#makes me wonder how they'll handle a potential season 2

[crackedegotheories]

In the livestream on Friday Mark mentioned there was an official trailer for The Edge of Sleep and kept saying he'd love to make his own version (not wanting to diss the creator of the official trailer, he just has his own preferences for these things), then waffling back and forth on it before finally saying he would post the official trailer on his channel right after the stream ended.

Two days later, no trailer on his channel.

At this point it's not even a theory, this man is using his weekend off to make his own "fan" trailer, isn't he?

[amelikos]

Speculations about the remaining eps of chapter 3.

Just thoughts about what could happen during the rest of chapter 3. This post contains spoilers of known titles for the month of August 2024.

As of now, we know ep titles until HZ063 at the end of August. Assuming there are no breaks in September, there will be four eps airing that month.

I am going by the assumption that chapter 3 will last until HZ069 (just so chapter 4 starts on episode 70 because that's a round number), which would mean that chapter 3 would have 24 eps in total (standard seasonal anime length). If that's the case and there are no breaks after September starts, the new chapter will start on October 18 (October is usually when new fall anime start airing and Horizons has followed that pattern so far, chapter 2 also started airing in October last year, though in the last Friday of that month).

We already know that the month of August will feature Roy and Liko's implementation tests. It's a bit unclear whether Roy's implementation will be a two-parter since we don't have summaries for the August episodes yet. Either way, it's clear that Hogator will evolve in episode 62 (there has been enough buildup by now to indicate that and the title makes it obvious).

Liko's implementation test should be happening in HZ063. We don't know yet if it's going to be more than one episode. If it lasts one episode, then there will be six episodes left in this arc to close off the chapter (going off by my assumption that the chapter ends in episode 69). If it lasts two eps, then that means five episodes left.

If chapter 3 follows the same pattern as the previous two chapters, then the climax should be two episodes, with one episode building up to it (just like how HZ0223 and HZ043 built up the climaxes of their respective chapters).

After August, the trio should be finished with their implementation tests. Which would potentially leave five or six episodes for the rest of the arc. Three for the climax, and two or three for anything else. I don't know what they could do with them. Potentially go back to Orange Academy. I don't think they'll be working in any more reports, but maybe they'll do another kind of school work (I'll still entertain the thought of the school asking them to do group projects and Sango being paired up with Liko to work on something even if it never happens in the show itself). I think it could be premature to have the characters face the Elite Four again for friendly matches since it already happened in the middle of the arc. But maybe Clavell could organize battles among students or something else to celebrate the students who completed their course, who knows. Liko and Roy have faced Sango and Onyx every time at the end of chapters so far (HZ025 and HZ043) so it could happen now too. We still haven't seen them use Terastal either so far.

Anyway, I have no idea what could happen at the end of this arc. I think Dai Sato (the main writer) or Kureha Matsuzawa (script coordinator) will handle the episodes at the end of the arc since they are the ones writing them so far. We should go back to the plot and mysteries (which I'm REALLY looking forward to), though idk in what form. It's too soon to face Rayquaza again imo (though maybe he'll show up?), so something else should happen.

Dot and Botan will probably uncover Agate's identity? Dot knows about Sango and Onyx, but she didn't recognize Agate. Since we're probably going back to the Brave Asagi in chapter 4, Sango and Onyx will no longer have any business in school either so maybe their covers will be blown alongside Agate. So far, it's easiest for me to imagine Sango and Onyx outside of the Explorers so I wonder if they'll be kept there? Clavell's comment about them being friends with Liko and the others should have a kind of payoff eventually, maybe..

Another plot point they could touch on would be Area Zero since they mentioned it recently, and Omodaka said she'd accompany the group there.

Potential other things they could touch on to go onto the next arc: Diana? (she is definitely getting in trouble eventually since Liko gave her a protective charm so by anime logic, that charm will be torn apart/falling to symbolize that it didn't keep her safe) Maybe Spinel and Amethio's beef? (unless it happens later down the road) I think Gibeon will appear and talk in the last episode of the arc in some way. It happened in HZ025 and HZ045 and Horizons has been consistent about these things so far, since we're always going back to the conflict between the RVTs and the Explorers every time (what the show is about). Maybe a full Explorers meeting at the end of chapter 3? More hints at Lucius and Gibeon's drama and Terapagos? Something which would help pinpoint Entei and Basagiri's locations?

Anyway, just a jumble of thoughts that I'm putting out there. I have no idea how the chapter will end. We knew the trio were going to face their respective gym leaders and pass their course, but beyond that, I can't predict anything about Horizons (which makes it fun to follow this series).

[halfagone]

I was just rereading Insomniacs Anonymous (which, good stuff 👍👍) and I was just wondering if you've seen Miraculous season 5 yet? And if so, thoughts?

Why thank you~ ✨

And yes! I have seen Miraculous Season 5. You might notice in one of the A/Ns in Insomniacs Anonymous I say that the story won't be following Season 5. Mainly because the story starts somewhere in Season 4 and diverges from canon from there, you know how that goes.

As for Season 5... I think this season made me realize that this genre is not meant for me. Yes, it's superhero media (and I love superhero media; I still need to catch up on Invincible before they release the rest of Season 2), but the genre itself is very different. Like how Captain America: Winter Soldier is action (you could even make an argument that it has aspects of the thriller genre), while She-Hulk is comedy. They're both superhero mediums, but the content and storytelling are completely different.

