Holy shit I'm so excited and yet also so terrified and YES, I am once again going to stay up late and binge that shit the second it comes out. Experiencing something without spoilers is an amazing experience that I almost never get to have :'D
So I meant to do a long and rambly "my feelings on the entire show" kind of post that I alluded to a couple of times, but, uh. Some things happened. Family deaths and whatnot. So that sank pretty low on my list of priorities for obvious reasons. Here I'm gonna share a much shorter version of that and get some of my predictions and theories and things jotted down just so I have proof in case I'm right! So, uh, here we go.
—KEITH
He is still my favorite, my precious son, and I'm so impressed and happy with his development. It looks like he's gonna keep his scar through season seven and I'm not sure how I feel about it yet. I kind of hope it heals at some point? I'm just not used to it and it makes him look kind of oddly rugged/a lot older. It's such a silly thing to be nit-picky about, but I'm very visual.
Apparently he's now the proper black lion pilot. Montgomery said in an interview that Shiro's connection with black has been severed and that he can't pilot it anymore. And Keith is properly ready now. Which, I'll admit, is really bittersweet. I'm still so nostalgic for and attached to the seasons one and two lineup, where everyone matched with their lion and shared traits with it and Shiro was the leader of the formation. We'll never have that again. :'( I wonder if they'll ever get a new intro? I get why intros are weird, as it's a separate budgeting thing, but still. It's really jarring. At the same time, it kind of serves as a reminder of how far we've come.
I've already gone on and on about his development in other posts, though, and explained how I feel about the way they chose to give him some extended time alone with his mother. Even if it was kind of an odd choice, it was what he needed and it was nice to address that somewhat realistically (as in, not brushing it under the rug or pretending like his problems could have been overcome in a day).
I'm SO HAPPY he's back with the team. I get why they sent him away for a while. He was getting a lot of screen time and focus, and if they'd dragged out his whole loner mentality/clashing with the team thing for too long, he would have gotten irritating and the audience would have lost the ability to sympathize with him. Absence makes the heart grow fonder! I'm really looking forward to his falling back in with his friends. Oh, how I've missed his banter and snarky quips.
—LANCE
Okay so. People keep asking for a Lance arc and wondering where the Lance arc is, but the thing is, we've been watching the Lance arc the entire time. The Lance arc is his development. His character change has been both subtle and really obvious and has clearly been given a lot of care! I don't know what the "payoff" of the arc will be, or if it will even come, but it's been very well done up until now and I trust that the writers are going somewhere with it. Seeing him pilot the black lion or lead everyone in some way, even if it's only for one battle or mission, would be really cool and feel deserved and earned at this point.
Mostly, it seems he's overcome his "womanizing" ways. He finally developed somewhat serious feelings for a girl and got rejected/realized she didn't feel the same way, which made him understand how terrible he might have made other people feel, whether by doing the same to them or by making fun of people for feeling the way he feels. As a result, he doesn't hit on Romelle or Krolia at all (though there's a chance he wouldn't have hit on Krolia anyway seeing as she's Keith's mom and that's not cool). Season one Lance would have done so.
A lot of people seem to forget, but the pilot sort of makes Lance seem like he's supposed to be the main character, and I think it might come full circle. Lance will likely have to take charge at some point.
On another topic... That drawing Lauren Montgomery did has been relevant so far. Allura and Pidge are holding the "gender" sign. Allura supports it and Pidge is behind it. Pidge has a gender reveal and Allura sort of supported the arc by finding out and confronting Pidge about it. Keith and Hunk are holding the "race" sign. Hunk supports the sign and Keith is behind it. Keith has the race reveal and Hunk is the one who talks to him about it and stands up for him with Allura. The only remaining two are Lance and Shiro holding the "LGBT" sign. Lance is behind it and Shiro is supporting it. So... if we're assuming the progression is correct, Lance and Shiro are going to bond some more and Shiro will have to help him. Also, Shiro apparently has Kuron's memories (I'll get to that), so they'll have to talk about that stuff in general. Lance feels bad about not being able to help Shiro and Shiro likely wants to apologize for the way Kuron treated Lance.
—SHIRO, THE ULTIMATE GAY ICON
HE'S BACK, OUR SPACE DAD HAS TRULY RETURNED, LONG LIVE SPACE DAD
I honestly don't really feel like his revival was a cheat. Unrealistic by our standards, sure, but it was set up as something plausible within the rules of the established universe. And it doesn't undo that hell that Shiro has been living for the past few months. He did literally die. And there was no body, so what does that mean? He was fuckin incinerated. He got dissolved into nothing. I imagine that would hurt.
Then, he was absorbed into the black lion, meaning he watched everything that happened afterwards while being mostly helpless to stop it. He watched Keith struggle and try to reject the role, watched him sell himself short and suffer without Shiro's guidance. And then he watched as Kuron split the team up and caused tension and shouted at and belittled other team members. This had to have hurt.
