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Hello there. This is SofiaBlythe2014. So, when it comes to Elena Of Avalor, there are many characters who help make the show great. One of them is Elena's younger sister Isabel. Ever since the start, she's established to be an adorable and bright young mind. She's still that by the end, yet she's also developed immensely as a character in becoming more fearless and confident. This article will be dedicated to showing how far Isabel developed as a character over the course of 3 seasons. I won't cover all her appearances. I'll just cover what I think stands out. Let's begin.

Season 1:

Season 1, as an establishing season, helps establish her core characteristics, mainly in how she's smart, well meaning yet insensitive, and socially awkward.

First Day Of Rule: So, let's talk about her appearance in the first episode to air, "First Day Of Rule". When Elena thinks that she'll be queen later that day, she gives Isabel a journal for her thoughts and inventions. It's a pretty good establishment of how much they care for each other. Later, when Elena is busy with royal duties and asks Gabe to look after Isabel, the latter two get captured by Noblins. In order to alert Elena that they were captured without raising suspicion, she rips out some pages from her journal and throws them in the ocean so that she can find them. This is definitely Elena's story, but Isabel still plays a vital role in helping her out, while showing how she can defend herself even if she tends to act more on mind and less on action.

Model Sister: Now we have an episode that focuses on Elena's bond with Isabel. Elena is preparing for an important meeting with King Toshi from Satu where, if it's successful, it could mean good trading between both kingdoms. However, she also promised Isabel that she would be her assistant for an upcoming inventory fair. As such, she tries switching back and forth. This episode shows Isabel acting more in her own interests, but still keeps her likable. She's very insistent on making sure Elena helps out with her invention, befitting how she tends to follow her brain. It's shown that Elena makes the promise to Isabel of her own accord before she finds out about the meeting being changed to later in the day, with Isabel not minding that. Even when the meeting is revealed to be later in the day, she's initially frustrated, but doesn't act too much on it, not acting forceful. When Elena reveals she has some time before the meeting, Isabel is thrilled and even makes her a necklace from spare parts. This helps to show that Isabel at least shows enough consideration for others when they're willing to be considerate. When Isabel eventually finds out about the ruse, she is understandably upset. Elena mentions about the importance of the kingdom. You can tell Isabel is feeling a lot of emotions, but has enough restraint to just go ahead with her invention. If nothing else, she at least doesn't throw a tantrum, and is happy when Elena finds room for both.

Island Of Youth: Now we go to Island Of Youth, mainly the subplot. While Elena and Mateo are out with Esteban to keep his surprise party a secret, Isabel and Francisco have to come up with the music that will be played. Francisco wants to play a song on his guitar. Isabel wants to play a song on her newest invention, the guitardion, which is a cross between a guitar and an accordion. They then have a competition to see who gets to play, and it's Isabel who wins, and he feels sad. This plot helps to show that Isabel is someone who's all about progress, and as such, she can be a bit insensitive. However, she's also someone who's all about doing so for the benefit of others since this was more about making Esteban happy. This is reflected in the ending, where she has both of them play their instruments for his birthday. That is pretty sweet.

A Day To Remember: While she doesn't too much in the episode, she still plays a nice role here. Isabel says her dress is ruined, and she won't be able to make it to the cemetery to honor their parents. It's later revealed that she didn't go because she misses her parents, and doesn't feel comfortable visiting their grave. Elena then encourages her, saying how they do these activities to keep their memories alive. While her role is minimal here, it does help to show that she values family, but isn't emotionally mature enough to handle this. Many of Isabel's actions in other episodes involve the idea of proving herself and making her family happy to notice that, so this fits really well.

Crystal In The Rough: Now we get to "Crystal In The Rough". This episode focuses on Isabel's first day in regular school. She shows off her knowledge, impressing many people, such as Senorita Marisol and fellow classmate Amara, but Quique (another classmate) makes fun of her. She feels down, and the next day, the field trip to the Crystal Caverns, she changes her personality to be a lot more uncaring and rebellious. This is the episode that emphasizes Isabel's intelligence, but also her desire for approval from others. Even with how she acts like a delinquent, it's also made clear that it's because she wants to feel like she can be seen as belonging with a group. Most of what she does is just harmless stuff, with the only really bad stuff (getting lost in the crystal caverns) being the result of an accident. She eventually proves that she can still be her smart self and yet still be awesome, which is when she's fully respected.

A Gecko's Tale: Now we come to A Gecko's Tale. Elena and Isabel spend some time on an island with their grandparents and Gabe (who accompanies them on the adventure). They come across a gecko who's actually the famed explorer Antonio Agama turned into one. They then go on a journey inside a temple to turn him back to normal, but they argue during the trip. This episode is all about emphasizing how one needs to be mindful yet also take action quickly. Isabel obviously represents the side of the mind while Elena represents the side of action. The beginning shows how Isabel's knowledge and caution are great when applied properly, such as how she identified the giant gecko footprints, and realized that the Golden Gecko turned Antonio Agama info a lizard. However, the adventure inside shows how it can put someone at a disadvantage when thinking too much, such as with how she doesn't grab a key in time when in a sand trap, or how she tries calculating her jump over a crumbling bridge. Of course, Elena isn't any better given how she trips over some of the traps and even throws Isabel's book when trying to stop one of them. Of course, this all fits with Isabel is more risk averse when thinking a lot and Elena is more of a risk taker when she's in a perilous situation, thinking about survival. Eventually, they do make up and realize both of their methods are good in order to get out of a chasm by having each other's backs when climbing out and Isabel being more willing to take risks (she still thinks when jumping, but acts more on action).

