Honestly, Catra "redemption" arc made me glad that Azula from Avatar never really get a redemption arc Azula's downfall arc in my opinion is a far more fitting end for her character than a redemption arc cause while she was a victim of her circumstance, she still did a lot of bad thing that can't be sweep under the rug and it made it easier for the audience to sympathize with Azula
By God, yes! I'm surprised that there are people who see Azula as someone who can be redeemed, even more so when: -She rejoiced to learn that Zuko, her brother and blood, would be killed by their own father on the orders of their grandfather. And not content with that, she goes to wake up Zuko to rub the news in his face. - Not counting the times Azula went looking for Zuko to kill him (sometimes without even receiving her father's orders). - She went straight to Ty Lee to "ask" her to help her capture the Avatar, but when she refused, she decided to intimidate her in her act by setting fire to the safety rope (I don't know if that's what it's called) and ordering the release of the circus animals, forcing her "friend" to obey her if she wanted to stay alive. - She forced Mai to sacrifice her little brother when Mai's family wanted to rescue him by exchanging him with King Bumi. It is true that Azula was also a child victim of abuse (by both Ozai and Ursa) just like Zuko, but she was also someone who caused a lot of suffering to the people around her and enjoyed it. That girl was a danger to herself and to others. Heck, you know it's too late for you when even Uncle Iroh (a man who's lived long enough to believe in give people a second chances) tells your brother you're too far gone and he needs to put you down.
I knew the way they described Catra reminded me of someone, thanks. You are right, Azula's downfall in the day end is exactly what was coming for her the way she was written to that point. She is the perfect foil to Zuko in that both were left in a really Bad situation and did terrible things to cope, but Zuko had the moral support and introspection to look for redemption while Azula didn't and doomed herself in the end.
Azula's story is a reminder that no matter how many reasons you have for acting the way you do, they're never excuses, and at one point or another, you've got to face some consequences. Catra's actions definitely deserved worse consequences than they had. She went so far and sacrificed so much to steal the power and control her abusers used against her, only to see it get stripped away from her hands again and finally realize, only far too late, that she'd never get what she wanted by trying to beat opressors at their own game, as there would always be someone more powerful than her to stomp on her. With that lesson in mind, I find it would have been more logical for her to die by the hands of Lorde Prime, back on his ship, and either accept her fate, or try to flee from it up until the end.
i started hating this show during season 4 because I kinda hoped catra would have stayed in the crimson waste with scorpia, she had her own gang and was actually happy, so why would she return to the horde a place that treated her like crap and sent her to the desert to die.
I always felt like Adora and Catra’s relationship should have gone the way Moses and Ramses’ relationship went in Prince of Egypt. They were two people were raised as siblings and obviously cared for each other, but because of their upbringing and the protagonist abandoning their previous life because of some life-changing event, they’re relationship slowly crumbles way, and outcome is hauntingly tragic where they drift apart, never to rekindle their love for each other.
Or in the worst case scenario, like Minami (Kamen Rider Black RX) and Nobuhiko (Shadow Moon), after many fights, Minami saw that the guy he considered a brother was too far gone and had to end him for the good of the Earth, he keeps getting ressurrected (in movies) and RX has to fight him every time, but still...
If this show had an consequences we’d see this relationship be toxic and end up in a break up like wha5 happened to Korra and Mako in the legend of Korra.
I think they could have made Catra and adora a duality of the cycle of abuse. How it could destroy a person, make them go off the deep end and be a tragedy (aka no redemption arc, just make her nothing but the villain) while adora is someone who breaks the cycle and becomes the best person they can be. Narratively this could absolutely work. And as another commentator has said; a Rameses and Moses case from Prince of Egypt. Redemption shouldn’t come to all villains and I think their descent to madness can make them more sympathetic. But of course the writers played favorite with Catra and just made her into the irredeemable monster we are supposed to forgive for her actions despite it being at the point of no return
Glad to see this video essay series return. Catra will never not be a frustrating character, because the elements are there for a compelling antagonist. I'd argue that season three was the character at her peak, but then it starts going downhlll in S4, and then we're left with a hastily thrown together redemption arc in the final thirteen episodes. It's sad that most animes can do villain redemption arcs better, and in less episodes! I'll also hate Catra forever due to the Catra profile pictures on Twitter coming after me after I made a tongue in cheek ribbing about the show's writing quality. 🤣
Glad to see that the part 2 is finally out, and it certainly didn't disappoint. In fact, it actually changed my perspective on Catra's villain arc from seasons 1-3. Her going from a close friend of Adora to a deranged lunatic due to the Horde's abuse before dying due to her actions could make for a good tragic villain that really hits the audience where it hurts. Instead, we got a rushed redemption that just didn't pan out. I feel like if Catra was to be redeemed, the biggest ingredient would have to be showing her as a potentially good person trapped in bad circumstances. We could see her privately show things like compassion or care for others, trying to emulate Adora in a way while also giving the audience reason to want her out of the Horde and redeemed. Make her conflicted about fighting her best friend in war to the point she's being pulled between the Horde and Adora. Anything that could really demonstrate Catra's humanity and capacity to be better would really make the redemption more possible. Instead, we get four seasons of villainy and one season of a too quick heel face turn that deprives Catra of redemption and makes it look like she was just slotted with Adora cause Catradora is the fan favorite ship rather than any actual love. What a waste.
I feel Catra would have been a better character worthy of redemption if she didn't know Adora was She-ra until maybe halfway through. She may still act like her toxic villain self, but it's not directed towards the person she claims to love, and then when it's revealed the person she was fighting this whole time really was adora, she would start reflecting on her past actions and move on to the path of redemption
How would that work tho? Unlike when he man changes adora’s voice or physique doesn’t drastically change she just gets taller and bulkier. When prince Adam turns into he man he looks and sounds drastically different but not adora so how would that make sense?
@@jknetwork6211 simple, just change the design so it doesn't look like adora and the voice actress sound different too, or just go the superman or sailor moon route and despite the looking near identical to their civilian bodies no one recognizes them
@@jknetwork6211 Plenty of ways to achieve that, in fact, in the actual show it's said that she "changes into an 8ft tall amazon" (Said by Mermista), so just adding a mask that covers half of Adora's face would have done the trick. Still, Catra being some sort of alien cat-person, could have realized the truth with her sense of smell. In the 80s version of the show there were two different voice actresses for Adora and She-Ra.
I feel like what people always get wrong about redemption arks is that any character, no matter what they do, can have one. Anyone irl can have a change of heart and regret their past actions and try to make up for it. HOWEVER, this doesn't mean anyone has to actually forgive them, and if they do forgive them it doesn't mean they have to reconcile with them. I've seen a few series now where people had issues with redemption arks, and I don't think the issue was "Oh this character shouldn't try and become a better person" it's that all the other characters chill out way too quickly. Like, not to bring up Avatar since I think a ton of people already have, but the fact that Katara takes a bit longer to warm up to Zuko is part of what cements that character ark for him. Or in MHA, how endeavor realized he was abusive and attempts to change, but his family is understandibly conflicted. For Catra, giveing her this extra time to prove that she did change to Adora would allow the ending to sit better with people. OR do the last minute redemption and then have everyone sort of on eggshells around her.
Sasha from Amphibia is another good. Example. She was a terrible friend and a terrible person but deep down she truly cared about her friends and eventually saw the error of her ways and chose to become a better person and a protector of innocent frogs
*Catra literally with her own actions wants to destroy the entire world just to spite Adora* Idiots on Twitter & modern cartoon community: But she is a lesbian, was abused, had a sad childhood, just apologised & saved only Glimmer. So she is forgiven. Me: No, that's how that works. That's not how any of this works.
@@Saltedroastedcaramel you meant "catshit." You don't think sacrificing herself and getting mind-fucked by Prime gives her some cred? She also risked her life to fight with the BFS after that and for Adora against the Guardian monster. She was not the same person as in Season 4. Sometimes it takes new traumatic experiences to free someone from their own narcissistic bullshit and that's what happened with her.
@@acerbic5806 You said it, not me. Her sacrificing herself doesn't really mean much to me. 1. It was because she was going to get brainwashed not really out of the genuine kindness in her heart. She's still a bitch even after that. Just on the good side. If she really changed, she wouldn't abandon Adora during her struggles in the second to last episode and had someone else she just met again to make her go back or feel guilt. Changed my ass. "Sometimes it takes new traumatic experiences to free someone from their own narcissistic bullshit and that's what happened with her." She had two and she's still an abusive bitch.
Imma keep it short but this is my observation from all these shows; They claim they want to talk about abuse but from everything a lot of this awful shows give us, their 'stories' just end up being 'I was 'abused' so my terrible behavior is okay and you have to accept ME treating you like shit. Imma a victim, uwu." This is especially bad when you remember that Catra is based on a real person that Stevenson gave a little too much info on in their 'biography comic' and from those pages, the person that Catra is based on is a complete asshole and Stevenson just ACCEPTED that actions out of fear of being alone yet in the end, nothing really is resolved and it feels like the abuser got their victim to bend to them. None of these shows have actually show a character stand up and REJECT their abuser, it's always constant forgiveness and romance but the people they DO push away are usually the ones they would be better off with or are the ones who aren't causing them their problems. That should be major red flags because it shows how the abused person is closing off their circle to be with their abuser after being told what they think they want to hear. Throughout the series, Adora never really gains her own agency for anything. She's ALWAYS been a pawn to someone else whether it be Shadow-Weaver, Catra and to an extent even Light Hope who turned the POWER of being She-Ra into some sort of 'solution' to the mistakes Mara made that fucked shit up for everyone. This....this is HORRIBLE to show to girls to be 'empowered' by because there is nothing to draw power FROM. Adora remains as she was from the start of the show to the end; an object of desire. This is WORSE than what a lot of progressive writers claim female characters are handled in stories written by men but they claim this is fine because Adora and Catra are lesbians? How the fuck am I supposed to feel anything about two teenage lesbians that threw out red flags constantly? I think what makes it worse is that Stevenson is an adult and injecting their shitty love life into kids to 'relive' and validate with a property they had 0 hand in creating. Kids deserve better than to get the sloppy seconds of a person who has constant identity crises and is in denial of who is actually in control of their lives. The show was just a big 'THIS IS FINE' project and Catra is the fate they keep telling themselves is okay.
I think that's the main issue with these woke shows as well as video games and comics especially with the "empowered female characters" department. Just hollow Mary sues or just flat unlikable and forgetable characters. Adora is definitely a big example of this compared to her 80's lore. There's nothing that much interesting about her outside of shipping bait, which is fine but there has to be more than that. And even then the shippers will jump to the next yuri filled show. For people that whine on how male writers suck at writing female characters (and admittedly some do like the creator of Naruto), they praise people like N.D even though they suck too. They have to bring in a man to fix it
catra is definitely the amber heard of of she-ra. if they had just gone "yeah, she's the villain now" i would have been fine with it. sure hordak would still be shafted but it's fine. the fact that they tried to shoe horn a rushed redemption arc after this just completely killed all the good will this series had from me. I would have forgiven all the sins if she-ra had ended the series sticking by her guns and turning her back on her abuser, catra. what a great message that would have been.
Well let’s be honest Catra was the show’s main villain from the get got, Hordack was ducking around in his lab and didn’t have any presence in the show, Hell he didn’t even care about Adora. Shadow Weaver was set up as an evil mother figure for Catra and Adora but Catra takes her out easily giving Catra no obstacle to over come. The main focus has always been on Catra.
I don't know part of me is glad she got redeemed in because believe me she ain't the only character in entertainment that a happy ending I just wish it was written better
Catra is the prime example of the creative team not letting their story flow naturaly the way they were writing it. There is a line that she crosses multiple times when she destroys the world and refuses to accept any fault or to better herself. By that point she is an irredemable villian and should be treated as such, showing the end result that her actions and attitude bring upon herself. However they had in mind that she was going to be good in the end and Adora's partner, however that runs opposed to everything they built so far and yet they did it anyway.
Catradora had the potential if written properly to be a better Enemies to Lovers story. I mean the Battle of Bright Moon should have been the worst thing she’d done at least. Or her arc could have ended as the death of a tragic Villain at the portal incident and in her sad death, Horde Prime enters the story and a greater evil comes along after Catra’s death in the portal opened the floodgates for a galactic invasion.
@@toadlord8594 And Horde Prime would've had 2 seasons in that case, which would've allowed him to be the intimidating villain he was supposed to be but couldn't because he only had one season more focused on shipping than him
I'd say a big problem with Catra's rushed arc is it didn't need to be rushed. The Showrunner knew exactly how many episodes they would have, so saving the redemption for the very end after they had already committed horrible actions just looks sloppy. (If anything her breaking reality should've been the wakeup call.)
