#phytos ramirez

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

Ang Limang Bagong Tagapangalaga at Tagapagligtas ng Encantadia (The Five New Guardians and Saviours of Encantadia)

4R’s: Encantadia Season 2 (March 10, 2017 week-ender episode review)

Episode 170

Recap:

The Peace Talks

Ybrahim, Pirena and Muros went to Etheria to finally talk to Hara Avria. They told the Etherian queen that the three kingdoms will acknowledge her as a ruler but in return she will stop terrorizing and capturing encantados and will also respect the three neighboring kingdoms, and it’s rules to maintain peace and order in Encantadia. Being monarchs, they are trying to prevent war as much as possible but if Avria does not agree to this, the three kingdoms will be forced to declare a war against Etheria. The talk between Pirena and Avria almost led into a war between the four kingdoms if it weren’t for Ybrahim’s intervention, again, he reminded his co-leaders that they are preventing war as much as possible, Avria told them to give them time to think.

The many questions of Luna

Still bothered with who she really was, Luna went to Danaya and Imaw and asked if they could use the latter’s cane to find out about her true identity. Luna was fully aware that she isn’t a nymfa like Gilas and wanted to know the truth. Danaya revealed that she is a diwata with a Hathorian blood which explains the reason why the Fire gem chose her to be it’s new keeper. Aside from Luna’s true heritage, Danaya refused to reveal more, especially who her parents were but promised to tell her everything when the right time comes. Ybrahim, Pirena and Muros went back to Lireo and told her how the meeting with Avria concluded. Upon learning about what Avria said, Danaya took this as a sign that the Etherian queen might agree thus another bloody war would be prevented, Pirena warned them not to be too confident about it, for they can never be really sure what’s going through Avria’s mind.

Threat to the new guardians

Rehav Manik was able to pass through the barriers and was brought to Hara Danaya. The queen called for Azulan and Ariana and asked if they really know the Punjabwe, the siblings confirmed that they know the encantado and introduced Manik as the prince of the Punjabwe tribe. Azulan and Ariana were relieved that Manik was able to escape from Etheria’s clutches, truth was Avria brought back Manik’s memories to effectively convince the diwatas but assured that his loyalty will remain with Etheria. Manik was surprised to find out that Ariana is one of the chosen keepers of the gem and asked if he could meet the four others. Still oblivious, Ariana took him to their training site and formally introduced Manik to her new friends, to their surprise, Manik suddenly stabbed Mira from behind and began attacking the others. Lira would have knocked out Manik using her power but Ariana stopped her and attempted to talk to Manik instead, but he didn’t listen and Ariana ended up being a hostage instead, the elders came just in time to witness the commotion, Manik stabbed Ariana and Lira almost ended up like Ariana if she didn’t went ivictus to save herself. The elders tried to stop Manik but was able to escape, Danaya immediately healed the injured, Azulan came in and got yelled by Pirena for letting a vidalje in.

Pirena and Azulan got into a heated argument because of the incident earlier. Azulan admitted he didn’t know that Manik has turned to the enemy’s side, still it wasn’t enough to calm Pirena down, Azulan threatened to kiss Pirena after the latter slapped him. Ybrahim and Imaw came, after the attack the three sensed that Avria isn’t going to make peace with them.

Avria’s plan

Avria wasn’t really going to give in, truth was, she was going to pretend to make amends with the diwatas, and to really convince the other side, Avria ordered Amarro and the other Mashnas to stop terrorizing Encantadia for now. Avria also knew that Andora summoned pashneas to attack Lireo but pretended to have no idea when Amarro told her, it was a good opportunity for Avria to carry out her plans.

Rave/s:

💜 Hahahahaha! Love how Wahid gets all jealous with Pao Pao and Lira’s closeness 😂 but seriously I prefer Lira and Pao to maintain the sibling relationship they had back then, but still I would want Wahid to think that there is something going on between LirPao, that would be cute and funny as well. I wonder how Daddy Ybrahim will react at how these boys seem to be “getting really close” with his daughter?

❤ And ayan na nga, luma-love life na si mareng Piry! Ayiiiie! Okay, in all fairness to Marx I love how he maintained his rude boy aura but I wish he added a little bit of playfulness when he did that scene with Glaiza (that scene when he threatened to kiss Pirena) to really bring out that “kilig” vibe, and of course, he has to work on his facial expressions, the way he delivered those lines was okay BUT, his face is still kinda blank so that’s a minus point for execution, but still all in all, I like that scene.

💎 The episode for tonight is intense af, that interaction between Ms Eula’s Avria and Glaiza’s Pirena is literally to die for! There was so much tension in that scene even though there was no lethal battle going on between the two, the way they delivered those lines seemed like they were having a duel…of who’s the better actress, acting showdown at it’s finest! Hands down to these two award-winning actresses! 👏 Also, I would like to give a shoutout to Joross for being such a versatile actor, he can do drama, he can do comedy, and it’s actually my first time seeing him portray a villain in a show and damn dude, he nailed it!  

