Princess Elena of Avalor is the protagonist of the Disney Channel animated
series Elena of Avalor. She is the oldest princess and the current Ruler of the Kingdom of Avalor, but before she can become Queen, she must learn to rule as the Crown Princess.
Background
Elena was born to the late King Raul and Queen Lucia of Avalor. She resides within the kingdom's castle alongside her family, consisting of her sister Isabel, maternal grandparents Francisco and Luisa, as well as her scheming maternal cousin, Esteban. She is additionally accompanied by a trio of comedic, flying jaquins that double as her friends and mode of transportation, as well as the wise spirit fox Zuzo, whom only she can see on her own free will, as a result of her magical abilities.
Personality
Elena has the heart and mind of a true leader. She is devoted to the welfare of her subjects, her family, and her friends. She is shown to hold her father in high esteem and looks to him for inspiration. Like the Princess who freed her, Elena values keeping promises no matter what and has a strong dislike of disappointing her loved ones. Also like Sofia, she has a personal approach to leadership and a disregard for her own personal safety. Unlike Sofia, Elena is very confident, so much so that she can be careless. Also unlike Sofia, who is quite particular, Elena can rush into things and miss key points. Her grandfather Francisco noted this to her through the story of the king who thought he had lost his crown, a way of telling her she wasn't ready to rule alone. Elena is reluctant to take advice at the beginning, while Sofia can take too much advice. She's also shown to love Dia de los Muertos because she sees it as a party where everyone you love is invited.
Physical Appearance
At seventeen years of age, Elena is an olive-skinned girl, with a slender figure and amber-brown eyes. She has ruby red lips and long, wavy, dark brown hair tied in a ponytail.
Her signature outfit is a long red sleeveless over-skirt dress stylized with matching coral gauze ruffle/flounces around the elastic neckline and on the side and bottom with an attached ivory colored underskirt. Around her waist is a golden belt held in place with a golden buckle. She wears brown high heeled shoes with flowery patterns. Elena's jewelry includes a pair of golden engraved hoop earrings, a braided beaded bracelet on her left wrist, and a flower hair comb clip on the right side of her hair.
She also usually wears an elegant, flowing yet once again ruffled flower motif red ball gown with a pink sash for more formal occasions. With this, she retains her usual ponytail, yet swaps out the flower hair combs for a tiara, and her hoop earrings for hanging jeweled earrings.
In her Jaquin form, Elena is swathed in red fur (with a white underbelly) that possesses yellow flower patterns scattered across her body. Elena also possesses light blue feathers extending from both cheeks and the rear portion of her front legs and a pair of wings that are also predominantly red with light blue throughout.
Powers and Abilities
In her teenage years, Elena was given the Scepter of Light from her father, and the Amulet of Avalor from her mother. Both artifacts are ancient Maruvian treasures that possess powerful magic. The scepter can conjure spells through verbal order, while the amulet has a wide array of abilities that generally works to protect its bearer.
As a result of being trapped within the amulet for decades, Elena has garnered a few magical abilities of her own, as theorized by Zuzo at any rate. For one, as revealed in "First Day of Rule", she has the power to see and summon spirits at all times, as opposed to only when a wizard summons one. This also carries over to non-magical entities, such as the spirits of deceased humans, though this ability is only possible on Dia de los Muertos.
Appearances
Elena and the Secret of Avalor
When Elena turned fifteen, her mother Queen Lucia gave the Amulet of Avalor a magical amulet that her parents hoped would always protect her from harm. One year later, Shuriki, an evil power-hungry sorceress from the Northern Islands, invaded Avalor and killed her parents. Alacazar, Avalor's Royal Wizard, came up with a way to save her family. Because he needed time to cast it, Elena made the choice to face Shuriki on her own. When Shuriki tried to strike her down, the Amulet saved Elena by pulling her inside it. When the Amulet was given to Princess Sofia of Enchancia as a welcome gift, Elena knew she was the one who would free her.
