For the Honor of Greyskull - A She-Ra and the Princesses of Power Thread

https://aenramsden.tumblr.com/post/181564821483/catradora-an-in-depth-analysis

i helped with this thing!

 

I like it! And yeah, definitely agreeing with y'all there on how following Adora over to the Rebellion would be about the worst thing Catra could possibly do to herself at this point.

 

contemplating trying to figure out wigs enough to cosplay scorpia. why would my life do this to me.

 

I watched the last few episodes last night and ouch Adora is painfully relatable. Her anxiety is really believable and it’s not really ever a joke - well, it is occasionally but not really in-universe which would be an absolute dealbreaker for me to watch it. Also the whole She-ra thing is actually kind of sinister and I really hope they go further with that in the future.

I’m really enjoying Catra, Scorpia and Entrapta as well.

If I’ve got one complaint it’s that the other princesses seem a bit flat. Glimmer’s the exception but even then I don’t really like her as much as I’d like to, and I’m not really sure why that is.

 

Scorpia and Entrapta are both Very my jam. Everyone else is a delight too but those two in particular are like, made for me.

I watched the first six episodes or so and then partner expressed an interest in watching too so I went back and enjoyed the heck out of the early episodes with them as we made our way through.


We were both very taken with how gay the whole thing is. Also how generally sensible and compitent hordak seemed to be in his dictator business for a cartoon villain particularly when compared with shadow weaver.

Spoiler

Also the episode 3(?) little memory clip of baby adora pov looking at the stars. 1) adora confirmed for super man 2) more seriously I am very curious about where exactly she came from and where Shadow Weaver found her and to what extent she knew Adora was Special vs her just being the golden child.


Also also leaving Kyle behind was a very How Dare moment for me.

 

It really hit me in the feels today how much Shadow Weaver's treatment of Adora also parallels what a lot of "gifted"/"talented" kids get: you're special and valuable and important! (because of what you can do) (*only* because of what you can do) (and only as long as you're doing it for me) (you have a duty to use your special abilities for the good of others) (in exactly the way i tell you) (if you don't do exactly what i tell you, you're Bad and Ungrateful for having these abilities and not using them right) (if your talents ever aren't enough you're completely worthless)

 

one really neat thing about the way the main triads are set up: everyone has counterparts, but they're not direct/mirror counterparts. something roughly along the lines of
Adora - leader/stronk
Scorpia - stronk/heart
Bow - heart/tech
Entrapta - tech/adorbs
Glimmer - adorbs/fite
Catra - fite/leader
so they kinda go around in a ring sharing attributes

 

Oh that reminds me, I have now seen images of Scorpia on tumblr. She reminds me of Zarya from Overwatch, but cuter. Cute hunk of beef.

 

Watching more episodes! Here are my thoughts as I go.

Spoiler

Episode 3-
"horsey" is NOT a stupid name, but Bow has a point. whose horse WAS he, anyway?

Related- Bow is a fucking idiot. He's great.

This show deserves a better theme song, or at least a better singer. Not the worst I've heard though.

I appreciate Hordak not having any of Shadow Weaver's shit, especially when she tells Catra she doesn't have time to admonish/punish her, then brings Catra to her boss so that he can do it.

Madame Razz is just Purple Yoda, change my mind

Episode 4-
Adora, I understand you wanna sleep with Glimmer, but you gotta ask her first.

Shadow Weaver is... an evil princess..?

"the She-Ra"

where did she get 3 Horde disguises from

Episode 5-
This Sea Hawk guy is incredibly cocky, also probably lying. That is an admirable mustache, though.

I also like the bit with him calling Glimmer the wrong name on purpose to piss her off.

fuck it's Scorpia my GIRL I love her already

... orderbs is spells hors doeuvres? French is stupid.

Mermista... gives absolutely no fucks.

wait Angella is immortal?

I don't quite get what She-Ra's power level is supposed to be. She's 7 feet tall and can lift war machines four times her size with one hand, but drops to her knees after getting sucker-punched in the stomach?

 

And a couple more.

Spoiler

Episode 6-
So Bow is basically just Green Arrow but dumb. Gotcha.

Entrapta is... interesting. And this episode is the closest they can get to zombies while keeping it TV-Y7.

So, First One Tech and Magic are the same thing?

her... parents are... robots...

Entrapta, you're being a stupid as Bow right now, come on. that thing just tried to kill you.

Episode 7-
I like Glimmer with bedhead.

"it's the safest, most peaceful place in Etheria!" :^l

I can buy Adora not knowing about parties or festivals or birthdays because of the Fright Zone's... "intense" culture, but not knowing what an aunt is? like. for real? are siblings and family ties not things they have in the Fright Zone?

Glimmer has tiny wing marks on her back

fuck, Shadow Weaver, this is some serious abusive parent shit. and some serious discussion of abusive parent shit.

 

last three episodes, here we go!

Spoiler

Episode 8-
wow that's a comedically long invitation. classic trope, love it.

Bow has a date with Perfuma??

I continue to LOVE Scorpia.

Fuck she's a princess
She has a pretty dress

Princess Frosta: "bitch I'm eleven"

this episode is so gay you guys

except the part with Glimmer being jealous of Bow and Perfuma is pretty straight but it's good stuff

Episode 9-
rescue mission is a go!

