#SO MANY KOVAS

[certified-hunterfucker]

somebody sedate me (https://www.barbieselfie.ai/)

[imhereformysciencefriends]

Day 1: Fairytales and Myths

Tags: @loturaweek2024 Curses, fairy tale elements, Bearskin (the myth), political marriage but also for love sort of, magic, background Alfor/Melenor, background Keith/Shiro, betrothals, attempted kidnapping, rescue, Lotor’s generals are there

Read on AO3

***

“You are fortunate,” mused the angry and spiteful druid while Lotor snarled up at him, ensnared in glowing purple chains made of magic and aether, “that the same magic you came here to steal from me does not allow me to kill you outright.”

Lotor thought, not for the first time, that it would be significantly more Galra to just put a knife in his gut than rely on their magic for literally everything. But if they were so wrapped up in their world of spells and power that they forgot their own fangs and claws that they were born with, well, Lotor wouldn’t be the one to remind them. This druid in specific seemed particularly filled with his own hubris.

A pelt, some heavy, thick-furred thing thumped down on his shoulders, and he shifted minutely from the weight.

“I curse you,” the druid said, voice going echoey with magic. “You shall not bathe for seven decaphoebes, nor cut your hair nor claws, you shall not cease to wear this pelt, nor sleep under one roof for more than a single night, and no one may travel with you for more than three quintents. Should you break any of these bindings, this curse will kill you.”

“And if I succeed, for seven decaphoebes?” Lotor asked, still snarling, still bearing his (small, Altean) fangs.

The druid was quiet.

“You must include a win-condition, witch. I know your magic’s rules.” He would not have risked infiltrating this place if he did not have a contingency plan for if he was caught, after all.

The druid made a snarling, growling, impatient noise.

“If you should last all seven decaphoebes, then the magic you seek will be yours. Now get out!”

Another rush of magic and Lotor found himself at the mouth of the small cave that hid the entrance to the druid’s lair. He grit his teeth and stood, shaking as though to dislodge the remnants of the purple magic.

Seven years.

More than he’d bargained for, but less than he was willing to pay for his goals. He already grew his hair long, and he was not one to frequently stay in one place for too long. That was doable.

The claws and bathing situation would be the most intolerable, he did not doubt.

Seven years.

He could do this.

In the first year: he could do this. He was centuries old and, if theories on how he aged were to be considered correct, he would have centuries more. Seven years would be nothing. A drop in a bucket. He used it to prepare, especially the first few months, when he smelled more or less tolerable. Any time it rained he spent as much time as he could in the water, knowing that washing in a river or stream would count. Magic was always fickle, and always skewed in favor of the worst. While he could still passably show his face in civilization, he stockpiled supplies enough to last him seven years, or near enough to it he could supplement when the time came.

In the second year: he had to leave Daibazaal. His country of origin was hardly a home, and hadn’t been since he was young and innocent and still so painfully naive. But he did know it, and he knew that all the many flora that thirsted for his blood and fauna that would chew on his bones could smell him for miles in each direction. He knew it intellectually, and he knew it viscerally, blood steaming across the pelt he wore and sliding down the blade he wrested free from the fresh carcass of a beast that wished to eat him. Oh, how he wished for a bath.

In the third year: he couldn’t do this. He could not bear this. He was not even halfway through and his own stench and fatigue were driving him insane. Being so constantly exposed to the elements was killing him, though the pelt was so thick and heavy it kept him plenty warm. And he was lonely. In the third year, Narti finally found him, Kova hissing and prowling just outside the edges of Lotor’s reach, recognizing him but also not. She wanted to help him, as best she could, but he explained the curse to her, the druid putting no binding on his tongue at least. She then offered to go kill the druid for him, and he insisted that she not, not until the witch’s power was his. She stated she would stay with him, despite her nose being even sharper than Lotor’s, and he reminded her that it could be for no more than three quintents, or the magic would kill him (and he doubted it would be instant, or painless).

She left with the promise to tell the others, and to bring back supplies for him. Just to drop off and then leave again. She promised she wouldn’t stay.

In the third year: Ezor found him, always best at finding things, and with her she brought Zethrid and Acxa. It was the best three days of these miserable three years, even with his companions wrinkling their noses at his scent the whole time.

In the fourth year: he left the billowing wilds that existed between Daibazaal, harsh and dangerous but inhabitable, and into Altea, the lush and verdant valleys beneath the billowing wilds’ mountains. Not to say that Altea did not come with its own dangers, no, just that they were more like the mountain creatures, not quite so capable of killing a lone wanderer as Daibazaal’s would have been.

In the fourth year:

Allura tied up her hair and shifted her hands, magic tickling as it turned her palms into suction cups. She descended from her room as only wayward princesses could, and hopped down onto the vibrantly green grass of the lawn with a little thrill of success.

With the tensions between Daibazaal and Altea on the rise once again, and all citizens from both countries feeling like a resumed war was all but a forgone conclusion, her parents had been increasingly strict with her. On a certain level, she understood, she was a princess after all, it was her job to understand.

