#is it possible to kill a startouch elf?

[self-spaghettification]

tdp overarching themes (redemption etc)

What will happen when Ezran/Harrow’s narrative of love and Aaravos/Viren’s narrative strength meet, who wins?

Will it be possible for Ezran to win the dark mages over to let go of pain and end the cycle of violence? Or is death the only way to protect the world and his loved ones? Will Ezran have to learn to become stronger himself?

is it even possible to kill a startouch elf? oor to convince him to maybe not, like, conquer xadia?

i don’t have these answers but i diiiid compile a bunch of relevant shit

I kind of went through Harrow’s letter to Callum and added related quotes or moments that seemed relevant to the overarching themes discussed and how they stand on opposing sides

orange is harrow’s letter, read in 1x06

red is ezran’s speech, given in 4x03

these are the main voices but there’s also

pink is ibis in 4x03

black is zubeia in 4x04

purple is various aaravos quotes

pink is various viren quotes

both from 2x09, 3x05, 3x07, and 4x04

green is soren, janai, amaya and rayla briefly (4x03 & 4x08 & tdp trailer respectively)

“Soon you will both face a lie. The great lie of history.

“His name was Aaravos, and yes, he was a star. One of the great ones, respected and loved by all. Until we uncovered a long hidden treachery.”

Advisors and scholars will tell you that history is a narrative of strength.

“Search your heart. There’s something that you want very badly. But something or someone stands in your way.”

They will recount stories of the rise and fall of nations and empires. They will be stories of armies, battles and decisive victories.

“And this bright future will require us to conquer Xadia?”

But this isn't true strength. It's merely power.

“I can destroy them all! I have all the power I need!”

“If you want to say something to the Dragon Queen, you should say it to her face. her real face, that can bite you in two!”

“It hurts! I feel pain about this and I am angry!”

I now believe true strength is found in vulnerability...in forgiveness, in love.

“We all want peace and we all want love. But violence tests us!

In a twisted way it converts us to their cause.”

“You tried to win them over with loyalty and friendship but they ignored you. those who fail tests of love are simple creatures who deserve to be motivated by fear.”

“Because pain and loss feel so terrible inside. You want to hate. You want to hurt someone else. so what do we do?”

So, what is the plan? To fulfill your wishes, of course. Is your wish to rule Xadia? I wish for humanity to flourish. And it cannot flourish with a knife forever at its throat.

There is a beautiful upside down truth, which is that….

These moments of purest strength appear as weakness to those who don't know better.

“These are the champions you’ve gathered to try to stop me? They’re nothing but pathetic children!”

“How can we stop this cycle?”

Violence.

Loss.

Pain.

For a long time, I didn't know better.

“In the name of love, you may perform acts so unforgivable that you may never forgive yourself.”

Violence,

“You must take down the Dragon Queen and capture the baby dragon. Then you will have the attention of all the world, and the power to do what you want.”

“Bring terror to Del Bar, to Neolandia, to Evenere, and to Duren!”

Loss,

As I write this, the sun is setting while Moonshadow assassins prepare to end my life. A few months ago, I took my revenge on Xadia. Tonight, it is their turn.

“I am going to destroy it, before it can be used to do any more harm!”

Pain,

“Every great crisis the world faced seemed the work of some ingenious and powerful leader, but in each case, it was secretly Aaravos, whispering in their ear.”

“Aaravos. A startouch elf responsible for more pain, death, and suffering than anyone else in history.”

“I am not a killer.

But if you seek to return that staff to its true owner, you pose a greater danger to this world than I can allow.”

You must die.”

stop! i just want to yell stop. but that’s not enough. it won’t work.”

“I do not mean to be cruel. But we must be ready to sacrifice. Even the things we love.”

“Well played. She will be a valuable asset.”“She is not an asset. She is my daughter.”

I ask you and your brother to reject history as a narrative of strength and instead have faith that it can be a narrative of love.

“I think about a positive vision. a faith we can all share, that we might build a future together in hope. a future where we can be safe with each other. but… it’s not that easy. or simple.”

“Everything I do, and everything I ask of you, is for the future of humanity.”

“The whining child king, in over his head and he knows it.”

because people are still hurting and they are still angry. we can’t ignore that, or pretend it will go away.

“Oh, my time is inevitable.”

somehow, we have to hold it all in our hearts at the same time. we have to acknowledge the weight of the pain and loss, but open our eyes and allow ourselves to hope and maybe forgive and love again.

“You cannot have your cake and eat it too.”

We have to give today’s children a chance to inherit a future filled with peace.

“I've tried to be selfless as a king, but as a father, I have a selfish wish. And that is for you and Ezran to be...free. Reject the chains of history. Do not let the past define your future, as I did. Free yourself from the past. Learn from it, understand it, then let it go. Create a brighter future from your own hearts and imagination.”

Destiny is a book you write yourself.

To give them that, we have to hold pain and love in our hearts at the same time.

“There is an aching pain mixed with love that you feel in these moments.”

“Just have two cakes.”

“This is called A Song of Love and Loss.”

I'm proud of you. And I love you unconditionally.

“If the fallen star is a danger the whole world will face, this is a chance to solve our problems together.”

“How do you kill a startouch elf?”

idk man. what if aaravos doesn’t have to die? what if it’s not too late for him to be redeemed? this is kind of a guilty pleasure hope of mine but still. the dragon prince is a story of letting go of generational trauma and past pain, of letting go of pain and differences, most importantly, of letting go of a narrative of strength, of a strong katolis, a strong lux aurea, a strong empire over xadia, and believing in a story of love and hope. if there’s anything that could drastically change things its the guy with a lot of power and a lot of ambition and pain ready to cause a whole cycle of pain all over again. if there’s anything that would drastically change things it would be changing his heart. and if theres anyone who can change it, it’s the kid who feels the most for him.

[sarasade]

Since The Dragon Prince is ending (or at least the second arc is ending) in December I'll celebrate that by listing the funniest things I've witnessed in the fandom during these years:

-The Great Aaravos Thirst of 2019.

-Knowing The Thirst™ had been even greater if Tumblr wouldn't have banned porn just a year earlier.

-Aaravos' character designer being very happy with all the thirst posting.

-The Great Virst of 2019 that was balanced out by the people who thought Viren was a total troll.

-Rayla-Claudia-Callum love triangle speculations before s3.

-"Viren actually killed everyone, including Sarai and his ex-wife", speculations during s1-3.

-Aaravos Is A Good Person and a cinnamon roll -speculations.

-Fandom calling Ethari "The Tinker" before his name was revealed and also correctly predicting him and Runaan being a couple long before it got confirmed.

-Jason Simpson (Viren's VA) being grumpy about people shipping Aaravos and Viren while Todd Erik Dellums (Aaravos's VA) egged the fans on and seemed to find the ship pretty funny.

