#what does it mean for catra's Redemption?

[yourhighness6]

I Just Finished Season Three And...

This is like... the only thing I can process right now. My brain is broken. I am dead. I am crying. I kind of want to kill Catra but she also needs a hug. I also want to kill Shadow Weaver but I always want to kill Shadow Weaver.

[wrens-wramblings]

A massive problem with how fandom - particularly queer rep - is going right now on this website is how quick people are to jump ship onto the next thing and then immediately start trashing the everliving shit out of the old thing.

Steven Universe (not a perfect show by any means) while it was coming out was celebrated constantly. The Garnet reveal? Pearl being in love with Rose? The Rupphire wedding? SU was revolutionary and has been quoted by cartoon creators now for being a big reason people are allowed to bring their stories to life. Say what you want about the show, but it broke boundaries and set precedents for a lot of the shows that you now love. And the show's plot lines regarding the diamonds has been taken in completely bad faith - do yall really think the half Jewish queer person meant for you to get "Let's all forgive Nazis" from the Diamonds redemption arcs??

After Steven Universe ended a large majority of people jumped to She Ra and the Princesses of Power and when they mentioned SU at all it was to put it down as a show with terrible representation and all round bad writing.

During SPOP's run it was massively popular, with a lot of buzz around the main ship, Catradora. I know this is gonna be taken in bad faith so a quick note - while I do like Catradora, I do feel that there should have been another season for Catra to properly acknowledge the harm she did to Adora and actually grow as a person before entering into a relationship. Catra was forgiven too easily, but that was in part due to Netflix not wanting to give the show another season to properly flesh out the redemption arc. The final season was rushed as all hell, and so many story points would have been better with another season to flesh them out further.

But I digress - during the show's run it was constantly talked about for it's representation, having multiple queer characters, including a nonbinary character.

The show ends and again, the fanbase jumps. This time, it's to the Owl House. People start talking about how SPOP was actually horrible representation and, my personal favourite, they "added gay people as a cash grab."

Yeah okay guys, I'm sure a queer nonbinary creator is writing about queer people because they actually dislike the gays and want to wring money out of us. That is definitely the situation here.

And now I'm worried that in a year or two we'll have the next big queer cartoon and the posts will start popping up -

"Amity Blight is the mean lesbian stereotype."

"Raine and Eda's relationship is problematic because-"

"Amity and Luz started out as rivals, which is toxic because-"

"The romance didn't start until later in the show, it was added at the end for a cash grab."

Again, I'm certain there's gonna be bad faith takes on this -- I'm not saying these shows are perfect. They all have flaws somewhere. No media is completely without it's faults and its good to recognise those faults, that what critical reading is. But calling someone an abuser for enjoying SPOP, or a Nazi sympathiser for liking SU (actual accusations I have seen on tumblr.com) is frankly a little ridiculous.

As for the bad rep argument - every show on this list has one thing in common: a queer creator. No one experiences queerness the exact same way - the only thing that harassing queer creators for not showing your experience does is make other queer creators... not want to write queer characters. No one wants to receive death threats because, for example, they based a character with their sexuality off of how that actually affected them and someone on the Internet decided they were feeding into a harmful stereotype.

[txttletale]

idk how to put this sorry if this comes off as rude/confrontational I'm not trying to be — when you say stories about forgiveness/reconciliation, do you mean more the type about forgiving & reconciling with family, or more generally (so like including - this isn't the best example but I can't think of any better rn - catra for example? where it's about being trapped in hurting people because of trauma and breaking out of that)? or is the thing you dislike more stories' framing of forgiveness as a moral imperative?

sorry if this doesn't make sense I'm just curious what you think bc you've raised some interesting points and would really like to see you elaborate on them

don't worry you don't come off as rude whatsoever! while i think my points apply broadly to how forgiveness is treated across media (rare actual example of cultural christianity) -- i obviously am not, like, against forgiveness or stories about forgiveness on principle. what i dislike about all the narratives about people forgiving their abusive parents is that:

like you said, it's always framed as a moral imperative. there is always an underlying assumption that forgiving the abuser is the 'right' and 'correct' thing to do, that not doing so would be wrong. this is tremendously insulting to survivors who have every right to not forgive their abusers!

in most of these narratives, the parent barely does shit to be forgiven. there's very often a narrative equivocation, in fact, between parent and child. like, sometimes the parent won't even be expected to apologize -- sometimes, even more grotesquely, both the parent and child apologize for their shared supposed 'wrongdoing'. this is also obviously insulting to survivors, who are not in any way responsible for their abuse or for having a poor relationship with their parents.

the reason why this in particular pisses me off so much is that it mirrors and in turn contributes to the cultural expectation on abuse victims in real life to maintain contact with their abusers, the constant casual pressure from everything from strangers to friends to acquaintances saying 'well, can't you just put it behind you?' or 'look, he's changed' or 'she's your mom' or 'you'll only have one chance to have a relationship with your siblings' or whatever the fuck. the sanctity of the family is a cardinal value across a lot of societies and this sanctity means a constant, neverending societal pressure to bow to sweeping abuse under the rug. i've seen many people i care about struggle deeply with feeling obligated to maintain relationships with family members who treat them like shit and make htem miserable every time they interact bc of exactly these sorts of sentiments being everpresent in their cultural environment. & these narratives always paint that sort of pressure as being well-founded and fair and ultimately for the better, which is absolutely repellent to me.

so, yeah. i am not against narratives where an abusive person actually confronts their actions and changes and repairs that relationship (that's another fucking thing, these narratives always put the onus and responsiblity on the character who was abused to forgive rather than on the abuser to earn forgiveness, just like in real life familial abuse victims are always fucking expected to be the ones to repair the relationship). i think such narratives can be powerful and compelling and explore questions of what the value of 'forgiveness' or 'redemption' even are, as well as dispel the mystique and exceptionalism often attributed to the 'abuser' as a holistic malevolent figure that can be cleanly separated from every other parent/grandparent/sibling/etc.

what i'm against is narratives where someone who is abused has their feelings delegitimized -- their rage is wrong, counterproductive, they need to let go and move on, they need to forgive their abusers and let them back int otheir lives because oh, they did something wrong too or oh, their abuser had a difficult life, or whatever the fuck. to which the answer should be a flat -- no. they don't. all the more power to people who choose to do that if that's what makes them happiest and safest but absolutely nobody has a moral obligation or need to forgive an abusive family member. obviously i am exaggerating slightly when i say every abusive parent subplot should end with the parent being killed with hammers, but i'm using the hammer murder as a synechdoche for a narrative treating an abuse victim's antipathy towards their abuser as something legitimate and justified and obviously reasonable rather than a flaw or something they need to move past.

[that-ari-blogger]

The Aftermath

The Beacon is a very... disjointed episode. It has the unfortunate placement of between two episodes that are, in my opinion, the two best that the show has to offer, and it doesn't matter how good this episode is, it suffers in the contrast.

