Adora: Hero to Human

[@sparxstreak02]

14:51 Despite Adora trying to honour Angella’s wish, she makes her own misinterpretation of this request when in ‘The Coronation’ she says “I’m supposed to take care of you Glimmer. It’s the last thing she asked me to do.” which is NOT what Angella meant at all, further reinforcing Adora’s ‘fix everything myself’ mentality 😵‍💫

[@koimcarthur8835]

Haha yeah that is a pretty classic Adora misinterpretation, only seeing the half of the request where Adora has responsibility.

[@fRkOdCmK]

Excellent analysis! I'm so tired of seeing people assume that Adora is this perfect innocent child that Catra uses as a punching bag. Adora had good intentions but good intentions alone is not enough most of the time. Adora had issues as well and it's what makes her such an interesting protagonist.

[@koimcarthur8835]

Thanks! Yeah, it's interesting to see people who kind of just assume that Adora has 0 fault when it comes to her dynamic with Catra. I feel like things are often viewed in a polarizing way, people taking "sides," and that is what sometimes happens when people think of the conflicts between Catra and Adora. Really we should try to view most things as grey areas and try to understand where everyone is coming from.

[@sparxstreak02]

5:01 YESSS!!! Finally someone who says Adora lacks empathy! Everyone assumes compassion & empathy go hand in hand but its just not that simple.

[@StareachValcin]

This is a great assessment of Adora's character arc from Adora's perspective throughout the series. Her learning to be a person first before being a hero. Also, while it is true that Adora and Catra had problems with communicating how they feel, I think there is plenty of evidence in the series of Adora never really giving up on Catra. The closest she's ever been to doing that was at season 3, and it still didn't stop her from wanting to save Catra in season 5. More than any one of her friends from the horde, Adora is affected by her relationship with Catra. Catra has always mattered to Adora, in spite of what Shadow Weaver has put them through. Catra is the only one that Adora actually tries to get to join the rebellion, Adora constantly holds back against whether she's She-ra or not, and Adora has tried multiple times to repair their damaged relationship, especially when she feels they have a chance to fix things. Adora's relationship with Catra is the one thing she's shown to want to fix more than anything. By the end of the series, I was glad that Adora saw her own self worth beyond just being She-ra, and was able to make her relationship with Catra better than before.

[@koimcarthur8835]

I definitely agree that Adora has tried to get Catra to join the rebellion and fix their relationship when Catra is showing signs of that being possible like how she tried to convert Catra in 'Promise' after Catra gave her the sword in 'No Princess Left Behind' and she also went back for Catra in 'Save the Cat' after Catra saved Glimmer in 'Corridors'. I do think that Adora was very conflicted about fighting against Catra in the earlier seasons when Catra seemed solidly on the side of the Horde but I don't think that inhibited her from attempting to carry out her duties as She-Ra. She didn't reach out to Catra in 'The Sea Gate', 'Princess Prom', 'No Princess Left Behind', 'The Battle of Brightmoon' or any of the later seasons up until season 5. Adora always seemed eager to repair things with Catra, but only after Catra took the first step in the right direction on her own. And I think there was little to suggest the impact of Catra's friendship on Adora in the earlier seasons compared to what there could have been, especially when you compare how Catra focused so much time on Adora after Adora left the Horde. Adora did hold back while fighting Catra as we see that she should be able to destroy Catra pretty easily if she was blood lusted as in 'White Out', but she held back mainly on her attack frequency not her attack power and she usually could have seriously hurt Catra if she landed a blow in one of their fights. You're right, there is no doubt that Catra always had a large impact on Adora, Adora just really needed to humanize herself before she could really act on those feelings. Great comment, lots of great points.

[@blackstardust1674]

@@koimcarthur8835 I agree with a lot of your assessments except that she does feel human for others just not herself. She genuinely cares about her friends including Catra. Adora's relationship with Catra is the one thing she wants. That's why ShadowWeaver abused Catra because it humanizes Adora gives her something to fight for. Adora always looks back when Catra leaves I don't think she really has time to actually stop and miss her but she does that "I never wanted to leave you."(promise) or when she says that "Catra is in my head." She does miss her genuinely but it would have been toxic for her to keep pushing and pushing. Catra did hurt Adora physically so it's fair that Catra has to be willing to change and when she did Adora tried. In the episode Taking Control (season 5) Adora said "I am such an idiot I thought we actually stood a chance at fixing things but Catra is still a stubborn brat." Also the "I never hated you." Adora has no problem giving love that is her morals it's the idea that even if she fails she is deserving of love unconditionally. Also when light hope says you endanger your friends by leaving Adora makes it clear that she fights for her friends and that she is not Mara to fulfill some destiny. I see your point and understand your perspective. I am not always the best with how to write out my thoughts but five by five takes in my opinion has what I am trying to say. Love the video though.