-After the Midnight Star poem's full English translation got released some fans concluded that Elarion was a human girl Aaravos once was in love with and thus Elavos was born. You can still search the ship name on Tumblr to experience the time campsule of 2019 era of the fandom. Yes, people shipped Aaravos with a literal city and I think that's beautiful.

-The drought period of 2019-2022 hiatus where it was just a couple really weird terminally online fans posting their harmless headcanons, including a small fandom of a. ten people forming around Viren's ex-wife Lissa.

-Unhinged TDP fan theories like "Aaravos is Callum's Dad" and "Callum will learn every primal source" aka wanting TDP to be Avatar 2.0 but with elves.

-The fan response that parodied these theories including "Everyone is a Startouch elf, especially Bait"

-The Great FartGate of 2022 aka all of TDP Twitter collectively complaining about the fart jokes in s4.

-These 2024 Valentine's Day posts most likely done by the lead writer Devon Giehl.

-If you search Aaravos on Google the most frequently asked question is about his gender.

-TDP wiki gleefully listing Aaravos and Viren as Sir Sparklepuff's parents after s5.

-The fandom never letting go of the "Viren imprisoned Harrow in Pip" theory.

-Which Primal Source Are You -Quiz from 2018 foreshadowing events of the show like "where would you hide a dangerous magical object" and one of the answers being "in the bottom of the sea" possibly referring to Aaravos' pearl.

-A tweet fans thought was a mistake actually foreshadowed Aaravos being a giant.

I'll add more later if I feel like it.

edit:

ok one more: behold, one of the most popular TDP posts on Tumblr

[kradogsrats]

Aaravos, Leola, and the Entire History of Human Magic

ALL RIGHT, BUCKLE THE FUCK UP:

So after my "Leola and Laurelion might be the same person" crazy, I was looking shit up to write a post about alternately Laurelion possibly being Aaravos, as in Laurelion was the immortal Aaravos, and Aaravos is the fallen Laurelion, because of this:

White as the star's heart it pierced, as in "Novablade is white, and the star's heart was also white."

Who... had the white heart of a star...

... and now... doesn't?

hmmmmMMMMMMMMMMMMMM

However, the problem with this is that Aaravos at least appears to go from powered/heart-ed version:

To de-powered, heart...less? version:

...when he's imprisoned. At least, according to the way Zubeia tells it.

Meanwhile, in Ripples, we see what is presumably Aaravos's actual "fall," as the "Fallen Star"—a literal descent from the heavens. This occurs long, long before the events of Aaravos's imprisonment, before dark magic, before Elarion.

I'll note that part of what I'm taking into account here is a note from the artbook on Aaravos's designs:

As a "fallen" Startouch elf, Aaravos can only access a fraction of his former power.

So it seems like the assumption to make would be that Aaravos lost his powers and status when he was cast from the heavens, which is also where I would assume Laurelion dies and Aaravos is "born" if the Laurelion/Aaravos as the same being dichotomy was in play. Then why is his heart not blackened until he's imprisoned?

One possibility is that his empowered appearance is an illusion he's maintaining—another manipulation, that's dropped when he's imprisoned.

Another possibility is this is all bullshit, and everything is as generally assumed before: when Aaravos was imprisoned, the majority of his power was somehow stripped.

Leaving that aside for a moment, let's take a look at the order of operations here, historically.

Humanity looks to the stars to save them, but the stars do not respond:

— Patience

At some point, humanity is granted some kind of blessing from the heavens, long before humans built cities and became powerful:

— Patience

ALSO at some point, humanity is granted the power of primal magic. By tradition this was from the unicorns, in particular Leola:

— Tales of Xadia

However, this magic is forbidden them:

— Ripples

Aaravos is cast from the heavens in a calamity that creates the Sea of the Castout—again, long before dark magic:

— Ripples

Further, in the retelling of this story, Aaravos notes that the stars apparently were satisfied with the results of casting him out. It scarred the land, and frightened the humans—and their claim on primal magic—into submission:

— Ripples

I'll add another note from the artbook here on Aaravos's design:

Some designs had a strong, authoritative vibe that suited other Startouch elves, but not our "fallen star."

Finally, let's look at this again:

Aaravos, obviously, on his knees and in despair. A feminine-appearing elf who is almost certainly another Startouch elf, by the horn shape and the design of the crown on her brow.

I've seen at least one person cast this as a rendition of Aaravos's punishment, in that she represents the other stars and gestures as if to say "behold how far our brother has fallen."

But y'all. Y'ALL. Please.

We have seen this gesture FAR too many times for it to be something else, at this point. This is mercy, and love, and the passing of a torch.

So, let me clean this up into what I think happened:

The stars are largely absent gods, indifferent to the fate of humans and interested in only their design/prophecy of the world.

Leola, another Startouch elf (or else we're gonna stretch the definition of "unicorn" pretty far), takes pity on humanity and grants them the secret of primal magic.

Leola is somehow punished for this transgression. If Laurelion is Leola, she is killed. (The Celestial elves, in this case, are the guardians of the stars' order and power in Xadia. They are the last line of defense against this sort of thing.)

Aaravos, who loved Leola, either speaks on her behalf or otherwise rebels against the order of the stars. Aaravos is cast out. If Laurelion is Aaravos, he is robbed of his heart and his power.

"Leola's Last Wish" is to continue to be a guide to humanity, through the darkness.

Aaravos, meanwhile, fucking loses his mind and decides to burn down everything. He will destroy everything the stars put in place in all of Xadia, and he will leverage humans to do it.

Aaravos begins to spin up dark magic, and when the time is right, gifts it to humanity as the inciting action of his plan to tear all of Xadia apart. More on that here.

ADDENDUM: Chatting with @raayllum immediately after writing this and they raised the possibility of Leola being Aaravos’s mother, given the parallel to Sarai in the statue, and YES that makes so much sense. Particularly regarding the star-child constellation, him adopting her crown, and why he might be punished along with her. I like this explanation better than them being lovers, even if it means TDP gains yet another goddamn martyr mother.

Anyway, that's it! Mystery of Aaravos solved.

[aviradasa]

Love long lost pt 4

Aaravos x reader

[Requests are open]

{Angst} Warning: blood,murder,kidnapping,possession,stalking,strong language

This chapter is pretty short cause I'm getting back into writing, so please be patient. I'm trying my best 😭 still. I hope you enjoy 🖤

@delusional-mushroom @imsimping4life @jellyfishxxi @hubba-hubba1 @tired-of-life-86 @delicioussnakeinme

Masterlist

Part one

Part two

Part three

" Years ago, when we found that Aaravos had been stabbing each and every one of us in the back for centuries, and we connected the dots between the disappearance of the late dragon queen and the supposed murder of the late sunfire elf queen, we, of course, all decided we must take action. So when a little bard came to us with months' worth of evidence that one of his performers was engaging in secret relations with Aaravos, we all were inspired with the same idea." Zubeia begins with an odd glint in her eyes.

