Season 6, Episode 9 of the Netflix series The Dragon Prince, titled “Stardust,” is directed by George Samilski and penned by the show creators Aaron Ehasz and Justin Richmond with the addition of Devon Giehl and Iain Hendry. “We are all of us stardust, held together by love for an instant.” Aaravos (Erik Dellums) explains to Claudia (Racquel Belmonte) that the resurrection spell (Amor Stella Vitae) can work if it is cast with love. This shocks Claudia as she does not know how to do it, but Aaravos interrupts that it may seem difficult, but love is abundant as everyone is capable of it, even the Fallen Star himself. Aaravos understood how much Viren loved Claudia, his daughter, as Aaravos himself had a daughter in the past and he loved her deeply.
The Kindness of Leola
Thousands of years ago, before the rise of Elarion, Aaravos had a daughter who was a Startouch Elf named Leola (Ridley Simpson). She was born with a single horn, which led her father to affectionately call her his “unicorn.” But the horn was only a small part of what made Leola special. She grew up unique and quirky, facing the challenges of autism. Autism or not, Leola was Aaravos’s beautiful and brilliant daughter who refused to follow the order set in the stars. Instead, she used her natural affinity for star magic to help others in need. Because of her acts of kindness, many humans, elves, and magical creatures became her friends. Aaravos was astonished by Leola’s compassion, as Startouch Elves – being immortal beings from the heavens – typically had little concern for the mortal affairs of Xadia. But Leola was different; she loved the world and all its flaws, and she would always care for the lives of others, no matter what.
Aaravos’ Journal
One day, while Leola and her friend played outside, Aaravos, who did not have magenta eyes at this point, started to read through his giant journal on primal magic. The journal is magical as its information on a specific primal magic can be accessed with the Key of Aaravos. One specific side of the cube is shown while being put into the journal; the nature of the primal magic surfaces on the book cover. For example, the one Aaravos reads is on Earth magic, so plants, rocks, gems, and fungi begin to grow on the book cover. The Startouch Elf opened the journal and found a silly drawing Leola drew of her father having a mustache. It’s kind of sad as characters with moustaches tend to be depicted as villains at times.
Before he can start reading, Aaravos hears Leola’s friend crying for help outside. She tells Aaravos that Leola was taken away by a Startouch Elf, with a golden dragon standing by as a witness before they disappeared. This frustrated Aaravos as he knew Leola was taken to the Heavens for cosmic justice.
Cosmic Justice
Aaravos finds his daughter, Leola, standing trial for cosmic justice. The trial is conducted by the leaders of the Startouch Elves, including the Stern One (Brian Drummond), the Merciful One (Hanna Hofer), and at least three other unnamed Startouch Elves. They accuse Leola of breaking the cosmic order by giving magic to humans. Aaravos refuses to believe that Leola would violate such a sacred law, but the witness against her is the dragon prince Anak Araw (Sol Regem). This revelation suggests that dragons and their monarchs are subservient to the Startouch Elves and their cosmic order.
Regarding Leola’s alleged act of giving magic to humans, it is likely that she did so with the help of other unicorns. This theory can be supported by another potential theory that Leola is partly unicorn in nature, given her partially violet hair, and the fact that she was born with a single horn, while all other Startouch Elves have white hair and two horns. Additionally, history records that unicorns were the ones who aided humans by sharing magic with them, despite the protests of dragons and elves. If Leola is indeed part unicorn, she may have persuaded her unicorn brethren to share their magical knowledge with humans, believing it would help them thrive, unlike the elves and dragons already in tune with their primal magic.
Kindness or not, Leola broke the law and the Startouch Elf leaders, the cosmic judges, want to punish her with death. The cosmic judges remind Aaravos that he has seen what they all have seen, that Leola’s act of giving magic to humans, however motivated, is the beginning of the end, the start of the long slow spiral to chaos. Despite this, Aaravos begs the council to execute him instead and spare Leola any judgment. The Merciful One recognizes Aaravos’ desperation and Leola’s fear, and they believe that Leola should be given mercy. However, the Stern One refutes and declares that the council gives Aaravos the mercy of dying alongside his daughter if he cannot live without her. This horrifies Aaravos and he instead chooses to live so he can avenge Leola and destroy the Startouch Elves and their cosmic order, no matter how long it takes. But first, he has to say goodbye to his daughter.
