The Beginning: Apple's Tale: The Story of a Royal \ Raven's Tale: The Story of a Rebel

Since this is basically one episode made into two, we're going to look at both at once.

1. The World of Ever After High
2. Apple's Tale: The Story of a Royal
3. Raven's Tale: The Story of a Rebel
4. The Tale of Legacy Day

These are basically the same episode from different perspectives;

We're going to start with Apple's story first.

Interestingly, it plays the slightly extended theme song.

Apple is pledging her destiny at Legacy Day...in a flash forward. Until it flashes back to reiterate the information we saw in The World of Ever After High, this time with different visuals.

Briar and Apple are talking about the event, with the former calling the after party a 'page-turner'. One thing I was always fond of in this franchise was the wordplay, the puns, the wild weirdness of the language.

Apple goes "Who cares about a party, it's the FUTURE and DESTINY and I'M A QUEEN."

Briar replies with "Look, i'm going to be sleeping for a hundred years so I'm going to have my good time, Apple." She says how no one would dare embarrass Apple White in any capacity. Everyone loves her because she checks off all the visual cues (I'm going to keep pulling to that) and she is the future queen of a random, non-specified kingdom.

Briar was always seen as the more popular one in-canon - Apple does have her fair share of un-admirers, and they're some of the best characters in the franchise - but because she's pale and blond, the narrative forces her perfection while slowly peeling it back to display the neuroticism underneath. Nice.

Apple meets Daring Charming - a prince that's almost beat for beat identical to her -

 - and they talk, with Blondie asking about 'dating details', in which Apple quickly shuts that down. I do admire that - there's nothing wrong with dating if you like, and Apple is more determined to be a fair and just ruler.

Unlike Monster High, where Mattel was determined to put every main ghoul (Except Clawdeen, hmm) with a romantic partner for god knows what reason.

The dorms are incredibly beautiful;

Many of these pieces show up later as playsets, specifically Apple's chaise lounge and Raven's mirror and crown.

Briar asks why Apple is doing this, and it all goes back to Apple and "MY destiny and MY life." Which I get, you've been promised this life and you want it and it's not a bad life, but it will really get to be insensitive to the other characters later on. It feels like her thoughtfulness is super performative.

Raven was intended to bunk with Maddie, but  Apple had their rooms switched. Did I mention she could singlehandedly run the entire school because the Headmaster is in her mother's pocket? She can.

I miss WHY Briar shouldn't be here for this, but either way, she jumps out of the window and it's legit funny.

Nyoom

Daring even catches her and waits when Briar says she's going again.

Raven enters the room to a thunderous round of "Who cares?", which is followed by more short clips with Apple and Briar walking to the coffee shop, Ashlynn having her two personality traits hammered in, and then the group returning for Legacy Day rehearsal.

Raven asks Headmaster Grimm why she has to subject herself to Eternal Damnation for Apple's sake.

She doesn't get an answer, and leaves, ending the practice. 

Later, Apple went off to cry at a set of columns in the Enchanted Forest. Magically, the Headmaster appears behind her, asking that she keep an eye on Raven and try to push her toward her destiny, or else their world could be in jeopardy.

This is just a funny face. 

Conclusion [Apple]: It does a better job at setting up the story, but this is nearly five minutes longer than the initial episode. While it does show us Apple's side of the debate....it's a limited, self serving side. In the books, it's stated that she enjoys the predictability of her destiny after a brush with death as a young child. That's understandable, but the webisodes never say this. It's all about having her perfect life.

90% of the Royals are so chronically unlikeable, it's no wonder no one wanted to bother with this franchise.

Onto Raven's story, where we open to the same flash forward Apple had...but with Raven, her accepting her evil fate during Legacy Day;

One thing I have yet to point out is the quality of the animation and character design by Guru Studios.  It would be trite and predictable to have Raven's wardrobe be mostly black and purple, and while silver isn't the most out their choice, there's the slightest touches of teal in her Legacy Day outfit that I wish was continued throughout more of her dolls.

Their Wikipedia page says they still continue to create and animate for the show, but it's a not so well kept secret that Mattel let the contract expire.

I've owned all the Legacy Day dolls at one point; Raven is by far my favorite;

How did we never get a Legacy Day Cerise doll? How, Sway? 

EDIT: We did actually get one...I own her and completely forgot that I did. Oops. 

Raven and Maddie are walking to the school while the narrators tell us for the third time about the conflict and the future - except now Maddie is exasperated right along with us. "Will you two stop - fighting! Peas and crackers."

If I remember correctly, only Maddie can hear the narrators, not even the other Wonderlanders. Maybe The Daughter of the Cheshire Cat.

Everyone thinks Raven is evil for no real reason besides her family name. Keep in mind that these students are in their second year at this point. The books call the first year the 'Freedom Year', and this is the 'Legacy Year'.

Also, the girls have pets. Maddie's dormouse is Earl Grey, and besides Raven's dragon Nevermore and Cerise's .... pet? Sibling? Godmother, that's weird - Carmine, the others don't appear in visual canon, unless you count their motifs for Thronecoming - but we'll get to that. 

Pity we never see Briar's unicorn.

The only Royal who is not afraid of Raven is Dexter Charming;

He likes her. I'm not sure why.

They talk and then Apple and Daring come over and they talk, and Daring takes the opportunity to blind everybody within a 30 foot radius. Including the Three Little Pigs, who get replaced with three goats not so long after this. I wonder what happened to them...

Here the storyline converges with Apple moving into Raven's dorm. Raven, is less than pleased. Especially after Apple says "You are going to LOVE rooming with me. I'm thoughtful, beautiful, and sing the most WONDERFUL songs about woodland creatures!"

I realize that most characters are very slowly introduced, you don't actually see many of them in the background.  There are characters like the daughter of The Swan Princess who should be in classes with Apple. They appear exactly when they need to - like wizards.

The Legacy Day practice is told from the Rebel's point of view, and we're introduced to Hunter Huntsman;

With the exception of Raven, Cedar's intro is the only one played a second time, with the first being in The Beginning.

Raven asks her question - "Why do I have to do this?" - and Grimm tells her "If you don't, you won't exist."

I get the feeling that he's lying, don't you? So does his secret brother, Giles, who lives deep beneath the school;

Who basically goes "What's going to happen?"

And that's what we're left with. I'm quite happy to move on from the monotonous repeat storytelling, and onto Chapter 1.