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Azhais
Feb 5, 2007
Switchblade Switcharoo

Stenis posted:

I'm just glad the show exists - not for the gay stuff since a lot of shows have that, but She-Ra is the only show that takes the 80s rainbow aesthetic seriously. Everything else like Starbarians and Robot Unicorn Attack is at least somewhat ironic with it

Now I want a robot unicorn attack crossover

Always I want to be with you, make believe with you, and live in harmony harmony

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BIG HEADLINE
Jun 13, 2006

"Stand back, Ottawan ruffian, or face my lumens!"
Yeah, that look Adora gave Catra makes me think we're never going to hear "Hey, Adora" ever again. And I agree, reluctantly, that Catra's *worse* than Shadow Weaver, because ultimately Shadow Weaver is out for herself. She doesn't have it in her to destroy the world simply out of spite. She's driven by hate and vengeance, but she has a limit based in logic and reason. Catra doesn't. Furthermore, Catra understands everything about her life is a lie and *doesn't care*, she wants to gently caress poo poo up simply because she was allowed to exist. She's never been "the chosen one" in her life and Adora being She-Ra means she never will be.

That's what she needed to become a great villain. She can be this show's "Joker" now instead of a sad lost little kitten mad at the fact she got dumped.

And at least we know Mara isn't the OG She-Ra now.

thatbastardken
Apr 23, 2010

A contract signed by a minor is not binding!
said it before, will say it again:

thatbastardken posted:

oh my god catra is the worst

Elfface
Nov 14, 2010

Da-na-na-na-na-na-na
IRON JONAH
SW vs Catra is Lawful vs Chaotic evil in a nutshell.

In the long run, SW is worse because she's building self-sustaining institutions of suffering. But Catra can gently caress up way more stuff in the short term before Adora cuts her in half, or a tearful Scorpia tells her about the rabbits while raising her sting.

Catra also seems worse, because we keep seeing her turn away from better options. Early on, she could have joined Adora. Later she could have been a solid Horde officer. This time, she could have been Queen of the Thunderdome. Instead, it's full speed ahead to destruction.

HorseLord
Aug 26, 2014
Shadow Weaver is innocent. She tried to save the world and got hosed over for it, and did what she needed to do to survive.

Carlton Banks Teller
Nov 18, 2004


HorseLord posted:

Shadow Weaver is innocent. She tried to save the world and got hosed over for it, and did what she needed to do to survive.

:hai:

hell, I still like Catra too.

golden bells
Oct 17, 2013

Shadow Weaver has that DS9 Cardassian trait of being played by such a superb actress that careless audiences can lose sight of her villainy. And I love her.

Lorraine Toussaint should've been in Star Trek exchanging barbs with Garak, Gul Dukat, Damar, and Jeffrey Comb's character of the week.

Madurai
Jun 26, 2012

BIG HEADLINE posted:


And at least we know Mara isn't the OG She-Ra now.

Wait... do we know that?

Darth Walrus
Feb 13, 2012

Madurai posted:

Wait... do we know that?

She expressed disappointment that she wasn't the last She-Ra, implying there were multiple people before her who held the title.

Azhais
Feb 5, 2007
Switchblade Switcharoo
And lighthope had an infographic showing Mara as about number 10 during Adora's first training session. Mara not being the first isn't news

Arc Light
Sep 26, 2013



Azhais posted:

And lighthope had an infographic showing Mara as about number 10 during Adora's first training session. Mara not being the first isn't news

Yeah, there were def a bunch before Mara.

Assuming I remember S1 correctly, I thought that Mara was specifically the last one before Adora, and basically severed the line until Adora found the sword?

Azhais
Feb 5, 2007
Switchblade Switcharoo

Arc Light posted:

Yeah, there were def a bunch before Mara.

Assuming I remember S1 correctly, I thought that Mara was specifically the last one before Adora, and basically severed the line until Adora found the sword?

Yeah, Mara pulled the planet into the phantom zone and then tried to end the line of she ras so nobody could pull the planet back out.

Maxwell Lord
Dec 12, 2008

I am drowning.
There is no sign of land.
You are coming down with me, hand in unlovable hand.

