The Dragon Prince Rewatch 1.6, "Through the Ice"

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Several complications present themselves as Ezran, Callum, and Rayla take the egg further east.

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1.6, "Through the Ice"

Written by Aaron Ehasz and Justin Richmond
Directed by Villads Spangsberg

Synopsis

Ominous.
Image taken from the episode, used for commentary.

Rayla struggles with the tightening band on her wrist as she, Ezran, and Callum sleep. Another figure approaches stealthily through the forest. Rayla wakes at a sudden sound and investigates, and melee soon ensues between her and the figure, Corvus. Ezran and Callum wake to find Rayla gone, and they confer about her as she extricates herself from the combat. When she returns, she bids them flee, to the confusion of the others.

At least he's not skipping leg day.
Image taken from the episode, used for commentary.

In Katolis, Soren calls athletically on his father, Viren. Viren tasks him with an amended mission; he and Claudia are to find the vanished princes, with the heavy implication that they are to be killed. Soren tries to puzzle out what he is to do, finding it difficult, to Viren's annoyance.

Rayla leads Ezran and Callum away from the traveled roads in the interest of keeping themselves hidden. Issues of trust and confession are broached and deflected as the group proceeds. When, at length, they pause to rest, they find themselves without supplies. Rayla offers her supplies, only to find that they have been taken by Bait.

Nothing good will come of this.
Image taken from the episode, used for commentary.

Claudia investigates the mirror, applying dark magic to the task of doing so. It avails her nothing, and Viren confers with her about his own efforts and his certainty that there is something of import about the mirror. Viren then details Claudia's specific part of the mission to retrieve the princes; she is to be certain the egg is returned to Katolis, even at the cost of Soren's life.

As Rayla leads Callum and Ezran up a mountainside, the princes begin to feel the fatigue of effort and thin air. Callum confronts her, overly loudly, triggering an avalanche with Bait's prodigious belch. The party tries to flee, not entirely successfully, despite Callum's magical efforts. Ezran and the egg end up atop a frozen river, ice cracking under the boy's feet.

Clearly, something sees amiss. It is a hopeful sign.
Image taken from the episode, used for commentary.

Soren mulls over his mission as he gorges on tarts. Claudia makes to comfort him, and he asks her after her conversation with their father. She responds in kind, and it is clear that both are markedly uncomfortable, as both deflect the topic oddly.

Callum and Rayla try to rescue Ezran and the egg. The ice fractures under them as they make the attempt, Rayla's sudden doubt prompting an untimely confession of her perfidy. Egg and Ezran go into the water; both emerge, but the egg is harmed badly by the experience of the cold.

Discussion

I find myself at something of a loss to trace additional medievalisms in the present episode; those already in place continue, of course, but it does not seem that much new is added. Unless, and this is admittedly tenuous, Corvus can be read as a sort of refiguring of the Arthurian Tristan. No love-story appears to attach itself to him, to be sure, and there is no Mark-figure for him to be playing upon--only the demonstrably adept woodcraft and admirable but far from supreme fighting ability make the connection possible. Again, though, it is a tenuous connection, the more so given that Corvus's evident weapon of choice is more reminiscent of a kusarigama than of even the flail often erroneously associated with medieval combat. Whether this is supposed to make a more inclusive idea of the medieval available or to serve as a reminder that the series takes place in a world not Earth is uncertain; so is whether or not it matters.