Glitra

Glitra is the femslash ship between Glimmer and Catra from the She-Ra and the Princesses of Power fandom.

Canon
Glimmer and Catra are enemies, narrative foils and currently possible reluctant allies (after the events of season 4). They are both on opposite sides of the war between the Rebellion and the Horde. Glimmer has been shown many times to despise the Horde for violently destroying, conquering and killing innocent people. As such, she acts hostile towards Catra. That feeling is enhanced because of how many times Catra tried to harm the Rebellion. Catra, on her side, didn't originally seem to show any particular interest in the Rebellion (and didn't seem to know Glimmer) until Adora left the Horde for the Rebellion. Angry at Adora for having left and betrayed her, Catra starts acting against the Rebellion, and, consequently, against Glimmer.

Catra and Glimmer do not directly interact during Season 1 as they don't talk to each other. They, however, appear together in some scenes. In Episode 2,  "The Sword Part 2", Glimmer and Bow save Adora from Catra. As Catra is trapped in Bow's net, she sees Glimmer reaching Adora, and angrily aims her stun gun at them, but Glimmer manages to teleport them out of the way before the blast hits them. In Episode 8, "Princess Prom", Catra and the rest of her team kidnap Glimmer and Bow after blowing up Frosta's castle. In Episode 9, "No Princess Left Behind", Glimmer is held hostage in a room by Shadow Weaver while Catra is waiting in a corner, before being dismissed. It's possible that Catra assisted in carrying Glimmer to the room after kidnapping her and Bow. Later in that same episode, she lets Adora escape the Fright Zone with Glimmer.

Season 2
TIES THAT BIND

Glimmer and Bow infiltrate the Horde to save Entrapta. As they're sneaking in, Glimmer spots a seemingly bored Catra walking outside, and hides with Bow. Catra then receives a distress call from Kyle, who is watching over Entrapta while she attempts to control one of her robots. As their call continues, Glimmer and Bow get closer to hear the conversation. The pleas made by Entrapta (that were meant for her wild robot) are misunderstood by Glimmer, who believes the Horde is torturing Entrapta. In a fit of anger, she teleports in front of Catra and surprises the latter. The two start to fight, joined by Bow and Scorpia. As the fight gets more and more heated, Bow convinces Glimmer to escape, and with several attempts of teleporting themselves out of the Fright Zone territory, they instead get teleported inside, facing Catra again. They briefly fight before Glimmer reaches towards Bow to teleport them out of the Fright Zone. However, Catra managed to grab onto Glimmer and teleport herself along with them. As a result, the teleportation fails to send them to a precise location and they end up free-falling from the sky (due to Glimmer's difficulty to teleport 3 people at once). When Glimmer notices a horrified Catra clinging to her cape, she kicks her in the face. After a harsh landing, Catra tries to fight Glimmer but is captured by Bow. The duo later discusses what to do with her, and Glimmer decides to take her as a prisoner to Bright Moon.

On their way to Bright Moon, Glimmer attempts to order Catra around but ends up failing as Catra teases her and acts immature. When Catra jumps on Bow and ends up falling to her death with him, Glimmer is forced to use her weakening magic to save them. They all safely land in a river, but the current is strong, and Catra has to hold on to Glimmer in order not to drown. As they are heading towards a dangerously huge waterfall, Catra teases Bow and Glimmer before getting teleported on land. After some more teasing, Glimmer gets mad and attempts to use her magic on Catra, but fails to do so.

The trio gets back on the road, and Glimmer is dragging Catra by her collar. Catra licks Glimmer’s arm and falls on the floor laughing, making use of Glimmer’s frustration to activate her Force Captain badge and send her location to her team.

Catra refuses to get back up and Glimmer has to drag her. Catra starts teasing Glimmer again and makes her believe the Horde is harming Entrapta. She then gets up and makes fun of Glimmer’s weak magic. Glimmer loses it and mentions Adora, telling Catra that she left the Horde because of her. Catra angrily follows Glimmer and tells her that Adora will leave her too, that she needs to get used to it. The two seem about to fight, but Scorpia then shows up, along Lonnie and Rogelio. Glimmer attempts to trade Catra for Entrapta, but Catra refuses and threatens to kill Entrapta if she is not released. Glimmer pushes Catra against a tree and is planning on attacking her, but Bow convinces her not to. Catra safely joins her team and reveals that Entrapta wasn’t being tortured, but she, in fact, joined the Horde. She makes fun of the Rebellion for believing in “the power of friendship”, and Glimmer initiates a fight. Soon, everyone is fighting and Catra attempts to capture Bow. However, Glimmer uses her remaining magic to teleport both Bow and herself home.

