Chancellor Esteban is the former Chancellor of Avalor and both the overarching protagonist and antagonist in the Disney Junior TV series Elena of Avalor. He is the maternal cousin of Princess Elena and Princess Isabel. He starts off as one of the protagonists of the series, but after his treachery with aiding the power-hungry sorceress Shuriki over four decades ago is revealed, he becomes the secondary antagonist of the third season until his redemption in the series finale.
Esteban is voiced by Christian Lanz.
Background[]
Esteban was orphaned at a young age when the boat his parents were on sank due to a storm at sea after he had begged them not to go. He was then raised by his grandparents as if he were their son. This would teach Esteban the importance of family, and although he would grow to become extremely arrogant and selfish, his relatives would remain deathly important to him, as he would worry that every time they left the castle, it would be the last time he saw them. As a boy, he grew up in the palace with his maternal family, including his grandparents, his maternal aunt and uncle-by-marriage, Queen Lucia and King Raul of Avalor, respectively, and his younger cousins, Princesses Elena and Isabel, bonding with them as if they were true siblings. Additionally, he grew a close bond with Victor Delgado, the son of the kingdom's royal treasurer, and they both got a knack for playful trickery and theft. Despite this, he had felt out of place, especially on Dia de las Madres due to the loss of his mother.
During his teenage years, however, Esteban began to crave power due to believing that the love of his family wasn't real as he believed that he was no longer valued since nobody ever noticed or listened to him. His anger only grew after King Raul defended Avalor's allies from invasion and ignored Esteban's warning that Avalor could be at risk from intervention. Because of this, he and Victor made a deal with a cruel sorceress named Shuriki, Raul's enemy, who offered them more power they could ever dream of in exchange of helping her take control of Avalor. Believing that the three of them would rule Avalor together, they accepted Shuriki's offer, with Esteban making Shuriki promise that no one would be hurt in the takeover. Having believed her promise of mercy, their deal was sold and their plan was in motion.
One day, Esteban left the palace with Lucia and Raul, supposedly to help them build the float for the upcoming Carnaval, but in reality had snuck away to help Victor secretly harbor Shuriki from the Northern Isles into Avalor. Upon arriving near the coast, Esteban and Victor revealed the location of the Queen and King and snuck her through the city on their way to the palace. From there, Shuriki had broken her promise to Esteban; She attacked King Raul and Queen Lucia with her magic, killing them, and laid siege to the palace. Esteban's grandparents and Isabel were imprisoned in a magical painting by Avalor's royal wizard, Alacazar to protect them from Shuriki's purge, whilst Elena faced off against the sorceress herself and was defeated after getting struck with her magic.
As the only surviving member of his family, Esteban was filled with guilt when he realized had made a terrible mistake but was hailed as the new Chancellor of Avalor under Shuriki's order as promised. While he disliked Shuriki's rule, he refused to fight her, believing that there was no chance of success against her. This refusal to act against her resulted in Shuriki sentencing the Delgados into exile without anyone to oppose her, severing Esteban and Victor's partnership and friendship.
With Shuriki being too selfishness to care for the kingdom's wellbeing Esteban put his intelligence to good use by ensuring that the kingdom remained financially prosperous and outwardly appealing over the following decades in spite of their tyrannical ruler. Esteban's maternal family had been wiped from Avalor's records, hiding the truth of Shuriki's tyranny as well as Esteban's treason to all outsiders.
Appearance[]
Esteban has short slicked black hair that is slightly graying around his temples with wavy side bangs that fall just above his ear. He also has brown eyes and tan skin. Although he appears to be in his 30s, he is actually in his 50s.
Personality[]
As Chancellor of Avalor, Esteban is very knowledgeable of the Kingdom of Avalor and, as he himself boasts, knows "anyone who's anyone in Avalor". He is also a firm adherent to etiquette, behaving rather snotty, prideful, and uptight.
Esteban believes Elena is too young to bear the responsibilities that come with ruling a kingdom and disapproves of her personal approach to leadership to the point where he constantly seeks to undermine her and become viewed amongst the citizens as "the true power behind the throne". He dislikes being reminded that she is the one in charge, which ties into his overall intolerance of being told what to do by others. However, as the series progresses, he starts to warm up to his cousin and eventually stops trying to one-up her. And despite his differences with Elena, he does care about her enough to want to keep her safe and values his family quite enough. In fact, in "Island of Youth", he chooses to save Elena's life rather than retrieve his canteen to keep himself young.
When at long last the truth Esteban had tried so hard to hide is made known to Elena and the rest of the family, Esteban is remorseful and though he explains his motives for helping Shuriki, he excuses them by how he felt like an outsider in his own family, as though he were invisible and that Shuriki had taken advantage of his anger and youthful naiveté and a false promise that no one was supposed to get hurt. Esteban expects to be easily forgiven and is therefore shocked that his family instead disowns him and vote to have him exiled to Soledad Island. While he acknowledges his misdeeds, he refuses to answer for them, choosing to escape the dungeon before his sentence is carried out with the help of the Delgados. He leaves with Ash after she turns Victor to stone and Carla refuses to go with her out of fear and having no other options.
