i know it's for babies, but i need it

Was originally going to do a screencaps post but then it was getting a little unwieldy so here’s a short meta post about Callum’s story to Ezran in 7x09, specifically how it pertains to Callum’s broader character arc in arc 2 and the show’s narrative as a whole.

So we start out with an easily accessible, likely drawn from life sibling scenario. (I too, for example, had a beloved toy accidentally adjacently broken by a sibling.) This also ties us into 4 important things, however:

1. The game and toy motif, primarily present surrounding Aaravos and the key, as well as other objects of note this season (i.e. Ezran holding onto the elf toy from 1x04 at his angriest in 7x03 and 7x09).
2. Reaffirmation of Callum’s tendency to get fixated on / emotionally attached to objects (old meta on it here).
3. In the scenario, while we don’t whether Ezran was ‘at fault’ (he was a Baby lmao) the harm caused was. This parallels Rayla’s absence and return in S4, as Callum states, “And she messed [things] up” with himself being the party not at fault (“I was so mad” in 4x05 & 7x09)
4. The concept / theme, to varying literal degrees, of something being broken, whether in people, relationships, or the continent itself (bigger meta on that here):

This is reaffirmed further in what Aanya says to Ezran on the bridge in 7x03:

I know it hurts right now, Ezran. But you need to know that you and Callum are not broken. The both of you will heal one day. You’re brothers. It’s okay to be angry, and it’s okay to be sad.

However, the toy isn’t really a metaphor for their relationship. Callum doesn’t say that it was mended, or if it even could be. He moves on instead to what their mother told him, which likewise echoes what Aanya says:

Again, there’s a reaffirmation of needing to feel, and letting yourself feel, the bad emotions. Anger is not inherently bad and sometimes we need to be angry, even or especially at our siblings. Like Aanya, Callum, and Sarai say, it’s okay to be angry and to be sad. But — as we see Karim and Janai are unable to come back from (“all you do is look at me with contempt!”) — you can’t let the feelings stick. You have to let them go.

Harrow’s heart burned with anger (3x06); Ezran has fire in his eyes as he hears Runaan out; and Aaravos wants to set the world on fire. But anger cannot — or should not — last forever… because what is left for you afterwards?

The other implicit message is Callum and Sarai knowing, and now communicating to Ezran, that however much he loved that toy “more than anything in the world,” it ultimately meant nothing in comparison to his brother.

CALLUM: You’re my brother, and you mean everything to me. (2x06)

CALLUM: I’m sorry, Ezran. I can’t be your High Mage anymore… but I’ll always be your brother. (7x02)

This is also, in many ways, how Callum frames his relationship with Rayla once he learns to forgive her as well. He knows that he needs her (implicitly) and that they’re a team; he reaffirms “it was always her” much the same way he knows he will “always be [Ezran’s] brother”. His bonds of love are strong and can weather any storm; he still wants them in his life, and will always want them and need them.

This raises an interesting concept to Aaravos, who is deeply hurt and angry at his family (the other First Elves), referring to himself as “their dark brother” (TDP shorts, Patience). He wants them to suffer, and he wants them to hurt… but is there any other way forward? Is there any hope of forgiveness, or reconciliation? He clearly believes that they can never change unless through force… but what if they could? What if they could be brothers again, the same way that Callum (“there is great affinity between your brother and I […] he understands the need for compromise”) and Ezran are?

It’d also tie into Claudia and Soren’s sibling dynamic, as their mother counselled a similar message to Sarai: “that my brother and I needed each other.”

If Callum and Ezran coming together can represent the continent, and Aaravos + the Cosmic Council, and Soren and Claudia one day coming back together, too.

eked out 2k of “wasteland baby” just in time for broyals feelings, i’m afraid:

The cracks made Aaravos’ skin turn white and flaky, like ice, spreading till his form ruptured entirely, light pouring out of his mouth like water from a flask. More followed from his eyes, Zym whining and soon crying pitifully in ways that Callum had never heard before; Ezran wrapped his arms snugly around Zym’s thick neck, holding him steady.

It filled Callum with a strange sense of peace, even if he and Ezran hadn’t yet made amends, and maybe never would. Ezran would understand everything, if he didn’t already. He and Ezran needed each other, yes, but… Ezran had Zym, and Callum had Rayla, and they all had each other. That was where he and Ezran belonged, and if Ezran knew that, then he knew why Callum had done what he’d done, too.

3x03 / 7x09

There’s something about how Avizandum, who killed Sarai, was taken down by Harrow (a king driven by loss) and Viren (a mage driven by wanting to protect / clean up the mess he felt responsible for) and then Avizandum killing Aaravos in defense of Zym in 7x09 spares Ezran (a king driven by loss) and Callum (a mage driven by wanting to protect / clean up the mess he felt responsible for) – who most importantly are Harrow and Sarai’s sons. Yeah

Soren being excited to correct Opeli my beloved

It was driving me crazy all night, but I finally figured it out. / So we spent all day working on this.

6x05 / 7x09

3x01 / 4x04 / 7x09