The Beacon is trying to set up The Promise and still recovering from No Princess Left Behind, which means that it struggles to tie both together without feeling like a ton of disconnected events.

So, for the sake of analysis, let's look at those events on their own, and see what they do for the story as a whole. Because some of them are really well written.

Let me explain.

SPOILERS AHEAD

Catra's moments in this episode are genuinely some of the best little moments for her in the series. We see her kind nature start to show, ever so slightly. She is not kind, I want to stress this, a few actions do not make a redemption (yet), but we start to plant the seeds of that here.

In Entrapta's interrogation scene, we see Catra being manipulative, that much is obvious. But it's interesting how she does it. Catra doesn't belittle, or lie, or even seem disingenuous with her compliments, she is just aware that compliments lead to allegiances, and she is trying desperately to befriend the single smartest person on Etheria.

"You're not mad? People usually get mad." "Are you kidding?"

There is an empathy here with Catra. I mentioned in the previous post that everyone's greatest strength is their greatest weakness. And the same is true for Catra. She is exceedingly emotionally attuned. She sees herself in Entrapta, as the person left behind. The side effect of this is that she falls on her sword a bit when Adora leaves, but also in a weird, other way.

"Don't worry about that thing with Hordack. I've got plenty of experience getting yelled at... you get used to it."

Catra is talking to Shadow Weaver here, of all people. Why? Because she sees a person feeling low, and offers some condolences. Without concern for who she is, or what she has done. Catra offers a hand of peace. I want to stress that empathy isn't a weakness, that's not how this works, but it makes her easy prey for Shadow Weaver, because Catra is a child, a teenager, who is naive, and Shadow Weaver is evil.

But how does Shadow Weaver return the openness that Catra has displayed?

"I will not get used to mediocrity like you"

She returns kindness with an insult, and through her touch. Shadow Weaver desires power above all else, so when she is at her weakest, she tries to grab it from the one person she thinks she can mentally overpower.

This is why Catra is the way she is, any attempt at kindness is met with animosity for reasons she has no command in. But that little influence of Adora, and now Scorpia and even Entrapta, has kept the instinct alive. The empathy is there, just buried deep under the surface.

"I just wanted to prepare you for the world"

I love that Shadow Weaver has worked out her tactics are failing on Catra, so she tries giving the Adora treatment to her, and even that fails. I think that's rather satisfying. I pity her, but it is definitely gratifying to see her this low.

Shadow Weaver fits the same bill as everyone else in the series (strengths and weaknesses being the same), but she forms a weird parallel with Bow of all people. Shadow Weaver thinks big picture, she is the strategist, and she gets undermined time and again by the tiny things, such as personal determination, and unconditional love. This parallel isn't dwelled upon, but it's a neat thing to point out that Shadow Weaver's opposite isn't Catra or Adora, but Bow.

Speaking of Bow. The man is supportive of everyone, similarly to Sea Hawk. Bow still thinks big picture, but the difference between him and Shadow Weaver is that when Bow meets a wall, instead of thinking of a way to break it down, he finds another route. Bow is a strategist of the heart, making sure everyone is at their best and ready to step in to keep people's moral up, should they need it.

I also really like Glimmer's line:

"Your sorry is wrong and mine is right."

I think this is extremely revelatory about Glimmer, but that won't come up for a while.

Finally, there is Adora.

Under stress, she reverts. This is what Shadow Weaver did to her, she gave her a few set behaviours in response to certain stimuli. Notably, when scared, punch what I tell you. Shadow Weaver isn't here to give a target, so Adora decks the first thing she can get her hands on. Namely, this light.

There are other sections in the episode when she is in the background of other shots. And instead of just standing there, and looking apathetic, she shadow boxes. Adora cannot focus when she's directionless.

So naturally, she jumps at the opportunity to heal Glimmer, including possibly stabbing her, just to feel useful. Again, preprogrammed responses. She needs to feel useful, so she will run towards whomever is offering her that purpose.

"You want me to be weak? Well (Throws Sword), I am"

This leads into the above line. Adora believes she needs to be weak, and the first thing she does to achieve that is return to her original form and throw away her sword. Adora has associated strength with ability to achieve a given task. In this case, heal.

But the fascinating thing is how she goes about the accountability of failing. She has a weird internalisation of good things being She-Ra's fault, and bad things being Adora's fault. It's awful.

I'm going to finish this on a mildly happy note, because Glimmer and Angella have a really sweet interaction in this episode. Its the reassurance that a parent figure can offer. She offers support, and affirmation that this may not have worked, but it wasn't because of Glimmer's ideals, but her methods, which can be worked on.

Compare the following two lines.

"I will not get used to mediocrity like you" "We'll figure it out, together."

I have boldened a few words, because they reveal character quite nicely. One tries to separate the speaker from its subject, complete with an insult and a comparison, the other is supportive and constructive, and strives to make the listener understand this fact. Angella is a great mum.

Final Thoughts

This episode isn't particularly memorable. Which isn't its own fault. It is sandwiched by The Promise and No Princess Left Behind, which both render it rather uninspiring.

But this episode is actually quite decent. Its moments string together cohesively enough, and Marcus Scribner (Bow's Voice Actor) kills every line.

However, that opening sequence steals the show for me, as everyone leaves on their own way. That was why Entrapta's fake out death doesn't feel cheap. It actually hurts these people, and they don't get over it. This is a death that has its cake and eats it too, and that's a difficult thing to pull off. I think the thing that sells it is this is the only scene so far in the show (I think) in which Sea Hawk stays quiet, the events of the previous episode have managed to make the bard stop singing.

Previous - Next

[spop-romanticizes-abuse]

you know, there's a difference between relating to a character and defending them with your life. it may seem to some spop fans that i just hate catra because i don't relate to her. and while it's true that i don't entirely relate to her, i want to talk about a villain/antagonist that i do relate to: azula from atla.

that's right, i'm an azula kinnie. of course i wasn't brought up by a tyrannical dictator or groomed to be a child soldier, but the relationship azula had with her parents, especially her mother, stuck with me a lot. because i felt the same way.

and guess what? i hated her when i first watched the show. i absolutely despised her and i couldn't understand why people sympathized with her. it took me a second watch to realize that not only is she sympathetic, but she's also a lot like me. luckily, i didn't turn out to be as.. aggressive as her, for the lack of a better word. but by seeing myself in her, i was able to identify a few of my flaws that i needed to work on.

does this mean that i think azula did no wrong and that she should have been forgiven? do i get into fights with people who dislike her? nope. she was still a horrible person and while i think that she could have had a redemption arc, it wasn't necessary.

honestly, i like her a lot better because she didn't get redeemed. because her arc is supposed to contrast that of zuko's. whereas zuko starts off as lonely, traumatized and mentally unstable, and slowly works towards being a better person, finding inner peace, building his skills and making new friends; azula goes from being the calm and calculating firebending prodigy with her own posse by her side, to having her father and friends betray her and spiralling into a mental breakdown.

so yeah. while i sympathize with azula and relate to her, i do not condone her actions in the slightest. she was still a cruel and apathetic person who enjoyed manipulating, abusing and hurting others. she still did what she did, even if she had her reasons.

you can like or kin a character while also acknowledging their flaws and holding them accountable for their actions. i promise you, it's possible.

