#but there are people who can accept Viren is not evil but still think Aaravos is evil

[darkmagicmirror]

Me, on a daily basis: crying about Aaravos

[thrandilf]

Been thinking about Aaravos as usual and sensing his story may very well be a tragedy just because. From his point of view,

Dragon Prince is about breaking cycles and starting anew, but Aaravos has no chance of that. He’s witnessed every horrible thing in history from the destruction of Elarion to the present, and judging by his ability to predict the ways of the Sunfire Elves, nothing has really changed. Like, yes in S4 things are changing, and there are people who want to put themselves out there and mend things, but Aaravos doesn’t see that. Even if he did it may be too little too late

All he knows is centuries of injustices and it’s been compounded over 300 years of solitary confinement. Remembering. Rethinking. Over and over with no new information. He’s had no closure for anything he’s ever seen (although he does appreciate Avizandum being taken out, though it doesn’t change anything for him) and I think that the prospect of vengeance is all thats kept him from completely losing it

I think his original plan was to pit the dragons against each other. To him, they had all proven to be unreasonable, arrogant, and cruel. They could have killed each other over the struggle for power. Given the tempers of some of them, it wouldn’t have been that hard to just let the conflict spiral. Aaravos would appear innocent, still beloved, a natural choice for the next leader of Xadia in light of the tragic end of the dragons. Aaravos wants to be worshipped, Aaravos thinks he knows best, and this would be a way to do it without ever getting his hands dirty. To him, this would benefit everyone if he ran the world based off his ideals

Queen Aditi ruined this plan by stepping in and finding a peaceful solution the dragons would accept, so Aaravos took her out.

I should make it clear that yes, I do think that this makes him a villain/at best an anti-hero (and he’s my favorite character so I’m not here to bash) but now we’re faced with the Now What once he’s set free and like.

I don’t think he has a choice but to continue his conquest. If he can’t take the world by sitting innocently in the shadows, brute force it is. Even if he could heal, could forgive, could want to move on, could surrender and just ask “what can I do as long as it’s anything other than sitting in solitary” no one would let him. He’s keeping the cycle spinning because he’s so deep in it that he’s dragging anyone else he possibly can in with him, and if they listen to him as Claudia does, his accounts of history aren’t wrong.

Aaravos was imprisoned with the intention of letting him eventually die in there, sealed away forever. It’s the world’s most drawn out execution, and this is the way it was done because no one had the ability to directly confront him. He did terrible things which broke people’s trust in him forever. He’s been punished for them, but is there any end to it? How many years should have been enough? Is killing him the only answer? But he can’t be expected to just lay down his life after what he already feels was an unjust punishment.

Once he’s free, there’s nothing he could say or do to convince the elves and dragons that he just wants to live in peace, if he wished. There’s no way to be trustworthy or to redeem himself. He’s not allowed a change of heart even if he wanted it. He’s been branded an evil person and condemned until he dies. What else is he supposed to do but live it, or go into hiding? Why would he shut himself away when he thinks he’s right and thinks it’s up to him to fix the world?

It’s like when Claudia brought Viren back and Viren wanted to spend the rest of his days in peace, and she wouldn’t let him. She won’t let go.

Both Viren and Aaravos are so deeply intwined in this that even if they wanted to, they couldn’t get out (although Viren has more hope to than Aaravos does) It would be up to them to accept imprisonments/execution/ect if society agrees that what they’ve done is unforgivable, and so Viren is seeking Aaravos out of survival, and Aaravos will do whatever it is he’s been planning for years because it’s all he has left, and so despite the protagonist’s efforts to make peace, it’s not gonna happen

The change in the way Queen Janai handles justice makes me wonder if there is future hope/atonement for either of them. Perhaps they could be given a chance to help with building a better world. Perhaps they would be given a chance to break the cycle of violence. Perhaps they could do something productive with their gifts and fix things. It’s an interesting thought

[raayllum]

At the end of S5, is Claudia still the same person as she claims to be in the last episode? Puzzle house has her the soul that can reveal the a map based on the character of her soul... Would the map still reveal itself?

So Claudia's identity is a loaded concept, both in terms of how she sees it and in terms of how other people (particularly the princes, Viren, and Soren) see it as well. I forget whose tags it was, but I remember someone going off on a delightful tag tirade of how Claudia is someone who is absolutely, extremely attached to being able to see herself as a Good Person. (Which like, most people are - but if you're too attached to that idea, any failings to live up to that can easily be brushed off, particularly if you don't have the self awareness or self compassion to cope with the reality of what you've done - but a post/tangent for another day)

She's not bending her morals to do dark magic because she never sees anything wrong with dark magic in the first place. What she does or threatens to do to elves/dragons doesn't matter because they (as individuals tethered to a group association in her mind) aren't people (with Terry and Aaravos, conveniently the two elves who are helping her, as the exceptions) and they Deserve it.

This isn't how she sees things when she's a child, in The Puzzle House, around the ages of 5-7ish, and we see her struggle with aspects of identity: doubting whether she ever really knew Kpp'Ar ("I thought I knew who he was. And then he disappeared") and of herself: I’ve been messing things up, and everyone’s angry at me. What if they’re right? What if I’m… not good?"

Which gets us into the weeds of S1, in which the egg - motionless, voiceless - is not a person and not even a creature, but a thing and a weapon, and her dad took it to Protect them, so keeping it isn't evil. She's not evil. She's just trying to do the Right Thing and bring the princes home (where they'll be safe, as far as she knows). She just wants to keep her family together, therefore:

Which really just shows that Claudia can and does hold herself accountable for her actions ("I know this feels like a betrayal" to illusion Callum in 2x03 and "I'm so sorry" twice to Ezran in 2x09) but she is incapable of accepting any of the potential Consequences as justified, because she had a Good reason, didn't she?

The rigid, unwavering nature of her motivations - to keep her family, particularly centred around her father, Together - as well as her methods - dark magic and a certain amount of manipulation - are two of the reasons I've always said, Inherently, Claudia is the exact same person she was all way back in 1x02, suggesting the soul switching spell and having no capacity to fathom why it would make Harrow uncomfortable (unlike Viren). She very much is someone who is largely the same person as she always has been, but her circumstances have amplified many of her worst (and technical best) character traits because said circumstances have also become so extreme. She's just Worse - more of the Same.

Cause in a lot of ways, 2x03 isn't Callum seeing a brand new side of Claudia ("Now I feel like I don't know who she is" - Callum's Spellbook) even if that's what he believes is happening, but that he's seeing her clearly for the first time: a dangerous dark mage wiling to sever loyalties and do whatever it takes for her family/father. Mirrored, I think, by Viren having the same realization in 5x03, even if it's with horror and fear/love rather than betrayal and anger.

So I believe that Claudia wholeheartedly believes she's the same person, not solely because she says it outright, but also because of the consistent manifestation of her choices and motivations, and because believing she's the same - still believing that she's Good ("She kidnapped you and prince Ezran, how can she be good?" ask yourself that in an episode, Claudia) is crucial in how she justifies everything to herself.

She doesn't want Terry (or herself) to think of her as cruel. She's a good person. She's doing the Right Thing. She's on a righteous path. That's why:

Now, in regards to change, Soren has the most varied perspectives on his sister, which can and should be taken into account ("Claudia, you're changing too" / "I hope you're careful, Callum, cause [magic] can change people" / "It's not too late Claudia, I know you can change!"). So it's not that she hasn't changed at all as a person, it's just that her Fear of Change and Choice, and her adamant resistance to ever radically changing her worldview because of new information is like, dead on arrival, and we haven't had a turning point for that yet.

But yeah, if Claudia still has the scroll, it wouldn't surprise me if it wouldn't work for her post-killing the unicorn she found and/or would be extremely, extremely faint if it did show up for her anytime post-arc 1.

No reason she can't find her way back and actually start becoming someone fundamentally New, though

[avenger09]

The Dragon Prince: Battle Banter

Revisiting an idea I had were TDP is a fighting game with NetherRealm style prefight dialogue, after playing MK1. Now includes season 4 and 5 characters.

----

Aaravos: Poor little prince, lost in the past.

Karim: Our sun will shine glorious once again.

Aaravos: Tomorrow never comes, what makes you think yesterday's gone are any exception.

Aaravos: I'm a master of subtle manipulation.

Callum: Taking over my body wasn't subtle.

Aaravos: Yet, here you are, right where I want you to be.

Aaravos: I know what you're going to ask me.

Viren: How I'm I still here?

Aaravos: I'm curious about that myself...

----

Finnegrin: Only one way you could've gotten out of those chains, lad.

Callum: You set up your own downfall, Finnegrin.

Finnegrin: This time, I won't bother with the chains.

Nyx: Seriously, Villads the one you want to see about getting the Sea Legs back, not me.

Finnegrin: Nice try, Commadore.

Nyx: Feathers! Should've known that would come back to bite me.

