Book 6 of ‘The Dragon Prince’ has landed on Netflix, throwing everything we thought we knew for a loop. This season broadens the already expansive world of ‘The Dragon Prince’; dives deep into the lore of Aaravos, Viren and others; and features enough plot twists to give you a heart attack. My jaw dropped at the start of episode one and stayed there through its 9 episode run.
This penultimate season is thrill after thrill, embracing a darker tone than ever before while also embarking full steam ahead towards the show’s conclusion next season. Most of the smaller stories rightfully (and satisfyingly!) come to a close, while the main story involving the infamous Aaravos is ripped open to make way for a final season for the ages. So strap onto your dragons, because Season 6 is a wild ride.
Major spoilers ahead!
Season 6 Scores Many Major Wins
The Tone
This season of ‘The Dragon Prince’ thrives by amplifying the darker tone introduced last season. Dangerous situations have higher stakes because there’s a real chance something terrible happens to a character. The threat is palpable. This tonal shift adds great tension and a serious aspect of unpredictability, creating a twisted, surprising season that subverts expectations.
The Twists
The season starts off with a huge plot twist—surprise, Viren isn’t dead!—and the twists just keep coming. One of the quasar diamonds is fake! And the other one has been in Viren’s staff this whole time! Sol Regem abandoned Karim! It’s surprise after surprise, without feeling forced, keeping you constantly teetering on the edge of your seat.
The Plot
Book 6 keeps a steady and fairly focused plot this time around, clearly building towards the season finale and eventual series finale. And it doesn’t waste time, immediately jumping into action in episode 1 and keeping a fast pace throughout. The action-packed season is also highly emotional as it ties up a lot of the ongoing stories. Characters still go on side-quests, but they’re all related to the overarching plot. It’s a refreshingly cohesive season that manages to introduce new elements while maintaining its core charm.
Rayla Finally Lets Go of the Past
After being burdened with the past for so long, Rayla finally gets the chance to move on by obtaining the quasar diamonds needed to release her parents and Runaan from the coins. Since one of them ends up being fake, she can’t revive them all. So in true young fiction fashion, she follows her heart to make her choice.
In a beautiful yet gut-wrenching sequence of scenes, Rayla travels into the void. She releases her parents’ souls, letting them move on together for good. Then she saves Runaan in an emotional (but awesome-looking!) fight scene that ends with them recognizing each other as family. It’s a gorgeous and satisfying moment that brings finality to Rayla’s quest to redeem her past and gives her a clear head going into the final season.
Viren’s Ultimate Redemption
Viren has walked the villainous path since the beginning of ‘The Dragon Prince,’ but in Book 6’s best plot twist, he turns his back on evil for good. And actually has a redemption arc! In a moment of reckoning through the mirror of Claudia (who has been nearly destroyed by the path he lead her down) he realizes that he was wrong and decides to repent.
His sad but hopeful plotline spans the whole season, adding layers to Viren that complicate him as a general character and specifically as a villain. The show explores his past, revealing that he turned to dark magic to save young Soren from dying. Meaning Viren’s evil was born out of a deep love and selflessness. It’s disturbing and heart-wrenching and totally alters the perception of him. He’s not a pure evil supervillain but a devoted father who wanted to do the right thing and got lost along the way.
Viren’s redemption arc comes to a devastating end in the penultimate (and my personal favorite) episode, “We All Fall Down.” This is where he gives his life to save Katolis from Sol Regem, finally making the sacrifice he was unwilling to make back in season 1. His final words, “I am a servant,” take him full circle as he reverts to the protector of Katolis he once was in King Harrow’s service. Viren dies a hero, completing a brilliant and satisfying redemption arc — he took his second chance at life and used it for good.
Romantic (Re)Unions
‘The Dragon Prince’s’ 2 longtime romances get their happy endings this season. Rayllum finally reunite after Rayla guides Callum away from his inner darkness. Cheesy? Definitely. But it’s on brand for them and makes for a worthy reunion. Now Rayllum can ride into battle against Aaravos as partners — maybe true love can stop Aaravos, too.
