#thanks a lot Viren

[starry-skies-writes]

I like how they have things to remember their fathers by

Ezran has Harrow’s sword (crafted into his crown)

Callum has Damien’s scarf

Rayla has Ethari’s crafted swords, and her braid that is like Lain’s

Claudia has Viren’s staff

And Soren has Viren induced trauma

[raayllum]

me sitting here with my "broyals having a quasi sunfire sibs conflict over the cube" crack theory waiting for ezran to have one (1) line of dialogue or scene with the cube:

like why would they do this to me:

[an-actual-attack-helicopter]

A headcanon of mine is that Viren has megalophobia, the fear of large objects. I think his desire for control manifests as the fear of that which is larger and more powerful than him; that which lies far beyond the scope of his comprehension.

He was likely raised without high status and grew up trying to gain power in fear of becoming poor and weak again. Like the tsunami in his dream, it felt as though the unspeakably powerful elves and dragons could just swallow him up. He wanted to rise above the tsunami and rise above the elves and dragons because he was scared.

[svperluminous]

I love Viren so much it hurts ;__; there is no one else like him in cartoons. I don't know what I'll do once TDP ends, knowing there probably won't be any more new Viren content...

[beautifulterriblequeen]

Do you think that Viren will survive into S6 so that he can reconcile with Soren?

I do think Viren will survive into S6. I don't know if he'll get to reconcile with Soren, but I do hope they get a chance to at least reacquaint and realize they're each different people now than before.

I think that conversation could do each of them some good, since it seems they have such negative feelings tangled around who they both used to be to each other.

[bittrlys]

🪻send this to ten blogs you think are wonderful🪻

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💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜

[m4rs-ex3]

so naturally i was up at 1am the other night watching tdp related youtube videos and i figured i'd watch the 2020 comic con panel since it'd been a while and oh my god some of this shit

(also just me talking about how much i love this cast)

"IT IS I, DARK_MAGE_DAD420" i cannot believe that is real

aaravos: "if i want to do a screen call, i must perform a cosmic blood ritual. with a mortar and pestle. AND FLOATING KNIVES" you are fucking kidding me (edit: i realize that pertains to what he did in s2 but still like "cosmic" "ritual" "knives"? cmon)

jason simpson playing the ukulele. that's all.

jack: *talking about how he had a baby in quarantine* eric: i've been doing a lot of gardening... uh i haven't had a baby, but you never know! i mean if it's possible through social distancing aaron: if anybody can make that happen through social distancing it's aaravos you are F U C K I N G KIDDING ME

racquel: some fun things i did- i uhh died my own hair and burned my scalp and i would like to inform you all it's finally healed and we're good to go, i'm ready to do it again! i'm obsessed with the fact that racquel is quite literally claudia irl

the ttm read is awesome. jack came with the Rayla Voice fucking PREPARED oh my god

i don't think i've ever actually talked about the dnd sketch but it is one of my favorite things in the entire world

rayllum in this sketch is amazing particularly callum he is SO down bad like "my character is a mysterious elf assassin with two beautiful blades to match my two beautiful eyes~~ ✨" like hello that's canon idc if it's a sketch that is canon

"my character cannot help but look at her. he locks eyes with rayla's mage" "....there will be time for roleplaying later" HELLO THATS GOLD

viren in this skit is genuinely one of the funniest things i've ever seen. i cannot emphasize enough this is comedy

necromancer ezran. i think about him daily.

s: "i start swinging my sword at, uhh, idk, rayla's mage" r: "WAIT WHAT" c: "uh wait wait i take it back MY SWORDS GLEAM INTO THE LIGHT AS I LEAP TO THE DEFENCE OF THE BEAUTIFUL MAGE!" s: "hey no takebacks!" sibling ass fight i love them

"LIKE WHAT DO YOU ACTUALLY DO?"

i rolled a 1 😐

i loot their corpses for blood >:D

"do elves have four toes?" "i always assumed that they would have 6 so they could learn how to count to 20" paula my love

someone get sasha some hamantaschen

i don't need arc 3 actually i just need the beta script including as many guns n roses references as possible

racquel: ok call me crazy, call me crazy... jesse: you're crazy, racquel racquel: THANK YOU FINALLY they are literally just them

"I WILL NOT BE POSTING A SINGLE THING ABOUT ICE, FOR I AM JULIA" (okay but.... venous frigoris anyone?)

paula: ugh, no one likes soren jesse: well no one likes rayla racquel: you two should fight 😈

long hard sigh

bonus: jason: literally no one likes viren so let's move on

"how old is bait?" "sasha, how old do you think bait is?" "3."

"is-is a glow toad kinda like a toad?" "................kind of"

i fucking love sasha have i ever mentioned that i fucking love sasha

"i think that he's 56." "either 3 or 56 only, apparently"

the saga announcement is great i love how everyone's is so excited they don't even know all of their characters are about to be destroyed physically and emotionally

the way aaron says it so fucking funny "is there gonna be a season 4?" "uh so i think it's really important to emphasize: yes-"

"i too want to cry" "just cry, just-" "IT'S A PANDEMIC. NO TEARS. THERE'S NO CRYING IN A PANDEMIC." "...where is this rule coming from?"

and finally there were a handful of moments that i could not do justice by transcribing in a post so here is a masterfully edited compilation i made

[forget-me-nightingale]

My favourite things about S7 of the Dragon Prince (part 1)

Because I need to let my emotions OUT and I know there is a lot of people here who will understand that<3 And also because I need to thank @dragonprinceofficial for creating a masterpiece of a show and because I am so sad there's so many posts about being disappointed in the season - like sure, it might've not been perfect, but it was SO GOOD and there was SO MUCH WORK put into it that I just HAVE to show how much love I have in my heart for these characters, this story and this entire show Part two will be posted tomorrow<3 1: DEATH ALIVE

