The Dragon Prince: Season 1
September 17, 2018 1:44 PM - Season 1 (Full Season) - Subscribe
Two human princes who forge an unlikely bond with the elfin assassin sent to kill them, embarking on an epic quest to bring peace to their warring lands.
I haven't finished the season yet, but here's a post for everyone to discuss!
I haven't finished the season yet, but here's a post for everyone to discuss!
I was just thinking about maybe starting a thread for this.
It's real good, ya'll, if you've been considering it but haven't taken the plunge you should.
Now, the spoilers:
General Amaya is amazing. My wife, who is not deaf but knows ASL, was crying. I was particularly impressed with the scenes where she just signs without any subtitles or narration.
I love that there's very few "bad guys" in the show, almost everyone is trying to do what they think is the right thing to do. Viren is the most clear-cut bad guy what with his overt attempts to take over the kingdom, and telling his kids to murder other kids. I like that the humans are basically the bad guys at the start and the whole point of the show is these kids working to fix the mistakes of the old generation. That's a meaningful message these days.
Claudia and Soren are great. They could have easily made their dynamic a rivalry but they seem to genuinely love each other and that's very refreshing. Also, they're the best "Villain's Bumbling Sidekicks" I've seen in a long time.
There was a Reddit AMA for the people behind the show and a dedicated person has recorded it all on Twitter.
posted by Mr.Encyclopedia at 3:39 PM on September 17, 2018 [10 favorites]
It's real good, ya'll, if you've been considering it but haven't taken the plunge you should.
Now, the spoilers:
General Amaya is amazing. My wife, who is not deaf but knows ASL, was crying. I was particularly impressed with the scenes where she just signs without any subtitles or narration.
I love that there's very few "bad guys" in the show, almost everyone is trying to do what they think is the right thing to do. Viren is the most clear-cut bad guy what with his overt attempts to take over the kingdom, and telling his kids to murder other kids. I like that the humans are basically the bad guys at the start and the whole point of the show is these kids working to fix the mistakes of the old generation. That's a meaningful message these days.
Claudia and Soren are great. They could have easily made their dynamic a rivalry but they seem to genuinely love each other and that's very refreshing. Also, they're the best "Villain's Bumbling Sidekicks" I've seen in a long time.
There was a Reddit AMA for the people behind the show and a dedicated person has recorded it all on Twitter.
posted by Mr.Encyclopedia at 3:39 PM on September 17, 2018 [10 favorites]
I'm on episode 5 so I'm commenting without reading anything from the FPP.
SPOILERS for up through episode 5
- Facial expressions are on point. From a simple eyeroll from a guard, to the soldiers expressing glances when Viren said any of them would trade their lives for Harrow's, to Soren immediately telling the female soldier that the stab was a fake.
- It's tough to get past the choppy animation. Although it's less noticeable during action scenes.
- The movements are also weird, like aside from the choppiness. But I think it's only bothering me and not most. I mean like the way people walk and move their heads. Which makes the facial expression even more noticeable that they're quite well done.
- The animation also makes me question if Viren really needs to the staff to help him walk. I figure it probably helps him channel magic better, but he hasn't really used it, and also when the elves were attacking he wasn't even using the staff for defense, so like, is it just appearance? What a weird and evil dude.
- Why do the Moonshadow Elves have an Irish accent?
- I really wanted to know what Amaya was signing in front of the statue (fun fact: Netflix has audio description, and if you turn that on, you're told that she's signing to the her sister's statue, this is before you actually find out for sure that it's her sister, but they don't actually tell you what she's signing, which must be as frustrating to blind viewers as it was for me). Reddit came through though:
"Hello Sister. You were my heroine. Perfect, strong, unwavering. Kind and true. I'm sorry, big sister. I have failed. I had your boys safely with me, but let them slip away."
posted by numaner at 4:07 PM on September 17, 2018 [3 favorites]
SPOILERS for up through episode 5
- Facial expressions are on point. From a simple eyeroll from a guard, to the soldiers expressing glances when Viren said any of them would trade their lives for Harrow's, to Soren immediately telling the female soldier that the stab was a fake.
- It's tough to get past the choppy animation. Although it's less noticeable during action scenes.
- The movements are also weird, like aside from the choppiness. But I think it's only bothering me and not most. I mean like the way people walk and move their heads. Which makes the facial expression even more noticeable that they're quite well done.
- The animation also makes me question if Viren really needs to the staff to help him walk. I figure it probably helps him channel magic better, but he hasn't really used it, and also when the elves were attacking he wasn't even using the staff for defense, so like, is it just appearance? What a weird and evil dude.
- Why do the Moonshadow Elves have an Irish accent?
- I really wanted to know what Amaya was signing in front of the statue (fun fact: Netflix has audio description, and if you turn that on, you're told that she's signing to the her sister's statue, this is before you actually find out for sure that it's her sister, but they don't actually tell you what she's signing, which must be as frustrating to blind viewers as it was for me). Reddit came through though:
"Hello Sister. You were my heroine. Perfect, strong, unwavering. Kind and true. I'm sorry, big sister. I have failed. I had your boys safely with me, but let them slip away."
posted by numaner at 4:07 PM on September 17, 2018 [3 favorites]
In the AMA they say the choppiness is their attempt to combat how "floaty" computer animation can look, citing how many studio ghibli movies hover in the 8-12 fps range. Basically, what I think it boils down to is they didn't have the budget to spend time tweaking the animation until it's perfect, so they used the low frame rate to make it seem more grounded. The fact you still noticed weird movement is a testament to how well this worked, and also probably another symptom of their lack of resources. I agree that the choppy movement isn't a great solution, but it's not a dealbreaker for me. Honestly, I don't think the floatiness they were avoiding is so terrible ether, but the only way around this is to either use motion capture or get more animators/more time. If Netflix deems the show a success maybe they'll get the resources they need.
posted by Mr.Encyclopedia at 4:36 PM on September 17, 2018
posted by Mr.Encyclopedia at 4:36 PM on September 17, 2018
Ok so I ended up finishing it today. Yeah the choppiness eventually became unnoticeable, and it wasn't a big deal anymore. The dialog and the characters along with the world building is enough to keep me watching.