In Episode 4, “Roll With It”, the Rebellion is planning an attack on a Horde tower. The planning soon becomes a game similar to Dungeons & Dragons, and everyone starts fantasizing over their far-fetched plans. In Glimmer’s mind, she breaks into the tower and runs into Catra as a final boss. Glimmer imagines Catra in quite an unusual style (long black dress, fur coat, heels, makeup, holding a cat) and unusual behavior (cliche villain femme fatale from the 90s movies), much to Adora and Bow’s amusement.

In Episode 5, “White Out”, the Rebellion runs into the Horde in the Northern Reach, and they start fighting. When Catra corrupts Adora with the First Ones disk, Glimmer teleports next to her and asks her what she did. Later in the episode Bow and Glimmer teleport inside a building, right next to Catra. They soon start fighting and Glimmer pins Catra down, attempting to take the First Ones disk away from Catra before the creatures break into the building. At the end of the episode, Glimmer watches as Catra escapes with Scorpia and Entrapta.

Glimmer and Catra do not share any interactions during season 3. Catra briefly mentions Glimmer during episode 3, "Once Upon a Time in the Waste", referring to the princess as "sparkly girl". The only time they physically face each other is when Shadow Weaver assists the Rebellion with saving Adora. Both Glimmer and Shadow Weaver run into Catra. The catgirl sees them holding hands and shows disgust and anger at Shadow Weaver's betrayal. Glimmer watches as the sorceress takes down Catra while siphoning the princess' magic and taking too much of it, causing Glimmer to go weak and fall to the ground. Both girls are seen suffering before Bow intervenes, causing Shadow Weaver to let go of them. Catra runs away. Later in the episode, Glimmer, Shadow Weaver and the rest of the Rebellion are seen trying to stop Catra and Hordak from activating the Portal but fail. They do not interact any further in the season.

Season 4
Season 4, however, marks a shift in their relationship and its importance in the plot. With Glimmer as the new queen of Brightmoon and Catra as the new Lord of the Horde, their rivalry is increased and more venomous. Their similarities and roles as narrative foils are shown once more. As leaders, they are both put under a lot of pressure to rule and organize but also guide their respective sides to victory. Their status also forces them to step back from the battlefield, limiting their interactions to only two episodes.

In the episode "Pulse", Glimmer plans to take Catra down and stop the Horde. She locates Catra with a spell and teleports to her spot, getting rid of any other horde soldier before charging on the catgirl. As they are fighting and talking back to each other, Catra teasingly reprimands Glimmer for using Adora as a bait, discovering a darker side to the princess. The fight continues and causes the cave to slowly fall apart. Glimmer seems to be gaining the upper hand until Catra activates a Pulse-Bot, threatening to destroy half of the Whispering Woods, and imposes a choice to Glimmer: taking Catra down or taking the robot down. Using the robot as a distraction, Catra attempts to run away but gets stuck under a pile of debris caused by the cave collapsing. Glimmer winks at her, telling her that she apparently doesn't need to make a choice and proceeds to teleport out with the robot, leaving Catra stuck in the collapsing cave.

As the season goes, Glimmer and Catra experience similar situations and once again reflect each other. They both go down the wrong path; Glimmer breaks her friendship with Adora and Bow, turns towards Shadow Weaver for help, puts her entire kingdom in danger and almost leads to the destruction of the planet, while Catra goes insane and loses everyone she ever cared about. Their actions, motivated by a need of approval, caused them to push people away from them.

When they meet again in the last episode of season 4, "Destiny Part 2", they truly lost everything, which gives their following interactions more depth. As Glimmer and Scorpia infiltrate the Horde, Glimmer goes to look for Catra alone. She finds the catgirl injured, exhausted and devastated, laying on the ground after an intense fight with Hordak and an overwhelming confrontation with Double Trouble. Glimmer teases then threatens Catra, telling her that her troops were gone and that she was "all alone". As she is about to blast Catra with her magic staff, the girl quietly asks Glimmer to "do it" (implying killing her), uncharismatic to her usual behavior towards the princess, causing Glimmer's surprise. Glimmer sadly stares at her, seeming hesitant to hurt the other girl as Catra weakly looks at her and says "looks like we're both alone, Sparkles", before closing her eyes and awaiting her fate.

