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self-spaghettification · 7 months

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once again thinking about the scene where claudia and soren talk cause like. if there’s any time his motives are revealed it’s through someone who has been listening to him for the past 2 years echoing the same sentiments to her brother

Claudia: Aaravos. It’s Aaravos! it’s not that hard.

Soren. That's what I said!

Claudia: No, you didn't. And you don't know anything about him.

Soren: I know that he wants us all to fight and-and hate each other! He wants the world to burn.

Claudia: You're wrong! The dragons and the elves already hate us.

Soren: That's not true. I'm friends with dragons and elves now.

Claudia: Oh, are you sure? Are they real friends? Or are they just taking advantage of you?

( melancholy music playing ) You'll always be a human to them. You'll always be less! Thousands of years ago, humans had nothing. We were starving, and wretched, and helpless. There was famine, and disease, and... Uh, there was war and fighting over the few resources that we could get our grubby little hands on. Life was pain and struggle, and the dragons and elves, they did nothing! They judged us. They pitied us.

Soren: How do you know this?

Claudia: The same way you do. You can feel it's true, can't you? Humans understand suffering deep in our bones because so many generations went through it.

Soren: Claudia, I... I don't think we have the same bone feelings.

Claudia: Aaravos believed in humans when all the other elves and dragons thought we were worthless, stupid, dirty animals! Aaravos believed we could be better. So he gave us magic!

Soren: You say that like it's such a good thing. But if you ask me, it's caused nothing but trouble. Maybe the world would be better off without magic.

Claudia: Without magic, you would be dead. Without dad's magic.

#the dragon prince #4x07 #tdp 4x07 #tdp #claudia #soren #tdp claudia #tdp soren #aaravos #self spaghettification #tdp transcript #tdp lines

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thetinytortoise · 2 years

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Terry: Days of Future Past

I absolutely love Terry and the way he was handled! I have also been wondering about his future and past a little more.

First, about his future:

I think his relationship with Claudia is going to be really interesting. We're shown at the end of season 4 when he makes Claudia return the coins that (unlike Claudia) he has a solid, functioning moral compass. Yes, he did kill Ibis but that was necessary in that moment because Ibis outright admitted that he was going to kill Claudia. Besides, Terry was obviously heartbroken and traumatized afterwards. Not returning the coins to Rayla however, wasn't necessary in that moment and he rightfully called Claudia out on it.

So I can really imagine him trying to be a good, tempering influence on Claudia. Unfortunately, Claudia is also being influenced by Viren (now with his old staff and back on his usual bullshit) and Aaravos. In the end, I don't think Terry will be able "save" Claudia from them and will instead choose to leave, which will of course feed back into Claudia's trauma of everyone she ever cared about leaving her (her Mom, Callum, Soren). So that should be... interesting.

Now, about the past:

I have been wondering: Why would someone as charming, kind and open as Terry choose to spend all his time in a dank cave with his girlfriend and her dad's corpse? Well, unfortunately, the most obvious answer to that is that he is also an outcast, like them, and that he doesn't have anywhere else to go.

We know he's from the village in the Drakewood but 4x07 doesn't really tell us why he left and... well at first I was really hoping that it wouldn't have anything to do with him being trans because that would just be heartbreaking.

But then I thought: What if they turned it around a little and turned that into a strong character moment for him instead? What if he wasn't cast out but he chose to leave of his own accord because they were treating him like shit and he DAMN WELL KNOWS that he deserves better than that and that he deserves not only to be tolerated but to be accepted and loved for who he truly is.

Wow, I really didn't mean for this to turn out to be so long.

#the dragon prince spoilers #tdp #the dragon prince #terry #claudia #tdp s4 #trans #tdp spoilers

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beautifulterriblequeen · 3 years

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B2:S - Chapter 3

Much of this series will be about the differences and additions in the novel version, and how they contribute to my understanding of story canon. But there will be character appreciation, the odd theory and headcanon, and suchlike as well.

Here be Lujanne, Callum, Rayla, Ezran, Bait, and Soren goodness!

Spoilers for Book Two: Sky below.

Lujanne having excellent fitness for all her walking around the Moon Nexus, and she's so energetic that Callum has trouble keeping up with her! She seems like those active grandmas who almost never stop moving, who have a lifelong supply of endless stamina. It makes me wonder if Lujanne will need that level of fitness for some upcoming conflict.

Callum feeling really hungry over not eating grubs and then still deciding he'd rather be hungry. It makes me wonder all over again how Lujanne got to the point where she eats grubs, considering that other Moonshadow elves we know of back in the Silvergrove don't. I still love my hc that the giant leech ate all of Lujanne's moonberry bushes and she's taking her revenge. Whatever's going on there, Callum is definitely not at that point yet.

When Lujanne asks Callum how he knows she's real, he thinks to himself that he'd put up with just about anything from someone who was going to teach him magic. That's a great parallel and foreshadowing for Viren's student/master relationship with Aaravos! And it's telling that neither student gets exactly what they hoped to get. Lujanne doesn't actively teach Callum any spells, because she believes he can't learn Moon magic at all. Aaravos does offer Viren power, but it takes him to some very dark places - literally and figuratively - and the cost is terribly high.

Callum sees a moon shape among the ruins, and Lujanne explains that the Moonhenge layout is an intricate rune that uses the structures themselves as part of its symbols and power. That's apparently a thing even with ordinary Moonshadow villages like Hollow Wood in the east, which is the coolest idea I've seen in a while: city planning as magic runes!

Yes, that's the same shape as the pendants Ethari made for himself and Runaan. Protection? Home? Feelsiness? A sense of safety and belongnig for all cycles and seasons?

