It makes sense that Elena would have Naomi on her council. For one thing, Naomi is the daughter of two sea captains, who travel a lot. She would naturally pick up some things from the places they visited. This helps her out if she ever has to deal with foreign dignitaries. Two, even though her mother traveled a lot, they still communicated a lot, meaning she still technically has both her parents to raise her into a young woman with a good idea of common sense. She's essentially a jack of all trades to help Elena out with various tasks. This is why she is likely the only non-Royal family member on there, as well as why she has the strongest bond with Elena even though she, Mateo, and Gabe are all her friends. She can always be counted on. As for why Naomi isn't involved with all royal matters, it's again because she has her own matters to attend to with her parents at sea.
This also helps show why she didn't compete for the title of Elena's best friend in "Party Of A Lifetime", yet was shown to be jealous of not possibly being her best friend in "A Spy In The Palace". In the former episode, she was shown in what's pretty much her natural element, a ship out at sea, and knew that getting out was the top priority since they were in a ship that could trap them during a fog . In the latter episode, something personal to her (her worth as a grand counsel member) was in jeopardy of being taken away, and "Finders Leapers" shows that possibly not being seen as needed by the counsel as very hurtful to her.
In "Royal Rivalry" Naomi gets called a kid by Princess Val. What makes this logical or brilliant is the fact that in the past dress length marks the passage of being a woman (usually among the nobility). A dress short to the knee connotes a kid, a young lady to her ankles, and a floor length dress is a woman. Naomi in a knee length dress tells visitors that she still is in fact a child.
"The Adventures In Vallestrella" shorts show Elena being more cautious while Isabel is more adventurous when it's usually the other way around. It makes sense though. "A Gecko's Tale" involved them respectively learning to be more mindful and risk taking. Plus, Isabel has a thirst for knowledge, and would do anything to acquire it. On top of that, Elena is familiar with how Vallestrella is like since the shorts take place after "Realm Of The Jaquins", and would want to make sure Isabel and the baby Jaquins are safe.
The only people that Skylar has ever let ride on him are Elena and Sofia. Since he's royalty himself, it makes sense he'd choose only Royal family members to ride him since they would know how to treat Jaquins, or animals in general, with proper care.
Esteban's arrogance and belief that he knows what's best for Avalor stems from the four decades he spent acting as damage control for Shuriki's negligent and self-centered rule. He spent years as the only one keeping Avalor from falling apart, so it makes sense that he developed such an attitude.
Esteban seems to be prone to being One of the Kids at times despite being in his late fifties to early sixties. Could be excused as trying to keep him relatable to younger viewers, yet other adult characters that are as old as him or slightly younger seem to be more mature than him. Considering Shuriki took over when he was a young adult and he had to step up in his responsibilities without any sort of parental guidance or learning alongside a companion(s), it could be that he Never Grew Up.
Notice that this wasn't an issue in the movie. This can also be chalked up to his family's returned presence having brought the child part of himback out.
This is highlighted nicely in both "Island of Youth" and "Snow Place Like Home." In the former, he's eager to reclaim his youth to get the best of both worlds- being old enough that he won't be bossed around like a child, but being young enough to have the energy to do what he wants without the need for maturity that comes with age. His first shot at being a young adult occurred during Shuriki's reign, where he had to deal with working under the tyrant who killed/banished his family and trying to keep her from ruining his homeland despite being powerless to stop her. Even though he wasn't able to physically regain his youth, he is finally free of Shuriki, and he has no proper guidance to adjust to his new role in the world and Avalor's hierarchy. The latter episode shows him acting even more childish, throwing a tantrum and complaining like a child over his grandparents' absence. As he points out, his parents died in a similar situation when he was just a child, causing him to be raised by his grandparents. He then lost them to an enchanted painting for 41 years (at least in part thanks to his own actions) before getting them back. He is not ready to deal with losing his family again.
During Carla's time as "Rita", Esteban doesn't appear in a single episode. If he did, he'd be a Story-Breaker Power and would've caught the deception very easily. It's more or less established in "King of The Carnaval" that Esteban is not easy to deceive, and he would've immediately recognized Shurki's or even Victor's handiwork. At the very least, he would've noticed Rita's unusual speaking patterns or unusual movements, and Elena would've believed him over Naomi, as the latter was Right for the Wrong Reasons.
So, why didn't Elena talk about her cousin Cristobal as much? To begin with, Cristobal was a lot of fun to be around. Considering the treatment Esteban usually receives, Elena didn't want to hurt his feelings, so she tells Esteban that he is her favorite cousin.
