#something like analysis

[lieutenant-amuel]

My humble takes on Gabe’s development.

So, my friend and I talked about Gabe some time ago, namely his development, since it being subtle has always been one of the hottest takes in the fandom. She pushed me to share some of my thoughts, and I couldn’t resist, sure thing, so catch a little analysis that is actually not little.

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I’d like to start with his relationship with Elena, since this is the aspect where his development is the most noticeable and I already brought it up in some of my previous posts, like my thoughts on Gabe’s relationship with Elena and Naomi and I also made a gifset displaying their growth. But this time I strictly focus on Gabe.

In early season 1, we can see Gabe acting like “a tough macho” but the thing I want to point out is that he acts like that around Elena only (we can see him being formal with Francisco and Esteban in the early episodes and strategizing how to stop the lava in All Heated Up) because he wants to impress her (I’ll elaborate it below). However, it comes to nothing almost completely after Olaball where he opens up about his insecurities to her.

The take I’m truly stuck with is that Gabe is deeply concerned about his origins. It doesn’t make him think he’s worthless or useless, though, but he still strives to impress people (especially Elena, because she’s the crown princess and he’s just a baker boy) around him and prove that he’s capable of doing everything that other guards can.

Once he lets Elena see his true self, he doesn’t need to impress her anymore. She sees him as her friend (which she directly tells him) and it allows him to see her as someone beyond a crown princess as well.

Their relationship is super dynamic, and it does affect Gabe as a person.

Early season 1 - he’s cocky, overconfident, and overprotective because he sees Elena and himself in the princess and her guard pattern. He’s a knight, she’s a princess, therefore, he has to protect her.

Mid-late season 1/early season 2 (aka post-Olaball/pre-Shapeshifters) - he’s Elena’s friend. It makes him more flexible and cooperative, although his protectiveness doesn’t leave him which means this is simply one of his personality traits that gets more or less intense depending on the situation. Another interesting thing is that his guard self around Elena gets nearly erased. He’s not bothered by being bold towards her in The Princess Knight, he joins her in the friendship activities like going to the beach (unsuccessfully), playing olaball, and even calls himself her best friend.

Season 2 - Gabe gets promoted to captain. He gains a higher rank and more responsibilities which affects the way he sees Elena. He’s back to his guard mode but from a different perspective this time. He’s not a knight in the shining armor who needs to protect and impress a princess anymore - he’s an officer who holds a huge responsibility. He becomes more overbearing even when he’s out of duty since we see how he basically gives orders to his friends and sees their search for Shuriki as a military mission (The Scepter of Night). I think he chills out a bit in the second half of season 2, but it’s hard to say anything about it, specifically about his relationship with Elena, since he goes on a mission and barely interacts with her. But it also speaks about how much his new position changes him, he embraces it and understands what he has on his shoulders now (although I wouldn’t mind seeing how he gets used to being a captain but it’s a topic for another essay).

Season 3 - their relationship is balanced out, as is Gabe. Season 3 really is the best at showing how much Gabe and Elena grew at understanding each other, and Captain Mateo is the display of it. Gabe does get hurt by the Grand Council’s decision but he still agrees on it after he has a conversation with Elena. He understands that her decision has nothing to do with how she views him as her friend (and at this point we can imagine a late season 1 Gabe being much more offended by her decision) - this is how the crown princess is supposed to act. They both get more professional and learn to see the border between friendship and duty without erasing one of these components. It’s balanced out. Gabe understands when he should let Elena take a lead and doesn’t stand on her way, while he’s able to see when she actually needs his help, too.

Elena forms Gabe as a person, as does the relation between them (a princess and a guard), and in my opinion, this is really one of the core aspects of his development. Gabe wouldn’t be the person we know without Elena.

***

Back to Gabe’s inner self and origins. As I already mentioned, the reason he could be considered “cocky” in early season 1 is his wish to impress people around him. We see these insecurities pop up in The Curse of El Guapo when he interacts with other guards in the barracks (“if I make captain, it’ll be because I earned it”; “I don’t need a fancy sword to win the competition”), and an interesting thing is that he steps back each time Rico talks about Gabe’s family which is why I think he does care about his origins a lot and it hurts him when it’s used in a derogatory manner.

