One of the producers behind Arcane Season 2 revealed that Vi and Caitlyn's long-awaited romance scene was changed during production.
After years of will-they-won't-they, the last three episodes of Arcane's second season finally gave fans what they wanted regarding Hailee Steinfeld's Vi and Katie Leung's Caitlyn.
The Piltover Enforcer and undercity heavy-hitter finally got together, getting steamy in a jail cell before the show's climactic (and deadly) final battle.
Changes Made To Arcane Season 2 Romance Scene
In the wake of the Arcane Season 2 finale, series co-creator Christian Linke revealed the team made some (what might be to some) disappointing changes to the Vi and Caitlyn romance scene in the show's final act.
Appearing on a live stream with League of Legends streamer Necrit94, Linke pulled the curtain back on the now-iconic jail cell sequence between Hailee Steinfeld and Katie Leung's characters in Season 2, Episode 8.
While fans have praised the sequence for its representation of queer love and tastefully authentic level of intimacy, focusing on the two characters for longer than some may have expected, the Arcane creative admitted that the scene significantly changed before making it to screen.
He said that what fans ultimately saw was "the dialed back version" and that, at one point, "it was longer:"
Linke: "This was the dialed back version."
Necrit: "Woah, it was longer?"
Linke: "Yes."
As for why it was changed, Linke admitted the team "got a slap on the wrist" for what he deemed as the more mature version of the sequence but would not reveal by who:
Necrit: "Because I was like, 'This is going for awhile. Oh it is still going. Oh it is still going!' And it went for awhile. So, you are telling me, originally there was more."
Linke: "Yes. We got a slap on the wrist. League of Legends is going to be rated mature now."
One can assume this "slap on the wrist" came from either Netflix or (more likely) Riot Games, as it could have presented League of Legends in a more graphic/mature light than the game's developer may have liked.
As for if fans will ever see the extended cut of the Vi/Caitlyn scene, Linke joked that it is "probably on some French hard drive" and could be saved for a potential "director's cut:"
Necrit: "Are you ever going to show the original pitch? There is a really cool fandom that would really like that."
Linke: "It is probably on some French hard drive. Director's cut."
Why Was the Vi & Caitlyn Romance Scene Changed?
For fans waiting for Vi and Caitlyn to get and stay together, this news that their climactic romance scene was cut short may be disappointing.
A certain contingent of the fandom had long waited for the pair of Arcane characters to let their guards down and be 100% vulnerable with one another, and the Season 2 jail cell sequence was the culmination of that.
After teasing and teasing, their romance was displayed for viewers to see.
However, looking deeper at the circumstances surrounding the show, one can see why the creatives were told to cut this steamy romance scene short in the episode's final release. For the most part, Riot Games tries to present League of Legends as a family-friendly affair.
While its lore and character designs contain some mature themes, League of Legends is rated E for Everyone by the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB).
Across its two seasons, Arcane skirted around that, presenting an adult story told in the world of the hit online game while never crossing over into full-on HBO-level R-rated territory.
Yes, the hit Netflix series features course language, devastating character deaths, and mature themes, but the show always managed to skirt an R-rating and never 100% commit to it.
As presented, the jail cell romance scene was steamy but used clever camera angles and edits to avoid anything too overtly mature (or at least mature in the eyes of Riot's powers that be). Whatever was included in this quote/unquote director's cut likely crossed a line Riot Games as a company was not quite ready to breach.
That does not necessarily mean it was the right decision (many fans would argue it was not); it was just where the gaming giant happened to draw the proverbial line.
Arcane Season 2 is streaming on Netflix.
More Arcane Season 2 Spoilers:
Here's What Happened To Jinx At The End Of Arcane
Did Heimerdinger Survive The Anomaly?
What Happened With Ekko At The End of Act 3 of Arcane Season 2?