Goodbye Leola
Aaravos embraces Leola, who is terrified of her impending execution. He tells her she is going to a place of peace and ever-flowing love, possibly referring to the Spirit World. As Leola is lifted into the air to be transformed into a falling star that will crash into Xadia, Aaravos continues to comfort her with his embrace and soothing words. Watching his daughter fall to her death causes Aaravos to break down in tears, overwhelmed by grief. No parent should have to witness their child die in such a terrifying and devastating way.
Leola crashes into a specific region of Xadia, leaving a massive crater with her bones and remains visible at its center. Seeing Leola’s lifeless body causes Aaravos to spend a century mourning her death, his tears eventually forming the Sea of the Castout, which conceals the remains of the once kind and compassionate young girl. After a century of grief, the Merciful One approaches to comfort Aaravos, but what they discuss remains unknown. The events that occurred when Leola crashed into Xadia as part of her execution are detailed in The Dragon Prince Short Story: “Ripples.” When Leola fell as a falling star, it changed the fabric of the land around them. The episode revealed that the Sea of the Castout used to be a lush forest and land until it was destroyed and turned into a crater that eventually became a sea. The Startouch Elves likely had Leola fall in that region of Xadia on purpose with the intent of wiping out the humans who learned magic that day as a massive cover-up or cleanup, showing the depravity of the Startouch Elves and how they have no kindness nor sympathy for the lives of mortals. Considering how Leola had elvish and magical creatures as friends, it is assumed that they too were killed showing how even non-humans are not immune to the Startouch Elves’ desire to ensure that the cosmic order is not broken including the notion that humans can use magic.
However, the specifics of the cosmic order and its justice are unknown as Aaravos was not punished for his crimes of giving humanity dark magic, and for starting various conflicts between humans, elves, and dragons. In addition, Callum learned magic, which should be well-noticed by the Startouch Elves, unless they are not aware that a human learned primal magic. It should be noted that Leola’s actions were only known when Sol Regem told the Startouch Elves and that it took outside knowledge for the Startouch Elves to know of Leola’s act. However, it is still uncertain why the Archdragons never called the Startouch Elves for help if they wanted to get rid of Aaravos once and for all since only a Startouch Elf can kill a Startouch Elf.
In the present day, Claudia and Terry (Benjamin Callins) finish listening to Aaravos’ story regarding Leola. Claudia is in tears and more motivated to help Aaravos, while Terry is reluctant as he recognizes how the story was told out of a desire for vengeance more so than love. Nonetheless, Claudia insists on helping Aaravos and understands how to express and think of love while casting a spell.
The Spirit World
Callum (Jack DeSena) comforts a conflicted Rayla (Paula Burrows) who has to choose to free either her parents or Runaan (Jonathan Holmes) from their imprisonment between life and death. She has to enter the spirit world and its only entrance through the Moon Nexus portal once the full moon’s light touches the nexus’ lake. Once Rayla enters, she must bring two or one of the three back in a spiritual artifact, akin to the Pearl, so the resurrection spell (Amor Stella Vitae) can begin. Lujanne (Ellie King) made the necessary arrangements so Rayla could enter the Spirit World unscathed.
Lujanne then explains the details of how the cursed coins work. The cursed coins actually do not contain the souls of Rayla’s parents and Runaan. They only contain a fragment of the souls while the rest are in the Spirit World. The fragment of the soul in each of the coins and the rest in the spirit world long to be reunited, as it cannot move on into death if a soul is incomplete. As a result of the souls’ longing to be complete, the coins will guide Rayla to where her loved ones will be so she can choose to free her parents or Runaan.
Rayla listens to what Lujanne says and is ready to enter the spirit world. Once inside, Rayla checks her surroundings, which form into the Moonshadow Forest. However, the forest feels empty as if death has claimed it, leaving the forest cold and isolated. Runaan’s coin lights up, signalling he is nearby, but there is a problem as Runaan has become a lost soul. It means that he has gone dark making him angry, rabid, and violent to the point that he attacks Rayla without hesitation. Being a lost soul stems from one’s inability to move on to death and not unaccepting the circumstances of one’s death. This frightens Rayla and she escapes to find her parents instead.
Rayla and her Parents
Rayla heads to a field of bioluminescent flowers and finds her parents Tiadrin (Ely Jackson) and Lain (Tyrone Savage). There, Tiadrin and Lain are dancing and are ignorant of Rayla’s presence until she interrupts. Rayla explains how they fell into their current predicament so their minds could be conscious of their surroundings once more. After the explanation, Tiadrin and Lain remember how they fought and lost to Viren but were able to convince him to spare the egg of the dragon prince. However, Viren took the egg as his prize and trapped the two Moonshadow elves in his cursed coins, leaving them unable to move on to death.
