Mysticons

''Mysticons'' is an animated television series that aired from August 28, 2017, to September 15, 2018. A collaboration between companies Nelvana, Playmates Toys, and The Topps Company, it was created by Sean Jara, who also served as executive story editor and producer.

In August 2018, Jara confirmed on Twitter that ''Mysticons'' had not been renewed for any episodes beyond its initial 40-episode production order. The final episode, "Age of Dragons", aired on September 15, 2018, in the U.S. and September 23, 2018, in Canada.

Plot

Set in the realm of Gemina and its capital, Drake City, the series follows the adventures of Arkayna, princess of Gemina, and Emerald, Zarya, and Piper, who are chosen by the Dragon Disk to become the second generation of legendary heroes known as the Mysticons. They embark on a quest to find four spellbooks and animal-themed bracers of mystical power to form the Codex, which will give them the power needed to save Gemina from Dreadbane, who seeks to release Necrafa, leader of the Spectral Hand and Queen of the Undead, and turned King Darius and Queen Goodfey to stone. Once Necrafa is freed, she betrays Dreadbane and banishes him to another dimension where Imani Firewing, the original Mysticon Dragon Mage, banished her a millennium ago.

They encounter allies and adversaries while learning that Arkayna has a long-lost fraternal twin sister, who is assumed to be the Astromancer Proxima Starfall. However, she is revealed to have been a scapegoat and proxy for Zarya Moonwolf, the second Mysticon Ranger and Arkanya's true twin sister. They also learn of a prophecy foretelling Gemina's destruction:
:''When the twin stars unite''
:''The spectral beast will take flight''
:''Its roars will heard a new dark age''
:''And the realm will be''
:''Purged by the dragon's rage''
Necrafa fuses with the Spectral Dragon, but Arkayna and Zarya obtain two rings that transform them into the "Twin Dragon," allowing them to destroy her and the Spectral Dragon, leaving half of her mask behind.

The Mysticons are called back to their heroic duties to destroy Necrafa's mask, which Proxima wears and becomes their adversary after feeling used by Zarya and betrayed by Arkayna for abandoning her for Zarya. She becomes the new leader of the Spectral Hand with help from the Astromancers, whom she places under her control as the Spectromancers, and creates the Dark Codex by corrupting the Dragon Disk. To help her get revenge on the Mysticons, she creates the Vexicons, which are similar to the Mysticons.

Realizing that the mask is controlling her, Proxima attempts to throw it into the Rift of Ruin, but it takes full control of her and prepares to destroy Gemina. With Tazma's help, the Mysticons enter her mind to find a spell that will free her from the mask's influence and Arkayna realizes that she failed to be there for Proxima when she needed her most. With Proxima free, Arkayna saves her from being killed by Mallory, who dons the mask before leaving with the Vexicons.

On the island, the Vexicons prepare for the arrival of the Spectral Hand while Proxima explains its origins, as well as those of Necrafa and Dreadbane, before undoing the spell she cast on the Astromancers. Nova Terron reveals the existence of magical lances that could enhance the power of the Mysticons' bracers and allow them to destroy the Spectral Hand forever, but that the plans to create them are in Queen Goodfey's necklace. When Dreadbane refuses to reverse the curse on Darius and Queen Goodfey, the Mysticons head to the palace to retrieve their petrified forms, but are captured by Mallory. However, Dreadbane saves her, as well as Darius and Queen Goodfey, using the last of his powers to revive them before dying.

After receiving the plans, the Mysticons create the Lance of Justice in the dwarves' forge room and Queen Goodfey accompanies them to confront the Spectral Hand, which emerges from the ancient column of ruins that had imprisoned it. Realizing that the Spectral Hand may be vulnerable to the Dragons of Light, Zarya returns with them to Dragonhenge, where King Valmuk tells them that the only way for the Dragons of Light to reach full adulthood in time is to go to the Ever Realm, where time flows faster. Upon reaching the Valley of Shooting Stars, they are caught by the Vexicons and Eartha has a change of heart and refuses to destroy the dragon eggs. Using their dragon mounts and the power of the bracers, the Mysticons destroy the Spectral Hand and free those it had imprisoned.

