#hordak redemption

[femboycatofmystery]

Sooooooooooo

I just realized that when Hordak is assigned community service the first assignment is going to be something like "assist in rebuilding Salineas" and it will take him all of five minutes to go from ah yes I will help these builders to wait no you're doing it wrong to stalking down some random bureaucrat and tossing them around like a rag doll while yelling about building permits and zoning regulations and anyway now I have a new fanfic I have to try to write at some point

#spop #hordak #hordak redemption #look I have a soft spot for this goblin-ass idiot #and entrapta is like technically good ideas #but

[yourhighness6]

Unpopular opinion but I think in SPOP S2E3 Catra was genuinely trying to protect Entrapta from Hordak after almost being suffocated in the same episode by him

I think the main obstacle to Catra's perspective redemption arc at this point isn't her tendency towards violence or her constant anger, as those are classic character flaws before redemption arcs, but her manipulation tactics and her capacity to treat other people like shit. This is kind of an uncommon way of presenting these sorts of characters, who are often shown as being kind of "dumb" while having a repressed natural kindness. Catra certainly isn't "dumb", she's incredibly intelligent, an excellent strategist, and extremely careful with her words. In this scene I saw not the first glimpse but one of the first of a girl who genuinely cares about those close to her (besides Adora) and may be worthy of redemption. Catra clearly does have a heart, but I'm interested to see exactly how this plays out, as Noelle Stevenson took a huge risk by giving her these traits.

#shes the most interesting character to me so far #but entrapta bow and glimmer are my favorites #I pretty much like all of them except for Hordak and Shadow Weaver so far #Shadow Weaver can go die in a hole #but I was surprised by hordaks cruelty in this episode we don't see a lot of him directly harming ppl #I've heard he gets a redemption arc too so again excited to see how that pans out #catra #entrapta #spop #she ra #she ra and the princesses of power #catradora

[spop-romanticizes-abuse]

i'm just gonna say it. hordak was more redeemable than catra.

no, i haven't forgotten that he was a tyrannical warlord who conquered and destroyed like half of etheria. i'm not saying any of it was justified or that he deserves to get off scot-free.

i just think that hordak had more moments of humanity. we know what he was but there were less instances of hordak being straight-up sadistic on screen. there were actually no instances of hordak attacking anyone, except for that one time in s4 when he attacked catra (which she 100% deserved).

whereas he did have moments of genuine kindness and compassion. he took adora in, when he had the choice to abandon her and leave her to her death. granted, he raised her as a child soldier in the horde, but she was alive thanks to him, nonetheless.

he takes care of imp as he would take care of a child. even when he gets angry, he rarely intentionally hurts people like catra did. the most he did was scream at them. which is not good either, mind you, but it's something that he could work on. it wasn't cruel and destructive like catra's temper.

he also treated entrapta with great care and respect. after a moment of fury, he quiets down and lets entrapta help him. when entrapta mentions in an offhand manner that she was also a defect (or something along that line, i forget), hordak was first concerned and then rightfully furious at whoever dared to demean her like that.

he needed a little push from imp but he expressed his gratitude towards entrapta and treated her as an equal from then on. he even risked his own physical health to protect entrapta. when catra sent entrapta to beast island and double trouble told him about it later on, hordak was ready to murder catra for daring to hurt the one person who understood and loved him.

later in s5, we see what exactly hordak went through at the hands of his creator. although like every other character, his trauma was pushed aside for catra's, you could still see how hard he had it. horde prime was worse than shadow weaver, when it came to abuse. and despite all that, hordak was still able to show kindness to a few people in his life.

of course, that doesn't erase everything he did to the people of etheria. it doesn't erase the toxic environment he created for the children in the horde. but i feel like a villain with some moments of compassion is a lot more promising than a villain who relentlessly hurts and tortures people, not showing even an ounce of regret.

#this is not to say that catra is irredeemable #her redemption would just take a lot more time #and spop didn't give it enough time #spop critical #spop salt #spop #spop criticism #spop discourse #she ra #anti spop #hordak #lord hordak #spop hordak #it's like zuko #even when he was a villain he still had some good monents shine through

[whocanbelieve]

Am curious

#she ra #whocanbelieve #she ra and the princesses of power #she ra catra #she ra hordak #catra #hordak #the evil horde #the horde #spop #pro catra #anti catra #pro hordak #anti hordak #i just see a lot of discussion on whether catra deserves her redemption or not #and I'm curious if there's any connection between how people feel about catra #and how they feel about hordak

[i-am-made-of-stupid]

This post will contain a lot of spoilers for various things, so beware.

