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The Dragon Prince Recap/Review (Season One)
Hey guys, Spaceman here. I know you’re probably wondering where my Favorite Christmas Songs video is by now, or where really any content whatsoever is. Well, the truth is that I spent the first part of this month and most of last month preparing for an entrance audition for a particular music college, whose name I can’t currently disclose (I want to be sure I get in before I talk about it), hence the lack of new content. But that’s all over now, so I’m prepared to get back to work on videos, art, and possibly even music! Yeah, remember when I did music? Anyway, while I’m working on that, I thought I’d write something to keep you guys interested.
Many of you may be aware of this, but from August to September of last year, I really got into Avatar: The Last Airbender. It’s my current obsession and even took the title of my favorite animated series of all time from the previous holder, Gargoyles, which was no small feat. It got to the point where after I finished watching it, I felt a bit of a hole in my life and needed to find something else to replace it. This is when I heard about Netflix’s series The Dragon Prince, which was described as being similar to Avatar, as well as being created by Avatar’s director Aaron Ehasz and featuring the involvement of some of Avatar’s cast and crew. I watched it and… thought it was okay? Just okay, but not great. This month, however, news was released that it was getting a second season, and I was interested, so I figured I might as well watch it again and type out my thoughts. How was it? Let’s take a look.
The Story
The Dragon Prince is set in a world where humans and elves are in conflict. There’s a lengthy explanation for this, which the show thankfully provides at the start of the first episode.
Don’t worry; you don’t have to watch this in every episode. Anyway, the egg of the dragon king is presumed destroyed, and is imminent war between the elves and humans. As both sides prepare for the war, the elves attempt to assassinate the human King Harrow and his heir, the young Prince Ezran; however, during the attack, fifteen-year-old elf Rayla discovers that the egg was not destroyed, but rather stolen. Rayla teams up with Ezran and his half-brother, Callum, to deliver the egg back to the dragons. Meanwhile, Harrow’s advisor, the mage Lord Viren, is intent on war, and sends his own children Claudia and Soren after our heroes.
That’s just the really condensed version of the plot. During the nine episodes in season one, there is a lot of exposition and a lot of other things happen that I haven’t even mentioned. I would do an episode-by-episode recap for this show, but honestly, they all kind of blend together. Unlike with other animated shows I’ve watched recently, there aren’t really any standalone episodes I can think of. Each one kind of just moves straight into the next, which I guess makes sense for a series on Netflix, a service notorious for encouraging binge-watching.
The very first thing I noticed about The Dragon Prince was that it doesn’t really have any true antagonist on either side (at first). Like, you can’t really say, “Oh, the elves are evil,” or “Oh, the humans are evil.” I was super skeptical when the intro described that the humans were to blame for a lot of the problems, including discovering dark magic and slaying the Dragon King, but the intro also pits the elves in the wrong, showing them banishing all the humans instead of just banishing the few who discovered dark magic.
That leads me into discussing a major theme that’s prevalent at least in season one, the theme of prejudice and tolerance. From the few things that the humans know about the elves, they are painted as horrific killers. Humans think of elves as being bloodthirsty killers—literally and figuratively—and the elves are similarly shown holding stereotypes about humans. The fact that Callum and Ezran teamed up with Rayla was only due to the circumstances; it takes several episodes before they are able to fully trust one another. This is a theme that I’ve also seen done well in another favorite fantasy show of mine, Gargoyles.
Admittedly, a few parts of this story seem rather derivative, such as the six primal sources of magic being reminiscent of the Four Elements from Avatar, which leads me to the next topic…
The World
I will admit that it’s not entirely fair to judge a TV show based on its first nine episodes. Granted, I usually hold the policy that if a show’s first five episodes don’t get you hooked, then you should not be required to keep watching (take note, Steven Universe fans). The thing is, this show did get me interested, and I want to see it continue to develop, because what we have so far isn’t much. It kind of just feels like a standard fantasy world, with elves, dragons, castles, and assorted monsters, which, okay, is a tried and true formula by Tolkien and others, but after the world of Avatar, with its focus on Asian culture, its unique animals, and its nearly steampunk technology, I can’t help but feel like this is a slight step down.
That’s not to say that it’s bad, of course. There are a few things that make it really pop out and feel real. The background art, for one, is incredible. Some of the monsters feel unique, too, like those on the Cursed Caldera—one of them even kind of looks like a graboid from Tremors. Also, I like what they did with the elves’ design here. They could have easily just made them pale humans with pointy ears, but instead they put a lot of detail into it, giving the different groups of elves different skin colors, horns, and having them have only four fingers instead of five. Those are some nice touches.
The Characters
Let’s move on to the characters, starting with Rayla, who is easily my favorite character of the group. She admittedly has a bit of a Zuko thing going on, as she was assigned to hunt down the main characters but turns against her original group to help join the main characters on her mission. Other subtle details are similar, too, like her long-lasting inner conflict with her past and her use of dual swords. That said, her journey is a little different; for one thing, Zuko took nearly the entire run of Avatar to fully go through his heel-face turn, only switching sides halfway through the show’s final season. With Rayla, she joins the heroes in the third episode, which cuts out much of the emotional journey but also lends itself to more interactions with the human characters. She’s much funnier, for another thing, giving her share of snide remarks but also scoring a bunch of laughs when she goes undercover disguised as a human in one of the episodes—can you say, “How do you do, fellow kids humans?” Paula Burrows delivers a great vocal performance, which adds to the character.
Next up is Callum, the main human lead. Now, it’s incredibly easy to draw comparisons between his character and Sokka: Both are goofy, “normal” teenage boys in a world filled with magic, not very adept with fighting but good at planning things. More importantly, of course, is the fact that Callum is literally voiced by Sokka’s voice actor, Jack DeSena. Comparisons… were gonna pop up, is what I’m saying. And I’ll admit that the first time I watched The Dragon Prince, it was super jarring to hear Sokka’s voice coming out of Callum every time he talked. But there are some differences. While in Avatar, Sokka is the most responsible member of the group and the only one with any real degree of survival training, Callum is more inexperienced and callow, not good with a sword and only starting to learn magic. He’s also noticeably more chill and less panicky than the Sokka of season one of Avatar and shows that he can actually draw much better. Though considering Sokka’s drawing ability…
…that’s not really saying much.
Now to move on to Ezran, Callum’s half-brother. I have to admit, of the main characters, he’s probably the weakest, at least to me. I don’t know, he kind of feels a bit flat as a character. All I remember about him is the fact that he can understand animals, which is unique, but he doesn’t really have much of a personality aside from just being your typical kid. I know, it’s not easy to characterize a small child whilst making them believable… though again, Avatar managed to do so well. I’m sorry, I shouldn’t keep comparing these two shows, but I’ll be damned if it isn’t super easy.
