Was Catra forgiven too fast? My analysis
A lot of people have a problem with Catra. In my experience, the biggest issue they have is that she was forgiven ‘too fast’. In this essay I will analyze how that is not true.
First, to lay a foundation, let’s discuss everything that Catra did (wrong). Because while I disagree with people who think this way, I also disagree with how some fans get rose tinted glasses about Catra’s actions and the harm she caused. It is worth noting there is a distinct difference between Catra and Lonnie, for example. Catra had the opportunity to not just leave, but to walk into a good situation. If Lonnie left the Horde (I am not saying she wanted to just as an example) she would have nowhere to go, and her survival would be uncertain. Catra knew she could go back with Adora up until the end of season 3, and choose not to anyways. This was not indentured servitude, Catra willingly participated as a member of the Horde and attempted to climb the ranks. She wanted (or thought she wanted) to be there.
So what did Catra do? I am not going to talk about everything she did, just things I think are important for this discussion. In “Princess Prom” Catra attacked the Kingdom of Snows and everyone attending, kidnapping Bow and Glimmer in the process. Bow was kept in a typical Horde prisoner cell, and Glimmer seemed to take quite a beating (we do not know exactly what happened to her). She also took a lead role in the “Battle of Brightmoon”, nearly destroying Brightmoon in the process. Next, Catra pulled the lever to activate the portal. This was potentially world ending and resulted in the death of Angela, which Catra was indirectly responsible for. In “Mer-Mysteries” we find out Double Trouble disguising as Flutterina was a distraction so the Horde could attack and conquer Salineas, resulting in one of the more tragic scenes in the show as Glimmer, Bow, Adora, and most importantly, Mermista, see the devastation that has been caused.
Finally, is her actions towards the people around her. Catra for a lot of the series acted with very little care or compassion. She emotionally manipulated Adora, mistreated Scorpia, and even sent Entrapta to almost certain death to “Beast Island” under false pretenses, even though they worked together for multiple seasons at that point. Catra consistently and callously acted with no regard for others to serve her own selfish goals. Of course, Catra was treated horribly as a child by Shadow Weaver, and that trauma passed onto her in her actions towards others. For the most part, this is only really a consideration for the audience. Only Adora and whoever she confided in with that information would know that about Catra, and thus it is irrelevant for determining forgiveness (unless you assume off-screen conversations that are really just fanfiction and not relevant for an analysis).
So, back to the question, was Catra forgiven too fast? Well, to start, I almost reject the question. People who say this seem to imply that everyone forgave Catra for every thing she ever did. Catra did not interact with every character post redemption. Mermista for example, had no interaction with Catra and we cannot know what she would think about the situation. And many of the people she did interact with, didn’t really have much of a choice either way. The fate of Etheria and everyone living on it was on the line, Catra was there and that’s all there was to it. All the remaining members of the rebellion did was not treat her like trash. The people who actually forgave Catra are: Adora, Glimmer, Bow, and Entrapta.
Glimmer I would guess is the least controversial of these four. This is interesting because Catra did the most individual harm to Glimmer: kidnapping her, attacking Brightmoon, and indirectly killing her mother. However, as many people have pointed out at this point (and may be a future analysis), Glimmer and Catra have parallel arcs. Glimmer with her actions in season four did pretty much the same thing Catra did. She was directly responsible for a nearly world ending event, and is indirectly responsible for the only mother figure Catra had, Shadow Weaver (obviously she is a lot worse of one than Angela), being killed. The pair also spent plenty of time together on Horde Prime’s ship, being forced to communicate as there was no one else to talk to. This shared experience made them closer and understand each other more. Finally, Catra saved Glimmer’s life, sacrificing herself to be subject to whatever horrible things Horde Prime could do to her. Overall, it’s logical Glimmer would have forgiven Catra.
Bow is a little more tricky. His personality is warm and kind. He showed that to Adora when she was their captive all the way back in the first episode - it’s just who he is. What I would add to this is Bow (and Glimmer) saw firsthand how much Catra meant to Adora. He saw her reaction when Catra’s voice went out after she sent Glimmer back. And yeah - there’s that too, Bow loves Glimmer and Catra saved her. Bow’s forgiveness is in character and justified.
Catra sent Entrapta to Beast Island. She ended up kind of thriving there, but she understood what that meant. It is arguably the most morally reprehensible thing Catra did. However, Entrapta herself was not innocent. She helped the Horde’s attempt to defeat the princesses and created the portal (I think Entrapta is more responsible for the portal situation than Catra is, but I know that is probably a hot take). She faced that head on in “Launch”, seeing how her actions affected her former friends. I think Entrapta not forgiving Catra would be the pot calling the kettle black - she fell in love with Hordak for Titan’s sake!
And finally, Adora…do I need to even talk about Adora? She witnessed every awful thing Catra went through growing up, has a heart of gold, and is in love with her. Obviously Adora would put aside the feelings of resentment. Not to mention the fact Adora probably blames herself for a lot of what happened. Obviously she forgave Catra.
I want to end this with an overall conversation about forgiveness. This will get into some personal views and feelings about life you may not share. Forgiveness is not a feeling, it is a choice. It is shown that holding a grudge is bad for your health. When you refuse to forgive, and cling onto bitterness and resentment, you are not hurting the person who hurt you, you are hurting yourself. She-Ra teaches us a lesson in forgiveness. If the characters had not forgiven Catra, the world would have been doomed. Letting go of these feelings of resentment will save your own personal world. I think some people get upset about characters forgiving Catra because they have their own Catra they are unwilling to forgive, or maybe they are the Catra. The past is in the past, we just have to do our best to heal.
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