TDP - 4x07 - Reaction (Full)
Added 2025-02-24 13:00:14 +0000 UTChttps://vimeo.com/1058734610?share=copy
Password: Complicated
Comments
On one hand understand your frustrations with Claudia, but on the other like, she was raised from birth to believe all of this. And even if the show hasn't done the best job at showing it Xadia does have its share of blame for making humans feel lesser. I mean we saw what went down with Sol Regem and the dark mage 1000 years ago. And a pretty common trope in fantasy is the animosity between humans and elves that this show has touched on a bit. As for Claudia loving an elf despite her feelings towards elves, that's actually sadly quite common. For both oppressors and oppressed, really, to feel like they've found "one of the good ones." Especially with the context of Terry feeling like an outcast with his own people, and the fact that the Earthblood elves seem to mostly be out of the way doing their own thing, separate from the Moonshadow and SUnfire elves, who have more interactions with humans.
Bailey
2025-02-27 03:19:26 +0000 UTCYeah okay I did NOT originally understand the metaphor Terry made in his reveal of being trans, I most likely thought as Elijah did, that he just meant people thought he was weak, but he knew he was strong, and I was like "yup that metaphor makes sense, moving on!" Would I have understood it if I had watched it for the first time today? Maybe... lmao
SauceyRed
2025-02-25 17:29:31 +0000 UTCAnd Trans lefts!
Ryan Porter
2025-02-25 14:46:48 +0000 UTCI loved Terry's reveal in this episode. I completely missed the trans-colored flower a few episodes back. I shoulda caught it as it was the only credits sketch that was colored. We support Trans rights! And (sigh) Trans wrongs...
Joey Quixote
2025-02-25 12:18:48 +0000 UTCClaudia is to Elijah what Catra was to Mosco. An Indiana Jones reference? In the Dragon Prince!? Yup. Terry is trans. I love the casual representation his presence brings, and with it, yet another flavor of wholesome masculinity. Young boys need positive role models, too.
Ryan Porter
2025-02-25 03:16:16 +0000 UTCFew things that really urk me about the show so far. 1, I hate that Callum's pain from Rayla leaving is kind of undermined by him being taken over by Aravos. That was a big deal, sure, but the show makes it seem like Callum's pain isn't valid enough and they nesded to have something else for his attitude to "make sense". Rayla never even apologized to him. She managed to tell Ezran how sorry she is, but not her boyfriend whom she left on his BIRTHDAY?! She expects everything to be fine and questions Callum's attitude, feeling all sorry for herself yet when Callum acts reasonably upset the show puts it aside as a joke to make space for a "bigger" and "more reasonable" concern (even Ezran himself says Callum being upset about Aravos taking control over him "made more sense" than him being upset over Rayla leaving - which is annoying to say the least). 2) The show is clearly trying to establish that Humans and Elves/Dragons are all at fault for their war, yet for some reason the show constantly steers into the wrong direction. Almost every time there is a conflict, it's somehow the humans' faults or the elves/dragons are depicted as the victims in the scenario (for example, the trial with the soul candle). I'm really tired of this generic "humans, bad" theme that stories have got going on because it doesn't make sense. Cruelty, greediness and the likes wouldn't be just a human trait if other intelligent creatures existed. These things come with intelligence. Just look at Dolphins, they're smart and have been shown to be cruel as well. So of smart elves and dragons did exist, they would be greedy and cruel as well. There would be powerhungry dragons and jealous driven elves. Yes, the show does point out a few of these characters (Sol Regem or Karim) but compared to the humans, these come across more as "bad apples". The humans always seem to be in the wrong. Even Elijah pointed it out when she said the humans probably weren't given magic because they're like toddlers. Yes, the show very much makes it seem that way and that's what really annoys me. The show should focus on punishing elven criminals just as harshly as it punishes human criminals
Bug Catcher Jacky
2025-02-24 19:41:31 +0000 UTCI was SO glad she didn't miss that. When I first saw the scene I immediately hit pause and went into an excessive google research xD
Bug Catcher Jacky
2025-02-24 19:22:59 +0000 UTCIf people vote for them it could just be a clear sign that they've had enough, and less so 100% support. At least I hear plenty people say they rather vote for the more hateful side if it meant stuff finally changed. I don't know, but people dating who they are openly against is a double standard you see ALL THE TIME in media, everywhere really. "It's wrong unless I do it"
Bug Catcher Jacky
2025-02-24 18:37:46 +0000 UTCAlso I believe that's what Claudia's deal with elves are. She's against the elven leadership and government that is xenophobic to humans. Against the elves that didn't accept Terri being trans. Against sol regem m who banished humans in the first place and was going to kill callum. And because Terri is no fan of the earth elf society I can see why the two are together. It's still weird and has some cognitive dissoance involved. We dint fully get a scene of the two saying that they understand it's the society norm that she disdains and not elves as a whole and that Terri also disdains it so again a point against writers there that it's very subtle. Also I know I post rants here a lot. I hope I'm not seen as one of the discouraging people. I do think your opinion is valid. I just think there's element to the show you don't respond to or pick up, which is more a writing issue i think as I said but I do think those are relevant to the topics.