I sit down on top of the larger stones in the cave, giving the dragon queen my full attention as she speaks. I'm thinking about the many possibilities that could come of this story. ultimately knowing they all end in grief and sorrow.

" After being confided in by the bard, the arch dragons, accompanied by the jailor, all collectively agreed that the only way to be able to imprison Aaravos was to get him to believe that he was successfully protecting Someone he cared for. As some know, He failed at protecting his daughter centuries before, and our best move at the time was to weaponize the trauma of it. By using you." She admits looking down at me.

"What?! That's horrible. What happened to his daughter?" You ask with a surprised look you didn't expect to hear that from her.

"She was killed in the name of cosmic justice for giving humans magic years before my time. Back when the sun King still was just a prince."She explains."After that, 100 years passed, and Aaravos began his plan."

You couldn't believe that. He lost his child, and they used that against him? It's horrible.

" How could you all use that against somebody? I get the need for imprisonment, but come on, that's just horrible." I say, shaking my head in shame. Knowing that somewhere in this story, I agreed to participate.

"We saw no other choice at the moment. You must understand. But back to the story. So you were brought to us by an earth dragon. You were unconscious, sick, and wounded. Just like we needed. The mob you saw was our creation. The bard wanted to be caught so that he could get the people with him. Be authentic. He also knew you were unaware of the two queen's disappearances at his hand, so we knew the confusion would cloud your judgment." She pauses before continuing

" We kept you at the storm spire. And once you were back to your senses. We told you that Aaravos had abandoned you and disappeared to escape prosecution. We told you he had killed the queens for power and that we needed your help. You agreed but started getting suspicious. You were well within your right to have been, as we did not plan to save you as we promised. We gave you to the townspeople under the claim of witchcraft and your relationship with Aaravos. And you were taken to the stake as the other startouched elves came to help and watch with the people. As soon as the flame was set under you, he arrived, and we trapped him. But you. We left to burn." Zubeia explains with a sigh as I sit in shock.

Excuse me. I'm getting told that I was manipulated into getting burned at the stake. For what? I think before Zubeia speaks again

" You know I do regret it. Knowing you in this life, I see that you meant no harm. But we couldn't take any chances we thought you would try to free him."

I wanted to scream at her. But when I went to, no words came out, so I stopped. Frozen for a moment before I can choke something out.

"Thank you, my Queen, for telling me, but I need a moment. Please." I say excusing myself from the room. I can't think clearly with her there. After what I know now. I can't bring myself to even look her in the eye anymore as I leave. As I am making my way through the storm spire, I get some confused looks from Callum and Rayla, but I just keep moving. I have to.

I make my way to the top of the mountain. sitting on the edge with my head in my hands, lost in thought.

It was wrong what they did. But I don't know who to be mad at. Yes, the arch dragons killed me, but Aaravos killed so many and ruined lives. he came to save me, and he just sounds like he did most of it to Avenge, his daughter. When it comes down to it, I can't help but think.

As the sun starts to set, ezren comes up to see me he tells me that they are all leaving to grab food for the night and I should join them. But I can't. I'm not hungry. I need answers. Zubeia is hiding something I can sense it.

Ezren notices something is wrong, but before he can ask if I'm okay, he is called to leave, and as I see them all leave with Zubeia and Zym, I know who I need to speak to.

I march down the steps of the storm spire and into the main room with the remains of a broken mirror. Waiting for the sun to set completely. Once it does, I pick up the shards of glass and place them one by one back in place, and before I know it, I see that glow again, and Aaravos stands before me with a sick grin.

" I know everything, I think." I start unsure of how to go about this.

"I need to know the truth. The dragon queen is hiding something, and I need you to tell me right now!" I say in a strict tone. While Aaravos continues to stare with a cheeky shrug.

" Why won't you speak? I need you to work with me here!" I semi-shout. This is getting frustrating, and the taunting is not helping.

This goes on for a while before I start to pace back and forth, trying to find a way. Before I come up with anything, though, I see him tap the glass.

U couldn't hear it, though.

God damnit I can't fucking talk to him cause I can't hear anything on his side.

"FUCK. THAT'S WHY I CAN'T HEAR YOU!" I shout, running up to the mirror and grabbing it frantically. "There has to be something! Your magic, right? You possessed Callum. What do you need?"

Aaravos laughs at you behind the glass, summoning a paper you step back as you wait for him to write.

' A sacrifice'

Oh.well, that makes it interesting.

I pause trying to think. It's just possession. It's not like I would have to kill them. I would get the answers that I need as well. I look up at Aaravos, still looking smug. He knows. He can see how curiosity eats at my soul. He can see the anger I carry after learning the truth. Oh God, what am I going to do.

I wait atop the roof of a small house deep in the woods. A hunter lives here alone. perfect, it'd almost be too easy. I sneak into the open window and creep silently through the rafters stalking the man through his house.

And once he turns his back, he's mine.

Blood trickles down the man's head as I drag him. I hit him on the head pretty hard. His limp body is heavy to carry, so I decided to make it easy. I stop and take the man back to his house, tying him up and blindfolding m h him. After getting rid of anything, he could escape with me gagging him and head back to the storm spire to get the mirror

Hours pass, and finally, the mirror is where I need it. I put the glass back in and take to covering all the doors, windows, and openings with whatever I can find. The sun has started to peak, so when the last blanket is nailed to the windowframe, I sigh in relief.

Once I see the mirrors glow once again, I run over, untying my sacrifice and dragging him in front of it. Before dropping his unconscious body to the ground

"I got your sacrifice. Now speak. What happened. Truly."

And he did. With a wave of his hand, the man's body twitched and cracked, and he stood before me, removing his blindfold and gag with a laugh. "I knew you would get too curious. You always were. It was the one thing I loved about you the most."

[raayllum]

The Elder: But it doesn't matter. Killing one of the Great Ones is impossible. The Great Ones are immortal. Callum: But the tome said... The Elder: Startouch elves, as you call them, are beings of the heavens. When their stars align with our world, they may choose to materialize and walk among us here in Xadia. It is true that the Nova Blade can destroy the mortal vessel of a Startouch elf. Callum: But why isn't that enough? The Elder: Finding their mortal end, the immortal Great One returns to the Heavens, awaiting the next time their stars align when they can manifest in Xadia once more. Rayla: So that's why the Archdragons didn't destroy Aaravos. The only way to stop him for good was to imprison him forever.

