The cast and creators of ARCANE share an in-depth look at what it took to bring this incredible saga to life, and to bid farewell to these beloved characters. Arcane Season 2 is only on Netflix.
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00:00I'm done blaming myself for your mistakes.
00:03Done pretending you're my sister. You're not.
00:06Then stop me.
00:11I'm still just, like, in shock.
00:14Like, I don't even have the words.
00:17That's the beauty of this show, is it's complex.
00:21Arcane Season 2 is dark.
00:24Ambitious.
00:27Badass.
00:28Unbelievable.
00:29Surprising and dramatic.
00:31I'm such a fan.
00:32This is not just the next chapter, like, we need to do something here that's very special.
00:36The scale is so large and it's so ripping.
00:39There is something for everyone.
00:40It really is memorable.
00:46In Season 2, we're in the aftermath of my attack.
00:50Your attack.
00:51Jinx's attack.
00:52Jinx's attack.
00:53Yep, that's me.
00:55A lot of tension.
00:56A lot of tension.
00:57Between Piltover and Zorn.
00:58The chaos and the conflict are at an all-time high.
01:04The amazing thing about doing a series where you come back for a second season
01:08is you can completely trust the creators and it feels very collaborative
01:11and you know your character.
01:13With Season 1, first thing was, like, can we establish the characters from the game
01:17that we all know and what they sound like, what they fight like.
01:19But we want to have the drama and the stakes of something that we see in anime.
01:23Season 2, a lot of it was, like, kind of pushing it much further.
01:26It really explores the dark sides of the characters.
01:28What the hell are we supposed to do now?
01:30Watch it all burn.
01:33We had so much trust from both Christian and Alex and the entire team
01:37to really take on these characters in this new light,
01:40having spent so much time with them and having learned them so much over Season 1.
01:44Where are the others?
01:46Spit it out.
01:47Working with Ella and Hayley, they're so good.
01:49You know, they internalize the lines in the moment.
01:51I'm ready.
01:52And go really deep on the different emotions.
01:54I'm glad it's you.
01:56Had to be you.
02:01I love, love, love playing Jinx. She's so unpredictable.
02:05I get to really ignite my inner child.
02:07But then again, she has these moments of rage and these moments of extreme confusion.
02:11And then the vulnerability that comes out is heartbreaking.
02:14Vi is coming to terms with, is her sister actually gone?
02:19Is there any part of her left?
02:21Because that's where the fight is within Vi.
02:25And we see her with very little to nothing left in her.
02:29It has to end.
02:31I think that's a huge part of Vi's growth.
02:33It has been really fun to play through that dynamic.
02:37To watch someone go into a recording booth
02:40and then to give them the kinds of instructions that are like,
02:43have the craziest mental breakdown in specifically this way.
02:48And then it's like, well, they nailed it.
02:50Yeah, I always leave those sessions, like, exhausted
02:52because I feel like I've felt every emotion on the scale.
02:55Best feeling in the world, kid.
02:57For Jinx, one of my favorite parts of this season
03:00is the relationship between her and Isha.
03:02It's just so sweet.
03:03Ta-da!
03:04One of my favorite scenes is where they're playing.
03:06You like it.
03:07And they're just two kids having fun.
03:09But you do see these moments of, you really think she's gonna figure it out.
03:12And there's still this darkness that just takes over.
03:15It's very much about reckoning with what she's done.
03:18She goes to, like, an all-time low
03:20and has to, like, make this final decision of
03:22is she Jinx or is she Powder?
03:24Powder's gone.
03:28With Vi, she's grown so much.
03:30We've seen her deal with so much trauma.
03:32I think the family dynamics also are so complex.
03:35And as I get older, I have a better understanding
03:37of, like, what those are and how many there can be
03:39within a small family or within a sibling dynamic.
03:42Yeah, and you're chosen family.
03:44Not just the people you're related to,
03:46but the people that you choose to protect and adopt as your own.
03:50I love so much that Vi is as vulnerable as she is strong.
03:54I resonate with that completely.
03:56Who are you?
03:57How do you know my name?
03:58Junior Officer Nolan.
04:00Maddie.
04:01And, uh, it's written on your face.
04:04I was really blown away by the writing
04:08and the handling of the female characters.
04:10I felt like every woman in the show was handled
04:14with dignity and complexity and empowerment.
04:17Multi-layered femininity.
04:19Maybe we can negotiate.
04:21Savika has the spirit of understanding
04:24that the cause is greater than one individual person.
04:26And she is for the people of Zaun getting their independence.
04:30We don't hand over our people.
04:33I feel like Jace, you really get to watch him evolve
04:36from who you think he is
04:38into the person that we know he is now.
04:40And it's a completely different side of Jace
04:42than I think the audience is used to.
