#AzPiren

[iris-sistibly]

It was a perfect day.

The sun shone brightly at the azure skies, the emerald sea was calm. Golden sands shimmered under the rays of the majestic ball of fire. The mood was festive which lit up everyone’s spirits. The guests were all dressed up, garments made from the most expensive cloths adorned with intricate designs and precious stones. The aisle was decorated with colorful blossoms, freshly picked from the gardens of Lireo and Sapiro. Soldiers of both kingdoms lined on either side of the aisle, Lireans on the left, Sapirians on the right. At the dais stood a beautiful woman in sea green gown, she had long, curly locks, a crown in her head, a scepter on her hand. She looked regal and queenly…well, she’s now the queen of Lireo. I smiled as I watch her from afar—my Ashti Hara Alena, one of the women I look up to. On her left was a nursemaid with a sleeping infant in her arms, a baby boy who was born just after the war, a child who’s both diwata and Adamyan. Hara Alena’s child with the late Memfes. The monarchs of Hathoria were also present, Hara Pirena and Rama Azulan with Mira who immediately became close with her stepfather, I knew it has always been her dream to have a father and I as her friend and soul sister couldn’t be more happier for her. Of course, former queen Danaya and her husband Aquil were there, they are now expecting their first child. I bet he or she will be just as stubborn as his or her mother. I couldn’t help but chuckle, I can just imagine Ashti Danaya grumbling endlessly about how ashtadi her little brat is and Aquil reminding her that stubbornness is from our side of the family, well, our diwata genes are that dominant.

“They’re here!” Mashna Mayca announced. Everyone settled as the ceremony immediately began, Mashna Muros and Mashna Mayca walked together in the aisle first, holding the flags of Lireo and Sapiro, I came in second, now dressed as a Sapirian heiress. Me being officially hailed as my father’s successor came out as a surprise, I mean, everyone was expecting me to ascend the Lirean throne. Who would have thought I would be recognized as crown princess of Sapiro instead? Especially when the council expressed their strong opposition of breaking the norms that only males can rule Sapiro (dude, seriously?). The struggle was real you know, I had to work extra hard to prove that I am worthy to ascend my father’s kingdom in the future. And if you’re asking if I succeeded, well duh.

I stood beside Aquil and Ashti Danaya, and then they came. Dressed in matching gold and brown garments, they both looked great. My mom looked immaculate in her wedding dress, she looked radiant, she looked very happy as she smiled at everyone. My dad meanwhile kept looking at mom, his aura was very different, I haven’t seen him smile like that for many years, but thanks to Ariana who paved way for my mother to return and to Emre who finally granted her another chance to live as her own self, mom was able to return to us, just like what yla Mine-a promised to my Ashtis. Looking back, I witnessed how their love story unfold, from being allies to good friends, to being lovers. I witnessed how they fought the odds together and won every battle together, they were each other’s strength and weakness, happiness and heartache, true love and beloved. I witnessed how they both sobbed as they went on separate ways to fulfill their duties, I witnessed how my father shattered after mom chose to sacrifice herself to save us all. It was a struggle that was impossible to get through, but as they say, “Love makes the impossible possible,” when you love someone, you can do things you never thought you can do, my mother and father are living proof that true love conquers all, and I their daughter is a witness. My parents stood before Ashti Alena who became good friends with dad, after everything that happened, I know that she has truly moved on. Finally, no more awkwardness, no more hidden feelings, just genuine happiness. She was the first to bless my parents, “Ybrahim and Amihan,” said she, “As the keeper of the water gem and queen of Lireo, I am giving you my blessing, may you live a peaceful life like the calm sea, have a blissful marriage throughout the years, and may you continue to love each other unconditionally until the afterlife.” My mom looked at her with gratitude, their relationship as sisters were also put to a test, but my mom and Ashti chose to love and forgive each other in the end. And for that, I have such respect for the two. If I will blessed with a sister or even another brother, will we able to get through the trials we may face in the future like my mother and her sisters?

Ashti Pirena was the second to bless my parents, everyone shared a hearty laugh as she wished for them to have more children. Dad obviously liked the idea, mom blushed but laughed along as well, that thought excited me–I am an only child, I lost my half brother many years ago, and even though I have Mira, I still want to feel what it’s like to have siblings, I mean REAL siblings. Ashti Danaya who is my mom’s closest sister was teary-eyed when she gave her blessing to the bride and groom, it’s not everyday that I see her get emotional, maybe her pregnancy has something to do with it. Or maybe she really has always been a softie, I don’t know, it’s hard to read her mind.

After the blessing the priestesses performed some sort of ritual to help strengthen their marriage, and all that stuff. When the ritual was finished, the head priestess gestured me to come to the dais, I walked towards Hara Alena with a crown in my hands, a crown that is worn by queens of Sapiro. My parents knelt, the Lirean Hara placed the crown on my mother’s head, my mom became queen once again, of Sapiro this time. Ashti Alena happily announced, “My beloved encantados, I now give you, Rama Ybrahim and Hara Amihan, king and queen of Sapiro!” my parents rose to their feet and faced everyone. “Ivo Live Rama Ybrahim! Ivo Live Hara Amihan! Ivo Live Sapiro! Ivo Live Encantadia!” the crowd chanted headed by Mashna Mayca. The crowd applauded and cheered for the king and queen. Mother and father faced each other, eyes full of love, smiles full of happiness, mom wiped a tear from my dad’s eye and gently caressed his face. They weren’t saying anything, but that scene was worth millions of words, words that speak of love, happiness, and forever. Then the most awaited part happened next, my dad pressed his lips against my mom’s, I cannot help but squeal as they shared that long, sweet kiss. I looked at Mira, and she has the same reaction, I winked at her as if to say, “Finally!” Mira responded by raising her thumb which meant, “Alright!”

I joined my parents afterwards, giving them the both warm hugs. I guess group hugs will always be a thing in my family. I’m not complaining though, I am not and will never trade my family for anything. Sometimes I wonder if I will ever meet a guy like my father someday, a man who will never give up on me no matter what, I wonder if our love story will be just as beautiful as mom and dad’s? That is, if dad will ever allow me to date someone (he still sees me as his baby, don’t judge). Oh well, I guess love will have to wait, I still have a lot of princess-y stuff to learn, and I have to focus on being Ashti Danaya’s protégé aka the next keeper of the earth gem, I still have a long way to go. But as I prepare myself for the future, I will always keep in my mind the lessons I learned from my parents’ experiences, that everything will fall into place at the right time. Hold on, and trust the power of true love. I will always keep their story in my mind and carry it in my heart, and one day, I will relive those memories as I tell my future children and grandchildren their story. A love story that is one of a kind, the love story of Ybrahim and Amihan.

Beloved (by: Iris) From Lira’s point of view

Photo credits: @GMAEncantadia (via Twitter)

[avisalaencantadia]

sinistrelumiere said: Did Pirena's advice to Anya sound bitter? That wasn't the intention. Haha. Pirena is still with Azulan, and they have a baby. Lira was just trying to tease Pirena. (And, also, I didn't catch the line until after they already shot the scene. :( )

Yeah, for me it sounded a little bitter but maybe because I was too focused on Lira’s reaction when Pirena said that. 

But super big thanks for confirming what happened to Azulan! Azpiren shippers, you can relax now haha :)

PS: I really love it when you confirm or disprove fan theories/opinions hehe. 

