Adora gets and honorary invite to the Princess Prom

Occurring once every 10 years, Adora gets her first invite to the Princess Prom, as an honorary Princess. Due to the prestige and old fashioned etiquette required by the Princesses, Glimmer feels it is her duty to tell Adora about the food, music, and dancing but Adora grows weary of the prom and seem quite overwhelmed with the laundry list of rules, expectations, and behaviors she must follow while attending the festivities. We learn that Princess Frosta, another character from the original She-Ra FIlmation cartoon, is hosting the prom in the Kingdom of Snows as Glimmer outlines her plan to recruit her to the Princess Alliance. Having never attended a function like this before, Adora’s anxiety kicks into high gear as she grew up thinking Princesses were evil. Wanting to attend the Prom with Bow, Glimmer is disappointed and sad that Bow has agreed to attend the ball with Perfuma.

Scorpia is also invited to the prom as we discover she is a Princess

Still plotting to capture Adora, Catra reveals that she believes she will be demoted back to Cadet if this does not happen. Catra devises a scheme where Scorpia, who turns out to be an actual Princess, and her plan some hijinx at the Prom. Scorpia recieved an invite because, back before the Horde invaded her Kingdom, her family was the keeper of the Black Garnet Runestone and Scorpia grew up as a Princess of her realm before the Horde recruited her. Thinking that Hordak will give her Shadow Weaver’s place in the Horde pecking order if Adora is captured, Catra suggests to Scorpia that she be her plus one for the Princess Ball and forcefully suggests that a reluctant Scorpia attend the ball so they can pull off their diabolical plot. Feeling self conscious, Scorpia is reluctant to accept the invite but Catra convinces her to go to show the Princesses that being different isn’t a bad thing at all.

Adora prepares for the prom like a mission

Saddened by the news that Bow will be attending the prom with Perfuma, Glimmer tries to understand why Bow accepted the invitation. Deciding to meet with Adora to prep her for the festivities, she comes to find Adora’s bedroom turned into a war room as she is planning for the ball as if it were a mission instead of a party. Thinking Adora will go as She-Ra because she has the better hair, Glimmer informs her that there are no weapons allowed as stated by the rules of the Princess Prom. Screaming it’s “makeover time” Glimmer tries to find Adora the perfect dress for the occasion but all the while Adora feels very uncomfortable with this and tries her hardest get back to her mission style preparation. Meanwhile, we cut to the Fright Zone as Scorpia and Catra are trying to find the pincered Princess a beautiful dress.

Adora must check her Sword of Protection at the door

As we see the Glimmer and Adora arrive at the prom in the Kingdom of the Snows, we cut to Adora reluntanclty handing over the Sword of Protection at what appears to be a weapons check station before entering the ball. As Glimmer pulls her away, they enter the ballroom and approach Princess Frosta to greet her before they can enjoy the festivities. Thinking that Adora can convince Frosta to join the Rebellion, the other Princesses on Etheria will follow but, she grows weary of her plan as she is shocked to find out that the Princess of the Kingdom of Snows is a mere child who is nearly 12 years old (11 and 3/4 to be exact)! Adora shows her lack of etiquette as she blurts out that Frosta can’t possibly be the ruler of the Kingdon of Snows because she is a child. Not pleased with Adora’s admission, both her and Glimmer are whisked away before they can sell Frosta on the idea of joining the Rebellion.

Frosta as she appears in the Dreamworks Netflix series vs. 1980’s Filmation cartoon

So let’s talk Frosta, the  newest Princess to be introduced in the series! In the most obvious departure from her origins as a Filmation character, Frosta is nearly a 12 year old child but is the ruler of the Kingdom of snows. She is emotionally distant and operates more on logic to express her wants, wishes, and opinions. Disliking small take, she is demanding and rules the kingdom with strict adherence to laws and traditions. The similarities between in this rebooted version of Frosta and the Filmation version from the 80’s is the color of her clothing as she retains the white and blue color scheme. Furthermore, they are both portrayed as the Frosta rulers of the Kingdom of Snows on Etheria, and possess the ability to control ice and snow allowing her to her to freeze any object or enemy.

Adora and Glimmer regroup with Entrapta, Mermista, and Sea Hawk

As Glimmer focuses on the fact that she hasn’t seen Bow yet, Adora is delighted to discover Entrapta. In the usual Entrapta fashion, she is litterally and stylistically playing her part as she is dressed in her normal wears and is more interested in the “social experiment” that is the Princess Prom. Memista and Sea Hawk, who is Mermista’s plus one, also joins the group as she explains that Sea Hawk was her “ride” to the ball and that was it! As Mermista is overcome with embarrassment, we see Bow and Perfuma enter the ballroom arm and arm with each other and fashionably late.

Glimmer is jealous of Bow and Perfuma

Glimmer’s demeaner suddenly changes as Bow and Perfuma approach as Perfuma shouts out one of my favorite lines as she descrbies Adora as “The She-Ra!” Awkwardly trying to make Bow jealous of the fabulous time she is having with Adora at the ball, Glimmer puts on an act and is suddenly aloof to Bow’s presence.

