#but because he knows that he would do anything for rayla and ez and his friends

[daisybeewrites]

just finished S5E8 of the Dragon Prince…

i am not okay

[zuppizup]

Circumstance

“You didn’t have to put him in the dungeon, Ez!” Rayla fumed, struggling to keep her temper in check. “In chains!”

“Rayla, Callum freed Aaravos!” Soren grabbed her by the upper arm, attempting to pull her back.

“He didn’t feel like he had a choice!” Rayla wrenched her arm back, glaring at the crown guard.

“He admitted to it in front of Janai and Zubeia. He made no excuses. What else could I do there and then?” Ezran sighed, tears in his eyes. “He’s my brother, Rayla, but I still have to consider my people. He’s put more than Katolis in danger.”

Rayla tried to gather her thoughts, swallowing past the thick lump in her throat. The weight of it all hung heavy upon her. Callum had done it for her after all, traded the Cube for her life. The guilt of it all felt like a dark heavy cloak smothering her, wearing her down. She hated the thought that Callum was in the position he was in because of her.

Sighing, she shook her head. “What would you have done, Ez? In that moment, what would you have done?”

“You think you’re a good judge of that?”

Rayla turned to look at Soren, having almost forgotten he was there.

“You had an opening, didn’t you? Back when Aaravos possessed him again. You could have ended it all, there and then.” Soren raised his chin, his eyes piercing. “You could have stopped things before we ever got here, but you didn’t. You really think we can trust your judgement on any of this?”

“You think I should have killed him?” Her voice caught as she glared at Soren defiantly.

“I think neither of you has the high ground when it comes to considering the greater good.”

“I’d do anything to keep him safe.” Rayla swallowed, biting her lip. “He’d have done the same for Ezran. He wanted to protect us.”

“I know.” Soren held her gaze. “And that’s the sort of reasoning my father used to come up with.”

Rayla clenched her fists, glaring at him. “Callum is nothing like Viren.” How dare he-

“Isn’t he?” Soren raised an eyebrow, clearly challenging her. “He didn’t even attempt to excuse what he’d done.”

Rayla took deep breaths, trying desperately to think of some way to counter this.

Ezran stepped forward, taking her hands, soothing her tight fists. “They’re afraid of him, Rayla. They’ve seen what Viren did-”

Her breath caught in her throat, as she blinked back tears. “Ezran, he’s not Viren.”

“Rayla, I-” Ezran looked between her and Soren, his brow furrowed. “I understand why he did it. I do, I think most people would but... if it came down to it. If something similar happened again, if its Katolis or, or the Pentarchy? Xadia. Do you- What do you think he’d do?”

Ezran stared at her, his eyes wide. Challenging. Begging her to counter. To insist Callum wouldn’t falter again. Wouldn’t put either of them before everyone else.. everything else.

Before the world.

She tried to look him in the eye, to hold his gaze... but she couldn’t... because, well, she already knew the answer.

Circumstance II

———

Mayhaps in the continuity of Borrowed Time, I dunno

[raayllum]

Sometimes I think about the gap between the thematic perception of a theme/character versus how they themselves perceive the same thing. There's not too many gaps routinely like this in TDP except for antagonists — Karim comes to mind most notably, in how he earnestly believes he's doing the right thing with no pretense while becoming increasingly hypocritical — nor are all these gaps negative, per se.

But I think about it in regards to Rayllum a lot.

For example, in their actual relationship, they're pretty healthy. Rayla in particular has struggled with open and honest communication, but they're getting there, and we see that Callum has given her an unconditional, rather than an ultimatum base, upon which for her and both of them to build upon. They can teach really good lessons about taking time for yourself so you don't yell at your partner, that you have to work on yourself and a relationship won't fix your problems, that approaching things together is good and that you should support one another, etc etc.

However, thematically — identity wise — they are codependent to a super intense degree, wrapped up and incredibly dependent on the other person's construction of their sense of self (Rayla struggling to be a good person when she's reeling in the S4 fallout, because what does she have to show for it? Callum trying in 4x07 to push them both into their worst roles if the worst comes for him). And this codependency as well as intense desire to protect one another can cause them to make dangerous or self destructive choices in the name of love (or both), like Rayla leaving to protect him and luring Sol Regem away, or Callum doing dark magic and jumping off the Pinnacle.

Thereby, playing with this push and pull, how they exist and perceive themselves vs how they exist in the narrative (and may be seen as other characters) is well, a lot of fun.

This is also true for the "Rayla as Callum's method of destruction and salvation" theme that's been running through every season of the show, with Rayla being the lynchpin to burn down his old life / understandings of self and trust, and usher in new ones.

Callum doesn't see his relationship with Rayla as anything negative, ultimately; she's loving and brave and she saves people, she saved him, and he saves her right back. He'd do anything not to lose her, because that's the Right Thing to do to him, even if it's not automatically 'the right thing' for the rest of the world's safety.

But we know, thanks to their pattern (1x03, 1x04, 2x07, 3x09, general S4, 4x07, general S5, 5x04, 5x08) that it's something that can and has routinely gotten him into trouble in the past, particularly in S2 and S5.

We also know that Rayla fundamentally doesn't see anything wrong with Callum, either. "It doesn't matter" that he did dark magic before (2x07) and it likely won't ultimately matter to her again. She has so much faith and trust in him and his ability to do the impossible that the idea of Aaravos possessing him again in an awful way is downright hard for her to fathom. To her / in her mind, Callum is sweet and nice (even on the rare instances he yells at her), caring and loving and compassionate. And he is all those things, but even when one another's worst traits come out, both have a tendency to forgive and accept.

Now, part of this is because they have a mutual basis, for lack of a better word, of lines the other would never cross that are all conveniently the lines the other could never forgive (Rayla putting Ez at risk on a whim, Callum killing Stella for dark magic ingredients) which just perpetuates this cycle of support, forgiveness, and unconditionality.

Because unconditional love is great — until it's not.

And I think this blend of "they are actively healthy and actively working on being healthier" mixed with the "oh God quarantine them and their codependent shit together elsewhere for the good of society" is why they 1) have the range that they do and 2) the subsequent appeal that they do.

[jelzorz]

197.

It feels like treason to think it. Opeli would feel guilty for it on a normal day, she thinks, but the situation is dire and she wonders if anything will ever feel normal again. The Banther Lodge is a far cry from the castle, and it is crowded enough without the kingslaying elephant in the room.

She watches Soren fight Rayla over it.

She watches Ezran hide his tears.

She watches the Kingslayer walk free.

Well, she thinks. There are certainly worse things than thinking it. There are worse things than talking to her friends, her family, who also happen to be part of the council. Worse things have been done than calling a meeting behind Ezran's back, who is the King, yes, but a child first, and he has enough on his hands without this too.

"I don't think Prince Callum can continue being a part of this council."

Soren grimaces. Corvus shifts uneasily on the spot. Barius makes a face and fiddles with his hands.

Opeli stares them down. "Do you disagree?"

A pause. A sigh. Soren huffs and glances through the cellar kitchen window to make sure Callum is still preoccupied with defending Rayla and her murderous father from anyone who dares to look at them the wrong way. "No," he mutters after a moment. "You're right. You usually are, but this... Is Ezran's decision, not ours."

Opeli scowls, some misplaced maternal instinct raising her hackles. "He's dealing with enough," she says shortly. "He's eleven years old, his home has been destroyed, and his own brother returns with the elf that killed—"

"We get it," interrupts Corvus tiredly. "And we're not disagreeing with you. You're right. But what are you asking us to do, exactly? Kick Callum off the council? Is more internal conflict really what we need right now?"

"With respect, High Cleric," says Barius, "are we even supposed to be having this meeting? Isn't it breaking some sort of law to be talking about this before talking to King Ezran?"

Opeli wrinkles her nose at that, the wrongness of this heavy in her gut. "It's not illegal to bring up a concern with members of the council in confidence," she grumbles. It's a weak argument, but it's been played in court before, and she's not above playing the same dirty tactics to keep her king safe. "We are Ezran's council," she asserts. "Our duty is to him and to Katolis and I don't believe Callum's priorities are quite the same. He—" She grimaces too and locks eyes with Soren. "He's starting to remind me of your father."

Soren snorts at that. "Don't I know it," he mutters, and Opeli sees the truth of it in his eyes. Soren would know better than anyone what magic can do to people, the kind of power it gives them, the cleverness they think wielding it grants. "But Opeli, seriously, what are we going to do? We can't just arrest him. All this aside, he's still the prince. He's Ez's brother."

"One might argue that King Harrow was his stepfather, and you can see how much he cares about that."

Another pause. The room flinches because they all know that it's true, what an insult it is to Harrow's memory that his murderer would be allowed to dine at his son's table.

"Have you asked Ezran what he wants to do?" asks Corvus at last.

Opeli winces. "I didn't want to burden him with it," she mumbles. "I don't know that he knows what to do and frankly... I don't either."

"A first," says Barius, not unkindly. "It's all right to be concerned, High Cleric. It's all right not have all the answers."

"Yes, well." Opeli clears her throat and bows her head, hiding her weakness in the way her hood falls over her eyes. "I'm not particularly good at not having answers. I've come to you three hoping you might have them instead."

"I don't think we can help anymore than you," says Corvus wryly. "But our duty is to Ezran, the same as you. Soren and I won't let anything happen to him. The same way Barius won't. The same way you won't. Okay?"

"Call it a secret council pact," adds Soren with a grin. "If Callum does anything else stupid, we step in, no matter what. Deal?"

Hardly, thinks Opeli, even as she nods. She takes what little solace she can get.

[numptypylon]

“Rayla is… not my lovebug.”

“Oh ho, now?" Nyx leaned obnoxiously close, her eyebrows raising. "Have you told her that?”

“She told me," Callum said, angry all over again suddenly that... she actually hadn't told him that and yet they weren't- "So I’m tentatively assuming that she knows.”

“Oh ho? So she broke up with you and yet you’re still adventuring together, risking your lives for each other, making love eyes at each other at every opportunity… ah, to be young and in love and a garbage fire of collective awkwardness of such radiance as to light up the heavens-”

“Yeah!” Ezran agreed, walking up to them. Oh no. Hopefully Nyx would tone down the… everything… around an 11-year-old, but… considering he had been 14 himself when he’d first encountered Nyx, he didn’t have high hopes. “It’s gross and they’re so dumb, and here I am, a doomed onlooker!"

“You got the family braincell, I see,” Nyx said, winking at Ezran.

Ezran nodded sagely. “My blessing and my curse, ‘tis true.”

Really?! Did Ez really have to form an alliance with every new person they met to tag-team roast him?!

Nyx turned away from Ezran, her unwanted attention firmly back on him now. “I still need the full status update on my favorite dysfunctional lovebugs!” Nyx would keep prodding, and Callum didn’t want her to prod Rayla- “You know there’s another ex-lovebug who could tell me-“ Did he just curse that idea into Nyx’s head?! “But you’re currently the less puke-smelling option, so…"

Nyx really didn't subscribe to the idea of sensitive subjects you should keep your trap shut about.

“We… broke up. Like you said.” One way to say it. But he wasn’t giving Nyx any ammunition to use against Rayla. “Then made up. Kind of. We’re friends, just not… lovebugs.”

“Friends with benefits?”

“What friends do you have?” Ezran asked, all wide-eyed, vicious innocence. “Do you not consider friendship a benefit?”

“Hey!” Nyx looked insulted. “I thought we were allies against yon magus of maladroit you tragically must call brother?”

“My allegiances are many and inscrutable!” Ez stuck his tongue out at Nyx.

