in ep 11, catra is the one to say “why do you always have to sacrifice everything for everyone else? when do you get to choose?
what do you want, adora?”
OKAY dudes look: in the end, CATRA HAD FINALLY REALIZED THAT ADORA NEVER CHOSE THIS PATH OVER HER. she realized adora is filled to the brim with a sense of justice & destiny & the greater good - it leaves almost no room for a heart or a choice in anything. once adora became she-ra, she wasn’t just catra’s anymore. having adora become someone else’s - everyone else’s - is what left catra buried in pain & fire & brimstone this whole time.
but catra thought that adora had chosen that path. she thought adora had a choice in all this & when she realizes she doesn’t….hoo boy. it’s not anger. it’s sadness.
the fact that adora never got to choose for herself is sobering for her, but realizing that with the failsafe, she never will? it breaks catra’s heart all over again. she thinks - no, she knows catra herself could never hold a candle to the destiny that is she-ra.
but *pops bottle* LITTLE DOES SHE KNOW. SHE IS PART OF THE DESTINY OF SHE-RA. BECAUSE SHE-RA IS LOVE & MAGIC & the clearest adora ever feels these things is when she embraces her love for catra.
once catra sees that the fate of etheria & the universe is in adora’s very human hands, she fully realizes that they do not have the luxury of choice. that’s why she’s finally unafraid of admitting that she loves her. there is no rejection or need for reciprocity - all she wants is for adora to know that she loves her.
and when adora comes back to her, opens her eyes, says it back,,…,..,
that choice. CHOOSING her emotions - not over her responsibilities & destiny - but alongside them?? that is what clears the path for the true magic. all that interference was from trying to push her feelings down, from trying to be so selfless that there is no self left. she thought she had to be more like she-ra to harness her power, but she becomes her strongest when she is at her most human.
i’m gonna go lie down for a few days now no one touch me