#so rayla was going to be the hero?

[tategaminu]

actually very happy we didn't get Callum sacrificing himself to save everyone else (even tho he mostly did it for Rayla and Ezran yes). I don't want him to be a hero, I want him to be a villain who would sacrifice everything for the person he loves, please Arc 3 feed me

"A hero will sacrifice the person they love to save the world, but a villain will sacrifice the world to save the person they love"

[tategaminu]

The way she's gonna get wrecked the moment her person gets possessed and she has to choose between killing him or not🥰

the way this was rayla's season. the way we see rayla purely and uninhibitedly happy really for the first time ever. the way she let go and was just her sweet silly self with someone she loves and trusts. the way she's believing in herself and more confident and sure than ever. the way she's finally showing her love to the world instead of defaulting to her blades. the way that despite all her softening and opening up, she could not be more badass. the way she's ready to move foward.

because rayla is a hero

[random-remzy]

YOU DON'T UNESRATND-

THE ARCHDRAGONS DIED BECAUSE THEY'RE PURPOSE WAS FULFILLED!!!

They were meant to protect Xadia! To be its guardians!

3 thousand years ago, they came to power and ruled the magical lands. They stopped dark mages from corrupting their sacred land.

3 centuries ago, they trapped Aaravos in his prison. After that, the dragons became less active, more dormant.

When they died- They died having fulfilled their duty.

They killed the Fallen One. They didn't want to die. And maybe... They didnt need to. They could've left. They could've taken everyone away from Lux Aurea.

But they didn't. Because if they hadn't intervened. Callum, Rayla, and Ezran would have gone through with their plans. If they had simply fled the city. Callum, Rayla, and Ezran would still have that buzz under their skin, that feeling of knowing what they could've done to save ebveryone.

They died. Because if they hadn't. Then Callum, Rayla, and Ezran, would have accepted and become the worst parts of themselves.

Callum would have fully embraced dark magic. Going against his ideals of becoming a human primal mage. Going against natural magic.

Rayla would have killed someone. She would have thrown away her silent oath of life. Going against her values for life itself.

Ezran would have hurt Aaravos, physically hurt him. He would have become exactly what he had tried to prevent. He would have used violence to achieve peace.

The archdragons knew Aaravos would return. But they also knew that these heroes would stop him. But to do that. They couldn't let them become the worst versions of themselves.

So they sacrificed themselves. For a better chance at life. A better chance for next time.

They knew this wasn't the end. But they gave them a chance to let it be a new beginning.

[sorinethemastermind]

Terry - The Dragon Prince S7 Theories

According to the unofficial TDP wiki Season Seven is about;

"Following Sol Regem’s destructive rampage on Katolis, which saw the death of Viren, a grief-stricken Claudia has been manipulated by Aaravos into freeing him from his prison, against the wishes of her boyfriend Terry."

I think there's a lot there to unpack there. And very important things to unpack for Terry's storyline. I already have a post about what I think will happen with Claudia in the next season, and I think that Terry will be a crucial part of this. So let's talk about him a bit.

I address "a grief-stricken Claudia has been manipulated by Aaravos" in my Claudia post. So let's focus on "against the wishes of her boyfriend Terry"

Claudia might not know that Aaravos was manipulating her, but Terry does. He even warns her. But she's so desperate for direction, so hurt by the loss of her father, that she doesn't see through Aaravos' manipulations and releases him anyway.

Terry had been there for Claudia through thick and thin, and he's always been able to see that no matter what terrible things she's done, she's had a reason. She's done it all for her family.

However dangerous.

However vile.

So I don't think that he'll leave her. Instead, I think that him standing by her is going to be part of what helps her finally choose the right path.

Terry doesn't use her need for direction like other people in her life have. She gives him every chance to, but he stands by her. Not by what he could turn her into. Or what talents of hers he might use. He's there for her, and I think he's going to help her learn to find her own direction and make her own choices. He's going to teach her to tell herself what to do.

This could happen in one of two ways, I think.

Terry will warn Claudia about Aaravos' intentions, continuing to do so until Aaravos begins to view him as a threat and attempts to turn her against Terry. Claudia may be tempted to choose Aaravos, but will ultimately choose Terry and someone who loves her just the way she is. Someone who wants to listen to what she has to say and what she wants to do.

Alternatively, Terry will pull a Soren. Let me explain this a bit more.

Rayla and Callum, even Ezran, have all seem to have given up hope that Claudia can turn good. But Soren hasn't.

I think that a possible storyline of the next season is Terry realizing that Claudia is being led further and further down a dark path, and going for help to lead her away from it. Because remember, he's met Soren and I'm sure he's heard about him too.

In Season Three, Soren helps Ezran, but remains by Viren's side.

I think it's possible that Terry will find our heroes and ask for their help, specifically Soren's, in guiding Claudia back from the brink of darkness. He'll stay by Claudia like he said, but to truly stand by her and try to protect her, he'll have to go behind her back to get help to save her from Aaravos.

After all, Claudia still has people out there who love her for her.

[raayllum]

Because I thought why not compare the drawing scenes and see what we can find?

First, I think it's interesting we can already kind of tell the emotion is different just from the drawings.

In 2x07, Callum does more drawings but with less detail, focusing on Rayla's heroism, athleticism, and confidence, featuring her swords in each picture. It's not quite frantic, but it is more hurried (especially since considering in canon she hasn't been gone for that long, even if she took an hour to reach the dragon and likely took far less time). He's accentuating these traits born out of his admiration for her that also provides a basis for his feelings for her ("That's what makes a hero, that's what makes her Rayla") and also likely to reassure himself.

He's picturing the Rayla he wants to fight alongside ("Believe me, I wish I could go down there with you and be the heroes who stop all the fighting") but feels inadequate too. At the same time, if she's heroic / athletic / strong enough, as strong as he's hoping for, she won't die ("If I don't come back") and make it back to him. But it's not working, because the situation is dire and Callum has never treated her like she's invincible.

The circumstances are accordingly quite different in 6x03. He's worried, but less so; the ship isn't 100% safe, but it's not inordinately dangerous either, and exploring it is definitely one of the less dangerous things either of them have done. Despite being out there for presumably longer, Callum has seemingly devoted himself to one, much more detailed sketch, in particular with Rayla's eyes and horns. Her expression is much softer and smile gentler, reflecting the way they'd grown in knowing each other post-2x07, all throughout season three and into arc 2. And rather than drawing her because he's worried, he's also drawing her just to pass the time and because she is, accordingly, always on his mind.

