SPOILERS
Fans of the old series and not so much of the new one, the new one does have a direction and is using other characters they hadn't used before in interesting ways. Does Season 2 shows the vast cast and not focus on the main 3? No, sorry, it's mainly the main 3. The new series suffers from what the first series did, hard to juggle so many characters that it focuses on a few. Plus, the villains are way more interesting. Season 2 does concentrate more on stand-alone adventures. Season 3 sort of has an arc. It is more continuous like season 1.
SEASON TWO
"The Frozen Forest"
Summary: The Princess Alliance members face internal dispute owing to diverging attitudes while Catra deploying robots deter the group's attempt to restore the Whispering Woods. Bow suggests capturing an intact Horde-Bot to install a kill-switch program which could take all the Bots out, while Entrapta develops an advanced type of Horde-Bot utilizing First Ones' technology. The gang encounters the four prototypes, who thrash them before retreating to salvage more technology from the Beacon. Adora re-encourages her companions; they succeed in working together in destroying the Horde-Bots, and their inspiration triggers a magical force in them which revives the damaged woods. But while taking the remaining Bot apart, Bow discovers that Entrapta is still alive and working for the enemy.
Review: Not what I was expecting of a season 2 premiere. It could have taken anywhere. It is a stand-alone episode that pretty much fills time.
2 out of 5
"Ties that Bind"
Summary: The Horde has taken Dryl, Entrapta's home. Light Hope informs Adora that she and Swift Wind must form a special connection with each other, and asks Adora to seek out the ruins of the Watchtower, a First Ones' relay station destroyed by the first She-Ra, whose restoration would improve her technical functions. Adora and Swift Wind discover the ruins, but Swift Wind's excited prattling makes it hard for Adora to ask for his assistance until they find a common understanding and thus establish their bond. Upon learning that Entrapta is still alive, Glimmer decides to mount a solo rescue mission with Bow, but they end up capturing Catra instead.Catra exhausts Glimmer's powers with her antics before activating her tracking beacon for Scorpia to find her. Catra then bluffs Glimmer and Bow into releasing her and reveals that Entrapta is helping the Horde willingly, Glimmer and Bow able to escape capture.
Review: Swift Wind is an interesting character, his personality is all over the place. Him talking was like an after-thought last season. It depends on the writer I guess because he isn't consistent. The stuff between Catra, Bow and Glimmer is pretty good.
3 out of 5
"Signals"
Summary: Catra faces Hordak's growing displeasure about her performance, driving her to seek the imprisoned Shadow Weaver's aid. In her search for a tool she needs, Entrapta sneaks into Hordak's laboratory and witnesses him conducting a failing experiment to create a multidimensional portal, impulsively deciding to perfect the process before being discovered. To Hordak's surprise, the next activation succeeds and he accepts Entrapta's offer to assist him. In the meantime, Adora, Glimmer, Bow and Swift Wind investigate the loss of communication with Alwyn, a farming outpost for the Rebellion. There, they meet several ghostly apparitions which Bow eventually identifies as holographic recordings of the First Ones, which are produced by an ancient communication device which has self-activated.
Review: This episode builds the relationship between Entrapta and Hordak which is vital to season 3. The episode makes good use of its 'ghost' motif but yet again it's a trio episode and seems pretty standalone.
Summary: Catra faces Hordak's growing displeasure about her performance, driving her to seek the imprisoned Shadow Weaver's aid. In her search for a tool she needs, Entrapta sneaks into Hordak's laboratory and witnesses him conducting a failing experiment to create a multidimensional portal, impulsively deciding to perfect the process before being discovered. To Hordak's surprise, the next activation succeeds and he accepts Entrapta's offer to assist him. In the meantime, Adora, Glimmer, Bow and Swift Wind investigate the loss of communication with Alwyn, a farming outpost for the Rebellion. There, they meet several ghostly apparitions which Bow eventually identifies as holographic recordings of the First Ones, which are produced by an ancient communication device which has self-activated.
Review: This episode builds the relationship between Entrapta and Hordak which is vital to season 3. The episode makes good use of its 'ghost' motif but yet again it's a trio episode and seems pretty standalone.
3 out of 5
"Roll With It"
Summary: The Rebels prepare to retake a Horde-controlled fortress controlling an important passage, but the operation gets stuck in its planning stage when Adora, Glimmer, Bow and the other Princesses begin arguing about the procedure. While Adora assumed Catra was overseeing the fortress, it was actually entrusted to Scorpia—who is alerted to the group's presence by Glimmer activating her teleportation power and spies on them. Adora, frustrated over the others not taking the planning seriously, is encouraged to trust her friends in watching her back as proceed to take the fortress despite Scorpia's precautions.
