#ezran edition

[raayllum]

Cube Hostage Exchange Theory: Ezran Edition

Cause I've been feeling this one and figured I may as well toss in the newest two cents.

This is something I've talked about before (X, X) but much more briefly, and with the theory still on the table for S6, I figured I'd cover more of my bases.

The usual caveats / disclaimers to get out of the way:

Cube Hostage Exchange Theory (CHET) is a TDP theory dating back from September 2020 (shortly after Through the Moon released) speculating that Rayla would be taken hostage in exchange for Callum freeing Aaravos by handing over the Key of Aaravos. It was based on ideas of 1) the key being important to Aaravos' plans, 2) the irony of Callum literally freeing Rayla while chaining himself further to Aaravos' will, and 3) that Callum would be a pawn in Aaravos' plans (deduced well before S4) due to this thematic ties to freedom.

The biggest assumption the theory made/makes is that the Key of Aaravos is something that Aaravos is actively seeking/wanting, or something he needs; this aspect of the theory is still (technically) pure speculation.

CHET may not happen in S6 due to the fact it beat for beat already basically happened in 5x08, just with Finnegrin swapping in for Aaravos as an instigator. This is partially due to the fact that the irony regarding chains and freedom (Rayla being freed by Callum chaining himself) also came to pass alongside the captive/loved one's life being threatened and Callum subsequently being willing to help said antagonist.

That being said, I still fully think a Variant will happen, if you will, whether that's due to Callum getting in over his head with the coins, or something more directly threatening Rayla.

This theory resides on the (canon) interpretation of Callum being willing to do anything to protect his two most important loved ones (Ezran, Rayla) even if that means helping Aaravos and/or putting the world in danger. This post itself is not going to debate or explain this interpretation, but if you are interested in learning more about it, I'd recommend this meta and this tag.

I still think Callum making a choice that risks subsequent possession / world ending behaviour is more likely to be for Rayla. This is for a few reasons: 1) they still have an ongoing relationship rift/conflict to heal, and this could be a way to do it; 2) we know thanks to 6x01 that Callum and Rayla are heading to the Starscraper alone with Ezran being back in Katolis, so there is just more opportunity; 3) more of the narrative legwork has been done with Rayla specifically, particularly in regards to the possession plotline in particular; 4) Ezran has never represented destruction to or for Callum, but Rayla has more overtly negative associations which would fit; 5) Rayla has had more scenes and lines with said Cube / Key of Aaravos throughout the 4 seasons its been displayed (1x04 multiple times, 1x05, 2x07, 3x08, 4x02, 4x03, 4x07) than Ezran has (noticeably only one in 4x07).

All that being said, let's talk about the way the narrative might work / the evidence we have at present for CHET happening, but Callum dooming the world for his brother instead. Otherwise known as CHET: EE (Ezran edition).

The Necessary Narrative Legwork

As stated, CHET: Ezran Edition would only, to me, have a strong enough narrative purpose to happen IF it served as the basis or conclusion for a reconciliation arc between Callum and Rayla (currently ongoing) or between Callum and Ezran. While the brothers are not currently fighting, that doesn't mean they won't in the future.

Season six might have to squeeze it — it would have to be in the latter half of the season, which might be too delayed for Aaravos' proper release, but who knows? — but it definitely seems like the brothers are hurtling towards some sort of conflict.

However, I think the way the conflict is framed / what it ends up being centred on. For example, if the brothers just fight over whether or not to free Runaan (as there are indications that they might), I don't think that by itself leads to a resolution like CHET: EE. But if the brothers fight over Runaan, and it makes Ezran feel like his brother isn't choosing him, and they part on bad terms... Now we're talking.

Now, S6 could have room for a broyals conflict. They could fit over Runaan, as noted, or even other issues in their relationship. This would lay the groundwork for something like a CHET: EE based reconciliation happening, provided there was conflict to resolve first.

I'd also like more scenes / lines concerning Ezran with the cube. Thus far, Ezran has been there in 3/4 seasons where we've seen the cube (S5 is the only season with zero appearances outside the 5x08 intro), but he's only commented on it in 4x07 with "Callum, put away your cube!" when it's glowing because the moon opal on the Bridge of Darkness.

