I’m not in your head. You’re just very bad at hiding your emotions.

To begin with, Light Hope is determined to strengthen Adora’s connection with Swift Wind.

Light Hope: As She-ra, your sacred connection with your steed is as important as any of your physical abilities. He is a part of you. Your destinies are intertwined.

But the official training is put on hold due to a system overload.

Adora: Is there anything I can do to help?

Light Hope: Perhaps. This is the Watchtower. Once it allowed me to access my planetary mainframe, but it was destroyed by Mara when she lost control and attacked Etheria. I have been functioning at only a fraction of my power ever since. If you can repair the Watchtower, my capabilities will improve, and training can commence.

So Adora and Swift Wind head out to fix the Watchtower, when Light Hope promptly freezes up again.

But for once, Bow and Glimmer have the more interesting plotline, as they investigate the newly-captured Dryl in search of Entrapta…and mistake the sound of an experiment in progress for her being tortured, naturally. So they get in a scrap with Catra and Scorpia, but Bow manages to pin Scorpia with one of his arrows, so Catra pursues them alone.

And Glimmer accidentally teleports Catra along with them, leaving them with a fairly valuable captive on their hands.

Meanwhile, Adora’s more annoyed by Swift Wind’s presence than anything. Mostly because he’s trying to get her to talk about her feelings.

Swift Wind: I could be wrong, but I’m sensing something’s bothering you.

Adora: I’m just really focused on fixing Light Hope! Like you should be.

Swift Wind: No, you’re troubled about something else. As your magnificent steed, I am attuned to your emotions.

Adora: Okay, can you stay out of my head, please?

Swift Wind: I’m not in your head. You’re just very bad at hiding your emotions. Is it about me?

Adora: I’m fine! And no, it’s not about you.

Swift Wind: Is it Bow? Glimmer? Catra? The Horde? The crushing weight of your new responsibilities as a savior of Etheria?

Adora: Stop! I’m fine, I promise! Just…let me think.

Swift Wind: Okay. Well, I’m gonna do a few loop-de-loops.

And then they discover that the Watchtower is floating in pieces above the field they’re in!

Bow: We took a hostage! We’re supposed to be the good guys! Maybe we should just let her go, and-

Glimmer: Let her go? Did she let us go? No! She let the Horde torture us!

Bow: Uh, yeah, because she’s a bad guy!

Glimmer: Listen, we didn’t mean for this to happen, but it did! And now we should use it to our advantage. 

This is where Glimmer’s pragmatism (and morally grey nature) really starts to come out, in what is essentially a repeat of their situation with Adora at the beginning of the series.

Glimmer: We’re taking you to Bright Moon. If your people want you back, they’ll have to give us Entrapta.

Catra: Entrapta? Who’s that?

Glimmer: We know you have her! Where is she? What are you doing to her? […]

Catra: Oh, Entrapta! You mean the princess you left behind to die! Don’t worry. We’re taking good care of her.

Glimmer: On your feet, Horde scum!

It doesn’t help that Glimmer actually feels super guilty about getting Entrapta into this mess, hence why she refused to get any of the other princesses involved with their rescue scheme.

But Catra is naturally being as uncooperative as possible, leading to a whispered conversation between Bow and Glimmer about her inability to teleport them all the way to Bright Moon, which Catra overhears.

Bow: Hey! Are you okay?

Catra: Like you care.

Bow: We do, actually. The Rebellion treats its prisoners with compassion.

Catra: You princess types always have to be the bleeding hearts, don’t you? Everything is about the power of friendship. How’s that working out for you?

Bow: Come on! I bet even the Horde has friends. What about Adora? You two grew up together, right? What was she like as a kid?

This is the closest Catra gets to softening up, but of course it’s not nearly as easy to get her to open up as Adora.

Bow: Glimmer and I have known each other forever, too. She’d teleport to the roof to get my lost arrows when I was just learning to shoot.

Catra: Wow, you two must be really close. Sounds like Glimmer would do anything for you.