04:44I won't fail.
04:45I swear it.
04:47Heimerdinger's fall from grace is about perspective for him.
04:50He gets to see that genius happens outside the lab.
04:54That great minds come from distinct places.
04:58Every action sparks a reaction.
05:01That's why he takes Echo on in this mentor kind of a role
05:05is he connects with him.
05:07I think we find new ways of Echo
05:10learning more about what it is to be a true leader.
05:14Everybody needs to be represented.
05:16And Arcane is just one of those shows
05:18that adds to that beautiful history
05:21that's always evolving.
05:23Everybody gets a chance to really, really dig deep.
05:27I like pretty much everything about Victor.
05:29He's a paradox of a person.
05:31His vulnerability but also his massive strength.
05:34And finally we begin to understand how he becomes
05:36the character that players will be familiar with.
05:38We can be of one mind.
05:43It's so heartbreaking but fun at the same time.
05:46And when you can have these two kind of opposing emotions
05:51that's when, you know, the magic happens.
05:54I am a decorated officer, leader of House Keirriman.
05:58There are so many layers to Vi and Caitlyn.
06:01I feel like Caitlyn has unlocked this softness in Vi.
06:05She's lost everyone else in her life
06:07and she's just like praying to God that she doesn't lose Caitlyn
06:10because she finally has someone.
06:12I think that was really interesting
06:14especially when you had characters like Caitlyn
06:16who's so positive, who's always been the hopeful beacon
06:19that is like, no, there's a way to work with the Undercity.
06:22We can show them together.
06:24You want to believe her that this is possible
06:26and she's just very pure.
06:28If you see someone like that lose their hope
06:30it just really hurts.
06:31I want to tear that laugh from her throat forever.
06:34Cait.
06:37While this show is so captivating and wild and fun to watch
06:41there are so many layers to it.
06:43Identity and family dynamic and perception of self.
06:47That's really the biggest uniting thing I can think of
06:50between all of the characters
06:51and one of the biggest themes of Arcane is like
06:53you are the choices that you make
06:54and you can never predict the consequences of those choices.
06:59There's two things that you feel like you're trying to achieve, right?
07:02Live up to the story that you've told
07:04and also bring an evolution to it.
07:07That was actually an interesting
07:09and always challenging process going through Season 2.
07:14Fortiche was like the obvious partner.
07:16I mean, they're just an absolutely amazing animation studio in Paris.
07:19We knew that they would want exactly the same thing.
07:22Like, they really wanted to take animation as a whole to the next level.
07:26Wow!
07:32The world that inspired this, right?
07:35Like the one from the video game.
07:36There are so many stories that we want to tell and hint at.
07:42It really wasn't like, let's just make another.
07:44It was really like, let's start from zero
07:46and really have the same ambition and the same hunger
07:48that we have with Season 1.
07:52I'm always with you.
07:55Even when we're worlds apart.
07:59What we do with music in the second season
08:01is something that's just a big step up
08:03in terms of just scope and ambition.
08:13They're all handcrafted original tracks.
08:16We work with Fortiche to find one or two moments in every episode
08:19where the music kind of takes over.
08:21As an example, we have a song early on in the first episode
08:24the funeral scene of Caitlyn's mom.
08:26We started working with Freya, the singer and artist.
08:29We wanted someone that has a kind of voice
08:32that mirrors Caitlyn's personality.
08:34Makes it so much more special when you find an artist
08:36that really hits those emotional qualities you're looking for.
08:43I'm like in a constant state of awe over this show and these characters.
08:54You know, this is the last season
08:56and I think that they've wrapped it up in such a beautiful way.
09:01It feels fulfilling.
09:04Everyone I know who has seen it
09:07has been blown away by the animation,
09:10the performances, the story.
09:13The writing is just so beautifully nuanced.
09:15That then makes it so easy to just immerse yourself.
09:18It's brilliant because they just care so much.
09:21We've worked on this for so long.
09:23Everyone just battled through it.
09:25Everyone really believed in it from the beginning.
09:27I'm just really proud of it.
09:30Everything is an opportunity to imagine what if.
09:33That is the thing that is both tantalizing
09:36and satisfying as much to us as for the fans.
09:39The fandom of this show has had a real impact on me as a person.
09:44You can see the love for the world.
09:46It moved me in a certain way
09:48and I love to see how it affected others.
09:50It's almost overwhelming.
09:52This is just a really celebratory moment
09:54and I'm really proud to be a part of it.
09:56By far one of the coolest projects
09:58I've ever gotten to be a part of.
10:00I cried at the finale.
10:02It just does feel satisfying.
10:04I feel so honored to play this role
10:06and to be on the other side of that
10:08and sort of see how this has influenced people.
10:11How incredible to be a part of this journey.