♪ Pa-pum ♪
[grunts]
[pants]
[Callum narrating]
[thunder rumbling]
King Ezran… my king.
[Viren] I did not expect you to forgive me.
[exhales sadly]
If you do not accept my words now, Soren…
I want you to have them…
in the future.
I did dark magic again.
It makes you vulnerable to the thing you're most afraid of.
[Callum] Aaravos.
[Aaravos]The human mage, already tainted by darkness
and destined to play right into my hands.
[theme music playing]
[intriguing music playing]
[exhales peacefully]
[yawning]
Hey. Did you sleep at all?
Uh, about an hour. Then I woke up feeling anxious.
Would you like to put on the Corona of the Heavens?
I find that nothing cheers a person up quite like a hat
made out of the rarest gemstones in Xadia.
[scoffs] That's easy for you to say.
Your heart's not full of darkness.
Neither is yours. You're a good person, Callum.
-Maybe the goodest. -We failed to destroy the Pearl, Rayla.
We took it all the way across the world… [sighs]
…for nothing.
Actually, you're right about one thing.
We did take it all the way across the world.
[Callum] We came here to destroy the Pearl
and end the threat of the evil being inside it.
But we learned that even if we could do that,
Aaravos would be able to come back in a few years,
the next time his stars align.
But we did take the Pearl on a long, perilous journey, across the Frozen Sea,
to the edge of the world and a tower that reaches beyond the clouds.
What if… you kept the Pearl here?
[enchanting music plays]
The truth is…
The truth is this Pearl does not contain the prison of Aaravos.
This orb…
is a giant piece of candy.
What? No.
No, that can't be!
I, I, I… I took the candy decoy
and I switched it with the real Pearl!
I'm… I'm sure I took the real Pearl!
[exhales sharply]
I messed up.
Callum, this isn't on you.
The only explanation is you were somehow controlled by Aaravos.
You think that makes me feel better?
That makes me feel worse.
[Viren] Dear Soren.
These words are my confession.
The confession of a dark mage.
The confession of a failed father.
I loved your mother Lissa very much.
She was smarter than anyone I had ever met.
And somehow she chose me to be her partner in life.
Oh, I felt so lucky.
-Our family grew. -[kids laughing]
You and your sister Claudia were born.
Oh, the both of you brought us so much joy.
But, Soren, you… were a sick child.
-You struggled to breathe. -[young Soren coughing]
You would cough, and wheeze,
and your mother and I felt so helpless.
We saw doctors and herbalists and we tried unusual cures
that promised miracles…
[Viren sighs]
But nothing worked.
I would stay up with you for hours,
gently squeeze your tiny hand,
hoping somehow to transfer a little more strength to you…
my little boy, gasping to live.
We feared we would lose you.
And I became… desperate.
I found a creative solution.
[stammers] I suppose I should call it what it is, dark magic.
But to do the spell,
I needed something that belonged to my mentor, Kpp'Ar.
I needed his staff.
[Viren] Thank you for coming, Kpp'Ar.
Who am I to refuse an invitation from the high mage of Katolis?
[chuckles]
How are you enjoying your new position?
I am humbled by the responsibility.
King Atticus is measured, and wise.
I am grateful to serve him.
I wish to speak with you about the Staff of Ziard.
What about it?
I know that you have given up the use of magic.
But the staff, it was passed to you by the previous high mage,
who received it from the high mage before her.
It is not an entitlement of the office, Viren.
Just speak plainly.
[sighs]
Its, uh… [clears throat]
It's Soren. He is sick and…
[sighs] …dying.
[stutters] We have tried everything.
But I have found a spell.
Enough.
I have told you that staff must never be used again.
Please, I am begging you!
My son's life hangs in the balance.
All I need is the staff. I can save him!
[sighs] I am not unmoved.
But my answer is no.
A child will die.
Yes.
[Viren sobbing]
[door creaks]
-We think we can help. -Callum.
The darkness I saw when I looked at you, it was a darkness inside you.
Right. I got that.
Mess things up, and I'm also messed up on the inside.
