Synopsis: The adventure begins. Legends tell of the Great War, and rumors spread that an ancient enemy clan known as the Voltaris may be returning. Further investigation will be necessary, yet dangers and mysteries await in the vast world of Ardonia.
The series begins with a prologue.
The vast land of Ardonia is home to diverse people, strange creatures and dangerous monsters. Among the dense forests, treacherous deserts and in the frozen mountains lay secrets and mysteries that have aluded comprension throughout the ages. The Ardoni species are among these mysteries, they have the unique ability to wield the great powers known as Songs. The strongest of these are referred to as Prime Songs, which were deemed too powerful for the Ardoni to wield freely, and so were given to the masters of the four Ardoni clans, as a sign of peace and unity. Due to this however, they were blinded to the danger of the Nether Realm, whose army spread across the land, unstoppable in their path, no matter how much the legendary Enderknights challenged their conquest.
Reluctantly, the Ardoni clans agreed, holding a tournament to determine their champion, who would all four Prime Songs. One challenger rose above the rest, and won the tournament. When he was presented with the Prime Songs however, he revealed himself as Ingressus Voltaris, the leader of the long-forgotten and dreaded Voltaris clan. With his identity revealed, the outraged masters refused to give Ingressus the Prime Songs, since it was the misuse of such power by the Voltaris, that the Prime Songs were kept out of use, and why they had been banished centuries ago. Furious with the masters, Ingressus set out alone that night, to reclaim the Prime Songs by force. One by one he slayed the masters of the Kaltaris, Sendaris, and Mendoris clans, earning the name "Deathsinger" for his rampage. Luckily, the master of the Nestoris clan, Aegus Nestoris, survived the massacre, thus protecting the final, and most powerful Prime Song. As the Ardoni mourned the tragedy, they vowed to hunt down the Deathsinger, to prevent him from obtaining the final Prime Song. During the mourning the Voltaris clan returned from exile, however, they knew they were outmatched, and allied with the Nether to form the most powerful alliance in history. Thus, the Great War began.
The alliance of the Enderknights, Humans, Ardoni, Magnorites and Felinas, despite their strength, could not stop the armies of the Nether and Voltaris. That was, until an Ardoni by the name of Achillean Nestoris joined the fight. An Ardoni skilled with the Songs, he lead the united armies of Ardonia to victory after victory, forcing the Nether armies to fall back into the Nether, earning the name "Tidesinger". With their only allies gone, the Voltaris fell back to Mount Velgrin, where the Tidesinger and the Deathsinger fought alone, and where both were defeated.
The prologue is then revealed to have been a narration of the Eleventh Wall of Time, read by Thalleous Sendaris, a veteran of the Great War, who was brought to the Walls of Time by his scholarly friend Hawken. Hawken states that he's heard rumours of a presence on the peak of Mount Velgrin, where the final duel between the Tidesinger and Deathsinger took place, however the scouts he sent there, haven't returned in two weeks.
Hawken decided to bring Thalleous to the Walls of Time to inform him of the possible lead of the Voltaris on Mount Velgrin. Thalleous has been hunting the Voltaris ever since the Great War ended, but its been years since he lost their trail, so he and Hawken decide to head to Mount Velgrin to investigate, Hawken wanting to know what happened to his scouts.
After a long journey getting there, they arrive at the exact location that Hawken sent the scouts. Suspiciously, Thalleous discovers that their supplies are still there, and in good condition as well.
The pair are then introduced the Voltaris clan, and their new leader Tygren, who has made sure that nobody was aware of the existence of the Voltaris on Mount Velgrin. Tygren has a personal vendetta against Thalleous for slaying his bretheren, and vows to kill Thalleous, and slay twice as many Sendaris in revenge.
Thalleous and Tygren engage in a fight, making use of their respective Songs and skills to try and best the other. Thalleous initially has the upper hand, but Tygren soon gets the better of him, disarming Thalleous as the latter used his Song to teleport. Hawken uses one of his scouts' shields to block Tygren’s energy projectile from hitting Thalleous, destroying the shield in the process. Hawken stands defiantly against Tygren while Thalleous attempts to retrieve his sword, but just as Thalleous turns around to face Tygren again, Hawken is stabbed by Tygren. Thalleous furiously charges at Tygren, but he's struck down. Just as Tygren is about to kill Thalleous, the latter teleports away from the area. Thalleous manages to use his Song to leap across a chasm, keeping him out of range of the Voltaris. The Voltaris face Thalleous one final time before walking away, leaving Thalleous to have barely escaped with his life.