Forty-one years after her imprisonment, Princess Sofia of Enchancia achieves enough of a state of oneness with the Amulet that Elena is finally able to make contact with her by triggering the Amulet's Secret Library Visions ability. This sends Sofia to the Secret Library of Enchancia where she learns of Elena's imprisonment from Alacazar. This makes Sofia set out to free Elena from the Amulet. With a combination of Alacazar's grandson, the Jaquins, Shuriki's wand, and her powers, Sofia finally frees Elena from the Amulet. Elena takes Shuriki's wand and sets out to defeat Shuriki alone. Her attempt fails when she can't use the wand properly and she's forced to flee. Elena and Sofia team up and free their families. They then rally the Citizens of Avalor who march with them to the castle where they confront Shuriki. Her cousin Esteban grabs Shuriki's wand and tosses it to Elena. Knowing she can't use the wand, Elena destroys it. With the wand gone, Shuriki's powers are destroyed and she turns into an old woman who flees defeated. Elena then assumes the throne to the joy of all Avalor.
Elena of Avalor
Season One
In "First Day of Rule", Following her freedom from the amulet, Elena and her family resume their lives in Avalor, with Elena being particularly excited to finally be crowned Queen. However, Francisco informs her that her crowning will have to wait, as Esteban has discovered that Elena is too young to rule the kingdom as queen, per the kingdom's by-laws. Instead, Francisco explains that Elena will rule alongside a Grand Council who will help her make decisions until she comes of age. Elena strongly rebukes the idea, believing she's mentally capable of solely maintaining the kingdom and vows to prove herself by gathering the city leaders and working alongside them to restore Avalor's welfare, which had been damaged by Shuriki's purge. She was accompanied by Isabel, Estaban, and a new member of the Royal Guard, Gabe.
While out, Elena is informed of a mysterious series of thefts involving ships. Though Elena wants to spring into action, Esteban convinces her to instead focus on meeting the city leaders as intended, to which Elena agrees. Isabel and Gabe stay behind, where they uncover the mysterious ship thieves before being captured and kidnapped by them. A young girl named Naomi notices this and quickly informs Elena. Teaming up with Mateo and Naomi, Elena uncovers the whereabouts of the stolen ships, revealing the thieves to be mystical creatures known as Noblins. Elena and her friends battle the creatures, but this only heightens the danger and leads to senseless altercations. Zuzo appears and helps Elena realize that she's approaching matters far too hastily and recklessly, advising that she slows down and think before acting. Elena calms her nerves and approaches the Noblins diplomatically, learning they were imprisoned by Shuriki and forced to make gold for decades. After her defeat, they were freed and stole the ships to return home. Elena allows the Noblins to borrow the ships to sail home and journeys back to the castle for the Royal Ball.
She accepts that she is not ready to become Queen, and instead takes her grandfather's advice by assembling the Grand Council of Avalor consisting of her grandparents, Esteban, and Naomi. She is then dubbed "Crown Princess of Avalor".
In "Model Sister", Elena tries to balance her Royal Duties and family commitment by catering to both Isabel's invention fair, as well as important meeting with the visiting King Toshi. After causing havoc in the process, she admits her shenanigans to Toshi and chooses her sister over business, to which Toshi responds pleasantly to, admiring Elena's devotion to family and strengthening the bond between their two kingdoms.
In "All Heated Up", a rock monster named Charoca is causing havoc on a nearby village for unknown reasons. With his power triggering volcanic activity that threatens the people below, the Grand Council almost unanimously agreed to rid the kingdom of Charoca, believing him to be a soulless monster. Elena believes otherwise, decided to take a more humane approach by confronting Charoca diplomatically. She learns that children of the village hike up the mountain and steals Charoca's rocks (his equivalent to family), infuriating him. Before the problem can be resolved, Esteban and the guards attack Charoca, infuriating him to the point of upsetting the volcano. As lava pools toward the village, Charoca realizes the error of his ways and seemingly sacrifices himself to save the people. Fortunately, he manages to survive and thanks Elena for believing in him, as well as garnering a friendly relationship with the villagers.
In "Island of Youth", Esteban's patience with Elena begins to wear thin, as he laments his longing to live life by his own merits, and not under the authority of someone else. He believes he could do so if he were younger, and thusly journeys to the Island of Youth to drink from the enchanted fountain which, according to legend, would restore his youth. Elena and Mateo tag along as a way to keep Esteban from the castle as the family prepares his birthday party, but things go wrong when Esteban begins to decrease in age at a rapid pace. To restore him, Mateo retrieves an aging flower, and Esteban's true self is restored. However, the island begins to disappear. While retreating, Elena (as well as the last bit of youth water, which Esteban had stored in his water container) falls into a ravine. Esteban briefly struggles to choose between the container and Elena, but ultimately rescues his cousin, allowing them to return home safely. Elena expresses her love and appreciation for Esteban, in spite of their differences, allowing the strain in their relationship to settle somewhat.
