Elena of Avalor S1 E3

## Plot

Elena is having fun flying on Skylar. She remembers hiking up the mountains when she was a kid. Suddenly, a volcano spews fire and smoke by them. Elena doesn't remember that monfuego, as she calls it, being active. Okay, I don't know why everyone alternates between calling it a volcano and calling it a monfuego. Fuego does mean fire in Spanish, but volcano is volcán and mountain is la montaña, or el monte. Maybe they just mashed the two words together to mean mountain of fire? Like the ring of fire, which is a cooler name than just calling it a hot spot for volcanoes. Get it? A hot spot? Anyways, Skylar explains that during Elena's 41 years of imprisonment, a rock monster moved in, and whenever he gets angry, the volcano starts to erupt. It's never explained why that is though. Meanwhile, three kids run away from the rock monster, called Charoca, while carrying gems. He gets angry at them and scares them away. However, he doesn't want the volcano to erupt, since once he notices it, he starts trying to calm down by doing deep breathing exercises. One of the boys, Damon, tells his mother what happened. They go to the palace to tell the grand council what happened, and that they're worried about the monfuego erupting. Their village isn't far from it, so they have reason to be worried. Isabel built a new kind of chair, and Elena's sitting in it. However, it's really squeaky and annoying. Seriously, that is rough on the ears. Esteban and Francisco want to throw the monster out of the kingdom. Elena wonders if anyone has asked Charoca why he's so upset, since the volcano only rumbles when he's angry. Esteban only sees Charoca as a monster and assumes that there's no reasoning with him, so they have to take action. Elena gets an idea to convince her grandfather though, so she can have the majority vote. She decides to throw out the squeaky chair, but Francisco wonders why she can't fix it if it only has a little squeak. You see, Elena used logic to prove her point, arguing that they shouldn't throw Charoca out without trying to fix the problem first. Elena wants to talk to him, figure out why he's so angry, and get him to calm down. Francisco agrees, but only if she's escorted by the royal guard. She agrees and gets ready to leave. She plans to bring Avaloran chocolate as a sort of peace offering. Gabe is overzealous about protecting her though, and assembled a large escort to bring her there. She points out that it's a friendly visit, and so many soldiers would give off the wrong impression. Since she can't go alone, she decides to just bring Gabe along. I love how he turns to brag to the other guards, and she immediately leaves, like she's trying to ditch him. And the guard that points it out to him! Gabe is this universe's butt monkey, more often that not. And I love it! I freely admit that part of it is for shipping reasons. Also, Gabe's horse is called Fuego. This is Fuego's first appearance, or at least the first time we hear his name. There is no way that's a coincidence. However, the visit goes badly, since Charoca has anger issues, and Gabe doesn't give Elena much of a chance before making her leave. This makes everyone else vote against Elena, and it's decided that they should throw Charoca out of the kingdom. Elena has a feeling that he's not really dangerous. Francisco says that while feelings are important, rulers must lead with facts. Isabel shows Elena some rocks that got so hot, they turned into glass. It's the same kind of rocks that were at Charoca's house, and the ones that the kids had earlier. Isabel got it from one of her friends. She explains that kids are getting them from the monfuego, and call them monster rocks. Elena realizes that Charoca is so mad because kids keep trespassing on his property and stealing from him. She decides to sneak off on Skylar, because she knows that she has to do what she thinks is right. Naomi apologizes for voting against her, and decides to come with her. First, they stop in the village to talk to the kids. They admit to taking the rocks without asking, and give them to the girls so they can give them back to Charoca. Elena tells them that just because someone looks or acts different doesn't make them a monster. Charoca sees that his rocks are returned, and he thanks them. He was so mad because, as a rock creature, he sees the other rocks as his friends. He's lonely because he's the only one of his kind, and no one else wants to interact with him or treat him with respect because of his appearance. He does have anger management issues, but he's working on that. You know, deep breathing, gardening, and meditation. I should mention that Charoca is based on a mythical Chilean creature known as the Cherufe. He's voiced by Tituss Burgess, who has been called *Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt*'s king of comedy. Anyways, Charoca wants to believe Elena, but he's been deceived in the past. Elena promises that the people will treat him with more respect from now on. Unfortunately, Esteban, leading the royal guard with Gabe, chooses this moment to attack. Charoca assumes that Elena was lying to him and setting him up for a sneak attack. He gets angry, and decides that if people see him as just a monster, then that's what he'll be. However, this kind of behavior only validates the discrimination he faces. This is why Gandhi, Nelson Mandela, and MLK Jr. were such great leaders. That being said, groups like the Black Panther Party and Las Gorras Blancas had justifiable reasons to be angry. However, they probably only reinforced some white people's irrational fears and beliefs about them. Anyway, Charoca throws rocks at the guards and makes steam come out of geysers, forcing everyone to retreat. His anger makes the monfuego erupt. Esteban blames Elena for defying the vote of the council, and leaves to tell Luisa and Francisco what happened. The girls point out that they were doing fine until *he* attacked Charoca. The lava is heading for the schoolhouse. Gabe gets an idea. He and the other guards build a wall to divert the lava. However, the wall is made of rocks, so in the real world, wouldn't the lava just melt through it? Oh well, I'm not a scientist. Naomi and Elena see lava heading for Charoca and his house. Charoca calms down, but the damage is done. He wonders if he can cool the lava down like he cooled his rocks down. Before he can find out, Elena, Naomi, Skylar, and Luna dump a trough full of water on the lava, turning it into rock. He thanks them for saving his house. It's Elena's duty as princess to protect everyone who lives in Avalor, including him. This calms Charoca down, and the monfuego stops erupting. However, the diverted lava is heading straight for the village, and there's no time to get more water. Charoca realizes that he can save everyone by stopping the lava. He uses himself as a barricade, and is able to stay calm and cool down the lava. The townspeople realize that he's not a monster. He's a hero. Everyone is worried that doing this killed him, but he's okay. They throw a party, the kids apologize to Charoca for stealing his rocks, and he forgives them. Esteban arrives with Luisa and Francisco, and tells them that Elena disobeyed their vote and took matters into her own hands. Naomi points out that Elena ended up being right, and they were wrong about Charoca. However, the law is the law, and as Crown Princess, Elena has to respect the decision of the grand council. Luisa points out that sometimes the heart does know best. Elena agrees to listen to the grand council next time, as long as Francisco agrees to have a more open heart. Charoca thanks Elena for everything she's done and gives her a rare flower that only grows on the monfuego.

## Review

Okay, I can definitely speak to the validity of deep breathing and meditation from personal experience. I've only ever gardened once in my life though. I grew a sunflower. I guess it was fun when I was a little kid, but now…? I don't know. I know that my mom gardens, even if she's not super great at it yet. You can easily apply what's going on with Charoca to real live groups that were or still are discriminated against, due to their race, religion, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, etc. I doubt many people would blame Charoca for being bitter and refusing to save the people who discriminated against him, trespassed on his property, stole from him, and tried to forcibly kick him out of his home. But instead, he literally leaps in to save them, even though if he had done it wrong, he'd probably be dead.