Awesome / The Dragon Prince

Thunder Reigns

Moment Subpages are Spoilers Off. You Have Been Warned.

---

Book 1: Moon

Chapter 1: Echoes of Thunder

• Though the act is morally reprehensible, the fact that the (mostly) non-magical humans killed the King of the Dragons is a pretty impressive feat.

Chapter 2: What is Done

• King Harrow accepts the fact that he very well may die to assassins, but damned if he isn't going to let that happen to Callum and Ezran. The fact that he (attempts) to send the two to safety by disguising it as a vacation shows that he doesn't want to send them into a panic.
  • It also speaks volumes how he admits his own failures to Callum, and trusts him enough to tell him the reason why he's sending Callum and Ezran to Banther Lodge.
  King Harrow: Take care of your brother.
  • He also denies the chance to escape while a body double takes the hit, both because he hates dark magic and because he doesn't want others to suffer for his mistakes.
• The fact that Rayla beats the other assassins to the castle by using her "Sword-Hook Thingys" to climb a sheer rock face that's surrounded by a moat.
• Callum is able to detect Rayla, a trained assassin, sneaking up on him. Then, he distracts her by throwing a tapestry on her, giving him enough time to escape.
• When he learns that the assassins are after Ezran, Callum, without hesitation, claims that he himself is Prince Ezran.

Chapter 3: Moonrise

• Once again, Callum shows his talent for quick, gutsy and decisive action. Claudia jumps into the secret chamber and tells the princes to shelter behind her. It sounds like an easy choice, right? Their human friend who they've known for years vs the elf who tried to assassinate them. It's a crucial moment, but the brothers decide Rayla is a better choice for the egg, their country and peace with Xadia.
• Claudia is able to conjure about a pair of smoke wolves to chase down Rayla even after being placed into a handcuff.
• Despite the fact that she was ready to kill them in the previous episode, Rayla doesn't hesitate to protect Callum, Ezran, and the egg from the shadow wolves even though she gets bitten by one.
• Callum stealing the Primal Source from Claudia and using magic for the first time to dispell the wolves:
  Ezran: You did it!
  Rayla: You never mentioned you were a mage.
  Callum: Who, me? No, I'm... I'm not really anything.
  Ezran: You just did magic!
  Rayla: Yeah, that's what a mage is. You're a mage.
  Callum: Oh, really? Wow! I'm a mage! I'm a mage!!
• There's also the fact that Callum can do magic at all. Earlier that day Claudia casually shows Callum an aspiro spell with the Primal Stone. Despite seeing this spell only once and from the opposing side to the caster, he manages to copy the spell perfectly. This manages to demonstrate how much of a quick study he is, and foreshadows his potential to swiftly learn magical abilities through observation alone.
• Even though there are assassins coming for him, Ezran makes the decision to take the egg to the roof to stop the assassins himself.
• Rayla fights against her mentor Runaan (someone who has more than twenty years of experience) to give Callum and Ezran a chance to escape with the egg:
  Runaan: Don't do this. I will kill you.
  Rayla: Probably.
• After two episodes of Viren and Harrow talking about how unstoppable Moonshadow elves are under a full moon, we finally get to see them in action. The full moon turns them almost invisible. We're treated to this as Rayla and Runaan begin their fight.
• Both sides deserve kudos for the centerpiece battle in the king's tower.
  • Soren's group are "the best guards in the country" and they outnumber Runaan's group in addition to advantages in strategic and fore-warned positioning but Runaan's group succeeds in killing King Harrow.
  • Runaan's group are elite assassins who are basically invisible during a full moon. These three episodes have played them up as unstoppable. Harrow sees his death at their hands as inevitable. While he is correct, and they do indeed kill him, it is implied that all of them were killed except for Runaan, who was badly injured and captured.

Chapter 4: Bloodthirsty

• How is General Amaya introduced? By kicking down a heavy wooden door and proclaiming that "she doesn't believe in locks."
• The fight between Rayla and Amaya (while being pretty short), is an excellent example of close-quarters combat:
  • Amaya is so powerful that she No-Sell Rayla's attacks and punches a support beam so hard it shatters
  • The fights ends with Amaya using her forked shield to pin Rayla to the wall by the neck before punching her out.
• Rayla's escape; the only assistance she needs is a flash from Bait before she uses the restraints to her advantage to knock the guards out.

Chapter 5: An Empty Throne

• Callum finds another way to release the lightning spell; he dips it into the water and electrocutes the huge fish that is attacking Bait and Rayla.

Chapter 6: Through the Ice

• Rayla's fight with Corvus, a relentless soldier sent by Amaya to take out Rayla and bring the princes home. Really cool flail/chain weapon vs twin butterfly knife swords.
• How the terrain is used is also pretty awesome: Rayla takes advantage of the fact that they're fighting on a cliff by catching Corvus' chain and jumping off said cliff in order to take him down with her. She uses the chain and her sword to catch herself while Corvus tumbles down into the ditch.
• With nowhere to run from the oncoming avalanche, Callum plants his feet and uses a spell to protect the group. It doesn't protect them for long, but it mitigates the worst of the snow.

Chapter 7: The Dagger and the Wolf

• The Sunfire dagger that the braggart uses in this episode is so hot that it can cut through a steel sword like butter. It's the fantasy equivalent of a 1000 degree knife that needs a special sheath just to keep it from burning the wielder when it's not in use.

