You made me this way, and you get to be the good guy?

This episode is full of surprising character interactions, leading up to the activation of the portal.

We begin when Glimmer, Bow, and Huntara teleport into the council chamber, and everyone there is very confused.

Glimmer: We don’t have time to get into it! We need to get to the Fright Zone.

Angella: The world doesn’t stop just because you aren’t here. We have been planning our attack on the Horde.

Bow: Oh, that’s a relief. Because Catra kidnapped Adora.

Angella: The Horde has Adora?

Glimmer: Which also means they can open a portal anytime they want, because they have her sword!

Angella: What? I don’t understand.

Glimmer: So there’s no time to waste.

Angella: Glimmer! Slow down.

Glimmer: We need to go to the Fright Zone now!

Angella: We? You are not going anywhere until you explain. Glimmer, outside, now!

Meanwhile, Hordak and Entrapta are having fun just tinkering with the portal machine (and testing out his new suit). Then the arm gets some sort of feedback.

Entrapta: No reason to get in a tizzy.

Hordak: I have never been in a “tizzy”.

Entrapta: You can’t expect everything to work perfectly overnight. Like our machine. We still haven’t figured out the missing piece that’ll let us cut through the planetary interference. If we try now, the portal might not be stable long enough to get anyone through.

Hordak: We…only need to open a portal for a short time. Long enough to send a signal through to Horde Prime. Once he receives it, he should have no trouble opening a portal from his side.

Entrapta: And then you’ll have to go with him. But there’s still so much data we could collect! What’s the rush? We’ll just keep working on it, until it’s perfect.

But then the plot walks in (aka Catra) to interrupt this beautiful friendship. And as soon as she brings the sword in, it starts to react with the machine…

Catra: What? Didn’t expect to see me again?

Entrapta: Oh, you have a whip now?

Catra: Focus! I got what you needed. This sword is the key to the whole planet.

Entrapta: I suppose it makes sense. She-ra’s sword is First Ones tech, maybe the most powerful I’ve ever seen. All this time, this was the key that we needed. I guess I should figure out how it works…

Catra: I brought you everything you need to open a portal, and finish the princesses off for good. What are we waiting for?

Meanwhile, Angella quite understandably wants Glimmer to stop and think before she just runs off to rescue Adora (and also to explain what all is happening).

Angella: How are you going to get in? You have no plan. We are not rushing in. I won’t lose anyone else!

Glimmer: Before I started “rushing in”, the Rebellion hadn’t made a move in years! You need me!

Angella: I need you to be a leader, and that means not running off whenever you feel like it!

Glimmer: What’s the point? You’ll always be around, telling me what I can’t do.

Angella: You never listen! I try and try to reach you, to trust you.

Glimmer: You wanna talk about trust? How come you never told me that Shadow Weaver was Dad’s old teacher?

Angella: I…it was a long time ago.

Glimmer: You know what? We should be talking to her! She knows the Horde.

Angella: She can’t be trusted!

Glimmer: We have to do something! You would see that if you weren’t totally paralyzed by fear!

Angella: I am your queen. And I say we cannot afford to lose anyone else. Either come up with a reasonable plan, Commander Glimmer, or stay out of the way.

Angella is clearly thinking a lot about Micah (as illustrated by the setting of this argument). She IS afraid, afraid of losing her only remaining family. But of course, Glimmer’s also right, and she knows it, which pretty much guarantees that she’ll just run off without consulting her mother AGAIN.

Entrapta: With the sword connected to the portal machine, we should finally be able to bypass the planetary interference. I just have no idea how it works!

Hordak: Must she be here?

Entrapta: Good question. I’m not sure if we just need the sword, or if we need She-ra, too. Adora, you wouldn’t happen to know, would you?

Adora: No! And even if I did, I wouldn’t tell the Horde!

Entrapta: That’s okay! I like figuring stuff out.

Adora: Please, Entrapta, you don’t wanna do this.

Hordak: Silence! Entrapta, begin.

Adora: You…you took me away from my family when I was a baby. You lied to me my whole life, about the princesses, about Etheria, about who I am!

Hordak: I could not have lied to you about who you are, because I have never known, nor cared, about someone as inconsequential as you.

Adora: You should care. Because I’m the one who’s gonna make sure you fail.

