Why Gabelena and Eleteo could never work
In this post, I am going to list all of my arguments as to why Eleteo (Elena x Mateo) and Gabelena (Gabe x Elena) would never work. Now, I understand that these are the two most popular Elena ships in the fandom, so if you are heavily invested in either of these ships, then I'm warning you now: this post is probably not for you.
Due to their positions as General of the Royal Guard and Royal Master Wizard, I do not believe that Gabe or Mateo are viable candidates to be a potential partner for Elena. The reason that these two pairings are so popular is because of the the numerous depictions of Elena's friendships with both boys throughout the show, and while I understand why that would make Eleteo and Gabelena appealing, if you think of the reality of what a relationship with Elena would mean things get more...complicated.
It's one thing to be friends with the Queen, it is another thing to be her partner. By marrying Elena, they wouldn't just be committing to a partner, they would become her consort, meaning that they would be tasked with entirely new obligations and duties to the crown aside from the ones they currently have. And yes, Iv'e seen all the artwork of Mateo in fancy robes that fuse aspects of both royalty and his status as Royal Wizard (I have no doubt that there is similar fanart of Gabe out there as well), but I'm sorry to say, that isn't how things work in reality. For either Gabe or Mateo to be Elena's consort while remaining Royal Master Wizard or General would be an insane amount of responsibility for any one person to handle, as well as a conflict of interest. In other words, the only way for Gabelena or Eleteo to work would be for Gabe or Mateo to give up their current positions in the kingdom.
Given everything that we know about Mateo and Gabe, combined with their characters arcs in the show, would this be fair to either of them? To have them give up their passions, the careers that we saw them work so hard for, just for shipping purposes? When two people decide to commit to one another in a relationship, what determines compatibility is more then just the emotional connection, it's whether your dreams, careers, and life goals are compatible with one another. And this goes double when the person in question is the Queen.
