#tdp claudia meta

[meebleagain]

screaming crying throwing up idk if anyone has realized this yet but the symbolism in this shot is killing me

aaravos, free from his prison, holds claudia up to the moon, which looks just like the pearl. she is the one trapped now, by her grief and aaravos' manipulation. he holds all the cards and while it also looks like he's showing her the (moon)light; he could easily drop her to the deadly ground below.

aaravos also takes her away from terry, who watches on worried for her. foreshadowing? they grow apart in the next season perhaps?

[featherstorm2004]

Sooooooooo I can't be the only one who noticed they both have purple undertones in their hair.

The parallels just keep adding up with the mage fam's daughters and fathers, Claudia really is just Leola's stand in for Aaravos.

[sarasade]

this is one of the most beautiful, heartbreaking and bittersweet lines in all of The Dragon Prince.

Definitely a good addition to the Viren as an Allegory for a Narcissistic Parent -reading of Viren's story arc. Speaking of which-

Viren's apology here is the perfect fantasy of someone who grew up with a narcissistic parent, right?

It's the ultimate fantasy of what if the person who abused you saw how unfair and cruel they have been and acknowledged the harm they have caused to people close to them? How they finally take accountability and lift the burden off their children's shoulders. Viren literally starts his apology with "I see you, Soren" acknowledging Soren's pain.

TDP is really good at making the dramatic story climax more impactful by putting a lot of focus on the slower emotional build-up before the main event. Viren dying in a moment of self-sacrifice is symbolically powerful but it isn't exactly relatable. What makes it so meaningful to me are these seemingly small, more subtle, less fantastical moments, the build-up before the pay-off. It's a good balance of fantasy epicness and realistic human emotion.

To me this line encapsulates Viren's true sacrifice. He lets go of his ego, being stripped away of his status and has to face the fact that he has failed as a protector of his kingdom and his children. It's an extremely vulnerable moment for him and it's almost painful to watch because both Soren and Viren's perspective and feelings feel very human and understandable.

THIS line feels like the true moment of sacrifice to me. Viren lays his feelings bare without any signifiers of status as a High Mage of Katolis and without the authority of a parent to shield him from criticism.

[raayllum]

First off, glad to see Terry finally wearing his glasses again. But more importantly I think this scene does a really good job at illustrating both Claudia questioning dark magic (finally) and what it's done to her / her mindset, as well as showing the fault lines in her reasoning. It's kinda like how even in 6x08, using a human heart for the cinder spell is unthinkable, but at its core its not that different an ingredient or motivation as the Magma Titan's heart. Claudia's having her crisis partially because the leaflynx is cute, because it's adorable, because it's aesthetically pleasing to her.

But what about the other living, breathing, sapient creatures who aren't human, or cute, or even look like humans or elves that we Know exist in this world? The Magma Titan and Elmer and little mushroom friends and even the dragons and other 'non aesthetically pleasing' creatures deserve life just as much as any cute magical creature Claudia encounters.

And until that clicks, maybe nothing will fundamentally change

[inamindfarfaraway]

Viren really said "I will do anything for my family and the greater good" so much that his children internalized "Got it, do anything for the greater good!" and "Got it, do anything for my family!" and both dedicated themselves to their mission statements, when his own mission statement was in fact self-righteous bullshit as he increasingly just wanted power. That's kind of funny. He was lying! But they believed him because kids tend to believe their parents, and now there are twelve psychological complexes between the three of them and depending on what happens with Viren in Season Six, they might all be on different sides.

[wingzoffeather]

In general, I don't interpret Viren's letter as explaining WHAT happened with the past & his dark magic usage. He's NOT writing "So this a step-by-step rundown of how I got here."

(And S5 already confirmed that Claudia, and probs Soren too, already have at least a vague idea of what prompted Lissa to leave them & K'ppar to suddenly disappear. "If it wasn't for dad's dark magic you wouldn't be alive" - Claudia to Soren when he was captured in their camp. And it's implied that Soren feels some guilt about this, too.)