On the other hand: she’d gone to the little brook with the little waterfall dozens upon dozens upon dozens of times, without any harm nor threat to her person. It was right next to the palace grounds, and she only ever managed to squeeze in an hour or two before her knights quit canoodling and came to find her anyway. She would be fine, just as she’d been fine every time before.

There was nowhere in all of Altea, in Allura’s opinion, that was a better place for magic than that little waterfall. Something about the place seemed almost to glow with magic, every drop of water and blade of grass and rustling leaf full to overflowing with rich mana. It drew her in, excited and comforted her, enthralled her and cleared her mind. Magic poured from her fingers like the water she lifted, guiding it to dance about her in a spiraling river floating suspended around her person, twirling slowly as she dragged the water about in lazy loops.

Even the sunlight here felt different, warm and yellow but not beating down on her, even in summer heat. It sparkled and twisted around her like the water did, slowly spinning and dancing across the shimmering surface, Allura’s skirts shallowly twirling around her calves, and she smiled and let her mind sink into the magic present here, imbuing everything.

It was that magic, present even in the twigs of a bush and the berries crushed underfoot, that alerted her that she was not alone.

She didn’t scream. She didn’t dare try to fight against near a dozen heavy boots. One moment she was smiling serenely, surrounded by glistening spirals of water, the next she was running so fast the water didn’t even have time to hit the ground before she burst through it. Shouts behind her, unmistakably Galra, and heavy footfall followed, but she didn’t dare look. She was fast.

But Galra were faster.

A giant, purple hand clamped over her mouth, a scream wrested from her too late and muffled by the flesh, and she hit the ground with a cry of pain, knees and palms skidding in the dirt.

“Grab her!”

She fought back, because of course she did. Princess trained in the art of diplomacy and regal bearing though she was, Allura was no weak fighter, and she was not one to cow in the face of unfair odds.

But they were unfair. She knocked two briefly unconscious, but she hadn’t brought her staff, not believing she’d need it, and these Galra were armored and armed, one opening a deep gash across the back of her leg, another finally getting his dagger pointed at her throat and compelling her to behave.

“You won’t kill me,” she spat, even as her preservation instincts forced her to obey.

“No. But you don’t need both eyes.”

She screamed a protest—she was submitting!—as he raised the dagger to plunge it into her eye, but then a dagger protruded from his own, sinking much deeper than just the eye. He toppled off her, dead, and the Galra turned on their new aggressor.

A beast, wilder than all imagining, lept from the foliage, its pelt hideous and bloodstained, matted with mud and dried viscera, its claws long as knives and yellow and flaking, silvery lengths of something dragging behind it as it fell upon its victims. The Galra shouted, united now against this beast, and Allura staggered to her feet, or tried to. The gash in her leg made fleeing nearly impossible, and she leaned against the tree as she watched the beast dispatch of the Galra, one by one by one, until there were none left alive to contest it.

Its yellow gaze fell upon her next, and she realized belatedly that she looked at no monster at all.

“You’re Altean!” she gasped, the man before her so deeply dirtied with various filth that she could not see even an inch of skin beneath the horrible mess, but his face was, poking out from the disgusting fur, unmistakably that of, well, a man. An Altean’s proud cheekbones and narrow jaw, eyes yellow as a Galra but silver hair (it was hair!) long and ripe with magic.

The man chuckled at her. “I suppose it only fair that you confused me for a beast.”

“Good sir, anyone would.” Sounds of armor—familiar, Altean—and rushed footfall came from the direction of the palace grounds. “Please, you are my savior, come into my home and be bathed and rewarded for your service.”

“I cannot bathe, princess,” he said, with every reverence of her subjects, “nor did I do this for a reward. I will leave.”

“You saved my life!” Allura insisted as Keith and Shiro burst into the clearing, swords drawn and lips flushed and kiss-bitten, confusion on their brows as they took stock of the dead Galra on the ground and the beast man their charge now argued with. “You would do me a great dishonor by not allowing me to repay you!”

The man seemed visibly to hesitate at that, and then acquiesced. “If for your honor only, princess. But I cannot remain.”

“At least stay the night,” she insisted, now half-frantic to have this strange man remain for any time at all, curiosity burning through her as fervently as the magic had only recently flowed.

“The night,” he agreed, bowing low, the mess of fur and hair and viscera and fresh blood shambling with his motion, “but no longer.”

The man spoke of precious little, despite Allura’s best attempts at interrogation. She learned not even his name. He would not allow any of her staff to bathe or groom him, though she noted that while his hair was dirty, it was remarkably untangled. He was certainly Altean, but his nails were more akin to claws. And of course, the yellow eyes.

At dinner, her parents hosted the man who’d saved their daughter’s life, because of course they did.

“Traditionally,” Queen Melenor remarked, though she was severe and stately in the way Allura knew she held herself when she discussed things she’d rather not, “the reward for saving a princess’s fool life from a band of murderous kidnappers would be that princess’s hand in marriage.”