Episodes such as 1x05 particularly feels like a missed opportunity, perhaps, if this was the direction they were going to take, given that Ezran easily could've stepped in during Callum and Rayla's miniature disagreement over it (the "it's a glow toy" + "this doesn't end well for you" foreshadowing is there in addition to Callum looking at the Star rune) to make a comment about it still being worthwhile / perhaps a fun toy. But if Ezran's hide and seek game motif (more evident when they were searching for the hidden prison) comes into play and is tethered further to the cube's game motif, that's alright by me.

So yeah, two key points I would need to happen could happen, largely:

The brothers having some kind of serious conflict wherein Callum prioritizing Ezran in this way could help reconcile it

Ezran having more screen time with / regarding the Cube and Aaravos in some manner

That's not to say there's no legwork already put in, though, for an EE, which is part of the reason why I'm making this post. So let's talk about the two biggest points in this edition's favour:

The Orphan Queen Connection

Despite not receiving the Key himself (which could be a parallel to the Sunfire siblings regarding Kim'Dael's collar), the EE has a significant point in its favour due to Ezran's associations with the Orphan Queen. He's been directly compared to her both in appearance and in personality, as he shares her ability to Truth Tell in the face of lies, narratively speaking:

I should have seen it before. Ha! Long ago, it was a human who saw through the Fallen Star’s schemes and helped Xadia put an end to them. You look so much like her.

I've written before about the parallels there seems to be when it comes to the Jailer and Callum, two clever human mages, and the Orphan Queen Ezran, two royals of a blood line tethered in some way to truth telling and Aaravos. This parallel connection of the Jailer and the Orphan Queen being involved in imprisoning Aaravos, and Callum and Ezran witnessing / failing to stop if not also being involved in his release would be an ironic layer.

There would be another additional layer if the Orphan Queen's use of the cube was what led to him being sealed away, and now the Key is being used to spare her descendant, his brother's, life three hundred years later.

Thus far we don't know much else about the Orphan Queen besides this, so I could see Ezran's role with the Key being to partially discover what it is or what it might do, and for Callum to figure out further how it works and how to use it, but we'll have to see. I think this piece of evidence would be stronger if both brothers had been very involved and interested with the Key thus far - a true piece of dual heritage for both of them - but given that it's been so much more in Callum's corner and much less in Ezran's, I think this aspect is probably what would need to be developed the most in S6 to work out.

That said, the strongest piece of evidence we have for an EE of CHET is namely the place where we first learn the cube is called the Key of Aaravos at all, which is in...

Harrow's Letter

Harrow's letter exists in story for a few reasons:

To resolve Harrow and Callum's arc with each other, particularly to affirm to Callum that he belonged within his family / as Harrow's son. This is folded into Harrow discussing his sons' bond and what he wants for both of them in addition to point 3 and 4

To largely tie up Callum's grief regarding Harrow, as while we still see bits and pieces of it (you can argue 2x08 and 4x03 touch on it), 2x06 is the last time Callum's specific grief about Harrow is discussed (at least for now)

To complement Viren's narrative of what happened with Harrow's own take on the same events, particularly to push forward and the name the Narrative of Love vs Narrative of Strength dichotomy (which S4 and S5 have spent a lot of time deconstructing further)

To explicitly introduce the concept of the Chains of History and Harrow's own desire for freedom, which is alluded to in early S1 but not fully developed, and therefore pave the way for him to show up in Callum's 2x08 dreams

To give us the info about the Key of Aaravos early enough we could sit with it, and also let the foreboding build

I do think the placement of the information about the Key is interesting, because the way it's presented perhaps fulfil more of our traditional expectations in the fantasy genre. Of course the protagonist happens to stumble across a neat, funky family heirloom with a tease for a cool power-up to come. It is, after all, the first time we hear the name Aaravos.

However, they very quickly (aka like 1.2 episodes later) give us the name of Aaravos, and we immediately know it's nothing good. The more negative associations with the cube are also added to in 2x08 with the dream imagery, which makes a lot more sense now that we know just how deep the ties between Aaravos and dark magic really go.

With this in mind, the most telling lines from the letter for an EE CHET is, I believe, this from Harrow:

But as a father, I have a selfish wish. For you and Ezran to be... free.

