Three Faces of Homura

Sequels to media that already concluded itself plot or theme-wise stand in a weird place. Even when they are well produced, they can't really get rid of the feeling of being tacked-on most of the time, because they have to undo the closure of the original work or even retcon events and characters all together. But perhaps, a different approach can be taken. A good show/book etc. can be written so that the sequels can be experienced as alternative conclusions instead of erasing the original work's ending.
From this point forward there will be massive spoilers about Puelle Magi Madoka Magica (PMMM). Also, there will be abuse talk. Reader discretion is advised.

When it comes to PMMM, the mainline stories are the original series and Rebellion, the canon sequel, at least in name. But there are blatant continuity errors between them, Rebellion being the sequel doesn't seem very correct. A big example is Sayaka here. How is she alive in Rebellion? At the end of PMMM, with no uncertain terms, Sayaka is dead. This is very important for her character arc and yet she is well kicking on Rebellion with no questions asked from anyone. Is this a part of the Witch illusion shenanigans too? Even then, it wouldn't make much sense, the whole Witch thing is bad in itself. There is also the whole Charlotte issue... That's why for me, Rebellion is not a story that continues on PMMM, at least not without ignoring certain parts of the show.
Why is this important? I am certainly not the one to think that continuity errors or even most inconsistencies make a work worthless on their own, to certain extend In fact, I find that way of critique unhealthy as it over-priotizes technical aspects of a work over its expressive value. Furthermore, Madoka Magica as a franchise is itself all about alternative timelines. This means PMMM and Rebellion don't have to be connected at all, we just need to look at Rebellion as not a direct sequel, but an alternative timeline where certain things happens so Sayaka is still alive after Madoka becomes God.
If we can look past the technicalities in writing and take Rebellion at a face value, we see it is thematically very different from the main show. One is about hope and other is about obsession. This difference shapes the characters differently and by the virtue of being the central character on most conflicts in both series, it affects Homura the most.
Here is my theory: Homura's character in PMMM and Rebellion is different and it is incorrect to assert that there is a single holistic interpretation of her character. That doesn't end there, Rebellion itself is open to interpretations as well. That's why, for me in main series, there are at least three different versions of Homura:

1. Homura is evil. (Rebellion)
2. Homura is sympathetic and tragic. (Rebellion)
3. Homura is misguided but good-willed and on a path of healing. (PMMM only)

I will just present the first two without judgement and then try to make sense out of them when we come to the third one.

1. Homura is evil.

PMMM isn't subtle about Homura's obsession of Madoka. Throughout the show, we see Homura hurting her in various ways. Intimidation, concealing information, stalking(observe how she always can be so on time to prevent Madoka from entering a contract with Kyubey), expects Madoka to be dependent on her, basically prevents her to act her on will. All of these behaviors can be considered abusive. In Rebellion Homura's obsession gets worse to the point of becoming a witch and usurping Madoka's powers. Despite knowing that being a god what Madoka ultimately wants, she takes complete control over the destiny of Madoka, creating a timeline where their roles at the beginning of the story are reversed. Madoka is now a transfer student, has no friends thus even more timid than usual and emotionally dependent on Homura. At this point, Homura doesn't even care what makes her happy, she just has a specific idea of "Love" which wants Madoka to be happy but only in ways Homura allows her to be. This is just creepy as any other abuse story, that's why this viewpoint holds that the character  progression in Rebellion is sensible for Homura and the ending is thematically appropriate.

