#the staff of ziard

[raayllum]

Take my heart. I'll just do it.

4x04 / 6x08

[kradogsrats]

I was writing out a whole thing for this but it can actually be summed up in half as many sentences, and maybe I'll write a post-s6 revisit of the Staff of Ziard to cover the rest:

Anyway, the archdragon-killing spell and the spell used to heal Soren are functionally the same on a technical level (as well as a symbolic level). Both use an ephemeral, largely symbolic ingredient from an individual—Sarai's breath, Harrow's blood, Lissa's tears. One uses a unicorn horn, the other a wind elk's antler—like, they could have chosen literally anything there, and they went with an antler. A severed antler.

There's only one key difference, and it's ultimately not really a difference at all:

Unicorn horns are implied to be incredibly powerful for dark magic, and probably also incredibly flexible with their Star primal connection and its association with shit like wishes and doing whatever the fuck you want with the space-time continuum. If a wind elk alone would cut it for healing Soren, Viren would have done that already. He needs the staff to enhance the spell and provide the power that brings it up to... maybe not unicorn horn level, but enough.

This is super funny to me just because I've theorized before that Kpp'Ar's search for a unicorn in Puzzle House was related to a plan for using an equivalent of the archdragon-killing spell to heal or even resurrect Soren, which is now bust because of timeline issues, but still somehow managed to be like... conceptually correct.

[amber-in-the-rough]

and yeah, now we know what the s6 poem meant by "eight in a line". It still could mean those stars from the opening but it's much more likely those multicoloured staffs.

maybeee like i said before, they represent 6 primal sources + dark magic + deep magic.

or, i would still take it if it turns out to be 8 types of deep magic staffs. after all, we DO know there are more than one. there's Power, there could be Love and some more. after all, Callum's spellbook mentions it also more than once - that Love Is Magic :3

.

u can definitely say that im very happy rn

[breadsandwiches]

Soooo, this is one of the quasar diamonds right??

[wheretwofacesmeet]

Terry x Claudia cheek kiss (#2, Part 2)

[spicyviren]

Those staves are so yonic.

[herwrittenuniverse]

Just sitting here thinking about how Aaravos committed atrocities to avenge his murdered daughter, and Viren's mantra S1-S3 was to do anything to protect his family, "however dangerous, however vile."

Two parents wiling to to risk whatever it takes for their kids.

And then there's Kpp'Ar, who we can assume has no family or kids because he's by himself in his weird Puzzle House. And when Viren comes to beg for the Staff of Ziard so he can save Soren's life, Kpp'ar refuses. Viren accuses, "A child will die!"

And what's Kpp'Ar's response?

A cold "Yes."

This show is becoming a very interesting commentary on what lengths parents will go through to protect their kids.

[inamindfarfaraway]

“Our family was shattered forever.” Let’s delve into the two images accompanying this line, shall we?

Before the shattering:

Soren is looking up at Viren, who saved his life and he chose to stay with, for comfort, guidance or connection. Viren doesn’t reciprocate, fixated on the loss of his wife. The staff of Ziard, which Viren used to imprison K’ppar and Aaravos crafted for his pawns, is a barrier dividing them that Viren actively holds in place.

Viren and Soren are framed inside the arch furthest away and Claudia to a lesser degree inside the nearer arch, enclosed in the wall, the structure of their family home. They are trapped. Lissa is free. She even blocks part of the wall and archway, visually overpowering it.

Lissa has an arm raised to her chest defensively, no longer feeling safe around Viren; Soren’s arms hang passively at his side; Viren’s posture is stiff, one hand on his staff and the other behind his back (as he’s becoming a more emotionally repressed and manipulative person who doesn’t always want to show his hand, so to speak); and Claudia’s are desperately, futilely reaching out to Lissa.

The children are both between their parents. Claudia is closer to Lissa, alone in her section of the frame. Soren is right next to Viren, making their height difference and power dynamic more obvious.

Claudia is in Viren’s shadow, which is framed as a bridge between Viren and Lissa in this brief instant before Lissa takes another step - darkness connects to her to her family. As with Soren, Viren doesn’t show any interest in her. Unlike Soren, her distance from him is her choice. She’s running ahead of him in the direction he’s facing, like in his dark magic dream where she follows in his footsteps and then surpasses him.

Claudia’s left leg is barely visible under her dress, looking almost like the stump it will eventually be reduced to.

Only Lissa and Claudia are crying. A link has recently been established between tears and dark magic, and while Lissa had a bodily fluid harvested for a spell against her will, Claudia will volunteer her blood when a spell demands it.