[@koimcarthur8835]

@Your fears don't define you thanks for taking the time to watch my video and leave your opinion! I understand what you are saying, Five by Five Takes does have an excellent video on Adora and just great She-Ra videos in general. I don't completely agree with their interpretation of the show which is why I made my own videos. I am completely fine with the points that you brought up, they all make sense! But I will explain my own views on them. I don't think that Shadow Weaver abused Catra because it humanized Adora, Shadow Weaver brought up Catra and Adora based on her philosophy of power and action, and the lessons she learned in Mystacor. Shadow Weaver believes that the ones in power are responsible for the well being of others and she believes that when they don’t live up to this responsibility the people without power must try to take power so that they can act themselves. Adora has power so Shadow Weaver conditioned her to be responsible for others and Catra doesn’t have power so Shadow Weaver conditioned her to be strong and learn how to fight for power. Shadow Weaver ultimately forgot to explain to Catra why she would need to fight for power though. I explain more about this in my video ‘Magic in She-Ra and the Sacrifices of Angella and Shadow Weaver’. I think Adora had lots of time to try to miss Catra if she wanted to, and as viewers of the show there were many opportunities to portray this to us, but we weren’t shown it, especially not to the extent that we saw Catra being affected by Adora leaving the Horde. Adora does say that she never wanted to leave Catra in ‘Promise’ but this seemed to be in the moment and disjoint from Adora’s actions, as Adora does not reflect on this in the episodes after she left the Horde and she does not do anything to try to convince Catra to come with her until ‘Promise’ after Catra has made an action that may suggest she isn’t completely on the side of the Horde (giving Adora the sword in ‘No Princess Left Behind’). When Adora says that Catra is in her head in ‘The Frozen Forest’ I don’t think there is enough evidence to really understand why Catra is in her head. It certainly could be because Adora misses Catra but it could also be because Catra is the main symbol of the Horde at that moment. Adora in season 5 realizes what Catra means to her and we get all these quotes from Adora about how she never gave up on Catra etc. But no matter how well these quotes reflect Adora’s true feelings these feelings are disjoint from her actions in the first 4 seasons and that is really what Adora’s struggle was in the show. It is true that Adora is capable of the physical act of giving love in most scenarios, but Adora does not actually know what it emotionally means to do that until she is able to humanize herself, and that is why for simple things it looks like she can give love but there is a failure for Adora to do so in more complicated situations. For example, Adora tried to get Catra to leave the Horde with her thinking that this was giving love. But staying in the Horde is what was best for Catra at the time and Adora trying to pull Catra away was a failure to understand the support that Catra needed and how to love Catra. I talk more about this in my video ‘Catradora is Conceptually Beautiful’. Adora does say that she fights for her friends, but we saw why Adora became She-Ra in ‘Razz’ and this was not why, it was to do what was she thought was right. So, I think this was more commentary on how Adora does not understand friendship.

[@TherealRNOwwfpooh]

@@koimcarthur8835 *Adora always seemed eager to repair things with Catra, but only after Catra took the first step in the right direction on her own.* That's because of the old maxim: People can only help those willing to help themselves. Basically, this likens abuse & trauma to that of an addiction, because oftentimes, both abuse victims & addicts find themselves unable or otherwise incapable of either getting out of an abusive relationship or successfully recovering from an addiction independently. However, those seeking to help the abused victims or addicts generally come to the overall conclusion that unless the abuse victims or addicts are actively willing to recognize that they're being abused or that they have a problem regarding the thing they're addicted to (as in, the abuse victims know they're being abused & want to escape the abusive relationship or the addicts understand they may not be able to battle against their addiction on their own) and are thereby, much more likely to readily accept outside help from others, then the cycle of abuse or addiction may continue until the abuse victims or addicts are willing to allow others to help them.

[@koimcarthur8835]

@@TherealRNOwwfpooh this is something that often rings true but I don't believe there is much evidence for it in this situation with Catra and Adora. As you say in your comment, in general those seeking to help the abused victims or addicts would come to the conclusion that the addicts/victims need to first understand their own situation and be willing to take steps in the right direction. Even if this is something that may "generally" happen, without evidence supporting this in the show it can be nothing more than an educated guess. The other issue with your explanation is that for it to be correct Adora needs to be trying to help Catra which is exactly what the excerpt you pulled from my comment was arguing against. Adora in general is not trying to help Catra, helping Catra is more of a side affect of Adora trying to help the Rebellion which comes into play in instances when Catra takes a step in the right direction on her own. If you read the rest of my comment there I try to explain how Adora is not really interested in helping out Catra unless it is convenient for Adora. After Adora defects from the Horde she does not try to bring Catra with her when they next see each other etc.

[@sparxstreak02]

23:04 In this fight Adora’s old habit in lacking empathy is showcased as her frustration & anger cloud her ability to see just how scared Catra is here & she acts equally aggressive when trying to stop Catra from lashing out but no sooner does she pin Catra’s hand to the wall, she lets go (a scene which I severely wish had played out longer & had more detailed animation in some shots) & after she calms down & Catra reaches out, actually starts to listen to her & act more empathetically for the 1st time in her life.

[@koimcarthur8835]

Excellent point! This scene really showed how Adora has been changing by first showing how she acts instinctually and then how she acts to correct it. I find She-Ra has a lot of these scenes which have a lot of hidden meaning if you look into them. One of my favorites is when Catra gets captured by the spider bot in 'Promise', it basically sums up Catra's season 1 story up to that point. She starts off trying to hold on to Adora, when they separate Catra becomes scared and helpless as Adora can't help her. Then she realizes she can fight for herself, she has value, and right as she is about to defeat the bot Adora comes in, takes the final blow, and discredits Catra's accomplishments.