In general, I have a very complicated relationship with Miraculous Ladybug. I don't read fanfiction for it anymore, and I dropped a lot of the MLB blogs I used to follow.

A lot of my problems aren't even from Season 5 but comes from the show altogether. The characterizations are very inconsistent, and the writers often ignore their own worldbuilding. They'll create hard rules and then backtrack.

I'm not a huge fan of how Thomas Astruc handles the show and some of the characters. Keep in mind, this is the same man that once said Jesus Christ used a Miraculous, before he rescinded the statement when he realizes oh fuck this is a bad idea.

I think a lot of it comes down to the fact that there is so much potential, but at the end of the day, this isn't the genre for it. Their focus is on something else, so I can't judge it based on what genre I want it to be.

It's also a little disappointing because there are so many other cartoons that are limited by their ratings as well but they can do so much more with it. Like, Puss in Boots: The Last Wish is rated PG. That movie had depth and character growth and never once lost its charm and humor.

But I know there are those that really enjoy it, and honestly? It makes me really happy. Buggachat has some amazing art; her Bakery "Enemies" AU is an incredible display of love for the show. She also has some great analysis posts about the series, and Season 5, that I would recommend. There was a post she made about the Season 5 finale that made me appreciate it more. There's also frostedpuffs who makes beautiful pieces of art and fanfiction.

I'm never going to criticize anyone that enjoys it. I know what it's like to be interested in a piece of media that gets a lot of contention and discourse. With the rise in popularity with DPxDC, I've seen a lot of posts that gave bad faith interpretations of Danny Phantom because they didn't try to look into the show beyond the tropes they saw and disliked. Hell, just yesterday I saw the most rancid take on a beloved character that had absolutely no depth or nuance.

There are so many times when I'll see these posts and just know they've got it all wrong. Because they don't love the show. Sometimes they know the show, but they don't love it. You know what they say about authors and directors and creators who get their hands on a character they hate- they ruin them. Because they don't love them.

I don't love Miraculous Ladybug. There are parts about the show that I wasn't fond of, and then I'll see analysis posts about how the episode fits into the series as a whole, and you know what: they make sense. I couldn't have thought about it that way, because I simply don't love the show like they do. And I don't have to.

I don't think I'll watch Season 6 when it comes out. I was morbidly curious about Season 5 after the Season 4 finale, but knowing that the studio is hoping to produce 8 season total, I don't think I can commit to that. The show just isn't for me, and it's time I accept that and move on.

I'll still play in my little corner of the playground, but I think otherwise I'll just stand aside and let everyone else play with their toys how they want to.

[dreamwreaver]

You know, I was gonna sit back and enjoy the takedown of this take by the wonderful @anxresi but they deserve a break, so I'm gonna handle it.

Season 2 provided plenty of in universe reasons for Chloe to have the potential to be a hero. Yes she wanted the attention, but that craving for admiration and love comes from a mother who never gave it to her. Audrey couldn't even remember her own child's name until Marinette tried (in good faith but the worst way possible) to get them to bond over the fact that they're both "terrible" people.

Chloe's tendency to look down on those who are beneath her socially comes from BOTH her parents. Audrey who is just the worst, and Andre who consistently used his status as Mayor to do whatever he felt like without really listening to the people that got him there. And when for 14 years that's all you've ever known it's a hardwiring that's hard to break from.

Ladybug inspires her to be a better person, but one 14 year old should not be responsible for the betterment of another. Even still, Chloe tries, and the importance of a magical girl genre is TRYING. It also doesn't help that Astruc's argument of Chloe always regressing to her normal attitude is undercut by the fact that at least up through season 3 practically every non two parter episode is self contained. Without explicit references to something that happened earlier you have no way of telling which point in the timeline Chloe's behavior falls.

I think most fans of Chloe's problem with the way things have panned out isn't necessarily her being corrupted, it's how lazily we got it delivered to us. A corruption arc needs time and focus dedicated to it, and we got one episode focused on Chloe being targeted before the finale. Not to mention the fact that the show's thesis of "Marinette needs to learn a lesson every episode" completely undercuts Chloe allegedly choosing the darker path because the narrative went out of its way to show that Marinette was making the wrong choice by letting her feelings for adrien and worry over Kagami stealing adrien from her caused her to make the wrong choice when it should have been Chloe.

Not to mention, Chloe was in a rock and a hard place. You have the magical villain telling you your parents will remain a monster but if you join him they'll be safe. Ladybug and Chat Noir and even Ryuuko weren't doing much to beat them, and even if they had Hawkmoth approached Chloe at her lowest point. Y'know, the narrative point where most people make bad choices? We can see when she's defeated how much it hurts, and what hurts isn't losing the power of queen bee, it's losing pollen, one of the few friends she has.

Seasons 4 and 5 don't help as now the narrative pushes Chloe 2.0 on us with none of the baggage or interesting aspects a character who isn't in the background should have, who is instantly loved by everyone to the point of warping people's personalities around her, and every episode that features her as more than a bg character goes out of its way to shit on Chloe and turn her from a mean girl who was a hurt child crying out for love to a legit sociopath who does things way worse than our s1 baseline for how low she sinks. Now riddle me this; we didn't have enough time to show Chloe being preyed upon for her downfall, but we have plenty of episodes to spare just to shit on Chloe and have the narrative tell us how we should feel about her backstory.

