Arcane‘s Long-Awaited Hookup Was Originally Longer and Steamier

Riot Games and Fortiche’s final season of Arcane came and went over the weekend and now fans are left with a void to fill for their next “peak cinema” to hyperfixate over. While the animated League of Legends show came with its fair share of catharsis, one of its creators revealed that one of the season’s biggest moments would’ve pushed the envelope even further than it already did in the show, had they not been told to reel it in.

In an interview with League of Legends streamer Necrit94 (first reported by the Direct), Arcane writer Christian Linke dove into some behind-the-scenes details on act three’s big moment: Caitlyn Kiramman and Vi hooking up. Prior to the final act dropping, Caitlyn and Vi were far and away Arcane‘s most popular pairing. So much so that their long-awaited kiss and subsequent breakup in act one nearly broke the internet. Fans were so pressed to see the pair reunite that they began theory-crafting their relationship culminating in cathartic makeup sex, using clues like the season’s mature rating, a mural in Brazil, and an official song by queer artist King Princess.

As fate would have it, “Caitvi” did engage in “sesbian lex” in Arcane episode seven, “Killing Is a Cycle.” Speaking with Necrit94, Linke said the love scene fans got from Caitlyn and Vi was actually “the dialed back version.” The original pitch for the scene went on longer than the one minute and 37-second scene fans witnessed in Arcane‘s final act.

“Yes. We got a slap on the wrist. League of Legends is going to be rated mature now,” Linke said in response to Necrit’s comment about the scene going on for a while.

In the spirit of doing what quantifies as a good journalism, Necrit asked Linke what is likely now on the minds of every sapphic Arcane fan by inquiring where that footage is and if folks would ever get their hands on it.

“It is probably on some French hard drive. Director’s cut,” Linke replied.

The scene, as many fans have shared online with 4K gifs and slowed-down, music-free edits, sees Caitlyn and Vi making love in a prison cell: a place which just so happens to be where they first met in the show’s first season. What made the scene so unique to fans, aside from how steamy their lovemaking was, was how it lacked the stink of male-gaze sex scenes—the kind that often fetishize queer love scenes. Instead, the microexpressions from each character, their moments of reflection looking at scars they healed and played a part in aggravating on each others’ bodies, and their playful fumbling around with belt buckles treats Caitvi with care, passion, and intimacy not often seen in adult animation. Their love scene is already being regarded among queer fans with the same enthusiasm as The Legend of Korra‘s Korrasami ship. Knowing that what fans saw was the watered-down version will only lead to them feeling as thirsty as they were before they received the big moment.

Given the playful nature of their conversation, it should be noted that there hasn’t been hard confirmation of Arcane season two receiving a director’s cut, though if history is anything to go off of, the grassroots efforts to make it a reality once Netflix’s exclusivity deal with the show is over and that puppy comes out on physical media will be immense.

All episodes of Arcane season two are streaming on Netflix.

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