Smoke and Mirrors is the twelfth episode of The Dragon Prince and third chapter of the second book, "Sky".

Callum searches for a way to tell Ezran the sad news, and Rayla sets a trap for Claudia and Soren. Viren watches a mysterious figure in the mirror.

Plot[]

Ever since the mirror's awakening, Viren observes and waits for events to unfold on the other side of the mirror's reflection. But the night passes with Viren falling asleep. But during dawn, he spots activity at the library, where a mysterious elf mage enters and briefly inspects his books before leaving the room again. Viren can only wonder his identity since he is unable to make contact from the other side.

Rayla keeps apologizing to Callum of how she never told the truth about King Harrow before Claudia did, but Callum can only worry about how he can pass on the news for Ezran. Callum returns to their bedroom and finds a resting Ezran, but could not bear to tell Ezran the truth also and decides to sit beside him awake throughout the night. Meanwhile, a saddened Claudia returns to Soren, who quickly becomes worried for her, but Claudia reassures Soren she will turn out fine and will not mess up their mission, but she does not reveal that she told Callum about Harrow's death.

At dawn, Ezran wakes up, quickly telling his brother Callum about his bizarre dream. Afterward, Callum asks Ezran for a walk for an important discussion for Callum to finally reveal their father's death, but Ezran interprets what Callum is trying to say as reminding Ezran to take up the responsibility of teaching Zym to fly in the absence of his father Avizandum, the King of the Dragons. Callum goes along and reassures Ezran that he and the rest of the group will support him. But Ezran suddenly brings up his father, wishing to be with him again and that he would know what to do. Callum tries to suppress his tears and embraces Ezran, still not having the will to tell his father's death to his brother. Afterward, Callum approaches Rayla, forgiving her as he understands why it was so difficult for Rayla to tell the truth since he could not to his own brother also. Callum breaks in tears with Rayla hugging him as he grieves.

After Callum regains composure, Rayla tries to persuade Callum that they resume their journey without telling Soren and Claudia after Callum realizing that Soren lied about his father. But Callum still has faith in Claudia since she never lied but told the truth about King Harrow. Soren and Claudia then emerge, overhearing their plans to leave, which Callum confirms as their final decision. Still unaware that Callum knows, Soren lies again that King Harrow will be disappointed if they leave, but Claudia angrily scolds him to stop for being insensitive and so Soren leaves it to Claudia to dissuade the princes of leaving. Claudia invites Callum for a private audience in her room, where she gives Callum the letter from his father that he left in the castle, still sealed and unopened. Claudia insists he should open it but Callum believes that it is still not the right time. Callum gives thanks and Claudia bids goodbye to Callum by hugging him, seemingly accepting his decision to leave. Callum returns to his room to help pack up for their journey. Rayla is surprised that Claudia did not attempt to manipulate Callum to return to Katolis but is shocked to learn that Callum accepted Claudia's request that she and Soren should join them, seeing it as a trap. So Callum asks Rayla what their plan of action should be to figure out if Soren and Claudia are helping them or trapping them. Rayla heads out alone to the temple and disrespectfully interrupts Lujanne's peaceful meditation, asking for her assistance to find out if Soren and Claudia are not to be trusted.

Rayla and Lujanne meet up with Soren, Claudia, Ellis and Ava as they all prepare to depart from the Moon Nexus. Lujanne says her final goodbyes to all and returns the moonstone collar to Ava that reactivates the illusion of her restored front paw. Once Callum and Ezran arrive, Rayla signals to leave. While the original group stays ahead in their journey, Claudia and Soren stay behind revealing that Claudia had no choice but to accept Soren's forceful way of taking the princes back. Soren informs Claudia that the signal would be his attack on Rayla; He finally has an opportunity to do so once Rayla decides to separate and gather food for their trip. But even though Rayla expected his attack, Soren nonetheless forces her to seek higher ground in a tree. Claudia casts a spell that suddenly traps the unprotected princes before bagging Zym.

Viren finds the mysterious elf again returning to the library. The elf suddenly looks toward him and approaches the mirror. Thinking that the elf sees him, Viren attempts to make contact but realizes that the elf is just looking at his own reflection, deducing that the mirror is just ordinary. Throughout the night, Viren continues to observe the elf studying a book. Suddenly, the elf darkens the library by snuffing out all the fire, appearing to perform the same actions Viren did before the mirror finally glowed. The library's image disappears and, for a brief moment, Viren's reflection is only seen; until the elf's hand reaches out to touch his side of the mirror.

Claudia finally secures the princes and the Dragon Prince and emotionally apologizes to Callum for her betrayal, asking to say anything in anger against her. The princes remain frozen in their places, leading Claudia to realize in horror they have been set up. Overhearing this, Rayla signals Ellis, where she reveals their trickery by removing the moonstone Collar from Ava where Callum and Ezran disappear as illusions. The real Callum and Ezran emerge riding Lujanne's Moon Phoenix, Phoe-Phoe, and grabs Rayla to escape. Claudia casts a grasping spell that manages to gradually pull Phoe-Phoe back to the ground. But her spell gets wasted when a sudden chain is thrown by Corvus and pulls her arm away in an attempt to protect them, letting the princes and Rayla escape. However, Corvus gets knocked out by Soren. Ellis and Ava voice their goodbyes before returning to their village. Callum looks back at Claudia, disheartened that Rayla was right about her betraying them.

Corvus is tied up and gagged as Soren and Claudia deem him as a traitor despite his strong objections that they were attempting to kidnap the princes while he was ordered to protect them by General Amaya. Claudia believes their betrayal was all in vain, but Soren notices that the sack Claudia used to trap Zym is still moving. Soren rushes to unveil the Dragon Prince, only to find that it was also an illusion and filled with Moon Moths.

Ezran tells Zym it is okay to come out of hiding from his backpack, but Zym becomes frightened once he realizes he is high up in the sky. But Ezran reassures him that it is safe and lets him spread out his wings to feel the winds, in which Zym happily enjoys. Callum still looks on, upset of how events turned out but Rayla gestures him to cherish this moment with Ezran and Zym happily bonding, as Phoe-Phoe flies them throughout the night sky.

Characters and Cast[]

Spells[]

Trivia[]

• Ellis's goodbye call to her friends "Don't you forget about me. Don't, don't, don't, don't." is a reference to the lyrics of the iconic 80’s anthem "Don't You (Forget About Me)" by Simple Minds.

Credits[]

• The pink taffy hippo appears once again after "Bloodthirsty" and before "Heart of a Titan", this time mounted by Barius, who chases Ezran in a nightmare rather than a pleasant dream.
• The credit scene involving Bait and Zym sharing a plate of spaghetti is a reference to the dining scene between Lady and Tramp in Disney's Lady and the Tramp.

References[]

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