Ethari's deep "Hmm…" at the beginning, his new design, the denialllll

Runaan being so stubborn about getting back to Ethari and ALLEN PICKING HIM UP BRIDAL STYLE THAT CAUGHT ME SO OFF GUARD

Also Runaan lying in bed shirtless groaning and whimpering was not something that was on my 2024 bingo list but ho boy am I glad

Callum's grief after he got back to Katolis-- they showed it SO WELL, the heavy breathing, and then the mumbled "Soren, what happened…?" and Soren's voice breaking as well at the "There was nothing I could do!" as he breaks down crying that was SUCH GOOD PERFORMANCE FROM BOTH OF THEM SO RAW AND GENUINE AND EMOTIONAL Also the RELIEF Callum must've felt when he saw Soren after fearing that everyone died hgjdhgk you can literally see it in his eyes

Huge Aaravos just sexily lounging around next to the bones of his archdragon archenemy

Astrid going "I never promised." was so badass

Ezran going "We have to find Sol Regem and destroy him" after giving several speeches on how he wants to end the cycle of violence and just stop it all made me laugh so hard-- Like don't get me wrong, I know he's a kid and he's hurt and angry and that his reaction's justified but I just heavily dislike his character, and the fact that he threw his entire philosophy away the moment his emotions took over only strengthened it lmao

Aanya has such a gorgeous soft voice, I love listening to it SO much

Claudia and Terry's little flinch as Aaravoss gestured to show "an Archdragon's bite" hgfjdghjdfk

THE THUNDERING FOOTSTEPS AS HE WALKS like- It shows so well how MASSIVE he is in that form I love

THE FASHION SHOW AARAVOS PULLS OUT GDFKHGDFJK "Startouch may be too dazzzling, don't you think?" and the way he turns towards them with this flirtatious ass smirk jkdgfhkg

"I know you like Earthblood, Claudia" 😭

Runaan's moment of silence before going "NOT. ONE. MINUTE. LONGER." and the dramatic zooms on his face had me IN STITCHES

Also him going "Katolis…? Is t… is that necessary?" he's probably having like PTSD flashbacks thinking about that dungeon and the pain of Viren putting his soul in the coin 😭😭 and also Jonathan's voice as he says it is SO SMOOTH and velvety and I'm in love with that voice so much, I could listen to it for hOURS

We finally het to see Aaravos' human form and it's INCREDIBLE, and the fact that the first thing he does is to fake being injured is so Aaravos of him LMAO

Also I wonder how did Callum not recognize his voice??? I'm sure he thought a LOT about what happened when Aaravos possessed him that one time, and he sure had a lot of time to hear how he sounds like, and besides-- a voice like that would not be easy to forget even he Callum didn't have such traumatic memories attached to it lol

And the fact that Aaravos literally said Sol Regem killed his daughter :(( He literally never lies, not even under a disguise

The famous shot with Runaan and Rayla looking at Katolis<3 it was so nice to finally see it in the actual show

"Are you not the elf who killed my father, the King of Katolis?" "…I am." it was so soft and sad gdhjghfdjkghjfdk And then him WILLINGLY getting on his knees and putting his hands behind his back 🥺

2: TRUE HEART

I love the theme that sounded playing when Aaravos' team was approaching The Puzzle House, like it was the main theme but with like- circus undertones? Or these little music box rhythmic parts and clock ticking? Very cool vibes especially with how the house was portrayed in the little comic, with this almost steampunkish robotic inventions, LOVED it

"You don't have to ask!" I'm not a HUGE Rayllum shipper but oh my God that was such a sweet moment And then Callum going "That was salty" and Rayla chuckling "the tears" njgfdhjgjfjdd

Runaan having his wrists chained up AGAIN in the Banther Lodge give that man A BREAK

THE SCENE where Stella attacks the guards and they stumble over each other and Runaan just looks at them with pity and the camera zooms in on him I HAD TO PAUSE JUST I WAS LAUGHING SO HARD, the comedy of that moment was just 👌 And then Runaan going "hello there" 🥹 he's so soft and then calling out Rayla's name and smiling up at her???? hgfjkghjkdf

"Stop right there, Rayla! Part of me wishes I hadn't seen you… But my eyesight is perfect." so dramatic gdhg I love him And they Rayla's dark and low "Then just look away, Soren." was SO badass And poor Runaan having to hide behind her-- he's probably so upset that he can't fight them off on his own

"But Ez, this is exactly the cycle of violence you fought so hard to end! You forgave Zubeia!" "What?" "Who do you think sent Runaan to kill Dad?" EXACTLY WHAT I WAS SAYING And then he STILL throws it away and orders the soldiers to arrest him fjkhg I'm sorry if I'm upsetting the Ezran fans but I have such beef with his character LMAO

Soren desperately yelling "RICKETY SNICKERS" at the top of his goddamn lungs during their fight must've been SO WEIRD for Rayla without any context LMAOOO And Runaan giving her tips to help in that way at least was SO COOL I LOVED THAT "He overextends himself, Rayla! His front leg!" We finally got that father/daughter mentor/student duo LET'S GOO

Terry giggling at the sight of the carousel made me giggle and smile so much too it was SO BEYOND WHOLESOME AND THEN AARAVOS ACTUALLY HAVING GENUINE FUN ON THE RIDE AS WELL LMAOOO it was SO FUNNY but also SO wholesome at the same time I loved it SO MUCH

And also it was very very cool to see the carousel ride itself after seeing it in the House of Riddles comic - like, it's one thing seeing it there on paper, but it's a whole different thing to see it actually animated, it was AWESOME

"Oh no, are you okay??" "Okay?! I was confined to a tiny sphere in the mouth of a clam at the bottom of the sea for thee long, lonely centuries. That… was the most fun I've had in AGES!" THE EWAY HE LAUGHS AND GIGGLES like you can hear the genuine joy in his voice oh my God I was smiling so much We got a glimpse of how he would've been if Leola hadn't died and he could just play and goof around with her 😭

