Elena of Avalor S3 E21

## Plot

Elena's right arm is *still* broken and in a cast. Gabe has been pushing the royal guards extremely hard so they don't lose Ash again the next time she's in their sights. Elena is worried that they're working too hard. Rico almost falls, but he's suddenly saved by a wizard called the Great Bronzino, voiced by James Monroe Iglehart, who also voiced Lance Strongbow on Tangled: The Series. Yes, he gets a song, and like his character, it's great. His appearance is also based on the Genie's appearance from Broadway, a role that his actor also played. Mateo invited him to Avalor from King Hector's kingdom so the two of them could share spells. Elena leaves to attend a grand council meeting and tells Bronzino about their dark sorceress problem. While watching him perform more magic, Rico says he wishes he knew how to, which gives Gabe an idea. Before the grand council meeting starts, Doña Paloma wants to talk to Elena about who will replace Esteban as the royal chancellor. I'm honestly surprised that they're just getting around to it now. I know that Esteban is a touchy subject, but Elena was pretty quick to replace him and Naomi on the grand council, and she clearly doesn't want to handle his workload. Before Doña Paloma can obviously recommend herself, Naomi comes in to clear out her stuff, and then Gabe and Mateo come in to talk to Elena. Gabe wants Mateo to quickly teach the guards magic so they can actually be prepared against magical foes, but Mateo says he can't quickly train anyone, and there are no shortcuts to magic. Elena suggests that he only train the best guards, and only teach them a few spells. He agrees, but only if Gabe lets him train the guards his way. You can't teach magic overnight. Doña Paloma tries to shoo them out, but then Mateo remembers that he has no spare tamboritas anymore, since the Kupi-Kupi destroyed them all. But that was all the way back in season 2, episode 21, which aired over a year before this episode! Why did Mateo never replace them? Maybe he didn't find out how until he discovered his grandfather's secret library, but still. Surely he still has his old tamborita, right? What about Olivia's? It turns out that only malvagos can make wands out of practically anything. Tamboritas get their power from a tiny spark of magic inside the drum called a chespa. They're only found in Laguna de Fuego, a magically hidden valley near Mesa Roja. According to a map Mateo has in a book, it looks like it takes about a day to get there. Elena decides to go get some while Mateo starts training the guards. Naomi wants to come so she can translate the Maruvian, but Doña Paloma says she'd make the perfect guide, since she grew up near Mesa Roja. Elena lets them both come. Mateo will be teaching Gabe, Rico, Felipe, Miguel, and Antonia magic. Even if they did have spare tamboritas, Mateo wants to teach them the basic gestures and words first, but Gabe wants them to learn actual spells. I can see both sides of this. Plenty of spells in both Elena of Avalor and Sofia the First have been messed up because someone didn't know what they were doing or said the wrong thing. In a way, magic is just as much of a science as it is an art. On the other hand, almost every guard, and occasionally even Gabe himself, have been useless in almost every situation, especially against magical enemies or beings like Charoca, Fiero, Orizaba, Marimonda, Victor, Carla, Ash, Esteban, Tito, and so on, and that's when they're actually included in a situation. They're also easily tricked or subdued by the non-magical Victor, Carla, Ash, or an obviously mind controlled Joaquín. It says a lot about their lack of agency and effectiveness when both Gabe and Naomi apparently forgot that they could've used the two of them that were left on the boat in either one of their plans to rescue Elena in the season 2 finale. Why is Elena's team, which used to only consist of four teenagers, more effective than a literal army of adults? I know, it's because they're main characters, but I also think it's because two of them are magical and they can solve basic riddles. Or all of the guards are just incompetent by comparison to make everyone else around them look smart. Basically, I understand why Gabe wants to metaphorically whip them into shape, and the sooner, the better. Meanwhile, our leading ladies are looking for Mesa Roja. Naomi wants to follow the map, but Doña Paloma says she knows this area like the back of her hand. Also, she's riding on Dulce and has a new outfit! Bronzino shows up and learns that the guards aren't big fans of Mateo's training methods. He gives them spare souvenir tamboritas with his face on them. They're not really magical though. The guards all want to learn magic from him instead. Naomi drops the book, and while she goes to get it back, Doña Paloma tells Elena