Tropes:
- Chekhov's Gun: The shield that Thalleous brought from the scouts' encampment at the peak of Mount Velgrin, is later used by Hawken to save Thalleous from Tygren's Aggro-sphere. The shield is destroyed in the process.
- Description Cut: The narration in the prologue of the series cuts to a particular area of Ardonia's past when describing the landscape or people.
- Didn't Think This Through: The masters of the Ardoni clans clearly didn't think that maybe Ingressus wouldn't be happy with being denied something he rightfully won. As a result, three of them lost their lives and the Prime Songs that they held were taken by newly-named Deathsinger, which then lead to The Great War.
- Distant Prologue / Opening Narration: The series opens with a prologue of The Great War, and the Nether invasion which directly preceded it. This means that the prologue starts at least 200 years prior to the series, and as future episodes state, ended over 150 years ago. Thalleous Sendaris is narrating the entire thing from the Eleventh Wall of Time, which is where the series begins for real.
- Downer Ending: By the end of the episode, Hawken is killed, Thalleous has been injured and barely escaped with his life, and the Voltaris have proved to be a threat to Ardonia once again.
- Early-Bird Cameo: Both Zinaida and Lucidius are among the Voltaris observing the fight between Thalleous and Tygren in the latter part of the episode, before they make their official debuts in Episode 6. Location-wise, Sendaria is briefly seen during Hawken and Thalleous' Travel Montage.
- Foreshadowing: The portal frame seen at the peak of Mount Velgrin, and the event that the Voltaris have planned for, becomes the major focus in the series finale.
- Heroic Sacrifice: Hawken dies after defiantly putting himself between Thalleous and Tygren, allowing Thalleous to live for much longer in the series.
- Match Cut: Tygren thrusts his sword at Hawken at the moment Thalleous picks up his own sword.
- Minor Crime Reveals Major Plot: The disappearance of Hawken's scouting party at Mount Velgrin, directly lead to him and Thalleous discovering the Voltaris and the threat that they now pose to Ardonia.
- Nap-Inducing Speak: Hawken fell asleep at some point during Thalleous' narration of the Eleventh Wall of Time, much to Thalleous' chagrin.
- The Oner: The opening scene of the series is one long shot of a battlefield, with the Deathsinger at the very centre of the shot, as it pans closer towards him.
- Scenery Gorn: There are several scenes of the battles between the Nether and Voltaris against the rest of Ardonia, and it really hammers home a profound point: War Is Hell.
- Scenery Porn: After the opening shot in the prologue, there are several scenes showing the vast beauty of Ardonia's landscape. During the Travel Montage later in the episode, there are several more breathtaking shots of the geography of Ardonia.
- Travel Montage: One happens with Thalleous and Hawken, as they travel a great distance from the Walls of Time in Northwind, past Sendaria, through the Badlands and Conchord and past the Heart of Ardonia, before reaching Mount Velgrin.
- Unexpectedly Abandoned: Thalleous finds that the supplies of Hawken's scouts (and most likely other people as well) were just left, having been in some sort of cave for a while. It turns out that the Voltaris have been killing anyone who came to the peak of Mount Velgrin, and they presumably stole those supplies from the murdered owners.
- Unflinching Walk: Two examples:
- The first is a scene of the Enderknights walking out of the mist in their castle, having drawn their weapons.
- The second is of Ingressus hunting down the masters to reclaim the Prime Songs.
- Unreliable Narrator: Hawken describes the Walls of Time as this, and as proven later in the series, this is correct. The most glaring example that Hawken gives is the location of the final duel between Deathsinger and Tidesinger at Mount Velgrin.Hawken: Most legends, including these bungled Walls of Time, fail to state that the final duel took place on the mountain's peak.
- Villain of Another Story: Tygren Voltaris has made sure that nobody came down from Mount Velgrin alive, so as to Leave No Witnesses.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: We don't know what happened to Hawken's horse after he died, or what Thalleous would have done with the horse.
