Walcott fired a stunning 19th minute opener as the Gunners worked hard for the points. He was sent scampering clear down the right flank by a fine ball from Robin van Persie before cutting inside and ramming a low shot past Paul Robinson.
Rovers made life hard for Arsene Wenger's men and Mame Diouf's 26th-minute equaliser was the least they deserved before Arshavin won it for the visitors in the 51st minute.
Wenger never relishes his trips to Ewood Park and the driving east Lancashire rain approaching kick-off time threatened to make his latest return an unwelcome one.
Rovers started positively, with Morten Gamst Pedersen's long throw causing Manuel Almunia to enter the action early to pluck the ball off the head of Christopher Samba.
The Gunners came close to an opener in the third minute when Abou Diaby's shot in a crowded box took a heavy deflection off Vince Grella and rather fortuitously struck goalkeeper Paul Robinson.
But Rovers set about peppering the Arsenal box with high balls and their tactic nearly paid off in the ninth minute when Ryan Nelsen's header was headed off the line by Cesc Fabregas.
In a promising opening spell Fabregas then split the Rovers defence with a through-ball towards Walcott, only for Samba to get in with a superb saving challenge.
El-Hadji Diouf failed to pick out namesake Mame in acres of space in a Rovers counter-attack then in the 15th minute Samba headed just over from another Pedersen corner.
Walcott's 19th minute strike was so powerful it required lengthy half-time repairs to the net - but when Arsenal threatened to go on and win at a canter it was the home side who struck back.
Samba set off a swift counter-attack which sent El-Hadji Diouf tearing down the left where he cut inside the hapless Laurent Koscielny and squared for Mame Diouf to sweep home.
Wenger was forced to make his first change in the 34th minute when Van Persie hobbled off with an apparent knee injury and was replaced by Marouane Chamakh.
Confidence continued to bleed back into Blackburn after the break and Pedersen was not too far away with an audacious long-range effort in the 50th minute.
But the Gunners went back ahead one minute later when a Fabregas effort in the box was blocked only to squirt clear to Arshavin, who poked past the advancing Robinson.
Nikola Kalinic blazed a left-foot shot over the bar before Allardyce made his first change introducing Dunn in a bid to add some creativity to his midfield.
However, as the game wore on, Wenger's men looked increasingly to be finding their rhythm and Nelsen and Samba were working overtime to repel Arshavin and Chamakh.
But it was Walcott who always looked the biggest threat and the young striker came close to a second on 75 minutes when he lofted a long-range effort inches over the bar.
Walcott thought he had knocked home the Gunners' third at the other end only to be deemed inches offside, then substitute Jack Wilshere missed a sitter in injury time.
Arsene Wenger said his side had to shrug off an attack of nerves to win the match.
Wenger's dislike of the home side's qualities are well known and he insisted his side had approached the game with concerns after a bruising battle in the equivalent fixture last season.
Wenger said: "We had a good start but in my opinion we were too nervous dealing with the game of Blackburn. Who would not be unsettled by the kind of game Blackburn gave us today? Last year we had bad memories here and because we knew they would play the kind of game we don't like we had not enough confidence to deal with that.
"In the second half I felt we were calmer. We put the ball well on the ground and controlled it better and it was just a question of time. We had the right resilience and commitment."
And Wenger is adamant the way his side shrugged off those nerves to take the points sent a strong signal that they will not be found wanting in the title chase this season.
"If you have ambition in this league you have got to win at Blackburn," Wenger added. "If you fail to win at Blackburn - if you go to clubs like that and you don't win - your ambition will not be respected by the other teams so it was an important test for us. The players are committed and we had that little bit more experience today, even if on just one or two occasions we were a bit lucky."
Theo Walcott admitted he is benefiting from a relaxing summer after continuing his recent good form against Blackburn. The England hopeful was disappointed to miss the World Cup, but he impressed in front of Fabio Capello at Ewood Park.
"I've had a good think in the summer - I didn't blame anyone else for not being at the World Cup but didn't read too much into it because I had a nice break, I've not had one for a long time," he said after the game.
"Now I just want to get playing and show people what I can do. It's for me to push on and get on the goal sheet a bit more often.''
One negative aspect of the afternoon for Arsenal was the late ankle injury suffered by Robin van Persie, which Wenger believes will keep the Dutchman out for at least ten days.
Rovers boss Sam Allardyce bemoaned his side's failure to make the most of their chances which cost them after Mame Diouf's goal had brought them back into the match.
"I'm disappointed we didn't get something out of the game and from my point of view the first half was our opportunity to get our noses in front," Allardyce said. "Because we didn't take those opportunities we paid the price for that. At some stage Arsenal were going to take control of the game. You switch off for a split second and they are very, very good at punishing you.
"The pass and Walcott's finish were top quality and while we might try and criticise our defenders it's very difficult to stop that sort of quality of football."
But Allardyce is the first to admit his side need to turn performances into points after two successive league defeats to follow the opening-day win over Everton.
Allardyce added: "We played to our maximum as a team, which you've got to be reasonably satisfied with, but the game is about results and we've lost two games on the trot.
"It's put us in a difficult position in terms of points on the board. While our performances over the three games have been very good, we've only got three points and that's the danger."
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