#then close their eyes at the abuse and toxicity that i catra being that shitty friend who cant let go of the past

[soranis-sunshadow]

Someone else’s words on the whole clone slave thing

While browsing reddit, i found this interesting take from a user called :  spiderqueendemon and i felt the need to share it because it was  so good.

Here’s the link to it

“I was feeling exactly that, too. I was even a little squicked out by the shipping at first. But then I remembered that clones...they tend to be programmed. That makes a difference, a big one. And then, in one of the fandom sites, someone pointed out the proximity of the vitrines to the programming creches where Bow accidentally zapped Wrong Hordak. Theoretically, clones are grown to full-size in vitrines and then get all their toxic, creepy Prime brainwashing just, uploaded into them via the neck ports, right? So Wrong Hordak, sweet cinnamon roll that he is, yeah, bro was literally born either that day or yesterday.

If Hordak's defect was found, what, a few cycles of the Velvet Glove in before Prime decided "oh, yuck, a broken one," and sent him to die on the front lines, despite being full-sized and cognitively adult-seeming, to look at things experientially and physically, he could have been essentially as young as days or even weeks old when he got dumped on Etheria. Utterly toxic upbringing, no positive support, no positive role models, no positive guidance, plenty of abuse, self-loathing by the bucketful, just an innocent who's been weaponized and dumped by the plot to see what happens.

Meaning...he's basically just an uncute Catra with no blonde best friend. Boys aren't as forgivable as girls, even if they do like backless dresses and eyeliner with their armor like adorable non-genderconforming Goths. Bats aren't as cute as cats. Stoicism in the face of a physical disability isn't as sympathetic as emotional turmoil and PTSD from serious abuse. There's none of that purring or pining or miscellaneous cuteness that lets Catra get away with what she does, being like 17 and a cute, hot-mess lesbian. Hordak presents as like 30, looks like he shops at the Hot Topic of the Evil Overlord Mall and the only being he seems to have any connection to whatsoever is this thing he apparently made in his spare time and treats as a beloved pet. Everyone else thinks Imp is creepy. Hordak pets him and lets him have snuggles on his lap. Nobody else even talks to Hordak except to give brief reports. Nobody else is close to him. Nobody else would want to be. Perhaps he likes it that way, or perhaps the Prime programming just has him convinced he doesn't deserve anything better. He takes an interest in his people, though, and seems to like it when Imp repeats what his Cadets and Force Captains are up to. He knows what's going on in his organization, Force Captain orientation is well designed, they're an equal opportunity employer...and for all the other princesses didn't think much of Scorpia's kingdom even before the Horde, by her own explanation, Hordak thinks enough of her to include her technical princess status and the fact that she is nonetheless a respected part of the Horde in Force Captain orientation.

Bad as he is to face on the battlefield as an enemy, Hordak is not a bad boss.

For such an intensely lonely person, he really does show signs of liking people. It's really like he doesn't consider himself to deserve them, or as if he fears what will happen when someone else finds out about his 'defect' and rejects him all over again. Just like Prime.

If we can excuse Glimmer for being a teenager who lost her mom, if we can excuse Catra for being a teenager and having the most shitty mother-figure ever, knowing what we learn from Wrong Hordak, I think we have to reconsider exactly how culpable Hordak is. Never excusing his actions, of course, (for one thing, I don't think he'd let us even if Perfuma herself were his defense attorney and argued for that with a bouquet of literal bleeding heart flowers,) but there's definitely a mitigating factor you could drive a spaceship through. Even the mess with Shadow Weaver...of course he wouldn't have known to stop her from treating Adora and Catra the way she did. How was Shadow Weaver any different from Prime? If Prime was right and correct, well...yeah.

Hordak is a terrifying villain at first because he's scary. Then he's scary because he's frightening and yet also competent. Then you find out what's going on and see that he's competent in spite of so damn much, and that makes him scarier. But then you find out what built him...and Hordak was never the problem.

Hordak was basically just a fairly advanced, bioengineered bot doing what bots are told to do by their programming. No wonder Entrapta looked at him and saw potential. Taking a bot someone else built, upgrading them to actual sentience and setting them free to be an actual, autonomous character who can do as they like and choose to be friends with her if they wish? That's...kind of how she rolls, you know? Emily's literally in the scene, being foreshadowing on three legs, one of which sticks. It's all right there.

And given that technological innovation can cut both ways...yeah. Why execute a guy who built V2s to bomb London when you can keep a close eye on him and put him to work on the Apollo space program? So long as Hordak fixes what he broke and sets the kind of example of reconciliation and restorative justice the rest of the clones will need (and we've seen that as far as Reasonable Authority Figures, logistical competence and tactical capability goes, he's got a country mile on everyone else save Netossa,) yeah. With time and supervision, I could see him turning it around in the end.

That is, if Mermista doesn't drown him first for sacking Salineas. Heck with Beast Island, I think the community service should start right there. Sea Hawk and Entrapta will be up to their ears keeping their significant others under control, between Mermista's entirely justified anger and Hordak's dignified but destructive self-loathing, but in the end, I think they'd get things fixed and upgraded. A bot that senses negative emotions and dispenses soft-serve ice cream would be a good innovation for this project.

...good God, if my kid doesn't put on a different show soon...”

#Hordak #spop discourse #spop #entrapdak #wrong hordak #horde clones