#flowers of elarion

[raayllum]

So the clue is a creepy ass cover of "Ring around the rosie," a childhood nursery rhyme about the Bubonic Plague / Black Death. Here the lyrics pictured:

"Ring around the rosie Pocket of full of posie Ashes, ashes"

stopping before the infamous "we all fall down." When you lighten the photo, there is also a picture of wilted rose.

This clue was also released very purposefully and pointedly at midnight, and the release being at midnight was built up. Therefore:

6x08 has to do with Aaravos' history with Elarion

The poem detailing the history of Elarion and his involvement with dark magic is called "The Midnight Star"

Elarion is routinely referred to as a flower/bloom

The Flowers of Elarion is a story in Tales of Xadia shared between Katolis and Moonshadow elves, specifically. It is the only story in TOX to have a dual narrative treatment.

Flowers of Elarion are left as a gift in exchange for stealing by an unfortunate elven thief stranded on the human side after the Exile.

The flowers, unbeknownst to them, turn to ash in the morning. "They never knew their gift was perceived as a curse, not a trade"

Instead, Lasair intended for them to be "a fair exchange of beloved for beloved" whenever they had to take something important/precious from a family

A wilted rose is also a symbol of dead/dying romance

Either all of this symbolism is going to be woven into Aaravos' backstory (dark magic being a gift and a curse, something that takes more than it ultimately gives) quite easily, leading to Elarion's fall as a city and perhaps Aaravos' own fall, too. If it is tied to the present, I expect it to be tied to our respective Katolis mage and Moonshadow elf, for well, reasons I don't think I have to elaborate on. Either way, it's shaping up to be an incredible episode with some very cool symbolism and deep lore, and I am prepared to be emotionally devastated.

#tdp #the dragon prince #tdp spoilers #s6 spoilers #6x08 #im shitting myself rn #s6 #flowers of elarion #twitter puzzles #s6 speculation #predictions #tales of xadia #i have wanted this for like 2 years now #oh my god #me writing this while horking back tears truly #i could also see it being related to the sunfire elves bc ashes. sickness. y'know? #but there is only one flower related to ashes. so #6x07 being aaravos' fall from the heavens. 6x08 being the hell he brought to earth. yeah

[parroset]

Flowers of Elarion

Here's my interpretation on Aaravos with some flowers of Elarion (in glow pens because it's fun). I based them off of hyacinths for several reasons:

1. Hyacinths are my favorite flowers

2. Hyacinths smell AMAZING, and Tales of Xadia states that flowers of Elarion "have a scent that can soothe the most ragged spirit":

3. In flower language, hyacinths can symbolize jealousy, desire for forgiveness, and sincerity, among other things:

To me, this fits Lasair's story well. Leaving behind a flower as a gift as a way of asking for forgiveness for what they've stolen gives the gesture a bit more meaning. The sincerity/jealousy not only represents duality (a theme that is prevalent within the flowers of Elarion story) but also represents Lasair's feelings of jealousy for humans, who have enough to survive and don't need to steal, and the sincere desire for friendship and forgiveness.

I just think they're neat.

#aaravos #the dragon prince #my art #flowers of elarion #aaravos fanart #symbolism #duality theme #tdp theory #my theories #tdp meta #sort of #I love flower language #i could also go into Greek mythology and talk about how hyacinths symbolize rebirth and queer love #and how these themes link to the idea of Elarion and humanity #and especially link to the moon arcanum #but I digress #maybe one day I'll actually fully render this piece but for now this is it so #enjoy!

[zuppizup]

Watch the sun As it crawls across a final time And it feels like Like it was a friend

It is watching us And the world we set on fire Do you wonder If it feels the same?

And the sky is filled with light Can you see it? All the black is really white If you believe it

As your time is running out Let me take away your doubt You can find a better a place In this twilight

Dust to dust Ashes in your hair remind me What it feels like And I won't feel again

Night descends Could I have been a better person? If I could only  Do it all again

And the sky is filled with light Can you see it? All the black is really white If you believe it

And the longing that you feel You know none of this is real You will find a better a place In this twilight

In This Twilight - Nine Inch Nails

Ring around the rosie,

A pocket full of posies.