SPOILERS for the rest of the season
- Soren is such a bro it's kinda hilarious. Both him and Claudia are really interesting. I hope they get a more nuanced story than the obviously evil Viren. ("No idea what nuance is.")
- I like that Ezran gets his own little power of Zoolingualism, instead of just the comic relief kid.
- Poor Gren :(. I hope he doesn't end up like Runaan.
- The healer being just an illusionist was a surprise for me. I felt so sad for Ava, but it's good that she's living a healthy 3-legged life, and can even run circles around a giant leech.
- Man humans suck. I really thought that Sunforge blade idiot would actually turn out to be cool.
- Dragons, what can't they do, amirite?
posted by numaner at 6:05 PM on September 17, 2018 [2 favorites]
SPOILERS for the rest of the season
- Soren is such a bro it's kinda hilarious. Both him and Claudia are really interesting. I hope they get a more nuanced story than the obviously evil Viren. ("No idea what nuance is.")
- I like that Ezran gets his own little power of Zoolingualism, instead of just the comic relief kid.
- Poor Gren :(. I hope he doesn't end up like Runaan.
- The healer being just an illusionist was a surprise for me. I felt so sad for Ava, but it's good that she's living a healthy 3-legged life, and can even run circles around a giant leech.
- Man humans suck. I really thought that Sunforge blade idiot would actually turn out to be cool.
- Dragons, what can't they do, amirite?
posted by numaner at 6:05 PM on September 17, 2018 [2 favorites]
I can’t imagine that any TV show would even try to have a character speak in ASL using hand-drawn animation.
posted by 1970s Antihero at 6:09 PM on September 17, 2018 [4 favorites]
posted by 1970s Antihero at 6:09 PM on September 17, 2018 [4 favorites]
Why do the Moonshadow Elves have an Irish accent?
It’s a Scots accent. And it’s obviously because those elves are from the highlands of Xadia.
posted by 1970s Antihero at 6:13 PM on September 17, 2018 [5 favorites]
It’s a Scots accent. And it’s obviously because those elves are from the highlands of Xadia.
posted by 1970s Antihero at 6:13 PM on September 17, 2018 [5 favorites]
Yes, the highlands because those are higher up and thus closer to the moon.
posted by Mr.Encyclopedia at 8:42 PM on September 17, 2018 [9 favorites]
posted by Mr.Encyclopedia at 8:42 PM on September 17, 2018 [9 favorites]
I'm thinking this Viren is the same human dude that discovered Dark Magic and it cursed him into looking like a zombie mage, and have been using magical butterflies to keep up appearances every so often. Whenever he uses too much Dark Magic, like turning people into coins, his appearance degrades drastically.
I'm now very worried for my precious witty goth Claudia
posted by numaner at 10:41 AM on September 18, 2018 [5 favorites]
I'm now very worried for my precious witty goth Claudia
posted by numaner at 10:41 AM on September 18, 2018 [5 favorites]
I am PRETTY SURE that the Viren who came out of the closed room when the king died might not be the same dude that went in.
That was my first guess when Viren came out - that Viren had sacrificed himself by switching bodies with King Harrow, but then he kept acting a lot like Viren and I dropped that theory. Now I think Viren switched Harrow with the bird. He has some wry comment for the bird (something along the line of, "what, no words?") at some point after that, and Viren doesn't seem like the kind of person who would give the bird a second thought if it was just a bird.
posted by DevilsAdvocate at 11:06 AM on September 18, 2018 [3 favorites]
I can't help but notice the distinct lack of moms in this story, between Claudia and Soren's MIA mom and Callum and Ezran's deceased mom. I'm mostly interested in whoever Mrs. Viren was, she must have been quite the woman. It all sort of ties in to the general lack of major female characters in the show, which I think is a negative. It would have been nice if say, Ezran was a girl; though of course thanks to patriarchal customs a Princess Ezran would have less claim to the throne.
More thoughts:
- Has Viren always been as jealous and schemey as he appears after Harrow's death, or have recent events driven him down this road? Harrow seemed to trust him well enough at the start of the series, well enough to go with the plan to kill the Dragon King that Harrow now regrets.
- Were the humans quarantined to the least magical part of the continent, or are the human kingdoms less magical now because of dark magic? Claudia demonstrates there's still hidden pockets of magic in Katolis, and the Cursed Caldera/Moon Nexus or whatever is in Katolis or at least the human kingdoms still.
- Are there other dark magic users out there, or will Viren and Claudia be the only two examples we see?
- I hope Callum's journey toward becoming a mage continues. Presumably Azymondias (the Dragon Prince) absorbed most of the power from the Primal Stone, what if Callum discovers there's a way to work together with a magical creature instead of destroying it to make magic?
posted by Mr.Encyclopedia at 12:38 PM on September 18, 2018 [1 favorite]
More thoughts:
- Has Viren always been as jealous and schemey as he appears after Harrow's death, or have recent events driven him down this road? Harrow seemed to trust him well enough at the start of the series, well enough to go with the plan to kill the Dragon King that Harrow now regrets.
- Were the humans quarantined to the least magical part of the continent, or are the human kingdoms less magical now because of dark magic? Claudia demonstrates there's still hidden pockets of magic in Katolis, and the Cursed Caldera/Moon Nexus or whatever is in Katolis or at least the human kingdoms still.
- Are there other dark magic users out there, or will Viren and Claudia be the only two examples we see?
- I hope Callum's journey toward becoming a mage continues. Presumably Azymondias (the Dragon Prince) absorbed most of the power from the Primal Stone, what if Callum discovers there's a way to work together with a magical creature instead of destroying it to make magic?
posted by Mr.Encyclopedia at 12:38 PM on September 18, 2018 [1 favorite]
Digging portrayal of disabled characters in this show - Ava! Gren! <3! I never got over the choppy animation. I liked the first season quite a lot, but I felt like it was aimed at a younger audience than Avatar. Then again, I haven't watched Avatar in quite some time, so maybe its first season felt similar.
posted by congen at 1:26 PM on September 18, 2018
posted by congen at 1:26 PM on September 18, 2018
Having grown up in the dark ages of Hanna-Barbera TV toons, I can overlook shitty animation. And this is more just choppy then bad. There are moments of beauty and the character designs are great.