Finnegrin: The Bloodmoon Huntress, and the Pirate Lord.

Kim'Dael: Ours will be a Deadly Partnership.

Finnegrin: Xadia, won't know what hit them.

Finnegrin: You cost me my ship and me crew, girl.

Rayla: Oh no. The poor wee pirate is going to have to do his own dirty work from now on.

Finnegrin: How about I start with you then.

Finnegrin: You can't seriously think your leader material.

Karim: I have a whole army of Sunfire Elves ready to follow me!

Finnegrin: They follow your girlfriend man! Your're just the figurhead.

----

Kim'Dael: I remember you...

Rayla: Except I'm not a weak little girl anymore.

Kim'Dael: Aren't you?

Kim'Dael: What does Startouched blood taste like, I wonder?

Aaravos: Sorry, but my blood is far, far, beyond your reach.

Kim'Dael: Ah, but your vessel very much is so.

Kim'dael: Another toy soldier for me to break.

Corvus: You'll find I'm not so easily broken.

Kim'dael: My dear, your not the first to tell me that, nor will you be the last.

----

Terry: So, um, we haven't been properly introduced.

Soren: Yeah, kinda hard to do when you wrap someone in leaves.

Terry: Vines actually, not-the-point, my name's Terrestrius, but you can call me Terry.

Terry: Claudia did some messed up things, but she was still so...

Callum: Brilliant, fun, and sweet. Yeah, I've been there too, Terry.

Terry: You really have, haven't you...

Terry: I'm sorry about what Claudia almost did to you.

Ezran: Why did you follow her for so long?

Terry: She was the first to truly accepted me for who I am. I guess that made it harder to see what was happening to her.

----

Karim: We had a deal, Huntress!

Kim'Dael: One you had no means of actually fulfilling.

Karim: I would have, had you not abandoned me!

Janai: Do you even realise what you are doing?

Karim: I am saving our people from your folly, sister.

Janai: You're forfeiting our future to prop up an already lost past!

Amaya: [You broke Janai's heart!]

Karim: Better a broken hearted sister then a prideless people.

Amaya: [Pride is the cause of ruin not it's solution, and it's not more important than family!]

Soren: So you finally proposed to the General, huh? Congratulations!

Janai: I have a vacancy for a Brideshand, if you're available?

Soren: Sure, but what happened to your first- oooh...That spot was for your brother wasn't it?

Amaya: [Shouldn't you still be in the medical tent?]

Corvus: I'm all fixed up. Urgh, honest General.

Amaya: [Really? Then you wont mind a little sparring match.]

Callum: I know I'm taking a risk but, you're not my Queen, so... technically I don't have to do what you say.

Janai: Then I invoke my authority you as your future aunt instead.

Callum: Aww. But still, no can do.

Guest Fighter

Minsc: Many pardons, my furry friend and I are quite lost.

Amaya: [Uh, who are you? Some kind of adventurer?]

Minsc: We are Minsc and Boo! Protectors of the weak, slayers of Bhaalspawn, and sharp thorn in the boot of evil!

Minsc: (squeaks) Boo says he is not speaking with your luminous toad anymore.

Ezran: I'm sure Bait didn't mean what he said.

Minsc: (squeaks) Boo is sceptical, and so is Minsc.

Minsc: Your buttocks is long overdue for a virtuous kicking, fiend.

Kim'Dael: That... is a new one. What manner of madman are you?

Minsc: The Rashemaaran kind!

Minsc: You did well to escape the clutches of your evil father, Soren. You are in good company.

Soren: Thanks. Still... I wish I could've gotten Claudia away too.

Minsc: In Minsc's experience, for evey noble Gorion's Ward, there is usually a vile Sarevok as well.

Minsc: Your mischievous murmurs will have no affect on Minsc, villain. Boo and I will protect this world from you.

Aaravos: Like you "protected" your dear Dynaheir?

Minsc: Go for the eyes, Boo!

Minsc: Minsc and Boo, are here to help you.

Callum: Hey, nice rhyme.

Minsc: Rhyme?

Finnegrin: Why in blazes are you after me barnacle brain? I don't even know you.

Minsc: Wherever there is evil butt to kick, Minsc and Boo stand ready with their finest boots of justice!

Finnegrin: You are without doubt the most absurd man I've ever met.

----

Here's my first go.

And my attempt at including visuals, with art provided by a very generous guy.

[ofekma]

I am having a lot of troubles with accepting Claudia as a villain.

You see, a good villain is a person who with different choices could have been a good person, but simply chose the wrong actions.

A good villain is a person with agency.

Of course, a good villain can also be manipulated, misguided, used. But they still need any sort of agency if we want to accept them as a villain and not as just a puppet.

Claudia doesn’t have nearly as much agency as the show wants us to think she does.

The first and most major problem: dark magic.

look at this picture, she couldn’t have been older than eight at that time.

The show made it clear for us that dark magic is Always Wrong No Matter What (which I have a lot of issues with, but I’ll get to them later), with even Callum’s soul being ‘tainted with darkness’ as Aavaros says in season four, after using it one single time and then swearing off this for good.

So has Claudia had any chance to not head down The Evil Path, even before we first met her? or was she always destined to do so?

Why can’t we just blame every single bad choice she made on the magic that ‘corrupted her soul’?

We can’t even blame her for using dark magic at all, because of how early she was introduced to it.

Also, if dark magic being evil is an undeniable fact of life, you would expect humans to catch on to that at some point? instead of it being just some regular skill you can choose to learn. Especially after it got them kicked out of their homes and locked away from every other magical creature all those years ago. Because in general most humans want to be good right? so you’d expect them to catch on the fact that it’s evil and just ban it.

But it was so normalized that even Katolis’ own advisor was openly using dark magic.

Unless it’s not as evil and corrupting as we are told it is.

Callum didn’t think that it was evil when we first meet him, only after getting it hammered to his skull by Rayla and the moon illusionist elf that it was wrong, we see his aversion of it the next time he meets Claudia.

Claudia herself had no reason to stop using dark magic throughout the show. She didn’t believe it was evil, and she was convinced that the only people who thought it was were elves and dragons, who simply didn’t like the idea of humans having any sort of power. She hasn’t seen any proof of that being ‘evil’ until way into the middle of the show where Viren started using it for doing shady stuff openly in public, and at this point Soren told her that she already changed for the worse.

So, at this point, where Claudia starts helping Viren in his conquest and sees him killing sun elves and stuff, she is already corrupted by dark magic. Is that a villain with agency?

Now, let’s look at the second point in Claudia’s lack of agency:

She is being manipulated.

When we first met her, she was 16. She was a minor looking up for her father and biased towards him, to think the best of him, to trust him.

And he and the Aaravos who was ironically manipulating him at the time, used this for their advantage.

Soren broke free of Viren, but he was told to do a horrible thing, got gaslight and neglected.

It’s easy to see that your father is messed up actually when he tried to make you kill two children who were your childhood friends (kinda), lied about doing that and proceeded to dismiss you and ignore you.

Well, not easy, it’s never easy to break out of an abusive relationship, especially with your guardian who you crave the approval of, but easier than when it came to Claudia, who he didn’t let see his true face until she was in too deep.

Claudia’s main character motivation is to keep her family by her side, which makes it even harder for her to leave. It’s important that she didn’t choose to leave Soren, he left her. Once again, Claudia refused to choose between her loved ones, so the choice was made for her. Once again she stood powerless as her family split.

And then? and then her father got killed. The only person who didn’t leave her died.

Claudia was all alone...

Wait no, not alone. She had company!

The main villain of the show that apparently has been pulling the strings and causing every single bad historical event ever.

Claudia was what, 17 at that time? And has just lost every single person she had.

Is that what you call a villain with agency?

And I doubt that she could have just came back home, both because that villain told her that there is a way to get it all back, and because what kind of a welcome would she even have home?

As forgiving as Ezran is, she’d likely sit in jail.

Rayla was looking for Viren despite the guy being very much dead, being desprete for revenge (because apperenately killing him wasn’t enough), what would have happened if she would have found Claudia next to his body?

I don’t know for sure, but my guess is that she won’t just let them be, She’d still want her revenge, and since Viren isn’t her for her to take it on, she’d likely take it on Claudia herself, who’d likely want revenge too because this girl took her father from her. blah blah “cycle of violence” as the show calls it.

Point is- the only person who was looking for Claudia did not have any good intentions for her. Callum, her childhood friend who was in love with her, spent those last two years thinking only about Rayla. Because I guess that since he got a new gf Claudia doesn’t matter anymore.

Soren, her brother, seemingly never bothered to look for her after the final battle, if he even thought about her at all. He had the duty of guarding Ezran and that was more important than what his traitor of a sister did, right?

When does he start thinking about her?

Once he concluded that she must have been the one to try to free Aaravos.

desperate, you say? I wonder why is that. So at least you already realize that she isn’t doing so swell right now.