Allura heard the man’s breath hitch, and for a brief moment, open want lined his filth-obscured features, before he shuttered again to something vaguely polite and unreadable.

“I could never ask for such a thing, being as I am.”

“Being as you are?” Allura said, sounding more accusatory than she’d meant. “A kind stranger who saved my life?”

“You have no proof of any kindness,” the man said, with a low chuckle that made her feel strange and hot.

“Only my life and well-being.”

“You speak as though you would wish to wed me.”

Allura’s mouth opened, then shut.

“Exactly.”

“Perhaps I would!” she said, drawing herself to full height while seated and glowering at the man, challenge in her tone.

“Allura,” her father scolded quietly, as he always did when her temper and stubbornness sent her headlong down paths her good sense would otherwise steer her clear from.

“...Allow me three years, then, princess,” the beast man said slowly, gaze never leaving hers. “I have matters I must attend, and am unable to remain here, nor take you with me. If, in three years, when I return, you still wish to wed me, we might discuss it then.”

Queen Melenor sighed, and Allura winced only briefly at the tone of her mother’s breath. Oh the lecture she’d receive once this man departed would be mighty. “You have more good sense than my daughter, it would seem. Please be made comfortable in our home, and if there is anything you wish for, merely ask it.”

“A grimoire, Your Majesty, if I may be bold enough to request it.”

“You’ve magic?” Allura asked, reaching out to touch the man’s face, where his Altean marks should be beneath the dirt, and rescinding her hand when he flinched from her.

“Call it a future investment.”

“Grimoires we have aplenty,” her father stated, “I’ll have one copied for you by the morrow.”

“My thanks.”

Allura, kept up late by her own desperately curious, gnawing thoughts, had to drag herself, bleary and miserable, from her bed to prevent from missing the stranger’s departure. She witnessed her father hand him a grimoire, and he bowed, first to the sovereign queen, then to the king, and then, lower, slower, with something like heat in his eyes, finally to the princess.

“Damn,” she mumbled when the stranger was gone, but comforted herself that at least, for the next three years, she’d have an easy dismissal of all talk of suitors.

In the fifth year: Lotor was nearly killed by a huntsman mistaking him for a beast.

In the sixth year: Lotor was nearly killed by a team of monster hunters, who he had to persuade with Narti’s coin to leave him be, paying higher than the village who’d hired them. He wandered elsewhere with faster purpose, after that, and committed himself to greater stealth. Narti was unbearably smug when next she delivered supplies, forcing more coin into the hands of a man who had no reliable use for it.

In the seventh year: Nearly killed again, by huntsmen and monster hunters both. But he was on his way out of Altea. On his way through the billowing wilds, climbing and descending that mountain. He’d memorized the grimoire, but kept hold of it, a baffling yet precious memory now tied to its cover and pages.

At the end of the seventh year: he returned to the small cave where he’d first found the druid. His time was up, or near enough to it, and the moment the magic was his he would take vengeance for the seven years of misery he’d suffered. There he found Narti, there he found Ezor, there he found Zethrid, there he found Acxa, still loyal to him after seven years of absence, and he counted such loyalty more precious than all the gold in all the world.

“First, we kill the druid,” he ordered, feeling the curse sizzle along his skin as it warped into a blessing. “Then I take a quiznacking bath.”

At the end of the third year of waiting:

Allura was forced by circumstance to put her curiosity for her betrothed-to-be on hold, as political upheaval shook the land.

Her father’s old ally finally declared war upon her mother’s country, and Altea raised its arms for bloodshed. But as they prepared their weapons and rallied their armies, another missive came: Emperor Zarkon was dead, long live the Emperor.

Lotor, former prince, son of Zarkon who Allura had never met, shame to his family line and whose mother was Altean, had bested his father in ritual combat, according to Galra custom and law, and had seized the throne. Altea continued to rally, not sure if the bastard son would hold the same temperament as his father, but the tension that had built between their lands hung now, most definitely confused in perplexed balance.

Then an official letter from the Emperor, validated by report after report from their scouts: Lotor was coming, not with an army, but with a diplomatic envoy, to speak to the royals of Altea face to face.

Her mother was stern and stately, poised and graceful and elegant, the sovereign of Altea, bearer of the Altean royal line, pride and jewel of their nation, its Queen.

Her father was tense and stiff, militant and grave, leader of their armies and father of the nation, sire of Altea’s heir and husband to their sovereign.

Allura wasn’t quite sure what she was. But she drew herself up, a shadow of her mother’s grace, stiffened her lip and brow, a mimic of her father’s gravity, and lifted her chin, a prideful stubbornness that was all hers.

Whatever the Emperor Lotor came here for, he would find it on Altea’s terms, or he would leave without it. Or, if it might make for a swifter path for peace, she would slaughter him in this very reception hall. She had her staff with her today.

The Galran procession arrived in waves, wargs and beastmasters first, towering Galra broad each as a mountain and bearing heavy shields second, four mismatched women each bearing the new royal crest and colors third, and in their center: Emperor Lotor.

