[Arcane Season 2 Episode 1] ‘Heavy Is the Crown’ Review

August 5, 2025

After Sony’s Spider-Verse series, Arcane might just make it onto my all-time favorites list.
I absolutely loved Arcane Season 1 last year, and now I’m finally watching Season 2.
We need more shows like this.
And I’m definitely going to get closer to stories like these!

Please drop ‘Beyond the Spider-Verse’ soon!!! 😫

Warning: Major spoilers for Arcane Season 2 ahead.
Haven’t watched it yet? It’s best to leave now!

📝 S2E1 Summery
Season 2 picks up right after Jinx attacks the Piltover council with Fishbones at the end of Season 1. Her assault results in the death of several council members, including Caitlyn’s mother, throwing the city into chaos.

A memorial is held for the victims, but even that moment of mourning is shattered when forces from Zaun launch a second attack—proving that nowhere in Piltover is truly safe anymore.

As Piltover falls into a critical state, Noxus steps in—suggesting they’ll have an even greater impact in Season 2.

This episode ends with a shift in Jayce’s values, uncertainty about Viktor’s fate, and several clues hinting at what’s to come.

Review ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
16:39 – Caitlyn sees Jinx — the one who killed her mother — inside a hallucination. The direction of how the hallucination begins and ends makes it all the more striking.

The background shifts from color to black and white, while the petals remain on screen, serving as a bridge between reality and the hallucination.

To Caitlyn, Jinx is a figure of hatred. Her silhouette

A way to build tension by bringing the camera, characters, and objects closer together

t brightens and zooms out, with a hook-up that aligns the character’s position in the frame, then returns to reality.

20:52 – Vi’s acting as she wakes up a drunken Loris is spot on, and Loris’s acting—pretending not to hear Vi and Nolen’s conversation—is just as impressive. 👍

21:00 — the highlight of Episode 1, running nonstop for about 10 minutes (intense, really intense).
The scene where Zaunites launch a sudden attack during a memorial for the Piltover council members.
Not only is the way tension is built impressive, but the choice to have the attack feel like an occupation rather than a stealthy sniper shot or bomb blast perfectly drives home the message that nowhere in Piltover is truly safe anymore.
The way each character appears and the direction of the scene are absolutely overwhelming.

Watching this sequence, I felt there wasn’t a single shot to waste.
It’s a scene worth watching repeatedly, and I tried to capture every detail my eyes could catch.

An establishing shot introducing the memorial location.

Since Jinx’s attack just happened moments before, security checkpoints are in place,
and this scene subconsciously reassures the audience that the space for the memorial speech is safe.

Vi enters as the focal point of the shot

Vi walks off-screen while looking toward the podium.
The audience instinctively follows her gaze, and in that space, Mel emerges—ready to become the new focal point of the shot.
This is a brilliant technique that changes the shot’s protagonist without cutting.

Mel, now perfectly centered in the frame, becomes the undeniable focal point of the shot.

And with a seamless cut, the hook-up aligns naturally, maintaining visual continuity.

There are many insert shots woven between the main cuts,
all based on strong acting choices, enriching the overall scene.

Shots that convey the sorrowful and devastated emotions of the people of Piltover.

A suspicious shot hidden among the static and somber shots.

So far, the suspicious character shots are not the main focus of the scene, but they’re building up to become the main shots.

The subtle tremble in Vi’s eyes reveals the weight of her thoughts.

Watching it again, I realize how effective that acting choice was.

Using focus to isolate a character from the crowd — such a powerful visual storytelling technique.
Rack focus is definitely worth diving into sometime 📝

A shot that builds tension and suspicion.

A frame that shows how beautifully light can transform a shot.

The order in which the statues of the deceased council members are revealed feels deliberate:
Regardless of their actual height, Kiramman is shown last, followed by Caitlyn — enabling a smoother transition between shots.

Centered on Mel standing at the podium alongside the councilors’ statues,
the shot transitions from a **medium shot**, to a **close-up**, and finally to a **wide shot**.
Though the **master shot** remains consistent, the varied shot distances prevent visual monotony and keep the scene engaging.

As the suspicious figure is followed,
subtle shifts in tone begin to surface —
cracking the calm atmosphere that once prevailed.

It is through Vi’s movement — paired with the sudden shift into slow motion —
that suspicion for the audience crystallizes into certainty.

Such a large bag — yet instead of a heavy thud, it settles gently, almost delicately.
That subtle choice fits the pacing and tone of the scene perfectly.
Had it been dropped with a thud, it might have disrupted the tension built up so far, slightly breaking the immersion.

“‘Awful, isn’t it?’ — such a sticky, captivating line. Mucho charming!”

It feels more engaging thanks to the direction showing Mel and Jayce simultaneously.
The shots cut back and forth to reveal what’s happening on both sides, but it never feels jarring to the eyes.
They must have spent a lot of time perfecting this—or maybe they’re just geniuses, ㅎㅎ 😁

The shot where Jayce turns around—it’s a similar composition, but the focal length seems slightly different.
Did they actually create separate shots for each, or did they film one single turn and just adjust the camera settings in post to edit it that way? 🤔
Maybe I should ask Fortiche about this!

[A] <=> [B] Contrasting direction.

This is **[A]**
In live-action films, it’s common to use a trick where the same punch is shown hitting Mel from both the left and right shots—a kind of visual sleight of hand.
However, in this case, the punching motion is shown clearly and then continued seamlessly in the following shot.
This is the classic way to handle it, and since the scene transitions into slow motion, using the sleight-of-hand technique wouldn’t really fit the direction here.

This entrance had an absolutely massive impact.

From this point on, the camera wildly shakes as if reflecting the citizens’ turmoil.

Another insane entrance scene.

What an epic entrance — the weight of their descent is seriously impressive.

The slight squash-and-stretch effect on the landing — dipping down then bouncing back up — was a great touch. 👍

he impactful details in this scene are really well done.

This is just because the hand gesture looks beautiful.

The scene showing Vi exerting effort is crafted really efficiently.
Though a wide shot from afar could capture Vi’s full exertion pose, close-ups of her expression and clenched hand reduce workload while effectively conveying the intended emotion.

[A] <=> [B] Contrasting direction.

This is [B]
Unlike the scene with A hitting from the podium, this sequence uses shot changes to show every hit — basically, the villain gets hit twice, right?
This kind of visual trick works perfectly for fast-paced scenes.

Jayce, subdued, faces the villain in the dominant position—captured perfectly with a powerful low-angle shot fitting the situation.

The way the light glides along the back of the blade — ⭐️

At the climax, everything is captured tighter — filling the frame completely.

An enemy is taken down by a spear flying in from somewhere, while Vi and Jayce’s attack arrives just a beat too late — such a brilliant choice.
It’s that thrilling feeling you get from perfectly timed offsets 🤩

The defeat is shown really clearly and convincingly.
The presence of the spear immediately signals that it’s Noxus.

Pure intensity. Another killer entrance.

What an intense sequence — now we can finally catch our breath…

35:10 Kiramman begins to move more assertively, while Ambessa’s expression seems to say, “You’re one of my kind.”

36:00 With nowhere left to retreat, Jayce breaks his promise to Viktor and creates the weapon.
While each enforcer’s entrance is impressive, the scene showing Vi stepping in wearing the enforcer’s badge is especially clever and stylish.