Return to Galavant: Galavant Reprises, as he rides, and with Isabella by Dan
The pilot episode of Galavant was pretty much mainly sung by the cast, all but one would be part of the overall opening song “Galavant”. This time, we have the next part, a very short portion called “Galavant Rides”, and this bridges more Galavant riding his horse to the castle, to rescue the kidnapped Madalena, who ended the Pilot song pleading for Galavant.
During the scene, Galavant is climbing stairs, going through guards that are generally neutral towards him, seeing him as a paragon of chivalry, and yet he does not care. We can also assume that he was fighting through even more guards, but the creative staff decided to limit it to the 34 second portion “Galavant Rides”. Now let’s start with this portion. After a few seconds of the tune starting up again, that is when Galavant sings confidently.
Galavant Rides - Galavant (Season 1)
Galavant: By all the stars above
I'll save my one true love!
Galavant starts off with an oath, swearing to the stars that he shall save Madalena. The stars are seen as symbols of guidance, enlightenment, spirituality, energy, dreams and aspirations. They are also known to be things we wish to, similar to how it is portrayed in the Disney animated movie “Pinocchio”. An oath dedicated to the stars can also imply that Galavant is also swearing to God that he will save the maiden. He dreams of going back home with Madalena, and she gives him hope and wants guidance.
Guard #1: Hey, look!
Guard #2: Oh, wow, it's him!
Both guards: It's Galava—
Here we have two guards that actually are starstruck (In more ways than one) by the hero, Galavant who established the standard for knighthood in this world. However, the fact that these two are helping Richard hold Madalena also means that they aren’t completely innocent. Galavant also shows that he doesn’t care who gets in his way, he shows that he is the knight, a hero dedicated to the Princess, in such a focused way, that no one could stop him.
Galavant: I shall not be denied
Until she's by my side!
(to another guard) I suggest you fall.
(The third guard does so.)
Thanks
As he’s singing this portion he is taking down several guards, and he continues his oath, unwavering, as he dreams of marriage, and protecting the fair maiden. (Although using that term with a woman like Madalena, considering how many times she and Galavant went at it, I doubt she’s a maiden anymore.)
We also see how much his status could inspire fear in those, as his legends go far and wide, as he requests the final soldier to fall, who faints after Galavant points his sword at him. Well, at least Galavant is considerate enough to thank him for obliging the request.
The next scene will require some spoilers in order to get to the next song, because we have context for it. What this series did was very fascinating. Many complain about “subversion”, but in many ways this series actually did it mostly right. Galavant pleads for Madalena to go with him, and tells Richard to surrender her peacefully, but he receives the worst break-up one can imagine.
After dashing all the way to the castle, breaking through the gates and fighting his way to the throne room, Madalena has to choose between love with Galavant, and the riches of the kingdom. Usually, the princesses like Peach or Zelda would much prefer love for their brave knights, rather than the prisons Mario and Link’s enemies have in mind for them, pleading for them to save them. But here, Madalena makes a decision that throws Galavant for a loop.
Madalena is a gold digger, and bluntly tells Galavant that she chooses King Richard over Galavant, a choice that actually irritates her. After this, something in Galavant broke, and he just surrendered, and was tossed out. Richard could have had his childhood friend and bodyguard, Gareth kill the hero, but he didn’t, because he figured it was a better revenge, and he killed something in Galavant.
And thus, the mighty hero Galavant had his heart shattered so much that it would be impossible to put it back together, and he became a wastrel and a drunkard, to the point where he did not care if people no longer respected or remembered him. In fact, he seems to hate reminders of his heroic days.
Here we are introduced to two characters. The first one is the diversity hire, the squire Si-
Here we are introduced to the final character, Princess Isabella, played by Karen David. She looks very Spanish, but the truth is, she has acted and sung all over the world, and she is very talented, and attractive.
Because her Kingdom was taken by King Richard, because he wants the world’s biggest jewel to give to the now extremely high maintenance, self-obsessed, narcissistic queen B… Witch of this series, she gives him a hard time when Richard has the jewel in his hand, and because she referenced Galavant, Richard decided on a convoluted plan, sending Princess Isabella to retrieve Galavant to unleash his revenge.
Isabella is one of the people who still remembers his heroics, and actually had a young girl’s fantasy about the heroic Galavant, and when she meets him, she is disgusted and horrified by what became of him, and tries to appeal to the noble knight within him, but it is met with deaf ears. She starts up in her own reprise, called “Galavant: Isabella Reprise”.
Galavant (Isabella Reprise) - Galavant (Season 1)
Isabella: Where is the gallant knight?
Who stood for truth and right?
As I just mentioned, she seems to have heard of his deeds, and tries to appeal to him through his inner goodness, that fought in the name of chivalry, and fought for what is right and just, but Galavant brushes it off. After all, after Galavant fought hard for Madalena, even in the background when he was the hero who saved her, for her to choose wealth and jewels over true love, it was probably shocking when she made the wrong choice, and showed a deceptive side to herself, essentially lying to him about how much she loved him. At this point, she is unaware of how much Madalena broke his heart, as she is trying to reach him.
The valiant dragon slayer, Galavant
Here we have a feat that many claim about Galavant, which is the complete opposite of the lush she meets. People have referenced it to be the greatest of his heroics, which is no easy feat. We know he can be clever, and a dragon is representative of the darkness a hero has to conquer, in order to reach the objective.