Meanwhile the guy who betrayed ladybug way worse than Chloe ever did and the literal main villain who by the end of season 5 was shown to have gone completely insane with his desire for power, are allowed to be or at least be remembered as heroes. Let's remember; Felix pretended to be adrien and handed over every other miraculous from Ladybug's yoyo for the peacock jewel, created a sentimonster for the express purpose of committing genocide, and drugged ladybug for some trippy play to ask for her help instead of just telling her who the villain was and trying to help her come up with a plan to stop him. Or god forbid, at the bare minimum APOLOGIZE.

And if you want someone who doesn't want to change, doesn't care to be better, and is genuinely devoid of any good qualities: Lila or whatever name she's got this week is right there. As a matter of fact she only gets worse as the seasons progress. We never expected Lila to get better from her first introduction when she refused Ladybug's apology. I'm not saying she needed to, but she said "you're right, we'll never be friends" instead of, "thank you for apologizing, but I don't accept it"

One line indicates acknowledgement that one has done wrong but isn't entitled to forgiveness. The other is basically saying we are forever enemies and nothing will change that. Lila has never had any inclination to change and when caught just assumes a new identity. That's the villain we love to hate, not the girl who was shown to want to be better but wasn't allowed to be because the creator of the show forced the writers to walk it all back. And do not give me the "it was planned from the start" excuse, just because it was planned doesn't mean it works. If anything, it shows a refusal to allow organic changes in the writing process or take into account that the mean girl with a heart of gold archetype is a staple favorite character in magical girl shows, which miraculous rips off the most besides regular superheroes.

Tbh; I wouldn't have been mad at Chloe's corruption if they'd dedicated time and effort to it. But they didn't. And the fact that TA continues to shit on the depiction of neglect and abandonment Chloe represents by saying it wasn't abuse, her parents were abused by her, bullies can never be heroes, and that her being sent off to live with the person who treats her the worst while her equally culpable father gets to wash his hands of the kid HE fucked up while starting over with the daughter that ISNT EVEN HIS meanwhile the guy who terrorized paris for love gets a fucking statue in his honor is just bad writing. It's a spit in the face of the fandom.

Why do Miraculous fans think that Thomas Astruc hate Chloe?? Because he didn’t have her a redemption arc she didn’t even need?

It’s not hating a character to make them an antagonist, or just a bad person. People love Disney vilains for a reason. And Thomas created Chloe to be a mean girl.

Season 3 showed that her character had more depth, that bad things happened to her when she was little, and that she has a softer side… But that doesn’t mean Chloe should suddenly become a good person. It just means that Chloe’s character is complex.

But the show made it clear until now why Chloe couldn’t get a redemption arc: she doesn’t want to change. She wants to keep her privileges and treat everyone like they were inferior to her. She can’t possibly get a redemption arc now.

[sixstepsaway]

Something that would probably never happen, but which I'd love: an episode that sails into the gritty pirate action genre and let's Izzy be heroic. The poor little meow meow keeps getting fooled by ridiculous Steve nonsense. I wanna see Izzy use his awesome swordfighting skills to murder a whole bunch of enemies. Or have his supplying foresight save the day. "We don't have enough gunpowder...I ordered our stores replaced with marmalade." "I ordered the marmalade dumped and restocked on gunpowder at our last port." Pathetic baby is good at his job but he's stuck in a narrative that will only let him fail comically.

I would LOVE that. I feel like we might get that at the start of season 2?

I have this hunch that the start of season 2 is going to go similarly to the start of season 1, in that Stede and Ed won't share a screen until the third episode or so? Which, I'm actually pretty positive for.

But since Ed is on the Revenge (our setting, our home base) with Izzy, I feel like we'll see both him and Stede? Maybe we'll get episode 1 focus around Ed and Izzy (+ Jim, Fang, sadly not Ivan and I wonder how they'll explain him being gone, and Frenchie, and potentially Lucius depending on how they play that) and what's been going on with them, and then the end of episode 1 will be Stede and the crew from the island boarding and commandeering a ship, perhaps (rooting for it to be Ed's original ship tbh).

Then episode 2 we'll see more of Stede and co, and maybe see some Izzy and Ed towards the end, and then join the two crews back together for episode 3?

I feel like having them reunite sooner than the end of episode 2 at the earliest would be a mistake, solely because we need to see more of what's going on and how they get back to each other, so this makes sense to me.

So the idea that we might have a comedic but semi-gritty first episode set in Blackbeard's true world, with Jim and Frenchie being allowed to be badasses as well, and seeing how Ed is handling things and so on, is really appealing to me. And hopefully we can also maybe see Izzy be competent in the way we all know he is but he doesn't get to show.

(Bonus points if he realizes he fucked up re: Blackbeard and this guy is neither Stede's Ed nor Izzy's Edward nor Blackbeard and is, in fact, a scary motherfucker who needs reigning in, and he starts scheming somewhat with the others (Jim, Frenchie, Fang) to fix it)

[Extra comment: I had this idle hope that Izzy might be the one that saves Lucius, actually. Ed tells Stede he doesn't kill, which implies even at his most Blackbeardiest he was outsourcing to Izzy and him killing Lucius would be... bad for him and his psyche. Izzy even makes a point of offering to kill Stede himself when it's the plan because he knows Ed doesn't like to kill. I love the idea that maybe he fishes him out somehow because he knows when Ed comes out of the shell he's created, he will regret what he did and it will destroy him.]

