She-Ra and the Princesses of Power Rewatch 3.6, "The Portal"

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In the final episode of the season, greater shifts begin to take place, and a wider world begins to beckon.

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3.6, "The Portal"

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

Synopsis

It's a happy family.
Image taken from the episode, used for commentary.

In Bright Moon, Glimmer exults in the company of her parents, Angella and Micah. They are interrupted by the apprehension of Adora trying to break into Glimmer's room.

Bow, scholarly, is met by Glimmer, who pushes to figure out who Adora is against her feeling of knowing her. Bow objects, but Glimmer overrides him, taking him to spy on the interrogation of Adora by Angella and Micah. Under the influence of a truth spell, she relates her situation and the current circumstances; she is still disbelieved. She tries to point out the disjunctions to Angella, but she is taken away.

That is not the rising sun...
Image taken from the episode, used for commentary.

The fragmentation of reality continues, and Glimmer and Bow call upon the captive Adora. Glimmer accepts Adora's account, and Adora expands. Glimmer and Bow begin to recall how things are supposed to be, not entirely happily, as the advancing wave of non-existence approaches Bright Moon. They agree to aid Adora, and Bow realizes that Entrapta is key; they proceed thence as reality continues to fracture and Angella and Micah confront them.

At least she gets the chance this time...
Image taken from the episode, used for commentary.

The three pass to Entrapta's demesne suddenly, and Angella says goodbye to her husband once again in favor of aiding their daughter. Entrapta notes her understanding of the current situation and offers information about how to close the portal that is destroying the world. It will require a personal sacrifice--and Adora's sword is the key to it all.

The three suddenly find themselves at the beacon where Light Hope resides, with stars shining in the sky where they do not belong. They see Mara as reality continues to fragment around them. Adora enters the breach, Glimmer refusing to allow her to do so alone before they fade away and the changed Catra confronts her, knocking her away from her objective and tormenting her with her own failures.

KO!
Image taken from the episode, used for commentary.

Adora rejects the assertions and fights against Catra as she reasserts herself. Reality continues to fragment, however, and Adora herself begins to fade--until Angella arrives to save her. The queen confesses her own inadequacy to Adora before rising to remove the sword from where it stands amid the nexus of the unraveling world.

In the wake of Angella's sacrifice, Adora restores Etheria, and all are restored to the moments after Catra opened the portal. Said portal closes itself as She-Ra emerges in power, and those present flee. Adora and company return to Bright Moon, and the ensuing celebration is marred by the news of Angella's sacrifice. And, elsewhere, another threat presents itself...

Cliffhanger? Yeah.
Image taken from the episode, used for commentary.

Discussion

The present episode could be read as having a scene--Adora's conflict with the changed Catra--that moves towards Manichean allegory. Such is only tenuously medievalist, admittedly, at least in the common medievalism that looks to the western parts of Europe; a more global-minded medievalism might well make more of it. My own background and training reflects the narrower practice, however, and my life outside academe more or less ensures that I do not have time and space enough in which to do the work I would need to do to be able to comment more fully on the matter. Consequently, I would particularly welcome perspectives on the episode that take wider medievalisms more fully into account--or on any of the episodes of the series, really.

Perhaps an easier reading goes back to the Arthurian pastiche, with the present episode portraying Adora as more like Sir Palomides than the other Round Table knights. Consider, in addition to the color dynamics of Catra in the present episode, the commonalities of being outsiders from an (ostensibly) evil force who manage, through their valor and service, to become accepted parts of the (ostensibly) good and noble royal courts. Consider, too, how often the two do not slay their opponents. As ever, the parallel is not exact, but it is suggestive, furthering the medievalism of the science fantasy series.