You have incredible power! And I’m the one who will mold that power.

We delve into Shadow Weaver’s past, and particularly her relationship to power…just as all her power is seemingly stripped away.

We open with a flashback to her days as Light Spinner, teaching in Mystacor for the Sorcerer’s Guild…where she interacts with a young Micah, Glimmer’s father and Castaspella’s brother.

Micah: I’m bored! I’ve been doing light illusions since before I can even remember. Teach me something real! I want to levitate, and travel through mirrors, and shapeshift! You know, the cool stuff.

Light Spinner: The Guild forbids third years from learning such things. You know that, Micah.

Micah: The Guild of Sorcerers prides itself on being out of touch geezers! We wouldn’t want anyone to learn actual magic, or anything fun!

Light Spinner: That’s a poor likeness of Master Norwyn.

Micah: Then teach me shapeshifting!

Light Spinner: Patience, Micah. You must start at the beginning.

The scene is framed as if Shadow Weaver’s pondering her past life, with not much else to pass the time in her cell.

Meanwhile, Catra seems to have interrupted Hordak before he’s quite put himself together (literally?), like interrupting Darth Vader when he doesn’t have his mask on. As such, he’s very irritable.

Hordak: Why is Shadow Weaver still in the Fright Zone?

Catra: She is…she’s my prisoner.

Hordak: A dangerous one. I want her banished to Beast Island at once.

Catra: What? Lord Hordak, Shadow Weaver is still useful to us, if we can get her to talk. She knows more about Etheria than anyone else.

Hordak: And also about the Fright Zone. Have you considered the consequences if that information were to fall into the wrong hands?

Catra: That won’t happen. Without the Black Garnet, she’s completely powerless. I can handle her.

On the one hand, Adora’s already defected…but on the other, Shadow Weaver was presumably deep in his councils at some point, and even if he never trusted her with all his plans, she’d certainly have a lot more intel.

And then it turns out that Entrapta was in the lab the whole time, which understandably surprises Catra.

Entrapta: I’ve been integrating the First Ones tech we got from the Northern Reach into Hordak’s preexisting portal mainframe, but it maybe slightly completely overloaded the Fright Zone energy grid. So we’re gonna have to redesign that.

Hordak: What Entrapta is doing does not concern you, Force Captain.

Entrapta: Oh! Were you two having a meeting? Sorry, again. I guess I should be going.

Hordak: No. You stay. You have two days to extract whatever information you can from your prisoner. Then you will banish her to Beast Island.

Catra: But-

Hordak: Do you understand? Or do I have to make myself understood?

Catra: No, Lord Hordak. I understand.

Hordak: Good. Dismissed.

Back in the past, Light Spinner took on Micah as a student.

Light Spinner: There’s magic everywhere. The princesses channel powerful elemental magic through their runestones, but sorcerers can learn to channel lesser power through spells and incantation, after many years of serious study and discipline. The Guild brings those who have a talent for magic to study here in Mystacor, but I only train the truly gifted. You’re one of the most talented students I’ve ever seen, Micah. But you lack dedication.

Micah: I’ll prove to you that I’m worthy! Here, I’ll show you!

Light Spinner: Not yet. First, you must promise to do exactly as I say.

Then she proceeded to teach him in secret, for an ill-defined purpose, because she just can’t turn down a chance to foster such talent…

Light Spinner: Impossible! Who else has been teaching you?

Micah: No one! I just did what you taught me. Did I do something wrong?

Light Spinner: No. I knew you were gifted, I just didn’t realize how gifted. You have incredible power! And I’m the one who will mold that power. 

Micah: So…you’ll keep teaching me?

Light Spinner: Of course. We’re going to do great things together.

These “secret lessons”, whatever Light Spinner’s intentions originally were, have effectively made Micah trust her above anyone else in Mystacor.

Light Spinner: The Guild needs talents like ours more than ever before. Perhaps…no. You’re not ready.

Micah: I-I know I have a lot to learn, but I’m ready for anything! What is it?

Then she shows him scenes of the Horde’s initial invasion.

Micah: It’s awful! Why would you conjure this?

Light Spinner: It’s no illusion. This is really happening. An army has invaded our lands. They call themselves the Horde. The princesses have proved ineffective against their strength. They’ve accomplished much in a short time, more than our so-called leaders have.

