#the viren and callum parallels are COMING I CAN FEEL IT

[reggies-eyeliner]

WHERES THE REST OF IT

[raayllum]

Do you think Callum will do dark magic again?

Oh yeah, not a doubt in my mind. This is for 3 main reasons:

1) You don't have a character say "But beware, if you ever do dark magic again, the darkness will overwhelm and corrupt you" and escalate the stakes of usage unless you're going to go there. It's kind of like how I know Callum is going to be possessed Again at one point (s7 dark my beloved) precisely because he's worried about it and more than that, that he's brought another character (Rayla) into the fold with a decision to make. No reason to have setup and then no payoff

2) Unless Callum does dark magic again, Aaravos can't possess him again. And as previously mentioned, Callum has to get possessed unless they want to throw away multiple episodes (4x04, 4x05, 4x07, 5x04, 5x08, all S6 + orb shots, 6x03) out the window. Ergo, he has to do dark magic again. Setup like this (i.e. Rayla as Callum's light being hinted at in framing in s2 and then much more overtly in s4 before being brought mostly home in s6) always comes back around in some manner, just gotta look for it

3) Viren parallels. Viren and Callum have always had oppositional (arc 1) and then mirrored (switching) foil arcs throughout the show (think Callum with wings vs Viren falling to his death in 3x09, or Viren swearing dark magic off in 5x09 and Callum having opened that door back up again an episode prior, etc). Viren, as stated, had sworn off dark magic saying he would never ever do it again, nor did he want to do it in 6x08 for a multitude of reasons.

However, someone he loved (Soren) as well as the extenuating circumstances caused him to use dark magic as a full on sacrifice that likewise only sacrificed himself. A couple episodes we had Callum 'fix' the hole dark magic had made inside him, but if he's following Viren's path, there's two likely angles: the first is that he, like Viren, will use dark magic even after trying so hard to rid himself of it (the mirrored arc). The second, overlapping angle is that Callum will refuse to sacrifice his heart (switching) because his heart is Rayla.

'I will think of you under every full moon. Please don’t let this hurt too much. But, if it does—if you feel that soft aching—know that that piece of your heart isn’t missing. It’s not missing at all, Callum: I’m carrying it with me! Always.' —Dear Callum

Kinda like how Aaravos demanded that Viren should make the sacrifice in 5x09, and Viren refused vs Rayla demanding that Callum should make the sacrifice in 6x03 (and Finnegrin a bit honestly) and Callum inevitably refusing cause Rayla can't permanently die lmao.

Other:

There's also the unsavoury implication that "restores bodies to spirits" spell Callum did in 5x09 has unique associations with the dark ritual spell Claudia did in killing Sir Sparklepuff that was undeniably dark magic usage.

The coin has been seemingly wiped clean now that Runaan is out (though maybe there's the symbol still on the other side?) but it does make me wonder of a potential plotline where Callum knew ahead of time, or belatedly, that this spell would require something adjacent to dark magic and he's done it, but the corruption Kosmo spoke of is gradual, making him more irritated, paranoid, etc. like the King of a 1000 Eyes that Amaya talked about. I think that'd be really interesting

The indirectness / the fact we'd only know it'd Happened retroactively makes me lean that we'll outright see another blatant usage in S7 since that's more Dramatic (which I've always been in favour of Callum viewing "I get possessed again bc I make a 'bad' choice and hand myself over to Aaravos" as a sacrifice of himself into "i'm already dead so kill me" territory). And if he breaks his promise to Rayla that he won't pick her over the greater good, then she can break her promise to him that she'll kill him (this is exactly beat for beat what I've wanted since s4 dropped and even before tbh)

TLDR; Absolutely Yes. S7 being Book Seven: Dark only adds to this and the stakes / set up are all there. I'm pumped

[self-spaghettification]

Looks like we’re getting a lot of crazy things in 6x05

which,

1. Considering the potential title “Moonless Night”, 6x05 will possibly be including Rayla being hurt or moon being otherwise metaphorically swallowed, (paralleling s3 swallowing/corruption of the sun’s power),

2. Considering episode 5 follows an episode titled “The Starscraper,” in 6x05 Aaravos is potentially freed at the end of 4 or during 5 and potentially possesses Callum which will lead to all sorts of trouble

3. Considering the connection of a scene between soren and viren with “until 6x05” and all the hints that the most impactful scenes between soren and viren were yet to come…. it seems likely that in 6x05 Soren and Viren will have a very emotionally charged moment together, also possibly with Claudia. Maybe with a confrontation of some kind, also involving the moon?

Let’s delve into this more though—As this potential title has ignited a spark to finally set ablaze and reveal the idea that has been percolating in my mind for months.

Moonless Night (and Why I Believe the Moon is Metaphorically Going to Be Swallowed) A S6 Speculative Meta

with arc1-arc2 parallels, norse mythology examination, reflections analysis and more

As far as I can see, the clue most directly points to Moonless Night. (Edit: which ended up being right!) And there are other reasons I’m on board.

I already went insane over this so let’s get started

A. S3-S6 Parallels

So, I’m a big fan of across arc season parallels as they’ve existed very overtly S1-S4 from the first moment, as well as some other things which in many ways are setup and reestablishment of dynamics (Rayla hesitating and breaking from her duty twice to help/see Callum instead, Harrow and Ezran respectively attempt to break free from the past but they have to acknowledge it, etc) as well as persistently in S2-S5:

and, it seems, *possibly* S3 to S6–

1. If we get another plot against Ezran that’s not a joke (as it is in s4 and many throwaway lines and jokes in tdp come back to bite us)—+“This coming season will test Ezran's pacifist instincts”

2. If Viren returns, something like this—

in contrast to the “I’m sorry it had to happen this way”/“No you’re not.”/“No, I’m not.” because Viren cannot doubt Ezran would be genuinely sorry

Viren would say I know because he gets it now, the new hesitant, less certain version who also feels bad for all he has done, but he wouldn’t have before.

SO… 3. If the Moon were to get metaphorically/literally swallowed on some level in S6, it would parallel 3x07, Hearts of Cinder.

Corruption via Aaravos’s…child.

which, coincidently, brings me to my next point!

B. Norse Mythology

I’ve briefly discussed this before here, but let’s review:

Aaravos’s similarities to Loki

Source: Twitter

But while we’re on Loki’s similarities to Aaravos, let’s consider what his other children are up to during Ragnarok, the end of the world in Norse Mythology, which seems fitting considering all the foreshadowing of what chaos Aaravos has wreaked in the past (Xadia) and present (Lux Aurea) and even future (ominous wording in the reflections) when given the chance.

Loki’s children during Ragnarok:

World Serpent — rises up from the depths, encircles the world and causes great waves and destruction (“The seas churned” 👀)

Hel — From the underworld, “leading an army of the dead, she marches against the gods, uniting with her brothers and other forces of chaos. This culminating battle signifies the cyclical nature of Norse myths; an end that's also a beginning.” [1] Speaking of which, sounds familiar, right? In Ripples:

“While one may say it ends with a sunrise, [beginning] another will insist it ends at nightfall. [end]”

“With its impact came a long and terrible night: The earth bled! The seas churned! The sun and moon hid for weeks behind the sky’s screaming storm!”

“And when the long, dark night had finally passed—for the sun must always rise, mustn’t it?—they gazed out upon an unfamiliar landscape.”

Fenrir— He was gagged with a sword and was destined to lie bound to a rock until the Ragnarök (Doomsday), when he will break his bonds and fall upon the gods. According to one version of the myth, Fenrir will devour the sun, and in the Ragnarök he will fight against the chief god Odin and swallow him. [2]

It’s interesting how Fenrir has even more parallels than Loki to Aaravos here. Trapped by a blade, chained against rocks like Prometheus (one of Aaravos’s primary inspirations) was when his liver (modern heart) was eaten every day, and when he’s freed all hell breaks loose, including swallowing people (see Zym and Aditi) and the sun. But was it him with the sun? Or…..

There’s something there about killing a god and being killed in return and making the stars fall and all the damage Claudia has suffered thus far, but anyway.

That’s right, Fenrir has two children, one who swallows the sun, and one who swallows the moon. During Ragnarok, while, also, the sea shakes. Ahem, back to this:

“With its impact came a long and terrible night: The earth bled! The seas churned! The sun and moon hid for weeks behind the sky’s screaming storm!”

