Another danger threatens the group as they scale the Cursed Caldera, but Ezran has a revelation that aids their journey while Soren and Claudia try to track the trio.
Still at the Caldera, Ezran claims there's no healer; despite Callum's skepticism, he claims he understands animals and Ava told him.
Rayla cheers him up by saying she's listening, but it's an odd claim. He says he never fit in with kids, but connected with animals, eventually finding he understood them. Callum accuses him of lying, angering both Ezran and Rayla, but he continues that when Ezran last claimed this, it resulted in what seemed to be a prank. Ezran defends what he said back then, but Callum snaps that this is why he can't make friends, prompting Rayla to bite back. Though she doesn't seem to fully believe him, either, Ellis says she does, but still believes in the hearler; Callum sternly decides to move on. Meanwhile, Claudia and Soren arrive at Mount Kalik, where the latter makes a terrible pun about it being the "Ka-tallest" mountain in Katolis, which drags on. Once they're done with the joke, they head on, with Soren checking to be sure Claudia has all she needs, getting disgusted when she starts explaining some weird magic. Back at the Caldera, Callum notices the moon rune on his cube glows as they climb higher, and Rayla points out the obvious: they're getting closer to the moon. Callum feels that something is different, though, and they hear strange moans. Ezran wants to investigate, but Rayla sarcastically shares an "old proverb" about sticking to walking if you hear strange sounds while transporting a dragon egg. Ez points out someone could be hurt, so Rayla grudgingly turns back, deciding to go alone while they watch over the egg. She finds a body wrapped in a spider's webbing, and as she gets close, it moves and warns her to turn back before "it" gets her, too. Rayla decides to help by cutting the cocoon open, but is shocked to find only dust inside.
When Rayla returns to the group, her frightened appearance tells Callum she saw something, so she shares how the sight horrifically crumbled in her face.
As they continue, Ezran sees a face in the darkness. Though they see nothing, Ellis is sure something is watching them and they might need to turn back, but Callum is determined to keep going and save the egg. The group finds an enormous spiderweb, and while Rayla thinks they should go around, Ava's sniffing suggests they have to punch through, like Callum suggests. Rayla easily cuts through the webs but is anxious to face the creature that made them, warning Callum not to touch. As they continue on, a giant spider appears behind them, so Callum blasts it with lightning, causing it to disappear in a burst of webs. Rayla rolls her eyes as Callum freaks out, thinking it's in his hair, and Ellis urges silence so they can listen for it. The monstrous spider leaps down from above, scaring the group off. Callum worries about getting past it, but Rayla is more concerned about getting caught in the webs. The spider climbs its webbing and starts screeching, and Ezran, looking in wonder, realizes something isn't right, in a good way. We take a break for a moment to revisit Soren and Claudia; the former is happy about the sights and air during their night ride. He notices a terrible smell and thinks it to be from her horse, but Claudia tauntingly says it wasn't the horse that did it.
Back with the spider, the others want to turn back, but Ezran claims the spider isn't real; the sounds it's making don't match a spider, and he's going to prove it.
Despite Callum's protests, the boy rushes out, and the spider drops down and screams in his face; he responds by screaming back, and it doesn't hurt him. Callum joins Ez and realizes he's right after reaching toward the creature, so Ezran decides to try getting the creature to show the angry face on its backside. Callum apologizes for not believing his brother, who requires that he do his "jerkface" dance right there if he's truly serious. Rayla wonders why the spider is there if it's fake, and Ez says it likes the jerkface dance; the group moves on, with the spider chittering from the same spot. The group comes across the tree Ellis was in when she saw the healer, and she tells Callum she isn't sure how to find her, as they just happened to show up when she did. To their surprise, the moon starts emitting a strange glow, and a giant bird carrying a woman glides down from the sky in front of them. Rayls is suddenly discouraged, saying Ez was right; this woman isn't a healer, but rather an illusionist moon mage, which the woman admits is true. She introduces herself as Lujanne, guardian of the Moon Nexus, and Rayla chastises herself for not realizing all the monsters before were just illusions. Ellis wonders how this could be, and Lujanne explains when she saw her before, she realized humans would struggle to accept the crippled wolf, but saw her strong spirit. To help the two, she created an illusory leg that others would see and feel, and enchanted Ava's moonstone collar to hold the spell, which she then releases. Once they explain their need for a healer, Lujanne reveals the only way to save the Dragon Prince, which Callum becomes determined to do, while Claudia and Soren reach the top of Kalik in an attempt to track Rayla.
As has been the case thus far for the show, the parts with give us a fun and action-filled adventure. Soren and Claudia's sections, however, were rather lackluster.
It feels like the writers weren't really sure what to do with the two at this point in the show, as they're randomly interjected for just a few moments. These moments definitely aren't worth it, either. Both are just drawn out about a single joke for each, and neither are very high-caliber. First we get a simple groan-inducing pun from Soren, which would've been fine on its own, especially if the two progressed their plot at all, but then the rest is just Claudia cackling at the joke and making her own poor attempt at it. Then later we get a similar pointless moment where Soren smells something awful. Again we get no plot development, and this time it's for...a fart joke. Now anyone who knows me knows I love some lowbrow humor, and fart jokes can make me laugh, but this just left me sitting here looking at me screen. I think it's partially because Soren and Claudia are serving as a bit of comic relief to counter the currently darker nature of the main group, even if the main group has plenty of comedy on their journey. Whenever something gets interesting with the main group this episode, the story gets halted for these boring, pointless gags. As we don't really learn anything about Soren or Claudia, and the moments don't advance their story, they feel like filler to stretch the episode out. The parts with Rayla and the boys continue to impress, though, with them easily switching between dark moments and some lighthearted areas. This episode has continued to show why the people are so afraid of the caldera, with the kids having already faced a giant leech, and now en enormous spider. Even with the reveal of the illusions, the moments we saw are still unnerving and filled with both fear and action as the group struggles to continue. In particular with this group, Callum and Ezran constantly feel like a real pair of brothers, and this episode added onto that, especially with Callum's dance. It's rather silly that Ez has him perform it right then, but at that moment they've determined they're not really in danger, and their relaxed natures surface. Callum shows he's a good older brother, as for all his failings, he apologizes to his brother when he wrongs him, and he had reason to not trust him. His "jerkface" dance feels like something two young siblings would actually come up with whenever one of them is proven wrong. The revelation about Ava is quite an interesting twist, and makes a nice statement about how being even slightly different can cause someone difficulties. As Lujanne says herself, Ava didn't really need the fourth leg to go on living; it was everyone around that had a problem with it. I've heard before and seen examples of people being treated differently because of something that made them stand out from the crowd, such as a lost limb. Here, I'm reminded of the X-Men, where the public scorns anyone for their mutations, no matter how good of a person or how young and innocent they are. This was the season finale, and I took long enough (Sorry!) that season 2 is already out; I'm looking forward to continuing the journey returning the Dragon Prince!
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AuthorI love the entertainment side of things. Video games, tv shows, superheroes and movies are my passion and I'd love to get the news out for things I enjoy. My contact page has links to my social media, so if you enjoy what I have to say, likes, shares, comments, and follows are always greatly appreciated! Archives
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