Linkin Park’s Heavy is the Crown wasn’t originally inspired by Faker or Worlds, but by this Arcane character

On November 2, 2024 at the Worlds 2024 final in O2 Arena in London, Linkin Park performed this year’s anthem, Heavy is the Crown, live in front of a sell-out esports crowd.

It is the second song after The Emptiness Machine from their comeback album From Zero, which releases on November 15. Co-vocalist Emily Armstrong takes center stage with original co-founding member Mike Shinoda, Brad Delson on guitar, Dave Farrell on bass, and DJ Joe Hahn.

In the official Heavy is the Crown music video, the Worlds 2024 anthem accompanies a fully animated short featuring now five-time world champion Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok and the T1 squad that has found resounding success with the same lineup since 2022 comprising top laner Choi “Zeus” Woo-je, jungler Mun “Oner” Hyeon-jun, bot laner Lee “Gumayusi” Min-hyung, and support Ryu “Keria” Min-seok.

This T1 roster qualified for the Worlds final three years in a row in 2022, 2023, and 2024, and won twice in 2023 and most recently in 2024.

Faker is decked out in Azir cosplay, portrayed as an emperor, the king sitting on the throne who bears the burden of a heavy crown — one that symbolizes his long and successful legacy as an esports pro. Debuting in 2013 and winning his first world championship that same year, he has achieved more accolades and made more world-breaking records than any other player in LoL esports.

Overall, the narrative honors T1’s commanding victory over Weibo Gaming in the 2023 World Championship Finals, where they defeated the LPL representatives in a 3-0 sweep. While the song generally received positive reception, the animated short received mixed reactions from the community.

Adding another layer to the song’s meaning, it turns out that Heavy is the Crown wasn’t originally written with Faker or T1 in mind.

In a press conference held at Riot Games HQ in Los Angeles that ONE Esports attended, Arcane creator and showrunner Christian Linke revealed that Mike Shinoda, who is a fan of League of Legends and Arcane, took inspiration from a major character driving season two’s narrative.

Heavy is the Crown was originally written with this Arcane character in mind

There are two versions of Heavy is the Crown. In fact, episode one of season two is entitled exactly that. If you haven’t heard it, watch this episode.

Linkin Park as a band are huge animation fans, and Heavy is the Crown was written for Caitlyn Kiramman, portraying her legacy in Arcane, Christian shared. She carries the burden of a renowned family name in Piltover — the Kiramman Clan — as well as a responsibility to the people as an enforcer at the Piltover Police Department.

A public figure, Caitlyn’s story resonated with Mike when he wrote the song because at that time, Linkin Park as a band was also trying to figure out their legacy and how to carry it forward, said Christian.

It so happened that they share many parallels to esports, so there there was a moment where the teams working on Arcane and esports “felt magic” when these elements came together.

Christian felt it was “cool to have two versions” with “two different tonalities,” explaining that it felt like a step forward for Arcane because we get to see more from the perspective of Caitlyn and see tremendous character growth in the second and final season.

Arcane Season 2 releases on Saturday, November 9, 2024.

READ MORE: Exclusive: Why do you love Arcane so much? Creators reveal behind-the-scenes secrets