Wonder what this Moonhenge rune stands for, then, and how much of this landscape is included in that rune. I bet it's more than we think!

But it makes sense now, how toppling the stone pillars would disable the spell the druids would cast to connect with the Moon Nexus lake. Breaking the infrastructure of the Moonhenge breaks the rune.

There's a physical sensation involved with the visuals that Historia Viventem brings up! When that one ghostly druid walked through Callum, he felt icy cold. Like in ghost stories. I really wonder about what exactly Historia Viventem is doing when it activates. It shows truth, "what really happened here?", so it must have some kind of time-related element, maybe tied to how the moon always repeats the same cycles or something. But it also seems to draw on the spirits of any living people involved in the flashback, because Callum could physically feel that wispy shape passing through him. So very interesting!

Orrr... is that all wrong, and there's something else at work with this spell than time? Maybe the world beyond life and death can act as an imprint of the things that have happened in the living world, and the spell that Lujanne (and later Callum) casts taps into that place, with perfect recall. I'm looking really hard at the sentence that says "dozens of translucent elf ghosts" and "phantom Moonhenge" and "lost in their own world" here.

Lujanne says more here than in the show about the world beyond life and death, being her mysterious Moonshadow-mage self. She says that "beyond" and "between" might both apply to where this other plane of existence is, and she doesn't much care which. With all the relativity swirling around this place, and not much in the way of empiricism, it's sounding like perhaps multiple conflicting ideas might actually coexist in such a place, allowing more ideas to fit there than we might normally believe is possible. Which is a fascinating bit of worldbuilding. Basically, every headcanon anyone has ever had about the Moon Nexus could all be true at the same time, for all we know.

Oh oh oh, Callum coming in soft with a secret wish! He takes one look at the Moonhenge and immediately thinks of finding a way to see his mom again! Poor boy, my heart! I'd say that could be another interesting parallel with Viren, but then, who wouldn't hold that sentiment?

Oh my, is this another breath of life into Ye Olde Ley Lines headcanon? Lujanne mentioning the Nexuses again, so soon after talking about the runic design of the entire Moonhenge, makes me wonder if the six nexuses are in fact giant runes. On Earth, the places where ley lines cross are called nexuses, and there are those who believe those points got marked with ancient structures, like Stonehenge and many many others. If Xadia were crossed with magical lines which naturally formed nexus points where they met, and if powerful magical runes were built across those entire areas, well. That would be cool beans, fams. Can I smack a map of Xadia and release a spell like Luz Noceda does? Because ngl that is my first instinct here.

Lujanne has got to be missing some grandkids to spoil, right? The way she's always whipping out cake and ice cream for Callum, and she's so grandma-ish about it. Headcanon about her being Runaan's mom aside, she is canonically lonely and she's very sweet to Allen and Ellis and I think she's missing whatever family she once had in the past. She may never get to have that family back, so she's finding a new one among the humans who live nearby, and I think that's sweet. Found family isn't just for the young.

But Ellis is straight up gonna be her fave, I bet, because she didn't turn up her nose at Lujanne's illusion food!

Ezran and Bait have a lot more to their relationship than was visible in the show, and I'm so excited by it! Ez can tell by looking at Bait's colors that he's not truly jealous of Zym, even if he's really grumpy about the dragonling taking up his favorite human's time.

And Ez thinking a lot about his dad and the things he's taught him. They're soft leadership material, and I love that so much! "Pick your battles" and the importance of encouragement. Ahh, my heart. Ezran, you're going to be such a good king.

But wait a second: both times that Bait gets extra grumpy in Zym's first training session, Ezran has just mentioned something about flying. Guys, I think Bait wishes he could fly, really badly. And that's his biggest problem with Zym, and with Ezran teaching Zym to fly, instead of Bait who doesn't have wings so. Bait is so old that his secrets have secrets, and I'm really curious how flying fits into them now!

Rayla, Dramatic Assassin: "I need to patrol for dark forces." That's what Lujanne called the source of the purple wisps that found them. I wonder if that's an official term all Moonshadows know, or if Rayla is just taking her cue from a veteran Moon mage. And I wonder how far Rayla is falling into the apparent pattern of "one mage, one assassin", since she does spend a lot of her time patrolling without being asked.

When Callum tells Lujanne that he was bad at prince stuff, and she asks if he didn't give up and got good at those things anyway, it's an opportunity for Callum to embrace subverting his parents' expectations in favor of seeking his own path, which is a primary theme of the show. But Lujanne is a couple generations older than Callum, at the very least, and I have to wonder what her upbringing was like. Is her version of success the one she took? Was she bad at magic once too, but she persisted? She is very soft and doesn't want to kill anyone.

Maybe Lujanne had dreams of doing something else with her life, but she felt she had to pursue the destiny that others handed to her, so she studied magic as hard as she could, and she did get good at it, but using it to defend Xadia from humans is not what she wanted to do with her life. Whether there's a parallel between her and Ethari on that point, there's one between Callum and Ethari, I think. How much of your life are you willing to let others direct for you?

LISTEN I WAS DYING AT THE EAR BREAD SCENE OKAY

This is my new favorite Soren and Claudia moment ever. Soren loves him his bread, okay. Even as earplugs for Claudia's sleep ocarina tune. The fact that it's "super effective" makes me think of a Pokemon defense. The fact that he learned it at camp, where he also learned about Moonshadow Madness, is hilarious. Later on, Corvus doesn't know Soren by name, but I still love the idea of Corvus being a kind of Strider-esque camp instructor, filling the ears of his young charges with all kinds of useful tactics like ear bread for magic spell songs (which actually seemed to work as intended), and warnings about the enemy elves' blood-themed tactics (which may or may not come back around in BH)

I thought they were gonna go in a kind of deep direction when Soren still wanted his ear bread back, but then he just. Eats them. Just noms them. I love this kid. Give Soren all the bread!

