#moon arcanum theory

[raayllum]

Since Callum now understands the Ocean arcanum, thoughts on the possibility of him connecting to the Moon primal source in season/book 6?

I think it's still the most likely given the associations the Moon has - being both light and dark at the same time, being able to have multiple things coexist and reconciled. That would make a lot of sense given Callum's "dark path" and him still needing to "find the light," to accept that although this darkness is a part of him (hi ocean arcanum) but that it's not all of him by any means. That, and all the foreshadowing from prior seasons (S1-S4) is still very much there. I've always thought that Callum connecting to the moon arcanum would make the most sense if it mirrored his reconnection with Rayla arc, so the fact they're still in that process means it's absolutely up for grabs, I think

[parroset]

Flowers of Elarion

Here's my interpretation on Aaravos with some flowers of Elarion (in glow pens because it's fun). I based them off of hyacinths for several reasons:

1. Hyacinths are my favorite flowers

2. Hyacinths smell AMAZING, and Tales of Xadia states that flowers of Elarion "have a scent that can soothe the most ragged spirit":

3. In flower language, hyacinths can symbolize jealousy, desire for forgiveness, and sincerity, among other things:

To me, this fits Lasair's story well. Leaving behind a flower as a gift as a way of asking for forgiveness for what they've stolen gives the gesture a bit more meaning. The sincerity/jealousy not only represents duality (a theme that is prevalent within the flowers of Elarion story) but also represents Lasair's feelings of jealousy for humans, who have enough to survive and don't need to steal, and the sincere desire for friendship and forgiveness.

I just think they're neat.

[ask-ethari-anything]

What do think about an eclipse?

Lunar, or solar? It's hard to overstate the difference as far as Moonshadow elves are concerned!

[sorinethemastermind]

An Assassin Analysis

I was honestly not expecting to see Ram, Skor, Callisto, and Andromeda again. I thought that their role in the story had ended in Season One, but I especially thought that after their souls passed on in Through the Moon.

When Rayla first went through the portal at the Moon Nexus she encountered them; something that was surprising to me. I had assumed that they, not turned into coins or held in limbo by Aaravos, would simply have passed on. But we discovered in the comic that their spirits were not at peace;

After seeing that the binding was gone from Rayla's wrist, they assumed that meant she had completed their mission and killed Ezran. They vanished before she was able correct them. I took this as them passing on in peace once they believed that their mission had been completed.

So why, now, are we seeing them again?

"The Keeper has a secret." That is what the Instagram post with the new screen shots says. So... are the assassins connected to The Keeper's secret?

Based on the Moon arcanum's relationship with the afterlife, death, and the thin line between reality and illusion, my first thought is that The Keeper is some sort of "Keeper of Souls". But that doesn't make sense, because I don't think that Ram, Skor, Callisto, and Andromeda are going to come back. I think that this is an illusion of them. Or, at most, their spirits being called back to speak one final time (maybe my theory can be correct).

I don't think that they're really there, and I don't think that they'll be brought back from death.

In the image, we see them holding out their hands as if to cup one of the metal lotuses that Ethari made, though they're empty.

And beyond that, I feel like what Rayla is standing in with them could be the pool of water in the Silvergrove, where said lotuses are placed.

One theory I have is that Rayla is in a sort of "trial" to have her status as a Ghost removed. But there are many more options.

Whatever the case, this makes me think that we will definitely be seeing the Silvergrove again. But does that mean that Runaan and Rayla are going to go off on a solo mission while Callum heads to Katolis?

Another option is that, if my theory is correct and The Keeper does have a connection to the afterlife, they could potentially use him to commune with the spirit of those that originally put Aaravos away; learning the whereabouts of the Nova Blade.

So maybe they go to the Silvergrove for help, and to reunite Runaan and Ethari, but before The Keeper will help them Rayla must face what happened back in Season One and her status amongst the elves there as a Ghost.

[hiccupshypotheticalleftsock]

Really leaning into the theory that Callum won't use dark magic in s7. Yes, they have set the stakes high and made the perfect set up for dark magic to be used again, BUT, those same stakes still remain if he doesn't succumb to them and instead chooses to not, to find another way which isn't dark magic. Especially since there is a theme in the show of dark magic being the second option, the only option, the creative solution, basically the easy way out.

I want Callum to see that he can do things the hard way. To affirm his beliefs that dark magic isn't necessary. I want him to discover a connection to the Moon Arcanum, (which is tied to illusions and truth ect ect) without using dark magic for a third time. Because he is the 'destiny is a book you write yourself' guy.

