Lord of the Rink

"Lord of the Rink" is the sixty-fifth episode of the Disney Junior animated series Sofia the First. It premiered on December 4, 2015 and is the thirteenth episode of the third season.

Plot
At Royal Prep, the princesses are learning enchanted ice dancing from Flora but Sofia is having trouble. Nearby, the princes are doing ice hockey practice with Sir Henley on the other side of the rink. To the annoyance of Amber and James, both the ice hockey team and the enchanted ice dance class have to share the rink. Hugo shows interest in the ice dancing class. Prince Derek takes advantage of Hugo's distraction to steal the puck but Hugo steals it back and scores. Because of her block, Sofia falls into the hockey net and Hugo helps her up. Sir Henley decides the ice rink sharing idea is not working out and leaves with the boys. Hugo, however, stays behind after seeing that Sofia is still having trouble with her skating. She nearly falls again only for Hugo to catch her. Sofia notices how interested Hugo is and asks him if he would like to do it. Hugo refuses stating boys do not ice dance and Amber states that is because it's too hard for them. Hugo takes the challenge and, after Flora gives him some enchanted ice dancing skates, shows remarkable talent that wows Flora and the princesses. Flora asks him to join the class but Hugo refuses because it is not for boys. Sofia assures him it is for anyone who wants to do it. Hugo states there are no boys in the class but Sofia reminds him that there were no girls on the Flying Derby team until she joined due to her love for the Flying Derby, and encourages him to try the class and he agrees.

The next day, Sofia informs Hugo of when practice is. The other princes are shocked with Derek voicing it by asking "You're doing ice dancing? Isn't that for girls?" Hugo lies by denying it and then pulls Sofia aside and tells her he does not want his friends to know he is doing enchanted ice dancing because they might make fun of him. When Sofia reminds him that ice hockey practice is at the same time as enchanted ice dancing class, Hugo tells his friends he will not be coming to practice because he is sick. Hugo and Sofia both arrive at practice and, with Hugo's help, Sofia finally starts getting the more advanced moves down. He then invites her to his castle so they can keep practising on the ice rink there. Upon arriving, Sofia is wowed by the rink and cannot wait to start practising. Suddenly, Hugo's father King Garrick shows up. When he asks what they are doing, Hugo lies by saying they are practising ice hockey. Garrick takes Hugo's skates and decides to show Sofia his hockey skills with them, to Hugo's horror. The skates' magic kick in and make him do a flip that makes Garrick realize these are enchanted ice dancing skates. Hugo says there was a mix up with the skates, which relives Garrick. For a moment, he thought his son was taking up enchanted ice skating, and states that it is only for girls. Sofia tells him she knows a few boys who ice dance, but Garrick tells her that the boys in his family only play rugged sports. He wants to spend some quality time with his son, but Hugo tells him "Right after Sofia leaves." Sofia tells Hugo he should tell his father the truth but Hugo cannot because he does not want to let his dad down.

The next day, Hugo and Sofia arrive at class. Suddenly, King Garrick shows up and tells Hugo he has found a way to spend more quality time with his son: He asked Sir Henley to make him the assistant coach for the ice hockey team so he can come to all of Hugo's practices, much to Hugo's horror. Sofia urges him to tell his father the truth but Hugo simply plans to switch back and forth between ice hockey practice and enchanted ice dancing class and do both. Sofia does not think think it will work, but Hugo insists it will. He executes his plan and, so far, all goes well. After the final time, Hugo gets back in time to catch Sofia, who feels she will never get the fireball flip down. Hugo assures her he will not let her give up and, with his help, she finally gets it down. However, the other princes catch him. At Sofia's urging, Hugo tells them the truth. To his surprise, they tell him they are okay with it. Sofia assures him he can probably tell his father, but Hugo insists that he cannot.

On the day of the recital, Hugo and Sofia are ready for the recital when Garrick shows up and escorts him to ice hockey practice. Sofia shows up and urges him to tell his father the truth by doing an ice dance. Hugo tells her "Stop. People are staring at you." However, Sofia does not mind, stating "I love ice dancing. I'm not going to let anyone stop me for doing what I love and neither should you." This convinces Hugo to finally tell his father the truth and he leaves with Sofia. Hugo arrives in a handsome tuxedo with Sofia in a very pretty ballerina outfit. King Garrick, Sir Henley, and the other boys arrive in time to see Hugo and Sofia do the most spectacular duet at the recital. This makes the other boys try to do ice dancing, and King Garrick tells Hugo how proud he is of him, and that he is only furious that he did not tell him the truth sooner. Garrick then asks Flora to make him the assistant coach for the enchanted ice dancing class. Hugo and Sofia congratulate each other and help the other boys learn how to ice dance.

Cast

 * Ariel Winter as Princess Sofia
 * Grayson Hunter Goss as Prince Hugo
 * Darcy Rose Byrnes as Princess Amber
 * Tyler Merna as Prince James
 * Olivia Grace as Princess Maya
 * Connor Wise as Prince Derek
 * Keith Ferguson as King Garrick
 * Barbara Dirickson as Flora
 * Trevor Devall as Sir Henley

Song

 * Take A Leap

Trivia

 * The episode's title is a pun on The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien.
 * This episode reveals that Prince Hugo likes ice dancing. This is also the first time he is seen participating in other sports other than flying derby.
 * This episode introduces the ice hockey sport and enchanted ice dancing.
 * The plot of this episode is a reversed version of "Just One of the Princes", where everyone told Sofia that flying derby is only meant for princes.
 * This is the third episode to have a winter setting, followed by "Holiday in Enchancia" and "Winter's Gift".
 * This is the first winter episode which is not a Wassailia episode.
 * Sofia's original ponytail returns for the fourth time in this episode.
 * This episode may have been inspired by the movie Billy Elliot; a boy who expressed his desire and natural talent to dance, much to chagrin of his father.
 * This is the second time Sofia and Prince Hugo work together, with the first being "The Flying Crown".
 * This is the third time Hugo doesn't wear his usual outfit for this episode, the first being "Princess Butterfly" and second being "Sidekick Clio".
 * The name of Hugo's father is revealed to be King Garrick.
 * Garrick implies that he spends more time with Hugo's older brother than he does with Hugo himself.
 * Hugo's castle is seen for the first time in this episode.
 * It's implied in this episode that Sofia and Hugo have crushes on each other.
 * This is the eighth episode that doesn't take place in Enchancia.
 * This is the first episode to focus more on Hugo than Sofia.
 * Princess Maya is seen with a different Hair style for the first time in this episode.
 * This is second time Amber has a different hair style.

Goofs

 * King Garrick was able to put on Hugo's skates despite the fact that his son obviously has smaller feet than him.
 * Before Hugo and Sofia perform their final duet, Sofia's amulet is missing.

International premieres

 * September 27, 2015 (Mexico)
 * September 27, 2015 (Brazil)
 * November 1, 2015 (Taiwan)