Elena and the Secret of Avalor

## Plot

In all crossovers, there's always a chance that one hero will overshadow the other. There's none of that here, at least in my opinion. I think that Sofia is the main focus until she frees Elena about halfway through. Then Elena is the main focus for a little bit, and then it's about both of them working together to save the day. Anyways, the haphazardly tacked on at the last minute because the show aired early framing device for the special is that Elena is telling Naomi her backstory. I will point out that the team for Sofia the First animated the special, not the team from Elena of Avalor, so some of the characters look a little different. I think that the jaquins in particular are horribly animated and ugly. I guess I just like the art style of EoA more. That being said, because it's a special, they were given a little more money, so the hair and fabrics move more than they normally would in either show. Anyways, it starts for real when Sofia has a daydream about what happened to Elena. She witnessed the deaths of her parents, and then she was trapped in the amulet. Well, that's dark. At Royal Prep, it's the end of the last day of school for everyone. Sofia sees her amulet glowing blue, which means that she's being summoned to the Secret Library. She receives the story "The Lost Princess of Avalor". Suddenly, the book turns into a man. This is Alacazar, the old royal wizard of Avalor. He tells Sofia the story. In the kingdom of Avalor, there once lived a young princess named Elena. She was given the Amulet of Avalor, which used to be red, on her 15th birthday by her mother, Queen Lucia, since it was a family heirloom. One year later, an evil sorceress from the Northern Isles invaded Avalor. Her name was Shuriki. She killed the king and queen. Elena faced her alone so that the rest of her family would be spared. That's the part that Sofia saw in her daydream. That was Elena's way of calling her there, so Alacazar could tell her the full story. Shuriki tried to kill Elena, but the spell hit her amulet, which saved her life… by pulling her inside of it, which made it purple. Elena has been trapped inside it for 41 years, waiting to be freed. Alacazar found the amulet and fled. He knew that only a special princess could free Elena. He searched the world for years, but couldn't find her. When he grew too old to continue, he turned himself into a magic book, so that someday, Elena would be freed. The special princess is Sofia. Alacazar tells her to go to his house in Avalor and summon his chanul. But she has to be careful, because Shuriki still rules Avalor, and is as powerful and evil as ever. Sofia is uncertain, but Alacazar tells her that Elena tested many princesses before her. She granted them powers and curses, but she chose Sofia, and has been preparing her for this day since she first put on the amulet. She convinces her family to go on a vacation in Avalor. However, since it's their first time there, they have to meet Shuriki first. Roland and Miranda want to trade with Avalor. Shuriki has been able to keep herself young by using her magic wand. She hates music, and has outlawed it and dancing. While in the throne room, she's adamant that James not touch a certain tapestry. Chancellor Esteban is the one really running the kingdom, keeping it as intact as possible under Shuriki's tyrannical rule, although he still enforces her will on the people. Sofia notices that Shuriki keeps her wand in her pocket. While eating lunch, they meet Skylar, Migs, and Luna, who take some of their food. Shuriki hates them because they sing. Sofia notices her amulet gesturing towards them, and decides to tell them why she's there and ask them for help. They take her to Alacazar's old house. She meets Rafa, Alacazar's daughter. She's reluctant to talk to her though, and sends her away. However, Sofia meets her son, Mateo. He's far more helpful, and recognizes the amulet. She tells him that his grandfather sent her there to free Princess Elena. They head to his workshop in the basement. Mateo has been practicing magic in secret. His grandmother locked all of Alacazar's things up, and his mother wanted nothing to do with magic. He found it though, and has been trying to teach himself magic ever since. Shuriki outlawed all use of magic except her own, so there are no wizards in Avalor. Mateo is able to summon Alacazar's chanul, or spirit animal, Zuzo. He's a guide to all the magical things in the world that people can't normally see, like Princess Elena. He saw she was in the amulet and told Alacazar how to get her out. He tells Sofia what she needs to do to free Elena. She needs to get Shuriki's wand, wrap the amulet around it, and then place them both on the crown of Aziluna. It's a statue of a Maruvian healer in the mountains. Sofia is feeling overwhelmed, so Zuzo gives her some advice: You may be the one, but that doesn't mean you're the only one. He says that she's not supposed to understand it now, but it'll make sense later. She gets an idea. She'll distract everyone with dancing and steal Shuriki's wand from her when she purposefully steps on her foot. She's able to do this with charm and charisma, and the fact that Shuriki needs to act nice so other rulers don't get suspicious, since they all think that she's the rightful ruler. Then Sofia and Mateo head to the statue. Mateo explains that the Maruvians disappeared centuries ago, and no one knows what happened to them. All that's left of their kingdom are ruins and magical relics. The statue is underwater, so Sofia transforms into a mermaid. When she places the wand and the amulet on the crown of the statue, it rises up out of the water, and she slides down its tail. It's a dragon statue. Cool. Elena is finally freed, and the amulet turns pink. Elena thanks Sofia for freeing her and meets Mateo. She takes Shuriki's wand, and plans to use it on her. However, she doesn't have much of a plan beyond that. She doesn't want Sofia or Mateo coming with her though, saying that they've already risked so much for her, and she doesn't want to get them involved. This is a stark contrast to the Elena of the series, where she never goes in blindly without a plan (with a few exceptions), or angsts over putting friends in harm's way, especially since all of said friends can handle