Rayla

Rayla is a fictional character from the Netflix animated fantasy television series The Dragon Prince. She is introduced as a prodigy Moonshadow Elf assassin and the protégé of veteran assassin Runaan. Sent on a mission to avenge the death of the king of the dragons, she ultimately joins forces with the human princes Callum and Ezran in order to deliver the egg of the Dragon Prince back to his mother. Over the course of the series, Rayla and Callum develop a romantic relationship. She is voiced by Paula Burrows.

Background
Rayla was born on the 31 July to the warriors Lain and Tiadrin. However, her parents were later recruited into the Dragonguard, an elite force of eight warriors recruited from the various elfin races - sworn to protect the egg of the Dragon Prince, as he was the first dragonling hatched in millennia. As a result, she was taken in by the head assassin Runaan and his husband Ethari, an expert craftsman. For years, Runaan trains Rayla to be an assassin like himself, in order to protect those she holds most dear.

Four months before the start of the series, Avizandum, the King of the Dragons and Archdragon of the Sky, is slain by King Harrow and Lord Viren by a powerful dark magic spell. Frightened by this, the Dragonguard abandon their duty, apparently including Rayla's parents. This allows Lord Viren to supposedly destroy the egg of the Dragon Prince. Ashamed of her parents' alleged cowardice, Rayla joins a small group of assassins on a mission to avenge Avizandum by killing King Harrow and his heir, Crown Prince Ezran.

Bloodmoon Huntress
A younger Rayla is angry at her parents, Lain and Tiadrin, sudden decision to leave her at home with their closest childhood friends, Runnan and Ethari, so that they can fulfill their duty as members of the Dragonguard. She struggles to adjust to her new home and soon learns that Runnan is harboring a secret. Curious, she follows him and discovers that he is an assassin. Though he insists that it is his duty to protect his people and he is making sacrifices so that those he loves don't have to, Rayla is appalled at the idea of killing people.

When the Bloodmoon Harvest Festival finally approaches, Rayla manages to unlock her Moonshadow form for the first time and leaves quietly to try and confront the centuries-old Bloodmoon Huntress, and helps the Skywing elf Suroh try to save his parents from being used as sacrifices for an annual blood ritual for the rogue Moonshadow elf. However, the Bloodmoon Huntress overwhelms her and causes her to fall into the river, triggering her fear of it. Runnan and Ethari later pull her out, and she explains that she had to take matters into her own hands. With her foster fathers by her side, Rayla helps Suroh sneak away with his parents, as Runnan and Kim'Dael face-off, with the latter using Runnan's love for his husband and Rayla to gain the upper hand. Unable to consume the Skywing elves' blood, Kim'Dael vows to return to fully replenish her strength on Xadia herself. Better understanding the work of an assassin, and wanting to be able to protect the people she loves, Rayla asks Runaan to train her to be an assassin like himself as she begins to adjust to her new life with her foster fathers.

Lunabloom
With the help of Runnan, young Rayla makes a present from a Lunabloom flower for Ethari's birthday.

Book One: Moon (2018)
Soon after arriving in the human kingdom of Katolis Runann's team of Moonshadow assassins is discovered by Marcos, a soldier in the Crownguard. She is sent by Runaan to kill him, but although Rayla manages to corner the soldier, she hesitates upon seeing his fear, allowing him to escape. Fearful of Runaan's reaction, Rayla deceives him by staining her swords with deathberry juice. Per Moonshadow elven custom, Rayla and her fellow assassin literally bind themselves to their mission by tying ribbons around their wrists. Her deception is later revealed and Runaan takes her off the mission. Determined to make up for her mistake, Rayla sneaks into the castle to kill Harrow and Ezran, but finds Callum instead. To protect his younger brother, Callum lies that he is Ezran, but his deception is soon revealed when Ezran shows up. The two princes lead Rayla to Viren's secret underground room, where he has hidden the egg of the Dragon Prince.

