One of the reasons Galavant works so well is because it doesn't take itself seriously and it plays up classic medieval tropes for satire. One of the tongue-in-cheek characters is Isabella, who is currently locked away in a dollhouse awaiting her own wedding to her 11-year-old cousin, Harry. She, along with everyone around her, knows how gross and awful the situation is, but they don't do anything about it. The only two people truly eager to get Isabella out of the situation are her and Galavant, who is coming to rescue her. But, Isabella knows she doesn't need Galavant to rescue her, which is why she devises her own plan.
This moment in the second half of Season 2's premiere is a true "hell yes" for Isabella fans because she finally took the responsibility of getting out of the dollhouse and castle off of Galavant and put it onto herself. As she points out in the "A New Season" song, she's a feminist and knows she doesn't need Galavant, so she's doing something about it. Up until then, Isabella was waiting for Galavant to come and rescue her, but she's concocted her own plan to leave the castle and find Galavant, proving to be a strong female character.
Unfortunately, Galavant and Isabella hit a bit of a communication snafu while communicating via the medieval version of FaceTime. Poor connection and spotty service leads Isabella to believe that Galavant thinks she is gross, that he is not coming for her, and that he wants her to marry Harry. Isabella, the cliche hopeless romantic, ignores the misconstrued comments and continues to say she will wait for him. Galavant, on the other end, is happy to hear this, but is once again a victim of poor service and sends a message that says, "die... in a fire... brown cow."
It is then that Isabella resorts back to her dollhouse and seems very ho-hum about her future. It's as if this "rejection" from Galavant has caused her to accept her fate as the bride of her 11-year-old cousin. She doesn't continue with her plan to leave the castle at the guard shift but instead locks herself away.
So, while Isabella shows strength earlier in the episode by not waiting for Galavant to rescue her, like the classic trope of medieval stories, she eventually resigns to the fate she was initially against. Hopefully, the show continues to explore the independence that Isabella desperately needs. There are hints of it there, but she still has a long way to go.
Images: Nick Ray/ABC
