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kradogsrats · 9 months

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A Song of Love and Loyalty (and Loss): General Miyana

So thanks to @raayllum I have been thinking about Miyana. Miyana is a very interesting figure in the cast of a story where the central conflict is shaped around what an individual will do for the sake of love, whether to themselves, to others, or to the world—because Miyana, in her initial arc, is characterized by what she won't do for love. She's very much a facet of the same theme, but in a way that people are liable to find unsympathetic: she doesn't support Karim when he's relatively harmless, to the point that could be considered a betrayal of him, but then she does when doing so means doing serious harm in a definite betrayal of "the good guys."

But I love a complicated woman, so why not do a deep dive on the motivations, story arcs, and thematic future of a character most of the fanbase probably can't name and most of the rest likely hate?

So What is Miyana's Deal?

Miyana is one of the "Six Horns," the best and most respected of the Sunfire generals, named for the six horns of Sol Regem. The Six Horns, as at least part of their duties, form a tribunal that is is implied to be the highest level of Sunfire justice. Their role appears to be determining innocence or guilt, and the sentencing is left up to the monarch—however, they are also powerful enough to completely displace the monarch if they unite in intent to do so.

In their role as judges, the Six Horns adopt ceremonial regalia that hides their emotions and gives at least a symbolic curtain to their identities, creating a sense of impartiality... but it does not appear to be any kind of secret who they are. Miyana is still one of the Six Horns when out of "uniform," and she and her colleagues freely mingle and discuss things among themselves.

From her role, we can assume that Miyana is smart, politically astute, likely good at reading both people and situations, and has demonstrated loyalty to the Sunfire kingdom (... empire?). It's difficult to tell whether being a warrior is also part of her skillset, because she doesn't demonstrate any combat ability or inclination in her appearances—ex. she does not walk around armed. The "general" title would seem to imply some amount of combat experience, especially with our one other "general" example being Amaya, an extremely hands-on commander. However, given the intertwining of government and military there appears to be in Sunfire elf culture, the position is more strategic and advisory in nature than front-line combatant.

Miyana and Karim: a Secret vs. a Symbol

Miyana and Prince Karim are engaged in a romantic relationship that is secret... but also not particularly subtle, at least on his part.

When Karim bursts into Miyana's... office? Quarters? Whatever, she's the one who is disturbed and slams the door behind him. He doesn't really appear to give much of a shit.

This makes sense, because Miyana is the one with something to lose if their relationship gets out. She's meant to be an impartial judge, even against the monarch—an entanglement with the royal family significantly compromises her. Presumably, if she wanted to be with Karim openly, she could relinquish her position... but she does not, either because she doesn't want to, or because Karim doesn't want to make things official.

Speaking of...

Karim, somewhat hilariously, suggests to Janai that she keep Amaya as a permanent consort, rather than officially marry her and have that marriage be a "symbol" of what he perceives as the beginning of the end for Sunfire power and culture. This suggests that it could be Karim who insists on maintaining secrecy over his and Miyana's relationship, assuming he feels the same way about making sure his own eventual marriage is appropriately symbolic for his people.

Personally, given the way Karim behaves, I think it's Miyana who isn't willing to abandon being one of the Six Horns for him—whether because of the power and status it affords her, or because she values being in a position where her service to her people has a strong impact, or because it took her a fucking long time to climb the ladder. Who knows.

But basically, Karim? Not subtle:

Look at this guy, he might as well have literal heart eyes. He also doesn't avoid openly socializing with her:

Not to mention that they have matching earrings, for fuck's sake.

Anyway, he doesn't even respond to Miyana's concern about them being seen together when he barges into her space. He's not exactly behaving as if he's committed to the secrecy.

Season 4 Arc: Gently Convincing Your Royal Boyfriend that He's an Idiot

Miyana is introduced in the s4 Sunfire arc when it pivots toward Karim moving directly against Janai. Immediately after being dissatisfied by the result of Lucia's trial and Janai revealing the Sun Seed to him, Karim meets with Miyana and their relationship is revealed to the viewers. She does appear before that, with Karim (the three previous screenshots are from before that point), but this is where they are formally connected.