[spopsalt]

Is this...is this the opposite of what spop is...? I mean seriously, a rushed redemption arc that doesn't lead to Catra becoming her own person just being Adora's angry catgirl girlfriend and then kissing her sister at the end really the best redemption arc in animation? I think you may have gotten that mixed up with Zuko, literally almost any redemption arc is better than Catra's it was BAD! Also, a comedy relief that isn't annoying? Please Sea Hawk isn't even funny, he's just annoying. Same with Swift Wind, but I can give Swiftwind some slack because he does care about Adora. Also good character development? The characters do the opposite of development. The most obvious one is Adora, who went from being the complex character she was to dumb lesbian who loves Catra. Good worldbuilding? Hah! ...That's a joke...right? We barely learn anything about the places we go, like Beast Island, that could be interesting! But no all we know is that it's dangerous and...uh....Huntara is there and....uhm....moving on! Great plot? It has potential, sure. But it wastes it so. much. Like Adora finding her family? That could be really interesting! But no. Let's just have her date her abusive sister! That's just as good right?

[mariaseelie]

So what's the difference between Horde Lord Adora and Adora Empress of the Universe?

Now that I see "Adora Empress of the Universe" on my screen I giggle a little hahah, I should have said "Goddess" instead

I think I should go down this Rabbit Hole, I want to explain why they are different and why does it matter in contrast with our beloved protagonist in canon.

Goddess Adora is even more terrifying than mean Horde lord adora

(Disclaimer 1: These hypothetical scenarios are fiction for a reason, because otherwise they could lead to weird and toxic situations. Please do not go seeking Horde Lords or Empresses of Universes IRL)

(Disclaimer 2: Adora as Goddess could be a creepy scenario under some lights)

(It's long but it will make sense I promise)

Adora the Mean Girl

Do you remember when Nate Stevenson tweeted about Adora Being Slythering trying to be a Gyffindor?

I always think about the implications of this.

Adora is a mean girl at core level but chooses to control her inner shadow because she is a Chad. Catra on the other hand goes out of her way to seem like the perfect bad girl because she is a bottom as a way to impress and peacock her mean queen

Most Horde Lord Adora AUs follow an understandable direction for someone in Adora's shoes as an imperfect complex person: she never finds the sword, she is convinced Horde=Good and her demeanor, vision of the world and herself are twisted. This girl becomes a powerful person, but not powerful enought to destroy the fabric of the Universe, so we are ok with her as Adora being a mean girl and lose a little as Horde Lord Adora (Because we all know she would never, she would find a way to redemption eventually)

(One of the many reasons I like adora is because, yes, she is the hero, but she was a mean girl first, so even if she genuinely love her princesses friends, deep down sometimes she laughs at their expense in her mind, specially when her eyes meet the water fountain not-for-showering in the morning. Post season 5 Adora 100% makes some princess jokes and spills tea when nobody but Catra can hear.)

But then this mean girl finds a sword that gives her goddess-like powers.

(To some degree we are ok with Regina writting vile things attached to the names of her clasmates in the Burn Book. Nasty sure but nobody is gonna die because its not a Death Note. But then imagine for a second Regina finding that she is the chosen one in charge of a great responsability she cannot deny or else the world is over.)

The Horde brainwashes these kids to believe princesses are bad, wild, dangerous and unpredictable as Adora once said. The truth is ... they could be actually. Human Beings (Etherians and all Beings with self awareness for that matter) are unpredictable. Princesses are normal folk with supernatural magical powers.

Pre-Season one Adora probably made an (strawman) image of them in her mind, had nightmares with that strawman often. But here is the trick: it takes to be one to know one, (or You have to be a bit evil to recognize evil in others) Poor Adora probably had one or two intrusive thoughts about what could she be capable of if she herself was a princess, sh*tted bricks and then deemed nobody should have those powers.

Thank God this is not the episode of The Boys as the Horde made us believe and princesses here are actually good, the idea of causing harm deliberately using their powers doesnt even occurr to them (well maybe to Glimmer on a bad day, shes also a baddie)

So logically when Adora transformed into Shera for the first time, there was absolute terror in her eyes. One of her nightmares became true.

So she chose to be good. Deliberately. Consistently. Every single time. And that made her a hero. She never claimed something for herself even when in theory she could crown herself as Queen of all of the kindoms. Adora in canon is impresive as a protagonist and really deserves love.

So:

if Adora becomes a horde lord, it means she failed as a hero (or If Adora becomes the empress of the universe in exchange for saving the world, she also failed as a hero).

But if by some hypotetical reason she becomes The Goddess of the Universe, that's different. That's Madoka Territory

The idea of someone being able to do evil without any repercussion but choosing not to is shaking, amusing and eerie to me. We all want to think we are good and incapable of doing evil but Human Beings are weak creatures and power almost always corrupts. unless you are a God

Imagine that, just before Shera could release the magic of the Heart all over Etheria, something weird happens (let's say madokafication) and Adora, born a mortal with imperfections, needs and desires, becomes a God, while still having human (First Ones) nature.

Imagine you are Catra,

God is a lesbian

and she loves you

Imagine the person you love and loves you can control literally everything, she does not just keep the bed warm for you, she makes the whole world and reality a warm place for you if you are cold. She has idk 3 biblically accurate angels as pets and doesn't even bat an eye about it.

That would be insanely cool, but also incredibly bizarre. It would mean trusting a human being to choose to be good at any moment because otherwise things would go south

Can you trust Adora to keep choosing to be good everytime as a goddess just as she was when she was a hero? She has absolute control over you.

It's terrifying yet interesting.

I imagine adora in goddess form as something beautiful but insanely frightening and otherwordly while saying "Be Not Afraid" Lol.

But I would love to hear/read the thoughts of the people here

Good Goddess Adora is even more terrifying than mean Horde lord adora

[midnight-skylie]

I feel like people forgot that redemption arc doesn't mean making the fans forgive the character.

Redemption arc is a process of a character actively trying to change their ways in order to redeem themselves from their past dids.

It's not just "I did bad things but I'm good now" (AHEM CATRA FROM SHE-RA).

If I killed a person but saved a life it does not compensate the life I took, I'm not "redeemed".

I LOVE good redemption stories but sometimes I feel like society forgot what redemption arc stands for. A lot of times it became to just making a bad character do good things so people will like/forgive them, not an actual redemption.