Then the next time they meet, Soren proves that he still cares about her by shielding her from the impact of a fall after her bag gets caught in a branch, and that’s wonderful, but it came after two years of Claudia having no one, so no wonder that he couldn’t talk her out of freeing Aaravos.

Well, not no one, she has Terry now.

I don’t know when they met but this guy is the single reason why she isn’t completely off the rails yet. Someone by her side to love her and support her. Someone who would even kill for her, and she’d undoubtedly do the same.

Some people theorize that she is going to sacrifice him to get her father back for good, and that’s not out of the realm of possibilities, but the fact that she gave Rayla the coins with her family after he showed dissapointed in her shows to me that she cares about him and his opinion of her.

With Terry, Claudia gets to goof off and be free, like she’s been all the way back in season one. With Terry, Claudia is more herself than she is with anyone else.

It’s enough that one person had her back she needed it most, for her to still have light in her.

"Some light in her?” you may ask, “the girl must have done horrendous things in order to literally bring Viren back from the death”

That is a good point, but also:

1. wanting your father back is a pretty understandable motivation tbh, so whatever she did it wasn’t out of malice, or revenge, or power hunger, it was grief and loneliness.

2. we don’t even know what she did.

We are neither told or shown any of this. Yes, there is a boot in the corner of one shot, and yes, it was likely horrible and included killing sentient creatures due to what other dark magic spells seemed to cost, but this is all speculations. Am I just supposed to accept that she’s irredeemable now when I don’t even know what she did to get to this point? Terry at least knows some of it and he seems accepting, and the guy called her out on being cruel with the coins, and cried himself to sleep after he killed someone, so at least we know that it wasn’t horrible enough to make him leave her.

And another important aspect to show is that Claudia isn’t only willing to sacrifice other creatures for her loved ones-she sacrifices herself too.

When Soren and Viren look at her with worry after she struggles to stand, breaths heavily and her hair turning white, she brushes them off.

“the only important thing is that you are better now.”

she says.

Dark magic isn’t a fast, easy shortcut the way the show paints it as, it’s a sacrifice. A sacrifice both from the user and from the creature needed to preform it, and it’s a sacrifice Claudia is willing to make for her loved ones. A sacrifice she pays a visible toll for and we all know that sooner or later will catch up to her and cost her a lot of her health. Claudia knows it, too.

A sacrifice the protagonist trio is always saved from having to make.

Let’s start with the easy one- Ezran. Ezran is a human. Ezran can talk to animals and has a telepathic connection with the dragon prince. Why?

If it’s explained somewhere, I missed it. He was just born like this.

This is a really cool power that fits his ability.

But it’s also unexplained (as far as I know).

He has this power because he just does. Same way that elves and dragons just have magic.

You know who else has an unexplained ability? Callum!

Who just has sky magic now! because...protagonist reasons!

Because....idk, apperenately not a single human being in history has ever wanted to do primal magic as hard as he has???

So he basically breaks the established laws of the universe to have an easy path where he doesn’t have to sacrifice anything. Heck, he can even fly now. Only some rare master sky elves can learn how to do that and even that takes time, but Callum once again just Does It with the power of wanting it hard enough!

This way we can give out protagonists what they want and have them have super cool powers without having to get their hands dirty by the Evil Magic.

And Rayla.

The first time she met the two brothers, she chased Callum over half the castle trying to kill him, thinking he was prince Ezran. She then discovered who her true target was and while being caught off guard by how small he is, didn’t seem any less determined.

The reason why she ended up not killing him is that they conveniently ended up at the location of the dragon egg, giving Rayla a third option where she’d be able to get out of killing a child without having to go against everything she was taught. (and then of course she got to actually know and care for the kid, so any thought about killing him flew out of the window).

Then she has her ribbon that would have gotten tighter and tighter til she lost her entire arm because of that choice. But she was saved out of having to face the consequences of said choice because we can’t have one of our protagonists lose an arm! that would be horrifying! so....baby dragon magic! because dragons can just do that now, I guess. No explanation needed.

Good guys don’t have to play by the rules. Good guys don’t have to face the consequences of their actions. Good guys are rewarded by the narrative on the premise of being Good.

When Claudia had to face hard choices she didn’t have a sudden third option that would let her not lose anyone or not get her hands dirty.

Her first hard choice was who to go with as a child, she couldn’t choose so the choice was made for her. Claudia would have lost a parent regardless of what she done.

The second hard choice was to choose Soren or the dragon egg. She chose Soren of course, because her defining trait has and will always be loyalty to her family, but the plot didn’t reward her for this. Soren was alive, but he was paralyzed from the neck bellow, and if she wanted to have him back her only choice was to kill a baby deer to get the needed magic.

Do you think that she wanted to kill this baby deer? She adores cute things and she even apologized to it before doing that. That doesn’t seem like someone who has a disregard for other living creatures.

But since the show didn’t give her a way where she could heal her brother without getting her hands dirty, she had to make this choice. Again- a choice that affected both her soul and her health.

The third choice was between Soren and Viren. Claudia refused to choose. Not only that the show didn't give her a way to keep both, she ended up without any of them because one left and the other died.

Claudia did not get protagonist privilege.

Claudia is surely not innocent, she has done a lot of bad things. But is she a villain? or just someone who came from bad circumstances and had to make hard choices, some of which she got wrong?

If our main characters faced both similar choices AND real, lasting consequences for said choices, would they really choose better than she did?

But it’s been clear since way before season four that Claudia is going to get much worse, regardless of what I have to say about this.

Claudia has been destined to decline since the moment she was introduced.

Just look how sinister she seems in her concept art.

Besides, the story would not WORK if she won’t fall into the dark side. Not while being made as a cautionary tale about the damaging effects of dark magic. Not after allying herself with the villains of the show, and actively work to release the most dangerous one. Not when being willing to cross more and more moral boundaries in order to get what she wants.

It was predetermined from the moment she was introduced.

There would be no conflict without her moral decline.

And yet, it pains me seeing the girl who at least used to be sweet, compassionate and kind, who’s primary motive is to protect her family and keep it together, who has the same curiosity and hunger for knowledge as Callum himself has, going down this path.

[beautifulterriblequeen]

Melkor and Glorfindel in TDP

My mind is still running off my Aaravos’s-plan-and-Runaan’s-fate hc that spun from @queensaraiz​‘s hc that Aaravos punished Queen Aditi by turning her human. (And come on, that’s a brilliantly horrible plan, I love it tbh) Remember how the Orphan Queen’s picture only shows three fingers, but a round human ear?

I commented on that when it first came out because I always look at elf hands, but everyone thought it was an angle thing. Maybe it is. But maybe it’s not.

Okay, on to what woke me up this morning. 

Runaan looks terrified in the purple light of Viren’s staff. I think he knows exactly what’s going to happen to him, because he knows the story of what Aaravos did to Queen Aditi--or whoever the Orphan Queen is. Aaravos stripped out her arcanum, and that is why Aaravos is worse than death. Especially to any elf who is prejudiced against humans. Aaravos can curse an elf to live a mortal life without magic. It’s a long, drawn-out, miserable existence--as far as the elves are concerned. Runaan would far prefer to die swiftly and honorably in battle, and his Moonshadow powers are a huge part of who he is.

He’s going to lose the one part of him that he identifies with most, the one thing that gives him his abilities, which he uses on missions to serve his people. Without his arcanum, Runaan will feel worthless, useless, whether he’s free and whole or not. He won’t be himself ever again, and that is indeed worse than death to him.

When Runaan got put into the coin, we only watched Gren’s reaction to it. Runaan screaming in agony onscreen wasn’t really appropriate for a kids’ show. But what if something else was happening to him that we weren’t supposed to know about yet?

If burning out an elf’s arcanum turns them human, maybe Runaan’s horns burned off too. The Orphan Queen doesn’t have any horns anymore. It would hurt horribly--he’d definitely scream about that. His hands are very conveniently pressed across the top of the coin so we can’t see any hint of them. He still has his pointy ears, and we get one glimpse of his horn cuff. But Runaan had really big ears as an elf, so maybe he just has cute human ears with points now? 

And his horns were designed very specifically so that he could hide them by lifting his chin and looking “good” and flaring them up behind his head by dropping his chin when he wanted to look intimidating, like when he says “hard enough to do whatever it takes.” He uses his horns as a deliberate sign of his dark and deadly side. If that part of him burns away, that’s actually better for his character.

But it also gives us the opportunity for a false reveal. Seeing him straight on, we’ll see the rounded metal of his horn cuffs as we always have. Only when he turns or tips his head will we see that they’re empty, just tucked into his hair. Appearances, remember? He wants to feel their weight on his head.

With them still on his head, holding nothing, possibly feeling his ear points starting to resorb, Runaan’s in an existential crisis. He’s getting broken by truth--something Moonshadows never want to look too closely at.

