She Ra’s Newest Season Takes a Dark Turn

Glimmer, who has recently been crowned Queen, shows her authority.

Kerala Bannister, Editor
November 26, 2019

Chances are, when you think of rebooted 80s shows, you think of Voltron: Legendary Defender, a show that faced a lot of controversy focused around lack of representation. However, you might not be aware of another 80s show being rebooted on Netflix: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power.

 

The show follows Adora (Aimee Carrero), a former Horde soldier and the current She Ra (a magical warrior princess), as she defends Etheria from the people she once called friends, along with the newly reformed Princess Alliance. The show is known for being mainly lighthearted and funny, with the occasional dark episode in place to remind the characters everything that is at stake: their homes, their loved ones, and even their lives.

 

When the show ended its third season, Catra (AJ Michalka), one of the series main villains, had opened a portal despite warnings that it was unstable and faulty. This led to a rather dark and surprisingly meta arc spanning across two episodes, in which Queen Angella (Reshma Shetty), mother to Adora’s friend Glimmer (Karen Fukuhara), sacrificed herself in order to save the world.

 

After such a heart wrenching finale, it seemed reasonable to expect an action packed return to the series. In the first episode of season 4, when the episode starts, it seems as if it’s going to be that way. The episode takes a different turn, which sets the mood for the clearly darker season that is coming. The first episode focuses on Glimmer fighting, yes, but not against an enemy she can see. Instead, she’s dealing with grief caused by the loss of her mother. Unfortunately, it feels as if very little time is spent exploring this grief.

 

The rest of the season deals with similar themes of grief and loss, as well as an overarching plot that revolves around betrayal, as well as people who aren’t quite who they say they are. One such character is Double Trouble (Jacob Tobia), a morally gray shapeshifter. “

, announced, “I think it’s a natural introduction compared to a lot of other characters in the media right now!”

 

Double Trouble is also a good example of the show’s representation for the LGBT community. They identify as nonbinary and are reffered to with they/them pronouns for the entirety of the season. This isn’t the first character to be a part of the community in the show; earlier seasons having introduced two same sex couples, as well as Scorpia (Lauren Ash) who makes it clear that she is in love with Catra.

 

Throughout the season, Double Trouble disguises themself as a girl named Flutterina (Amanda C. Miller), in order to pass on the Rebellion’s plans to the Horde, causing a lot of problems for the princesses. One such problem is the tension between Adora and Glimmer. They fight for the most of the season due to the seeds of doubt that Double Trouble plants in their relationship.

 

Among all of this darkness, however, was there any room for She Ra’s usual lighthearted humor? The answer is yes. The episode “Boys Night Out” still has plenty of key character development, while also being a funny musical episode. This episode focuses on Sea Hawk (Jordan Fisher), convincing Bow (Marcus Scribner) and Swift Wind (Adam Ray) to get away from all the tension and go out for the night. This quickly spirals into Sea Hawk’s plan to get the group ‘kidnapped’ in order to force the girls into working together to rescue them.

 

Another stand out part of the season is Adora learning about the First Ones and their past, also discovering that her long term mentor, Light Hope (Morla Gorrondona), is not the benevolent force she claimed to be.

 

Another backstory that was revealed this season was Scorpia’s. Her past had been a mystery for a long time, with fans only really knowing that she was the princess of the Black Garnet. Fans speculated wildly about what could have made a princess join the Horde. As it turns out, she didn’t exactly have a choice. Mitchell said that she was surprised by the backstory, and that she was very interested by it.

 

The concern with every new season of a TV show is whether or not it will end up being any good, but people need not worry. When asked how she felt about the new season, Mitchell replied, “I think all the seasons are equally amazing.”

 

Overall, She Ra season four wasn’t perfect by any means, but it was a very good continuation of an already great reboot. Plus, it’s appealing to the younger audience it targeted before, as well as older children and teenagers due to it’s darker themes.