[stari-hun]

More No Storm but Vertin has a Time Traveling Arcanum Content

Inaccurately Named Modern AU

* Apeiron

I think with like knowledge and math becoming more accessible sooo many people in Apeiron would go to the outside world to share their knowledge because 77 (37s mom) showed that even the people most faithful to their school of thought are interested in calculation machines. Give them Mathway.com and people would lose their minds.

6 would be a professional gamer. In fact he’d take so well to modern society that he’d be one of those people thriving in the 2020 lockdown and being away from Apeiron. Afterwards he’d also recover fast and put daily walks into his schedule or something cause he knows how badly his physical would’ve gotten. 6 would have an Instagram that’s the weirdest thing ever. People use it as inspiration for arg characters because he unintentionally posts with the vibe of someone extremely inhuman, and even though with the internet most humans would be aware of nonhuman arcanist they’d still be like what… There’s several video essays breaking down theories on who or what he might be. On the other side his posts are all pictures of objects he sees on daily walks that he sees have interesting dimensions to them or placement in a scene. The issue is that he doesn’t give any preamble or context to his math like 210 who wants to share math with the world would, or 37 who genuinely wants to teach, he just drops it in the caption and closes the app. He’d also have a YouTube explaining how he wins matches with others and insane speedrun content and how he beats games in under three minutes in extremely stupid calculations and exploits. His uploads are once in a blue moon but he’s a really popular faceless YouTuber (unlike 37 he reads comments and thinks about the questions he gets a lot, and even answers them in other videos). Also his like daily wanderings until he wants to go back home and risk interaction with others.

37 would get ahold of the internet like fish to water. She’d be an early YouTuber on 6’s recommendation and get super popular without realizing it. Her upload schedule is a “think of something start recording it and post with little to no editing” kinda style that for her ends up being 6-12 videos per week. 37 probably wouldn’t even realize there’s a comment section but Sophia knows it. Sometimes she’ll relay the comments to her from fans if they’re questions or constructive, but she mostly keeps them for herself because she’s happy 37 is branching out even if she isn’t entirely meaning too. I think 37’s content is a personality type. She’s giving constructive lessons that are informative but her personality and voice made her gain an audience mostly there to listen to her as background noise while she does homework. She does have a very loyal core audience of economists and radiologists since the topic she circles back around to the most is patterns in the weather and how they can be applied to daily life. Her most viewed video would be a super complicated explanation on how to predict when the next storm will happen in your area, and the top comment is a link to a website where someone made it into a calculator (it works with like a 5% chance of error). Also fun fact Vertin tried to use it once and the website was down for a week after she tried it. Sophia would have more kids centered content. Her follower base would mostly be parents who sit their kids in front of an iPad during work, but heavily monitoring their internet use and want them to watch content that’s good for them. She’d be faceless but unintentionally blow up super hard for story reading content, and her process for making up original stories. Afterwards she’d take a huge social media break entirely, only helping 37 with hers before slowly going back to her usual audiobook content with locked comments.

On that note, it’s slightlyyyy canon based, but I also think 210 would become good friends with Sweetheart after the island opened up and he reached out to her through Pandora to be their liaison. They’d do a ton of promotions and fashion statements. 210 already has an established interest in beauty, arts, and how they tie to math, and Sweetheart as a person who’s mathematically perfect would be his best excuse to study arts. Then Sweetheart would enjoy the company of any asexual, especially if they’re good for her image, and 210 is genuinely there to vibe and enjoy the beauty of the world. I also feel like he’d have one of those instagrams where he’s super popular for his looks but vast majority of his posts are sky pics and pictures of flora he sees.

I think in the story Sweetheart and Pandora are already on pretty good terms but I think in a Modern!Twist AU Pandora would be even more active in her writing. I think she’d have a small but famous journalism company where she employs only those she deems have a fresh perspective in a way she can’t supply. I talk about it in my other post, but Marcus interns there after getting an associates degree journalism during her dual enrollment and finishing Highschool. 210 and her run top series in UTTU for numbers and art analysis in a way people hadn’t thought of before, and Marcus runs a deep dive on historical spaces and the hidden stories within them.

UTTU would sometimes have interview segments where guest slots of an employee’s choosing (approved of by Pandora) will get a special feature. Windsong is the most reoccurring interviewee alongside Vila for research papers in ley lines and ecosystem observations respectively. Both are very popular features every time due to how they provide perspective on Marcus’ and 210’s segments.

[st-va]

The latest Hunter: the parenting ep was so fucking cool, i think I was watching it for 2/2.5 hours with a friend cause we were analysing it so much. Forgetting the plot and all the amazing lore jam-packed into that ep, the ANIMATION? Holy shit! I didn't know that it could get better AND keep its quirkiness!