This scene, immediately before Karim tells her that he has seen "the truth" that Janai must be removed, is the last time we see Miyana smile until the end of s5. She spends the entire rest of the season going through various stages of concern and doubt about Karim's... frankly unhinged plans.

She questions him at basically every turn, but never goes so far as to say outright that what he's proposing is a bad idea. She acknowledges that the others of the Six Horns might be sympathetic to his take on Janai's direction, but more than once cautions him that she does not believe they will be willing to turn against her.

So how does she really feel? Karim certainly implies that he sees her as his "woman on the inside," secretly feeding him information on the Six Horns and influencing them in his favor, in turn. There's a cut segment that has been referenced in interviews in which Karim cautions Miyana that she must not be the first to vote in his favor, because that will possibly reveal their relationship—which, while he may be thinking about her preference for secrecy, would also kind of invalidate the entire vote.

Miyana, on the other hand, expresses a lot of concern for Karim. She's very worried that he's misjudged the situation and will fail—possibly because she knows she cannot rescue him if he's wrong. And she doesn't, even when he cries out to her, specifically:

I bet that was real fun for her to try to explain. It's possible she could have helped him more after the fact if he hadn't implicated her that way, but it's also entirely possible there's nothing she could do—the monarch, after all, is the one who sentences the guilty.

Even if Miyana is 100% behind Karim's vision for the future of the Sunfire people, at no point does she appear to agree with the way he's pursuing it, and in the end she refuses to go down with him. (Contrast with, say, Sarai... who firmly expresses her disapproval to Harrow about his approach, but then backs him 100% with action.)

Season 5 Arc: Can You Even Trust Yourself?

Miyana does not appear a single time in s5 until she reports Kim'dael's infiltration of the camp to Janai. At this point, Janai entrusts her with concealing and protecting the Sun Seed.

This is an interesting exchange, since on Janai's end it indicates that she and Miyana probably don't know each other well. Janai at least suspects what they are facing, based on the description of "a ghost"—if she suspects that it's Kim'dael specifically, she would be aware that the only person who could have sent her is Karim. It's not clear whether some of Miyana's involvement with Karim might have come out after s4, but even if it did, it was probably brushed off because she didn't stand with him in his ill-judged coup.

Also, like... what does Janai expect her to say? "No"? This isn't really a question—Janai has decided that, absent other immediate options, she can trust Miyana as a member of the Six Horns to safeguard the future of their people. She's indicating to Miyana that she is being given an incredibly important, secret responsibility.

And personally, I fully believe that Miyana thinks she is being 100% truthful in her answer. I don't think she's been sitting around waiting for the perfect moment to run off to Karim—she loved him, and still loves him, but she chose being able to continue having a role in shaping her people's future over throwing away everything for him. She has no idea where he is or what he's doing. He's gone. Exiled. No longer a factor.

So what changes? The ransom demand:

Karim sends Pharos with a message that says, simply:

He has Janai.

He wants the Sun Seed in exchange for her life.

He wants Miyana to come to him with it.

For Miyana herself, this potentially changes everything, because what she's hearing is:

Karim is alive.

He is still fighting for his vision, and has gathered allies powerful enough to overcome Janai.

He has some kind of plan requiring the Sun Seed, which likely plays to his actual strengths (he's a mage, the Sun Seed is a powerful magical artifact).

He wants her at his side.

Personally, if I was her, I'd be at least a little worried that he wants her as the delivery person so he can punish her for her betrayal of him... but he's also such an unbelievably soft boy that I can see why that might not cross her mind. Like, his reaction to seeing "Miyana" riding toward him is unrestrained joy and affirmation that his belief in her was correct—if anything, what he's expecting here is that Miyana will convince the others of the Six Horns to agree to his demands, thereby getting him the Sun Seed and reuniting them.

Miyana, for her part, is now in a position to significantly shift the balance of power. She still loves Karim, and she presumably still believes in his direction for the future. She can bring him the Sun Seed. She can bring him her segment of the Sunfire army. Both of those will significantly weaken Janai's position, while putting Karim much closer to success. Unlike Karim's s4 plan, this is a good bet. This is worth throwing away what she has, in favor of something she could gain.

