History Awesome / RayaAndTheLastDragon

* Bordering on heartwarming, Raya finding the personal strength to trust Namaari with her shard of the dragon stone. Even after everything they've been through, Raya indeed [[MeaningfulEcho takes the first step]], just as her father had hoped those six years ago. Not only does it inspire her friends to entrust their stones with Namaari, but it empowers Namaari with the moral strength to fix the dragon gem and make amends for betraying Raya.
** On a meta-level, it's not every story that gives the role of savior of the world to someone ''other'' than the main protagonist. Instead, it gave it to someone perceived as the antagonist. A lesser movie would've made it that everyone trusted Raya, but instead, by making it Namaari, the story was able to uphold its theme of trust by giving it to someone who needed a second chance. To top it all off, it completes Raya's character arc to learn to trust again.
!!Meta
* Normally, Disney makes their protagonists (Rapunzel, Princess Anna, Moana, Judy Hopps) someone innocent while the deuteragonist (Flynn, Kristoff, Maui, Nick Wilde) is the cynical one with [[DarkAndTroubledPast issues]]. But this movie does something different by making our protagonist Raya the [[TookALevelInCynic cynical one]] and our deuteragonist Sisu the naïve one. Not only does this mix up the Disney formula a bit, but it also gives the audience a flawed hero and a mentor deuteragonist.
** Notably, Raya and Sisu aren't the first Disney duo to follow this pattern ([[WesternAnimation/BigHero6 Hiro and Baymax]] anyone?). Still, the fact that the "Disney Princess" is TheCynic for a change is pretty refreshing.

* Once they reach Spine, Sisu makes a [[DefiedTrope defiant gesture]] to the "[[CynicismCatalyst once bitten, twice shy]]" archetype by take a pot of Boun's soup to the Spine Fortress as a peace offering. Bear in mind that not one day ago, Sisu had been betrayed by the Talon Chief, and she did acknowledge it shook her world to witness that woman maliciously threaten to leave her at the Drunns' mercy. Yet, Sisu still chooses to believe trust is important. Sure, rushing towards Spine Fortress leads to her and Raya's [[NiceJobBreakingItHero capture]], but it shows how dedicated Sisu is to restoring Kumandra to its better days.

** Notably, Raya and Sisu aren't the first Disney duo to follow this pattern ([[WesternAnimation/BigHero6 Hiro and Baymax]] anyone?). Still, the fact that the "Disney Princess" is [[TheCynic the cynical one]] for a change is pretty refreshing.

* Normally, Disney makes their protagonists (Rapunzel, Princess Anna, Moana, Judy Hopps) someone innocent while the deuteragonist (Flynn, Kristoff, Maui, Nick Wilde) is the cynical one with [[DarkAndTroubledPast issues]]. But this movie does something different by making our protagonist Raya the [[TookALevelInCynic cynical one]] and our deuteragonist Sisu the naïve one. Not only does this mix up the Disney formula a bit, but it also gives the audience a flawed hero and a mentor deuteragonist.

* Normally, Disney makes their protagonists (Rapunzel, Princess Anna, Moana) someone innocent while the deuteragonist (Flynn, Kristoff, Maui) is the cynical one with [[DarkAndTroubledPast issues]]. But this movie does something different by making our protagonist Raya the [[TookALevelInCynic cynical one]] and our deuteragonist Sisu the naïve one. Not only does this mix up the Disney formula a bit, but it also gives the audience a flawed hero and a mentor deuteragonist.

* Raya finding a loophole when training with her father; she gets a toe within the Dragon Gem's proximity circle. He smiles and says she's now a guardian, but has to answer to him as her trainer. Overall a reasonable response to a kid that doesn't understand how WarIsHell.

* After Raya and Sisu get captured by Tong, Raya's friends storm in to rescue them, quickly subduing their captor in the process.