So, basically, I think Shiro has earned a fuckin magical resurrection, cheap or cheatsy or not (a lot of people seemed to think it was cheap). Also I'm used to that sort of thing anyway because anime.
Anyway. Shiro is an icon now. If I wasn't so heartbroken over my sunken ship (Shallura), I'd easily be 150% on board. I imagined him as pan even before the reveal, as he's so good at finding good things in everybody that I didn't think he'd care much about gender. But it's official now! He's gay.
There wasn't any foreshadowing to this, but in a way, that's clever. He's a character we've already formed our opinions of and who has proven himself to be strong and good and an effective leader and a selfless person. He's confident in his actions, generally, and knows who he is. Also, he's gay. That just happens to be a detail of who he is. He doesn't have to discover himself and he doesn't feel ashamed or guilty or anything. Also, choosing to save the reveal made us form our opinions of him before knowing that about him. Too often, the LGBT character is just, well, that. There for the sake of diversity or to cause some social buzz and not much else. It often feels like a shallow attempt to go "look at how progressive and tolerant we are!" In doing it backwards, we got an instant icon. What a king. Also, as an actual gay, this means that Shiro is now MY space dad too. A while back, an animated movie (Paranorman) did something similar. The "jock" character, at the very end of the movie, casually says something about his boyfriend. A lot of parents were upset, but I thought it was really clever and still do.
Anyway, I'm still sad about Shallura (it's always sad to have your ship destroyed), but I'm more okay with it than I thought I would be. I'll give the writers a chance, as they have yet to fail me. Also, alternate universes do canonically exist within the world of Voltron, so I guess not all is lost?
I'm really curious about how he'll be handled this season. He's going to be without an arm for a while, and his white hair seems to be a permanent change. He'll need to take a step back and hopefully start addressing his own psychological wounds (his PTSD issues).
—PIDGE
Since we're going back to earth, we finally get to meet the Holt family mom! I'm gonna laugh if she's super scoldy, though she has every right to be. Literally her whole family disappeared on her for a while there. Pidge and her family have been pretty central to everything from day one, and I imagine they'll be heroes back on earth.
Pidge's arc is more or less complete, and we have little to learn about her family and home life, but she's still a badass, and we still learn some things about her from time to time. The fact that she made a counter virus to Shiro's arm, for instance. The kid is depressingly cynical for somebody so young.
Anyway, I'd like to see her being a bit more open with the others, and I want a Holt family group hug with mom included. I will file a lawsuit if I do not get these things.
—HUNK
Okay Hunk needs more. I liked what we got with him in season six (his diplomacy and leadership abilities), but he hasn't had an arc or any serious development since season one. I'm not MAD about it, because for the most part, he's been stable and reliable and doesn't really NEED as much development as the others. Hunk is Hunk and he is important and precious no matter what. But it would be nice to see him getting some credit and development! I at least want us to see his family.
—CORAN
I love him. He's underrated. He also saved the day! It was really heartbreaking, though, how hard it was for him to sacrifice the ship, and very admirable that he did so anyway. I hope we get to watch as he builds a second and even better castle of lions. I'd also like some more family moments with him and Allura and to learn more about how he got into his position in the first place.
—ALLURA
What a queen. What an icon for the ages. I've totally forgiven her for season two. And I hope she can get past what happened with Lotor. I'd like for her to get to go to the colony and reunite with her people, too. Will she have to be the queen of the universe, essentially, after the Galra empire is properly defeated? I think she can handle it. She'd probably appoint some kind of council, though.
Since Shiro is no longer an option for her, I think it might actually be cool to NOT have her end up with anyone. In most media, it always seems like finding a romantic partner is the end-all-be-all and the ultimate goal for all women. So it would be cool to have her end up on her own and happy anyway. There are more goals and endings for women than romance, after all.
Her development as a pilot and an alchemist has been insane. She is a fuckin force to be reckoned with, man. Also I'm really looking forward to her and Coran's reactions to earth! And I hope she and Romelle can become good friends. Make your father proud, girl.
—KURON
I'm torn between feeling kind of bad for him and being like "FUCK THAT GUY". He did a decent job for what he was, but he wasn't the true Shiro by a long shot. Apparently the real Shiro has more or less absorbed him and his memories, which means he can apologize on Kuron's behalf for the things he did, but still. Kuron DID think he was the real Shiro and DID try his best, even if he messed up (and eventually went totally evil). ...Totally called it, though. #notmyspacedad
—LOTOR
Fuck this guy. A great, well-written, and multi-faceted grey-area villain, but a villain nonetheless. His intentions were, technically, to achieve peace, but by unforgivable means and for the wrong reasons. He wanted to be worshipped and given all the credit for it. He said so himself. He had a giant statue of himself in his colony and everything. In the end, he WAS quite similar to his father in a lot of ways.