Despite siding with Ash and being disowned by his family, Esteban displays there is still good inside him. He hesitated in helping the Delgados when he saw the Royal Family portrait and although he helps Ash, he would not allow her to hurt Elena, showing he still cares for and loves his family. Esteban even attempted to reason with Elena, revealing he never wanted their family to get hurt, but she refused to listen, believing his words to be nothing but lies.
Esteban was also unhappy and reluctant after gaining his newfound magical powers and didn t want to hurt anyone. However, when Elena used her magic and transported him back to Avalor to confront her unresolved feelings, she officially disowned Esteban as family, causing him to officially turn to the side of evil and embrace his magic. But despite his newfound villainous ways, Esteban continues to show he cares for Elena and others as he continues to prevent Ash from hurting Elena and was worried for Alacazar when he was injured in battle. Yet when Chatana’s pet Pili refers to him as possibly being more evil than Ash, he agrees with a smirk, implying that he has since then fully embraced his villainy.
It's shown that Esteban had trouble taking responsibility even as a child, blaming their chocolate mess solely on Elena. Despite this, he was far more caring and innocent than he is now, planting a tree to honor his grandmother and late mother, as well as happily entertaining baby Isabel.
When confronted by his grandparents about his actions, he reveals he doesn't see himself as a villain. In the end, he came to realize power isn't what he wanted if people were going to hate and fear him. After seeing Elena in danger of being petrified, he was willing to give his life for her. She finally forgives him, and he vows to spend the rest of his life making up for what he did; he also accepts Elena as Queen and Naomi as Chancellor.
Elena and the Secret of Avalor[]
Within the 41 years that passed since Shuriki took over, Esteban grew into his middle ages, still serving as her chancellor but is noticeably uncomfortable with enforcing Shuriki's laws, which strip Avalor of its identity. The most notable of which being Shuriki's ban of music and singing. Esteban and Shuriki are met with the arrival of King Roland II and Queen Miranda of Enchancia, who visit Avalor to discuss trade arrangements between the two kingdoms.
During Roland and Miranda's visit, Shuriki nearly exposes herself as a ruthless sorceress, with her anger tempting her to use her wand to strike at anything that earns ehr ire Though Esteban is able to swiftly cover up the lie each time and keep Shuriki's temper under control, Elena, (who had survived Shuriki's purge after being trapped in the Amulet of Avalor) miraculously arrives in the palace and reveals the truth behind Shuriki's schemes. Esteban is shocked to see his cousin alive, while Elena is confused by the sight of Esteban working alongside Shuriki, as well as how much he has aged since she last saw him. She confronts him on the matter, but Esteban insists that the partnership was by force. Shuriki suggests otherwise which angers Elena into attacking Shuriki again. After another failure, Elena is forced to flee with Mateo and Sofia while Esteban is charged with imprisoning Roland and the rest of his family.
Esteban orders the guard to treat the visiting royalty with respect despite being prisoners and expresses dread at having to clean up the mess caused by this incident. Armando strongly suggests that he and Esteban join forces with Elena, as she is the rightful heir to the throne, and Esteban's cousin. While Esteban refuses to face Shuriki because of her power, his guilt for assisting the sorceress consumes him at the mention of his familial ties to Elena, and he takes this frustration out on Armando before leaving in a huff.
Later on, Esteban confronts Shuriki on her broken promise to keep his family away from harm, including the now-fugitive Elena. Shuriki scoffs at this and threatens to do away with Esteban like his aunt and uncle, should he show signs of disloyalty towards her again. Just then, a jaquin infiltrates the castle, causing Esteban and Shuriki to chase after her. This is merely a diversion to buy Elena some time to form a rebellion against Shuriki and releasing Esteban's grandparents and cousin from their enchanted painting. By the time this is figured out, the rebels have entered the castle gates, with Elena standing in the foreground. Shuriki prepares to strike her with her wand, but Esteban finally stands up to his superior by grabbing hold of her wand and throwing it to Elena. Unable to use Shuriki's wand against its holder, Elena destroys it, stripping Shuriki of her magic and youth. Whilst the evil sorceress runs away and falls to her apparent death, Esteban declares Elena to be the rightful ruler of Avalor, and the two cousins embrace. Elena voices her relief of Esteban's morality, confessing that she wasn't sure where his alignment fell. Esteban lies by reassuring Elena that his affiliation with Shuriki was both by force and to protect the surviving members of his family in the painting. With Esteban reunited with his family, and his aunt and uncle avenged, a new era for Avalor officially begins.
Elena of Avalor[]
Season 1[]
Despite Shuriki's defeat, Esteban remains Chancellor of Avalor under Elena's rule. During her coronation as Crown Princess of Avalor, Esteban becomes a member of the Grand Council of Avalor alongside Luisa, Naomi, and Francisco. He was chosen by Elena for his extensive knowledge of the Kingdom and his management of it in her absence. Unlike his cousins, he is very knowledgeable of how much Avalor has changed during the royal family's imprisonment. Throughout the series, he is opposed to Elena's impulsive decisions, coming up with schemes to surpsede and outdo Elena and Naomi, although many of them either fail or are abandoned due to his growing tolerance and respect for them. The values and traditions of his family are still held within his heart and he is never afraid to show off his experience to Elena as well as other dignified officials.
