to quote linkara: a sympathetic backstory/motive is not the same as BEING sympathetic.

The fact that you two are spending more than one part to breakdown why Catra is a problematic character makes me excited to see the rest. 👍

Even though we understand Catra's reason it's still unacceptable. We shouldn't give her a pass for destroying kingdoms, possibly killing hundreds of people, tormenting's everybody around her, harassing Adora, and killing Angella just because she was abused. Catra need to accept all the bad things she did and not lump the all into one apology to one person, the only good apology she did was with Entrapta and it was nice but everybody else had to just deal with her because Adora said so.

Catra's "redemption arc" felt unearned and rushed, even in the end she said "Please, just this once, stay!", implying that she still believed that Adora left her and is still acting like the victim

“Come on! I was abused as a child and I’m a lesbian, that makes it okay for me to do all those awful things! Come on guys!”

Cartra feels like the power fantasy of someone who wants to be the bully but still deserve a happy ending, so they throw on halfbaked reasons for redemption.

Catra is a character who thinks she's a victim written by those who think they aren't abusers.

Catra is a "scary character" who could have been a good Shakespearean-style villain if she was intentionally written as such instead of a “sympathetic villain” or a “girl boss”.

If you guys want a way better written version of Catra then watch Amphibia, Sasha Waybright is basically Catra done right

I still can't believe how certain fans would defend Catra's behaviour till the very end, going as far as saying "but Adora DID abandon her" O___O

Another part of the way fans of this ship seem to have some dissonance with it is there is a very prevalent trope that adora had various scars from catra scratching her (and noelle even has some art of this), and the focus of the angst is how

The shows idea that relationships will heal you like everything else is surface level. Just like the “best friend squad” don’t feel like best friends or how despite having “Princesses of Power” in the title of the show the Princesses don’t feel important or like fleshed out characters, the idea that relationships can help you heal boils down to shipping fuel.

Catra coming from an abusive background explains her behaviour, but does not justify it.

It worries me how so many she-ra stans will defend her actions till the day they die. Especially the catdora ship. It's such a toxic ship that does not deserve recognition or credit. Also they love comparing her to Zuko from ATLA, which is stupid as well. They are not on the same level of complexity. Zuko learned how his actions impacted innocent civilians and how the fire nation manipulated everyone into thinking THEY were the good guys. The gang ofc didn't trust him at all so he had to work hard to EARN it. He had incredible character growth. He wasn't perfect, he was human.

Catra:

To an abuser, their victim IS abusing them, by not doing as they wish. They cry abuse while harming someone they claim to love. It's often rooted in a need to control.

Catra's arc could have worked if they established she was a product of Military Indoctrination. Soldier completely bred to be subservient to the Horde, taught to believe all who are againat the Horde are enemies. And made her relationship with Adora a bit better, making it so the two are very close, almost like sisters, who despite getting in friendly competitions, are still there for each other, and despite being second place, Catra doesn't care because Adora has always been there for her and wants to be there for her. And because of Catra's conditioning, she not only see this as an act of treason, but it hits her more, because Adora was her friend, and now she's going to fight for the enemy. And because of her indoctrination, she's unable to join her, fearing the Horde's power and influence.

The whole thing could have been salvaged by Adora comming out saying "you know what, I´m not just leaving the Horde, that´s just an excuse. I´m leaving you because you´re poison!"

It was incredibly uncomfortable for me to watch Catra and She-ra become a couple.After the way she treated her it's so disturbing how the writers went along with this ship.Catra really needed a role model but most of the older characters in this show are either incompetent or evil or a mix of both and were in no position to guide Catra and help her with her obsessions and self destructive

I hate how a sad backstory or upbringing has become a lazy way for writers to have a quick excuse for why a bad guy is now good. It is now an over used trope that people still act like is a good excuse for bad writing.