Warning: The following article contains spoilers for Arcane season 2.
One of the best parts about Arcane is putting all the pieces of the puzzle in place. For non-gamers, it’s an amazing show, but for League of Legends fans, it’s peak television, providing all the lore that we’ve been craving.
With the season 2 teaser alone, we can confidently say that we’re about to experience the animation of a lifetime. However, even amidst the beautifully animated art style, we can’t help but notice a few details about Vander’s return and how it all confirms an extremely popular fan theory relating to League of Legends.
If you’re not a League of Legends player, you might have missed all the theories surrounding Vander and his existence amid the video game champions. Now that the teaser practically ended all speculation though, you might want to know this last bit of information before the new season gets here.
Does Vander exist in League of Legends?
Yes, Vander exists in League of Legends, but he’s known as Warwick. If you play the videogame, you’re certainly aware that Warwick is a Jungle champion but that he wasn’t yet introduced in the series. Despite the already convoluted League of Legends lore, Arcane provided fans with a bit more insight into the characters’ past by giving them origin stories, including Warwick AKA Vander.
Before becoming Warwick at the hands of Singed, the former adoptee of Vi and Jinx was called Vander. We see him as a former boxer and Zaunite bartender who cares for Vi and Jinx in the undercity – ultimately, he’s a loving and devoted father figure for the two sisters. During season 1, we witness Vander losing a fight with his brother, transforming into a beast-like creature. He supposedly dies.
However, the teaser indicates that he was kidnapped by Singed, a lawless and amoral alchemist who experiments with Vander, transforming him into a wolf-beast-brute known as Warwick. In the upcoming season, we will see more of Warwick, whose intention is to return to his past life. At the same time, his personality retains elements of his essence as he continues to fight crime in the undercity.
Arcane season 2 comes out in Nov. 2024 on Netflix.