No, I interpret the letter as Viren trying to explain to Soren the emotional WHY & HOW of his villainous descent. (paraphrase) "I thought I was doing it out of love for you. But, when my personal life started spiraling, then I started blaming you. You didn't deserve it & I regret it."

This is still a kind of self-serving validation exercise. The overall message he's trying to communicate is: "I need you to understand me, understand why I hurt you, even if I didn't mean to. Before I am possibly executed."

And Viren realizes that his letter only serves HIS desire to reconcile and make peace and the info in his letter would probably be yet another emotional burden for Soren to carry; so he does the selfless thing & burns it.

Sometimes the selfless & right thing to do, is to just let someone continue to hate you, after you've hurt them. Especially if it's a coping mechanism, when they're vulnerable. It would definitely be a LOT to ask if Soren, to start a forgiving & reconciliation process with how raw he clearly still is.

"Truth is everything. But before you give it to another, ask yourself: are you giving them clarity, light, and purpose? Or are you shifting a burden to someone who needs all their strength?" - Astrid, season 6

And, this kind of sacrifice is actually in-line with Viren's core principle: A parent makes sacrifices for their children, never the other way around.

Viren sacrifices his freedom for Claudia, his daughter, to finally set a good example; he no longer has faith in the "power" of dark magic as a "creative solution". He'd been it's most steadfast student & he hopes, seeing him leave it behind, Claudia will also give up on dark magic. It only leads to pain & failure, and he wants her to live HER life, freely.

He sacrifices his life for Katolis' people. So they may live through Sol Regem's attack. This is his atonement for his political betrayal.

But, Viren sacrifices his one effective bid for forgiveness & reconciliation, for Soren. This is his atonement for causing him so much anguish, confusion, & self-doubt. While he very much no longer wants to be his son's villain, he recognizes that attempting reconciliation, right here & now, is not what's best for Soren's emotional well-being. So he accepts it, & willingly lets himself die, as Soren's villain.

[beautifulterriblequeen]

Order as Antagonist in TDP

So how about that trailer, eh? I was so excited I didn't notice this text up top on TDP's tweet for like. An hour.

We haven't heard anything about this Cosmic Order before. Is it a specific group? Is it a vibe? Is it a Startouch thing? Hard to say, yet. But there are some vibes from the Starscraper shots we've gotten in the trailer and teaser that may point us in the right direction:

This place has eight pillars, each with a recess that holds a relic staff seemingly identical to the one Viren's been toting around. It's not unique, and Aaravos didn't craft it. He stole it.

This is the Prometheus part of Aaravos' character. This is the fire that he stole for humans, from the gods. The relic staff. A relic staff, one of many.

Why did he, a godlike elf himself, feel the need to commit this act, for which he was cast down, exiled, and stripped of much of his power? Why?

Hard to say yet, but knowing all that he is capable of, I think it comes down to one thing: stealing it was the only way to get it. Nothing else he could think of would work. And he's pretty imaginative. But the system, the Cosmic Order, had him, too. He's a magic elf, bound by the same forces as everyone else up there. Breaking the rules was his only remaining option.

Aaravos chose Chaos over Order and put his money where his mouth is. He did get exiled and cast out, but humans have magic now. Somehow, that's not a thing the Order can take back from them, once it's out - rather like Pandora's Box.

But I want to look at this Order, and how pervasive it must be. How else would a powerful elf like Aaravos be reduced to petty thievery to accomplish his ends? Surely he tried other ways, other options, other persuasions. Why didn't they get him anywhere? Why did he have to take such a - for lack of a better term - human approach to the problem?

Let's back up a second and look at a seemingly random list of likes for one specific elf: Runaan. (no of course it isn't random, this is why this theory post exists. but shh, it'll make sense I promise)

Runaan likes four things in this list. Two of them are his immediate family. One is his favorite food. And the last item on the list?

Order.

I used to think this was just a bit of a wink to him being autistic-coded and liking his patterns. And I still do think that's accurate. But my third eye got pried open by the Cosmic Order text, and I think it's more than that now.

Runaan is a tiny cog in the grand engine that is the Cosmic Order. He goes where he is told, he kills who he is told to kill, he obeys without question, no matter how heinous his acts would be - he would have killed Ezran without blinking, because that's what the Dragon Queen told him to do.