Rayla abandons her mission to kill Harrow and nine-year-old Prince Ezran, deciding that since the Dragon Prince's egg survives, revenge is unnecessary. However, even when shown the egg, Runaan refuses to back down and Rayla engages her former mentor in a duel to protect the princes. The two seem evenly matched, but Runaan deserts the fight to focus on killing Harrow. Rayla, Callum, Ezran and Bait (Ezran's pet Glow Toad) flee the castle, resolving to take the Dragon Prince egg home together. As they escape, however, one of Rayla's ribbons falls off, symbolizing Harrow's demise, but Rayla doesn't tell the princes. Because Callum now has a Primal Stone (an orb containing magical energy), Rayla educates the prince on the six Primal Sources of nature. Callum asks Rayla to help retrieve a cube that has the Primal Sources' symbols on it, and Rayla agrees only reluctantly. However, while retrieving the mysterious item, Rayla is captured by the prince's elf-hating aunt, General Amaya. Callum, Ezran and Bait rescue Rayla, but are soon cornered by Amaya and her soldiers. Desperate, Callum lies that Rayla wants to kill him and Ezran, hurting the elf's feelings. Rayla pretends to hold Callum and Ezran hostage in order to escape. Rayla realizes that her remaining assassin ribbon is getting tighter and will continue to do so until her hand comes off. Whilst traveling on a boat, Rayla eventually admits that she is afraid of water, but overcomes her fear to save Bait from being eaten by a giant fish. Rayla then explains her reasons for being here.

The next day, Rayla is attacked by Corvus, a soldier sent by Amaya to track them, and defeats him. Later, while traveling up a mountain, an argument between Rayla and Callum about the former's trustworthiness, coupled with a burp from Bait, causes an avalanche. The trio end up on an unstable frozen lake, where Rayla reveals the true nature of her wrist ribbon, but before she can reveal the death of Harrow, Callum desperately shoves the Dragon egg into Rayla's hands, causing her to drop it due to her dying hand. Ezran rescues the egg, but the freezing water leaves it severely weakened. Later, the group travels into a human town, where Rayla disguises herself as a human and unsuccessfully attempts to cut off her wrist ribbon with a Sun Forge blade, a super-heated dagger made by Sunfire elves. The group then travel up a mountain called the "Cursed Caldera" to find a mysterious "miracle healer". During the trip, they work together to slay a giant leech. The supposed "healer" turns out to be a female Moonshadow Elf Moon Mage named Lujanne, who specializes in illusions. By unleashing the storm inside his Sky Primal Stone, Callum manages to hatch the egg of the Dragon Prince, who then bites off Rayla's wrist ribbon.

Book Two: Sky (2019)
Though delighted to have both working hands again, Rayla wishes to move on immediately, but the others do not. Rayla is later attacked by Viren's children, Soren and Claudia, but the fight is stopped by Callum. Rayla distrusts Soren and Claudia, and suspects the former of trying to kill Ezran, but Callum doesn't believe her because he hasn't known her as long as Soren and Claudia. Feeling guilty, Rayla decides to tell Callum about Harrow's death, but Claudia does so first. Rayla's secret damages her friendship with Callum, but they reconcile after the latter finds himself unable to tell Ezran. Still mistrustful of Soren and Claudia, Rayla arranges a trick to reveal their treachery, and she, the princes, Azymondias and Bait escape. Later, the group hires a blind ex-pirate, Captain Villads to take them across an ocean. During the trip, Rayla admits to Villads that she no longer believes that being an assassin is for her.

After finally making it to shore, Rayla and the group witness a dragon being shot down after burning a town. Wishing to break the cycle of revenge, Rayla goes to save the wounded dragon, and, aided by Callum using dark magic, helps her escape. Afterwards, Corvus arrives and reveals Harrow's death to Ezran, devastating him. Ezran goes off to grieve and Corvus soon goes after him, leaving Rayla, Zym and Bait to watch over Callum, who has gone into a coma as a result of using dark magic. As Callum's condition worsens, Rayla becomes increasingly distraught over the possibility of losing him. She is about to confess something to him but is cut off when he wakes up. Callum reveals he can use sky magic again, thus becoming the first human to use primal magic on his own. Ezran leaves the group to take the throne of Katolis. Rayla, Callum and Zym continue their trek into Xadia, but soon find their path blocked by a massive dragon, which Rayla fearfully identifies as Sol Regem.

