what i like about this is that bow, the male character of the trio, is the heart of the team. in the overwhelming majority of fiction, when there’s a trio involved (or really any group), the Female Character is assigned that role. 

there’s nothing inherently wrong or weak about being the emotional core of a team, but having it assigned to the female characters by default also coincided with demeaning that very role as frivolous or obligatory. 

in this case, bow is important and useful and powerful as well as being the most emotionally intelligent.

what’s essential in understanding catra’s character is recognizing how driven by fear she is. for all her bravado, up until very recently, she had no choice but to run/hope that adora would bail her out. that was her life, day in and day out. without adora, it only got worse, because no one could protect her/vouch for her very existence.