that she's the only qualified candidate for chancellor. Naomi interrupts them and points out that they just passed Mesa Roja. Mateo sees the guards taking turns practicing magic by using Bronzino's tamborita. Gabe tells him that Bronzino is teaching them actual magic that they can use as guards, but Mateo points out that if they're not careful, someone could get hurt. Gabe tells him that he's going to ask Bronzino to take over their magic training, because his way is faster, and if Ash and Esteban attack Avalor, they have to be ready. When the girls can't find an enchanted arch because it's not marked on the map, Doña Paloma takes over and suggests going on foot. However, Naomi notices that the grass is blowing away from the rock wall, as if the wind was coming from it, or rather, behind it. She says a magic spell from the book that reveals the hidden archway. They enter the valley and see the chespa. Doña Paloma runs ahead to get it, but Naomi tells her that there's a special way they have to harvest it. When Elena falls down, Naomi helps her get back up. When Doña Paloma takes all of the chespas, they wilt, the sky turns dark, and lightning comes out of nowhere. They all hide, and Naomi tells Doña Paloma that they're only supposed to take one branch at a time, lest they get a face full of lightning. Bronzino tries to teach the guards a pushing spell, but Rico says it wrong and makes the entire palace disappear. Antonia is able to bring it back, but now it's covered in polka dots. When the other guards try to fix it, they wind up accidentally turning it into gingerbread… and turning everyone inside into gingerbread people. Bronzino admits that he doesn't know how to fix it. It turns out that he lied about being a master wizard, and runs away. Doña Paloma admits that she didn't listen to Naomi because she wanted to get the chespas for Elena, so she could earn her trust and convince her to make her the new chancellor. Elena tells her that it takes time to build that kind of trust. There's no shortcut to it. According to the book, there's a way to restore the chespas, but they need to go back out into the lightning storm (which is beautifully animated by the way). Elena uses her scepter to encase the lightning in crystals before it can hit them, but it tires her out. She's also not used to using her left arm, so Doña Paloma helps her. Naomi replants the chespas, but before she can say the magic words, the book blows away. Doña Paloma catches it and holds it up for her to read. The chespas are restored and the lightning storm stops. This time, Doña Paloma lets Naomi harvest them. Before the guards can go out and look for Bronzino, Mateo shows up and yells at them. He's not a gingerbread man like everyone else because he was out in the garden. Gabe tells him that Bronzino's spell went haywire and then he disappeared… kind of. Mateo is hurt that they picked Bronzino over him, especially Gabe, since he thought they were friends. Gabe tells him that he is his friend, but he feels like he still has a lot to prove. Ash and Esteban escaped on his watch, so he thought if his guards learned magic, they could finally beat them, and Gabe could prove that making him captain was the right choice. He realizes now that he should've trusted Mateo, because he was right about not taking shortcuts, and about them being friends, and he apologizes. This is easily Jorge Diaz's best performance as Gabe so far. It's the most emotional I've ever heard him. It encompasses his main arc as a character. It shows how far he's come, but also shows that he still has a ways to go. Characters don't just learn one lesson and immediately change who they are. It takes time and effort, and they continue to grow and evolve as people. Mateo accepts Gabe's apology. He can fix the palace, but only with the combined power of a group spell, and to do that, they need real tamboritas, not toys. Luckily, the ladies return with the chespas. Mateo puts them in the souvenir tamboritas to make them magical, but he tells the guards that they're still not ready for the magic words, and they tell him that they don't have time for this. Gabe gets them to fall in line, and tells them that Mateo is in charge, so they'll take their time and do exactly as he says. Mateo teaches them the spell, and tells them to enunciate their words and bang their tamboritas, otherwise it won't work. The palace and everyone in it turns back to normal. Mateo agrees to continue training the guards, and in the meantime, the girls want to hear from Gabe about how this all happened. So, this episode definitely set up the fact that Elena will likely make Naomi the new chancellor in a future episode. I loved seeing Gabe and Mateo's friendship on display again, and seeing more of Doña Paloma's hidden depths. She really does respect Elena now and genuinely wants her trust.