Review: A fun episode with different animation styles, includes the 80's version.
3 out of 5
"White Out"
Summary: Catra, Entrapta and Scorpia are sent to Etharia's north pole region to excavate First Ones' technology, pursued by Adora, Glimmer, Bow and Sea Hawk. Having learned of the First Ones' virus disc which Entrapta restored, she uses it to infect Adora with the intent of making her a tool for the Horde. But giant worm robots that the First Ones created to guard the site were also infected and attack the excavation camp, forcing the two groups to work together despite Catra's refusal to allow the disc to be destroyed. Scorpia ultimately destroys the disc, restoring Adora and the worms to normal. In the course of the fracas, Entrapta revealed to have acquired First One tech prior to the Rebels' attack, Catra first recognizes Scorpia's affection towards her.
Review: Fun stuff with Seahawk and Scorpia and drunk Adora.
4/5
"Light Spinner"
Summary: Hordak decides to send Shadow Weaver to Beast Island to prevent her knowledge from becoming of use to the Rebels, much to Catra's dismay because she still feels for Shadow Weaver despite her mistreatment in childhood. In her cell, Shadow Weaver reminisces about her past as Light Spinner in mentoring a young apprentice Micah until her pursuit of dark magic to end the war corrupted her and led to her joining the Horde where she became the infant Adora's guardian. In the present, Shadow Weaver tricks Catra into aiding her escape. In the meantime, Bow is able to decipher the message Adora activated in "Signals", which concerns Mara (the previous She-Ra), the name Serinia, and a portal.
Review: A great episode, the best of the season.
5/5
"Reunion"
Summary: Trying to find out what the mysterious message means, Bow leaves Bright Moon and seeks out the library of his fathers George and Lance. When Adora and Glimmer track him down, they find out that Bow was supposed to follow in his fathers' academic footsteps, but since they abhor the war against the Horde, he decided instead to become a freedom fighter without telling them. Following the accidental activation of a First Ones' monster robot, Adora transforms into She-Ra, which blows Bow's cover story. Bow pacifies the robot, and after witnessing this, his fathers give him their approval. George and Lance subsequently decode the message as a star constellation bearing the name Serinia which will soon appear above the Crimson Waste. In the Fright Zone, Catra desperately tries to track down the fugitive Shadow Weaver, but Hordak finds out about the escape and punishes Catra after giving her a chance to admit her failure. The same night, Shadow Weaver appears in Bright Moon at Adora's bedside.
Review: Everyone was aghast about this episode, it is pretty much a stand-alone episode within an arc. With the arc ending just tacked on. A good episode but pretty unbelievable that bow could leave his dads in the dark.
3/5
Season 2 Review: Like I said, it is all stand-alone and guideless. It doesn't have the overall arc. I am sure this is done on purpose in order to have a break. But unfortunately, since the first season didn't have a break established, it seems ingenious. You can't just go running to all of the sudden stop to smell the roses and then go running full throttle again. It would've made more sense to have season 2 and season 3 be one long season.
SEASON THREE
"The Price of Power"
Summary: Near-death, Shadow Weaver collapses and is captured before she can approach Adora. Adora sneaks into Shadow Weaver's cell, and after using her powers to heal her, Shadow Weaver tells them about Hordak's plan to open an interdimensional portal to bring the rest of the Horde armies to Etheria for total conquest. She also reveals that Adora has actually come from another world through an experimental portal. Confused, Adora seeks out Light Hope, who confirms Shadow Weaver's tale and reveals her as a First One. To find answers, Adora decides to follow Mara's message to the Crimson Waste, and Glimmer and Bow volunteer to come along. Catra faces public punishment by Hordak, but with Entrapta having located a vital component for the portal and spoken on Catra's behalf, Hordak instead assigns her to retrieve the part from the Crimson Waste - or die trying.
Review: So we finally hear the name of Eternia, Adora's home but hear very little else about it. Fans of the 80's series know that Adora came from Etheria and was twin sisters to Prince Adam/He-Man. Unknown if he will appear in this series. A good opener to season 3, now this is a premiere!
4/5
"Huntara"
Summary: Entrapta learns that Hordak is a defective clone of Horde Prime who was accidentally teleported to Etheria and conquered it to show Horde Prime his worth. Entrapta improves Hordak's life-sustaining armor, thus gaining his respect. In the Crimson Waste, Adora, Glimmer and Bow stumble upon an outlaw abode and are saved from them by Huntara, whereupon Adora hires her as a guide. However, Huntara leads them into a trap and steals Adora's sword. The three friends track Huntara down and recover the sword; when she learns that Adora is She-Ra, Huntara reveals that she is a rogue Horde Soldier, disillusioned by Hordak's evil. She joins Adora's group and leads them to their destination: The wreckage of Mara's ship.