Who is the Ghoul analysis after the cut!

Okay so there are two forces at play in that house, throughout the whole episode there are hints of a werewolf - in the first room, that is the dinning room, there is a wardrobe that has scratch marks and the door underneath the first floor stairs(the one that big D came through) ALSO has them. Oh, it's also a FULL MOON.

Now, the ghoul and the warewolf could be working independently, completely unaware of eachother, but it is my theory that the warewolf is Matilda and the ghoul is Amanda.

There is a little time jump that skipped some interactions. After Elise stole the smokes and keys (staff access) from Giles, she must have given them to Grim. She, in turn, went to the Security room through the vents (she was said to be good at going through them and they said that the security room is the most ventilated room). In the map it is said that Matilda came to the kitchen from the security room and she has acquired Giles' smokes, meaning that she prob caught Grim sneaking and Grim gave her his smokes in exchange for silence.

Why was Matilda going to the Security Room? And moreover, when Kitten came to the kitchen Amanda said that they could let him in to the Security room (Matilda being against the idea). When the topic of the Hunting came around, neither of them really looked scared. Amanda was just standing there, looking a bit sad or maybe disapprovingly at Matilda, and Matilda was a bit disgruntled, but nothing more really.

Matilda also brought out the subject of "Is the Ghoul really that bad?", which is honestly sending red flags all around for me, to be honest. Sure, she might genuinely be afraid and is trying to be strong, but, honestly? She looked sad.

I honestly do not know how Matilda would have gotten access to the Archives. She couldn't have stolen Remoud's keys cause D stole them seconds before unlocking the door, sure as hell couldn't have stolen Occam's so that leaves Lord Fatigue and the doctor.

Lord Fatigue was with the boys and there was such a small window of opportunity to yoink the keys that it seems impossible, but the doctor is the other option and she hasn't gotten that much screen time, plus it would make sense to get rid of the Lord later. So I'm sticking with Lord Fatigue being the one who got mugged. Again, this part of my theory is very loose, I couldn't find any evidence.

I want to call attention to how fucking furious Matilda looked after they found Occam incapacitated.

I don't think that is the face someone being sad that her employer is knocked down a peg and won't be able to pay her on time hhh. Amanda's expression is on point, she looks terrified but I will choose to believe that she is seeing the consequences of her friend's actions, in order to help her. Remember, Amanda is the Ghoul and Matilda the Warewolf.

Matilda's expression could also be a symptom of a withdrawal. Now, I will be honest. I know the bare minimum of the lore surrounding Vampire: The Masquerade and my friend couldn't find the exact thing that happens to warewolves during a full moon in this setting, so I'm basing this on pure speculation, but she could be trying to refrain from transmutating and, without her smokes, that could be more of a mental feat.

Moving on, the most damning information that we got out of the episode was after Amanda was fried, she said Baba Yaga. Holy fuck. With how the Arcanum is, there is no way in hell they would let the "Help" know of such a powerful vampire. I really couldn't think of another way she would acquire this knowledge if she isnt connected to the Masquerade in any way.

When the gang went to the pub, Matilda looked tilted as all hell.

The Ghoul is currently incapacitated, there's no way in hell that Amanda did this. This kill was the work of the Warewolf, with how fucking violent it was. Connecting this with my previous conjecture that Lord Fatigue was the one that got his keys stolen, he is a fucking Lycanthropy professor! I think, in Matilda's eyes, he was a threat and she wanted to get rid of him because it was only a matter of time before he found out. Plus, she had to turn at some point and she would have already been furious that they have been torturing her friend.

It was a golden opportunity as well. From the beginning of the episode, we know that Spit has been experiencing Delirium, the fear that comes with seeing the supernatural and that fear is accompanied with memory loss of the actual event. Git was locked in the bathroom and so Matilda could go ham on taking her rage out on Lord Fatigue.

Whoo! This has been a long one, lastly I want to point out some small things that I appreciated.

Big D going into the Harry Potter room in order to investigate the claw marks.

Marcus and Harry being complete bros and going to lift instead of dealing with an emotion situation.

Boy

Brock not sitting down when they were all gathered in the Dining room at the beginning and later saying that his kneecaps were flattened.

D's booty shorts

Honestly, this series is amazing, I don't think I've ever watched something this high quality with this much love, thought and humanity being put behind it. The work that Alfabusa and the gang are putting into making every single frame a banger is phenomenal! I really do not understand how they keep on improving.

What did you guys think? Am I mentally deranged, or am I and my friend onto something? Please tell me what you think of my lil Game Theory and if I missed anything!