Putting this here mostly for reference but also for musings. Few things:

We know that by the end of this season that the Great Ones aren't immortal because Leola was murdered/executed, so the Celestial elves are also working with partial information

I wonder if this mode of leave and return is possible for Aaravos given his 'fallen' status, or if that's been left behind too

Callum's reaction of course (but that's a followup post)

Stars glow from all the various constellations, but not the crown in the centre, which indicates that rather than being a person or being, it's a Place??

More on the mortal vessel:

Now that Aaravos is out and can fully move around / interact with our world and reality, I wonder what/why he'll need to possess Callum. The Nova Blade would be useful against a possessed Callum (I always thought if one of them wielded it, it might be Rayla in the possession fight) but why Aaravos would want to use a mortal vessel when he doesn't need to... It also makes me wonder if dark magic corruption might also play a role in warping Callum next season like the banthers or Zubeia > just flat out possession. Like having two terrible things stacked on top of each other

That said, ending Aaravos over and over would be better than letting him wreck shit up, as dark as it is (something about how you always have to continually work to keep evil at bay?). I don't think that's the road they'd take, but... if it takes a long time for stars to align maybe? Also makes me think maybe Aaravos' endgame is to forcibly align the stars or to get Back to little crown place for revenge

[dannydevitosthiccdog]

A couple of theories are spinning in my head, so I'll see if any of them interest anyone

What if quasar diamonds are forged from the death of a startouch elf?

We don't know how common it is to be killed as a startouch elf, I'm imagining that since the punishment is so severe, people don't disobey much.

What if the bodies cast out of the heavens all made points of interest or power on the lands

Sea of the castout-Leola

Midnight desert

Spinning sea

And the final one. Where did Aaravos have his house?

The terrain is vastly different through all of xadia. The silvergrove is too dense with forestry. Lux Aurea is a possibility, but the trees are different outside his window. It definitely can't be close to the storm spire since the grass is oranges and reds rather than the rolling hills he lived on.

My theory

She was cast out to her home. It's close to the silvergrove, so the moonshadow child could visit and close enough to the (not yet) city of Elarion. I know it is far away, but there were probably smaller settlements closer to them at the time. The house also looks moonshadow-y in design.

And one final happier one, I hc that startouch babies don't have good control of their magic so randomly Leola would go into her giant form and he'd have to too. And he'd just have to wait for her to go back to her human size.

Visiting your local startouch elf to meet his newborn, and she's 100 feet tall, just sleeping nestled between the hills.

[xadian-daydreams]

What's been mentioned for the Dragon Prince Season 6: Book Stars so far...

Having listened and read a bunch of interviews, here's my collected notes (Updated for October 2023);

No current release date, but confirmed 9 episodes, same as previous seasons.

Seasons Four though Seven are all the Mystery of Aaravos arc.

While there's not going to be any real time skip between S5 and S6, there will be a small one within S6. Update - there's a few days time skip between S5 and S6.

Season 6 will be more mature to the point the age rating is increasing. It will also go into deeper emotional stuff - "fans should enjoy the breather before being emotionally wrecked by the next book."

(Most of) Episode 1 of season 6 was shown at NYCC 2023 panel. Notes on summaries people have posted here.

New characters to be introduced;

Astrid - voiced by Boone Williams - Female Celestial Skywing elf. She's mysterious and there's 'something cool' about her design.

Character based off Moonberry Surprise.

A new Startouch elf. Possibly the Merciful One (they/them) from the Sea of the Castout statues.

Upcoming for main characters;

Callum - every time you do dark magic, it becomes harder to come back from it. Info on Callum birth-father. (Callum and learning Moon Arcanum - Giehl's opinion is doesn't want Callum treading on Rayla's thematic territory and stealing her thunder). Rayllum note - how would Callum using dark magic affect the trust and friendship they've been building up?

Rayla - On the curse coins - too spoilery, so they won't answer questions related to that. On Rayllum note. Would Rayla do anything for Callum? And what would Callum call upon her to do if that was the case? Questions getting asked next season, just to make you suffer.

Callum, Rayla and Stella confirmed visiting the Starscraper.

Ezran - sticking to his ideals and pacifism will be tested. Rough and tough decision(s).

At some point Ezran and Callum will visit some 'weird' ruins.

Soren - has had lighter seasons so far, but is about to face darker questions. There is trauma that the writers haven't told anyone about that will come to light at some point. Soren is getting an opportunity to confront Viren about what happened at the Storm Spire (they did meet up in S4E7, which is covered in the short story Strangers, but writers felt it lacked the satisfaction needed, as neither really was in the headspace to talk), but uncertain if this is just a therapy thing or if Viren lives.

There's going to be a funny Soren and Corvus story later on.

Claudia - S5 she was under a lot of pressure, and it's not easing up. How will Claudia be impacted by Viren's decision - further into darkness or pulled back into the light? Claudia being willing to risk life and limb for her goal(s) - and then actually paying the cost of a limb - what does that mean for her and Terry?

Karim - is about to get in over his head. He doesn't realise the kind of alliances he's making.

Amaya and Janai don't get enough love in these interviews. 😢

Zym - Goes with Soren to find Zubeia. Spoiler indicates Zym has a heart to heart with her

Characters we'll be seeing more of;

Aaravos - there's a lot more of him coming in S6.

Kim'dael - 'big plans' that even go beyond the show, though specifically refused to answer if she'll met Rayla again (they met first time in Bloodmoon Huntress graphic novel).

More with the pirates and Scumport (however, Finnegrin while not confirmed dead, won't make a reappearance in S6/7). Scumport set up a bunch of stuff for going into season 6.

Kpp'Ar - confirmed there'll be more stuff about him in both S6 and S7.

Mukho - the mushroom mage, Earthblood elf who's a world expert mycologist.

More shadowpaw content.

Possibly Ellis and Ava briefly, but could be S7.

Lore -

The lore about Stars primal and Startouch elves and other mythology will be explored. How you kill a Startouch elf will be answered - including more info on Laurelion (mentioned in the Death of an Immortal poem).

(Going by how the graphic novels releases are generally introducing things that are mentioned in the next season, Puzzle House's emphasize on unicorns, and how there is a big bit of unicorn lore mentioned in the novels, is a good hint that this unicorn lore is getting explained in show too. But, just to clarify, it's not confirmed this is happening - however, it is a impactful bit of backstory and there's only 2 seasons left).

Most likely information about how Primal Stones are made - specifically how a storm was trapped from the top of Mount Kalik to create the Primal Stone Callum smashed. Ehasz mentioned that something brought up in the second episode will be expanded on in S6, and the info about the Sky Primal Stone is the only info that hasn't been addressed elsewhere from E2 that I could pick out.

More lore about golems (as in the rock guardians and Elmer)

Other notes;

Season 6 will have an explosive start.

Questions raised by Ehasz;

Was the dragang moving Aaravos's prison smart or would it have been safer to have left it? It's something they'll grapple with right away.

