|
|
Post by Killix on Oct 29, 2022 22:59:09 GMT -5
Yaaay!
The long wait will soon be over!
|
|
|
|
Post by Thorn on Oct 29, 2022 23:35:10 GMT -5
I'm so hyped, so many cool updated character designs and things (there's a bit of a timeskip between season 3 and 4.)
This season is called 'Mystery of Aaravos', and as a lover of the blue sparkly boi I am excited!
|
|
|
|
Post by Killix on Nov 4, 2022 2:10:39 GMT -5
New season consumed!
It started out strong, but finished feeling... I dunno, incomplete?
9 episodes really isn't enough.
This season was kinda all over the place in terms of writing. The exposition felt crammed awkwardly in places, and a lot of the conflicts felt rushed or contrived, too.
So I thought it was... okay.
Some good moments, some ??? moments, and a lot of mediocrity in between. I wouldn't say I'm disappointed with the season itself - I'm more disappointed that I had to wait 3 years for it. haha. XD
- New character designs for the time skip look great. (Except maybe Soren. He looks rough. o_o)
- The animation in the first two episodes was oddly stiff, but I didn't notice anything too awkward (minus some animation oopsies) in the later episodes, so no major complaints there.
- This season shines in the dark, but falls blind on its face reaching for the light-hearted.
(The juvenile jokes went on too long and sometimes interjected scenes that were nooot the right tone match. Please TDP, no more fart jokes or characters casually commenting about soiling themselves. It's not funny!)
- I wish that the majority of Callum and Rayla's time in this season hadn't been spent on their awkward relationship drama.
- Rayla's dramatic exit x years ago was only told in brief exposition. But uh, she's back, everyone! With nothing gained except a whole season of weird dramatic tension between her and Callum!
I know that the hows and whys of Rayla's peace-out were explained in supplementary source material, but uh... it's never good storytelling to expect your audience to have had access to outside information, especially when that material is a whole different media from the main series.
Eh. Either way, it didn't seem to have gone anywhere and the whole plot point of her leaving just feels weirdly unnecessary...?
Oh, but now she has a very marketable Littlest Pet Shop star-magic monkey sidekick so uh, I guess that's a thing.
(Callum was only a little OOC, but there was something extremely off about Rayla, and I'm not sure if it was intentional or just weird writing.
Is there going to be a super plot twist where we find out the real Rayla's been switched with a changeling imposter???)
- Ezran's speech was great. No complaints about his role.
- The Sunfire Elf political subplot was... a thing.
I love Amaya and Janai, but their plotline felt so disconnected from everything else that was going on, and it constantly felt like progress on the main plot was grinding to a halt whenever the POV shifted to them. :'D
A lot of the storytelling/exposition could've been shown far more concisely. (Karim's blood duel story especially felt redundant after it was explained in one sentence by Janai as "The past leaders fought for power, but it was banned. The end." XD)
Not that it wasn't interesting in places, though. Aaravos whispering to mages was confirmed a Thing in this season, so maybe Karim's betrayal has something to do with evil sparkly elf's influence. Unfortunately, this season didn't really give us much of a hint if that's the case - right now it just comes off like he's a bigot with a bit of lust for control.
- Claudia stole the show, full stop.
Maybe I'm biased, but I thought her group was the best part of this season. >_> <_<
I think they went through the most development. (While Callum and Rayla spun their tires, and everyone else was unchanged.)
- Viren has PTSD, and even suffered a panic attack. This is exactly what I was hoping to see, haha. XD (Realistic reactions/consequences for major traumatic events like... dying.)
His hesitation/refusal to use dark magic was very interesting, too, as well as his monologue about accepting his fate and just chillin' instead of chasing the ghost of glory... (Before Claudia slaps that outta him. Good decisions not allowed here!)
It really seemed like he might've actually had the corruption knocked outta him (as was one of my guesses for what the effects of straight-up dying could'de had.)
... but then there's that cliffhanger at the end!!
I reaaally hope that was a surprise Aaravos possession and not "lol I'm evil again". X'D
'cause if they're just going to make him willingly go back into villainy again, it would be such a waste of the development he's had in this season? I was looking forward to Viren's slow burn reversion to normalcy (who he was before his corruption), and painful regret as he's totally helpless to do anything while his daughter spirals out of control into Aaravos' waiting puppet strings... 8/ Well, I guess we'll see where this goes.
