Trust is hard to win and easy to lose.
Been thinking about that in various shapes for a while now - can't imagine why - but trust is a thing as worth earning as it is easy to break. Inherent dangers of oversimplification accepted, I feel like this comes pretty close to a universal truth for multiple contexts, because it happens with things as well as people. Just ask any Star Wars fan how they feel about various trilogies in the saga and their journey to looking forward to (or not) new films over the years, and what percentage of that may or may not relate to "fixing" issues with previous installments (The Force Awakens literally opens with the line "This will begin to make things right."). Losing trust isn't always an ending, but it means you have to do the work of getting it back.
So, how does this relate to the kids cartoon about the magic sword lesbians?
Like the title says, it's a road.
***Massive SPOILERS for She-Ra and the Princesses of Power, especially Season 5***
***NOT KIDDING***
***ALL OF IT***
***AND ALSO FOR STAR WARS: THE RISE OF SKYWALKER***
***AND ALSO AVATAR: THE LAST AIRBENDER - WE GOT GROUND TO COVER***
The first season of showrunner/comics creator Noelle Stevenson's re-imagining of the one-time Masters of the Universe spinoff begins with betrayal. Adora, a recruit in the technologically-advanced Horde Army fighting the "dangerous, murdering princesses" waging an uprising on the planet Etheria, finds out she's playing for the wrong team. After being chosen by a magical sword in an enchanted wood (this show doesn't so much run with the "monomythic magic + space opera sci-fi" gag as recklessly sprint), she becomes nominal-prisoner-turned-nominal-ally to the not-so-murderous princesses. She leaves behind not just her squad, her commanders Shadow Weaver and Hordak, but also her closest friend and fellow Horde soldier, Catra.
Catra. . . does not take this well.
"Oh, I'm fucking up your bed and your shoes for this."
It's not just a great gag about cats acting vindictive when they perceive they've been abandoned (I mean, it is also that, but), it's the first domino in a cascade of broken trusts that becomes a narrative spine of the entire series. Catra feels betrayed that Adora left to join the enemy and is now fighting her, so she resorts to more and more desperate measures to bring Adora back, or bring her down. And through not only her machinations but also the sometimes incongruous personalities of the Princesses as well as the realities of war, there's a lot of betrayal (or the perception thereof) to go around. She-Ra and the Princesses of Power delights in shaking up character dynamics by having someone from one side switch teams for various reasons, but what makes this an essential part of its arsenal rather than a gimmick is the way the show grounds these turns in narrative beats and character decisions.
At its heart, good storytelling is nothing more or less than characters making big choices involving their wants and needs. Here we come back to the other spine (it's a show about magic and lasers and robots and living planets, it can have multiple spines) of the show - Catra and Adora's relationship, and their wants and needs regarding each other.
See, not only does the show leaning into the "spurned lover" angle of Adora leaving someone she cares for behind make for a high ceiling for how intense the emotions around these actions can get (these are basically a buncha teenagers, after all), but it also lays the track for how to come back from all the ways that the characters hurt each other. Which, because Adora and Catra are the kind of close that means they know exactly where to stick the knife, is a lot. So much so that, especially in the middle seasons of the show's 52-episode run, it becomes hard to see any way back from all the things that Catra has done, let alone believe that she and Adora could be close again. It's like starting a rom-com at the "misunderstanding/breakup" scene at the end of Act 2 and making the entire story about how you find your way back from that, rather than pushing the Dramatic Airport Confession Button after 10 minutes. Of course, that's before Catra has a big throw-down with Hordak and an entirely new villain shows up who is so powerful that he re-contextualizes the conflict of the entire series thus far and dramatically alters the power dynamics of the Empire/Rebellion dichotomy.
So, this seems like a good time to talk about Star Wars.
Yeah, there's that sweet sweet third rail.
I'll try to avoid easy layups like "Catra's arc is a better turn to the Dark Side than Anakin's and a better redemption than Ben Solo's" as much as I can (hey, I said I'd try), but even easy comparisons to both well-known and recent pillars of pop cultures are worth examining. In The Rise of Skywalker (a film I was let down by but still enjoyed, for the record), Sequel Trilogy antagonist Kylo Ren/Ben Solo - having killed Supreme Leader Snoke to gain control of the Empire-wannabe-ing First Order - discoverers that Emperor Palpatine is alive somehow, and in possession of an enormous fleet that could tip the scales of the. . . you see why this sprung to mind?
