#ixlan

Of course 😌

Okay, this is an old new idea of mine. My irl friend and I watched EoA together some time ago, and she complained a lot about how Gabe’s story was handled in season 3, which resulted in our conversation about how the Lightning Warrior could have been improved if Gabe had been the Lightning Warrior, not Ixlan. It reminded me that it was literally my predication of how that episode would go when several episode titles dropped back in 2020.

Here I’ll tell you how I imagine this episode would have gone if it had been focused on Gabe and why I think it would have made lots of sense for Gabe’s story, especially in season 3.

So, in this version of the Lighting Warrior Ixlan is not even alive. Inside the temple, there is no living Maruvian warrior there, there are only her gloves that either Maruvians or Quita Moz hid long ago to keep them safe from the attack of the Shadows of the Night. Gabe joins Elena, Naomi, Victor, and Carla on the way to the island because it’s not safe to leave Elena and Naomi alone, besides he needs to practice his magic skills and finally prove he was the right pick for Captain. When they finally get the gloves, Gabe is the one who gets to use them.

My reasoning behind Gabe getting Ixlan’s gloves is fueled by both my not total satisfaction with season 3 and also by my speculations on how Gabe’s story could have been handled differently because personally, I love Gabe’s story in season 3 a lot.

I understand why Ixlan is an important character within the show universe. She’s one of the two human characters of Maruvian origin, and there could have been endless possibilities of utilizing her. But in reality, Ixlan is useless. If you remove her from the show, nothing changes (she appears only like thrice, I believe?). Frankly, she’s useless not only as a character but also as Elena’s ally because she’s powerless without her gloves. Her gloves are a lot more important than she is. So, this is why I think nothing would have changed if they kept the gloves as only a powerful weapon and gave it to some other character.

Why do I think Gabe is the perfect character to get Ixlan’s gloves? It’s simple. Gabe’s entire arc in season 3 is about his relationship with magic and how the lack of his magical abilities affects his contribution to the defense of his kingdom and his self-perception in general.

In Coronation Day, Gabe doesn’t use a tamborita. He’s still devoted to his guard self and he’s not ready to give up on his skills in favour of a tamborita which is exclusively a wizard’s weapon. But he doesn’t mind Mateo enchanting his sword. Gabe’s approach to introducing magic into the royal guard system is not to replace standard swords with tamboritas, his approach is to combine standard swords with magic.

The Lightning Warrior could have served as a transition point between Crash Course (Gabe using a tamborita) and Coronation Day (Gabe using his sword and being useless in magic battles again). He could have realized that he didn’t need a tamborita to prove his worth as Captain. But he needed to upgrade his arsenal that would also expand his capabilities.

Ixlan’s gloves are magical. But you also need endurance, speed, and physical strength to use them effectively. This is exactly what Gabe needed. A magical weapon that would complement his strengths and skills, not erase them.

Besides, Gabe desperately needed a visual upgrade. He’s literally the only character who looks exactly the same in the final shot of the whole show in comparison to the final shot of the intro. They even took his second belt away from him.

Anyway, it is not necessary to remove Ixlan to give Gabe her gloves. She could at least tell him how her gloves work and even let him use them. But their dynamic has potential given that they’re both warriors. Ixlan was a warrior during the Maruvian times, and Gabe is a modern day royal guard (for this reason I’m also forever sad Gabe doesn’t appear in Luna’s Big Leap but as always, this is a topic to another essay). I’m sure they would have a lot to talk about. It can easily be one of the aspects to explore in Gabe’s post-canon story.

The Voices of Stephanie Beatriz.

Here's The Characters of Her Voices Below:

1. Mirabel (Encanto)

2. Ixlan (Elena of Avalor)

Thank you so much! I'm so glad you enjoyed my story! 🤩 I do have some headcanons about how they met and how their relationship grew, here they are (I use they/them pronouns for Ixlan here):

The first time that Antonia saw Ixlan was during that scene in “The Lightning Warrior” episode when Victor and Carla apologize to Elena. (We can see briefly that the guard that led them in was Antonia, so logically that was the first time she saw Ixlan.) When most of them leave to go talk to Quita Moz, Antonia begins to ask the Delgados about Ixlan. (“What is Ixlan like? How strong are they? How are they so amazingly good looking?”). The two tell her what they can, but suggest she go and introduce herself and get to know them personally. Antonia is too nervous to do it that day.

She doesn't get to formally meet them until a guard training session a few days later, when Ixlan came by to see how strong the guards were. They are not very impressed by the guards drills, and decide it would be best to test a guard’s strength in one-on-one combat.

