People are really downplaying how much Adora needed Catra in ep 13. While their childhood and relationship was obviously shown as being anything but healthy throughout the course of the show, I feel season 5 did a great job of airing most of that out before the finale.

The series made a point on multiple occasions to show that Adrora's self-sacrificial hero complex was just as much a product of Shadow Weaver's abuse as Catra's destructive tendencies were for her. In episode 11 Catra pleads to Adora to not kill herself for the sake of Etheria because she can't bear to her continue to watch her throw her desires away. This point is reiterated in ep 12 when Mara tells Adora almost exactly what Catra said in the episode prior about and how Adora shouldn't be content with throwing herself away and how she sacrificed herself so Adora would never have to.

The confession and kiss being the climax of both of their arcs showing the two of them overcoming their upbringings (witnessing Shadow Weaver's death together also played a huge role in the two of them moving on) and being vulnerable yet strong enough to finally give and accept love respectively as they've struggled to do over the course of the entire show was handled pretty well.

Funny to think this show received a lot of hate when the preview images appeared.

Well, in any case, I should probably watch it someday. It's on my netflix list, I think.