[kathangencanto-blog]

When Past and Present Collide

May naglaro sa gintong orasan ng Etheria, kung kaya't nagpang-abot ang nakaraan at ang kasalukuyan. 

Azpiren! Azulan 2005 meets Pirena 2016.

Alena squared! The two Alenas meet!

Alebarro! Alena 2005 with Ybarro 2016.

Ybralena! Ybrahim 2005 and Alena 2016 takes a selfie.

[justrhenz]

Hara Pirena's life goals unlocked in reverse order.

[joriben]

Magpugay sa bagong Hathoria!!!

[rastrorebelsph]

Repost @gmanetwork: "Si Hara Pirena? Titiklop? Totoo ba ito? #EncantadiaPaghamon #Encantadia2016 #Encantadia #AzPiren"

[diwatang-sirena]

So it's finally over... For now.

Once again, thank you to the Enca staff for bringing this fantaserye back to life. It had many ups and downs, and I would discuss them in detail perhaps some time, but not now. For now, I'd like to focus on the positives in order to close this chapter with a happy tone. Here are my favorite highlights from the final episode: 1. Raquim and Ybrahim VS Hagorn. Although it was super short, it was still nice to see Ybrahim '05 and Ybrahim '16 share a scene together. I knew that Raquim would be the final piece to Amihan/Ariana's puzzle that would confirm her sarkosi. 2. Ariana in Amihan's warrior costume. Okay, fight me on this. But I actually liked that part when Ariana appeared in Amihan's costume. In fairness sa kanya, even though her acting is still below par, I think this has become Arra's best performance as Ariana/Amihan. She really looked the part, and I felt that bit of determination that Amihan innately has when she fought Hagorn and got the 2 gems back. This is that one time that slightly redeemed Ariana for me. Still, I'm glad she was killed off (so that Amihan's ivtre will be free again), but it was sad to see Amihan experience another death. 3. YbriAna and YbraMihan. Now I'm sure you all know that I despise YbriAna. But that scene where Ybrahim realized that Amihan's ivtre was really in Ariana kinda made me feel bad, in a good way. Ruru nailed this scene perfectly, and in fairness, Arra's acting actually blended in pretty well for me. I just loved how Ybrahim desperately held onto Ariana/Amihan tightly, repeating Amihan's name over and over and apologizing for not recognizing her (I wouldn't blame him though), and Ariana/Amihan telling him that she never wanted to see him get stuck in the past and suffer because of her. Selfless love right there people. While it was heartbreaking to see Amihan dying in Ybrahim's arms for the second time, I thought it was a good way for Ariana to die as Amihan's sarkosi, regardless of her past actions and for Amihan's sake. As for YbraMihan's reunion, I'm satisfied enough to see Kylie appear (even though it's obviously edited) for a few seconds to reunite Ybrahim and Amihan. It was super bitin, and I thought that their scene was cut too prematurely. Would've been nice to see a full YbraLiraMihan hug kahit nakatalikod lang ang Kylie stand-in, or even a last "Mahal KONG Reyna" in Ybrahim's part. But nevertheless, I'm grateful that they gave us a last glimpse of the real Amihan and YbraMihan, and confirmation that YbraMihan is endgame and will still live on for the 2nd season. Curious to see how that'll work since Amihan is still an Ivtre, but at least we know that when the time comes, Kylie can fully return back in the main cast as Amihan. 4. Pirena, Danaya, and Alena's fusion. I thought that was pretty cool, switching with one another depending on their strengths. Still a bit sad that they're incomplete, but I liked it nevertheless. 5. Alena as the new Hara of Lireo. Already explained my excitement for it in my previous post, but wow! I just love seeing that crown on her head. Finally! 6. AleMemfes' conclusion. While I still find it weird that it seems so simple to conceive a child whenever they like by just holding hands, I'm kinda glad that at least something came out of Memfes' character. I'm glad that they didn't rush Alena into some sort of insta-love when we all know that she's not ready to love another, and I loved how honest she was with her feelings, but still was considerate enough to honor Memfes with his last wish. I guess wala na talaga si Armea, since it seems that Alena and Memfes' kid is a boy. What is up with Alena sprouting out male sanggres? Not that it's a bad thing, just a curious matter. 7. DanQuil and AzPiren. While I felt that a wedding for AzPiren is a little too early, I'm pretty much okay with this. These two sisters, the ones that were the most prideful and had the biggest distance in terms of their sisterly bond, now ended up sharing a wedding with the love of their lives. 8. The new baby sanggres. Although I felt that the tagapangalaga statuses of Paopao and the rest now is completely useless, I'm glad to see a new generation of heirs, however convenient. At least may kasama na si Cassandra that's her age, hahaha. Still can't see Lira as a mother though, but I like the little fact that she's actually living in Sapiro with her father instead of Lireo. Anyway, it'll be interesting to see how this new generation will play out the 2nd season. I'm glad that there's actually a boy this time around. If he actually ends up becoming the heir to Lireo's throne because he's Alena's son, that would be the first time that a male becomes King of Lireo. 9. Cassiopeia's Ice Queen twin as the new villain. This is a whole new ball game I'm excited to watch when the time for Season 2 comes! There's really nothing this time that you can expect from the original series in this one, as in nothing! And I think that's very good, in order to really make a fresh start and continue on the legacy of Encantadia. Overall, I give the Season 1 finale a 6.5/10. Despite it being an obviously rushed ending, I thought that it did good enough, for someone who had low expectations of it. And thank you guys for coming along with the journey! Until the next season! 😚

[glaizanews]

Tweeted

First encounter "Gusto ko siyang paslangin. Lapastangan!" -Pirena 🔥#AzPirenFirstKiss http://pic.twitter.com/cYJdsacLuU

— AzPiren OFFICIAL (@AzPirenOFC) April 24, 2017

[soniafcademoura]

regram @glaizanatics Miss ko lang sila 😍 sorry kung panget edit 😢 #AzPiren #GlaizaDeCastro #MarxTopacio https://www.instagram.com/p/BUzVdsSAZGW/

[avisalaencantadia]

DanQuil and AzPiren Double Wedding

requested by kenbieyubi

[iris-sistibly]

4R’s: Encantadia Season 2 (May 8, 2017 episode review)

Episode 209

Recap:

Keros’ true colors

Kahlil was captured and was brought to Keros who has been keeping track of Emre and Cassiopeia’s progress. Kahlil reminded Keros of his friendship with Emre and if he can really let someone who treated him fairly down which hit Keros’ conscience. Being unable to withstand Emre’s struggles anymore, he appeared before the two with Galatea. The latter holding a platter of fruits from the tree of life—the antidote to Ether’s poison, Keros is not a really a bad god and only wanted to break free from his curse of being the god of destruction, Ether and Arde promised to help him which prompted him to join their side. Emre tried to make Keros see the good in his powers but the latter refused to listen, he couldn’t break his allegiance with Arde and Ether anymore, he urged the two to eat the fruits and leave Devas. Emre and Cassiopeia were finally cured, Emre initially wanted Cassiopeia to go back to Encantadia but the latter refused and stood firm on her decision to stay by his side until he wins Devas back. Emre admired Cassiopeia, truly she deserves to be a goddess.

