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raayllum · 10 months

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i feel like a way Rayla could realise her self sacrifice issue was bad was if she put herself in danger to save someone and it was all in vain and she ended up injured for nothing and callum’s yelling at her is a wake up call

thoughts?

The tricky thing about Rayla - and indeed why I think her issues are so like, persistent - is because it wouldn't surprise if the scenario you've laid out above is exactly what happened to her during the timeskip to evoke the "We can't save everyone, there's too much at stake" reaction to the drake, and if anything it just made her Worse off, instead

Cause I feel like in a situation like that, Rayla would just internalize it as "I failed to protect them because I'm not good enough," and not necessarily "I need to stop biting off more than I can chew and let people help me" / that she's worthy of that sort of help. Cause self worth issues like Rayla tends to rest on an inherent belief that there's something Wrong with her. Not just with what she does, but inherently with what she is, that she's fundamentally flawed in a way that other people just Aren't. It's not a belief based on reality and is far from fair, but it is an exceedingly common one

We actually kind of see this perfectly illustrated in 1x08, in which both the boys 'mess up' to a degree, and Rayla reassures them back to back

Callum: Ugh. I'm sorry my plan was a mess! Rayla: Nah, your plan was fine! Our execution was a little off. Ezran: I'm so sorry I messed up the plan. Rayla: Ah, you should cut yourself a break. Everyone messes up sometimes.

And then later that very same episode, when Ezran tries to offer Rayla some reassurance/leeway, and Callum in 1x09 reiterates that it's not her fault, Rayla initially steamrolls over both of them and fully over Callum trying to assuage her guilt: "That shouldn't have mattered. I had a job to do" / "No, I should have trusted you. Things only went wrong because we kept fighting." "I let you both down. I let the world down."

Because, according to Rayla, she messes up all the time, and kinda believes she always will. She doesn't really think she can free the dragon and make it out alive, which is probably what it would take for a mission to be deemed 'successful' (and is very Runaan "sacrifice" of her). She doesn't really think she's going to come back after leaving in TTM, either ("I wish I could say that we'll see each other again, but I don't know. I hope so").

She's the assassin and the protector who can't successfully protect anyone. She's the one who spent two years searching for Viren and Claudia and got defeated enough to eventually come home, only to realize they really were out there and she just couldn't find them. She couldn't catch the pouch containing her parents' coins; she couldn't keep Callum safe. She's the defect. The traitor, the liar. The Ghost. The mistake.

So like, what does Rayla need to realize then?

That she can succeed and won't inevitably fail (may be achieved by successfully saving Callum, emotionally/physically, from Aaravos' brainwashing)

That even if she does fail, it's okay and it's okay for her to make a mistake (arguably the more important one) and that she doesn't have to Punish herself for them (or anyone else's mistakes) either

That not everything, even her failures, are universally her fault, and learning to distinguish between her failures, mistakes, and things that couldn't be helped either way

That it is okay, if anything better, for her to accept help and to lean on other people, and that it's okay (even if it's not ideal) for them to want to protect her

Tying into that, regardless of whether she succeeds or fails, she has worth and is worthy of love - that she doesn't have to and shouldn't have to do everything alone

That it is okay to stay and want things for herself

She's got a long road ahead, clearly, but I am confident that she can get there. I always have been, ever since S1 began to show the fractures, and S3 blew them wide open, and I cannot wait to get to see her start healing

#tdp rayla #characterization #thanks for asking #anonymous #raylangst #rayla #mental health #i feel like rayla has enough self awareness to realize her pattern isn't Great for the people around her #but not enough to stop or extend it to 'this thing Also Hurts Me' y'know?#at least not yet

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leopardqueen15 · 2 years

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My personal headcannon for a Rayllum reconciliation scene

This is just something that popped into my head late at night when I was thinking about Rayllum in Season 4 of TDP. Basically, it's my version of Rayllum becoming a couple again! They're too adorable to be angry at each other!!I accept constructive criticism. Enjoy! #TheDragonPrince

She saw him on the balcony, the sunset illuminating him with soft hues of orange and red. Callum stood before an easel, a palette of paints in one hand, a brush gliding across the canvas in his other. Just looking at him sent pangs of regret and sorrow through her heart like twin daggers. Rayla knew how much she'd hurt Callum when she left and she'd hated herself for doing so every day. The worst part was that it hadn't been worth it. She failed to find Viren, her parents or Runaan. The only thing she'd gained was regret. But Rayla knew avoiding Callum wasn't going to repair the shattered bond between them. Taking a deep breath to calm her jittery nerves, Rayla slowly walked towards him, her legs shaky and unstable. She hadn't felt this anxious about anything in years.

Callum's head turned slightly to glance at her before returning to his work. Edging closer, Rayla realised he was painting Zubeia, which brought back a painful memory. When the Dragon Queen awoke, they both stood together, hands interlocked, proof that humans and elves could get along peacefully. She recalled the burst of love and pride in her heart, a feeling long lost.

"It's a beautiful painting," Rayla complimented, trying to start a conversation.

"Thanks." Callum replied stiffly, his back still facing her. "What do you want Rayla?"

"To talk to you. To apologise for what I did."

Callum scoffed, lowering his paintbrush. "And you decided to wait two years to do so?"

"I tried to write to you Callum, I really did. But I never knew what to say or how to phrase things."

"You could've said anything! Two whole years with no contact and you'd gone hunting for an extremely dangerous dark mage!" Callum raged, throwing down his palette and brush. "I thought you were dead, Rayla! I waited for months for a single letter, anything that would confirm you were still alive!"

Silence blanketed the pair, both in shock after Callum's outburst. Guilt flooded Rayla, almost choking her, and stinging tears formed in her eyes.

"You have every right to be angry at me. I deserve it. I know there's no way for me to take back the pain I've caused us both and the time we've lost. I'm so sorry for not writing, I just didn't know if you'd even read anything from me," Rivulets of tears were now flowing down her cheeks. Tentatively, she grasped one of Callum's hands and placed it over her heart. "Every beat it takes is for you. You're my heart, Callum, I can't live without you. I left alone because the thought of losing you was too much. I'd never forgive myself if I allowed you to come with me and you got hurt or...or worse. And then I'd have to tell Ezran that.."

Sobs racked her body; Callum's furious expression melted like ice in the sun and he wrapped his remaining arm around her waist, pulling her to him and touching his forehead with hers.

"I'm not entirely defenceless you know," he whispered.

"I know. I was just scared of that scenario becoming a reality. You've done so much for me. You learned to trust me after I tried to kill you and your brother, overcame your prejudices about elves and saved my life dozens of times. You jumped off the pinnacle of the Storm Spire, relying on a spell that you hadn't mastered, for me. Losing you, Callum, it would kill me. Besides, Ezran needed you more than I did, with ruling a kingdom and all."

Callum sighed deeply and averted his eyes.

"I love you, Callum. I hope one day, I'll earn your trust, your forgiveness, and maybe your love." Letting his hand go, Rayla started to unwind the arm around her waist, but Callum held her tighter and met her gaze.

"I understand now. I love you too," Smiling, Callum gently kissed her forehead. "I forgive you Rayla."

Happiness and relief exploded inside her and a grin spread across her face. Her hands rose and clasped around his neck. "That's not how this works. You're supposed to still be angry at me!"

Laughing, Callum wrapped his second hand around her. "I've been angry for two years Rayla. I was still mad when you arrived, but I was mostly relieved when you walked through those doors, relieved that you were unscathed and alive. Avoiding you was so difficult as I just wanted to hold you and make sure you were real. I'm done with being angry at you. All I want to feel about you now is love."

The crushing weight vanished from her mind and Rayla leaned towards Callum and kissed him. They'd kissed before, but this one felt unique, better than their previous ones. To Rayla, it felt like a promise.

A promise of an undying love.

