#tdp speculation

[chubis]

Does anyone else want to see Ezran saying hurtful things because he's having a hard time dealing with anger and pain? No? Just me?

[catcherwrites]

Walk with me a sec, ok?

So in The Dragon Prince, we see a fair share of death. But the ways in which the Archdragons die has always caught my eye. Just look at Sol Regem and Rex Igneous as an example

Sol Regem, a sun dragon, turns into fire and motes of light. Rex Igneous, an earth dragon, crumbles into molten rock. Both return to the primal source they are bonded to

You could also extend this to the other god-like beings of Xadia: Startouch elves. When they die (with similar flair I might add), they “return to the heavens,” ie., their primal source

There seem to be rites in elven culture that embody this concept too, like the Sunfire elves soul flame ceremony, but it’s pretty clear a physical return to the source only happens with the most powerful beings in Xadia. After all, we see plenty of dead/dying humans and elves, but none of them spontaneously combust!

The only exceptions that comes to mind are Ibis and Khessa. In Ibis’ case, Zubeia specifically requests that Callum perform a ritual that turns the body into a flock of birds, and affirming that he was her friend. Perhaps it is considered the greatest honour in Xadian culture to have your physical body rejoin your primal source like the Archdragons? Conversely, Aaravos flicks Khessa on the chin and turns her to ash - but it is unclear if this is a twisted way of giving her a ‘death fit for a queen’, or if it’s something else entirely

I guess the point I’m trying to make is if the natural end for Archdragons/Startouch elves (and the honoured tradition for regular elves) is for their essence to rejoin their respective source in death - then to be denied that would be deeply unnatural and disrespectful

Perhaps that is an additional element to the tragedy of Leola and Avizandum’s deaths? Leola, who should have been laid to rest among the stars, was cast down and denied that right. And Avizandum, who should have returned to the sky, had his body and soul imprisoned in stone

[hiccupshypotheticalleftsock]

Listen listen listen,

the celestial council killed Leola because she gave the humans magic (primal magic) and in all their celestialness and future seeing they only saw what would come of it (dark magic/end of the world/no more balance bla bla) but didn’t realise that the act of punishing her would drive Aaravos to look for a way to avenge her (by killing the other star touch elves on the council) and how would he do that?? By inventing a magic that takes power from squishing it out of a creature. And what are startouch elves made of?

I rest my case.

[beautifulterriblequeen]

You know the way Callum lit up at Ethari patting his back in his soft dad way when he left Callum in charge of the Moon Cubs? That boy may have saved Runaan for Rayla's sake, but a part of him knows he'd do anything to have a father again. And Ethari is already very much like Callum!

Those two weeks must've been a whirlwind of good feelings for Callum. Getting to relax with Rayla and imagine a future together was paramount I'm sure, but specifically having Ruthari there let him test run two dads at once. Runaan isn't a touchy feely kind of elf, but Ethari is. That casual back pat was all it took for Callum to experience something he probably thought he'd never feel again: paternal approval.

I'm so soft at the idea of Ethari letting Callum into the workshop and showing him around and talking about magic. You know that man would be pleased as punch to show Callum a moon beam, a moon shine, a moon ray!

Okay and he'd also lecture Callum extensively on the procurement and cutting of moon opals, and Callum would be like, yeah those are pretty powerful when you crack them open, and Ethari would look at him like Callum just kicked his moonstrider pup, and Callum might finally, finally stop breaking quite so many powerful magical objects.

Just. Ethari and Callum bonding. And then Rayla and Runaan watching them bond, and bonding over that. Yes.

[m4rs-ex3]

i very much want it to be that the reason rayla won't kill callum is because, for once, she chooses to be selfish.

we know that in general callum has a tendency to sacrifice the greater good for his loved ones and rayla has a tendency to sacrifice herself for the greater good, but i think that extends to her loved ones (she knew how bad leaving would hurt callum [and even though her reasoning is to keep him safe, it was also a general "i need to rid the world of this evil" deal]).

killing callum would mean sacrificing something that means even more to her than herself for the sake of the world. chances are she won't, and i want that to be because of the fact that she chooses to have callum in her life (or at least for him not die by her hand), fate of the world be DAMMED.

