The Final Battle is the twenty-seventh episode of The Dragon Prince. It is the ninth and final chapter of the third book, "Sun". It is also the final chapter of the first saga. The story is succeeded by the graphic novel "Through the Moon", as well as multiple side stories, such as "Inheritance". It is also succeeded by "Rebirthday", the first chapter of the second saga.
Determined to save the Dragon Prince at any cost, the friends brace for a fiery showdown with Viren -- who still has a few surprises up his sleeve.
Plot[]
At the Storm Spire's pinnacle, Callum paints white runes across his spread arms, attempting to cast "Manus. Pluma. Volantus.", failing and flailing around wildly. When Rayla approaches, she playfully asks if he pulled a muscle while doing jumping jacks. After putting his jacket back on, Callum somberly suggests that it may be their last day, and with the possibility existing, he prepares to confess his love to Rayla but is interrupted by an excited Soren. The three descend the stairs and while he has the chance, Soren apologizes for all the times he had mocked Callum during their childhood. He confesses to feeling jealous and upset about the loving relationship he shared with his step-father, not knowing how to express those feelings properly. The sentimental note is fleeting as he continues to joke about his friend's height and strength but is restored when Soren throws himself onto Callum, hugging him tightly.
At this point, Viren's army passes the petrified body of Avizandum, where Viren expresses how proud he is of Claudia, as she has stood by his side until the end. His daughter feels her loyalty to be natural, as he is her father and the only part of their family that she has left. Pleased, Viren moves ahead where Aaravos explains his plan to teach his ally on how to successfully take Azymondias's powers and ascend beyond his human form, before the army approaches the Storm Spire.
Inside the entrance room of the Storm Spire, Team Zym and their allies have gathered to discuss their strategy for the upcoming battle. Their main goal is to protect Zym at any cost; a cause Janai pledges the army of Lux Aurea to support. General Amaya instructs that they aim to hold the line, seeing as the enemy forces may outnumber them, but prove to be sloppy. When faced with Soren's question as to what the plan is if someone manages to break through their defenses, Amaya explains that she plans to use the Spire itself, using Callum's Sky magic to strike them before they can manage the upwards climb. The enthusiasm of the group isn't shared by Zym however, as the young dragonling curls up in sadness near the entrance to his mother's lair. While Bait rubs against the dragon in comfort, Rayla promises that she will protect him at any cost, leading to Janai titling her "The Last Dragon Guard".
The armies collide at a narrow path leading to the Storm Spire and Janai and Amaya fly in to join their troops on the back of Embertail. On Amaya's signal, the Sunfire Elves form a barricade using their shields, which is ridiculed by Claudia, who has a hard time taking the defenses seriously. Without waiting for Viren's green light, the mutated Kasef storms ahead and unintentionally starts the attack, followed by the other soldiers. Janai's forces remain calm until the very last second, once close enough enchanting their shields and dropping them onto their base to release a shock wave that repels the attackers. The Sunfire Elf forces push the enemy back bravely, leaving no room to get through their barricades. Angered by this, Claudia casts a spell called "Noctu Igne", which releases a ball of energy that destroys the formation of the elves. A heated battle ensues, in which the allied forces slay back several enemies until Amaya reaches the newly formed barricade, finishing it with her own shield. Unfortunately, Kasef breaks through again and hurls Amaya against Janai, wounding her. Seeing it as the only way to win the matchup, Janai enters her magma form as well and manages to slice Kasef's weapon in half, before the two exchange various denting blows onto each other with their fists. Kasef remains victorious when he headbutts Janai, then tackles her down.
As Callum begins to panic about the oncoming enemies, Ezran finally returns on the back of Pyrrah, accompanied by several Fire Dragons, which boosts the morale of all allies, including Soren. The dragons fly over the army and scorch Viren's followers, while Claudia protects her father, Saleer and herself using a spell called "Tenebris Praesidium", creating a force field. Due to their fiery enchantment, the soldiers prove to not only be immune to fire but are strengthened by it. Viren wishes to initiate the next phase of their plan.
The dragons begin to descend onto the ground, where Viren's men have prepared ballistae that shoot them down using heavy chains, despite Soren's attempt to warn them. Although one dragon manages to throw the ballistic over and escape, Kasef manages to grab onto the chain and wraps it around the beast's neck, causing it to crash land and be captured along its kin.
Zym is finally ready to see his mother, but Rayla does not want him to get his hopes up, seeing as her slumber is unusually deep. He approaches the sleeping queen nervously, nudging against her with his paws, but grows sad when it doesn't wake her. Sadness quickly turns into determination and Zym sinks his teeth into a strand of her hair, sending one shock of lightning after another through her body. When this fails as well, the depressed cub curls up in his nest.