So… earth blood?

Check… churning seas?

World Serpent — rises up from the depths, encircles the world and causes great waves and destruction

Check… sun and moon gone?

Check.

So, what do we do with this information?

C. Interpretation

So Aaravos with two children, one who swallows the sun, one the moon.

Swallowing the Moon

-Involving a Child

1. Most literally: Aaravos has that… homonculus child, which takes and poisons the power of the sun. Maybe we’re getting another of those? I’m honestly scared for what that actually means like is he having another kid for that because 😭

2. What I favor- a metaphor— If you can consider Claudia Aaravos’s child, well, child in law isn’t that far off for the sake of this theory I think it’s possible they team up and somehow metaphorically swallow the moon like Viren and Aaravos did in S3. ….Just taking the moon, corrupting it and using its power— like they did with the Sunfire power— to make troops invisible in their effort to conquer xadia part two (2!) (although this is probably like the nth time that Aaravos has attempted his plan.)

-not involving a child

3. it could also just be disrupting the moon nexus in some way. Aaravos tends to break reflections in one way or another, from mirrors to ripples.

in Ripples he talks about how he dislikes how the stars look down on their perfect reflection (the sea of cast out)

@parroset has written an excellent meta elaborating further on it here, but essentially, he breaks reflections. A reflection is key to the moon nexus, that lake is the moon nexus because it so perfectly reflects the moon. So… there’s something to that. And it would have to come in handy manipulating the veil between life and death.

4. Taking Luna Tenebris’s power in a flashback.

I’ve talked about why I think we’re finally getting Luna Tenebris content before here, but essentially we already got all the dragons in the 4 corners of the map via flashback or interaction, and now only she is left. A flashback on what really went down that day would be perfectly in line with us learning more about Aaravos’s past, perhaps interaction with Kim'dael as well as, hopefully, blood magic—and dark, star, and deep magic. It also fits in with swallowing the moon’s power, as she was a Moon Archdragon. Moonless night. This also ties back to the blood moon cult because they harvest the power of the moon to begin with.

Last but not least and most obvious and exciting to many,

5. Rayla= “Moon girlfriend.” Callum is already being targeted, and likely some terrible thing is going to happen to him up with the rating being up, creators crying over this episode and calling it “heartbreaking” and all of that, so swallowing the moon could be symbolism for her dying or something equally terrible (so he’s forced to exploit dark magic/Aaravos to save her.)

This also ties back to this being the episode following the star scraper and the theory that Callum is a Trojan horse and, once he’s there, all the shit is going down. Maybe Rayla gets in the way and tries to sacrifice herself. I wouldn’t be surprised. or maybe it’s an intentional harm so that Callum has to bring her back… who knows?

It is for you to think about as you see fit.

@beautifulterriblequeen also wrote about other possibilities for the Moonless night here!

D. Symbolism & Misc.

Now let’s talk about the other symbolic evidence pointing to the swallowing of the moon.

The first thing that got me hooked on this theory was actually this page, which we see Viren flipping through, and then in Callum’s sketchbook.

I already analyzed the markings surrounding Aaravos’s signature symbol, but I also found the eclipse and crescent moon especially interesting considering how important the eclipse motif has been in the series and uniquely tied to Aaravos.

Thus far I figured the moon also had to be significant right it also almost seemed to me as if both the sun and moon had a bite taken out of them.

Then, we have the Reflections.

After Darkness

“The writhing, tainted darkness of Lux Aurea’s night sky spread infinitely above him, the stars all swallowed up inside it.”

Ripples

“While one may say it ends with a sunrise, another will insist it ends at nightfall. ” (swallowed sun) (falling stars)

“With its impact came a long and terrible night/And in that endless dark the humans despaired. The humans huddled together, scarcely daring to breathe, awaiting the rise of the sun.”

which, side note- sol regem saying the sun will never rise again for me, karim saying the sun is setting on their kingdom, and aaravos telling viren that the sun will rise and he will not like augh.

Then there’s the more literal interpretations of swallowing the moon and or sun along with the stars - Consider

1, Aaravos is giant

2, Star eating sword

3, Star devourer dragons

And, let’s go back to the crescent.

Waxing Crescents are associated with growing power, which would also be fitting for Aaravos gaining power, possibly a literal powerup.

Let’s also consider what new moons mean- considering the possible name, moonless night, and all the swallowing of the moon, and starting a new cycle, new moons are certainly significant, right? Moonless night- A fresh start. Could be something!

In summary, I believe the moon will be metaphorically swallowed in S6 in one way or another.

I hope you enjoyed, and thank you for reading my thoughts! Please feel free to share any insights or reactions of your own!

[rejoice-for-the-beloved]

So! Thoughts on season 6 (this will be out of order): 

Re: Rayla’s family: the fact Rayla could save two people but knew her mom and dad would rather pass on together than be without each other is both *chef’s kiss* and T.T Plus out of the three elves trapped, the one who was saved was the one who ‘deserves’ it the least…*double chef’s kiss* 

Claudia was so close to changing her ways, it was painful to watch. 

Glad Callum told Rayla about using dark magic again before they got back together. And Rayla is more concerned about how using it hurts him rather than it being the wrong thing to do <3 

Kosmo being able to see possible paths the future can take! That’s kinda linked to my whole ‘multiple realities’ theory! I’ll take it! Also, on that note, Kosmo, buddy, I get not telling Callum the truth before having him all fixed up, but after???? THAT’S KINDA CRUCIAL INFORMATION TO KEEP TO YOURSELF. 

CALLUM’S BIRTH FATHER LORE! A poet named Damian who was chronically ill but in Sarai’s words ‘the strongest man she ever knew.” 

Viren didn’t have to trap K’ppar in a coin to get the staff and save Soren, he only did it after K’ppar threatened his position as High Mage…

No offense, Lissa, but the spell wasn’t actually so horrific (not as horrific as I thought it was gonna be, anyway) If all he needed was your tears, why not just give them? I mean, I suppose she thought with what Viren looked like he did something truly vile and she didn’t want to be complicit, but…

Viren physically manhandled Lissa! And then she left! Can’t blame her, but WHY NOT TAKE YOUR CHILDREN WITH YOU?

I knew Viren blamed Soren for Lissa leaving. Jackass.

Feel like Callum and Rayla won’t be able to keep their promises to each other: Callum won’t be able to choose the ‘greater good’ over Rayla, and Rayla won’t be able to kill Callum if he ends up corrupted—which, let’s be real, he’s going to end up getting corrupted. They wouldn’t have Kosmo drop that warning if it wasn’t going to become relevant later on. 

Rayla is Callum’s deepest truth! Awwwwwww. Interesting how she is both the reason he started ‘walking the path of darkness’ and the reason he was able to get off of it (for now)! Which leads me to hope that if/when Callum becomes corrupted in S7, Rayla will be the one to save him. 

KATOLIS WAS DESTROYED! NOW THAT IS TRULY AN EXAMPLE OF A STORY’S DARKEST HOUR. 

Haha, Sol Regem abandoning his followers was NOT a surprise. Him aiming his ire at Katolis was, though. Was there something he had against that kingdom specifically or was that just the closest human kingdom he could get to before he succumbed to his injuries? 

The prejudice towards humans really irks me. From Karim to Sol Regem to the Startouch elves themselves…

Rayla and Sarai parallel with the behemoth and magma titan!

Rayla singing! RAYLA SINGING! 

Now we know what put Aaravos on his path to villainy but we still don’t know what his endgame is. Like, we get why he wanted Sol Regem to suffer, and why he hates his fellow Startouch Elves, but what does he hope to accomplish? 

Poor Leola…She was just a child and they sentenced her to death. And the way she died was just brutal. And for what? Because she helped out humanity? HOW DOES HUMANITY HAVING MAGIC CREATE CHAOS?  

Leola wasn’t an actual unicorn! It was just a nickname from her father cause of her horn! 

Aaravos truly does not give a shit about the collateral damage his revenge has. 

AARAVOS IS HUGE. Not surprising, in all honesty, but wow. 

The Merciful One wasn’t so merciful after all! Eh, kind of expected that. 