#tdp #the dragon prince #rayllum #the dragon prince s4 #callum #tdp rayla #netflix

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beautifulterriblequeen · 4 years

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Impressions from TTM

Spoilers, spoilers everywhere. Just a big bulleted list of thoughts as I read through the graphic novel. Not a lot of detail included, so it’ll make a lot more sense if you’ve already read it yourself!

looks like Moonshadow elves cross the arms of the dead... when they have a body to bury

it’s nice to see that Rayla imagines Runaan with all his shirts, the way she last saw him

kinda looks like Rayla changed into her jammies right on her bed and dumped her clothes on that little table. maybe she’s afraid of letting the few things she actually possesses out of her sight

listen we get one little panel of Opeli in here and it’s great

Soren’s cape smacking Callum in the face, 10/10

Lujanne’s appearance out of nowhere, along with Allen’s is just adorable, she’s so sparkly. And also she can apparently just turn totally invisible with an illusion spell? Even at a new moon? Probably because of the Nexus I guess

Lujanne’s “Big strong man with big strong feelings.” She and Runaan have exactly the same type and I support them

Allen’s face when Lujanne says it aches to miss Phoe-Phoe

Callum eating off Rayla’s plate and wondering how Lujanne suspected they were a couple, hmmm

Soren and Allen bonding

Rayla warning Lujanne about hand disguises, as if that was something Runaan made very sure she knew

Rayla’s cute chaos grin when Callum’s Aspiro spell goes off is my favorite pic of her in this whole graphic novel

Lujanne’s “Oh.” afterward is my fave pic of her, too, she does not seem to handle reality well!

Bait’s tongue will never get old

Lujanne’s whole speech during Phoe-Phoe’s rebirth ritual is so touching and beautiful, my heart

Lujanne putting the newborn Moon Phoenix into Ezran’s hands, like she knows he’ll have the best connection with her

Callum’s tears as he reminds Rayla that Runaan killed Harrow, he’s trying to move on, but it hurts

Rayla’s self-soothing behavior when she has her second nightmare in the book--she must have these most every night :((((

the big symbol on the Moon Temple doors looks like a stylized Moon staff, like it’s a building for mages

Lujanne saying Rayla might not want or need the truth right after Callum mentions Runaan’s name to her, he sassily asks about her husbands and she turns it into a compliment

Callum’s big reaction to the moon opals is adorable. The only other one he’s seen was part of a pair of treasured gifts between long-time spouses, so it kinda looks like he’s all “uhh we just started dating”

also Ethari must’ve made cute metal swirly covers for the pair he and Runaan wore, since these two are undecorated--maybe he got his from Lujanne?

listen Lujanne is a hoot and all but she’s both an ally and an antagonist. Her actions are trustworthy but her advice is generally terrible. It’s an interesting parallel to how Runaan says a lot with his actions too, but he talks a lot less than Lujanne

Rayla yeeting herself into a fight just to ask Soren for a talk is 10/10 Moonshadow assassin goals

but her hood is up when she’s lurking in the trees--she might not have known where she’d find Soren and was anticipating something less fun on the feels-o-meter

Rayla in the mud again. Soren keeps making people fall in the mud

Allen’s grumpy squiggle

Callum, I love you, but you have no respect for moon opals. It’s like they wronged you in a previous life or something

that dancing elf has very long hair and shoulder pauldrons, and they start off dancing with six kneeling, watching, hooded elves around them--Moon Druids wore hoods even before they were assassins. Considering what Lujanne said about why the portal was sometimes opened, maybe those six kneeling elves are waiting under their emotion-hiding hoods to farewell a loved one who’s recently died?

can’t tell for sure but maybe the elf is dancing along the lines in the stone like they mark patterns for ritual dances, which would be the bomb

Soren and Rayla’s conversation is pretty wrenching. Seeing Soren have to struggle with what he did because it’s tangled up with Viren is rough because as a Crownguard it should just have been his duty to defend his king and he’d have nothing to feel weird about

Rayla dissociating herself from the term “assassins” and Soren dissociating from calling Viren “my father” in the same conversation is 10/10 excellent growth

Soren must know what happens to prisoners his dad gets a hold of, even if he doesn’t know the details :(((

“we captured him” and “Viren took him” seem to be talking about the Crownguard and Viren, not the brodigies and Viren

Rayla having a wooden sword at the end of the day bc she played swordfighting with Allen and Soren all day long

the panel where Rayla doesn’t say anything at all after telling Callum that she asked Soren about Runaan actually says so much, you can hear it

every time Lujanne’s white lies idea gets repeated, things get worse

Allen’s reading glasses, there must be one optician in the human village and he caters to soft kindly gentlemen of a certain age

in the moon phase montage, baby Phoe-Phoe is flying next to Ezran after one week at the Nexus. Maybe he’s paying her back by helping her learn to fly after she helped him teach Zym how to fly! Did they bond as tightly as Ezran did with Zym? I support Ezran just bonding with the most powerful flying creatures in all the land.

the irony of Callum using Lujanne’s tactics against her is amazing, but really the white lies thing is a giant ball of chaos in this story and it does not play favorites

Bait on the stone pillar during rebuilding

all the noises the Moonhenge makes are 10/10

Rayla dancing with Callum even though there’s almost no chance she’s ever done that dance before

Lujanne’s pupils going white, that is a cool effect, what’s it mean?

the black moon in the pink sky is so spooky! Is it just me or does the color scheme here kinda vibe like the space outside Aaravos’s library?

the smoky assassin squad, 10/10 creep factor, I love it

the lightning being a literal crack of doom with “CRAK-DOOM” as Katolis Castle appears, “echoes of thunder” indeed, very nice

Lujanne being mad but she can’t decide if it’s at Callum or herself

when she says pulling Rayla out now will leave her soul on one side and her body a husk. After the Insta live stream last night where we learned that soulfang serpents are Moon primal creatures, that’s... super interesting

smoky assassins go tssh in the rain like they’re still hot from being cremated, thanks I hate it

Andromeda finds Rayla first and seems closest/most aggressive so I wonder why she might hate Rayla more than the others

the assassins’ wrist bindings have gone red but they’re still attached and seem to trap the souls where they are. But all they need to be free is to perceive that Rayla completed their task, even though we know otherwise. So... would that work for killing any target? If you’re certain that you did it, does your binding fall off even if you’re wrong? eyes Pip

this must not be the actual afterlife since the spirits kind of mist up toward the moon and vanish, it’s more like a lobby, no one stays here unless they get stuck

portaling around just by shouting at villains, excellent

Rayla literally dropping a sword at the sight of the pod Viren’s in, yeah, it’s that creepy, I agree

Viren’s eyes are so black I think they’re Aaravos’s. I got a whole headcanon on Good Viren and Evil Viren for S4 now, wow

Phoe-Phoe pulling out a feather for Callum, awww my heart! This is why Ezran had to come, to bond with her so together they could save Callum and Rayla, it’s so sweet

so these humans are from the Storm Spire battle, bc that’s the Storm Spire behind Rayla and Callum on p108, with the rune-written arch. Did they die hating Rayla and Callum from the battle? Did they even know Rayla was up there? Or is pod Viren/Aaravos actually making them attack out of hatred for Viren’s death? One of these is definitely creepier and more awesome

Rayla’s confidence that Callum can and will boost her at the right moment with his magic, my heart, I love battle couples

that one panel that mirrors the Ghost Feather key art, hhhhhh

Rayla being the better swimmer, such precious irony, thanks Runaan

them holding hands and swimming upward together on the full-page panel is blessed

Lujanne pulling Rayla out of the lake with both arms gives me feels bc my grandma saved my life once

Lujanne being super soft over Rayllum, she is indeed a hopeless romantic

Rayla says “gone” about her parents and Runaan, and that’s the word Ethari used too, and I’m suddenly wondering if Ethari reached right into that pool and has always known that the lotus is half-submerged and if the sword he’s been making is for himself

I’m so glad Rayla told Callum what she saw of Viren

Rayla deceiving Callum and heading into danger alone because his life is more valuable to her than her own is exactly what Runaan did for her the night of the full moon in Katolis. I’m leaning toward her having thought this over and doing it on purpose bc she believes it’s a sign of deepest love--that Runaan’s actions and Lujanne’s words match up in her head, so she thinks it’s the right thing to do bc the mage and the assassin agree. Alas, Callum doesn’t understand the Moon arcanum yet, so he will have a different opinion. That mage and that assassin do not agree!

Rayla’s cloak has that Moon Temple symbol on its back. Is it Lujanne’s cloak? Any Moonshadow who sees it will probably know where she got it and who helped her. That could be fun!

