The Dragon Prince Season 5 Review: High Seas Adventures Make For A Fun Season

"The Dragon Prince" has quickly grown into a clear spiritual successor to "Avatar: The Last Airbender," an animated show with a vast and complex world and mythology, as well as an epic scope that helped it become one of the best fantasy stories on TV, including live-action.

After the first three seasons told a complete chapter in the saga, ending with the start of a new era in the fantasy world of the show, season 4 jumped forward in time and kickstarted a new chapter. Dubbed the Mystery of Aaravos arc, most of that season was spent on table setting for the new status quo, the changed dynamics between elves and humans, and building up the show's primordial villain — the Archmage and Startouch Elf Aaravos. 

Season 5 picks up shortly after the events of the previous season, with team Zym desperately trying to catch up to Claudia and Terry in trying to discover the location of Aaravos' magical prison to resurrect Viren. With the table setting out of the way, season 5 finally gets the ground going, moving the story along with a thrilling race against the clock to stop Aaravos from escaping, as the team splits up to learn more about their enemy. Though more focused on the plot, this season still finds time to expand the world of Xadia with new locations, including a maritime adventure on the high seas that brings new energy to the show. 

From the get-go, it is clear creators Aaron Ehasz and Justin Richmond are interested in growing and maturing "The Dragon Prince" as it gets closer to the end of its seven seasons order. The goofy humor that featured heavily in the first few seasons is downplayed significantly, and whenever we do get some juvenile humor, it genuinely feels impactful because even the characters recognize how dire their situation is and how fleeting moments of joy are. 

This is evident in Callum's storyline, as his experience using dark magic in season two continues to weigh heavily on him as he grows more powerful. As the story gets more urgent and the stakes get even higher, the temptation to use dark magic also becomes stronger in Callum, with "The Dragon Prince" exploring how alluring that darkness is in its quick effect, but also how big a cost it has. 

Meanwhile, Ezran continues to be the smartest guy in the room despite his young age, and seeing him not only outsmart his opponents but also talk with more emotional intelligence is a highlight of "The Dragon Prince." It is also through Ezran that we get the best part of the season: the pirate adventure.

That's right, Book Five: Ocean is not just a good title for the season, it is the setting for a big chunk of it, as we visit a pirate town full of cool new creatures and a new kind of elf that looks straight out of "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest." The cartoon compensates for a lack of grand-scale fights with a high-seas adventure complete with sea chanties, and an exhilarating naval battle.

Unfortunately, the diverging storylines mean not every plot will get equal attention. In this season, it is the Sunfire Elves story, which is given high stakes and a feeling of importance, but not the amount of time required to make it resonate. Janai and Amaya's relationship continues to be a highlight of the show, but it is not enough to support such a large story of betrayal and state management while the Aaravos story is vastly more pressing and engaging.

Likewise, Claudia's story of doing increasingly more horrible things to save her father, which was interesting in the earlier seasons, becomes a bore this time around. The character's motivations and any attempt at making her sympathetic were already explored in season 4, so now we're just left with a deranged killer with no regard for any lifeform that isn't hers or her father's, Azula but without that badass agni kai fight. It is especially frustrating when we already have a vastly more compelling villain story in Viren, who goes through an internal odyssey of self-discovering that takes the form of the Red Room from "Twin Peaks," complete with backward-talking characters. It is weird, it is funny, and it is possibly the best pop culture homage the show has done yet.

We're approaching the endgame for "The Dragon Prince," and by the end of season 5, the chess pieces are in place. Though this is still a sort of transitional season, it features enough character development, worldbuilding, and plot advancement to make it a satisfactory viewing experience on its own.

/Film rating: 8 out of 10