Book Three: Sun (2019)
Rayla reveals that Sol Regem is the former King of the Dragons, left a bitter and hostile shadow of his former self after being left blind during the wars between humans and magical creatures but not before putting an end to the first dark mage Ziard. The trio attempts to sneak past the ancient dragon, but Zym's fearful whimpers expose their presence. Rayla reluctantly attempts to convince Sol Regem to let them pass, but the attempt fails when the dragon detects dark magic on Callum. The trio manages to outwit Sol Regem and finally make it into Xadia.

Rayla, Callum, and Zym travel through Xadia, and the two teenagers grow noticeably closer. However, when they reach Rayla's birthplace, the Silvergrove, Rayla is devastated to learn that she has been made a "ghost", a magically cursed outcast, for abandoning her mission of assassination. They manage to make contact with Ethari, Runaan's husband, who gives them animal mounts in order to reach Queen Zubeia, Zym's mother, more quickly. They soon encounter a rogue Skywing elf named Nyx, who offers to guide the trio through the dangerous Midnight Desert. While the group takes a rest in the oasis, Rayla's grief over her banishment boils over, causing Callum to comfort her by giving a number of compliments. Unfortunately, Rayla mistakes the compliments for advances and kisses Callum, who to his surprise, accidentally rejects Rayla, angering her. The pair then discover that Nyx has stolen Zym. Rayla and Callum pursue Nyx, retrieve Zym from her and Rayla saves the Skywing elf from Soulfang serpents; cobra-like snakes which drain people's souls. Callum compliments Rayla for her courage, calling her a hero, and soon is lost staring into her eyes and kisses her. He then realizes he has gone too far and tries to move away, but Rayla forces him to kiss which he surrenders to happily, beginning their relationship.

Rayla, Callum and Zym finally reach the Storm Spire, the mountain home of the Queen Zubeia, where they reunite with Ezran and Bait. When the group reaches the top, however, they discover Zubeia has gone comatose in her grief over losing her mate and her egg. When a repentant Soren arrives and warns them about Viren's invasion, Rayla decides to stay and protect the Dragon Queen as an act of redemption for her parents. Using moon magic, Callum learns that Rayla's parents actually stayed and fought until overpowered, and convinced Viren not to destroy Zym's egg, thus saving him. Joined by Amaya, Janai and the remnants of the Sunfire Elves' army, Rayla and her friends prepare to make their stand against Viren and his army of magically enhanced soldiers.

During the battle, Rayla stays in the Storm Spire to protect Zym. They are later attacked by Viren, who attempts to harvest Zym's power for himself. In an act of self-sacrifice, Rayla throws herself and Viren off the pinnacle. Callum leaps after them, developing the ability to fly and saving Rayla, while Viren falls to his death. As they fly back to the Storm Spire, Rayla and Callum finally confess their love for each other in the form a midair passionate kiss. Afterward, Rayla, Callum and the others watch as Queen Zubeia awakens and reunites with her infant son and heir.

Through the Moon
About two weeks after the Battle of the Storm Spire, Rayla is now living in the human realm of Katolis with Callum and King Ezran. However, she is still troubled by the loss of her parents, Lain and Tiadrin, and foster father Runaan, and doubts that Viren is dead, as his body was never found. The trio travels back to the Cursed Caldrea in order to perform a rebirth ritual for Lujanne's pet Moon Phoenix, Phoe-Phoe. Rayla's dwelling on the fate of her parents, Runaan and Viren puts a strain on her relationship with Callum, who wishes to move on. However, Callum, remembering that the Moon Nexus can be used to enter a world between life and death, comes up with an idea to rebuild the Moon Henge to allow Rayla to enter it and find closure. Rayla agrees, albeit reluctantly after learning that the ritual involves swimming in water. With the help of a large and strong man named Allen, Lujanne's new boyfriend, they succeed in rebuilding the ruins and Rayla enters the portal. While inside, she encounters the spirits of her four fellow assassins, who attack Rayla for failing her mission. However, they allow her to proceed after they notice her missing binding and conclude that she has carried out her mission after all, despite Rayla's attempts to correct them. Eventually, Rayla discovers a large cocoon, which contains a sleeping Viren inside. The souls of fallen soldiers then attack Rayla and attempt to trap her in the Spirit World of Xadia forever, but Callum manages to save her.

