Episode 8: The Realm of Magic

**The Realm of Magic** is the 8th episode of And Beyond.

On a mission to map a safe route of Legerdomain for Professor Gwendolyn's Field Trip next week, Horas gets unexpectedly sent to the forest of Zoraster, and must navigate his way through the mystical realm of magic, meeting many strange faces along the way.

## Summary

The episode begins with Horas outside of The Door to Anywhere, which allows transportation between UNUA-0001 and Legerdomain. Horas is sent there to map out a field trip route for Gwendolyn, as she plans to take her students there next week. Ben also adds the objective to learn more about the Alpha Rune, as Zs'Skayr may potentially be after one.

While traveling there, Zs'Skayr, who is still hiding inside the Horas Interconnected Network, causes Horas to accidentally teleport to Zoraster, a wild, magical forest. He is rescued by Caladrin who shares the history of the Guardians, the first beings of Legerdomain. Horas thanks him for the information, and after reviewing his map with Caladrin, sets off to find The Kingdom of Anywhere.

Horas continues to travel through the realm, but the spirits of a dangerous mystical sinkhole try to trap Zs'Skayr, with Horas included.

Horas reboots himself after his existential inhibitor is compromised, and finds himself in Cursecrafter's shop. Cursecrafter explains to Horas the territory of Navato, along with some history about Addwaitya. It is also revealed that her, and by extension, Michael Morningstar, are children born with Mana deficiency due to bring offspring of irresponsible dark sorcerers. Michael shortly shows up under the guise of The Emissary to retrieve Horas from Cursecrafter and bring him to The Kingdom of Anywhere.

At the kingdom, Michael shares with Horas some information about the kingdom's history, and the Alpha Rune, with Zs'Skayr secretly listening in. They arrive inside of Charmcaster's castle, where Michael is instructed to leave.

Charmcaster takes this opportunity to tell the true story of her father, Spellbinder, and her Uncle Hex, as they were defenders of Addwaitya's reign. She gives Horas a special charm to help stabilize his map and lead him back to The Door to Anywhere, but the door continues to give Horas the wrong location.

Zs'Skayr, through Horas, utters his own secret spell, and opens a portal. Addwaitya steps through, and Zs'Skayr smacks Horas away, with his final moment witnessing the reveal of a dangerous duo.

## Details

### Major Events

* Charmcaster is now King of Legerdomain, and has employed Michael Morningstar as her emissary as punishment for his constant evasion of the Plumbers.
* Zs'Skayr is revealed to have been working with Addwaitya, the former ruler of Legerdomain.

### Characters

* Horas
* Ben Tennyson
* Gwendolyn Tennyson
* Caladrin
* Stone Creatures
* Zs'Skayr
* Cursecrafter
* The Emissary
* King Charmcaster
* Addwaitya

### Cameos

* Zoraster
* Withyurge
* Kedgeloch
* Urvogel
* Magsizzall
* Illumorpho
* Dagon
* Nedrista
* Melvactyl
* A Pallorfang
* SpellBinder
* Hex
* Bezel
* Aggregor