Who is he, if he’s not the Moonshadow elf Runaan? He’s lost so much further out into the dark than he thought possible. 

You know who will take one look, bow, and say “Trees to meet you” though. Ethari. Ethari won’t care what Runaan looks like on the outside. No spell can change a person’s heart. Runaan is still Ethari’s beloved husband, and he’s so kind and gentle and instantly accepting--even of humans!--I can’t see any reason he wouldn’t just sweep Runaan into his powerful arms, no matter what bits of him are missing, and cry with happiness that his husband is home.

Now, that said. Why did I title this Melkor and Glorfindel?

Melkor is the big evil dude that Sauron served in the Silmarillion. He took elves and locked them away underground and tortured them for hundreds of years, until they became something dark, shambling, and twisted: orcs.

Aaravos, in my new headcanon, created humans by stripping out the magical connection they were born with, in order to create his own version of life. He deliberately mutilated elves to create something of his own, his own race, his own contribution to the world. Of course he loves humans best. He made them out of elves. And therefore, he absolutely did create dark magic and give it to his darlings, because the Master Plan is to get rid of the elves by sending his pets to burn them. Burn out their arcana or burn them as spell fuel, it doesn’t matter. Aaravos will have a world where nothing remains but his precious humans. And then there will be balance. A balance of his own making, where none of the other Star Touches had succeeded.

Now for Glorfindel. He was a brave hero in the Silmarillion, with long and glorious golden hair, who fell in battle. Through great effort and a boon of magic from the the King of the Valar, Manwë, Glorfindel was restored to full life and health, and continued fighting for what was right, the only elf to ever come back from beyond the grave.

I know I’ve compared Runaan to Glorfindel on his epic hair and my hopes for his restoration before. But this time I have an extra headcanon.

Since Callum is a person who exists and has connected to an arcanum of his own choosing, I think that’s truly why he’s the “special boy”. Not because he’s the only human who can do that. But because he’s the one who can teach humans and former elves alike how to consciously choose an arcanum and connect with it. 

I think Callum will help Runaan choose a new arcanum. And because Runaan’s experiences were so horrific, and resulted directly from him doing his Moonshadow duty, I think Runaan will struggle with choosing. I don’t think he’ll just pick up Moon again. I hope he talks it over with Ethari so they both understand what could happen. But I hope Runaan goes into that wild new learning process with an open heart and a willingness to change.

I think at that point he might pick Sun and become a Sunfire elf. How hilarious to turn the tables on that old Sunfire-tinker headcanon! We’d get our eclipse anyway, but in reverse. And the whole point of choosing Sun is so Runaan can get a light-being. So that after all the taking and destruction he has caused, he can now dedicate his life to healing and restoring. To comfort instead of distress. We all saw how soft he was with Ethari. Imagine if he gets to be that soft with everyone, because he can actually embrace his own feels now! He’s always been too soft to be a Moonshadow.

He could pick another arcanum that gives him healing abilities, if they’re out there: Earth and Ocean come to mind. But I like Sun the best because when Runaan’s new horns grow in, and his hair changes color, he can literally have Glorfindel’s glorious long golden locks.

Maybe he’ll find his way to becoming the Sun King by the end of the war. His craftsman husband would have literally a million ideas for what to do with the Sunforge, and what all he can make with that much magical power. I can think of no better person to entrust it to--someone who has studied hard to make up for a weaker magic ability, who relies on learning new things (not a very Moonshadow trait at all) in order to remain of service.

If Runaan remained the Sun, and Ethari remained the Moon, that would be a lovely pairing. Runaan would literally rise from Shadow to Sun, and that’s one hell of a redemption arc.

Although... would Ethari remain a Moonshadow? Or would he sacrifice to join his husband in his new arcanum? From Moon and Shadow to Sun and Fire? Runaan being the Sun and Ethari being the Fire? All the better to work the Sunforge, my dear.

[theredhairedmonkey]

A few people had some feedback for my meta on Claudia here. Instead of reblogging the meta over and over again, I’d rather address the arguments raised by @silverspetz​ here and @atreefullofstars​ here.

So... neither of these posts seem all that enthusiastic with either (1) my treatment of Dark Magic nor (2) my assessment of Claudia. I’ll do my best to break down both of these arguments as well as possible.

From @silverspetz​:

I don’t really believe in the “power corrupts” thing in the first place, but even if I did it wouldn’t change the fact that primal magic users also have elevated power and the only reason you can give for why dark magic would be more tempting is because it makes things “too” easy. If you were actually honest with this argument you would be insisting that the true evil is that magic exists at all and not just that dark magic is arbitrarily “too powerful”. 

Let's break down these forms of magic. For Primal Magic, in order to take full advantage of all that it can offer you, a mage has to have an arcanum (or an uber-rare Primal Stone). An arcanum requires a deep, fundamental understanding of the Primal Source, and far more so; there’s a reason only a rare few elves even become mages, and why even sky mages can’t automatically learn to grow mage wings. There’s a lot of internal mental discipline and legwork that’s involved--the reason why Lujanne can cast spells, but Runaan and Rayla can’t. While Callum is an exception, canonically it usually takes years if not decades to master this kind of magic.

Dark Magic doesn’t require any of this. If you have the materials and the incantation words, that’s enough. No deep understanding or internal channeling of magic is required. That’s what makes it so easy. And this is canon; this is what Aaron and Justin describe as the difference between Primal and Dark Magic when it comes to ease.

But being easy does not in of itself make Dark Magic bad. It’s why it’s tempting (Callum catches on to this, even when Viren and Claudia do not). The fact that there is no limit to what you can do with Dark Magic, combined with the fact that everything you could ever need or want could just be a single spell away is what makes this dangerous. Again, unlike Primal Magic, Dark Magic is characterized as unlimited power. That’s what makes this a toxic combination.

Primal Magic simply doesn’t operate this way. It’s a naturally occuring phenomenon that can be tapped into. There are limits as to what can be done; Primal Energy needs to be nearby, and many spells, such as aspiro and mage wings, are limited by what the mage can physically exert.

The Primal Mages that we’ve seen demonstrate a separate issue with Primal Magic, but I’ll talk about that below. 

Sure, it is nice that you at least admit that Xadia probably exiled humans to preserve the status quo, but you are still insisting that dark magic is the only kind with inherently corrupting influence and acting as if being born with an inherent power isn’t already playing life at easy mode. You don’t ask the question “how long before elves decide to do the easy thing instead of the right thing” even though they have already done far worse things than any dark mage on the show. It is all so very reminicent of all the arguments you hear from the majority whenever a minority tries to assert itself. “No, you can’t fight oppression your way, that’s wrong and bad. Do it on our terms”. The show’s thesis is basically that “reverse racism” is worse than actual racism, and the fandom largely agrees. You can save your “is dark magic too powerful” concerns until humanity as a whole has been given even a modicum of the power they actually deserve.

The show definitely doesn’t pull its punches when it comes to dragons and elves. Sol Regem quite nearly wipes out a city, while the ethnic cleansing of humans had been compared to the Trail of Tears by the show’s creators. And the thing is, there are issues with the way elven mages and dragons use their magic, even though that’s beyond the scope of my meta on Claudia. But just because a group is oppressed or marginalized doesn’t mean any attempt to gain, as you say, a “modicum of the power they actually deserve” is justified. In fact, that’s all very reminiscent of real-life formerly oppressed groups who either gained that “modicum of power” through exploiting others or taking advantage of their newfound power to settle the score with their former oppressors, which just perpetuates a cycle of hatred and violence...which kinda sounds like the point the first three seasons of the show was trying to push!

To your question “how long before elves decide to do the easy thing instead of the right thing,” we already have an answer. There is an elf who isn’t bothered by questions of doing the right thing.

Who only really cares about increasing his own power in the quickest way possible, regardless of who he harms, corrupts or kills along the way.

And it’s this guy:

In spite of mastering all six Primal Sources, he still turns to Dark Magic as a means to get what he wants. Which does give us the answer to your question--when an elven doesn’t care about the right thing, merely the easy thing, they too turn to Dark Magic. That’s the corrupting influence of this branch of magic. Aaravos should have had all the power he needed, but he wanted more.

And what does he do with his power once he has it? He eclipses the Sun Nexus, creating perpetual night over Lux Auera and quite possibly wiping out the city. That should drive home what “unlimited power” means with regard to Dark Magic--you can quite possibly destroy Primal Sources at will. You can’t do that with Primal Magic.

But Primal Mages, at least who we’ve seen, don’t particularly care to bolster their own power over the lives of others because, honestly, they’re kinda indifferent to them. And that’s their flaw--not power-lust, but apathy to the plight or struggles of people.

Keep in mind, they’re not unkind or callous toward others. Lujanne, for instance, is nice and will help Team Zym...when they ask her to. It’s why she simultaneously tells the group that “dark forces are pursuing you” while still being willing to show Callum around and letting the team drag their heals. Rayla was quite indignant at that (”I thought you were on my side!”). 