Is Aaravos being honest with Viren about what's going to happen? (I'm wording it as being honest rather than saying is he lying, as Aaravos's thing is manipulative truths and misdirections etc, rather than outright lies).

No context: 🔥 (Can't help looking at the use of explosive start by the NYCC notification)

There's stuff in Season 2 that will get explained in Season 6 - while they're not exactly clues, there will be referencing from S2.

Keep an eye on changes in the openers - they're continuing the hints - like when they swapped out Viren with Callum to let you know Callum and dark magic/Aaravos is going to be in the episode.

Season 7 will be Book 7: Dark.

The next graphic novel will be about "family and building trust." Update: Title Dreamer's Nightmare

Can young Ezran and Callum quell the brewing storm in the quiet town of Noct, or have bad dreams come to haunt for good?

Giehl says this story has Ezran as the lead character and the artist said they enjoyed doing the many animals.

There were hints dropped at NYCC 2023 that there may be other projects based on the Dragon Prince world, but they'll come under a different name. TDP will only be the 7 seasons. (Most hints I've seen suggest they may be working towards an Orphan Queen film/series, but it could also be a continuation).

Sources; Hot Brown Morning Potion Podcast E27 Reel James Season 5 interview with Aaron Ehasz AIPT Comics 'The Dragon Prince creators dish on season 5 post-mortem AnimationWorld: The Dragon Prince Season 5, a swashbuckling blend of design tricks and emotional turmoil Screenrant SDCC 2023: The Dragon Prince creators on taking the Mystery of Aaravos past Season 5 CBR: The Dragon Prince creators reveal the secrets of Season 5 and the road to Season 6 ComicBook: The Dragon Prince creators talk season 5 and entering the show's Empire Strikes Back era Game of Nerds: SDCC 2023 The Dragon Prince All Aboard for Season 5 Official Discord Season 4 Q&A NYCC 2023 panel Secrets in the Stars Random tweets and Discord stuff from the creators and official social media.

[cannonball5]

Hot Take: I think season 7 should do another time skip.

With Aaravos back we need all hands on deck and I don’t want to waste time on the forging of alliances. Plus Callum only has two of the six primal sources down. Good thing he’s at the Moon Nexus for a crash course in Moon magic, then a quick trip to his new Aunt Janai for some Sun magic lessons, and finally some tutelage under the Mushroom Mage to learn the Earth Arcanum. We could start season 7 with Callum seeking out how to do Star magic and he’s missing in action. He’s trying to find a Startouch Elf to teach him so he can stop Aaravos.

Meanwhile, Ezran and Zym are both a little older and are leading the combined might of the Pentarchy as well as an Elven Alliance and also pulling as many Archdragons out of retirement as possible to fight Aaravos and Claudia Vader (since she’s gone full Dark Side and will probably be trained by Aaravos).

I just think if we pick up where we left off everything will be rushed trying to wrap everything up.

Also the Novablade is for sure going to come into play. We now know (the audience does, our protagonists still need to find out) that Startouched Elves can kill one of their own, but maybe due to Aaravos’s power and his wish for vengeance, they can’t overpower him. Killing him with the Novablade after weakening him in a fight might be the best chance to save Xadia.

[kilfeur]

Cette fois ci, on a Claudia et l'ombre de Viren ainsi qu'une étoile bien plus brillante par rapport au précédent poster. Claudia semble être déterminé mais peu sûre aussi, le collier aura soit un rapport avec les elfes des étoiles soit un rapport avec la magie noire. Et enfin Viren, alors on voit que sa silhouette. Donc il est possible que Viren soit présent dans la tête de Claudia mais plus une version tordue, amplifiant son désir de le revoir. Ou alors, le Viren qu'on va voir est celui d'un flashback comme il a été montré dans le trailer.

Sinon si Viren va vraiment revenir et j'avoue que je serai mitigée, j'étais justement dans le camp qu'il reviendrait. Car je trouvais qu'Aaravos le testait et semblait sourire quand ce dernier refuse de tuer Monsieur Bavetout. Mais de l'autre, ça veut dire qu'on aura plus à craindre qu'ils meurent, Amaya dans la scène de la bibliothèque, ça va aller, elle va s'en sortir. Donc je sais pas, on verra comment la série va l'amener si c'est vrai. Par contre la pose de Viren, on dirait Jésus, je suis désolée XD

Quand à l'étoile, je pense que ça représente plus Aaravos et l'étoile que justement le trio a dans le ciel, sont les elfes des étoiles. Donc y a une faible possibilité, que le dragang va rencontrer lo miséricordieux. Mon ami m'avait demandé si on aurait d'autres posters et le plus logique serait qu'on ait un poster des elfes des étoiles montrant lo miséricordieux. Ou alors Janai, Amaya avec Sol Regem qui cache l'étoile.

This time, we have Claudia and Viren's shadow, as well as a much brighter star than in the previous poster. Claudia seems determined but also unsure, the necklace will either have something to do with startouch elves or dark magic. And finally Viren, so we only see his silhouette. So it's possible that Viren is present in Claudia's head but more of a twisted version, amplifying her desire to see him again. Or maybe the Viren we'll see is the one from a flashback as shown in the trailer.

If not, Viren will really come back and I admit I'll be mixed, I was right in the camp that he would. Because I thought Aaravos was testing him and seemed to smile when he refused to kill Sir Sparklepuff. But on the other hand, it means we won't have to worry about them dying, Amaya in the library scene will be fine, she'll be fine. So I don't know, we'll see how the series takes it if it's true. On the other hand, Viren's pose looks like Jesus, I'm sorry XD

As for the star, I think it represents Aaravos and the star that the trio has in the sky are the startouch elves. So there's a slight possibility that the dragang will meet the merciful one. My friend asked if we'd have any other posters, and the most logical would be a poster of the startouch elves showing the merciful one. Or Janai, Amaya with Sol Regem hiding the star.

[mateushonrado]

What I'd like to see in the seventh season of The Dragon Prince

Status Post #11309: Now that season six has arrived on Netflix and that the third arc now back in the planning stages as season 8-10, pending a greenlight from the streaming service, here's what I'd like to see in the upcoming seventh season, which will be titled Book Seven: Dark and will air between the latter half of this year or during next year, probably summer. That said, I hope we'll get a great conclusion to Mystery of Aaravos like having Callum and Rayla getting married in a flashforward and so on.

Claudia and Terry's redemption

While a friend of mine find the former an inconsistent mess of a character and the latter uninteresting who doesn't do much to the story, I'm in the opinion that they'll find redemption, especially the former since I doubt she'll remain Aaravos' apprentice, given that the fallen Startouch Elf himself has plans for Callum and there are moments in the recent season confirmed that she still has redemption.

She's definitely going to know the truth behind her father Viren's death by that he sacrificed his life to stop Sol Regem and Aaravos than being killed by the tyrannical dragon as punishment as well as realising that Terry was right about Aaravos' motive is revenge.

