#MFE crew

[vldunchartedregions]

Voltron Season 8 Meta Introduction

Hi! Welcome to "Uncharted Regions."

Now that it's been several years since Voltron Season 8 came out, the news of Netflix's removal of the series on December 14th, 2024 shook the fandom and pop culture as a whole.

You may be wondering... 1) Huh?! 2) Why?! It's a Netflix Original! 3) I loved this show, I don't understand! I was the same, too. We were all a little confused. However, licensing rights were ending to Netflix and Netflix doesn't want to renew. Fair play.

As someone who worked in a corporate company who also provides live streaming services + has a degree in television production, I have a better understanding of the executive decisions at play that comes down to it. It was not too hard to decipher why when you know what went on in the trenches of the Voltron fandom from 2016-2018.

The bottom line is that Netflix marketing did not match the source material provided, and there was intensive discourse across multiple facets of the fandom. You can imagine Netflix were not fans of the outcome of the series, and may not have even been told by Dreamworks the outcome of the series when Season 8 dropped; especially when Netflix's global social media accounts openly admitted to shipping Klance on Twitter.

Regardless, we're not looking at who's to blame, but you do have to wonder how such a large international miscommunication between Netflix, Dreamworks, and Voltron's IP holders went down the corporate funnel.

...I digress, let's move on.

As many people did from the news of it's removal (which also surprised the official Voltron accounts), I got back into the Voltron fandom really quickly and tried to rewatch as much as I could before it's inevitable removal from Netflix.

I haven't touched this show in years, friends. Not since 2020. The rewatch showed me one thing: that this show is breathtaking, stunning, and at it's core - it represented change. It's truly one of it's kind. To have the crew from Avatar: the Last Airbender, and Legend of Korra working on it on such a high level? Hell, there was an MFE pilot spin off in the works.

There was a lot of promising stories to tell with new outcomes and twists with a classic IP such as Voltron. It was promising a new future and fresh takes with comics, games, and so much more.

Now, alike to most viewers, I was there when Season 8 dropped. Hell, I was at the NYCC 2018 panel where they gave out these posters (which will be VERY relevant to this meta, I assure you):

The hype of Voltron Season 8 lead to a FULL panel that got closed off mid-way in the line. Many fans flew from across the globe (including myself) to get a glimpse of the showrunners, cast & crew, and a unique slice of the pie into Voltron Season 8's trailer.

The excitement was unlike anything I'd ever experienced before in a fandom. It was extremely thrilling, the trailer was outstanding, and Season 8 wasn't too far away.

First shown at New York City Comic Con 2018, get a look at the #Voltron production team's take on the upcoming final season of Voltron Legendary Defender, streaming on @Netflix tomorrow!

Then Season 8 dropped on Netflix... December 14th, 2018.

It was jarring. There were plot points that made no sense, obvious edits to scenes, censorships like a One Piece 4Kids dub, characters cut and pasted into scenes, and storylines were slapped together like a messy sandwich. And it was incredibly obvious too.

The fandom noticed and reacted accordingly - asking questions and demanding answers left, right, and centre. The showrunners responded through podcasts and statements on various levels.

The answer was clear... their vision wasn't the only vision going into the show:

"You know, as we sort of got through the process of premise, script, it went all the way down the line. It got storyboarded. And then at some point, you know, we received pushback from the studio and you know, we were sort of a little confused, like, “hey, how did it go, like, so far down the line before we received pushback?” And you know, this is not like a, like, a vilifying of DreamWorks or anything, like, every exec that we ever interacted with was, it was like, “hey, we understand why you want to tell this story. We understand where you’re coming from. It’s a little bit bigger than that. You know, there’s-there’s other, sort of, controlling parties with Voltron which makes it unique. It’s not just a DreamWorks-owned property.” And it just–I think logistically it just got really, really weird."

Joaquim Dos Santos - Afterbuzz TV interview. Source: https://dragonofyang.tumblr.com/post/183820127648/abtv-mar-4-transcript

---

Fans promptly started a petition two days later to release the original Season 8. THAT'S how obvious the editing was and how obvious the deterred, original vision had become.