Claudia freed Aaravos! So…how is Callum going to play right into Aaravos’ hands, then? Is he part of Aaravos’ actual plans for the world, and not just for getting out of his prison? 

Season 7 cannot come quickly enough. I need answers, I need resolution, and I need them now! 

Viren cut out his own heart rather than take Soren’s. Good.

[ohtobefightingthefoos]

Expanding upon the idea I put in the tags of this post on my main blog.

Viren saw the monstrous part of himself in Claudia when she killed to revive him, and abandoned her because of it. Mostly I think because he saw it as a hurt he was causing and ran away. The same way he emotionally abandoned Soren as a child because seeing his son reminded him of the hurt he caused for his family. He COULD HAVE been on a path to forgiving himself. I think his attempts to reconcile with Soren and apologize (however poorly managed) were brought on by the realization of what he’d done to Claudia.

And we see him let go of the shame he was feeling (writing out the events that occurred, burning the letter when he realized he couldn’t put that burden on Soren). But he does not see himself as worthy of another chance. He views himself as a monster, and he views Claudia as a monster. That’s the part of himself he left behind for her.

He also left behind the part of himself that we saw in his dark magic fever dreams. The younger version of himself that believed there is always hope, that there is always another path forward. That people can change. We see that reflected -

(oh hey mirrors/reflections as a symbol: Leola and the sea of the cast out reflecting the night sky, the reflection of the full moon in the water of the nexus when Rayla went to rescue her parents from the coins, Ethari seeing Rayla in the reflection of the sword when she’s a ghost, the reflection of Soren in his sword when he “kills” Viren ((mmm I love these Soren Rayla parallels)) also YALL I think Claudia’s gonna die like WHYS Soren alone in his reflection!)

in Soren’s character arc.

Harrow, Runaan, and Viren were all prepared to accept death as justice for their actions. They all knew they were guilty of continuing the cycle of violence. Harrow stopped being ashamed and felt remorse for the actions he took and their effects. We can see this in his letter to Callum. He has regrets, but he believes the justice he deserves is death, not forgiveness.

Viren is finally coming to terms with his guilt and shame when he writes his letter to Soren. And he never delivers it because he sees it for what it is. But that doesn’t mean he’s fully prepared to let go (he never tries to reconcile with Claudia and I’d have to watch it again because it’s hard to tell at that point if he’d even want to. That man really just threw her to the wolves). His death is his final cycle into violence. Falling back onto the crux of dark magic - even if it’s to save people - and the dark magic literally requiring him to die. He’s running away into what’s safe and comfortable instead of overcoming that fear and trying a different solution even if it would be harder. He could have left with Soren and found an alternative (this is a narrative, he made this choice for. a. reason). His life to save Soren’s was not the only option, it was his choice.

Runaan was ready to accept death until Claudia decided he’d be better used for information. Which ends with him trapped in a coin (very similar to the way Aaravos is trapped in the prison for eternity). He had an opportunity to overcome the violence and listen to Rayla and Callum about the egg. But he chooses the cycle of violence again. And it’s what consumes him in his limbo. And then having the second chance to overcome that violence and accepting it is what saves him.

This is getting rambley and it’s getting late, but like - do you see my vision? Do you see the parallels? The themes? And so on and so forth

[bittrlys]

I don't hate the main cast of tdp but dam do I think the series has a lot of wasted potential for them.

Yeah this is gonna be a rant and a long one at that so sorry and a warning here.

Rayla: there was so much potential rayla that all gets diminished in the series in my opinion at least. For example rayla is pretty discriminatory towards humans but that's not addressed or brought into light as much as it is when its Callum being discriminatory towards elves. I wanted to know more about raylas moonshadow culture and how that heavily influenced her actions in leaving Callum for two years, I wanted to see what she was doing in those two years, why did she come back if she didnt find viren, what are her views on her being ghosted and having her only living father figure ghost her as well, what are her views on runaan or her anger towards her parent or her fears in having to deal with what might happen to Callum and his possessions or her fears of water (I absolutely hate how that was fully conquered off screen) or how she can be hypocritical at times but the narrative doesn't acknowledge it properly or ever. (I hate the fandoms perception of morally upstanding rayla and the prescription that rayllum is a healthy ship when it isn't and it lacks communication so badly it makes me want to cry)

Callum: he also had so much potential like I hate how we don't see much of callum's views on being an orphan, him maybe getting jealous at rayla for having parental figures that are alive, or his feelings towards runnan (they're touched in a comic but not the show and I hate that even more), or how he wants to keep everyone he cares about close to him and fears losing them, or how much of an over thinker Callum truly is, or how he could of had a proper arc with aaravos where he sees how humans were mistreated during history, or him interacting with ezran a lot more or how Callum has an interesting amount of Parallels with characters he kind of hates like runaan, finnegran and viren+Claudia. Sure Callum gets a lot more justice done within the narrative but the bar is in hell for that (also your last ask post explained perfectly well why I hated how the show handled rayla dismissing callum's worries)

I don't know a lot of callum's and rayla's arc very much center eachother to the point that there is no substance outside of what they both serve to rayllum .

Soren: probably handled really well but the way his arc was done so dirty in season 4 made me cringe like why put him in PJ's and make him a joke for such important character events?!?! I wanted to see a proper Soren reaction to Viren being alive, I wanted to see guilt eat him away at the state Claudia is in, I wanted to see him have conflicted feelings when it came to Viren and Claudia how he rejects them but also just wants a family or wants them back, I wanted to see the true breakdown of sorens character and how he uses humour as a way to cope or try to soften situations. I wanted soren to maybe play a role in Claudia's redemption help reach out for her, I wanted someone to see Soren and the pain he is in and offer comfort. (I do think that Soren was done the koat justice out of all the main hero cast this season)

Ezran: i wanted to see a lot with ezran like how he felt towards zubeia sending assassins to kill him and king Harrow, or how he feels towards runnan (yeah it's touched upon but not in the main show) or how he struggles to take on royal duties and tries to get as much freedom as possible but fails, or how he is trying to choose wisdom and peace above all but a pacifist can't always successfully avoid conflict and must pick up a weapon at times, or how he felt about rayla leaving or Callum throwing himself into studies and changing after such an event or how he handles being an orphan. Also does ezran ever search who the orphan queen is? Are they similar? Or does ezran get blinded by hate and labels it justice? How is his relationship with Callum? It seems like ezran has become an isolated character stuck in a role that isn't built for him and being strapped of any innocence and naivety at a young age. Finally, what is ezrans connections to animals and we should of gotten a deeper dive on how that effects him or how he uses it.

Zym should talk more the dragon is a plot device and he has no arc or depth going for him

Yes, my feelings on the main heroes of the show are they're fine on paper but the execution (namely, how little consequences they face and how stark it is in contrast to the suffering of the villains who are allegedly taking 'easy shortcuts') leaves me wanting.

Something you touched on which I also dislike is important information or character beats being stored in supplementary material. If I don't want to drop a hundred plus on books I'm missing out on things that matter? Okay! My city's library doesn't stock all of them. Even through questionable means they're not all available. Yet if you never read, say, the book one novelization, you would miss out on the damning humans v. unicorns lore, and you're left frustrated at how the show discusses the topic of human suffering and denial of magic. This is why, while aware of this side lore, I prefer to keep my analysis centred on the show's presented narrative ... and then you're left going, "Why the hell is Rayla doing that?" for example.

Rayla feels frustratingly lacking in an internal life. As you said, a lot of her feelings on things are just not covered. I don't pay attention to the fandom at large (I see their Viren opinions and start composing manifestos in my head) but it's tough with female characters. They're often either idealized or vilified, and either way there's little care for their complexities. Even real fans of the character, in response to typical sexist fandom backlash, tend to be quite defensive. I've been there, I know the feeling, but. I wish there were more honest conversations about Rayla's issues and the way she treats Callum.

Callum really should have had more to do with Aaravos, I agree. He could have learned a lot and been taken to interesting places. At least when it comes to Callum, he at least has his pursuit of magic as a strong thread throughout the show and its his personal journey that has nothing to do with anyone else. It's given him one of the most notable character journeys on the hero side of things. (He's also allowed to actually suffer a bit.) Still, the "Rayla is his guiding star" thing is emblematic to the way he -- and Rayla -- are both burdened by their relationship. I'm really not an anti-ship grouch and indeed I enjoy a good Romeo and Juliet ship but maybe the emphasis needs to be on "good."

