catradora and the art of holding hands: a long and devastating thread;

this is the first time we see them holding hands. this establishes their bond as extremely close from the very start. soon after catra jerks away feeling betrayed and left behind in favor of people and ideals she doesn't get. this pivotal scene sets their bond for the whole show.

flashforward to princess prom and we get this. i wouldn't define them as enemies yet, perhaps more like rivals. catra still hoped for adora to go back and adora still hoped for catra to change her mind. but there's more than rivalry here. there's chemistry in their dance games.

princess prom defines what could earlier be seen as a broken friendship like something entirely different. there's tension that can only be seen as romantic and/or sexual (keeping in mind they're 18yos who certainly felt some way towards e/o). and it's shown: thru hands.

one more shot from princess prom right before catra lets herself fall. the whole episode sets this game between them -- except as catra says it was never a game. adora would have never let her fall even though they were essentially dueling against each other. here there's caring.

'promise'. promise isn't a regular episode, it's *the* episode that delves deeper into their dynamic and it's the episode that sets them apart drastically. no wonder it's also the episode with the most hand shots, used to express past joy and current bitterness.

promise also has what i call the 'missed holding hand scene' aka the one time catra doesn't pick adora up, letting her fall into nothingness instead. season one starts with their hands growing a little distant and promise peaks by separating them entirely.

as i said, promise really sets adora and catra apart as enemies. there's lots of touching in battle (most notably catra touching or holding adora's face repeatedly) but no hands. until the alternate reality, coincidentally (duh) when they're close again.

that specific shot from the alternate reality parallels that of s1e02 with the difference that this time, adora jerks away. but my focus here was on how hands are *not* used from s1e11 to s3e5 and they're only back onscreen to show their (almost) closeness.

catra and adora do not hold hands as enemies. ever. there's touch there's glances but no hands. cause now we skip directly to s5e06, here. 'taking control' picks up where 'promise' had left them - there's anger and bitterness but there's also love.

from there onwards, season five thrives on hand-holding. because if s1 had shown us their hands slowly distancing, s5 shows us their hands slowly getting back together, with ups and downs and conflict and complex healing. look at this.

as a climax to this story, we get to 'the heart'. "but they kiss!" yes, yes, they do, but their *hands* matter so much too. their whole story has been told through the touching of those palms. and 'the heart' peaks with what's now pure, simple, utter love.

i might have missed some scenes and if i did feel free to add!! in any case, catradora was told through hand holding for a very very long time and there's a very clear journey in those scenes from s1 - s5. descending then complex then ascending. all through simple hand shots.