Elena of Avalor S3 E28-30

## Plot

I… don't feel ready. I am, but I don't *feel* like I am, you know? I've been a young adult for a bit now, and I still have no idea what each day will bring. Let's just say that I wouldn't have guessed a global pandemic. I really needed this today. Stress from real world things and sadness over The Owl House's penultimate episode of season 1 left me feeling… not great yesterday. Whatever, I'll get the real world stuff sorted out later, and the most important thing is that the people I love are happy and healthy, which they are, as far as I know. I can't believe the world I've loved since I was thirteen is coming to an end. Anyways, Mingo, Estrella, and Zoom are flying around Avalor when they join some human kids as they watch Armando and Marlena sing a song and put on a puppet show about how Elena defeated Shuriki and that Esteban betrayed her and teamed up with more bad guys. She's learned a lot of lessons though, and is ready to lead Avalor as its new queen. The special title card looks amazing. Zuzo talks to Elena. She asks him about Quita Moz's prophecy. She's just hours away from being queen, but the big test never came. Zuzo tells her that maybe it did and she just didn't realize it. I love everything about this episode. The songs, the new outfits, the animation, the action, the many, *many* special guest stars and returning characters, the callbacks, etc. Francisco calls Elena over. He seems winded. She asks him what's wrong, and he says he's just tired. She wants him to sit down and rest, but he tells her that there's no time. She's needed right away for an emergency grand council meeting. It turns out that her friends, family, and the other grand council members actually planned to throw her a surprise birthday party. She says that even if she won't need a grand council when she's queen, she still intends to ask them all for advice. So, what will happen to the grand council room? Will it be converted into a different kind of room with a different purpose? Doña Paloma wants to be appointed as her chancellor already, but Francisco says that Elena has a lot to do before she gets to that. She gets fitted for her dress, has a royal portrait painted of her, has to decide who her chancellor will be, and who she'll dance the first dance with. I love how Gabe and Mateo both offer her their hand, but she just puts theirs together and ducks underneath them. She hopes she can rule as well as her father did. So. Many. Royals! Joaquín, Teresa, Cat, Lars, Raja, Toshi, Abigail, Chloe, Rebeca, Ari, Miriam, Val, Alonso, Juan Ramón, and even Hector. Before Elena can ask Chloe, Rebeca, Val, and Alonso for help running through the coronation, Mateo tells her that there's something she has to see, so she tells the others that she'll just find them later. Also, Chloe and Alonso, who seem to both be only children (as in they don't have siblings), meaning that they will one day be the rulers of their respective kingdoms, don't know the word coronation. Yeah, Norberg and Cordoba might be doomed in the future, unless other kingdoms start to implement grand councils for their young royals, even if their parents are still alive and in charge, due to how successful it was in Avalor. Also, a deleted scene showed them giving Elena a birthday/coronation gift, which was a giant statue of Alonso. It was supposed to be of all five of them, and Val said it was supposed to be of Alonso *and her*. The two have a lot of ship tease throughout the episode. Mateo finally found a master level spell to get past Ash's cloaking spell. The others tell Ixlan who their enemies are and what powers they have. It turns out that Pili can shoot fireballs. Wait, shouldn't Tziloco's wings be glowing, since Mateo used a magic spell to figure out where he and the other villains are? That feels like a plot hole. They're in Nueva Vista. The city could be in danger, along with their sirena friends and their own kingdom. Instead of warning them, Elena decides to ask the grand council for permission to head there, since she thinks this must be her big test. Surprisingly, she gets the council's approval without much of a fight, since they know she'd go regardless of what they said, so she might as well go with their blessing. Francisco wishes that things had been different with Esteban. He thinks they should've forgiven him when they had the chance. Elena points out that he helped Shuriki take over the kingdom, and her grandfather points out that he helped them take it back. Elena says he teamed up with new enemies. Francisco knows that, but he's his grandson, and Elena's cousin, but she says he isn't anymore. When Francisco tries to leave, he gets lightheaded. He once again tells Elena that he's just tired and needs rest. He tells her to be careful and come back soon, and she says she