Blockheads: Now we come to Blockheads. It involves Elena, Naomi, Gabe, and Mateo hanging out inside while Luisa and Francisco are away. Isabel wants to play Olaball with them, but they don't let her since she's too young. What this opening does right is with how Isabel wants to be taken seriously, yet has also matured enough to not hold any grudges. She just goes inside the library to read. The events of the episode play out, where they all turn into little wooden block toys, and try to get her help. It's then revealed that they can only undo the curse if they right their wrongs, in this case, letting Isabel play with them. What helps Isabel's case is that, without even knowing how it happened, she still tries helping them out. Plus, when the cause of it is revealed, she doesn't really brag about it. She just explains her side of things. They just play away and turn back to normal.

Even with season 1 being a beginning season, she still shows great growth in attempting to better herself as a person.

Season 2:

Now in the case of season 2, she had a more downplayed presence due to the more story driven nature (in fact, after "Snow Place Like Home", she's absent for the rest of the season) , but she had a few standout moments. This season emphasizes her ambition and wanting to be taken more seriously, but we do get some heart.

Three Jaguins And A Princess: In this episode, Isabel wants to look after Migs and Dulce's kids (later named Mingo, Zoom, and Estrella) in order to prove how responsible she is (partly in response to her newest invention hitting Esteban). When they hatch, she tries keeping them under control, but this proves to be quite the task. This episode definitely highlights how she wants to be taken seriously by those older than her, yet also shows off how can think on the fly on her own under the right circumstances. What probably helps is that, when the accident with Esteban happens, it's mainly due to being there at the wrong time. Plus, when she messes up in trying to round up all the baby jaguins, she mainly suffers from thinking too highly of herself, yet never really puts anyone down. When she's eventually found out, and the baking contest goes from best to worse, she thinks of a way to.get the jaquins back, such as using a giant berry to lure them into the palace. She's able to give orders yet never acts entitled or unlikable. It's here where it's shown that she's become more responsible by admitting her faults yet also being active in trying to fix problems.

Science Unfair: In this episode, Isabel is given the opportunity to make a project to represent her school with at an upcoming science fair for Professor Ochoa with Cristina, Amara, and Qui Que. However, she wants to do the project by herself. This episode has its message about being a team player and letting others help you out. Even with the mistakes she makes, Isabel is shown to be likable and you understand her thought process. For example, we start the episode with her making a baking soda volcano for a school project, but everyone is bored with it, until the three of them step in and make it more exciting. She appreciates this, though because her mind is still in science mode, when she hears about this science fair, she thinks more about doing this on her own. While there is an air of selfishness in her behavior, she also brings up later on how she doesn't want to inconvenience them. Whenever she's in science mode, she tends to be so lost in her work that she inadvertently pushes others away or makes things worse. For example, she comes up with the idea of an Exergroomer to both care for and groom the class pets, which is pretty awesome. However, when they mentions some things that could be improved on, she tries hiding how she wants to do things on her own by sending them on a wild goose chase. This is very sneaky, and she's rightfully called out for her behavior, but the episode still keeps her likable since she never really thinks of her friends as a burden. With some guidance from Elena, she makes up with her friends and they all work together on the project, getting high praise. This episode helps her see how she should rely on others when taking on large tasks like this.

The Tale Of Two Scepters: While this episode isn't about Isabel, it does show how she's a very important person in Elena's life. Continuing from "Race For The Realm", this episode has Elena going to Vallestrella to learn how to properly use her scepter with training from the sun birds. Isabel gives Elena a special charm bracelet for good luck. This episode shows much of an influence that Isabel has on Elena even if she's not there all the time. At the beginning, Isabel talks about how sad she feels that Elena is going away, and she might not come back. Elena says how needs to be there for Avalor to protect it from Shuriki. While Isabel is sad, she still shows great maturity in letting Elena go and gives her the charm bracelet for good luck. During training, when she's told to use Farsight, she looks at Isabel's charm bracelet, and ends up seeing what she's doing by accident. This is to show that she has a strong love for others that this can make her unfocused if not reigned in. However, we see how this love for others is a good thing. When Elena sees Isabel could be killed by Shuriki when the latter gets inside Avalor, she immediately goes back to help her, and has enough focus to get the upper hand on Shuriki. That's pretty awesome. We then get a touching moment between them where Isabel wishes Elena good luck even though she will miss her. That's nice.

Class Act: For Isabel's last major role in the season, it's at least a strong one. In this episode, she's attending her first day at the Science Academy, which she's understandably nervous about. She's a kid who's going to college with older teenagers and young adults, even if just on the side. She and her partner Tomiko are assigned to take part in various science projects, such as with doing an egg drop and later trying to get materials up the mountain to an observatory. Of course, she meets a smug jerk named Javier who thinks she's not good enough, and only got in here because of privilege. This episode helps to show Isabel at her best even if she has great doubt in herself. It's best shown with the students she regularly interacts with, who are essentially her foils. Tomiko represents Isabel's love of science and general nice attitude, but she's shown being very energetic and a bit unrestrained. It's no wonder she's able to get along with her and help keep her on track. In contrast, Javier represents her inflated ego during her lowest moments, but with none of the compassion that helps reel her in. Isabel is shown to have particular doubt in herself because of Javier, which helps represent that she wants to feel like she can help others with her scientific achievements. She doesn't like failing since it's like failing others. Plus, she spends less time moping and more time trying to make a good project. After a pep talk from Elena, she finds more confidence to create the second project. What I like with this ending is how it emphasizes that she has the brilliance and ability to work with others. She just needs to realize that a failure is a chance to try again and succeed. It's certainly an important episode for her.

