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Soo the ritual thingy

Can we all talk about how fucking scary this situation must've been for Amaya. First they put some staff in front of her and they begin some ritual and the only information she got was ,,you have to look! If you want to live you have to look into the light". And after she does so she went temporarily blind. Meaning she had no idea what was happening to her nor around her. So when Janai led her away she didn't even know if she's going to live or not. Yes she did look into the light but she still had no idea what was supposed to happen in the first place so she didn't have any confirmation she'll be ok. Heck she didn't even know that the blindness was temporary. For all she knew she could be blind forever meaning even if the elves decided to let her live she would probably die soon, because c'mon blind deaf human in Xadia. That's like putting pigeon without wings into a cage full of cats.

That's all thank you for reading xD

Deeply enjoying the fact that Amaya and Janai’s wedding is the biggest event on the Sunfire elves’ calendar meanwhile Amaya hasn’t even let her nephews know she’s engaged

As a girl eagerly counting down the days until July 26th, I've made up a list of shit I want to see happen in season 6 of the dragon prince that I do in fact expect everyone to care about:

1: Janaya janaya janaya janaya I just love themmmm (buuuttt they both have to stay alive).

2: Speaking of janaya, i know there's a chance we get a wedding this season, which i wouldn't be opposed to. If we kept humans and elves as the main conflict like we did in the first three seasons, I'd say they should have it at the end of the show, but it feels more like aaravos vs the dragaang at this point, which...

3: More characters with more to do! In the first dragon prince, we had a bunch of minor characters (the other monarchs, prince kasef, opeli and corvus, nyx, ethari, a shit ton of soldiers, etc.), do things that affected our main characters in plenty of ways, which made it feel like there was a whole world out there being affected. Now, it's not that there are NO side characters affecting the main plot, it just feels so centered on the aaravos plot. I feel like they should have kept a bit more "elves and humans need to unite and move forward to defeat aaravos" but it's fine. I still like the show.

4: Rayllum making up. Not necessarily in a romantic relationship, though I would EAT THAT UP if it happened, but, if they haven't gotten back into their romantic relationship by the end of season 6, they should clearly be well on their way there, and we should know how they both feel about it.

5: De-coining. They've been trapped in there long enough.

6: I kind of want to see viren well and truly dead, just because of the downward SPIRAL it would send my girl claudia into. But I also feel like he has more to offer? I know we have a clip of him doing SOMETHING this season, but that could be a flashback. Idk. I feel like him voluntarily giving up power, and his own life, was a good ending for him, and the way claudia reacts in that first teaser we got definitely makes it seem like he's dead? But I also kind of want him to have a meaningful interaction with the other characters he's affected--rayla, callum, ezran, obviously; I kind of want to see what would happen if he realizes how far gone claudia is, joins the dragaang with the belief that he can save her from aaravos, and somehow meets janai? I feel like they've always had really strong writing for viren, though. So I'm trusting you, tdp writers.

7: Terry turn away from Claudia. This could turn into him trying to sabotage her, straight-up leaving, becoming a double agent, whatever. But he can only delude himself for so long.

8: I want the sunfire elf conflict to end and for them to help fight aaravos (he killed khessa and corrupted lux aurea, okay? They deserve to help beat him). I'd also be fine with them wrapping THAT conflict up somewhere around the middle of season 7, but I don't want them dragging it out all through to the end of it.

9: The key of aaravos should become more important. I get that it was essential to callum figuring out primal magic, but also, we've had it since s1 ep4, and it's still very distinctly in callum's possession. What else is up with this thing?

10: Janaya (again) being badass war generals. We all saw them in the first three seasons, right? Amaya was fully ready to kill a teenager (an elf, but still), in her first episode. And also kicked down a door and won my heart. She threw multiple elves into lava. Janai took over amaya's fortress thing and tried to kill her for a good bit of her screentime (I wish they would emphasize janai being strategic a little more. Like...she would've HAD that stronghold if that soldier didn't start using sign language). THEY led the defense of the storm spire!

11: ANDDD speaking of janaya, one last thing: I want the human soldiers respecting janai, and the sunfire elves recognizing Amaya as their queen. Even just a "your radianceS," plural, or something. She's going to be their queen--consort, i guess, technically, but still. I feel like we haven't gotten a big enough sense of that.