I wonder if he'll hang the second picture up in his new high mage office, or wherever they live after S7.

[kitkat-the-muffin]

Tis a niche of its own

Sorry there is only two female characters, I kinda pulled these off the top of my head and probably missed a ton of other candidates. Reblog with an addition if you have one!

Edit: I forgot to make this poll a week long! Once this poll ends I'll remake it with new additions depending on the results (the characters with the fewest results will be replaced with suggested characters from the notes so be sure to suggest some!) in the meantime tho plz reblog to increase sample size

This follows my own definition of what "Comic Relief" means: A character that is used as a conduit for comedy in a piece of media

Through character studies I have determined that there are 5 types of comic relief: the Character Relief, the Audience Relief, the Tone Shifter, the Butt of the Joke, and the Slapstick. Characters that identify as "Comic Relief" usually fall into one or more of these categories

Further explanation under the cut

The Character Relief refers to a character who actively makes jokes to be funny in-universe through conscious humor. Examples from this poll would be Sans and Rayla, who go out of their way to make their friends laugh

The Audience Relief refers to a character who makes the audience laugh regardless of their impact on the story. Examples from this poll would be Lapis and Gus, who are often involved in comedic bits meant for audience entertainment that aren't acknowledged by the narrative as anything unprecedented

The Tone Shifter refers to a character who makes jokes to relieve tension and shift the tone of a scene, either consciously or unconsciously. Examples from this poll would be Jay and Leo, as they both consciously make jokes about grim situations to help their friends or family feel better. Additionally, Jay would do this unconsciously before his trauma made him start doing it on purpose

The Butt of the Joke refers to a character who is made fun of by other characters in-universe, whether endearingly or not. Examples from this poll would be Dewey and Lance, who are often met with insults whenever they do something wrong or silly. The insults are usually meant to be endearing and comedic, but they can still feed into the character's possible inferiority complex. This also applies whenever a villain hits them with a sick burn*

The Slapstick refers to a character who is made fun of by the narrative and the audience like a punching bag. Examples from this poll would be Sokka and Yusuke, who are sometimes put in troubling and awkward situations as a gag for the audience's entertainment alone. These gags are not fun for the characters yet delightful to watch

Most comic relief characters can be characterized as multiples of these. For example, Jar-Jar from Star Wars is both Slapstick and Audience Relief, and even if you don't find his jokes funny that doesn't change the fact that they were written with your entertainment in mind

If you're curious how a "The Narrative's Favorite (derogatory)" character would fit into this chart, they're likely both a Butt of the Joke and a Slapstick character, making their life absolute hell. To be honest, MK from Monkie Kid is an example of a character who fits all 5 categories, but he isn't blue so he isn't in this poll

*Ok if you've ever seen Phineas and Ferb Mission Marvel let me just say MODOK is a total Butt of the Joke and my favorite line in that special is when a TV announcer calls him a "Giant Chicken Egg with a Face" and I just had to mention that omg

[bat-snake]

Thinking again how there's so much in the show pointing to Aaravos being brought down with compassion.

Avizandum's death, for as awful a being as he was, being framed as horrific (and boy howdy was it ever)

Lucia being given restorative justice rather than having her life taken

Callum framed as being in the wrong for wanting to kill Aaravos/destroy his prison (disappointing his mother from the grave )

Speaking of Sarai, the "you keep calling it a monster" thing that comes back around with Rayla

Esmeray and the misunderstood prophecy by everyone

Coining being an awful thing to go through. Also, why would you want your MC Hero to do that to anyone??? Besides, it wouldn't work on Aaravos. I'm sure the coin will have another purpose, but not for him (not to mention it would be anticlimactic)

Themes of mending what is broken. (This is its own separate thing entirely)

So much incomplete information about him, especially coming from Zubeia's infodump that the Dragang should have asked a lot more questions about

The Nova blade won't work, they literally just said that it wouldn't work

[inamindfarfaraway]

So… does Soren know that one of his friends cut his little sister’s leg off? Did they have that conversation during Season Six? ‘Cause it doesn’t seem like it. Come to think of it, Rayla hasn’t yet seen Claudia with her amputated human leg, only her pentapus tentacles, so she might not even know herself that she actually, permanently disabled her.

At this rate the heroes are gonna see Claudia in Season Seven and be absolutely horrified at a) her missing leg b) her mostly white hair with its dark magic implications and c) the GIANT FREE AARAVOS. I bet Soren will be so overwhelmed that he’ll short-circuit and say something like “You cut your hair!” or “I like your wood foot” because he’s desperate not to lead with either “Rayla, did you chop my sister’s leg off and not tell me?” or “Hey Claudia. Where’s the little purple guy. Where’d he go”. Callum already has the ‘mental breakdown about Aaravos’ base covered.

[mylastmoleculeofserotonin]

I just started watching the Dragon Prince and I cannot get enough of how it doesn’t shy away from being the embodiment of DnD/high fantasy. Like, we have dragons, elves, nature based magic system, evil sorcerers, questing heroes, everything! It takes every heroic fantasy trope there is and creates such beautiful scenes that are so familiar yet so new and moving. I can’t get enough of it!

The animation style too really leans into that vibe as well. It feels like you’re reading a storybook and bringing it to life using your imagination. The fight scenes too are beautifully choreographed: they are so high stakes and have so much happening, yet it’s clear to track what’s going on and in that relative simplicity they craft such epic and awe-inspiring scenes.

The only thing I’m a bit apprehensive about is that it seems to be building towards a romance between Callum and Rayla. And maybe this is just my aroace-ness but it hasn’t felt like they’ve earned a romantic (sub) plot yet. That being said, I have seen some well written straight relationships in the shows I’ve been watching recently, and these writers seem to know what they’re doing, so I’m hoping that if they go though with it, it’ll actually be good.

[themattress]

The Dragon Prince's Biggest Flaw

Now that I've finished Season 7 (the end of the Mystery of Aaravos arc and quite possibly the series if they don't get a three season renewal), I once again must reaffirm the biggest albatross around The Dragon Prince's neck. It's not the lore and worldbuilding so reliant on side material, or the never-ending Avatar: The Last Airbender references, or the inconsistent animation quality, or the tonal whiplashes, or the sketchy pacing that results from all seasons being only 9 episodes long. It's the fact that while most of the heroes are likable enough, their conflicts aren't as interesting or satisfying as the villains' at best, and their goals and beliefs are downright not preferable to the villains' at worst. And this season highlighted that again!

