Given Netflix’s strange cancellation tendencies, it is extremely rare to find a series in the streaming service’s original animation directory that has successfully completed its journey, let alone gone through seven seasons in the span of six years like The Dragon Prince, created by Aaron Ehasz and Justin Richmond, did. Right from the detailed world-building to its entertaining blend of heart, humor, and action, its deft characterization, and the way it incorporates serious themes and dark undertones in a seemingly light-hearted narrative, there is a lot to like when it comes to the animated series—and it kept its momentum through the first six seasons. Regarding the recently released seventh season, which will conclude the second major arc of the series, my opinion is a bit mixed. Not really sure whether the writing team had multiple different ideas in mind or whether it has to do with Netflix’s mandates—whatever the reason was, it resulted in the seventh season having an extremely disjointed narrative progression. The first six episodes move at a slow pace, mostly light-hearted in tone with no sense of urgency despite having to tie multiple storylines together, resulting in the final three episodes having to rush, shifting the tone to grim and serious all of a sudden, ending the arc on a somewhat dissatisfactory and risk-free note. Although the ending paves the way for a final arc, as had been the intention of the makers, the continuation depends on the success of this season, of which I am not too certain.
Spoilers Ahead
Kosmo’s Ominous Vision
The Celestial elf, Kosmo, who became Timeblind in the previous season, saw a dreadful future caused by the return of Aaravos. According to the rules of Cosmic Order, despite having access to the future sight, Celestial elves can never interfere in affairs that concern others. Kosmo’s sister, Astrid, decides to ignore the stipulations and goes to warn Callum and Rayla about their inevitable predicament.
Why Did Ezran and Callum Have a Falling Out?
The sixth season of The Dragon Prince ended with a series of significant events: Rayla was able to free the soul of her adoptive father, Runaan, from Viren’s imprisonment, and bring him back to life, while on the other hand, Claudia, wrecked by the pain of losing her father, Viren, had released Aaravos from his confinement. However, the tragic note of the fall of Katolis overwhelmed every other event, and as the seventh season begins, efforts in coping with the tragedy put characters at odds with each other. Callum and Rayla witness the horrid sight of Katolis in ruins as they return from Moon Nexus along with a resurrected Runaan, and Ezran arrives with Aanya – the queen of Duren, Corvus, and Zym—shortly after. As the king, Ezran feels most responsible for the tragedy, and his pain, anger, desperation, and feeling of failure turn him bitter and paranoid. Contemplating destroying Sol Regem for his actions, Ezran learns that he has been eliminated already, and his frustration gets directed towards Runaan—the Moonshadow assassin who had killed King Harrow all those years ago.
Ezran blames Runaan for everything that had transpired since and has him captured, much to the dismay of Rayla—and Callum is caught in between his allegiance towards his kingdom, responsibilities towards his brother, and love for Claudia. Ultimately, Callum chooses Claudia, as he helps her to break Runaan free from captivity and ventures to Silvergrove along with them. Ezran laments his brother’s absence and gradually becomes paranoid enough to heed Aanya’s proposal to strengthen Katolis’ defense against dragons and elves by using fire ruby-laced weapons. At this point, Aanya shares a brief history lesson with Ezran about the Mages War, which left the west of Xadia completely barren of magic and also led to the extinction of numerous magical creatures. On the other hand, Runaan gets reunited with his lover, Ethari, and upon learning that Rayla was banned from Silvergrove, the duo try to help get her reinstated as a member of the clan.
What Was Aaravos’ Plan?
In the meanwhile, Claudia requests Aaravos to find a way for her father, Viren’s spirit, to reunite with her by returning to mortal plane. The Startouch elf manipulates Claudia into believing that her father’s soul, which might not have found peace in the end, has possibly been stuck in the limbo that’s neither life nor death known simply as ‘In Between.’ Aaravos plans to access it by inverting the Moon Nexus through creating a fake Moon primal stone, and in order to obtain one, he needs to venture into the Garden of Innocents. Terry, Claudia’s supportive, caring boyfriend, and possibly the most honorable and loving character of the entire series, assesses danger in Aaravos’ presence but goes with the flow anyway.