You know what we DESERVED from s4/5 of tdp?

No, it's not more aaravos, though I DID yearn for that voice--

ANYWAYS! WE DESERVED MORE OF JANAI BONDING WITH CALLUM AND EZRAN! I said what I said.

Yes, I know callum and janai had like, a scene together in s5, but they were talking about the world ending, and callum's clearly jittery around her (which is so fair, considering she can turn into a literal lava being, but anyways), and exclusively calls her "queen" janai, not just janai or aunt janai, which i guess she's technically not until she gets married. If her bitch ass brother even lets her HAVE that.

The POINT is, and excuse the excess capital letters because I'm sleep-deprived af, but...I want janai being a cute aunt and also completely bewildered by bait, and callum's magic, and how they're still alive after Amaya's bone-crushing bear hugs. It's a small gripe that i'm sure will be assuaged by fanfic, BUT. I NEEDED it.

SPOILERS FOR SEASON 6 OF THE DRAGON PRINCE DON'T WANT DON'T READ

Weirdly enough can I just say that the first thing I thought of to write in this was how happy I was that sol regem flew away from karim instead of helping him? Surprised, sure, but not disappointed.

First of all, it proves a fan theory that pharos was one of aaravos' pawns. Also, the twist that sol regem killed his own mate (luna)? CRAZY. I ate that shit UP istg.

Second of all, Karim's always been reckless, prone to not thinking things through (see exhibit a: uses fire to try and take out fireproof sister). Sol Regem straight-up told him not to come back, and what did Karim have to go and do? Take the fast, direct way instead of the slower, but much more rational way. I think it makes so much sense that his own hubris causes his defeat once again.

BUT ENOUGH ABOUT HIS WHINY ASS, LET'S TALK ABOUT HIS SISTER.

I LOVED that we started janai and amaya's storyline off with janai being frustrated and angry and taking it out on other people, even people she loves. She was much less soft, much more impulsive, more like season 2-3 janai. But I'm also glad they didn't use it as an excuse to write rOmANtIc TEnSIOn and just had amaya tell janai a story about a king who was so paranoid that he ended up losing everyone he loved and who loved him by his own actions. And I loved, loved, LOVED the scene at the tree with amaya and janai. Like, I'm sorry, "YOU ARE MY HEART, MY TRUTH, IF I EVER START TO DOUBT YOU I WILL KNOW I AM TRULY LOST?" I did put my phone down to squeal and giggle and kick my feet, thank you sm for asking.

The dragon prince season 6 spoilers

Okay i JUST posted about the janaya wedding but side note: I kind of love that karim...doesn't really seem to have friends? He has miyana, sure, but he doesn't have a gren or a kazi. If karim and miyana got married, who would promise themselves not to cry and start bawling as soon as the ceremony started? Who would have to get pushed aside because they're too busy crying to officiate properly? Who would be giggling and jumping up and down for excitement? We get unfairly few janaya + gren + kazi interactions but it's clear that they're friends and they like each other. Idkkk i just think it's funny that karim is canonically the friendless sibling.

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

A meme based on two funny frames I saw when watching The Dragon Prince. I had the idea, @gemion turned it into an image. XD

(But seriously, @dragonprinceofficial, can we get info about season three soon? Pretty please?)

Anyone who has been to a Halestorm concert knows exactly what I’m talking about.

Okay, so I may have overestimated the number of people who know what I’m talking about with this meme, so let’s give some background.

First of all, Arejay Hale is the drummer for American hard rock band Halestorm. He is lead singer Lzzy Hale’s brother and the best way I can describe him is a real life version of Animal from the Muppets. He is an incredibly talented drummer known for his flashy style of playing.

During each concert, Arejay gets a drum solo and the crowd goes wild, right? Except at the end of each solo, he whips these out:

WHAT THE HELL ARE THESE?!

Now, I first saw Halestorm in concert last month, and I hadn’t watched any live videos of them playing before, so when Arejay took his solo, I didn’t know what was coming, and I was completely unprepared when he announced that it was time for “THE BIG STICKS!”