[af1899]

THE REAL BEST NEWS OF THE UPDATE

The whole banner is boring, these are the real best news tonight.

POGGGGGGGGGGGGGG

Yes, after a long wait of over 4 years, Sophia is finally getting her first alt and as a free unit, which is very nice.

Part of the artwork, as well as the event information, should be out in less than 2 hours since this post's date/time.

Anyway, I'll now comment on a few things about the new units now formally revealed with skills and artwork.

Trailer

Thoughts

The seasonal units come to no surprise as they were all previously leaked (thanks again Intern-kun!) but there are some interesting things in this reveal and the associated notice.

First of all, you're perhaps wondering how well I did with my guesses on the attires Male Grima and Kurtnaga would be doning plus the free unit potentially being Nasir, well... completely wrong with the last two, Kurthnaga isn't dressing like a Jiangshi, actually looking more like an... emperor? But if you know his role in the Tellius games, then it makes sense, either way he looks nice, I was right with Male Grima, more dressed up than his Female counterpart and the like, but Okuma Yugo takes on drawing Male Grima again and he looks so cool.

However, I'm still shook one of my biggest favs in Elibe got an alt like, out of nowhere, I was totally expecting some Tellius unit that'd go along with the theory I had in mind, nevethless, I'm excited to build her and comment on her gameplay elements (that'll be done once I have her properly built, but I need to prepare some resources in advance), I'll also talk about the event stuff later on, I hope today but something came up recently, so we'll see.

The banner itself remains the same: an easy skip with nothing I do feel like I need right away.

Male Grima is fodder galore for me, fortunately, he's easy to fodder for two full passive skills if one of them is [Sturdy Stance 3]. He's quite fearsome to face if you initiate on an ally of his near him, and he'll be pretty durable, replacing his special with [Moonbow] is also a good call, then add a movement assist, a [Atk/Def Bond] as [Sacred Seal] and he's set. It's also worth noting he's a colorless breath armor unit, giving him less likelihood to get WTD.

Rhea... Idk if that weapon type and animation would give away some important spoilers, but even though I know something regarding her identity, I'd rather continue avoiding spoilers, I have no way to play her home game. She's also another fodder galore unit in my eyes; but onto what's she like as a unit, not as great as Male Grima, and she relies on both keeping herself healthy to reduce incoming damage and deny follow-ups, plus healthy foes to deal follow-up attacks, not the most reliable thing but not too shabby either, keeping her health on check shouldn't be as difficult.

Kurthnaga has a rather interesting weapon over there, it makes its user beefier in enemy phase and you can inherit it to any dragon unit of your liking, the rest isn't exactly too interesting except for maybe [Even Pulse Tie 3] being on a seasonal semi-demote, it's a decent skill that can (in part) counter some teams or units but most of the time, you'll find it useless. He's also added like Spring Narcian, introducing a new {Experience} skill and an inheritable weapon, plus on demote too. 🤨

Lastly, Sothis is with Male Byleth, it seems to be the better fit for her out of the two despite his not-so-recent Legendary alt, since his Female counterpart leads a Duo with Rhea. Fodder galore as well but this one has some things to point out:

Welp, that's Múspell's C-skill but without {Joint}-esque effect all right, and you can give it to dragons, it'll likely stack with Múspell's C-skill, resulting in a slightly bigger boost in damage dealt and reduction on damage taken, most likely at least.

As a unit, this Duo is also best used on enemy phase, with a Lv.3 {Stance} of any kind being their best A-skill, they should be able to handle themselves just fine, but they're still vulnerable to arrows, green bow users like Rath or Python (for accessable choices) or Shamir with [Deadeye] should be able to quickly dispatch the Duo, they'll also most likely be used in offense than defense I think, they still don't seem super threatening, but their selling point would be the Duo Skill, which can help some units deal with Fallen Edelgard and some other dangers that tend to deny follow-up attacks:

...And it can be re-used on the same map.

Anyway, it seems everyone here has some sort of focus on being tankier and enemy phase oriented, yet there's a clear ounce of difference in how to use them, but nothing I'd exactly find super broken or must-have, the Duo might come in handy though.

I'll just free pick blue if available, otherwise I guess I'll go for colorless, green or red, I'm moreso looking forward to Sophia... speaking of her, it's possible she'll also play similarly to the units in here and her OG form (being slow and tanky, best used on enemy phase), if that's how she plays out, then [Close Counter], [Atk/Res Rein 3] (though I need a Brady first to properly fodder Plumeria) and [Pact Blooms+] are ready for her, but I'm short on B-skills and other expensive stuff, maybe [Flier Formation 3] since I have one last Díthorba to spare, I could pick [Quick Riposte 3] but my OCD wouldn't let me live with her just inheriting it up to Lv.2, and my only source without promoting anyone is Nah, so I'd have to do with alternatives, we'll see...

Anyway, thanks for reading and I hope you get who you want soon in the banner, hopefully Sophia will do great for you if you plan to build her also.

