Headscratchers / Elena of Avalor

Elena of Avalor

• How does the Enchancian royal family not know about what happened in Avalor? It might make sense that due to Avalor's distance, they didn't know all that much about Avalor, but you'd think that they'd do some more research on the place before embarking there.

• Why didn't any other kingdom do something about Shuriki's takeover?
  • It could be that Avalor didn't have many allies when Raul was in power. Without many allies he wouldn't have people to come to his aide. Especially if Shuriki had kept Avalor locked out of the loop from other countries.

• In Senorita Marisol's classroom, you can see a globe of the Earth, and in the observatory in "Class Act", Professor Ochoa shows Isabel a model of the Earth's solar system and Isabel sees what appears to be Jupiter (or at least a gas giant that looks a lot like Jupiter) through the telescope, despite "Elena and the Secret of Avalor" showing that the Ever Realm has a different solar system.
  • Series Continuity Error?
  • We could just be seeing some advancements in studying the solar system from Avalor's perspective that places like Enchancia hasn't seen yet.

• Why does Esteban go by his first name instead of last name (as in, why does he go by "Chancellor Esteban" rather than "Chancellor [father's surname]"? People like Dona Paloma and Captain Scarlett do it.
  • It could be that he had made a name for himself as Chancellor Esteban rather then go by his last name. Why would be another good question.
  • Considering Shuriki made a point of eliminating displays of Avalor's culture during her reign, it's entirely possible that she didn't want Esteban using his surname, since that would tie into his family's legacy (even though he isn't related to King Raul). It's also possible that he was ashamed, both because of his betrayal and simply because he was working for the woman who overthrew his kingdom, that he didn't want to "taint" his family's name. Not to mention that he took his position as a teenager, so maybe he wasn't ready to be addressed as an adult yet/people weren't ready to address him as an adult yet.

• Why did Shuriki go through all the trouble of making a wand when she could've just gotten hold of a tamborita instead?
  • Shuriki doesn't really go with a tamborita because she doesn't feel comfortable with it, doesn't care to know how to use it, doesn't want to know how to use it. A tamborita is like what symbolizes Avaloran culture and she's been suppressing/changing their culture to see how she feels fit.

• Where are all the wizards in Avalor? Enchancia seems to be crawling with them and students at royal prep are given wands. I get why Mateo is the royal wizard (he helped Elena and all) but there was no other wizard that could have tried out for the position?
  • It could be that Shuriki had driven out all of the other wizards (even those in training) from Avalor in her original take over. Or even killed them like the Fire Lord did to the airbenders in Avatar: The Last Airbender, if you want to see how dark this could get. Fridge horror indeed.
  • Turns out she did, banning the practice of magic and banishing all other wizards because she feared they would be a threat to her rule.

• Did Shuriki push back any development in Avalor? Despite Elena and Sofia the First sharing the same universe, Avalor appear to not be as developed as Enchancia. In Elena's Class Act, during one of the songs, the science professor sings about how perhaps one day someone will invent an airship to travel the sky in. Yet, as we've seen more than once in Sofia, this technology already exists in their world.
  • I'm pretty sure that she did. Enchancia is miles ahead of Avalor in terms of technology and magic. Sure culturally they'll be different but I'm sure that Shuriki suppressed development in many ways and pushed it (well Esteban did) in many other ways such as the harbor has grown.

