I don’t need you to save me!

Catra and Adora finally get some time to work out their feelings towards each other following significant shifts for both of them. Adora’s here to figure out how to heal Glimmer, and asks about Light Hope.

Hologram: Light Hope is here. She has been waiting for you.

She-ra: Can I talk to her?

Hologram: You will meet her soon enough. But first, you must let go.

She-ra: What’s that supposed to mean?

Hologram: You are not ready yet. You must let go.

But all that’s sidelined when Catra surreptitiously steals a piece of First Ones tech for Entrapta, resulting in “security protocols” (in the form of giant spider robots!).

also this is a catradora episode. there will be many images. and this is also a stevenson episode, so there will be many quotes.

Catra: What’s going on? Why are those things trying to kill us?

She-ra: They’re trying to kill you. This place sees you as an invader.

Catra: Well? Can’t you tell them to stop?

She-ra: No! I can’t tell them to stop. Clearly nothing in here is listening to me!

Long story short, She-ra collapses a tunnel on them, temporarily stopping the spiders, but also forcing them to go deeper into the ruin.

Adora: You shouldn’t be here, Catra. Those things aren’t gonna stop until they get you, and as long as I’m protecting you, they’ll see me as a threat, too.

Catra: Uh, good thing I didn’t ask you to protect me.

Adora: What? You know, why are you here, anyway? I mean, how did you even find this place?

Catra: It sent up a beam of light a mile high. It wasn’t hard.

Adora: Does…Shadow Weaver know you’re here?

Catra: I’d say Shadow Weaver’s got bigger problems right now….Why are you looking at me like that? Wait, no! I know what this is about. Ugh, I knew you’d be weird about me letting you escape. I told you, it’s not because I like you!

Adora: I mean, I didn’t- I didn’t say anything.

Catra: Anyway, what are you doing out here? Where are your new best friends? I thought you guys did everything together.

Adora: Oh, my friends? You mean the ones you kidnapped and held for ransom? The ones you let Shadow Weaver imprison and curse?

Catra: Yeah, obviously. What other friends would I be talking about?

Catra’s intentionally aggravating Adora here so that she won’t protest to their going separate ways…but unfortunately, there’s only one path.

Catra: Cool. You found the infinite darkness room. Have fun! I’m gonna find another way around. Uh…where did the door go?

Then something scans them…

And they appear to be back in the Fright Zone.

Adora: What kind of game are you playing?

Catra: Whoa, whoa! I have no idea what’s going on. There’s no way we can actually be in the Fright Zone.

Adora: So what is this, another Shadow Weaver mind trick?

Catra: I doubt it. Now let go of me!

They gradually realize this is some sort of projection of their memories.

baby catra and adora are precious

Young!Catra: Does it look broken to you?

Young!Adora: It’s not broken! You’re fine!

Young!Catra: Ah! I’m bleeding!

Young!Adora: You’re not bleeding! And why would you try to pick a fight with Octavia anyway?

Young!Catra: I didn’t do anything. All I did was exist near her. And scratch her on the eyeball. And call her a dumbface.

Young!Adora: Catra-

Young!Catra: What? She has a dumb face!

Then little Adora has the bright idea to…call Octavia a dumbface, too! So they can BOTH get on her bad side!

And they adorably run away from her!

Then their child forms suddenly change into their grown forms, and it’s awkward again.

Catra: What was that?

Adora: It must have been some kind of simulation. It’s tapping into our memories. Why, I have no idea.

Catra: Ugh, this place is so weird! How can you deal with all of this magic stuff?

Adora: I’m only dealing with it because I need to figure out how to heal Glimmer after someone got her cursed!

Catra: What do you want, an apology? You’re not getting one.

I mean, at least they’re not being actively attacked now, so they can focus on their personal issues!

Adora: Can I ask you something?

Catra: Uh, can I stop you?

Adora: Why did you help me escape after Shadow Weaver captured us?

Catra: Not this again…

Adora: It’s the one thing I can’t figure out. You didn’t have to do that. You could’ve gotten caught. Why risk it? 

Catra: Did you really think I’d just let Shadow Weaver erase your memory like that?

Adora: I don’t know. Probably.

Catra: Yeah, well, you never did have too much faith in me.

Adora: Can you blame me?

Catra: Not really.

