#the dragon prince: mystery of aaravos

[magicandmundane]

Kinda Sick and Twisted of the arch dragons and their allies to put Aaravos’s prison in a sea made of his own tears in a crater that was formed by his daughter’s death

[mandaloriandragontrainer]

I think the reason Viren’s redemption works is that he ultimately got nothing out of it. The popular idea of a villain redemption is a bad guy changing their ways and eventually being accepted by their former enemies, often becoming one of the heroes themselves. But that wasn’t the case with Viren. Soren didn’t forgive him. Ezran didn’t forgive him. He wasn’t welcomed with open arms. He was locked in the dungeon, presumedly for life. And when he atoned for his past through a heroic final act, no one except Soren even knew about it. And that still didn’t earn him forgiveness.

But that’s how we know that Viren truly changed. For seeking the right path, he received nothing but rejection and death. And he was okay with that. He understood these were the natural consequences of his actions. He accepted what he had done was wrong. His sacrifice was sincere, a servant dying for his kingdom, a father dying for his son. He wasn’t seeking forgiveness, or glory, or power.

Because he had changed.

[thatartiststudios]

Just wanna say something to everyone out there in the TDP fandom:

So I know there's a low chance of Arc 3 and uncertainty with the panel getting cancelled and everything, on top of not being able to extend the hype/wait for s7 til next year, but, that doesn't mean we have to say goodbye to the fandom forever.

Just because we might not get more seasons, doesn't mean the fandom has to die.

As long as we keep on talking about it, making and sharing memes, drawing fanart, reading and writing fanfic, making edits and AMVs, making and listening to podcasts and our playlists we've made, TDP is still alive.

I don't care if this is the last year of the show, I'll still want to host another Rayllum Month next year. I'll still want to write and read fic. I'll still be playing around with making AMVs.

Just because the show stops, doesn't mean we should.

Because, I believe, the show only truly dies when the fandom dies. And if we keep making stuff and interacting and having fun together, TDP will never die.

[m4rs-ex3]

"so this kid's show you like--the dragon prince. what's it even about?" you ask

"breaking the generational cycle of violence. how vengeance destroys you. how someone can do something unforgivable and you can't stop loving them. how everyone has good and everyone has evil. that there is nothing childish about choosing love. that sometimes morality has to come second. that people are never too wise or too old to make horrible mistakes. that heroes aren't always selfless. that family is more than blood. that the blood that ties a family together often ends up being shed. that culture can be incredibly damaging. that love is as much of a curse as it is a blessing. that horrible things can be done out of love. that love hurts worse than anything. that strength doesn't always come with might. that grief never goes away. that you can grieve for someone you've never met. that you can grieve over what you never had. that 'bad' people can be the most important person in someone's life. that no one wins in war. sometimes you can't have what you want by only doing the 'right thing.' that sometimes you have to fight fire with fire. that good people hurt each other. that children have a kind of wisdom unique to them. that a child has more power than any adult. that advantages can be found in disabilities. that nothing about what you are can change who you are. that apples don't fall far from the tree whether you like it or not. that forgiveness and redemption are separate things. that old habits die hard. that the right choices are also the hardest ones. that peace is not the easy way out. how positive change requires real effort. the cycle always comes back around" i say, deadpan.

[thorne-antics]

Thinking about how this

Turned into this

Man

Just look at how far they've come

[mooncrystalbeliever1]

*During some meeting after s5 though, but it can be during s6 or s7 or even beyond if u want idk & idc*

Opeil, talking and leading a meeting:

Rayla interrupts: Hey guys? *everyone turns to look at her*

Rayla: I'm doing a scrabble and I need a six letter word for disappointment

Everyone:

Rayla:

Soren, with a straight face: Family

Everyone:

Rayla: *spells it out slowly and counts it out on her fingers* . . .

Rayla: *long pause, then shrugs* Works for me, thx 😊

Soren: No prob 😊

Everone else:

[becausedragonsarecool7]

The Dragon Prince really out here avoiding the bury your gays/POC trope by making it look like they'll bury them and then locking them inside a book drop instead

[ccieatchildren]

OKAY BUT THE CALLUM WHUMP IN THE DRAGON PRINCE SEASON 5!!!

Specifically S5 E8.

First, just him being locked away in the captain’s cabin, isolated and tortured by Finnegrin for the dark magic info.

And him absolutely refusing to reveal anything right now, laughing at Finnegrin for what he sees as a hypocritical thought process, because it would go against his morals and he doesn’t want to give Finnegrin the ability to kill Domina Profundis.

Finnegrin taunting him about his dark magic usage, typical villain spiel of asking if Callum has never thought about it or wanted/needed to use it. Learning that Callum has studied it extensively (and though Callum points out that he has also studied the other types, his curiosity always seems to get the better of him) and has once used it, to save his friends. Finnegrin taking this information in and twisting it on the boy. The defeated way Callum gets pushed out by Finnegrin, seeing all his friends chained up and having to make a “decision” for Finnegrin.

Finnegrin forcing Callum to choose one of his friends' hand to cut off. Not being able to choose anyone, and the gang standing up for each other, offering their own hands. Preaching the love and friendship deal, only to peeve off Finnegrin even more, who tries to goad Callum into using dark magic once again. You can see the way he actually thinks about it, the guilt in his eyes but also the determination to save his friends. Only for Rayla to escape, making sure to take any option for dark magic out of Callum's hands. I believe if Rayla hadn't intervened, Callum would've eventually gone through with it, as the main thing holding him back was said guilt and own mental blockage. Finnegrin then freezing Rayla's blood, putting her in excruciating pain, and Callum, doing a full 180, goes batshite over Rayla being tortured, decking Finnegrin full force in the face. He is calm when faced with his own pain, but when someone he loves is hurt, especially due to his inability to do anything, he immediately loses his temper.

