#a startouch elf could survive

[raayllum]

what roles do characters in TDP have? (main cast predictions pre s4)

Thereby, I think Claudia’s defection will only begin once he’s out (circa S5) and that we’ll see her go full villain and possibly separate even from her father.

For Viren, all his prior goals have blown up in his face, and death is often depicted in stories as a transformative experience. Therefore, I think he’ll start to regret or doubt his previous actions and involvement with Aaravos, especially as the Startouch elf draws Claudia in deeper and he sees the toll all the dark magic has taken on his daughter.

Putting Claudia and Viren’s goals ultimately in opposition this season is not only fresh and different to what we’ve seen before, but it also keeps tension within the dynamic, as we can tell they’re hurtling towards a collision course of misunderstanding, hurt, and Claudia feeling betrayed by yet another person she loves.

As a character, Ezran is one of the most constant. I think he’ll start S4 representing a simplistic view of Love as a concept as a good and powerful force that can overcome anything, as we see in his speech that seems to happen early on in the season: “We all want peace and we all want love. But violence tests us.” This is largely the perspective on love that the series has outwardly represented, but the series has already complicated it by showing what twisted love (grief turned to anger, or blind devotion) can do to a person or relationships in destructive ways. I think we’ll see him witness more of that first hand and see him make some more hard choices.

TERRY: The story we just heard, maybe it started as a story of love. But along the way, it got twisted.

Soren is another character where his specific S4 arc isn’t as clear to me, although I think he’ll mostly be addressing his inner turmoil over 1) his sister’s reappearance and 2) his father’s survival. [...] I could also see Soren stepping more into that “I’m the Protector” role.

I think this’ll culminate in Rayla, who’s always been exceedingly independent and mobile, being constrained and dependent. Just as she removed Callum’s agency by leaving him behind, hers will be removed in having her be taken captive and used as bait.

Then you have Callum, who we have a bit more clarity on because we know more about what he’s been up to. I thought since post-S3 and even pre-TTM his S4 arc would relate to pursuing more magic/knowledge in ways that ultimately weren’t entirely healthy as a way to patch up lingering self worth issues. (A bit of an Icarus, if you will.) 

neither Callum nor Rayla can be wholly right in S4. In order to repair their relationship, they both have to let go of a lot of hurt (for Callum his anger, for Rayla her reservations). They both need opportunities to reaffirm their love for each other.

Rayla did something self destructive in leaving in TTM, so I think Callum will do something self destructive to help protect her.

This gives them both the biggest arcs that simultaneously bring them back to each other. For Rayla, she wants to get her family back but this time trusts Callum to help her, and for Callum, he wants his cube / safety back in taking down Aaravos, this time with Rayla at his side to help keep him centred (if they go full force with the dark light motif they’re building, for Rayllum in particular).

[xadian-daydreams]

Aaravos' Plan for Viren

In Reel James S5 interview Ehasz confirmed there was a connection between Aaravos' 'swallowed Aditi' comment and the giant skeleton found at Aaravos prison.

Which has lead to a lot of speculation about shapeshifting Aaravos, or possessing Luna Tenebris corpse etc.

My speculation is that this skeleton is from a creature Aaravos created, but his working was interrupted by the Orphan Queen and the archdragons' plan. Heck, this could be the main reason he was caught.

Aaravos has been tricking Viren into retrying this great working. Only better! Because Viren has something that wasn't around 300 years ago.

Plus, a theory about Kim'dael's Bloodmoon cult.

Spoilers from Season 4 & 5 and Book 2 Sky novel, and stuff from interviews, below the cut.

Warning - really long post...

History Repeats Itself if Someone Weaves Threads of Fate Tight Enough.

Events occurring in the present and 300 years ago are echoing each other extremely loudly.

The Dragon Monarch dies - Luna Tenebris and Avizandum

A human mage/king, that is under Aaravos' influence, plans a war - Viren and unnamed blond king.

A politically important and magically powerful individual goes missing, which would present difficulties in transferring power after Dragon Monarch's death - Queen Aditi and Zym

Both of these magically powerful individual meet 'swallow' fates, though Zym survives his.

There is massive upheaval in the Sunfire kingdom - Queen Aditi's disappearance is blamed on archdragons, Viren/Aaravos corrupt the Sunforge and contaminates Lux Aurea.

While Viren's dragon slaying and eggnapping started this echo, Aaravos has been guiding events so they align up. The only event that doesn't immediately seem to be blamed on Aaravos or Viren are Luna Tenebris' death - but, it does seem suspicious, and I'm going to expand on a theory about that in a bit. But the take away point is that I believe that Aaravos has tried this plan before 300 years ago and failed.

The Great Working - a break down on how Aaravos has been chivvying Viren unwittingly along.

Right from the first silent meeting across the mirror. Aaravos doesn't bother establishing any alternative communication (like writing or signing). After Aaravos notices Viren has Ziard's staff, he simply presents the spell artefacts and, eventually, Viren plays along.

The Blood binding ritual - They both make and drink an enchanted potion, then spill their blood into part of the enchantment artefacts, which combines and enchants their blood, then Aaravos drinks the blood to create Lil Bug Pal. Then Aaravos presents Lil Bug Pal as a means of contact from wherever he's imprisoned.

However, going by Book 2 Sky novel, this spell pre-dates Aaravos' imprisonment.

A little while later the mirror mage returned to view, carrying a small ornate chest. ... Viren felt he had seen this object somewhere before . ... Yes, he could see it perfectly in his memory - a chest which could be this one's twin, or sibling at least, belonged to Kpp'Ar. Certainly, it was among the irreplaceable relics his mentor had destroyed during the profligate tantrum he called his repentance.

Channelling - passing energy/magic between them, which cemented a connection. Viren is being apprehended by the guards, Aaravos warns him that he's in danger and to follow his instructions in battle. Viren could have just gone back into the secret passage, or not made things worse for his defence by fighting. In Book 2: Sky novel describes this as;

He could sense his movements and actions being gently directed. Viren did not feel controlled, but he understood that somehow, invisible strings connected him with the Startouch elf. ... Though his [Aaravos] actual location was a mystery even to him, there was no denying that in this moment he was in a way present and completely connected to Viren.

Gestation - Aaravos convinces Viren to smuggle Bug Pal into the Sunfire kingdom by hiding it down his throat. This has similarity to how Aaravos formed Bug Pal in the first place and Bug Pal becomes significantly bigger.

Empowering - This happens off screen, so speculation here. Between corrupting the Sunforge scene and returning to the human armies Bug Pal grows much bigger. Presumably, this growth comes from energy from the Sunforge. Aaravos possibly presented this as teaching and grabbing the power for the Hearts of Cinder spell used on the army, as that's the next big spell Viren casts. 🤔 My other speculation is it forges a link for the working to the Sunforge - Aaravos has been purposefully targeting the Sunfire kingdom as part of his plan, even before he was imprisoned, as he picked the most disruptive time possible to disappear Queen Aditi. Significance of this in a bit.

Swallowing - While Aaravos original phrased it that taking down Zubeia and capturing Zym would garner him world attention - so more political power, after the Hearts of Cinder spell there's no more beating about the bush. Viren is invested in this ride and Aaravos just promises he can take Zym's power for his own. Aaravos himself casts this dark magic spell via Bug Pal and Zaird's staff. Viren just has to stand there and make off-putting faces and noises while receiving this... bounty. This is clearly one of the crux parts of the working - stealing a world leading power and gifting it to a human.

Aaravos' spell rewinds to - "He swallows your heart. He swallows your mind. He swallows your power." The phrasing matching the disturbing "You're just like your grandmother. Would you like to know the truth of her fate before you meet yours? I swallowed her." Which makes me wonder if Aaravos has done this spell before, only using that blond king shown in the imprisonment flashbacks to steal Aditi's power, rather than some cannibalism thing.

Side note - How could Aditi compare to an infant archdragon for use in the working? Aditi is particularly powerful - even the archdragons respected her. There's also hints she possesses a unique Light ability that helps her make judgments - the archdragon's held her judgment as the highest, she's called "guiding light" and the "Light of the Sun Incarnate" and there's that scene where bright light erupts from her glabella. This power seems Stars adjacent (and potentially a threat to Aaravos' secrets and plans).

“You are not afraid of me—but what of the dragons?” asked Kim’dael. “You would dare invoke their wrath?” “The dragons know better than to invoke mine,” Aditi said. She struck the metal again and again, purposeful and confident. Not a shred of her strength was wasted. “Is that not why you came to me? For my protection?” “I came because the dragons trust your judgment. Your guiding light,” Kim’dael told her, feigning meekness. “But my queen, they do not fear you. The dragons fear nothing.” “They feared you once.” Kim’dael twitched a smirk of pride and quickly hid it. ... “A token of my protection,” Aditi told her. “As I promised.” “A false promise. How…unbecoming. I thought it beneath the Sunfire elves to lie.” “I did not lie. That collar claims you as mine, and as I told you, the dragons know better than to risk my wrath.” Aditi gestured to the thing around Kim’dael’s neck.  The Queen's Mercy

Then Viren took a really long first step down the world's tallest stairs and died. Two years later Claudia uses a resurrection spell Aaravos taught her via Bug Pal, and the 30 day prison hunt begins.

Hatching the homunculus out of the cocoon. Claudia is told this is to create a guide who will lead them to the information they need to locate Aaravos' prison - but Viren is who was expected to cast the spell. Instead, Viren's hesitance means Claudia just decides to perform the spell herself. Kinda curious how this misstep will effect the working.

Consuming the homunculus' essence - Even before Claudia has completed her mission, Aaravos is urging Viren to commit the life extension spell, before the resurrection spell expires.

