The Dragon Prince SDCC 2021 panel dropped lots of out-of-context clues and spoilers

[Ed. note: This article contains some mild spoilers for the next four seasons of The Dragon Prince.]

Ever since King Harrow, noble ruler of Katolis, was assassinated off screen in the third episode of Netflix’s fantasy animated series The Dragon Prince, some fans have speculated that he may have somehow cheated death thanks to the magical powers of his friends and adviser, Lord Viren. The show’s creators poured some cold water on that theory during a the 2021 San Diego Comic-Con panel by announcing that Harrow voice actor Luke Rodriq will be returning as a new character, a Sunfire elf named Karim.

Both co-creators Justin Richmond and Aaron Ehasz said that working with Rodriq again is one of the things they’re most excited about as they continue to develop the fourth season of the show, which still doesn’t have a release date.

“It’s been a pleasure working with him again on a new character,” Ehasz said, showing off an image of a bearded elf wearing a gold crown and gold, black, and red cloak. “This is a really, really intriguing and powerful character, and Luke is doing an amazing job bringing him to life.”

Image: Wonderstorm

The panel also revealed the existence of a few other characters that have been added to the transmedia world of Dragon Prince. Illustrator Peter Wartman, who previously worked with Ehasz on the Avatar: The Last Airbender graphic novels, is working on a new Dragon Prince graphic novel called The Puzzle House which is focused on the mysterious home of Viren’s former mentor. The character will be introduced in the canon novel The Dragon Prince: Book Two: Sky by Ehasz and his wife Melanie McGanney Ehasz, which will be released on August 3.

Richmond also revealed that the 12 characters created for the upcoming tabletop roleplaying game Tales of Xadia may make cameos in future seasons of the show. He spotlighted Ponmalar, a nonbinary archer and military deserter with a prosthetic leg.

Image: Wonderstorm

Richmond and Ehasz were both wearing new The Dragon Prince t-shirts, which will be released in Loot Crate boxes this holiday season. The Sunfire shirt changes colors based on sunlight while one depicting the symbol of the Moonshadow Elves is blacklight reactive. They also showed off a hoodie inspired by the sinister Startouch Elf Aaravos, which was apparently a popular request from fans.

Numerous artists, writers, and game designers made brief appearances on the panel to discuss how much they enjoy working at Wonderstorm. The emphasis on collaboration among the diverse team is in noticeable contrast to the 2019 controversy where two former employees of the studio accused Ehasz of misogynistic behavior. The issue was not broached at the SDCC panel, but since the admissions made at the time, there have also been no further accusations by anyone else at the company.

Richmond and Ehasz ended the Dragon Prince panel on a silly, but high note. After warning away viewers who wanted to avoid spoilers, Ehasz revealed a set of index cards used to lay out acts of an episode that were held in place on his table by the Emmy for Outstanding Children’s Programming he won last year. Most of these were extremely vague like “two cakes” but there was some tantalizing information like that the tricky Skywing Elf Nyx will return. Here’s all of them, so make of them what you will:

• Moonshadow Elf creepy grave place... lantern lit
• Mysterious meeting with Barius
• Meet the Guardians of the Great Gates
• Ez... then all: “Take my hand. Love > control
• Crystal/gem lecture!!
• Gathering of the 6 horns
• Bait put in a scary restraint!
• Z&Z heart 2 heart giant hat?
• Oh noooo!!! Team action time
• Flashback Part 2
• Knives, sticks, and a hat... yawn!
• “Super-rich” Soren proposes sketchy crimes
• (Janai) speeches (Karim)
• Mysterious mushroom mage Mukho
• Soren & Zubeia
• Corvus found no trace! “Commotion” Sunfire priest apprehended
• Opeli ushered to secret council meeting
• 2 cakes!
• Scary ice hand scene
• Ez & Callum arrive at weird ruins. Ez nods “yes”
• Funny/warm coda
• It’s a monster!
• (Soren howls along)
• Nyx: I’m back!