Mel’s Powers & Origin Explained

Warning! This article contains spoilers for Arcane season 2.

Despite Arcane‘s many known League of Legends-inspired characters, the show’s most exciting is one I never expected: Mel. Arcane‘s League of Legends characters are aplenty, and as someone who has experience playing the game on which the Netflix show is based, I knew of characters like Vi, Jinx, Ekko, Jayce, and Viktor beforehand, to name only a few players in Arcane‘s cast of characters. However, characters like Mel Medarda, her mother Ambessa, and Silco were unknown quantities to me, whose stories I am grateful to have known as of Arcane season 2’s ending.

Where someone like Ambessa is concerned, I was surprised to learn that Arcane led to the character being included in League of Legends, rather than her existing in the latter before the former like Vi, Jinx, and Jayce, for example. The Medarda storyline, from the political aspects to the brewing war with Arcane‘s Black Rose, was incredibly exciting, with Arcane season 2 potentially raising another character to follow in her mother’s footsteps by becoming a League champion after the fact: Mel. Mel’s arc was fascinating, as are her new powers and the potential they raise for the future.

Arcane Season 2 Tied Mel To The Black Rose

Mel Is A Sorceress Like The Enemies Of Her Mother

Mel’s storyline in Arcane season 2 has centered around her exploration of her mother’s past, specifically why the latter’s war with the Black Rose is ongoing. In Arcane season 2, Act II, Mel learned that her mother once sired a child with magical powers that was born to be a weapon, which led to the Black Rose capturing Kino, Mel’s brother, and then her. The Black Rose intends to find this child with innate magical ability as they could be trained by the cabal’s sorcerers.

Arcane season 2 revealed that this child was Mel. Mel’s powers manifest and she briefly aligns with the Black Rose to stop her mother’s attack against Piltover. This tie to the Black Rose made Mel an even more intriguing character than she already was, all while providing her with a host of new, magical powers.

Mel’s Incredible New Powers Explained

Mel’s Sorcery Abilities Are Potent

Throughout Arcane season 2, Act III, Mel’s new powers are highlighted. Her primary abilities center around protection, with Mel often crafting glowing shields around her targets. It is revealed that this power is how Mel inadvertently saved herself and Jayce from Jinx’s attack in Arcane season 1’s ending. In Arcane season 2, she used these shields to protect Caitlyn during the latter’s fight with Ambessa, However, Mel can do more than protect. She was even shown holding one of Viktor’s Hextech puppets in place, as well as going up against Ambessa.

Mel’s shielding abilities can take the form of concussive blasts. She is shown using her golden magical beams to push Ambessa back at different points. On a deeper level, the leader of the Black Rose somewhat explains some of Mel’s powers in Arcane season 2, episode 8. She is described as an empath, attuned to the ethereal. Mel can apparently sense the inner selves of other people and bend their magic to her will as a conduit, and a mirror. The mirror element links to her reflective, shielding abilities, but the other powers will likely grow as Mel’s story does.

I Can’t Wait To See More Of Mel In The Inevitable Arcane Spinoffs

As it turns out, Mel’s story is indeed set to grow, which I cannot wait to see more of. I was aware that Arcane‘s final season would not be the last we will see of these characters, as the show’s creators have confirmed that several spin-offs are in the works. One such spin-off could very easily be centered around Mel and her new abilities, especially if Arcane season 2’s final scenes are anything to go by.

As I alluded to, Mel defeated the leader of the Black Rose in Arcane season 2’s ending, beating Ambessa on her own terms. After this, Mel is shown donning her mother’s garb, as well as her iconic golden mask, implying that the young Medarda will take Ambessa’s place. While I am expecting Mel to be a more benevolent leader than Ambessa, this change is interesting. This hints that Mel is continuing her mother’s feud with the Black Rose, teasing an Arcane spin-off in which Mel goes against other mages like herself, learning more about her exciting new powers as she does so.

Set in the League of Legends universe, Arcane focuses on sisters Violet and Powder (later Jinx) as they end up on opposite sides of a growing conflict between the wealthy utopia of Piltover and its dark undercity whose citizens wish to break away from their oppressors. Hailee Steinfeld, Ella Purnell, and Kevin Alejandro star in this animated adventure. 

Release Date

November 6, 2021

Writers

Christian Linke , Alex Yee

Directors

Pascal Charrue , Arnaud Delord

Showrunner

Christian Linke , Alex Yee

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