Mermista continues to be great.

Aww they have a tiny scrap-collector bot!

fuck Scorpia that was so dumb but I still love you

Entrapta is having a nerdgasm over this Horde tech and befriending robots and I love it

I have a feeling Shadow Weaver has used the mind-wipe on Adora before.

And so, the episode ends with a net zero gain of princesses. Since we didn't see a body, we can't be sure Entrapta is actually dead, but either way they didn't bring her back with her. The only thing really accomplished is Angella isn't pressured into surrender to get Glimmer back.

Episode 10-
fuck, you princesses are dumb.

Ah, there's Entrapta, there we go.

Scorpia is best princess okay?

Entrapta messing with Catra and Scorpia is fun to watch.

Episode 11-
wait, I thought there were only 10 episodes.

Ooh, first ones shit.

what the fuck

babycatra babydora

fuck that's dark all of a sudden

Scorpia continues to be best princess, Catra doesn't know what she's missing.

Episode 12-
No, seriously, I thought there were only 10 episodes.

"a form you are comfortable with" trope: not something I expected, honestly.

THE HORSE CAN TALK!!??

Scorpia just keeps getting better, and she's an artist! so talented!

Okay, exposition time! Wow, this is some serious shit. and some serious Clarke's Third Law.

I never expected anyone to get a motivating speech from a horse.

Episode 13-
I am wasting my life

Are we just gonna gloss over the fact that Adora probably killed the people piloting that skiff when it exploded?

And just when all hope seems lost, the cavalry arrives.
We finally get to see ALL the princesses in action!

it's only fitting, and gay, that the heroes win by using a giant rainbow.

and there we go! overall, I really enjoyed this. can't wait for next season.

 

Okay I'm sorry for hijacking the thread with the liveblogging but here have a video

 

Season 2 coming April 26!

 

DAY BEFORE MY BIRTHDAY. BEST EARLY BIRTHDAY PRESENT EVER.

 

Three days before my birthday! :D Might take me three days to watch all of it, depending on work, so that works out nicely

 

I'm interested in Catra's likely forthcoming redemption arc a lot, but there's something else I wanna see too.

Spoiler: Cut for spoips

I wanna know how Scorpia and Entrapta's arcs are gonna play out.

Scorpia, first; I love this big dumb goodhearted lady. And she's in a pretty interesting position. Her family outright gave their kingdom to the Horde because they weren't accepted by other nations and their rulers. Now Scorpia has found people that do accept her...but the kicker is that the Fright Zone is not a good place to be a good person. I think she's firmly decided that the Horde are the Good Guys because they gave her a place to belong, but even though she's not so sharp, this isn't an illusion she can hide in forever.

Scorpia is basically nice. She's the type of person who remembers your birthday and tries to comfort you when you're feeling down. The Horde, though, is not nice. The Horde chews people up and spits them out, and sooner or later Scorpia is going to realise this. I think it's one thing for her to justify fighting the Rebellion and conquering enemies ("we're in a war, and everyone will understand eventually that things are BETTER with the Horde in charge!") but another to be confronted with the fact that the Horde abuses its own members. And given that she's made friends with Catra, Scorpia WILL have this rubbed in her face sooner or later. Catra never had the privilege of looking at the Horde through rose coloured glasses.

There's also the fact that the Black Garnet is rightfully Scorpia's, though she's never had the opportunity to connect with it. The Runestones are all part of the planet's hardware...and the First Ones had a purpose in mind for the Black Garnet just as much as the others. This has implications for the Rebellion kids too; She-ra is an instrument of balance. And balance means that each Runestone needs a Princess committed to using it in the right way. The Black Garnet is part of the system, it has a place, and maybe the real start of things going badly wrong in Etheria was when Scorpia's people felt so alienated by the other nations and their rulers that Scorpia's father welcomed in the Horde and forfeited the Garnet to them. (I have a hypothesis that this may have something to do with the Garnet and its stewards seeming 'monstrous' to others on account of their appearances. It's worth noting that almost everyone outside the Horde looks human, while the Horde has lizard people and tentacle people and clawed cat people.)

Next post: Entrapta Thoughts.

 

Spoiler: Continued spoips

Now, Entrapta.

The thing about Entrapta is that she was really never committed to the Rebellion on an ideological or political level. She was in because it seemed interesting. Entrapta seems...not only low empathy, but like someone who hasn't really learned that sympathy is important. She's done horribly destructive stuff just because she wanted to see what would happen-and afterwards, her reaction was to survey the devastation and be like 'oh, that's even more fascinating!' She doesn't seem to take any glee in hurting people. She just doesn't care when they DO get hurt as a result of her actions.

I want to learn more about her backstory, because that might shed light on why she is this way. My current theory is that whoever raised her didn't know how to handle a child with low empathy, and dropped the ball. I don't think she's irredeemable, but if she gets a redemption arc it's going to have to involve her being hit over the head with the fact that Other People Matter. And I do mean hit over the head, because Entrapta does not do subtle.

 

Spoiler: thoughts on spoips

Seeing her memorial and finding out that her "death" affected people enough to break up the alliance might be a start on that - "wait, I matter to other people? Huh."

 

What if the reason Adora didn’t know about The Horde being so evil is because they go over it in force captain orientation

 

Season two is today! Let’s go, lesbians, let’s go!