The king of dragons himself defends the border.
In the East, the magical lands of Xadia. And in the West, the human kingdoms.
The episode opens with a narrator (identified in the subtitles and the end credits as Aaravos) explaining the nature and history of Xadia, homeland of humans, elves, and dragons. Long ago, they shared Xadia and lived in harmony, but after a human discovered dark magic, all humans were shunned to the west of the world. The Dragon King, Thunder, personally guarded the border. However, a short time ago humans used Black Magic to kill him and destroy his only egg. The two lands stand at the brink of all-out war.
Tropes:
- A Bloody Mess: Invoked by Rayla. Since she can't bring herself to kill the human scout, she stains her blades with berry juice to fake the murder.
- Comical Nap Drool: Prince Ezran drools on Bait. The latter doesn't particularly mind it.
- Covered in Mud: Callum falls off his horse into the mud after Soren throws an apple at him to catch.
- The Dreaded: The moonshadow elves. King Harrow is surprised a scout returned alive from a confrontation with one.
- Distant Prologue: The episode starts with one, explaining how the war between humans and elves started.
- Establishing Character Moment: We catch a glimpse of Viren and Soren's relationship, when the former scolds the latter for talking out loud that the king might be assassinated.Viren: Discretion, boy! Do you want to cause a panic?
Soren: I'm sorry—
Viren: Just get out there and find them. Before sundown! - Failed Attempt at Drama: When Viren, Soren and Claudia are discussing the moonshadow elves possibly assassinating King Harrow, Claudia tries to be inspiring, but it doesn't really work out.Claudia: Well, I'm going to try to find a way to stop them. After all, unstoppable is just another kind of stoppable.
Lord Viren: No. That's not really right.
Claudia: Yeah, it made more sense in my head. - I'm Standing Right Here: The royal pastry chef drops this line when Ezren steals a jelly tart in his presence.
- Lightning Reveal: The moonshadow elves appear to the human scout in the forrest during a lighting strike.
- Lunacy: The moonshadow elves gain their powers from the moon. They are nigh-unstoppable on the night of a full moon.
- Myth Prologue: The show is introduced with a narration showing how Xadia used to be a united magical land where everyone drew power from the six primal sources until a human mage wreaked havoc with dark magic. Humans were then exiled to the west while the fearsome Dragon King guarded the Xadia border. But now, the Dragon King is dead and the humans have taken his only egg...
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: When Soren says out loud that the elves might assassinate the king, Viren quickly shuts the window when he saw Callum outside looking back. This made Callum more suspicious about something going on.
- Opening Monologue: A monologue at the start of the first episode gives exposition on the setting. The credits (and future episodes) reveal that the narrator was Aaravos."Long ago, Xadia was one land rich in magic and wonder. In the old times, there were only the six Primal Sources of magic: the Sun, the Moon, the Stars, the Earth, the Sky, and the Ocean. But a thousand years ago, a human mage discovered new magic - the seventh source. Dark Magic. It used the essence within magical creatures themselves to unleash dark power. Horrified by what they saw, the elves and the dragons put a stop to the madness. They drove every last human to the west. And so, the continent was divided in two. In the east, the magical lands of Xadia. And in the west, the human kingdoms. For centuries, the King of the Dragons himself defended the border. The humans called him Thunder, for when he spoke, his voice shook the Earth and the sky. But on the eve of last Winter's Turn, the humans used unspeakable Dark Magic to slay Thunder. Then, without mercy, they destroyed his only egg, his heir the Dragon Prince. Now the world stands on the edge of all-out war."
- Poisoned Weapons: The moonshadow elves prepare for the coup by dunking their arrows in a green substance.
- Power Source: Magic in Xadia derives from six prime sources: the sun, the moon, the stars, the earth, the sky, and the ocean. Later a human discovered dark magic, which is fueled by the Life Energy of magical creatures. The actual presence of a Power Source can be forgone if the mage possesses a Power Crystal of the prime source.
- Rage Breaking Point: While trying to pack Ezran's things for him in Tranquil Fury, Callum accidentally got his hand messy by the tarts Ezran was hiding. This caused Callum to explode at Ezran about the situation.
- Sword over Head: Rayla can't bring herself to kill the human scout, seeing the fear in his eyes.
- Throwing the Fight: Soren, seeing that he wants to impress Claudia, lets Callum "stab" him in the armpit. It works.
- Unreliable Narrator: Aaravos claims the egg of the Dragon Prince was destroyed by the humans. It was, in fact, stolen.
- Watch Out for That Tree!: Claudia almost walks into a tree while distracted by her book. Soren would let her, but Callum warns her just in time for her to stop.