And I hope you die.

I hope we both die.


:smith:

Grimey Drawer
The show's pretty consistent about nobody being pure evil. Everyone's understandable. And I wonder if we're gonna see more of a fracturing of the "bad guys" since, well, bigger things are coming.

Also, it's been three seasons, where the gently caress is Mantenna already.

Madurai
Jun 26, 2012

Maxwell Lord posted:

The show's pretty consistent about nobody being pure evil. Everyone's understandable. And I wonder if we're gonna see more of a fracturing of the "bad guys" since, well, bigger things are coming.

Also, it's been three seasons, where the gently caress is Mantenna already.

MANTENNADEMPTION WHEN?

SardonicTyrant
Feb 26, 2016

BTICH IM A NEWT
熱くなれ夢みた明日を
必ずいつかつかまえる
走り出せ振り向くことなく
&



*infused with cosmic wisdom*

Game.

Show.

Episode.

The Bee
Nov 25, 2012

Making his way to the ring . . .
from Deep in the Jungle . . .

The Big Monkey!
I'm halfway through the season and it seems like Catra is really her own biggest enemy. She was leading the Horde better than Hordak ever could, but the pettiness of her motives and laser focus she had on her personal problems meant she kept dropping the ball where it mattered most. She was the baddest warlord in the Crimson Wastes, and could've lead a life way more her style, but her inferiority complex drove her to running right back into a situation she loathed.

Honestly, the reason why Adora is thriving where Shadow Weaver, Hordak, and Catra fail, in large part, seems to be that she got out.

Carlton Banks Teller
Nov 18, 2004


The Bee posted:

I'm halfway through the season and it seems like Catra is really her own biggest enemy. She was leading the Horde better than Hordak ever could, but the pettiness of her motives and laser focus she had on her personal problems meant she kept dropping the ball where it mattered most. She was the baddest warlord in the Crimson Wastes, and could've lead a life way more her style, but her inferiority complex drove her to running right back into a situation she loathed.

Honestly, the reason why Adora is thriving where Shadow Weaver, Hordak, and Catra fail, in large part, seems to be that she got out.


I mean, that's really it isn't it? If you're abused/neglected to an extent where you have no concept of self-esteem except what gets reflected onto you from others you hold in high regard ... you get a Catra.

Azhais
Feb 5, 2007
Switchblade Switcharoo
They're basically just Gamora and Nebula from Guardians of the Galaxy. Both competing for Thanos' approval, one succeeding and the other jealously hating her for it.

Complete with defection to the good guys when presented with an artifact of power

evilmiera
Dec 14, 2009

Status: Ravenously Rambunctious

Stenis posted:

All cats are evil

This is the most true and good thing the show teaches us and kids alike.

Catra will not be redeemed. But she will get undeserved bellyrubs.

CuwiKhons
Sep 24, 2009

Seven idiots and a bear walk into a dragon's lair.

evilmiera posted:

This is the most true and good thing the show teaches us and kids alike.

Catra will not be redeemed. But she will get undeserved bellyrubs.

Which she will tolerate until suddenly she won't.

(I love cats but the backs of my hands have so many scratches on them :negative:)

thatbastardken
Apr 23, 2010

A contract signed by a minor is not binding!
what other kids has shadow weaver messed with? isn't it just adora and catra? maybe Micah at a stretch?

The Bee
Nov 25, 2012

Making his way to the ring . . .
from Deep in the Jungle . . .

The Big Monkey!

thatbastardken posted:

what other kids has shadow weaver messed with? isn't it just adora and catra? maybe Micah at a stretch?

Only abusing 2.5 kids is still a pretty high number for child abuse.

Megillah Gorilla
Sep 22, 2003

If only all of life's problems could be solved by smoking a professor of ancient evil texts.



Bread Liar
She taught at Cloud City Hogwarts and is responsible for Glimmer's father's death.

thatbastardken
Apr 23, 2010

A contract signed by a minor is not binding!

The Bee posted:

Only abusing 2.5 kids is still a pretty high number for child abuse.

it's one of the lowest numbers of children you can abuse.