Everyone is intimidated by Ixlan’s strength and personality, but Antonia accepts the challenge. Ixlan is impressed by her tenacity and fights her fists vs sword.

The fight goes on for longer than expected, Antonia is able to hold her own with the sword and make clever quips during the fight. Eventually, though, Ixlan is able to disarm her, but is quite happy to have found a worthy opponent (Plus some of those quips were quite…intriguing to the Lightning Warrior, they definitely wanted to get to know Antonia better now).

They start having regular meetings whenever Antonia is not on guard duty. They do things like talking a bit about their cultures, sparring, and having witty banter with each other, enjoying spending time together

Antonia began to see the depths of emotion and wit within the Lightning Warrior. They weren't just good looking, they had a noble heart, and strength of will. Antonia's feelings grew much deeper than just a crush.

Occasionally Ixlan spoke about their past to Antonia. Previously they were able to work out some of their feelings of grief and regret with Quita Moz, but having Antonia leaning beside them listening to everything warmed Ixlan’s heart. She said such comforting things and even in the times where they were bott quiet it felt reassuring. Ixlan hadn't felt that in a long time. That's when Ixlan began to consider asking Antonia if they'd like to be their girlfriend.

But in the end it's Antonia who decides to finally ask Ixlan if they could maybe start dating each other. They respond:

“Isn't that what we were already doing?” “No, I mean like not just friendship dates, but romantic dates.” “Oh yes, I was going to ask you that myself.” Antonia laughed, “Well, it looks like I've just stolen your thunder.” Ixlan smiled.

I feel like most mythologies are going to have some concept of a demigod - some cursory research on Mesoamerican demigods turns up the legend of the Hero Twins, at the very least.

That said, there's nothing really in the text of the show to suggest Ixlan is a demigod, besides, perhaps, their longevity, but like... *gestures to Elena*, *gestures to all the akatok victims*. Magical imprisonment keeping people in temporal stasis is a pretty established thing in this show, so Ixlan could very well just be a case of that. They are very athletic, honestly beyond the point of human reason (that insane flip they do when they're first released as an example), but like........ *gestures to El Guapo piloting Gabe's body*, *gestures to Gabe effortlessly lifting a crate over his head in Party of a Lifetime*, *gestures to the entire fight sequence from the start of TMW*. It is, ultimately, a cartoon. Most of their beyond-cartoon-physics-inhuman-skill (i.e. their super speed, punching stone into dust) comes from their gloves, specifically, which they presumably got as part of their training with Quita Moz.

Ok here I go

Antonia is Ixlan’s second wife, their first wife was Amalay

Growing up Antonia favorite book was The Tale of the Lighting Warrior

Antonia is terrible at flirting with Ixlan, plus Ixlan didn’t get it

The other guards tried and get those together

It worked

For their wedding they had a small traditional Maruvian ceremony

A few years into their marriage a set of twins were found abandoned on the side of a mountain. The Bellos took temporary placement of the twins

After no bio parents were found Ixlan and Antonia adopted the twins

The older one a girl was named Amalay Eva Bello, Amalay after Ixlan’s first wife and Eva in honor of Antonia best friend Eva (who’s also Rico’s wife). The boy was named Rodrigo ‘Rigo’ Cadmael Bello. Rodrigo after Antonia’s father and Cadmael after Ixlan’s mentor and grandfather.

Amalay takes after Ixlan, she’s no nonsense and can beat you up, Rigo is the artistry one. Much more chill than his twin

Ixlan and Antonia raise their kids without gender roles. They try and not use terms like brother, sister, daughter, son etc. they use terms like sibling, twin, older one, younger one

The Bello twins are a lot to handle. Especially Amalay.

When the twins are with a babysitter (either Antonia’s mother or Reyes Del Rio) Antonia and Ixlan enjoy going on hikes, horse back riding and other outdoor activities

When my friends and I stick together, there is nothing we can't do And when I say that, I specifically mean, we're gonna stage a coup With the power of our gossip giggles, we'll storm the Pentagon Then celebrate with bottomless mimosas on the White House lawn

We're gonna braid each other's hair, then cut each other's braids Connect the braids to build a rope To hang all of congress Squad goals, stay together forever Squad goals, take control of the banks Squad goals, don't let a man come between us If he does, shoot him in the head

Ohhhhhhhh Friendtopia, a dystopia around our friendship Friendtopia, our manifesto is fun, zig-a-zow

Now that we have total control, get ready for what's in store Our reign will be like Sweet Valley High meets 1984 When one of us gets dumped, that becomes Memorial Day All agriculture will be diverted into making us rosé There's a really exclusive sushi place that never lets us in So when we don't get in, we say, "Let's just go home, and drink rosé"