As a disappointed fan and someone who studied media analysis intrinsically for university, I did try to rewatch back then, and it was painful to watch. What happened? There were layers of context on the cutting room floor and scenes didn't make sense. Hell, each episode title always has a double layered meaning, and even those layers were stripped from the core of the episodes for the most part. This left fans to say, "Whaaaaat is going ON?" The entire fandom was hurt by what had occurred.

The cast & crew that were also unaware of these story changes were also quite hurt, too. To make it more apparent, the showrunners were pretty open on speaking about leaving the project as well on the Buzzfeed Aftershow Podcast, but they simply couldn't:

LM: It’s not-it’s not just like, “Oh I can’t afford my mortgage!” You know, we have a crew that we care about we brought onto this show. If we abandoned them, we-we don’t know what’s in store for them. We don’t know, do they get to stay on? Do they get to keep their jobs? Does someone else come on and then they’re working under someone else that they didn’t sign up for? Or–

JDS: Or they’re working under someone else that’s just gonna be like, “Alright, we’re just gonna finish the show and not really do right by the rest of it.”

Lauren Montgomery & Joaquim Dos Santos - Afterbuzz TV interview. Source: https://dragonofyang.tumblr.com/post/183820127648/abtv-mar-4-transcript

---

We all wanted answers, and sure, some members of the team did speak up - but it didn't provide clear answers on what was the go with Season 8 being edited so far into post-production.

Now, this blog isn't dedicated to restoring Season 8 to it's original format (that would be lovely, but we have to be realistic - it has been 7 years and no google drives of the original season 8 have dropped so far). No, no.

That might happen (I've got a positive mindset on it - someone has to have a back up copy on some hard drive somewhere), or maybe it will be released... in a green sock reality.

Rather, this blog is dedicated to all the fans (new & old) whom want a sense of closure to as to why their favourite show on Netflix from 2016-2018 dropped the ball so hard for Season 8.

Not thinking much of it, I had posted a twitter thread detailing how the ending with all the lions flying off looked a little odd.

...And so, I received an anonymous inbox on New Years Day, 2025

This DM... was the start to an unravelling of webs and a rewatch that crumbled immediately. The cracks were all there.

I rewatched Season 8 with this information at hand with a few of my closest online friends, and we were shocked at how much there was to uncover. We were absolutely FLOORED by what was found, including incredible pieces of evidence from the fandom itself.

Now... Why does this matter? It's been YEARS and I'm sure we're not the first to uncover some pieces of information (See the #FreeVLDS8 movement - so, so many good finds there as a foundational point of reference).

Some of what we've uncovered in these Uncharted Regions has NOT been covered by the fandom before, nor does it scratch the surface of what's been found as of yet.

Welcome to the Uncharted Regions of Voltron Season 8.

Our aim for this meta is to acknowledge the following with detailed evidentiary support: 1. The editing of multiple episodes & scenes.

From there, we will look at the alleged changes: 2. Plot points & scenes that may or may not have had cuts. 3. Providing official-style edited shots comparisons to portray how some scenes should've looked in the original Season 8. 4. Piecing each episode / episode orders together (as best as we can) 5. The original ending.

Cheers to the beginning of a new meta, a new hope, and a new perspective on what truly happened to Voltron Season 8.

(Allegedly; for entertainment purposes only)

The one thing I humbly request is PLEASE... No hate towards the showrunners, cast, crew, or the official Voltron IP holders. There's a lot that has changed culturally and intrinsically within the industry over the years and this outcome was not something they could simply control. Let's be adults, look at this open conversation with empathy and love, and respectfully, let's indulge in this topic with grace - your feelings, however, are incredibly valid when it comes to this meta and what we uncover, as there's many alleged finds that may shock the fandom.

Let the journey commence.

Check out my Twitter page for any and all updates in regards to this insanely detailed meta; including teasers and screenshots! Please and thank you.

