The Princess Knight

"The Princess Knight" is the fifteenth episode of the Disney Channel animated series Elena of Avalor. It premiered on March 18, 2017.
==Plot==
Gabe and Elena are fencing each other outside of the castle. Elena soon wins and Francisco compliments on her performance as a fencer. While Elena is putting her things away she notices that Gabe forgot his gloves. As she follows Francisco and Gabe, she hears that Francisco asked Gabe to take it easy on her. She is soon angered by this. Francisco explains that her mother was in the fencing competition before and was close to the finals, but broke her wrist and had to forfeit. Since then he is not willing to have Elena experience anything similar.
Once Francisco leaves, Elena says she wants to enter the fencing competition. Gabe says she cannot because her grandfather would never allow it. Elena says she will just enter in disguise but Gabe says it will not work because of the hard competitors. The other competitors are the Viper, who's very quick, the Hornet, who's footwork makes her look like she's flying, the Beast, who's big and strong, and Sir Cassius, the defending champion of Brazendell. Coaching Cassius is his father Lord Elrod, a former knight who defeated Queen Lucia years ago. Despite Gabe's warnings, Elena still wants to be in the competition. She signs up, disguised as a knight called "Sir Elezar". Gabe fences Elena to show what she is like when he is not taking it easy on her. Elena realizes this and asks him to train her. Gabe first warns her she would not like the training, but Elena is willing to do whatever.
At five the following morning, Gabe wakes Elena up and they start training. She fails on most of the tests and complains. Gabe tells her to stop complaining and that she should step up. With every test, Elena gets better and better each day. When she was able to defeat Gabe he tells her she is ready for a sword. He gives her some advice on some strategies but warns her not to do the "Leaping Stag" unless she times it right.
The competition soon begins, and Elena, known as Sir Elezar, faces her first opponent, the Beast. Following Gabe's advice, Elena acts quickly in combat to gain a higher advantage, resulting in her first victory. Sir Cassius is seen defeating the Hornet. Elena's next opponent was the Viper who was very quick. Gabe tells her she needs to be patient and have quick footwork, but Elena doesn't listen, resulting in her being struck two times. Gabe quickly repeats his advice to Elena and uses her footwork to get the Viper tired and she wins. Her next opponent is Sir Cassius and will compete against him the next day. Francisco, not knowing that Sir Elezar is Elena, congratulates her and invites her for tea. Elena grunts "no" but he takes it as a "yes". Soon, fans of Sir Elezar chase Elena, and Gabe and the Princess take cover inside a tent. While hiding, she overhears Sir Cassius and his father, Lord Elrod, talking about how to beat Sir Elezar. Lord Elrod wants his son to go for her wrist and break it so Sir Elezar will forfeit, revealing that he did it to Elena's mother on purpose. Cassius does not want to cheat, but Elrod insists, as he does not want his son to be the first in the family to lose. Cassius reluctantly agrees to do his father's cheap trick. Shocked about what she heard, Elena plans on telling Gabe when they get to the castle.
At tea with her grandparents, they greet themselves and ask Sir Elezar about himself. Gabe covers for Elena by doing all the talking. When Francisco talks about how his daughter, Lucia, trying to win the fencing competition Elena accidentally breaks her cover after speaking, which surprises her grandparents. Francisco explains that his issue wasn't whether Elena was a great fencer or not, he was worried about her getting hurt, but she explains to them that Lord Elrod broke Lucia's wrist on purpose and she must fight for her mother. She's prepared if Sir Cassius cheats too. With encouragement from Luisa, Francisco allows her to continue in the finals.
The next day of the competition, Elena and Sir Cassius fence each other. Elena keeps winning and Lord Elrod tells his son to cheat. Elena soon knows what he is about to do and trips, allowing Cassius to gain a point. Elena notices that her ankle hurts and asks for a one minute break. Gabe looks at it and says it's not broken. Her grandparents come in and say she needs to figure out a way to win, and they give her a locket with a picture of her mother for strength. Elena soon gets back in the competition, but soon notices she can barely do anything. She soon remembers the move Gabe did and does the "Leaping Stag", resulting in her winning the competition. She takes her helmet off and reveals her true identity to the audience who scream and cheer in excitement for her. Sir Cassius humbly congratulates Elena and gives her the trophy, and Lord Elrod stomps angrily away. Elena puts the trophy up in the air and whispers that this was for her mother.
==Cast==
*Aimee Carrero as Princess Elena
*Jorge Diaz as Gabe
*Bob Joles as Lord Elrod
*Keith Ferguson as Sir Cassius
*Julia Vera as Luisa
*Emiliano Díez as Francisco
*Sam Riegel as Referee
==Song==
*"Steppin' Up"
==Trivia==
*Fiero's statue makes a cameo appearance at the beginning of this episode.
*Lord Elrod and Sir Cassius hail from Brazendell, which was mentioned in the Sofia the First episode "The Tale of the Noble Knight".
*Elena reminds Gabe that she taught him how to play Olaball, which was the sport in the episode of the same name.
*Elena disarming the Viper is similar to how Anakin disarmed Count Dooku in the Clone Wars finale, "Sacrifice".
*Elena posing as a knight is similar to Mulan posing as a man as she takes her father's place in the army.
==International Premieres==
*May 27, 2017 (Brazil)
==Gallery==
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The Princess Knight 10.png|Elena still asleep at five in the morning
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The-Princess-Knight-3.png|Elena in ready position
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The Princess Knight 14.png|Elena wins the cup
Category:Elena of Avalor episodes