Image: Riot Games, Netflix
Christian Linke and Alex Yee share how they brought Arcane champions to life and what's next for Runeterra.
With just hours to go until Season 2 of Arcane, the League of Legends animated series, kicks off on Netflix, League fans are buzzing with questions about what’s next for the champions of Runeterra. The explosive Season 1 finale set the bar high, and this new season promises to take us deeper into the champions’ stories and the tension brewing across their world.
In an exclusive chat with GosuGamers, Arcane showrunners Christian Linke and Alex Yee gave a glimpse of what’s in store: bringing iconic champions to life in fresh ways, exploring new corners of the League universe, and tackling the hard questions fans have been waiting for.
Bringing League of Legends champions to life
When it comes to adapting League of Legends champions for the screen, Yee and Linke shared that their approach remains focused on preserving each character’s core essence.
“I think in terms of like what we pulled from the IP, from the game, you know, it was in a lot of ways similar to the way we looked at it with Season 1, which was really just, we wanted to,” he said.
Yee explained that the process was a blend of “organic” creative choices and respect for the League lore, particularly with Season 2.
“We wanted to take what felt like the core essence of the characters and make sure that we stayed true to it,” he said. However, they also welcomed room for artistic interpretation, allowing each character to evolve in a way that resonated with viewers.
For Linke, this required an understanding of each champion’s appeal to the players, something he sees as central to fans’ connection with the series.
“I think the interesting thing about League is getting the characters right is a pretty… emotional, visceral thing for most players because it's about what does it feel like to play these characters… to be these characters in-game? There's like a few [lines] that… you connect with and you remember and then there's a lot of like, of the feeling,” he explained, mentioning how they focused on the “physicality” of champions like Jayce to capture moments like his iconic hammer swings in a way that felt authentic and thrilling for fans.
“You need to feel that in him also as a character,” Linke remarked. “…the behavioural stuff that our players have acquired over time is really what we had to study and get right.”
Season 2: Cycles of conflict and generational ambition
One of the central themes Alex Yee highlighted was Arcane’s examination of ambition and conflict across generations. Season 1 introduced these ideas through the struggles of Piltover and Zaun’s inhabitants, and the continuation promises to delve even deeper.
As Yee explained, “All of Arcane, as a story, talks about these… cycles of conflict and of ambition… that pass on from generation to generation.”
He also pointed to the tension between family bonds, like the deepening conflict between the sisters, Jinx and Vi—“your given family versus your chosen family”—and how the characters’ changing relationships reflect broader themes of loyalty, power, and identity.
In addition, Season 2 will address the moral questions surrounding power and technology, a theme pivotal to Arcane’s world, as Jayce, Viktor, and Jinx have started to explore the possibilities surrounding the use of Hextech—either for progress or destruction.
“Is there a limit to power? Can power be used responsibly?” Yee asked, framing this question as a core element of the new season.
“I think those are things that you should see as sort of, like, almost continuations between the two seasons,” Alex said.
This exploration isn’t only for Piltover and Zaun but also for the broader Runeterra universe, where powerful neighbours eye Piltover’s advancements with keen interest.
“I think something new that we're bringing in this season… is hinted at, I guess, at the end of Season 1 is also just the wider world, right,” he added.
“You certainly can't have something powerful and something precious without your neighbours taking notice… in this larger dynamic, I guess, of the different regions of the world of League.”
Any plans to explore other regions of Runeterra in future projects?
While Arcane Season 2 will be the series’ final chapter, Yee and Linke are already considering future storytelling possibilities within the League of Legends universe.
“We're creatives at heart,” Christian said. “And after, you know, so many years on one particular story with like, you know, like, like 10, 11 characters, whatever it is, like naturally you have ideas for other stories and other projects you want to explore, other characters you want to focus on.”
When asked about other potential settings, Linke hinted at a desire to explore new regions.
“We want to grow…we want to go to different regions, [and] we want to go [and reveal] different characters we haven’t seen yet.”
Although they remained tight-lipped about specific plans, Linke’s enthusiasm for expanding League’s lore is good news to fans of both Arcane and the LoL universe as a whole.
Takeways for fans and new viewers
When asked what new viewers or non-League fans might take away from Arcane and the world of Runeterra, Christian Linke and Alex Yee each shared reflections that underscored Arcane's unique thematic elements.
Christian Linke expressed his hope that viewers would be drawn to the distinctive fusion of magic and technology that Piltover embodies. “I think what was always cool was like just the inventions, the gadgetry, the technology—like magic meets technology,” Linke explained, emphasising how they were “really, really cool to play with” and gave their artists a lot of creative freedom.
This blend was something they had envisioned as “Da Vinci’s dream world,” which lent Piltover a unique depth. As Linke explained, “We should always have something to say... it’s hard for me to generalise, but I think that’s really the job, right? It’s always find something kind of unique and... special that adds something to this fantasy genre.”
Alex Yee explored the show's thematic focus on conflict and understanding. He explained that Arcane highlights that “there’s always two sides to a story, and there’s always more of a story.”
He reflected on the idea that “when there are two… opponents and it feels like they are so different from each other... the path to harmony and the path to healing really comes when they can understand the roots, you know, of what led them there and kind of the things that... they have in common and that bind them.”
Yee further elaborated on humanity’s cyclical patterns of enmity and alliance: “We have this sort of like cycle in humanity of, your neighbour is your enemy until the next neighbour is your enemy. And then suddenly it’s like, well, then the enemy of my enemy is my friend.”
He observed that, as societies expand, they often form new alliances. With a nod to the challenge of global unity, he added, “We’re hitting this point now, you know, where... as we sort of approach this idea of a global society... it’s really... breaking down, you know, the sort of question of kind of like, can we all be on the same team?”
And perhaps, as Alex hinted, there’s hope in “building bridges”—though anyone familiar with Arcane knows that, in Piltover, that’s easier said than done.
With the release of Season 2 imminent, Yee and Linke offered two words each for fans awaiting the final chapter: “Gird loins,” Christian said with a laugh. “Get excited,” Alex added afterwards, as the waves of laughter subsided.
As Arcane returns to Netflix, fans can prepare for a thrilling yet introspective journey through Runeterra, exploring themes of power, conflict, and understanding that will resonate long after the screen fades to black.