Megillah Gorilla posted:

She taught at Cloud City Hogwarts and is responsible for Glimmer's father's death.

she seemed ok as a teacher? and i'm pretty sure she isn't, at least if angela's reaction to her needling tells us anything.

really it was only catra she was a lovely parent to. adora lived in a hell society created by a clone soldier, but that's not shadow weavers fault exactly.

not trying to exculpate shadow weaver here - if it wasn't for her mind games/playing favorites catra might not be so damaged - but labeling her a serial child abuser seems inaccurate.

thatbastardken fucked around with this message at 10:50 on Aug 7, 2019

CuwiKhons
Sep 24, 2009

Seven idiots and a bear walk into a dragon's lair.

I thought Hordak killed Micah? At least until we find out he's alive on Beast Island or something

thatbastardken
Apr 23, 2010

A contract signed by a minor is not binding!

quote:

I was the greatest sorceress of the age. Do they call me Light Spinner the Wizard? No!

I taught the children of Mystacor magic. Do they call me Light Spinner the Teacher? No!

I delved in terrible secrets and was cast out. Do they call me Shadow Weaver the Exile? No!

I joined forces with our mortal enemy. Do they call me Shadow Weaver the Betrayer? No!

But you abuse one cat...

galenanorth
May 19, 2016

Briefly, Shadow Weaver's envy of Micah's learning rate seemed to parallel Sea Hawk being feelings of inadequacy or even envy toward his would-be students' sailing skills

Mr.Pibbleton
Feb 3, 2006

Aleuts rock, chummer.

I bet Horde Prime is actually a rogue clone that killed the original who was a decent person. Also I like how nice Hordak is to Imp despite him being clearly defective.

xeria
Jul 26, 2004

Ruh roh...

CuwiKhons posted:

Catra seems to have taken a hard turn down the Azula line of villainy, which seems increasingly irredeemable. I mean, she basically attempted to destroy the entire world just to get one up over Adora. She's cracked and I don't know how the show is going to fix it or if they even will - which is super interesting because for the first two seasons I had thought it was inevitable that Catra would get a redemption arc. Now I legitimately don't know.

This was a very good season and I await the next one with baited breath.

I don't think Catra's any more specifically evil/irredeemable now than she had been before. The big change is that Adora's stopped absorbing all the guilt Catra throws her way, which I think had to happen first before Catra even COULD be redeemed. Part of any redemption arc is gonna have to be that she stops blaming Adora for everything that went wrong in her life, ever, which means Adora had to stop feeding into it. I don't know if she WILL be redeemed, ultimately, but the narrative path is still there IMO.

tsob
Sep 26, 2006

Chalalala~
What would she have to do to be actually evil in your eyes that she hasn't done already, out of interest? Does she have to personally torture puppies? Kill babies? Admit she likes pineapple on her pizza? What? She's already tried to destroy the world, twice, personally tried to kill her friend/sister on a half dozen occasions or more, betrayed what few friends she has to feed her own ambitions and seems fully aware throughout that what she's doing is bad, but just not care so long as it results in her being on top and/or acknowledged. That's about as evil as you're going to get really.

Rand Brittain
Mar 25, 2013

"Go on until you're stopped."
Ultimately it turns out that "evil/not evil" is a fairly limited standard for judging broken people.

Android Blues
Nov 22, 2008

Catra has never been a moral person - she's totally happy to hurt other people if it means personal advancement for her. That's consistent in her characterisation from jump. The change now is that she is willing to forgo self-preservation and personal advancement if it means causing pain to Adora, such is the depth of her anger. She's effectively willing to destroy the world just to hurt Adora's feelings. That's pretty messed up!

The ameliorating factor is, like...Catra is a teenager who was severely abused by her mother in an environment that primed her to resent Adora and see surpassing Adora as the key to earning her abusive parent's love.

