>>106172663King Harrow basically spells out the moral lessons of the show. It's not about Elves=Good/Humans=Bad, its about how BOTH sides want to do things--seemingly reasonable things--that perpetuate the cycle of violence and mistrust, and our heroes, a mere handful of characters, represent the only third party looking for a peaceful alternative.
In show frowns on Viren's shenanigans, but it also condemns Runaan's assassination plot.
Additionally, Viren's ideology that an omelette requires breaking some eggs is counterpointed by Harrow's assertion that if one is willing to break eggs, they should be one's own eggs. In other words, sacrifices are necessary, but you should only sacrifice that which is your own thing to sacrifice. And it is worth making sacrifices rather than taking shortcuts that lead to long-term problems.
Viren sacrificed one magma titan to save 10,000 Durenians, where Harrow would have sacrificed 5,000 Katolisans to save 5,000 Durenians. But that would have been the end of it, whereas Viren's "shortcut" has led to continued violence, and we stand at the brink of a war that may yet risk 1,000,000 human lives, to say nothing of elves and their ilk.
I feel like the thing with Soren and the Dragon is being misinterpreted. It's not that Soren's a monster for trying to murder the poor innocent dragon. The Dragon was just as guilty of brinkmanship as anyone (indeed, more than some) and is partly to blame for the situation escalating. But the narrative lesson here isn't about Soren OR the dragon, it's about Rayla's choice. She has the option to pull a "For the greater good," a la Viren, and sacrifice the dragon for her quest to return Zym safely home, but chooses instead to sacrifice (or rather, RISK sacrificing) her own quest in order to do something that will end a (not "the," but "a") cycle of violence and retribution on a small scale.
