#neither does Rayla

[tdp-inaccurate-quotes]

Soren: are you a spoon? Cause I’ll definitely lick you clean!

Corvus: We are on a fucking mission, Soren!

[raylasrightbraid]

guys ive come to the conclusion that rayla NEEDS a girl bsf her age

im hoping that in season 6 my girl Astrid can clutch up BC RAYLA NEEDS GIRL TIME LIKE NOWWW

[inflammatoryfandomblog]

I do find it interesting that ATLA managed to use a very black and white narrative (stop Evil Empire) to tell several character stories with some nuance, while TDP claims it has a nuanced conflict and flattens everything to try and make up for that, ultimately leading to protagonist centred morality more than anything. And if they didn’t want me to compare the two then they should have let go of the ATLA references right away.

you're right and you should say it.

the constant and shoehorned references to ATLA do not really do this show any favors. honestly might be part of the problem (why are there 7 primals with color-coded elves? to follow ATLA's pattern of marketable separable elements. why is it an adventure story with a core crew? because ATLA was like this too. etc etc.)

but anyway. yeah. ATLA had a very simple main conflict to provide a constant source of tension throughout the show (even if they dropped the ball at the last season re: the plot), and this structure allowed for episodes that explore other aspects of the setting and characters while still making everything feel relevant and tied together by said conflict. it's not some arthouse show by any means, but it has good compelling story work into it. genuinely great show.

tdp immediately opens up with the nuance and it never really delves deeper. you'd think that opening with characters being aware of the cycle of violence stuff would be interesting and the show would explore that more, but it just... flatlines there. there's no progression or graduation or exploration of themes as the seasons go on like in ATLA. very rarely are there new questions being asked or arcs that feel sensical.

honestly the main characters having to be perfect in every situation is the biggest problem with tdp. the mains are not allowed to have shortcomings or mistaken judgements or anything to meaningfully interact in any way with the nuanced set-up. they emotionally exist entirely outside it, which ends up making them the Messiahs of Peace Who Can Do No Wrong. good for fandoms i guess, people bitched and whined about bato and the water tribe for years. but it's not very good for storytelling.

and also, they're just bad characters and the writers can't put two and two together while still asking you to take their world very seriously.

anyways i'm just rambling at this point. good observation.

[kradogsrats]

kind of sad I deliberately didn't plan a lot of dark magic spells into NCNE because I actually really like writing them:

He unrolled the map provided by the scouts, weighing down its corners with stones, then laid out the implements for the spell on top of it—the jar of wisps, a closed folding knife set on top of a loosely rolled strip of thin cloth, and a small, well-worn mortar containing the inert stone they would rely on to lead them, along with its matching pestle. Lissa drew a sharp breath, startled, when he snapped open the knife and casually nicked the skin at the base of his wrist. He stretched his hand over the mortar, allowing several drops of blood to fall onto the stone inside. Ignoring the blood continuing to well from the cut, he picked up the pestle and struck a single downward blow to the stone that crumbled it with unnatural ease. A snap of his fingers sparked a flame among the resulting fine gravel, which wavered for a moment before flaring eerily violet as it caught and devoured the stone’s remains in a way no normal fire could. Kpp’Ar lifted the jar of wisps and held it above the mortar, his eyes flashing the same glow as the flames before clouding into the swallowing black of magic. He spoke, the sounds inhuman, guttural hisses that made Lissa's skin crawl. She glanced toward Sarai and saw her eyes tighten, and even King Harrow looked uncomfortable. Only Commander Amaya had no reaction. The wisps seemed to leech the violet light from the fire, taking on its color for themselves as the flames guttered and died. Kpp’Ar opened the jar and held it aloft, speaking another spell in a harsh, choking series of consonants. The wisps rose gracefully out of the jar and into the air above them, clustered tightly together. Then they burst apart like a soundless firework, trailing faint tails of light as they coiled off in all directions. Kpp’Ar’s eyes remained blank voids as he turned his attention to the map. He swept his thumb over the clotting blood from his wrist and pressed it to the paper, at the place that marked the location of the Breach. For a moment, nothing happened. Then, slowly, a fan of thin red lines spread from beneath his thumb, trailing across the map in the same directions as the wisps. Most gradually faded as they went, reduced to creeping, hair-thin traces barely visible in their meandering. Several, however, angled and converged into a single thick trail and picked up speed. Lissa watched as it swept confidently across the paper, her heart sinking as it passed landmark after landmark, steadily increasing the distance. Finally it stopped, blossoming into a mark like a thumbprint—a perfect twin of the one left when Kpp’Ar lifted his hand away.

[raayllum]

Rayllum's S7 Arc through the Lens of S6

By surprisingly popular demand (aka I thought the poll would get maybe 30-70 votes max, not 151 holy shit thank you) I thought it was time to look at S6's plotline for Rayla and Callum and how, in my personal belief, basically every single scene they have sets up their main ongoing storyline in S7. What storyline you ask? Well, I think there are basically there are 3-4 main threads that S6 either sets up or continually evolves for them

The possession plot line

Love > Mystery (Callum? + the cube and Aaravos)

The Greater Good

Love > Duty (Rayla) / the importance of breaking promises (Claudia, Runaan)

Most of these are pretty set in stone — only the 2nd one is what I would call speculative in regards to Callum's interiority next season leading up to the possession — so let's get through the most obvious one first, and start with

The Possession Plot Line

But wait, you say, Callum can't be possessed again. He fixed the hole in his spirit caused by dark magic which means Aaravos can't control him again.

Yes, and there is Ample evidence throughout the season (and prior seasons) that he will 1) do dark magic and 2) that they've kept on setting up the possession plotline throughout the majority of the season (6x01-6x05), which I'll start with in one of their first scenes in 6x01:

CALLUM: [Chuckles] It would've been a comfy and cozy death.

In a similar way that Callum's first scene in 4x01 involves the mirror (Aaravos) and has him stumble over his various titles establishes that his main arc will be about his search for control over his identity/self, 6x01 highlights this again: he's not a threat because he's Callum, himself ("It's just me") so Rayla can stand down. This of course ties back into the loss of identity that the possession brings ("I felt so weak and out of control. I was his puppet") and the promise Callum asked for in S4 that Rayla rejected (and we'll get to the reiteration of it in 6x03 later).

We also see that in how Callum's language has changed from season four both in his conversation with Rayla:

CALLUM: I'm not afraid that he'll hurt me. I'm afraid that he'll use me to do awful things, or hurt people I care about. (4x07) CALLUM: I don't know how, but I'm afraid... He's gonna use me. (6x01)

and with Soren:

SOREN: I know that mirror too well. My father was obsessed with it. [...] Callum, I-I know you love magic, but I hope you're careful. Because it can change people. (4x04)

to

CALLUM: As long as it's here or anywhere, it poses a threat, because Aaravos can manipulate people on the outside. Like he did with Lord Viren. And me. (6x01)

And, quite frankly, if Aaravos had already used Callum for his intended ultimate purpose, we would've seen the Callum pawn intro in S6 (the pawn intro that features the cube, I might add), neither of which have fully come to fruition. So. (But again, more on that later.)

We also have 6x03 directly renew the promise with Rayla's conversation in Runaan — who in many ways was the embodiment of "upholding your duty to the immense detriment of yourself and everyone else around you" — that Rayla's promise is going to come back around, and that literally can't happen unless 1) Callum does dark magic so 2) Aaravos can corrupt/possess him.

There is very, exceedingly little point to not only repeat a plot beat we've already seen in 4x07 just to have Rayla change her answer to the more dramatic, stakes-driven one, reaffirm it in the season finale, and then completely drop it.

This plot thread of the eventual possession fight is also set up through Rayla's encounters with Esmeray, Runaan, and the idea of monsters/corruption: "[After corruption] what life remains has been twisted into monstrosities" / "I'm a monster!" "You're not a monster!" "I remember I fought you. I tried to kill you! How could I?" / "You keep calling it a monster."

After all, if Rayla can restore their identities to Esmeray and her father... then why not Callum? ("I own you. I control you! Deadwood!" "That's not my name. My name is Elmer.") As 6x06 makes sure to tell us, the light-star ritual rids the body of dark magic, but with an added caveat: "But beware: if you ever do dark magic again, the darkness and corruption will overwhelm you."

There's also a lot of other reasons this kind of framing for it makes sense for Callum's arc and the show (which is all about making choices) in particular — but yeah, there's not a doubt in my mind that Callum is getting possessed in S7 and is doing dark magic again. Even their first scene together in 6x01 with "I heard you were up here losing your mind" which is what literally happens during possession and is a direct parallel to Zubeia's dark magic corruption ("Infected. Corrupted. I fear I'm losing everything. Losing my mind").

So let's talk about something a little less set in stone, which is Callum's journey to getting there. Specifically:

Love > Mystery

What is the mystery of Aaravos?

Well, there's a few. There's his initial motivations, which are now answered thanks to season six. There's his involvement with dark magic, which will likely be answered in season 7. Callum had the initial mystery of the mirror. Aaravos taunts Sol Regem over "the mystery that has haunted you for a thousand years" in the death/disappearance of his mate. Seasons four and five were dedicated to figuring out the mystery of his prison, though we still likely have more to learn about the imprisonment itself.

However, the mystery we've been steadily waiting one since season one is simple:

For years now, I'd speculated that the Key wasn't a literal key to Aaravos' prison (though I hadn't ruled it out), but something that would be a power up and help restore him to his full abilities. The fact that we now know why and indeed that Aaravos wants it back at all is a beautiful fun bonus in the predictions chart.