will. Meanwhile, the bad guys are looking for a clue that will reveal the location of the Shadow Gateway. It's the barrier that keeps the shadows of the night out of their world. Yes! My theory from almost three years ago was right, after all this time! Esteban doesn't want to release them, since they almost destroyed ancient Maru, but Ash tells him that they'll be so grateful to them for freeing them that they'll do whatever they say. They find out that the gateway is under the ocean. Isabel has a crossbow and used potions to create magic arrow tips so they can shoot spells from far away. Antonia is also going with them, along with Vestia and Cruz. Before they can leave, Victor, Carla, and Flo show up and come with them. Mateo casts a speed up spell on the jaquins so they can get there quickly. Before the bad guys can free the shadows, Isabel shoots a smoke spell at them, and Elena appears in front of them. Before Ash can attack her, Esteban gets in the way and tells her to leave for her own safety. She doesn't think he cares about her safety. Everyone else attacks. Mateo casts a Fenci spell to knock everyone off their feet, but Ash casts a spell that makes him fall off of Luna. Antonia freezes Tziloco when he taunts him about it. Ash starts reciting the spell to release the shadows, but Elena blasts her off the gateway. Ixlan defeats Esteban and takes his staff. Chatana creates a giant jellyfish with wings. Gabe and the jaquins get zapped when they try to attack it, and it's too big and strong for Naomi's lasso. Isabel makes it harmless by shrinking it. Pili shoots fireballs at her, but Mateo freezes him. Before Chatana can make another creature, Marisa comes out of the water and slams into her. Gabe takes her diadem. Migs grabs her, and Naomi traps her in her magic bag. Ash blasts Elena, but before she can finish her off, Carla and Victor confront her. Victor says she loved herself more than Carla. However, she can't bring herself to attack her mother, but Victor has no such reservations. Ash dodges his spell and makes him spin around uncontrollably. Carla goes after him. Ash levitates herself back up to the gateway and starts reciting the spell again. Hey, jaquins? You wanna try that dive thing again? Gabe orders Antonia to lock the others up in the palace. Esteban is able to grab his staff though and teleport to the gateway. Elena sees him and uses her emotion magic to raise him and herself up into the air. She doesn't even get her scepter back from Mateo, who tells her to forget about Esteban and stop Ash, who is clearly up to something. He levitates himself up to the gateway as well and takes Ash's tamborita, which makes her lose her balance. She grabs Elena's foot, and they fall through the gateway together. Flo jumps in after them. There's a blast of pink light, and the shadows of the night are released. They don't like that name, and one of them renames themselves the Four Shades of Awesome. Esteban tells them that he freed them, and the others are trying to capture him. The big orange one has lightning powers and can create storms. Even Ixlan can't stop him. The small blue one turns Victor and Carla into peabunnies. The emotional green one uses his chaos powers to make Mateo fight the others with some kind of mind control. He blasts Gabe, but before he can do the same to Isabel, Ixlan slams into him, which gets rid of the mind control. Gabe orders everyone to retreat… but then he wants to immediately go back and fight them again. Isabel says they need to go back to Avalor City, tell the grand council what happened, and figure out how to beat the shades. Antonia rejoins them and tells them that the others are locked up in the tower. They don't know where Elena is. She, Ash, and Flo land in a dark place with vines. This must be wherever the shadows came from. Before Elena can strangle Ash with her bare hands for unleashing them on Avalor, the vines tie them all up. Esteban teleports himself back to the boat he and his team had, and the shades land there. They sing a villain song while demonstrating their powers to Esteban, who formally introduces himself. Vuli is the emotional one with different colored faces and a green body. He's the Chaos Shade. He's voiced by Mark Hamill, the Joker himself. And Luke Skywalker. And the Trickster. And probably a bunch of other roles. Yolo is the small blue one. He's the Animal Shade. He can turn creatures, including people, into any kind of animal he wants, and also turn himself into any kind of animal, like a jaquin or a bird. He's voiced by Fred Armisen. Hetz is the large orange one. He's the Weather Shade. He's voiced by Andy García. The purple flying female one is Cahu, the Time Shade. She can slow down time with her hourglass, and use a grain of its sand to turn anything to stone. She's voiced by Jenny Slate. She's definitely