That's a problem with the whole show. They had a set number of episodes they were going to make and they failed at pacing. So there is a lot of filler early on untill almost half the series, and then they started rushing character development, worldbuilding and the plot in the end.
@@davidgusquiloor2665 I'm almost positive they were writing as they went. Like the infamous Rune Stone circle where not even half the silhouetted princesses show up and they had to walk back that only elemental Princesses get Rune Stones and yet Spinnerella doesn't have one despite having control of wind. (In reality this was because the Showrunner cast themselves as Spinnerella and was "too busy" to do voice work. So yeah, very poor planning.)
@@CoolG97 I argued with Tom Norton on that rune stone/ other princesses, but he kept saying it wasn't a plot hole because Light Hope was manipulating Adora.... even though the show never established that she was...
@@Saltedroastedcaramel And what would that be manipulating Adora into. Exploring the planet? Meeting new cultures? Doing something productive? Still doesn't explain the Spinnerella in the room. (I double checked the circle, Angella is apparently in it implying that she and Glimmer have separate rune Stones, but this continuity has Bright Moon be her domain instead of Micah's.)
@@CoolG97 My thoughts exactly. Nu ra stans would break their friggin backs to defend the obviously bad writing and plot holes that neither the show nor writers bother to explain just like how they break their backs over Catradora and Catra. There's this one person I argued with in a recent Clownfish tv she ra video about an article that finally admits that catradora and catra was toxic. They were arguing other commenters and when I argued the ass pull moments Catra they I kid you not said that she's not the audience as a defense.
I wondered when this series was coming back. There seems to be a mentality of victimhood here that Says "I'm being abused so I'm going to abuse everyone around me because it's okay to". Which is no excuse to harm or belittle anyone
If anything, Catra is a prime example of why "they were abused their whole life" is not enough of an excuse for a redemption arc. You need the character to self-reflect and realize how terrible their actions have been, and their needs be a line they're not willing to cross because it would result in millions dying. Catra never does. She only cared about owning and beating Adora, even if it meant killing everyone, and she didn't even care. Catra was so selfish that she would rather have the whole world universe than lose Adora, resulting in a mother sacrificing their life to save the world. The romance they tried to pull with Adora and Catra comes as so disgusting, it's an abusive relationship, nothing more, nothing else, and the fact shippers find this romantic is very telling of their character.
@@jjjmadness8306 just because some people want to see catra and Adora end up together that doesn't mean they're bad people. First of all while it looks like Catra destroyed the universe keep in mind with the except for glimmers mother everybody else was just fine. And here's the thing Catra did self reflect if you remember during the last episode I believe in season 4 when double trouble was talking to her catra finally had a wake up call to even appoint where she told glimmer to end her. People who being abused in real life sometimes can get both physically and mentally damaged. I do not like the fact that catra was taking her issues out on Adora but it was mostly due to the fact that her adopted mother Shadow Weaver favors Adora over her which may some jealousy. Do I believe Catra needs to be punished for what she has done yes I do but I never believed their relationship was toxic
@@animezilla4486 yeah but it took a random person to wake her up. Not Adora, not even Catra herself but a random being. It speaks of ones character when it requires outside help to wake up. A great redemption starts from within.
The promotion of toxic relationships seems to be a running trend in media today.People are so blinded by their obsessions that they dont see that they hurting themselves and others around them.The fact that Catra got what she wanted in the end with seemingly no repercussions is disturbing.That some fans dont view Catra's redemption as half assed is laughable.If they wanted to redeem her so badly they should've done it during the portal incident,have Catra realize that she has gone too far.But no,they doubled down on Catra's obsession and evil nature.I would say that if Catra was male there would be a much greater outcry towards the shows writing,but now I'm not too sure anymore given the twisted morals of some people today.Even with more awareness being brought on toxic relationships people still refuse to see the truth.
Toxic relationships should just be for guilty pleasures, not seen as progressive, mainstream and definitely not seen as a good thing. It's no wonder the dating scene is awful
Willing to destroy the world just to spite Adora, and attempted murder suicide is not cool. Catra had crossed the line, that I found it hard to redeem her. And watching how she keeps doubling down, over and over again, blaming Adora, hurting her physically, emotionally and degrading her. If they wanted to give Catra a redemption, they should have given her a proper arc in recovery. Heck the Horde kids could have been the support system that she never knew she needed, and Scorpia included.
In any other work in fiction, if a hero looked at a villain the way She Ra looked at Catra after all she did, it would mean that villain would die at the end, when the hero is done with your BS as a villain that means you either surrender or die.
@@TheSpawnfan yeah, she was a tragic figure but definitively not a simpathetic one, she never expressed remorse or doubt, she felt sad and lonely but... that's kinda you get when you lash out on everyone, so seeing how they never give catra what she deserves makes me lose respect to anyone who calls this show "mature" and "complex", this is but a teenager's line of emotional development and done wrong
@@cardescomedioses3674 Well with articles coming out talking about how toxic the relationship is now after tons praising this show it gives me help that more people are waking up to realize how toxic this show actually is.
@Mister Crow they were obsessed with trying to make Catra look like a victim while also trying to make her a badass and those two things didn’t match very well.
In any other story, trying to delete the universe would've been seen as the point of no return. But between that, and Evil-lyn blowing up Heaven and getting away with it, 'morality' isn't a word, it's a punchline.
Well Catra and Evil-Lyn are woman so they can’t be pure evil, plus they have “sad backstories ™” so that makes their actions “justified” because they are lashing out at a world that hurt them, and in Catra’s case she’s a lesbian and we can’t have a lesbian be toxic because that be “homophobic”. (◔_◔)
This show gets a lot of undo praise because Catra and Adora get together but they’re a toxic and unhealthy relationship between an obsessive abuser and her punching bag. But the show and it’s thirsty fanbase act like Catra is absolved of all of her horrible actions because she had a rough life. Hell as stated above the characters you compared Catra too DO have their actions attitudes called out by the plot and characters of their shows. One of my favorite parts of Bojack is when is best friend calls him out on his crap after messing up and hurting people because of his selfish actions “You can't keep doing shitty things and then feel bad about yourself like that makes it okay! You need to be better!” before telling Bojack that BOJACK is everything that is wrong with himself, not his parents or how he grew up or any of the shitty things that happened to him growing up, that HE is the one who chooses to do these things in the here and now. So Catra can play her tiny violin about how the world is unfair and how Adora was the golden child (even though Adora was abused in a different way) she is the one who ultimately is making the active choice to be a horrible person now. Her past might be an EXPLANATION but it is not a JUSTIFICATION. In Bojack the friend who called him out does distance himself from him and their relationship is never the same, they eventually get back on good terms but his friend still keeps him at arms length. Catra however is instantly forgiven, treated like a cute kitten and eventually gets with the girls she has been stalking, gaslighting and abusing the whole show. Catra even says “just once, stay with me!” as if it was Adora’s fault they were never together until this point, that Adora abandoned her rather than Catra refusing to join until she realized her plot armor ran out and she could other throw Horde Prime like she did Shadow Weaver and Hordack. You want a good lesbian relationship that doesn’t have all this toxic crap? Just watch “The Owl House” it’s got a much better build up and has Amnit act as a stuck up bully who never goes as far as destroying the world out of SPITE.
Throughout the series Catra has been physically hurting, trying to kill, guilt-tripping, and emotionally/psychologically scarring Adora; and if that wasn't bad enough, in the finale she had the audacity to say "I love you, I've always have!", proceeding to getting what she wanted by ending up with Adora. Her toxic behavior should never have been rewarded.
@@KelShu and the only two times someone calls her out on how she has no one to blame but herself, it's from someone who wants to hurt her and not someone she needed to hear this from so she probably (and arguably didn't due to the aforementioned gaslighting) didn't take this to heart at all.
I still believe that Adora is trapped in Catra's abusive patterns. What we see in the series finale? That's not a happy ending with a redeemed Catra, it's Catra and Adora going back to the honeymoon phase of their abusive relationship. It only takes Adora going out of line once (making Catra jealous, doing something she doesn't like) and the whole thing will start again. Again, this reading is supported by Noelle Stevenson's own view of the relationship. She has referred multiple times to Adora leaving the Horde as her "betraying" Catra, as if she had to stay in a toxic environment for Catra (one that Catra refuses to leave) or she is a bad partner. The show's logic is that abuse is only bad if it comes from parental figures, but is a *desired* trait in a romantic partner. That's sadly too common in abuse victims, where they realize their parents or guardians abused them, but don't realize they have been conditioned to seek the same traits and red flags in their romantic relationships.
@@EternityKingdomsHeadHoncho No I think Entrapta and Hordak aren't healthy either. Hordak committed terrible crimes on the same level as Catra, probably even worse than Catra. If Catra's redemption arc was so bad and rushed, then so was Hordak's.
@@disappearingangel4972 At least Hordak isn't physically or emotionally abusive towards Entrapta like Catra is towards Adora. Heck, I'd argue he treats her better than literally everyone else. Say what you will about him being part of a cult empire thing and conquering Etheria, but he was surprisingly kind when he's around her.
You got the right it should have been done there. She went too far and she should not have got redeemed. If there were going to redeem it should have been like her self sacrificing to save someone and not get saved.
I don’t get why the writers didn’t have Catra spent 2-3 seasons to overcome many those deep-seeded issues she has, her redemption arc, as well her healing from the abuse she went through.
My favorite moment of the whole series is Adora punching Catra in the face in season 3 finale like she realizes she cant save catra if catra doesnt want to but unfortunally there is season 4 that looks like this didnt really happen i think this moment should had happen in mid season 4 right before catra is kidnapped by horde prime so would make more sense to her arc it wouldnt be perfect without more teaks but at least would be better
Welcome back. I missed your videos and insightful criticism of the shows. I very much disliked Catra’s whole arc. Her redemption was rushed. Her relationship with Adora is toxic. And many plot points were left hanging.
Well you can like morality bad and toxic characters, I like her to a point mostly her design and wished they made her go fully on villain with no redemption. I love MHA villains but would I want to be like them, no. It’s a character
Because people project onto her and don’t want to admit that they shared traits of a very toxic and selfish individual. They don’t wanna have to change their bad behaviors and like that the show says they did nothing wrong just like their favorite character.
They're types of villains that people wanna see... Villains that are so evil that you just wanna hate them. Villains that you feel bad for but their actions are still wrong And Villains you can't take seriously but their still amusing.
I’ve had this idea of what I would’ve done with Catra for a while. From the start I would’ve either kept the two as friends and have pretty much everything up until the season 3 finale be the same, to show how different Adora and Catra are to each other. Or just have them start out as girlfriends and do mostly the same thing, only this time Catra’s actions would appear to be coming from passion rather than just a one sided rivalry, and as the story goes on the passion turns into obsession, and Catra’s reason to climb up the ranks is so she can go on missions that focus on capturing Adora. Then the season 3 finale comes and I have two options: either just kill off Catra then and there (giving seasons 4 and 5 to Hordak and Prime) or have Hordak try to kill her for her failures only to have Catra escape and somewhere along the line captured by Prime, only she joins willingly without having to be controlled. And when Prime is defeated, Catra tries to run only to get caught by Adora and finally imprisoned for her crimes.
You two are right the end of the world would’ve been a good redemption moment for catra I would see it happen like this: Catra sees the world disappearing in a bright white and pink light Catra: adora what’s going on Adora: the world is disappearing because you activated that portal remember (Memories coming back to Catra) Catra: (she puts her hands on her head) no no nononono th-this can’t be this isn’t what I wanted this isn’t what I wanted at all she says with tears in her eyes Adora: we can talk about this later but we have to save the world first Catra: (looks at adora) can we even save the at this point Adora: we can but we have to hurry Catra: alright (wipes away tears) lets do this They get to the sword knowing what the price is to save the world catra offers to do it Adora: wait!? What!? Catra: I’m the reason this all happened so I’m gonna solve it, just do me one last favor and tell scorpia that I’m sorry and I’m sorry to you to for everything Catra jumps towards the sword holding on to it looking one last time at adora and saying: good bye adora and she pulls the sword fixing everything
I agree with everything you said. it would have been a GREAT villain arc. imagine this: adora sees catra as her sister (they were pretty much sisters growing up) and in the finale, she's like "you're like a sister to me. I couldn't kill you. but you deserve punishment" and locks her away lol catra was so entitled and corrupt to the point she was worse than hordak in my opinion because he never tried to end the world willingly.
@Kingdomall she was worse than Hordack because he barely did anything through the whole show. She was both a “victim” and “girlboss” for the writers and had her be the main focus for most of the show, while Hordack just stayed cooped up in his lab. Hell we he was active Catra was practically running the horde in all but name.
