Catra: The Cycle of Abuse 

Latest Catra video!! ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-uPjdBCZI9DU.html

*"You are a bad friend".* - Scorpia 2019.

You can see the humanity and hope in Catra slowly die as the seasons go on, she gets more power and she slowly feels more rejected and becomes more paranoid.

This is actually a really common dynamic in abusive families. One child is singled out as “imperfect”, while another is praised and can do no wrong. This creates a huge divide between the kids, with both angry at each other instead of the person that split them up in the first place.

She probably saw Shadow Weaver as a mother figure, which is why she was so obsessed with keeping her around. Perhaps hoping that one day she would receive some kind of comfort and approval from her. Only adding to her abandonment issues.

Nice to know that I'm not the only one that noticed that after Shadow Weaver tricked her in S2, that Catra had started to act more like her. Or at least that's when I noticed it. Edit: I just remembered this comment and the like count, holy crap!

"even when you're trying to kill eachother you can tell there's a real bond" catradora in a nutshell edit: This aged well didn't it

Shadow Weaver’s “tough love” is some classic manipulation to except of abusive parents. In reality being treated like you’re inferior helps absolutely no one, and it’s just the parent’s poor excuse for projecting their insecurities on you

Horde Prime abused and threw away Hordak, who in turn abused and used Shadow Weaver for her power, who in turn manipulated and abused both Adora and Catra, and Catra in turn abuses and lies to both Scorpia and Entrapta. Adora and Scorpia are breaking that chain. In Season 5 I think we will find out whether or not Catra will be the last link to be broken, or if she'll continue it anew.

The only reason people disliked was because they were blinded by tears

I wait for the day Catra's real family comes forward. Fingers crossed for the Cat-Princess Catra theory to be true.

Abandonment is a painful feeling. It can lead to distrust and hatred for those who have it. Even the smallest of actions can have the harshest results.

*"You promise?"* -the saddest line from the show

The bad thing about well-written characters like Catra is that logically I know she's done bad things, but I'm still crying my heart out when she has to face the consequences. Good writing, folks.

I feel so bad for Catra 😢 💔

All Catra wants is for someone to be there who won't abandon her or use her or pity her. Hopefully, in time, she'll come to realise that Scorpia can serve that role.

In the episode where Glimmer says “She left because of you” you can see the shock and pain go through Catra. That must’ve hurt

catra isn’t “responsible” for her own misery. she was abused which caused her trust/abandonment issues and now she struggles greatly with her self worth. she didn’t bring it upon herself, but she needed to learn how to manage her trauma so that she could finally move forward in life.

Shadow Weaver gained power through fear, now Catra's doing the exact same thing.

Catra is the ultimate conflicted character Everyone holding out hope for her because she has such a sad back story but she’s so awful and abusive to scorpia WHY IS SHE ALOWED TO BE SO CONFUSING Edit: just finished season 5 for the third time and I think catra’s redemption was handled amazingly and even though she is so different now it’s awesome that they kept her personality and dimensionally!

God damn she's too far gone but I just want her in the rebellion. Or on her own, that would be cool. I feel so sorry for her.

Catra is the most 3 dimensional character I've ever seen

*WE DESERVE A CATRA REDEMPTION ARC*

thank you, this killed me, i love it so much ;_; The problem is Catra resents Adora for "letting" SW abuse her, and then she goes out to help other people. And Catra will now want to do the same to Adora. :(

0:52 Catra’s not wrong here, but keep in mind Adora was a CHILD, just like Catra she feared Shadow Weaver’s wrath & tried 2 protect Catra & herself in a way that neither of them would get hurt, It’s basic survival instinct in an abusive parental environment. Not 2 mention Adora IS a people pleaser as Catra pointed out. Would Catra have been bolder standing up 4 Adora if SHE were the Golden Child? Maybe, but the same abuse would still happen.

‘Every hero needs a sidekick, right’ - Catra She was never just the sidekick, she was her partner in crime, her best friend. ‘But you...even when you’re trying to kill each other...there’s a bond’ - Scorpia They still have a chance

“Catra Cycle of Abuse” *more like Catra making me cry for 5 minutes”

I can really relate to catras story. I was abandoned by my friend, and she never seemed to have respect for me, or understand my problems at home. She was so incredibly toxic, that my friends didn’t even stand up to her. I was so mad at her, that the anger was literally tearing my mind apart. I couldn’t handle such strong negative emotions. I snapped one night, called her, and told her about how she had made my life giving hell for 4 years. I knew I couldn’t get those years of my childhood back. While on the phone, I started to cry, and then she said “maybe it’s just you.” Even though she had just said sorry, I knew that I could never forgive her. She was just too toxic. She’s a master manipulator. Everyone loves her, but no one sees who she really is. Im the only one who knows how horrible she is.