Callum doesn't end up going dark or dying despite all the build-up, Rayla gets closure with her biological parents and then gets to have her adoptive parents back and status back and doesn't end up needing to kill Callum, Ezran is pulled back from his tyrannical path by Aanya and forgives those he was angry at, Runaan is among those forgiven and gets to find out he didn't kill King Harrow after all, Soren doesn't have to find out troubling truths of his past or confront the mother who abandoned him or have to kill his sister, Terry keeps his innocence and doesn't have to be burdened by Claudia dying, Lujanne doesn't die, and Janai doesn't end up needing to make the hard choice of executing her brother. The only sacrifice made by a hero is by Zubela, who at least gets to be with her husband in death and tell her son she loves him before dying, with said son appearing to be just fine afterward. Ezran practically boasts about how nobody had to sacrifice anything in the end despite having prepared to!

Meanwhile, Claudia loses her innocence, her brother, much of her mental health, her leg, her biological father, her boyfriend, her adoptive father, and if I'm reading it right even her humanity. Viren gave up everything to atone for his sins and died a painful and lonely death as he reiterated that he's "a servant", as if his problem was that he didn't "know his place" and dared to want more rather than his actual heinous actions in the pursuit of what he thought was justified. Aaravos lost his biological daughter, spent countless years crying over it, spent countless more years imprisoned, and now he has been temporarily killed and separated from his adoptive daughter in the process. (Oh, and Karim was squished to death, but fuck that guy). The villains actually lose things, they actually have to make sacrifices to achieve what they want! This makes them more compelling than the heroes, even if their aims aren't always on the morally up and up...but this season screws up that caveat as well!

Not only is Aaravos' plan at worst something that will create hardships that are perfectly endurable, but at best it's something morally justified because it strips power from a cosmic order that we have been shown is corrupt, composed of self-righteous bigots who will execute a child for daring to share magic with a race they deem inferior and unworthy of it. While the heroes want to create a better world, their solution doesn't address the root causes for the problems in any meaningful way. It's supposed to be framed as them acknowledging the hurt but moving on from in rather than let it bind them to the past, but that only works with the Karim plotline. Aaravos not moving beyond his hurt isn't binding him to the past, it's making him fight for a future where such cosmic atrocities can't be inflicted again...and more to the point, it's making him fight for a reality where his child's unjust execution isn't rendered meaningless. He refuses to accept "bad shit happens and we all just have to move on" when the ones making the bad shit happen move on without paying a damn consequence for their actions. And he isn't even a hypocrite about it: he knows he's also doing bad shit, and that's why he plans to die at the end! He can be with his daughter and his victims can have justice.

Meanwhile, this season is full of heroes also doing bad shit that they justify as for the best, with the difference being they have no self-awareness about it and, as said before, pay no sacrifices for it. From Callum trying to use dark magic and commit the very kind of vile act Viren was demonized for, to Rayla betraying her allies by breaking a rightfully convicted criminal out of prison, to Ezran going full Oppenheimer with the creation of a dangerous new weapon....and, perhaps worst of all, Soren, Terry and co. magically disguising Lujanne as Claudia's long-lost mother in an attempt to trick her into standing down from helping Aaravos. Yes, to get her away from Aaravos they resorted to something far more underhanded and manipulative than anything Aaravos ever tried with her. Why should I root for these guys!?

Honestly, I think if there is one scene that perfectly encapsulates the problem, it's Terry's big Heel Face Turn moment. Aaravos tells Terry the whole dark truth with the explicit purpose of helping him grow and helping him and Claudia be a better couple by putting them on equal ground with one another. And the words he says to Terry in this scene are absolutely correct:

"The true heart is a gift of childhood. For a few wonder-filled years, we each have innocent eyes to experience the world's beauty, in a simple way. Terrestrius, you were lucky. You held that innocent want for longer than most. I have seen generations of humans and elves accept the darkness that lurks in all of us beside the light. There is no black and white, only shades of gray. We must all carry complexity. But please, believe me: that there is beauty in this burden. Your heart will be a little heavier, but now there will be no more half-truths, Terrestrius. We will do what must be done."

All of this is right! Note that Aaravos isn't saying you have to discard your inner child or the good qualities it grants you completely. He is simply saying the truth that you cannot stay in a childlike state of being forever, you must also be willing to acknowledge and accept the darker parts of the world, of human nature, of yourself. If not, you can't do what you must.

But rather than do that and work through things with Claudia, Terry totally backtracks on his pledge last season that he'll never leave her and will always stand with her, all because he is scared of having to grow up and lose his innocence, to take the black with the white and see things in shades of gray, to work toward something bigger than himself that requires him to step outside his comfort zone. And it all feels so phony and unjustified, for three reasons:

- 1. First of all, he killed a man. Does anybody else remember that? He killed Ibis from behind in his third appearance in order to protect Claudia. After that he helped take and hold Soren as a hostage, steal a map from a dragon's tooth, and actively assist in releasing Aaravos despite even his own apprehensions about it. Claudia killing Sir Sparklepuff didn't seem to phase him all that much either. So the notion that he still has his innocence in tact and hasn't lost it already feels like narrative gaslighting. The breaking point being Claudia lying to him and using him (even though just talking to her deeply about it would reveal that Aaravos told her to, since again his plan was to break his innocence once it served its purpose so that he and Claudia could be equals in a better relationship) makes him feel selfish, especially given that he knows about Claudia's abandonment issues and how it will feel if another loved one walks out on her, this time after having sworn not to do so and even staying with her after she left him specifically to avoid this scenario! I'm having trouble feeling sympathy for him here.

- 2. Secondly, even if we accept his decision to leave, why couldn't he just stay on his own and take care of the birds? I mean, he could have stayed with Aaravos and Claudia and just taken the birds with him, but if he really felt he needed to split, why join their enemies? Why go out of his way to side with the people working against Claudia just as Soren had done, once again making her feel betrayed in the process? The justification that he's doing it with the assurance that Claudia won't be harmed doesn't hold water, since one of his new buddies almost kills her later and then shortly after that Soren starts talking about how she's too far gone and may need to die. Did I mention that both of those happen after they try to deceive Claudia with a fake version of her long-lost mother? Which leads to the third and final point...