In "Spellbound", Elena dubs Mateo the new Royal Sorcerer of Avalor in place of the deceased Alakazar, while simultaneously boosting his confidence by helping him defeat the roughish sorcerer, Fiero.
In "Prince Too Charming", Elena's developed maturity is twisted to mockingly label her as a workaholic, according to Prince Alonso, whose kingdom Elena and Gabe visit to discuss building a trading bridge between Avalor and Alonso's Kingdom of Cordoba. Her insecurities get the best of her as she takes Alonso's advice and spends time away from work, unknowingly allowing the rise of the ancient being known as the Yacalli, who vows to destroy Cordoba Castle after Elena and Alonso orders the construction workers to build the bridge on the land inhabited by buhitos. Elena is able to convince the Yacalli that they meant no harm, and rebuilds one of the destroyed buhitos homes. This satisfies the Yacalli, and after it is declared that the building site will not be the bridge site, the Yacalli returns to his resting place. Meanwhile, Alonso is punished for neglecting the danger of the Yacalli while Elena decides to give herself a deserved break by going on a tour of the kingdom with Gabe.
In "Finders Leapers", Elena successfully stands by her decision to elect Naomi as a member of the Grand Council by appointing her leader of an expedition of a newly discovered cavern underground.
In "Royal Retreat", Elena goes on a retreat, where she makes a new enemy in the form of King Hector, whose obnoxious antics are endured by the other visiting kings in exchange for gifts from Hector. When a normally docile creature, a Marposa attacks a ship, Hector orders to attack, using the creature's aggression as an excuse to imprison it within his aquarium. However, he is quickly challenged by Elena, who believes there to be a logical explanation for the creature's behavior (similar to her encounters with the Noblins and Charoca). Hector declares that her actions will prevent her from becoming one with the Kings, to which Elena retorts by declaring herself a future queen, further establishing her independence. This inspires the other visiting Kings to rebel agaisnt Hector, and encourages them to do what's right no matter what.
In "A Day to Remember", Elena honors her deceased parents, alongside her grandparents and Isabel, who is visibly distraught by the remembrance of their passing. Elena (viewing Dia de los Muertos as a day of celebration) uplifts Isabel's mood by reminiscing on pleasant memories shared with their parents, giving her the strength to visit the altar. At the royal alter, Elena sees the spirits of her parents watching over the family.
In "The Scepter of Light", Elena finds a replacement for the Amulet of Avalor in the form of her father's scepter. After she accidentally blasts some of her furniture with it, Zuzo tells her that it is a magical object created by the Kingdom of Maru. When the evil moth fairy Orizaba invades Avalor, Mateo reveals that the scepter is indeed such an object: It's the Scepter of Light which gives it's bearer the power to harness the Powers of Light at the cost of having their energy drained. Upon realizing that the Scepter can defeat Orizaba, who draws her strength from darkness, with it, Elena proceeds to do so. She later reveals to her family that she has magical abilities now.
In "Navidad", Elena is looking forward to spending Navidad with her family and all her friends. However, she receives multiple invitations from people who all want her to attend their festivities. To ensure that no one's disappointed, Elena arranges first a Navidad Fiesta and then a Navidad Parade in Castillo Park. However, Dona Paloma ruins her attempt by getting everyone competitive to the point where they run everything. Elena fits everything by reminding everyone what the holidays are about through a parranda.
In "Olaball", Elena throws the first Peace Festival between Avalor and Cariza since Shuriki took over forty-one years ago and she reunites with King Joaquin and meets his wife Queen Teresa and his daughter Princess Caterina for the first time. She also plays for Team Avalor in the Festival's Olaball game and enthusiastically welcomes Gabe to the team. Her enthusiasm quickly was when Gabe is revealed to be a terrible player. She helps him improve his game by telling him to play like a Royal Guard. She is happy when he patches things up with his father by ensuring Avalor win the game and by saving Isabel and Cat.