Hordak: I will not fail. You have no power to stop me. I am opening that portal, and I am going to use your own sword to wipe out the rest of your pathetic Rebellion, once and for-

And then his suit malfunctions again, and between Adora invoking the word “fail” (which is clearly triggering to him) and not wanting to appear weak in front of his enemy, he slaps Entrapta away when she tries to comfort him, and stalks off after ordering her to get the machine working.

This is a fascinating interaction, because it seems to be the first time Adora’s ever had a real conversation with her father-figure, and of course it’s to confront him about the damage he did (or at least allowed to happen) to her. It’s understandable that she’d want to air her grievances, but she was never going to get any kind of apology. He only ever viewed her as a soldier, and in his mind, it’s her own fault if she thought of him as anything more than a commanding officer, because that’s all he was trying to be.

Meanwhile, Glimmer decides to talk to Shadow Weaver.

Bow: I wanna help as much as you do, but Shadow Weaver?

Glimmer: Adora needs us now! And Shadow Weaver would know all about the Fright Zone’s weak points. Let’s at least talk to her.

Shadow Weaver: Princess. It’s about time.

Glimmer: You knew we were coming?

Shadow Weaver: Him, I had no idea about. But you? You’re smart. You want to stop the Horde, and you know I’m the only one who can help you do that. I must admit, I thought it would take you longer to speak with me.

Glimmer: Catra kidnapped Adora in the Crimson Waste. We need to get her back before the Horde uses her and her sword to open a portal.

Shadow Weaver: His machine is complete? And they have Adora? We must hurry. If Hordak has the opportunity to open a portal, he will do so immediately. The alliance will never get there in time. But perhaps…[…] Let me out, and I can help you teleport right into the heart of the Fright Zone.

Glimmer: Me? I couldn’t even get to the edge of the Fright Zone without running out of power. I’m nowhere near strong enough.

Shadow Weaver: But I can make you stronger. I’m still the only sorceress who’s ever been able to tap into a runestone. If you allow me to access your connection to the Moonstone, I can enhance your powers. You could teleport us all the way there.

Bow: Uh, “us”?

Shadow Weaver: I suppose you could come. We’ll teleport directly into Hordak’s sanctum, disable the portal machine, and find Adora.

Glimmer: You can really make me that powerful?

Shadow Weaver: You think of yourself only as a princess, but you’re the child of a great sorcerer. You have a more powerful connection to magic than you’ve ever realized. Let me show you.

Bow: You just want to use Glimmer’s power to escape!

Shadow Weaver: I want to destroy Hordak! We must strike now. Hordak can’t be allowed to open a portal. We’ll never have another opportunity. You know that.

So Glimmer breaks the barrier holding Shadow Weaver.

It actually makes a lot of sense from her perspective. She might not be able to trust Shadow Weaver in all things, but she can always trust her to look out for her own best interests, which now includes rescuing Adora and foiling Hordak’s plans. Of course, it would still be dangerous to become too reliant on Shadow Weaver’s help, but this is kind of an emergency.

Meanwhile in the Fright Zone, Scorpia’s feeling awfully left out.

Scorpia: Catra! Catra, there you are! I have been looking everywhere for you.

Catra: Yeah, well, I’ve kinda had my hands full. Any minute now Hordak’s going to open a portal, and I’ll be the reason the Horde defeats the princesses. But, hey, I couldn’t have done any of it without you. Thanks.

And in the lab, Entrapta’s got the machine all ready to go, but of course Adora tries to talk some sense into her.

Adora: Entrapta, we never meant to leave you behind. We thought you were dead!

Entrapta: But Catra said you abandoned me.

Adora: Catra would say anything that helps her get what she wants.

Entrapta: Catra is my friend. I think. Yes, the data says she is.

Adora: Look, I understand. Catra was my friend, too. But she makes bad decisions, this is one of them! The Horde’s armies will come through, and then it’s all over for Etheria. You can’t open a portal!

Entrapta: Oh, but I can! Did you miss the whole “sword makes the portal machine work” thing? I really don’t have time to explain it.

Because of course Entrapta interprets it all literally.

Adora: It’s too dangerous!

Entrapta: All exploration has an element of danger. But think of what we could find! Whole worlds, galaxies, things we can’t even imagine!

Adora: Entrapta, please listen! It isn’t going to work. The last She-ra made it so we could never open another portal. Trying could destroy everything!

Entrapta: I have noticed some anomalies in my portal trials. They could potentially pose a problem. Maybe I should run more tests. You won’t try to escape if I just pop out for a quick sec, will you?

