Worried And Protective Class President & Friend Iida Tenya

worried and protective class president & friend Iida Tenya

Can we talk about how when Swiftwind was lunging at Hordak, Entrapta actually stepped closer to Hordak, sort of in between him and Swiftwind to sepeate the two and probably protect Hordak? :(

there's just smth so special abt watching a shonen protagonist that's overflowing with empathy fight tooth and nail to protect what's dear to them

i really do love how protective jinx is over vi

So, that Ezran/Rayla friendship meta I’ve had rattling around in my head for a bit? Here goes nothing! (as always, I’m still really new here and haven’t read any metas on these two on this subject; if it’s been said before, I apologize :) and this is long, so buckle up!)

(also, thank goodness for an online Image Gallery where I could snag all of these screenshots of whatever scene I wanted/needed :D)

The first thing that stands out to me about these two: Rayla’s immediate ability to throw aside her revenge-leaning bias, and Ezran’s immediate ability to forgive Rayla for an assassaination attempt. I know I’ve talked about it before, but it’s the crux of their entire friendship. You can’t get away from it when thinking/talking about these two.

Rayla was bent on her Moonshadow-duty of assassinating Prince Ezran to make up for (her) endangering her group; Ezran has heard only nightmarish horror stories of Elves (cue Callum’s “we don’t drink that…blood. We don’t drink blood”… “she’s a monster” (Callum gets a break for this quip since it was a bid to protect Rayla from Amaya)). 

What changed? Because the first heart-change we see in this show is between Rayla and Ezran. These two ARE the very first spark of friendship across barriers; years of hate, anger, and bloodshed; revenge; assassination attempts; prejudice. 

So, what changed that?

The revelation of egg!Zym. Not only does the revelation that egg!Zym change the literal circumstances, the narrative, and what needs to happen, but it’s the catalyst that strips away the veil of bias these two had previously been looking through.

In juxtaposition to egg!Zym, Rayla sees an empathetic, warm soul in Ezran. In juxtaposition to egg!Zym, Ezran sees a protective, good heart in Rayla.

Because of Rayla’s heart and Ezran’s empathy, they’re both ready to jump in and do right by egg!Zym— together. Claudia’s two cents about egg!Zym being a thing/danger to humans throws Rayla and Ezran into mutual agreement that the egg of the Dragon Prince must be protected, and they’re willing to do it together, having torn down the barriers their cultures had built up to separate them.

Without really knowing each other, they both plunge headlong into a friendship and near month-long quest; it’s probably a little reckless to someone like Callum (head), but to idealists like Rayla/Ezran, mutual friendship and trust isn’t just possible. They make it a reality.

Rayla (heart) & Ezran (hand) an Intersecting of Love & Empathy, Hand & Heart

Rayla has a huge ability to love others. It’s a little skewed by her assassin talents, but it’s there if you’re paying attention. Ezran’s empathy is immediately more obvious. He hasn’t had to hide his kind heart the way Rayla has. 

Ezran metaphorically reaches out to Rayla with his hands, over and over again; Rayla metaphoricall protects Ezran with her heart. 

 Ezran empathetically invests in her. When Rayla feels terrible about her fear of water, Ezran’s immediate response is “aww, that’s so cute!”. Ezran values a part of Rayla she despises. 

He emphasizes to Callum “I like her, Callum” when Callum expresses doubts over trusting Rayla; he lashes out “because she’s an Elf? Who cares?” when Callum is trying to tell Ez she’s hiding something. He’s “a huge fan of human Rayla” even though it’s a display of Rayla’s silliest, dorkiest side.

Rayla eventually learns to open up to Callum (somewhat naturally, for someone who’s been conditioned to hide her emotions by living up to Moonshadow Elf standards). But it’s Ezran she fully opens up to first in 01x08 (?) when trapped together on that tree while their way up the Cursed Caldera. She lays out the entire mess she thinks she is to him.

Why? Why is it Ezran she feels safe opening up to? Why not Callum, who is (seemingly) more of a peer?