But in this episode it’s shown from a bit different perspective than from what we see in Olaball (where he tries to make his father proud), because Gabe has no reason to doubt his worth as a guard here. He’s friends with a crown princess, his dad accepted his choice, he’s among the guards who are chosen as the next captain. But all his achievements get erased only because he was born in a humble family (and because of Rico’a envy, to be honest), and this time his problems basically get solved by the same solution again: he talks to Elena.

Gabe’s conflicts come from his desire to be respected, and it got developed because of his relationship with Roberto, aka his father, aka one of the most important people in his life. Gabe couldn’t gain his approval, and it made him strive for other people’s respect or even admiration so he could feel satisfied. And it overlaps with his insecurities about his origins plus his disability to talk about his feelings with other people (although we don’t know what caused it, perhaps it’s Roberto’s influence again).

I think this is a pretty neat detail, since this is not as obvious as his relationship with Elena, yet I still wouldn’t say it comes from nowhere. We get to see Gabe as a round character in Olaball, and this episode does explain why he acts the way he acts in the first episodes plus it gets a bit deeper in The Curse of El Guapo.

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Gabe’s development in season 3 is one of the things I talked quite a lot in the past, when the show was still going, but I’d still like to highlight it a little here as well.

Season 1 is mostly about Gabe’s growth as a person. We meet him in his roughest and by the end of this season, we have a clearer and deeper picture of him. Season 2 is about his guard self. He gets promoted to captain, and we see him growing in this area. And season 3 is about his relationship with magic. This is how I would characterize his role in each season.

Magic has always been foreign to Gabe which can be easily explained by the atmosphere of his childhood/adolescence when magic was forbidden. He doesn’t trust it at first and then simply doesn’t take it seriously, occasionally teasing Mateo. But what’s the most important: he can’t confront it which erases his skills in magical battles. He’s the first one (and basically the only one) who gets defeated in The Scepter of Night, he can’t fight Fiero in Song of the Sirenas, he becomes a magical snow storm victim in Snow Place Like Home, he ruins his own plan in Naomi Knows Best, and finally, he lets Delgados and Esteban escape.

Gabe never realized any of his failures until Doña Paloma directly pointed it out. It brings us back to the previous points I made in this post: Gabe wants to be respected. It is important for him to be respected by other people. But in Captain Mateo this wish is crashed down, he’s neglected, and it explains his rage at the Grand Council’s decision.

In Crash Course, Gabe gets a chance to make up for his mistake and it happens through learning magic. We all know how “stick to the plan” Gabe is, but despite this feature of his, I do find the way he acts in this episode valid. We basically see him at his lowest here, since Gabe is not good at talking about his feelings and he had to keep everything he told Mateo about to himself since Captain Mateo which is quite a long period of time. He doubted his worth as a captain and had to prove he deserved it via something he was terrible at.

Gabe learns magic because he understand that this is his main weakness and it prevents him from being the one he wants to be. But in Coronation Day, we see him combining his swordsmanship skills, something that determines who he really is, and magic, something that he had to grow on to complement his strengths.

His relationship with magic is also connected with his relationship with Mateo. He doesn’t trust magic, therefore doesn’t trust Mateo, a wizard, and it explains why Gabe treats him like that in Spellbound. He becomes friends with Mateo which makes his attitude towards magic either more playful and teasing-like or even admired. Generally, the way Gabe sees magic is usually linked to his mood around Mateo at the moment. Mateo broke the rudder? Ewww, magic is bad. Mateo shielded him and Naomi from Shuriki’s attack? Ooo, nice spell!

To conclude this part, I just want to say that through learning how to cooperate with Mateo and understand his strengths, Gabe also learnt the necessity to know magic. And the other way around. Through learning magic, Gabe learnt to appreciate Mateo and be patient with the differences between them.

***

Why did I even write this post? Yes, my friend inspired me to, as I already mentioned. But also, as somebody who has been a silent observer of the fandom for a very long time, I really often saw the takes I disagreed with but never debated with. I never considered Gabe’s development subtle (although at this point I just don’t know what development even is, perhaps) because I can clearly see how different season 1 and season 3 Gabes are.

