Last year, She-Ra and the Princesses of Power set the internet ablaze with excitement. A rebooted franchise with messages of female empowerment, representation, and learning to love one another? It was a dream! So the Dreamworks TV show had a lot riding on its shoulders going in to the sophmore season. With such a passionate fanbase, could a second season over at Netflix really live up to the hype? Minor spoilers below!
The second season starts out with our princesses working together to bring down the oncoming evil Horde forces. After joining forces at the end of the first season, they realized they work the best when they’re fighting side by side. However, it’s here we see the beginning of growing pains within the group. While the first season focused on bringing all of them together to fight for their world, this season explores what happens when they combine their powers more and more often. Personalities end up clashing and relationships become strained. It’s something the show continues to touch on throughout the season but doesn’t dive incredibly deep into besides the first episode. They end up resolving their differences pretty quickly and realize the power of friendship before they fracture any more. With this new ensemble direction, there’s not many moments of the other princesses getting the spotlight.
That’s not to say all of the characters don’t get the spotlight shone on them. In fact, we were able to see Bow’s family (with a big heap of representation that we’re all here for!) and Shadow Weaver’s past as a sorceress before she joined the Horde. Both of which added more layers to these characters that we weren’t expecting. Additionally, tech-princess Entrapta continues to develop as an amoral force that leaves our heroes baffled. As she gets deeper into the Horde’s plans, the question becomes if she’ll be able to make it out and help the other princesses or stay with the Horde? The shortened character explorations might have to do with the second season only containing seven episodes versus the first season’s 13. However, it’s the characters interactions with one another that remain the strongest part of the series.
With the origin story out of the way, the new season focuses on the bigger picture. She-Ra is trying to understand and harness her powers while also dealing with the looming responsibility to fix what another She-Ra broke. The Horde continues their plans to destroy Etheria while hinting at an even larger story involving more worlds. Given the expanded scope, it makes the show seem a little lost at times but still enjoyable. However, it misses out on the most fascinating part of the first season – the relationship between Catra and Adora. The two are concentrated on destroying the other ones’ forces that their relationship is only brought up a couple times. This may also be due to the shortened season, but it’s unclear. With a third season in the works, there’s a potential to continue that thread.
Overall the season was enjoyable with fun moments sprinkled throughout it. (Including the character’s original designs making an appearance!) It opens the series up for more adventures but doesn’t focus on the themes as heavily this time around. If you loved the first season, you’ll definitely want to see where our Princesses end up.
She-Ra and the Princesses of Power season 2 is currently streaming on Netflix.
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