catra is trying to continue the cycle of abuse, but she isn’t quite doing it right. she’s mixing up the approaches because she still loves adora on an instinctive level.
when shadow weaver abused catra, to make her feel weak, she did so primarily through overt violence and intimidation in situations where catra had absolutely no chance to fight back.
when shadow weaver abused adora, to make her feel like she was only ever powerful by her side, she did so primarily through gentle touches and false affection.
although catra is being violent towards adora at this point, going so far as to horribly scratch her back, it’s in the context of a fight between enemies. it’s very different from what shadow weaver did to catra.
catra is trying to make adora feel weak, the same way that she’s felt all these years, the same way that she thinks adora wanted her to feel all along. it’s a sick form of revenge for something that adora never actually did.
however, catra is trying to make adora feel weak by emulating shadow weaver’s approach towards adora, which doesn’t quite make sense. is adora the scapegoat or the golden child, or neither? is catra’s heart really in this? does she know what she really wants? would she let adora fall again, outside of that flashback hellscape?
catra is deeply convinced that true power is associated with creating fear, because she felt powerless and afraid all her life, and she wants that power for herself now. she literally wants what shadow weaver had, and has said so multiple times now (”i need to impress hordak so he’ll make me the new shadow weaver!”).
what she needs to realize is that this won’t make her happy, that this isn’t right, and that she’ll be no better than shadow weaver if she continues down this path.
i’m confident that she’ll realize the error of her ways soon enough, but in the meantime, her path is not a bright one.
i think that episode 11′s flashbacks were specifically chosen by light hope to help convince adora that attachments were Bad. light hope even showed other flashbacks involving adora’s new friends when really trying to drive that point home at the end.
i’m not sure if catra and adora will end up reuniting in the castle again, but if they are, maybe light hope will have realized that she-ra’s true source of strength is her love for her friends. if that’s the case, maybe light hope can choose some different flashbacks that time around, to help bring them back together.
i think the reason why catra is so jealous of adora’s new friends (beyond the obvious) is because:
a) as highlighted in this episode, the two of them were very attached to each other but, particularly for catra, their other attachments were rather limited. while adora was always able to socialize with the rest of the team, albeit on a superficial level, catra was always alienated from them. when adora left, catra lost her only friend, and the only person she’d ever connected with. i think this is why she’s so resistant to befriending scorpia, even though she trusts her and enjoys her company.
b) rather than interpret this as adora choosing the side of good vs. evil (as adora herself has explained), catra has repeatedly viewed it as adora choosing her New Friends over catra. i had expected catra to soften when realizing why adora was even in this place to begin with (to heal glimmer), but that actually wouldn’t align with catra’s previous actions. glimmer and bow symbolize adora’s abandonment of her, far more than the rebellion or bright moon or anything else, because she only sees it in these extremely narrow, short-sighted terms.
time and time again, we see that the two of them instinctively protect each other and show affection to each other. it isn’t until (most likely) light hope’s intervention that catra’s behavior changes in that regard.
mustloveshera 