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. 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. [Infantis Sanguine]

Which harkens back to what Aaravos was promising before Viren died;

When you capture the dragonling, I will show you how to take his power, how to imbue yourself with all his magic and potentials, so that you will transcend the limits of your human form. Then none will dare stand against you. [Final Battle]

If you break down what Aaravos says here as steps - 1, take power, 2, imbue yourself, 3, transcend human limit - then this is a strong indicator Aaravos always intended for Viren to consume the stolen power from Zym (and the Sunforge) by absorbing Sparklepuff's essence. That the absorption occurs during a life extension spell is just making omlets out of broken eggs.

The goal all along was to "transcend the limits of your human form" Very peculiar wording. Remember the giant skeleton at Aaravos prison - the big creature Aaravos created was formerly the blond king.

Why Viren?

At the end of S3 Aaravos' Bug Pal is free to roam, can talk to others (he speaks to Claudia) and can possibly even cast spells. So, couldn't Aaravos pick a not dead dark mage, restart the spell, go wild in abandoned Lux Aurea and just sneak in to spell zap Zym, instead of taking 2 years to resurrect Viren? Heck, he could convince Claudia that, with this method, he could gift her the power to permanently resurrect Viren - she'd even know her way around Katolis Castle to grab the mirror, if it's necessary.

Viren has one accomplishment, with still existing ingredients, that's making him too tempting to pass up. The Mystery of Aaravos opening even hints what's particularly of interest about Viren to Aaravos.

He killed Avizandum with the Weapon of Vengeance spell. The weapon is still there, stuck in Avizandum's remains. A spell powerful enough to fell "the most powerful being in the world" and it's magic is keyed to Viren.

Why I think the cursed unicorn horn is important to the working? I don't think Luna Tenebris just keeled over for no reason, I think she died due to Aaravos' machination to get ingredients for the working. But rather than blond king killing her, Aaravos got the Bloodmoon cult to kill Luna Tenebris.

First, the blatant bloodmoon image when discussing her death. The cult's big rituals require the power of the bloodmoon, so they can infuse essence and powers into blood, which they can consume at their convenience and use their powers outside of moon's cycle.

Go back to the Queen's Mercy short story and Kim'dael is proud of how the dragons once feared the cult. Avizandum only hunts them down after the death of Luna Tenebris - they've been active long enough that most of the horror stories humans have about Moonshadow elves are actually about Bloodmoon elves. It could be because he discovered what they did and believed they'd become too big a threat.

Luna Tenebris is a Moon Archdragon, and the cult is about increasing their moon powers, by sacrificing others using dark magic rituals. Yes, the Bloodmoon cult uses dark magic - that's straight up confirmed by Ehasz in AIPT comic S5 interview.

AIPT: Kim’dael is one cool character. A lot of times when you have graphic novel spinoffs, they’re just that. But you bring a character who you introduced in the graphic novels and introduce her in such a cool way, that she has to be a big player in seasons six and seven, right? JR: She’s awesome, we have plans for Kim’dael that go beyond the show. AE: She complicates the story in a really important way. In the first three seasons, the narrative of the world is that humans use dark magic, primal magic is for elves and dragons, humans are naughty and bad because they do this. Kim’dael shows that there’s elves who have gone there. The way she does, the way that she does, is beyond primal magic. She’s found ways through dark magic to extend her primal moon powers. It’s very evil how she is able to do what she does and extend her life, and use her powers that would normally only be used under the full moon, she can use anytime because she’s infused blood with the light of the full moon. That’s dark. We love Kim’Dael, but we love what she means about the world of Xadia, and the narrative that’s not been acknowledged. There’s darkness and complication across the Elven world as well.

If Aaravos gifted dark magic to humans, then who else could he have gifted this knowledge to? (Kinda hoping he personally knows Kim'dael, that'd be a cool twist). And his prize would have been archdragon blood infused with the most powerful archdragon's essence.

Why is Aaravos after an ingredient related to the most powerful archdragon around at the time? Because he's trying to create his own archdragon - a Stars archdragon. (Possibly also Dark magic archdragon, if that even makes sense, like - dark magic corrupted Stars archdragon?)

There's that info in the Tales of Xadia handbook about Stars Devourer dragons - a myth that when a star disappears it's due to one of these dragons entering the core of a star and absorbing its magic. (Heck, there's even a little legend about a king who wanted to be remembered forever and made a wish upon a star dragon bone. His name was forgotten, but the legend lives on, which does also fit it neatly with the whole bones of a king who failed to become a star dragon).

But, what if the artificial Stars dragon can only really become a true star dragons if they manage to consume a star - in this case, the Sunforge. Which is why Aaravos has been targeting Lux Aurea.

So, 300 years ago, using Luna archdragon essence and the Stars adjacent Guiding Light power of Aditi, Aaravos uses a human dark mage to create a pseudo-dragon, but is unable get around to completing it and it dies. The Orphan Queen's image shows her catching out Aaravos' treachery when his own Key shines the Stars primal - what if she came across this pseudo-dragon and the Key confirmed it was a Stars dragon in the making. The archdragons not only imprisoned Aaravos, they put down his creation and left the remains over his prison as a warning to anyone who might think to release Aaravos about what kind of horror he's trying to unleash. (I'm assuming Jailer arranged the placement).

Now, Aaravos has Sparklepuff imbued with infant Sky Archdragon potential, a cursed unicorn horn powerful enough to fell a Dragon Monarch (unicorns are Stars primal) and the Sunforge under his control. Which should make this attempt much easier (well, except for Viren trying to skip out on it).

Why would Aaravos want to create a Stars archdragon?

Possible reasons;

Viren could channel energy and magic from Aaravos, if this is an open channel, then Aaravos could channel power from an archdragon. He's already mastered all 6 primals, getting archdragon powers is pretty much the only power upgrade he hasn't got.

Aaravos could just be planning to switch bodies with his creation. (Not my fave answer, but you never know).

Going by Ripples short story, Aaravos desires include making the other Startouch elves fall (Plus, the Mystery of Aaravos title includes falling stars). However, they're no longer on Xadia. If they're somewhere 'heavenly' (eyes Leola's Last Wish star suspiciously) and Aaravos is exiled and can't access it, then he'll need a Stars primal creature who can.

I can't think of a more powerful weapon then your own pet Stars archdragon, whoever he's got a beef with will be in deep doodoo. I don't think the Novablade is gonna cut it as a counter to a Stars archdragon.

Do you want to conquer Xadia? The dragon monarch is usually the most powerful archdragon at the time, a Stars archdragon would probably legitimately become Xadia's monarch using this standard.

And that about wraps it up. So, there are a lot of speculations and what ifs in this theory, but I think it ties a bunch of things together nicely.

I also like the way that Ezran/Zym bond would be parallelled by Aaravos/Viren if this theory turns out to be true. One bond being made of friendship and sincerity, the other out of trickery and dark magic. I can see these two bonds clashing and being very embodying of the show's theme. In Book 2 : Sky novel it's very obvious that the scene where Viren fights the guards channeling Aaravos' power, and the scene where Ezran helps teach Zym to fly when at the Moonstone path, are intended to be compared.

Pretty invested in seeing how much I got wrong or if I got anything right come Season 6.

Thanks for reading!

[kradogsrats]

COUGH OKAY so like, just saying

The Silmarils were three diamond-like gems created from sacred light, so pure that “unclean” or evil hands were burned by touching them. Feanor, who forged them, initially wore them upon his brow so all could see them, but fell into greed and paranoia and eventually hid them from everyone but his immediate family.

(Feanor, incidentally, was not necessarily manipulated directly by Melkor/Morgoth but still influenced by his manipulations toward all kinds of horrible falls, including the first slaying of elves by elves. Even his unmanipulated behavior reinforced the lies of Morgoth meant to sow dissension among the elves. Very flawed dude.)

Morgoth (essentially Middle Earth satan) stole the Silmarils and set all three in his crown. (When he was eventually defeated, that crown would be reforged into a collar for his neck.) After the theft, Feanor and his sons swore an oath to wage war against anyone who withheld a Silmaril from them, beginning a terrible cycle of violence.

One Silmaril was recovered before Morgoth’s defeat by Beren and Luthien (the fantasy ur-example of human/elf true love couples and Tolkien’s self-insert of him and his wife). Beren was determined to retrieve the Silmaril as an impossible bride-price for Luthien’s hand, some weird shit happened that involved both of them dying and then being restored to the world as paired mortals, etc. etc. make of that what you will. The recovered Silmaril itself was eventually returned to the Valar (great and ancient beings of power, i.e. great ones) in a gesture of repentance for that one time they begged Feanor to return the gems so their light could heal the two sacred trees that were their original source, which had been destroyed by Morgoth, and he had refused in his greed. That returned Silmaril was set in the sky as a star.

The other two were recovered from Morgoth’s crown at his defeat, and then stolen again by Feanor’s only two surviving sons--at which time the jewels burned their hands, for they had been corrupted in the terrible deeds they had committed pursuing them.

--

So we’ve got themes of light, stars, three gems of great power and symbolism that are the only ones of their kind in the world, are connected to great and ancient beings, manipulation of flawed elven heroes and even more flawed swaths of humanity by evil beings, eventual imprisonment of evil, and a union of human and elf in love.

We also know that there are some massive Tolkien nerds involved in this show, absolutely for sure.

From the TDP side, we have this fucking crown, bearing the reported only three quasar diamonds ever to exist in the world. The crown appears in no concept art that I saw, particularly not of Aaravos himself. What does appear in Aaravos concept art is the diamond mark in his chest appearing to be depicted as a literal gemstone, glowing with light:

Where am I going with this? I DON’T FUCKING KNOW. Are the quasar diamonds ripped from the chests of Startouch elves? If the gem in the relic staff is one of them, could it be that Aaravos pulled its power source out of himself and bound it into his creation, Sauron-style? WHO WORE THE FUCKING CROWN??? Is it significant that we see Aditi’s brow glow with light in the history sequence? Is it significant that Sunfire elves also grow their sacred light in trees?