Why did the guards on Nueva Vista side against Elena and co. in favor of Shuriki, Cristobal, and the malvagos? In all likelihood, like Cristobal, they were also bribed by Shuriki.
Either that, or these guards are loyalists from her 41-year reign who fled and took refuge in Nueva Vista.
Despite being Shuriki's The Dragon (and Hypercompetent Sidekick) for the past several decades, why does Esteban have no idea who Cristobal, a nobleman and a legitimate candidate to the throne via being King Raul's nephew, is until "Song of the Sirenas"? Shuriki probably kept him Locked Out of the Loop to keep him from getting any ideas (like teaming up with Cristobal to start a rebellion). If Esteban has heard of Cristobal during that period of time, he probably assumed that he was powerless and/or justifiably wary about doing anything about Shuriki.
That would explain why Esteban thought only Elena was fit to take the throne. Otherwise, if he did know about Cristobal beforehand, he would've endorsed him to take the throne sooner instead of Elena due to her age, assuming he was willing to take up the responsibility.
In "First Day of Rule", we learn that Shuriki was making the noblins turn things into gold to make her rich. It doesn't work that way - it would depreciate the gold's value, making it more worthless and should have put Avalor at risk of economic recession. Knowing Shuriki, she probably Didn't Think This Through. Avalor is only successful economically because of Esteban.
On the other hand, it's possible that Esteban, being the voice of reason, stopped her before she could use the gold for money, preventing the economic recession in the first place.
It's also highly likely that this gold was used to bribe people like Cristobal.
For a guy who's spent his whole life Married to the Job (so he's had little experience with women outside of his family besides Shuriki and Paloma, especially since he didn't have his abuela around to educate him on this matter), of course Esteban has pretty awful taste in what women should wear, like Naomi's tacky and ruffled ballroom gown from "My Fair Naomi".
Or, perhaps his bad taste kept him from getting with any women, eh?
When Elena talks about how she'll be spending the Sunflower Festival without her parents for the first time, viewers have noticed that even Carla gives her sympathetic look. As we learn a few episodes later, Carla's mother has been absent from her life for a while (at least a year), so it's possible that Carla related to Elena missing her parents.
Despite being Fish out of Temporal Water, the royal family seem to have adjusted rather well to society despite the possible advancements and changes made in the four decades... though we're not shown any of these possible advancements. It's possible that Avalor remained stagnant in comparison to the rest of the world or just didn't change that much, due to Shuriki's regime. This is can be Truth in Television, due to regimes sometimes being isolationist.
The fact that apparently no other kingdom did anything about Shuriki taking over Avalor might be Truth in Television. Perhaps King Raul had ideas for Avalor that were unpopular or didn't benefit other kingdoms. By the time Elena returns, Avalor is said to be excellent in trade — something that had changed in the past four decades, and Shuriki mocks Elena when she tries to take the throne back, asking "Why ruin a good thing?"
The fact that Shuriki is also a powerful sorceress could also be analogous to how being quick to fighting authoritarian regimes might just result in more bloodshed, which will especially be disapproved by other kingdoms' populace for being a Senseless Sacrifice if it becomes a war of attrition or just doesn't get any major positive results.
The series finale reveals that Shuriki had originally targeted Avalor's allies (it doesn't specify which ones) before turning her attention to Avalor when King Raul stood against her. Meaning that when Shuriki staged her invasion, Avalor's allies were dealing with the aftermath of their own invasions AND just got a lesson in what happens to kingdoms who fight against a powerful sorceress. And when the Enchancian royal family visited, Shuriki had enough sense to put on a show of being a kind, gracious ruler. Even the kingdoms who knew that she wasn't the rightful ruler probably saw her as a good enough queen that deposing her without a solid plan for who would take over the government was a bad idea. At least there was order in Avalor with Shuriki on the throne. A power vacuum could have been the worse alternative. They may very well have jumped at the chance to put Elena on the throne had they been given the chance, but her rebellion happened so quickly, there wasn't time for word to spread before she'd deposed Shuriki herself.
It may seem weird that Elena didn't attend Sofia's graduation from Royal Prep, but considering Shuriki was loose at the time, Elena and co. probably believed it was best to stay in Avalor in case Shuriki were to do something while they were abroad.
On the flip side, it makes for Sofia and her family to attend Elena's coronation in the series finale. Even beyond how grand the event is, pretty much every threat in Enchancia was taken down by the series finale, so they would be able to travel more without issue.
Migs is shown to be very comforting towards Naomi in "Naomi Knows Best". Considering he's a father to three kids, he would know how to interact with kids so that they do what they need to do, yet also wants to make sure they know they're being supported.