#through the moon #through the moon spoilers #rayla #callum #rayllum #tdp allen #lujanne #ezran

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theredhairedmonkey · 4 years

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What do you think will happen in "Through the Moon"?

Hmm, I’ve changed my mind a couple times as to what I think will happen, but I’ll let you know what I’m thinking right now, anon:

Since this story takes place in the Moon Nexus (and involves some kind of invitation for a ritual there), I imagine that some time must have taken place since the Battle of the Storm Spire. Just throwing out a number, I’ll guess that something like a year to 18 months have passed, which gives the trio enough time to change and adjust to the new peace they helped create.

So, some background on each of them before we dive into “Through the Moon.” All three are now living in Katolis.

Ezran is having a tough time, as he now has the most responsibilities of the three of them (oh, how the tables have turned). It turns out that Opeli’s “peace will require just as much strength as war” was not a joke. The battle to save Zym might have led to peace with the elves and dragons, but it has upended the entire world order. Katolis now has closer ties with the elves (the Sunfire elves in particular) and the Dragon King Azymondias than it does with several of the Human Kingdoms (particularly Neoloandia, which has cut off ties to Duren and Katolis after Prince Kasef’s death).

The battle also shifted the balance of power; Katolis lost much of its army, while Duren, which suffered the fewest casualties, is now the strongest Human Kingdom and breadbasket for the Pentarchy. While Queen Aanya means well, King Ezran has been encouraged to allow General Amaya to rebuild the Katolian army. Additionally, racism against elves and dragons is a hard beast to overcome, and Ezran has been struggling with certain voices in his court that are urging him to take an aggressive stance against Xadia. Keeping these people pacified has been a challenge…especially now that Rayla is living in the capital as a permanent guest.

In spite of his age, Ezran is pretty much on top of this all—Corvus once commented that he had shown more “courage, strength, and grace than most leaders show in a lifetime,” and I think that will shine through here. He might not be the most learned or most well-informed person in the room, but he knows when to rely on experts and when to rely on his sense of right and wrong.

So, “Through the Moon” might show a little bit of that–how Ezran has begun to fill his father’s shoes (as well as make his own), how well he’s adjusted to being a ruler during peacetime, and how much he still has to grow.

Callum is a prince reborn. In just a few months after the battle, he quickly mastered Sky Magic in its entirety, even coming up with several new techniques along the way. He has also learned quite a bit about the other Primal Sources and their respective Arcana. Callum is also within striking distance of finally understanding the Moon Arcanum (more on that later).

He’s trying to help Ezran as best he can, but this “awkward step-prince” always had trouble succeeding at his princely duties, and that extends to administrative and political matters. He’s no Viren, and neither his personality nor his Sky Magic provides much help at court. His abilities are more physical than the creative, complex spells that Viren often does.

Instead, Callum finds that he’s most helpful outside and beyond the walls of the castle—this is, after all, where the sky is, and where Callum is at his strongest. He’s often flying to other towns, and helps the common people with building roads, constructing dams, clearing out fields for farmland, irrigation, and the like.

The people who knew him before are quite surprised by this change. He used to be this bookish artist boy who could barely hold up a sword, wearing a signature red scarf and blue jacket. Now, he’s a strong, confident mage, sporting sleeveless shirts that reveal elaborate runes on his arms. He can fly and is therefore more physically capable than any ordinary human in the kingdom. Many less tolerant people are also put off by how protective he is over his new elven, um, “friend” Rayla.

Now, on to Rayla. Hoo boy…

Here’s what we first hear about her—Only Rayla is still restless

At first, I was wondering why she was refusing to believe Viren is dead, when it seems everyone else is ready to move on. And then I remembered this scene:

Viren: “I’ll return for you soon. It will be a pleasure to add one more Moonshadow elf to my collection”

Both her terrified expression and her registering what Viren is saying help explain why she’s so restless—whatever was in that bag must contain something related to other Moonshadow elves (either their remnants or their essence).

Then, when talking to Callum about what he saw in his spell, she’ll start to put two and two together. Even if he didn’t understand what he was seeing, he must have seen Lain and Tiadrin get coined by Viren.

Rayla doesn’t know if they’re dead or not, but she realizes she needs to find that bag. Maybe they can be revived, maybe they can’t. But the pain of not knowing is overwhelming.

She’s also probably fearful of the man himself. While she’s been overpowered before, she’s never been so helpless as she was before Viren. His “I’ll return for you soon” line stays with her, and not being able to confirm beyond a shadow of a doubt that this monster is gone will haunt her.

And to make matters worse, no one has been able to find Viren’s remains. Most assume his body was just lost, perhaps in a ravine somewhere. But Rayla needs to find his bag of coins. Combine that with the sheer terror she expresses in the scene above, she probably doesn’t fully believe that something like a fall could kill someone like Viren. And part of her hopes that’s the case; if she’s right, there’s a chance she can find her parents’ coins (and whoever else) and either revive them or, at worst, make peace with the fact that they are gone for good because the uncertainty is just that painful.

Without knowing for sure whether Viren, her parents or Runaan are gone, she’s lost. At least Callum, who tragically lost his parents, knows they are gone. There is a bit of solace in the finality of accepting your loved one’s passing. Rayla, on the other hand, is trapped between hope and fear. Hope that they may be alive, fear that she’ll never know.

Callum will pick up on the fact that something’s wrong, and Rayla will likewise let him in. She knows now that she’s safe around him. She can be vulnerable and scared and raw around Callum, because he will never think less of her, never judge her, and never love her any less.

And this is just something she will absolutely adore about him. Even though he’s incapable of giving her closure (even as a mage, he can’t just bring them back or give her an answer), he’ll always try to make her feel better, even if only by a little bit and for a short while.

Nevertheless, the three of them are called to an ancient ritual at the Moon Nexus. I’m guessing that, since there’s peace with Xadia, Lujanne either invites the trio back, or reveals the Moon Nexus to the Human world. In either case, there’s an invitation for Ezran, Callum, and Rayla to come back and take part in this ritual.

At some point, either by accidentally overhearing something or just from Lujanne explaining the ritual, she learns that the lake is a portal between life or death.

This is her chance, she thinks. This portal contains the answers to all the questions she’s been craving. The questions that have been eating away at her that no amount of “Big Feelings Time” has been able to ease.

Part of it is to see once and for all if Viren is dead, but the main reason is that she wants closure. She wants to know whether she needs to save her parents and Runaan or mourn for them. At least then, in either case, she can move on.

But the portal is unstable, and the ancient Moonshadow Elves who destroyed it never intended for it to be reopened. It seems as though Rayla will have to risk life and limb (and maybe not just her life and limb) to reopen the portal. I’d wager that, in the midst of the ceremony, she’ll jump right into the lake because, let’s face it, jumping into certain danger is something she’s used to at this point.

And speaking of things certain characters are used to, Callum will for sure have another episode of “here I go doing something reckless to protect Rayla,” and follow her.

As a quick side note, if there’s a time for Callum to unlock the Moon Arcanum, it’s here. He’s already worked through his understanding of reality and appearance well enough to apply it when facing Sol Regem. He’s also cast his first Moon spell, and hence knows how it “feels” to do Moon magic. Just as with the Sky Arcanum, Callum’s got all the details he needs “swirling in his head,” and just needs a way to bring it all together.

But, for Rayla, this is very much an introspective journey– Will Rayla’s quest to uncover the secrets of the dead put her living friends in mortal danger?

I am very skeptical that we’ll learn Viren is alive before S4. That is such a huge reveal to occur before we even see the trio on screen! And to a lesser extent, I have a hard time imagining how S4 could start off with Rayla knowing that her parents and Runaan are indeed alive.

Instead, I imagine “Through the Moon” to be more of an introspective look into Rayla—How does she see the world? How does she see herself? What’s bothering her, and what does she do to overcome her internal strife?

This would honestly be a breath of fresh air—while S3 does a good job shining a light on Rayla, it’s mostly from Callum’s perspective (he notices her sobbing and goes to comfort her; he observes and comments how she’s a hero; he helps her work through her feelings about her parents).

This graphic novel is a great way to focus on Rayla’s perspective instead. Her journey at the end of S3 left us with a bit of a “now what”? So, this book might be a good way to begin answering that.