The light is literally behind the family with shadow surrounding them, indicating sunrise or sunset. Sunset would be most thematically appropriate for the last memory of the whole family, but it would make sense for Lissa to start her long journey at dawn in a time and place with such limited artificial illumination (especially without the use of dark magic). It is a new dawn for her as an independent woman, after all.

After the shattering:

The point of origin is Lissa, as her decisions to divorce Viren and let the children choose who to live with, leading to Viren raising them on his own, define the new state of the family. All the cracks radiate outward from her forehead, her mind, and she’s by far the most fractured. That’s a worrying picture of her mental health. The cracks break and distort her family and their home, but she cannot see this and clearly doesn’t intend it.

The same crack crosses through Soren and Viren and another vertical one descends part of the way between them as well. It hasn’t fully divided them yet, but it will.

Soren is gone except for his legs and head. His head - still searching for something in his father - is even lower and further away from Viren. None of the others are diminished like this. The imagery of a severed head and missing torso full of vital organs ironically evokes death, despite his preserved life and perfect health. Viren doesn’t kill him, but he will destroy much of his spirit.

Viren is almost completely duplicated, in contrast to Soren being eclipsed. His copy is fainter, shorter and overlaps partly with Soren’s legs, as if he’s replacing his son and the man he might grow into with a vision of himself. Perhaps he’s in two minds about the path he’s chosen? Or beside himself with grief under that cold exterior? He takes up more space, but is also broken and trapped more tightly in the fractures. Like Soren, part of him is lost; he’s the only one to have what appears to be a missing shard interrupt his depiction with a slice of nothingness, reflecting the piece of his soul that he’s turned into a black void. The head of his staff being above Soren’s legs represents dark magic replacing Viren’s relationship with his son in his life.

Claudia is actually intact, but a duplication of one of her legs is cut off. This may reference how she will duplicate her lower limbs into five tentacles and then have one of those cut off, Rayla probably thinking it was an extra that wouldn’t correlate to her human leg. Like Viren, she’s boxed in by the cracks, which draw lines between her and the rest of her family on all sides. Viren and Soren share a shard with Lissa, but Claudia doesn’t. Her indecisiveness has left her even more isolated.

[jelzorz]

185.

It's not as difficult a decision as it sounds. Katolis is burning, and there are people dying, and if something isn't done, no one's going to make it out of the castle alive. Soren's seen enough, heard enough, and he'd gone to his father in spite of everything demanding he help, but the decision is this:

His life, or everyone else's. His heart, or the people of Katolis.

It's not a decision at all, really, and Soren had known from the beginning what being a Crownguard meant. How could he live with himself if he let others die in his place when his entire purpose is to protect others?

No. Not a difficult decision in the least, and he shoves the Staff of Ziard into his father's hands and looks him dead in the eye as he says it: "Take my heart."

Viren hesitates. Soren wants to punch him for it: people dead and dying, the castle crumbling around them, and here he is, a willing volunteer for the atrocity of a spell he needs to cast, and Viren is hesitating still.

"No," Viren says at last. "No. I won't do it."

Soren wants to scream at him. "What the hell do you mean—"

"I won't use yours."

Soren snarls at him, all but shoving him to the ground with the staff in his fury. "There's no time to find anyone else's. Use mine! I don't care! I'm giving it freely!"

Viren shakes his head. "I won't hurt you," he says quietly. "Not again. Never again. I'll use my own."

"You'll—what?"

"You have to go now," Viren tells him, his fingers closing around the staff. "You're still needed out there. You need to protect them and get them out."

Something clenches in Soren's chest. Not his heart, surely, not after everything that's happened, not after all the things his father did to him in the first place. "You need to cast the spell," he snaps. "It can't be you."

"Yes, it can," says Viren, and in spite of everything, he smiles, sadly, proudly, lovingly for the first time in what Soren is certain has been years. "It must be me," he says. "It can't be you. You have to go."

"But—"

Viren shakes his head. "I was never a good father to you, Soren," he says. "You deserved better from me, and my deepest regret is that I was too selfish to try. I'm trying now. For what little it's worth, I am sorry. It wasn't your fault. You did nothing to deserve such behaviour from me. Let me do this for you now. You have to go."

The thing in Soren's chest clenches again, blocking his throat and his lungs in a way that he can't understand. He swallows painfully, his eyes watering, hands closing into fists in the material of his father's filthy smock. "This is stupid!" he snarls. "You've never had a problem using me before. Just do it! Take my heart and get it over with! Why are you hesitating now?"

