Rayla and Motherhood, undermining or empowering?
So Iām assuming by now, the majority of the Dragon Prince fandom has watched the Dragon King Rayllum teaser. And based on a lot of responses Iāve been seeing across the fandom, Iāve been wanting to make my own post expressing my thoughts, both on Rayllum becoming parents as well as some of the responses Iāve seen (disclaimer: this is not an attack on anyone or differing opinions, this is just me expressing my opinion mainly on how certain things have been worded on multiple platforms).
So Iām going to be breaking this post down into multiple questions/reactions that Iāve seen and answer them individually with my own opinions on the matter and how I view them in terms of storytelling within the narrative.
Why should Rayllum have a baby at all? Why do they have to follow the trope of every main ship & have a baby?
Rayllum isnāt only the main ship of the Dragon Prince, but they are also (most likely) the first human/elf couple in Xadia in centuries. And while Sarai II may or may not be the first human/elf baby in recent Xadian history, she is the first one that we as an audience meet, which highly likely makes her a very important one, being the daughter of the two protagonists. So this is not just the main ship having a baby, but two individuals from two different backgrounds building another bridge between their two worlds and further building a new era of unity across the continent.
Why should Rayllum be having a baby now in the story rather than at the very end?
Almost in every single saga (fantasy, sci-fi, adventure, etc) where thereās a main ship, they almost always have their kids at the end of the story after all the conflict has been resolved, like somehow marriage and/or children are the end of the line for every couple. Or usually if thereās a continuation, itās almost always centered on the next generation of kids and teens while the OG couple/characters get heavily sidelined. And truth be told, not only is that kind of storytelling with relationships heavily overused, but it also leads to a MASSIVE underrepresentation of parents in those genres (Especially new parents in their 20s) and potentially interesting stories that can be told with them.
And in my opinion, this is would be a golden opportunity to continue telling the story with the main cast as adults being the center of the story as it unfolds and reaches its conclusion while also showcasing their struggles and stories with parenting. And knowing that many of the tdp crew and cast are parents, it would be interesting to see how they handle this and put in their own experiences into the storyline and characters. In my opinion, this is an opportunity to try something new with the story that hardly got done in other stories.
Why have a baby when Aaravos is returning?
Iāll be answering this from both a relatable/worldly standpoint as well as a narrative one. From a real world perspective, simply put, accidents happen. Even in todayās world, with the most advanced birth control, pregnancies can still happen, and can happen when itās not the best time. As to why they didnāt have an abortion, there could be a multitude of reasons: medical, personal, etc., all of which could potentially be explored in the series. Even in the real world, not every couple that has an unplanned pregnancy not at the best time will choose to get an abortion.
While it wouldāve been best if they had their first baby after Aaravos has been dealt with, however that might happen, itās important to remember that conflicts can always arise at anytime. If they keep putting off their lives when it comes to marriage, children, etc. until a āperfectā era comes, then at that point, they may as well just stop with their lives and never move on.
Especially considering how Janaya decided to get married even before Aaravos was defeated and even on the day of an impending attack on them, I think this will be a recurring theme in the series that life and dreams donāt have to stop or keep being put on hold because of conflict or circumstances. And diving into Rayllumās history with how many times they almost lost each other, I could imagine them following a similar example and wanting to move on with their lives together and build a family at their first chance, even if they may have considered putting it off. And no, that does not make them āselfishā or āirresponsibleā, it just makes them realistic and relatable.
Now from a narrative standpoint, building off of what I said before, thereās a whole lot of good story telling potential that can come from this especially for the maturing theme of the series. For instance, if we get the pregnancy arc, we know that there will be alot of mixed feelings and tension happening not only with Rayllum but also with their fellow characters. Not only that, but Rayla getting her own pregnancy arc could present her with so many challenges that she could face and imo that could really enhance her character in so many different ways, as well as potentially serving as a positive representation of pregnancy within this genre (Just a heads up that Iām not saying this is the only way you can explore/expand on Rayla but Iām saying that itās one of the many options to represent an underrepresented journey as well as show that she can still have other challenges and things to deal with at the same time; that pregnancy shouldnāt reduce a person to just one thing).