The Dragon Prince just casually mentioned a character practicing self-cannibalism and didn't even linger on it for a SECOND before moving on LMAO

Aanya shooting at Runaan actually got me SO SCARED especially when Rayla threw himself in front of him frjgkfdh please don't stress me out like that Thank God it was just his arm that was nicked but the man CAN'T GET A BREAK

And holy shit the expression on Ezran's face when he lifted his hand to give Aanya the signal, it was like-- so sad and hesitant, like "don't make me do this", the artists captured the expression SO WELL

And the lighting and the scene and the music that played during the scene when Rayla, Runaan and Callum ran to the boat was SO GORGEOUS-- like, the contrast between the golden light of the setting sun and the deep blue of the shadows, how Ezran's face and the soldiers were in the shadows but the rest was bathed in the light, and the scenery and the sky was just so breathtaking

Also Runaan caught Callum when he jumped in the boat 🥹

3: THE GLITTERING BONES

The Sunfire soldiers chanting "Queens of Mercy" was so epic

Soren going "You're the bread" at Corvus to try and lighten the mood at least a little bit and it completely not working broke my heart, he's trying so hard

And then Ezran snapping even at Zym??? Bro.

Claudia doing the nose tap thing again!!!!!!❤️ It's back!! And she was so happy giggling and laughing and everything, like yesss let a girl be happy and goofy

The Garden of Innocents was soooooo gorgeous

Aaravos saying "There is nothing to be afraid of, Claudia" as she reanimates the unicorn bones 🥹 Was that a callback to him saying "there's nothing to fear" to Leola or am I reaching too far And THEN him saying "Well done" gjdfhfgdkj

"You remind me of her" THERE WE GOOOO he has such a soft spot for her "…and silly"❤️

That scene when Janai snaps at Karim!!!!!! The performance was SO GOOD, the raw FRUSTRATION and helplessness and anger and desperation in her voice!!! Especially that "How many times do I have to attempt to spare you?!" line??????

4: UNFINISHED BUSINESS

Callum, Runaan and Rayla doing the ritual dance all together was so beautiful already, and then Runaan's "I dreamt of this" gfdjkghdk

"Yeah, but… You'll want a minute with Ethari, right? A minute alone…..?" and Runaan being quiet and hesitating for a bit and then just going "…. yes. :)"

Okay so the Reunion scene-- I'm a huge Ruthari shipper and Runaan is my absolute favourite character in the show (if you couldn't tell by now), along with Ethari, so you can imagine the state I was in at that scene--- Like- First the way Ethari looks at Runaan in the reflection, cause he's probably so used to doing it to see if Rayla came back to him???? And calling him his "beloved phantom" and Runaan's expression changing to confusion- you can literally SEE him smiling softly at the "hello, my beloved" but as Ethari says "phantom" his expression immediately changes and it's portrayed SO WELL GJDHGDJ

"I see you everywhere…. Hear your voice when you aren't there… But I am BEGGING you, Runaan, leave me be. Let me let you go." "But I made you a promise." "And I long to make peace with its breaking." That was such an absolutely gorgeous piece of dialogue, and I've already talked about how I love Runaan's voice, but Ethari's as well??? The accent, the slight rasp, the kind of rough-iness in it, the hard 'r's, like oh my God, every time he speaks I am just enchanted

And THEN Ethari flinching away as Runaan touches him cause he was so sure that it's just his imagination-- and Runaan kissing his hand-- and the "It's me. I'm home." sounded SO GORGEOUS and if you look at Ethari's lips you can see them trembling cause he's about to cry--- AND THEN THE KISS OF COURSE I WAS CRYING SO MUCH WE'VE WAITED LITERAL SIX YEARS FOR THIS DAMN KISS CAUSE RUNAAN GOT IMPRISONED IN THE FIRST SEASON WHICH CAME OUT IN SEPTEMBER 2018 SIX YEARS IN AZKABAN

And the music that plays during the kiss too? ;_; I need the entire soundtrack out ASAP

RAYLA PANICKING ABOUT RUNAAN CATCHING HER AND CALLUM KISSING GFJDHGJDHGD She almost threw him off the damn branch LMAO

Ethari going "Not another word, Rayla!" as she starts to try and make her problems smaller gjddhkgd "Your family is here for you" 🥹🥹🥹

The slow realization I had of why exactly Aaravos needed Terry to find a BIG feather and a SMALL feather The way the creators intentionally made it set in so slowly And Terry going "I SAID STOP" with this pure RAGE in his voice, and Aaravos just flicking him off with a single gesture

"She would do anything to return to them, but she can't." subtle reference to Leola again And also Aaravos' coldness in that scene hfjgkdghjj no wonder Terry was terrified

The fact that Runaan has a title of "Master of Blades"?? I love it so much

"Rayla yet lives." "You speak the name of a Ghost." "I SPEAK THE NAME OF MY DAUGHTER." !!!!!!!!!!!!! 🥹🥹🥹❤️❤️❤️

The way Rayla holds her hands over Runaan and Ethari's joined ones as she appears gfjdhk I love the Moonfam so so so so much

"To invoke the ritual, one of you must bind your fate to hers." "Both of us, Keeper." SAID WHILE HOLDING HANDS AND LOOKING AT EACH OTHER SO LOVINGLY JFDKGHJKD

Terry telling Aaravos "You're sick." HOHOHOHOOOO and the way Aaravos circles him like a predator around his prey was so scary

Ethari putting a hand on Runaan's shoulder and Runaan covering it with his own to reassure him gdjfhgdfjk

Rayla calling the four assassing by names and their names being spoken in general for the FIRST time in the series--- I was so happy and surprised to hear it And the references to the pledge they made so long ago in the first season 🥹

"A life for a life… is that justice?" the way Rayla said it was so nice and soft and sad and jdgfhk

RUNAAN HUGGING RAYLA OUT OF HIS OWN INITIATIVE GHDFJGHDJKGHK

I was literally SO SCARED when the Keeper snapped and revealed he was Ram's father, I literally whimpered out loud cause I was SO FREAKING WORRIED that they won't get through to him and he won't unghost her I was STRESSING

And then Rayla just crying in Callum's arms??? 🥺🥺

[colonelpancakes]

Watching The Dragon Prince Season Six Part Eight: We All Fall Down. I made so many distressed noises while watching this episode that I actually hurt my throat

Under the cut as per usual.