Glimmer then starts screaming in pain, falling to the ground, glowing Etherian markings on her body and face. She explains to Catra that she messed up, that her actions led to the soon-to-be destruction of the planet, reflecting Catra's actions with the portal back in season 3. Glimmer then tells her that she has to try and stop it. The princess stands up with difficulty and makes her way towards the Black Garnet, Catra following behind.

At the end of the episode, Catra, Glimmer and Hordak are abducted by Horde Prime, ending up on his spaceship. As Prime attempts to "wipe Glimmer away", Catra reveals herself and interrupts Prime. She tells him about their planet being an "ancient superweapon", that could prove to be useful to his conquests. She then continues by telling him that if he wants to control it he would need the two girls on his side, which convinces him to keep them both alive and saves Glimmer's life. As Prime lets them know that they are now forced to work for him, the two girls share a long, worried look, hinting at a probable alliance between the two.

Season 5
In season 5 Glimmer is seen banging at the force field on her cell asking if anyone's there. Catra is but doesn't respond. It is seen between episode 1-3 that they have many deep conversations. Glimmer tells Catra that she needs to do that one good thing that makes Catra want to change paths. Then Catra saves Glimmer and lets her escape as the "One good thing she's done in her life." Later on, during the plan to save Catra, Glimmer is seen looking for Catra but doesn't see her in the holding cell, worrying her. Later on in the season, Glimmer kisses Catra's cheek after Melog got them back to Etheria stating "Catra saved the day!" When Netossa took them and their friends to where the Rebellion are hiding, the two girls quickly recognized the same hiding place where The Horde held their bots as she questions them if they've been here and they looked away from each other as they remembered their intense fight. In Season 5 Episode 13, After Catra states to look out for Adora, Glimmer hugs her saying "Take care of her horde scum." And Catra replies saying "That's the plan sparkles."

Fanon
The ship gained in popularity after the release of Season 2, when Glimmer and Catra first truly interacted, but even more after the release of Season 4. The ship is shown as being very chaotic and comedic, with Catra enjoying putting Glimmer in difficult situations, to tease her and to make her mad. The "Ties That Bind" episode is a great example of their turbulent dynamic.

The "Roll With It" episode could also be hinting at Glimmer having some sort of attraction towards Catra, as she imagines her in a very seducing attire and attitude. Catra never calls Glimmer by her name, instead using the nicknames "Sparkles" or "Princess", which adds to the charm of their interactions.

Although they do not interact much until Season 2, in a meta sense, Glimmer and Catra have much in common. They parallel each other (although to many different degrees) when it comes to their personalities, relationships with other characters, and motivations. Noelle Stevenson even draws upon comparisons to the two girls. Personality-wise, both Glimmer and Catra are determined, hot-headed and sensitive young girls, striving for the approval of their respective mother figures. They can also be pictured as rivals towards Adora's love, one being her best-friend while the other used to.

Fans like to imagine Catra and Glimmer getting along by having Catra redeem herself and join the Rebellion. The duo would be able to relate to each other's experiences and support each other (Catra would also discover motherly love through Queen Angella, Glimmer's mother). If Catra doesn't redeem herself, fans like to imagine her and Glimmer developing some sort of secret relationship (due to them being on opposite sides of the war).

The release of season 4 attracted a big wave of Glitra shippers. Being represented as narrative foils but also as "two sides of a same coin", what makes it interesting is that despite coming from completely different backgrounds and having different pasts, they are still in their core the same person. Both girls come to realize it this season, as they face off a first time, then a second time. According to Noelle Stevenson, both girls finally "saw themselves in the other". This, plus the fact that they are now both stuck in the same sticky situation and have no other choice but to work together to get out of it really charmed the fans and make them look forward to season 5. Most of the recent Glitra works are based on the two girls bonding while being prisoners on the ship, forging a strong friendship or even romantic relationship.

Fandom
FAN FICTION
 * Catra/Glimmer tag on FanFiction.net
 * Catra/Glimmer tag on FanFiction.net

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Variations

 * Glitradora refers to the ship between Glimmer, Catra and Adora