From Riot Games, Arcane, which has become one of Netflix's most successful animated series, was created by Christian Linke and Alex Yee and is based on the League of Legends game.

In season one, during a civil war between the affluent Piltover and impoverished Zaun, orphans Vi (Hailee Steinfeld) and her little sister Powder (Mia Sinclair Jenner) become thieves of the Undercity. When they try to pull off a heist with their friends topside in Piltover, things don’t go to plan, and events lead to a tragic end for their adoptive family, resulting in Powder changing her name and becoming the “jinx” her sister says she is. While Vi is imprisoned, Jinx (Ella Parnell) is taken in by crime lord Silco (Jason Spisak), who embraces her technological skills and fractured psyche, resulting in her attacking the Piltover Council.

Season two picks up with the fates of the Council members uncertain and with Vi unsure if there is any of her sister left in Jinx as the conflict between Piltover and Zaun escalates.

Recently Linke spoke with SciFi Vision about the series, including where Vi and Jinx’s relationship is headed in season two, what Jinx will become now that Silco is gone, how Vi’s relationship with Caitlyn (Katie Leung) will evolve, new characters, what’s to come in season two, and much more.

Read the transcript below. Act one of season two of Arcane will be available to stream starting tomorrow on Netflix.

***Lightly edited for length and clarity***

SCIFI VISION:   To start off, can you sort of talk about how Vi and Jinx’s relationship will or will not develop this season? I mean, is there still a chance for them? Is she still in there?

CHRISTIAN LINKE:   Oh, lordy. Well, I will say that I think Powder definitely is still in there. The question is, can Vi reach her?

We were really, really interested in exploring this particular question also further that you mentioned. In this new world, there's much more of an open conflict between the two sides of the city, and so there is a bit of a flip, right? I mean, for Vi, finally being able to convince herself that Powder's gone and then it's now just the evil, you know, criminal Jinx, but suddenly the Undercity starts to look at Jinx as, like, more or less a hero, someone who stands up to the aggression of the topside. That's really hard for Vi, because she always considered herself to be, like, Vander's heir, Vander's protegee, the one that kind of stands up for the Undercity, and suddenly Vi has to feel like a traitor to her own home. It’s very difficult for her, and it sends her to a pretty dark place.

So, I think for Jinx also to kind of see herself as someone who maybe is actually, like, the big sister that the underground needs is just a very new experience. So, there's a bit of this role reversal, you know, for people that come from the Undercity. So, I think that one I hope people will be really excited about, but I think that was one of the things we were really, really interested in exploring.

SCIFI VISION:   Yeah, it's definitely going to make a change, it sounds like. Talk about the fact that Jinx doesn't, I guess, at least right now, have anybody, now that Silco's gone, too. I mean, is that a good thing? Is that a bad thing? I mean, his influence isn't there, but I do think he actually cared about her, as crazy as he was.

CHRISTIAN LINKE:   Yeah, I mean, it's the first time in Jinx's life where there isn't someone else telling her who she's supposed to be. In the beginning of her game, it's Vi, her big sister, who she really wants to impress and please. Then it's Silco, who really wants to make her, like, the most potent version of the talented weapons tinkerer that she is.

So, suddenly, the voices are gone, and she has to figure out for herself who she wants to be and what she wants to do, and that is a true first for her.

SCIFI VISION:   That's true. All right, talk about Vi and Caitlyn now, and their relationship this season and how it will evolve.

CHRISTIAN LINKE:   Yeah, I think the big headline, or the big kind of word for both of them, perspectively, is legacy. For Caitlyn, she's always been the hopeful character in season one, right? She's like, “Oh, we'll find a way to work with the Undercity,” and she sees through Vi also, who people really are in the Underground.

But with what's happening at the end of season one and what kind of leads into season two, suddenly there is a real question of, like, as an officer from Piltover, as a member of the Keiriman family, what do I do? Like, what kind of responsibility does she feel like she has? So, she's definitely torn between her responsibility as someone from Piltover and also her feelings, her trust in Vi, and that makes it very, very difficult for them, not just for Caitlyn, also for Vi, who is more and more pushed out of the Undercity and now has kind of sided with Caitlyn.