Already, the shots of the people looking up at Sol Regem combined with the music is making me so fucking nervous is Katolis about to get destroyed??? Nothing better happen to Barius and Jellybug you hear me, they better make it out unscathed.

sakfdljskla it’s okay Soren, I heard “physical exercises” too. This is why I watch shows with subtitles.

OH MY FUCKING GOD THAT ESCALATED. SHIT.

That’s really bad, oh my god. Fuck.

Oh noo, honey… She had to leave her toy behind no…

Oh thank God, Soren and Opeli are somehow okay.

Guys, I appreciate the efforts, but I DON’T THINK ARROWS ARE GOING TO DO ANYTHING. Ballista? Maybe. Arrows? Definitely not.

OKAY CRAP IT GOT WORSE. They burned the bridge??? Man’s really just trying to kill as many people as possible, huh. That’s. Oh my god.

Oh crap.

OH FUCK! SOREN!

Okay, shit that’s a lot of blood um. Okay. That’s definitely a concussion. Hat’s okay, that’s good. Fuck. Soren you need to survive this episode, you hear me? You are not allowed to die.

Oh my god, the score here is. Oh my god. It really drives home the sense of fear and tragedy. The composers are fucking killing it.

SORENNNNN!!!! MY BOY!!! I LOVE HIM SO FUCKING MUCH OH MY GOD. I love the fact that he prioritizes citizen’s lives over the castle because 1) it’s absolutely what Ezran would want done in this situation and 2) it’s a direct contrast to season two where Soren causes MORE harm by insisting that a dragon be shot down but then 3) it’s a continuation of his character arc from that episode because after he realizes he made a mistake, he frees Corvus so that he can help evacuate the town. And then here, he’s making the call to stop shooting, sacrifice the castle, and focus entirely on evacuating the people. I love Soren so much, look at how much my boy has grown.

Is he going to get Viren out of the castle?

SOREN. SOREN, NO. NO SELF-SACRIFICING you hear me? NO. You are GOING to reunite with Opeli and you are GOING to be there to take care of Hat, Soren, I swear to god-

Oh, Hello motherfucker! I am about to reach through this screen and start biting you. Is that a fight I’m going to win? No. But it would be cathartic.

Oh, wow. Viren’s facial hair has really grown since the episode before last. I guess he doesn’t anything to shave with so that makes sense. Sure caught me off-guard though.

Oh? He’s asking VIren for help, I didn't expect that.

Oh! Soren you are so smart, I would not have thought of that, that’s a really good idea.

There’s a lot going on here, but also, ooh that’s interesting. I’ve always wondered how staffs were enhancing primal magic but then this answers it! They have primal stones embedded in them. Cool, I like that detail. Now back to heart-crushing drama.

Ohhhh Soren… I love Soren. The way he’s prioritizing people’s lives over EVERYTHING else, over any moral objections to dark magic, over the potential cost of any ingredient. Soren… You are so good.

Oh, god, what’s the ingredient for this one. It better not be another situation where you have to kill your child, if it is, I swear to god, Viren-

Oh. Oh shit. Ohhh noo, that’s um. Oh. Okay. Uh. Fuck.

SOFNREN! SONR NO. SOREN. NO. Not allowed, nope. Given all the emphasis on Viren’s value of his family this season I don’t. Think that he would sacrifice Soren. But. Honey. Darling, Sweetheart, no. I reiterate what I said earlier, Soren, you are NOT ALLOWED TO DIE.

VIREN DON’T YOU FUCKING DARE.

Viren. Viren where’s Soren. Viren.

Oh, shit, Viren stabbed himself didn’t he. Fuck.

Yeah… Yeah, he did. Shit. That is. Yeah, that is a lot of blood.

I'm out of images??? Already??? Oh my god. Uh. Continued in reblogs

[a-very-sparkly-nerd]

and i don't even like you that much... wait, i do (fuck)

Speculative s7 fic by @sagegreenfrogs and I! Next up, Camp Counsellor AU!

Soren gave General-Queen Amaya her arm-punch much sooner than he'd thought. That was nice, but the cons outweighed the pros. The cons being that Katolis was in shambles and still burning, that after everything, Viren still managed to evade justice, and, oh yeah, Aaravos was out of his prison. That had been hard to miss.

Commander Gren had directed him to a tent near the hall where the wedding had been held, to where Ezran sat, talking in a low voice with Queen Aanya of Duren and Queen Janai.

The younger girl looked up when he entered quietly and bowed, placing a hand on Ez's back and nodding to Soren. “Why don't I go make arrangements for you to come to Duren with me?”

He reached out for her before seeming to remember himself, curling his fist around thin air. “But what about… What about my brother? What about Rayla, my people? The Crownguards, the castle staff?”

“I'll find a mage to send word to Prince Callum,” Janai promised, getting to her feet. “Your people are always more than welcome here.”

Aanya nodded in agreement. “The same will go for me. We can consolidate our powers, Duren and Katolis and New Aurea. We will find a way to defeat Aaravos, and we'll help you rebuild Katolis. There every step of the way.”

Ezran took a deep, shaky breath in, and soldiered to his own feet alongside Aanya. “Alright. Thank you two so much.”

Queen Janai squeezed his soldier gently. “Of course. We are not only allies, King Ezran, but family.”