Ezran makes her feel it’s safe to open herself up to his empathy and friendship by valuing her when “she’s a mess”/acknowledging the brave things she does (i.e. saving Bait/trying to protect Zym).

Children are naturally accepting, forgiving, and loving. It’s safe to open up to a kid who’s listening. Ezran’s empathetic, understanding, and forgiving hand reaches out to Rayla; she feels it’s okay to be a vulnerable mess to him. 

Sometimes, it’s even easier for her to apologize to Ezran than Callum (i.e. 04x03 “hey, Ez… I’m so sorry for the way I left” (paraphrase)). Would she apologize to Callum in 04x02? Absolutely! But Callum told her twice he didn’t want to talk; Rayla had to respect those boundaries. With Ezran, there’s a little less risk in bulldozing through an apology right off. Because Ezran is still childlike in nature; he can still see through her flaws and forgive her immediately. Which isn’t a misplaced assessment on Ez’s part; he knows she left (the wrong thing) for the right reasons; he hugs her immediately and accepts her back to their group. Yes, Rayla’s surprised, but that’s possibly brought on by Callum icing her out in the high mage’s tower—and most certainly brought on by the still enforced ghosting from the Silvergrove.

Ezran is empathetic. Ezran can see through people’s mistakes, get to the source of why someone does what they do. He see’s motives because he is empathetic; Callum sees actions… which is possibly why Ezran’s a little more understanding of why Rayla left and why he’s telling Callum “she’s been trying hard to get things back to the way they were”. 

As an aside, perhaps Rayla navigating her actions through heart/conviction and Callum his head/actions is why they fundamentally misunderstand each other when Rayla left for two years? (Which is another meta for another day; but I’ll put it on my list.)

Back to Ezran’s empathy for Rayla and her many mistakes; he thanks her for not killing him, and Rayla in turn tells Ezran his life is worth more than her hand. She places value on his life with that statement. Ezran tells her it’s a good thing she couldn’t kill Marcos. In fact, if I remember right, Ezran’s the only one who’s ever told Rayla she did a good thing in sparing a life.

Rayla feels a freedom to talk about her mission (killing Ez/Harrow) to Ezran himself. That’s a hard, heavy subject. Ezran’s empathy makes it possible. Ezran’s empathy makes forging a strong, solid friendship built on mutual trust, love (platonic), and understanding a reality.

Ezran is the first to offer Rayla a hug (hand) when she falls apart for dropping egg!Zym into the icy mountain lake: “you tried so hard, Rayla. You’re so good— and brave” (paraphrase?). Ezran is so empathetic he cries for Rayla’s pain; granted part of it is also the thought of egg!Zym dying—but there’s no denying his empathy for Rayla is deep enough to cry tears for her pain.

And to an insecure, affection-deprived heart like Rayla, that matters. 

Rayla is good in Ezran’s eyes. Ezran, who’s been taught nothing but hatred for Elves believes Rayla is good and brave. Not a blood thirsty monster. She’s always trying her hardest, and Ezran sees that instead of her mistakes and mess-ups.  

Even though Rayla and Callum do forge a stronger, deeper friendship (and eventually romance), it’s Ezran who reached out to Rayla first (hand). Callum is NEVER very far behind, but Ezran just leapt in, dragging Rayla by the hand, into the friendship first.

Rayla immediately sees (and treats) Ezran as a peer (when others see him as "the little brother"… "a kid").

Rayla earns Ezran’s trust and eventual friendship by continually getting down to his level. Claudia demands the princes get behind her so she can protect them from “the Elf”. Rayla demands nothing, is already down on her knees near egg!Zym and Ezran and offers a warm, kind smile to Ezran. She doesn’t need force, threats, or commands to get to Ezran; she uses her heart.

Rayla again gets down to Ezran’s level in 01x09 while Ezran confesses his ability to talk to animals. Callum talks down to Ezran, but Rayla literally gets down to her knees: signaling to Ezran it’s safe for him to tell her what he needs to. She’s not treating him like a kid but the intelligent peer she sees him to be. She listens. Even when Rayla admits (reluctantly) she isn’t sure she believes Ezran, she still shows him the respect she thinks he deserves; she doesn’t belittle him.