Not helping is Ezran’s pet, a glow toad named Bait. As far as animal sidekicks go, I definitely prefer Appa from Avatar; hell, even Momo managed to get a few asskicking moments. Bait kind of just lies around and eats stuff. Several times, he manages to get the main characters into trouble, which I found a little bothersome. The one good thing about him is that his glowing abilities do come in handy a few times to temporarily blind enemies, though… I’ll get back to that later.
The trio is pursued by siblings Soren and Claudia. Soren is a young knight and a bit of a dumb jock but has a heart of gold. Claudia, meanwhile, is a nerdy mage who comes off as a bit awkward. They are always fun when they are on screen and have a believable relationship. It’s also worth noting that early on, Callum is revealed to have a crush on Claudia, which… oh boy, let’s hope the shipping discourse in The Dragon Prince’s fandom doesn’t get as bad as the Avatar fandom. I can already see a potential clash between the Claudia/Callum and Rayla/Callum crowds. (Full disclosure: I’m on the Rayla/Callum side.)
The other characters were cool, too. For as little time as we got to know him, I liked King Harrow, Ezran’s father. Even for his cringey dad humor, he was an intriguing character. It’s hinted that there was a lot of stuff in his past that we don’t know about, like his involvement with dark magic. Also intriguing was Lord Viren, Soren and Claudia’s father. It’s easy to see that he was once good and still has some good in him, as shown by his friendship with Harrow, but he has been corrupted by his use of dark magic and is too far gone. Finally, Aunt Amaya, Callum and Ezran’s deaf aunt who’s a solder on the frontlines, was another character I wound up loving. It’s rare that we see people with disabilities get good representation in animated series (another thing I loved about Avatar with the blind character Toph).
But okay, if we’re going to talk about this show, then I might as well bring up the one criticism that every other critic has already made about it. You know exactly what I’m talking about.
The Animation
Yes, among all the mixed reviews of this show, one consistent criticism was the animation. It seems to be CGI, but is going for a 2D, hand-drawn look; unfortunately, the way the pull it off is not necessarily the greatest. Take a look at the trailer for an example of what I’m talking about.
No, your computer is not glitching out; that is the framerate they went with. And this choppiness is something that seems to be a trend with certain CGI shows outside of this one, with Rooster Teeth being the most notorious offender. If they really wanted to make it look 2D, they should have actually animated it hand-drawn. Doing this just pulls me out of the moment. (Oddly enough, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse does something very similar with its framerate, yet I don’t have any problem with that movie doing it.)
To be entirely fair, this is something that Aaron Ehasz has acknowledged. Apparently, season one was given a very low budget, and he has promised that season two will have a steadier framerate. Judging by the trailers I’ve seen for season two… yeah, it already looks way better. Also, with my second watch of season one, I found it much easier to look past. Maybe I was just used to it by then?
Assorted Other Stuff
Warning: This section goes into minor spoiler territory. I would highly advise not reading past this if you want to remain spoiler-free when you go into season one. Got it? Alright.
One other complaint I have had is the comedy, which is really hit-or-miss in a lot of places. As I mentioned before, the scenes where Rayla is disguised as a human are hilarious, and some of the snarky dialogue is also witty as hell, but there are other moments with awkward puns and some potty humor that just feel forced to me. There’s one scene in episode six where Callum is obviously having an erotic dream about Claudia, which seemed unfitting for this show… though to be fair, Avatar also had its share of adult humor.
See also.
Another awkward tidbit is that twice, when Ezran is about to use Bait’s ability to blind his enemies, he says the line, “Say hello to my little friend,” an obvious shout-out to the classic 1983 gangster film Scarface. My question is, why is that line thrown in there? Are most kids going to catch that reference? Call me strange, but regardless of what adult fanbase this show will capture (which, let’s be honest, it will), I highly doubt its target audience is watching Brian De Palma films.
Though maybe they should be.
Speaking of strange homages… well… take a look.
Your eyes don’t deceive you. Rayla is doing the infamous Naruto run, where you extend your arms out behind you as you run forward. And she and the other elves do this run multiple times during the show, too. It is neither practical nor particularly cool-looking, so I don’t know why this was done in the original show, and I genuinely hope this was only meant as an homage, because… again, it’s really damn silly.
The soundtrack of this show is rather nice, I will say. It’s not as memorable as Avatar or Gargoyles’, but I did find myself humming the end credits theme song after finishing watching. Speaking of which, during the credits, we get some cute drawings of the characters, some of which connect to the episode, others are apparently meant as foreshadowing for later episodes and plot points. If you watch this show, definitely do not skip the credits.
Now, as for stuff that I hope for the new season. I would like to know more about the cube that Callum and Rayla found at the winter lodge. It seems to have some kind of connection with the Primal Sources. Also, the mysterious magical mirror, I hope we can find out something about that. It was foreshadowed pretty heavily in episode eight, so I doubt they won’t do anything with it. Speaking of magic, I’d love to see Callum do more magic in the new season. It probably won’t be more wind magic, since he destroyed the sphere to birth the dragon, but Callum clearly has potential to become a great mage. Also, I would love to find out more about King Harrow’s past, as well as more about Callum and Ezran’s deceased mother, the Queen. We see Viren and Amaya mourning her by her gravesite in one scene, and Callum drawing her in another. How did she die? What was she like? These are all worthwhile questions for season two, or for future seasons after season two depending on how long the show goes for.
Conclusion
The Dragon Prince is a worthwhile watch. It’s nowhere near as great as Avatar or Gargoyles yet, and it is still clearly paving its own identity, but I still find it enjoyable enough and feel that it has potential for greatness. My main criticisms would be to up the animation quality and to develop the characters more, though my guess is that both will already happen in season two, which will be dropping later tomorrow, February 15.
But yeah, you have my attention, show. Don’t screw it up.
~Spaceman
Assorted Thoughts on The Dragon Prince Season Two
Hey, guys. Spaceman here, and… *sigh* …fine.
Since I reviewed season one of Netflix’s The Dragon Prince last week, I suppose I should talk about season two, which premiered last Friday. But I thought I already told you guys, The Dragon Prince… just doesn’t do much do much for me. Don’t get me wrong; season one wasn’t bad or anything, but it just kind of felt standard and a bit meh, so it was hard to get too excited for the second season, and I’m not going in expecting much—
HOLY SH—okay, wow, um… so, The Dragon Prince season two is actually kind of awesome, so… just… completely disregard everything I said in that last paragraph, because jeezus, I was wrong as hell. Seriously, this season is legit! Nearly every problem I had with season one is rectified in season two, all while still remaining subversive to my expectations. Let’s get into it!
The Animation
Okay, the first big, kind of obvious thing I have to talk about is the animation. That was one of the most criticized aspects of season one, the CGI, semi-2D look that just felt choppy in a lot of places, and I was super critical of it myself. Well, I have to hand it to Wonderstorm, because they really pull through on season two. It looks much smoother and more professional and doesn’t pull me out of the moment as it did in season one. Series creator Aaron Ehasz said in interviews that the animation would be more smoothed out, and I’m glad to hear that those words weren’t just hollow. It seems that the crew behind this show are willing to listen to criticism.
