I have been a huge fan of the first three seasons of The Dragon Prince on Netflix. For me, it’s one of those animated shows that tells an amazing story and manages to have a big diverse world without it stealing the focus from the story. After too long between seasons, COVID of course, we finally got season 4, and things have changed some. But is it for the better for their world and the show?

The Dragon Prince – Plot Overview

Warning, if you haven’t watched the show at all, spoilers ahead for the whole series.

Season 1-3 Recap

Let’s recap everything to get to where we are. Rayla and the moon elves come to assassinate the King after he and Viren took down the dragon king and destroyed the Dragon Prince’s egg. However, that egg is found in the castle. And one of the moon elves, Rayla joins with Callum and Ezran to go on the run with the Dragon Prince’s egg to try and get him back to his mother. Things don’t always go smoothly but they work their way over there through the first three seasons.

Viren, meanwhile, is making a play for the throne which Ezran struggles to know what to do with. And he attempts to track down the boys and Rayla to get the egg back. Even sending his own children after them to get the egg and let a mysterious accident happen to them. But that doesn’t work and it culminates with Viren leading troops into Xadia, the elven lands, to get the egg back, all with a mysterious little voice Aaravos whispering in his ear, helping him along the way.

Season 4

We jump forward two years. Ezran has taken the thrown, Viren is back, after being thought to be dead, and now the threat is new. No longer are they trying to get the Dragon Prince, Zym, back to his mother, but now the threat is the return of Aaravos.

Season 4 brings the characters back together after having been apart. As well as gives us more of the history of Xadia and the lands and what Aaravos had done prior to being put into his prison. And without saying much more, that’s the basics of the story to avoid spoilers.

What Doesn’t Work?

The time jump makes sense, to some extent, and there is a story reason for it. But it also adds in some complications for everything. When you do a time jump you need to explain where characters have been and what they’ve been up to. I think it works for some of the characters pretty well, Claudia for example, but not for others as much, Rayla. However, you need Rayla’s story for some of the tension and development of everything.

And I think that a show like The Dragon Prince, with the actual time gap between seasons suffers a little bit. As the characters age up, you kind of expect the show to mature a little bit. And The Dragon Prince has never kept from dealing with tough topics. But some of the characters or situations are basically done for humor in ways where it cuts into heavier or more meaningful moments. Now, it is a kids show, so that is the reason, never let it to get too heavy in any moment, but it could have been handled better.

What Works?

I think the overall story is the right way to go. Aaravos needs to be the next big bad guy. There is not the pressure of getting Zym to his mother anymore. So some new bad guy needs to exist. And Viren could work for that, but it’d feel a lot like a retread. I believe it was smart for them to look to a new main villain.

Viren’s arc for this season I think worked really well. It was almost a passing of a torch early in the season and he returns to his power at the end. No details for you on how that works though as it is a spoiler. But his arc makes a lot of sense and I like that they given characters who are villains depth and arcs for what they are doing.

And finally, I really like the handling of the elf and human dynamic. It is two years later, but things aren’t perfect. In fact, a lot of times, things still struggle. And that is one thing that the Dragon Prince always does well. It tells a story where there are comparisons to the real world. But it shows light on things that are hard to see in real life. Mainly that real change, coming together, it takes time, it takes work, there are going to be differing opinions. But if it truly does matter, then the fight to make those changes happen does matter as well.

Final Thoughts on The Dragon Prince Season 4

Is this my favorite season, I don’t know that it is. There are elements that are great, though. And without getting into spoilers, it is hard to talk about them completely But there are elements that aren’t as fun. And some of that is the time jump and the need to explain it away. I wish they hadn’t done it in some way. But at the same time, it is needed.

One of my likes, how it handles the struggles of the elf and human dynamic is really good. And that is not as strong without that time jump. However, another element, that with Rayla, it feels like it’s tacked onto there for no amazing reason. They needed to explain it, they want more drama. But this show is better when it allows some things to work out just because they do. Overall, still a great show and still a really fun season.

Is this going to be a season that brings in new viewers or makes it worth pushing through? No, I don’t think it is. But if you like the show, it is reason to keep watching. Do you like like The Dragon Prince?

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