As I announced previously, the head writer and director of Avatar: The Last Airbender, Aaron Ehasz, is working alongside Justin Richmond on a new animated series for Netflix called The Dragon Prince. Season one was released on September 14th. While I finished the short (9 episodes to be exact) season within two days of its release, I haven’t had a chance to pen down my thoughts until now. So here goes….
SPOILER WARNING: SPOILERS BELOW
READ AT YOUR OWN RISK
Synopsis
There is a land with six primal sources of magic: sun, moon, sky, star, earth, and ocean. Many creatures have the ability to use magic within themselves, but not humans (although they can harness it to some extent with the use of primal stones, concentrated sources of primal energy). One human mage, however, discovered he could create dark magic by harvesting magic from magical creatures. This led the Dragons and Elves to drive the Humans out of Xadia (the magical side of the continent). This lead the humans to kill the Dragon and destroy his egg. The story opens with the elves and humans preparing for a war over this issue.
In the first episode, a group of Moonshadow Elves are planning to assassinate Harrow, king of a human kingdom (Katolis). They use a special elven bracelet called a binding (which tightens and tightens until they have killed their target) to ensure they will not fail to kill Harrow. Harrow, being aware of this yet also acknowledging that Moonshadow elves are nearly unstoppable during a full moon (which was that night), decided to send his son, Ezran, and stepson, Callum, away to a safe place while he awaits his death. In the meantime, Viren, a mage who was been the king’s ally for a long time, attempts to save the king’s life by having him switch bodies with another person. The king refuses.
One of the assassins, Rayla, who was also the reason for the discovery of the assassination plot, comes early to the castle in an attempt to prove herself to her leader. She has an extra binding to kill Ezran. However, while chasing Callum and Ezran through the castle, she learns that the Dragon King’s egg has not been destroyed. This, she reasons, could stop the impending war if the Dragons and Elves are notified in time.
The rest of the Season is their travels towards the Human/Elf border. On the way, the egg becomes very sick, and they discover that they must hatch it to save the dragon inside. In the final episode of the season, Callum, a budding mage, sacrifices his primal stone so the egg can be hatched.
There’s a lot more that happened, but you’ll have to watch it yourself for those.
Now for the review
I really enjoyed the first season of Dragon Prince, but I thought it progressed a little slow. It felt like the the end of Season One should have been the midway point (or even the first quarter).
The pacing issue aside, I thought the writers did a good job of character development over the limited time of the season. They have built some suspense around Viren and what his true motives are, as well as left the story off in an interesting spot. Also, I love Rayla’s accent.
I really like the lore they’ve created around the world, but I fear the primal energy sources may just be another form of the four elements of Avatar (I could be wrong though). On that note, I’m not sure if I actually like the series for what it is, or because I really want to like because of Aaron Ehasz.
Some people said they were bothered by the show’s unique animation style, but it didn’t really have an impact on my viewing experience (personally).
I’m really excited to see where the show is going because I think he writers have done an excellent job of introducing (but not exhausting) and exciting new world with lovable characters. I can’t wait for season two (which so far does not have an announced release date).
There is already a very active Dragon Prince subreddit, so make sure you check it out if you’re interested.
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