Notice Carla's different behaviors in "Don't Look Now" and "The One and Only". While it's her parent who starts the song both times, in "Don't Look Now", she actively sings alongside her father and even (affectionately) tries to steal the spotlight from him a few times. In "The One and Only", however, she never sings (not even about power), is visibly intimidated and overshadowed by her mother, and never gets a chance to add silliness into the song. This reflects how Carla is much closer towards her father than her mother and how Ash prioritizes power over her love for her family, even her daughter.
Elena may have gotten her idea to exile Esteban to a remote island from the time she summoned Ivy, who also received a similar punishment for attempting to overthrow her sister.
One might wonder why Elena didn't tell her parents about Esteban's betrayal in the episode "Flower Of Light" given it aired after "The Magic Within". Part of the main message of the episode is about being able to remember the past, but not dwell too much in it. If Elena had brought it up, she would have been distracted from the main goal of the episode, much like how Felicia how was distracted by memories of her husband to realize she was coerced into closing the spirit portal.
The same can be true for why her parents didn't tell her about Esteban's betrayal anytime they encountered each other before that episode, since they already knew about a long time ago. They wanted their daughter to be happy in the present, and as they said in the finale, they want her to remember that her first priority is to rule and protect her kingdom. After this episode, they came to see that Esteban's betrayal really was affecting her. This episode goes to show that life is too short to deal with such trifles, and her parents remind her that again in the finale.
Elena having a rainbow motif while Esteban has a storm motif after they both fall into the Well of Crystals brings to the mind various motivational quotes, including "before the rainbow comes the storm" or "comes the rain also comes rainbows".
Esteban's storm motif may serve as Dark Is Evil since storms are associated with darkness, murkiness, fear, and other negative characteristics, but lightning is still light. Lightning may be scary, but it still lights up the dark, perhaps signifying that Esteban will find hope in the unlikely of times and places or that there's still hope for his redemption despite how bad everything looks right now.
Why does Pili say that Esteban is worse than Ash after having just met him? Weasels are associated with observation and cowardice. Pili is observant/knows people enough (perhaps combined with some supernatural senses) to recognize that Esteban is a Dirty Coward, which in itself makes him worse than Ash.
How does Flo know the song Elena’s mother sung to her despite only being less than a year old? Flo came to life with Elena’s happiness, which means she’s a manifestation of Elena’s happy memories.
Esteban's heavy workload. One, doing a lot of work would make him feel valued, and two, it also makes Shuriki or his family unlikely to replace him with someone(s) else because no one can keep up with his efficiency.
In "To Queen or Not To Queen", it is unexplained why Abuelo, Abuela, and Isabel are absent, and Esteban being king and acting like an even bigger jerk is completely out of character even during both of his Face Heel Turns in the main universe. But, this would not be unprecedented; this scenario assumes Elena never existed, which would mean this is a timeline where instead Esteban overthrew Shuriki. Because Esteban in this timeline didn't have Elena in his life, she didn't have the impact needed for him to have a connection with the rest of his family. As such, this version of him couldn't feel the pain of losing his loved ones, and instead of being the morally-level chancellor we saw him as during Secret of Avalor, he likely grew more and more obsessed with power that he overthrew Shuriki and took her place, yet remained a selfish ruler. As for the rest of Elena's family, they likely remained in the portrait, considering Mateo ended up being a court jester.
Not only does Esteban's Heroic Sacrifice in "Coronation Day" incorporate the "dare to risk it all" lesson from Rapunzel in "The Curse of Princess Ivy", it also uses Belle's lesson from "The Amulet and the Anthem" that one must prove themselves willing to make things right through actions, rather than just words.
Because it's been forty-one years since Shuriki took over and forced the royal family into being sealed away, friends of Elena, Isabel, and their grandparents are either all adults with children (and perhaps even grandchildren) now or dead.
"Flower of Light" sadly has Elena face this reality when she reunites with Felicia after so many years. But, even if Elena's friends from before are still alive, she will have to deal with the fact that they moved on without her.
In some of Queen Lucia's pictures, she has the same blue-and-yellow sash as Esteban. Her sashes could be Tragic Keepsakes to him.
Notice that Esteban not only treats Sofia rather endearingly throughout the episode, but seems to look at her wistfully. She probably reminds him of Isabel.
In "Sugar Rush", Abuela confesses that her actions in that episode are because she's worried that she'll lose her family now that she's lost Esteban and presumably because she learned the true circumstances behind her daughter and son-in-law's deaths. It could also be because she fears that her family drifting apart will lead to the family fracturing again like Esteban did.
