Come with me, if you will, to a simpler time, to 2018, when Netflix tended to see a series through to the end, even those with LGBTQ+ protagonists.
In an environment when #cancelyourgays seems disturbingly evergreen in ways not limited to screens, the Netflix reboot She-Ra and the Princesses of Power stands apart. It’s the rare remake that exceeds the original while paying homage to it, and it’s a show for kids that isn’t just easy for adults to enjoy, it spoke directly to them, packing in hard topics as heroic Adora/She-Ra and her nemesis/frenemy/love interest Catra went head-to-head for the future of Etheria over the course of five seasons.
And the finale of course had the kiss that threw the culture into a frenzy, and made official what was always obvious: Catradora was endgame.
12. Roll With It
A seemingly filler episode that paid tribute to Dungeons & Dragons, as well as the original series and other beloved nerd faves, “Roll With It” revealed itself to be an exploration of Adora’s psyche. Things couldn’t get too heavy though, not when most of the cast got to contribute their take on how they would have their stories play out, and you had Horde soldiers Scorpia, Lonnie, and Kyle for comic relief.
11. Taking Control
Anyone who thought She-Ra couldn’t get any cooler after taking on the season’s final Big Bad was proved wrong in “Taking Control.” It may have made astrophysicists cry, but they could shed tears while She-Ra was soaring through space and blowing up pursuing enemy forces. Catra also got to see Adora’s new look for the first time, and finally begin to heal after her traumatic experiences, from Horde Prime and otherwise.
10. The Portal
Adora and Catra were finally pushed to the breaking point in the season three finale. Catra’s pain launched her into an all-out breakdown, prompting her to tear up the tentative support network she’d built despite herself, and oh yeah, open a portal that she was aware would undo reality itself.
The tragic thing was that it was all an effort to keep Adora close, and when it inevitably failed, the toxicity of their relationship and the human costs finally led Adora to break ties with her former friend, with the effects reverberating throughout the rest of the series.
9. Save The Cat
Adora and Catra’s reconciliation was hard fought, no more so than in “Save the Cat,” where Catra’s decision to save Glimmer from the show’s ultimate villain Horde Prime led Adora to attempt a rescue mission. In true Best Friend Squad fashion, things fell apart, with Prime easily discovering Adora’s intentions, and most horrific of all, transforming Catra into one of his acolytes.
But you could also count on the Squad to pull themselves back from the brink in spite of their infamous lack of planning skills, with emotionally and physically devastating confrontations ultimately and spectacularly culminating in a new and more powerful She-Ra.
8. Season 4 Finale
Princesses of Power really knows how to do a finale. The previous one may have changed the balance of power, but “Destiny Part 2” literally took the series into a wider universe, building upon the lies and manipulations that fractured the Best Friend Squad and drove even the so-called good guys to desperation, ultimately introducing who the real villain was all along.
Horde Prime had been referenced and even briefly glimpsed, but “Destiny” finally gave us our first look at who was responsible for it all. Prime proved to be a terrifying presence, and he arrived just as the cast found themselves at their most vulnerable, with Glimmer captured, the rebels in disarray, and She-Ra nowhere to be found, with Adora having broken the sword.
7. Once Upon A Time in the Waste
This episode has Catra in full anti-hero mode, having been sent by Hordak on a suicide mission in the desert landscape of the Waste. No one expects her to return, but with the loyal Scorpia accompanying her, Catra thrives, taking over the wretched hive of scum and villainy and triumphing over the Best Friend Squad in less than a day.
The tribute to sci-fi and Westerns are fun, and it’s a tantalizing, tragic glimpse of what could have been, with Scorpia and Catra showing glimmers of relationship potential. But Catra’s trauma soon resurfaces, kicking off a downward spiral that leads her to shatter reality. It isn’t until season five that she finally begins a long and satisfying journey to redemption.
6. Corridors
There are episodes with bigger developments, but “Corridors” is the one that changed everything, especially with fan favorite Catra, who finally decides to kick off a redemption arc so satisfying it ranks up there with Avatar: The Last Airbender’s Prince Zuko. Catra is still on Horde Prime’s spaceship, and her usual coping methods of denying her feelings and ingratiating herself to those in power are fraying, due in no small part to Prime’s true terrifying nature showing itself.
