#(again probably the fandom troll bc anything that comes into 'how OP can callum get' is usually his chad MO)

[raayllum]

Something I’m noticing is a consistent theme of Callum finding his strength through love (having faith in the narrative of love, Viren’s unicorn spell being fueled by hate contrasting Callum’s mage wings spell being fueled by love, etc.) that maybe his big revelation through his experiences with Leola is to have a profound love for all things, and thus gain the power to challenge Aaravos. What do you think?

I think it's a big over simplification, in some ways, especially coming off S4.

Ezran: We all want peace and we all want love. But violence tests us. In a twisted way, it converts us to its cause. Because pain and loss feel so terrible inside, you want to hate. You want to hurt someone else. So what do we do? How can we stop this cycle? [...] But… It’s not that easy or simple. Because people are still hurting and they are still angry. We can’t ignore that, or pretend it will go away. [...]  We have to hold pain and love in our hearts at the same time.

One of the things that Arc 1 had as an undercurrent that S4 makes explicit is that a Narrative of Love, while well meaning and well intentioned and somewhat successful - bringing Zym home did bring peace - is not going to just simply work out. Part of this is because Ezran, in his own words, ignored something his father counselled as a key part of a Narrative of Love ("Free yourself from the past. Understand it, learn from it, then let it go") and well, you can't learn from something if you don't engage/acknowledge it.

After all, TDP's short stories are revealing more and more of the ways primal magic can also be twisted and horrific, even if it's still functioning differently than dark magic by and large. We see primal magic and dark magic explicitly contrasted by Claudia and Callum in S2 with

That's what's great about dark magic. You just take creatures that are born with magic and squeeze it out of them. Humans were born with nothing, but we still found a way to do amazing things.

But Rayla, the whole world is like a giant primal stone. I'm inside sky magic, but it's also in me, with every breath I take.

But Claudia is guided by the spirit of her mother ("And she told me to stay. She said that this was my home, and that my brother and I needed each other") into dark magic just as much as Callum is guided to primal magic by Sarai.

The pain of the cycle - the loss that instigates the violence in the first place - is not devoid of love; if anything, it is full of it, warped and built steadily on a scaffolding of centuries/generations of grief and suffering and doing anything to try and lessen the pain inside of you. As Viren says:

But there is an aching pain mixed with love that you feel in these moments. I have always been ready to do anything to protect my family, however dangerous, however vile. In the name of love, you may commit acts so unforgivable… you will never forgive yourself. 

Most people in TDP, as Ezran says, want peace and love. If not (hi Kasef), they're typically wanting to protect their loved ones, whether it's the memory of them, or directly in defense of them. Assassins are seen by Moonshadow elves, not as instigators of violence, but as protectors; Viren sees himself similarly, or at least saw. Callum wants to protect the people he loves very deeply (1x01, 1x02, 2x07, 3x09, 4x01, etc).

Also, we know so little about Leola, it's not clear how she'll come into the story in the present day with anyone, let alone enough to converse or give guidance to Callum. We know she was a unicorn who helped give humans primal magic and... that's it.

Being connected to a primal source can certainly garner feeling more connected to other creatures / people and the world around you, but it's also clearly not a default thing, as people like Kim'Dael, Sol Regem, and others make clear. Callum's connection with Sky magic came from him understanding his place in it (with his head, heart, and spirit) and presumably connections to other arcanums will be similar (although I lean towards a Rayla-moon re-connection/connection for symbolic reasons, likely next season).

But yeah love ≠ unequivocal good in TDP, and it never has. It's always been more complicated than that, whether in how that love is received, how it manifests (if it does), and the lengths people are willing to go to for the people they love. I don't think that'd suddenly change, especially not soon. Leola's Last Wish isn't necessarily a very hopeful (although I'm sure it will have some kind of silver lining) name, and not in a season where tragedy is clearly going to run rampant.

Thanks for admitting that Callum currently doesn't have a deep love of all things/creatures, though.

#thanks for asking #anonymous #(again probably the fandom troll bc anything that comes into 'how OP can callum get' is usually his chad MO) #the cycle #tragedy enjoyer