What We Leave Behind: An Examination of Motherhood in She-Ra and the Princesses of Power 

Bow: "You can't have mommy issues if you never have a mom." *taps temple*

Angela isn't dead, she's trapped in between two dimensions until someone somehow gets her out of it. She's basically stuck inside a void, way worse than death...

"She died the way she lived: traumatizing children." Damn, son. XD No lie detected, tho!

Well said. I’ve couldn’t agree more especially in regards to Shadow Weaver’s death. I’ve seen a lot of people arguing over whether or not Shadow Weaver redeemed herself in the end. My view has always been that Shadow Weaver’s redemption isn’t the point. She even says as much when she tell’s Catra “It’s too late for me.....” she know she’s beyond saving. But if she can give Catra and Adora a bit more time, then her life will not have been pointless. It’s not about her. It’s about them. They’re the one’s who are going to save, and rebuild the world. She’s the one holding them back. That’s what I believe she meant when she says “You’re welcome......”. Like she’s practically saying “There, I’m finally gone, you don’t have to live looking over your shoulder anymore.....you’re free now......” that’s why I think her death makes so many of us sad. Not because we cared about Shadow Weaver, but because it was literally necessary for her to die in order for Catra and Adora to finally be happy.

Ugh, I just love how Angella's sacrifice is a parallel to Shadow Weaver's "sacrifice". One being actually selfless, to save others and to stop Adora's martyr complex, while SW is a selfish asshole that uses that last moment to manipulate Catra and Adora to forgive her for all the things she did before so she could die like a hero.

This was amazing. I just wish Catra and Glimmer could talk about Angela’s death. Catra did kill her after all, and I feel like that’s a source of tension that was kinda painted over. Maybe in a movie? :)

2:24 To a degree, Adora DID subconsciously believe this somewhat & sadly I can’t say it wasn’t entirely warranted. When she 1st met Bow & Glimmer, was when she 1st transformed in2 She-Ra & even tho they grew 2 love Adora 4 herself pretty soon after, they DID factor in that it would b beneficial 2 have Adora as She-Ra 4 the Rebellion & used She-Ra - NOT Adora 2 convince Queen Angella & the Alliance 2 accept her. And every time they earned the respect of a Princess, Adora would do it thru She-Ra, not thru merits just as herself. In Adora’s eyes - she had 2 EARN these friendships, she never just asked 4 them 4 the sake of it 😞 And the more praise she received as She-Ra, the more she tied her self worth SOLELY 2 that role. And getting praised 4 her accomplishments ONLY as She-Ra by Etheria’s people made this mentality that much worse. The only close relationship she had built that had nothing 2 do with She-Ra.........was Catra. In the final season where Catra berates her several times 4 this mentality, I actually think this is EXACTLY what Adora needed most. 2 know that her true value is as herself, that She-Ra isn’t (nor should b) the reason she is special. And THAT is y Catra was the only 1 who could save Adora from herself. A quote that comes back 2 me is 1 from Attack on Titan where Eren’s mother Carla asks ‘Why does anyone have to be special?’ She doesn’t c her son as special bcuz of his accomplishments or gifts, but just by existing, by being important 2 her, by being himself. (Seriously, this message does not get discussed NEARLY enough!) In much the same way, Catra & Adora matter 2 each other just by being who they r. By being each other’s person. Loving each other just bcuz its what THEY want❣️🥰

Someone finally says it. Putting this amazing video aside, I want to talk about how Jonathan described Adora's struggles and pain. I've noticed a lot, and I mean a lot of people only see Catra is the one who went through anything bad (mentally speaking). Like, a lot of people see it as Catra went through the most and had the worst possible mental state. Not saying what she went through wasn't horrible, but I don't get that people say those things when what both Catra and Adora struggled with were different. With different situations, different backgrounds, different outcomes, different scenarios, and different thought processes, so you can't really say one is worse than the other. They both went through some pretty crappy stuff, but Catra's was more physically shown in the show, while Adora's you would have to look into a bit and think about to completely understand. I would guess that's where people's idea that Adora's life was 'good with some downs' while Catra's was complete crap, but it's not. Here Jonathan explains some of Adora's struggles really well, and it's not all you can list. Sorry for my rant, I just finally saw someone explain things correctly. (this is also because one time I heard someone say that 'Adora's scenario was perfect and Catra went through anything possibly bad while Adora got everything good' and it got on my nerves and I had no clue why.)

