Join me as we get some new info about arc 3 of The Dragon King, such as how being parents have changed Callum and Rayla, Ezran's continued evolution, what Terry might be up to, and other deep lore tidbits like The Mage Wars and King Atticus!
As always, transcript of interview down below + timestamps for questions. Previous interviews co-creator can be found here and here.
Also something that came up is they are interested in doing more character birthdays for ones that don't have it yet (ie. Corvus, Terry, etc). If there is a character you'd like to have a birthday and they don't yet, please send it to me in some form and I will put it on the list to send to them.
0:25 ā How has the Kickstarter experience been? How has it been connecting with the fandom more?
3:09 ā What was the reasoning behind a seven year (and nineteen day) timeskip?
5:13 ā How has been parents changed Callum and Rayla?
8:10 ā How does Callum feel about Aaravos going forward?
10:45 ā Avigailās question: how do other characters like Runaan, Ethari, and Soren react to baby Sarai?
12:06 ā What are you most excited to explore with Ezran in Arc 3?
15:03 ā Explorations for Zym as a character in arc 3Ā
15:30 ā What has it been like getting to develop Luna Devorans?
17:39 ā Is there anything you can tease about Terry?
19:54 ā What is Claudia up to during the timeskip? Can she and Aaravos communicate?Ā
22:56 ā Any teases for the Sunfire elf plotline in arc 3?
24:31 ā The book two novelization mentions the Oracles of Ophidian / deep lore information for the Mage Wars
26:16 ā The Orphan Queen and the JailerĀ
27:28 ā Where did the name Aaravos come from?
28:26 ā Are there any plans for exploring King Atticus as a character?
29:39 ā A story from after Season 1 of Avatar: The Last Airbender came out
32:39 ā Did Sir Sparklepuff have an arcanum?Ā
34:30 ā Character birthdays for Corvus, Terry, Karim, etc.Ā
35:36 ā Why doesnāt Viren tell anyone about Pip-Harrow in season 6?
38:46 ā What is your favourite character design in The Dragon King?
40:21 ā What are inspirations that come to mind when thinking about Dragon Prince (ie. Lord of the Rings)?
TRANSCRIPT:
W: Hello, and welcome back to the WordswithDragons podcast. Iām pleased to welcome back co-creator Aaron Ehasz. Aaron, welcome!
A: Thank you, Iām really glad to be back!
W: Yeah! Alright, so the last time we did one of these, I think was like two weeks before the Kickstarter came out. So very excited to get to revisit that, so I suppose my first question would be, how has the Kickstarter experience been, how has it been connecting with the fandom more?
A: Kickstarter is ā Kickstarterās intense, first of all, which is to say thereās just so many moving parts and things that youāre doing to like to make sure the whole kind of engagement works, and that youāre communicating with all your backers and so that people know what and when itās going on, and what forms you need to fill out and what taxes you have to be paid ā anyway, thereās a lot that goes into a Kickstarter. Fortunately, my partners and some of the teams weāve worked with have really stepped it up to work on this, but yes, as a ā as a feeling, itās been great, the energyās been amazing. One of the things that everybody saw was that like the top tiers of our Kickstarter went in like a day, they were really fast, which to me kind of demonstrates āWow, there are a lot of super fans of The Dragon Prince and the Dragon King to come.ā
W: Yeah. Yeah, I know I did the mage tier at first, the $100, and then I like looked at myself in the mirror and was like, āWhat do you actually want?ā and then I did the Archmage, cause I was likeāonce in a lifetime kind of opportunity, right?
A: And Iām not in like the world of like, I guess, dolphins and whales, or whatever people call it ā like Iām definitely not a whales guy. I feel like it should be a democratic fandom.
W: Mmhm.
A: People should be able to be as engaged as they want to be, as ā with a low barrier to entry. So itās more that itās like wow, okay, there are people who went through the decision making process you did, who really wanted that merch, or really wanted that ā so itās exciting, but also I recognize kind of the ā we want it to be a fandom where for all of us, too, so.Ā
W: I think you guys have done a really good job at making it like accessible at all the kind of different levels, even like, you know, how youāll post the behind-the-scenes stuff to Instagram, so that people can keep up that way too, so I think thatās been like a really good balance. Yeah.
A: Yeah. Specific shoutout by the way to Kim Swift, who has been sort of project managing and doing a lot of our social stuff and sheās a legendary games producer, but who has stepped in to like really help us stay organized and on top of stuff, so a lot of the stuff youāre talking about, is very much thank you Kim for ā for making sure and reaching everyone, that things are going out, so.Ā
W: Yeah thatās awesome.
A: Itās a lot of work!
