At the very end of Encanto, the Madrigal family should never have regained the powers they received from the miracle. Despite the family's delight in being able to use their abilities once more, the gifts' return was unnecessary. In fact, both the Madrigal family and the movie would have been better off allowing the magic to permanently disappear.
Encanto follows the efforts of Mirabel Madrigal (voiced by Stephanie Beatriz), a young girl trying her best to help her family by protecting their whimsical powers. Though she initially fails at preserving the Madrigal's special abilities, this failure was only temporary. After a hopeful montage of the Madrigals rebuilding their house plays out, the feature film concludes by showing off each family member regaining their abilities as an animated Casita enthusiastically welcomes everyone home.
The member of the Madrigal family able to come together and at long last be united both physically and mentally. Having the Madrigals regain the very powers that divided them threatens to reignite such insecurities and cause history to repeat itself.
The moment Abuela Alma (Maria Cecilia Botero) apologized to Mirabel, Encanto’s core message was realized. The Madrigals did not need any powers to be a special family when they had each other. In exchange for the loss of the magic, the Madrigals gained stronger familial bonds and they were happier for it. Yet, the magic returned the moment Casita was rebuilt - as if to reject the notion that the Madrigals could truly thrive without its presence. Though not contradicting it, the return of the magic does belittle the concept of family being the most important gift of all. Its grand reentrance featuring a lively spectacle with cheerful fanfare at the end of Encanto overshadows the heartfelt message about the importance of family the movie was determined to deliver.
From a production standpoint, having the Madrigal family's powers return provides plenty of setup for a potential Encanto 2. However, this decision hurt the ending of Encanto. If a sequel is ever greenlit, it should fix the original's mistake by permanently removing the Madrigal's magic in order to highlight what really matters: the power of family.