Bonus: Here’s a video of him using the sticks.

Anyone who has been to a Halestorm concert knows exactly what I’m talking about.

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

Soultember Prompt 5: Color one from 2018 list

Fandom: The Dragon Prince

Summary: People are colorblind until you see your soulmate for the first time. Amaya never expected to be looking at her enemy as the world lit up around her.

    The breach had never looked so beautiful. It had always been a place of death and fear but right now it was lit up by color. It stunned Amaya for a moment, the color that erupted from the lava.

    The moment of admiration quickly faded to dread. Why here? Why now? Why, her? The general looked back to her opponent, a skilled Sunfire elf. She looked just as surprised.

    Then the elf drew her sword. It was colorful, the blade being different shades of, green? No yellow. It looked lively in the same way that Sairi had told her.

    Amaya drew her sword. She looked at it, curious to see how it changed. Nope still gray. Something seemed wrong about fighting the women you're destined to love.

    Even if they were soulmates they were enemies first. They attached each other but both soldiers couldn't help but get distracted. The bright colors that surrounded them, the overwhelming feeling of the world looking so different. 

    The colors were the only destination. There was something alluring about the elf. Every part of Amaya felt that this was wrong. It felt traitorous to feel that way.  

    When their fight ended Janai wandered around, taking in the sights of the world.

    Amaya wasn't going to tell anyone. But when she arrived at the base and saw Gren she couldn't help but smile. He looked good in color. His hair was definitely not what she had been expecting. It was like a lighter version of the lava.

    'What are you so smiley about?' Gren signed.

    'Just happy to see you' she replied.

    Gren smiled. That was sweet.

    Amaya's smile slowly faded. She didn't want to lie. Gren was her closest friend, she should tell him. He was unwavering in his optimism, he'd find the positive.

    Then she looked at him. She had to come to terms with it first. She couldn't tell Gren, at least not yet.

    For the next few days Amaya wondered about the elven stranger. She was a good fighter, strong, beautiful, and dangerous.

    When night fell that day, the general rode up to the breach. She knew it wasn't a good idea but, she had to know. When she got off her horse, she went to where the two had met.

    And she wasn't the only one there. The elf sat near the edge of the path. She looked gorgeous. It pained Amaya, finding beauty in Xadia. She hated it, she hated her self for it.

    Then the elf stood. Amaya waved. The soldier looked at her, "what are you doing here?" She asked.

    'Looking for you' she signed.

    "What?"

    Grabbing a piece of paper, a feather, and an ink well, Amaya questers to the ground. Unsure the elf walked over and sat down. Then the human did.

    Amaya grabbed the feather gently and wrote, 'Im deaf.'

    The elf looked at her and reached her hand out for the pen. She took it and dipped it in the ink. 'Okay'.

    Amaya took it back. 'So, you're my soulmate?'

    'And you're mine?'

    They looked at each other.

    "This alone is treason." The elf sighed.

    'It is' Amaya wrote. 'What's your name?'

    The elf grabbed the feather carefully, 'Janai.'

    'Im Amaya.'

    "Amaya" Janai said. It sounded right, saying her name. She hated it in the best way she could.

    Maybe this would be okay. Everything had to be okay. Fate wouldn't be so cruel as to connect them only to have it be impossible to love each other right?

    'Do you like color?' Amaya wrote.

    The two's hands touched as they exchanged the feather. 'I do, do you?'

    'I do. Got a favorite?'

    "I'm not sure what it's called but-' then she pointed to a color on her armor.

    'Yellow?'

    "How do you know?"

    'My sister used to tell what the colors looked like. She said it was bright and lively; the color of the sun.' 

    'Oh, you have a sister?'

    Amaya nodded sadly. She grabbed the pen and dipped it into the ink. 'She's dead.'

    "Oh, I'm so sorry."

    Amaya didn't say anything.

    Janai grabbed the pen softly, 'What's your favorite color?'

    She pointed at the color of her armor, 'blue.'

    "How did she describe blue?"

    'The color of the sky and of the ocean but also sadness.'

    Janai tried to look at the sky but clouds blocked her way. They stayed over the breach, making the area darker than the rest of the land around it.