Chapter 8: The Cursed Caldera

• Callum is finally able to unlock another school of magic once Rayla teaches him the dragon word for lightning. He manages to use it to set up Rayla's killing blow on the leech monster later in the episode.
• After their disastrous first attempt, the group manages to come together at the end of the episode and execute Callum's attack plan flawlessly, resulting in their victory.

Chapter 9: Wonderstorm

• How do you hatch a dragon egg? Put it in the eye of a thunderstorm! How does the group do that? By smashing Callum's orb which contained said storm and is then used to save the Dragon Prince's life.
  • Callum smashing the orb in the first place. He's admitted to having a lot of insecurities and that magic is one of the first things he felt good about, and without the Stone he might not be able to do it at all. But he still smashes it with nothing more than a sigh, because someone's life is at stake.
• Rayla saving the egg from falling off the cliff, with her bad hand no less.
• Azymondias biting off the band from Rayla's hand. Rayla wasn't able to cut it off before with a Sunfire dagger, one of the most powerful weapons in existence - and yet, the little dragon playfully snaps at it and it falls off. The Dragon Prince is just that powerful.

Book Two: Sky

Chapter 2: Half Moon Lies

• Rayla using the rose's thorn to keep herself awake and immune to Claudia's sleeping spell.
  Rayla: Hard to sleep with a thorn pokin' you.
• Soren and Rayla have a pretty interesting duel, showing their individual styles of fighting. It turns out, "sweep the leg" really is a thing when you are a moon-shadow elf assassin.
• In spite of being insecure from not being able to do magic again, Callum manages to defuse a fight between a dark mage, a captain of the Crownguard, and an elven assassin and convince them to put a pin in it until the morning. Even Claudia mentions that she's impressed.
  • Put it this way: Callum had once said he was always bad at everything related to being a prince, including leadership. Here, he manages to get three accomplished warriors to stop fighting simply because he tells them to!

Chapter 4: Voyage of the Ruthless

• When Ezran and Zym fall off a cliff, Rayla acts quickly to catch them, while Callum catches her and holds up the entire group. Action Duo indeed.
• Have you ever seen a boat parallel park before? Have you ever wondered what Tokyo Drift on water would look like? Don't worry, Villads will show you both. While blind.
• Amaya catching wind of an Elven ambush, saving a hostage, and beating the snot out of the Sunfire leader before making a clean getaway with her remaining troops. Bear in mind that said leader was armed with a blade that could cut through steel like cheese and that elves clearly ascribe to Asskicking Leads to Leadership. So do the humans, apparently.
  • At one point, Amaya loses her sword when the Elven leader slices it in half with barely any effort. Amaya responds by laying a beatdown with her fists.
  • An understated example, but the guard who gave Amaya the "all clear" while signaling danger deserves serious kudos. It's implied that he had been taken prisoner and ordered to betray his comrades at arrow-point. Yet rather than capitulating out of fear or stoically refusing, he bluffed the elves into thinking he was intimidated so that he could warn Amaya via sign language. He had barely a minute of screentime, yet he undoubtedly saved their lives.
  • It bears mentioning just how well the humans handled themselves; the elves had the high ground, superior weapons, armor, and numbers, had completely surrounded their quarry, and started off with the element of surprise. It should have been a massacre. Instead, the humans doled out as many casualties as they received while making a clean getaway, leaving the Sunfire Elves literally fuming at their failure.
• The fact that Janai is able to force Amaya to retreat.
• Viren calmly rebuffing the entity in the mirror in spite of his clear obsession over it; he may be a power hungry usurper and a dark magic enthusiast, but he's not dumb enough to muck around with something he doesn't understand. The look on the entity's face is priceless.

Chapter 5: Breaking the Seal

• Aanya's burn to Viren when he undermines her authority by pointing out how young she is.
  Aanya: It seems I am a crown without an adult, and you are an adult without a crown. Let's just begin.

Chapter 6: Heart of a Titan

• Despite taking a hit that could have given her a concussion, it instead gives Amaya a scar and her only response is to angrily charge at the titan.
  • Also her team-up with her sister.
• Even though it failed to stop Avizandum for long, Viren shows off an impressive upgrade to Callum's "Aspiro" spell with "Aspiro frigis", which freezes Avizandum in place. Avizandum gets his own by simply charging up and bursting out of the ice prison.

Chapter 7: Fire and Fury

• Rayla holding her own against several human soldiers.
• Is Callum's dark magic spell creepy and morally questionable? Yes. Is turning the chains binding a dragon into snakes awesome? Yes.
  • More awesome still is that beforehand Claudia told him that dark magic is dangerous without someone to show how it's done and Callum's response reminds us why he is good at magic.
    Callum: You already did.
• Soren standing up to a freaking dragon with just a sword. It ultimately ends badly for him, but he managed to pose a credible threat to a massive town-destroying creature with no magic, siege weapons, or guards to back him up, and even managing to slice off one of it's horns.
  • It's ultimately a Curb Stomp Cushion however as the dragon still manages to defeat Soren relatively easily. The only thing that stops the dragon from killing Soren after that is Zym distracting her; at first she roars at him but then she sniffs him and recoils in what looks fear and flies off. Despite being a baby Zym can already command respect from other dragons.

Chapter 8: The Book of Destiny

• Aaravos subtly convincing Viren to follow his orders. Viren used to be the guy behind the scenes, but now Aaravos has turned that on him and is the one in command.
• "Callum, you are free. You are free from both the past and the future. Nothing is written in stone. Fate is a lie. YOU. ARE. FREE."

