#i love all tdp characters

[soratsuart]

Random TDP thought but I very much enjoyed that the animal sidekicks all have distinctive personalities and are characters of their own to a certain point instead of just being kinda there and serving as comedic relief sometimes.

Like. Many shows will just give characters animal sidekicks for the sake of it and not do much with them with counted exceptions (looking at you The Owl House, I love the palismen but other than Flapjack most of them didn't do much, not even Luz's). In TDP, meanwhile we are introduced to Bait from episode 1 and he's always had a very distinct personality even before the reveal that Ezran can understand animals (thus allowing for better chances at having animals express themselves and giving them personalities).

Bait is grumpy and rolls his eyes at the kids antics a lot, but he undoubtedly loves them all a lot and tries to help them to the best of his ability, be it by acting as a comforting presence when they're sad, literally acting in the face of danger (as part of a plan or otherwise) to help them or doing silly things to cheer them up like helping Callum cheer up Rayla in s7. He also has his own stuff going on, tho! I enjoy how easily jealous he gets of all the other animals (or dragon) when he first meets them only to eventually warm up to them and protect them or comfort them too! He's such a fun character and TDP wouldn't be the same without him. When I tell you I'd die for this glowtoad-

And then there's Stella! When they introduced her I was a bit worried this would be one of those instances where they give the female protagonist an animal sidekick just cuz the male protagonists had one and then do nothing about her, but turns out I was wrong! Stella is so charismatic and fun. She's cute and loving but also mischievous. She has turned out to be such a great help for the characters and I like how much she tries to help Rayla, sometimes to her own detriment like when she fell trying to catch the pearl. The fact that she has an habit to just grab whatever catches her eye is so funny to, little thieving monkey... The fact that her magic makes her a legit threat in combat caught me by surprise tho (THE FUCKING PORTAL DECAPITATION IN THE FINALE, HELLO???)

I can't say much about the bailings because they don't have that much going on for them yet. They're literal babies and their personalities aren't that distinctive in comparison + haven't had the chance to develop themselves yet, but it's nice they have at least some preferences displayed already like Hat just deciding that they want to be with Soren specifically from the get go or Jellybug having a sweet tooth. I'm also a big fan of Sneezles sticking with Callum and helping Stella make Rayllum real again (our MVPs for real those two)

Over all just. Idk, I really like these little creatures a lot, they make me smile whenever they appear on screen and I really enjoy the fact the writers made sure we'd have reasons to care for and get attached to them. They're a very important part of this show too, even if they might not be as noticed as the human, elf and dragon characters

[venice-1987]

An annoying phenomenon I've noticed

Alternatively: Whatever you do, don't go onto the TDP reddit

(Alternatively, let people ship things)

[friendly-jester]

dumb of ass pure of heart is my absolute favorite character trope i think

[alasroundrock]

He's inviting you to join him in the ballpit.

Me and friends wanted to see child of divorce treated to a happy meal and some fun n chaos in the Mc Donald's ballpit so I took it upon myself to make it reality.

[imminent-danger-came]

So, this parallel, right.

That parallel and the 4x11 shadowpeach fight as a whole:

Macaque: "No that's YOU! You're the one always running off! Looking for more power, more sources of immortality—you're the one who wouldn't quit while were were ahead! Not the great sage, he's got to drag EVERYONE else into his mess!" Sun Wukong: "You're not in this mess, you're still free! Everything I did was for us!" Macaque: "You did it for yourself! You've become like this, obsessive demon! I told you going against the Jade Emperor was a bad idea, but no, Wukong doesn't listen to anyone! He just does whatever he wants! You put yourself here, not me."

(4x11 A Lifetime of Mistakes)

-

A large part of Wukong's motivation to keep getting more power was the freedom of it—the more power you have the easier it is to do whatever you want. It's easier to ignore everyone else and focus solely on yourself. It's also easier to ensure yourself and your loved one's are protected and have the ability to do what they want.

So, a punishment where the great Monkey King is imprisoned and trapped for hundreds of years? It's effective and tragic and fitting. Wukong wanted to have the freedom to protect the people he cared about, and in trying to reach for the power to do that, he completely had his freedom removed. He went from the mountain, to then the circlet, and then all of a sudden he had morals and was bound to those.