Runaan is the most Moonshadow Moonshadow, according to the Deluxe Elf Interview. He's the epitome of what it means to be a Moonshadow elf. His devotion, sacrifice, and adherence to the rules are what makes him a good Moonshadow elf.

How convenient for the Order.

Runaan is still an individual, inside his own rules. He chose to become an assassin, and he did it to spare others from having to take lives and live with the weight of those acts. But that does imply that if he hadn't chosen this path, someone else would have, and people would still be dying.

And I think he's right. Maybe his love of order actually lets him perceive the great gears grinding over his head, up in the stars, turning the wheels of fate for everyone they control. Maybe he knows full well that he's part of a grand system - but there's nothing he can do about it except stay alive or die, because he is trapped inside it. He cannot change his fate because he is locked into it, just like everyone around him.

The Book 1 novelization tells us Runaan always expected to die on a mission, and that he meets that fate with a calm resignation on the balcony. He surrenders to his fate, because he cannot fight it.

What could lock Runaan into a fate that ends with him dying on a mission?

His own choices? Think bigger.

His society, then. Obligation, honor, guilt. Hmm, bigger than that.

It's been there the whole time - something that all the elves and dragons possess, but humans don't. Something which caused the imbalance in the first place.

Magic.

Magic is the Cosmic Order.

yes it has eight points and yes I'm back on my bullshit

Quick aside: The Cosmic Order is turning out to be the big magic version of King Harrow's Narrative of Strength, which he contrasted with the Narrative of Love - and we'll get back to that at the end of the post.

Alrighty, back to magic: The worst offenders seem to be the primal magics, which have locked the elves and dragons into very tight little boxes as far as what they can and cannot do, think, and imagine. An elf with a single arcanum can only think in terms of that primal source. It's as bad as an irl human who only knows one language, and so their brain literally cannot conceive of concepts that exist in other languages. (Learn more languages, guys, it's genuinely good for your brain, I am not kidding)

This helps explain why Aaravos was able to think a little bit outside his box and consider giving magic to humans when the Order said they didn't deserve any. He is an archmage, and he speaks many magical languages. He knows all six primal magics, as well as the ancient blood magic and dark magic. That's eight different ways of looking at a problem.

(is this why elves only have 8 fingers, because they literally cannot grasp anything outside of magic?)

From his multifaceted viewpoint, Aaravos can see the inherent unfairness in humans being forced to abide by the Order without getting any magic for their trouble. It's basically taxation without representation.

The Americans among us can attest to how well that went over in our own history.

Aaravos: Prometheus, Lucifer... Che Guevara... Guy Fawkes?

Aaravos really does love revolution.

Further thought: this post about Ethari's design has reminded me again about his lower-than-average magical ability and how that has manifested in his unique design and in his character. And I'm looking directly at how Ethari's lesser magic power may be the reason he's so mentally flexible. If he can challenge Runaan directly about how Rayla is not ready for that mission when everyone else is going along with it, isn't that lack of narrow-mindedness the thing that sets him apart?

What else might that freedom of thought do for him? Is this the reason he is actually able to invent at all? Because he is capable of envisioning that which does not yet exist? How rare that must be among Moonshadow elves!

tldr: Ethari is actually bad at being a Moonshadow elf, and that could very well be what saves him.

Contrast Ethari with Karim, who is a powerful Sunfire mage, and very much locked into his traditional views of elf vs human. He's willing to go to war in order to impose his views on all of the Sunfire elves if he can, because he genuinely believes he can see the Order of things better than anyone else can.

He believes in the superiority of the elven ways, while Janai has let her heart change her mind. Janai fell in love with a human, and it broke the Order's hold on her. She makes history now - it does not make her.

Side note: Is this... is this the formula, then? Is this how enduring ships work in TDP? An elf with a normal arcanum, paired with either a human or an elf with a "flawed" connection to the Order inside them? One who can anchor, and one who can imagine?

Let me make a quick list:

Claudia+Terry

Ethari+Runaan

Callum+Rayla

Amaya+Janai

Well. How bout that.