Bow: Absolutely! She’s my best friend.

Catra: Good to know.

And then she tackles Bow and takes him over the cliff!

Glimmer: How are you such a nightmare?

Catra: Ah, years of practice.

Bow: Can you please discuss this when we’re not hurtling toward our deaths?

Glimmer: You know what, I’m ready to see if cats really do land on their feet.

Bow: Please don’t do that. She is attached to me! 

She holds out for a moment or two longer, but of course she’s not about to put Bow in mortal peril just because she hates Catra. But she only changes their trajectory so that they land in a river instead of on rocks, just to make Catra as uncomfortable as possible. But that backfires, as they run into a waterfall a bit sooner than Glimmer’s prepared to teleport again.

Catra: At least we’re all in one piece. Can’t say the same for Entrapta.

Bow: Glimmer! Are you okay?

Catra: Aw, what’s wrong? Sleepy after all that magic?

Then, with Glimmer exhausted and Bow very worried about Glimmer, Catra manages to activate a tracking device to alert the nearby Horde soldiers to her location, even if Scorpia’s the only one who really cares that she’s missing.

Catra: I don’t know about you guys, but I am beat. Getting held hostage is so much work. Almost as exhausting as torturing Entrapta every day. […] You’re looking pretty tired, too, princess. Running out of glitter?

Glimmer: Bow, can’t you keep her mouth shut?

Bow: I tried, but she bites!

Glimmer: How did Adora take years of this? She didn’t run away from the Horde, she ran away from you!

Catra: And where is she now, huh? Off being She-ra? Get used to it. You think she’s not gonna leave you behind, too, Sparkles?

But that conversation is interrupted by the arrival of Scorpia & co.

And She-ra’s struggling to rebuild the Watchtower without Swifty’s assistance.

Swift Wind: You seem stressed. Why don’t we list all our favorite things until we feel better? I’ll go first! Apples, hay, toppling unjust hierarchies, apples…wait, I said that already.

She-ra: What are you doing?

Swift Wind: I’m helping! I’m She-ra’s steed and that’s what I do!

She-ra: This isn’t helping!

Because this mission is about them learning to work together, and that can only start with a little communication.

But of course, Glimmer is more than happy to get Catra off her hands as soon as she can by now.

Glimmer: We want to make a trade. We’ll release Catra, if you’ll release Entrapta.

Catra: I have a better trade. You release me right now, or we finish Entrapta off, once and for all.

[…]

Glimmer: She’s bluffing.

Catra: Scorpia, get Kyle on the comm.

Of course Entrapta’s screaming again (for the same reason as before), which only makes the situation seem more urgent.

Catra: If you don’t hear from us in thirty seconds, take Entrapta out.

Glimmer: Two can play at that game!

Scorpia: Catra! If you touch her again-

Catra: Easy there, big gal. She’s not gonna try anything. They’re noble rebels, after all. They play by the rules.

Bow: Glimmer, stop!

Glimmer: This isn’t fair! After everything she’s done, after what she did to us, we’re supposed to just let her go? How do we know they’d really get rid of Entrapta, Bow? They need her!

Bow: We can’t take that chance. We’re not them!

So Glimmer reluctantly hands her over.

Glimmer: We held up our end of the bargain. Now show us that Entrapta’s alive.

Catra: You and Adora are perfect for each other, I’ll give you that! Earnest, naive, ridiculously easy to manipulate…it’s adorable! And it’s why you’re never going to win. Kyle, if you actually took me seriously just then, call it off.

Entrapta: Kyle isn’t available at the moment, but I’ve got it under control. Don’t worry, this was just the prototype. The next model will be much, much bigger.

Bow: Entrapta? What’s going on?

Catra: Oh, hey, you wanna talk to her?

Entrapta: Hi Bow! What are you doing there?

Glimmer: Just hang on, Entrapta! We’re going to rescue you.

Entrapta: Oh, good! Rescue me from what?

Glimmer: From the Horde!