• After Elena finds out about Esteban's past treachery, shouldn't Elena have made the issue a family matter and not a Grand Council matter where Esteban has to formally stand trial, which would include people (in this case, Naomi) who wouldn't know the true depths of the royal family's grief? We see that his trial was very emotionally-charged between blood relatives, more about what he did against his family than what he did against Avalor. Almost all that was focused on was about how Esteban's treachery affected them personally, so that being said it was clearly a family issue that's more appropriate to be discussed between Elena, Isabel, Abuelo and Abuela before making their final decision on Esteban. In fact, Isabel wasn't given a say in how Esteban should be handled, and we do see in "Dreamcatcher" how unfair it is on her. As for Naomi, she may be Elena's best friend, but no matter how good a friend she is, she and Elena are still different people from different family cultures, so she can never know the true, emotional depth of Elena's family situation. Case in point, Naomi agreed with Luisa without giving anything to back it up, and she hasn't known Esteban for as long as Elena and her remaining relatives has. Plus, the Grand Council is not for discussing personal issues.
  • Personal motivations or not, what Esteban did was treason. If that isn't enough of an emergency to merit the Grand Council's attention, what is?
  • Elena also explains in "Dreamcatcher" that she's not comfortable with treating Esteban's actions as a personal issue. Focusing on it as a purely political issue allows her some emotional distance so she can actually process it without falling apart and activating her emotion-based powers. Besides, as mentioned, a "family problem" that directly leads to a 41-year occupation by a foreign usurper is no longer a family problem.
  • That may be so, but in any case, Isabel still didn't get any say in this matter. It clearly bothered her. Also, if it really was to be treated as a political issue, then the crimes Esteban committed against Avalor should've been discussed during the trial, but they weren't. If anything, it could be argued that Esteban's issue started out as a family problem that became a political issue only to turn out personal, and it did get personal during the trial when everything Elena and her family talked in regards to how much Esteban took their love for granted.

• How did Sofia know that Alacazar was Mateo's grandfather when the former never mentioned having any grandchildren? He didn't even know that he had a grandson until he met him for himself in "Spirit of a Wizard".
  • Because he lived in Alacazar's old house and was the son of the woman who was the right age to be Alacazar's daughter. It was a logical guess to make.

• When Esteban's role in Shuriki's invasion was revealed in "The Magic Within", he said he didn't feel like a part of the family, but we don't learn until "Coronation Day" that he wasn't fully responsible—he tried to warn Raul that Shuriki would invade Avalor, but Raul didn't believe him, and that's why Esteban helped her in the first place. But why didn't Esteban say that when his betrayal was revealed? Could it be because his family wouldn't believe him? Would it have made Elena angry because she'd have thought that Esteban was pinning the blame on her father?
  • Because it's not a very good defense. Why are you acting like it is one?

• "Flower Of Light" introduces Elena's childhood friend Felicia. When they meet again, Elena's surprised to see Felicia, while Felicia is surprised Elena looks exactly like she remembered. How is it possible that Felicia knows nothing about Elena's return? Even considering Felicia's depression over her late husband would lead her to isolate herself from current events, the Crown Princess returning from 41 years trapped in an amulet is a pretty big deal. Especially since the previous episode had Elena bringing Carnaval floats to life and wreaking havoc. That's the sort of thing people notice. Even if Felicia doesn't live in Avalor and only visits for Dia de los Muertos^note Music and dancing were forbidden under Shuriki's reign, and Felicia and her husband were a musician and dancer, so it makes sense that they would have lived abroad., it strains credibility that she hasn't as much as heard someone mention "Princess Elena."
  • Well, Felicia thought Elena was dead because she seemingly got vaporized like her parents did. The thing about loss is that eventually you have to come to terms with your grief and move on with life while honoring the memories you shared with that person, knowing that they want you to still be happy in life, which is whole premise of this episode. That is Felicia did—she moved on with her life and accepted Elena was gone. Once you accept the person dead, you basically accept that they're not coming back, and Elena's appearance would just defy all logic as far as she's concerned. It's not unlike what Louie Duck went through Ducktales 2017 with regards to his mother, Della Duck when she finally came into his life; prior to that, he came to terms with her apparent loss and accepted it. When he finally sees her, he doesn't believe it's really Della. That being said, in Elena's case, she had to address Felicia by her childhood nickname because Felicia otherwise wouldn't (or doesn't) believe that the person standing in front of her really is her friend.