It’s been a long old wait since the (literally) explosive cliffhanger finale that capped off season one of the superb Arcane, and even knowing we’re getting season two this year, November still seems a long way off. To keep us going, Riot has seen fit to drop a trailer—though it really is only a tiny crumb of Runeterran sustenance.
The 45 second clip gives us an extended glimpse of a moment we saw at the end of season one: mad scientist Singed enjoying some self-administered treatments in the shadow of one of his monstrous experiments. The final clear shot of the hulking figure, hung up from the ceiling by chains and with glowing mechanical parts incorporated into his form, seems to pretty much confirm an already well-established theory about the fate of fan favourite character Vander.
In season one, Vander overdoses on the supernatural drug Shimmer after suffering fatal injuries, and mutates into a monstrous creature, before seemingly dying saving Vi. Later, however, we saw that Singed had claimed his body (living or dead?) for his own purposes. That all lines up with the backstory of League of Legends character Warwick, a sort of cyborg werewolf monster created by Singed, suggesting Vander will become Warwick in season two.
In this new clip, you can more clearly see mechanical parts Singed has incorporated into Vander’s body—and they certainly match the look Warwick has in League of Legends.
Beyond that, there’s not too much to be gleaned from this teaser (though I’m sure the subreddits will prove me wrong). But that’s not the only Arcane reveal for today.
Riot’s look ahead at 2024 for League of Legends includes a peek at upcoming champions, skins, and esports events—but it also talks about incorporating elements of Arcane more directly into the game. Characters from Arcane are going to be added as champions, starting with Ambessa Medarda (Mel’s imposing Noxian mother), alongside new skins, visual updates of existing champions, “Arcane-inspired gameplay”, and “a few other surprises”.
The success of Arcane makes it a no-brainer for Riot to bring show and game closer together—but this also ties into Riot’s new approach to canon announced in October last year. Essentially, the developer wants to tie all of its content together into one coherent universe going forward, in which the events of Arcane and other spin-offs are true to the world seen in League of Legends—where currently it’s a bit of a mess of contradictory timelines. That’ll certainly be made easier by letting Arcane influence LoL’s future more directly.