2. Homura is sympathetic and tragic.

This viewpoint makes sense if you see Homura more on the heroic side in PMMM. For whatever she does, it ends up in a positive note (at least in the beginning) and she wants to save her friend's life, which is quite reasonable despite her extreme methods . And those extreme methods are painful but necessary because at the timeline of the main story, she already has run out of options. Homura isn't happy or satisfied in any of it. She keeps a cold face but deep inside, she is always the shy, clumsy girl who loves Madoka a lot.
But in the end, it's the love that ruins it all, because even it is apparent that it is good for the universe, Homura never gets what she truly wanted: to being with Madoka. After all she sacrifies, she can never accept an ending where she is separate from Madoka. The resentment gnaws her heart, until she gets the slightest clue that Madoka might not be happy as a god. A that point she finally snaps and becomes a witch.
The real divergent point from "Homura is evil" theory comes about here. Unlike all other witches, she returns to being a Magical Girl after becoming a witch. Thus, this viewpoint suggests that Homura's act of betrayal is out-of-character but this make sense in the plot because she get corrupted and warped by becoming a witch in the first place.
Alas, the maw of misery truly entraps Homura. We can see how her familiars treat to Homunculy, expressing her self-loathing. This becomes even worse after she becomes a demon, a form she deliberately assumes for herself so that she can be seen and reviled as evil. But despite how unbelievably edgy she acts, Homura doesn't do anything she does out of malice. After all, she puts the Incubators to their place and creates a world that is genuinely happy for her friends. But she also knows she is doing a great mistake, she knows she has cornered herself into situation she can't escape. She can't hold back Madoka, they will clash with each other which will likely result in Madoka's return to godhood. At the end of Rebellion, she just eerily smile herself and dances alone, it doesn't communicate any happiness at all. She messes up greatly, the worse part is there is nothing she could do to prevent this. From the moment she accepts being a Magical Girl, her fate is sealed, there is only going to be pain for her. She is never be able to be friend with Madoka as she was before. Homura's story is the story about heartfelt feelings of love, loyalty and determination becoming twisted into abuse, obsession and ruin.

3. Homura is misguided but good-willed and on a path of healing.

It can be said that this viewpoint is a synthesis of previous two viewpoints. I feel like when people evaluate Homura's character, they tend to omit some complexities.
First, there is Homura's obsession of Madoka. It is clear that there is something definitely unhealthy about Homura. However, one of the chief mistakes done when analyzing her is failing to recognize the full-scope of what she is going through in PMMM.
Obviously, there is nothing wrong with wanting to save your friend. There isn't anything done against Madoka's wishes at that level, sure she says she is genuinely happy about being a Magical Girl and doesn't have any regrets, but that doesn't mean she is ok with dying, it's just a resolution that comes at the inevitability of death. But Homura's actions are not only about saving her friend, Homura clearly adores Madoka and feels indebted to her. Remember that Homura is a very timid and mediocre girl who has no friends at the beginning. Someone acting genuinely welcoming and friendly in that situation would certainly leave a big impression on you. (That's very relatable to me from personal experience.) Homura feels she couldn't give anything to her friends, only to watch them die one by one. So, when an opportunity of saving her friend comes along, obviously she would not say no to that! And when she fails each time, she could just do better next time right?
I don't think she is obsessed about Madoka at the expense of others. Being so determined in one path can narrow your vision but I can't find anything to really suggest that Homura doesn't care anyone besides Madoka. We have clearly shown that in all timelines, her attempts of communication fails. The group even becomes more hostile at her as the time goes: Mimi is emotionally unstable and Sayaka's fate cannot be changed. Homura clearly can't save them, she just has the ability to go back in timeline, not change the entire lives of people after all. Yet, I still don't think she is entirely cynical about them either. She rushes to save Sayaka's Soul Gem in Episode 6, without much thinking after all. I don't think it's a calculated move, just something that arises out of sympathy for a fellow Magical Girl.