And that’s how you get through to Entrapta: Through (potentially) provable facts.

Meanwhile at Bright Moon, Perfuma, Mermista, and Frosta catch on to Glimmer’s plan and insist on tagging along (despite Shadow Weaver’s protests).

But Angella is a bit slower to piece together what’s going on, and arrives just moments too late to say goodbye.

They end up missing Hordak’s sanctum, but fortunately, they do land in an empty storage room with enough space for everyone (and Shadow Weaver evidently knows the way through).

It turns out to be a good thing they brought so many people, though, as the three extra princesses are swiftly engaged in fights…but Lonnie at least has the sense to sound the alarm, alerting Catra to the situation.

Shadow Weaver: There’s no sense in trying to fight us. You don’t stand a chance. Join us, or stand aside.

But Catra’s not one to be sensible in the face of danger, particularly when that face is Shadow Weaver’s.

Shadow Weaver: Catra, there’s no need for us to be enemies. I can help you. I can offer you a way out.

Catra: So, what? You’re on the side of good now? You made me this way, and you get to be the good guy? Do you know what happened to me after you escaped? Do you even care? You couldn’t wait to get away from here- from me. But you came back for Adora.

Shadow Weaver: I came back to stop Hordak. I will make sure he’s destroyed. Don’t make me destroy you, too.

Catra: Oh, I’m going to make sure we win. We’re going to open that portal, and then there will be nothing left of you or the princesses!

Shadow Weaver very nearly kills her, only stopping because Glimmer seems to be running low on power, and even then Catra doesn’t run until Goat Kyle shuttles her away.

Catra knows very well that Shadow Weaver isn’t reformed – and that’s what galls her. She sees that Shadow Weaver has a new protege in Glimmer, a new tool that she can use to get back at Hordak – and at her.

But strangely, Catra and Adora both have similar confrontations with an abusive parental figure this episode, because they both blame them for their situations today (Catra a bit more rightfully, in my opinion). It highlights how they ultimately have similar struggles, and they both need to let go of the past in order to move forward.

Meanwhile, Entrapta’s been doing those tests, and she doesn’t like what she sees.

Scorpia: I miss hanging out. Yeah, you’ve been so busy with Hordak lately, and Catra…I mean, she’s got her new friends.

Entrapta: Oh, this is not good.

Scorpia: Oh. You want me to go, too. I understand, I’m probably in your way, I’ll just-

Entrapta: No, not that! I’ve been running diagnostics on the portal. Watch.

Scorpia: You were right. That is not good. Is that gonna happen? I mean, to the actual planet?

Entrapta: This is just an illustration. What will actually happen will be much worse. If my numbers are right, and they are, if we open a portal, the anomalies will be catastrophic. It’ll unhinge time and space, creating a warped reality that will collapse in on itself, erasing us from existence! I never thought I’d say this, but we can’t go through with it.

And that’s right when Catra walks in, and right after Shadow Weaver almost killed her, so she is not in a charitable mood.

Catra: Why aren’t you in Hordak’s lab? There’s no time! We need to fire up the portal machine!

Entrapta: We can’t! Opening a portal right now will be disastrous! It’s going to collapse and take us all with it! Adora was right!

Catra: Adora is right. Adora gets everything she wants. But not this time. This time, I am going to win. I don’t care what it takes! We are opening that portal! Now!

Entrapta: No! I won’t! I need to tell Hordak, he’ll understand- 

And then Catra knocks her out with a stun baton.

Catra: Get her out of here!

Goat Kyle: What do you want me to do with her?

Catra: I don’t care, just get rid of her! Put her on the transport to Beast Island.

Scorpia: Beast Island? You can’t!

Catra: You wanna be next?

Catra couldn’t have done a better job of alienating her staunchest ally if she tried…

Catra: The princesses are here! There’s no time to waste, we need to open the portal!

Hordak: Where’s Entrapta? I need her.

Catra: Who do you think let the princesses in?

Hordak: But she- she wouldn’t.

Catra: Did you really think she was on our side? Oh, you can’t trust anyone, especially a princess. They’ll just use you to get what they want. Open the portal, and let’s end this.

And that’s when the rescue party shows up…and between the ensuing fight and the portal machine affecting the surrounding machinery, soon it’s just Catra and Adora around the switch.

Adora: Catra! Please, don’t!

Until next time…