Flashback anthology episode

What the show needs is definitely an episode in vein of its spiritual predecessors Avatar: The Last Airbender's "Zuko Alone", "The Tales of Ba Sing Se", "Appa's Lost Days" and "The Avatar and the Fire Lord" and Avatar: The Legend of Korra's "Beginnings" and "Korra Alone".

It would be a good opportunity to focus on Rayla's past with Kim'dael, Soren and Claudia's past with their mother Lissa, how Claudia met Terry like why they fall in love and what does Terry think of Claudia using dark magic, Aaravos' devouring of Janai's grandmother Queen Aditi, Callum's father Damian, Aanya and her mothers Annika and Neha, the Orphan Queen, Laurelion, Luna Tenebris, Garlath, Esmeralda Skall and so on as it could be an extra-long episode, say a 40-45 minute episode.

Return of characters

Other than characters who are likely going to return such as those who appeared last season like Callum, Rayla, Ezran, Soren, Claudia, Zym, Terry, Aaravos, Amaya, Janai, Zubeia, Gren, Kasi, Aanya, Lujanne, Allen, Runaan, Kosmo, Astrid, Bait, Stella, Karim and Miyana, here's those I'd like to see next season.

It's very likely that Runaan's husband Ethari will return because otherwise, we won't get a reunion between Rayla's foster fathers if he doesn't. Notable characters I'd like to see returning are Ellis, Ava, N'than, Ahling (considering that he's the only one of the three attacked by Viren's forces who is still alive along with that his son Kasef, who served as his temporary successor and was allies with Viren, is dead since Florian and Fareeda were killed off in season three and it would be a good opportunity for this to introduce their successors), Nyx, Akiyu, Kim'dael, Elmer, Villads and so on.

Especially Kim'dael since I'd like to see her appear in this season because it would be a good opportunity to set her as the main antagonist of the final arc along with introducing characters from Bloodmoon Huntress and Tales of Xadia such as Suroh as well as Lissa since I would like to see Soren and Claudia calling her out for her reasons to leave them to be with their father.

Deaths and resurrections

Given one of the recent interviews hinted that we'll be seeing a sacrifice, my guess is that we'll see something important. Given that Karim isn't so likeable, I think he'll likely bite the dust for his idiotic attempt to overthrow his sister Janai and there's a possibility that Callum will sacrifice his life and then returning back to life, given that he said in seasons four and six to Rayla that if Aaravos corrupts him to the dark side or if he gets consumed by darkness, (according to Kosmo), she would be the one doing the deed, something that she's not so sure about it.

I do think we'll see a resurrection but I doubt it'll be Viren since his voice actor Jason Simpson outright confirmed that he's permanently dead after being revived twice. I think Aaravos will manipulate Callum into reviving Viren after Claudia betrays him only to revive his daughter Leola, which could result in Callum and Rayla ultimately acting as parental figures to her in the end, not unlike how the Mandalorian became a father figure to Grogu in his titular show, how Haruka, Michiru and Setsuna became parental figures to Hotaru during Sailor Moon after her father's death and defeating Mistress 9 that led to her sacrificing herself to stop Phantom 90's wrath which resulted in her being age regressed into a baby or how Thor took care of Gorr's daughter Love in the end of Thor: Love and Thunder.

I also think Kpp'ar will be freed from his coin in which he pretends to have found redemption only for that he returned back with revenge on Viren before discovering that he's dead, resulting him attempting to kill Soren and Claudia before Rayla kills him and I think that's it.

[leftboob]

@raayllum had lightly mentioned some brainstorming about the possibility of Aaravos maybe needing Zym for his grand scheme . This would explain the lengthy wait for his plan to unfold since Rayla had mentioned Zym's egg was impossibly rare to come to be.

And to go off of this theory, what if its true.

The celestial elves are all skywing elves and yet they can potentially gain the blessing of the stars and become star blind, seeing and learning all the stars have to offer. Suppose it is only the sky arcanum that has this bridge to the star arcanum. In that case, Zym could potentially be Aaravos' next phase (maybe after Callum or they overlap) if the show's direction is to circle back to its namesake, The Dragon Prince.

But the only puzzling part is why? He doesn't need anyone's help to connect/use star magic. He never lost his arcanum. If he doesn't need Zym why does his plan need centuries to unfold?

Who are his targets? Everyone responsible for Leola's death, right? He took his revenge on Sol Regem who was the witness that damned Leola. I'm still unclear on Aditi's death, but perhaps she was just a necessary removal to keep his plans in motion. Then those left on his hit list are the other startouch elves of the cosmic order? Except the elder celestial elf stated they cant perma die. Except for Leola.

And of course, a startouch elf would know how to kill another startouch elf.

So the bigger question is what is Aaravos' final plan?

Why does his final plan need this long to carry out?

How does he expect to eliminate the cosmic order?

One thought comes to mind for me, and this is where I think he could have been waiting for Zym's birth.

Star Devourer Dragons

Aaravos can control people (with dark magic though) but skywing elves can gain the star's influence. What if Aaravos was waiting for Zym's birth to control him? How? Why Zym and not Avizandum or Zubeia?

This is were I lose the picture until more pieces to this puzzle are revealed in (hopefully) the later seasons.

And here's where I just toss in my own prediction or random guess; tdp crew are anime fans. We especially know this with the Naruto run Rayla had going for a little while.

My addition to @raayllum's thought was rooted from this:

Nine-Tailed Demon Fox's Attack

A vengeful man takes control of The Nine-Tailed Fox and unleashes it on to the Hidden Leaf Village, causing untold death and destruction.

That is were I think the direction of the story could go. Potentially. Maybe.

Thank you for coming to my TED talk and a special thank you to @raayllum so sharing this idea I am still losing sleep over it.

[maizethecorn]

The Dragon Prince Viren and Aaravos Shipping and Recommended fanfics

I stayed up watching all of season five of the Dragon Prince which runs on Netflix. I was really happy to see Sir Sparklepuff a homunculus child be revealed to be a mix of Aaravos and Viren's DNA. I'm pretty sure Sir Sparklepuff is also a mix of other animals like possibly a butterfly or a moth since he was made with magic. Anyway, Sir Sparklepuff is the closest thing the show will ever have of Viren and Aaravos having a love child. So why ship Viren and Aaravos? Here is some background information on the show:

First, the Dragon Prince is a fantasy cartoon created by Aaron Ehasz who worked on the Avatar the Last Airbender cartoon. The three main characters are Prince Callum who is a human teenager in training to be a mage, King Ezran who is a child king who can talk to animals and Rayla is a moon shadow elf teenager trained to be an assassin. These three kids along with the non-talking Dragon Prince Azymondias who acts like a dog are attempting to bring peace to the magical world of Xadia. Xadia is a land overrun with different types of elves, humans, dragons and other magic creatures. The main villain the four heroes must defeat is the elf named Aaaravos who is looking to break out of his prison and possibly rule Xadia. Callum and Rayla spend time together and fall in love in later seasons. Those two are the main couple on the show. I have nothing against Callum/Rayla other than I find them to be bland and predictable. Now, here is information on the only two interesting characters and best pairing on this show:

Aaravos is a Startouch elf who has been imprisoned in a furnished library cell at the bottom of the ocean for centuries. His one crime known for sure is that he killed the SunFire Elf Queen predating Khessa by swallowing her. The rest of his crimes and future goals once he gets out of prison are unknown. I'm guessing Aaravos possibly wants to rule the world. He is noted to be over five thousand years old. Aaravos narrates the opening of the cartoon. He is voiced by Erik Dellums.