[bisexualenbyblueberry]

OKAY OKAY OKAY

EVERYTHING I, A DUMBASS, NOTICED

I watched it on Netflix several times and it says in the subtitles that the British person doing the beginning narration is named Kosmo. Do with that what you will.

In what Kosmo is saying there's obviously some "we are all stardust" symbolism, but what exactly does he mean by "a thousand eyes"? Could it have something to do with the fact that the celestial elves all hide their eyes? I'm honestly guessing that Kosmo might be the elf that's beside Astrid in some of the shots, the one with some orange hair? Also off topic but Astrid and possibly-Kosmo both have other hair colors peeking out from the navy, do we think that their culture dyes their hair to match the color of the night sky?

3. The pillars have something that looks very similar to Viren's staff in them. This enforces the theory that the celestial elves worship or are related to Aaravos in some way, because isn't it implied/confirmed that Aaravos gave Ziard that staff? Also, the pillars are all a slightly different shade, and I'm pretty sure they're supposed to be the arcanums (sun, moon, ocean and earth here)

4. Karim got his ring back, along with that new outfit

5. You can see Pyrrah and Zym approaching in the upper right corner here, along with something on the ground- the shadowpaw, maybe? (Also, sorry about the subtitles- I took these in a rush)

6. We finally found that salad mixer! Also, if the pillars are supposed to be representing the primal sources, why are there EIGHT of them? If you look close enough, the visible one in the center here is purple. I suppose this could have something to do with Aaravos giving humanity dark magic, if they do worship him? (Also, please note the lyric "the stars fall")

(Editing: I wrote seven. There are eight. I was counting in a rush. I apologize, I'm, once again, a dumbass)

7. WHY IS RUNAAN CORRUPTED? I'm praying to God this is a nightmare of some sort. The background is starry, so this is definitely something happening at the starscraper-how on earth could he have gotten corrupted??

(Editing: Like, the same corruption the banther had)

8. Okay, this may be something they edited for the trailer itself, but look at this!! Also, I do believe this is supposed to be Finnegrin's office. Maybe Callum has another meeting with Aaravos in his nightmares and shows up where he did dark magic the second time while Aaravos tries to convince him to join his side while showing him a corrupted version of himself- sort of like when he went into that first dark magic trance? And Aaravos is sort of smiling smugly in the next shot.

9. Okay, crying aside, WHY IS HE IN THE VALLEY OF THE LOST? Or whatever the place where Harrow and Sarai's statues are is called? Like, same steps, same pire, that is definitely the valley of the lost. He couldn't have ended up there by himself, could he? And if he went with Claudia to do whatever it is she wants to do now (I guess chase after Viren, maybe?) I guess he did forgive her for the whole almost-stabbing-him-and-leaving-him-on-the-beach debacle?

10. Honestly no idea about the context for this one, there's blood in his hair and I felt like pointing that out.

(Editing: Also those are the little brick towers that are on that bridge thing where Soren does lunges and talks to Viren and Callum and shit. So he is beat senseless, but also in Katolis?)

11. I'm pretty sure if you zoom in close enough, that's Claudia (or maybe Viren, not sure)- so Terry did indeed follow her to the valley of the lost. No idea what she's up to, but something bad enough to make Terry cry.

And that's it! God, I'm excited. the 26th can't come fast enough

[flamebunnyy]

A few headcanons for my WoL. I'll just dump all the lore I have under the cut.

Lominsan Astrologians The Lominsan branch of Astrology is still a very new and experimental branch of the secretive Sharleyan/Ishgardian tradition. Initiated by a senior Arcanist Skywatcher of Mealvaan's Gate discovering several Astrology texts and star-charts being used as fish wrapping after their daily walk home by the Fishing Guild, the novel idea of using the arrangement of the heavens as the guiding geometry and the familiarity of using astral navigation warranted further exploration. Unlike their distant cousins, Lominsan Astrology has a heavy navigational and short-term predictive bent, focusing on extrapolating the present and past by projecting their current state onto the cycle of the heavens via arcanum and predicting their future state by backprojecting their transformation through the tabulated movements of the stars. This, of course, is incredibly math heavy, having already produced several new mathematical theories and driven at least four (4) Arcanists insane from the long nights spent in the meeting room they've barricaded themselves in. The lack of access to examples of astrologian planispheres, arms, and even decks of cards has required Lominsan Astrologians to make do with jury rigging existing equipment into the vague facsimile of one, both out of necessity and to suit their needs. As such, Lominsan-produced astrologian arms are highly skeletonized and unadorned, and incorporate a minimum of a sextant, a compass, a chronometer, a barometer, a thermometer, a hygrometer, an artificial horizon, and a sundial, with more advanced prototypes incorporating theodolites for more precise surveying and to take advantage of the platform's stability. They still haven't quite figured out the cards portion of it, and many either use playing card decks or navigation star flash cards to varying degrees of success.

