PLEASE elaborate on Ixlan gloves Gabe
Of course 😌
Okay, this is an old new idea of mine. My irl friend and I watched EoA together some time ago, and she complained a lot about how Gabe’s story was handled in season 3, which resulted in our conversation about how the Lightning Warrior could have been improved if Gabe had been the Lightning Warrior, not Ixlan. It reminded me that it was literally my predication of how that episode would go when several episode titles dropped back in 2020.
Here I’ll tell you how I imagine this episode would have gone if it had been focused on Gabe and why I think it would have made lots of sense for Gabe’s story, especially in season 3.
So, in this version of the Lighting Warrior Ixlan is not even alive. Inside the temple, there is no living Maruvian warrior there, there are only her gloves that either Maruvians or Quita Moz hid long ago to keep them safe from the attack of the Shadows of the Night. Gabe joins Elena, Naomi, Victor, and Carla on the way to the island because it’s not safe to leave Elena and Naomi alone, besides he needs to practice his magic skills and finally prove he was the right pick for Captain. When they finally get the gloves, Gabe is the one who gets to use them.
My reasoning behind Gabe getting Ixlan’s gloves is fueled by both my not total satisfaction with season 3 and also by my speculations on how Gabe’s story could have been handled differently because personally, I love Gabe’s story in season 3 a lot.
I understand why Ixlan is an important character within the show universe. She’s one of the two human characters of Maruvian origin, and there could have been endless possibilities of utilizing her. But in reality, Ixlan is useless. If you remove her from the show, nothing changes (she appears only like thrice, I believe?). Frankly, she’s useless not only as a character but also as Elena’s ally because she’s powerless without her gloves. Her gloves are a lot more important than she is. So, this is why I think nothing would have changed if they kept the gloves as only a powerful weapon and gave it to some other character.
Why do I think Gabe is the perfect character to get Ixlan’s gloves? It’s simple. Gabe’s entire arc in season 3 is about his relationship with magic and how the lack of his magical abilities affects his contribution to the defense of his kingdom and his self-perception in general.
In Coronation Day, Gabe doesn’t use a tamborita. He’s still devoted to his guard self and he’s not ready to give up on his skills in favour of a tamborita which is exclusively a wizard’s weapon. But he doesn’t mind Mateo enchanting his sword. Gabe’s approach to introducing magic into the royal guard system is not to replace standard swords with tamboritas, his approach is to combine standard swords with magic.
The Lightning Warrior could have served as a transition point between Crash Course (Gabe using a tamborita) and Coronation Day (Gabe using his sword and being useless in magic battles again). He could have realized that he didn’t need a tamborita to prove his worth as Captain. But he needed to upgrade his arsenal that would also expand his capabilities.
Ixlan’s gloves are magical. But you also need endurance, speed, and physical strength to use them effectively. This is exactly what Gabe needed. A magical weapon that would complement his strengths and skills, not erase them.
Besides, Gabe desperately needed a visual upgrade. He’s literally the only character who looks exactly the same in the final shot of the whole show in comparison to the final shot of the intro. They even took his second belt away from him.
Anyway, it is not necessary to remove Ixlan to give Gabe her gloves. She could at least tell him how her gloves work and even let him use them. But their dynamic has potential given that they’re both warriors. Ixlan was a warrior during the Maruvian times, and Gabe is a modern day royal guard (for this reason I’m also forever sad Gabe doesn’t appear in Luna’s Big Leap but as always, this is a topic to another essay). I’m sure they would have a lot to talk about. It can easily be one of the aspects to explore in Gabe’s post-canon story.
Thank you for the ask!












