Headscratchers / Sofia the First

• Mulan claiming people doubted her. First off, she entered the war to save her father, not for any personal goals. Second, Shang had complete faith that he could make a man out of her. He even sang a song about it!
  • 1. Yes, she did do it for personal goals. Remember the part after she's been discovered, she says "Maybe I didn’t go for my Father. Maybe what I really wanted was to prove I could do things right. So when I looked in the mirror, I’d see someone worthwhile." 2. That wasn't Shang having faith in Mulan, that was him having faith in Ping. Once Mulan is revealed to be a woman, Shang doesn't trust her word that the Huns are in China, and no one else does either. It's only after the Huns kidnap the Emperor and Mulan is shown to be right that her friends in the army (and eventually Shang) are willing to trust her and go with her plan. On top of that, right before the movie, Mulan kept trying to say that her father shouldn't be in the army (to both her father and the recruiters), but no one listened. So yes, a lot of people doubted her.
• Why doesn't Cedric just wish he was king? The castle has a mirror that grants wishes, a wishing well, and who knows what other wish-granting talismans are scattered throughout the kingdom? He'd certainly have better luck than trying to steal the amulet.
  • Perhaps he doesn't know about those items, or at the very least that they're at the castle. He didn't even know the amulet was at the castle until Sofia started wearing it. As far as he knows, he'd have to go questing for them, while the amulet is just there. We've seen that he's willing to go after other items that might help him when given the opportunity (the mermaid comb), but that's because, again, it was there.
  • The wishing well at least seems to be pretty good at making wishes backfire on people. Maybe this is a common problem with wish-granting items that Cedric is aware of, so he'd rather use magical powers to aid his takeover than wishes that could potentially backfire on him. Plus part of his wanting to be king seems to come from resentment of King Roland for making him feel inadequate, so if he just wished himself king he wouldn't get to rub it in Roland's face as much as if he took over by force.
  • Also, what he actually craves is validation and recognition of his accomplishments, even though that's subconscious on his part. He doesn't want the throne so much as he wants to prove that he can take the throne. Using the Amulet or Mermaid Comb's powers would allow him to demonstrate his magical talents. Wishing Roland away would just prove... that he stood in front of a mirror. Whether he realizes it or not, that's not what he wants, so—while he might utilize a wish granting item if it were staring him in the face—it's not going to occur to him to seek one out.
• In Cedric's song "Cedric the Great", the first line is "They have always told me since I was a lad/ That I'm the worst sorcerer this kingdom's ever had". Okay, so when exactly did Cedric become the royal sorcerer? This line seems to imply he started fairly young, but his father was the RS before him. If Cedric did start as "a lad", why would his father leave his position when his son was not ready?
  • Cedric was probably an apprentice to his father first and became a sorcerer when he retired. Goodwin served Roland's father, so he must have been quite old when Roland himself became king.
  • It's also possible that because he was the son of the current royal sorcerer, it was a known fact he would be the next royal sorcerer and so he was just referred to as a sorcerer generally speaking. Maybe all of the Hexley Hall students are referred to as sorcerers because it's just what they are by birth - titles like prince or princess. So paired together, it could be possible his statement in the song is referred to his being bullied even in childhood for being the blundering son of THE Goodwin. They might have teased him early on about how he was the worst sorcerer Enchancia had ever had (or maybe the worst Enchancian sorcerer to attend Huxley Hall?) and told him constantly how he would be sure to never be like his dad and that he would just be an embarrassment to the kingdom.
    • And since there's such animosity toward Roland, maybe some of his resentment toward him is because they're close in age and Roland himself bullied him somehow or maybe there were constant statements from Goodwin such as "Your job will be to be Roland's trusted sorcerer", "You can't let Roland down", "Roland is to be a great king and will need a great sorcerer" and so on.
    • Partially confirmed as of "Day of the Sorcerers". Cedric did grow up alongside Roland, and his resentment stemmed from the fact that everyone thought that Roland, and Cedric's sister, could do no wrong, while all they ever noticed of Cedric were his mistakes.
  • Or alternately: he's the worst sorcerer the Kingdom's ever had, which can be taken as "the worst Sorcerer to work for the Kingdom" just as well as "the worst sorcerer in the Kingdom". Now, assuming it's the former, and not the latter as you've been assuming, Cedric might still be much better than most sorcerers in the kingdom, good enough to be the Royal Sorcerer, but not as good as the Royal Sorcerers who came before him.
