Dragonar Academy starts off with a woman speaking to a boy who appears dead, lying in a pool of blood, missing an arm, with a young blond haired girl by his side.

She speaks some words to start our tale off and the show starts rolling.

Later on we witness a scene (in a dream) where a young boy carries a young blond girl piggy back through the woods searching for someone.

It doesn't take too long for the viewers to guess who the two young people are, and who the lady is. What we do not know is what happens between those two points. How the boy loses his arm and how he "gets it back".

I started reading the light novel about where the series ends off, which is not always the smartest way to go about, but is certainly the most lazy leisure way.

We get the rest of that early story from about this point. In a nutshell:
Ash seems disinterested in this required process from the get-go. In spite of this, he receives the gift of the pal bestowed upon him from the Mother Dragon. Knowing how desperate Sylvia was to become a Dragonar, he forcefully rejects the gift - through the "Seikoku" that is writing itself into his flesh, and imparts it to Sylvia.

In doing so, his body reacts to the rejection by explosion due to the energy transmitted. His arm literally rips itself apart, where, after noticing the successful transfer, he passes out near death. Sylvia, overwhelmed by all the blood, passes out from shock.

So how does Ash get his arm back? There is just a bit of confusion about that, and there is other info as well, below the fold (spoilers)
In inheriting the special seikoku one can only get from the unique bloodline Eco is from, Ash gets the added benefit of regeneration. This is something no average seikoku bestows upon the Knight. The confusion? The Dragon Mother also mentions that his arm is not really his arm. In some respects, the seikoku itself has taken the place of his natural arm. This is mentioned in the story where, after he wakes up, he notice his arm is back, but it doesn't quite feel the same. Strong regeneration also explains his uncanny sense of healing - satisfying the "how can we make him take all that punishment and heal quickly" trope.

One other bit of information we find out is that the first Pal - Lancelot - is a relative of Eco's. Ash was originally slated to receive Lancelot because Ash has the "Chalice" in him and Lancelot is a very strong Pal that responds to that. Eco was originally picked out for someone later to receive, who also has the Chalice in them. Ash was not supposed to get her, because she was not ready to be "born".  This answers the question as to why it took Ash so long to "birth" his Pal, and why she is so immature. It also sets up a potential future conflict, should the Breeder (who Dragonars are referred to before they become Dragonars) who was originally slated to receive Eco find out, will there be a problem? We do not yet know what the Chalice represents, but the Arthurian aspect of the show just grew another branch.

A question that pops up is, if Lancelot is from the same blood line, why does Sylvia have a normal seikoku, and not seemingly possess any regenerative powers? It may just be that the bloodline is not pure enough, or the fact that she was not supposed to be a Breeder in the first place. The Dragon Mother made it clear that it is her remarkable determination that got her as far as she has, and she might someday be a spectacular Paladin, but she won't achieve Ash's level of Dragonar.

I got as far as the end of Volume 5. Sylvia has proclaimed her love for Ash, right before Eco was about to. Interesting times ahead, it seems.

Posted by: topmaker at 09:00 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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