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toooldforfandom-liveblogs · 5 years

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She-Ra and the Princesses of Power S01E07 - In the Shadows of Mystacor

I'm trying to remember if Mystacor has ever been mentioned but I'm drawing a blank. The title sounds portentous enough that it makes me doubt the episode is going to be about the Ice Princess but she's the only one left so I'm guessing that's what it’s going to be about! Let's do this!

...why does Bow have hearts in the soles of his shoes?

"Because I can" he'd probably say

Also, what's up with them sleeping in the wilderness? Was the technology for tents and/or shelter lost in whatever catastrophe the First Ones went through?

I had this without subtitles and for a second I thought "Hey, she's having nightmares about Light Hope, maybe because of the infection?" but then I recognized the voice. Of course, the subtitles don't leave a lot of room to wonder who's talking.

Sure, leave your friends and tell no one you're leaving. Great idea!

That's some cute bed hair. I'm still weirdly bothered about the fact that they straight up slept on the grass. Like, it gets wet! And there are bugs!

How long has she been standing there watching? It was still dark when she stood up.

* gasp * Continuity~

Wait, did Glimmer just tell them "let's go sleep in the woods" without telling them their destination?

Oh, so there's magic beyond what the Princesses can do.

...I think Castaspella takes the prize for being the most literal name in She-Ra yet.

oooh, is Adora going to have problems seeing it? Drama~

As an aside, after last episode I wonder if all magic in Etheria is actually just very advanced technology from the First Ones and the entire setting of the show is post apocalyptic. That'd explain why they the princesses need to recharge in very specific circumstances instead of just sleeping it off like most wizards in most other settings.

The biggest mood. I _am_ writing this during another bout of insomnia after all.

ooh, plot

What's Shadow Weaver's problem with Catra? Is it just "Adora's the good one daughter, you're the bad one"? Whatever it is, Catra's self value and resentment problems are 1:1 linked to that, especially considering how Shadow Weaver keeps poking at Catra's insecurities.

The red rock can probably still work under the "all magic is tech" theory since Entrapta's problems were all because of a gem but I'm not so sure about the stone basin and the liquid inside.

(that's a fantastic Glimmer face)

Oh. So she didn't have friends when she was growing up? She didn't seem to know the other princesses, and the castle seems to have mostly soldiers and her mom so I guess it makes sense? But still, that's sad.

oh no she's a grandma

So, magic definitely isn't something only Princesses can wield. Unless it's different from their powers? They do seem to have very specific powers versus what looks like these generic sparkles.

It looks like Glimmer's inability to be taken seriously goes beyond her mother. That she didn't have a lot of friends feels like an important piece of that puzzle, since it could mean she was overprotected when she was a child (maybe because of the war?) and only recently she's been "acting out"

I was thinking that maybe Castaspell was the other princess's mom but now I really hope she isn't. That passive aggresive personality would be incredibly toxic.

I can't figure out Shadow Weaver's plan. Does she want to freak her out for some reason? Is she leading Adora somewhere (how does she know Mystacor enough to know where she wants to lead Adora?)? Hm.

Also I'm really bad at recognizing voices but Castaspella's voice reminds a bit of Shadow Weaver.

oh my god I was going to write the same thing

OH MY GOD I WAS KIDDING

I can't believe they are exploring Glimmer's weirdly normal family issues.

Welp, that'd explain how Shadow Weaver's shadowy thing knows how to move around Mysticor. How long ago was she exiled? It'd need to be at least 20~ years ago to match with her adopting Adora.

Sure, _now_ they have blankets.

Huh. Interesting design choice to keep Bow's chest covered. Now I'm wondering if he's trans and that's a binder.

It wouldn't be my first guess considering it's so direct and trans characters are mostly limited to background characters if at all but that quote from the showrunner about her characters being gay unless otherwise stated makes me think it could be a possibility.

GLIMMER HAS WINGS

Aw, the cuteness couldn't last.

The design of those wings remind me a lot of the ones in Card Captor Sakura, I wonder if it's an intentional reference.

Aw. Adora really has a ton of stuff to work through, huh? I'm glad they are taking the time to do it, it'd have been so easy for the writers to just let Adora cast aside everything Horde related but nope, she has a past, conflicted feelings about her "mom" and definitely some trauma.

oh my god this is so wholesome. I mean, he's wrong, but still wholesome.

He's such a good boy. He's even willing to accept Adora's different way to dealing with her emotions.

Uuuugh, that has to be Shadow Weaver, right? A lifetime of experience manipulating Adora, she knows exactly what to say, how to gaslight her.

This level of emotional manipulation is killing me. Shadow Weaver knows exactly what buttons to push, exactly what Adora fears hearing the most. And she's probably has been doing the same for years to both Adora and Catra.

Welp, I hope all those crystals were not important.

My heart. Glimmer did not jump to conclusions or blamed her even though she just lost a ton of credibility with her aunt. What a wholesome marshmallow.

I guess someone could go and say "they are wrong because they don't believe her" but this really feels like it's completely out of their life experience so I can't blame them at all. And they are probably going to apologize once it's all clear, right? I'm not sure you can ask more from them, they have been extremely supportive.

nooooo, don't do this to my heart (or Adora's) this has to be Shadow Weaver but that almost feels wrong because if she's so powerful why hasn't she done this before?

uuuuuuuugh

Rainbow energy~ Is She-Ra going to have to recharge the shields?

yup

I can't believe I'm going to say this but this almost feels out of character. Why would Shadow Weaver reveal the shadow if she's been so good about manipulating Adora so far?

