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Ixlan + favorite quotes.

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General Thoughts on To Queen or Not To Queen

I can’t believe the series is almost over!

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I don't know about you, but I'm soooooo pumped for tomorrow's new episode! A small amigos gathering to celebrate Elena's birthday/coronation AND an alternate reality adventure? Yes please! 🎉🎂🎁👑👫🏽

Also I'm super curious what kind of potion Mateo made for Elena 👀

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Loved this shoutout

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this boy deserved better

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5 Things I LOVED About To Queen Or Not To Queen and 1 Thing I Didn’t

I love love LOVE this episode. I know it sparked mixed emotions in a lot of people for various reason, but for me, it was nothing short of fantastic! 

1. Amigos Adventure!

Episodes featuring amigos are always my fave (ok, technically my 2nd fave since Elena and Mateo adventures are my first, but still!) Seeing them just hanging out, having fun and talking on a real and personal level in the opening scene was extremely satisfying.

Then there was the AU version of the amigos. GABE FINALLY HAS A NEW OUTFIT!!! THIS IS NOT A DRILL. Like real clothes that I can picture Gabe hanging out in if he ever took a down day in his real life. 

Elena being so determined to help her friends find joy in their lives—even if they had no idea who she was—it was just so sweet. Also, can we talk about the fact that she was the one training Gabe and Mateo in arts they have previously trained her in? It was just a really neat callback to fencing lessons and magical training we’ve seen throughout the series. Also, I particularly enjoyed the implication that Elena has trained on the tamborita with Mateo enough that she could effectively train him in return.

2. She’s Finally Ready to Rule

Seeing the stark contrast between “First Day of Rule” Elena and “To Queen or Not to Queen” Elena is incredible. Seriously, the character development this soon to be queen has gone through in the past four years is truly impressive. With the possible exception of Rapunzel, I don’t think any other Disney Princess has every been given such a complex, in depth personal character arc. 

In this episode, we see Elena demonstrate the qualities of a true leader. She saw a problem and didn’t simply demand that everyone fix it, she inspired them to want more. A true leader inspires people to follow their vision. Not only that but they act with integrity and with the best interest of their followers at heart.

Elena has always had a heart for her people, that much is clear. But now, she understands exactly what it means to lead. 

I love the line:

“If you won’t put your people’s happiness above your own, you don’t deserve to lead them.”

I feel like this is one key idea behind the whole dream. Elena wondered if being queen was what she really wanted aka if being queen would make her happy. She discovered that serving her people and looking out for their happiness was exactly what she wanted and, in doing so, discovered that she did, indeed, deserve to lead them. 

3. Elena’s Outfit

Ok but how CUTE is this outfit? I loved everything about it from the beautifully embroidered top to the colorful skirt. I think I like this one even better than her Norberg outfit!

4. King Extra-ban and the Diva Queen

Ok, I’m not going to lie. I was pretty sure that the king of Avalor was Esteban, but nothing could have prepared me for Queen Doña Paloma! I lost it when she popped up. And I KNOW my esteoma friends must have thoroughly enjoyed this AU LOL! Plus they nailed the bickering lovers dynamic perfectly.

Honestly, I enjoyed the over the top nonsense we got from them. Like making it a law to adopt their signature LOOK. And those ridiculously huge crowns and poofy sleeves! Hilarious.

This may be an unpopular opinion, particularly from the Este-Apologists out there, but I found this AU 100% believable and in character for both Esteban and Doña Paloma. Was it exaggerated? Absolutely. Would current canon Esteban behave that way? Nope. Well, I don’t think so anyways. I’m not even sure that current canon Doña Paloma would be quite that bad.

But rewind back to early (Pre King of the Carnaval) season 1 with over the top jerk face Esteban who was literally plotting to undermine Elena. And season 2 Esteban who was all too quick to try and save his own life even before Isa’s (a literal child, I might add) in Song of the Sirenas. He was petty and ridiculous and selfish back then and I think that if you remove the close loving bond with his family and exaggerate those negative character trait, you get arrogant, greedy, slightly corrupt King ExtraBan. Also, we all know that Esteban and Doña teaming up for anything is a recipe for a telenovela style disaster.