It’s important to recognize that her past does not excuse her behaviour now.

I really want a scene where it's just Catra and Adora and Adora breaks through to her and Catra breaks down and cries in front of her. I mean full on weeping, screaming, angry tears, I wanna feel the pain in my chest from all the emotion. Her finally letting it all out. Plus no background music to add to the intensity.

I swear Catra has got to be one of my favorite characters from this series. She puts on a don’t care attitude all the time but if you just look deeper. You can see that she is the most emotionally vulnerable out of everyone here because all her life she’s relied on others to keep her stable even when she doesn’t realize it. Adore was her closest friend but she saw the truth about the horde turn to the side of good Shadow weaver was abusive but she was also the closest thing catra I had to mother Scorpia and entrapeda both are genuine friends but she push them away without realizing it. Even Connie, Kyle, and Rialgo helped her A little but when they realized how terrible she was they abandoned her too. that scene in the Crimson waste where Katra gives up her chance for true happiness simply to get revenge always brings me to tears because she deserves it just won’t except it.

SHHH" it's okay kitty, she can't hurt you anymore.😿 Well except for Hordak.

Catra is a sad gurl who needs a hug, but I havea feeling she'd slice anyone who dared hug her (besides Scorpia because a: protective armor b: I have a feeling Catra does actually like her but won't admit it lol).

Man I am rewatching She Ra after like 4 years and dude. Catra has a seriously messed up backstory

The pain i felt with her The abuse hurts,especially when you get use to it and when actual good people try to help,You hurt them without knowing then they leave,only to hurt yourself more.

catra just loses everything that's important in her life, imagine how depressed she must've been growing up while being abused

"Just because someone stumbles and loses their way doesn't always mean that they're gone forever. Sometimes we all need a little help." -Professor Charles Xavier, X-Men: Days of Future Past.

Catra is going to turn on everyone to prove she isnt worthless

after season 4, my heart bleeds for her

Abandonment issue, and mother issue, really wanted shadow weaver approval.

Catra pushed Scorpia away because she’s so used to people who she cared about pushing her away she thinks Scorpia is gonna abandon her too.

I’m addicted to this show

Catra just wants to be loved

Poor Catra her life is so difficult sad and hard for her I feel bad for her

Why isn't this public enough?! That was so well done and musst have been such an effort to creat!

The best character ever

IF SHADOW WEAVER DIDNT ABUSE HER SHE WOULDNT BE LIKE THIS I HATE HER SO MUCH CATRA DESERVES BETTER :(

this made me feel both sad and angry and everything in between this one hit me so hard bc catra is a character that I relate to and embody so much

this is why i love this show. it's not like there are "bad guys" and "good guys". there are just people who are incredibly insecure in one way or another and don't know how to handle it, and there are people who handle those feelings much better in a healthier way. you can see that the "bad guys" are clearly corrupted by wanting to fill the void inside of them with power, the void that other people created in them at young ages. i really cannot comprehend why anyone can hate any of the characters in this show (I kind of understand hating double trouble because they just do everything for laughs and don't think about it, which is very much like my brother lol but anyway) because they all have so much reason to be angry and upset. no one taught them how to peacefully handle their emotions. it is SO hard to be the smarter, bigger, more wise person in knowing how to deal with negative emotions, especially when those negative emotions are so abundant. i am lucky to have smart parents who teach me ways to cope with my anxiety and depression, and without them, I would be a very destructive person. it's easy to be destructive when you feel like you are broken on the inside.

And now she finally broke the cycle.