#book two: sky spoilers #book two: sky #b2:s #tdp spoilers #ToX spoilers #gloaming glade spoilers #lujanne #callum #rayla #ezran #tdp zym #soren #tdp claudia #tdp bait

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blacklistedwriter · 5 years

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So, I would just want to talk about my thoughts on TDP season 2 as a whole.

It's basically Voltron Season 3, which is basically means lots of potential, but not great delivery, and plenty of room to screw things over royally.

Now that the short version's out of the way, strap in because I'm about to turn on the grunt birthday party skull and explode.

First: Ezran. This kid has been to hell and back and still has the personality complex of a cardboard cutout of a smiley face. Kid, you were endearing for 2 minutes, now please do something an actual kid your age would do, or what anyone would do having been through anything remotely like you. Aaaannd now he's king. (#virenwasright which begs the question: why does Callum needed to be killed. The only reason he would need to go is if he had a claim as strong as Ezran.) But seriously, he has no important life outlook that adds to the story or affects the other characters, his involvement was only needed when the power of Macguffin was on his side (which it always is.) Seriously, regarding Harrow's death, it's out of his mind 10 minutes after it's entered.

Now, a good flat character is Harrow. Hot damn was he good this season. His world view is that regardless of anything, he is just as capable of doing bad this as his enemies, but the choice to do so or not is his own. This view has incredible influence on Callum, Viren, and even Sarai.

Now to one of the hotter topics of this season: Sarai. Honestly, she was a mixed bag. At first, she was doing nothing but saying reeeaaaallllyyy cliched lines and not much else. Her dynamic with Harrow did nothing...

...Until it came into conflict with Harrow.

That was her high point. When her husband was doing something she though was morally questionable, she challenged him on it, and he stood his ground. Heck, she walked away from the argument still not agreeing with him. But then she goes with him anyways. Why? Because he's her husband and it's their jobs to stand by one another even when they dont agree. This is a wonderful, healthy thing and I fully understand why people adore this character.

Onto Callum. Good start with Callum writing to Harrow (see what mean about him affecting other people?) I enjoyed the fact that he was in denial over his stepdad. It felt like something a real person would do. Hell, I've seen real people do it. And when he was reading his letter from his step-dad, I genuinely felt that this was based off an actual letter written by a real dad to his real step-son. (Much better than some other children in this show, but I have already made my thoughts on them clear)

By the way, while I'm on good stuff of Callum's, how bout these cute bundles of cute?

If I didn't ship Rayllum before, I sure as hell do now. (And so I must constantly ask myself why a fully grown adult man cares about 15 year olds' relationship @blacklistedwriter you're doing me a concern)

Now we get to my main problem with the Callum: He was able to cast magic without a Primal Stone.

If magic is something anyone (including humans) can learn, then there is no reason for Dark Magic to be a thing. Dark magic obviously comes at a cost to the user and would be forgone for safer, but just as effective primal magic. The only way this could work is if Callum can't really cast powerful sky magic like lightning without being in a storm or having some other source to draw from (keeping the spell sword dream alive), while sky creatures can cast it at will, but that doesn't seem to be the case with Viren and Aaravos.

Rayla....

...You good girl.

Keep to your weeby ways and all shall go smoothly between us. (Claudia, you're in this category too) Nothing big of note to say. They're just good.

Now, Viren still has the same problem as season 1:

He ded and Don Birb has been rockin his bod without a license.

But in all honesty, he is either skitsophrenic or there are two different writers with completely different ideas on who this guy is (which is basically the same thing but with shade). Does he care about Harrow and his family or does he not? Is he trying to save Katolis or is he trying to grab power? Simple yes or no will do. However, he's not all bad (writing). Soren suffers from the same problem, going from a jock with a heart of gold to a downright douche, but not to the extent as Viren. I prefer the Viren who believes he's doing the right thing, mainly because there is so much more depth there. However, his best moments of this are his interactions with Aaravos.

Ok, now on the best thing this show has given us:

Lotor 2.0 (Magic: The Gathering Edition) was done 100% right this season. From his introduction, to his design, to his mannerisms, to his voice, to his lines, to his delivery, to his theme, to the angles onscreen we see him from, (Dear God! THE ILLUSTRIOUS ANGLES!!!) to his mystery, to his foreboding sense of danger he gives off, this guy was on point. I can't wait to see what he'll do right next season. However, we all know what happened with Lotor 1.0 (the Voltron: Legendary Defender model), and, seeing the similarities between this show's writing and Voltron, I wouldn't put past them. Which leads into why I'm writing this:

This show has massive potential, really. I actually care about these characters and want to see then grow, face new challenges and change (Ezran, take notes here), and become better, wiser people. However, people can grow the wrong way (in a bad writing sense) and I, for one, am afraid DreamWorks isn't learning from their mistakes with any of their shows. Say what you want about Voltron, The Dragon Prince, Carmen Sandiego, or She-Ra, but they have a bunch of little flaws that keep holding them back in a big way. Voltron and Tbe Dragon Prince are the two shows that had their first seasons (and second season of Voltron) mostly free of these problems, but now Dargon Prince is starting to have them...

...and I don't want it to.

No, I shall not speak of the finale. It sucked.

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niks-archive-2 · 2 years

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"I don't get it..." He muttered almost to himself, eyes downcast. "Like, I know it's not normal for humans to be able to cast without a primal stone and all, but nobody's been willing to teach me anything!" It's so frustrating that he's had to make do, and that he's honestly been lucky enough to remember the runes and keywords to the spells he's seen others cast... Without it— He doesn't want to think about all the things that could have gone wrong if he'd just staid regular ol' useless Callum... || Callum to Aaravos bc I'm obsessed with the idea of him teaching Callum and no I'm not gonna shut up about it xD Means you get lots of asks x3

Aaravos chuckled softly.