[@sparxstreak02]

@@koimcarthur8835 and adding insult to injury 🤦‍♀️ says “Sure you did.” after Catra frustratingly tells her she had it handled.

[@TherealRNOwwfpooh]

@@sparxstreak02 It was a parallel to their training simulation from the first episode, though, where Adora, Lonnie, Rogelio & even to a far less extent Kyle had worked together to overcome the simulated robots disguised as holographic princesses, but just as Adora was ready to land the finishing blow, Catra came in & dealt the final attack herself. All of that time beforehand, Catra had been cunningly concealing herself in the shadows & actively let everyone else handle all of the dirty work until the robot had been significantly weakened, after which she sauntered in & landed the last shot.

[@koimcarthur8835]

​@@TherealRNOwwfpooh the scene was a parallel or Adora saying "Sure you did"? The scenes are both similar, but in the first episode Catra was well aware that she did not actually contribute to the takedown of the bot and in "Promise" Adora seems to actually believe that Catra would have been screwed had she not shown up. This is a really cool connection though, good find.

[@TherealRNOwwfpooh]

@@koimcarthur8835 What am saying is, in the first episode of the series, we saw Adora & the canon thruple (Lonnie X Kyle X Rogelio) do all of the major, significant damage to the training simulation bot (even if Kyle got taken out as per usual) just for Catra to come out of hiding to provide the last shot, whereas in "Promise" against the Crystal Castle's robotic spider, Catra was forced to battle it all on her own (no doubt, due to corrupt A.I. Light Hope deliberately looking to separate Adora from Catra & vice-versa, even though Adora had tried to save Catra by trying to pull her free from the robotic spider's grip to no avail) and had actually gotten herself free from its webbing & was successfully using her sharp Wolverine-like claws to rip the mechanical beast apart, however just as she was about to put it down, Adora came in & dealt the final blow using the Sword of Protection. So, in that particular instance, both the first episode & "Promise" are inverse parallels of each other, whereas at the end of "Promise", Adora's once again seen dangling from the edge of a cliff with Catra looking down at her, which is actually one of the first key scenes between the two that's also in the first episode (Adora: "That's low, Catra, even for you." Catra: ~laughs~ "You know nothing too low for me."), so when "Promise" comes along 10 episodes later, you almost expect Catra to quote Scar's comment towards an adult Simba from _The Lion King_ saying, "Now, this looks familiar. Where have I seen this before?" before letting Adora fall akin to Mufasa's death ("Long live the King!"), except unlike murderous uncle Scar towards his brother Mufasa & his nephew Simba, Catra honestly didn't think Adora was about to die in this scenario.

[@sparxstreak02]

29:02 But it doesn’t stop her from acting in her own self interest to ensure Catra is safe before the interests of the rest of the universe. That gave me EVERY kind of warmth I’ll ever need ❤️‍🔥😭

[@Sillyquackquack]

A wonderful analysis! It reminds me of how much I love this show and makes me look at it all with a bit of a different lens

[@joleedavis9933]

Thank you for bringing up how Adora didn’t empathize with Catra and didn’t try to see from Catras perspective, how quick she was to discard and even despise Catra, no one ever brings that up

[@koimcarthur8835]

Yeah Adora has a lot of flaws which I think some viewers gloss over. Glad you caught them though!

[@TherealRNOwwfpooh]

That's because Catra already knew the Horde was bad from the very start (contrast this to Adora, who was brainwashed into thinking the Horde was "doing what was best for Etheria" & that the princesses were "violent instigators" causing malcontent with their Rebellion) & never chose to willingly leave the Horde of her own volition, even if it would've been beneficial for her to do so for the sake of her mental/psychological well-being & even at times, her actual physical health. Adora did the right thing by escaping that toxic, abusive environment. But unfortunately, Adora's Golden Child martyr complex followed her to the other side too, since the clearly corrupted A.I. Light Hope also basically continued imposing upon Adora the same thing which abusively manipulative parental figure Shadow Weaver had instilled in Adora since childhood, namely that Adora's value only comes from what she can do for others, whether it be as a Force Captain leading the Horde or if it's as the vessel for the legendary warrior She-Ra who serves as Etheria's predestined Christ-like savior.

[@joleedavis9933]

@@TherealRNOwwfpooh okay cool, I know all of that. Still doesn’t change the fact that Adora originally wasn’t a good friend to Catra and didn’t empathize with her and was quick to discard her and that it was wrong and cruel of her to do so.

[@TherealRNOwwfpooh]

@@joleedavis9933 Says you. Adora was a good friend to Catra to the best of her ability & considering the circumstances of their upbringing in an abusively toxic environment. The problem was, Shadow Weaver intentionally pitted Adora & Catra against each other on purpose. This, in turn, bred resentment from Catra towards Adora & led to Adora, as you say, not empathizing with Catra's plight. To be fair though, when you're on opposite side of a war, it's treason to fraternize with the enemy (even if said enemy is your best friend/future love interest in Adora's case, as far as Catra goes), so by that logic, wartime enemies shouldn't really be trying to make friends, because that essentially defeats the whole purpose of having a war in the first place if you can just use the "power of friendship" to overcome any barrier.