And as much as she trusts and believes and loves Caitlyn, Piltover's not her home, you know? It's still this place where she can't really find her roots.

There's this quote that really - like I said, to me, she feels a little bit like a patriot without a country. So, I think it's just very difficult for her.

SCIFI VISION:   It seems like most, if not all, of the Council are dead. Are there any new characters that are introduced that you can talk about at all?

CHRISTIAN LINKE:   In season two?

SCIFI VISION:   Yes.

CHRISTIAN LINKE:   Well, I mean, we've shown it at this point. Yes. Warwick is the League of Legends champion that we are also introducing and showing in season two. That's going to be a new one, and there are some other ones that [haven't been mentioned yet]. But I’m very excited about that one. It’s also a character that, you know, in the Undercity and from Zaun is just one of the true originals from the game.

SCIFI VISION:   All right. Let me ask you about adapting it, because from what I understand, this is its own story. I mean, the game doesn't exactly have a story, but there's still going to be some limitations, because you have to fit in that world. So, talk about sort of how you balance that and how you figure that out.

CHRISTIAN LINKE:   Well, I think we really try to define the characters and their central questions. I think, for us, that was always the question between Vi and Jinx. It's just this, you know, the big sister and the younger bumbling one who tries to prove herself and, like the melee fighter versus the weapons tinkerer, which I thought was very interesting, just like these very different dynamics that - I don't know if you have siblings. I do, but, yeah, these differences exist, and like in terms of like how you're related, but you're also so different and have different skill sets.

And the same with Jayce and Victor, where they're not brothers, but they have this parallel between them of a shared dream.

So, I think we just always really try to figure out who are the characters really and go from there, and we were confident that we understood our characters, because we were part of the teams that created those characters for the game. So, I think we always had a good idea of what was the thought behind them.

Then, we just really tried to trust ourselves as League players, to explore these key questions between the characters. Then, the plot just kind of came pretty organically.

SCIFI VISION:   I know it says this is the final season for this, but is there a chance there could be spinoffs with other characters from the game?

CHRISTIAN LINKE:   Yeah. I mean, there definitely is the idea that A, Arkane's just the first step in our universe storytelling. And B, there are some characters that come out of the second season of Arkane where it feels like we want to take the story forward and do more with them and tell more of their story for sure.

SCIFI VISION:   Talk about the design of this, because obviously it's 3D, but it's kind of got that storybook graphic novel sort of 2D look to it. So, talk about why you decided to do that.

CHRISTIAN LINKE:   Honestly, I just fell in love with the art style of Fortiche, the animation studio in France, Paris. That was just their style. And I think that makes it so timeless, because at the end of the day, so much of the backgrounds are just these beautiful paintings, you know, these beautiful interpretations. There's always a brush stroke that makes it just really, really unique and not just 3D.

So, we just wanted to keep that alive and make it just this beautiful interpretation of this fantasy world, and that's what it started with.

It was really them, you know, as people who love this look. They came from, like, comics and anime, you know, the Miyazaki landscapes and backgrounds. I mean, they're a big inspiration for them. So, I just thought it was beautiful.

SCIFI VISION:   Yeah. Well, it's a very cool look. Well, we're almost out of time, but really quickly, is there anything else that you can tease that's coming? I know you've sort of given me some, but is there anything else you're allowed to say?

CHRISTIAN LINKE:   Oh, let me try to think. Well, I mean, there is a heightened presence of a different region of our IP in our universe that's really stepping into the second season: Noxus. I mean, this is like the war nation of our world. So, through Ambessa and her story and where she comes from, this is a new presence that I think a lot of our audience members and gamers are really excited about, because it's one of the favorite kinds of regions that we have in our IP. So, I’m definitely excited about that and hopeful that people will really like that.