“’Allegiances’? ’Inscrutable’? Sheesh, kid, how old are you? And what awful, terrible company do you keep?!”

“11. And… politicians.”

“Oh no, you’re serious?! Oh kid, the depths of my condolences is one of them yawning chasms of endless screaming-“

“Oi?!” Villads yelled. “Matey? Riggin’ snagged!”

“I don’t hold court with betrayers, anyway,” Nyx said, incredibly hypocritically for someone who’d stranded them in a desert, and she pushed off the deck and was airborne, heading off towards the center mast.

“What is the benefit of being ‘friends with benefits’?” Ezran asked, looking around to Callum and then Soren, who had just arrived with Hat perched on his head. “The friendship is pretty obviously a benefit of being friends without having to say it, so I know it isn’t that, I just said that because Nyx was being mean.”

“Oh, I know!” Soren said, eagerly. “It’s s-“

“Sandwiches!” Callum cut him off. “Sandwiches, Soren! Remember?”

“Riiiiight!” Soren winked, exaggeratedly. “Sandwiches. Got it. Corvus makes the best bread sandwich, extra mayonnaise-“

“Please, Soren,” Callum choked. “Please, let’s… talk about something else. Anything else. Please.”

———

Excerpt from an upcoming chapter of my S4-6 between-canon-episodes fic, Downtime’s Up (successor to my S1-3 between-canon-scenes fics Downtime in Wartime and Upside Downtime)

It’s wednesday and I have many wips I want to work on and no time, but I DO also have a lot of stuff written and not posted, so… hope you enjoyed some overgrown pigeon time and depraved sandwich innuendos. Once I get past the next 4 chapters of Downtime’s Up, I have most of the rest of the story written, just… it’s been rough going to write anything lately

[m4rs-ex3]

(even louder) trailer screaming part 2

the adrenaline i've had all day is making me crash hard so i'm tired so idk if i'll actually be screaming louder but like. internally i am

well starting off strong

oh fucking boy

first i'm gonna say i love the way he said "however ~vile~" like slay

and then i know that like. this feels like such an obvious/lame explanation but i do not believe this is "real". like of course there's the fact that the cube. yknow. isn't like that in real life that's just how it looks in his fever dream. a lame ass reason for sure but honestly my real reason for not believing this is that there's no way they'd put THIS reveal in the trailer. there's a distinctly lower number of new clips in this trailer then there has been for seasons past, which could be them building hype for the end of the arc(s), but still i have a feeling that there's only so much they were willing to put out (which excites me btw), so i doubt this would be one of those things, yk? i don't know anything ok im tired

could be another dream, could be hallucinations, could be anything

i do find it incredibly interesting that he's clearly in a xadian forest surrounded by giant mushrooms tho (zubeia?)

i will say this i believe

(edit: it isn't a trailer analysis of mine unless i don't realize something was reused. this is from 6x03)

fuck she relapsed. but. b-ut also..ooo..w..

iiiiiiiiiii

we're all fairly certain that's human aaravos (which didn't even occur to me until i read one of the comments that shows you how observatory i am) and............... well i suppose it was inevitable. i've personally never really thirsted for aaravos; of course i get it but just can't relate. and now.............. oh my god this is the hottest person i have ever seen in my life. i've been awoogaing from the minute i saw him and damnit you can't make me stop

considering the following shot (also because it makes sense) that this is the spell that brought back all the spirits, but it makes me question the shot of aaravos standing in the valley of the graves cackling as the spirits surround him, because that just gives me very "mwuahaha we've just unleashed them" so idk. this is me trying to convince myself that that's not actually aaravos so i can drool over him without a little shame

ohoho this is exciting and fucking petrifying. that is a freeze spell if i've ever seen one, so it seems we have soren, TERRY !!, and allen rushing to presumably stop them, and then aanya kneeling over lujanne's body!!! yippee!

may i just say that the location zip zapping is hurting my brain. like callum and rayla both go from the nexus to katolis and everyone in katolis goes to the banther lodge and then callum ends up in a random xadian forest but also akiyu's grotto for some reason meanwhile rayla goes to the silvergrove but she also ends up in lux aurea with soren and coruvs who were with ez and aanya in the crystal cavern but ez and aanya were also at the valley of the graves but soren and aanya are also at the nexus where claudia and aaravos and terry are but before/after that they were/are first at the valley of the graves and also a xadian forest but then terry was in a different seemingly not-xadian forest and i need to lie down

in addition to the Cave Fuckers we also keep seeing this mf with BAT WINGS??? HELLO????

ok i know i sound like an edgy middle schooler but i'm sorry this is the most exciting shot in the trailer for me. what can i say blood excites me. my favorite characters covered in blood? even better. short king ram with that sickass head tilt? fucking hell to the fucking yeah (i'm choosing to ignore the way he literally went rawr XD immediately after)

this is another one where there's so much to process like as aforementioned we're in a xadian forest and terry's here looking perfectly content so assuming that he is abandoning ship (which is supported by the nexus shot) this is before that??

also as aforementioned callum in akiyu's grotto which is SO out of left field but whatever

and akiyu is also here. on the ground perhaps. good sign

this is irrelevant but. look at that lil face. hehe

ALSO AA IM STUPID AND AM ONLY JUST NOW REALIZING THIS BUT THE FIRE IS CLAUDIA'S YOU CAN SEE FROM THE BG OF HER DRAGON TRANSFORMATION SHE DEF THERE TOO AAKSDHFKJAHSKJDFHIASDHFLJKHSDKLFHKJSAHDLFK IM FO FUCKING EXCITED YOU HAVE NO IDEA HWO LONG AND HOW BADLY IVE NEEDE A PROPER CALLUM V CLAUDIA SHOW DOEWN EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

also it's giving

[sorinethemastermind]

Snake Boi Callum Week 3.0 | Prompt: The Greater Good / Promise

 Sometimes Callum wondered if the halls had always been this quiet. Or if it was just that now there was no one to fill them.

 It was raining again, it had been for days; the drips running down the window panes in an endless torrent, the moon obscured by clouds. It was for the best. Better that he couldn’t see it. The thought felt selfish, but even now, years later, he could still see her in everything. 

 Leaning against his desk, twirling one of her blades absently. Her face lighting up with a smile  as he opened the door and she saw him. “Callum! There you are.” she would say, as though she’d spent all day looking. As though he was the only thing she could have wanted to find. 

 Huddled up before the fire, a blanket wrapped around her shoulders as she leafed through the big book of ocean poems he had given her. Her silver hair shining in the firelight, fingers softly brushing down the page as she read.

 Sat on the settee beside him, eyes sparkling in the candlelight, reaching out a hand to brush the hair out of his face before she leaned in to kiss him; her skin soft against his own, her lips softer. He remembered the way her smile had felt against his mouth as she laughed; happy. 

 “I kept my promise, Rayla.” he’d used to say, voice never quite able to pierce the eternal silence that had descended upon his study. But if that was true, why did it feel like he had broken one as well?

 Now Callum didn’t say anything.

 He found the book he had come for quickly, letting the door of the study swing shut behind him with a muffled creak. He didn’t want to stay there any longer than he had to. Following the light that shone from the other halls, he soon found himself in the wider castle. Here he could almost pretend that everything was as it should be. Guards patrolled just as they always had, chatting as they went, though perhaps with less alertness than before. It wasn’t needed now; this was a time of peace.

 But that was what they’d thought last time.

 Callum hurried past them and into Ezran’s chambers, locking the great double doors behind himself.

 “Callum?” his brother asked, seeing the look on his face. “Callum, what is it? It’s after midnight.”

 Ezran was already in his nightshirt, the long flowy fabric trailing around his feet. He looked tired. But he always looked tired now. He was the king.

 “This is important.” Callum crossed the room, pushing scrolls off of Ezran’s desk and onto the floor to clear space for his book. He heard his brother sigh, but that wasn’t anything new either. He slammed the book down onto the table, sending a cloud of dust pluming into the air, and opened it to the page he was looking for. “Look! Look, Ez! It’s right here.”

 Except it wasn’t. 

 Ezran placed a hand on his shoulder. “Callum-” he began, voice gentle. 

 “No.” Callum shrugged him off, flipping the page back and forth. Waiting for the letters to move. “I know what I saw. He’s back, Ez. He's back.” “Callum, Aaravos is dead.”

 “But that’s the thing!” he spun, turning to face Ezran and pushing his long, unruly hair out of his face. If his brother would only listen. “What if we just think he’s gone? You know what the Celestial Elves said. They said that-”

 “I know, Callum.” Ezran said, but Callum knew that he didn’t. None of them did. None of them understood. But he could show them. If they would just-

 “Callum, I do understand but-”

 Callum stopped. He hadn’t realized he was saying it out loud. Then he shook his head. “Ez, you don’t. None of you do.”

 “I miss her too, Callum. We all do.” he said, reaching out and wrapping his arms around his brother. For a moment Callum didn’t do anything, and then, slowly, he reached up and hugged him back. His breath caught in his chest. 

 “I just wish… it had been for something.” 

 “It was. It is.” Ezran assured him. “It’s over now.”

 And there it was, the thing that Ezran would never understand. It wasn’t over. It could never be. Because life was… well, it was like the moon. An eternal cycle; rotating forever as it shifted out of sight and back into view. There would always be love. But there would also be loss. There might be peace now, but it would always be followed by war.

 Callum hugged his brother back, and he felt the love like a warmth around his heart, holding him in that moment. But after, when he apologized for keeping Ezran up, took his book, and shuffled off back to bed, he also felt the cold. The cold in the empty halls. The cold of the rain beading against his skin as he walked across the courtyard. The cold of the dark study as he returned the book to his shelf. 

 The cold didn’t hold you in the now. It slipped through your fingers as you grabbed at it, slowly sliding you back into the then and the why and the how. The cold laughed as you clung to it desperately. It ran through you like the rain, bitter and biting, until you finally fell backwards into it and couldn’t find your way out. The cold felt like drowning. Like the ocean swallowing you whole. 

 Callum paused, his fingers tracing the worn leather of the book’s spine. He lifted it back off the shelf, and when he opened it again it fell onto the same page. The sketched face of his enemy looked up at him with a sneer as the words on the page slowly swirled into black.

 Callum gasped, staggering back. The book fell to the floor with a thump, dust motes floating in the air around it. Callum’s breath came in ragged, shaking gulps and he took a moment to regain his composure before lifting it back up. He opened it ever so slightly, peering from between the pages at the words. Nothing stirred, so he opened it fully. The face of his enemy stared blankly back at him, the words still against the stained parchment. 

 Callum closed his eyes. Maybe Ezran was right, maybe it was over. Maybe it was all in his head. He slipped the book back onto its shelf. The worst part was not being sure.

 The rain had cleared somewhat by the time he left his study again, and he could see the stars peeking out from behind the clouds. He stared up at the sky, feeling the last drops of rain fall onto his face like the sky was crying cold tears.

 “I miss her too.” he told it. 

 He always did. But on moonless nights he missed her the most.

[colonelpancakes]

Season Six Episode Five "Moonless Night" lets go! Given the fact that one of our protagonist’s is a MOONshadow elf, this title makes me worried. Like, I know it’s referring to the prophecy thing but still…

Skjsklf I love Rayla. She wants NO part of this ding dang prophecy business.

Hmm so Callum wants to know more about whatever Startouch magic item they could get for doing the quest. Interesting. I wonder if he’s still thinking about ways to defeat Aaravos? Since "from the heavens" does sound like it would have something to do with the Startouch elves, "beings from the heavens".

