Netflix’s She-Ra and the Princesses of Power ends as one of the most complete animated series of its era. Developed by ND Stevenson and produced by DreamWorks Animation Television, the reboot of the 1985 Filmation show ran for five seasons and 52 episodes, from November 13, 2018, to May 15, 2020. It earns a 10 of 10.
Trailer, via Masters of the Universe: He-Man & She-Ra.
Adora Leaves the Horde
The setup is simple and it works. Adora is an orphan raised to be a soldier in the Horde, the army led by the tyrannical Hordak. Lost in the woods, she finds a magic sword that transforms her into the legendary Princess of Power, She-Ra. She learns the Horde has been inflicting suffering on Etheria and its people, and she defects.
That choice costs her Catra, her best friend and fellow orphan, who stays with the Horde. Their split is the spine of the series.
Catra Climbs the Ranks
Catra’s feelings of betrayal and abandonment twist her ambitions. She rises to become Hordak’s second-in-command, then activates an interdimensional portal meant to reach Horde Prime, even though it threatens to tear the planet apart. Queen Angella sacrifices herself to stop it.
The show does not treat Catra as a villain to be discarded. It treats her as a person making worse and worse choices, and it keeps her in view.
The Voice Cast
The performances carry the quieter episodes:
- Aimee Carrero as Adora / She-Ra
- AJ Michalka as Catra
- Karen Fukuhara as Glimmer
- Lorraine Toussaint as Shadow Weaver
- Reshma Shetty as Angella
- Marcus Scribner as Bow
Adora Destroys the Sword
Season four is where the series takes its real risk. Adora learns her sword is the key to an ancient superweapon inside Etheria. To stop it from activating, she destroys the sword and loses her She-Ra powers.
Glimmer, Angella’s daughter and the new queen of Bright Moon, clashes with Adora over the decision. The alliance the first season spent so long rebuilding nearly breaks under two friends who both think they are right.
Awards and a Second Life
The series was nominated for a GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Kids & Family Programming in 2019 and a Daytime Emmy that same year. In 2021 it tied with First Day for the GLAAD award in that category. The honors track what the show does best: it takes its characters’ inner lives seriously.
On linear TV it aired on CBBC in the United Kingdom before moving to Pop on January 30, 2023, and it also ran on Disney Channel and DreamWorks Channel worldwide.
Why It Still Holds
Across five seasons, the series never lets its mythology outrun its relationships. The portal, the superweapon and Horde Prime are pressure applied to Adora and Catra, not distractions from them.
Netflix removed the show on February 21, 2026, after DreamWorks’ license expired. That is a loss for the service and a reason to seek it out elsewhere.
She-Ra and the Princesses of Power is a rare reboot that improves on the thing it came from by refusing to simplify it. The diverse cast and the Adora-Catra bond drew the praise, and both hold up on a full watch. 10 of 10.
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