So about a week or two ago and while I was in the middle of watching She-ra I saw a post that was about Catra’s redemption arc being rushed in season 5. While I didn’t read it I do want to toss my hat in the ring and give my thoughts.

So for starters, everyone probably already knows what a redemption arc is, but in the most basic terms is when a protagonist goes through character development that involves them starting evil but ending good. For example think Zuko in Avatar or for a real live example Robert Downy Junior.

Ok so we all understand how redemption arcs work, now to go back to Catra. There are examples of characters who can have rushed redemption arcs. One most prominent I would say is Ben Solo in the Rise of Skywalker, who after two movies of showing how bad of a person he was, changed sides after one fight with Rey where she heals him. That feels very rushed to me, especially when we see Kylo have moments where he is given a chance to come back to the light and he always refuses. In comparison.

But I would argue that redemption arcs can be as long or as short as they need to be depending on how evil the character is, and I would argue that Catra, despite not having good intentions throughout the first four seasons, was not in any way evil. So her redemption arc can be shorter because, yeah she did bad things, but wasn’t fully evil.

A lot of what goes on with Catra can be caulked up to the woman who raised her, Shadow weaver. Shadow weaver treated her in a very different manner than Adora, praising Adora for the frequently and claiming she was a perfect child. Catra on the other hand was treated poorly by Shadow weaver, in one example when she and Adora snuck into the Black Garnet chamber, despite Adora trying to take the fall Shadow weaver still blamed Catra for it. All because as Shadow weaver puts it to Catra, she sees a lot of herself in Catra. So I believe Catra is always living with the need to validate herself to Shadow weaver.

I can expand this to a lot of the characters in She-ra who fill an antagonistic role, starting with Shadow weaver. She only became evil after the ritual she wished to perform to protect Atheria from the Horde failed. She had good intentions, but that doesn’t make it right at all, and her heroic sacrifice made her unable to have a redemption arc, but she still was able to do something good for Atheria.

Next, I can talk about Scorpia, she’s a simple case where she only joined the Horde because her family sold the Black Garnet to the Horde, and she went along with it and joined. So she needed less redemption because she wasn’t ever truly an evil character.

Next, I can talk about Entrapta, she didn’t need much redemption because she only worked with the Horde because she was accidentally left behind by the Princess Rebellion. She didn’t do anything wrong to help the Horde, she just felt abandoned by her friends.

Next, I can talk Glimmer, who never became an antagonist, but her becoming Queen of Brightmoon put a lot of stress on her, so she slowly began to have antagonistic tendencies and alienated her friends. Leading her to try and seek out Lighthope for help and getting taken by Horde Prime.

Finally, the antagonist for most of the series up to season 5, Hordak. He’s also one where he’s evil, but his evil comes from a similar place to Catra. He created the Fright Zone in order to attract the attention of Horde Prime, so he can be at his brother’s side again. But when he does, he’s called a failure and a mistake for not only taking his own name, but altering himself to help with him being a clone. Leading to Horde Prime cleansing Hordak and making him like any other Horde Prime clone. I see Hordak as the Darth Vader of the series, manipulated by a much more evil individual and significantly changed as a result. Plus he gets a heroic sacrifice that almost works in destroying Horde Prime. But he gets the added benefit of surviving the sacrifice so he’s able to help fix what he broke. Furthermore, like Vader, Hordak had Entrapta, who helped him to see that his imperfections made him beautiful, and helped him despite him technically being her enemy.

So all the characters I mentioned are not truly evil, they are antagonist, but that doesn’t mean they are evil. Just like how just because you play as the protagonist doesn’t make you a good guy. Think like Paul Atreides from Dune who does horrible things once he becomes Emperor. Or any time you play an evil character in a Bethesda RPG. The only truly evil character in She-ra is Horde Prime, who was perfectly willing to enslave the minds of the people of Atheria in order to harness the power of the planet’s heart to spread his galactic empire.