Or, she helps Ez get to Xadia because Soren asks her to, then wanders off to fuck around with other humans, while a war for the future of the world is fought. 

Ibis is similar--he suggests to Callum that the group simply leaves with Zym rather than make their stand, thus giving Viren the opportunity to gain power. He helps out in finding dragons to fight alongside them, but we never see him take part in the battle itself. Just like Lujanne, he helps the group with their goals but doesn’t engage directly with any threats.

The differences between Dark and Primal Mages are similar to the Sith and the Jedi in the Prequel Trilogy. The Sith are power-hungry, perhaps beginning their fall to the Dark Side out of a goal to protect their loved ones or a similar aim before being corrupted by their desire for power and domination. The Jedi, however, are “keepers of the peace,” and will get involved when that peace is disrupted...and turn a blind eye to slavery on worlds like Tatooine. They’ll preserve the status quo, but don’t do much else, which is why the Separatist Crisis was started in the first place; countless worlds were irate that the Republic, and by extension, the Jedi Council, ignored their problems and struggles.

Primal Mages are the Jedi in this situation. From what we could ascertain, they didn’t do much of anything to help the humans before they were desperate enough to turn to Dark Magic.  The fact that a human learning an arcanum was so surprising just shows how little anyone tried to help humanity before dismissing them as a lost cause. 

This is also why Callum is such a standout example of a mage. He rejects the temptation of Dark Magic while also deciding to stay and fight to defend Zym. He’s chosen who he wants to be, and he’s not going to make the same mistakes that mages from either camp have made.

Primal Magic has its flaws, but to say that Dark Magic and Primal Magic both represent power and share the same temptations misses the larger point.

As for Claudia supposedly being “selfish”, yeah, this is where you are absolutely being dishonest to demonize Claudia. Soren was not willing to accept his condition. It was blatantly obvious that he was just having a breakdown and trying to find silver-linings whereever he could. Even his first poem was basically him lamenting his new situation. And he was very obviously happy when Claudia fixed his spine. 

You would have a point had Claudia actually obtained Soren’s consent. The fact that she didn’t even bother to ask his permission violated his agency. Even after she was done, Soren never found out what it cost for him to be healed. 

All of this is extremely problematic. It’s not a small thing that medical practitioners seek out consent from their patients, even when the treatment is painless, simple, and safe. The autonomy that people have over their own bodies is of utmost importance, something that can’t be dismissed with a simple “Oh well he was unhappy anyway, he would have said yes if I asked.”

I think that, deep down, even now, Claudia is a good person. She thinks what she’s choosing to do with her magic is ultimately the right thing. It’s just that, in her mind, other people don’t get to choose.

 So forgive me if I think that meta about primal magic you plan to write is going to be a bunch of drivel that admits elves wen’t too far in commiting genocide but ultimately doesn’t see how being born with the power to crush armies might make you at least as tempted to solve all your problems with sheer force as the ability to turn chains into snakes.

Hopefully, the little that I wrote about Primal Magic assuaged your worries somewhat. There’s a lot more to write about this form of magic, most of which can’t fit here.

And it’s not like creatures with Primal Magic never use sheer force to try and solve their problems (that’s exactly what Sol Regem attempts to do). But when you look at what you can do with Primal Magic versus what you can do with Dark Magic, the former simply doesn’t compare. This isn’t an apples to apples comparison in terms of raw power.

For @atreefullofstars​:

And miss me with “dark magic is easy and dark mages don’t sacrifice anything so everything they do is selfish.” Yeah, characters in the show–the ones who already don’t like dark magic–have said that a few times. But what’s shown on screen is dark mages collapsing, falling ill, panting, and turning corpselike and clearly unhealthy from using it, when nothing like that happens to primal mages. What is “Claudia doesn’t lose anything other than a streak of black hair” supposed to mean? She didn’t make a magical trade, her hair color for Soren’s spine; if that were the case she wouldn’t have needed the deer. She did something so difficult, that put so much physical strain on her body, that it turned some of her hair white. When that happens in real life, there are physiological consequences way beyond hair color; the hair is just a clear visual representation of how badly that strained her body.

Lets set aside whether Dark Mages never sacrifice anything for their magic (Ziard, for instance, sacrificed his life to save Elarion; Callum fell into a coma). What I’m talking about is in this particular case--Claudia momentarily collapses from using a lot of Dark Magic...then proceeds to get back up again and is none the worse for wear in the next scene. That’s all I’m trying to say. Claudia does not “sacrifice her own well-being” to save her brother when there are no long-term side effects to her other than that one streak (it’s not from the physical strain either; stress-induced grayness doesn’t just come up in one spot and it certainly doesn’t friggin turn already black hair white!).

The streak isn’t supposed to visually represent the strain on her body that was clearly temporary. It visually represents how Dark Magic is slowly starting to change Claudia. One might say it’s corrupting her.

And if that just isn’t enough, if she should have to give up more because she’s supposedly being selfish, well, it’s still more than primal mages sacrifice. What did Callum sacrifice to save Rayla? What did it cost him, what did he lose? Is it selfish that he used his magic to rescue her from falling, because he loves her and doesn’t want his life to change by losing her? What did he give up when he cast Fulminus to selfishly override Ibis’s objections to teaching him? What did it cost him to cast Aspiro and blow Zym up into the air to block out the sun, saving him and Rayla? Every primal spell in the show is “selfish” when you view it through a lens determined to show it that way, and not one of them has a cost. Every good deed anyone has EVER done could be construed as selfish because it made them feel good to do it; even if it was difficult or uncomfortable, they were obviously still satisfying some other principle they value more and getting net benefit.

I think you’re missing the point if you think that the issue with Dark Magic is that it doesn’t come with enough personal sacrifice. Me arguing that Claudia didn’t sacrifice her well-being for Soren isn’t me arguing that she should have.

But as for whether primal mages are selfish...Callum quite nearly falls to his death in a long-shot attempt to save Rayla. And keep in mind, he isn’t trying to save an idea of her, or the portrait of a perfect relationship, or something that he simply desires for himself. He’s trying to save her. And unlike with Claudia, it doesn’t come at anyone else’s expense--just, potentially, himself. 

Before that, he puts himself between Zym/Rayla and scores of enhanced soldiers. He risks his life just to protect them. Before that, he crushes a moon opal to learn the truth about Rayla’s parents, so she can feel free to make her own choice (and this was the epitome of selflessness; he didn’t attempt to convince her to leave with them. If she wanted to stay, fight and die, Callum was willing to accept that. Think about that when you say that every primal spell in the show is somehow selfish).

And before that, he uses Fulminis to get Ibis’s attention so he could learn magic...so that he could protect Zym and his friends from Viren’s army. Throughout all of Season 3, Callum does magic primarily to help others and never just for himself. It doesn’t come at the expense of anyone else’s life or anyone’s agency. That’s the difference between Callum and Claudia--to reduce all of that to just “well any choice is selfish when you think about it” is just pure nihilism.

[wishingformemoria]

(Spoiler heavy) S4 hopes and beyond for Viren, Claudia, and Aaravos.

Prefacing this with: this is just my opinion, and what I want to see regarding these three. Feel free to disagree and discuss in the comments. Each section is meant for its own reading, so if you'd rather skip to a certain character you can; rather than each part leading into the next. Video version of this post linked here! (Timestamps in the description) I know the novels, comics, and games will add more context to scenes for the show and will be great in their own right. But there're things that should be there within the show that people can’t skip. (Links are bolded)  (Reddit version)

TL;DR:

_____________________________________________________

  • To make the conflict between dark versus primal magic more meaningful, we need to see more grey-areas in dark magic. Which should be shown through actions. I can't think of a better way to do that than by shifting the focus to Viren, Claudia, and Aaravos.(The rest of the cast still gets meaningful screen-time! Ex: Callum learning more primal magic.)

_____________________________________________________

  • If (big if) Viren gets redeemed no one should be obligated to forgive him, but he has to do right by his family first before anything else for a realistic redemption arc.   • Claudia will have to get worse before she gets better. She needs to separate from Viren (and Aaravos), to figure out what her goals are and see the world outside of just her family. _____________________________________________________   • Aaravos, when he escapes, should genuinely grow to care for Viren and Claudia and for that be a conflict itself, due to whatever his plans are. If he does care, he needs to respect boundaries. Period. (Sorry! The whole "switch targets to throw Viren aside to focus on Claudia" doesn't sit right with me; including the fact, Aaravos has no one else, and it'd be a waste for him to throw away the people who have anchored him to the present!)

_____________________________________________________

Viren:

I’m of the mind that not every villain needs a redemption arc, or even deserves one. They especially don't need to be redeemed to justify likeability and "negative" character development is interesting too and is just as "realistic."

