The Silent Knight

"The Silent Knight" is the twenty-ninth episode of the Disney Junior series Sofia the First that aired on May 9th, 2014.

Plot
In the kingdom of Enchancia, all the knights in the kingdom are gathered and training for the Shield of Valor Ceremony, an award that will go to the bravest one of all and that brave one is Aunt Tilly who tamed the dreadful Dragon of Dashood and taught him how to knit. At this gathering, Sofia meets her favorite knight Sir Bartleby, also known as the Silent Knight since he never speaks in public. King Roland announces that it is time for the precession and so all the knights get to their horses. Tilly decides to go for a ride too and gallops around the fields facing the wrong way. But her ride is shortened when her horse suddenly halts to a stop nearly crashing into a man. The horse kicks her off, Aunt Tilly flies through the air and lands in the arms of Sir Bartleby. Sofia notices as the two look at each other there is some sort of spark between them. However, Bartleby says nothing to her, he bows and quietly walks away. Curious to know Sofia goes off to find out.

Meanwhile Roland is inspecting the knight’s precession and notices James riding along from behind. He tells his father he wants to be a knight but Roland tells him that it will take more than riding a horse, wearing armour and holding a sword. Becoming a knight takes years of training and James needs to be a squire first. Sir Finnegan also tells James that being a squire is a very important job and the first steps of becoming a knight. So with that James decides to be Sir Finnegan’s squire.

Sofia finds Sir Bartleby by himself and asks him if he likes her Aunt Tilly. Still Bartleby won’t speak but after being asked many times he finally answers in a high squeaky voice “I love her!” Here it turns out he can talk but doesn’t like too, not with the voice he has which is why he’s too afraid to tell Tilly how he feels because he doesn’t know how she will react to the way he speaks. Sofia suggests he could write about how he feels rather than say it. Bartleby thinks that’s a good idea and begins writing a poem for Tilly while James starts to see how hard being a squire can be. Bartleby finishes his poem but he thinks it sounds silly. When they see Tilly and Miranda coming in their direction, Sofia encourages Bartleby to go to her and just as he’s about to a gust of wind catches his poem and flies away from him. Riding a shield and with Sofia following they sled down the grassy hill after the poem where it lands in Roland’s hands and accidentally uses it as a tissue to sneeze on. Bartleby sadly walks to the hedges feeling hopeless. Sofia still feels he could still tell her but still he feels to embarrassed by his high pitch voice. When they hear Sir Maxwell singing this gives Bartleby an idea. He will pretend to sing while Maxwell sings from behind a bush. Sofia feeling uneasy secretly doesn't think it’s a good idea but still she went with it.

Meanwhile James starts to get tired of being a squire that he decides to quit just as he passes Tilly. He feels that doing nothing but sharpening and polishing is no fun and boring. Tilly tells him that being a knight is about more than just riding a horse with a big sword and shield: it's also about being the first to head into dark creepy woods to see what’s lurking there, climbing the tops of icy peaks to battle snow monsters and that can’t all be done without a well saddled horse and clean armour. This makes James understand why Sir Finnegan is being so tough on him, he’s also training him to become a knight at the same time. So he goes back and finishes off polishing Finnegan’s armour. Sofia shows up and escorts Tilly to the garden where Sir Bartleby is waiting for her. She tells her he will sing for her. Tilly is surprised by this and takes a seat on the porch. Once sat down Sir Maxwell begins to sing Bartleby’s poem while Bartleby lip sings to her. Tilly is flattered by his song and really falls for him. However just before the two can share a kiss Bartleby slips and accidentally reveals Maxwell singing from behind a bush. Realising that it was not Bartleby singing Tilly feels a little insulted and quietly walks away after Bartleby fails to give her an explanation. Seeing his friend down in the dumps, Maxwell decides to take Bartleby to do some fencing practice to take his mind off things.

As Sofia watches Bartleby and Maxwell battle each other she notices that some of Bartleby’s fighting skills look quite like dancing which gives her an idea. Meanwhile Roland finds James still polishing Finnegan’s armour. He tells him he should go and get ready for the banquet tonight but James says he’s not going because he has a lot of work to do. At the banquet Bartleby takes Tilly’s hand to dance. It goes very well until Bartleby’s bumps into a servant with some water. The water spills across the floor, Bartleby and Tilly slip, slide and then fall. Bartleby says he sorry but after realising he spoke he quickly rushes out of the ballroom with Sofia trying to catch up with him. Bartleby decides to give up and thinks he’s better off being alone.

The next day while James prepares Sir Finnegan for the ceremony, Sofia tries to encourage Bartleby not to give up and not to be afraid to be himself no matter how strange his voice sounds. At the ceremony it is time to reward Tilly with the Shield of Valor. Sir Bartleby is given the honour to present the shield and although nervous he finally tells her how he feels, revealing his squeaky voice to the crowd. He admits the reason he didn't speak up in the first place was because he was worried about what she would think of his voice, but Tilly loves his voice as she loves one of a kind things. After being rewarded with the Shield of Valor, Tilly and Bartleby go off on an adventure to the Enchanted Forest together.

Songs

 * Tilly, Oh Tilly

Cast

 * Ariel Winter as Princess Sofia
 * Bonnie Hunt as Aunt Tilly
 * Tim Gunn as Baileywick
 * Sara Ramirez as Queen Miranda
 * Darcy Rose Byrnes as Princess Amber
 * Zach Callison as Prince James
 * Keith Ferguson as Sir Bartleby
 * Thomas Bromhead as Sir Maxwell
 * Robin Atkin Downes as Sir Finnegan
 * Travis Willingham as King Roland II

Goofs

 * After Sir Bartleby's voice is heard by Aunt Tilly for the first time and runs away from her, Sofia goes after him and said "Wait!" However, her mouth is not even moving.

Trivia

 * This episode includes Aunt Tilly's second appearance in the series. Her first appearance was in the episode "Great Aunt-Venture".
 * James and Amber see the "real" Aunt Tilly for the first time.
 * This is the second time that Amber wore the ball dress, the first time was in Sofia the First: Once Upon a Princess.
 * Aunt Tilly's face glows red when flirting Sir Bartleby.
 * This episode nearly shows a kiss scene for the first time in the series.