Once again, I’m finishing off a series with a top episode list.
I feel like this is always a nice send-off for a series…but I also feel the need to explain why I didn’t do one of these for The Owl House. My main excuse was that the format of Season 3 kinda messed stuff up, but honestly, it’s also because it was the cartoon I’d been engaged with the shortest time. I watched the first season toward the end of 2020, and while I watched until the end of the series in 2023, my series lasted less than a year (easily my shortest cartoon series). It just wasn’t around long enough for me to have strong feelings about individual episodes. That wasn’t a problem for She-ra.
It’s top 15 because that’s roughly how many episodes I had strong feelings about (unlike, say, Princess Tutu, where I felt strongly about the majority of the show, but wanted to highlight the best). That said, this is distinctly of the “favorite is not necessarily best” variety of list (read: expect a lot of catradora). As always, this is listed in chronological order, because I can’t compare my babies, and I’ll leave out spoilers wherever possible, but no promises.
[It] doesn’t matter what they do. The two of us look out for each other, and soon enough, we’ll be the ones calling the shots.
I did seriously debate whether to put this one or Razz here, despite this clearly being the superior episode, mainly because that one’s more focused on Catradora, but it also includes a forced misunderstanding between Glimmer and her mom, so this one won out. It does a wonderful job introducing us to the characters and giving us a taste of their respective conflicts and character arcs.
Maybe my plan won’t work, but then again, maybe it already has.
This is everything I’d hoped for from the series. There’s plenty of drama with both of the central couples (which naturally includes a clever scheme from Catra), we get some fabulous outfits (and a great dance scene), and to top it all off, the plot moves forward for basically the first time since Adora defected, advancing the setup for the season finale.
Nothing really bad can happen as long as we have each other.
This episode breaks my heart every time, as Adora and Catra try (and ultimately fail) to communicate. It effectively lays out their relationship, both past and present, and gives us a taste of where it’s headed in the next few seasons; namely, they choose to walk paths that will lead to more conflict between them.
Even when you’re trying to kill each other, you can tell there’s a real bond there.
This is just a fun little standalone episode, featuring some discussion of Catradora (even if the two of them don’t really interact that much) and a few other pairings that hadn’t gotten much development thus far. There aren’t very high stakes (as evidenced by the way in which the plot was kinda resolved offscreen), but I love it because practically every interaction between characters is either amusing or intriguing, sometimes in surprising ways.
We’re going to do great things together.
This one’s the polar opposite of the last – it delves into some serious character development by exploring Shadow Weaver’s backstory. It certainly helps that outside of the flashbacks (and a scene at the tail end), the episode is set entirely in the Fright Zone, focused primarily on Catra’s relationship with her. It’s another one of those episodes that gets me every time.
Who’s the strongest in the Crimson Waste?
If I were actually ranking these, this would definitely be near the top. When I first watched this series, this was the episode when I finally believed the writers cared about Catra (and the other “villains”), that they’d treat them respectfully, even if their lives didn’t go where I wanted them to. Although there is an important plotline with Adora, this episode belongs to Catra, featuring her actually being happy for once, and generally making most of the episode really fun, but the ending breaks my heart every time.
Remember, this is supposed to be fun.
This episode is just a perfect blend of drama, humor, and action. At least for this episode, laying out what the villains are up to works to the story’s advantage, and for once, the heroes are the ones who make surprising choices (even if it’s because they’re BAD choices). It sets up a central conflict that lasts for the rest of the season (and on into the next), and while it gets to be annoying in episodes to come, the character development in this episode is believable and compelling.
It’s hard to fight with friends.
I debated putting this on the list, as it’s kinda spurred by the conflict between Glimmer and Adora that I generally just find annoying, but it’s actually effectively contrasted with the state of the Super Pal Trio in this episode. It’s also the closest thing to a musical episode in the series, and musicals cover up a multitude of sins in my book. This is also peak Seamista, as I prefer them when they’re more upbeat, and despite the fact that Mermista just suffered a crushing loss, it’s how Sea Hawk responds that makes the two of them a delight to behold. There are several darker plotlines that make themselves felt, but overall, this is a breath of fresh air (or at the very least, a deep breath before the plunge).
They say we’re the heroes, but I don’t know if it’s right.
This is one of the few episodes where She-ra does a mystery really well, mainly because they were able to seed the mystery of the Heart of Etheria through basically a whole season. This episode is where the series starts to usher in a more serious tone, but it works here because the story is so detached from everything else going on (and at the same time, it has everything to do with it). And it’s just nice to finally get Mara’s backstory.
Everything is under control.
This is what the whole conflict between Glimmer and Adora has been leading towards, and it’s actually pretty compelling! They come into conflict just because their priorities aren’t exactly aligned, but the lack of communication in this case has devastating consequences. Despite the drama (with them and with Catra), they manage to include enough humor to lighten the mood without distracting from the stakes.
I am not a piece of their machine.
Season 4 was all worth it for this episode. Several characters face a breaking point, and their decisions here impact the rest of the series. It’s mostly dark and serious, as they’re trying to avert an apocalypse, but at this point in the series, I’ll allow it. It’s a fantastic set-up for Season 5.
All I do is hurt people.
I considered putting Save the Cat here instead, as it does contain some Catradora moments that have been a long time coming, but it’s also really busy with other plot points, and as dark as this season gets, I opted for an episode that has a comic relief plotline (in the form of Bow trying to run a ship). This is something of a spiritual sequel to Promise, but with a very different ending. It still does have some cute Catradora moments (mainly in the form of memories/flashbacks), but it’s far more concerned with Catra’s development.
It’s just…so…cute!
This episode is where Catra properly integrates into the Best Friend Squad and it is precious. It’s one last fun (semi) episodic adventure before the plot overwhelms the narrative.
I did what I had to do.
This is a very serious episode (being the last before the two-part finale), but since it’s mainly about Catradora, I love it anyway. Instead of a comic relief subplot, there’s just a slightly less serious subplot involving Entrapdak, and since I couldn’t fit that rep anywhere before the end, this’ll have to do. But this episode is heartbreaking because Catra and Adora are drifting apart for very believable reasons. It’s just that good.
You don’t understand what makes us strong, and that’s why you’ll never win!
Part 1 was basically the last cut I made, because while it contains one of my favorite scenes in the show, I only love about half of it. If you’ve read more than one of my series, I’m sure you’ve noticed that I love a good finale (as evidenced by two out of three episode rankings), and this is no exception.
Next week, I’m starting a very different series from what I’ve done before: Jane Eyre.
Until next time…
Eucatastrophe 