#aanya has grark

[beautifulterriblequeen]

what are they talking about 👀

[raayllum]

Arc 3 Predictions Electric Boogaloo

Because there's certain stuff that makes a Lot more sense now even as we're left with more questions, so let's talk about it.

Aaravos and the Cosmic Order / Claudia

So Aaravos wanted to take down the elves and dragons. Now the archdragons are all gone circa S7, which means he can hit the ground running upon his return in seven years. This means that the next target can fully be the Cosmic Council outright, and more recontextualization about how creating Eternal Night would make them suffer (though I don't think he'll repeat plans).

I could see him giving instructions / ideas to Claudia through dreams or visions, and she's armed with her amulet in the meantime and will maybe track down a replacement staff since she doesn't have one anymore. (Or she'll want to steal it back from Callum since it was a product of both her 'fathers'.) Other antagonists such as Finnegrin (maybe) and Kim'Dael (more definitely) will likely be interwoven.

That said, I think there'll be plenty of conflict already for our protagonists to deal with even before any of our old foes show up again.

Aanya + the Fire Ruby Project / Ezran & Zym

With the arrows temporarily able to dispose of Aaravos (even if I mandate he let himself get chained down in 7x07 in order to manipulate Ezran) and his imminent return, Ez and Aanya have an incentive to keep going with Project Ruby Fire. However, we also know thanks to interviews that Aanya has an adoptive brother, and from Tales of Xadia that:

The city is more fortified of late, as there are rumours of internal treason. The farmers worry that young Queen Aanya isn’t old enough or wise enough to protect what’s been built over the centuries.

So what I'm thinking is that adoptive brother Grark may pull a Karim and work on the project behind his sister's back or stage a coup. This could also put Ezran at odds with Zym, as Project Ruby Fire was designed specifically to be good at defeating dragons and to be so destructive that the mere threat of them would be enough (but, of course like the Mage Wars, someone's gonna use it). Having deeper, more politically / personally driven conflicts between Ezran and Zym (he had conflict with one brother, and now another) is also possible now that Zym can speak, and I think they'll take full advantage of it.

Ez and Zym together have always represented Hope the most (3x06), as Ezran found the egg, they're the two young princes turned kings, and are spearheading things forward.

So what happens if/when they start to crack? This could also provide a contrast to Janai and Amaya, as their new nieces/nephews through Miyana and Karim could provide a conflict. Even though the kids themselves will be too young and Miyana convinced to walk a different path, that doesn't mean they won't be used or treated as symbols by somebody else to sow more conflict.

Evrkynd and Elarion

The choice to establish a new city to show the growing unity between elves and dragons makes sense, but it made me wonder why do it now and not as an end-of-arc 3 idea. Then I considered that perhaps it's to set up Everkynd as an Elarion parallel: a glistening, shining city, where after it fell the land was divided and more chaos ensued.

Only Evrkynd will emerge and stand the test of time, of course, with the connection between the two halves being maintained and strengthened. But still, a thought I'll probably have something more eloquent for later.

Callum, Corruption, and the Cube (+ Rayla)

Was thinking over 6x06's "the darkness and corruption will overwhelm you" in addition to the choice in S6 to establish that Callum's father died of a chronic illness / the consistent comparison to dark magic as a plague/infection/sickness (2x08, 5x01, 5x03, 5x04, 5x09, etc). The options I'd considered for how the corruption would manifest post usage usually fell into two camps: instantaneous and complete, or gradual and ongoing. I'd thought the second one would be interesting for a mid-season dark magic use, speculating it'd be like the shadowmonsters in taking a few days or longer for something to take.

I certainly didn't think it'd be a process over Years, but given the seven year timeskip...

I'm picturing something like Callum still taking mushroom salves or potions regularly from Muhko (hence that inclusion for Zubeia) to stave off corruption overwhelm, and giving him parallels to Damian. This would also potentially enhance the feeling of "living on borrowed time" he and everyone, but him and Rayla in particular, are bound to feel as they know they have Limited Time before Aaravos comes back.

I'm also curious as to how openly or how much Callum will be studying dark magic, even in comparison to before ("Well, I've read a lot about it"). He has Viren-Claudia's relic staff, and the corrupted sun stone within it, so there could be interesting ideas or experiments there. The fact that Callum has the Staff and the Cube and the white streak does not bode well for him.