People keep saying shit like "they didn't even give him a chance to explain his side of things! :'(" (which is blatantly untrue because he got two chances) and "I really hope he gets a redemption arc" but like... Nah. Nope. I don't know that I'd be able to buy into a redemption arc like that. "Sorry I killed potentially thousands of innocent people, deceived all of you for my own personal goals, betrayed my comrades on more than one occasion, and tried to kill you all and almost destroyed the universe by being reckless, but, like, no hard feelings, right?" GET OUT OF HERE WITH THAT YOU PURPLE FUCK
Also I don't believe that he ever genuinely loved Allura. He had the hots for her, sure, and wanted her, but he knew how much it hurt her to believe she was the last Altean who could carry on her father's work. She really misses her home and family and he took advantage of that to get her to do what he wanted her to do. Even if he did "love" her, it was a selfish and unhealthy kind of love.
—HAGGAR
I always knew she'd be the big bad at some point. And she's probably much more dangerous than either Zarkon or Lotor. She knows how to manipulate people's emotions and stuff, as shown by her handling of Shiro in the season one finale, and can combine post-Oriande Altean alchemy and Galra technology and utilize their soldiers. She's got Sendak, too, of course.
That said, I wonder if she'll be the final bad? It could be that even when all three of the Zarkon trio are taken out, the Paladins have to defeat the source of the problem. I wouldn't be surprised if Haggar gets defeated and there's a final FINAL boss.
—THE GENERALS
I think they're going to be siding with Voltron soon enough. They've sort of become the team rocket of the show and constantly switching sides, but they've used up just about all of their Galra connections. Unless of course the Galra are even MORE split up now and they join one of many rebel factions. Either way, we hear Acxa talking calmly to one of them in the trailer, so I think they must form at least a temporary alliance.
Is Acxa really related to Keith somehow? The evidence seems flimsy at best, but it's a popular fan theory. I highly doubt she could be his sister (when would Krolia have had her?), but she could maybe be a cousin or something.
—ROMELLE
We know very little about her and she seems to be pretty serious, mostly, so I'd like to get to know her better. The people who have seen the first episode at comic con have said that they show off her personality a bit and that she's not always so serious and that she and Hunk play off of one another.
I imagine she might have similar distrust issues as Allura, especially considering what happened to her brother. Or, maybe, she's already gotten past this because Keith and Krolia were the ones to rescue her and help her expose Lotor.
Does she have any special abilities, I wonder? Will she be useful in combat? Only time will tell.
—KROLIA
She's the best mom EVER and she's perfect and beautiful and powerful and I love her. At the same time, I'm afraid they might kill her off! ;~; I certainly hope not. I hope that when everyone goes to earth, though, she can see her son's home and her husband's grave. Also she still has to get to know and thank the real Shiro.
—EARTH
I assumed it would be attacked in some fashion before we got ANYTHING about season seven, but that part is obvious now. I'm very curious about the extent of the destruction and what has been happening on Earth all this time. Did the Garrison cover up the disappearances of the Paladins like they did with the Kerberos mission? Did they tell the public that the students had died? Lance is from Cuba, so did this cause some kind of international trouble? Has news about Voltron or the Galra empire spread, or is everyone still in the dark? So many questions, and I doubt they'll all be answered in season seven since they apparently spend most of the season trying to get to earth.
—THE GARRISON
Okay look: the Garrison is shady. They're up to something. Why have the Galra not attacked earth up until now? They've known where earth is for a while, haven't they? It's where they found the blue lion. Iverson was kind of a fishy character and was part of the coverup of the true fate of the Kerberos mission, and the SECOND Shiro returned, they tried to sedate him and wouldn't listen to what he was saying. We now know that he was an officer and relatively high up and a very decorated pilot, so you'd think they'd be relieved to find that he's alive and eager to hear his tale, right?! I know from some random things (mostly Fictional Crystals) that we're gonna see more Garrison pilots, too, including a kid who used to pick on Keith about his parents. I haven't met him yet, but I already hate him. How DARE YOU HURT MY SON—
—ADAM
I'm gonna reserve judgement until I actually meet Adam. He apparently told Shiro that he wouldn't wait for him, and while I understand his decision from a practical standpoint, I can't help but take Shiro's side and feel really bad for him D': Are the writers going to get them back together? I'd be okay with them not doing that, but it would need SOME kind of closure. Maybe we'll even get a gay wedding.
