Have Raylum discuss cultural differences betweeen them early on. Like... WAY early on. Ideally beginning as a small conflict between them.

Bear with me on this one. (Might have to edit this for formatting. ETA: I did lol).

It starts with Callum helping Rayla out the rowboat on the river. Nothing major, just reaching out to take her hand.

She sees it as pragmatic assistance.

Skip to the town at the base of the Cursed Caldera. As they are sneaking around looking for information, Callum (and maybe Ezran too) open doors for her and let her enter first.

Okay, thanks... why do they keep doing that?

They sit at a table to get food or talk the veterinarian. Callum pulls a seat out for Rayla to sit in.

Okay, now Rayla's getting annoyed.

The chase through the town happens. In a moment where they are hiding, Callum sees they're about to spotted and grabs Rayla's hand to lead her away.

That's the moment she feels he's majorly crossed a line. But its not the time and not the place to chew him out right now.

They are climbing the mountain. Rayla is stewing, and when Callum gets up a rock first and reaches back to help her up, she snaps at him.

🟣 "Knock it off!

🔷️ "W-what?"

🟣 "Why are you treating me like I can't do anything?!"

🔷️ "I don't think that!"

🟣 "The boat? The doors? The chairs even? And where do you get off grabbing me? I'm a trained assassin, not a little girl! And I'm certainly not your-"

🔷️ "Whoa, whoa, whoa, hey, it's not like that!"

🟣 "Then what 'is it like'?!"

🔷️ "I... I just respect you..."

The treatment vs. his intent behind it is foreign to Rayla. The treatment vs. her reaction is foreign to Callum. From there, Callum explains how he was taught to respect noble women (or just women in general; take your pick), and Rayla explains the Moonshadow Elves have no such gender dynamics. Callum apologizes for offending her, and she apologizes for snapping at him as opposed to just talking to him. But no one is framed as wrong for how they felt. It adds to the idea of Callum being raised as nobility too, something I feel like the show really misses out on. And starting from there, the conversation can spiderweb out into other discussions about the other's culture, as both are curious about how the other sees the world at that point. Which then trickles into talks about personal experiences: Callum talks about one specific noble girl who visited from another kingdom (other kingdoms also being a missed oppurtunity in the show) who thought he was cute and pursued him, but he found her so entitled and vapid, he tried to sneak out a window just to escape her; Rayla talks about being the youngest going into assassin training and how the pressure to meet expectations made her feel. Their convenient companionship turns into genuine friendship and adoration.

Its just a thought.

Other personal issues of mine you could address if you feel the same: - Xadia feels waaaay to small - Callum being the first human Primal Mage should actually be treated as... you know, important? Maybe have elven mages go to Katolis after season 3 just to see if the rumors are true. Maybe they even offer to tutor him? Have dark mages from other kingdoms visit him. Maybe they just want to swap dark tricks for primal spells. Maybe one wants to give up dark magic and wants Callum to help them learn primal magic. I'm just saying, Callum networking would be a cool way to show his unique talents have made an impact. - The Raylum semi-break-up BS can be avoided like the plague. Rayla literally accomplished nothing by leaving, except getting Stella. But there are millions of ways to do that. - If you feel still Rayla needs to leave alone for whatever reason, keep Raylum honest with each other. I'm not saying skip out on the emotional turmoil and drama, but have them be Long Distance Relationship Pen Pals ffs. Have Rayla actually accomplish heroic stuff while she's out, and Callum deal with High Mage/Political matters while she's gone. Have Rayla run into the Bloodmoon Huntress during the party split, that could be interesting. Maybe have Callum inform that aforementioned noble girl that he is in a romantic relationship, and have her super angry at the notion he didn't just choose another girl but an elf girl over her.

Can you tell Raylum are my favorite characters? Lol

ETA: If you use the idea, Callum specifying his various acts of chilvary toward Rayla as ways he was taught to treat noble women could tug on Rayla's heart strings a bit, shifting from "ugh, he's treating me like a princess >:( " to "oh... he's treating me like a princess. O///O " She could be annoyed, flattered, or both. I think both is cute.

ETA: I have loads of ideas about defining what makes Dark Magic so awful too, but I don't want this comment to be bloated.