Stella’s little “just kiss already” look is killing me.

I love Soren checking in on Ez to see if he's okay is so sweet. I love his character development so much, going from considering killing Ezran to being a dedicated crownguard and making sure Ezran's okay.

Oh wedding?? That’s happening now?? Yay!

Surely nothing will go wrong, Ezran will have a nice relaxing break and Janai and Amaya will have a lovely stress-free wedding and nothing will go wrong and the fact that the episode after next is called "The Red Wedding" means nothi-

Ezran sidestepping actually saying Viren’s name and even Soren faltering a little bit before he says it. The impact he’s had on both their lives is so clear even in these little moments.

They’re so sweet they are going to melt my heart I love themm 🥹

Ohh... and Soren's upbeat demeanor vanishing as soon as he leaves Ezran's room because he knows Ezran needs the reassurance...

Fly caught in a spiderweb imagery how interesting…

Oughh poor Soren. And the voice acting is so good here. You can hear how much effort Soren is putting into keeping his voice steady and tough so he doesn’t give Viren any control over him again.

Rayla gives the exact same response as Sarai did in season two. The Ice Behemoth is already giving me huge Magma Titan vibes I really feel like killing it is the wrong move. And Rayla’s right, they don’t know anything about the behemoth or why its causing the storms. “Does it think? Does it feel? Does it have a family? […] Then is it the last of its kind?”.

Yeah, that’s something I was thinking about too. It’s interesting how Callum is the one so interested in this prophecy when before this point, he’s always been the most resistant to the idea of destiny, or the concept that there’s something you “have” to do and there’s no way around it. I wonder if there’s something else at play?

🥺🥺🥺 Rayla singing a lullaby???? Holding Stella like a baby???? My heart…

Viren, respectfully, please shut up.

I wonder if the reason Soren keeps coming down is because he needs to see for himself that Viren is still locked up so that it can be real for him? Like if he keeps checking on Viren that means he can see with his own eyes that he’s still there and isn’t escaping or hurting anyone, and it'd be hard to get that reassurance from a guard. It could also be that he feels some form of responsibility for Viren and doesn't feel right passing that to someone else. Idk maybe I'm totally off, but I could see that contributing.

"And that’s why I abandoned your sister on a beach."

Yes, including abandoning your daughter on a fucking beach. Viren. It’s good that you're acknowledging how much you’ve hurt Soren but please also acknowledge that you are in fact still actively fucking up in the parenting department.

Ohh. Soren… He’s finally hearing his father tell him the things he’s wanted to hear for so long, the things he’s had to figure out on his own. That the way he was treated was cruel and wrong. That he’s not lesser, or a bad person, or stupid or the things he’s been told aloud or otherwise for most of his life. That is father sees who he is and is proud of the man he’s become. But the last time he was down here with Viren, Viren told him that all of the awful things were in his head, that he was imagining them. That he was too stupid to understand Viren’s instructions and of COURSE his dad had never done anything wrong. He was literally gaslit and it has (understandably and rightly) absolutely destroyed his ability to ever trust Viren again. How could he when Viren lied to and manipulated him for his whole life? It’s too good to be true, so it must be a trick.

And then Soren getting angry, reaffirming that he knows who Viren is and what has happened and that it was real out loud so that Viren can’t gaslight him again, can’t convince him that nothing was wrong in the first place, can’t manipulate his point of view or taint the happiness that he’s finally found in the palace with Ez and Callum and Corvus and Opelli.

Oh, Soren…

On a much happier note, Stella holding Sneezles!!!!!!!!!!

sjaklffsjdkaljfd I love them so much. Callum, what are you doing?

Also, I noticed while screenshotting that Stella is still holding Sneezles and I just think that’s so cute.

Ooh interesting. I wonder what determines the prerequisites for a spell being cast. Like, what characteristics distinguish spells that need a physical element or a magic object from spells that can just be cast aloud with runes?

Yeah, I still don’t think that killing the behemoth is a good idea in the first place. This magma titan part two. Hopefully with a different ending this time.

Ohhhhhh I am imagining wet socks in that kind of weather and that sounds hellish. Hopefully the Celestial Elves have some spidersilk socks they can lend them.

Aww, Callum sheltering Rayla from the storm with his arms.

The behemoth’s heart even glows in the same way the magma titan’s did! Actually, how do we know this isn’t just an ice titan? Maybe titans aren't all humanoids, I mean we've only seen one type so far.

Okay I'm less than halfway through the episode and I've run out of images. Dang. Continued in reblogs

[tategaminu]

“They are both equally important to each other and their development but Rayla is the one who gets the insults…”

What’s even more annoying about this is not only does Rayla get ridiculed for something Callum also does, that particular set of fans will also straight up deny that Rayla is Callum’s priority. “Oh, he would’ve found a way to connect to the Ocean with or without her as motivation. There were other factors in him deciding to do dark magic again.”

No. It was about Rayla, and pretty much only Rayla.

THIS

What kind of bs is "there were other factors" like my guy!! are you watching the show with a blindfold on? sure, he probably wanted all of them to get out of the boat but Rayla was the trigger

A thing I have also seen in fandoms is people trying to invalidate male characters' feelings for a girl, for whatever reason I don't understand. I will always find incredibly beautiful a male character treating a female character as an equal, not as the fairer sex or stuff like that, as an equal who he loves, and we see this with Callum, he has never ever treated Rayla as lesser than him, she's his priority alongside Ezran and that's super beautiful. I will always have a soft spots for guys being the most lovable and protective people towards their girls you know? not because they are girls but because they know they deseve love, so seeing people totally invalidate that feels so wrong to me.

S5 and S2 parallel each other, in S2 we saw Callum connect to an arcanum because he did ark magic for Rayla, sure he also did it for himself to feel useful but it was mostly to save Rayla, season 5 shows it even more clear. We only see Rayla and Callum wanting to scape when they see the other in danger, the reason Finnegrin even wants to throw Rayla to the leviathan is because Callum punched him because he was hurting Rayla, and he was hurting Rayla because he tried to beat his ass for hurting Callum.

We can see Callum letting himself get beaten and still refusing to do dark magic and give the spell to kill Domina away, it's only when Finnegru says he will feed Rayla to the fishes we see Callum BREAK. He tells him the spell right away. He could have invented a different spell but he was too desesperate to save Rayla he told him the whole truth. He could have done dark magic any other moment but it's after this moment when he does, and then he goes straight up to save Rayla, then just as in season 2, he figures out the arcanum after doing dark magic for her, but this time also thanks to the poem A LOVE POEM who he recited before in ep 1 TO RAYLA. The proof is all there like seriously, he can figure out the arcanum because he loves her, it is as clear as day.

He tells her "I would do anything for you" which it's directly shown in this whole episode. Callum is terrified of doing dark magic, not only because it breaks his morals but because he's scared it could make Rayla dislike him and because it would be an step further for Aaravos to possess him, (tho I'm not sure if he fully knows dark magic is what allows Aaravos to possess him at all, maybe he suspects it) we can see how people like Claudia who do way too much dark magic lose a bit of themselves, Callum is probably afraid of that as well and yet he still does because Rayla is more important to him than whatever the consecuences might be.

There are people out there who believe he wouldn't risk the world for her and stuff but c'mon, this guy would risk the entire universe, he is extremely loyal and proctective, his love for the ones closest to him make him twist his morals because he treasures them more than anything (Rayla and Ez that's it). Rayla has been shown as his achilles heel and we will see even more this plays out. I can't believe there are people who can't see it, everyone has their own way to interpret media sure but somes things are just SO clear, like imagine looking at Zym and going "I don't think he is a dragon, he could be a rat", no.

In a summary, I want people to cut slack on those two, mostly Rayla. It would be cool to treat her like an actual good written character and not trying to invalidate her or her relationship with Callum. The show characterizes them and their relationship so well, they are such complex people and I can't believe we have to deal with those kind of comments.

[theoakleafpancake]

Doing a closer watch of season 7 and will be going episode by episode so this chain will contain spoilers

Chapter 1: Death Alive

“Scary poem” “it’s not a dream” I love how Kosmo and Astrid are still siblings at the end of the day

New intro. Interesting that Claudia is no longer turned to stone, but instead lifted up by Aaravos

ETHARI BELOVED

Poor guy can’t catch a break

Runaan trying to act all tough is hilarious when he can barely stand

The fact that Callum’s probably been watching Katolis burn for several days and can’t do anything about it because he’s also worried about Rayla

“You’re stuck with me now” love that

Terry is NOT having it

Claudia, LET. VIREN. GO. PLEASE.

“With unfinished business” Viren was ready to die. “It’s…possible.” Sir you know well and good he ain’t there

The fact that Callum doesn’t know about the pearl and doesn’t understand how Katolis fell—

Soren I feel so bad for him (not even ten minutes in and am already sobbing :D)

“Let’s do the plan that doesn’t take a hundred years” LMAO

Okay I guess I need to read The Puzzle House

Soren buddy please get your injuries bandaged before you get an infection

Sorvus crumbs let’s gooo

“It is not our place” ughh are you KIDDING ME

“I never promised” let’s go Astrid

Soren trying to stay positive

HARROW AND SARAI I CAN’T

Headcanon that Corvus cleaned Soren’s wounds

Ooh Ezran’s mad mad

Okay but why did he turn into an island

Terry remaining unimpressed is top tier

“I know you like Earthblood, Claudia” sIr

Runaan just eating grubs

“Katolis. Is…is that necessary?” Oh cmon, why wouldn’t you want to go back to Katolis? Yknow, the place whose king you killed? That’s a great idea

“I’m pretty sure that island was there” Callum did you like…never go to the Valley?

Aaravos this isn’t a fairy tale, get your apple and sob story test out of here

“KatAlis”

Coming full circle with the Banther Lodge, huh?

Ezran pls get some sleep

Again, Soren being the first to notice the Elves

Rayla and Soren hugging I love their sibling relationship

Runaan maybe walking straight into Katolis wasn’t the best idea—

“Ez, just calm down,” Callum. Buddy

Okay I get the nuance of the situation, I do. But Ez has every right to be furious. Honestly if I were Callum, I probably would have held a grudge with him

Day/night sibling tropes like with Kosmo and Astrid go hard (literally my OC’s)

Kosmo still willing to help his sister even if it sort of breaks his oath >>>>

[iwillhaveamoonbase]

Can We Talk?

What if Stella hadn't interrupted Callum and Rayla in 4.3.

------------------

“You look nice, Callum.”

Nice?  NICE?!  She just waltzed into his study like she’d never left and she said he looked nice ?!  “Right.  Well, thanks.”  She kept talking, going on about how nervous she was.  He really didn’t want to deal with this.  “You know what?  I have a long day tomorrow.  I should go to bed.”  Moving towards the door, he refused to look at her.  She came back the day after his birthday and didn’t even have the decency to say she was sorry for missing it or sorry for intruding or…or anything.

“Wait.  What?”  She grabbed his arm, her eyes slightly narrowed.  “We haven’t seen each other in two years.  Don’t you think it’s worth staying up a little past your bedtime?”

She released him, filling him with a longing that she would touch him again.  Holding his arm, he tried to sound more tired than angry.  “I’m tired.”  And he was tired.  He was absolutely exhausted, holding in all this anger and trying to divert his feelings into learning about magic or thinking about anything else.  

Rayla haunted him.  This had to be yet another dream where she came back and they fell back together and he was left feeling hollow and alone and miserable in the morning.  He hated how much he still loved her.  It would be so much easier to move on if he hated her.  But, he couldn’t.  Even if he was mad at her, he now understood that she had desperately needed closure and she wasn’t going to get it staying in Katolis.  He knew that now.  That didn’t mean that being without her didn’t hurt.  