Suplee215
2025-02-24 16:51:36 +0000 UTCThinking about Claudia’s relationship with Terry while also hating elves brings to mind similar real-life examples. Yesterday we had a general election in Germany where an extreme right-wing party got far too many votes; in fact they now are the second largest group in our federal parliament. This party is decidedly anti LGBTQ and anti foreigners, yet is led by a lesbian who is in a relationship with a Sri-Lankan-born woman. Yeah, nobody understands that. Another example would be the extremely racist and antisemitic author H.P. Lovecraft who was married to a jew.
Bernhard
2025-02-24 16:27:01 +0000 UTCI love this show but one issue it has is it doesn't highlight the trouble with the elven cultures we see enough. Most of our experience with that stuff is through outcasts or people who live alone. The 2 most screen time earth elves we get are Terry and the kid here. And they're 2 big dorks but the guy who soren fought earlier who was trying to get the kid to be a bully to dragons and stuff is the norm for earth elf culture. Likewise the elf who was ready to fight over the soul candle and the fact that the standard punishment for that crime is death and nothing happens to those who do it is more typical of a sunfire elf. Part of why Karim don't want humans there is they were banished to the other side of the mountain for a reason. Its more a writing issue that it isn't made clear that that belief is more common so makes sense it seems wrong to you.
Suplee215
2025-02-24 16:22:36 +0000 UTCI mean Sol Regem sees Humans as animals.
Cladriah
2025-02-24 15:31:23 +0000 UTCLayers upon layers... Its like an onion!
LikeCat
2025-02-24 14:51:56 +0000 UTCSo glad you didn't miss the implications with Terry's backstory. I've seen some reactors miss what that meant. Yes, he is trans, which is why the flowers he magically bloomed in the previous episode was coloured like the trans pride flag. Oh, and his voice actor is also trans.
Flufux
2025-02-24 14:38:33 +0000 UTCGiven how much you sweat in armor...those pajamas aren't going to be good to sleep in that night, so hopefully he has multiple pairs to change into before bed
David Johnson
2025-02-24 14:38:20 +0000 UTCFlashback to the pink, blue, and white flower Terry cast magic on back in the 1st or 2nd episode of the season
Andy
2025-02-24 14:37:57 +0000 UTCOh for SURE! I think we might be on the exact same page about how this goes back to the (REDACTED) part of their shared history
Rye-Ah
2025-02-24 14:30:09 +0000 UTC[MOD] Hey everyone! Remember to keep the comments free of any spoilers of future episodes for Elijah. Also, make sure we’re keeping the comments cool & comfortable for everyone here. Enjoy the reaction y’all!!!
Sam
2025-02-24 14:25:09 +0000 UTCIt might be a strech, but what if she does not just mean he would be that in that one instance?...