themselves. Obviously, Sofia and Mateo go after her anyways. Elena confronts Shuriki in the throne room. In front of Esteban, Roland, and Miranda. She tells Roland and Miranda what Shuriki did, and that Sofia freed her from the amulet. Shuriki has her guards restrain Roland and Miranda. She's not scared of Elena using the wand on her, since she's not a sorceress. Sure enough, it doesn't work the first time. The second time, a guard pushes Elena, and the spell hits that tapestry that Shuriki didn't want anyone to touch earlier. There's a painting of Elena's grandparents and her little sister behind it. Shuriki reveals that Alacazar protected her little sister and grandparents inside an enchanted painting that her magic can't touch. I feel like this retcons the rules of enchanted paintings that we learned about on *Sofia the First*, but it's fine. Shuriki also reveals that Chancellor Esteban is Elena's maternal cousin. He's all grown up and working for her. Esteban tries to tell Elena that he had no choice, but Shuriki suggests that he did. Elena tries the spell, Vadisima, a third time, but Shuriki swats the wand out of her hands, and the guards grab her. Shuriki retrieves her wand, and a guard restrains Amber and James, who had just come into the room. It seems like Shuriki intends to finish what she started, but Skylar comes in and saves Elena, even though she doesn't want to leave. Sofia's family is put in the dungeon. Elena tells Mateo and Sofia what happened, and they're forced to leave and head for Mateo's house when the soldiers start shooting arrows at them. A member of the staff, Armando, tries to tell Esteban that they have to help Elena. Esteban doesn't see any point in it, since Shuriki is too powerful for them, and any attempt at a fight would result in them losing. He does feel bad about what happened to his family though. At Mateo's house, Elena recalls the last time she saw her little sister, Isabel, before their parents were killed, Shuriki took over, and she was imprisoned in the amulet. Rafa overhears this and reveals that she has the spell that can get them out. Her father showed her where it was before he left. Mateo is the only wizard in Avalor, so he's the only one who can cast the spell. Someone knocks on the gate door. They worry that it's soldiers, but it's just some citizens. They've heard rumors about Elena returning. Elena, Sofia, Mateo, and the jaquins come out. The people are inspired by Elena, and are prepared to fight Shuriki themselves. However, Elena sees this as her fight, and says that she's the one who must face Shuriki. Sofia finally understands what Zuzo meant, and tells Elena that she doesn't have to face Shuriki alone. They can help her. Elena has a plan now, and needs everyone's help for it to work. She and Sofia sneak into the dungeon to free Sofia's family, and they get Armando to help them. Sofia uses her shrinking power to sneak past the guard and free her family. This confirms that the amulet still has magic powers even without Elena being in it. Elena apologizes for the danger she's put Sofia's family in, but says that they should be proud of their daughter for being so clever and brave. She knew that Sofia was the one since the day she first moved into the palace. When Roland was picking out Sofia's welcome gift, she was the one who made the amulet glow. She has a plan to get them to safety, but they have to hurry. Shuriki is losing her patience over the failure to capture Elena or Sofia. It's revealed that Esteban helped Shuriki invade Avalor, but under the promise that no one in his family would be hurt. She broke that promise, but also gave him power and made him a chancellor. She not so subtly threatens him, saying that he could wind up like his aunt and uncle. Luna distracts them and they chase after her. Mateo sneaks in and everyone else meets him there. He's able to free Isabel, Luisa, and Francisco from the painting. Elena is so happy to see them and relieved that they're alright, and vice versa. Everyone will be escaping on jaquins. Sofia, Roland, and Miranda want to stay and help Elena instead of returning to their ship. Meanwhile, the citizens are gathering and marching towards the palace. There's a full on rebellion happening now! Sofia and Elena open the gate to let them in, and Roland threatens the guards with a sword. The palace is quickly overrun with hundreds, if not thousands of people, but Shuriki won't give up. She can't stop all of them, so she settles for killing the leader of this uprising: Elena. However, Esteban has a change of heart, grabs the wand, and throws it to Elena. This time, instead of trying to use it to get revenge, Elena snaps it in two and gets rid of Shuriki's magic. This causes her to quickly age into an elderly woman. She falls off a bridge and over a waterfall. She pulled a Mother Gothel on us! Elena is in charge of the kingdom now. She's grateful for all that Sofia and her family have done. Sofia offers her amulet to her, since it is technically hers. However, Elena wants Sofia to keep it for all she's done for Avalor. Esteban claims that he only pretended to follow Shuriki to keep their family safe. Sofia has finished her biggest adventure yet, even if she knows that Elena's story isn't over yet. Alacazar thanks her for all she has done, and gives her something for the journey ahead. He magically changes her dress so that it's pink and matches her amulet now. With her work done, Sofia leaves the Secret Library. So, now Naomi knows everything about Elena's backstory. She brought a box up that contained the two halves of Shuriki's wand. She still has to figure out what to do with them. They decide to hide them in the treasury, and not tell anyone where they put them. This plot point is never addressed, ever again, proving that this framing device was pointless and superfluous. With that done, the girls start heading back down the mountain. I really loved Aimee Carrero's voice acting, especially during two specific scenes: The confrontation with Shuriki, and the part where Elena reminisces about her sister. She just sounds so enraged and devastated and heartbroken during those scenes. I can tell that she really gave it her all. And then I found out that this was her first ever voice role, which makes her acting even more impressive than it already was.