[@joleedavis9933]

@@TherealRNOwwfpooh yes, says me, who apparently has better eyes than you. Or I just actually empathize with Catra and don’t automatically says she’s bad bad bad like the rest of y’all. Yes, shadow weaver pitted them against each other. But if Catra can be blamed for all of her actions, despite all the pressure and abuse she was going through, Adora can be blamed for her actions too. And Adora wasn’t a good friend. I’ve had personal experience in a relationship like this. I know how it goes. And yeah, sure, if this was a real war or the war was taken more seriously and like an actual war in the narrative. But it’s not. People switch sides on a dime and it usually isn’t questioned. Adora could have absolutely reached out sooner and with more convincing gumption. If Light Hope hadn’t done what she did in promise they probably would have reunited and worked on their issues in bright moon.

[@sparxstreak02]

20:12 When Adora uses her true feelings to briefly unlock She-Ra, I don’t think it was just Bow & Glimmer she was thinking of here as she says “I’m not leaving ANYONE behind!” which to me, was the clearest reference back to Catra I’ve ever seen 😸

[@koimcarthur8835]

Yeah it could absolutely be that!

[@arctic_haze]

@@koimcarthur8835 This fits also the directorial decision that after Catra says "There's no one left in the entire universe who cares about me" in Corridors, the very next shot switches directly to Adora. This is no accident.

[@koimcarthur8835]

@@arctic_haze Yep, Adora does care about Catra how much she was thinking of Catra when she was focusing on saving Bow and Glimmer is unclear but it could've helped for sure.

[@sparxstreak02]

9:09 So true! Adora may have been starting to become friends with Bow & Glimmer but they were still very much strangers to each other at this point & regardless of their friendship status, Adora labelling Bow & Glimmer’s side as the ‘good side’ was ultimately what led her to switch allegiances at the drop of a hat. And even though she sticks with it, this choice to leave was a completely reactive decision (the type of decision Catra made on the regular until S5) rather than a well thought out one since after the battle at Thaymor, it only registers to Adora then & there of the monumental action she made & she starts panicking about what she’s supposed to do & where to go. And this rocky foundation of friendship goes both ways. Bow may have been willing to give Adora a chance from the get go (being who he is) but She-Ra was a MAJOR part of why Glimmer was willing to give Adora the chance she did with the Sword, as she was out of options - she even admits that she’s not sure if she can trust her but had little choice except to put her faith in Adora in order to survive & says that they need Adora…as She-Ra & gives the reason of Adora being there as to ’help them’. In both these instances, duty & a need for survival were the major instigators of these choices rather than personal leaps of faith & trust. They DO all become genuine friends later on but the basis of this friendship for all of them still started with She-Ra. I’m also quite disappointed that she (along with Catra) never made amends with their old squad mates Lonnie, Kyle & Rogelio 😞 (as far as the series shows). In my opinion, Adora has even more to make up to them than Catra did, as while Catra did treat them like shit, Lonnie (from what I interpreted) in ‘Fractures’ was able to see how much Catra’s pain was making her unhinged but ultimately had to look out for her own 2 best friends before anything else. They also left the Horde together - a marked difference on Adora’s own journey in defection & failure in being able to do this with Catra, as we know this was a decision Lonnie, Kyle & Rogelio would’ve made together - therefore taking each other’s feelings into account. What Adora did to Catra in Thaymor (however unintentional) was already very thoughtless but the way she left without saying a word to anyone else who cared about her (which I think were only her 3 other squad mates) was arguably even shittier & it’d be amazing to see Adora deal with these consequences (along with Catra) following the events of the S5 Finale, bcuz her actions all the way back at the beginning really did hurt ALL the people who cared about her growing up 😔

[@koimcarthur8835]

Thanks for the elaboration! Adora says a lot of things that are just straight up not true, and you're right being She-Ra was a major selling point for Glimmer, Angella, and the whole Rebellion. You could argue that Adora is one of the only people who could successfully defect alone because she was She-Ra. In 'Razz' when the people of Bright Moon see that Adora is wearing a Horde uniform they try to fight her, maybe even kill her, but Adora wasn't doing anything to them. If Adora didn't have value as She-Ra here I don't think she could have defected successfully and she probably would end up back with the Horde or in the Crimson Waste. Similarly, when Scorpia defected she actively trying to hurt anyone but the princesses started fighting her instantly. This is a bit more understandable because they have history with her though. I think Adora has a lot more to make up for the Horde kids than Catra does. Catra treated them bad, but they were not really friends with Catra growing up. We don't see much of this, but it is implied that Adora used to protect Catra at least from Lonnie. In 'Razz' Catra looks like she's going to fight with Lonnie but the backup comes in and Lonnie reminds Catra that Adora is not there to protect her anymore. They were friends in the alternate reality where everything was perfect. Kyle thought they were friends with Catra in 'Protocol' but it is Kyle and there wasn't a lot of agreement. And it is like you said, Lonnie could kind of see what Catra was going through. I think there would be too much apologizing at the end of the show if everything were to be completely wrapped up, I think we're meant to understand that Adora and Catra will make amends because we have seen that they have changed. Although this feels more true with Catra. I can't say for sure that the Horde kids are getting an apology from Adora.