I really thought the little girl with the pet wolf would turn out to be the sorceress herself. She was way too self-possesed. BUT this is from the Avatar people, who regularly send out preteens and teens to battle ancient evils, so.
Nitpick: If the king really thought his kids lives were in danger, he would be more sure they actually left the damn castle?
posted by emjaybee at 3:34 PM on September 18, 2018 [2 favorites]
I really thought the little girl with the pet wolf would turn out to be the sorceress herself. She was way too self-possesed. BUT this is from the Avatar people, who regularly send out preteens and teens to battle ancient evils, so.
Nitpick: If the king really thought his kids lives were in danger, he would be more sure they actually left the damn castle?
posted by emjaybee at 3:34 PM on September 18, 2018 [2 favorites]
We watched as a family (after Nano went to bed) and all four of us loved it. Here are my 7 (Micro) and 9 (Mini) year-olds talking about the show with me:
Micro: I loved when the Moonshadow elf became invisible in the cool way!
Mini: One of my favorite parts was the cursed caldera, and the giant leech.
Micro: OH, I HATED the giant leech!
Mini: It scared me. I yelled.
Me: We all jumped between the leech and you yelling! What did you think of the characters?
Mini: Rayla has to be one of my favorites, I just liked her.
Micro: Yeah, with the speed and swordfighting and jumping abilities!
Me: What do you think happened to the king?
Micro: The sorcerer killed him.
Mini: No, I think the sorcerer hid the king in the bird.
Me: Me too.
Micro: Maybe. That would be weird. Who would do such a weird thing?
Me: Viren might!
Micro: I liked the lady who talked sign language. She had funny lines. (Probably the line where she told Callum that shouting doesn't help, and I laughed my ass off.)
Mini: I liked her shield design.
Me: What do you think is going to happen next season?
Mini: They're gonna take the newborn dragon to the border?
Micro: And what will happen there? I'm thinking a big battle.
Mini: They'll drop him off, and then leave!
Micro: No, they have to get him to his mom and there'll be a fight!
And then they got into a big dispute about the merits of lava.
Anyway, it's hard to find good "family" shows to watch that are interesting and enjoyable for the adults but appropriate/understandable for the kids, and this was very much that. My husband and I were as eager to keep watching as the boys were! And they've been playing Dragon Prince since we finished the series.
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 5:01 PM on September 18, 2018 [13 favorites]
Micro: I loved when the Moonshadow elf became invisible in the cool way!
Mini: One of my favorite parts was the cursed caldera, and the giant leech.
Micro: OH, I HATED the giant leech!
Mini: It scared me. I yelled.
Me: We all jumped between the leech and you yelling! What did you think of the characters?
Mini: Rayla has to be one of my favorites, I just liked her.
Micro: Yeah, with the speed and swordfighting and jumping abilities!
Me: What do you think happened to the king?
Micro: The sorcerer killed him.
Mini: No, I think the sorcerer hid the king in the bird.
Me: Me too.
Micro: Maybe. That would be weird. Who would do such a weird thing?
Me: Viren might!
Micro: I liked the lady who talked sign language. She had funny lines. (Probably the line where she told Callum that shouting doesn't help, and I laughed my ass off.)
Mini: I liked her shield design.
Me: What do you think is going to happen next season?
Mini: They're gonna take the newborn dragon to the border?
Micro: And what will happen there? I'm thinking a big battle.
Mini: They'll drop him off, and then leave!
Micro: No, they have to get him to his mom and there'll be a fight!
And then they got into a big dispute about the merits of lava.
Anyway, it's hard to find good "family" shows to watch that are interesting and enjoyable for the adults but appropriate/understandable for the kids, and this was very much that. My husband and I were as eager to keep watching as the boys were! And they've been playing Dragon Prince since we finished the series.
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 5:01 PM on September 18, 2018 [13 favorites]
If the king really thought his kids lives were in danger, he would be more sure they actually left the damn castle?
That whole sequence is one of the weakest of the show, in my opinion. I get that they're elite magical assassins, but you're in a goddamn castle with the whole castle garrison, two wizards, and almost 24 hours of notice. Ever consider... hiding? Ever consider... retreating? Setting magical traps? Delaying the elves until morning and they lose their magical advantage? The implication is Runaan is the only survivor of the 5 elves that attack, so their defense already almost succeeded.
King Harrow obviously felt that he deserved to face the concequences for what his kingdom did to the Dragon King, but does he think his kingdom will be better off with him dead? Does he think standing to face what he thinks is an unstoppable enemy is better than retreating and working to correct the mistakes he's made? Does he think it makes sense to not make absolutely sure his only heir is being escorted safely to a remote location? The elves aren't even bothering to make sure nobody leaves the castle alive, they're hiding and waiting until moonrise, there's no logical reason why the king, hell everyone in the castle, shouldn't also get the fuck out of there before the assassins show up. Harrow probably could have made it to General Amaya and the bulk of Katolis's army, where he would have been considerably safer than in the castle.
Oh, also, the princes escape right out the main fucking gate as Runaan fires the arrow that announces Harrow's death. What the fuck, why is that gate open, does this castle even have a drawbridge, why is there any accessible way in or out of the castle at all when it's under attack? The moonshadow elves clearly didn't need to open the gates to get in so why the fuck are they open? I may need to rewatch that part but boy, that just seems nuts to me.
posted by Mr.Encyclopedia at 5:40 PM on September 18, 2018 [5 favorites]
That whole sequence is one of the weakest of the show, in my opinion. I get that they're elite magical assassins, but you're in a goddamn castle with the whole castle garrison, two wizards, and almost 24 hours of notice. Ever consider... hiding? Ever consider... retreating? Setting magical traps? Delaying the elves until morning and they lose their magical advantage? The implication is Runaan is the only survivor of the 5 elves that attack, so their defense already almost succeeded.
