#and then that being resolved by callum doing something brave/stupid to protect rayla than he knows she'll hate

[raayllum]

one thing that’s interesting in the “loved one / love interest is captured and needs to be rescued” plot line is that it actually, very rarely, ends up with the hero actively helping the villain. in both ATLA and star wars, the loved one being in danger is a cosmic warning from the universe, separate from the villain, and the hero leaves training early in order to try to protect their loved one(s). 

in star wars, it’s more a happy coincidence than anything else that vader is able to use han and leia in this way. and furthermore, all vader really does (besides some dismemberment, whoops) is tell luke the truth about their family connection and ask him to rule the universe together. none of the heroes help him at all. then, when luke and co. get han back in the following movie, they end up defeating/killing the main antagonist who took him (jabba the hutt) and escaping more or less completely scot free. 

then in atla, aang leaves avatar training when he realizes katara is in danger, temporarily blocking his chakra. him and everyone else manage to find katara (and zuko) but then are pinned down by azula, who again, could not have known aang was going to have a cosmic vision and come running. none of the heroes (as zuko is an anti-hero at this point and no one he loves is at stake until the very end when he’s already made his choice and uncle is on the opposing side) help her or zuko, either.

for me, one of the things that makes cube hostage exchange theory interesting/compelling is the 1) purposeful manipulation of aaravos to callum, and 2) callum making an active choice that also compounds rayla’s character arc in all the ways, because it’s a genuinely hard call - one life for the safety of the world - but it’s something the show has drawn attention to time and time again. 

and this was all before Tales of Xadia rolled in with callum’s bio literally written as “I am beholden to my inner circle, not some silly kingdom. I value those close to me more than anyone or anything” like