And then I think about his end of s3 choice to go face the Lady Bone Demon alone. Once again Wukong was trying to protect his loved ones (not to mention the whole reason he went after the Samadhi fire to begin with was to have the power, the freedom to stop LBD (which in itself is another case of SWK believing he needed to be stronger for such freedom)), but he also wanted to make sure MK and himself both had agency. He didn't want MK to have to fight LBD, and he didn't want LBD to end the world.

This is exactly the sentiment he tells Macaque in the 4x11 flashback:

Sun Wukong: "It's so we don't have to worry about anything or anyone ever again! Just living a lazy life, sitting in the sun, eatin' fruit, and doing whatever we want!"

But where does it all lead him?

To possession, imprisonment. Once again Wukong no longer had the freedom to do what he wanted (which is to protect the people he cares about). Once again in his attempts to help his loved one's, he only hurt them.

This can be applied to his relationship with Macaque, to MK in s2, hell, even Wukong trying to get the map in the first place left him powerless, which then led to him and the gang being imprisoned in 3x02. It's a familiar pattern, one we see with antagonist and protagonist alike.

MK in s2 trained to become more powerful, which in the end only strengthened LBD and forced him and his friends on the run. Mei in 3x12 protects MK by letting herself get captured and placed into LBD's crystal. Mei in 4x05 goes to protect MK, breaking her sword and leaving her vulnerable to being captured by Kui Mulang ("How am I supposed to protect everyone without my sword?"). DBK reached for more power and then became possessed by LBD, hurting his wife and son. Azure reached for the Jade Emperor's power and bound himself to that role, jeopardizing Peng and Yellowtusk in the process.

It's a cycle of reaching for power, endangering others, and then being imprisoned.

So anyways, here's why MK is going to lose control (his agency) next season and hurt his friends with his own- *get's shot*

[sunfire-shield]

I love how even when conveying possible end of world information Callum gets excited about telling a story and he’s overdramatising it and adding pauses for effect and going “and then I was like whaaaaat” until Rayla breaks in with a what’s the most efficient way to communicate information approach. And Callum’s like . . . ok sure. but where’s the drama. Theatre kid Callum my beloved

[madou-dilou]

I really hope we get to see Callum go unhinged and war crimes and murder WITHOUT Aaravos's influence because he talks big about darkness but...

"Messed up inside and I mess up everything I touch". Callum, you have done literally nothing wrong ever, you don't deserve the emo Byronic hero lexical field. But do you know who's EARNED the right to say that?

saves his dying son. But has to kill his mentor for it. His beloved wife is horrified, she leaves him, breaking their family.

ends up shifting the blame on the very baby boy he sacrificed everything to save. He became a monster to save Soren and monsters don't make good parents even when they try.

But had he not saved Soren, he would have hated Lissa for preventing him to do so, and the family would have been broken regardless

inadvertently has Claudia taking charge of his and Soren's emotional well-being since he's too much of a workaholic to do so himself

wants to save two realms from starvation. He does. But not only he fails to rescue the two queens of Duren, his friend dies in his arms rescuing him.

His only friend ends up blaming him for everything that ever went wrong before committing suicide. Viren tries to die for him instead but is rejected

He orders his son to kill the princes, Harrow's sons

He orders Claudia to choose to save the dragon egg over Soren if she is forced to choose. Which is understandable, after all Soren chose to be a soldier, and Viren has proven he was ready to do the same

He destroys Lux Aurea simply by walking in

Soren leaves him

He dies a horrifying death. Claudia, his sweet, treasured daughter, goes through unfathomable sufferings to bring him back, to the point that he realises the only good he can do for Claudia, for Soren, for the world, is to leave it. The world is better off without him and he finally knows it

He tries to apologise to Soren but realises it will only harm Soren even further

He commits suicide.

Meanwhile, what has Callum ever done wrong ?

Crushing already dead slugs.

Come on.

[reminiscentrainclouds]

The Dragon Prince season 6 spoilers below! Just a bunch of my thoughts because boy do I have a lot of them!