W: Yeah!
A: So you gotta be grateful to all the people who are coming together to get it done. Itās a lot of work. Yeah.
W: Yeah. Awesome. Thank you, Kim! So I suppose my first kind of big question is: was there a particular reason behind wanting to do a seven year timeskip and 19 days?
A: Um. Yes and no. I mean, I think seven years and 19 days is a little bit just like a memorable kind of gap. We wanted it to be enough time that you would feel like some of our characters could grow up and start to become more adult, and start to accumulate and grow their ā their powers. We wanted them to reach kind of ā we wanted them to reach like top tier power levels. But you also, we didnāt ā you didnāt want it to be too much of a timeskip where itās gone to the next generation or stuff like that, so. But also it felt like the right amount of time to be āokay, our problems are solved, sort of, but what do we do? How do we get ready for whatās going to happen, or what is going to happen in seven years?ā so I donāt know. What do you think of that amount of time?
W: Well, it reminded me of the seven year famine in Duren. Of almost like, youāre trying to ā even just in regards to I feel like, most of the characters were kind of on the cusp of adulthood, if not already there, like I think Soren was already twenty in arc 2 or whatever.
A: Yeah.
W: But I thought a lot about Ezran, of how we are kind of skipping some of his adolescence, of going from twelve to like eighteen, nineteen, so what do you kind of do with the child king when heās no longer a child? And even like, what has the seven year wait time done to everyone on like a psychological level, cause itās just enough time that you can kind of live your life, but itās not so much time that you can forget, yāknow, whatās coming, so.
A: Yeah.
W: But on that line of kind of changing characters, I was wondering if you had any thoughts on how becoming parents has changed Callum and Rayla as characters, whether in their priorities, or could continue to change them?
A: I mean, it has to, and again, some of this will come out in the ā when weāre doing the writing and the storytelling and kind of working our way through it, you know, so much of The Dragon Prince is about what happens when these generational conflicts get passed down, and how are they passed down, and what if the newest generation ā which was Callum, Rayla, and Ezran ā say hey, we donāt want this conflict, we want to change it, we want to stop this war, we want to take this dragon egg back to the Dragon Queen and see if we can change things. And so much of that story is about the struggle of a new generation to solve the problems, to live toward some kind of better ideals, some better possibilities, despite all the pressures, and itās not necessarily intentional pressures, but the pressures to take on the previous generationās burdens and kind of emotional and moral debts and um. So, when you see two of these young characters now coming to oh now, now they have this vantage point of starting to create this new generation. What does this mean to have a child and how do you project whatever hopes and dreams you had or still have, and what do you hope is different for them? Like I think it will give us a chance to like ā to give Callum and Rayla kind of a reflective but also a growth point for their point of view on those kinds of themes, I donāt know. Thatās kind of where Iām hoping it gets us. So itās not necessarily about well now youāve gotta take care of a baby and all the feeding and all the responsibility, and weāll probably have some humourous stuff about that, but itās about how do you see your legacy and your kind of duty to the world and how ā how do you start to see that through the eyes of someone new, and how do you, yāknowāwhat does that mean? I dunno. Something like that.
W: Yeah. Yeah, it made me think a lot about Sarai and Damian, cause presumably he was sick when they were having Callum, and they kind of knew maybe they werenāt going to have all this time that they would ideally want.
A: Yeah.
W: And that, given that Callum is still vulnerable to Aaravos, presumably, itās kind of like that same question, like what do we do with the time that we have, and how do we build something even if we donāt get to see it, for like our children, which ā I donāt know. Dragon Prince is a lot about parents and children, so.
A: Right.
W: I was like yes ā I like generational stuff. How is Callum thinking and feeling about Aaravos going forward?
A: Um. Going forward. I mean, I suspect ā the question is whether he thinks heās vulnerable or not. He didnāt complete the spell, but maybe he got far enough. I dunno, to me there are probably, if Iām Callum, there are some days I wake up in a cold sweat, and Iām like Iām completely vulnerable, Iām going to shatter, my insides are going to shatter the moment I have to face him again, because I corrupted myself and then I didnāt follow through to imprison him. And then there are parts that are going to be like well, or maybe [Iām] not, because I didnāt finish it, maybe I am strong enough inside, or he canāt corrupt me. Maybe I have to choose to live my life, yāknow, in the latter way but also somewhere prepare for the possibility that the scary part happens. And I donāt know how Rayla would reassure him or they would live with that or how it ties into his other core themes of destiny being a book you write yourself and things like that. So I suspect heās not sure whether to be in a panic or not. I also know that heās going to be really focused on preparing himself in these seven years to be as powerful as possible to be ready for Aaravos. We have some specific ideas of some spells that would be helpful. Iām trying to think of how to phrase it thatās not like spoilers, but some very specific spells that would potentially help the world prepare for Aaravos, that for Callum to be able to do those, heās going to have to master some arcana that he doesnāt have yet, and also possibly find some information on some of the spells. But yeah, you know, the goal, I think the idea has always been that heās on the cusp of being an Archmage, that maybe heās one arcanum short, kind of at the very beginning of The Dragon King.