Casting Whereas the modern Arcanist and it's derivatives safely channel aether through amplifying geometries written in aetheroconductive inks, the relative nature of the heavenly geometries require that the user finally channel the backprojected aether-patterns through themselves and out into a usable form. As well documented in the many historical texts of the guild, this is extremely dangerous except for the most well disciplined or hardened practitioners. In all astral navigation, the observer is first and final point of reference.

A nuanced but important difference between the traditional Sharleyan/Ishgardian and the novel Lominsan branch is their method of foresight. In the traditional method pioneered by Lewphon, user attunes their aether to the heavenly movements, drawing on the constellations with help from the planisphere and sets of cards to transform it into new properties or predict the future. In the mostly-independent Lominsan method, Arcanima is projected onto the position of the stars, transformed via moving the planisphere, and then backprojected into a new form, with the future collective movements amplifying the aether's power. The upsides is that the 6 constellations aren't necessary, and any combination of the 57 navigation stars plus the sun, moon, and current location may be used. The downside is that, unless well practiced, calculations must be done via dead reckoning (really Euler's method) of multiple celestial objects. The pure computation required, even for an expert assessor, is well beyond what is reasonable while holding back enough aether to kill a man. As such, only short-term projections are possible (no more than a week, a month if lucky), greatly limiting the Lominsan branch from the far-reaching predictive gifts of their distant cousins. Thankfully for the half-mad assessors, by performing these iterative calculations, the aether is "compressed" at each timestep, allowing them to cast spells at a similar strength to their Sharleyan counterparts. Further, by choosing different combinations of stars, different effects can be produced in replica of traditional Astrologian spells. The 6 constellations are also usable as projective stars, and were the first to be tabulated, making them go-to choices in the heat of battle. In addition, this gives the Lominsan branch much better short-term predictive powers of weather conditions than the other branches. An upside the others may find pitiful, but to the Lominsans, it's well worth the effort.

[beautifulterriblequeen]

hi and welcome, it's new theory time wunce agayne, with I, your host, BTQ, stitching things together that maybe fit perfectly or maybe have no business touching at all: you decide!

Today's post inspo began several days ago when I started playing the Xadia game and discovered some cool lore that I just could not stop thinking about, so here, below the cut for all the spoiler reasons, is a screenshot of what you can find in the game, and what I would love for it to mean!

Topic: How Aaravos was tricked into that mirror prison

Context: We all wonder what happened to Luna Tenebris, how she died, where she went, all that good stuff. This isn't about answering those questions. This is about what she did before she died, and why. If she died at all (yeah that's always the question with Moon beings innit)

If you've played the game you'll know the context for this screenshot:

Ethari says, "Someone with the power to influence the Blood Moon itself used blood magic to become... something else."

and, well,

Luna seems to have disappeared during a Blood Moon. But she might not have died, despite what everyone thinks- she might have just become something else.

Why would she do this?

I'm guessing it wasn't for fun. Something desperate must've been happening. Luna disappeared 300 years ago, hmm, what in the world could've been happening at that moment...?

No, we all know.

You remember the Jailer. She's a human. No arcanum at all. She may be a dark mage, or she may just be a trickster magician. Either way, her whole deal is that she thinks outside the Cosmic Order box - she thinks in ways even Aaravos can't. And human ideas in times of desperation can break a lot of conventions and even taboos - just look at the things Viren, Claudia, and Callum have done when they had to.

So if the Jailer is thinking about dark creative solutions as the only way to trick a godlike Star Touch elf, maybe one of those ways was to get the Archdragon of the Moon to turn into something else, with magic that worked outside the laws of the Moon Arcanum.

We've all seen what Kim'dael can do - her Moonshadow powers and her forbidden magics are available to her at any time, not just during a full moon. Now imagine that ability for a blood magic archdragon.

Yeah.

Why the Queen of the Dragons, though?

I think they needed that much power to combat Aaravos. No one else could've done it with the confidence to succeed. And then there's the whole Moon theme of sacrifice, which all the Moonshadow elves keep demonstrating so determinedly. Surely their dragon queen has the same sentiment, deep down.