- Well either way, Claudia's doubling down on her corruption! 8D She's gonna be such a good puppet for Aaravos.
Every other episode I found myself yelling "CLAUDIA NO" in my mind.
(But really, my heart broke just a little for her when she was talking about how she had to do horrible things for the revival spell. 8'D)
Her decision to give back the coins at the end was... uh, okay. Sure. Not how I imagined that plot thread would resolve. X'D but in general, I felt that Claudia was the best character this season.
- I like Terry. Is he going to be Claudia's moral compass, or is this a set up for her to pass the moral event horizon? 8D I'm scared.
- Cocoon thing was a weird gross frail homunculus butterfly creature who cannot speak and seems a bit pointless at the moment...? Alright. That deflated the hype a little. XD
- Soren... uh, was there. I liked his chat with Claudia, but sad that he didn't get to speak to Viren at all after the dramatic "NOOOO". (When they confront each other, Claudia briefly mentions how Viren saved Soren's life with dark magic. I really hope this means they'll eventually get to that plot point in the actual show at some point!)
I liked Soren's dynamic with Corvus - too bad that was only present in the first couple of eps. 8'D When we went off traveling with Callum's group he just sorta became a joke character.
- For a season titled after him and his mystery, Aaravos got only one scene. :< Where he displays his power by possessing Callum out of nowhere, and dramatically boasts his wicked intentions while taunting everyone in the room for no reason...? That doesn't really speak mystery and it kinda saps the wit and nuance out of his characterization juuust a little. X'D It was cool how he dropped the mic by shattering the mirror, though.
I hope there's an explanation for this in the future, 'cause nothing about his scene really confirmed that smooth-talking mysterious puppetmaster vibe.
- Rex Igneus was cool looking. A bit of a jerk, though this seems to be a recurring theme with most of the leader dragons... X'D
So uh, when's the next season? Hopefully not in another 3 years...
|
|
|
|
Post by Moni on Nov 6, 2022 14:30:38 GMT -5
i only have one thought:
rex igneous is unfathomably based lmao
|
|
|
|
Post by Thorn on Dec 15, 2022 4:04:04 GMT -5
Not a lot happened this season, and I was a bit disappointed, but I do have some positive thoughts I want to share. I love Rayla so much ahhh. Her new outfit is really cool too! And I loved at the end when she finally got the coins...hoping she can get her family back!!! I'm very invested in that storyline.
The one scene Aaravos was actually in was awesome, and reminded me why I love this sneaky scheming jerk.
Terry is a pure boy and deserves the world. But he is the morality pet for Claudia and I hope that doesn't mean he needs to die for her to realise she's doing the wrong thing.
I really, really enjoyed Viren's development this season. If anything happened at all, I guess it was nice character development! Oh and also: Corvus and Soren are definitely Together (TM), right??!?? Right. My brother saw it too and they are so, so stupid together I really hope this becomes a thing. xD |
|
|
|
Post by Thorn on Aug 15, 2023 1:02:34 GMT -5
I loved season 5. Has anyone else seen it yet?
|
|
|
|
Post by Killix on Aug 15, 2023 3:26:16 GMT -5
I wasn't even aware that season 5 was out already!
I'll have to give it a watch ASAP.
EDIT: Watched.
So much better than the previous season!
That ending... I don't even know what to say. X'D
|
|
|
|
Post by Thorn on Aug 15, 2023 19:50:19 GMT -5
So much better than the previous season! That ending... I don't even know what to say. X'D I know right?? There's a fan theory that Pharos is a sleeper agent of sorts for Aaravos (based on the purple corruption markings seen on his neck in that one scene.) And that now Karim and the sunfire elf general (I forget her name, begins with an M?) have given Aaravos this army. That would make a lot of sense plot wise, I think.
In other news I am #1 Terry fan. <3 The sweetest of boys.
