Catra has a hard time following Hordak's order to banish Shadow Weaver, who is still in her cell and remembering her past as Light Spinner.
At some point in the past, Shadow Weaver, still known as Light Spinner, is teaching magic when Glimmer's young father Micah (Taylor Gray) interrupts with a spell.
She's impressed, but tells him to apply himself, only for the boy to beg to be taught more advanced spells; she counters the guild doesn't forbid his grade to learn this. He mocks one of the councilmen, but she simply says to start at the beginning. We see her in the present, entrapped and recalling the class. Catra mocks her for keeping track of her time in there, saying she'll never get out. Catra interrupts Hordak, who is having cybernetic enhancements put on to hide scarring and damage across his body, and he asks why SW is still in the Fright Zone. She is confused when he orders her to banish the sorceress to Beast Island, but he says her knowledge of Etheria includes knowledge about the Fright Zone, which makes her dangerous. The lights go out for a moment as she protests, and Entrapta arrives, explaining the First Ones tech she used for Hordak's portal mainframe overloaded the power grid. Realizing she's intruding, Entrapta tries to leave, but Hordak tells her to stay and snarls at Catra that she has two days to get info from SW, then will have to banish her. Catra finally gives in and leaves, though angry as Entrapta converses with Hordak.
Back in her cell, Shadow Weaver recalls a time she amazed Micah by moving a crystal with magic, explaining that, while the princesses draw power from runestones, they can study to channel power through spells and incantations.
While the guild looks for whoever has potential, Light Spinner has a narrower search, and while Micah is one of the most gifted, he lacks dedication. He promises to do whatever she says, and the two swipe some crystals from the Lunarium, which they grind into dust to use for a magic symbol. They return to the Lunarium where Light Spinner tries to form water into a shape, which only works, continuing after she stops, when Micah steps in. She angrily accuses him of studying with another, but upon learning he used what she taught him, she realizes he has incredible power and agrees to mold him. She says there's one thing she could have him do, and shows a vision of the Horde, explaining they've done more in a short time than their own leaders. She hopes to convince Norwyn and the rest of the guild to see a need for action during a meeting the next day, and he's certain she'll succeed. In the present, Scorpia finds Catra on a balcony and gets her to admit her frustrations with Hordak's orders, with Scorpia surprised to learn Beast Island is real. Scorpia tries to cheer Catra up, but the Force Captain rages that no one returns from Beast Island and Hordak doesn't trust her, asserting that SW is useful. Scorpia points out that SW has given them nothing so far and asks why Catra is keeping someone she hates around, but Catra says she wouldn't understand.
In the past, Light Spinner implores the guild to act, revealing the Horde has managed to take the Black Garnet while the princesses do nothing.
She suggests they use the Spell of Obtainment to take power, but Norwyn (Jake Eberle) says it's a forbidden spell that turns the user into a magical parasite. Having improved the formula, she wants to act when their three moons are in alignment, strengthening their magic, but he says the princesses will handle things. She appeals to the others, saying they won't have a planet left, and when he says some power just isn't meant for her, she declares them all blind. Micah approaches her as she rages about not having the guild's trust and says they want to hold everyone back. She admits there's one thing he could do to help. In the present, Catra tells Shadow Weaver her fate, and the woman simply asks when she's going, as she's already given the Horde everything. Catra is frustrated she won't give them a reason to keep her, and seems to refuse when Shadow Weaver asks to see her old guild badge one more time. In another flashback, Light Spinner and Micah perform the Obtainment Spell in the Lunarium, but their magic gem fills up with a shadowy blob with arms. Micah flees as the arms bust out, revealing red eyes on the blob, so the mass pulls Light Spinner in before the boy can run to her aide. A shadowy barrier prevents him from reaching her, and the guild enters, seeing the now-scarred sorceress and her new, strange eyes. Norwyn claims she always lusted for power and says it was a mistake to let her in the guild. She snaps that they're fools and goes on the attack, knocking the others away and sucking Norwyn into a shadowy mass to absorb his power. Micah is unable to defend himself and simply pleads with the sorceress, who gives his face a gentle touch before disappearing. While then shows us Light Spinner's ascent as Shadow Weaver, the present shows us she still has some tricks up her sleeve.
I loved getting to see background for Shadow Weaver in this episode, and even the lesser background we got on other characters for future episodes.
Something I like about what we see from Light Spinner is that I'm not sure by the end what her true goal is or whom she's trying to manipulate. While training Micah, she claims her goal is to save Etheria from the Horde, but the whole time she gives off the vibe that she's manipulating the boy. Whenever she tells him of her plans and what he should learn, it's always just the two of them, and she plays that coy game of saying "Oh but that's dangerous, so I shouldn't suggest it to you..." only to turn around immediately and show more. Norwyn claims she always had a lust for power, and what better way to get in than by manipulating a naive but powerful young sorcerer? She surprisingly leaves him completely unscathed when she leaves, but perhaps one of her intentions was to eventually take his powers. I actually thought something was going to happen that would cause more problems for Micah, like perhaps she sends him to do something forbidden. Of course, he does help her with her spell, but he ends up turning away, and she further attacks the people who show up to stop her. For the most part, though, their relationship seemed to be a parental kind of setup, which adds a new dynamic to situations involving her and Glimmer. I had started to think that Light Hope was intending to betray her people to go to the Horde, which of course happens, but before that she seems insistent that she was trying desperately to stop the evildoers. Because of this, I started to wonder by the end if she was planning to betray them, or if her goal was always to join the Horde and gain power. The Horde capturing the Black Garnet was something she mentions to guild, and we see later she gets powers from the gem, so I could see it being she saw the stone as an opportunity to gain power, which would require joining the Horde. Something I found curious was that her account of how the Horde took the gem differs from what we were told before to explain why Scorpia was with them. When described in the past, characters say it was handed over willingly and the people joined the Horde, but Light Hope's conjuring showed people in distress. I feel like this is one of the more subtle things the show is setting up, because Scorpia's situation wasn't mentioned too much in the past. This would be an interesting thing to bring up as a later plot, especially as Scorpia is trying to take Adora's place as Catra's best friend. She's certain that she'd never defect or betray Catra, but what would she do if she discovered that, just like Adora, she's been lied to all this time? As expected, Catra is finding herself in the same position Shadow Weaver was in before her downfall, but is too stubborn to admit it. When she interacts with Hordak and Entrapta, it's clear she's jealous of the princess and how close she's getting to their leader. Speaking of Hordak, holy cow, he has definitely been through some rough crap, considering the damage we see at the start of the episode. We know he's been to other worlds and experienced Mara's downfall, which I'm only now realizing makes him incredibly old, and fans of the original series will know he has a connection to He-Man's Skeletor. Along with the discoloration to his skin, we see bolts at spots to go with the plates and machinery being applied, and he has vambraces to cover his forearms, which have holes between the bones. Whatever he's been through, Hordak has taken a lot of damage, and Catra seeing him suiting up is bad for him, as she sees him at a weak moment. At the end of the episode, we also get a sign of future plot lines as we see Bow and the others for the first and only time, and it's an intriguing revelation for them. We got a lot of information about the past, and some signs of aspects yet to be explored, and now that Catra is fearful she'll lose her position, some bold moves from a few characters will have to be made in future episodes.
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