When we look at cold actions of Homura from this angle, she becomes a much more sympathetic and still flawed person. There is a reason why she is so cold to everyone to the point of being abusive. Going back and re-living all the misery 100 times surely takes a toll on your psyche and at this point in story, she doesn't have too many options. That doesn't excuse her bad actions of course, nor implies that she is without mistakes. She is still not the cold-calculating person she pretends to be, she gets shocked at Mami's death, is not proactive enough to prevent Sayaka from becoming a Magical Girl and does not anticipate Kyoko's death. Of course she could have done better, of course you could always do better in a given situation. But...
One of the things that annoys me most when people talk about fiction is the fairly pervasive belief that people always would do better than fictional characters in tough situations, this is usually accompanied by a general disdain of failure and incompetence of fictional characters, despite the fact that they are both very much s part of being human. It is easy to judge Homura for not being morally upright enough, but could you really act all that better in her situations? Some people aren't really aware how easy to do right choices when they aren't the ones living through them, it's easy to criticise a 14-year-old girl, who sess horror and despair worth of decades, for her bad treatment of her friends but how many of us could even function as a human being in a similar situation? For me, that alone in itself is worthy of praise. In this way, the show plays with Determinator trope from both sides, showing how unhealthy can it be while also being an act of valor. Is this not true for all great deeds as well? The most heroic acts clearly requires to throwing out rational thinking to some degree.

However, I am also hesitant to call Homura "heroic". Because in the grand scheme of things, she doesn't have much agency in the story. She clearly doesn't plan for Madoka becoming stronger, nor she is actually able to achieve any real progress on her own. On the contrary, in each timeline the fate of the characters becomes worse. I find it ironic that people criticise Madoka for being passive while not seeing how helpless Homura actually is. Madoka is able to defeat Walpurgisnacht on literally every timeline and Homura just fails harder each time. The show even directly tells us how entrapped she is at Episode 11:

-"Why does she go that far to fight?"
"It's because she still seeks hope. I imagine if it comes down to it, she'll nullify this timeline, like she has done in the past, and continue fighting. She'll continue to repeat this meaningless chain of events having come out none the wiser. Giving up and no longer moving forward holds the same meaning to her now. The moment she's convinced that there's no way for her to change your fate, that all of this was pointless, Akemi Homura will lose to her despair and change into a Grief Seed. She knows this for herself. That's why, to her, there is no choice. It doesn't matter if she even has a chance to win; she has no choice but to fight."
--"You're saying that she has no chance for salvation as long as she holds hope?" ~ Kyubey and Madoka.

In end, that exactly happens. Homura finally accepts the truth: She cannot save Madoka from becoming a Magical Girl, her own existence as a Magical Girl depends on Madoka becoming a Magical Girl. The effect cannot nullify the cause. So, no walking back this time, it's time to confront the ugly reality of all your efforts crumbling under your eyes, to embrace the cold, thorny arms of despair and to let your heart darken by grief...
But no, Madoka doesn't let this happen. For all Homura wants to help Madoka and wants to show she can look after herself, it is Madoka that ends up saving her from the abyss. Madoka creates a hopeful world, where all Magical Girls can find peace of heart, including Homura.
This is the primary reason I don't like Rebellion all that much. It lessens the impact of a character arc so that it can tell a story the main show already did. Love turning obsession was an already major theme in the show. Ironically, a rebellion already happens in PMMM, rebellion against the fate of Magical Girls, rebellion against the hell Homura created for herself. Rebellion is feels like returning the same fate.
There is hope at the end of PMMM. A hope for Homura too, a path of healing, a chance for curing her obsession , making her love pure and healthy again. Of course it won't be easy, people don't get cured from a single day and perhaps after all she goes through, a full healing is not possible. But in her lowest moment, Homura already accepts she can't save Madoka. For how I see it, she is aware this is the best for Madoka. Perhaps she won't be able to be a friend she wanted, but Madoka will be always with her, broken might she be, she won't be alone anymore. And what symbolises this better than giving up old weapons and fighting like Madoka does? For me, gun is the symbol of her obsession, her loneliness, her misery but bow is the symbol of hope, love and born of healthy emotions inside Homura.

Rebellion is not a bad movie. It's well made and thought-provoking. But it devalues the character developments in original and at best it reintroduces the themes the main show was better at conveying. And personally, I prefer a timeline where there is hope for Homura, not only it just feels better after seeing all the pain, but a complex character like her deserves more than just being a piece of tragedy or a victim of turning into a miserable monster.
This article is written thanks to my dearest Patrons and special thanks to: Alexandra Morgan, Laura Watson and Spencer Gill.