Ashes! Ashes!

We all fall down!

Check out Raayllum’s awesome analysis of what we’ve got so far from this title clue.

#the dragon prince #tdp #tdp spoilers #tdp s6 spoilers #searching the guide book for mentions of ‘ashes’ and ‘flowers’ #putting money on Raayllum being right for years #flowers of elarion gotta be important #begging #I need the title but I know it’s going to kill me /pos

[its-leethee]

I'm not the only one whose first thought was that this hopeful little white bud could be a Flower of Elarion, right?

#i'll believe it is until canon tells me it isn't #tdp speculation #the dragon prince #5x02 #tales of xadia

[butididnottried]

That’s just how sentient trees talks, sorry, i don’t make these rules.

First pages.

#story time #pre-canon #kinda headcanon? #tdp #the dragon prince #comic #elarion #aaravos #backgrounds? i don't know them #there's definitely too many colours #our precious boy murdered a dragon Just Like That #but these flowers are made of love so it was worth it #fanart #fan comic

[queenjanai]

what if aaravos doesn’t know a lot about non-magical flowers and elarion has a garden and she takes him to it and starts explaining him about the different types of flowers and plants she has and which are the ones she likes the most. she’s very passionate about it, so she talks for like hours. and it some points aaravos would stop listening and just stare at her talking because she looks so happy. bonus if after this he starts brining her flowers every day

AND what if after elarion learns earth magic, she can create any kind of crystal she wants. she has always loved crystals so whenever she’s bored she makes a random crystal and starts to play and twirl it around her fingers. she forgets about the crystals she makes every time, so aaravos just finds crystals in every shape of color around the house. he takes them to a shelf he put up where all of elarion’s crystals are

#crystals and flowers! some good food! #the dragon prince #elavos #elarion #aaravos #headcanon

[lily-lilou]

Aaravos and his (possible) place in Xadia

In the last theory I made (here’s the complete version) about Aaravos and his hidden agenda, I've retranscripted some things the creators said about Aaravos. 

One of them was that there's a part of him who wants power, who wants to be worshiped and revered. 

But I also said it doesn't make sense since he's a startouch and a first elf, which means practically a deity in Xadia. He was powerful, he had to be revered just by existing, no?

While discussing with @theoneandonlymagiscientist​, something just hit me (again, yes. There’s always things that hit me...):

if Aaravos is searching ultimately for this (power and worship), then maybe it wasn't that simple?

I already talked about what kind of power he could be searching for in that theory linked above (life-magic), and that he still didn't achieve to reach it because he doesn't understand "love" (if you don't undersant, go read what I put in this link, it will make sense ^^)

But now, what about the "worshiped" part? What led him to this? What led a powerful first startouch elf, already revered by probably all of Xadia, to want this.

Well... all of Xadia? Not sure.

Remember this?

And remember the translation? (this one can be found here and it's from u/someone-kill-I because it's the most beautiful and poetic I saw so far)

Elarion, a heavy guest . Cried when the brightest stars . Turned into a dark abyss . Wearing their masks. Turning their backs. They left Elarion to suffer death. Elarion Wrestling death ... Until from a far. Came the last star's breath. His touch: fire, flam, a gift. --- Elarion, ever so white. Accepted the flame of the darkest night. And when kneeling. It's faith declared . Aaravos whispered his name. ----* Elarion the dark eyed child . Spreads it's roots wherever it can. With the aid of the power of man . And with the might Aaravos . The midnight star. --- Elarion, like shivering seeds. Laying on the winter snow . Rises and with beautiful colours . The seeds grow . defying the cold winter snow... ----- Elarion, a blooming flower . Scared of sun fading away. Searches for his eternal flame . And so glowed the dragon's eyes. ----- Elarion, the abandoned child. Raises it's white roots. into the darkest night. Looking for aid of the stars light. Asking to stop the dragon with their might. ----* Elarion, a heavy guest . Cried when the brightest stars . Turned into a dark abyss . Wearing their masks. Turning their backs. They left Elarion to suffer death

Yeah, you noticed the parts I put in bold? 

