Rebirthday[2] is the twenty-eighth episode of The Dragon Prince. It is the first chapter of the fourth book, "Earth". It is also the first chapter of the second saga. It continues the story of the previous book after a time-skip of two years following its final chapter.
Two years later, Claudia finally completes her resurrection spell, Ezran plans a surprise for Katolis, and Janai takes Amaya on a secret mission.
Plot[]
Picking up from "The Final Battle", Viren awakes inside a cave at the bottom of the Storm Spire, following the battle against the allied forces, during which he was tackled off a cliff by Rayla.[3] After inquiring if he survived the fall, Claudia informs him that he had not, implying thats he has revived him through the use of dark magic, which becomes evident by her hair whitening much more than the last time he had seen her. When Viren asks about Aaravos's whereabouts, Claudia explains that he has spun himself into a cocoon two days ago and entered metamorphosis. Viren concludes from this statement that he must have been dead for two days, however, Claudia confesses that he has been dead for a whole two years since the original moment of demise.
At Katolis's castle, Callum stands in front of the magic mirror that he had discovered in Viren's secret chambers.[4] While examining the artifact, he perks to a knock on the door. A soldier reminds him that the High Council is assembling in the throne room for a meeting, which he is expected to attend as the new High Mage of Katolis. Callum insists that the soldier does not have to use his official title and that his regular name will suffice, distracting himself so much that he has to double check what he was supposed to do before he rushes off to the throne room. In the courtyard, he casts "Pluviam Praesidium" to form an umbrella above his head and assists a resident through the rain. Once inside again, Callum runs into Soren and Corvus, whom he joins in walking towards the throne room. When he spots the Crow Master, now promoted to the "Associate Crow Lord", Callum rushes to ask him if any packages from Xadia have arrived, as he is awaiting a Tome of Translation. The Associate Crow Lord promises to keep an eye out and Callum congratulates him on the promotion before running after his friends again.
Inside the throne room, Opeli already awaits Callum together with Soren, Corvus, and Barius. When the three get suspiciously quiet after Callum entered, he wonders if they had been talking about him and apologizes for being late. Also late to the meeting, Ezran arrives with a great entrance, followed by Bait, who enters just as gloriously as his best friend. With their presence, the meeting can begin. As a start, Barius is named the latest member of the High Council as the "Minister of Crusts and Jellies". Once the titles are wrapped up, Ezran announces that Queen Zubeia and Azymondias will be visiting Katolis. Despite his own excitement, his council expresses worry for the reaction of the residents of Katolis in regards of dragons in their home. Ezran voices that he deems it a necessary step to forge the bond between humanity and Xadia and establish peace. As the council begins to leave, Soren asks Corvus whether they can now talk about the secret they are hiding, though is forced to distract Callum by doing the floss to erase any suspicions, calling it the latest craze.
Janai, Amaya, and Gren ride through a forest on their way to a secret mission of which the goal is kept even from Amaya. Although Janai reassures her that she will soon understand, Amaya voices her concern as she feels they are not alone. When Janai asks to borrow Gren for a private conversation, Amaya grows uneasy. While now on her own, the general notices something off, which is confirmed by the group of horses neighing anxiously and one darting off. From behind a tree emerge three Sunfire Elves that carry flower-crowned whips, which are lit up and prepared for battle. Amaya eagerly accepts the challenge and is surrounded by the three elves. Due to her battle expertise, she quickly defeats all three of them, pinning the last of them against a tree by using her shield as a projectile. When Janai and Gren walk back in on the aftermath, Janai questions what has happened and tells Amaya that she misunderstood the purpose of the elves' presence. When realizing that she was not victim of an ambush, Amaya asks why the elves were wielding weapons, though they turn out to be ceremonial flame ribbons used in a ritual dance. When asked what ceremony they were performing for, Janai gets on her knee and proposes to Amaya. Amaya accepts the proposal and the two share a kiss to finalize their engagement. When the Sunfire Elves comment that the woman Janai is marrying is a beast, Janai comments that this is what she likes about Amaya.
In the cave, Claudia helps Viren to stand and explains that his body had been mangled after the fall. Noting that Aaravos's voice had spoken to her and commanded her to act fast, she pictures how she dragged Viren's body into the cave where the caterpillar familiar had spun his body into a cocoon for preservation. Claudia recalls having to go on a quest to save her father through a spell, forced to commit things she never imagined herself capable of. She continues to explain that, once she had gathered all ingredients, Aaravos' caterpillar had spun itself into a cocoon and Viren had been successfully revived. However, this spell turns out to be temporary, lasting only 30 days. Claudia states that Aaravos can save Viren, though informs her father that the being in the chrysalis is only a guide and not the real Aaravos, meaning that they will have to find his prison within a month.
