WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Raya and the Last Dragon, playing now in theaters and on Disney+.
As much as Raya and the Last Dragon makes it seem like Raya will be the one to unite all the lands once more and bring Kumandra back, the princess quickly realizes she needs the help of her fellowship. There's strength in numbers, after all, which is the philosophy her dad, Chief Benja of the Heart tribe, always tried to inculcate.
However, while Raya goes about forming her small crew to help free Sisu's fellow dragons, it's not some epic speech or ambition to be heroes that unites them -- it's how their lives were shaped by loss.
Six years ago, a civil war erupted that broke the dragon gem and allowed the shadow-like Druun to sweep over the fractured lands again, turning many people to stone. Now, Raya's assembling the pieces of the gem to bring her dad back, meeting new people who join her mission. As she flees the Tail with a piece of the orb, she meets the young entrepreneur, Boun, who becomes her transport with his shrimp boat. In Talon, she then encounters "con baby" Little Noi and her trio of monkey-like companions, the Ongis, and while in Spine, they meet Tong, the last survivor in his village.
In time, they all realize they need to help Raya because, if she can steal the final shard from the Fang, she and Sisu can not only defeat the shadow monsters, but they can also free all the other dragons and the humans from their stone forms. Then, in a series of sentimental moments, Boun confesses the Druun froze his family, which is why he had to break his business out to survive. At just 10 years old, though, he misses them dearly, and Tong echoes the same. His family got turned, and as Raya sees the baby's crib in his quarters after he tried to attack her, she can tell he's hurting.
Raya also relates to baby Noi, who lost her family as well, which reminds her they're all lonely. But while she was relentless in trying to save the day, they were left in ignorance, with no clue a solution was out there. Now, with Raya as their leader, there's hope and possibility they can restore their families, and as Sisu says when she mentions reuniting with her siblings, they can make up for the lost time. This is the catalyst for them to all step up, be brave and harness something inside they never would have before.
To top it all off, when Naamari, Raya's enemy, sees her mom, Virana, chieftess of Fang, in stone along with the rest of her people, she finally sees the light, opting to help Raya and Sisu. Virana kept her in a bubble, but when waters run dry upon Sisu's death, she experiences what everyone, including Raya, has. This inspires Naamari to redeem herself and break the cycle, finally understanding what Raya was preaching all along.
Directed by Don Hall and Carlos López Estrada from a script by Paul Briggs and John Ripa, Raya and the Last Dragon stars Kelly Marie Tran, Awkwafina, Gemma Chan, Daniel Dae Kim, Sandra Oh, Benedict Wong, Izaac Wang, Thalia Tran, Alan Tudyk, Lucille Soong, Patti Harrison and Ross Butler.