I actually really felt like they selected specific things about this AU that would resonate deeply with Elena and trigger a passionate response. In her current emotional state regarding her cousin, having him on the throne as a corrupt leader probably affected her more than some random villain or unknown entity. And may have been more plausible in her mind than it would have been to anyone else simply because of her personal problem with him.

5. SOULMATES

DISCLAIMER: I AM ABOUT TO GET SHIPPY

Ok but this episode was literally one of the best things ever for Eleteo shippers at the subtext level. The writers threw in several lines that, to me, came across with very romantic connotations. Like the fact that she was utterly horrified and outraged that anyone would make Mateo into a jester. Her reaction to his fate was exponentially more emotional than her reaction to anyone else in the dream. 

Then there was the classic soulmate au line from Mateo: “We’ve just met, but I feel like you’ve known me forever.” 

I also really love that shapeshifting into Jaquins is another Elena and Mateo sort of thing. It was adorable the first time and I love that he gave her such a meaningful gift that represented her finding a bit of freedom at a time when she felt stuck. 

And finally, this is likely my shipping goggles talking, so take me with a grain of salt if you don’t ship it, but I found Mateo’s placement in several group shots to be quite interesting. Particularly when considering rule of thirds composition after important lines like “There’s everything to lose” (placed in the forefront of the crowd at the intersection of the center and left third of the image).  Maybe it was coincidence…or maybe not. Regardless of the intent of the animators, I love it!

1 Thing I Did Not Like

Now, typically, I try to put a positive spin on these things because I prefer to focus on what I love rather than nitpicking, but I am going to make an exception in this case. I DESPISE, DETEST AND ABSOLUTELY 100% LOATH THE JESTER COSTUME. Seriously I think I was just as appalled as Elena was when I saw it LOL! 

Now don’t misunderstand me, I’m not like mad that they made Mateo a jester. I mean, I hate that job for him, however, I think the extremes we saw in Elena’s dream were selected very specifically to trigger intense emotional reactions for her. 

But the costume itself was just awful, especially those terrible pants. LOL!

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Mateo fighting the Great Bronzino for ‘The King’s Challenge’

Elena of Avalor | Season 3 Episode 27 | To Queen Or Not To Queen

Bonus: Elena quietly rooting for him (and just him!!!) during the challenge

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"I more than dare. I demand. I demand what's best for my people, and that's for me to be their queen! Queen Elena of Avalor!"

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A summary of the last episode.

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THIS SCEEEEENE

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ALL OF THESE?? YES.

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Illustrations for the @themagicwithinpc countdown to Coronation Day, in a collab with the wonderful @pizza-n-sunshine 💖👑

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esteban: elena i have a question

elena: yeah, sure, what’s up?

esteban: so when you feel forgiveness, does your dress turn white and gold or black and blue

elena:

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5 Things I LOVED About Coronation Day and 1 Thing I Didn’t - Part 1

Coronation Day y’all. Just. Wow! What an incredible finale and masterpiece of animation! Seriously, this is the kind of stuff we could be seeing on the big screen and a small part of me holds out hope that somehow EoA will be the DTVA show that breaks the rule about tv to full length feature animation not being a successful venture. 

Ok, so since this is a 3 part episode, I’ve decided to do 3 posts—I’m sorry but I can’t pick just 5 things!

1. Puppet Show!

I LOVED the Avalor Puppet Pals. First, recap via puppet show should be the new norm in television animation. Second, Armarlena! They did a puppet show together and it made my heart so happy! Not only that, but the song was awesome and the chorus honestly made me super emotional. Long may she reign!

it was also a wonderful way to start a coronation day, with the children of the land listening to the tales of their soon to be queen’s journey to the throne. I can’t think of many ways to set up a “Everything’s fine” scenario for whatever major catastrophe is to come to show up  and destroy better than that!

2. Royal Friends!

The princesses were back! And all of Elena’s other royal friends too! It was so nice to see them all. Plus, ALONSO!!!! (Though, did anyone else think his model was a bit funky compared to season 2 Alonso?) 

I was so happy to see all of the Royal Friends together. And the fact that every single one of them considered themselves friends of Elena…I mean, it’s not surprising since we’ve seen them in action as friends. I suppose I’m more talking specifically about Val and Alonso considering their rocky starts with Elena.

