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raayllum · 2 years ago

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How Terry and Claudia Compare / Contrast Rayllum in S4

So Terry/Claudia and Rayla/Callum parallel each other as couples. Let’s talk about it.

Intro

The first is their set up, after all:

Rayla and Claudia have been foils ever since the first season. Both failing their fathers in 1x03, with Claudia letting the egg slip through her fingers and Rayla taking a hard stance against Runaan. Them being pushed into their fathers’ death seeking paths of dark mage and assassin, and being pushed further into those roles in S4, somewhat or downright reluctantly. Wandering Xadia for two years on a quest regarding Viren — one to save him, one to kill him.

Then you have Terry and Callum’s parallels. Both are concerned with their names in 4x01, agency in 4x07, and feelings, well, throughout. In some ways their differences are more pronounced in S4 because of what Callum has been through and their differing trauma; for Callum, he chose to shut down. For Terry, he decided that he would be “strong enough to do whatever [he] needs to do and still have feelings — to feel all the feelings” (4x07). But I’d wager if we put Arc 1 Callum next to S4 Terry, their goofier, sweeter natures would stand out even more — even with their “trees to meet you” notwithstanding.

Not that this is how the parallels always go. Callum and Claudia are both mages and Aaravos’ pawns with Rayla and Terry along for the ride. Rayla and Terry also have parallels (“I think too much, get confused about the right thing to do” —1x08 / “Claudia says I think too much about everything, and that it makes me weird, and wonderful, so” —4x07).

However, we’ll return more specifically to the Claudia-Rayla, Terry-Callum parallels later in regards to S5 speculation, so put a pin in that. For now, let’s just look at episode set up and contrast, beginning sparingly in

4x01 — Partnership VS Isolation

On Callum’s birthday, and Viren’s re-birthday, the final two scenes of the episode both feature couples, introducing where each currently are in ways the episode hadn’t previously prioritized establishing.

In Claudia’s final scene in 4x01, we meet Terry and learn that they began dating during the timeskip. In Callum’s final scene in 4x01, we learn that Rayla’s been gone for at least a year if not longer, and that Callum’s worried sick / still madly in love with her. The contrast is immediate and apparent, amplified by Janai and Amaya’s engagement earlier on in the episode; two couples are happy together — hell, even Claudia is happy and with an elf no less, but Callum’s previously rock solid partnership has broken apart. He’s alone. [If you’re interested in a more thorough breakdown of this aspect and indeed 4x01 in general, please check out this meta regarding 4x01 and this one about 4x02.]

Where one couple came together during the timeskip, another fell apart, both featuring a human mage with abandonment issues and an elf with too good a heart and one too many thoughts (but again, more on that later).

We of course have the parallels already demonstrated above of Callum and Terry meeting their girlfriend’s father, respectively. Terry, by virtue of having a season sharing screentime with Viren, gets to develop a much more fleshed out relationship with him than Callum does with Ethari. What’s interesting, however, is that Terry is concerned (somewhat) with Viren’s approval, and he doesn’t comment often on Claudia and Viren’s actual dynamic, even if he does nudge at it:

This is a direct contrast to Callum, who does vehemently challenge the assigned role and treatment Rayla receives upon her homecoming and reunion with Ethari:

Claudia has also suffered greatly to bring her father back to the dead, Terry seemingly witnessing most of that, a tantamount of trauma being the reason Terry probably does step back and let her steer the ship (even more so than Viren does in S4, but getting off topic again). I think it speaks to Rayllum vs Clauderry’s roots - one was formed on the basis of a shared goal (returning Zym) vs supporting a singular goal primarily driven by one of them (resurrecting Claudia’s father), and then tag teaming their way through.

