She-Ra and the Princesses of Power Rewatch 3.3, "Once Upon a Time in the Waste"

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Catra follows and darkly mirrors Adora as the third season progresses.

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3.3, "Once Upon a Time in the Waste"

Written by Noelle Stevenson, Josie Campbell, Katherine Nolfi, and Laura Sreebny
Directed by Jen Bennett

Synopsis

This is never a good sign.
Image taken from the episode, used for commentary.

Catra and Scorpia venture into the Crimson Waste on Hordak's orders. Catra is not pleased to have the company, but she begrudgingly accepts it. The two find their way to the settlement where Glimmer, Adora, and Bow had encountered Huntara. They venture there, and Catra is again displeased at finding people there.

Going in, Catra makes something of a scene, asserting herself formidably and intimidating information out of others after overhearing talk of She-Ra. She reasons She-Ra is bound for her own target, and she finds the information useful.

It does seem quite the sight.
Image taken from the episode, used for commentary.

Out in the Waste, Glimmer, Adora, Bow, and Huntara look upon Mara's ship with awe. They confer briefly before heading in and investigating. It appears empty to initial searches, but interactions with Adora's sword reveal hitherto uninvestigated spaces within.

That's Tung, there, in the mouth. Obviously.
Image taken from the episode, used for commentary.

Catra and Scorpia proceed through the Waste, preceded by a pair of the toughs from the establishment. They realize that they are enjoying themselves as they travel together and that they work well together--grudgingly on Catra's part. At length, Catra and her party come upon the headquarters of a desert gang led by one Tung Lashor, led there in an abortive ambush attempt.

Glimmer, Adora, Bow, and Huntara investigate the revealed spaces somewhat fearfully, coming at length upon the ship's control center. Activating systems, they uncover a repeating message from Mara, the previous She-Ra. Adora frets for a bit at the lack of useful information and rages at her circumstances before stumbling into useful data. Another message emerges, one that begins to reveal uncomfortable truths about She-Ra.

Things are looking up for Catra, it seems, at least for a bit.
Image taken from the episode, used for commentary.

Beset by the gang, Catra mocks its leader, fighting and defeating him handily. She assumes control of the gang and is lauded. They proceed in short order to confront--and capture--Adora after they have heard as much of Mara's message as survives; at Adora's urging, Huntara escapes with Glimmer and Bow. In the ensuing celebration, Scorpia tries to persuade Catra to remain away from the Horde, but after confronting Adora, Catra determines angrily to return to the Fright Zone to take what she believes should be hers.

Discussion

Watching the episode, I am somehow put in mind of the pseudo-medievalist sword-and-sorcery fantasies of Robert E. Howard. (Yes, I know the title calls back to a 1968 Western--but Westerns are also often medievalist in strange ways, as I have argued.) It is a thin veneer of medievalism for the episode to take on, admittedly, but I have noted several times before that a series does not have to roll around in the medieval every episode to make good use of it.

That said, I can also see something of perceptions of the early medieval Northern European warbands and petty kingdoms in Catra's assumption of power in the Waste. Her reign, as such, begins abruptly "by the dignity of her hands," to borrow a phrase from Malory and elsewhere, with her followers--save Scorpia, who remains a special case--falling into line based mostly upon the presentation of her martial prowess. The truth of such places is, of course, more nuanced than that; while there were certainly usurpations by force, there was also continuity based in part on consanguinity and camaraderie. Despite the assertions by many who would seek--wrongly, for several reasons--to wrap themselves up in mantles of "pure" and "manly" medieval European practice, matters were not quite so bestial as that, at least not always so. In such a system, little to nothing gets done, and things clearly did get done.

Too, the earlier-established medievalisms of the series remain in place. The powerful resonances of She-Ra's sword continue to sound. Adora continues to function as a strange amalgamation of Arthurian knights. Scorpia seems to commit even more fully to her courtly-love-evoking infatuation with Catra--though Catra gives some indication of moving towards reciprocation in the present episode. So the series seems not to be less medievalist at present than it has been, which is good to see.