** On a meta-level, it's not every story that gives the role of savior of the world to someone ''other'' than the main protagonist. Instead, it gave it to someone perceived as the antagonist. A lesser movie would've made it that everyone trusted Raya, but instead, by making it Namaari, the story was able to uphold its theme of trust by giving it to someone who needed a second chance. To top it all off, it would complete Raya character arc to learn to trust again.

* Normally, Disney makes their protagonists (Rapunzel, Princess Anna, Moana) someone innocent while the deuteragonist (Flynn, Kristoff, Maui) is the cynical one with [[DarkAndTroubledPast issues]]. But this movie does something different by making our protagonist Raya the [[TookALevelInCynic cynical one]] and our deuteragonist Sisu the naïve one. Not only does this mix up the Disney formula a bit, but it also gives the audience a flawed hero and a mentor deuterogamist.

* Raya finding a loophole when training with her father; she gets a toe on the Dragon Gem's stone. He smiles and says she's now a guardian, but has to answer to him as her trainer. Overall a reasonable response to a kid that doesn't understand how WarIsHell.

* Normally, Disney makes their protagonists (Rapunzel, Princess Anna, Moana) someone innocent while the deuterogamist (Flynn, Kristoph, Maui) is the cynical one with [[DarkAndTroubledPast issues]]. But this movie does something different by making our protagonist Raya the [[TookALevelInCynic cynical one]] and our deuterogamist Sisu the naïve one. Not only does this mix up the Disney formula a bit, but it also gives the audience a flawed hero and a mentor deuterogamist.

* Normally, Disney makes their protagonists (Rapunzel, Princess Anna, Moana) someone innocent while the deuterogamist (Flynn, Kristoph, Maui) is the cynical one with [[DarkAndTroubledPast issues]]. But this movie does something different by making our protagonist Raya the [[TookALevelInCynic cynical one]] and our deuterogamist Sisu the naïve one.

* Boun, Noi, and Tong putting their hatred of the Fang tribe aside to help people escape from their crumbling city and the Druun, using the Dragon Gem shards to provide protection. Notably, this makes them the bigger person than the chiefs of the other tribes who [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere left Heart at the mercy of the Druun]] those six years ago . Once Raya and Namaari end their duel, they join in too.

* Boun, Noi, and Tong putting their hatred of the Fang tribe aside to help people escape from their crumbling city and the Druun, using the Dragon Gem shards to provide protection. Once Raya and Namaari end their duel, they join in too.

* Noi and the ongis give Raya a chase through Talon's market. If not for Tuk Tuk slamming a gate in their way, they might have escaped with the gem shards. Once Raya finds out what happened to Noi's family, she immediately requests their help for infiltrating the Talon chief's house so she can retrieve the next Dragon Gem shard.

** On a meta-level, it's not every story that gives the role of savior of the world to someone ''other'' than the main protagonist. Instead, it gave it to someone perceived as the antagonist. A lesser movie would've made it that everyone trusted Raya, but instead, by making it Namaari, the story was able to uphold its theme of trust by giving it to someone who needed a second chance. To top it all off, it would complete Raya character arc to learn to trust again.

* When Namaari breaks the truce by pulling a crossbow on Raya and Sisu, it's revealed the rest of the crew was watching. They immediately prepare to fight, saying they don't care if Namaari is armed and Tong looking like he wants to rip her limb from limb. It's only because Sisu tells them to stand down and she'll talk to Namaari that they don't.

* When Namaari breaks the truce by pulling a crossbow on Raya and Sisu, it's revealed the rest of the crew was watching. They immediately prepare to fight, saying they don't care if Namaari is armed and Tong looking like he wants to rip her limb from limb. It's only because Sisu tells them to stand down and she'll talk to Namaari that they don't.
* Raya goads Namaari into fighting her solo and while it is even at the beginning, Namaari gains the upper hand fairly and would have won if it weren't for Sisu.

* Raya evading Namaari and the Fang warriors in Tail. First by setting off a booby trap in the cave to hold them down, then by buying herself, Sisu, and Tuk Tuk time by setting off the exploding fart beetles, and finally by hopping in the water and making it onto Boun’s boat.