In the episode "Spellbound", Esteban is among those attending Mateo's celebration as he succeeds his grandfather as Royal Wizard of Avalor. However, Alacazar's arch-enemy, the malvago wizard Fiero, turns Esteban to stone alongside Isabel, Luisa, and Francisco, to force Elena and Mateo to find the Codex Maru to undo the spell. In the end, Mateo turns Fiero's own spell back on him, turning him to stone, while Mateo uses the Codex to create the counter-spell and return Esteban and everyone else to normal, though not without Esteban noticing half of his mustache lying on his shoulder due to Naomi breaking it off earlier while he was stone and panicking about damaging him, leaving him very puzzled.
In "Olaball", Esteban is with his grandfather to cheer on Elena and the Avalor Olaball team as they face the Cariza Olaball team. At first, it looks like Avalor will lose as Cariza takes an early lead, but thanks to Gabe and the training he completed with Elena, Avalor comes from behind to win the match, and Esteban is ecstatic with Francisco when they see Avalor won.
In the episode "My Fair Naomi", concerned about being talked about by Dona Paloma and the other big members of Avalor City when Elena decides to throw a birthday party for Naomi, who wasn't from Avalor herself, fearing that if things go wrong, it could humiliate him for some time, Esteban aids Naomi in making her Royal Quinceanera party-perfect, causing Naomi to alienate Elena, Gabe, and Mateo in the process. However, when Naomi bails on her party to make amends with Elena and the others, Esteban thinks his fears will come true as Dona Paloma and the others start to gossip about Naomi leaving her party, but when Naomi returns with her friends and manages to dance with them and get everyone else involved, Esteban is impressed, and with his grandparents encouraging him that Avalor will be talking about the good parts of the party for a long time, Esteban makes sure it will stay that way, causing an unamused and defeated Dona Paloma to walk away in disgust at having failed to disgrace the Royal Family again.
In "King of the Carnaval", Esteban is shocked when Victor Delgado returns to help with the Carnaval with his daughter, Carla. Having recognized Victor from his youth when he had helped Shuriki kill his aunt and uncle, Esteban is suspicious of his activity. These suspicions are confirmed when Victor attempts to steal the crown jewels. Upon being confronted by Esteban, Victor reminds him of his failure to protect his family from Shuriki during her takeover, resulting in their exile. Victor exacts his revenge by threatening to reveal his part in Shuriki's coup to his family, lest he help him steal the royal jewels. However, when Esteban is forced to give them to Elena, Isabel, and his grandparents to wear, Victor provides a means to distract them for Esteban to steal them again, but when he is unable to take back Queen Lucia's tiara, which Elena was wearing, Victor tells Elena of Esteban's betrayal. However, when Esteban attempts to tell Elena that Victor was telling the truth, Elena however, is convinced that Victor was lying and Esteban would never do anything to harm their family. Realizing she did not buy Victor telling her the truth, Esteban goes with it, and together, they are able to stop Victor and Carla from escaping with the Crown Jewels and have them apprehended. Elena personally sees to it that they never return to Avalor again, but this results in Victor and Carla swearing revenge against her and all of Avalor, including Esteban for helping see to their exile again. As reward for helping save his family and the festival from the Delgados' schemes, Esteban is hailed King of the Carnaval.
In the one-hour special "Realm of the Jaquins", Esteban is the only member of the Grand Council not happy with Elena for having ruled Avalor as Crown Princess for one year, leaving three more before she comes of age to be Queen, even feeling nervous when the mention of the Delgados is brought up. He sees off Elena as she leaves on Luna to go watch the Guardian Test that Skylar's younger brother Nico is taking part in under Mateo, Migs, and Chief Zephyr's supervision. Esteban assists his grandfather in trying to fight off the plant growth of the forest sprite Marimonda, after being warned in advance of her attack on Avalor by Zephyr's Jaquins, alongside the Royal Guards, to little success until Elena manages to imprison her again thanks to an illusion created with the Scepter of Light. Learning afterward that the ones responsible for Marimonda's escape from Vallaestrella was Victor Delgado and his daughter when Elena tells their grandparents everything, Esteban prepares for their return once more, knowing they want revenge for what happened with the Crown Jewels. Unknown to him or anyone else, Victor and Carla are working for Shuriki, who is planning revenge on Elena and her family.