The Characters
I already talked about the main characters in my review of season one, so I don’t feel the need to talk much about them, since I don’t want to go into major spoiler territory just yet. With maybe one exception: Ezran. I criticized his character as feeling flat in season one, but he actually improves quite a great deal in season two. It’s nice seeing him form a bond with the baby dragon, Azymondias, and how it takes a toll on Bait, his animal companion from season one, who feels neglected. Also, his reaction when he discovers that his father had died seems… very believable. With little time dedicated to it and few words spoken, he goes through the entire spectrum of emotions upon discovering this: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and then acceptance. His acceptance ties in with a very important decision he makes in the last episode of the series, though I’ll get to that in the spoiler section.
Among the characters from season one I neglected to talk about are Ellis and her pet wolf, Ava. They only appear for the first three episodes of season two, but I liked them well enough and they do help out our main characters a great deal. I also like Lujanne, the Guardian of the Moon Nexus. It’s nice to see other elf characters, since we have yet to actually arrive in Xadia, and she’s funny in the kooky kind of way; it’s pretty clear that spending years alone protecting the Moon Nexus has made her go a bit off the deep end.
Some of the more notable characters include Gren, who always seems to maintain a cheerful attitude even when things are going wrong—I remember him saying, “Why see myself as chained down, when I can see my self as chained up?” which was a pretty funny moment—and Captain Villads, the blind narcoleptic pirate who Rayla and the princes hitch a ride with.
Hey, I just realized, I’ve been talking about the characters in The Dragon Prince and somehow neglected to mention the dragon prince himself! Azymondias, nicknamed Zym, is the hatchling from the dragon egg last season and he is adorable. Even Claudia seems to think so!
But okay, time for a full review of the plot. It goes without saying that there will be spoilers, so unless you have seen the new season, read at your own risk.
Spoiler Discussion
I was a little shocked, first off, that this show only takes place a day or so after the first season’s finale. I figured there would be a time skip or something, but no. That said, the story in season two is executed amazingly. First off, the big question from last season was how Ezran and Callum would react when finding out that the elves offed King Harrow. Well, surprisingly, neither one went with the reaction I was expecting. I was afraid that we would go through the clichéd path of “Oh no, what if Callum and Ezran got angry at Rayla because of what the other elves did?” which we all knew would end with them forgiving her, of course. But no, they avoided that trope altogether. Callum’s big struggle was how he was going to tell Ezran the truth without breaking him. Similarly, Ezran’s first thought was whether Callum knew, which was followed by him going on a long walk by himself and talking to Claudia about it. This is when he makes the decision to leave Ezran, Callum, and Zym—yes, leave the Dragon Prince whom he has developed a connection with—and return to Katolis to take over the throne for his late father. This is a major twist and something that nobody was expecting, but I honestly quite enjoy how it was handled.
It was great seeing all the new locations and characters. Possibly the most interesting one was Duren, led by its young ruler, Queen Aanya. This girl delivers some serious verbal blows to Viren and it’s just amazing to see. But also, finding out about her kingdom was really damn cool. We learn about her parents, the Queens of Duren—you heard right—and how Katolis assisted them in a quest to bring food for both kingdoms when they were starving during the winter.
I’m glad to see more LGBT+ characters in animated shows, and while a lot of people criticized it for the Queens’ death, it doesn’t seem too bad to me. They’re treated like heroes, and we knew of their fate beforehand, so it’s not like it was playing their deaths for shock value—hell, they died in the same battle that took the life of Queen Sarai, Callum and Ezran’s mother. Besides, the creators promised before that there would be more LGBT+ characters as the series progresses… and hey, they promised that season two would have better animation, which it did, so I don’t see any reason not to trust them.
Viren was also a nice touch. Like the first season, he comes off as an antagonist but still has his human moments, where he doesn’t seem like he was simply manipulating people for his own benefit. One of the best moments in the show is when Viren tells Aanya the story of her parents’ heroism; this is contrasted with a scene of Callum reading a letter from Harrow telling about his mother. In many of the flashbacks, we see Viren helping Katolis and standing by Harrow’s side, and it shows that he and Harrow truly were friends before Viren’s love of dark magic took over. It’s also revealed later that Viren had a wife, the mother of Soren and Claudia, but she left him. That was another interesting tidbit. You don’t often see divorce in a fantasy environment.
Speaking of baddies, let’s talk about Aaravos, the elf in the mirror. Now, I was immediately impressed with this character for his cool design, mysterious ways, and booming voice, and it seems that a lot of the Internet shares my enthusiasm! Maybe a little too much, in fact… Yes, Tumblr in particular has taken a… ahem… liking to this character, and I’ll be honest, I don’t get it. He’s cool, sure, but come on, guys. Don’t you think you’re letting your love of this fictional character go too far?
Oh, Amaya, you can crush my head between your thighs any day… what were we talking about again?
Yes, we do actually find out some stuff about Sarai here! She and Harrow had a really beautiful relationship. For one thing, it seemed like while she was alive, they ruled together, not that Harrow was the ruler and Sarai just sat around. She was a friend and top consultant to him as much as she was his wife, one half of his whole. I distinctly remember a scene where she basically tells him off, that an idea he and Viren had was a bad one, and both verbally and physically kicks his ass in the process. That was really telling of their relationship and made it all the more heart-wrenching when it shows how she died.
Another major part of this season is Callum’s quest for magic. In season one, he was using sky magic with the primal stone, but he destroyed it in an act of selflessness to hatch Zym. Here, he has once again found himself lost without any clear role in the group: he had noted before that he wasn’t a capable swordfighter and that when he was doing magic, it felt like his true calling more than anything else. He tries multiple times to connect to the primal source, even though he wasn’t born with it. However, possibly the biggest shocker was this moment:
…Oh my god. Callum, what are you doing? Callum, no! Don’t use dark magic! That’s not the way! Oh god, he’s using dark magic. We’re all screwed.
Nearly as much of a shocker moment as this is when, during a battle, Soren gets flung and lands in such a way that we hear a cracking sound. You may not think too much of this, until it becomes increasingly clear that he’s not getting back up again. However, the saddest part is when he reveals that he is actually relieved that he was injured, because it means that he wouldn’t have to go through with Viren’s order for him to kill the young princes.
This scene, man. This damn scene was hard to watch. It really shows the humanity that every character has, exposed as they go through the story and have to be put through so much.