[sunfire-shield]

Love that our main characters now have the prison of Aaravos, the key of Aaravos, and a person who Aaravos has demonstrated he can control and puppeteer. Love that the main gang has collected all of those things into one place. Love that for them. I can’t possibly imagine how this might end very very badly for them at all

[its-leethee]

Lucia the first elves and archdragons, who designed and built the camp cosmic order, is angry and scared that the spark human's use of primal magic is going to spread through the camp and endanger everyone--

It happened long ago, when humans had only just learned to hold fire in their hands without burning. They nurtured their precious primal flames secretly—in the dark of night, beneath shadows and shrouds—as cultivating its glow drew the eyes and ire of monsters. Eventually, for the audacity of their fire, they were hunted, and—though they looked to the stars for salvation—the stars, too, looked down upon them with disdain. Humanity had been given something it was never meant to have. And so there came a calamity.

--Ripples

I've been thinking about why the stars and the Cosmic Order would turn their backs on and refuse to watch over Xadia. If they could see the future - why is there nothing they're willing or able to do to stop it?

But if the human's unchecked use of magic would attract the attention of a certain type of monsters -

Speculation that Aaravos was hoping to attract a star devourer dragon to destroy Xadia is an idea that's been bouncing around the fandom for a while.

And this would explain why the other Startouch elves on the Cosmic Council would stay out of the way; why they would turn their backs and avert their eyes; why they wouldn't want to look past a certain point via their timeblind powers either.

"...the beginning of the end. The long slow spiral to chaos." They won't look past the cosmic-prophecy-event-horizon because there's a star devourer dragon sitting just beyond.

They're afraid of being driven mad.

"...I can feel my very being shattering from the inside out!"

Aaravos gleefully goading the humans on; taunting the Cosmic Council, "are you watching?"

I have not seen the stars in centuries. But when I see them again—when the stars are forced to look upon me, their dark brother—they will know how I have waited. And when everything they have built lies shattered, I will savor their fall from the sky.

--Patience

In lieu of a conclusion paragraph I'm gonna leave y'all with a piece of my terrible humor:

--2x01 foreshadowing???? i love this show so much

[salty-and-spiraling]

I THINK I'VE GOT SOMETHING!

Ever since s6 the fans have always wondered 'why hasn't the council stopped Aaravos yet!?'

Unless Aaravos surrenders of his own will, which is definitely not gonna happen, they are the only ones who can defeat him permanently.

Now, given what we've learned so far, the council members can't really see into the future. We know that because of Leola's trial- them needing Sol Regem as a witness to tell them what happened- which tells us something BIG.

The archdragons are capable of contacting the star council!

But this introduced a new question- 'if the archdragons could contact the startouch council, why haven't they done that to stop Aaravos?'

I think that they already did. I think that's how they were able to imprison him in the first place.

Look at this!

At first I thought these statues were a reenactment of this-

But it couldn't be because this scene is so different! (The poses and facial expressions)

So that got me thinking- why is this here? Are these statues supposed to be foreshadowing for something else? If so, what?

Also, WHO MADE THIS STATUE!? Why is nobody questioning how it was created in the first place? This alone is sheer proof of the council's involvement with Aaravos's imprisonment! That they didn't just neglect Xadia after Leola's death.

So, to answer these questions, here's a few theories I have!

The Jailer is actually the Merciful One in disguise.

I'm gonna need y'all to hear me out on this one!

The Jailer seems to have a strangely deep knowledge of startouch elves. That would be strange for anyone in the show, let alone a human in that time period.

Think about it! This random human mage(?) who apparently knows how to trap a startouch elf? Also, assuming that the location of Aaravos's prison was The Jailer's idea, how would they know the significance of the Sea of the Castout!?

There were so many other places to put the pearl! It could've been thrown into a volcano and it probably wouldn't have freed Aaravos! The spell to free Aaravos was really complex and required one of the rarest ingredients in Xadia, it definitely wouldn't have freed Aaravos if they'd just chucked it in lava.

Now, with all this in mind, I'd like to present my next theory!

TMO was the only one that got directly involved with Aaravos's imprisonment.

I feel like this isn't too farfetched because TMO is the only one depicted in the statue. If the other council members were involved I'm sure they would've been there.

Now, I say 'directly' involved because I do think the entire council was aware of the situation and that they had some say in Aaravos's imprisonment.

Next theory!

It was TMO's idea to imprison Aaravos instead of killing him.

We already know that the council has the power to kill Aaravos so now it's just a matter of 'why didn't they?'

My idea is that when the council heard what was going on down there they were like "Let's go down there and execute him too, just like we did Leola" but TMO was like "wait no, let's be merciful and just imprison him forever!"

The only reason I think that TMO would've done this is because of @stardustamaryllis78 's theory that Aaravos used to be on the council but left.