However, Ethari does take to Callum quickly when all is said and done, however brief, whereas the first time Viren seems to really consider Terry is in 4x04, but we’ll get there when we get there. For now, let’s talk about the episode that probably has some of the biggest and most overt parallels between these two couples in the season, which is

4x03 - Mornings and Murder

We cut from Rayllum at nighttime, despondent and salvaging something of a reunion that didn’t go the way either of them actually want, to Claudia and Terry, flirting and talking happily even and bathed in the rising sunlight even if they’re about to attempt something dangerous.

Then we get an exchange from Claudia and Terry that should feel eerily familiar, in both dialogue and in action:

Rayla: Just one more thing. I go into the portal alone. Callum: Rayla—

Rayla: No. You said it was dangerous. I’m not going to risk both of us. Callum: Fine. But the second it seems like you’re in danger, I’m jumping in after you.

Terry: But since you’re going in alone, you need to promise me you’ll signal if you need help.

A bag is handed over, a deal is made, and we see Rayla and Claudia offer more of their independent streaks (“It’s down to me, isn’t it? Of course it is” —Rayla, 1x05 / “It’s up to me again, she thought. It’s always up to me” —Claudia, Lost Child short story) in the face of boyfriends who would really prefer they don’t risk themselves like this. Now for Terry, this does make more sense — his plant powers are useful when he has the element of surprise, but he doesn’t seem like a particularly combative elf or that he has much of a background in fighting — whereas Callum is perfectly capable of both of those things as a mage. However, Terry is still the one to bail Claudia out, much like how Callum ends up saving Rayla and helping them both escape in Through the Moon, and we see Rayla’s duality — Callum is allowed to risk his life for the things he believes in, and she’ll even encourage and offer to fight by his side, when those things aren’t her.

Rayllum do get a sweet morning scene in 4x03, though, with Terry tending to Claudia’s hair, and Rayla taking care of well, her prince’s less than dignified drool, but the softness remains largely the same (even if, like Claudia, she departs at the end of the scene).

The bulk and perhaps most immediate parallel, though, is how much Rayla and Callum are tied to Claudia and Terry through Ezran’s speech. While it is about many things and a reiteration of the show’s overall themes of breaking the cycle of violence and vengeance, it is also applying more literally to both Claudia’s ongoing fight with Ibis in the first half of his speech, and Callum’s feelings about Rayla throughout the season in the second half of his speech.

Ezran: It hurts! I feel pain about this and I am angry! We all want peace and we all want love. But violence tests us. In a twisted way, it converts us to its cause. Because pain and loss feel so terrible inside, you want to hate. You want to hurt someone else. So what do we do? How can we stop this cycle? Violence, loss, pain. Violence, loss, pain. More violence. Stop! Stop. I just want to yell stop. But that’s not enough. It won’t work.

Ezran: But… It’s not that easy or simple. Because people are still hurting and they are still angry. We can’t ignore that, or pretend it will go away. Somehow, we have to hold it all in our hearts at the same time. We have to acknowledge the weight of the pain and loss, but open up our eyes and allow ourselves to hope and maybe forgive and love again.

Callum: You’re right, though. It feels silly with everything that’s going on, but... I don’t know how to feel about Rayla either. Ezran: She’s been trying hard to get things back like they were. Callum: But things aren’t like they were. And she messed them up! And when she came back, I was so happy but so mad at the same time. I wish I could just forgive her, but it—it—it’s so hard.

The most worrisome thing, however, even if we don’t know which side of Rayllum (or possibly both) it may parallel in the future is what Terry infamously does for Claudia.

Now, there’s the obvious takeaways here: the parallels between this scene and Soren stabbing Viren in 3x09; the fact that Claudia’s path will continue to perpetuate the cycle and hurt the people she loves by proxy; the way the Dragon Prince rarely portrays murder in a less than devastating note; to further Terry’s character and his unique role to play; to offer up parallels to Viren that are explored next episode and even Callum later on in the season; and last but not least to harken back to Runaan’s words that Claudia definitely hasn’t lived by—“Life is valuable. Life is precious. We take it, but we do not take it lightly.”