WHERE IS THIS GOING I’M LITERALLY GOING TO EXPLODE

[kilfeur]

Ils sont mignons et tout j'ai pas envie d'être celle qui casse l'ambiance mais on sait que d'après cette image, ce moment doux entre ces deux là ne va pas durer :

En ce qui concerne les étoiles, j'ai entendu dire que Garlaath, l'annihilateur serait peut être l'un des surnoms d'Aaravos. Et on sait que Leola est celle qui a introduit la magie primale aux humains pour qu'ils survivent et ce malgré les avertissements des elfes au sujet des humains. Pendant la discussion entre Soren et Claudia dans la saison 4, je me demandais si il était possible aux humains d'apprendre la magie primale. Si Callum a réussit pourquoi pas les autres ? Comme ça, ça pourrait être une solution alternative que d'utiliser la magie noire. Mais avec les histoires courtes, je comprends mieux pourquoi les humains utilisaient la magie noire. C'était une nécessité pour qu'ils survivent, les elfes des étoiles n'ont pas aimé que les humains utilisent la magie primale. Pourquoi ? Je sais pas, peut être qu'ils considèrent que la maîtrise de la magie primale est un privilège accordé aux elfes et non humains. Dis comme ça, la relation entre ces deux peuples a l'air plus compliqué que juste des préjugés et du racisme.

They're cute and all, and I don't want to be the one to break the mood, but we know from this picture that this sweet moment between these two isn't going to last.

As for the stars, I've heard that Garlaath, the Annihilator, may be one of Aaravos' nicknames. And we know that Leola is the one who introduced primal magic to humans so they could survive, despite the elves warnings about humans. During the discussion between Soren and Claudia in season 4, I wondered whether it was possible for humans to learn primal magic. If Callum has succeeded, why not the others? That way, it could be an alternative to using dark magic. But with the short stories, I understand better why humans used dark magic. It was a necessity for them to survive, the startouch elves didn't like humans using primal magic. Why didn't they ? I don't know, maybe they consider the mastery of primal magic to be a privilege granted to elves and not humans. Put that way, the relationship between these two people seems more complicated than just prejudice and racism.

[self-spaghettification]

Do you think that unicorns are secretly alive?

disclaimer, i don’t know enough of the tales of xadia lore to answer this question as well informed as i could be, but i think, yes.

they’ve supposedly been hunted down to near extinction but it’s not been confirmed that they are for sure extinct, and has been hinted that a few are still alive just in hiding from humans?

i know if i were leola or another unicorn i would want to stay the hell away from people trying to kill me even if it meant faking my death. i imagine it’s similar to how, even though they were prevalent & ruling xadia before, most of the startouch elves aka “first ones” completely disappeared from xadia in physical form at least when dragons began ruling. even though they were prevalent before then.

survival of the fittest and all, plus star arcanum creatures are generally more secretive and powerful than other creatures. if unicorns live as long as startouch elves, maybe we’ll even get to see leola again this season or a later season delving into the star arcanum. it’s also been confirmed by the creators that there is a location on the map indicating someone very important to aaravos so i wonder if this is referring to the residence of another star elf or unicorn, such as leola.

however, i find it pretty ironic that the creatures who first gifted humanity the ability to use magic were then betrayed and hunted down and used as just another ingredient for more powerful magic, which would never have happened without dark magic. and since dark magic was likely gifted by aaravos, it’s likely leola and aaravos don’t get along very well these days after all.

also claudia somehow got her hands on a unicorn horn, so for that to happen, it’s probably 1. some type of ancient mage heirloom, which seems unlikely in a lineage of dark mages who would all want to use it to grow their own power, or 2. unicorns are still in existence on the fringes of society. perhaps another dark mage had to trick and betray a benevolent unicorn, who took the chance to show itself to humanity again, to get the horn, which i would not put past them—or claudia nowadays. if i were a unicorn, again, i would not want to stick around in an environment like that for sure, but i don’t think that means they’re dead, just biding their time.

[theredhairedmonkey]

Been thinking about this headcanon: What if Startouch elves aren’t really “elves” per se, but are really just demigods who choose to embody the form of an elf? 

Like angelic beings, (similar to Maiar from Lord of the Rings), who either form bodies or are given bodies so that they can interact with the earthbound world of Xadia.

And so, some take the form of unicorns (like in the novel), while others take the form of elves like Aaravos. And in theory, these beings could change how they look, what their physical composition is, what their attributes are, etc.

Hence why Aaravos was able to effortlessly create a magical creature from his own essence; to him, a physical body is just whatever his mind chooses to form, as altering reality comes as naturally to him as breathing is to us. He can make his catepillar as strong, agile, or tough as we wants (hence how it could survive the fall from the Storm Spire).

[aroacekazi]

Hello, this isn't on your list of theories, but I'm curious to see if you have a theory on this: what do you think Aaravos' relationship to humanity is? And do you think its tied to what happened 300 years ago? And do you think he was ever "good" at any point in his past? Though, I'm sure it's more complicated than the simplicity of of the black and white thinking of good and evil. I'm curious about your thoughts.

This is actually something we know a fair bit about when it comes to Aaravos. And it’s quite a unique relationship, especially seeing as he is said to be the ONLY Startouch Elf any human has ever seen.

Where our information starts is long into the past, back in the era of the First Elves. We don’t know much about this, other than that it was ~5000 years ago, and the First Elves were Startouch Elves, and humans were around in this time, struggling to survive. As a First Elf Aaravos was likely also around in this time.

Secondly is still a long time ago in the timeline, but closer to current events than it is to the era of the First Elves (it seems possibly ~2000 years ago). Aaravos came to the aid of the people of the human city called “Elarion”, we know this from a poem that was in Arabic briefly shown in the show, there were also some other interesting similar literary bits and pieces about Aaravos we know about. Elarion was in Xadia, it’s the same place we see the first Dark Mage defending from Sol Regem in the S3E1 intro. We can see its ruins on the map. This is quite significant as it is implied this may have been one of, if not the only, major human settlement prior to the discovery of dark magic, and Aaravos may have had a major role in establishing it as such.

We believe the next major interaction between Aaravos and the humans comes around the time of Ziard (the first dark mage). Aaravos is said to have given a gift to humanity, and even has the title “Giver of Gifts”, this could be referring to dark magic (though I doubt it would be so simple), but something that is pretty cerrtain would be Ziard’s staff, which is later owned by Viren. Why? Because Ziard says the staff is a gift, and when Sol Regem asks who from, Ziard states “one of the Great Ones”. What do we know about the Great Ones? Well not much, but most significant is that Aaravos is the last of them. Given his title of “Giver of Gifts” as well, it’s pretty safe to assume Aaravos is the source of the staff, particularly since its focus seems to be dark magic and Aaravos is likely the only elf to have ever touched dark magic.

Shortly (relatively speaking) after this Xadia was divided, at which Aaravos was present, if he were involved, the elves likely did not know that Aaravos had a hand in this.

Now we get to the point at which we’re a little more uncertain, so I’m going to describe a few more things we know about Aaravos around this time and in the years following. At some point in this time Aaravos befriended a human, who gave him an apple which he liked the taste of. Additionally, again referring back to the map of Xadia, there is a “name of someone close to Aaravos on this map”, possible options (though we don’t know of all these individuals) could be: Tenebris, Skall, Kalik, and “the Castout”. Tenebris would be the name of Luna Tenebris, so we can ignore that for the purposes of this discussion, leaving the other three. Skall comes from the location “Skall’s Hook” in Northern Duren, we do not know anything about this location, or even that it’s definitely named after somebody, other than that it’s in icy tundra. Kalik comes from Mt. Kalik, you may recall this is the highest point in Katolis and the mountain climbed by Claudia and Soren in S1, as well as the place where a mage captured the storm to make the sky primal stone that was owned by Viren / Claudia / Callum, this option has potential as the mountain may be named after that mage, and it sounds feasible as an individual’s name, but it’s not guaranteed. The final option is “The Castout” from the name of the sea in Xadia “The Sea of The Castout”, notably Elarion lies on the coast of this sea.

I want to take a moment to talk about the apple, as there’s an interesting theory around it and a small detail in the first episode of S1. The theory posits that Aaravos was close to the Orphan Queen, who is thought to have lived ~300 years ago, and she gave Aaravos the apple. What is significant about this is that in that episode there’s a small mention about a tree that Claudia almost walks into being 300 years old, and that it is an apple tree that originated when the Orphan Queen & Aaravos met.

From here onwards speculating with as few details as we have becomes pretty meaningless I feel. But it’s evident Aaravos was manipulating Viren in S2 & S3 only to achieve his own goals of conquering Xadia.

As for what I think on Aaravos’ specific relationship to humanity and how it may have changed...? Well, chronologically, I certainly think back in the era of Elarion Aaravos may have actually felt sympathetic to humanity, certainly unicorns (the only other major star primal connected creature we know of) did, and I would think it would be really interesting if the main reason Elarion was the only major human settlement in that time was BECAUSE of Aaravos’ assistance at the time. But things have definitely changed since then, with Aaravos being willing to delve into dark magic, and becoming manipulative only to achieve his own goals. I have to wonder if the human he became close to that gave him the apple was hurt and killed as a consequence of the actions of Xadia and Aaravos has harboured resentment towards them ever since.

I know this post wasn’t exactly what you were looking for, but I hope laying out the lore in this way has helped let you in on some key pieces of information we have about Aaravos, as, as I stated at the beginning of this post, we know a surprising amount of the history here and I think there are probably a lot of takes that could be taken from this. So maybe you’ll have your own unique ideas now.