Ether and Arde returned to Devas and noticed that a part of the tree of life is burned and some of the fruits were missing. Ether began suspecting but Keros quickly bluffed and walked away. The goddess knew he was lying but for now, they have to eliminate Emre and Cassiopeia first who has finally broke free from her curse.

How to get the diwanis back

The sang’gres were relieved that Deshna has returned to Lireo especially her older sister Pirena, Deshna realized how bad their father was and apologized for being angry at the diwatas, but she wasn’t planning to stay for long because she was planning to look for Lila Sari, Alena assured that they will help her but asked Deshna to stay in the palace for it was still dangerous outside.

Pirena who was initially warned by her sisters not to do anything impulsive sneaked in Hagorn’s camp to save her daughter and niece. Hagorn sensed her presence after noticing that his guards were missing (they were all killed by Pirena), Pirena showed up and demanded for Mira and Lira, Hagorn refused to hand over the two without Pirena and sisters surrendering their gems, Andora and Deshna. Pirena refused to do that and attempted to rescue Mira and Lira, she found them, but failed to take them away for Hagorn casted a barrier to prevent Pirena from getting them. Pirena threatened to kill Hagorn’s Mashnas but he was willing to sacrifice the lives of Asval and Andora for power and went ivictus, Alena, Danaya and Ybrahim came and aided Pirena after finding out what she did, they succeeded in battle but failed to rescue the princesses. Lira and Mira were taken to Old Etheria where Hagorn was planning to lock them up and make sure that the sang’gres will never find them. The sang’gres were placed in a predicament on how are they going to save the diwanis without the sisters surrendering their gems, Alena came up with a plan, a risky one but worth the try, Pirena thanked her and volunteered to carry it out. Ybrahim praised her for changing to much over the years, she’s no longer the weak and fragile sang’gre but a strong and smart one, truly, Alena also deserves to be a leader.

Rave/s:

💚Yay Alena has once again proven that she can be a leader, is this a sign that she’s going to take over Adamya and become it’s queen? I would love to see that. Also, cheers to AzPiren for making me kilig tonight, what will this show do without love teams? (Insert sarcasm). The only thing I am wishing right now is for Mira and Lira to at least prove themselves worthy for their titles as sang’gres and destined keeper of the water and earth gems.

Rant/s:

😪Last two weeks, still no character build up for the new guardians and other characters. I don’t know why the hell are they doing this but only Alena has the most development in this season, I’m still doubting whether they are going to give this show a satisfying ending, based on tonight’s episode, I don’t think so. The thing that I am most annoyed about is that they seem to be making some dead old characters come back to life to become scene fillers, and although I am really happy that Mira and Lira has finally returned, I am still bummed with the fact that they brought them back just to make sure that the show’s ratings won’t flop until the finale, and as much as I hate to admit this, the people behind making the show trend are the shippers who are rooting for their ships to become end game, only a handful are rooting for the story itself which is sad because Encantadia is not just about romance. Another factor that made this show a fail is that they depended on the love teams, I’m not buying the entire plot of this season because clearly it sucks, I’m not even that convinced with the story of the so-called love teams because well, they suck too. It’s irritating af that they did not give Kahlil a chance to become hero even in the afterlife, and was only turned into everyone’s side kick. I am angry at how they’ve written Ariana’s narrative so badly that they have scrapped and murdered every bit of Amihan’s character in Ariana’s existence! The fuck Amihan is smart, courageous, always willing to step up, a true hero of Encantadia! Have you guys noticed how Alena and Amihan switched roles? Alena is being the leader here which I am truly proud of but Ariana just turned into Alena version 1.0 and what’s masaklap is that she has very little to no progress in terms of characterization and performance-wise Arra SUCKS and will always SUCK. I’ve seen the clip of their show with the cast of MVR in EK and although she sings pretty well, her facial expression is suppressed, like she’s not feeling the song at all, idk and I’m not interested at watching her so I didn’t see the whole performance but based on what I saw on that clip, I’m like girl pati ba naman sa pagkanta stiff ka? I don’t know why the hell she made it to Star Struck, I guess the Philippine entertainment hasn’t gotten off the “pretty face” syndrome which is why some people would appreciate a handsome or a pretty girl with absolutely no talent than someone who is clearly outstanding. Pao Pao, Muyak and Deshna? Please, like joining the war would make their characters stand-out, know what? They shouldn’t have introduced some interesting subplots if they are not going to tell the entire story anyway, they should have just focused on the character developments of the sang’gres because there is no doubt that this season is sang’gre-centric and Lira and Mira are no longer part of it. They have taken away Emre’s powers and so is his intelligence which led to many epic-fail adventures, Haliyah remains to be the most useless goddess ever, the story of Asval and Andora were never narrated as opposed to what they have promised to tell the story behind the baddies which is why I will tag this show as TYPICAL. Again, this show is yet to prove that this is better than the original, based on the episode tonight, I can conclude that DMR and the prod failed to keep their promise to make this story a hundred times better than the original.

Best performer/s for this episode: Gabbi Garcia 🌊

Rating: 5 out of 10💎s  

Credits to: GMA network via YouTube and Dailymotion @GMAEncantadia (Encantadia’s Official Twitter account) @GMANetwork (GMA’s Official Twitter account) @GMADrama (GMA Primetime series’ Official Twitter account) Encantadia 2016 (Official Facebook page) www.encantadia.com.ph (Encantadia’s Official Website)

[iris-sistibly]

Encantadia 2016-2017: The Final Verdict (Part 2)

Part 1 here: http://iris-sistibly.tumblr.com/post/160857700329/encantadia-2016-2017-the-final-verdict-part-1

Characters and Cast Members

The Dark Horses

These are the characters and cast members who has the best development/biggest improvements in terms of narrative, performance and characterization:

1. Alena (Gabbi Garcia)- her character definitely has the biggest development throughout the entire series. Her development was probably the slowest I must say yet it was so, so worth the wait! I was disappointed at how bad her characterization was in the first book (plus Gabbi’s pabebe acting that time), but like I mentioned earlier, Book one was all about perfect timing. By the time Alena chose to let go I was like, “FINALLY!” at laaast! Encantadia did not stick to the norms of the first love never dies rule of the Filipino romance genre. Her character continued to shine for the rest of the series and I couldn’t be more proud especially at Gabbi who was my least favorite cast member of the first book. Compared to the rest of the cast, Gabbi’s performance isn’t up there, but for a lesser experienced actress like her, it was more than enough to impress me, I have seen her evolve from a pabebe actress to a more mature, serious performer. One of the few things I would rave about the show’s 10-month run is Alena being crowned as queen of Lireo. Her original counterpart’s narrative focused on romance but, I love how they changed Alena’s story in the most drastic yet exciting way possible and they turned her into a strong, independent, confidently beautiful woman with a heart. She is the perfect queen for Lireo, very much like Mine-a I must say. And yes, surprise surprise, despite of me being an Amihan fanatic, Alena is my top pick in this category.