Honestly, it probably would’ve been more painful for Catra if Adora were still present in her life, but didn’t remember all the pain she caused her.

also catra brushes her tail against adora’s hand in a little gesture of affection

and adora responds with a shoulder bump

Catra: It wasn’t all bad growing up in the Fright Zone, was it? I mean, you still have some good memories, right?

Adora: Of course I do! But it doesn’t change the fact that the Horde is evil. I had no choice. I couldn’t go back…Hey, I miss you, too.

Catra: What? I don’t miss you! Get over yourself!

Adora: Not until you admit you like me!

Catra: I don’t like you.

THESE TWO

Then they enter another memory, a fighting exercise.

Young!Catra: Ow!

Young!Adora: You okay?

Catra was evidently exaggerating her pain after Adora threw her, and of course Adora is more concerned about Catra than the fight, and Catra attacks her while she’s off her guard making sure she’s okay.

But then Lonnie attacks Catra, and while Catra beats her, it takes her focus off of Adora, allowing Adora to win.

Young!Catra: What was that? Way to gang up on me!

Young!Lonnie: You were fighting dirty. I was just leveling the field.

Young!Adora: Hey! You were awesome. Did I hurt you?

Young!Catra: No, I’m fine! You’re just lucky I let you win.

Young!Adora: Right… 

Young!Catra: I’m serious! If I came in first, people might actually expect me to start doing stuff around here. Trust me, second place suits me just fine.

Young!Adora: Yeah, okay. Come on! Let’s go cool down.

Young!Catra: In a minute. I’ll meet you there.

Whether it’s physical or emotional pain that she’s dealing with, it’s obvious that Catra’s uncomfortable being too vulnerable even with Adora. Because displays of weakness are so highly discouraged in the Horde.

But Catra entered a different room…

Unauthorized presence detected. Security protocol activated.

Catra screams, and of course Adora runs to save her.

But despite her best efforts, Catra’s still dragged away by the spider.

Catra’s not about to give up without a fight, though. If there’s one thing Catra’s good at, it’s surviving.

And she actually manages to incapacitate it!

Before Adora finishes it off with her sword.

Adora: Are you okay?

Catra: I had it.

Adora: Sure you did. We need to make sure we stay together from now on.

Catra: Will you stop telling me what to do? I’m sick of this stupid place. Let’s just get out of here.

Adora: What is your problem? I was trying to save you. 

Catra: For the last time, I don’t need you to save me! I’ve been doing just fine on my own. No thanks to you.

Adora: Catra, wait. I’m sorry for leaving. I couldn’t go back to the Fright Zone, not after I saw what the Horde was really doing. But I never wanted to leave you. You could come with me! Y-you could join the Rebellion! I know you’re not a bad person, Catra. You don’t belong with the Horde.

Maybe she doesn’t belong with the Horde, but it’s all she’s ever known, and change is scary.

Baby Catra and Adora discover the Black Garnet chamber open, and Catra’s always eager to break the rules, so they enter…

Adora: You don’t have to go in there.

And evidently spy Shadow Weaver’s real face for the first time.

Shadow Weaver: Get out! Catra, you stay. What do you think you’re doing here?

Young!Catra: We were just playing. 

Shadow Weaver: Insolent child. I’ve come to expect such disgraceful behavior from you, but I will not allow you to drag Adora down as well.

Young!Adora: Shadow Weaver, it wasn’t her fault, it was my idea too!

Shadow Weaver: You have never been anything more than a nuisance to me. I’ve kept you around this long because Adora was fond of you, but if you ever do anything to jeopardize her future, I will dispose of you myself. Do you understand?

Young!Adora: Please, stop! She didn’t mean to.

Shadow Weaver: Adora, you must do a better job of keeping her under control. Do not let something like this happen again.

Shadow Weaver evidently thought of Catra as “Adora’s pet,” and maybe that’s part of the reason she has so much trouble giving her any credit. At any rate, she seems to blame Catra for everything Adora does that she doesn’t like, even when it’s clearly not her fault (like her defection).

Catra: You always need to play the hero, don’t you?

Adora: I was only trying to protect you.

Catra: You never protected me! Not in any way that would put you on Shadow Weaver’s bad side. Admit it: You love being her favorite.

Adora: That’s not true!

Adora was constantly trying to “save” Catra, but never at a significant cost. Her heart was in the right place, but when she ignores Catra’s own contributions and competence (like the spider from before), it just comes off as condescending.