Despite not doing as much this season, there's a great deal of emphasis on her mind and the ambition to do well, which is all done well.

Season 3:

Season 2 downplayed her presence, so it's good that she gained a bigger role in season 3. She's definitely become the show's deuteragonist, much like with Amber on Sofia The First. The thing that's greatly emphasized is her stepping up to the challenges of life while making sure she maintains her ideals. Let's see what I mean.

Sister Of Invention: Having the season 3 premiere focus on her is a good idea. It involves Isabel wanting to accompany Elena and her friends when they find out more about Ash and Carla's whereabouts. She's then told no, and is told to stay back. She sneaks onboard anyway on the basis that she has both the knowledge and inventions that can be a great asset. Here we have Isabel's first really big step info becoming a more adventurous person. What probably helps is with the setup. We start the episode with a celebration of science class honors, clearly highlighting accomplishments she achieved. While sneaking onboard is rather mischievous, it is also rather understandable given how she has both the intelligence and resilience to survive big adventures. She just needs the maturity to know when she should go for these big adventures. Plus, she never really considers herself above anyone else. She just wants to be taken more seriously. Her relationship with Elena is given some good focus due to how Elena knows that Isabel has good skills, but is just too focused on her goal in order to see how they could really be used. She's not thinking of the bigger picture. Isabel eventually proves her worth when she combines her equipment to save Elena when she's about to fall off a ledge. This is what helps Elena see that she can keep up with them. It's pretty good.

Norberg Peace Prize & Dreamcatcher: I decided to put these two together in how she acts as a mediator for Elena's more rash actions in both situations. The former is about Elena and company going to Norberg to settle a disagreement between Queen Abigail and King Hector. Isabel joins them on the journey. The latter is about Elena's dreams coming to life, and Isabel trying to help her out. The first episode draws an interesting parallel between Elena's dilemma with Isabel's school life. Elena mentions how she gets along with Javier with group projects until she says that they aren't friends. They just don't try to get in each other's way when working. It's this advice that helps Elena to get Queen Abigail and King Hector to work together and get off of the island even if they aren't exactly friends with each other. Isabel offers advice like throughout the episode, yet it's never in a condescending manner. It's just about trying to help out even if she doesn't have a direct stake in the conflict. In the latter, she mentions wanting to talk about how Esteban no longer being with the family still affects her. Elena doesn't exactly want to talk about this given how his betrayal still stings her. This episode plays up Isabel's innocence and shows her as being more open to others, whether in feelings or helping out. She wants to help Elena go through her issues, yet also feels uneasy in not being able to say what's on her mind. Eventually, when Elena does sort things out, she decides to let Isabel open up more. It's a good showcase for how Isabel can inspire others to act better when she wants to be able to make a difference.

The Family Treasure: Considering how family is one of the founding themes of the show, an episode like this would be pretty natural. We start the episode with Elena and Isabel preparing to go on a picnic when they run into Antonio Agama and his brother Pablo, who are looking for a family treasure. The girls go to help them find it. What I find great here is with how well Elena and Isabel get along. Isabel in particular is shown to be on the ball with the various contraptions she has to help out, yet she never really acts high and mighty about it. The way they get along well with each other is in contrast to Antonio and Pablo, where they're a bit more antagonistic to each other. Pablo is similar to Isabel in how tends to be more mindful and follow the rules, but he has more ego and wants to show how he has the higher ground. Antonio is shown to be similarly impulsive to Elena, but more heightened since he's much more upfront and deceptive with it. It's this adventure and everyone working together that they get to see the value of family. Admittedly, this is more an ensemble cast episode, but I wanted to bring it up.

Team Isa: This episode really allows her to shine. It involves a magical bandit named Tito using his magic guitar to hypnotize others to do his bidding. This also includes Elena, Naomi, Mateo, and Gabe. When Isabel finds out, she tries getting Cristina, Amara, Quique, and Olivia to help her take him out. The thing is, she tries to be like Elena when doing so. This episode has the moral on how everyone has their own way to lead, and it works well with Isabel. One thing this episode does is to show that she has potential to be a good leader, but shouldn't think about being in the shadow of others. We start the episode with the revelation that she invented an alarm system for everyone to find out where there's trouble. That's actually pretty good and has practical use for something in the future. However, we also see that she has quite a bit of self doubt. She immediately thinks that Elena's method, where she tends to act before thinking, is the way to go. She does at least treat her friends as partners and has a plan, but just doesn't exactly use their talents the best. For example, she thinks Amara should use the lasso to tie up Tito even though she's better with throwing, and tells Olivia to use magic earmuffs, but doesn't think about communicating without being able to hear each other. It does work though given how Isabel is usually either a follower or led the charge in more low key adventures, which doesn't usually involve brain washing. She follows Elena's example since she's been on these bigger adventures, but also since she's had more experience. Cristina does help to serve as a mediator by telling Isabel that she should play to her own strengths. She's more street smart to contrast Isabel being book smart, so it works. Isabel eventually saves the day with her own way of planning. Her new plan involves Quique being a distraction while Olivia uses magic to put the weapons away and freeze the guitar, while Amara and Cristina use the super wheelchair and throwing power to get the money inside the palace. It all works out since Isabel thought more about what others can do best rather than follow an example, playing to how she works best when thinking things through. It's pretty good.