the most powerful, competent, and scariest one. This is demonstrated by her almost always being by Esteban's side, effortlessly turning at least dozens of people into stone offscreen, reminding the others of their true goal before it's revealed to Esteban and the audience, having a very different and much creepier musical cue than the others, and she's always last, to accentuate this, plus she floats everywhere gracefully instead of landing on her feet like the others. She also never has any comedic moments like the others. They learn that Esteban's most cherished desire is to be king of Avalor. Elena and Flo are calling for help. Ash points out that the shadows were imprisoned here for centuries, so she's doubtful that anyone will come to their aid. Just then, the Zanies and Bobo show up, and inform them that they're in the Spirit World. Specifically, the dark side of the tree, and since they're living creatures that fell through the gateway, only one spirit has the power to send them back: The Grand Macaw, the ruler of the dark side, voiced by Patrick Warburton, and he never lets anyone leave. Elena thinks it can't hurt to at least ask. Bobo agrees to take her to him, and frees them with a magic pea pod, but Ash secretly follows them. Back in Avalor, Isabel absentmindedly sits on the throne, and apologizes when Luisa points it out to her. However, her grandmother tells her that she's the Crown Princess now, so it's okay for her to sit there. Isabel realizes that this is what Quita Moz saw in his vision. She's nervous at first, but quickly takes charge. She tells Mateo to summon Zuzo to find out where Elena is, since spirit guides know where their humans are. Migs enters and tells them that a few of his scouts spotted Esteban and the shades heading this way. Isabel tells Ixlan and Gabe to draw up a defense plan. Doña Paloma wonders what they'll tell the coronation guests. Naomi thinks they should tell their close friends, like Val, what's going on so they can help. They'll tell the other guests that there's been a slight delay to the coronation so they have more time to enjoy the city. After everyone leaves, Isabel sits back down on the throne, clearly having been nervous the whole time. Luisa and Francisco are proud of her. It's like she's all grown up, and that finally gets her to smile. How did I never realize how similar Varian and Isabel are until December 2023? Mateo fills Zuzo in on what's happened so far. Elena and the others reach the Grand Macaw's place. He loves to party. Ash appears and tries to get ahead of them to ask the Macaw to send her back instead. He doesn't understand why anyone would want to leave. He agrees to send one of them back, and decide it with a game of ultimate olaball. They're led around the spirit world to find team members. Naomi and Marisa tell Rebeca, Chloe, Val, and Alonso what's going on. Elena asks her parents and Zuzo to be on her team, but Zuzo can't because Mateo keeps summoning him, and he tells her that the others are really worried about her. Aw! She decides that it's better for him to keep the others updated on what's going on. He also tells her that the Grand Macaw doesn't always say what he means or mean what he says. Bobo offers to be Team Elena's fourth member. It's revealed that Troyo and Zopilote died after being turned into their new forms and eaten by a tigerhawk. That's dark. Orizaba was also turned into a spirit, and she reminds Elena and Bobo that she told them it wasn't over. The Grand Macaw tells them that there are no rules. The winner will reach the highest of heights, and the loser will be sent to the lowest realm. Esteban and the shades reach Avalor City. They start by attacking the visiting kings and Queen Abigail in Castillo Park. When Yolo turns Hector into a butterfrog, Esteban tells him not to hurt them, because they're Avalor's allies. Cahu tells him to let the others have a little fun. It's time to crown him king, and they head to the palace. Val gets to the park and sees that Vuli used his chaos magic on the royals. Rebeca tells Isabel that Hetz is at the port, and Chloe tells her that Yolo is in the mercado. Doña Paloma leaves to save her emporium, and tells Isabel that she's a businesswoman, not a general. Was that foreshadowing? Naomi has some ideas. She, Mateo, Gabe, and Isabel head to the port first. Isabel tells Mateo to distract Hetz. Yolo watches them fight. It's spectacular. Isabel uses a lightning rod to strike Hetz with his own lightning, killing him and sending him to the olaball match in the spirit world. A young teen on a Disney Junior show has a body count. That's awesome! Yolo runs away and heads to the mercado. Meanwhile, Ash scores, making the score three to two. After she scores again and Elena almost attacks Orizaba, Raul asks for a timeout. He asks his eldest daughter why she's so