Thank you.
Um, I'm not sure this is helping.
They're connected.
Using dark magic creates a hole inside your spirit, a corrupted emptiness.
-That's how the Fallen Star controls you. -But you can fix it.
There is a way to fill the darkness inside you with light again.
[Kosmo] It is dangerous, and it will require all your courage and strength.
No.
Callum?
-Maybe we should listen. -[Callum] No.
That's just the thing, I don't have any courage or strength left.
Can't do it. I'm sorry.
-[Astrid] This is on you! -[Kosmo] What? How's that?
You might be enlightened now, but you're still my dumb brother.
The human was already fragile, and then you told him he messed up with the Pearl.
It broke his spirit.
I saw the truth and I told the truth. How can that be wrong?
Truth is everything.
But before you give it to another,
ask yourself, are you giving them clarity, light, and purpose?
Or are you shifting a burden to someone who needs all their strength?
Yes.
Yes, I see now.
[tense music building]
[pensive music playing]
The truth is…
What? What is it? What's the truth?
The truth is complicated.
What is not complicated is that you have brought the Pearl here.
And we will keep it safe.
[sighs]
Using dark magic creates a hole inside your spirit, a corrupted emptiness.
That's how the fallen star controls you.
But you can fix it.
There is a way to fill the darkness inside you with light again.
It is dangerous, and it will require all your courage and strength.
[heroic music playing]
Yes.
Yes, I can do this.
[Viren] As I wrestled with my dilemma,
I encountered a friend who was struggling with his own.
Prince Harrow. May I join you?
-Love troubles? -Mmm.
That obvious?
I'm sorry, I thought things were going well with Sarai.
Yes.
[chuckles] Yes, they are.
I am in love with her.
It's only been a year since her husband passed.
And she is so devoted to being a great mother for her toddler.
-Uh, Caleb. -Callum.
[chuckles]
Oh, he's adorable, and so smart and funny.
I want to marry her, Viren. But I'm afraid it's too soon.
I would only complicate her life.
Life is complicated.
But if it's love, then nothing else matters.
Do what you must.
-That's good advice, Viren. -Yes.
Perhaps it is.
[Kosmo] Dark magic left a hole inside you,
but the star-truth ritual can fill the darkness with light.
But beware… if you ever use dark magic again,
the darkness and corruption will overwhelm you.
I understand.
First, you will drink venom from a Starweaver spider.
It won't hurt you,
but it will make your spirit sensitive to starlight.
Then, you fly up to the heavens,
because the closer you get to the stars, the stronger the magic is.
You must search your mind and heart
for your one deep truth, the star within you.
Then you must let that truth shine and fill the darkness.
-One deep truth, huh? -[sneezes]
[Kosmo] Your deepest truth.
[wind whooshing]
Good news and bad news.
The bad news is that I had some trouble milking the venom from the Starweaver.
And how about that good news you mentioned?
The good news is, I think I put her in a pretty sour mood,
and she'll probably give you her venom the old-fashioned way…
biting you.
[unsettling music plays]
[lightning crashes]
[Viren] It was literally a dark and stormy night
when I went to confront Kpp'Ar at his unique home, the Puzzle House.
[creaking nearby]
Hello? Who's there?
I have come for the staff.
-I already told you no. -Why?
Because you're too good for dark magic now?
You had a lifetime to play with your toys,
and now you decide to hide them all away or destroy them?
-It's selfish. -Turn around, Viren.
Leave now, and I will forget this ever happened.
And what if I don't leave?
Without magic…
how will you stop me?
[both grunting]
[coughing]
Without magic, you're just a frail old man.
You're a nobody.
I am the High Mage of Katolis.
I have purpose, power…
and I intend to use them both.
[dramatic music playing]
King Atticus trusts me.
A word from me is all it will take.
You will lose everything!
Oh, Kpp'Ar.
[thunder rumbling]
You shouldn't have threatened me.
[chanting]
[Viren] I turned on him.
My mentor, my… my teacher.