Ironically, this is a different path to what was going to be my final point in the first place: Order may be the default for elves and dragons and the way they are supposed to follow the rules of the universe, but love still exists, and they can always choose to embrace it. They can all be saved by love, in the end. It's their choice. In fact, choosing Love over Order is an act of defiance in itself.

Terry chose Claudia over fear. Janai chose Amaya over war. Rayla chose Callum over vengeance. And Runaan, my poster boy for stubbornness and suffering, chose Ethari over Order itself.

Saved by love.

[a-very-sparkly-nerd]

you guys ever think about how claudia chopping off her hair and the purple ends with it represents cutting off the last bit of choice in her life (and hair-cutting is also sometimes considered to be a form of rebirth)? and that TERRY does it for her? terry who believes in making your own choices and is claudia's moral compass as of late, promoting her becoming a new person but NOT in the direction he thinks he is?!

because i do. a lot.

[parroset]

Reflections, reflections, reflections -- and Startouch elves

One of the more prevalent motifs in The Dragon Prince is the reflection motif. You can see many, many examples of it in the show, including Aaravos's mirror, multiple characters looking at standing water, and the short story series, which is literally called "Reflections."

Reflections are great because they force characters to confront themselves, both in appearance and in emotion (they can "reflect" on their own actions and thoughts). TDP tends to put these two ideas together, and many of the appearances of the reflection motif have characters reflecting on their emotions or decisions.

Now, how does this connect to startouch elves? Aside from the mirror itself, which obviously connects to Aaravos, the dragon scale necklace that Aaron Ehasz confirmed to be related to Laurelion has a super reflective surface.

The way that Claudia's reflection appears in this picture also reminds me a little of this scene:

I think she has a similar confused face and is puzzling out the source of the reflective object, but there may be more to it than that.

Another thing about the reflection motif is that many of these reflections are shattered/ruined by Aaravos. Aaravos shatters his mirror in season 4:

This connects back to a line from Patience:

The fact that the exact word "shattered" is used here is probably not a coincidence; he is trying to do to the other startouch elves what he did to the mirror. It's a violent way to break things, leaving jagged edges that can hurt others. Shattering something is usually sudden, and implies that the thing being shattered is delicate. There is a connection there between the mirror and "everything [the startouch elves] have built."

Aaravos has a pattern of ruining reflections. From his first appearance in the show, he "ruined" Viren's reflection by appearing in the mirror, and as discussed above, he later broke the mirror. He also has the following line in Ripples:

He is specifically talking about ruining the "perfect reflections" of the startouch elves, and at the end of the story, he is the one who touches the surface of the water and watches the ripples spread, and thereby continues to ruin the startouch reflections.

I'm curious to see what the connection is between Aaravos, Laurelion, and the necklace, and if any of the reflection imagery ends up being important in this.

[rainwalker-dragonblade29]

YOUR SOUL IS MY TREASURE

So, I can't remember whose post it was, but I think someone has hinted that Callum could trap Aaravos in that cursed coin, sealing him in that realm between and death forever to solve the "what to do with the unkillable immortal" problem. And I think that's a genius solution. Aaravos in a coin? Twisted irony but deliciously scrumptious.

But crazy part is this.

IT IS DARK MAGIC. THE SPELL ITSELF.

And there are three mages who can perform it:

1. Claudia: for this outcome she has to betray Aaravos. Something she is unlikely to do unless she sees her own path and STOPS IDOLIZING VIREN AND AARAVOS (she will idolize him, be let down more corrupted roads abd terry will steer her clear maybe #wishlist). She definitely can joi the good side and stab him in the back and save the world in a cruel sense of irony.... or she might not. But this is an outcome i truly deeply want. Claudia's realization of who aaravos truly is.

2. Callum: he gas shown to break his morals to do the right thing before. Thus he can do it again. As saving the world is very very important. And if he realises this solution? Well hurray for the world but not for him.

