(tdp spoilers below, so read at your own risk!)
there was a short list of deaths this season, but a beloved character was unfortunately one of the first names on this list. king harrow, father of ezran and step-father of callum, was killed in episode 3 by moonshadow elves.
but that’s just what we were told. king harrow isn’t actually dead.
we know viren has the ability to take a soul out of a body and swap two consciousnesses with each other.
we also know viren can swap these two souls by using the two-headed snake inside the basket he brought to the king, which he showed harrow in episode 2. want to know what viren conveniently has when he sees king harrow for the last time before harrow’s death? the basket with the snake.
but if this is the last time we see harrow, meaning this is the point where viren switched harrow’s soul out for another, what body could he have switched harrow’s soul with? the answer: king harrow’s bird
this is the final shot we see of both viren and harrow together, and the very last shot we ever see of harrow. the bird and harrow are right next to each other, while the snake is right by viren’s side. all viren would have to do is open the basket and the snake would lunge, swapping harrow and the bird’s souls quickly and easily.
in the following episode, episode 4, we see viren preparing to be coronated as king. his final act before stepping up to the crown is to speak to king harrow’s bird. (psst. take note of the parallels between the positions in which harrow and viren are standing in both the above and below pictures)
out of context, viren speaking to harrow’s bird right before he is about to be crowned king seems out of place, especially when viren had shown no interest in the bird before. but with the context of the soul swapping in previous episodes, we can come to the conclusion that king harrow’s soul is inside the bird. why else would the bird be in a cage? why would viren keep it, letting the bird see his coronation? he wants king harrow to see himself rise to power, while all harrow can do is watch from inside bars.
viren has an ongoing theme of faking deaths. first was the dragon prince egg, then both callum and ezran, and now he’s pretending harrow died instead of the actuality of swapping his soul out of his body. faking harrow’s death is nothing out of the ordinary, and after seeing viren fake 3 other deaths, this is almost expected.
now… the question of “why did the moonshadow elves’ bindings fall off if king harrow isn’t dead?” still remains. the simple answer? his body did die. like viren said in the first few screencaps of this post, the moonshadow elves will find the king’s body, and will find it dead. but, the king will live on inside another being’s body.
tl;dr: the king is still alive since viren swapped harrow’s soul with his bird’s soul before “king harrow” was murdered. viren still has the bird, with harrow’s soul inside, trapped in a cage. harrow is alive, and his death was a ploy for power.