Viren's soldiers are beginning to breach through the defenses, one by one scaling the path that leads onto the Storm Spire, where Callum honors his role in the allies' plan by blowing them away using "Aspiro", as well as defending against a group that tries to climb up on the side of a rock, using "Fulminis". When the mutated Kasef makes his way up, however, he manages to ram into Callum before he can recast his spells, then lifts him, choking him. When he reaches out to end Callum with his claw, an arrow pierces through his palm, followed by two more, one going through his chest and other into his skull. The archer turns out to be Aanya, Queen of Duren, whose men launch a volley of arrows onto the enemy army as soon as Kasef is taken out. Aanya is accompanied by Opeli, Corvus, Barius, Marcos and Gren, who have called Duren for help in the dire situation. Together with Ezran on Pyrrah's back, the allied forces storm towards their enemy, where each of them shows an exceptional display of skill to eliminate the foes. Meanwhile, Ezran lands on the rock near Callum where he embraces his brother, both of them happy that they had survived unharmed. Ezran nudges Callum to go see Rayla and the two part once more.
After a long, hard battle, the enemy is finally defeated and the remaining followers of Viren are escorted off in handcuffs. An exhausted Marcos leans against a rock, when Sabah, a Sunfire Elf soldier, offers her hand, complimenting his brave efforts. He introduces himself to her, before she helps him off the battlefield, seeing as he is injured. At the same time, Gren rushes into Amaya's arms, tears of relief streaming down his cheeks. Ezran declares that they need to tend to the wounded, as well as free the dragons. However, Amaya expresses her concern for the finality of the battle, as they have failed to capture Viren. Janai promises to send out a search to scout the battlefield for him, while the soldiers begin freeing the chained dragons, including Soren, who enjoys being on the good side for once.
Ezran continues to patrol through the battlefield, where a couple of Sunfire Elves bow to him. He suddenly notices a figure in the distance, which looks like Claudia, and rushes after her, but stumbles over a body on the ground, which is covered in a blanket. He apologizes for stumbling over the person and offers his help, but the body turns out to be no other than Viren's, who has now cornered Ezran and prepares to stab him with his staff. Soren comes to his aid just in time, swearing to protect his true king as a member of the Crownguard. Upon seeing her brother's sword drawn against her father, Claudia returns to the scene and claims that Soren would be making a mistake, but Soren decides regardless that forcing them to surrender is the right decision. Unfortunately, Viren thinks little of his bravery and lifts his staff to end Ezran, only to be stabbed through the chest by his own son. Shocked, Claudia asks him how he could betray their father and regret fills both Soren and Ezran. However, when they believe the battle to be over, Claudia reveals Viren's body to be an illusion cast by three Archangel Lunaris and upon realizing it was all a distraction to deceive the two, Ezran connects with Zym telepathically to witness Viren fighting Rayla inside the dragon lair.
Viren has snuck into the dragon lair, where he immobilized Rayla using the same ice spell he had used on her parents.[1] Seeing as his mother cannot protect him, the mage is confident that he will be successful in consuming Zym's essence while planning to later harvest Zubeia as well. Bait jumps to Zym's rescue, blinding the enemy using a bright light emitted from his body, which opens an escape route for the dragonling. Furious about this, Viren slams the glow toad against a wall using his staff, then informs Rayla that he plans to return for her, to turn her into a coin just like he had with Runaan.[2]
Zym manages to flee onto the pinnacle of the Storm Spire, however, he finds himself in a dead-end, as the height he's facing is too large to fly away. Finding himself cornered by Viren and Aaravos, the dragonling channels all his energy into a lightning spark, which he unleashes onto the mage's staff, however, witnesses the spell repelling. Knowing it is his only possible escape route, Zym overcomes his fear of heights and leaps off the edge, attempting to escape by flight. To stop him in his tracks, Viren casts a burst of dark magic, which transforms into a tornado, pulling the young prince backward again. Once close enough to his target again, Aaravos begins to chant a spell, which begins to absorb Zym's powers.
Inside the spire, Rayla desperately attempts to free herself from the ice that is frozen around her legs but is unable to break it with her blades. Fortunately, Bait has by then recovered and brings his friend a torch, becoming Rayla's hero.
Zym's essence is absorbed under immense strain, surging into the body of Viren, who fails to notice the approaching Rayla, who readies her blades to kill him if she must. As she leaps forward, Aaravos controls his body, however,
allowing Viren to disarm the elf with a spell. Callum arrives at the scene, just in time to witness Rayla's decision to tackle the dark mage, taking him into the depths beneath the Storm Spire with him. Panicked and in tears, Callum dives after his lover, casting "Manus. Pluma. Volantus." once again. Although at first unsuccessful, he manages to execute the spell after admitting for his love for Rayla, allowing him to grow wings that rip his sleeves. He dashes downwards to catch Rayla, while the two watch Viren fall to his inevitable death, at this moment separated from Aaravos. Overjoyed to have saved her, Callum repeats his feelings for Rayla once more for her to hear and she reciprocates his love with a smile. The two share a deep and passionate kiss while ascending to the pinnacle once more.