    'If you want we can take a walk? I can tell you what color some things are. If I'm right anyway.'

    Janai looked unsure, "to do that we'd need to leave the breach."

    'Then I'll follow you'

    "Are you sure?"

    Amaya nodded. She stood up and extended her hand out for Janai.

    Janai led the way. It was the first time in nine years that Amaya had been in Xadia. It felt different being there just to talk instead of going to kill.

    Deep down she knew this wouldn't be the last time she'd be in Xadia to see Janai and the more she thought about it, the more she was okay with it. Fate would have brought them together for a reason and maybe that reason was simply to love each other.

Whumptober Day 6: Mind Control/Forced to Hurt Someone Else

Fandom: The Dragon Prince

Warning: Violents

Summary: Callum gets possessed by Aarovose on the worst day, his aunt's wedding.

  Callum knew there was a reason he told Rayla to kill him if Aaravos took control of him again. He knew that if it were to happen, someone would get hurt. So it should be him.

    He thought he would be safe at his aunt's wedding. It was a beautiful outdoor venue and the weather was perfect. Callum was so happy for Amaya and he was so excited to see her happy. The day was supposed to be one of the happiest days of her life.

    Ezren and Zym spread flowers down the aisle. Rayla sat next to Callum. "I'm sorry I'm late" she whispered.

    "It's okay" he responded. He pulled a tiny hand held mirror out of his pocket so that she should finish her hair.

    "You're the best." She tied two braids together and put them in a bun. She gave his a thumbs up when she was done.

    Katolis's wedding march started to play. Soren had learned to play piano while Corvus played the Violin. They sounded good together.

    Amaya appeared in the doorway and everyone stood. Gren walked with her. He was so excited when she asked him to walk her down the aisle. Her dress was white with blue accents. It was long but not overly flowy. She had a crimson orchard in her hair.

    Ezren was sitting with Callum and Rayla now. Zym was by the king and so was Bait. Amaya got to the altar and smiled. She looked so excited.

    As a Janai appeared a Xadian wedding march was played, orchestrated by a few of her friends. Her dress was in traditional sunfire elf tradition, consisting of mostly reds and oranges. It was floor length and had a black flower lace.

    She arrived at the altar, smiling. Gren already looked like he was going to cry. The ceremony started. Rayla awkwardly handed the hand held mirror back to Callum as the vows finished.

    He took the mirror, face up and looked down at it so he could put it in his pocket. He didn't trust himself not to drop it while trying to put it away.

    A familiar face appeared in the mirror and Callum tried to shove it away. The Startouch elf just had to make his presence known.

    "Does anyone object to this marriage?" The priest asked.

    "I do." Callum could think straight anymore. He watched his body stand and watched the horror on his aunt Amaya's face as she watched him be the only person to object.

    It wasn't Callum's voice that spoke, just his mouth. But how could she know that? Rayla stood quickly, as did Ezren. Soren jumped out of his seat. Corvus, confused, stood with him.

    "Aaravos" Rayla grimaced.

    Amaya looked at her wife then at Gren. 'What's going on?' She signed. 

    "I don't think that's Callum." Gren looked back at the scene in front of them.

    Callum's body moved from where it stood and into the aisle. He smiled as he raised a hand up to fight. "Fulminis." Aaravos detected the attack at the altar.

    As lightning shot from his fingers, Amaya grabbed Janai and got them both out of the way. Gren moved off to the side and went to make sure that both brides were alright.

    Callum couldn't stop himself from being used as a tool for the awful man. He tried as hard as he could. It felt so surreal. He was conscious of everything that he was doing but couldn't stop it. He could do nothing but watch as his body and his magic tore apart the people he loved.

    All he could do was try to fight and hope Rayla remembered what they talked about. The mage knew he would rather die right here, right now, then be a danger to the people he loved.

    "Callum!" Ezren yelled, "come on, fight it! You can beat him!"

    Aaravos pulled the puppet strings. He brought Callum's body closer to his brother and grabbed him by the neck. He pulled him up and threw him to the ground. The little boy staggered standing up.

    'No' Callum thought. 'This can't be  happening.'

