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Theory: Viren Will Heal the Sunforge

Viren healing the Sunforge? That's a bit mad, isn't it?

It is. I know it is. But, hear me out. Look at Viren's arc and his "Greatest Hits" (lol) and I think there is an argument that could say: his story has been building toward this.

Viren's path toward darkness began when Soren got sick and Viren chose to do the unthinkable, the unforgivable, to heal his son. And that destroyed Viren's body--and, ironically, his family.

He remembered how he’d been filled with hope, certainty even, that this would change everything. He remembered hurrying home, ready to be forgiven. And even more clearly, he remembered the bitter hole left in his soul when Lissa told him his restored appearance changed nothing. Even though dark magic had helped their family, saving their son’s life—she seemed to fear him and hate him now, and he knew he could never repair that. (Book One: Moon) 

So, keep that in mind. His corruption, his path, began when he healed his son ("sun"), his "golden" boy. This moment didn't only ruin his physical appearance, it collapsed the foundations of his family and began to slow descent downward.

Now, skip forward a bit, while still remaining in a time before the events of the main series. What was Viren's next Big Act on his journey?

... I think it was the Heart of the Titan.

“If we can hunt this monster and slay it, I can use the heart of the titan in a powerful spell that will warm the land, and allow us to magically grow an incredible bounty.” (Viren, 2x05)

To save Duren from a famine, Viren proposed they slay a Magma Titan and use its heart in a Dark Magic spell. This was a massive undertaken with devastating consequences, profound loss of life, and it was something Viren could singularly do:

“Viren... Without him to perform the spell, the heart is worthless, and this was all for nothing.” (Sarai, 2x06)

Once again, Viren's path of darkness yielded positive results, but at a great cost. With blood on his hands, Viren was able to do something only the sun can do: generate life and heat to a dying land.

Aaaaand this starts to bring us into the present. Because, of course, this moment--the crossing into Xadia to kill the Magma Titan--is what led to the series of dominoes that culminates in the main plot of the series.

In the main series arc, Viren's Big Act on his path of corruption and darkness is that he facilitates the destruction of Lux Aurea, the corruption of the Sun Nexus/Sunforge. (Note: I know he did a lot of other horrible stuff, but this was the kind of pinnacle of his badness and the climax of his arc. His point of no return.)

"But first, there is something we need here in Lux Aurea." "You want us to attack the stronghold of the Sunfire elves? But we need to preserve our forces for the final confrontation." "Viren, I’m nothing if not elegant and efficient. We’ll risk as few lives as possible… one." "Ah, mine." (Aaravos, Viren, 3x07)

Using Viren as a vessel, Aaravos was able infiltrate Lux Aurea, bite Pharos (the Sunfire Priest), taint the Sun Staff, and then spread corruption to the Sunforge, coating it in darkness. This also cemented Viren's feet to the path, there was no turning back now, and only death awaited him.

The destruction of Lux Aurea has had massive repercussions for the plot at large, fueling the events in Act 2 of this story. It has led Karim towards his own path of darkness in a bid to restore his home to its former glory (and turning him against his sister Janai).

So, to recap, Viren's story has included such highlights as:

Healing his son ("sun")

Warming the land (... like a sun)

Corrupting the Sunforge (which is symbolically the sun itself)

And what does his future look like? What ominous warning do we have lingering about good old Viren?

"The Sun Will Rise... And You Will Not"

(like Viren is just surrounded by sun imagery, isn't he?)

Of course this line is Aaravos trying to scare Viren into compliance. On the surface, this seems to be implying Viren will die at sunrise if he doesn't perform the Infantis Sanguine spell. And, sure, that could be what it means. But, like a lot of things, I think there could possibly be a double-meaning.

If Viren does heal the Sunforge in the future, this line could also apply, especially if the act kills him (or nearly kills him). It would be a sacrificial act of Viren drawing the poison out of the Sun and into his own body. Much like when healing Soren caused Viren's body to start to rot, pulling all that darkness out of the Sun Nexus could have horrifying consequences for Viren's health. Perhaps fatal consequences.

Yes, the sun will rise again, but Viren? He won't. (Maybe. I personally think he'll pull through.)

The "Why" of it All: Why Viren? Why a human?

