I don’t know what my destiny is anymore, but I know my friends need my help.

This episode focuses on Adora coming to terms with her situation, as well as a little bonding with the princess squad. But we begin with an ultimatum from Horde Prime.

Horde Prime: Rejoice, Etheria, for Prime has come to you. Do not fear, for you have been given the opportunity to share in a world soon to be remade in my image. But first, you must prove yourselves worthy. Your leader, your She-ra, she would see you suffer in darkness for her sake. Cast aside this false hero, and deliver her to me. Prime sees all. Prime knows all. They will not escape my judgement.

Entrapta: Wow, this is amazing! And bad. Very bad.

Meanwhile, Adora’s struggling.

Bow: Hey, sleepyhead, you hungry-ah! What happened? Are you okay?

Adora: I’ve gotta go…save Glimmer…My body is betraying me.

Bow: No, you’re exhausted. That happens to regular people when they keep throwing themselves into battle and refusing to sleep.

Adora: I hate it.

Bow: Come on, you just need to rest. Now close your eyes-

Frosta: Is she dead?

Because she’s still the acting leader, so even when she WANTS to sleep, there are people who want her for other things. Like planning a mission to figure out where Glimmer is, or the little thing about Horde Prime looking for her, or even the fact that the upgrades to the ship are done, but you know, they don’t have a heading.

Bow: Okay, that’s enough! Adora, rest! Swift Wind, head! Everyone, shhhh!

Frosta: She will be fine soon, right?

Bow: Yes! She just needs sleep!

Poor Bow just can’t get a break.

Meanwhile, the princesses are forced to brainstorm a plan on their own.

Perfuma: Perhaps, if we meditate, we can access our princess connection to find Glimmer’s spirit out in space.

Entrapta: Hello! Oh, hi! Were you guys talking about space?

Perfuma: Yes. We were talking about how to get Glimmer back from space-

Entrapta: I’d do anything to go to space! An infinite universe of information at our fingertips, full of countless planets and stars and civilization-

Mermista: This isn’t like a fun field trip for you to run more of your messed up experiments. Our friend’s out there, remember? Glimmer? Ugh! The sparkly one?

Frosta: You’ve met her multiple times!

Entrapta: Oh, right.

Then Scorpia distracts her by sending her on a wild robot chase so that she can talk to the others, because she’s a good friend.

Scorpia: Look, I know that she can be kinda, “Woah, science!” But I promise, Entrapta has a good heart.

Mermista: She’s betrayed us before. For all we know, as soon as she sees Horde Prime’s ship up close, she’ll ditch us to join his army.

Perfuma: She did use her inventions to attack us a lot.

Scorpia: I’m just saying, none of us know how to track a spaceship, but Entrapta might, if you just give her a chance.

Mermista: Ugh, fine! Okay, Geek Princess. Are you gonna help us or not? If you help us find Glimmer, you can go to space.

Entrapta: Great!

Naturally, they’ve forgotten the part they played in driving Entrapta to the Horde (while you can’t blame them for thinking she was dead, they clearly never considered her as any more than a comrade-in-arms, and never bothered to get to know her). It wasn’t just that she fell in love with the Horde’s tech or something, but Catra (at least initially) valued her expertise, and the people in the Horde generally appreciated her resourcefulness, as opposed to harping on her failed experiments.

Glimmer: Hello? Who’s there? Hey! I know you’re watching me!

Clone: You should not be here.

Catra: I- I wasn’t-

Clone: Prime has decreed that none shall speak to the Queen. You have disobeyed.

Catra: What does it matter? Prime has more important things to worry about. It’s not like I-

Clone: You unworthy wretch! It is not for you to decide what matters to Prime. You are a parasite, nothing more than the dirt beneath his-

Then Prime suddenly takes over the clone’s body, because apparently that’s just something he can do.

Clone!Prime: Little Sister, why do you rebel against my commands?

Catra: Lord Prime?

Clone!Prime: Prime sees all, Little Sister. Do not disturb the Queen. Now, run along.

The isolation is clearly taking a toll on both of them, but it might be worse for Catra, since there are technically people around, but those people are kind of all the same, and are all watching her to ensure she behaves. She wasn’t even trying to talk to Glimmer – maybe she just wanted to hear any voice besides Prime’s (all the clones, including Hordak, are actually voiced by the same person).