The fact that it's linked to primal magic also makes sense even beyond its design, as the language used to talk about primals is similar to the kind used to describe the cube:

LUJANNE: They have a piece of it inside them. We call that piece an arcanum. It's like the secret of the primal, or its meaning. That secret becomes a spark. The tiniest flicker of a primal source inside you, but enough to ignite the world with its magic. (2x01)

CALLUM: You don't control anything. But you already knew that, didn't you? Because it's the secret of the Ocean itself. The arcanum. (5x08)

In season 7, Callum is going to inevitably learn (hi Astrid?) that Aaravos is out of his prison and, presumably, the Archmage will be looking for his primal book of destiny. What may happen, then, is a race to get the book first, with the Cube pointing the way seemingly to Elarion, if Callum's little map in 6x02 is to be believed... or in that general direction, at least.

If Callum can get the book and use the Key with it, he'd solve a big mystery, get a lot of cool primal stuff, and be all geared up to defeat Aaravos while also de-powering the Startouch elf. He doesn't have to worry about being controlled anymore, but I could see this being the alternative avenue Callum gets obsessed over since it combines 1) his deep desire to learn more primal magic, 2) his love of books, 3) his Key, which he's wanted to figure out since s2 and is actively working on it (6x02), and 4) his desire to defeat Aaravos and keep the world and everyone else safe.

The Cube's secrets, the location of the book, the mystery of Primal magic. The mystery of Aaravos.

I don't think it's going to be that simple though, seeing as S6 also introduces a small but interesting caveat when it comes to chasing mysteries:

Anyone who knows me knows that I love Aaravos and Rayla's foil dynamic and it is persistently one of my favourites, so I was pleasantly surprised when S6 gave it so much direct focus. Rayla being a literal metaphorical star in direct opposition to Aaravos as the Literal Light to Aaravos' darkness in their dynamics with Callum; 6x09 being about their journeys in processing the loss of family; and of course, the above, with wondrous mysteries paling in comparison to their loved ones (Callum, Rayla; Leola).

Another thing I always thought was interesting was the candle parallel between Aaravos, Rayla, and Callum.

Upon their (re)entry into Callum's life, he holds a candle up to both of them. For Aaravos, this remains 'lit' and upheld, as Callum spends the two years after his TDP short story, "Inheritance" investigating the secrets of mirror. A mystery that is interrupted and delayed by Rayla's return, in which Callum holds up another candle (despite having primal magic at his beck and call)... and then lowers it and puts the candle down when he sees that it's her.

Almost like the mystery of the mirror — of the cube — doesn't hold a candle to her.

That the mystery he may become obsessed with in S7 is one he's ultimately willing to relinquish if it means saving her life.

Do the right thing. Make the sacrifice.

This doesn't rule out Callum delivering the cube under possession (hi pawn intro featuring him pondering it and turning to stone), mind you, nor does it mean Callum can't reclaim the Cube and use it / the book for good by the end of the season (him reclaiming the cube has always been one of my favourite ideas, mirroring the way he'll reclaim his identity and agency from Aaravos).

But I do think S6 in this specific vein added interesting precedent to the idea of Love being more important than mysteries, and with Rayla being Callum's one path, well...

It'd make a lot of sense, wouldn't it?

The Greater Good

The "greater good" has always been a loaded concept in TDP, whether it was the singular Magma Titan vs thousands of human lives, or hundreds of people teaming up to defend Zym at the Storm Spire, though rarely spelled out as directly as it was in S6. I want to do a proper meta update on S5 and S6's continued trolley problems, ideally sooner rather than later, so I'm not going to go as Ham here as I could. That's said, there's still plenty to talk about, so let's get into it.

Season six sees three kind of distinct trolley problems. The first is in discussion only between Callum and Rayla in 6x03 on either end; the second is over Viren and Kpp'Ar regarding the staff (and arguably Lissa as well); and the third with Viren and Soren in Katolis during Sol Regem's attack.

Obviously the one that is most relevant to this meta is 6x03, but I'd argue it starts a little earlier in the season in both 6x01 and later in 6x05 for our lovebirds, respectively:

RAYLA: You knew. You knew this was the reward. [Callum nods] Why didn't you tell me? CALLUM: Because I know you, Rayla. If I'd told you, you would've refused to go, because you never do anything for yourself. So I wanted to do something for yourself for you.

When it comes to the greater good, Rayla routinely puts it above all else. This is one of her strongest similarities to Viren in Arc 1, who cared about "a bright future for all of humanity" even at the detriment of his own children and all moral standing. Callum, however, in a steady surefire contrast to both of them, puts her and Ezran above anything and everything else, which is exactly why Rayla immediately understands "the issue" after learning about his dark magic use:

RAYLA: Am I supposed to thank you? CALLUM: No, that's not what I'm saying. I... RAYLA: Listen to me. If you ever have to choose between me or the greater good, do the thing thing. Make the sacrifice.

Callum then uses this as leverage, as previously discussed, to get Rayla to agree to his own request to kill him if Aaravos ever takes control of him again. She does, this time, as Callum cites:

CALLUM: You told me to never sacrifice the greater good for one person, no matter who it is, well... You have to promise me something, too.

When a character says something in dialogue ("If you must make a choice [between Soren and egg / 'the world'], choose the egg"), particularly when it comes to making a choice, that inevitably means they are going to be presented with that situation and have to make a choice. If a character is told not to do something, or says they will never do something ("I don't do dark magic. I will never help you"), they will almost inevitably always end up eventually doing so. This isn't always true, of course, in TDP or otherwise, but it is still a general setup rule of thumb.

So Callum is going to be pushed into an avenue where he has to pick between the greater good or Rayla, likely in the vein of helping Aaravos or losing her, and he's going to pick helping Aaravos to save her. This may mean handing over that damn cube (meta on that specifically to follow) or, at bare minimum, doing dark magic knowing it'll mean corrupting himself (self sacrifice) and subsequently turning himself over into Aaravos' will of chaos (sacrificing the greater good) knowing the consequences will be disastrous.

Because he would do anything for her, and that includes sacrificing his life, his agency ("That's the dark magic you want. Just let her go" / "Finnegrin was going to kill you. I didn't have a choice"), the world ("Tell me she wasn't your world"), and becoming a 'monster'.

He'll be saved, of course. I think S7 will actually end quite well for Callum — freed from Aaravos' possession forever, reconciled with his brother, happy with Rayla, reclaiming his cube and possibly learning from Aaravos' book of primal magic, etc. The road to get there is just going to be hell, first.

This conflict of greater good vs personal attachments though, while present in Callum's arc (choosing Ez over Harrow in 1x03; Rayla over his morals in 2x07; Rayla over his safety in 5x08, etc), is likewise at its most prevalent in Rayla's arc, so let's talk about it.

Love > Duty

Ehasz: Lain and Tiadrin, and Runaan and Ethari, as the parents of Rayla, represent the forces that are at war within her between duty and love. Her biological parents left her out of duty and Runaan and Ethari raised her out of love. Think about how she left Callum; she chose duty over love. Now she’s choosing love over duty, and we'll see this conflict within her manifest again.

So. Rayla "never [does] anything for herself," by Callum's own admission. She's agreed to murder her boyfriend if he's ever possessed again. She refused to purposefully help her family until everything with Aaravos was resolved (6x01, 6x05: "Just wait a little longer, okay?"). Her core conflict has routinely been Love vs Duty ("My heart for Xadia), often to her detriment when she chooses duty over love.

While in some ways her heart has been hardened more than it was in arc 1 ("We can't save everyone, Soren"), in others, she's never been softer and more hopeful ("I'm your daughter and I need you"). After all, while I see Rayla herself as Callum's one truth, if we read it as Love (in general), than that makes her the physical/visual embodiment of Love in his life, and well...

As the most Moonshadow elf to ever Moonshadow, Runaan was, in a lot of ways, the embodiment of duty in S1. He fought his daughter and "tried to kill" her in an effort to maintain his oath as a Moonshadow elf and honour his position as troupe leader. He was prepared to possibly take her life, as "we take it, but we do not take it lightly." He refused to listen.

I think the fact that he's remorseful as all hell in S6, then, bodes very well for the future. Not only does his fight with Rayla foreshadow multiple elements of her fight with Callum—identity, corruption, "I know you're still in there! I'm not letting you go!"—but if he embodies the remorse of duty, and Rayla embodies the persistence and forgiveness of love, well...

Love wins over duty.

This is symbolized, too, as the parallels between Rayla's assassin binding—a solemn vow and threat of punishment if she failed in her duty, which Callum's act of love (smashing the primal stone to save Zym) allowed her to be free of—and the bracelet/binding that Callum gifts her explicitly out of his love and care for her. The first binding a reminder that as an assassin, she was "already dead" vs one that will help her come back to him.

This follows through on what season hammers home, which is that Rayla (and the world around her) is at its best when acting in accordance with her big heart. The prophecy and reason dictated that to kill the icy monster was the best route forward, but her heart saw otherwise ("I know in my heart. You have to trust me") and allowed her to connect and literally help repair/illuminate Esmeray's broken heart by gifting the moon opal. Her love, not her fierce devotion to duty, is Callum's guiding star ("Rayla is kind and good" / "You have true courage, and a big heart" / "Rayla is selfless, strong, and caring. That's what makes her a hero. That's what makes her Rayla." / "I understand now. Your kindness pierced her heart and melted the threat" / "Yours is a wondrous heart").

