The best League of Legends Easter eggs in Netflix’s Arcane season 2

There are a lot of reasons to like Arcane, Netflix’s animated series set in the world of League of Legends: the dazzling animation, the creative use of original music, the compelling relationships. But one of the more impressive things about the show to me is how restrained it is about throwing in references and Easter eggs to the source material.

Unlike a lot of other IP-driven shows, Arcane isn’t just a nonstop barrage of “Hey, I recognize that!” moments. That helps keep the show’s emotional moments from feeling cheap, and it also makes the moments where the show does drop in a reference to the world of Runeterra stand out more. (Especially now that Arcane is also League canon and there’s plenty of in-game tie-ins.)

Here are the best moments we’ve spotted in season 2 so far. Any we missed? Drop the ones you saw in the comments.

[Ed. note: This post understandably contains spoilers for Acts 1 and 2 of Arcane season 2 (or through the first six episodes). Proceed accordingly.]

Act 2 (season 2 episodes 4-6):

The design of Warwick in Arcane is a very cool departure from his more “classic werewolf” depiction in-game, but there are still plenty of nods to his League appearance (like the chambers attached to his body that pump that green ooze into his system).

For my money, the coolest Easter egg of the season also doubles as one of the coolest visual effects: the adaptation of Warwick’s W ability, Blood Hunt. In League, Warwick can sense enemies low on health and moves quicker toward them, shown in the game by a trail of blood from Warwick to the enemy. Arcane cleverly brings this to life in the fourth episode in a sequence from Warwick’s point of view, with a trail of blood in the air as he races through the city toward the captured Singed.

Jinx calls Viktor by his in-game title

Each League champion has a title as well as a name: Jinx is the Loose Cannon, Ekko is the Boy Who Shattered Time, Jayce is the Defender of Tomorrow — you get the picture. Viktor’s title is the Machine Herald, which Arcane nods to when Jinx refers to him as “a machine herald” outside his compound in Act 2.

When you lock in Viktor in a League lobby, he says, “Join the glorious evolution.” So when Viktor said that line in Act 2, you know I was pointing at the screen like Leonardo DiCaprio in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.

Act 1 (season 2 episodes 1-3):

Heimerdinger’s code phrase

In episode 2, when Heimderinger is breaking into his old lab (now Jayce’s) with Ekko, he uses a code phrase Ekko doesn’t understand: “The brambleback has left the jungle.” In League of Legends, the brambleback, colloquially known as “red buff” due to the effect you get by killing it, is a neutral monster in the jungle that is generally a high priority for junglers to kill. A brambleback leaving the jungle? Now that’s a rare sight.

Also in episode 2, just before Vi, Caitlyn, and the rest of Piltover’s enforcers attack Jinx’s lair, Jinx is cleaning up the place. The camera briefly lingers on a piece of art on the wall, which shows Teemo surrounded by a bunch of mushrooms with flashing lights.

Teemo is one of League’s most well-known champions — he’s one of the game’s foremost mascots, but also one of the most hated champions by players because of how dang annoying he is.

While underground chasing Jinx, Caitlyn and Vi encounter a statue of Janna, an elemental wind spirit who is another champion in League of Legends. Jinx taunts Vi with childhood stories their father figure Vander used to tell them about Janna, saving miners trapped underground with the air running thin: “Wild, the kind of crap people get up to when you choke ’em out.”

Toward the start of episode 3, Ambessa receives a visit from Amara, an influential member of Piltover’s merchant guild. Amara uses mysterious magical powers to keep Ambessa and her muscle Rictus held still in an attempted assassination attempt. Rictus manages to break free, and Ambessa kills Amara, as a black rose disintegrates in the merchant’s hand and Ambessa warns Rictus that this means trouble. Which seems apt, given that Mel gets swallowed by Black Rose magic at the end of episode 3.

In League of Legends lore, the Black Rose is a secret, Illuminati-type organization that operates out of Noxus, where Ambessa is from. There are a few champions associated with the Black Rose: the sorceress LeBlanc (who has voice-over that says “The Black Rose shall bloom once more” when you lock her in to play in League), the vampire Vladimir, the spider woman Elise, and the snake woman Cassiopeia.