- 3. Yeah, instead of just going and finding his and Claudia's mother even if it made him uncomfortable, Soren, along with Terry, Corvus, Lujanne and Allen, decided to use a magic spell to disguise Lujanne as her and have her play out an emotional reunion with a vulnerable Claudia in order to manipulate her into leaving Aaravos. When leaving her, Terry said to Claudia "You didn't trust me to make my own choice! You used me! It's not how you treat someone you love...it's not how you treat any person! And if I let you treat me that way, I'm not sure I can really be me anymore!" Yet here he is, not trusting Claudia to make her own choice and using her despite loving her. Is THAT you, Terry? Or have you changed into someone you don't even like, which was your reasoning for not staying with Claudia? Either way, you've blown up your entire rationale. You're just as morally gray as Aaravos and Claudia, except unlike them you lack the maturity to own it, preferring to stay a man-child.

And that's the show's fatal flaw in a nutshell. It wants to be morally complex, except it also doesn't want the heroes to actually embrace their own moral complexity and suffer the consequences that comes with it, which ends up turning them into pious hypocrites who can't acknowledge their hypocrisy or that the villains might have a point with what they're seeking to achieve, who breeze through the show unscathed while the villains actually have to suffer for fighting for what they believe in. It wants to be Avatar: The Last Airbender, but instead it's as if Monk Gyatso was revealed to still be alive and reunited with Aang, if Katara got closure with her mother's spirit, if Yue attempted to sacrifice herself but then the problem is solved differently so she gets to live happily ever after with Sokka, or if Zuko got his scar healed....by Azula no less, who then still goes on to suffer a mental breakdown anyway. Actually, let me rephrase it: she suffers a mental breakdown after she gets scarred herself!

If a third arc happens, I'll watch it if I hear good things about it. But until then....

[acertaincritic]

Episode 9 & the season overall

MEEEEEH

Do I need to say more?

Like yes, fine, overall, it's not as bad as the previous two seasons. Overall, this was the best season since season 2.

But let's be honest, it's not some high benchmark to clear.

Structurally, this episode's problem is that it's the final episode yet it has the structure of an early-in-season episode. It solves a personal issue of Rayla and it deals out Aaravos's backstory, and it even recaps early seasons! If not for Aaravos's return in the end, this could've been the first episode of the last season. It still could've been, just move his return one episode earlier and the rest could stay the same. No reason Aaravos can't explain his backstory to Claudia after she lets him out. The whole "cast spell with love" was a bullshit excuse.

But the most prevalent issue of this whole series is its refusal to put its heroes through any meaningful trials or tribulations. Any time they have any meaningful choice to make, the story ultimately makes it so they don't have to pay the cost. Some examples:

Rayla decides to lose her hand instead of killing Ezran - Zym just breaks her hand-cutting bracelet.

Callum decides to use dark magic and regrets it - he just gets primal magic he can use with clear conscience. He arguably chooses wrong and then he's still given the good magic in reward.

That also entirely nullifies his initial choice of "use dark magic or have no magic." He just gets good magic.

Claudia kills a deer to heal Soren's legs and in the end... Nothing? She gets ugly I guess? Soren is perfectly fine, it doesn't matter that such a powerful dark magic was used on him, at most it's Claudia who bears the cost, and it's not clear what "looking ugly" really does, if anything at all.

The Dragon Mom ignores her injury and pretends she's fine - when she stops being fine she just stumbles across a healer by accident.

Or just this season:

Callum gets healed from using dark magic by a ritual. They say it's dangerous but eh, it seemed pretty easy, half an episode and done, and he's fine and has his primal magic. No cost.

Rayla thinks she'll have to choose who to save, but in the end her parents are at peace and happy to go. She doesn't really have to choose, she just goes with what the other people choose.

The Sun Queen strikes out at her brother's forces and in the end nothing happens to her lol. That whole Z plot line was ultimately a nothingburger. The big sun dragon wasn't even needed to release Aaravos. You could've entirely cut it out and just have Claudia sneak into the castle to get the egg!

And so on and so on. And it's just so tiring, because we're dangled nice stuff in front of us, like a possession arc, but then nothing happens.

Claudia just lets Aaravos out like she's intended for three full seasons. It's just dull. It's boring! It's, well, it's the definition of meh.

Guys tell me, seriously, am I the weird one? Is it weird for me that I expect the heroes to have to deal with complex issues and hard choices, and not the villains? Am I asking for too much?

Because it feels like the creators had some nice epic pictures in their heads, like Katolis burning or a big battle among the Sun Elves, but they just can't or won't commit to them. They don't write a meaningful story to accompany those pictures. All the heaviness is put on the antagonists, while the heroes, if they have any issues, typically resolve them within one episode - like the Sun Queen had a one episode long "arc," but she just had to listen to a story and she's perfect and flawless again! Callum's arc of struggling with dark magic and possession is the only such one, and it still came to an anticlimactic, easy end with the cleansing ritual.

Yes, the show can still do something with it. If I had more trust in this series and its writing, I'd say that sometime in the next season, Callum is going to use dark magic to save Rayla, breaking his promise, and then she'll be unable to kill him, breaking her promise, and they'll need to put themselves back together and come back from that.

But... I don't have any trust in this series at this point. They used false advertising in the trailer! There wasn't any scene with Callum having black eyes this season, yet they even used it as a thumbnail?

So with my zero faith in the writing of TDP, I'm presuming there will come a moment when it'll look like Callum might use dark magic again, but he'll then refuse and instead of suffering any consequences, he and others will be promptly rescued by someone, like maybe the Dragon Mom coming back during the final battle or something like that.

Because the heroes just got to choose right and they'll suffer no consequences for it. I guess the moral of the story is "just be good and things will work out on their own." In other words... "trust in God/Fate."

Amazing. That's exactly the message to teach kids, instead of "sometimes doing good is hard but it's still worthwhile" or "be smart and creative and you'll find a solution" or idk a hundred other messages this show could've had.

Like seriously, the setup where humans don't have inborn magic and elves do is such an amazing one. It could've been a story about humans outsmarting elves, about figuring out other ways to use magic, about not letting their lack of power put them down.

But nooo. Instead it's a story about those born powerful being always good and beautiful, and only a couple of them are bad apples - usually because they're deceived by one particularly bad apple. And if you're born without power (privilege, khy khy) you should just accept it and you'll be rewarded by fate/those with power.

This show is progressive?

[self-spaghettification]

callum is a trojan horse s6 theory

In the event that the Novablade doesn't work on Aaravos, because .... he's already been stabbed with it, then...

