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She-Ra: In Defense of Entrapta


In retrospect, this looks like foreshadowing. Season five features a major brainwashing plot that also equates a character’s worst impulses with outside influence. Catra is brainwashed by the evil Horde Prime, which similarly illustrates a character’s worst impulses by letting the big bad take control of them. Like Entrapta, Catra tends to isolate when she’s at her worst. If this was a show meant solely for adults, these moments might feel cheap: instead of being driven by their personal obsessions, negative emotions are instead re-assigned to a super-villain. But She-Ra and the Princesses of Power is ultimately for the younger set, and it might help kids to have an example of how to set destructive emotions at a good distance. Both arcs show how people can escape cycles of isolation, whether those are self-inflicted or part of the influence of an evil being, through reaching out to and being honest with loved ones. 

In season five episode two, “Launch,” Entrapta’s conflict with other princesses comes to a boiling point. She puts other people in danger while trying to find a signal that will disable Horde Prime’s forces. The scene shows she’s clearly in the wrong: her actions are extremely, comically risky and don’t take her friends’ feelings and concerns into account. She wants to win the battle for the good guys, but it’s also clear how disruptive her behavior is, how she doesn’t listen to other people. She wants to win no matter the cost, and, as we’ve seen previously, the really important part for her here is that she wants to learn no matter the cost. She could have reached a point of no return here, where her friends abandoned her because she was going farther than they could follow. Instead, the episode gets to the emotional heart of her motivation. 

Specifically, Mermista accuses Entrapta of not caring about any of her friends, and not being trustworthy because of it. Entrapta reveals she didn’t realize they were mad. “I’m not good at people, but I am good at tech,” she says. “I thought maybe if I could use tech to help you, you’d like me. But I messed that up, too.” She retreats into apologizing, a defense mechanism disguised as acquiescence. Entrapta thinks apologizing enough will clear the slate, but it won’t. Instead, she needs to articulate her feelings again. Mermista is finally convinced when Entrapta says “Glimmer needs us!” and shows that she is willing to throw herself into danger as much as she is anyone else.  

There isn’t really a material change here. Entrapta’s action (charging toward the Horde tower) is still the same, as is her tendency to drive people away from her. But what changes is she demonstrates the capacity to explain why and how she feels and acts the way she does. It’s also important that she has friends who will prioritize protecting her from their common enemy. 

Being the “geek princess” isn’t just about Entrapta’s interests: it’s also about her misunderstandings. She has trouble reading people, and that isn’t magically cured throughout this season. It’s okay that her flaws are still a part of her. At the same time, knowing why she does things may not make them less annoying. As an adult viewer who values change and growth, and a fan of shows for children that encourage being true to one’s own beliefs and behaviors, I think Entrapta lives in a pleasantly complicated middle ground. 



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