upset. Their kingdom is being invaded and she can't do anything about it because she's stuck here, probably forever with the way the game is going. Lucia tells her that they've watched over her for years. She's usually cool under pressure, but it's clear that something else is bothering her. She couldn't save them from Shuriki, but she made sure she was brought to justice. Esteban helped her, and he's still out there. She has to make him pay for what he did to them. They tell her that her job is to protect the kingdom, not get revenge for what happened. It won't bring them back, and it will lead to bad decisions. That kind of reminds of Cass's supposed "motivation" in season 3 of *Tangled*. Elena realizes that her parents are right. She went after Esteban instead of stopping Ash from unleashing the shadows. She's been trying so hard, but she's making so many mistakes, and tells her father that she'll never be as good a ruler as he was. He tells her that he wasn't the perfect leader that she always envisioned and measured herself up against. He always meant well, but sometimes he didn't consider the consequences of his actions. It's revealed that he once prevented Shuriki from invading their allies, but didn't consider that she would set her sights on Avalor. Esteban tried to warn him, but Raul didn't believe him, so he sided with Shuriki, and Raul lost the kingdom. They all make mistakes. The best thing they can do is learn from them and stop making the same mistake over and over. Vuli is now in the mercado, and uses his chaos powers on everyone, even Ixlan. He's not bothered by her lightning powers. Val takes out her tamborita, but he dodges her attack. Gabe and the others arrive, and she tells them to take care of Ixlan. Yolo shows up and tells Vuli that they took out Hetz. Val hits him that time, and he falls from a balcony and gets stuck in a barrel. Alonso takes a hit from Yolo for Val and gets turned into a literal jackass (a donkey). He tells her to run and kicks Vuli and Yolo away. Gabe has tied up Ixlan. Isabel asks where the third shade is. They see magic coming from the palace. Naomi, Mateo, Gabe, and Isabel fly there on the jaquins. Cahu and Esteban enter the throne room. Francisco is handed a sword and asks Esteban why he's doing this. He tells them that his parents died because they didn't listen to him, Raul didn't listen about Shuriki, and Elena didn't listen when he told her that he had changed. He's been ignored his whole life. If he were king, he'd finally have the power he thinks he deserves, and then everyone would finally have to listen. Luisa says they would listen, but they would never respect him or love him after everything he's done. He'd forever be known as the villain who stole the crown. He says he's not a villain. Then stop siding with obvious villains! This reminds me of Cass and Zhan Tiri, but far more coherent and thought out. Cahu turns Francisco and Luisa to stone. Esteban orders her to bring them back to life, but she tells him that he keeps making the same mistakes, like trusting people who only *pretend* to listen, like when they told him that they would obey his commands. He may be king, but this world is theirs now, and if he doesn't like it, they can always find another one. Isabel and the others get there and are horrified by what they see. They close the doors again before Cahu can turn them to stone. They need a place to hide and figure out their next move, so they go to Rafa's house. They head to Mateo's old workshop in the basement and try to summon Zuzo to ask how Elena is doing. Oh, I see Alacazar! The game is almost over and the teams are tied. Elena realizes that the Grand Macaw's wording doesn't make any sense. He loves his side of the spirit world, so he wouldn't refer to it as the lowest realm. She realizes what he really means, and stops Bobo from blocking Ash, allowing her to score and win the game. We also see Shuriki and Sanza by Hetz. The Grand Macaw reveals that he considers the highest of heights to be staying in the spirit world to party with him forever, and he sends Elena and Flo back to the human world. Her parents tell her that she doesn't need luck, and they know she'll make them proud. The sheer amount of callbacks and references are insane. Zuzo takes her and Flo back to Rafa's house. The others are glad to see her, but then they tell her what happened, and Isabel starts crying when she tells her about their grandparents. Elena thinks she's too late. Isabel apologizes to her, and she tells her that it's not her fault. It's hers, for not stopping Ash when she had the chance. Zuzo encourages them to figure out how to save the kingdom. Rafa tells them that there's something outside. The sunbirds, King Verago, Zephyr, and the kingsguard are here to help them. Better late than never. So, Quita Moz, I guess