Unused Plotlines and Episodes

Unused plotlines and episode ideas are concepts for storylines and episodes that were never produced. During the development of She-Ra and the Princesses of Power, many episodes and ideas were pitched that did not make it to the final cut. Some of them have been discussed by crew members in interviews and on social media, and others were listed in leaked material.

From the pitch bible

The She-Ra pitch bible outlines the original concepts for many things in the show, including the world, characters, and plot. It also gives some example episodes.

Season One

The pitch bible outlines a three-part premiere episode, which roughly equates to "The Sword Part 1" and "The Sword Part 2." It also has a list of Possible episodes for this season, which reads:

• Adora accidentally turns a regular horse into a flying talking unicorn. He won't stop following her around.
• Bow and Glimmer try to get Adora ready for a lavish, complicated ceremony to impress Frosta, with disastrous results.
• Seafaring adventure with Sea Hawk as they try to discover a a magical treasure before the Horde can. Half shown through Sea Hawk's eyes as an overblown high-seas romance, half shown through She-Ra's eyes as...very much not that.

Season Two

What the pitch bible calls Season Two roughly corresponds to Seasons Two and Three of the final show combined.

Possible episodes for this season:

• Undercover episode where Double Trouble and Bow infiltrate the Fright Zone wearing disguises. They both get distracted by different things while there.
• ­ Frosta is mad at Mermista for something that happened when they were kids. No one can figure out what it is. Adora takes it upon herself to reconcile them.
• ­ Glimmer is grounded and her mom won’t stay out of her business. Glimmer goes to greater and greater lengths to sneak out, before realizing it’s her parent’s anniversary and Angella is secretly sad and lonely.

Season THree

The pitch bible's Season Three roughly corresponds to Season Four of the final show.

Possible episodes for this season:

• Shadow Weaver tries to find a job she can do that isn’t EVIL MAGIC. It’s...difficult.
• Bow is upset that Glimmer and Adora aren’t as close anymore. He keeps trying to trick them into "friend dates" so that everyone can be best friends again.
• ­Hordak keeps pairing Catra and Scorpia on missions, but Catra can’t stand Scorpia.

Season Four

Season Four in the pitch bible roughly corresponds to Season Five of the final show, and would have been the final season.

Possible episodes:

• Adora partners with Huntara to stand against Horde Prime, but Huntara’s solution to every problem is to PUNCH IT!! Adora is frustrated.
• Catra and Adora accidentally fall into a prison dimension while fighting each other and are forced to rely on each other to get out. While there, they have to actually...talk to each other.
• Bow and Sea Hawk work together to convert Sea Hawk’s flying ship into a space ship. They bond. Cue space pirate adventures.

From ND Stevenson on Twitter

In a tweet, showrunner ND Stevenson shared his pitches for several unused episode ideas. They read:

• Shadow Weaver doesn't remember Catra's birthday, as she's too busy setting traps for Adora, and Catra is in a terrible mood because of it. Both Adora and Catra are caught in a trap together, however, and when they're sucked into a prison dimension are forced to work together for the first time since Adora's betrayal. Turns out, Adora remembered Catra's birthday. (exploration, emotional, character-driven episode)
• Adora is convinced that an ordinary cat that she keeps seeing is Catra in disguise, spying on her, and gets obsessed.
• Madame Razz's ex, a s*xy elf king, comes to the rebels asking for help. He's still desperately in love with her though she is indifferent. Everyone else is confused. (exploration, humor, recruitment, mystery)

  

  "this, basically" - ND Stevenson

• Bow finds a cute cuddly creature in the forest (Kowl) and becomes obsessed with caring for it, like an overzealous dog owner. She-Ra, who can hear the creature talk, finds him annoying.

In another tweet, Stevenson said that one of the earliest episodes he pitched was "Bow and Glimmer finding out that Adora has healing powers and becoming increasingly reckless in battle and sustaining more and more dramatic injuries [because] they were so confident Adora would heal them." He added that "we did not do this because it is.........terrifying," as well as sharing an accompanying drawing captioned, "this, basically."

From The Exit Interviews

In an interview panel with the podcast She-Ra: Progressive of Power, the crew was asked if there were any cut fans they wished fans could have seen.

• Laura Sreebny "wrote a whole c-plot that was just... Angella and Castaspella having like a spa day in Mystacor, and it was extremely passive-aggressive, and so fun. I don’t even remember why we thought it was a good idea at the time, but it did not fit." ND Stevenson added, "We desperately wanted to make that one work. ... I feel like Shadow Weaver was also a part of it though, which was probably why it didn’t work. ... They were like, gonna interrogate Shadow Weaver, but it turns into them all like breaking down, and Shadow Weaver weirdly being like, 'There, there, I guess.'"
• According to ND Stevenson, there was a scene from "Princess Prom" where "Angella wants a photo of Glimmer and Adora before they leave for Prom, but it’s like a court painter, so she makes them like pose and she's like 'Now do a silly one!' and it’s a court painter who’s just like painting a portrait of them." This scene made it to the storyboarding stage before it was cut for time.