In conclusion, another long post where I just wanna nerd out about stuff I know and like.

#she ra #redemption arc #horde prime #hordak #catra #entrapta #scorpia #shadow weaver

[need1etail]

Nah but there should be more characters who don't deserve redemption but get it anyway imo

#ie hordak and shadow weaver from she-ra #i think their redemptions were super interesting #disappointing! #but it happened anything! #that's how life is!!!

[raventrigonsdaughter]

Someone gotta warn spop fans that dont know to not compare Despara to Spop's version of Adora cause 😬

I just saw one saying "oh catradora and spop but bad ending in motu" and just... no, why are u guys setting yourselves up like that

#she-ra #i need y'all to understand that Despara would rip spop's adora head off with her teeth #and she does not turn into a nice himbo like her spop version either when she goes to her brother's side #also a heads up to catra stans with how kevin is taking from the comics y'all may wanna sit this out too #shadow weaver is more likeable than her in that #ok shadow weaver is also an actual decent person who was brainwashed and is hordak's actual slave in it too but still #tip? if u want to ship adora with a morally grey character with a good redemption arc they just redeemed evil-lyn and it was actually good #so maybe go there #i know i will #adora #despara #spop critical? not really but its a heads up with the migration that will def happen once the next season comes out

[weedle-testaburger]

new favourite tag recommendation

#personal crap #the owl house #toh belos #at this point i kinda hope he gets a redemption arc not bc it'd be that good #but bc it'd be so funny bc EVERYONE hates him #like even pre redemption there were su fans who liked the diamonds and people liked hordak enough to ship him with entrapta #but this whole fandom is united in hating belos's guts #it's what he deserves tbf

[apollo-cackling]

at my guess the majority of she-ra 'discourse' is a perspective thing lol because. at my first watch of the show, I immediately got attached to the catgirl who's gone through so much trauma and done a lot of things that she deeply regrets but also can't let herself admit it, and so I watched a lot of the show with her perspective.

I hated hordak and shadow weaver (hordak because of catra's sheer terror at him in the early seasons, shadow weaver because. well that's obvious dhakjf), felt catra's irritation at adora in promise, and in season 1 and kind of 2 even though I definitely knew her actions to scorpia were wrong and didn't want catra to do any of them, I couldn't really get mad at her for them because I could feel how catra hated being touched without her permission

but like from. honestly a really large amount of the other characters' perspectives they have a lot of reason to hate catra hkfasdhf. she's done a lot of bad things. I don't think it undermines her 'redemption' or however you want to call it. I don't think catra would forgive hordak any time soon, for example, but that doesn't mean he's any less deserving of a chance to improve. no one's opinions on him, not any of the characters, not any of the audience, means anything to who he is as a person is in the end. but idk it does contextualise a lot of things in the fandom for me

#my rambles #like idk this may be something obvious but for example #for a while after finishing the show I really disliked hordak and hordak getting a face turn lol #until something slapped some perspective into me and made me realise a lot of the things I say about catra applies to hordak too #'she's lashing out because of her trauma and although that doesn't excuse her actions it'd be unfair to not take account #of how that informs her actions'? #applies to hordak too #'I don't think it should matter if she Deserves a chance or not. if she genuinely wants to change she should be given a chance to do so #and that's the best for everybody' #also hordak #'and if you really do consider it necessary for redemption to do an equivalent amount of good to balance out the bad #catra's arc is about bringing her emotionally to the point where she's capable of doing so'? #and so on #in the end this is a show about empathy yk #spop #spop.txt

[lightlavenders]

she-ra (2018) isn't about redemption arcs it's about healing through love. unrelated did you know hordak fans and catra fans can coexist without condemning the other-

#i believe in the power of being a hater! but a lot of the criticism of this show (from its fans) is really bad faith! #stop bringing expectations from other media products to this show actually #teehee #spop #shera #catra #adora #catradora #entrapta #hordak #entrapdak

[baggebythesea]

Paradise Lost - Hordak as an Miltonian fallen angel

She-Ra is not devoid of religious imigary - especially when it comes to the galactical Horde - and I really love what that does with Hordak.

If Horde Prime is God and the clones are angles, then Hordak is a fallen angel and Despondos is the place he fell. Hell.