He was the singularly most beautiful man she’d ever seen. Long, plaited, silver hair that nearly dragged the ground, Altean bones and Galran eyes, soft velvety purple fur so short it could pass for skin, pointed ears pierced with glinting gems in silver casings, and on his cheeks, two marks that glowed with powerful magic.

She shivered, feeling less certain of her ability to slaughter him where he stood, should he pose threat. His magic was enough, indeed, to rival her own, and she was famed throughout Altea for her prowess, her own marks pink and luminous.

“My thanks for hosting on such short notice,” the emperor began, seeming perfectly at ease surrounded by distinctly uneasy Altean guardsmen.

“Our thanks for your peaceful arrival. Are we too optimistic in hoping it may bode for a peaceful future between our nations?” Queen Melenor of Altea answered, staring down at him with regal coolness from the dias they three stood on.

“Not at all,” he assured with a smile. “I am as hopeful for such as you are.” A sigh escaped the whole room, tension palpably leaving. Allura was not exempt, tension loosening from her shoulders.

“Though I would start by returning what was borrowed. I know you gave it to me as a gift, but I would return it as a show of good faith.”

That piqued Allura’s curiosity. As far as she knew, her parents had never met the then-prince Lotor any more than she had. But as the emperor of Daibazaal approached, Allura’s breath caught in her throat.

He extended, to Alfor, a grimoire. The same grimoire her father had given her intended three years ago.

“You!” she gasped, rushing forward and grabbing him by the wrist, making his generals tense but ignoring them, staring instead at his yellow eyes.

“Me,” he agreed with a smile, staring at her with that same reverence he’d held three years ago. “I hope my appearance is more agreeable to you, now, than it was then, as I have little desire to return to such a state.”

“More than,” she said with a wild grin. “Please, come in and be hosted by us, I would have my betrothed explain to me how I may find him in such different states as this!”

“Well,” she heard her father murmur to her mother as she beckoned their guests inside, “I suppose a wedding is one way to end all this.”

And so it would be.

But first, they went to dinner.

[artsyjesseblue]

Slowly Going Mad - Part III - Lotor

This is the third installment of my meta series discussing three essential characters of Voltron:Legendary Defender (Zarkon, Honerva and Lotor) and their gradual mental state transitions throughout the show. After writing the first two parts, I’ve debated whether to publish Lotor’s segment or not, due to the emotional triggers this analysis might raise. I decided to go ahead and post it, because I’d love to create a coherent, complete set of essays, but…

We will descend into some sensitive issues (trauma, mental illness) regarding a controversial character, so if you would prefer to steer clear of it, please do so, for your own peace of mind. I know it has been almost five years since the show ended and many of us prefer to leave certain subjects behind. So, if you consider best to scroll past, do so. Hopefully, the warning tags will also provide a firewall around it.

Alright, if you clicked past the stop sign, hop along! And thank you for reading!

The purpose of this analysis is to demonstrate that Lotor’s trajectory towards Season 6 follows a mental illness arc, slowly built up, although the reveal of his backstory arrives to us pretty much… backwards. I will enter into subjects such as developmental psychology, coping mechanisms, transactional analysis (TA) and what it means to reach the dam breaking moment.

His sudden, shocking descent into madness in S6 is achieved through subtle context throughout S3-S6. Couple that context with the backstory dropped in S8 and a larger picture will form. This analysis intends to get granular at times, because the psychology of his path lies in the sum of many details.

Here are a few highlights that define a madness arc:

the originating point of the mental affliction: it can be a defeat, a failure, a loss, grief, a dark influence.

recurrent traumas and/or abuse throughout the character’s life, slowly building up.

the traumas and losses of the past haunt the character.

deterioration of connections with family, friends, community, and finally self. Broken connections lead to paranoia and isolation, which feed the vicious cycle.

as the story progresses, the character’s arc reaches a boiling point.

at this critical point, the individual faces a moment of agency and in a tragic mental breakdown, chooses madness. Whatever breaks the dam is a world-shattering event: extreme grief, total loss of loved ones, closest allies and friends, the breach of trust towards the world, or a combination of these. The character will try to fix the world and/or revenge against the ones who did this.

I’ll approach Lotor’s story the same way I did with the other two: chronologically, which means I’ll jump back and forth among episodes, because Lotor’s backstory is also scrambled across the seasons.

Similar mention as with Honerva and Zarkon’s metas:

1) The distinction between the entity and quintessence. The entity is a creature capable of magical stuff, whereas quintessence is a substance (highest known potency in the universe).

2) Shiro’s statement: “Zarkon fell prey to his own evil instincts. The quintessence field didn’t create them, it revealed them.” - it basically casts the responsibility on the character, not on external factors.