And then… well, no more beating around the bush. Callum and Rayla: It’s gonna happen. Like, as usual, I won’t know for certain until/unless it does actually happen, but it’s looking more and more like it. But so far, it’s been handled really well. Rayla is first angry at Callum for using dark magic in the earlier scene, but it took a physical toll on him and he becomes very ill from it. While she first tries to hide it, over the scene it looks more and more like he won’t make it and she becomes seriously concerned for him and shows that she really does care about him. It looks as though she’s about to say something to him—a confession, maybe?—right before he recovers. To be honest, the way they’re building it up, it could either turn out to be a romance or a great friendship, but it feels very natural and I’m all for it either way. And if it is the former, I’m glad they aren’t pulling the typical romance clichés in cartoons, like having Callum crush heavily on Rayla (hell, he was crushing on Claudia up until she betrayed him this season) or having Rayla act in the tsundere, “I don’t like you, idiot” kind of way. But yeah, I’d love to see where this goes.
(Don’t worry about Callum, by the way. He’s not in danger, he’s just going through a really trippy fever dream that allows him access to sky magic.)
Other Stuff
As much as I’ve talked about everything else, the humor in this season is also really on-point, much more so than the last season! I found myself laughing out loud at a lot of points. That said, some of the more reference-based humor… doesn’t exactly hold up. Like, there’s a scene where Rayla pulls an extended Sailor Moon gag, and another where Callum literally says, “One does not simply walk into Xadia,” and… this Simple Minds reference:
Because in a medieval fantasy environment, everybody has seen The Breakfast Club, right? Perhaps the only one I can get behind is this credits gag with Aaravos imitating the Gatsby pose:
Which seems much more fitting there than in the show itself, since the credits are just filled with little gags like that.
As for questions about season three, most of my questions in my last post have been answered, but it did open up a few new questions. Who is Aaravos and what is his motivation? I’m assuming he’s an antagonist, but he could easily subvert our expectations. Will returning Zym back to the dragon queen really bring an end to the war? We’re only two seasons in out of a presumed six or seven, and I figured it would take a lot longer to get to Xadia than it did, but they’re already there, so it’s going to have to be stretched out a lot further, I figure. Finally, there’s a fan theory going around that King Harrow swapped bodies with Pip, Harrow’s bird. Is there any truth to that? We saw Pip escape in this season, so it could have been, but I don’t know.
Conclusion
Season two of The Dragon Prince was an improvement on season one in every way. The show really came into its own with this season, much more so than with the first one. I loved the characters, the animation, the worldbuilding, the soundtrack, and unlike the first season, which just left me feeling meh, this one actually makes me want to see a lot more, and… yeah, I’m a fan now. Congratulations, show. As Leonardo DiCaprio put it, you had my curiosity, but now you have my attention.
Once again, I implore you: don’t screw it up. But this time, I trust that you won’t.
~Spaceman
The Dragon Prince AMV - “Wasted Time” (Skid Row)
Hi all! So, I have been actively working on this video for about three weeks now, and wanted to release it before we got Book Three of The Dragon Prince. Skid Row is one of my favorite bands, and for the longest time I have been unable to hear “Wasted Time” without thinking of characters and scenarios from The Dragon Prince. Hope you enjoy, and I can’t wait for Book Three!
Assorted Thoughts on The Dragon Prince Book Three
Hey guys, TheHappySpaceman here. The Dragon Prince. What more do I need to say about it other than what I’ve already covered in my first two reviews? Well, a lot actually.
I was impressed with the show’s improvement from Book One to Book Two and was super excited for where it was set to go in the future. Since then, I have joined the TDP fanbase and supported the show by making memes, reactions, AMVs, oneshots, and plenty of fanart. However, when info dropped last month about Aaron Ehasz and the workplace environment at Wonderstorm potentially not being so good, I didn’t know what to make of it, and as more and more info came out, I became even more confused. Though the fanbase was becoming incredibly toxic due to the near-constant infighting, I promised myself that I would still stick around for Book Three, seeing how excited I had been for it before the controversy, but I almost wondered if it would be worth it.
So, after so many accusations and hollow words thrown around, and after nine months of anticipation… how does it hold up?
…Oh! Okay, wow, this season was a ton of fun. And yes, it’s exactly as good as I figured it would be after seeing Book Two. Everything I could have hoped for from this series really goes full-force here and it rarely if ever lets off the brakes.
The Story
After a brief intro as exposition, the plot starts immediately after the events of the Book Two finale where Callum and Rayla have entered Xadia and have to face many challenges along the way, including archdragon Sol Regem, Rayla’s hometown, and a rogueish elf thief. All the while, Ezran arrives back to Katolis and has to face the challenges of dealing with being king of a country that he finds in chaos, being pressured to enter war and be the king that Harrow was, while Soren and Claudia are confronted with the decision between helping their own father wage war against Xadia or joining their friends.
The Characters
This season introduced a number of interesting new characters. We got to meet some more dragons, for one thing, and while hearing them speak was pretty jarring at first (they talk normal English, which is strange since we’ve never heard them speak before), it turned out to be pretty awesome in establishing the characters. Most notably, we meet Sol Regem, the dragon who appeared in the opening of the series and was on many of the posters, and I’m surprised how he kind of turns out to be a major dick. Since was on so much of the promo materials for the show, I wasn’t figuring this, but he wound up being a racist jackass who was willing to kill our protagonists, including the young dragon prince Zym, all because of his hatred of humans.
He’s not the only dragon we meet. We also meet Avizandum, otherwise known as Thunder, the late King of the dragons, in flashbacks, and we get to see just how he died. As well, we get Zubeia, Zym’s mom, and Pyrrha, a dragon who Ezran had met in the prior season and befriends. My favorite one might be a nameless dragon who is unchained by Soren and nuzzles him. That’s a really cute scene.
We also meet a lot of new elves this season. Of particular note is Ethari, the Moonshadow elf blacksmith who had been seen in the end credits for Book One and had previously been given the fan name “Tinker.” There was a lot of fan speculation that Ethari was Runaan’s boyfriend and that the two of them raised Rayla together while her parents were gone. Well, this season proves that theory entirely false. No, Ethari is Runaan’s husband. Again, way to go with LGBT+ rep, Wonderstorm (especially since the episode that introduces Ethari was written by a woman in the LGBT+ community)! Ethari’s dynamic with Rayla is also very interesting and shows that he truly does care about her even after her town essentially banished her.
This season officially introduces us to Janai, the Sunfire elf that Amaya was battling in Book Two. I find it interesting how, in many ways, the two characters perfectly mirror each other: Both women are highly dedicated to their duty of their respective countries, and both of them are sisters of royalty, with Janai’s elder sister being the Sunfire Queen. This gives them an interesting dynamic with their interactions. Also of note is Kazi, Amaya’s translator this season who kind of gives off C-3PO vibes. Every scene with them is very funny.
Additionally, this season introduces us to a whole new race of elf: Skywing elves! It only makes sense, since we’ve already met Moonshadow, Sunfire, and Startouch elves; that only leaves two more to go. The two Skywing elves we meet are Ibis, a mage who works directly for the dragon queen Zubeia; and my personal favorite, Nyx, a loveable rogue type of character who our heroes meet when crossing the midnight desert. Man, I love Nyx, and yet, I feel like this season doesn’t do enough with her. I mean, they introduce her in episode four, and then she just kind of disappears after episode six. I was hoping that she’d play a bigger role, especially seeing how hyped up she was in the trailers for this season. Still, maybe she’ll appear again. She played an interesting part as an antagonist and I’d like to see her come back.