Meanwhile, back on Etheria, Adora seems to wake up from a vision to see a mysterious glow outside, and she picks up the hilt of her shattered sword to investigate (and of course it’s “She-ra” again).

Adora: You again. Wait!

And Entrapta evidently traced the signal from Horde Prime to the spire in what used to be the Fright Zone (it’s pretty unrecognizable at this point, basically just a desert), and the trick is, she has to get closer to the spire to determine the point of origin.

Entrapta: If we follow that signal, we’ll find a ship of impossibly sophisticated design, the center of a super technologically advanced empire-

Perfuma: I think mostly we’re just hoping to find our kidnapped friend.

Mermista: That spire is crawling with surveillance bots. We need to find a way to sneak past them so we can get Geek Princess close enough to track the signal.

Scorpia: So…what’s the plan?

Mermista: Uh, that’s the whole plan. We sneak past the surveillance bots. I don’t know! Adora usually handles the being-in-charge stuff.

Perfuma: Okay, we sneak past the bots, and then if any of them see us, we-

Frosta: Punch the bots!

Mermista: Sure, sounds like enough of a plan for me. And someone needs to keep an eye on- did she seriously just immediately run off?

because entrapta’s too focused on the signal to listen to a plan

Meanwhile, Glimmer’s stuck with Horde Prime.

Horde Prime: Your Majesty, thank you for joining me. I thought you might enjoy a diversion. Do you like them? Tokens from the many worlds, worlds that I brought into my eternal light.

Glimmer: Worlds you destroyed.

Horde Prime: I take no joy in destruction, but the weeds must be burned away, so that new life can may flourish. This is my favorite, a treasure from the first world I conquered. It was highly prized by its people, and now, it is all that is left of them. You know I am searching for She-ra. You seem reluctant to help me, but I only wish to use your weapon to bring peace to the darkest corners of the universe.

Glimmer: Peace? If you activate the Heart of Etheria, there will be no one left!

Horde Prime: Yes, no war, no pain. Old worlds swept aside, a new beginning for the universe. I know you understand. All I want to do is what you’ve already done.

Glimmer: No, no! That wasn’t-

Because she only ever wanted to protect her people, but she failed to understand that, even if it had worked as planned, it would only come at the cost of some other people she deemed enemies. That’s the reality of war.

And it was only a matter of time before he discovered Glimmer’s relation to Micah and wielded that against her.

Horde Prime: Do you recognize him?

Glimmer: Dad?

Horde Prime: Let me be clear, Your Majesty. Your world belongs to me. But I am still merciful. Would you be reunited with your father in my good graces? Would you deliver me She-ra?

Glimmer: I- I wanted to use the Heart of Etheria. I thought I could save the world. But all I did was bring you here. I will never help you! And you will never win.

Horde Prime: Those who cling to the darkness have made their choice.

By now, it’s clear that Horde Prime just wants to destroy everything different from himself. Glimmer’s safe for now, because she’s part of the Heart of Etheria, but what about Catra?

Anyhow, Entrapta’s trying to catch a signal.

Entrapta: Wait! I think I’m getting something.

Perfuma: Entrapta, we really need to get out of the open.

Entrapta: Hang on! I’ve almost got it. I need to get up higher. So close! Almost got it…no, false alarm. We need to get closer.

Long story short, she literally runs into a bot, which sets off the alarm despite being frozen.

Scorpia: What do we do?

Mermista: I don’t know! This plan was obviously doomed from the start. I’m not Adora! Why did I think I could be the leader?

Entrapta: Well, still nothing. This transmission pattern is fascinating. We should get closer!

And that’s the last straw for them.

Mermista: We can’t! Thanks to you, this place is about to be swarming with bots. We have to retreat. Ugh! I should’ve known better than to trust you. You don’t care about Glimmer, or any of us! You only care about tech!

Entrapta: Are you all mad at me?

Mermista: You’re seriously just realizing that? Yeah, we’re mad!

Perfuma: You don’t consider how your actions affect other people, even people who are supposed to be your friends!

Frosta: Like us! The ones who were getting beat up by your dumb bots, and whose kingdoms you almost destroyed!

This was a long time coming for them. They tried to welcome her into the group, but between her previous “betrayal” and…well, her neurodivergence, she just didn’t fit.

Entrapta: I’m not good at people, but I am good at tech. I thought, maybe, if I could use tech to help you, you’d like me. But I messed that up, too.