Meanwhile, Amaya and Queen Janai finally wed after cutting down every obstacle challenging their love. Their marriage marks a huge step towards human-elf peace, highlighting the positives of change and contradicting Karim’s hatred for humans and insistence on maintaining the old ways.
The Sunfire Elves’ Conflict Comes to a Fiery Close
Book 6 ends Karim’s chapter too as the tensions in the land of the Sunfire Elves boil over. Karim’s quest to take Lux Aurea from Janai goes up in flames after his recruited ally Sol Regem abandons him. His defeat marks the closure of another storyline while reinforcing the power of human-elf cooperation and change. Queen Janai’s (and Queen Amaya’s!) place on the throne is finally secure, giving her story the ending it deserves by quashing resistance to her quest for healing and a brighter future.
Aaravos is All About Revenge
The mystery of Aaravos ends in Season 6 by unveiling his past: he once had a beloved daughter, Leola. When Leola was killed for making a childish mistake, Aaravos decided to wreak havoc upon the world as revenge. This revelation is critical because, just like Viren, he has a real motivation built on love. His backstory humanizes him even as he becomes the ultimate supervillain of the series. It again shows that villainy is complicated. People aren’t pure evil and oftentimes start off with good intentions before their emotions consume them and take them down the wrong path.
Plots Combine, Dragon-Style
The Sunfire Elf Civil War plot had seemed completely irrelevant to the main story. But Book 6 ties it right into the main plot with Aaravos. Turns out, Karim’s ally Pharos is actually a puppet of Aaravos. Through Pharos, Aaravos manipulated Karim’s lust for power, getting Karim to heal Sol Regem’s wings. This allowed Aaravos to use Sol Regem as a weapon against the human lands in an effort to free himself. Which works.
The prison of Aaravos falls right into Claudia’s hands, and in her grief over losing Viren and her lost sense of self, sides with Aaravos. She releases him, directly setting into action whatever is to come next season. It’s exhilarating as you watch everything fall exactly into place, as if Aaravos planned every step.
The season finale opens the door to so many terrible possibilities for Team Zym (and the entire world) and vastly broadens the scale of the scenario. Human or elf, everyone is in danger. As awful as this is for the characters, it’s a great thing for the audience because anything could happen next season. The stakes have never been higher, and the stage has been set for a series finale worthy showdown because there’s so much to lose.
Where Season 6 Stumbles
Book 6 is a strong season that brings so much to the table, especially with its (huge) cast of unique, entertaining characters. However, because ‘The Dragon Prince’ has so many characters, it struggles under the sheer number of them. This leaves some, namely Ezran and Claudia, lacking much needed (and wanted) attention.
Ezran is barely in Book 6 and doesn’t have his own storyline, only briefly getting involved in others’ storylines, like Viren’s and the Sunfire Elves. There’s great potential for a storyline that shows how he rules as King, but instead he’s stuck on the bench.
Claudia too is fairly absent from season 6 despite being such a compelling character and key component in previous seasons. She’s allegedly on this journey to find herself and determine her future. However, she’s hardly seen until the end when she releases Aaravos. We need to see her struggles between being good and evil, and we just don’t.
Even Aaravos is lacking this season. Or, rather, this season lacks Aaravos. He’s the main overarching villain, but he’s not really around. In previous seasons, the threat of his existence is looming. It wasn’t always in your face, but he was always there, keeping a lingering fear over the show. This season, we barely see or hear from him. His classic dramatic irony is totally missing — we don’t get any of his plotting. He needed a few more scenes to show the viewers that he’s still a player in this game even if the characters don’t think so.
Conclusion
‘The Dragon Prince’ Book 6 pretty successfully juggles multiple storylines while maintaining an overwhelming amount of excitement and sense of adventure. It also prepares for the final season, setting up Aaravos as the primary villain while still keeping plenty of mystery to entice people back. Has Claudia turned to the dark side for good? What exactly does Aaravos intend to do with his freedom? How will this all end? The only thing we know for sure is that we’re getting a final season, and if it’s anything like this season, it’ll be a doozy.
8.5/10