BIRTH AND CHILDHOOD

We’ll begin with the days of Honerva’s pregnancy. I already analyzed these parts in Honerva’s meta, so I’ll summarize. Pregnant Honerva shows distorted cheek marks and visible changing of her appearance: gray, unkempt hair, aged countenance, sagging shoulders. Parallel that to Kova, whose appearance changed after the rift entities attacked, and we deduce that Honerva’s metamorphosis might be due to the same kind of illness.

When Honerva falls ill and starts having what seem to be withdrawal symptoms, she demands to go into the rift to get quintessence, because “we must have it” / [we must] “get back into the rift”. The deduction I made was that the entity was actually the one speaking, because - other than the entity - nobody had ever been into the rift before, so “going back” into the rift is something that only the entity could have asked for. Logically, that means Honerva was possessed/infected with the entity.

—————————————————

And this turns our attention to… baby Lotor:

S8E2 “Shadows”: “Sire, the birth was difficult, but successful. Your son is healthy and in good shape, though we seem to be getting some strange readings coming from him directly. Similar to those that, well… Similar to those of the empress and… yourself.”

And voila, I think that makes quite a strong argument that Lotor was born with the entity, which gives him a unique position among other characters. In the same scene, the doctor talks about Honerva’s state: “She only seems to become aware when we administer her quintessence. I’m hopeful her condition will improve with time, but… Sire, we’re gonna have to face the fact that our quintessence supplies are finite. The empire cannot continue to run on what we have. And you, and the Empress, without it… you’ll—”

I’m circling back to Kova, which was also revived only after administering him quintessence, and now it’s clear that these “space vampires” cannot survive without the Q life juice.

Which leads me to an interesting question: did Lotor also need quintessence to survive? The answer seems to lead to a no. For the extended period of time when he stayed in Allura’s castle, either as a prisoner or working together with the Paladins, he did not show any signs of… quintessence withdrawal. As the EPs described him, quintessence is part of his DNA. Without divulging anything about the entity, since this interview took place right after S5, here’s their description (Source: AfterBuzz TV S5 interview - link in comments, since external links here seem to affect the visibility of the post):

JDS: It’s pretty safe to say that Lotor’s got that Daywalker kind of thing going on.

Interviewer: Little Vampire.

LM: Being in…in her womb, as [Honerva] was being exposed to all of this quintessence - it’s part of his DNA. It almost puts him on a level with Allura, pretty much how her quintessence is a part of her DNA. So it’s interesting to see.

Armed with this information, let’s move through the buildup of events that show us Lotor’s backstory, before we see him for the first time in Season 3.

In S8E2, which I’ll quote for a while, because it holds the bulk of Lotor’s early years, we first see baby Lotor right after his birth, rejected by Honerva. Similarly, Zarkon’s paternal instincts are almost abolished. He abruptly orders the doctor: “Take him away.”

The complete lack of empathy for the little nugget gives us just a hint into what this child will go through as he grows up.

——————————————

The next time we meet him, he’s an adorable, tiny school boy, whose stature is below Galra lineage expectations, but as a counterbalance, Dayak points out his remarkable skills and intelligence: he completed the Agotian trials successfully, even though they were advanced for his age. Also, his tactical scores are they highest they’ve ever measured. (Tactical scores, hehe. We know he’s going to become a good tactician later in life; it’s his natural inclination, clearly.)

As Dayak proudly finishes the short account of her pupil, little Lotor speaks up: “All I do, I do in the name of Galra.” I found this little statement quite significant, especially in the context of his education. It comes to show how deep the Galra values are ingrained in his character. It is his pledge of allegiance, something that he must have repeated over and over along his school years. Repetitio est mater studiorum.

It’s absolutely heartbreaking to see the innocent boy with big, amethyst eyes and a burning desire to connect to his family be coldly dismissed by his own father - an expressionless, emotionless parent who wants to remove his “impurities”, simply because the little boy desires to know more about his mixed race genealogy and he dares to “speak out of his place”. The dynamic between father and son is revelatory not only for the brutality with which the little boy is treated by his own family, but, in contrast, we also get to see the enthusiasm and positive energy exuding from little Lotor, who, despite his father’s lack of empathy and mercy, still holds hope that he can somehow reason with him.

Dayak’s last reply to Zarkon feels painful on many levels: “He will be punished accordingly. We will sear him down to his inner fire so that he may burn the universe.” Whether she wants it or not, Dayak’s crop must inflict pain, lest she loses her job and probably her life.

Let’s shortly bring into focus the apparently hilarious moments between Dayak and Hunk.

The training is about pain, and what pain teaches an individual. “For the mind to learn, the body must be broken.” Palen-bol, meaning “the enlightening pain”, is the Galran way of learning. “The Galra believe combat is the searing light that burns imperfections of every level, from personal to societal.”

Now, imagine Lotor going through the “enlightening pain”, day by day, year after year, palen-bol after palen-bol. My smile upon seeing Hunk’s comedy soon fades away into a desolate expression. What Hunk basically learns is to contort himself into various unnatural poses, to avoid the painful whips of Dayak. When he finally gets it, she congratulates him: “very good”. In order to avoid the searing pain, he must find creative solutions out, solutions that are not always straight paths. Like a tree that grows distorted shapes in a hostile environment, so does one who lives in constant fear and pain.