Ixlan wasn't super important after all. Elena thought she came back too late, but she has to give it one more try. She and Esteban sing a distant duet. She thinks that it's never too late to change their fate, but he, on the other hand, thinks that it's too late for him to make the right choice and make up for his mistake. Gabe says that they couldn't beat the shades in a straight on fight. Naomi reminds him that Isa tricked Hetz into striking himself with lightning. Maybe they can trick the others into defeating themselves too. Mateo can use his magic to send them back to the spirit world. He gives Elena her scepter back. The sunbirds get Yolo to chase them. Vuli uses his chaos magic on Carmen. He gets picked up by Migs, who drops him down to Skylar, who drops him down to Luna, who intentionally fails to catch him, making him go splat on the ground. This is still a cartoon world though, so of course something so mundane doesn't kill one of the final Big Bads. Yolo accidentally turns him into a pig, and they fight each other. Mateo casts a spell on Gabe's sword that makes it magical. Elena stuns Vuli and Yolo with glow. Gabe uses his sword to paralyze them both. He even uses the Leaping Stag to finally hit Vuli. Mateo performs a triple hit spell to send the two back to the spirit world, and it works, which is good, because there was a chance that it could've sent *them* to the spirit world instead. Mateo, I love you; you're my favorite male character in the show, but seriously? Elena just got out of there! A little warning next time would be appreciated! He and Gabe are about to high five each other when Cahu turns them to stone. Elena tells Naomi get Isabel out of there. Cahu hears Skylar call Elena princesa. She tries to shoot her with blaze, but she slows down time and easily avoids it. They try to escape and fly towards the palace, but Cahu gets ahead of them and turns Skylar to stone. Elena is barely able to avoid falling into the rushing water below. She enters the courtyard, and sees other people turned to stone, like Armando. I personally think that Cahu's one fatal flaw is that she likes toying with people. She slows Elena down, and then stops that to talk to her, allowing Elena to try and shoot her with blaze again, which Esteban hears from the throne room. He teleports to a balcony and sees them. Cahu slows Elena down again and throws her scepter away. She even slows down the movement of the grain of sand so they can savor the moment. Someone's sadistic. This ends up being her downfall though, because it gives Esteban enough time to finally make the right choice. He teleports himself in front of Elena and sacrifices himself to save her, telling her how sorry he is as he turns to stone. Elena cries and forgives him, which makes her dress glow white, which brings him back to life. When he asks her how she did it, she tells him that she was feeling forgiveness, and it was more powerful than anything she's felt before. Okay, I know I shouldn't ruin this incredibly emotional moment, but if I were Esteban, I would've teleported Cahu in front of her own grain of sand to turn her to stone and get rid of her, or teleported the grain of sand itself; the same way Isa got rid of Hetz. We don't know if that would've brought everyone back though. Cahu tells them that what's done cannot be undone. But they literally just did that? Elena tells her that they may not be able to change the past, but if they can change themselves, they have the power to change the future. Her dress glows even brighter, and undoes all of the magic of the shades. I see that it's still daytime here too. It wouldn't surprise me if Cahu also froze time in the general vicinity around them though, which is why no other kingdom, royals, or royal guards could aid them. Val hugs Alonso when he changes back to normal, and they hold hands. Naomi and Isabel see Gabe and Mateo return to normal. So, where were they for a few minutes, and why did they come back? Or did they just not follow Elena's instructions to leave, or went back in case she pulled off a miracle and turned everything back to normal all by herself? Which she did, but still, they could've tried to help her against Cahu or convinced Esteban to finally make the right choice. We could have finally learned how they felt about his betrayal. Cahu tells Elena that she's only delaying her fate and takes out another grain of sand. So does she have a limited amount of those, like pages in a book, or is it unlimited because magic? I guess it doesn't matter because grains of sand are so tiny that she might as well have an unlimited supply, but still. Esteban runs over and grabs Elena's scepter. It glows when he picks it up, which means he can use it. Remember, the scepter only channels good magic. He uses blaze to hit Cahu, who is caught off guard and drops