  • The Enchancian Royal Sorcerer post seems hereditary so Cedric could be the worst Royal Sorcerer of his line in the kingdom.
• If the enchanted swing eventually throws kids off (and on its own; no outside force is making it throw kids off), then why is it on the school grounds in the first place?
  • Maybe the kids appreciate the challenge?
  • It might be broken and it's not supposed to throw kids off of it, but the Headmistresses aren't aware of it, because no kid has reported on it.
• The amulet calls the Princesses of the past right. Then why have an upcoming episode with Tiana? She's a princess of the future.
  • Two explanations I can think of:
    • The show takes part in the far future when magic has replaced technology.
    • The amulet is meta and when referring to "Princesses of the past" what's meant is "Princesses of past Disney productions."
    • It's clearly not Earth, so in that respect, it neither is the "past" nor "future" with Tiana, it's a separate planet altogether. One could speculate then that the amulet's power transcends just the world it exists in.
  • If Disney was disregarding continuity entirely with Sofia's ability to summon the Princesses, it wouldn't be the first time they did something like that. Did Kingdom Hearts make sense continuity-wise? No. But it was a great game nonetheless. (Hopefully, this show will follow the same rule and try not to have Sofia interact with two at the same time.)
    • What if this is like the Kingdom Hearts universe, if not the Kingdom Hearts universe. They can't say it because that would involve a lot of copyright deals with Square Enix, but that would solve a lot of discrepancies.
  • They do seem to hand-wave Tiana with Mama Odie sending her... notably, Tiana has to identify herself whereas Sofia already knew about the other princesses when they appeared.
  • Then what about Honey Lemon? She has the mindset and personality of a Disney Princess.
  • Perhaps when Cinderella said it connects "every princess that ever was", she isn't just referring to princesses that have come before, but across all time.
• Approximately EVERYTHING about "The Baker King". King Roland wishes he had a simpler life, becoming the village baker. But...
  • Everyone lacks Ripple-Effect-Proof Memory and thinks he's ALWAYS been the baker, which isn't bad except...
  • The baker didn't replace the king, so where did he go during this experiment?
    • Maybe he was out that day, trying some idea of his own?
    • On the very same day he's supposed to bake a hundred-layer cake?
    • The baker could've left because of a family emergency or some other urgent thing. Or maybe he could've just been chilling in the same limbo the Disney Princesses wait in until Sofia needs them.
    • I actually assumed Roland was installed as a second baker but the wish had him selected to bake the 100 layer cake.
• Why can't Sofia pronounce Cedric's name properly? He's told her the correct way about a hundred times, she doesn't have trouble pronouncing anything else, and she's far too kind and considerate to be doing it wrong intentionally. (As of "Two Princesses and a Baby" she seems to have finally gotten it, though.)
  • Some people just have consistent trouble remembering some unusually simple thing.
• Who can use magic in this world? Most of the series supports the idea that it's something hereditary that only people from a magical line, like Cedric and Lucinda, can do, but in "Cedric's Apprentice" the entire class is expected and able to do simple spells. So can everyone do magic? And if so, why don't more people do it? Even Sofia and the others don't use it after that one episode.
  • Maybe certain types of magic and/or levels of it can only be mastered by people of certain bloodlines but other types and/or levels can be mastered by anyone if they have enough practice.
  • Alternatively. In real life, almost anyone "can" learn to, say, build a computer or hunt for/grow their food or learn multiple languages and there is a clear benefit to those things. Why doesn't everyone? Because of hard work, difficulty grasping or mastering certain subjects, lack of time, or the sheer convenience of having someone else do those things, etc. It stands to reason that royalty being expected to have a basic grasp of magic is akin to anyone being expected to have a basic concept of science while becoming an actual sorcerer is like forging a career in the subject. So only those who have both a strong natural aptitude (often via bloodlines, akin to being a math or science prodigy) AND a passion for the subject tend to learn much beyond the basics. Royals encounter enough that they need to understand what they're talking about to some degree, but being able to perform is more optional. Commoners, on the other hand, are aware of it but much less likely to have to deal with it, so they don't get many opportunities unless they show aptitude themselves.
• Why would anyone make a treasure map leading to the Jade Jaguar's den, considering how possessive of its treasure the Jaguar is? Since the Jade Jaguar's treasure stealing days happened during emperor Quon's reign, all the denizens of Wei-Ling should know better than to come seeking the treasure.