3. Kppar: he's in a coin, but Rayla found that coin. They have one quasar diamond, maybe they'll break him out just to ask of his help or smth related to the jailor etc. And rayllum will be a lil disappointed that he gave up dark magic at first maybe, but then he will do the spell anyway for them? But thematically this is not a strong option. The weight has to be either callum or claudia because if the choose to do this act this means two very important outcomes for their character arcs.

WHY CLAUDIA?

Firstly Claudia, the whole "I have to see my dad again", exactly stepping I'm viren footsteps in his dream, the "I will do anything for family, however dangerous, however vile" all speak of one fatal flaw. Her idolisation. As i mentioned before. She had only viren to look upto as a kid, thus he became the one whose words she religiously followed and believed in hum her whole life, for other than viren she knows no truth. It had been the only stable thing in her life, everyone else has abandoned her. Left for themselves. Viren? Never. But now he did. And now she questions her belief.

Her father was everything, so him choosing different path and changing his fate... messed with that core belief. She needs to follow him to know. She needs to get answers from him cuz he is what she looks upto, her only truthful eye. And now that I aaravos. Who will give her answers. And most importantly, direction. The one thing she needs. And that's why she will now plave him in Viren's place, and his every word. Will. Be. Followed.

So to break that. Would mean a change to good. To the right side. A negative spiral fixed.

Thus she could coin him.

WHY CALLUM?

He has had a lil touch of darkness. And now he has rid that. He is free because of Kosmo's inner truth ritual.

He has done dark magic for Rayla, both times. With aaravos back, there could and would most definitely be an all states high ultimate fight with him. And maybe then, he will again have to face this. Rayla's life, or dark magic and save all this time. And the thing is he will choose dark magic.

Rayla has extracted the promise to sacrifice her for the greater good yes. But will he stick to it? If no... . IF all that rayllum talk in the ship and then the whole Moment of truth episode is foreshadowing, then he will do dark magic again.

If yes? Well, I'm sure my boy will not see Rayla die. IF HE WILL THAT MEANS HIS CHARACTER ARC ENDS AT A NEGATIVE NOTE EITHER WAY. YES OR NO. THATS WHY KOSMO SAW DARKNESS DIDN'T HE? IF CALLUM KEEPS THE PROMISE, DARK CHOICE FOR LOVE. DOESN'T KEEP, DARK CHOICE FOR SELF, FOREVER CORRUPTED BY DARKNESS, OVERWHELMED BY THE MAGIC AND POSSIBLY INJURING HIMSELF. BOTH ARE BAD OUTCOMES IN CALLUM'S CASE.

A long conclusion.

Sorry for caps locking but this is crucial people! Callum's arc will have a low note, claudia's a high note. Dragon prince has very complex things that it explores, a show like that might choose to take Callum down the dark path because the tragedy creates beauty. Terrible beauty. Sometimes life is like that. Cruel. A half moon. Bright and dark. Both combined. A dark deed for the greater good screams it thematically that both coexist. How did this become Yin Yang?

I think the dragon prince always had this planned for callum that his journey to learn all primals will push him to question dark magic itself and see it not as an agent of evil but a tool that is helpful in certain times but comes with a heavy price. And besides, it could also be said that kimdael arguably does dark magic even as an elf, so this practice is not only for humans.

He will resolve the while dark magic conundrum forever. Perhaps. So it makes sense for his arc to end in acceptance of inner darkness and doing the spell that seal aaravos' fate. One could say he faced his inner darkness in Finnegrin's Wake but no, the act gave him more fear in S6 that peace that comes from acceptance.

It has to he callum if he has to become the game changer and break the laws of magic in a way that leaves the world shocked.

OR

Ir has to be claudia if she has to fully realize herself and break free of the darkness with one final act.

I may not be the best theorist like @raayllum but this show and its story roles me up every time I think about it!

GOD DAMMIT WHY IS THIS SHOW SO GOOD!!!

(Forgive my typos I wrote this at 1 am at lightning speed 😅)

[hercynianforest]

Viren pushed Soren away and treated him like trash, and Soren was able to see his father for what he was and free himself of him, going down the road of love (self-love and giving love to/receiving love from others).

