Recap / The Dragon Prince S4E1 "Rebirthday"

"What secrets are you hiding?"

Events are set in motion once again, as Claudia brings her father back from death, revealing to him that two years have passed since his demise.

Now High Mage of Katolis, Callum becomes concerned for his brother, King Ezran's safety, when he notices his fellow council members whispering amongst themselves, only to be surprised by the truth.

In Xadia, General Amaya's trip with Queen Janai in the forest leads to something she did not expect.

The full episode can be seen here.

---

Tropes:

• Acting Unnatural: Soren and Corvus are terrible at stalling Callum, a fact even he picks up on.
• All There in the Manual:
  • Ezran's new silver crown's origin is detailed in the short story The Royal Council.
  • The circumstances leading to Rayla's absence are shown in Through the Moon.
  • Callum finding Aaravos' mirror in Viren's dungeon is shown in the short story Inheritance.
• "Awkward Silence" Entrance: Lampshaded by Soren when Callum enters the throne room and everyone goes quiet. It's later revealed that they had a good reason for doing so.
• Back from the Dead: The last season implied it took two days for Viren to be revived, as that's the period of time since Aaravos's familiar spun itself into a cocoon. Claudia then clarifies that it's actually been two years, and it only did that after Aaravos guided her through the ingredients and ritual necessary to resurrect Viren.
• Bait-and-Switch Character Intro: Three Sunfire Elves emerge from the shadows and start performing what appears to be an Intimidation Demonstration with their fiery whips in front of Amaya. It's only after Amaya curbstomps them that they are revealed to be a harmless dancing squad.
• "Be Quiet!" Nudge: Corvus gives one to Soren after the latter's babbling raised Callum's suspicion when entering the throne room.
• Beware the Nice Ones: Just as in previous seasons, Callum is usually one of the nicer and amicable characters in the castle...until he suspected Soren was keeping a secret from him. Then he proceeds to corner Soren when he's alone, then physically overpower and intimidate him to get him to tell him what was wrong! All because he thought his brother was in danger.
• Birthday Hater: It's revealed that Callum has been unable to enjoy his birthday since it falls on the same day Rayla left to hunt down Viren.
• Body Horror: Implied. According to Claudia, whatever state Viren's body was in after his fatal fall off the spire was "more bent and broken" than the busted crown he was wearing, with it being implied he suffered one hell of a Chunky Salsa Rule from the impact.
• Brick Joke: As Soren helps to continue stalling Callum, he does a Floss-style dance, claiming that all of the kids in Katolis see it as a new popular Dance Sensation. During Callum's birthday party, a couple of kids perform that same dance, validating his claim.
  Opleli: All the kids are doing it. Soren was right.
• Call-Back: The opening shot of Callum in front of Aaravos' mirror is similar to the one seen in "Echoes of Thunder".
• Contemplative Boss: Callum assumes this pose with the arms folded behind his back looking out from the battlements of the castle when Soren approaches him.
• Costume Evolution: Aside from Claudia and Viren, most of the cast have received new designs with the Time Skip. In Viren's case, his appearance is justified as he is quite literally still wearing the clothes he fell off the Spire in, with them having been preserved along with his body whilst Claudia gathered the necessary ingredients to revive him.
  • Now king, Ezran wears a silver crown to replace the one lost with Viren, and his red outfit now looks much more like King Harrow's except with coattails. In addition, his formerly large hairdo has been pulled back into a ponytail.
  • As high mage, Callum now wears an outfit similar to Viren's but with his blue, red and gold pattern, and his hair is now styled to the side, resembling Anime Hair.
  • Soren has grown out his hair alongside a stubble and his Crownguard uniform is now without his metal chest plate and cape.
  • Corvus now wears his hair short and having joined the Crownguard wears their badge and part of the uniform.
  • Amaya's armor has some Sunfire elements incorporated into its design, signifying how close she's grown to them over time, she's no longer wearing gloves, and she styles her hair longer and asymmetrical.
  • Janai wears the same lighter colors her sister had as queen along with a similar headdress.
  • A minor one but Opeli's vestment's no longer droop at her shoulders as they did in prior seasons.◊
• Dating What Daddy Hates: When Claudia reveals she's dating Terry, an elf, Viren — who had been openly against anything related to Xadia — is shocked but managed to compose himself into stern disapproval.
• Death Glare:
  • As is to be expected from the father of a teenage girl, Viren visibly does not approve of Terry, which does not go unnoticed by the visibly nervous Terry.
  • Callum also shoots one to Soren when he overhears him discussing a secret involving him, something that visibly intimidates Soren.
• Double-Meaning Title: The episode title refers to the day Viren is brought back from the dead and, inversely Callum's birthday, the same day two years ago when Rayla left. It can also refer to the renewed Interspecies Relationship between human and elf; intimately speaking with Callum/Rayla, Amaya/Janai and Claudia/Terry.
• "Down Here!" Shot: When the throne room's door opens to let Bait in for the council meeting, we see nobody entering until the camera pans down to the ground.
• Drum Roll, Please: Soren imitates a drum roll at the council meeting when Ezran is about to announce the arrival of special visitors to the kingdom.
• Dude, Not Funny!: Callum's joke about the Dragon Queen "eating people" naturally earns him awkward looks of disapproval, given the still lingering worries about dragons in Katolis.