The two queens took their leave, and Soren was left alone with a shuddery Ezran. He waved him over, wiping his hands on his bright red pants in the heat.

“Hey,” he said. “How bad is it, really?”

Soren averted his gaze. “It’s… bad, King Ezran. Really bad. The castle is in the ground, and so’s the town. But we got a lot of the citizens out, nearly all of them.”

He stayed quiet for a long moment, an uncomfortable one.

Soren stepped forward. “Listen, evacuating and abandoning the castle was my idea. No one else's. Get mad at me, but don't blame-”

Ezran cut him off with a tight hug. “Thank you,” he whispered. “That was a good choice. The right one. I'm so proud of you, Soren. I trust you.”

For once, it didn't feel like what Soren was being told was the right choice was an ulterior motive in disguise.

Soren held him back, wishing he didn't have to deliver the next news. But Ezran was his friend and the king, his king, and so he had to.

“Viren is dead,” he whispered, and Ez lurched back. “He used his heart for a spell to protect people, to make them fireproof.”

“The one from Lux Aurea? The Storm Spire?” Fear flashed in Ezran’s eyes, but not fear of him, fear for him. Because Ezran had known how desperately terrified of becoming a monster, especially at his father’s hands, that Soren was, and then had handed him all the tools to do it on a silver platter.

He nodded. “Yes.”

Ezran looked down. “Okay. Okay. It's not- it's not great, but we can work with it. At least he's not a threat anymore, right? Assuming he doesn't get resurrected for a third time.”

“Yeah, he doesn’t tend to stay gone,” Soren agreed, laughing in spite of everything. “But, King Ezran- it's- okay, I have one more piece of bad news for you.”

Ezran pulled away from the embrace to look up at him with apprehensively raised eyebrows. “What?”

He bit his lip.

“Soren.”

He looked away. “Aaravos is out. My sis- Claudia freed him.”

Ezran lurched away and spat out a string of words that Soren couldn't exactly say he approved of, but sure did accurately describe the situation.

He eased the younger boy down onto his chair, holding a glass of water to his lips as he struggled to breathe. “Hey, it's okay. Breathe in and out.”

Ezran shook his head, fisting his hand in the fabric over his heart and using the other to slam down on the table. “No. No, I’m fine. I have to be fine. Letters. I- I need to send letters, get help and tell Callum-”

“I already did that,” Soren assured him. Written on the ride over, handwriting wonkier than its usual wonkiness, but he’d gotten word out across the continent asking for aid.

Ezran gripped his sleeve and looked up at him gratefully. “Thanks.”

“Don’t even mention it. Now, why don’t we go get you some fresh air?” Soren offered a hand up.

Ezran ducked his head and took it, allowing him to adjust the gleaming crown around his head. Just once, Soren wished he could yank it off and let the boy be a kid. Not a king, not someone with the weight of the world on his young shoulders. Just a kid who hadn’t even gone through puberty yet.

“You’ve got this,” Soren assured him, because, well… there wasn’t much other choice, was there?

Ezran’s eyes saddened. He knew it, too.

Read more on ao3!

[sorinethemastermind]

And I blink in sight of your blinding light

In which Soren considers a secret he's been carrying, and decides it might be time to share it. Co-written and edited by the wonderful @honeii-puff! I write the Soren POV chapters, she writes the Corvus POV chapters. Also on Ao3 and it has a playlist!

Soren was begrudgingly thankful that Corvus had made him visit Opeli. He hadn’t wanted to use the supplies, but he had to admit that being able to think clearly was a good thing. Not that it was helping his current circumstances. So, on second thought, maybe he would rather be thinking about his throbbing head than the fact that he had just arrested Rayla’s dad. 

He couldn’t get the look in her eyes out of his head. 

Maybe because it had been the same one looking at him in the mirror after he��d visited Viren in the dungeon. Like you were accepting the consequences of someone else’s actions as your own.

“Soren?”

He hadn’t heard Corvus approach, not with those silent tracker’s feet of his, but he knew the voice instantly.

“Hey.” he mustered a smile as he turned to face his friend. “Need something?”

“Do I have to need something to check on you?”

“...No.” Soren’s smile became a little more genuine. “I guess not.”

Corvus took a seat on the log beside him, hand tantalizingly close to Soren’s own. 

“How are you feeling?”

“You already asked me that, like, an hour ago.”

“Well, I’m asking again.”

“How are you feeling?” Soren asked instead of answering, turning to the other guard. “I mean, this was your home too.”

Corvus shifted, almost a little uncomfortably. “I don’t really have a home, Soren.”

“But-”

“I lived in the castle, but it wasn’t my home,” Corvus told him, shifting his hands to his lap. He clasped them together.

“Corvus, that’s…”

“Before you say how sad it is,” Corvus said, glancing sidelong at him. “I’m going to tell you that it’s fine. And I don’t mind. And I’m going to ask you to answer my question. I shared, so now you have to.”

Soren let out a snort of laughter. “Is that how this works?”

“Yes.”

“Fine.” Soren sighed. “I feel… uh. Not good? Like, I mean, I just arrested Rayla’s dad.” he gestured to the tent, not too far from where they were sitting, and the two guards positioned before it. “I’ve never seen King Ezran like that.”

Corvus opened his mouth to reply, expecting that to be the most he’d get out of Soren, but instead, the other man continued.

“And now he’s mad at Callum and Rayla for not warning him and, y’know, not telling him what they were planning to do for so long. And I don’t know, sometimes I just worry that maybe he’d… maybe he’d-” Soren broke off. “You don’t think it’s because Runaan is an elf, do you? Like, you don’t think that has anything to do with it at all, right? Ezran isn’t like that.”

Soren turned to look at Corvus, desperately needing the assurance at that moment. Corvus just shook his head.

“Of course not. It has everything to do with what he’s done, and nothing to do with who he is. However, Rayla and Callum should have told him. It’s a lot, especially on top of everything else right now.”