In the special "Elena of Avalor: Realm of the Jaquins", Elena is in attendance with Mateo as Skylar's little brother Nico is participating in the tests to become a Guardian of Avalor under Chief Zephyr that the chief arranged with Mateo's help. However, when on his way to complete the second task, Nico is secretly prevented from doing so by Victor Delgado, causing him to be unable to graduate into a full-fledged Guardian of Avalor. Hoping to help him, Elena travels with Luna to Vallestrella, the home of the Jaquins, to speak to King Verago, who is Skylar and Nico's father, but Verago is furious to see Elena and Mateo in Vallestrella as humans are prohibited from being in Vallestrella due to a previous incident. However, it is soon learned that a forest sprite named Marimonda has been released from her imprisonment and attempting to leave Vallestrella to attack Avalor. Elena seeks out the sun bird spirit Quita Moz, who reveals a new ability of the Scepter of Light that Elena had not known about before, the power to create illusions. With that knowledge, and an enchanted jar provided by Quita Moz to imprison Marimonda permanently again, Elena heads to find her, only to end up ruining a trap set up by King Verago and Migs to catch Marimonda, resulting in Marimonda capturing Migs, while Verago is not pleased at Elena's interference. Elena tries to make amends as she uses the Scepter's new power to fool Marimonda right before she reaches the portal to Avalor, but just when it looks like she and Skylar have Marimonda, Victor and his daughter, Carla, interfere, revealing themselves to be the real threats as they wanted revenge on Elena for defeating them previously.
Thanks to them, Marimonda opens the portal, and all three villains escape to Avalor. Elena and King Verago make amends and agree to work together to stop Marimonda once Skylar finally stands up to his father and tells him off for blaming Elena in allowing Marimonda being able to reach Avalor, returning to Avalor to enlist the aid of Chief Zephyr and the Jaquins there. While King Verago, Chief Zephyr, and the other Jaquins keep Marimonda distracted, especially Nico with his speed and agility, Elena is able to conjure a fake illusion of the front facade of the Royal Palace, so when Marimonda attempts to set foot on the stairs leading up to the front doors and believes she's won, Elena reveals that she instead set foot right in the enchanted jar, trapping Marimonda permanently once more, and undoing all her damage to Avalor. Afterwards, Elena tells her grandparents of the Delgados' part in Marimonda's attack, and orders the Captain of the Royal Guard to assemble a team of his best men to hunt them down and bring them to justice. With that, Elena returns to Vallestrella to return Marimonda to Quita Moz, but before she can leave, the sacred fire says something to Quita Moz, who then warns Elena of a great darkness that she will need to overcome in the future. If she fails, she will never be crowned Queen of Avalor. Unknown to Elena, that great darkness is her old arch-enemy, Shuriki, allied with the Delgados, seeking revenge on Elena, and promising to make the Delgados malvagos if they succeed.
Season Two
Elena has another run-in with Victor and Carla in the second season episode, "The Jewel of Maru", as she's fearful of the test Quita Moz forewarned her about and worried she could fail it and lose her chance to become Queen. When Skylar and Luna warn her that Victor and Carla are heading for the abandoned capital of Tepet Muul, of the Kingdom of Maru, she discovers the fabled Jewel of Maru itself, along with its guardian, Amaláy, who was the creator of the Scepter of Light itself. When Elena's attempts to stop Victor and Carla from escaping with the Jewel result in her trapping herself in debris, she is visited by the spirits of her late parents, King Raul and Queen Lucia, due to it also being Dia de los Muertos as well. After Elena explains her concerns to her parents, they encourage her to never give up, and do what she knows is best for Avalor. Thanks to their support, Elena escapes, and manages to stop Victor and Carla from escaping with the Jewel of Maru, which she takes back to seal away forever. She then returns to her parents' grave to let them know she'll see them again at next year's Dia de los Muertos celebration.