One of the reasons Gabe became my favourite character is how much he grew on me. I didn’t like him in season 1 at all, but something turned upside down inside of me in season 2 and now he’s possibly my favourite fictional character of all time. It wouldn’t happen if he didn’t change.

Anyway, it got a bit personal at the end, so I’ll finish here! Thanks everyone for reading and feel free to share your thoughts!

[lieutenant-amuel]

Hey. There's something I'd like to share with you: a "Scepter of Light" episode missing scene. So, during the two days when Elena was asleep, Mateo (and maybe Naomi too) gets angry at Gabe for what happened to Elena and tells him that Elena was so close to defeat Orizaba, but he ruined it by "protecting" her and he also put Isabel in danger by bringing her to the battle which cost Elena her last remaining strength and put her in current state. When Gabe hears the words "If Elena never wakes up, it will be your fault.", he realizes that he truly is responsible for what happened and while protecting Elena is his duty, he shouldn't stand in her way if he wants her still alive and doesn't want to repeat the same situation.

I know it's a little harsh, but there has to be a little tension to make Gabe realize some of his mistakes.

What do you think?

This is a very cool idea, I love it!

Oh, and thank you for mentioning this episode, I now have an excuse to share some of my old observations that I’ve never shared before because I couldn’t find a fitting context for it. And wow, I’ll write it as a post, not tags.

So, we all know that Gabe referred to Elena as “a princess” in the first half of season 1, and the first time we hear him calling her by her name is in “The Scepter of Light.” We hear it twice.

This episode takes place after “Prince Too Charming” where we can see Gabe and Elena getting a bit closer and less formal, so this is why I like to think that we get to see a birth of their friendship in this episode that unsuccessfully continues in “The Scepter of Light.”

Gabe tries to protect her from Orizaba as her friend, not her guard. But he fails. And later on, in Navidad, we hear him calling her by her title and acting formal around her again.

All I want to say is that we see a slight step forward in the development of Gabe and Elena’s relationship, but then it comes back, because Gabe thinks he can’t be a good friend to Elena and serves her better as a guard (which also continues in “Olaball” until the moment Gabe opens up to Elena)

Far-fetched? Extremely. But who cares. I’ve been in a strong Gabe mood today so I had to speak out XD

Thanks for sharing your idea!

[lieutenant-amuel]

I know you’re a fan of Gabeomi, but I’ve been wondering about Gabe’s relationships with Naomi and Elena in general. Gabe seems to be close to both girls, but how do his relationships with Elena and Naomi differ? Do they progress and develop differently?

Well, I'm not sure what you're asking exactly, but as I got you're wondering how Gabe's relationship with Elena and Naomi was developing? Anyway, in that case, I want to make a little warning: I won't analyze it from the ship perspective because neither of these two relationships had a romantic purpose (yes, yes, Gabaomi being canon is like super obvious and such, but I, as a Gabaomi shipper, do not consider it canon because of a lack of the setup of their relationship and absolute absence of romantic interaction further. No, their dance doesn't count).

When it comes to Elena and Gabe, it took them longer to become friends compared to the rest of the four amigos dynamics, because originally they were introduced as "princess-guard" and their relationship was rather official. Although it was mostly coming from Gabe who, well, started referring to her by her name only in Olaball (actually, in "The Scepter of Light", but this is an another field for speculations), whereas Elena was friend-like to him basically since the beginning.

I already mentioned that I never perceived the way Gabe acted towards Elena as "him having a crush" (but again, this is a topic for other post) and for me, the turning point of their relationship was the olaball episode where Gabe opened up to Elena and they both kinda saw each other from the new perspectives (Elena finally sees Gabe's insecurities which he hid behind the mask of "the cool brave macho", whereas Gabe realizes that he doesn't need to act like this to make Elena care about him - she already sees him as her friend).

Further, their relationship actually can be called friendship. Gabe trains Elena to fence (and they had fencing lessons even before this episode!), they have adventures within their "four friends knot", and finally, they get even closer during "The Curse of El Guapo" when Gabe shares his feelings with Elena again. And this episode is generally interesting in terms of their relationship, because it really shows how much their friendship grew. Elena openly roots for Gabe in front of the other guards, and he didn't even feel uncomfortable about it. Like, this is how it's supposed to be.