I can relate to both Catra and Adora. I’ve been emotionally abused by my mother, I’ve had to take a choice to leave a toxic group for the greater good and leave many friends because they didn’t want to leave. Neither side is completely innocent, nor is neither side completely guilty. Yes, Catra was given many chances to leave the Horde, but would you trade all your power to start from the dirt? I wouldn’t, but that’s only me. I do have to give Adora some applause for leaving an abusive environment on a dime turn decision. Catra didn’t think Adora left for the better, she thought she left for Bow and Glimmer. But then, Adora did try to get Catra to join the Rebellion by saying something like “The Horde has been manipulating us for all our lives”(?) which Catra, I believe thought Adora knew that and responded with “Well duh- did you just figure that out? Manipulation is Shadow Weaver’s whole thing.” I could recite the whole thing Catra said but I don’t see the point as that bit describes everything she just said. It makes sense for Catra to not have left even if Adora was her closest friend, if not only friend which I will get into later. Going off her shown personality in the first episodes, they were eachother’s comfort. When Adora got promoted to Force Captain I believe in the scene Shadow Weaver said “I will be rewarding you with your first mission [Insert whatever she said after].” I don’t remember what she exactly said for both as it was a while ago, but Adora responded with “Can I take the rest of my team? They’ve worked hard- and Catra, all she wants to do is prove herself.” If that was the truth from Adora, Catra wants to prove herself to Shadow Weaver and Hordak (Unless I got that wrong). Catra was shown to have proven her worth to Hordak by being promoted to Force Captain in Adora’s place, then later his second in command. Shadow Weaver on the other hand, tried to get Catra to bring Adora back, failing of course. Now back to Adora’s side which doesn’t exactly show a struggle with her. Adora was well, welcomed in Bright Moon as She-Ra, is there really anything I have to explain about this? Skip forward a bit to episode 9 (Promise), there is shared abuse to both Catra and Adora, but Catra got the hard end of it. The physical and emotional. Catra was basically threatened with her life and Adora attempted to protect her. I believe Shadow Weaver said “I’ve only kept you around thing long because Adora was fond of you. If you do anything to jeopardize her future I won’t hesitate to dispose of you myself. Do you understand?” (I believe) That would mess someone up majorly by the only thing saving you from literal death is a friend. There is no shown physical abuse on Adora’s side besides being manipulated by Shadow Weaver, which I can’t think of any other examples other than the first two episodes. Which could be either Hordak’s or Shadow Weaver’s doing by corrupted both of their minds by telling them the princesses are evil. Now to season 2 episode 6 because I cannot think of anything else (Or it was episode 7, I do not remember.) Catra was manipulated into doing what Shadow Weaver wanted the same way Micah was, which I assume was the same way she got Adora to believe the princesses were evil. She touched Micah’s face, she touched Catra’s face (I’m so sorry if this sounds so messed up, It’s the only way I know how to describe it) both of those for her own personal benefit. She used Catra by getting her to bring her badge thing which had what I will call “Magic Powder” in it. Catra was unaware of this and thought it was just a token of nostalgia (I assume.) so she brought it to her in the food. Catra is shown to have love (DAUGHTERLY/MOTHERLY.) to Shadow Weaver as she wanted to keep her around instead of banishing her to Beast Island. Skip a bit and Catra was shown crying in Shadow Weaver’s cell. Now in the next episode, Shadow Weaver is in prisoned in Bright Moon and wants to speak with Adora to take down the Horde. She said something like “Catra betrayed me and Hordak tossed me aside. I want to take them down.” What does Catra have to betray though? Now before I get off-topic to Adora’s side I’m going to shut up about Catra for now. Which that seems to be fine at first since Shadow Weaver is shown to want to take The Horde down, but you can sense something isn’t right about her intentions when she says “But I will only speak to Adora”. She wanted Adora alone, possibly to attempt to manipulate her OR just to tell her that she’s not from Etheria. Now, I will talk about Catra for a bit again, not for long though. So, what does Catra have to betray? Catra doesn’t owe Shadow Weaver anything. If anything, Shadow Weaver betrayed Catra. Shadow Weaver has done nothing positive for Catra, now I will shut up about Catra because I’ve talked about her way too much when I’m trying to make myself not seem like I see Adora as a horrible person. Now I’m jumping to Season 3 episode 4 (?), when Shadow Weaver is about to literally kill Catra, she shows no hesitation what-so-ever. Which Catra said “Do you know what happened to me when you left? Did you even care? You couldn’t wait to get away from here- from me.” I’m not forgetting about what Shadow Weaver said, I just want to cover this first. It seems really messed up that Shadow Weaver hardly responded to that and pushed to kill Catra, before was interrupted. Now going back to what Shadow Weaver said, I don’t remember the exact thing she said but, “I left to defeat The Horde [Insert segment that’s blurry for me]” I can’t cover much for this, but later on Shadow Weaver is shown to manipulate Glitter (Yes, called her that on purpose.) To wrap things up, both Catra and Adora were in a cycle of abuse. Neither of them are innocent in this case. I do not favor one over the other, I simply relate to Catra more and than Adora but I still relate to them both. The reason why I wrote way more about Catra is because for one, this video is about Catra, two there’s more things to talk about. I couldn’t find much to talk about with her activating the portal because it literally just seemed to be out of intense spite. Apologies for any errors in the quotes, I didn’t talk much about Scorpia and Catra because it would’ve been off-topic to the abuse Catra and Adora both went through. If needed I will add onto the comment to add Scorpia into the mix. Side note: I likely will not respond to any replies. Not interested in a possible year long argument. I do not think any of Catra’s actions are justified, just out of her abusive environment. I do think her redemption arc could’ve used a bit more work but other than that I’m fine with it. Extra short bit because I don’t know where to put it: “I had to fight for my power, why should it be any different for you?” -Shadow Weaver, perhaps slightly incorrect This is a classic from parents who most of the time mess their children up, including mine. The thing is, Shadow Weaver (Light spinner when I’m speaking about this) was treated unfairly. They didn’t listen to her when she said she’d modified the spell of obtainment (?). My mom usually says “Well my dad slapped a band-aid on my broken leg. A torn tendon is nothing, you’ll be fine.” That’s not an exact comparison but you get the point, from my mom’s behavior towards me, which is still on-going I’m unable to set a firm foundation of trust or speak up about possible major injuries, such as hitting my head on a corner harshly. Catra has issues from Shadow Weaver, I have issues from my mom. Catra needs therapy so, so badly. Really all of the characters need therapy if you think about it. *Tl;Dr;* Both Catra and Adora are guilty, but they both have their share of innocence. Just Adora way, way more than Catra. Shadow Weaver caused issues to both Catra and Adora. Edits: Adding sidenote and more the the end of the comment, more somewhere.

