The Dragon Prince Netflix review: It’s not Avatar, but it’s not bad

Photo Credit: Netflix

Callum

In yet another callback to Avatar, Callum is voiced by the same actor who voiced Sokka. It’s is a bit unfortunate, especially since Callum is inherently similar to Sokka.

When we meet Callum, he has yet to find his calling and thus feels insecure about himself and his abilities. He’s also protective of his younger sibling. However, unlike Sokka, Callum doesn’t get the chance to evolve and grow. He kind of just rapidly changes.

Callum sees his crush Claudia (Racquel Belmonte), who is a mage like her father Viren, do a spell once. Later, as he tries to fight off another one of Claudia’s spells that were meant to kill Rayla, Callum does the first spell — and he does it perfectly. He’s a natural, apparently, which is pretty boring.

In the entire season, Callum has one minor issue performing a different spell. Granted, by the end of the season, he can still only do those two spells, so he still has a lot to learn. (See what I did there?)

But to make another comparison, Katara (Mae Whitman) building her confidence and teaching herself water bending over the course of Avatar’s first season was much more interesting and compelling.

Rayla

Rayla has the best character arc of the season. She’s desperate to prove herself and defend her people because her parents abandoned their mission to protect the dragon prince at the border. Seeking to erase that shame and adept at fighting, she has all the makings of an assassin, except in one critical aspect. She can’t bring herself to kill people.

Over the course of the season, she manages to find a new family in Callum and Ezran, who come to trust her. Although she is still guarding one terrible secret she can’t bring herself to tell, which will definitely threaten to tear the trio apart in a potential second season: Despite her efforts, the elves’ mission succeeded. King Harrow is dead.

Side notes: Rayla has some of the best lines of any of the characters, which Burrows delivers quite well. Rayla also has a Scottish accent because apparently, Moonshadow Elves have Scottish accents, except for Runaan who inexplicably has a British accent. And Rayla runs Naruto-style.

Ezran

Ezran is probably the most like Aang (Zach Tyler Eisen) of any character, bringing the wonder and optimism of youth to the group. While his age isn’t unspecified, he seems to be 8-10. Ezran is also able to see the best in people, so he bonds with Rayla and helps her overcome her shame at being “an assassin who’s never killed anyone.” (She views herself as a failure.)

Ezran is also the animal guy. He has a “glow toad” named Bait, who can shine brightly and momentarily blind people or other animals. I’m definitely biased, but Bait was not as fun as Appa or Momo.

Ezran is fun, though, and not just a sidekick to his older companions. He comes in a clutch, literally, during a fateful moment on a frozen lake and later during a spider attack.