Rayla looked at him with slightly hurt eyes.  It didn’t make him feel better.   

“Fine.  What do you want to talk about?”  He rolled his eyes and strode over to the mirror.  Sources, if this wasn’t a dream….

“Anything, really,” she said.  “I’m so happy to see you again, Callum.”

She sounded happy.  Why did she sound so happy?  And anything?  She was going to talk about anything?  When she’d been off Lady Justice-knew where doing Sources-knew what after leaving him in the middle of the night on his birthday?!

Needing something to do with his hands, he started trying to move the mirror around.  Anything but this.  Anything but her sweet voice saying his name.  She was already pulling him back to her, like a siren from the stories Harrow used to read to him and Ez.  A spell so deeply woven into his soul that he’d never be free of it.  Of her.    

“OK.  So why are you back?  Did you find Viren?  Was he dead after all?”  He put a cloth on the mirror, refusing to look at her as she moved to come stand closer to him.  Couldn’t she just stay in the damn corner and talk from there?  Did she have to get so close that he could smell that slight wildflower scent that always clung to her?  He was going to go under if he wasn’t careful.  

But he wanted to.  He wanted to wrap her in his arms and kiss her and tell her that everything was OK because she was back and they could do anything if they were together.  But he also wanted to scream.

Rayla sighed.  “I didn’t find him.”

He turned around to face her, no longer able to control his annoyance.  “Oh.  So you disappeared for two years for no reason at all.”  He got up in her face a bit as she leaned back.  “And now you’re back.  Why?”

“I missed you.”  Rayla said it with such honesty he almost believed her.  No.  He wasn’t doing this again.  He wasn’t going to be her boyfriend and hold her…and kiss her…and…man, her lips looked so good.  Soft and just a little shiny.  Sweeter than any jelly tart.  He still remembered how she tasted.  What he wouldn’t give to fall back into her and just pretend that their life together hadn’t been upended by her leaving him.  

If she had stayed, maybe she could have been his fiancée by now.  He was old enough.  So was she.  Rayla would look stunning in a Katolian wedding dress, covered head to toe in gold, red, and cream.  A blushing smile on her face as they exchanged vows to the Paragons before their friends-No.  No.  He wasn’t getting lost in his fantasies.     

“That’s not good enough,” he finally said.  “You just left me in the middle of the night.  On my birthday, Rayla.  And the first thing you can say to me is ‘hey.  You look nice’?”  

She winced, looking slightly to the side.  “I know I hurt you-”

“Hurt me?  Oh, no.”  Callum laughed sardonically, shaking his head as he moved around the room to escape whatever she was doing to distract him.  “You didn’t hurt me, Rayla.  You destroyed me.  I was a mess when I saw that you were gone after you lied to me.”

“I left you a letter.  And I meant every word, Callum.  I loved you back then.  I still love you.”

“Oh,and that’s supposed to make me feel better?  That’s supposed to make up for you being gone for two years and just showing up out of the blue the day after my birthday?  You have a real funny way of delivering late birthday presents, you know that?”

“I deserved that.”  Sitting in the chair, she looked up at him in guilt.  “I was trying to protect you.  I wasn’t sure how long we’d be gone and I didn’t know just what Viren and Claudia were capable of.  I don’t regret my decision not to bring you with me because Ezran needed you.”

Ezran did need him, but still.  “Even more than you did?”

“No one will ever need you more than I do.”  

Callum stopped.  That was…unexpected.  It wasn’t an apology, but it was nice.  Maybe they could-NO.  NO.  Get a grip, Callum.  “That’s not good enough, Rayla.  Not at this point.  I-you-we.”  Releasing a groan of frustration, he ran a hand through his hair.  “I’m so furious at you, I could cry.  You left me!”

“I know.”

“Stop doing that!”  He rounded on her, glaring down at her figure as she wrapped her arms around herself.  “Stop just taking it and acting like if you just agree with me, this will all be fixed.”

“What do you want me to do, then?!”  She stood up from the chair so fast that it fell backwards.  “You want me to get on my hands and knees and beg you to forgive me?  Or to love me back?  I don’t beg anyone for anything, Callum.”

“No!  That’s not what I want.”

“Then what do you want?  An apology?  Oh, I’m sorry that I tried to keep my boyfriend safe.”  She rolled her eyes as she finished in a sarcastic tone.  “Guess what?  I’m not.”

“Then why are we even talking?  What’s the point?”

“Because I want to be in your life again.  And I don’t know how to do it.  You don’t want me to listen to you yell at me and you don’t want to talk and you don’t want me to beg.  So, what do you want?”

“I wanted you!”  Callum’s palms were up as his fingers curled.  She was so infuriating!  And aggravating.  And…and…she put her hand on his elbow.  And…was she leaning in?  Why did she have to come back so damn pretty?  Daring, strong, beautiful, smart.  She was so perfect.  

“I still want you,” she whispered before slanting her lips over his.  She was trying to distract him.  It wouldn’t work.  He had things to say and yell and-oh, oh, he’d missed this.  Her soft, pillowy lips were so familiar it was like coming home.  

She sighed softly as their lips moved against each other.  Strong arms wrapped around his neck as small hands played with his hair.  It was like she’d never left.  His arms latched onto her waist while she backed up against the wall.  

He didn’t care anymore.  She felt too good.  Dream, real, it didn’t matter.  He just wanted to drown in the love of his life.  

One of his hands landed on the wall next to her head, tilting his head to devour her more.  It wasn’t enough.  Her little tongue snuck past his lips to play with his.  The last time they’d done this, they’d be way too embarrassed to talk about it.  The last time….

Shoving himself off of her, his breath coming out in harsh pants.  Her purple eyes were hooded and full of hunger.  “Callum,” she whispered, “I missed you so much.”

He’d missed her, too.  Everything in him ached to hold her close and do whatever she asked of him.  Burning, all-consuming love reignited with such a fury that he didn’t know what to do about it.  He didn’t know what to do.

“You need to stay right there,” he said as he walked towards the center of the room.  The distance between them should clear his head.  “I need to think.”

“You can think next to me.”  

Why did she have to be so tempting?  Her legs were longer and her waist was more defined under that cloak.  He’d felt it with his own hands.  Her chest had been so soft against him.  Her body had changed and he liked what he saw.  It was hard not to think dirty thoughts when she looked at him like all she’d ever wanted was him.  

“No, I really can’t,” he finally said.  “Where were you?”

She groaned, leaning her head against the wall.  “In Xadia.”

“Doing what?”

“Tracking Viren.”

“Is that all you did?”  Silence.  “Rayla?”  Still no answer.  Her fingers played with the end of her cloak before she pulled it off.  Oh.  She was…she was hot.  That cloak was practically criminal hiding her from him like that.  No.  Stop.  Focus, Callum.  Focus.  “Answer me.”

“If you’re asking if I was involved with anyone, the answer is ‘no.’”

Not exactly what he’d been gunning for but he’d take it.  “That’s…that’s good.  But I still have no idea what you spent two years doing and you won’t give me a straight answer, so I don’t see what the point of us continuing is.  So, I’m going to bed and you can just…do whatever you’re going to do, I guess.”

He made his way to the door, ignoring the concerned look from Bait and the weird look he got from the creepy lemur-looking thing Rayla had brought with her.  

“I lost someone,” Rayla finally said.

Hand on the handle, he paused.  Looking back at her, he saw her eyes on the floor.  “What do you mean?”

“I went back to Silvergrove to see if they would unghost me and they refused.  Not even a letter from the Dragon Queen was enough.  And, they wouldn’t let Ethari see me.  So, I wandered around Xadia trying to track Viren and I ran into some assassins who were doing their own thing and I joined their group.”

So, she’d had friends.  That was good, actually.  It made him feel better to know that there had been people watching her back when he hadn’t been given the chance to.  No matter how much it hurt that she hadn’t chosen him, them, in the end, he still wanted her to be safe.  

“One of our group, Siobhan, well, let’s just say that she was obsessed with revenge.  I connected to her because we both lost our parents to monsters, but she didn’t want closure like I did.  She wanted to kill her parents’ killer and I tried to help her.  The monster was already dead.  So, she killed the kids.”

“Rayla-”

Shaking her head, Rayla looked up at him with teary eyes.  “They were just babies, Callum.  She kept calling it a monster, but it’d just been a banther.  She made me believe it was some kind of noble cause, that we were ridding the world of someone like Viren.  It was just a banther.  After that, I couldn’t stay and I wandered around for a few months before I realized that I wasn’t going to find Viren.  The trail had grown too cold.”

“So you came back?”

“I came back.  I’m never going to get closure and a part of me still hasn’t accepted that.  I believe he’s still out there, but I’m never going to find him.  Or Claudia.  They both eluded me.”

“I’m sorry you were involved in that, but I can’t just let you back into my life like nothing happened.”  Running a hand through his hair, he tried to find the words to explain what he wanted to say to her.  “You’ve hurt me in ways I can’t explain to anyone because I still love you.  I’m angry at you.  My head’s all turned around, I’m short with everyone, I hate my own birthday now.  I feel like I’m becoming someone I don’t like because I can’t let you go.”

“Do you even want to let me go?” 

No, he didn’t.  She was the best thing that had ever happened to him and their love was the stuff of fairy tales.  When he’d jumped off the Spire for her, he’d known in that moment that he couldn’t live without her.  And she’d made him do just that for two years.    

“I feel like you aren’t listening to what I’m saying, Rayla.  You keep focusing on the parts concerning us and not the rest of it.  I’m hurt.  I’m angry.  You are not coming back into my life to do what you did all over again.”

They stood in silence for a few minutes, looking at each other before looking away.  The tension was so thick he could have cut it with a knife.  “I don’t know how to make this better,” she finally said.  “I don’t regret trying to protect you.  But, you’re right.  I did ruin your birthday and I understand why you’re angry with me.  I just want you back, Callum.”

“You never lost me.  But I thought I lost you.”

“Didn’t you read my letter?”  Her eyes were wide in confusion as she made her way towards him.  He didn’t stop her from cupping his cheeks.  “You will never lose me.  I am irrevocably yours.”

“But you left.”  A few tears leaked out of his cheeks.  Her calloused thumbs lightly brushed his cheeks.  “Rayla….”  

“I’m so sorry that I made you feel like I didn’t want you.”

“You picked revenge over me.  What was I supposed to feel?”

“It wasn’t revenge.  It was closure.  I was looking for answers because I don’t know what Viren did to my parents or Runaan.  And it’s killing me inside almost as much as being without you is.  I’m not the same person I was when I left and I can live with not getting answers a lot easier now.  But I can’t live without you.”

“If you’re coming back, we have to go slow.”

“I can go slow.”  She leaned in again, stopping before she made contact with his lips.  “I can go as slow as you want.”

His eyelids lowered as he felt her breath against him.  “I’m still angry at you.”

“We can talk it out.  All the Big Feelings Times you want.”

“You can’t leave me again.”

“Never.”  

He closed the gap, unable to hold back from the promise of getting lost in her.  They needed to talk more.  They really needed to work through his feelings and what she did.  But kissing her felt too good and he didn’t have the energy to fight her anymore.  His heart beat louder in his chest than it had in a long time, her hand coming up to touch his chest right over it.  Everything in him felt so alive as she pulled back to the wall.  

They had a lot of lost time to make-up for.