Runaan taught her to never break her promises (6x09) as part of being a Moonshadow elf and a good assassin, but breaking her promise ("Before I met you, I swore an oath, to end Prince Ezran's life") and indeed sparing Marcos was one of the best, most crucial things she's ever done. Since we know Callum won't sacrifice her, we can also be sure — especially after her victories with Runaan and Esmeray — that she won't sacrifice him. Runaan broke his promise to Ethari, inadvertently abandoning his lover for two years over something that was ultimately harmful and unnecessary (sound familiar), and it makes me wonder if Runaan will support Rayla choosing love over duty, and mutually learning from their own mistakes in doing the opposite.

There's also the fact that sometimes, breaking a promise would be a good thing, as showcased in prior seasons:

SOREN: Of course we can [capture the boys]. We promised Dad. (2x07)

CLAUDIA: Aaravos followed through on everything he said he was going to do to save my dad. And I promised to help free him. (6x04)

Conclusion: Sacrifice

Where a lot of these points meet, though, especially for the intersection of love and duty, is at the point of Sacrifice. We see this smattered throughout the season, both directly in dialogue

CALLUM: You told me to never sacrifice the greater good for one person, no matter who it is. Well, you have to promise me something too. (6x03)

VIREN: And even if I could, oh, the sacrifice is unthinkable. The spell requires a human heart. (6x08)

and more indirectly but still very prominently through action: Claudia killing/suffering through the physical and emotional ordeal of killing Sir Sparklepuff ("It... It's love!" "It's too much to ask. It hurts to see you like this); Viren regretting how he handled things with Lissa and then afterwards with Soren because "the cost was devastating. Your mother left us"; and of course in Callum and Rayla's argument in 6x03 over Callum's willingness to destroy and hurt himself in order to protect Rayla, who's done the same thing many times over, just in leaving or using herself as a shield.

"We must be ready to sacrifice, even the things we love" (3x03) when it comes to duty. We must likewise be willing to sacrifice things, such as duty, safety, ego/pride, morality, or your life, in the name of love. Sacrifice — dark magic, of what are you willing to trade or kill or sacrifice in exchange for your aims or protective desires — is then accordingly, the theme of Book Seven: Dark, and one that both Callum and Rayla will have to confront.

Luckily, Callum is consistent and enduring — and Rayla is true hearted and growing — enough to do the Right Thing, and make the choice they've ultimately, routinely, always made: each other.

So long as she's Rayla — brave, selfless, loving — he can be Callum, and so long as he's Callum — resourceful, persistent, loving — she can be Rayla. Not a dark mage forcing her to be an assassin, but two people who bring out the best in one another.

And in doing so, in choosing to save rather than sacrifice each other, they get to likewise save, love, and preserve themselves.

[beautifulterriblequeen]

Teaser thoughts

I had to do adulting (leave for a suddenly rescheduled appt) 20 mins after the trailer dropped this morning, so I'm only now starting to get my thoughts settled but omg I have to write this stuff down or how will I know what I think

here we go

Rayllum flying together. Is it cute, romantic, or is it some twist where they're going somewhere for horrible reasons in a hurry and they can't even take the Shadowpaw. Where is the Shadowpaw why are they fl-

Does Ethari have his Shadowpaw back is that why they have to fly

Love the bisexual vibes here ngl

Starscraper is over land. It's not a deep thought shhh

The search for Zubeia. I'm curious why Ezran has let two of his best Crownguard leave his side. Surely this will have no consequences!

Janaya kiss with Amaya on her tippy toes. Janai has her crown on here. I feel that's relevant for uhh later. I hope this is real and not a dream Janai is having - those have not been going well for her.

This one makes me sad. The picture is torn, but then mended, and I love that. But it's set up like you'd see at a funeral.

Is this one super early on in episode 1 maybe? It could be the same night as the end of S5. That feels more likely than Terry catching up to Claudia later on... specifically in her allowing him close after what we got in the other trailer. Aahhh

This one has so much in it, I can't! It's got star bug stuff which I'm extremely here for, let the gods be gooey. It's got the whole quasar diamond crown right there. It's got Rayllum having a close moment. and it's posed like they're at the altar in a chapel getting married. Also the star is upside down in the stained glass window, so whatever theme is going on it's being consistent there.

This is one of my favorites: Ezran out on his own castle bridge defending it. Ye Olde Narrative of Strength got to him! Opeli looking worried has me worried - she's usually so certain and swift. This could be Viren trying to come home like a half drowned rat - will they let him in? Don't make me think of the men of Númenor right now, do not.

Battle couple battle couple! Rayla and Callum teaming up again! (she's the dark blob kicking free in the upper left) I love when a couple fights together. gonna be super normal about that.

This top down view of the Starscraper is a little dizzying, ngl. With Callum and Rayla tiny at the bottom, three floors down, these flying, circling elves give me shark vibes. What if they're not nice. like at all.

Why was Stella falling!? what are the Celestials doing, are they helping or are they trying thievery? Is this just a big mob of seagulls here

Janai is losing control of her emotions, she's furious and sad. She's setting fire to the Sun Seed tree. We know the Seed was stolen, but maybe this is her finding out, early on. It's less angsty if it's early, you know how things always get Worse during the course of a TDP season lmfao. If it's later on, maybe the fact that she isn't wearing her crown is... important.

Rayla in the frozen ship. Why's it burning, what's she there for? why did she go alone? This gives me some Banther Lodge infiltration vibes ngl.

Okay I am all about this altercation. Viren shoving Kpp'Ar to the floor in fury. are they arguing about Soren? dark magic? both? neither? What's the logo stand for, what's the I for in IK? Does he have a show called It's Kpp'Ar and they're just on set? lmfao the real reason there are gears everywhere is to change the rooms around isn't it. Kpp'Ar just got sick of those extra 29 steps to the kitchen.

Few things are scarier than a True Believer getting everything he wants. this shot of Karim being so filled with elation cannot be saying good things for Janai's prospects. He's got all kinds of cool Sunfire stuff on, too, including a crown, and his old tin ring from his mother. Those things were confiscated when he was exiled, which means he must not be exiled anymore. He could be king, having displaced Janai somehow, and he's fulfilling his intentions to his people by bringing back the glory of the Sunfire elves by healing their injured archdragon. Or so he hopes, anyway! We'll see if it works.

Sol Regem has come out of his cave and he's got that Power Dragon Wingspread going on. Looks like he's been convinced to take a swing for uhhh big dragon things! I wonder how far his power will reach... and his bitterness. We might get a new Dragon King that makes Avizandum look soft.

It's so interesting to me what we did not get to see in the teaser, too. There's no Aaravos, no Aanya, no Runaan or Ethari, no Kim'dael. If we get another trailer before July 26, maybe they'll be in there! Or maybe we'll just have to white knuckle it until release day.

Hold on tight! S6 is coming!

[xadian-daydreams]

What's been mentioned for the Dragon Prince Season 6: Book Stars so far...

Having listened and read a bunch of interviews, here's my collected notes (Updated for October 2023);

No current release date, but confirmed 9 episodes, same as previous seasons.

Seasons Four though Seven are all the Mystery of Aaravos arc.

While there's not going to be any real time skip between S5 and S6, there will be a small one within S6. Update - there's a few days time skip between S5 and S6.

Season 6 will be more mature to the point the age rating is increasing. It will also go into deeper emotional stuff - "fans should enjoy the breather before being emotionally wrecked by the next book."

(Most of) Episode 1 of season 6 was shown at NYCC 2023 panel. Notes on summaries people have posted here.

New characters to be introduced;

Astrid - voiced by Boone Williams - Female Celestial Skywing elf. She's mysterious and there's 'something cool' about her design.

Character based off Moonberry Surprise.

A new Startouch elf. Possibly the Merciful One (they/them) from the Sea of the Castout statues.

Upcoming for main characters;

Callum - every time you do dark magic, it becomes harder to come back from it. Info on Callum birth-father. (Callum and learning Moon Arcanum - Giehl's opinion is doesn't want Callum treading on Rayla's thematic territory and stealing her thunder). Rayllum note - how would Callum using dark magic affect the trust and friendship they've been building up?

Rayla - On the curse coins - too spoilery, so they won't answer questions related to that. On Rayllum note. Would Rayla do anything for Callum? And what would Callum call upon her to do if that was the case? Questions getting asked next season, just to make you suffer.

Callum, Rayla and Stella confirmed visiting the Starscraper.

Ezran - sticking to his ideals and pacifism will be tested. Rough and tough decision(s).

At some point Ezran and Callum will visit some 'weird' ruins.

Soren - has had lighter seasons so far, but is about to face darker questions. There is trauma that the writers haven't told anyone about that will come to light at some point. Soren is getting an opportunity to confront Viren about what happened at the Storm Spire (they did meet up in S4E7, which is covered in the short story Strangers, but writers felt it lacked the satisfaction needed, as neither really was in the headspace to talk), but uncertain if this is just a therapy thing or if Viren lives.

There's going to be a funny Soren and Corvus story later on.

Claudia - S5 she was under a lot of pressure, and it's not easing up. How will Claudia be impacted by Viren's decision - further into darkness or pulled back into the light? Claudia being willing to risk life and limb for her goal(s) - and then actually paying the cost of a limb - what does that mean for her and Terry?

Karim - is about to get in over his head. He doesn't realise the kind of alliances he's making.