W: Yeah. Yeah, okay. Alright, so I have a question from a fan named Avigail, and they asked, how do other characters react to Sarai II, like maybe Runaan and Ethari are grandparents, or Soren?
A: Yeah, I mean like, I assume they think sheās adorable. I donāt know, I donāt have a specific thought on it, on how they react. What do ā when you saw that question, what do you Avigail was wondering about, or what Avigail is thinking?
W: Yeah, I think itās even just kind of like, I think Soren would be thrilled, cause now in his head heās like, āIām Uncle Soren!ā and theyāre like āsure!ā you know?
A: This would be fun as a conversation, cause I would love to hear Avigail talk about that, like yeah, totally. Soren totally seems like heād want to be, like, in uncle mode pretty quickly, right, like giving neck rides and stuff like that, you know. Unofficial uncle mode, you know?
W: And Iām just very quickly going to move to the other room, just in case for sound, so weāll see how that is. Alright. I am wearing the Key of Aaravos shirt today, so thereās that.
A: Ah, very cool.
W: Okay. So, we already kind of touched on this a little bit, it seems like Ezran will be the character thatās changed the most from the timeskip, what are you most excited to explore with him in arc 3?
A: So, I think as opposed to Callum who might be trying really hard to not to think about his vulnerability and stay focused and build his power, I wonder if Ezran has become a little grim.
W: Yeah. Thatās what Iām hoping for!
A: Yeah, I have some thought that heās always been so burdened with the throne, with his responsibilities, and now he has the Nova Blade, and he didnāt have the chance to end it himself, but he knows that if he has to, he will. I donāt know, I suspect that ā I suspect heās very mindful of that, but I think there are other things on his mind, too. I think that he wants Evrkynd to succeed, I think that thatās a meaningful kind of experiment in the world or wherever it is. And obviously thereās the tangle in, and weāll have to see how that plays out, of whether and how Pip and Harrow come back into the picture and what that means. But uh, his ideas always tend towards how do we change the world, how do we make things better, how do we live with greater empathy, and not fall into the old traps, and so heās going to be figuring out ways to do that and ways to use his power and Zymās power to change Xadia for the better, and then I think the storyline of course of being challenged by Luna Devorans is going to make that more challenging. How do you ā how do you change the world if youāre saying youāre The Dragon King and thereās someone else whoās like no, youāre the usurper, this is ā youāre the false king, youāre ā Yeah.Ā
W: Yeah. I think a lot about him and Zymās dynamic as well in terms of like, Ezran is Zymās partner in a lot of ways and his family, and they both are so young and have so much power and responsibility, and like theyāre very aligned, but also thereās some potential cracks there.
A: Yeah.
W: And I think Luna Devorans.
A: And thatās, while I donāt have a notion of like Zym and Ezran like fighting, I donāt really see seeds of a significant rift ā we do want to see Zym become his own person and not be a pet. Obviously, like we have Dante Basco now [W laughs] playing Zym, so we need to see this becomeā
W: The range.
A: āa complex interesting character, yāknow? Dragons are super intelligent, right, I mean like, so we need to see that come to life. We need to see them as characters interacting and what does that mean, and I think thatāll be a lot of fun.Ā
W: Yeah, yeah. What has it been like getting to develop Luna Devorans?
A: Well, first of all itās been like cool that with Liam OāBrien on board, whoās really a great performer. One of the hard parts with Dragon Prince has always been like, we have such a great cast and theyāre all so connected that whenever weāve brought someone new in, like, it has to be someone with real presence and you know, confidence, and thatās part of when Ben came in doing Terry, that was like huge. He carried it, he was amazing, and Terry came in and felt like a main character on day one, it was just wonderful, and thatās really a testament to Benās talent and confidence. And Liam, obviously, has, you know, a storied career and comes in with that as well, so thatās exciting and ā and a challenge, but also like, itās a fun character, because weāve been sort of playing to Aaravos for so long and Viren for that matter, who are both like cerebral villains and planners, and Luna Devorans is certainly brilliant, but heās freaking impulsive, and emotional, and moody, and thatās really fun. Yāknow, heās one of those people who in some ways heās his own worst enemy, but heās so powerful and brilliant that he can dig his way out of it when he ā you know, and itās going to be really fun, but itās also interesting when you talk about a character like that, and a character like Aaravos, how ā how do they interact? What are their conflicts and what do they have in common? And thatās going to be something very interesting to play with, so.