Rant/s:

😪 I was team replay last night and I was literally expecting so much from Arra. I was hoping that when Mira got stabbed by Manik, Ariana will feel some sort of worry and protectiveness towards Mira and when Manik started to wreck havoc, Ariana will “accidentally channel” her inner Amihan and fight Manik, but NNNOOOO what the hell?! She ended up being a hostage and what’s really masaklap is that Arra doesn’t look like a hostage at all. Remember when I ranted so much about Gabbi’s performance way back in book 1? It’s the same feeling bessies, there’s just too much acting that Arra is making it so obvious that she’s just acting (know what I mean?), I wasn’t worried or scared for her and when she got stabbed I was like, “Um…okay, so now what?” and I swear if it weren’t for Joross and the rest of the cast, this scene would have been so, SO CRINGEWORTHY AF! I was more worried for Mira and Lira who almost got slashed.

😪 BUT WHAT REALLY DISAPPOINTED ME THE MOST IS THAT EFFIN’ YBRIANA SCENE! Wtf! Like girl, I know you’re still on the stage wherein you’re starting to rediscover yourself but chemistry…CHE-MIS-TRY! Where is the CHEMISTRY?! I saw that spark when Ruru and Arra’s characters met for the first time, where the heck is it now?! I was crossing my fingers and praying to all three gods of Encantadia that Arra will connect to Ruru but got really disappointed because still, Ruru is the only one who brought that scene, it seems like he’s the only one who’s making efforts to make this whole Ybriana team up work, and I have read how most fans in the Enca-verse are buying the Pao Pao-Lira-Wahid love triangle than the Ybriana team up (and please do not make me talk about AleBarro, no one’s interested in that anymore except maybe for a few GabRu loyalists). The way how Ybrahim looked at Ariana with concern was so on point, but the problem here is Arra, her face was so…I-don’t-know-how-to-explain that face. But to be fair naman, Kylie and Ruru didn’t really have that much chemistry until the fall of Lireo arc, so sige, a new week, new set of episodes, new set of chances (but seriously this is getting really, really frustrating week after week!)

🤔 Wait, so Lireo’s security isn’t as strong as we think after all. Granted, the Lirean guards must have let Manik in, but still, didn’t Pirena casted an incantation to prevent those who have bad intentions to enter the kingdom? Can’t the gems sense that Manik was only faking it? Hm…guess the gems aren’t as reliable after all.

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

Rating: 8 out of 10💎s

Week-ender thoughts: All in all, this is still an exciting week. Lots of ups and downs in this set of episodes but I enjoyed the roller coaster ride, I have a feeling that Avria’s strategy of defeating the three kingdoms is the same strategy Pirena used to deceive Amihan, and Emre pleeeaaaase! I hope the sang’gres wouldn’t fall for the same trap again (but I wouldn’t be surprised if they do). Also looking forward to Muyak being the sixth guardian, some people are speculating that she’s going to be the spirit guide of the air gem or something like that, but we’ll see.

Overall best performer for this week: Glaiza de Castro 🔥

Overall rating: 8 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

4R’s: Encantadia Season 2 (March 7, 2017 episode review)

Episode 167

Recap:

Mother and daughters

The Haras (Queens) and Sang’gre Alena went back to Lireo, Imaw was glad that the monarchs are starting to realize the need of having new gem keepers. However, Pirena was still dismayed that the gems haven’t chosen Lira and Mira yet, Imaw told them once again, that only the gems and Cassiopeia can give the answers if the princesses are indeed worthy to be the gems’ guardians.

Lira and Mira were getting more and more worried, the girls realized their mistake, Imaw must be right, their arrogance must be the reason why the gems haven’t chosen them yet, and pulling that trick on Ariana is definitely not something to be praised. Lira and Mira decided to apologize to Ariana, the latter was glad at how the young sang’gres humbled themselves and asked for forgiveness, something which Ariana wholeheartedly gave to both Lira and Mira, and if it wasn’t enough, Ariana also gave the sang’gres warm hugs. What’s strange was that, Lira and Mira both remembered Amihan in Ariana, the girls concluded that it must be because Amihan’s air gem chose her to be it’s new keeper.

The Lonely King

Imaw was relieved that Lira and Mira finally apologized to Ariana and assured the latter that the sang’gres are kind and will eventually get along with them. Ariana expressed her desire to be friends with the sang’gres especially Lira, Ariana revealed that she is indeed very fond of her. In the middle of their conversation, Pao Pao came, now dressed like a true Encantadian and was introduced to Ariana, the latter was glad to meet her fellow guardian and was amazed at how mortals looked no different from encantados but wondered why Lira and Mira aren’t one of them (new gem keepers). Rama (King) Ybrahim came and answered Ariana’s question, unfortunately, the gems haven’t chosen his daughter yet. It was only then Ariana found out that Sang’gre Lira is the daughter of Rama Ybrahim with the late Hara Amihan. The Sapirian king bid farewell to Imaw and Pao Pao and headed back to Sapiro. Ariana realized the reason for the sadness in Ybrahim’s face when she first saw him, Imaw affirmed that Amihan is indeed Ybrahim’s greatest love and he’s still mourning for her until now, but it wasn’t just him, everyone is still grieving for their beloved queen.

