I am a long time fan of the fantasy genre. Yes, I was first hooked by The Hobbit a long time ago, but since then the heroic sword and sorcery story has always had a place in my heart. I love it.

I admit, for a while I wandered away. I’d seen plots that looked, felt and moved the same way for a long time. Before I began writing and learning what a trope was I began to see and understand the commonality among my favorite stories. I still like them.

Since then I have always hunted for fantasy stories that could give me the heroic journey without making me bored while doing it. Subtlety, nuance, shifts in the way things are presented or the way worlds are constructed are all things that catch my attention. I am a particular fan of changes to world building.

IF you’re of a similar mindset, I humbly suggest you find a way onto Netflix and watch The Dragon Prince. It is excellent fantasy – the best I’ve seen in a long time. You might look at it and think it is a show aimed at children. That is and is not true. This show takes on a number of very deep themes and issues. These affect people no matter how old they are and we all still need to deal with those things.

This article: How The Dragon Prince Became the Best Fantasy Show on Television, Animated or Not has a number of very good things to say.

This article:
The Dragon Prince Ended Season 3 With a Battle That Could Rival Any Lord of the Rings Movie is full of spoilers but also covers a lot of excellent points about the show.

My quick hits from the show?

The characters are strong and complex. There are good examples of behavior and bad examples of behavior. Both examples show the consequences of those actions, and it’s not always black and white. Clear cut answers are few and far between in this show.

The story is stronger because it can’t take short cuts. There’s something to be said for avoiding the cheap method of getting a point across. The romance isn’t punctuated with explicit sex – that’s not an option. There is no violence simply because an ‘action scene was needed’. The story needs to carry the day.

Things that are considered divergent to many people are shown in this show without needing to sledge hammer the point home. Nobody bats an eye at the fact that one of the best generals for the humans is deaf. I don’t know ASL, but I’m betting those lines are actually animated with real words. There is a creature missing a leg (trying not to be spoilery) that has been made to look ‘normal’ because of preconceived viewpoints. It’s there, but it’s not the point and that’s what I really like about it. You can’t use your standard assumptions because they might not be the case. I think that’s a very strong argument for world building and quality story telling.

IF you’re not worried about spoilers, check out those articles. Either way, do yourself a favor and go check this show out. Totally worth your time.