Viren voiced by Jason Simpson is a high mage that served under King Harrow for many years. He is divorced and is the father of Soren who is a knight and Claudia who is a mage. Viren favors his daughter Claudia over Soren since she is talented at using magic like him. Soren sadly, tries to get his father's approval by displaying his athletic abilities to no avail. Ultimately, Soren gives up on getting Viren to like him and joins Callum's group in saving Xadia. As for Viren, things start to go downhill when King Harrow won't take his advice to use dark magic to save his life. To add insult to this injury, Harrow tells Viren to kneel like a servant before him and says Viren is not his equal. This disrespect after many years of loyal service is what pushes Viren to the dark side in turning against Harrow.

So how do Viren and Aaravos meet? Viren gets a magic mirror which is a portal to Aaravos's prison. He is intrigued by Aaravos when he sees the elf sitting in a chair through the mirror. Aaravos motions for Viren to put a creepy caterpillar in his ear which Viren refuses to do at first. Viren puts a blanket over the magic mirror and goes to the library to research Aaravos. However, everytime he tries to read a book about Aaravos, the text fades to black, no matter what book he picks. Annoyed, Viren goes back to the magic mirror, uncovers it and throws the blanket away. He sees Aaravos is still sitting in his prison and demands to know why he can't find any information about Aaravos in books. Smiling, Aaaravos holds the creepy caterpillar up to Viren at the glass portal. He hand motions for Viren to take the caterpillar which Viren does somewhat reluctantly. Then, Aaravos handmouths instructions for Viren make a magic potion to drink which Viren does. After drinking the potion, Viren puts the caterpillar in his ear. Finally, Viren is able to hear Aaaravo's voice through the caterpillar. The delighted elf tells Viren he has waited too long to hear the voice of another person. Aaaravos tells Viren his name was wiped from all books by a spell and he is trapped in a prison at an unknown location. Wary, Viren asks what Aaravo's crimes were and Aaravos refuses to tell him. Frustrated, Viren threatens to destroy the mirror if Aaravos won't give him the information he wants. Aaaravos calls Viren's bluff saying Viren won't destroy the mirror because he is too curious about Aaravos and wants to figure him out. The elf proposes an alliance where he will help Viren rule Xadia if Viren helps break Aaaravos out of his prison. Reluctantly, Viren accepts resulting in a shaky partnership between human and elf.

Why ship these two? I love a pairing where there is tension between characters. Aaaravos and Viren as a ship definitely has tension and chemistry. Viren starts off only wanting to help the human kingdoms of Xadia prosper. He wants to achieve his goals in as ethical a way as possible. But, Aaaravos manages to convince Viren to take what he wants by force. Aaravos is definitely a toxic influence for Viren but Viren wasn't an angel when the show began. By the start of the show, Viren has been using dark magic for decades. His true appearance shows his eyes are black and his body has been drained reducing his skin to pasty color as a side effect from using dark magic. Viren has to use glamour magic to hide his appearance from everyone except Aaaravos. Aaaravos doesn't care what Viren looks like and Viren doesn't have to use glamor magic around him. In my opinion, Aaravos was the only person Viren could vent or confide in about how unappreciated he was at the king's court at the start of the show. Granted, Aaravos just listened to Viren so he could manipulate him later but he was still a very patient listener with Viren. Viren could talk about his life goals with Aaravos and not have his hopes/dreams sliced to ribbons. Also, Aaaravos appears to enjoy Viren's company seen in one example when Viren recounts how he killed the Dragon King he nicknamed Thunder to Aaaravos. The two of them enjoy reading books and experimenting with magic. Also, I just love how Viren attempts to be defiant towards Aaaravos saying he won't do what the elf wants but almost always ends up doing what Aaravos wants anyway. Usually fanfiction, portrays Viren as being more submissive and Aaravos as being more dominant. Here are some recommended fanfics of these two:

Everytime We StarTouch is a complete, one-shot fic by Anonymous about Viren having sex with Aaravos's ghost.

Our child is a complete, one shot fic by strangefake where Viren bonds with Sir Sparklepuff after learning the homunculus is his child.

The Sound of His Voice is a complete one shot about Viren getting seduced by Aaravos just by hearing the elf's voice.

Everyone gets one is a complete two chapter fic where Viren attempts to deny to Claudia that he is dating Aaravos.

Fallen Star by Storm Fire_22 is an on going 46 chapter fic about Viren and Aaravos playing mind games with each other. Viren and Aaravos both care for each other but be prepared for them to have really bad communication skills in this story.

To Noon He fell is a complete one shot about Aaravos sharing his life history with Viren.

Discontinous is the first of a four fic series called Limits by RazRas. The author recommends you read the series in order. The story explores the idea of Viren having past feelings for King Harrow, his relationship with his ex wife and what the concept of what a family is. Soren and Claudia appear in the series and have a hard time understanding Viren dating Aaarvos. Both kids eventually accept their dad is gay and that their mom and dad won't get back together.

Just a coworker relationship is a complete one shot fic where Viren attempts to deny what his relationship with Aaarvos is to Claudia. Claudia figures out what her dad's relationship with Aarvos is within three seconds.

Soulmates is an ongoing 27 chapter fic where Aarvos finds out Viren is supposed to be his soulmate through a magic reading. Smitten, the elf decides to start a war so he can meet Viren. However, Viren senses Aaravos is hiding information from him which promotes tension between them.

If I had a heart by undefined_trevelyan is a complete, eight-chapter fic about Aaravos helping Viren overcome low self-esteem issues. At first, Viren resists Aaravo's affections but returns the elf's feelings by the end of the story.

[kradogsrats]

anyway one thing re: the Celestial elves lmao like...

