Love, War & Mushrooms is the forty-seventh episode of The Dragon Prince. It is the second chapter of the sixth book, "Stars".
Soren travels to Xadia, where he and Corvus follow a mysterious trail into the woods. Janai faces her frustrations - and her future.
Plot[]
Zym, Soren, Pyrrah, and Hat fly across the lands of Xadia as the sun rises. Soren encourages Hat to relish the bracing winds of adventure and assures Zym that they will find Zubeia after picking up someone they will need in their quest.
At the Sunfire Elf camp, Corvus is waking up from his sleep when he notices Pyrrah in front of him. He is then surprised when Soren hugs and picks him up from behind. Soren tells Corvus that they need his help to track down the missing Zubeia, and he agrees to help.
Meanwhile, Amaya and Gren visit Janai, who is furiously questioning the loyalty of the Six Horns after Miyana defected to Karim's side by bringing her army and the Sun Seed to him. Janai suspects that the Six Horns are wearing masks to hide their true feelings, though one of the generals explains that the Six Horns wear masks to honor the crown of the monarch. Upon hearing this, Janai accuses the general for being loyal to the old ways instead of her, just like her brother. She then commands the general to take his mask off. When Janai sees that the general is afraid, she adjourns the meeting out of frustration. Amaya and Gren attempt to soothe and advise Janai to not let anger and fear control her, but Janai rebukes Amaya's words since the latter is not a queen and walks off.
Inside the Storm Spire's lair, Corvus retraces Zubeia's claw marks and movements, correctly deducing that she is ill due to her claw markings and the dried blood on the wall. Soren reveals to Corvus that the wound the corrupted Banther inflicted on Zubeia festered, and she chose to keep it a secret so Zym is not concerned about her well-being. When Soren decides to use charades to communicate with Corvus so they would not make Zym feel so anxious, Corvus is unamused. He decides to head for the pinnacle to see where Zubeia might be after Soren states that he never attended any of the Crownguard Bonding Barbecue Game Night Extravaganzas. Through his spyglass, Corvus spots an unusual stretch of flattened forest a few miles out, and everyone realizes that Zubeia must have crashed.
Back at the Sunfire Elf camp, Janai stands before the tree that housed the Sun Seed before staring at her crown. She tosses her crown with horror when she sees Karim instead of her own reflection and falls to her knees with tears. Furious at her failures, Janai enters her heat-being mode and screams as she starts to burn the tree. However, Amaya pulls her out of the blaze before Gren uses a piece of cloth to extinguish the flames. Janai reverts back to her normal form as she stares at the damage she inflicted.
At the crash site, Soren believes that Zubeia must have flew off, but Corvus disagrees due to the lack of claw indentations on the ground and the intact tree tops. Soren soon notices the abundance of mushrooms where Zubeia crashed as it forms a trail leading deeper into the forest. Soren agrees to follow the mushroom trail before Corvus tells him and Hat to spit out the mushrooms they are eating.
Janai regrets her actions and confesses her worries to Amaya and Gren about her people's future being in ashes, Aaravos taunting her in her dreams with visions of destruction and despair, and the possibility of all the other Sunfire Elves turning against her. Amaya and Gren assure Janai not all is lost and she does not have to fix the damage alone before telling her the story of "The King with 1,000 Eyes", a Katolian monarch who died alone and friendless after he started to doubt his subjects' loyalty.
In his cave, Karim gazes at the Sun Seed as he tells Miyana about Janai's belief that she will use the Sun Seed to empower and bring the Sunfire Elves back from the brink. In a way, he believes that Janai is correct, though he now possesses the Sun Seed and will lead his people to glory. Karim says he is holding fate itself between his fingers as Miyana encourages him not to drop it before kissing him on the cheek. He then talks about using the Sun Seed to restore Sol Regem's eyes while sharing a drink with Miyana. Karim knows that he will find no joy in ending Janai's reign, but he will do what he must as he and Miyana have a toast for their followers.