Aaravos intentionally made Callum terribly afraid of him so Callum would HAVE to go to the Starscraper to kill him—so scared that he’s even doing it when he knows—and Rayla told him—it was a bad idea to bring the pearl. he just made it easier for him. the irony is wonderful. so Aaravos gets the sword, the last ingredient to his revenge on the stars, who he swears will fall.

so he's not dying at the hand of the Novablade, it's his weapon

Added thoughts from mutuals were-- Startouch elves were probably barred from entering the Starscraper for some reason, that’s why he needed to use Callum as his vessel, his Trojan horse—throwback to Fall of Lux Aurea btw, "You allowed my vessel to walk ...directly to the source of all your power?" He's done this before—anyway

Today I Realize

the intro to the show directly supports this idea

just the novablade, on screen. while the stars are falling. in aaravos’s name

in his name. the novablade is literally in his name. but also. metaphorically. likely going to be used/ the stars will be falling in his name

in the intro of a show planned out by arc, an intro set to go the rest of the arc

those bastards knew what they were doing since s4 while everyone was bashing it and they were doing this. they were doing this. isofjdsokfjlskghjoiyet4rwehsufdiggjkhlytr im so ILLLLLL

love you show creators for also making it evident it's gonna be callum/supporting my theory further because

The only other place Aaravos's desire for the stars to fall is mentioned is in Patience.

And what's right below this part that closely parallels the arc 2 intro?

Ziard, Viren, and Callum. in S6, Claudia is also likely interacting with Aaravos. (S6 poster) so...why isn’t she here? Only Callum and Viren are here. Could it be because they’re fulfilling such similar roles?

After the end of s5, we know Viren is likely not the main player in Aaravos's game now, not an option (in one way or another) so

next up as Trojan horse / vessel…

Yeah

so excited for hearts of cinder 2: epic fail: so good at "hero" stuff he accidentally doomed the world

[eerna]

You stated that you used to ship rayllum and didnt like the way there arc went ahead in season 3 so how did you envision there arc going ahead and do you think that they should of been built up a whole lot more before getting together in season 3 ?

Just to be clear: when s3 first dropped, I was absolutely ecstatic about them getting together!! My take was "I know it is rushed but I DON'T CARE because they are ADORABLE!!" It wasn't until s4 dropped that I lost the rose tinted glasses and could no longer enjoy them.

As for how I would fix it... man, I can't really fix it without rewriting the entire show. You can't have good romance if the characters aren't good. You can't have good characters if the world they're in doesn't make any sense. Technically there is nothing wrong with a couple getting together 27 episodes into the show, but THIS couple would require significant rewrites to make it emotionally rewarding. So I guess the broad strokes without changing too much are: keep Rayla emotionally distant and morally flexible regarding all the Moonshadow Elves culture things (murder, social exclusion, rejection of individualist worth, emotional connections), let Callum be the emotionally mature one and morally inflexible until dark magic is brought into the game, make the elven culture VS dark magic their point of friction and make them both wrong and right at the same time (this is imperative), let them grow closer and for Rayla to discover the wonders of being loved as a person and not in a transactional way/as a part of the collective, keep her crush unrequited in s3 so that Callum feels awkward rejecting her considering he's her emotional anchor, the arc where she leaves has to happen in the show itself and should be about Rayla making a decision completely powered by her character development ("I can't lose the one person who truly and honestly loves me for me, so I'm gonna leave him behind" when in the beginning of the show she would scoff at such a weakness). The annoying thing with TDP heroes is that they don't have any wrong ideas or beliefs that could be changed. Which is why I am making Callum NOT instinctively underatand dark magic is bad (he has never done it because he doesn't know how, but sees nothing wrong with using it because he knows it saved humanity many times before) and Rayla NOT instinctively understand murder is bad (she has never committed it, but she is willing to, which also makes her seem like a more dangerous person). So basically arc 1 would revolve around them learning lessons from each other and seeing the world in a different light, and then separating on a weird note. I tried writing ideas past this point, but it became less "broad strokes" and more "rewriting the entirety of arc 2"

[bittrlys]

I have heard some people saying that the show is going to address the issues of humans being discriminated against will be addressed in season 7 dark. What do you think about that?

Personally, I think it might be a bit too late for them to properly address it and do it in a satisfactory way especially because the main ship rayllum had rayla being prejudice against humans but her actions don't get called compared to Callum so i doubt her actions will be called out next season as both the fandom and the narrative love to frame her in the right when she can sometimes be quite hypocritical and in the wrong.

Also, I want zubeia to be called out for her actions and zyms father but I doubt that will happen either.

Another question I also don't like the series framing of dark magic. Now in season 6 (took us 6 seasons) to learn that dark magic creates a hole in your spirit and it corrupts you to aaravos but that feels like the writers adding it in there so people don't bring up the whole arguement that dark magic is bad because the narrative says so. Also the show doesn't convince me dark magic is so bad that viren SHOULDN'T of used it to save soren or that Callum SHOULDN'T of used it to save rayla.

Idk to be honest the handling of dark magic within the narrative is so confusing and bad.

Anyway sorry this got so long

My very upfront opinion is that there is clearly some dissonance, and perhaps even conflict, in the writer's room about Viren and Claudia, dark magic, the cost of it, and the intended take away from these characters and their actions.

Now, when writing, there's no particular requirement to be honest with your audience or to not accurately represent how history can be muddled and shift. "Humans learned dark magic" to "Unicorns taught humans magic and were slaughtered in thanks" to "Aaravos is implied to have taught humans dark magic" to "Aaravos's daughter Leola (a uni-horned elf) taught humans magic and was killed" is cohesive enough, even considering the writers are on record saying they may be changing things as they go, as happens with writing. (With dark magic being the main sticking point of anti-human sentiments, how and why it occurred matters.) I also don't think the show has never wanted us to sympathize with humans or not see their discrimination -- the sight of them in tears as they're exiled, evoking the Trail of Tears (still bonkers), or Ziard's bitterness over how humans starved or his terror when Sol Regem tricks him in hopes to destroy Elarion are moments of raw feeling where the camera centres humans and their pain. Most of our protagonists are humans, and Callum, though occasionally punished for his ambitions, is a character who wants magic who is heroic.

The ultimate problem, however, is that the show wants to have its cake and eat it too, which goes back to my earliest complaints in how they 'meta write' from what we expect of fantasy and muddle their own messages. Certainly this show could be a long-form exercise in tricking people into rooting for ethnic cleansing racists but like, it's a show for kids. Sol Regem is a bad dragon and he is obviously bad. Zubeia is a good dragon and she is obviously good. We're supposed to understand Sol Regem kinda had it coming and understand that Zubeia being hurt is allegedly sad. There's no deceit to this straightforward presentation. Viren, Claudia, and now Aaravos are sympathetic villains, but they're still villains. And when your villains come in two main flavours of Team Anti-Human (arising after humans wronged Xadians initially, natch) or Team Human (or adjacent) and every hero is Team Xadia because humans fighting against the disparity of their world is Causing Trouble while humans who extend the hand of friendship to Xadians are Bringing Peace, it ultimately teaches us that "Maybe humans had a hard time of it, but it's time they suck it up." I don't think there was anything more explicit to this than having our Out Of The Mouth Of Babes protagonist Ezran's Zubeia-backed speech at the Many Thunder Victims Memorial Valley.

