Great video! I really loved your analysis of all these episodes and what made them work, or what didn't. I think for the worst episodes, I think the worst (ha) thing about them is how they had potential to be better baked into them. Or at the very least, not be as bad as they are. With "System Failure", you could really just take out the forced conflict in the beginning and make it primarily between Bow and the Kitchen Staff. When the Best Friend Squad get to Dryll, have Glimmer (leader of the Princess Alliance and the princess and heir of Bright Moon) and Adora (She-Ra) be received with a lot of respect and lavish accommodations. Meanwhile, Bow is disregarded as a mere bodyguard by the Kitchen Staff, taking the place Glimmer and Adora previously occupied. That way later on when Bow proves that he is more than what others perceive him to be, that he is capable and deserving of respect, it's a lot more satisfying. It gives more weight to the arc the Kitchen Staff go through in this episode and shows the audience who Bow is. "Frozen Forest" could have actually worked on the Frosta and Glimmer end if Frosta acted a bit more like she did in "Princess Prom". Frosta, a kid who has always had to act a certain way in order to get the respect other nobility older than her normally get right off the bat, constantly gives advice to Glimmer who is struggling with her leadership skills. However Frosta is tone deaf and phrases her advice in a blunt, annoying, insulting way from an independent perspective. Glimmer can only hear the insults, and see the way that Frosta is undermining her, and blows up at Frosta. Right after that, Entrapta's bots (who here have the primary function to destroy the frozen Whispering Woods and are programmed to eliminate any threat to that goal) attack the Alliance, and during the battle Glimmer realizes what Frosta was trying to tell her. Meanwhile Frosta is almost overwhelmed by multiple bots, but can only overcome them when accepting help from the Alliance. After the battle is over, Glimmer and Frosta have their conversation. Both apologize to the other, Glimmer for blowing up instead of addressing her issues with Frosta more calmly and sooner, and Frosta for being a jerk. Both recognize that they have things to work on, and decide to work on them together. I think "Remember" could have been better if the episode pushed the psychological horror elements a bit more. Like, really play up Adora having repressed memories, seeing things that aren't there (or are they?), have an encroaching feeling of creepiness as time goes on before Adora finally realizes what's going on. But by then it's too late, and the only one Adora manages to save is Catra. Who then is revealed to have known the whole time, and has been steadily corrupted over time by being the one to open the portal in the first place, it feeding off of her. Most of "Signals" can be thrown out for the most part. Maybe keep in the First One's settlement, but have the Best Friend Squad (and Swift Wind) trip off a defense system. Said system envelopes each of the group in audio and visual hallucinations of their individual greatest fears and trauma, making them have to fight their way out. Meanwhile, let Catra bask in being Second-in-Command. She's basically doing a victory lap, mocking Shadow Weaver, delegating previous paperwork duties, etc. Or maybe it's Catra who set up that "defense system" in the settlement with Entrapta's help. The whole mission was a set-up, a nasty little present for the Best Friend Squad. If it incapacitates them, Catra gets to take out the heart of the Rebellion. If it doesn't? Well, it still provides a way to shake up the Best Friend Squad, maybe leaving a possible tactical opening later she can manipulate. As for "Boy's Night Out", I think it'd be better if we place it in S2 or S3 and we cut out the Adora and Glimmer conflict. Plus the whole Mermista thing. Instead, it's Bow, Seahawk, and Swift WInd having a fun night where the three bond that devolves into an impromptu mission. They stumble across a plot of the Horde's, and the three boys foil it, walking away with an explosion (caused mostly by Seahawk) at their backs. This way we have a fun episode that could develop Swift Wind and Seahawk, making them a bit less annoying and letting Bow have his own little group (that he definitely leads). Sorry if this was too long of a comment! I get pretty passionate about this stuff, and you really got me considering how to improve upon these episodes.

At first I was questioning the make-up, but as the video went on, I liked it more and more.

She struck me more like Mussolini, then again, that Austrian did call his government "the third Reich".

Could you imagine garnet talking to Steven like that more often

Max getting 1+ movement is nuts

I always promoted right away. Both in this game and in Beyond The Beyond

I think a really interesting thing is in ep3 season 1 - Razz, Queen Angela welcomes She-ra to the rebellion not by Adora's name/herself, I think this could've potentially added to Adora's low self-worth as she was only welcomed when she was She-ra not for who she was just because she came from the horde.