Shooting Stars: The episode "Shooting Stars" is an interesting one. It involves Elena and Isabel helping Tomiko rebuild a special telescope lens at the observatory so that Francisco can see a special comet. It's another school centric episode, but the twist here is about Elena getting help from Isabel (to an extent) rather than the other way around. While Isabel and Tomiko have little problem in collaborating with each other since they're of roughly the same intellect, Elena struggles to keep up. She eventually gets overwhelmed, her emotion magic getting out of control, and when they rescue her, the flux gets too hot and they can't make new glass. Despite Elena messing up quite a bit, it's also made clear that she's not dumb, but is not academically inclined. While it's mainly Tomiko who shows the most dedication to helping Elena, I think Isabel also stands out. She never really thinks about being better than Elena, focusing more on helping Francisco. Plus, while she doesn't like the little hiccup in the plan, she doesn't get mad at Elena. She's also shown being fairly encouraging to Elena when getting her up to speed on science. It's just really nice to see her help Elena out with what she specializes in rather than the other way around. The student has become the teacher in this case.

Heart Of The Jaguar: As one of the last episodes before the series finale, she really manages to hold this together. The episode takes place just days before Elena's coronation. She and Isabel get a message to see Quita Moz, where he reveals a bad omen of Isabel being on the throne. This understandably makes her nervous. He then tells them to get the Heart Of The Jaguar inside his closet, and what follows is an Alice In Wonderland style adventure. The episode goes for the moral on finding the courage to take on large responsibilities, and having faith in yourself. What I think helps Isabel out is with any she feels she shouldn't be on the throne. She feels Elena is better suited for this, and while she's taken charge of certain situations, it was usually either small scale adventures or when she had others to help out on larger adventures. It's not from not wanting to take on more responsibility, but more with how she doesn't want to take on too much responsibility and let down everyone on a major scale. Throughout the adventure, she's shown being reliant on Elena to help out, but with the unpredictability of the journey (which also involves Elena becoming a baby jaquin), she can't handle it. Besides that, she's also about using knowledge and logic as assets, neither of which are present on this adventure. What helps keep her likable is that, while she's hesitant, she at least takes the initiative to try and make the best of the situation. She's just trying to think things through, but is too reliant on making sure things don't go wrong. There's one scene where she shrinks down and ends up in front of an invention she made. With encouragement from Peaches, she then uses the invention to create a bubble exit and confront the king to get the heart. As she says this, she gets back to her regular height, standing up for herself and Elena as she tries getting to the palace. She's pretty much become more courageous by not thinking too much about what could go wrong. She instead thinks about how things can go right in the end and have the determination to reach that goal. It's pretty cool. She then gets the heart and everything goes back to normal. This episode helps to show how she can make big decisions without relying too much on others for support. It's really good.

Coronation Day: And now we come to Coronation Day, which is as much culmination of her character and everything she's been through as much as it is for Elena. Let's just jump into this. It's Elena's coronation day, Ash and Esteban attack, and Elena ends up in the spirit world (though they find that out later) while The Four Shades Of Awesome are loose in Avalor. It's here where Isabel steps up to protect the kingdom now that she's crown princess. There are a few things that really help to strengthen her character. The first is with the main fight against Ash, Esteban, and their allies. She has special arrows that are equipped with spells that can help them defeat their enemies. It's a great example of her intellect being used well in a combative situation, and she's able to hold her own for quite a bit. The second is when Isabel is told that she's now the crown princess. She's understandably nervous since she now has an enormous responsibility to protect all of Avalor from these 4 spirits (we even have a scene where she's surprised when sitting on the throne). However, after calming down, she really hits her stride. She tells Mateo to summon Zuzo to see where Elena is, has Gabe and Ixlan set up the defenses in taking down the spirits, and follows Naomi's suggestion to evacuate everyone from the streets. She does this all without missing a beat. The third is when taking down 3 of the shades. She manages to kill Hetz by using a lightning rod and redirecting the lightning to strike him. There's also some nice tricks and wits to send Vuli and Yolo back to the spirit world. The fourth is about enforcing how she's more or less the one who's able to guide Elena to the light. Cahu is shown as being the most difficult spirit to defeat, which culminates in Luisa and Francisco being turned to stone by her when she and Esteban are in the palace. This really gets to Isabel as, under her time, her remaining family members are no longer there with them. After Elena's spirit world adventure, she then finds out about what happened from Isabel. She then sees how he she let her vengeance get the better of her and just wants to set things straight without resorting to anything rash. The conversation she had with her parents in the spirit world already gave a good push, but Isabel is what cements the fact that she needs to straighten herself out. This moment also goes to show that Isabel has developed considerably, but she still has limits on what she can do. After the whole adventure is done and the coronation goes on, she then appoints Isabel as her royal inventor as part of her grand counsel. This is a really satisfying ending for her. Throughout the series, Isabel has shown a considerable amount of intelligence, curiosity, loyalty, and courage, all of which culminates here in being part of Elena's grand counsel. It's just so rewarding.

And that's all I have. Isabel certainly grew over the course of 3 seasons. Thanks for reading. Have a good day.