Claudia, on the other hand, was Viren's golden child, he taught her dark magic, she followed in his footsteps and was able to become as callous and ruthless as him with the "Do whatever needs to be done to get what you want"-approach. She's unable to see him as bad and detach from him, because she has become him. She's going down the road of destruction (destruction of others and self-destruction).

[featherstorm2004]

Hypocrisy

I see that people are upset that Aaravos's whole motivation is of avenge his daughter but was completely willing to make a new child just to sacrifice him. Which I get is super hypocritical but I think that's the point, and I think it's just another parallel between Viren and him since season 1 Viren was also partaking in that same hypocrisy.

He was willing to let Soren die to reclaim the egg and kill the princes, just as Aaravos was willing to kill Sir Sparklepuff for his own ends. It's as Terry said originally both of their stories started out as ones of love, with Viren willing to do anything to save his son and Aaravos trying to sacrifice himself for Leola, but over time this love became corrupted with hate and revenge.

And they both showed clear favoritism to their daughters, there's also the aspect of dehumanization where as Claudia stated that she looks and magical creatures and can only see them as ingredents not as living beings, which is how Aaravos saw Sir Sparklepuff and anyone else he has a close bond with including Claudia and Viren.

He views them as tools for his end goal, sure he may have some fondness for them after all Claudia is a lot like Leola, and he didn't really need Viren after he died on that cliff but he still put the effort to revive him. But as stated he still viewed them as tools and so he couldn't properly form a connection with them, which is why he was willing to kill Viren when it was shown that Aaravos had no way of manipulating him back onto his side.

It just worked better for him if Viren was gone, after all despite Claudia being more powerful, Viren was an incredible dark mage who even killed the dragon king so, I would imagine Aaravos didn't want a threat that big who actively hates him to just be left wondering around.

But yeah that's just my thoughts on the matter.

[sarasade]

What I personally want to see from TDP season 6

1.Aaravos' backstory should reveal something truly new and surprising about the world, be it a perspective shift or cosmic horror. I'd really like to see such a hyped up and enigmatic character give us some kind of cool and bold story climax or deepen our understanding of the themes of the show.

2.I want to see the main characters facing a difficult challenge. Finnegrin's Wake in s5 was a good start for Callum but I just want more, ya know. It can be anything: a physical, emotional, moral quandary etc. This is why I find Viren so compelling. He's the one whose beliefs have been challenged the most and he has changed the most.

3. Make the conflict between Callum and Aaravos personal. I love me some good hero-antagonist character chemistry but Aaravos is more of a plot device at this point. This is why Viren was such a good villain. He was outright cruel to Ezran and Callum and it was very personal. Yes, the conflict still fits the story's themes about free will vs. destiny etc. but some kind of personal connection would make it feel more tangible.

This is why I think Viren (if alive) and Claudia (if she turns against Aaravos) should play a role in taking him down. Claudia especially has been relatively sympathetic as Aaravos' prey compared to Viren who had much more agency and more egoistical motivations behind his decisions. They have so much personal beef with Aaravos it isn't even funny.

Just some thoughts I wanted to write down<3

[raayllum]

Why is Clauderry together / why is Terry with Claudia?

This is a question I've seen posed more than a few times in the fandom, of people feeling confused with why Claudia is with Terry (despite her dislike of elves) and more so why Terry is with Claudia despite her being a walking collection of red flags. This has, admittedly, always questions I felt the show answered quite well and obviously, but if it's still being probed, then... why not?

Let's talk about it.

Why is Claudia with Terry?

The only prior examples we have with Claudia having any kind of romantic connection is with Callum, which never came to fruition; I've also gone on record saying myself that the show made it clear Callum's feelings for Claudia were a lot stronger than whatever, if any, she held for him. However, in her interactions with Callum even just as a friend, we can see what she appreciates in her free time. For starters, we see that Claudia enjoys being a goofball:

We see that a shared sense of humour is something that Claudia cares about, as one of the only compliments she gives to Callum is "You always make me laugh" and "That was very confident Callum" as he was able to go with the flow while asserting himself.

Words of affirmation is also something she clearly enjoys. Appreciation, acknowledgement, and gratitude are very important to her.