I still can't believe the way that whole switcheroo trick with the pearl backfired on Callum. It was so painful to watch because I knewwww it was going to happen the minute he decided to carry the fake down there by himself. Rayla was literally offering to go down there with him!! It would have been so easy for both of them to go down there just in case! I mean, the fake and the pearl both looked exactly the same; it would be easy to make a simple mistake and confuse them, so you'd want to make extra sure you were taking the right one with you!! Callum's confidence is very admirable, but considering he was so worried about it, he really should have been more cautious!

I just really like the way that part of the plot played out. This whole season had soooo much irony in it, but especially with this whole thing. The second it was revealed to be the fake pearl, I was like, "Yippee I was right!!" But also, "They're doomed." Because!! It's left completely unattended!!

And then Sol Regem started attacking Katolis and I was like NOOO IT'S ALL COMING TOGETHER. Although at first I was thinking it was gonna get like, smashed or something in the rubble and that would release Aaravos but man. MAN. There was so much more in store, that was a wild ride... Don't even get me started on Viren's sacrifice. I hate him and I think he got what he deserved, both in terms of what he lost and the crushing guilt he felt, but man. I was really sympathizing with him ever since he got revived, and that last scene with him hurt.

But it was a satisfying and fitting conclusion for him. He had intended on swearing off dark magic and attempting to right his wrongs, but instead, after a lifetime of sacrificing other lives for magic, he ends things by sacrificing his own life, which was already stolen after being revived anyway, to help save the people of Katolis. Sucks that he ultimately was convinced to use dark magic again, as if it was something he could never really escape, as if he never really learned anything, but the big difference was that he was sacrificing no other life than his own here. And he did help people. I'm probably massively misinterpreting everything because my interpretations are always kind of off...but he's just a really interesting character.... He made a lot of bad decisions but I understand his motivations, and I feel like he was really quite Doomed By The Narrative, pushed into a corner and faced with two equally bad decisions in many cases. He's the kind of bad guy who I really wish could have had the opportunity of not being a bad guy, y'know?

Aaravos is much worse and much less redeemable to me, but I feel a similar way about him. Like I Get It. Can't relate to what appears to be his thirst for revenge but I can understand. Learning about what happened to his daughter makes me angry on his behalf! The fact that all this had to happen in the first place hurts a lot! All this could really be blamed on that council of Startouch Elves, for what seemed like an extremely unnecessary punishment for his daughter. Although I'm curious about what more information we might get on the whole cosmic order and everything, I don't know. Taking Aaravos's child like that was unnecessarily cruel though; regardless of how serious of a crime or whatever giving humans magic was, there's no way she had bad intentions, and it's not like killing her would reverse what happened. AUGH anyway. What a season.

[eka-paige]

"So this is a thing again? You two?" Lujanne asking the real questions

[thedeadsun]

WARNING, SPOILERS FOR THE DRAGON PRINCE SEASON SEVEN

IF YOU HAVENT WATCHED IT ALL, I WOULD RECOMMENT NOT READING ON

tw: spoilers, my opinion

So, in general it was really awesome. i loved seeing our girl queen aanya, more jamaya, ruthari reunion, rayllum, etc.

however, i have quite a few more negative thoughts than i usually would with this show. so here:

-i really like that ezran got mad at runaan for murdering(?) king harrow. it felt real, and im glad we got to see ez's more aggressive side. i also like how callum got stuck between choosing his BROTHER or the LOVE OF HIS LIFE. what i didn't like is that callum really quickly decided to go with rayla. it doesnt make sense, thats his little brother who - in the very first season - he was willing to risk his life for so that ez didn't get murdered by assassins. it felt wrong and i think there should've been more of cal's inner conflict.

-the moonberry surprise scene? yeah, it was funny but also kinda js wtf. it felt like they were meming just for the sake of having more jokes, but idk maybe its js me

-aaravos. you guys dont understand how much i dislike this guy. i swear everyone in the fandom has a crush on him or smth, but i dont. he's a manipulator who targets vulnerable people. im so glad terry ran away from them. on that note tho, claudia didn't seem nearly as affected by his leaving as i thought she would be.