2. Amihan (Kylie Padilla)- if you have been following the 4R’s series I have mentioned so many times before how disappointed I was at Kylie for literally bringing my favorite sang’gre down. But just like Alena, Kylie’s Amihan had her own time to shine. And ever since the Amihan’s fall arc, Kylie has been nailing her character scene after scene after scene. Never in my whole fan girl existence did I imagine that she would nail a character such as Amihan, a mother, a queen, a warrior, a woman. She and Gabbi were clearly the dark horses of the show. What I really love about Amihan’s narrative and Kylie’s portrayal was that, they made me look deeper into Amihan not just as a character but as a woman in general which is why I appreciated Amihan more than ever now. I guess my only disappointment is Kylie leaving the show because of her pregnancy but still, until her last scene, Kylie has proven that even though she can no longer be a part of the show anymore, she is and will always be Amihan 2016.

3. Ybarro/Ybrahim (Ruru Madrid)- when I first saw him, my first impression was: “hm…he’s cute, but he’s too young to play the character.” BUT, I ate every word I said. For me, Ruru and his character has one of the most beautiful transition from being Ybarro, a childish mandirigma to Ybrahim, Rehav and eventually Rama of Sapiro. I must say, his team up with Kylie really helped him become more mature and serious actor (same goes for Kylie). His closeness with Mikee helped him nail his role as a father which again, I never thought he’d nail. And I became more drawn to his character and appreciate Ruru as an actor for being consistently excellent with his performance despite of his ridiculous character narrative in book 2. Sad that his story did not focus more on him being a King of Sapiro and what will he do to rebuild his kingdom, he was ripped into pieces when his daughter died but you know, there was no clear development on how the pain of losing his loved ones turned him into a wiser and stronger persona like Alena. He became too dependent in Lireo and he babied Lira way too much and while I understand that she is his everything, I never saw his development from being an overly protective dad to a more understanding type—understanding enough to realize that Lira is no longer a little girl (pff! As if Lira matured 🙄), I wish they added some sort of conflict between father and daughter that will pave way to the maturity of both characters. Anyhoo, this guy deserves an award, this guy deserves more projects, this guy deserves to be praised. He maybe young, but when I look at Ruru, I always forget that he’s only 19 years old, I see Ybrahim, King of Sapiro, Lira and Kahlil’s dad, and Amihan’s beloved. For that, I already consider him in line with the country’s elite actors like John Lloyd Cruz, Dingdong Dantes, Piolo Pascual and so much more.

Rating: 10 out of 10💎s

The Elites

Characters who has the most complex personality and interesting narrative. Cast Members who were consistently excellent in terms of performance.

1. Pirena (Glaiza de Castro)- it’s no surprise that Glaiza is my top pick in this category, from the moment I saw that promotional photo on the internet, I knew Glaiza was the perfect choice for Pirena. From her very first appearance up to the finale, she was consistent, and that’s extremely important for me when I am rooting for a character and an actress. She nailed every side of Pirena, every aspect of her character. Pirena is one of the most complex character and very difficult to portray, but Glaiza was just so freakin’ effortless, I saw her passion for acting and Pirena’s fiery character beautifully synced in one persona, she was so snappy at shifting from one emotion to another, and for that, kudos to Glaiza for being one of the first few actors to give justice to such an iconic character like Pirena. Narrative-wise, there is a little bit rant about the part of her story with Azulan but I don’t really mind that much because I know that the second book is rushed and AzPiren’s relationship didn’t have the chance to blossom and develop like YbraMihan, but still Glaiza and Marx nailed their team up.

2. Hagorn (John Arcilla)- it was a close fight between him and Glaiza but what made him second is not his performance but his story. I’m so bummed that his character was never redeemed in this version in contrast to his original counterpart, his narrative was so good in the first book but it deteriorated at the second half of the show’s long run. There wasn’t even a closure between him, Pirena and Lila Sari for goodness’ sake! John Arcilla is no doubt a good actor, it’s like every word of compliment I use to describe him is an understatement, he’s beyond excellent and he never failed to wow me every single time he appears on TV.

3. Mira (Kate Valdez)- now this girl is definitely one of the biggest surprise in this show, this Hathorian heiress sure inherited her skills from mommy Piry and grandpa Haggy. Opposite to the original Mira, I am glad that her character played a role during the final war and contributed a lot to the development of the story especially in book 1, although I wish her role was more pivotal in the second book. I still hate the fact that she and Lira didn’t have their moment to shine and will now be forever remembered as Pirena’s baby (just like Lira), there was no transition from being a diwani to a sang’gre level kind of diwata which I am disappointed since they promised character developments for the super twins, and she never had the chance to meet her bio-dad. Still—great job bes!

4. Danaya (Sanya Lopez)- Sanya! How to be you po? Another newbie has proven that she can keep up with the likes of Glaiza and John my ghad! I am glad that the writers made us see Dany’s softer and vulnerable side, I love Sanya’s Danaya, ang chaka nga lang that they did not elaborate the DanQuil love story more, although I am happy that they made us see her struggles as queen, I would have appreciated it more if there was this balance between Danaya’s narrative as Hara and her narrative as a woman. In this version, it was more on Hara Danaya.

5. Cassiopeia (Solenn Heussaff)- She was the perfect choice for the character, I love how Solenn really made it seem like En-Chan is her mother tongue, and it’s really hard to act without talking, for me she has the most difficult role, being the only one who doesn’t talk by mouth most of the time, but I am very proud of Solenn for giving justice to Cassiopeia. BTW, I ship CassRe 😂

6. Gurna (Vaness Del Moral)- One of the most effective villains in the show! I have to say, Vaness will forever be remembered by her acting prowess, I hope she will be given more projects in the future. GMA 7 DO NOT WASTE THIS PRECIOUS GEM! She deserves to be recognized as one of the network’s A-list actresses.

7. Agane (Rochelle Pangilinan)- Ah, another rave-worthy actress! I remember my grade school self watching her dancing with the Sex Bomb girls in my favorite EB segment Laban o Bawi. Look at her now, still shining in her own way, I love how Agane’s not all baddie and also has her own story to tell which was something new. Hands down to Rochelle for being so freakin’ GOOD, her performance as Agane is EVERYTHING.

8. Ether (Janice Hung)- the queen of wushu, I personally don’t like her voice and I would have liked it if she just used her own voice and maybe add some sort of special effects on it to make her sound like a goddess bitch, but wow, just wow. Her martial arts skills is on fire, her portrayal of the character is so good, she’s very effective as a villain, and I hope to see more of her.

Rating: 10 out of 10 💎s

The Saviors

Characters with badly written narratives yet were “saved” by the actors with their impressive performances.

1. Lira (Mikee Quintos)- Disappointed that they did not tell her story in such a way that she will be remembered as Encantadia’s hero/savior, it’s a total bummer how she was reduced from being a highly respected princess to being the captain of the YA and DanQuil ship, now don’t get me wrong, I ship both YA and DQ, it’s just that I believe Lira can give so much more if they just gave her and Mira a chance. And Mikee, kudos to this girl for saving Lira’s character.

2. Avria (Eula Valdes)- Despite of me knowing the story of Avria (based on the original Etheria), I would have appreciated it if they wrote her character the way they wrote Hagorn’s. She was an all out baddie but they never narrated why, remember, a baddie will never be a baddie if they didn’t have some shitty past right? They can’t be just some psycho who wants a diwata overkill for no reason, heck even murderers have their own dark past that triggered them to do such thing.

3. Andora (Rochelle Pangilinan)- Ugh, Rochelle what will Andora do without you? They just turned her into a pawn aka Mashna when she is a Heran, HERAN! She’s supposed to play a pivotal role in this book but…sigh.