Amaya and Janai don't get enough love in these interviews. 😢

Zym - Goes with Soren to find Zubeia. Spoiler indicates Zym has a heart to heart with her

Characters we'll be seeing more of;

Aaravos - there's a lot more of him coming in S6.

Kim'dael - 'big plans' that even go beyond the show, though specifically refused to answer if she'll met Rayla again (they met first time in Bloodmoon Huntress graphic novel).

More with the pirates and Scumport (however, Finnegrin while not confirmed dead, won't make a reappearance in S6/7). Scumport set up a bunch of stuff for going into season 6.

Kpp'Ar - confirmed there'll be more stuff about him in both S6 and S7.

Mukho - the mushroom mage, Earthblood elf who's a world expert mycologist.

More shadowpaw content.

Possibly Ellis and Ava briefly, but could be S7.

Lore -

The lore about Stars primal and Startouch elves and other mythology will be explored. How you kill a Startouch elf will be answered - including more info on Laurelion (mentioned in the Death of an Immortal poem).

(Going by how the graphic novels releases are generally introducing things that are mentioned in the next season, Puzzle House's emphasize on unicorns, and how there is a big bit of unicorn lore mentioned in the novels, is a good hint that this unicorn lore is getting explained in show too. But, just to clarify, it's not confirmed this is happening - however, it is a impactful bit of backstory and there's only 2 seasons left).

Most likely information about how Primal Stones are made - specifically how a storm was trapped from the top of Mount Kalik to create the Primal Stone Callum smashed. Ehasz mentioned that something brought up in the second episode will be expanded on in S6, and the info about the Sky Primal Stone is the only info that hasn't been addressed elsewhere from E2 that I could pick out.

More lore about golems (as in the rock guardians and Elmer)

Other notes;

Season 6 will have an explosive start.

Questions raised by Ehasz;

Was the dragang moving Aaravos's prison smart or would it have been safer to have left it? It's something they'll grapple with right away.

Is Aaravos being honest with Viren about what's going to happen? (I'm wording it as being honest rather than saying is he lying, as Aaravos's thing is manipulative truths and misdirections etc, rather than outright lies).

No context: 🔥 (Can't help looking at the use of explosive start by the NYCC notification)

There's stuff in Season 2 that will get explained in Season 6 - while they're not exactly clues, there will be referencing from S2.

Keep an eye on changes in the openers - they're continuing the hints - like when they swapped out Viren with Callum to let you know Callum and dark magic/Aaravos is going to be in the episode.

Season 7 will be Book 7: Dark.

The next graphic novel will be about "family and building trust." Update: Title Dreamer's Nightmare

Can young Ezran and Callum quell the brewing storm in the quiet town of Noct, or have bad dreams come to haunt for good?

Giehl says this story has Ezran as the lead character and the artist said they enjoyed doing the many animals.

There were hints dropped at NYCC 2023 that there may be other projects based on the Dragon Prince world, but they'll come under a different name. TDP will only be the 7 seasons. (Most hints I've seen suggest they may be working towards an Orphan Queen film/series, but it could also be a continuation).

Sources; Hot Brown Morning Potion Podcast E27 Reel James Season 5 interview with Aaron Ehasz AIPT Comics 'The Dragon Prince creators dish on season 5 post-mortem AnimationWorld: The Dragon Prince Season 5, a swashbuckling blend of design tricks and emotional turmoil Screenrant SDCC 2023: The Dragon Prince creators on taking the Mystery of Aaravos past Season 5 CBR: The Dragon Prince creators reveal the secrets of Season 5 and the road to Season 6 ComicBook: The Dragon Prince creators talk season 5 and entering the show's Empire Strikes Back era Game of Nerds: SDCC 2023 The Dragon Prince All Aboard for Season 5 Official Discord Season 4 Q&A NYCC 2023 panel Secrets in the Stars Random tweets and Discord stuff from the creators and official social media.

[throneofrayllum]

Rayllum Headcannons (season 7 spoilers)

The night of Aaravos' death, neither of them can sleep (I mean, no one can really). To remind each other that they made it out alive, they just hold each other and whisper words of comfort. Just imagine Callum sitting against a tree with Rayla in his lap. Breathing in each others scent as they whisper "I love you's"

Rayla has a recurring nightmare that Callum had actually gone through with the spell and she ended up killing him. She always wakes up screaming, tears running down her face. Callum starts a routine for when Rayla wakes from a night terror; he pulls her back down on the bed wordlessly and tucks her into his side, grabbing her face and making her look at him and take a deep breath before he kisses her forehead and says some variation of "I'm here, I love you" and rubs her back until she falls asleep. Only after Rayla is comfortably asleep does Callum close his eyes again. Rayla's nightmares are really really frequent for about a year. They become less common but she really never stops having them.

Similarly, Callum's nightmares are typically about him being possessed by Aaravos and trapped in his own body, Aaravos using his body to hurt the people he loves. Sometimes, he has nightmares about Aaravos attacking him and when Rayla tries to wake him up, out of instinct he pins her to the bed out of defense. This doesn't happen often but when it does, Callum panics. It scared Rayla a bit the first time it happened because she wasn't expecting it, but she knows Callum would never hurt her. However, the first time it happened Callum lost his shit. He jumped off Rayla and fell to the floor, sobbing and clutching his head. It took Rayla thirty minutes to get him to calm down. The standard nightmares about Aaravos never truly stop, but his episodes end after about three months.

They hop between Evrkynd and the Silvergrove, but they mainly reside in the Silvergrove. When they stay in Evrkynd, they either crash with Soren and Corvus, or Ezran. In the Silvergrove, they have a little apartment. They picked it because A) it had an office space for Callum and B) Rayla was able to do four cartwheels in the living room without bumping into anything which they deemed an important quality.

Calum's always staying up late to study. He forgets to eat sometimes and so Rayla will bring dinner into his office and make him take a five minute break so he can eat. When it gets really late, Rayla will just stand in the doorway asking when he'll be ready for bed.

"Ok, I gave you five more minutes. Again"

"Just one more minute Ray, I swear I'll be ready then."

"Just bring the books to bed."

Rayla's heart melts every time she sees Callum with the village kids. It's her favorite sight to see <3 One time, when Callum got home from babysitting, him and Rayla were cuddling on the couch waiting for dinner to be ready and this conversation ensued;

"I want a baby"

"Uh, like, in a couple years you mean?"

"Can we have one right now???"

"Ray, the war only ended less than a year ago. Also, we aren't even married yet."

"Pft, Marriage doesn't matter. Besides, if we have one right now, they could be the flower boy or girl at our wedding!"

"Love, I think we should wait a little bit. But I promise that I'll give you a baby."

[its-leethee]

What kind of magic does the Jailer use, and what is her connection to the Key of Aaravos?

I have thought for a while that perhaps the Jailer is neither a primal nor a dark magic user, and that she utilized the Key of Aaravos to serve an important role in his imprisonment. Now, there isn't a lot of overt evidence for my hypothesis here; this is a ramble of pure speculation. I'm going to do my best to present the dialogue and canon-consistent logic to support my thoughts. Here goes:

The prevailing opinion in Xadia is that "human magic" is akin to trickery and sleight of hand. When confronted with Callum's claim of being a primal mage in 5x07, Nyx dismisses his boast reflexively: “I’ve seen ‘human magic.’ Fake ropes, false doors, birds and rabbits stuffed into clothing.” To her, it's common knowledge that humans can't use real primal magic, and her derisive attitude shows she doesn't have much respect for human magic either. As for dark magic, Nyx doesn't even mention it at all; as Lujanne said in 2x01, "we do not call that practice magic. It's an atrocity."

But human magic has one more specialty: creating and solving puzzles. The mechanical devices and riddles guarding the secrets in Kpp'ar's labyrinthine house and the rock-stone puzzle hiding the staircase to Viren's dungeon are story-significant examples of the types of innovations created by human magic. In 1x03, Ezran solves the rock-stone puzzle to reveal the staircase hiding Viren's dungeon. Callum answers the riddle posed by Rex Igneous in 4x08, "having knowledge isn't knowing knowledge…. He has a map!"

So neither a primal mage nor a dark mage would resort to puzzles and riddles, the gimmicks used by magic-less humans. So let's now consider the Jailer.

During the post-season four Discord Q&A, Aaron Ehasz states that the Jailer is a "mastermind of prisons and puzzles."

In episode 5x05, Archmage Akiyu tells the story of how she met the Jailer and introduces her as "a human mage." Akiyu goes on to explain:

"The archdragons had given the Jailer a daunting task, to design a magical prison that could hold a Startouch Elf. She needed my powers to craft the prison itself." (emphasis mine).

It stands to reason that a competent dark mage, with the notoreity to catch the attention of the archdragons, could bring that kind of power into her grasp on her own. So why would the Jailer seek out the powers of primal archmage, unless she couldn't wield that power herself? Furthermore, knowing the prejudice that the archdragons hold against dark magic--all of humanity was driven out of Xadia for refusing to forswear its use--I don't believe the archdragons would ever condone cooperating with a dark mage, even to quell an existential crisis like a demi-god bent on world destruction.

Akiyu tells us one more intriguing thing that the Jailer said:

"'The puzzle is the real prison,' she told me with a proud smile," (again, emphasis mine)

There's another word besides "magic" that we can use to describe the practice of creating and solving puzzles: cryptography; the art and science of creating and breaking codes and ciphers. The terms code and cipher are often used interchangeably, but their meanings are technically different. Basically, a code uses arbitrary substitutions while a cipher uses an algorithm.