[mosscreeper-ao3]

October 2024 writing challenges directory

Flufftober (prompts from @flufftober)

Pairings are in green. Please be mindful of the difference between "/" (romantic or sexual) and "&" (platonic) pairings

Lost pet meet cute-Kaidan & Rocky (his dog from my main mShenko series)

"Left, other left!"-mShenko

Favorite scent-Kaidan & the Normandy crew

Market day-MFE friendship

Acorn, pinecone, chestnut-Jaith

Mistaken identity-Keith & Shiro (Broganes)

Hoodie weather-Jaith

Chopping and piling wood-mShenko

"Don't do that." "but-Jaith

Bet, game, contest-Jaith, Veraxca, MFE friendship

Ingredients and spells-Paladin friendship

"This is spooky." "Really?"-Klance

Attic, cellar, hidden room-solo Keith

Fantasy AU/Mundane AU-Jaith

"What are you wearing?" "It's laundry day."-Jaith

Yes, no, maybe-Jaith

Rainy Day (alt prompt)-Jaith

Bewitched-Jaith

Yarn-mShenko

Paw-Keith & Kosmo

Bonfire-mShenko

Heirloom-solo James Griffin

Stormy night-Jaith

Comfort food-MFE friendship

Haunted house-Klance

"I can't find it."-mShenko

Afternoon stroll-mShenko

Lucky charm-MFE friendship, Jaith

Time capsule-Paladin Friendship

"Forever?"-Jaith

"Make a wish."-Jaith

Whumptober (prompts from @whumptober)

This one is mostly split into two fics with each prompt being a chapter. One exploring James' emotional state after Keith leaves and the other exploring Keith being captured during a BoM mission.

A few prompts are turned into one shots and drabble collections.

Keith's fic (Dear Agony) covers the following prompts

Day 1-race against the clock/search party

Day 3-set up for failure/wrongfully arrested

Day 4-hallucination/sensory deprivation

Day 7-only for emergencies/unconventional weapons

Day 8-sleep deprivation/forced to stay awake

Day 12-starvation/"just a little more"

Day 16-necrosis/wound cleaning

Day 21-body horror/spirit possession

Day 22-bleeding through the bandages/reopening wounds

Day 24-radiation poisoning/equipment failure

Day 26-nightmares/parting words regret

Day 29-fatigue/"who said you could rest?"

James' fic (Terms and Conditions) will cover the following prompts

Day 2-trust issues/role reversal

Day 5-sunburn/heatstroke

Day 6-not realizing they're injured/unhealthy coping mechanism

Day 9-obsession/broken window

Day 11-seeing double/loneliness

Day 13-team as family/"death will do us part

Day 14-left for dead/“Because I want you to know what it feels like to be haunted”

Day 18-revenge/loss of identity

Day 23-forced choice/broken pedestal

Day 28-denial/CCTV

Day 31-asking for help/"I'm alive, I'm just not well"

Jaith drabble +ficlet collection (Twin Skeletons)

Day 10-blow to the head/"I can't think straight"

Day 15-childhood trauma/"I did good, right?"

Day 17-nowhere else to go/"we had a good run"

Shiro drabble collection (I've Grown Tired of This Body)

Day 25-surgery/"it's for your own good", solo Shiro

Day 27-voiceless/muzzled, solo Shiro

Day 30-recovery/"what have I done", solo Shiro

One shots

Day 19-blood trail/"is there anybody out there?", Paladins

Day 20-emotional angst/"it's not your fault, Shiro & Keith (broganes)

Kinktober below the cut

Kinktober (prompts from @my-secret-shame-but-fanfiction)

Pairings are in green.

Edging-Jaith

Love bites-Jaith

Breath play-Shiro/Curtis

First time-Allurance (all Allurance will have trans Lance)

Nipple play-Allurance

Mirror sex-Jaith

Secret reltionships-mShenko

Fingering-Romelle/Allura

Sex pollen-Jaith

Scissoring-Allurance

Threesome-Kallurance

Kneeling-Jaith

Shower-Klance

Begging-mShenko

Surrender-mShenko

Public-mShenko

Praise kink-Jaith

Psychic bonds-femShep/Liara

Fuck or die-Jaith

Whipping-Shiro/Curtis

Bondage-Shiro/Curtis

Shotgunning-Jaith (college AU)

Blindfold-Allurance

On the desk-Jaith

Sleepy sex-Shiro/Curtis

Marking-Jaith

Body worship-mShenko

Face sitting-Romelle/Allura

Hair pulling-mShenko

Afternoon delight-Shiro/Curtis

Free space, swimming-Jaith

[chaoticstarlightwonderland]

Watching season 7 of Voltron and I forgot how much I liked it.