"Now, don't get lost in your head, Callum. While there's purpose in thought, the track you are on leads only to hopelessness and fear, not any necesary understandings. Listen to me." He paused, making sure Callum was paying attention.

"The only reason that it is not typical for humans to be able to cast is because none have offered to teach them, and those who have were shut away. You're a wise boy with a quick mind, to learn all that on your own with mere scraps offered to you by sailors and moments.

Why, exactly, would I not offer what I know? As I told you before, I was imprisoned from this, and I've been here for a very, very long time. But nothing more can be done to me, here. Oh, certainly, were Avizandum alive he would torture me thoroughly for this- just because he was a noble leader does not mean he did not have a cruel heart.

But he is not, and no mage nor mundane man can further hurt me here. My choices are to shut myself away from the world or to indulge those who happen upon me, and here you are asking the very thing which I risked myself in the past for. The sharing of my knowledge.

What the others who have been unwilling to teach you did not understand was that the dragon king is gone and we have no reason to stick in those ways. I could guide them, were I free, to an equal and trusting future where magic was kept from no one. I was once a guardian and a teacher- I could be again. But as you can see I have been locked away, and so you must do it for me. My charge, and my voice. You'll find that those who had offered to help you understand, those like Lujanne, will begin to appear where you make it safe to do so. And you will not do it alone.

As you've said, in the past you could do nothing, but through your mind you've learned to do something and to understand something that can never be expressed. You've struggled such and learned in the way you needed to, and that won't be where your wonder stops. All I ask is that you help me spread that understanding and unity, so that you will not be alone."

#he be manipulatin

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raayllum · 8 months

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So we know that dark magic and star magic are primarily represented by purple. Purple is the colour of Viren's outfit's gemstone, the tips of Claudia's hair, and the initial colour their eyes glow before they become black when performing dark magic. Purpley dark magic is what turns Avizandum and Viren to stone.

Additionally, we see a similar but decidedly different shade of purple for most things we can (assume) are star magic.

So dark magic (and star magic) are both typically purple, like our favourite Startouch elf. So what the fuck is up with the Red?

Now, it's possible that this is just for colour contrast and red having a long history of representing danger and it doesn't mean anything deeper. Fair enough. However, the only possibility is because... It has to do with Blood.

Now, plenty of the dark magic spells we've seen include blood (the little bug pal transfer, Claudia's breathing underwater spell, the revenge spell in the first place). Kim'Dael uses moon and dark magic in drinking blood to prolong her lifespa and her powers. Old concept symbols for dark magic used to, quite literally, just be a droplet of blood.

But...

And that Viren's visions of Claudia only come out to play when she's using a spell that involves her own blood, to boot.

(Side note: the wave perspective here looks very similar to Janai's first person vision of being disintegrated / burned alive by Aaravos. Moving on.)

Anyway, where am I going with all this? I don't really know, to be honest. I think there's a decent amount of evidence that Viren used star (and dark) magic to save Soren's life when he was a child. The associative overlap between Star and dark magic is just about undeniable at this point, even if using the latter didn't let a Startouch elf literally control and channel his magic through you like a puppet.

But I do think there's evidence that Viren possibly used blood related magic - his own blood? - in order to save Soren in the past as well. (Puts a new emphasis on a pure heart being needed for read the scroll that leads to a Star-connected unicorn, eh?) Similar blood practices (ancient again) that Kpp'Ar might've participated in too.

And that Callum may be called to in the future if the coins or quasar diamonds are more complicated than they seem.

#dark magic #mini meta #was writing an entirely different meta but got sidetracked bc wtf bro #parallels #analysis series #analysis #tdp #the dragon prince #this takes 'it was just red' to a new meaning i think #the meta i tripped and fell into btw

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raayllum · 10 days

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i'm gonna break down the poster later but for now I wanna talk about the poem

As others have noticed the first letter of each line, read bottom to top, spell out "The Red Wedding" which is likely the episode title, so I'm not going to speculate too much on that.

Like we know at this point hardly anything is accidental in TDP especially when there's blatant opportunities to hide clues, so with that in mind, I want to look at stanza by stanza to the best of my ability.

Gnash your teeth, O Dragon Fierce! Night’s not far away

"Gnash" is an aggressive reference to teeth, which makes me think of "ivory draconic" for the Nova Blade, but also of scenes yet explained (the arc 1 intro of human warriors gathered on one side of the border, and Thunder's display of power). However, I think it's likely that what the poem is referring to is even farther back in history, given that "night" might refer to a time period (i.e. the stars leaving) happening soon.

In the sky that watchful eye Does weep and stare and pierce

"White as the star's heart it pierced" and we see eyes in reference to dragons' ire against Elarion. That said, this "watchful eye" could belong to a long ago Startouch elf (Aaravos, Laurelion, Leola?) who cared about what was happening, hence being 'watchful.' Pierce has a less peaceful connotation, but this section of the poem definitely reads as "in the past to me" (I say, preparing to eat my words in the future)

Dance away, O Golden Queen! Eternal fiery flame While shadows jeer into your ear Don’t forge a blade from shame

This, meanwhile, feels like a pretty straightforward reference to Janai in present day. She is both queen and the Golden Knight of Lux Aurea. Dancing is a part of Sunfire proposals, she has fire powers, and she's planning a wedding. "Shadows" could be references to her nightmares from Aaravos and the shadow monster creatures Karim's army is probably going to accidentally turn into thanks to Pharos' lingering corruption. She wields a Sunforge blade, of course, and has doubt/shame surrounding her choices and status as queen as it moves back and forth... so maybe "don't make a harsh choice out of shame/fear of unworthiness?" But we shall have to see.

