Dragonguard (Episode)

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**Dragonguard** is the twenty-sixth episode of *The Dragon Prince* and eighth chapter of the third book, "**Sun**".

With Viren's glowing army closing in on the Storm Spire, Rayla, Callum and friends must decide whether to flee to safety or stay and fight.

## Plot

While everyone enters the Dragon Queen's lair, the Skywing Elf introduces himself as Ibis, a Sky mage who wished to help the grieving Zubeia after her sorrow has caused her to fall into a deep slumber. When Zym hears his mother snore, he becomes frightened, and Ezran comforts the baby, asking him if he does not want to see his parent, understanding that he is not feeling ready yet. While Bait stays with Zym, the others proceed inside, where they find the sleeping Zubeia curled up around her nest. Ezran approaches the giant, gently laying his hand onto her snout as he calls out for her to wake up and that her baby has returned to her, but without success. Struck by emotion, Rayla rushes out of the room. When Callum follows her, she explains that this is the place where her parents have abandoned the queen and that it hurts knowing that it had all led to this.

Exhausted and barely able to keep his eyes open, Soren rides his horse all the way to the Storm Spire, where he frees the animal to start a new life for itself. Although he shows a burning determination to scale the mountain, he quickly switches to crawling due to the thin air and his heavy armor. Just when he is about to collapse, Pyrrah lands before him, who is immediately recognized and asked if she came to finish him off. Fortunately, Ezran realizes who they are talking to and the two carry Soren to the entrance of the nest. Ezran begs Callum to help him and Callum casts a wind spell to replenish Soren's oxygen. After a moment of panicking, Soren declares that they are all doomed. The group provides him with a blanket and a hot drink as they move inside, where he tells them that Viren is marching into Xadia with an army of mutated humans, aiming to kill Zym.

Ibis heads to the pinnacle to scout for the army of the enemy. When he suggests that he would do so from the sky, Callum wonders how he would achieve that if he lacked wings, for which he promptly apologizes, thinking it may be an insensitive thing to say to a Skywing Elf. Ibis is not hurt and enlightens the young mage that fewer than one in ten elves of his kind are born with wings and only a few can learn a spell that enables them to grow them. He proceeds to cast "Manus. Pluma. Volantus.", causing black feathers to sprout from his arms. Callum begs Ibis to teach him the newfound spell but is confronted with the usual doubt that he could ever learn magic. Annoyed, he counters the statement by casting "Fulminis" and tells him that he knows the Sky arcanum. However, Ibis instead offers him the advice to take Zym and run as far as they can.

When Callum returns to Rayla, he lets her know about Ibis' advice and admits that he agrees that leaving would keep Zym safe. However, Rayla wishes to stay back to protect Zubeia, speaking her goodbyes. Unimpressed, Callum snaps at her for being prideful when it could mean that she could die. He blames the regret for her parents' actions and tells her to let it go, but Rayla can't, telling him that if he believes it to be so easy for her, he doesn't know her at all, then runs off. Callum sits down in the cave when the Key of Aaravos emits a glow, reminding him that he received a Moon Opal from her. He wonders if it could project the events of the past into the lair, which he then tries, successfully learning what transpired the day the egg was stolen.

Back on the pinnacle, Rayla has broken into tears, wishing not to talk about the fight again, when Callum claims that he knows what happened when Viren stole the egg from its nest. Rayla does not believe him until he shows her a sketch of her parents in his sketchbook. She happily recognizes them and agrees to hear the story.

A flashback shows Hendyr, a Skywing Elf, who tries to convince Rayla's parents to abandon the egg. Rayla's mother, Tiadrin, refuses, stating that they had sworn an oath to the Dragonguard and that they have to fight and defend the egg, as it is the only hope Xadia has left. Rayla's father, Lain, asks Hendyr to take the egg with him but is denied his request. The pair stays behind and fights a brave battle against Viren, however, Viren incapacitates Lain with a suffocation spell, before capturing both of them with "Aspiro Frigis", a spell that creates piles of ice, which encase the two elves. As a last resort, Tiadrin stops Viren from destroying the egg by fooling him into believing that it could be a powerful ingredient for his dark magic. Viren wonders how to repay them and states that he has a fate in mind, but what he ends up doing to the pair remains unknown.

Rayla begins to understand that it is thanks to her parents' sacrifice that the egg and everyone else is alive. She wonders what to do next and Callum reminds her that it is her choice alone.

When the two rejoin the rest of the group, Callum delivers the options they have, knowing they have to make a decision. This is when Soren politely asks to interrupt, explaining that he has known his father for the longest, but maybe not best, considering his year-long mental manipulation. Soren realizes that his father is evil and states that he will only get worse if he is not defeated, which convinces the group to stay and fight. Ibis flies back into the room and informs them that the dark army will arrive at daybreak. He also wants them to know that something else has come up, thus leading them outside, where Amaya arrives on the back of a Twin-Tailed Inferno-Tooth Tiger named Embertail, accompanied by Janai. After Callum introduces Rayla as his friend, and Amaya introduces Janai as hers, the Sunfire elf announces her name, letting them know that she has brought what is left of her city's forces along. Ibis changes his mind about his earlier advice and prepares to take off to the sky to get help, motivating Pyrrah to do the same as she offers Ezran a ride on her back. Callum realizes that there is no going back and expresses how proud he is of Ezran.

Meanwhile, Viren's forces led by himself, Aaravos, Claudia, Saleer, and the mutated Kasef, approach the Storm Spire.

## Characters and Cast

* Callum (Jack De Sena)
* Rayla (Paula Burrows)
* Ezran (Sasha Rojen)
* Bait
* Azymondias
* Viren (Jason Simpson)
* Claudia
* Soren (Jesse Inocalla)
* Aaravos
* Kasef
* Saleer
* Amaya
* Janai (Rena Anakwe)
* Ibis (Ian James Corlett)
* Tiadrin (Ely Jackson)
* Lain (Tyrone Savage)
* Hendyr (Iain Hendry)
* Sabah
* Embertail
* Pyrrah
* Zubeia
* Avizandum

## Spells

* Fulminis
* Manus. Pluma. Volantus.
* Ventus Spiralis

Dark Magic

* Htaerb eht laets *(Steal the breath)*

## Trivia

* Rayla and Callum holding hands at the end symbolizes the same hope Rayla's parents had as they tried to defend Zym's egg.
* In the French version of the episode, Ibis mispronounces Zubeia's name as "Xabaya" when explaining the situation to Team Zym. Her name was previously correctly pronounced in "Sol Regem".

#### Credits

* The credit image of Soren hugging a dragon plushy is a continuation of a "Fire and Fury" credit image, where he was previously fighting the plushy. This foreshadowed his change of heart regarding dragons.
* The man courting Lujanne in the credits, Allen, is the same man who challenged Tristan in "The Dagger and the Wolf".