I wholeheartedly agree and also think that when he was on the council, he and TMO were friends or had some sort of relationship. That's why they were the only one to go down to "comfort" him after Leola's death. They might've had a soft spot for him because he was probably their friend. But not for Leola.

Now, with that being said, obviously TMO's "mercy" isn't merciful, like at all. I think it's just because they have a very fucked up definition of what mercy is.

-Something about being so emotionally removed from everything that it makes you unable to really comprehend things like compassion and empathy-

Theory number four!

The archdragons knew who the Jailer actually was.

In Zubiea's storytime about Aaravos, she mentions The Orphan Queen but not the Jailer. I think this is because she already knew who the Jailer actually was so for some reason she didn't feel the need to mention them? This theory honestly isn't as strong as the others. I only think this because the archdragons definitely wouldn't include some random human in their plan to trap the most dangerous person in Xadia unless they were really important or something. The first time the Jailer is mentioned is when Akiyu tells her story and I don't think anyone else knew their true identity.

And, last but not least…

The statues are supposed to be depicting Aaravos's imprisonment.

This one makes the most sense to me and my other theories kinda back it up. The Jailer actually being TMO explains why they're there in the first place and it being their idea to imprison him kinda explains why in the statue depiction they're looking at him with such pity.

So, to summarize, here's how I think it went down…

The archdragons called upon the council to defeat Aaravos and the council wanted to execute him but the TMO offered to have him imprisoned instead. TMO then came down to Earth disguised as The Jailer to help the archdragons. The archdragons knew who TMO actually was but nobody else did.

Honestly I don't actually have any theories for who made the statue or why they made it but trying to come up with some sparked this idea. Idk, this makes a lot of sense to me so I kinda want it to be true. Hopefully I framed this all well and it doesn't sound too farfetched.

[halyasgirl]

I haven't seen 7x01, but guessing for season 7:

Rayla, about Runaan: This man is my father, I'll never leave him!

Ezran: He's her dad? I thought he was her boss. Didn't he threaten to kill her?

Callum: ...Yes, yes, and yes.

[zuppizup]

I’ve seen some fun head canons about where the ingredients for the spirit spell came from (particularly @numptypylon super Rayllum “together” style deal with the blood component), but I want to know where the feather came from.

I suppose it could be one of Phoe-Phoe’s feathers (it’s difficult to see the true colour of it in the lighting during that scence). Phoe-Phoe is right there after all and perhaps having a phoenix feather would be extra helpful (unless the Moon aspect overrides the Sky-ness of it being a feather), but I head canon it was a feather from Callum’s wings. Another reason why the spell was cast with love without issue when Callum did it. He literally gave part of himself to bring back Runaan.

And he did it for Rayla.

[fae-whispers]

i just finished the dragon prince’s season 6. holy shit.

SPOILERS BELOW!!!!

-AARAVOS IS MY NEW FAVORITE CHARACTER HOLY SHIT I LOVE A MORALLY GRAY MAN WHO WOULD BURN DOWN THE WORLD FOR THE ONE PERSON HE LOVES

-ohhh my god me and my friends were SOBBING over his daughter’s death oh my god!!!! what the fuck thats so sad. and him crying for A HUNDRED years is so fucking sad oh my god please

-viren redemption arc??? man he has to stop coming back to life. i think hes finally dead this time but holy shit it took six seasons

-TERRY ILY YOU DESERVE SO MUCH BETTER YOU SHOULD NOT HAVE WAITED FOR HER OMG (like ily claudia youre hot asf but you need a redemption arc before you deserve terry)

-speaking of terry that scene where he ever so gently bathed her had me rolling over crying he is the sweetest man to ever exist

-IF SOREN AND CORVUS DO NOT KISS ASAP IM LITERALLY EATING A MY TV YOU CAN HOLD ME TO THIS

-lesbian wedding!!!

-rayllum finally kissed 🤭🤭 its only been sIX DAMN SEASONS OF TENSION

-yeah im still thinking about aaravos i love me a morally gray man and hes hot asf

-ezran is so young bro hes like 12-14 here im so mad he grew up so quickly hes gonna have so much trauma

-the ending with callum spotting his kingdom burning in the distance??? please 🤕

-SPEAKING OF MEN i forgot how *HOT* runaan is like sirrrr 🤭🤭 (i cant be saying this he’s old enough to he my actual father)

anyway i have to go rewatch the whole damn thing because my brother wants to watch it with me so ill be sobbing over fictional characters if you need me!! <3

[fujosh1dreamer]

Some of yall are really annoying.

