Arcane Season 2 Act 1 is now available to stream on Netflix, and it features the Arcane version of Linkin Park’s “Heavy Is the Crown.” It was a collaboration between Riot Games and the rock band, and the cinematic version of the song was used as Caitlyn built her team to fight the opposition in Zaun.

Seaver met Mike Shinoda of Linkin Park during the premiere of the first season, and the latter instantly became a fan of the show and loves Fortiche, the animation studio behind Arcane. A collaboration was inevitable.

“So pretty early on into season two, we sent him an email like, ‘Hey, man, do you want to do something for season two?'” Seaver tells Nerd Reactor. “He was super game. I mean, we just started working on literally the first song in season two together, and he sent me this idea that was ‘Heavy Is the Crown,’ and it was really dope. And that was three years ago, and so we’ve been working on it for three years. You know, fast forward to now, Linkin Park’s back. [I] did not know that back then.”

Shinoda was very top secret when he did find out about Linkin Park coming back.

“No, I don’t know if he knew it back then,” Seaver said. “I don’t want to speak for him. I have no idea when the idea came together, but he hit us up like me, Christian and our head of music. We all went over to his house, and he was like, it was a secret. He’s like, ‘I can’t tell you why. Just come to my house.’ And he played us a couple of Lincoln Park songs and said the band’s coming back and ‘Heavy Is the Crown’ is an amazing song for what he was envisioning for Linkin Park. And then at that same time, just this amazing mind meld went on of, ‘What if that’s the World’s Anthem for 2024?'”

Linkin Park performed “Heavy Is the Crown” at the Worlds 2024 Finals Opening Ceremony.

“What does that mean for the Arcane version that me and Mike had been working on?” Seaver asked. “And so it just got everyone really excited, and then we just developed these two versions. So as you and I are talking a couple days before Season Two premieres, nobody knows that there’s a whole other version coming, but there’s this original thing that me and Mike did, and then we didn’t have Emily back then as the singer. Now we have her vocals, and it sounds badass. It was a fun one to see come together because it was a three-year process. I got a bunch of stems of her screaming. She’s so good.”

About Arcane

From Riot Games, ARCANE returns this November on Netflix. The animated series, based on the League of Legends game and one of Netflix’s most successful animated series ever, is created by Christian Linke and Alex Yee. Executive producers include Linke, Marc Merrill and Brandon Beck. The Animation Studio is Fortiche Production. Voices include Hailee Steinfeld (Vi), Annie Award winner Ella Purnell (Jinx) and Katie Leung (Caitlyn), Reed Shannon (Ekko), Amirah Vann (Sevika), Mick Wingert (Heimerdinger), Ellen Thomas (Ambessa), and Brett Tucker (Singed) among others to be announced. Fortiche directed and produced the animation, under the direction of the founders Pascal Charrue and Arnaud Delord.

Season One of ARCANE solidified Netflix’s position as a leader in adapting game franchises into animated cultural phenomena. Globally praised as one of the Best TV Shows of 2021, the adult animated series also earned four PRIMETIME EMMY AWARDS (2022) including Outstanding Animated Program – the first streaming series to win Outstanding Animated Program. The series swept the 2022 Annie Awards with wins in Nine categories including Best TV/Media, Best Writing, Best Voice Acting (Ella Purnell), Best Direction, Best Production Design, Best Character Animation, Best Storyboarding, Best Character Design and Best FX. The series was also recognized by the gaming community winning Best Adaptation at The Game Awards (2022). In addition, the Arcane album was nominated for a 2022 Billboard Music Award for Top Soundtrack.

Creators: Christian Linke, Alex Yee

Executive Producers: Christian Linke, Marc Merrill, Brandon Beck

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For those who have watched Netflix’s League of Legends animated series, Arcane, they will feel right at home with the animation style of the music video. Linkin Park members get the animation treatment as we see Mike Shinoda and newcomer Emily Armstrong performing.

The story of the music video follows renowned League of Legends pro player Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok as a newly crowned king as he goes up against aspiring rulers who want his position. Faker and T1 won at Worlds 2023, and the video honors the pro player as a warrior defending his kingdom from invaders. The MV also shows the kingdoms and dynasties in London, teasing the location of the Worlds Finals on November 2, 2024.

You can also check out the live performance of the song’s world premiere in Hamburg, Germany, below.

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