lol

I love this show so much also great dub💜💜💜

[TL; DR: I love Entrapta and this video just gave me the perfect excuse to ramble about the one pet peeve, I can't seem to get over, in my favourite show. Love that for me 😂 ] I may be terribly biased because I absolutely adore Entrapta, but watching her be used and mistreated by the Princesses Alliance was rough. While I can forgive them for not valuing her skill set, I can't forgive them for not valuing her as a person. The cognitive dissonance!! They were so willing to accept her death and later allegiance to the Horde, without the slightest hint of introspection after Entrapta pleaded "I'm on the side of science!" and "But don't worry about me. I love it here. (....) the Horde's been so supportive". Even when they rescued her from Beast Island, their sole motive was to have her disable the Heart of Etheria 😭😭 and even after that, it didn't matter that she tried to reconnect with them, it was Scorpia (the hoard captain that mind you, has actively tried to kill them with their own pincers) the one to beg them to try and see her as the human deserving of love and understanding she is, but also, as an ally trying to help. It took her literally risking her life, to receive an "Entrapta helped" and "you are still a weirdo but you did good today" "We've got your back any day". After they confront her with the repercussions of her actions, she's able to realise the princesses are mad at her, to which she proceeds to take all blame and apologise for "being bad at listening" and "messing everything up". But what apology or acknowledgment of her hurt did she get? Oh, yeah, Bo telling her that "friendship isn't easy" that it takes "everything you've got" and most infamously "We are not ever going to leave you behind _again_". You know it's bad when one of the people that treated her best, was also the one to go on and try to end the fucking world, after shocking her unconscious and sending her to Beast Island. Kind of sad that the bare minimum's here is "at least Catra manipulated her like everyone else". And for crying out loud, she even tried to, very aggressively but straight forward, protect Entrapta from Hordak after he suffocated her. Most impressive, not even after Shadow Weaver singles Entrapta out as the reason for Catra's problems at the time, mixed with her jealousy issues and overtaking of authority, did she actively conspire to hurt Entrapta. Moral of the story? I love Entrapta and I'll forever cherish her😂😂

Love seeing an Adora analysis video in 2024 aaa. The first time I watched she-ra i really overlooked the nuances of Adora's character until season 5, but since then, every time I've rewatched she-ra I've grown to love her character more and more every time. There's always a new thing I realize about her arc that only makes her all the more endearing to me. Her story is truly uplifting and a huge comfort.

I mean, if Catra is the “unfavorite child” in a toxic environment, then Adora is the “golden child” in it. Both case scenarios are equally unhealthy. In Adora’s case, her abuse is more hidden than Catra’s, because she was given too much pressure and high expectations, making her feel like she doesn’t deserve love if she isn’t useful and self-sacrificing . Even when she leaves the Horde, this pattern is unwittingly repeated through her friends and authorities, just because “she’s She-Ra, she’s the last Ancient, she’s destined for greatness, and blah, blah, blah, blah…”. Indeed when people (like Catra) ask her what SHE TRULY want, she can’t find the answer, and tries to change the subject. As it turns out, what SHE TRULY wants is to live a peaceful life with her friends and girlfriend, free from any expectations (a wish that even Horde Prime calls it beautiful). Which is why Catra is the perfect candidate to teach her to accept love from others because she DOES MATTER (with or without powers) and that being selfish sometimes is necessary.

Nice to see a video essay not just crap all over Catra.

Me, watches video on analyzing Adora: Oh cool I've never thought of this before this is actually very fitting and makes sense! Let me just like the video- what do you mean there are only 70 likes. Well, its probably cuz this channel posted it a few hours, 3 DAYS?!

Can I just say thank you for being a modern, not brain dead She-Ra video essayist. I've seen the recent trend after the show ended where people suddenly lose all sense of nuance or media literacy and think Catra's the bane of existence, a total abuser, and that Adora and Catra are an abusive relationship and thus She-Ra supports abuse, despite the ENTIRE show being built on overcoming the cycles OF abuse. It sucks because this show is full of important and complex messaging that goes beyond good/evil or straight abuse/victim, but apparently the second the show ended, people couldn't handle it anymore. So thank you for having a well-thought out, analytic perspective on the show!

thank you for making this - it's really interesting to see a lot of my own thoughts put in a linear format. i constantly see conversations about catra and her story of overcoming abuse but it makes me so sad how adora's is overlooked, given how important her journey is.

Actually, if sprig wasn’t there at all in to show the note to Andria’s, then Anne and Sasha would have died, cause then the core wouldn’t have went to try to control Andria’s, so Anne and Sasha would die, so I argue that sprig is important

I mean, while Catra very much disliked the _old_ She-Ra, she is shown to be attracted to the _new_ She-Ra who also looks more like Adora (she blushes the first time she sees her.) Still, it's true that she loves Adora for Adora and I don't think She-Ra would be used for any, uh, private activities unless Adora gets to a point where she'd want to and feel comfortable doing that.

