She-Ra Episode 11 REACTION

exhausted

3 months

This episode does a phenomenal job at getting the point across that despite everything, the root of Adora and Catra's problems with each other was Shadoweaver. For Catra, it was the more obvious scapegoating, physical, mental, and emotional abuse that made her feel not only like she was second best to Adora, but also that she was disposable in comparison. Nothing she could do would ever prove otherwise. She was only still around because Adora wanted her around. And then for Adora, it's the psychological abuse that comes with feeling the need to be Catra's protector, that because Catra always got into trouble, Adora always had to keep her safe (hello birth of a savior complex). And then all the responsibility Shadoweaver put on her shoulders ambiently outside of Catra that she emphasized Catra could not taint. And so you had an internal turmoil about how happy Catra and Adora seemed to be together and the words their mother (which, it cannot be mistaken that they both see her as a maternal figure, though in separate ways) tells her about Catra and the risk she posed to the insurmountable mission Adora had to succeed in.

Both felt like they carried the responsibilities of the other's actions. And then both were weighed down by their Promise to each other. You look out for me, I look out for you, and nothing bad will happen to us. But despite that promise, bad things happened again and again, and that last scene with Catra looking at her younger self was the culmination of that realization for her. That despite caring about Adora and their relationship, despite relying on their Promise that they'd make it out of the other end together, Adora not only left her right when they were about to finally have some power for a greater power and friend group (or so Catra believes), but she realizes all at once (in her eyes) that Adora never truly kept her safe. The scenes she saw while in the Beacon emphasize this feeling, that Adora only kept Catra along to feel like a hero, the golden child taking in the kid who only found a friend in Adora while in the Horde. And comparatively, Adora's memories seemed to hide her away from any feelings of loneliness, anger, or weakness that Catra felt up until that last memory, where the present-day Catra finally expresses this to her face. Shadoweaver's treatment of both of them simultaneously blinded each of them towards how the other was treated, letting them only see what only she wanted to see, and further isolated them from each other. Forcing the beginnings of a rift between them that their Promise, because of the circumstances surrounding them, for now, seems to have only served to further that rift.

For as sad as it was, I also really leaned into enjoying Catra's villain arc here. Not because I didn't feel bad about how their relationship seemed to have become so tainted it felt unsalvageable, or because Catra was willing to let Adora go and vice versa, but because they both needed to learn what it meant to be themselves without each other. And though they might cling to other vices (Adora being She-ra, Catra rising in power in the Horde), this marks an opportunity to grow (no matter the direction) that neither of them has had before. Would I have liked it to happen under different circumstances? Yes, but we take what we can lol