eahwidow

[eahwidow]

Alistair had potential to be a good character, but he was completely wasted from his design alone to his very boring relationship with Bunny (sorry to any Alistair x Bunny shippers out there in the wild!) and it upsets me.

If you didn't know that Alistair was supposed to be the next ALICE, you would assume that he was a pirate from Neverland based on his outfit! He doesn't give Wonderland vibes like Maddie, Lizzie or Kitty and he's the son of Alice herself, which makes me really appreciate those artists who make sure to redesign Alistair and give him a more unique, Wonderlandian style.

Also, he is one of the only male characters in EAH that inherits a traditionally "female" role on his fairytale destiny along with Gus (who is the son of Gretel), not counting Hunter because even though he's essentially the "Cinderella" in his story with Ashlynn, he still inherits the role of the Huntsman. It would have been cool to see more guys in more female fairytale roles, like how there are a lot of EAH girls in "male" roles - Maddie, Cedar, Jillian, Ramona, Helga etc.

[eahwidow]

There is so... SO many things I don't like about Epic Winter, which pretty much made EAH end on a bitter note, but I think my biggest problems with the special are:

Why was there SO MUCH focus on Crystal's FATHER instead of her mother, who got frozen for mostly HALF of the special?? Like, I could understand that it might have been a way to make a parallel to the original fairytale with the Snow King being the "Kai" to Crystal's "Gerda" (as in Kai gets cursed from the evil mirror's shards and Gerda has to save him), but even before he's cursed, he is more well-known than the actual SNOW QUEEN! The only way I can think of to justify this in-lore is that maybe the Snow King might have inherited the actual fairytale destiny from his mother while he was a student at Ever After High, which could be a very interesting plot to explore since we rarely have male characters taking on traditionally female roles in fairytales other than Alistair, but then I think it would've been better if Crystal was a boy and have a focus on the mother to parallel Kai and Gerda, but in switched roles. Or if they still wanted to keep the Snow King as a central character, it could still work with a male!Crystal anyways!

Also, Jackie and Northwind Frost were WASTED potential as antagonists and deserved a much better development or plot, another case of characters introduced in a special with a great design and interesting fairytale legacy that wasn't explored (*cough cough* CHASE REDFORD *cough cough*)....

....Sorry for any potential fans of this ship that see this, but I. Absolutely. HATE. ROSABELLA AND DARING! Not only it was out of nowhere, not properly developed and so obviously a copy of Disney's version of Beauty and the Beast, but it also doesn't make sense if you take a look at the original fairytale, where the Beast was actually quite sympathetic and sweet to Beauty and she was the one who judged Beast for his appearances at first (there is also the whole drama with the fairies in this tale, but that's for another day lol). If anything, Rosabella should have been the one to turn into a beast since she's the Beast's daughter too, but instead of hating it, she would embrace her beast side. But honestly, I feel like they should have kept the Beauty and the Beast elements for another special since the focus of Epic Winter should be on being a parallel to The Snow Queen.

I feel like they should have put at least one or two of the last girls EAH introduced at that time in the Epic Winter lineup instead of Rosabella, Daring or even Ashlynn, but only Farrah really had a bit of relevancy plot-wise as she helped the girls discover about the Roses of the Seasons. The Spring Rose could've been related to either Jillian or Nina as a rose that stands out on its own, while the Summer Rose that wears a disguise could've easily fit either Justine or Meeshell, THERE COULD HAVE BEEN A WAY TO FIT THEM IN THE PLOT! 😭

[eahwidow]

I haven't really seen anyone talk about this, but Holly (originally Poppy due to her being the actual oldest twin) ALSO might have a tragic destiny ahead of her: being imprisoned in a tower, her prince will literally almost DIE by the hands of the witch and have his eyes pierced by thorns, she'll be exiled alone for years in a desert until she finds and cures the prince with magical tears(?) and have baby twins WHILE ALONE IN THE DESERT!

Okay that not necessarily EVERY part of the original Rapunzel fairytale might happen to Holly since there's different circumstances, but at least some parts of it could still stay and it makes me wonder a few things like: If Rapunzel's prince getting blind is an important part of the fairytale, could it be that Dexter was supposed to be Holly's predestined Prince Charming, since he does wear glasses (which could be kinda like a slight reference to his brutal fate) and EAH made sure to often remember that his most powerful charm are his EYES like Daring's charm is his smile?

Also.... Where is Dame Gothel's daughter/son? Like, even if it wouldn't be possible to follow the exact original tale, I feel like there would still be the need for a Gothel in Holly's story, right? After all, she is the main villain in the Rapunzel tale and the one who permanently cuts her hair, throws the prince to his death etc.

I've had this headcanon/theory for a while that maybe the reason why Rapunzel always give birth to twins is that for the older twin to inherit her role while the younger twin ends up becoming the witch, so Poppy's darker, edgier and more "villain-like" Rebel aesthetic could allude to the fact that believing that she was the younger twin, she would be the next Gothel. But Poppy didn't want to hurt her own sister, so she decides to find her own destiny instead of playing the villain, which would end up being Holly's original role.

[eahwidow]

I'm still a firm believer that Briar DESERVED a much bigger arc centering on her switching sides, specially after the fight with Apple and throwing the real Storybook of Legends away to free herself from her 100-years slumber. In fact, I think Spring Unsprung SHOULD HAVE BEEN ABOUT BRIAR, instead of just another Wonderland-centric special given that Way Too Wonderland would be released after it!

Imagine how good it'd be to see Briar still trying to come to terms with what she's done, maybe even having some regrets due to guilt after years of being taught that you must follow your family's fairytale or else you disappear, but then she slowly loses this guilt when getting much closer to Raven, feeling encouraged to try new things without worrying about her future sleep and even realizing that not only her, but so many people deserve the chance to try something new. This could support a lot more the Rebels movement and give some development to Briar, as she finally stands up for herself and announces that she does NOT want to be the next Sleeping Beauty.

This could also be a chance to have Faybelle as a more prominent antagonist, since we know she's a Royal and WANTS to be the next Dark Fairy to curse Briar, so maybe she wouldn't like that Briar is "ruining her chance" to be the next great villain, just like how Apple fears that she won't get her privileged happily ever after because of Raven deciding to stay good....

[eahwidow]

Ginger Breadhouse deserved better, I wish we could've gotten to see more of her! 😭💖🧁

She is such a good and interesting character with lots of potential, like we haven't even seen what she could do as a witch and her design is so cute, love me some sweets-themed designs XD

Also, the fact that Ginger is forced into this reputation and destiny of being a child-eating witch due to a LIE told by Hansel and Gretel that everyone believed in (because fuck witches, IG??) is so messed up. Not to mention those brats Gus and Helga - love their designs and colors tho - trying to spread lies about Ginger???

[eahwidow]

I wish we could have seen more of a stronger bond between Raven and Briar after Thronecoming.

Raven would totally understand why Briar didn't want to follow her fairytale destiny after knowing how she felt about losing every single one of her friends during her 100-years sleep, and would understand her fear when she threw the Storybook of Legends away. And Briar? She literally SAW what was going to happen to Raven if she does sign the book, not just the one bit we saw of Apple in a glass coffin and the magic mirror, and understood exactly why Raven started the Rebels movement.

They both don't want to be controlled by what some book says that is their predestined life, they both don't want to lose their friends and be alone forever because of "destiny". Raven and Briar getting closer with each other as friends would've been so cool to see ;-;