With Gemina at peace, life returns to normal as the Mysticons continue their duties defending the realm. Emerald and Eartha live together in Ruddix Hollow, King Darius and Queen Goodfey resume their royal duties and have the Vexicons imprisoned, Nova Terron resigns as master of the Astromancer Academy to be with his girlfriend Geraldine and gives the position to Proxima as compensation for inadvertently helping to ruin her life, presenting her with the Codex and the Dragon Disk.

Cast and characters

* Alyson Court as Princess Arkayna Goodfey/Mysticon Dragon Mage
* Nicki Burke as Zarya Moonwolf/Mysticon Ranger
* Ana Sani as Piper Willowbrook/Mysticon Striker
* Evany Rosen as Emerald Zirconia Goldenbraid/Mysticon Knight
* Amy Matysio as Mallory
* Katie Griffin as Kitty Boon
* Joshua Graham as Kasey Boon
* David Berni as (Acting) King Gawayne
* Dan Lett as Nova Terron
* Michelle Monteith as Tazma Grimm
* Stacey DePass as Proxima Starfall
* Deven Christian Mack as Malvaron Grimm, Ferrus Goldenbraid, and General Dreadbane
* Linda Kash as Kymraw and Queen Goodfey
* Doug Hadders as Douglaphius "Doug" Hadderstorm
* Valerie Buhagiar as Queen Necrafa
* Julie Lemieux as Serena Snakecharmer
* Athena Karkanis as Imani Firewing and Quasarla
* Cory Doran as Neeko
* Paul Soles as Barnabas Dinklelot (3 episodes)
* Denise Oliver as Citrine Goldenbraid and Queen Truefin
* Cedric Smith as King Valmuk
* Neil Crone as Malachite Goldenbraid
* Rob Tinkler as Halite Goldenbraid
* Talia Pearl as Princess Kelpie Truefin ("Clash of the Tridents" and "The Mask")
* Jamie Watson as Captain Kaos ("Mutiny Most Fowl")
* Catherine Disher as Hortensia Q. Sparklebottom (3 episodes)
* Barbara Mamabolo as Vesper
* Bahia Watson as Kasha (10 episodes)
* Alana Bridgewater as Eartha (10 episodes)
* Patrick McKenna as King Darius (7 episodes)
* Stephany Seki as Willa

Production

In June 2015, it was reported that Nelvana, a Canadian production company, was partnering with US Nickelodeon to create the series, with the latter broadcasting the show, and Nelvana beginning production later in 2015. At the same time, both companies were said to be working with The Topps Company, while Michael Eisner and Noel Bright of the latter are executive producers, as are Colin Bohm, Doug Murphy, and Irene Weibel of Corus Entertainment. By June 2016, the show had been picked up for 40 episodes. Weibel, as the manager of the development slate at Nelvana, served as executive producer as a result on ''Mysticons'' and other shows produced by the studio like '' Mike the Knight'', '' Disney's Lucky Duck'' and '' Hotel Transylvania''. In addition, Sean Jara would be the show's creator, writer, and executive story editor. The show was later promoted as a "genre-defining action series" before its release.

Themes

The show is female-centered, as opposed to "many male-centered series" for younger viewers while focusing on magic, superpowers, and the classic good vs. evil dichotomy. As such, the series has elves primarily in the form of 110-year-old protagonist Piper Willowbrook, whose elvish name is Pyperia Ashryn Elvaniski, but also in the case of Hortensia Q. Sparklebottom, and princesses like Arkana Goodfey and Zarya Moonwolf, who are both protagonists who were separated at birth. Furthermore, the series has a focus on the undead For instance, villain and undead sorceress, Queen Necrafa, is a lich, which is a type of undead creature. Her power is suggested to originate from the spectral hand, a reign of evil that started from a witch seeking district powers. Due to the focus on magic and fantasy, the series has been compared to the upcoming Crunchyroll Original, '' High Guardian Spice'' by some critics. The series was promoted by Nelvana as focusing on "girls’ strength, power, and courage" while other reviewers said it promotes "strong, confident, smart and funny girls." One reviewer described the first graphic novel offshoot based on the series as a "contemporary urban fantasy" which can also apply to the animated series.