Chapter 9: Breathe

• Callum becoming the first human in who knows how long (if ever) to use primal magic by understanding the sky arcanum. And he figures it out with nothing more than his own insight and observation in a matter of days!
  • The level of awesomeness involved here cannot be overstated. Lujanne outright said humans can't do magic, and implied that even magical creatures like elves can't connect to an arcanum they won't born with. Callum singlehandedly throws potentially thousands of years of conventional wisdom to the wind.
• Viren and Aaravos hit a guy so hard he turned into dust.
  • Earlier in the episode we just learned that it was possible for people to use primal magic they are not born with, without a primal source. This however is not news to Aaravos, who busts out at least three different types of magic and channels it to Viren. According to King Harrow, he can use all six.
• King Ezran having the maturity and responsibility to set aside what he's been wanting for the last two sessions (to travel to Xadia) in favor of what he needs to do for his people and his kingdom, proving himself to be The Good King before his butt has even hit the throne.
• Zym finding the strength and determination to fly for the first time (with some psychic help from Ezran) in order to save Rayla and Callum.
  • Callum using his new found magic to give Zym a much needed boost at a critical moment.

Book Three: Sun

Chapter 1: Sol Regem

• Rayla standing up to who's essentially the former king of dragons and telling him he can't kill Callum because not only was he not a bad human, he's her best friend. She then holds her hand out which Callum takes in solidarity.
• With just his scarf and an aspiro spell, Callum quickly improvises a plan and manages to outsmart and trap Sol Regem. He may not have yet reached his full potential as a mage, but Callum certainly knows how to work with what he has.
  • In addition to being able to cast an aspiro spell, Callum can now actually use his hands to divert the air flow and direct where the wind blows. If he were in the Avatar universe, he'd be an airbender!
• Ezran bursts through the doors of the throne room on a banther and slides off before walking up to the throne and accepting his crown. Certainly makes for an Awesome Moment of Crowning!
• In the flashback at beginning of the episode, we learn that Ziard, the first Human Dark Mage, rather than a life-destroying monster, is at most a Well-Intentioned Extremist trying to raise up his oppressed people in the only way he could. And when Sol Regem threatens his city, he summons up his power and blasts him in the face, permanently blinding him. While he does lose his life in the process, this lone human, this "lesser being," singlehandedly brought down the King of the Dragons.
• Amaya's duel with Janai goes about as well as you'd expect considering Janai's sword... until Amaya easily disarms her, and throws the sword into the crates of explosives she was trying to detonate. White-hot sword meets gunpowder, everything goes boom.

Chapter 2: The Crown

• Viren's shadow elf assassins killed King Florian and Queen Fareeda, and gravely wounded King Ahling. Queen Aanya, on the other hand, survived her assassin apparently uninjured, proving that her claim she survived assassinations before wasn't hyperbole.
• Callum climbing up a tree that's hundreds of feet tall almost to the top showing that he's stronger than he looks.

Chapter 3: Ghost

• When Amaya is subject to The Light, at first she looks away as the light begins to blind. Then Janai tells her that to survive she needs to LOOK, and what does she do when both Janai and the Interpreter both flinch away as the Light goes ever brighter? She bares her teeth and looks. She is reduced to gasping afterwards, but the fact that she managed to impress the Sunfire Queen speaks volumes.

Chapter 4: The Midnight Desert

• According to Word of God, Callum's steed is much harder to tame and to ride than Rayla's. While he struggles, the fact that, for the most part, he is able to ride even as it jumps from ledge to ledge is pretty impressive.

Chapter 5: Heroes and Masterminds

• One might expect Viren to defy Ezran's final order to allow those who don't want to fight to peaceably withdraw from the army. Instead he honors it, and in the process, manages to present it in a way that makes the army even more fanatically devoted to him.
  • Even amid the jeers of their comrades, there are still several soldiers who lay down their arms and leave. The first to do this is Marcos, the soldier whose life Rayla spared back in the first episode, who shows his conviction by stabbing his sword into the ground and laying his helmet on it.
• Soren managed to engineer a near flawless escape for Ezran, found a way to reunite him with Callum and Rayla, and helped any dissenters to Viren's rule escape to Duren with very little preparation time - even finding a way to contact Lujanne (even if he couldn't remember her name). Not bad for someone much of the rest of the cast treat like an easily manipulated buffoon.
• Rayla and Callum chasing down and ascending the ambler (a hundred foot tall behemoth as large as a castle) in a scene right out of Shadow of the Colossus. Even for Rayla it's an impressive feat, but Callum, an Action Survivor, is somehow able to keep up with her in spite of his obvious difficulty is pretty damn awesome.
  • Just when it looks like Nyx is about to make a clean getaway with Zim in tow, the little rascal finally decides that he's had enough of her antics and blasts her out of the air with his lightning breath. Bear in mind that Zim is barely a week old at this point and only learned to fly a few short days ago, yet he still handled himself like a pro.
• Rayla risks not just her life but her soul to save the treacherous elf Nyx from her own Laser-Guided Karma, despite the apparent futility of the effort. Why? Because she's a hero, and she could.
  • In the process, Rayla proves herself to be literally faster than an entire swarm of striking serpents. At one point, she slaughters nine in less than four seconds.
  • If you look closely, you can see her punting a serpent into the air with a kick to the face as it lunges toward her, all without breaking stride.

