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

Some fans found the pacing in the final act of Arcane season 2 to be rushed, and showrunner Christian Linke recently addressed these concerns.

Arcane is undeniably visually stunning. However, it’s hard to deny that the plot in the second and final season seemed scattered. There were so many storylines that ideally needed another season to properly develop. In an interview with GamesRadar, Christian Linke, the showrunner, spoke about the pacing complaints. “When people watch season one, there’s an aspect to the pacing… season two is a bit different in that regard,” Linke remarked.

The showrunner continued, “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 highlighted by GamesRadar, a significant draw for fans in the first season was the character relationships and how they evolved. Unfortunately, in season two, many felt things moved too quickly to reach the ending. Linke acknowledged that the creative team “did approach season two 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 seems to work really well,” he continued. “There’s some who specifically wanted a continuation in the same style as season one and are disappointed. I’m not pleased that they feel that way, but I respect it.” Linke also pointed out the addition of more characters from the League of Legends universe that didn’t end up appearing, leading to another layer of discontent. While some felt overwhelmed by the number of characters, others wished for more.

“There are people who say it’s too rushed, too much going on. There’s also the flip side. I see like, ‘Where’s Camille? She’s part of Piltover. Where’s Blitzcrank? Where’s Twitch? Why didn’t you include them?'” Linke explained. “On one side, you have people saying it’s too much. On the other, you have people saying we didn’t do enough and we did our best… It’s hard. We’re doing our best to include the right amount of story.”

Personally, I think Arcane could have benefited from at least another season, but it’s understandable why it didn’t happen given the hefty investment involved in both seasons. Plus, Riot appears to have more multimedia projects in the pipeline, so they likely felt the need to conclude this chapter sooner rather than later.