Warning: The following article contains major spoilers for Arcane Season 2 Act 2.
Many fans have long guessed what Arcane Season 2 Act 2 just confirmed: revolutionary-turned-bartender Vander and League of Legends Champion Warwick are one and the same. We’ve rounded up everything you need to know about this big reveal below, including the lowdown on Vander/Warwick’s shocking final scene!
Arcane Season 2 Confirms the Vander/Warwick Theory
When Vander died in Arcane Season 1 Act 1, Episode 3, “The Base Violence Necessary for Change,” viewers unfamiliar with the League of Legends video game assumed he was gone for good. And fair enough, too. Steampunk trappings notwithstanding, the Arcane universe treats stab wounds and multi-story falls as the fatal injuries they are.
But those audience members clued up on League of Legends lore weren’t so convinced Vander was permanently out of the picture. Before too long, they’d amassed an impressive body of evidence that Arcane would eventually resurrect Vander as League of Legends‘ werewolf-like Champion, Warwick. From overlapping aspects of both characters’ canonical backstories to suggestive imagery hidden in Season 1’s finale, it became increasingly obvious these fans were on the right track.
Arcane Season 2 Act 1 poured even more fuel on the “Vander is Warwick” fire. Season 2’s first batch of episodes contains several scenes of Singed gradually completing work on a human/wolf hybrid and it seemed a given that Vander’s corpse supplied the first half of this unholy combination. And such is indeed the case in Season 2 Act 2, which confirms early on that Singed’s beast-man is Warwick, the reborn Vander. But even if you saw this twist coming, chances are Vander’s subsequent reunion with adopted daughters Vi and Jinx floored you just the same!
Related: Arcane: Who Is Isha (& How Is She Connected to Jinx) in Season 2?
Does Warwick/Vander Die in Arcane Season 2 Act 2?
It sure looks that way. In Arcane Season 2 Act 2, Episode 6, “The Message Hidden Within the Pattern,” Vander/Warwick finds himself at ground zero of a hex crystal overload. The resulting explosion isn’t the kind of thing you’d expect anyone to shrug off – even someone an ultra-tough mutant! Admittedly, we don’t see Vander’s body, however, Episode 6 strongly implies he’s dead.
Related: Arcane: How Old Is Jinx in Season 2?
Besides, even if our guy did somehow survive, he’s not really Vander anymore. Moments before his apparent death, Vander reverts to his savage, Warwick nature. Apparently, his rational state of mind hinged on scientist-turned-healer Viktor’s survival. Once Viktor dies in Episode 6, Vander’s higher reasoning promptly vanishes – likely forever.
Arcane Season 2 Acts 1 and 2 are currently streaming on Netflix. Act 3 drops on Nov. 23, 2024.
Published: Nov 18, 2024 01:44 pm