Humans turned first to the brightest stars. But these brightest stars left and then, the last star came, Aaravos. 

... Do you see my point? Yes. Aaravos is a startouch elf, a first elf. And yes, for maybe the rest of the world, he is like a deity, powerful and all.

But was he percieved the same way by his own kin? Because if some are called "the brightest" and he's called “the las”t, if he's called the darkest, the midnight star... then maybe...

I see two interpretations to explain this. 

Two possibilities I can explain by using our own pantheons of gods. The greek one, to be precise.

Aaravos is a minor god. In the greek pantheon we have the major gods like Zeus and Poseidon (the brightest stars). But we have also little ones who are maybe powerful for humans, but considered weak and so despised by their elders. In this idea, Aaravos would be a minor god, maybe the weakest and so least worshiped of all.

But I have another idea, and this one would fit more because we know that Aaravos was extremely powerful.

Aaravos is the equivalent of Hades. Hades who's jealous of the light and freedom of his brothers, hades who can only control death (dark magic) but is craving for light (life-magic). Hades who's feared and hated by his own kin but want to be loved. And he doesn't know what love is, until Eros came and messed up (persephone and all)

So what if Aaravos is some kind of Hades who found in humans what he never found elswhere: need, trust... love?

#Aaravos #the last star #the brightest stars #tdp theories #Aaravos doesn't understand what love is #my boi in the mirror #it hurts #Hades #Greek pantheon

[galaxyspark-6e16]

so i was scrolling through the internet and then i've found callum's spellbook was finally online so iv could finally dive in while reading it i've come to aaravos chapter and i couldnt  believe my eyes when i saw this written text;

my heart just dropped, to other people it may seem unimportant but seeing my language in this ficional universe being used its just fills my heart because its being represented, but also meaning that the five human kingdoms has fused with eachother with cultural and religious differences that perhaps they are living in peace with everyone respect and undertends eachother belief

people may have already translated the text from season two bt this time its clearer and i wanted to give it a try since i speak it, but then i realized how im falling my arabic class so ill be needing google translate a bit (the probem to me is that each grade we learn anciant literature and old  poems from famous poets and the words are becoming more complicated that i rather focus on non arabic subject than to undertand a text of the 19 centrury)

my first mistake was elaroune but actually its was elarion so..

elarion heavy compagnon she cried while transforming the stars of the sky to blackness They wore their masks They turned their backs and left elarion to die elarion and (her/Its) shell is wrestling withered and meant to be in the dark until the last star came from afar touched Fire sparked him a gift elarion shining white embraced the flame of the greatest blackest night and when it bent She declared her faith whispered aaravos, his name elarion child with blackest eyes Spread the twisted roots with each dimension/distance and with the power of man/humans that caught/ignighted aaravos the midnight star the midnight star elarion with trembling seeds lied down the earth on the iciest of night and of the cold attracted/pulled it roots She defies a bite of the deadly winter elarion and her open flower afraid of withering, and darkness and death she had searched for darkness insted of light but the hungry dragon eye caught her elarion, the afraid bastard her white branches arrived toward the night questionned the stars to find her light and stooped the attacking dragon fire elarion heavy compagnon she cried while transforming the stars of the sky to blackness They wore their masks They turned their backs and left elarion to die

#THE DRAGON PRINCE #tdp #my thoughts #aaravos #elarion #it was a bit personal too it was a good wa to practise while in thi pandemic

[arcadialedger]

The Poem of Aaravos, and his Arabic Roots

Get ready for AARAVOS THEORY AND OBSESSION TIME.

In season 2 of the Dragon Prince, we see Viren search for information about Aaravos. Before the text disappears, we get a brief glimpse of what is written inside the books.

It first should be noted that most of the text surrounding Aaravos is in Arabic (see the poem below) according to my Egyptian/ Arabic speaking friend @jo-the-poetic-rock​, an ancient dialect of Arabic specifically. Something a lot of people don’t realize is that Aaravos is voiced by a black actor, and coded as Afro- Arab. This makes sense with Aaravos being a Startouch Elf.

