First 3 episodes of Arcane season 2 were really good. There has been a slight jump in animation quality from season 1's already phenomenal animation and they are also trying some new things, both in terms of character arcs and things like editing. I can understand it might be hit or miss, but for me it mostly worked really well. I have minor criticisms of the pacing of episode 3 but that's about it.

For anyone who hasn't watched Season 1 in a while, I would recommend rewatching it because this really feels like Act 4 of the show and I think a rewatch really helped me appreciate these episodes more.