by Brianna Eloiza
I discovered Netflix’s Arcane, inspired by the game League of Legends, after the second season had already concluded in December 2024, right before finals week in fall semester. I’d never heard of the show or the game, but thanks to the power of my TikTok algorithm, I couldn’t seem to escape videos about the show on my “For You” page. I figured since I’m already paying for Netflix, I might as well give the show a shot. Little did I know that Arcane would become one of my favorite shows of all time.
The show, at its core, is a story of “2’s.” Two sisters, Violet (Vi) and Powder (Jinx), two inventors, Jayce Talis and Viktor, and two conflicting cities, Piltover and Zaun. The two sisters have dealt with a plethora of trauma in their young lives, leading them down almost completely different paths. In an effort to bring power to Piltover, the two inventors “create” magic that harms the citizens of its sister city. While challenging the audience’s understanding of good and bad, hero and villain, the show also introduces and deepens the lore around notable champions from League of Legends.
Arcane is a visually beautiful show. The artwork goes above and beyond, and there’s clearly so much effort that went into the design of each character and location within the series. However, the one thing that really caught my attention about Arcane was the soundtrack. Many of the popular songs from the second season were featured in TikTok posts about the show and I found myself memorizing the lyrics just from these short clips. I decided to do something very out of the ordinary for me: I listened to the soundtrack out of order, listening to songs from season two when I was only a third of the way done with season one.
This was a very different experience for me. I’m a lover of soundtracks, but I usually won’t listen to a soundtrack at all until I’ve finished a series. This time, though, I couldn’t help myself. The music from season one was so interesting to me that I gave in to temptation and started listening anyway.
The season two soundtrack, though, definitely took the cake. Songs like King Princess’ “Fantastic,” D4vd’s “Remember Me,” Stromae and Pomme’s “Ma Meilleure Ennemie,” and Twenty One Pilots’ “The Line” are so powerful within the story.
One thing that the show does so well is use the music within the show as a narrator for what’s happening, for what the characters are feeling and want to say to each other, rather than just a song playing over a scene. It’s so purposeful and brings so much more into the scene because of it.
I think the first taste of this that we get in season two is in the end of episode three, “Finally Got the Name Right.” There’s so much happening between Jinx and Vi while Jayce, Ekko, and Professor Heimerdinger are investigating the Arcane. The song for this scene, “To Ashes and Blood,” expresses the conflicts for each of these characters verse by verse while the artists are accompanied by a children’s choir singing in a made-up language meant to symbolize the cries of the Zuanite children who are unknowingly being affected by these conflicts. It’s brilliant.
Now, I’m not one for spoilers, so this is really all you’re going to get from me. I’d highly recommend watching the show if you enjoy post-apocalyptic genres, but moreso, I’d highly recommend the soundtrack to all music lovers. There’s a little something for everyone. Pop, rock, indie, alternative, metal. The soundtrack is great on its own, but knowing the stories tied to each song makes them just that much better.