[oceanarcaneum]

My worst problem with this season is the characterization, personally. Everything just felt so out of place. This is most prominent in the Rayllum plotline, in that, like - yeah, I get it, Callum is being harsh and standoffish because he's upset, but it's been two years and we barely saw a single moment of confrontation about it. "Did you find Viren? / So you just left for two years for nothing?" was a good moment, but I feel like they really needed to have an actual argument about it. Rayla has always been headstrong and tends to rush at her problems, and she gets defensive so easily - and if she's grown into a person who isn't like that anymore, we need to see that development in REAL TIME, not just see the end result. The whole conflict just felt so unbearably bland and devoid of any real emotion, and it wasn't explained well enough in-show to justify it happening at all.

This also has to do with the animation. I rewatched seasons 1-3 right before I started season 4 because I wanted to see it all linearly and have 1-3 fresh in my memory, and the difference in animation quality is so… evident? the movements look so STIFF and the expressions are soooo bland and lacking in real emotion. it's just so obvious, especially in contrast with the previous three seasons, how stiff and lifeless this season's character expressions/movements are.

Also in regards to characterization. I was so FRUSTRATED with how they handled Callum's possession by Aaravos? Not in the moment, the moment was FANTASTIC (though even there it felt like nobody in the room was even barely reacting to it the way they would have or should have), but also as it continued on. When Callum tried to talk about it to Ezran by the fire and Ez thought he was referring to Rayla leaving - like ??? if a mystical star being that even all the arch dragons couldn't hope to take down threatened to take my brother from me, I WOULD NOT BE THINKING ABOUT HIS RELATIONSHIP ISSUES. And Rayla's approach, too: she says "No one can control you" - Aaravos literally did and YOU WERE THERE. YOU SAW. it felt so swept aside and like it barely meant anything to anyone, except Callum (and even then it was only brought up significantly like two times after it happened.)

It all really just comes down to writing. Everything felt like setup for season 5, and there are ways this could have actually been done good, but you cannot justify and ENTIRE SEASON of what amounts to practically filler after three straight seasons of nothing but plot-driven episode structures.

(Also, and these are more minor things, I hated the retcon-esque nonsense or the way things were brushed aside in-season. Like Callum going through ALL that trouble to decode the mirror: the payoff for all of that SHOULD have been Callum discovering how the mirror works on his own and getting to see him interact with Aaravos privately and directly (mirroring Viren's interactions with him, and Callum has been HEAVILY themed to reflect Viren for a LOT of this season). Or the fact that Zubeia literally said "every arch dragon has a CLUE to where Aaravos is, but no one truly knows the location" only to immediately transition to "this one specific arch dragon has a literal map to where Aaravos is." like. fucking hello????)

[zuppizup]

I've been gathering my thoughts, musing, discussing, re-watching and while I still don't quite know how I feel about the new season, I've managed to put something together.

I assume it's incoherent...

So, overall, I did enjoy the season. It was awesome to be back in the world again. The scenery was gorgeous (especially Xadia), Soren was an absolute hoot and little gremlin child Zym cracked me up.

Poor solo Mum Zubeia.

Having said that... I spent most of the season expecting each episode would deal with the elephant in the room and each episode just left me with more questions.

And maybe that would have been okay, if not for the persistent hype.

For so long we've been told how much darker this season is going to be. How Callum is super affected by Rayla’s absence, how he's dangerously obsessed with magic now but... he got mad at a book and that was kinda of it? He seemed quite interested in the mirror but this is the guy who almost got zapped by lightning to try and connect to the Sky Arcanum.

So, yeah, I've seen worse from him. I expected worse from him.

Episode one and Callum’s Reflections story showed he was clearly devastated by the events of TTM. Inheritance has him unable to even say Rayla’s name months after she’s left.

So honestly, his reaction to Rayla’s sudden return actually seemed relatively normal. He didn’t want to talk which we’ve seen him do before.

But he seems to see her reaction to his apparent rejection and concedes:

and this happens:

Rayla’s reaction just seemed… almost cruel. Cuddling and giggling with Stella while Callum sits upset. Saying he was joking when he referred to the fact she was missing for two years. Honestly, I was so taken aback by that.

(I know people love the cuddle-mama thing but what about my boy Callum?!)

The revenge thing also got me, because… when was it about revenge? When did that change? Are we to disregard TTM and Dear Callum? What was the point of them then?

What really got me for both of them was Rayla leaving the next morning (Why? To go where?) and Callum… not even noticing? Being more concerned about a magic show than the person he's apparently been worried sick about for literally years.

Rayla randomly re-appearing later that night also seemed… so strange. What was she doing all day? Why not come to Ez somewhere private? And like others have pointed out, she apologises to Ezran but never Callum? And he forgives her immediately? Soren seemed to be the most aware of how weird this whole situation is for Callum. (Thanks himbo, we love you).

My favourite scene was top of the Storm Spire when Callum seemed like he was going to talk to her but they took that away too?! And yeah, the callback was funny but come on! It really felt out of place.

Now we have Callum’s possession by Aaravos forgotten about and the issue with Rayla’s absence once again pushed back.

I would have bought her joking and attempts at flirting if we got a few more micro expressions of concern or doubt but it felt genuine rather than trying to awkwardly ease the tension.

The Drakewood sequence threw me to. Her attitude was such a departure from old Rayla (the Rayla who ran off solo to save a dragon because it felt like the right thing to do).

And don't get me wrong, I was hungry for why she changed so much but we got nothing. I'm really hoping this is addressed in later seasons because "time skip" just doesn't feel like enough to explain this to me.

Hints of old Rayla did make me hopeful (the immediate self blame when Soren doesn't come back) and I was hoping this would lead to her more relaxed nature being a front. Hiding her emotions is not out of character for Rayla, being good at it is. Getting better at that during a time skip I could buy.

But alas, that didn't seem to go anywhere either.

The Viren reveal was even stranger for me. Mainly because… what about people who haven’t read TTM? Wouldn’t you expect more shock from Rayla and Callum to find him alive? There’s been barely anything addressing the fact Rayla left because she wasn’t convinced Viren was dead. A throw away line in S04E03 which wasn’t really given any weight or importance.

And where do they go from here? Has Rayla been “validated”? From her perspective Viren has been alive the entire time and is actively trying to free Aaravos. So yeah, it hurt Callum that she left but her reasons are valid.

If anything Viren is more dangerous than she suspected in TTM.

And yes, I get I’m not a regular fan. My ~500k of fanfic focusing of these characters clearly shows that, but what about the casual fans? Or people just discovering the show on a binge watch? So many things in the season just make no sense. Characters do things because the plot needs them to, not for compelling reasons.

And sure, it might all get explained in the next season (please, please!!!) but there were a number of choices that felt off or confusing.

Which… after all the hype of “Where’s Rayla?”, the Twitter and Instagram posts, the panels, etc… we essentially got:

“Oh yeah, she’s there.”

I hope some of this is addressed next season. I want to know what Rayla was doing for two years. Why she came back when she did. What caused her change of heart when it comes to things like trying to save people. Why she hasn't apologised to Callum yet.

I know coming back after a hiatus was going to be difficult and integrating the supplementary material would be a task but we had so much wonderful character building and insight and it really felt like it was all for nothing at this stage.

I loved the Reflections series and utterly adored TTM. They did great things with the characters and I was really looking forward to seeing that continue in the series. I’m still hopefully for future seasons but I will admit to being underwhelmed by this one.

[raayllum]

More Than Anyone or Anything

or why I think Callum is Like That: The Meta.

AKA because I realized that while I've talked about Snake Boi Callum and why I view him that way before, it was mostly in regards to explaining his canon traits that aren't usually very disputed. These being:

His sometimes obsessively dangerous qualities, specifically surrounding magic (1x04, 1x05, 2x04, 4x01, 4x02, 4x04)

His ambitious side (man heard from the one magical 'expert' he knows that humans just flat out cannot do primal magic naturally, said fuck that, and got it in a week after one week of practice)

His temper (1x01, 1x06, 1x09, 2x07, 3x08, 4x01-4x04, 5x01, 5x05, 5x08)

His ruthlessness (turning on Viren the second Ezran is in danger despite trusting him for years beforehand; his attitude towards Claudia in 2x07 after she's likewise betrayed him; smiling when killing corrupted soldiers in 3x09 even when Ezran expresses grief and Janai expresses horror when she was facing a similar scenario during the timeskip; arguing to take the violent route in 5x05 whereas Ezran and Rayla pick the more preventative one).

Therefore, for this meta, I will be focusing specifically on why I interpret Callum as Selectively Loyal to the point of being willing to help free Aaravos in order to spare, specifically, Ezran and Rayla's lives (and not necessarily anyone else's, such as Zym and Soren).

Strap in boys — this is going to be a long one.

Disclaimers: As always, this is just my opinion, and an interpretation being popular in fanon does not automatically mean it's better or more valid / rooted in canon than any other kind of (less popular? maybe common) interpretation. I will also be making it clear when I'm drawing on sections/snippets from supplementary material (TDP short stories, novelizations, and Tales of Xadia) but give that it's supplementary material, feel free to take it with the ultimate grain of salt.

Related Metas (that's worth reading if you're interested in other Snake Boi aspects that are not going to be heavily touched on here):

Callum's temper (S1-S3) and how it links to him typically feeling helpless to fix/aid his loved ones, causing him to lash out even sometimes at them

How Callum operates differently from Ezran and Rayla (S1-S4), but very well embodied I believe by the scene in 5x05 where Ez and Rayla side with the "violence as a last resort" option and Callum does not

How Callum views Zym and the egg in Arc 1 differently from Ez and Rayla, or how Callum sees things as tools and why he gets fixated on / what he projects onto objects (much like Viren with the mirror)

Differing Priorities for Callum and Rayla in TTM, in which Rayla only engages in their scheming because she thinks Viren is a threat to the whole world, and Callum comes up with their scheme because he just wants to give her closure

What does the Trio's Tales of Xadia's bios actually mean? (this one will be touched on the most down below, so feel free to skip unless you want a more detailed refresher)

Specifications:

If you're someone who doesn't see Callum this way, but you're genuinely interested in reading a differing perspective, please read on. If you're someone who doesn't necessarily see Callum this way, but you're curious and/or on the fence, please read on. If you'd like to add your own thoughts to this post, feel free to add on if it's in support; if it's differentiation, please make your own post (I'll engage respectfully with if it I want to).

If you're someone who is only going to get upset with my viewpoint, please curate your internet experience and do not read this post. If you're only going to make thinly veiled meta rebuttals of this post in a rude way ("even though some people may think...", linking to this post, general assholery), please do not read this post. You would be far happier if you were less obsessed with an opinion I've held for 5+ years and months & months before you likely joined the fandom. i just want to chill in my corner, please do not chuck pillows at me for doing what I've always had a good time doing that doesn't hurt anyone.

With all of that out of the way, let's get into it

What do I mean when I say selective loyalty?

Loyalty has always been an interesting trait to me, simply because in the bulk of storytelling, it is a necessary character trait for a story to function. One of the biggest things that a character can do to be disliked is be a traitor towards someone that trusted them, and if a character is too disloyal, they can be hard to engage with due to a lack of consistency. Characters who start out loyal to no one/nothing inevitably have arcs, provided they stick around in the story long enough, of garnering loyalty for someone (usually found family loved ones > a cause) in order for them to be able to progress as a character. We want characters to bond, and we want them to be there for each other, and if they're not at all, we want to see what happened or what other bonds they might form with other people. If not loyal, we want to see why they're working with someone at the very least.