And again, this is interesting, because as Gabe became captain, their relationship kinda degraded, and they returned to the "princess-guard" setting but in a different sense. Gabe used to be be a knight in the shining armor and now he's an Avaloran officer who takes his responsibility to protect the princess (and kingdom) very seriously.

They tried to balance it out (like in "The Scepter of Night"), but Gabe nonetheless wanted to be in charge. It kinda calls back the beginning of the show when Gabe was way too protective, but again, it happens for a different reason (which also speaks a lot about Gabe's growth as a character, just saying).

It's difficult to say anything about their relationship in the second half of season 2, since they barely interacted (and there was barely Gabe :')) but I think they already start to trust each other more, since Gabe doesn't object Elena's actions during the battle with Shuriki and doesn't stand on her way, trying to protect her, whereas Elena lets Gabe set off the mission to find Delgados in "Finding Zuzo."

And here comes season 3! This is the time they finally balance out their friendship and duties. I want to make the biggest emphasis on "Changing of the Guard" because honestly, this is really the peak of their relationship. For example, Gabe's playfulness on Elena's arrival to the recruit admission. This is so much different from "The Curse of El Guapo" when they both were kinda familiar with each other even though it was an official event yet they are not too official either like in the very beginning of the show or in the first half of season 2. They trust each other and let each other do their job without interfering, and this honestly is beautiful (and they still have their fencing lessons!)

The same is shown in "Captain Mateo" and "Crash Course." When it comes to the first one, their relationship was shown from the job perspective mostly, but Elena still tries to comfort Gabe and understand his feelings, whereas Gabe knows that this mission is important to Elena and is ready to hold back in order to help her, even if, well, this whole situation hurt him a lot.

"Crash Course" is more subtle mostly for the reason they barely interacted, but I love the beginning of this episode when Elena refers to Gabe "captain Nuñez" instead of his name. It again shows that they managed to balance their relationship out eventually.

In conclusion of Gabe's relationship with Elena, I want to say that it has been growing mostly in terms of mutual respect and ability to listen to each other. Their occupations have very big impact on them and their relationship, so I think this is the field where they both had to grow to become good friends.

I admit I have much less to say about Gabe and Naomi. But mostly for the reason Elena is the main character, so sure thing her relationships with other characters are more complex. If we take the four amigos dynamics without Elena, the most developed one is Gabe and Mateo because they had an interesting ongoing conflict, whereas Naomi has a much more subtle relationship with both of them (and especially with Mateo).

There were SO many times I talked about Gabe and Naomi’s relationship development, so I'm not even sure what I can add.

Well, they became friends because they both were friends with Elena, and then we saw them teasing each other and generally having fun time together (in Spellbound, Party of a Lifetime, Blockheads, for example) and sharing emotional and sweet moments (Captain Turner Returns and My Fair Naomi). I think the Scepter of Night storyline was the next step of their relationship since they kind of became battle buddies, whereas Elena usually united with Mateo because they both are magical.

"Naomi Knows Best" kinda moves their relationship even further since it was the first (and basically the only) time they fought without Elena and Mateo. Of course, they couldn’t find compromise at first, but by the end of the episode Gabe accepts he was wrong (man this is so difficult for me to say it. My opinion on this episode is so different from others akajansn), which definitely makes their relationship tighter and more polished.

And then, yeah, "Norberg Peace Prize" came. Was it sudden? Yes, I admit it was. But I keep sticking to my opinion of them getting closer during the battles and interacting a lot off-screen. Do I consider them a canon ship? No, I don’t. We got nothing of them in the future episodes, excluding "The Magic Within" and maybe "Captain Mateo" since Naomi was against the decision of making Mateo the captain (she either was biased or just had common sense unlike the majority of the council). We have no idea what Gabe thought of Naomi’s trip, there were several episodes featuring both of them but they didn’t interact up to Coronation Day. It’s just difficult for me to imagine them being a canon ship when it barely was shown so.