Speaking of antagonists, how about this guy? Prince Kasef. Man, the writers wanted to make a real jerk type of character and they succeeded. He’s the warmongering son of King Ahling who takes over after his dad’s injuries from last season. Outside of a cool design, there is nothing redeemable about this character. I’m not faulting the show for this, for the record. It seems like it was the writers’ intention to make him a complete asshole, very comparable to Viren in a lot of ways. Kasef is taken down in a pretty spectacular way, for the record, and it’s hard to say he’ll be missed.
But of all the new characters introduced, to me the real standout character of the season is one of the main leads from all the way back in Book One. Man… Soren is just great this season. After breaking his spine in Book Two, we get to see him go through so much character development beyond just being the dumb comic relief. He starts to question what is right, what side he should be on, and he is put through so much hell in the process, but he comes out better for it in the end. Leave it to the head writer of Avatar: The Last Airbender to make me feel sympathetic for a character like this.
The Animation
Holy crap, the animation in this season is so damn impressive! Bardel Entertainment already fixed the animation in a major way between Book One and Book Two, but this season gives us some seriously amazing moments that I never would have expected from this show after watching Book One. Everything feels so much more fluid this season, even more improved than Book Two in that respect. The backgrounds are downright stunning, too. They feel so real, like you could actually be there with the characters. One of the major gripes I did have with the first two seasons was the facial animation, and how the mouths kind of looked derpy and unexpressive, perhaps due to the CGI medium the characters were animated in. But here, everyone is so emotive and expressive that you can watch the season without audio and still understand what’s going on. There’s a particular scene with Amaya and Janai that I’ll get into later that perfectly shows this. This isn’t only in the mouths, either; we also see little details like characters’ pupils dilating, or the elves’ ears slumping down or perking up depending on the mood. These were little touches that they didn’t have to include, but the fact that they did makes it so much more of an enjoyable watch, because you notice new little details each time you watch it.
The Relationships
I don’t usually have a separate section in my previous season reviews about this, but this season was heavily based on character relationships as much as individual characters, whether they be relationships between family members, friends, comrades in battle, or romantic partners. Just a warning: This section will get into spoiler territory. If you have not watched the season before reading this, I strongly advise you to stop reading and go do that.
The first relationship I’d like to talk about returns to Soren. During the course of this season, he starts to question the morals of his father, Viren, and Soren has to struggle between his duties to his father and his duties to his country as a member of the crownguard. We get the sense that Claudia has always been Viren’s favorite, and that the abuse and gaslighting Soren has to deal with in this season is nothing new and Viren’s contempt for his son has been building up a long time. Soren’s relationship with Claudia strains in this season until, when not wanting to make his sister choose between him or Viren, Soren cuts ties with her. The scene where he says goodbye and leaves is genuinely a heartbreaking one, and in general, you can feel the emotions all the characters are going through.
With Amaya and Janai, the two form a mutual respect over the course of the season. Amaya defeats Janai at the breach, but when seeing that the Sunfire general is hanging for her life, she ultimately saves Janai from dying. As the days go on and Amaya becomes a prisoner, Janai defends her against the Sunfire queen and they soon form a friendship that hints that it might lead to something more. But the scene that really increases the characters’ development is when Aaravos straight-up murders the Sunfire Queen. This sends Janai into a rage and she runs in, willing to risk her own life to avenge the death of her sister, but Amaya tackles her to the ground and gives her a solemn look of understanding, of knowing how it feels to lose her own sister. This little exchange is very powerful. I’ve always said that a scene is effective if it manages to give you chills without any dialogue, just letting the music and animation speak on its own, and, well, this scene passes that test. (Major shout-out to Frederik Wiedmann’s score, by the way; it really shines in this entire season.)
And… well, okay, there’s no use dodging it anymore. Let’s talk about these two.
Rayla and Callum. Oh boy. So, remember in my last review how I said it was likely that Rayla and Callum were going to get together by the end of the show? Well, since this show has a planned seven-season run, I was expecting it to happen way later, like in Book Six, or more likely for them to pull the Last Minute Hookup thing where they confess their love and finally kiss at the end of the last season. That trope always frustrates me, but it’s a good way of stretching out the romantic tension for as long as possible to keep fans interested, so I figured that’s what was going to happen, right? Well…
Yeah, I went into this season expecting a slow burn, but instead we got a freaking forest fire. Holy crap, I was not expecting them to hook up this early in the show. And it didn’t happen in the last episode, either; no, they shared their first kiss in episode four, smack in the middle of the season. And you know what? I’m all for that. The writers handled their relationship really well and it felt surprisingly believable and not rushed despite happening so soon. It hasn’t been confirmed how long Callum and Rayla have known each other for, but I’ve calculated that it’s been anywhere between 20-30 days since they first met, which is more than enough time to fall in love. Part of why it works is that the dynamic didn’t really change much. They already had a beautiful friendship, and the only thing that has changed between them is that there’s now more kissing. I wouldn’t have depicted their relationship any other way if I had made it canon. This does open up the question of where they’re going to go with it in future seasons, but as usual, I trust the writers not to screw it up. I may honestly dedicate a whole post to why Rayla and Callum’s relationship works, but we’ll see if I have time for that.
Other Stuff (incl. spoilers)
For the most part, the humor in this season is on point. With the exception of an oddly-placed fart joke in episode two, I found myself laughing at most of the scenes where I was supposed to laugh. Highlights include Soren putting stacking three pieces of bread to make a “bread sandwich,” Callum seeing a boomerang and finding it “oddly familiar” (hi, Sokka), and Nyx taking the dragang (Callum, Rayla, and Zym) past a magical forcefield protecting an oasis, saying, “Anyway, here’s the wonderwall.” I had to do a double take with that because I was laughing so hard. Though I think my personal favorite may be when Ibis laughs at Callum because “humans can’t do magic” and Callum does this.
Just, the look on his face. He’s so done and it’s hilarious.
One thing I was surprised by in this season was the sheer amount of violence. This one really does feel like an all-out war. Apparently, the violence was enough to get it rated TV 13 in some countries (though it’s still listed as TV Y-7 here) and honestly, I can see why. There’s an all-out battle scene in the last episode that could be compared to the climax of Return of the King. Everyone is fighting each other; even the Baker from Book One gets a few punches in there! Not only that, but there are a huge number of onscreen deaths in this season. As previously mentioned, we get to see the Sunfire Queen be Thanos’d. Prince Kasef gets a pretty spectacular death when Queen Aanya has a Big Damn Heroes moment and shoots an arrow through his head. Not to mention that we get to see Viren die not once, but twice! Even though Claudia resurrects him using dark magic, it’s still pretty great to see because he’s a turd. (No offense to Jason Simpson, though—love ya.)
