The Dragon Prince – Season 4 Episode 9 Recap, Review & Ending Explained

Escape From Umber Tor

What happened with Aaravos? Why was he imprisoned?

Two years have passed and the Startouch Elf is returning. Dragon Queen Luna mysteriously disappeared way back in the past, leading all the dragons to start fighting one another. As a result, the great leader of the Sunfire Elves, Queen Aditi, stepped up and brokered a peace. The Archdragons trusted her and decided to follow her.

Before peace could be confirmed, she went missing and unfortunately, the Kingdom of Xadia believed that she’d been killed, leading to anger, confusion and hostility between the races. However, they’ve all been deceived by the Startouch Elf, Aaravos. He’s been pulling the strings for 1000 years and causing all those conflicts. Each Archdragon had a piece of the puzzle over where the magical prison is that Aaravos is being kept in, but not all of them have the complete picture.

What is the purpose of the enchanted mirror?

The mirror that Callum has is a key part in all of this. Avizandum, one of the dragons, was given an enchanted looking glass to keep an eye on Aaravos and make sure he remains trapped. So how does it work? Well, it’s linked to an identical mirror within the magical prison. When no light reflects off its surface, it becomes clear as a window and you can see into the prison. The prophecy, “In darkness, gaze upon a Fallen Star,” now makes a lot more sense!

Soren tries to find Caudia but gets himself captured, while Claudia finds Rex after Callum and the others are told the location of the prison. Claudia’s spell puts everyone to sleep, as Claudia and Viren march into the dragon chamber to try and find the map.

How do our heroes stop Claudia?

Episode 9 of The Dragon Prince season 4 begins with the revelation that Zym is unaffected and manages to hide in the gold, while Soren is kept imprisoned in the roots. Claudia uses her Finding Spell, where she discovers that the map is being kept inside Rex’s mouth. On his tooth, to be precise!

Zym and Soren work together and manage to awaken Rayla. They watch from afar as Terry tries to take the map for themselves. However, Rayla jumps in with a knife to wake up Rex. His roaring awakens everyone else inside the chamber.

What happens with Claudia and Terry?

In the ensuing carnage, Terry and Claudia take off with the map, but they leave behind the Staff, allowing Viren to pick it up. Soren is no longer captured and scrambles to join the gang as they escape, while Rayla notices Viren is still alive and decides to head off in pursuit, determined to finish what she started.

Rayla blindsides Terry and holds him up at knifepoint, while Claudia arrives, attempting to bargain. She happens to hold 3 cursed coins, which hold the spirits of the dead trapped inside. And two of them happen to be her parents. With hope lost, Stella, the little Cuddlemonkey, uses her secret power to conjure forth a portal, just as Rayla jumps to grab the bag and misses.

It’s a trick though, and despite the bag appearing next to Rayla, it happens to hold three ordinary rocks. Now realizing where her parents are, Claudia and Terry leave. However, Terry laments the way Claudia tricked Rayla, having seen her break down in tears, and guilt-trips her into returning the coins all the same.

Who wins the Royal Blood Duel?

Meanwhile, Queen Janai is challenged to her Royal Blood Duel by Karim. Mirana is not happy, and we’ve seen her conflicted about this for a while. He believes she won’t fight and will call his bluff, and the Six Horns will turn on the Queen and allow him to ascend.

It’s a big gamble and Janai does no such thing and decides to fight, refusing to step aside. The pair duel, trading monstrous attacks. Eventually it leads to Karim bested and arrested, telling him that the past is behind them and she intends to make a beautiful future moving forward.

How does The Dragon Prince Season 4 end?

Back at the Storm Spire, Queen Zubeia shows up to confront Rex, driving him back inside the mountain and saving our heroes before it’s too late. Thankfully Rayla is still alive too, and she also has the coins in her possession as well.

The season does not end on a pleasant note though. Our bad guys all join together and with Viren now sporting the staff, he seems to be once again being controlled by Aaravos.

The Episode Review

Season 4 of The Dragon Prince comes to a close with an ominous sign of things to come in the future. We know that Aaravos is the key to all of this and with Viren now in control of the Staff once more, and with the map in their possession, it’s surely only a matter of time before the magical prison is opened and Aaravos is properly out and about once more.

Claudia’s arc this year has been pretty good and it’s nice to see her given a decent motivation in trying to save Viren. With the resurrection spell a success at the start of the season, seeing her leading the gang forward offers a nice change of pace.

Likewise, Ezran has really come into his own now as King and the speech he gave at the end of episode 3 about violence, and how that tied in with Claudia’s fight with the Skymage, was really nicely done and a definite highlight.

Likewise, hearing Zubeia discuss the past and how Aaravos has been the puppet master all this time, and then fading his face next to Claudia, is a subtle visual nod that she’s being driven by exactly what this monstrous foe wants.

Ultimately though, the ending leaves the door wide open for more and this one certainly looks like it’s going to pick up in a big way moving forward. Roll on the next season!