[ladyblueberrymuffin]

Okay, I think enough time has passed that I can share my opinions on these two.

It could've been great. As it is, not really into it. And not because "Catra is abusive" or "It's toxic", or any stupid stuff like that. It's enemies to lovers, she's bound to do shitty things until her redemption arc, that's perfectly fine, I love messy characters.

My problem is that the show seems only interested in showing Catra's side of the story. She gets flashbacks, she talks about Adora all the time, we get to see all the ways in which Adora makes her life better. Adora... is kinda ignored.

I think that's why people don't like it. There is an unfair meta power dynamic. Catra is the more important one to the writers.

So we don't really get to see what Adora gets out of this relationship. We get to see all the ways Adora is accommodating to Catra, helps her feel comfortable after they reunited, lets her be her gremlin self, but where are the scenes where Catra does the same for Adora?

And people will talk about Catradora like this wonderful "I let you be yourself" comfort goes both ways, but it doesn't. That's my problem, it feels like it's always up to Adora to accommodate Catra, not the other way around.

I needed to see Catra really go out of her way to be a good girlfriend after her redemption arc. Like disgustingly sweet and trying her best every episode.

The most nice thing Catra does for Adora is talk her out of bad ideas. It happens in episode one, where Shadow Weaver is trying to convince her to leave her friends behind, and in the finale, where Adora is willing to die to save Etheria.

And like, offering counsel is certainly important in a relationship, but it doesn't really show this relationship in a good light when Catra's ultimate act of love is telling Adora "You're wrong".

Doesn't this feel kinda counterintuitive to her redemption arc? All the bad things she's done is because she was stubborn and unwilling to listen to Adora's ideas, but then her redemption is shown through her disagreeing with Adora's ideas anyway.

If Catra is allowed to be firm with Adora when Adora is being stupid, then so should Adora be able to be firm with Catra when she's being stupid, or antagonizing her friends.

This is a fictional relationship, so you're allowed to make them tease each other, or being mean to each other, but it can't be one-sided, because then it stops being cute, and just becomes frustrating.

The reboot introduced me to the franchise, and I delved deep, and really fell in love with the original 80's Adora, like I adore her (haha), my favorite superhero. And you know what? Reboot Adora is neat as well. So it bothers me double the show kinda seems disinterested in her and doesn't give her more agency.

I like that the 80s show focused on Adora more. I get Catra is interesting, but so is Adora, and I don't think the reboot really capitalized on it. I hope next time she pops up, maybe in the CG He-man show, or maybe in Masters of The Universe: Revolution (I am convinced this whole new season will be about her, and Adam grappling with the fact he has a sister, they're just hiding her from all the trailers, like they did with season 1's twist), she really gets the focus she deserves. You have a chance to really sink your teeth into her being a redeemed villain herself. In the DC comics, Adora was evil before she started questioning her loyalties to the Horde. Like, she killed people and she enjoyed it, her redemption arc wasn't much different from reboot Catra, so you really have a chance to make your main character as interesting as the villain.

[wiseabsol]

Hey! I wanted to tell you that I love your Dominion reviews, and I also wanted to ask you about your opinion on a possible Azula-Catra comparison. Because people tend to compare Zuko’s and Catra’s redemption arcs in order to debunk the latter, and though I can see the parallelisms, I’ve always believed that Catra is, at heart, much more similar to Azula, and even more if you consider Dominion!Azula (which will never not be the real, full-fledged Azula to me, never mind canon). What do you think?

So I think any redemption arc in media tends to get compared to Zuko's because, A.) The people doing the comparing often grew up with ATLA, so it's the first one that comes to mind, and B.) It's a redemption arc that takes time to develop, has setbacks, and has Zuko working towards earning the trust of those he hurt in the past.

Catra's, I think, is harder for people to swallow. A large part of this is because she spends 4 out of the 5 seasons being an angry, toxic person, especially towards Adora and Scorpia (Scorpia, I want to point out, does not respect Catra's boundaries, forcing physical affection on her when she doesn't want it. This doesn't mean that Scorpia deserved how Catra's treated her, but I think that friendship was unhealthy both ways). I can understand why people, looking at Catra, would say that getting only one season for a redemption arc wouldn't be enough--especially because she nearly destroyed the world and did, functionally, kill Angella. Zuko, in comparison, stalked people and burned down people's homes, but didn't kill anyone.

But personally, I liked Catra's redemption arc. I liked her acknowledging her anger issues and having a therapy animal to help her manage it. I liked her apologizing and trying to make things right to the people she hurt. I liked her realizing that her ambitions in the earlier seasons were mostly a means to have some control over her life and gain the favor of the adults around her. Catra, all things considered, is a pretty self-aware character--she knows how she's been treated all of her life is wrong, and that the side she's on is evil, and that what she wants most of all is to be with Adora. However, she gets hung up over feeling abandoned, lashes out when she's afraid and upset, and ultimately feels so guilty over pushing people away and the things she's done that she's suicidal about it. Dying doing a heroic thing seems, to her, the only way to make things right.

Which doesn't happen, of course. Catra is saved. And ultimately, she's offered a spot of the best friend squad, because people are still willing to give her a chance to be a better person (in part because she took that first step to try to make things right). And that, I think, is really important--because while it's no one else's job to fix you, if no one ever gives you the chance to grow and is always waiting for you to mess up--to prove yourself to be a monster--then what motivation do you have to get better?

But I'm getting off topic. What you actually asked me is if I see similarities between Azula and Catra. And in some ways, yes--mostly in how the fandoms treat them--but in other wars, no. Let's dig into it:

Catra knows that she has been abused by Shadow Weaver and that Shadow Weaver is a bad person and parent. Azula does not realize consciously that she's been abused, or that Ozai is a bad person and parent (though she knows he's capable of hurting his children, due to what he did to Zuko).

Their responses to this abuse differs. Catra is more angry, defiant, and irreverent, and is physically hurt by Shadow Weaver as a result (which isn't her fault--it's Shadow Weaver who's in the wrong). Azula decides to become the perfect firebender and ally to her father, and in doing so secures "safety" for herself from Ozai. Incidentally, Adora also picked the striving for perfection route of appeasement.

Catra knows that the Hoard is evil, but goes along with their goals anyway, largely to get back at Adora for leaving her and to gain Shadow Weaver's and Hordak's "respect." Azula doesn't know that the Fire Nation is in the wrong, because she's fully been indoctrinated. In fact, Azula and Adora are more similar on this point, at least before Adora realizes the Hoard is attacking villages. Would she have realized this, though, if she hadn't spent time there beforehand with Glimmer and Bow? In any case, Azula stays with the Fire Nation because she's never been given a reason to question their conquest, and because that's how she earns her father's "love" and "respect."

