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She-Ra and the Princesses of Power Season 5 Review

The fifth season of She-Ra and the Princesses of Power is another solid season of this animated show and a good conclusion overall.

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“My name is Hordak

and I am not going to bow to your will“

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I liked how all of this ended with some reservations of course. I really did not like how they dealt with Horde Prime. That was to me the biggest weakness of this season and especially the final episodes, which were ultimately great, but lacking in the big villain showcase. He was built up so much that the end result was so anticlimactic. We did not get any big fights and that is the problem with this entire show – way too little action for such a superhero-like series.

But I did love that Hordak turned against him. That was predictable, yes, but very moving and the friendship that developed between him and Entrapta was truly wonderful. He was humiliated a bit too much at first and the show turned way too many bad guys into good guys, but overall this development worked as it was rooted in strong emotion and characterization.

As for Catra, she is fantastic here. She turned to the good side, but not too quickly, and that integration of hers was very well handled both in terms of emotional levity and even humor. I love this character and she has been amazing wherever she landed in her allegiances.

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Adora is also great and I loved what they did with her transformation. It was less epic, but undeniably visually intriguing and very moving and even operatic. As for the romance that we got near the end, that was a bit strange. I mean, yes, it could have been expected, but I felt bad for Scorpia as she really had a thing for Catra. Still, the two had a very epic, groundbreaking lesbian kiss in the finale and that was striking to witness.

Scorpia was so wonderful in this season and she really has become such an endearing presence on this show. Bow is also fine here while Glimmer got some very heartwarming moments. The other characters are fleeting presences, but most got at least something to do, which is a major strength for this show as it continued to utilize its characters so potently. And everything that they did with Shadow Weaver was fantastic. While again her sacrificial demise was to be expected, it was still very touching to witness.

That is the main advantage of this last season – its big heart. She-Ra and the Princesses of Power really built up all of this drama, conflicts and romantic relationships from the very first season onward, and the result was this very moving conclusion with the final three episodes being particularly strong.

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The mid section of this season was for me less entertaining and too comedic at times. The show continues to struggle with the integration of humor into the storytelling while the lack of action really bothered me. The animation never at all reached anything even resembling greatness, which goes to show that Netflix really needs to invest more money into the animation medium. But the score was great and the world building is great.