Rayla reluctantly concludes that her family is dead. Although Callum tries to comfort her, Rayla confesses that she saw Lord Viren sleeping inside a cocoon, and concludes that this means he is indeed alive and must be stopped from destroying further loved ones. Not wanting her to go alone, Callum insists they search for him together and Rayla promises him that they will before the two confess their love for each other once more. Fearing for Callum's safety, however, Rayla remorsefully departs alone in the middle of the night, leaving Callum a heartfelt letter on the morning of his fifteenth birthday.

Rayla subsequently spends the next two years searching for Viren, but fails to find any trace of him. During her search, Rayla finds and adopts an orphan cuddlemonkey who she names Stella.

Chasing Shadows
Two years after the events of Through the Moon and shortly before the events of the fourth season, Rayla and Stella arrive in Scumport, a Xadian island town, in the hope of finding information that could potentially lead to Lord Viren. After encountering a fellow ghosted Moonshadow elf called "Redfeather", Rayla agrees to fight for her in the fighting pit in exchange for the information the former has regarding a dark mage in Scumport. Rayla is able to defeat her first two opponents, earning her the moniker "New Moon" from the crowd. Her third opponent is a human soldier from Katolis, who reminds her of Callum and causes her to wonder about him. She is further distracted when she glimpses a red scarf in the crowd, which ultimately causes her to lose the match and she receives a wooden token called Finnegrin's Favor as a consolation prize. Although disappointed that she could not hold her end of the deal, Redfeather agrees to tell Rayla what she knows about the dark mage on the condition that she bring back whatever dark magic ingredients they have.

Using the information Redfeather gave her, Rayla travels to the northern coast of Scumport where the dark mage is expected to make a trade. Seeing a hooded figure procuring blood coral from a Skywing Elf, Rayla thinks she has finally found Viren and chases him. After pinning him down and preparing to kill him, Rayla is disappointed to find that the hooded figure is not Viren, but a younger dark mage from the human Kingdom Neolandia. Rayla is hesitant to kill him and the dark mage manages to escape with most of the Blood coral. Though disappointed by Rayla's failure, Redfeather suggests Rayla stay in Scumport in case any new leads on Viren's whereabouts turn up. Redfeather also reminds Rayla about her ghosting and discourages her from trying to be the elf who would be welcomed back home as she can never return to the Silvergrove. After remembering Callum's words about her being selfless, strong and caring, Rayla decides to abandon her search and return to Katolis. Accepting her decision, Redfeather gives Rayla a Finnegrin's Favor as a token for the Ferryman so she can return to Scumport later.

Book Four: Earth (2022)
Rayla returns to Katolis and visits Callum, now the high mage of Katolis, in his study shortly after his seventeenth birthday. Taken aback by Rayla's abrupt return, and still deeply hurt and angry at her for leaving him, Callum gives her the cold shoulder. She receives a much warmer welcome from Ezran and joins the group on their quest to stop Aaravos from being released from his prison. Seeing Aaravos for the first time through Avizandum's enchanted looking glass at the Stormspire, she is horrified when he uses dark magic to possess Callum. Using Callum to communicate to the group, Aaravos mocks them as pathetic children and taunts Rayla for being an assassin who isn't capable of killing.