Season 2[]
In "Royal Rivalry", when Elena calls an emergency meeting of the Grand Council to discuss the threat of Victor and Carla Delgado still being a threat to Avalor, Elena suggests allying with the neighboring kingdom of Paraíso, which Esteban is vehemently against due to Paraíso and Avalor being long-time rivals, and how if the Delgados make it across the border to Paraíso, they will never catch them and bring them to justice. Despite learning of what sparked the long-time feud from her grandparents, Elena suggests inviting the Paraíso Princess, Valentina, to Avalor to sign the peace treaty. When Elena calls the vote, Esteban is the only one to vote against it while everyone else supports Elena's idea. When Valentina arrives, she quickly begins boasting about Paraíso having better stuff, angering Esteban and his grandparents. In an attempt to quell the tension, Esteban and Elena take her to the Twin Xolos, but when Valentina finally pushes Elena too far herself, an attempt by Valentina to attack Elena brings the Twin Xolos statues to life, threatening everyone in the royal carriage. After Valentina confesses to being jealous of thinking Avalor had better stuff than Paraíso, she and Elena make amends and are able to return the Twin Xolos back to their inanimate forms. Valentina signs the treaty, and the Delgados and Shuriki are forced to rethink their plans once they see the increased patrols at the Avalor-Paraíso border. Afterwards, Esteban and Naomi try some of the Paraíso chocolate, but quickly agree that Avalor's is better.
In "Three Jaquins and a Princess", Esteban is with Elena in the kitchen, checking out Armando as he prepares his entry for the Avalor Bake-Off when Isabel comes in to show off her latest invention. However, when an accident with it ends up causing the pies it was carrying to hit Esteban in the face, he reprimands his young cousin for it, hurting Isabel's feelings. Later though, he makes it up to Isabel and helps her with her invention before she goes off to play with Migs and Dulce's new children Mingo, Zoom, and Estrella.
Later on, in the episode "Shapeshifters", Esteban learns of the return of Shuriki, and her new alliance with the revived Fiero and the Delgados during a Grand Council meeting. Elena, aims to hunt down Shuriki to kill her in revenge for the murder of her parents and the subjugation of her people. Esteban opposes this, both wanting his secret alliance with Shuriki a secret and knowing knowing the danger Shuriki herself poses to Elena's life. Esteban calls the Grand Council to vote on having Elena remain in the palace for her own safety under heavy guard from Gabe and his men. Francisco, Luisa, and Naomi all agree with Esteban, making it unanimous, but after Elena leaves saying they made the wrong choice, Esteban is still confident they made the right choice.
Esteban is mentioned in "The Scepter of Night", as being away on a diplomatic visit to the neighboring kingdom of Cordoba with Francisco and Luisa, but his earlier ruling that Elena stays in the palace under guard remains in effect, which Gabe remains ironclad to maintaining, even when joining Elena, Gabe, and Naomi with pursuing Shuriki and getting the pieces of the Scepter of Night before she does.
In the one-hour midseason finale special, "Song of the Sirenas" Esteban and his family travel to Nueva Vista on their summer vacation. However, they have an encounter with the Sirenas while en route, and then meet up with Duke Cristobal upon arrival in Nueva Vista. Later on, following the parade held for Elena celebrating her two-year-long victory over Shuriki, Esteban and his family is horrified when they find themselves face-to-face with Shuriki herself, aided by Fiero, the Delgados, Cruz, and Vestia. The Flores family are imprisoned in the tower to be executed later, whilst Shuriki and her minions lay claim to their conquest of Avalor. Elena joins them shortly afterwards with Princess Marisa, the crown princess of the Sirenas, revealing Duke Cristobal to be allied with Shuriki, having betrayed them for gold. Mateo, Naomi, and Gabe break them out with Migs, Luna, and Skylar, and they attempt to flee back to Avalor City, but are pursued by Shuriki on the Duke's yacht. Despite Esteban's protests, he is escorted below deck alongside his grandparents and Isabel, whilst Elena flies on Skylar, intent on facing Shuriki without her scepter.
Luckily, Sirena King Pescoro and his people arrive to save Marisa, having been warned of her capture by her brother Crown Prince Marzel. The Sirenas arm Elena with her scepter and crash Cristobal's yacht onto the palace, giving Elena's family time to escape, and more importantly, giving Elena enough time to fight Shuriki. That evening, Esteban and the others regroup with Elena and Skylar at the palace, where they are informed that Shuriki is gone for good. Despite Esteban's doubts, Elena confirms Shuriki's death, much to the Chancellor's relief knowing that his aunt and uncle were avenged for good and that his secret can remain dormant.
In the following episode, "The Tides of Change," Esteban is called to a Grand Council meeting in regards to an official peace treaty between humans and Sirenas. Although Esteban is opposed to this, he votes in favor of the treaty, believing that everyone should have the chance to atone for past mistakes (referencing his previous treason with Shuriki).
In "Snow Place Like Home," Esteban is excited to celebrate Noche Buenes with his family, however he is distraught to learn that a blizzard has prevented his grandparents and Isabel from returning. Despite Elena's attempts to cheer him up, Esteban remains stubborn, impatient, and grumpy, even unintentionally sabotaging Matteo's spell to stop the blizzard. Eventually after Elena is heart-broken at her failures, Esteban reveals to his friends how he lost his parents in a shipwreck during a blizzard, and how he doesn't want to lose his family. He soon realizes how badly he has treated Elena and apologizes to her. After Mateo stops the blizzard, Esteban's grandparents and Isabel return and they celebrate Noche Buenes together.