Maybe if they'd been written as an intended couple from the start of the show there would have been more thought to how their stories would have to eventually meld while retaining their characters. There's an interesting thing this season to how Rayla (who is alone in the world post-banishment) is scared of ending up like that ship's captain and not choosing love versus Callum realizing he should be less motivated by fear and instead by love and how they're almost conflicting motivations to arrive at the same conclusion (prioritizing love.) Yet the specific framing doesn't exactly work for me.

I hope now that they're together the relationship drama part of their stories is going to be over, at least for a good long while. They can start communicating better, be a cool battle couple, and focus on their own stories while supporting each other.

Soren did get the best stuff this season, I agree, and as ever, it's because Viren and Claudia carry the dramatic weight of the series so being closer to them increases the quality of a character's story. Hah. But seriously, I really disliked how much of a joke Soren has felt like and how disconnected he feels from the heroes. He's felt like a prop so letting him have real feelings again that take priority in the story is really nice.

Ezran ... yeah. Like Rayla, I feel they aren't so interested in his internal world. "Being king is hard" or "being king is noble" is so 101. It's like there has got to be more to this kid than that and espousing various morality speeches. That he's single-minded and hardheaded and intent on quietly suffering are not uninteresting traits, but I don't know, maybe he feels so flat because as you said he's very isolated. He lacks a peer to confide in. His brother's always off doing his own thing and Bait and Zym are just pets, and I don't think he'd want to put too much on his adult advisors because he's so determined to do things by himself. Possibly giving Ezran a friend that he can both communicate himself to and have fun with would help inject some life into his character. If he's not very curious about the world around him, fine, but what if his friend was? What if his friend challenged him? I think Aanya could be a decent choice for this but she has her own country to run, so.

"STOP BARKING, ZYM" should be on T-shirt. At this point it feels like they don't want us to get too attached to him as a character because Aaravos is going to ritually sacrifice him. Which would be funny!

Thank you for the ask! ♥ (I got really excited at how you colour-coded their names haha it's so cute.) You brought up a lot of points I have thought about myself. I'm going to go into more of what I want from the character's stories eventually, but reading through your message a unifying theme for me is just "we need more insight into their feelings." And unfortunately a lot of the feelings I most want explored may not reflect well on Xadia (Rayla's banishment, Callum with the history of humanity, Ezran with Thunder/Zubeia/Runaan) so they probably won't ever get into that stuff. Alas!

[galaxyspark-6e16]

spoilers for the dragon prince book 6

yes yesim late life got in the way but basicly this is the season of tears, jumscares, dread and more tears..

let me explain:

e1

oh pretty sk- wait whos cryi- ohh were getting his backstory aren't we..

man i can actually feel his grief over the screen

wtf do you mean for an instant?

omg viren is dead already

IS TERRY GOING TO BE THE ONE TO FIND HIS CORPSE!! NO HES BEEN THROUGH ENOUGH ALREADY

WAIT WHAT

aww i love their relationship terry and viren the come so far

ohhhhhhhh yeah i kind though there 

rip sir sparklepuff

honestly viren if you had your redemption arc earlier you couldve avoided this outcome but also it not entirely on you since sacrifice in your family is kinda tradition at tis point

prop for viren for taking responsibility but this is just going to damage his relationship with claudia whos going to see her efforts were for nothing

god that claudia cry.. her VA is nailing it

pff oh opeli so much to catch up on

ohh yeah callum def susceptible to aaravos call

o right zubeia was infected..damn i kinda forgot about her please let her be okay

nooo callum nnooooooo

oh that was a jumpscare

haha rayla

he took our blankie man hahaha

and soren too the comedy of this show

damn baker didnt know you were that innovative

ohh claudia jumpscare

for a minute i she was gonna do something to terry bt her leaving nim first is surprising, but unexpected. everyone has left her entire life so her leaving first as a way to protect herself is just soo heartbreaking AAAGGHHGGRR

terry convince her please shes not alone.. he truly loves her even at her darkest

e2

ohhhhhh are we gonna get a civil war?

oh claudia is now his pawn now

oohhh corvus is back yyeahhhhh

and the dynamic duo is formed

man thing are that dire in lux aurea

oh its not your fault you did your best to be fair and just is not your fault there were traitors among you

corvus on making sure soren doesn’t poisen himself 

and it seem he used to soren shenanigans at this point

aw ezra comforting zym as they say goodnight

best duo EVER

ohhh janai of course amaya has faith in you don’t ever doubt that

the parallels of janai and karem speech and cause between truust and devotion just sooo 

oh thank god zubeia is ok bt won’t be at full capacity anytime soon

awwww its confirmed ezren and zym brothers coded yeah

awww wedding time

e3

it doesn't aspire me all those flashback of callum slowly using dark maic as aaravoos is lurking man i really fishy

aww terry waiting for claudia 

really smooth callum

whoa never seen terry this focus on magic

GASP claudia!!!

o misteri sip

aww look how terry is gently taking care of her the details..he truly loves her

tHE HAIRCUT!!!! 

callum know well hos to rizz up 

!!!! lore?!

me too stella and sneezle me too

damn little matchmaker

AAWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

GASP so thats what he was doing making her a prosthetic leg ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

and the way she started to walk towards him am i really for the antagonists, yes i am

mom and dad are fighting

and that promise is back..

viren§?! oh you werent kidding oh you going to face a lot of judgement

e4

its gleaming time!

ohhhh claudia the darkness is showing

oh boy here comes sol regem

wait what?? 

are celestial elves startouch or sky cause its starting to confuse me

wai is that viren staff?!

i really thought sol regem wised p in the years but is still led by his anger and misdjugement

cool a prophecy

oh soren you in for a surprise 

e5

oh soren going through the emotional toll

honestly not sure about this prophecy

oh soren, he finally got the recognition and approval of his father buut all the abuse and gashlight made him wary of him and can’t believe a good thinng viren says about him

so much lore!!! 

they can finally see

wait wdym darkness noooo

damn viren youre relly milking this whole remorse thing

e6

aguh i knew it i hoped i was wrong of course aaravos manipulated to take the fake pearl

whhats with the black and white shift?

ohhhh we re getting the origins of viren and how he started this path

ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh so kosmo saw the future and saw the possibility of telling the actual truth thats really clever writing

aww viren and harrow were really good friends (and unknowingly setting him down the path of darkness 

no callum you need to believe in yourself to find your truth- WHOA HEY YOURE FALLING

even if she understood why yo did wat yo did it was still orrendce what you did to get her tears now wonder she left even if you regret it back then and now it still not an excuse

gasp theres a star for you AWWW ITS RAYLA

SHES YOUR ONE TRUTH Ah

i think he did the right thing by not telling the truth to soren because as kosmo said are you helping or just shifting the blame and burden

 YAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY EVEN THE PETS ARE CHERING

and at least it ends on a happy note

e7

red wedding wh is it called th- ooohh nnooo

aww rayllum

ohh no not the sunnfire elves conflicts

ah anya back

clouds?? feels like an omen..

aawww gren he was there since the beginning of course hes gonna get emotional 

aww ezren i know you want to help but karim isnt going to listen be careful

pff not now gren 

am i cryingover the vows? yes aghgghrhhu

yeah YEAH THEYRE MARRIED AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

OHHH NOOOOOOOOOOOOO THE RED WEDDING NOOOOOOOO

Wait what happened

wait is his plan was to take vengeance on the humans? or aaravos is controling him??

e8

the title man…

oh hes really wants revenge

soren NO

wow soren really has grown up he really is the crownsguard

gasp he going to save his father

ahhhhh better yet using dark magic to save them bt i dont think viren will do it soren

NOOOOOOOOOO SOREN NOOOOO

OH VIREN 

one thing for certain, he truly loved his family…and his last word…

oh of corse aaravos was beid all of this

ohhhh what truth

seriously what happened back then

and now claudia 

and now she s vulnerable

ohh lujanne we missed you

oh noo the ca ol save two

e9

is the title reference to the first line in the premiere?

 hahe terry face soo done with aaravos bullshit

wait wat- bAWWWWW WAIT LIKE THE STAR? theyyyre connected

never thought i a see soft dad aaravos

o raylla

waiit so leola was the catalyst to the madness that followed??

that kinda explains why he hates sol, because he snitched

is rayla parents about to cross over??

how could they doo that, she just a child scared and wants her father to protect her

so thats why he cried in the beginning

sp she became a star- ahh no which is far worse

and bro took cry me a river to whole other level which is testament that he couldnt go on without her..man

come on runnan come back

gaps shes your daughter awwww

yeah go back to the living

terry has a point, as much as aaravos is doing it for love for leola, hes doing it in revenge to those who wrong him and honestly he not wrong but how do you deal with grief and unjust retribution czasted upon you, who teared his world appart, sorta like viren for what he did to save soren

wow im seeing parallels two spells to bring back the dead one for for love and one for misguided justice

“love is the star of life” wow 

ohh terry

oh nno here comes news of the fall

we re getting a magical girl resurrection wait he’s a giant?!

nooooooooooooo and it ends here whhyyyyy

and all of this started with the death of a child..