Chapter 6: Thunderfall

• Just the fact that Viren and Harrow, a warrior and a mage, by themselves, challenged the Dragon King, who's destroyed entire armies, and not only came-out on top, but neither of them was seriously injured. Even Aaravos seems genuinely impressed.
• Viren parting The Breach with a spell that leaves his army awed and inspired in equal measure. Viren may be an outright villain at this point, and the spell may have been in service to a darker cause, but it's a magnificent display of power all the same.

Chapter 7: Hearts of Cinder

• Aaravos has turned another mere mortal to dust, but not before giving the poor soul a "Reason You Suck" Speech. At least he told the queen what happened to her grandmother... before incinerating her. He killed the Sunfire Queen by burning her to death.
• Aaravos corrupted and took control of the source of all the sunfire elves' powers. It's at this point we realize that Aaravos is far worse and far more powerful than anyone thought.
  • Even though they had four whole armies at their beck and call, Aaravos and Viren accomplished this all by themselves with one hell of a Batman Gambit: Just waltz right into a city full of elves who despise corruption (while tainted to the core), knowing that the arrogant, traditionalist queen will demand you be "purified" in a grand, symbolic, and above all predictable way at the very source of their power, which you would never be able to get near otherwise. Even when bound, under guard, and being marched toward his execution, Viren was utterly in control.
• The next time we see of Viren, he is already well outside the Sunfire Capital. We are never told how he got out of a city teeming with martial, zealous, and seriously pissed off Sunfire Elves, but the answer is fairly obvious; he's become truly unstoppable when teaming up with Aaravos.
  • Janai states in latter episodes on that the Sunfire home guard was decimated a short while ago. No prizes for guessing who's responsible.
• Soren decides to leave Viren's service and join up with Callum and Ezran. Claudia pleads with him to stay, but Soren has had enough of Viren's abuse and doesn't change his mind.

Chapter 8: Dragonguard

• When Callum talks to Ibis, we see that the awkward, insecure "step-prince" is gone. First, Callum shuts him up with a fulminis spell when Ibis tries to condescendingly tell him that humans can't do magic. Then, Callum asks Ibis to teach him magic, but it's not for his own benefit. Instead, his main motivation to learn magic now is to defend his friends. In a season that puts less individual emphasis on Callum than in Book 2, he's clearly grown a great deal.
• When Viren attacked the Dragon King's lair, some of the Dragonguard did flee, but Rayla's parents stood their ground and fought to protect Zym's egg. Unfortunately, Viren had a few too many tricks for them to counter.
• For Viren, he manages to put up a decent fight against Rayla's parents at the same time for a while before having to resort to magic. Considering they're supposed to be two of the most elite fighters in Xadia, that is pretty impressive.
• Rayla's mother, trapped in ice by Viren, manages to think quickly and convince Viren to take the egg with him, saving Zym and allowing the entire series to take place.
• Soren's Rousing Speech, both for encouraging the others to face Viren and his entire army on their own ground, and for demonstrating how much he's grown.
  • In his speech, he spells out clearly the way Viren has manipulated and gaslit him (and, as we understand, many others), showing that he's seen through his father once and for all, and also found an inner strength that does not rely solely on his approval. He calls Viren what he is: a villain.

