The She-Ra final season is very, very good

I was already in the Noelle Stevenson can do no wrong camp but I think that position has been well validated 🙂. This show has never apologised for keeping all the rainbows, glitter and bright colours that a show about magical princesses demands but yet has managed to fuse it with a space fantasy of some depth and some very big (and dark) emotional punches.

If you are not keen on redemption arcs you will be disappointed as there at least four (five depending on your views on Entrapta) but each of them are very good examples of how to do it.

This how good children’s TV should work. Don’t apologise for bright colours or goofy humour or the occasional sea-shanty but also don’t accept that those limit the boundaries of the story that can be told. Friendship, true-love, magic and sacrifice add together so that you very much care about each of the ten or more character arcs going on (sadly only a tiny amount of Kyle, Lonnie, and Rogelio).

This final season is very much a single story arc with most of the episodes driving the plot forward (the exception being episode 4 but it is also a necessary turning point). Overall, a very good example of how to make use of a big cast of characters to deliver a strong story with emotional stakes.