-on the topic of claudia, i really liked her dragon-form thingy. it's a really cool concept! however i think it shhould've gotten more attention the first time it happened, like we get a transformation sequence or something and the other characters getting really shocked and stuff

-now, i love my girl aanya, she's criminally underrated imo. however, i feel like her character was kind of awkwardly implemented into the season. like she was there just for ez, which isnt a problem, because i think they could be great friends. but when she shows him the gems... like, yeah, i think its awesome that she's trying to help ezran, but we only see that cave and absolutely nothing of the rest of duren which i think sucks and makes it feel kinda rushed. i've seen some people say that they think aanya has a crush on ez because she's always trying to get closer to him or wtvr but i disagree. i think she just really wants to be a good friend and she's also not super used to talking to kids her age. so, yk, it might seem like that, but imo shes just reaching out for someone who understands her struggles. im ngl i really hope they dont end up together in arc three because i'd like them both to be friends and have a sibling like relationship. but maybe js me idk

-janai and amaya were just absolutely amazing as always. i really liked how they had to return to lux aurea to stop aaravos. i feel like we shouldve seen some of janai's inner conflict w that tho bc she losf her sister there and now she's bringing her little brother there.

-speaking of karim. dont get me wrong, i hate him, but his death was so... bad. aaravos just got bored of him and smushed him? like... im not too mad bc i hate karim, but i js think that was a quick way to get rid of a character.

-again, i wish we got to see more of janai being upset because now she's lost both if her siblings, to the same person and in the same place. its deja vu and she's probably going to refuse to ever return to lux aurea.

-speaking of getting to lux aurea, i loved astrid little scene, asking everyone if they were aunt amaya. i love astrid sm and i love that she refused not help ray and cal. however, i feel like it would've been interesting to see her deal with consequences for taking off her blindfold. also, i think it would've been nice for astrid and kosmo to have had a really sweet goodbye-hugging moment before astrid left. also, more of kosmo's visions would be interesting.

-i think the part where we see that akiyu was killed. that was really sad and i liked that claudia was there to confront cal. also runaan being protective of callum was so sweet.

-zym. specifically, zym speaking. what the fuck. that was funny, but also super uncalled for. also, no hate bc i love dante, but i think a different voice actor wouldve been better. idk, i always thought that if zym spoke then he'd sound kinda more like walker scobell in the adam project. idk its kinda specific but yeah. also, i wish that zym had spoken during the actual fight during aaravos. like, maybe he goes "you're not gonna hurt anyone else as long as im around" then blasts lightning at him.

-speaking of that scene, im annoyed we didn't get to see the novablade in use, i think that would've been awesome.

-also did domina profundis die? bc i swear we never saw that happen. or maybe i just have bad memory lol.

-harrow and pip. what. what do you MEAN he's in the bird. that- what the shit??? he- what?? i was never a big fan of that theory... but. what. also it kinda felt like they added that just so there would be more cliffhangers but maybe thats just me.

thanks for reading my rant! let me know what you thought about all this!

-Evrkynd is so cool tho ngl. i mean how much building they did in a few months is kinda crazy but go them ig.

All in all, this season didn't really feel like how tdp normall feels. i wish it didn't feel so fast apced and i wish we got more in depths of characters. also, sm felt like it was there just for comedic value which felt kinda stupid tbh.

[tategaminu]

Rayla is such a sad girl, man. She gets misunderstood by 80% of the characters and by a lot of watchers. Some characters judging her in the show is understandable but the watchers?

The brutal antagonizing for not saying sorry to Callum (even tho they would also antagonize her if she said sorry as "sorry isn't enough" ahem)

Or ike watchers who describe Rayla as OOC in arc 2, which it's such an statement

like I guess getting kicked out of the place you called home without even asking for an explanation leading to a huge emotional scar, losing yourr parents without even knowing their status, getting obsessed with the same guy that took them away killing your partner to the point of abandoning him out of fear of losing the only loved one you have left because said former home made you believe you either complete the mission or you are a failure, spending alone two years hallucinating the guy you abandoned and chasing someone who doesn't even exist eventully leading you to notice leaving was a big mistake and you keep messing things up won't change as a person a sensitive and unstable teenager that was dumped by her parents at age nine and was forced to bury her feelings most of her life

yeah no. I'm sorry but her character core has never been about being an static girl boss, if everything she's been a changing girlfailure since season one.

