Release Date: 7th December 2019
Synopsis: The Voltaris aren't the only dangers in the world of Ardonia. Mercenaries Jalkar and Grim are attempting to steal a precious item from the castle of Etherea, Lucan has been assigned to mining duty in the caves where the zombies and undead lurk, and Senn and Ria hope to one day adventure and explore.
The episode begins with two mercenaries, Jalkar and Grim, doing last minute preparations to steal a Dragon Egg from the castle of Etherea, located in the kingdom of Conchord. While they get the egg, they set off alarms through the redstone-wired plate holding the Dragon Egg.
After a brief chase, during which they show off their skills as mercenaries, they escape the castle, only for Grim to run into Jalkar without looking, causing Jalkar to drop the egg, in turn causing it to teleport. Jalkar berates Grim for his idiocy, before the two set off to find the egg, which was teleported towards Underwood, a large forest just outside of Etherea.
Meanwhile, in Sendaria, two young Ardoni by the name of Senn and Ria are training their combat skills. Senn gifts Ria an iron spear he made for her, but before she can try it out, the two are greeted by Thalleous, back after an important detour across Ardonia. Thalleous compliments Senn on the spear he made, though he laments that Ria's father Osivian wouldn't approve of their training, nor would he approve of the Songs that he gives them. Thalleous explains that in the old days, Ardoni of their age would commonly wield Songs, and wants the two of them to do the same. He also warns them not to let Osivian know of the Songs, right as Osivian walks up behind him.
Thalleous apologises for arriving unexpectedly, but Osivian brushes it off, before telling off Senn and Ria for disobeying his orders to stay away from each other.
Thalleous states that he has urgent matters to discuss with Osivian, who sends Senn and Ria back to their rooms before going to his quarters to talk with Thalleous. After they return to their rooms, Senn stares at the Song Thalleous gave him, mesmerised.
The episode then cuts to a prison in Riverstead, a town in the kingdom of Felden. Lucan is discussing his accelerated release with the warden, Marcus. Lucan's good behaviour and minor crimes resulted in his accelerated release, on the condition that he's to be sent to the Basalt Mines for mining duty. Lucan tries to talk his way out of it, calmly stating he'd prefer to stay in prison, however, he has no choice, since mines across Ardonia are running dry, forcing the kingdoms to dig deeper. Lucan leaves in a huff, taking most of Marcus' cake with him.
Later in the night, Ria is seen running towards a shrine to examine the Song Thalleous gave her, only to be joined by Senn moments later. While he is there, Ria breaks the hard truth to Senn, her status as a female Ardoni, and Senn's status as Clanless mean that they will never be going on adventures like the ones that Thalleous once embarked on. Saddened, Ria offers to return Senn the spear he made her, Senn however, encourages her to keep it, and they embrace.
When walking back to his room, Senn sees Thalleous walking to Osivian's quarters, and decides to head over there himself. Inside Thalleous is trying to convince Osivian of the existence of the Voltaris, though Osivian is not convinced, since Thalleous has no real proof of their presence. Understanding this, Thalleous asks Osivian to help him prepare for something, only to hear an eavsdropping Senn nearby before he could continue. Osivian is furious at Senn for disobeying orders for the second time that day, and attempts to enforce a stricter punishment on him because of it. Thalleous however, offers to take him on his journey, so that he could learn a few things, to which Osivian agrees to. Senn is estatic about the possibility of travelling for the first time in his life, but laments that Ria will not be coming with them. Thalleous promises to bring her along another time, before urging Senn to get some sleep.
In Underwood, a girl is seen stalking a wild pig for dinner, however, her dog's barking startles the pigs and they flee. Walking up to her dog, she discovers that he is barking at the recently-teleported Dragon Egg.
Tropes:
- And Here He Comes Now: Just as Thalleous warns Senn and Ria not to tell Osivian about the Songs he gave them, Osivian comes walking right behind him.Thalleous: Now remember, you cannot let Osivian know about-Osivian: Thalleous?! Is that you?Thalleous: O-osivian!
- Bait-and-Switch: Just before Thalleous comes in, Senn kneels down in front of Ria, as if he was going to propose to her. Turns out he wanted to give her a weapon he made, which Ria accepted enthusiastically.
- Book Ends: The episode begins and ends with the Dragon Stone storyline.
- Chekhov's Gun:
- Grim buys an enchanted scythe when he and Jalkar are walking through a weapon's marketplace. After he and Jalkar steal the Dragon Egg, they are intercepted by guards and Grim uses the scythe very well to fend them off.
- The cake that Marcus tells Lucan not to take at the beginning of their scene, is later taken (or rather most of it is) by Lucan at the end of their scene.
- Cool Old Guy: Thalleous proves himself to be this, instructing Senn and Ria on their fights, and then gifts them Songs. He also compliments Senn on the spear he made for Ria, and promises to take him on a journey to spare him being punished by Osivian.
- The Klutz: Grim proves to be this in this episode, getting distracted by an enchanted scythe (which he purchases), falling flat on the floor when escaping the room with the Dragon Egg, and then bumping into Jalkar because he wasn't looking.
- Early-Bird Cameo: Abbigail and Sam are briefly seen at the end of the episode, after discovering the recently-teleported Dragon Egg.
- Go to Your Room!: Osivian tells Senn and Ria to do this after he chastises them for breaking his rules.
- Hero of Another Story: During the Time Skip between this episode and the previous one, Thalleous hid three of the four Prime Songs away from the Ardoni Territories.
- Idiot Ball: Jalkar obviously didn't think that there would be an alarm system that would be triggered when the Dragon Egg was taken off of its Pressure Plate.
- Improvised Training: Senn and Ria have been training with each other behind Osivian's back with wooden swords, with Ria showing to be the better combatant.
- Melancholy Moon: The moon appears in this fashion when Ria talks to Senn at the shrine about how they won't be going on any adventures soon.
- Oh, Crap!: Jalkar has this expression when he realizes that the Pressure Plate that the Dragon Egg was on was redstone-wired, which sent a silent alarm to the guards.
- Punishment Detail: Lucan is sent to the Basalt Mines due to his crimes. Unlike other examples of this trope however, he's doing this as part of an accelerated release from prison, and the mines of Ardonia are beginning to run dry, so miners are essential to making sure that resources remain sufficient.
- Sticky Fingers: Lucan takes most of the cake that was on Marcus' desk when being briefed on his assignment to mining duty.
- Time Skip: There has been a few weeks in-universe since the events of the previous episode.
- Two Lines, No Waiting: This is the first episode that introduces numerous plotlines, and there's little sense of how much time passes in each of them.
- Watch Where You're Going!: Grim bumps right into Jalkar's back while he wasn't looking, resulting in Jalkar dropping the egg, which teleports away from the scene, infuriating Jalkar.
- Weight and Switch: Averted, Jalkar didn't seem to think that maybe taking the Dragon Egg might trigger an alarm, and so didn't bother putting a replacement to (possibly) stop that from happening.