And Viren went from being my least favourite character in season one to being one of my tippity top faves. Nice complexity there. Still a bad dad tho. |
|
|
|
Post by Killix on Aug 16, 2023 2:41:47 GMT -5
So much better than the previous season! That ending... I don't even know what to say. X'D I know right?? There's a fan theory that Pharos is a sleeper agent of sorts for Aaravos (based on the purple corruption markings seen on his neck in that one scene.) And that now Karim and the sunfire elf general (I forget her name, begins with an M?) have given Aaravos this army. That would make a lot of sense plot wise, I think.
In other news I am #1 Terry fan. <3 The sweetest of boys.
And Viren went from being my least favourite character in season one to being one of my tippity top faves. Nice complexity there. Still a bad dad tho. (Spoilers for the ending and so on.) I was thinking the same thing about Pharos. Aaravos was directly responsible for that black blight stuff and I'd say there's a good chance we'll see a bit of both aspects of this guy turning into a corrupted Aaravos puppet. Aaravos plays like a chess master.
Terry is very sweet and after this season I'm even more worried for his well-being. X'D
Claudia is falling to darkness and I feel he's ultimately going to contribute to her redemption, or get caught in the crossfire trying. (or both.) o_o;;
I just about died when it was revealed what the homunculus is. Had to pause, was laughing too hard. (I was right. They really did make heart runes together. <3)
Viren was my favourite character before it was cool. 8D
Haha, but seriously, I'm glad that more fans are starting to like him as a character. He's a trail mix of bad and good, but that only makes him all the more interesting. The nuance is great, and his arc has been doing exactly what I expected/hoped it would.
(Now I just wonder if he's really finally dead for real, or if Aaravos was perhaps using some very tactical wording in order to get what he wanted out of Claudia. I won't be too disappointed if it's the former as his arc has seemingly wrapped up, but if it's the latter, let's go! More trauma for Viren!!)
|
|
|
|
Post by Thorn on Sept 15, 2023 6:11:11 GMT -5
It's Māori language week (te wiki o te reo Māori), and I captioned some Dragon Prince stuff with te reo sayings and English translations! Figured I should share them here too. |
|
|
|
Post by Thorn on Oct 3, 2023 19:57:27 GMT -5
Tales of Xadia is finally back in stock locally! It's been like a year, but I can't afford it right now. ;-;
...but that's okay because River said she'll buy it for me for my birthday! Yay!
|
|
|
|
Post by Killix on Jan 1, 2024 2:10:12 GMT -5
Season 6 Teaser Trailer! My comments:
CLAUDIA NO!!
Gosh, look at what that dark magic addiction has done to her. Can't wait to see where this goes.
|
|
|
|
Post by Killix on Jul 26, 2024 11:18:39 GMT -5
Just finished watching Season 6. It's a real doozy. Hmm yes. Seems they just keep turning up the darkness-o-meter each season. XD
I'm not even sure where to begin with my thoughts... There was a lot going on in this one.
The pace was fine, and the tone was far more fairly balanced this round. The animation was a little rough in the first episode (laggy lip sync, stiff movement), but the later episodes kicked up the quality and had some great action and lighting! At one point it was so nicely animated that I forgot that it was in 3D GC. XD
CLAUDIA NOOOO.
She murdered the child... :'D
I have to say that I really don't like how Zym is just... a dog. Making dog noises and having dog behaviour. C'mawn, you can do better with your fantasy creatures!
He's the titular character, of a species of sapient beings! ... but he too often just comes off more like a pet for the MCs. :'D
Callum, Rayla, Ezran, etc... Uh. They were there, I guess.
Is it weird that I am bored with the main characters? :'D
(Side note: WHY did Callum and pals take the baby amphibians with them on a dangerous trip across the world to the arctic wilderness??)
It's cool to see Ruunan back on the side of the living, but that whole sequence of Rayla going into the pool and having to choose between them... felt strangely boring to me. X'D
But hey, now there's an extra stardust gem thingy lying around in case one of the main characters loses their soul in a later season, I guess!
Zubeia goes to the mushroom doctor (put on a bus) as a way to take her out of the story for now. Sure, okay.
Kinda killed all of the suspense about her condition a little too quickly, but if her becoming corrupted (or something) from that wound isn't going to be an important plot point later, then it's alright to do it this way. I wouldn't want her to die! At least not so soon.
Soren broke my heart. Those emotional scars run deep.