Now, if you wish to solve a puzzle, you're going to need all the pieces - and if you wish to solve a cipher or code, you're going to need a key.

More than one use has been hinted at for the Key of Aaravos. We've heard Rayla refer to it several times as a toy and a game piece (1x04, 2x07). In the book two novelization, Callum notices that the Key left marks on the ground that appeared to point toward Xadia (we get a glimpse of those lines in early episode 2x07). In 4x07, we get suspiciously up-close framing of the Key when Callum asks, "is there no primal gem for star magic?"

And a few months back, one of the TDP creators shared on Twitter about a season 6 scene that was eventually cut. In the scene, Callum holds the Key up to a symbol on a wall and says, "I'm gleaming the cube!" (if anyone remembers this twitter convo and can provide me a link to this, I would be so grateful)

This is the Key feature we're all most familiar with: its glow. When exposed to a source of magic, the corresponding primal magic symbol on the Key lights up. This is why I think one of the potential functions of the Key of Aaravos is as a cryptographic key. If it were held up to a magic-infused symbol, the glow effect would reveal the primal magic source - and in this way it could be used to decode a secret message.

In cryptography, a key is the series of words, symbols or phrases that contain all of the basic information you need to decode or understand a specific coded message. Both the sender and receiver of the coded message need to know the key in order to create the coded message or decode it into plaintext - to lock or unlock the meaning behind a cipher or code.

I can't speculate on the exact nature of the secrets that she encrypted with it, but the Key can literally shed light on the solution! It was a toy that was repurposed by a the Jailer, magicless human mage and mastermind of ciphers and codes, to protect the secrets of Aaravos and his prison.

Exactly what secrets it will be used to reveal remains part of the Mystery.

if you're interested in learning more about cryptography, this page has links to a lot of my favorite resources

Recommended reading for more Key of Aaravos and the Jailer theories:

the post that initially enabled my crazy train of thoughts, thank you @beautifulterriblequeen

super rad analysis of the Jailer's unique character design by @kradogsrats, who also authored one of my favorite alternative hypothesis for the real function of the Key of Aaravos

an amazing thorough and detailed Key analysis, by @raayllum and another very interesting conversation about the Key here

Special thanks to @raayllum for answering my random Akiyu and Jailer questions, and to @self-spaghettification for giving me the push I needed to bring this essay together!

[kazisgirlfriend]

Like Aunt, Like Nephew

I happened across @raayllum's meta here about Callum and Amaya, and certainly raises a few really interesting points about them that I wanted to touch on. Most notably, it demonstrates how their overall differences really stem from a simple difference in overall experience - at the end of the day, Amaya has potentially years if not decades of experience on a teenager Callum. So, when there are similarities between Callum and Amaya, they are as frequently about who Amaya WAS as much as who Amaya IS.

However, differences in experience do not negate parallels between characters. Just as Runaan is far more experienced than Rayla, that fact alone does not diminish the very clear parallels she has with her father figure. Similarly, the differences between Callum and Amaya do ultimately come down to a level of experience.

Prejudice

Callum and Amya's contrast in prejudice actually demonstrate how their level of experience influence their differences. Amaya had spent years at the breach, which solidified distrust and even hatred that she had towards elves ("I've slain monsters before").

Callum's prejudice, while relatively muted, is still there. Not only does he assume Rayla drinks blood, he initially refers to as a "creature" in the novelization, and later amends to thinking she's "one of the good ones."

As a sidenote, it's important not to dismiss Callum's prejudices as mere "misconceptions" simply because they are less intense. TDP is ultimately a story about overcoming prejudice, which is something that Callum does quicker than Amaya does. But this is ultimately the result of his prejudices being borne out of a lack of exposure rather than years of war like Amaya. Amaya has had years to let her prejudices fester, while Callum's simple ignorance gets dispelled rather quickly. But both Callum and Amaya demonstrate admirable open-mindedness in overcoming personal biases, even if at different paces.

The Test of Light

The other comparison is between how Amaya handles her test of light in 3x02 vs. how Callum handles his "test" in 5x08. This, I admit, was a peculiar test since whatever situation Callum was faced with in s5, it had nothing to do with purity. It was not a test of light.

Instead, Callum faced his test of light in s3, when he rode the Twin-Tailed Inferno-Tooth Tiger.

A creature that can sense the purity of one's heart (much like Pharos' staff), and a creature that Callum rode.

Instead the test that Callum faced in 5x08 was a test of darkness. Facing down his own dark side, and ultimately emerging triumphant, signified by the narrative rewarding Callum with the Ocean Arcanum.

Framing Callum's test as a defeat stems from a simplistic view of light and darkness as mutually exclusive. In truth, light and darkness exist in all of us, even heroes. Callum's realization that he contains complexities beyond his understanding is integral to his arc, not a failure. Everyone has a dark side, and it is this realization, that Callum has a part of himself he can neither fully understand nor control, that leads Callum to reach a breakthrough with the Ocean Arcanum. His eventual triumph would not be framed as such if he did not face this shadow side.

But as this lesson is one that is wholly irrelevant to s3, it raises the question as to why should we compare these two moments across two seasons at all. And the reason is that, if we were to compare the actual parallels this season, find that Callum and Amaya--as they both charge in to save their loved ones--are not so different at all.

In the end, their nuanced journeys demonstrate how light and darkness can coexist within us all. Comparing dissimilar tests obscures this meaningful complexity that makes both characters human. The distinction lies in understanding, not judgment.

Stronger Together

While Amaya's lesson to Rayla about being stronger together vs. alone is important, the reason this conversation never comes up between Amaya and Callum is because Callum already knows this. It is yet another similarity that he has with his aunt.

Even after the tribulations of 5x08, Callum is still the one to insist that the trio does everything together. Akiyu gave the group only one amulet, meaning that only Callum can theoretically go underwater after the pearl. In spite of this, Callum takes it upon himself to reverse-engineer the amulet to create magical gills for all of them. Far from insisting he should be strong alone, Callum acknowledges--much like Amaya did--that they are stronger together.

The writers convey Callum already comprehending Amaya's lesson through his own actions, rather than needing the moral spelled out for him. It's a great example of showing rather than telling. This creative choice highlights the strong unspoken bond and understanding between aunt and nephew.

The Canon of It All

Challenging the notion that Callum and Amaya are especially similar is a peculiar undertaking, given that the show spends a large amount of time highlighting their similarities.

I could show all the similarities between Callum and Amaya throughout the series, but rather than dragging out the meta any further, all I and anyone else have to do is merely point to the fact that their similarities are called out by the show itself. If the narrative is indicating its significance, then it's significant. Rather than denying the undeniable, it is more constructive to examine why this relationship is highlighted and what significance it may hold for future story developments.

After all, the writers make a concerted effort to draw connections between Callum and Amaya across multiple scenes and story arcs. Questioning why such focused narrative choices exist will likely offer more meaningful insights into their characters and bond. Challenging textual evidence risks missing the forest for the trees. If the show itself calls attention to a theme, then clearly it carries weight. The deeper question is what purpose these parallels serve in the broader storytelling. Their interconnected journeys likely foreshadow an integral joint role to come.

Conclusion - What does this all mean?

It's very rare for one to write a meta around the argument that the story beats and similarities audiences are noticing are actually not important, especially when the show itself expressly calls out these similarities and story beats in such a prolific way. So that really raises the question - what is this all about? What is the motivation behind the argument that fans are wrong for noticing the things the show explicitly draws attention to?

At the end of the day, what motivates disagreements about whether Callum is like Amaya isn't about objective scoreboard-tallying. After all, Callum's s5 parallels with Viren are only held together by one single utterance of "I'd do anything for X" from each of them in very different contexts and that hasn't deterred many folks.

Instead, it is an issue of bias. As I mentioned before, there is a certain stereotype about characters with nerdy interests, and Callum has been no exception. He's a human mage, and so it's frequently assumed that the only "proper" comparisons he can have are with other human mages like Claudia and Viren (which also leads to his depictions as morally dubious, since the only other human mages we've seen are morally dubious ones).

He also starts out the series as "bad at everything" and a bit clumsy. Rather than realizing he's simply insecure and inexperienced, the argument goes that actually his ineptitude is innate to his character. He's scrawny, weak, a pushover, someone who belongs on the sidelines and with his nose in his sketchbook. Unlike the strong, brave, tough, capable warriors like Sarai, Amaya, Soren, Rayla, and so on.

But when seasons 4 and 5 rolled out, when it was revealed that Callum was far from a pushover--that he is strong, talented, confident, tough, and brave--along with the explicit comparisons between him and Amaya, most fans I think realized and recognized who Callum really is now. But a few instead doubled-down, and saw the parallels between Callum and Amaya (which, again--cannot stress this enough--are called out by the show directly) as a threat to this initial takeaway back in s1.

Assumptions about "proper" character archetypes or stereotypes around nerdy, awkward characters can cause some to overlook Callum's growth. But his strengths as a mage do not preclude similarities to a warrior like Amaya. Wells-rounded characters defy singular boxes.

But that's neither here nor there. The most pertinent question here is not whether, but why the show so explicitly calls out Callum's similarities with Amaya. My guess is that it has something to do with seasons 6 and 7, about the kind of person Callum will become. That it has something to do with why Callum, despite Aaravos' insistence, is not destined to play right into his hands.

But that is a story for another time ;)

Postscript - Viren and Amaya

As a sidenote, there was some stuff about the ways Viren and Amaya were similar that I found interesting. Haven't forgotten about that, and wanted to address it, but I'll do that separately as I don't want to drag out this meta beyond what's reasonable.

