The Dragon Prince Season 2
Creators: Aaron Ehasz and Justin Richmond
Jack DeSena as Callum
Paula Burrows as Rayla
Sasha Rojen as Ezran
Racquel Belmonte as Claudia
Jesse Inocalla as Soren
Jason Simpson as Viren
In its second season, the animated effort by Ehasz and Richmond, as it title suggests, spreads its wings and prepares to take flight. The first nine episode season (of four seasons) acquainted the viewer with the main characters and the world they lived in. This world isn’t as original as the one found in Avatar, but had enough unique characteristics to avoid being dismissed as just another fantasy sword and sorcery stage set.
In season two, the personalities and basic humanity of the characters blossoms, and even as they face grim obstacles as they race for their lives, you find them as interesting as the predicament they are in. In the first season, Rayla, the elf assassin, underwent a metamorphosis that led to her becoming an ally to the fleeing king and his half-brother.
In this season, the human half-brothers undergo the most character development. Callum wants to be a magician, but because he is human, he has no connection with any of the six primal forces in the world. His only recourse, it seems, is the aptly named ‘dark magic’ which he abhors. Ezran, gifted with the ability to communicate with animals, outgrows his first season role of charismatic little seven-year-old brat, growing under the awful realization that he is the king.
Other interesting characters inhabit the four different storylines in the tale, including the baddie, Viren, who acquires a questionable ally in his efforts to spark war with the elvin lands, and a nasty skin problem.
Glancing around at critical reception on the web, I note that nearly all were positive, but most of them were howling, “My gaw! That elf! What’s that accent supposed to be?
Well, Rayla does sound like Benny Hill and Peter Capaldi got in a bar brawl and lost, that’s true. But Paula Burrows, the voice actor for Rayla, is in fact, Scottish, and unless I miss my guess, born not far from Hadrian’s Wall. That’s really how they say “you” there. She has tweaked her voice a bit, since she is trying to portray a non-human character on an alien world, and I find the result interesting and charming. Alien accents are hard. The closest to a convincing one I’ve heard was in Galaxy Quest, and it was…uneuphonic.
If Rayla’s accent is the biggest complaint the show has drawn, it’s in good shape.
As for the series, it’s showing good promise of becoming another animated childrens’ classic for Ehasz.
Now on Netflix.