[ladyandherbooks]

Aaravos, his mirror censorship and important elven folk part 2

(Because I can only have 10 images per post)

@beautifulterriblequeen

We even see the mirror out in the open when Viren enters the chamber.

To me this means that they too have no idea about Aaravos, who he is, what he did and how powerful and dangerous he is. The Dragon Guard, arguably the most important elves in Xadia, the ones charged with protecting the dragon royal family know nothing of the greatest threat to their home, their peope and the family they have sworn to protect.

So this brings me to Runaan and why he of all the elves knows something about Aaravos. Why is it that he knows more than a queen or an elite group of royal body guards? At first I had 2 theories:

1) That Runaan read the elven writing around the mirror's frame. However, given the Dragon Guard's ignorance I doubt that this is the case. Whatever is written there is not a dead giveaway as to what this mirror's true purpose is.

2) He read about it in one of Ethari's books. This is highly unlikely due to the censorship surrounding Aaravos' imprisonment and I doubt that the few who do know (Zubeia, Sol Regem, Luna Tenebris, the Startouch elves perhaps) would want any information about said mirror being made public, especially since this mirror is probably one of a kind.

So how does Runaan know? My guess is a massive gamble and/or act of defiance made by one of his ancestors. During the time of Aaravos' imprisonment and the following continent wide censorship one of Runaan's direct ancestors took steps to ensure that they could pass down whatever information they could to their descendants to ensure that any information they had about the Arch mage Aaravos wouldn't be forgotten and lost to the sands of time.

Are any of these Moonshadow elves Runaan's ancestor? I'm guessing one of them is. Also, I know that this Moonshadow elf lady was alive during the human's exile to the west but if she isn't an ancestor of at least one of our Moonshadow elves then I'll be very surprised.

Perhaps, being a Moonshadow elf, they decided to use some sort of illusion to conceal and protect the knowledge that they had, hiding it from those seeking to erase it. This surviving knowledge was then passed down through Runaan's family, unneeded until Runaan's imprisonment in season 1.

Unlike all the other elves we see that Runaan knows something and that this knowledge terrifies and shocks him. We see him take a few moments to examine the mirror and then when he realises what it is his deameanor temporarily changes. He knows how dangerous this is and refuses to help Viren.

This knowledge is also vital to the show's future storylines as he is the only one who can alert everyone to Viren's plans. Once Runaan is freed he's going to tell someone, most likely Zubeia or his best friends about the mirror and Viren's interest in it. This revelation that is going to bring to light the censorship that Avizandum ordered and that Zubeia, Sol Regem and deliberately kept them in the dark about the greatest threat to their home in centuries and just how truly unprepared they all are for Aaravos' oncoming assault.

A rift between elves and dragons is coming to Xadia. More untold death and destruction than anyone could ever imagine. All because of the censorship and secrecy surrounding Aaravos and his mirror.

[t-n-c]

Viren’s future

So I’ve been seeing some meta here and there about season 3′s ending and what it might mean for Viren (and Claudia to an extent) and I wanted to share my thoughts on the subject

1. Viren’s role as the main antagonist is over.

With the introduction of Aaravos as being both more powerful and morally corrupt as Viren, it was pretty clear that Viren’s path as the main villain would have to conclude sooner or later--as ruthless as he is, Viren still has a bit of a conscience and good intentions whereas Aaravos is more occupied on revenge and world domination--it was inevitable that something would happen to ‘kill’ (excuse the pun) Viren’s villain arc--it serves the purpose of making way for a worse evil as well as complicating things for our protagonists which leads to point 2

2. The issues of Xadia’s evil and the evils of our protagonists have yet to be addressed

Sooner or later our protagonists are going to have to face the fact of Viren’s survival--and that will have to come with realizing that he actually ISN’T pure evil. He had (and I feel still does) have a point when he mentions that humanity got the shorter end of the stick and that elves and dragons have oppressed humans for millennia. Our heroes are going to have to come to terms with their own bigotry and evil (yes they should have done some of that in season 3, but I digress). They will also have to come together in order to defeat Aaravos and his plans for humanity/Xadia which leads us to point 3

3. Aaravos wants to conquer Xadia and it’s heavily heavily implied he wants to transform humans into startouch elves/creatures

Aaravos has made no secret of his hatred of Xadia and its elf/dragon inhabitants. He was overjoyed to hear that Viren had killed Thunder and referred to Thunder as an arrogant monster. He also referred to the Sunfire Queen as arrogant and mercilessly killed her (after sadistically telling her the fate of her grandmother). For some reason or the other he wants all Xadia to suffer--and by his own hands/the hands of those who follow him...Which means he’ll need an army.

Many people have pointed out that dark magic does something to people over time (at least to humans; we haven’t exactly seen an elf besides Aaravos use dark magic so we don’t know what affect it would have on say a moonshadow or a skywing--it could be the same, it could be different, who knows). Ziard and Claudia developed patches of stark white hair; Viren has whitening hair, black scleras, gray skin, and even little star freckles are appearing on his cheeks; Callum’s nightmare had his dark self sprouting much the same look. None of this is coincidence, it’s a part of Aaravos’ goal--he WANTS humans to transform. The more humans who transform, the more startouch elves he would have with him. The most god-like of elves. They would be an force to reckon with and Xadia wouldn’t stand a chance (and Aaravos wouldn’t be alone) 

So...what does all this mean for Viren and his family?

I think it means that in the next season we’re going to learn more about his past and his relationships; we’re going to have him and Claudia attempting to fix their lives the best way they know how--Aaravos will probably be involved at first, but with Viren’s ‘death’ and the way he referred to Claudia as a tool that relationship will be strained. There’s also the fact that there’s not much left he can offer either of them--the only thing he can offer is protection while they are in Xadia and perhaps knowledge on spells. That might not be enough to keep them both under his sway; they may try to leave him regardless.

But that’s the thing...I don’t think Aaravos is just going to let them go--EITHER of them. He already knows how powerful Viren can be and once he finds out about Claudia reviving her dad he’ll know about her true prowess as well. I don’t think he wants to lose ‘allies’ as powerful as the man who took down Thunder and the girl who can bring back the dead. That being said? He may loosen the reigns a smidge--let them ‘go their own path’ (or have them believe they are)--but he’ll still be in the backdrop manipulating them--preying on their feelings of isolation and encouraging them to perform more powerful dark magic spells so that they’ll be closer to reaching their own individual metamorphosis. I’m 90% sure he’s going to succeed with Viren, not so sure with Claudia. 

And I think that might be Viren’s tipping point--losing his humanity and being manipulated into transforming into an elf--a creature he sees as inherently dangerous--that’s what will push him into cutting off Aaravos from his life. That’s the part where he’ll swallow his pride and go to Soren (Callum and Ezran too, but mostly Soren) for help saving Claudia from Aaravos and his plans to use her against Xadia. He will apologize for his wrongs and work to reconcile--he wouldn’t give up dark magic though (nor do I think he should have to) but he would have a better appreciation of how to use it responsibly. 

[raayllum]

decided i’d toss my own “tdp soundtrack title predictions” hat into the ring, given that i haven’t gotten to one of these since S3 aired, and damn the nostalgia

full track list here with S4 seemingly being from 1-28, and S5 from 29-62. also not going to be talking about every track as some (“rescue at the great bookery” and “threate in the forest” for ex) seem pretty self explanatory, and with that all out of the way, let’s get into it

31. I Haven’t Forgotten (3:41) — Could easily see this being an early Viren and/or Aaravos focused scene, as Aaravos holding a grudge kinda necessitates having a good ass memory - maybe even something that relates to Zubeia as well, since she’s ancient in her own way and is clearly gonna have her own role to play this season.

32. Seeking Answers (3:05) — Likely in 5x01 with the group returning to Katolis, perhaps centred on Callum and Rayla individually well, seeking answers. For Rayla, this could mean looking into the dungeons about her family and finding Runaan’s bow. We also get Rayla’s voice over (and clip) that appears to be her in Ezran’s old room in the S5 trailer asking “How do we kill a Startouch elf?” so that and/or answers about Aaravos’ prison may be what they go to Lux Aurea to, well, seek. 

34. My Most Eager Student (4:58) — First Viren and Kpp’Ar conversation (which the implication he had more than one student if that’s the case?? Fascinating) perhaps, or Aaravos reflecting on Claudia, as it seems she will fully be stepping into her own as Aaravos’ protege this season

35. Keep Moving (3:01) — Terry and Claudia, since Viren won’t wake up, realizing that they can’t wait any longer and have to start moving. Maybe end of 5x01 or 5x02?

39. In Your Dreams (1:55) — Callum and/or Viren and/or Zubeia having dreams/nightmares regarding their respective fears?

40. A Familiar Warning (2:04) — Karim and Sol Regem, maybe, beginning to barter, or a warning from Kpp’Ar that Viren disregarded, cutting to the present day with Terry giving the same one to Claudia that she likewise ignores?

42. Stay Safe (2:17) — Some sort of temporary farewell between Amaya and Janai (splitting up library things?) or Claudia and Terry (leading to her getting attacked by the water dragon?) or Ezran (+ Zym) briefly splitting up from his crownguard 

43. Father and Daughter (1:37) — Claudia and Viren most likely, maybe one of the flashbacks to when Soren was sick and how Claudia was introduced to dark magic as a Fix it solution. “I love you Daddy” out of context spoiler?

44. Like Aunt, Like Nephew (2:46) — A conversation between Amaya and Callum or Janai and Rayla about Amaya and Callum, probably. Could be either their good, protective natures, their hair, or their tendency to make some dark humoured off colour jokes

45. We Can Help Them (2:26) — Rayla telling Callum about the coins, and him offering to help and/or Karim being determined that he can still reverse the corrupted core and save the zombiefied elves. If we do get a flashback to Aaravos’ younger years, I could also see him having this viewpoint about humanity (however ‘true’ it is).