"Because I love you," says Viren simply, easing Soren's fingers out of the smock with the gentleness he should have shown years and years ago. "I have ways loved you, however poorly I showed it. It wasn't your fault. None of it was, and you are a better man today than I have ever been in my life. Go now. I'll keep you safe."

"I—" Soren chokes. "I can't just—"

"You can," says Viren softly. "Leave me your knife and go. You have others to save. Go. Don't look back."

So Soren does. He releases his father's smock and goes, his heart aching with every step for reasons he doesn't really understand. He's half way down the hall when Viren calls out to him, one final time.

"I'm proud of you, Soren."

Soren does what he's told and doesn't look back.

[konmaao3]

Ziard's staff: Ah shit, here we go again.

[sorinethemastermind]

Inanimate objects Important to TDP S7

The puzzle cube. It was inevitable that we were going to be seeing more of this after it's introduction, but also, after seeing what it's for in S6. So I think that we'll also be seeing the book that it hails from. The question is, will it be something that Aaravos is after, or will it be something that Callum discovers and uses against him?

2. Dragon Scale Amulet. Aaron Ehasz confirmed that this amulet is connected to Laurelion, the Startouch Elf from the poem (in which the gang discover the story of the Nova Blade). And we've seen it so many times that even before learning of this I knew it had to be for something! So now the question is... what?

3. The Nova Blade. Sure, it could have been a plot device to make them travel to the Celestial Elves. But the Quasar Diamonds already were that! Which makes me think that this will come into play again, even if it's not the thing that's used to defeat Aaravos.

It's described as "ivory draconic brought death's bite known ever forth as Novablade," and combine that with the previous item on this list, the Dragon Scale Amulet, and I can't help but think that the two are connected.

4. Staff of Ziard. According to the official wiki, the Relic Staff is an "elven crafted relic" (I believe by Aaravos). It lso sayd that "Although the staff is primarily used to amplify and strengthen dark magic spells, it can also be used as a catalyst for Aaravos's spells to be used by Viren. It is said to hold even greater secrets."

"There are seven other staffs identical to it in the Zenith of the Star Scraper. Although, while this staff has a purple stone, each of the other staffs has a gem of different colors embedded in them. Notably, there is one empty space among the eight pillars where the staffs are mounted."

Not only do I think this staff will play a role in the next season, I also think that we'll discover more about the other staffs. Especially knowing that Astrid will be playing more of a roll in the next season, she'll probably have answers for these questions!

5. The Cursed Coins. My personal theory is that Aaravos will be trapped inside the coin, as they cannot kill him. And beyond that, I also think that there's a good chance the last Quasar Diamond will be used to free Kpp'Ar from his cursed coin.

[raayllum]

the first and last time Viren ever used the Staff of Ziard ("that staff must never be used again") being for Soren

[kradogsrats]

haha WHAT

since these are all different colors, immediate assumption is they're connected to primal sources—with the Staff of Ziard being either the corrupted Star one OR a forged in secret master ring to rule them all seventh for the "seventh source"

the arrangement looks like they're an evenly-spaced six, so leaning toward the latter as more likely?

[a-very-sparkly-nerd]

WAIT A HOT MINUTE THOSE STAFFS ON THE PILLARS LOOK LIKE THE STAFF OF ZIARD IN DIFFERENT COLORS-

[theboredasexual]

WHAT I HOPE HAPPENS IN SEASON 7

Alright buckle up because this might get long. (also if somebody else has already made this theory I apologise)

To start, let's recap a few Important Events in season 6.

Rayla promises to kill Callum if he gets controlled by aaravos again.

Callum does the cleansing thing, and is told that if he does dark magic again he will be consumed by it.

We already know aaravos can control dark mages.

It's been said many times by many people that there is a lot of foreshadowing for Callum using dark magic again in season 7 to save Rayla, and therefore 'being consumed by it' and/or falling victim to Aaravos's control once more. In this scenario, Rayla has promised to kill him (and we all know Rayla refuses to break her promises).

There's a lot of takes on this. Some people say that Rayla will, for once, break her promise and refuse to kill Callum; but I frankly hope this DOESN'T happen, because i think it'll be wildly unsatisfying.