One specific concept of hell, when it's not used as "heaven's prison", is 'the place where God isn't. The place where God can't or won't reach.

That's where Hordak found himself, beyond the omnicognicent eyes of the deity who had created him and watched over his entire life, free to do something of his own.

And like an abused child, he took the clumsy tools available to him and did his best to recreate the only thing he had ever known in a desperate bid for the attention of the God who had cast him away. He even comitted the hubris of trying to match God's creation of life, with a twisted and imperfect results.

For decades he toiled in despair in the futile hope of redemption, until a certain science princess made him realise that he had something better than the graze of God right here, in this place where God would leave him alone.

It's something awfully Miltonian about this Hordak. If we for a moment indulge in his fantasies, he was heaven's top general before he fell, mirroring Arch Angel Lucifer in Paradise Lost.

Like Lucifer, Hordak's defining trait was pride. Like Lucifer, Hordak aspired to rule Hell when he couldn't serve in heaven. He created a brutal construct of machinery and darkness - in stark contrast to Horde Prime's alien "Ipod" heaven - but unlike Lucifer, Hordak came finally to realize that neither ruling nor serving would make him happy, but love would.

Of course, by then it was too late and the hevenly host came for him and for the paradise he had built in hell, the dimension of Despondos no longer safe from the prying eyes of God.

And despite him crawling back to heaven, despite him gaining what he thought he wanted for all these years of toil, he soon came to realize the true horror of the God he had returned to.

Only one thing to do! Go Nietzsche on his sorry ass!

#spop #hordak #horde prime #analysis

[anti-spop]

i think the biggest issue with catra's redemption is that it only serves to make c//a canon.

catra's redemption isn't about her realizing she abused adora, that she was like shadow weaver, that she indirectly killed angella, that she nearly destroyed adora and glimmer's relationship, that she drove scorpia and the horde trio away, that she manipulated entrapta and betrayed her, that she also took advantage of hordak who was feeling abandoned. and ofc, catra destroyed lives, killed lives.

but sadly, none of this matters. catra is just destined to be adora's girlfriend in the worst way possible.

#i post #spop critical

[thestargayzingetherian]

Shadow Weaver's "Redemption"

So I often see posts going around about Shadow Weaver's death scene and how she "deserved worse" or "doesn't even count as a redemption". In my opinion, like a lot of She-Ra stuff online, it ignores a lot of the nuance of the show's actual writing.

I don't really call her arc a redemption arc... but I do see this scene in particular as her finally, at long last realising how much harm she's caused to Catra and Adora. By keeping them apart... she's actually made Adora weaker, ironically, all those years of manipulation... and it's been for nothing. Adora isn't her perfect little pawn, she's weak and dying of green prime virus running through her and hurting at the thought of her best friend dying to Prime's little pet cthulu.

I see way too many people say that SW should have died sooner and to be honest, yes, if this was any other story, yeah they'd have probably killed her around season 3. If they genuinely did want her to have a redemption, they'd have made her arc in seasons 3 and 4 more genuine, have her work to really be an ally of the rebellion and not being the manipulative witch she'd always been. But that's not what Nate Stevenson wanted to do. By keeping SW around as long as the show did, they got do more with her and show how someone like her is in various environments, both in the Horde and on the side of the rebellion.

I genuinely think this WAS SW doing a "one good thing" like Catra did. And to be honest, it was the only good thing she could really do. There is no way that if she did survive this that she could truly make ammends for the harm and cycles of abuse she perpetuated, especially not at this point in the story.

Hordak was at least under the influence of his programming and war was the only thing he knew when he started the Horde. Sure, he's not entirely absolved of his actions in the war, but he's at least more of a victim and his compassion for Entrapta show's he's at least worthy of a second chance. Shadow Weaver was clearly a woman driven by power, a desperate need for control and that was her own choice, likely from being scared of being weak. (I believe she was telling the truth when she told Catra that Catra reminded her of herself, that she was once a weak and hurt young woman who hated being weak and wanted to be stronger and that began her lust for power.)

Also, what she says to Catra and Adora? "It's much too late for me, but your story is just beginning. I'm so proud of you. You're welcome."