[sir-phineas-lost]

TDP Book 5: Water

So this apparently dropped almost a week earlier than what was announced and I binged all of it at once as usual. Since I only just finished it I can’t quite tell if I like it better or worse than previous seasons (for summary: I loved the first 2 because it looked like they were heading somewhere really interesting, I hated season 3 because it completely dropped the ball and season 4 was starting to head back in the right direction). I feel like I should write a few things down to sort them out. Lots of spoilers below.

I think it was the right decision to split the party up more than they were last season because it no longer feels like Ezran is just hanging around for the sake of it and gives Rayla and Callum more time to interact and rebuild their relationship. I still don’t care one iota about said relationship because they are boring MC-shipping, but at least it doesn’t feel like it is actively eating up others’ screen-time.

The detour to Lux Aurea feel superfluous. It is very disconnected from the other subplot involving Karim and Kim’dael and the one lasting consequence (Zubeia’s wound) is apparently healed by the end of the season with absolutely no input from the main cast. Obviously this is setup for next season and this mysterious mushroom-mage but I can’t help but feel that there had to be a more convenient way to get there.

As usual, Claudia remains the very best part of the show and I will not hear a bad word about her. Her worry for Viren is so absolutely palpable it hurts and for once I think they dodged all the pitfalls of framing it as a sin. Having Terry around proves to be the best change to the show as a whole since the timeskip and he keeps being a positive influence on Claudia without being judgemental about it.

This also makes it pretty jarring when we get to Claudia’s final confrontation with the gang and after a full season of humanizing her and proving that she will listen to reason instead of going for the kill, she goes into full villain-mode from the start with crazy ranting and “I will destroy you all” speeches. All so that the gang can feel uncomplicated in dealing out the most graphic violence in the show so far. I used to joke that I would be ok with Claudia reducing elven cities to ash, I now think I would be fine with her ripping out Ezran’s spine while making Callum watch. As a treat.

Side-note: I am very ok with the trend of Claudia transforming into monster-ladies for big fights.

Please keep that up.

Viren also continues his positive development from last season, but unfortunately it is the exact kind of “redemption” I didn’t want for him and Claudia. The kind where it is all about him agreeing with everyone else that everything he ever does sucks and that dark magic is unambiguously evil. Sorry to people who like this development but I don’t see a lot of moral complexity in doing a 180.

Callum actually has a pretty interesting arc this season. After being convinced last season that it was his curiosity that would make him susceptible to Aaravos’ influence it instead draws direct parallells between him and Claudia by having love for his friends and especially Rayla be the reason he breaks his own moral code. It still relies heavily on the show’s nonsensical policy on dark magic for his guilt to make sense but it is something.

Unfortunately the show seems committed to its policy of character-centric morality. Ezran can make a speech to Callum about how they should focus on containing Aaravos instead of killing him because violence should be a last resort, and yet make no attempt at anything but violence when stopping Claudia.

Overall I just find it ironic how a book called “Ocean” manages to drive home how shallow this whole show is. It paints its main thesis on its forehead but has absolutely nothing of interest to say about it. “It is bad to do bad things for good reasons”. No shit Sherlock. Come back when you actually have something to say about what makes something bad in the first place or how to deal with the things that made someone think the bad thing was necessary.

[beautifulterriblequeen]

Do you think that Soren and Viren will reconcile?

Oh, good question. Hmmm!

I think, at the heart of both of them, they'll realize they want to reconcile. I hope that's an awareness they both can find a moment for.

But whether the plot will give them time for such soft things or not... Well, Xadia is a dangerous place! We could see something as brief as Callum and Rayla's "I hope you know-" "I know" again. Or they could get a full scene where trying to repair their relationship and make amends is the entire focus, as they've shown Viren getting to know and appreciate Terry despite their many differences.

I think it'll come down to what else is going on around them, and if there are thematic parallels in play - there usually are, and I can think of a few relationships that could tackle this kind of issue alongside Viren and Soren's.

Whatever we get, I hope it highlights how powerful it feels to have a family member of a different generation affirming that they've got your back no matter what. That's rare enough, but just one person we want to respect telling us we're worth loving and fighting for can make all the difference in the world.

[strawberryqueen00]

Do you think that mukho is going to cure Zubeia?

Okay. So I love the idea of Zubeia being a corrupted being and the possible dynamics of multiple plot points possibly happening.

Such as

-Callum and Ezran having a themetic parallel arc with Viren and Harrow about fighting an Archdragon.

-Rayla having to grapple with wanting to protect Zubeia because of guilt she has for her parents with the Dragon Gaurd and have hope her corruption can be reversed.

-Sol Regem trying to gain control as King of the Dragons becoming a dramatic irony moment where he’s the only one who can stop her but his reasons are still bad for fighting her corrupted form

-a thematic echo of Viren(if he survives from Claudia’s blood coming out her leg) past action of killing a dragon and how he could choose not to make that mistake or use dark magic again.

But.

Yeah she’s getting healed. All of those ideas are interesting but what’s most important is to consider what is narratively the priority. And she’s definitely getting healed. It would be wasting time to have the possible plot point of getting healed by Earth Elf and it didn’t work idk to me that would be a very big waste of time. Just let her get corrupted to end the season then.

One thing I could see is that they’re able to suppress the corruption but there’s still some left that Aaravos when free is able to use but that also feels a bit like a cop out. Plus we don’t know if this corruption is reversible and I don’t think the show would make Zym an orphan. Although endgame Sol Regem King of the Dragons potential lets gooo

So simple answer to your question, I think she will be healed.

[theredhairedmonkey]

Oh my god, here comes the big one!!

The closest thing to a Rayllum clip we’ve gotten so far, and man do I have thoughts:

The whole moment is a callback to when Viren and Harrow spoke about the threat of the Moonshadow assassins. To the point they even had the whole “Harrow/Ezran walks to the end of the balcony to speak with Viren/Harrow” so they’re really laying in to the mage-to-king parallels here pretty thick, even if who is helping whom is reversed here.

The vines on the castle just look like smeared paint. Could have been animated a bit better. Just thought I’d point that out here lol.

“Why aren’t you celebrating?” I realize that this is mostly just to catch the audience up on why Callum is so down right now, but I would have thought that emotionally intuitive Ezran would have caught on by the first anniversary as to why he’s so hurt by this particular day.

When Ez asks Callum if everything is ok, his first response is “Yea,” before he admits that it’s not. A subtle moment, but while Callum isn’t as closed off emotionally as Rayla, it does show he isn’t as willing to be open about his feelings as he used to be.

 Why a “pineapple” cake? Because Callum’s favorite treat is fresh summer fruit. Great attention to detail here, kudos to the writing team!!

Callum connects his birthday to Rayla leaving him, which even two years later, seems pretty reasonable. Even if he wants to move on, this was a pretty traumatic moment, so no wonder the wound is still there.

Side note, Rayla leaving Callum on his birthday was absolutely insane. Was leaving the day after his birthday so difficult? Viren was not going anywhere.

In many ways, Rayla leaving Callum does mirror Rayla’s parents leaving her in some ways (especially since young Rayla and Callum both thought that they’d be strongest together). But that moment led to Rayla developing some rather problematic traits (reluctance to showing vulnerability, perfectionism, over-dedication to one’s craft). Does Callum develop similar traits? My guess is absolutely yes.

