#luckily i am a

[raayllum]

like in a perfect world 5x08 would have no consequences. finnegrin is dead, giving the spell didn't amount to any tangible harm, rayla's life was saved. callum did dark magic under circumstances that are understandable and sympathetic; the snake rattle is small and already dead. he, genuinely, did what he had to do.

but like, tdp is nothing but "your actions however good intentioned will often have disastrous consequences or not heal everything you wanted them to perfectly": the Show so like.

it's not looking good, particularly given a followup comment from aaron in this interview:

I will say, I'll add one more thing. Another way that the use of him using dark magic we’ll revisit is, do you think he's going to use dark magic again? What are the longterm consequences of that? How does that change him? Does he evolve past beyond the pale of the person [Rayla] knows and trusts or not? What, what does that character development and personal development mean to Callum? Is he going to go down that path or not? And what does that mean to their relationship, trust, friendship, etcetera?