Now the letter itself talks about Freedom almost as much as it talks about Love, and indeed, love — specifically a Narrative of Love — is posited as something that can and will free you, in contrast to the Narrative of Strength bound by the chains of history. We also know Startouch stuff is associated with wishes, so that's another point. And Harrow's last words to Callum were "Take care of my brother." From a familial standpoint, there's more than enough permission / merit here to go ahead.

The letter introduces the Key and talks about the brothers. It talks about chains and love and freedom. And these are all things that would be very much literally present in in a Cube Hostage Exchange in which Ezran is the hostage or person the key is being handed over to save.

And while I think it could be a possibility on the table, because Callum absolutely would do this for his brother... I still think if we're gonna get a scenario like this, it's going to be Rayla, or it's going to be no one. And here's why.

The Other Side

You may have noticed throughout this that this edition of the theory depends on even more could haves than traditional CHET already does, and hasn't really talked about Ezran's personality or interplay with sacrifice as a theme. This is because that, without an external conflict pushing things forward, this display of devotion doesn't really affect Ezran much. He knows his brother loves him and has never doubted this; Ezran is very measured about sacrificing himself for what he believes in, but is also always willing to accept help and other people's aid. Ezran is sacrificial, largely adjacent to his crown and his childhood, but his arc itself is centred around concepts of power, duty, and justice over a core theme of sacrifice or even freedom.

Subsequently, Ezran likewise has not been associated heavily with chains, nor is Callum someone who has broken Ezran's cycles or chains, literally or metaphorically. Although Ezran is undeniably tethered to freedom because "a child is freer than a king" and him being briefly (meaningfully) in prison, freeing Ezran has never been a main plot concern Callum or Rayla has had to contend with. The closest they come are the boys working together to free Rayla in 1x04 with Bait, Callum and Rayla working together to get Ez out from the icy water in 1x06, and Soren freeing Ezran from prison (and getting him to his council) in 3x05... and that's about it. Nor is Ezran a big part of Callum's mage arc; they normally discuss things other than magic, Callum rarely uses magic to protect his brother (although S5 definitely had an uptick), and Ezran is pretty separated from notions of magic within Xadia outside of his ability to talk to animals. (It's kind of like how while Callum and Zym have a strong bond, Ezran has a more emphasized one and largely carries the human side of human-dragon reconciliation alongside Soren, whereas their siblings are more elf and magic focused.)

This might shift if/when freeing Harrow from a bird is a possibility, and that's not to say it couldn't be Ezran just on this basis — but that TDP usually prefers to include things at a lower stakes level or even as a joke, and then ramp it up continually until it reaches a breaking point. We can see this even in 6x01 with a scene of Soren leading a blind folded Opeli for comedic effect, only for blindfolds to clearly be important later on in S6 with Callum and the Celestial elves. Similarly, Callum freeing Rayla both literally and metaphorically was set up consistently and periodically throughout the first 4 seasons, to the degree I could predict some of the specifics in 5x08 even years ahead. Then, the show reaffirms this pattern as well as early on in S5 (5x01 in particular), so when it came to a head in 5x08, it felt natural and earned from a thematic standpoint.

Even if S6 went in hard with the Broyals having a fight in the back half, they would still have to drench Ezran in freedom associations to me to effectively get to where I feel like a CHET: EE would totally work. That's not to say there couldn't be over avenues there I'm not seeing now, or a thread I've missed that's been steadily building all along that S6 then makes evident, but this is largely where I've arrived with everything we currently know.

Conclusion

TLDR; Cube Hostage Exchange: Ezran Edition has merit largely due to the Orphan Queen parallel and Harrow's letter, but does not seem to have enough plot buildup at this time to make me lean in that direction. Instead, I still learn towards if there is going to be this scenario or a variant, it will either be for Rayla ( / her parents adjacently) or not at all.

[jedidragonwarriorqueen]

[rianekochou]

fr though

[kradogsrats]

there is a world where I help you get home but that's not a world I know

arc 1 version | arc 2 version

[amys-books27]

Happy New Year!

Let's be a little optimistic today and put happy phrases that match tdp characters

Rayla to Soren (S2E3): you don't speak sarcasm so good, do you?