W: Yeah. Alright. Yeah, no, Terry was definitely like ā itās going to be weird to go back and watch the earlier seasons, and be like, āwhere is he? Heās not here,ā cause heās such a core part of the show.
A: Yeah.
W: Is there anything you can tease about Terry in arc 3?
A: So the big like pin of a caveat is that we are definitely ā weāre at a stage where like Justin and I have had conversations, weāve had conversations with some of the writers, like oh mini little brainstorms and fun ideas, so weāre at a stage where things havenāt been decided. Um. Maybe that Terry has an important role in leading Evrkynd, that ā thatās one thing, but also, and I canāt say, there may be some non-Claudia shipping that we have Terry set up for, so thatās something. I donāt want to say who, cause thereās at least one writer who doesnāt like that ship [W laughs] and other people who are like nah, itās perfect, so we gotta let it play out, but you know, I would say Terry will always love Claudia, but also is the kind of person whoās going to take a deep breath and try to find his own happiness and, you know, let himself be open to that. Heās not someone who is going to pine forever, for his...
W: Heās not Callum.
A: His very complicatedāyeah, right, exactly, so, so thatās, I think thatās going to be fun for Terry and, I dunno.
W: I thought he was a very good exploration of like, you know, lots of characters say āthis is necessary, this is necessary,ā and Terryās kind of walking this fine line of like, well āis this actually necessary?ā like āIām going to do in my heart what is necessary,ā so yāknow, him and Claudia is like, a very complicated relationship and I loved how that kind of all shook out, but Iām also was really happy in season seven when we got to see him with more characters and more dynamics, so getting to see more of that and even him potentially moving on is a really interesting direction for him, cause I know you once said that he was your favourite character in Dragon Prince, and like, I totally get it, so.
A: Yeah.
W: Okay, uh, speaking of Claudia, we know that sheās going to Esmeray.
A: Right.
W: We know that sheās going to be involved mainly in some dragon machinations, is there anything else you can share about what sheās up to, can she and Aaravos like communicate at all?
A: Yeah. So, some of this is like, Iām letting you into process and early stage thoughts, so some things we know, some things we donāt know. Iām going to assume sheās figured out a way to communicate with Aaravos, probably, and some of it is a question of like, well how do we ā what is that gonna be, and whatās a cool way do that, and how do we make that a cool thing thatās not necessarily... like think about what, you know, Viren had to do to communicate. First it was through this magic mirror, but then it was through an incredibly elaborate cosmic mating ritual [W laughs] spell that resulted in a weirdā
W: Baby.
A: āweb lens being sewn over his eyes and stuff, so itās not quite the same now, because Aaravos is not imprisoned or hidden, Aaravos is returned to the cosmos, so it may be a different way, but I want to figure that out.
W: I was just assuming like dreams, cause then it can be kind of cryptic and symbolic, but still ā who knows?
A: Could be, could be. Itās interesting, I was thinking about dreaming yesterday, I was thinking about dream spells, so thatās very interesting you should say that. Like things that you would do to put yourself in a certain state so that you could have certain dreams, so thatās interesting.
W: Iāve dabbled with like original magic systems kind of like that, so Iām always a fan of it, and even like, I think the way Dragon Prince uses dreams, like the dark magic ones is like, I remember in season 5 where I was like okay, the dark magic dreams are kind of prophetic.
A: Right.
W: Now looking at Harrow in chains in season two, Iām like thatās another point in the bird column so we were ā I was very excited about that.
A: Yeah. Yeah, the kind of dream space no time you kind of get through dark magic, maybe there are other ways to get there. Um, yeah, thatās interesting. But yeah, obviously sheās been up to a lot, I mean, so.
W: Yeah. Sheās having a great time. So easy, so chill.
A: Yeah, Claudia. Sheās got goals.
W: [Wheezes] Yeah, Iālove her. Alright, so one of the things ā and Iām expecting this to be a more speculative answer ā but one of the things we havenāt really heard anything about is kind of like what the Sunfire plotline might look like.
A: Right.
W: We have Miyanaās twins.
A: Right.
W: Janai and Amaya will have been queens now for like seven years. I know I was curious if theyāre going to like rebuild on the Lux Aurea, cause itās technically destroyed but the chasm is there. Any thoughts or teases about the Sunfire elf plotline?
