What? Did you really think this was about you?

This is the only finale (or episode, really) where they attempt to focus exclusively on a battle, and it’s painfully obvious why. While it’s not badly written (this is a Stevenson episode, after all), action in general is not one of the animation’s strengths, and the attempt at witty action scene banter is a little pathetic (except occasionally with Catradora).

So anyway, the Whispering Woods is freezing over, leaving Bright Moon vulnerable to attack.

Entrapta: By making the Black Garnet more powerful, we’ve sapped power from the other princesses’ runestones, upsetting the balance and making the weather go screwy. It’s all in my notes, if you’d like to-

Catra: Whoa whoa whoa! What was that you just said about making the other princesses less powerful?

Entrapta: Well, the other elemental princesses, that is. You don’t have to worry about me and Scorpia. I don’t have a runestone, and Scorpia doesn’t appear to have any connection to the Black Garnet anymore, if she ever did.

Catra deduces that the easiest way to make the Black Garnet permanently overpowered is to destroy another runestone, so she immediately moves to take advantage of the situation and attack Bright Moon.

I just wanted a chance to show this mural in the war room…

Angella: We must protect Bright Moon at all costs. If the Moonstone is destroyed, there will be nothing left to stop the darkness.

Bow: Someone must have seen the distress beacon by now. Why hasn’t anyone come?

Adora: The Alliance is broken, and other princesses have their own kingdoms to protect. No one’s coming, Bow.

No one except for these two, as usual.

Netossa: You still don’t know what we do, do you?

Bow: Ah, no.

Netossa: Seriously? It’s in the name! Net-tossa? Nets! I toss nets, okay?

Spinnerella: Yes, darling, you have beautiful nets.

Glimmer: At least you have powers, which is more than I’ve got. But it doesn’t matter! I don’t need magic to fight.

Angella: Glimmer, not only are you without your powers, but you’re still glitching. It’s too dangerous.

And for once Adora agrees with the Queen…but only because she’s determined that She-ra should fight the Horde all by herself.

Bow: Adora, not even She-ra can take out an army of Horde soldiers all on her own!

Adora: Then what good is she?

Yeah, she’s starting to get a bit of a martyr complex…

Glimmer: Adora, are you okay?

Adora: Catra will be leading the Horde when they attack. I have to face her. I can’t let her hurt anyone else.

Glimmer: What happened to you in that First Ones temple?

Adora: I saw Catra in there. I thought I could get through to her, but all I did was push her farther to the side of evil. Light Hope said that I’d endanger my friends by coming back, and she was right. Everything that’s happening now is my fault.

I mean, Catra was going to attack Bright Moon regardless of whether or not She-ra was there to defend it, so…

Then Glimmer takes them all to her private armory to gear up, but of course Angella noticed her hoarding weapons, and follows them there.

Glimmer: I’m sorry Mom. I can’t just stand by while my friends and my home are in danger. I have to do this.

Angella: I know. […] I’ve been trying all these years to mold you into someone more like me. But you’re too stubborn, and hot-headed, and brave, like your father. This was your father’s staff. I think it’s time you had it.

Because Glimmer needs SOME sort of weapon, even if she doesn’t have magic.

So Angella goes to protect the Moonstone while everyone else engages the Horde.

The armor is admittedly pretty cool, though (even if some of it doesn’t turn out to be very effective…). Unsurprisingly, Glimmer is a bit of a brawler, as she’s used to being able to get up close and personal before teleporting out, and the staff is useful for that sort of tactic, too, especially when Swift Wind can still fly them up close.

Then Catra distracts her (and disarms her!) with a tank.

Catra: Hey Adora.

She-ra: Catra. Surprised to see me?

Catra: Not really. I figured it wouldn’t be that easy to get rid of you. You know, I’m actually glad you did make it out of there alive. Because now, I can take you out myself.

Yeah, this leads me to ask how CATRA was able to get out of the Crystal Castle by herself. There’s no explanation, she just did because the plot demanded it.

And then the first round of reinforcements come around in the form of the Spinessa ship, mainly to get Glimmer out of a tight spot.

She-ra: Give it up, Catra. There’s no way you win this.

Catra: I’ve already made it a lot farther than anyone thought I would. You, on the other hand, you’re not looking so good.

Catra just scratched her across her back, which is a major flaw in the armor design (because it’s clearly just cloth back there), even if armor is generally designed to protect the front. But of course she gets her back by smashing her back into the wall.

She-ra: This isn’t over!

Catra: Of course it’s not over! It won’t be over until Bright Moon is destroyed, and the Rebellion falls. It won’t be over until darkness covers Etheria forever. And it won’t be over until I see the looks on your friends’ faces when they find out that you’ve failed. That you were too weak to save them.

She-ra: Enough! You’ve lost, Catra.

Catra: You sure about that?

And then we zoom out to see that the Horde has pretty much overrun Bright Moon, and they’re firing on the Moonstone now.

Catra: What? Did you really think this was about you? That runestone is your last defense, isn’t it?

Because of course, Catra knows very well by now that she’s the best way to distract She-ra’s attention from a battle. And since Catra’s far from the best fighter in the Horde, focusing on She-ra is a fairly effective use of her time.

The one fun thing about this episode is seeing pretty much everyone in action, including Angella, who isn’t normally in the thick of things, mainly because Glimmer has been largely sidelined.

And since She-ra lost her sword, a squad of Horde soldiers manage to pin her (in her already-exhausted state) using electric whips. And then the Queen takes a blast, and the Moonstone is completely defenseless.

Catra: Now it’s over.

But Spinessa and Bow manage to push them all back enough to regroup with She-ra (and give her sword back to her).

Bow: Come on, don’t give up yet. Please. We can still fix this, right? Please tell me we can fix this.

She-ra: I- I’m sorry.

Bow: It’s okay.

But then new reinforcements arrive in the form of Mermista (with Sea Hawk) and Perfuma. And this development of the princesses working together makes She-ra start to glow and clearly reinvigorates her.

Then Frosta turns up just in the nick of time, seemingly completing the set of elemental princesses, and unlocking She-ra’s super-mode (complete with healing wave!).

So Glimmer’s back to normal (it’s unclear if that’s just because She-ra fixed the Moonstone, depowered the Black Garnet, or what), and she immediately teleports to join the other princesses.

She-ra: The princesses are united. This is how it’s supposed to be!

As boring a battle as this was, I’ve gotta admit, the rainbow wave is pretty iconic.

So the princesses turn the tide, and She-ra proceeds to mop up the remaining Horde forces.

And of course it all ends with a group hug…at least for them.

Catra and her associates aren’t exactly expecting a warm welcome from Hordak.

Hordak: Force Captain. It seems your experiment has failed.

Entrapta: On the contrary! The experiment was a huge success. I know more about First Ones tech than ever. This is just the beginning.

Catra: I got us closer to conquering Bright Moon than anyone ever has. Not to mention, the Whispering Woods is still in ruins. Etheria is ours for the taking.

Hordak: Very well, Force Captain Catra. You will have other chances to prove your worth to me, as my second in command.

Because, of course, now that Shadow Weaver’s been officially stripped of her power, Catra’s the natural choice to replace her.

I feel like this was a decent first season, even if it’s not as good as the first season of Steven Universe. On Netflix, you just have to convince people to let the next episode play, and this season at least got me invested in some of the characters.

Until next time…