Viren is that character for me, and I’m still interested in where his story goes from here; his actions kick-started the plot, and there're many ways for him to go forward. There is no point in resurrecting this character if they do nothing with him.

He’s a polarizing character. I have mixed feelings on him but does he deserve redemption? He has to do a lot to justify one; every character is capable so long as enough time is spent to commit to the idea of a believable redemption arc. Viren’s redemption will not come from the elves or dragons, (not that his actions against Xadia should be ignored) but they will not be what causes him to realize the error of his ways. It has to come from his family, but forgiveness should not be obligated.

I don’t think we as the audience are meant to feel sympathy for his character, more towards the people he’s connected to--his children. I want to believe he was once a loving and caring father, as seen in this end credit for S1, and that this is the reason Claudia and Soren idealized him so much even after the fact he started to change.

I need to be shown this, not informed. I understand there’s things to save until later in the story, but if they were going for sympathy for Viren--it could have been shown within the flashback scenes of S2; not in a skippable content.

I know they use the end credits to foreshadow things.

I despised Viren’s actions in S3, and while he's being manipulated by Aaravos, Viren lost whatever "greyness" he had this season. Viren claims what he does is for humanity and yet turned the human armies into monsters; he even considered doing this to his own son! There is nothing "pragmatic" about this, even if you try justifying their fire resistance. We don’t even know if this was reversible!

And this is due to Aaravos' manipulation but it didn't take that much prompting. Aaravos gave him everything he wanted: Power. Respect. Recognition. Something Viren has wanted for a long time. He took Aaravos’ suggestions uncritically after becoming King.

Viren has done terrible things before meeting Aaravos, but he's not responsible for every wrong in the show. His misguided vengeance for Sarai was driven by emotion, not logic; is how this all began. We wouldn’t have this story without Viren. There are too many unanswered questions and things only he can solve that shouldn't be placed on his children to solve.

I don’t think he should be redeemed. If he’s redeemed, death should not be that redemption. Because what is the point in his resurrection if they go that route? It would take Claudia leaving Viren (and Aaravos) for him to realize, whatever his goals were before this, that it was not worth losing his family’s love. Probably the only people who do still love him.

Redemption arcs do not end when a character realizes their actions were wrong, it begins that way, and it’s a continuous effort to correct them. But forgiveness should not be obligated for the acknowledgment of change. Especially not so from the people they harmed; too many times a villain gets redeemed at the expense of their victim’s feelings, and that their victims are obligated to forgive them to complete their redemption arc.

I want the show to answer this: The Viren that Soren and Claudia idealized so much, did that person ever truly exist?

Claudia:

I’m not alone in disliking her actions in S3, and as much as I didn’t want her to go down this path, she has. I felt she needed more screen-time in this season to justify it. More conversations with Soren challenging their belief systems--not seeing eye-to-eye for example.

Claudia has constantly had to choose between the people she loves, between her family and childhood friends. Never wanting to make that choice: feeling personally responsible for her family’s health and happiness instead of Viren doing that himself. Family may be what drives her, but it can't be the only thing.

Love has been her motivator behind her actions. It was never about power.

Claudia has a lot of potential and it shouldn't only be to further Viren and Soren's character development. What about her? Even though I felt Aaravos’ warning to Viren was unnecessary, since I never saw Viren being honest during the prison scene anyway--the implication of that was if Claudia did learn the truth? She would have turned away from Viren the same way Soren had.

Claudia doesn’t do this because she desperately wants to believe Viren isn’t this person who’s done these horrible things; She goes into denial when Soren reveals the truth of the secret mission to kill the princes because she’s placed Viren on a pedestal. Even her excuse in “Hearts of Cinder” of “maybe he’s just doing what needs to be done” not even she believed that. Claudia’s clinging onto the family she has: the abandonment of her mother isn’t a good excuse for what’s she’s done in S3, and Viren took advantage of that fear. It only took Viren questioning Claudia’s faith in Ezran for her to become silently resigned. Claudia isn’t staying with Viren because she thinks he’s right, she’s staying because he made her believe she can’t trust anyone else. She’s in a vulnerable spot now without Soren.

And Soren is going to have to deal with people openly celebrating his father's death and his sister's disappearance. But I’ll save my thoughts on him for another post. Claudia and Soren need each other and things are going to get worse for her before they get better. She’s not going to accept her father has changed until this pedestal she’s placed him on is broken. Possibly she’ll even escape from him when she gets the chance. S4 should deal with the aftermath of S3, and show us how she’s not handling it well. I don’t think she’s beyond hope. Claudia’s lost right now, not evil.

Aaravos:

Prefacing this with: I know Aaravos is using Viren as a means to an end; I'm not blind to that. The fact that he refers to Viren as his "vessel" and Claudia as an "asset" is so telling in how he views them--not as people, but tools. And likely nothing beyond that.

Aaravos is the type of character you’d introduce in the second to last season, not right there, in the beginning. Yet, Aaravos is our narrator and much more than that: heavily tied to this story’s history; both past and a present we don’t know about yet. There’s a reason the present era is called “The Return of Aaravos.” Is Aaravos an unreliable narrator or is he telling the story from the beginning of what was true at the time, and telling it in a non-linear manner? In the words of Jean-Luc Godard: “A story should have a beginning, a middle, and an end, but not necessarily in that order.” Is he a friend to humanity? Despite standing with the elves for humanity’s expulsion from Xadia? (x) Does his “special interest” in humans extend to seeing their potential as equals or just a means to an unknown end? 

Aaravos is apparently genuinely “kind, generous, and giving” as informed in this interview with the creators,"he's disliked, that's not the same as bad." But the question of whether he's a Lucifer or Prometheus remains to be seen. And if a Prometheus, was his “gifts to humanity” dark magic? Since Aaravos is the only elf seen thus far using it. I could make a separate post on just Aaravos, but for the sake of this section, it only focuses on his current relationships: The person he mainly interacts with is Viren, who connects Aaravos to the present story. As just one of the many examples of elf and human relationships on the show, they’re both manipulative, self-serving, and form a tentative alliance; only time will tell how lasting it is once Aaravos is free from imprisonment. What his plans are for when he escapes is anyone's guess; he's embittered by imprisonment and seeks vengeance for all who put him there. Punishing their descendants if need be. (Ex: Killing Sunfire elf Queen Khessa, related to Queen Aditi; harming Zym due to the Dragon King and Queen overseeing his imprisonment.)Centuries may not seem long to elves or dragons, (especially so with Startouch elves having the longest lifespans of the elves), but it is a long time to be alone. While I understand he doesn't have to form any attachment to Viren outside of escaping imprisonment, it’s the more interesting route. Aaravos doesn't have anyone else, and their stories are closely intertwined now. But there’s a clear power imbalance in this relationship and Viren is aware of that. Viren is only in this mess for two reasons: his curiosity got the better of him, and he was at a low point, desperate for someone, anyone, to listen to him. The power then given to him by Aaravos only sealed his fate. (Despite this, their interactions were enjoyable to watch; largely due to the amazing voice actors, and the fact their character’s personalities balance each other out.) There's no doubt that Aaravos will continue to manipulate Viren and now by extension, Claudia.

But if Aaravos is this "kind, generous, giving" person, then that needs to be shown through his actions of caring for anyone other than himself; and if Aaravos does grow to care it becomes a conflict of interest. Their dynamics would need to change the moment he cares because boundaries are nonexistent for Aaravos regarding Viren. As for Claudia, she’s going to be wary of him and will sooner blame any changes in Viren on Aaravos, (which is not an unfair assessment), rather than accept Viren changed a long time ago. Aaravos will likely mentor her and their relationship will grow into nothing beyond that of a student and teacher. Viren and Claudia are already skilled in dark magic, Aaravos just knows more due to age and possibly contributing to its creation. Again, this is just what I want to see for these characters: Aaravos is going to be a series-long mystery, but that doesn’t mean he shouldn’t get character development in S4 and to have him grow to care for the people who connect him to the present this alone will prove he's what these interviews claim him to be. Feel free to leave your thoughts in the comments whether you agree or disagree? O/

[too-much-tdp]

Analysis of Elarion’s poem - City Perspective

@siderealsentinel has written up a really cool theory about Elarion being a city and I really really like it. And the reason for that is because finally the poem makes sense to me.

When I read it for the first time, it sounded so weird. None of the phrases really made sense to me. I interpreted it as being about a human and thought “Well, I guess it’s supposed to mean something like she grows up (seedling, pulling roots, her open flower -> adulthood etc.) and that she’s in need of help and that she spreads dark magic (spreads her roots).” But nevertheless it didn’t feel satisfying. The metaphors didn’t feel like very goid descriptions of human experiences to me. Kind of, as if someone was trying just a bit too hard to sound different, mysterious and poetic.

But now, when I read it from the perspective of a city suddenly everything makes sense to me. Everything falls into place automatically. The metaphors suddenly seem fitting and don’t feel like forceful attempts at colourful speech.

