Who is Warwick in ‘Arcane’ season 2? The tantalizing theory of a key character’s return, explained

Warning: Spoilers ahead for Arcane season 1 and season 2’s first-look trailer

Arcane’s Vander played the role of the honorable father figure that we could easily admire. Although, the very characteristics that made us fall in love with his character, also made it seem as if he had a death flag looming over his head from the moment he was introduced.

Episode 3 of season 1, “The Base Violence Necessary for Change,” proved this notion right. In a hero’s last stand, Vander sacrifices himself and dies saving one of the two girls he had cared for and considered as his daughters.

However, after the season finale, some fans, especially League of Legends players, were unsure whether Vander’s story had truly, and unequivocally, ended. Some perceptive fans picked up on hints that Vander may be coming back, even if he will no longer be the same loving fatherly figure we got to know and care about during the first third of season 1.

And now, with the newest teaser trailer, it seems these theories are confirmed.

Will the Uncaged Wrath of Zaun appear in season 2 of Arcane?

It appears to be the case that Warwick, whose exact backstory – prior to the “agonizing experiments” done to him – is not featured in League of Legends lore, is in fact, Vander. There is little doubt now that the teaser showed the “Doctor,” Singed, seemingly content with his ongoing, twisted – and seemingly nearly finished – experiments.

But prior to this surprising teaser trailer, the most telling evidence of this was when Jinx fired Fishbones at the Piltover council chamber in season 1, episode 9. Sting’s “What Could Have Been” is playing and during the exquisitely powerful ending sequence, in a blink-and-miss moment, we see Singed looking down at a picture locket in his hands – presumably of the daughter he told Silco he “once had” – before he looks up at what many fans speculated to be, already at that point, a years-long work in progress: Vander’s body which has – or is being – turned into Warwick.

According to League of Legends lore, Warwick, a werewolf-like man-made beast, focuses on hunting criminals in the undercity, specifically the ones who shed blood. This would mean Vander’s morals wouldn’t be completely flipped on their head, but we can assume that, as Warwick, many signs of the admirable man who was once known as the Hound of the Underground – some additional foreshadowing hinting at his later transformation into a “wolf” – will be gone.

A fan and Redditor also made a few good speculative points when answering an OP who had a few doubts regarding the potential choice of bringing Vander back as Warwick:

It remains to be seen what the reinsertion of Vander into the story as Warwick would mean for the remaining characters and the overarching narrative. These lingering questions will surely be answered when Arcane season 2 finally drops sometime in November 2024.