Entrapta's plan to weaken the other Runestones allows Catra and Scorpia to attack Bright Moon, but Adora and her friends are ready to fight back.
Tropes
- 11th-Hour Ranger: Frosta, who had rejected Adora's offer to join the Princess Alliance, shows up in the nick of time to stop the Moonstone from being destroyed and provides the necessary boost needed to defeat the Horde.
- Big Damn Heroes: Mermista and the Princess Alliance arrive just in the nick of time. Bonus points for Frosta's appearance, who shows up after Catra had destroyed the pedestal holding the Moonstone up and freezes it back together in order to protect the Runestone.
- Brick Joke:
- Bow still doesn't know what Netossa and Spinerella do.
- Sea Hawk again sets his ship on fire, despite Mermista's efforts.
- The Cavalry: Right as the main characters have been defeated by Catra's forces and the Horde is about to fully overrun Bright Moon, Mermista, Sea Hawk, Perfuma, and Frosta arrive dramatically one after the other, overwhelm the Horde army, and save the day.
- Combined Energy Attack: The princesses (and Bow) channel their energy into the Sword of Protection, allowing She-Ra to create a rainbow wave of energy which blows away the Horde soldiers and forces them to retreat. Seahawk looks to be trying to help, but he contributes nothing.
- Energy Ball: The Horde's siege guns fire these. Adora is able to chop them in half, as well.
- Epic Flail: One of the weapons Glimmer appropriated to her private armory is a warhammer's head attached to a chain. Swift Wind takes one look at it and falls deeply in love. Adora immediately says "no."
- Everybody Knew Already: Glimmer thought she was stealing weapons without her mom noticing. Given the sheer number of weapons she was hiding, it turns out she had been aware for a while but didn't say anything.
- Funny Background Event: After Glimmer and Sea Hawk crash his boat and just before she teleports Bow, you can just barely see her drop Sea Hawk off in Mermista's arms.
- Gondor Calls for Aid: Queen Angella uses the Moonstone to fire off a distress beacon that the other princesses eventually answer.
- Held Gaze: Adora and Catra stare at each other as the latter flies away on a skiff after the failed invasion of Bright Moon.
- The Magic Goes Away: A variation of this trope. Catra's ultimate plan is to destroy the Moonstone since, with the Black Garnet absorbing the power of all the other Runestones, the destruction of even one will strip the power from the rest and depower the princesses.
- Near-Villain Victory: The Horde comes within a single trigger pull of winning the war. Catra uses this in her defense when Hordak is chewing her out later: yes she failed, but she got closer than anyone else in the Horde ever has to defeating the Rebellion, and one of Bright Moon's primary defenses (the Whispering Woods) is still out of commission. Hordak concedes the point and promotes her to his second.
- Pragmatic Villainy: Exactly what Hordak was planning when Catra returned to him is up in the air. But Entrapta states her experiment has given her more knowledge of First Ones' tech than ever, and as Catra points out she came closer than anybody else has to conquering Bright Moon, and she still removed the Whispering Woods as a threat, Hordak promotes Catra.
- Rank Up: Catra is promoted from Force Captain to second-in-command of the Horde at the end of the episode.
- Rule of Drama: It's only once Catra is within a cannon shot of destroying the Moon Stone, the Black Garnet was drawing ever more power from the Runestone network, and darkness had just finished covering all the lands that Adora finally manages to unlock the World-Healing Wave of the Sword of Protection, making it the show's thus-far Darkest Hour both literally and figuratively.
- The Siege: Catra commands a battalion of Horde soldiers to march on Bright Moon since, with the Whispering Woods destroyed and the Moonstone weakened, they're at a huge tactical disadvantage.
- Swivel-Chair Antics: Entrapta gets up to some pretty intense spinning in the opening minutes , ricocheting around her lab and updating her audio logs with the results from the Black Garnet modifications.
- World-Healing Wave: When the princesses arrive, their presence rejuvenates She-Ra, and her sword, in turn, repowers the Moonstone. The replenished Moonstone releases a burst of energy which clears away the darkness, invigorates the other Runestones, and disables the equipment Entrapta was using to experiment on the Black Garnet.
- You Have Failed Me: Subverted. Hordak states Entrapa's experiment failed, but she responds that it was actually a success given that she now knows more about the First Ones' technology than ever so that experiment is just the beginning of what she will accomplish. Catra also points out that she came closer to conquering Bright Moon than anybody has before and with the Whispering Woods frozen, Bright Moon is still vulnerable. This is enough for Hordak to consider their efforts a success and promotes Catra to his second in command.