her hourglass. It breaks, which gets rid of her powers. It turns out that she was even using them to keep her hair up. I actually really like it down. It makes her look more deranged and unhinged. She says they can't defeat her and starts crawling over to the remains of her hourglass and her sand. So does she have to use *her* sand, or would any kind work? Just teleport or imprison her in a place with no sand and get rid of hers. After all, if her hourglass also gives her the ability to fly, then the lower half of her body must surely be atrophied. Elena picks up Esteban's staff and decides to teleport Cahu back to the spirit world. Or maybe buy some time and wait for Mateo to get back, since his spell already worked on Yolo and Vuli? Then again, they don't know for certain that they're okay now. Esteban tells Elena that the staff isn't powerful enough to go that far. Hey, where did everyone in the courtyard go? Shouldn't they be watching this at the very least, or trying to attack or restrain Cahu? Elena and Esteban combine their magic to bring her back to the spirit world… along with the remains of her hourglass and her sand. I mean, I guess so long as it's kept out of her reach, it's harmless, or if it's destroyed by a spirit once they get there, but I once again have to say, but still. Only after they leave does everyone decide to start moving, I guess. Luisa and Francisco enter the courtyard, along with Carla, Victor, and other people. Armando tells them what happened, including that Elena *and* Esteban saved them, so I guess he and the others at least *heard* everything that happened. They get back, and Elena tells her grandparents that she passed her test. Now that the lighting is back to normal, I can see that her dress also has gold accents. Quita Moz shows up and confirms that she passed her test, but it wasn't about saving the kingdom from any evildoer. Esteban was her test. It was about Elena learning from her past mistakes and learning to forgive. Luisa questions her decision to forgive Esteban, but she tells everyone that he was willing to sacrifice himself to save her. He plans to spend the rest of his life making up for what he's done, if she'll let him. She gets the scepter back, and they hug each other. Elena finally calls him primo. Isabel, Naomi, Mateo, Gabe, Ixlan, and the jaquins get back. Elena hugs her little sister and her best friends. Doña Paloma shows up and reminds them that they still have a queen to crown today. I mean, after everything that happened, you can't delay it for a day? Charoca and Charica make silent cameos at the coronation, along with so many other people: Yolanda, Dolores, Antonio, Pablo, Felicia, Tomiko, Professor Ochoa, Nathaniel, Shoji, Professor Mendoza, Higgins, Rico, Quique, Amara, Cristina, her father Fernando, Olivia, Marzel, Roberto, Blanca, Leo in a different outfit and his parents, the Noblins, Belle, and Cinderella. I love Naomi, Isabel, and Elena's coronation dresses. However, before Francisco can place the crown on Elena's head, the final guests arrive: Sofia and her family! **Aaaaaahhhhhh!!!!!!** And also, aw! Only Sofia and Amber have lines though. But the coronation was delayed by all of the chaos. Does this mean that Elena was seriously considering being crowned queen without them there? After all, she did express surprise that they even showed up. Some people have said that Sofia, Amber, and James look weird in the *Elena of Avalor* art style. I'm kind of split down the middle. On one hand, it had been almost two years out of universe since Sofia the First ended, and in universe I think Craig Gerber said on Twitter that it's been four years since Sofia and her family appeared in Elena and the Secret of Avalor, which took place in the second half of Sofia's third season. I've always personally thought that Sofia was 12 by the time her show ended, which would make her 14 or 15 here, and James and Amber are a year older than she is, so they're either 15 or 16. The shows were animated by different studios with different software. Plus, let's be honest here, Disney has never been known for realistic body proportions. I'm only okay with them doing that for the eyes because I think it makes their faces more expressive. Sofia and her siblings are clearly teenagers now, just like Isabel is. On the other hand, I just think it's funny because not all of the *Elena of Avalor* characters (i.e. Naomi) translated into the *Sofia the First* art style all that well either. Remember the ugly jaquins? We don't talk about them. Amber has a new hairstyle, and Sofia's hair is finally long enough for me to believe that she could actually put it in that ponytail. Speaking of which, I love Elena's new hairstyle, but again, not enough hair. What, did they compress it all in that weird bun at the top of her head? I feel like a long