@@cartoonking1789 true. it's honestly sad how they wrote those two characters. he did barely anything, and I had lost almost all of my suspense for him by the first season. he wasn't scary, and ends up simping over a princess in the end lol
@@Kingdomall yeah he pretty much became discount-beast to entrapta’s discount-Belle. Because Stevenson wanted Catra to be sympathetic and a threat and one of the most important characters a lot of other characters suffered. The horde trio and the robot soldiers were flat cannon fodder, Scorpia was simpping for Catra, Shadow Weaver who should have been more of a threat was beaten both early and easily, Hordack spent most of the time in his lab or simpping for Entrapa and then got beaten by Catra TWICE (the same way each time), by the time we got Horde Prime Catra was the major threat for a majority of the show. Prime was there to be a conflict killer and give the characters a “bigger threat” to rally against so Catra could join the heroes easily.
From how I see it, Catra wasn't going to really "get better", ever. She thrives on being superior, the one in control, the dominant out of the rest. And in most situations Catra was in, she was the superior one. Such as: Adora - Superior to her via manipulation, assault, and gaslighting ( among other things ) SW - Superior to her via finally able to defeat her ( "you've been training me for this day!" ) Hordak - Superior to him via manipulation and using his disability to make him her b-tch Crimson Waste - Superior via committing murder ( Tongue Lasher ) Scorpia - Superior to her via manipulation, namecalling, attempted assault, and threats Entrapta - Superior to her via manipulation ( you having fun yet- ), assault, and threats Etheria - s3 finale. The only thing that made Catra take it down a LITTTLE ( keyword: l i t t l e ) was Horde Prime. But even then, Horde Prime's character is faulty. He is basically what Catrs was in s3, but was made so Catra couldn't be the bad guy and she'd get her "redemption". I know for a fact that if Catra was given the option to overthrow Horde Prime ( or work alongside him, I guess ) over Adora, she'd take it in a heartbeat. I like characters who have to work from rock bottom to get to be a better person, but that's not what Catra is. Catra is someone who will forever want power and control, and will go to insane lengths to get it. Even in s5, she's not getting any better. She SAYS she's getting better, but it's to keep everybody off her back. ( And I know the writing is ND's fault, but Glimmer and Bow are terrible friends, esp in s5. ) Catra is not a character worthy of redemption. Even by s1, there wasn't really any way of going back. Superiority will always matter to her, and those types of people don't change. Or if they do, it's far too late. Which is why I never understand people who are against Catra's actions, but still say "she deserves to heal". She's not going to because she doesn't think she has to. She's fine where she is. If nothing Adora, Scorpia, Entrapta, ANYBODY OR ANYTHING has worked in order for Catra to actually realize she was the problem, nothing and nobody ever will. She'll destroy herself. And I wouldn't be particularly sad, because I stopped caring a long time ago.
"I know for a fact that if Catra was given the option to overthrow Horde Prime ( or work alongside him, I guess ) over Adora, she'd take it in a heartbeat. " That was Catra's m.o had Prime not put his foot down
@@Saltedroastedcaramel Her plot armor ran out and Noelle realized she still needed to make out with Adora so she had Horde Prime be the only one with a brain and not fall for her Bullshit.
@@cartoonking1789 It's possible that Catra's "redemption" was "rushed" because Noelle was butting heads with Netflix to make Catradora happen due anti - gay countries Netflix is available to. Seeing how Voltron went it's possible. At the same time, there's no reason to make Catra hold the title of central antagonist this long and wipe Hordak and S.W out from the game. This is the same issue Miraculous Ladybug has with Hawkmoth currently. Funnily enough, he's another tragic character that writers handled poorly and doesn't care that he's hurting the people he loves over his goals. She's could have been redeemed in the season 3 finale - not season 4 as some want - rather than double down for this long. They knew they only had 52 episodes to work with from the start. And another thing, networks needs to stop pandering to the alphabet crowd when they know they can't for other countries. And if they still want to have alphabet people in their shows, quit using them as a market pull and just let them exist.
I think this was clear in how Catra felt better having FEAR over people in the Crimson Waste vs RESPECT. There is a massive difference between the two but guess which one Catra took favor over and made certain that she kept a hand on? She's trash.
Her biggest problem was the indecisiveness from the writers. They wanted to make her the coolest, most badass villain, but also a redemption arc. But then made her villainous actions truly horrendous, and her 'redemption' half arsed. They should have either toned down her villainy, or go full in and have her story end in tragedy.
I'm glad you guys found some good to latch onto with Catra's arc being a look at the cycle of abuse. Unfortunately, given how the show turned out in the later seasons, I refuse to believe that was intentional on the part of the writers.
Catra is a despicable person and after trying to destroy the world, irredeemable, any other villain would have the hero go at them with intent to kill if they didn't surrender, but since Noelle wants to push this abuser and the toxic relationship that comes with her onto the public Catra gets away scott free, and i still believe this is a cry for help and Noelle needs help, fast.
I cannot believe some people think Catra is a well written character. If people want to see an example of a good villain redemption story, go watch Amphibia.
YEAH, imo Catra’s “””redemption””” only happened because of Adora, and only Adora. She didn’t have any major change of heart, no time when she stopped to think what she was doing was wrong, nor did she seem to show much remorse for any of her actions for nearly the entire show until the last episodes (and even then that’s still left pretty vague). If Adora wasn’t around, Catra would have most likely just left it all while Etheria burned to the ground. The best example of this is when she rescues Glimmer from Horde Prime, but not out of guilt to save Glimmer but for Adora’s sake. I mean, maybe if she was written to be way less ruthless and willing to grow past Adora to seek out her own goals, that would make her more likeable. Because to me, with the series ending as it did it didn’t really feel like Catra grew or evolved that much as a character, if at all. Think like, Darth Maul from Clone Wars. He had a similar fixation on Obi-Wan and wanted him dead as soon as he was revived, but as the story evolved Maul’s ambitions grew beyond just revenge, and eventually he became focused more on creating his own empire with Savage Opress as his apprentice, to prove that he was more than the sum of his parts and beyond what Palpatine made him into. Something similar definitely could’ve been done with Catra, and is even hinted at in season 3 where Catra takes over the Crimson Wastes and Scorpia suggests that they just rule independently. All up until Adora comes along and Catra’s petty obsession continues to dictate every move she makes.
Seeing everything Catra went through in the whole series was just painful and unpleasant. Seeing Catra go further and further down the path of villainy and then Adora giving up on her and then what happens later on was NOT enjoyable to watch. I hope this series gets remade in the future and not as painful as this one.
9:36 and this is why I didn't agree that they ended up together in the end. I feel like with how Catra was by this point, she should've probably had a similar fate to Simon in Infinity Train
By the way makes zero sense that Scorpia is also a force captain because of the first epidodes we are suppose to believe it is such a important position but Scorpia is kinda stupid and do whatever she wants like go to crimson waste with Catra because she wants to despide being a force captain so being a leader of the horde but she doesnt receive any consequences from Hordak or Shadow Weaver so makes Catra and before Adora wanting to be a force captain less special
Here’s how I fixed it in my take on MOTU as a whole: Scorpia’s kindness has ironically made her one of the best Force Captains despite the whole purpose of a Force Captain being to intimidate younger Horde members and to subjugate natives of the worlds the Horde conquers. Due to her being so nice, those under her command usually WANT to follow her (even if her ideas are kinda dumb). Hordak might be annoyed by her hugginess, but he can’t deny how effective of a leader she’s being. After Adora leaves the Horde and Catra throws a pity party about it, Hordak decides to promote Catra to “co-Force Captain” with Scorpia (much to Catra’s chagrin). From here, we see their leadership styles clash. Scorpia’s doing things as she always has; Catra is relishing in the newfound power she has but also abusing it by treating her friends turned minions the same way she’s been treated. Eventually, Catra starts to mellow out and appreciate Scorpia’s method of leadership and Scorpia starts to apply some of Catra’s ambition to her plans.
@@EternityKingdomsHeadHoncho interessing rewrite i would asd to the horde keep being so awful hordak and shadow weaver should be shown scolding Scorpia too( even if Scorpia gets the job done) because is the horde
It's stuff like this where you really have to wander how can this progresive writters even attack someone's as a person when there own moralitly is more bast on the chek box than anything else
The fact that the audience is supposed to root not just for this character but her hooking up with Adora is just sickening. Plus, the fact that it's apparently based on Stevenson's own relationship with her girlfriend just makes it that much worse. What kind of a message are you trying to send here?
I agree with everything you said about her. I always feel like this series is a really poor mishandled conception of lgbtq+ in general. You have a gender fluid character that's kind of a stereotype and is cruel, the main lesbian relationship is toxic and they often resort to stereotypes and caricatures. I get that anyone of the lgbtq+ isn't perfect but since we rarely have any representation, having a majority of the coded characters be toxic or stereotypical may not be the best way to go about it. Maybe add a positive genderless character to balance out the negative one. The only major lesbian relationship that isn't toxic are two princesses that I barely remember their names because they're usually in the background, Spinnerella and Netossa. (Had to look up their names...That's how impactful they were...) Everyone says this is a great series for lgbtq+ representation but I disagree highly. I put Dragon Prince and even Voltron above She-Ra on that subject matter and other aspects.
Catra is what azula would act if she was not the favorite. Catra uses people and thrives on fear. She imitates their parent figure into their villainy. It isn't because she's a woman but because ironically people like to downplay her actions to be like zuko when she unlike him had less times of self reflection and is less willing to admit she did wrong even as she left the horde. Both were abused but adora chose to be better while catra chose violence and didn't give a shit about abusing others as long as she felt better.
The fact that real people try to excuse and defend this character is almost borderline disturbing, and makes me wonder what their standards are in a relationship. I’m looking at you, Five by Five Takes.
@@carbootstudios2459 I'm on Twitter and sometimes I go on spop Twitter to feel something, they literally write Bible length paragraphs on excusing Catras behavior just bc she was abused
I remember saying that Catra was a toxic person with no redeeming qualities on Reddit and getting a lot of DVs. The prevailing notion is that her professing her love at the end is enough and we should all forget all the people she killed because well, I guess they were just faceless background characters and it mostly happened off screen, so it's okay. Her constant abuse of Adora is gross and uncomfortable and made the show hard to watch at times. But, since I'm not a lesbian I just don't and can't understand. I'll raise my daughters to avoid people like Catra at all cost and not let themselves be fooled into thinking they have to keep allowing themselves to be used to earn love from people like this.
Dio-my father abused me for years. My mother died cause of him. I got beat up at the local bar just cause i won at chess. I saw someone who had everything i wanted just cause he has born in a better familly.. don't you understand my pai-"gets punched" Jotaro-yea bruh but i don't give a fuck.
I see Catra as an abusive monster with how she treats to person she claims to love is horrid, barely below what happened between Chikane and Himeko in Kannazuki no Miko, and the only reason I put Catra below that is because of some of the stuff that happens in that anime that would require a trigger warning. (I'm not kidding) If this show ended with season 3, with Adora saying she's done with Catra's abusive BS and making clear she no longer sees her as someone to save but an enemy, I wouldn't be nearly as harsh on the show as I am now since Catra was constantly abusive and crossed the moral event horizon with the finale, so recognizing she's unforgivable would have been something I would have praised. Sadly, that's not what we got and Catra's redemption didn't feel earned. It feels like he writers weren't really communicating since it looks like the two being shipped together was something they'd planned (somewhat), so knew she'd have to get redemption, but then they also had her do some of the most awful shit imaginable. Also, correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't Noelle Stevenson say that they based the relationship between Catra and Adora on a previous relationship they had? If so, that raises a whole lot of yikes and red flags.
Your arc sounds actually perfect. When I saw the finale I lost touch to She-Ra, the way they want Catra and Adora together after everything, I just saw it as promotion to the LGTBQ people. I mean all redeemed bad girls can have a chance, but after the whole ordeal, perhaps the two should separate and figure themselves. Could they end up together, maybe but not right after the finale. And how you told of Catra not even caring about destroying the world and wanting Adora all to herself, makes me think of HTTYD 2 and what Stoick said to Hiccup, someone who kills for no reason cannot be reason with. So how Catra just wanted to destroy the world and Adora having the chance to stop it, should of been proof that the two can no longer repair their bond.
I'll say it again. If she had a sasshomaru arc after season3 she'd have a more natural character growth. She could defect to the crimson waste, and begin finding herself. God knows there was no reason to stick around the now broken ass fright zone.
