She-Ra and the Princesses of Power creator Noelle Stevenson has revealed one story pitch that ultimately felt too dark to be used on the Best Friend Squad by her writing and animation staff.
In a Twitter thread, Stevenson elaborated further on her idea, which would have taken place sometime around Season 1 and seen Bow and Glimmer learning that Adora has strong healing abilities. This would have led to them becoming far more reckless against the Horde because Adora would theoretically be able to rid their bodies of life-threatening injuries.
As for why this idea never went any further, Stevenson wrote that "we did not do this because it is.........terrifying." To literally illustrate her point, she included a doodle of Bow lying on the ground with an enormous hole in his chest, yet acting casual about the wound as Adora frantically tries healing him through tears.
Despite this potentially grim setup in Stevenson's pitch, Adora’s healing power would eventually be featured in the show as an extension of She-Ra. Using the Sword of Protection's Runestone, she's able to heal both individuals and locations affected by either dark magic or the Horde’s technology. Examples of this include restoring the plant life in Perfuma’s kingdom during Season 1 and Shadow Weaver’s health in the Season 3 premiere. However by Season 5, Adora proves capable of using the ability without relying on her sword for assistance.
She-Ra and the Princesses of Power stars Aimee Carrero, Karen Fukuhara, AJ Michalka, Marcus Scribner, Reshma Shetty, Lorraine Toussaint, Keston John, Lauren Ash, Christine Woods, Genesis Rodriguez, Jordan Fisher, Vella Lovell, Merit Leighton, Sandra Oh, Krystal Joy Brown and Jacob Tobia. All five seasons are currently streaming on Netflix.