Arcane’s Showrunner Addresses Season 2 Pacing Concerns: Striving for the Perfect Story Balance

Many fans have voiced their concerns that the second season of Arcane, especially its final act, felt a bit rushed. Showrunner Christian Linke recently shared his perspective on these critiques.

Arcane, without a doubt, is visually stunning, but it’s hard to deny that the storyline in its second and concluding season seemed somewhat scattered. With numerous plotlines in play, it seemed there was a need for at least one more season to adequately develop them. In a conversation with GamesRadar, Christian Linke addressed these pacing concerns. “When people watch season 1, there’s an aspect to the pacing… season 2 is a bit different in that regard,” he remarked.

“I respect that people express that [opinion]. You’re right – the vast majority of the audience seems to be happy. But there are people who say, ‘It’s rushed. What’s going on?'” As GamesRadar pointed out, a huge draw for fans in the first season was the evolving relationships between characters. In this season, however, those storylines seemed to hasten toward the conclusion. Linke acknowledged that the team had “approached season 2 a little bit differently in how we structured the episodes because we wanted, as creatives, to take these bets [and] take these swings.”

“For most people, it appears to work well. However, some wanted to see a direct continuation of the first season, and they’re understandably let down. I’m not thrilled they feel that way, but I respect their opinions,” Linke continued. There’s also the matter of introducing even more characters from the League of Legends universe who didn’t make it to the screen. While some criticized the show for having too much going on, others lamented the absence of fan-favorite characters.

“There are those who say it’s too rushed, and there’s too much happening. Yet, on the flip side, I also hear, ‘Where’s Camille? She’s part of Piltover. Where’s Blitzcrank? Where’s Twitch? Why didn’t you include them?’ So we have complaints of overcrowding, while others feel we missed the mark. We did our best… It’s a tough balance. We’re striving to present just the right amount of story.”

Personally, I think Arcane would have benefitted from at least one more season to truly flesh out its narratives. Financial constraints, however, could be to blame, as both seasons were quite costly to produce. Still, it appears Riot has more projects brewing on the multimedia front, so they likely felt the need to bring Arcane to a timely conclusion.