In order for Catra to objectively be better as a person she has to tie her self worth more towards what she is doing in order to recognize who she is as a person. Since her self worth is tied to relationships than Catra does not exist as a person but as a psychological vessel of nothing with its sole purpose to follow her toxic logical interpretations to its conclusion while also trying to please everybody but ending up pleasing nobody.
@@animezilla4486 Adora barely thinked about her or the people she left behind unless she was facing them. If there was supposed to be anything there they didnt put it untill much later.
@@davidgusquiloor2665 all the more reason why I didn't think they were originally lovers I always thought they would be like sisters that became enemies
N.D. and Nu ra fans: Accuses og fans of being p3d files because of wanting the *ADULT PRESENTING BUT APPARENTLY STILL TEENS* 80s designs. Also N.D and Nu ra fans: Make nfsw art of Nu ra. (Nfsw art of cartoons even kids shows aren't new but still hypocrisy.) Also N.D and Nu ra: Ships ambiguously adult Scorpia with Catra that's also a power dynamic in leadership status and has ambiguous teen until twitter confirmed adult Entrapta be shipped teased with Bo and Hordak.
The crimson waste bit is another that annoys me about Catra, her ability to get what she wants with no effort. Adora gets a position of power through hard work, Catra gets it because Adora left. Catra’s biggest threat is Shadow Weaver, Catra beats her up easily. Catra is sent to the crimson waste as a death sentence, Catra ends up thriving and pretty much takes over almost instantly. Catra is overpowered by Hordack, she then beats him TWICE. EXACTLY THE SAME WAY EACH TIME and takes over the Horde on Etheria. She never has to work or faces any set backs, she has things she wants and she gets it not long after. It happens when she joins the good guys too, they instantly forgive and like her and she gets with Adora.
Wonder if there’s any fanfic authors who made an Alternate timeline fic where Catra DOES go full villain with no redemption arc? Could anyone link me to such a fic if you find it?
I say if they wanted her to be redeemable make her worst actions go over to shadow weaver and she and adora have to team up to beat her from destroying the world. I still would make her and catra more sister like and have the endgame be adora and glimmer instead. Again a problem with the team is thinking an excuse and tiny good gestures is enough to overlook a character's actions if the audience doesn't realize how truly fucked up it is
9:26 given how much catra double down on humiliating Adora, pulling her hair, pinning her to the wall, stepping on her etc, I get uncomfortable abuse fetish vibe from their relationship.
If Catra HAD to be redemeed I would personally have started on s4, instead of Catra being the leader her and Escorpia get send to the same island as Entrapta for their crimes where they have to deal with the dangers of the island. Catra gets to reflect on her actions and has to make amends with Entrapta for betraying her trust since now she ironically is away from the toxic environment and only has Scorpia who is a great support system (similar to how Iroh was to Zuko). Then Adora and Bow can find them there along with Glimmer's dad and they all manage to leave but to join the team now a much more mature Catra has to convice them she has changed for good. Idk how s5 would play out then but I feel this way the writers would have more time to heal Adora's and Catra's relationship. Time restriction was this show's biggest enemy.
The moment Catra destroyed the world is the moment she became irredeemable. The fact that she still continued to act like a horrible person until she realized she couldn’t use her plot armor to over throw Horde Prime further adds to how awful she is. Her end should have been completely converted into a Horde Prime clone, the end goal of wanting to rise up the horde ranks being stripped of everything that made her an individual and become another cog in Prime’s grand design.
Great job with this second part same as the frist part girls and yeah honestly Catras entire arc she should have remained a villain in 4 and 5 or if they wanted to redeem her they could have Made her bring the trio and scorpia and depart from the horde and do there own thing. Her potential is there but the execution did it horribly if people like her that is fine really but no matter how you look at it she’s just toxic and adora and her should not have been a couple at the end.
You two are among my top 5 youtubers and I agree with 99% of your takes. In this analysis, however, I would have appreciated a more in-depth look at some key Season 5 material on Catra's arc. In Part 2 of your essay, you essentially time warp from the portal incident to the Best Friends Squad (now including Catra) laughing on the hillside, without really assessing the progression. If you are saying the redemption wasn't earned, then you should have taken a more critical, explicit look at all of the parts where Catra does try to do some good and articulate why it wasn't enough, or too little too late. This would have greatly strengthened the analysis.
Glad to hear you like our content. We'll be covering her portrayal in seasons 4 and 5 in part 3 and 4 of our essay. We were setting those up when we mentioned the shows ending. Sorry that wasn't more clear.
Catra was the villain of the original Princess of Power toyline until Filmation moved Hordak from Motu to there to try and expand the cast (since she was literally the only villain at the time) so I would have been all for making Catra the main antagonist but God they did it all wrong.
The worst story was her actions were irredeemable. Abusive as the summer day is long and given a happy ending anyways. She's hailed as part of the greatest pairing in cartoon history even as she was abusing Adora at the end of the show. I almost wonder her if the praise she gets isn't out of being some kind of contrarian or some cult-like need to make it popular. What's really odd, is people appear to love this "Design" when it's really bad in most standings. Her ears are pretty much on her forehead, mutli-colored eyes, massive hair which is a trope all it own and she just looks like a generic catgirl. It looks like they were just lazy and ripped off the Teen Titans catgirl design with a worse attitude.
@@MaverickhunterXZero I looked it up, now I remember. From the movie. Catra does look like a rip off. Even though her design was based on an old anime. Starts with a T. Same with Entrapta I think.
Honestly, if you want to see a good lesbian enemies to lovers story, just watch The Owl House. It actually fleshes out the characters and feels like there was a proper buildup to get to this point.
Well it helps that Amity was a MINOR antagonist for part of Season 1, not a real definitive antagonist like Crosshair from Star Wars the Bad Batch so it’s easier for fans to like her.
As someone who likes catra's redemption arc and catradora this is a very good and interesting vid, I understand how you feel about catra as your not wrong she did go too far in the season 3 finale to the point I was asking myself in my thoughts when I first watched it " is catra going to be redeemd?" I mean I'm pretty sure it's not easy to redeem characters who did blow up the world but in season 5 I think her redemption arc is well written I just wish we have even more of it and glimmer just saying one line about catra like " I can't trust her" or " I appreciate she's changing but I can't forgive her" and being cold or indifferent towards catra cuz ya know what happend to Angela? But that's my opinion I respect yours and hopefully you respect mine 🙂 Also your sprites are just gorgeous 😄 👌.
I've watched Future Diary for the first time even though I've known about it for a while and I have to say even though Yuno and Yuki *do* have a toxic relationship, it's still a better romance arc then Catra and Adora's and I rather ship them then Catradora.
Hey m & j there is a fanfiction on archive of our own called that you are here by sapphire and emeralds that handles catra very very well in the story one event has catra start to think a little different pride or power and I think you would like it would like to hear your thoughts on it.
I personally did not see it this way. I saw it more that This was the rock bottom Catra needed to start her redemption arch, full disclosure, I am a person who firmly believes that everyone, regardless of what they do, are redeemable, as long as they work on it. Here when Catra was willing to destroy Etheia and ignore all of Adora's reach out, pushed Adora away for good (at least for now.), that glance at one another made her realize the bridge she burned so she doubled down, went even farther to climb the rank at the Horde, getting all the way to the top, standing side by side with Hordak but pushing everyone away, her original unit, Scorpia and even DT who was only in it for the money anyway. Once Prime got into the picture and once she started seeing more clearly, and communicating with Glimmer of all people, she tries to do right even once she believes she's in too deep, sacrificing herself so that Adora could get her friend back. Adora being Adora, goes and saves her, at first she acts like usual but finally, after understanding her errors, she decided to take the hand being offered this time, or more accurately, reaches out herself. I thought that was pretty powerful. I do wish there was more episodes and yeah, I guess it was rushed but I feel that 3~4 episodes more was all needed, even with that. In the end, to me, it was good enough.
Redemption is great for villain characters but ended up in a relationship or revealing u were in love with the person u gaslighted and tried to murder and doing all of your actions just becuz of your obsession to get back at the person is really wrong
![Lp. Сердце Вселенной #60 РОЖДЕНИЕ ЛОЛОЛОШКИ [Финал] • Майнкрафт](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/YoR0pAV9FVQ/mqdefault.jpg)
![Lets redesign Marinette!! [this took 3 years to make]](/img/n.gif)
Honestly, Catra "redemption" arc made me glad that Azula from Avatar never really get a redemption arc
Azula's downfall arc in my opinion is a far more fitting end for her character than a redemption arc cause while she was a victim of her circumstance, she still did a lot of bad thing that can't be sweep under the rug and it made it easier for the audience to sympathize with Azula
Agreed, it was the tragedy of her upbringing but ultimately it was her choices that lead her to her end and it was haunting as it was fitting.
By God, yes! I'm surprised that there are people who see Azula as someone who can be redeemed, even more so when:
-She rejoiced to learn that Zuko, her brother and blood, would be killed by their own father on the orders of their grandfather. And not content with that, she goes to wake up Zuko to rub the news in his face.
- Not counting the times Azula went looking for Zuko to kill him (sometimes without even receiving her father's orders).
- She went straight to Ty Lee to "ask" her to help her capture the Avatar, but when she refused, she decided to intimidate her in her act by setting fire to the safety rope (I don't know if that's what it's called) and ordering the release of the circus animals, forcing her "friend" to obey her if she wanted to stay alive.
- She forced Mai to sacrifice her little brother when Mai's family wanted to rescue him by exchanging him with King Bumi.
It is true that Azula was also a child victim of abuse (by both Ozai and Ursa) just like Zuko, but she was also someone who caused a lot of suffering to the people around her and enjoyed it. That girl was a danger to herself and to others.
Heck, you know it's too late for you when even Uncle Iroh (a man who's lived long enough to believe in give people a second chances) tells your brother you're too far gone and he needs to put you down.
I knew the way they described Catra reminded me of someone, thanks.
You are right, Azula's downfall in the day end is exactly what was coming for her the way she was written to that point.
She is the perfect foil to Zuko in that both were left in a really Bad situation and did terrible things to cope, but Zuko had the moral support and introspection to look for redemption while Azula didn't and doomed herself in the end.
Azula's story is a reminder that no matter how many reasons you have for acting the way you do, they're never excuses, and at one point or another, you've got to face some consequences. Catra's actions definitely deserved worse consequences than they had.
She went so far and sacrificed so much to steal the power and control her abusers used against her, only to see it get stripped away from her hands again and finally realize, only far too late, that she'd never get what she wanted by trying to beat opressors at their own game, as there would always be someone more powerful than her to stomp on her. With that lesson in mind, I find it would have been more logical for her to die by the hands of Lorde Prime, back on his ship, and either accept her fate, or try to flee from it up until the end.
i started hating this show during season 4 because I kinda hoped catra would have stayed in the crimson waste with scorpia, she had her own gang and was actually happy, so why would she return to the horde a place that treated her like crap and sent her to the desert to die.
I always felt like Adora and Catra’s relationship should have gone the way Moses and Ramses’ relationship went in Prince of Egypt. They were two people were raised as siblings and obviously cared for each other, but because of their upbringing and the protagonist abandoning their previous life because of some life-changing event, they’re relationship slowly crumbles way, and outcome is hauntingly tragic where they drift apart, never to rekindle their love for each other.
After season 4 i though this was what was gonna happen
Just imagine Moses and Ramses ending up as lovers
Moses even left Ramses to die at the red sea because he knows Ramses is too stubborn to change and too dangerous to take a chance on
Or in the worst case scenario, like Minami (Kamen Rider Black RX) and Nobuhiko (Shadow Moon), after many fights, Minami saw that the guy he considered a brother was too far gone and had to end him for the good of the Earth, he keeps getting ressurrected (in movies) and RX has to fight him every time, but still...
@@Karkene *GAG*
Catra's "redemption" arc is so weak that it still feels like she'll relapse real easily on any bad day.
I'm imagining a "one day I lost my toy train" scenario.
I wouldn't be shocked if she did.
If this show had an consequences we’d see this relationship be toxic and end up in a break up like wha5 happened to Korra and Mako in the legend of Korra.
@@CoolG97 RIP, Choo-Choo.
I think they could have made Catra and adora a duality of the cycle of abuse. How it could destroy a person, make them go off the deep end and be a tragedy (aka no redemption arc, just make her nothing but the villain) while adora is someone who breaks the cycle and becomes the best person they can be.
Narratively this could absolutely work. And as another commentator has said; a Rameses and Moses case from Prince of Egypt. Redemption shouldn’t come to all villains and I think their descent to madness can make them more sympathetic. But of course the writers played favorite with Catra and just made her into the irredeemable monster we are supposed to forgive for her actions despite it being at the point of no return
Catra is a creators pet for sure
Basically, it would've worked better with a similar route to Zuko and Azula
@@jujublue4426 PERFECT EXAMPLE OF THIS. thank you
Glad to see this video essay series return.