King Harrow obviously felt that he deserved to face the concequences for what his kingdom did to the Dragon King, but does he think his kingdom will be better off with him dead? Does he think standing to face what he thinks is an unstoppable enemy is better than retreating and working to correct the mistakes he's made? Does he think it makes sense to not make absolutely sure his only heir is being escorted safely to a remote location? The elves aren't even bothering to make sure nobody leaves the castle alive, they're hiding and waiting until moonrise, there's no logical reason why the king, hell everyone in the castle, shouldn't also get the fuck out of there before the assassins show up. Harrow probably could have made it to General Amaya and the bulk of Katolis's army, where he would have been considerably safer than in the castle.
Oh, also, the princes escape right out the main fucking gate as Runaan fires the arrow that announces Harrow's death. What the fuck, why is that gate open, does this castle even have a drawbridge, why is there any accessible way in or out of the castle at all when it's under attack? The moonshadow elves clearly didn't need to open the gates to get in so why the fuck are they open? I may need to rewatch that part but boy, that just seems nuts to me.
posted by Mr.Encyclopedia at 5:40 PM on September 18, 2018 [5 favorites]
The elves aren't even bothering to make sure nobody leaves the castle alive, they're hiding and waiting until moonrise, there's no logical reason why the king, hell everyone in the castle, shouldn't also get the fuck out of there before the assassins show up.
The King answers this question, for the most part, it's both pride and guilt. He doesn't want to be a coward and run away from the problems he was partly responsible for. I think we can definitely question his decision to make his guards die to satisfy his own issues, though. He pretty much believed his fate was sealed, but I guess, he thought the guards knew what they signed up for. Who knows on that account.
I do believe that Viren trapped the king's soul in the bird, it was just too convenient a setup between the bird being ever present and the whole discourse on the two headed soul swapping snake. The real question is did the king's anger at Viren push the sorcerer over the edge in terms of his usurping tendencies or did something happen in the process that made him go full on wicked?
The animation, aside from the occasional choppiness, is beautiful. The backgrounds continue to be beautiful and the ancillary animation, people in the background, crowds, other things, are there, adding those touches of realism. There's a lot of small animated tweaks to people moving or shifting, glancing or whatever, that less dedicated/cheaper funded studios would skip or be unable to spend time on. It reveals a level of care for the animation that I really, really appreciate. ATLA and Korra were supremely good at this and I'm glad to see it continued here. As I mentioned in the other thread, the framing is dynamic, revealing some good storyboarding behind the scenes, too.
Amaya is hands down one of the best characters I've seen pop up in any medium. The use of ASL is amazing. If I had one complaint about her, I had minor flashbacks to Olivier Armstrong from Full Metal Alchemist, a similarly seasoned, very capable woman general, who's in charge of a vital fort in a mountain pass. I don't know if it's coincidental or what, and the personalities and other traits are otherwise different. The other characters, I've also enjoyed a lot.
I also thought the dude with the sun blade was going to become a new character and it was a nice surprise when he ended up a coward and a jerk. Heh.
I definitely want more of this show.
posted by Atreides at 7:47 AM on September 19, 2018 [3 favorites]
The King answers this question, for the most part, it's both pride and guilt. He doesn't want to be a coward and run away from the problems he was partly responsible for. I think we can definitely question his decision to make his guards die to satisfy his own issues, though. He pretty much believed his fate was sealed, but I guess, he thought the guards knew what they signed up for. Who knows on that account.
I do believe that Viren trapped the king's soul in the bird, it was just too convenient a setup between the bird being ever present and the whole discourse on the two headed soul swapping snake. The real question is did the king's anger at Viren push the sorcerer over the edge in terms of his usurping tendencies or did something happen in the process that made him go full on wicked?
The animation, aside from the occasional choppiness, is beautiful. The backgrounds continue to be beautiful and the ancillary animation, people in the background, crowds, other things, are there, adding those touches of realism. There's a lot of small animated tweaks to people moving or shifting, glancing or whatever, that less dedicated/cheaper funded studios would skip or be unable to spend time on. It reveals a level of care for the animation that I really, really appreciate. ATLA and Korra were supremely good at this and I'm glad to see it continued here. As I mentioned in the other thread, the framing is dynamic, revealing some good storyboarding behind the scenes, too.
Amaya is hands down one of the best characters I've seen pop up in any medium. The use of ASL is amazing. If I had one complaint about her, I had minor flashbacks to Olivier Armstrong from Full Metal Alchemist, a similarly seasoned, very capable woman general, who's in charge of a vital fort in a mountain pass. I don't know if it's coincidental or what, and the personalities and other traits are otherwise different. The other characters, I've also enjoyed a lot.
I also thought the dude with the sun blade was going to become a new character and it was a nice surprise when he ended up a coward and a jerk. Heh.
I definitely want more of this show.
posted by Atreides at 7:47 AM on September 19, 2018 [3 favorites]
Dude with Sunblade was like the Jerk Cousin of Voltran's Coran; for a minute I thought he was going to be a good guy because of that, but nope. Jerk Cousin.
posted by emjaybee at 2:32 PM on September 19, 2018 [5 favorites]
posted by emjaybee at 2:32 PM on September 19, 2018 [5 favorites]
Pretty great show so far!