4. Emre (Zoren Legaspi)- I just feel so bad that Zoren had to work extra hard to make Emre a loveable character when clearly he’s not, his story just had too many plot holes that I just can’t appreciate it. And although it’s interesting to see a powerless Emre, it was such a failure for me.

5. Aquil (Rocco Nacino)- Man! Mas gusto ko pa ‘yung na tegi nalang si Aquil, it’s another bummer that Rocco didn’t really have the chance to contribute more to the story’s progress despite the fact that he is considered as one of the major characters in the story, he was downgraded into a love sick guy who’s all about Danaya. Dude, what about patriotism? Camaraderie? That is so unlikely of Aquil.

6. Asval (Neil Ryan Sese)- Such a waste character, there was nothing special about him, he is the most stereotype among all the villains. At least the original Asval had the chance to redeem himself in the final war unlike this shit. Thank God Neil Ryan played the character, otherwise, Asval would have been one of my biggest disappointments in the show.

Rating: 8 out of 10💎s

The Underdogs

Underrated characters and actors yet so deserving to be recognized

1. Muros (Carlo Gonzales)- Come on! The dude deserves to be recognized and he deserves to be happy!

2. Hitano (Pancho Magno)- I said this once and I’ll say it again, I love Hitano. He’s the kind of guy who will do anything for his beloved and will remain faithful to you until the end, too bad Alena and Lila Sari failed to see how incredible this guy is. Well maybe he’s just too good for them.

3. Muyak (Klea Pineda)- I am so annoyed that she died just like that, but I think Klea did a really good job at playing Muyak, her story was insipiring, too bad they focused on “plot twists” way too much that there was no character build up for her.

4. Manik (Joross Gamboa)- One of the most promising villains ever! If the Ybriana romance worked, I would have rooted for a duel between Ybrahim and Manik.

5. Wantuk (Buboy Villar)- My happy pill, never failed to make me laugh despite of him being a recurring character instead of being Ybrahim’s confidante and adviser.

Rating: 8 out of 10💎s

The Raspberry Awardees

Characters with the worst narrative and cast members with the face-palming performances.

1. Ariana (Arra San Agustin)- WORST NARRATIVE. WORST PERFORMANCE. She will always be my biggest disappointment and I will forever hate the team for choosing her to play the character. But in all fairness naman, she did pretty well in the finale, I wish she showed more of that in the previous episodes, maybe I won’t be hating on her so much, and people would have appreciated her efforts to continue Amihan’s story. It was because of her that the YA love story fucked up big time.

2. Pao Pao (Phytos Ramirez)- Narrative wise, come on, Pao was Amihan’s protégé and he was turned into a completely useless kid? Dude!

3. Deshna (Inah de Belen)- Her story would have been rave worthy, sigh, why the hell did y’all focused on the sarkosi plot?!

4. Juvila (Jinri Park)- I can’t take her seriously as a villain, she clearly struggles at speaking Tagalog and En-Chan that she always sounded like she’s reading the script. Am I the only one who thinks the baddies all have one emotion and that’s hatred? No variety or play of emotions, no story that would make people understand why they act the way the do, writers seriously!

5. Odessa (Sheree)- “Who the hell is she again?”  that’s how unmemorable she is

6. Haliyah (Valeen Montenegro)- most useless character ever.

7. Memfes (Lance Serrano)- ARC FILLERRRRRRR!

Runner-up for Rasberry Awardee: Kahlil (Avery Paraiso)- was expecting so much from him but like Lira and Mira he wasn't never given a chance (in Book 2)

Rating: Do I even have to rate this? Okay fine, 4 out of 10💎s

-Total: 8 out of 10💎s

[iris-sistibly]

4R’s: Encantadia (The Finale Week)

May 15-19, 2017 episode reviews part 2 of 2

Avisala! I hope you don’t mind if I review the finale week as one Hahahaha! The final verdict is going to be really lengthy and I wanna finish this review tonight.

Raves:

💎This entire week has truly been exciting all in all, John Arcilla’s Hagorn proved that he is the most cunning, smartass baddie in the entire Encantadia. I was actually surprised that Ybrahim betrayed the diwatas—something that his original counterpart never did, but it was refreshing and interesting to see a more desperate side of Ybrahim, it’s actually no surprise that Ybrahim and Pirena would do such thing I mean—hey, they’re parents they’ll do anything for their babies. Duh.

💎Another thing to rave about is how Asval and Andora died. Ruru and Neil nailed that fight scene  and when Asval was finally killed, I was like “YAAAAS BITCH GO BACK TO HELL—I MEAN BALAAK!” and Andora’s death was so freakin’ funny, who would have thought her cause of death will be choking? 😂 also, that fusion between the three sisters? Dayum that was sooooo freakin’ LIT! I love everything about that scene, I love how Glai, Gabbi and Sanya’s characters shifted in order to counter Ether’s attacks. And Emre finally turned her into a fuckin’ snake like she has always been.

💎I knew Raquim was going to return in the finale, but I am glad that team Devas made an appearance although it wasn’t as grand as the scene from it’s original counterpart, still glad that he has returned. Dong looked more like a former king than a Rehav though. As for Arra, she did pretty well at portraying Amihan, although it’s not Kylie level, I must say this is an improvement compared to her past performances. If she has done really well I would have rooted for Ybriana but oh well.

💎The DanQuil and AzPiren wedding though ❤💛

💎HARA ALENA!!! She deserves it and I am so proud of her!

💎The new babies of Encantadia

💎KYLIE!!! 😭😭😭😭

💎BATHALUMANG CASSIOPEIA (finally!)

💎And a cliffhanger, I really hope there will be a new season. After all SD promised that there will be a fourth installment of the show so let’s all root for that. It’s interesting to know that there is an ice queen (like Elsa) living somewhere in Encantadia who happens to be Cassiopeia’s sister. Please make it happen! With Kylie in the show this time. I think this is just a season break and the show will resume after Kylie gives birth and is ready to work again.

Rants:

🤔I actually do not understand why the hell Ybrahim found it so hard to believe that Ariana is Amihan (set aside Arra’s bad acting okay? We’re talking about character here) when there is Agane as an example who is the sarkosi of Andora?

😪No character redemption for Hagorn damn it! There was no closure between Hagorn and Pirena and what’s worse was that he never regretted it like, seriously? John is such a great actor, his character deserves redemption.

🤔Cassandra’s identity is quite confusing—so basically she is the daughter of Cassiopeia, Amihan and Lira then? And she could also be considered as Lira’s little sister as well?

😪I am actually happy with the ending but I am not satisfied with it, I think Amihan’s brief return was edited (you know, just for the sake of the YA community). I think the ending is way too rushed, this entire arc actually which made me sad because it seemed not well thought of and although I do commend the cast for doing a great job, I don’t think this story is worth praising considering that there are so many arc fillers and unnecessary character deaths in this season which will be elaborated in the final verdict. Also what the hell was Manik doing in that prison when his ivtre cannot enter Devas? That’s a plot hole dude come on!