[@sparxstreak02]

@@koimcarthur8835 yeah, Catra was never close with Lonnie & the guys (though I think this was largely due to her own insecurities) which is why when Kyle says in ‘Destiny Part 1 “We used to be your friends. Why are you treating us like this?” I had NO idea what he was referring to, but then again Kyle tries to see good in ANYTHING, much like Scorpia. And yeah, we can’t have apologies constantly being dished out as it would get old real fast but I’m convinced (post S5) Catra would seek the trio out in the Crimson Waste to apologise, with Adora following along as she would probably worry about how they’re doing since her change from her enemy/friend mindset. Then after Catra’s apology, I reckon Lonnie would let EVERYTHING out on Adora (maybe even deck her! Lol) & tell her just how much she hurt them & that at least Catra’s attempting to make amends while Adora’s still trying to justify hurting them with her black & white right/wrong argument & THEN it hits Adora just how much she f#cked up & she goes away to think while Catra comforts her & helps Adora figure out her own way to make things right with their old childhood squad mates & realise that while she had good intentions, still went about it the wrong way. I know this is just a theoretical scenario but I think it would fit all the characters I mentioned.

[@koimcarthur8835]

@@sparxstreak02 Haha yeah I could definitely see that playing out.

[@felixheitzer2262]

I cried. Thanks. This and your video abought Catra were a big step for me toward understanding this shows depth and power.

[@koimcarthur8835]

Thanks for taking the time to watch my videos, and just for your willingness to try to understand this show better! It is very deep once you really start trying to analyze it.

[@MatteoBiondillo]

​@@koimcarthur8835(I write to you down here because youtube won't make me comment on the page). You're one of the one who got this series and one who got it great. But there is one thing i would like to say.... Adora sure did deserve better....from the f***** fans man. The She-Ra fandom has always greatly misunderstood Adora and always treated her like she was stale, boring, not complex, a f**** idiot, a pawn in Catra's hand, bland and a fraud of a character. I'm also tired of jow much the fandom greatly DOWNPLAYS the abuse that Adora suffered from Shadow Weaver. It may have been not that physical, but emotionally she was always brought up to be worthless, a tool and just a sacrificial lamb under a mask of apparent glory. Catra and Adora share more similarities than what people think, and the main 3 are. 1 Both wear a mask 2 Both have a lot of insicurities 3 Both lie to themselves

[@koimcarthur8835]

@@MatteoBiondillo Thanks for watching my video and taking the time to leave a comment! I think that Adora doesn't get nearly as much focus or thought as she should, most people seem much more interested in Catra. I will say though, that Adora is not exactly the smartest lol, she's maybe not an idiot but tactically Catra is running circles around her. I wouldn't say that Adora was brought up to be worthless, actually the opposite. Adora was brought up thinking that her worth was far greater than all her peers, but this led to the conclusion that she is also responsible for EVERYTHING and so she acts as just a tool or a sacrificial lamb as you nicely put it. Great comment!

[@MatteoBiondillo]

@@koimcarthur8835 Yeah, Adora is kind of naive, but i think that that's due to SW manipulation. About the worthless argument, i was saying that she was considered worthless as a person, but SUPER worthy as just a weapon, SW didn't give a s**** about Adora herself, but gave a s*** about the fact that she was a SUPER valuable resource in her quest for power. I think that if Catra, Lonnie, Rogelio, Kyle and whatever other friends Adora had didn't grew up in the Horde, or were secretly killed by Shadow Weaver, the witch would have done the same thing that Ares did to Kratos in GOW, turn her in the worst GodKilling Machine.

[@koimcarthur8835]

@@MatteoBiondillo Oh gotcha, yep totally agree then, Adora's only value was what she could do for others, definitely did not have any of her own agency. Thanks for clearing that up. I am not entirely sure why she is bad tactically though, probably because SW didn't want her to be able to think too much and realize what was going on.

[@sparxstreak02]

6:13 I always found it odd that we never saw Adora missing Catra, even during her 1st night at Bright Moon 😔 Maybe the writers didn't have time to fit it in but 1 possible explanation is that Adora didn't allow herself to focus on missing her oldest best friend, instead putting all her attention towards the Rebellion in order to avoid that pain until she was finally forced to confront it in 'Promise' but that's just my theory.

[@koimcarthur8835]

I think the writers definitely had time to put it in if they wanted. They showed how efficient their writing could be with Catra’s story. Adora, Bow, and Glimmer had a lot more filler material which could have gone towards showing Adora missing Catra instead, if that is something they wanted to portray. Sticking with the angle of Adora not really viewing herself as a person in this season, the explanation of why we don’t see Adora missing Catra is pretty clear to me. Adora is repressing her feelings. Adora missing Catra doesn’t benefit anyone so Adora doesn’t do it. So, I agree with you, Adora is putting all her time into the Rebellion. But, not to avoid the pain of thinking about Catra, she is doing it because she is hard wired to do what she thinks is morally right and she just doesn’t know how to feel/process the pain you mention (at least in my opinion). She isn’t shown missing Catra because it’s just not something she is capable of doing at that time.

[@sparxstreak02]

@@koimcarthur8835 Well she does tell Catra she misses her in ‘Promise’ so I don’t think she completely denied it (or maybe realised it after reuniting with her in that ep) but I agree that she isn’t fully allowing herself to go through the process itself & given how attentive she becomes towards Catra in S5, shows the effects of this past behaviour even more.