[gra-sonas]

Hey love, so I'm rewatching the show I'm thinking about the characters that haven't been paired up yet lmfao and there are some really great possible combinations here, I'd love it if we get a wlw couple maybe Isobel and Rosa or Isobel and Maria or even rosa and Maria, all three ave very intriguing to me. Isobel and Rosa had some great chemistry in those flashback scenes even though technically it wasn't Isobel the actor chemistry is still there, Isobel and Maria have an interesting if underdeveloped dynamic and Maria and Isobel could serve some friends to lovers excellence we don't have that on the show. As for Kyle, I also see him with either Isobel or Maria tbh, they would both serve, I would also love it if he was bi/pan and he had a male love interest. This is one of those rare shows where almost all the characters could be paired up in interesting ways( although I didn't necessarily ship them Liz/Kyle Maria/Michael and Kyle/Alex had wonderful chemistry in different ways as well) I would also love it if we had an ot3, there have barely been a couple of decent ones in anything ever, like that would would so good, an actual polyamorous loving relationship. The possibilities are endless I just hope they're not afraid to go there because while we're making strides in representation 99% if they already have a queer relationship will not have another one and if they do go there fingers crossed they back it up with good writing, it would be such a waste if they didn't take advantage of the overflowing chemistry between everyone, when it comes to friendships too, I want to see more interactions between everyone, strangers things has an even bigger cast of main characters and fewer episodes and they manage to give some beautiful platonic relationships. It would work here too where we have people in pairs or threes working on something together for a few episodes and then switch it up and then everyone teams up for the last 2 or three. Lol sorry for the long essay I just see endless potential because of how great and diverse the cast is as well as the possibilities mystery and overarching plot, the show has been decent so far, handling some things far better than others but it could be so much better in my opinion.

Maribel 😭 Forever upset that S2 (very likely) killed that pairing bc they came up with that BS storyline of them somehow being related.

WHAT A LOSS! They have such amazing chemistry, and Heather and Lily have both stated in the past that they'd be down for it.

I mean, LOOK AT THEM???

And on the show?

🔥 Y 🔥 E 🔥 S 🔥

Anyway, it's unlikely for them to ever make them an item bc of the "Isobel is Maria's aunt" thing. :(

Ngl, Isobel/Rosa worked for me when they were the same age (and I assumed there was some kind of real mutual interest), now that the dynamics have shifted, I kinda like them better as friends. I'm really not someone to condemn an age gap, I just think that Rosa has so much on her plate, and she still has so many experiences to make, if they'd both be 10 years older respectively (and Rosa had had a chance to grow up, find a job she likes, make some life experiences of her own etc) it would for much better for me. Anyway, Lily and Amber definitely have chemistry, so who knows. I'm here for allllllllll the wlw pairings! \0/

I'm a strictly Kylex BroTP person, so that's not a pairing I'd want to see explored romantically, however, I really digged Kyle and Max sleuthing together last season! That was surprisingly good, and they had great chemistry.

And Isobel and Kyle? HELL YEAH. Sadly their best scene is from that cursed episode I'll never in my life touch again, but I've always been a huge Kybel fan. Although I have to say that Kyliz is my OTP. I know, I know, they'll never be endgame, but I love them together. And while I'm DYING to see Isobel exploring her sapphic side, Belmanes has grown so near and dear to my heart, I'm not yet willing to let go of the idea of them ending up together. 🥺

Kyle and Maria could be interesting, no idea whether the show's going to pair off more main characters with each other tho. We'll see.

And while I absolutely don't mind OT3s, I'm not exactly yearning for one tbh. And honestly, after the absolute WORST way to force one on us last season, I'm kinda violently opposed to the idea of this show ever getting another shot at pairing three people together.

I'd rather they focus on writing decent storylines for the core 8, write an EXCEPTIONAL COSMIC love story for Malex, and otherwise put in the effort of telling good love stories for the other characters - especially when they are queer storylines.

Lol sorry for the long essay I just see endless potential because of how great and diverse the cast

Oh, I get that, nonnie (and no need to apologize!), the cast members are all amazing, and they have such great chemistry with each other (on and off screen), it's easy to imagine all kinds of things (and hell, that's what fandom's for, right?). :D

[aros001]

Going in blind: Watching season 5 for the first time. Random thoughts.

Episode 1: Well...that dinner got dark. From what other fans have told me apparently Glimmer gets a lot of hate for her decisions during the series and I just find that odd. I was more annoyed with her in the early seasons where her actions were more harmless simply because she had no patience and wouldn't listen because of her immaturity. Season 4 and here though? Even her most reckless and risky actions have at least been fueled by the genuine desire to keep people safe during a very hard situation. Even here, yeah, she tells Prime something it's very bad for him to know but he was going to have Adora and everyone else literally murdered before her eyes if she didn't. I can't really be mad at Glimmer for making a bad choice when it flows logically and fueled by the desire to keep the people she cares about from being slaughtered.

I don't think we've ever seen Catra this completely at the mercy of another person before, save maybe for Shadow Weaver when she was a child. She has nothing to offer that Prime doesn't already possess. Nothing he wants that he can't get for himself. Her relationship with everyone these past few seasons have been either "I'm your commander and you have to do what I say" or "You are my commander and here's the reason you have to keep me around". This time she has nothing to protect herself behind and the only reason she's still around is because Prime might think of a use for her later.

I love having Scorpia on the heroes' side.

Episode 2: That ending though.

I think what helps elevate Entrapta for me and keeps her for being annoying or irritating is that the show really sells that she just genuinely has trouble understanding why she should/shouldn't be doing certain things. It's not stupidity or even pure self-absorption, she just struggles with people and social ques while machines and science is a lot more straightforward. Heck, she was probably able to bond so well with Hordak because work together in the lab was them meeting on a common middle ground she could understand and relax in. The way she's trying to overcome the issue to help save Glimmer reminds me a little of Mob from Mob Psycho 100, feeling a little frustrated in not understanding something that she knows she should be.