But Ibis’ murder and Terry’s subsequent breakdown over taking a life does raise certain questions about Callum and Rayla going forward in two key ways, respectively. Rayla’s is the most straight forward so I’ll start there.

One of the ways that Terry and Rayla are most bound, currently, is their relationship to killing. For the first three seasons, Rayla is primarily an assassin who has never taken a life, something that is a source of shame, transformation, and occasional pride for her (although not often). It is in fact her level of doubt / belief in her own inevitability of failure that pressures into her concluding that Viren is secretly, somehow alive, propelling her to leave in Through the Moon. Then 4x03 gives us Terry, a similarly good hearted elf, who flat out breaks down sobbing after taking an innocent life - and admittedly one that was about to take Claudia’s. Then you have Callum later on in the season, for a variety of complicated reasons and muddled emotionally processing on all ends, asking Rayla to do the same thing. To take his life before he can hurt someone else - the people he cares about, as the camera pans right to showing her in the shot. Ouch.

It’s pretty clear that Rayla will not successfully and/or permanently murder Callum, if she’s even willing to attempt it at all, even in self defense. However, through Terry, the show explores the heaviness of doing something terrible largely against your will, under the burden of desperation or threat of coercion, something that both Callum and Rayla are going to have to wrestle with. For Callum, he’s already grappling with it (“I’m afraid he’ll force me to do awful things”), and for Rayla, she’ll be forced to wrestle with it at the same time as him if Aaravos does take him over again.

This is also where Callum’s parallels to Terry gets particularly interesting as well. The Dragon Prince repeatedly frames murder in the face of self defense (specifically in defense of someone else) as something that removes agency:

This is exactly what Callum is worried about - having no choice because of Aaravos’ ability to possess him - even if there could be other forms of coercion and manipulation at play. Viren did plenty of terrible things to protect his family and says as much outright in 4x04; Soren did something awful to protect Ezran in 3x09; and Viren was prepared to do something awful but “necessary” in murdering a baby, even if he didn’t go through with it, pulled in by the allure of power.

Which is to say: Rayla’s test of love will probably be refusing to kill Callum, and working to save him from possession. Thus, that begs the question of what Callum’s test will be, specifically: What will he do to protect his loved ones, perhaps Rayla in particular?

Only time can tell, but I think S5 is setting up to see the lengths Callum and Terry will be willing to go to, and what their respective girlfriends are willing, or not willing, to ask of them, in order to save their girlfriends’ parents, and/or to free/stop Aaravos in the first place.

But that’s all speculative. For now I want to talk about one of the smaller but still sweet parallels in the season, as well as one of the more interesting tradeoffs.

4x04 - Watching Your Lover Sleep / The Middle of the Night

There are four scenes this season where Character A watches Character B, with whom they have/had a romantic entanglement, sleep, which isn’t a ton but is still funny that it happened four times. I’ve already talked about one of them in 4x03 with Rayla watching Callum sleep. 4x04 boasts the second one (and the only one that doesn’t involve Callum at all) with Terry watching Claudia sleep, and is also one of my favourite scenes for their dynamic.

Then Callum and Rayla have another one, in 4x06 (which is also one of my favourite pining Rayla looks, ever).

Last but not least we have Claudia also overlooking a sleeping Callum in 4x09, but with a decidedly different reaction compared to the previous three scenes.

Then of course, you have the parallels in 4x04 of Terry and Rayla both sobbing in the middle of the night, accidentally waking Viren and Callum respectively. Again, their similarities and differences between all four are highlighted in a quite clear contrast. Terry is apologetic but opens up without hesitation, while Viren mostly silently listens, sympathizes somewhat, and then offers his “Get a grip” and goes back to sleep. Meanwhile upon being caught, Rayla attempts to shut Callum out four times (“Get away from me” + pushing him away, running away, pushing him away again + “Please leave me alone, I don’t want you to see me like this,” and walking away when he attempts to put a hand on her shoulder). Callum, however, persists, and says all the right things, leading to a much better resolution, even if the weight of Rayla’s failure and exile hasn’t entirely left her.