braid would've worked better, like in Tangled. After four years of waiting, learning, and ruling, Elena is *finally* crowned queen. It's time for her to dance the first dance. She goes up to Naomi, holds her hands… and asks her to be her chancellor. She may be "just a girl from the port", but she has the best instincts in the kingdom, and she accepts after looking at Doña Paloma and Esteban and seeing them nod their heads and smile in approval. Daniel and Scarlett are proud of her. Elena moves down the line to Gabe… and promotes him to general, effective immediately. Blanca and Roberto are proud of him. Elena tells Mateo that his official title from this day forward will be Master Royal Wizard of Avalor. Rafa is proud of him. He brings up the dance, but she moves onto Isabel. So close; yet so far! Also, everyone else basically gets promoted, but Mateo only gets a title change? What the hell? Tell me he at least gets paid more. Elena tells her little sister that today, she showed great ingenuity and even greater courage, so she's offering her the position of Royal Inventor. Isa obviously accepts, tells Elena that she won't let her down, and the royal sisters hug each other again. Our newly crowned queen chooses to dance the first dance with her grandfather. No one has helped her learn how to rule more than him. However, he stumbles again. She tells him that they don't have to dance if he's not up to it. He insists that he's just tired… because he stayed up all night writing her a special song for the occasion. Marlena, Luisa, and Isabel also join in. Elena sings about how all of her family and friends are her guiding lights as everyone dances. So many couples! Don't get me wrong, they're not all romantic, but I think the ones most strongly hinted at are Naomi and Gabe, Antonia and Ixlan, which was a surprise, since they've literally never interacted onscreen with each other before now; but not as much as assistant to the Magister Doña Paloma and Magister of Trade Julio Guzman, who is finally back to wearing the power vest that his sister made for him. There's also James and Isabel, Val and Alonso, and Mateo and Carla, even if I don't ship those last two together. Zuzo shows up and tells Elena that her first day as queen went pretty well, and then asks her if she's ready for day two, in a very direct callback to the very first episode, where Belle and Cinderella also made silent cameo appearances. *Queen* Elena looks at everyone dancing, singing, and flying, and tells Zuzo that she's ready. The last person she dances with onscreen is Sofia. Aw! It's basically subtext that says Elena's story, both in and out of universe, wouldn't even be possible without her. There's also the fact that after she was freed from the amulet, Sofia was the first person she danced with. Naomi throws the scepter to Elena, who catches it, and they recreate the last shot of the intro. Our girls have grown up. Just like I said for *Sofia the First*, everyone who has ever worked on this show, no matter how big or small their contribution was, I just want to thank you, acknowledge your hard work, and let you all know how grateful I am. I think it's safe to say that both Sofia and Elena, the characters and their shows, changed my life forever, in ways that I'm not even sure I'm capable of describing. I also think it's safe to say that I'd subscribe to Disney+ if just these two shows were available in full. As of August 23rd, 2020, *Sofia the First* was still available on Netflix in full, and only the first two seasons of *Elena of Avalor* were available on Disney+. I think that this series finale might be even more movie worthy than Sofia's was. Not only were the songs, the score; which was performed by a live orchestra, and the performances excellent, but so was the animation, the action, the cinematography, the lighting, etc. Even the promo art was gorgeous, especially for episodes like Dreamcatcher and Día de Las Madres. Craig Gerber, Silvia Olivias, Rachel Ruderman, Nathan Chew, Tony Morales, Tom Rogers, Robb Platt, Elliot M. Bour, Kate Kondell, and everyone else, I just want to say, muchas gracias, y hasta luego, mis amigos. This is the end of an era for me. One that has lasted almost eight years. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm gonna go watch the whole thing again so I can transcribe all of the songs and memorable conversations. Six hours, you guys, and that's a very rough estimate. It could be more. **SIX. HOURS.** That's just how long it took to write the first draft with minimal corrections and additions! This has been, without a doubt, the best six hours of my life. I wouldn't be surprised if it's one of the longest pages here. *Sofia the First* was later taken off of Netflix in October of 2022, and it and Elena of Avalor's final season was added to Disney+ at some point.