Now onto what's probably my favourite stanza:

Eight in a line, O Chosen Mine! Ready for a war Endlessly burning Hopefully yearning That love will triumph once more!

"Eight in a line" makes me lose my mind because there's 8 pieces across the board in chess (2 rooks, 2 knights, 2 bishops make 6, + 1 king and queen make 8; as well as 8 pawns, of course). "O Chosen Mine" also makes it sound like Aaravos is the speaker of the poem, which given that he's someone poetry has been written about up until now, is deliciously meta.

"Ready for a war" might apply most straightforwardly to the Sunfire elves, but I don't think we even have eight named Sunfire characters in show, so it must encompass more main players. Perhaps unrest in the Pentarchy, and of course, the Dragang taking steps to try to go to war against and defeat Aaravos.

"Endlessly burning" has a couple different meanings, given that 1) fire cannot burn forever, 2) it seems humans were gifted sun magic first way back when, and 3) fire/burning has a more positive association with light. "Hopefully yearning" has a positive connotation, even if people on both sides can have hope for various reasons ("There is one weird hope" from Claudia in 4x01 vs Ezran's "There is a hope" in 3x03, etc). To yearn for something is to have "a strong feeling of wishing for something, especially something that you cannot have or get easily" and we know that wishes and wants are something that can go from good to bad in TDP's world, especially when it comes to Aaravos.

The characters are hoping/working/wishing that "Love will triumph once more," the way it did for them in 3x09. This reflects back into love > control, narrative of love > narrative of power, etc. It also caps off this stanza of "eight in the line" having the game motif, and then triumphing also indicates winning the game.

But, of course, they can't. Not in S6, anyway. 😈

#tdp #tdp meta #the dragon prince #6x07 #s6 spoilers #arc 2 #s6 speculation #predictions #analysis series #analysis #tdp spoilers

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raayllum · 9 months

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by the end of s5, what do you think separates claudia and callum (if anything) from being a villain vs a hero?

Oh, there's plenty that differentiates them! This may not be as articulate as I want it to be as I've spent most of the past 3+ years pointing out / trying to convince people of Callum's similarities to Claudia and Viren (which S5 finally cinched for me, beautifully) than having to describe their differences, but I'll do my best!

Callum very much has both the best and worst of Viren and Claudia when it comes to dark magic, where he kind of borrows from each of them in distinct ways to be the most.... reasonable 'dark mage' in a lot of ways, due to 1) his views on dark magic and 2) his motivations for using it. So let's dig into it.

1) Views on dark magic

Unlike Claudia, to Callum dark magic isn't something frivolous (hi dark magic pancakes) or something to aspire after. He's far more like Viren (and even then I don't think Callum would ever consider dark magic "brilliant and clever" even if it is very much practical) in terms of seeing dark magic solely as a last resort since, as I've laid out before, Callum knows it's wrong. That it's a dangerous, slippery slope, for him in particular. Callum is also just willing to do something he Knows is wrong and see it to fruition anyway.

(Now, this also plays into the series' theme of how it's always Easier to play into / perpetuate the Cycle than it is to take the harder path of breaking it, but post for another day.)

Claudia has come closer to this viewpoint in some ways in S4 (crying as she explains what she had to do to bring Viren back) but ultimately, she doesn't think/see/know Aaravos is 'evil'. She doesn't think she's doing anything Wrong But Justified because she doesn't see anything wrong with what she's doing in the first place ("Humans were born with nothing, but we still found a way to do amazing things. That's what dark magic is really all about" / "The elves and the dragons did nothing. They judged us. They pitied us" / "All through history dragons have had the power while humans lived in fear. Well times are changing"). Callum is not that, at all, hence the guilt (even if I think more of it stems now in S4/S5 from what he knows dark magic allows - Aaravos' possession that then in turn also puts his immediate loved ones in danger).

Therefore, Callum's views on dark magic are far more akin to Viren's - powerful, dangerous, a necessity that chips away at you and you alone if you do it right, if you can successfully spare other people. Viren's comfort with dark magic goes further than that, and Callum's comfort with it is lesser than that, but they are more similar I think in their views of dark magic than either of their views are to Claudia's.

Like, regardless, Callum fundamentally disagrees with dark magic - he doesn't like or want to hurt innocent people/creatures if he can help it (again, big difference between him and other two mages, even if there are definitely areas where who Callum views as 'innocent' could be improved). It's a Last Resort, but it's a Resort. His aversion, those reservations, those lines, those morals? They exist (which is a distinction) but ultimately do not matter when Ezran or Rayla are threatened.

Which is, I suppose, as good a time as any to talk about

2) Motivations

Viren's hierarchy is the 1) the world (which his family is a part of), 2) himself, usually (because he believes he is uniquely positioned to be able to help the world & make the right choices) and 3) his family. We see this hierarchy play out pretty succinctly in 1x02-1x03 with Harrow, almost beat for beat. As Viren says there (and in S5) Harrow is his family and means everything to him... but Viren is not willing to reveal or relinquish the dragon egg in hopes of stopping the assassination, because he would rather have himself or Harrow die rather than put a weapon into Xadia's hands. This is also why he's willing to warp Soren into a cinder beast in 3x07. Not only is he personally pretty far gone at that point, but he is willing to sacrifice his family (gaslighting Soren to keep Claudia tethered in 3x03, for example + "I would've asked you to choose the egg over my own life, if it came to it"). In some ways, S5 is showing that he lost that part of himself and is now reclaiming it, making it true in ways it hasn't always been. Love is what made him Lose Himself but also how he ultimately Found Himself again (which bodes very well for Callum's S6 arc, but anyway...)

