“Arcane,” an animated show based loosely on the game “League of Legends,” has come back to Netflix for a complex, yet beautiful finale. “Arcane” manages to have a compelling storyline and an animation created with grace.  With all of this, the second season of “Arcane” could have been perfect. It was almost perfect, in fact, but the show does fall short is in its (and I don’t use this word lightly) terrible pacing.

Season two picks up after the explosion caused by Jinx back in the last episode of season one. The episode starts off with two of Piltover’s council members, Jayce, voiced by Kevin Alejandro, and Mel, voiced by Toks Olagundoye. We later find out that in that explosion only half the council survived. Along with Jayce and Mel, was Shoola, Salo, and, although he’s not on the council, Viktor, who will play a major role in the season. With Caitlyn’s mom Cassandra Kiramman dead, and the loss of the two other council members leaving a great sense of tragedy on Pilotover, Caitlyn turns a new leaf because of her grief when Ambessa Medarda, Mel’s mother,  gives Caitlyn a chance to rule in later episodes of the season.   

The first episode starts off with some of the best voice acting I have heard in a film in a while. You can hear and almost feel the emotion of each and every individual character and it all feels so natural. The opening scene, in which Piltover is consumed in flames, but our characters, who might have been killed in the blast wake up, is so realistic yet manages to make such a tragic setting look beautiful. Act one, although not my favorite act, is the most important not only plot-wise but in how it builds its characters and their situations.

The acts’ continuous parallels and the addition of characters are so carefully calculated that the whole show almost changes its trajectory without losing its plot. We see new sides of each character. We especially see new sides to Vi, voiced by Hailee Steinfeld, her crazy sister Jinx, voiced by Ella Purnell, and Vi’s soon-to-be-lover, Caitlyn Kiramman, voiced by Kaite Leung. Caitlyn goes from an empathetic and caring person to a cold and calculating dictator. Jinx has a new change of heart that causes her to show a little bit of that soft side we knew her former identity Powder to have. Vi, as if she was not reckless enough, turns into a punk-rock pit fighter. These new character dynamics make sense for each situation each character is put in. One thing about “Arcane” is that it will certainly serve its characters justice in making them so human you can almost forget that they’re not real people going through these experiences. 

Act two of “Arcane” is the worst act out of the three in terms of pacing. That new side of Caitlyn as I mentioned earlier gets almost completely discarded with a swiftness. I also wish the new rough edge that Vi had was shown more throughout the series,  and I wish it was more prevalent throughout the act, but I think this act’s character pacing felt so rushed because of just how jam-packed it was. The backstories, reunions of an old father-like friend, and the importance of a character that up until season two was kind of a nobody had made some of the characters fall flat.

But I won’t disregard the consistent change of other characters whose pacing was absolutely perfect. Viktor took me for a surprise in this act and so did Jinx. Jinx’s development continues in Act Two was just a perfect build-up for her character in Act 3. Viktor and Jinx are the most emotionally complicated characters in the show and I am so glad that this act took time to showcase that to the audience one last time before the final act.

I don’t know if there are any words I can even type to put into perspective just how impactful the finale was. I had no idea how the creators would end a show as unique as “Arcane”, and while I can say that I was dissatisfied with the end, I would only say that out of bitterness that this extraordinary show has ended. The end was realistic. So realistic in fact that it makes me want to re-watch the entire series to understand how we got to that point. Act three was compelling, and every subplot had a story that was gracefully tied together with the main one.

The final act of the season delivered a story I believe the writers knew wouldn’t be satisfying for all the viewers. In my opinion, it went the only way it could have gone. Neither happy nor sad. That’s the beauty of “Arcane.” It’s raw and doesn’t shy away from the humanity it portrays. Every character is so morally gray that even with this simplicity of having people with blurred lines, it makes the meaning of this all the more profound. 

With all the incredible details and well-placed symbolism in the show, for example, how Jinx uses a monkey as her symbol and monkeys can represent mischief and playfulness just like Jinx’s personality; “Arcane” is truly a wonder that is an experience for first-time viewers. I would recommend this heartfelt series to anyone who has an appreciation for the arts.