She-Ra's first three seasons were pretty great, and the fourth season was amazing, but it's the fifth and final season that would definitely qualify it as one of my favorite animated shows out there.
The final season of She-Ra has a much larger scale than all the seasons before it. It's not just relegated to Etheria this time, it's a massive galaxy-spanning battle with Horde Prime, who's attempting to take over Etheria through mind-control. It just feels so grand and climactic compared to everything that has come before it in the series, from the first half which has the main team travel to space to rescue Catra and Glimmer, to the dramatic second half which has the remaining members of the alliance forced to fight their mind-controlled friends. Horde Prime is a strong and intimidating villain, and given the show's generally weak action, I like how the battle between him and Adora/She-Ra is more emotional and mental than physical and violent. Horde Prime wasn't necessarily trying to kill She-Ra rather than break her, and that makes him a really good villain.
But everyone knows that's not the best part of the season, it's the way all of the character arcs get resolved! Obviously the highlight is Adora and Catra, particularly the latter's redemption arc. I'll go more in depth on the redemption later, but it was a lot of fun to see her join the main group and develop a bit of a rapport with them. And that's not even mentioning her romance with Adora which was just amazing, and probably the most groundbreaking thing this series did. Korra just implied a female relationship and Adventure Time had a last minute kiss, but in She-Ra, the kiss between Adora and Catra was pretty much the climactic moment of the whole series. There's more than just Adora and Catra, though. The whole season is packed with satisfying payoffs, from Entrapta readjusting to the Princess Alliance, to Shadow Weaver's low-key kinda selfish sacrifice, to Glimmer finally reuniting with her father Micah again. Even with the mind control plotline, I feel like the whole cast got their time to shine, and even Swift Wind wasn't too bad since his jokes were at a bit of a minimum. She-Ra's greatest strength has always been the characters, and they're at their absolute best here.
Catra Segment: Easily the best part of Catra's character arc, the redemption. The first three episodes have Catra spending a lot of time alone on Horde Prime's ship, thinking through the fact that it's pretty much her fault she got into this mess. However, Glimmer's there too, another character who feels guilty for her past actions, so Catra gets someone to connect with for the first time in a while. So, Catra saves Glimmer and sends her to Adora, feeling that if no one cares about her anymore, she might as well do one final selfless task. And then Adora goes to rescue Catra and reveals that she still cares. Throughout the rest of Season 5, Catra struggles to adjust to Adora's team, many of whom take a few episodes to trust her. However, as she does, she starts to develop a support group, which is exactly the thing she needs. And even better, she starts to treat people a little bit better as well, particularly Adora, who she helps deal with her self-sacrifice issue. And by the end of the series, Catra has saved the world, she has a massive support group of friends, and is dating the person she cares about most, Adora. Catra may not have fully redeemed herself for everything she's done, but she has broken the cycle of abuse that Shadow Weaver started. It's a great first step for the character, but seriously, she still needs some serious therapy after all that.
Most of the episodes this season are excellent, but these are my favorite:
Corridors: This was easily my favorite episode in the series, particularly because of Catra. I love the way the maze-like hallways are used to symbolize her decision to save Glimmer, and the scene where she sacrifices herself to do so while still letting in one last apology to Adora is so powerful it legitimately made me tear up. Even outside of that, the subplot on Adora's ship added some much needed levity.
Save The Cat: I generally preferred Corridors for making me way more emotional, but this episode was also just great. The battle between Adora and mind-controlled Catra was heartbreaking and brought the tension between them to an absolute head, She-Ra's new costume reveal was awesome and far-and-away better than the original, and we even get introduced to Wrong Hordak, the source of a lot of the humor for this season.
Perils Of Peekablue: I loved this episode, it focuses a lot on some of the best side characters like Scorpia, Mermista, and Double Trouble as they try to send a message to She-Ra. There's a fun espionage bend to most of the episode, with a lot of goofy hijinks like Scorpia's amazing singing, but it also has a dark ending which leaves Scorpia and Mermista chipped. This episode also has the hilarious scene where Catra messes with Adora by sitting on her lap, kickstarting this season's amazing trend of adorably gay scenes between the two from here on out.
Shot In The Dark: This episode is the perfect example of why I like "filler" episodes. In the grand scheme of things, this was just a detour to introduce Melog and get the team onto Etheria, but it also had a ton of fun character building. The interactions between Catra, Bow, and Glimmer were just so entertaining, and did wonders to help her fit in the group a bit more. I just really like the humor in this one, it was just an absolutely joy to watch before things start to become serious again.
Failsafe: This was a strong penultimate episode that did a great job at setting up the finale and exploring Adora's own fatal flaw, her willingness to sacrifice herself. Even if Catra was generally worse, it was definitely worth discussing how Adora can alienate the people who care about her by constantly throwing herself into danger. But then again, the real best scene is "Did you just jump into fire for me?".
Heart: What an amazing final episode for the show, easily one of the strongest animated series finales out there (I might actually like it more than A:tLA's, just barely though). Obviously the highlight is the big kiss between Adora and Catra, but there are just so many amazing payoffs here. Bow and Glimmer end up together, Shadow Weaver sacrifices herself, Hordak turns on Horde Prime, it's just so climactic and satisfying. And even with how many characters redeem themselves, I'm glad that the show decided to just kill off Horde Prime, he deserved it.
Overall, Season 5 was an amazing final season, with a compelling conflict, great character resolutions, and a perfect ending for one of my favorite characters of all time.
5/5 Stars
My ranking of the She-Ra seasons is:
5 > 4 > 3 > 1 > 2
My ranking of the She-Ra finales is:
4 > 5 > 3 > 1 > 2
Favorite Episode: Corridors
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