  • Nothing says the Jade Jaguar is immortal. The kings probably drew up a map to one day reclaim the treasures stolen by the Jade Jaguar after it had passed.
  • Also if they know where it is, they know how to avoid it.
• What are the limits on Sofia's ability to turn into a mermaid? Does it only work in saltwater? Can she control when it happens? If not, then certain water-based situations could risk exposing that power.
  • Maybe it only works when it needs to work/when Sofia needs it to work.
    • This seems to be the case. The amulet has been shown to have a mind of its own, so it would probably know when Sofia needs that power and when she doesn't.
• The "challenge" set for princess Lani and her impostor in "The Emerald Key". Three royal tests involved dancing, being courteous, and running a maze. That's all well and good, but none of those skills is exclusive to royalty, are they? Any right-minded, athletic commoner with a penchant for dancing could've passed those tests (And as past episodes have shown, not every princess is the athletic type). To stake ownership of the Emerald Key on the outcome seemed like a bad call. Wouldn't it have been more logical to wait until the real Lani's parents had been found (and thus corroborate her story) than risk giving the only thing that could point the way to Hakalo to an impostor, and leave the real princess and her family unable to return home ever again?
  • To be fair, seeking out Lani's parents were Roland's original plan. The test was Amber's idea.
• Once Amber learns what it can do and gets a hold of Sofia's amulet, the first princess she wants to meet is Rapunzel? That makes no sense. First Rapunzel was raised with a humble background and doesn't often wear flashy clothes and jewelry, something Amber regards highly. You'd think Amber's favorite Disney Princess would be Elsa, elegant, graceful, and always wears elaborate gowns. Sure she's a queen now but she was a princess at one point.
  • Elsa's also an introverted outcast, whereas Rapunzel is a bubbly extrovert who instantly wins over everyone she meets. Amber also has very little insight into Elsa's situation, as I imagine she's very rarely felt different or alone. Neither does she seem particularly weighed down by duty (in fact, she often demands to have a lot more power thrust upon her).
  • Just because their personalities (and outfits) are different doesn't mean Rapunzel can't be one of Amber's favorite princesses. In real life, people don't always choose their favorite characters based on which one acts exactly like them and only likes the things they like.
  • I always thought Amber liked Rapunzel because they both have blonde hair.
• So, we're getting a show on the first Hispanic Disney Princess. GREAT! I mean, that's awesome! But... If Sofia's mother is also Latina, doesn't that make this new princess the second Hispanic princess to debut not only on Disney but to have her show? And if so, why label her as the first? This reeks of some Unfortunate Implications to be—Latino is Brown, perhaps?
  • The 'Latino is Brown' was imposed by the audience. Yes, Sofia has Hispanic blood, but people were calling foul over her being white. Disney was inspired by this to make a darker-skinned Latina princess (to be fair, Sofia isn't culturally Latino either).
  • Given what we've seen of Galdiz's culture and architecture, it seems more based on Spain than Latin America (although it could still be revealed as a mixture of both). In which case Sofia and Miranda would be Hispanic but not Latina (terms sometimes misused but not interchangeable, even if very often overlapping).
• When Sofia goes to Royal Prep for the first time, she seems surprised that flying carriages exist or at least that her step-family owns one. However, a flashback shown in "Four's a Crowd" reveals that she already knew that from watching the annual Flylight Pageant back when she was a villager.
  • Sofia knows flying horses exist—she heard of Flying Derby in the village. She just never clearly saw a flying coach until she became a princess because the pageant is at night.
  • There's also a difference between "knowing that the royal family has access to a flying carriage once a year for a special event" and "realizing that the royal family—which she is now a part of—uses a flying carriage all the time and considers it totally mundane."
• Exactly why again is it that Sofia hides from everyone that the Amulet of Avalor gives her special powers, even her parents and siblings? Is it because she fears they won't believe her? Because "The Curse of Princess Ivy" demonstrates that not only are the amulet's powers extremely easy to prove but that she'd be believed quite easily.
  • It also proves why she shouldn't trust just anyone with that information—as soon as Amber learns about it, she "borrows" the amulet for her use.
  • Considering that the amulet curses Sofia as punishment for bad deeds, she must be afraid her parents would demand her to take it off if they knew.
