@ganymede
Legit.
I loved the show, too. I really did. And (having looked up some comments from the showrunner) I absolutely agree that it's for the best that they didn't end with a flash forward; the glimpse of maybe we got was more than enough.
Just... more of a quibble than anything, the ending being on my mind as, y'know, the last thing I saw...
***=Finale talk***
click to show
So, okay. Scorpia is the thing that bugged me a bit about the truncated denouement.
Just because her arc had her realizing how badly Catra had been treating her, and getting the self-respect to break it off and strike out on her own. For as much as she defined herself as a people-pleaser, and as bad as she had it for Wildcat, this was a big step for her.
I would have preferred to see a bit more than an immediate unconditional forgiveness the next time she saw Catra, although I admit it's in-character for her.
Kinda similar, if we'd had more than a sarcastic comment from Mermista about Hoardak.
Not saying in either case that they should have ended the arc on a downer note! Actually really like the idea that (again, from outside interviews with the showrunner) Hoardak goes to clean up Beast Island as community service, and Entrapta goes along with him. Just would've liked to see that in the actual show, and some more for Scorpia (whose development got frozen for a good bit of S5).
But these are, ultimately, just niggles that I was left with at the conclusion, and if they aren't going to delve into them, then the generally upbeat, accepting, and loving finale was the way to do it.
The plot was great, the animation was great, I really cared about the characters. The cyclical abuse theme running through the villain side is definitely something that manages to be heavy without being inappropriate for the target audience. Really, there's so much going on with the characters, and especially the Adora/Catra/Shadow Weaver dynamic.
They even managed an episode where they do the thing where the main character sees something's up and her friends think she's seeing things, and make it not just be pure secondhand embarrassment that I hate watching.