LikeCat
2025-02-24 14:24:43 +0000 UTCTerry and Claudia are certainly an interesting pair. I personally don’t have any feelings for or against them. The nuance presented in this episode specifically with Terry I think explains part of why they are together. His coming out statement to Viren implies that him being trans was not accepted in his Earthblood home. As we know from previous encounters the Earthblood communities are quite aggressive towards anything different from them. Terry probably felt suffocated in his home, but when he met Claudia he found someone who saw him for him (human culture is super chill about being who you are). It is possible that he accepts her, dark magic and all, just as she accepts him. Their relationship is quite interesting, and later seasons will show more of who they are to and with each other. I think we already talked about how Terry is described as an Iroh character, I’ll let yall take that how you want. I am super happy that you are enjoying the season! It gets a bad rap from the fandom that I find unfair. I think part of it was the 3 year wait we had from seasons 3 to 4. With seasons 5-7 now out, season 4 does an awesome job setting up future events and reintroducing the characters. Another note, love that you are seeing all the references. The Zym shoulder touch in this episode is a reference to Indiana Jones: The Last Crusade! 🤗
Ainsley Marks
2025-02-24 14:24:27 +0000 UTCS: "Maybe the world would be better off without magic" C: "Without dark magic, you would be /dead/. Without /dad's/ magic" It's funny how such a small interaction can be so devastating. Soren only considers the good of the world and claims that getting rid of magic would improve things even if it means he died. But Claudia only considers the good of her family and argues that magic is worth the consequence if it means that Soren/Viren survived
Rye-Ah
2025-02-24 14:17:13 +0000 UTCI also think there may be a bit of vague backstory to why Terry feels at home with Claudia in his backstory. He is an elf who was perhaps misunderstood by other elves based on what they saw him as. He met someone who also felt misunderstood by elves, and she met an elf who treated her with only kindness where none of the other elves would. I definitely don't endorse or ship the pair, because I do think Claudia does see Terry as "one of the good ones", which makes their relationship all the more gross. But they're both young & naive. They're an example of what Callum & Rayla might look like if they blindly dived into romance without working out the MANY messy emotions between them: A cute romance in the most insulated bubble on the planet. It WILL pop one day. That doesn't totally invalidate the good feelings they have together, but it is built on mutual codependence and self-deception.
{L} Frances
2025-02-24 14:03:15 +0000 UTCClaudia's actions and perceptions of Xadia are certainly extreme to say the least, and there's definitely an argument to be made about whether she could still be redeemed (fans are debating this even now). I'm personally on the fence, but the one thing I've tried to keep in mind about her is this: Claudia has been completely isolated from everything and everyone she's ever known - which is 100% something a master manipulator like Aaravos would exploit. She's spent almost every moment of the last two years with caterpillar!Aaravos draped around her shoulders, teaching her dark magic and whispering his version of history into her ear. Terry has definitely been a guiding light for Claudia, but you have to wonder if an innocent and sheltered guy like him can single-handedly dismantle everything Claudia's internalised
Rye-Ah
2025-02-24 13:56:51 +0000 UTC"What elf has said this to you? What dragon has said this to you?" - To be fair, we are seeing a very clear example of that kind of engrained bigotry & intolerance on the other side with Karim's arc. Sol Regem was willing to kill innocent humans to make a human mage abandon dark magic. It was a part of the lore that historically elves & dragons denied humans magic & didn't even try to bridge their cultures at all. It was a tension that was built on both sides. And yes, dark magic is very bad & immoral, but it did become an ingrained part of human society, and even in our own society, we have ingrained systems that benefit off the destruction of wildlife & nature. They're not good, and many of us know that, but because they're so ingrained in the culture, many people don't bat an eye at it. This isn't arguing in Claudia's favor, obviously she's still actively deluding herself. But there is a cultural precedent for her feelings.
{L} Frances
2025-02-24 13:51:11 +0000 UTCHere's my take on Claudia's elf hate. She hates MOST of them, but a select few she considers 'good elves', notably Aaravos and Terry. It's very clearly hypocritical, but she's so deep into this that she doesn't see it as that. Aaravos is claiming to have given humans dark magic so he's an elf on her side and Terry seems fascinated by her dark magic, so he's also on her side. It's a lovely bit of cognitive dissonance that, sadly, most bigots and racists have. This race is horrible but these few are except from my hatred because of reason XYZ
Moonlight Mariposa
2025-02-24 13:42:57 +0000 UTC
