Moonrise is the third episode of The Dragon Prince and third chapter of the first book, "Moon".
With night falling, Rayla and the princes race to share what they have found and stop the attack. But first they will have to get past Claudia.
Plot
As nighttime approaches, King Harrow retreats to his chambers at the highest tower of Katolis castle, accompanied by elite members of the Crownguard led by Soren. The guards surround their king's bedroom and take defensive positions while Harrow receives his sword for his own defense. Once the Sun has gone down, Harrow practices a few swings with his sword, when he is joined by Pip. He shares a few affections with his bird, wondering if this would be the end.
At the same time, Viren and Claudia head back to Viren's office to return the basket that contains the two-headed Soulfang Serpent. Claudia questions why the switching spell was refused, concluding that Harrow is a stubborn man. While doing so, she notices a portrait hanging on the wall and notes how happy her father looked when it was painted. Viren confirms this happiness and reminisces about how often he had stood by Harrow's side, deciding that he is ready to do so again. When he comes up with a new and final plan to save his beloved friend, he picks up the basket once again and says his goodbyes to Claudia without telling her what he plans to do, as he is sure she would try to stop him. Once he has left the room, Claudia turns towards the painting once more, when she notices Callum's sealed letter at her feet. Growing suspicious, she decides to inspect the painting that hides the secret passage, where she notices the jelly tart stain Ezran had left behind. After tasting it and identifying the stain as persimmon, she opens the passage and ventures down the secret tunnel. Since the tunnel is too dark to see, Claudia lights her palm by using a simple magic cantrip, then proceeds on her way.
Inside the hidden chambers of the castle, Rayla, Ezran, Callum, and Bait are still perplexed that the egg of the Dragon Prince is still alive. As they wonder how it had not been destroyed, Claudia appears inside the room, holding a Primal Stone in her hand. Worried for her friends' safety, she orders the brothers to step away from Rayla, though is asked to explain the reasons for her behavior. Claudia elaborates that Viren had hidden the egg away so that elves and dragons would not use the egg as a weapon, much to the ridicule of Rayla, who reminds her that it is just an egg. Faced with a hard choice, Ezran chooses to believe Rayla so the egg could be returned to its mother, then escapes through a door together with the elf. In order to stop them, Claudia prepares to use her Primal Stone to take out Rayla, however, she is interrupted by Callum who grabs her arm and puts her wrist into a chained cuff. After apologizing to her, Callum grabs the Primal Stone and storms after the rest of the group. Thinking quickly, Claudia reacts to this development by taking a nearby Shadowlife Candle and sprinkling the ashes of Xadian wolves into its flame. Doing so allows her to summon a pair of Smoky Seekers, an afterimage of the wolves, which chase down the corridor to catch the group. When Rayla stays behind and tries to take them out with her blades, she quickly realizes that their vapor-like forms do not allow her to slash at them, forcing her to retreat. The group finds itself at a dead end, where Callum remembers that he carries the Primal Stone. He recalls a Sky magic spell Claudia used on him and eventually manages to cast "Aspiro", creating a whirlwind that blows away the Smoky Seekers. Rayla and Ezran perceive his actions as those of a mage, and although Callum initially refutes, he joyfully accepts his newfound role.
Viren meanwhile makes his way up the tower to Harrow's chambers, where Soren wonders what is inside the mysterious basket, joking if it is another, even bigger Archangel Lunaris. Believing that all swords will fail to protect the king, Viren reassures his son that he has found the only solution capable of protecting Harrow.
As Team Zym continues through the dark corridors, Rayla tries to convince Ezran to hand over the egg in order to show it to Runaan and prevent the assassination. However, as the princes do not trust her just yet, Ezran decides to accompany her to the roof instead.
Viren enters Harrow's room along with the basket that contains the two-headed Soulfang Serpent and approaches Harrow as a fellow friend, or even brother, in an attempt to persuade him to accept his new solution. However, Harrow misunderstands his wording as just another proof of Viren's arrogance, believing him to be excusing his actions with his high position and personal standing to the king. In blind anger, Harrow demands Viren to respectfully address him as his king, then orders him to bend his knee before him and accept his place as a servant of Katolis.