Alternatively... Callum says "I value those close to me more than Anyone or Anything" (Tales of Xadia bio) and he unequivocally means it.

Callum loves Harrow dearly, but he still knows the safest place for Ezran in 1x03 is to get the fuck away from the castle, so he goes. He breaks the primal stone after watching Rayla and Ezran mutually cry and console each other as Rayla blames herself for Zym's imminent death. As discussed, he'll do dark magic in 2x07 even though he knows it's wrong because it's Rayla's life on the line. He'll jump off the mountain for her. He'll threaten and demand answers from Soren before and after learning that Ez could be in danger, and run right into a trap. He'll do literally everything he did in 5x08 for Rayla, as we know.

In this way, he is very similar to Claudia, who would likewise Do Anything for her family and always mean it, particularly her father (after all, Soren 'walked out' on her, not the other way around; she was still trying to keep them all together). It is worth noting now, though, that Viren has now circled back, so arguably all three of them are sharing in this Motivation, and prime for Aaravos' manipulation if Viren still has a further role to play (although his curtain may have closed lmao). After all:

But yeah, Callum and Claudia are two characters who have always had a steady flow of parallels and a particularly brutal slant toward each other (because their selective loyalty is not and never has been to each other) and the easiest way to have an audience still remain sympathetic to an antagonist is to draw parallels between them and a protagonist, so...

Obviously in TDP there are 'good' guys and 'bad' guys but I don't think the series is that interested in a pure black-white good vs evil dichotomy. Almost every antagonist character is still sympathetic, developed, interesting, and we can understand where they're coming from. The protagonists make plenty of mistakes and have plenty of their own biases and contradictions; it's what makes them interesting too! People aren't necessarily Villains or Heroes so much as they are people stuck in cycles of grief and violence, and the series being an exploration of how and where and why they do or don't (or can't) break those cycles. At least, that's what I find is most useful from a meta perspective.

I think ultimately what differentiates Callum and Claudia in my head is, as mentioned, the different ways they view dark magic even if they have exceedingly similar motivations for using it, as well as Callum striking me more as the type to fight so hard to save his loved ones while they're still alive, but not quite as inclined to go as far as Claudia did and follow through on a resurrection spell the way she did. He's better at emotionally processing (although it's a low bar to clear for her) and better at letting things go, and more respectful of his loved ones' wants (most of the time). If Ez and Rayla both died in tragic/traumatic ways, I think that could (understandably) really warp him to something close to Claudia, but so long as one lived, I think they could keep him from going off the rails.

Claudia left the train station a Long time ago.

More metas that may be of interest (written before S4 and S5):

How Viren and Callum stack up flaws wise (S1-S4, screencap S5 update)

How Callum's initial view of Zym differs from Ez and Rayla (S1-S3)

Callum's morality (S1-S4)

TDP's Perpetual Trolley Problem, or How the Show Frames / Deals with Sacrifice and Exchange (S1-S4)

The Interlocking of the Cycle's Wheel with Viren, Claudia, Callum, and Rayla (S1-S4)

#victoriahuske #pawns #callum x claudia #it was just red #tdp callum #snake boi callum #dark magic #tdp #the dragon prince #thanks for asking #requests #analysis series #analysis #parallels #something something Knowledge as a Burden but that's a post for another day #tdp meta #i spent too long on this / got distracted for an hour like halfway through

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raayllum · 7 months

Text

was thinking about Ezran and Callum's fight in the last chapter of "teach me how to name the bigger light" (which you can read here if you'd like) and how it helped me distill one of their differences (at least in how I characterize them, which is to say)

Ezran defines family by who (and how) you honour the people you love, and Callum defines by who he's selectively loyal to (and will thereby do anything for, even things they would/do disapprove of). Ezran is patient and longterm; Callum is a fixer and sometimes more short term.

We see Ezran wrestle with the legacy of his father ("if Dad were here, he'd know what to do, you know?" -> "I don't want to be that kind of king" -> "But I don't want to forget him" -> "My father was a strong king, and I wanted to carry that strength with me. But he also taught me that strength isn't always about weapons and war"). Ezran thinks that people will care about the right things for the right reasons, and is often let down.

Agreeing to help Runaan is at odds with honouring his father, so he says no:

Ezran looked past her entirely to glare at his brother. “This is what you’ve been doing? Trying to free the—the elf that murdered our father? How could you?”

Callum is also concerned with inheritance, but is more so plagued by Aaravos' hold and Viren's choices (re: being asked for the archdragon spell and being Viren's literal successor). He'll do dark magic even when he knows Rayla will be angry at him for it (2x07) and when he knows she'd probably rather die than have him do it again (5x08) and will turn on people he's otherwise loyal or trusting toward (Viren, Claudia, Soren, Opeli) the second they've put Ezran or Rayla at risk. Their happiness and wellbeing rules all, and making them happy / keeping them safe - fixing problems when he knows there's a solution - is his priority, even if it's something they'd hate, is typically where he'll fall.

“How could I—” Callum faltered and then glared right back at him. “These are her parents. Rayla is our friend. [...] She’s our family, why isn’t that— [...] “No [he doesn't deserve it],” Callum agreed. “But Rayla does. She loves him... and that’s enough for me.”

It isn't about Runaan (and by extension, Harrow), at all for him anymore. This person is his family and he has the opportunity to help them; therefore, he will.

And neither of them are wrong for what they're feeling, even if it does get particularly brutal.

