Six seasons in and The Dragon Prince The series remains one of Netflix’s most popular original animated series, with significant spikes in viewership with each new season. Season six is ​​no exception, topping the streaming charts for younger viewers and entering Netflix’s coveted Top Ten upon its launch last July, a position it has held for several weeks. In the new season, the ancient Startouch elf Aaravos prepares to reemerge in a new attempt to conquer the fantasy world of Xadia with Claudia’s dark magic, with the heroic Rayla and Callum reuniting with Rayla’s adoptive father Runaan before the climactic battle. Although initially renewed to last only seven seasons, The Dragon Prince Creators plan additional seasons if fan support continues to grow.

In an exclusive interview with CBR, The Dragon Prince Creators Aaron Ehasz and Justin Richmond unpack the major twists and turns of Season 6, explain the implications of the pivotal season finale and tease future plans for the hit fantasy cartoon as the battle for Xadia intensifies.

CBR: The first three seasons of The Dragon Prince Seasons 4-6 were about Viren’s corruption and redemption, culminating in his sacrifice to save Katolis. Jason Simpson does a great job this season, especially with the character.

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Aaron Ehasz:
We’ve said it before, but it bears repeating again and again. Jason is such a phenomenal actor and performer as an actor that, very early on, Justin and I adjusted our perspective on Viren to say, “This guy can do anything and has an incredible range. How can we push him and stretch the character to show as much of Jason’s abilities as possible?”

Early on, Jason will remember that we would text him what was going to happen and what was happening. He would respond and there would be back and forth. We knew Viren wasn’t going to be a two-dimensional villain, but we knew he was going to be an incredible character forever, with Jason as the person who would bring him to life. We felt like this was an opportunity and something we had to do.

Viren’s confession episode in season 6 is heartbreaking because it’s too late to reconcile with his son Soren, but he can at least explain his behavior in a letter.

Ehasz:
We realized something – you called it “redemption” earlier – very early on, we thought there was no redemption here.
This guy can’t be redeemed, he’s done too much harm to have redemption and come out the other side.
Ezrin is an example of that: “You don’t deserve pity.” That’s Ezrin, who’s kind, but he’s also very wise, and he’s right – he doesn’t deserve pity. We also knew that when we were working on the episode, when he and Soren finally talked, [writers] Devon Giehl and Ian Hendry did a remarkable job of bringing to life this dynamic in which Viren wasn’t necessarily looking for redemption. Viren knows that reparations aren’t possible and that it’s too late to heal.

What he’s thinking about is what’s the best he can do to give Soren something. He’s partly expressing his admiration and respect for Soren’s personal growth despite everything Viren has done. He’s also trying to at least give Soren something that Soren can have later. It was never going to be something that would heal him, we were never going to get there. But what Viren can give him in light of all the pain he’s caused is at least something. Is Viren trying to make up for it? Maybe!

I think Viren is trying to follow a different path and his coming back to life has brought all these swirling moments of what he did wrong, what he can do differently, the effect he had on the world and the effect he had on his children. He’s aware that there may be no redemption for himself, but maybe he can do something on the right path. We actually didn’t plan the confession episode, it was late in the arc.

You’re the first to know, but the original plan was for us to wrap up the arc in Season 6 and try to fit the third arc into what is now Season 7. When we decided not to do that, one of the episodes we added was the episode “Moment of Truth.”
There was room to go deeper, and we didn’t need to keep Viren’s story for a novel, but tell it in the main story.
It worked really well with this episode where Callum and Viren delve deep into their being. It was just an opportunity to explore.

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In the Season 6 finale, Rayla’s arc from before the series began is fulfilled as she finally lets go of her parents and reunites with Runaan.

Justin Richmond:
Well, it took a while. [laughs] I don’t think we could have kept the fans waiting, I think they would have just come and shot us. Callum and Rayla have been working out their stuff over the course of their multiple journeys through Xadia, with Callum realizing that she’s his center and his guiding star, and her realizing the same thing in a different way about him. I think we earned it, and it’s a really good episode in the way it paid off, and I think the fans loved it, which is great.

As far as Runaan and her parents, we knew we had these three quasar diamonds and what was going to happen. What was fun was having her realize that they were all her parents. And not just her biological parents. Runaan is also her father. He raised her since she was little. You get to see the moment when her parents go to their next world, where she gets Runaan back, but also where she has to fight to get there and have her Luke Skywalker moment, where she says, “I know you’re still in there,” and pulls out someone who’s in terrible pain and brings him back. I think there’s going to be some interesting conversations in Season 7 when Runaan is back in the world.
We finally got the chance to have the space to tell these stories, which is really cool.
Being able to have four seasons allowed this space to happen.

Ehasz:
Lain and Tiadrin, along with Runaan and Ethari as Rayla’s parents, represent the forces at war between duty and love. Her biological parents abandoned her out of duty, and Runaan and Ethari raised her out of love. Think about how she left Callum; she chose duty over love. Now she’s choosing love over duty, and we’ll see that conflict play out in her again.

Karim and Sol Regem both suffer from an arrogance that costs them dearly at crucial moments of the season. How did you build on this mistake for their two defeats?

Richmond:
I think you’re right, they both have similar traits and end up in a similar situation. Sol Regem is driven by a huge sense of revenge for being wronged, having this ancient history and his sight ruined, that’s what drives him. It’s not entirely surprising that he betrays Karim and does what he wants to do given who he is. I think Karim is a little different in that he truly believes that this is the way forward for the Sun Fire Elves. He’s driven to try to lead his people not by a sense of revenge, but by the feeling that he truly believes that if he doesn’t win this fight, their history is going to be lost, that his people are being led down the wrong path by his sister. I think that’s what makes him really interesting.