When the sun sets in Xadia, Soren sings about "Camp Katolis" before he, Zym, Corvus, and Hat decide to camp under a large tree upon coming across the last mushroom. Zym and Ezran telepathically exchange good nights and love yous to each other before sleeping. As Zym and his group sleeps, new mushrooms start to sprout from the ground. The next morning, Zym's group discover mushrooms circling them instead of forming a trail.
Amaya is sleeping on her bed and wakes up to find Janai absent from the royal tent.
Zym and his group investigate the new mushrooms, with Soren suggesting to eat them for breakfast. Meanwhile, Zym is sniffing a mushroom on a mossy rock, only for the mushroom to reveal itself as a Mushpal. Soren decides to use charades in asking the Mushpal about Zubeia's whereabouts, and the Mushpal leads them further into the forest. Corvus struggles to keep up due to his leg injury, prompting Soren to carry him on his back. They soon come across a large Mushpal that puts them to sleep with its spores.
Amaya finds Janai sitting before the tree of the Sun Seed, reading a copy of "The King with 1,000 Eyes" that she borrowed from a human in the camp. Janai says that Amaya left out one important detail: the king's true love stayed by his side long after his subjects abandoned him, but he eventually banished her after growing suspicious of her loyalty. Janai realizes Amaya is her heart and truth, and she knows she is truly lost if she ever starts to doubt her. She asks Amaya if she still has faith in her and if she can still lead the Sunfire Elves after all the mistakes she made. Amaya confesses that she will always be by Janai's side no matter what, and the two share a heartwarming hug.
Soren and his group eventually wake up on Fungi Lane, where they meet Mukho, the Earthblood Elf who has been caring for Zubeia and encourages them to wear mushroom caps so the Mushpals will see them as friends.
Janai and Karim make a rousing speech to their respective supporters. Janai talks about coexistence and trusting each other no matter what, while Karim speaks of preserving Sunfire Elf culture and restoring their former glory by driving all humans back from whence they came. Janai and Karim smile as their respective supporters applaud and salute them.
In Fungi Lane, Mukho leads Zym, Soren, Corvus, and Hat to the tree hollow where Zubeia is resting in. Zym eats a mush-mallow that Mukho gave him so he can shrink and reunite with his mother. Soren confesses to Corvus that he is worried about Zym since Zubeia is the only family he has. Corvus decides to use charades to comfort and tell Soren that Zym has him, who is a good man with a big heart. The delighted Soren hugs Corvus, who reciprocates the gesture.
Inside the tree hollow, Zym happily reunites with the resting Zubeia, though she tells Zym that she needs to rest longer if she wishes to make a full recovery before encouraging him to stay with Ezran.
As the sun sets on the Sunfire Elf camp, Janai tells Amaya that while their future is uncertain and dangerous times are ahead, she is ready to face them with her wife-to-be. She clarifies that she is done putting off the good things for fear of the bad and wishes to set the wedding as soon as possible before kissing Amaya.
Back in Fungi Lane, Corvus briefly climbs atop the large Mushpal to catch Pyrrah's eyes by waving at her. When he asks if everyone is ready to go, he covers his eyes and shakes his head with exasperation upon witnessing Soren eating a mush-mallow to shrink and become Hat's hat. Soren laughs when Zym licks him and Mukho cannot help but chuckle at the comical scene.
At Duren, Callum, Rayla, Stella, Sneezles, and their Shadowpaw are resting for the night. Callum rolls the Key of Aaravos, causing it to leave a mark on the dirt. He then uses his discovery to draw where the marks the cube created are pointing to.
Characters and Cast[]
Spells[]
Trivia[]
- Aaron Ehasz and Justin Richmond posted clues to this episode's title on Twitter by alternately showing 3 pictures of hands forming a heart, soldiers on a battlefield, and a collection of various mushrooms.[1]