[@koimcarthur8835]

Adora does say that but I don't think Adora knows what that actually means because it's not represented through Adora's actions. Also, Adora eludes to the idea she became She-Ra to help her friends in s1e12 which was shown to not be the case in s1e3, and she says she would never leave her friends behind in s1e8 right as the friend she left behind enters the scene. This is to say, Adora's self awareness is not the best.

[@sparxstreak02]

@@koimcarthur8835 Agreed, Adora was a complete & utter hypocrite in ‘Princess Prom’ 🤦‍♀️ She seems to try to justify her actions that unintentionally cause harm by saying she did what was ‘right’ but that changes depending on who you ask & more importantly, who your actions affect.

[@TherealRNOwwfpooh]

She did miss Catra. Do recall that when Adora felt uncomfortable sleeping alone in the lavish room Glimmer bestowed upon her, this was because "she never slept alone before". After all, in her barracks back at the Fright Zone, even though she had her own cot, Catra willingly decided to sleep at the foot of Adora bed like a domesticated house cat, because Catra had already decided that Adora was HER PERSON, no doubt thanks to Shadow Weaver blatantly telling Catra that her entire existence was predicated on Adora's feelings for the magicat, so Catra took this to mean that, so long as Adora cared about her & never left her side, Catra herself was safe.

[@sparxstreak02]

13:51 I think the reason for Angella’s misconception is cuz she only ever heard about (& occasionally saw) the actions Adora took & interpreted this as pure bravery as she never sat down & asked Adora what her motivation for being brave actually was.

[@koimcarthur8835]

I think a lot of the Rebellion never tried to understand what happened to Adora in the Horde and how it may have negatively effected her mindset. In season 1 episode 7 Bow and Glimmer were pretty dismissive of Shadow Weaver's capabilities which came back to bite them in the butt, but I don't think they did much to try to understand how Adora's upbringing affected her. They kind of just accepted who she was since it was pretty convenient for the Rebellion.

[@sparxstreak02]

@@koimcarthur8835 Too true 😔 Adora may have left for genuinely seeing the Horde’s actions as wrong, but she pretty much just swapped 1 indoctrinated mindset for another, since she fights against Horde soldiers who grew up with the same war propaganda she did & yet treats them in the same black & white way the princesses do, as just extensions of Hordak - she never offers THEM a way out instead of trying to avoid fighting them (unless she gave up on that idea after Catra turned it down). Even more disappointingly, Bow & Glimmer NEVER ask how she feels about fighting her former fellow cadets or squad mates - let alone Catra 😞 In the tie-in comic ‘The Fire Princess 🔥’ at the end Glimmer tells Adora not to look back on the things she misses about her past since she’s ‘better off’ 🤨 which to me just implies that she wants Adora to just forget about everything before her Rebellion life - which is INSANELY insensitive & apathetic! Even if someone’s past is painful, it’s THEIR decision on when they move on & when Glimmer just dismisses how Adora feels, she demonstrates how she saw Adora as an exception to the Horde while still seeing the rest of them as pure evil, rather than questioning if there were others like Adora in the Horde who might be good at heart & She-Ra played NO small part in this, however genuine the friendship became later on. And since Adora was perfectly willing to play the part the Rebellion needed (& wanted) they never saw a problem to begin with 😔

[@koimcarthur8835]

@@sparxstreak02 yeah I think the only half exception is Huntara, but she had already defected of her own accord. It is kind of weird that the Rebellion never tried to find a peaceful solution to the war via converting Horde soldiers who didn't really believe in what they were doing, but I think that's because the war isn't really meant to be a philosophical battle. The idea of colonization vs not colonization is not really brought up when fighting, it's all the personal conflicts. It's in many ways just so that we can have "sides". I didn't read 'The Fire Princess', but that's pretty bad of Glimmer if it is cannon.

[@sparxstreak02]

@@koimcarthur8835 oh yeah, I forgot about Huntara 😅 oops! But even with Huntara, its Adora who offers her the chance to join up with the Rebellion - not Bow or Glimmer (who act scared of her throughout Huntara’s ep while Adora just fangirls over her). Huntara’s reason for leaving for leaving was also interesting as her sympathy was for the Horde soldiers getting thrown away like cannon fodder rather than the civilians they were fighting. Huntara’s situation also implies that any other Horde soldier who defects has the life of a criminal as their only other option since all the kingdoms just instantly attack anyone formerly affiliated with Hordak - which is pretty sad when you think about it 😔

[@koimcarthur8835]

@@sparxstreak02 It's definitely a sad realization, but it certainly justifies Catra originally thinking that Adora was crazy for leaving her, and not joining her.

[@sparxstreak02]

19:52 Lol it IS hilarious how much Adora misinterprets Catra’s actions when (as I said in a previous comment in your 1st Catra video) she never so much as landed a final killing blow to Adora! 😹 (I know I’ve left a BUNCH of comments here but I just love so many of these points you’ve made, which have also helped me to see the moments from a new perspective too!)

[@koimcarthur8835]

No worries! Sorry I've taken so long to getting around to reading these, they are really good, I was just busy with the school term finishing up that I didn't get around to having a good look for a long time.