At the SDCC screening, every time he appeared on screen, people booed Karim. [laughs]
But I think Karim is really fascinating despite that, because he thinks he’s doing the right thing.
He could have had a legitimate victory, but instead it turned to ashes in his mouth at the last minute. We’re not done with Karim, there’s still work to be done for him. I think he’s a very interesting character and Luc Roderique, who also plays Harrow, is also incredible in his portrayal, and it’s fun to be able to write for him again.

Ehasz:
I will add that I don’t think Sol Regem intentionally betrayed him. I suspect Sol Regem is disoriented and hasn’t flown in hundreds of years. I don’t think he knew he was burning Katolis at first, but I think he got caught up in it at some point. But when he got there, he was piloted, literally manipulated by his pilot who was controlled by Aaravos. Both suffer from a delusion that the old ways are better without understanding that through progress and change, there are things you can move forward that you loved in the past that are fundamental to the new world where things are evolving. They both suffer from the hubris of being stuck in the old world and the original model that was given to them, and I think that’s interesting.

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Callum and Rayla’s journey has obvious parallels to Claudia and Terry’s, with Raquel Belmonte being so raw and visceral in her performance as Claudia this season. Despite Terry’s input, Claudia ultimately frees Aarvaros at the end of the season.

Ehasz:
I want to thank Raquel, because she’s incredibly funny, very quick, and one of her qualities as a person is that she makes quick, insecure, self-deprecating jokes, and she’s very light, but, in the booth, when it comes to getting down to business as an actress and letting herself go, she lets herself be so vulnerable and it works. She goes so deep and so far, it’s beautiful, and it hurts to listen to those performances in a good way. Raquel really is so vulnerable and powerful. An example of that character, Claudia, with her range of being so funny and quirky and also being able to play this tragic arc so powerfully, is a testament to Raquel’s talent.

Richmond:
I also want to give a shout out to Raquel. We just spent a lot of time with her in San Diego, which was really nice and fun. Claudia is in a similar pattern to her father and a lot of dark wizards, which is a slippery slope of using something evil to try to do something good. It just gets worse for her. There’s a pathos that I find interesting, with her mother gone and not really understanding what it took for Soren to stay alive. She’s doing her best to do what she thinks is right and now she’s adrift. She’s lost her father, she’s basically disowned her brother because she’s doing the wrong thing.

Her only guide is Terry. He’s relatively new in her life, she loves him with all her heart, and he’s an outside wisdom, but she’s driven in a very specific way. Now she’s let out the guy who’s the master manipulator, and she’s very vulnerable and in this state where she’s more likely to get trapped by Aaravos.

Next season is going to be very interesting.
What is left of good in Claudia, what decisions will she make now that she has let this ancient evil out, what will happen to her and how will she come to terms with what is happening in the world are all very interesting questions. Raquel has torn it up. She is incredible!

Ehasz:
Just to complicate your answer, why is she cheated on? She is vulnerable and she misses her father who loved her, cared for her, and protected her, and is gone. Aaravos, all those centuries, lost this quirky, funny girl with so much potential. They found each other! It is a tragedy, but they complement each other in a way that is beautiful and is going to be tragic.

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Once Claudia’s hair turns completely white from dark magic, is she completely lost?

Richmond:
Even then, Viren could be seen in all his dark magic form, he was hideous and seemed to have lost all his humanity, but there was still something there. You can still make the choice, no matter how low you have fallen.

How did this trip go on the eve of the seventh season, and what can you tell us? The Dragon Prince Season 7?

Ehasz:
I saw someone online saying, “I was 15 when Callum and Rayla first kissed!” and now that person is in their 20s. People are growing up with this show and I love that. I wish there wasn’t as much of a gap between Season 3 and Season 4. God willing, if we get the opportunity to build the third arc, I hope it won’t be as big a gap either.
The great thing about a saga is that it’s a story that takes place over time.
Characters evolve and change, some die and new characters appear; that’s what a saga is all about. To have the chance to tell this saga over the years and to have such dedicated fans who are part of this journey with us is wonderful.

Richmond:
It’s crazy to go through a global pandemic and everything that’s happened since we started making the show. I feel really fortunate that all the fans showed up in huge numbers for Season 3 and allowed us to have more seasons, and they’ve shown up again in the last two seasons, especially this season. We were No. 1 for kids and family for five days straight and
Cocomelon
claimed his rightful place on the throne.

Ehasz:
We were in the Top 10 for adults. A whole season of
The Dragon Prince
costs less than half of an episode of
The Decameron
.

Richmond:
It’s a short series, which is even more incredible. We only have 22-minute episodes and some other shows have hour-long episodes. It’s incredible that our fans have come, and it’s been an incredible journey with them to create the show. I can’t wait for them to see what happens in Season 7.

Ehasz:
Yes, there will be some major action with the dragons.

Created by Aaron Ehasz and Justin Richmond, the first six seasons of The Dragon Prince are available to stream on Netflix. A seventh season is currently in production.

The Dragon Prince

The Dragon Prince is an animated fantasy series created by Netflix and created by the creators of Avatar: The Last Airbender. It follows two human princes, a young dragon prince and an elven assassin, as they embark on an epic quest to end the endless war between their worlds and bring peace to the magical continent of Xadia.

Release date

September 14, 2018

Casting

Paula Burrows, Jack De Sena, Sasha Rojen, Racquel Belmonte

Seasons

5