An additional assumption is that Callum will go to Elarion offscreen (cause that is a Long skip) but be unable to find what he's unknowingly looking for (the primal magic book?). I also don't think at this point I have to go into much more detail about CHET given that we've been here with the theory for 4 years, and pieces of evidence at the time that felt like a stretch are now being incorporated, such as:

The Cube pointing to Elarion, which was incredibly important to ancient humanity and Aaravos

Elarion poem is associated with nature (flowers of elarion) and dark-light motif

Rayla is Callum's light in the darkness and his destructive path. She was prepared to destroy him (7x09) and will likely save him in the future.

The flowers of Elarion were involved in a story where they were seen as gifts / "fair exchanges of beloved for beloved". Then Rayla, by Aaravos' own word, was described as Callum's "beloved" (7x09).

The entire conversation with Dark!Callum and the cube in the woods in 7x06 but especially "If you love her, you'll be the you that can save her" and "I have always been a part of you."

Basically: it's not over till the cube is plot relevant and all the foreshadowing / lines of dialogue surrounding it have come full circle in some manner. In Arc 3 we trust.

Misc Predictions / Ideas

that didn't belong anywhere else!

Given that we know Aanya has her older brother and Prince Kasef has a younger sibling, I think it'd be interesting if they teamed up to try and stage mutual coups or something.

Since the archdragons are gone, I'm curious what project ruby fire would be used against. Maybe just other dragons? Or invoking stuff from the past mage wars.

More info on the relic staffs and self-eating I think for sure can be expected, as well as what happened to make Kpp'Ar completely change his mind.

I'm expecting S8 to be catch up and set up much the way that S1 and S4 were.

There are river pirates between Duren and Neolandia (Tales of Xadia) so I could see Finnegrin being woven back in there, although I'd love to go back to Scumport and see any changes Elmer has made.

Kim'Dael feels like a 2 season antagonist to me, in order to reintroduce her (maybe Aaravos inverting the Moon Nexus set her free) and then to draw on her history with the Moon Fam (Bloodmoon Huntress graphic novel).

A lot more lore on the Startouch elves / I'm fairly certain Shiruakh was a star devourer dragon

Aaravos making the Cosmic Council mortal, etc etc.

Sol Regem lore and backstory

[random-remzy]

what do you meAN WE ONLY HAVE 9 EPISODES?!?!

SEASON 7. OF THE DRAGON PRINCE. IS DROPPING IN LIKE. A MONTH!

HOW THE EVERLOVING FUCK ARE THEY GOING TO GET THROUGH EVERYTHING IN 9 FLIPPING EPISODES?!?!?!!

Aaravos arc

Claudia and Terry's relationship

Ezrans anger arc

Callum's character

Rayla's bonding time /w Runaan

Ruthaari reunion

Janai and Amaya's arc

Is karim back? did he die?? do we see him again???

Potential sorvus????

Astrid's arc

ALL OF THE MAGIC OBJECTS MENTIOED SO FAR + THE NEW MAGIC OBJECTS!!! (the cube key, Claudias neclace, Runaan's coin, the novablade, The staff of Ziard, the moon primal stone, etc)

Aanya development.

^Possibly meeting Grark???^

Zubeia screentime / Zubeia arc

The Star dragon??

The Orphan queen?!

The jailer?!?!?!?!?!??!

LEOLA?!?!

the whole "Your brother Ezran needs you" Thing????

The final battle

Unleashing the dead into the living.

the whole master plan that Aaravos has spent centuries planning?

Learning about the other kingdoms. (<- @eleyctra)

There is a lot to get through-

(If anyone has anything else to add to the list, let me know so I'll add it)

Yes, i'm aware that this is just the end of arc 2, and arc 3 is still on the table. But I imagine that if Arc 3 isnt greenlit, then they would probably give the characters at least, semi-satisfying endings.

I have been hyperventilating all day. december 19th cannot come soon enough-

I AM SO EXCITED!!!

but also.

IM SCARED!!

I guess you could say I'm

Terry-fied...!

no?

I'll see myself out-

[its-leethee]

Ever since we learned in the Season 4 Discord Q&A that Queen Aanya has an adopted older brother named Grark, I've been wondering, what is his role in the story? Why give Aanya an older brother at all?

As adopted-older-sibling-to-the-monarch, Grark and Aanya's relationship is an obvious parallel to Callum and Ezran's. What if Grark was present and supportive to Aanya, to serve as a contrast to Callum, a similarly protective and devoted older brother, but one who is repeatedly missing in action when his younger sibling needs him:

Shout out to Soren for stepping into Callum's place to support Ezran in both of these examples; but particularly Soren's exhortation to Ezran that "You deserve time to do kid stuff."

