"Arcane" felt like a shock to the TV animation system. It's an epic sci-fi series with unprecedented production design that can go toe-to-toe with any big-budget blockbuster feature. That's to say nothing of its large-scale story, which focuses on an entire city that is revolutionized by the discovery of a mysterious technology, all the while telling a poignant and compelling tale of two sisters who are separated by tragedy.

The first season of "Arcande" did for TV animation what "Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse" did for movies. It promised a radical future for animation where series were allowed to experiment with 3D, live-action filmmaking techniques could be applied to the medium of animation, and even the 30-minute episode format itself could be changed in favor of hour-long episodes. episodes like prestige. plays. It's also no wonder the show looks so damn good, considering it cost as much as a live-action blockbuster movie. that's right Arcane is unsurprisingly the most expensive animated show of all time. Just as the first season shocked audiences by delivering a surprisingly great adaptation of the wildly popular League of Legends video game, audiences were once again caught off guard when Netflix and Riot Games announced they were ending Arcane with its second season.

Originally, the plan was for "Arcane" to have five seasons instead of two — something that's painfully obvious in the atrocious pacing of the second season, which tries to condense stories from multiple seasons into just nine episodes, leaving many questions unanswered and the entire future of TV -Riot Games' exit (along with the fate of all other League of Legends TV shows) is up in the air. That was until this week when Riot Games and Studio Fortice, who produced and animated Arcane, released a cinematic trailer for the next competitive season of League of Legends. Titled "Welcome to Noxus," the trailer is exactly what you'd expect from this kind of cinematic, full of cool battles featuring fan-favorite champions and a showcase of the various locations that will be the focus of the new season.

What makes the trailer intriguing, however, is that it has the same visual style and quality as Arcane, along with a surprising amount of story that includes direct references to the animated series.

The first hint that the trailer might be more than just a cool promo for the game comes when we see Mel - the Piltover council member and one of the main characters in "Arcane" - walking through some ruins on Noxus. Her season 2 arc ended with her seemingly fulfilling her mother's role in the Noxus military and possibly her determination to investigate the mysterious Black Rose faction, clearly teasing a larger story that was left unexplored.

The trailer still includes some good fights that have nothing (if at all) to do with Arcane, showing champions Trundle and Darius engaged in an icy battle in the Freljord region from the games. Even so, the last part of the trailer raises some big questions. Not only do we get to see Black Rose leaders LeBlanc and Vladimir talking (complete with brand new designs that look less like their in-game appearances and more in line with Arcane), but LeBlanc even references the events outright in Piltover, making it clear that the trailer takes place after the deadly events of "Arcane" season 2.

This is, to say the least, a neat epilogue showing that the effects of season two have rippled through the world of Runeterra. Given Arcane's second season's focus on Noxus and the fact that Riot Games reportedly has three new League of Legends TV series currently in development, it could be that this trailer is also a bit of a boon for the future. of the franchise, ie. a tease of what might be. Yes, Arcane was the most expensive animated TV show of all time and a financially irresponsible production. But Riot Games is one of the biggest gaming companies on the planet, so it has money to spare. Bring on another season, cowards!