#rayla #through the moon #tdp speculation #thanks for asking #the dragon prince #tdp #runaan #tiadrin #lain #callum #ezran #viren #zym #moonshadow elves #lujanne #tdp graphic novel

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d-pennants · 4 years

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Spoilers for the Dragon Prince Season 4 and beyond.

My collated notes of all the hints about what is coming up in the Dragon Prince, from interviews, AMA, ComicCon panels. Updated with stuff from Through the Moon.

There will be 7 seasons of 9 episodes each total and possibly some side projects. The story will be in three arcs with a time skip between the arcs. Books 4 & 5 makes up the next arc, which may be called the Mystery of Aaravos. Book 4 is Earth.

Side projects have been confirmed to all be part of canon and include a video game set in Xadia, an tabletop RPG game called Tales of Xadia, a possible feature film of the Orphan Queen and a possible side story set during the reign of Sol Regem featuring Sir Phineas the Cursed and his travelling companion an elf professor Delilah Geel (Who wrote the Secrets of Xadia book).

The video game was in play testing in October 2020, and Wonderstorm was still hiring staff to work on it. After S3 came out they said there was going to be an announcement about the game in 2020, but things may have been delayed due to Corvid.

Through the Moon graphic novel is set between seasons 3 and 4. It feature’s Rayla, Callum and Ezran having returned to Katolis and receiving a request from Lujanne to go the Moon Nexus for a ritual at new moon and bring Phoe-Phoe’s ghost feather. While there Rayla seizes the opportunity to use the lake’s power as a portal between life and death to try an answer the questions that have been plaguing her about the fate of her parents, Runaan and whether Viren is truly dead.

There will also be a second graphic novel set between seasons 4 & 5.

Reminder - stuff said in interviews, AMA & so forth is subject to the team changing their mind when it comes to actually putting stuff in the show or books. They’re still planning things out. So take things as “the current idea is this, but we’ll see how it pans out”

There’s no word on how long the time skip between season 3 and 4 will be, however, Through the Moon starts 3 days before new moon and S3 ended 2 days after full moon, which is only 11 days. About 17 days pass in TTM. The Tales of Xadia TRPG is also going to fit in between these season too. AE said a vague ‘lots of weeks.’

Season 4 will include the hero trio trying to address how to heal and start to change things in the world, however there are scars history has left that will impede them. Aaravos will bring those scars to bear, though the creator did say that Aaravos himself didn’t cause those scars, he ‘brought it out’ in the people who did.

There’s a big theme of understanding what’s happened in the past and how it affects what’s happening now. Questioning what their fore-bearers have done, admitting fault and forgiving mistakes. (BTW, this is on both human and Xadian sides).

“Ezran is the key to everything.” Ezran’s empathic ability will allow him to play a role in the world no other can as he can connect to non-human beings. Though the circumstances of S1-3, who his parents are and his strong compassion, Ezran is in a unique position to cause real change.

Callum will learn more Sky magic spells well as obsessing to work a connection to another arcanum - he is dedicated to being the best mage he can be. Callum will always have a conflict between what do you want to do with magic and what will you do for magic. One hint given is that Callum cannot perform healing with his Sky magic. On an Instragram Live AE admitted he was trolling a bit, but said a betting person would pick Callum being the first human archmage. On an AMA there was a hint that historically there may have been elves that learned a second arcanum. (However, interview stated Aaravos’ mastery of all the primals is just him - he’s special).

Callum’s ‘destiny’ is tied in with the Key of Aaravos Rune Cube. It will be very important coming up. The Key is being pulled towards a location in Xadia. The closer it is to the location, the stronger the pull. (Reminder - it previously belonged to Aaravos and unlocks a great power in Xadia). In Callum’s Spellbook it says that once Zym has been returned Callum intends to find out what the Key does and make Harrow proud.

Writers have been very cagey about whether Callum being able to learn an arcanum means other humans can. “Callum learning Primal magic means that Callum learned Primal Magic.”

They’ve referred to him as the first human to learn an arcanum. However, another interview indicates that humans may have been able to connect to the primal sources in the past - thus Callum relearned something that has been forgotten for over a thousand years

Are non-magical species able to evolve into one that can use magic?

JR: There have been humans long in the past that could have AE: Yeah, right JR: They’re like [waves hand], but modern day he’s a phenomena. Like nothing is done like this no longer. AE: Yeah, I mean if Callum is developing the ability to do Primal magic do you believe that Callum is special because he’s the only human who’s able to do it or do you believe that that Callum is special because he’s the first human in forever to realise it is possible for humans. You know that kind of a little bit the question - I mean he’s special either way and right, but is he special because he’s realising that that maybe those limitations weren’t true or is he an exception to to this limitation.

Cartoon Universe interview

Though they did point out there’s not been much incentive in the last 1000 years for humans to learn Primal magic, given that Dark magic is both easier to use and more powerful.

Rayla will have an inner conflict about her future as a Moonshadow elf that she needs to figure out. Including how being friends with humans and wanting to be a protector rather than the assassin she was raised to be will affect her relationships with her people. (Plus, the whole being ghosted and ghosted parents issue needs to be addressed). Update info from TTM: Rayla ends TTM by going on a quest by herself to locate Viren. Her clues are the Storm Spire, a cave and... a giant cocoon.

There is an unspecified but important storyline involving Runaan. But the coins will get addressed at some point.The coins would require very powerful magic to release the trapped elves and it may not be possible for Primal magic. However, Viren is capable of releasing people he has coined. Also, Rayla knows something happened to her parents, but doesn’t specifically know about the coins. Viren showed Rayla a pouch and mentioned adding her to his collection. AMA answer suggests Callum didn’t see what Viren did in the history spell - he just know Viren did something to Rayla’s parents. TtM seems to confirm Callum’s spell didn’t show that part. Whether Gren saw Runaan in the coin seems up to debate - in the novel he knew Viren used magic on Runaan came out holding something small, like a button or coin. (PS. They also confirmed Runaan slew Harrow, and Harrow is dead dead).

Soren has a complicated future ahead of him as he’s lost the only support system he’s known his whole life. He has a lot to learn and many places to go.

Claudia is going to get a lot worse and there’s a long way to go for her, though they did hint that there’s hope for her in the end. Her motivation is love and family, not power. However, she is willing to go to great sacrifices for her family... Also, her hair will get whiter.

“When we get back to her in Season 4, there is some amazing stuff, just in the first few episodes, which by the way are also funny and quirky and all the things we’ve come to love about the character, but she becomes a very critically important driving force of the narrative in Season 4.”

Inverse interview.

It will be explained in S4 how Claudia was able to perform the resurrection spell. It hasn’t been used previously because she either a) didn’t know it - as in Aaravos taught her it - or b) didn’t have what was necessary to cast the spell.

The story about how Claudia managed to find a supposedly extinct for a 1000 years unicorn and capture it will be addressed in S6.

According to Claudia’s VA - Racquel Belmonte - Claudia will likely have a protege dynamic with Aaravos. She will change her mind a bit on disliking all elves and open up a bit on seeing Viren’s connection to Aaravos.

They have a backstory about why Viren treats Soren so harshly compared to Claudia (though he’s manipulative of both), though it’s not indicated when this backstory will be shown. New info from the book said that Viren used dark magic to save Soren from dying of an illness. This ravished his appearance and whatever he did scared his wife, Lissa, into leaving him. Also Viren wanted a son who would carry on his path and is disappointed Soren isn’t like him. Viren feels some resentment towards Soren that he refuses to acknowledge.

AMA confirmed that Lissa will not be making an appearance in S4 or 5. There is a possibility she may be included in S6, but it’s just a potential idea. Early mage fam life involving Lissa will come up in the novels. (BTW she currently lives in Del Bar and was in no danger from the smoky assassin as she has nothing to do with the leadership of Del Bar)

Viren became a bit of a card carrying villain in season 3, however in season 4 & 5 some of the complexities behind his actions will be revealed. (His VA said that Viren had understandable reasons in S1 & 2, but was a villain in S3, however, he’s happy with how S4 & 5 will develop Viren. Also he gave a strong hint that Viren will have a kind of “fresh start” thing going on, and “do a 180″, and his story is apparently kinda wild).

Viren and Aaravos: Viren didn’t take Runaan’s warning that “you found something worse than death” seriously enough. Viren is ‘in hot water’ in his dealings with Aaravos. The question over time would be - “Wait, am I making my own choices or am I being led to choices you wanted me to make, Aaravos?”