And since I’m confusing Tumblr with English class right now, I will quickly go over every verse. : D

Also, I will sound exactly as pretentious as you would expect if from a poem analysis!

In general I think the growing tree metaphor is a very good parallel for a little settlement or small town (seedling) growing over time, streching its roots --> growing and occupying more land, stretching its branches --> amongst others: buildings growing higher towards the sky, open flower --> a city being at its peak, economically, politically culturally and socially. It sounds like the city is thriving, perhaps very rich and possibly quite influental in Xadia.

Elarion, trembling seedling Lying on the ground on an icy night. And in the cold She pulled her roots Defying the deadly winter bite.

This sounds, obviously, like the beginning. A small settlement, weak and with little rescources whose people have a hard time surviving the winter because they lack so much. But somehow it manages to grow into a blooming city:

Elarion, and her open flower, Afraid of wilt, darkness and death, She searched the darkness For a Spark And caught the eyes of a hungry dragon.

However, the city fears the loss of their fortunate situation, their peak, their wealth, their influence. This could either be due to greed or because they fear that they could never withstand magic forces as mere non-magical beings. Or both. So, in order to avoid a possible downfall and the wilting of their city, they search for means to prevent such a case. The spark could mean that they look for a source of magic. Maybe they’re trying to amass magical jewels, primal stones and other natural carriers of energy that they can use.

It is possible that they don’t really go about it in a measured way. Maybe they’re desperate and are too intense in their actions, maybe they’re greedy and try to take too much, maybe they’re too aggressive and it leads to conlficts with surrounding settlements and magical beings. No matter what, their work surely doesn’t go unnoticed and they attract a dragon. (Perhaps they wronged him in their pursuit and it wants revenge. Perhaps it’s just evil and they were unfortunat enough to wake its interest.) Elarion, the fearful fool, Reached her white branches toward the night, Asking the stars To receive their light And stop the fire of the raging dragon.

Now, that they’re faced with an enemy, that seems to be too powerful for them to defeat, their fear starts to make them foolish. Perhaps this is a hint, that they’re so desperate that they’d welcome any solution. Even if it is harmful and risky to themselves and others...like dark magic.

Before that happens though, they turn to the help of the stars which - as most assume - are the startouch elves (and maybe other starbound intelligent creatures) to save them from the dragon.

Receive their light could either just mean that they ask for their “blessing” and their mercy and hope the elves will stop the dragon for the humans. Or it could indicate that the humans asked to receive power - perhaps a star primal stone (which would be a literal physical embodiment of the stars’ light) - in order to fight the dragon themselves.

Personally I think it is the latter for a couple of reasons: It fits well with the theme of humans seeking out magic for their own gains and protection. Even without an arcanum humans could thrive a lot more if they owned more magical utensils like primal stones or arcane gems (they’d still be disadvantaged because those things are rare but if every city or so had their primal-stone equipped mage then they’s already be a much bigger force to be reckoned with). Also, unlike dark magic, it’s save. However the Danish text implies that humans aren’t considered equal. So perhaps the mere idea of humans using magic is considered an affront and their question for a primal stone could be seen as a big offense, making the elves even less willing to help.

Elarion, a heavy body, Cried as the stars of the sky turned to black, They turned their backs They concealed their light, They left Elarion to die.

A heavy body could mean that they’re already under attack and have taken substantial damage, making it hard for them to recover. For some reason - justified or not - the startouch elves abandoned the city. Maybe they didn’t see it as worthy because of their disdain for humans, maybe humans had done something arguably wrong in their attempts to keep their city strong and healthy and the elves thought its destruction was justified. As a consequence the city is facing its demise.

Elarion, her shell struggled death, She withered and suffered in darkness, Until the last star Linked from afar: a fire, a gift, a spark.

However in the last moment, right before their death, Elf Jesus - or Elf Satan - appears and gives them the power that they have so desperately searched for. A spark, magic.

Elarion, with her pure whiteness, Embraced the great black night flame. When she bent down, She declared her faith, She whispered, "Aaravos," his name.

The pure whiteness could have a double meaning, referring to the still innocent city on the one hand but perhaps also to the stone the city is primarily built with (not as important, but who knows). Maybe Elarion, being an important city, was famous for its white, bright cityscape.

Going back to the fearful fool, the city readily accepts a dark powerful force that is given to them.

Now here it becomes really interesting because the more obvious way to read it, is that Aaravos gave them dark magic directly. Either because he thought human empowerment justifies a possibly dangerous force since they have nothing else left. Or because he’s a bastard who wanted to cause a human-elf conflict deliberately.

No matter what, the city considers Aaravos their saviour and the humans pledge their loyalty to him (oh...). They become his disciples - maybe more in a scholarly way or maybe with much more religous undertones - but either way, they declare their faith to him and follow him.

The other interpretation, that siderealsentinel suggested, is that Aaravos merely tried to give them arcane magic but along the way humans discovered dark magic. Maybe they wrongfully associated his name with the practise by vocally following him/worshipping him and spreading the belief in Xadia that he is actually the source, when that was never his intention.

Another possibility is a middle-ground between these two, namle that he thought dark magic was a necessery tool for humans to connect to an arcanum (see Callum). So he introduced them to the dark flame, in an attempt to lead them to their arcanum but sadly humans didn’t really share his vision and thought dark magic was much more convinient. And that sweet moment of revenge, when you kill a dragon and actually use its body to conjure more magic that you can turn against other dragons.

I think this also opens up the possibility that Aaravos’ very bitter words to Viren are not in fact about the elves that imprisoned him (if he was imprisoned at all - that seems debatable, too), but about the humans to whom he extended loyalty and friendship but who...yes...ignored him. They failed his test of love. (Sorry, I’m really going overboard here. And eventually it could still very well relate to the elves and dragons. From interviews it sounds like he still has a special interest in humans? Or maybe he’s pissed at everyone. Everyone betrayed him. And on top of that he has to wear pants now.)

Elarion, black-eyed child, Her twisted roots spread deep and far, The humans’ might Sparked by the light Of Aaravos, her midnight star.

Elarion, being the capital of dark magic, spreads out. This could either mean that they literally expand and forcefully subjugate their surroundings, bringing dark magic to the humans living in the land they take in. Or it’s a metaphor for the citizens of Elarion merely spreading the word/the gospel and the practise of dark magic amongst humans.

They do all of this in the name of Aaravos - who may or may not like this depending on his intentions and the level of aggression the Elarion citizens employ.

However, one way or another, as their spiritual leader of some sorts he has become the guiding star of the city. The light in the dark midnight they had to face before. Either because he supported the spread of dark magic until it reached a desastrous tipping point (that he may or may not have wanted to happen) or because he accidently pushed them into the wrong direction and now they’re taking it everywhere and crediting him as their saviour (if only they’d be more like instagram art reposters in this regard...)

[sage-nebula]

The Dragon Prince = 1x01 “Echoes of Thunder”

I’ve decided to rewatch the first season of The Dragon Prince in lead up to the second, watching one episode per day until it’s time to start season two. I’m a bit behind since technically it’s Thursday morning, but it’s only been Thursday morning for two hours, so I think I can still get away with it.

Thoughts, observations, and analyses beneath the cut.

--- Let’s just get this out of the way right now: Dark magic is horrible, loathsome, evil, and completely unnecessary.

I’ve seen quite a bit of discourse over the story we’re presented with in the opening narration, mostly because so many people seem to empathize totally with the humans and view the elves and dragons (because yes, it was the elves and the dragons) banishing humans from Xadia to be unforgivable. While I agree that banishing all the humans as they did was wrong (there’s a reason why that scene was meant to invoke the image of the Trail of Tears according the creators), I can still understand why they chose to do what they did.

The thing is, as I said before, there is no excuse for dark magic, it is completely unnecessary. I’ve seen some people say that it was necessary because humans are unable to use magic naturally, but here’s the thing: humans don’t NEED to use magic. Claiming that their inability to use magic is a “disability” is a complete fallacy. A disability is something that limits a person’s physical or mental capabilities. Not being able to use magic does neither. As we see, Claudia uses dark magic for everything from lighting candles to making pancakes. She could do both things without the use of dark magic (and therefore without killing magical creatures), but she chooses not to. Why? Because dark magic is convenient. Because it’s fun. And we know that Claudia is not alone in this. According to the website, humans POACHED magical beings to use for dark magic. As we know from real life, poaching can and often does lead to extinction of different species. And what then, hm? What happens then? When one species dies off, human poaches would move on to the next, and the next, and the next. If you think that they would stop at only those creatures that don’t seem to have sapience, you’re wrong. As we see with how both Claudia and Viren regard the elves---as we see from what they do to Runaan, where they choose to chain him up and torture him instead of giving him a quick and merciful death like Soren was going to---we know that they wouldn’t. (And it’s not even just Runaan; Claudia views Azymondias’ egg as a thing, as a weapon. They don’t view magical beings, no matter how sapient, as people.)