This still doesn't tell us what she did. But if she could use her massive illusion/deception powers at any time, they could trap Aaravos in any instant of their choosing instead of luring him to the predictable full moon. And seeing what sort of shenanigans are possible in the game when Moon creatures step outside their boundaries, well, there is certainly a lot of room for surprise there. In several directions. And they'd only have to surprise Aaravos once.

(side note: I can see now why Amaya says Moonshadow elves are the worst kind lmfaooo PLAY THE GAME IT'S SO FUN)

This whole theory feels very Moonshadow because even though I have this central nugget that feels plausible, I still wonder about so much more. For instance, what happened to Luna after this? Where is she now? Did she willingly die to keep from turning into a monster? Is she stuck in the spinning water that bears her name on the map? Is she alive somewhere still, lurking? Is she- NO SPOIL ME I JUST STARTED THE GAME. Idk if she's in there or not, shh.

Anyway. I haven't been able to stop thinking about this lore since I saw it in the game. And there's so much more than this even in the small bits I've played so far! If you're into the lore of The Dragon Prince, you'll wanna get this game!

But, serious lore enjoyer face. This one's extremely fun to think about.

[inkdragon1900]

K I got a wild ass theory about the Season 6 episode Moonless Sky.

I think Callum will have to choose to connect to the moon arcanum or save Rayla.

I 100% think Rayla is going to die and Callum will have to choose to bring her back using dark magic.

But unlike the last two times leading to a breakthrough of an arcanum saving Rayla will permanently bar him from the moon arcanum due to denouncing and disrupting the Life/Death cycle that the moon arcanum represents.

I also think the moon arcanum is the last arcanum that Callum can connect too making the stakes of the choice harder for him.

Moonless sky being a double meaning that either way Callum chooses he will be “moonless”

But I do think he will always choose Rayla even if it means corrupting who he is.

[raayllum]

Off the back of your post regarding Callum being happy to kill Aaravos and how this differs to Rayla-

What if the key for him to unlock the moon arcanum is not just his love for Rayla but also realisation that all life is precious? Not to say that Callum doesn’t already believe this (he hates using dark magic after all) but that to take a life is not something done lightly (referring back to the scene in episode 1/2 with the moon shadow elves talking about assassination and how life isn’t taken carelessly) and it’s this realisation/ acceptance in a similar manner to how the moon shadow elves view life/death and taking of life that enables him to connect to the moon..?

Yeah, Rayla sees killing as like - a duty or revenge, and something to be fierce in maybe (she wanted presumptive-Viren to know it was her in Chasing Shadows) but not something to... revel in or enjoy per se. Not that Callum does either, logistically (most of the time, with 3x09 as the exception) as he treats the matter of finding a way to kill Aaravos pretty seriously, but he's definitely more... light hearted and eager about in comparison to Ezran and Rayla

I don't think for him it comes from treating life/death lightly, it's just that he's operating on a different set of internal morals. He doesn't like death and violence and dark magic, but he'll still engage in all of those things readily to protect his loved ones on a measure that Ez and Rayla don't have the same... attitude/narrow-ness towards? I'm trying to think of how to articulate it, but it's like... Ezran (hypothetically) and Rayla (in early s1) will try to carry out doing things they know/think of as Wrong (as Callum calls out Rayla on in 1x02) but not typically succeed in going through with it (the exception being a lack of action on Rayla's part, arguably, in 4x05)? Or will loop around and frame it as this is the Right Thing to do or genuinely believe that it's the Right Thing to do (which is far more like Claudia, but I've talked about between how Ezran-Claudia and Rayla-Claudia frame things similarly before / that's a meta for another day)

To me Callum is more like Viren than Claudia in terms of justification (whereas Callum is more like Claudia in terms of his motivations) which I've also talked about elsewhere. He'll know and fully participate in something he believes is Wrong (like dark magic) if the ends (saving his loved ones) justify the means without trying to warp it into being something right - just something necessary

Like I don't think Callum losing his protective / loving nature for his friends is the answer, per se. (I don't know what Viren would've done in 5x09, for example, if killing Sir Sparklepuff had been required to save Claudia's life rather than his own, y'know?) I've said it before and I've said it again but there's nothing Wrong with that kind of love / it is absolutely understandable and where I think most people would fall, even if people might have more limits or lines they wouldn't/won't cross.

On of the things with Callum's tunnel vision / obsessive nature is that he can get fixated on certain things and miss the other side of an equation, i.e. Rayla isn't telling them everything in 1x06, so it takes until the end of the ep for him to settle on prioritizing what she has told him; the resource of magic comes from the primal stone (even though as Ellis points out, it also needs someone to channel it to actually be useful) and so therefore without it he's "nothing"; he put himself and Zym at risk in 2x04 "for nothing" because he didn't even connect anyone, missing the point (as Rayla reminds him) that the important thing is that he and Zym came out of it okay, and that his life is way more important (and is already valuable) regardless of any magical ability, etc etc.

