Protests are picking up steam online following word that parts of the Vi and Caitlyn romance scene were deleted in Arcane Season 2.
After an on-again-off-again love story for the ages, Hailee Steinfeld's Vi and Katie Leung's Caitlyn finally got the happy-ish ending they deserved in a romantic climax of sorts set within a Piltover jail cell. As expected, this scene between two fan-favorite characters went ultra-viral.
That is why it was shocking to many to find out that the version shown in the series was not the original vision but was what the show's co-creator Christian Linke described as the "dialed-back version," and somewhere on a hard drive, there might be a director's cut of steamy streaming moment.
Fans Protest Against Altered Arcane Romance Scene
After hearing about the now-infamous Vi/Caitlyn romance scene in Arcane Season 2, fans have come out in drove sharing various protests against the change.
The most prominent of these audience initiatives came in the form of a new petition from fans, asking that the director's cut of the jail cell sequence be released to the public.
This petition (available now on Change.org) has received over 50,000 signatures as of writing, demanding that fellow members of the Arcane faithful sign up to " show [their] support and let them know how much this means to us:"
"As fans of 'Arcane,' we were thrilled to see the beautiful relationship between Caitlyn and Vi develop on screen. However, co-creator Christian Linke revealed that an extended version of their romance scene in Season 2 was edited down, leaving us with a shorter, dialed-back version.
It remains unclear whether this decision came from Netflix or Riot Games, but knowing that the extended cut exists and is likely stored in production studios has left fans deeply curious and disappointed.
We respectfully ask Netflix and Riot Games to release the extended version of this pivotal moment for fans who cherish these characters and their journey.
Let’s show our support and let them know how much this means to us! Sign the petition to make this happen."
It is unclear if this movement will cause the powers that be to change their minds, but that has not stopped the push to gain major support from the Arcane fanbase, including the lead singer of King Princess (the band whose song, "Fantastic," soundtracked the steamy jail cell scene).
In a conversation with The Gamer, Arcane writer, producer, and story editor Amanda Overton commented on how important this particular romance sequence was to the series from the very beginning.
She said that for Vi's character in particular, getting together with Caitlyn was crucial, as her accepting of her feelings for the Piltover Enforcer was the first time her character got to tell herself, "I’m finally going to make the right choice for me:"
"So with her action of kissing Cait, she answers that question for her and her character arc. She gets to say I’m finally going to make the right choice for me, and this is what I want. And I love when you can have an action like that be the culmination of a character arc. If I had no one left to protect, I would fall in love."
Season 2 for Vi was all about tackling this idea of "who would she be if she had no one left to protect?" And this romance, in particular, helped to answer that:
"What we asked of Vi’s character arc in this season was ‘who would she be if she had no one left to protect? We strip away everything from her in episode five, and she has to start answering those questions. She starts seeing her sister as an equal instead of a little sibling she needs to protect at that moment. In the last conversation she and Jinx have, Jinx understands that she is the one standing in the way of Vi, of letting her make her own choices in her own life, and gives her permission to do it. It isn’t until then that Vi [realizes]. She even says at the top of that scene, 'I make the wrong choice every time.'"
But it was the incredibly intimate moments between the two in the jail cell that have spurred fan movements like the ongoing petition campaign that Overton knew they had to get right.
"This needs to be the culmination of love in our show," the Arcane creative said of the sequence, saying it was important to the team to show "every single beat of that:"
"From the very beginning, they were going to be our main couple, our OTP, so I was like, 'their sex scene needs to be better than Mel and Jayce’s sex scene.'This needs to be the culmination of love in our show, and it needs to be shown, and we need to learn about these characters in that moment. Every single beat of that, the playfulness between them, or the gentleness, the vulnerability, the opening up, even finally being able to say this is what I want, this is who I want to be, that is all in action in that scene."
The scene, as it was presented in the final cut, accomplishes what Overton and the crew seemingly set out to do, being one of the most authentically amatory and vulnerable romance scenes in recent memory.
However, some would argue that any potential alteration of the sequence that was mandated by a higher power may have ultimately distorted the intention of the Arcane team. Whether they are right is completely up to the individual to decide.
Whether this extended version of the scene sees the light of day remains to be seen. Cait and Vi's story is seemingly done with no Season 3 planned, so fans may also never know what happens next for the two love birds.
Arcane is now streaming on Netflix.
