For the first two seasons, She-Ra was largely a mixture of stand-alone episodes and more interconnected ones. Some have been comical in nature and others serious. But season three is a beast of a different nature. It is one cohesive six-episode story, laser focused on one single theme: the truth and coming to terms with it.
Over it’s all-too-brief six episode run, the vast majority of heroes and villains are forced to confront truths about themselves or how they’ve come to view the world:
- Queen Angella accepts that she is a coward.
- Hordak learns that he is emotionally isolated by choice and that he gives up too easily when frustrated.
- Entrapta finds that, sometimes, discovery isn’t worth the damage it will cause–and that even those you believe to be friends can betray you.
- Shadow Weaver’s truth is that she cares more for revenge against Hordak than concepts like good or evil.
- Glimmer learns that she is ready to lead–that what was once impulsiveness has been tempered into decisiveness.
- Scorpia learns that, no matter how much you love or support someone, you can’t save them from themselves.
But all these are but side stories to the main truths of the season.
The first is the explanation of what’s going on in the story overall. At the moment, Etheria is alone in an alternate dimension–hence why we never see stars in the sky. Moreover, it was Mara, the previous She-Ra, who moved the planet here–and in doing so nearly destroyed it.
In the first two seasons, it is implied that Mara had a mental breakdown, went crazy, and tried to destroy the world. Because of this, Adora has constantly worried about her own role as She-Ra–and the lack of control she has over her powers only makes this worse. The fear lurks in the back of her mind: Will she lose control and become the next Mara? This time will the world survive?
However, now we see that the situation is far more complex than what Adora thought. Finding out that Mara was perhaps not the villain she has been painted to be throws Adora for a loop. It calls into question not only her previous fears but her trust in Lighthope–her guide for what it means to be She-Ra. Even worse, however, is the fact that this revelation comes shortly after another: she discovers she is not even from Etheria.
Adora’s big question in the series as a whole is “who am I?” Her whole childhood she was raised in the Horde. She was told that it was her duty to fight the evil princesses and save the planet–that she only had value if she was able to advance these goals. Then suddenly, she finds out the Horde–and thus all the people she knows and loves–are evil. More than that, she has been chosen by destiny to be a legendary warrior and save the planet.
But now, she’s forced to face the idea that she’s not even related to this conflict. She was a baby from another planet. Being a member of the Horde, becoming She-Ra–everything that’s happened in her life is due to her being stolen away from whatever life she originally had. And to make things worse, it’s a life she knows nothing about.
The other big truth Adora has to face revolves around Catra. From the beginning, Adora has believed that it’s her fault that Catra has been twisted into the villain she has become. She feels that she should have been able to bring Catra over to the good side–that with the right words she could have made her oldest friend see the light.
What Adora finally comes to understand is that Catra isn’t just a thing to be saved. She is a person with her own agency. At anytime, Catra could have switched sides. The simple fact is that she decided not to. Adora finally accepts that she is not responsible for the actions of other people. She can’t undo time and make it so that Catra hasn’t forever crossed the moral event horizon–no matter how much she may want to. Adora has chosen to be a hero and Catra has chosen to be a monster–no matter who she attempts to blame for it.
And that just leaves Catra’s truth. Abandoned and betrayed by her mother-figure, stripped of rank, and basically sent into the desert to die, she starts the season at her lowest point. Yet, it’s in the wasteland that she truly thrives.
Her whole life, Catra has been a square peg trying to fit into a round hole. Naturally wild and scornful of rules, she’s been forced into a strict military hierarchy. But in the wastes there is only one rule: might makes right. And as a warrior who has bested even the godly powers of She-Ra, she is quite mighty indeed. In the harsh desert, She can be as petty and ruthless or as kind and rewarding as she wants to be at any given moment. She is truly free to be who she is. For the first time in her life she is truly happy.
But when she captures Adora she is forced to make a choice. Stay in the wastes in her perfect life or return to the Horde as a hero. At first she is undecided but when Adora lets slip that Shadow Weaver has defected to the side of the princesses, she decides to return to the Horde.
Catra’s current identity is based on being the victim in her own life. Everything that has happened is the fault of others: Shadow Wearer didn’t love her, the Horde and Hordak can’t see her true value, and all her supposed friends betray her. All this is because of Adora. Everyone has unfairly decided she is the golden child and so she always wins.
What Catra wants is to prove her worldview is true. To show unequivocally that she was the one who deserved all that Adora has gotten. And the best way to do this? Have Adora fail so spectacularly that there is no coming back from it–to make sure that as the planet is destroyed and reality itself is torn apart, no one can deny that Adora lost because of Catra.
After her return to the Horde, the genuine emotions she displayed in the wastes are gone. There is only her goal. Those who are helping her are tools and those who are in the way are enemies. She’s not afraid to exploit Scorpia’s love for her–giving her calculated, manipulative praise–and she betrays Entrapta (knocking her out and sending to a place worse than death) when the latter discovers Catra’s plan will destroy the planet. And in the moment of truth, she’s happy to pull the switch to destroy the world.
In the end, Catra chooses her own pride over happiness.
She-Ra season 3 is easily a high point for the series. And while the plot is strong, it is almost completely overshadowed by the character development of hero and villain alike–especially when it comes to Adora and Catra. Better still, the entire season is all tied together under one theme–giving the season an unprecedented focus. If upcoming seasons have even half the quality of writing that this season had, it will still be a great viewing experience.
She-Ra can be seen on Netflix.
I just wanted to give out a big thanks to Joshua Ott for sponsoring this review with his Patreon donation. (At the $60 a month tier, you are allowed to pick anything up to an including a 13ish episode series to be reviewed–which is released in addition to the one article a week I normally put out here on BiggestinJapan.com.) So thanks again!
Top image Copyright: © 2018 DreamWorks Animation LLC.
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