Review: A so-so episode that makes it better with Geena Davis guest-starring as HUntara, gives it gravitas. Huntara was a little known character from the 80's She-Ra series that wasn't a toy and smart the new series uses her here.
3/5
"Once Upon A Time in the Waste"
Summary: Arriving in the Crimson Desert, Catra and Scorpia learn of Adora's presence and take up pursuit, but are ambushed by Tung Lashor's horde; Catra defeats him, however, and takes control of his gang. While exploring the ship, Adora's group finds a holographic recording of Mara's last moments. The message reveals that Mara used the sword's power to draw Etheria into another dimension to hide it from the Horde, and warns Adora not to use it herself. Just as the message ends, Catra and her army arrive and capture Adora, although Huntara escapes with Bow and Glimmer. Questioning Adora, Catra learns that Shadow Weaver is still alive in Bright Moon, which evokes her decision to go along with Hordak's plan.
Review: I'm not sure how I feel about the use of Tung Lashor as he was originally meant to be a He-Man character and was used in the 2002 revival of He-Man. He was one of the Lizard Men in the Masters of the Universe toyline but since He-Man was canceled, he was used in She-Ra in order to promote his toy. So He was part of the horde. Anyway, in this new series he is not part of the horde but a nomad. Still a great episode dealing with Adora finding more about Mara and She-ra and Scorpia's relaitonship with Catra.
4/5
"Moment of Truth"
Summary: Catra returns with Adora to the Fright Zone and presents the sword as the key needed to open Hordak's portal. Glimmer, Bow and Huntara return to Bright Moon, but cannot persuade her mother to help, so she frees Shadow Weaver. Shadow Weaver helps teleport Glimmer, Bow and the other princesses right into Hordak's base, but they are soon discovered and forced to fight their way through. In the meantime, Entrapta discovers that opening the portal would annihilate reality, but Catra, obsessed with vengeance, hides this fact from Hordak, and the portal is activated.
Review: Interesting to see Entrapta and Hordak's relationship blossom. With some hinted romantic love and then when Catra lies to him about Entrapta, he seems hurt. Shadow Weaver's use of Glimmer is kind of iffy but interesting. Good to see the other Princesses involved but wished they were used more before.
4/5
"Remember"
Summary: Adora awakens in the Fright Zone, again as a member of the Horde in a "perfect world"; but as she goes on with her life, several peculiar happenings and strange memory flashes quickly begin to tell her that something is seriously amiss. As her realization grows, the false reality begins to disintegrate. Adora flees with Catra to the Whispering Woods, but Catra willingly lets go of their friendship instead of trying to rectify the catastrophe. Adora is then met by Madame Razz, who tells her that Mara had triggered such a cataclysm before when she displaced Etheria, and gives Adora the advice to "go back to the beginning". As she leaves to seek out Glimmer and Bow, she is followed by Catra, half mutated by the reality warp.
Summary: Adora awakens in the Fright Zone, again as a member of the Horde in a "perfect world"; but as she goes on with her life, several peculiar happenings and strange memory flashes quickly begin to tell her that something is seriously amiss. As her realization grows, the false reality begins to disintegrate. Adora flees with Catra to the Whispering Woods, but Catra willingly lets go of their friendship instead of trying to rectify the catastrophe. Adora is then met by Madame Razz, who tells her that Mara had triggered such a cataclysm before when she displaced Etheria, and gives Adora the advice to "go back to the beginning". As she leaves to seek out Glimmer and Bow, she is followed by Catra, half mutated by the reality warp.
Review: A good episode going back to the beginning and using an altered reality. Some good character moments but doesn't do anything to expand the mythology or character arc. Only to Adora's.
4/5
"The Portal"
Summary: Arriving in Bright Moon, Adora is promptly taken, prisoner. Her curiosity piqued by the new arrival, Glimmer drags Bow into questioning Adora, who manages to revive their memories. The three manage to get in touch with Entrapta, who has determined that the portal's debilitating effects are centered on Adora, and that she must remove the sword to fix it. As reality collapses further and her friends disappear before her, Adora is confronted by Catra but manages to overcome her former friend and her doubts. But instead of Adora, Queen Angela, with her memory returned, removes the sword, forever trapping herself between realities. With true reality thus restored, Adora's group returns to Bright Moon; but the interdimensional disruption has enabled one of Hordak's clone brothers to track him down.
Review: A good episode. Great ending! Interesting finale but wish we got more answers out of this season. Apparently, we are getting a fourth season or even longer because of this slow pace. Or a fast pace? Why so little episodes in each season? At this pace, we will get 12 seasons in 5 years.
5/5