(Side note: This is also part of why she spirals into "I did all THIS FOR YOU" on the beach in a "You owe me your life" kind of way, because she was prepared and sacrificed and saved you, and doesn't that deserve acknowledgement? Doesn't that mean getting what she wants? What she's owed? But I digress.)

We also see early fracturing in Callum not trusting her (1x03, 2x03), a subsequent breakdown in honest communication on both sides, and that Claudia reads Callum as being judgemental of her dark magic use, which is also something that frustrates her about Soren:

(Part of this is because Claudia has gone from seeing dark magic as just an amazing beautiful tool to a terrible but necessary one, so necessary that it overrules any other reservations... because she's attached to seeing herself as a Good Person—"But I'm not evil, it's me"—but again, I digress.)

Conversely, Terry has all of those things in spades. He admires and relies upon her dark magic use, he's someone she can be reciprocally goofy with, he's extremely attentive and loyal (and loyalty/devotion is something that is also extremely important to her), and perhaps most importantly, he's helpful and non-judgemental.

Terry also explains that one of the things Claudia likes about him is his smarts / creative thinking ("Goofy and glorious, just like you" / "You saved the day Ter-Bear") and his thoughtfulness:

Claudia says I think too much about everything, and that makes me weird, and wonderful, so...

This makes sense as Claudia values being prepared in her own day-to-day life curtesy of being a dark mage, and that Soren's tendency to being impatient when they were growing up together (lying about Harrow without consulting her, picking the fight with the dragon, etc) was something that got on her nerves.

As for the Elf 'elephant' in the room... Claudia also doesn't have an issue trusting Aaravos for one simple reason: he's helping her save her dad.

Even while she's warning Soren against trusting or forming friendships with other elves and dragons because they might "take advantage" of him and be fake friends, she can't see that's precisely what Aaravos is doing to her. In a similar vein, Terry also believes in her (as he says directly in 4x09) and is helping her save her father, so why would she have a problem with him even if he's an elf?

That doesn't mean there aren't problems in Claudia's worldview, or that exceptionalizing people is a Good thing to do, particularly to your partner, but it's a clearly defined and realistic cognitive dissonance. Claudia has moved past seeing all elves as Bad™ to "these ones are good" because they're helping her, and not getting in her way, and that's all she really personally cares about.

However, I think most people can understand why Claudia's with Terry, given how sweet and routinely supportive she is. The bigger thornier question then is the opposite. So let's talk about that too.

Why is Terry with Claudia?

One of the most common things people say when it comes to Terry and Claudia is that they wish we could see how they met (and presumably whether that initial attraction was there from the start or how it developed). This usually leans into an underpinning idea (and I could be wrong) that seeing their beginning would help indicate why Terry fell for her (and thereby why he stays). And I would definitely be interested in how they met, and am open to seeing it, whether in a show, graphic novel, or novelization mention.

That said, I think the show has also answered these accordingly. In a lot of ways, there's really only two reasons why Terry is with Claudia as she is in arc 2:

1) He doesn't have an Issue with dark magic.

He admires Claudia's use of it ("And your daughter's amazing, she brought you back from the dead, wow!"), is open and receptive to using it ("Dark magic has a tingly aftertaste, nobody ever tells you that"), and doesn't see anything fundamentally wrong with it ("Should I give up dark magic? Terry, tell me what to do" "Claudia, I can't"). On the one hand, this makes sense; there are spell ingredients of dark magic that aren't that different from hunting and given that Terry grew up near the Drakeriders, I'd find it hard to believe if the Drake riders don't hunt and eat meat, so even if Terry's village didn't, he was at least somewhat close to societies that did.

That doesn't mean he has zero reservations about dark magic ("I've seen you do some awful things, dark magic things" / "Are you mixing the pentapus ink with your own blood?") but that to him, it's not any different from how Claudia thinks about it. She also thinks she's done terrible things in the name of saving her father:

But I'm not evil. It's me. You know me.