The allied forces come together inside the entrance room of the Storm Spire, where they show their respect for King Ezran by bowing to him. Team Zym finally reunites and shares an embrace, claiming that the five of them have managed to make a difference. Gren corrects them, reminding them that they had help. Suddenly, the cave shakes and a deep growl can be heard from inside the lair. Team Zym, accompanied by their closest allies, head into the dragon lair, where Zubeia finally awakens after a long slumber. Overjoyed, Zym and his mother reunite and nuzzle their snouts, when the Dragon Queen wonders if she is still dreaming. Upon seeing Rayla and Callum, as well as Amaya and Janai holding hands, she realizes that elves and humans are finally reunited and have returned her baby to her. The queen fondly gazes at the group while Zym flies over their heads.
Bruised and confused, Viren awakes inside a cave after what appears to be some days later,[3] with his daughter kneeling in front of him. Claudia, whose eyes briefly appear pitch black, exclaims in relief that he is still alive. Viren is confused about how he could survive a fall that fatal and Claudia admits that he did not, then stands up, revealing that her previous white strand has taken over the entire left side of her hair, implying that she has saved her father by using dark magic. When Viren finds Aaravos amiss, he asks where he had disappeared to. Claudia explains that he has crawled up the wall two days ago and spun himself into a large cocoon, where he initiates metamorphosis.
Characters and Cast[]
- Callum (Jack De Sena)
- Rayla (Paula Burrows)
- Ezran (Sasha Rojen)
- Bait
- Azymondias
- Viren (Jason Simpson)
- Claudia (Racquel Belmonte)
- Soren (Jesse Inocalla)
- Aaravos (Erik Todd Dellums)
- Amaya
- Janai (Rena Anakwe)
- Kazi
- Sabah
- Kasef
- Saleer (Jonathan Holmes)
- Ibis
- Aanya (Zelda Ehasz)
- Corvus
- Opeli (Paula Burrows)
- Gren (Adrian Petriw)
- Barius
- Marcos (Jesse Inocalla)
- Embertail
- Pyrrah
- Zubeia (Nicole Oliver)
- Avizandum
Spells[]
| Sky Spells | Corrupted Sun Spells |
Dark Magic
- Rewop rouy swollaws eh, thgim rouy swollaws eh, traeh rouy swollaws eh (He swallows your heart, he swallows your might, he swallows your power)
Trivia[]
- A popular fan theory had theorized that what Claudia did to save her father involved murder, seeing as she had to kill a deer to heal Soren's injury,[4] and a boot could be spotted behind a rock inside the cave. This led to the belief that she took the life of a soldier. However, the boot turned out to belong to Terry, her new boyfriend.
- Rayla's sentence, with Callum's correction, "We changed things. We made a difference. - Just the four of us. (Zym chirps) - Five of us." is a reprise of a phrase in "Moonrise", where they say "We could change things. We could make a difference. - Just the three of us. (Bait croaks) - The four of us!"[5]
- The reveal of an early storyboard shows a cut scene in which Bait receives the title of a "Dragon Guard" alongside Rayla.[6]
- What used to be Viren's "symbol of deserters," and "A sign for cowardice", shown to the citizens of Katolis prior to the battle[7], is later reused on the alliance's banners, turning it into a symbol of bravery and loyalty instead.
- There is a minor animation error where at least one of Zubeia's horns is missing before the Storm Spire scene fades into the cliffhanger.
- During the battle, Claudia was originally supposed to cast another spell that involved swirling tendrils that would pull dragons out of the sky.[8]
ASL Translation[]
| 10:14 | Amaya: "I'm okay." |
| 19:29 | Amaya: "I'm worried, we're not done until we find Viren. We can't let him slip."[9] |
References[]
- ↑ Book Three, Chapter 8: "Dragonguard"
- ↑ Book One, Chapter 8: "Cursed Caldera"
- ↑ Book Four, Chapter 1: "Rebirthday"
- ↑ Book Two, Chapter 9: "Breathe"
- ↑ Book One, Chapter 3: "Moonrise"
- ↑ TDP Official Twitter - Storyboard The Final Battle
- ↑ Book Three, Chapter 5: "Heroes and Masterminds"
- ↑ The Art of The Dragon Prince
- ↑ Reddit - ASL Translations