If I see one more person talk about, one runaan being a hater towards rayllum I'm gonna fight somebody, and two some idiot saying that Ezran is gonna hate or try to kill runaan for revenge or whatever I'm also gonna lose it.

First of all runaan didn't even react to seeing callum, let alone react negatively towards him. He basically just got out of a like two year comma, and yall fools are trying to say he's gonna make them breakup?? Where's the deductive reasoning skills I know yall kids were taught in school.

Just this episode we did a whole scene about love, and forgiveness. All about how runaan felt he betrayed himself by not trusting rayla, and how he also broke his promise by not coming back to ethari. And you still think he's gonna be some bigot hater after all that?

Next point is ezrans possible reaction to seeing runaan.

I'm sorry but it you think or want ezran to hate runaan or want him dead, then you lack media literacy, and you've never understood ezrans character.

Ezran forgave rayla season two, and more importantly he moved on from the ideas of revenge, and broke the cycle of hate created by king Harrow and viren season 3, remember? So did callum for that matter.

Ezrans whole story is about not being like Harrow admitting that the path he took was wrong, and choosing to be better.

Also Ez just learned that his entire kingdom was burned down, and lots of his people died and you think he's got time to focus on something like that he's KING.

It's sad that ezran is like ten, and more mature than most people in this Fandom.

[catcherwrites]

What time is it? Another TDP headcanon time!

Maybe you’re familiar with the viral Tumblr post discussing how humans have markings on their skin, mostly only visible under UV light. (It may disappoint you to know that the post was, in fact, wrong about the whole “cats can see it!”)

Unfortunately, there is no way to know which organisms (if any) can see our markings - but that’s the great thing about fantasy! We can throw realism to the wayside when we feel like it

I propose that elves are capable of seeing them, but have no clue that humans can’t also see the markings. This has led to some spectacular moments across the board, particularly with the human-elf couples

AMAYA: Why are you kissing me in these odd patterns? Is this a Sunfire Elf custom again?

JANAI: Wha- no? I’m following your gorgeous pattern! I assumed that is something human lovers do with each other?

AMAYA: Pattern??

JANAI: These stripes remind me so much of sun-striped elk… <3

AMAYA: I have STRIPES???

CALLUM: Wow, I’m so glad I got you to help me make revisions to this old tome about elves. There was so much misinformation that people have spent a century learning!

RAYLA: Yep! We’re not as weird as you humans think we are

CALLUM: Still pretty weird, though, huh?

RAYLA: Says the guy with skin that looks like a natural chessboard

CALLUM: …?

RAYLA: Do you…do you NOT know what’s on your OWN body?

And smash cut to a montage of Amaya, Callum, Ezran, and Soren taking turns standing in their underclothes as Janai and Rayla paint over their markings so they can see what they look like to the elves

[hiccupshypotheticalleftsock]

thinking about how runaan will try his best to assume a sweet supportive father role to rayla on their roadtrip and how he will struggle to get over his conflicting feelings towards humans, specifically callum (because he killed his father) adding the extra complex layer of him being rayla's soulmate. and moonshadow elf culture seems to care a lot about soulmates and true love. ooooo i cannot wait

[beautifulterriblequeen]

Revisiting the cube and whether all six arcanums will be needed to activate it here: I used to think so, but now that we know the cube is a key to a book of primal magic, I don't think it needs all six sides lit up to turn anything on anymore.

I think it's a teaching tool. Almost exactly a children's toy, as Rayla called it long ago. Aaravos could've made the book and the cube for humans because he was inspired by Leola's sharing nature, or maybe she was inspired by him. Either way, they were both doing the same thing. She just got noticed first.

The angst of Aaravos working on this gift first, and Leola copying him, and him having to pretend that neither of them were doing any such thing to the Cosmic Order council is horrible though. If his actions were the root cause of Leola's choices, and she was killed for them, he's gonna be having a really hard time.

We saw how Viren lost it at the thought that his daughter was suffering for his sake. We saw how Runaan lost it at the thought that his daughter was threatened by his own actions. The dads in this show love their daughters.

I wonder if Aaravos even knows where that book is, now. I think it could come up in the future. It's certainly a huge threat to the Cosmic Order, if it's still intact.

I wonder if he could entrust it to anyone, or if he hid it away himself? Or maybe the Council confiscated it?

[m4rs-ex3]

god i can't wait for this to age Wonderfully