Aaravos’ true intention is to seek vengeance upon the Cosmic Order by unleashing the spirits of the departed from ‘In Between’ and bringing forth Eternal Night by hiding the sun using the corrupted Sun Sphere in Lux Aurea. As shown in the previous season, Aaravos wanted to spite the cosmic order by destabilizing the perfect balance and harmony established by them through anarchy and chaos, taking revenge for their harsh punishment of Aaravos’ daughter, Leola, for introducing magic to humanity. Aaravos continues to manipulate Claudia using half-truths and deceptions, but soon enough, the duo form a strong bond as Aaravos finds her presence filling the emotional void left by Leola’s absence, and similarly Claudia finds comfort with Aaravos as a mentor and father figure. In order to venture to the Garden of Innocents, the trio of Aaravos, Claudia, and Terry move through Kpp’ar’s Puzzle House, and it is revealed that Viren’s former mentor had tried to gain immortality by practicing the forbidden dark magic ritual of self-eating.Â
The map to the Garden of Innocents appears to be visible only to Terry, as he is the only one among them with a pure heart, a fact Aaravos asks Claudia to hide from Terry, encouraging keeping him in the dark about the grim nature of their mission. Terry eventually learns about Claudia’s secrecy as Aaravos manipulates him, and disheartened at Claudia’s actions, Terry breaks up with her. Following Terry’s departure, Claudia becomes dependent on Aaravos and reveals that she knew all along that bringing Viren back was a false promise Aaravos had sold her on. As she demands to know the truth about Aaravos’ past, he shares his motivation—which prompts Claudia to consider assisting him. For the first time Claudia isn’t going down a dark path for the sake of family, and it becomes quite clear that she has completely surrendered to her dark side.
How Did Callum Plan to Stop Aaravos?
Callum was spending time with Rayla at the Silvergrove when Astrid brought her the news of Aaravos’ escape and of the dark future that awaited them if they didn’t act quickly. Callum was under the impression that he had successfully secured Aaravos’ pearl prison in the Celestial elf base, not knowing the real one ended up in the hands of Claudia, and after learning the truth at present, he begins to loathe himself. A guilt-ridden Callum is confronted by his dark side, as the allure of using dark magic to strengthen himself seems more present than ever in the face of crisis. However, Callum ignores the call of the dark recesses of his subconscious as he plans to sacrifice himself for the greater good. He decides to soul trap Aaravos and plans to end his own life while using dark magic so that Aaravos can not take control over his body. Callum plans to bring the Archdragons to Lux Aurea, as it is revealed that only the bite of an Archdragon can prove fatal to a Startouch elf. As a contingency, he decides to go to Akiyu, the Tidebound elf who created Aaravos’ prison all those years ago, to ask her to create a new one; additionally, Callum instructs others to instruct Queen Janai of the Sunfire elves to obtain the Sun Sphere before Aaravos can reach it.
Meanwhile, Terry goes to Katolis and reveals everything regarding Aaravos’ arrival and his plans to Ezran in exchange for him sparing Claudia’s life. As Claudia and Aaravos arrive at the Moon Nexus, Terry and Soren try to emotionally manipulate Claudia by using Moonshadow elf Lujanne to appear as Lissa, Soren and Claudia’s mother, who had left Viren long ago, but Claudia is able to see through the ruse easily. Aaravos uses the Moon primal stone to summon spirits from In Between and uses them as thralls while he sends Claudia to take care of Akiyu.
Was Aaravos Defeated At The End?
In the meantime, Karim, Queen Janai’s brother, who miserably failed in his attempt to usurp the high seat of the Sunfire elves, remains bitter and hateful towards humans, even when Janai decides to provide amnesty to his pregnant wife, Miyana, and all his loyalists. As the news of Aaravos’ arrival reaches Janai, she decides to destroy the Sun Sphere, knowing that they can not stop the Startouch elf from getting it. But the only mage powerful enough to destroy the Sun Sphere appears to be Karim, and Janai decides to seek his help.
Aaravos gets himself captured by Ezran’s forces, solely to trigger his insecurities about the safety of Xadia and the possibility of Callum giving in to the dark side. Aaravos reveals details about Ezran’s ancestor, the Orphan Queen, who played a key role in imprisoning Aaravos the first time and possessed the Nova Blade—made out of Shiruakh’s fang, which can kill Aaravos. The cunning, godlike elf wants Ezran to consider the possibility of killing Aaravos, which will be a better fate for him than being imprisoned. Aaravos will have his stars aligned seven years later, when he will come back to life anyway, so in the worst-case scenario, getting killed is a much better option for Aaravos if things go south.