    Soren grabbed his sword from his side and drew it. He hated the thought that he may have to hurt Callum but he knew that if it came down to it, he'd rather it be that way.

    Everyone was confused. "What's happening to him?" Gren translated for Amaya.

    "He's possessed!" Rayla answered.

    "By?!" Janai asked as she went to grab her and Amaya's swords. Two had been made; a sunforge blade for Amaya and a blade carefully crafted by the king's most trusted swordsmiths. Gren started to help people get away from the venue. It was the best thing he could do since he carried no weapon.

    "Aaravos! He's a Startouch elf!" Janai's blood ran cold. She already knew what it was like to lose people to him, she didn't want Amaya to as well.

    "Callum!" Callum could hear Soren call out for him but he couldn't answer. He tried but all it seemed he could do was try. Was it ever going to be enough? Trying?

    Soren handed Corvus his sword quickly. He tried to run up to Callum but Rayla stopped him. "Whatever you're going to do, don't."

    He pulled away from her anyway and went up to Aaravos. Curious, the Startouch elf let it slide. Soren grabbed the shoulders of the boy and looked into his eyes. "You're one of the strongest people I've ever met, if anyone can stop him it's you, Callum. I believe in yo-" Aaravos had heard enough.

    He grabbed Soren's neck harshly. "It's sweet, what you're trying to do" he chuckled. "It's too bad really, you won't survive long enough to see if it works."

    From behind Amaya grabbed Callum and tried to pull him off of the knight. At the same time Rayla pulled Soren away. Scratches were left on the man's neck.

    No one wanted to hurt Callum. It felt wrong, not going to fight the threat but the threat was, well in Callum's body. At the moment all they wanted was to get him free of Aaravos's control. They knew he was hurting.

    The elf struggled against Amaya. He kicked at her and scratched her. His heal cought part of her dress and the end ripped some. Swinging his leg around the general's he tripped her. It took them both down but from there he got away from her.

    Angry at her for stopping him from killing the useless golden boy, he stomped on her knee. "Let's see if that slows you down." Janai came over to her. She raised her sword towards Aaravos, wishing that hurting him didn't mean hurting Callum.

    She struck quickly. Aaravos moved back, only taking a slash to the arm. He chuckled, "Fulminis." The lightning course through her body and she fell to the ground. Amaya checked on Janai and as he went to kill the two Corvus stepped in.

    Aaravos walked to Corvus. The tracker held Soren's sword tight, frightened by the thought of what he may have to do.

    "I'll take that." The elf went to kick Corvus but he moved. He attempted to fight him, to grab the sword so he could do some real damage; but the man was able to keep it away from him.

    So when Rayla came up behind him, he decided that her weapon was good enough. She didn't expect him to grab it out of her hands.

    Callum always had a pretty smile. Today, it was creepy, almost crazy. He took the knife and faced Corvus again. He stabbed him in the side.

    Corvus cried out in pain. As the knife was pulled from his body he fell to the ground. Soren, who had been informing Gren of what was going on, rushed to his side. "It's alright, it's okay" he whispered.

    The tears falling from Callum's eyes became more frequent. He had to stop him. Corvus was important to him, he couldn't just let Aaravos kill him. He had to do something.

    Soren's words hurt. He knew the two were close but it only hit him now just how close they were. The knight had pulled him into his lap. He ran his hands over his head and tried to keep him calm. His other hand put pressure on the wound.

    Rayla grabbed Callum. She pulled him away from the two and got ready to fight. Aaravos didn't mind having to wait. He attacked Rayla, paying no attention to the danger that his vessel might be in. He pushed her away and slammed him foot into her stomach. She cried out and slipped on a flower.

    Bait tried to reach Callum. He approached him and shown a bright yellow. Aaravos kicked him off to the side.

    Ezren ran up to Bait. He was joined by Zym. He made sure he was okay. As Aaravos walked towards Rayla, he stepeed in. He looked fearless as he stood in front of his brother's body.  "Callum! I know you're there!"

    He held Rayla 's knife and stepped closer to Ezren. As his arm rose to take the boy's life, Callum collapsed. His brother caught him and placed him on the ground.

