She-Ra and the Princesses of Power Rewatch 2.6, "Light Spinner"

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A long look backwards shows that some things have stayed the same in the penultimate episode of the season.

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2.6, "Light Spinner"

Written by Noelle Stevenson, Katherine Nolfi
Directed by David Dwooman Woo

Synopsis

Pretty looking place, this.
Image taken from the episode, used for commentary

In a floating kingdom, a sorceress instructs her students, while another student shows off his prowess. The relationship between the two, Light Spinner and Micah, is clearly close for an instructor and student, and Micah chafes at not being able to study at what he perceives as his potential. A shift reminds that Light Spinner is a former name of Shadow Weaver, and Catra interrupts her imprisoned reverie to taunt her.

In the Fright Zone, Hordak is assembled, injuries upon him clear as Catra reports to him regarding her efforts with Shadow Weaver. He bids her be sent to more forceful imprisonment; Catra demurs, but Hordak insists, giving her a deadline for interrogation. He also rebukes Catra for her interest in Entrapta's work.

He's awfully young for a grad student.
Image taken from the episode, used for commentary.

Catra returns to Shadow Weaver, who continues to reflect upon her earlier life as a sorceress in Mystacor. Her teaching Micah is a focus of her memory; he was her star student, powerful but undisciplined. She enlists him in her projects, somewhat clandestinely, finding him of surprising assistance. Light Spinner tells Micah of her plan to combat the newly-arrived Horde.

Scorpia joins Catra as she mulls over her task. The stakes involved are made clear, and Catra's jealousy is noted. The complexity of the relationship between Catra and Shadow Weaver is reinforced.

It does look like a faculty meeting...
Image taken from the episode, used for commentary.

In the past, Light Spinner explicates the danger of the incoming Horde to her peers. She proposes a ritual she believes will be efficacious against them; her peers reject the idea. Forcefully. And in the wake of the rejection, she enlists Micah to her aid.

Amid the reminiscences, Catra returns to taunt Shadow Weaver with her impending fate. Shadow Weaver asks for a token.

In the past, Micah initially proves helpful to Light Spinner, but the spell breaches their control, and he flees. Dark forms take Light Spinner, changing her as the others in Mystacor arrive. She upbraids him for his cowardice, and the others rebuke her; she makes her escape, joining the Horde she had originally purposed to oppose.

Shadow Weaver asks Catra why she persists. After an initial flippant comment, Catra offers a more honest, considered response. Shadow Weaver works upon Catra, finding that, in a paroxysm of pity, Catra has provided the requested token.

It's not a pretty thing.
Image taken from the episode, used for commentary.

Shadow Weaver reflects upon the arrival of Adora at the Horde; she recognizes her potential and takes over her upbringing. And she enacts her escape from the Horde, using the token that had been brought to her. Catra arrives shortly after, finding herself betrayed. Again.

Elsewhere, Glimmer, Adora, and Bow try to track down a curious signal. It is a clue about Mara.

Discussion

Earlier-noted tensions surrounding maternal relationships are reinforced in the present episode; once again, Shadow Weaver's maternal behaviors are a focus. Even prior to her fall, she seems apt to manipulate those for whom she stands in loco parentis, as witness her near-successful attempt to cozen a young Micah into completing the forbidden ritual. It is a persistent problem, and one that likens her to the decidedly (early) medievalist work in The Faerie Queene. In the first canto of the first book, the Redcrosse Knight fights the spawn-consuming Errour, and while the idea of a monstrous mother consuming her own get is not new to Spenser, it does help to note that the trope pervades medievalist works, so that its inclusion in the present series helps to reassert the medievalism of She-Ra and the Princesses of Power. (I am also in mind of the different motherhood depicted in Voltron: Legendary Defender, as well as many works critiquing how motherhood is presented in children's programming. But I am not up enough on such things to be able to form some cohesive statement about them, at least not at the moment.)

I also note the focus on the carceral experience in the episode. It is another thing that has parallels in the medieval, though it is far from original to it. A 2009 issue of Huntington Library Quarterly makes much of the matter, and such medieval works as Malory's--already long-tied to the series in these re-writes--also feature imprisonment prominently. There is some subversion of usual patterns, however, in that Shadow Weaver merits imprisonment, while most of those depicted in various carceral works do not or argue that they do not. But Shadow Weaver's extended reminiscence on her earlier life does seem to fit the common mold of longing for freedom--though not motion toward penitence, certainly, not with how she acts towards Catra.

Indeed, Catra is more and more a tragic figure. What end she will come to, and whether or not she will super her unfortunate background and continued disregard, has yet to be seen.