Heartwarming / Primal (2019)

I'm going to be an uncle!

Despite being a Bloodier and Gorier show taking place in a brutal, primordial world, Primal (2019) has a number of beautiful moments of friendship and compassion.

Season 1

Spear and Fang

• As Spear contemplates suicide after losing his family, he sees a vision of his wife and children in the Sun, giving him back his will to live.
• After Spear and Fang slay the horned tyrannosaurs, Fang's babies come and gently play with Spear's hair. Sadly, it doesn't last long.

River of Snakes

• Spear is resting by the fire and has a dream/memory making shadow puppets for his children. He even has fun doing so, making all kinds of animal puppet shadows for his children to enjoy. Unfortunately, it turns into a nightmare of a tyrannosaur eating them again.
• After Spear and Fang spend an entire episode fighting, they end up saving each other from the giant snakes and the flood. Most importantly, Fang, who until then acted in a very selfish way, finds Spear's spearhead and gives it back to him.
• At the end of the episode, Spear and Fang are resting by a bonfire. A snake then slithers out of the bushes, startling Fang... Only for Spear to stab the snake through the head and throw it in the fire. Fang then peacefully goes back to sleep while Spear watches over her.

A Cold Death

• The flashback of Spear teaching his son how to hunt (or learning how to hunt from his father?). Father and son clearly share a very strong bond, and demonstrates that either Spear learned his compassion he demonstrated earlier from his father or Spear tried to teach it to his son before he was lost. Furthermore, the entire scene mirrors an earlier scene with Spear and Fang hunting together, suggesting that Spear sees Fang as family now.
• Even though it is mostly played for laughs, the fact that Spear tears a portion of fur off and puts it on Fang as a coat for her in the cold weather.
• The measures the mammoths take to retrieve their fallen herd-mate's tusk, and the funeral ritual they hold for him afterwards, is quite touching.
  • The mammoth Spear and Fang kill appeared elderly, with missing patches of fur and a missing tusk; he got separated from the herd in the first place because he couldn't keep up with them. Despite all this, he was still a member of the herd, and the other mammoths immediately set out to avenge him when they realize his remaining tusk was taken.
• As Spear is about to make the killing blows to the old mammoth, he looks into their eye and needs to steel himself. He does not want to do what he's about to do. As the mammoth lays dying, he tenderly and sadly touches the side of their face and looks into it's eye with remorse, possibly in an attempt to comfort them in their final moments. In a later scene, Spear draws a picture of the mammoth on a cave wall.
• Fang displays notable moments of care towards Spear, such as licking the wound on his back after the hunt, and curling up around him to protect him from the cold. Spear, for his part, drapes some of the mammoth's fur onto Fang.

Terror Under the Blood Moon

• Spear rescues the primitive hominid with a broken leg, despite gaining nothing from it. Despite the dog-eat-dog world Spear lives in, he is still capable of showing compassion.
  • One of the albino cavemen rushing to the aid of the injured one beforehand, showing that in spite of living in absolute terror of the giant bats they still stick together. The attempted rescuer even does a Primal Chest-Pound with a cry to assert his courage. Unfortunately it still doesn't save him.
• When the bats successfully take Spear, Fang doesn't consider forgetting him for even a second. She immediately runs after him, and she absolutely refuses to stop trying to get up to him when she finds the mountain.
• Fang shows extreme courage in rescuing Spear from the spider. Considering how selfish she acted in earlier episodes, this is a lot of Character Development.
• At the end of the episode, one of the hominids returns Spear's kindness by giving him his spear back as he is chased by a flock of bats.