    He had finally broken free of Aaravos's control. After what felt like an eternity he sat up and looked around. Corvus had been stabbed, Janai shocked, Amaya had a broken leg, Ezren looked like he was in pain, Bait was still laying on the ground, Soren's neck looked awful, and Rayla was just now getting up. What had he done?

    The king opened his arms, inviting Callum to hug him. The mage leaned into his brother and started crying harder then before. He apologized over and over and Ezren kept trying to tell him it wasn't his fault

    Gren returned with a doctor. He looked at the sight in front of him. "Oh boy" he whispered. At least no one was dead.

    This would be a wedding to remember.

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.

Finally made a Tumblr!! Have some old Dragon Prince fanart Ɛ:

The wolf inside

Since i posted the poll of who would read a Werewolf Amaya Au a lot of you voted yes so here is what i wrote.

(Even though it looks like it's NSFW, it's not. I'm just writing a werewolf being tied up so they don't hurt anyone.)

The moon was full and white as snow as its light showed through the small window of the dungeons in Lux Aurea.

Amaya looked up at Janai, her brown eyes shone with pain as her bindings bit into her skin. Even when lined with leather, they still hurt.

As she tightened the chains, Janai looked into her love's eyes as she signed, "I'll be back in the morning."

Amaya nodded and tested the binds; the weight of the chain was comforting on her arms, legs, and neck. She knew it was odd for a wolf to want to be chained up, but she needed to be since she had once attacked a servant back in Katolis during one of her transformations, so she thought it would be safer like this even if Janai hated to be the one to tie her up.

As she watched the elf leave the chamber, the transformation began. The silver-colored fur pushed its way through her skin forcing a whimper from the general that shifted into screams, as her bones snapped and reshaped into a larger form that was a near-perfect mix of wolf and human. Amaya took deep, shuddering breaths as sweat beaded her now fur-covered brow.

When chained, her mind starts to wander into the darkest sections, the feeling of familiar hatred seeped into her mind, not toward any of the preventions but towards herself and being a wolf, most would say she was blessed with the gift to turn into a beast that could level small armies not knowing the many curses it carries with it. The hunger that sinks its claws into her sides, her loss of control when angered, and the way her senses made it almost unbearable to live without being overwhelmed by the slightest touch or smell.

That was until Janai came into her life. The elf had heard stories of humans with pure hearts being followed by animal spirits that would lend their strength to transform into a more primal form. Most of these humans were ones who treated nature with respect and kindness. Some were great warriors and generals. But most of them died to other humans who saw them as monsters.

(The next day)

Janai walked to the chamber at dawn and saw Amaya's wolf form. The wolf growled softly as Amaya saw the silhouette of the elf. "Easy love, it's just me." The elf signed before placing a hand on the wolf's shoulder, feeling the coarse yet soft fur before moving her hand up toward the iron collar around her neck sighing as she unlocked it then she moved on to unlock Amaya's arms and legs like she did every morning after the full moon. The wolf form slowly released Amaya as the sun rose, the silver fur returning to white skin, gold eyes shifting back to brown, claws shrinking into nails, and her form slowly shrank back to normal.

The moon and the stars

The sun shined over Lux Aurea as Sameera and her friend Salem walked to her home. Sameera felt as if she had forgotten something, but she shrugged the feeling off as they approached the small cabin she and her parents called home.

The young teen pushed the door open, letting her friend inside. "Are your moms around?" Salem asked softly, and Sameera shook her head."They said they would be home tomorrow morning. Something about a meeting with my cousin in another kingdom. And they said I could have a friend over to keep me company." Sameera smiled as she said the last sentence.

The silence between the two after was comfortable as they sat next to each other. Salem's head was lying in the crook of the elf's neck, enjoying the feeling of warmth radiating off of her. Salem's soft voice breaks the silence, "I miss spending time with you, Sam." The elf ran a hand through her friend's long hair as she replied."I am always there for you if you need me." The human nodded before responding."I know you're there for me, but to actually be with you, it makes me feel like myself, not who my parents want me to be. You make me feel sane, Sam." The elf's smile fades as she knows what Salem ment as she holds her close.