Therefore, everyone in real life or in fiction has some elements of 'selective loyalty,' since we all have people (the people we know and love) we are more loyal to, fundamentally, than others (strangers / people don't know at all). It's just a natural normal thing to adhere more to valuing and looking after the people in your immediate circles over people you don't know at all, even if that doesn't mean we're void of caring about strangers, either. Our empathy or compassion, as well as the social structure of our living units and lives, are more cohesion for caring for strangers than it is for competing with strangers or being wholly indifferent.

For a quick overview of the way selective loyalty can work, I'm actually going to talk about Claudia quickly, and her internal hierarchy. While she is loyal to the princes ("Their Dad is dead and you lied about it. Plus they're our friends. It's wrong") to the point of that possibly being an opportunity for severance, initially, with her father ("Careful, if you tell the truth you will lose her"), Claudia's loyalty to her father ultimately trumps her loyalty to the princes, and even to her family with Soren.

For the opposite approach of selective loyalty, I'm going to talk about Rayla, who regularly bails out strangers (the boys in 1x03, Phyrrah in 2x07) and enemies (Bait as a frenemy in 1x05, Nyx in 3x05) as well as the people she grows to love (the boys on regular intervals). She and Runaan, as is Soren, are all willing to put their perceived missions/duties not only above but in direct opposition to their familial loyalty / family ties.

Callum, TO ME, is not, and here's why.

When I say that Callum is selectively loyal, I mean that there is ultimately nothing he will put above Ezran and/or Rayla at any interval with very few exceptions (aka if they're still breathing, he's still going to be fighting for them). This is for a few reasons.

I'm going to talk more about why it's Ez and Rayla specifically later, but for now I want to talk briefly about how they factor into his decision making and what see of them from people who have lost his loyalty.

Despite knowing and having trusted Viren for the bulk of his life ("Claudia! Lord Viren! Anyone!"), as soon as Callum learns that Viren has put Ezran substantially at risk ("Two [targets]? What do you mean?" "I'm here for the king, and I'm also here for his son, Prince Ezran") Viren is fucking Dead To Him.

It's not just that Viren lied, it's that Viren's lies and choices put Ezran in danger, and that's just not acceptable. We see this happen again with Claudia in S2, even after Callum defending her and trying to give her chances. She lied, yes, but she scares Ezran and attacks Rayla again, and that's the breaking point.

When you threaten the people he loves, when you scare them, if he trusted you, he will never look at you the same way again. Any loyalty he felt towards you will snap and snap hard, permanently, like a wishbone.

Callum loves and cares for other people. He loved and cared for Viren and Claudia. But unlike Ezran, who is willing to give Claudia a chance in 3x09 to the point of running after her, helping hand extended, and unlike Rayla, who still adamantly loves Runaan even after their fight and with no hint of change from him, Callum does not take other people hurting his family lightly, at all.

He loves and cares for Amaya, and Soren, and Harrow. But even Harrow, his father, is someone he's willing to put on the backburner — despite having an offered chance from Rayla to save him — in order to do what Harrow asked and what Callum's first instinct is: to look after his brother, because it is fundamentally unsafe for Ezran to stay at the castle for any longer, and he knows it.

Callum knows what the egg might mean, but he does not follow Rayla out the dungeon door blindly. He runs only after Ezran does, and only after Claudia might hit Ezran with lightning. Then he acts. Then he makes a choice. Because his loyalty to his brother outweighs after other substantial relationship in his life, at this point, but it doesn't necessarily stay that way.

Inner circle

In Tales of Xadia, all the characters are given values. While the values have more generic explanations (i.e. Callum's highest one, Liberty, is labelled as, "Have you ever resisted the control of others? This value is about freedom and autonomy. You’re motivated by a world without oppression or suppression") the characters individual bios help offer more clarity on their specifics. Callum's, specifically, states, "I am beholden to my inner circle, not some silly kingdom." Ouch, from Katolis' crown prince and Ezran's heir apparent.

It is, of course, important to not take this trait entirely literally. If Callum truly valued his own personal autonomy over everything else, he would've taken Finnegrin's deal in 5x08 in a second if all he wanted as his own freedom. Instead, Callum's highest value being Liberty is far more about his place with Freedom as a Theme more than something he wholly actively desires; again, we see in 5x08 he's willing to risk more of his freedom by doing dark magic in order to save Rayla.

There are things that Callum values more than his own personal freedom and there are things that he values more than magic (2x04: "Callum, you're being an idiot! Why would you do that? You can't risk your life to learn magic") vs throwing himself off the top of the Storm Spire at the slimmest chance of, once again, saving Rayla.

That said, this value and quote is still very useful, as it does then, beg the question, of who exactly is Callum's inner circle? Well...

Ezran and Rayla are the most important people in the entire world to him. Full stop. There is nothing he will fundamentally put above them. He only stays behind in 1x06, thereby not sacrificing the egg by proxy, because Rayla points out "We'll need to be up here to pull [Ezran] out." Even when he was stressing about whether they'd gotten to the Sea of the Cast Out on time, the second Rayla showed a hint of major discomfort/potential self-deprecation, he was offering to get back into the goddamn boat to comfort her ("I'm getting out—" "No. I can't do it, but you have to"). He's hesitant to go into town to find a vet for the egg because "We will definitely find some elf hating humans," pouting further when Rayla brushes him off, and flings himself off his balcony when he thinks there's even a chance that Ezran isn't okay into what he knows would subsequently be a trap. He's the first to say that they need to leave Rex Igneous' chambers after protecting Ezran from falling rocks with his own body, and the last to actually leave, almost being crushed by rocks himself because he's so committed to standing there and watching Rayla leave.

He equates Rayla's love for him with his love for Ezran on Day Nine (2x03: "I couldn't tell him. And I understand why you couldn't tell me. When you care about someone, it's hard to hurt them. Even when what you're saying is the truth.")

Hell, he even forgets that Sol Regem is there in 3x01 because he tunnel visions on Rayla needing his help so intensely she has to point out the massive ton dragon actively trying to kill them to him.

He's a nurturer, a fixer, a solution seeking. He wants to make you feel better ("See it's working right? Don't you feel a little better?"), he is a kind reassuring word ("Don't be so hard on yourself, Ez") always, he thinks of your problems even when you don't (Rayla's binding in 1x07), he will lay his life down for you without question ("I am Prince Ezran"), he will get mad at you for treating yourself poorly (3x04, like almost all of S4), he dotes, he notices, he will compromise his beliefs for you ("Could he really bring himself to go through with his plan? What if he didn’t succeed? What if he compromised his beliefs and it was all for nothing? [...] But Rayla was in trouble"—S2 novelization).

You mean everything to him: "Rayla's strong, thin arms wrapped around him meant everything" (S2 novelization of the hug scene in 2x04) / "You're my brother, and you mean everything to me" (2x06).

You are his whole world.

If you're part of his inner circle, and not everybody is, so let's talk about it.

[ Callum, excluding Claudia and Soren from their support system, even though the siblings haven't yet betrayed them, while including Rayla, even though he and she haven't made up yet. ]

What about Soren and Zym?

As stated before, Callum's selective loyalty does not mean he doesn't care about other people in his life, such as Claudia (in the past) and people like Amaya, Soren, and Zym in the present. Merely that, slightly like Claudia, Callum does have an internal hierarchy of care — the way you might have friends vs best friends — of who takes priority, and we see S1, S4, and S5 in particular demonstrate this quite well.

As already stated, Callum prioritizes Ezran over the egg in 1x06 and is held back emotionally by Ezran fuelled logic and physically by Rayla. In 1x07, he doesn't want to risk going into town — even to potentially find help for the egg — because of his last disastrous experience with humans and Rayla. In 2x04, Callum is perfectly happy to walk around a sea to let Rayla avoid her fear of water, and approximately 5 minutes later is getting on Ez and Rayla's case for goofing off (with Rayla's thinly veiled and fallible disguise) because "Sometimes getting someplace slightly faster is important, like right now." Wasn't quite the tune he was singing earlier, now was it? For Zym, we see this again in 3x04 — Rayla is having a breakdown, so she has more of an excuse, but Callum should conceivably be much more clear headed, and he still tunnel visions into leaving Zym alone with Nyx leading to the theft. Likewise in 4x07 when the group thinks Zym might be gone, Ezran is the one who states, "I'm not leaving without him," and Ez and Rayla are both pretty broken up about it; Callum is sad, for sure, but he mostly focuses on taking care of Ezran and placing a hand on his shoulder.

Then you have Amaya, who Callum loves dearly, but isn't particularly torn up over not trusting or lying to (1x04, 5x03) in spite of being close to her, and isn't as vexed even when he thinks that maybe something bad has happened.

Even when Callum thinks it was bad, and potentially very bad ("The way Gren was talking, I thought maybe the world was ending or something!") he doesn't get angry and he doesn't get demanding. This is very different from how he responds to Ezran and Rayla being potentially in danger or just in trouble.

Which on that note also highlights another key importance between how Callum treats Rayla, in particular, versus how he treats Soren. Now, you could argue that Callum in 5x01 has emotionally matured/healed further than he has in 4x01 prior to Rayla's return, and that would be perfectly fine to do. However, it doesn't change the fact that just the hint of Soren keeping a secret — even before Callum thinks, at all, that it's about Ezran — makes him wait on the battlements to coldly and sternly interrogate Soren about it. With Soren, he demands,

C: I know this — the ties are true as the ocean is deep [...] It means I trust her. Unconditionally. Let her go. Now. R: About your key and the bow. I can explain. C: No, I meant what I said. You don't have to explain or justify anything to me.

Even when Rayla engages in actually shady behaviour — omitting the truth if not outright lying, stealing his key, and retrieving a painfully poignant weapon — Callum doesn't get mad, at all. Soren just implied he was potentially keeping a secret from Callum at the council meeting and lowkey got his ass handed to him, with Callum literally shoving him out of his way and needing Corvus' help to coral the angry step-mage.

Furthermore, even when Soren goes missing in 4x06, although concerned, Rayla is by far the most broken up about it. Ezran is optimistic because he's, well, Ezran; Rayla is torn because even though she doesn't know Soren that well, she feels like it was 100% her fault he's gone missing and has possibly gotten hurt; and Callum, well... mostly focuses about how she feels about it, and less so about his actual friend (because if Ezran or Rayla are emotionally hurting, they will take priority to him). He's focused on making sure she feels better.

Again: Callum loves Amaya, and Zym, and Soren. He loves them dearly. He wants to and does protect them. He can and will take care of them. But push come to shove, they're not in his inner circle — he doesn't trust them the same way, and he doesn't focus on them the same way, because when it comes to his inner circle, he loves them

More Than Anyone or Anything

So after seeing Callum like this from S1 onwards, you can imagine I was pretty thrilled upon opening up his bio in Tales of Xadia — which seems to be the most 'canon' of the supplementary materials thus far (scenes and ages are changed in the novelizations; timelines get a little wonky in the prequel graphic novels; some designs from "Callum's Spellbook" ended up being different; the art book is full of beautiful concepts, of course, that never understandably got off the ground) except perhaps for Though the Moon — said the quiet part out loud. Not only does TOX have plenty of lore drops and hints at future arcs that are coming to fruition (Aaravos' connections to Elarion, mentioning the Great Bookery of Lux Aurea and Leola, etc) but they did something very interesting when it came to what values which character had. There's some leeway as this is very much an Arc 1 reading (probably most clearly seen in Soren's bio) but there is still plenty of bleed over into Arc 2.