This is so important and meaningful, especially for a very young Ezran. It instills confidence in him when others doubt him.

This is where the five-year gap in their ages becomes fascinating and wonderful and beautiful. Ezran’s used to being seen by Callum, Claudia, and others as a kid, the little brother; Rayla sees him as a mature, wise, kind peer that she takes seriously. In many ways, Ezran might be/is probably one of the most mature characters in this show; Rayla sees that.

She doesn’t give two figs Ezran is younger than her. Ezran won her respect through his dedication to doing right by egg!Zym. Their protectiveness of egg!Zym is something they both, especially, share: “it’s not a thing! It’s an egg!”… “she’s right. It wants its mother.”

These two are single-handedly the most invested in egg!Zym’s safety and well-being (Callum isn’t too far behind, again :)). It’s one of the ways they are similar to each other; it’s what allowed them to bond in the first place.

Rayla intentionally takes a back seat to being a "hero" and lets Ezran step up to it when it comes to returning Zym to Zubeia. When Callum is at his lowest in S3 seeing stone!Avizandum, Rayla points to the scene of Zym and Ezran playing (who both have a parent who killed one of their parents (Avizandum-->Sarai; Harrow-->Avizandum)) and reminds Callum: “that’s the miracle”. 

Rayla putting aside the hardness and hatred of her people, sparing Marcos, sparing Ezran, befriending Ezran is what allows that miracle to thrive. 

Rayla feels a near immediate natural, protective instinct over Ezran. I’m willing to bet it’s probably as strong as Callum’s protective instinct for Ez, as it continues on in S4 as well.

Rayla protects Ezran literally. She obviously protects Ezran from Claudia, but Rayla chooses to protect Ezran(her previous target turned friend) over Runaan (her mentor/father figure). Huh. Interesting twist of fate, eh?

Runaan calls her a fool and tells her she’ll lose/die fighting him, which Rayla accepts “probably”. Rayla’s conviction driven heart is willing to accept those consequences for Ezran. Those are some insane consequences for an Elf to accept for a human. But Rayla does, because Ezran's a person just as much as she is. Because he has a chance to make things right, and he wants to. She’s going to give him a chance to redeem humanity. Ezran’s life (and egg!Zym) are more important than Runaan’s emotional constipation, what her people think of her, etc. 

She knows about ghosting (as her parents were ghosted themselves); she knows how Moonshadow Elves see mistakes, messes, and failures. She’s not an idiot. She turns her back on the wrong thing (what her people expect of her) and does the right thing (protecting Ezran).

Throughout the series, she’s constantly grabbing Ez’s hand to lead him to safety, pushing him behind herself to protect him, etc. Even in Rex Ignious’ lair, when the dragon advances, Rayla advances to put Ezran behind her at one point.

Rayla protects Ezran emotionally. She’s willing to protect Ezran’s feelings from Callum “Callum, back off” when he spirals into his jerk-mode a little too easily, (interestingly enough, Ezran does this for Rayla too in 04x04 when Rayla struggles to remember Ibis’ name).

A part of this is just who Rayla is. She stands up for people who are suffocated, belittled, or demeaned. Some of this is certainly natural instinct, that’s been reinforced (probably) by wishing someone would have stood up for her in Moonshadow culture when she was “a mess”.

Even though it was a mistake to, keeping the truth of Harrow’s death was a form of protection; misplaced (and Rayla knows it), but it’s one of the ways Rayla aches to protect Ezran. She doesn’t want to tell Ezran his dad is dead. How do you do that to your friend? Even though it’s misplaced, both boys eventually recognize it came from her heart: “you’re not my king, but you are my friend.”

Rayla and Ezran were the very first to end cycles (Callum close behind, again), and in turn they began a new cycle in history: love and empath, hand and heart.

(I won't be writing a meta this long for at least a month ;) well; maybe my head, hand, and heart one will be :D)

adoras first instinct was to protect glimmer 👀