Micah: We have to do something!

Light Spinner: Easy, Micah. The Sorcerer’s Guild meets tomorrow to decide a course of action. I have a plan to give us the power needed to stop the Horde. I only hope that Norwyn and his followers can see the threat as clearly as you do.

Clearly, this display of Micah’s talent convinced Light Spinner that she could use trust him with a much more important project…

And Catra’s so upset about Hordak’s decree, she actually stoops to talking about it with her not-bestie.

Catra: I’m not your bestie. And I’m fine.

Scorpia: Oh, I don’t accept any of that.

Catra: Yeah, well get used to not getting what you want in life! Hordak is making me send Shadow Weaver to Beast Island.

Scorpia: Wait, Beast Island is real? […] I thought Beast Island was just a story they told to keep us in line. Being sent there is supposed to be a fate worst than death!…I bet there’s some really nice stuff, too. Maybe Shadow Weaver will write and tell us about it.

Catra: What is wrong with you? People don’t send letters from Beast Island, they go and they never come back! It doesn’t matter how hard I work, or what I do for the Horde. Hordak doesn’t trust me. He never listens to me. Shadow Weaver is useful, and she can help us!

Scorpia: Seriously? Cause she hasn’t exactly given us any information. Why do you really want to keep her around? She’s never been very nice to you. I kinda thought you hated her.

Catra: Y-…you wouldn’t understand.

It’s seems like Adora would understand something of what she’s feeling, because it’s the feeling a child has for an abusive parent – she’s never been GOOD to Catra, but she’s still the closest thing she has to family.

In the flashback, Light Spinner shows that the Horde captured the Black Garnet, which seemed to involve a bit more conflict than Scorpia implied, but it makes sense that the story might have changed over the years, especially among the descendants who stayed.

Light Spinner: We may not have runestones, but there is a way we can make ourselves strong enough to stand against the Horde: Cast the Spell of Obtainment, and take power for ourselves!

Norwyn: What you propose is forbidden, Light Spinner. The Spell of Obtainment leaches power, turning the caster into a magical parasite, if it does not kill the caster outright.

Light Spinner: But I’ve modified the spell. Tonight, the three Moons of Enchantment come into alignment. This will make all the magic of Etheria stronger. Think of the good we’ll do!

Norwyn: There can be no good from this.

Light Spinner: So we do nothing?

Norwyn: The princesses will settle the problem. Etheria will take care of itself, as it has always done, without resorting to twisted spells.

Light Spinner: You know I’m right! If we don’t fight, if we don’t become stronger, we won’t have a planet to protect!

Norwyn: Be satisfied with what you have, Light Spinner. Some power is not meant for you.

If Light Spinner weren’t so set on performing this spell (setting aside for the moment WHY it’s supposed to be so bad, which is never adequately explained), if she were truly concerned about Etheria as whole, she might see that her greatest talent is teaching, and maybe Micah could be more powerful than she ever could be…but of course that’s not where she goes.

Light Spinner: They refused to lend me their strength, to do what must be done. They never listen to me! After everything I’ve done, I still haven’t earned their trust! Norwyn and those fools don’t care about magic – they just want to hold the rest of us back!

Micah: Then go back and make them understand! The Horde will destroy Etheria if we don’t stop them.

Light Spinner: If you want to help Etheria, there is another way.

Catra: Pack your bags! You’re going to Beast Island. Oh, that’s right. You don’t have anything.

Shadow Weaver: When?

Catra: Don’t you care? It’s a death sentence! What don’t you get about that? You’re a goner unless you can give me a reason good enough to convince Hordak that you’re worth keeping around. Don’t you have anything to say? Just give me something!

Shadow Weaver: I’ve given everything I have to the Horde.

Catra: You really are useless! You are getting what you deserve.

Shadow Weaver: Wait. Take pity on an old, powerless woman. I know my days here are numbered. I want to see my old Sorcerer’s Guild badge, one last time. It must be among my things. Bring it to me? It’s the last thing I will ever ask of you.

Catra: You don’t get to ask things of me anymore.

