#tdp symbolism

[beautifulterriblequeen]

adding this to the collection of double diamond visuals in the show

[herwrittenuniverse]

Claudia's Flower in S5E3

The blue flower is an interesting motif in S5E3. The creators made a point to feature it in both Viren's dream sequence and reality, I personally think it offers some very interesting symbolism for Claudia, Terry, and what may happen in the future with these two.

Terry lovingly plucks a flower from a nearby tree during their journey down the stream, and Claudia proudly wears it in her hair.

As we follow the couple's time spent on the river, we are also following Viren's fever dream - and in it, he sees Claudia entering the blood-red ocean without hesitation, absentmindedly picking a flower - the same blue variety that Terry picked only moments before. The young dark mage is clearly leading herself to her demise (I would think, anyway) into the blood-red sea - to me, this represents that Claudia will do anything to achieve her means. Dream-Claudia is clearly ignoring the obvious warning signs that the sea is dangerous. Although she is focused on the moon above her (ergo, her task at hand), her hands are stripping the flower of its petals one by one. The viewer may be reminded of the classic "He loves me / he loves me not" trope seen in so many shows and movies.

Viren calls out to her. "But wait, it will swallow you up!" (Which, by the way, is a very specific phrase - queuing us back to what Aaravos said to Khessa) And in that moment, a wave crashes into the boat, causing real-life Claudia to drop the flower into the river.

Later on, as the dream reaches its pinnacle, Viren is faced with a mirror image of himself, but of instead of in the looking glass, it's Claudia. Completely corrupted and overtaken by dark magic, her face is as grey and gaunt as her father's. Claudia even echoes the words, "I would do anything for our family, Dad - whatever it takes, however dangerous, however vile."

The clear message here is Claudia is, indeed, following in her dad's footsteps - she literally says and does this in the dream. In addition, as someone who loves drawing upon symbolism, I would like to think that the blue flower, while more subtle, is just as important. Given to her by Terry, it represents Claudia's softer side - her conscience, if you will. In S4, we've already seen Terry act as Claudia's voice of reason, especially during his dismay at Claudia's actions when she tricked Rayla regarding the coins. Later on in S5, he voices his discomfort with dark magic once again when Claudia is about to kill the stalking dragon. We've seen Terry try to be the absolute best supportive boyfriend he could be - and we've also seen him try to reason with Claudia, to be a better person despite her objective.

All that's to say is...Claudia is heading down a very, very disruptive path - a path that will challenge her to do any means necessary. She's already gone through incredible lengths and I don't see her stopping anytime soon.

But Terry? Will he be the one that reasons with her, that pulls her back from the brink of destruction...or will he choose to leave Claudia because she is losing herself?

'He loves me / he loves me not... Should I / Shouldn't I...'

Just some food for thought.

[m4rs-ex3]

the way that braids are symbolic for moonshadow elves and rayla lost her braid at the same time that she lost her home and family and everything she knew, and it wasn't until she was able to grow and come into herself and love callum like she couldn't before that it came back, thicker and winding around her like a halo because she's finally surrounded by unconditional love and i

[raayllum]

And My Father's Love Was Nothing Next To God's Will by Amatullah Bourdon

[tategaminu]

Ear twitch!

[venice-1987]

Okay, so in season 4 episode 8, Janai starts talking about two of those twin-tailed inferno tooth tigers and the two she is talking about have the color palets of turquios and brown (Embertail), and gold and red (Aegis) (both seen in teaser images for season 7). And Janai says that "Embertail thinks Aegis is cute, but won't admit it yet" so in conclusion, not only will Sorvus be canon in season 7, but Corvus has thought Soren is cute for three seasons, but hasn't admitted it to himself yet.

[its-leethee]

to love is simply to know--

2x09 // 6x09

[thrandilf]

Viren: it's so odd that Sir Sparklepuff is part butterfly where did all of the Bug come from, Aaravos? What part of you is butterfly-like? Aaravos: Oh Viren, I have nothing to do with the bug parts Viren:

[stuck-in-jelly]

Im very much not over this moment

[a-very-sparkly-nerd]

Now, I don't have an English degree, but Viren & Claudia symbolism of going into the water = walking down a dark path, and Callum willingly jumping in the water on more than one occasion...

[jinxneedssleep]

I’m usually not big on the “redemption through death” trope, but Viren’s sacrifice was written exceptionally well and was definitely the write amount of heartbreaking.

It felt like a natural progression of his character arc, instead of just a way to get rid of him. Viren’s whole thing since his resurrection was change. He opened his eyes to what dark magic had done to him, and how it had blinded him.

Finally, in season 6 Viren gets to atone for his actions. He isn’t forgiven, which is a good thing because after all his done, he does not deserve that forgiveness. However, Viren’s final moments feel like his true redemption. He is suffering for his sins and he knows that; he accepts his end. For the greater good. He dies using the spell that had started the battle he created. The battle that first ended his life. Viren is a gray character morally, and his final moments are him coming full circle

[milevenstancyendgame]

I just realised a nice detail (thanks to this gifset by @rayllurn!) in Tdp s4: When Soren says to Rayla "Sometimes you need time to work through the weird", he stands in rays of light and looks up at the sky - we see the moon filling the screen for a few seconds.

The moon is both a symbol for Rayla, her relationship with Callum, and time - the important thing here is that the moon phase is waning gibbous, meaning it's just a bit after full moon. So it will take time until the moon is full again. :')

[parroset]

Theory: Viren needs a storm

One thing I would like to know about season 6 is what the weather is like. If it was sunny or clear, okay, that's irrelevant. But, in season 4 episode 4, Zubeia notes that she can create a storm to block out the sun:

And, more directly, Ripples explicitly mentions that a storm caused the sun to not rise for weeks:

One phrase specifically stands out: "for the sun must always rise, mustn't it?" The phrasing is so similar to a phrase that Viren fans know way too well:

And Ripples is also told by Aaravos. He canonically sees storms as something that prevents the sunrise.

All I'm saying is, Viren may not need a spell to survive the sunrise at all. Maybe he just needs a storm.

[m4rs-ex3]

NO IM NOT OK BECAUSE RAYLA WAS THROWING ROCKS AT HER OWN LOTUS WHEN SHE WAS AT HER LOWEST AND WAS FEELING WORTHLESS AND ONLY A COUPLE DAYS LATER SHE WAS SENDING HERSELF ON A SUICIDE MISSION AND LIKE I

[raayllum]

One deep truth, huh? Your deepest truth. […] You must find the star within you, the one deep truth so bright it can fill the darkness.

[self-spaghettification]

All sightings of this symbol so far

Aaravos’s hood (season 2)

both end credits from s5. left appears to be a celestial elf. (5x04) right is 5x09

the book with the infantis sanguine spells. “It’s one of the old spells.” (5x09)

mirror breaking in the same pattern. (4x04) ( @raayllum post)

back side of the coins (5x01) (thank you @its-leethee !!)

this is the symbol for deep magic actually!

thank you! @ok12857