Later on, in "Movin' On Up", Esteban doesn't take too kindly to some of the changes that Rafa makes to the palace due to her wanting to be with Mateo after he was granted his own quarters in the palace, still believing he needs her help. One, in particular, is a plant he tried to hide behind some curtains. Later on, when Rafa finally heads home, now convinced of Mateo's maturity and ability to handle himself without her support, Esteban is too late to return the plant to her before she departs. At the end of the episode, he drops it from the tower so it smashes on the ground below.
In the Season 2 finale, "Naomi Knows Best", Esteban joins Elena when she travels to King Joaquín's kingdom under the pretense that he had captured the Delgados. Naomi voices her suspicion, to which Esteban dismisses her to not point out the details. On the way to Coriza, Esteban apologizes to Elena for voicing his doubts about her leadership and expresses optimism in her leadership. Upon their arrival, they find themselves lured into a trap by the Delgados, lead by their long-lost matriarch, Ash. Whilst Esteban, Mateo, King Joaquín, and his guards are locked up Elena is taken prisoner by the Delgados. With the stolen jewel from Shuriki's scepter, the Delgados plan on using it to drain Elena of her magic and transfer it to her in order to become powerful enough to conquer Avalor. When Victor locks up Gabe after a failed attack, he taunts Esteban, having finally bested him. However, Esteban and the others are freed after Naomi tricks Victor into destroying the cell walls. Whilst Naomi, Matteo, and Gabe go after Elena and face off against Ash, Esteban and King Joaquín apprehend Victor, who is later shipped back to Avalor and arrested for his crimes in aiding Shuriki. Esteban returns to Avalor to aid Princess Elena in preparation for Ash's return.
Season 3[]
Feast of Friendship[]
In "The Incredible, Shrinking Royals," Esteban is angered that he was not invited to the Feast of Friendship among rulers. He and Dona Paloma devise a scheme to sabotage the feast and remind Elena how important they are by inviting the greedy King Hector, who notoriously gets along with no one. However, this results in the royals getting miniaturized after an argument caused by Hector gets too loud. Fortunately, Julio is able to save the shrunken royals from danger and the feast commences.
In the following episode, "Norberg Peace Prize," Elena remains disappointed in Esteban for inviting King Hector to the feast. When she is attempting to resolve a dispute between Queen Abigail and King Hector, Esteban gives Elena her father's old notebook, giving her the power of knowledge in matters of diplomacy to help her fix the situation.
Truth Revealed[]
In the one-hour special, "The Magic Within," Esteban helps his family plan another Carnaval, still eagerly in love with the celebration. However, Elena is absent from the preparations for the holiday, still on the hunt for Ash Delgado. The next morning, Esteban visits Elena in the dungeon, having been informed by Mateo that Ash was captured. Elena is happy to confirm this to her cousin, declaring that all of Avalor's enemies are locked up. Victor takes the opportunity to taunt both Elena and Esteban by declaring that the latter would be locked up if that were the case. Whilst Esteban is nervous about Elena's reaction, he is relieved when Elena brushes Victor off again, still oblivious to the truth of Esteban's betrayal. When she is out of earshot, Esteban taunts Victor for his failed efforts, knowing that Elena will never believe a word he says, before leaving him in the dungeon.
Later that day, whilst preparing for the Carnaval, Elena is shown to have more powers since falling into Takaina during her encounter with Ash. She brings to live an alpumundi float, who she names "Flo" and her new scepter powers manage to reveal Flo's theft of Esteban's castanettes.
That night, before the celebration, Esteban and his family are having dinner. Elena and Isabel express their love before the Carnaval, as their parents did. Eventually the subject of the conversation changes to Shuriki's invasion, as Elena reveals that her parents had worked on the float when Shuriki invaded. As Elena explains to Flo who Shuriki was and what she had done to the kingdom, Esteban does his best to hide his guilt involving his secret. Eventually Isabel mentions how Esteban supposedly accompanied Raul and Lucia to work on the float, which gets his family to inquire him what the float looked like. Esteban lies, feigning memory loss, but his aggravated outbursts and attempts to conceal the truth draw suspicion from Elena. Despite Esteban's pleas otherwise, she uses her scepter to look 44 years into the past to see where Esteban was on the day her parents died.
In that vision, she and the family witness a teenaged Esteban and Victor helping a disguised Shuriki into Avalor. In the vision, Esteban gives away the location of Elena's parents and aims to lead Shuriki to them in the palace in order to conquer the kingdom. Enraged at the reveal of Esteban's betrayal in spite of his excuses, his family shun him, and Elena calls for his arrest.
The following morning, Esteban is in the dungeon, frustrated at his imprisonment during the Carnaval parade. Despite the Delgados taunts, he is confident that his family will forgive him once he explains his mistake. He is then summoned to a trial by the members of the Grand Council and is sent to answer for his treason 44 years ago. Esteban explains his case, stating that he felt invisible in the palace after losing his parents, and teamed up with Shuriki in an attempt to be seen and heard, not knowing that Shuriki had ulterior motives, nor recognizing his mistake until it was too late. Esteban's grandfather forgives him, but Luisa, Naomi, and Elena refuse to, holding him responsible for the loss of Avalor's King and Queen and for Shuriki's tyranny over the kingdom. However, Elena refuses to lock Esteban in the dungeon, and instead sentences him to exile on Soledad Island to live out his days in isolation. Esteban's sentence is voted majority rules, and he is re-incarcerated until the end of the celebration.