It's not pointed out, but during Season 3, Esteban has not only missed out on Carnaval, but also his birthday (which is confirmed by Word of God to be around August-September), Dia de los Muertos, and Navidad. Considering how much he also treasures celebrating these holidays with his family, it wouldn't be surprising if missing out on them because he's busy hiding out with Ash and other jerkass villains that don't care for these (or possibly even him not being aware of the current date) contributed/contributes to his deteriorating emotional health.
Yes, Isabel did see that Esteban betrayed them, but she clearly thinks the way Elena is dealing with him is unfair. The sad part is that Isabel is too young to understand how grave his mistake was. How did Elena explain it to Isabel? Did she have to give an explanation that is as child-friendly as possible so that she isn’t shocked?
Fridge Horror
It's a good thing King Toshi doesn't put so much stock in seeing his kingdom's traditions replicated. If he did, he probably wouldn't have taken kindly to Esteban making such a mess out of one of Satu's traditional dances. Breaking off the trade agreement would have been the least unfortunate reaction.
On top of that good thing King Toshi was okay with Elena leaving him to help her sister. He could have seen that as she didn’t care about an agreement and would rather help her family.
Elena making a paper airplane out of an official document in “Sister Time” doesn’t paint her in the best light either even if it was just for laughs.
Remember when it was stated that Shuriki forced the Noblins to make gold? Well, we also find out that Cristobal betrayed his family for Shuriki and was being generously compensated with gold for his loyalty, so that means the gold he's been getting was coming from the enslaved Noblins.
Given that Cristobal is the son of the late king's late father, wouldn't that make him next in line for the throne if the royal family is eliminated (or at least if Elena and Isabel are gone; Esteban is not of royalty, so he wouldn't be a possible successor)? Perhaps that's part of why Shuriki bribed him — to ensure that he wouldn't start or support a rebellion that would put him in charge.
And with that, who else with ties to the royal family could Shuriki have in her pockets?
Knowing authoritarian regimes and dictatorships in real life, one characteristic of them is that citizens causing trouble, no matter how small the misdemeanor, tend to... "disappear". Who's to say that this didn't happen or could have happened under Shuriki's rule? At least Esteban and Armando are her lieutenants, considering there's at least one shown incident where someone breaking the law is punished rather lightly by Esteban (a boy's flute is confiscated and broken, but neither he or his parents are arrested).
In "Movin' On Up", Rafa offhandedly calls Esteban "horrible". This is probably a jab at him for being arrogant and immature in general (and the fact that she's barely interacted with him, so she probably only knows about these things from people he works with, like Mateo), although it should be reminded that Rafa has lived most of her life under Shuriki's reign (which also personally impacted her, because it caused her father to go on the run) and Esteban was Shuriki's number two. To the public eye, Esteban was probably seen a sellout to the royal family and there are probably still people like Rafa who are suspicious of him.
With Esteban gone, this can do a lot more damage to Avalor than just to Elena's family; Esteban was the reason Avalor has seen prosperity for 4 decades. But with his treachery revealed and him out of the picture, the position for chancellor is now vacant. Everything Esteban worked for will go down the drain because Elena cannot rule effectively without a chancellor. So far, Doña Paloma has proven she's second most qualified compared to Esteban, which isn't saying much. Worst of all, this is the kind of vulnerability Ash is just waiting for to defeat Elena. It's like what Helmut Zemo said, "An empire toppled by its enemies can rise again. But one which crumbles from within… that’s dead forever."
With Esteban not doing all the paperwork, imagine all the stuff she's learning without him controlling what she sees.
Not unlike Ricardo having trouble finding Felicia in "Flower of Light", Esteban's parents may have been wondering why their son didn't visit their ofrendas that year or may have learned about what he did via Luisa, Francisco, or Elena talking to their graves.
Since Ixlan is the last living Maruvian, how did she take the loss of her people?
Fridge Logic
Since Christmasnote Naomi mentions she celebrates Christmas in "Navidad"/Navidad (in addition to Semana Santa, also known as Holy Week, according to Word of God) are celebrated in Avalor, that would mean Christianity exists in the Ever Realm. Considering Avalor is the Fantasy Counterpart Culture to Latin American countries, which are predominantly Roman Catholic (with other major religious groups being of Christian origin), this makes sense, but this raises the question of what other biblical concepts exist in the Ever Realm.
Given that we learn in the Sofia the First series finale that the Ever Realm takes place in the same world as Neverland and thus is connected to the "real world" via portal, it could be excused as a cultural/religious tradition that was carried over into the Ever Realm.
