#hordak

Entrapta really is the smartest character on spop. She recognised from the start that her personality type was unlikely to give her top billing on the show, Catra and Adora would always take the lead roles, so she set out to change that dynamic at every available opportunity.

She realised early on that with the rebellion she was "just another princess" and that Glimmer, Bow and Adora would steal the show. So to get more screen time, the best way forward was to change sides making her instantly more interesting. It was no accident that Emily's cable got stuck in the wall socket but a deliberate action giving her the opportunity to slide back inside before the doors closed. Notice that she's the only one who doesn't look surprised when the doors shut.

So in season 1 she went from "isolated hermit" to "member of the team" to Front Cover of the Box Set in season 2! Suddenly she's elevated to Evil Horde Scientist of the Year and Catra's best buddy to boot!

She also knew that only the best characters get their own sidekicks so she modified and created Emily the first chance she got. Later on she adds her Beast Island pet and Wrong Hordak to her collection of tag-alongs. Adora got Swift Wind and Catra got Melog, Razz has her broom and Hordak got Imp but noone else had an entourage!

But she didn't stop there. To get to the top you have to be ruthless and she ditched Catra first chance she got by sidestepping around her to get to the main man himself. Obviously she could see that Catra was a loose canon and hiding behind her would only hold her back in her search for fame and popularity. Now with Hordak in the palm of her hand she had Catra sent away to the Crimson Wastes and became the next in line for that coveted revolving door position of Second in Command albeit Hordak would probably do anything she asked of him anyway.

With Catra out of the way there was nothing stopping her from aiming for the top.

So she's almost finished the portal and almost got Hordak to say, "I love you" and almost ended the war when I hear you say, ah but this is where it all goes wrong! The plan for Fame and Fortune is destroyed when Catra reappears and betrays her sending her to her death on Beast Island. But, I ask, isn't this actually part of the master plan?

By being sent away for almost a whole season she not only has Hordak mourning/raging at her deceit, she manages to guilt trip Catra and Scorpia who miss her more than they let on. She also causes maximum confusion within the rebellion about why the robots have suddenly shrunk in numbers and become far more focussed on killing them on purpose rather than by accident. Surely Entrapta is still making them!

But here's the thing, barely an episode goes by without Entrapta's name being mentioned by someone or other! What a feat of engineering!! What a dastardly plan of cunning and intellect. She's not even in the show and she's making waves. Double Trouble couldn't come close to that level of ingrained dependency.

And then the rescue. So it could have occurred in many ways. Scorpia and Emily could have come begging for forgiveness, Hordak could have launched a rescue mission, dragging Catra along for the ride or DT could have spilled the beans to the Alliance who would drop anything for a chance to redeem a friend. I considered that all three options might happen at once, thus giving Entrapta the full glare of the spotlight as everyone desperately tries to get her to join their club. Entrapta, I assumed, would be overcome by joy at suddenly being the most popular person on Etheria, promptly declaring the war over and that everyone be her best friends forever.

Sadly this was not to be the case and Entrapta had no control over who rescued her. However, she did maintain the ability to cause DRAMA and HORRIFYING SADNESS by choosing the exact moment when her refusal to leave would be most effective. By choosing to die on Beast Island rather than repeatedly being rejected whilst trying to make friends she ruptured her way into the hearts of many viewers, thereby imprinting her tattered and vine-enshrouded image into their minds forever. Another well chosen manoeuvre by a fiendishly smart gal.

Of course she never meant to stay but when her acting skills proved too great for even Bow's pep talks she was forced to retract her statement that noone liked her when Adora uttered the words, "We came here on a First One's spaceship!" The relief on her face that she could return to Brightmoon without losing face is evident.

So Entrapta is now a fully fledged force of good and goes to town helping everyone. From masterminding infiltration missions, gathering intel from technologically advanced robots, naming spacecraft and locating missing persons in space to abducting aliens and destroying AI components, Entrapta does it all. All her hard work is finally paying off as she gains access to all but one episode in the entire last season where she gets line after memorable line and kudos for all the efforts she's displayed this far. Only one obstacle remains. The grand finale.

Now spop has a lot of characters and it's all been building up to this last episode. If she can't claw her way into a prime position she could have been buried under louder, more colourful personalities. Those who fit in and lead the team to victory or look great bending iron to a soundtrack.

But no, she has a Plan. She doesn't need anyone else to help her break open the most complex genetic computer coding in the universe. She certainly doesn't need a bodyguard to protect her while she undertakes the most dangerous task next to Adora's taking of the Heart of Etheria. She must have known Prime would have discovered her exact location the second she plugged that computer into the spire. She knew she had seconds to complete the task and that she probably wasn't going to have enough time to achieve a full upload given the length of time her programme took.

Why not create a programme that could be activated the instant the computer was plugged into the spire? Why did it need so many commands and initiations to execute the sequence? Was there some doubt about using the programme? Did someone suggest an abort sequence in case de-chipping everyone suddenly became a bad idea? No, the answer is simple, Drama.

Entrapta knew that Prime would discover her location, what she didn't know was what he would do with that information. He could have transferred her to a prison cell where she would be unlikely to be of any use to anyone. Or he could have sent clones to her location to chip her or worse, taken her computer away. But chipping Entrapta is dangerous. She could deconstruct the hive mind from the inside or leak memories of her time with Hordak into the system, thereby showing the clones what love and autonomy would look like and causing calamitous descent. Prime would not allow this so she felt reassured her plan would work.

She needed more control over the outcome. So she sent Horde Prime a little text message via her uplink. Something simple and taunting to goad him into bringing her onboard the Velvet Glove and into his very own throne room. She even manipulated the split second it took to beam her onboard. Instead of jumping out of the green light, thereby escaping, she pushed her computer out of harms way in a bid to prove she was choosing friendship over technology.

That way she grabbed the viewer's attention while continuing to goad Prime; prodding him into desperate action. Look at her shocked expression when she first opens her eyes and finds out her plan worked!

There was a hairy moment at the end where she pushed him too far and it seemed her luck had run out. Was this the end of our heroine's journey of character development and depiction of what it is to be different? But no, Entrapta has one last ace up her sleeve in the form of Hordak, strategically placed and almost forgotten by all but the most devout of Hordak fans. Of course he steps in to save the day, she wouldn't have it any other way. This is the ultimate self sacrifice to save her life that earns them both a medal in friendship and acting skills and bumps them up the ranks from secondary supporting characters to plotline crucial protagonists.

So there you have it, Entrapta, genius scholar, engineering dominatrix, crusher of world leaders and winner of hearts and minds, not only survived the war of her world but thrived in it. She took her ability to create chaos and turned it into a method for making money. Now she's living the easy life in her science research lab down in Transylvania surrounded by innumerous clones and robots.

While she no longer replies to written correspondence, she has been known to reply to a 500 page dissertation or two with recommendations for future studies. Any true Entrapta fan will be pleased to note that studies on alien robotics and ancient computer technology are most appreciated and most likely to grab her attention.

The true plot twist is the emo-est boy in town seeing a feral gremlin and going “wow she cute. I’d kill for her.”

I miss Entrapta. Honestly kinda wish she was part of a different cast so she didn't seem like just another piece of diversity pie. Like, that's why I like Futaba so much, the different characters of P5 certainly have quirks, but she is like *way out there* and that's what makes her fun and unique. Entrapta was just as interesting and her relationship with Hordak was peak.

Entrapta, turning to Hordak: I could bench press you as easily as lifting a singular grape.

Hordak: [bright red] yes please

Hordak: you are in my room.

Entrapta: You’re welcome!