Riot Games has released a new trailer for the highly anticipated second season of the hit animated series Arcane. In the video, one particular frame appears to confirm a popular theory connecting a character to a League of Legends champion.
Like water in a desert, the new trailer clenched the thirst for more news on the upcoming Arcane season and what the story could entail for the characters we learned to love and hate in 2021. After the animated series premiered, League enthusiasts and newcomers to its universe analyzed every frame of Arcane in search of Easter eggs, hidden messages, and hopes of redemption for their favorite characters.
One of the most popular theories involves Vi and Powder’s (Jinx) adoptive father, Vander. After three episodes, he became a beloved character for Arcane fans but had a premature departure from the series. As many had theorized, the Hound of the Underground might come back as Warwick, who League players will immediately recognize.
Theories of Vander being Warwick are based on several details in and out of the show: the bartender’s nickname, Lapdog, and his growling voice in episode three. In League, the Uncaged Wrath of Zaun has multiple interactions with Vi and Jinx, who are unique to them and hint at a tormented past relationship between the three. For example, when hunting Jinx, Warwick says “You were there,” a line that could hint at the last moment of consciousness the champion had when he was still human.
Several more connections led fans to believe Vander could be Warwick back in 2021, including the champion’s lore pointing at his past life as a Zaunite gangster who retired from crime and lives as a good man. After three years of lingering theories, it seems like Riot has finally confirmed what fans hoped for—a bittersweet return of a once beloved adoptive father.