I decided to rewatch the parts of the last two seasons since those are the only ones without DVDs, and I forgot how much I enjoy the latter half of season 7.

The battle scenes are so cool. And the MFE crew are fun. Especially the blonde autistic girl she is a delight. I love the details of the crowd shots. And we get to see how much the paladins have bonded with the lions. The episode where they are stuck drifting in space is good too. Seeing Shiro leading the Atlas really gives the character some purpose that’s been wobbly for a while now. Plus he’s so cute.

There’s also some fun character interactions and animations/poses that are so fun/cute to see.

I’m probably a little biased cuz I’m watching this fearing that it will all be lost tomorrow, but there are some real strengths to this season. I remember there was some talk about people wishing s7, as is, was the finale cuz of the good fights and satisfying finish, and hopeful note for the future.

Obligatory note: General Sanda still sucks. I wouldn’t mind if there was a fix-it fic where she had a heart attack as soon as Sam Holt landed and most of humanity was saved cuz she wasn’t there. Like her existence isn’t necessarily bad writing but the fact they tried to redeem her in the end gave attention to her in the funeral is where I draw the line.

[voltronbthb]

the pain of living (and wanting not to live in pain).

prompt; hurts to breathe. requested by; @ardenrabbit. fandom; voltron: legendary defender. focus character; takashi shirogane. relationship(s); n/a. trigger(s); n/a (if there are any i didnt list, pls let me know!) written for @badthingshappenbingo​!

shiro had been having nightmares lately.

these nightmares always left him in a state of pure fright, with him bolting up in bed, eyes darting frantically around at his sleeping quarters on the atlas, body covered in a cold sweat, tears pricking the corners of his eyes.

he didn’t tell anyone about these nightmares, for he knew that if he told, he would be coddled like he was when he was younger and had the muscle disease. adam, the doctors, iverson, his grade school teachers, his parents and older sister, they all treated him like he was some type of frail object. he hated being treated like he wasn’t capable of doing things, making decisions on his own.

he was able to prove them all wrong, though, by beating the odds. first it was that he wouldn’t make it past his first hour of life, then three years, then eight, then thirteen… now he’s twenty-six, and still proving everyone wrong with the shit that he’d been through in space.

but, maybe, this is catching up to him…

he’s stopped by keith in the hallways of the atlas one slow afternoon (or, what seemed like afternoon, they were in space and time doesn’t really matter when you’re in space). he had given the crew a day off and had gotten caught up on a much needed rest–not sleeping, of course, but resting nonetheless–in that time.

“hey, shiro,” keith chirps, a little peppier than usual, “i need to go over some upgrades to our lions that pidge requested.”

shiro smiles at his best friend and nods, successfully masking his lack of sleep. “yeah, sure, we can do that now.”

“great, uh, did you wanna go to the bridge?”

shiro suddenly feels as if his heart is about to burst out of his chest, but not in the good way. he breathes in slowly, then finds it difficult to push the breath back out of his lungs.

“…’ro?”

he looks up and sees keith’s concerned face, chest heaving.

“are you okay?” keith asks, putting a hand on his best friend’s shoulder to help comfort him.

shiro nods and steadies himself, breathing very slowly to help the pounding in his head. he makes a feeble attempt at a smile and leads keith to the bridge of the atlas to go over the plans.

~~~

it isn’t until the neighboring planet adjacent to the one they’re currently docked at attacks when the crew notices something’s wrong with their captain.

shiro’s kept his cool, he’s successfully masked his sudden symptoms; however, in this situation, the rest of the crew is focused not only on the attacking inhabitants, but also on the fact that their captain isn’t giving out the usual orders.

“captain, voltron and the mfes are having trouble with taking down the attacking ships,” veronica informs, “what are your orders?”

“um...” shiro starts, but it’s getting hard to concentrate on the panel in front of him when his vision is getting blurry around the edges.

“captain? are you alright?” curtis’ voice rips through the ringing in his ears, though it sounds muffled.

then, shiro collapses, breathing staggered and abnormally heavy. every attempt of breathing leaves his chest feeling like it’s fighting against something heavy. he hears coran and veronica next to him, veronica attempting to reassure him while coran tells iverson to call the medbay.

then, everything goes black...

