Is Arcane going to end after season 2? Explained
The highly-acclaimed series Arcane ended its run with season 2 act 3, which premiered on November 23, 2024, on Netflix. The series has been praised by fans and critics alike for its animation style and engaging storytelling. While the story ended with Piltover and Zaun co-existing peacefully, fans have been wondering about the possibility of another season.
In June 2024, Netflix announced that Arcane will end after its second season. But, that did not stop fans from hoping that the show will return for season 3 so that they can watch their favorite characters, based on the League of Legends video game, again.
The show's official synopsis, as per Netflix, reads:
"Amid the stark discord of twin cities Piltover and Zaun, two sisters fight on rival sides of a war between magic technologies and clashing convictions."
Why Arcane will not return for season 3?
After Netflix announced that Arcane would end after its second season, the show's co-creator Christian Linke spoke to BBC in June 2024. He said that the showrunners had a "very tailored ending in mind" and did not want to extend the series if it was unwarranted.
Furthermore, Linke told ComicBook on October 30, 2024, that he knew Arcane season 2 would be the last season while working on its production. He mentioned:
"We always had a story in mind with a beginning and an end. I think it was really just the character arcs. We knew that there was a specific thing we wanted to do. We didn’t necessarily have a specific episode count in mind, but we always knew it would be a finite story."
Moreover, Linke told Tudum by Netflix ahead of the show's second season premiere in November 2024, that he and co-creator Alex Yee had a "very specific ending in mind" that would enable them to wrap up the series "with this second season."
Reportedly, another reason for the show's short run was its high production cost. According to Variety, the series was allegedly downsized from its initial plan of five seasons to two seasons due to budget constraints.
Marc Merill, creator of the League of Legends video game and the show's executive producer, addressed rumors of a scrapped season 3 in a recent Reddit post by writing:
"The confusion is because internally there was a budget conversation about 'approving 5 seasons' – which simply means we were setting aside a bunch of money for lots of development and is completely irrelevant to the Arcane creative. The creative and making something great is what the priority should always be for Riot and our teams."
Also Read: Arcane Season 2 Act 3 ending explained: What does Jayce see in the wild rune anomaly?
Will there be any possible spin-off series?
In his same interview with Tudum by Netflix, Linke shared that the animated series was the "beginning of our larger storytelling journey" with the French animation studio, Fortiche. He also revealed that the series was the "first of many stories that we want[ed] to tell in Runeterra."
On October 26, 2024, he elaborated on his plans to explore the League of Legends universe in an interview with Screen Rant. Linke said that the Netflix series was "just the first" among many series that Riot Games aimed to produce. He further stated:
"We're working on a bunch of new projects, a bunch of new stories from across the different regions and characters of our IP, and some of them are actually continuations of character stories from Arcane. So, definitely, there are some character stories that we want to continue."
Linke added:
"So, really, Arcane is the true first. This is the first rite that we had to survive and figure out, 'Can we do this?' And now, we can kind of dream bigger, which is really awesome."
Also Read: Arcane season 2 soundtrack: A complete guide to all songs in the sequel
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