This current era will be known as the Return of Aaravos. Apparently in S4 & 5 Aaravos is going to be very... mysterious. In fact the arc could be called The Mystery of Aaravos.

“The next two seasons are about understanding who Aaravos was, who they thought Aaravos was, how they realized what was happening, and imprisoned him.”

This is tied into the Orphan Queen storyline, for more info see this post. Parts of this storyline will feature in flashbacks S4 onwards.

A lot of Aaravos’ motivation comes from a relationship he had with a character whose name is featured on the map from the novel. (Candidates are Skall’s Hook, Ruins of Elarion, Mount Kalik and Eboreus. They said on a Q&A that Elarion wasn’t referring to a person, just the city).

Aaravos has a speech coming up in S5 that explains about the history of magic and why he’s interested in humans. Summed up - Over 5000 years ago there was only one kind of magic, deep magic, and it was very difficult to wield, then something happened that split magic into the 6 Primals Source and gave every creature and plant a connection to one of the 6 Primal Sources, which were much more practical magics. Except humans.

When asked what was coming out of the cocoon an interviewer gave “Aaravos’ physical form” and some jokes options. Ehasz replied, “I’m gonna say none of the… well, I’m not gonna say.” TtM update: In the world between life and death the cocoon held a corrupted version of Viren - a month after Viren was resurrected at the end of S3. Rayla says Viren is caught between life and death, but in the living world.

Janai is Queen Khessa’s heir, so she should be the next Sunfire Queen. Janai also has a brother. (Sunfire elves also have a Light Being form with healing powers that’s even rarer than the beserker Heat Being form. This fact has come up a couple of times so they’re likely going to introduce a character with this form - could be Janai’s brother).

Janai will find out that Aaravos whispered something in Khessa’s ear before he killed her.

Also on Amaya and Janai:

Also, they did a reveal page for Janai's mount, a Twin-Tailed Inferno-Toothed Tiger, with some interesting info. These flying firecats are believed to only tolerate those of pure-heart and aggressive to those of ill-intent. You can't give a factoid like that and not use it somewhere.

Tales of Xadia will feature storyline content that bridges the gap between Season 3 and the newly-announced Season 4 of The Dragon Prince,” according to Fandom’s press release. “Players can explore the ruins of Lux Aurea, try to restore the corrupted Sunforge, and fight to stop the spread of the evil monstrosities it radiates. This off-screen story will come alive in game supplements—as well as in organized play events—prior to Season 4’s release.

Forbes

Sol Regem will be in season 4. (No character makes me think of “scars of the past” more than this character. He is not going to be interested in reconciliation between Xadia and humanity).

There will be a new elf character - Terry the Earthblood elf. Has similar powers to Toph from Avatar tLA and is said to be very funny. For reference this Earthblood elf is from Callum’s Spellbook;

Also a new dragon in season 4 - Rex Igneous (Fire King) the Earth Archdragon, who lives underground but comes up every hundred years. He’s appeased by food he hasn’t tried before (looking at Ezran and his jelly tart habit here);

They mentioned that both Earthblood and Tidebound elves will be introduced in seasons 4 & 5.

There’s another archdragon who has been mentioned at SDCC and in the novel, Luna Tenebris, who reigned between Sol Regem and Avizandum.. Ehasz said that the end of her reign is being explored in S4, but no current intentions to explore the beginning.

JR mentioned that the territory of the Skywing elves will be visited at some point, and how having a small portion of the population that has wings, and a even smaller population that can magically manifest wings, has an affect on their culture. (The three types apparently have different outlooks - with winged elves being known for moving on when they don’t care to deal with things).

They’ve mentioned a character that will be introduced in the video game will make it into the show. AE & JR were talking about how they were currently writing stuff for S5 and how this character just got their moment, so I think this character is due in S5.

Core novel Book 2: Sky will introduce a very important Dark Mage character not yet featured on the show.

Also, as a tidbit from AE - there’s a scene in S5 where someone makes a sacred promise to Bait.

Sarai will feature in the show again. AMA confirmed Callum’s father is “fully human.” His father may come up in the novels.

In the novel new lore about unicorns was introduced. This lore will be incorporated into the show at some point.

The reactions to elf/human romantic relationships will be a thing.

Aanya will be featured again. Ezran and Aanya will be friends.

Queen Fareeda of Evenere actually survived the smokey assassin’s attack - she just went missing for a bit. Her story may come up later on.

Captain Villads and Berto are likely to be featured again, but not confirmed.

They do have some stories about Callum’s father they want to tell, but it’s likely to be in books rather than making it into the show.

Crow Master has scenes coming up. The Crow Lord is real but that’s all they’re gonna say.

Some very epic beings will eat jelly tarts in the show.

And a finishing note to put the fear in you - possible major character death.

PS. It has been confirmed that Rayla, Callum, Zym (and Bait) are the main characters for all seven seasons, so this leaves... Soren, Claudia, Viren and Amaya.

#tdp lore #tdp speculation #spoilers #tdp season 4 speculation #the dragon prince #long post #tdp spoilers #my notes

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anoptimisticsnarker · 4 years

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You know, when I ended the last liveblog the way I did, I didn’t think the episode would be called “The Final Battle”. That… well, I called it?

Looks like Callum is trying to learn the spell Ibis pulled off that lets him fly. It’s not working. At all. Rayla seems amused by all of this. And the two have a talk about how this could be their last day. Even though this series so far has been a bunch of close calls one after another. Callum I think was about to confess before Soren interrupted their moment for the battle meeting. I get it, but why now Soren? I swear…

Soren apologized for how he was at the beginning of the show. Kind of. I mean, he did, but he also insulted Callum during his apology, so… Also, he crushed Callum with that hug. I guess this means Soren has been added to the group now? Okay.

Viren’s army reaches ever closer to the Storm Spire. Claudia seems to be really trying to cling to Viren, and unlike Soren, I don’t think she’s going to break away. And Aaravos knows how to take the power inside Zym and transfer it into Viren. Aaravos, in general, seems like more of a tactician than Viren. I feel like Viren is getting played.

Well, Callum is translating Amaya’s plan to everyone else. Not gonna lie. After seeing Amaya captured all season, it does make me happy to see her back in her element. And the Sunfire Elves helping out is also cool. Rayla being the last Dragon Guard must be a high honor for her since that’s the last thing her parents did before being imprisoned.

It looks like the battle is on. Kasef fucking ruined the charge on Viren’s side. But Janai had her Elven warriors hold their positions, and the sun charged their shields and they made this cool shockwave that took out a lot of the frontlining forces on Viren’s side. But Claudia countered back with a spell that took out several Elves. The look that Amaya and Janai gave each other, that look of comradery was awesome. These two were at odds all season and now have to come together to fight on one side.

Ezran came in and brought in a bunch of dragons. That was a badass visual! They spit fire at all of the soldiers, but that does create an issue. Viren, Claudia, and Aaravos’s worm thing weren’t hit, but everyone else on their side was. Didn’t Viren say the soldiers are powered up by fire specifically? Yeah, they are. And this makes things worse. Time for the next part for Viren’s plan.

The dragons are mostly down. At least two got away including the one Ezran was on, but they were taken down and chained to the ground. I guess there goes that level of help.

Zym is ready to see his Zubeia. I doubt much will come from it because she’s in that deep slumber, but at least he’s ready to physically meet his mother. Zym does put up an impressive display, and he was using his power to try and jolt his mom awake. It didn’t work, and I think that really put Zym in a worse place than he was before. He’s now resting where his egg was located before it was taken away by Viren.

The battle is looking pretty grim on the side of our protagonists. Viren’s forces have really broken through, and now Callum is having to enter the battle. He’s able to take down most of the soldiers, but Kasef is proving to be more difficult for him to deal with. Right when Kasef has him subdued, a freaking arrow goes through his chest! It’s Aanya and the forces from Duran here to help out! I’m honestly glad to see them join in the fray; they were the only kingdom unaffected by Viren and it seems like they’re entering only to stop him since what he’s planning will affect Duran eventually.

The tides are turning once again, but this is a war, and that can change just as easily as it did here. Ezran told Callum to go to Rayla and just check up on her; I think with the help of Duran, that can be excused. I feel like everyone’s really grown since the show first started. Hot damn, this is some good stuff.