I hope they make it better for her. I'm tired of abused children being used as plot devices for evil.

Isn’t it crazy how adora, scorpia, double trouble, shadow weaver, llani kyle and rogellio all left her...

Who's here after the finale?

I like where her character is going.

I clicked on this thinking it was going to be an analysis video or something and it turned out way deeper then I expected 😔😔 Poor catra, I just want to give her a hug ugh

Catra needs years of therapy, and Adora too.

What I'm not *sniff* c-crying! What are you talking about?😭

I was so frustrated back then but honestly EVERYTHING makes sense now 😩🥺

That one scene with catra having a mental breakdown gets me every single time

Catra's a baby, and I'm glad someone could take care of her.

Wow.. I never payed attention to this character, but.. Wow. This is one of the most realistic forms of what abuse can do to people.. In media at least. :0

My poor baby :(

It would be really cool to see this updated with shots from season 5, her redemption. The sun after the rain. Her happy ending and her breaking free from all those years of abuse.

I got chills, I just want to hug the poor woman, tell her it's okay and that the fandom loves her, Adora loves her, everyone loves her. I actually cried when I saw her innocent eyes :(

I was frankly wowed very early in the show by the way they tackled the “good” sibling/“bad” sibling dynamic under abuse. Humans can bear a lot but we feel unfairness so deeply, especially as kids. After a while it’s hard to do anything but be who you’re told you are.

Season 4 brings her full circle with hopes to break it and I can’t even explain how badly I want our precious kitty to come to the light

That one dislike is shadow waver

Yo anyone else just wanna give catra a hug?! Is it just me?

This is why i love her so much. She gives me hope beacuse we have a similiar story, she makes me think u can change myself and make myself a better person.

:( it tears my heart apart to see Catra cries

-She has now become a version of her own abuser. it was intense

Usually the person who is abused becomes the abuser

I AM SOOOO GLAD DOUBLE TROUBLE GAVE CATRA THAT VIBE CHECK, I can smell the redemption arc from 2 months away

That is the thing about being a child. You have no emotional or mental barriers yet, that is something you build bit by bit as you grow up and your parents are supposed to help you, to protect you and let you grow as a person. If that parent instead breaks apart your emotional defenses every time you try to build them up, you never manage to resist, even as an adult you have a crippling vulnerability to the people that were supposed to be your guardians. Often, the only way to break free is to escape, find somewhere safe and try to heal, a little at a time, and it takes years upon years to catch up, and even if the wounds heal, the scars remain.