Following that, in "Royal Rivalry", Elena decides to step up the hunt for Victor and Carla by putting up wanted posters, asking the citizens of Avalor to aid the Royal Guards with finding them. However, concerned that they may escape across the border to the neighboring kingdom of Paraiso, Elena suggests at a Grand Council meeting to invite Princess Valentina of Paraiso to Avalor to sign a peace treaty between their kingdoms, after learning of a long-standing feud between Avalor and Paraiso. Everyone except for Esteban agree, but when Valentina arrives, she quickly gets on everyone's nerves with her boasting of things from Paraiso being better than Avalor's, save for Elena, who is able to endure it, until during a carriage ride to the Twin Xolos, where Valentina's boasting finally pushes Elena too far, and results in where Valentina accidentally brings the Twin Xolos statues to life. When Elena confronts her about it afterwards, Valentina confesses to being jealous of Avalor, thinking they had better stuff than Paraiso. As a result, guilty of letting their pride get the better of them, Elena and Valentina make amends and are able to return the Twin Xolos back to their inanimate forms. Afterwards, they sign the treaty, and step up the guard patrols at the border, preventing the Delgados and Shuriki from crossing over into Paraiso. Elena then gives Valentina some Avalor chocolate to take home with her.
In "The Curse of El Guapo", the current Captain of the Royal Guard is retiring, and Elena is deciding who should take his place by holding tryouts for some of the best guards there, including Gabe. However, Gabe is soon possessed by the spirit of General El Guapo via his cursed sword, in an attempt for El Guapo to help Gabe become the new Captain, but Elena is suspicious of Gabe's behavior when he did the complete opposite of what a true Captain of the Royal Guard should do when he made Rico crash during the race and refused to go back to help him. It is not until later that Gabe reveals El Guapo's interference and learns from her that it is the man who makes the soldier, not the weapon. With Elena's help, Gabe is able to separate himself from the sword and take a potion that Mateo brewed up to break the curse for good. Afterwards, Gabe finishes the tests, and helps Rico after he fell and broke his leg, and as a result of this, Elena names Gabe the new Captain of the Royal Guard with Rico's encouragement. Gabe thanks Elena for reminding him it is the soldier who makes the sword, not the other way around.
In "Three Jaquins and a Princess", Elena is one of the judges for the Avalor Bake-Off, but when Isabel causes trouble in the kitchen with her new invention that upsets Esteban, Elena goes to comfort Isabel in her room, before they are introduced to Migs' new mate, Dulce, who soon lays three eggs that will hatch into her and Migs' new children. After Dulce and Migs leave to find Anoki Berries for their babies, Isabel volunteers to watch them until Migs and Dulce return. Elena advises her to come get her if she needs help, before leaving Isabel with the Jaquin babies. Elena finds Isabel in the kitchen later on, not knowing that Isabel was there catching one of the babies after it got out of her room to find food, and Isabel has to lie to convince Elena that everything is fine. However, when the babies ruin the Bake-Off, especially since one of them had drank Mateo's Enlarging Potion, making it huge, Elena is disappointed and angry with Isabel for failing to come get her for help, and reminds her that she is still a kid and can't handle such big responsibilities like watching the babies on her own just yet. Isabel apologizes, and with the help of Mateo, Skylar, and Luna, Elena finally reigns in the babies by the time Migs and Dulce return. The Bake-Off continues, and afterwards, Elena allows Isabel to go play with Migs and Dulce's children, now named Mingo, Zoom, and Estrella.
Some time later, in "A Spy in the Palace", Elena is preparing for the Jaquin Festival, in which Migs, Luna, and Skylar will be performing some aerial tricks for the celebration, while King Verago, Chief Zephyr, and other Jaquins will be in attendance. Elena assigns Naomi to help with the preparations. Unknown to Elena, a new guest named "Rita Perez",who says she's a cousin of Armando, arrives to help, but "Rita" is actually Carla Delgado in disguise thanks to a Shape-shifting Potion she drank that was brewed up by Shuriki in an attempt to get at Queen Lucia's Carnaval Tiara, which Victor and Carla had tried and failed to steal previously, as Shuriki could use the jewel in it to craft a new wand for herself. Carla sabotages Naomi's preparations, and steals her ideas to present as her own, angering Naomi and causing her to start to have a falling out with Elena, to the point Naomi resigns as the festival planner in a fit of anger, allowing Carla to take over, much to Elena's gratitude. However, Elena is happy when Naomi returns later and apologizes for her earlier outburst and anger, and Elena assures her that she's her best friend and no one could replace her. Once the festival gets underway, Elena decides to put the Golden Jaquin statue at the port as Naomi originally suggested, before "Rita" says that they make a great team, which Elena agrees to, still unaware that "Rita" is really one of her enemies in disguise, waiting for the right moment to strike.