Aaravos is built up as a figure of ancient history, and so it entirely makes sense to place the Startouch Elves culture in the ancient cradle of civilization, where the world’s oldest stories were written. Further, the ancient Arabs were notable scholars-- particularly in astronomy (and many other subjects as well). And so, the Elves inspired by them are connected to the stars.

The books are written in Danish, however. Not Arabic— an interesting choice. So, what exactly does it say?

It reads (translated by myself): “Finally he told me his name. I had never heard of a name like his, but I had never imagined that elves are like him. He is stronger, older and wiser than any magical creatures in Xadia. Still, he is a friend to all humans. Where others look down on un us and call us simpler, he sees great potential in us. When we accept the things Aaravos promises us, that they shall pay for their pretension, they will be forced to see us like equals. And when we are equals we will take fate in our own hands.”

These words are written by Elarion, an important figure in Aaravos’s history. Continuing off of that, we have the Poem of Aaravos, which features the prophecy of Elarion, found on an ancient Arabic scroll. 

This poem is titled “The Midnight Star”, and was posted to the official Dragon Prince website. It consists of seven stanzas, and tells the tragic prophecy of Elarion. The translation posted below was done by user throwawaythisarab on reddit, an Arabic speaker. The post is linked below so you can read their featured notes about the translation:

https://www.reddit.com/r/TheDragonPrince/comments/asm576/aaravos_complete_arabic_poem_translation_in/

~~~~~~~

Elarion, seeds trembling

Lying on the ground on an icy night.

And in the cold

She withdrew her roots

Challenging the sting of the deadly winter.

Elarion, and her blooming flower,

afraid of wilting, darkness and death,

Had searched the dark

For a spark

And so the eyes of the hungry dragon flared.

Elarion, the frightened foundling

Stretched her white branches towards the night.

Asking the stars,

To receive her light,

And to stop the fire of the raging dragon.

Elarion, in a heavy rest,

cried while the stars of the skies turned black

They wore their masks,

Turned their backs,

And left Elarion to die.

Elarion, as her skin struggled  death,

Withered and suffered in the dark,

Until the last star,

Reached out from far away

Its touch: a fire, a gift, a spark.

Elarion, and her blinding light,

Embraced the great black flame of night.

And when she bowed,

She declared her faith,

He whispered, "Aaravos," his name.

Elarion, black-eyed child,

her twisted roots spread deep and far,

The humans’ might

sparked by the light

of Aaravos, her midnight star.

~~~~~~~

A truly beautiful poem, and I cannot help but anxiously await for more information regarding Aaravos’s past, and this poem, to be revealed in future seasons. By far and away one of the most fascinating characters I have ever had the pleasure to watch OR read.

These are most likely the events which got Aaravos imprisoned. Don’t forget that Aaravos is a very ancient elf, and the first arch mage of Xadia and master of all six arcanums. In the opening narration of the show-- which Aaravos narrates-- we see him amongst the elven forces driving humans to the west.

He looks particularly Arabic in this younger design, and more powerful. He is clearly at his height of power at this moment-- the Midnight Star who would become legend, and eventually break the chains which both the world attempted to shackle his power with to reclaim the world. Even amongst the other elves, he seems to have a higher presence. 

I’m sure this has been translated and discussed before I watched and joined the fandom, but I was simply itching to share the incredible history being built up behind this character. The mythology surrounding him is unparalleled. I hope you all enjoy, and perhaps take time to look at the beautiful language which is Arabic, as well as the entire Semetic language family. 

#the dragon prince #dragon prince #tdp #netflix #netflix series #aaravos #character analysis #translation #arabic #linguistics #or is that finguistics?XD #language #semetic languages #theory #theories #theorizing #backstory

[moonshadow-memes]

sooooooooooo this is a rough translation of the first book, containing the poem about Elarion that we got teased about a few weeks ago.