Esteban is distraught at his fate, made even worse by the Delgados' taunts. However, Esteban has another plan up his sleeve. He fools private Higgins into giving him a sunbird statue, claiming it was a remnant of his mother's memory. The sunbird statue turned out to be hiding a key that Esteban had planted during Shuriki's rule in case she ever double-crossed him. Esteban initially wants to run away and leave the Delgados imprisoned, but Ash convinces him to use them as protection against Elena and Matteo's powerful magic. Esteban reluctantly agrees and frees them, before heading to the treasury to shut off the booby traps and retrieve the family's tamboritas. Whilst there, he looks at a painting of him and his family, and hesitates out of guilt for betraying his family a second time, before handing over the tamboritas to the malvagos.
The Delgados are about to betray Esteban, but he convinces them that they are in need of his help to escape the kingdom as he is of them to stand a chance against a search party, to which Ash obliges. As they make their escape, Elena's emotion magic sets off an avalanche, nearly killing Carla and Esteban. This results in Victor refusing to follow Ash to Takaina, claiming that their daughter matters more than their baned pursuits. As punishment, Ash petrifies Victor, and abandons Carla to the authorities. Esteban, having witnessed the altercation, flees with Ash, abandoning his partner to the mercy of an evil sorceress once again. With Esteban's treason revealed, and on the loose with Ash, many things will change in Avalor throughout the next two years of Elena's rule as Crown Princess.
Working for Ash[]
In "Captain Mateo", Esteban reluctantly leads Ash to Takaina after losing his horse, and later encounters Elena, whom he fails to defend from Ash's violence. Esteban tries to speak with Elena, trying to reason for his past actions, but she refuses to listen. Elena's anger towards her cousin causes her magic to leivate everyone and when she finally calms down, Esteban falls into the Well of Crystals, causing him to gain teleportation powers. However, Esteban has no control over them and accidentally teleports himself, Ash, and everyone else out of the temple. While the temple is sealed by Elena, Ash decides that Esteban must be trained to properly use his new magic before they can go back to Takaina and returns to Zopilote, her mentor in assistance, in training him.
In "Dreamcatcher", Elena refuses to mention or discuss Esteban, not wanting to be reminded of how he got her parents killed and have her new emotion magic set off. This results in her having dreams, representing what her cousin did to her parents in the form of a squirrel stealing and shattering her mother's tiara. Esteban is reluctant and unhappy with his new powers and wants nothing more than to return home to Avalor, frustrating Ash and Zopilote. They remind him that Elena seeks to banish Esteban, and that mastering his power of the crystal forge is the only way to keep him from his family's mercy. During one of Esteban's training sessions, he is transported back to Avalor by Elena to confront him and her unresolved feelings regarding his actions. Esteban declares he'll do whatever it takes to make things right between them and promises to reveal the location of Ash and Zopilote, but stays silent when Elena finally expresses her full anger and sadness towards him for his betrayal. Esteban simply apologizes and wishes he could take back what he did. However, despite Esteban's apology and remorse, Elena declares him to no longer be family, shocking and devastating Esteban. Afterwards, he is transported back to Ash and Zopilote. Following being officially disowned by Elena, Esteban decides to finally put the past behind him once and for all and officially turns to the side of evil. From then onwards, Esteban begins to embrace his magic at last and finally starts to take his training more seriously.
In “Spirit of a Wizard”, Esteban has fully mastered his teleportation powers. He and Ash learn from Zopilote that the entrance to Takaina is sealed shut by enchanted crystals, which Esteban quickly deduces is the work of Elena’s scepter, noting how powerful it’s become since Elena fell into the Well of Crystals. When Ash expresses disappointment about not being able to obtain the power Elena has, Esteban jokingly comments that now she needs her scepter for that, but Ash takes the remark seriously and therefore the three come up with a plan to obtain it. Esteban uses his powers to locate Elena and is surprised to learn that Alacazar is with her, explaining that he was once Avalor’s royal master wizard who hasn’t been seen for over forty years. Later, the three allies ambush Elena, Mateo, Flo, and Alacazar using fake firestones to lure them. After a brief struggle, Esteban manages to get ahold of Elena’s scepter using his powers, though he still refuses to allow Ash to hurt Elena. When Zopilote strikes down Alacazar, Esteban is concerned, remembering how Alacazar protected the surviving members of Elena's family from Shuriki's purge 44 years ago. Despite his guilt, he, Zopilote, and Ash escape with the scepter.
