Elena of Avalor S3 E4

## Plot

Julio is on his way to the castle to pitch his Feast of Friendship ideas to Elena. It's his first time hosting it, since he's the new Magister of Trade. He's worried that Elena won't like any of his ideas, but Carmen reassures him. However, Doña Paloma is already at the castle, claiming that Julio put her in charge of the feast. Julio arrives and says he did no such thing, and he has his own ideas on how to host the feast. For one thing, they won't hold it at Doña's emporium again. They'll hold it at the Sunbird temple, where their Maruvian ancestors made their trade deals and forged new alliances. Instead of inviting royal ambassadors of other kingdoms, Julio has decided to cut out the middleman and invite the monarchs themselves. This year, King Toshi of Satu, King Santiago of Paraíso, and Queen Abigail of Norberg will be attending, along with Elena herself. This means that Esteban isn't invited though, which upsets him. This means that he and Doña actually agree on something for once. She tells Elena that Julio is in over his head, and a man from such a humble background could never host the world's most esteemed royals. Elena tells her that background isn't important, ideas are. Julio also wants the rulers to personally bring the goods that they want to trade. Elena approves of his ideas and gives him permission to proceed with his feast. Esteban and Doña Paloma decide to ruin it on purpose and then smooth things over to show Elena how important they are. All of the invited rulers get along with each other though. They decide to invite a royal no one will get along with: King Hector. Carmen gives Julio a vest to wear at the feast. I think he only wears it on two other occasions, which is too bad, because I think it's a really nice vest. He wonders out loud what their abuelita would think if she could see them now. Carmen reminds him that she's always watching. He wants the feast to be amazing to honor her. Elena shows up in an amazing new dress… with Doña Paloma. She only wears it for this episode; same thing with her other new dress in the next episode, which picks up not long after this one. Stop! The fashion is making me so jealous! King Toshi arrives. Julio greets him in his native language, and Toshi tells him that his accent is impressive. He's excited to attend his first Feast of Friendship. King Santiago sent his daughter Val in his place so she could get more diplomatic experience for when she becomes queen. Julio compliments her beauty. Queen Abigail arrives. She's very friendly and informal, and Julio charms her with a joke. She heard about what Elena did to King Hector at her first Royal Retreat. The two of them don't get along at all. And then he shows up, as rude and disrespectful as ever. Esteban volunteers to be his personal attaché for the feast. Julio tells Elena that he didn't invite Hector. She wants to ask him to leave, but Julio thinks he can manage him. If they can get him to sign the treaty too, then this will be their most successful Feast of Friendship ever. Julio tells everyone that according to legend, the chamber they're in is guarded by potent magic that's only released in the presence of raised voices, which makes it the perfect place for negotiations, since calm and civility are mandatory here. Toshi brought jewels to trade, Abigail brought dresses, Val brought food, and Hector brought a model of his latest line of battleships. Julio asks Hector to lower his voice, but he refuses. Julio heads outside to check on dinner while everyone takes a seat. Before Hector can sit at the head of the table, Abigail takes it. Toshi offers Hector his seat, but he refuses and demands that Abigail move. Before Doña Paloma can "save the day", Hector's shouting activates the ancient magic, which shrinks everyone. I bet Elena is experiencing déjà vu right now. Julio and Carmen feel the rumbling from outside, which makes Julio forget to drop the crayfish that he was about to boil… while it's clearly still alive and conscious. I'm not much of a marine life or crazy PETA person, but that's disturbing. Maybe it's just because I hate seafood. Esteban accidentally knocks over a stand of fruit, and everyone runs and jumps off the table. All of the gold tableware falls off, and they use a platter to protect themselves. Julio and Carmen come in, and the others are able to get their attention before Julio accidentally crushes them with his foot. They realize that the legend was real, because of course it was, they should really know better by now. Then again, only Hector seemed to think that it wasn't true. Carmen heads to the palace to get Mateo so he can make them big again. Julio drops the crayfish, which tries to attack the mini-people, who run away. Julio is able to save Elena and Doña Paloma, but everyone else falls into a crack in the floor… which is full of treasure. The blade they slid down is too steep for them to walk or climb back up. They yell for help. Julio throws the crayfish and tries to free everyone by ripping out the floor, but the rubble it creates would crush them. Hector tells Abigail that if she hadn't pulled him down the crack he wouldn't be in this mess, and she tells him that if he hadn't yelled then none of them would be in this mess. Toshi normally doesn't take sides, but he finally has enough and agrees with Abigail that Hector is to blame. Speaking of which, Julio blames himself and thinks that Doña Paloma was right about him. She and Elena get up on his shoulders to create the classic angel and devil trope. She once again tells him that a man of his background can't succeed in this role. Elena tells them both that it's not where you come from that matters, it's what you do once you get there. She reminds Doña Paloma that she got that from her at the previous Feast of Friendship. She admits that yes, she did work hard, and wonders when Julio is going to do the same and fix this crisis, but he says he doesn't know what to do. The crayfish pinches him, which makes him accidentally drop Elena and Doña Paloma down the crack, as well as the crayfish, which chases after everyone. Esteban and Doña Paloma blame each other for everything that happened. Elena overhears them and realizes that they invited Hector and tried to ruin the feast on purpose. Hector realizes that he wasn't really invited and no one wanted him there. Esteban tries to explain himself to Elena, and she says he will, to the grand council, later. She throws a coin at the crayfish, which doesn't do anything. Carmen and Mateo finally arrive. Mateo can make them bigger, but if he does it while they're in such a small space, they'll be crushed. I want to know why he can't just levitate them out. Julio says he let everyone down, and still thinks that Doña Paloma was right about him. Someone like him should never have become Magister of Trade. Carmen tells him that he's the man who kept their family restaurant running for years and earned every little thing he's ever gotten. It's *because* he comes from nothing, *because* he's had to struggle, that he's got the strength to handle this. Carmen is officially sister goals. Julio throws off his vest, which knocks the mini models of the monarchs onto the model boat, which gives him an idea. He takes the buttons off of Abigail's dress and tells everyone to use them as shields. He uses tongs to tear away part of the floor, and uses the ribbon from the dress to lower the model boat to everyone so they can sail it out of the chamber. I wish that Val and King Toshi's items (food and jewels) could've been used too. Julio catches the boat before they land in the pot of boiling water outside. Mateo makes them big again. Everyone agrees to sign the treaty, even Hector. Elena gives a toast to Julio, who says in Spanish that this is for his grandmother.