As she flashes back to her friendship with Adora in the Fright Zone when they were child soldiers and her bond with Glimmer grows, Catra takes the first step in redeeming herself. And there's a great comic relief subplot with Bow, Adora, and Entrapta attempting to keep their own spaceship intact long enough to rescue Glimmer from Prime’s clutches.
5. Princess Prom
“Princess Prom” isn’t just an enjoyable episode that takes full advantage of an excuse to dress its animated cast up in killer outfits, it introduces a new major character for younger viewers in the extremely powerful preteen Princess Frosta. There’s also the reveal that Scorpia is actually a princess, and then there’s tension galore when she brings Catra to the party.
It was clear from the beginning that Catra and Adora’s relationship was going to be the heart of the show, but “Prom” made it clear that their dynamic was not platonic. Their dance in this episode was absolutely bursting with toxic chemistry, and Catra absolutely wins the prize for Best Dressed in that suit.
4. Hero
In a show that unapologetically and smartly embraced the emotion of it all, “Hero” may be the most shocking and tragic episode. Adora was always aware that she was the latest in a long line of She-Ra’s, and there were hints that there was far more to the story that her predecessor Mara was driven to insanity by the weight of her responsibilities.
Through the aged and somewhat unbalanced Madame Razz, Mara’s tragic backstory was revealed to brilliantly devastating effect. Adora was forced to realize the true implications of what it meant to take on the mantle of She-Ra, and how the necessity of heroic sacrifice coincided with its lack of glory. A pie has never caused so many tears.
3. The Sword: Part 1 and The Sword: Part 2
The two-part pilot is a brilliant opening for the series, not only setting up characters, their world, and tone, but its habit of subverting tropes and expectations. It begins by giving us the traditional story of an orphaned heroic chosen one who finds power, then takes it apart.
Adora starts off the show on the side of the Horde, having been not only raised in the Fright Zone and firmly believing in the Horde’s stated mission of law and order, she’s one of their most promising cadets and the favorite adopted child of one of its highest ranking members, her mentor and surrogate mother, the villainous and very aptly named Shadow Weaver. But once she leaves the Fright Zone and meets Bow and Glimmer, she quickly begins to question what she’s been told, especially once she finds the sword that serves as the catalyst for her transformation into She-Ra.
It also marks the beginning of Catra’s transition from friend to frenemy and all-out antagonist, in spite of Catra proving to be shockingly aware of the many ways she and Adora have been lied to and manipulated by the people who raised them. It’s a tantalizing glimpse at what would become a groundbreaking and popular series.
2. Promise
Catra was already one of the defining forces of the series, but “Promise” proved she was also its deuteragonist, and this episode isn’t only devoted to her complex relationship with Adora, it’s the show’s version of a villain origin story, with their friendship and eventually, tentatively budding romance evolving through the years through Catra’s perspective.
Up until this point, many were baffled as to why Catra was even an antagonist in the first place, given her and Adora’s clear connection and the latter’s repeated efforts to reach out to Catra even after they found themselves on opposing sides of the war for Etheria. But Catra became a full-on anti-heroine and fan favorite after “Promise” detailed her and Adora’s abusive upbringing and its tragic results, with Catra embracing her demons rather than her better angels by episode’s end.
1. Heart Part 2
Is putting the finale of a series in top place a cop-out? Not if you’ve seen one of the most perfectly epic endings ever. Of course there’s the kiss that saved the world, with Catra and Adora making their love official, putting fans into joyous, emotional raptures and helping to shift the landscape of TV. Other characters get their moments too, including Bow giving a rousing speech, Glimmer proving herself as a magical force of nature, and others stepping up to beat Horde Prime and create a better world.
In the end, that world proved to be a stunning work of visual beauty, a melding of magic and nature, and the Best Friend Squad committed to spreading it to a universe that had been forcibly stripped of it. Farewells don’t get much better than this.
Andrea Thompson is a writer, editor, and film critic who is also the founder and director of the Film Girl Film Festival.
She is a member of the Chicago Indie Critics and runs her own site, A Reel Of One's Own, and has written for RogerEbert.com, The Spool, The Mary Sue, Inverse, and The Chicago Reader. She has no intention of becoming any less obsessed with cinema, comics, or nerdom in general.