Meet the Black Rose, the twisted cult teased at the end of Netflix’s Arcane

The Black Rose, a cabal at the centre of The League Of Legends universe, was heavily teased in the finale of Netflix’s Arcane and will most likely be featured heavily in future projects.

In a bright explosion of blue and pink, with a few graphic illustration hallucinations thrown in for good measure, Netflix’s Arcane came to a satisfying conclusion in November. Just kidding, I still have about 40 million questions and that damn French song going around in my head. Still, we move.

Another season is out of the question, though I am desperately holding out home, so we must look forward to the other planned projects in the League of Legends world of Runeterra. First up, the Black Rose.

mel medarda nation how we feeling? her womb is free, she has all the fortune and power of her family name, she just solo’d and won against black rose, shes a powerful mage, an official league champion and is 100% going to be in the next spin off?? WE WON #arcane #arcane2spoilers pic.twitter.com/TTUvDtqUOl

— ryan || season 2 spoilers (@caitviscent) November 23, 2024

The Black Rose has its fingers in all of Arcane’s pies

This story begins thousands of years ago in Runterra when a dude named Mordekaiser was doing some really bad stuff. Necromancy, war, the enslavement of human souls – you know, the usual. One of the top dog’s advisors, the pale sorceress LeBlanc, teamed up with a blood mage called Vladimir and his horde of barbarians to take Mordekaiser down.

Following their success, LeBlanc spearheaded the creation of The Black Rose alongside Vladimir. Think the Illuminati, but with hot and scary sorceresses and the occasional sacrifice. Its numbers grew over the centuries, incorporating a small number of Noxian 1 per cent into its shadowy cabal.

In modern-day Runeterra, The Black Rose and its members are like a myth, hidden from the eyes of Noxian citizens and pulling strings from Ionia to Demacia. If you find a knife in your back or poison in your drink, The Black Rose is probably the culprit.

Its members are sort of insane

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Credit: League Of Legends

You won’t find her name in any book, or a living soul that can point her out, but LeBlanc is the formidable sorceress behind The Black Rose’s most dastardly deeds. She is potentially thousands of years old, a powerful witch, and prone to serving (input word of your choosing).

Lord Vladimir, or as his friends call him Crimson Reaper, is quite different to LeBlanc in that he lives a very active lifestyle. His flamboyant mannerisms somehow mask his underlying sadism, and you could say he’s a bit of a show pony.

Other members of The Black Rose include Elise, a prim and proper noble girl turned spider sorceress and Cassiopeia, another former noble girl who now slithers the night as a half-snake woman. It’s got quite the roster as you can tell.

Wait, so how does this League of Legends’ Black Rose fit into Arcane?

The Black Rose hails from Noxus, the same city where Arcane’s main characters Mel and Ambessa Medarda come from. They first played their hand in Act One of Season Two, looking to assassinate Ambessa for the crimes of her late son. Though they failed, The Black Rose then turned their attention to Mel and unwittingly unlocked her magical gifts which she used to fight back against them.

In a tense moment between Mel and the shadow presence of The Black Rose, we got a major hit and its identity thanks to the eyes, magic type, and teardrop makeup – all massive nods to LeBlanc.

In previous interviews, co-creator Christian Linke noted how he wanted to branch out into “Noxus, Ionia, and Demacia” in future spin-offs of the show. With the Black Rose being central to Noxian history and government, and Mel’s instinct link with both her homeland and the cult, Arcane sets up future projects almost perfectly.

All seasons of Arcane are now streaming on Netflix. For more like this and for the latest memes, quizzes, updates and general pop culture chaos – like The Tab on Facebook.

Featured image credit: Netflix/League Of Legends