Entrapta: Oh, well that’s nice of you. But, all of my stuff is here now, so probably I’ll just stay. Thanks anyway, though.

Bow: Entrapta, are you on the Horde’s side now?

Entrapta: I’m on the side of science! But I am living at the Fright Zone now, and the Horde is supplying me with tools and materials for my work, so…yes, I guess?

Catra: Did I forget to mention that? Oops!

Entrapta: But don’t worry about me. I love it here. I’ve made unbelievable progress with my research, and the Horde has been so supportive! I’m getting closer every day to unraveling the mysteries of Etheria. Hacking the Black Garnet was just the first step.

Bow: That was you?

And of course Catra shuts off the comm after that, because there’s no need for Entrapta to know about the damage her work is doing to the Rebellion. Not that she was ever all that close to the rebels, but she never wanted to hurt anyone. She just wants to do her research, and with no one telling her to stop (like with the disk experiment in her first episode), she’s happy to carry on, because she doesn’t see the consequences.

Adora: I don’t know what I’m doing. I don’t even know what this Watchtower is supposed to do, or how it’s supposed to help.

Swift Wind: If that’s the case, then why are you doing all this anyway?

Adora: I need to be a better She-ra than Mara. I need to know how to control my power so that I don’t hurt people like she did. Light Hope is the only one who can teach me, and she’s broken!

Swift Wind: You’re really freaking out about this Mara thing, aren’t you?

Adora: How could I not? She ruined everything! And I don’t know how to fix it.

Swift Wind: I’m sorry I didn’t take this mission more seriously. The truth is, I’m just so excited to be your steed! I guess I just got carried away.

Adora: And I’m sorry I dragged you into this with me. You were just a horse before I accidentally zapped you with my sword. If it weren’t for me, you would’ve been able to live out the rest of your days carefree, in a nice pasture in Thaymor.

Swift Wind: Adora, I wouldn’t trade my voice and my wings for anything. I’ve got the chance to change the world now, to make it better than when I found it! I can’t imagine ever going back. Can you?

Adora: No. I don’t think I can.

Because he’s discovered a new favorite thing since becoming her steed: Toppling unjust hierarchies!

Meanwhile, Glimmer has been itching for a fight all day, and even if it won’t do Entrapta any good, she’s happy to finally punch Catra. Because it was never really about Entrapta in the first place, just about Glimmer’s guilt (and also about taking back an excellent engineer).

Catra: Forget the princess! She’s got no power. Get him!

Glimmer: I’m not as naive as you think. Turns out, I saved a little magic, just for you!

So she teleports away with Bow, leaving Catra to take a sting from Scorpia.

This episode lays out pretty clearly that Glimmer isn’t nearly as trusting as Bow, or even Adora. She also holds onto resentment quite a bit, as Bow still showed empathy for Catra, disregarding the way she hurt him (although, admittedly, Glimmer was hurt far more by her actions). But the thing that makes Glimmer really dangerous is her conviction: She continually insists that they’re the “good guys”, even when she’s not backing that up with her actions.

If there’s one thing that Catra lacks, it’s conviction. She never believed in the Horde’s cause. She just wants to make life easier for herself, and (occasionally) to get back at Adora. Glimmer, on the other hand, firmly believes that the Rebellion’s cause is just, but sometimes her impulses aren’t so righteous, which potentially makes her vulnerable to an ends-justify-the-means mentality. Taking a hostage when the opportunity presents itself (and starting a fight for no reason) may not be inherently evil, but it represents a tendency to push the boundaries of what’s right, and that often turns out worse the more conviction you have.

And finally, now that Adora and Swift Wind are on the same page, they manage to fix the Watchtower.

Swift Wind: Don’t worry, I got this. Loop-de-loop! […] Not a bad team. Looks like we’re getting the hang of this.

And then they all regroup in Glimmer’s room, as usual.

Bow: At least we know for sure that Entrapta’s alive. And working for the Horde. Making weapons. To wipe us out.

Until next time…