She could have very easily just said sorry, much like Catra did when she rescued Glimmer.... but would ANY apology be really able to make up for what she did? No, probably not. Instead its just... "you're welcome" as if to say "you're finally rid of me, congrats". Because she knows that pain now and how it tore Catra and Adora apart. And the fact she does this with her mask off, without any hint of lies, as if to be finally honest for the first time in so long.

I know it's fun to dunk on SW and say she's the worst ever and yeah, I do enjoy that too... but I also know what her arc, if you can call it, that is about and why she is in the story. Like everything in She-Ra, she has a lot of nuance to her, even if you didn't realise it.

#Spop #She-Ra #Shadow Weaver #Catradora #Catra #Adora #anaylsis #analysis

[spop-romanticizes-abuse]

you know, i feel like hordak was on his way to a redemption arc before catra lied to him about entrapta and opened the portal.

not a “repends for his actions, joins the heroes and helps save the day” kind of redemption, but a “decides to stop trying to please his abusive creator with a god complex, and starts a new life with his girlfriend” kind of redemption arc.

he had begun to doubt horde prime's intentions at that point, thanks to entrapta, and he had also begun to learn what true compassion felt like.

the old hordak might have been like catra and opened the portal at any cost. but at that moment, the fact that he tried to stop catra from opening it and demanded to speak to entrapta was proof that he had begun to prioritize himself and entrapta over horde prime.

idk while i don't want an authentic redemption arc for hordak, i would have liked to see where this led, if it wasn't for the whole portal sequence and forced misunderstanding between him and entrapta.

#she ra #spop #thoughts #spop hordak #spop entrapta #hordak #entrapta #entrapdak

[gram-she]

Thinking about how Hordak's arc plays with the red right hand trope. Hordak is physically disabled and uses modified power armor to deal with it. Hordak revealing this vulnerability to Entrapta is the start of his redemption arc. So rather than the disability being a marker of Hordak's status as a monster it is Hordak's hiding his vulnerabilities as a marker of his villainy.

#me babbling #shera #hordak #ableism

[docgold13]

Profiles in Villainy Redemption

Catra

A feline humanoid from Etheria, Catra was orphaned in her early childhood and taken in by the sorceress known as Shadow Weaver.  Catra became a cadet in the ranks of the Evil Horde, serving Lord Hordak in his quest to conquer the realm and put down the Princess Rebellion. Although she was greatly skilled and shrewd, Catra’s oppositional nature acted as an obstacle in her obtaining the rank of Force Captain.  

Catra became close friends with her fellow cadet, Adora.  The two were inseparable and Catra harbored an unspoken love toward Adora.  As such, Catra was emotionally crushed when circumstances led to Adora’s defection from the Horde so to join the Princess Rebellion.  Appreciative of Catra’s abilities and passion, Hordak awarded her the rank of Force Captain and assigned her the task of capturing and returning Adora.  

Adora had unlocked the Sword of Grayskull and was transformed into She-Ra, The the Princess of Power.  Adora’s return to the Horde was a lost cause and Catra sublimated her broken heart by dedicating herself to an ambition goal.  She set in motion a series of schemes that would ultimately enable her to usurp Hordak as the ruler of the Horde.  

When Hordak Prime came to Etheria, however, Catra found herself rethinking her attitudes.  She aided She-Ra in ultimately defeating Hordak Prime. Herein Catra professed her love to Adora.  Adora felt the same toward Catra and the two became a couple as Etheria entered into a new era of peace.  

Catra’s tale was different in the original narrative of She-Ra.  In this earlier iteration, Catra was C'yra of D'riluth the Third, a powerful shapeshifter and priestess of the Magicats. Assuming the title of ‘Catra,’ C’yra acted as a Force Captain for Hordak.  Although an often loyal lieutenant to Hordak, Catra harbored ambitions of her own and sought to conquer Etheria by becoming Queen of The Magicats.  She was thwarted in this scheme by her bitter rival, She-Ra, The Princess of Power.   

Actress AJ Michalka provided the voice for Catra in She-Ra and The Princesses of Power; first appearing in the debut episode airing on July 18th, 2020.  Whereas actress  Melendy Britt voiced the villainess in the original She-Ra: Princess of Power; first appearing in the first episode, airing on September 9th, 1985. 

#Profiles in Villainy #Catra #She-Ra #She-Ra and The Princesses of Power #cut-out #paper art #Villains!