~~~

shiro awakens a couple of hours later in the medbay, the bright lights almost blinding him as he slowly opens his eyes.

“look, he’s waking up!” someone says (the voice sounds like lance), and footsteps seem to come closer to his bed.

as he regains his vision, he sees team voltron, the mfes, and most of his bridge crew surrounding his bedside. keith and griffin are closest to him, with keith looking almost ready to cry.

“what...?” he starts, not registering until he speaks that there’s an oxygen mask on his face.

“you collapsed and were having trouble breathing,” keith explains, “but luckily, you had the bridge crew there to help you get to the medbay quickly. doctors said you wouldn’t have made it otherwise.”

“the...?”

“the inhabitants of the planet adjacent to us retreated once they realized they were outnumbered. luckily, we had pretty good allies on our side from the planet we’re currently docked at,” griffin reports.

“in fact,” allura speaks, “when they heard of your predicament, the empresses of vellion promised to join the coalition and help liberate planets alongside us. they’re starting with their sister planet next to them, but they say it’ll take some time.”

“that’s...” shiro takes a staggering breath, then continues. “that’s great...”

“now,” iverson comes up to his bedside next to keith, “rest up, captain. you definitely need it.”

“but who’s gonna-?”

“we’ll all do our part to make sure that the bridge is running smoothly in your absence,” veronica reassures, “but as iverson instructs, you need to rest.”

“...okay. thank you.”

as the others leave the room to go back to their respective duties, shiro smiles to himself and then gets some much needed sleep.

[leadveined]

out of commission ;;

any v.l.d rpers out there wanna rp with a keef ? if so , i'm more than open ! bring me the team , the galra , any aliens , garrison crew , or mfes !! i just wanna love on you all , pls let me lov u .. 🥺🥺

[discordiansamba]

Coran is their manager and Allura is their stylist. Shiro is the captain of the ship they've hired to take them on their intergalactic peace tour, in hopes of putting a stop to the brewing tensions in the universe. Lance and Veronica, alongside the Holts and Adam are all crew on the ship. The MFE pilots are tasked with the protection of the ship, and as their leader, James often comes into conflict with Keith because he's a pilot as well.

Hunk, Romelle, and Keith are childhood friends from humble origins. Hunk and Romelle started as a street act, before Coran discovered them and they were propelled into stardom. Keith can't carry a tune to save his life, but when Hunk and Romelle started to get more popular, he vowed to protect them. This whole 'peace tour' has him on edge.

(He's right to be worried. There are those who don't seem to want to let their peace mission succeed.)

me, minding my own business:

my brain: idol duo Hunk and Romelle. and Keith is their bodyguard.

me: sure I'll rotate that for the rest of the evening

[theyelmore]

anyway i headcanon that MFE-Ares ends up with some pretty significant hearing loss after the war which is a combination of projection and actual goddamn fact and i just want y’all to imagine like,, ten years down the line the crew meets up for a night out & someone’s offhandedly like “man, my ears just never stop ringing” which turns into an impromptu bonding session bc Nadia (an ADHD babe who 100% had weird tinnitus-y stuff even before the war) is like “wait i’m not the only one who literally no longer hears silence?” and yes,,, i love they.......

[rookie-pilot]

Air New Zealand

Boeing 777-300

[voltrons]

i always saw those posts about latching on to a background character and thought they were funny but now that i’m here and i’m in it it’s roUGH!!!!!!