Hoping to stop Claudia from freeing Aaravos, Rayla and the others journey to Umber Tor to visit Rex Igneous, the Archdragon of Earth, to convince him to give them the clue to Aaravos's prison which he was entrusted with. Regretting having let her obsession with revenge hurt her relationship with Callum, Rayla makes several attempts to reconcile with him to no avail. When they arrive in Rex Igneous's lair, Claudia intercepts them and puts them to sleep with her ocarina before obtaining a copy of a map carved onto Rex Igneous's tooth. When Rex Igneous goes on a rampage, Rayla sees Viren retrieving his staff. Shocked to have finally found Viren, she receives Callum's permission to go after him. As she holds Claudia's Earthblood elf boyfriend Terry hostage, she learns that her long-lost parents, Lain and Tiadrin, and her guardian Runaan were imprisoned by Viren within cursed coins. Claudia offers her the pouch containing the coins in exchange for Terry, but Rayla refuses to make a deal with her, prompting Claudia to throw the pouch into the nearby lava to force Rayla to release Terry. Stella saves the pouch using her ability to create portals but Rayla discovers she was tricked as the pouch only contains rocks, causing her to cry in anguish. Disgusted by Claudia's cruelty, Terry rebukes her and convinces her to give Rayla the real coins. Relieved to finally have her family back, Rayla escapes Umber Tor and reunites with the group, where a relieved Callum embraces her and finally admits that he's glad she came back.

Book Five: Ocean (2023)
Rayla and Callum return to Katolis while Ezran, Soren, Corvus, Zym and Zubeia go to see Domina Profundis, the Archdragon of the Ocean, to convince her to give them the clue to Aaravos's prison which she was entrusted with. Rayla is determined to free her family from the cursed coins but keeps them a secret from Callum.

Rayla has Stella steal the key to Callum's study and sneaks into Viren's dungeon, hoping to find a way to free her family from the coins. She discovers a fourth coin containing a human she does not recognize (who is later revealed to be Kpp'Ar, Viren's dark magic mentor) and finds Runaan's bow. Grieving over her trapped family, Rayla has a vision of Runaan and her parents bequeathing the bow to her as she decides to prioritize stopping Aaravos over helping them. After being arrested for trespassing, Callum expresses his trust in Rayla and sets her free.

Callum and Rayla decide to travel to the Great Bookery in Lux Aurea in hopes of learning of a way to kill Startouch elves and begin to slowly rebuild their relationship during the journey. While camping, they are attacked by a banther corrupted by the Sunforge and narrowly escape. When they arrive in Lux Aurea, Rayla, Callum, Amaya, Gren and Kazi travel to the Great Bookery in the abandoned city and stands guard while Callum and Kazi research Startouch elves. Alone with Rayla, Amaya takes the opportunity to apologize for their altercation at the banther lodge two years prior, then threatens her for hurting Callum, accusing her of abandoning him and breaking his heart. Angered by the allegation, Rayla claims that she left Callum behind to protect him and insists she needed to be strong alone. To her surprise, Amaya relates to this and admits she believed the same when her sister Sarai died. However, since meeting Janai and falling in love, she has come to realize that loving someone and trusting them to share the burdens you carry makes you far stronger than you can ever be alone. Rayla takes Amaya's advice to heart and tells Callum about the cursed coins, who discovers a spell that can fully restore her family's spirits to their physical selves but requires the Corona of the Heavens, a magical artifact found at the Star Scraper. Using the information Ezran received from Domina Profundis, Rayla and the group go to see Akiyu, a Tidebound elf Archmage who created Aaravos's prison. Akiyu gives them a map revealing the prison's secret location at the bottom of the Sea of the Castout. When Zubeia is incapacitated by an infection from being bitten by a corrupted banther, Rayla takes the group to Scumport, a port town she previously visited during her quest to locate Viren, to try and find a boat to take them to the Sea of the Castout. While there they reunite with Villads and Nyx, who agree to take them to the Sea of the Castout on Villads' boat. However, they are pursued by the Tidebound elf pirate Finnegrin when Ezran insists on liberating three baby glowtoads from him to save them from being used as leviathan bait. Despite their best efforts, they are unable to evade his superior ship and are all captured and Callum is tortured for information on dark magic. Enraged by this, Rayla attempts to attack Finnegrin, but he uses ocean magic to freeze her blood, incapacitating her and causing her excruciating pain. When he attempts to feed her to a leviathan, Callum is forced to secretly use dark magic to free himself and save her. Finnegrin attempts to freeze Callum's blood as well, but Callum manages to connect to the ocean arcanum, enabling him to counter the spell. Finnegrin is subsequently defeated and killed by his bodyguard Deadwood when Soren convinces him to stand up to Finnegrin's abuse.