“...Yeah. Yeah, you’re right.” Soren fell silent for a long moment, eyes still trained on the tent. He chewed his lower lip nervously. “Hey, Corvus?”

 “Yes?”

“Can I… show you something?”

“Are you alright?”

“Do I have to be not alright to show you something?”

“No.” Corvus’ lip twitched up into a small smile. “I guess not.”

Soren stood up quickly, before he could lose his nerve, and snatched Corvus’ hand; leading him towards the edge of the encampment.

“Soren, where are we going?” Corvus hurried along behind him, though his steps were a little more hesitant. His leg was still healing, Soren remembered, slowing his own pace to match.

“Do you trust me?” he threw a glance back at Corvus.

“Of course I trust you.”

He hadn’t expected that to hurt. Soren swallowed. “Well, uh, then just do that.”

And the thing was that Corvus did. He followed Soren, not asking anything else. They kept going until he was certain that they were far enough from the camp that no one would stumble upon them. 

Soren fought the urge to keep going and made himself stop in a small clearing, turning back to face Corvus. He swallowed. His hands felt all sweaty. Why were his hands sweaty? This was Corvus. Corvus wouldn’t think any differently of him after.

Would he?

“Soren, why are we all the way out here?” Corvus asked, gently. Soren didn’t know how long he’d just been standing there, staring at him. Clenching and unclenching his hands.

“I, um. I wanted to show you something.”

“Okay.”

Soren took a deep breath. “Well, I- uh, I don’t really know how to start. I guess at the beginning. That’s usually where things start.” he let out a nervous laugh, and Corvus’ brow crinkled with concern.

“Soren, are you okay?”

“Why wouldn’t I be?”

“You just dragged me at least a mile into the woods to show me something. I don’t even know where we are.”

“I didn’t want anyone to interrupt us.”

“Oh.” Corvus looked a little flustered, glancing around them at the clearing again. Looking anywhere but at Soren, actually.

Does he know, somehow? Soren wondered, feeling his anxiety rise. Better to do it now, then. Just do it now.

“So, I wanted to- actually, it’s probably easier if I just show you.”

Before he could think any better of it, Soren began unlatching his chest plate. It fell to the ground with a muffled clank, and he began removing what was left of the singed mess of his tunic.

“Soren?” Corvus asked, voice a little higher than usual. “What are you doing?”

“I just need to…” - Soren pulled it over his head - “show you something.”

“And what is that something?” Corvus asked. Soren looked over at him, letting the shirt drop to the ground at his feet. Corvus’ cheeks were flushed, and he was looking at his feet. Occasionally his glance would flit up and then quickly down again.

It took Soren a moment to realize why.

“Oh!” Soren felt his own face grow warm. “I, uhm, I just- No.”

“That’s not what I meant.” Soren tried to explain, holding his hands out, as though waving them around would change things. “I just wanted to show you something. Not that kind of something, like, a normal something. Well,” he amended. “not exactly normal.”

“Soren, please just tell me what it is you wanted to show me,” Corvus said, eyes still focused on the ground. 

“I think I’m an elf!” Soren shouted, voice far louder than he’d intended it to be. A nearby bird took flight. 

That did make Corvus look up, and Soren took the moment to turn around quickly before he could look away again.

“See?”

Soren tried to glance over his shoulder to see Corvus’ reaction, but it was hard. After a moment, he felt a gentle hand on his back. Corvus traced the delicate, interlocking circles that ran up his spine.

“The tattoos,” Corvus whispered under his breath.

“Huh?” Soren tried to glance over his shoulder again.

“Some of the guards have a… a bet going,” Corvus admitted.

“Oh. Yeah.” Soren let out a breath that was half laugh, half sigh. “I know.”

“Why didn’t you stop them? It’s none of their business.”

“I didn’t want to say anything. It would just make it seem more real, you know? Like something worth talking about.”

Corvus fell silent for a moment. Soren waited, still nervous. His hand traced a crescent moon on Soren’s back and he shivered. 

“Watcha doing back there, Corvus?”

“Oh. Yes, sorry.” Corvus snatched his hand back, and Soren turned to find him all flushed and looking at his feet again. 

“They certainly do look… Elven. But how can you be sure?”

“Well,” Soren stooped to pick his shirt back up. “I mean, I’m pretty sure.”

“But how-”

“I can, uh, turn invisible. I think.”

“What?” Corvus' head shot up and he looked at Soren with wide eyes. 

“Yeah,” Soren said, a little abashed. He wasn’t sure why. There was nothing wrong with being an elf. Or… whatever he was. 

“I tried it, uhm, a while ago,” he said vaguely.

“And it worked? You really turned invisible?”

“I mean, I thought I looked pretty visible. But then Callum came into his office and he totally almost walked into me.”

“Was he reading a book?”

“Yeah, but… I waved my hand in front of his face and he didn’t even flinch. There’s Callum oblivious and then there’s that.”

“Do you know how?” Corvus asked.

“I mean, I know it wasn’t my D- Viren. So I guess it must’ve been my Mom.”

“But she wasn’t…”

“I don’t remember her being an, uh, elf. But I also don’t remember getting a ton of tattoos all over my back so…”

Soren had considered that he might have gotten drunk one time and had them done. But that still didn’t really explain the invisible thing.

“How long have you known?” Corvus asked, his voice suddenly gentle again. Soren hadn’t been planning on telling him everything, but it was hard not to when he sounded like that.

“Like, uhm. Like a year and a half.”

“And you haven’t-”

“Just you.”

“Oh.”

They both fell silent, and Soren finished resecuring his chest plate into place.

“Well, we should probably get back,” Soren said finally, needing anything to break the silence. He started back the way they had come, but as he passed Corvus, the other man caught his hand.

“Soren. Thank you for telling me.”

