She-Ra and the Princesses of Power Rewatch 4.9, "Hero"

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Time shifts and warnings are issued as the fourth season begins what appears to be its third act.

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4.9, "Hero"

Written by Noelle Stevenson, Josie Campbell, Katherine Nolfi, Laura Sreebny, and M. Willis
Directed by Mandy Clotworthy

Synopsis

"It's Mara."
Image taken from the episode, used for commentary

Madam Razz fusses about to make her home ready for company. She had expected Adora, but Mara arrives at her home. Razz welcomes her warmly and invites her to bake a pie with her.

A sudden shift sees Razz alone in her home just before Adora comes to call. After a bit of confusion as Adora rattles off her present problems, Razz recalls a weapon associated with Mara and resumes making pie as Swift Wind arrives; he evidently makes a habit of checking up on Razz. The horse is not helpful initially, and Razz calls them along as she goes about her pie-making.

It looked a little different, then.
Image taken from the episode, used for commentary

Razz takes off through the forest, Adora and Swift Wind following in hope. They lose track of her, and she shifts back to her experience with Mara. Their initial meeting is tense, though Razz quickly defuses the situation and piques Mara's interest. Light Hope takes a harsher view, though Mara convinces her to withhold sanction.

Quite different, indeed.
Image taken from the episode, used for commentary

Razz shifts back to her time with Adora, who catches up to her. The later She-Ra investigates the area, finding the marks of Mara's presence and anger--and a peculiar crystal, about which she asks; Razz reports that the crystal was left by Mara for Adora. Adora continues to ask questions, not all of which Razz can answer as she shifts through time once again.

This time, a rampaging beast assails her, and Mara, arriving, transforms into She-Ra to save her. The efforts are unsuccessful, but Razz calms the attacking animal, to Mara's amazement. Razz begins to acquaint Mara with the local fauna, establishing the connection between her and Etheria that begins to work wonders in the world. Mara questions her mission and the Heart of Etheria Project to which she is assigned.

This is not a victory.
Image taken from the episode, used for commentary

Razz returns to Adora's present and Adora's questions about events. Adora begins to puzzle out the time-shifts as Razz continues to talk through her disjointed wisdom. Razz takes Adora back to her home as the latter continues to press for information. She shifts again to a time when the wounded Mara arrives at her home as strange magical exhalations spread with the activation of the Heart of Etheria. Mara resists the Project with little success.

Razz shifts back to Adora's present once again and rushes towards Mara's ship, shifting back into and out of a chaotic past as she does so. Bow, working in the ship, is startled by Razz's arrival; Razz reemphasizes the need to talk to Mara, and Adora realizes the crystal is the container of Mara's message. She plays it, and images from the past proceed with Mara's rejection of her "destiny" as She-Ra and the seemingly corrupted Light Hope. The terrible promise of the Heart of Etheria begins to become clear, and Mara takes Etheria into another dimension to prevent great harm from befalling. And in her message to Adora, Mara makes clear all that she can of events in her time and the lingering peril--and she comes to her sudden end.

Discussion

Madam Razz features heavily in earlier episodes in the series, notably 1.3 and 3.5. Of the first appearance, I comment that

the Razz of the title is an interesting figure. She is evidently not in the best presence of mind, but she is also evidently possessed of some power. In the episode, she easily scales the First-Ones ruin, for example, and calls her broom to her hand through an unseen force. She also effects escape from the Horde. As with the mirroring between Adora and Catra, there is ample antecedent for the device of the kooky mentor-figure, but I cannot help but thinking of the many hermits that appear in such chivalric works as Malory's, or even of the (predominantly female) anchorites of the Middle Ages. Such facets of medieval life are perhaps not as familiar as the knights Adora evokes or even of the triumphant archers that Bow re-presents, but that lesser familiarity does not make them any less "true" medievalisms than the other parallels.

I find, after rewatching the present episode, that there is a more direct parallel to Razz in medieval and medievalist work, one that follows the generally Arthurian pastiche at work in the series--Merlin. Razz's magical abilities are more notable in the present episode than previously. In addition to the broom-work and uncanny mobility seen before, she is able to calm a rampaging beast, explicate the nature of magic on Etheria, and light fires with a gesture; the more overt workings mark her more firmly not only as a hermit-mentor, but as one with otherworldy powers even by the standards of the setting.

Too, the present episode makes clear that the aforementioned mental difficulties are the results of Razz's perception shifting between timeframes--if it is not she, herself, who does so, experiencing the disparate times simultaneously, relative to herself. What comes to mind is the description of Merlin living backwards that appears in White's The Once and Future King and the Disney animated movie that derives from it--not medieval works themselves, clearly, but just as clearly trying to borrow from the medieval to inform and contextualize their storytelling. Indeed, the temporal displacement / blending allows Razz to inform Mara of what she needs to do with regards to Adora, the "future" existence allowing for some control in the "past," even as it points out once again the problems of time-travel.

What I said some months ago still applies, as well:

That such a one--refigured, yes, but so are the knights and nobles--appears in the episode can be taken as a suggestion that a more nuanced, detailed, and accurate idea of the medieval can be used well as an underpinning for the works of popular culture. Given the struggles against misuse and misappropriation of the medieval that pervade popular culture and academe, any such efforts have to be welcome.