(This photo was hard to find, they need more screentime in the same frame)

[ljf613]

Like brothers on a hotel bed Like brothers on a hotel bed Like brothers on a hotel bed

- "Brothers on a Hotel Bed" by Death Cab for Cutie

Season 5, am I right?

(For @raayllum, as usual.)

[“City of Angels”] [“Someone has to leave first”] [“you know what they say about monsters”] ["I Want to Write You a Song"] ["Different Kind of Beautiful"]

[invisible-pink-toast]

continuation of this

[thatartiststudios999]

I feel like only 1 year ago, I was coming up with all these ideas for TDP in my head, but not wanting to write them down. And now that I've read tons of fics and have just finished my first one, I can finally write all those oneshots that I was too nervous to write before

I love this fandom so much!

And thanks to @ok12857, @raylasgf, @reminiscingrayllum, @mo-nmage, and @cartoonish-character who are in that fandom with me for following me so far!

[radioactivepeasant]

Snippet Thursday part 2: Blackmail Au

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In which Jak has to learn how to properly take care of curly hair

It turned out that the king of the Wastelanders was a little less intimidating when he was arguing with Sig. For all that he retained his commanding presence, with or without his armor, the low stakes of the disagreement seemed to soften him into something more human.

"I'm just going right back to the city again tomorrow!" Sig complained, "I'll do Wash Day when I get back."

"The rot you will," Damas retorted, pointing a comb menacingly at him, "We both know you'd rather shave your head than bother with Wash Day. Just get it over with and you won't have to deal with it for another two weeks."

"Come on, man!"

"You're setting a bad example for Jak," Damas said smugly.

Sig's nostrils flared. "Ohhh you rotsucker. That's not fair."

"I don't have to play fair on Wash Day."

Jak and Daxter watched the back and forth with growing amusement, especially when the indomitable Sig capitulated with some very creative expletives. Why was he making such a big deal out of washing his hair? Daxter washed twice a week if they could get the soap for it. Jak...didn't wash as much, but he tried to at least rinse off the sweat.

"It's just washing hair, how long could it take?" he snorted as Sig dragged out a low stool in front of the sink in the corner.

"An hour at least," Sig grumbled.

"An hour? For hair?" Jak sputtered, "Why would you spend that much time on it?!"

Sig looked at him. Damas looked at him. After a moment, Damas sighed.

"Well, that tracks."

"What's that supposed to mean?!"

Damas reached up and fiddled with the crown piercings, sliding them out of tiny metal ports in his skull with a soft click one by one. He set them on the table and distractedly waved Jak over.

"Hair like ours requires more care than your friend there," he explained. "I somewhat doubt you like running around with your curls all knotted and broken together like that. Hasn't anyone ever showed you how to care for them?"

Daxter scoffed. "Self-care was never high on Samos's priority list of subjects to teach us."

Curious but cautious, Jak edged closer to the table to look at the jars Damas had set out. Oils, creams, some kind of soap. Were Damas and Sig really going to use all of these? He picked one up and examined it closely, smelling coconut.

"That's the last step," Sig said, plucking the jar from his hands unexpectedly.

Jak blinked. Without his hood and armor, Sig looked...weird. His hair was close-cropped, but not shaved; olive green coils somewhat smashed into the shape of his helmet. Daxter snickered from behind him.

"Hat hair!" he whispered.

Sig was not amused. He yanked open the first jar of oil and applied it liberally to his hair. "Just do as I do, cherry. No commentators from the peanut gallery."

Damas followed suit with an impish smile altogether out of place on his stoic face. "This is why I don't do helmets."

"Because your head is too fat for them?"

Damas paused in rubbing the oil into his locs to narrow his eyes at Sig. "I know how to override your door lock, you know."

"Oooh I'm so scared. Whatcha gonna do? Shampoo me to death?" Sig taunted.

"I could do that. Or I could add something to your ammunition pouch."

"Add what?"

"I'm not telling you."

"Add what, Daym?"

"You'll find out."

Jak raised an eyebrow at the two grown men behaving like, well, like him and Daxter. They seemed distracted, and he was curious, so after a moment he gave in and poured a handful of oil into his own hair. Presumably they'd wash it out next.

He was wrong.

Thirty minutes he had to sit with the oil soaking into his hair, bored out of his skull. No wonder Sig hated doing this! He couldn't even leave the room, because he didn't know where to find another sink! Equally bored, Daxter started rifling through Jak's jacket pockets until he came up with the bag of trail rations.