By far the hardest death scene to watch, however, is the death of Avizandum, the Dragon King. In the flashbacks, we get to see how Harrow and Viren killed him, and, well… it’s really painful. The death, by way of petrification, is shown to be slow and agonizing, and Avizandum is shown tearing off his wings in a futile attempt to survive just to make it back to Zubeia. Even Harrow is mortified, with a look of “Oh god, what have I done?” on his face. In his last moments, Avizandum sheds a tear knowing that he will never be able to see his son grow up, and we as the audience are given a grim reminder that everyone… is a person. Even our enemies have families they care about. Avizandum may have been a gigantic, powerful dragon who hated humans, but at the end of the day he was still a dad who wanted to protect his son.
My One Complaint
Okay, so I’ve talked about everything I love about this season, and how it has significantly increased the show’s potential. With all that said, why can’t I give this season my full props? Well… I’ll be honest, it’s because of the pacing. Remember how I said this season rarely if ever lets off the brakes? Yeah, that’s both a blessing and a curse. There are a lot of people online who believe that Rayla and Callum’s relationship was rushed, and I somewhat agree with them, but only to the same end that everything in this season felt rushed. Nine episodes just isn’t enough time for each season. This has been a problem I’ve had with previous seasons, too, but here, it felt especially rushed because so much happened in this season that it felt like we couldn’t dedicate enough time to everything. I’m not saying that every season needs to be twenty episodes long like Avatar—especially since, with four more proposed seasons, we’re already supposed to be getting more episodes than Avatar if all goes according to plan—but 10-13 episodes per season would probably be beneficial for future ones, especially since future arcs of the show are overall going to be shorter (only two seasons each instead of three). Or hell, maybe make the episodes longer. Of course, if that’s my biggest gripe with this season, then we still have it pretty good, let’s be honest.
Where Do We Go from Here?
So, the question remains, where does the show go from here? There are supposed to be four more seasons, but the final episode of Book Three, titled “The Final Battle,” honestly feels like a series finale in a lot of ways: There’s a big epic climax, Rayla and Callum are together, Zym is reunited with his mom, and the elves and humans have formed an alliance, if only temporary. It all seems too easy, doesn’t it? My guess is that this was meant as a pseudo-series finale just in case Netflix doesn’t renew the show for a fourth season.
However, as I’ve rewatched the season, I noticed that they still leave a lot of loose ends. Most notably, Aaravos is seeming to metamorphize and grow outside of his mirror. Judging by how Aaravos really let loose in this series, I can’t wait to see more of him as a villain and find out about his backstory. Also, Rayla was ghosted—or banished—from her hometown after failing her mission in Book One. Will she ever be able to go home again? On a related note, what did happen to her parents? Are we to assume they were trapped in coins like Runaan (and speaking of which, will Runaan ever get out)? There are also other unresolved plot points, like Claudia’s path down the road of dark magic, Viren’s ex-wife, and Callum’s dad. The last one is especially interesting to me, since it would be cool to know if Callum is secretly half-elf, which is why he knows how to do primal magic. Oh, and my question from last season about whether Harrow’s soul is in Pip’s body still remains. So it seems like they left enough open-ended so that they could continue with a new season.
I do hope to see how Rayla and Callum’s relationship develops in the future, though that may just be the shipper in me talking. But in all seriousness, this does open up some potential. As far as we know, Rayla and Callum are the first human/elf couple, so how is that received? Will they be judged by others? Will certain problems arise from this? I hope the upcoming seasons explore this and don’t just pull the usual romance clichés, though the writers have been pretty good at avoiding those so far.
I also have to wonder: When interviewed, the creators of The Dragon Prince said that there would be a time skip between Book Three and Book Four, since each of them is part of a separate story arc. How much of a time skip will it be? I can’t imagine that it will be over a year, but if it is, I hope they don’t do one of those things where since the main cast is too old now, they replace all the main characters with new ones and expect the audience to get invested in them. I highly doubt they will do that, though. It would be too jarring.
Conclusion
If you have been sleeping on The Dragon Prince, I highly urge you to check it out. Book Three is everything I had hoped the first two seasons would be, and more. With fantastic animation, likable characters that go through unique development, and a downright beautiful score (seriously, major props to Frederik Wiedmann), it wonderfully wraps up the first major arc of this series. I hope Netflix renews the show for all seven seasons, because this one has left me wanting more.
~Spaceman
AI-less Whumptober Day 2: Exhausted
Fandom: The Dragon Prince
Summary: Ezren and Callum are exhausted.
'King Ezren do this, King Ezren do that.' Ezren was starting to get tired of it all. He loved helping the kingdom and it's people but he was only an child. A child going to bed long after his bed time.
The child walked into the thrown room. It had only been a few hours since he had last been there. Opilei welcomed him as he sleepily sat down on the throne.
Ezren was tired. There was so much to do and so little time. He still didn't understand everything he needed to do and it had been two years since he'd become king.
It had been two years since he had been able to really sleep. He never really felt like a kid anymore. Ezren felt more like a young adult. Between being a piece keeper, a king, and a therapist l; trying his best to fix his family's problems, he really needed a break.
"King Ezren, it's time for your meeting with Queen Janai" Opeli spoke.
The child nodded. Janai had made the decision to come to Katolis even though Ezren had offered to go to her kingdom instead. He figured Amaya had wanted to come visit so the two came instead.
Peace was setting. It was hard work, but good. After his meeting with Queen Janai he had paperwork to do then he needed to approve of a few things to do with the schools of the kingdom. After that was a few royal errands, then lunch with Callum.
Callum was the only one who really understood the struggles that Ezren was going through. He was tired too. They helped each other and held each other close.
After everything they really only had each other. The only blood family they had was each other and Amaya and Amaya's life was no longer in Katolis.
'She must be tired too' Ezren thought. Peace isn't easy to keep. Amaya and Janai were making history just by being together.
Queen Janai walked in. General Amaya and Commander Gren followed. Some guards stopped outside. The meeting lasted an hour. They talked about Katolis's aid in rebuilding and about defence.
At lunch Ezren practically collapsed into Callum's arms. He was exhausted and overwhelmed. "It's a lot, Callum."
"I know Ez. It's going to be okay."
And Callum held him. He held him until he fell asleep. He rocked him back and forth gently in the chair they rested in. They sat outside at one of Ezren's favorite restaurants, clouds coming in.
They were exhausted. A teenager and a tween held two of the top ranks of a kingdom. The kingdom that their father used to lead.
Callum stopped rocking. He just held him tight, knowing that this would only help for a while. Holding him here, letting his rest, would set him back on everything he needed to do. But would he do it right being so tired? The mage didn't know.
There was only so much that they could do now. Right now, with the coming rain, Callum wouldn't let go. He would wait for Ezren to wake up and pray that he felt better. Maybe, just maybe he could go back to being exhausted tomorrow.