I really like your vid, especially bc it's been done recently. I still rewatch She-Ra from time to time and also watch vids about it. I like watching videos about Adora bc she's also been through a tough childhood and teenhood although most people "only" talk about Catra (I also LOVE Catra's vids and her character). I miss reviews and informations about Adora. Also, I relate to Adora and her people pleasing trait. Going over that is a huge process. She has developed a lot when she finally stood up to Catra at the end of season 3 and when she chose her own destiny at the end of season 4, for instance. During the seasons she falls back in the pattern, but not like the way she was in the beginning. As time goes by she learns how to be more confident and to be more herself, learning her own worth. Although that development line is not straight (just like in real life). I think Adora's path is admiring, not because she is the protagonist, but because her story is deep. She's a young woman who has just gone to the world and is discovering new things besides what she has been taught. She has gone against beliefs she once knew and is confronting the old baggage she has with the new connections she makes. One has to be really brave to be open to the newness and embrace it. She's not perfect and does not always win. She also makes mistakes and is still learning that she doesn't have to do everything by herself. It's a journey of a person who thinks she is alone (bc she "has to" do everything by herself), therefore she has difficulty to be vulnerable and to ask for help, although she knows she has friends. And she still sees her friends as people she has to protect. And that's one of the things that makes her story beautiful: she's still learning to receive love and help (and she's not alone, her friends always reminds her that). She's learning she's not the one to take care of everything and everybody. She's also a person that can want things for her personal self and her desires matter! Idk if it was the best choice of words, but I hope you all got it. Thanks for reading e congrats for the video :3

Amazing vid, I swear your channel is way too underrated

“With all my MuScLeS” 😂

Great loop 😂

😍You're small😍

Name

Finally, someone who praises glimmer, even if u don't like her personality, im just so tired of all the glimmer slander, like ppl hate glimmer but not catra?? Also, ur vids are so underrated, u deserve more views and subs, especially for ur she-ra abridged series, im watching it rn, and its HILLAROUS 🤣

Just started playing this last week for the first time in roughly 30 years. I forgot how strong these characters can be. My main team at endgame right now where I'm fighting Colossus is: Max, Alef, Lyle, Luke, Amon, Bleu, Domingo, Zylo, Adam, Tirasu, Guntz, Earnest and I'm wrecking enemies. I've thought of keeping it with the lore of shining force CD and having Lowe, Anri, Ken apart of the force but I'm to far invested lol. I spent hours leveling everyone up to 20 and then promoting them..Yes.. even Adam.

Just started playing this last week for the first time in roughly 30 years. I forgot how strong these characters can be. My main team at endgame right now where I'm fighting Colossus is: Max, Alef, Lyle, Luke, Amon, Bleu, Domingo, Zylo, Adam, Tirasu, Guntz, Earnest and I'm wrecking enemies. I've thought of keeping it with the lore of shining force CD and having Lowe, Anri, Ken apart of the force but I'm to far invested lol. I spent hours leveling everyone up to 20 and then promoting them..Yes.. even Adam.

Iis

I kind of went back and forth on whether or not I should leave a comment, because I tend to talk a lot. But as a certified member of the Shadow Weaver Fan Club, I admire how you came out to say "there's more to her than meets the eye, actually". Like you mentioned, a lot of people think even talking about it is problematic. But I think the beauty of characters like Shadow Weaver, who are horrible in a pretty realistic way, is that they aren't just bad for the sake of it, and talking more about how their minds work doesn't mean forgiving or ignoring the awful things they've done. That being said, you made some points I haven't considered before, and others I think can be disputed (mainly relating to her relationship with Glimmer and her path to redemption), but this is overall a very refreshing analysis of Shadow Weaver! While she's not perfect per say, I think she's a perfect character for what she's meant to represent!

hi

Ohio

? Just why

Lmao this funny

Wth

Hm, so you're implying that there's a balance to be achieved when it comes to promotion levels. 🤔 What would you recommend personal?

Ew, no..

I had one play through where Tao was my most powerful attacker!

I think Catras really abusive to Adora, I really think they're the worst ship in the show

Agree

Been grinding Balbazak's level, Amon and Balbaroy are still around level 9 because they never hit anything. Lowe did deal nearly 20 damage in the same map, so that was funny.

OMG SHERAAAAAA!!! MY WHOLE FCKING CHILDHOOD. Loved that show- it helped me so much with finding my identity. Ty for reminding me of it :)

On my first playthrough, I googled when to promote and everyone said 20. But I didn't realize everyone who was saying 20 meant that they grinded to 20. So I didn't promote until Zylo and Diane hit level 20 in the third battle of Chapter 6, and then Mae and Ken in the 4th battle. Afterwards I said screw it and just promoted everyone. With the only character who even hit 20 twice being Diane, and no one else was even really close to that level. A lesson to be learned though.

The thumbnail looked like "REMBLE" to me for a second. 😂

I agree with all of the points you made, and I find it very interesting how watching the same episodes and seasons hit different after you've already watched the show, or when you've changed and your life is in a better place It's truly a great show