A man who believed in me when…
when I was nothing,
and invested years of his life helping me become…
what I became.
[metal clanking]
Come on, little guy. Just need a little bit of your venom.
Believe me, I'm not exactly happy about this either.
[gigglers] Oh, that tickles.
[chuckles]
How can I get her mad? Should I insult her?
How do you offend a star spider? Ezran would know what to…
Ow! Ow! Ah!
[gasps in pain]
You don't need to look out, you need to look inward.
Now fly. To the stars.
You must find the star within you,
the one deep truth so bright it can fill the darkness.
[exhales sharply]
[chanting]
Hmm.
How high do I need to go?
How do I find this light?
[panting] Find the one deep truth.
Find the one deep truth.
The star within me. But I don't see a star?
I only see… darkness.
[Viren] Now that I had the staff,
I had almost everything I needed to complete the spell
to restore your health.
I needed one more ingredient,
something that was not in short supply…
your mother's tears.
But when I went to see your mother, oh, she was horrified.
She saw my face and she trembled.
She said… "You've become a monster."
I tried to explain, that I had only done what was necessary.
I had confronted Kpp'Ar, and taken the staff.
I had procured the rare magical ingredient,
blood from a wind elk's antlers.
But I needed one more thing.
Something so simple and… and easy, her tears.
She was afraid. She shook her head… she said "no."
I pushed her against the wall,
and I held the back of her hair to keep her still.
I pressed the vial to her cheek, and watched it fill with her tears.
When I released her, she slid to the floor, sobbing.
And I knew she was right.
I had become a monster.
[dramatic music playing]
[exhales sharply]
[dreamy music plays]
[heroic music playing]
Oh, I think I see something.
Like a shining star.
Callum. You did it.
Yeah. I found my one truth.
[Rayla grunts happily]
[Viren] The spell worked, of course.
Instead of the sick, wheezing child you had been,
you became a strong, healthy, strapping boy.
But the cost was…
devastating.
Your mother left us.
Your sister was crushed.
Our family was shattered forever.
And this brings me to my most…
terrible confession.
After all this…
after all I had done,
I blamed you, Soren.
My child.
And I punished you with a lifetime of cold cruelty.
Daddy?
Daddy, are you okay?
Play with me, Daddy.
[Viren] Go away, son.
I have important work.
[door shuts]
I am so sorry.
[Kosmo] There's something I need to tell you, sister.
The Pearl which the Mage and the Warrior brought?
It is not the true prison of the Fallen Star.
What do you mean?
It's a fake. It's a giant candy.
They don't know.
Why didn't you tell them the truth?
The truth is everything.
[Kosmo] But before you give it to another, ask yourself…
Are you giving clarity, light, and purpose?
Or are you shifting a burden to someone who needs all their strength?
Well?
Well, what is it?
The guard told me that you had something to give me.
[sniffs]
[sniffs] No, I…
[Viren clears throat]
No.
[clears throat]
The guard was… mistaken.
[Rayla moaning softly]
Callum? What's wrong? You should be sleeping.
Uh, you ever think about moments in your life,
and wonder how things might be different
if you had just changed one thing?
[sighs] Of course.
Is there a specific moment you're thinking about?
Uh, yeah. Yes. Yeah. I'm…
I'm thinking a lot about the moment you came back
after not seeing you for two years.
[sighs] I kind of snuck up on you there.
Sorry about that.
When I-- When I… When I saw you standing there
I got flooded with so many feelings, I was so confused.
I know. I'm sorry.
No, no, no. No, no, no. That's not-- Don't be.
Um, what if we try that moment again?
Uh… okay.
[both chittering]
[both chuckle]
-You want me to… -Uh, yeah, yeah.
Um, uh, leave for a few seconds, and we will pretend it's two years.
Then come back in and say what you said when I first saw you.
Do you remember what you said?
[door opens, then shuts]
[exhales sharply]
Hey.
[dreamy music playing]
[both chitter joyfully]
[sighs]
I love you, Rayla.
[exhales sharply]
I love you too, Callum.
[theme music playing]