The Dragon King: More Nonsense? Or Have They Learned And Changed?
Am I the only one that thinks The Dragon King is a terrible idea? The promotional material reeks of “Look! Shiny object to draw you in!” only for the story to be garbage. Not only is it inconsistent with the lore they shared (why is Zym growing so fast when it’s supposed to take hundreds of years?!) but they’re piling on this new arc they never even mentioned in their plan for the saga. It was supposed to be the first arc (seasons 1-3) a second (seasons 4 and 5) and then a third (seasons 6 and 7) plus a prequel movie: “The Orphan Queen”
But then they pushed all 4-7 seasons into arc two, focused on entirely unnecessary things in the process, and had the potential to really twist the genre they were writing…and then in the very last episode nothing of any substance happened. Nothing was resolved, not even the conflict with the disappointingly bland excuse for a main villain (whom I loved in seasons 2 and 3, but once his rushed backstory and motivation were revealed…it was a major disappointment how much his plan made no sense and was a complete waste of everyone’s time.)
On top of that, they used the “Look! Shiny thing!” tactic to appeal to ATLA fans and get them to flock back for this spinoff series they’re doing: They had Zym talk in the very last episode, and he is voiced by Dante Basco. If you don’t know who that is, he was the voice of Zuko in ATLA. And this is word for word what they had this glorified mascot/magical pet who did f-all say:
“Brothers!” and then “Talk? Yeah! This is what I sound like.” (Context: Callum and Ezran reconcile and hug it out, saying they’re brothers. Then Zym speaks. Callum then says “Did Zym just-“ followed by that incredibly stupid line of “yeah, I talk now! :3”) Then he NEVER spoke again. But that they had him voiced by a very popular and famous character’s VA, only to say that? It was clear to me it was to get the fans to stay. They lost all their other hooks (Viren is dead, Zubeia is dead, Aaravos is in 7 year hibernation…) so all they have left is “Look guys! Dante Basco! Voice of Zuko is our title character! Isn’t that great?!”
And now they’re doing a time skip to 7 years into the future with this The Dragon King thing, instead of FINISHING THE STORY in the here and now. …Aaravos was supposed to return in seven years...so are they seriously going back on what they said about focusing on someone OTHER than Aaravos? Are they really going to miss out once again on showing the audience what Claudia went through in those years? And I guess the whole “bird Harrow” plot is no longer important if they either don’t find him in those seven years, or decide not to show the search.
I have zero hopes or faith in this spinoff series…and I strongly advise anyone that is to not be too hopeful or pulled in just by the new designs of the characters and one famous voice actor. Art is not all that makes a good show. The story has to be just as good too, or else it’s just more slop disguised as a five-star meal.
That said…seriously, how many of you are actually excited for this series? I’m curious…
Are you really going to watch it?
Yes
No