WARNING: The following article contains spoilers for the fourth season of She-Ra and the Princesses of Power, available now on Netflix.
Catra has been one of the most self-assured characters in all of She-Ra and the Princesses of Power. Although internally she's plagued by a sense of guilt and doubt, she's tried to be more aggressive and controlling as the show has gone on. Season 4 has pushed her into the biggest position of power yet but also opens her up for her greatest fall.
In fact, the fourth season of She-Ra even finally finds a way to break her spirit, maybe for good.
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MOVING ON UP
For the majority of the new season, Catra is in a pretty good position. She's risen through the ranks to become the second-in-command to Hordak himself. Her military victories and no-nonsense attitude with her commander eventually wins his respect, and Catra becomes an increasingly powerful figure. Working in tandem with Hordak and the shapeshifting spy Double Trouble, Catra is able to push the Horde's military advantage while sowing seeds of discord between the Princesses. The plan largely works, and the heroes spend most of the season struggling to keep up with Catra and her advancements.
But none of those victories bring Catra the peace or happiness that she wants. Instead, her own guilt over the actions that led her to this point keep pushing her further and further into internal conflict. After having betrayed Entrapta at the end of the previous season and sending her to Beast Island to cover her tracks, Catra wrestles with her psyche.
Things keeps getting worsened by the additional stresses that leadership brings, putting Catra nearly permanently on edge. This pushes Catra to take out her frustrations on Scorpia, who is also dealing with her own feelings about letting Entrapta be taken away. All in all, Catra spends most of the season on the verge of a nervous breakdown. Although she's largely able to control everything, it all comes crashing down spectacularly at the end of the season.
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ONE BAD DAY
Towards the end of the new batch of episodes, everything turns on Catra and she has a pretty rough couple of days. The first nail comes from Scorpia, who tells Catra she's a bad friend before leaving her alone. Scorpia soon leaves the Fright Zone entirely to embark on her own journey and make amends for her past actions, leaving Catra with no one she can depend on. Then Double Trouble, who'd developed an apparent friendship with Catra over the course of their mission together, suddenly returns from Bright Moon. But instead of finding Catra, Double Trouble goes straight to Hordak and reveals the truth behind Catra faking Entrapta's betrayal. Hordak immediately goes off the rails, trying to murder his lieutenant. Most of the base is destroyed in the chaos, although Catra is able to defeat her former leader in the brawl.
But Hordak is seriously injured in the battle, raising the question of how they will continue their campaign. That's when Double Trouble reveals themselves again, and giddily reveals the truth: after having made a deal with Glimmer and the rest of the Princess Rebellion, they told them the Horde's next attack plan before going back to the Horde to create a distraction. While Hordak and Catra have been fighting to near-death, the Princesses have ambushed their entire army and largely wiped it out. In one fell swoop, the Horde just went from winning the war to almost outright losing. For good measure, Double Trouble lingers over the stunned Catra and psychologically breaks her down before departing to parts unknown.
GOING FORWARD
Everything Catra had based her recent life around just fell apart right in front of her eyes. And to a certain extent, it's her fault. Scorpia and Entrapta are gone, Hordak is broken and the Horde is defeated. If it hadn't been for the timely arrival of Hordak Prime, it's likely that Bow and Glimmer would have finished off an injured Hordak and outright won the war. Even in that moment, Catra does nothing. She even briefly speaks to Glimmer, shocking her by just how much she's given up on the world: the woman who always found an excuse to get into a fight now can't bring herself to take on someone she outright hates. She's got nothing left. She's broken.
It's partly what makes the tease for next season's arc so exciting. Catra and Glimmer are both taken in by Hordak Prime. It's only because of Catra's quick thinking that either of them survives longer than a few minutes. Catra is still very cunning and might revert back to her old ways. But the lengths that she was put through in the new season are genuinely staggering. Seeing a humbled and broken Catra stuck together with Glimmer (whom she hates but has also gone through her fair share of complicated development over the season) as they both try to become better makes for an incredibly engaging set-up for the next season.
It'll be interesting to see if they can bounce back, especially after the outright breakdown Catra suffers through.
Streaming now on Netflix, 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. Season 4 debuts on Nov. 5.