Description
Hello there. This is SofiaBlythe2014. So, when it comes to Elena Of Avalor, there are many characters who help make the show great. One of them is Elena's younger sister Isabel. Ever since the start, she's established to be an adorable and bright young mind. She's still that by the end, yet she's also developed immensely as a character in becoming more fearless and confident. This article will be dedicated to showing how far Isabel developed as a character over the course of 3 seasons. I won't cover all her appearances. I'll just cover what I think stands out. Let's begin.

Season 1:

Season 1, as an establishing season, helps establish her core characteristics, mainly in how she's smart, well meaning yet insensitive, and socially awkward.

First Day Of Rule: So, let's talk about her appearance in the first episode to air, "First Day Of Rule". When Elena thinks that she'll be queen later that day, she gives Isabel a journal for her thoughts and inventions. It's a pretty good establishment of how much they care for each other. Later, when Elena is busy with royal duties and asks Gabe to look after Isabel, the latter two get captured by Noblins. In order to alert Elena that they were captured without raising suspicion, she rips out some pages from her journal and throws them in the ocean so that she can find them. This is definitely Elena's story, but Isabel still plays a vital role in helping her out, while showing how she can defend herself even if she tends to act more on mind and less on action.

Model Sister: Now we have an episode that focuses on Elena's bond with Isabel. Elena is preparing for an important meeting with King Toshi from Satu where, if it's successful, it could mean good trading between both kingdoms. However, she also promised Isabel that she would be her assistant for an upcoming inventory fair. As such, she tries switching back and forth. This episode shows Isabel acting more in her own interests, but still keeps her likable. She's very insistent on making sure Elena helps out with her invention, befitting how she tends to follow her brain. It's shown that Elena makes the promise to Isabel of her own accord before she finds out about the meeting being changed to later in the day, with Isabel not minding that. Even when the meeting is revealed to be later in the day, she's initially frustrated, but doesn't act too much on it, not acting forceful. When Elena reveals she has some time before the meeting, Isabel is thrilled and even makes her a necklace from spare parts. This helps to show that Isabel at least shows enough consideration for others when they're willing to be considerate. When Isabel eventually finds out about the ruse, she is understandably upset. Elena mentions about the importance of the kingdom. You can tell Isabel is feeling a lot of emotions, but has enough restraint to just go ahead with her invention. If nothing else, she at least doesn't throw a tantrum, and is happy when Elena finds room for both.

Island Of Youth: Now we go to Island Of Youth, mainly the subplot. While Elena and Mateo are out with Esteban to keep his surprise party a secret, Isabel and Francisco have to come up with the music that will be played. Francisco wants to play a song on his guitar. Isabel wants to play a song on her newest invention, the guitardion, which is a cross between a guitar and an accordion. They then have a competition to see who gets to play, and it's Isabel who wins, and he feels sad. This plot helps to show that Isabel is someone who's all about progress, and as such, she can be a bit insensitive. However, she's also someone who's all about doing so for the benefit of others since this was more about making Esteban happy. This is reflected in the ending, where she has both of them play their instruments for his birthday. That is pretty sweet.

A Day To Remember: While she doesn't too much in the episode, she still plays a nice role here. Isabel says her dress is ruined, and she won't be able to make it to the cemetery to honor their parents. It's later revealed that she didn't go because she misses her parents, and doesn't feel comfortable visiting their grave. Elena then encourages her, saying how they do these activities to keep their memories alive. While her role is minimal here, it does help to show that she values family, but isn't emotionally mature enough to handle this. Many of Isabel's actions in other episodes involve the idea of proving herself and making her family happy to notice that, so this fits really well.

Crystal In The Rough: Now we get to "Crystal In The Rough". This episode focuses on Isabel's first day in regular school. She shows off her knowledge, impressing many people, such as Senorita Marisol and fellow classmate Amara, but Quique (another classmate) makes fun of her. She feels down, and the next day, the field trip to the Crystal Caverns, she changes her personality to be a lot more uncaring and rebellious. This is the episode that emphasizes Isabel's intelligence, but also her desire for approval from others. Even with how she acts like a delinquent, it's also made clear that it's because she wants to feel like she can be seen as belonging with a group. Most of what she does is just harmless stuff, with the only really bad stuff (getting lost in the crystal caverns) being the result of an accident. She eventually proves that she can still be her smart self and yet still be awesome, which is when she's fully respected.

A Gecko's Tale: Now we come to A Gecko's Tale. Elena and Isabel spend some time on an island with their grandparents and Gabe (who accompanies them on the adventure). They come across a gecko who's actually the famed explorer Antonio Agama turned into one. They then go on a journey inside a temple to turn him back to normal, but they argue during the trip. This episode is all about emphasizing how one needs to be mindful yet also take action quickly. Isabel obviously represents the side of the mind while Elena represents the side of action. The beginning shows how Isabel's knowledge and caution are great when applied properly, such as how she identified the giant gecko footprints, and realized that the Golden Gecko turned Antonio Agama info a lizard. However, the adventure inside shows how it can put someone at a disadvantage when thinking too much, such as with how she doesn't grab a key in time when in a sand trap, or how she tries calculating her jump over a crumbling bridge. Of course, Elena isn't any better given how she trips over some of the traps and even throws Isabel's book when trying to stop one of them. Of course, this all fits with Isabel is more risk averse when thinking a lot and Elena is more of a risk taker when she's in a perilous situation, thinking about survival. Eventually, they do make up and realize both of their methods are good in order to get out of a chasm by having each other's backs when climbing out and Isabel being more willing to take risks (she still thinks when jumping, but acts more on action).