50. Times Are Changing (2:21) — Relations between humans and elves in New Aurea / human-dragon Zubeia and Ezran related stuff? This could also be closer to when the Dragang reunite and put the pieces together. Callum and Rayla with whatever they learned about (murdering?) Startouch elves and Ezran with what was gleaned from Evenere (probably the location of Aaravos’ prison, if Callum & co. can decipher the riddle/poem verses)

51. Blood Moon Rises (1:30) — Karim bartering with Kim’Dael, or her showing up of her own accord. Currently leaning toward Rayla and Kim’Dael perhaps not running into each other this season, but if Amaya and Janai bear witness/survive her villainy, Rayla would surely remember and be able to piece it together based on description, leading to a confrontation later

52. If You Kill Me Now (1:59) — Aaravos versus Archdragon confrontations / Viren demanding answers from Aaravos / Kim’Dael and Karim? Janai? / Callum and Rayla possession conversation callback. Either way, delicious, and speaks to the prevalence of murder in this damn children’s show

53. The Wounded Return (2:13) — A failed attempt to take back the corrupted core in Lux Aurea? Or speaks to the idea of “a festering wound” (out of context spoiler). If the kids have had their pirate escapade, this could also be related to the injuries we see Callum sustain in the trailer, which would make sense if anyone else had been hurt as well (hence, plural wounded) 

54. To Kill an Archdragon (3:03) — Lore on Luna Tenebris’ death (or something we don’t know about Avizandum’s) or a threat on Zubeia’s life. If Sol Regem has been corrupted by the corrupted core or is just threatening Janai’s reign, figuring out how to stop him will also be crucial 

55. Not Yours to Give (4:50) — Been wondering if Karim would even be able to free Kim’Dael, since he’s not the proper heir, and Aditi herself said that the magic was a kind “that takes”. This could also be an Aaravos related flashback since he ‘gave’ humanity something they ‘shouldn’t have’ — whether it was related to primal magic alongside the unicorns, or was the discovery / inclination towards dark magic, we’ll have to see. Could be Viren curing Soren and/or Callum ‘giving’ the Moon fam freedom (but again, have to see). Looking at the “gift giving” motif real meaningfully

56. Deadwood Deserves Dignity (3:03) — If a pirate dies or an according ship is ruined? ‘Deadwood’ isn’t a place in Xadia and sounds like a very pirate-y, seafaring moniker to me

62. Tomorrow the Sun Will Rise (3:07) — So I’ve said before that nothing good ever really happens at dawn/sunrise in this show (Sarai and the queens of Duren dying, Callum’s possession, etc) and I don’t think this is an exception. Karim cites that “This empire is ending, that the rising sun is now a falling star!” so if he’s taken over the kingdom by this point, his tendency to metaphoric language would make sense. A rising sun is also mentioned in Aaravos’ short story, Ripples, following a world changing transformation: “The humans huddled together, scarcely daring to breathe, awaiting the rise of the sun. And when the long, dark night had finally passed—for the sun must always rise, mustn’t it?—they gazed out upon an unfamiliar landscape.” Which also bodes well for predictions that Aaravos will be fully released by the end of S5 as well. 

[lairofsentinel]

Detailed Info from the TDP Podcast - Episode 5

Startouch elves   Sunfire elves   Tidebound elves

Moonshadow culture ❘༻༺❘ Weeding and courtship  ❘༻༺❘Goshting spell details  Silvergrove Goverment ❘༻༺❘Money  ❘༻༺❘Horn cuffs symbolism

Ethari

Ethari regrets the ghosting spell ❘༻༺❘Ethari is playful

Runaan

Runaan’s feelings while being trapped in the coin ❘༻༺❘Runaan and Ethari’s reaction to Rayla-Callum relationship

Rayla

Transition to live with Runaan and Ethari and her relationship with her parents

Rayla in School  ❘༻༺❘ Rayla’s parents personalities

Different scenarios for characters

Summary list 

They never came with a strong lore concept when they did this stuff. 

Silvergrove and Moonshadows:

Moonshadows live in small communities. 

Silvergrove is not the only Moonshadow community. Maybe the rest are hidden from one another since entering to them it’s needed a particular dancing-key.

Government in Silvergrove is apparently through a Council of different groups via consensus [They don't have a strong idea about this]

Silvergrove is in permanent dusk. It was based on Ashenvale from Wow (I loved Ashenvale so much, always!)

Main values: honor, loyalty, commitment, strictness that comes from valuing a close community.

They work to support each other. They work for the good of the community. (They are communist xD)

Because they are an isolated community, any small betrayal is magnified. It's a double edged sword. Having a community so close, supportive and isolated resents your ability to perform all of yourself  for the good of that community, and sometimes misunderstanding can be understood as big betrayals [Rayla’s case].

Horn cuffs can be extremely meaningful relationship-status gifts between couples but they don’t always mean marriage. 

 “Ethari definitely thinks Runaan has cute horns though. Fact.”

Sunfire: 

Singular authority. Monarchy.

Heavily militarized. 

Too focused in might and demonstration of strength. 

Xadia looks at them as protectors, but also as violent. They are a dual edged sword. 

They patrol the border.

Tidebound:

different in each part of the ocean. 

The concept of the flow allows them to communicate all over the planet through water, rivers and lakes. 

Not too much lore done about them for now. They need to work on it.

There is no Startouch elves society since they are not numerous.

Ghost spell:

Ethari regrets 100% having accepted the ghost spell, but he has no power to reverse it. He can do a quick charm to null it in the moment only.

Rayla’s ghost may be undone, but it needs a collective decision. It’s hard to believe that Ethari would convince the whole village about that.

They never thought if it has been a precedent of this spell being broken before. They think it's a good story to think about. 

Rayla and her parents:

(They are still thinking about this, and there are many versions, and this may change in the future. )

Honor is a key part of Moonshadow culture, so Rayla was sad because their parents were leaving but at the same time it was a huge honour because they were going to be part of an elite force defending the King and the Queen. That's why she was so hurt when she knew her parents had run away, putting aside her sadness and the honour that such duty represented. 

She also found honour in living with Runaan, the leader of the assassins. 

Because Runaan and Ethari were close friends of Rayla's parents, she didn't feel it as a big shock to go to live with them. They had been taking care of her before anyways.

Lian is like the ultimate Bro. A very positive person, who wants his friends to succeed and be happy. 

He is the most friendly elf among the Moonshadows.  And more impulsive. 

Tiadrin is the cold one, the one who does more calculations. 

Rayla as a child

Rayla was feisty.  

In the school she got general education, gardening, weapons, basics to everything and enough to contribute to the community in many ways.

Ecology of Moonshadow forest or history, were not her fave subjects. 

She was good in general subjects but excelled in PE.

She may have friends in her childhood but not many, since she appreciates her lonely time. 

“Fitting in is overrated” for her 

Ethari and Runaan [characters and relationship]

Their wedding involves dancing with a ribbon.

Dating should have a degree of formality since it's the moment where they express their emotions. Exchange of gifts and small favours as mutual hints: Ethari would put extra details in objects to Runaan. Runaan would ask Ethari too many checks on his weapons, more than it's necessary. 

The process is stiff and difficult [especially for Runaan], but once it's surpassed that time, there must be an open discussion about it. 

Runaan struggled a lot more about this.

Runaan is the most moonshadow elf of all moonshadow elves xD. Runaan probably would do the exchange of emotions in the most private way possible.

Runaan doesn’t stop to consider the emotional motivations for anything as his first course of thought. He jumps right to a very strategic and almost militaristic belief in the way people operate. 

Ethari has a playful side, but in episode 3 it is opaque due to the grief. 

Ethari is more clear with his display of emotions and apparently that's something that Rayla learnt from him, so that's why she was so confused about Callum when he did a display of emotions that she thought it was romantic and failed. 

Rayla took her soft heart from Ethari. 

Runaan in the coin.

Runaan certainly has a lot of time to think now. 

He wanted Rayla to succeed deeply, to redeem from the weight of her parent's sin and free her from her shame.

He has a small crisis thinking this is his fault, that he failed. “I did not train her well enough. Ethari was right.” 

He pushed her so much to put her into a position to fix her shame, that he ended up putting her in a position that she could not succeed at all. He regrets this.

He took her to this mission because he wanted her to succeed even if it meant their death, but he wanted to make Rayla to survive. He believed that she being alive was better than everyone dead. 

He feels guilty because he projected on her more what kind of person he wanted her to be, than what she truly is. But also a bit of anger, because he gave her all the opportunities and tools to take them and redeem herself, but she rejected them. However, the guilt will prevail during the introspection. “Maybe it was me who stepped too far.”

Runaan and Ethari relationships with Callum

Ethari will get that Rayla and Callum are a thing without needing too much time. And Ethari would be the one to talk about that with Runaan first, in order to soften his ideas.

Runaan probably will not want to show his emotions about the bad feelings that Callum inspires him but Ethari will sense that Runaan is not taking this well

Callum will live on the edge of “I'm going to die tonight” every time there is a family meeting XD

Ethari and Callum will get along quickly. Callum would do the dad jokes, Ethari would humour him, and Runaan would be completely oblivious to the meanings.

[kradogsrats]

raised to spouse the question of “wait, what the hell is Opeli High Cleric OF, exactly, in this setting that appears to be completely devoid of actual religion?” last night, causing us to rehash a discussion that apparently we had before and I somehow completely forgot (thanks ADHD?)