A lot of writers like villains who have a point, because they feel it adds depth to them, but they often jump straight to "the villain is a marginalized person who is fighting for change in the Wrong Way" and this creates an implication that Fighting For Change At All is wrong because our heroes are never passionate champions for equality. They may like equality, but they say "Not now -- not like this --" and it isn't central to their beliefs. Team Xadia are not nominally Anti Equality or Anti Humanity, but their framing vis a vis our villains makes this lack of investment in the liberation of humanity quite clear.

All of this is to say that I agree, it would be too little, too late, and that the fact the show has *already established* humans as being victims of discrimination makes the narratives around them all the more galling and difficult to untangle. I absolutely would like to have the show deliver one of its extremely straightforward, directly to the camera-type messages on how humans were discriminated against, yes, but it doesn't fix six seasons of presenting all anger on behalf of humanity as something that is ultimately morally unsound and in need of changing. And how much further can they take it? Can they portray Xadians as a whole as privileged beings who have benefited from the mistreatment of humans? Not just a few bad apples -- can they actually, truly acknowledge Xadians as less than idealized? Can they take seasons upon seasons of trying to make us love Xadians and turn it around with frank questions about things like "reparations" and "acknowledging generational trauma without both-sides-ing it"? Can they give us a purely heroic human protagonist who is firmly Team Human and centres human interests? I don't think so. They prefer keeping to their "Callum and Amaya and Ezran constantly apologizing and putting down humanity in favour of their Xadian betters" agenda. (So bonkers they do this with three characters of colour, sidenote.)

Rayla is interesting because I think they have a fundamental disinterest in her inner world. She's so defined by her relationships with others and traumatic things that happen to her personally are ignored (her feelings on her banishment getting sidelined into Callum stuff, or her overcoming her fear of water to save Callum and Ezran happening off screen.) Her prejudice is a standard result of her upbringing but it's another thing that hasn't really come up in a while. I don't know if they so much want her as a character to be right, or prejudiced, or whatever, so much as they use her as a mouthpiece for particular opinions they need stated. She was learning about humans as much as Callum and Ezran were learning about elves and now she's learned she's just chilling being another one of Ezran's inexplicably pro-monarchy shooters.

Onto the second half of your ask about dark magic -- this season has firmly shifted the dark magic usage into an addiction metaphor, and so we get the "hole in your soul" (the anti-Birdhouse In Your Soul.) I do think this makes sense with earlier seasons. Dark magic has always been shown as corrupting the user (hence the monstrosity, and hence Viren being likely to die if purified of it, because it's become so entwined with his inner core) and this destruction of the self has been a reason to avoid it. I'll even be generous and say it's not entirely "Evil People Are Ugly" but instead a lot of "Self-Destruction Is Terrifying." However, I've been obsessed with this since I saw it:

"He shouldn't be monstrous in his final moments of heroism" is very funny. The writers are aware they have thoroughly codified Ugly, Monstrous = Bad and would try to bend themselves over backwards to let a Good Act be done via Evil Means in a way that minimizes the evidence of the evil means. This is why you have to put that "inherent evil" in quotation marks because real inherent evils don't tend to get a pass. And because they want dark magic to still exist in the show and still be used by sympathetic characters like Callum and Claudia without rendering them utterly reprehensible they have to make it the hole-in-your-soul addiction metaphor and say it costs the user as much as, if not more than, it costs the world around them.

Which is, like, fine, but at a certain point it is like -- Yeah, if we can see times where dark magic is basically a necessity because your choice is either "dark magic, or let your child die" or "dark magic, or let a dragon flambé your people" -- which many of us would consider non-choices -- then you have to respect that people maybe will have to make that choice. And if the cost is more on them, then ...? It's practically a noble sacrifice. To oppose it for reasons of Aaravos is a non-argument. Viren was mainlining dark magic for decades and it wasn't until he got that mirror that Aaravos became a problem and Aaravos isn't always going to be around ... not to mention that now that he's free I think he has abilities that go well beyond "souljacking." Aaravos in this case represents more the 'spiritual death' associated with this internal corruption. So can we find reasons to oppose it that go beyond The Harm It Causes To An Individual, Who Should Be Allowed their Autonomy?

They still throw half-hearted nods to the previous seasons much more heavy-handed "omg the beautiful butterfly" "omg the baby deer" (single crying tear) "stop hurting the environment" "magical beings are superior to you" type anti-dark magic rhetoric (see Claudia and the cat thing) but it seems the writers have come to realize they need dark magic to exist as much as the people in universe need it to exist, and so they're trying to focus more on the internal cost. Personally, I think this is a fine place to take it and if the intent is to return the discussion to how humans have been discriminated against, it's a wise thing to do. So I won't protest it much, although we can discuss villainizing addicts and so forth and why Rayla's lack of compassion in approaching Callum's dark magic use is difficult to watch.

It's funny, because I wouldn't even call myself "pro dark magic" as I do see it as harmful, but the hypocritical and condescending treatment of dark magic users in the narrative is something I take issue with more than the use of dark magic itself. This is why, if they are leaning into this more sympathetic reason for rejecting dark magic, I hope we see increased sympathy as to why dark magic is used and why, until humans are liberated (i.e. given equal access to magic and Xadian resources) it's pretty much essential.

Thank you very much for the ask! ♥ Don't apologize for the length, as you can see I love to ramble away myself. Also yeah didn't fit this in anywhere else but fuck that narrative deadweight Zubeia. Thunder at least got shaded by Rex Igneous even if Rex Igneous was Mean and Scary.

[sorinethemastermind]

The Right Thing

₊•.°.⋆✮ A Season Seven Theory Post ✮⋆.°.•₊

Exploring the recurring theme of what "the right thing" is in The Dragon Prince, and how that will play into Season Seven.

Part One: The Past

Before we can talk about Season Seven and why this is important, we need to talk about the past six seasons and the role that "the right thing" has played in them. And there's a lot, so buckle up.