Soren stopped, looking back at his friend. Corvus squeezed his hand. His throat felt tight all of a sudden.

“Yeah. Sure.” he squeezed Corvus’ hand back. “Thanks for listening.”

[fleoshc]

I feel like Micah was watching "the Dragon Prince" while writing the end of Wight Winter.

V-king Nyve and the V-head (I forgot his name) have a lot of parallels to lord Viren and prince Ezran. So many, in fact, that I think Micah might've taken inspiration from these characters.

The first obvious parallel is that Nyve is a child king who has a regent ruling for him until he gets older. Not only that, but his regent is his uncle, much like prince Ezran and lord Viren. The V-head is also shown to have a pretty bad personality, telling servants off for the smallest things, and trying to kill his own nephew for the throne, which is also what lord Viren attempted to do to Ezran.

And if I didn't convince you yet, V-king Nyve can talk to animals... YOU KNOW WHO ELSE CAN TALK TO ANIMALS?!!?!?

Anyways, thank you for coming to my deranged Ted talk...

Tldr: I think V-king Nyve and the V-head are inspired by prince Ezran and lord Viren from the Dragon Prince.

[raayllum]

ALRIGHT, time to talk about the poster in lovely HD.

First things first, I want to talk about these two ladies (?). The upper one closer to the moon looks more like an elf, and is gazing down at the second, closer woman. I've seen people speculate Ziard due to the hair, but none of this usual clothing appendages are there, so I lean towards a new character, and possibly being the human Aaravos had a special connection to. We see what looks like the arches of the Moon Nexus framed behind them, which was the case both when Rayla went through the portal in TTM and when Lujanne used historia viventum to show Callum the way things looked before. Souls of hate and love, maybe?

We see other Moon symbols throughout the posture sure as archangel lunarises, which seek out Moon magic (1x01) and can be used in illusion spells (2x03, 3x09). We also see the enchanted lotuses from 3x03, though for what purpose is unclear (more on that later).

Moving down, we have a fully celestial, quite happy Aaravos. He's in full flourish and clearly using Moon magic for someone, as begetting the moon behind him, though whether he's constructing lotuses or channeling energy into his Key (perhaps making it able to sense Moon magic) is unknown. While the lotuses in 3x03 were occasionally different colours, the deep purple here makes me think of dark magic. If he is channeling his cube, perhaps he's taking moon energy from the lotuses (or moths) surrounding him to put inside.

I don't think I need to scream much further than I already have about the Moon rune glowing on his Key and having it displayed with his usual star symbol (rune cube foreshadowing symbolism my beloved). This bodes well for theories in which 1) Callum goes too far and does something knowingly risky to free the Moon fam for Rayla's sake or 2) does something risky to help Aaravos to protect Rayla's life, each subsequently to being possessed and/or playing into Aaravos' hands. Thank you goodnight.

Then we have the book, which is deeply fascinating. It seems like a very Moon book, the fragments framing it similar to the ones we see on the lotuses and possibly evoking one of the archangel lunaris' flying around. It wouldn't surprise me if the book contains a variant of Deep moon magic of some kind, whatever that would look like. The crescent curved moon is also similar to the symbol we see on Aaravos' poem page for the Midnight Star in show (2x08). I do wonder why each side of the book looks so different though, with no actual visible moon in sight besides the tiny gemstones and the crescent moon, the other side being entirely dark (which, to be fair, is pretty moon-y).

We also sort of but don't quite see Aaravos' famous chest piece, though it is a-glowing. Whether it glowed all the time pre-Fall we just don't know, as the only time we've seen it glow/be filled in is 2x09 when he's channeling magic through Viren, but who knows. It does mean that the cube is even older than his banishment and that if it does hold his chest piece, it was placed after (if it's tangible at all, which has always been one of the biggest questions).

This is perhaps the weirdest thing that I am the most interested in, as alongside his crown and bangles, this is the biggest design difference between Aaravos in-show and out. In show, both in his mirror and even 'pre-Fall' (aka the timeline for the 1x01 shot is probably a lie anyway), Aaravos' hip thingy is a lot more simplistic.

However, Aaravos does have all his flowery (and I mean that literally, it looks like petals) adornment in his concept art.

The fact they have a lotus flower flair to them always felt interesting but ultimately like a coincidence, but perhaps not. Either way as pictured below, it seems like he's either constructing or dismantling the lotuses, which is Eyes Emoji either way.

The most... surely metaphorical / abstract portion of the poster, though, is I'd imagine the very bottom. I hesitate to read into things too literally (one of the S5 posters had Finnegrin's ship being blasted with lightning and Domina watching the waves, and while she featured in the season and played a role in Finnegrin's aims, the scene itself as portrayed did not come fully to fruition) so I'm gonna go with a more symbolic read, just as as disclaimer.

Lastly we have these two figures. I'm assuming the one in white is an elf and betting on young Aaravos or Leola, though it could be someone else connected to the Moon arcanum (the elven daughter who vouched for exiling rather than eliminating humanity?). The red and black shadow figure feels far more sinister (blood and stardust, anyone) but if you lighten the shadows, you get something even more... interesting, shall we say.

Rather than standing up straight, this figure almost seems to swoop down with a draconic like claw and a face that reminds me the most of Sir Sparklepuff's features, honestly, perhaps boasting a similar kind of blood (Viren's) and star (Aaravos) and dark magic (the staff?). It is also clearly moving toward the more humanoid figure on the bottom right, which gives a "corruption is reaching / coming for / offering things to you" sort of vibe.

[thrandilf]

do you have a guide as to the extra materials for The Dragon Prince? i keep seeing stuff about comics or books but idk where to start

Not on hand but I can make one here! :D

There are two, soon to be three, canon graphic novels.