After reaching the location of Aaravos' underwater prison, Callum uses his newfound ability to use ocean magic to cast a spell that allows himself, Ezran and Rayla to breathe underwater. Despite Callum's attempts to calm her, Rayla cannot overcome her fear of water and stays behind. Despite her fears, Rayla manages to dive into the water and fends off Claudia during a brief confrontation, which ends when she slices off Claudia's left leg and forces her to retreat. Ezran retrieves Aaravos's prison, which is revealed to be a large pearl hidden in a clam, and the trio returns to the surface. Safe on the boat, she holds Callum's hand as they are all relieved to have managed to secure Aaravos's prison and protect it from Claudia.

Concept and creation
Rayla's early designs pictured her as too confident and had to be adjusted. Her early expression sheets also served as a practice for Wonderstorm's artists to figure out the four fingers of elven hands. In early concepts, Rayla had an additional marking on her forehead. It was Giancarlo Volpe's idea to put in Rayla's "Naruto-run" with encouragement from Lulu Younes.

Characterization and progression
Rayla is described as courageous and sharp-witted. Despite being raised to be an assassin and possessing all the skills required for the profession, Rayla is very moral and compassionate, and thus lacks the ruthlessness needed to take a life, especially the life of one who hasn't wronged her personally.

Rayla initially has a rather black-and-white perspective on the conflict between humans and magical creatures, but she later comes to view it in a more complex light.

Rayla suffers from aquaphobia; she is terrified of water and often gets seasick when she's on a boat, the direct cause revealed in the graphic novel Bloodmoon Huntress.

Powers and abilities
In the world of The Dragon Prince, only magical creatures can use magic because they have magical energy within them. All magic originates from one of six Primal Sources; the Sun, the Moon, the Stars, the Earth, the Sky, and the Ocean. As a Moonshadow elf, Rayla is naturally connected to the moon, and while she has never been seen performing any spells, she can use her primal connection to assume her "Moonshadow form" during a full moon. In this form, she is nearly invisible. The novelization of season one reveals that Rayla rather ironically dislikes using this ability, as she finds it disorientating.

Rayla is a master sword-fighter, especially with dual blades, and is believed to be the fastest and strongest of her fellow assassins despite her young age. Rayla's weapon(s) of choice are a pair of twin blades that reflect her fighting style. These weapons were forged by her foster guardian Ethari, and are capable of switching between lethal blades and curved hooks even in mid-air, allowing her to catch an enemy off-guard. They are based on real-life balisongs or butterfly knives in their way to function.

In the fifth season, Rayla takes up using her mentor Runaan's bowblade after finding it in Viren's secret dungeon. She is shown to be a capable archer as she uses the bow to attack several corrupted banthers and later fights Claudia underwater with it.

Reception
Rayla has been generally praised by critics and fans. Swara Ahmed considered her the "best written" and most "compelling" of the three main protagonists, complimenting her internal conflict and determination to "get justice in her own way." He believed audiences would form a connection to Rayla as soon as they saw her eyes. Ahmed considered her story "amazing" and found her journey with Callum and Ezran "entertaining."

However, Rayla has been criticized by some people, and Paula Burrows' performance of the character has been generally mixed. Gavia Baker-Whitelaw of The Daily Dot criticized Rayla's Scottish accent as "the worst part of the show." Some people did like her accent; others criticized it for being "inconsistent" or regarded it as "terrible".