[moonrose-arts]

"Will you be my wing?" • • This is a cute ship, I had to doodle something for them ♥

[tinfoilhats-work]

Ok so I made this originally when sea shanties were going around and i low key forgot about this but I really like pirate Keith and I can’t find any good fics to read rn so this is what I’ve got

— instead of Keith looking for treasure he is looking for Shiro (you can think of whatever reason maybe bc they are lovers or bc he’s never given up on him idrc whatever floats your boat)

— anyways Keith’s ship has a few members bc most boats that sail the ocean aren’t single person ships —> so for crew he has some rouge blades or maybe orphans/foster kids that were mistreated (like him) — think Peter Pan type shit

— if we don’t like the previous idea it could be the voltron gang or the MFE (James and those homies)

— idk how you could get the rest of the crew in it... maybe the Alteans are mermaids and the galra are sirens? but that’s up in the air - idk how I feel about it - they could also be different pirate gangs but I also feel like that’s cliche…

I don’t really know — all I know is that I want pirate Keith lmao

[midnightlie]

Flight crew au: since Keith’s a pilot does that mean his “actual” rival James is a pilot too? Like the MFE gang are all a different flight team or something...lol

so yeah james is another first officer and he and keith dont get along with at all djdbdbdhdjd and tbh i hadnt thought of it but i like the thought that theyre all pilots!! maybe ina is a flight attendant too, tho, for some variety

[theyelmore]

send me your MFE-Ares crew headcanons!

i've got killer cramps & can't go to sleep anyway bc i don't trust myself to wake up for work, so i'd love to distract myself in the best way possible!! dbbdhdhsj i just love them lol

[discordiansamba]

Twenty five years have passed since the end of the Galactic War, and tensions have begun to rise again. Among the Galra, there are those unhappy about the peace agreement, sentiments stirred up by the Galra Warlord Sendak, who once served as Emperor Zarkon's right hand.

In order to combat this, Emperor Lotor has suggested that they return to the negotiation table, discussing the matter one by one with each Galra colony individually to learn their needs and determine the best course of action. In order to put an emphasis on their desire for peace, he proposes that each meeting be proceeded with a concert- for if there is one thing the Galra love, it is music.

And who better to serve this need than the popular duo, Yellow Lion?

Coran is somewhat wary of the offer at first, but he understands the importance behind keeping the peace. After discussing the matter with Hunk and Romelle, they decide to accept. Although Emperor Lotor originally offered to send the flagship of his fleet as an escort, Keith proposes an alternative- a good friend of his serves at the captain of the IGF-Atlas, a Galaxy class cruiser that was built for the Galactic War, but went unused.

Captain Shirogane and his crew are happy to accept them onboard. His crew is mostly young but talented, with the most senior officer being the ship's engineer, Sam Holt. It's escorted by the four pilots of the MFE squadron, lead by James Griffin. With the addition of Keith's own personal fighter, a one of a kind ship left to him by his father, they're more than enough to protect Yellow Lion.

And they'll need it, because there are forces out there who would love nothing more than to see the intergalactic peace tour fail...

Coran's primary mission is to keep Allura safe.

When King Alfor entrusted his young daughter to him, he knew it would be unlikely that the two of them would ever return to Altea. It was better this way- the young princess might grow up without any knowledge of her parents or her royal heritage, but she would be safe. With the Galactic War still raging, it was easy enough to fake her death. It was a tragedy that would eventually propel the people of Altea to victory, finally bringing peace at long last.

But Allura must still be hidden.

Her voice contains a mysterious power, one that Alfor feared could be used for dark purposes. Alone, it is nothing, but if it happens to resonate with others like her, then it holds the key to a power so fearsome it could be used to restart the war- or worse. Given the choice between raising Allura on Altea as a caged bird unable to leave the Castle, and raising her in an environment where she is free to live her own life, the answer seemed obvious.

Coran's second mission is to look for those like her.

He finds two of them on the very same space station that he took up residence with Allura on. They turn out to be a pair of childhood friends, an Earthling and an Altean named Hunk and Romelle. They have a street act that's been spreading through word of mouth, and Coran decides to take them under his wing before anyone else can. Thankfully, they agree to sign on to his newly formed talent agency- and they even come with a free bodyguard, in the form of their other childhood friend, a half-Earthling/half-Galra named Keith.