Chapter 9: The Final Battle

• It seems hopeless for our heroes as Viren's army breaks through their lines and Callum is about to be killed by Prince Kasef. Then, out of nowhere, an arrow pierces Kasef's hand. As he regards it, the archer nocks two more and nails Kasef in the head and heart. It's Queen Aanya, and she's brought her army and those of Katolis that refused to join Viren. They easily rout Viren's army with a hail of arrows and then pick off the stragglers on horseback.
  • The Katolis deserters were given insignias with a broken chain link symbol—to show that they were the "weak links". When they come with the army of Duren, they're flying banners with that very symbol. In doing so they show Viren's shortsightedness. Their badge of shame was a "weak link," but in showing up to oppose Viren's demon army while bearing it proudly they demonstrate the double-edged nature of that symbolism—it is also a broken chain.
• The outnumbered sunfire elves holding the line against Viren's army for as long as they did. During the initial charge, their shields are able to link together to form a kind of heat-energy field that sends out a flaming shockwave that throws back the enemy. Too bad they are only able to use it once, but the effect is substantial still. If nothing else, it makes for a strong, defiant statement that shows they won't be going down so easily.
  • A heroic defense is all the more impressive when pitted against a formidable onslaught; Viren's troops were able to trade with the elves blow for blow.
    • Kasef was the obvious standout, beating both Amaya and Janai (two very well established badasses) around like rag-dolls, although this is latter upstaged when he garrotes a damn dragon with a chain and forces it to the ground.
    • Speaking of Kasef and Janai's duel, the melee is so fierce that at one point they trade no less than eleven blows within the span of five seconds.
    • Even Viren's ordinary troops manage to subvert the "Giant Eagles Solve Everything" meme by handily defeating a full flight of dragons. The dragon's fiery breath fails to do anything but make them angry, and any who try to land are immediately hammered by Ballista mounted grapples. Even lone dragons have been treated as nigh-unstoppable forces in this setting, but more than half a dozen barely survived the encounter.
• Ezran fearlessly leading a band of dragons into the battle whilst riding on one with all the confidence and steadiness of a general, no, a king!
• One of the people Aanya brings is the baker, of all people, bashing enemy soldiers with his rolling pin and throwing jelly tarts in their faces to blind them.
• Callum singlehandedly holding the path against the transformed soldiers, knocking down waves and waves of them with wind and lightning until Kasef blindsides him.
• It turned out to only be an illusion, but Soren ordering his father away from Ezran and then stabbing him in the heart when he moved to attack.
• When Viren is about to take Zym, Bait leaps out from behind and stuns him with his bright glow-flash! Viren recovers quickly and knocks him aside, but it gave Zym precious time to run away.
  • Later, with Rayla stuck in Viren's ice spell, Bait recovers from his own hit to retrieve a fire lamp to help free Rayla from the ice.
• Zym himself gets one for attempting to fight back against Viren by shooting lightning at him. Unfortunately, Viren gets his own by almost casually deflecting said lightning.
• Rayla doing her damnedest best to stop Viren even though he is far superior in power. When Viren begins to suck the life out of Zym, she thinks quickly and tackles Viren off the mountain, even knowing it'd be at the cost of her own life. It even takes Aaravos by surprise!
  • The last point should deserve more than a passing note: she is the first person that manages to take the ancient elven archmage by surprise and thwart his plan.
• Just to make it clear, Rayla succeeds in her role as a Dragonguard, even though Viren is more powerful than her. While Callum saves her life, Zym is now safe because of her. Unlike the Dragonguard members who fled, she has all the spirit of a defender they never had even if she's not as skilled.
• Callum sees Rayla tackle Viren to both their potential deaths, so he dives off after her and learns how to give himself wings on the way down.
  • In context, this moment is nothing short of amazing. The entire series thus far, Callum would always stand by the sidelines or cast spells from a safe distance, unless he's cornered. Here, Callum is standing safely on the ledge, and it takes him less than a second to place his iconic sketchbook off to the side and leap headfirst off the spiral, without even knowing if he could fly. He's come a long way from being a sheltered prince of Katolis.
  • Additionally, Callum's transformation marks a complete defeat for Viren. The Dark Mage came to the Storm Spire specifically to absorb Zym's power and "transcend his human form," all to attain more power for himself. Callum actually does transcend his human limitations when he gives himself mage wings, but he does so without using Dark Magic, and uses it entirely to save Rayla, not for his own benefit. In short, Callum achieves what Viren set out to do, without taking any shortcuts or committing atrocities, and uses it to save others. And Callum only saw the spell cast once.
  • Ultimately, the scene harkens back to Callum's "Because she's Rayla" speech a few episodes back, with him now jumping to save her in the face of impossible odds. Apparently, her heroics inspired him to be a hero too!
  • Imagine that entire moment from Rayla's point of view. She's in freefall and has completely accepted her imminent death. But when she sees Callum, she panics; to her horror, she realizes that he is not making out of this alive either. Suddenly, as she loses all hope... Callum somehow summons wings and dives down to save her! It's no wonder she confesses her love to him—he was so determined to protect her, that he was going to break through the limits of his potential to do it.
    Rayla: Callum! But how did you—?
    Callum: Because I love you, Rayla! I really do.
    Rayla: I love you too, Callum.
  • As Callum flies them back up, we hear a triumphant reprise to Callum's theme, "Only Human." Back in season 2, we heard this theme when Lujanne explained to him that magic is not his destiny. Here, we see how limitless Callum's potential really is.
• Aaravos notices Rayla's (a trained assassin) stealthy approach. With his back turned. Despite not being really there.
• The tumblr user "The Red-Haired Monkey" said it best about Callum's new look: "In Book One, Callum didn't think he could be a real prince. In Book Two, he didn't think he could become a real mage. But by the end of Book Three, with his jacket torn to shreds, the runes on his arms featuring prominently alongside his Katolian red shirt and scarf, he's proven that he is both a mage and a prince, his destiny firmly in his hands."
• Viren wakes up after his Disney Villain Death, astonished that he somehow managed to survive. Claudia, with fully half her hair now white, bluntly tells him that he didn't survive it at all. Claudia used a massive amount of Dark Magic to bring her father Back from the Dead, and judging by the state of the crown, this was after Viren had obeyed the Chunky Salsa Rule.
• Credit where credit is due; in spite of having his plan ostensibly foiled, Aaravos seems to have gotten what he wanted in the end, as he absorbed enough of Zym's life force to have his familiar enter into a metamorphosis.

Book 4: Earth

Chapter 1: Rebirthday

• While it's revealed to be temporary, and she had to cross a lot of lines to accomplish it, Claudia gets one for managing to bring Viren back from the dead.
• Callum's proficiency in magic has grown to the point where he has been given the title of High Mage, and he can casually cast a spell to create a makeshift umbrella. Boy has come a long way in two years.
  • Later on, when Soren implies the secret he's keeping is 'Crownguard business', he jumps straight into big brother mode at the implication that someone may be conspiring against Ezran and outright intimidates the highly skilled warrior when he tries to evade. When he sees suspicious lights in Ezran's tower, he wastes zero time flying right over there, ready to confront whoever is after his little brother.

Chapter 2: Fallen Stars

Chapter 3: Breathtaking

• We get a brilliant fight scene between Claudia and Ibis, and both mages get a great chance to show what they can do.
  • This episode showed the first time two mages go head to head, and boy, is it a sight to behold! Between Ibis performing feats of incredible agility and Claudia dodging incoming swords with ease, the battle cemented each character's status as not only wizened scholars of magic, but accomplished warriors in their own right.
• King Ezran's speech is a testament to how much he's grown. In Season 3, after becoming king he was deeply unsure of himself, and easily pushed around by circumstances. This time? When the painting he commissioned was vandalized he rallies himself and sticks to his Actual Pacifist nature, and his speech has everyone spellbound.