It’s pretty obvious from what we’ve seen that Shadow Weaver never had many fond memories of the Sorcerer’s Guild, let alone a sentimental attachment…

Light Spinner: The Spell of Obtainment is difficult. You must stay focused. Once we begin casting, we cannot stop.

Micah: Are you sure about this?

Light Spinner: We need this power. It’s the only way to protect our people.

Then we indulge in a little Fullmetal Alchemist imagery (minus the blood and loss of limb)!

Micah (understandably) freaks out and bails when ARMS START GRABBING HIM, and the other sorcerers hear the commotion after Light Spinner is consumed by the darkness, resulting in the form we know as Shadow Weaver.

Micah: Light Spinner?

Shadow Weaver: Micah…how could you? After everything I taught you? The spell was working.

Micah: The spell was evil! You saw what it was doing to the room…to us.

Norwyn: You’ve always hungered after power. Bringing you into our ranks was a grave mistake!

Shadow Weaver: The only mistake was seeking the approval of a fool like you. You’re all weak! None of you deserve my help!

Then she proceeds to brutally (if bloodlessly) MURDER Norwyn and his crew, leaving Micah to face her alone.

Micah: Light Spinner! Please, don’t.

With this touch, she seemingly bids him farewell, and proceeds to teleport into the Fright Zone…

Shadow Weaver: Tell Hordak there is someone here who can help take him to victory.

And in the present, the moons just so happen to be in alignment, too…

Catra: So, have you come up with anything to save your skin?

Shadow Weaver: You know I haven’t. Why do you insist on delivering my meals yourself? Surely you have more important things to do.

Catra: I guess I just like seeing you in shackles.

Shadow Weaver: We both know that’s not the only reason. What do you want from me, Catra?

Catra: Why- why did you treat me the way you did? Why was I never good enough for you? Really, I wanna know.

Shadow Weaver: Because you remind me of myself. You always have. Nothing was ever easy for me, either. I wasn’t born to power like Adora and…others. I had to earn my power, fight for it. Why should it be any different for you?

Catra: I was a child when you took me in! What could I have possibly done to deserve the way you treated me? I am nothing like you! You are old, and bitter, and weak!

Shadow Weaver: Ah, but you are like me. And just like me, you’re losing your position with Hordak, I can see that even from my cell.

Catra: You don’t know what you’re talking about.

Shadow Weaver: You’re being pushed out.

Catra: I am not! It’s just Entrapta understands all that tech stuff-

Shadow Weaver: Come here. She’s earned his trust. How did you let this happen? Don’t you see? I want you to go further than I did, but you need to be smarter than me, stronger than me.

Catra: Then help me! Come up with something so you can stay!

this is the first time she’s offered any kind of physical affection to catra and the music and WHYYYY

Shadow Weaver: I will try. But I’m tired now. Come back later. 

I feel like Shadow Weaver really was being sincere in this conversation, because she knew that it might very well be her last chance to leave a mark on the world…but then she notices that Catra snuck in her Guild badge on her tray of food.

And she remembers when she first met Adora.

Hordak: I found something, but it’s useless. Put it with the other orphans in the infirmary.

Shadow Weaver: This one is different. Can’t you feel it? She has power. 

Hordak: Fine, take it! Just get it out of here.

Shadow Weaver: Don’t worry, little one. We’re going to do great things together.

Because obviously Shadow Weaver made an escape plan for this precise situation! She knew Hordak and her wouldn’t see eye to eye on everything, and hence she’d be out of a job, and Hordak wouldn’t want to let her go. So she packed enough of this enchanted dust into her badge that she’d be able to make a spell circle and escape, not sparing a second thought for Catra, because she has no power.

Shadow Weaver had no power of her own, so she chose to teach those students who could get her more power (and disregard the rest). After all, Adora still remembers her, even if she doesn’t remember her fondly.

Catra: You were just using me all along.

If Catra didn’t have abandonment issues before, she sure does now!

and she breaks down and i can’t. plz help my kitty

But apparently, we can’t just spend the whole episode with the villains, so something something the moons are aligned, and that means Bow can get the full message?

Adora: Just tell me you got the message.

Bow: Some of it’s degraded…can you read the rest?

Adora: “Serinia, Portal, Mara.” What’s a Serinia?

Glimmer: I don’t know, but if it has to do with Mara, it can’t be good.

Until next time…