Eventually, Team Zym makes it to the rooftop where Rayla scouts the area for Runaan who is clearly angered by her disobedience once he shows himself. At first, Rayla attempts to call off the mission and explains the situation, though is met with refusal to believe the wretched humans by her mentor. Only when Callum and Ezran join Rayla's side and show the egg to Runaan, he hesitates to attack. However, Runaan finds himself unable to abort the mission due to himself and his group having bound themselves to take revenge for the death of the Dragon King Avizandum. As there seems to be no way to convince him further, Rayla orders the others to flee with the egg while she confronts Runaan in a duel, just as a full moon is finally set.
Still chained inside the secret room, Claudia looks for a spell that would help her undo her chain. She eventually manages to find the key while going through a bunch of magical ingredients and frees herself.
In a heated battle, Rayla tries her best to fend off Runaan, despite his belief that she should know better. After taking a heavy hit, Rayla makes the mistake of glancing at the tower, causing Runaan to realize that he has been stalled. He disengages from the fight and rushes to return to the mission, leaving his apprentice unable to stop him further.
When Callum and Ezran pass the courtyard, Callum decides to help his brother, Bait, and the egg to hide inside a hay cart while he will go check on Harrow. Ezran notes that Callum should try to call him "Dad", believing that he would like that. Once up inside the castle tower, Callum tries to push past Soren to get inside Harrow's chambers, though is interrupted when Viren exits the room. Callum uses the opportunity to confront the High Mage with the knowledge about the egg he had acquired, threatening to tell the king about it. However, Viren questions why he believes Harrow does not already know, then orders the guards to grab Callum, demanding to know where they are keeping the dragon egg. As Callum threatens to scream for his father, Viren takes preventive measures by casting a dark magic spell using the mummified paw of a Xadian Singing-Weasel that steals the boy's voice from his throat.
Meanwhile, Rayla sneaks past the guards patrolling the castle walls by evading their sight on the rooftops. Once she reaches the courtyard, she notices a blue glow from a nearby hay cart and discovers Ezran's and Bait's hiding spot. When she asks where Callum is, Ezran states that his brother had hurried to see their father in the castle tower, a place that Rayla fears should be the last one he should head to right now.
As Viren prepares to lash out at Callum further, he is interrupted as the candles of the tower blow out and the Moonshadow Elf Assassins seem to have finally arrived. The immensely powerful elves quickly breach the lower defenses and an all-out assault near the doors of the king's chambers breaks out. Viren gets caught in the middle of the fight and accidentally drops the weasel paw that then returns Callum's voice to him. Callum shouts to call out his stepfather but hears no response, referring to him as "Dad" for the first time. With no way to help, Callum tearfully decides to flee the battle to rejoin the others in the courtyard. Out there, Rayla offers to help Callum out if he wishes to return and save his father, however, Callum ultimately decides that returning the egg to the Dragon Queen should be their priority. The group flees the castle, leaving the protection of Harrow to his Crownguard.
After an intense battle, the heavily injured Runaan carries himself toward the balcony of Harrow's chambers, resting against the door where a fallen guard and elf are lying nearby. Runaan struggles for moment before heading outside, where he prepares his final arrow. While stepping out, his assassin's binding dyes red and falls off of his arm, turning into a blood ribbon. Runaan collapses onto his knees and wraps the ribbon around a Shadowhawk arrow, which he then fires while naming the Dragon Queen Zubeia as the recipient to inform her of their partial success and defeat. Just as Soren and the remaining knights prepare to execute him on the spot, Claudia intervenes and suggests to have Runaan captured in order to gather information from him.
At that point, Team Zym has reached the forest near Katolis, leaving the castle in the distance. Eventually, Rayla stops to look at her right wrist, noticing that her binding has turned into a blood ribbon as well, confirming that Harrow has been slain. In that moment, Runaan's Shadowhawk flies over her head, carrying his blood ribbon and the message to the Dragon Queen. When Callum asks why Rayla had paused, Rayla hides her right arm and reassures the brothers that she just intended to stop and rest, seeing as the journey to Xadia would be a long one, deciding to hide the truth about Harrow's demise for now.
Characters and Cast
Spells
| Sky Spells | Moon Spells |
Dark Magic
- Eciov eht laets (Steal the voice)
- Srekees ykoms niaga esir, nellaf fo hsa (Ash of fallen, rise again smoky seekers)
Trivia
- The scene of Callum being robbed of his voice is a direct reference to Disney's "The Little Mermaid", where the shots in the episode are made to resemble the same events inside the movie.
- There is a minor animation error of Callum's scarf lacking shadows when Rayla informs him that there will be other assassins arriving to kill Harrow.