A: I donāt know, but you touched on all the elements [W laughs] including like, Miyanaās twins will be a couple years ā theyāll be kids, right? Theyāll be young people. So what do they know about the world, what do they know about their father, how do they feel about that, what do they know, you know? Thatās interesting to me.Ā
W: Yeah, yeah.
A: And there are other parts of the world we want to get into more. I feel like one of the things that I wish we had been able to do more in Mystery of Aaravos is spend in the map, in places that we didnāt get to, you know? And so Iām hoping ā Iām hopeful that thatās a part of this too, that there are new parts of Xadia, that weāre able to unlock the promise of this vast magical continent.
W: Mmhm. I know Iāve been thinking a lot about Evenere recently, so even the Pentarchy as well, that could be fun. In speaking about expansion, this is a bit of a deep cut.
A: Okay.
W: The book two novelization mentions thereās this group called the Oracles of Ophidian, they make like the truth serums.
A: Right! Right.Ā
W: And I was just wondering if we were ever ā cause I know you guys like to leave little tidbits ā
A: This is a deep cut.
W: In the novelizations. Is that something we might ever return to?
A: Um. We should. I hate to say this, but I should reread the [W laughs] novelizations. Yeah. I donāt know. That ā we should return to that. I should reread them.
W: Okay. Awesome. I just thought like, anything with prophecy, anything with oracle, I was like, āOkay, thatās interesting.ā
A: Well, and theyāre ā to, to tease other stuff, I mean weāre diving in a little more on some separate explorations into like the Mage Wars era and some of the stuff that happened during those times, so like ā and Justin has been doing a lot of work on the Mage Wars era. Also Villads and I had started to dig into that, and thereās some interesting stories and parts of that time, kind of before the modern era happened that I think can be ā would be interesting to get into, and weāre finding ways to tell that story too.
W: Okay, awesome! Iāve always wanted to know more about the Mage Wars, so getting that lore drop in season seven was awesome, and obviously like a really ā like the end of the Mage Wars was a really important time with like, the Orphan Queen and Aaravos and his potential and in the Mage Wars. We got obviously more stuff about the Orphan Queen in arc 2, although Iām assuming thereās stillā
A: Yeah.
W: More to her story. Will we ever learn more about the Jailer?
A: I think the Jailer would come to play ā hang on, Iām getting a family text and I just want to make sure everythingās okay.
W: Yeah, course.
A: Okay. Yeah, I think the Jailer sort of features into what ends up being the Orphan Queenās timeline and story, so potentially. Or maybe thatās sort of the post-[Orphan Queenās] story.
W: Theyāre in the ā theyāre in the Zubeia lore flashback togetherā
A: Yeah, yeah.
W: When the prison was made, so they seem ā I donāt know, it seems like maybe Orphan Queen started the Katolis line and maybe the tradition of having High Mages, thatās the speculation, anyway. Yeah, okay ā this is something where Iāve always wondered, cause I think the wikipedia answers it but I donāt know what the source is, where did the name Aaravos come from?
A: What does the wikipedia say?
W: The wikipedia says the name meaning is ābetween light and dark.ā
A: Okay.
W: Which is really cool, but Iāve never been able to like verify it.Ā
A: Um. You might have to ask Devon [Ghiel, TDP writer and head writer of arc 2]. So my recollection is that we did a ā she was helping us with a lot of brainstorming for names at that time, and this was one that I think she pitched this one, and probably because it had two As like my name, I was like, āYeah, that seems like a badassāā I donāt know. [W laughs] So, um, but she probably has deeper reasons for the list she came up with and how she came up with them, so. Devon.Ā
W: Okay, okay. Another kind of speculative question, cause I know we think that King Atticus is showing up in the Barius short.
A: Yes.
W: Um, is there anything you can tell us about King Atticus? Cause I know I was interested in Harrowās parents like after season three, oh Iāll name them cause weāre never going to get into them in canon, just Iāll like, Iāll name them, and obviously King Atticus showed up, like āOkay! We are!ā Is there anything you can tease about him or KppāAr, orā?
A: Not specifically about Atticus, but I think... I think itās worth potentially talking about at some point as we start to talk about generations and how things change, and the hopes and dreams of the generations that came before you, and I donāt know what ā I think about, letās say if, uh, King Ezran ever had a chance to talk more to his father, he would probably want to know some stories and know some stuff that he doesnāt know, so. There will be an opportunity.Ā
W: Okay.
A: I hope itās okay to ā that sometimes, sometimes I feel like as creators, youāre supposed to come in and be like āOh, youāll find out about that laterā and I have at times bluffed, which is [W laughs] a lot of the great bluff stories was on Avatar. I donāt know if you know this.