Allura is excited at this development, and throws herself into helping the pair. Immensely talented, she acts as their stylist, voice coach and choreographer, easily befriending them along the way. But it becomes clear from the way she watches them that she too, wants to stand on stage with them.

Coran's just not sure he can allow that to happen.

[rookie-pilot]

Boeing 777-X

[greenflamedwriter]

Shance Prompt

To all the Fanfics I’ll never write. But I don’t want to lose them so here they are.

Filler Episode [#0002]

Ship: Shance- Shiro/Lance

Voltron Au: Return to Earth and Shiro gets back with Adam and Lance is heartbroken of Kuro. Plot oriented.

They land on earth and everything is fine, until Lance see’s Shiro and Adam reunite and feels utterly destroyed. Then to top it off they have a row with the instructors and James is high and mighty and says that they should be in charge of Voltron since they are better candidates.

So Shiro agrees and says if they’re team can pilot the lions then build up to their standards and do better than Pidge, Hunk Keith and Lance and are prepared for the Galra then sure.

All of the team gets denied, except for the Red Lion- it lets James pilot it and Lance now realises how much of a spare part he’s been.

That he would amount to nothing but a cargo pilot. 

James is cocky as hell sure- but Lance doesn’t seem too upset like last time- he knew he piloted red because Keith stepped down that he was a fighter pilot because Keith left. 

Lance was only here because Keith had to step down, just because of Lance’s ego? No he was so over that.

So Lance turns to James shakes his hand (stopping the arguments as Pidge was yelling at James and was defensive) 

Lance tells him, congratulations, he’s sure the team will teach him the ropes and that they should hurry to perfect their team dynamic. He turns to Iverson and says he has background experience on the Galra and has loads of intel to teach the cadets. They need to be ready for war as the Galra will not hold back- so Iverson agrees for Lance to be their informat to teach the class everything he knows.

Well- Iverson doesn’t Agree persay, but tells Lance he expects a module of what he will teach the kids that have to approved by the lectueres, Lance agrees and admits to giving a tour of the Altean Castle and giving his presentation inside.

Shiro is pissed off and ready to fight for Lance to stay but Lance intervenes “Shiro this works out, we need a pilot from the Garrison to be here. By Military standards a former pilot and a few dropouts have no weight or loyalty, they want to make sure Voltron is on their side first.”

“Of course we are! We want to protect earth-”

“But not become dictators like Zarkon- think of this as the accords from Civil war, look it’ll work out once they see what you can do-” And the fact that the country will assume Voltron was some terroist weapon so YEAH they needed to show they had control of Voltron.

“What we can do- Lance you’re a part of this team too!” Lance smiled though it didn’t reach his eyes.

“I know, which is why it’s better to be on the side lines, the Garrison know nothing about the Galra, Altean teach and the things they need to make them stronger, like Bulmarian crystals or Weblums that eat planets, they need to be prepared and they won’t understand a word Coran is saying and Allura is stuck with Voltron since she’s a new member. She and James can learn more together- this works out! I can help speed things along!”

“What about Shiro he can do all that stuff!” 

Pidge yelled and Lance shook his head even though Shiro nodded along with her.

“No- Shiro is the senior officer and would be working with Iverson and the other instructors and even Head of state- he’ll have his hands full trying to make sure the freakin army won’t use us as some sort of terrorist threat we can’t afford infighting with other continents when ACTUAL aliens might come out of nowhere and kill us- two pair of hands are better, guys...trust me, I know what I’m doing.”

“Are you really okay with this?”

Lance blinked surprised at the pure venom coming from Keith, Keith glaring right at him and his mouth slipped shut “I- of course, no use beating around the bush, I wasn’t meant to be a fighter pilot. I should accept my loses while I can.”

_____________________________

Iverson and other lectures start chewing Lance out and he snaps.

“To be perfectly candid, Sir. I’ve been to space and seen everything and have more experience with the Galra, the Alteans craft the materials needed such as Balmera and Weblum- Coran and I can teach you all there needs to know about what we are facing, I can give you my intel and what you do with it is up to you and your superiors.”