## Mythology

* Ben mentions the last time he saw Zs'Skayr he was in possession of an Alpha Rune, which was during the *Ben 10 Omniverse: Galactic Monsters* story arc.
* Ki is said to be another name for Mana, as previously discussed in Episode 5: Krypton and Vegeta.
* The forests of Zoraster appears, as well as The Fourth Ring of Navato. These locations were previously mentioned in the *Ben 10: Classic* episode *Ken 10* by Gwendolyn.
* Dagon, the main antagonist of *Ben 10 Ultimate Alien's third season,* is revealed to have been one of the guardians that once protected Legerdomain.
* Followers of The Great One's ancestors from the *Ben 10: Classic* episode *The Big Tick* are seen to have visited Legerdomain in the past, alluding to their yern for worshiping greater beings.
* Caladrin notes that when Gwendolyn assisted him in the past and mentions that her cousin was "grabby", alluding to how Ben obtained Soarnitho's DNA sample.
* Horas mentions that Addwaitya avoided capture five years ago, which was seen in the *Ben 10 Omniverse* episode *Third Time's a Charm.*
* The Dominus Librium, a tool previously used by Michael Morningstar in *Ben 10 Alien Force* and *Ultimate Alien,* is revealed to have been created in Navato.
* The Aryedalis people were the original founders of the Kingdom of Anywhere and Castle Caster, and make up most of its residents. Charmcaster is the current leader of the Kingdom.
* Charms are said to be used to focus on specific types of magic, the first charms were designed by Bezel. The Charms of Bezel are reoccurring items throughout the *Ben 10 Franchise*.
* Horas mentions the Alpha Rune was part of the Map of Infinity from *Ben 10 Ultimate Alien.* Hobble Grovle destroyed the Alpha Rune in *Ben 10 Omniverse: Galactic Monsters*. The second Alpha Rune is explained by Michael, as Guardians can make a new Alpha Rune after the previous is destroyed.
	+ It is also explained that Charmcaster was able to obtain an Alpha Rune In *Ben 10 Ultimate Alien* by striking a bargain with Caladrin.
* Charmcaster warns Horas of being turned into a totem, a habit of hers in *Ben 10 Omniverse*.

## Trivia

* On July 5, 2022, The Ink Tank put out a casting call on their Twitter for this episode of *And Beyond*.
	+ On September 14, 2022, Joy Ofodu and Sam Slade were revealed to have been cast as unknown roles. They were later confirmed to be Cursecrafter and Charmcaster.
* On August 14, 2022, the episode was officially announced on The Ink Tank's Twitter account.
* On August 26, 2022, members of The Ink Tank's Patreon got to watch the first two minutes of the episode before anyone else.
* This episode features the debut of Julisa Lopez as Gwendolyn Tennyson.
* Due to the time dilation of Legerdomain, Charmcaster is now in her early 30s.
* Ben is seen in The Freezer – an abandoned Plumber Ship turned secret hideout – on Kylmyys visiting his kids, The Ice Pack.
* SpellBinder and Hex are not related by blood, but have a brotherly relationship. They are in fact the descendants of the chosen few that the Guardians taught magic to.
* The Grizanim people were the original founders of the Rings of Navato and make up only a small portion of its residents. Hex formerly was the leader of the Rings before Addwaitya’s uprising.
* Michael “Darkstar” Morningstar is currently acting as Charmcaster’s Emissary and head guard under magical imprisonment. The Plumbers reached out to Charmcaster to watch over Michael because he would constantly escape and try to make his way to Legerdomain anyway so they thought to make it easier they would just imprison him there. She keeps him under her control, similarly to the spell used on Kevin back in *Alien Force*. Michael is half Grizanim on his mother’s side.
* This is the first time Horas is animated at an angle that isn't straight-forward. In fact, Horas can be seen from all sides in this episode, including top-down.
* This episode began production before the previous episode, Kylmyys, but was put on hiatus when The Ink Tank realized how big of a project it was, and wanted to do a shorter, easier episode first after their last big project, Anur.
* This episode changes the standard And Beyond format, as other characters are teaching Horas about their terrain, rather than Horas already being an expert. This is because, unlike the various alien planets and dimensions he has visited, the Plumbers have no information about Legerdomain, and thus, neither does the Horas Interconnected Network.

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 https://twitter.com/ItsTheInkTank/status/1570173440149303297
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 https://twitter.com/ItsTheInkTank/status/1561379105379127297
3. ↑ https://twitter.com/ItsTheInkTank/status/1544363295800532992
4. ↑ https://twitter.com/ItsTheInkTank/status/1558814667614654466
5. ↑ https://twitter.com/ItsTheInkTank/status/1563866961758519296
6. ↑ https://twitter.com/ItsTheInkTank/status/1563142024907616256