Removing the Mask: Miyana's Final Turn (So Far)

Bear with me for a moment, because we're going to briefly circle back to s4 and Miyana's position as one of the Six Horns. Throughout s4, there is demonstrable tension between her role and her relationship with Karim, for both of them:

Each of them, in a private moment, contemplates the mask she wears as tribunal judge—a symbol of what keeps them apart. Both of them know that this is her central choice, between her love for him and the duty (loyalty?) to her people that she won't let go. Karim, poor fool that he is, thinks that those will never come in conflict. Miyana spends all of s4 knowing that they will. Maybe even knowing what her choice will be.

In Amaya's deception to rescue Janai, she puts on Miyana's clothing and mask, pretending to be her in order to get close to Karim. Karim completely falls for this, and thereby suffers a second emotional betrayal from the "General Miyana of the Six Horns" mask.

He's so happy that his faith in her wasn't misplaced, and then he gets literally hit in the face with it:

So that sucks for him. However, when Miyana ultimately returns to him, she has stripped all aspects of her Six Horns role, wearing neither her tribunal mask/robe nor her usual fancy tunic and adornments (what Janai was wearing):

She professes her loyalty to Karim having only the most basic layer of her personas: the bottom-layer red tunic and pants that go under both outfits. She has, it is implied, completely discarded the position that previously held her back from Karim.

She also claims that her loyalty has never wavered (debatable), and equates her loyalty to Karim with her love for him, also unwavering (probably true).

This, the moment when Karim receives her (after literally starting to cry), is the first time she smiles again. She continues to smile through the end of the sequence, revealing to him both the Sun Seed and the army she has brought. She appears to have zero conflict about this—she has shed it all with the shell of her identity as one of the Six Horns.

So What Does This Mean for the Future?

Miyana has explicitly equated her love for and her loyalty to Karim. And what is love, in this series, but something to be tested?

Even having stripped away all the aspects of her dedication to her people that are related to the Sunfire mainstream rather than Karim's rebellion, Miyana is still going to have to reckon with whether Karim's vision is the future she wants and whether she can support how far he may go for it. She has handed Karim, and by extension Pharavos, a great deal of both magical and martial power. When Karim's ambitions collide with Aaravos's, he will almost certainly double down—accepting what Aaravos offers and/or foolishly believing he can somehow come out on top.

Miyana is the only one of this trio who is potentially even a little clear-eyed, though she could absolutely be blinded by love. She may follow Karim to the bitter end and self-destruction. She may try to save him. She may try to save others from him. She may realize she can only save herself.

Of the characters with close relationships that carry this loyalty/love tension of loving someone but not necessarily being able to support their decisions and actions, we have:

Soren, who was unable to continue following Viren's downward spiral and instead chose loyalty to his king. His father may be a lost cause, but he still believes he can save his sister.

Terry, who has been left by Claudia with the aggressive guilt that she has robbed herself of his support because she believes he will eventually abandon her, and has several directions he could go: doubling down on his loyalty to Claudia and aggressively following her descent, prioritizing his love for Claudia and focusing on finding a way to save her, or he might cut his losses and fuck off completely (unlikely).

Lissa, whose precise situation we don't know the details of, but who left behind everything she loved and never looked back (or was never allowed to).

While I'm sure whatever resolution they write for Miyana will be fine (*grits teeth*), at this time I think the best one for her would be a Lissa-style ending. Janai's path may lead to the end of Sunfire history, as Karim put it, but his path will lead to the end of their future. Miyana will eventually recognize that, and that like in s4, she can't save him from himself. However, this time she has already irrevocably cast aside her former position—leaving Karim also means giving up her chance (or perception of her chance) to be someone who actively shapes and safeguards her people's future. If she returns to Janai, she faces exile at best. Might as well skip the painful part of that and just... go. But in having given up her complex loyalty to Janai, and finally separating her loyalty to Karim from her love for him, she's left with an opening where loyalty to herself and her own principles can blossom.

#the dragon prince #miyana #karim #janai #sunfire elves #did she seize my interest JUST because i suddenly thought 'oh she's like lissa?" SHUT UP DON'T LOOK AT ME #kradogsmeta

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