The Dragon Prince Rewatch 1.1, "Echoes of Thunder"

Read the previous entry here.
Read the next entry here.

The series gets off to a strong start.

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1.1, "Echoes of Thunder"

Written by Aaron Ehasz and Justin Richmond
Directed by Giancarlo Volpe, Meruan Salim, Villads Spangsberg, and Lih Liau

Synopsis

It is pretty.
Image taken from the episode, used for commentary

Disembodied narration establishes a broad historical context for the events of the series. Xadia, the continent on which the series occurs, had been united and beautiful, charged with magic from six major sources: sun, moon, stars, earth, sky, and ocean. Humanity uncovered another power, a dark magic attained by taking the lives of magical creatures, that led to its exile from the eastern part of the continent and antagonism between humanity and the sentient magical creatures in the east--dragons and elves, particularly. The border was contested despite the involvement of the king of dragons; humans slew that king and disposed of its heir. War appears imminent.

Seems typical.
Image taken from the episode, used for commentary

After, in the nation of Katolis, the princes Callum and Ezran (the heir, though younger) rest in their quarters as a storm goes on outside. In the rain, a guard patrols the woods and encounters a party of Moonshadow Elves. One pursues him but lets him live.

The next morning, the advisor, Viren, consults a peculiar mirror before being interrupted with the guard's report. He takes the message to his king, Harrow, waking him with the news of an impending assassination attempt. Harrow orders a search for the party of elves against the threat.

Seems serious.
Image taken from the episode, used for commentary

Meanwhile, the pursuing elf, Rayla, feigns having killed the guard and reports back to her comrades. Ezran causes mischief in the kitchens, and Callum trains in swordcraft with Soren, Viren's son and an officer in the guard. It does not go well for him, especially due to his distraction by Claudia, Soren's sister. He and his half-brother Ezran are summoned to Harrow, who bids them make ready to go to winter quarters; Ezran realizes something is amiss.

Seems serious.
Image taken from the episode, used for commentary

Viren sends Soren out with a search party to take the elves. Claudia purposes to assist. So does Callum, though Soren denies him the opportunity. The elves, meanwhile, enact a ritual that commits them to killing Harrow--and Ezran. Rayla voices some hesitation. Callum tries to impress on Ezran the seriousness of the situation; the child reacts poorly. The search party fails to find its target despite magical aid, but Rayla's duplicity is revealed and rebuked.

Discussion

One thing that strikes me as I rewatched the episode (I'd seen it several times previously; my daughter rather likes the show). The Moonshadow Elves, given their accents and their markings, come across as something of a stand-in for popular presentations of Picts and Scots, with Katolis not unlike common concepts of high medieval England. It's an interesting bit of callout. (So, too, are the nods to The Karate Kid and George R.R. Martin; there is a clear picture of the show's target and presumed secondary audiences.)

More important, though, is that since The Dragon Prince is set in an overtly medievalist milieu, it admits of quite a bit of examination of its mis/use of popular and scholarly conceptions of medieval Europe. One way in which it decidedly speaks to the latter is in the portrayal of a multiethnic kingdom of Katolis. Despite persistent wrong-headed ideas about what Helen Young calls "the monochrome Middle Ages" (here and here, for instance), medieval Europe was far from homogenous--as is amply attested and argued (for instance here, here, here, here, here, and here, as well as in many other places by many scholars far more accomplished and capable than I). To have a diverse cast--both on screen and among the voice actors--is a good and right thing. (That there are other problems at work, by report, is acknowledged.)

New Rewatch Series: The Dragon Prince

𝔄 while back, as I began a different rewatch series, I noted that one of the then-future projects I had in mind was a rewatch of the Netflix original series The Dragon Prince. I'd held off work on it at that point because I had the other series to do--and that series is done, now. I enjoyed watching She-Ra and the Princesses of Power and looking at it for how it uses and misuses concepts of the medieval; I feel I got a lot out of doing so, and a few people have commented favorably on my efforts in that line, which always gratifies.
But the time has come, now, to move on to the next bit. I wrapped up the rewatch series. I took a little break. I am ready to move ahead. And so, next week, I will get (back) into The Dragon Prince. As of this writing, the series has not extended past its third season, so there is that to consider. Too, allegations against the show's creator remain in place, so far as I know; I have not seen that they have been addressed in any substantial fashion. So I cannot speak to how long the rewatch will last, although I do know I will be doing some discussion of the relevant issues--not as deftly as I should, doubtlessly, but I will try. It's all I can do, really.
I hope you'll begin to read the series here soon!

Again, the promo poster seems apropos.
I'm borrowing it from IMDB for purposes of reporting and commentary.

A Reminder about #Kzoo2021

𝔓lease note that the deadline to submit abstracts and information for the Tales after Tolkien Society's offerings at the upcoming International Congress on Medieval Studies is Tuesday, 15 September 2020. Maugre earlier announcements in this webspace, submissions need to be made here: https://icms.confex.com/icms/2021am/cfp.cgi. Proposals from graduate students, those outside traditional academe, and traditionally underrepresented groups are still especially welcome, and please let people in your circles know who might be interested!