Merry Whumpmas Day 3: Fever
Fandom: The Dragon Prince
Summary: Ezren gets sick
It had been a while since Ezren or Callum had gotten sick. That was good. The Opeli came to talk to Callum. Ezren may be the king but he is still a child. Children are fragile.
"High mage, your brother has fallen ill. He is in his room." Opeli informed him. Callum closed his book and walked to Ezren's room. He knew he would really only be able to keep him company.
As he opened the door Bait greeted him. He walked over to Ezren's bed and sat down. The boy shifted from his place and leaned against Callum.
Ezren was so warm. His skin felt like it was burning. "hey Ez, how are you doing?"
"I don't feel well." Ezren muttered.
"You'll be okay Ez. Get some rest."
Soon Ezren had fallen asleep. Callum leaned against his head broad and sighed. He pulled out a book and started to read it.
Opeli quietly came into the room with a glass of water and a small bucket of water that had a rag on the side of it. She placed them beside the bed and nodded to Callum. He smiled softly as she left the room, closing the door almost silently.
Almost an hour later Ezren started to stir. He muttered about something before waking up slightly. "Callum, can you get Dad?" He asked innocently.
Callum tried to figure out what to say. He was delirious. The fever had started to cause painful dreams. "He's busy but I'm here. Try to go back to sleep okay?"
Tears welled in the older brother's eyes as he reached for the rag and rang it out. He pressed the cloth gently against Ezren's head and shortly the boy was back asleep. Callum put the rage back in the bucket and leaned back against the headboard.
Tears fell softly from his eyes as he wondered about what would be different about their lives if Harrow had survived. Maybe Ezren's only family wouldn't be a mage and a general who is hours away. Maybe he wouldn't be the one who has to take care of Ezren.
It wasn't that Callum minded. He would do anything for him. But a father seemed better than a brother. They weren't very old and were already alone.
Of course there were doctors that could take care of Ezren. He was the king of Katolis after all. But for now all they could do is keep him comfortable. It was just a virus that would go away soon enough.
Still Callum worried. He did a lot of that as of lately. He worried about the people he was around. He couldn't help it.
Again Ezren stirred. Before he could wake up, Callum placed the damp rag on his head and started to whisper softly. He whispered words of comfort to him and soon the boy had settled again.
The rag hit the water as Callum closed his eyes. Hopefully Ezren would feel better soon.
So In the meantime I watched new season of the Dragon Prince.
1. Why the fuck was it earlier??? I thought I messed up the dates again.
2. Please, I neez Zubeia to be alright.
3. Love Janai and Amaya.
4. Karim and his girlfriend can go and drop dead. I had enough of them. (More than Viren)
5. About that guy. Gosh, I love the choice he made. (Not that I want him dead). I mean, he gave up dark magic. Finally!!!!!!
6. Btw, what was that about child Soren???? Was he sick? I mean, what was the reason Viren even chose that dark path?
7. I need people to stop saying it’s all Viren’s fault Claudia is messing with that dark magic stuff. Yes, he introduced it to her, but it was her choice. She had every opportunity to give it up, just Like Viren finally did. Don’t get me wrong again, I still kinda like her, but she’s even more messed up than her dad.
8. Once again dark magic. Callum, really? Ok, I get it… you want to protect your precious Rayla… no. Don’t. Don’t you ever touch that stuff again.
9. Some stuff was predictable, like Captain Villads and Nyx (ir maybe it only was me 😂)
10. I guess I need a lil but more of Kim’dael
11. Akiu was funny. I wanna see more of her
12. So, elves and dragons said that humans are evil, but they asked a human to create a jail for Aaravos? Can’t they finally decide on one thing?
13. What’s more it was a human who exposed Aaravos’ treachery. (I know it was the previous season)
14. About this freaking elf. What the heck did he do to Aditi? Swollowed her? What???
15. I love the homunculus. Don’t you dare to touch him Aar. Seriously, he may be his “child” (is he gay and has crush on Viren?😂. Please no.) but it doesn’t mean he can be its father.
16. Please, Callum, fund a way to free Rayla’s parents and Runaan. I beg you.
17. Young Viren looks almost like Soren (or maybe again it’s just me?)
18. Whi is this one guard always talking about food?
19. I can’t believe Callum was tortured, And Soren was beaten. And rayla was supposed to be a fish food.
20. Finnegrin vs Domina. Hmmm…
21. I hate that Pirate.
22. Yay, Callum has new powers!!!! Ocean magic rules.
23. Soren really worries about his new family, doesn’t he?
24. Who the fuck is Mushroom Mage???? (I couldn’t stop humming after that)
As probably every other fan of the Dragon Prince I too watched the new season the moment it came out. I loved it. It was sad, funny, sometiems scary, gave us few answers and probably created new ones.
Spoilers ahead
I liked Callum and Rayla story. I loved the wedding of Amaya and Janai. I love how Terry takes care of Claudia and how he is not swayed by Aaravos’ pretty words. I’m glad Zubeia is getting better and I’m sad Katolis was burned down. Ezran once again loses almost everything. But he still has his family and Aanya (who may have a thing for him? I’m not sure.)
Sol Regen got what he deserved. (I should’ve known he and Luna were partners, Sun and Moon?)
My only question is why Aaravos is so fucking big? But that’s not exactly what I want to write about.
When I started watching TDP the first time I never expected I would cry for a certain guy named Viren. Probably nobody did.
But in the end I cried.
His story was for me the best in this season. Once again he admitted he made mistakes, that he was a bad man, a bad father. He didn’t expect to be forgiven and accepted his punishment. He refused following Claudia and tried to get her to listen and stop following Aaravos. He changed and although we seen it in the previous season, it’s even more obvious here. He was so scared. Tormented by his choices, by that one elf who is a menace, by the fact his son didn’t want to talk or listen to his apologies. He knew he didn’t deserve any forgiveness and even if he wasn’t fine with that, who would be, he accepted it. And when it came to an end, he did what he was meant to do from the beginning. He once again was that person who is supposed to help people. He sacrificed himelf, last time used dark magic, to save his kingdom. He made mistakes and in the end chose to one last time be the servant of the people.
There is also story of Aaravos and Leola. Was it true? I hope it was. It was certainly beautiful. Startouched elves suck. Poor girl. This was so unfair.
But I wonder, they said the startouched elves can’t be killed and yet she is said to be dead. Why then, when the “higher ups” seen what Aaravos became afterwards only let him be imprisoned instead of killing him? Or did he get rid of them beforehand?
It’s also amazing how the last episode resolves around three daughters. One that was lost. One that lost herself. And one, that finds those who are lost.
TDP Theory/Speculation
Based on the two theories that A) Ezran is connected to the Earth primal and that B) each season will introduce a new character connected to a new primal source to join the team so they can open the key together and defeat the big bad.
I think the next book, book 3, might be Earth, that will explain Ezran's connection to the Earth primal while also exploring his new position as king.