• How does the Amulet of Avalor decide which deeds are bad enough to earn a curse and which ones aren't? Sofia receives a curse for bragging over her newfound status after being chosen to sing Enchancia's anthem but nothing happens to her for trying to keep her step-siblings away during Mother's Day.
  • When Sofia does good and bad deeds that already have rewards and punishments with them, the amulet doesn't need to do anything. In the case of Sofia trying to keep her step-siblings away, Sofia using witchcraft to do that had the punishment of facing the guilt of having her family be threatened by a wicked witch.
    • In that case, none of the other times should have counted either, because she could have been punished by driving her friends away, and in the case of when the amulet cursed her for disobeying her mother she'd be punished because the wee sprites wouldn't have left. Speaking of that last one, that also has inconsistencies because the logic was that she disobeyed her mother, but she did the same thing when she disobeyed her father about the trolls. instead, no reason to believe her parents over her new friends. in both cases, I think she had less reason to believe her mother; at least Roland gave an account of troll behavior as a reason why she shouldn't interact with them (even if it was a misguided and misinformed one). Miranda was just like "Do it because I'm your mother and I tell you to." And because Sofia didn't listen to such "sound" logic, the amulet cursed her? For all Sofia had known, it could have been a situation just like the trolls. However, the amulet is an object more experienced with magic, and so may have cursed Sofia because Miranda had a lesson rather than blindingly judging like Roland. Plus, at that time, it was possessed by someone older than Sofia.
  • As to the trolls -v- wee sprites situations specifically: Sofia's motivation for disobeying Roland was to seek out the truth about the trolls, since she'd seen evidence they weren't as bad as he'd been led to believe (they returned her kite, after all), and her ultimate goal was to clear their name if they'd been wrongly accused. Those are admirable traits that Elena/the Amulet would want to encourage. Her motivation for disobeying Miranda was wanting to keep playing and having fun. Yes, Miranda should have explained her reasoning, but Sofia's motivations don't justify her behavior this time.
  • The curses don't kick in immediately. Sofia didn't start croaking while she was being dismissive to Ruby and Jade, and she didn't shrink as soon as she brought the wee sprites into the castle. Elena gave Sofia a chance to learn from her own mistakes before doling out magical punishments. When things start going bad quickly (in addition to "Mom's the Word," "Scrambled Pets" springs to mind), Sofia learns her lesson without Elena needing to intervene. In "The Amulet and the Anthem" and "The Littlest Princess," Sofia didn't recognize the consequences of her actions right away, so Elena had to step in and make her.
• How does Cedric plan on using the amulet, exactly? Since it curses you for bad deeds, wouldn't it just punish him for a) stealing it (see The Curse of Princess Ivy) and b)taking over the kingdom?
  • The very first episode/special featured Cedric failing to think things through and falling victim to his scheme; this was probably done to deliberately hint that any plans he has for the amulet are likewise doomed to failure.
  • In "Cedric Be Good" we see just how badly he does when he gets the Amulet. Also, he didn't think him taking over the kingdom counted as a bad thing that the Amulet would punish him for.
    • In that very same episode, we also see how he could have used all of the Amulet's powers without any of its drawbacks. If he didn't have so much trouble taking the cork he put in the beaker, he might well have been running the place. But at the same time, it's clear that he'd only JUST had the opportunity to finish the potion, making you wonder what he intended to do before.
• Why didn't Elfred just reveal himself to the King and ask him not to cut down the tree in "Sofia in Elvenmoor"?
  • Fey folk traditionally keep their distance from humans. Sofia is unique due to having connection to nature.
• Why did Slickwell want to be Enchancia's Royal steward when he already worked as Rudistan's Royal steward? What makes Baileywick's job better than his?
  • Maybe Enchancia is a more prominent kingdom?
    • So, is King Magnus such a braggart to hide insecurities over Roland's Kingdom being more prominent than his?
    • Maybe it's not very pleasant working for Magnus. He claimed that his kingdom's jubilee lasted a month (Roland added that it sure felt like it), and you can only imagine the demands on a steward for such a grandiose event. Enchancia's events, by comparison, are a bit more reserved. And manageable.