Callum is very confident that this reclusive order of elves who have completely separated themselves from civilization in protecting the artifacts and lore(?) and possibly(?) the grand design(???) of the Startouch elves are just gonna like... cheerfully hand him the Novablade

like we really have no idea what their stance on Aaravos is, right? as far as we're aware, they didn't have anything to do with imprisoning him, that was all on the Archdragons... but they also don't seem to have helped him at all, either?

given that Aaravos is a fallen Startouch elf, I would assume what's going on is largely no, they aren't interested in helping him... but, as seems to be the general hands-off nature of the Stars, they aren't going to interfere with him either, because he's Your Problem Now

I just think it's super funny that Callum's like "let's go to the Startouch elf worshiper monastery, I'm sure they'll give us the thing they are dedicated to guarding that is able to kill a Startouch elf"

[raayllum]

Already touched on this scene regarding the differences to the brothers, so I'm not going to repeat myself too much here, but I am thinking about the like... Purpose of this scene from a narrative/characterization standpoint in line with that. Because like, think about it... This scene would hit so different, as a debate, if we didn't know how far along Claudia and co. were in their quest to free Aaravos; then we could lean one way or another operating with the exact same information the characters have.

But we the audience Know that Aaravos isn't out, which is the primary reason Callum gives regarding incentive to get the Nova Blade. Nor is this the first time that Callum has a perspective we know isn't necessarily, well, necessary because we know more than the characters do. So we're already inclined to be more on Ezran's side because we know his line of thinking - that Aaravos isn't out and it's worth trying to just stop his release - is worth following.

It is likewise worth noting though, that Callum thinks the Novablade plan is good whether Aaravos is out or not. While he brings up that Claudia and Viren might've already released the Startouch elf, when Callum initially proposes the plan (shown above) he says, "Then we wait for Aaravos to get out." Even though if Aaravos gets out, that would kind of put him in the best possible place to possess Callum again, given how it operated last time. Even though if Aaravos gets out, he'll be even more powerful and likely to do real harm and even harder to defeat.

All of which to say this scene has approximately three purposes

To reinforce the differences between the brothers and possible seeds of conflict for the future, in both Ezran's pacifism (possibly to set up contrast with his latter choices) as well as Callum's more pragmatic side

To reinforce, by giving Rayla the deciding vote and having her side with Ezran, that Callum's morality and inclinations is different than both his brother and his partner

And on that note, characterization wise, to start highlighting what Callum is willing to do and that he's always had this streak in him (cue both he and Viren watching dark magic corrupted enemies die by their own hand at the Storm Spire while Ezran and Harrow feel somewhat conflicted about it, at least) / can often be more solution oriented ("How does this solve anything?" from 1x02) and willing to take the path he perceives as easier/more efficient

Sarai: You said you want to make a difference, to build a better world. But that's going to take decades of hard work. There's no monster you can slay to solve all of your problems. There's no shortcut.

Some other interesting notes:

Shows the different in the trio's dynamic regarding decision making, since previously it had normally been Callum and Rayla having the final call with Ezran going along with it (2x03, 3x08). Now, the brothers discuss first with each other, highlighting that they've spent the last two years without her and that Ezran has become more assertive, but that they still fully include her in the decision and have it be one they made as a group, signifying their heightened unity upon reunion and healing, and the way they all trust/look to each other.

It also demonstrates growth from Rayla, as last time she thought there was a potential threat to the world, she went the more violent route in wanting to track Viren down (alone) and kill him. But now that she's come back and reintegrated herself into the group, she's taking the more level headed, preventative route in some ways.

[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.

[lily-lilou]

Aaravos and his (possible) place in Xadia

In the last theory I made (here’s the complete version) about Aaravos and his hidden agenda, I've retranscripted some things the creators said about Aaravos. 

One of them was that there's a part of him who wants power, who wants to be worshiped and revered. 

But I also said it doesn't make sense since he's a startouch and a first elf, which means practically a deity in Xadia. He was powerful, he had to be revered just by existing, no?

While discussing with @theoneandonlymagiscientist​, something just hit me (again, yes. There’s always things that hit me...):

if Aaravos is searching ultimately for this (power and worship), then maybe it wasn't that simple?

I already talked about what kind of power he could be searching for in that theory linked above (life-magic), and that he still didn't achieve to reach it because he doesn't understand "love" (if you don't undersant, go read what I put in this link, it will make sense ^^)

But now, what about the "worshiped" part? What led him to this? What led a powerful first startouch elf, already revered by probably all of Xadia, to want this.

Well... all of Xadia? Not sure.

Remember this?

And remember the translation? (this one can be found here and it's from u/someone-kill-I because it's the most beautiful and poetic I saw so far)

Elarion, a heavy guest . Cried when the brightest stars . Turned into a dark abyss . Wearing their masks. Turning their backs. They left Elarion to suffer death. Elarion Wrestling death ... Until from a far. Came the last star's breath. His touch: fire, flam, a gift. --- Elarion, ever so white. Accepted the flame of the darkest night. And when kneeling. It's faith declared . Aaravos whispered his name. ----* Elarion the dark eyed child . Spreads it's roots wherever it can. With the aid of the power of man . And with the might Aaravos . The midnight star. --- Elarion, like shivering seeds. Laying on the winter snow . Rises and with beautiful colours . The seeds grow . defying the cold winter snow... ----- Elarion, a blooming flower . Scared of sun fading away. Searches for his eternal flame . And so glowed the dragon's eyes. ----- Elarion, the abandoned child. Raises it's white roots. into the darkest night. Looking for aid of the stars light. Asking to stop the dragon with their might. ----* Elarion, a heavy guest . Cried when the brightest stars . Turned into a dark abyss . Wearing their masks. Turning their backs. They left Elarion to suffer death

Yeah, you noticed the parts I put in bold? 

Humans turned first to the brightest stars. But these brightest stars left and then, the last star came, Aaravos. 

... Do you see my point? Yes. Aaravos is a startouch elf, a first elf. And yes, for maybe the rest of the world, he is like a deity, powerful and all.

But was he percieved the same way by his own kin? Because if some are called "the brightest" and he's called “the las”t, if he's called the darkest, the midnight star... then maybe...

I see two interpretations to explain this. 

Two possibilities I can explain by using our own pantheons of gods. The greek one, to be precise.

Aaravos is a minor god. In the greek pantheon we have the major gods like Zeus and Poseidon (the brightest stars). But we have also little ones who are maybe powerful for humans, but considered weak and so despised by their elders. In this idea, Aaravos would be a minor god, maybe the weakest and so least worshiped of all.

But I have another idea, and this one would fit more because we know that Aaravos was extremely powerful.

Aaravos is the equivalent of Hades. Hades who's jealous of the light and freedom of his brothers, hades who can only control death (dark magic) but is craving for light (life-magic). Hades who's feared and hated by his own kin but want to be loved. And he doesn't know what love is, until Eros came and messed up (persephone and all)

So what if Aaravos is some kind of Hades who found in humans what he never found elswhere: need, trust... love?