That means we'll have three primal connectors, two humans(Ezran and Callum)and one elf(Rayla). So the next book, book 4, should introduce an elf connected to a new primal, right? And which elves were featured heavily in the first episode alongside the Moonshadow elves and got more screen time in season 2? The Sunfire elves!
So Book 4 might be Sun and add a Sunfire elf to the team.
This would be great for parallels/symbolism because that would make the two humans opposite primals (Sky & Earth) and the two elves opposite primals (Moon & Sun).
As for the other books I don't know yet and this is just heavy speculation and hopeful wishing on my part. But it's really fun to think about, right? ; D
TDP Theory/Speculation Part 2
In the last one I said I had no clue about the other books but I got to thinking and I might actually have some thoughts/ideas for the overall lineup and the primal magic source focus in each book. Basically this is a heavy expansion of my last post with a bunch more ideas I came up with/joined previous ones together. Way longer than the last one so more under the cut~~~
So, just a review of the two released so far:
Book 1- Moon- It introduced Rayla, our main connection to the Moon primal source on the team. Another major plot point, King Harrow's death, happened in part due to the elves power they received from the Moon. It also introduced Lujanne, who later talked about her connection to the Moon and the essence of Moon magic itself.
Book 2- Sky- It showed how Callum dealt with his lost of the primal stone, his source to connecting with the Sky primal. It introduced a pirate, Villads, who doesn't have a connection to the Sky primal source but does have a deep understanding and respect for it. Finally, it revealed Callum being one of the first humans capable of connecting to a primal source, through his achieved connection to the Sky.
And the two I briefly covered in the last post but want to expand upon:
Book 3- Earth- This one could reveal why Ezran has the ability to talk to animals. Which could be his connection to fauna through the Earth primal. It might also show him trying to hide this newly discovered connection because he's now the king of a human kingdom (and humans might get suspicious of him if he's connected to a primal source). At the same time, as Callum and Rayla head into Xadia, it could introduce the Earth elves as one of the first types of elves to help them on their journey(other theories speculate that the Earth and Ocean elves don't hate humans as much as the others). And by being around the Earth elves they could realize their similarities to Ezran and suspect his connection to the Earth Primal as well.
Book 4- Sun- This could go further in depth in the culture of the Sunfire elves, explain why they have been so close to the border and show their strong alliance with the Moonshadow elves more. It could hopefully also introduce one of the Sunfire warriors as a new edition to the main team. (Perhaps they hear rumors of the Earth elves helping out a human and go off on their own to investigate only to befriend the two/three of them???)
And the last two... Which are very heavy speculation and mostly just hopeful wishes:
Book 5- Ocean- The weakest one in my speculation line up and was basically put here through process of elimination. I have much more solid ideas for the rest of the books. The only thing I have so far for this one is that I hope it introduces an Ocean elf to add to the main team. (For the best parallels/symmetry I'm hoping for there to be three elf primal connectors and three human primal connectors. I have a human I really want for the other last primal source left, so again process of elimination here lol.)
Book 6- Stars- It would be super fitting for this primal source to be the one featured last amongst the six. This could go more in depth into Startouch elves and through that we could learn more about Aaravos(But maybe not everything about him just yet...). This could also introduce our last primal connector addition to the team, our human connected to the Stars! I'm hoping for one more human connector that isn't related to the princes so it could further prove that humans CAN connect to a primal source, they just need to be willing to actually try. (That could be explained away if people think it's just something in Callum and Ezran's bloodline, so this person would be the counter argument to that.) And who could this person be? Okay, hear me out but-
Claudia! She's been shown to have much more hope than her father when it comes to turning away from Dark magic (Choosing her brother over the mission, actually caring about the princes, etc.). And this way instead of her teaching Callum Dark magic, he could teach her how to connect to a primal source! (I choose Stars for her because I think it fits her overall aesthetic and disposition the most out of the six primal sources. Plus, wouldn't she look pretty with deep galaxy eyes instead of pitch black eyes?)
And finally the secret surprise last two!:
Book 7- Dark- With how much this magic has affected the story thus far it would kind of be unfair not to give it it's own book. This could reveal the true history of Dark magic (Perhaps the theory that it was Araavos who gifted it to humans?) and look into the first Dark mage(s). Our protagonists could finally learn all of the secrets that were kept, well, in the Dark!
Book 8- Light- While not technically having been introduced in the show's cannon yet, there has been a lot of speculation about this magic. After all, where there is Dark there must also be Light, right? This could have our group, after having gathered a connector to each primal source and learning all of the truths they need to face this one last danger on their journey, finally coming together to unlock Araavos' key! (And the theory that Light magic, the magic of harmony and working together, is what's inside the key could come into, well, the Light!)
Ooof, okay there we are. Hope ya'll like my weird wandering fangirl thoughts. I basically combined a bunch of theories I saw/read and loved along with my own personal hopes/headcanons for the series lmao. ^ ^ """
Vitreus was seventeen when he met Callum and Ezran for the first time. From that day he became like a big brother for them.
He would do anything to protect the princes.
Happy (late) birthday Ezran!!!
To my favourite little prince!!!
Well actually this is a grow up Ezran hope you'll like himXD
Drawing Ezran for the (literal) king he is
Yes this! Parent-child relationships are relationships. They depend on two people. And while it is absolutely one hundred percent the adult's responsibility to shape that relationship into a healthy one, it is inevitable that it will be different with each child. And relationships are always fucked up, but each one should be uniquely fucked up!
Im sure its been said before but I absolutely love love love how well The Dragon Prince did depicting how siblings can have the same parents but still grow up with very different versions of them.
To Claudia her dad was gentle, loving, and devoted. He taught her everything he knew, guiding his daughter lovingly through the lessons he had learned through life.
To Soren his dad was cold, angry, and dismissive. He ignored him every chance he got, making it known he was disappointed in his son for ‘failing’ to take after him.
To Claudia her mom is someone she doesn’t ever want to see again, someone who abandoned her.
To Soren his mom is someone he misses dearly, someone he wants to reconnect with after everything.
Then stepping away from their family
To Ezran his dad was affectionate, funny, and playful. Everyday he knew his dad loved him unconditionally, cause he tossed aside court manners to play with him.
To Callum his dad was a little awkward, stiff, but kind. He was never really sure how much of family he actually was, or if he could call Harrow his father at all.
#inktober Day 13: Ezran + Bait. added Bait because why not...late because i drew this at like 2:30 in the morning then fell asleep forgetting to post this.
. @dragonprinceofficial
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if you're going to repost my art please credit me
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Yes I can't wait for this day.
Season two of The Dragon Prince is coming to Netflix FEBRUARY 15TH!
She looks BADASSSS AAAAAAAA! I cant wait to see her interections with Ez! Queen Aanya acts with rationality while King Ezran (our baby grew up so fast 🥺💕) acts with compassion so it would be so cool to see these two RULERS TEAM UP TOGETHER!
Queen Aanya is back!!