Elena is practicing her training with the Scepter of Light in "Science Unfair" when a stray shot wrecks the fountain when she's startled by Isabel returning home from school. Elena later brings Isabel's classmates to see her and help her out with her project for the Avalor Science Fair, managing to keep Quique from running off when he tries to slip away. Elena later shows Isabel a large empty room in the palace to work on her project with her friends, only to find later that her classmates are leaving, disgusted and upset with Isabel. Deciding to speak to her little sister on the matter, Elena reveals to her how she was once in Isabel's shoes when she became Crown Princess, believing she did not need a Grand Council to help her, but soon learned how valuable friends are when you need them. Through song, Elena convinces Isabel to apologize to her friends and ask for their help again. With their support, Isabel finishes her project, and after presenting it to Professor Ochoa, Isabel wins the science fair. Elena is very proud of Isabel over her accomplishment.
Later on, in "Rise of the Sorceress", Elena is preparing for the Sunflower Festival. However, noticing Rita acting strangely due to her hair changing color, and never showing up to help with some of the preparations, Naomi voices her concern to Elena about having a gut feeling about Rita, but Elena tells her she needs more proof than a gut feeling. During when her family is doing their dance for the celebration, the first time since Elena and Isabel's parents were cut down by Shuriki, just after they finish, Naomi tells Elena that her concerns about Rita have proof that she is up to something. When Naomi brings Elena back into the palace to show her, they arrive just as Shuriki, the Delgados, and Fiero are taking their leave, causing Elena to find herself face-to-face once more with her sworn arch-enemy that murdered King Raul and Queen Lucia, leaving her horrified to see Shuriki again as she remembers the fateful moment when Shuriki cast her spell that slain Raul and Lucia, along with their Royal Guards and horses. Seizing the moment, Shuriki tries to strike Elena down once more, and Naomi does her best to protect Elena from the attacks, but Mateo is able to arm Elena with the Scepter of Light, which Elena uses to destroy Shuriki's new wand, forcing her, Fiero, and the Delgados to retreat. Elena gives pursuit with Naomi, Gabe, and Mateo on horseback, but losing sight and the trail of the four villains, Elena agrees to have the Royal Guards assembled to hunt them down. As they return to Avalor, Elena apologizes to Naomi for doubting her, and now realizes what her test forewarned of by Quita Moz is: To defeat Shuriki, once and for all. If she fails, she will never be Queen of Avalor, and Shuriki will be able to take over again with the support of Fiero and the Delgados by her side.
In "Shapeshifters", with Shuriki's return now public knowledge to all of Avalor, Elena finds herself under heavy guard by Gabe and his men until Shuriki can be brought to justice. During a meeting with her Grand Council, Esteban, as Chancellor, calls a vote that has Elena confined to the castle until further notice, as both Naomi and her grandparents don't want anything to happen to her. However, for Elena, this is about revenge. Shuriki murdered King Raul and Queen Lucia, and Elena wants payback, realizing her parents' spirits won't be able to rest peacefully in the afterlife until their assassin pays for her crimes. As she sulks on the balcony regarding being confined to the palace, she's visited by Migs and his cubs, who share their own little Guardian Salute with Elena due to how once they are older, they will become Guardians of Avalor like Migs, Luna, Skylar, Chief Zephyr, and the other Jaquins. Visiting Mateo in his workshop later on, Elena learns that he's recently finished work on his Shape-shifting Potion to turn one into a Jaquin. After testing it on himself, Elena tries it and loves her new Jaquin form. Realizing she can use it to sneak out of the palace, she ends up running into Gabe, who is easily fooled by Elena's Jaquin form until Mateo returns her to her human self. Though Gabe has his orders to keep Elena in the castle under guard, he agrees to go with her and Mateo in Jaquin form to Luna's birthday party. Once there, Elena distracts Gabe while she speaks to Chief Zephyr about joining the Jaquin scouts with looking for Shuriki, but Zephyr refuses, before taking his leave with his successor, Cruz. Elena