W: Oh, I donāt know.
A: Iāll tell it real quick. After season one of Avatar had come out, we did a panel at Comic Con, and we went through our whole panel, we did all our stuff, and we got to the end, and there was time for one question in the Q&A. And the personādo you know this story?
W: I donāt know, but I have ā I feel like maybe somebody asked are we ever going to see Suki again, or something?
A: The person asked āif Uncle Iroh is the older brother, why is Ozai the Firelord?ā [W laughs] So the truth is I didnāt know, Mike and Bryan hadnāt said any reason, but what I answered was, āYouāre going to find out about that second season.ā [W laughs]Ā
W: I mean, itās a great episode.
A: And it became ā because also, I knew I had an instinct at that moment that like, āOkay, this is ā a question like that, the answer is something very revealing about Irohās unusual character,ā like itās wonderful...
W: Little opportunity.
A: Opportunity to understand why heās different, why did he not become Firelord, what changed in him, why is he not? He was once this great general who was leading war and doing things, what changed somewhere? Anyway, so um, but yeah, there real issue was the bluff led to the opportunity, but very often I think these conversations, itās like, the real transparency into the process, thereās certain things we know, and certain things we find as we go, and it wouldnāt be fair to ā I think it would be bad judgement as creators to come at it and be like āitās already chiseled in stone in our minds,ā because the whole point is weāre working with teams of writers and artists who are brilliant and creative, and we want their ideas to help us shape and evolve and do better than where we started, so yeah. I mean like, even again this conversation, like yeah okay, well thereās interest in Atticus, okay yeah, I could see where thereās a reason to dive into that, and why it would matter to Ezran, what we can find out, and understand more about things.
W: I think even Harrow as a king is someone who seems so uncertain of if he deserves what he has.
A: Yeah.
W: And itās kind of like, it goes back to that idea of parents and children, and like what you intend to give your children versus how they like actually receive it sometimes, and sort of he gulf there, and itās kind of like, where did that come from in Harrow? Well, maybe Atticus, unintentionally, right, or ā kind of like Ezranās lineage of looking back at kings, he has the Orphan Queen and he has Harrow, but Atticus is kind of like this other figure who could be developed in contrast so like ā I think about him all the time. [Chuckles] This is a sort of question we were, my friends and I, we were mulling over: did Sir Sparklepuff have an arcanum?
A: Um, so... I mean, probably Star arcanum.
W: Yeah.
A: And itās funny, I almost brought Sir Sparklepuff, AKA we always called him the Homunculus, I always thought that would be a more popular, that people would be more ā heās such a weirdā
W: I love him.
A: āpart of the story, and I thought it would be so surprising, like oh, itās not that the caterpillar grew, and a little weird fellow with butterfly wings. I always thought it was so weird and cool, and Iām glad you liked it. But maybe itās because we ā we wanted people to feel invested in this unusual character enough that it felt bad when heās sacrificed. You know, not as bad as, you know, Soren or something obviously, but.
W: I wrote like a one ā I wrote a fic for him that was like, his life is kind of like an existential horror story, of like youāre created for this ā and again, it goes back to that idea of, you know, we see this all the time in Dragon Prince, even maybe with humanity and the Cosmic Council of like, youāre created for this purpose, and then do you fit that design, and what does that mean for you, or do you divert from the design and what does that mean? So I thought Sir Sparklepuff was this really interesting look into destiny and agency and ā I love āim. Okay, uh, I know people are also wondering if weāre going to get potential birthdays for like Corvus, Terry, Karim...?
A: If you send me the birthday list people are hoping forā
W: Yeah!
A: I will see if we can work on it. And some of that is the idea that people like being able to celebrate their favourite characters and things like that, so we owe them figuring some of that stuff out, and we will.
W: Yeah, okay. Iāll send you ā Iāll send you the list. I donāt think thereās too many, but I might be forgetting someone, so Iāll double check and then Iāll send it over.
A: Okay.
W: Okay, awesome.Ā
A: Also, I feel like if youāre an Earthblood elf, there might be some other day for your birthday, I donāt know what it is. Like not seed dayā
W: ālike sapling dayāyeah!
A: Something thatās like....
W: Sprout day, maybe?
A: Yeah.
W: Thatās cute. Okay, so this is a question from my friend, um...
A: Sprouting, or something? I dunno. Somethingāyou know what I mean?
W: Yeah. No, the ā I love the little worldbuilding stuff. So, we know Harrowās in the bird, and itās something that Viren at least attempted and knew maybe had a chance at working, but when he shows up in season 6, it doesnāt really get touched on, was there like a reason for that on Virenās end, or was it just not the story focus?
