‘She-Ra and The Princesses of Power’ finale: All you need to know

Since its debut in 2018 on Netflix, ‘She-Ra and the Princesses of Power’ — a delightful and diverse re-telling of He-Man’s twin sister’s story — has been captivating audiences young and old. This weekend, in its fifth and final season, the fate of Etheria, its residents and famous heroine will be revealed and it looks like fans are in for a smashing time. Here’s all you need to know before you jump into season five:

Adora no longer has her She-Ra powers: In one of season four’s most talked-about moments, Adora smashed the Sword of Protection that grants her She-Ra’s superhuman abilities, a trait she’d just recently come to accept as a part of who she is. Powerless and vulnerable, it’ll be interesting to see how Adora squares up to her new foe and saves the planet. A neat by-product of the action is also the fact that it cleverly subverts the Chosen One narrative, by destroying Adora’s sense of destiny that she had taken on ever since she left the Horde to join the princesses of Etheria and become She-Ra.

Etheria’s secrets unlocked: It was also revealed in season four that Mara, the first She-Ra, had moved the planet of Etheria to a pocket dimension so that the planet couldn’t be used as a mass weapon, as originally intended by First Ones, and what is known as the Heart of Etheria Project. Glimmer, seeing no other way, unlocks the project to give herself and the other princesses unchecked power so they could defeat the Horde, but she also brings Etheria out of the parallel dimension into the real universe, leaving them vulnerable to Horde Prime. This also brings Etheria into the Masters of Universe timeline, leaving season five open to bring in some other original characters from that universe.

The show has a new big bad and he’s hungry for destruction: One of the best things about ‘She-Ra’ so far have been the show’s dynamic and layered villains. From Shadow Weaver to the evil Hordak, these characters continually surprised viewers with their complicated and shifting motivations. But we’ll probably see them take a back seat this coming season for the series’ brand new big bad — Horde Prime. Self-titled as the Emperor of the Known Universe, Horde Prime goes from world to world — Thanos-style — destroying entire civilisations, and now he’s here for Etheria.

Glimmer and Catra could become allies: At the end of season four, Glimmer and Catra find themselves on Horde Prime’s spaceship being taken far away from everything they ever knew. And being as they are from different sides of the war — with Glimmer being a princess and Catra part of the Horde — it’ll be interesting to see if they come together to take down Horde Prime. This could also be a convenient point to jump-start Catra’s redemptive arc, and maybe have her save Glimmer. Glimmer, of course, has her own reparations to make. Season four saw the relationships between Glimmer, Bow and Adora — aka the Best Friends Squad — disintegrate because of internal tensions. Glimmer had just become queen after the death of her mother and Adora was entirely focused on the war against the Horde and trying to protect Glimmer from harm. By season four’s climax, Glimmer went against Bow and Adora’s wishes and activated the Heart of Etheric project, unknowingly plunging the planet in harm’s way. When and if Glimmer gets back to her friends, apologies will be in order.

Will Adora and Catra ever patch up? From season one, childhood friends Adora and Catra’s journeys have diverged because of the different sides of war they found themselves on. But with the arrival of Horde Prime and the fate of their planet in question, it feels like there’s room for the two to once again come together, especially because, even on opposite ends of the spectrum, the two never lost sight of their former best friend.