One, he has a photographic memory, which coupled with Sky Primal stone, probably means he is able to envision what sky magic should feel like in a fashion no one else can.
Two, he has experience using not only sky magic using the primal stone, (and moon magic) but also dark magic. So, he isn’t exactly a novice when he discovers this ability. He isn’t Harry Potter at the start of the first movie through out this.
Three, no one knows how interacting with a dragon and releasing the primal stone might have impacted him.
Finally, there is obviously something special about his mother’s lineage, considering that his half brother seems to be able to talk to animals. Something is definitely not standard human in that family.
As always, when someone in a show/book/movie does something that no one else has done before, I try to remember that until 1954, no one thought that a mile could be run under 4 minutes. Who knows what kind of moronic things that these humans believe that simple isn’t true. Maybe magic is possible, but you need to learn the right kind, and Callum just got super lucky.
In any event, it’s no different from how fast Sang learned Water/earth/fire bending, which usually takes other avatars a year or more.
Presumably there were generations of human mages pre-sundering, that devoted their entire lives to learning to attempting to learn magic. That’s some luck.
To be fair, as I probably mentioned upthread before, I believe that my real problem with it is almost entirely a pacing thing. I don’t really even have a problem with the structure of the story. If they had spent an entire regular 20+ episode TV season with him learning and making incremental progress, and going on an actual journey of self discovery, I could buy all those elements that you cited. But with 9 22-minute episodes, it doesn’t feel earned.
Rather than comparing to Aang’s bending (who was already a special magical boy to begin with), I’d compare it to Sokka’s slow-burn growth from regular dummy to occasional legit badass. It has a lot of the same “why is everybody special but me?” vibes.
It’s just part and parcel of the feeling that this is the outline of a TV show jammed into the time they were given rather than a story designed to be told in the space they had.
We spent generations trying to beat the 4 minute mile, and failed.
We spent generations dealing with leeches as medicine.
We spent generations figuring out simple things.
Face it, people can be absolute morons at times, especially if they ‘know’ humans can’t do something, like magic.
The fact that this brilliant young adult figured it out while hanging out with a Sky Dragon, after talking to a Moon Elf Mage, and with a gift for artistry and a photographic memory, might not be all that far fetched.
We already know that Callum is competent at both Dark Magic, and using magical artifacts, so again, we have a starting point that few others have had. We also know that his half brother can communicate and influence animals, so we know something is going on under the hood.
So, yeah, I think it’s fine. We don’t know all the details, maybe we will find out later on.
I see bunches of spoilers above, so I apologize for skipping maybe some discussion. I’m halfway through season 3 and just like with the last seasons, I just keep thinking the same thing. I really want to like this show, but the writers are trying really hard to prevent me from doing so.
Of the “uplifting young adult fantasy series with mild but very sweet romance” series I’ve binged since the lockdown, only the Arcadia trilogy from GDT is failing to hold my attention more than Dragon Prince did. It’s not bad by any means – I’m glad I watched it and will probably finish the forthcoming seasons – but it’s a noticeable drop from Steven Universe, Legend of Korra, and especially She-Ra.
Its such a weird show - at times, its just a disney or pixar cartoon show, but at others times… Oh boy - The whole thrown again a rock and getting paralyzed thing was the first hint that the show can take a dark turn. The second is the transformation being wrought on…well, I wont spoil it, but man - at times, I think the show really doesnt know what audience it wants to cater to.
Yeah I finished it and my final impressions are:
a) it’s fine. Not great, but good enough to watch with some occasional groans.
b) the third season feels rushed. Seasons 1 and 2 could feel a little longish for some sections but overall let things breathe a little and build up. Season 3 feels like they planned a season 3 and 4 but then smashed it into one season. I mean, they spend two seasons in Katolis and then get to Xadia and only spend one season. I definitely think they planned for two in Xadia. None of the plot has time to breathe and plenty of things feel positively rushed like they don’t have the time to finish what they want.
c) the conclusion was meh. My son goes “I think that ended really well!” and then they have a whole extra scene and my son went “what the heck! that was awful!” lol
Hah, yeah. I wonder if this is Ehasz trying to get to the “good parts” of AtLA we adults remember fondly and rave about perhaps a little too fast, given the abbreviated nature of the seasons Netflix is producing.
Mind, if they started at that point, I don’t think it’d be an issue. But since they seem to want to do a similar innocence-to-world-shaping-epicness storyline, the pacing is very weird sometimes.
Season 4 is out! Animation remains fantastic and I love the characters. I’m halfway through the series but the plot isn’t grabbing me, yet.
Rayla is my favorite character but so far she’s been a minor character. I don’t care for her new look, either. Conversely, I feel like they’re spending too much time with Claudia.
Agreed Rayla got short shrift this season. We could have spent more time learning about what she’s been up to instead of learning things we kinda already know about the Big Bad
I do like the new intro though. That foreboding music with the title letters rotating into place. Serious business, that Aaravos
