I’m imagining a sort of bittersweet interdimensional time disortion because of Etheria being sent into a pocket dimension. Outside of a time travel episode, once She-Ra does free Etheri from the shadow dimension, so most of the He-Man characters would have been long dead.
Still, I hope for at least one interaction where Adam gives his long lost sister a makeover. Because he’s the makeover twin of the two.
edit: Then he gives She-Ra a makeover. Warpaint and fur.
catra is trying to continue the cycle of abuse, but she isn’t quite doing it right. she’s mixing up the approaches because she still loves adora on an instinctive level.
when shadow weaver abused catra, to make her feel weak, she did so primarily through overt violence and intimidation in situations where catra had absolutely no chance to fight back.
when shadow weaver abused adora, to make her feel like she was only ever powerful by her side, she did so primarily through gentle touches and false affection.
although catra is being violent towards adora at this point, going so far as to horribly scratch her back, it’s in the context of a fight between enemies. it’s very different from what shadow weaver did to catra.
catra is trying to make adora feel weak, the same way that she’s felt all these years, the same way that she thinks adora wanted her to feel all along. it’s a sick form of revenge for something that adora never actually did.
however, catra is trying to make adora feel weak by emulating shadow weaver’s approach towards adora, which doesn’t quite make sense. is adora the scapegoat or the golden child, or neither? is catra’s heart really in this? does she know what she really wants? would she let adora fall again, outside of that flashback hellscape?
catra is deeply convinced that true power is associated with creating fear, because she felt powerless and afraid all her life, and she wants that power for herself now. she literally wants what shadow weaver had, and has said so multiple times now (”i need to impress hordak so he’ll make me the new shadow weaver!”).
what she needs to realize is that this won’t make her happy, that this isn’t right, and that she’ll be no better than shadow weaver if she continues down this path.
i’m confident that she’ll realize the error of her ways soon enough, but in the meantime, her path is not a bright one.
i’ve talked a lot about catra being the scapegoat, but now i want to talk about adora being the golden child. it’s not all sunshine and rainbows, that’s for sure.
when adora was a child, shadow weaver told her that she was responsible for catra’s behavior, and by extension, her punishments. no, adora wouldn’t be punished for it, but catra would, and that was probably worse. this likely instilled the idea that, if catra got hurt because she “misbehaved” (read: did normal kid things), then it was actually adora’s fault–not catra’s (which it isn’t) nor shadow weaver’s (which it is). if catra suffered, then it was because adora wasn’t trying hard enough–to distract shadow weaver with her own accomplishments or convince catra to stay in line or whatever.
catra completely misinterpreted this, assuming that adora enjoyed this favoritism. is this the reaction of someone who enjoys being the golden child, or is this the reaction of someone who’s terrified?
a lot of people have assumed that adora’s behavior is arrogant, but i think it’s actually just…what she’s been told and taught–
–that she’s important, but not necessarily useful unless she’s doing everything the “right” way. sometimes, being important isn’t actually very comforting; it just gives you more power to make mistakes and let people down.
shadow weaver gave adora the illusion of control over more than her own behavior, and when that illusion crumbled, adora was left with…herself, and a sword. it’s no wonder that she clung to the sword as a source of validation and importance, a way for her to actually help people.
this also explains why she feels such strong guilt for anything bad that happens around her, which light hope recognizes and exploits. all adora wants to do is protect her friends (and, y’know, etheria–no pressure though), but what if she only hurts them? she’s convinced that she does have the power to save everyone, that she is important enough to do everything, and yet, she fails, again and again. even when she has the physical power to throw things around, she can’t heal plumeria’s tree or glimmer’s abilities, because she’s just not good enough.
being the golden child, being told that you’re special and amazing and perfect…a lot of people buckle under that pressure and end up paralyzed by fear that they can’t truly accomplish anything.
luckily, adora has found friends who truly do not blame her for not being able to save everyone, and she finds the strength to get up again and try.
Whether u like Catra or not, u have to agree that there is something painful about her character when we see that scene where she’s packing up to head to the first one’s temple, and she bumps into Shadow Weaver.
Catra doesn’t degrade her. Catra just… tries to reach out to her and make sure she doesn’t feel bad about herself, cus Catra has felt that way before.
Idk, it’s such a sad scene for me, and I think it speaks loud volumes about Catra’s “better” personality.
everyone’s glowing except sea hawk i dont know how to feel
Okay, but…
Adora included, pretty much everyone up there is a “Princess,” which in this show’s context is someone who has been specially linked with “Rune Stones,” which are magic-tech items that let the Princesses connect with the magic running through the planet.
Sea Hawk not glowing makes sense. He’s not a Princess, he has no Rune Stone connection.
The real question is “Why is Bow glowing?”
What’s really interesting is that Bow isnt glowing. His heart on his chest piece is.
Why is that, I wonder? What’s it made of? Is it first one’s tech? I think Entrapta would have noticed that…
Curiouser and curiouser
Hey, anyone else thinking of that stone that on Shadow Weaver’s forehead that with some link to the Black Garnet?
edit: If Bow unknowingly included a magic item into his outfit purely out of aesthetics I will laugh.
Monsters and Stuff 