Warning! MAJOR SPOILERS ahead for 3Below season 1!
3Below: Tales of Arcadia season 1’s ending sets up a new era of Trollhunters. 3Below season 1 explores how it is the young alien royals, Princess Aja and Prince Krel came to live in Arcadia Oaks. Accompanied by their bodyguard, Varvatos Vex, the aliens do their best to blend in among the humans, but with bounty hunters tracking them and an evil dictator wishing them dead, maintaining their cover isn’t always easy.
3Below is the second series in Guillermo del Toro’s Tales of Arcadia, a trilogy of animated series from DreamWorks Animation Television that centers on the town of Arcadia Oaks and the weird things that happen there. The first series, Trollhunters, introduced the world of trolls hiding just below the town’s surface and the teenager, Jim Lake, whose destiny it is to protect both trolls and humans alike. 3Below picks up events during Trollhunters final season, telling the story from Aja and Krel’s perspective as they first arrive and later come to feel quite at home in Arcadia.
Moving to a new town is never easy, but Aja and Krel have it more difficult than most. They’re aliens, they’re fleeing for their lives, and after crash-landing on Earth, they’re stranded with no way home. In time, though, they begin thinking of Arcadia as home, and while their goal remains restoring their parents to life and returning to Akiridian-5, they find they enjoy their time on Earth. However, General Morando won’t just leave them to live out their lives in peace, needing to destroy both them and their parents in order to secure his reign.
Here’s what happened in 3Below’s season 1 finale and where it might lead the series to go next.
- This Page: 3Below Season 1’s Ending Page 2: How 3Below Sets Up Season 2
What Happens in 3Below’s Season 1 Finale
With Morando’s Omen - a Blank robot programmed to destroy any who resist - in control of the Mothership at the end of 3Below season 1, Aja and Krel are left looking on as it flies away, taking their parents’ cores with it. As the two young royals fend off the bounty hunter, Zeron Alpha, their banished bodyguard, Varvatos Vex steals Zadra’s ship and flies it straight at the Mothership, downing it. Unsure if Varvatas survived his sacrifice play, Stuart takes Buster to search the wreckage for him, while Aja, Krel, and Zadra head towards to crashed Mothership.
Zadra engages both Ricky and Lucy - aka Dadblank and Momblank, under the control of Omen - as Aja and Krel make their way towards Mothership’s core. In order to save their parents, they must defeat Omen and get back control of Mother. Krel begins hacking into the ship’s A.I., while Aja holds off Omen - now directly linked with Morando, who hopes to broadcast the death of the young royals to all of Akiridian-5 as a means of crushing the growing resistance to his rule.
Eventually, Krel manages to hack Mother’s system, ripping control away from Omen just as the robot is about to kill his sister. With Morando no longer in control, Krel takes over the broadcast and uses it to send their own message to Akridian-5. Appearing on screens across the planet, Krel and Aja declare that not only are they still alive, but they will continue to fight to free Akiridian-5 from Morando’s rule, inspiring the resistance to continue. Furious, Morando vows to destroy them, proclaiming that he’ll even come to Earth to do it.
Back on Earth, Aja and Krel secure their parents’ cores and continue the restoration process. Varvatos, it’s revealed, has been captured by Zeron Alpha, last seen being taking off-world in the bounty hunter’s ship. However, with Mothership now even more damaged, there’s no chance of a pursuit. Aja and Krel will remain on Earth, continuing to experience life in Arcadia. But the truth of their identities may not stay a secret for long, because unaware to either Aja or Krel, their classmate Eli has snapped a photo of them in their Akiridian forms.
Will Aja & Krel Revive Their Parents In 3Below Season 2?
Akiridians are an alien race comprised of energy and not organic material like the lifeforms on Earth. Because of this, they are capable of being restored after death, and could potentially even be immortal as long as their cores are undamaged. In fact, the opening scene of the 3Below’s season 1 finale is a flashback to Aja and Krel learning that very lesson, with their father explaining that, “as long as your core remains intact then you can survive almost anything.”
Since escaping Akiridian-5, the cores of Aja and Krel’s parents have been incubated within Mothership, slowly restoring the King and Queen to life. The crux of the finale was all about stopping Omen from stealing the cores, but now that their back within the pods, the question of whether or not Aja and Krel’s parents will ever be restored still lingers. It’s clearly possible for it to happen, and 3Below might even feature a touching family reunion for the Tarron clan in future seasons. But then, seeing as the series began with Aja and Krel being crowned Queen and King-in-waiting, respectively, it would only stand to reason that 3Below would in time see them assume those roles.
Succeeding their parents as the new rulers of Akiridian-5 and, in the process, deposing Morando would be a feasible arc for Aja and Krel to have. During their time on Earth, they’re learning not just about human culture, but about responsibility and leadership. They’ve become stronger and more confident, each recognizing their own strengths and refusing to let others define what they’re capable of. Similar to Jim’s journey in Trollhunters, Aja and Krel appear destined to not only save their home planet from Morando, but become its new rulers in the process.