A: Sorry, when who shows up in season six?
W: When Viren shows up, like when he goes back to Katolis, he doesnāt tell anyoneā
A: Oh, oh! Right.
W: āabout the bird.
A: Like, should he have confessed about that?
W: Yeah.
A: I donāt know, I think his corest confession was, it really had to do with his guilt around Soren and what happened, but I ā I mean, I assume had like things not unraveled, he would have eventually said like I have something I must tell King Ezran, IāI donāt know. Butābut itās hard.
W: Mmhm. It also couldāve sounded too fantastical and convenient, like he mightāve been, are they even going to believe me? Because of course this would be something they would want to believe, are they going to believe me? Or was he unconfident that it worked, or?
A: Yeah. I donāt know. Heās already in pretty big trouble, would he try to tell a guard, or say āI need to talk to King Ezranā and get rejected. That mightāve been happening. Itās possible that he was like āI canāt tell you, because youāll think Iām mad, but I need to talk to King Ezranā and he just never got the chance, so. But I love that your questions and some of these questions are really motivated by people really putting themselves in the head and heart of these characters in the moment, like what would they think about, what are they carrying, how do they carry it, how do they unload it, yāknow?Ā
W: Yeah.
A: Cause thereās another answer which is like, it was just not the right time to get into it [W laughs] but ā but ā I think if one of the writers had said, āyou know, I think this would really be on Virenās mind, even if he doesnāt say it, we need to have some ā something we can point to that he said something to a guard or whatever,ā like, and I think that wouldāve been ā I wouldāve been very receptive to that idea, if someone had said something, ācause I ā I do like things where even if you donāt understand what they are at that moment, that later youāre like āOkay, that ā that tells me ā I understand now that I have the better vantage point what that ā what was happening there.āĀ
W: Well, I think even like thatās something that the show does really well a lot of the time, in terms of that like recontextualization, or looking back and being like āoh, thatās what that was that random, throwaway line in season one or two was aboutā and then we get to kind of connect the dots, so I think itās a testament to the character writing that they all do feel so lived in, in the moment, um.
A: Yeah.
W: Alright, so this is maybe an easier question.
A: Okay.
W: Do you ā what is your favourite Dragon King character design?
A: [laughs] I ā I mean yeah, if I said bearded Callum, Iād be in big trouble, right?
W: I love the beard. He just looks like my brother-in-law, so I was like, thatās fine.
A: Um. Letās see. Iām trying to think. I mean, part of what I love about Luna Devorans is again like, Hanna [Hofer, character designer] really reawakened this character for us. Like I think we might have found our way to Luna and the Luna storyline, but, you know, Hanna had held onto this character and the idea that he could be a really intriguing, you know. I donāt know, itās ā so Iām gonna say that because I ā Hannaās drawings and designs were what instigated a lot of the story and a lot of the ideas, like āOh, yes, interesting things can happen with this guy.ā
W: Yeah. Yeah, Iām super excited for him. He reminds me a lot of Kasef and Karim, so Iām just ā but again, on a much more maybe powerful, competent scale, so Iām like thatās really exciting. I suppose my final question would be is there anything that you think has really influenced Dragon Prince in terms of like, inspirations? I know whenever I engage with Shakespeare, I end up thinking about Dragon Prince. Is there anything like that for you, where like maybe Lord of the Rings or Shakespeare or?
A: So I donāt know if Iām correct or not when I say this, but I ā my recollection from reading the plays of Arthur Miller and Tennessee Williams was that Arthur Miller, thereās a lot of similarity in my mind just cause theyāre contemporary, and Iām way out of my canon in terms of like, Iām sure there are academic opinions on this, but my simplified view was that Arthur Miller had a slightly moralistic universe where outcomes were kind of almost determined by his understanding of a moral structure in the universe, and Tennessee Williams did not. It was very much centred in characters and heart and something tragic could happen to someone who didnāt deserve it, and something wonderful might happen to someone who didnāt deserve it, but peopleās feelings were the ā were the deepest truth, not the morality, not a core morality of the universe. Which is not to say that morality didnāt play a role or you know, truth ā
W: Peopleās motivations.