[thatartiststudios]

Double-chapter update for Christmas! (Or Fic-mas, if you will)

All This Time I Could've Been Loving You

Chapter 7: I Can Think Of No Better Future, Than One With You

+

Chapter 8: I'll Always Be Here, If You Need To Fall Into My Arms

Callum awoke slowly, as if rising from a deep, dreamless sleep. The world around him was muffled, and for a moment, he wasn’t sure where he was. His body felt heavy, each limb weighted down as if it were made of stone. The last thing he remembered was the surge of magic, the overwhelming rush of energy as he had freed Rayla’s parents from their imprisonment.

But now, all he felt was a warm presence beside him, a familiar scent wrapping around him like a comforting blanket. He blinked slowly, trying to adjust to the dim light filtering through the room. It took him a moment to realize that he wasn’t alone.

Rayla.

His heart leapt at the thought of her, and he turned his head slightly, the movement sending a jolt of pain through his body. He gasped, the sound escaping his lips like a fragile whisper, and that was when he noticed her. She was nestled against his chest, her hair splayed across him like a dark halo. Her face was streaked with tears, and he felt an ache in his chest at the sight of her distress.

“Rayla…” he croaked, his voice rough and unfamiliar, but it was enough to stir her.

Her head shot up, and the moment her eyes locked onto his, something shifted in her expression. Surprise, relief, and a wild kind of joy flared to life in her gaze. “Callum!”

Continue Chapter 7 on AO3

—

The moonlight poured gently through the window, casting silver streaks across the room where Lain and Tiadrin lay side by side. They’d removed their armor for the first time in so long that their bodies still felt the lingering weight, as though their burdens were reluctant to leave.

They both lay staring at the ceiling, neither finding sleep, minds too tangled with thoughts. After a while, Tiadrin broke the silence, her voice soft, almost tentative. “What do you think of her human?”

Lain exhaled, rubbing a hand slowly up and down her arm. “I… I don’t know, Tia. I was barely getting my bearings when he collapsed, but… he seems like a strong man.” He paused, a faint crease forming between his brows. “More than that… he seems kind.”

Tiadrin shifted closer, her fingers drifting to the long braid in her husband’s hair, weaving themselves into it as if grounding herself. “She loves him,” she said softly, her words tinged with a bittersweet acceptance.

Lain sighed, a gentle, resigned sound. “Yes. Yes, she does.”

They lay together in the silence that followed, words unspoken lingering between them. Tiadrin traced small patterns on the back of Lain’s hand, her touch both comforting and contemplative. Finally, she spoke again, her voice thick with the weight of years lost. “So much has changed. It… it almost feels like we’re living in a different world.”

Lain’s gaze remained fixed on the ceiling, as if searching for answers there. “Do you think it’s been changed for the better?” she asked.

“I… I don’t know that yet,” he replied slowly, his voice as unsure as his thoughts. “But if the Dragon Prince was never killed, then Runaan and the others never needed to seek vengeance.” He hesitated, his voice growing softer, almost fragile. “It means all that loss… it wasn’t necessary.”

Tiadrin nodded, her face somber. “The humans still killed Avizandum,” she reminded him gently, though not without a touch of sorrow.

“I know,” he replied, his voice a mere murmur. “But so much of this started as hate, and…” His voice trailed off into silence, his expression pensive as he tried to put words to the shift he felt in his heart. Finally, he sighed, the weight of his conflicted emotions pouring into that single sound. “I don’t know, Tia… I guess I’m just… happy for a more hopeful reality.”

Continue Chapter 8 on AO3

[spop-romanticizes-abuse]

In your opinion what elements make a GOOD Enemies to Lovers ship? Between a Hero and the Antagonist but they’re not the main Villain

i'm so glad you asked! this is going to be a long post so prepare yourselves. i think there are a couple elements that make an enemies to lovers trope good:

Not Previously Acquainted:

this isn't necessary but i feel like what made c//a so extremely difficult to navigate was the fact that they were close friends before. especially since catra was just as hostile to adora when they were friends, as she was when they were enemies. this makes us question how healthy their friendship was in the first place (spoiler: not very). so the best way to go about an enemies to lovers relationship is to make them strangers who are on the opposite sides.

the dragon prince does this twice successfully. with both individuals only disliking each other for their community and not personal reasons, it's much easier to build a healthy foundation where they look past their prejudices and start to respect the other person.

Good Pacing:

enemies to lovers can't be just two people fighting all the time and then suddenly getting together. especially in c//a's case, where catra was supposedly in love with adora all this time, and yet showed no remorse in torturing adora. not only does it spread the wrong message of "they're mean to you because they like you", but it also shows how incompetent the writers are.

there needs to be a bridge where the two characters begin to reconcile with each other. writing enemies to lovers should have at least four stages: the animosity, the interaction, the turning point, and the mutual respect/interest.

we start off with two people hating or disliking each other. then we have them interacting a little more, preferably interactions that aren't fighting. maybe they are force to work together or one of them is given the option to save the other. they get to know each other and see things from the other's perspective. the turning point is where one or both of them decide to abandon whatever prejudices they had in the beginning, and respect the other person for who they are. and finally, the relationship starts where both of them show a mutual interest and cares deeply about each other.

c//a stuck with the first stage for four seasons, then tried to rush the entire development in s5. it doesn't work like that, even though catra and adora knew each other before all of this. especially since they knew each other before all of this. catra needed more time to repend for her actions, face consequences and change for the better.

callum's and rayla's relationship is more like glimmadora in the sense that they were not previously acquainted with each other, and neither of them were antagonists. they just came from two different cultures that were pitted against each other. and this is why glimmadora would have worked a lot better than c//a.

Less Direct Attacks:

catra could be a ruthless villain in all other aspects but if she was more hesitant to hurt adora, i believe this ship would have improved greatly. revelling in being sadistic and smiling while watch adora scream in pain doesn't exactly send the message that catra loved her, no matter how much sexual tension there is. cruelty is cruelty. and catra never once stops being cruel towards adora.

Believable Reason:

the two individuals need a strong reason to dislike each other. in most cases, people go with the prejudice route. the two people come from opposing sides and have very biased perspectives of each other, which they slowly have to overcome. there are also cases where there may be a personal reason such as someone related to one of the characters hurt the other.

in c//a's case, it's a lot more complex and thus, a lot more difficult to navigate. i can understand the feelings of betrayal playing a role, but catra has no right to blame everything on adora after the latter gave her multiple chances to join her. at this point, the conflict seems forced.

it's as if catra is living in a distorted reality, where "come with me" means "i hate you and i'm abandoning you". or, for a more simpler explanation, catra doesn't want to be with adora, she wants adora to stay with her and humor her. which, of course, turns the entire relationship toxic, because adora is her own person and should have the freedom to make her own decision.

again, this brings us to how well the dragon prince does this trope. when confronted with the fact that rayla wants to sacrifice herself guarding zubeia, callum gets angry at first.

Rayla: All of this happened because my parents ran away, so I have to stay and defend the Dragon Queen.

Callum: But you can't face an entire army by yourself, you'll...

Rayla: Die? Probably. But if I die, I'll just be paying the price they should've paid a long time ago. Just... remember me, okay? Goodbye, Callum.

Callum: Really? So, that's it? Just... goodbye. You're going to stay here and die out of pride?

Rayla: It's not pride, Callum! It's more than that. It goes deeper.

Callum: Oh? Do you have a nicer word for it? Honor? Redemption? It's just pride!

but after a bit of reflection and finding out the truth about rayla's parents, he gives her the freedom to choose.

Callum: They didn't run. They fought. To the end. They saved the egg! We're here and Zym is alive all because of them.

Rayla: What does this mean? What should I do?

Callum: I don't know. But it's your choice. No one else's.

Rayla: We should decide together.

callum obviously still doesn't want rayla to die, but he understands that it's her choice to make. and at this point, rayla is calm enough to rethink her choices and make a wise decision. this is how it should have been done. this is how you write a healthy relationship.

the third act conflict in s5 of spop could have been done like this, instead of catra making it all about herself and whining about adora choosing shadow weaver over her. yes, she went back to adora in the end but it was still with selfish intentions. it was less "i don't want adora to die" and more "i don't want adora to leave me".

spop is just one simple misunderstanding stretched out. if catra had taken some time to think about her situation and what would be best for both her and adora, none of this would have happened. but instead, she holds a grudge on adora for something she wasn't responsible for.

