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I’ve been giving thought to the overall story and plot of She-Ra and the Princesses of Power lately. I realised there were moments and developments in the later seasons of the show that struck me as odd, out of place, random or convoluted, and some scenes that hinted or foreshadowed future events never seemed to pay off. The following is my attempt at reconstructing what I believe may have been an original storyline for the series before alterations were made to create the final form that made it to screen. This was formed from my observations of the series and picking up on elements and evidence of a base storyline that was followed. In this reconstructed ‘earlier’ version of the show’s story, there are notable differences in events and outcomes, but the overall structure and tone and the main plot points of the storyline remain similar to the final version that we got.
Seasons 1 & 2
The first two seasons remain largely the same in plot with Adora leaving the Horde and joining the Rebellion, Catra becoming her nemesis, and Entrapta being left behind in the Fright Zone and joining the Horde.
Season 3
Where this earlier storyline starts to diverge from the final form is in Season 3. I believe the Crimson Waste was created as an alternate location to replace Beast Island. Originally, the Best Friend Squad would have travelled to Beast Island in search of Mara’s message and Hordak was to exile Catra there for lying about Shadow Weaver’s escape. Catra would have found Adora and her friends at Beast Island and captured Adora as she did in the Season 3 that we saw. Scorpia may not have originally been intended to join Catra in exile.
Huntara may not initially have been intended for an appearance in Season 3 as well. She may have been a later addition as her presence seems unnecessary to the main story at this point. Instead, it’s possible that the original intention was for the Best Friend Squad to discover King Micah on Beast Island in Season 3. So, Glimmer would have been reunited with her father much earlier. This may have been the original reason for Micah’s presence in the ‘perfect reality’ created by the portal’s activation. In an earlier version of the story, Micah had already returned to Bright Moon. After Adora’s capture by Catra on Beast Island, Glimmer and Bow would have escaped with Micah back to Bright Moon.
The development of Hordak and Entrapta’s relationship would have stayed the same. But a critical difference would have been in the final outcome. I do not believe Queen Angella was originally intended to be sacrificed to close the portal. This was going to be Entrapta’s final role in the story. Realising that the portal was too dangerous, Entrapta would have been the one to sacrifice herself to close the portal she and Hordak had created. She was the only one who knew how to do it. Her explanation to the Best Friend Squad of how to close the portal and the final tone of her last words to them: “It was nice being friends with you.” makes more sense when viewed as her final farewell to them. It would have been more fitting for Entrapta, as one of the creators of the portal, to be the one to shut it down. She would have been the one trapped in the portal in the end.
Catra’s actions would have remained similar in that she would still have been responsible for stopping Entrapta from warning Hordak about the dangers of the portal and then activating it. But I do not believe that Catra was originally going to send Entrapta to Beast Island. She would likely have simply left Entrapta after incapacitating her and proceeded with pushing Hordak forward with the plan to open the portal.
With the key difference of Entrapta being the one to sacrifice herself to close the portal, Season 3 would have ended the same, with reality being restored, Adora destroying the portal machine, and Catra escaping with Hordak.
Season 4
Entrapta’s sacrifice to the portal at the end of Season 3 would have left Hordak grief-stricken and would become his source of hatred toward the princesses. His first scenes in his broken Sanctum in the first episode of Season 4 showed him clearly dealing with the grief of having lost Entrapta. I believe the tone of these scenes make more sense when viewed in the context of Hordak mourning the loss of Entrapta to the portal. The fact that Entrapta was missing for much of Season 4 (we didn’t see her again until the Beast Island episode near the end of the season) is also explained by the idea that, originally, she was supposed to be trapped in the portal at this point, and would not have reappeared until the very end of the show. She had to be written back into the show later. When Adora, Bow and Swift Wind went to rescue her from Beast Island, Micah was brought in together with her, so they ended up rescuing two people from Beast Island. A convenient coincidence. In the original storyline, they should only have found Micah on Beast Island in Season 3 when searching for Mara’s signal. The presence of First Ones tech on Beast Island is evidence of the original intention that it was going to be the location of Mara’s ship (which was later changed to the Crimson Waste).