Now for the last episode specific focus, which is:

4x09 - Hand over Heart

The season finale brings both couples, somewhat, to a crossroads of sorts. Rayla, for her part, sees Viren again, and has her own two cakes moment: can she chase what she feels she has to do, her self-proclaimed duty, without risking the loss of Callum - whether as a person to death, or as a partner? And Callum, for a variety of complex reasons, says “Yes,” she can.

Rayla’s drive causes her to clash directly with Claudia, as she takes Terry hostage and Claudia turns the tables on her, flaunting the coins. But where Callum gives a complicated ‘approval’ and show of unconditional love, Terry rightfully pulls Claudia back to herself through his disapproval.

T: But what you just did, the way you tricked that Moonshadow elf? It was just... cruel.

On a surface level, we can read Callum’s “I know” as him finally believing in Rayla’s reason (even if I don’t think that’s quite right), but I do think it’s interesting, then, that Claudia giving back the coins is what allowed each girl to ‘come back’ in a way. For Rayla, it was a literal return (as who knows if she would’ve left the cave, or not gone after the mage fam further, without the need/desire to protect the coins) and for Claudia, an emotional/metaphorical one.

With some final, heartbreaking 4x09 specific parallels to boot:

Honourary Mentions

Other fun parallels that didn’t fit an episode focus:

Callum and Terry’s first scenes in episode 4x01, in some ways largely opening and closing their respective plot lines (A plot in Katolis, B plot in the cave) are focused on their names. Callum stumbles through his different titles while Terry emphasizes his own name, amid trying to figure out which title, if any, he should use for Viren.

This is then impressed upon further with the emphasis on agency in 4x07.

The fact that Terry and Callum are both recipients of canonical panic attacks.

Worry over their girls not being back yet, although for Terry it is of course a much, much briefer separation. (Terry, interestingly enough, also waltzes in and saves Claudia from Soren’s impromptu ‘kidnapping’ / restraining, for lack of a better word.)

Last but not least, I want to talk a little bit more about the Rayla-Claudia parallels this season. It’s a little tricky, as most of their big parallels have to do more with Viren-Callum and Claudia-Rayla, respectively, with the bulk of the Clauderry-Rayllum ones listed up above. However, there are still some worth mentioning.

Rayla and Claudia are both defined by the parents who chose to leave (and to not come back, for forever if not years). They are both acting more and more like their fathers (Rayla with Runaan, and Claudia with Viren) as they also work to one day free/save them in S5. Rayla is far more jaded than she used to be, and Claudia is likewise increasingly unstable, even if both girl fronts decently well at being ‘fine’ most of the time. I am deeply curious to see where they will go as individuals and where their relationships with Terry and Callum will go, as well - whether each one will get better, worse, or something in between. Luckily, just a little over one more month to find out!

In Conclusion

Rayla and Callum have always been the pairing in the show the most prone to having parallels with the show’s other main couples. From a kiss-embrace-forehead touch like the Queens of Duren, holding hands while vowing to protect Azymondias like Lain and Tiadrin, sadly watching your loved one disappear onto the horizon to save someone like Harrow and Sarai, or a bittersweet goodbye kiss initiated by an elf who’s too self sacrificial for their own good like Runaan and Ethari, it seems Rayllum’s parallels to Claudia/Terry are no exception.

It makes me wonder if beyond S5, and if Claudia and Terry to have a physical-ideological split, if Callum and Rayla will also factor into what helps Claudia and Terry repair their dynamic. Forgiveness and being able to move forward, together, are tenets that Callum and Rayla still very much have to learn - but maybe they could pass it onto someone else, someday, too.

#rayllum #clauderry #claudia x terry #s4 #analysis #analysis series #tdp #canon six #parallels #trees to meet you #raydia #callum x claudia #arc 2 #the dragon prince #oof y'know?

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