Chapter 4: Through the Looking Glass

• Nightmare Fuel it may be, but Aaravos' control of Callum is nothing short of awesome for his powers. Let's take into account that he is trapped in an inescapable prison, where no one has all the clues to, divided among the Great Dragons of each Primal Source. And yet, he has a brief glimpse at our heroes through Viren's old mirror and effortlessly takes over Callum and proceeds to give the heroes a Breaking Speech, pointing out each of their flaws and having a laugh about it. Then he releases Callum, takes a seat, with a Projectile Kiss, he shatters the mirror. Say what you want about Aaravos, he is nothing to sneeze at when it comes to magic.

Chapter 5: The Great Gates

• Soren stepping in to defend a dragon from a drakerider, managing to match the Earthblood elf blow for blow. Even when disarmed and held at swordpoint, some quick thinking and a nearby gourd nets him the victory.

Chapter 6: The Drakewood

Chapter 7: Beneath the Surface

Chapter 8: Rex Igneous

Chapter 9: Escape from Umber Tor

• Just as it looks as if Rex Igneous is about to kill our heroes, Zubeia immediately swoops in and stands over them. As the two Archdragons enter an intense stare down, Rex Igneous makes the first move by unleashing a Mighty Roar to Zubeia, which causes plumes of fire to burst from the ground in a clear display of threatening power. In response, Zubeia roars right back at him, causing lightning to strike the ground near them, making it clear to Rex Igneous that if he wants to kill Zubeia's son and his friends, the Archdragon of the Earth has to go through the Dragon Queen herself to do it. Despite a posturing growl, Rex Igneous decides that fighting Zubeia isn't worth the minor injury and promptly withdraws back into Umber Tor.

Book 5: Ocean

Chapter 1: Domina Profundis

• Rayla bringing up the possibility of them failing to stop Claudia and Viren, and proposes preparing for such a possibility with the below line.
  Rayla: If we can't stop them from freeing Aaravos, we're going to need to know one thing. How do you kill a Startouch Elf?
• Ezran standing tall as he requests aid from Domina Profundis, the Archdragon of the Sea. When the dragon expresses surprise that a child summoned her, Zubeia corrects her that a king summoned her. Little guy has come far.
• After Rayla goes behind his back to not just sneak into his study, but break into Viren's old rooms (which he personally sealed off) and is caught with Runaan's bow (the weapon used to kill Harrow) by Opeli and the guards, Callum declares that she must have had a good reason for both doing so, and not telling him in a staggering display of maturity. Overlaps with Heartwarming.

Chapter 2: Old Wounds

• As morally shady as it may have been, the implication that Viren managed to subdue his Dark Magic instructor and seal him in a coin indicates that it didn't take him that long to surpass his mentor.
• Terry Taking a Third Option between Claudia's insistence they have to keep moving and his own concern for her health, using his Earth Magic to create a boat for them to float along the nearby river. Even outside the lateral thinking, his Earth Magic was apparently enough to create a sturdy and well decorated boat while Claudia was asleep.
• Despite being caught off guard and losing his horse, Callum and Rayla manage to fend off a corrupted bear, even after turning back to save Bait. For bonus points, Rayla makes impressive use of Runaan's bow despite not having picked it up in years.

Chapter 3: Nightmares & Revelations

• Ezran delivering a speech to scores of dragons in Xadia, enlisting their aid to search for Claudia and Viren and vastly increasing the heroes chances of stopping them. After a brief silence, the dragons roar in assent, and near the end of the episode one is seen flying over Claudia and Viren's location.
• Villainous example, but Viren and Aaravos' corruption of Lux Aurea persists to this day and is the reason the Sunfire Elves are living in a village of tents rather than their city. An unknown corruption turns anyone exposed to it into monsters who can further spread the infection, with Janai telling of how they have lost many people in their attempts to reclaim it. Terrifying example of the havoc a single action from Aaravos can wreak.

Chapter 4: The Great Bookery

• After much research, Kazi manages to find what can kill a Startouch Elf: a weapon called the Novablade! Callum later mentions that they even have a location for it as well, giving the heroes a solid next step in their plan.
• After Rayla informs Callum of what Viren did to Runaan and her parents, he recalls seen a spell for this exact situation, and before they leave manages to get the information he needs. That's right, in less than a few hours Callum managed to come up with a solution to Rayla's biggest dilemma, and to make things better, informs her that one of the key components for the spell is in the same place as the Novblade, letting them kill two birds with one stone! Unfortunately, it's also what causes them to still be there when the sun goes down and the monsters come out.
• The battle at the Great Bookery has several of these for the heroes.
  • Withing the first few seconds of the fight Amaya pulls off an impressive kill on one of the corrupted Banthers, disorienting it with a shield throw to the face (which she then catches), then sliding under it and slicing it's belly open with the sword Janai gave her.
  • Rayla continues to make great use of Runaan's bow despite the short amount of time she's wielded it.
  • Just before a corrupted Banther is about to pounce on Rayla, Callum intercepts the beast mid air with an electric punch. Why is this awesome? Because for years Callum had bemoaned that he was bad at everything, and he was ruthlessly mocked for being weak and incapable of fighting. Now the shoe is on the other foot, and damn is it awesome.
  • The above is followed by Rayla taking full advantage of the opportunity and slicing it up with her swords. Whole thing reinforces Amaya's point to Rayla and shows how formidable she and Callum are working together.
  • Even Bait gets a moment to shine, literally, by disorienting one of the corrupted Banthers just as it was about to attack Amaya.
  • Callum and Rayla's Combination Attack, using a spell to guide her arrow straight to the eye of the Banther attacking Amaya and Bait even as the the two frantically moving about prevents a clear shot.
• It looks like the group are about to meet their doom, but then Zubeia arrives with a Crash in Through the Ceiling that would impress Batman himself.
• Despite being stuck in the middle of a city that an army of Sunfire Elves have tried and failed to reclaim for the past two years, Amaya keeps her cool and hides herself and Corvus in the incredibly durable book drop, giving them a chance to make it through the night.