I've seen other people point out that there is one remaining Quasar Diamond, and it'd be an INSANE chekovs gun (or whatever the phrase is) to leave that unused. The general theory goes like this:

Callum uses dark magic to save Rayla

Aaravos controls Callum

Rayla kills Callum

Rayla uses the Quasar Diamond to bring Callum back to life

But here's the thing (and correct me if I'm wrong, ofc) isn't the Quasar Diamond unable to revive someone who's actually passed on into the afterlife? Aaravos was stuck in a prison similar to the coins, just made with primal magic, and the COINS were explicitly stated to be a plane between life and death where spirits got trapped. When Rayla's parents passed on, the left they coins but didn't return to mortality like Runaan.

So for the singular Quasar Diamond to revive a dead Callum, something ELSE would have to happen first...

Here's what I imagine in my dreams of Season 7:

At some point in the season, maybe Rayla or Callum has learnt the spell that Viren used to trap people in the coins (we know Callum has studies dark magic...I find it easy to believe that he could've written down the notes for it in his spellbook). I'm pretty sure the Staff of Ziard is required for this spell, so lets just say we have that as well. This will come back in a bit.

Rayla is in some dire moment, about to die, and Callum remembers their conversation at the ship - he remembers promising to choose the greater good over Rayla if it came to it. But he just can't. And somehow, who knows how, he has the opportunity to free her...but only by using Dark magic a third time.

It's no choice for him, of course. He does the spell and Rayla is saved but now Callum is corrupted for good and Aaravos possesses him again (or he just does something villain-arc-y idk). So now Rayla has to fulfill HER promise and even though she's beyond angry and heartbroken with Callum breaking his, she's not about to stoop to his level.

There's a dramatic-ass fight scene between warrior and mage - spells flying everywhere, Rayla battling with swords and arrows and all sorts. But eventually she overpowers him (because of course she does) - shoots an arrow through his heart or stabs him in the chest or something like that. And as he's there, bleeding out in her arms from a wound she inflicted, she gets an idea. A horrible, awful idea but its her only chance to fix this.

Without thinking (because how are you meant to think AT ALL when you're one true love soulmate is DYING-) she picks up the Staff of Ziard, finds the place in Callums book that lists the spell, and digs Runaans blank coin out of her pocket.... and suddenly Callum's dying body is gone and the coin is no longer blank and Rayla. Has. Done. Dark. Magic. GASP-

Anyway no idea what would happen after that but I just really like the idea of Rayla using dark magic and understanding Callum being unable to let her die. I feel like it'd be a GREAT moment and a really confronting and horrifying thing for her and daaammnnnnnn......

[ac0531]

Did an analysis and got some of the most interesting things Aaron said during this interview!!

“Whatever it unlocks, do you have to be connected or master some arcanum to unlock that? Anyways, I will say that there is a big reveal about the key of Aaravos in season 6”- Aaron

“We have many plans for Terry’s character. He’s a main character and we’ll see a lot of him in seasons 6 and 7. In terms of the meeting story between Terry and Claudia, yes we do have a story in mind but I don’t know how it’s going to get told. Sometimes we’ve talked about a book 3 and a half that’s sort of Claudia’s story that’s focused on the two years Claudia is moving around Xadia trying to solve the problem of saving Viren. You’d also have the story of Rayla hunting for Viren and you might have them cross paths, but yeah during that time you’d see her (Claudia) meet Terry- so we’ve talked about Book 3 and a half as maybe a novel or maybe a movie between season 3 and 4.”- Aaron

“That’s another story we’d love to tell at some point. That story sort of involved her rise from her being an orphan to her becoming the queen of Katolis- part of that story also connects to Aaravos and what happened a few hundred years ago. There is more story after season 7 that is important and I’m actually going to talk about it at SDCC.”- Aaron!

“You’ll learn more about Leola in season 6 and the questions you’ve asked will be answered very clearly.”- Aaron (Goji asked “Who is Leola, if she has a connection to Aaravos and if she’ll play a role in season 6”)

“The two examples that came to mind in your list are one: the symbol on the coins which is also the symbol on the book, and yes it connects to old deep magic and you will see a bit more of that in the coming season.”- Aaron

“And then the second thing you mentioned was the staffs in the starscraper, so I’ll share something a little meaty which is that is where they came from, so the question would be- how did it go from there to Viren? I know we’ve seen the scene with Ziard talking about the staff and it being a gift from a great one but yeah, that (the starscraper) is where it’s from.”- Aaron

“A lot of the origin story on who and why (Aaravos backstory) are going to be revealed in season 6.”- Aaron

“Who is he? What does he want? How has he come to be in a situation where he has somehow been involved in magic passing from Startouch elves and you know the elves and dragons to the humans- what is his involvement in that? Some of those questions will be answered in season 6”- Aaron