PLEASE KNOW THAT THIS IS NOT ACCURATE!

we’re gonna need the original english poem to understand the true words, but this is a rough translation of the arabic in the screenshot, if someone would like to contribute a better one please do!

they turned their backs and left Elarion to die Elarion, her vessel fighting death withered and suffered in darkness until the last star shone from afar she touched it: fire, a gift, a spark

Elarion, with her bright white embraced the night's great dark flame and when she (it?) bowed, offered surrender, the name “Aaravos” was whispered

Elarion, the girl with black eyes spreading her roots far with the human strength that lit from Aaravos, her midnight star her midnight star

Elario, shaking to the core lays on the ground in an icy night in the cold pulled her roots close to fight the night's murderous chill

(the part after this is obscured by lord viking’s sleeves)

her flower blossomed fears withering and darkness has searched ---- for ---- it lit with flames ---- 

the very last verse is

--- a spark --- the eyes of hungry dragons

#the dragon prince #tdp #spoiler #spoilers #elarion #aaravos #season2 #season 2 spoilers

[ask-aaravos-midnight-star]

Midnight Star Connection to Claudia?

So, upon doing some digging and reading up on Aaravos, as well as some theorizing and talking with @beautifulterriblequeen, I now believe that the poem about Aaravos, Midnight Star, may also hold some link to Claudia. I’ve gone through and looked at it piece by piece: Elarion, trembling seedling Lying on the ground on an icy night. And in the cold She pulled her roots Defying the deadly winter bite. Elarion, and her open flower, Afraid of wilt, darkness and death, She searched the darkness For a Spark And caught the eyes of a hungry dragon.   I think this may also connect to Claudia learning dark magic, just the very beginning of her learning and beginning to use it. As we’ve seen, Sol Regem himself can tell that a human has used dark magic even once by how he reacted to Callum.

Elarion, the fearful fool, Reached her white branches toward the night, Asking the stars To receive their light And stop the fire of the raging dragon.

The stars in this refer to, by extension, Aaravos who started everything with dark magic. This particular instance would symbolize Claudia having to reach for dark magic to save Soren, who’s injuries were in fact via dragon.

Elarion, a heavy body, Cried as the stars of the sky turned to black, They turned their backs They concealed their light, They left Elarion to die.

This instance isn’t necessarily in reference to Claudia dying, but to her being abandoned. She saw her brother “kill” their father, who he did not know was an illusion at the time, and then he abandoned her. No help for her, because she chose Viren.

Elarion, her shell struggled death, She withered and suffered in darkness, Until the last star Linked from afar: a fire, a gift, a spark.

Now here is where it may begin to get a bit murky, as we didn’t exactly see what happened. I believe this may hint toward Aaravos aiding her when it came to reviving the dead Viren.

Elarion, with her pure whiteness, Embraced the great black night flame. When she bent down, She declared her faith, She whispered, "Aaravos," his name. Elarion, black-eyed child, Her twisted roots spread deep and far, The humans’ might Sparked by the light Of Aaravos, her midnight star.

This would refer to her future, perhaps a hint that she may become to Aaravos as Viren did; a pawn for manipulation, and in doing such, be corrupted with MORE dark magic? And, as little a detail as it may be, “black eyed child”, while it may refer to dark magic users, we have seen her’s SPECIFICALLY go completely black after the use of dark magic. 

Thoughts?

#ooc #the dragon prince #aaravos #claudia #theory

[raayllum]

me rolling in with a "the thing that's giving Aaravos' prison the opal translucent esque walls and light is a flower of elarion"

Lasair left beautiful blooms called Flowers of Elarion, rare and precious blossoms that grow with soft light and have a scent that can soothe the most ragged spirit.

+ Bonus Aaravos' prison walls being very leafy in design whereas even Moonshadow architecture at the Silvergrove is not like that

#anyway this killed me thank u #tales of xadia #flowers of elarion #should really just be a tag for me at this point #tdp theory #mine #tdp #the dragon prince #nature motif

[parroset]

Intro to this page!

