Quote Originally Posted by Ionathus View Post
Agreed. The dynamic worked for me by the end, even if I'd also have loved more scenes of Catra atoning/apologizing to the rest of the heroes for her prior behavior. But aside from that, the concept worked for me. I think if Catra had died when she "wanted" to (after sending Glimmer away right before Save The Cat), her character arc would've been cemented by that redemptive sacrifice. I'm pretty sure she gets several lines about "I've been so terrible, I'm sorry, just let me do this one thing for you guys" in that episode. If she had died there, after a genuine self-sacrifice to try fixing what she had done, I think the viewers who found her unsympathetic would be an even smaller minority. But interestingly, because she fails to die after her heroic sacrifice, there's a little bit less goodwill from that section of the audience, seemingly because she gets off scot-free.

I don't feel that way - I think the narrative made her work hard for that redemption. In fact, I deeply appreciate how much effort the story spent after that point to justify Catra's affection for Adora and vice versa; they didn't just go "well Catra tried to Do A Sacrifice so now everything's okay!", they actually kept building on the dynamic. I would've loved more of that, sure, but it's already a far sight more developed than most arcs of its kind.

I couldn't disagree more with the "Spike" characterization/theory someone voiced above. Catra's arc is extremely clear from the get-go: just look at how she behaves around Adora in the very first episode. This is absolutely not just "some cool bad guy we redeemed because the fans liked them." Catra's story is there from the start. And it's the most emotionally compelling thing about the entire show for me.
I feel like you might not have caught what I was saying. The Spike reference was one of three references (plus a statement about it not being an exhaustive list) of situations where the writers have included characterizations which might not support the end resolution. I'm not sure why you think I stated that Catra was a case of "bad guy we redeemed because the fans liked them" (that was just an example of reasons, and not even the one tied to Spike). Your first paragraph here with the alternate ending is precisely what I was talking about -- If the showrunners were unable to go through with the them-ending-up-together plot, they had the groundwork laid for an epic sacrifice style ending.
*and again, this is predicated on what I heard about the showrunners having to sell Netflix on Catra/Adora while the show was already ongoing, which I acknowledge I can't now find

I agree that the plot not letting Catra easy-out on the redemption works well. It is a better resolution, and I'm glad they could do it. I just see some of her worst tendencies in the middle of the narrative (and treatment of the other villain crew) as vaguely kick-the-dog moments, and wonder if they may have been part of an emergency alternate ending.