“Then you can do it without my help,” Ezran said with a ragged breath. “Because I am not giving you my seal.” Callum stared at him with cold eyes. “Dad would be so disappointed in you.” But this time Ezran was ready for the blow, as he said, “Well at least I called him Dad,” and his heart only hurt a little for it.

#broyals #characterization #fic: teach me how to name the bigger light #mini meta #about my own fic bc i am that indulgent lmao #tdp #the dragon prince #ezran in the 'don't act like i don't love rayla just bc i'm prioritizing dad' camp &#callum in the 'don't act like i don't love our dad just bc i'm prioritizing rayla' camp lmao #fight fight fight

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raayllum · 8 months

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Hey! Do you think viren is dead? Is this it for his character? And if it is, why didn't he check up on Claudia before going off to die? I feel like he might have decided to stay alive if he saw what happened to Claudia. What do you think?

Talked about this before (see my "tdp viren" and "morally ambiguous fam" tags for other thoughts on him and S5 mage fam stuff) but

No, I don't think Viren is dead. There's no real story reason for Claudia to lose that much blood (or for the story to make it that any of Viren's children would've been viable) unless it was to be a loophole. There are also unresolved relationships that could be developed further, largely between him and Soren and him and Kpp'Ar.

The framing implies that Viren leaves the beach after he refuses to kill Sir Sparklepuff, AKA Claudia has overall recently gone into the water (with no way to follow her without dark magic, which he's just sworn off) during daytime and well before she emerges at night time.

While this could be it for Viren (and I would be fine with it if so; just means the story is going in a different direction that I expected / find more personally interesting, perhaps than the alternatives I can imagine) S5 does a lot of work to change him in a way that could feel unfulfilled if it doesn't go further for the sake of other characters' arcs.

Like I don't think Viren as he is now at the end of S5 - oppositional to Aaravos; regretful; protective of both his children; acknowledged the nature of his various choices; sworn off dark magic - will really change that much if he does live past S6, but I think by virtue of living, he'd have to face a lot more of his own damage outside of Claudia and bring interesting things to the table for the trio / Soren. (I also very much want Kpp'Ar and Viren to interact again post-decoining but like - what fic is for if nothing else.)

And I don't think anything would've made Viren decide to stay alive by killing Sir Sparklepuff, even if he had seen what happened to Claudia. His love for his family is what began his path of like, real damnation, and what saved him in the end (which bodes very well for Callum's future arc as well). If anything he would've helped Terry bandage the leg, taken Claudia aside, apologized and hugged her and try to convince her to get off the dark path he'd led her on before it could take anything else from her, that she should leave Aaravos too.

Whether she would've listened to him is another matter entirely, though.

There's also the fact that Viren knows a lot of things (possibly did star magic to bring Soren back? What he did precisely to heal his son in the first place that was so horrific Kpp'Ar stood against him after a lifetime of dark magic? How he got his staff? etc etc) that he'd be able to answer, if Kpp'Ar doesn't do it for him.

But yeah - until S6 comes along and makes me (possibly) booboo the fool, I'm sticking to my gut instinct and saying we haven't seen the last of Viren, and I'd be surprised if he's fully dead

#thanks for asking #s6 speculation #tdp viren #anonymous #tdp #the dragon prince

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raayllum · 2 years

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I haven't seen any tdp content besides the 3 seasons on netflix, what is this through the moon thing I'm seeing and how do I access it?

Hello, welcome, and thanks for the follow! TDP keeps its core stuff in the TV show, so anything else is a fun bonus to help fuel speculation for the fandom and worldbuilding expansions in small ways (food, climate, some slight cultural stuff, etc).

That said, TDP does have a lot of extra material running around, all of which are canon (or close enough in the case of the novelizations).

Tales of Xadia, a full-fledged RRPG that is probably the biggest lore drop we've had so far. Canon and with a lot of those fun details I was alluding to earlier, like little folklore stories in each of the kingdoms, other types of dragons, stuff like that.

Book One: Moon and Book Two: Sky novelizations. Some character details are changed (a couple of wonky ages, Moonshadow elves being vegetarians) or scenes, but generally canon.

Callum's Spellbook, a sweet silly version of his sketch/spellbook from the show, featuring little character profiles and notes from each of the characters, and so much gushing about Rayla, bless his soul.

However, what you're talking about is Through the Moon, a canon graphic novel and probably the most important canon supplement we've got so far. It's set about a month after S3 and focuses primarily on Rayla's declining mental health as she mourns her parents and becomes worried that perhaps Viren survived, as well as her relationship with Callum. I've compiled the most important / plot relevant pages here (which is largely just the last two pages of the graphic novel itself, and earlier pages included for context). The graphic novel largely just shows the lead-up to why Rayla is not in the first episode of S4, but I trust the show will explain that on its own terms, as 4x01 just establishes the fact she's absent so far, not why.

The other prominent graphic novel came out just this past July (so almost a month ago!) and is called Bloodmoon Huntress. It's a prequel focusing on young Rayla and how she, Ethari, and Runaan became a family. There's a character here who may appear later on in the series, but we don't know if it'll be in the show or in some other way.

The graphic novels are available on Amazon, Kindle (that's what I have bc it's cheaper and I wanted to edit / screencap them accordingly), and most book sites for online or in-person purchase. I also think there's a copy floating around online, but I haven't had to go looking, so I'm not sure!

There are also the recent short stories (under tdp shorts) set during the timeskip between S3 and S4, with Callum's taking place after Rayla's departure in Through the Moon. You can read each of them here in order of release:

Patience: Aaravos focused

The Queen's Soul: Janai focused

Inheritance: Callum focused

The Royal Council: Ezran focused

Just a reaffirmation that none of this is required reading, but the Rayllum and Ruthari fandoms, respectively, talk quite a bit about Through The Moon and Bloodmoon Huntress for obvious reasons.