As a final reminder, the panels are these:

Legacies of Tolkien's Whiteness in Contemporary Medievalisms

A roundtable session examining the continuing effects of Tolkien's depictions of race in medievalist works.

Much criticism directs itself towards racial studies and postcolonial readings of the works of JRR Tolkien, arguing whether his works should be regarded as racist and what attitudes contemporary readers would be well served to adopt in response to them. Much attention in popular media has directed itself towards the use of medieval and medievalist works such as Tolkien's by white supremacist groups to offer themselves pseudo-intellectual and pseudo-historical support for their execrable agendas. The session looks for ways in which contemporary medievalist work (hopefully) unintentionally supports such efforts and what can be done to oppose them as things deserving all opposition.

Deadscapes: Wastelands, Necropoli, and Other Tolkien-Inspired Places of Death, Decay, and Corruption

A paper session at the International Congress on Medieval Studies at Western Michigan University examining depictions of what comes in the wake of war and death in works in the Tolkienian tradition.

Many of the "standard" fantasy works, ranging from the epics through Arthuriana into Tolkien and beyond, make much of grand wars fought on massive scales. They also, at times, look at what is left behind when the war is done, the graveyards filled and memorials erected. The session looks at how such things are constructed in works in the Tolkienian fantasy tradition and what functions they serve for readers in the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries.

We still hope to see you at the 'zoo!

She-Ra and the Princesses of Power Rewatch 5.13, "Heart, Part 2"

Read the previous entry here!

She-Ra comes to an expected, happy end.

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5.13, "Heart, Part 2"

Written by Noelle Stevenson, Josie Campbell, Katherine Nolfi, Laura Sreebny, and M. Willis
Directed by Christina "Kiki" Manrique and Roy Burdine

Synopsis

That's never a good sign.
Image taken from the episode, used for commentary.

Adora lies wounded in the approach to the Heart of Etheria. Catra attacks her assailant, Shadow Weaver moving to assist her. Catra urges Adora on as she faces the Etherian security, while, elsewhere, Glimmer faces her controlled father, Micah, and Bow strives to avoid Scorpia's attacks in the Horde installation, aided by Melog. Matters proceed ill for the lot of them, though they continue to struggle.

Glimmer breaks through Micah's power with some difficulty. Bow continues Entrapta's work, though he cannot evade Scorpia for long. In the event, he does not need to; Entrapta's device works, and the control chips are disrupted, freeing those who had been placed under their command. Prime orders retribution as Bow broadcasts a call to rebel that reaches across Etheria.

Ooh. Shiny.
Image taken from the episode, used for commentary.

The fight at the approach to the Heart of Etheria continues. Horde Prime projects into it, distracting Catra as Shadow Weaver presses them toward the Heart, itself. They reach it, and Adora begins to suffer the effects of carrying the failsafe as Shadow Weaver finds herself empowered. Catra's suffering calls Adora to her, and Shadow Weaver sacrifices herself to save them both.

They press on as the fight elsewhere continues. At the Heart itself, Adora struggles to return to her form as She-Ra while Horde Prime's assault on the Heart continues. Adora tries to send Catra away; she refuses, remaining beside Adora as the failsafe begins to work.

Horde Prime makes contact with the Heart. Hordak turns on Horde Prime after being ordered to kill Entrapta, casting him down--only to be suborned in sequence, taken over by Prime. Prime takes Entrapta to Etheria to die by power of the Heart, which he begins to trigger.

Love is like that sometimes.
Image taken from the episode, used for commentary.

Adora struggles to use the failsafe. She lapses into unconsciousness and a vision of a happy future with Catra, and with Glimmer and Bow. Prime interferes with it, and Catra calls to her, confessing her love for her. Adora affirms that she returns the emotion and, enheartened, she trips the failsafe, thwarting Prime's plans. As She-Ra, she emerges to confront Prime directly, and she defeats him handily and completely, restoring the vitality of the planet. Hordak is left behind, confused, and the process of healing begins.

Discussion

While Alcuin might well ask quid enim Adora cum Christo, the final episode of the series, like many medieval works and many others, makes much of Christian messianic imagery. The wound in Adora's side evokes it, as do the repeated self-sacrifices intended and enacted, as well as the self-abnegation in Adora's fatalistic drive to enact the failsafe. So does the seeming enactment of the failsafe through an act of love; it happens when Adora and Catra admit their feelings to each other, after all. So, too, does the paradasical Etheria that emerges after Adora drives out Horde Prime from Hordak (itself in line with Christian doctrine and, in its pointed nonviolence, obliquely evocative of the Dream of the Rood). Indeed, the episode fairly rolls around in Christian imagery--interestingly, given the prevalence of lesbian relationships in the episode and the prevalent attitude espoused by professed Christians about such things. (Then again, lesbianism is hardly unknown to what is traditionally known as the medieval, as Erik Wade points out on Twitter.) So there's that.

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There's clearly a lot left to unpack, not only in the present episode, but across the series. I hardly claim to be the single authoritative expert on it, and I welcome comments from others.

With the series ended, a new project will be coming up in this webspace soon. But, for the moment, it is time for something of a break. Check back soon!