Why Arcane Season 3 will never happen

With the second chapter now over, talks have turned to the potential for Arcane Season 3 – but Riot Games has other plans for the League of Legends cinematic universe.

The Arcane Season 2 finale was a lot to take in. Jayce and Viktor made the ultimate sacrifice; Jinx died (supposedly); Orianna made her debut in the final moments; and Mel became an LoL champion.

And so concludes the story of one of the best animated TV shows in history. The only criticism is some wish it was longer, but the creators have been emphatic about the fact that Arcane is just the beginning. 

This is just one of many reasons Arcane Season 3 won’t be going ahead – but it’s not all bad news. 

Why Arcane Season 3 isn’t going ahead

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In June 2024, showrunner Christian Linke confirmed that Arcane Season 2 would be the last, the reason being that there are “many stories to tell” in the League of Legends universe.

“Arcane is just the beginning of our larger storytelling journey and partnership with the wonderful animation studio that is Fortiche,” he said in a statement. 

“From the very beginning, since we started working on this project, we had a very specific ending in mind, which means the story of Arcane wraps up with this second season. But Arcane is just the first of many stories that we want to tell in Runeterra.”

So, the news is sad but ultimately the right choice. While many of us would jump at the chance to have an Arcane Season 3, the creators are demonstrating their love for and knowledge of the games by ending it now.

Rather than dragging out the arcs of the Arcane characters, they want to showcase the potential for other powerful champions and stories. 

Elaborating on this decision, Linke told Dexerto, “It was never an open concept. It was always like, ‘Hey, there’s a story to tell.’ There’s a beginning and an end with the character relationships that we had in mind, especially for Vi and Jinx and for Jayce and Viktor.

“Not so much the plot – I mean, parts of it – but really there was a specific thing here that I wanted to explore and say with this story. So that’s just what we set out to do.”

Co-creator Alex Yee added, “I think it’s also dangerous to stretch and keep something going forever,” highlighting that there were even difficulties when it came to creating Season 2. 

“We knew where we wanted to be headed with the story but… you need the ambitions of your characters in the first season to really result in something that is going to kind of take its own new angle in the second season,” he said. 

“It’s always about change. I think that’s why a lot of shows, you know, when they go too long they start unraveling because you can only have big changes so many times before it just starts feeling loose and unfocused.”

“The other thing is that this came from League of Legends where there’s so many champions, so many other regions,” Yee added. 

“Our original intention was always to bring that world to life and so I think getting to see more aspects of that and have more players get to see their favorite parts was something that was also motivating us.”

In other words, if they kept working on Arcane they’d have no opportunity to focus on new stories. This becomes even more significant when considering the time, artistry, and costs that go into producing a show of this caliber. 

Each season has taken years of round-the-clock work to get it to the level it needs to be, and so moving onto the next project makes sense both creatively and logistically. 

Arcane is just the beginning of the LoL cinematic universe

Even though Arcane Season 3 isn’t going ahead, Linke has made it clear that the Netflix show is just the beginning of plans for an MCU-style cinematic universe for League of Legends. 

Right now, the heads at Riot are cooking up a range of shows that will be “very different from each other,” with Linke telling Comic Book, “Some of them will be more whimsical, some of them will be more serious and dark. 

“Arcane is just the first step of a much bigger dream of storytelling.”

Following the release of Arcane Season 2 Act 3, the showrunner revealed that they’re looking at stories set in Noxus, Ionia, and Demacia for their next steps. 

This was initially taken to mean three separate shows are in development that are set in these League of Legends regions, but Linke confirmed to Dexerto that this isn’t the case. 

“What I said was that we’re exploring those regions and putting a lot of focus on them,” he explained. “Somehow that turned into, ‘There’s three series.’”

“It’s really that we’re exploring those regions… and just really, really excited about those and looking into them.”

To Linke and the rest of the Arcane crew, their key consideration when looking at what’s coming next isn’t the region but the characters. 

“The stories always start with the characters,” Linke continued. “It’s always the characters… they’re just cool.”

“Many of the most popular characters of our games come from these regions for a reason, they’re really awesome.”

Where the next League of Legends TV show might go

It’s too early to know for sure, but the leading theory is that we’ll be travelling to Noxus for the next League of Legends series.

After all, the region has featured heavily in Arcane’s two chapters through Ambessa, the Noxian warlord and matriarch of the powerful Medarda family. 

In Season 2, this expanded through the introduction of the Black Rose, a shadowy organization with deep roots in Noxian society. Their kidnapping of Mel Medarda backfired spectacularly when she embraced her powers and went against them in the finale. 

After defeating her mother, Mel might take over Ambessa’s spot and seek revenge on the Black Rose. Not only would this pave the way for a new set of Noxian characters but it would also allow for the formal introduction of LoL’s LeBlanc. 

There’s a natural synergy there too, as a League of Legends leak revealed Mel is set to be a new champion in the games as part of a Noxus-themed season in 2025. 

This is all just speculation at this stage, of course. And there’s all the chance the next LoL TV show will focus on characters across all three regions, especially after the tease of Jericho Swain.

In the Arcane Season 2 finale, we see one of his demonic ravens monitoring Piltover from the sidelines, indicating he might have a formal introduction in the future. 

Although Swain is a Noxian general, he has ties to Ionia and Demacia too. There’s potential there for a more expansive narrative that unites multiple regions into one series. 

There are more Arcane stories to tell

Arcane Season 3 isn’t going ahead, but that doesn’t mean we won’t be seeing any familiar faces down the line. 

When asked about the teases of Swain and Orianna in the Season 2 finale and whether this means they’ll be making an appearance, Linke said they can’t confirm anything just yet. 

However, he did say, “There are more stories coming out of Arcane.” 

“How specifically we construct these next projects, it really comes down to the people that work on it. And so I don’t want to make promises yet on which specific characters,” Linke continued.

“But we put these things in there deliberately because there are stories that are exciting and that are worth being told.”

For more on Arcane, read about Season 2’s alternate ending, the Jhin fan theory, the “Juliette” dedication explained, and Linke’s response to claims the finale was rushed.