She-Ra and the Princesses of Power Rewatch 3.4, "Moment of Truth"

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World-ending consequences begin to emerge once again.

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3.4, "Moment of Truth"

Written by Noelle Stevenson, Katherine Nolfi, Josie Campbell, and Laura Sreebny
Directed by Dwooman and Diana Huh

Synopsis

She does seem rather emphatic about it.
Image taken from the episode, used for commentary.

In Bright Moon, the allied Princesses confer about recent events and their current situation. Glimmer calls for an assault on the Fright Zone to retrieve Adora; Angella demands answers from her wayward daughter.

In the Fright Zone, Hordak continues his work to complete his portal machine, aided by Entrapta. She tries to delay him; they are interrupted by the arrival of Catra with the captive Adora and the sword of She-Ra. The sword occasions some interference with Hordak's technology and which Entrapta recognizes as the needed component for generating a portal.

Glimmer continues to press for an attack on the Horde, with Angella demurring from concern for losing anyone else. The discussion between the two grows heated and personal, and Glimmer suggests using Shadow Weaver, which Angella rejects. Angry words are exchanged, and Angella storms out.

It's even worse when he smiles.
Image taken from the episode, used for commentary.

Preparations for the portal continue. Entrapta asks Adora for information, and Adora tries to dissuade her from continuing. Hordak seeks to silence her; she rebukes him for interfering in her early life. He rejects the idea and proceeds with his plan--until his body fails him. The sword, unsurprisingly, has ideas of its own.

Glimmer and Bow approach Shadow Weaver without authorization. Shadow Weaver recognizes the danger and offers to augment Glimmer's teleportation abilities. Glimmer demurs for a time, but she is attracted by the prospect of greater power and the pressure of circumstance, and she releases Shadow Weaver from captivity despite Bow's objections.

What is it with cat-women and whips?
Image taken from the episode, used for commentary.

In the Fright Zone, Catra works to reestablish her position. She notes looking forward to Hordak's impending triumph and flatters Scorpia. Elsewhere, Adora attempts again to persuade Entrapta to refuse to open the portal. It slowly begins to work; Entrapta begins to doubt the plan and conducts more research.

This is the kind of thing that would give a parent pause, yes.
Image taken from the episode, used for commentary.

Glimmer and Shadow Weaver begin to enact their plan. The other princesses insert themselves into the plan, despite Shadow Weaver's protests. Angella seeks to reconcile with Glimmer, finding her gone and speeding to where she suspects her daughter is. She is unable to arrive in time to halt her daughter, but can only watch in fear as Glimmer and the others teleport away.

The princesses, Shadow Weaver, and Bow proceed through the Fright Zone towards Hordak's lab. They are seen, and a running fight begins, with individual princesses staying behind in sequence to cover their advance against incoming reinforcements.

Entrapta's continued research reveals that the portal will destroy Etheria. She and Scorpia determine not to open the portal, but Catra determines to proceed, regardless. She incapacitates Entrapta and intimidates Scorpia into compliance.

That'll just about do it, yeah.
Image taken from the episode, used for commentary.

Glimmer, Bow, and Shadow Weaver reach Hordak's lab, where the portal is in process. Catra betrays Entrapta, and, after a brief fight, Catra throws the necessary switch to open the portal.

Discussion

I confess to not seeing much in the present episode that furthers the medievalism of the series, though there is something that matches ideas I have about the medieval as is typically presented. In essence, I have the notion in my head that many of the characters presented in medieval/ist works suffer from a combination of factors that lead to substantially impaired judgment-making abilities. After all, many of those who feature in medieval/ist works are teenagers, riddled with hormones and without the parts of the brain that handle the most rational thinking fully developed. Too, many of them suffer repeated head injuries, suggesting concussions and their concomitant problems. Further, alcohol use is typically seen as typifying medieval/ist life; even academic conferences that focus on the medieval, or scholarly meetings of learned societies that do that take place in larger conferences, focus to a comment-provoking extent on strong drink. And more general trauma afflicts protagonists as a matter of course. So it is not to be wondered at that medieval/ist figures will display astonishing lapses in judgment at times.

That basis for poor judgment seems to be in place for Catra in the present episode. Despite being told by a source noted for being accurate in making evidence-based claims that the plan she proposes will doom the world, she proceeds along that plan--acting out of what appears to be a need for revenge upon Adora. While an argument can certainly be made that Catra is justified in raging against Adora continually benefiting from privilege that she has not necessarily earned,* it is harder to argue that she is justified in killing the planet in pursuit of retribution. It is not so much of a challenge to posit that she falls into the same kind of thought-trap that leads to any number of follies in medieval/ist works--so I suppose that is where the present episode finds its way into furthering the series's medievalism.

*It can. The blonde-haired, blue-eyed Adora is treated better by most everyone than is the darker-skinned, wilder-haired, more savage Catra, even though Catra is demonstrably Adora's peer in her performance. This is not to say that Adora sought privilege or failed to work hard with what she was given, but even that can be taken as commenting on social privilege and its effects. Others might write on the topic more eloquently than I, however; I rather expect that they would do so. And my own positions of privilege doubtlessly make it difficult for me to see some aspects of Adora's privilege; I do not claim to have an authoritative perspective, though I will certainly claim to see no small merit to such critiques of the series.