I see a lot of talk about Glimmer’s character arc in season 4 but very rarely see any talk about Shadow Weaver’s manipulation over her. I often see people ask “how could Glimmer fall for it all after knowing what Sw did to Adora?!” or “how could she trust Sw and not listen to her friends?”
Because she’s a child. She is a very vulnerable child.
Glimmer may be surrounded by people who love her (Bow, Adora, Casta, the other princesses), but after her mother’s death she is actually extremely psychologically isolated. She feels as though her friends do not understand her and already considers her aunt to be an overbearing presence, and she has no time to mourn the loss of her parent because she has suddenly succeeded the throne and now has to cope with being queen, a unique position that other people around her cannot relate to which she must cope with on her own. Along with being isolated by both social differences and her new status, her responsibilities as queen cause her to become physically isolated, no longer able to accompany Adora and Bow on missions and having to stay behind. For Glimmer, who has already shown an intense vulnerability and fear of losing the people important to her (displayed when Bow accompanies Perfuma to the Ball), her psychological and physical isolation, coupled with being unable to mourn her mother due to her responsibilities as queen, pose a very real threat to her psychological safety and well-being. This is a child going through intense trauma lacking in an adequate support network.
Cue Shadow Weaver. Sw does to Glimmer exactly what she has always done - identified a vulnerable child (Arora, orphaned; Micah, one of her students; Glimmer, recently orphaned) and gained total control over them. Glimmer is a sitting duck after her mother’s death and is at her most vulnerable - an adult offers her the guidance she can no longer get from either her mother or father, offers to fill the gap; this adult professes to understand her and behaves as if to ‘nurture’ her development. Despite knowing what she did to Adora, Glimmer, still a child whose well-being is threatened, unconsciously finds safety and security in Sw and it is therefore extremely easy for Sw to manipulate her.
Sw might have left the Horde but her abusive and manipulative tactics remain unchanged. Telling Glimmer how special and talented she is, gaining her trust; undermining Adora in front of her (“she’s always been paranoid like this, you know”) to foster their relationship and make Glimmer feel as though she is important to Sw, as though they share the same values and beliefs and therefore have a special bond; redirecting her focus from ‘how can we help others’ to ‘how can we derive power from this,’ to name just a few identifiers. Notice that Glimmer’s instinct after hearing about the Heart of Etheria is to destroy it - she only becomes intent on using it after it is suggested by Sw.
It is no coincidence that Sw’s downfalls always come when her powerful young charges develop thinking of their own (Adora defects, Catra rebels, Micah resists the spell of obtainment and Glimmer barrels forwards with her own plan) - she is so entirely dependent on the power she draws from the children she abuses that when it is taken away from her, she cannot survive (she becomes obsessed with finding Adora, losing favour with Hordak; Catra breaks her mask and removes her ability to draw power from the Black Garnet; Micah refuses to go through with the spell, causing Light Spinner to lose control and become Shadow Weaver in the first place; Glimmer formulates her own plan and leaves Sw behind). She draws her own identity from the power of the children she manipulates - she seeks, whether consciously or unconsciously, to create smaller but more powerful versions of herself, often envious of the power of her victims and living vicariously through their abilities.
Her abuse towards Glimmer might be underhanded and subtle but the same psychological tactics are used and the same toxic, power-imbalanced relationship is present as was with Micah, Adora and Catra before her. Glimmer behaves badly towards her friends and irresponsibly towards Etheria and she bears responsibility for that, but it’s important to remember the roots that lead back to Sw’s inherently manipulative behaviour.
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