I had to do things... [starts crying] I never imagined I would be able to do. (4x01)

This is also how Terry copes with murdering Ibis, citing "I had to, I couldn't let him hurt you," "and he was going to take Claudia's life, I had no choice," and "I'm going to be strong enough to do whatever I need to do and still have feelings." To Terry what matters most is exactly what he says in 4x09: why are you doing these things? Are they actually necessary?

Terry loves Claudia (and Viren by extension) above anything else. Everything he does is for them, good or bad. That devotional loyalty is something that Claudia also lives by, and is arguably her and Terry's biggest shared life value.

Doing terrible things is okay if it's in the name of love, and if it's not, then you shouldn't do them. This is why when he talks about his grief/guilt with Ibis, Terry always scaffolds it alongside the reason why he did it.

This is also why Terry steps in exclusively when what Claudia is doing is unnecessary. She didn't need to trick Rayla in order to get away. She doesn't need to kill the dragon ("It won't follow us anymore, it's trapped") as it's already helpless. They're actions without good reasons, which is also why Terry distrusts Aaravos, because he realizes:

Maybe this story started out as a story of love, but along the way it got twisted. [...] He isn't doing anything for love. He's doing it out of revenge.

So long as Claudia is doing things out of love, Terry will stick by her. And if she stops doing it out of love, then she stops being the Claudia he knows.

Which, I'll also note, is fundamentally different from the Claudia that everyone else knows, because

2) He didn't know Claudia beforehand.

Terry doesn't know Claudia as a semi sheltered girl growing up in the palace who did dark magic solely for fun, nor how most of her close personal relationships (Soren, Callum, Ezran) got destroyed in the span of 3ish weeks. He only knows Claudia who uses dark magic (seemingly) 90% out of complete necessity for flight, safety, and bringing her father back. He seemingly doesn't really know how Soren and Claudia had their falling out, nor does he have any real clue who Callum or Ezran are.

Because Claudia was his only way to know these things rather than knowing multiple people involved, or even living through experiences, Terry would've gotten sparse details or the version that is how Claudia experienced them, and he has no reason to doubt her.

To be clear, I'm not saying that their set up is perfect or that their relationships is perfectly healthy. It's not. Claudia's singular control over how Terry knows the experiences of her life when we as an audience know it's very different is an issue, but is not that dissimilar from when you meet / date new people to begin with (i.e. was their ex really that bad, or were they the problem is sometimes something that can only be known in time). Terry's passivity and mirrored worldview helps enable Claudia's even when she's being destructive to herself and others, and her treating Terry as an exception for his people is also not good in the long run. Clauderry walks this line of being incredibly sweet and uncomfortable, and I think that's one of the things that makes it interesting and with spades of tragedy, particularly going into S7. Terry may not yet have a deep seated issue with dark magic (which enables Claudia but also frees her up to grow on her own terms), but it is the reason they may be torn apart in the future for a time.

I do think they'll find their way back together eventually (even if they'll always be Divorced Eventually in my head). To me, it's clear why they love each other, and while TDP could say that's not enough (and I think that'd be a very interesting valid route to take), I don't think that they will. This scene exists, after all:

[its-leethee]

Reflecting on Claudia's conversation with Terry about the leaflynx kitten, and how even though she acknowledges that it's cute, she still can't see the sum of the animal from all of its parts.

So far, only Ezran has been able to inspire Claudia to actually relate to another creature, and not just see it as a threat or a tool: Hey, that's like me!

2x09 // 6x04

Bonus: what's with this look, Ez?!

[self-spaghettification]

Claudia is going to be so insane S6

Viren, with reason but also spite, took Callum’s voice—taunting him, killed Avizandum, and coined Runaan and the other elves. Aaravos encouraged Viren to kill the leaders of the four other countries and to kill the guards hunting him in the castle of Katolis.

In comparison, Claudia has, unprovoked, almost killed a dragon just for hell of it and taunted Rayla with her parents just to not give them back (even knowing what it’s like to have a parental figure taken away.)

Terry was the only thing stopping her. Terry was talking her down both times. Terry is no longer in the picture. (for Claudia, currently at least.) Who knows what she’ll do with that lack of checking and Aaravos egging her on

so ready for her to be so unhinged <3