Arcane

Arcane (titled onscreen as Arcane: League of Legends) is an animated steampunk action-adventure television series created by Christian Linke and Alex Yee. It was produced by the French animation studio Fortiche under the supervision of Riot Games, and distributed by Netflix. Set in Riot's League of Legends fictional universe, it primarily focuses on sisters Vi and Jinx. The series was announced at the League of Legends 10th anniversary celebration in 2019, and first released in November 2021. Following the conclusion of the first season, Riot Games and Netflix announced that a second season was in production.

Sisters Powder and Vi find their parents dead among the bodies and the rubble of a battle on a bridge. They are taken in by Vander, the leader of the failed rebellion, as his own children. Years later, Vi and Powder rob a Piltover penthouse with their adopted brothers, Mylo and Claggor. Powder steals a set of magical crystals and accidentally shatters one. This causes an explosion that destroys a large portion of the building. Returning to the undercity, the siblings encounter Deckard and his thugs; while they beat them in a fistfight, Powder is chased and loses the loot. Vander, now a community leader in Zaun, scolds the children for their carelessness, and attempts to smooth things over with Grayson, the Sheriff of the enforcers, and her subordinate Marcus. Vi berates Mylo for calling Powder a "jinx" and reassures her sister that things will get better. In the lowest parts of the undercity, crime lord Silco extracts information from Deckard and tests a new mutagen known as Shimmer on a rat together with Singed, a Zaunite scientist. The crystals that Powder stole turn out to belong to Jayce Talis, a student at Piltover's academy. Piltover's ruling council has him testify about using illegal equipment in unsanctioned experiments. Jayce was saved by arcane magic as a child and believes it can be a new resource for Piltover's evolution. The academy expels him when he admits the magical nature of the experiments, and his research is ordered to be destroyed. On the verge of suicide, his beliefs are renewed when Viktor, the disabled assistant of the academy's professor Heimerdinger, offers to help him. In Zaun, Marcus pressures Vander to reveal the true culprits of the robbery, while Zaunites pressure him to fight back against the interference of the enforcers. He chooses to keep his family safe and remain neutral, leaving some unsure of his leadership. Vi decides to turn herself in. Meanwhile, Silco manipulates Deckard into swallowing a vial of Shimmer. Vander stops Vi from turning herself in, instead offering himself to Grayson. However, Silco intervenes and captures Vander after a heavily mutated Deckard kills Grayson and her men, sparing only Marcus. Vi, Mylo, and Claggor go to rescue Vander, leaving Powder alone. In Piltover, Jayce and Viktor secretly work with the crystals under the discretion of councilor Mel Medarda and invent Hextech, a new arcane technology. It is revealed that Vander betrayed Silco in the past, and tried to drown him. In the undercity, the siblings reach Vander but are cut off by Silco. Vi fights off Silco's thugs, but is badly beaten by Deckard. Powder, attempting to save her, causes an explosion with the stolen crystals that kills Claggor and Mylo. Vander, wounded by Silco, takes Shimmer, kills Deckard, and saves Vi before dying. In her grief, Vi hits Powder, calls her a "jinx", and walks away. Seeing Silco approach, Vi attempts to return to Powder but is ambushed and captured by Marcus. Believing Vi abandoned her, Powder breaks down in Silco's arms. He embraces Powder and tells her that "We'll show them all". Several years later, Piltover prospers with Jayce's Hextech technology and celebrates its 200th anniversary on a holiday called 'Progress Day'. Jayce initially hopes to reveal his and Viktor's latest gemstone device at the ceremony, but decides not to after Heimerdinger warns him on its potential dangers. Elsewhere, Powder, now a teenager going by the name of Jinx, works for Silco, who she views as a surrogate father. She helps him smuggle materials, mainly Shimmer, into Piltover. A job goes awry when the Firelights, an undercity gang, interfere. While fighting, Jinx briefly mistakes a Firelight as Vi and has a violent breakdown. Caitlyn, an enforcer and Jayce's childhood friend, investigates what happened. Attempting to repair her damaged reputation with Silco, Jinx steals Jayce's gemstone and sets off an explosion that kills six enforcers. Jayce is given a Piltover council seat to protect their people from the stolen gemstone. Looking for information, Caitlyn travels to Stillwater prison and encounters an adult Vi, having been imprisoned there by Marcus. Using forged paperwork, Caitlyn releases Vi from prison because of her knowledge of the undercity, and works with her to find Silco. Vi tracks down Silco's second-in-command, Sevika, who reveals Jinx's relationship with Silco, a shock which gives Sevika the opportunity to stab her. Meanwhile, it is revealed that Marcus was promoted to Sheriff with Silco's help. In exchange, Marcus allows Shimmer to be smuggled, and blames the Progress Day bombing and robbery on the Firelights. Jinx refuses to work on the new Hextech gemstones because of the trauma of killing her family with a similar device. In response, Silco takes her to the river where Vander tried to drown him and tries to convince Powder to accept her new identity as Jinx via a baptism. Back in Piltover, councillor Medarda starts a romantic relationship with Jayce, while also helping him to navigate the complex political sphere he now finds himself in as a councillor. Meanwhile, Viktor's illness worsens and he grows increasingly desperate to find a cure through Hextech technology.