It’s easy enough to spot all the Dota 2 heroes we are familiar with in Netflix’s DOTA: Dragon’s Blood season 2. But with Viceroy Kashurra, an anime-original character, it can be easy to miss certain things.
On the surface, Kashurra looks to be a kindly old man with a penchant for calling Mirana his “little sunbeam.” That’s before he reveals his true nature.
Warning: Major spoilers if you are yet to watch DOTA: Dragon’s Blood book 2.
Who is Kashurra?
When we first meet Viceroy Kashurra, he’s presented as one of Mirana’s oldest allies, who helped her escape the Helio Imperium and has since served as advisor to the throne.
But he turns out to be working towards his own goals all along as one of the primary antagonists in Dragon’s Blood book 2, killing all that stands in his way.
He’s a Void Dragon corrupted by the Nemesis Stones
Kashurra is at least three thousand years old. Once just a normal Void Dragon with “no will” and “no voice”, he stumbled upon the two Nemesis Stones—Radiant ore and Direstone—and was then torn apart from the Thunder, the song all dragons can hear (like a sort of hivemind).
The Nemesis Stones gave him unprecedented power and a voice, but also tore him apart from creation’s light. It’s what drives him to the Helio Imperium, the seat of the Solar Throne—which worships the Sun, also the Worldwurm that created the Eldwurms.
Kashurra’s true self was foreshadowed by Auroth, the Winter Wyvern. She was similarly changed by the Radiant ore, gaining a human form and the ability to speak.
But Kashurra was infected by both the Radiant ore and Direstone, two warring counterparts, which could explain his descent into wickedness and madness.
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Kashurra is not Byssrak, the Void Eldwurm
It’s a little confusing, because Kashurra and Byssrak look exactly alike. But there’s damning proof that the two are not the same creature.
The Eldwurms are immortal, but they don’t live in the same body for eternity. Flesh decays, after all. Instead, their souls transplant themselves whenever their body is weak, taking residence in the next oldest dragon of their type, according to Dragon’s Blood creator Ashley Edward Miller.
And where is Byssrak’s soul? Captured and held captive by the Invoker in book 2, episode 3, The Lady of Situations, after he convinces the Chaos Dragon Vahdrak to betray his brothers.
Plus, Byssrak’s whole shtick is that he speaks just one word. Kashurra is much more eloquent, and a thousand times more manipulative.
Yes, they probably should have made it clearer with a different model. Chalk it up to budgetary constraints, or anime canon “reasons” that most dragons tend to look very similar to each other.
He’s obsessed with Mirana
There’s a lot to like in Mirana’s proud and noble character, but it’s definitely not cool when you take that attraction to extremes as Kashurra does.
Kashurra realizes his exile from the Thunder renders him empty, since the dragons, as Pillars of Creation, were all linked to the Sun. So, he seeks something to fill the void. Enter Mirana, the Worldwurm made flesh.
Mirana is not just the Princess of the Moon, or Princess of the Sun, but the latest incarnation of the Eye, the Sun, the Source of creation itself. Each of Kashurra’s schemes has been to draw out the power from the Sun and crown Mirana as Empress, hence his turn to villainy and attempts to push the princess past her breaking point.
Why is Mirana the Sun? It’s still unclear, but this ties her up as a direct foil to the Selemene storyline, her former goddess when she was the Princess of the Moon.
Selemene is a usurper of the true goddess of the moon, Mene, and Mirana is now restored to her true position as the Sun. Seems like a good way to kick off the story for the next season.
READ MORE: 7 Easter eggs in DOTA: Dragon’s Blood Book 2 that only true Dota fans will spot
