When Elena's dreams magically start coming to life, she must confront the underlying feelings causing them. As for Esteban, he must confront the grim reality that both his now-revealed secret and newly-discovered powers have given him.
Tropes
- An Aesop: Bottling up your feelings won't do you any good. It's important to talk about them.
- Awful Truth:
- Elena has to accept the fact that Esteban hurt her and everyone they love, and that bottling in her emotions about him and what he did is not healthy.
- Esteban is explicitly told by Zopilote and Elena that his family will never take him back, he can never go home again, and that he can't change what happened. At the end of the episode, he finally puts the past behind him and accepts his descent into evil.
- Berserk Button: Elena gets angry when she sees that Isa still has a drawing of Esteban, and later explains to her that she doesn't want Esteban to be brought up ever again because she's scared that her emotions will drive her powers out of control. Elena learns by the end of the episode that the healthiest way to control her emotions and powers is to address her feelings about Esteban and what he did, even if it hurts.
- Big Sister Instinct: Elena doesn't take it well when she sees the Toucan Squirrel messing with Isabel, and her magic kicks in when she tells the creature to leave her sister alone.
- Bittersweet Ending: Elena comes to understand that she has to let her emotions free instead of becoming The Stoic, is able to vent to Esteban about how upset she is towards him, and also becomes more willing to talk about him and his actions to Isabel. On the other hand, Elena makes it explicitly clear to Esteban that he is no longer a part of the family and will never forgive him, which pushes Esteban to the Despair Event Horizon to make a genuine Face–Heel Turn. In any case, Elena has made a compromise to remember him for what they had before, no matter what Esteban decides in the present.
- Book Ends: The episode starts with Esteban struggling to keep up with Ash and Zopilote's training partly because he just wants things to go back to the way they used to. At the end, he accepts that this will never happen and wholeheartedly continues his training from now on.
- Brutal Honesty: Esteban is told face-to-face by Elena that he neither has a home or family to go back to. And it drives him over the Despair Event Horizon that he finally accepts his Face–Heel Turn.
- Call-Back:
- The episode follows up on "Captain Mateo".
- The Esteban creature steals Lucia's tiara, referencing when Esteban stole it for Victor and Carla back in "King of the Carnaval".
- Continuity Nod:
- Elena creates jaquin wings to fly around with in her dream. They're the same animation models as the ones she had when she transformed into a jaquin in "Shapeshifters".
- Elena creates a crystal wall while walking up to Esteban, which she learned how to do in "Captain Mateo".
- The cake that Elena dreams up is tres leches, Esteban's favorite type of cake as we learned in "Island of Youth". She also falls into a quicksand in her dream, just as Esteban did while on Santalos.
- Company Cross References: A Disney Princess thinks that bottling up her emotions will keep her magic from hurting others, especially her sister. Huh?
- Despair Event Horizon: Elena telling Esteban that he's dead to her and that he is no longer a part of the family is the last push to his Face–Heel Turn, becoming more willing to train with Ash and Zopilote and participate in their evil schemes.
- Easter Egg: The Esteban creature is saying "This is true." backwards.
- Face–Heel Turn: Esteban cements his turn to the evil side when Elena tells him that she can never forgive him and that he's been disowned.
- Fading Away: Non-death variation, but quick and just as dramatic. Elena's magic summons Esteban and once she finally lets out her feelings on him, he fades away and is returned back to where he was before he was summoned. As Esteban fades away, he reaches out for Elena and calls out her name one last time.
- I Have No Son!: Elena officially disowns Esteban and tells him he is no longer family. However, she will preserve the good memories she had of him before the revelation of his treachery, and if even Isabel doesn't feel as strongly about it as Elena does, Elena will respect that.
- Living Dream: Elena's dreams come to life because of her new magic.
- Love Hurts: Elena still loves Esteban and will always miss him, but his mistakes are too grave to be undone and she has to cast him away because of it, even if it may be hard for her. For Elena, the Esteban she sees in the present is just a reminder of the loss she suffered.
- Minimalist Cast: The cast is just Elena, Isabel, Zuzo, Esteban, Ash, and Zopilote, although the latter two don't do much either.
- The Gloves Come Off: Now that he has nothing to lose, Esteban accepts Ash and Zopilote's training more openly.
- "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Elena lets out her feelings about Esteban to the man himself.Esteban: Elena, wait! Just listen to me!
Elena: No. It's about time you listen. What you did to our family, to our kingdom, it makes me feel furious, and hurt, and disappointed... and I miss you, and I'm angry at myself for missing you. But more than anything... [starts tearing up] I'm just so, so sad...
Esteban: [Stunned Silence as he looks down in shame before lifting his head] I... wish I could take back everything.
Elena: I wish you could too... but you can't!
Esteban: ...I am sorry, prima. [places a hand on her shoulder and offers a consoling smile]
Elena: Prima?! [smacks his hand away] As far as I'm concerned, you are no longer familia! - Shout-Out: Elena's powers going out of control to symbolize her emotional breakdown and then freezing in place once she releases her emotions is reminiscent of Elsa's reactions to her parents' death and Anna's supposed death.
- Subtext: When the creature smashes Lucia's tiara on the ground to spite Elena. Especially since it's made obvious soon after that the creature is supposed to be Esteban.Elena: Why did you do that?! YOU DESTROYED EVERYTHING!
- Then Let Me Be Evil: After speaking with Elena one last time, Esteban comes to terms that his family doesn't want him back, he can't go home, and things will never be the same again, and finally puts his heart into helping Ash and Zopilote by learning dark magic from them.
- This Is Unforgivable!: As if it weren't clear to him before, Elena shoots down all of Esteban's attempts at reaching out to her and trying to make up for his mistakes, telling him that there is nothing he can do to fix them.
- Time Stands Still: The leaves in the chaotic windstorm in the courtyard that Elena causes with her emotions stop in place when she finally speaks to Esteban. Once she lets her emotions out to him, everything in the air falls to the ground.
- Unperson: Elena is upset when Isabel still has a drawing of Esteban and when she tries to approach her about what Esteban did, and later explains to her that she doesn't want to talk about him ever again because just the thought of him throws her emotions out of control. By the end of the episode, instead of treating Esteban as if he doesn't exist, Elena will treat him as if he died, by reminiscing on the good memories they shared.
- Wham Episode: Elena is in better control of her emotion powers now that she's come to terms with her feelings about Esteban, while Esteban has crossed the Despair Event Horizon after realizing that there is no going back and genuinely joins Ash and Zopilote in their evil schemes.
- Wham Shot: The creature transforming into Esteban after Elena tells it that it ruined everything.
- You Called Me "X"; It Must Be Serious: As Elena vents to Esteban, he tries to reach out to her and calls her "prima" for the first time in the show. Elena tells him to never call him that again because he has no family.
- You Can't Go Home Again: Zopilote and Elena both explicitly tell Esteban this, with Elena adding that it isn't his home anymore either.