Because I believe a human has to be the one to restore Lux Aurea, to teach Karim (and the prejudiced ones of the Sunfire elves) a vital lesson.

Take a look at Karim's hatred against humans and his belief of their inferiority in "After Darkness":

Karim’s blood flared with anger at the sight of her grin. He could not expect a human to understand what they’d come here to do, or what they’d lost.

and

“He was my friend,” Karim spat. “I will mourn him. And this is my home, and I will save it. You— you don’t belong here. You never belonged here, human.”

If a lowly human were the one to help restore Lux Aurea back to glory, it would show Karim that humans can help--and, more, that their union with Xadia is the path forward out of Darkness.

Viren healing the Sunforge would also invert what Khessa had said about humanity (to Viren's face):

“Ugh! Humans disgust me. Your kind could not be satisfied with what you were given. So you take what is not yours. You take it within you, and you turn it to filth.”

If Viren "took it [the corruption] within" him, he would be purifying it instead. Which would be a nice little bookend, I think.

Furthermore! Viren healing the Sunforge after he was the one to break it in the first place would bring new meaning to a particular season 4 subplot:

Lucia and Yonnis.

I mean come on! A human extinguished a sacred flame and then had to work to redeem herself to the Sunfire elves. Janai decreed that forgiveness and restitution was the more noble and just course of action.

“Gone are the days where we shed blood for justice. If we are to rebuild, we must do so together. In mercy. In compassion. Your hands shall make your amends. Under the guidance of our priests, you will build a shrine here...one where soul candles may burn without threat to the camp.”

So, like, Viren extinguished one big old candle, yeah? It would be poetic to let him try to fix it.

Anyway, on that note, let's look at this message Janai said to Karim after her judgment of Lucia:

“The Sun gives her light, but nurturing the seed is the work of our lifetimes. This is how we are going to rebuild, Karim. With patience. With faith. You and I... We won't live to see this new day. No, we won't. But the future will be bright again.”

... and, hey, that last line! What does that remind me of?

"To fulfill your wishes, of course. Is your wish to rule Xadia?" "I wish for humanity to flourish. And it cannot flourish with a knife forever at its throat." "So, you wish to conquer Xadia?" "No! No, my goal is a bright future for humanity."

I just think it's neat. 🥔

#viren #tdp theory #the dragon prince #text post from meeee #i had to get this out of my head #as for how viren would do this? i subscribe to star viren myself #and i can update my thoughts on that later #but it could always be dark magic again for all i know #i just think this would be a fitting ending to viren's story #and yes this is why i drew that art

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Art based on the theory Viren will heal the Sunforge ☀️

#viren #tdp fanart #tdp theory #squigglyscribble #i need to write the meta eventually but i've drawn something inspired by this theory #he's slowly becoming corrupted (hence the dark corruption lines) because he's taking the darkness into his own body

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A couple of Star daddies ✨

#tdp fanart #viren #aaravos #viravos #squigglyscribble #i did this one quickly the other day and forgot to put it on tumblr

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A baby girl 💜

#tdp fanart #the dragon prince #tdp claudia #squigglyscribble #finally colored this sketch I had #I love her

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Sometimes I just wanna draw an evil blood spattered dark mage.

#my earlier bloody sketch made me want more #can’t tell me this didn’t happen a lot in the middle of his various evil deeds #viren #tdp fanart #squigglyscribble #trying a new palette too

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More Viren drawings I’ve done recently. (I just think he’s neat.)

#viren #tdp fanart #the dragon prince #squigglyscribble #I just put them all in one document to save on spam lol #those angel wings were a pain I do not draw feathers #he is great for practicing these poses I have saved in my folders lol

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Reborn Star Viren ✨

#I just wanted to draw him in a blankie #he needs a nap nap #Viren #tdp fanart #squigglyscribble #even without the clown car theory this is just fun aesthetically #AU tag?

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Various doodles of Viren capturing various Viren Moods: Done™️, homicidal 😈, sad 🥺, and as always… dad.

#viren #the dragon prince #tdp fanart #squigglyscribble #I started just doodling and then realized there was a theme

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Further thoughts about Viren connecting to the Star Arcanum. (Gonna put all this under the "read more" since I know I'm clowning.)

