Rewatch Discussion Post: The Sword (Parts 1 and 2)

[mod_wolf]

 Hey folks!



This is the post to discuss the first two episodes of the season. As a reminder, since it's meant to be a rewatch all spoilers are fair game.

Comments

fave moment?

[(Anonymous)]

mine has to go to catra sleeping on adora's bed and that little smile adora has when she looks at her sleeping

Re: fave moment?

[ingridmatthews]

They had me at this. Right here, at her feet yet.

Re: fave moment?

[vigilantsycamore]

I loved that moment too, but for me my favourite moment was probably the party at Thaymore

first impressions

[(Anonymous)]

what were your first impressions of various characters in the first couple episodes?

Re: first impressions

[jaggedwolf]

I immediately adored Adora from that little intro sequence of her kicking that heavy bag and saying "Take that, princess!"

I didn't really predict that Catra had known the Horde was running over villages and the like - I'm still not sure if the takeaway there is that Adora is really oblivious, Shadow Weaver was deliberating hiding things from her or that Catra's far more inclined to see through bullshit.

I wish that Glimmer's intro hadn't been that argument with her mom - as clever as it might have felt to drop "haha surprise she's her mom!", Glimmer being grounded barely makes sense with her responsibilities throughout the season.

Bow's entrance is perfect, 10/10 would not change.

Re: first impressions

[(Anonymous)]

I loved Catra from the start, but her contradictions remind me a little of some very frustrating friends. The "obviously I was lying" bit where she gets mad at Adora for not picking up on her not being as above it all as she pretends to be especially.

Re: first impressions

[(Anonymous)]

Yeah, that dynamic felt really familiar - Person A getting upset that their mind wasn't read and Person B literally the least likely to read into things beyond surface level

Re: first impressions

[(Anonymous)]

I honestly have too much sympathy for Adora in that dynamic and would love to hear from people who are team Catra Was Right. Like, it's true that Adora never really saw Catra's objections and difficulties for what they were, but 1) she's a kid and not a super aware one and 2) Catra spends a ton of time deliberately obfuscating the fact that she even has problems with anything and pretending she's totally fine!!

Re: first impressions

[jaggedwolf]

Same, actually - I find Adora's perspective for more... immediately relatable, for lack of a better phrase.

I think part of it is just that they're both engaging in the typical mind fallacy, and for Catra that means everyone is as great as reading subtext as she is. (Or has been forced to been as aware of, given the differing treatment from Shadow Weaver)

But yeah, I'd love to hear from ppl who immediately got Catra's side of their deal

Re: first impressions

[vigilantsycamore]

The whole opening sequence with the training simulation did a really good job of introducing Adora, Catra, and Kyle: Adora's the skilled, and ambitious one who can't wait to join the fight, Catra's less principled and prefers to wait until she has a chance to finish the enemy off, and Kyle's trying his best but also nervous and lacks confidence

Sidenote: I'm not nearly as familiar with the original show as I am with this one, so the intro gave me the sense that the main characters would be Adora, Catra, and Kyle. I feel like that was a clever bit of misdirection for newcomers like me

Shadow Weaver kind of reminded me of Ozai from A:tLA - Ozai always blamed and punished Zuko, while praising Azula, and I've seen a few meta posts on Tumblr pointing out that this is probably why Azula turned out the way she did, since she could have easily been terrified that if she disappointed Ozai, he'd start treating her like he treats Zuko. It's clearer that this is the case with Shadow Weaver because of the way she tells Adora not to disappoint her

Glimmer and Angella's argument was amusing. I really enjoyed the way these two episodes kept subverting expecations. The argument went from 'soldier disobeying orders from the higher-ups' to 'teenager trying to prove herself to her mother' and it's another great way of introducing us to the characters. Glimmer's a commander and a frustrated teenager, and Angella's both a head of state and a worried parent

And Bow was amazing (and another case of the show subverting expectations. I really love that about it.) There isn't really much more I can say about Bow's entrance here

[heartsinhay]

I'm still fascinated by Catra saying no to defection. Is she already thinking about getting out from Adora's shadow here? Resentful of following Adora to yet another thing? We know that she's not really loyal to the Horde as an institution, but does she also have a modicum of desire for approval from Horde authority figures?

There are so many divergence points in this episode. Now I want fic where Catra does go with Adora but that brings up its own problems, or fic where Adora gets captured, or fic where Catra went with Adora to find the sword in the first place...

[vigilantsycamore]

Did anyone else see that exterior shot of the Fright Zone and think "that looks like a cool place to live!" until it turned out that the villains run it? Because I would love to live somewhere that looks like the Fright Zone as long as it wasn't ruled by an evil overlord trying to conquer the planet