#and callum taking it from the dungeons to his SAME ROOM to the STORM SPIRE

[raayllum]

Hi! I was rewatching Season 1 Episode 3 again and noticed Claudia specifically mentions the possibility of escaping the chain Callum puts on her by turning it into a snake/s, before even the dragon rescue (prompted by Rayla), which is delightful as Claudia just uses the nearby key versus the dark magic equivalen. Whereas Callum is the only practitioner of the spell shown on screen (to save other people, in two situations Rayla is involved).

It seemed like your kind of observation (you may in fact have already made it)!

Oh I think about that every day

"I could use magic, but I'll just use a key to free myself instead" is like... either really good or really bad foreshadowing, outcomes wise. It's an early but rare example of Claudia turning to non-magical means as a solution, even if in the first use seasons she's far more likely to want to use the non-forceful option ("We should use our words, not our muscles") than she is later seasons, even if alternatives never entirely slip away ("Let's made a trade: you let him go, and I'll give you the coins") / are not exactly exclusive.

It's also in some ways a Rayla parallel since she does lock picking to get out of her manacles (5x01, 5x08) even if she can't always break the chains that bind her (1x02-1x09 with the binding, 2x07 chains, 3x08 with her parents, etc)... luckily Callum can.

Now I'm trying to think if Callum has ever broken her or anyone else's (including his own) chains without magic, but... I don't think so? Besides the power of his words ("who told you that?" "you did") which is powerful no doubt, but the majority of the time... The primal stone is smashed to save/free Zym and Rayla, dark magic for chain spells, crushing the magical pendant in 3x08 to find the truth, primal wings in 3x09, 5x08 with dark magic and the ocean arcanum, etc. Put another point in the column for Callum's freedom for possession coming with a magical epiphany prediction

But yeah, Callum and Claudia have a really interesting back and forth of like, trapping and stealing from each other?

He chains her while she likewise grips his wrist like a chain; he steals her primal stone and then destroys it while she keeps and safeguards his letter (which carries a father's love, yes, but also the Key of Aaravos drop) until it can be returned... with a manipulation offer stapled on top; he steals her magic book to do the chain spell and free the dragon she was eagerly going to chop into pieces; he solves the Rex Igneous riddle for her and she sweeps the map out from under him; he steals her potion and leaves her to drown.

I think a lot in 5x08 about how Callum is plagued by both Viren and Claudia in equal measure, i.e. being tortured for / giving up the spell that Viren used to throw the world into pandemonium, and using Claudia's snake spell to free himself and once again save Rayla (who he likely wouldn't have ever met without Viren fucking things up in the first place + Tiadrin's quick thinking).

Any time they mention keys in the series I'm screaming crying throwing up. It is delightful indeed