she_ra_fandom | She-Ra Criticism: Lack of World building

I loved the ending of She-Ra and I really love the whole show, but, of course, it didn’t accomplish everything I would have liked it too.

Personally, after season one I became very interested in the world and I really wanted some world building. I wanted to know more about the Kingdoms the princesses ruled and the political dynamics of this world. I wasn’t expecting anything heavy, of course, but I did want something. I wanted to know more about why Scorpia didn’t get along with the other princesses. I wanted to know why exactly and how did her Kingdom become aligned with the Horde (what happened to her family?); obviously they were likely killed when Hordak killed over, but that's just the implication—like a lot of things in this show. I wanted to know more about the “implied” discrimination against people with animalistic-characteristics. I wanted to learn more about the war outside of the princesses and the Horde leaders—how did the common people feel about it? What struggles did that have? I had so many questions about the world of She-Ra, both in its present as well as its past, but most of them went unanswered.

I’m not particularly upset at the show for not addressing those questions; by the time season three aired I came to realize they likely never would and that She-Ra just wasn’t aiming to be that type of show. It’s a show very focused on its characters and their story, the world and the war are all backdrops to support the main themes and relationships of the show. This isn’t like Avatar: The Last Airbender which covered politics and morality in an incredibly nuanced and detailed way for a children’s cartoon and I think I kind of half was expecting it to. The show’s focus isn’t on politics or morality, but more about the self and how it exists in relationships and society. It’s about friendship and learning to love and care for yourself. I don’t think it’s less than atla for having a different thematic focus, but I still love world building and would have really liked more of it than what we got.

So, what are some things that you wished you saw in She-Ra? Were there things you found lacking or missing?