Opeli is very clearly designed to look religious, and she has this explicitly religious title in some official sources (Callum’s Spellbook, at least... I haven’t dug through the novelizations to see if it’s referenced there), but for a fantasy setting TDP is actually shockingly areligious. Where there would usually be gods of various elemental powers, instead there are the primal sources, regarded more as natural phenomena. (And also, through the arcana, instilling a bit of the divine in every Xadian, but that’s irrelevant.) The Archdragons, which could also be a focus of religious worship, are instead portrayed and regarded as essentially political beings. (Rayla acknowledges Sol Regem’s power and prestige, but also that he’s kind of a dick in a very non-reverent way.)

Opeli is also presented entirely as political--every official source description of her emphasizes her focus on law and her competence as an administrator. Not her spirituality. Not her religious morality. Those simply don’t exist. In fact, the rituals we see performed in Katolis are also pretty much devoid of any religious significance. Take Harrow’s funeral: there’s a prescribed set of rituals around the burial of a king, including a set amount of time that the body is expected to lie in state before interment. But Viren breaking those rules is a violation of propriety, not blasphemy. He has offended Opeli and the traditions of Katolis, but not god. And Harrow’s soul isn’t going to be trapped in the the mortal realm because his body was destroyed early, or anything. It’s just rude.

It’s all just legalistic ritual. Which aligns with Opeli’s character as described, sure, but the religious nature of her design still makes me itchy.

I’d like to do a deeper check for references to religion in canon through rewatch/reread, even just any errant “gods/god” light cursing, but until then the only thing I remember is in the Tales of Xadia sourcebook’s section on--get this--Startouch elves. It describes a poem held by the Royal Library of Evenere called “The Epic of the Void,” which pre-dates the fall of Elarion and is held in greatest secrecy and security:

Those hoping to study the poem must petition the High Mage of Evenere personally, but she is notoriously strict in allowing access to the work. Most hopeful readers are turned away without explanation (and often with a stern lecture on the sacred nature of Startouch scholarship), creating ever more mystery around this ambiguous poem.

(Emphasis added.)

A stanza of the poem is included:

Where do the fabled Great Ones hide? What secrets have you locked inside? From rising Sun to Moonlight’s grace I search the Sky for any trace Of Starfolk, fabled, fallen, found-- Once everywhere, now none around. Is all we are to know of thee Consumed by Dark, or cast to Sea? So bound to Earth, are we denied The touch of Stars? Have our Gods died? Where do the fabled Great Ones hide?

(Again, emphasis added.)

So a) nice tie-in with the recent Aaravos short Patience, but b) wasn’t Aaravos just casually standing around at the expulsion of humans from Xadia? Pretty sure that was after the fall of Elarion. So unless he’s like... the only Startouch elf who has ever manifested on Xadia, something’s weird. (Also, just for fun, c) note the inclusion of Dark among the references to the primals.)

So idk but what I’m getting here is that modern humans are largely areligious, but deep in the history of human culture there is the concept of a plural divinity associated with the stars that has, for some reason, not survived. This could be something shared in elven culture, but the inclusion of dark magic with the other primal sources in the poem implies a human author, and the same section in Tales of Xadia describes an elven children’s rhyme that references Startouch elves being gone(tm) but not really distinct from other elves. (Elves are more likely to have religion-adjacent rituals associated with their primals, imo. For example, the ostentatious purification ritual of the Sun elves.)

Anyway, to circle back to what started the discussion: Opeli’s role is almost definitely more of a “master of laws and rituals” one than a “spiritual guide” one, and also (the real reason I was thinking about this) the routine mild blasphemy used by humans for emphasis would likely be “gods,” or possibly some variant of “stars,” “stars above,” etc.

[skyfireflight]

Midnight’s Dawn, Chapter 6

Pre-series/Pre-canon (AU): The story of Xadia’s history before and leading up to the continent’s split, and how Elarion met Aaravos.

Story Summary: Dragons were not kind to humans. Nor were most elves. But Elarion was willing to take that risk. She had to, to save everyone she loved.

Chapter Summary: A child is left in the snow, then found.

Chapter 1    Chapter 2    Chapter 3    Chapter 4    Chapter 5

______________________________

Part 2: Stars

Chapter 6

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

- from Elarion's poem

_____________________

"Now, you're just a standard human again."

- Lujanne, Moonshadow Elf guardian of the Moon Nexus

_____________________

Now he really didn't know what to do.

He had just been about to swoop down on the human again, for the last time. He'd had enough fun; now it was time to finish this.

And enjoy his meal, however small of a snack it may be.

The human was lying down in the snow, no longer running. He eagerly prepared to begin his descent –

when a startouch elf stopped him. The man stepped in front of the dragon and the human, shielding its prone form with his body. Several other startouch elves stood behind it.

He splayed his wings to stop his descent.

What was this?

"Stop," the startouch elf shielding the human said. "There is no longer need for this."

No longer need….?

"The king of the dragons has ordered for this human to die. It has magic not meant for it, and so its punishment is death," he told the elf.

"This human no longer has magic," the startouch elf explained. "She gave up her arcanum. She is no longer guilty of that crime. There is no need to kill her, nor any other humans, for this."

He thought for a moment, flapping his wings steadily to keep himself in the air.

Part of him was disappointed; now this meant he couldn't eat the human and finish his game. The thought that he should have just gone ahead and killed it without dragging it on this long, and allowing the circumstances to change, briefly crossed his mind.

But, on the other foot, his orders were to kill the human that had inner magic.

If this human no longer had inner magic….

Then now what was he supposed to do?

Not to mention, startouch elves were old, and powerful, almost, but not quite, to the extent of the dragons. One knew better than to doubt or dismiss them carelessly.

"Very well," he said to the elf, not quite keeping a small grumble out of his voice. "I will speak to my king, tell him what you have told me."

The startouch elf nodded. "As you should."

He turned away from the human, then, and the startouch elves, and flew back to tell his king what had transpired and ask for new orders.

_______________________

The conversation with the dragon over, the startouch elves turned to face Elarion.

Standing would take too much of an effort, but Elarion was able to roll over enough so she could get an at angle to fully see the elves standing in front of her, and not just a view of their boots and legs.

The way they glimmered in the night, a few feet in front of her and against the backdrop of the sparkling pillars, just like the stars themselves that they were named for, almost distracted Elarion from the cold and from the pain she was in.

Almost.

But it was at least enough for her to focus now, and her vision had cleared.

A man with dark, glittering hair spoke, his voice clear in the quiet air. "We have done as you have asked. The dragon will tell his king of what has been done. The dragons should no longer unleashed their wrath upon your people for having magic."

Despite the pain and the cold, relief washed over her. She would have gone weak with it if she thought she had any strength left to give. The tension in her muscles and the weight that felt like a hard rock in her chest released, and now Elarion felt like she could finally truly breathe.

She had done it.

Her people, and her family, were safe. She was safe.

She took a deep breath, and sighed out a small, airy laugh, pushing through the pain that slight action caused her.

She had done it.

They are safe.

Elarion swallowed to help the dryness in her mouth and throat before speaking. "Thank you." Her voice was as quiet and airy as her laugh had been, but it still carried in the stillness. "Thank you."

The startouch elf who had spoken to her nodded.

Then, he turned away.

As did the others.

Wait…were they leaving?

Elarion tried to get up, but her arms couldn't push her weight. She was too weak. Pain spiked through her at the movement, in addition to the constant burning fire under skin. A shiver wracked her body, and she whimpered.

"Wait!" She slid one of her arms out toward the group of elves. Her voice cracked. "Wait! Please, don't leave me here!"

She would die in the cold, she knew. There was no way she would be able to climb down this mountain now and get to a town, not exhausted as she was. Even if she could find a way to start a fire without her magic, she didn't have the strength for that much, couldn't even drag herself to the trees for shelter, and her ripped clothes wouldn't protect her, especially not lying in the snow as she was.

"Please!"

The startouch elves turned to face her again.

_______________________

The human girl lied in the snow, no doubt very weak from having her arcanum removed. The night would only grow colder, and she most likely would not survive in her state.

But her request was for her people, and they had done what she had asked. A noble sacrifice, on her part.

Besides….

One spoke, words only meant for among themselves, too low for the child to hear. "She is no longer a magical creature. She is not a concern to us."

Her magic, after all, had been the main reason they came to her in the first place.

But she no longer had magic. And for their part, they had involved themselves enough.

The elves didn't come closer. Didn't reach to help her.

"We did what you asked," one with pale robes repeated. Her tone was emotionless. "You are no longer a magical creature. Our duty is done."

The elves turned away again. But they didn't just walk away. They faded. It was as if they were pulling back their magic; their glowing auras melted away, and the ones with sparkling freckles on their dark complexion – the stars disappeared, turning black, then vanishing entirely.

As they faded, Elarion reached out again. "Wait!" she begged. "Don't leave me here!" A sob left her, and she realized she was crying. The tears running down her cheeks just made her colder, but did nothing to soothe the burning pain. "Please! Ah…." A flare of pain in her throat cut off her pleading. She tried again, her quieter, and weaker from the effort speaking and reaching took. "Please…." Her voice cracked.

The startouch elves said nothing. They did not turn towards her again. They continued walking away, their forms fading.

"Please!"

Then, they were gone, disappearing into the black of night.

No….

With nothing there to reach out for, Elarion wilted in the snow. A whimpering sob tore from her, more tears trailing down her cheeks.

Having the strength to do nothing else, Elarion let herself cry.

_______________________

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

- from Elarion's poem

_______________________

"Tell me what you need, and I will help you."

- Aaravos, Startouch Elf wizard and archmage

_______________________

Narrowing eyes. A gaze watching from a distance. What…?

What was going on?

What are they doing?

Only the vague gist of it, but definitely something that should not be done.

A cumulation of events that had been on the edges of awareness, leading to now.

A child….

A tug on his heart.

______________________

It was cold.

How long she been lying here?

