Netflix's Best Animated Show Is Ending After Season 2

Today is both a good and awful day for animation fans. "Arcane," the single best animated show from Netflix and one of the greatest works of animation in the last decade, got a new trailer for its upcoming second season. But the terrible, horrible, no good, very bad news is that the second season of "Arcane" will also be its last. "This November, witness the Final Chapter," states the latest trailer. 

According to Variety, co-creator Christian Linke said this is only the first "of many stories that we want to tell in Runeterra," with the story of "Arcane" wrapping up in its second season because they "had a very specific ending in mind" since the start. Whether they always wanted two seasons, or if the show's incredibly prohibitive budget and recent lay-offs at parent company Riot Games made it hard to justify a third season, is unknown. In the meantime, it is still very bittersweet news that there will be just a bit more of this wonderful show, and then it will be over.

As for season 2 of "Arcane," the trailer picks up immediately after the events of the first season, with Jinx (Ella Purnell) literally launching a rocket at the Piltover council, killing most of them. The trailer shows the entire city on the hunt for Jinx, kickstarting a war to destroy the drug Shimmer once and for all, while promising a climactic fight between Jinx and her sister Vi (Hailee Steinfeld), taking their relationship to the antagonism present in the "League of Legend" game.

While we've seen acclaimed and popular video game adaptations before, it really was "Arcane" that put the final nail in the coffin of the idea of a video game adaptation curse. The stunning work by Studio Fortiche made this the best looking show on TV, regardless of style, bringing feature film animation quality to television and delivering dazzling action but also emotional character acting.

The show also has some quite impressive world-building. In the nine-episode debut season, audiences were introduced to a massive world they were only seeing a glimpse of, with a vast history, different cultures, and complex relationships between the different groups introduced that could make for plenty more stories after Jinx and Vi's tale gets wrapped up. Given how vast the multiverse of "League of Legends" is, it makes little sense to simply stop here after already introducing so many different elements, plot lines, characters, and places.

In the meantime, Studio Fortiche, who made "Arcane" such a visually stunning piece of animation, already have their next project lined up. At the Annecy Animation Festival, they unveiled plans for an original sci-fi feature titled "Penelope of Sparta," inspired by Greek mythology.

"Arcane" season 2 will debut this November on Netflix.