Picture: League of Legends – Riot Games
After two phenomenal seasons of Arcane, Riot Games and Fortiche Production have pushed the heights of what can be achieved in an animated series. With Arcane’s story finished, the world of Runeterra will be explored further with new spin-offs. The first is rumored to be Iron & Chains, which will explore Noxus, the home of Mel Medarda. Here’s everything we know about the rumored series on Netflix.
For many, Arcane is now the gold standard of animation, having raised the bar to ridiculous new heights thanks to its stunning visuals, storytelling, music, and voice acting. While fans were saddened that Arcane ended after only two seasons, this isn’t the end of our time in Runeterra, as plans are already in motion for spin-offs.
Iron & Chains is the rumored spin-off to Arcane. However, nothing has been officially confirmed yet, as the last time Arcane showrunner Christian Linke discussed the spin-offs, he revealed several projects Riot Games is “aggressively developing.” Here’s what Linke had to say:
“We definitely have a number of products that kind of are born out of Arcane. We are in the process where we’re just developing. Nothing is in full production yet, but we’re pretty aggressively developing a few of them in particular that we’re just excited about. We want to tell more stories.”
When could we see Iron & Chains released on Netflix?
If Linke’s words are to be taken at face value, we are years away from a release date. Nicolo Laurent, the CEO of Riot Games, confirmed it took six years to make the first season of Arcane.
What makes us hopeful that we’ll see the series sooner rather than later is thanks to the Welcome to Noxus trailer, which was animated to the standard of Arcane. The quality of the trailer alone is a possible hint of how far Iron & Chains could be in production. However, Riot Games has maintained its stance that the trailer is only related to the League of Legends game.
For now, we await an official announcement from Riot Games and Netflix.
When could the series be announced?
Unless Netflix decides to break the news beforehand, we will most likely see an announcement during the League of Legends World Championships, which takes place between September and November every year.
What characters from League of Legends can we expect to see in Iron & Chains?
The lore of League of Legends is expansive and covers many different countries and cultures across the fictional world of Runeterra. There’s no shortage of inspiration for the spin-offs; however, League of Legends may have already hinted at which characters are destined to be seen in Iron & Chains thanks to the release of Welcome to Noxus, the theme of the first season of 2025 for the League of Legends video game.
At the forefront of Welcome to Noxus is Mel Medarda, who returns to Noxus after the events of Arcane. After leaving Piltover, Mel is in search of those behind the demise of her family: The Black Rose, which the mage LeBlanc leads.
Pictures: Mel – Riot Games
Katarina, the deadliest assassin in Noxus, successfully takes out a target, but not before being forced to fight Elise, aka The Spider Queen, meanwhile, on the borders of Frejlord and Noxus, Darius, one of the strongest warriors of Noxus, dueled Trundle the Troll King, defeating him and earning the respect of the Trolls.
Lastly, LeBlanc and Vladimir are seen scheming and reciting the events of Piltover (from Arcane), where the former promises her new scheme will be more “bold” than safe.
The full list of characters seen in Welcome to Noxus are:
- Mel Medarda- The Soul’s Reflection
- Darius- The Hand of Noxus
- Katarina- The Sinister Blade
- Elise- The Spider Queen
- LeBlanc- The Deceiver
- Vladimir- The Crimson Reaper
- Trundle- The Troll King
We’d expect to see all the characters above appear in Iron & Chains. According to leaks, we will also see Swain, the ruler of Noxus, who is rumored to be a mentor figure for Mel instead of an antagonist.
Aside from Mel, there are no confirmed characters from Arcane (except for the disguised LeBlanc). However, a character we could see from Arcane is Singed, who, in the lore of League of Legends, ends up working for Noxus, inventing terrifying bio-weapons for their war campaigns.
What is the plot of Iron & Chains?
Neither Netflix nor Riot have released a synopsis for Iron & Chains. However, as the series takes place in Noxus, and Mel is confirmed to have returned to the country after the events of Arcane, we expect her to be the series’ protagonist. As Mel’s return marks her hunt for those responsible for her family’s demise, LeBlanc of The Black Rose will be the primary antagonist.
The politics of Noxus is even more dangerous and volatile than Piltover. As Noxus continues its expansion, the neighboring nations of Demacia and Freljord are at risk of being conquered. In the lore of the League of Legends video game, Noxus eventually declares war on Ionia, so there’s a chance we could see the seeds of this future conflict in Iron & Chains.
What do you want to see from Iron & Chains? Will it be a worthy successor to Arcane? Let us know in the comments below!
Rating: TV-14