I don't think it's a stretch to imagine that Ezran would feel resentful toward Callum for his serial absences (and the implied emotional unavailability), or that he might perceive that his brother is indifferent to his struggles and has abandoned him, leaving Ezran to shoulder the burdens of ruling alone.

I'm having fun imagining Ezran and Aanya trading gripes about their overbearing older brothers who treat them like little kids... and then Ezran sadly, painfully realizing that his brother hasn't been there for him like he should be, while Aanya's brother is.

Broyals angst is delicious, of course, but why let Callum and Ezran have all the fun? Because this is where Aanya and Grark's relationship could get extra interesting:

--Tales of Xadia, p. 34

The two phrases in particular that caught my eye: internal treason and isn't old enough

So, hear me out: Grark will be the protective older sibling who steps up, but eventually oversteps, in a misguided attempt to relieve Aanya of the responsibilty of the throne.

Oh yeah, political intrigue plus broyals angst? It would be SO GOOD.

[kilfeur]

Alors dans le wikia, il est dit qu'Aanya a un frère, Grark (on sait pas si c'est vrai faudrait attendre de le voir dans la série pour le confirmer). Mais juste imaginez par exemple dans les deux ans entre la saison 3 et 4. Ezran a voulu renforcé ses liens avec les autres royaumes et du coup Aanya arrive avec son frère. Callum est présent car c'est son rôle en tant que prince et haut mage mais évite de se rapprocher. Car il est toujours blessé par le départ de Rayla. Et s'occupe comme il peut mais du coup ils passent du temps ensemble. Il va aussi voir Soren vu que c'est aussi un militaire.

Et Grark semble être curieux de Callum et à un moment donné, Callum parle de ses recherches sur la magie. Et du coup, Grark se met à parler de ses hobbies. Mais Callum essaie de garder ses distances alors que Grark se rapproche. Et là avant que la saison 4 commence, Grark demande si il peut le courtiser. Et le jeune mage est genre "wtf ?!"

So in the wikia, it says that Aanya has a brother, Grark (we don't know if it's true, we'll have to wait and see him in the series to confirm it). But just imagine, for example, two years from now between seasons 3 and 4. Ezran wanted to strengthen its ties with the other kingdoms, so Aanya arrives with her brother. Callum is present because that's his role as prince and high mage, but avoids getting too close. He's still hurt by Rayla's departure. He keeps himself busy as best he can, but they spend time together. He also goes to see Soren, since he's also a military man.

Grark seems curious about Callum, and at one point Callum talks about his research in magic. Then Grark starts talking about his hobbies. But Callum tries to keep his distance as Grark gets closer to him. Then, before season 4 happens, Grark asks him if he can court him. And the young mage is like "wtf?!"

[kradogsrats]

spent like an hour discussing this with spouse, who immediately rattled off this series of intricate possibilities for political reasons why Aanya might adopt an older brother in a formal, legal manner (rather than an informal "we're not related by blood but I consider him my brother" way):

She understands from a young age that a succession crisis would cause a long and bloody struggle, and adopts Grark as a legal heir in the form of a brother because it would be weird to adopt someone older than her as a son

Grark is the son of someone who would be a powerful player in a hypothetical succession crisis (such as her regent) and she adopts him to simultaneously keep them in line and strengthen a single claim on the throne over others in the event of her death

Grark is the son of her regent or another person of significant political influence, and if she adopts him as her brother she cannot legally be forced to marry him

Meanwhile, I provided the addition of "Grark is actually an extremely loyal trained banther who has been her pet since infancy and who she refers to as her big brother for the lolz (because he's fucking huge)."

Aaaaaand I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say this is incorrect, because between the two options of

Grark entered Aanya's life as her adoptive brother sometime after her mothers died, and is therefore her brother but not their son

and

Annika and Neha had a whole-ass adopted son, but favored their younger daughter over him so blatantly as to use only her name as their final battle cry

...one is definitely way more pleasant than the other.

[dragonprincequotesimadeup]

Question and answers from the Offical Q&A’s in The Dragon Prince Discord Server: Questions about humans

Q: “Will we get to see more from the other Human Kingdoms?”

AE: Yes, some!

Q: “Could you tell us anything about the rulers of the human kingdoms?”

AE: Queen Aanya was orphaned quite young, as you know, but here’s something you don’t know: She has an adopted big brother named Grark, who is an exceptional warrior.