I am glad that he was not treated like a joke character in this season, because that has been a theme in the past seasons.
When Viren said that he was telling Soren those words for the future, I was like "welp, he's so dead by the end of this season."
I'm disappointed that Viren received the "redemption = death" treatment (one of my least favourite tropes). Why bring him back just to give a little exposition, a few narrative parallels, and then immediately write him back out? Everything about Viren in this season felt so rushed...
(When characters go through arcs like the one Viren had, the best part to me is in how that character deals with the fallout of their mistakes. Nobody has to forgive them, and the narrative doesn't have to convince the audience that they've been redeemed, but seeing how they must now go about living with the consequences of their actions is the interesting part, and that not happening because they just heroic sacrifice and peace out of the story instead...? Meehh.)
At least Viren's death messed up Claudia even more! Because everyone she loves, leaves her! 8D
The Sunfire Elf civil war thing is over after dragging on for too long. That plot line just didn't resonate with me. It was kinda... boring? :\
I feel that it ended appropriately, though. Foolish actions beget appropriately nasty consequences.
Was not expecting Sol Regem to die at the end there. I have to wonder if everything that led up to this was just a macguffin plot to burn Katolis... X'D
Speaking of the character death count this season; RIP Pharos. That was one of the most brutal on-screen deaths. Aaravos spared absolutely no love for that guy. He was literally a worthless puppet to him.
It was nice of Aaravos to infodump his backstory at the end, there.
Now we know a bit more about his history and personal motivations. (REVENGE FOR INJUSTICE OF THE COSMOS)
He was so sad that he cried an entire lake into the crater where her dead body landed.
They later put his prison orb into said lake. Cruel. No wonder why the guy's so messed up.
And now he's finally free to terrorize everyone! ... Too bad we have to now wait another 2-4 years for the next season so the plot can do anything with that. XD
I wonder what scope of powers Aaravos will have and what he hopes to accomplish now that he's free. His presence is imposing, as is his meddling's potential affect on everyone in the story, but I wonder in which way the story is headed form here.
EDIT: After re-reading this, I feel that it might come across as if I didn't like the season, but no! Even though there were some angles and directions I didn't vibe with, I feel it is overall one of the better ones.
|
|
|
|
Post by Thorn on Jul 26, 2024 17:09:32 GMT -5
Ooh it's out, yay! Fun timing- I've just been skimming through my copy of Tales of Xadia in preparation for using it for a EuroAtlantis game tomorrow (minus the, well, Xadia setting.)
Will start watching it Tuesday, so I suspect that will be after many of you.
|
|
|
|
Post by Thorn on Aug 27, 2024 4:01:04 GMT -5
Just finished watching Season 6. It's a real doozy. Hmm yes. Seems they just keep turning up the darkness-o-meter each season. XD
I'm not even sure where to begin with my thoughts... There was a lot going on in this one.
The pace was fine, and the tone was far more fairly balanced this round. The animation was a little rough in the first episode (laggy lip sync, stiff movement), but the later episodes kicked up the quality and had some great action and lighting! At one point it was so nicely animated that I forgot that it was in 3D GC. XD
CLAUDIA NOOOO.
She murdered the child... :'D
I have to say that I really don't like how Zym is just... a dog. Making dog noises and having dog behaviour. C'mawn, you can do better with your fantasy creatures!
He's the titular character, of a species of sapient beings! ... but he too often just comes off more like a pet for the MCs. :'D
Callum, Rayla, Ezran, etc... Uh. They were there, I guess.
Is it weird that I am bored with the main characters? :'D
(Side note: WHY did Callum and pals take the baby amphibians with them on a dangerous trip across the world to the arctic wilderness??)
It's cool to see Ruunan back on the side of the living, but that whole sequence of Rayla going into the pool and having to choose between them... felt strangely boring to me. X'D
But hey, now there's an extra stardust gem thingy lying around in case one of the main characters loses their soul in a later season, I guess!
Zubeia goes to the mushroom doctor (put on a bus) as a way to take her out of the story for now. Sure, okay.
Kinda killed all of the suspense about her condition a little too quickly, but if her becoming corrupted (or something) from that wound isn't going to be an important plot point later, then it's alright to do it this way. I wouldn't want her to die! At least not so soon.
