The Emerald Key

"The Emerald Key" is the thirty-eighth episode of the Disney Junior series Sofia the First, which aired on October 11, 2014.

Plot
On a ship across a stormy sea, a sorceress named Mamanu finds an extremely powerful mystical artifact known as the Emerald Key, which leads the royal family to their home kingdom of Hakalo. When Mamanu tries to steal it, Princess Lani tries to stop her, but they both fall overboard with the Key and wash up on the shores of Enchancia.

The next morning, Sofia and her family are seen spending the day at the beach when a storm approaches, prompting them to head back to the castle. Sofia and Clover then come across the Emerald Key and show it to the others.

After returning to the castle, the royal family looks through several books to find out about the Key and later receives a visit from Princess Lani, who tries to tell them about the Key that disappeared. King Roland II shows the key to her when Mamanu (disguised as Lei-Lani) visits with a real princess look.

The royal family decides to challenge the two princesses to a series of tests to determine who the real one is and that the winner will get the Key. Amber challenges them to dances and Lei-Lani wins. James, as a temporary duke, challenges the princesses to accept snails as gifts and Lani wins. Baileywick states that the third challenge will be held outside, but as it's still raining, they will have to wait until morning and the two Princesses stay in the castle for the night as guests.

Sofia spots Lani helping Clover get his head out of a bucket and feeding him blueberries. Sofia sees Lani's attitude and culture and believes that Lani is the real princess.

That night, Mamanu makes plans of her own to make Lani fail the next challenge. She puts her ring under Lani's bed mattress, making it lumpy and keeping Lani exhausted and uncomfortable while trying to sleep. This results in Lani feeling tired the next morning.

The next challenge is racing in and out of a maze, but because Lani is very tired, Lei-Lani gets out first and wins the Key, leaving Lani weeping.

Later, Sofia helps Lani tell the truth about the Key, the disguise and why the bed was lumpy. When they find out that the disguised princess was a cheater, they head out after Lei-Lani, where she reveals her true self. They then chase Mamanu through the forest but are unable to catch her. Clover, Robin and Mia call the other animals to stop Mamanu. She is disturbed by the birds and gets out of the coach, running up the hill. The animals corner her and Lani quickly gets the Key back. Mamanu becomes surrounded and outnumbered and just as King Roland's guards try to seize her, Mamanu magically disappears, vowing to return again.

The Emerald Key is safe once again and Lani thanks the royal family for all their help.

Later, the family returns Lani to her parents. Lani bids a dancing goodbye to Sofia as Lani and her family leave with the Emerald Key to return home to Hakalo.

Home Video Release

 * Sofia the First: The Curse of Princess Ivy DVD

Songs

 * A Princess True

Cast

 * Ariel Winter as Sofia
 * Darcy Rose Byrnes as Princess Amber
 * Tyler Merna as Prince James
 * Travis Willingham as King Roland II
 * Sara Ramirez as Queen Miranda
 * Tim Gunn as Baileywick
 * Abigail Mavity as Princess Lei-Lani
 * Angelique Perrin as Mamanu (Rachel Pace voices her disguised form)
 * Wayne Brady as Clover
 * Ashley Eckstein as Mia
 * Meghan Strange as Robin
 * Kevin Michael Richardson as King of Hakalo
 * Monica Richardson as Queen of Hakalo

Trivia

 * While on the beach, Sofia wears an alternate version of her Pirate outfit from "Baileywick's Day Off".
 * The island Kingdom of Hakalo is possibly inspired by the Islands of Hawaii, The people wear native clothing and do Hula like dancing.
 * Hakalo is the only known kingdom to be hidden away and only accessible by a magical item.
 * This episode is similar to the fairy tale "The Princess and the Pea". A princess is drenched in water when she comes to the castle, and she is tested. The test, though, was by putting a pea underneath several mattresses; in the episode, it wasn't a test and merely a cheat so the real princess wouldn't pass the test.
 * A stag in this episode looks like Bambi's father, The Great Prince of the Forest.
 * While Lani and Sofia's family chase Leilani in the rain they show no sign of getting wet.
 * Sofia gains a new enemy: Mamanu
 * Mamanu is very similar to Cedric, both are Royal sorcerers who desire a mystical object so they can take over their kingdoms.
 * However there are differences between Cedric and Mamanu, Cedric is bumbling and rarely does anything right, but despite being in the wrong on rare occasions he has shown from time to time to have a heart while Mamanu is truly evil and is a very talented enchantress who only cares about her selfish and greedy desires.
 * Kevin Michael Richardson, who voices Samson's father in The Wild, voices the King of Hakalo along with his wife Monica as the Queen of Hakalo as well.