Overall best performer for this week: Glaiza de Castro 🔥 Ruru Madrid 🗡 John Arcilla ☠️

Overall rating (this week): 8 out of 10💎s

-Stay tuned for the final verdict-

[iris-sistibly]

4R’s: Encantadia Season 2 (April 20, 2017 episode review)

Episode 197

Recap:

The Cursed Weapon

Haliyah found herself locked up inside a barrier which angered the goddess. Emre and Cassiopeia came, the former was surprised and was puzzled as to why Cassiopeia had to imprison her, Haliyah was a very evasive goddess thus she had to make drastic measures to capture her. Emre calmed her down and introduced himself, Haliyah angrily asked who locked her up, Cassiopeia admitted what she did and freed Haliyah. Cassiopeia would have been punished if it weren’t for Emre’s intervention, Emre narrated about how Ether, Arde and Keros teamed up and banished him from Devas, and explained that Cassiopeia did that because they needed her help. Haliyah confirmed that Emre was telling the truth after seeing Ether’s poison slowly sucking the lives out of Emre and Cassiopeia. Haliyah warned that once the poison spread on their entire bodies, it will weaken them, turn them into stones which will lead to their deaths. Unfortunately, Haliyah could not help them but told them about the plant she once stole from Devas and planted it on Encantadia, the tree of life which was guarded by Evades when he was still alive. But the tree died along with Evades, this means that the antidote to Ether’s poison is the mother tree in Devas. But the journey there would be very difficult. Haliyah told them to look for her weapon which she apparently threw many years ago, when she decided to leave and vowed to never use it again. She dropped the weapon from the moon and has no idea where it is now. This placed Cassiopeia and Emre in another predicament since they only have little time left. Emre still thanked Haliyah for responding to their call and asked what her weapon looks like, Haliyah showed them an image of a trident, Haliyah assured that the weapon will come to them and will answer by the name De-Jar which means “cursed” in En-Chan language. Emre and Cassiopeia went on their way, with Haliyah’s blessing that her weapon will go with them.

Deshna’s Dilemma

Hagorn returned to the camp with Asval, Andora and the remaining Etherians. Deshna was surprised to see Asval and Andora which later angered the young Hathor, Hagorn however told her that they are no longer enemies but allies, something which really disappointed Deshna. Hagorn had the chance to talk to Deshna alone and instilled to her mind how cruel the diwatas were and even reminded her of how they lied to her. Even though she was upset over them keeping the truth from her, Deshna still hasn’t forgotten that her sister Pirena is also one of them and has somehow made friends with the diwatas. Hagorn insisted that Pirena will still choose the diwatas’ side no matter what and even told Deshna how the diwatas tricked him, first, Mine-a breaking her vows to marry him, second, they were the ones who brought Hathoria down. Those painful memories triggered Hagorn’s wrath, Deshna calmed him down but was still unsure of her father’s choices.

Pirena’s dream

Alena found Pirena in Cassiopeia’s island. The former knew how much Pirena missed Mira and felt sorry for her for failing to save Mira once again. But Alena thanked her for choosing to save her and Danaya instead of going back through time to aid Mira. Pirena figured that Mira and Lira wouldn’t be happy if they returned and found out that their Ashtis has been killed. Now that her chances of getting her daughter back are gone, Pirena decided enough is enough and told Alena that they should go back to Lireo to plan their next step to defeat Hagorn and win the air and spirit gems back. After the meeting adjourned, Imaw asked Pirena to stay behind, as a gift for saving Alena and Danaya, her sisters and Imaw gave her something that would hopefully ease Pirena’s pain and longing even just for a little while. They let Pirena dream about Mira, in that dream Pirena saw her daughter in an emerald green garment, wearing her most beautiful smile, her voice called her, and Pirena was beyond happy to get a hold of her daughter once again.

Rave/s:

💎Okay, so for tonight’s episode I gotta say that nothing much happened tonight, although how is Emre and Cassiopeia going to find Haliyah’s weapon I have no idea, I mean, she could have tossed that to the other world (I mean the mortal world), in the ocean, or it could be in another encantado’s possession, I was kinda expecting that either Haliyah will refuse to listen or this, because, plot filler duh. But I am actually looking forward to another finding a lost item subplot because it will also give way to Cassy and Emre’s character development. But I was wondering what happened to Kahlil now? I am still crossing my fingers that he will find the souls of the super twins and Gilas and Wahid, because seriously, I am so getting fed up with all these flashbacks that they are starting to get more and more annoying than touching, like why are you guys making us miss them more than ever and make us cling on to that slight possibility of them coming back? But I still hold on because it still wouldn’t make sense if they are going to make this entire season sang’gre-centric with little to no help from the so-called future saviors. And I haven’t forgotten that Cassiopeia hailed Lira as savior of Encantadia yet it was Amihan who literally did that.

Rant/s:

🤔 I don’t know if it’s just me being sick or I am getting really more and more bored in this whole timeline, it’s like this week is full of either cliché or ridiculously stupid narrative that I struggle to find reasons to rave about this week’s set of episodes since Monday. Like I said this would have worked if they chose to keep Mikee and Kate’s characters even Jake’s and Andre’s and maybe come up with side quests for these youngsters to prove themselves worthy to be the new gem keepers, it would have been exciting to see Lira and Mira plus Kahlil going on a quest to free the ivtre captives, or Pao Pao, Muyak and Deshna going to Balaak to seal some sort of portal or something like that to lock Arde in there for good, or Ariana and Lira going on a quest together on how to defeat Ether, heck they could even join Emre and Cassy on that finding bathalumang Haliyah or finding Haliyah’s missing weapon while the elders do everything they can to keep the entire Encantadia safe, anything that could pump up everyone’s adrenaline. The introduction of the new characters can just be inserted somewhere or maybe make it like a surprise for everyone to feel excited and more curious as to who these characters are. At this point of time when their strategy of keeping the audience’s attention to the show is to introduce more new characters, this is getting more and more uninteresting. With Avria dead and Hagorn reclaiming the title of the most dangerous villain in all of Encantadia instead of a GRAND battle between Hagorn and Avria plus the diwatas is just…no. I’m not even interested with DanQuil, AzPiren, AleMfes, and Ybriana (most especially) anymore, and it’s not good, since it makes me feel like doing this whole 4R’s series thing has becoming more of an obligation than something I really love to do, and I apologize if I seem unenthusiastic lately, it’s just like there is nothing much to write about this episode, like I would rather talk endlessly about how bad Ariana’s been doing than saying nothing at all, and it’s like I’m starting not to care anymore and watch the episode just because and counting the days and wondering when is this going to end so I can already get over with it. Dude, I need thrill in this show! I want to have that same enthusiasm I had in season one—correction—I want my enthusiasm back.

😖 You guys know what’s really annoying? Emre and Cassiopeia are dying and yet Haliyah be like, “sorry can’t heal you, oh by the way can you look for my lost weapon? I dropped it somewhere and I can no longer find it.” Like seriously? They’re dying and she’s gonna make them look for something that she herself lost for eons? She’s NOT gonna help them? Lol come on all she does is hang-out in the moon, eat and sleep, and don’t bullshit me with all those painful memories and shit, like hello? Can’t you at least give some consideration? The two are fuckin’ dying and all you do is give them the “lakompake attitude?” this episode is a one big joke. If I were Cassy, I would be like “Bitch seriously?” and stuff her mouth with a shit ton of pulot and drown her in the batis, that would be priceless.