Rage of the Ape-Men

• Spear and Fang's time in the oasis. After a long and perilous journey, both of them get some time to rest and relax. Spear, in particular, has a happy and chill expression on his face all the time.
• Spear and Fang's progress as friends is highlighted when they're sitting down to a pile of fish. Spear looks contentedly around the oasis for a moment, then looks back to see that Fang has eaten everything again, and has a sheepish look on her face. Instead of provoking a fight like back in "River of Snakes", Spear just gives her a warm and forgiving smile. It speaks volumes about how much they trust each other now that, not only is Spear willing to forgive her easily, Fang actually feels guilty about unthinkingly eating the lot.

Scent of Prey

• For starters, the mere fact that Fang is still alive after the savage beatdown she suffered at the hands of the Ape Champion, which originally left her fate ambiguous.
• Just the entirety of Spear nursing Fang back to health. From him bringing her water, to defending her from hyena-like wild dogs, the whole episode shows that Spear would go to hell and back for Fang. It shows that Spear has truly come to love Fang.
• Fang, badly wounded, is still ready to force herself to stand on two shakey legs so Spear doesn't have to fight alone.
• Following this scene, Spear calms Fang down because she's still too weak to fight. They've learned to communicate with one another.
• At the end of the episode, when it looks like Spear is outnumbered by the wild dogs, Fang, now 100% better, breaks out of the cave and uses her new found strength to drive the dogs away. As Spear protected Fang with his love all throughout the episode, now Fang does the same for him!

Plague of Madness

• It only lasts a short while but the clear care the herd shows for its nests and the pair we see for a few seconds wrapping their necks around each other is a bright spot in the episode.
• Though it ends badly for him, one of the sauropods furiously charges the rampaging plague victim after it destroys the nests and attempts to fight it off, while the others only tried to get out of its way.
• After Spear wakes up from his nightmare, he looks over the cliff to look at the plagued Argentinosaurus to see if the beast is still alive. Not long after Fang wakes up, and checks as well. While Fang is still looking, Spear is actually leaving and not taking any chances (while Fang is still standing around) which can be somewhat out of character for him. Fang growls at him as quietly as she could, almost as if she's "asking" him where is he going. In Terror Under the Blood Moon when the duo approached the monolith Fang, felt no fear and walked forward, while Spear felt a little cautious but went along with her. In this episode Fang is fully aware of the situation, and doesn't want her companion to get hurt and/or infected by the Argentinosaurus. It really shows that she's just looking out for his well-being.
• As terrifying and dangerous as the Plague Monster was, when Spear and Fang watch it die, they both seem visibly heartbroken, showing that they both feel sorry for it.
• For those who watched this episode when it aired Out of Order: the mere fact that Fang is still alive after what she went through in Episode 5. Last time we saw her, she was unconscious and Spear's reaction really hinted that she died from her wounds. At least, no matter how horrific this episode is, it has a silver lining in the fact that our favorite T-rex survived and recovered.

Coven of the Damned

• Lula, the witch who controls Fang, travels back to her and Spear's respective pasts—Lula sees Fang's babies hatching from their eggs and them bonding with their mother and sees Spear holding up his second child after his wife gives birth.
• Lula's reaction to seeing the death of Fang's babies is to hug the T. rex.
• As Lula's preparing Spear for the ritual, a red butterfly flies by, reminding Lula of her daughter (similar red butterflies flew around when the little girl died). It can easily be interpreted as Lula's daughter's spirit coming back to Lula in the form of a butterfly. This gives the witch the final push to sabotage the ritual and free Spear and Fang.
• And when Fang is released from the spell, Spear's first reaction is to hug her.
• The final shot of the episode shows Lula reuniting with her daughter in the afterlife.
  • Hell, just the fact that there is an afterlife in the Primalverse. Which means that, eventually, Spear will get to see his wife and children again and (assuming it also works for intelligent animals) Fang will be reunited with her hatchlings too!
  • This revelation also adds a bit of Fridge Heartwarming to Spear's death in the finale and adds another layer of Bittersweet Ending to his story. He may never see Mira or Fang again (or at least not in the world of the living) or get to watch his new daughter grow up, but at least he's presumably reunited with the multiple family members who were prematurely ripped away from him (including his father, his wife, and his first two children).