Building on that, it’s implied that the original mage and those who followed in his footsteps used dark magic to actively do something horrible. Aaravos says that they gathered the lives of magical creatures to “unleash dark power,” and right after we see the original mage unleash a torrent of fire from his palm. This implies destruction, which in turn implies death, which in turn explains why the elves and the dragons were “horrified by what they saw.” We don’t know precisely what happened, but between the poaching and the stated dark power it can be inferred that it was something horrible. And in the interest of protecting their people (because it seems that the dragon king is the monarch over all of Xadia), they banished the humans as a result, not trusting any of them after what the dark magic poachers did.

Now, again: Banishing all the humans as they did wasn’t right, especially since I believe it has been stated that the journey was extremely harsh and that there were humans who died making the trip. Again, the initial scene was to invoke the Trail of Tears. But just because banishing the humans as they did wasn’t right doesn’t mean the humans are excused. Dark magic is wrong. Dark magic is evil, and vile, and inexcusable. It’s not like eating meat, wherein that is done because humans need to eat to survive. It’s killing for the sake of convenience, or even war. It’s killing so you can kill even more, as seen by how dark magic was used to slay Thunder. It’s not acceptable, and trying to make excuses for it just so you can paint the elves as the “bad guys” because you’re desperate for this to be a black and white narrative when it isn’t is honestly really disappointing.

--- Moving on from that, I like that we see that Callum has an affinity for dragons right away. It’s telling that the picture we see him drawing in his very first scene is one of a dragon, and that the dragon isn’t being slain, but rather, is doing the slaying: 

Moreover, he places himself in the dragon’s shoes by saying, “Take that, marshmallow monster!” as he draws. Aside from being interesting that he gives his dragon a high-pitched voice before he growls, it’s notable that he’s having the dragon kill a monster, that he sees himself as the dragon, and that one could even say the dragon is being heroic here. Callum is shown to have an affinity or fondness for dragons from the get-go, which is interesting if you consider the running theory right now that Thunder had a hand (or claw) in Sarai’s death, accidental or otherwise.

--- Viren covers up the mirror before he allows Marcos to enter his chamber to tell him about the moonshadow elves. We know that Claudia knows about the mirror, but Viren covering the mirror before allowing Marcos to enter implies that it’s a secret well-guarded. Much like the true fate of Azymondias’ egg, is this something that even Harrow doesn’t know about? Is Viren keeping it a secret from everyone aside from Claudia? And while I could understand fitting the egg under his cloak, how on earth did he abscond with an entire MIRROR from the dragon king’s quarters without anyone noticing if it really is a secret?

--- Aside from the “didn’t I tell you I’d have you executed” bit, we know that Viren waking Harrow up like this has happened before because Harrow knows it’s Viren before he even looks at him:

It’s a very subtle and easy to miss detail, but it’s there and I love it.

--- Harrow wants to send for Amaya first thing, but Viren shoots him down. Viren’s excuse for not calling for Amaya is that the breach is too far away and she’ll never make it in time, but she made it to the Banther Lodge quickly enough. That said, it is true that the Banther Lodge is closer to the breach than the castle . . . in any case, whether Viren was bullshitting an excuse to keep Amaya away or not, this could easily be a foreshadow to their future (bad) relationship.

--- The only moonshadow elf that talks to Rayla at all throughout the first episode is Runaan. It’s true that Runaan is the leader, the only named elf other than Rayla, as well as the one who raised her, and so it makes sense that he would be the one to talk to her. However, Rayla doesn’t seem particularly comfortable around the others, we know she’s the youngest of the lot, and this serves to really give a feeling of isolation for her among the other moonshadow elves. I’m going to make an independent post about this later once I get to the relevant episode in my rewatch, but I have a strong theory that Rayla has never had friends her own age before meeting Callum and Ezran (Ezran’s a bit younger, true, but still), and this is part of what makes me think that.

--- I always assumed that Ezran was stealing from the castle baker, but the “[the jelly tarts] are not for you!” line makes me think otherwise. If that’s just a random baker in the city, that’s not cool of Ezran to be stealing from him. I hope that’s not the case. (But that same baker is shown feeding Bait a jelly tart in the end credits illustration with a hush finger over his lips as if it’s their secret, so I don’t think he really hates feeding them snacks.)

--- It’s interesting that the very first impression we get of Soren is that of a hyper-competent, serious, and exasperated sword instructor. Soren is, as we all know, a goofball, but when he’s training Callum he’s extremely focused and extremely smart. While he may not have academic brilliance, it’s clear that he’s not stupid, particularly not in his area of expertise. I really like that his character is multi-faceted like this, but even more so I’m fascinated that Wonderstorm wanted to make sure that the first impression we had of Soren as a character is that he’s a skilled swordsman who knows what he’s talking about and what he’s doing.

--- On the other hand, the fact that he keeps hammering on about being a “step-prince” needs to end. It’s the one thing that makes me dislike Soren. I still don’t hate him, but goddamn if that’s not his least likable quality, particularly from someone who has more step-relatives than blood relatives at this point.

--- Callum saying “your sister” when talking to Soren about Claudia was probably more for us, the audience, but could also infer things about Callum and Claudia’s relationship. Callum pointing out that Claudia and Soren were siblings was probably so that we, as audience members, would know Soren and Claudia’s relationship right away, particularly since they don’t really look alike. However, Callum saying “your sister” could also imply that Callum is closer to Soren than Claudia, which would make sense since Soren is the one in charge of teaching him the sword. It could mean that although Callum and Claudia know each other, it’s more of an acquaintanceship than a friendship, with Callum pining from afar most of the time.

--- However obnoxious he is with the “step-prince” thing, it’s cute that Soren is willing to help Callum impress Claudia. It also tells us that if a romance did strike up between Callum and Claudia, Soren wouldn’t particularly mind.

--- That warm laugh in Harrow’s voice as he says “boy-oy-oy-oys!!” breaks my heart. He loves them so much ;A;

--- “Why’s he sending us away? Something’s wrong.” Later in the episode Callum snaps at Ezran for “not getting” that assassins are coming to kill Harrow. The thing is, that’s not true at all. Ezran is the first one to point out that something’s wrong with how they’re being sent away (though we can tell from Callum’s expression as he reassured Ezran that he agreed, even if he didn’t want to admit it). Ezran is sharper than perhaps is noticeable at times, and he prefers to distract and play around to keep his mind off scary things, instead of dwelling like Callum tends to.

--- “. . . unwanted visitors.” I’ve seen some people suggest that this could imply that Viren already has relations with elves from Xadia, but while I’m very curious about his upcoming relationship with Aaravos, I don’t think that he had contact with elves prior to this point. It’s possible, but I think that another strong possibility is that the “unwanted visitors” line is referring to the fact that magical creatures might cross the border unknowingly at times (because to a butterfly or a bird, borders don’t exist), and Viren takes them for his own use in spells. They’re just innocent creatures he’s able to hunt once they cross over. Moonshadow elf assassins . . . not so much.

--- Soren got yelled at for Callum overhearing about the assassination plot and it wasn’t even his fault. Maybe if Viren wanted to be discrete, he could have closed the window in the first place. Just saying.

--- Callum’s first instinct when learning Harrow might be assassinated is to run off and defend him from the assassins. My heart is broken again. ;A;

--- Once again Soren rubs in the “step” thing, and even worse this time. Callum is clearly worried about Harrow, he says that Harrow is his father and that’s why he wants to defend him, and Soren takes the opportunity to say, “Technically he’s your step father, but I suppose it’s similar.” This is absolutely atrocious behavior. It’s not cute, it’s not funny, it’s not charming, it’s not excusable. The only one who deserved to get knocked in the mud in that scene was Soren, sorry not sorry.

--- “Life is precious. Life is valuable. We take it, but we do not take it lightly.” This quote of Runaan’s is probably my favorite from the show. 

--- After the moon moth “fails to find” the moonshadow elves, Soren thinks it’s worthless, but he still doesn’t kill it. This is a notable difference between Soren and Claudia in a very subtle scene. Soren thinks the moonshadow moth is worthless, that it failed. But when it lands on his hand again after he comes to this conclusion, he just lifts his hand to let it fly away. He doesn’t hurt it, doesn’t kill it. Claudia, I have no doubt, would have either captured it again to use it in a spell later, or would have killed it on the spot to try to use right then and there. Claudia doesn’t value the lives of other beings, but Soren? Soren does.

--- I think Marcos might have known, or at least suspected, that the tree grove was an illusion, but he left anyway. We get a shot of him pausing significantly to stare at the “tree” that the moon moth landed on right before he leaves. But although he stares for a long moment, he ultimately does leave and follow with the others. I’ve always felt that perhaps he knew, or at least suspected, that Rayla and the others were there, but that he kept quiet to give Rayla the same grace she showed him the night before.