Originally introduced as a spin-off to a television series created for the sole purpose of selling Masters of the Universe toys, She-Ra gets a reboot in the new series from DreamWorks Animation and Netflix. With more of an anime feel, She-Ra and the Princesses of Power introduces us to the orphaned Adora (Aimee Carrero) as the most naive solider in history whose eyes are opened to the Horde‘s evils when she ventures out beyond the Fright Zone and meets her first princess. Although Hordak is present in cameo roles, the main villains for Adora are her former friend Catra (AJ Michalka) who remains with the Horde and the evil sorceress Shadow Weaver (Lorraine Toussaint) who hopes to bring Adora back where she belongs. After discovering the Sword of Protection and seeing the Horde’s rampant destruction, Adora is forced to leave behind her best friend and set out on a new path as the protector of Etheria.
Adora’s extreme naivete at the start of the episode is one of the show’s biggest weaknesses, but is necessary to help begin the character’s hero journey. The two-part opener “The Sword” introduces us to Adora, Catra, and Shadow Weaver and also the annoying Princess Glimmer (Karen Fukuhara) and her pal Bow (Marcus Scribner) who first view Adora as an enemy but begin to have second thoughts after Adora’s transformation by the sword (a sequence the series never tires of using) and watching the soldier begin to question everything she believes. While introducing Adora to the sword, and She-Ra to the the world of Etheria, the opening doesn’t delve much into the history of the hero, the meaning behind Adora’s phrase “For the honor of Greyskull!,” nor the importance of Eternia to both Adora and She-Ra.
