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Recap / The Dragon Prince S3 E4 "The Midnight Desert"

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"The night... is even worse."
Nyx, about the desert

Leaving the Silvergrove, Rayla and Callum are forced to trust a strange Skywing elf named Nyx to guide them through the dangerous Midnight Desert.

Meanwhile, Ezran is faced with an ultimatum when Prince Kasef reveals he has prepared a siege on Katolis and will attack if they do not join him in a war against Xadia.

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  • Actor Allusion: Callum finds the set of boomerangs on the tip of Nyx's staff to be familiar, a clear and clever reference to his voice actor Jack De Sena's previous role as Sokka on the show's Spiritual Predecessor Avatar: The Last Airbender. The end credits even have a sketch of Callum with Sokka's boomerang.
  • The Big Board: Ezran has strategic sessions with his staff using a big board.
  • Cliffhanger: Rayla and Callum are stranded in the oasis, their relationship in limbo, and Nyx has kidnapped Zym. Ezran is arrested and sent to prison after abdicating, and Viren is the new ruler.
  • Crossing the Desert: Our heroes have to cross the vast and dangerous Midnight Desert in order to get to their destination. By day, the black sands of the desert soak up the sun's rays, subjecting travelers to terrible, terrible heat. But the night, Soulfang Serpents emerge from below to suck the soul from anyone foolish enough to stray from the safety of the central oasis.
  • Eye Scream: Aaravos gives Viren the power to see him as a ghost, but he does it by having the caterpillar spin silk over his eye. This doesn't appear to hurt so much as really squick Viren out.
  • Facepalm: Callum does so over how poorly he mishandled Rayla kissing him, accidentally making her think she just made a fool of herself in his fluster.
  • Impeded Messenger: Nyx intercepts Ethari's message to the Dragon Queen and reads it, allowing her to set up her gambit to steal Zym.
  • Insecure Love Interest: It's implied that the reason Rayla is so reluctant to admit how tormented she really is over "being ghosted" to Callum was because of her feelings for him; she didn't want someone she cares for to see her in such a vulnerable state. Given this is Callum though, she needn't have worried.
    Rayla: Please leave me alone. I don't want you to see me like this.
    Callum: I don't care if you're crying, I'm here with you.
  • Kaiju: Nyx has an ambler, a gigantic quadrupedal mammal built like a Dreadnoughtosaurus, to cross the Midnight Desert. Apparently, the soulfang serpents don't bother the amblers.
  • Kick the Dog:
    Viren: I'm sorry it had to come to this.
    Ezran: No, you're not.
    Viren: (Beat) No, I'm not.
  • Let Us Never Speak of This Again: Rayla declares this after kissing Callum on impulse leads to an awkward moment between them. Furthermore, she proclaims That Didn't Happen.
  • Long Last Look: When Ezran leaves Bait with the baker, he has a long last look back at him before exiting into the Air-Vent Passageway.
  • A Million Is a Statistic: Defied. The prospect of tens of thousands of deaths shocks Ezran to the core.
    Ezran: 500 men and women. Some are moms and dads and have kids waiting for them at home. All of these are sons and daughters. Sisters, brothers, friends. They're real people, Bait.
  • Mistaken for Flirting: Rayla kisses Callum on the lips after he finishes telling her You Are Better Than You Think You Are, misreading it as a romantic gesture. While all past indicators suggest he is attracted to her, in that moment, he was honestly just trying to be there for her during an emotional low point.
  • Post-Kiss Catatonia: Rayla briefly induces this in Callum since he was not expecting such an intimate gesture from her.
  • Pyrrhic Victory: Discussed. When Ezran learns from Opeli that Katolis' victory over the other kingdoms will probably cost the lives of tens of thousands, he replies that it won't be a triumph.
  • Scenery Porn: The Midnight Desert is a beautiful landscape. A desert of black sand with large white rocks.
  • She's Not My Girlfriend: Nyx asks Callum and Rayla if they would like to share a sleeping bag, before both scream that they need two.
  • Ship Tease: Rayla kisses Callum after he says a litany of praises to her. Though she says they are not to speak about it again when Callum is caught off-guard.
  • Transformation Sequence: Parodied when Callum reveals himself as a human to Nyx in an elaborate animation sequence.
  • You Are Better Than You Think You Are: When Rayla is overcome by self-deprecation at the central oasis, Callum's reaction is this, nearly verbatim:
    Callum: You're too good to feel this bad about yourself. I know that, and you should know that.

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