Catra is happy about Adora's promotion until she realizes that she won't be shipping out with Adora (and thus is being left behind). Azula and Zuko grow up in an environment where if one of them succeeds, that means the other one is failing, and thus are never happy about each other's accomplishments.

Catra just wants to be the one Adora chooses and tries several times to get her to come "home." Azula desperately wants to be chosen by someone, hence her attachment to Ozai. But also, Azula goes to great lengths to get Zuko to come home too, setting him up with Mai and letting him take credit for killing Aang.

Catra and Azula both break down and lash out when the people they love leave them. They also both experience guilt over what they've done, though Catra, I think, confronts this more head on, while Azula tries to rationalize her actions ("Trust is for fools."). They also both fully believe that they're monsters who no one can love.

Both Catra and Azula treat their best friends poorly and drive them away. Catra, after doing some soul-searching, tries to sacrifice herself to make things right, and is given the chance to redeem herself after she survives. Azula attempts to do some soul-searching, hits a "does not computer" error message, and is not given a chance to redeem herself, in part because there's no more show left. If there had been a season four, perhaps we would have gotten that, but unfortunately, all we have are the (terrible) comics.

Azula is 14 during ATLA. No one reaches out to her or encourages her to think critically about what her side is doing. Catra is apparently 17-18 at the start of SPOP and 20-21 at the end of it. People do reach out to her and encourage her to think critically about what her side is doing. Azula gets no shot at redemption. Catra does.

Azula and Catra are both demonized by some of the fanbase, with Azula commonly being pathologized. Azula, despite being younger, being less self-aware than Catra, and being given fewer chances for improvement, is actually treated with more vitriol than Catra--even though Catra knows she's in an evil organization and chooses to stay, and objectively does worse things over the course of the show. My guess is that this is because SPOP offers more sympathetic moments to Catra, which ATLA doesn't give Azula. Regardless, explaining to these fans that these characters are young victims of abuse who responded to it in maladaptive ways, and deserve sympathy and a chance to heal, doesn't work. Instead, because they were toxic and hurt the characters we like (characters on the other side of a war), they are ruined forever. Despite being incredibly young and, for the most part, barely stepping out of the abusive environments they grew up in.

And to be clear on this point--I can understand it if the people these two hurt never accepted them back. Their pain is valid (in fact, I wish Scorpia had told Catra that she needed time, rather than forgiving her easily at the end). However, saying Azula and Catra are lost causes who can't become better people, who can develop healthy relationships with other people, is incredibly reductive. It also tells real people that if you fuck up in your youths, you'll never get better and no one will ever love you again, which is appalling. As someone who had maladaptive reactions to growing up abused, if this had been what I was told--rather than having loved ones who were patient with me, told me how I messed up, and encouraged me to self-reflect and grow--I might not be here right now.

Which brings me to my final point: To be happy and find peace, what Catra and Azula both need is acceptance and love from healthy sources. Catra receives it and works on herself. Azula...doesn't. And I'm not sure I can blame a 14-year-old for stagnating as a result.

[nightowl1556]

Redemption Arc Therapy Incorrect Quotes #445

Amity, dashing into the room: WHY AREN’T THE DISHES IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER?!

Catra: …What does that even mean?!

[mdhwrites]

So, any theories on what Sasha's parents are like? Like I doubt they were perfect considering Sasha's behavior (remember when she outright stated in True Colors that she was okay never going back home and having zero problem with smashing the box, plus the fact she never shows signs of missing them even after her redemption in season 3). And considering how other redemptions are with their flawed relationship with family like Pacifica on Gravity Falls, Amity and Hunter on Owl House, Andrea on Ghost & Molly McGee, Zuko on Avatar the Last Airbender, Eddy on Ed Edd n Eddy, Catra on She Ra 2018, Lena on DuckTales 2017, Ludo on Star vs the Forces of Evil, and Helga on Hey Arnold, it's hard to believe Sasha had the best relationship with her parents. Granted Sunset Shimmer from the MLP FiM spin off Equestria Girls is a redemption character who also never had her family brought up or ever had an onscreen reason for why she was an evil and mean bully in the first movie (aside from probably just being an arrogant power hungry spoiled brat) so maybe Sasha's kinda like her in a sense too.

So this is a question I actually LOVE. There's a LOT you can glean off of a parent by their kid in general, let alone with any references to them. However... Them being redeemed doesn't always say anything about their relationship. Hell, for Amity since you listed her and I can comment, the speed of her redemption versus how much of a mustache twirling villain Odalia is ACTIVELY CONTRADICT EACH OTHER. It's REALLY bad.

Sasha's redemption says literally fuck all about her parents. Mostly because they don't mean anything to Sasha. Very little means anything to Sasha besides herself and her two best friends. Arguably not even Marcy.

The rest of her context to being willing to see the box destroyed and not return is critical here because she does actually explain herself. "Why rule a school when I can rule a world?" Her priority is self aggrandizing. It's not about freedom and it's not about safety. In fact, Sasha has cared very little for other's freedoms or her own safety. What matters is that Sasha is winning. Even Battle of the Bands made it clear that she is used to doing whatever it takes to be on top and getting her way.

Which to me doesn't mean abusive parents like you want to imply just through saying a lot of other shows did the trope of blaming abusive parents for bad behavior... It just means parents who thought the best way to make their daughter happy was to never tell her no. They let her live a life that had no consequences and where she didn't have to worry because if she skipped school or needed fifty bucks for gal pal time, they'd give it to her. This fits a lot more with Sasha's arc too because her arc has nothing to do with rebelling against her parents. She CHOSE to be a bad person. To not care about others. It's only by realizing that what she does hurt people with her actions and deciding they matter that she becomes a better person.

And to me, that's MUCH more compelling than trying to scapegoat what someone does onto their parent. It's not like everyone is evil just because their parents are shit. It devalues their choices as a character and is honestly a trope I'd like to see LESS. Or, bare minimum, not have standing up to their parent be like flipping a switch and making them automatically a good person because those scars last and their parents couldn't have made them do EVERY bad thing they did. Just look at Amity who decided "I'm going to make my ex-friend's life hell for YEARS despite only having to tell her we're not friends anymore to make my parents happy." That's not her parent's fault, that's her decision to be a monster.

At some point, the blame is on you for what you do. Narratively, for me, that's also more compelling and satisfying because it means you are the only one to blame for your gains too. People always have the choice to do good. It's their decision if it's too much work or relies on caring about others too much.

That to me is what makes Sasha so compelling and why anyone who wanted to see her parents I think are just asking for a categorically weaker story.

======+++++======

I didn't mean for the two blogs to be on a theme today but I decided on this anyways since I had both typed up. For anyone curious why I thought the previous one was dumb but this one was fun, it's simple: One asked if it belonged in the narrative. This one is just nice old character analysis.

I have a public Discord for any and all who want to join!

