on how the story puts a "fresh spin on the heavily recycled premise." Cabral concluded that viewers would not need to have played or have any knowledge of League to appreciate the show.

Reviewing the first four episodes of the first season, Tara Bennett of Paste enjoyed the way that "[the creators] purposefully made an adult animated drama that unflinchingly utilizes violence, adult language, and very dark storylines when needed to make the lives of the large ensemble cast resonate." Bennett favorably compared the series to Game of Thrones, Shadow and Bone, Castlevania and BioShock. She was also positive about the "nuance and subtle facial movements" of Fortiche's animation combined with the performances from Steinfeld, Jenness, Purnell and Spisak. Bennett called "Enemy" by Imagine Dragons "infectious" and that the show is "the new benchmark for what can be done when it comes to successfully translating worthy videogame universes into a different medium."

Forbes noted that the show balances "being welcoming to newcomers who know absolutely nothing about the world of League of Legends, while also satisfying longtime League fans."

Accolades

Year	Award	Category	Nominee(s)	Result	Ref.
2022	Annie Awards	Best General Audience Animated Television/Broadcast Production	"When These Walls Come Tumbling Down"	Won
		Outstanding Achievement for Animated Effects in an Animated Television/Broadcast Production	Guillaume Degroote, Aurélien Ressencourt, Martin Touzé, Frédéric Macé, Jérôme Dupré (for "Oil and Water")	Won
		Outstanding Achievement for Character Animation in an Animated Television / Broadcast Production	Léa Chervet (for "The Monster You Created")	Won
		Outstanding Achievement for Character Design in an Animated Television / Broadcast Production	Evan Monteiro (for "Some Mysteries Better Left Unsolved")	Won
		Outstanding Achievement for Directing in an Animated Television / Broadcast Production	Pascal Charrue, Arnaud Delord, Barthelemy Maunoury (for "The Monster You Created")	Won
		Outstanding Achievement for Production Design in an Animated Television / Broadcast Production	Julien Georgel, Aymeric Kevin, Arnaud Baudry (for "Happy Progress Day!")	Won
		Outstanding Achievement for Storyboarding in an Animated Television / Broadcast Production	Simon Andriveau (for "When These Walls Come Tumbling Down")	Won
		Outstanding Achievement for Voice Acting in an Animated Television / Broadcast Production	Ella Purnell (for "When These Walls Come Tumbling Down")	Won
		Outstanding Achievement for Writing in an Animated Television / Broadcast Production	Christian Linke, Alex Yee (for "The Monster You Created")	Won
	Golden Reel Awards	Outstanding Achievement in Sound Editing – Non-Theatrical Animation	Brad Beaumont, Eliot Connors, Alexander Temple, Shannon Beaumont, Alexander Ephraim, Dan O' Connell, John Cucci, Alex Seaver (for "When These Walls Come Tumbling Down")	Won
	Hugo Awards	Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form	Christian Linke, Alex Yee, Conor Sheehy, Ash Brannon, Pascal Charrue and Arnaud Delord (for "The Monster You Created")	Pending
	Billboard Music Awards	Top Soundtrack	Various Artists	Pending

See also

• League of Legends

External links

• Arcane on Netflix
• Arcane at IMDb