Blockheads: Now we come to Blockheads. It involves Elena, Naomi, Gabe, and Mateo hanging out inside while Luisa and Francisco are away. Isabel wants to play Olaball with them, but they don't let her since she's too young. What this opening does right is with how Isabel wants to be taken seriously, yet has also matured enough to not hold any grudges. She just goes inside the library to read. The events of the episode play out, where they all turn into little wooden block toys, and try to get her help. It's then revealed that they can only undo the curse if they right their wrongs, in this case, letting Isabel play with them. What helps Isabel's case is that, without even knowing how it happened, she still tries helping them out. Plus, when the cause of it is revealed, she doesn't really brag about it. She just explains her side of things. They just play away and turn back to normal.

Even with season 1 being a beginning season, she still shows great growth in attempting to better herself as a person.

Season 2:

Now in the case of season 2, she had a more downplayed presence due to the more story driven nature (in fact, after "Snow Place Like Home", she's absent for the rest of the season) , but she had a few standout moments. This season emphasizes her ambition and wanting to be taken more seriously, but we do get some heart.

Three Jaguins And A Princess: In this episode, Isabel wants to look after Migs and Dulce's kids (later named Mingo, Zoom, and Estrella) in order to prove how responsible she is (partly in response to her newest invention hitting Esteban). When they hatch, she tries keeping them under control, but this proves to be quite the task. This episode definitely highlights how she wants to be taken seriously by those older than her, yet also shows off how can think on the fly on her own under the right circumstances. What probably helps is that, when the accident with Esteban happens, it's mainly due to being there at the wrong time. Plus, when she messes up in trying to round up all the baby jaguins, she mainly suffers from thinking too highly of herself, yet never really puts anyone down. When she's eventually found out, and the baking contest goes from best to worse, she thinks of a way to.get the jaquins back, such as using a giant berry to lure them into the palace. She's able to give orders yet never acts entitled or unlikable. It's here where it's shown that she's become more responsible by admitting her faults yet also being active in trying to fix problems.

Science Unfair: In this episode, Isabel is given the opportunity to make a project to represent her school with at an upcoming science fair for Professor Ochoa with Cristina, Amara, and Qui Que. However, she wants to do the project by herself. This episode has its message about being a team player and letting others help you out. Even with the mistakes she makes, Isabel is shown to be likable and you understand her thought process. For example, we start the episode with her making a baking soda volcano for a school project, but everyone is bored with it, until the three of them step in and make it more exciting. She appreciates this, though because her mind is still in science mode, when she hears about this science fair, she thinks more about doing this on her own. While there is an air of selfishness in her behavior, she also brings up later on how she doesn't want to inconvenience them. Whenever she's in science mode, she tends to be so lost in her work that she inadvertently pushes others away or makes things worse. For example, she comes up with the idea of an Exergroomer to both care for and groom the class pets, which is pretty awesome. However, when they mentions some things that could be improved on, she tries hiding how she wants to do things on her own by sending them on a wild goose chase. This is very sneaky, and she's rightfully called out for her behavior, but the episode still keeps her likable since she never really thinks of her friends as a burden. With some guidance from Elena, she makes up with her friends and they all work together on the project, getting high praise. This episode helps her see how she should rely on others when taking on large tasks like this.

The Tale Of Two Scepters: While this episode isn't about Isabel, it does show how she's a very important person in Elena's life. Continuing from "Race For The Realm", this episode has Elena going to Vallestrella to learn how to properly use her scepter with training from the sun birds. Isabel gives Elena a special charm bracelet for good luck. This episode shows much of an influence that Isabel has on Elena even if she's not there all the time. At the beginning, Isabel talks about how sad she feels that Elena is going away, and she might not come back. Elena says how needs to be there for Avalor to protect it from Shuriki. While Isabel is sad, she still shows great maturity in letting Elena go and gives her the charm bracelet for good luck. During training, when she's told to use Farsight, she looks at Isabel's charm bracelet, and ends up seeing what she's doing by accident. This is to show that she has a strong love for others that this can make her unfocused if not reigned in. However, we see how this love for others is a good thing. When Elena sees Isabel could be killed by Shuriki when the latter gets inside Avalor, she immediately goes back to help her, and has enough focus to get the upper hand on Shuriki. That's pretty awesome. We then get a touching moment between them where Isabel wishes Elena good luck even though she will miss her. That's nice.

Class Act: For Isabel's last major role in the season, it's at least a strong one. In this episode, she's attending her first day at the Science Academy, which she's understandably nervous about. She's a kid who's going to college with older teenagers and young adults, even if just on the side. She and her partner Tomiko are assigned to take part in various science projects, such as with doing an egg drop and later trying to get materials up the mountain to an observatory. Of course, she meets a smug jerk named Javier who thinks she's not good enough, and only got in here because of privilege. This episode helps to show Isabel at her best even if she has great doubt in herself. It's best shown with the students she regularly interacts with, who are essentially her foils. Tomiko represents Isabel's love of science and general nice attitude, but she's shown being very energetic and a bit unrestrained. It's no wonder she's able to get along with her and help keep her on track. In contrast, Javier represents her inflated ego during her lowest moments, but with none of the compassion that helps reel her in. Isabel is shown to have particular doubt in herself because of Javier, which helps represent that she wants to feel like she can help others with her scientific achievements. She doesn't like failing since it's like failing others. Plus, she spends less time moping and more time trying to make a good project. After a pep talk from Elena, she finds more confidence to create the second project. What I like with this ending is how it emphasizes that she has the brilliance and ability to work with others. She just needs to realize that a failure is a chance to try again and succeed. It's certainly an important episode for her.