Chapter 5: Archmage Akiyu

• 'Tidebound Tina' easily managing to manipulate the group into quite literally walking into the belly of a beast, with only Soren noticing in time to avoid that fate.
  • That said, thanks to Zym it takes them less than a minute to escape.
• The fact that a human Mage was the one to construct Aaravos' prison, with the implication that even the Archdragons and Elven Mages didn't dispute her ability to do so. The Jailer was also savvy to Aaravos' skill at manipulation, and so had each part of the prison constructed by a different person to ensure that even if he did sway one of the people involved, it wouldn't be enough to get him out. As she said to Archmage Akiyu, "the puzzle is the prison".
• Small, but Callum mentions that he's read up on all the Arcanum over the past two years, and feels he is closest to the Ocean. Guy has not been idle in his studies as a Mage.
• Kim'Dael's introductory scene under a red moon, casually intimidating Pharos with expert use of stealth to keep popping up behind him, and pinning him against a pillar while she holds a talon straight up to his eye. The Blood Moon Huntress has appeared, and is every bit as intimidating as Karim made her out to be.

Chapter 6: Bait and Switch

• Villainous example, but Claudia taking on a water dragon by using Dark Magic to turn it's own Breath Weapon against it, trapping it in a claw made of ice. If not for Terry convincing her otherwise, she could have easily killed it then and there, and in the aftermath she accurately notes it's now afraid of her, proven by it deciding to flee the second she releases it.
• Ezran and the others hatching a plan to steal from Finnegrin, the person who rules Scumport with an iron fist, with the object in question being in his personal office no less! Despite one or two close calls, the plan itself goes off without a hitch and at the end the young king and his companions have set sail with a chest of baby glow toads and Finnegin lagging behind.
  • Special mention to Rayla for successfully managing to pickpocket an experienced criminal like Finnegan, and Ezran for using his crown as part of an Improvised Zipline, especially given that earlier Finnegan had dismissed it as worthless.

Chapter 7: Sea Legs

• We get out first proper glimpse of what Kim'dael can do, and she more than lives up to her reputation, easily slipping past most of the security around the Sunfire Elf camp and only being caught once she enters the building with the Sun Seed. Confronted with a large group of assorted human end elf guards, she grins, ingests a drop of blood, extends her Wolverine Claws, and goes to town, displaying incredible speed, precision, and the ability to dissipate and reform her body at will. What follows is a scene out of a slasher film, which she follows up against the second after slipping through the barred door as red mist.
  • Then there's her fight with Janai, who despite lacking her usual Absurdly Sharp Blade, holds her own much better than the dozen guards the Bloodmoon Huntress just fought. Then she decides to use her own abilities, manifesting lava skin and lands more than a few good hits on the Moonshadow Elf while adapting well to her opponents ability to vanish at will. It's only thanks to a well timed distraction on Kim'dael's part that the fight ended in her loss.
  • Janai deserves credit not just for her combat prowess, but intelligence, having managed to anticipate the intruder was after the Sun Seed, and hiding it in another location to ensure her opponent can't just kill her. In her confrontation with Kin'dael, she also correctly deduces that Karim sent her, if not why.
• Sea Legs pursuit of the Ruthless has several of these.
  • Callum's first attempt to help has him cast a spell to give them constant guiding wind for a speed advantage. When Sea Legs continues to catch up anyway, he casts what seems to be one of his most draining spells that takes away the wind by inhaling it!
  • They decide to try and lose Finnegrin in a series of jagged rocks, and Villads really gets to show his sailing chops, commanding the crew and steering the ship to avoid the many, many, many hazards by a hairs breadth, only needing bearings and obstacles from Berto as assistance. Blind he may be, the man is an absolute master as a captain!
  • Throughout all of the above, Sea Legs shows its reputation as the fastest ship in Scumport is well earned, continuing to gain on the heroes despite everything they try, be it fog, magic, or rocks. When it looks like it's hit a dead end, Finnegrin gives a command and the thing sprouts legs, revealing it is actually a giant sea crab, before easily catching up to the Ruthless and driving it to rocks in the process. Little wonder Finnegrin has such a reputation if he can command such a beast.
• It's shortly followed by a Tearjerker, but Amaya and Corvus manage to return to the camp, safe and sound. Given that Corvus still appears injured, this implies Amaya managed to support him walking almost the entire distance back (which is usually done with mounts), and fend off the corrupted monsters at night without either of them receiving a single injury!