The battle seems to have slowed down for now. Viren’s soldiers who haven’t been killed are being taken into custody, and the dragons are being unchained. They are leading a search for Viren though. He’s not done yet, and they need to make sure he’s really gone before they can relax. Wait, Claudia was that close and no one captured her? Ezran sees her and is now chasing after her. He tripped over someone?

Oh no… Don’t tell me… Yep, it’s Viren. I knew it. I freaking knew it! And he’s really out here going to kill Ezran! Soren is taking a real stand against his father now. Claudia almost got through to him, but Soren stabbed Viren! One thing though, why are Viren’s eyes… normal. One should be purple. Wait… This was a distraction. Viren was never down there; he got past them! And he’s at Zym’s location now…

Rayla’s been incapacitated, and if not for Bait’s timely flash, Zym would probably be dead. Viren flat-out told Rayla the fact of her parents, and also Runaan, not that I think she’s aware of that last part. Zym is fleeing, trying to get away, but he ran up, not down. And now he’s cornered. Wait, he’s a dragon. He can fly away!

Or not… Viren’s cast him in the spell; that thing is too OP. Plz nerf. Rayla’s still stuck in the ice, but Bait came with a torch! Look at Bait, coming in clutch again! Way to go you glow toad! Viren’s sucking the essence out of Zym and absorbing it. Rayla did try and get to Viren, but Aaravos repelled her. Though, if he’s been able to do things like that all season, why hasn’t he? Regardless, when it looks like it’s too late, Rayla fucking tackles Viren and herself off the cliff!

Callum didn’t make it in time to stop that, so what does he do? Jump off after her. He’s trying to get the spell Ibis did last episode to work for him. It doesn’t work at first, but the power of love is what unblocks his mind, gets him to focus, and he pulls it off! They finally confess their love for one another, and they kiss in the sky which is a beautiful visual. Honestly, it’s iconic, and I doubt another OTP of mine will get a scene quite as good. My God, that was so satisfying.

Now we’re back to the cave, and seeing the remaining forces like this? How triumphant. They fought hard, and now they can actually rest easy knowing they’ve won. Gren did tease Callum about saying how it was only their small group that changed things, but before anything else could happen, there was rumbling. Zubeia’s waking up! And she gets to see Zym for herself. Her voice is so jubilant. She gets to see the sight of humans and elves having worked together to bring back her child. This is the payoff I was waiting for! This is glorious! This is… YES!!

Wait, Viren survived the fall? How the hell did he go and do that?! He should be dead! Wait… Claudia brought her father back to life. She’s becoming more and more corrupted by her dark magic use. I don’t think there’s any real way for her to break from Viren at this point if she was willing to do this to herself for him. But where’s Aaravos? Wait, he spun himself into a cocoon? Wait a minute… No, wait! You can’t end it on the cocoon pulsating like that! Not on a hook like that! When that thing breaks, all hell will break loose! I’m not ready for that! I’m really not!

#Yoshi Watches The Dragon Prince #TDP Spoilers #The Dragon Prince Spoilers #Spoilers #I need more dammit!#They can't end the season on that note!#That's NOT fair!!#God I love this show so much #But that ending leaves me wanting SO much more!

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raayllum · 2 years

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so uh

I think Aaravos got Ghosted

Not the exact same spell, mind you, but similar. I’ve thought since s2 but especially s3 that the mirror is very Moonshadow-y. Reflection, illusions, confinement, and holding something worse than death? The fact that Runaan knew of it and can seemingly see into the mirror without the help of Dark Magic. Although most similar to the coin spell, which seems like pure dark magic, we know (most likely) that the elves and dragons would never use dark magic, ever, not even to imprison Aaravos. But why do I say it’s about Ghosting in particular?

Well, there’s Aaravos and Rayla’s parallels, such as:

Being punished by their community for (seemingly) being a traitor of some kind

On that note, both Rayla and Aaravos living in a form of exile and magically fuelled erasure

Their initial compassion for humans, as well as giving gifts related to magic. Aaravos gave the staff to Ziard, Rayla gives the Key of Aaravos to Callum and the moon opal necklace

The Viren-Aaravos, Callum-Rayla parallels in that order. Rayla has to try and convince Callum to trust her in the beginning of the season, with Aaravos having to convince Viren to trust him in the second half. Rayla and Aaravos both deeply dealing with the theme of Lies and other pieces of dialogue:

“I’ve been keeping a secret. Hiding the truth.” -> “I’m not lying. I never lie.” and “You’ve got to stay with me!” -> “I will stay with you.” specifically in 2x09

The spell with the library book in s2 (words/name being blurred, like in water) mirroring how ghosting works: “They can’t see me and they can’t see you, because you and Zym came in with me”

Rayla taking him by surprise in 3x09 / cocoon Viren (which I speculate is Aaravos’ new form) and Rayla witnessing each other in the Moon Nexus’ other realm, between life and death

Unique connection to the Draconic royal family (Rayla was officially travelling on the business/orders of Zubeia; Aaravos says that Avizandum imprisoned him) in addition to Rayla’s parents most likely staying behind specifically because of the mirror, even when they encouraged another Dragonguard to take the egg

As well as Aaravos hating arrogance, a trait Rayla only has surface level, but a trait nonetheless

And, as always:

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raayllum · 4 years

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list of things i really appreciated/loved about s3

the fact that the baker was brought back and his friendship with ezran was actually developed. he was nice and earnest and it was all very heartfelt.

it was so good and sweet to not only see ez’s relationships with other people, but also for these people to feel real outside the roles they had in s1. ezran deserves to have a good support network and i’m so glad the baker is one of them.

learning way more about rayla’s childhood, ie. that she went to school, and her village, and her adoptive and blood parents, the meadow, etc. and also rayla herself

since 1x09 i’d suspected she had self loathing tendencies and s3 really brought that to light in a heart wrenching way

i’m always a sucker for callum saving/protecting rayla, because she deserves to be protected and saved sometimes too, so the scene in 3x09 makes me cry and is beautiful and wonderful and perfect. what a declaration of love, even before he says it

that being said, i’m so glad that rayla is the one to save zym. her actions do that, and then callum saves her. but she was a successful dragon guard in the end, and that was entirely on her own merit.

ezran loving his father but also acknowledging that harrow was a flawed king who made many mistakes, and that ezran refuses to follow in his footsteps and will instead forge his own path as king? so good. so good.

corvus was an mvp and i adored him this season too.

soren’s arc, enough said

but in actuality: him killing viren cut me to the core, him with the dragons and ezran was so sweet, i loved his speech and him repairing his bond with callum, and him and rayla can be bros now. everyone wins

also janai and amaya lowkey adopted him as their battle son and i’m here for it

claudia’s was also handled so well, even if it broke me.

she’s gonna go down a truly dark path, and i have a feeling the next time we see her, she’s going to be flat out terrifying.

this season also stripped away any remaining sympathy i had for viren outside of s2. and i’m really curious to see where he goes now that he’s in a worse position than ever.

claudia being bent on revenge against the trio & her brother for everything that went wrong (ie. soren being willing to kill viren to protect ezran, rayla being why viren died and callum making it so she got off ‘scot free’)?? it’s more likely than you think. s4 please

runaan being given a husband in canon in the same episode that confirms he’s not actually dead and is alive in some manner? hell yeah.

ethari was soft and beautiful and also the first elf we meet with a non violent profession. i can’t wait to see more of him and see him reunite with his husband

and rayla deserved to have a parent again, if only for a few moments

the ritual with the fountain and the flowers was just beautiful and took my breath away

the scene where callum talks about thunder and his parents makes me cry after time. jack de sena knocked it out of the park and it speaks so much to callum’s compassion and character. goddamn

just all of the rayllum development, but that’s an entire post in and of itself

but especially the way they could make each other laugh this season. it was the sweetest thing

janai and amaya. i loved the slowbuild largely non verbal development of their relationship. these are two women with very similar and very different lives, and i love the clear respect they have for one another, and how much they enjoy each other’s company.

janai’s scream when her sister died was blood chilling. i have extreme respect for her va. what an amazing piece of acting

the animation was stunning. the music was stunning.

this season is my new favourite is anyone surprised

#tdp spoilers #tdp #the dragon prince #s3 spoilers #s3 #text post #mine #rayllum #janaya #runaan x ethari #morally ambiguous fam #soren #ezran #rayla #callum #1k #3k #4k #greatest hits

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beautifulterriblequeen · 4 years

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I like the idea of all of Rayla's parents acting the way they did because they have almost only their daughter's safety in mind.

