@julia on Twitter found this similarity recently and the first thing I thought of was: if the Sun staff belongs to the Sun Queen, does the Moon staff belong to Moon royalty, and if so does that mean that Runaan is a prince?
“Runaan of the Moonshadow Elves” is his full name. I never gave it much thought. But Rayla isn’t Rayla of the Moonshadow Elves. Lujanne isn’t Lujanne of the Moonshadow Elves. Only Runaan seems to have this long title.
Let me make a quick list of princey facts and headcanons about Runaan, which spawned from a lively Discord discussion today:
elaborate, perfectly coiffed hairstyle compared to simpler or shaggy styles for the other Moonshadows we’ve met
by far the longest hair among the Moonshadows, or any elves except Queen Khessa
reserved demeanor, formal posture
specifically, British when everyone else (except Lujanne) has a Scottish accent, so there’s a bit of historical reference in there
(so Lujanne is now royalty or royal-adjacent too it seems)
Runaan’s mount just got revealed as a Moonstrider, which is a difficult creature to tame and control unless you’re an experienced and patient trainer/ rider, and we all know how Prince Callum had to take riding lessons all the time because That’s What Princes Do. So Runaan could have learned to ride his Moonstrider at a very young age as part of his princely duties and just be That Good now
Thranduil on his elk. That is all.
(no take your time it’s a good visual)
Rayla’s parents were Runaan’s best friends
princes don’t have best friends
what they do have is bodyguards
Rayla’s parents were primed to work for the Dragon Queen because they’d spent years guarding another prince: Runaan
of course Runaan had to be the one to speak his true feelings to Ethari, rather than the other way around. No one just walks up to their prince and confesses their love. It is Not Done.
Rayla’s parents must’ve had pity on Runaan and Ethari and encouraged Runaan to speak up, because Ethari, however he felt, could never say it out loud, and that must’ve been really hard on him with all his big open feels
growing up in a royal environment would teach Runaan early on to separate his feelings into public and private, so he has no trouble switching into assassin mode
he may not have had much of a soft side until he met Ethari
he initiates the kiss by the pool, but he also breaks it. He’s learned how to be soft, but there are still hard limits built into who he is, and those will probably never change
Runaan’s bio says “he cares deeply for his people” and that means literally all the Moonshadow elves because he’s their prince
“Humans are liars” is probably something he learned from his family rather than as an assassin
Runaan being sent to a castle to kill a prince could have all kinds of deeper associations for him, but he took the job anyway
the Dragon Queen sent a prince to kill a prince, and to kill a king for killing a king
it’s likely that Runaan isn’t in line for the throne at the moment because he became an assassin. It’s dangerous work, and no one wants an unstable kingdom. I mean he is living in a tree with a cute craftsman
he could have had support within his family, but possibly only because they wanted his spot in the succession if he left to be with Ethari
whatever his connection to his royal family, he’s living near the border in the Silvergrove with Ethari and Rayla now, and there’s got to be a story there. Did he leave willingly, or was he chased out? Whatever happened, his bodyguards chose him over everything else and stayed with him.
maybe the reason Rayla’s parents joined the Dragon Guard is less to do with Sarai’s death and more to do with losing their jobs at the Moonshadow palace
and maybe they weren’t a couple either until Runaan and Ethari fell in love, and their constant advice and nudging and sneaking the two to see each other brought them together until they fell in love too
Runaan doesn’t like sweets. He started off as a prince and moved into a tree. Sarai adores sweets. She started off as not-a-queen and moved into the palace. He probably ate all he wanted and got tired of indulging himself, whereas Sarai finally got to indulge for the first time.
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