As their conversation continues, Rayla begins to realize that her parents already moved on, based on how peaceful they were in between life and death. She decides to help her parents move on by giving them their coins so their souls can be fully repaired before moving on to death. They have one last goodbye before Rayla sees her parents for the last time. However, there is hope for Rayla as she can save Runaan.
Rayla vs. Runaan
After making peace with her parents’ deaths, Rayla moves on to save Runaan. Rayla has to fight and argue with Runaan to help him stop being a lost spirit and calm down. It took a long time to do so, as the two started fighting through echoes of their past, especially the one on the walls of Katolis castle. Runaan remembers their confrontation and mourns how he almost tried to kill Rayla to fulfill his duty as an assassin on behalf of the Dragon Queen. Despite this, Rayla forgives her adoptive father and tells him that Ethari needs him and that she needs him. With this in mind, Runaan accepts the decision to return to life and his form turns into that of a lotus.
Runaan is Back
Rayla takes the lotus back to the Moon Nexus, where Callum begins the resurrection spell (Amor Stella Vitae). The following morning, Runaan is brought back to life, much to the joy of both Rayla and Runaan. However, before Rayla can introduce Callum to him, the prince of Katolis notices his homeland burning in the distance. The news of Katolis burning also reaches King Ezran, Callum’s younger brother, just after Queen Janai and Amaya’s wedding. Ezran mourns for his people, while his aunt Amaya and friend Queen Aanya comfort him.
Aaravos Ascends
In the final scene, Claudia completes the resurrection spell (Amor Stella Vitae). Aaravos is finally resurrected and returns to physical form, towering over Claudia and Terry as a colossal divine figure. The Fallen Star then allows Claudia to step on his hand so he can show her the next steps in his grand plan for the downfall of the Startouch Elves and their cosmic order. It seems their next destination is the moon.
It is uncertain as to how Aaravos will destroy the Startouch Elves and their cosmic order. However, it seems the only path to use is the Star-Devourer Dragons. They are, perhaps, the most interesting star dragons to have been introduced in The Dragon Prince lore as they do nothing but devour stars in the darkness of space. It will be interesting if they play a role in the Fallen Star’s desire to avenge Leola’s death and show how far Aaravos has fallen to the point of king slaying and genocide as he had committed in various past wars.
Aaravos’ endgame is a mystery, but it can be theorised that Aaravos’ discovery of dark magic makes it now possible for him to resurrect Leola if done right. However, he likely didn’t do it because he planned to wait until humanity and Xadia achieve 100% equality as we are gradually seeing in the modern day. In other words, Aaravos would want to bring his daughter back once the prejudices and cosmic order problems are removed. This is similar to DOTA: Dragon’s Blood, in which the Invoker destroys all his enemies and ensures the good guys win first before implementing his work in resurrecting his daughter. The Mystery of Aaravos shows us resurrections happening left and right, so Leola coming back is not off the charts.
The Dragon Prince Season 6 (Book 6: Stars) is amazing, and better compared to Season 4 and Season 5, bringing the show to the quality it once had in the first three seasons. This season does so well in introducing the mystery of the stars and the motivations of Aaravos when showing his painfully tragic backstory. It is amazing what the show creators, writers, animators, and the rest of the team were able to provide as another climax before the final conflict in Season 7. What seems more epic, is that Season 7 is not far away, dated to be released on December 19, 2024. It will be the final season of the Mystery of Aaravos, with three other seasons likely in the works if the show is given enough fan support.
In the Season 7 teaser, Astrid (Boone Williams) is seen heading to the Zenith of the Starscraper at the break of dawn. She appears conflicted about her decision but is soon joined by Kosmo (Ethan Farrell). Kosmo asks what she is doing, and Astrid questions if he already knows, given his timeblind foresight. Kosmo responds that being a timeblind doesn’t make him omniscient about everything that will happen. Astrid then tells Kosmo that she wants to help the world rather than merely watch from a distance. She says her goodbyes before removing her blindfold and looking directly at the sun. For ten seconds, Astrid is surprised by how bright the sun is and then closes her eyes, leaving her fate uncertain. Removing her blindfold under sunlight, which is forbidden, could mean she will be banished for breaking the sacred laws of the Celestial Elves. How this will be handled might be revealed in Season 7. Overall, this clip may indicate that the Celestial Elves will return in the next season.
Rating: 9/10