The Brave

"The Brave" is the pilot episode of War of the Ender Kingdoms. Rainimator, the series' creator, first announced "The Brave" in August 2023.https://discord.com/channels/478232666781646889/938940085469057074/1137018155621949560 Released on December 11, 2023, the ten-minute episode follows the 's last stand at the beginning of the war.https://discord.com/channels/478232666781646889/480231557123276800/1106747743382286478 MJ Guingon and Tigilord created the episode's theme song. 
==Synopsis==
Anticipating their inevitable defeat, the Gatekeepers must shut down their End Portals in a desperate attempt to slow down the Void Lord's campaign.
==Story==
The episode begins recounting the events of the meeting shown in the trailer, where the council's denial against Lance's ideal caused him to spiral into a declaration of war. Setting his armies upon the more peaceful and , the 's leader, Lady Skylor, entrusts her Riftblade - Sora Maeda - with the key to the Gateways. Lady Skylor informs Sora that the Gateways must be closed despite not having the permissions to do so, knowing that if the get their hands on it, the conquest of all three realms will be possible.
As Sora leaves with her instructions, Skylor and Cpt. Elise meet with fellow Gatekeepers and fraction forces of the and Aeromancers - led by Ramiel and Saphira-Thunderwing respectively - on the main island. There, the Void Lord himself appears, asking for Skylor's aide in the war, only to be rebuted. Disgusted by the lack of ambition in the alliance, he allows General Dystopia to begin the invasion, which Skylor and the others meet after a rousing speech.
Whilst the alliance fights, Sora heads deep into the Gateways, using a variety of local fauna - such as a Void Whale - to get to the portal gate. When she does arrive, however, she is located by Dahlia-Sculkwing and members of the Void armies, forcing her to fight back. She easily overcomes the challengers, stabbing Dahlia in the chest after she threw her towards the void, escaping to the heart.
The battle - meanwhile - is not going well for the Gatekeepers Alliance, forcing Skylor to get Elise to distract Dystopia for her. As the Captain and the General fight, Skylor teleports onto a void ship and use her 'Realm Splitter'https://discord.com/channels/478232666781646889/795858792143257631/1183191244294328320 ability to strike it in half. Upon rejoining the battle, she sees a vision of Lance, realizing that he has found Sora, and prompting her to hurry to the heart herself.
Sora is seemingly alone when she arrives at the heart, but before she can insert the key, Arcane Blades are thrown in her direction. Narrowly dodging, the Riftblade is confronted by Lance, who attempts to dissuade her from shutting down the Gateways, only to once again be rebuted. Angered, the Void Lord begins to fight her, successful in landing an Arcane Blade into her abdomen to his delight. This only prompts Sora to disappear into a rift, however, and reveal her true power of Void Magic, forcing Lance to activate a Barrier spell to protect himself. Yet, despite breaking his shield, Sora's attack leads to her being seized by the throat, the Void Lord victorious...
...until Skylor flies in through her own portal, charging her mace with enough energy to knock the Void Lord away from Sora.
Despite being injured by the blades meant for Sora, Skylor is able to restrain Lance, allowing Sora to shut the Gateways and disappear with the key - and presumably, the End Crystal. Enraged, Lance utilizes his two existing crystals and fires them against Skylor, breaking her mace and sending her flying backwards. On the main island, the Gatekeeper Alliance is routed and all existing captains captured, though none except Elise were aware of the reason the Gateways proceeded to shut down. Despite Skylor's efforts, her halos are also broken by Lance's beams, sending her crashing into a wall.
Lance, furious, threatens Skylor in a state of manic fury, denying that his plans of conquering the realms has indeed been set back / thwarted. As Skylor refuses to break, Lance's mania gets worse, declaring that he will capture Sora - in turn ousting her as a Void Magic user - and use her void essence to create more Voidlings from her wounds, keeping her alive in the process. Horrified, Skylor tries to push back, but she is taken away, leaving Lance to cool off with only Dystopia around. He dismisses his revenge-driven idea in favor of just collecting more End Crystals, and orders Dystopia to send troops to the Lightborne Isles and Aeromancers Enclave, taking advantage of their missing generals.
In the meantime, Sora is able to escape through a rift back near Dahlia's deathplace... or more... what should be her death place...
==Cast==
*Skylor
*Sora Maeda (debut)
*Lance
*Elise
*Lhara-Silverwing (flashback)
*Ramiel (debut)
*Saphira-Thunderwing (debut)
*Dystopia (debut)
*Dahlia-Sculkwing (debut)
==Trivia==
*This is the longest episode of any Rainimator series so far, spanning to about 10 minutes.
*This episode marks the debut of: 
**Characters: Sora Maeda, Dystopia, Saphira Thunderwing, Ramiel, Dahlia-Sculkwing
**Factions: Gatekeepers, Aeromancers, Lightborne
**Locations: Gateways
**Magic: Luxomancy, Spatiokinesis, Void Magic
*The events of this episode take place at the same time/shortly after the Fall of the Orchid City and the Fall of the Moon Kingdom.
* This episode is the first time Lance's new VA - Michael Zekas - has performed as the character. 
**The reason for Austin Lee Matthews' replacement may be due to either age of the character, cost restrictions or scheduling issues.
*The area where Lance faces off against Sora and Skylor was based on the End lobby for the Rainimator 2 Million Subscriber Bedwars Tournament
== Gallery==
===Promotional ===
File:Sora Promotional 1.jpg|Sora in an early promotional render.
File:Sora Promotional 2.jpg|Sora unmasked in an early promotional render.
File:Sora1.gif|Sora Maeda fighting against Voidlings in a conceptual gif.
TB1.png|Skylor facing against the Void Kingdom fleet in a promotional render.
Sora Script.png|Sora Maeda with a script in a promotional render.
TB2.png|Sora Maeda in the Gateways in a promotional render.
TB3.png|Skylor in the Gateways in a promotional render.
TB4.png|The Gatekeepers in a promotional render.
TB5.png|Lance in his pocket dimension in a promotional render.
TB6.png|Saphira Thunderwing's promotional introductory render.
TB7.png|Ramiel's promotional introductory render.
TB8.png|Sora with a Void Whale in a promotional render.
TB9.png|Sora facing against Lance in a promotional render.
TB10.png|Dystopia's promotional introductory render.
TB Lance Dream.png|Lance alongside Lauretta, Apollo, Skylor, Ceris, Marcel and Vordus in a promotional render.
Lightborne Corvettes.jpeg|Lightborne Corvettes fighting the Void Fleet in a promotional render.
File:Dahlia-Skulkwing.png|Dahlia-Sculkwing's promotional reveal render.
File:TB12.png|Skylor and the Gatekeepers army in a promotional render
File:TB13.png|Dystopia and the void army in a promotional render
TB14.png|Lance with two End Crystals in a promotional render
TB15.png|Lance wielding his Void Shortsword in a promotional render
File:TB16.png|Elise and Skylor staring over the battlefield in a promotional render.
===Screenshots===
Skylor wielding Ender Chakrams.jpg
Lance being trapped by Ender Chakrams.jpg
Lance teleport fail.jpg
Ramiel and Saphira surrounded.png|Ramiel protecting an injured Saphira-Thunderwing.
 
== References==
Category:Animations
Category:Episodes with Sound Effects
Category:Episodes with Voice Acting
Category:War of the Ender Kingdoms
Category:War of the Ender Kingdoms Episodes