Episode 3: Anybody else get a Disney's Hercules vibes at the end there?

Catra: "Besides, O Oneness, you can't beat her! She has no weaknesses! She's gonna kick your...!"

Prime, smiling: "I think she does, little sister." [Strokes Catra's hair] "I truly think...she does."

This episode really sold how completely isolated Catra is. With the sole exception of Glimmer, she's in space, no idea where exactly she is, onboard a ship filled with nothing but Prime and hundreds of cultist clones. Throughout the entire series we've seen Catra push everyone away and now that she's in a situation where she is almost well and truly on her own with no power, freedom, or authority, she seeks out the one other person around to find any sense of comfort in. Despite everything, Catra doesn't like being alone.

Little child Catra lashing out because she didn't want Adora to have any friends other than her kind of reminds me of Glimmer and Bow during the Princess Prom episode. I imagine it's the same mentality. Growing up in isolation, even if in different forms, and finding only that one person they feel thay can really lean on, there is that fear that they'll find someone else they like more and start caring about them less, or even outright stop. The difference is Bow set Glimmer straight, assuring her he'll always be her friend no matter what but he's not going to be just solely dedicated to her. Her fear was understandable but she was not respecting him as a friend either. Adora never really had that with Catra, one because she was much younger and less mature than Bow, and Catra was probably all she had too, to an extent. As we saw season 1, she was always trying to look after her, even when Catra needed to take responsibility for herself. Bow is not Glimmer's keeper, while Adora too often was that for Catra, so Bow and Glimmer have a better foundation of mutual respect while Adora and Catra's dynamic has been really screwed up for a long time.

Kind of tying into that, despite all that's happened between them, the minute Adora hears Catra's in distress she starts panicking and tearing up. The last time they saw each other they were very much enemies and Adora was done reaching her hand out to her. I suppose you could make the argument she's really been hoping all this time that Catra would finally do the right thing for once, just probably didn't expect it to be like this.

Prime better not mind wipe Catra like he did Hordak.

Episode 4: See, calling the heroes the rebellion now makes sense since they are rebelling against the established power, which is Prime.

Love that trick with the reflections, where you can sort of see/sort of can't see She-Ra. A nice little tease for what I imagine will be a big reveal later.

I really like that explanation for what Bow's going through. Last season's finale was the last he'd seen Glimmer and was desperately trying to save her, and he's been consistently worried for her since then. Now that she's safe he's starting to let himself process his other emotions towards her, and I totally get it. It's hard to be mad at someone when you're also terrified over what might be happening to them, even if your anger is justified. While I get why Glimmer last season did what she thought she had to, it was still a big risk that Bow warned her about and she didn't listen, putting them all in danger. This situation and Glimmer's words is a very mature way of handle this topic. He's not wrong for being mad and it's not a contradiction to what we've been seeing from him this season. Humans and emotions are complicated.

Episode 5: SHE HAS PAAAAAAAAANTS!!! (I will miss the cape though)

That almost makes up for them cutting Catra hair. Seriously, that mane was beautiful!

But boy, speaking of Hercules, that return of She-Ra definitely felt like Hercules emerging from the pool of souls to save Meg.

With the one clone being disconnected from the hive mind and having a breakdown over it, that does make me wonder if Hordak has been connected to it. Wasn't he deemed a defect because Prime couldn't connect to his mind? I suppose it's possible that flaw was corrected. Clearly Prime can take over minds other than just his clones, like with Catra. But if he could do that I'm wondering why he just didn't when Hordak was first created and he instead cast him out to Etheria.

Was Catra purring at the end? I swear there was a sound that sounded like purring.

Episode 6: Assimilation is easily one of my biggest fears in fiction, be it zombies, Borgs and Cybermen, Get Out, the freaking Sapphire Dragon from Xiaolin Showdown that scared the hell out of me as a kid! Just the concept of having your free will and autonomy completely ripped away from you, potentially with you still being aware but unable to do anything about it, is horrifying! At least with Prime's chips the process is reversible.

Anyway, in lighter plots, I kind of love Wrong Hordak. He's really funny. I feel bad that he's being deliberately misled, but he really shouldn't be following Prime anyway, so...

I do like that Adora is being a little more tough on Catra. She needs kindness, yes, but she also needs honesty and discipline, the kind that has actual love and care behind it, unlike what she got from Shadow Weaver. Adora is genuinely trying to help so Catra needs to stop acting like a brat and LET HER HELP.

Episode 7: Catra was definitely purring.

I'm going to go out on a limb here and assume people probably ship Scorpia and Perfuma. Not that I have any problem with that. It's like the Midoriya/Todoroki ship; I don't ship it myself but I totally get why others do. It's a relationship based in mutual respect and one of the characters having a significantly positive effect on the life of the other. As long as the shipper themselves is not horrifically toxic, I don't care.

Also, I don't think I've ever been so intimidated by Mermista before than I was with that one shot of her in silhouette, just before the reveal she was chipped.

Episode 8: Okay, I definitely love Wrong Hordak. Just that realization of his. "Horde Prime...lied to us..." There's just something about it that's so full of character. Obviously he's a brainwashed clone but he was truly devoted to Prime and just to find out that he would keep something so big from them, from the hive mind that's supposed to be so open to him and each other, it destroys everything he ever believed in. It's hilarious to watch him prepare to lead his brothers in a revolt against Prime.