Page 2 of 2: How 3Below Sets Up Season 2
Varvato’s Play At Redemption In 3Below Season 2
Earlier on in 3Below season 1, Varvatos has his backstory fleshed out, revealing that the Zeron bounty hunters were responsible for killing his family. Varvatos wished for revenge, but the King and Queen wouldn’t allow it. Varvatos then helps Morando enter Akiridian-5, lowering the planet’s shields and hoping that the change in leadership would allow him to avenge his family. Morando has promised Varvatos that no one would get hurt in the coup, but in realizing his grave mistake, Varvatos swore to his dying King that he would protect Aja and Krel. But when the truth of Varvatos’ role in Morando’s surprise attack is eventually revealed, Aja and Krel’s trust in him is shattered and they banish him.
The motivation that 3Below gives Varvatos is surprisingly complex for a children’s show, leading to an interesting exploration of forgiveness and redemption. Had Varvatos not agreed to help Morando, then all the terrible things that have happened - beginning with the murder of Aja and Krel’s parents - could have been avoided. It’s perfectly understandable, then, for Aja and Krel to have reacted as they did. However, it doesn’t stop Varvatos from honoring his promise to their parents, and when he pilots Zadra’s ship and downs the Mothership, he likely isn’t expecting to survive, sacrificing himself to protect the whole Tarron clan.
With the season ending on Varvatos being kidnapped by the very bounty hunter who also killed his family, 3Below season 2 will almost certainly have Aja and Krel forgive him and possibly even attempt a rescue. In doing so, it’ll be another lesson in leadership for the young royals, teaching them to be merciful - especially to those who go to such great lengths to redeem themselves.
How Soon Until Arcadia Learns of Aliens?
At one point in 3Below season 1, Aja, Krel, Varvatos, and another alien hiding in Arcadia, Stuart, are almost captured by a government organization led by Officer Kubritz. This proves only to be a real threat for that one episode, but it raises the question of what will happen when Arcadia learns there are aliens living among them. Already, Trollhunters dealt with keeping the existence of trolls a secret, ending the series with Jim, Claire, and the remaining trolls leaving for a new home. And the humans of Arcadia aren’t likely to handle the truth of aliens any better than trolls, which means at some point, Aja and Krel may be forced to leave as well.
3Below’s season 1 finale sets the stage for Aja and Krel’s true identities to be revealed, with Eli finally managing to snap a photo of the two in their Akiridian forms. However, Eli is a character known to many as a bit of a conspiracy nut, so most won’t likely believe him. But then, Kubritz and the military don’t need convincing, they just require proof of where they can find the alien invaders in order to bring them into custody. In which case, expect 3Below season 2 to feature Kubritz more prominently, likely even being the season’s main antagonist.
The fear of the unknown is a theme running throughout 3Below, often framing the aliens in a manner similar to how society fears immigrants and other newcomers. It’s been one of the more important elements of the show, adding an extra layer to the ways in which the different residents of Arcadia react to Aja and Krel. And were their true identities as actual aliens revealed, then that comparison would only become all the more overt, drawing a direct correlation between how Arcadia treats these aliens and how actual societies treat immigrants.
3Below Season 2’s Battlefield: Earth
3Below season 1 ends with Morando planning an invasion of Earth, looking to finish the Tarron clan for good and cement himself as Akiridian-5’s true ruler. The tease sets up not only a future conflict, but suggests that future seasons of 3Below will have Arcadia endure an intergalactic attack. And if that’s the case, then the truth about aliens will be well and truly out of the bag.
A full-on invasion of Arcadia feels extreme, but seeing as the town has already weathered an attack from the evil sorceress, Morgana, another such attack isn’t entirely implausible. Just when this would occur isn’t clear, though, because while Morando seems determined to attack, he also has a homegrown rebellion to contend with. Additionally, the resistance from Earth might prove surprising, because while Officer Kubritz seeks aliens to capture, she’s also a fan of their tech. And were Morando to actually lead an invasion of Arcadia, it seems likely Kubritz would use whatever means at her disposal to defend the town.
Morando’s pending attack would also likely unite Aja and Krel with Kubritz, forcing them to put aside their differences in order to save Arcadia. Trollhunters did something similar when Angor Rot joined in their fight against Morgana, and it’s a plot point 3Below is sure to include as well. Not to mention, a large-scale invasion of Arcadia seems just like the sort of thing that would bring Jim, Claire, and others from Trollhunters back. 3Below season 1 includes some crossover between the two series, but there’s certainly more to come, paving the way for the final series in the Tales of Arcadia trilogy, Wizards, in where all of Arcadia’s heroes will unite in one final battle that will decide the fate of the whole galaxy!
Next: What To Expect From 3Below Season 2
3Below: Tales of Arcadia season 1 is now available to stream on Netflix.