In Callum's worries over Aaravos in S4 ("What if I'm on a path of darkness?") he's losing sight of the potential choices he does have. And obviously S6 is going to be very Greek Tragedy of him playing into Aaravos' hands somehow no matter what or precisely because of the lengths he's gone to in attempting to Not do that, but we're thinking S7 endgame, y'know? In focusing on the darkness, Callum ignores the possibility of light. In focusing on a light or dark dichotomy (as the light, evidenced by the key glowing in the pawn intro, isn't always Good either, just as dark isn't always bad), it's ignoring the fact the can and should and probably will throw the binary away. Just as "powerless human OR dark mage" as a dichotomy has been reconciling to a "a powerless human IS / equals being a dark mage" over the course of arc 2 so far, I expect that to collide with the sentiment of "No matter where you are on the path, every step you take is a choice" as also "No matter where you are on the path [of fate] you can always change the game, create a new destiny, take control back into your own hands, etc" y'know? Not just winning or losing the game, but upending the board in the first place. Breaking the cycle; breaking the system

Basically: if Callum does connect to the moon arcanum (and it is adjacent to the brainwashing and/or fully re-connecting with Rayla in S6), I think it'll come from him being able to remember and reconcile his "inner darkness," yes, but also with light, that these are all parts of him and the sum of them is greater than and that he is not singularly marked by any particular part. That much like the prison and the broken mirror, he is a puzzle in his own right, and the only people that can solve him are himself and the people he loves, and certainly not Aaravos.

[dellta-danger]

My Theories for The Dragon Prince Book 7:

Aaravos is killed by way of his body being used up in a dark magic spell.

Claudia connects to the sun arcanum in the same episode that Callum connects to the moon arcanum. The parallels are well done.

Trip to Delbar to meet Soren and Claudia’s mom! (Who is alive btw)

The Jailor was Kpp’Ars mentor, there is a hidden room beneath the ruins of Katolis castle with critical information regarding the original plan to trap Aaravos

Star dragon appearance

Summit for the ascension of new sun and moon arch dragons (zym takes the throne?)

Human kingdom tour!

Kpp’Ar is freed from his coin, this is might become a terrible decision.

Ibis is revealed to be a former celestial elf.

Deus ex Stella’s pocket dimension stash.

Visiting the other primal nexuses

[theredhairedmonkey]

Any theories on what will go down in s6?

Pure speculation of course, but here's what I think could happen:

After getting Aaravos' prison, the group return to the Sunfire camp (since Zubeia is unavailable) and leave the prison with Janai and Amaya for safekeeping. Thinking the big threat is over, the group then split up--Soren, Zym and Ezran (and maybe Corvus) search for Zubeia, while Rayla and Callum travel to the Starscraper to free Rayla's family.

Rayla and Callum arrive at the Starscraper (maybe a detour to Evenere's Royal Library to find the Void Poem, idk), but learn that both the Corona of the Heavens and the Nova Blade are kept under lock and key by the Celestial Elves. Not only are both protected, both are functionally useless to anyone but the "rightful heir" of these items. Through trials and tribulations, Callum eventually discovers how to find the "light guiding him through the darkness" (i.e. stargazing) and learns that the Star Arcanum was that the cosmos encompass everything--not just the stars, but the other celestial elements (Sky, Moon and Sun) as well as everything on Earth and the Ocean as well. Unlocking this activates the Rune Cube; turns out that the "Great Power in Xadia" it was meant to unlock was Callum all along.

He gets crowned (mirroring Viren's coronation; instead of usurping the throne, Callum is hesitant but ultimately relents and accepts his new destiny for the sake of bringing back Rayla's family). However, in the meantime, either Claudia or Karim's army (or maybe both in a dark twist of fate) invade the Sunfire camp, and either Claudia or Pharos steal the prison. Either way, Aaravos is now actually freed.

Somehow, the trio+Zym and Soren reunite and find out that Aaravos has somehow been freed, and go to face him. Callum, armed with the crown and the sword, is confident they can defeat him for good.

They go to face him, but because of Callum using dark magic a second time, Aaravos can now effortlessly brainwash him and turn him into a drone without needing to pilot him directly as in s4. Rayla has an opportunity to kill Callum to stop Aaravos, but doesn't take it.