However, Ash later discovers that she cannot use the scepter since it only channels good magic and Elena manages to get it back thanks to Mateo. When Zopilote attempts to attack Mateo, he gets turned into a small yellow bird, much to Ash and Esteban’s shock. Elena tries to blast them, but Esteban uses his powers to teleport him and Ash away. Ash blames Esteban for what happened to Zopilote, stating that he should’ve let her get Elena when she had the chance, though Esteban argues that Elena is still his cousin. Ash reminds Esteban that Elena didn’t hesitate in trying to blast him and claims that the only way to truly be safe is to stop her before she stops them. She decides to create an evil alliance with other villains and proclaims that together they’ll defeat Princess Elena. Though reluctant at first, Esteban ultimately agrees.
In “The Last Laugh”, Esteban and Ash decide to recruit Chatana, an ancient winged sorceress with the power to conjure monsters, as a member of their evil alliance. Ash explains to Esteban that she will bribe Chatana into joining them with her golden diadem, the source of all her powers. Ash then attempts to free her from her imprisonment only to discover that the vault she’s inside of is boobytrapped. Esteban and Ash are transported miles away from it, so Ash tells him to use his powers to teleport them back. Esteban argues that he can’t take them all the way back there in one jump, to which Ash says that anything is better than walking. Esteban agrees and teleports them both. Eventually, they run into Chatana and introduce themselves to her, though Esteban becomes annoyed when Ash refers to him as her trainee. After Ash explains to Chatana why she freed her and promises to give her golden diadem back if she helps them, Chatana asks her pet Pili what he thinks, to which Pili says that Ash is definitely evil, but Esteban may be even worse. Esteban agrees with a smirk, and Chatana joins their team.
In “Giant Steps”, Esteban teleports Ash, Chatana, Pili, and their new ally Tziloco to the gateway to Vallestrella, where Tziloco opens it up by producing a fake jaquin paw. They plan on recruiting Chatana’s most fearsome giant Kizin. On their way, Tziloco senses someone using magic to locate them, which Esteban realizes must be Elena and tells Ash to use her Cloaking Spell. Chatana also creates baby spider eagles as a diversion, though Esteban believes adult spider eagles would’ve been more efficient until Pili assures him that they’ll do. Once the team reaches the mountain in which Kizin is trapped under, Esteban teleports them in front of it and Ash frees him. When Esteban sees Kizin for the first time, he is baffled as to how such a babyish creature could be so dangerous, yet he still attempts to convince the giant to join their alliance by complimenting him. Though Kizin takes a liking to Esteban, he refuses to help because he is mad at Chatana for not freeing him sooner and almost steps on them until Esteban teleports them away. The allies leave Vallestrella, planning on recruiting villains from the other side of Avalor.
Impact[]
Whilst Esteban's team of villains continues their ploy to conquer Avalor, Elena undergoes many emotions and revelations in relation to her now-estranged cousin. In "The Lightning Warrior," Elena's broken arm forces her to train left handed to prepare for Esteban and Ash's next attack. During her travel with Victor and Carla Delgado on their way to free Ixlan, Elena and Victor reminisce their youth, with Victor mentioning how he, Princess Elena, and Esteban were friends, prior to Shuriki's invasion that tore them apart. At the end of the episode, Victor and Carla take responsibility for creating the threat that Elena faces in the form of Ash and Esteban and relinquish their baned magic in order to help the Crown Princess and her friends defend Avalor.
In "Dia De Las Madres," Elena uses her scepter to show visions of her favorite Mother's Day. In those visions, Esteban appears numerous times, as he had recently begun living with the royal family in the palace after he had lost his parents in the shipwreck. Elena witnesses the happiness in those memories and questions Esteban's claim of him not being a part of the family. She and her grandparents decide to focus on more happy memories of the past rather than the painful truths of the future, and see more visions of Dia De Las Madres, witnessing Esteban playing with his cousins and grandparents. However, he becomes depressed upon seeing other children declare their love for their mothers. Later on, to cheer him up, Luisa shows Esteban trees depicting their family's history, such as his parents' marriage. Inspired, he willingly misses out on his family's painting portrait to plant a tree himself to honor his mother and grandmother.
The revelation of all this makes Elena and Luisa become more sympathetic towards Esteban despite their initial disownment of him, and near the end of the episode, Elena calls him "Cousin Esteban" with a smile on her face.
In "Elena's Day Off" Elena is stressed out about plans for her coronation, especially with Esteban and his team of villains still on the loose and set to invade. To prepare, Elena makes a mini-sculpture of Esteban along with Ash and Tziloco
In the penultimate episode, "To Queen or Not to Queen" Elena wonders what her life would be like if she wouldn't beome Queen. To help her answer this question, her spirit guide Zuzo shows her a vision of an alternate reality where Esteban and Dona Paloma rule Avalor with an iron fist as King and Queen, being shown when one group of competitors that Mateo and Gabe race against win by default due to bribing Esteban to ensure their victory. When Elena confronts him about it, Esteban has her taken to the dungeon. After Naomi, Gabe, and Mateo bust her out, she encourages the citizens to revolt and overthrow Esteban and Dona Paloma, becoming the queen that she was desitined to be. After it succeeds, Elena awakens from the dream.