Iverson grit his teeth “Fine, Cadet. I will let the instructors know about the extra curriculum-”

“Oh these involves them too actually, how about I give you a tour of the Altean Castle- as science officors have to be in depth to replicate Altean technology since they’re much more advance and we need the extra fire power we can get- it would be easier since I can tell them whats what-”

“Fine, Mclain, do whatever you need. Sort out a trial Seminar and we’ll see if it’s appropriate for the cadets.”

Lance does everything, he helps out and ends up taking over, without warning he’s advanced from Cadet to Intruscter to [whatever the ranking system in the military is Idc] and ends up outranking Keith which is funny, he also gets better with the simulations and becomes a really good teacher, he and Iverson suddenly start getting along it’s scary- Lance avoids Shiro/Adam like the plague and just keeps busy.

Meanwhile James is not working well with the team and ends up crashing Voltron, the team have a comparison of when Lance left and knew the difference and were worried James was going to be a problem.

 Lance stays behind and becomes a teacher for the Garrison cadets and teachers them about the Weblum, Balmera and goes into detail. Students find out he died, and shit he shows his badass scar-

 and then the super dream team!

Romelle! Lance! Matt! Sam! and Shiro all work together to speed up the process to make Earth defendable, they work on the barrier and Lance only manages to get the remaining materials they can get while Shiro and Adam are working on the blueprints for the Atlas.

“Lance?”

Lance turns surprised to see Shiro looking flushed “I...We were thinking of a crew for the Altas.”

“Yeah…?”

Shiro held his gaze “I want you to be on my team, with Coran and the others.”

Lance almost dropped his data pad. “I - what?”

“Lance, you’re good- you would’ve been chosen by Voltron if-”

“But I wasn’t, it’s because I was there, when given the choice Red went to James, I’m just a spare…” Lance goes to walk away, Shiro grabbed his arm. “Are you saying I’m a spare? That I’m wasting my time on Atlas and should let someone like Iverson be in charge of it?”

“What? No! That’s not what I’m saying-”

“Lance maybe you outgrew Voltron, maybe both of us can be more than that, why can’t you see it when I say you’re a good pilot and a great sharpshooter-”

Lance eyes stung but Shiro was on a roll “I would be honoured to have you on my team, if you say no I hope it’ for the right reasons and not because you don’t think you’re good enough.” Shiro squeezed his shoulder “You are good Lance, I couldn’t ask for a finer pilot.”

Shiro left knowing that’s all he had to say, and Lance scrubbed at his face and hurried away, he had reports to deliver.

Lance gets along with Kinkade and James old team, James himself fumes that Lance was able to be flexiable to get along with both teas of Voltron and Mfe’s. Lance is also able to pilot the are fighter and breaks records. Lance is finally more comfortable in his own skin and ends up going to the shooting range with Kinkade, being so flexable makes James irritated.

Lance talks to James and is able to break through to him that being the best isn’t what matters in the grand scheme of things. So Lance talks about James trying to bond with Pidge and the others and that bonding with his fellow cadets is good for the team.

Lance ends up flying red to show James how it’s done.

Lance felt relaxed being back and could feel the content purr and smiled once he landed he walked out seeing James fuming face.

“I would kindly suggest you give me my lion back.” Lance smirked “She’s all yours.”

James took a step forward and yelped when the barrier swooshed down and he slammed into it, he fell back clutching his nose “What!?”

Lance smirked “I don’t think she’s ready to give me up as her pilot.”

Turns to see Shiro, Keith, Pidge and Hunk and Allura watching fondly.

Lance flushed “You guys were right and the lion- she was teaching me a lesson, I wanted to feel like I earned a spot at being her pilot. I wanted to work for it- but I didn’t, the Red Lion accepted me as I was it was me that felt inadequate.” 

“I guess you don’t need to be on the Atlas afterall, you’re still needed here I see.” Lance smirked “Hard to be in two places at Once...but it was thanks to you Shiro.”

Shiro flushed and ducked his head.

“Well if you change your mind, the offer still stands.”

Feel free to adopt this fic if you want I guess...