A Good Redemption:

any villain/antagonist that are going to be redeemed needs this, but especially if they are to be paired with one of the heroes. you can't just have the villain do one (1) good deed, mutter a short apology, and call it a day. you also can't make all the other characters immediately forgive said villain because you can't be arsed to write a realistic redemption.

in my opinion, there are 4 stages that encompasses a good redemption arc:

realization: the stage where the character is hit with the realization that they have been a horrible person. either someone calls them out on their bs or maybe they befriend someone who inspires them to change. whatever it is, this is the turning point.

reflection: the character reflects on their past and their behaviour. guilt and conscience must be shown here, through words or actions. the character figures out the best way to fix all the damage they've caused.

growth: a sincere apology is necessary. this means that the character apologizes without a. justifying their actions b. shifting the blame to someone else or c. playing the victim. it doesn't have to be a long apology, it just has to be sincere and heartfelt. not to mention, the character must of course put in work to actually follow up on their apology. an apology alone doesn't mean anything.

acceptance: this refers to the reaction of the other characters. acceptance does not necessarily mean forgiveness. it just means that they respect the villain for redeeming themselves or that they even consider the villain as a friend, even if they haven't forgiven them.

i'm sure you're all sick of hearing about how wonderful zuko's redemption arc was, so here are some honorable mentions on how to pull off a good redemption arc:

peridot: probably the only good redemption arc in steven universe. the only person who is at least a little compassionate towards her is steven, the rest of the crystal gems don't forgive her until she unlearns her prejudice and proves herself to be a valuable friend. her redemption arc takes several episodes and doesn't hinge on a romantic relationship.

grace monroe: each season of infinity train only had 10 episodes, yet they successfully redeemed a character within one season. what was that excuse about spop being cut short and not having enough time for development? grace starts off a lot like catra - manipulative, selfish and leading a destructive cult. but over the course of the series, she begins to question her choices and morality, and is on the right path by the finale. she doesn't even get forgiven by the person she hurt, she simply has to accept that and move on.

soren: not the best redemption arc, but it's good enough. soren rarely posed a real threat to the protagonists, since he wasn't a powerful mage like his sister, but he starts off as a lot more apathetic than claudia. over the course of the series, he realizes how horrible his father is and joins the protagonists. he is admittedly forgiven a little sooner than the other characters mentioned here but then again, he was just the villain's sidekick.

alice "daisy" tonner: (art by @starapture ) not a cartoon character but god, TMA did this redemption arc SO WELL. daisy was a horrible person. she is a cop who frequently engaged in police brutality and allegedly murdered many people. after getting disconnected from her entity, she goes through an identity crisis and extreme guilt. she couldn't really undo any of her previous actions, all she could do is stop and try to be a better person. and she does that. by the end of it, she basically sacrifices herself and though the main character had befriended daisy after her redemption, he still admits that he does not forgive her for trying to murder him. this series understood the assignment, forgiveness is not a necessary part of redemption. forgiveness is a choice; regardless of whether people will forgive you, you should be working on yourself.

none of these are EXACTLY like catra and adora. but they are good examples to take inspiration from. if i were to rewrite catra's and adora's relationship, there are a few things i would change:

they would not be adoptive sisters, but simply childhood friends. or preferably, they were just cadets who kind of knew each other, but didn't really have a deeper connection.

catra doesn't join adora because either she is scared to leave the horde, or she still believes that the horde is doing the right thing (instead of knowingly supporting them like she did in canon).

catra doesn't take as much pleasure in torturing adora. she only fights adora when necessary and tries to hold back a little.

after the portal thing, instead of spiralling further into the evil path, catra starts to redeem herself.

adora and the others don't forgive catra immediately. they don't coddle her and accept her as their bestie. like zuko and many other characters who were redeemed well, catra needs to prove herself to them before she could be forgiven or accepted.

[a-very-sparkly-nerd]

i'm too scared to say half of the things i do when i picture you

Prompts: MM, UST, Sparring, Armor, Courtyard

The door couldn’t shut fast enough, Rayla fumbling to lock it behind her with shaking hands and sinking down against it.

She’d forced herself to walk back up to her room, not run up the million staircases or scale the walls in hopes of calming herself down, of shaking off the heat, but it hadn’t done shit. She was still hot and bothered, Callum’s voice as he found her in the courtyard still in her ear– “Wow, you sure showed those dummies who’s boss.”

“Oh, it’s my favorite dummy,” she’d replied instinctively, and it was like they were them again for a second with the way he smiled at her and leaned on his staff, drawing attention to his unsleeved arms in the summer heat. “What brings you here?”

“I was gonna practice a few offensive spells.” He’d shrugged and gone over to yank one of her blades out of a straw-stuffed training dummy, then presented it to her with a flourish. When she’d taken it from him, their fingers had brushed and her eyes had lingered on his hand that was so much bigger than hers now. How had she ever been taller than him? “But… since you’re here, wanna spar?”

 “What, you like getting your butt kicked?” But she’d smiled and laughed and gone to the opposite end of the empty courtyard training field, spinning a blade the way she’d practiced one night in an abandoned house, slightly delirious with fever, thinking Oh, yeah, he’ll think this is so cool.

“Hey, I’m not helpless anymore,” he called. “I might kick your butt.”

“When glowtoads fly.”

“I could make that happen– we’ll take Bait on a little field trip.” And then he’d traced a glowing light blue rune in the air and called, “Stratum Caligo!”

Thick fog descended over the area, but while impressive, Callum remained a dumbass; he was forgetting that this was the middle of a sunny day, and she had Moonshadow elf vision. If anything, it would only trip up him.

Rayla ran for him, leaping up just as he turned around and landing on– Well, where he should’ve been, only he’d disappeared.

There was a tickle of wind behind her, and she barely managed to spin around and throw up her blades defensively, meeting Callum’s staff pushing against her horizontally.

He looked up at her through his floppy hair, grinning. “Hi.”

She smiled, too. “Impressive.”

“Thanks!”

And even with all his newfound coordination, he’d still tripped over his own feet while trying to push her back and get her off-balance, taking them both by surprise as he literally fell on top of her.

“Get off me, you big galoot,” Rayla had laughed, shoving him teasingly as the fog instantly began to fade away.

But Callum had settled back to sit on her shins, not nearly putting all his weight on her, grinning boyishly but so handsome. He’d been cute before, but now he was… Hot. Really hot.

“Uh, does this mean I win?”

She’d flushed. “I think it means neither of us win.”

“Oh, yep. Uh-huh, you were always a very sore loser.”

She’d gasped overdramatically, shoving his chest. “Am not!”

And he’d flicked her shoulder, a little spot her armor didn’t cover, and climbed off and offered a good-natured hand up. “Sure you aren’t.”

But what if those fingers had lingered?

Read more on AO3!

[theredhairedmonkey]

This definitely deserves a fuller meta (once I can think about this more clearly), but re-reading “Chasing Shadows,” I noticed how Rayla’s approach with Dark Magic strongly differed from Callum’s.

It’s not that Rayla is any less morally opposed to DM than Callum, but she’s more willing to “play along” in a deal where she has to provide dark magic ingredients. As a pragmatic way to get what she needs (I.e info on Viren).

Whether or not (and I’m betting not) she would actually hand over any dark magic components to Redfeather isn’t the point. Rayla was willing to at least willing to humor her request so that she could move on her objective.

Amaya did something similar as well - when given the choice of handing over the Sun Seed or letting Janai die, she chose neither. Instead deceiving Karim by dressing up as Miyana and taking the fight to him.

Now, why do I bring this up? Because Callum takes the opposite approach. Instead of playing along like Rayla or Amaya do - humoring Finnegrin’s request for as long as he can until he gets an opening - he just shuts down and refuses to cooperate. So, Finnegrin just escalates. And escalates. Until he reaches a point where Callum has to fold (and it doesn’t matter who you are, there is always a breaking point).

And that’s kind of the issue here. The issue isn’t that Callum is morally flexible, but morally rigid. If he had been willing to just lie to Finnegrin, to suggest that “well, dark magic is complicated, you’re gonna need to set me loose and do X Y or Z for me” and then play out a deception like Amaya does until it’s far too late to make a difference.

He adamantly refuses to even hint at a compromise because the bullheaded boy is just too idealistic to even consider something other than a principled refusal to bend.

Failing to realize that whatever doesn’t bend, breaks.

Sooner or later.

[kradogsrats]

Here’s another question, what are your thoughts on Ezran? Since the fandom and I think he comes across as the least developed character of the main cast and no matter how hard he tries, it seems like he constantly has to learn that word won’t be enough to fully persuade an opposing side

I mean... Ezran's twelve. He decides what kind of king he wants to be when he's ten. When I was ten, I was reading a lot about historical atrocities because I couldn't quite wrap my head around the idea that people weren't all inherently good, deep down. Even if they were huge jerks on the surface, surely they'd do the right thing when it was really important, right? So I think he's sometimes just... thinking like a child. Because he literally is one.

We don't know what Harrow may have written to Ezran for after his death, but if we assume it's essentially the same as what he wrote to Callum (minus the cube stuff)—it's a lot of regret for Ezran to take on all at once. You can see in every word that Harrow wasn't proud of the king he had been, even though he started with the best intentions. He wanted to be a different king than his own father, to change Katolis and the world for the better, but he got caught up in the trap of history and its false narrative of strength. Ezran's obviously going to look to his father as his example for how to be king, and here's Harrow confessing that he wasn't the king he wanted to be, and wished he'd known the things he reveals in the letter earlier. So Ezran's takeaways are basically:

True strength is in vulnerability, forgiveness, and love

Reject the past and do not allow it to rule you

It's on you to make a brighter future

From before he's crowned, Ezran is struggling with how he will be king relative to Harrow. In The Royal Council, he literally worries that his choices are to reject and forget the father he loved, or doom himself to making all the same mistakes. As a result, he winds up going all-in on his interpretation of what Harrow wished he would have done.

Harrow wants him to create a brighter future, so not taking the throne at ten years old in the middle of an escalating inter-kingdom crisis would be "letting everyone down." As Soren later points out, this is kind of fucked up. ("If you spend all your time doing adult stuff now, you'll grow up weird, like your brother and Rayla," he says, while cheerfully engaging in the child-like attitude and behavior that his father denied him during his own childhood.)

True strength is vulnerability, so he never carries a weapon. Instead of accepting Harrow's sword to begin his rule, he has it forged into a new crown—something to honor both his father and his own commitment to strength not being about weapons and war.