Soren broke my heart. Those emotional scars run deep.
I am glad that he was not treated like a joke character in this season, because that has been a theme in the past seasons.
When Viren said that he was telling Soren those words for the future, I was like "welp, he's so dead by the end of this season."
I'm disappointed that Viren received the "redemption = death" treatment (one of my least favourite tropes). Why bring him back just to give a little exposition, a few narrative parallels, and then immediately write him back out? Everything about Viren in this season felt so rushed...
(When characters go through arcs like the one Viren had, the best part to me is in how that character deals with the fallout of their mistakes. Nobody has to forgive them, and the narrative doesn't have to convince the audience that they've been redeemed, but seeing how they must now go about living with the consequences of their actions is the interesting part, and that not happening because they just heroic sacrifice and peace out of the story instead...? Meehh.)
At least Viren's death messed up Claudia even more! Because everyone she loves, leaves her! 8D
The Sunfire Elf civil war thing is over after dragging on for too long. That plot line just didn't resonate with me. It was kinda... boring? :\
I feel that it ended appropriately, though. Foolish actions beget appropriately nasty consequences.
Was not expecting Sol Regem to die at the end there. I have to wonder if everything that led up to this was just a macguffin plot to burn Katolis... X'D
Speaking of the character death count this season; RIP Pharos. That was one of the most brutal on-screen deaths. Aaravos spared absolutely no love for that guy. He was literally a worthless puppet to him.
It was nice of Aaravos to infodump his backstory at the end, there.
Now we know a bit more about his history and personal motivations. (REVENGE FOR INJUSTICE OF THE COSMOS)
He was so sad that he cried an entire lake into the crater where her dead body landed.
They later put his prison orb into said lake. Cruel. No wonder why the guy's so messed up.
And now he's finally free to terrorize everyone! ... Too bad we have to now wait another 2-4 years for the next season so the plot can do anything with that. XD
I wonder what scope of powers Aaravos will have and what he hopes to accomplish now that he's free. His presence is imposing, as is his meddling's potential affect on everyone in the story, but I wonder in which way the story is headed form here.
Good news! The next part is out in December, you don't have to wait several years. ;-D Broski and I finished the season today! Time for my own thoughts. I agree that Viren's death felt very rushed. I also don't like death = redemption that much, but in my case it's because I like watching people put in the effort to be become better. Soren? He worked so hard to break away from his father, and protected the princes to make up for kind of trying to kill them that one time.
I also wasn't a big fan of Claudia this season. I am #1 Terry fan and kept yelling at him to get out of there. He's either going to be the morality pet who brings her back from the brink, or be killed by her to show how far she's gone.
My brother and I also joked about how the last couple seasons are Claudia repeatedly dragging Viren back from the afterlife while he's just like "JUST LET ME GO ALREADY."
I actually really liked the scene where Rayla had to choose who to un-coin! I had never considered that some of the characters might die and it caught me by surprise. But I loved Rayla's reasoning: her parents were happy and together at peace, while Runaan was a broken mess caught up on trying to kill Rayla. Which I mean, fair, but when she referred to him as her father for the first time? It broke something in me I swear. Like when Callum calls Harrow "dad" in season one, but at the moment of re-connecting with someone rather than losing them.
I loved! How the startouched elves! Were shown as very godlike. Faces in the stars, and the bit about Aaravos forming a lake with his tears (PLUS his daughter's body in the lake.) It all felt very mythological, on a scale beyond what we've seen of other elven magic.
I am curious about the period of time where he was this magic sparkly dude living outside of town with a cool sparkly daughter who played with the locals. Bring me my slice of life Dad Aaravos fics. I have a mighty need.
I am curious to see what happens to him in the end. For a while I've been wondering whether Aaravos will be killed (as the Manipulative Big Bad behind much of the show's drama), or whether Ezran's ideology will see him spared and like...learn to be less of a jerk. As of receiving his Sad Dad backstory, I think we'll either see love bring him back from the brink (love being important in this series), or else Terry's comments about Aaravos being driven by vengeance are directing us towards a Tragic Consumed By Vengeance end for the sparkle man supreme.
|
|
