#I tried inserting screenshots for further prove and idk if i got them right

[sweet-cool-twins]

My thoughts on Lance’s character development

About the bp!lance theory, as much as I agree he’s starting to have a leadership role in the team, has more confidence in his abilities and deserves a more bigger role in voltron, I feel he doesn’t necessarily have to be the black paladin to do so. Here’s some reasons why. 

(I would like to say that this is just my theory. I’m not here to bash the bp!lance theory and instead just giving my own thoughts.)

I feel the show is portraying lance to be like King Alfor, Allura’s father. Firstly, remember that time when blue shut lance out and won’t let him board her. And allura said these lines, 

“When you accepted Keith as the new leader of Voltron, it proved that you value a strong team over your own need for glory, just like my father.” 

‘Just like my father’, like King Alfor. I know it could basically mean that this is something a leader would do, let his teammates show their skills, and maybe, I’m just thinking very simple here. 

Now, secondly, he is starting to have the sibling relationship with Allura, which everyone should have realized by now, how they talked about lance passing blue to allura, 

how he got worried for her on Nexzela, 

how allura felt better while talking to lance and them laughing in the training room. 

These are common in sibling relationships. I know matt and pidge don’t act that way even though they are siblings. They are more of the geeky and funny kind whereas lance and allura are something like the mature kind. The one you have between an older sister and a younger brother. 

Sibling relationship is a familial relationship, which is also a part of the father-and-daughter relationship Alfor and allura had. 

We don’t see this happening with other characters in the show with allura. 

Third, Lance is the pilot of the red lion, same as Alfor, nothing much to say there. Fourth is the one that really made me solidify my reasoning, the fact that Lance transformed his Bayard to an Altean broad sword. The one Alfor used to have. 

The moment that happened, we know he’s getting the character development he needed. And like allura said, ‘you have greatness within’. I know that this could mean he has a potential to be a black paladin. Usually that sentence means lance will have a bigger role (black paladin) in the future. I read this differently. I feel this means he will have a potentially bigger role in the future, just more like he will show more of the inner right-hand man that he has deep within. Lance just couldn't show it cuz of Kuron right now. I’m not dismissing that Lance has leadership skills, heck Alfor was the King of Altea. He has all the leadership skills you need. Just it might not be what is needed as a leader for Voltron. Similar to how Alfor, even though he’s a king, wasn’t voltron’s black paladin.

Another reason why I feel Lance would not be bp it is that, comparing between a leader and his right-hand man, the leader is usually the one who gives orders, decides on a plan for a mission, leads the team to a goal. Right-hand man is someone who the leader trusts the most, that grounds the team and leader together. They make sure the team’s well-being are alright. Sort of like the heart of the team. Lance has done that so many times in season 3 when Keith was the leader. He told Keith that allura was lacking behind while they were chasing lotor and they needed to fall back to get her. 

He got Keith to stop thinking about letting the team down and instead getting them back together. 

He also encouraged Allura that she has the capabilities to get them out of Nexzela. 

These are like the mentally-grounding-the-team kind of leadership that a right-hand man would have.

Alfor was the one who got everyone together to assemble Voltron, not zarkon the leader. Lance sort of did that too. He knew hunk and pidge as they are teammates. He ran after Keith, bringing hunk and pidge with him. He stopped Keith from saving shiro because he wanted to save shiro too, ending with all 5 of them being the new paladins. So yeah Lance “brought” Voltron together, something that a ‘heart’ of Voltron would do. I know Allura is also the heart as what lance had said in season 4. I’m just noting that Lance is like the Voltron 5 lions and 1 robot kind of heart, rather than a team Voltron with the castle and the coalition type of heart.

Besides, stepping aside from lance, I feel keith was really getting the hang of being leader (black paladin) of Voltron. As what I have noted the definition of a leader, is the one who commands and decides on a plan, who decides the best plan of action to do in the situation. Keith was the best pilot of his year in the garrison. Not only do I think he’s great at piloting Voltron, he also have the ability to decide the best course of action when in desire situations. In season 3 when shiro and Keith were in conflict over their separate leadership methods and one mission pops up where lotor was taking a ship and Voltron has to stop him. 

There was an intense situation where Keith had to either bring out hunk’s blaster and shoot the ship and deal with damage the cannon lotor was gonna fire behind them or continue attacking lotor and deal with the ship later which they might not have enough time for. What Keith did was he brought out the blaster to make it look like he’s planning to shoot the ship and then dodge the cannon, letting it hit the ship. Preventing Voltron from getting a massive hit and getting rid of the ship. Like he basically killed two birds with one stone.

That move made me feel Keith was ready to lead Voltron. He had the capabilities to do so. He just kept thinking shiro is the actual leader that’s why he doesn’t take it. I would like to give some credit to shiro for choosing Keith to be the new leader. I’m not saying lance cannot be, I’m just saying shiro prbly saw something in Keith that could potentially lead Voltron to greater heights.

Back to Lance, in my understanding, Lance has a lot of insecurities and him being the black paladin might not be the best way for him to rid of these insecurities, he might continue to doubt himself. What I feel Lance needs is someone with a high title, like Keith or shiro, the black paladin, to tell him that he is needed because they trust him as their right-hand man. I think this is more powerful in getting lance to realize he is needed in the team because he finally has a role in the team. Not a goofball, not a self-labelled sharpshooter, but the right-hand man of Voltron. Besides, we have lance alr saying goodbye to blue, but not Keith with red. I don’t think vld will have lance switching to another lion and having to say good bye to a lion again. I think when Keith finally accepts himself as the leader of Voltron, we will finally have the scene where he says goodbye to red.

In conclusion, lance does have leadership qualities that are beginning to merge, just not the bp type of leadership, it’s the right-hand man type of leadership. Keith has the skills to lead Voltron and be the black paladin, he just lacks the drive becuz he thinks shiro is the most suitable black paladin.

Yeah, so this is my theory on Lance’s and partially Keith’s development and potential black paladin in vld. This is long lol! Glad u made it to the end!