I was curious about the backwards-speech they did when they cast spells, so I recorded and reversed one of them, and it was interesting. I found a reddit thread that SPOILER-ishly reveals what two of the spells from Episode 8 say when the audio is reversed.
posted by umber vowel at 10:05 PM on September 19, 2018 [3 favorites]
I was curious about the backwards-speech they did when they cast spells, so I recorded and reversed one of them, and it was interesting. I found a reddit thread that SPOILER-ishly reveals what two of the spells from Episode 8 say when the audio is reversed.
posted by umber vowel at 10:05 PM on September 19, 2018 [3 favorites]
Dude with [Sunforge blade] was like the Jerk Cousin of Voltran's Coran
yesss he was
posted by numaner at 10:46 PM on September 19, 2018
yesss he was
posted by numaner at 10:46 PM on September 19, 2018
His design is such a throwaway "Generic dude but with silly moustache" I can't imagine he's meant to come back. According to IMDB he is just "Mercenary" so he doesn't even get the treatment of other minor characters like Ellis, Corvus, or Lujanne.
posted by Mr.Encyclopedia at 12:50 PM on September 20, 2018
posted by Mr.Encyclopedia at 12:50 PM on September 20, 2018
he didn't have a name did he? I feel like he did, but he also doesn't warrant me spending the effort to look it up. if he wasn't a complete jerk I might, but alas.
posted by numaner at 5:12 PM on September 20, 2018
posted by numaner at 5:12 PM on September 20, 2018
I haven't looked at the credits to the episode but IMDB just lists "Mercenary" which I have to assume is him? He doesn't strike me as "Mercenary" so much as "Blowhard"
Honestly I'm mildly surprised Rayla didn't keep the sunforge blade. She could have said "I'm taking this back to it's rightful owners." And I wouldn't have batted an eye.
The Waypoint crew talked about the show on their Wednesday Waypoints podcast and Austin Walker had an interesting argument that Callum is a shitheel. He talks like he doesn't think much of himself but he is always putting himself out in front, doing shit his companions disagree with, and rarely taking advice. For instance, when he decides to smash the primal stone, he does it completely on his own without any input from the others. I think we all knew at that point that it would work, but did Callum?
Austin also pointed out that is having a storm in a ball actually OK? Like, dark magic is already about destroying something so you can use the magic in it for your own purposes, right? So is it cool to take something that is by definition primal and lock it away for your personal use? Given that Rayla doesn't respond negatively to the primal stone the way she would respond to Callum trying to use dark magic, I don't know if this holds up, but it's an interesting point. One of the themes of the show is how people relate to the natural and magical resources in their world. If "Somebody put a storm in a ball for their own private use" doesn't twitch your dial, does "Someone put a lake in a ball" or "someone put a star in a ball"?
posted by Mr.Encyclopedia at 3:04 PM on September 21, 2018 [2 favorites]
Honestly I'm mildly surprised Rayla didn't keep the sunforge blade. She could have said "I'm taking this back to it's rightful owners." And I wouldn't have batted an eye.
The Waypoint crew talked about the show on their Wednesday Waypoints podcast and Austin Walker had an interesting argument that Callum is a shitheel. He talks like he doesn't think much of himself but he is always putting himself out in front, doing shit his companions disagree with, and rarely taking advice. For instance, when he decides to smash the primal stone, he does it completely on his own without any input from the others. I think we all knew at that point that it would work, but did Callum?
Austin also pointed out that is having a storm in a ball actually OK? Like, dark magic is already about destroying something so you can use the magic in it for your own purposes, right? So is it cool to take something that is by definition primal and lock it away for your personal use? Given that Rayla doesn't respond negatively to the primal stone the way she would respond to Callum trying to use dark magic, I don't know if this holds up, but it's an interesting point. One of the themes of the show is how people relate to the natural and magical resources in their world. If "Somebody put a storm in a ball for their own private use" doesn't twitch your dial, does "Someone put a lake in a ball" or "someone put a star in a ball"?
posted by Mr.Encyclopedia at 3:04 PM on September 21, 2018 [2 favorites]
yeah i kept waiting for someone to call him out about that, but no one did. but then again, they did mock him for his "plan" with the giant eel, even though it did kinda work out.
from what Rayla said, it takes incredible power to even create one of those primal stones, because you're basically forcing nature into a glass ball. so maybe it's nbd to everyone that people do it, since it's especially impressive that they can. then again, there's probably other moral viewpoints we haven't been exposed to yet. Rayla herself only has qualms about killing, but not much else it would seem, except not taking that Sunforge blade which she totally should've.
posted by numaner at 3:30 PM on September 21, 2018
from what Rayla said, it takes incredible power to even create one of those primal stones, because you're basically forcing nature into a glass ball. so maybe it's nbd to everyone that people do it, since it's especially impressive that they can. then again, there's probably other moral viewpoints we haven't been exposed to yet. Rayla herself only has qualms about killing, but not much else it would seem, except not taking that Sunforge blade which she totally should've.
posted by numaner at 3:30 PM on September 21, 2018
(Important update: My kids are going as Callum, Ezran, and Rayla for Halloween.)
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 7:08 PM on September 22, 2018 [6 favorites]
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 7:08 PM on September 22, 2018 [6 favorites]
I hope you'll do the right thing and go as Viren
posted by Mr.Encyclopedia at 6:29 PM on September 23, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by Mr.Encyclopedia at 6:29 PM on September 23, 2018 [1 favorite]
I didn't think it was a big deal, smashing the primal stone. It was never acknowledged as any type of communal property - except that it belonged to Claudia. That part is questionable, but one aspect of Dark Magic is destroying something else - enclosing a storm inside a glass ball (I guess it's bigger on the inside) isn't quite the same. It would be different if the storm was somehow sentient or something.
posted by Atreides at 7:28 AM on September 24, 2018
posted by Atreides at 7:28 AM on September 24, 2018
aw man
I was really hoping to enjoy this show but I did not.
There was major issues with the dialogue. The timing was often very.... slow. Multiple minutes of a 20 minute show were wasted for no reason than dead-end asides that didn't add anything of value.
The animation was amazing (choppiness was fine imo) and I particularly loved the cel shading. But I hated the complete lack of character design. This is often a bugaboo for me but the bar is so low. The clothes did not fall, lay, flutter, or move like clothes. It moved like part of the character, part of the body. The king was sleeping.... in his royal outfit.... which was the only outfit they rendered him in because they only rendered a single outfit per person. Reminded me a lot of video games.
So, poor dialogue, poor character design. 3/5 stars when I was expecting 5/5.
posted by rebent at 7:51 PM on September 26, 2018
I was really hoping to enjoy this show but I did not.
There was major issues with the dialogue. The timing was often very.... slow. Multiple minutes of a 20 minute show were wasted for no reason than dead-end asides that didn't add anything of value.