Catra, feeling guilt over her role in Entrapta’s loss (having stopped her from warning Hordak about the portal), would likely have encouraged Hordak in blaming the princesses for Entrapta’s loss as well. This would have brought them into partnership with the shared goal of defeating the princesses and conquering the rest of Etheria. Hordak’s primary motivation throughout this season would have been revenge against the princesses for Entrapta’s loss rather than the anger at her betrayal that we got. Catra would have remained quiet about her betrayal of Entrapta and placed blame on the princesses for her loss as well.
At Bright Moon, Queen Angella, now reunited with King Micah, would acknowledge that Glimmer’s choice to disobey her and rescue Adora from the Fright Zone had been right. She would make the decision to step down as queen of Bright Moon and declare Glimmer as the new queen, saying she was ‘ready’.
Tension and suspicion would arise between Angella, Micah and Shadow Weaver as Glimmer begins to accept magical tutoring and advice from Shadow Weaver who helped her in infiltrating the Fright Zone before. Glimmer’s friendship with Adora and Bow may still have been tested by her acceptance of Shadow Weaver’s counsel too.
On the Horde’s side, Catra would possibly have recruited Huntara in this season. Huntara may have remained closer to her original character roots as a bounty hunter for hire here. Her addition to the Horde would have given them a boost against the princesses in battle. Scorpia would still have eventually left the Horde to join the princesses after finally acknowledging Catra’s betrayal of Entrapta and realising that she is not her friend.
After the capture of Salineas, Hordak would have ‘remained in the field’ and sent Catra back to the Fright Zone as he made his way by ship with his armies to Bright Moon for a final invasion, conquering more coastal regions along the way. Unlike the final story we got, Hordak would not have returned to the Fright Zone after Catra, but would have continued to take the lead in launching a final attack on Bright Moon by sea. The scene that we saw where Glimmer glares at Hordak standing above the flames of a conquered coastal region suggested an upcoming fight between them. I believe this was meant to hint at her upcoming final battle with him in what would have been the Season 4 finale.
The finale of Season 4 would have seen a final battle at Bright Moon between Hordak and the princesses led by Queen Glimmer, whilst Adora and Scorpia, following Light Hope’s instructions to ‘rebalance the planet’, would have returned to the Fright Zone to reconnect Scorpia with the Black Garnet. Perhaps with Huntara, Catra would have faced Adora and Scorpia and their rivalries and betrayals would have come to the forefront. But when Scorpia finally connects with the Black Garnet and activates the Heart of Etheria, everything is brought to a standstill as magic threatens to tear the planet apart. Hordak is on the verge of conquering Bright Moon when the Heart of Etheria’s activation brings the battle to a halt. Adora would realise that Light Hope has deceived them and would save Etheria by breaking her sword.
Hordak would likely have found out about Catra’s role in Entrapta’s loss during Season 4’s final battle. It’s possible that Glimmer may have been the one to tell him about Catra’s betrayal of Entrapta (having heard it from Scorpia, Adora, or Entrapta herself before she sacrificed herself at the end of Season 3). The revelation would have driven him to madness and he would have tried to kill Glimmer in his fury. Hordak’s attempt to strike Glimmer still made it into the final show that we got. There would have been no final confrontation between Hordak and Catra in the Season 4 finale.
Season 4 would still end with Horde Prime’s arrival. Only Hordak and Glimmer would have been captured from Bright Moon and brought aboard the Horde flagship though. Catra (and Huntara) would likely have surrendered to Adora and Scorpia in the Fright Zone.
Double Trouble was a later addition to Season 4 in place of Huntara who was moved to appear earlier in Season 3 instead (this had occurred so that she would fill the spot left by what should have been the earlier discovery of Micah). As a result of this, Double Trouble inherited some of what would have been Huntara’s character profile, such as being a mercenary for hire. Beast Island would not have been introduced so late toward the end of Season 4 since it had already been visited in Season 3. And Entrapta, trapped in the portal from the end of Season 3, would not have reappeared.