Ever After High (Way Too Wonderland): A Royal Flush

Written by Daniel – We have finally arrived at The Queen of Hearts Birthday Tea Party. Or at least Courtney Jester has! Our heroes; Raven, Apple, Liz, Madeline, Briar, and Kitty have gotten lost due to the White Rabbits shoddy sense of direction. The longer it takes them, the more time Courtney has to track down the Cheshire Cat and the storybook of legends, because if she gets hold of that, she’ll write Liz out, and write herself into Wonderland royalty.

It’s the final episode of series 3 of Ever After High, and as I reflect on the series, I can’t help but think that it would have hugely benefited from being released as a film (in much the same way that series two was simply an extended episode). Unlike series one which was composed of distinctly different stories (with a running motif of the Story Book of Legends), this four part series has been a continuous story, each episode following on directly form the last – it could have been marketed as ’24’ for fairy tale princesses. Had I watched this episode as part of a Ever After High marathon, I think it would have been fun and satisfying. Having watched the episode a fortnight after the last one, it just wasn’t very satisfying and seemed to pack too much into such a short space of time, which may have been redeemed had it been spread out over two episodes.  I think it is the result of this fast pace which actually made me feel for our villain Courtney Jester. 

Ever After High (Way Too Wonderland): Card Tricks

Written by Daniel – It’s the first episode ‘Card Tricks’ of Series 3 to Ever After High. This series has been dubbed ‘Way Too Wonderland’, as the characters begin their investigations into the Wonderland Curse: asking why did Raven’s mother (Evil Queen) closed the bridge between Wonderland and Ever After High? What are the headmasters are really hiding form the students when it comes to the Story Book of Legends? And just where is the Storybook of Legends hiding?

The episode opens at breakfast time in Ever After High, and Apple has an announcement to make, concerning a new project to document Wonderland, it’s magic and its people, for the school paper. Apple calls upon the help of her fellow students, though the turn out is much smaller than she’d hoped: The students which come to her aid include; Raven, Madeline, Liz of Hearts, Bunny, Alistair, Briar, Kitty and new characters; Faybelle (a dark fairy – who quickly leaves frustrated by the goodhearted group) and Darling Charming (sister to Damien and Daring?). At their first meeting, Brooke, the impatient young narrator, interrupts the events to warn Madeline that The Queen of Hearts (Liz’s mother) is in danger, someone intends to steal her crown – today!! Leaving it up to the rag-tag bunch of kids to find a way into Wonderland and save Liz’s mother, before it’s too late.

Ever After High – Thronecoming

Written by Dan – Thoughts on Ever After High ep. 4 ‘Thronecoming’, which for some reason is 45 minuets long (the format of this series is a mess, the content doesn’t justify the messiness or vice versa, it’s just a good job that what’s going on in the episodes themselves is actually quite good).

It’s Thronecoming, because apparently all the students do at Ever After High is party. I’ve opened this post with a dose of cynicism, but when all things are said and done, this episode is really quite enjoyable. It’s the lead up to Thronecoming (which is essentially prom) where there will be a second chance to sign the book of legends.A decision made by Headmaster Grimm in an effort to get Raven to final sign the book, once and for all, sealing her destiny. 

Ever After High – Welcome to Ever After (part 2)

Written By Dan – Ever After High ep. 2 ‘Welcome to Ever After’ on Netflix is presented as a series of shorts/chapters, which act as a prequel to the events of ep. 1 ‘Legacy Day’. This is part 2 of my review, in which I will be continuing to look at three more chapters from the episode:

In this second part we’ll be looking at three more chapters; Madeline-in-chief; Catching Raven; and, Briar’s Study Party. In which the episodes explore politics, unacquainted love, and studying for exams. Here goes…  

Ever After High – Welcome to Ever After (part 1)

Written By Dan – Ever After High ep. 2 ‘Welcome to Ever After’ on Netflix is presented as a series of shorts, which act as a prequel to the events of ep. 1 ‘Legacy Day’. Which then concludes with the final moments of legacy day and the following two days and the raised tension between the royals and the rebels.

In this review, to get the most out of what’s actually going on, I thought I’d review each segment/story line individually. So without further ado, let’s begin at the beginning:

Ever After High – Legacy Day

Written by Dan – Thoughts on Ever After High ep. 1: ‘Legacy Day’. In which we are introduced to Raven Queen (daughter of the Evil Queen) and Apple White (daughter of Snow White).

Ever After High is the high school for all the sons and daughters of all our favourite fairy tails, we join our main characters on the lead up to Legacy Day, where students sign the Storybook of Legends and swear to fulfil their destiny by retelling the stories their parents did. I see the show as an allegory for fairy tales being passed on generation by generation. What this means however is that everyone who is the child of an evil character is destined to be evil, and those born under heroes and royalty are destined to greatness. Raven Queen, doesn’t want to be evil, she doesn’t want her life spelled out for her, knowing that she will fail and be punished for things she does not want to do. Raven is not an evil or selfish person, she just wants control over her life, so threatens to abstain from taking part in Legacy Day. This prospect is terrifying to Apple White, who needs Raven to poison her, if she isn’t poisoned by Raven then she’ll never be saved by prince charming and she’ll never become queen.