I assume magic is Prime's "weakness" in that he himself cannot control it. Obviously he can control magical beings like Spinnerella and have them use magic but magic itself is too free and too powerful for him to contain and fully fight back against. He's all about order and stillness and magic is basically chaos.

Episode 9: I like to believe the mushroom kingdom they saved is a Mario reference.

Something I like in hero stories is "the power of a name" or "the power of a symbol". Something as simple as Superman's S-shield can have so much weight and meaning behind it just because of the person it's tied to. She-Ra isn't just a powerful warrior to the people of Etheria, she's a hero of legend. We saw it touched on even back in season 1 how much Adora returning She-Ra to the world meant to everyone. She-Ra to them is a symbol of hope. If they have her on their side, then they believe they might be able to win and with that ordinary people can find the strength to fight too. It's something I think the Green Lantern put best with how the Blue Rings of hope supercharge the Green Rings of will but lose a lot of their functions when the greens are not around. Hope is useless if you don't have the will to also act, but in turn hope can give people the will to act. The more hope they have that they can win, the more they will fight to win.

That was the nerdiest comparison I've ever made.

Episode 10: I appreciate a good bad dad joke and that's why I can't approve of "punderstand". It's too much of stretch to flow well. "Ruined" was good though.

I'm less surprised that Scorpia's been chipped and more that she's even alive. She was at the bottom of the ocean when the roof broke and she's a scorpion woman. I don't think water is a very friendly element for her. She's even commented on how good the desert was to her.

I wonder her She-Ra mode is not working for her simply because Adora is exhausted; mentally and physically. I don't think she's ever used the form this continuously before, and she's been doing it without the First Ones' sword that she has experience with. Her new sword and its transformations may be made out of her own energy for all we know. And then there's just the emotional toil of having Catra back in her life while it feels like more and more of the world is being turned against her.

Episode 11: Oh, I'm definitely shipping Hordak and Entrapta.

I think Re:Zero has spoiled me on dark magic. While Micah with his dark magic is a threat, in this show and many others dark magic basically just equates to "spooky, evil, bad stuff" magic that isn't that different from most other kinds of magic other than being either harder to control or more geared towards causing harm. In Re:Zero, dark magic was DARK. It felt unnatural, like a perversion of how their world's magic is supposed to be and that it didn't belong in this reality. Micah's dark magic is basically "I'm attacking you with shadows, oOoOoOo so scary!"

Not really surprised Catra left. She just got Adora back and now she's potentially about to let herself die. Perfuma said it best, letting people in and letting herself be vulnerable is hard. Caring about Adora and watching her die would be a huge blow, so Catra would rather curl back up into her shell and block out Adora again than have to risk taking that hit.

Episode 12: I keep saying it but now having them right next to each other, yeah, Mara's She-Ra outfit is better than Adora's. I don't know, there's just something grander about it. Anyway, on topic, I'm a big fan of superheroes and legacy and all that and I really like Mara's words to Adora. All she did and sacrificed was so that others, especially the next She-Ra, wouldn't have to do the same. It doesn't matter how noble and heroic it is, tragedy is tragedy and anyone who knows that kind of pain doesn't want anyone else to have to go through it.

I'm not surprised by the love confession between Glimmer and Bow. I felt it could go either way with them either hooking up or just staying really good friends, but that in itself is a sign of how good and natural their friendship is. I can easily buy how it would evolve into something more between them. The situation they're in probably helps. When Glimmer was taken they both thought they might never see each other again and that fear and worry probably caused them to reevaluate how they feel about the other. They've been clinging to each other since getting back, as every day could be their last. Something like that is naturally going to push two people together.

Episode 13: So...are there any plans for a season 6? Or a comic continuation like Avatar and Korra got? Because this was a good finale...buuuuuuuuut I feel there are definitely some things that needed a bit more exploration.

This is typically why I like stories with epilogue endings, especially those set some number of years in the future. Little glimpses of what everyone's doing now, allowing the audience to fill in for themselves what happened in-between. There's nothing wrong with this episode but it does just kind of...stop. They beat Prime. Everybody's cheering and happy. Adora suggests they bring magic back to the universe. And...that's it. We don't see anything more. No aftermath, no post-war, nothing. We end on the moment of victory, and while it's not a bad moment it leaves the ending feeling a little incomplete.

It kind of feels like the writers either really had to rush to the ending to make the 13 episode deadline or simply didn't want to address whatever happens with Catra and Hordak now. With the bigger threat of Horde Prime it makes sense why everyone puts aside past issues and works together. But now that the crisis is over, naturally everyone would have to address everything the Horde had done to Etheria for years with Hordak and Catra leading it. Don't get me wrong, I believe that Catra loves Adora, I believe Adora loves her, and I believe Catra wants to be a better person. It's not like I'm saying she needs to be locked up or executed. But she did cause a lot of damage and put Adora especially through hell, and just because Shadow Weaver is the one who screwed her up so bad doesn't mean she doesn't have any responsibility for her own actions. So it just would have been nice to get even a little bit of lip service to show that Catra would be trying to right her wrongs from this point forward, instead of just "Prime's gone, everyone's happy, bye!" At least with Entrapta she seemed to genuinely not understand why what she was doing at the time was wrong and Scorpia, like Adora and Huntara, defected from the Horde to do the right thing despite it being even more part of her upbringing than anyone else. I can't even imagine what happens with Hordak now.

