Episode 2: Games and Questions 💬
This episode is where the drama begins! It picks up on Elsa's decisions made at the end of Frozen 2 and also on Anna's willingness to befriend anyone without knowing who they really are.
The episode picks up where the previous one left off, when Elsa arrives and extinguishes the fire. Disa is amazed upon seeing Elsa's powers in action for the first time. When Disa came to visit first, when they were little, Anna told her about Elsa's powers, making her the first to know about Elsa's powers. They thankfully see some of the artifacts and books are still fine despite the fire.
After setting off the fire Elsa takes Anna out of the room to talk about what just happened. Elsa tells Anna off gently for allowing anyone to the archive. Then suddenly a Sankerhus fellow pops in to ask something from Anna and Anna acts as if she knows who he is. After the stranger leaves Elsa is quick to point out that Anna doesn't know who he is. To prove her point she asks about his last name. Anna makes up a name hesitantly but Elsa again notices she's lying. Familiar? That's because it's a reference to Kristoff asking about Hans' last name to which Anna replied “Of the Southern Isles ”. Anna gives in and says she's just doing what Elsa told her to do and to let Elsa trust her as she knows what she's doing. Elsa does make a point that the castle feels like a never ending banquet given a while other kingdom is mixed in with Arendelle. But then my favourite part of the episode, Anna can see Elsa misses being Queen! Anna tells Elsa, “Come on Elsa, admit you miss this”, and Elsa replies “You know I actually do”. For a fan who was a little down when Elsa stepped down as Queen (but isn't much anymore - a coming post explains why) and who hates seeing people say Elsa hated being Queen etc, I am really happy they showed this side of Elsa. It's not that Elsa didn't want it to be Queen but rather she didn't expect to be Queen so soon. Not only because of her parents deaths but mostly because she had to focus on controlling her powers and most of all her fear. Her part in "For the first time in forever" says it all. She always feared hurting innocent people with these dangerous powers and to rule hiding them would be hard given you meet and greet a lot of people. Elsa stepped down because she couldn't rule and look after the forest at the same time and she knew Anna would do great as Queen and it would reward her for having saved Elsa, Northuldra and Arendelle. So you ask why does Northuldra need protecting now? Well it's been trapped years under mist so it needs support in regaining its strength and now that more magic is revealed to the world, she knows it can attract people who want to study it, use it, control it, kill it, etc, as she suspects Disa doing here. I didn't for a minute expect Elsa to ever recall her days as Queen, but deep down inside I did want it to happen. It puts a close to those who think she didn't like being Queen or didn't love Arendelle. Elsa continues to say she's just so used to doing this alone. By that she means she knew what decisions were to be made and how to do them. She never needs help with Queenly pressures. She's not saying Anna isn't a good ruler or she isn't capable of making good decisions but rather saying that she misses it, but despite that she gave Anna the crown for a reason and trusts her to do what's best for Arendelle. So if you can't tell already I really loved this conversation between them.
I don't know how this story will turn out but I don't expect Anna stepping down or anything as big or important as that anyway because those things wouldn't be in the podcast I don't think.
Moving on, Disa barges in and then Olaf takes her to dinner. Olaf is so Olaf here. I love it. At the dinner table Anna suggests playing a game where you ask Questions related to your partner's Question. Kristoff and Sven go first, again voice actors are doing a great job at capturing the characters and original voice actors essence. Elsa and Disa are up next and this is when the tables turn and my second favourite moment on the episode begins! Disa asks Elsa why she wanted to see Arendelle's material and Disa asks why she left Arendelle. Elsa asks back why she's so interested in Arendelle to which Disa replies, why aren't you Queen of Arendelle. Elsa asks what she's getting at. As tensions rise, thunders rage and rain pours. Kristoff asks if Elsa's been in touch with Gale today, to which she replies not lately. The episode ends there with tensions rising between a former and current Queen suspecting each other.
So what we can make out here is Elsa suspects Disa of stealing Arendelle's knowledge of magic and using it for her own good. Disa however seems to be accusing Elsa of treason or betraying her own kingdom.. I'm not too sure but I think she's trying to show Elsa's disloyalty to her kingdom. Disa is intrigued by Elsa's magic and the forest's too.. I have a feeling Disa will take some of what is saved from the fire and use it to experiment with her science skills which will cause some kind of chaos but that's just a guess. I could be completely wrong about Disa going full villain.
I predict that Disa is the one causing chaos in the enchanted forest with the machines. The machines are all scientific but they're built with copper which Wolfgang is obsessed with. It could be that Weselton's copper is advanced. She doesn't like magic, she fears it, finds it strange and hence studies it to see if this is a threat or a gift to society. So perhaps she's experimenting in the forest. But I could be totally wrong. But Wolfagang seems like a weird yet innocent man who is genuinely trying to rectify his uncle's actions.
On another note as much as I wanted and some have theorized I don't think Hans is Wolfgang. His voice is different, and he's so crazy about copper and has two pet magpies that apparently can talk plus he knits. He definitely sounds like the nephew of the Duke. I mean would Hans go all out with the magpies and obsession with copper? But I do hope he appears at some point. If not in this season, then the next otherwise than save it for the movie as I do have a bit of hope for his appearance in Frozen 3, but that's for another post.
These episodes have actually been more fun than I imagined. It's interesting, it's fun, it references the two movies, the voice actors nail the original voice actors*. If the story goes down well in the other episodes, then Disney is pulling it off with the podcasts, if not then Disney should reconsider what part of the story they tell through podcasts. I'm excited to see how these will lead up to Frozen 3. I'm not too focused on the supposed theme of Science Vs Nature because story wise it's going great so far. I like a bit of drama because out of that you get reveals which play a part in the story.
But here are the downers to it so far. It seems like it's focused on Disa and Wolfagang while the main characters just play other supporting roles in their journey. When it was being promoted, it was about Elsa, Anna and the lot so it was kinda misleading.
But then again, I think perhaps this event might change Elsa and Anna's perspective on strangers, royal or not. I think they are showing Elsa and Anna learning to trust the right way. And maybe this might help with Hans' redemption if he reappears in Frozen 3. Because if Wolfagang is a genuinely nice man, it may make Elsa and Anna slightly open to forgiving past enemies. I think that's why the Duke's nephew was introduced here and why they could be saving Hans for the movie.
* If you didn't know already, the original cast aren't voicing this I'm assuming because of prep for Frozen 3 or perhaps to give a different feel to the podcasts then the movies. So a new cast is voicing them.
When the other episodes release we'll get further information on what Frozen 3 could be about and where the story is heading.
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