One thing I kept circling back to was the final scene. We seen Viren lay down and let out a visible breath (despite it being summer, so warmer temperatures).

I was curious what could be the reason for showing this?

A way to make us think this is his last breath and he is about to die?

A callback to Viren having used someone's last breath for his own devious ends--the key ingredient to fuel the vengeance spell that killed Avizandum?

But then I remembered there was a reference to a last breath in this very reason:

"and though undying, took last breath, immortal Laurelion was no more"

The poem Kazi finds about Laurelion refers to a last breath when researching how to kill a Startouch elf.

While Callum believes this poem hints at Laurelion being killed by the Novablade, Kazi says, "It's confusing," which is a cue to make us think a bit more heavily about what was just said.

My guess? When stabbed through the heart with the Novablade, Laurelion became mortal.

Now... how is this relevant to Viren?

We've been told Aaravos never lies (I know, I know, let's just roll with it). Which means he has to employ manipulation and word play as opposed to outright fabrication.

So. Let's take a looksie. Here is every line of dialogue Aaravos says in 5x09:

Aaravos: Lord Viren, fancy seeing you here. Viren: You… Aaravos: Where are you going? This is a special day. Stop. You’re so close now. We are finally on the cusp of each other’s realities. Viren: The cusp? [Aaravos takes Viren into the prison] Viren: What have you done? You’ve trapped me with you. Aaravos: No. I’ve merely borrowed your consciousness for a few moments. You are my guest. Viren: I do not want to be here. Aaravos: Ah! My freedom is so close, I can taste it. Yes. I sense Claudia approaching. Others are near as well… but no matter, your daughter is far more powerful. Now… As to the matter of your mortal existence, you cut it rather close, coming in on the 30th day, just a few hours left before your life expires. Poof! Don’t worry. Making your resurrection permanent won’t be a problem. It’s one of the old spells… Infantis Sanguine. Named for the one necessary ingredient. The blood of your child. Viren: What? The blood of my child? Aaravos: You can’t expect to wield such powerful life and death magic without some sacrifice. Viren: I am not a monster. I would never sacrifice my child! Aaravos: Relax. I wouldn’t expect you to harm Claudia or Soren. You will sacrifice your other child. Viren: My other… but I don’t have a… ? Aaravos: But you do. Viren: What, who? Aaravos: Our child. Our baby was so cute. And he’s grown into quite the strapping young homunculus. Are you telling me you can’t see the resemblance? He has my lovely eyes. I’m afraid his voice must be from your side of the family. Now he’s here for you. And I will show you how to use every drop of his living essence to restore your own life and your future. [They are back on the beach] Aaravos: The resurrection spell will expire tonight, and you will die. You must make the sacrifice. If you don’t, tomorrow, the sun will rise… and you will not. Viren: No. I won’t do it. I finally see the truth. I find myself here at these horrifying crossroads because I have followed a dark path. And worst of all, I have led my beloved daughter down this path. No more dark magic, never again! I am done with it. And I am done with you!

Aaravos refers to both Viren's "mortal existence" and says fairly plainly that Viren will "die." Both pretty clear on paper that, uh, "Viren, you're going to die. Like... you're going to be super dead, just trying to make that as understandable in so many words as possible."

That said, the phrasing "mortal existence" immediately made me think back to the Laurelion poem, as it refers to Immortal Laurelion.

If we swap the terminology, change "undying" to "dying" and "immortal" to "mortal." ... Would this not be the process of going from mortal to immortal? From mundane to Startouch?

The visible breath could've been a means to loop back to that poem, to make us think about the words and what it could mean.

And then there's this fragment of a poem called The Epic of the Void from the Evenere library from Tales of Xadia:

"From rising Sun"

"to Moonlight's grace"

"I search the Sky for any trace"

(I honestly think this is just a coincidence but it's fun.)

But I do wonder if the way Viren subverts his expected fate is that, well, he doesn't. He dies. Aaravos said he would. It seems pretty clear he will. But, through that process of dying, he is going to Change.

That goes back to the fact Viren is our butterfly here. Undergoing a metamorphosis. Two years in a Star silk cocoon. Suffering a painful perspective shift. And now he has to shed his skin to become something Different.

Anyway, a last little thing I've been chewing over:

The season 5 trailer seemed to accidentally put as its title card the season 6 title card instead where we see a solitary rising star at the bottom near the O.