Now, as I said before, we don't want to take the Values too literally. As talked about previously, a lot of the characters highest values seem to be things their arcs are set up to thematically test rather than being a 1:1 what they value the most. But I feel like you can glean a good deal from them, so let's look at the trio:

EZRAN:

Justice — 10: I expect the best of people and try not to become an agent of cruelty.

Devotion — 8: All creatures—regardless of origin—deserve love and appreciation.

Liberty — 8: I value the liberty of everyone, sometimes even more than my own.

RAYLA:

Devotion — 10: Love and devotion compel and define me.

Justice — 8: At great personal cost I will strive for what’s right.

Liberty — 8: My only allegiance is to my heart and those who know it.

CALLUM:

Liberty — 10: I’m beholden to my inner circle, not some silly kingdom.

Devotion — 8: I value those close to me more than anyone or anything.

Mastery — 8: I aspire to know the great wonders of every primal magic.

Out of all the more 'heroic' characters listed in the handbook (Amaya, Janai, Aanya) only Callum and Lujanne do not have Justice, "Have you ever been compelled to fix what’s wrong? This value is about balance, virtue, and reward. You’re motivated by adherence to fairness and what you think is right" among their top 3. Each have it at a 6, instead, which the guide labels as, "This matters, but so do many things" and is the second lowest ranking a value can have. None of the main cast have any value at the highest ranking, 12, either, to help indicate scale perhaps.

Devotion, then, is the one we're currently the most interested in for Callum, since as said before, while the general value descriptions are useful, the specific ones help show more indication. Devotion is referred to in Tales of Xadia as, "Have you ever been obligated to others? This value is about duty, faith, and friendship. You’re motivated by the bonds of loyalty and your love for others."

Although devotion is Rayla's highest value, her devotion value makes no indication of who/what she is Devoted to. Whereas Ezran's reflects his deep love and appreciation towards animals (hence saving the baby glow toads in S5) and Callum's we'll get to in a moment, Rayla's we're not privy to. Instead, we can look at her Liberty value, as it states that her allegiance is to her heart ("My heart for Xadia") and to her loved ones (her friends, her family). Much of her arc is therefore feeling torn between what she thinks/feels her duty is versus what her heart is telling her, indicated by her letting Marcos go in 1x01 and the subsequent fallout.

We can also see her state this more clearly in Through the Moon, in which Callum is the one primarily concerned with her parents ("he’s stuck worrying about her parents. About what happened to Runaan. She can’t move on, not without knowing the truth of what happened [...] I hope you find your parents. And Runaan"), versus Rayla going along with the plan, "Callum, listen. Soren was worried about Viren too. Worried that we never found a body. We need to know what happened to Viren. He’s a threat to the whole world! This might be the only way to be sure he’s actually gone! [Upon entering the Portal...] Okay. Viren. My parents. Runaan" and then 5x01 spells it out even more directly.

R: Callum and Ezran need me. A great evil is trying to return to Xadia and we have to stop it, at any cost. I think this is what you would want me to do. I love you, and I haven't forgotten about you. I never will. [...] It hurts me to know they're trapped like this. It's agonizing. But our mission comes first. The world is in danger, and you can trust me to stay focused.

Now this makes sense, as Rayla having this push and pull has not only been a defining feature of her arc most seasons, but is ultimately what's going to be the most challenged when the Callum possession plotline rears its head. Does she kill/incapacitate the man she loves in order to protect the world, or does she fight to get him back no matter what, even if that may lead to ruin and chaos? (I'm hoping for the second one, but I will eat either up, lemme tell you.) Does she finally refuse to sacrifice, or does she barrel on hoping she'll only have to sacrifice herself?

The reason I bring Rayla up at all is because I think it provides a good contrast to how Callum operates, specifically in 5x04, in which case he reaffirms his devotion ("I would do anything for you") and then risks everyone's lives by staying late at the Great Bookery, even when Rayla says three times that well, this isn't the time: "Not yet, Callum... Believe me, I want to do something, but... Callum, we need to leave!"

Rayla cares about everyone, and is willing to risk her life for enemies and for strangers. She will abandon her mission for the world in favour of looking after individuals because they need help, regardless of what it asks of her: "Live or die, this dragon goes home." (And because she believes Ezran and Callum can accomplish the mission without her, but that's a post for another day.) As Bloodmoon Huntress makes explicit, as Ethari says:

Who I love, where I love, what I love, are all specific. But to Runaan and those like your parents... love is rooted in all families, all creatures. Souls like that feel called to protect everyone as fiercely as those they hold close. Each time Runaan leaves, it is with the weight of knowing that he may not come back. That to fulfil his duty, he may need to sacrifice everything, himself, and all that we have here.

Rayla likewise feels called to protect everyone, and that's precisely why by the end of Bloodmoon Huntress she's chosen to literally and figuratively follow in Runaan's career path, in order to be able to help protect and save people like Suroh (a stranger she immediately becomes entangled with). As Rayla says to the vision of Runaan and her parents in 5x01, "I think this is what you would want me to do," because they are ultimately all more alike (even in the occupations Rayla holds, such as assassin or dragonguard) than they are dissimilar.

The reason I highlight Rayla here is because 1) it is her highest value, being the only character to have it as said highest value (Claudia's, likewise, is only an 8 — but everything she does is indeed for her father, and unknowingly herself) and 2) I think it provides a clear contrast to Callum.

Because Callum's devotion does outline who, or what, he's loyal to. He isn't loyal just to causes and he isn't loyal just to concepts. While he cares about the world, when his back is up against the wall and it's a choice between that kind of security vs the life of a loved on (Ez, Rayla), Callum will always choose the latter. He cares about the world — to a Point.

I've talked about it before, but merely a statement of "I value those close to me more than anything" would accordingly be a lot more vague. There could be discussions and debates on what the 'anything' constitutes (morals, responsibilities, hurt feelings) with a lot more grey room as to whether it would include people (strangers).

“Maybe there is something I can do,” Callum said. “Ezran, you stay here. Protect Bait and Zym. Don’t worry. I’ll be back soon—with Rayla.” [...] Could he really bring himself to go through with his plan? What if he didn’t succeed? What if he compromised his beliefs and it all ended up being for nothing? […] But Rayla’s blade bounced off with a clang, sparks flying. She reeled back and tried again. Nothing happened. She was in trouble. Callum inched toward Claudia’s [book].

—Book 2: Sky novelization

But the inclusion of "more than anyone" changes that. It does include people. There is no wiggle room about that.

Now, I'm not going to base my whole thing on one (1) statement from a supplementary material. As previously stated, I've seen Callum with that exact same sentiment for years now, well before Tales of Xadia (March 2022) was released, and well before S4 or S5 premiered. I've gone over a lot of the reasons I thought Callum had selective loyalty even in S1, but I haven't touched too much on one of the biggest reasons why I think that selective loyalty includes a devotional component that borders on dangerous (at least, in a story). And that's, well...

“Rayla told me you used Dark Magic,” [Ethari] said, more stiff and cold. Callum shrank a bit, but his eyes hardened. “I couldn’t just let her die.” “You’d do it again." The prince scowled. “I’m not like Aaravos. He twisted the primal to be like Dark Magic. I would never do that.” “Unless you felt like you had to,” [Ethari] reiterated. “To save Rayla.” “Wouldn’t you do anything to save the person you love?”

—chapter 13 of a fic I co-wrote called in search of silver linings (we discovered gold) from july 2019, respectively

As soon as Callum opened up the door with dark magic in 2x07, I knew it was something he likely would never be able to entirely close. Not for lack of trying or wanting — but that his willingness to engage in dark magic at all spoke to a few different things. The first was the effectiveness — what spell to use, what would be most useful, and what Rayla's biggest problem would be (her swords unable to cut chains) — but most of all was what pushed him there: his devotion.

While magic has always been the thing presenting Callum with paths (to be a mage or not a mage, to be a primal or a dark mage), his bonds with other people, and his love for them — Rayla in particular — has always been what's actually pushed him down certain paths. His love for his mother, and her love for him, is what helps him unlock the sky arcanum. Callum unlocks his wings out of his love for Rayla; he goes down on the path of mage because "you called me a mage, and that felt right."

Although mastery of magic is one of Callum's highest values (an 8, just like his devotion), it was always clear to me that magic is not something Callum values above the people he loves. He can be obsessive, and his love for magic can sometimes put himself and other people unintentionally at risk, but thus far we've always seen him course correct the minute he realizes what's happening. The second things begin to go south at the Banther Lodge, Callum reflects, "We never should've come here," and completely forgoes the quest for the cube. He tries to risk his life just for magic in 2x04, but as we've gone over, he's unable to go through with it, but he will risk his life for his loved ones.

His rejection of dark magic was, to me, of being a dark mage, of not also pursuing primal magic, of relying on dark magic. Not that he would never, under any circumstance, ever do dark magic again if the show put him in the right circumstances. And then he did, in spite of knowing it would make him more vulnerable to Aaravos, in spite of not having any confirmation it wouldn't bring on a second possession, in spite of the fact he was fine being tortured if that meant not doing it or participating.

Then we have Callum giving up the spell, and the fact that the Ocean arcanum is linked more directly to love within his arc — "To love is to simply know this: the tides are true as the ocean is deep" (5x01, 5x08) — in addition to being aware that there are unknown depths in what he's willing to do for said loved ones/Rayla.

This is not to say that none of the main cast would do dark magic — although I don't think Soren or Ezran ever would, and I think Rayla would but only perhaps using herself as spell parts — but that, as the primary mage character, it's going to and is playing a much bigger part in Callum's arc than the others, who are given other thematic considerations.

He hates dark magic. He doesn't want to let Aaravos control him. He refuses to help Finnegrin. He folds on all of those things motivated by love. It's a weakness and a strength; something that, in my eyes, will likely lead to his fall to Aaravos ("Seems to me love's got a tighter grip on you than those chains around your wrists, so I'll do you a favour [by killing Rayla] and set you free") as well as what might save him. But to focus on the fall, with everything already said behind us:

Why Love Instead of Curiosity?

Now, obviously the theory of "Callum will free Aaravos because of [insert non possession reason here]" could be wrong. There's merits in having arcs about the tragedy inherent in losing your agency, it would still open up an interesting arc after the fact, and all that good stuff.

Callum has also very much always been an Icarus figure. He can be obsessive with magic, he can take it too far, and he does have a deep curiosity and thirst for knowledge that has already gotten him in trouble by not excluding dark magic from the bunch.

And deep curiosity is already hinted to be what partially causes him to fall further into Aaravos' clutches in a few different places. The mirror ("What secrets are you hiding?") and the cube ("Perhaps it will be you, Callum, who discover's the cube's secrets") seem accordingly linked and fittingly so, for the Mystery of Aaravos, as is magic: "it's the secret of the primal".

Zubeia also warns regarding curiosity, citing that, "Aaravos was able to give them something they wanted very badly. Aaravos chose as his instruments people who had strong minds and strong hearts… but who had an insatiable thirst and fascination with magic. Aaravos could offer them access to the great mysteries of the universe. Mages were his prey," which implies that this thirst for magic is what got them (primarily) into trouble. This is reflected (pun intended) in both Aaravos' reading of Viren as "You are too curious, hungry for knowledge and power," and while Callum is hungry for knowledge (and not necessarily power), his short story in which he finds the mirror highlights one of these things as well:

Callum’s eyes prickled with dust and tears. He rushed back to the spiral staircase—but as he reached for the figurine that would activate them, he noticed one last door he hadn’t checked. The small chamber beyond it lay dark and silent. A gleam caught his eye. Callum blinked at his own reflection. Curious, he stepped through the door—and there it was. A mirror.

