I played League of Legends since the early days of the game. I’ve been reading the Journal of Justice, an in-universe publication from the days when the League of Legends was a giant battle arena where countries could settle political disputes. I witnessed the first major retcon of the setting in 2014, and the succession of comics, events, novellas, and movies. Arcane is undoubtedly a triumph, both critically acclaimed and hugely popular. But the last few episodes have fooled me. You would think that my experience would give me more insight, but instead I am completely in the dark.
There are creative decisions involved Arcane that makes for a more effective story, and it’s probably a good thing that Fortiche isn’t tied to every choice Riot made during Competition‘s long and winding history. That creative freedom probably led to a better story, and I can imagine people who have never played before League of Legends can enjoy the show on his own.
But here’s a tough question: Is Arcane canon? The answer is technically yes, but practically no. TBSkyen, a content creator and analyst, explained the dilemma in a short video.
The characters in it Arcane do not match their biographies on the League of Legends website. The stories are close enough, and if you squint you can see how everything lines up. But the little details matter, and if you loved a character Arcaneyou can’t easily follow their journey into the rest of the headcanon. As a fan of old stories, it is difficult to reconcile those differences.
Are certain characters alive or dead? Did their origin stories ever overlap with Piltover and Zaun champions that didn’t exist? Competition? Do Caitlyn and Ekko have parents? What about Seraphine’s hextech? Where is Blitzcrank? These questions haunt me, and the existing media is not helping. The Riot Forge game Convergence is a solid platformer that explores Ekko through an adventure in Zaun, but follows the ‘old’ canon of the past Arcane. Are these or were these different universes? Convergence reconnected? Don’t know!
To be honest, Arcane does prove the existence of at least one parallel universe. In that sense, Arcane is canon – and so is every bit of it Competition media ever produced, as it could be in an alternate universe. But at that point, every story loses its narrative weight and everything feels messy. Even if this guarantees that there is at least one happy ending for all of these characters, it still doesn’t feel great to walk away. Arcane with more questions than answers about the “current” state of Zaun and Piltover.
What’s worse is that Riot has left plot points dangling before, sometimes never revisiting them. A few years ago, Riot published the short story Bloodline by Graham McNeillwhich set up an ongoing storyline featuring prominent Shuriman characters such as Taliyah, Sivir and Nasus. But that plot was quietly dropped, and then Taliyah quietly popped up in other films and stories. Arcane has a significantly larger investment in it; the 18 episodes reportedly cost $250 million. But what if it also falls by the wayside?
When Riot reset its lore in 2014, certain champions were left in limbo. Over time, those characters have been revisited and refined. However, there are still a few champions that stick out like a sore thumb. Shaco, a killer clown character infamous for his annoying gameplay, still has no backstory or any lore.
Arcane is beautiful and innovative, but so old Competition Lore fan, I have no idea what the fuck is going on. Riot will provide some updates for Arcane-related champions; It’s already been confirmed that Viktor has an art and sustainability update in the works. And that is clear League of Legends‘ The world is a rich source of inspiration, but it’s difficult to follow the entire universe when the central product is so disorganized and mismatched.