LGBT representation

In October 2017, it was reported that a kiss between two female characters, Zarya Moonwolf and Kitty Boon, on the show was in danger of being cut. Despite this, the show showed the "development of a female-female romance," between Zarya, a protagonist, and her childhood friend, Kitty, known as "MoonBoon," culminating in romantic moments. In August 2018, the show's creator, Sean Jara, confirmed the two as a couple, noting that only one version of the episode was created and that the show's creative team fought for a kiss, but lost even though they managed "to keep the integrity of the love story." Jara also said there is a "beautiful love story" between Zarya and Kitty in the show, referring to the interactions between the two characters in episode 37 ("The Princess and the Pirate"), stated the importance of showing "love between LGBTQ characters on TV," and said that the kiss was cut from the episode because of "systemic homophobia" in the kids' television industry, crediting Rebecca Sugar for making strides. This consists of the tweet stream by Sean Jara, which seemed better to use than citing every individual tweet. He opined on the continual battle for more LGBTQ representation, cited an Entertainment Weekly article about LGBTQ representation in cartoons, and praised the battles for more representation which go on behind the scenes. He said this saying that Nick did not pick up the show for more than 40 episodes and, once again, confirmed Kitty and Zarya as a lesbian couple. In September, Jara said that they treated the relationship between Kitty and Zarya "like all the other relationships in the show." He added that while he was nervous and aware of possible roadblocks, Matt Ferguson, the show's director, supported it, as did his writing team. Ferguson argued that pushback came from not from people who were "evil" but rather from those who were "trying to do the best job at their particular job."

In June 2021, Abbey White of ''Insider'' reported that when the show's studio changed the series to center on four teenage girls, Jara brought in more women and queer writers to the show's writing team, who were "responsible for building out an arc between lesbian characters Zarya Moonwolf and Kitty Boon," which fans gave the shipping name of "MoonBoon." Jara recalled that he sent in the script for a kiss of the two character to the show's studios, and Nickelodeon, and fellow producers working on the show. But, the moment never aired, despite support from Nickelodeon, because a partner was concerned that the storyline was not "age-appropriate" for young viewers. As a result, despite Jara's attempts to convince the partner, the creative team had to scrap the kiss, and almost had to unravel the whole love story between Zarya and Kitty, but Jara fought for its inclusion. In the article, Nelvana confirmed that the decision to remove the kiss was made during production of the show's Season Two, and said that they were committed to having "creative storytelling with diversity and inclusion at the forefront" when it comes to BIPOC and LGBTQ representation."

Staff and cast

From 2014 to 2017, Stevie Vallance was based in Toronto as the Voice Director of the series. The principal voice cast includes Alyson Court as Arkayna Goodfey, Evany Rosen as Emerald Goldenbraid, Nicki Burke as Zarya Moonwolf, and Ana Sani as Piper Willowbrook. In terms of recurring characters, David Berni was Gawayne the Great, Katie Griffin was Kitty Boon, Linda Kash was Queen Goodfey and Kymraw, and Dan Lett was Nova Terron.

In March 2018, the show was nominated for various awards at the 6th Canadian Screen Awards. This included one for Matt Ferguson, who directed the episode "Scourge of the Seven Skies" and another for Sean Jara, who wrote the episode "Sisters in Arms." While Ferguson did not get an award, Jara won an award for his writing on the aforementioned episode. The following year, another episode Jara wrote, "The Princess and the Pirate," was nominated for an award as the 7th Canadian Screen Awards. The same year, Ana Sani was nominated for the "Outstanding Performance – Female Voice" ACTRA Award

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