She didn't know. Time was nothing.

She'd stopped shivering some time ago.

Though she knew that was a bad sign, she was almost grateful. The violent shivering had just aggravated the fire in her muscles – a fire that gave her no warmth. Remnants of an inner warmth that she would never have again.

Her arcanum was gone. Her magic was gone. She could never do magic again.

An airy hiccup came from her chest. She didn't have the energy to sob. The tears simply ran down her face, slipping into the snow.

It was a wonder they didn't freeze on her cheeks, she thought.

She was thankful for it.

She considered, briefly, that freezing to death was probably better than being eaten and torn apart by a dragon.

Her wounds hurt.

Everything hurt.

…..

…..

Cold.

Elarion's eyes slowly blinked closed. Open.

Closed.

Open.

Blinking faster, to keep them open. To keep herself awake. She shouldn't sleep.

Her eyelids grew tired with the effort.

….

…It was okay. Her people were safe.

But no it wasn't, it wasn't okay, shedidn'twanttodie shedidn't no please –!

Part of her screamed. She let that scream, that thought, fade into the distance in her mind, until, though it was still there, it was quieter, a background layer to her thoughts.

She had done what she needed to do.

That's what mattered.

Mom…Eli…Aunt Sabra…I'm sorry.

She wouldn't get to see them again.

She wondered what they thought had happened to her. If they would ever find out.

…

…

The snow did nothing to cool the simmering pain.

…

…

Cold.

Her limbs were numb.

…

Blink.

…

Blink.

…

She was hot now. Why was she hot?

She had too many clothes on. If she had the strength to move, she would've shoved off her boots.

…

…

Cold again?

…

It hurt.

…

Nothing.

…

Blink.

Her eyes slid closed.

…

She was so tired….

A heaved breath from aching lungs, a soft groan of pain.

…So…tired….

…tired….

Her eyes blinked open.

Then slid closed.

Then open, only slightly, staring at white.

She just wanted to sleep. A little sleep wouldn't hurt. Just a little.

Nothing. Her limbs were elsewhere, no cold, no hot.

Only her mind, and slowly blinking eyes.

Were her cheeks wet? Why?

Her thoughts were vague, distant impressions.

…So tired….

Her eyes slid closed. Her thoughts faded.

….

….

….

A rustling, a shifting in the snow. Right next to her ear.

The sound jolted Elarion back to awareness. A flash of fear coursed through her.

Clothes? Footsteps? The elves had returned –

Something long and thin pressed underneath her shoulders and lifted.

She sucked in a weak, frightened whimper, her heart hammering in her chest with panic.

No, no, they were going to hurt her again, they were going to –!

"Shhhh." A voice, deep and soothing. "I will help you."

Help. Not hurt.

The panic faded, and her heart calmed.

Something else long and thin slipped under her knees, and Elarion was lifted out of the snow and cradled against a warm, solid surface.

The movement, though gentle, aggravated the constant burning in her muscles, and she cried out at the searing pain, her eyes watering.

Maybe if I had chosen Earth magic instead, she thought vaguely, it wouldn't hurt so much.

"Shhhh…shh, shh, shh…." the voice hushed her softly. Her cheek and whole right side pressed against solid heat, like a furnace compared to the snow she had been lying in moments before. If Elarion had had the strength, she would have shivered at the sudden change in temperature.

Finally having real warmth, clouds of sleepiness drifted back into her mind, and she looked up as her eyes began their slow blinking.

Her gaze met the starry sky. The stars looked closer now, brighter for some reason.

The last thing she saw was the midnight star, the brightest star, shining down on her, blinking steadily like a heartbeat.

To a heartbeat.

The heartbeat under her ear that soothed her to sleep.

[sunstone-nerding]

TDP S3 Thoughts

I finally typed up my thoughts on The Dragon Prince Season 3.

Biggest pleasant surprise: Soren's character growth. I expected that he would struggle with what his dad was doing, but I did not anticipate that he would bust out entirely. I am so proud of him.

Biggest disappointment: Thunderfall. From the S1 opening, I thought that Harrow and Viren taking out Avizandum was a massive military operation, not "two guys ride across the border and throw an enchanted spear." Is this a retcon? Did no one challenge them along the way? Also how did Viren get to the top of the Storm Spire without knowing the breathing spell? (Maybe he improvised with the primal stone.) And why did the Dragon Guards think they were screwed if they were only facing one mage? The queen was also conveniently absent. I am so confused, and kind of angry. I suspect The TDP crew decided to make slaying "Thunder" a two-man operation to cut down on production and/or screen-time.

Rayla's parents looked too young to have a 15-year-old kid.

Viren not quite knowing what to do when his vague plans for improving humanity's lot became reality: at first it seemed like weak writing, but then I realized it was entirely relatable. He seemed surprised that his struggles had finally produced the results he wanted. He got the crown and a willing army at his back. Now what? So of course he leaned more on Aaravos, to the delight of the Startouch Elf.

In-universe, it does not make sense for the Moonshadows to bar Rayla from coming home so soon. They'd know from the tracking lotuses that the mission went badly, and only Runaan and Rayla survived the night. And later, Runaan could have succumbed to wounds, or another attack the two were too weak to defend against. Wouldn't the elves want to hear Rayla's version of events? Wouldn't Ethari? From a meta perspective, the decision to banish Rayla was clearly to avoid scripting the rest of the townsfolk reacting to a human and a dragonling in their midst -- not out of laziness, but due to screen time constraints. Also it kept the teenagers on the move.

Saying all that: I was giddy and relieved that the craftsman was Runaan's husband. I am irked that Wonderstorm concealed this fact in order to fuel speculation and hype. However, the husbands’ farewell kiss was so loving and passionate, it said a lot about their relationship without words. Specifically: that Runaan, despite his faults, clearly cherishes his man. :) 

I get that Ezran knew he was losing ground in his push for peace...but I do now understand why he went to prison.

Was disappointed by Viren's characterization this season. He just seemed to go...full-on villian. He got little moments of uncertainty and humanity -- my favorite was when he told Aaravos to stow it when the elf called Claudia an "asset" -- but I did not like how he gloated so much. I also expected him to protest Aaravos' manipulations more. But I get it. Viren thought he was facing the executioner's block, and then Things Happened and he got all the political power he had hoped for, and more. Of course he rode that wave until it crashed.

Rayla and Callum are relatable, dorky, and sweet. 

What Claudia must've done to resurrect her father is pure nightmare fuel. First, she had to find his smashed body -- the bent, bloody crown gives us an idea what state it was in -- and possibly drag it to a safer location. Then, she needed "supplies." She sacrificed at least one human (there is a soldier's empty boot in the background) and god knows what else to reconstruct Viren's body and shove his spirit back in. And he still came back covered in nasty bruises. His shocked expression says that he had a good idea how much those spells cost his beloved daughter.

tl;dr version: Overall it was a good ride, but I strongly suspect some story decisions were made to pare down screen time, and it shows.

[wolfvalkyrie-blog]

Stardust

@aavravros  @feral-anarchy​ here’s the angst fic I was talking about writing 

Title: Stardust 

Warnings: Angst galore, Major Character Death, Graphic Descriptions of (not-quite-violence?) Pain

Fanfiction for: The Dragon Prince 

In the midst of midnight canvas, there was an unusual absence of stars being freckled across the darkness. There was no moon, either; not even a new moon - it just... wasn’t there.  Smooth, cool, flattened stone glistened between the mountains underneath the sky  The low-set contour of the short elevations gleamed with iridescent hues. Despite being sterile and empty for miles on end, the sight of the strange landscape was borderline alien if an outsider looking in were to see it. Depending on who saw it, it would either be construed as beautiful, terrible, or both. The air was stagnant and dry, the only variable in the temperature the cold, subtle wind that occassionally whispered through the peaks of the mountains. The sheer silence of the area alone was deafening, oppressive in combination with the lack of light. 

Standing out like a bright flower among the plain wastes, there was a large construct of complex architecture. It would have been much more intimidating had anyone but its sole inhabitant been there to see it. Nevertheless, its structure was impressive, boasting a piercing sheen and intricate patterns carved into the metallic roof. The symbols that were engraved into the metal were elegant Arabic characters.  What they said was anyone’s guess, but it probably had something to do with the arcane arts. The tall, swinging doors that greeted the empty landscape were locked shut by the inherent magic of the realm that encompassed the area. 

The sole inhabitant of the library inside of the building was fast aslumber when reality gradually began to pull his conscious mind from the recesses of his dreams. It wasn’t typical for him to toss and turn in his sleep - he usually slept peacefully - but now he was rolling left and right, thrashing at his sheets, his limbs twitching involuntarily  as his entire body was shaken with violent spasms. A deep ache slowly settled in his chest.

His eyes snapped open.

For a moment, disbelief rendered him nearly frozen in shock. He knew this would happen someday, but he hadn’t been prepared for it to happen now, of all times. The pain that tightened the musculature in the center of his chest felt as if it was pulling inwards from every possible direction; an overwhelming sense akin to asphyxiation. Now he wasn’t the kind of person that let physical pain get to him, but this was different. And he knew exactly what was happening to him.

See, he was born a Startouch elf. And the Star Arcanum was vastly different from the rest in more ways than one. One of those ways, and this was specific to Startouch elves, was that their life force developed a connection at a certain age to a specific star beyond the visible ones in the night sky.  So when that star inevitably exploded one day, not only would the elf that star was connected to die, but they would also be able to feel every last inch of its pain. The sharpness, the pressure, the searing heat; all of it. Before he was ever imprisoned in this blasted mirror, when he was younger and still naïve, he had been taught that if he felt an immeasurable ache in his body, it may very well mean death for him. 