Catra will never not be a frustrating character, because the elements are there for a compelling antagonist. I'd argue that season three was the character at her peak, but then it starts going downhlll in S4, and then we're left with a hastily thrown together redemption arc in the final thirteen episodes.
It's sad that most animes can do villain redemption arcs better, and in less episodes!
I'll also hate Catra forever due to the Catra profile pictures on Twitter coming after me after I made a tongue in cheek ribbing about the show's writing quality. 🤣
any specific because it sounds like they would quality stupidity
Glad to see that the part 2 is finally out, and it certainly didn't disappoint. In fact, it actually changed my perspective on Catra's villain arc from seasons 1-3. Her going from a close friend of Adora to a deranged lunatic due to the Horde's abuse before dying due to her actions could make for a good tragic villain that really hits the audience where it hurts. Instead, we got a rushed redemption that just didn't pan out.
I feel like if Catra was to be redeemed, the biggest ingredient would have to be showing her as a potentially good person trapped in bad circumstances. We could see her privately show things like compassion or care for others, trying to emulate Adora in a way while also giving the audience reason to want her out of the Horde and redeemed. Make her conflicted about fighting her best friend in war to the point she's being pulled between the Horde and Adora. Anything that could really demonstrate Catra's humanity and capacity to be better would really make the redemption more possible.
Instead, we get four seasons of villainy and one season of a too quick heel face turn that deprives Catra of redemption and makes it look like she was just slotted with Adora cause Catradora is the fan favorite ship rather than any actual love. What a waste.
I feel Catra would have been a better character worthy of redemption if she didn't know Adora was She-ra until maybe halfway through.
She may still act like her toxic villain self, but it's not directed towards the person she claims to love, and then when it's revealed the person she was fighting this whole time really was adora, she would start reflecting on her past actions and move on to the path of redemption
How would that work tho? Unlike when he man changes adora’s voice or physique doesn’t drastically change she just gets taller and bulkier. When prince Adam turns into he man he looks and sounds drastically different but not adora so how would that make sense?
@@jknetwork6211 simple, just change the design so it doesn't look like adora and the voice actress sound different too, or just go the superman or sailor moon route and despite the looking near identical to their civilian bodies no one recognizes them
@@jknetwork6211 Plenty of ways to achieve that, in fact, in the actual show it's said that she "changes into an 8ft tall amazon" (Said by Mermista), so just adding a mask that covers half of Adora's face would have done the trick.
Still, Catra being some sort of alien cat-person, could have realized the truth with her sense of smell.
In the 80s version of the show there were two different voice actresses for Adora and She-Ra.
@@MajinZarak Nope, that was the same voice actor, just using a different vocal inflection when playing She-Ra.
@@mitchfletcher2386 In the original english voice acting, dubs in other languages used two actresses like for Latin America.
I feel like what people always get wrong about redemption arks is that any character, no matter what they do, can have one. Anyone irl can have a change of heart and regret their past actions and try to make up for it. HOWEVER, this doesn't mean anyone has to actually forgive them, and if they do forgive them it doesn't mean they have to reconcile with them. I've seen a few series now where people had issues with redemption arks, and I don't think the issue was "Oh this character shouldn't try and become a better person" it's that all the other characters chill out way too quickly.
Like, not to bring up Avatar since I think a ton of people already have, but the fact that Katara takes a bit longer to warm up to Zuko is part of what cements that character ark for him. Or in MHA, how endeavor realized he was abusive and attempts to change, but his family is understandibly conflicted.
For Catra, giveing her this extra time to prove that she did change to Adora would allow the ending to sit better with people. OR do the last minute redemption and then have everyone sort of on eggshells around her.
Sasha from Amphibia is another good. Example. She was a terrible friend and a terrible person but deep down she truly cared about her friends and eventually saw the error of her ways and chose to become a better person and a protector of innocent frogs
*Catra literally with her own actions wants to destroy the entire world just to spite Adora*
Idiots on Twitter & modern cartoon community: But she is a lesbian, was abused, had a sad childhood, just apologised & saved only Glimmer. So she is forgiven.
Me: No, that's how that works. That's not how any of this works.
I'm glad you can't think critically. You must be very happy.
@@acerbic5806 "My favorite character is so dogshit that I can't even make a counter argument to the claim"
@@Saltedroastedcaramel you meant "catshit." You don't think sacrificing herself and getting mind-fucked by Prime gives her some cred? She also risked her life to fight with the BFS after that and for Adora against the Guardian monster. She was not the same person as in Season 4. Sometimes it takes new traumatic experiences to free someone from their own narcissistic bullshit and that's what happened with her.
@@acerbic5806 You said it, not me.
Her sacrificing herself doesn't really mean much to me. 1. It was because she was going to get brainwashed not really out of the genuine kindness in her heart. She's still a bitch even after that. Just on the good side. If she really changed, she wouldn't abandon Adora during her struggles in the second to last episode and had someone else she just met again to make her go back or feel guilt. Changed my ass.
"Sometimes it takes new traumatic experiences to free someone from their own narcissistic bullshit and that's what happened with her."
She had two and she's still an abusive bitch.
@@Saltedroastedcaramel did you have a "Catra" in your life or something?
Imma keep it short but this is my observation from all these shows;
They claim they want to talk about abuse but from everything a lot of this awful shows give us, their 'stories' just end up being 'I was 'abused' so my terrible behavior is okay and you have to accept ME treating you like shit. Imma a victim, uwu."
This is especially bad when you remember that Catra is based on a real person that Stevenson gave a little too much info on in their 'biography comic' and from those pages, the person that Catra is based on is a complete asshole and Stevenson just ACCEPTED that actions out of fear of being alone yet in the end, nothing really is resolved and it feels like the abuser got their victim to bend to them.
None of these shows have actually show a character stand up and REJECT their abuser, it's always constant forgiveness and romance but the people they DO push away are usually the ones they would be better off with or are the ones who aren't causing them their problems. That should be major red flags because it shows how the abused person is closing off their circle to be with their abuser after being told what they think they want to hear.
Throughout the series, Adora never really gains her own agency for anything. She's ALWAYS been a pawn to someone else whether it be Shadow-Weaver, Catra and to an extent even Light Hope who turned the POWER of being She-Ra into some sort of 'solution' to the mistakes Mara made that fucked shit up for everyone. This....this is HORRIBLE to show to girls to be 'empowered' by because there is nothing to draw power FROM. Adora remains as she was from the start of the show to the end; an object of desire.
This is WORSE than what a lot of progressive writers claim female characters are handled in stories written by men but they claim this is fine because Adora and Catra are lesbians? How the fuck am I supposed to feel anything about two teenage lesbians that threw out red flags constantly? I think what makes it worse is that Stevenson is an adult and injecting their shitty love life into kids to 'relive' and validate with a property they had 0 hand in creating.
Kids deserve better than to get the sloppy seconds of a person who has constant identity crises and is in denial of who is actually in control of their lives. The show was just a big 'THIS IS FINE' project and Catra is the fate they keep telling themselves is okay.
I think that's the main issue with these woke shows as well as video games and comics especially with the "empowered female characters" department. Just hollow Mary sues or just flat unlikable and forgetable characters.
Adora is definitely a big example of this compared to her 80's lore. There's nothing that much interesting about her outside of shipping bait, which is fine but there has to be more than that. And even then the shippers will jump to the next yuri filled show. For people that whine on how male writers suck at writing female characters (and admittedly some do like the creator of Naruto), they praise people like N.D even though they suck too. They have to bring in a man to fix it
Superb.
This whole show was Stevenson’s therapy and we had to suffer through it.
@@cartoonking1789 That's why if I ever make a show, comic or whatever I'm debating how much mental illness I want to put in it
@@Saltedroastedcaramel I say just try and tell the best story you can :D
catra is definitely the amber heard of of she-ra. if they had just gone "yeah, she's the villain now" i would have been fine with it. sure hordak would still be shafted but it's fine. the fact that they tried to shoe horn a rushed redemption arc after this just completely killed all the good will this series had from me. I would have forgiven all the sins if she-ra had ended the series sticking by her guns and turning her back on her abuser, catra. what a great message that would have been.
Well let’s be honest Catra was the show’s main villain from the get got, Hordack was ducking around in his lab and didn’t have any presence in the show, Hell he didn’t even care about Adora. Shadow Weaver was set up as an evil mother figure for Catra and Adora but Catra takes her out easily giving Catra no obstacle to over come. The main focus has always been on Catra.
@@cartoonking1789 That bum you mentioned is Hordak in name only. Catra did not deserved her "redemption"
@@zemox2534 agreed to both
Did she shit in someone’s bed as well?
I honestly would’ve preferred if they let her just go off the deep end fully and not get a redemption arc
I don't know part of me is glad she got redeemed in because believe me she ain't the only character in entertainment that a happy ending I just wish it was written better
yeah going full villain would have been a way better conclusion
Kinda like Azula
@@carbootstudios2459 basically
That seemed to be the set up before they remembered that they wanted Catra and Adora to make out.
Catra is the prime example of the creative team not letting their story flow naturaly the way they were writing it.
There is a line that she crosses multiple times when she destroys the world and refuses to accept any fault or to better herself.
By that point she is an irredemable villian and should be treated as such, showing the end result that her actions and attitude bring upon herself.
However they had in mind that she was going to be good in the end and Adora's partner, however that runs opposed to everything they built so far and yet they did it anyway.
Catradora had the potential if written properly to be a better Enemies to Lovers story. I mean the Battle of Bright Moon should have been the worst thing she’d done at least.
Or her arc could have ended as the death of a tragic Villain at the portal incident and in her sad death, Horde Prime enters the story and a greater evil comes along after Catra’s death in the portal opened the floodgates for a galactic invasion.
@@toadlord8594 And Horde Prime would've had 2 seasons in that case, which would've allowed him to be the intimidating villain he was supposed to be but couldn't because he only had one season more focused on shipping than him
I'd say a big problem with Catra's rushed arc is it didn't need to be rushed. The Showrunner knew exactly how many episodes they would have, so saving the redemption for the very end after they had already committed horrible actions just looks sloppy. (If anything her breaking reality should've been the wakeup call.)
That's a problem with the whole show.
They had a set number of episodes they were going to make and they failed at pacing.
So there is a lot of filler early on untill almost half the series, and then they started rushing character development, worldbuilding and the plot in the end.
@@davidgusquiloor2665 I'm almost positive they were writing as they went. Like the infamous Rune Stone circle where not even half the silhouetted princesses show up and they had to walk back that only elemental Princesses get Rune Stones and yet Spinnerella doesn't have one despite having control of wind. (In reality this was because the Showrunner cast themselves as Spinnerella and was "too busy" to do voice work. So yeah, very poor planning.)
@@CoolG97 I argued with Tom Norton on that rune stone/ other princesses, but he kept saying it wasn't a plot hole because Light Hope was manipulating Adora.... even though the show never established that she was...
@@Saltedroastedcaramel And what would that be manipulating Adora into. Exploring the planet? Meeting new cultures? Doing something productive?
Still doesn't explain the Spinnerella in the room. (I double checked the circle, Angella is apparently in it implying that she and Glimmer have separate rune Stones, but this continuity has Bright Moon be her domain instead of Micah's.)
@@CoolG97 My thoughts exactly. Nu ra stans would break their friggin backs to defend the obviously bad writing and plot holes that neither the show nor writers bother to explain just like how they break their backs over Catradora and Catra.
There's this one person I argued with in a recent Clownfish tv she ra video about an article that finally admits that catradora and catra was toxic. They were arguing other commenters and when I argued the ass pull moments Catra they I kid you not said that she's not the audience as a defense.
I wondered when this series was coming back. There seems to be a mentality of victimhood here that Says "I'm being abused so I'm going to abuse everyone around me because it's okay to". Which is no excuse to harm or belittle anyone
Well I'm not against the idea of Catra being redeemed I just wish the writers were handled that better
@@animezilla4486 I agree her redemption had potential but wasn't handled right
If anything, Catra is a prime example of why "they were abused their whole life" is not enough of an excuse for a redemption arc.
You need the character to self-reflect and realize how terrible their actions have been, and their needs be a line they're not willing to cross because it would result in millions dying.
Catra never does. She only cared about owning and beating Adora, even if it meant killing everyone, and she didn't even care. Catra was so selfish that she would rather have the whole world universe than lose Adora, resulting in a mother sacrificing their life to save the world.
The romance they tried to pull with Adora and Catra comes as so disgusting, it's an abusive relationship, nothing more, nothing else, and the fact shippers find this romantic is very telling of their character.