And this is how a lot of autistic people try to fit in – if they have special interests that the people around them find useful, it might make people tolerate their more disruptive habits.

And then she runs off again.

Mermista: Entrapta! No! I said we have to leave! Can you listen for once in your life?

Entrapta: I’m sorry I’m bad at listening! I’m sorry I mess everything up! But you need this signal, and I’m gonna get it for you!

Mermista: You’re still trying to get the signal?

Entrapta: Of course! Glimmer needs us.

Because if there’s one thing you can rely on autistic folks to do, it’s to keep trying once they’ve set a task for themselves.

Mermista: Okay, Geek Princess. Get that signal. We’ll cover you.

This sequence really gets me, because while I have very different struggles from Entrapta, I know the feeling of having criticisms or failures circling in my head, and also the wonderful feeling of having friends that support my interests. That’s kind of what this whole blog is about – exploring my interests in a more or less socially acceptable fashion.

But back to the episode, Mermista rallies the others defend Entrapta from the incoming bots.

Entrapta: Ooh, what’s inside you? Focus, Entrapta! Glimmer needs you.

and entrapta exercises a bit of self-discipline

Entrapta: Okay, good news and bad news! Good news, I’ve successfully triangulated Horde Prime’s flagship!

Scorpia: Hooray!

Entrapta: Bad news, I intercepted the last message he sent. He’s sending reinforcement ships to Etheria. They’ll be here any minute!

Scorpia: I take back my hooray.

Meanwhile, Adora’s finally processing her choices.

Adora: Who are you? Are you She-ra? She-ra’s gone! The sword is broken. So what do I do now? I’m not sorry I did it. I just didn’t know how much I’d miss her. Not just her strength, but I…I guess I liked knowing that I had a destiny. It wasn’t my destiny to be She-ra, was it? It was random. Light Hope brought me through the portal because she needed to use the weapon. That’s the only reason I’m here. I don’t know what my destiny is anymore, but I know my friends need my help. I guess I’ll just figure it out from there. Thanks for everything.

That was what first motivated her to become She-ra: Helping her friends. So of course that’s her motive to move on from She-ra, too. She freed herself from a destiny that was never truly hers, but it still brought her to Etheria and to the life she now lives, so it wasn’t a waste.

Adora: Bow, wow. You were right! I just needed some sleep. I feel great!

Bow: Good! Because I’m on a call with Mermista, and she’s saying-

Mermista: Get to the ship!

Entrapta: We found her! We found Glimmer!

Mermista: But also, we found out that Horde Prime is sending more ships to Etheria today! If you guys don’t leave now, you can’t leave, period. So, uh, run!

Micah: We’re exposed here. We need to make these goodbyes quick.

Adora: We’ll be back as soon as we can. The Rebellion is in good hands.

Mermista: Yeah, turns out I’m an awesome leader, so we’re gonna be fine. And Entrapta helped. You’re still a weirdo, but you did good today. We’ve got your back any time.

Swift Wind: Adora, I…I’m not going to…oh! I don’t know how to say this!

Adora: You’re staying here.

Swift Wind: I don’t belong on a ship. I belong on Etheria, protecting it! And with you gone, someone’s gotta bring the glorious flowing hair. I hope you’re not disappointed in me!

Adora: Are you kidding? I’m proud! You’re exactly where you need to be. I’m not She-ra anymore.

Swift Wind: But I’ll always be your loyal steed.

Then surveillance bots approach the ship, so Micah comes up with a distraction.

SHE-RA!

Mermista: What do you think, Micah? Have we wasted enough of their time?

Because the surest way to distract from Adora is to present an illusion of She-ra!

Scorpia: Hooray! I reinstate my hooray!

Swift Wind: You okay? I know you wanted to go.

Micah: But if I hadn’t stayed, they wouldn’t have been able to take off at all. I trust my daughter’s friends. They saved me. Now, they’ll save her. See you soon, baby girl.

But of course we need to check back in with her before we finish.

Glimmer: What? Come to mock me some more? You heard Horde Prime. I’m supposed to be alone. So leave me alone!

Horde Prime reminded her of what she considers her greatest mistake, so naturally, another reminder of that mistake is bound to get a negative reaction…but only for a moment.

Glimmer: Wait! I’m sorry. Can you stay? Just for a little.

Catra: Okay.

Because at the moment, nothing seems quite so bad as being alone.

Until next time…