The animation was amazing (choppiness was fine imo) and I particularly loved the cel shading. But I hated the complete lack of character design. This is often a bugaboo for me but the bar is so low. The clothes did not fall, lay, flutter, or move like clothes. It moved like part of the character, part of the body. The king was sleeping.... in his royal outfit.... which was the only outfit they rendered him in because they only rendered a single outfit per person. Reminded me a lot of video games.
So, poor dialogue, poor character design. 3/5 stars when I was expecting 5/5.
posted by rebent at 7:51 PM on September 26, 2018
heh, that's like the vice versa of how i feel about the show: good dialogue and emotional portrayals, clunky animation. is it really cell-shading? there's a lot of gradients used especially for backgrounds that are not in typical cell-shading animation.
posted by numaner at 9:37 AM on September 27, 2018
posted by numaner at 9:37 AM on September 27, 2018
The Dragon Prince’s creators want to ‘improve’ the show’s controversial animation If there’s a second season, that is.
posted by 1970s Antihero at 2:19 PM on September 27, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by 1970s Antihero at 2:19 PM on September 27, 2018 [1 favorite]
It's weird to say that I enjoyed the jokes in this more than Disenchantment but thought Disenchantment's overall plot was more gripping than this show's.
posted by Space Coyote at 9:56 PM on September 30, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by Space Coyote at 9:56 PM on September 30, 2018 [1 favorite]
I finally got around to finishing it over the weekend. I liked it enough that I would watch a theoretical second season, but there are things about it that need to be improved.
Ten years ago I would have loved it on the basis of its diversity alone* but it is 2018 and diversity should be a given at this point; I also need a show to be good. And there is a lot about The Dragon Prince that is good. I like the way that every adult male character looks like his character design was recycled directly from Dream Daddy. I liked the show giving a nod to the understanding that Harrow and Varen (I had to look up their names; I had been referring to them as King Hotstuff and Wizard Daddy) were going to be slashed harder than any two men have been slashed in the history of the internet. I liked spending time with the characters, although I did find the supporting cast to be more enjoyable than the protagonists.
But..
The animation could use improvement. It is not a desperate need. The show will still be watchable if they keep the current animation style. Still, it is noticeable and could be better.
The writing needs someone to come in and tighten it up. The final episode featured a break in the ongoing story to give us a side scene about how Claudia farted. That was it. That was the entire scene. I understand that they had were in the middle of a story that might be scary for younger viewers and so it makes sense to do a scene that lightens the mood, but it is possible to do that in a way that moves the plot forward. In a show that only had nine episodes there should not be so much filler.
Saving the reveal that Ezren can speak with animals until the last episode was a head-scratcher, and it was only one of the story decisions that left me feeling like the show was relying on its young audience to not think through the implications of the elements that were being introduced.
There’s a lot to like here but in 2018 the bar for animated television is set pretty high and at no point did I feel like the show was making sufficient effort to clear it.
* Along the lines of race and impairment; I agree with everyone who says that the show is in desperate need of for female characters, and I cannot help but notice that none of the four writers or three directors on the show were women (I suspect that the latter issue contributed heavily to the former).
posted by Parasite Unseen at 11:10 AM on October 1, 2018 [1 favorite]
Ten years ago I would have loved it on the basis of its diversity alone* but it is 2018 and diversity should be a given at this point; I also need a show to be good. And there is a lot about The Dragon Prince that is good. I like the way that every adult male character looks like his character design was recycled directly from Dream Daddy. I liked the show giving a nod to the understanding that Harrow and Varen (I had to look up their names; I had been referring to them as King Hotstuff and Wizard Daddy) were going to be slashed harder than any two men have been slashed in the history of the internet. I liked spending time with the characters, although I did find the supporting cast to be more enjoyable than the protagonists.
But..
The animation could use improvement. It is not a desperate need. The show will still be watchable if they keep the current animation style. Still, it is noticeable and could be better.
The writing needs someone to come in and tighten it up. The final episode featured a break in the ongoing story to give us a side scene about how Claudia farted. That was it. That was the entire scene. I understand that they had were in the middle of a story that might be scary for younger viewers and so it makes sense to do a scene that lightens the mood, but it is possible to do that in a way that moves the plot forward. In a show that only had nine episodes there should not be so much filler.
Saving the reveal that Ezren can speak with animals until the last episode was a head-scratcher, and it was only one of the story decisions that left me feeling like the show was relying on its young audience to not think through the implications of the elements that were being introduced.
There’s a lot to like here but in 2018 the bar for animated television is set pretty high and at no point did I feel like the show was making sufficient effort to clear it.
* Along the lines of race and impairment; I agree with everyone who says that the show is in desperate need of for female characters, and I cannot help but notice that none of the four writers or three directors on the show were women (I suspect that the latter issue contributed heavily to the former).
posted by Parasite Unseen at 11:10 AM on October 1, 2018 [1 favorite]
It's weird to say that I enjoyed the jokes in this more than Disenchantment but thought Disenchantment's overall plot was more gripping than this show's.
I agree! I kinda want both combined into a gripping and funny show, and then I also want the animators of Avatar to style it.
The final episode featured a break in the ongoing story to give us a side scene about how Claudia farted. That was it. That was the entire scene.
That also struck me as really odd, but I chuckled, but it could've used a second longer lingering camera pan on how they're right on the trail of the heroes. I almost missed some dialogue 'cause I was so busy wondering where the rest of that scene went.
posted by numaner at 11:11 PM on October 1, 2018
I agree! I kinda want both combined into a gripping and funny show, and then I also want the animators of Avatar to style it.
The final episode featured a break in the ongoing story to give us a side scene about how Claudia farted. That was it. That was the entire scene.
That also struck me as really odd, but I chuckled, but it could've used a second longer lingering camera pan on how they're right on the trail of the heroes. I almost missed some dialogue 'cause I was so busy wondering where the rest of that scene went.
posted by numaner at 11:11 PM on October 1, 2018
If there’s a second season, that is.
