>>110542397She doesn't have to die to be redeemed. She only has to do good. The question is what needs to happen to make the redemption palatable, believable, and well written.
The most important thing, I think, is that Catra chooses to be good on her own. No one "talk-no-jutsus" her or convinces her. At this point, the thread is severed and Catra is on her own. Everything that happens, good or bad, is her fault and her consequences, good or bad.
Another thing is that people don't forgive Catra easily. If Catra is redeemed and chooses good, she needs to be punished for her decision to be good. This also needs to be juxtaposed with rewards being given easily for choosing evil. If choosing the "good" side is rewarded and "evil" is punished, then the decision is obvious and easy, and there is no reason ever to choose evil.
Catra's suffering needs to be internal. External suffering means nothing alone, and needs to be paired with internal anguish. This is pretty edgy, but there's a reason it's such a popular archetype.
This, of course, can all be capped off with a suicidal heroic sacrifice. Suicide implies all of the above and if it's heroic then it's an easy redemption, but going through the steps is much more fun.