Best performer/s for this episode: Glaiza de Castro 🔥 John Arcilla ☠️

Rating: 5 out of 10💎s  

Credits to: GMA network via YouTube and Dailymotion @GMAEncantadia (Encantadia’s Official Twitter account) @GMANetwork (GMA’s Official Twitter account) @GMADrama (GMA Primetime series’ Official Twitter account) Encantadia 2016 (Official Facebook page) www.encantadia.com.ph (Encantadia’s Official Website)

[iris-sistibly]

4R’s: Encantadia Season 2 (April 5, 2017 episode review)

Iris-message: I watched the premiere of Asia’s Next Top Model cycle 5, and I almost forgot about Enca 😂 sarreh!

Episode 188

Recap:

Allegiance

Pirena is known for being too proud, but at this point, she swallowed all of it and humbled herself before her own father in hopes that he will change his mind and take their side. Pirena revealed that Avria killed Mira, her daughter and Hagorn’s granddaughter, Ether was quick to explain that they have to be eliminated, otherwise she would have been used against Avria. Pirena stressed that Mira wasn’t a pawn, she is her daughter, and the sang’gre whom Hagorn wanted to make his heiress to the Hathorian throne, she asked him to make it up for his sins by taking their side, Pirena asked Danaya not to kill him for she was hoping that he will still change, Pirena needed him more than ever in this war. But whatever Ether’s offer was, Hagorn accepted it which disappointed Pirena the most, Hagorn warned Pirena to leave or he will not hesitate to hurt her. A broken-hearted Pirena returned to Lireo, but above all she was disappointed for even after all these years, Hagorn still hasn’t changed. In Pirena’s darkest moments, it was Azulan who became her shoulder to lean on.

Cassiopeia summoned all three gems to recognize her as their first keeper, Cassiopeia successfully won back the earth gem but failed to retrieve the air and spirit gems. Unfortunately these gems has already recognized Avria as it’s keeper which was the reason why Cassiopeia failed to get them back. She immediately went back to Lireo and called Danaya, the Lirean queen was relieved to finally be reunited with her earth gem, the monarchs immediately called for a meeting, Pirena was still angry at Cassiopeia and even threw a shade on her despite the help she gave to the diwatas. Cassiopeia shot back but still chose to make join forces with the diwatas, the only way to win this war is to have unity against their common enemies, Sapiro was ready to fight, so is Hathoria, the territory of Adamya was ready to help as well, and finally, Lireo has finally decided to join the war, they have three gems in their possession, they stood higher chance of winning this battle.

Memories

Amarro and Lila Sari made it to the batis ng katotohanan, through Amarro and the stream’s help, Lila Sari successfully regained her memories back, finally finding out the truth that Luna and Deshna are one and the same, and what did Ether do to her to turn her against the diwatas, upon knowing the truth, Lila Sari and Amarro immediately went searching for Deshna.

Back in Etheria, Avria knew the three kingdoms will declare a war against Etheria really soon, thus their camp must be prepared of whatever will happen. Avria found out that Lila Sari also went missing and suspected that Amarro must have taken her away, Avria came up with another plan and hoped that she will succeed.

Cassiopeia went to the room where the corpses of Lira and Mira lies, being a powerful diwata, Cassiopeia was able to break through the barrier and was able to obtain Lira’s hair strands which she will use to pave way for “Encantadia’s new light.” After Cassiopeia left, Pirena came and asked Imaw who really murdered Mira, Imaw warned that seeing everything that happened in the island will hurt Pirena deeply and asked to calm herself down, through the balintataw, Imaw gave Pirena a glimpse of how Mira died in the hands of Asval—the same man who murdered Mine-a, Pirena was enraged after finding out about this, and not even Imaw can calm her down.

Hitano never left Luna’s side and tried to convince her over and over again to return to Lireo with him. Luna was still mad at the diwatas for keeping the truth away from her, but Hitano reminded her that it was for her own good. Ether appeared and told Luna to come with her, Hitano tried to defend her but was knocked out by Ether, Luna tried to run away but was immediately caught by the goddess, Ether brought her to Hagorn, this was Ether’s offer to win Hagorn on their side—return Deshna back to him. Deshna still has her own doubts upon seeing Hagorn but after Ether gave her a glimpse of the past, she was able to prove that Hagorn is indeed her father.

Hitano hurriedly went back to Lireo where the monarchs were currently planning their battle strategies, he told them about Deshna being adbucted by Ether, Danaya volunteered to find her but Pirena stopped her and went ahead instead, after all, Deshna is her sister.

Cassiopeia was still blaming herself for the young sang’gres’ deaths and knew that Pirena’s anger will only worsen, her conversation with Imaw was cut short when a retre came and gestured to follow them, the butterfly led them to a place filled with many animals, and a man sitting in a rock, the two didn’t recognize who he was but after he told them what happened to him, Cassiopeia knew that it was Emre who is now powerless.

Rave/s:

💎 Ooh…looks like Cassandra is going to be born soon, I felt like Avria is going to use the hourglass and the portal to summon back Juvila and Odessa to the present time, if Cassy’s planning to create Cassandra in this timeline don’t you guys think it’s kind of inappropriate considering that they are in the middle of a war? Like they don’t have time to babysit unless they speed up Cassandra’s growth (which will be so overused). Anyhoo, I’m excited for baby Cassandra! Oh and yes, yes, the war of the gods!

❤ Cassy and Piry bitching each other is LIFE! No words can express how much I enjoyed that scene. And yes, I am definitely starting to buy the AzPiren team up, for some reason Marx and Glaiza’s team up really works although I still feel like Glai is doing all the hard work, at least Marx is working hard, unlike Arra. Pfft!

❤ I guess the real highlight for tonight’s episode is the Pirena and Hagorn scene, it seriously broke my heart, I kinda saw the anger and pain in Hagorn but he’s suppressing it, and gosh John is just lit af! I do have a feeling that he has other things in mind, fingers crossed that I am correct.

Rant/s:

😤 STOP PUSHING ALEBARRO/YBRALENA TOGETHER FOR GOODNESS SAKE! What was the whole point of Ybrahim professing his infinite love for Amihan when he’s going to marry someone else anyway? What was the use of Memfes? Scene-filler? It’s just not necessary okay? Alena said it herself that she doesn’t want him back, and her not moving on from her first love is just so ridiculous, I felt like she has matured a lot and she’s showing signs of “moving on” so why ruin her character development now? Ugh! I may seem paranoid at giving meaning to just about everything but, bitch STOP, JUST STOP. Besides, it’s time for Gabbi to prove herself that she CAN make a love team work with anyone!

🤔 Aren’t they going to use Adhara’s staff and Mine-a’s scepter in this war? Those are really powerful weapons they could defeat Etheria’s forces in a snap with three gems and two staffs.

