Spyro flew away from the academy as fast as he could. It was a very difficult decision for him to leave his best friends behind, but he couldn't believe what he learned. Eon, the man who raised and trained him, was responsible for the disappearance of his family. He didn't want to continue being a Skylander under his command after learning that. But he didn't know what to do now that he has nowhere to go.
Spyro was optimistic either way, but still wondered what he could do about it. "There must be a way I can find them, but how? They're in a different world now…" Suddenly, a realization hit him. "Malefor! He can travel through dimensions! Next stop is the Cadaverous Crypts!" The dragon then flew away led by his instinct.
Once he arrived, he got surprised by the massive dragon. "How dare you come here after you took my daughter away ?" Spyro simply answered with bravery. "I don't intend to talk about that. I have something to ask you: my species were banished in another dimension, and I know that you have the power to open portals to these, so you're going to help me reunite with them!"
However, the huge dragon didn't took him seriously at all. "Oh, you think I'm gonna help you? You have some nerve!" He attacked him with a powerful fire breath, only to realize that it didn't have any effect. "What? How?" Spyro started to fly and fight back "Because I'm trained and awesome!" Spyro attemped to hurt him with several fireballs at his face, but these barely had any effects, and Malefor easily took the upper hand and caught him after a few physical hits. "I could just destroy you, but I think you can be useful."
At the Skylander academy, Eon had to painfully explain to the team that he had no choice but to banish Spyro's corrupted family, in order to explain why Spyro is gone. The old man felt like that was the biggest mistake he's ever done.
In the meantime, at Kaos' castle, Kaos just used his newfound powers to kick the Doom Raiders out of it, but decided to trap their leader, Golden Queen, into a bubble that he shoots in the sky. This is when Malefor decided to talk to the whole Skylands by video. "Listen up, everyone! It is I, dragon king Malefor! I have a captive and nothing wrong will happen to him if you do what I ask!"
Spyro's friends reacted in horror seeing their friend knocked out between his claws. "If you want to see him alive, I want to see my dear daughter Cynder leave the Skylanders and come back the side of evil. Otherwise, I'll destroy him." Malefor then stopped the communication.
The message gave Kaos an idea, while Eon was driving the team to go on a journey to save their friends. "It's my fault if Spyro ended up in this situation. I'm coming with you." "Me too!", said a voice from behind. It was Cynder's. "My father wants to talk to me and I won't let you confront him without me, no matter what you say about it, Master Eon!" Despite his initial warning, Eon accepted to let her come with them.
His message finished, Malefor kept an eye on his captive until he heard a voice. "Well, Malefor… I'm glad you managed to help me!" It was Kaos, referring to his captive. "Kaos!", reacted Malefor. "How could you come to my lair thinking you would get out unharmed?" Kaos wasn't scared to answer. "Because I'm fully powered, courtesy of my father, Strykore!"
Malefor reacted with shock upon hearing this familiar name. "Strykore? He's back?" Kaos answered: "Not yet, he needs a little something for that, this captive Skylander will do!" Malefor got very defensive. "He's gonna help me get my daughter back, I won't just hand it over to you!" Still confident, Kaos made an offering: "Let's do it this way: you hand me the Skylander so Strykore can come back. Then, with his help, you can get your daughter back and reigns alongside him. He'll be pleased to know that you helped him." Malefor had to think about it before he gave his answer.
A bit later on, Eon and the team arrived to save Spyro from Malefor, who greeted them with attacks. Fearlessly, the Skylanders fought back and wanted answers. "Where is Spyro?", asked Stealth Elf angrily. "He's not with me anymore, he's gone and who knows what will happen to him..." This information shocked the Skylanders, but Cynder stood up proudly. "Father, be honest! I won't be afraid to use the abilities I've learned thanks to my friend Spyro against you!" She decided to demonstrate by using an electric attack, which surprised her dad. Along with her friends, they managed to get him down, seemingly weakened.
"Cynder... Please stop..." Cynder was shocked and turned back to ask her partners to go easy, only to get grabbed by her father and taken away. The Skylanders had lost both of their dragons pals and could only go home.
Meanwhile, Spyro woke up and immediately got surprised by Strykore's portal. Trying to walk back, he bumped into a familiar figure. "Kaos? What's going on, what is that pair of eyes thingy?" A strong deep voice answered from it. "I am Strykore, master of darkness. And once I'm done with you, I will be free and ready to cause havoc on the Skylands again." Spyro gasped as he heard his name, since he heard what he did from Eon's story. Despite his newfound distrust for Eon, he still didn't want to let evil occur without doing anything. "Strykore! I've heard of you! Don't think I'll help you!"
Spyro attempted to use firebreath, but this proved useless against his portal. Strykore managed to weaken him and trapped him under an odd magical susbtance. "You chose well, Kaos. This Skylander has the light I need, as well as a good ferocity! Once I absorb it, I'll be able to get out of here." Spyro, unable to move, freaked out on the inside and soon felt like something he couldn't touch was being taken from him. He felt like he lost his body right before fainting and falling to the ground.
While the dragon was unconscious, Strykore finally managed to get out of the portal. He was a menacing sorcerer wearing dark, with a face and an outfit eerily similar to Eon's. Kaos was of course overjoyed of working with him, which Strykore didn't feel as much. Glumshanks, who secretly made a deal with Kaossandra, explain that she ran away and he offers to assist them around the castle during Strykore's stay. But before they left the room, Kaos has to remind him of something. "Wait, what about him?", pointing at their captive.
Spyro's body started to regain conciousness, but several things changed. For starters, he lost his bright colors in exchange for a dark and gray color scheme. "How do you feel, Spyro?", asked Strykore. Spyro answered with a surprisingly deeper voice and mean tone. "I don't really know, but... right now, I want to occupate two parking spaces at once!". Kaos was impressed to see that he actually turned evil as Strykore continued. "And, what do you think of the Skylanders?" This dark Spyro thought about it before stating: "They are... my enemies!"
"Good!", said a pleased Strykore. "Today has been a rough day for you. You should go rest in Kaos' bedroom and we'll start working on them tomorrow. What do you say?". The dragon happily answered "With pleasure... Master!"
It was clear that Spyro wasn't the same since that moment, as he completely entered the side of evil.