[auggiedrawsturts]

I'm realising how little I actually remember of s5 bc wtf do you MEAN rayla got arrested wtf why did my brain erase this info?? WHY DO I REMEMBER THE WEDDING PREPARATIONS BUT NOT THE VIREN DREAM SEQUENCES

Also I'm getting closer to season 6 by the minute and if I don't get some REAL Ethari screen time soon I'm gonna lose it

[storybounded]

Watched season 6 of T.D.P tonight, and I was honestly?? Surprised?? It was enjoyable, and I'm glad we got some good character developments for many of the characters. Some of the plot twists I could see, but it never took me out of it.

Honestly, I was pretty worried about the writers 'throwing' away character's development (like my boy Soren) for the sake of comedy relief. And you know me, I'm VERY vocal about my confident boyos.

read more for spoilers, you've been warned.

But I am genuinely impressed they allowed Soren to be more than just his goofy self, and be angry and upset. Because god, he deserved to be angry, and that raw unabashed anger was delightful and painful at the same time. He DESERVED to let all that loose towards his father. He deserved to not give him an ounce of an apology.

ESPECIALLY after Viren decided to be cruel and petty to toddler Soren. Man forged his own dark path and made his own terrible choices to save his chronically sick baby boy from dying.

...and then turned around and became distant, cold and heartless to his now healthy boy because he lost everything in the process. His wife who left him because her husband turned into a monster, he killed his mentor, and all...

Soren didn't deserve any of that scorn from his father for something he had no choice in. For something he couldn't help.

All in all, it was decent, and I'm glad they toned down a lot of the random humor season 4 was riddled with, while keeping the comedy present. It was a perfect balance.

[raayllum]

intention vs reception, and breaking the cycle

I think one of the best ways TDP talks about family / cultural dynamics is how things can be taken in ways differently than they were meant to, particularly when it comes to parents and children. Dynamics and interpretations are a two way street, and your reasoning for something may not be something someone else can see, and they’ll make up another reasoning for it on their own end.

We see this pretty specifically with Harrow and Callum.

Harrow puts up a distance because he 1) wants to honour Callum’s possible relationship with his deceased biological father and 2) likely feels guilty over Sarai, and Callum growing up in the shadow of that grief. 

H: Over the years, there have been moments where I let there be a distance between us. Because I’m your stepfather, I was trying to give you the space I thought you needed to love your real father, even though he passed away. Now I wonder if I should have held you closer. I wonder if showing you how much I loved you would have been okay, and would not have disrespected your relationship with him. Callum, I know I’m not your birth father, but in my eyes and in my heart, you are my son. I see myself in you. I’m proud of you. And I love you unconditionally. 

So we know Harrow had nothing but good intentions, but those moments of distance - of Harrow trying to give Callum more thoughtfulness, not less - led to Callum being insecure and distant over his spot in the family, doubtful that Harrow truly thought of him as his son, exacerbated by Harrow’s royal status that Callum was married into through his mother. This was never Harrow’s intention, but Callum responded to how he was being treated and then conjured up his own reasonings that made sense to him to explain it.

E: Callum, why don’t you just call him Dad? C: Because he’s the king. And I’m his stepson. E: I think he would want you to. If you wanted to.

Their full understanding of each other comes too late, but it’s no less meaningful for Callum. Even if discussing and getting there wasn’t easy. 

We see Ezran struggle with this too, of what to take from his father (“I just wish Dad was here - he’d know what to do, y’know?”) as well as what to leave behind (“I don’t want to be that kind of king”). Rayla has a similarly complex relationship with her parents. Is feeling abandoned how Lain and Tiadrin meant to make her feel in Bloodmoon Huntress? Of course not. Was the other side of that when Rayla makes her peace with it supposed to give her this highly dangerous risk taking personality where she’ll go off alone in misguided attempts to protect people? Of course not.