Slave of the Scorpion

• Spear's first reaction when confronted with a terrified stranger is to try and show he means no harm. He does this by placing his weapon on the ground and crouching in front of her, showing that he doesn't intend to use it, and making himself appear smaller and less threatening.
• Fang, while being more guarded at first, is surprisingly welcoming to Mira. She quickly starts treating her as one of the group and has no problem encouraging her to ride on her back. She's also just as eager to save her as Spear is. Though Mira's cooking definitely endears her to Fang, who seems legitimately surprised that anything could taste so good. She even makes a clear "MMMM" sound afterwards.
  • There's also the fact that Fang's distrust seems to be more out of concern for Spear. When they all fall asleep by the fire, Fang actually curls her tail around Spear, as if to tell Mira that he's under her protection.
• Despite seemingly coming from a more technologically-advanced society, Mira never once looks down on Spear or Fang and seems to treat them as equals, once she realizes they are not a threat.

Season 2

Sea of Despair

• Despite being very clearly reluctant to go along with it, Fang helps Spear build a raft and set out into the unknown ocean in pursuit of Mira, even taking over paddling when Spear wears himself out. She really doesn't think it is a sane or practical thing to be doing, but Spear is her only family, and family sticks together.

Shadow of Fate

• After being separated, both Spear and Fang find peace among their own kind, feeling genuinely happy for the first time in a long while. Spear's interactions with the Chieftain's daughter are hilarious and adorable, while Fang finds love again with Red. Both of them are almost tempted to leave behind their heroic quest.
• The Chieftain of the tribe that takes Spear in is a wise and compassionate leader, the first to recognize that Spear is lashing out in fear, and the first to make overtures to calm him down. Even at the end of things, he still offers Spear a place in his society.
  • More than that, it probably would have worked out well for Spear if he had accepted. Spear is a very strong, skilled fighter, and an exceedingly practiced hunter. He would have been a very welcome and valued addition to the tribe.
• Spear has a bit of a visual "conversation" with a dog in the village. Approaching it on all fours, despite the animal snarling and barking viciously at him. Spear doesn't roar back, but stands his ground as if to say "I am not afraid of you. But I am not your enemy." The dog immediately understands, stops growling, submits to him, thinking that Spear has just bullied him out of his meal. But Spear tears a large chunk out of the haunch of meat for his new friend, and they share it together. Spear clearly enjoys the company of beasts, and is good at making friends with them when possible.

Dawn of Man

• Spear sees the moon and awkwardly imitates Mira's nightly ritual. He doesn't understand why she was making those odd gestures, but he clearly wants to understand, thinking that it must have been for a good reason.
• Mira's return, running straight into a hug and clearly being delighted not only to see Spear but to hear him speak her name.

Vidarr

• Mira, Spear and Fang reconnect as Mira treats their wounds. She's clearly moved by seeing them again.
• The sheer unadulterated joy Spear expresses when he realises Fang is pregnant. We see a side of the caveman we've only glimpsed at up till now, hugging Fang and grinning like an idiot, fussing over her, helping with her nest and eagerly bringing her loads of fish. When they're attacked by the Chieftain and Eldar, he doesn't hesitate to shield the nest, and once the threat passes he once again embraces his friend like a giddy Uncle as Mira watches smiling.
• When Spear realizes The Chieftain and Eldar are coming back, with an air raid no less, his first instinct is to shield Fang's eggs with his body, making sure to protect them with his life.
• When Spear first realizes Fang is about to lay eggs he gives a wide smile and a huge yell of complete joy! Immediately, he rushes to give her a big hug across the chest while giving the biggest smile we've ever seen on him (as seen in the page image). He's truly happy for his dear friend.
• Despite being broody and more than a little ornery (normal for female birds of prey on a nest!) she tolerates a hug from Spear and you can actually see her reptilian eyes soften as she looks at him.
• If everything goes well, Fang will soon have her own tyrannosaur family once again. Also, Red has left his legacy behind before his tragic death.