I feel really bad for Catra she's had a bad life and she is the most complex chracter in this show in my opinion. She's on the bad side but she's not truly evil. When people say she is toxic I get very annoyed because they clearly don't understand what she went through. Yes she did bad things but she deserves redemption and love.

This video is amazing and worthy of 1k likes~

I feel so bad for Catra. She put up with all of shadow weaver's shit for Adora, because she wanted Adora to be happy, and then Adora just leaves because of 2 random people from the other side. It hurt Catra that she wasn't enough to make Adora stay, and it was frustrating for her to switch sides so easily. This made it feel like Adora had abandoned her, so she set out to prove that she didn't need Adora. Catra is neutral, she doesn't really fight for either side even when she switches to the rebellion. She fights for Adora.

god catra is my favorite character and to see her hurt is so sad. i just feel so bad that she when through this..but like it’s so sad to see her be treated like this hurts.

Sometimes i feel like Catra. When i'm angry, because someone had did something to me, i blame everyone around me. And i feel so bad, that i make horrible things without thinking, and i am the only one that is causing that pain on me.

"Adora can use a armor. but catra was use one armor too, the emotional armor" Leo, Hwan. She locks herself in there. And she become what we see in the show, someone hurts, that hurts people, someone bad, but inside more broken than everyone

almost 6 mins of sad catra

I am currently binging the show for the 80th time, and I’m noticing that season 4 Catra was when she was at her worst. That’s when she turned everyone away and lost hope in Adora entirely. Seasons 1-3 got worse and worse. She pulled the portal lever and didn’t care that it was very possible she could die. She just wanted She Ra gone.

Shadow Weaver was so toxic

Catra is the PERFECT antagonist. I love writers who have the ability to make you sympathize for the bad guys because in actually no one is fully bad or good and we all have a reason for being how we are.

This should actually be the trailer for She-Ra, becuase this basically almost the whole show.

I truly missed this amazing community....

I like that this show shows that after being abused so much you become more like your abuser. I know from personal experience after years of being emotionally and verbally abused, I've become like, and maybe even worse than my abuser. I don't get why people don't like Catra, then again I like a lot of characters that most people don't like. The villians, the mean ones, the complex ones, the confusing ones etc. Then again, I think it's because they're the characters I personally relate to most.

I hope for the day Adora and Catra see the truth and join together to fight the true villain of the series. Light Hope

Guys, I just wanted to say, even though Catra is really abusive and rude to Scorpia and Adora and Entrapta, she can also be kind, even if they don't know. An example is when Hordak tells Catra to find Entrapta's notes. When Scorpio lies, saying she broke a piece of junk [whilst claiming it was to be the data-chip where the notes were], Catra reacts how you'd expect Catra to. Angry, disappointed. But, when she goes to report her findings to Hordak, instead of blaming Scorpia, she claims that SHE [Catra] was unable to find anything, taking the blame off Scorpia.

Poor Catra 😭

this clip made me cry

"Nothings ever easy for me, either. I had to earn my power, FIGHT for it. Why should it be any different for you?" Ok Boomerweaver

First it was the circle of life.... Now it's the circle of abuse WE JUST DOWNGRADED

Im still on season 1 but it seemed adora didnt really care about catra that much, it just didnt felt she missed her, so its true, u can see that catra cared about adora way more than adora liked catra, and catra depended on adora way too much and not only catra doesnt see adora caring for her that much but the viewer doesnt see that either, and adora knows shes her only friend so yeah

This is genuinely amazing. The way you showed her abondenment issues contributing towards her hate towards Adora and longing for approval from Shadow Weaver is just so beautiful, absolutely love it! Im so glad she got her redemption in season 5 :)

Watching this almost made me cry after watching all of the episodes.

Catra’s been abused for so long, she’s becoming the abuser to Scorpia and possibly Entrapta

Poor Catra ;-; everyone just wears her and then throws it away. The only figure of a mother she ever had (Shadow Weaver) always said she was just a nuisance, that Adora would always be better than her and she still cheated on Catra ... And the closest to a sister she ever had. (Adora) It was just the person who made her life a nightmare and abandoned her when she needed it most. Catra's entire family abandoned her and betrayed her. I think the only person who ever cared about Catra's feelings is Scorpia ...

Her story is so intressting. I love this show. I am still watching it. I'm at s5 now.