• How much time has passed in this series? We have seen at least 2 Wassalias. If those are like Christmas, then we've seen two years. Yet, only Amber and James have had a birthday and only one at that. Sofia hasn't had a single birthday. Maybe we have a case of Not Allowed to Grow Up? Note that there aren't many school-centric episodes and that some episodes appear out of order. The reason for the lack of birthday episodes could be because they were skipped over. Word of God confirmed Sofia's birthday is October 6, and Tilly said she was "growing like a weed," so she is getting older.
  • Only one birthday onscreen. Back in Season 1 when Amber was distracting Roland and Miranda while James and Sofia covered the broken glass panel, she showed a tiara that Miranda and Roland gave her for her birthday. That event was mentioned but not shown.
• How can Sofia's adventures as a story keeper stay a secret from her family when she meets other Royals during them? In one of those, she even meets Hildegard, who is one of Amber's best friends. Are we supposed to believe she'll never make any comments at school?
  • She didn't know Sofia was there on a magical quest. She seemed to think Sofia was just there for the festival and ran into Miss Nettle on the way over.
  • The issue is with Amber knowing Sofia visited another kingdom without letting her family know.
  • Sofia's parents seem to be very casual about her going to visit another kingdom. In "New Genie on the Block," she really only tells them she's going to Tangu early because she happened to bump into them, it's not like she sought them out to ask permission. They'd probably be a little upset to find out she'd gone off to visit a friend without letting them know, but the entirety of the punishment would probably be telling her "Make sure you ask us first next time, alright?"
• In "Cedric Be Good", he sits at the King's throne and orders someone to bring the King in to have something to say. How did he explain that (and the floor damage) away after the episode?
  • The royal family is used to Cedric making magical accidents. Note that the steps leading up to the thrones are only there in that episode—they are not present anywhere else, marking that Roland found them getting wrecked to not be a big deal.
• In her debut episode, Lucinda is said to have no friends. However, "Cauldronation Day" reveals she has witch friends both good and wicked.
  • No friends outside of the witch village maybe?
  • What's confusing (almost to the point of being rant-inducing) is "Why did she feel the need for muggle friends if she already has witch friends?" Why did her debut episode even fucking happen!?
  • A couple of years are between "Cauldronation Day" and "The Little Witch" if you count the Halloween episodes. Lucinda may not have had any friends before Sofia, but a couple of years later, she became social enough to make more friends.
  • Granted, even her "Good witch" friend wasn't being a very good friend at the party, since it explicitly brought out the worst in them, but a "Bad witch" friend probably isn't a very good friend. Indigo didn't care at all that she was ruining Lucinda's coming-of-age party and ruining her once-in-a-lifetime broom. Even if she's typically nicer than that, Lucinda and Indigo's friendship was probably shallow and consisted of a lot of back-and-forth hexing, leaving Lucinda wanting something more meaningful. After Sofia taught Lucinda how to make real friends, Lucinda probably tried mending her relationship with Indigo and got it to something resembling friendship (and shared history can go a long way in making a relationship feel important, even if the person isn't always the nicest to you).
• Where does Lucinda live? In her debut episode, her house is located in the regular town, but in "Cauldronation Day", she seems to live in a witch town of sorts.
  • Wizards and witches gather in areas outside of their homes for specific ceremonies, perhaps?
  • Confirmed in "Day of the Sorcerers" with the Conjurors' Conference at Hexley Hall.
• In "Lord of the Rink", King Garrick says that he wants to have some father-son time with Hugo but says nothing about his older son, Axel, joining them. Does this mean Garrick spent more time with Axel than Hugo before this episode?
  • Probably. Axel is the firstborn and around thirteen, so Garrick would likely be spending a lot of time training him to take his place.
• Folks in Tangu blamed Kazeem for causing chaos, but Genie Rule #21 is "Only the genie who grants a wish can undo that wish." Why didn't Sofia and Kazeem use that Genie Rule to prove his innocence from the start?
  • Maybe the people of Tangu as a whole don't know about that specific rule. Do you know all the laws of every country in the world that isn't the one where you live?
• In "Dads and Daughters Day", Hildegard told Sofia that Roland isn't her real father and told her to forget she said anything rather than apologizing. Why didn't anyone tell Miss Elodie, Roland, or King Henrik what Hildegard did?
  • Sofia likes to keep things private, even when it's to her detriment.
• Did the Evil Queen know about her crown's power?
• In "Pirated Away", Sofia says that the song says to go through the Whirly Burly, but it doesn't even mention the Whirly Burly.
