The group endures the Path of Despair and Soren and Claudia deal with some family issues.
Tropes:
- All There in the Manual: Claudia's remark about Soren being dead without dark magic, specifically without Viren's magic, makes more sense for those who have read the novelization of book 1: Soren had fallen deathly ill when he was a child, and Viren had to use dark magic to heal him.
- Big "NO!": Soren lets out some when he sees to his horror that his father is alive.
- Call-Back: When introducing Amaya to Aegis and Embertail, Janai says that the former thinks the latter is cute but won't admit it yet, paraphrasing Amaya's signing to Callum and Ezran in Dragonguard.
- Convection, Schmonvection: The protagonists need to cross a magma cavern, and while the heat is mentioned as problematic, it's still not anywhere near as deadly as it should be.
- Crystal Landscape: The Crystal Labyrinth is a vast cave filled with colorful crystals.
- Cue Card Pause: Callum when delivering his Mercy Kill Arrangement line to Rayla:
- Exact Words: Ezran tries to see through Zym's eyes and sees nothing. It turns out that this is because there's nothing to see when the cave is in absolute darkness.
- Extra Eyes: The monsters on the Bridge Through the Darkness have two pairs of eyes.
- Get A Hold Of Yourself Man: When Callum asks Rayla to kill him in the event Aaravos possesses him again, Rayla proceeds to angrily yank his nose and tell him off for even suggesting it.
- Hypocrite: Claudia warns Soren that just because he has made friends with dragons and elves, doesn't mean they won't look down on him as they did with humanity all those years ago. However, she forgets or hides the fact that she is dating Terry, an elf.
- Innate Night Vision: The creatures inhabiting the caves of Umber Tor use echolocation to see in the dark as revealed by a POV shot from one of them heading for the heroes on the pitch-black Bridge Through the Darkness.
- Internal Reveal: Soren learns that his father is still alive. Or better, Living on Borrowed Time.
- Meaningful Name: The way to Rex Igneous is known as the Path of Despair, though the meaning behind each of the three "Zones of Peril" Zig-Zagged in terms of threat. The Crystal Labyrinth is littered with primal stones yet not as dangerous or deadly, but it makes things difficult to navigate through without a guide or proper use of the musical Tuning Stones leading to the exit. The Bridge Through The Darkness is a straight shot across a bridge through absolute darkness, and travelers cannot use any form of light for the risk of attracting monsters. Lavaland is far more straightforward, as the pool of lava changes tide over time, allowing travelers to cross over when it's low enough.
- Luring in Prey: The monsters on the Bridge Through the Darkness have a light hanging in front of them as anglerfish-like lure to bait potential prey.
- Mercy Kill Arrangement: Worried that Aaravos will one day use Callum for his evil purposes as promised, he asks Rayla to kill him if it ever comes to that. Rayla flat-out refuses as she believes Callum is capable of shaping his own destiny.
- No MacGuffin, No Winner: When the above fails, Callum attempts to toss the rune cube into the lava because he knows it is a relic that belonged to Aaravos and believes keeping it around too long is a bad thing, but he ultimately can't bring himself to destroy it.
- Not Now, We're Too Busy Crying Over You: In an Homage to Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, the gang morns the apparent death of Zym who fell into an abyss trying to save the heroes from a group of monsters. Then the baby dragon suddenly reappears next to them and pads Ezran on the shoulder who only realizes this after a Double Take.
- Pet the Dog: After Terry confides in Viren about his Trans Tribulations while growing up, Viren —who has so far regarded him as little more than an annoyance— compliments his chosen name.
- Plant Person: Terry shows himself to be this when he releases the vines on Claudia and binds Soren with them.
- Portal Statue Pairs: There is a pair of huge birdlike statues at the entrance to Rex Igneous' lair.
- Starts Stealthily, Ends Loudly: The heroes try and sneak across the pitch-black Bridge Through the Darkness but end up running for their lives in bright light after an accidental flash of light from Callum's primal cube attracts a group of monsters.
- This Way to Certain Death: The gang finds the skeleton of a less fortunate explorer in the Crystal Labyrinth.
- Villain Has a Point: Claudia responds to Soren's condemnation of dark magic and Viren by reminding him that he wouldn't be alive if Viren hadn't used dark magic to heal him when he was a child.
- Vine Tentacles: Terry uses his powers to tie down Soren with vines.