With all that in mind, and I'm sure there's ones I've missed, too, why on Earth am I arguing that while curiosity may play a factor, I think it's going to be love that ultimately causes his initial downfall / playing into Aaravos' hands?

Well...

For starters, I personally find "doing terrible things for love" to be not only a primary theme of arc 2, but much more fundamentally sympathetic than just getting in over your head because you were a dumbass who couldn't read the signs. I know for myself that if Callum fucks around and accidentally gets himself into a place where (under possession at that point or not) he helps free, or just flat out helps, Aaravos knowing everything that he knows, if he does it for love I will defend his choice every step of the way. If it happens just because he wants more power or magical knowledge (hello Viren 2.0 beat for beat) I'm gonna be a lot more critical of him. After all, Claudia has done a lot of awful things but I still have sympathy for her because they were for her family, in their own fractured way, and operating out of a place of deep emotional pain. If she was doing that just because she wanted to be Powerful and Knowledgable, then no, I'm not going to be that sympathetic.

The other half of it, which you might have already guessed, is that curiosity is not a Motivation. It's a manifestation of a character's pyschological makeup. Even for a character like Viren, who very much chased power, ultimately, for the sake of power, we take time to dive into WHY he wanted those things ("To know that I mean something to you, it means everything to me" / "I dream of a bright future for humanity") and his internal justifications, no matter if some of those turned out to be lies.

Characters who are curious are curious because they want to solve puzzles and have a hard time letting things go; or else they are curious because they want to prove themselves by solving things first; or else they are curious because they deeply love and want to understand and protect the world; or else they are curious because they want to know and have access to tools so that they can fix problems; or else... Well, you get the idea.

Even if it is primarily Callum's curiosity and love/thirst for magic that gets him into trouble (and thus far it largely hasn't been, as we see in S2 with his motivation for doing dark magic — yes, there was a part of him that was undeniably curious about what it would be like, but I don't think he would've pushed himself into doing it without the dire straits of "I had to, to save my friends")... That doesn't answer why he's curious.

Either he will pull a full Greek tragedy and be so scared of freeing Aaravos he accidentally walks into it by trying to prevent it directly (and one of the main reasons he's scared of Aaravos is because he's scared he might hurt people he loves through possession) or he needs another motivation, but it can't just be "Callum really wants this [insert magical knowledge here] and it ends badly," because that offers a plot summary, not an emotional character beat. There's no motivation. They'll have to explain why he wants the magical knowledge, why he's chasing it, why this level of curiosity is something he cannot or will not put down even with all the risk factors at play. It has to be grounded in some kind of sympathetic emotion, and love or fear or a desire to be helpful/useful, or all three makes the most sense to me and with all the prior setup.

Conclusion

As a closing note, as well as thank you for reading this far if you have because this got wildly long and out of hand, I want to reiterate that in many ways, to me, Callum's devotion to his loved ones — that he says "I would do anything for you" and mean it — is indeed his saving grace and biggest difference from Viren, who would rather offer up himself or others or have Harrow die than relinquish the egg, because he would never put a weapon into Xadia's hands. Being devotional — valuing the individual — is not always a good or bad thing, nor is prioritizing the 'greater good' always a good or a bad thing. TDP is deeply interested in exploring all the different circumstances of motivation, sacrifice, and choices.

Nor is selective loyalty a bad thing. I'm not wired that way, but some of my closest loved ones are (and of those in the fandom have, overall, greatly aligned with this perceived aspect of Callum). Merely, this meta is meant to examine the claim in Tales of Xadia that "I value those close to me more than anyone or anything," why I was surprised but delighted to see my view of Callum be so directly spelled out, why I had that view and continue to have it, in addition to aspects/pieces of the text that I think support it.

I believe that Callum is loyal to Ezran and Rayla on a fundamental level he does not really extend to anyone else (including many other people who are also his family) and while this is in many ways something that creates the best sides of him — his nurturing, compassionate, thoughtful and protective traits — it is also something that can be exploitable and dangerous, particularly in a narrative where he is set up to be controlled/coerced by the big bad.

And this meta hopefully explained why.

You can take it or leave it.

—Dragons out

[jelzorz]

167.

It's an argument Callum never thought he would have. He and Soren get along better these days, which isn't a high bar to set considering what their relationship was like when they were younger, and while they're certainly part of each other's family, so to speak, they're not what they'd call best friends. Soren is too much like an older brother, but not like the way Callum is an older brother—Callum cares about safety and plans, and Soren likes being fun (reckless) and ridiculous (stupid).

It's unsurprising, then, that Callum has never really needed advice from Soren, nor has he ever heeded it when it's given. And most times it's fine. When Rayla was away, it was always about going out or getting drinks or meeting other girls (or guys), none of which Callum really cared for at the time, and Soren took no offence when Callum turned him down or went home early. They're just different people like that, with different interests and different coping mechanisms—and then there's this.

They're in his office, gathered around Aaravos' prison. It's the second time they've had this meeting, only this time Callum has the Nova Blade on his desk next to the pearl, and now that they've got it, now that it's tangible, now that the concept of victory is real, the discussion is that much more serious.

There is no secret knock this time, no grumpy blindfolded Opeli, no pretense about what to do. It's break the prison and kill Aaravos, or wait around and risk Aaravos killing them. To Callum, the answer is pretty simple, but Ez and Soren and Opeli stare him down from the other side of his desk like he's just broken a law. Rayla, alone, stands with him on his side of the desk looking just as defiant as he.

"I don't understand what's not to get," bristles Callum. "We have the Nova Blade We can kill him and end this once and for all. Why are you all hesitating?"

"Because we don't know if it'll work?" says Ez dourly. "Because we have no idea how powerful Aaravos might be? Because you and Rayla went off to get the stupid Nova Blade without telling us?"

"So this isn't even about killing him, it's because we didn't get permission."

"It's about how we're supposed to be a team!" snaps Ez. "It's about how we're a council, how we're supposed to talk about this and decide things together, and you guys thought you'd just do what you want even though we decided together that we weren't going to do anything stupid!"

"This isn't stupid!" says Callum, scowling. "This is our chance to beat him! You're telling me that we have an opportunity to kill the most dangerous elf the world has ever seen and you just want to wait and see?"

"We're saying that we have no idea whether or not this will work, and that it's not worth doing anything reckless!"

"Your Highness," Opeli cuts in, massaging the bridge of her nose. "This wasn't the plan. None of us agreed to this, and barreling in without evidence is foolish at best."

"It will work though!" insists Callum. "The Celestial elves said so!"

"That's not evidence, that's hearsay."

"Look, Callum." That's Soren, and Callum almost blinks because it's rare that he's the one breaking up arguments. "I get it. You really think that this'll work. Just—what happens if it doesn't? What happens if you start a fight you can't finish? What if you're wrong?"

Callum scoffs. "I'm not wrong," he says loftily. "I did the research. I know this will work."

"Yeah, but what if?" says Soren, patient but somehow condescending, which was only ever something Callum had seen in swordfighting lessons when they were younger and Soren was a bully. "No offense, but going in like this is stupid."

Callum makes a face. "Really?" he drawls. "You're lecturing me about being stupid."

"You fucking bet I am," says Soren coolly. "Take it from someone who's been there. Starting this fight when you don't need to is the dumbest thing you could possibly do right now."

"I didn't start anything!" snaps Callum. "This fight was already going! I'm here to end it! What the hell are you three doing about it?"

"We're on the same side, Callum," says Ezran, hands raised like he's trying to placate his brother. "We just want to be careful!"

"Careful?" Callum barks out a laugh. "Doing nothing isn't careful! The elf in there is the most powerful being in the world! He'll destroy us all if we don't do something about it now!"

Soren scowls at him then, his arms crossed judgementally across his chest. "You sound like my dad," he mutters.

There's a pause. The silence in Callum's study beats, because they all know what Viren was like, they all know the things that Viren did, and Soren has the nerve—

"I'm nothing like him," snarls Callum.

"Really?" challenges Soren. "You're one step out from destroying an egg because it's a threat—"

"This isn't an egg, it's an elf who could conquer the world—"

"Who's imprisoned in a magical prison designed to keep him in," snaps Soren, "and you want to let him out on the idea that you might be able to kill him?" He snorts. "You're just like him. You're so convinced you can save the world that you don't care who you put in harm's way to do it."

Another pause. Callum's lungs fill with protests and counterarguments and words that definitely can't be said in polite conversation, but the only thing that leaves him in the end is, "Get out."

They do. Opeli leads the way. Soren takes the the pearl. Ezran shoots him a dirty glare. The door shuts behind them and then there is silence again except for Callum's breathing, heavy and furious that they would accuse him of being anything like Viren.

"You haven't said anything," he mutters to Rayla.

Rayla takes a breath. "I don't know what there is to say," she says quietly. "They might be right."

"Are you seriously siding with them right now?"

"No," says Rayla coolly. "I'm always on your side. But it's something to consider. If we're wrong..." She swallows. "I really don't want you to be wrong."

She touches his hand gently, and Callum flinches away like her fingers burn against his skin. The accusation stings because it was Viren who imprisoned her family, Viren who stole Zym's egg, Viren who started all this in the first place and the idea that he could be like him in any capacity is—

He breathes in. "Do you think I'm like him?"

Rayla shrugs. "Maybe you are," she says. "But ultimately, it doesn't really matter. Not to me. To me, you're Callum. I trust you, no matter what." She offers him a smile, a promise, and Callum hopes, with all his heart, that she isn't wrong to place that trust in him.

[lovelysheree]

So how do Sara and Rune get along with their extended family?

I mean I can’t say how they’ll get along with Runaan and Ethari since we don’t quite know how that story ends canonically yet. But I imagine both Rune and Sara love them a lot (especially since they spoil the kids rotten—especially Runaan). If Rayla’s parents are “de-coined” then obviously they will also love their grandchildren to pieces.

However, I do imagine there being an unspoken tension since the children are halflings. In my own head, I think halflings were considered more mythical than anything else; either side (meaning the Pentarchy and Xadia) considers them to be “cursed creations.” As the war ends, halflings become less myth and more of a reality as elf/human relationships become a little more common, but there is still a lot of hate for halflings that Sara and Rune, even in their social position as royalty, experience.

With that said, I would imagine Ethari and Runaan loving the children (as well as Tiadrin and Lain if they are de-coined/living) but dislike seeing this hate play out in their grandchildren’s lives. They obviously know it’s the world’s bigotry that is the root cause of Sara and Rune’s bullying, etc, but they also know that it could have been avoided had Rayla chosen to be with an Elf instead. I’m actually exploring a one-shot where I dive further into this and explain my thinking a bit more so I’ll leave it there for now. (And btw it’s not just the Elvan side of the family that wrestles with this).

Sara and Rune’s other extended family love them to pieces—Uncle Ez, the Great Aunt Amaya, and Aunt Janai, so forth. The kids see a lot more of them initially because of living in Katolis for the first portion of their childhood. Sara and Ezran get into trouble together a lot, and if Ez wasn’t the King, they’d probably have to deal with the consequences more than they do. This leads to Sara having to find out the hard way she can’t just make messes and run away from them in life. Rune is pretty quiet as a kid, so it isn’t until he gets older while they’re living in Xadia that he starts breaking out of his shell. During that time, he grows particularly close to Ethari.

But those are just loose thoughts I have. It’s hard to imagine how all the relationships will work since we haven’t seen a ton of development with those characters yet in the show (and I haven’t done enough digging myself to be confident in which direction they’ll go). So… yep. Thanks for listening to my TED talk.

Also lmk if y’all feel I misrepresented any characters in this.