Hello! I'm an Aaravos-obsessed queer fanartist who is new to Tumblr. I joined this app to find more TDP content and make some more TDP friends! I love drawing Aaravos and The Merciful One with a sibling-like dynamic and overanalyzing a lot of little things in this show. I'm also taking Aaravos drawing requests!

As of now, I'm more active on insta and have many more drawings and analysis stuff there in my posts and highlights. My Instagram is the same as my Tumblr (parroset) so find me there for more ramblings lol

I've listed links to most of my original posts below, but you can find it all by using the tags. All my original art, theories, analysis, and headcanons will be under the tags "my art," "my theories," "my analysis," and "my headcanons," respectively.

Warning: this page will have season 6 spoilers as they come out.

Links:

Fanart:

Old Aaravos fanart

Aaravos and The Merciful One

Aaravos getting his hair braided

Christmas drawings part 1

Christmas drawings part 2

Christmas drawings part 3

Pink Aaravos

New years post and bonus

Mirror animatic

A tattoo?

Watercolor Aaravos

Ponytail Aaravos

Blood and Stardust

Shine

Star Sparrows

Apple falling

Orphan Queen animatic

The Merciful One disappearing

Holi Aaravos

Young Claudia and Viren - coin flip!

Matching outfits

Flowers of Elarion

Aaravos parenting Claudia

The Merciful One

Analysis/Theories/Headcanons:

Aaravos's eye sparkle-freckles

Viren needs a storm

Aaravos headcanons part 1

Novablade Theory: the Novablade is made from a star devourer dragon's tooth

Parallels: Miyana and Aaravos in relation to their mages

Reflections, reflections, reflections -- and Startouch elves

"elf sad" Clip Analysis

#welcome to my page #admin post

[villainhore]

The Midnight Star

So I made an attempt at translating the Aaravos/Elarion poem that @thedragonprinceofficial​ posted today. Did take a few liberties here and there but tried to also make them rhyme so the beautiful, haunting words flowed well. If anyone would like to suggest corrections etc, please let me know, thanks!

"Elarion, core trembling  lay down on an icy night and in the cold pulled at her roots challenging the deadly winter bite

Elarion and her blooming flower afraid of wilt, injustice and death searched in the darkness for his light the eyes of the hungry dragon burned

Elarion, confused, frightened, brought her white branches towards the night the stars asked to receive her light and the fire of the raging dragon stopped

Elarion, with a heavy heart, cried as the stars in the sky turned black they wore their masks they turned their backs and they left Elarion to die

Elarion, her skin wrestled with death, withered and cursed in the dark, until the last star reached out from afar she touched him: a blazing gifted spark

Elarion, with her pure white, embraced the great black night flame and when she bent down she declared her faith whispering, "Aaravos", his name

Elarion, black-eyed child, her twisted roots spread deep and far, the human's might sparked by the light of Aaravos, her midnight star”

#the dragon prince #tdp #tdp spoilers #aaravos #elarion #elavos #words #prose #this was fun to do lol #god i need to better my arbi—its such a beautiful language

[celestial-mangoshakes]

Elarion’s Depiction (An Aaravos Arabic Poem + Book 3 Analysis)

This is a take debunking most common interpretations of Elarion’s poem. Most commonly, the fandom perceives Elarion as a human girl. Which, to be honest, I thought was the case, but was not. So, I will clear it all up.

For those of you who have seen Season 3, you already know. But either way, I wanted to show the relation between what had been expressed in the poem, and how it relates to what we saw in the third season. [Link to the original translated Midnight Star poem]

Right away at the beginning, the setting had already been established from the first stanza throughout. It uses words such as “seeds,” “roots,” and “flower,” among many. This earthly diction signifies that the setting is in earth. The setting is also established through the imagery from the grimlike diction with the words “night,” “deadly,” “death,” and more.

The poem has a main striking feature: its emphasis on Elarion’s struggle. We notice right away that Elarion is referred to as a person with she/her pronouns. Alongside that earthly diction, it would be speculated that “Elarion” could be a human mage, particularly connected with the Arcanum of Earth. The tone written on “Elarion” and her relation to Earth is shown as nurturing and protective, as seen in the first stanza:

Elarion, seeds trembling

Lying on the ground on an icy night.