TEEN LOTOR

The next significant moment in Lotor’s evolution is somewhere during his early teenage years.

Pay attention to certain verbal repetitions, as Lotor borrows from his father’s language. Also, the Kova scene leads to some interesting conclusions. I’m quoting the entire scene, for better understanding.

Officer: “Sire, your audience is requested in the Kandar wing.”

Lotor: “Father, may I accompany you?”

Zarkon: “You will stay here.”

Lotor: “But I want to join you. I have learned much of our—”

Zarkon: “You are an insolent boy. You may be the prince, but I am your emperor.”

Lotor silently yields, saluting solemnly, but casting a contemptuous look in his wake. After Zarkon has cleared the room, Lotor refocuses on Kova and instantly cheers up. As the boy is leaning over to pet the cat, Haggar suddenly speaks:

“Do not touch him. He will hurt you.”

With a sneer, the boy ignores her. After petting the cat, he asks: “What is his name?”

Haggar: “He has no name.”

Lotor: “Then I shall name it. Your name will be…”

Haggar: “Kova. His name is Kova.”

Lotor, giggling, watching Kova climb over his shoulders: “This creature pleases me. It will be mine.”

Haggar, attempting to protest: “My lord…”

Lotor: “You may be the high priestess, but I am your prince, and you will do as I say. Isn’t that right, Kova?”

Haggar acquiesces: “Yes, my lord.”

So, although years have passed since the scene with Dayak, Lotor is still speaking “out of his place”, which earns him the title of an “insolent boy”.

Despite (most likely) repeated physical punishments along the years, notice how his enthusiasm for life and learning new things is still there, brightly sparkling in his eyes, as he offers to go with his father at important meetings. He is jovial towards his father, as if expecting him to - one day - reciprocate that cordiality, perhaps? This little soul harbors a lot of love and forgiveness, that is for sure!

Despite Zarkon’s stony-hearted reaction towards him, he pouts only as an immediate reflex, but then he cheers himself up by petting Kova.

His impish pout and little frown behind his father’s back foreshadow a future scene - when Zarkon will return to the throne, sending Lotor away. A more refined smirk will cross his face as he’ll depart, hiding behind it a more complex scheme than a teenager’s little mischief, but that scene shall be discussed further when I’ll get to it.

This little detail in child-Lotor’s life is an interesting inflection point that shows us how he learns to conceal his inner thoughts and his ploys from Zarkon, and by extension, from the world (remember the comparison with a distorted tree?). We know that adult Lotor is a master at scheming behind people’s back, working from the shadows, hiding himself - something that even Haggar reproaches him: “You say you rule, yet you stay hidden.” It’s something that he learned over and over again as a kid.

“You may be the high priestess, but I am your prince…” Didn’t Zarkon just utter the same thing? “You may be a prince, but I am your emperor…” Little Lotor learns very fast, his mind is a sponge absorbing everything from his father. With this you can pretty much tell how in awe he still is with him, imitating his vocabulary and trying to emulate his demeanor. The attitude is there: he’s proud of what he’s learned so far, he’s self-confident, and begins to have leadership traits: “you will do as I say.” All he does, he does in the name of Galra…

As for the interaction with Kova, here’s how I see it:

When Haggar says, “Do not touch him. He will hurt you,” I believe the meaning is more than just “Kova will scratch you.” Since Kova and Haggar both are infected with the entity, what are the chances that Kova might possess the same potential of sucking out the life of other living beings?

So in this context, I think that witch Haggar presumes that the prince might get injured. She’s unaware that Kova will not cause him any harm, because… what do you know? Lotor also has a little entity; he was born with it. And Haggar has no clue.

The bond they will form for the next ten thousand years perhaps goes deeper than we think. We know from S8 that Haggar was able to get into the minds of her Altean followers, because she infected them with the entity. There is a telepathic communication that forms, and maybe Lotor and Kova form a similar… mental bond? I’m inclined to believe this theory for several reasons: 1) in S8, Honerva is able to find out Lotor’s location only after probing into Kova’s mind. 2) Narti was also mentally bonded with Kova, and she could see through the cat’s eyes (which stirs the question: did Narti have the entity as well?)

Deep breath.

Are you ready for one of the hardest scenes in VLD?

YOUNG ADULT LOTOR

“Are you nervous?” asks Ven’tar.

Lotor replies with a confident, affected voice, looking up and proudly surveying the grand plaza, filled with thousands of people cheering him. “No, Ven’tar. This is my chance to finally make a difference. To show my father what we are capable of.”

Besides the fact that he nonchalantly displays his cat at the edge of his balcony, for the masses to see, notice the expression on his face, his eyebrows. He is pleased with himself, proud of his achievements, proud of the people in front of him.

What he says is also very significant, because it comes to show that Lotor, despite a lifetime of abuse and trauma from his father (and neglect from his mother), still believes there is good in him. He wants to “show” him what he’s capable of.

