She-Ra and the Princesses of Power Rewatch 2.7, "Reunion"

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As the second season of the series ends, Bow gets a bit of backstory, and a clear direction is laid out for the story to continue.

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2.7, "Reunion"

Written by Noelle Stevenson and Josie Campbell
Directed by Jen Bennett

Synopsis

Yeah, a red, flashing screen's not a good sign.
Image taken from the episode, used for commentary.

Considering his findings, Bow receives a sudden summons and races off to answer it. He is later missed by Glimmer, who recruits Adora to pursue him. They are able to follow him easily, despite his admonishment that he needs no help. Glimmer points out the oddities of Bow not noting his background, and she finds his bow and arrows just outside a structure that turns out to be a library. Bow and Glimmer and Adora surprise each other, with Bow hiding their weapons as his dads, Lance and George, enter--and welcome them warmly.

No tension at all...
Image taken from the episode, used for commentary.

In the Fright Zone, Catra sends searchers out after Shadow Weaver. Scorpia expresses concern, to no avail, as Bow's dads entertain a nervous trio. The lies Bow has been telling about his life outside emerge amid the almost oppressive kindness of the dads, as does their distaste for the princesses and the war against the Horde.

In private, Bow confesses to Glimmer and Adora, finding some rebuke from Glimmer. The family tensions at work emerge, but Bow notes that his dads' work offers them some avenue of insight into the problems of Mara and the signal.

It's not only flashing red that's a bad sign.
Image taken from the episode, used for commentary.

Catra frets in the Fright Zone, and Scorpia asks her for clarification. Scorpia tries to offer comfort, as well, and Catra reveals that Shadow Weaver has escaped. They are overheard.

Bow suffers through a tour of his home as Lance and George show off what they have. There is much material to review, and Adora's ability to read the ancients' language produces interesting results.

He does cut a dashing figure.
Image taken from the episode, used for commentary.

While Adora "helps" Bow's dads, Glimmer upbraids Bow for not telling her about his family and background. She urges him to come clean to his dads, and he demurs. And Adora activates a guardian device while "helping," and a fracas ensues, revealing that Adora is She-Ra, that Glimmer is a princess, and that Bow is a more-than-competent warrior. Explanations follow, and reconciliations immediately thereafter. And Lance and George figure out that part of the message is a star-chart, indicating where the trio needs to go.

Back in the Fright Zone, Hordak summons Catra to account for her failures--and for lying to him. It does not go well for her. And Shadow Weaver suddenly stands over a sleeping Adora...

Discussion

Bow's dads might be thought to be an immense departure from medieval history; popular conception certainly holds that, prior to "modern" "loosening morals," particularly in the "pure" European medieval, there was no sanction of homosexuality and that all practitioners of it were punished--severely. And while it is true that particular behaviors have occasioned rebuke at various points in the past, to assume that Bow emerging from a loving household headed by a pair of married men cannot be parallel to the medieval is flatly incorrect. Examples Berkowitz cites, for instance, point toward same-sex marriages (and what might be called "civil unions" closer to now); they are echoed by Pickett at Stanford, and Lyne points to similar examples in Ireland being not merely tolerated, but celebrated, just as others were solemnized with ceremony. Rather than being a deviation from the medieval, then, Bow's dads are a reiteration of it--if a less familiar aspect of the medieval for many.

The names of Bow's dads, too, evoke the medieval, both calling to mind legended warriors--Lancelot and St. George. Their characters do not correspond so much to the names as others (Lance from Voltron: Legendary Defender comes to mind as an example), but there might be a backhanded comment to be found in their inability to address the fight in the later part of the episode when Bow is able to act successfully (namely via the battle of Crécy, in which English archery decimated Continental chivalry). It is, admittedly, a thin joke, but one that is not unfit for either the poorly-punning George or his and Lance's avowed vocations as historians.