At this point, there would be two obvious narrative paths: one is doubling down on previous choices - Kylo Ren and the Emperor are both The Bad Guys and The Good Guys have to destroy them (perhaps with Kylo pulling a Vader at the last minute) to restore peace and freedom to the galaxy.
Alternatively...
Solid. Gold.
And they kinda do that. The Rise of Skywalker does a lot of things quickly and messily, and Ben Solo's turn away from the Dark Side is no exception. It happens right after he and heroine Rey have a big fight in Act 2 where they both do things they will regret (what, you thought I brought up rom-coms by accident?), and then he talks to his space wizard mom and his dead dad (like ya do) and decides that maybe fascism isn't as great as it's made out to be. Unlike the last-second face-turn by Vader in Return of the Jedi, we get to see a bit of screen time with Definitely Not Evil Anymore Ben, along with the hint at what his new dynamic could have been with a handful of characters on either side of the Force spectrum. It's barely enough to be functional, but definitely enough to make plenty of folks go "Man, I wish we'd had a lot more of that."
Which is what nine of the thirteen episodes of She-Ra Season 5 chooses to do.
The issue with rushing redemption and reconciliation isn't just that it feels disingenuous for everyone in the audience who's had a rocky romantic relationship or fallen out with friends or argued with family, but also that it puts a dead end on any potentially interesting new story or character opportunities that such a huge choice presents. Ben barely speaks after his rejection of Kylo and the Dark Side, and doesn't interact with any of the heroes who's side he's ostensibly joining apart from Rey (which is also wordless). And that seems like a waste, right? Adam Driver is an insanely talented and charismatic actor, and the idea of watching him bounce off other talented and charismatic actors as they had to grapple with the gangly Vader wannabe all of a sudden fighting alongside them sounds delightful. Instead, he does a slightly lengthier riff on the Darth Vader "I will atone for my sins with one big dramatic act of heroism and then die nobly" routine.
And that's kinda cowardly. Coming back from destructive choices is hard work, and dramatizing it is good storytelling. Catra makes a similarly noble "I will save you at great personal cost" sacrifice in the opening episodes of She-Ra's fifth season, but then gets rescued, healed, and has to actually deal with the fallout of her actions. Granted, it helps that - being a character in a kids' cartoon show - she hasn't killed anyone, but her actions have driven away not just Adora (even more-so) but also previous allies and even friends among the Horde. The show doesn't wallow in it, but it does take the time to show Catra putting in the effort to apologize and make amends for what she's done as well as putting her life on the line over and over again to fight the good fight.
Which means she also gets to play off just about every new ally who she formerly fought against, and. It. Is. Never. Not. HILARIOUS.
This is one of the not-so-secret weapons of the MARVEL Cinematic Universe - Loki went from ally-turned-enemy in the first Thor to Big Bad in The Avengers to eventually a fully reformed hero by the end of Thor: Ragnarok, dying as an Avenger in Infinity War. Fallen heroes and reformed villains and are long-time staples of comic book storytelling, but the strength of the films since the original big team-up in 2012 has been playing on audience's wishes of "Man, I can't wait for my favorite characters from these movies to hang out, argue, and make jokes with my favorite characters from these other movies!" Introducing new dynamics into character groupings is exciting, especially when dealing with talented performers who can play off of each other in volatile and/or funny situations. Hell, MARVEL is basing an entire Disney+ show off that premise with Falcon and Winter Soldier.
Six seasons and a movie!
But for all that we love wild genre rules and rampant escapism in our mass media (especially now, for. . . some reason), that little bit of realism goes a long way. Not the "racoons don't talk" or "parsecs are a unit of distance, not time" or "so...she's a scorpion and a lady?" realism, but the sense of "this is how people really act when they're upset" or "this is what it takes to win back someone's trust." Every one of us has seen a relationship we held dear fall apart around us, or done something that makes us feel ashamed and destroyed a dearly-held image of ourselves. The thought of a big, bold gesture that can "make things right" is tempting - and big, bold statements of intent do indeed have value.
But, like the man said, that's only the beginning. You still have a lot of road to walk, and - especially looking back on the shape of the series in hindsight - She-Ra gives Catra room to walk that road to a destination that's far more interesting and satisfying than if she arrived instantly or posthumously.
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