10:00 A.G.R.E.E.D. In fact, I’ve always seen Catra as 1 of the most loyal characters in the show (FAR more than Adora) as once she realises someone matters 2 her 2 she goes ALL OUT 2 protect them & will not stop in ensuring that person’s wellbeing.

15:36 Catra wasn't just the key, she was the true source of Adora's magic because she was what motivated her to become She-Ra again as Adora finally had a personal reason for why she wanted to wield that power without duty being attached to that reason at all.

"she died the way she lived, Traumatizing children"

I really think that the episode where Glimmer has to deal with Bow not accepting her first apology really set this up well. Shadowweaver doing One thing wasn’t enough, and I think that episode really cemented “it is ok to not forgive her.” I think that Glimmer and Catra being parallels also really affected Catra’s feelings of being replaced. This was a really good analysis!

"Shadow Weaver died the way she lived: Traumatizing Children." Bloody hell!

14:38 "And so she died the way she lived, traumatizing children" with a shot of the kids crying, OMG lmao

OMG Angella's sacrifice 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭 I repeat to myself before the final season: "She isn't dead! We'll see her on Eternia with Adam, Teela and the Sorceress!" Man, I was so sure!

I am calling it right now i am going to cry while watching this because I am a baby!!!😓😢😢

This is going to be awesome!

I like the parallels you drawn! Yet I find it hard to discuss redemption. Everyone uses it as if there was a final judge at the end of it all. As if you get a cookie for doing good, it simplifies matters too much in my opinion. Often actions and choices are just that and we have to live with the without attributing such a grand narrative of a redemption arc to them. I always saw Shadow Weaver as a broken person, treating everyone like she was probably brought up too. Catra on the other hand managed to break that circle. Though SW taking off her mask and showing a glimpse of herself, felt like a last echo of a woman that gave up long ago. No Redemption just a sad ending.

About Shadoweaver, I read every one thinking she's dead, but... it's a bit hard to swallow for me. She just pick a big boost by draining a magical source that she reach when Adora go back. She disappear with a huge creature in blazes but left no trace of scortch nor cinder. Yes, there's the broken mask she thrown down before. Did it broke from the fall? But she can teleport herself and other, is a master of Illusion and you can never see what are her real intentions. Does she know it herself? I can't say neither... But for me, after a long battle against the creature out of the eyes of her two "daugthers", she still lurk in the underground, seeking power to leech on... I wonder what she will do with it. Good or evil things?

16:50 LOVE that u hinted at the (desperately wanted) She-Ra movie/epilogue season in this way❣️😁

I have just ended the series today in the morning and well, I wanted more videos on Shadow Weaver. I would like to say that I believe Shadow Weaver didn't die as Shadow Weaver, but as Light Spinner. She takes the mask off for the last time, a mask that becomes broken. When she says that "it's too late" for her, she is acknowledging that it is too late to redeem herself. She knows that nobody will ever remember her as anything good, even with her sacrifice. But at the end, she doesn't care about that. She does what is best for Etheria, but also what is best for Catra and Adora. When she tells Catra that she is proud of her and that this is just the beginning for Adora and her, Shadow Weaver is finally letting Catra off their past. Catra is finally able to get over her past and accept her feelings for Adora, which ultimately allows her to save Etheria. Also, talking about symbolism, I find remarkable the way Shadow Weaver dies. When she starts fighting against the monster, she is using dark magic. As she always had. But when it cames to sacrifice... She uses pure magic. Fire magic, like the one we saw Micah use so many times. And you can see that as she does that, there are no shadows surrounding her. She rejects the shadows with Micah's fire. Which, on one side, is an incredible paralelism with Horde Prime cleansing light (there are so many paralelisms and contrasts between Horde Prime and Shadow Weaver) and on the other side, is the proof that she is rejecting Shadow Weaver, choosing to die as the old Light Spinner who might have been good once. Something that is further symbolized by the mask breaking. Shadow Weaver's death had a very great impact on me. During the series, I genuinely hated her. I think I never hated a character more than her and I wanted her death even to be painful, I was salty any time she spoke. But her death was incredible. Like, I had to stop the episode for several minutes and talk with the friends who were watching it with me before being able to process what had happened. Even though I kinda wanted a horrible death for her because she deserved it, I don't think anything would have been better than this. It was really satisfactory from a narrative point of view, to a point I never expected to feel with this character.