Frosta stands her ground and remains neutral despite Adora’s pleas to join the Rebellion

While Glimmer tries to get under Bow’s skin, Adora sneaks off to meet Princess Frosta to explain to her that the Kingdom of Snows would be the the perfect alliance and exactly what the Rebellion needs. Awkwardly apologizing to Frosta for her behavior earlier, Adora tries to smooth things over. Stealing Adora’s thunder Frosta proclaims to know exactly what Adora is there for and explains that she is there to recruit her into the Rebellion but Princess Frosta disagrees as she vows to keep her Kingdom neutral as they are not threatened by the Horde. Princess Frosta encourages Adora to enjoy herself as she finishes the conversation by stating that her Kingdom does not need her rebellion. As Adora explains that she failed to win over Frosta, Glimmer is worried that Bow will be more interested in Perfuma but Adora reassures her Bow is a good friend and will not risk jeopardizing their friendship as we see pan to see Catra and Scorpia finally arrive at the ball arm in arm, much to their dismay.

Scorpia and Catra crash the Princess Prom

Glimmer and Adora explain to  Frosta to not let them in as they are from the Horde, but adhering to traditions, Frosta allows Scorpia and Catra to attend the ball. Hinting at a sinister plot, Scorpia and Catra start to play mind games with Adora and Glimmer as they split up to cause mayhem. Glimmer tails Scorpia as Adora follows Catra’s every move. While Scorpia is distracted by the food at the prom, Glimmer and Bow have a chance to talk as Bow explains that he notices that Glimmer is acting weird. Suddenly realizing that Scorpia is gone, Bow seeks out warmth (and his cummerbund) as he is freezing in the ice castle.

Scorpia plants heat bombs on the pillars of the ice castle

On his way to get warmer, Bow runs into Scorpia who’s been setting bombs on all the pillars of the castle. Discovering this, Bow attempts to warn the guards, but they don’t believe him as they take him into custody. As it turns out, the guards are actually Horde soldier’s in disguise as Scorpia has stolen Adora’s Sword of Protection.

Adora and Catra meet face to face in a tango at the ball

As Frosta announces that that it is time for the first dance of the evening, Catra takes Adora’s hand and dances with her as a distraction. In a myriad of dance partner changes, Adora goes from Catra to Perfuma to Glimmer and back to Catra as she hints that she may know what happened to Bow causing Adora to push Catra to the ground in disgust.

Frosta has enough of Adora’s meddling and traps her in ice

Angry that Adora would treat a guest of the Princess Prom like this, blatantly violating the rules, Frosta encases Adora in a cage of Ice, revoking her invitation to attend the prom. The heat bombs that Scorpia had planted suddenly begin erupting as Adora pleads to Glimmer that Catra and Scorpia have Bow. As Glimmer searches for bow, a battle and fight ensues between the Horde and the Princesses as the building begins to crumble and melt due to the force of the heat bombs. Seeing her Kindom crumbling to ruin, we get another glimpse of Frosta’s amazing power as she repairs the falling ice but during this process, it causes Adora and Catra to fall off the ledge to potentially plummet to their death. Digging her hairclip into the side of an ice mountain, Adora stops her fall and grabs Catra’s hand, saving her. Adding to the tension, Catra does not want Adora’s help and allows her hand to slip through Adora’s grip as we see Catra fall through the clouds. Landing on a ship piloted by Scorpia and the Horde, Catra lands safely as Adora spies an unconscious Bow and Glimmer on board as Catra explains that her friends have been captured along with her sword and that Adora is now alone.

Scorpia and Catra ride off into the sunset with their prisoners Bow and Glimmer

My Thoughts

In a seemingly innocuous episode where Glimmer extends an honorary invitation to attend the Princess Ball, this episode does a great job continuing the mind games that the Horde is playing with Adora and we also get introduced to the insescurities that Glimmer feels for Bow as he chooses to accept and invitation to the prom from their mutual friend, Perfuma. There are undertones of jealously, hate, and contempt in this episode as Catra and Scorpia infiltrate the Princess Prom in order to collapse the neutral realm of the Kingdom of Snows. Simultaneously, we are introduced to Princess Frosta, who is an atypical younger princess who’s attitude is more like a grumpy teenager than royalty but it just goes to show that age is nothing but a number as Frosta displays her resolve and her sticks to her principles even to the determent of her Kingdom. We get the first real look into the mind of Catra as she will do anything and everything to get Adora back but now she suddenly realizes that she needs to up her game as she goes after the heart and soul of the Best Friends Squad by capturing Glimmer and Bow. Having watched this episode a second time through, this one grew on me as I picked up on other aspects that continue the narrative between the forces of good and the forces of evil. There were also undertones of trust between these two opposing forces as Catra ties her hardest to get under Adora’s skin to carry out her plan.

“Keep your friends close, but your enemies closer…”

There is an old adage that says “Keep your friends close, but your enemies closer,” meaning that one should be on one’s toes and alert of one’s surroundings if malicious people are around, to ensure that they cannot wreak havoc in one’s life. When I saw this play out at the Princess Prom where Catra takes Adora’s hand to dance with her, this immediately reminded me of the iconic meeting between Al Pacino and Robert Di Nero’s iconic face to face meeting in the movie Heat. You can definitely feel the tension and pressure from both of these scenes  as the two engage in conversation as the characters in the movie Heat exchange that showcases how similar the two are. Their dialogue mirrors each other, with Pacino saying he couldn’t do anything but be a cop while De Niro agrees about being a thief. The same at the culmination of the scene when they both agree that they will be willing to kill the other if they must. Although Catra and Adora discuss the potential Horde plot, I feel the scenes are very similar to how Adora and Catra’s lives have played out where one is choosing to be on the side of good and the other evil.