Ok, I have a new headcanon now, about Rayla’s parents, the four of them.

I still don’t have the book (pfff, it’s been 2 months…) but I learned something in an interesting exchange on Reddit : Runaan and Rayla not only have a really good relationship, they have a really strong bond, he’s one of the person she trust the most in this world.

I changed my mind a lot about Runaan when I discovered he wasn’t trying to kill her. And I’m even starting to think this bond is one of the (numerous) reasons he couldn’t kill her, never: because breaking that trust was impossible for him, it’s too precious in his eyes.

But something bothered me (I hope you didn’t already make an analysis on this ’^^): why would Runaan would be so unnecessarily harsh with Rayla that night, in Katolis. Especially in the novel? Why hurting her so much, telling her she’s weak and all? And I think I got my answer (thanks to that exchange on reddit): he knows she’s not weak at all, and he knows they have a strong, really strong bond. If she were to learn he’s about to die, she would follow him to try to save him and so would get killed too.

Only solution : hurting her to makes sure she stick to her mission and never come back.

And this led me to think about Lain and Tiadrin. Why didn’t they just run away with the egg? It’s not like it couldn’t have been moved, after all. Ok, they can’t fly, but they could have hid somewhere and escape, no? It would have been smart and Moonshadow elves are maybe all about honor and all, but they’re not stupid. Plus, being stealthy, it’s kinda their thing, no?

So, what if they stayed for their oath, yes, but most of all for Rayla? They know how running away is percieved by their people, they know it would bring shame to Rayla, put her in a difficult situation in their village. So they stay behind for her… too bad Viren didn’t let anything behind to makes the others understand what happened…

As for Ethari, he was confused and overwhelmed with grief, he made a mistake. But he already proved he can break rules for her, and, another HC, the fact he lost almost everything about Runaan in the Silvergrove will help him to get out of here to go to Rayla when he will find his husband’s flower. I mean, the moonstrider, the moon opal, Runaan himself, Rayla who can’t go home. There’s nothing much left (as far as we know) of Runaan, if not Rayla, no?

So yes, I think he will going after his daughter and his husband, and he won’t let anything stand in his way.

Conclusion: the four parents in the Moonfam really have their daughter’s well being in mind, even if it means for them to die

_____________

Ohoho is this moonfam theories I see in my inbox, @lily-lilou? *happy wiggles*

First off, I hope your copy of the book arrives soon. It’s wild that it’s taking so long for some people. :(

I don’t know how many TDP fans here are parents like me, but I definitely see that a lot of parental mindsets got worked into the show as bedrock motivation for the characters who have children in their lives. Viren, Harrow, Sarai, the Queens of Duren, Amaya, Gren by extension, and of course all the moonfam!

I was a very different person before I had my kids. I think it’s safe to say that I was objectively a worse person, if I’m honest. INTJ’s don’t always get the small picture until it’s right there, every day, changing their world with its gooey smiles and unrelenting adoration. So, knowing that, I’m always interested in how the characters with kids act, and why, and maybe who they used to be beforehand. Because one thing is always the same among loving parents, no matter who they used to be: their children are always, always, on their mind on some level or another, no matter what choices must be made. And the number of cute, dumb, unnoticed, sweet, life-changing, utterly ordinary, and just-because choices we make for our kids literally cannot be tallied. Their smiles, their trust, their courage to head out into a wild and crazy world on their own... we’d do anything for them. Anything. *flailing mom noises*

I totally concur on your view of Runaan. I did write up a post a long time back, with that exact perspective as my take, but I’m glad to see the theory hasn’t dimmed because of the book! To me, the book is just another interpretation of the same issue: Runaan must separate Rayla from the mission at (almost) any cost, even if it means hurting her feelings. At least she’ll still be alive to have them.

That said, he’s a lot more gentle in the show than in the book. I don’t know if the assassins’ rather rabid calling for Rayla’s head in the novel is just a tonal difference or if it’s foreshadowing something sinister about Moonshadow culture which we been knew. It does set a starker difference between Runaan and his team, though. He does have that strong bond with Rayla, and because of it he wants to spare her so much, but he literally cannot say so in front of the others, so he uses his frustration and fear for her life to wordlessly drive her away to safety.

Both versions work. He’s doing the same thing in each one. He’s still a soft dad in a tight spot, trying to save his precious child from death. And in both cases, he is hard enough to do whatever it takes--even making Rayla feel so bad that she runs off and leaves him to his deadly fate--which he was never going to abandon anyway.

Later in the book, there’s a scene where it’s revealed what Runaan truly thinks about Lain and Tiadrin. In light of that information, it’s pretty clear that all of his insults when he and Rayla were fighting on the castle roof were simply a harder version of his show plan to send her home to Ethari. He’s desperate to keep her out of the fighting, but she’s young and eager and they are bonded tightly, you’re right. So he thinks he has to be harsh in order to save her.

How much easier would it have been if he had felt he could just tell her the truth, I wonder. But that’s not the Moonshadow way, apparently. At least not when you’re layered up to protect your own feels because you’re on a mission of death.

Lain and Tiadrin know what it’s like to love a little one. I think that made them excellent Dragonguards. I wonder, now, if any of the Skywings there had children. Or if their family ties are just looser because of their nomadic tendencies. But Moonshadows are very tightly knit to their families. There was no way in Xadia that Lain and Tiadrin would abandon a helpless child to a dark mage.

They’d left their own little child with a craftsman and an assassin who would definitely die to keep Rayla out of the reach of dark magic. And they weren’t wrong--Runaan did exactly that. If Rayla didn’t die in the fighting, she’d be captured right alongside him. So that mindset was something that all four parents definitely must’ve shared. Protect Rayla. At all costs.

And Lain, Tiadrin, and later Rayla all extended that to Zym. Protect the Dragon Prince. At all costs. Because that’s what you do with those little ones you love, who cannot protect themselves yet.

I agree about Ethari, too. He has that protective spirit in his heart, but it’s not nearly as battle-tested as it is for Runaan, Lain, and Tiadrin. He faltered because he lost Runaan, his strongest ally and the love of his life. But he’s never going to make that mistake again. He’s already straight-up breaking the rules for Rayla, and that isn’t going to stop anytime soon.

He’ll do whatever it takes to protect her. He gave her those awesome butterfly swords so she could make the most use of all the years of Runaan’s training. But now, see... now he thinks he’s the only parent she has left.

Ethari believes he is the last remaining member of the old guard, the phalanx that stood around Rayla to protect her. It’s all down to him now. And you’re right, he’s lost connection after connection with the Silvergrove and his old life. Maybe he’ll straight up head out to find himself a new one. And if he does, you gotta know that it’ll all be in service to protecting his daughter the best way he knows how.

Appealing Rayla’s ghosting to the Moonshadow ruler? Fixing the Moonhenge? Ending the war? Freeing the others from their coin prisons? Saving Callum’s life? Adopting Soren and Claudia? Trapping Aaravos in a primal stone of his own making? I know I say I’d put nothing past Aaravos, but listen. There is nothing Ethari could do in service to Rayla that would surprise me. That is who he is. He’s a family man, and his heart is bigger than all of Xadia. He will find a way, or he will roll up his sleeves and craft one. Because Rayla is the daughter of his heart, too.

#asks #moonfam #tdp #tdp meta #runaan #ethari #lain #tiadrin #rayla #moonfam meta #submission

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beautifulterriblequeen · 4 years

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Uncoupling

I love comparing and contrasting the Three Dads in TDP: Viren, Harrow, and Runaan. On top of these being the parents of the main characters in the show, influencing their earliest habits and beliefs, anything that has more than two sides is super interesting to me, thematically and creatively. So here’s a fun thing I realized last week. And by fun, I mean angsty and sad.

Viren, Harrow, and Runaan--presumably in that order--make complicated choices that separate them from their spouses on essentially a permanent basis. That separation is always physical, but not always emotional. But each decision can be simplified down to one basic theme:

They let someone into their lives, trusted them for all that they could bring to their marriage, and then, one day, they stopped listening to them.