(left: seasons 1-5 title splash, right: title splash from season 5 trailer)

I looked through every other title splash, and this is the only one with that star--so likely it's a mistake/error.

I'm of two thoughts on this.

The star rising is meant to represent Aaravos's escape from prison. (Likely especially in season 6.) After all, he would be flying free. Rising while his brethren fall.

The star rising is meant to represent someone connecting to the Star Arcanum. (Viren or Callum?) Aaravos is already a star (represented with the big star in the name) so why would a new star appear?

Anyway. Just some food for thought.

#tdp theory #this is a text post #i am not tagging this anything else so no one else can see my rambles #i will clown car my way into season 6 #but mostly it's just fun to think about viren connecting to an arcanum at all lmao #now to go back to the regularly scheduled art posting

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Young Harrow & Viren 💖 Drew this after your ask yesterday, @wuekka!

#viren #tdp harrow #virrow #the dragon prince #tdp fanart #squigglyscribble #I drew young harrow as a total dreamboat and I’m 👀

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Young Viren in your new art instantly made me think of how pretty young virrow would be! And your star-Viren makes Aaravos's lines to Viren from season 3 haunt me "I will show you how to take his power, how to imbue yourself with all his magic and potential so you will transcend the limits of your human form." Like either Aaravos wants to make Viren into a dragon, or star-elf with him! :D

I have an older Virrow fanart in my works in progress (just gotta get off my butt and finish it up), but now I got the itch to draw that young Virrow love 👀 because yes yessss

And I am so aboard Star Viren! I don’t care if it’s not happening, I adore the idea. Let our man be sparkly!

#wuekka #asks #i love Virrow and I need more

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I had no choice.

#viren #the dragon prince #tdp fanart #tdp season 5 #squigglyscribble #I had to get this one outta my head too

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✨ Bright future for humanity! ✨

#my clown wig is glued on #viren #the dragon prince #tdp fanart #squigglyscribble #based on clown theories #honk honk #at least now this can get outta my brain

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Wanted to throw in some interview nuggets that fuel my clownery.

With regard to Viren's dream:

"It also alludes to the first time he went through this. He went through this as a teen, and the implication that we hope people take from it [is that] he is in the exact same time, space, and experience that he was in then. He's just experiencing it from the other side of the mirror this time." (Aaron Ehasz, CBR, x)

About the Twin Peaks homage in Viren's dream:

"I’ll be honest, one of the things we loved in that story was Agent Cooper encountering himself from the future. If Cooper from the future is encountering himself in the past, what does time mean in this space? What that experience meant to Viren is the same. He is experiencing that dark magic dream  both as a young person who is first experimenting with dark magic and himself who is coming towards the end of his journey, and experience it again. "Both of those points of view, he experienced 1) as a young person seeing visions of the future self and now 2) he’s the older person, seeing the young person brought into this. It’s wonderful how they influence each other. We’ve had a lot of conversations about how that worked, why that worked, why it made sense and we’re proud of it." (Aaron Ehasz, AIPT Interivew, x)

When asked about Harrow's role in Viren's dream--if he was real or a figment of his imagination:

“What do you think? I will leave to your interpretation… the dark magic fever dreams are deep inner journeys but I think spirits may be able to connect through time and space, maybe” (Aaron Ehasz's Twitter, x)

“The stars looked down upon a perfect mirror and saw their own divine reflections.”

If the fever dreams hint at later arcs and journeys for the characters, such as Callum's involving him in a storm, the fact Viren's is so tangled up in the concept of time/space just makes me go "hmm." As was said: how many other mages have died and come back to life and had a chance to experience that twice? It's very unique.

Viren and the Stars

I don't post thoughts on here (this is my art sideblog), but I'm just putting it out there that I am a "Viren is gonna unlock the Star Arcanum" believer.

Viren’s arc has been about wanting a “bright future for humanity.” The Star Arcanum is concerned with divination and seeing beyond. And what would be a better primal match for our favorite scrungly man?

The reason I'm sharing these thoughts now is that Viren is clearly mirroring Callum's season 2 arc, wherein Callum did dark magic, fell into a dark magic coma, had some funky dreams, rejected his Dark Magic self, and then unlocked the Sky Arcanum.