Best performer/s for this episode: Glaiza de Castro 🔥 John Arcilla ☠

Rating: 9 out of 10💎s

Photo credits: From Twitter: @GMAEncantadia (Encantadia 2016-2017 official twitter acct) @gmanetwork (GMA Network); official website: gmanetwork.com @GMADrama (GMA Drama)

From Facebook: Encantadia 2016; official website: encantadia.com.ph

Video credits: GMA Network via YouTube & dailymotion

[iris-sistibly]

4R’s: Encantadia Season 2 (April 24, 2017 episode review)

Episode 199

Recap:

Herans vs Sang’gres

The sisters met the Herans just outside Lireo. To prevent a bloody battle between New Etheria and Hathoria against Lireo, Sapiro, and Hathoria under Pirena’s rule, the Herans challenged the sang’gres on a three on three battle, and one rule: the sang’gres were not allowed to use their gems, Danaya accepted the challenge. Alena and Odessa came in first, Alena was defeated, then Pirena and Andora but Mine-a’s eldest effortlessly defeated Andora in battle, Hara Danaya fought Juvila but was defeated, despite the Herans gaining the upper hand, the sisters refused to be defeated, thus they worked together and brought down the Herans. Hagorn and Asval were watching them from afar to see if anything’s changed in how the sang’gres fight after many years, but Hagorn found out that they were still the same—they are still too proud like their mother, Mine-a. Hagorn showed up and blasted energy against the sisters using the air and spirit gems, Hagorn warned them to prepare for another battle against his troop and left. Pirena knew Hagorn wouldn’t just march with his troop in Lireo just like that without having any intentions, thus they consulted Imaw’s cane to find out about Hagorn’s new camp but the staff showed none, Hitano suspected that they casted a protective spell to wherever they were hiding to prevent the sang’gres from locating them.

Butterflies in her stomach

Pirena found Azulan drinking in her room and asked what he was doing there. Azulan figured she needed a drink and handed her a glass of liquor, Azulan expressed her admiration towards Pirena, smart, cunning, brave, and a hard-core drinker, and despite her not being the ideal Punjabwe-a Azulan has always dreamed of, he can’t help himself but fall for her. Azulan and Pirena shared a kiss and the former told the queen how much he wanted her to be his, something which Pirena could not believe, but it wasn’t the time for Pirena to think of herself, for she still has so many things that she wanted to do, and until then, Azulan has to wait until Pirena’s ready to be his.

Only hope

Emre and Cassiopeia had no more time to travel the world to look for Haliyah’s weapon, thus Emre summoned a pashnea friend and asked to look for the de-jar instead. While they wait, Cassiopeia tended Emre and herself and prepared an herbal drink in hopes to slow down Ether’s poison. Emre expressed how grateful he was to Cassiopeia for doing so many things for Encantadia, until now, Emre admits he still feels guilty for the fall of Devas. Cassiopeia reminded him that they all make mistake and it’s up to them to correct it. Now, all they could hope is that the sang’gres will be strong and wise enough to protect themselves while they still haven’t made it to Devas.

Memoirs of the great queen

Pao Pao overheard the conversation of the monarchs and told his friends about it, apparently Muyak and Ariana were talking about something else. Ariana was still frustrated at how Azulan and Manik still force her to marry the latter, Pao Pao advised Ariana to stand firm on her decision, after all she’s old enough to be responsible with her own life, but unlike the mortal world, Encantadia—let alone the Punjabwe tribe have very different way of living, and whether they like it or not, they must abide to their rules at any cost. Muyak accidentally blurted about Ariana harboring feelings for someone else, someone whom Pao Pao knew very well—Rama Ybrahim. Ariana pleaded her friends not to tell anyone about it which Pao Pao and Muyak promised, what they didn’t know was, Manik overheard their conversation and became jealous. He immediately went to Azulan and told him that they should return to their home that very day, for fear of Ariana falling deeply in-love with Ybrahim. Azulan refused to leave and assured him that he will not approve of this, and another reason why he doesn’t want to leave yet was because of Hara Pirena, not until she choose to go with him.

Ariana passed by the armory and saw Amihan’s sword, out of curiosity, she went in to check it out, a memory triggered in her mind and had a vision of the late Hara Amihan’s past—how her father was killed and how her father’s sword became her weapon and used it for many, many years, from the time she learned how to fight until she became queen of Lireo. Ariana was surprised and puzzled as to why she suddenly caught a glimpse of Amihan’s life, Ybrahim saw Ariana holding Amihan’s sword and asked her what she was doing, Ariana asked how this sword fell in the hands of Amihan which Ybrahim narrated that the sword was originally owned by Amihan’s father, Raquim. When he died in the hands of Hagorn, Amihan never let the sword go despite of Mine-a’s disapproval. Ariana was surprised that everything Ybrahim said was exactly the same as her vision and asked Ybrahim why Amihan is making Ariana see her memories, Punjabwe is located in the one of the most secluded place in Encantadia and any news about Lireo rarely reaches the tribe and Ariana swore she never knew her. Ybrahim ended the conversation and asked Ariana to return the sword and leave, Ybrahim was becoming more and more confused as to what Amihan was trying to tell Ariana or tell him.

Ybrahim vs Juvila

The Herans and Asval went back to Lireo and confirmed that the sang’gres indeed strengthened the barrier in the palace, but it wasn’t a problem to the Herans. Juvila has the ability to speed up or slow down time (which presumably also slowed down Lireo’s protective spell if you ask me), the very reason why she was able to get through the barrier and inside the palace. Ybrahim sensed that there was an intruder in the palace, he was correct, Juvila appeared and the two engaged in a brawl. Being a Heran of Hera Volo, Juvila is known to be Etheria’s most skilled warrior (reference: original Etheria, duh). Ybrahim was in danger, and Manik who saw the whole ordeal watched in delight.

Rave/s:

❤ YOWN! Pirena is blooming af, hindi ako sanay mga bes Hahahaha! My heart has been broken for so long after the death of the YbraMihan love story, and the forever bitin love story of DanQuil. I hope AzPiren do not go on the same route, although I do wish that they have told the AzPiren’s love story from Azulan’s point of view just to challenge Marx and try to bring out the best in him.

🌷 In fairness, hindi na nagbabasa ng script si tuod (sarkosi), nag me-memorize na siya, hahahahahaha! Although most of that tension came from Ru, I guess the improvement I see in Arra is that she doesn’t sound like oral reading anymore, and is starting to deliver her lines in an almost natural way (because it’s not up there yet), and her face is starting to show some bits and pieces of different emotions, at least her face is not that blank anymore, at least she doesn’t look like a tuod in this episode…well not that much, acting still needs more improvement, she needs to connect more with both Amihan and Ariana’s characters, I don’t know if she’s really studying her character and watching her previous performances but if she does, she have to keep doing it, because her performance is still inconsistent like this story, I still hate how this story is going and I just hope everything will be better when Marian returns to the show, because Mine-a is the only one who can save this show from epic failure.

Rant/s:

😂 I’m sorry but Jinri is too cute to be a villain I can’t take her seriously. That wrestling scene with Ru made me laugh so hard that shit was an epic fail, sorry Rama but Jinri just ruined it.

🙄I am guessing Marian’s return will be next week. Oh well.

QUESTION: Do you all honestly think that there’s gonna be an Ybrahim-Juvila affair instead of Ybrahim-Odessa? Just asking, although Juvila’s bebe love is Animus, do you think they are going to make his character cease to exist, considering that Juvila is Amihan’s counterpart in the original saga?

Best performer/s for this episode: Glaiza de Castro 🔥

Rating: 8 out of 10💎s  

Credits to: GMA network via YouTube and Dailymotion @GMAEncantadia (Encantadia’s Official Twitter account) @GMANetwork (GMA’s Official Twitter account) @GMADrama (GMA Primetime series’ Official Twitter account) Encantadia 2016 (Official Facebook page) www.encantadia.com.ph (Encantadia’s Official Website)