And this was definitely immeasurable. Agonizing. There were no adequate words, mortal or otherwise, that could have possibly summed up the throes of excruciation that compressed Aaravos’ upper body. 

No, there was no way this was anything else. There was no other explanation for  it. The sudden nature of it lent credence to the idea as well.

He stumbled off of the mattress he had been lying on, clutching his abdomen in his arm. He could still walk, but it hurt. What a pathetic sight, that he even had to push off of desktops and walls just to support himself. The elf pulled back his hood, and looked uncertainly out of the window, his eyes cast upwards with a concerned expression on his face. His ears lowered against the sides of his head as he realized his intuition had been right. He closed his eyes and pressed one of his palms against the thin glass, along with his forehead, in sorrow. But not for himself. 

For his star, who had been the one he called on when he needed his Arcanum’s magic; who had been the only one there for him all of these centuries alone. He may not have been able to see it from here, but he could still sense its presence. Her presence. The Startouch elves shared a very close bond with their personal star, and in that regard, Aaravos was no different. Briiefly, he wished that he could have been the only one whose life was fading; but he knew that was impossible. The only way for him to survive now would be dark magic, and no way was he going to do the one thing everyone suspected him of, even if there weren’t any witnesses here right now.

The Startouch wasn’t afraid of death. Having mastered the Moon Arcanum as well, he was highly aware of the nature of such things. But even without the fear that most felt towards such a thing, his heart still broke for his dear star. He choked back the tears that were threatening to well on the cusps of his eyelids. Swallowing the pang he felt, he accepted inevitability, and sank onto his knees. 

Defiantly, he kept his eyes shut. The empty darkness that lingered over the firmament outside was an all-too-painful reminder that he would never see that star shining down on him from above ever again. It was the last thing he needed to be reminded of right now. I wish I could say goodbye. Alas, there was no point in ruminating over it. While the pain spread throughout his body, he sensed that something was off.  

That was when he realized. The star that he was connected to was trying desperately to keep him alive, resisting the pressure and heat as best she could. No... If she saves my life...  He dared not finish the sentence. 

Please... let me rest... . Let me finally be free, my dear star.....

He winced as he could sense her silent cry of protest. Please don’t cry...  I’ll see you again soon. His star’s power faded as she ceased her resistance and finally surrendered to the call of fate. Calmed by the fact that she was no longer panicking, he gave in as well, and slumped onto his stomach with his arms and legs splayed outwards as his own strength dissipated.  He was certain of his fate now; there was an intense, jabbing pain inside of his bones. . The center of his chest was aching more deeply than before now, and he felt his body overheating, the searing warmth too much even for someone connected to the fires of a star. His breath came in slow, ragged paces, and his decelerating heartbeat thrummed in the drums of his ears as rubatosis washed over him.  Every time the fiery warmth intensified, the ache became worse; and in turn, the temperature of his body become hotter. It was a relentless cycle that wouldn’t end while he was still alive. So he waited for the inevitable.

But it would take longer than just a few mere minutes. He knew that. So he focused his mind on the fact that soon, he would be free. At this point, he could no longer hold back the bittersweet tears that had threatened him earlier, and they streamed down either side of his face. His body temperature abruptly heightened to an unbearable heat, and he knew that it meant she would face her own extinction soon, in no more than a few moments. The glow of the white that freckled his skin brightened to the point where it nearly rivaled the Sun itself. His entire frame was cast in a blanket of white light, until not even the mauve tone of his skin was visible beneath the illumination. Both the inside and outside of his body now felt hotter than the core of the Sun, and it was excruciating. 

It wasn’t long before the glow was bright enough to turn the entire library white. And in the moment that everything became so bright it was impossible to tell one bookshelf from another, the light suddenly burst outward around him with a resonant blare loud enough that he instinctively pinned his ears back. 

Sudden pain shot through his body immediately as the light and heat were blasted outwards. He grinded his teeth against the flames of affliction. After a few long moments, his body gradually began to cool back down to its normal temperature, and then even lower. He opened his eyes, and the library around him - the place that he had been forced to call home for the past few hundred centuries now - had been utterly obliterated by the sheer acceleration and power of the blast. Involuntarily, he shivered, now freezing cold as the stars that speckled the surface of his body slowly began to wink out one by one. It was a gradual process that took hours upon hours upon hours. Every time one of his stars faded away, the cold sensation became sharper and more painful. He was still alive, though dying, but he was practically limp now, too weakened to stand. 

Steam was drifting off of the burns that now marked him. Against the floor, his side stung overwhelmingly. The smell of burnt flesh wafted off of him,  sure if he wasn’t imprisoned in an empty realm to have attracted hungry fire elemental animals. It wouldn’t be long now...

He brought his fingertips up to the diamond markings on his right cheek as they began to fade away as well. And soon, both those and those on the left of his face were gone away. Another tear ran down his face, but he closed his eyes,  breathing softly. When he opened them again, he looked upwards to the empty sky, memories of the beautiful stars that flooded Xadia’s own flashing through his mind as he watched the stagnant darkness. 

Memories of his star. 

Memories of her. 

A small, bittersweet smile graced his elegant features. He contemplated all of the many things that this would mean to him. Peace, rest, reunion, and finally, after so long, freedom. Oh, how that word tasted to him. It was like a rare delicacy. One that he was desperate to see again, even at such a devastating cost. He could feel any semblance of energy that he previously had vanishing as his eyes fell half-lidded, halfway to the other side.

 Dying without a friend or lover by his side was never a concept that he had been particularly fond of. Even if he wasn’t scared, it still would have been nice to have someone there, to be there for him; to ease him into it. At the very least, it would have proven to him that even after his banishment here, that someone still cared for him. And his star, his poor, poor star, was gone now. Once the light had faded from his body, he had immediately known that she was lost, shattered in a brilliant, vibrant lightshow. 

Gazing up to the sky, he closed his eyes. He knew he would see her again soon, but he still mourned her death; grieved over the few long moments they would spent apart from each other. The bond between star and Startouch being broken was absolutely devastating. And just the same for him. Not only did it take an emotional toll on the elf, but it also physically hurt. Almost as horrible as when he had felt his star go supernova, it felt as if his Arcanum had literally been ripped from his chest like a bloody heart. He gave a small shake of his head, redirecting his thought. 

A weak smile settled on the Archmage’s face as the last of the stars on his body finally winked out. His vision was unfocused and blurry and dark. There was barely any sound here, but the whispering of the wind was slowly fading out of his ears as his senses began to stop working. His entire outer body felt completely numb now; but internally, he still felt as if he was made of ice. 

Barely able to form a single breath, he somehow managed to finally push the words out of his vocal chords. He closed his eyes as he whispered them to the empty air.

“Don’ t mourn for me... Dry your tears... After all these centuries... I’m finally coming home,  my dear, sweet Elarion.”

And his eyes fell shut for the last time. He would never open them again.  His time had come to claim him. Steadily, his limp body became translucent, before it disintegrated into millions of tiny particles of stardust that vanished as they floated upwards. There would be no evidence left behind of his death; nothing but the absolute destruction of the library. To everyone else, he would be gone forever.

To his star, he was home. 

To Elarion, he had finally returned.  

[theredhairedmonkey]

I read your theory about what Harrow knew about Callum. I think it's a bit far-fetched to say he knew there was something special something about him. Callum's just a kid. Maybe Harrow thought the Cube was a family heirloom or something and wanted Callum to feel included or distract him?

You’re free to think that, anon. Me personally, I find that argument to be unpersuasive.

Because if, to Harrow, this was just an heirloom or a family relic that’s been passed down for generations, and he wanted to give to Callum to show that he is part of Harrow and Ezran’s family...why didn’t he just say that? Wouldn’t the family heirloom mean a lot more if Callum, well, knew it was a family heirloom?

Instead, he talks about its profound importance. It belonged to Aaravos (he then proceeds to list out several facts he knows about the Startouch elf while his own High Mage knew nothing). He talks about its legendary status as the key to “a great power in Xadia.” 

Awfully lofty stuff if what he wanted was to tell Callum he is part of the family. Something along the lines the following would have been much more meaningful: “Callum, this is an important piece of our family heritage, and I want you to have it because, even though I am not your birth father, you are as much part of this family as Ezran and I. So, I am entrusting you with this special part of our family.”

Giving him the cube as a form of distraction also seems unlikely to me. Apart from Bait’s belly rubs, else in that letter was about either about setting up Callum’s responsibility in taking care of Ezran (”you will be his partner, defender, and closest advisor”) as well as trying to convince him and Ez to forge a new bold path forward (”have faith that history can be a narrative of love”). Harrow tells Callum that “all the important things” he wrote down in that letter. Would it really be appropriate to include what would amount to a sidequest if Harrow didn’t think the Cube was important?

The other big setback for me is that Harrow, ultimately, was right in what he said about the Cube. The show and its showrunners have spent a considerable amount of time building up its importance. It features prominently in the s2 poster. Harrow keeps it from even his own High Mage despite its ability to detect nearby Primal Magic. It would seem strange that Harrow would not know of its significance, hide it in the Banther lode, and then happen to decide to give it to Callum in the event that Harrow doesn’t survive the Moonshadow attack.

That much tells me that Harrow knew quite a bit about both Callum and his potential. Keep in mind, Callum knew next to nothing about magic before leaving Katolis (he mistakenly calls them “Primal Spirits” and needs Rayla to explain what all the Primal Sources are). Yet, Harrow knows enough that he expresses hope Callum could uncover the mystery of the Key of Aaravos. That by itself tells me that Harrow knew more about Callum than even Callum did.

If you think it’s just an heirloom in Harrow’s mind, you’re welcome to think that. But for me, it just seems like there have been so many details and hints about Harrow being “in the know” about Callum that, for the story at this point to reveal that this is all just a coincidence doesn’t seem like a wise move.