However, this small win ends them back up at square one, with Callum tied up and at the captain's mercy. When Finnegrin tells him that he's gonna feed Rayla to the leviathan, and Callum can't do anything, he immediately gives up the info, thinking that would save her. Only for Finnegrin to turn around and go "nuh-uh," completely destroying him.

He can't even save the person he loves. Callum may have primal magic (one or two of the arcanum depending on how you want to look at it), but he still can't do anything; he is completely useless in this moment. Realizing this, all hope drains out of him, and he does the only thing he can think of, spill the beans. He begins to break his principles by telling Finnegrin the dark magic spell (one of the darkest spells at that), in hopes of him releasing Rayla, only for it to backfire and be completely for nothing. Now, not only can he not save Rayla, but now Finnegrin can kill Domina Profundis. The guilt weighs even harder on him, he has essentially doomed everyone.

Then, Callum gets out, stands up to Finnegrin, using his own arcanum against him, gaining said arcanum at the same time (also, I just really love how he figured it out, using Finnegrin's words against him, and the idea behind the ocean arcanum is just very fun, I just really liked this moment), and save his homies.

So, everything turns out fine, right? Nope!

Callum had to use dark magic to get out, preforming the same snake chain spell he had before on his restraints. When he was all out of options, Callum always reverts back to what he knows, even if it might break his morals. And while this action is totally justifiable, as he basically had to, Callum doesn't really seem to see it that way. Despite knowing that there are parts of himself he can't understand, he still is riddled with grief over it. The deep pain and guilt on his face as he hugs Rayla, not telling her or anyone else what he had to do to get out, shows us that he believes he had committed a grave sin. In his eyes, he is just as bad as Viren and Claudia, and he is still dealing with the PTSD of being possessed by Aaravos, of having the chance to turn completely to the dark side. This paranoia and anxiety makes him keep everything to himself. He doesn't think they would understand or forgive him, and he doesn't think they should, as he doesn't really either.

The ocean arcanum also gives us a look into Callum. He states himself about how it is accepting the hidden depths in oneself, even if you may not truly understand it. Callum's ability and willingness to do dark magic at times is part of those deeper depths. He doesn't truly understand it yet, and may never will, but, like any other human, there are many paths for him to follow. I do not think he is truly evil, or what he has done is irredeemable, but I believe that Callum, like all of us, is neither truly good or bad, but chooses where he takes himself (we also see this with Viren throughout the season). He could become someone filled with light and kindness, a "do-gooder" if you will, which is what I believe he wants to be, but he could also lead himself down a much darker path if he isn't careful, placing himself among the ranks of Aaravos, Viren, and Finnegrin, or he could be someone who carefully struts the line in the middle. The point is that it is up to him. Though he has become in tune with the ocean arcanum and those "hidden depths," him not accurately understanding his potential for darkness could usher him into a much more disastrous existence. Hopefully linking with the ocean arcanum will allow him to slowly accept these parts of himself and find a true balance between dark and primal magic, whatever that balance may be.

(Also the implications of him being the one in the intro rather than Viren...)

All in all, this whole episode was just very whump (even in the B plot somewhat). Callum and Finnegrin were very much whumpee and whumper -coded and you can't convince me otherwise.

The emotions in this episode for the main gang were top-notch. Watching what each character did to try to help themselves and their friends, and seeing the physical and emotional consequences of their actions (whether positive or negative) was amazing. Not just with Callum, but also the others (Ezran instantly offering himself up again and again, practically begging; Rayla breaking herself out to try and save Callum, only to be quickly and severely subdued; and Soren continuously taking the hits to help Elmer find his own worth, saving the gang in the process), was very well done.

ABSOLUTELY SCRUMDIDDLYUMPTIOUS!

I hope we get more moments like this in future seasons.

[cosmixstar]

I need to be the third person in Runaan and Ethari's Marriage. I beg.

I'm also very thirsty for Aaravos.

This is the end of my speech. Your welcome.

[arcadianmoonshadowjedi]

GUYS!! There is hope!!! 🤩

Also reminder to keep requesting seasons 8-10 because:

👀

[magicandmundane]

YOUNG VIREN?!

[mandaloriandragontrainer]

Damian always knew he’d die young. He’d been a weak child, gasping and wheezing at the slightest exertion, turning to books and poetry for the freedom he could not find running and playing with the other children. The doctors didn’t expect he’d make it to his eighteenth birthday, so it’s a miracle when he makes it to his twenty-first.

There was only thing he wished for, but it was a selfish desire. To marry her, to marry Sarai, would condemn her to a life as a widow when she was still in the bloom of her youth. And he couldn’t do that. He couldn’t burden her, shackle her. He loved her too much.

Yet she asked him to marry her anyway.

The fear returns when he learns she’s expecting. What if his child, his little miracle, is born with his lungs? Sarai says she can only hope they are born his heart.

Damian dies when he is twenty-five, and Sarai is left a widow. But even with his final, painful breath, he cannot regret loving her. He cannot regret Callum.

Perhaps one day he will bring to the world the light he brought to his father’s life.

[thatartiststudios]

[thorne-antics]

BABY CALLUM APPRECIATION POST

(From TDP graphic novel #3, "Puzzle House")

[jennazed]

the whole "I chose the name Terrestrius" "It's a strong name" while heartwarming is super hilarious to me.

Viren is like "I may make no effort to hide the fact that I despise you for your race, but of course I support your trans identity, I'm not a fucking bigot"

[winterstorm032802]

DECEMBER 19TH! THIS DECEMBER NOT 2025! NO! DECEMBER 19TH 2024!!!! YOOOOOOOO!