Q: “In season 4 we get a glimpse of how the elf-human relationship building is going, but I also really want to know what the situation is like between the human kingdoms after the season 3 finale battle."

AE: Katolis is definitely the most “pro-Xadia” of the Human Kingdoms, and Duren is closely linked to Katolis—partially due to the friendship between Ezran and Aanya. The other kingdoms remain more skeptical and suspicious of Xadia (and elves and dragons). Between the human kingdoms specifically, I imagine there could be some lingering tension between Neolandia and Duren after what occurred… but, I also suspect even King Ahling might concede that Kasef had gone too far and was part of a literally monstrous war effort.

Q: “Are humans still banished from Xadia as of Season 4?” AE: No, they are not! The border that was created between the Human Kingdoms and the magical lands of Xadia still exists, and it’s a real impediment. But the true enforcers of the border were the Dragon King himself and the Sunfire elves, so flow between the East and the West of the continent is beginning to happen again. Still, the established powers in the West are human, and the dominant powers in Xadia remain dragon and elven.

Q: “Will we ever get to see how the other human kingdoms think of dark magic? We've only seen Katolis so far, so I'm wondering if we will ever get to see dark mages from the other kingdoms, if that makes sense?”

EM: The other human kingdoms and their citizens likely have varying opinions about dark magic—just like opinions vary within Katolis itself—but their royalty no doubt sees the benefit of having a dark mage available, and would have an understanding of their capabilities. Take Duren, for example. We can glean from the fact that they came to Katolis for aid during the famine that it’s unlikely they had a dark mage themselves at the time, but were open to working with Viren and leveraging dark magic to siphon warmth from the Titan’s heart for the sake of their people. We can also look at Tressal—one of the playable characters in Tales of Xadia who’s not only my favorite (and best boy), but also a Neolandian dark mage connected to the royal court. And while not much is known about her, we’ve also established that Evenere has its own High Mage who serves as a guardian of their Royal Library.

Q: “Is Viren's title lord a hereditary title which he inherited or one which came with his position as the high mage of Katolis?”

DG: Viren’s title of Lord is one he earned when he came into the position of High Mage of Katolis, yes! Katolis does have some societal stratification, with wealthy families and poor families and all things in between. Viren certainly did not come from a wealthy family, though.

[beautifulterriblequeen]

As much as I love the idea of Ethari knowing Queen Aanya and that's why her arrows are so badass...

What if they're made by her brother, Grark? What if he is the reason she survived so many coups and conspiracies and assassins, in a mirror of how Ethari has kept Rayla and Runaan alive with the gift of tinkery power?

[raayllum]

Chapter length: 10.5k Summary: Ezran's Summit meeting has a few hiccups. Both Janai and Karim reach decisions regarding their sibling. And Callum and Rayla navigate the aftermath of leaving Katolis. a/n: featuring Grark, Aanya's adoptive older brother, and I love him

CHAPTER 5: Heavy is the Head

Queen Aanya had long been a friend of Katolis.

King Harrow had delivered her mother’s ring to her regent personally when she was too young to do much more than blink at it, and cry in confusion as the days turned into weeks and her mothers still did not return. She’d attended her first ball in Katolis, and the king had always kindly inquired after her without making comments about how much she’d grown or how tall she was getting like all the other monarchs. He’d treated her like a child while simultaneously treating her like a queen, a delicate balance she’d appreciated and was sure he’d passed down onto his sons.

Admittedly, Aanya didn’t know Prince Callum that well considering she’d saved his life. He’d been energetic if overly eager on the way back to the Pentarchy with their armies, and then moody and flighty once the boys’... friend had disappeared. The rest of the Pentarchy had been told that the Moonshadow elf, Rayla, had gone off on a personal mission of sorts for the boys, but Aanya knew the truth was far more worrying, and that she was far more akin to missing.

Ezran had been bereaved, too, but in a different way. Still always able to look ahead, still always able to force some cheer, still always able to wear his crown and a smile and chip away at the other monarchs’ egos and reservations until he got what he was advocating for. Most of the time. 

Grark had encouraged her to make friends with him. “It might do you well,” her older brother said, dark hair falling over his eyes, “to have someone your own age around. He’s a monarch, too.”

“Yes, I’m aware of that,” she’d replied dryly, but much to Grark’s fond smugness, they had become friends—sending letters across their borders of daily matters and complaints rather solely diplomatic relations, weathering Neolandia and Del Bar’s ire together over their fallen forces, seeing one another a bright spot at otherwise stuffy or droll meetings and galas.

Read from the beginning here