Freedom is not letting the past define the future, so he holds a ceremony honoring Zubeia practically right next to the memorial to his own mother, who was killed by Zubeia's mate. He fully believes everyone wants the same thing that he does, deep down—a future of peace, free from old grudges and strife—and will join him in putting aside their grief and anger to achieve it.

He's essentially a product of having to mature too quickly in some areas, and having built his version of maturity on his father's example, while also holding on to a few developmentally-appropriate immature ways of seeing the world.

(In terms of development, I think they kind of shot themselves in the foot as far as making Ezran as relatable as Callum or Rayla, because he doesn't actually have anyone who's all that close to him. Soren, Corvus, and Opeli are much older than he is, and are really there for The King(tm), not scared or angry or grieving Ezran. He's literally never had a friend his own age. The only characters he could conceivably play off of in the deep and vulnerable way Callum and Rayla do with each other are Bait and Zym, neither of whom speak in a way the audience can comprehend. It's possible that they're finally setting up Aanya to fill that role with him, whether romantically or not. I definitely think she'll definitely be the one he can be conflicted and vulnerable about Runaan with in s7, since she's been in a very similar place. But yeah, because of all that he comes across as kind of removed from both the main cast and the audience.)

[raayllum]

Time to be wonderfully self indulgent and talk about a scene comparison I've wanted to for a hot second (while pointing very decidedly to This Post for posterity's sake).

So let's talk about the hostage exchanges for Callum and Rayla in 4x09 and 5x08, shall we?

First, let's look at the scene setup.

In 4x09, Rayla is very much the aggressor and pursuant, and the one who — initially — has more power. She has her sword up to Terry's throat, neither him nor Claudia have strong reason to think she wouldn't go through with it, and she explicitly threatens Terry's life precisely because of his importance to Claudia. This is similar as to why Finnegrin threatens Rayla (though there are differences, which we'll get to in a moment), so both elves start out as the aggressor in each scenario.

However, there is soon a shift. Callum's "deal" happens because he escalated violence against Finnegrin (the infamous punch), a tad more similarly perhaps to how Rayla is only threatening Terry because she believes Claudia and co. are a threat to the whole world. Now to be fair, Claudia is only threatening Rayla's parents because Rayla is threatening Terry, but we can assume she had the realization of their connection to Rayla a while ago and has been sitting on it just in case she needed leverage, given that she doesn't seem to need a second to consider. I also think we're inclined, typically within the show, to see the person offering up Options / a choice to make as the one who holds more power in the immediate situation (i.e. Karim's whole sun seed for Janai debacle) even if it may be 60-40 the way it is here.

Not a huge power imbalance, but enough that people are being pushed into corners, and that's exactly where Claudia and Finnegrin attempt to do, and arguably do more successfully, to Callum and Rayla respectively.

We've talked a fair bit about Claudia, so now I want to talk about Finnegrin, simply because he gets a whole episode of corner backing, and therefore there's more stages.

The first stage is Finnegrin attacking Callum as an individual — "Look at you: slave to your friends, your loyalties, your pride. I can give you your freedom though" — and it's the least effective, as Callum never budges or shows any real hints of budging even under torture. However, Callum's admission that he has indeed done dark magic before ("I did one spell. One. I had to, to save my friends") gives Finnegrin the tools he needs to create the next prong of his approach.

Stage two is attacking Callum through his friends, and is far more effective. This is why he sets the hand cutting challenge, and Callum buys into it, i.e. the idea that he has to choose, over the idea that Callum could conceivably offer up his own hand instead. This is not to say that he wouldn't — there's little doubt in my mind that Callum wouldn't have seriously considered if not outright done the chain spell up on deck if Rayla hadn't tried to intervene, since as Finnegrin correctly assesses, "They would do anything for you, so clearly you'll do anything for them" — just that his own hand didn't occur to Callum as an option the way it might've to someone like Rayla.

The third stage, of course, is the one that's most interesting to us, simply in how Callum's "hostage deal" differs from Rayla's in both its construction, their assumptions, and their responses.

Claudia: One thing I don't know though — if I threw the coins in the lava, would it release your spirits? Or would they be trapped in some kind of eternal burning agony? Let's trade. You let him go... and I'll give you the coins.

Finnegrin: The cave is for his protection. This way, he lures us a leviathan but doesn't get eaten. The one getting thrown into the sea serpent's hungry mouth is your elf girl.

Claudia's offered deal is different from Finnegrin's in a few ways.

1) Claudia's deal is explicitly stated in not just the text, but the scene itself ("Let's trade") meanwhile Finnegrin, unlike the two stages prior, does not offer Callum any notion of freedom this time around. Even though neither ends up being a fair deal regardless, the setup of said deal is different. Rayla is being legitimately offered; Callum is making a (desperate but understandable) assumption.

2) Exemplified in a drabble I wrote in which Finnegrin was bluffing, I think it's worth noting that the peril Rayla's parents were in was much more apparent. They were completely defenseless, Claudia was already holding them over the lava, and just one quick throw would be enough to potentially leave them in an "eternal burning agony" (which sounds worse than death by sea leviathan to me; at least that decidedly ends at one point). Rayla could see and hear all this. Callum, by contrast, did not see Rayla tied up, or in distress, and Finnegrin had no proof other than his word. That's not to say Callum was wrong to believe him — he'd just watched Finnegrin torture her, and Finnegrin was very much not bluffing in canon — but that normally Callum is a bit more skeptical and wants a bit more proof in regards to things, and this was a time where emotion really pushed him forward. The immediate consequences of however Rayla responded would be seen with her own eyes, where it's unlikely Callum would've even known precisely when Rayla had died/been eaten with any of his senses or knowledge; it's arguably the one 'mercy' that Finnegrin provided him.

3) And as stated, both Claudia and Finnegrin end up being disingenuous. It seems likely that Claudia always intended to trick Rayla, even if she'd let Terry go, given that while we don't see her slight of hand in general on screen, it doesn't seem like it would've been possible for her to take the coins back out again and switch them before tossing the pouch. That seems like a one and done type of thing earlier on. Finnegrin, of course, takes Callum to task for his assumption ("Oh my poor lad; that deal was no longer on the table") and given his choice to feed Rayla to the sea leviathan anyway, I don't think Finnegrin was ever telling Callum about his plans in order to get him to give up the info. I think it was just supposed to be a punishment, plain and simple, for the literal blow to his pride.

But now for the difference I think everyone clicked on this meta for, realistically, are the choices that Callum and Rayla made in response to the offered Deals.

When Rayla's parents lives are on the line, she considers, but ultimately refuses.

She does not partake in the deal. Rather, she escalates her own refusal of it by pushing Terry to his knees, says so outright — "I'm not making a deal with you!" — and looks up at Claudia, watching and waiting to see how she responds. Claudia as wholly tossed the coin pouch, and Rayla is seeing it arc down towards the lava, before she finally releases Terry to go and try to save her family.

Rayla does not fold the second her parents are verbally threatened, or when there is a possibility of getting them back. Despite her wanting to stop Claudia and Viren, the bigger issue is ultimately letting Claudia escape > actually keeping Terry away from her as an ally/helper. It is only when her parents will burn to death in front of her eyes that she relinquishes her stalemate in an attempt to save them.

You can argue that Rayla going back on her refusal means she made the same choice as Callum in 5x08, and that's fine; it's your prerogative, it's your interpretation, it's cool beans.

However, that doesn't ignore the character beat that Rayla at least refuses upon the first possibility of a threat. Claudia directly threatens three of Rayla's loved ones, and Rayla doesn't budge and verbally/physically refuses to give Claudia what she wants.

And Callum does the same with Finnegrin under torture... until Finnegrin threatens Rayla. The second Callum realizes that Rayla is in danger, that she will or might be killed, Callum folds.

The parallel response here would've been Rayla letting go of Terry the second that Claudia said she might throw the coins into the lava, but Rayla doesn't. And Callum does, even though as he said earlier ("I'm not going to help you murder the Archdragon of the Ocean") this makes him complicit in murder.

And this is where Callum's assumption really bites him in the ass, because he assumes that Finnegrin is still operating under the terms of their previous deal ("Told me something I wanted and now she's free as a bird") even though Callum isn't asking for his freedom, but Rayla's. But Finnegrin's pride is wounded — this was always meant to be a straight up punishment, not enough form of coercion — the wick of his anger lit, so it makes no difference.

Rayla refuses Claudia's deal when thinking it existed, only to find out it didn't. Callum agrees to Finnegrin's deal only to find it out it no longer exists. He gave Finnegrin what the pirate wanted and it isn't even going to save the person he gave it up for.

Both failed exchanges — or in Rayla's case, a failed rescue — end in defeat and devastation: Rayla sobbing and letting out a scream of anguished frustration, and Callum laying on the floor in despair, totally sideways from how much he's pulling at his chains.

I don't think I have to say much else as these scenes and comparisons basically speak for themselves. Neither choice these two make is necessarily the right or wrong choice — for Rayla, her inability to put what she wants first could've resulted in her parents' deaths and has caused herself and others a lot of suffering; for Callum, he understandably wanted to protect a loved one at all cost, even if that left him exploitable and unsuccessful amid Finnegrin's ire, and gave the pirate a dangerous piece of information.

However, I do think that although Callum's choice spells an ominous future (and that Rayla's foreshadows the uncertainty of what she may do when Callum is, inevitably, possessed again, and their futures collide), it's worth examining it as his biggest, more positive difference from Viren, and that's what my next post will be about — so stay tuned if you like.