Then they start switching between their child and grown forms, which continues until the end of the scene.

Catra: Oh yeah? When you left, who do you think took the fall for you? Who was protecting me then?

Adora: You don’t have to let Shadow Weaver treat you like that anymore. You can leave! Just like I did.

Catra: Oh, because I need to follow you everywhere you go?

Adora: I didn’t mean it that way.

Catra: I don’t want to leave. What don’t you understand about that? I’m not afraid of Shadow Weaver anymore, and I’m a better force captain than you would’ve ever been!

Adora: You always said you didn’t care about things like that.

Catra: Well I was lying, obviously!

Adora: Catra, just wait-

Catra: Why do you think I gave the sword back to you in the Fright Zone? I didn’t want you to come back, Adora!

Shadow Weaver was constantly treating Catra as inferior to Adora, and as they grew older and were constantly pitted against each other, Catra gradually began to see her as competition. She cares about rank and such because she has to, because it’s crucial for surviving in the Horde. When Adora defected, it just became easier to villainize her – ironically, for “playing the hero.” Adora does genuinely care about justice, but she was blind to a lot of the abuses within the Horde (because she’d never experienced them personally), so Catra’s left feeling like her decision to leave was rather arbitrary.

So then Catra runs off…right when the spiders catch up to Adora, and she fails to transform before they knock the sword from her hand.

Catra: Let me out of here!

And then she stumbles upon one last memory…

Young!Adora: Catra, it’s okay! It’s just me. It doesn’t matter what they do to us, y’know? You look out for me, and I look out for you. Nothing really bad can happen as long as we have each other.

Catra (both): You promise? 

Young!Adora: I promise.

The sad thing is, she was clearly alluding to this conversation in episode 2, but Adora failed to acknowledge it, and this combined with the fact that Catra’s experiencing this memory alone here must make Catra feel like Adora’s forgotten this memory that’s obviously important to her (whether that’s actually the case or not).

And for once, Catra comes to Adora’s rescue, fighting off all the spiders!

Catra: Hey, Adora.

Adora: Catra, help me, please.

But Catra isn’t doing all this out of the goodness of her heart, as evidenced by her greeting, which she only started using after she came to view Adora as an enemy.

Catra: This thing wouldn’t work for me if I tried, would it? It only works for you. Then again, you’re special. That’s what Shadow Weaver always said.

Adora: Catra, what are you doing?

Catra: Ah, you know, it all makes sense now. You’ve always been the one holding me back. You wanted me to think I needed you, you wanted me to feel weak. Every hero needs a sidekick, right?

There’s clearly a lot of projection going on, but it’s rather understandable. Shadow Weaver and Adora were the only people who showed Catra any sort of love and care, so when Adora left, she eventually concluded that she was like Shadow Weaver, just manipulating her for her own benefit. She missed Adora because she loved her, and she felt weak because Shadow Weaver was incapable of admitting that she could do anything right, but it’s easier for her to blame Adora than to question the structures she now fights to uphold.

Catra: The sad thing is, I’ve spent all this time hoping you’d come back to the Horde, when really, you leaving was the best thing that ever happened to me. I am so much stronger than anyone ever thought. I wonder what I could’ve been if I’d gotten rid of you sooner.

Adora: I’m sorry! I never meant to make you feel like you were second-best. Please don’t do this.

Catra: Bye Adora! I really am going to miss you. 

They spent the whole episode talking, but never really communicating. Adora spent the whole time failing to acknowledge Catra’s trauma (although, to be fair, Catra struggles to admit to herself that she’s hurting), while Catra was just determined to pretend that her life is better now that Adora’s not in it.

Then Light Hope finally shows up!

Light Hope: Adora, you must let go.

So Adora lets go of the ledge she’s been clinging to and falls into the darkness.

But there’s still a minute or two left, spent mainly with these two, who have been bonding while Catra was away.

Entrapta: An intact data crystal? I’ve never seen one so perfectly preserved. This could be a game-changer. Who knows what secrets it could contain!

Scorpia: Ah, man! I knew Catra could do it! It’s like I was telling you, she is the best friend ever!

Catra: Just keep it down. I’m going to bed.

Catra only accepted these two into her inner circle because they were useful, and she’s been so hurt by Adora’s “friendship” that she’s practically sworn the whole thing off. I’d say she needs a hug, but unfortunately, she won’t accept the hugs that Scorpia offers.

Until next time…