Ha, they read our thread! :P

I'm actually glad they're saying it was intentional, because that means they can try to do things differently in the future. And maybe they'll release more supplemental material, like the book about Ambessa, to fill in the story, so we can appreciate the animated series better.

5. In that moment, Jayce recognises that this is actually the Victor he knows and that there's still a chance, so he tries to convince Victor, now that he is free of his control/apathy.

Good point! That was the first time after Viktor left Jayce at the lab where he looked human and vulnerable, instead of stoic and machinelike. So for Jayce that's also the first time where another option than destroying Viktor became an possible.

I just found the following on TVTropes:

A rumour arose that Arcane's showrunners originally planned to have five seasons, engendering disappointment and anger from fans when it was announced in 2024 that Season 2 would be the final. However, showrunners Christian Linke and Alex Yee and RIOT's CEO Marc Merrill have all stated that two seasons was always the plan, and that the five seasons rumour originated as a misinterpretation of a joking comment made by RIOT's former CEO Nicolo Laurent.

So at least we know that any pacing issues were Fortiche's own doing :P

It's Jinx :P

Yeah, I feel like they mainly tried to prevent plot holes by just not filling out the details instead of making sure everything is constistent.

Thank you for making a thread!

Personally, I felt quite disappointed by the way they developed the story. To me, the first season was about the relationships between Jinx, Vi, Vander and Silco against the backdrop of this bombastic world. However, in the second season those relationships are moved to the background in favor of a huge apocalyptic (and ultimately somewhat nonsensical) conflict. We see people do things, but there is barely any room left for their emotions. This is also reflected in the dialogue, which devolves into oneliners, nonsequiturs and tell-don't-show.

Vi changes loyalty depending on where the plot needs her to be. There might be a perfectly good explanation for this (like her being so damaged she'll cling to anyone who shows her affection), but that isn't explored, it just happens.

Jinx's emotional development gets barely any more screen time. I did think it was a good way to develop the character (straddling the balance between being finally at peace and suicidally depressive), but after Isha dies, there's barely any time left for her.

We never get to see what Jinx and VI think of Vander being turned into a beast man.

The same goes for supporting characters. Why does Jayce go from trying to kill Viktor to trying the save him through the power of friendship? Why does Ekko just start cooperating with topsiders? Does Heimerdinger actually have feelings about the whole thing?

I think Cait and Ambessa are the only characters who are properly developed. Viktor also gets a lot of screen time, but his power arc isn't really explained (somehow going from healing himself to remotely controlling everyone), and his emotional arc descends into a standard villain trope (fix everything --> oh noes, boring!).

The obvious exception being the relationship between Ekko and Jinx in episode 7. Personally, I think that was the only episode which really added something to the first season. Otherwise, you might as well just pretend the story ends right before Jinx shoots the rocket at the council.

Also, many things just happen without any explanation. Why does Heimerdinger disappear? It isn't foreshadowed nor explained. The final battle was clearly style over substance. Why does Viktor let the Noxians attack when he can clearly win it all by himself, without bloodshed? Why do Jinx and the Zaunites join the battle after walking away, and why are they late? (The former can be inferred to be Ekko's work, but that would have been a great thing to actually show.) Why does Mel only start using magic after the main battle?

Finally I felt the Enforcer squad, the chem barons, and the whole Black Rose subplot where included because of planned tie-ins with the games, instead of actually adding to the story. Loris didn't get enough screentime to make an impact, Maddie was just a foil for Vi, and Steb isn't even named onscreen. The chem barons all but disappear after a few episodes. The Black Rose could have been completely left out without messing up the story and Mel could have discovered her magic in another way, while also not completely severing her relationship with Jayce. I'm guessing this is a matter of Riot telling Fortiche what to do and the product suffering from it.

There's lots to love about season 2: the visuals and music were great, and it's a good thing that they wrapped up the story. It's certainly a fun watch, but I feel it could have been more.

Yes. It's too bad they're trying to cram four (planned) seasons into one, because the story pacing, character development and dialogue are clearly suffering because of it. I'm still having a lot of fun watching it though :)

I think it's a good way to show-don't-tell. You could add a few more of these interactions to develop the plot point and make sure readers don't miss it the first time around (e.g. if the reader doesn't know what a nipple piercing is, or doesn't associate it with teen rebellion).

AFAIK Lost Coast is now included in HL2

Thanks for the info, sounds good!

Thanks for the tip!

Which Linux distro are you using? I'm also considering switching because of Windows 10 going EOL, but there are a lot to choose from.

Wasn't this painting featured in the game The Procession to Calvary?

(More info about this game series, which is very entertaining: Death of the Reprobate's creator drew inspiration from the timeless art of Hieronymous Bosch, Bruegel, and the poop joke

Random idea, but maybe you could offer to drive her around for a few days, so she can relax and you can spend some time together.

Or your partner died before you, which might not be as cool.

Where did you find Dr. McNinja? It seems like the official website is down :(

I peaked at 3.3k as an EU Terran, so take this with a grain of salt. But when playing mech in TvZ, I found it really difficult to deal with early baneling busts if I went heavy on hellions. Blue Flame means delaying one or more tanks, and microing hellions against lings when defending is not easy.

What do you guys think about it? Over on reddit people are far from enthusiastic.

Two sailing ships!

Thanks for the insight! StarCraft 2 is in a similar state (remaining healthy and fun despite the lack of developer support), so that's a good sign :)