And in conclusion of Gabe's relationship with Naomi, I don’t think it changed much. They started as friends and acted like friends for the whole course of the show. Norberg Peace Prize doesn’t make any difference (to me at least), except, yes, they got a bit closer by the end of the show.

Gabe's relationship with both Elena and Naomi are different for many reasons and therefore it developed differently as well. I don’t think he’s much closer to any of them. They all are friends, and when it comes to romance, everyone is up for their own interpretations.

Thank you for the ask!

[lieutenant-amuel]

Hi! Another wonderful family analysis! Would you mind doing one on Mateo? I know we only meet his mother and grandfather, and we don’t even know if Alacazar is Mateo’s paternal or maternal grandfather. So I’d understand if it’s more difficult. But if you’re up for it, I’d love to see it!

Hello!! Thank you so much for the ask! I'm really so sorry I made you wait for so long!!

Mateo really is a bit difficult since, as you mentioned, we didn't get to see both of his parents, and he doesn't really resemble Rafa. They have different eyes colour, eyes, eyebrows, and nose shape, and complexion.

Anyway, I always thought Mateo nonetheless takes from Rafa. They have a pretty similar face shape, hair colour, and the body structure since they both are pretty skinny and not really tall.

What comes to Alacazar, I don't think they're similar even for a bit? Anyway, it might be a hair type. I know Alacazar is bald ×) but his beard tends to be a bit curly, and Mateo's hair is clearly curly as well, so it might make sense.

I think Rafa is Alacazar's daughter. Some facts from the canon can confirm that, but what comes to genetics, I don't think they resemble each other. I can't see any similarities between them.

In conclusion, I want to say that I like to think Mateo takes most of traits from his father, even though we never got to see him.

Thank you so much for the ask again!!

[lieutenant-amuel]

What do you think Gabe would be like if he had romantic feelings for someone? Do you think he would act on his feelings? Would he become aware of his feelings quickly? Or would it take awhile for him to realize his feelings?

Thank you so much for the ask!

So, I'm not sure how accurate it seems or would anyone agree with me, but I like to think that it would take him a while to realize his feelings and understand that the feeling he has is actually a love affection.

However, the more he spends time with the person he has feelings for, the more he's aware that he's actually in love (plus, I believe that Gabe is not a person who falls in love at the first sight. He's very soft to his loved ones, so needs to have a strong connection with whom he loves).

For me, when Gabe is genuinely in love, he's completely seized by this feeling and may feel a bit awkward and timid around the person he loves. He might try to impress them, but in a more naive way, I think?

Anyway, Gabe was never shown being in love in the show, so any interpretation has the right to exist. However, I don't see Gabe as a cool, confident alpha man in any way, especially when we talk about love. We saw him vulnerable and soft in the situations that are important to him (mostly ike in "Olaball" and "The Curse Of El Guapo"), so I believe he would be like this in the love aspect as well.

[lieutenant-amuel]

I feel like you are an expert in all things Gave related. I know your OTP for him is Gabeomi. I know that both Gabeomi and Gabelena are both popular ships for Gabe. However, you have such depth and insight into his character, so I want to hear your reasonings, as to why Naomi is the better love interest for Gabe then Elena.

Hello! Thank you so much for the ask! And it's really very touching that you decided to ask me about that!

Actually, I already received a similar ask some time ago, and the reasons why I love Gabe and Naomi together didn't really change since then. Here it is. Anyway, if you ask me what makes me love them more than Gabelena, then I'll just try to summarize.

For me, Gabe and Naomi understand each other better than Gabe and Elena. They have similar traits and also faced similar problems, like proving their worth, despite their origins. By the way, they both also are not magical.

Their relationship seems more lively and free, because they both are from humble families, and honestly, I don't think that Gabe would feel 100% comfortable with Elena because of that. As I was saying in one of my posts, Gabe was trying to impress Elena, even when they weren't close friends, so I think it would be difficult for him to see her as his girlfriend and wife eventually. Deep inside he still sees himself as a baker boy and doesn't think he deserves her. It's different with Naomi, so I think they would understand each other on the mental level much better.

Gabe interacts much more with Naomi than with Elena, especially since season 2. They work together during the battles, protect each other, and have a very high trust level, imo.