Through the Moon takes place between seasons 3 and 4, like a little season 3.5 It isn't Necessary to read it before watching S4 but the story is cool and the extra information is neat. It feels like we might get more info regarding what happened to Rayla while she was gone later in the show

Bloodmoon Huntress takes place when Rayla is a child around when her parents leave. Lots of Runaan and Ethari, also introduces Kim'dael who will be in S5. Again, not Required reading but a fun extra story.

Puzzle House is coming out August 1st and is about Claudia and Soren as children, and we also get a look at younger Viren and other people. Harrow's father, King Atticus is still king in this one so interesting Katolis lore, SUPER hyped for when we get to read all of this one. The Scholastic link has a 15 pages preview if you wanna take a peek.

There are novelizations for Dragon Prince Season 1 and Season 2, they add a bit of introspection and small extra details. Viren in particular gets more of his internal thought processes laid out and for me it just Confirmed a lot of things. Season 3's novelization is coming out April 2nd, 2024. I'm sure all 7 seasons will eventually have novelizations.

Tales of Xadia is the ttrpg book and it's gorgeous and is probably the most lore heavy supplemental material as far as world building goes. The system also looks fun! The website has a character builder too for OC making. As a writer, it's been a great help as far as seeing some aspects of the world laid out. The system looks fun and there are videos of some of the cortex(?) team playing ToX official tales/campaigns but I haven't watched them yet. The campaigns are also available to look at online too.

I think that ToX is getting an expansion at some point since the base game doesn't touch much on Ocean or Star magic, I imagine due to spoilers for the seasons we're coming up on.

There's also a tabletop game called Battlecharged which I haven't personally played and I don't think it Adds lore but I've heard it's fun.

Also, it will likely be a long time before we see it, but there's a video game in the works as well that's in alpha testing right now called Project Arcanum. Wonderstorm is pretty busy!

BUT WAIT THERE'S MORE

The Free Stuff:

Reflections are official short stories hosted on TDP's website and all of them are excellent and provide little extra scenes. Some of them are quite impactful, and the ones in this second batch are promising an absolutely wild S5. The first batch was released pre S4 and the second batch is being released now pre S5 as we count down to the new season. They aren't Required reading since the most key information from them will be in the show (going by the S4 ones) but I highly HIGHLY rec reading them all. Banger after banger. As of posting this there may be one more coming.

There's also little 4 panel comics called Everyday Xadia that have been also released during countdown mode and they're just fun/cute. Volume One and Volume 2 (still coming out). Sometimes when people say comics they might mean these, or the graphic novels lol.

Thank you for the ask, I'm always happy to share the TDP love and I hope this was helpful to you and anyone else who'd like a ref!

[its-kapi-wara]

TDP Incorrect Quotes: Our Flag Means Death Edition P.1

I was unsure whether I should make the images or just put the text: so I ended up doing both.

Claudia: "Is everything alright? Like, you're in your pajamas."

Soren: "No, no. This is my... battle jacket. Yeah, I find the feel of silk very invigorating."

Karim: "The current management's gotta go. Who's with me?"

Pharos: "If we can light it on fire... I'm in."

Runaan: "Raids are like snowflakes."

Rayla: "No two quite alike?"

Runaan: "Well, no, they almost always end in terrible bloodshed. Snowflakes might not be the best comparison."

Terry: "...I, uh, I did the stun move."

Claudia: "Yeah, he looks pretty stunned"

Ibis: ...

Callum: "It's okay. I'm sure it wasn't personal."

Captain Villads: "Yeah, well, when they tie an anchor around your leg and throw you overboard, it feels pretty personal."

Finnegrin: "Why? Why do you all show such loyalty to this... this... nothing?"

Callum: "I'd attribute quite a lot of it to a people-positive management style"

Terry, talking about Viren: "I hate to say it, but it would've been so much better if he'd really died."

Pharos/Aaravos: "I can make that happen. Just let me know."

Som Regem choking on his own pride and arrogance: "It really hurts!"

Aaravos: "Oh, thank you. It's nice to get a little positive reinforcement now and again.”

Viren: "Feels like a storm is coming, but I can't see it."

Aaravos: "Or maybe you're just a stupid mopey and there isn't a freaking storm."

Amaya: "You know that saying, fool me once, shame on me, fool me twice, I need to end your life?"

Karim: "Okay..that's not how that goes."

[aevyk-ing]

Okay, last part...

SPOILERS AHEAD

That got way better. Like you can tell during the whole season it's not going to be the last one and there's a lot of filler, but anyway...

You can't use a title like "The Red Wedding" but then nobody dies. I'm not even a Game of Thrones fan but I know some stuff about it. I was also expecting something with The Battle of the Five Armies but I get that was too much to ask. I'm glad Karim got what he deserved (sort of) and the weddings were nice. I have to say I didn't like Janai much in the past season but she's improved in this one.

No kidding, but there was a scene in one episode where the castle of Katolis is shown at night and I though: "You, know? That castle is pretty". So thanks for burning it down. Anyway, I'm all for high stakes and it gave Soren another chance to shine. The story of his family is still the most interesting. I hope Viren can finally rest, though.

I have to say that I don't like nor care about Rayla anymore, so I wasn't that invested on her part. She's just going to the Deep and save the beastly version of someone she loves. I've seen that before in Trollhunters and it was done better (even though the episode that precedes that one wasn't that good). That being said, and W.I.T.C.H. reference aside, I knew the only way to decide who to save would be directly talking to them.

Now, I have a big problem with Aaravos. Giving someone a sad backstory is not and shouldn't be an excuse for their behavior. We all go through bad stuff, some of us more than the rest, and it's how you react to adversity what makes you a good or bad person. Unlike what Ezran said, sometimes the right thing means showing strength. So I get it if Aaravos was just lying to Claudia so she'd make the spell, but not if the story is used to make us pity him. Terry is right, listen to him.

Overall, this season was better than the last one (well, that was easy) and it took an interesting turn at the very end.

PS: Anyone else out there thinking Leola was autistic?