Notice how he doesn’t ever answer Ez’s question as to whether he still loves Rayla? Undoubtedly he still does, but it just shows how much it hurts Callum to admit this out loud.

“I don’t even know if she’s alive.” Going back to Callum being unable to move on, and this is why--he is left with no closure. He has no way of determining whether he can hold out hope or not. That’s rough, buddy.

Ezran thinks Rayla is alive. Storytelling 101, this does mean she is alive. Like, that’s basically what this means. To anyone who thought Rayla was dead, while there was an astonishingly low chance of this being the case before, it’s pretty much zero now.

“She loves you too.” This kid is just dropping truth bombs left and right, isn’t he?

Side note, there were a few people who saw the teaser and thought Ez was taller than Callum now...at twelve. Seemed a bit silly to me, I don’t know, but I guess it’s good that this scene cleared that up?

Like, I think that Ez will be taller than Callum when they’re both adults, but there’s no way that he'd just jump a foot in height in two years. Best guess, he’s 5′3″ right now.

And Callum wraps this up with a manly tear. Sorry, I know this is a somber moment (and it is), but no sobbing? Not even a wince? Wow, Callum is one cold mfer now.

The moon is a waxing gibbous right now (meaning just one phase before full). I just think that’s neat.

And that’s it for now! Just (at most) two months to go. Home stretch, folks!

[bluebirdjay]

sooooo, i finished dragon prince season 4. time to dump all my thoughts,

things i liked

ezran’s speech, it was made so well with him talking about pain and anger and how that need to stop and how that’s paralleled with claudia and ibis fight to show what happens when you don’t move on and try to do better because claudia literally brought her dad back to life because she couldn’t accept his death

TERRY, absolutely loved him, so bubbly and cute but still has his own demons that he deals with. just a nice introduction. also love claudia’s and terry’s dynamic, they are so 🥰, but also to show how claudia is able to live despite doing horrific things

rayllum dynamic, it feels how it should be after you know your girlfriend disappears for two years ON YOUR BIRTHDAY, comes back and tries to act as if that did not happen. and callum is trying to act cold cause he is hurt but rayla just wants to get things how they were before. also liked when rayla pursued viren a second time that callum understood it. honestly to show that if rayla actually discussed it with callum to do this he probably would have understood

janaya. they were just SO SOFT, AND CARING AND JUST EVERYTHING I NEED. i loved the communication with them. it’s still interesting that while janai is very good at understanding the sign she is not as well as in actually signing them which is interesting. to me suggests that janai put more effort in to understanding what amaya is trying to communicate than learning how to sign herself which makes sense since amaya can lip read. and also liked how they are basically demonstrating the problems and issues that would happen when elves and humans get reintroduced to each other after so many decades separated. like the conflict of cultures how one thing is insignificant to one has such importance and weight to the other. also the miscommunication with the soul fire makes so much sense since both of the characters considering one is grief stricken while one is panicking that the whole camp will set on fire. and also love the trial and amaya admitting that the architect literally trashed a funeral and janai giving such a fair punishment for the crime. like really liked that.

SOREN, MY SORBEAR. doing great. him just living his life, being a crownguard and a part time jester. also love his progression in the relation ship with dragons. how he is slowly understanding other beings that he tries to kill and instead befriend them. especially when he captured claudia and how gentle he is with the butterfly and the butterfly being comfortable with him that it kept coming back. where claudia or viren would not hesitate to kill it and have it in the emergency stash of magical beings.

i like the hair style changes. like i am trying to decide what it means for different characters as some grow their hair out while others cut them. like with soren i thing it’s him finally letting go and not needing to be under the pressure or control of his father and need his approval and him just doing what he wants. if you have thought on other characters would love to see

the different mature topics touched upon like panick attacks, viren having trauma from his death, aftermaths of war where both sides have been wronged, breaking the cycle of violence, reintroduction of different communities. i really enjoyed it

i liked the exploration of viren. him literally being like “oh i will die in 30 days, maybe i can finally just live and die peacefully”. like he was willing to accept dying. not pursue power, goals or even help aaravos. just to live. also his hesitance to do dark magic again. it’s interesting that he is reluctant to do it again, knowing once he walks that path again i don’t think he will be able to go of it again. also his relationship with claudia and terry, i think was very nice. also him just adopting kids left and right except his own son (´；ω；`)

Karim, like i hate him but he is a good character to introduce the conflict with is being and reflecting the people who are not so happy to reintroduce other communities

the things i did not like so much. most of it is criticism but some i feel weird about

the situation of the trial with janai and amaya. it felt really weird as in how amaya reacts. like how she is kind of making fun of the whole just punishing someone for blowing out a candle. like it felt weird how inconsiderate amaya was to janai’s culture. also shouldn’t amaya be kind of aware of the funeral rites of sunfire elves, ya know with janais sister being dead and then holding the soul fire. like i would assume amaya was present for such an important event.

the criticism i have is i think the show is too short. like i mean it’s everyone’s complain that we need MORE, which i agree but i think 9 episodes is no longer enough to tell such a story. like the story and character dynamics and stakes have become so much more complex that more time is needed to explore all the points. like the writing felt sometimes like season 1. like it’s good but is not deep. like the main cast felt a bit flat occasionally like ez. like it more visable when soren sees viren for the first time after his death. and we don’t actually see his proper reaction of realizing the father that has manipulated him, to the point of almost becoming a child murder, is back after finally living his life without his father presence outside of the scream, there wasn’t really anything.

NOT ENOUGH AARAVOS. I NEED MY STARTOUCHED ELF MORE IN MY LIFE. HIS PRESENCE, APPEREANCE, HIS DEEP ASS VOICE.

edit: completely forgot, i really liked the parallels of viren and callum. like both are high mages of katolis, have a strong relationship with the king, both interested in knowledge and specifically the mirror. a lot of shots parallel each other. like i really like how it’s was made but does not mean i like what they suggest

[raayllum]

One thing I love about TDP's consistency of characterization is how aware they are of how to write any given character in any given scene in order to convey characterization

Arc 1 does a great job in this of course, but I think it really stands out to me in Arc 2 because we're catching up on context and seeing all the little details of how characters have changed

For example, one of my favourite details in S4 is Callum's struggle to say Viren's name in 4x01 and his refusal to say Rayla's, for reasons we're not quite sure of (we know he's uncomfy with his high mage title but Callum's never been a super formal guy) and then Rayla comes back, and he says both their names right away, and you're like Oh they're connected, they're stemming from an interrelated emotional wound, and it's a great detail and bit of characterization -- even like how his snappishness with Soren on the battlements of not knowing things sets up his frustration with the mirror the next episode and his heartbreak over not knowing what's happen(ing) to Rayla. A Callum who could just say either of their names does not give set up to being a Callum who refuses to talk to her when she first gets back, and it's one of the little ways of legwork TDP routinely uses to make things feel natural (if frustrating)

Another that stood out to me was Ezran in 4x04 with Opeli. One of Ezran's previous arcs from s1-s2 moving into s3 was him having to make more decisions and be more passive. However, s3 and s4 likewise shift that simplicity of "well Ezran should be more active" to Ezran constantly having to weigh things: pushing for no human kingdoms to go to war with Xadia, or doing what he can to spare his own (unfortunately unsuccessfully)? We see his hesitation in 4x04 as well with "But Katolis needs me" after Opeli -- who gave ignored counsel last episode, but is serving as a foil to Karim, so she has to give grace, she is ultimately supportive -- encourages him to leave. Because if it had been Ezran's own unique decision, he'd be acting like a more foolhardy little boy again, not like a king with his mind first and foremost on his people who takes them into account with every decision he makes (and his parallels to Rayla of "these people Need me" and accordingly putting some things either on or not on the backburner). Ezran having to be reassured and supported by the people around him conveys his youth, his sense of responsibility, and the fact that he's collaboratively decisive. Barrelling forward and just dropping things on Opeli's lap without her reassurance is not the kind of king he wants to be, and he shows that

It's also why I think everyone feels so consistent, because they're all reacting in line with previous things, previous scenes, issues, choices, etc. Not without evolution, but with a mindful and attentive eye to said evolution of how the characters change, their growing strengths, and their shifting weaknesses

[self-spaghettification]

aaravos & claudia analysis ™

The new S6 promotional art has to mean something for Aaravos’s connection to Claudia Season 6. There’s the connection with the short story Ripples of course and Aaravos’s manipulation of mages, but now I am wondering if Claudia will be preyed on by Aaravos after he gets out - using her loss, anger at herself and the world for her loss and being unable to save her dad - and he’ll channel it into making her a weapon against Xadia, maybe even the tragic main villain.