Once alone with Soren, Callum demands to hear about the secrets they have been hiding from him, causing Soren to make up a potential attack against King Ezran. When Callum rushes to get to his brother, they run into Corvus again and the two men trick Callum into walking back to his study with him. When asked to explain what attack looms over his brother, the two distract Callum by asking him about the magic mirror. When Callum notices the king's tower going dark, he casts "Manus. Pluma. Volantus." to grow wings and flies over to the tower. Once he barges in he casts "Fulminis", ready to attack, when his friends and his brother surprise him with a birthday party. They sing a birthday song for him, leaving Callum stunned.
At the end of all explanations, Claudia remembers yet another development she needs to tell her father about. She calls out to her new boyfriend, Terry, to introduce herself. Upon showing himself, Terry turns out to be an Earthblood Elf, much to Viren's bafflement. After introducing himself and trying to have a polite exchange with Viren about how highly he thinks about his daughter, Terry eventually realizes that he is not getting any response from Viren other than disapproving body language. Despite this, he lets Claudia know that he thinks the talk went well, receiving an affectionate look from his girlfriend.
At the party, everyone is celebrating to their heart's content. The children attending do the floss, and Opeli receives confirmation that this really is the new craze with the youth. Ezran watches the children with amusement, then realizes that he has not seen his brother in a while. After asking Bait if he had seen Callum, he walks out onto the balcony where his older brother had fled to. Outside, Ezran approaches Callum to check in on him. Callum admits that he finds himself unable to celebrate his birthday, as Rayla has left him behind two years ago on this very day.[5] Ezran asks whether his brother is still in love with Rayla and assures him that she is still alive somewhere out there, and undoubtedly still loves Callum as much as he loves her. Missing her dearly, Callum sheds a few tears while comforted by Ezran.
Characters and Cast[]
- Callum (Jack De Sena)
- Ezran (Sasha Rojen)
- Bait
- Viren (Jason Simpson)
- Claudia (Racquel Belmonte)
- Soren (Jesse Inocalla)
- Gren (Adrian Petriw)
- Amaya
- Janai (Rena Anakwe)
- Corvus (Omari Newton)
- Associate Crow Lord (Cole Howard)
- Barius (Jason Simpson)
- Opeli (Paula Burrows)
- Terry (Benjamin Callins)
Spells[]
Sky Spells
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Trivia[]
- The episode's title is a word play on both "rebirth" and "birthday", referring to both Viren's revival and Callum's birthday celebration.
- The episode mentions references to Rayla's disappearance in the graphic novel "Through the Moon", a side story not included in the show.
- The scene introducing Callum as the new High Mage draws direct parallels to the introduction of Viren in "Echoes of Thunder". Both scenes open with a view onto Katolis's castle, followed by each character running their fingers across the surface of the magic mirror before covering it with a cloth, and ends by opening the door for a soldier that needs to speak to them.
- The scene in which Amaya pins one of the ritual dancers to a tree may be a reference to a scene from "The Lord of the Rings", where Aragorn is pinned to a tree by the Uruk-hai Lurtz in the same fashion.[6]
- Barius's badge is a reference to the badge of the Hand of the King from "Game of Thrones".
- This episode was released one week ahead of the official season release on October 28, 2022 as part of a Netflix Geeked promotional stream event.[7]
- The production of this episode included 286 people.[8]
- Callum's birthday party was hosted in Ezran's bedroom due to both needing to be an unexpected place in-canon, as well as real life budgeting, as it was cheaper to reuse previous assets than to create new ones for this scene.[9]
Credits[]
- Callum and Ezran are replicating the painting of Harrow and Viren that had been created after Harrow's coronation, which was previously hanging in the High Mage's study.[10]
- Terry is shown replicating the popular Anime glasses trope, which is known for a character's glasses shining while behaving ominously.
- Callum reads Rayla's letter which she left to him in "Through the Moon".
ASL Translation[]
16:00 | Amaya: "I'm sorry." |
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Rebirthday" Season 4 Full Episode - The Dragon Prince
- ↑ San Diego Comic Con 2022
- ↑ Book Three, Chapter 9: "The Final Battle"
- ↑ Inheritance
- ↑ Through the Moon
- ↑ HLariash Twitter (Scene example)
- ↑ Netflix Geeked on Twitter (Netflix Twitch for TOON-IN Announcement)
- ↑ Jason Simpson on Twitter (Appreciation)
- ↑ Devon Giehl on Twitter (Response to a fan)
- ↑ Book One, Chapter 3: "Moonrise"