(Time Skip because I could not think of anything)

The next day, as Salem and Sameera woke up, they heard soft laughter as Sameera's parents entered the cabin. Salem looked at the two women. One was a human with a scar on her left cheek, and the other was a Sunfire elf with gold markings that looked kind of like tears. They looked oddly familiar to her, but she had just woken up so she couldn't be sure. "Sam, who are your parents again?" Salem asked her voice thick from sleep, Sameera replied,"Amaya and Janai." Salem nodded."Oh, neat." She laid her head back on the elf's shoulder until a few seconds passed, and her mind finally made sense of what her friend said, causing her to jolt up from her half asleep state "Your parents are the queen of Lux Aurea and her wife?!" Sameera woke up a bit more due to Salem's outburst rubbing the sleep out of her eyes "Yeah didn't I tell you?" She asked before her friend hit her shoulder "No you didn't, you dummy." Salem chuckled at Sameera's surprised expression."I could've sworn I told you."

This isn't finished yet, but I am working on it, I'm just having some issues.

A Sky Without Stars

Janai noticed changes in her fiancée's behavior after they got back to the Sunfire camp. There was a noticeable limp in Amaya's gait, and she had less energy than she normally did. When she would ask if she was okay, Amaya would brush off her concerns because she didn't truly know either.

The corruption spread slowly across Amaya's lower left leg, barely noticed due to her pure heart keeping it at bay. But as days crept into weeks, the infection spread like dark vines across her calf and moved up to her thigh, finding purchase on more of her pure, untainted flesh.

As Janai got back to her and Amaya's tent one morning, something didn't feel right. The elf could hear soft growls and whimpers that sounded like an animal in a trap. She walked in to see Amaya doubled over in pain on the floor of the tent clutching her leg. Janai had never seen her like this before. As she walked closer, she saw Amaya's leg was a dark, sickly shade of purple that was almost black in color. Janai wanted to run and get help for her, but she kept moving towards Amaya.

Something deep in the back of Janai's mind told her that it wasn't too late to save her love. She placed a hand on Amaya's leg, causing Amaya to look at her. "What happened?" Janai asked, and Amaya took a few seconds to reply with shaky hands she signed."I don't know. I didn't even notice I was scratched."

Her breaths were shaky, and Janai could see in her lover's eyes the inner turmoil between Amaya's pure heart and the darkness that was spreading through her. She picked Amaya up and carried her to the medic's tent, her eyes burning with tears threatening to fall.

The medics tent was quiet as the queen rushed in, holding Amaya, Janai told them what she knew had happened, after which the medics urged her to leave so they could work to help her.

After an hour or so, she was told the operation to remove the corruption was successful, but Amaya would have a long recovery ahead of her due to them needing to remove most of the affected leg "She is resting now, but you can go see her if you want." The medic said as he led her to where her fiancée was. Janai smiled as she saw her.  "I'm glad it wasn't too late to save you, my love." She whispered to herself as she moved a stray hair out of Amaya's face.

(Time skip a few weeks)

Janai worked tirelessly through the early evening to late at night in the forge, rechecking the measurements the doctors gave her and the reference sketches. As she wiped her brow, she saw how the shaped silver gleamed like a star on a clear night. The gold wire she used for the details ran like veins through it.

As she looked at it, she felt a firm hand on her shoulder she looked over to see Gren. His face had a look of worry. "Amaya is wondering where you are." She sighed softly before replying."Tell her I'm finishing a project and that I'll see her shortly." Gren nodded."I know you're making that leg for Amaya, but she needs you now more than ever. She needs you to tell her that you care and love her despite what happened." Janai sighed."I know, believe me, it just hurts to see her like this." Janai's thoughts after she spoke went dead silent as she packed up the leg, placing it in a cubby near the forge and started to walk back to her and Amaya's tent. As she neared the tent, she let out a soft sigh before entering. As she entered, she felt the pain she saw in Amaya's face. When she got closer, Janai hesitantly signed, "How are you feeling?" She already knew the answer, but she felt the need to ask since Gren talked to her at the forge. Amaya's face fell as she signed."I'm fine, just trying to get used to this situation." She pointed to what was left of her leg to emphasize her point.