@@jjjmadness8306 just because some people want to see catra and Adora end up together that doesn't mean they're bad people. First of all while it looks like Catra destroyed the universe keep in mind with the except for glimmers mother everybody else was just fine. And here's the thing Catra did self reflect if you remember during the last episode I believe in season 4 when double trouble was talking to her catra finally had a wake up call to even appoint where she told glimmer to end her. People who being abused in real life sometimes can get both physically and mentally damaged. I do not like the fact that catra was taking her issues out on Adora but it was mostly due to the fact that her adopted mother Shadow Weaver favors Adora over her which may some jealousy. Do I believe Catra needs to be punished for what she has done yes I do but I never believed their relationship was toxic
@@animezilla4486 yeah but it took a random person to wake her up. Not Adora, not even Catra herself but a random being. It speaks of ones character when it requires outside help to wake up. A great redemption starts from within.
The promotion of toxic relationships seems to be a running trend in media today.People are so blinded by their obsessions that they dont see that they hurting themselves and others around them.The fact that Catra got what she wanted in the end with seemingly no repercussions is disturbing.That some fans dont view Catra's redemption as half assed is laughable.If they wanted to redeem her so badly they should've done it during the portal incident,have Catra realize that she has gone too far.But no,they doubled down on Catra's obsession and evil nature.I would say that if Catra was male there would be a much greater outcry towards the shows writing,but now I'm not too sure anymore given the twisted morals of some people today.Even with more awareness being brought on toxic relationships people still refuse to see the truth.
Toxic relationships should just be for guilty pleasures, not seen as progressive, mainstream and definitely not seen as a good thing. It's no wonder the dating scene is awful
this is the second time I've seen a toxic lesbian couple potrayed as romantic
Willing to destroy the world just to spite Adora, and attempted murder suicide is not cool. Catra had crossed the line, that I found it hard to redeem her. And watching how she keeps doubling down, over and over again, blaming Adora, hurting her physically, emotionally and degrading her. If they wanted to give Catra a redemption, they should have given her a proper arc in recovery. Heck the Horde kids could have been the support system that she never knew she needed, and Scorpia included.
In any other work in fiction, if a hero looked at a villain the way She Ra looked at Catra after all she did, it would mean that villain would die at the end, when the hero is done with your BS as a villain that means you either surrender or die.
@@TheSpawnfan yeah, she was a tragic figure but definitively not a simpathetic one, she never expressed remorse or doubt, she felt sad and lonely but... that's kinda you get when you lash out on everyone, so seeing how they never give catra what she deserves makes me lose respect to anyone who calls this show "mature" and "complex", this is but a teenager's line of emotional development and done wrong
@@cardescomedioses3674 Well with articles coming out talking about how toxic the relationship is now after tons praising this show it gives me help that more people are waking up to realize how toxic this show actually is.
@Mister Crow they were obsessed with trying to make Catra look like a victim while also trying to make her a badass and those two things didn’t match very well.
@@cartoonking1789 And they succeeded in making me despise Catra.
In any other story, trying to delete the universe would've been seen as the point of no return. But between that, and Evil-lyn blowing up Heaven and getting away with it, 'morality' isn't a word, it's a punchline.
I seen characters who done a lot worse than Catra get redeemed does omni man ring a bell
@@animezilla4486 It took a long time in the comics for Omni Man to get redeemed.
Obviously lesbian ships are more important than likeable characters.
Well Catra and Evil-Lyn are woman so they can’t be pure evil, plus they have “sad backstories ™” so that makes their actions “justified” because they are lashing out at a world that hurt them, and in Catra’s case she’s a lesbian and we can’t have a lesbian be toxic because that be “homophobic”. (◔_◔)
Its not fair
I almost destroyed the universe I got killed at least 4 times
but when catra does she gets a girl friend
Villains these days have it easy
This show gets a lot of undo praise because Catra and Adora get together but they’re a toxic and unhealthy relationship between an obsessive abuser and her punching bag. But the show and it’s thirsty fanbase act like Catra is absolved of all of her horrible actions because she had a rough life. Hell as stated above the characters you compared Catra too DO have their actions attitudes called out by the plot and characters of their shows.
One of my favorite parts of Bojack is when is best friend calls him out on his crap after messing up and hurting people because of his selfish actions “You can't keep doing shitty things and then feel bad about yourself like that makes it okay! You need to be better!” before telling Bojack that BOJACK is everything that is wrong with himself, not his parents or how he grew up or any of the shitty things that happened to him growing up, that HE is the one who chooses to do these things in the here and now.
So Catra can play her tiny violin about how the world is unfair and how Adora was the golden child (even though Adora was abused in a different way) she is the one who ultimately is making the active choice to be a horrible person now. Her past might be an EXPLANATION but it is not a JUSTIFICATION.
In Bojack the friend who called him out does distance himself from him and their relationship is never the same, they eventually get back on good terms but his friend still keeps him at arms length. Catra however is instantly forgiven, treated like a cute kitten and eventually gets with the girls she has been stalking, gaslighting and abusing the whole show. Catra even says “just once, stay with me!” as if it was Adora’s fault they were never together until this point, that Adora abandoned her rather than Catra refusing to join until she realized her plot armor ran out and she could other throw Horde Prime like she did Shadow Weaver and Hordack.
You want a good lesbian relationship that doesn’t have all this toxic crap? Just watch “The Owl House” it’s got a much better build up and has Amnit act as a stuck up bully who never goes as far as destroying the world out of SPITE.
This was such a vile relationship and it unnerves me that they forced it into a ship no less. Vile, vile, vile.
Vile from Megaman X: Hey, don't drag my name into this toxic relationship!
Cry
Throughout the series Catra has been physically hurting, trying to kill, guilt-tripping, and emotionally/psychologically scarring Adora; and if that wasn't bad enough, in the finale she had the audacity to say "I love you, I've always have!", proceeding to getting what she wanted by ending up with Adora. Her toxic behavior should never have been rewarded.
Even in that same scene she said "for once in your life just stay," continuing to gaslight Adora until the very end, proving she never truly changed.
@@stevensteviepryde5888 ikr, even when she's "redeemed" she's still victimizing herself, such a toxic character
@@KelShu and the only two times someone calls her out on how she has no one to blame but herself, it's from someone who wants to hurt her and not someone she needed to hear this from so she probably (and arguably didn't due to the aforementioned gaslighting) didn't take this to heart at all.
@@stevensteviepryde5888 I think because Noelle Stevenson still wanted to portray Catra as a victim even as she is being called out.
@@cartoonking1789 Catra is Stevenson's 'wife' so this whole thing was an attempt to feel like they had made the right choice in marrying her. =\
I still believe that Adora is trapped in Catra's abusive patterns. What we see in the series finale? That's not a happy ending with a redeemed Catra, it's Catra and Adora going back to the honeymoon phase of their abusive relationship. It only takes Adora going out of line once (making Catra jealous, doing something she doesn't like) and the whole thing will start again.
Again, this reading is supported by Noelle Stevenson's own view of the relationship. She has referred multiple times to Adora leaving the Horde as her "betraying" Catra, as if she had to stay in a toxic environment for Catra (one that Catra refuses to leave) or she is a bad partner. The show's logic is that abuse is only bad if it comes from parental figures, but is a *desired* trait in a romantic partner. That's sadly too common in abuse victims, where they realize their parents or guardians abused them, but don't realize they have been conditioned to seek the same traits and red flags in their romantic relationships.
Right? Not only is Catradora abusive, but so is SeaMista, and that Lonnie/Kyle/Rogelio throuple that should have never been.
Somehow Entrapta and Hordak are the healthiest couple in this series.
@@EternityKingdomsHeadHoncho And one of them is a despot dictator.
@@EternityKingdomsHeadHoncho No I think Entrapta and Hordak aren't healthy either.
Hordak committed terrible crimes on the same level as Catra, probably even worse than Catra.
If Catra's redemption arc was so bad and rushed, then so was Hordak's.
@@disappearingangel4972 At least Hordak isn't physically or emotionally abusive towards Entrapta like Catra is towards Adora. Heck, I'd argue he treats her better than literally everyone else. Say what you will about him being part of a cult empire thing and conquering Etheria, but he was surprisingly kind when he's around her.
You got the right it should have been done there. She went too far and she should not have got redeemed. If there were going to redeem it should have been like her self sacrificing to save someone and not get saved.
I don’t get why the writers didn’t have Catra spent 2-3 seasons to overcome many those deep-seeded issues she has, her redemption arc, as well her healing from the abuse she went through.
I think they were enjoying making her a “girlboss” too much.
My favorite moment of the whole series is Adora punching Catra in the face in season 3 finale like she realizes she cant save catra if catra doesnt want to but unfortunally there is season 4 that looks like this didnt really happen i think this moment should had happen in mid season 4 right before catra is kidnapped by horde prime so would make more sense to her arc it wouldnt be perfect without more teaks but at least would be better
Welcome back. I missed your videos and insightful criticism of the shows.
I very much disliked Catra’s whole arc. Her redemption was rushed. Her relationship with Adora is toxic. And many plot points were left hanging.
The amount of people i see praising and liking catra as a character tells a lot about the generation these days
Well you can like morality bad and toxic characters, I like her to a point mostly her design and wished they made her go fully on villain with no redemption. I love MHA villains but would I want to be like them, no. It’s a character
It's the "The villains are more fun" meets "I can change them" crowd.
@@CoolG97 that too
Considering the media supports criminals over victims unless it's the people they want gone, it's not surprising.
take it easy it's just a drawing
To this day, people still think Catra has a good redemption arc even when she didn't.
Because people project onto her and don’t want to admit that they shared traits of a very toxic and selfish individual. They don’t wanna have to change their bad behaviors and like that the show says they did nothing wrong just like their favorite character.
the reason i still like catra is because the fanfiction writers did her better
They're types of villains that people wanna see...
Villains that are so evil that you just wanna hate them.
Villains that you feel bad for but their actions are still wrong
And Villains you can't take seriously but their still amusing.
I’ve had this idea of what I would’ve done with Catra for a while. From the start I would’ve either kept the two as friends and have pretty much everything up until the season 3 finale be the same, to show how different Adora and Catra are to each other. Or just have them start out as girlfriends and do mostly the same thing, only this time Catra’s actions would appear to be coming from passion rather than just a one sided rivalry, and as the story goes on the passion turns into obsession, and Catra’s reason to climb up the ranks is so she can go on missions that focus on capturing Adora. Then the season 3 finale comes and I have two options: either just kill off Catra then and there (giving seasons 4 and 5 to Hordak and Prime) or have Hordak try to kill her for her failures only to have Catra escape and somewhere along the line captured by Prime, only she joins willingly without having to be controlled. And when Prime is defeated, Catra tries to run only to get caught by Adora and finally imprisoned for her crimes.
You two are right the end of the world would’ve been a good redemption moment for catra I would see it happen like this:
Catra sees the world disappearing in a bright white and pink light
Catra: adora what’s going on
Adora: the world is disappearing because you activated that portal remember
(Memories coming back to Catra)
Catra: (she puts her hands on her head) no no nononono th-this can’t be this isn’t what I wanted this isn’t what I wanted at all she says with tears in her eyes
Adora: we can talk about this later but we have to save the world first
Catra: (looks at adora) can we even save the at this point
Adora: we can but we have to hurry
Catra: alright (wipes away tears) lets do this
They get to the sword knowing what the price is to save the world catra offers to do it
Adora: wait!? What!?
Catra: I’m the reason this all happened so I’m gonna solve it, just do me one last favor and tell scorpia that I’m sorry and I’m sorry to you to for everything
Catra jumps towards the sword holding on to it looking one last time at adora and saying: good bye adora and she pulls the sword fixing everything
I agree with everything you said. it would have been a GREAT villain arc. imagine this: adora sees catra as her sister (they were pretty much sisters growing up) and in the finale, she's like "you're like a sister to me. I couldn't kill you. but you deserve punishment" and locks her away lol catra was so entitled and corrupt to the point she was worse than hordak in my opinion because he never tried to end the world willingly.
@Kingdomall she was worse than Hordack because he barely did anything through the whole show. She was both a “victim” and “girlboss” for the writers and had her be the main focus for most of the show, while Hordack just stayed cooped up in his lab. Hell we he was active Catra was practically running the horde in all but name.
@@cartoonking1789 true. it's honestly sad how they wrote those two characters. he did barely anything, and I had lost almost all of my suspense for him by the first season. he wasn't scary, and ends up simping over a princess in the end lol
@@Kingdomall yeah he pretty much became discount-beast to entrapta’s discount-Belle. Because Stevenson wanted Catra to be sympathetic and a threat and one of the most important characters a lot of other characters suffered. The horde trio and the robot soldiers were flat cannon fodder, Scorpia was simpping for Catra, Shadow Weaver who should have been more of a threat was beaten both early and easily, Hordack spent most of the time in his lab or simpping for Entrapa and then got beaten by Catra TWICE (the same way each time), by the time we got Horde Prime Catra was the major threat for a majority of the show.