5:36 This single mindedness is also what led to Glimmer's prejudice against anyone from the Horde, with Adora (& later Scorpia) being the only exceptions (although she still showed initial hostility to them both before eventually befriending them) as well as her black & white view of good & evil that carried over until Season 5.

something i never noticed was that adora and catra crying at shadow weaver's death was not just their complicated attachment to her, but the loving, sentimental aspects of their character that she failed to corrupt. I've seen lots of analyses about how victims still feel for their abusers, that's just the nature of the manipulation, but i really love that you emphasized shadow weaver's failure to mold them. idk, it just makes so much sense that her last "im proud of you" to catra is just her acknowledging that she failed, a last appeal to the humanity she failed to crush

A great retrospective analysis of how the mother figures of the series Angella and Shadow weaver influenced and/or were influenced by Adora, Glimmer, and Catra.

I don't know if it was supposed to be funny but the "so she died the way she lived traumatizing children line was hilarious. I Cracked up. Also great video.

1:36 Shadow Weaver is essentially responsible 4 just about ALL the shit that went down between Catra & Adora 😑

Amazing analysis and it focuses a lot on Glimmer, a character I've not seen analysed in video essays before!

10:58 I would say Adora wanting to find out if Shadow Weaver changed or not was probably a remnant of her trauma bond to her, but unlike Catra's (much worse) trauma bond to Shadow Weaver, Adora has had time by this point to form healthy attachments with other parental figures like Glimmer's mum & aunt which would explain why she never pursued the possibility of Shadow Weaver being reformed after this, especially given her attitude towards her former guardian in Season 4.

This were a great analysis of these two women (Queen Angella and Shadow Weaver) of their motives in helping Adora, Glimmer and Catra. SW, sacrifice were of tactical measures and dammit she still traumatized Adora and Catra in the end by annihilating herself in front of them... Queen Angella, sacrifice herself through guilt, love, and borderline annihilating herself in front of Adora, which in this case poor Adora were traumatized once again, damn! Great job of this though 👍🏾💯

this video was so good it brought me to tears and then you hit us with the most fitting use of a kelly clarkson song in the world AAAAAAAAAAAAAA

its so fascinating to look at how not only are Glimmer and Catra narrative parallels, but so are their maternal figures. Of course Catra and Glimmer are a lot more similar to each other than Shadow Weaver and Angella are but one can't deny that these are opposite characters with very similar arcs that end the same way for opposing reasons.

This made me break down the same way Catra did. I relate to Catra a lot, I am pretty much just a male version of Catra. The song at the end of this video is perfect for Catra

the ending song is so perfect 😭😭 ending the video with Kelly Clarkson singing about her own abuse is just a great way to end

This is beautiful Beef!

Jonathan, I realized that I had not thanked you for this beautiful and deep analysis. Your work is one of the most brilliant I have watched and I found myself noticing new things about motherhood and parental styles in the show that are so clear now; of course, you are totally right about Angela and Shadow Weaver being two very different modelying figures. Thank you again!

I wasn't expecting this video to be as good as it was! I mean your amvs are incredible and this was too; definitely deserves a lot more views.

Hey thanks, good analysis.