Don't get me wrong, this is far from the worst I've ever seen a redemption handled. I haven't read/watched any of Boruto outside of the movie and Gaiden tie-in but I've read all of Naruto and there is no reason that Orochimaru should just be walking around and casually talking with people after all he's done. Kaiba in the Yu-Gi-Oh manga built an entire theme park to try an murder Yugi and his friends and they bring it up like twice after that arc. Kylo Ren turning back to the light was one of the potential paths for his character, so that made sense in TROS, but they essentially did "He died heroically and therefore totally redeemed himself for every terrible thing he's ever done."; basically a cop-out. Catra's alive and can at least potentially still own up to her actions and work to redeem herself. And I love Steven Universe, but kind of like with Catra nearly killing everyone (including herself) via the unstable portal, fans have naturally pointed out that the Diamonds enslaved and committed genocide on multiple planets and really faced no consequences for that other than "Stop it". Catra's not at the gold standard of redemption stories, which for me is probably Zuko and Endeavor, but she's far from the bottom. I think the best way to describe it is that Catra had as good, if not better, reasons for being so bad and screwed up as Zuko did, just as good step-up for turning good as Zuko did, but she didn't have nearly as much payoff afterwards to make it feel like a full journey like Zuko did.

But enough about all that. Love the basically goddess She-Ra Adora became. Given the emphasis on healing powers with She-Ra we've had, I'm guessing that's essentially how she destroyed Prime. She purified Hordak and Prime was basically an infection within him. I like when heroes snatch victory from the jaws of defeat but I also when there's an implication towards the villain that "Wow. I never stood a chance." She-Ra's power just dwarfs his. Full potential realized by Adora and he was just gone.

Also I don't know how I forgot that Prime could jump into the bodies of his clones but his possession of Hordak got me. I genuinely couldn't think of how he'd survive after Hordak shoved him off the edge (set free by the power of love!).

And even if the ending feels a little incomplete, the episode itself still did well with my emotional investment. I was gripped by during Catra's confession and the tension within the heart.

Season 5 and overall series verdict: I'm very glad I saw this series. Even though its ending falls a little short for me, this was still really good. Seasons 3 was probably my favorite overall but this story had a very good flow to it. It steadily built up bigger each season, with Catra and Hordak being really compelling villains driving the whole thing. Not that Prime was bad. He was a genuine threat and his cult of clones is a good creepy concept. He's just not as good as the other two. I'm sure part of what elevates him up is because I'm thinking of the JL director's cut but Hordak really is just better Steppenwolf. Everything that worked about that character, Hordak is that to an 11.

Given how I've talked about her more than any of the others, Catra is probably my favorite character. Just the damage that girl has been through. I always understood why she was doing what she did, even though there was rarely a moment I'd agree with exactly what she was doing. Again, it's one of the reasons it feels like the series just kind of ended. There's a lot to be seen with Catra's character now, a lot that can be done, and it just feels like a shame to really not show any of it. This isn't a fault of SRPOP itself because so many series, especially animated and anime, are guilty of but it always bugs me when a series ends on two characters hooking. Relationships are interesting, I'd argue more so than the build-up to them, but no writer ever wants to actually explore them after the hook-up. I never cared about Korra and Mako being a couple but I still found their relationship as a couple more interesting and character building than any of the will they/won't they build-up to it. And I actually like the idea of Adora and Catra as a couple. It's a big reason why I'm so happy the Harley Quinn animated series got renewed for a third season, as it otherwise would have just ended on a hook-up between two characters who, like Adora and Catra, love each other but have had a complicated dynamic for a while. I believe Adora and Catra love each other, but they've got a lot of stuff to work out and I want to see that! Catra's got abandonment issues and that in turn caused her to be unhealthily possessive over Adora. Just seeing the two of them try to work through that alone would be fascinating.

Like I suspected early on, Scorpia's my favorite supporting character. Entrapta's a decent 2nd. Took a small dip when it seemed like she was joining the Horde over feeling abandoned by the princesses when they thought she was dead but that picked back up once it was made more clear "Oh, okay, you're not being petty or stupid. You genuinely don't understand." It made her a more interesting character, and I love her and Hordak's relationship.

Least favorite characters...probably Sea Hawk and those three former Horde friends of Adora and Catra. I never hated them but I never cared about what was happening when they were on screen. They fill out the world a bit, they drive the plot, they're not wastes of space, they even get some laughs. There are just so many other characters in the series way more interesting than them.

Biggest surprise for me was definitely Glimmer and Bow. I never thought I'd dislike them but the best friends characters in series like this can kind of go one way or another with how relevant or deep they are. Glimmer especially I was surprised how much I was invested. She really grew a lot as a person throughout the series and I thought the dilemma over the Heart of Etheria was a good one.

Honestly there's a lot more I could talk about but I have only so many words and my thoughts are a jumble right now so I'm going to leave it at that. I will say I really appreciate how supportive you all on this Reddit have been. It's something I hate about some other fandoms I'm in where they basically are so toxic that they make no one else actually want to watch/read the thing they're fans of because they can't help but associate it with them.

Original Reddit post: https://www.reddit.com/r/PrincessesOfPower/comments/o2p6wq/going_in_blind_watching_season_5_for_the_first/