Arcane's co-creator dispels the myth that the show was rushed by Riot's upper management

Arcane's Second Season has some fans in a tizzy. While I think that animation studio Fortiche is doing a pretty good job, packing as much story into each frame as possible, it's still an imperfect show, but that's to be expected. There are many coulda, wouldas, and even some scant shouldnas.

Some fans felt the season finale was rushed. It was a standard-length episode, where everything is wrapped up faster than fabric in a factory that makes bows. Christian Linke's comments in interviews about wanting more time to finish certain storylines haven't helped this particular rumour.

I've always been a little sceptical that anything bad happened behind the scenes. Arcane, for example, had a high budget for both production and marketing (although it was still not much higher than most animated movies when it comes to watch-hours). Linke has taken to Reddit (thanks to Gamesradar) to clear the air:

Linke writes that "some theories are a little too far-fetched" before having to admit that one conspiracy --that the showrunners requested a feature-length final and were rejected -- is a lie: "It's the opposite, we always write shorter scripts than what Fortiche proposes in the storyboard phase. We want to let them be inspired and roam freely, so that we can reel it in and allow for magical moments to appear. It's not a vendor company telling you to do your job, or achieve the impossible. Just do it fast!

Linke also says that the corporate greed angle is a bunch of nothing. "Yes, there will always be constraints, both budget and time. It's our job as creators to work within these constraints. Constraints were NORMAL and always generous. I had the final say in any creative project. But they exist. They also existed in Season 1."

I think that is fair. While the first season of the show was praised for giving artists the time and money to do what they wanted, the truth is, if your goal is to make something for cash, you will have a deadline. It's possible to have a deadline, even if the project isn't being paid. This is because you want to finish it someday. Riot was generous in comparison, but its budget and patience aren't unlimited, and more importantly, neither is the patience of those animating the show.

"It would have great to have had more time to work on the second season or extra time to edit the episodes but we didn't get it. There are a few reasons. Budget is one of them. We are EXTREMELY fortunate... NOBODY else gets these budgets. Please don't ever forget that.

"Time is the other constraint. There's a window of release that a lot of people work toward, not only at Fortiche but also at Riot, on different games, with Netflix, and brand partners. Even the key talent who works on the show is tired of working on this incredibly long project and season over many years.

It's important to remember that nothing lasts forever and no creative endeavor is perfect. It may be a disappointment to those who were expecting a transcendental storytelling nirvana from Arcane's 2nd season, but I love imperfect and wonky storylines. Fortiche is a studio that I would like to see produce other things. I'm glad they haven't burnt themselves out in the pursuit passion.

"It's a mess." You can't expect to take such hefty swings, and have everything wrapped up neatly with a bow tie. It evolves and grows in its own way. It becomes what it is." Although I appreciate Linke's honesty, I think it's best to log off now that he has said his piece. You can't please everybody. It's not over until the fatcats stop financing a huge animated League of Legends Universe. I think it's the way the saying goes.