You didn't include the complex sentences so I don't know how to help you but a subordinate clause is a clause that can't become a stand alone sentence and can only be used with an independent clause.
She is speaking about times in which man becomes most desperate that in times where one is attacked, hurt or in a position from which something awful may occur they become their most powerful. This can be related to times where you struggled and found strength within yourself to do what you thought was impossible.