• Exactly Exty Years Ago: Viren has exactly 30 days to live. Claudia even stresses the fact that it's not 31 days when he simplifies that number to "a month".
• Facepalm: Amaya does this when she realizes she messed up Janai's proposal.
• From Bad to Worse: Played for Laughs. Viren has not only just learned he's been dead for years, and that his revival will only last for thirty days, but then he faces every father's worst nightmare; being introduced to his daughter's new boyfriend, who happens to be an Earthblood Elf.
• Happy Birthday to You!: A fictional Happy Birthday song is sung for Callum.
• Holding the Floor: Soren and Corvus stall Callum while the others prepare a surprise birthday party for him.
• Hourglass Plot: Seasons 1-3 had Callum, Ezran and Rayla on a quest to return a mystical creature to its more powerful originator whilst being pursued by antagonists from both sides of the escalating conflict, and on a deadline to the inevitable outbreak of open warfare looming over them. Now, Claudia and Viren are the ones on the run and on a quest to follow Aaravos' familiar to find out where its master is imprisoned, on a Celestial Deadline because of Viren Living on Borrowed Time. Making the parallels more explicit, they're aided by Terry, an Earthblood Elf akin to Rayla and whose awkward mannerisms are similar to Callum's. The difference is that their quest threatens to destabilize the hard-won peace the heroes struggled to achieve over those seasons.
• I Heard That: Janai says this to the fire dancers when they call Amaya a "beast" for attacking them, then adds that it's why she loves her.
• Let Me Get This Straight...: After Claudia has filled his father in with all vital information regarding his situation, Viren sums it up succinctly:
  "So to refresh: we have one month to find a magical prison that's been hidden for centuries. And then, we have to figure out how to break out the ancient being trapped in that prison, or else, I will die?"
• Living on Borrowed Time: Viren has been resurrected, but the spell will only last for thirty days unless they can free Aaravos, who claims to be able to make it permanent.
• Melancholy Moon: The giant moon looms over the scene of Callum on the balcony revealing to his brother why he doesn't like his birthday anymore.
• My Hovercraft Is Full of Eels: Downplayed. Janai learned enough sign language to propose to Amaya, but accidentally signs "wrestle" instead of "marry", though Amaya obviously gets the intent.
• Nothing Is Scarier: Claudia doesn't go into detail as to the state of what Viren looked like after she came across his body after his Disney Villain Death off the Spire, merely that it was "more bent and broken" than the bloody crown she holds up to illustrate. Likewise, with half of her hair turning white and Claudia saying that to resurrect him, she needed to do things she didn't believe she was capable of whilst shedding tears, it's implied that she's been up to some pretty nasty things during the Time Skip under Aaravos's direction, but she obviously doesn't want to elaborate.
• Poor Communication Kills:
  • Janai takes Amaya deep into a forest without explaining what she has planned. Amaya then sees a trio of Sunfire Elves wielding what look like whips and assumes it's an ambush, attacking them under that assumption. Janai comes back to intervene and state this was a ceremonial dance. Had she familiarized Amaya with the custom beforehand, it would have gone smoothly.
  • Callum grows suspicious towards Corvus and Soren when they are speaking behind his back, and they lie about planning a countermeasure against a plot targeting King Ezran. When Callum sees an all-to-familiar scene that resulted in his father's death, he rushes to the throne room and finds... A surprise birthday party for him.
• Real After All: Turns out Earthblood Elves do have Australian accents. Terry also says "Trees to meet you".
• Relationship Upgrade: Janai and Amaya had some Ship Tease at the end of the third season, with the episode establishing that they entered into a romantic relationship during the Time Skip. In the episode itself, Janai proposes to Amaya, who accepts.
• Rock Bottom: No sooner does Viren say he can't imagine his situation getting any worse, does Claudia decide now would be the perfect time to introduce him her new boyfriend, Terry.
• Stylistic Suck: The crowd singing Callum's birthday song sound about as well rehearsed and in tune as any group of amateur singers would. But the love is there, and Barius in particular is giving it his all.
• Those Two Guys: Soren and Corvus have developed this dynamic as fellow Crownguards.
• Time Skip: Two years have passed since the battle at the Storm Spire.
• Wacky Marriage Proposal: Sunfire Elf proposals involve a trio of dancers with fiery ribbons. Janai probably should have introduced Amaya to the custom before choosing to surprise her with it, however.
• Wham Line: After seeing the cocoon Aaravos' familiar spun, the fact that Viren was dead for two days hits him in full force, which causes Claudia to clarify how long he's been dead for.
  Viren: Two days? I've been dead for two whole days?!
  Claudia: ...it's been two years, Dad. More than two years.
  Viren: (eyes widen in shock)
• Wham Shot: Amaya sees Janai kneel to her and uses her sign language as a form of a marriage proposal.
• Your Days Are Numbered: According to Claudia, the resurrection spell for her father Viren is only temporary, and will wear off in thirty days. She was told that if they can find and free Aaravos from his hidden prison, he can make the spell permanent. While finding where Aaravos is imprisoned sounds like a herculean task, Claudia was told that the strange creature that Viren was speaking to can hold the key to finding Aaravos, once it hatches from the chrysalis, before the deadline.

---