Prime was there to be a conflict killer and give the characters a “bigger threat” to rally against so Catra could join the heroes easily.
From how I see it, Catra wasn't going to really "get better", ever. She thrives on being superior, the one in control, the dominant out of the rest. And in most situations Catra was in, she was the superior one.
Such as:
Adora - Superior to her via manipulation, assault, and gaslighting ( among other things )
SW - Superior to her via finally able to defeat her ( "you've been training me for this day!" )
Hordak - Superior to him via manipulation and using his disability to make him her b-tch
Crimson Waste - Superior via committing murder ( Tongue Lasher )
Scorpia - Superior to her via manipulation, namecalling, attempted assault, and threats
Entrapta - Superior to her via manipulation ( you having fun yet- ), assault, and threats
Etheria - s3 finale.
The only thing that made Catra take it down a LITTTLE ( keyword: l i t t l e ) was Horde Prime. But even then, Horde Prime's character is faulty. He is basically what Catrs was in s3, but was made so Catra couldn't be the bad guy and she'd get her "redemption".
I know for a fact that if Catra was given the option to overthrow Horde Prime ( or work alongside him, I guess ) over Adora, she'd take it in a heartbeat.
I like characters who have to work from rock bottom to get to be a better person, but that's not what Catra is. Catra is someone who will forever want power and control, and will go to insane lengths to get it. Even in s5, she's not getting any better. She SAYS she's getting better, but it's to keep everybody off her back. ( And I know the writing is ND's fault, but Glimmer and Bow are terrible friends, esp in s5. )
Catra is not a character worthy of redemption. Even by s1, there wasn't really any way of going back. Superiority will always matter to her, and those types of people don't change. Or if they do, it's far too late. Which is why I never understand people who are against Catra's actions, but still say "she deserves to heal". She's not going to because she doesn't think she has to. She's fine where she is. If nothing Adora, Scorpia, Entrapta, ANYBODY OR ANYTHING has worked in order for Catra to actually realize she was the problem, nothing and nobody ever will. She'll destroy herself. And I wouldn't be particularly sad, because I stopped caring a long time ago.
"I know for a fact that if Catra was given the option to overthrow Horde Prime ( or work alongside him, I guess ) over Adora, she'd take it in a heartbeat. "
That was Catra's m.o had Prime not put his foot down
@@Saltedroastedcaramel Her plot armor ran out and Noelle realized she still needed to make out with Adora so she had Horde Prime be the only one with a brain and not fall for her Bullshit.
@@cartoonking1789 It's possible that Catra's "redemption" was "rushed" because Noelle was butting heads with Netflix to make Catradora happen due anti - gay countries Netflix is available to. Seeing how Voltron went it's possible. At the same time, there's no reason to make Catra hold the title of central antagonist this long and wipe Hordak and S.W out from the game. This is the same issue Miraculous Ladybug has with Hawkmoth currently. Funnily enough, he's another tragic character that writers handled poorly and doesn't care that he's hurting the people he loves over his goals. She's could have been redeemed in the season 3 finale - not season 4 as some want - rather than double down for this long. They knew they only had 52 episodes to work with from the start.
And another thing, networks needs to stop pandering to the alphabet crowd when they know they can't for other countries. And if they still want to have alphabet people in their shows, quit using them as a market pull and just let them exist.
I think this was clear in how Catra felt better having FEAR over people in the Crimson Waste vs RESPECT. There is a massive difference between the two but guess which one Catra took favor over and made certain that she kept a hand on? She's trash.
Her biggest problem was the indecisiveness from the writers. They wanted to make her the coolest, most badass villain, but also a redemption arc. But then made her villainous actions truly horrendous, and her 'redemption' half arsed. They should have either toned down her villainy, or go full in and have her story end in tragedy.
They wanted to have their cake and eat it too.
@@cartoonking1789 Exactly.
I'm glad you guys found some good to latch onto with Catra's arc being a look at the cycle of abuse. Unfortunately, given how the show turned out in the later seasons, I refuse to believe that was intentional on the part of the writers.
Catra is a despicable person and after trying to destroy the world, irredeemable, any other villain would have the hero go at them with intent to kill if they didn't surrender, but since Noelle wants to push this abuser and the toxic relationship that comes with her onto the public Catra gets away scott free, and i still believe this is a cry for help and Noelle needs help, fast.
Unfortunately, I believe niether catra nor miss Noelle will get help
I cannot believe some people think Catra is a well written character. If people want to see an example of a good villain redemption story, go watch Amphibia.
I'm honestly love these character breakdowns especially when you both talk about what worked and what didn't work about the character🌟🥰🥰
YEAH, imo Catra’s “””redemption””” only happened because of Adora, and only Adora. She didn’t have any major change of heart, no time when she stopped to think what she was doing was wrong, nor did she seem to show much remorse for any of her actions for nearly the entire show until the last episodes (and even then that’s still left pretty vague). If Adora wasn’t around, Catra would have most likely just left it all while Etheria burned to the ground. The best example of this is when she rescues Glimmer from Horde Prime, but not out of guilt to save Glimmer but for Adora’s sake. I mean, maybe if she was written to be way less ruthless and willing to grow past Adora to seek out her own goals, that would make her more likeable. Because to me, with the series ending as it did it didn’t really feel like Catra grew or evolved that much as a character, if at all.
Think like, Darth Maul from Clone Wars. He had a similar fixation on Obi-Wan and wanted him dead as soon as he was revived, but as the story evolved Maul’s ambitions grew beyond just revenge, and eventually he became focused more on creating his own empire with Savage Opress as his apprentice, to prove that he was more than the sum of his parts and beyond what Palpatine made him into. Something similar definitely could’ve been done with Catra, and is even hinted at in season 3 where Catra takes over the Crimson Wastes and Scorpia suggests that they just rule independently. All up until Adora comes along and Catra’s petty obsession continues to dictate every move she makes.
Even if she did "redeemed" herself because of Adora, Catra only did because she knows Adora would save her.
Seeing everything Catra went through in the whole series was just painful and unpleasant. Seeing Catra go further and further down the path of villainy and then Adora giving up on her and then what happens later on was NOT enjoyable to watch. I hope this series gets remade in the future and not as painful as this one.
9:36 and this is why I didn't agree that they ended up together in the end. I feel like with how Catra was by this point, she should've probably had a similar fate to Simon in Infinity Train
By the way makes zero sense that Scorpia is also a force captain because of the first epidodes we are suppose to believe it is such a important position but Scorpia is kinda stupid and do whatever she wants like go to crimson waste with Catra because she wants to despide being a force captain so being a leader of the horde but she doesnt receive any consequences from Hordak or Shadow Weaver so makes Catra and before Adora wanting to be a force captain less special
Here’s how I fixed it in my take on MOTU as a whole:
Scorpia’s kindness has ironically made her one of the best Force Captains despite the whole purpose of a Force Captain being to intimidate younger Horde members and to subjugate natives of the worlds the Horde conquers. Due to her being so nice, those under her command usually WANT to follow her (even if her ideas are kinda dumb). Hordak might be annoyed by her hugginess, but he can’t deny how effective of a leader she’s being.
After Adora leaves the Horde and Catra throws a pity party about it, Hordak decides to promote Catra to “co-Force Captain” with Scorpia (much to Catra’s chagrin). From here, we see their leadership styles clash. Scorpia’s doing things as she always has; Catra is relishing in the newfound power she has but also abusing it by treating her friends turned minions the same way she’s been treated.
Eventually, Catra starts to mellow out and appreciate Scorpia’s method of leadership and Scorpia starts to apply some of Catra’s ambition to her plans.
@@EternityKingdomsHeadHoncho interessing rewrite i would asd to the horde keep being so awful hordak and shadow weaver should be shown scolding Scorpia too( even if Scorpia gets the job done) because is the horde
It's stuff like this where you really have to wander how can this progresive writters even attack someone's as a person when there own moralitly is more bast on the chek box than anything else
I agree with a good portion of this video but I also feel conflicted. Nice to see this content. A different perspective is always appreciated.
The fact that the audience is supposed to root not just for this character but her hooking up with Adora is just sickening. Plus, the fact that it's apparently based on Stevenson's own relationship with her girlfriend just makes it that much worse. What kind of a message are you trying to send here?
Wife. They're married
@@Saltedroastedcaramel That's even worse
I feel they wanted to be a tsundere like character to Adora. However while they got the tsun part they never showed Catra dere side.
Beautiful avatars!! :)
I agree with everything you said about her. I always feel like this series is a really poor mishandled conception of lgbtq+ in general. You have a gender fluid character that's kind of a stereotype and is cruel, the main lesbian relationship is toxic and they often resort to stereotypes and caricatures. I get that anyone of the lgbtq+ isn't perfect but since we rarely have any representation, having a majority of the coded characters be toxic or stereotypical may not be the best way to go about it. Maybe add a positive genderless character to balance out the negative one. The only major lesbian relationship that isn't toxic are two princesses that I barely remember their names because they're usually in the background, Spinnerella and Netossa. (Had to look up their names...That's how impactful they were...) Everyone says this is a great series for lgbtq+ representation but I disagree highly. I put Dragon Prince and even Voltron above She-Ra on that subject matter and other aspects.
Catra is what azula would act if she was not the favorite. Catra uses people and thrives on fear. She imitates their parent figure into their villainy. It isn't because she's a woman but because ironically people like to downplay her actions to be like zuko when she unlike him had less times of self reflection and is less willing to admit she did wrong even as she left the horde. Both were abused but adora chose to be better while catra chose violence and didn't give a shit about abusing others as long as she felt better.
The fact that real people try to excuse and defend this character is almost borderline disturbing, and makes me wonder what their standards are in a relationship.
I’m looking at you, Five by Five Takes.
Oh buddy, you should see how they are on Twitter
@@archive6245 Oh boy, part of me is curious.
@@carbootstudios2459 I'm on Twitter and sometimes I go on spop Twitter to feel something, they literally write Bible length paragraphs on excusing Catras behavior just bc she was abused
@@archive6245 blimey
Isn’t that the same channel that pretty much manipulates the audience to feel bad for catra?
I remember saying that Catra was a toxic person with no redeeming qualities on Reddit and getting a lot of DVs. The prevailing notion is that her professing her love at the end is enough and we should all forget all the people she killed because well, I guess they were just faceless background characters and it mostly happened off screen, so it's okay. Her constant abuse of Adora is gross and uncomfortable and made the show hard to watch at times.
But, since I'm not a lesbian I just don't and can't understand. I'll raise my daughters to avoid people like Catra at all cost and not let themselves be fooled into thinking they have to keep allowing themselves to be used to earn love from people like this.
WELCOME BACK GIRLS!
Dio-my father abused me for years. My mother died cause of him. I got beat up at the local bar just cause i won at chess. I saw someone who had everything i wanted just cause he has born in a better familly.. don't you understand my pai-"gets punched"
Jotaro-yea bruh but i don't give a fuck.
I see Catra as an abusive monster with how she treats to person she claims to love is horrid, barely below what happened between Chikane and Himeko in Kannazuki no Miko, and the only reason I put Catra below that is because of some of the stuff that happens in that anime that would require a trigger warning. (I'm not kidding)
If this show ended with season 3, with Adora saying she's done with Catra's abusive BS and making clear she no longer sees her as someone to save but an enemy, I wouldn't be nearly as harsh on the show as I am now since Catra was constantly abusive and crossed the moral event horizon with the finale, so recognizing she's unforgivable would have been something I would have praised. Sadly, that's not what we got and Catra's redemption didn't feel earned. It feels like he writers weren't really communicating since it looks like the two being shipped together was something they'd planned (somewhat), so knew she'd have to get redemption, but then they also had her do some of the most awful shit imaginable.
Also, correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't Noelle Stevenson say that they based the relationship between Catra and Adora on a previous relationship they had? If so, that raises a whole lot of yikes and red flags.
It’s actually a current relationship that Stevenson is in I think.
*Hey Adora Intensifies*
*Vomit Intensifies*
This is a cautionary tale on toxic relationships for people with a limited dating pool.
