#sdcc 2019

[Callum walking out of the dark and into the light after his date with Claudia / now that he knows the truth, but Rayla could’ve been in darkness to signify his mood. Instead, she’s in the light (and her white hair) because although shattered, their relationship and her presence in his life is the Truth, and what ultimately helps him deal with the truth]

[More lighting and Rayla turning him towards her, toward the sun]

Which is to say, if the South Star is the Xadian equivalent of the North Star, something that Rayla comments as being like poetry (poetry clearly being important in the world of TDP, as the only information we have about Startouch elves at all are in two poems), well... Let’s look at the associations we typically have with the North Star and see if they match up, shall we?

The North Star is the anchor of the northern sky. It is a landmark, or sky marker, that helps those who follow it determine direction as it glows brightly to guide and lead toward a purposeful destination. It also has a symbolic meaning, for the North Star depicts a beacon of inspiration and hope to many.

So despite being an inverse in name, the South Star holds the same meaning in TDP’s world that it holds in ours. But, you may be saying: this all seems like a Reach. A good natured little skit, a handful of screencaps, what does this all have to do with anything, really?

And I’m not saying it isn’t a reach, and that the majority of TDP’s cute little con skits aren’t just silly (they are), but there are two skits that have some loaded symbolism behind them.

At the SDCC in 2020 when we got the confirmation for the full saga, the entire voice cast at the time did two skits. One was a fairly silly DND skit, but Aaravos, notably, was DM, controlling the game and pushing the players forward. It’s easy to see the parallels to this in show, as currently, very few characters know Aaravos is even a player in the events that have happened in s2 and s3 in particular, and only two characters really know what he can do: Runaan (whose coined) and Viren, who was using it to his own advantage. And even then, there’s a lot Viren doesn’t know.

The more interesting and painful parallel, to me, is from the opening skit of the Zoom, initially just a play on the characters having to deal with the pandemic the way we would, facetiming, social distancing, etc. However, I just want to remind you that Through the Moon, where Rayla leaves Callum to hunt Viren down on her own, came out just a couple months before the con was released, and the writers absolutely knew it was a plot point. Which is to say, this?

Rayla: Hey guys. Long time no see Callum. Good to see you, from far, far away. Ezran: Wait a minute, you guys have the same background. Are you in the same place? Callum: Uh, nope! Nope. Totally different places, separate, far away locations. Ezran: Callum, I can see part of your scarf in Rayla’s background. You’re supposed to be distancing. Callum: Oh come on, it’s a big castle! There’s — there’s lots of distancing. Rayla: Not so much that we miss each other too much.

Can be seen as foreshadowing, because in canon they are far away from each other, there is going to be loads of distancing, and they’re definitely going to miss each other (way too much). So if one skit had meaning in a small way, and this skit has foreshadowing in a bigger way, and the show loves its one off jokes being rooted in lore, like the famous explorer Sir Phineas Cursed...

Rayla is hunting down Viren, Aaravos’ current ‘vessel’ / partner in crime (even if that may be on the outs in s4). Callum has Aaravos’ Key.