And the same goes with motherhood. This too feels underrepresented, especially with new moms in their 20s and this could be an opportunity to see her and Callum balance out being parents with saving the world. I could also see them becoming a lot more badass (and maybe even feral) in order to protect their little one.
Now building off of Sarai II being an elf/human baby, this could be what gets the Cosmic Order involved in the plot š¬ Just like they punished Leola for teaching magic to a human, them seeing a human/elf baby, especially from a potentially very prominent family in Xadia that could turn tides, could further anger the cosmic order enough to get on their radar. As to whether Aaravos would harm the baby or not is pretty debatable, but considering he was a father that lost his innocent daughter to the cosmic order could actually change something in him (Not necessarily saying he would become besties with the main cast or that heāll be fully redeemed but Iāve been speculating that they might end up joining forces against the cosmic order for whatever reason and this could be a motivating factor š).
Ugh! Now Raylaās gonna be a mother! Now sheāll be pushed to the sidelines and have her character be reduced! š©
Now this, I have a WHOLE lot of thoughts on. Iāve already seen people complain about Raylaās character in arc 2 āgoing too softā or that sheās ālosing her sense of humor or her established characterā for which that Iāll save for another post. And look, I get that not everyoneās excited for Rayla to become a mother or thinks itās necessary and you know what, thatās completely fine! Everyoneās entitled to their own opinion. But thatās not what I have an issue with. Itās the implication that because Rayla will become a mother, that this will automatically āundermine and degradeā her character. The implication that she will have nothing else to do in the show aside from being a mother. That she will no longer be relevant to the plot or a powerful badass because of motherhood.
And the reason why I have issues with seeing these is because even in the real world, a motherās job is so overlooked and under appreciated despite how freaking difficult it is. Itās also the fact that in so many fields and industries, women are automatically assumed to have ālost their capabilitiesā because they became mothers and these biases are what put alot of barriers in their way to begin with, despite there being so many accomplished women who are also mothers (Heck even motherhood itself is such a huge accomplishment).
Going back to Rayla, how can she be āless badassā after sheās grown a whole baby in her body for months and went through labor to bring her into the world? Not to mention, havenāt you seen how protective she is of the ones she loves? Iām even terrified to imagine how ferocious she would get if any harm were to touch a hair on her babyās body. š
Like I get thereās a lot of fictional media out there that pushes female characters to the sidelines once they become mothers, which leads to very valid concerns about its portrayal. But after watching the discord stream with Aaron, Justin, and Paula, esp hearing Paulaās response to how motherhood would ādegradeā Rayla or āreduce her role in the series,ā I get the feeling that they donāt plan to sideline her. That perhaps they can depict a positive, healthy, and badass portrayal of motherhood through Rayla while also showing that she will have a lot of other things going on as well. Imo this would be something that we hardly got to see enough of in other media, esp with a new mom in her 20s.
Why are Rayllum having a baby too young?
Ok, as someone whoās in my late 20s, never been married, doesnāt have children, Iāll say this. By the time we get to arc 3, they will be 24-25. And I can promise you, even by todayās standards in the West, thatās not too young to get married and/or have a first child. Like yes more couples may have their first kid in their late 20s-their 30s and even older for several reasons, but itās still not unusual or uncommon to have a baby at 24-25, or even slightly younger. So even if they are young, theyāre both adults now and have been together for several years, so itās not weird for them to already be married and to have their first born now.
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Ok, so Iāve done a whole lot of yapping here but honestly I had a whole lot of opinions about this topic that I wanted to express and get out of my system. Also remember that this post is largely my personal opinions and that I understand that not everyone will agree with it, and thatās ok. Iām also down to have a discussion but as always, please be respectful even in disagreement, otherwise I will be more than glad to report and block! āš½