Oof. The need for validation. Why do people seek validation from others (especially from their family)? You guessed it: mainly because during their childhood, they did not receive enough praise or encouragement.

Overachievers are, oftentimes, love-seeking people who try to compensate for the lack of approval by trying to reach even higher goals, in the hopes of getting the love they need. In that note, here’s what Lotor tells his father:

“Our quintessence yields are some of the highest in the empire, and we’ve been more efficient than any other. By working alongside the denizens of this planet, like Ven’tar here, we’ve outsourced—”

“We’ve outpaced even the most generous projections.”

Poor Lotor!

The most horrific introduction into adulthood is about to drop. The hopeful, optimistic, love-seeking prince will see the true face of his father, and it is not a beautiful one.

We don’t know the details of Lotor’s relationship with Ven’tar, but from the fact that she addresses him without any royal titles, we can infer that they are at least friends. He loves the people of this planet, and he enjoys having her around him, so much so that he actually brings her with him to his father. Meet the parents?

Tragically, his father is utterly offended by Lotor’s introduction to such friends. “You dare work with this pitiful race as if they are your equals? […] The heir to the Galra throne should not sully our honor by working with his subjects!”

Yet Lotor has not learned his lesson yet. He raises his voice at him, like an outraged child that believes there is a way to reason with Zarkon.

Transactional Analysis psychology at its best, this scene provides us with a “game” between the critical, persecuting Parent ego and the rebellious Child ego. Enraged that things are not going his way, but hoping there is still a chance to shake his father from his insensitive state, Lotor takes it up a notch (in a game of “I’ll show him, he’ll see!”):

“It is the way my mother’s people would have done things.”

Lotor knows exactly how sensitive this subject is. All his childhood, he has been banned from researching anything about Honerva. Yet here he is, openly and rebelliously admitting it:

“You thought I couldn’t find out about my own mother? About her people? You thought you destroyed every remnant of Altea, but you cannot unless you destroy your own son as well!”

Lotor is now playing a very dangerous game. What he still does not realize is that his father’s reason is gone, his madness is pushed all the way to the dark side of the spectrum. He bargains with his own life, betting that Zarkon won’t harm him or his subjects. What’s worse, he unwittingly bets an entire planet against his self-assured comments (“unless you destroy your own son as well”). Actually, Zarkon will destroy him too, alongside Ven’tar’s planet. Not physically, but psychologically, he sure does.

“Enough!” Zarkon roars back at him.

Yes, enough, because it’s unbearable for Zarkon to even go there. The madness that clouds his mind has abolished any rational Adult from the picture. There is only the Tyrant, and he’s made up his mind.

“You are to crush this planet beneath your heel!”

The rebel child fights back: “Never!!”

Zarkon’s answer completely takes Lotor aback: “Then I will!”

Lotor is still in denial. The most cruel, dark, ugly face of his father is finally revealed to him and he cannot fathom it out. His father is truly capable of the most abominable acts.

Incredulity and desperation drips from his lips: “You wouldn’t. You can’t! Father, wait!”

Father, wait… Maybe, maybe he can fix this… Maybe he can soften his heart with one last plea, maybe he can twist himself one more time to his father’s will, if only he could to save his beloved planet:

“No, please do not do this, Father. Do not make these people suffer for my actions.”

The rebellious child shrinks into a penitent little being who bends to his abusive parent. How can he save them, now, in the last moment?

Alas… “It is already done.”

“I will do as you ask. The people will serve the Galra.” He will bend, he will bow to his father’s will, he will endure once more the whipping and palen-bols, he would do anything to save them! (Isn’t just this scene enough to reveal Lotor’s true character?) Utterly desperate, he runs after him, begging.

But we all know how it all went down...

Waking up to face the image of utter destruction, the fire outside reflects the scorching pain and horror inside him.

“You are hereby banished from the empire. Forced to live out the remainder of your days remembering your failure here.”

Indeed he will remember it for his entire life. After thousands of years, it will be his first and only confession to Allura, spoken, of all places, at Oriande, the most beautiful, celestial site in the universe.

“Have you nothing to say, witch? Surely even you can see the folly of your master’s actions,” utters Lotor through gnashing teeth, back at Haggar, who watches him impassively.

After a tragedy of this magnitude, I’m quite sure many would lose their mind. How did Lotor find the strength to go on after this? How did he preserve his sanity? Or maybe he actually… didn’t?

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We know a little bit about Lotor’s life in between this event and the first time we actually meet him, in S3E1, in the gladiator arena. From what he told Allura, after the harrowing event on Ven’tar’s planet, he spent the next few centuries searching for clues about his Altean heritage. We also assume it was within that time frame when he gathered the Alteans scattered across the corners of the empire, and brought them to the hidden colony in the Quantum Abyss.