Redemption[]
In the series finale, "Coronation Day", Esteban joins Ash and her team as they lay siege to Nueva Vista and Coronado as part of a plan to unleash the Shadows of the Night to take over Avalor. When Elena arrives to protect Marisa and the Sirenas, Esteban orders Elena to leave for her own safety, but finds his pleas fall on deaf ears. A fight ensues, in which Esteban's allies are imprisoned. Esteban uses his teleporation powers to escape and join Ash near the top of a formation, where she performs an incantation to free the Shadows of the Night. Elena, still angry at Esteban for his betrayal, attacks him, leaving Ash to complete the spell. She, Flo, and Ash as result, are sucked into the Spirit World whilst the Shadows of the Night (re-naming themselves the Four Shades of Awesome) escape. Esteban lies, saying that he was responsible for the Shades' freedom, and sends them to attack the rest of Elena's allies. They are sent packing, whilst Esteban teleports onto the ship.
No longer taking orders from Ash, and having given up on getting Elena's forgiveness, Esteban takes command of the Four Shades, and demands they help him invade Avalor so he can be King. The invasion goes as planned, with the Shades spreading chaos and darkness all over Avalor. Whilst Hetz is taken out by Crown Princess Isabel, the other shades are too powerful. Cahu invades the palace and confronts Fransisco and Luisa. Esteban protects them from her wrath and gives them a chance to hear him out. Esteban explains how his whole life he has been ignored - by his parents when they went on the voyage against his wishes, by King Raul when he warned them of Shuriki, from Shuriki herself when she promised no causalties in her invasion, and by Elena herself when Esteban was forced to answer for his crimes. He claims that being King would make everyone listen to him, only for Luisa to tell him that he won't be loved, and instead will be remembered as the villain who stole his home from his family. These words have an effect on Esteban, but before he could react, Cahu uses her magic to do away with Esteban's grandparents, petrifying them. Esteban demands she bring them back to life, only for Cahu to tell him he keeps making the same mistake every time he allies with someone: trusting those who pretend to listen, as he did with Shuriki, Ash, and later Cahu. The Time Shade threatens to do away with Esteban, forcing the false King to comply, leaving Avalor in the hands of darkness. Esteban reflects upon his actions, believing it is too late to make up for his mistakes.
Meanwhile, in the Spirit World, Elena and Ash are forced to compete against each other in an Olaball match to see who is freed from the Spirit World and who remains. Elena's team falters and she gets frustrated under pressure. When her parents question her, she reveals that in spite of her bringing Shuriki to justice, she is distraught over Esteban's escape, and vows revenge. Raul and Lucia inform Elena that her job is to protect the kingdom, not to get revenge for what happened to them, as it won't bring them back. The late King and Queen then reveal that Esteban had tried to warn them about Shuriki invading after Raul prevented her from attacking Avalor's allies, but was ignored and thus sided with Shuriki. This revelation makes Elena realize her mistake in going after Esteban and not Ash. Upon losing the Olaball tournament, and getting sent back to the Spirit World, Elena resolves to save the kingdom once and for all, ready to redeem herself.
When Elena returns and sends Vuli and Yolo back to the Spirit World, Cahu chases her down, eventually cornering her in the courtyard. Their battle is heard by Esteban, who teleports near the balcony to witness Cahu about to strike down Elena in the same location and manner where Shuriki took the lives of his aunt and uncle during her invasion 45 years ago. In spite of Elena's disownment of him subsequent attempts to exact revenge, Esteban cannot bear to see history repeat itself again, and thus teleports in front of her to take a fatal hit. As he is slowly and painfully petrified, he apologizes to Elena for everything he had done against her, hoping to find some redemption before his inevitable death. Heartbroken by his noble sacrifice and apology for his actions against her, Elena forgives him, resulting in her emotion magic being triggered, restoring Esteban to flesh and blood.
Together, the two cousins destroy Cahu's hourglass, stripping her of her powers, before banishing her back to the Spirit World to join the other Shades once and for all, undoing all their damage to Avalor in the process. Quita Moz then arrives to reveal that Elena's test was forgiving Esteban. By forgiving him, she passed her test, and can now become Queen. Reunited with his family, and having finally found peace after 45 years, Esteban attends Elena's coronation as Queen, and when Elena names Naomi her new Chancellor, Esteban gives his blessing to Naomi, knowing that she earned it since he no longer needed it. Esteban joins in the celebratory dance afterwards, which is also attended by the Royal Family of Enchancia.
Trivia[]
- Esteban is technically Elena's Regent, as he helped keep Avalor safe and intact during her absence, and serves as her mentor in leadership before she takes the throne.
- According to "Island of Youth", Esteban was a picky eater when he was younger and would only eat his food if his grandparents pretended the spoon was a jaquin flying around.
- It’s also revealed in "Island of Youth" that Esteban feels he was never able to pursue his own passions because he was always being told what to do and still is.
- He and Duke Cristóbal are the only Royal Family members to have lived through Shuriki's reign.
- Esteban has a rivalry with Doña Paloma, who later serves as his replacement on the Grand Council.
- His name is "Steven" in English.
- Esteban has the same sash as his aunt Lucia, meaning that he possibly wears his aunt’s sash out of remembrance.
See also[]
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