Taking it a step further, maybe he expected and respected Viren’s decision to die in the first place because he knew it would make Claudia spiral further and he offered to bring him back in the first place so that Claudia would 1. set in motion the steps toward his freedom and 2. trust Aaravos (and his rhetoric…) and 3. have a taste of his power to change things, which will undeniably be tempting.

I feel like Claudia and Aaravos’s outlooks have aligned in the past (ie: Claudia saying “Impassible is just another form of passible” and Aaravos saying “Yesss”) and Aaravos has had his eye on her for a long time, back to Aaravos saying “Well done. She will be a valuable asset”, having Viren lie to his kids so she wouldn’t leave Viren, and all the way back to Claudia saying it felt like the mirror put her on notice too.

Aaravos using her as a weapon against Xadia would parallel how he used Viren’s grief after Harrow’s death and anger at the Pentarchy to set Viren on a path to conquer Xadia. Viren, with reason but also spite, took Callum’s voice taunting him for being a nepo-baby, killed Avizandum, and coined Runaan. Aaravos encouraged Viren to kill the leaders of the four other countries and to kill the guards hunting him in the castle of Katolis. In comparison, Claudia has, unprovoked, almost killed a dragon just for hell of it and taunted Rayla with her parents just to not give them back (even knowing what it’s like to have a parental figure taken away.) Terry was the only thing stopping her. Terry was talking her down both times. Terry is no longer in the picture. (for Claudia, currently at least.) Who knows what she’ll do with that lack of checking and Aaravos egging her on.

She repeats rhetoric that humans deserve revenge for being treated by trash and that dragons and elves should be afraid of her, a fire that Aaravos’s guidance will only fan further. Her rhetoric has been undoubtedly shaped by both Viren’s and Aaravos’s actions, spite, and other reasoning.

carrying the same prejudices and likes as her father, “Look dad, I’m following in your footsteps!” + “Aaravos can change things!” to Soren. + the fever dream metaphor that Claudia goes dangerously further than Viren, stops listening to him, (foreshadowing for future conversations where Viren and Soren plead with Claudia to stop) and gets swallowed up in something she could never predict, something much larger than herself.

Endgame? Well. Claudia has a lot of parallels to Ziard, and we see how that ended… also, that’s a scene in S3. So if S6 does parallel S3… well. It doesn’t end well for her.

(Repeated water motifs)

Claudia currently feels like she’s lost everything. Her mom, her brother, her strength… she prided herself on that but she wasn’t strong enough to beat the Dragang and so she wasn’t strong enough to save her dad. She believes she’ll keep losing and so she cuts herself off from Terry to avoid losing that too.

Key: She is in her darkest place thus far, similar to Viren when he had lost everything and was desperate enough to make a blood pact with a strange elf in the mirror. And what if, once again, that strange elf was there to help the most desperate? If Claudia is made to believe she’s strong enough again, with the aid of a little magic, if she’s given that validation and care again, she can do anything. It would parallel the Reflections story ‘Lost Child’:

If she’s strong enough, and her faith is restored, no one will ever leave her again. They’ll come to understand.

Again it was how she was taught. “I’ll do anything for our family, Dad. Whatever it takes, however dangerous, however vile.” and it’s going to lead to her shaping into a more vindictive villain and to her doom.

[dragonnguard]

I know I always love reading everyone’s first thoughts with no filter after a season, so here are mine!

EPISODE 2

Claudia maybe don’t take your newly exhausted dad up the entire spire?

Pls Zym not eating his veggies with Ibis was adorable

I LOVE THE DRAGON LAIR OH MY HECK ITS SO MAGICAL CAN I LIVE THERE, the happiness is 🥺

Viren is like kill me now i DoNt want to hang out with my daughter and her bf any more after all the fart jokes

HEIGHTS SHOULD FEAR YOU 😏

Pls Terry 🥺🥺🥺🥺

@hoothalcyon GET YOUR GAY during the whole janaya scene

Stella you are evil don’t take that cube

Noooooo his face looks so sad when he sees rayla 😭

EPISODE 3

Pain and love I’m our hearts at the same time 🥺😭 ezzzzzz (out here giving a full therapy session haha)

The overlay of Ezran talking about pain and love when terry kills and the implications of doing and undoing happening at the same time was so good

EPISODE 4

Bait being so excited like he was going to get food from Barius 🥺🥺🥺

FLEXIO (love you Soren)

I’m so angry about the human putting out the flame. Interesting Native American parallels

EPISODE 5

MMMMM CALLUM - strong mind, strong heart, fascination with magic. gotta love more dark Callum foreshadowing

I dunno how I feel about rayla being gone two years and finding nothing. Why did it take her so long to come back. I hope they answer this when her and Callum finally talk. I guess it plays in well to the whole “she needs to figure this out” because she is literally isolating herself for no good reason and hurting herself and others in the process. (Ah ha ha actually this mirrors my own life in some trauma responses in ways that are way too telling)

DRAGANG 🥺

Lol Soren is the court jester according to Zubeia (one of my fave quips)

I would die for the gate guardians

EPISODE 6

Love the parallels between ezran and janai in choosing peace and doing things differently than history

EPISODE 7

HELLO HAI THEY ARE GOING TO KILL JANAI?

Oh no Soren is alone

Soren is going to lose his shit when he sees Viren is alive

SOREN IS SO CUTE - PJs under armor

Geesh is one of the siblings going to die eventually? I feel like it may be setting this up

YIP YIP of course they had to do that

OMG rayla are you high why are you doing cartwheels

Wow they went straight angst. No messing around. Rayla kill me if i mess up

I legit thought Callum was about to fling himself into the lava

EPISODE 8

OMG pls Is ez going to give Rex igneous jelly tarts 🥺🥺🥺🥺

EPISODE 9

IM GOING TO DIE PLS. I can’t watch. This is how rayla is going to be in danger 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

THEY DID NOT

IM SCREAMING

we did get a coin reveal

I could not control myself after this point haha

Terry is the GOAT tho

Also for fun, here’s my bingo card before and after based on what kinda happened and didn’t!

[d-pennants]

Everything we know about Aaravos

This includes stuff from the books, interviews and ComicCon, so spoilers. Updated with a few things from the artbook. I’ll try to keep updating when I come across new info.

Timeline

From Book 1: Moon

Callum’s Spellbook

Historical texts

The Art of the Dragon Prince

And a third page written in Italian was added to the historical texts.

“Last of the Great Ones” is interesting, because Zaird says to Sol Regem his staff was a gift from one of the Great Ones. Sol Regem is alarmed but doesn’t immediately know who Zaird is talking about. So apparently between that conversation and when this text was written all Great Ones except for Aaravos died, and even he ‘fell’.

Also this note about Aaravos not being at full power.

As a ‘fallen’ Startouch elf Aaravos can only access a fraction of his former power.

The spell Zaird used to absorb the sunbirds to create the fireball he used against Sol Regem and the spell that Aaravos casts for Viren to absorb Zym’s power are meant to resemble each other in their swirling vortex. The symbol for Dark Magic also has a swirl in it around a diamond shaped like the one on Aaravos’ chest. This absorption vortex seems to be pretty central to Dark Magic, and it only seems it can be done with the staff Aaravos most likely crafted. 

The Show

Zaird staff is the same staff Viren uses. Aaravos recognized it. Given the historical text Aaravos is the “Great One” who gifted Zaird that staff.

Transcripts of all his lines in this post.

Aaravos is the narrator in the opening.

First appearance in S1 from the first war between humans and elves & dragons 1000 years ago.

Elves don’t seem to ride horses, but big cats, dogs, lizards, etc instead. Yet Aaravos choose to depict himself riding a star primal horse (He could make Viren see any creature he wanted). Considering it turns out that unicorns and Startouch elves are the only two star primal creatures humans know about, is he just being dramatic or does this have a deeper meaning?

Mirror in the Dragon King’s lair.

