Palma

Palma
GENERAL
Encanto
Character	Alma Madrigal
Character	Pedro Madrigal
Canonical?	Canon
Status of Relationship	Married; Pedro is dead
IN FANDOM
Type (?)	Het

2

❝

I thought I would live a different life. I thought I would be a different woman.

—Alma about Pedro's death

Palma is the het ship between Alma Madrigal and Pedro Madrigal from the Encanto fandom.

Canon

Back when Alma Madrigal was a young woman who was filled with joy and hope as she attends the Day of the Little Candles, she meets a handsome man named Pedro. Like Pedro, Alma wanted to see over the crowd of people and found herself a higher vintage point, giving both Alma and Pedro a clear view of each other. Once Pedro saw Alma he waves to her and chuckles when her waving back nearly got her to fall. The two then spent the rest of the nightly celebration getting to know one another.

Some point after their meeting as the two fall in love with each other, Pedro and Alma got married and started to build a life together. They kept their wedding candle and placed it next to their wedding photo in the home they share. As well as it being the place where Alma tells Pedro that she is pregnant with triplets. At first Pedro appeared to be shocked and fainted, but he was only fooling around and was happy that he and Alma were going to be parents. During the lead up to the birth of their children, the two prepared their house for their arrival. After Julieta, Pepa and Bruno were just born, however, the new parents watch a group of men attack their home village at the start of the Thousand Days' War. Forcing Alma and Pedro to leave the place they have called home with their children.

Pedro and Alma allowed other refugees to come with them in hopes that they'll be able to find a new place to call home. Once they reached the river to cross the valley, however, the conquerors had found them. To ensure that Alma and the other villagers manage to escape, Pedro decided to sacrifice himself by throwing himself to the soldiers. He placed their wedding candle in Alma's hands after he said his goodbyes to his family. Alma watches Pedro approach the men unarmed and not posing a threat to them as one of the soldiers struck him with his sword. Witnessing her husband's death shakes Alma to her very core and she is overcome with anguish while the conquerors continue to make their way towards her and the rest of the villagers. At that moment, the candle Pedro had given Alma ended up becoming the vessel for the miracle she prayed for. Saving Alma and the other civilians as the magic blasted the soldiers away and then raised the mountains that now surround their Encanto.

Even though they now have a new home that everyone can live peacefully in, Alma was deeply affected by Pedro's death and the fact that she had lost everything in a short amount of time, caused the hope and joy in her to die. Now as a widowed mother of fatherless triplets, as well as her being the unspoken leader of the refugees, Alma didn't have time to mourn or work through her pain. Her husband's death also caused Alma to develop a fear of loss and she works hard to ensure that she doesn't lose the miracle, her family or their home again. Which got her to pressure her children and later grandchildren to be perfect and that they keep the miracle burning, as they use their magic gifts from it to help the town they build together, unintentionally causing generational trauma.

Alma ensured that her family knew of Pedro but didn’t go into full detail when telling the story of how his passing led to them being granted the miracle. The only time Alma allows herself to show vulnerability and weakness is when she is praying to Pedro. Fearing that they were about to lose their home again and asking Pedro to open her eyes, as well as to help her save the miracle. She soon realized that Pedro had answered her prayers by sending Mirabel, who helps Alma to finally find peace with his death and move on with her life. To truly honor his sacrifice is for her to cherish the family he helped her to start, gave his life for, and she still has.

Children

Main article: Madrigal Triplets

Alma and Pedro with their newborn children.

Julieta Madrigal⁚ The firstborn child and eldest daughter, Julieta has the ability to heal others through food.

Pepa Madrigal⁚ The younger daughter and middle child, Pepa has the ability to control the weather with her emotions

Bruno Madrigal⁚ The youngest child and only son, Bruno has the ability to see the future.

Fanon

Even though Alma is one of the less-liked Disney characters from how she initially prioritized the miracle over her family, the tragedy from the loss of her husband does have some people feeling sorry for her, if not most. Once the audience saw how much she loved Pedro and how his death had affected her, while trying to soldier on as a widow mother and the head of the family that their home town looked up to. It may not be as popular as the three other main canon ships from the 2021 film, that it has been featured besides in a few Tumblr posts, Palma still has a few loyal supporters. Some of them are part of the group who enjoy origin or tragic love stories that brings them to tears. Along with creating AUs that don't have Pedro die, have the two swap places or has his spirit watching over his wife and family.

People like to think of "Dos Oruguitas" as Palma's song, from how it was playing during the flashback scene of their love story. The melody of the song being combined with the lead up to the tragic scene has brought a few people to tears. That is why most fanworks on the ship commonly makes references to Dos Oruguitas.

Some do understand why Alma had tried to have Isabela and Mariano Guzmán live the full life she never got to have with Pedro. With Isa resembling Alma's younger self and Mariano possessing few Pedro-like traits, like his talent for poetry and being the splitting image of Pedro. Which is why Isabela was seen as her favourite grandchild and and was more than happy to learn that Mariano fancies her. Making people think that apart of Alma was still living in the past or was using the two as a means to find some kind of peace from Pedro's death and the life they originally planned together, while not considering what they want. This is why Doloriano fans were happy when Alma found peace another way and allowed Isabela to break off the engagement.

On AO3, it is the most written het ship for Pedro. Like on Tumblr, some AO3 fanfics have Palma be featured beside Julistín and Félipa in the same story.

Fandom

FAN FICTION

Alma/Pedro tag on AO3

WIKI

Alma's Relationship with Pedro on the Disney Wiki

Trivia

• Alma was never able to visit the river she watched Pedro die in, until the cracks from the dying miracle split one of the surrounding mountains. Creating a door to the outside world.
  • It is believed that the ending credit scene of Mirabel and Alma placing candles on the water, is them revisiting the river to light candles for Pedro.
• When "Dos Oruguitas" was being performed at the Super Bowl celebrating the music from Encanto, two people dressed as young Alma and Pedro are seen walking around on the stage. To reference the sense and characters that the song was created for.

Variations

Madrigal Family refers to the ship between the two, Julieta Madrigal, Agustín Madrigal, Pepa Madrigal, Félix Madrigal, Mirabel Madrigal, Isabela Madrigal, Luisa Madrigal, Antonio Madrigal, Dolores Madrigal, Camilo Madrigal and Bruno Madrigal