I also have an Amazon page for all of my original works in various forms of character focused romances from cute, teenage romance to erotica series of my past. I have an Ao3 for my fanfiction projects as well if that catches your fancy instead. If you want to hang out with me, I stream from time to time and love to chat with chat.

And finally a Twitter you can follow too!

[findafight]

On your post about Zuko and Steve. It is also interesting how a lot of people say X deserved redemption and 1. Redemption isn't deserved, it's earned. It's about realising you were wrong and making up for it. 2. When they write it so many of them write healing arcs not redemption arcs. Not them making it up to all the people they hurt but more acknowledgement of their own pain. That isn't redemption.

I think so many people get those two things confused. Yes, Azula deserves to heal. For a redemption arc she has to acknowledge she wronged people as opposed to villainising other characters.

Yes! Exactly!!! I read your first point and was gonna say "yeah redemption arc's are earned but healing arcs are deserved" so we are in agreement. I didn't put catra on the post because from what I understand her arc in the show was not redemption but healing. She acknowledges her abuse and works to free herself from it, but does not, within the show, get a chance to actively participate in fixing the things she hurt or ruined. The implication at the end (from my understanding as I haven't actually seen it) is that she would continue on the path to redemption and try to make things right.

Redemption and forgiveness come after healing for many of these kinds of things, or is part of the healing journey already started.

It's soo frustrating because Azula and Zuko's relationship is so messed up, and Azula is a 14/15 year old abused child who deserves to heal from the abuse Ozai subjected her to. But to say she deserves redemption only based on the core atla series... No? Zuko had to heal partially from what his farther did and from the indoctrination of his homeland before he was even ready to face his dad let alone help the Gaang. He then apologized and continues to heal! He had to go see the sun warriors to get his bending back because he had changed so much.

Azula doesn't apologize or attempt to make things right. She is fighting until the bitter end! She doesn't want redemption or healing at that point! A character, to have a successful redemption arc, must want it. That's the whole point! Azula has a mental breakdown at the end of the series and needs to recover from long-term abuse in order to figure out if she wants to redeem herself in the eyes of the world. (Which I don't think she does. I think Azula would be content to just stay in the palace and not think particularly hard about how she was going to enable a genocide. Perhaps some charity initiatives close to home, but never the wide scale acknowledgement like Zuko has done.)

Now. Okay I know I am mean to Billy (because it's so interesting how messed up he is while refusing to understand he is so messed up. Get help Billy) But he also deserves healing. I think it should be done far fucking away from Max and her friends, but he does deserve it, because literally everyone deserves to heal from their trauma or abuse. Billy is interesting because he is so fucked up, and there seems to be layers to that. His relationship with older women??? What the fuck? His resentment of Max? His weird obsession with Steve? Fascinating shit. But we don't get a chance to explore those or what they really mean. I don't really care that we don't tbh because I'd rather more screentime for the party/scoops troop than Billy. He's also just a racist asshole that has all the means to not be one and doesn't use them or ever feel bad about it.

Using his dead(?) Mom as sympathy points before he does literally the only decent thing he can and use his body to protect El and max is not redemption. It's a sacrifice. Like at the end of the last Skywalker? Kylo Ren doesn't redeem himself! He sacrifices himself! That is completely different. One good action to save someone does not make up for all the wrongs committed. Billy sacrificing himself when he knows he's already dead to give two kids more time is not Billy making changes to how he acts and apologizing for hurting people (specifically Max, Lucas, and Steve).

Also! These are two relationships with (step)siblings and I loooove sibling dynamics and complicated relationships but I think the ways in which their sibs would/could/should be involved in their healing is completely different.

Billy is Max's older brother who is shown to resent and abuse her. Max should not be near Billy. She should not be a component of his healing because it would be actively detrimental to her. He should get out of Hawkins and work on himself and then maybe years later call Max up and apologize so much for what he did. She is not responsible for his healing or forgiveness.

But I think Zuko would take an active part in Azula's healing process. For one, he is her big brother. He clearly wants to have a relationship with her, he craves those familial connections! I think he'd want to help her get better, and to see that he is not doing anything to spite her, but to help their nation and herself heal from Ozai's reign. Zuko wants to help her, and while he may sometimes separate himself from her for his own sake, I think he would want to take a more active role in assisting Azula and that would help him feel like he didn't just tear his family apart. He may not know exactly what Ozai did to her, but he knows it was bad and more focused after he was banished, so he would want to be there for his little sister. (People villainizing Zuko to make Azula look good don't make any sense ever tbh)

and listen. I have an angst au floating around my brain where most everything is the same except Azula and Zuko wrote to each other during him banishment and therefore had a strong sibling relationship, thereby making it even more horrible when they fight each other because they legitimately love and care for each other and want to be with their sibling. They simply do not understand why the other is against them because they know!! They love each other!! So why won't Zuko come home or why won't Azula listen when he tells her their father is wrong! Like full on sobbing why are you doing this! You're my brother!! I love you!! Type thing. It's very dramatic and very sad.

But anyways yeah I agree, anon, people get healing and redemption narratives mixed up and it's frustrating. No one deserves redemption but everyone deserves healing. Whether or not they redeem themselves is up to them. It is not up to other characters for that redemption.

[sokkastyles]

The Azula stans are going to be fucking unbearable when the "Azula in the Spirit Temple" comic comes out, since it hints at her redemption which automatically means she never did anything wrong. I don't consider the comics canon because they are so bad and OOC, but the stans will be rubbing it in everyone's face forever. They aren't going to do it well, considering it took Zuko 3 seasons to change and all Azula gets is a comic series to deal with her far worse crimes. One of the Azula stans, the one you were arguing with on that long ass post also says they are involved with it or something like that, so idk what sorta writing this comic is going to have. Probably gonna have Zuko abusing Azula or whatever, since they seem very happy in their last reblog of that post lol. I almost hope she doesn't change just to spite the stans. If they make Ursa, Iroh and Zuko out to be bad people I will be done.

I actually would like to see an Azula redemption, and part of me does want to see what the writers come up with because I do think that connecting Azula to the spirit world is the way to go there, but I agree that it won't be done well. I foresee a few different scenarios happening:

Azula gets a redemption but it's not good enough for these stans because it's an ACTUAL redemption where Azula has to actually face and admit her crimes and stop behaving abusively, and her stans don't want that and will claim it's not a REAL redemption. I mean, the series has been hinting at it for a while and the stans are still up in arms about how the writers hate her and want nothing but to abuse her. "The Search" does a lot to make her a sympathetic villain but her stans act like Gene Yang is the devil for it. It's still not good writing but it's obvious that the writers want her to be sympathetic to the reader.

The writers try to cater to Azula's fanbase and do a half-assed redemption, which may or may not be accepted. I mean, witness the pushback in recent years to the likes of Kylo Ren or Catra because their redemptions didn't have near the thought put into them that Zuko's did. Either the stans will eat it up or they'll use it to fuel their vendetta because what Azula gets won't be as good as what Zuko got and they will HATE that.