Chapter 8: Finnegrin's Wake

• Throughout the episode, Callum shows no fear talking back to Finnegrin even as he's being tortured, and quickly sees through his justifications for his wretched behaviour as excuses to indulge in his Control Freak tendencies. Boy has developed some serious nerve over the years.
• Rayla managing to pick her shackles with a splinter from Deadwood, and immediately goes to attack the pirate captain...
  • Which leads to a horrifying one from Finnegrin himself, who unveils a spell that freezes the blood of the target, literally stopping Rayla's assault cold, and making it clear the chains are a formality. This is the real power he has over his ship and crew.
• Seeing Rayla in agonizing pain from Finnegrin's spell, Callum responds by letting out a guttural scream and pouncing on Finnegrin looking like he's about to tear him to shreds and landing a solid punch before being pulled away. Even Elmer looks stunned at what just happened.
  • In the original script Callum goes even further, not just landing one punch but repeatedly beating a flailing and helpless Finnegrin with his fists before Elmer pulls him back. Like Aunt, like Nephew indeed.
• Speaking of Aunt, Amaya's rescue of Janai deserves mention, disguising herself as Miyana to get close to Karim without raising alarm. She then starts her assault from horseback with a shield throw and has him at swordpoint on the ground in under a minute.
  • When Kim'Dael attempts to hold Janai hostage, the queen and her fiance get one for how well they both keep their cool, calmly laying out how killing Janai will make Amaya kill Karim, leaving the failsafe on her collar to kill her. The Bloodmoon Huntress is forced to release her hostage, and lay in wait for another day.
  • Credit where it's due, Pharos managing to create an opening that he swiftly takes advantage of, letting him and Karim escape two of the greatest warriors on the show.
• Callum's Big Damn Heroes moment, breaking free of his chains and arriving just in time to save Rayla from a leviathan with a wind spell. When Finnegrin freezes him in place with the same spell he uses to keep his crew in line, Callum manages to achieve a state of calm and connect with the Ocean Arcanum, which he promptly uses to free himself. While most mages stick to one Arcanum or Dark Magic, Callum just connected to his second in the span of two years!
  • This is followed by a quick dressing down of Finnegrin, using the very nature of the Ocean Arcanum (which the Tidebound Elf has an innate connection to) to underline how futile his desire for control really is. This, plus his usual insurance against any disobedience visibly shakes the pirate's cool demeanour.
  • The fact that Callum had the foresight over the years to study all forms of magic over the years, and apparently has thorough knowledge on each one, which is how he was able to use an Ocean spell so quickly after connecting to the Arcanum. This includes Dark Magic, easily listing off the ingredients required for the Dragon killing spell in spite of his personal distaste for the art.
  • The following scene makes it clear that Callum doesn't act solely because Soren asked him not to, and that with Finnegrin's leverage gone the heroes could feasibly fight their way out.
  • While the act itself is clearly a deep source of shame for him, the fact that Callum can perfectly perform a spell he cast once, two years ago is an impressive display of skill and memory.
• Taking Soren's words of encouragement to heart, Elmer decides that he's done taking Finnegrin's abuse and lifts the sadistic captain off the deck before hurling him right into the leviathan's waiting jaws.
  • For that matter, Soren deserves credit for getting though to the wood golem in the first place, just by using some well spoken words and refusing to stay down as he gets pummeled. He refuses to fight back and even signals for Callum not to intervene, showing his emotional intelligence is just as valuable as his physical prowess.
• The end of the episode reveals that while Nyx bargained for her freedom, she also told Finngrin they were after treasure so he'd keep sailing towards the groups destination, and was confident in everyone's ability to escape and defeat him. Underhanded as it was, she was right on both counts.

Chapter 9: Infantis Sanguine

• Zubeia (however briefly) overcoming the pain of the corruption and attempting to fly towards Zym.
• The mysterious Mushroom Mage managing to actually heal the corrupted wound, something that seemed impossible prior to this!
• Upon examining the amulet Akiyu gave him, Callum not only identifies it as a means to breathe underwater, but as an Ocean Mage replicates it for everyone else, letting several of them search for the prison instead of just one. Guy's only had the Ocean Arcanum for a few days and he's already showing what he can do with it.
• Claudia continues to show off how powerful she really is, working out a spell to let her search the seabed for Aaravos' prison in short order, which also has the benefit of giving her several Combat Tentacles that she uses to match all three of the heroes at the same time. It's mainly through teamwork and a well timed distraction that they overcome her.
  • On that note, Callum being smart enough to grab her potion during the battle before disposing of it, forcing her to retreat at risk of drowning.
• Rayla overcoming her fear of water in time to save the boys from Claudia, and with Ruunan's bow to boot. During the fight itself she also cuts one of Claudia's tentacles, which translates to a missing limb once she reverts to human form.
• Upon finally realizing that his pursuit of power has done nothing but tear his family apart and lead Claudia down a similar path, Viren openly defies Aaravos by not only refusing to murder the Chrysalis Child as part of the Infantis Sanguine ritual, but renouncing dark magic entirely despite it being the only thing capable of saving his life at this point.
• Miyana showing her planning skills exceed Karims, having exploited Janai's trust in her to successfully steal the Sunseed and arrived at his location with a small army in tow.

Novels

Through the Moon

• In Primal Magic, spells have to be cast with a reasonable degree of accuracy in order to work. Callum sees the dancing ritual for the Moonhenge only once in a vision, and is able to adequately perform it from memory.

---