—SHIPS
I feel like I should explain beforehand that while I love and get very attached to my ships, I don't expect a show to focus on that exclusively and cater to my tastes. I actually tend to prefer it when a series DOESN'T pair everybody off and leaves it kind of open so that everyone can be satisfied with it. The exceptions are things like FMA:B where the love interests were established pretty clearly from the beginning and there were never really any questions or love triangles. So if my ships don't become canon, I'm perfectly happy. I just get sad when they're SUNKEN, like in Bleach (I liked IchiRuki ;~;).
With the disclaimer out of the way, I still love Klance and do think it has a shot at becoming canon. Again, I'm fine if it isn't. But I have heard that Lance has a confirmed endgame, and who else would it be? A lot of people think the ship is dead because it didn't get much focus in seasons five and six, but these are the same people behind Legend of Korra. Which established Korrasami in the final two seasons and got them together in the final episode. There's plenty of time.
Shallura, of course, sunk, and I've been quite clear about my feelings on Lotura.
I don't like the idea of Allurance actually happening for reasons I've explained, also. And I think having a character in a kid's show move on from heartbreak and find someone else would be really cool. Too many movies and shows push the idea that the girl will always fall for you if you're persistent enough, which leads to some pretty unfortunate things sometimes. The whole "friendzone" thing and incels, for instance.
I will reserve my opinion on Shadam for after the season.
—FAVORITE SEASONS AND EPISODES
Seasons one and two are still my favorites to rewatch. It was a simpler and kinder time and the episodes feel more focused. Season six is a masterpiece, of course. I also love all of the comedic fillers. Season four's The Voltron Show! is honestly still one of my favorites. I have to go to work soon and I'm running out of time, but I'll make a proper list of my favorite episodes later.
EDIT: BACK FROM WORK AND GETTIN READY TO EAT "DINNER" (at 3 AM) AND THEN START VOLTRON
My favorite eps from season one are "some assembly required" (adorable team bonding), "fall of the castle of lions" (badass pidge + me first falling in love with Keith), "tears of the balmera" (first intense team mission, me falling for klance, Shay) "taking flight" (generally funny, hunk being smart, Rolo and Nyma are cool, "wE HAD A BONDING MOMENT") and "crystal venom" (super suspenseful and made me almost cry for Allura)
I really like the first two episodes of season two (Pidge imitating the others, teenage Coran, and Lance saving a whole planet almost by himself), "space mall" (A+ ridiculous comedy), "the blade of Marmora" (OBVIOUSLY), "escape from beta traz" (SHARPSHOOTER + exasperated Shiro), and of course the finale, "blackout" (need I even explain).
Season three is kind of one giant episode in my head and I'm not that familiar with season four (let's just lump all the s3 klance stuff together, call it an episode, and call that one my favorite). I only sat down and watched season four the one time and it's my least favorite season— it had lots of great points but largely felt unimportant and I was mad about clone Shiro half the time. I LOVE "the voltron show!" though. I think it's HYSTERICAL and really meta and it is one my favorite episodes of anything ever.
Season five, too, kind of feels like a big episode in my head. Seasons one and two had more time, so each episode felt more complete and like it was individually contained. With the later ones it feels more like a collection of scenes, so it's hard to remember exactly what happens in what episode. My favorite one from that season is probably "bloodlines", though.
Also season six's "monsters and mana", "the black paladins", "all good things", and the finale. ...Or just, like, season six in general tbh
—MY FAVORITE THINGS ABOUT THIS SHOW
Characters, development, humor, artwork, and scenery. It's got all of the stuff I like about anime without the annoying fanservice and stuff, too.
—THAT FIC I'M PLANNING
Even if Shallura is dead, I've decided I have to write that fic. I will include a disclaimer at the beginning about the fact that I started planning it long before the gay Shiro reveal, of course. And since I'm not comfortable forcing him to be straight for the convenience of my story, I'll rewrite him as pan.
Also, I have started fleshing out a SECOND Voltron AU idea. It's Klance in college with a silly rivalry based on a series of misunderstandings and assumptions that eventually becomes a romance.
—SEASON 7/8 PREDICTIONS
Shiro is going to help Lance come to terms with some things about himself.
Keith is going to meet his bully again and either get an apology or move on from his anger.
Lance's family will be endangered (Jeremy Shada said he had to sob at one point).
The colony will return and be important.
Keith will call Krolia "mom" and I will cry.
We haven't seen the last of Lotor and Haggar will revive him Zarkon-style.
Also, the rift creatures are gonna come back somehow. Maybe the season 8 big bad? We've already gone through the Zarkon family trio. If Haggar gets taken out, I don't know that Sendak is a strong enough villain to be the final enemy. But the Galra have been fucking around with quintessence and that rift an awful lot, and it's going to be an issue at some point.
—THINGS I WANNA SEE BEFORE THE SHOW ENDS
I want black paladin Lance, a true Hunk moment or arc or episode, and everyone's families.
That's all the time I have for now! Gotta go to work. The new season will be out by the time I get back.