The problem is that bad redemption arcs, if not done carefully, run the risk of running into the same kind of victim blaming that these stans spout on a constant basis. Even if the writing doesn't make Zuko/Iroh out to be bad, there's the inherent implication, that already exists because we see it already in the discourse, that they're horrible for not sacrificing themselves for Azula and putting up with her constant abuse. What Ehasz described, the scenario where Zuko serves as Azula's long-suffering Iroh, is a nice thought, but it carries the implication that this is the virtuous way for an abuse victim to respond to their abuse. I find it hard to believe that Ehasz would even write that, no matter what statements he makes on twitter fifteen years after he had any involvement with the show, because when he was actually writing the show, even redeemed Zuko never became a doormat who only lives for Aang and the others. See also the constant discourse about how he's horrible for disagreeing with Aang or getting mad at Sokka for poking him with a stick.

See also the amount of crap that Zuko puts up with from Azula in the Search, but you know how the discourse around that goes. It's not enough because these stans WANT to see her as the ultimate victim, so any kindness offered to Azula can be twisted into actually another way that she's a victim.

I very much doubt that that person is involved at all with the comic. I've also seen them claim that they voiced Azula in some promotional materials, which I also doubt. They seem like the kind of person who naturally vacillates towards characters like Azula because they fuel their sense of grandiosity and victimization. I wouldn't believe anything they say. I'm still not sure they're not a troll trying to parody Azula stan accounts.

[blackdagger456]

Let’s Talk About: Incorrect Analysis’s On Catra

You Cannot Condemn Complex Characters Like Catra By Focusing On Their Negative Actions/Traits Without Or Disregarding Why It Happened.

Really, REALLY tried not to talk about this on Tumblr and to keep it on twitter but I couldn’t help it. I had to share this discussion here. Because apparently it is hard supporting Catra nowadays as said fans like me and supporters of Catradora, Glitra and all other ships involving her are more than fully aware.

I am very sick of people using inaccurate information to just defame Catradora, Glitra and Glitradora. People only using the surface level of their situations and putting scenes out of context makes me annoyed to the highest level. Especially when they use it to prop up other ships

Let’s start with the three original posts in this thread to begin with.

So much.

So much shit is wrong here and we’re only at the first half of this post.

No, my mistake not so much EVERYTHING about this post is bloody wrong. Nevermind the fact that every single person under these threads agreeing or offering their own arguments against Catra is instantly wrong because this person is saying that an abuser was right to abuse their victim. It completely disregards the entire context of said scenes, what they actually mean and any other scene prior.

No, Catra did not deserve anything Shadow Weaver did to her. Nevermind the fact that if Shadow Weaver HADN’T done those things none of what this person ,and others who agree with him, is complaining about would have happened in the first place. Without Shadow Weavers abuse I bet my own right arm Catra would have left with Adora on that day in Theramore.

The scene in which Catra claws Adora is now famously used out of context in arguments against her on both twitter and Youtube. Let me break this down to you in simplest terms.

#1. They were children. Children are emotional and often lash out when they feel threatened or hurt.

#2. It was to further highlight Catras insecurities about Adora leaving her for other people which was further proven when she went to talk to Glimmer in the literal next scene. (One I love for other reasons such as Catra and Glimmer fully letting their guards down around each other and bonding over Adoras silliness to find comfort in each other.)

#3. The rest of that flashback is what prompts Catra to go into the rising action of her redemption--which i agree I wish there was more of but i’m satisfied with what we got--which doesn’t stop until the final episode.

#4. When doing analysis using words like ‘cunt; does not make you or your words seem smart it has the opposite effect.

#5. Catra was having a panic attack because at that age Shadow Weaver was telling her that the only reason she was even alive/kept around was because Adora like her. If Adora stopped liking her Catra would have no use and be thrown out so Adora hanging out with Lonnie and making more friends isn’t just her being possessive or a sociopath it is her associating her survival to Adora liking her.

#6 After that scene we switch to adult Catra looking at the window in thought, thinking back to that moment in contemplation and--in my mind--regret.

Moving on to that just absolute wrong opinion about Shadow Weaver. Yes she was interesting but by no means did she deserve to be electrocuted/binded by magic, gaslit, manipulated and threatened for her entire life.

She did not deserve a lick of the abuse she went through. That is not an opinion that is a fact, nobody deserves to be abused in the slightest.

Which leads me into the next thread.

(Shout out to Dude and SovietOnion for spitting facts. The latter is one of my fav She-Ra account so give em’ a follow.)

In the words of AceVane everything these two just said was “Incorrect as fuck”.

Firstly, SW was responsible for Adora and Catra. Never is it stated or shown that the other three were under her direct care. There was definitely a form of brainwashing in the form of propaganda which linked back to The Red Scare the US went through. 

Shadow Weaver in no way shape or form had anything resembling a redemption arc. What she got was a Darth Vader death scene that still felt iffy in hindsight because of her final words. 

“You’re welcome.”

Ah yes, thank you for gaslighting us and abusing Catra physically/Mentally and Adora Mentally which caused heaps of problems across the war and all seasons.

Truly, we owe you everything.

Now, as a character I like Shadow Weaver and Hordak. As a friend told me “I know this sounds iffy but I like it when abusers have layers. I don’t like em but I like to understand they why.” A statement which I am fine with--HOWEVER.

You not gonna sit there and tell me that no other character in She-Ra was properly developed at all.

Like bro--

A good 90% of the cast was worked on and developed through the entire show Shadow Weaver more or less stayed the same, sasyy, manipulative self through the show. Hordak is another matter but you aint gonna sit there and tell me you’re gonna ignore her gaslighting Adora and Catra as soon as they got back to Etheria and her manipulation of Glimmer.

I’m sorry but that aint flyin by me. You can’t just point out all the negative aspect of Catra and then look at Shadow Weaver and say she’s completely fine.

You cannot judge Catra on her negative actions alone. To do so would be an insult to the character and show, it also shows how little you understand of her AND Adora in the first place. You need to explain it fully. You need to explain the cycle of abuse and how that’s part of Catras arc, breaking that cycle and trying to get out of it and failing. She tries with Entrapta and Scorpia, the only two positives in a toxic environment she’s known all her life. 

But it doesn’t work because she is STILL reeling from her best friend/crush seemingly abandoning her, the plans they had made to eventually run the Horde, refusing to return to their ‘home’ all while her abuser is still targeting her every chance they get. I’m not denying any of Catras actions, but I do realize the why in the situations. Saying that “All she did was apologize.” is a severe wrong to all characters involved.

She did so much more than that and there is so much context. During the entirety of her time in Primes ship was reflecting, she looked upon destroyed worlds, she tried to get SOME kind of familiarity in trying to speak to Hordak, comforting and talking to Glimmer and seeing herself in Horde Prime. Prior to her capture she had once again lost everything, she sent Entrapta to Beast Island an action that gave her PTSD and nightmares. She pushed away Scorpia the consequences of which rocked her and contributed to her breakdown. 