#tdp #the dragon prince #masterpost #thanks for asking #agent-wash1ngtub

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raayllum · 11 months

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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

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beautifulterriblequeen · 5 years

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Hello I really loved your big long response to someone asking about your thoughts on Viren and I hope you don't mind me throwing some thoughts your way that it stirred up in me. All your talk about how he doesn't love himself, is constantly seeking to be validated, be useful, and can't see anything past if something is useful or not got me thinking... Is this why he seemed to trust Aaravos so easily once Aaravos was actually able to start Talking to him? Seriously, Aaravos starts talking to (1/2

him and his first words are "how may I serve you", that has GOT to be an ego boost to him with his fragile values towards himself. I haven't rewatched the season in a bit so forgive me if I get details wrong, but Aaravos is a force that seems to really grab onto Viren’s weakest points (his lack of self love and desire to be useful/powerful) and just use them to Aara's full advantage. Sorry I want to say so much more but the dang word limit on asks is annoying as heck. Just food for thought! (2/2)

Hi yes you want to talk more about Viren and Aaravos? Well, my good anon, I am very here for that conversation.

I think you’re touching on the critical nugget of Viren and Aaravos’s relationship right here:

he seemed to trust Aaravos so easily once Aaravos was actually able to start Talking to him

“Seemed” to trust him. Viren is a genius pragmatist. He craves what Aaravos says he’s offering--and what Aaravos himself represents--so badly he can taste it. But he reins himself in and take precautions. He literally walks away from the sparkliest elf on the planet because he wants to do things his own way if he can, and he only comes back when he’s failed to be useful by uniting the Pentarchy. Viren gets really thirsty for power, but only if he’s the one controlling it.

Viren saw this mirror in the Dragon King’s lair, and he recognized it as a magical artifact. He absolutely looted that place for everything magical he could carry, because, as I mentioned before, Viren just wants to be useful, and power lets people be useful, so he collects useful things. He’s been said to collect Primal Stones. His creepy dungeon lab is nothing but useful magical items that he may one day need.

Aaravos’s mirror began as nothing more than another stolen relic from a fallen king--but that made it very important. Did the King of the Dragons use this mirror to hold onto his power? To gain more power? To punish? To extend his reach? Viren doesn’t care what the mirror can do. It’s enough for him that Thunder seemed to have found it useful. To Viren, the mirror is a talisman of Thunder’s power. But he still needs to figure out how to use the thing to feel better about himself.

After Thunder killed three human queens in the span of five minutes, Viren is Very Motivated Indeed to making sure he and his allies are never handed such a crushing blow ever again. One way to do that is to kill Thunder--directly eliminating the threat. Another is to take all of Thunder’s magical stuff and figure out how to use it--indirectly preventing future threats. (Another is to grab his egg while no one’s looking, hatch it, and train it to fight on your side, all of which Viren was absolutely trying to do, because pragmatism)

Viren may or may not have anticipated that there was a person on the other side of the mirror before he turned it on. However, Viren gets people to do what he wants (almost) all the time. It’s one thing to find a way through the mirror and spend ages studying all those books in the library. It’s another entirely to find someone familiar with their contents, actively engaged in research, and claiming to be interested in a service role. He absolutely does not trust Aaravos, but he wants what Aaravos is offering so badly that he keeps ooching closer to him (metaphorically) until he’s perched on Aaravos’s finger like a tired bird, exhausted and needy but ready to fly if he must.

Viren needs Aaravos (or so he believes). But he does not trust Aaravos. Not yet, anyway. They’re both using each other for their own ends, but only one of them is foolish enough to say so out loud (Viren I mean Viren). Every step of their relationship is unbalanced, but it shifts in circles as a kind of drunken dance. Well, VIren shifts around Aaravos. Aaravos is standing perfectly poised in the middle, highly entertained at Viren’s antics as he reels around him. Run away, come back, beg, demand, threaten, comply, growl, smirk. Slowly, slowly, Aaravos is drawing him closer to the center, to his point of balance, instead of allowing Viren to step back and find his own balance. Aaravos wants Viren in his arms as a willing dance partner, but he’s got to teach Viren the steps first. Luckily, Aaravos is endlessly patient and Viren is a motivated learner.

It’s an entertaining dance, but it’s still a toxic one. There is no trust in their relationship at all. But that could change--Viren is only human, after all. I think S3 may very well give us a moment where Viren finally breaks. Where we may get a glimpse of his backstory, his hurts, his deepest motivations, and where Aaravos will get to choose whether to crush him or protect him. I think Aaravos will choose to protect Viren, and Viren will finally, truly trust Aaravos, as he’s never trusted anyone in his life. Not even Harrow--Viren’s first powerful friend can’t hold a candle to the sparkly power that Aaravos wields.

But Aaravos will have to step up beyond being the most impressive person Viren have ever met. He’ll have to truly show compassion for Viren in a weak moment, or Viren won’t understand the lesson. Aaravos can probably level entire armies, sure. But make him soft, make him whisper words of worth in a broken mage’s ear, make him truly believe them, without smirks or teases, and Viren will fall utterly in love. Mostly with Aaravos, but also with himself.

TDP, managing this “two negatives make a positive” story arc would blow my mind. In my other ask answer, I mentioned not being sure if Viren would choose to be redeemed in his character arc. I think the only person who could convince him to do it would be Aaravos. And only once he trusts the Star Touch with his life and soul.

Just look at this totally trustworthy face, Viren. You know you want to.

#asks #viren #aaravos #tdp s3 speculation

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