And in the cold

[She] withdrew her roots

Challenging the sting of the deadly winter.

Also from line 6 of the poem implies this theme of nurturing:

Elarion, and her blooming flower,

I believe that the idea of “nurturing” the Earth would be greatly connected to the Earth Arcanum, since it is a source of Primal Magic, which is why this initially gave me the impression of Elarion having been the first human mage. But there is more.

In addition, the poem declaring Elarion’s connection to Aaravos easily leads to the speculation that “she” could possibly be Aaravos’ former lover. But, that is not the case in line 11:

Elarion, the frightened foundling

Elarion is referred to as a foundling, meaning “an infant that has been abandoned by its parents and is discovered and cared for by others.” And it fits perfectly, as that “carer” would then be Aaravos.

Now, this would imply that Elarion was orphaned. To clarify, this is not to be mixed with the Orphan Queen, since Elarion emerged 2,000 years prior to the events of the series, while the Orphan Queen emerged 300 years before. [x]

So this is where it gets interesting. Going back to the first stanza again, we note the diction pertaining to the cold via the words “icy,” “trembling,” and “winter.” And in the second stanza, the phrase “her blooming flower, afraid of wilting, darkness and death,” heavily implied that the cold caused Elarion’s life to slowly deteriorate.

Starting to sound familiar? If not, think of the reason why Ziard and his followers came to practice dark magic. His home was falling into starvation. What could possibly the reason for it? A dark, grueling, winter. Crops and food sources were barely surviving under the dangerously low temperatures.

To put it simply, Elarion was a city. This means that the author of the poem decided to use personification to refer to Elarion. Think of how throughout history, countries and places have been referred to as a male or a female figure. And Elarion was personified as a “motherland,” hence the use of she/her pronouns as identifiers. Now, I know the term motherland is defined as “one’s native country,” whilst Elarion was not. But you get the idea of the personification aspect.

Returning to the poem, the diction of earth, alongside the indication of suffering under the winter was a metaphor for a famine, synonymous with starvation. The people of Elarion were dying of hunger. Ziard, within any means necessary, searched for a way to save his people. The “spark” on line 9 alludes to his newfound use of dark magic.

The mood on the second stanza exudes a feeling of shock, especially on line 10 that states, “And so the eyes of the hungry dragon flared,” indicating Sol Regem’s anger due to the human use of dark magic.

...But why refer to Elarion as a “foundling?” was the author pitying Elarion due to its weak and fragile state, or that it had been a relatively new city? But then it wouldn’t really have made sense since Elarion rose a thousand years before humans began using dark magic. So we’re not so sure as of now.

Stanzas 3 and 4 are self-explanatory. Elarion sought help from the Startouch Elves, but had ignored their pleas. The reason for that might not only be because of the Elves’ alliance with the dragons, but the fact that Startouch Elves have a “detached, big picture of the world,” meaning they had an objective view of what was happening and cared less of what occurred on Earth. This also possibly meant that the Startouch Elves didn’t save Elarion because the deemed it as insignificant in the eye of history, or “the big picture.” [x]

And as we all know, all but one turned back on Elarion, which was Aaravos, who donned Ziard his staff and the art of dark magic. The concept of dark magic is notably referred to with fire-like imagery with the words “spark,” “fire,” “light,” and “black flame.”

Also on the following two lines, note the words “light” and “night” juxtapose each other. As if saying that Elarion, once a kind and flourishing city, skewed their morals by accepting dark magic.

Elarion, and her blinding light,

Embraced the great black flame of night.

...And what would Elarion’s “blinding light” possibly mean? It is a metaphor for something for sure, but what it means isn’t clear (I’d appreciate comments if you have theories on this one!).