[@sparxstreak02]

@@koimcarthur8835 completely understand - school comes 1st (however long it can feel Lol) Hope you did well in all your classes! 👍

[@sparxstreak02]

2:40 I have some points that I'd like to counter-argue on here. Although we know Etheria chose Mara 1000 years prior to be She-Ra (since Razz herself states this) we never actually find out how she was chosen or how the She-Ras before her were either but I highly doubt it was the same way Adora was picked. Its later revealed that the First Ones drained the planet's magic, stored it in the Heart of Etheria over many centuries & used the Sword of Protection they created as a conduit for that power to manipulate it & since only a First One can wield it, also ensured that only First Ones of Eternia could become She-Ra from that point on - hence why there were no She-Ras in the millennia between Mara & Adora despite Etheria going through decades of strife at Hordak's hands. With all these revelations, its all but confirmed that Adora became She-Ra due to being of Eternian blood rather than for her qualities of compassion & protection that happened to fit the 'Hero' mould & would've been selected either way. Yes she keeps the powers after breaking the Sword & to be fair, the writing doesn't elaborate on why but 2 things are seemingly implied - that once you have the powers, they're yours to keep, as well as Adora's vision dreams of She-Ra following the Sword's destruction seemingly being a test of her resolve to determine whether she should keep said powers as the planet's magic (while still being stored in the Heart of Etheria) are no longer controlled by the Sword, which means it could've played a part here - but its all theory at this point due to very little confirmed explanation being given. But ultimately I believe Adora was chosen as the result of a genetic lottery due to her race's actions in meddling with another planet's power rather than just being chosen by Etheria because she happened to possess the qualities of the stereotypical hero. This is remarkably refreshing as it shows that circumstance can play just as much a part in where you end up instead of it always being a result of someone who happens to meet certain criteria. It also contrasts with the clichés of a typical 'Chosen One' & plays into the show's ultimate message of rejecting destiny & not letting roles define you.

[@koimcarthur8835]

Thanks for taking the time to watch my video and leave your opinions! The circumstances of how Adora became She-Ra are extremely unclear, but you are right, one of the only pieces of information that we are given is that only a first one can be She-Ra. However, I think that there are a few good reasons to think that Adora became She-Ra because of her predisposition to protect others as well as her First Ones blood. The first argument as you already pointed out is that Razz said that Etheria chose Mara to be She-Ra. So, when Mara was She-Ra it would seem that the First Ones had already altered Etheria to make it so a First One has to be She-Ra. This leaves us with the question “why Mara?” When you watch “Hero” it is clear that if the First Ones wanted to use the Heart of Etheria as effectively as possible, then Mara would be an incredibly poor choice of She-Ra. Light Hope has to go to great lengths in order to limit Mara’s knowledge of what is happening so that Light Hope can maintain control over Mara. Mara is basically the worst possible choice for the job because she seems to have that predisposition to help others that Etheria would want in a She-Ra. If the First Ones could choose She-Ra then they would have probably taken Mara from a young age knowing who she was, and conditioned her to be okay with the whole destroying countless planets thing. It is also shown that the First Ones had the ability to detect the She-Ra power since Light Hope could sense it in Adora from outside the universe. If Mara was given the power of She-Ra by random draw then it would still make sense to take Mara when she is young and condition her how they like. But this doesn’t seem to happen, Mara was given the responsibility to be She-Ra from the First Ones when she was quite old, and Mara is kept in the dark. It is probably because the First Ones didn’t even think it possible to condition Mara the way they wanted because Mara would inherently be against this as she possessed that hero mindset. Limiting Mara’s knowledge was the best option. So if Mara was truly chosen by random then the First Ones would have had to be extremely unlucky because most people probably could have been sufficiently brainwashed from a young age. If it is in fact a random draw of who becomes She-Ra then we are hit with another big question, “Why 1000 years?” First Ones obviously existed in those 1000 years between Mara and Adora, otherwise Adora’s existence would simply not be possible. So, if that is the case why wasn’t there another She-Ra for 1000 years, there were first ones, if being a First One was truly all the criteria needed for someone to be She-Ra then it doesn’t make sense that the She-Ra line would be broken. This suggests that there must be some criteria beyond being a First One that allows someone to be a viable option to be She-Ra. This brings me back to my original point, Razz said that Etheria chose Mara to be She-Ra. Etheria choosing could be that extra criteria, and though the extra criteria could be something else, the question would then be “why was this line by Razz put into the show”. It just seems like it would be something really weird to write in, if that’s not how the She-Ra universe is supposed to work. Were the writers just trying to throw us off or something? I don’t know what the motivation to do that would be. Etheria choosing who becomes She-Ra explains why Mara would be She-Ra and why there was a 1000 year gap between Mara and Adora. The First Ones had a small population and there were none that possessed the hero predisposition until Adora came around. So, I think that Etheria chose Mara and Adora because there just seems to be a bunch of unanswered questions if this is not the case. She-Ra is for sure about not letting roles define you and having Etheria choose Mara and Adora to be She-Ra actually just adds on another layer to that. Mara rejects the role that the First Ones put on her but she also rejects the concept of She-Ra in the sense of Etheria choosing someone that will always be there to save the day and make the sacrifice. Mara never wanted there to be another She-Ra because she disagreed with the idea of Etheria putting the weight of the world on one person, and Adora’s arc is to also reject this role given to her by Etheria.