There will be a second season.
posted by Mr.Encyclopedia at 12:31 PM on October 5, 2018 [4 favorites]
There will be a second season.
posted by Mr.Encyclopedia at 12:31 PM on October 5, 2018 [4 favorites]
Huzzah, second season!
I watched the first season over a couple of nights a few days ago, and while I agree there were some early installment teething problems (get the heirs out of the damn castle! And Gren, if you're Amaya's trusted 2-I-C, why are you such a chump), overall I thought it was really charming with strong character work (Rayla was a particular standout), cute banter, distinctive character designs and straightforward but intriguing worldbuilding.
I definitely gravitated most towards the female characters, which is not to say that I disliked any of the dudes. Rayla's probably had the strongest character arc so far, Amaya is just magnificent, and I find it interesting that Claudia is one of the kinder and gentler characters despite dabbling in dark magic -- you'd think there'd have been some foreshadowing of corruption by now, and maybe that's coming, but so far the writers have chosen to refrain. I like that I genuinely don't know what Claudia and Soren are going to do when they catch up with Team Zym. They're both fundamentally better people than their dad, but it's far too early in the show for both of them to switch sides so easily...plus, a friend of mine was speculating they could meet up with Corvus, which would be fun just for all the competing agendas.
Speaking of Viren, I feel like he has the opposite issue of most cartoon villains -- instead of being a cardboard cutout with an excellent voice actor (e.g. the Ozai formula), we've got a pretty good sense of his personality and motivations, but his voice actor is mostly just serviceable. (He was definitely best in the Conversation with Harrow, which I found genuinely wrenching in that "for want of a nail" way.)
If you haven't watched the end credits for each episode, they're worth going back to watch! Each one is a different series of vignettes, mostly light-hearted background stuff (an ongoing gag about Soren doing push-ups, young Rayla crying in the bathtub with an elf-horned rubber ducky, Bait as a tadpole) but there are some hints for the future, including an as yet-unmet character who seems to have a connection to Runaan.Please be his boyfriend.
posted by bettafish at 4:51 PM on October 5, 2018 [2 favorites]
I watched the first season over a couple of nights a few days ago, and while I agree there were some early installment teething problems (get the heirs out of the damn castle! And Gren, if you're Amaya's trusted 2-I-C, why are you such a chump), overall I thought it was really charming with strong character work (Rayla was a particular standout), cute banter, distinctive character designs and straightforward but intriguing worldbuilding.
I definitely gravitated most towards the female characters, which is not to say that I disliked any of the dudes. Rayla's probably had the strongest character arc so far, Amaya is just magnificent, and I find it interesting that Claudia is one of the kinder and gentler characters despite dabbling in dark magic -- you'd think there'd have been some foreshadowing of corruption by now, and maybe that's coming, but so far the writers have chosen to refrain. I like that I genuinely don't know what Claudia and Soren are going to do when they catch up with Team Zym. They're both fundamentally better people than their dad, but it's far too early in the show for both of them to switch sides so easily...plus, a friend of mine was speculating they could meet up with Corvus, which would be fun just for all the competing agendas.
Speaking of Viren, I feel like he has the opposite issue of most cartoon villains -- instead of being a cardboard cutout with an excellent voice actor (e.g. the Ozai formula), we've got a pretty good sense of his personality and motivations, but his voice actor is mostly just serviceable. (He was definitely best in the Conversation with Harrow, which I found genuinely wrenching in that "for want of a nail" way.)
If you haven't watched the end credits for each episode, they're worth going back to watch! Each one is a different series of vignettes, mostly light-hearted background stuff (an ongoing gag about Soren doing push-ups, young Rayla crying in the bathtub with an elf-horned rubber ducky, Bait as a tadpole) but there are some hints for the future, including an as yet-unmet character who seems to have a connection to Runaan.
posted by bettafish at 4:51 PM on October 5, 2018 [2 favorites]
I agree with the "hmm"ing over the lack of women in the writers'/directors' rooms and the need for more women onscreen (and interacting with each other), but I don't know if the diversity we see on the show can be taken as typical of TV today, especially not for this kind of old school swords and sorcery high fantasy. So far the main family - which is also the royal family! - is a black dad/stepdad, an asian mom and aunt (who is also deaf, who is also a warrior but not a ninja/samurai/monk/etc etc), and two biracial kids who are the protagonists of the show (along with a faux Scottish elf girl). Plus you have a character like Ellis, who is culturally distinct from other people in her town without being exotified or set apart in any way. Both these things are a marked contrast from the approaches taken by shows like Game of Thrones (white default, exotic Others) or BBC's Merlin/Robin Hood/etc (colorblind casting without any thought into presenting a richer cultural landscape or avoiding unfortunate stereotypes).
Speaking of Ellis, I joked on Twitter that the Dragon Prince team put more care into avoiding ableist stereotypes with a supporting character's pet wolf than the Voltron team put into seven seasons with a disabled character in the main cast, except it's the kind of joke where it's funny because it's a little too close to true? Ava's leg was a plot device to move the kids in a certain direction and then ramp up the drama, but it was so clearly handled with care and thought for the disabled kids who would be watching, and what their takeaway would be. I got pretty emotional about it, tbh. So, while I don't want to get my expectations too high or give more credit than is due, I'm willing to extend the team the benefit of the doubt that they'll resolve some of the issues we're seeing now.
posted by bettafish at 5:27 PM on October 5, 2018 [2 favorites]
Speaking of Ellis, I joked on Twitter that the Dragon Prince team put more care into avoiding ableist stereotypes with a supporting character's pet wolf than the Voltron team put into seven seasons with a disabled character in the main cast, except it's the kind of joke where it's funny because it's a little too close to true? Ava's leg was a plot device to move the kids in a certain direction and then ramp up the drama, but it was so clearly handled with care and thought for the disabled kids who would be watching, and what their takeaway would be. I got pretty emotional about it, tbh. So, while I don't want to get my expectations too high or give more credit than is due, I'm willing to extend the team the benefit of the doubt that they'll resolve some of the issues we're seeing now.
