#i'm also insane about the fact that they used BATB as a visual + thematic reference for Esteban's sacrifice and resurrection scene

[notmoreflippingelves]

What she says: I'm fine.

What she means: I just don't understand how the showrunners of EoA expected me, an English major, to cope with their explicitly and visually coding Elena and Esteban as narrative foils and two sides of the same coin throughout S3. And they weren't even remotely subtle about intertwining their characters, destinies, and relationship with each other.

They were just like "what if we gave Esteban and Elena the exact same unique, transformative experience (i.e. falling in the crystal well and absorbing its magic) but ONLY them.? Then maybe, we explicitly seal up Takaina so that no one else can ever have that same experience again?"

And then if that wasn't blatant enough, they each get magical powers that are specifically tailored to their most notable character flaws (Esteban's running away from his responsibilities vs. Elena's emotional intensity and volatility). And if that still was a little too subtle, they also get matching sparkly outfits as souvenirs from their trip down the magic well. So that in every scene they have together (with the exception of the Coronation scene) from then on visually links the two of them together.

Like all of that is just barely scratching the surface of the thematic ramifications of this. Because at the end of the day, Esteban and Elena each metaphorically (if accidentally) gave the other their corresponding powers.

Esteban canonically gets his teleportation because Elena's new anger powers literally lift him up and throw him down the crystal well.

Similarly, Esteban is (albeit much more indirectly) somewhat responsible for Elena's magic as well. It's somewhat implied that the reason Elena is able to use the Scepter of Light in the first place (when presumably her parents and ancestors could not) is because of the Maruvian magic that she absorbed from her years in the Amulet. Crucially, a very real part of the reason that she was even in said amulet in the first place is due to Esteban's decision to smuggle Shuriki into Avalor. His (admittedly terrible) choice led to Elena's ability to use her greatest weapon and that very weapon (via spying on Ash with "Farsight") is what eventually leads Elena to Takaina where she gets her additional emotion powers.

That's canon, baby. Esteban's actions in the past indirectly give Elena her magic. Elena's direct (if accidental) actions in the present give Esteban his.

All of this alone is already more than enough to make me absolutely feral, but they just have to up the ante even more in the series finale. Esteban uses his teleportation powers to take the magical bullet for Elena; Elena uses her own emotion magic to bring him back to life after his sacrifice. They use their powers--the same powers that they technically gave to each other in the first place--to save each other.

And then, if all that isn't enough, they proceed to use each other's powers together in order to defeat the enemy. First, Esteban is able to break Cahu's hourglass by using Elena's scepter, and then the two of them are able to send Cahu back to the Spirit World through the combined power of the scepter and staff. They've converged into one tight, solid, united force for Good that is powerful beyond imagining.

And I am deeply insane about all of it.