As it turns out, Callum really did play right into Aaravos' hands, as this was what Aaravos wanted all along: Freed and with a Star-powered mage armed with a Star-killing weapon fully under his control. Aaravos' plans had come to fruition and he can do what he always wanted; return to the heavens and exact his revenge of the First Elves.

Screen cuts to black. Season ends. Bum bum bum, tune in for season 7!

[self-spaghettification]

Callum is going to learn Star Magic in Season 6

(or try to, anyway)

I have a theory on the order Callum will learn the arcanums—if he gets any more.

In the very first intro to the show, this is the order Aaravos mentions the arcanum in:

Sun, Moon. Stars, Earth. Sky, Ocean.

Callum connected to the Sky arcanum first, and then the Ocean. User raayllum compared him to Icarus, who flew too close to the sun and then fell into the depths of the ocean.

Adding onto that, I think Callum would get Stars next to symbolize another rise to great heights and then Earth as another crash. (I think that would be it but if they’re really going all the way then yes, next would be sun and then moon.)

To support the idea that Callum will learn star magic next, in the teaser for season 6, we see him blindfolded and freefalling, and the celestial elves in the starscraper are also blindfolded. It’s mentioned that star magic is the hardest to grasp and that celestial elves dedicate their lives to understanding the stars. So if anyone can teach him star magic, well…that isn’t an ancient manipulative startouch elf, it’s probably them.

Why would he seek to learn star magic, why now?

Most Obviously: Ambition as a Mage:

Callum has said he’s read up as much as he could on all magic and whenever he meets a mage he asks for their help learning that arcanum. IE: Akiyu.

The celestial elves may not be star mages (or maybe they are, who knows) but he will more likely than not use the opportunity to seek out an understanding of star magic while he’s there.

“It's protected by an ancient sect of Skywing Elves called the Celestial elves at the Starscraper, this unbelievably high tower, far, far north beyond the Frozen Sea.” - 5x05

2. Freeing Rayla’s Parents

“The spell is complex and it uses star magic so, to do it, I need these. Quasar Diamonds.” - 5x04

Since practicing star magic is key to freeing Rayla’s parents from the coin and that spell also requires the presence of 3 star magic gems, the quasar diamonds, doing the spell may require some understanding of star magic as well. The alternative may be dark magic and that would leave him open to possession by Aaravos and possibly harming those around him including Rayla.

That’s the third possible reason he would seek to learn star magic :

3. Protection Against Aaravos

if Aaravos is connecting to Callum’s dreams and posessing him via star magic, maybe in learning it he can figure out how to counteract it or use the bond with Aaravos to his advantage instead of only being the victim of it.

(insert images of use of star magic)

4. Sky and Stars close overlap

Sky and Stars share more traits in common than any other arcanum, and it simply makes sense that skywing elves and a primal mage who first connected to the sky would have the greatest understanding of it. It makes sense to connect with it more than others.

Vision is also used to describe Sky magic, and truth used to describe Sun magic.

5. Proving worthy of using the Quasar Diamonds and/or the Novablade

It seems hella unlikely these guys are just gonna want to give up their most prized and fiercely guarded possessions to some outsiders just because they asked nicely. They’re going to have to prove their magical capabilities and respect for their understanding of star magic, maybe even do trust falls or other rites, like that which we see on screen in the trailer.

In conclusion, I believe it will be key for Callum to try to learn more about star magic, by following the same rites the celestial elves do - getting as close to the stars as possible in the starscraper, becoming as secluded and distant from the rest of xadia as they possibly can (like the startouch elves do) cutting themselves off from one or more of their senses and presumably learning how to trust fate and understand it (freefall).

And if it doesn’t work out to learn star magic and Callum has to, once again, rely on dark magic when un-coining Rayla’s parents, well, things would not end well, ie: he would “play right into [Aaravos’s] hands”, possibly paralleling 5x08 but even worse, like Hanna Hoffer warned about 5x08 having “kiddie gloves on.”

So, I guess we’ll see :) (my bets are that it doesn’t work and everything goes to hell)

[beedreamscape]

A little theory for Ludinus!

What if he is in fact from the Age of Arcanum BUT at some point before the Calamity he winds up in the Feywild somehow (explaining why he's so obsessed with fey and sucking up their juices) and when he finds his way back, Exandria is all destroyed by the Calamity and he's lost everyone he's known and loved, hence why there's so much hatred in his old little heart.

He wants revenge on the gods for destroying Exandria in the wake of their conflict and on the Feywild for keeping him from the fight.

My alternative theory besides Feywild wandering is he got shunted forward in time by some moon/leylines magic experiment gone wrong.

Either way, he is old, but not for the reasons he wants everyone to think it is.