Angela literally was one my my favourite heroes when I first watched the show Everything was good except for the episode of people that was like mostly the main character. Despite Angela, Sw was like selfish. Though I felt bad For her I mean sure she did a lot of things, But still, I cannot forgive the things she did Whether she died or not She manipulated adoras mind, Back to Angela, She maybe a secondary character but all of us miss her due To her sacrificing her own life for adoras sake, It was so hard for me to stop my tears

I like how the music changes to something crazy whenever he talks about Shadow Weaver. XD

oh god i’m crying

Amazing analysis! I have always focused so much on Catra and Adora’s relationship, I never realized the parallels between Angella and SW. You brought up some amazing points, thank you!

Thanks for this amazing video! You releaved another great part about the storyline to me. You def deserve way more views!!!

That was a great analysis my dude

I absolutely love your videos! Your analyzations and AMVs are amazing! I’m glad you make them they make me so happy.

Shadow Weaver is easily the best character in the show

You are amazing! This was so on point! Great job!

Oh god this is such a good essay I'm gonna be thinking about this for months

This is absolutely fantastic

can’t wait!

The discussion was a lot, but playing a song I haven't heard since I was too young to recognize the true depth of is...wow. That was off the first album I ever owned

I'm watching this following native legends review on the show shera as a whole and it's such a gorgeous show characters and world not to mention world that build off each other and keep them grounded and let's them grow and find themselves

I want to do something like this for an essay or prodject.

You know, it pains me just how irredeemable Shadow Weaver manages to be. Given the circumstances within She-ra's storyline there would have been no way her demise would have changed but that's not the reason I'm hurt by this. The main reason is that I can't understand how I can care for a character so selfish, abusive, and vile when there's no reason I should. Somehow the writers of the show managed to make a character with hardly any likeable qualities likeable and in doing that they made me care for a character who could never be who I wish they were.

3:27 Promise playing there gave me chills.

This was amazing

Superb work. Thank you :)

I know im going to get attacked for this, but whatever. I really do think SW tried to change, but somewhat failed in that task and couldn't bear it, so when she saw Catra trying to battle that monster or whatever it was an opportunity to commit and show that she really did love Catra, but failed at showing it and never knew untill later. (Next part is kinda my AU but i like to belive it has a possibility of being real) She maybe didnt know that it was abuse from her past, and was washed with a sea of guilt. Or she realized she turned into a bad person and wanted to prove she wasnt all bad. Im not afraid to defend myself, but please respect my opinion.

Amazing analysis.

basically SW is a universally hated character. Not because she's badly written, (she's written amazingly) but she's just a B. This whole show could sum up to "Frick Shadow Weaver"

ok but dude Kelly Clarkson at the end sounds a lot like Catra.... I'm crying

AAAA ALMOST TIMEE

8:51 “The kind of power Shadow Weaver *mumble mumble mumble*.”

There are so many parallels in this show I don't notice until someone points them out

I am a male version of Catra, both my parents are cruel, uncaring, manipulative people. Neither of them wanted me around, they made that much clear when they kept throwing me in correctional facilities. They aren't people I want to be around but... I don't know

I'm I the only one who felt like Shadow Weaver wasn't that bad and her sacrifice was genuine selflessness

Ty for doing this it really made me happy to see shadow wever dead 👌 lol Amazing job tho Ship CatraAdora tho

Well I’m crying

Why this video suddenly hits me so hard...

Shadow weaver was never a good.person. but that sacrifice was necessary for Catra and Adora to start healing.

Great analysis, put a lot of my own thoughts into words, so thanks for that. If you don't mind some criticism, I think your background music is way too loud in relation to your voice. Most of the time it was fine but at times I couldn't make out what you were saying, and that's a shame!

She died how she lived traumatizing children

This video was amazing, but just wanted to say that the music makes the voiceover very inaudible

this video is great for the actual analysis and talking portion, although i found the music very distracting and making it difficult to understand what you were actually saying. maybe that's just my sensory overload issues that come with being autistic, though. could you perhaps take that into consideration next time? it's your channel at the end of the day, so all due respect if my suggestion isn't taken regardless!

Anyone know the first song?

Why did queen angella die 😭😭😭😭

The music is WAY too loud I can almost not hear you

14:38 "It'd be funny, if she wasn't such a terrible person..."