"The Colossaeus, Part I"

• Mira is homesick and frustrated that Fang has settled in with the nest. She clearly wants to just take the damn things but she's not unsympathetic. So she frustratedly fills the boat with supplies...and sulks. Spear notices and immediately tries to help. Sweet enough, but once they stop trying to just pull a fast one on her and she realises what the point is, Fang unhesitatingly transplants the eggs into a makeshift nest on the boat. Her family includes the eggs AND the humans, and she's not going to allow them to be separated.
• The fact that Spear was able to talk down a pissed off Fang so that the Egyptian wouldn't break another of her eggs. He does so by gentily stroking her nose and softly grunting to her in a soothing, calm way.

"The Colossaeus, Part II"

• Though the circumstances are terrible, the gentle hug Kamau gives to his daughter shows that under the terrifying exterior, he is a kind-hearted and loving father.

"The Colossaeus, Part III"

• Although it becomes heartbreaking given what comes after, Kamau's shown to be an exceptionally empathetic man before he was captured. When Amal (his daughter) tries to kill a spider with a stick, he simply corrects her gently before scooping up the spider in a bowl and releasing it, unharmed, out of his house.
• When ordered by Ima (the Egyptian Queen) to kill Fang, Kamau hesitates, thinks it over, and decides to risk everything and set Fang and her children free, saving the group's lives in the process.
• When Mira sees one of Fang's children injured by an arrow, she takes the initiative to save the hatchling from any danger. When she grabs him, Fang screams at her, but allows her, showing that she trusts her as much as she does Spear.
• When it's all set and done, Spear, Fang and Mira part ways with Kamau after defeating Ima. Kamau gives a grateful smile to them, for inspiring the courage in him to stand up to the queen and save not only his daughter, but his people as well.
• It's very touching to see Fang curl up and sleep peacefully with her children. A second chance at a family hard fought for indeed.

Echoes of Eternity

• Spear and Mira worshipping the moon together.
• After spending the night in a cave, Fang goes to hunt for food for everyone and leaves her sleeping children in the arms of Spear, who sees what she did and instinctively pulls them closer.
• When Mira shows Spear a brand-new hut he can sleep in, Fang doesn't hesitate to go in there with him, despite breaking the wall apart as she does so. She and Spear are family, and she goes wherever he goes.
• Spear is feeling isolated by Mira finding her home and Fang having her children. Probably for the first time since he met Fang he feels alone. Yet, everything Mira and Fang do shows that they are as inclusive as ever. Mira brings him into her rituals, and provides him a home. Fang welcomes him to sleep next to her as always and when he is given a house, the idea she's not sharing with him clearly doesn't enter her head. While he feels this way now, his family is never abandoning him.
• Spear's cave drawings start in blood, but transition into a story of his journey with the two individuals he cares about the most, and show that while he now is feeling alone they have found something he is truly happy for them to have.
• Spear dies protecting Mira, Fang and her babies from the Viking Chieftain's retribution when the injuries he sustains from the fiery entity prove to be too much for him to live off. His final act is an encapsulation of every action he's taken across two seasons, fighting for those he loves. Despite this, he and Mira manage to have a child and said child manages to live on.
• When Mira realizes what Spear's cave drawings mean (that despite having Mira and Fang with him he still feels alone because he still has no real family) Mira makes love to him in the next to last scene despite his burns, in order to show him he's not alone, and that she loved him.
• Fang's two babies surviving and at the end being full grown, with the red-headed one bonding with Spear and Mira's daughter.
• It's been years, but Fang has remained with Mira and her daughter this whole time. It's easy to imagine that like Spear, she took on the role of protective aunt for the child as she grew up. She's been there supporting Spear's legacy.