Callum and Runaan go to fetch Akiyu, only to learn that Claudia has killed her, and empowered by Shiruakh’s scale enchantment, Claudia manages to take on Callum and escape in time. This leaves the only option left for Callum being to imprison Aaravos by soul trapping him through dark magic and sacrificing his life while doing so. Archdragons Domina Profundis, Rex Igneous, and Zubeia are informed about the impending doom. As Aaravos frees himself from Ezran’s captivity, he makes his way towards Lux Aurea, where Janai had already entrusted Karim to destroy the Sun Sphere so that the Eternal Night never comes to pass. However, Karim betrays his sister at the most crucial moment and tries to make a bargain with Aaravos to give him the Sun Sphere in exchange for allowing Karim to be his herald. No sooner had he finished the sentence than Aaravos crushed him to death. Using the Sun Sphere, Aaravos is finally able to bring Eternal Night to the world.Â
During the final showdown, Rex Igneous swoops in to take on Aaravos, only for the elf to summon the spirit form of former Archdragon, Avizandum, who ends up killing Rex with a sneak attack. Zubeia reaches Lux Aurea, accompanying Callum and co., and gets terrified seeing the undead spirit of her husband, whom she desperately tries to convince to see reason. Ezran arrives at the location with Zym and Aanya as well, and Zubeia decides to help Avizandum recover from his mind-controlled state by trying to motivate him with Zym’s presence. As Callum prepares to imprison Aaravos, Runaan is knocked down by Claudia, prompting a dejected Rayla to take the life of the person she loves. After all, she had promised Callum to do whatever it takes to ensure peace prevails in Xadia. Ezran seems prepared to take a drastic step and kill Aaravos, even though Aanaya considers it to be a trap set by Aaravos, who deliberately mentioned the only way to kill him to Ezran.
Things take a different turn altogether as Avizandum breaks free of his mind control, and along with Zubeia, manages to capture Aaravos. Knowing his end is near, Aaravos sends Claudia to safety—calling her his daughter, acknowledging the emotional bond they shared in the process. Soren and Terry decide to give chase and eventually catch up to her, only to be nearly killed by an angry, conflicted Claudia, who ends up sparing their lives at the end and fleeing to the unknown. Aaravos taunts Avizandum, mentioning he will return seven years later when his stars align—there is no way of killing him permanently, unlike the Archdragons, who are prepared to lay down their lives for the greater good of Xadia and won’t be around the next time Aaravos returns to the mortal plane. Zubeia destroys the Sun Sphere, which brings an end to the Eternal Night, and with the rising sun destroying his spirit form, Avizandum bites Aaravos, resulting in his death and a massive explosion that kills both the Archdragons. Domina Profundis shields the present humans and elves to protect them from the explosion, and presumably perishes as well, given the fact that later the humans and elves are seen mourning the sacrifices of all four Archdragons in the struggle against Aaravos.
Is King Harrow Alive?
Ezran and Callum make amends, and taking a lesson from the past, Ezran has decided to rebuild Katolis not as a kingdom busy building defenses against dragons and elves but as a safe haven for everyone. As a gesture of his willingness to welcome harmony among everyone, Ezran lays the groundwork of the autonomous city of Everkynd, on the border of the eastern and western regions of Xadia. Ezran finds it in his heart to forgive Runaan at last and gets shocked to realize that King Harrow probably wasn’t killed after all, as Viren might have swapped his soul with a bird. This could provide a new direction to the narrative if the series is continued and the final arc, consisting of three more seasons, gets greenlit after all.
Will Aaravos Return?
There are a number of plot threads that remain unresolved as the seventh season comes to an end—Claudia is waiting for Aaravos’ return, and Ezran and co. are similarly preparing themselves to face the fallen Startouch elf seven years later. The fate of Kpp’ar, Viren’s mentor, remains in question still, and the deep secrets he kept involving dark magic can form a subplot of its own. Finally, Aaravos needs closure, irrespective of how vile the acts he has committed to spite the cosmic order are, as there is still an undeniable sympathetic angle to his character. As the seventh season comes to a close, a poignant message shared in the form of Leola’s final wish—that no child should ever feel unloved—marks a melancholic end to the second arc of The Dragon Prince. Despite all the drawbacks this particular season suffered from, the series’ core theme of love remains as timeless as ever, which makes me, like numerous other fans of the series, wish for its continuation, as there is still much story to tell still.Â
