Recommendation of the Week. #6: The Dragon Prince
Creator: Aaron Ehasz (Writer from "Avatar: The Last Airbender" & "Futurama") & Justin Richmond
Genre: Comedy, Drama, Fantasy, Action-Adventure, Mystery
Actual Seasons: 7 (A Sequel Series Upcoming)
Official Channel: Netflix
The Dragon Prince is many things: It is a very multifaceted series, instead of limiting itself to being a conventional fantasy & epic adventure, it takes the time to delve almost poetically into the psyche of its characters and make it clear that there are no conventional "villains" or "heroes", but imperfect people full of fears and marked by their past.
It is a series that is aware of its limitations, whether in the technical or rating aspects (at least in the first 5 seasons), but still manages to overcome its own limitations, offering a beautiful visual aspect, impactful scenes, and a very well-achieved progressive evolution of tone.
It's a story that was crafted with great care and attention to detail; it's one of those shows where every time you watch it, you notice a new detail that will contribute to something future. But also, it knows how to take full advantage of its diverse media; whether it's the spin-off stories, graphic novels, or games, everything is developed while maintaining something that many other multimedia franchises fail at: a impeccable coherence and a clear focus on the main product (the series), so that the additional media complement the story but aren't essential for understanding and enjoying it.
It's a series you can expect a lot from, and it usually delivers: it can be heartbreaking, emotional, ridiculous, intelligent, or epic, making the experience of watching it in its entirety a true journey.
The biggest negative point I can make, besides the fact that the humor can sometimes feel intrusive or careless, is the dip in quality when transitioning from one arc to another., because there was a drastic drop from season 3 to season 4, but fortunately, this was resolved as the new story progressed.
So yes, if you can, give it a chance, and if you like it, support its creators so they can bring us "The Dragon King," a sequel series that will delve deeper into the loose ends left by the original story.