The Dragon Prince : S3E9 - Discussion Thread

[u/MrBKainXTR]

Season 3 Episode 9

No spoilers for episodes beyond the relevant discussion thread!

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[u/DigidragonX]

The ship sailed... Or the ship flew 🤔

[u/mr_arm → u/DigidragonX]

I loved that they wasted no time beating around the bush with that shit. Teens are horny af they’re not gonna spend a whole season shrugging and blushing and rubbing their arms sheepishly

[u/[deleted] → u/mr_arm]

Technically Rayla is horny. Callum has that smooth skull.

[u/mr_arm → u/[deleted]]

Daaaaaaaaad

[u/Mongoose42 → u/[deleted]]

She’s horny, he’s good at blowing.

[u/MasterOfNap → u/mr_arm]

Teens are horny af they’re not gonna spend a whole season shrugging and blushing and rubbing their arms sheepishly

I mean, I know they're teenagers and totally in love and all that, but the way you're putting it somehow sounds...weird?

[u/Samhain27 → u/MasterOfNap]

I get what he’s saying here though. And I’d go as far as to say it extends to adults just as much.

The reality is that romance shows in general usually try to protract love out as long as it can when, in reality, people hook up for much less than love all the time. Multiply that by teenage hormones.

Plus, narratively, I feel like it would have been a bit insulting for the writers to have Rayla almost confess to dying Callum last season only to ignore that progression until the finale to yoink it out for bonus tension.

Edit: Grammar

[u/MasterOfNap → u/Samhain27]

Yeah totally, I think the show sailing the ship early on in the season was the right call. Having Callum reject that in the oasis also shows he’s not taking advantage of her grief, which was also a good choice.

I’m just saying the idea of Callum and Rayla as two horny teenagers who were probably making out when no one’s around feels weird to me lol

[u/Samhain27 → u/MasterOfNap]

I could see them making out when no one is around, personally.

My reason for it is that Callum changed his tune awfully quickly after the initial kiss. Not that the relationship wasn’t built up or that Callum is a bad person for doing so, but I just don’t think he ever thought it was on the table. Positive physical stimuli can definitely help reframe things for someone.

Although much more speculative on my part, there is also the fact that they are on an extremely dangerous, politically charged, world-changing mission. I feel like relationships in these types of narratives, not just TDP, would naturally happen. I’ve seen a lot of criticism of adventure stories having people get together “just because”. Though, I think it’s understated what kind of bonds almost dying with someone can make in addition to sharing such a specific kind of experience with one another.

My point here being that while I doubt their relationship went from 0 to 100 in terms of raunchiness off screen, I’d imagine kissing a lot is hardly an emotional escalation for them considering they tend to be on the fringes of death together 90% of the time. That kind of thing might even be stress relief.

Although my understanding is that there will be a time skip between this season and the next, I think actually toying with that dynamic would be fun. How does a relationship begun in a situation soaked in adrenaline, danger, and crazy high stakes survive mundane life? I’m not saying at all that it’s impossible, but I definitely think it’s an adjustment thing and worth exploring.

That said, I expect the much more obvious story beat of elves and humans coming together to be the meat and potatoes of their relationship.

[u/kh7190 → u/Samhain27]

so you think that Callum never really thought they could be an item/only saw her as a friend up until she kissed him at the oasis? because I've been confused about this, like what the point of the oasis scene was between the two of them

[u/Samhain27 → u/kh7190]

I think Callum was attracted to Rayla, but probably in the way people like to imagine themselves with someone knowing it will never be a thing.

To be totally fair to Callum, too, he’s been pretty distracted emotionally up until Book 3. He clearly was focused on Claudia and also had confidence issues (which, given how he sees Rayla as a heroic figure, probably meant he assumed their pairing was unrealistic). After gaining some self confidence and moving passed Claudia, I just don’t think he ever re-evaluated the possibility.

I find it hard to believe — even if it’s not explicitly obvious — that these kinds of adventures go on without anyone ever considering hooking up with one another.

So, tl;dr, I think Callum was very much attracted to Rayla. He just never assumed it would go anywhere. To me, the Oasis scene was Callum being shocked into re-evaluating what their relationship is/could be. This is, of course, just my interpretation, though.

EDIT: Also, I think Callum was also pretty distracted by Xadia itself. Rayla has assumed the role of friendly guide to him while he was geeking out, even if Rayla clearly wanted to be romantically involved. Although Rayla is shown to have emotional conflict, this is mostly related to her being a ghost. Unlike Callum, I think Rayla’s ship-vision has been pretty 20/20 since late Book 2. Most of her emotional turmoil isn’t really related to how she sees herself with Callum (outside, arguably, Book 1’s growing pains where they are learning to be an elf/human duo). Callum’s emotional turmoil, however, is a lot more intertwined with how he views himself in respect to Rayla.

[u/JBlackCZ → u/Samhain27]

My reason for it is that Callum changed his tune awfully quickly after the initial kiss. Not that the relationship wasn’t built up or that Callum is a bad person for doing so, but I just don’t think he ever thought it was on the table. Positive physical stimuli can definitely help reframe things for someone.

Yeeea.. I can confirm this from my own experience with me and my gf.. .kinda... for us it was an.. almost kiss.. :P

[u/Intelligent-donkey → u/Samhain27]

Yeah, I think it's fairly rare in real life for it to take a long time for anything to happen, when two people who are attracted to each other frequently interact with each other.
Certainly not as common as fiction would have you believe.

[u/trombonepick → u/Samhain27]

It's a Middle-Grade writing rule. kids up to age 12, you're not supposed to market romances to until they get to Young Adult age (13+) The most you're supposed to write is a kiss at the very end to symbolize they're together.

[u/[deleted] → u/mr_arm]

Well...they took some seasons to hook up, but I can't say I feel much chemistry between them...
But they are teens and that makes it 100% realistic.

[u/mr_arm → u/[deleted]]

Yeah I could see them exploring that “people who fall in love in crisis” kind of relationship, and if their relationship can withstand non-crisis time