The first character that we're shown having to grapple with "the right thing to do" is Rayla, though the words aren't actually uttered. She is faced with having to kill Marcos, the guard who discovered her and the other assassins. But while the others believe that killing Marcos is the right thing, she doesn't, and she lets him go.

She does what she believes is right. She's brave. She's a hero.

The next time we see this is with Soren, only a few episodes later.

And what Soren says is "The right thing. I... I don't know if I can do that."

Soren and Rayla share a lot of parallels, and I think that this will continue to be true in season seven. Viren and Runaan also share a lot of parallels, which I think plays into the Rayla - Soren parallels (I eventually plan to do a meta on this, but we'll see when I get to it)

I feel it's important to note that in this scene, the right thing is referred to as a burden.

And the line comes back later, when Soren, similarly to Rayla, discovers his heroic side and does what he believes is right rather than what he's been told was right.

Speaking of Rayla parallels, because that is the direction this post is headed as a whole, let's talk about the Rayla - Claudia parallels as well. Claudia is told by her father that retrieving the egg of the Dragon Prince is the most important thing. Even above saving her brother. She has to do it for the greater good.

But what does she choose?

She chooses Soren over the egg. She chooses her family over the "greater good". Some might argue that she made the right choice.

So now let's talk about

Part Two: The Present

That's right The Right Thing™ is an abstract that has haunted The Dragon Prince since season one and continues to do so to this day. And I think it's only going to play an even bigger role in Season Seven. Especially between Rayla and Callum.

I feel like in Arc One The Right Thing™ primarly haunted the Magefam. Soren and Claudia both had to grapple with their own versions, and while it did play a role in Rayla's story, she was fairly certain of what The Right Thing™ was, even if it took strength to do it. But in Arc Two, it's played much more of a role in Rayla and Callum's lives because it's not as clear. And that is when The Right Thing™ is at it's best; when the characters don't know which is right.

Rayla makes it clear to Callum what she thinks The Right Thing™ is. But as we've seen in previous seasons, when someone tells you what the right thing is, it's rarely the thing you end up doing. Because the right thing is different to everyone. And I think that Season Six and this scene between Rayla and Callum left that open ended on purpose.

We, the audience know that Rayla was telling Callum to "do the right thing. Make the sacrifice." AKA to let Rayla die. To let her be the sacrifice.

But what do we know about Callum?

That's right. And where have we seen this kind of mentality, this kind of language before?

Right again. The Magefam, who were haunted by The Right Thing™ in Arc One.

Rayla countered Callum's "I would do anything for you." by asking something of him. Asking him to "do the right thing. Make the sacrifice."

In return, Callum asked something of her;

Two promises.

Two promises I think they will break in Season Seven.

Part Three: The Future

That's right, theory time! So if The Right Thing™ has been haunting us this whole time, what has it been haunting us for? I think there a bunch of different options, but taking all the context (and a whole lot of screen shots) let's try and piece something together.

First of all, we have the trigger.

All of this hinges on Rayla and Callum breaking their promises, or more accurately I suppose, having different interpretations of what The Right Thing™ is.

So first of all, we have the situation where Rayla is in danger, and Callum would need to use Dark Magic to save her. I personally feel like this is almost definitely going to happen.

We literally get this shot in the trailer. And yes, the cube is in it's strange, dream version. But the background doesn't match any Dark Magic dream we've seen before. PLUS why would Callum be having a Dark Magic dream if he hadn't done Dark Magic? Potentially this scene could be taking place inside a second Dark Magic dream, the way that Viren had two because he died, Callum might have two because his soul was purified and he's having to re-corrupt it.

But whatever the case, I feel like it's safe to assume that Callum will end up using Dark Magic again in this season, one way or another.

Which means he broke his promise to Rayla. He didn't do The Right Thing™.

Or did he? This is where it gets interesting.

Rayla told him to "do the right thing. Make the sacrifice." meaning herself as the sacrifice and letting her die as the right thing. But as we've established throughout this whole, long winded mess of an essay, The Right Thing™ rarely means the same thing to different people.

So maybe, to Callum, he did "do the right thing. Make the sacrifice." He saved Rayla, which he feels is The Right Thing™. And he made the sacrifice. Himself. His Soul. The World.

According to his RPG character sheet, Callum is pretty clear about what he believes and who he values. And he might just choose Rayla over the world. But what will Rayla choice? Will she do... The Right Thing™?

From 04x05 - The Great Gates Soren: We have to do something, Rayla: No. We can't risk being seen. I hate it too, but we have to keep moving. Let's go! Soren: But it's an innocent dragon, and he's hurting it. That was something you cared about. Didn't they call you a Dragonguard? Rayla: We can't save everyone, Soren. There's too much at stake.

So... if Callum would choose Rayla over the world, would Rayla choose the world over Callum? In some ways, I think we've been set up to believe that yes, she would.

But at the same time...

What is The Right Thing™? Is it killing Callum and keeping her promise, or is it searching for a way to save him? Can she really keep her promise? I don't think she will. I think that

[raayllum]

Invert Life and Death Theory

Yesterday, the fandom received two season seven synopses that detail similar mysterious concepts:

The stakes have never been higher as Aaravos and Claudia are on the warpath, determined to destroy the Cosmic Order and invert life and death. With the world’s fate on the line, our heroes must be ready to sacrifice everything to save it.

As Aaravos and Claudia seek to destroy the Cosmic Order and invert life and death, our heroes must be literally ready to sacrifice anything and everything love and believe in to save the world!

I will touch on the 'sacrifice' portion likely here, and then further in another meta that was actually already sitting in my drafts about it (as we've known for a while that S7's main theme is sacrifice, even if I didn't expect it to be so blatantly spelled out in the summaries). But I digress.

Aaravos (and Claudia) want to destroy the Cosmic Order. They want to invert life and death, to turn it upside down (much like Aaravos' chest star I might imagine). Presumably this is to make the Cosmic Order mortal-mortal so that they can be permanently killed and Aaravos can have his proper revenge. He might also be working towards trying to reassemble Leola's spirit somehow.

But what is that attempted inversion going to look like? Well... It does contextualize the weird consistent emphasis his plans have had on the Moon and Sun specifically:

And we might finally know why:

Sun and Moon, Life and Death

In previous posts, I'd speculated there was more than just politics or revenge at stake in Aaravos seemingly killing Luna Tenebris and Queen Aditi 300 years ago. Of course the in-story explanation that's most obvious is that he wanted political instability, which I think is certainly true.