## Revelation

Remember those earlier season 3 pages where I talked about what to expect, what I would've changed, and basically complained about characters like Naomi and Gabe and their lack of use and development? Well, first of all, I still stand by those complaints, although I would just like to say that I still adore their characters, the cast, and the crew for the entire show as a whole. However, while looking back at the season 2 finale, I had a revelation, or maybe it would be better to call it a sudden realization or an epiphany about why I felt the way I did towards some of the characters, especially once the show became more serialized. The characters… act like real people. I know that probably sounds ridiculous, but just hear me out. How many times have you watched a children's show where someone learns a lesson, and then they never make that same mistake ever again for the entirety of the rest of the show's run? Especially when you were younger and you saw more episodic and formulaic shows meant exclusively for kids? For better and for worse though, real people don't do that. They can't just learn one thing and completely change who they are, especially if it's on an extremely fundamental level. However, that's not usually shown in the media we consume, so we build up unrealistic expectations of ourselves and others about how we're "supposed to" act and learn. When something goes against those expectations, our brains just don't know how to process it, because it's been ingrained into us through our entertainment for years that that's not how it works, even though, yes, that's exactly how it works. It takes time, patience, reminding yourself or someone else reminding you, being willing to change in the first place, accepting that you have flaws like everyone else, etc. That's how you become a better person and learn to be true to yourself. No one has all of the answers right away. It takes time. Naomi flip flopping on what she wants in her life may have made me mad, but it *is* realistic. It's like a college student transferring to a different school or switching majors, or someone suddenly switching careers. It happens in real life, but you've probably seen very little of it, or nothing at all, on a screen, probably because a main character changing so drastically and so suddenly and having it actually stick could potentially destroy the central premise of the show and alienate the audience you already have. I think the best comparison would be the *My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic* season 7 episode "Fame and Misfortune" about Fluttershy "learning the same thing over and over again" and other ponies (i.e. people/fanatics/haters[?]) telling her to just be assertive already. She is though, as she gives the perfect response to them. "Listen up. I *am* more assertive. And yes, it took me awhile to get there, but can you honestly say that *you* could learn something one time and completely change who you are?! I didn't think so." There's also a speech in the *Stargirl* movie that's somewhat similar. Basically, as people grow up, they'll make mistakes. They won't know who they are or what they want right away, and that's okay. The most beautiful things in the world are the ones that can stand the test of time and overcome obstacles, and also *take the time they need* to grow, however long that is. And sometimes, we never stop learning and growing. And that's okay too. On July 22nd, 2021, which was the five year anniversary of *Elena of Avalor*, I found out that a few days before, Mark Hamill won his first Emmy for voicing Vuli. Congrats to him and the rest of the cast and crew! They were still winning awards almost a full year later! So, on YouTube, there's a channel with over one million subscribers called Cinema Therapy, which is about a therapist, a filmmaker, and occasionally special guests discussing the psychology (and sometimes film techniques) in movies and of certain characters in those movies. Part of their Psychology of a Hero video about Elsa from *Frozen* and *Frozen II* probably best exemplifies what I'm trying to say. Despite her growth in the first movie and learning not to shut others out, she still sends Anna and Olaf away in the sequel because she's terrified of losing them. It's human nature to backslide into old, self-destructive patterns, which, unfortunately, in movies and TV shows means negating some character growth that already happened. It's sort of like Zuko going back to being an antagonist to our heroes in the season 2 finale of *Avatar: The Last Airbender*. He just wasn't there yet, but he got there eventually, and we were lucky enough to actually see it happen. And even after the show ended, there was also the stuff that happened in the graphic novels as well. That progress for characters like Elena, Naomi, Mateo, Gabe, and others still exists, it's just not complete yet. These characters in particular are still very young adults. They're just starting to understand what their purpose in life is and what they want to do. But the audience doesn't get to see that later part of the journey. We rarely ever do. And that's something that we have to accept and be okay with, because there's no point in getting upset over it if it won't change anything. Besides, there's always fanmade content.