"Wanna play Kill-Grid?" he asked, holding up the bag, "Nuts versus beans?"

"We don't have a grid," Jak pointed out.

Sig leaned forward. "Kill-Grid? What's that?"

Jak shrugged. "It's a game we played a lot back in Sandover. You make a grid of sixteen squares. Twelve pieces on each side, the middle row stays empty."

Daxter opened the bag to see if there were enough nuts and beans to even play as he added, "It's...kinda like checkers. Except the board shrinks if a whole row gets cleared out."

"Yeah! If every piece in one row gets captured, you erase that row and make the grid even smaller. Whoever has the most pieces left when there aren't any more open spaces is the winner."

Just speaking about the game seemed to lift a weight from the boy. Damas saw life returning to his eyes, and he actually sounded like a fifteen year old ought to for a moment. Sorrow clawed at his guts like an animal trapped inside. This was his son, his firstborn, and a complete stranger. A young boy who seemed to only barely remember that he was meant to have a childhood. Who didn't even know basic self-care.

"Time's up," he said, gently interrupting the explanation, "Time to shampoo."

"Finally!" Sig huffed.

The chamber fell silent save for the sounds of water splashing and soap squishing into curls. Jak watched Sig with wide eyes, earnestly mimicking every step as best he could. Cross-legged on the rug, barefoot and barefaced, he looked...he looked like he belonged there. Like he always should have. Damas watched his lost-and-found child's face morph into surprise as he discovered how easily his fingers slipped through the tangles now. It wasn’t so very different from teaching Mar to wash his own hair. Just how neglected had Jak been? Damas couldn’t help wondering if Jak and Mar were on equal footing in their knowledge of how growing up was meant to be. It wasn't right for a boy to be so unused to kindness. It wasn't natural.

"Y'know," Daxter remarked, "I really didn't think your hair was that long?"

Jak shrugged helplessly and fumbled with slippery, wet hair, trying to put yet another round of oil into it. Before, it had brushed against his shoulder blades, bulked out with matts and snarls. Now it hung nearly to his waist, and he was getting tired of it sticking to his fingers.

"Ugh," he groaned after having to return to the oil jar yet again. "Sig, can I borrow your knife? I'm not doin' this."

Damas shot Sig a dirty look as the taller man snickered.

"What, ah, whatcha gonna do with it, cherry?"

Jak raised a brow. "Cut it??"

With some effort, he gathered up the thick hair into one fist and gestured to about three inches. "Look, that's gonna get tangled in my holster. I don't wanna deal with that."

"We have scissors, you know," Damas pointed out.

"Knife's faster."

Damas paused and blinked. Somehow, Jak had turned out more like Sig than Mar had, and Mar was the one who actually shared blood with him! As grateful as he was -- overwhelmingly, shatteringly relieved and grateful -- that of all the people to have taken Baby Heart under his wing, it was Sig, he could have done without Sig’s impatience for hair care being passed along.

Even so, there was no bite in his voice when he muttered to Sig, "He gets this from you, doesn't he?"

"I apologize for nothing," Sig joked.

He pulled his knife out and handed it over to Jak.

"Let Daxter do it, kiddo. He can see the parts you can't."

"Fair enough," Jak agreed easily.

"If I get buried in this stuff, I demand financial compensation," Daxter warned as he was passed the knife.

"That's going to bounce up shorter than you think, you know," Damas commented. "Especially with the extra weight taken off."

"Hey, as long as it's not in my face or wrapped around my gun, I don't give a crap," Jak answered. He leaned back on his palms to give Daxter better access to the long curls.

"What was I supposed to do after the second oil soak? Is that it?"

"You can stop there," Sig begrudgingly admitted, "But in your case it...probably would be better to do one last thing of cream, since you don't wear a helmet like me. It'll protect your hair later."

Jak made a face, and Sig didn't blame him. As a boy, Sig had never been the most patient individual. He'd learned plenty of patience over the years, but when he was off-duty? He couldn't help some of the old instincts to just get it done and over with.

It was a good thing his mama couldn't see him right now. She'd box his ears and hold his head in the sink to finish the Wash Day herself. Selda had never let him get away with neglecting himself. Sig supposed he would have to start channeling his mother to ensure that Jak didn't continue to neglect himself.