Despite not doing as much this season, there's a great deal of emphasis on her mind and the ambition to do well, which is all done well.

Season 3:

Season 2 downplayed her presence, so it's good that she gained a bigger role in season 3. She's definitely become the show's deuteragonist, much like with Amber on Sofia The First. The thing that's greatly emphasized is her stepping up to the challenges of life while making sure she maintains her ideals. Let's see what I mean.

Sister Of Invention: Having the season 3 premiere focus on her is a good idea. It involves Isabel wanting to accompany Elena and her friends when they find out more about Ash and Carla's whereabouts. She's then told no, and is told to stay back. She sneaks onboard anyway on the basis that she has both the knowledge and inventions that can be a great asset. Here we have Isabel's first really big step info becoming a more adventurous person. What probably helps is with the setup. We start the episode with a celebration of science class honors, clearly highlighting accomplishments she achieved. While sneaking onboard is rather mischievous, it is also rather understandable given how she has both the intelligence and resilience to survive big adventures. She just needs the maturity to know when she should go for these big adventures. Plus, she never really considers herself above anyone else. She just wants to be taken more seriously. Her relationship with Elena is given some good focus due to how Elena knows that Isabel has good skills, but is just too focused on her goal in order to see how they could really be used. She's not thinking of the bigger picture. Isabel eventually proves her worth when she combines her equipment to save Elena when she's about to fall off a ledge. This is what helps Elena see that she can keep up with them. It's pretty good.

Norberg Peace Prize & Dreamcatcher: I decided to put these two together in how she acts as a mediator for Elena's more rash actions in both situations. The former is about Elena and company going to Norberg to settle a disagreement between Queen Abigail and King Hector. Isabel joins them on the journey. The latter is about Elena's dreams coming to life, and Isabel trying to help her out. The first episode draws an interesting parallel between Elena's dilemma with Isabel's school life. Elena mentions how she gets along with Javier with group projects until she says that they aren't friends. They just don't try to get in each other's way when working. It's this advice that helps Elena to get Queen Abigail and King Hector to work together and get off of the island even if they aren't exactly friends with each other. Isabel offers advice like throughout the episode, yet it's never in a condescending manner. It's just about trying to help out even if she doesn't have a direct stake in the conflict. In the latter, she mentions wanting to talk about how Esteban no longer being with the family still affects her. Elena doesn't exactly want to talk about this given how his betrayal still stings her. This episode plays up Isabel's innocence and shows her as being more open to others, whether in feelings or helping out. She wants to help Elena go through her issues, yet also feels uneasy in not being able to say what's on her mind. Eventually, when Elena does sort things out, she decides to let Isabel open up more. It's a good showcase for how Isabel can inspire others to act better when she wants to be able to make a difference.

The Family Treasure: Considering how family is one of the founding themes of the show, an episode like this would be pretty natural. We start the episode with Elena and Isabel preparing to go on a picnic when they run into Antonio Agama and his brother Pablo, who are looking for a family treasure. The girls go to help them find it. What I find great here is with how well Elena and Isabel get along. Isabel in particular is shown to be on the ball with the various contraptions she has to help out, yet she never really acts high and mighty about it. The way they get along well with each other is in contrast to Antonio and Pablo, where they're a bit more antagonistic to each other. Pablo is similar to Isabel in how tends to be more mindful and follow the rules, but he has more ego and wants to show how he has the higher ground. Antonio is shown to be similarly impulsive to Elena, but more heightened since he's much more upfront and deceptive with it. It's this adventure and everyone working together that they get to see the value of family. Admittedly, this is more an ensemble cast episode, but I wanted to bring it up.

Team Isa: This episode really allows her to shine. It involves a magical bandit named Tito using his magic guitar to hypnotize others to do his bidding. This also includes Elena, Naomi, Mateo, and Gabe. When Isabel finds out, she tries getting Cristina, Amara, Quique, and Olivia to help her take him out. The thing is, she tries to be like Elena when doing so. This episode has the moral on how everyone has their own way to lead, and it works well with Isabel. One thing this episode does is to show that she has potential to be a good leader, but shouldn't think about being in the shadow of others. We start the episode with the revelation that she invented an alarm system for everyone to find out where there's trouble. That's actually pretty good and has practical use for something in the future. However, we also see that she has quite a bit of self doubt. She immediately thinks that Elena's method, where she tends to act before thinking, is the way to go. She does at least treat her friends as partners and has a plan, but just doesn't exactly use their talents the best. For example, she thinks Amara should use the lasso to tie up Tito even though she's better with throwing, and tells Olivia to use magic earmuffs, but doesn't think about communicating without being able to hear each other. It does work though given how Isabel is usually either a follower or led the charge in more low key adventures, which doesn't usually involve brain washing. She follows Elena's example since she's been on these bigger adventures, but also since she's had more experience. Cristina does help to serve as a mediator by telling Isabel that she should play to her own strengths. She's more street smart to contrast Isabel being book smart, so it works. Isabel eventually saves the day with her own way of planning. Her new plan involves Quique being a distraction while Olivia uses magic to put the weapons away and freeze the guitar, while Amara and Cristina use the super wheelchair and throwing power to get the money inside the palace. It all works out since Isabel thought more about what others can do best rather than follow an example, playing to how she works best when thinking things through. It's pretty good.