posted by bettafish at 5:27 PM on October 5, 2018 [2 favorites]
Game of Thrones (white default, exotic Others)
Oh I dunno, The Others are pretty white too, or wight anyway.
posted by Mr.Encyclopedia at 4:24 PM on October 8, 2018 [2 favorites]
Oh I dunno, The Others are pretty white too, or wight anyway.
posted by Mr.Encyclopedia at 4:24 PM on October 8, 2018 [2 favorites]
Long interview with Aaron Ehasz and Justin Richmond: The Dragon Prince creators say no one has found some of season 1’s secrets
posted by 1970s Antihero at 12:16 PM on October 10, 2018
posted by 1970s Antihero at 12:16 PM on October 10, 2018
The article mentioned that fans found some easter eggs already, but aside from Claudia reading the book with the title of a play from ATLA, what are the other ones? Google didn't turn up a convenient list or anything.
posted by numaner at 9:24 PM on October 10, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by numaner at 9:24 PM on October 10, 2018 [1 favorite]
Yah, I ran into a bit of a roadblock trying to find a definitive list anywhere, too.
posted by Atreides at 7:00 AM on October 12, 2018
posted by Atreides at 7:00 AM on October 12, 2018
I could swear I've seen a list exactly like that somewhere! But I can't find it again.
Runaan shares a name with a League of Legends thingummy because both were named after one of Devon Giehl's WoW characters.
Is it cool to discuss the end credits teasers here, since they've technically been aired already, or is that too spoilery?
posted by bettafish at 6:42 AM on October 14, 2018
Runaan shares a name with a League of Legends thingummy because both were named after one of Devon Giehl's WoW characters.
Is it cool to discuss the end credits teasers here, since they've technically been aired already, or is that too spoilery?
posted by bettafish at 6:42 AM on October 14, 2018
It's been a month and Fanfare generally is fine with spoilers (except when spoiling future episodes/events - but this is a season post....so I think it's totally fine.). The end credits were pretty fun to watch.
posted by Atreides at 7:33 AM on October 15, 2018
posted by Atreides at 7:33 AM on October 15, 2018
Well, since we're discussing Easter eggs, the two credits teasers I wanted to pull out were:
-The Mysterious Credits Elf I mentioned before, who appears in one credits sequence making a pair of necklaces like the one Runaan wears, and then shows up crying in the credits of the episode where he gets coin'ed. I'm trying not to get my hopes up that there's a romantic connection, but it'd be cool if there were. If nothing else he doesn't seem very assassin-y, so when he shows up we'll probably get a wider view of Moonshadow Elf culture.
- The creepy mirror shot leaves me somewhat concerned for Claudia, quite apart from the whole "dad is evil, practices dark magic" stuff. Who put her on notice?!
posted by bettafish at 3:16 PM on October 15, 2018 [1 favorite]
-The Mysterious Credits Elf I mentioned before, who appears in one credits sequence making a pair of necklaces like the one Runaan wears, and then shows up crying in the credits of the episode where he gets coin'ed. I'm trying not to get my hopes up that there's a romantic connection, but it'd be cool if there were. If nothing else he doesn't seem very assassin-y, so when he shows up we'll probably get a wider view of Moonshadow Elf culture.
- The creepy mirror shot leaves me somewhat concerned for Claudia, quite apart from the whole "dad is evil, practices dark magic" stuff. Who put her on notice?!
posted by bettafish at 3:16 PM on October 15, 2018 [1 favorite]
Why do I feel like there was a sketch of Runaan and another elf sitting next to each other (cuddling?)? Or is that fan art I happened across? ( I went back and looked at a collection of the sketches...and yah, I guess it was fan art!) I think introducing someone with some kind of attachment to Runaan makes a lot of sense for Moonshadow Elf character motivation in the next season. I missed that mirror shot, eeeeeee. It's apparently an elf trapped inside that mirror, which is weird (going off the number of fingers). Why would an elf be trapped in a mirror that belonged to the dragons?
(P.S. failed again to find a nice list of the Easter Eggs)
posted by Atreides at 8:49 AM on October 16, 2018
(P.S. failed again to find a nice list of the Easter Eggs)
posted by Atreides at 8:49 AM on October 16, 2018
Yeah, people aren’t already shipping Runaan/MCE pretty hard!
Speaking of which, I think one of the Easter eggs is that both Runaan and an item in League of Legends are named after one of Devon Giehl’s World of Warcraft characters.
Why would an elf be trapped in a mirror that belonged to the dragons?
Not to mention: why do the dragons have an elf-sized mirror?
One thing I’m looking forward to learning is how the elves and dragons fit together. Did Runaan’s team come in on a mission to avenge their liege lord, an ally, or a client’s husband?
posted by bettafish at 9:18 AM on October 16, 2018 [1 favorite]
Speaking of which, I think one of the Easter eggs is that both Runaan and an item in League of Legends are named after one of Devon Giehl’s World of Warcraft characters.
Why would an elf be trapped in a mirror that belonged to the dragons?
Not to mention: why do the dragons have an elf-sized mirror?
One thing I’m looking forward to learning is how the elves and dragons fit together. Did Runaan’s team come in on a mission to avenge their liege lord, an ally, or a client’s husband?
posted by bettafish at 9:18 AM on October 16, 2018 [1 favorite]
Halloween costumes. (Rayla didn't want to stand still enough for her face paint.)
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 6:00 AM on October 31, 2018 [6 favorites]
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 6:00 AM on October 31, 2018 [6 favorites]
I'm at about episode 5, but I turned it off for awhile after they had Callum declare that Rayla was viscous and drank blood. They really soured the Callum character because of that. Rayla by all rights should have taken the egg and left them after that stunt.
posted by Brocktoon at 10:42 AM on February 26, 2019
posted by Brocktoon at 10:42 AM on February 26, 2019
Oh and I like to think that the mirror is the prison for the 8th primal power, perhaps Time.
posted by Brocktoon at 10:47 AM on February 26, 2019
posted by Brocktoon at 10:47 AM on February 26, 2019
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posted by foxfirefey at 1:53 PM on September 17, 2018 [1 favorite]