#which makes Thordans betrayal later so much more awful

[asteriasfallingstarsandtears]

I love this so much

Speaking of how boss music with lyrics is a great way to add characterization, I'm reminded of my personal headcanon regarding Dragonsong's singer. Officially it's supposed to be Hydaelyn, but tbh it would make more sense (to me at least) for it to be Ratatoskr singing it, especially after going through Endwalker

Firstly, Ratatoskr was noted for being a singer. Several of her descendants are mentioned as succeeding her legacy in the same way (that one PvP mount). Secondly, the word choice within the song doesn't match up with another one that's sung from Hydaelyn's PoV: Answers. Where Answers has "my children," Dragonsong has "children of the land." It doesn't make as much sense for Hydaelyn to say something like that, but if we consider that the people who once dwelled in the Churning Mists were known as landlords, in comparison to the dragons being called skylords, it would make far more sense for it to be said by a dragon

Thirdly, it would have greater emotional impact for Dragonsong to be Ratatoskr's spirit lamenting this thousand-year war and wondering why mortals would do such a thing, why they would betray her so, than for it to be Hydaelyn doing so when she has a far greater understanding of mortals (compared to something as alien as a dragon). Especially given that Dragonsong is a track more closely associated with Nidhogg and Hraesvelgr, Ratatoskr's two closest siblings, than with Hydaelyn or even Midgardsormr. You hear a vocal-less version at Zenith, where Hraesvelgr lives, and the full version during the Final Steps of Faith, the culmination of the Dragonsong War and the final confrontation with Nidhogg. Midgardsormr, meanwhile, has his own personal theme (Primogenitor) and Hydaelyn is notably absent from most of HW's story