Cocoon

Dragon Prince Website

Bio;

Mysterious and charismatic, Aaravos is a rare kind of elf few have ever seen. He is secretive yet charming, and even Viren finds himself compelled by Aaravos’ cryptic words and gifts.

Height: 6’6 (6’9 with horns) Birthday: November 14th Age: ???

Birthday Vignette;

Aaravos does not count the passage of time in minutes, nor hours, not even days — he counts candles, one after the other, burning themselves down to the wick and a puddle of hot wax. He would run out of candles if it weren’t so easy to reform them with a wave of his hand, as though the burn had never happened.

He thinks sometimes about the way humans count their years: one day every year marks a precious point in their short life spans. They celebrate. They feast. He thinks that if he cared for the idea, he’d like to remember the taste of a smooth red fruit a human had plucked from a tree for him, once.

It had been so crisp, and so sweet.

AMA, Tumblr, Instagram Live

Who are the First Elves?

AE: First Elves are startouch elves, or possibly a subset of startouch elves...

When did the idea of Aaravos come up? How early in the planning of the saga did you guys come up with him?

AE: Justin and I came up with Aaravos very very early. In the early stages we referred to him as "Mirror Mage." We always knew he would be the secret long-game mystery villain... Aaron

Is the Key of Aaravos actually the key of where he was imprisoned?

AE & JR: We can’t tell you.

JR: We don’t even know. We haven’t even discovered the answer yet.

AE: We know! Actually, that was one of the first things we knew at the very beginning. We’ll get to it.

Did Aaravos create dark magic?

AE: No, it was discovered not created. Did Aaravos turn them onto it or help them discover it? That’s very possible. Whether Aaravos played a role in developing their ability to do dark magic. Exploring the possibilities of dark magic.

How could Avizandum (Thunder) imprison such a powerful creature as Aaravos? Can archdragons do such magic or who helped him? This required some collaboration between archdragons and elves

Were you surprised by all the thirsty reactions to Aaravos? Judging from everyone who worked on the show and their reactions, no we weren't surprised :)

Where is Aaravos walking in epsiode 6? And how and where did he a get a horse?

Aaravos can basically make Viren “see” him however he wants, so he chose to appear on the back of a purple horse. There was actually a line in there at one point that we had to cut for time that clarified a bit more heavily -- Viren grumbles at him, “Must you appear... that way?” as Aaravos is floating in the air, and Aaravos replies, “Ah, I can appear more naturally if you’d like,” and then he flips backwards onto the horse as you see in scene in episode 6. :P

which FFXIV classes would the rest of the cast be?

Aaravos - mysterious benevolent ascian

Interviews

There is no Startouch elf society as they’re not numerous enough.

Hot Brown Morning Potion Ep 5

Hypothetically, if Aaravos knew about his own fandom, how would he feel about them?

AE: He takes a special interest in humans, so he would be very pleased that humans appreciate him.

Wondercon 2019 panel Q&A

“The goal of healing and rebuilding the world is going to be a hard one, and especially a hard one when Aaravos, who may have been one of the mysterious forces who pushed the world into this situation, now seems to be on the cusp of returning or trying to return to the world.”

Inverse Season 4 interview

“Practical usable powerful magic, is drawn from the six Primal Sources, but there’s this idea that there’s this kind of earlier, less differentiated power. A kind of magic that’s deeper and more, (I don’t want to kind of say what all of them are). It’s not that important now. It has more to do with the history of beings and interactions and now I feel like I’m talking crazy, but Aaravos cares about some of this stuff and it’s funny, people have worked on a speech in season 5 where he kind of goes into some of this.”

...

“I think he’s complicated. I mean it’s, I think there’s a part of him that is kind, that is generous, that is giving and I think there’s a part of him that is arrogant and desiring to be, you know, worshipped and revered...

He never lies, I don’t know if he’s never lied about anything, if you understand where he’s coming from, he’s not lying about anything. But you don’t necessarily know where he’s coming from. He never lies, he always tells the truth. You’ve heard us talk about Aaravos before, is it Lucifer or Prometheus, who has a relationship with humanity and the gifts and sharing that he has historically have been, you know, you can interpret it differently.”

...

Q: We know he’s mastered all the primal sources, it that like could all of us do that or just him?

A: He’s very special.

Cartoon Universe Season 3 interview

kn: What’s your favorite Greek myth? AE: There are so many intriguing myths to choose from – I think if I have to choose I would say the Prometheus myth. The titan stole fire and gave it to humans, elevating them – and was punished by the gods for this. I feel like there are parallels to the biblical story of the serpent tempting Eve to eat the apple, and its effect on humanity… and the comparisons are sort of fascinating. I am interested in both the mythic/divine messenger who stole/shared these gifts with humanity, and the story of what humans chose to do once they had these gifts.

Korranews interview

Can I just jump back for a minute to the Star elves, can you talk a little bit about them?

Richmond: We can tell you their name, so they’re Startouch elves, is the type of elf they are and kind of no. [Laughs] They’re super, duper rare, they’re very mystical and we have a lot of plans for them, but that’s kind of all I want to give you. Ehasz: They’re mystical, mysterious - the mystical, mysterious Mr. Aaravos. [Laughs] Richmond: That’s the spinoff. [Laughs] Ehasz: Yeah, they are more - I mean, they’re Star Elves and they’re more associated with the heavens and they’re not immortal, but they have more of a time scale that is more like the stars than other elves, so they’re a little bit removed and big picture, but Star Elves have a, I mean, they’re part of mystery and myth and we’re going to meet one this season. I love the actor who plays him is Erik Todd Dellums, who I worked with on Avatar [the Last Airbender] who has an amazing voice and he’s perfect to embody a character like this and we’re excited about this character. We hope the audience is intrigued and ready for more.

Screenrant Season 2 interview

Going back to Aaravos for one second. We’re assuming there’s a reason why he seems to be telling this story — we see his hands at the beginning of each episode in the opening sequence. AE: Yeah, so he’s a Startouch Elf, and they are closest to the heavens of the elves. They’re kind of the most god-like, in the sense of they span much more time than more Earth-bound or Xadia-bound elves. So yeah, he has this thousand year perspective. This kind of mythic role. So he’s like this mythic character who now, suddenly, is kind of popping up in this contemporary story. JR: And obviously, he’s bad enough that they tried to literally erase him from the books. AE: He’s complicated. JR: He’s interesting enough that they tried to erase him from the books. AE: He’s disliked. That’s not the same as bad.

Hyperable season 2 interview

“The name of a very important person to Aaravos will be in the map of a novel, but it will be a long time before you know what that means,” Ehasz said. “A lot of his motivation comes from that relationship.”

Hyperable Season 3 interview (Possible names on the map are Skall’s Hook, the Ruins of Elarion, and Mount Kalik).

The team also teased The Orphan Queen, a new story they hope to tell in the series, books or even in a feature film, which follows a young human girl who starts from nothing and grows up without parents. She takes a dangerous journey to Xadia and ends up saving the world. She’s also Ezran’s first royal ancestor. Ehasz and Richmond said the idea was born when they were imagining where the Key of Aaravos comes from.

Ehasz and Richmond also dug into the timeline of Xadia, and how certain eras will impact both the books and the series. Five thousand years ago, Xadia was in its “mythical, Biblical first days,” a time long before elves and dragons were allied in which humans suffered and struggled. The “rise of Elarion” came around 2,000 years before the events of the series, and saw humans find their way to magic. Around 1200 years ago finds the arch dragon of sun, Sol Regem, as king of the dragons during this era, when dark magic became problematic and humans poached magical creatures for their parts. Shortly after came the division of Xadia. The next big turning point for the world was 300 years before the series, a time Ehasz and Richmond dub “the era of Avizandum.” Two stories they want to tell take place during this era: The Fallen Star and The Orphan Queen. We don’t know anything about The Fallen Star yet ... but we will. The team noted that history will one day know the modern era as “The Return of Aaravos.”

Polygon season 3 interview

Concept Art

Dorothy Yang’s design 'Fallen Star.’ Check out more of her work on ArtStation.

When they were first brainstorming ideas for the show Aaravos had a blindfold, but that was scrapped for being “too on the nose.” This is Giancarlos Volpe’s early sketches that he posted on Twitter.