Aaand she's back.

I'm glad they didn't leave that as a mystery. Wait, Light Spinner? Is Spinnerella a relative?

I _love_ this. I mentioned how it felt like it seemed like some people (like Angela or Perfuma) cared more about She-Ra than Adora, to the point that even Adora herself seemed to prefer being She-Ra for a while and it was all on purpose!

Shadow Weaver is manipulating Adora but this is probably something that has been festering in Adora's mind for weeks and I love that it's something that's been present enough on the show to be noticeable instead of something we have to extrapolate.

AAAAAAAA

I didn't expect Adora to confront all her dark mom issues and trauma so soon but this is gooood.

whoa wait what, that's cheating

Aren't you like one more subordinate of Lord Hordak?

This is some heavy stuff that I didn't expect this show to handle.

I'm going to be slightly dissapointed if that's the end of Adora's issues.

she's in

This is so wholesome and cute.

Is it a coincidence that her gem works the same way as the distress beacon in Entrapta's castle?

Nooooooo.

I feel so conflicted about Catra, she obviously has a lot of problems but after this episode I'm finding it very hard to blame her. Shadow Weaver _liked_ Adora and was horribly manipulative to her, imagine what she has been doing to Catra every day her entire life.

---

What a surprise! It's been pretty episodic so far with the introduction of the princesses so a return to the Horde and Shadow Weaver was a completely unexpected. It even included some consequences from last episode's infection!

There are a couple of things I want to talk about but before anything else, let me gush about how Bow and Glimmer are amazing friends to Adora.

When the episode starts with Adora not being in the right mood, it only takes one look from Glimmer to notice there’s something wrong with her friend after she doesn’t react to her jokes. She doesn’t get angry at Adora’s moody response, instead she tries to understand what’s going on and offers her a vacation.

While I was watching, I thought this was after returning to Bright Moon but it makes a lot more sense if they are on the trip back from Entrapta. Had Glimmer already decided to go to Mystacor or was it in response to Adora’s bad mood? In any case they really emphasize Mystacor’s healing properties because they see how much Adora needs that.

And then during their stay they never get frustrated at Adora’s increasing paranoia, instead they keep trying to help her by suggesting ways to relax.

How easy it would have been for Glimmer to give up on Adora after the third time of being rebuffed? No one would have blamed her or Bow if they got annoyed but they just keep trying. Bow even shows he listened to Adora about what she did to relax in the past and suggests it back to her after the “normal” stuff fails. And then they give her space the second Adora asks for it!

Even after Adora’s breaks the crystals in the Lunarium and seemingly kills any bit of “grown-up” credibility Glimmer may have had with her aunt, she doesn’t get angry.

I understand that there’s a reading here that could say that Glimmer and Bow are in the wrong because they didn’t trust Adora about her weird visions from the get go but I feel this was a lot more realistic. How long has been Adora with them? How much of their past do they even know? Before this episode they hadn’t heard about Shadow Weaver and that’s Adora’s _mom_. In fact, I’m sure they don’t even know who Catra is, and that’s Adora’s strongest “positive” link to the Horde.

Would _you_ believe a new friend if they started seeing shadows after a traumatic experience that affected their cognition? Or would you try to help them in the way that makes most sense to you?

I think a plot where they believe her right away could have worked as a mystery but I’m not sure I’d have liked it as much as this one.

That last scene where Adora wakes up from a nightmare and shows her new trust in Glimmer by falling sleep right away was * chef kiss *

With all my unbridled gushing out of the way, let’s talk about Shadow Weaver. It’s interesting that they took a mystery that could have worked for a multiple episode arc and then revealed it in the same episode.

If the episode had _only_ Bow’s line “Mystacor is protected by a spell so evil can’t find it” plus Shadow Weaver’s shadow hanging around it would have been enough to set up a mystery about how she wasn’t affected. A couple of episodes later they could have shown Light Spinner’s statue. And afterwards they could have confirmed it. That they took the possibility of stretching something like that for episodes and episodes makes me optimistic about the future since I assume they have much better ideas in their pocket.

What I am _not_ optimistic about is how this episode felt like it was “the one where Adora overcomes the trauma from being raised by Shadow Weaver.” She’s still dealing with nightmares by the end but it still felt very rushed in that regard. I’m hoping I’m wrong and this is just her first step.

Glimmer’s struggles in making adults take her seriously have been interesting so far. It makes me wonder what will be the event that’ll change everyone’s minds. I doubt this show will go _too_ dark but a battle their side loses because they didn’t listen to her or a battle they win only because they listened to her could work. Technically, the Princesses Alliance is that but I’m pretty sure Angella won’t care much about it until they prove themselves.

Bow is still a mystery. An extremely good boy, but a mystery. I’m hoping that Catra’s sudden focus on him will develop him more. I’m still curious if he’s intended to be read as trans but it’s a nice head canon to have if not.

Oh, and Catra. This good has been very, very good about not being black and white but Shadow Weaver’s behavior tilted the scales towards Catra being a very sympathetic but tragic figure. She may be the black sheep of Shadow Weaver’s wards but it looks like she learned the lessons SW was teaching the best, probably because she was subjected to them the most during their life.

I think that's all for now. There's still a princess left and whatever's Catra is planning so I can't wait! Until next time!

#shera #shera liveblog #shera s01e07 #spop

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