Your arc sounds actually perfect. When I saw the finale I lost touch to She-Ra, the way they want Catra and Adora together after everything, I just saw it as promotion to the LGTBQ people. I mean all redeemed bad girls can have a chance, but after the whole ordeal, perhaps the two should separate and figure themselves. Could they end up together, maybe but not right after the finale. And how you told of Catra not even caring about destroying the world and wanting Adora all to herself, makes me think of HTTYD 2 and what Stoick said to Hiccup, someone who kills for no reason cannot be reason with. So how Catra just wanted to destroy the world and Adora having the chance to stop it, should of been proof that the two can no longer repair their bond.
I feel bad for Adora, Catra hurt her emotionally and tried to kill her multiple times. I don't approve the ship
Catra's been hurt too...BY ADORA!
@@bluethunder250 in what way
@@papahudz69 When she left the Horde.
@@bluethunder250 adora gave Catra the opportunity to leave the horde and she flat out refused. Staying with the horde did Catra more harm than good
The only redemption arc she deserves is one involving the trajectory of a speeding bullet.
Multiple speeding bullets.
300 style.
I'll say it again. If she had a sasshomaru arc after season3 she'd have a more natural character growth. She could defect to the crimson waste, and begin finding herself. God knows there was no reason to stick around the now broken ass fright zone.
In order for Catra to objectively be better as a person she has to tie her self worth more towards what she is doing in order to recognize who she is as a person. Since her self worth is tied to relationships than Catra does not exist as a person but as a psychological vessel of nothing with its sole purpose to follow her toxic logical interpretations to its conclusion while also trying to please everybody but ending up pleasing nobody.
They could’ve just given her a proper redemption arc and her and Adora a healing arc. They could’ve have a healthy relationship. 😔
That's the thing early on in the show there was no indication that they were lovers
@@animezilla4486 Adora barely thinked about her or the people she left behind unless she was facing them.
If there was supposed to be anything there they didnt put it untill much later.
@@davidgusquiloor2665 all the more reason why I didn't think they were originally lovers I always thought they would be like sisters that became enemies
@@animezilla4486 Catra was still a toxic friend even if it wasn't open with her feelings at first.
@@cartoonking1789 like I said before I'm not excusing her behavior but I think she some mental issues
Let's not forget how Scorpia is an actual adult lusting over a teenage cat girl and the writers/Noelle Stevenson saw no
issue in that.
N.D. and Nu ra fans: Accuses og fans of being p3d files because of wanting the *ADULT PRESENTING BUT APPARENTLY STILL TEENS* 80s designs.
Also N.D and Nu ra fans: Make nfsw art of Nu ra. (Nfsw art of cartoons even kids shows aren't new but still hypocrisy.)
Also N.D and Nu ra: Ships ambiguously adult Scorpia with Catra that's also a power dynamic in leadership status and has ambiguous teen until twitter confirmed adult Entrapta be shipped teased with Bo and Hordak.
Hey everybody
The crimson waste bit is another that annoys me about Catra, her ability to get what she wants with no effort. Adora gets a position of power through hard work, Catra gets it because Adora left. Catra’s biggest threat is Shadow Weaver, Catra beats her up easily. Catra is sent to the crimson waste as a death sentence, Catra ends up thriving and pretty much takes over almost instantly. Catra is overpowered by Hordack, she then beats him TWICE. EXACTLY THE SAME WAY EACH TIME and takes over the Horde on Etheria.
She never has to work or faces any set backs, she has things she wants and she gets it not long after. It happens when she joins the good guys too, they instantly forgive and like her and she gets with Adora.
I argued with people about that, and I get brushed off
@@Saltedroastedcaramel of course, they don’t want to admit their precious “meow-meow” is a villain-Sue.
my gosh that annoyed me so much. Those moments were also when I started disliking her as a character.
@@sigh582 it was SO obvious that she was the favorite of the crew.
Cattra and this show were so poorly written, yet the fanboys won’t accept the slightest criticism against no matter how legitimate.
Wonder if there’s any fanfic authors who made an Alternate timeline fic where Catra DOES go full villain with no redemption arc? Could anyone link me to such a fic if you find it?
I want that, it be cathartic.
I say if they wanted her to be redeemable make her worst actions go over to shadow weaver and she and adora have to team up to beat her from destroying the world. I still would make her and catra more sister like and have the endgame be adora and glimmer instead. Again a problem with the team is thinking an excuse and tiny good gestures is enough to overlook a character's actions if the audience doesn't realize how truly fucked up it is
9:26 given how much catra double down on humiliating Adora, pulling her hair, pinning her to the wall, stepping on her etc, I get uncomfortable abuse fetish vibe from their relationship.
Well fans of this show DO romanticize Adora’s scars.
If Catra HAD to be redemeed I would personally have started on s4, instead of Catra being the leader her and Escorpia get send to the same island as Entrapta for their crimes where they have to deal with the dangers of the island. Catra gets to reflect on her actions and has to make amends with Entrapta for betraying her trust since now she ironically is away from the toxic environment and only has Scorpia who is a great support system (similar to how Iroh was to Zuko). Then Adora and Bow can find them there along with Glimmer's dad and they all manage to leave but to join the team now a much more mature Catra has to convice them she has changed for good. Idk how s5 would play out then but I feel this way the writers would have more time to heal Adora's and Catra's relationship. Time restriction was this show's biggest enemy.
The moment Catra destroyed the world is the moment she became irredeemable. The fact that she still continued to act like a horrible person until she realized she couldn’t use her plot armor to over throw Horde Prime further adds to how awful she is. Her end should have been completely converted into a Horde Prime clone, the end goal of wanting to rise up the horde ranks being stripped of everything that made her an individual and become another cog in Prime’s grand design.
Yeah, that was painful
Molly and noelle actually wrote a book together called, “the fire never goes out,” which is a…symbolic title, to say the least.
Great job with this second part same as the frist part girls and yeah honestly Catras entire arc she should have remained a villain in 4 and 5 or if they wanted to redeem her they could have Made her bring the trio and scorpia and depart from the horde and do there own thing.
Her potential is there but the execution did it horribly if people like her that is fine really but no matter how you look at it she’s just toxic and adora and her should not have been a couple at the end.
Yeah I hate how fast they changed her
You two are among my top 5 youtubers and I agree with 99% of your takes. In this analysis, however, I would have appreciated a more in-depth look at some key Season 5 material on Catra's arc. In Part 2 of your essay, you essentially time warp from the portal incident to the Best Friends Squad (now including Catra) laughing on the hillside, without really assessing the progression. If you are saying the redemption wasn't earned, then you should have taken a more critical, explicit look at all of the parts where Catra does try to do some good and articulate why it wasn't enough, or too little too late. This would have greatly strengthened the analysis.
Glad to hear you like our content. We'll be covering her portrayal in seasons 4 and 5 in part 3 and 4 of our essay. We were setting those up when we mentioned the shows ending. Sorry that wasn't more clear.
@@mjtannertwins oops sorry I totally didn't clue in to that... more parts to come. Thanks!
The reason I hate Catra, she abused Adora.
Catra was the villain of the original Princess of Power toyline until Filmation moved Hordak from Motu to there to try and expand the cast (since she was literally the only villain at the time) so I would have been all for making Catra the main antagonist but God they did it all wrong.
So, any updates for future parts or will the Catra opinion series be on hiatus for the time being?
The worst story was her actions were irredeemable. Abusive as the summer day is long and given a happy ending anyways. She's hailed as part of the greatest pairing in cartoon history even as she was abusing Adora at the end of the show. I almost wonder her if the praise she gets isn't out of being some kind of contrarian or some cult-like need to make it popular.
What's really odd, is people appear to love this "Design" when it's really bad in most standings. Her ears are pretty much on her forehead, mutli-colored eyes, massive hair which is a trope all it own and she just looks like a generic catgirl. It looks like they were just lazy and ripped off the Teen Titans catgirl design with a worse attitude.
C'mon man even generic cat girls look better than Catra.
@@Saltedroastedcaramel Look up Teen Titans Catgirl and try and tell me they didn't try to rip-off that design.
@@MaverickhunterXZero I looked it up, now I remember. From the movie. Catra does look like a rip off. Even though her design was based on an old anime. Starts with a T. Same with Entrapta I think.
@@Saltedroastedcaramel Would make sense. The creators are about as creative as Tumblr. Some of the characters look like the showrunners.
@@MaverickhunterXZero That's where these come from along with making comics.
Tenchi Muyo! was the anime I was referring to btw
Honestly, if you want to see a good lesbian enemies to lovers story, just watch The Owl House. It actually fleshes out the characters and feels like there was a proper buildup to get to this point.
Well it helps that Amity was a MINOR antagonist for part of Season 1, not a real definitive antagonist like Crosshair from Star Wars the Bad Batch so it’s easier for fans to like her.
The owl house has not enemies to lovers 😂😂
As someone who likes catra's redemption arc and catradora this is a very good and interesting vid, I understand how you feel about catra as your not wrong she did go too far in the season 3 finale to the point I was asking myself in my thoughts when I first watched it " is catra going to be redeemd?" I mean I'm pretty sure it's not easy to redeem characters who did blow up the world but in season 5 I think her redemption arc is well written I just wish we have even more of it and glimmer just saying one line about catra like " I can't trust her" or " I appreciate she's changing but I can't forgive her" and being cold or indifferent towards catra cuz ya know what happend to Angela? But that's my opinion I respect yours and hopefully you respect mine 🙂
Also your sprites are just gorgeous 😄 👌.
I've watched Future Diary for the first time even though I've known about it for a while and I have to say even though Yuno and Yuki *do* have a toxic relationship, it's still a better romance arc then Catra and Adora's and I rather ship them then Catradora.
The fact *Yuno* KNOWS this love is toxic is a plus too
@@kai8618 At least Future Diary was aware of how messed up the romance was
00:05 seriously what's wrong with her face😂
Shipping has become cancerous for media in general.
Writers need to stop embracing it.
9:54
*Chef's Kiss*
To sum it up they are all poorly-written characters in a poorly-written show
Seriously how dose Twitter ship this ship? Comes off as messed up and abusive...and they were raised as sisters as far as my knowledge gose
Hey m & j there is a fanfiction on archive of our own called that you are here by sapphire and emeralds that handles catra very very well in the story one event has catra start to think a little different pride or power and I think you would like it would like to hear your thoughts on it.
Well originally they were not allowed to ship them, so I suspect the original ending for Catra may have been far darker? :|
Really should have kept Adora and Catra as sisters rather than Force this love garbage on it
For me it seemed like catra wanted to commit suicide to get rid of the pain while trying to take The Whole world with her literally
That is still unbelievably selfish and petty.
@@cartoonking1789
Exactly
This is random, but I can't stand Stevonnie's voice because of Catra now......
I understand that, it’s kind of hard for me to enjoy Kipo because she’s voiced by Glimmer.
@@cartoonking1789 Maybe that's why I couldn't get into the show. That and how slow it was for my liking
@@Saltedroastedcaramel ironically they had a prom episode that was much better than she Ra’s one.
This character and quite frankly this whole show was garbage.
Great video by the way I don't think kids are going to get the wrong message from the show
I have not scene this show. But it should be basic screen writing that you only redeem charactets the audience likes.
The audience did like Catra unfortunely
Did you guys know that Netflix is starting a season 6 of she ra?
With netflix cutting everything in animation and Amazon has the rights?
@@Saltedroastedcaramel Who knows?
@@xsonox8473 There is no season 6. There's an article debunking it. Unfortunately, youtube shadowbanned my link comment.
@@Saltedroastedcaramel weird cause i was reading a form that said it was getting a season 6
@@xsonox8473 It's all fake news
I personally did not see it this way.
I saw it more that This was the rock bottom Catra needed to start her redemption arch, full disclosure, I am a person who firmly believes that everyone, regardless of what they do, are redeemable, as long as they work on it.
Here when Catra was willing to destroy Etheia and ignore all of Adora's reach out, pushed Adora away for good (at least for now.), that glance at one another made her realize the bridge she burned so she doubled down, went even farther to climb the rank at the Horde, getting all the way to the top, standing side by side with Hordak but pushing everyone away, her original unit, Scorpia and even DT who was only in it for the money anyway.
Once Prime got into the picture and once she started seeing more clearly, and communicating with Glimmer of all people, she tries to do right even once she believes she's in too deep, sacrificing herself so that Adora could get her friend back.
Adora being Adora, goes and saves her, at first she acts like usual but finally, after understanding her errors, she decided to take the hand being offered this time, or more accurately, reaches out herself. I thought that was pretty powerful.
I do wish there was more episodes and yeah, I guess it was rushed but I feel that 3~4 episodes more was all needed, even with that.
In the end, to me, it was good enough.
Redemption is great for villain characters
but ended up in a relationship or revealing u were in love with the person u gaslighted and tried to murder and doing all of your actions just becuz of your obsession to get back at the person is really wrong
One dimensional take