Daxter set down the knife and examined his handiwork critically.

"Mm...well, it ain't stylish, but you don't look like you let a blindfolded batfinch style your hair, at least."

Damas made a little harrumph in the corner as he wrapped up his own application of a heated oil.

"Oh. Right. I need to change the batfinches' water tonight."

"Come again?" Daxter asked.

Sig picked up a wide-toothed comb and shrugged. "Damas keeps an aviary. He's got- what are you up to now, seven different species in there?"

"Ten, actually," Damas corrected. "The tavus eggs finally hatched. I had to get a pair of rock hens in order to hatch them, though."

"Rock hens? From the mountains?" Daxter asked, wrinkling his nose, "What's a rock hen got to do with peafowl?"

Damas’s eyes lit up with the prospect of actually talking about his birds.

"Rock hens will brood over anything even vaguely egg shaped," he said.

With a click he began setting his crown piercings back into their ports, gesturing now and then as he did.

"The incubators were hatching the peafowl eggs, but without other galliformes, the tavus chicks weren't surviving."

"You got them foster-moms," Daxter guessed, "Right?"

"I did!" Damas smiled. "They're doing quite well, so far."

Daxter stretched up over Jak's shoulder with a serious look. "We're gonna go see those birds, right?"

"After the flut-flut thing?" Jak teased him.

"They're already hatched! I don't gotta worry about gettin' mistaken for anybody's Ma this time!" Daxter argued. "Besides, I'm only goin' for you."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah, mister "I'm just good with animals"!"

Jak wasn't sure yet. Going to this guy's aviary -- which he talked about with the same enthusiasm Jak used to feel about his bug collection -- felt like it would lead the man to start acting more buddy-buddy with him. Jak wasn't interested in that. He wanted his little brother back, and then maybe they could talk boundaries. But...there were baby animals. And...

He really liked baby animals.

They didn't shy away from him, even when he was in his dark form. If it weren't for animals like the city yakkows and the crocadog, Jak would probably have believed what everyone said about his dark side being some kind of mindless animal.

"Hhh. Okay. We can see the tavus chicks," he agreed, rolling his eyes.

Damas looked so pleased that whatever was left of his intimidating image dropped and shattered on the floor.

If he could find something in common with this boy -- something other than their mutual protectiveness over Mar; a boy his age had no business being made a parental figure to his sibling -- then perhaps they could start over on a better foundation than "I thought you were in danger so I had you kidnapped from Haven City". Even if that had definitely been the right call at the time.

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[self-spaghettification]

edit of all the times (that I could remember) of characters repeating words they heard from eachother.

tdp s6 leak spoilers ‼️

leak free version here

the dragon prince & passing down lessons.

also on tiktok

Transcript:

“TMO: We are, all of us, stardust. - A: Held together by love, for an instant.”

“H: I want to talk to you about life, and growing up. - C: And how sometimes there are changes you don’t expect. But when you grow up, sometimes, - E: you have to face things you’re not ready for.”(thank you to @konmaao3 for the footage here!)

“R: I’ve been thinking about something someone once told me. About how when one person hurts another, then that person hurts them back, - C: then it’s a cycle. You hurt me, someone will get revenge against the elves. It won’t end. -

C: Who told you that? R: You did. C: Oh.”

[hermitmoss]

We all want peace and we all want love, but violence tests us. In a twisted way, it converts us to its cause. Because pain and loss feel so terrible inside, you want to hate. You want to hurt someone else. So what do we do? How can we stop this cycle?

Ezran, The Archer

[raayllum]

will put on children's work by dessa later for a proper CHET: ezran edition meta i think

[jedidragonwarriorqueen]

[rianekochou]

HELP THIS IS SO RANDOM WHAT DID I JUST CREATE😭

P.S.: I felt bad for Ezran in that episode

[thesquirrelart]

THE DRAGON PRINCE FANCAST

Amir Wilson as Ezran.

[amys-books27]

Pinterest quotes x tdp characters

Callum: that means I trust her, unconditionally.

Finnegrin: the one getting thrown into the sea serpent's hungry mouth is your elf girl.

Ezran and Rayla.