Recall the pattern with the use of diction pertaining to darkness. Some irony can be noted especially on where Elarion was written to wither and suffer “in the dark” (Stanza 5, line 23), but then was written that the city “embraced the great black flame of night” (Stanza 6, line 28). As if saying Elarion suffered “in the dark” against its will, but now embraces dark magic by accepting Aaravos’ gift.

Right after Elarion pledges loyalty to Aaravos in the last stanza, notice lines 32 and 33:

Elarion, black-eyed child,

her twisted roots spread deep and far,

See “black-eyed child” on line 32. Again, the author of the poem vividly personifies Elarion, giving “her” physical attributes. But since Elarion was a city, that couldn’t be literally possible at all. Or is it? ...Well, the phrase is most likely a strong metaphor for when one uses dark magic. A prime example:

Of course, this “black-eyed child” isn’t only referring to Ziard, who, is presumably from Elarion himself. Sol Regem did briefly mention that Ziard had followers (see Book 3, Episode 1). So instead, Elarion being referred to as a “black-eyed child” could collectively refer to all those who practiced dark magic— presumably all of which came from the city, which was the birthplace of dark magic.

Moving on to line 33, we see the earthlike diction appearing again through the phrase “twisted roots.” Toward the end of the poem, those roots have been twisted. The word twisted is a connotation not just referring to “twisted roots” in a literal sense, but really refer to Elarion corrupting its own values for dark magic, hence the term.

A quick note: remember how I mentioned in the beginning of the post about Elarion and the theme of nurturing, and how the text implied that “she” was the “first human mage?” Because it is true. Elarion was the birthplace of where humans were able to use [dark] magic.

In addition, Elarion’s “roots” were first introduced in the beginning stanza. The roots may be a metaphor for Elarion’s capability to live and withhold itself. As though saying, “the city was once weak; but with its roots ‘spreading deep and far’ through dark magic, Elarion’s strength had increased tenfold.” As such expressed in the last three lines of the poem:

The humans’ might

sparked by the light

of Aaravos, her midnight star.

#the dragon prince #tdp meta #tdp #aaravos #tdp aaravos #aaravos x elarion #aaravos poem #elavos #tdp elarion #tdp dark magic #tdp speculation #tdp season 3 #tdp s3 spoilers #sol regem #elarion #tdp ziard #dark magic #astral.txt #there was SO MUCH to unpack from this bad boy #but it was fun #trying to put what I learned from my ib english classes to some GOOD USE #long post

[queenjanai]

elavos headcanons !!

aaravos is usually the serious/grumpy one and elarion is the cheerful one, but after they met aaravos became more sweet and elarion more fierce and protective of him

aaravos met elarion reading under a tree on the top of a hill. when he first saw her, he felt like she was different from the other humans. her eyes were golden brown and they reminded aaravos of the stars on arms

aaravos taught her earth magic and she was quick to learn it because she had loved nature ever since she was little. at first when her power is new and she isn't so good at controlling it, flowers bloomed around her as she walked, and aaravos was mesmerized by it.

they both love nature, so their dates are usually garden dates. walking around fields of fruit tress and hills full of flowers, enjoying xadia's magical nature

their first kiss was on the edge of a stone fountain inside a maze-like garden. aaravos had been with a lot of people, but elarion felt different than any of them. she was magical

elarion has trouble going around in his house. since he's so tall, aaravos is constantly picking elarion up so she can reach the very high places in his house. one of her favorite thing to do is sit on his kitchen counter and swing her legs as he cooks for them

they're both huuuggeee book worms. they love to lie together on his bed or couch and read, enjoying the silence

aaravos is very physical when it comes to love. when they're reading, he'll put his arm on elarion's back. he loves to cuddle with her, stroking her hair or back until she falls asleep.

they have the cutest pet names for each other. aaravos calls her "my love", "my darling" and his favorite name is "my sun and moon". basically everything with my.

aaravos prefers to stay awake during the night and sleep during the day. elarion is the opposite, but aaravos will fall asleep with her and elarion will stay awake for him

he always wakes up before her though and brings her breakfast to bed and they eat together until the blankets

#the dragon prince #elarion #aaravos #elavos #they make me go 💖💖💖💖 #headcanon