Showrunner Christian Linke has recalled how animation director Barthelemy Maunoury got candid with him about the long-awaited smooch

Just three episodes into Arcane season 2, and so much has happened already; Mel’s been kidnapped by the Black Rose, Ambessa is whipping up a war, and Viktor has taken to the streets of the undercity to try and heal struggling Zaunites. Act 1 has one big moment that fans can’t stop talking about, though: Caitlyn and Vi’s long-awaited first kiss.

While viewers have been desperate to see the two express their romantic feelings for one another, animation director Barthelemy Maunoury, who previously worked with Riot Games on League of Legends, was actually grateful the smooch didn’t happen in season 1.

In a new interview with TechRadar, co-creator and showrunner Christian Linke mentioned that he spoke to Maunoury about the much-talked about embrace following the season 2 premiere. “[He told me if we’d written that last season, the animation team wouldn’t have been able to do it well because they weren’t technically capable yet.

“So, he thanked us for not doing that!” he joked. “He said ‘I don’t think we would’ve done a good job. We couldn’t have done it in season one’, so it was interesting to hear that it wouldn’t have been possible from a technical standpoint, even if we’d have wanted to do it.”

Narratively, the lip-lock comes at a crucial time for Caitlyn (Katie Leung), who’s reeling from the death of her mother in Jinx’s attack on Piltover’s Council, and guilt-ridden Vi (Hailee Steinfeld). “In that moment, Vi is making a big commitment to Caitlyn by choosing her over Jinx,” co-creator Alex Yee added. “I think that’s ultimately why Caitlyn takes the lead [in instigating the kiss].

“The relationship between Caitlyn and Vi is something that fans have carried for a very long time, and we knew it was something we wanted to bring to fruition. [Lead writer] Amanda [Overton] really championed that cause and a lot of the specific mechanics of that dynamic she had a huge part in.”

In the first episode of Afterglow, a new Q&A-style companion show that sees the Netflix series’ stars and creatives chat about the biggest talking points from each episode, Steinfeld was asked how you act out an animated kiss in a recording booth. “Classic, back of the hand,” she laughed, putting her hand to her mouth and making kissing noises.