and Mateo follow Zephyr and Cruz to Commander's Rock, a cave that Alacazar had made some time before he fled Avalor when Shuriki originally took over, and watch as Zephyr, seeing Cruz for his true colors, rescinds naming him his successor, causing an angry Cruz to seal Zephyr in the cave. Elena and Mateo return to tell Gabe what happened, but when Cruz arrives and Luna, Migs, and Skylar ask about Zephyr and where he is, Cruz lies and blames Elena, Mateo, and Gabe for his disappearance. Since Cruz is their friend, Luna, Migs, and Skylar fall for his deceit and have Elena, Mateo, and Gabe captured and incarcerated. However, when Elena proves to Mingo, Zoom, and Estrella it's her with their secret Guardian Salute, the cubs let them out, and they fly back to Commander's Rock to free Zephyr as Cruz gives pursuit with Migs, Luna, and Skylar. Gabe stalls them while Elena is able to remember the spell to open the cave just in time before being tackled by Cruz. Once free, Zephyr lunges at Cruz in fury, snarling "TRAITOR!!" loud enough for Migs, Luna, and Skylar to overhear and realize they have been deceived. Cruz attempts to escape, but Elena manages to get ahead of him and tackle him out of the sky, allowing Zephyr to pin him long enough for Mateo, Gabe, Migs, Luna, Skylar, and the other Jaquins to arrive and place Cruz under arrest. After Cruz is locked up, Zephyr thanks Elena for her help, but suggests that she leave things to real Jaquins rather than try to do them herself as one. Back at the castle, once back to their human selves, though Gabe is frustrated with Elena for disobeying the order of her own Grand Council, he lets her off with a warning with the threat of reporting in next time she does it. Soon after, the Scepter of Light reveals some hidden writing in the Codex Maru among the blank pages that Fiero stole several of previously, along with writing all over Mateo's lab, revealing the dark counterpart to the Scepter of Light, the Scepter of Night, and how Alacazar broke the scepter into pieces and hid them away, with riddles that need to be solved to find the pieces. Knowing that Shuriki, Fiero, and the Delgados are going to be hunting for the pieces of the Scepter of Night so Shuriki has something more powerful to even the playing field with the Scepter of Light, Elena makes it her, Mateo, and Gabe's intent to find the pieces before Shuriki does.
In the episode that follows, "The Scepter of Night", Elena has Naomi join her, Mateo, and Gabe, to learn about the Scepter and the first riddle that leads to the handle of the Scepter of Night. Deducing that it is hidden in one of the pyramids of the abandoned capital of Tepet Muul, with Gabe taking point because of his orders to protect Elena while Francisco, Luisa, and Esteban are away on a diplomatic visit to the Kingdom of Cordoba, the quartet set off on Migs, Luna, Skylar, and Dulce for Tepet Muul. Once there, Mateo breaks off from the group, convinced that if he can find the handle of the scepter first, having control of both the Scepter of Light and Scepter of Night would make Elena unstoppable against Shuriki, Fiero, and the Delgados, and make him as powerful of his grandfather Alacazar. Soon, he returns to them empty-handed, having picked the wrong pyramid and gets reprimanded by them, before they spot the right one, only for them to run into Shuriki and her team at the summit, leading to a battle between Elena and Fiero. However, while Shuriki and Carla act as decoys to try and lure Elena and her friends away from the pyramid, Fiero and Victor, slip inside to follow Mateo and Elena to the first piece while Gabe, Naomi, and the Jaquins wait outside. Elena manages to open the hidden chamber where the staff piece of the Scepter of Night was hidden, along with finding Alacazar's riddle to the next piece, only to be ambushed by Fiero and Victor, as Mateo led them right to it. After Mateo apologizes to Elena for his mistake, they are able to keep the piece from falling into Shuriki's hands, with Elena getting possession of it herself, but realize that Fiero and Victor know the riddle to the second piece's whereabouts. After Mateo makes amends with Gabe, Naomi, and the Jaquins, the eight friends huddle together to figure out the second piece's riddle and get to it before Shuriki does now that they know where she is heading next.
Disney Junior The Animated Series
In Vacation In Avalor, Elena welcomes the Disney Junior Club with open arms and invites them to stay in Avalor for their summer vacation.