Shooting Stars: The episode "Shooting Stars" is an interesting one. It involves Elena and Isabel helping Tomiko rebuild a special telescope lens at the observatory so that Francisco can see a special comet. It's another school centric episode, but the twist here is about Elena getting help from Isabel (to an extent) rather than the other way around. While Isabel and Tomiko have little problem in collaborating with each other since they're of roughly the same intellect, Elena struggles to keep up. She eventually gets overwhelmed, her emotion magic getting out of control, and when they rescue her, the flux gets too hot and they can't make new glass. Despite Elena messing up quite a bit, it's also made clear that she's not dumb, but is not academically inclined. While it's mainly Tomiko who shows the most dedication to helping Elena, I think Isabel also stands out. She never really thinks about being better than Elena, focusing more on helping Francisco. Plus, while she doesn't like the little hiccup in the plan, she doesn't get mad at Elena. She's also shown being fairly encouraging to Elena when getting her up to speed on science. It's just really nice to see her help Elena out with what she specializes in rather than the other way around. The student has become the teacher in this case.

Heart Of The Jaguar: As one of the last episodes before the series finale, she really manages to hold this together. The episode takes place just days before Elena's coronation. She and Isabel get a message to see Quita Moz, where he reveals a bad omen of Isabel being on the throne. This understandably makes her nervous. He then tells them to get the Heart Of The Jaguar inside his closet, and what follows is an Alice In Wonderland style adventure. The episode goes for the moral on finding the courage to take on large responsibilities, and having faith in yourself. What I think helps Isabel out is with any she feels she shouldn't be on the throne. She feels Elena is better suited for this, and while she's taken charge of certain situations, it was usually either small scale adventures or when she had others to help out on larger adventures. It's not from not wanting to take on more responsibility, but more with how she doesn't want to take on too much responsibility and let down everyone on a major scale. Throughout the adventure, she's shown being reliant on Elena to help out, but with the unpredictability of the journey (which also involves Elena becoming a baby jaquin), she can't handle it. Besides that, she's also about using knowledge and logic as assets, neither of which are present on this adventure. What helps keep her likable is that, while she's hesitant, she at least takes the initiative to try and make the best of the situation. She's just trying to think things through, but is too reliant on making sure things don't go wrong. There's one scene where she shrinks down and ends up in front of an invention she made. With encouragement from Peaches, she then uses the invention to create a bubble exit and confront the king to get the heart. As she says this, she gets back to her regular height, standing up for herself and Elena as she tries getting to the palace. She's pretty much become more courageous by not thinking too much about what could go wrong. She instead thinks about how things can go right in the end and have the determination to reach that goal. It's pretty cool. She then gets the heart and everything goes back to normal. This episode helps to show how she can make big decisions without relying too much on others for support. It's really good.

Coronation Day: And now we come to Coronation Day, which is as much culmination of her character and everything she's been through as much as it is for Elena. Let's just jump into this. It's Elena's coronation day, Ash and Esteban attack, and Elena ends up in the spirit world (though they find that out later) while The Four Shades Of Awesome are loose in Avalor. It's here where Isabel steps up to protect the kingdom now that she's crown princess. There are a few things that really help to strengthen her character. The first is with the main fight against Ash, Esteban, and their allies. She has special arrows that are equipped with spells that can help them defeat their enemies. It's a great example of her intellect being used well in a combative situation, and she's able to hold her own for quite a bit. The second is when Isabel is told that she's now the crown princess. She's understandably nervous since she now has an enormous responsibility to protect all of Avalor from these 4 spirits (we even have a scene where she's surprised when sitting on the throne). However, after calming down, she really hits her stride. She tells Mateo to summon Zuzo to see where Elena is, has Gabe and Ixlan set up the defenses in taking down the spirits, and follows Naomi's suggestion to evacuate everyone from the streets. She does this all without missing a beat. The third is when taking down 3 of the shades. She manages to kill Hetz by using a lightning rod and redirecting the lightning to strike him. There's also some nice tricks and wits to send Vuli and Yolo back to the spirit world. The fourth is about enforcing how she's more or less the one who's able to guide Elena to the light. Cahu is shown as being the most difficult spirit to defeat, which culminates in Luisa and Francisco being turned to stone by her when she and Esteban are in the palace. This really gets to Isabel as, under her time, her remaining family members are no longer there with them. After Elena's spirit world adventure, she then finds out about what happened from Isabel. She then sees how he she let her vengeance get the better of her and just wants to set things straight without resorting to anything rash. The conversation she had with her parents in the spirit world already gave a good push, but Isabel is what cements the fact that she needs to straighten herself out. This moment also goes to show that Isabel has developed considerably, but she still has limits on what she can do. After the whole adventure is done and the coronation goes on, she then appoints Isabel as her royal inventor as part of her grand counsel. This is a really satisfying ending for her. Throughout the series, Isabel has shown a considerable amount of intelligence, curiosity, loyalty, and courage, all of which culminates here in being part of Elena's grand counsel. It's just so rewarding.

And that's all I have. Isabel certainly grew over the course of 3 seasons. Thanks for reading. Have a good day.