and here's your yearly reminder that a character's redemption arc should not hinge on a potential romantic relationship.
do i believe that the execs didn't want Catra and Adora to be a canon wlw couple? yes, i absolutely believe that. i know full well that so many queer shows have been screwed over because of homophobic executives who didn't want their precious conservative audience to throw a hissy fit over two girls kissing.
but do i believe that the execs didn't want the writers to redeem Catra earlier in the series? no. why would they? why would they be against a villain getting redeemed and becoming friends with the heroes?
i don't blame the writers for putting off the kiss until the last moment. that makes sense, considering the circumstances. but i do blame them for putting off Catra's redemption until the final season. there's no excuse for that. the writers could have redeemed Catra without writing in anything romantic between her and Adora till the end.
if Catra had been redeemed in like S3 and got enough time to make up for her mistakes and earn everyone's trust, i would have no problem with her getting together with Adora at the end of the series.
or even if she wasn't redeemed, she didn't have to be so fucking SADISTIC and VIOLENT towards Adora every single time they fought. that was such a deliberate decision.
it would have been one thing if Catra was mad at Adora but still felt guilty about hurting her. or if Catra was being forced by Shadow Weaver or Hordak to fight Adora. or if Catra was just fighting the princess alliance as a whole and not just singling out Adora.
but no, she was relishing in her newfound power. she was kicking her feet and giggling while relentlessly torturing Adora. you cannot tell me that the writers had no choice but to write her that way, that's so stupid.
you know who else didn't get to develop their canon queer couple? the writers of TLOK. it was even worse for them because they couldn't even show Korra and Asami kissing. they had to settle with a holding hands and hope that their audience picked up the romantic undertones.
and yet, despite all of this, they managed to build up a healthy friendship between Korra and Asami that even if you didn't see the romance coming, you would at least know that there was a solid foundation to that romance.
the creators could have just made Korra and Asami fight over Mako until s4 and then suddenly express interest in each other. but they didn't. instead, they actually showed these two girls bonding and getting to know each other.
Korra and Asami got over their love triangle situation and started spending time with each other, helped each other practice, went on drives together, rescued each other, worked together to fight off villains, comforted each other.
whether you see this as platonic or romantic, the fact remains that it's healthy and well developed, and we could reasonably expect that this healthy friendship could lead into a happy relationship later.
“the writers did not write Catra staying toxic to the very end” they did though. Catra is still resentful of Adora in s5, she's still verbally abusive, she doesn't try to apologize or connect with the other princesses, she makes insensitive jokes on their expense, she still blames Adora for leaving her.
and sure, toxic habits are not easily changed. but if the goal was to redeem her, you would think at least one of the other characters would call her out on this. but they don't. Catra is met with endless understanding and patience at every turn, even though she doesn't do anything to deserve it.
so it does seem like she was written to continue being toxic while everyone tolerates her and praises her anytime she does the bare fucking minimum.
lesbians deserve good representation, not this abusive cesspit of a ship. “a complex lesbian character getting a happy ending (and a happy relationship with the woman she loves)” except that happy ending comes at the expense of the happiness and wellbeing of the woman she allegedly loves. you can't say “they got a happy ending!” when this happy ending only works because everyone else is still suffering at their hands.