• Aunt Tilly was the last princess to wear the Amulet before Sofia, but when she's seen as a child in "Through the Looking Back Glass", she's not even wearing the amulet. Would this mean that she received said amulet after Cordelia's sorceress ball?
  • Word of God stated that Tilly was "older than Sofia" when she found the Secret Library. So, Tilly did likely receive the amulet after the ball.
• What's the point of giving Oona the Mermaid Comb of Merroway Cove if Queen Emmaline won't even train her to use it just yet?
• How old is Princess Ivy? Her character page says she appears to be in her late teenage years. If that's true, and considering she's been imprisoned on the island for ten years, as she says, she must have been a child when she was first locked away!
  • Emphasis on "appears".
• In "The Mystic Isles: The Falcon's Eye", Sofia used her Enchantlet and Necessi-Key and mentioned the Protectors in front of Jin and Jun, and they don't even get suspicious. How did they not suspect a thing out of this?
  • Suspicious of what? Of their classmate having some magical items in a world full of magical items? They don't know that the Protectors are a peacekeeping force on the thought-to-be-mythical Mystic Isles, or that Enchantlents and Necessi-Keys are their trademark tools. All they know is Sofia—a girl who's always (mostly) excelled in sorcery class and acts as her Royal Sorcerer's assistant—has some neat magical toys and is interested in a magical artefact. There's no reason for them to think anything's particularly unusual about it.
• Amber tried to talk Sofia out of trying out for the flying derby team in "Just One of the Princes", but she takes it up in "Minimus is Missing"...and an explanation is never given. We never learned if Amber decided to try flying derby or was talked into it. Why did Amber take up the sport in the first place?
  • Amber didn't take up flying derby. She took up flying horse riding. Horse riding is a "proper" activity for a princess, but horse racing is entirely different. And she wasn't enthusiastic about the activity. She probably requested or received a flying horse as a gift and her family convinced her to try riding it. (Two likely scenarios: she begged for it as she begged for the unicorn we've never seen again, and her parents said something to the effect of "If you get a flying horse, you have to take it seriously and take care of it," or since her grandmother is revealed to be a big fan of stunt flying, she gave Amber a flying horse in hopes of getting her interested in it too, and her parents told her she had to at least try riding so as not to offend her grandmother by ignoring the gift.) Not to mention Amber's had a lot of character development since "Just One of the Princes." At the end of that episode alone, she realized that flying in a derby isn't just a prince activity. In "Two to Tangu," she allowed Sofia to talk her into riding the flying carpet even though she didn't want to, so she is open to trying new things, even if she's reluctant.
• After "The Secret of Avalor", why didn't Elena warn Sofia about Cedric? A lot was going on, but you'd think she could have said "Oh, by the way, your sorcerer is plotting to take over the kingdom." Elena must know about it, seeing as Cedric has already stolen the Amulet a couple of times and even been cursed for it.
  • Maybe she assumed he had learned his lesson after "Cedric Be Good." She's presumably limited in awareness of the outside world and only sees what Sofia sees (outside the rare instances where Sofia isn't wearing the amulet), and since Sofia is never aware of his scheming, Elena probably isn't either. Elena might know about his attempt in "The Amulet of Avalor" and definitely knows she thwarted his attempt in "Cedric Be Good," but there's no reason to believe she knows about any of his other attempts to steal the amulet or that it was a long-term goal for him.
• In "The Floating Palace", because Sofia's family never believed in mermaids in the beginning, what made her think that they would be willing to move their ship? Am I the only one imagining how that conversation would've gone? "Mom, Dad, we have to leave right now!" "What? Why?" "Well, I met some mermaids, and they said that they felt threatened by our boat and pretty much forced us to go away." If you take out the subplot with Cedric, you'd still get the same reaction.
• In the Secret Library episode, "Tale of the Eternal Torch" why do the sea monsters want/need the Blazing Palisades so badly? They had turn the Blazing Palisades into something like a water park to actually be able to navigate it. We know the dragons live there, it's their home and has been for centuries. So their claim to it makes perfect sense. Aquelina (the lead sea monster) says in her song she has a "real claim" to the Blazing Palisades, but given the fact this line is never addressed or explained it likely just means she's saying "I'm not joking". It's never said the island used to belong to the sea monsters and was unfairly stolen by the dragons and Aquelina is just taking back what's rightfully hers. It's never said they lost their home in the water and need another place. All Everburn says is "we've been feuding for years over the island".