A: āand virtue and vice didnāt play out, but that idea to me is something that plays into the universe of Xadia, which is like is ā is there ā and for me, in Xadia, the moral universe exists through the truth in the hearts of the characters who are fighting for it to be that universe. So itās more, in a way itās more Tennessee Williams, but our characters on some level, a lot of our core characters are driven for it to be a better universe, and thatās just, you know, something I like. You know, I have always tried, you know, I reject the despair of fate in the kind of most negative sense that you canāt do anything to change fate, and so thatās to me like the core of epics and great stories are ā and this is very Lord of the Rings ā but itās characters who are small and alone, or small in number, believing they can change everything if they fight ā itās worth fighting for, they can try, and maybe they can change everything. And that, in the case of The Dragon Prince, some of it is changing the waves of generational violence that are coming down, the conflicts that are being passed down, like resisting that and fighting through it, and so I donāt know, thatās, thatās um ā so yeah a bit of Lord of the Rings, maybe a bit of what I perceive as the tension between Tennessee Williams and Arthur Miller dramatically.Ā
W: Okay, yeah. I was just seeing a production of Othello.
A: Yeah.
W: So obviously Iago was making me think of Aaravos, of like the liar who is pitting everyone, and whatever and stuff.Ā
A: Well, the Bible and mythology come in, too.
W: Oh, yeah!
A: Again, very like...
W: You guys sneak a lot of Egyptian mythology in there.
A: Oh, okay.
W: Like Ibis, and Thoth.Ā
A: I mean, mythologyās always interesting. In ninth grade, we had to read āThe Centaurā byādid you ever read that?
W: No, but Iāve heard of it.
A: John Updikeās āThe Centaurā and itās ā again, Iām recalling my ninth grade reading of this, but itās um, kind of a parallel story of, and I donāt even know if itās Cheron or Chiron, but the centaur whoās a teacher in a school, who is the centaur, but itās like metaphorically, and itās sort of like we go back and forth between these characters and sometimes the teacher is the centaur ā itās very odd, but itās a deeper, modern exploration of kind of some mythological themes, and I found it very powerful, and it said hereās something modern, a modern story, but weāre going to like connect it so that the echoes and themes go back two thousand years, and you go āoh thatās, thatās crazy, thatās so interesting.ā You know? I donāt know. So... yeah.
W: Yeah, I think it speaks to that ā how Dragon Prince layers itself both in like a history level of the world, like Aditi and Janai and Ezran and the Orphan Queen, but also just like between the modern day stories that the characters are going through and how they all kind of interconnect with similar themes and contrasts and stuff. Well, thatās everything for today, so, thank you so much!
A: Okay.
W: I think weāve hit our time. But as always, fantastic to chat with you. Thank you so much.
A: Likewise, I ā itās enjoyable, but also like, you always give me tons to think about and a sense for almost like, hereās an area you should be mining, and itās like āoh yeah, write that downā [W laughs] ācircle that part of the map or the storyā and itās like yeah, youāre right, thatās really ā I love our conversations, thank you.
People against piracy fail to realize that no, I canāt just ābuy it.ā They stopped making DVDs and Blu-Rays. Theyāre barely offering digital copies for download. I am not spending money I could use for food or bills to pay for a subscription service just so I can always have access to a beloved piece of media. Especially not when the service will remove media on a whim without concern for how the loss of access to that piece will make its artistic conservation nigh impossible.
For example, I recently learned that Disney+ had an original film called Crater. Itās scifi, family friendly, and seems cool - I would love to buy it as a holiday gift for my little brother! But: itās exclusive to D+ and THEY REMOVED IT LITERALLY MONTHS AFTER ITS RELEASE.
The ONLY way I can directly access this film is through piracy. The ONLY available ācopiesā of this film are hosted on piracy websites. Disney will NEVER release it in theaters, or as something to buy, and it may NEVER return to the streaming service. It will be LOST because we arenāt allowed to purchase it for personal viewing. If I canāt pay to own it, I wonāt pay for the privilege of losing it when corporate decides to put it in a vault.
So yes, Iām going to pirate and support piracy.
Edit: if you are able, use $5 you would otherwise use for a streaming subscription to donate to a GazaFunds campaign.
āif you love this character then you must make him happy in your fics, right?ā wrong. the horror. suffering. internal hemorrhage. hospital. immediately
STOP SCROLLING, MY BABY QAISāS WOUND OPENED AGAIN BEFORE MY EYES.
I started using torn, worn-out clothes instead of medical bandages for my baby Qais, and his wound became infected and opened again because I cannot afford proper supplies anymore.
Tonight, I tried cleaning the blood from his small body with shaking hands while he cried in pain, and I realized I no longer have anything left to ease his suffering.
TRAGICALLY, tonight my baby Qais lost consciousness again after his wound reopened and the bleeding returned, and I felt completely helpless watching his small body collapse in my arms. Please, I beg you, donate now and help me save him.
You see me in the distance, thinking that I'm smoking- @0luna123 - Tumblr Blog | Tumgag
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