She was going to let Glimmer fully kill her, showing another suicidal tendency like she did during the Portal episode. She didn’t care of she died as long as she won turned into I lost everything just kill me already. Let’s not forget she was jumping at shadows in hopes of  Bringing Scorpia back to the point that Lonnie—someone she grew up with but had a sort of rivalry relationship with—was visibly worried. On Primes ship she sacrificed herself knowing she was probably going to die, ‘knowing’ that with Glimmer gone Adora wouldn’t come for her, acknowledging and owning up to her own actions through—well through her actions. And when it comes to Adora well—if you guys really think she was ‘chasing after Catra’ you really didn’t understand who Adora is. 

Firstly she had no idea Catra was on the ship, secondly when she found out of course she went back for her because at the end of the day Adora isn’t the type to leave someone to freakin die. That’s not who she is, even without their history Adora wasn’t ever going to knowingly leave Catra behind. Even after she rescued her Adora has long since stopped holding Catras hand when it came to her barbs and blame but she understands Catra. She understands her more than anyone which is why she stayed when Catra asked her too during that scene on the ship post rescue. Building on that it’s also why Entrapta forgives her after she apologizes when the two are alone and THAT is a turning point.

Catra apologizing. 

 Realizing what she’s done and finally working to break out of the cycle she has been trapped in her whole life. From journeying to the ship and the entire rest of the war on Etheria she works on herself and is still called out for her actions.

The princesses do not trust her right away nor should they but Catra works on it. She has Adoras trust, they’re together again and she has new support in the form of Glimmer and Bow and returning support in Entrapta. Catra BREAKS the cycle and only then, ONLY then does she start to get what she truly wanted.

Acceptance. Love. Friendship. All she wanted and in the end she is deserving of all of them.

[spop-romanticizes-abuse]

so this post is inspired by a person who sent an ask to @my-nitpicking-self (i hope you don't mind me tagging you), who mentioned the confrontation between katara and zuko in atla, in reference to glimmer's and catra's relationship in spop. i thought it was an interesting comparison, so i'm going to expand on it.

so two very similar scenes in atla and spop: katara and zuko being stuck together in crystal catacombs and glimmer and catra being stuck together in horde prime's ship. two things to note here - zuko was beginning to heal at this point and had almost completely given up his mission of capturing aang, while catra has just finished conquering salineas and was neck-deep in villainy.

as soon as katara sees zuko, she becomes outraged. keep in mind, zuko did not kill katara's mother. but she still had a valid reason to be mad at him. she holds him accountable for everything he has done.

K: Why did they throw you in here? Oh, wait, let me guess. It's a trap. So that when Aang shows up to help me, you can finally have him in your little Fire Nation clutches!

K: You're a terrible person! You know that? Always following us! Hunting the Avatar! Trying to capture the world's last hope for peace! But what do you care? You're the Fire Lord's son. Spreading war and violence and hatred is in your blood!

Z: You don't know what you're talking about.

K: I don't? How dare you! You have no idea what this war has put me through! Me personally! The Fire Nation took my mother away from me.

here, zuko doesn't try to argue with katara until she implies that violence and aggression is an inherited thing, because he's from the fire nation. zuko accepts his mistakes but he is also aware that being a fire nation citizen or even royalty alone doesn't make you a bad person. even then, he doesn't raise his voice or lash out at her, he just calmly disagrees.

after katara mentions her mother, he apologizes and sympathizes with her.

Z: I'm sorry. That's something we have in common.

K: I'm sorry I yelled at you before.

Z: It doesn't matter.

K: It's just that for so long now, whenever I would imagine the face of the enemy, it was your face.

katara also apologizes but zuko understands that it was completely in her right to blame him. and then we get to the crux of the issue. katara's mother was killed years ago but she still hasn't been able to move on from the grief.

now, of course, zuko again turns back to villainy but this was an important confrontation. and it wasn't the only one. as you all know, after zuko's official redemption, the gaang still doesn't trust him and katara is the last person to forgive him. she is still upset and disappointed by the way he betrayed her after they had begun to bond in the catacombs. and zuko has to prove his loyalty before katara could forgive him.

now let's come to glimmer and catra. catra DIRECTLY caused the death of glimmer's mother. and it was recent. glimmer had been grappling with her grief in the last season, to the point where she spirals into a small corruption arc. s4 of spop does NOT forget angella's death.

so obviously, you would expect there to be a confrontation between glimmer and catra in s5, especially since they were alone together in a confined space. but let's see what happened.

Glimmer: You again. Why do you keep coming back here?

Catra: Just...bored, I guess.

Glimmer: No, I mean, Horde Prime told you not to talk to me. He's gonna catch you eventually. Why risk it? ...You're lonely, aren't you?

so far, no confrontation, no apology.

Catra: What do you know? You're the prisoner here. I can go where I want. So, stay here by yourself for all I care.

Glimmer: Okay, okay, you're right. It...helps having someone to talk to. Even if you're the last person I'd ever want to be stuck here with.

Catra: Trust me, Sparkles, the feeling is mutual.

and just like that, they're on better terms now. glimmer doesn't bring up angella's death, she doesn't bring up the way catra treated adora, how she and bow were kidnapped by catra, nothing. they seem more like casual rivals than enemies here. catra doesn't seem guilty in the slightest, she just has to threaten to leave and glimmer immediately makes her stay.

and not just that, they joke about adora's paranoia that was rooted in her trauma, as if it's just a fun quirk. at this point, it's clear that the writers are not even trying to make it seem like they don't favor catra over all the characters.

and the one time glimmer somewhat confronts catra—

G: Please, Catra. Do one good thing in your life!

C: Don't talk to me like you know me! You don't know anything about me!

of course, catra shuts her down immediately. and afterwards, even when catra saves glimmer, she makes it clear that she's only doing it for adora. while on the surface, this might still come off as a good deed, it's clear from her later behaviour that catra's goal wasn't to help either adora or glimmer. my best guess is that she was practically awaiting death at that point and didn't expect to face the consequences of her actions, so she wanted to go out with one good deed, much like shadow weaver.

it's crazy how zuko, who was just an antagonist and has done very little to directly hurt the gaang, faced the consequences of his actions and got a drawn out and detailed redemption; while catra, who spent the entire series hurting the protagonists out of her own interest, gets off scot-free.

any time her past actions are brought up, they are mentioned in the vaguest terms possible i.e. “she made some mistakes” or “shs hurt people”. it's so clear that the writers were hoping that if the other characters forgot everything that catra did, the audience would do the same. and the worst part is that they're right. 90% of the fandom were willing to accept catra's redemption because no one in the show ever holds her accountable or confronts her properly.