Arcane Season 2: What Is the Black Rose?

Arcane Season 2 Act 1 is finally available on Netflix as of November 9th, and with it comes a shadowy new faction joining the struggle between Piltover, Zaun, and Noxus. Arcane trailers released prior to Season 2’s debut hinted that we might see some influence from the Black Rose in Season 2 with some League of Legends players guessing that the Black Rose leader, LeBlanc, might be in Arcane at some point. We don’t yet know if LeBlanc will actually be in the League of Legends show, but based on what we know about the Black Rose, things are about to get much more complicated in Zaun and Piltover.

Spoiler Warning: Spoilers ahead for Arcane Season 2 Act 1

We don’t actually see much related to the Black Rose until the third episode of Arcane Season 2 Act 1 which is where we see a fateful meeting between the Noxian general Ambessa Medarda and Amara, a merchant who’s part of Piltover’s Merchant Guild. Arcane viewers will remember Amara as the merchant who Jayce strategized with when he was urged by Mel to gain favor of others by enticing them with Hextech.

Through an aloof speech, we learn that Amara has been trying repeatedly to gain an audience with Ambessa and finally succeeded. When asked what the purpose of the meeting was, Amara revealed that she was actually a member of the Black Rose. She didn’t technically say it in so many words, but her shadowy powers and the fact that she spawns a Black Rose in her palm is all we need to see. The dialogue between Amara and Ambessa reveals a few things: the Black Rose is seemingly responsible for the death of Ambessa’s son, Ambessa is in Piltover for a reason (likely for Hextech or something related to it), and the Black Rose is much more powerful than even Ambessa thought given that their influence extends to Piltover.

Later on in the final episode of Arcane Season 2 Act 1, Mel herself encounters the Black Rose faction with the name actually uttered that time to confirm without a shadow of a doubt that that’s who we’re dealing with.

What Is the Black Rose?

So, what actually is the Black Rose, and why are they such an issue? Since the Black Rose is only briefly mentioned in Arcane, pretty much everything we know about the group comes from League of Legends lore and knowledge of the champions that the group is comprise of.

The Black Rose is a Noxian organization, but it’s one beyond even Ambessa and the rest of the military. It’s a shadowy group that’s home to some of the most devious and sinister champions in League of Legends which all have an air of aristocracy to them — LeBlanc is the leader, for example, with Vladimir, Elise, and Cassiopeia all part of the group as well. Other champions are related to the faction such as Rell and Briar which were both products of experiments conducted within the Black Rose.

While the Black Rose does work with Noxians, it’d be more accurate to say that they just use the Noxian military and pretty much anyone else. Imagine a behind-the-scenes group that looks to serve its own interests in worldly affairs — one that normal people are scared to even talk about — and you have a good idea of what the Black Rose is all about.

There were some suspicions about Amara prior to Arcane Season 2 which proved somewhat correct, but Amara seems to have only been a lowly assassin. If a previously unnamed member of the Black Rose was almost able to overtake Ambessa and her righthand man, however, that should speak to the power of the group overall and the trouble everyone will be in if and when an actual champion from the Black Rose like LeBlanc sees fit to make an appearance.