Also, Hector seems to have been on his best behavior from the very start. He participated in the song and everything!

3. Battle Royale

The battle scene was so cool!!! I thought he fact that it was at the bottom of the sea made it a really unique and interesting battle to watch. Literally everyone was there—the Avalor Guardian Jaquins partnering with Elena’s kick ass team!

One of my absolute favorite things about this whole scenario was Isa! Baby girl got herself a crossbow and invented special arrows. I was so proud! This was the first time we got to see her contribute equally to a battle side by side with the rest of the team and I loved it! She sort of gave me Queen Susan of Narnia vibes … though I’ll admit, that could simply be the archery thing. I think we can all agree that Isa is more of a Lucy xD

Then there was finally getting to see Ixlan in action! Like, how cool was that?! I didn’t realize that she was actually the Flash. lol! And the joke about her being faster than Esteban was great (My kids really loved it too…particularly because they ship Ixlan and Esteban but that’s a different story LOL). Honestly though, poor Esteban getting body slammed by Ixlan was just a great move (sorry Esteban…it had to be done). 

I loved that Mateo was able to come to Isa’s defense froze Chatana’s favorite pet—my boy pissed the sorceress off bad! I also love that he was still Elena’s voice of reason until the very end. Elena runs off to confront Esteban (which btw it looked like Esteban was trying to teleport Ash out of there and stop her) and Mateo follows with his own magic. Be warned, this is only the first time I’m going to gush about Mateo’s growth—he has big magical moments in all three acts and I LOVE IT!!! I just wanted to comment on the fact that his magic seems to be able to keep up with Elena’s now both in power and scope. And he is not afraid of anything when he’s on the battle field! [insert Rafa “That’s my son” gif here]

Then there was the fact that Marisa just happened to be swimming by and jumped into battle, LOVED IT!!!! It would have been cool to have Marzel there too, but I suppose Prince Royce must have been busy lol

And I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the Delgado showdown. I really felt for Carla here—she still loves her mother, even if she’s mad at her. I also like the fact that it wasn’t that Carla didn’t want her mother to come to justice, it was just that she couldn’t bring herself to hurt her. Victor, however, was amazing. He was perfectly happy to make that shot, unfortunately Ash was too fast and countered. Thankfully not with a stone spell this time. 

Overall this battle scene was just really well done and I LOVED how the team Elena put together worked so well together to defeat the enemy they had prepared for. Team Chatebash was easily defeated by them. It was also really interesting to see the stark contrast between Team Chatebash and The Shades. Team Chatebash looked like a joke compared to the shades and sent Team Avalor retreating within minutes. 

4. The 4 Shades of Awesome

Ok but these new villains were so cool! I love their design and their personalities. Mark Hamill is a treasure and was PERFECT as Vuli. Cahu is gorgeous and elegant and moves like water—she’s also creepy af with that quiet voice of hers. I love it!

Oh! And I can’t forget to mention that they are indeed the shadows of the night as told of by Amalay back in Jewel of Maru. I adored the fact that they hated the name and immediately sought to rebrand themselves as the Shades of Awesome—well, Vuli and Yolo did. Not sure that Hetz and Cahu cared much LOL! 

Their song is super catchy and I loved learning more about them. The bit where Cahu sings her verse and slows Esteban down while he watches the sand grain glide by his face with that look of dawning horror was actually chilling. 

5. Happy Birthday Elena!

I just really loved the small moment dedicated to her birthday! Who doesn’t love showing up to work with donuts and coffee waiting in the conference room? Or in this case, Pan Dulce :)

One Thing I Did Not Like

I know I said that it was impressive that Team Avalor wiped the floor with Team Chatebash, and it was! But I also was a little disappointed that they were completely out of the game in the first 15 minutes. It makes total sense that they were just the pre game to set the stage for the Shades of Awesome, but still. After watching Ash try to build this team for half of season 3 just to find out that they weren’t really much of a threat in their own right made them a bit of an anticlimactic villain team.

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"A wise wizard once told me - I had to be my own master."

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Gabe’s apology to Mateo in Crash Course

Requested by Anonymous

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The joy I’m feeling. <3