In each case, the men thought they were choosing something hard but correct. But in each case, they were wrong.

Viren and his wife divorced, and she left the kingdom and her children behind in order to find happiness again. We don’t know the whole story there yet, but we do know Viren pretty well. He’s a genius who puts his feelings toward saving as much of his world as he can, and he doesn’t always make the right call on how to do that. In fact, he’s been making a series of really bad calls for a while now, and he’s been losing the things he’s trying to protect along the way.

That started with his wife. His strongest supporter and his partner. Without her, he threw himself into dark magic even further, for the sake of Harrow and the kingdom, because that’s what he had left to protect. But without her guidance, he came up with plans that involved wild notions like invading Xadia and killing a snoozing Magma Titan who was just trying to live his life, and risking notice by Avizandum.

Harrow followed that plan because he didn’t listen to Sarai. She literally fought with him over it, and she couldn’t convince him to let it go (that’s gonna sound familiar in a second). Harrow only saw the Narrative of Strength and took the easy route of believing Viren when he said this was the only way. Sarai, unlike Viren’s wife, stuck with her man, because these specific circumstances lent themselves to her skills: she’s a warrior queen. So she went out to support her husband, lend her hand to the task, and help her people. And she died for it, and Harrow lost her anyway. Permanently.

Runaan insisted on allowing Rayla on his assassin mission despite her youth, even though Ethari tried his best to convince him that she wasn’t the right sort of person for that job. Just like Sarai, Ethari fought with Runaan--though probably not literally--but he couldn’t convince him to let it go, either. Just like Harrow, Runaan couldn’t see past what he thought needed to happen to give balance back to his world: I take my loved one and kill someone with her on the other side, and then everything will be fine. And though Ethari didn’t accompany him like Sarai did Harrow, he did make Rayla her own swords and let her go on the mission.

And then Rayla did fail Runaan, and he was captured and presumed dead, and Ethari’s heart broke. They’re currently separated, and we have no idea if they’ll make it back together again, and what it’ll be like if they do. Runaan’s hard heart might have irreparably damaged their relationship, especially if he’s not sorry.

I’m saying there’s an established pattern that ends in spousal loss every time. Even if Runaan is freed, he may retreat even further into the Narrative of Strength, like Viren and Harrow, and Ethari won’t be able to reach him there.

But listen. Listen. This story isn’t over. Sarai has died. But Viren’s wife is actually still alive, and so is Ethari. That’s two out of three. So maybe, maybe, that’s an avenue for redemption for two of these dads. For the two who are still alive.

Ethari definitely still loves Runaan, and he’s been trying to save him since the moment they met. That may just take a different form than either of them expected. Physical saving, yes, yay, but Runaan needs his soul saved here. He needs to choose the other narrative. And so does Viren. And the people they let closest to them are the ones who have the best chance at helping them do that. To understand that it’s actually necessary.

I’m saying I want Viren’s wife to come back and kick his ass into a redemption arc. Y’all know I already want that for Runaan, and Ethari can absolutely kick Runaan’s ass there. Boot these guys, shake them up, help them remember that they can change their narrative. That their destinies are books they write themselves.

Harrow died because he didn’t listen to Sarai, his trusted partner and beloved ally in life. He turned his back on her advice, and he kept his back turned for nine years. And it got him killed, too.

But Viren’s still kicking, and so is Runaan. Aaravos isn’t going to have Viren’s best interests at heart, but Viren’s ex still might, for the sake of what they had, or for their kids. Ethari definitely still wants what’s best for Runaan. Viren’s ex might not be willing to pay enough. Ethari will probably want to pay whatever it takes. There are some issues there. But like Ezran said, there is hope.

All three dads were wrong because they were each following the Narrative of Strength instead of the Narrative of Love. You can have the purest motives in the world--and they all did--but the actions you take choose your narrative.

The two spouses we’ve seen definitely live in the Narrative of Love, so Viren’s ex probably does, too. All of these pairings are Strength/Love. And Strength is winning, at the cost of its Love. Strength is winning because it thinks that’s how it should go. Someone needs to win. But Love doesn’t want a winner. Love wants a partnership, a balance, peace and understanding.

In this story, in these three marriages, the Narrative of Strength is tearing couples apart. And from those breaks come so much of the tragedy we’ve seen. It hurts the Love partner, it hurts the Strength wielder, it hurts their families, and it hurts their world.

So I’m looking at Rayla and Callum and begging them to both stay in the Narrative of Love. Especially Rayla. Please don’t harden up, or Callum will get hurt, because he’s the Soft One. Don’t follow Runaan down that road, follow Ethari. Don’t make the mistakes of your parents’ generation, don’t turn your back on the one person you let closest into your heart. Listen to him. You chose Callum for a reason. Trust him to be right about the things he’s good with.

Love’s power comes from trust and connection. On the journey. Strength only cares about results. We gotta put in the time to get things right. Snap decisions are bad, and doubling down on them because it’s easy is worse.

All these dads broke the loving trust they had because they were too hard. That’s just one more thing Rayllum needs to work hard to do differently than their parents did. Or they’ll just end up repeating the cycle of pain, loss, and bad decisions.

#tdp meta #tdp #rayla #callum #sarai #harrow #viren #viren's wife #runaan #ethari #tdp dads #tdp parallels #narrative of strength #narrative of love

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raayllum · 4 years

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1x02 thoughts:

callum immediately trying to make amends with his brother my heart

runaan i love you but sometimes you’re not a good parent

likewise, callum is simultaneously the worst and best liar ever

the guards also don’t get paid enough to put up with callum’s bullshit, either

always love the foreshadowing here of both rayla’s fear of water and that she’s able to set that aside to do what she thinks has to be done

and that she almost falls off a cliff, but ultimately catches herself.

the score is amazing thank you frederik

the callum and rayla parallels starting immediately with wanting to “make it right” to father figures think it’s too late

harrow quietly trying to dissuade callum’s worries with “war is full of uncertainty” he’s such a good dad i cry

“take care of your brother” yeah im crying

gasps it’s time for my babies to meet

rayla stop teasing him he’s already stressed

i do like how they meet when callum is at his most vulnerable, though; like, where he is at the start of the series, he has nothing to use against her. but through meeting her and through the journey they go on, largely together, he’s able to become someone who does stand a chance against an assassin and can defend himself.

“hey you swept the leg” and i sold my soul

i love the lil detail of the torches in viren’s room still like, burning. like of course they would but it’s such a small background detail that’s still nice and grounded and consistent

rayla, apologizing to your target may not be the most “my heart is hard enough to do whatever it takes” thing

ezran coming in at the last second to save his big bro’s life

also the ship tease, bless

i also love that tdp is clearly a world with art and paintings?? and like, old ones. it just feels so much more real

ezran saying “uhh, jelly tart?” in response to an awkward situation has jason mendoza throwing a molotov cocktail to get out of his problems type of energy, and i love it

“you lied to me!” “okay, how is that worse than trying to kill someone?” is forever going to be one of my favourite exchanges in the show tbh

do you think bait and ez like, rehearse, or does ez just use his connection with animals / bait and sends properly acknowledged vibes

we may not pay now but we will pay the blood price eventually.

god being a guard while your king (who may not be alive in 24 hours) and best friend / high advisor is arguing must be the worst. like when a couple is arguing and you’re a cashier but with stakes and 10x the awkwardness

viren’s “your discomfort is understandable” vs claudia’s “but i don’t understand, the spell would save his life” whoo boi

also harrow’s “at the time i thought they were necessary. now i don’t know” and viren’s “[harrow] usually about the right things, but about this... i don’t know”

viren’s speech really is “some of you may die, but that’s a sacrifice i’m willing to make” not even the ethical issues of like, would you ask for a volunteer? what if no one volunteers? if you asked someone, could they refuse even though you’re the king? etc.

“get out” is so good

ezran you brilliant, beautiful boy

callum and rayla were really gonna duke it out in the dungeons eh. i do wanna write that minor au tho

“he’s a glow toad” ez now’s not the time

the reveal of the egg is perfect and i cry

#dragons liveblogs #1x02 #book one: moon #s1 #mine

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