Besides, they spend time together outside the battles as well. Naomi chose Gabe as her teammate in "Blockheads", Gabe joined Naomi on the carnival in "The Magic Within" (he literally ran to the float after catching Ash. He didn't stay with Elena, he went to Naomi).

I may accept (or not really) Gabe might have had something for Elena, but with the new episodes coming up, it's perfectly clear to me that he becomes much closer to Naomi. He doesn't need to impress her or prove to her anything and even never tried to. He can always be himself with her, and this is definitely very important for him

Plus, sure, this is super subjective, but just to summarize, the main things I love about Gabaomi are:

1) their free, teasing, and friendship-like dynamic. They understand each other pretty well, and if their relationship was explored more in canon, their little crushes in NPP wouldn't seem like it came from nowhere and also because it just didn't.

2) they simply apply to me. I really love the friendship-ike dynamic between lovers and do think that the true love can be built only through friendship (because it always contains mutual respect and similar interests). They seem very lively and real to me, and I won't lie I kinda wish of having such a romantic relationship myself.

And I think that's it. I just want to say that this is only my opinion. This post wasn't written to offend Gabelena shippers and tell them that their ship is wrong. I just shared my thoughts and explained why I ship Gabaomi, without forcing anyone to love them too.

Thank you so much for the ask again! Hope I could explain well why I prefer Gabaomi over Gabelena and other ships as well!

[lieutenant-amuel]

Can you do Esteban for the genetic traits thing? I know we didn’t see his parents but at least with his other family?

Thank you so much for the ask! You asked me about this a very long time ago, and I'm really sorry for making you wait!

Anyway, I sure can! As you mentioned, we actually never saw Esteban's parents, but we nonetheless have his grandparents and aunt. Plus, we can simply try to speculate how his parents might have looked like, based on his own appearance and his relatives.

The thing I can say even without thinking, Esteban looks a lot like Francisco! Eye and hair colour, nose shape, face shape (although, Esteban has a more narrow face when he's older), including the cheekbones and chin.

What comes to his other relatives, I don't see any similarities between Esteban and Luisa. Luisa has very soft facial features, while Esteban's are much sharper.

Anyway, both Esteban and Lucia have a dark hair, brown eyes, and also, the widow's peak, so I suppose Margarita might have had the similar traits.

Esteban is tall. I don't remember any scenes where Esteban and Francisco stand together in the same scene, so I just compared them in relation to Elena probably, it's a dumb idea, but I really don't remember the scenes ahahshjdjfb sorry Elena and Francisco are almost the same height, though, Francisco is a bit taller. The height gap between Elena and Esteban is huge, therefore, Esteban is also much taller than Francisco (and definitely taller than Luisa and Lucia).

What comes to the body structure, Esteban is thinner than his grandparents, and it's fair enough to compare them since Esteban is an elderly as well (he's around 60 years old in the finale, even though it's hard to believe in ×)). Esteban has a different physique than all his relatives, so I suppose he might have inherited it from his father (and, maybe, he also had the sharp facial features).

And I think that's it! Thank you again for the ask!!

[lieutenant-amuel]

I like your thoughts in Gabe handling romantic feelings. And as one Harry Potter fan to another, do you think Gabe would be quicker to realize his feelings than Ron did for Hermione? It took Ron’s jealousy of Hermione going to the ball with Viktor Krum for his misunderstood feeling so to surface. Do you think Gabe would need a similar catalyst or could he realize his feelings his feelings in his own?

Thank you!

Honestly, this is a very interesting question, even though I didn't think about it that much. Generally, I think this is quite possible for Gabe to realize his feelings through jealousy or any other pushing factor.

Anyway, I wouldn't compare Gabe and Ron, due to their completely different personalities and age (Ron was just fourteen during the Yule Ball, therefore, a teenager, which makes him more emotional and impulsive. Although, I won't say that all teenagers are like this, it's very stereotypical, but in case of Ron, it makes sense)

I believe that Gabe might've had a romantic relationship before he met Elena, and I think, in case of the first romance, he needed something to help him to realize he's in love, but as he was getting older, he was able to realize it on his own, even though, in my opinion, it would take some time.