The same way that no matter how angry, Runaan never would’ve wanted her to be Ghosted (he tried multiple times to send her home). He took her off the mission to protect her, not because she was ‘weak.’ The same way that Runaan was the best of his village / culture - a brave and selfless man who wanted to protect his people - and yet could also be cruel and unyielding in the face of innocence that didn’t fit with his preconceived notions. Even the whole “do not show fear” was likely meant to be far more akin to “don’t let fear control you” but as always, cultures are made up of people, and people are flawed and varied in their interpretations, and how they manifest them: 

“It’s okay to miss them,” she said gently.

“But it doesn’t do anything.”

“Feelings aren’t about productivity or results,” she said. Maybe a little ironically considering she was a Moonshadow elf, he thought at first, or maybe exactly why, when she finished. “They’re just our responses. Our reactions. We can only control them so much. And Garlaff knows they aren’t always rational, even if they’re what we feel.”

“I thought Moonshadow elves were against letting your emotions rule you.”

“We are,” she said. “Because it’s about controlling how you respond in the wake of your emotions, but we cannot make ourselves totally unfeeling. No matter how much we may wish we could, sometimes.” She smiled sadly. “But we do sometimes work too hard to control how we respond, to the point of shutting them down. Some of us are better at that than others.”

“You don’t have to tell me that,” he said, his lips twitching upwards. “I’m engaged to Rayla.”

“Which is why if you can’t control it—if you miss someone, in spite of everything—maybe it’s okay. I’ve seen your fear and aspects of your grief rule you, Callum. I’ve never seen you treat anyone worse for it.”

“Yeah, well...” He turned back towards the window. He thought of losing his temper with Ezran at Katolis, or the Caldera; Rayla at the Nexus after Claudia (a grimace tugged at his mouth) told him about Harrow. “I’m a lot better at that than I was when I was a kid.”

—Chapter 11 of “If Time Is Money,” published March 2020

We see this play out with Lissa and her children in particular, even more than with Viren perhaps. Lissa didn’t mean to give Claudia the trauma she did. She was doing her best to do the right thing by giving her children agency alongside Viren, and then trying to help them stay together. But that doesn’t mean there wasn’t massive harm done anyway. 

And it’s these gaps in interpretation and intention versus consequence that make these dynamics real and viable and well, emotionally poignant. We can do massive harm to one another, even when it’s the opposite of our intentions (Viren and Harrow are a fantastic, mutual example of this, and so is Callum and Rayla’s post-TTM fallout). 

Because, especially as these child characters grow older, eventually what we do with those interpretations fully become our own actions. None of them have had to go down the roads they have. Yes, our childhood experiences and the choices our parents make effect us, but we also 100% have the power to make different decisions and grow beyond those interpretations. That’s what Breaking the Cycle is all about. But...

E: Because people are still hurting and they are still angry. We can’t ignore that, or pretend it will go away. 

And I also think this commonality of difference between intention vs reception, shall we say, is also why Harrow’s advice in regards to how to break the cycle and free yourself from the past emphasizes understanding and imagination.

H: Reject the chains of history. Do not let the past define your future, as I did. Free yourself from the past. Learn from it, understand it, then let it go. Create a brighter future from your own hearts and imaginations. 

Over and over, we see characters (mostly antagonists and villains, but not always) insist that things have to go a certain way. We have to do this. I have to do that. This is the way things have always been. We must prevent a terrible future born from apparent weakness. 

History - of our families, of our lives, of ourselves, of our communities - demand certain things, and we can be chained down by those things so easily out of obligation, or fear, or guilt, or trying to find some way to feel loved or important. But, in reality

You just have to be willing to imagine something new, that the cycle can be broken, that you can be something else than what you were. You just have to try - and it is never too late to start trying. 

[imminent-danger-came]

I am having a moment

[wishingeel]

Finally FINALLY getting caught up on The Dragon Prince (stopped after season 3 for no reason, actually had been anticipating s4 SO much and just didn't get around to it when it finally aired) and I'm currently partway through s5 and THE PARALLELS.