She-Ra and the Princesses of Power Rewatch 3.2, "Huntara"

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Adora finds a foe in a false friend and a friend in a former foe.

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3.2, "Huntara"

Written by Noelle Stevenson, Laura Sreebny, Josie Campbell, and Katherine Nolfi
Directed by David Woo

Synopsis

Looks downright homey.
Image taken from the episode, used for commentary.

Glimmer, Adora, and Bow begin to travel across the hostile desert known as the Crimson Waste. Adora thanks her friends for joining her as they consult regarding their situation. It is not good, but they press on optimistically--despite the Horde corpses easily seen.

In the Fright Zone, Entrapta and Hordak continue working on the portal technology. Their work seems to be progressing decently, though a stable portal still eludes them. Hordak shields Entrapta from injury, and Entrapta puzzles out that a key is needed. Hordak angrily dismisses her.

The formidable titular character
Image taken from the episode, used for commentary.

The continued travails of the desert-going are pointed out. Bow suggests that preparation is needed, and Glimmer sees what appears to be a settlement. They make for it, finding it populated by a rough-looking bunch. Their introduction does not go well, and Huntara makes her presence known--emphatically. She offers advice and warning that the trio does not heed; Adora makes to enlist her, and Huntara agrees to aid her.

Back in the Fright Zone, Entrapta considers her encounter with Hordak. She also sees him in a state of disrepair, accidentally announcing her presence as she makes to leave. She rushes to his aid.

Huntara leads Adora, Glimmer, and Bow through the desert. They approach some understanding of one another as they press ahead, Glimmer and Bow doing so only with difficulty. They also point out problems with the trip--not long before being ambushed and despoiled.

Hordak wakes to find Entrapta tending to him. He confesses his nature as a clone of Horde Prime and glosses the history of the Horde and his own arrival on Etheria.

The trio escapes captivity. Adora berates herself for her folly. They proceed to retrieve their belongings from Huntara and her compatriots.

There's no way this will be a problem later, right?
Image taken from the episode, used for commentary.

Entrapta augments Hordak's armor, and some clear attraction between the two emerges.

Glimmer, Bow, and Adora come upon Huntara and her companions where they are exulting in their spoils. Melee is joined, and Glimmer and Bow dispatch their foes with ease. Adora has a harder time of it, but still emerges victorious; her ensuing transformation into She-Ra prompts Huntara's surrender. Huntara confesses her Horde origin and her desertion from its army. Adora invites Huntara to the rebellion; she reluctantly agrees and takes the trio to their destination in the Crimson Waste: Mara's ship.

Discussion

The seemingly romantic (oddly rendered as "friends" despite earlier depictions of romantic couples in the series) exchange between Hordak and Entrapta attracts some attention. For one, it offers some sympathetic view of Hordak--though only some, as he remains a conqueror even if given something like a motivation and something like a love interest. (Earlier comments about Richard in Galavant come to mind as a parallel.) For another, it rings of commonly-understood tropes of courtly love; Hordak makes awkwardly formal declarations on Entrapta's behalf (including an overt challenge to any who would speak ill of her) after she gives him her token (note the purple jewel in his collar, not unlike a tag on a pet's collar, visually). In Malory and in other sources, even antagonistic knights tend to act in such ways. ("Tend" being key; there are many, many exceptions--but the same is true even of the "noble" Round Table knights, such as Gawain.) And while the idea of worthy adversaries is hardly unique to the medieval, the combination of the token amid an armoring scene with the declamation on Hordak's part mark the exchange as a refiguring of medieval/ist tropes, grounding the series just a bit more in the medieval.