The Second Attempt

Lira and Mira knew they had to do something to prove themselves worthy for the gems. And to do that, there was one mission they had to accomplish—defeat Avria. Mira was hesitant at first for they almost died and were figuratively grilled by Pirena when they first went there, but Lira believed that they had to do this again for it is the only way for them to become heroes and worthy in the eyes of Cassiopeia, the elders and even the gems, Lira also reminded her of Pirena allowing them to do something “heroic” so that the remaining gems will choose them. In the end, Lira and Mira took the risk and went to Etheria. The girls accidentally bumped into Aquil just outside the Etherian palace, the former Mashna urged them to go back to Lireo but the sang’gres were adamant, they were getting tired of being told what to do and wanted to prove that they too can be of help, Aquil understood what Mira and Lira were trying to tell him but still couldn’t allow them to do such thing for Aquil knew how important they are to their parents and Hara Danaya. Their conversation was interrupted when Lila Sari came with a group of barbaros who became hostages after Lila Sari and her troop attacked Ascano. This paved way for Lira and Mira to find out what their enemies has been up to and sneaked in the Etherian palace. Aquil grumbled at how stubborn the youngsters were just like Danaya.

There, the sang’gres witnessed how Avria used her power to make their captives follow her and turn them against the diwatas. Unfortunately, Avria sensed their presence and ordered the barbaros to capture them. Lira and Mira fought side by side, Aquil came and aided them in battle and were able to escape because of the sang’gres’ ability to go ivictus (disappear/teleport).

Pointless efforts

Wahid was the only one who was able to escape from the attack, he immediately went to Lireo and informed Danaya and the sang’gres who were having a meeting with the new gem keepers about how Lila Sari and her troop attacked their tribe, something which Hitano could not believe. Not long after, Lira and Mira came and told the elders about their discovery—how Avria is turning their allies to her side, she used an ancient spell to wipe off the captives’ memories and through a powerful incantation, she was able to control their minds thus turning them into “new Etherians,” Pirena commended the two for doing such a great job and even expressed how deserving they were to be new gem keepers. Danaya acknowledged their efforts as well. Imaw came and informed them that the symbols were restless, that only means that one of the gem keepers is in danger, Pirena and Danaya immediately went on their way to find this other guardian with Imaw. The fact that there is already a third keeper only disappointed Lira and Mira and were even harsh towards Ariana when the latter tried to talk to them once again.

The third guardian

Luna, her sister and Gilas went to Hathoria in search for answers as to who attacked their tribe. According to their nanangs (mothers), the Hathors are Encantadia’s biggest enemy, but that was before, back when the late Rama Hagorn was terrorizing Encantadia, but eversince Hara Pirena took over the throne, Hathoria became an ally to the diwatas once again. Luna’s sister asserted what the Hathors told them, they are not the ones who attacked the nymfas. The Hathorian guards told them to go to Lireo instead to find the answers they were looking for, according to their Hara, Encantadia has new enemies and they must have been whom Luna has been searching.

The trio almost made it to Lireo when they came across Andora and her troop, Andora has the ability to read minds and knew Luna was looking for Lila Sari—her mother’s murderer. Andora however will never betray her own ally, this promted Luna and Gilas to fight her and her troop. Andora is much powerful compared to the younger and less experienced Luna and Gilas, thankfully, Pirena and Danaya came with Imaw just in time and challenged Andora to fight them instead.

Rave/s:

💗💜 Yay! Lira and Mira in all fairness, I was happy at what you have achieved in this episode, you guys are learning from your past mistakes and are now thinking before doing anything…sorry for the term…stupid. But one thing you both need to learn is how to be mature and understand what being a gem keeper is all about.

❤🌿 Yiiieee! AzPiren is making me smile, I like that Marx redeemed himself from the last episode, I like the attitude, the rudeness, the angas, I was like yes dude gimme more of that, MORE. He kept up with Glaiza’s acting prowess and I gotta say he did a pretty good job tonight. Keep improving bruh! Oh, and all praises to stage momma Pirena, the way she annoyed Azulan was so childish yet funny.

💙💪 That, “Si Amihan ang pinakamamahal ni Ybrahim,” quote by Imaw, my ghaaad! I’m never getting over YbraMihan, so much feels rn, and it’s so freakin’ heartbreaking! I need to binge watch all of the YbraMihan and YbraLiraMihan scenes again. 😭

🌷 Hm…I can’t really say that Arra pulled off Amihan’s motherly instincts in Ariana since for me I think it was the Amihan flashbacks that brought that scene together, but I did feel some sort of warmth that cannot be explained in Ariana when she hugged Lira which is exactly more appropriate for that scene (the girl is still confused okay?), but for me, this scene would have been more heartfelt if Arra let her maternal instinct show to make that Ariana/Amihan-Lira-Mira connection more effective. And although Ariana must be around Lira and Mira’s age in this timeline, I still want to see that motherly feels whenever Ariana is with Lira. But all in all, not bad performance-wise.

⚒ Wahid’s clean cut though 😍 looking cute af

Rant/s: No rants so far.

Best performer/s for this episode: Mikee Quintos ⚡ Kate Valdez 💥

Rating: 8 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