However, thus far there's not really a Reason in-text that it had to be those two. Why not another Earth dragon instead, or a Tidebound king? Throughout the series the elves that have gotten the most focus and worldbuilding have routinely been Moonshadow and Sunfire elves, and it didn't really have to be. And of course we could get into the weeds and say that Earth could've been associated with Life and Sun with death, etc etc. but the point stands that I think this series long focus on Moonshadow and Sunfire elves/philosophies in addition to Aditi and Luna Tenebris' deaths/disappearances makes a lot of sense if Sun = Life and Moon = Death, and these are the things that Aaravos wishes to invert upside down.

The fact that this reflective relationship between Sun and Moon possibly ties into Aaravos being in a mirror, characters having shadow selves running around in the narrative, and the emphasis on mirrored images in the dark magic dreams we see also makes sense.

Aaravos already toppled the Sun Forge and thereby Sun Primal on his way through to the Storm Spire. Going back to the Moon Nexus in S6 was a welcome callback to Through the Moon, but the Moon Nexus specifically having a portal between life and death... reminding us of that location because it's going to play a much bigger role next season (potentially like other characters, like Aanya) could be on the table. In taking Lux Aurea, Aaravos got the corrupted Sun staff after all.

Speaking of which, let's talk about

Rayla and Claudia

I don't think I have to explain why or routinely how Rayla is associated with the Moon as a Moonshadow elf. Secretive yet open, caught between love and duty, life and death, truth and lies, light and dark, Rayla embodies all this and more. Callum has also asked for her to be his Death if push comes to shove and he's possessed again, but she's also what has saved him in S6 from said threat of possession (and likely will again). This isn't to say that Aaravos needs a Moon arcanum and is going to take Rayla's (though I suppose he could), I think the likelier outcome is corrupting the Moon Nexus (and hence why you animate/rig Lujanne, Allen, and a new Phoe-Phoe design under your software at all). But it does mean I think Rayla will be a mirror to Claudia / whatever is happening with the Moon Nexus as a way to manipulate Callum, per usual.

Conversely, Claudia has wielded the corrupted Sun staff — a literally corrupted light that represents dark magic to her outright in S6, and one that she uses as a literal and metaphorical crutch — since season three, only occasionally using her father's staff with Viren only using the Sun staff for the Hearts of Cinder spell. She's a sun that's already been eclipsed by Aaravos, by death, in more ways than one. Someone who's walked a continually bloodier, darker path the further the show has gone on.

If and when Claudia gives up dark magic, she'll be 'restored' as the Sun — uncorrupted, bolstered by the truth ("Careful, if you tell the truth you will lose her"), shining brightly again. In the meantime, though, if Claudia is brought home in parallel with Callum being saved from dark magic corruption in S6, I think someone else will be Claudia's 'sun'. So let's talk about it.

Trials and Tests of Love

While we might see more — I could see Karim getting a trial on a technicality in S7 — as it stands now we see three former trials in the series. The first is in S4 among the Sunfire elves with Lucia, who ruined a sacred ritual by putting out a light, and is declared not innocent but worthy of life over death. Then we see Leola, who despite being truly innocent is condemned to death by the Star/First Elves and is made into nothing more than a light star known as Leola's Last Wish. Finally, we're going to seemingly have Rayla, whose actions did lead to the death of her troupe of Moonshadow assassins in the Silvergrove.

Just like with starlight vs moonlight vs sunlight with the Celestial elves, and Astrid + star magic creatures like Sir Sparklepuff in particular....

AARAVOS: Otherwise the sun will rise, and you will not.

We see this pattern of sun, star, and moon again with the trials alongside ideas of mercy, innocence, and concepts of paying the price.

Meanwhile, in season six, both Claudia and Callum were searching for their deep truths. Their path. Callum found his in Rayla and accepted it wholeheartedly. Claudia thought she'd find hers in Viren ("I'll look at him and I'll know / I need him to show me the right path"), but found only his body and the prison he left behind. Of course, the main reason that Viren died in season six was that he wanted to save Katolis, and more than that, he wanted to save his son.

She said that this was my home, and that my brother and I needed each other.

If Claudia is an eclipsed sun, a form of life turned death, than Soren is the uncorrupted version of the sun, ready and willing to guide her back if she'll just give him the chance. And in going back to Katolis, in sparing/saving Soren, Viren did help give Claudia what she needed in order to find her true path some day, too: a life with her brother and Terry at her side.

Claudia's first real test of love in the series was whether to choose the egg — the world, her father's wishes — over the safety and wellbeing of her family — her brother. She made the right choice.

I'm here.

It'd make sense if one of her final tests of love was a similar trial — maybe even if Callum under possession/Aaravos' control hurts Soren ("Oh I've been stabbed by the stab-prince!") — and Claudia once again chooses her brother over everything, just as he chooses for and fights for her. She ultimately chooses life over death, reflecting the massive change in herself and her character arc.

Likewise, Rayla being a Moonshadow elf saved from death ("I leapt to my certain death, but you spread your wings and you saved me" / "Finnegrin was going to kill you, I didn't have a choice") from Callum means breaking his promise, yes.

However, it also frees her up from needing to be an assassin and therefore from needing to behave like she's "already dead" or that Callum is. The possession/corruption would be a fate worse than death / metaphorical to literal death and rather than delivering either, Rayla would save him in turn. Like Claudia, she chooses life over death, symbolizing the same turning point. Callum, meanwhile, could get the Moon arcanum by realizing he has dark and light inside him; this may not mean a total blank slate (idk if they'd repeat that) from corruption, but a way to permanently throw off Aaravos' control of him regardless.

Life, over death.

Life and death working in harmony under principles of justice, mercy, and compassion.

Conclusion

This is more of rambling "notes on top of all this" place than a proper conclusion, but just a summary of stuff / some speculation for later:

Aaravos needed Moon and Sun stuff specifically from Luna Tenebris and Queen Aditi and that's why he killed them

Aaravos is going to successfully make the Cosmic Council mortal, even if that means making himself mortal.

This makes him more powerful than the Council and they may have reason to ally with our main team in order to take down Aaravos and/or be destroyed themselves

Rayla as Moon and Claudia as Sun reflect both life and death, but each will likely choose life over death; for Rayla this is about a certainty, for Claudia it's more up in the air if she'll have her redemption arc yet (I could see it getting pushed further to arc 3).

I think it'd be really nice if the inversion of life and death had broad implications meant some characters got to say goodbye, like Callum and Ez having a moment with Harrow and/or Sarai

And I think that's about it! What do you think inverting life and death may mean?