The fact that it is hinted he slew the dragon in the name of Madalena also is a crushing blow to him, showing how far he went and how much he did for that spoiled brat who wanted a sugar dadd- his dear, beloved Madalena. The tale is probably still remembered by young maidens swooning at such a hero, and young boys who wish to become the next Galavant, which is how Isabella initially saw him.
But alas, he is the shadow knight archetype, and if I’m not mistaken, he’d be a failed knight archetype, something he will have to battle through the entire series. And because the dragon is representative of an object or threat the hero has to battle, it can also allude to Galavant’s battle.
Where is his steely gaze?
The abs the poets praise?
Now we are seeing the fangirl Isabella always fantasized about him, and the legends that have spread amongst young women, with descriptions that end up being far greater than the truth. She starts by asking about his unflinching, focused gaze in the face of danger, one that you can see in “Galavant Rides”, something that many women find attractive.
She then mentioned his abs, which are sung by poets. Judging by Galavant’s reaction, he is well aware of how his abs once were like, and doesn’t care what happened. It was like he knew Madalena liked him a certain way, and he decided to cut his nose to spite his abs. Both of these lines indicate that Isabella does have a mild superficial side, although in a younger admiration and fantasizing way, which isn’t unhealthy to have physical preferences. She is also trying to bring up how she viewed him, and how many described him.
Whatever happened to that Galavant?
She asks this part, seeing that he is just lost. Galavant lost the will to continue, and she tries to plead with him to do the right thing, and wants him to snap out of it, which is very hard for him. She also shows that there is a gentle side to her, concerned about him, wanting him to be the best he could be, but he refuses the call to adventure in a very similar way that Gandalf tried to employ Bilbo.
Galavant: The man you're searching for
Lost all he loved and more
Galavant now brings up a bit of why he gave up. He is telling her that she needs to stop hero-worshipping her image of him, and that he is no longer a hero, and he is just lost. He no longer had anything he loved, and anything worth keeping. Even when he has a squi- And he has nothing of worth for a man like him.
His hope, his pride, all sense of Galavant
He tells Isabella that he is broken, and he cannot be a hero, as he no longer sees the point of that. The romance many had of his exploits to save his lady fair, that many girls fantasize about means nothing to him, as he is still madly in love with Madalena, but he is also angry with her for breaking his heart, and killing a part of his soul.
He was humiliated by an effeminate and buffoonish King Richard, therefore his pride was shattered. Richard isn’t that great a man, and is a joke, and he was one of the two people that tore his tangible pride apart, therefore Galavant sees no point in doing anything but wasting his life away.
Add to that losing streak
This might continue from the previous part, revealing that he tried to fill the void by doing more heroics, but he failed each time, as his heart was no longer in it, therefore he became a drunkard.
A couple kegs a week
Plus twenty pounds, ta da!
This shows how far, deep into the mug he went. The villagers who once praised him no longer view him in high regard, and even the barkeeper is concerned about his alcoholism, and refuses to give him another drink. He is now officially out of shape, and let his abs waste away, because Madalena loved them, to the point that he developed a beer belly.
The next part is a series of exchanges between Galavant and Isabella.
Isabella: No!
Galavant: Yep!
Isabella: But you're!
(Galavant burps)
The young girl in Isabella is horrified at the thought of the legendary Galavant having a beer belly instead of a perfect set of abs. Then when she tries to appeal to her vision of him, he crudely burbs, and shows that he has become crass in his manners.
Isabella: Still, you have to-
Galavant: No I don't.
Isabella: But-
Galavant: See ya!
Isabella: Wait, how will I-
Galavant: No idea!
Here we have a series of pleads that are very swiftly cut off by Galavant, as he carries her and brings her out of the house, in order for him to continue in his self-pitying ways. He shows that he has abandoned his virtues, and has abandoned chivalry altogether, as he sees it as chivalry abandoning him for everything he did as the great knight Galavant. He is apathetic towards the Princess Isabella’s plights, and just brings her out like she is a child.
Isabella: Please
I'm begging on my knees
Galavant: Bye bye!
Isabella: I'll pay whatever fee
Galavant: Still here?
Isabella: We're lost without you, Gala-Wah!
Now we have Isabella tha begs Galavant, and offers everything she has to ask for Galavant’s aid in saving her parents and her kingdom which is refused at every line, which finishes by him slamming the door in her face, which she stomps away frustrated, which the diversity hire share his ann-
In these songs we see the rise and fall of the heroic Galavant, and the call to adventure that he is refusing, and how he is running away from his true nature, who is a chivalric knight who was supposed to be the epitome of masculinity, but was crushed by his love, which is shown in a way that many men would try to demonstrate it.
It’s not just any man that would break into a castle through the front gate and fight the entire army to save his woman. And for her to choose Richard’s riches over him, and the way she words it when he bares his soul to her, is really cruel, and it’s a wonder how Galavant is still swooning over Madalena, as he is also very angry with her. It also shows that the best way to destroy a man is to stomp all over our hearts with such apathy and sadism, that it really crushes us, and it takes a lot for us to move past such break-ups. Some men are known to take years in order to move on.
This entire premise was actually very curious, and there was some excellent storytelling, and how it is set up as a musical is a stroke of genius, that would not have been the same series without it.
So we now have our primary cast of characters. We have the heroic knight Galavant, The evil King Richard and his right hand man, the butch, manly Gareth, the gold digging Who-promiscuous villainous B-Witch Madalena, the beautiful, caring and weird Princess Isabella, and finally the diversity hire, and annoying sideki- And so we have a proper cast for a heroic fairy tale, with five incredible characters, that are well thought out.