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. Amber, Maya, Clio, and Lakshmi get it down in no time 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. Meanwhile, Sofia attempts the Stargazer Spin but, because of her block, she slips and slides into the hockey net. After 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 stating it is not for boys. Sofia assures him it is for anyone who wants to do it. Hugo points out 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 where they're having ice-dancing class. 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. Flora takes Hugo and the princesses to the pond and freezes it solid, so the young royals can skate safely. Flora announces that a recital will be held. Hugo is worried until Flora states the recital will take place on Friday, to his relief. Hugo and Sofia decide to do the recital together 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 practicing on the ice rink there. Upon arriving, Sofia is wowed by the rink and cannot wait to start practicing. Suddenly, Hugo's father King Garrick shows up. When he asks what they are doing, Hugo lies by saying they are practicing ice hockey. Garrick puts on 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 relieves Garrick. For a moment, he thought his son was taking up enchanted ice dancing, and states that it is only for girls. Sofia tells him she knows a few boys who ice dance (obviously referring to Hugo), but Garrick tells her that the boys in his family only play rugged sports. He wants to spend some quality time with his son, and Hugo agrees to do so after Sofia heads home. When Garrick goes back inside, Sofia tells Hugo he should tell his father the truth but Hugo cannot because he's afraid of his dad's reaction.

The next day, Hugo and Sofia are walking to class and trying to think of the rest of their routine. Hugo is thinking of ending with the Spinning Dragon. Sofia claims that nobody in class can do that move with Hugo saying that they'll be the first. 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 in the act. Hugo tries to come up with a cover story but they don't buy it. At Sofia's urging, Hugo tells them the truth. To his surprise, James says that he's okay with Hugo ice-dancing because he knows that his younger sister went through this experience. Realizing there's nothing wrong with Hugo ice-dancing, the other boys tell him they are okay with it. Hugo is relieved, but he's still worried about his father's reaction, so his friends agree to tell Garrick that his son is sick and has to miss practice. 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 tries to stop her because people are staring at her. However, Sofia does not mind, stating "I love ice dancing and I'm not going to let anyone stop me from 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 blue tuxedo with Sofia who appears 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. Sir Henley tells Garrick that Hugo is the best ice-dancer he's ever seen; he's even judged at least a dozen competitions. 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, so he can still bond with his son. The rest of the hockey team are so impressed that they want Hugo to teach them how to ice-dance too. Hugo and Sofia congratulate each other and notice that the other boys are having more trouble than she did, so they 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.
 * 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 the whole 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.
 * This is the eighth episode that doesn't take place in Enchancia.
 * 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.
 * During the ice-dancing recital, Queen Miranda is wearing the same red dress she wore in "Holiday in Enchancia".
 * This is the second time King Garrick appears without Prince Axel, the first being "Sidekick Clio".
 * Moral: Listen to your heart and don't be afraid to pursue your passion no matter what others will think.

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.
 * Sofia was having trouble ice-dancing until Hugo helped her out, but strangely she was able to skate perfectly during the song Take A Leap.
 * When Sofia and Hugo were about to get started on practicing on his ice rink, he had his ice-skates in his hand. But when Garrick showed up, Hugo didn't have his skates; in other words, he may have dropped them when he was surprised to see his father, but they should've been in front of his feet.
 * Maya was standing between Amber and Clio when Sofia said that Hugo wasn't coming to the recital. But then Maya mysteriously disappeared when Flora said, "It is a shame that Prince Hugo won't be joining us, but the show must go on."
 * Hugo was able to perform a perfect axle in his hockey skates, despite hockey skates not being designed for ice dancing.
 * Flora had her wand in her hand when she flew up to Garrick and Hugo, but the wand was gone when Garrick asked Flora if she needed an assistant ice-dancing coach. Then when Sofia asked if the whole hockey team can learn to ice-dance, Flora's wand mysteriously reappeared in her hand.
 * Look closely: When Garrick was putting on Hugo's skates, Hugo's hockey helmet can be seen on one of the pine trees. Not only that, but Hugo looked like he was wearing the strap from his helmet!

International premieres

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