Season 5 had Viren doing Dark Magic, fall into a dark magic coma, have some funky dreams, reject his Dark Magic self, aaaaand...

Inquiring minds wanna know what will happen next?

I'll go into some "interesting" things I've noticed that could be hinting/alluding to Star Viren in the rest of this post.

Viren has been intimately close with a Startouch Elf—even performed a blood ritual with one, which produced a child. A star child. (Credit to Crusoe for the image)

For two years, Viren was encased in a Star Silk Cocoon, and what would emerge from a Star Silk cocoon...

but a Star-related entity? Butterfly Viren, I'm looking at you.

Aesthetically, the color Purple is associated with the Star Arcanum (its symbol is often depicted in purple, Aaravos’s horns are purple, what little clothing he wears is purple, Sir Sparklepuff is purple, quasar diamonds are purple, Stella’s eyes are purple).

Viren was originally conceived with purple eyes (but this was changed to gray so people wouldn’t think he was a “half-elf”),

(yes this is legit from TDPO, Viren originally had purple eyes)

Viren wears a purple brooch on his clothing, and (for a long time) he carried around Ziard’s staff, which has a purple gem in it. His ex-wife Lissa's favorite flowers were lilacs (purple), and his daughter Claudia has purple-tipped hair.

Needless to say, Viren is surrounded by the color purple.

The intro to seasons 4-5 has Viren underneath a field of stars:

Season 4, episode 2, "Fallen Stars" has Viren falling off the Storm Spire. It's a stretch, but the titles always have double meaning.

In season 5, Viren has a vision of Claudia in a red sea while dreaming and awake:

(Of a note: how did he know what flower Terry had given Claudia? HMMM)

Visions are one of the properties of the Star Arcanum.

Speaking of which--"vision," "truth," "destiny"--these are all words Viren says quite often. One big moment was at the end of season 5 when Viren says, before he walks off to die--

"I finally see the TRUTH"

As for "wishes," well... Coin Viren falls into water. Like a wishing well.

After Viren throws off his crown in his Twin Peaks dream sequence, the immediate next shot is a shooting star.

One of the final shots of the season, is Viren's eye reflecting a sea of stars.

Which, by the way, we also see on The Tales of Xadia cover, where Viren has the Star Arcanum symbol as an eye:

Anyway. So. Maybe I'm clowning and this all doesn't mean anything. Maybe it's all just mean to emphasize the connection Viren and Aaravos have. But... I tend to think things happen for a reason. And there's just so many little things here and there which seem to be amassing to Viren in someway being connected to the Stars.

As for that this means for the future, I don't know, but I can only hope it means the future is bright.

#viren #the dragon prince #star arcanum #tdp theory #more ready to clown than ever baby #text post

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Do you take requests and/or commissions?

At this moment in time I don't take commissions because I just don't have the time or means to really set that up--and also there are artist out there who need commissions more than I do!

As for requests, my policy has always kinda been "If I like the request/idea, I might give it a shot if I got the time" It all depends on what the concept is and if I think I can execute it. But I do love listening to art ideas and always give credit when I do draw from a request/idea.

I hope that answer isn't muddy lol

#anon #thank you for the interest!

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Viren won’t make the same mistake twice.

#a silly soft comic #viren #tdp soren #the dragon prince #tdp fanart #squigglyscribble #cicadacomics inspired this #sorry it’s messy I just had to give rise to this headcanon #Viren can decipher children’s doodles #keeping my idea Viren’s beard came post-divorce #because divorce beard is real

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Do you think that Viren will survive into S6 and unlock the star arcanum? Can Luna Tenebris shoot moonbeams from her mouth?

I wrote post about how I speculate Viren could gain the Star Arcanum, yep. I think it’s possible! If it happens it’ll be in season 6 (whether near the beginning or end I don’t know). I also think Callum will get the Moon Arcanum.

(For the record, I 100% believe Viren will live into season 7. As for whether he survives til the end of the series, no clue.)

As for Luna Tenebris and moonbeams, I mean, sure. Why not? She’s an archdragon. I’m sure she got some of the Bahamut (Final Fantasy) mojo.

#uh thanks for asking I guess? #ask #starfall127 #tdp speculation #viren