Hordak - Peeling Back the Layers
Alright, if you’ve been following my blog for a while, then you know how much I like villains. A show is only as good as its villain and She-Ra and the Princesses of Power have given us several awesome villains.
Since it’s a reboot, all of the characters have underwent redesigns. From She-ra’s more modest outfit that brought out raging fanboys, and the wide range of ridiculous 80′s outfits remodeled to be more practical and stylish. Perfuma isn’t wearing a flower on her head and Catra is actually a cat girl and not a lady stalking around in a tight red dress.
long post below
One of the biggest changes is Hordak himself. Instead of some muscle bound brute, they remodel him to have a slimmer build and wearing a tunic/tabard with a technological mind.
In season 1, we actually do not see him in person until the end of the THIRD episode. Though he is the leader of the Horde which should put him as the main antagonist, I consider Shadow Weaver to be the main antagonist of season 1, mainly because she makes more appearances and has more influence over the actions that hamper the heroes (BFF Squad). At best, he’s a recurring character, at least in the first season.
However, even then, I was drawn to him because I liked his redesign so much and was quite intrigued with him. He was shrouded in mystery and kept himself distant from current affairs unless it’s to make a brief appearance to intimidate Shadow Weaver and receive reports on what’s happening outside his sanctum via monitors.
In the original She-Ra series, Hordak was much more attached to Adora. In SPOP, he dismisses her as a lost cause and in turn makes Catra the new Force Captain, overruling Shadow Weaver’s selection, which shows a very pragmatic side to him. He also overruled her when it came to using the Garnet runestone to attack Bright Moon.
He pretty much remains a static character throughout season 1. We still don’t know more about him other than his being the Leader of the Horde and he has a cool disposition towards his underlings.
It not until we hit season 2-3 that multiple layers are stripped away to allow us a closer look. And the one responsible for peeling back those layers is Entrapta.
I’ve gone on in length about why these two work so well together as a couple. With her lack of social skills and obsession with science and experimentation made her to the perfect companion of a man who isolates himself from others and considers Etheria a backwater planet with no concept of interstellar travel. They suited each other as if cut from the same cloth.
Imperfection is beautiful.
These are the words that sparked a deep relationship he had never experienced before, that he had never imagined and we’re given Hordak’s background . . . or a side of it.
Hordak plays the part of an unreliable narrator when he talks about his past. An unreliable narrator. An unreliable narrator is a narrator whose credibility is compromised. Whether its someone who is bias towards events (racist), naive of certain events (a child), has an askew perception (Humbert Humber, the pedophile narrator in Lolita.
In Hordak’s case, it’s his programming as a clone and strong attachment to his ‘brother’ progenitor Horde Prime. We’re given only one part of the story and we’re led to believe that his ‘defection’ was a physical disability that causes his body to break down and chronic pain. And for a long time, until the end of Season 4, this is what we the audience believed was the case.
However, we are quickly shown the true reason why he was discarded. He had attained a mind of his own and individuality.
Which asks the question, did Horde Prime allow Hordak to come to the conclusion that it was a physical defect? Or was it Hordak’s won misconception that led him to believe such? There had to be a reason why his ‘brother’ would reject him so and he body was falling apart. So that must be the reason, and therefore he must rise above his frailties to prove himself strong in Horde Prime’s eyes.
Yet, he meets Entrapta and experiences genuine acceptance. Unconditional love and affection from someone he didn’t have to prove himself to. Entrapta who created a suit to ease his pain and make him more functional without expecting nor asking for anything in return, but did it simply out of friendship and love. It’s literally an eye opening moment for him.
From this point on, he shows a wider range of emotion beyond that of anger, cool reception, or frustration.
He struggles to give his thanks to Entrapta, even going as far as to assure her she was worth something.
He demonstrates regret at the thought of returning to the Horde Prime.
Hurt when he believes Entrapta betrayed him.
Loss and grief over loosing her.
Pleasure in the battle field.
Embarrassment when the Imp teases him for thinking about Entrapta.
Season 4 has Hordak leaving his shell or sanctum to lead the Horde army in taking over Salineas and has a taste for battle.
For Season 4, he has the mannerisms of something had just been spurned by a lover. He disallows Entrapta’s name to be spoken in his presence, has her things thrown out, and yearns for her while desiring her work and recordings to help him finish his arm cannon. He even wanted to face in her battle as if he wanted to show her up or have a confrontation.
He has become a leader that is more open with his underlings now, more confidant and isn’t a malignant being that intimidates his followers from the shadows as he had done in Season 1.
Then another layer is stripped away when Double Trouble (lauded as a hero for this) reveals what really happened to Entrapta.
Now we see him as a man in pain, suffering loss and grieving for a loved one. He had been the fool that had discounted her loyalty. And with sending someone to Beast Island is considered a death sentence, in his mind, Entrapta is dead, murdered by Catra to gain his trust and steal power.
Then he does something out of character for himself.
Remember, in Season One, he was calm and collected, pragmatic and cold with his mind focus on his goal.
Then as the Horde is posed to win the war, he attacks his second in command Catra. Which is understandable reaction to see revenge, but it’s a very human thing to do. I’m using the term ‘human’ loosely as many of our favorite characters aren’t human as a race, but you know what I mean.
He destroys a good portion of the Fright Zone, his own lair and base, trying to kill Catra, consumed with fury over Entrapta and being tricked. One doesn’t need to be a soldier or a general to know how this would weaken his position in a war. Yet, the emotional pain has put him past caring of how this would weaken him. All he wants is to avenge Entrapta.
Then we have the final layer removed. The false hope.
We are finally given a missing piece of a puzzle that we didn’t know was missing. We learn that Hordak’s true defect was having a will of his own.
When we are introduced to Horde Prime (and brutally so), he completely outstrips Hordak as the main villain of the series and lays him bare to raw vulnerable person seeking affection he never truly had.
Let’s compare.
We went from this, when we first see him in the series. Cold, calculating and feared.
to this. On his knees, begging for approval, and frightened.
What I love about this is that it happened so naturally over the course of four seasons in a way I cannot find fault or call bullshit on. This is a character whose barriers have been stripped from him, first through love and then fury, and then fear and rejection.
His motivation throughout his life had been to please Horde Prime and his actions which has been the cause of so much strife in the series from the war, banishing King Micah, Shadow Weaver betraying Mystacore, Adora’s seperation from her family, Catra, Lonnie, Kyle, and Rogolio’s childhoods, have all been to reunite with an abuser that not only outright rejects him, but then rips away what was left of his mind.
When Season 5 comes around, we’re going to see a new Hordak. Not a reprogram amnesiac (though I believe he’ll start that way), but someone who has to find a new purpose. And in finding a new purpose, he’ll likely become a new man.
But predictions are for another post.