[@sparxstreak02]

@@koimcarthur8835 interesting points here. However, since Razz states Etheria chose Mara (therefore proving the planet can choose others from outside Etheria for the role) I don’t think The First Ones had a hand in that & just decided to take advantage of the fact that Mara had been chosen by creating the Sword, since by this point they’d already started siphoning the planet’s magic & now wanted to control it. Also, there were no First Ones living on Etheria between Mara & Adora for that 1000 years as all the Eternian colonists living on Etheria at the time abandoned the planet when Mara took control of the weapon & sent Etheria into Despondos - proven further by the fact that no Etherian knew how to read First Ones Writing by the time Adora became She-Ra & what’s more, only seemed to gain the knowledge for reading said writing once she touched the Sword - implying that it also bestows certain skill sets the First Ones would want their ‘selected’ She-Ra to have. Hence why I believe there were no further She-Ras in that time since Adora needed to connect to the Sword to activate her powers, as the weapon gave her access to them (until she broke it & they became free to use at will). Also, in ‘Launch’ Adora says in her dream that it wasn’t her destiny to be She-Ra but a random selection - she wasn’t chosen as a result of having the right qualities, she just happened to be the closest person Light Hope managed to find through Hordak’s portal after she helped in making it work long enough in order for him to come across Adora & bring her back to Etheria. Adora got the powers upon her arrival in Etheria not just due to Light Hope’s influence but because she was the only First One in Etheria, which explains why Shadow Weaver would’ve been able to sense them even if they were dormant for years. I just find it more original & fascinating for Adora to have been chosen for reasons that completely flip why we thought she was chosen on its head rather than just because of her good hearted nature.

[@koimcarthur8835]

@@sparxstreak02 This is a good argument, and I can see why you see it this way, I’ve got no problem with it. I still disagree though. I think some of the evidence you gave that Adora gains power once touching the sword is faulty, for example we never saw her try to read first ones writing before touching the sword, she very well could have done it, she was just never given the chance etc. Perhaps more importantly though, Adora herself is an unreliable source of information and it is unclear whether Hordak actually opened the portal. Adora doesn’t know how the sword and how Etheria work, so her explanation that she was randomly chosen isn’t really reliable. As for Hordak not opening the portal: In “Destiny Part 2” at the 10:25 mark, Light Hope confesses to reaching across the entire universe to find Adora and bring her through the portal. Now it is unclear whether it was Light Hope who made the portal, but the fact that Hordak hadn’t had any success in making a portal after the one that Adora came through kind of makes it seem like Light Hope opened the portal. If Hordak opened a portal successfully once, he would in theory be able to do it again, he would just have to replicate what he did the first time. The fact that he can’t replicate this and that he didn’t really get anywhere close until Entrapta helped him suggests that it could very well be Light Hope who opened the portal. If this is in fact the case, then Light Hope at any time could’ve dragged a First One through the portal and we arrive back at the arguments from my first comment. Perhaps both of our arguments can’t really be well founded because this is an aspect of the show that seems to be somewhat ambiguous. But in the larger picture, this was a small point made in my video and regardless of how Adora started off by the time she is older she does have that hero mindset, so as interesting as it is to hear someone else’s take on this, maybe this isn’t something worth arguing too much about. But if you do have more points to make, feel free to share, you’ve made interesting comments. I just might not be able to respond too quickly since I’ve got some other stuff to do.

[@sparxstreak02]

@@koimcarthur8835 True, there are many points to be made back & forth about this on our theories but I know we’ll probably stick to the ones we believe & that’s absolutely fine 👍 It was fun debating with you though 😁 Sorry if I got a little overzealous with my points 😅 when it comes to shows like this, I can get pretty passionate ❤️‍🔥 But your videos are still wonderful & I enjoy them immensely 😊

[@koimcarthur8835]

@@sparxstreak02 yeah I don't think this debate was going anywhere to be honest, but it was fun nonetheless. You are very passionate about this, I love to see it!

[@amead78]

It didn’t help that Bow and Glimmer wanted Adora to be accepted as She Ra first and not her real self.

[@koimcarthur8835]

You are correct. That played a big role initially in reenforcing what 'value' Adora brings to the table.

[@sparxstreak02]

25:25 One theory that has floated around about this scene with Hologram Mara, is that this version of Mara is a manifestation of Adora’s subconscious of her deepest wants & desires - all the things she never allowed herself to have. And I think this fits pretty well as Mara asks questions that tie back to the ones Catra asked before: Catra: “Why are you like this?” Mara: “Why are you doing this, Adora?” Catra: “What do you want, Adora?” Mara: “What do you want when this is all over?” Especially given how long Mara’s been dead, I don’t think the magic of Etheria works to bring people’s ghosts back, because Adora is thinking back on her hidden thoughts that Catra brought to the forefront which can’t be buried anymore.

[@koimcarthur8835]

Yeah that's a really good idea! Adora did say that the place is responding to her memories, maybe that's what is happening. I think these are things that Mara would say to Adora regardless though, because Mara didn't want there to be another She-Ra, she broke the line of She-Ras partly for that reason. Perhaps Mara was the manifestation to tell Adora these things because Mara had said things along similar lines in the past and Adora needed to hear these things from someone who wasn't Catra if they were going to stick.