That's why I think Shadow Weaver is worse. She's the author of Catra's psychological damage, and is at least partially responsible for the person Catra is now. She's an adult, doesn't have a history of trauma, and is totally in command of her faculties: she chooses to do evil things anyway. Unlike Catra (who demonstrably still loves Shadow Weaver, and has at least some complicated feelings about Adora given her whole charade with them being Horde pals in the alternate reality), Shadow Weaver doesn't seem to care about anyone at all. She's totally callous, and the only emotion she's driven by appears to be selfishness. And, I guess, desire for revenge on Hordak for casting her aside? But even that could be a feint to give Brightmoon an excuse for why she's joining what she now perceives to be the only side that will have her. After all, she joined the Horde in the first place not because she agreed with their evil agenda, but because she wanted a position of power and was indifferent to the harm they might cause.

Catra's really bad, though. Super evil. Still mostly responsible for her own wickedness. Adora's speech about how she's had plenty of chances to reform and now she has to live with the choices she's made is an exhilarating moment, because she's completely right.

AlternateNu
May 5, 2005

ドーナツダメ!

Mr.Pibbleton posted:

I bet Horde Prime is actually a rogue clone that killed the original who was a decent person. Also I like how nice Hordak is to Imp despite him being clearly defective.

See, I got the impression that Imp was one of the Hordak's failed attempts to clone himself a body. But he kept Imp around because he's clearly sentient and relatively intelligent.

Darth Walrus
Feb 13, 2012

AlternateNu posted:

See, I got the impression that Imp was one of the Hordak's failed attempts to clone himself a body. But he kept Imp around because he's clearly sentient and relatively intelligent.

And because he's not going to be his clone-dad - on that level, at least.

Chokes McGee
Aug 7, 2008

This is Urotsuki.
Fantastic season, but bad ending IMO. Catra was made a monster by Shadow Weaver. This is all on SW's head, and she's already starting to pull the same stuff on Glimmer, who doesn't have a mother figure any more. The fact she gets to hang with the good guys at the end and get a hug from Perfuma is not cool.

This show's been really good with nuance though so I fully expect these issues to be addressed. Speaking as a victim of emotional abuse I just want Catra to finally get better and be happy :smith:


e: extra heartbreaking because for a moment, she had it :cry:

Chokes McGee fucked around with this message at 03:47 on Aug 9, 2019

Chokes McGee
Aug 7, 2008

This is Urotsuki.

thatbastardken posted:

it's one of the lowest numbers of children you can abuse.

And it's 2.5 north of acceptable.

thatbastardken
Apr 23, 2010

A contract signed by a minor is not binding!

Chokes McGee posted:

And it's 2.5 north of acceptable.

what if one of those children is cat Hitler?

Alien Sex Manual
Dec 14, 2010

is not a sandwich



Thought the thread could use this Very Important Information.

xeria
Jul 26, 2004

Ruh roh...

tsob posted:

What would she have to do to be actually evil in your eyes that she hasn't done already, out of interest? Does she have to personally torture puppies? Kill babies? Admit she likes pineapple on her pizza? What? She's already tried to destroy the world, twice, personally tried to kill her friend/sister on a half dozen occasions or more, betrayed what few friends she has to feed her own ambitions and seems fully aware throughout that what she's doing is bad, but just not care so long as it results in her being on top and/or acknowledged. That's about as evil as you're going to get really.

That's not what I said. I don't think she's MORE evil now than she was previously, when she was, say, invading Brightmoon or throwing Adora to her death. She's always been this exceptionally manipulative and selfish (and broken and desperately craving any kind of parental approval, etc.). She's irredeemable in Adora's eyes now, but I don't see how everything she's done up until now is merely light villainy vs a newfound maximum evil. Choosing to destroy the whole world is worse, objectively, than choosing to destroy one kingdom, but the headspace that led Catra to make those decisions is exactly the same. If anything, it shows that maybe Entrapta isn't too far gone because she's the one who pulled back on the "open a portal" plan at the last minute.

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Android Blues
Nov 22, 2008

Entrapta just has a sense of self-preservation. It doesn't mean she's more moral than Catra necessarily (although she probably is just by virtue of the fact that she's kind to Hordak), she just doesn't want the world to blow up because that would kill her and stop her from doing cool science experiments.

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