But why his Altean heritage, you ask? He could have simply tried to find his inner peace in other ways… like, I don’t know, let’s say meditating, getting mental treatment, finding an occupation that would give him a different purpose. No, he spent centuries diving into the lost history of Altea, “another culture destroyed by Zarkon.” This was the only occupation that could give meaning and purpose to his life.

Why Altea?

Because it was the culture of his mother, whom he idolized. So much so that he defied his father’s interdictions and followed the Altean customs when ruling Ven’tar’s planet. So much so that when Allura dares to suggest that Haggar might be his mother, he snaps at her.

A child rejected by his father, mistreated, beaten, abused, tries to find refuge and comfort at the bosom of his… mother.

After Zarkon destroyed his heart, Lotor ran straight into the arms of Mother Altea. I believe that as much as the lost Alteans needed him to provide them a safe refuge, he needed them even more. He needed them as a child would need a mother to turn to, a safe place where he could heal his wounds.

I think herein lies the key to understanding Lotor’s mental trajectory and giving a true meaning to his mental breakdown and to the words he utters during the S6 tragic events, as I’ll discuss when we’ll arrive there.

Take a few deep breaths. Stretch your legs.

ADULT LOTOR BEFORE ALLYING WITH VOLTRON

Let’s see what he’s up to, thousands of years after all is said and done, during the new Paladins’ era. Haggar summons him to return as pro tem, and we first meet him in the gladiator arena.

We learn a bit about him from the little gossip murmured between Throk and his crony, watching the show. The “exiled brat”, how they call him, likes to “fight alongside his enlisted men, like a lowly private.”

“Worse than that, his top generals aren’t even pure Galra. They’re half-breeds at best. He has no honor,” Throk continues.

“Some say he allows the planets he conquers to continue to rule themselves. Can you imagine?”

“Clearly he’s a dangerous lunatic.”

This is the general atmosphere in which Lotor enters as emperor pro-tem, but now we know what kind of “lunatic” we are meeting.

His combat skills show his great talent for evasive maneuvers, using the opponent’s size to his advantage. He has adapted perfectly to the hostile environment in which he grew up. Like Hunk learned to avoid Dayak’s stinging crop, Lotor masters the art of evasive maneuvers to the tiniest detail. He easily defeats the big guy, then, with a theatrical gesture, reveals Throk’s hidden agenda to the public (courtesy of Ezor spying around - so we also know he’s got some good tactics to stay ahead of the game).

During his fight with Throk, Lotor makes some interesting remarks:

“You have flawless technique, that I’ll grant you. Still, you must realize at some point, that your repetitive attacks are getting you nowhere.”

“Your tactics are stale. And in the end, your own aggression is your undoing.”

The easy win that Throk provides, along with the dramatic effect it has for the audience, gives Lotor the perfect opportunity to win the public’s heart, by sparing Throk’s life. A novel approach.

“My father built our Empire on the bones of his enemies. But the time has come to change the old ways, and inspire not fear from those we rule, but loyalty. We must not waste our energy fighting to keep our subjects down, but rather multiply it, by allowing those worthy to rise and join our ranks. The Universe can no longer doubt our strength. Each ally gained only makes us stronger, while those who continue to stand against us… will be crushed.”

Wise words of a visionary man with a progressive agenda, he seeks to dislodge the old ways of the regime.

“The masses are easily manipulated,” he tells his generals as he returns victorious. “Have Throk transferred out to the Ulippa system immediately. Let him rot with the ice worms,” he beams a wicked smile.

So where’s the “each ally gained makes us stronger” promise?

Well, Lotor is intelligent enough to weigh the quality of his so-called “allies”. Would Throk really be someone “worthy to rise and join his ranks”, after he just plotted against him? There is a Latin proverb - “viperam sub ala nutricare”, or “to nurse a viper under your wing” - a caveat that you may not want to keep vipers too close to you. And Lotor’s survival instinct keeps him far away from such vipers. Actually, he is constantly on the watch for vipers - a trait that I shall repeatedly point out, because it reveals his paranoid tendencies, born of his turbulent and traumatic past.

From this episode we learn that he is a calculated man, who sends spies ahead of him to assess the territory, who knows how to win the public’s heart through inspiring speeches and amazing warrior skills, and who has a keen eye for discerning friends from foes. Bottomline: a very guarded man. Does he seem duplicitous and a bit suspicious? He sure does, but does he really hide evil intents? As a first-time watcher of the show, that would be the instinct. But reading the story backwards - meaning, starting in the true chronological order, from his childhood - we begin to comprehend the true reasons behind his exploits.

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The following episodes reveal his brilliant tactics (of course, he practiced since he was a kid):

He easily lures the Paladins into multiple traps (Planet Puig, Thayserix), manipulating the battles in order to learn more about his opponents, all while enjoying himself. Not even looking to take them down, he simply wants to test their aptitudes and capture them if possible.

Ignoring his more impetuous generals, he knows when to retreat. “A leader must know when to leave the field of battle.” Something that Keith, as the new leader of Voltron, learns just now, for the first time. In many ways, the Paladins are learning new things via Lotor, and they’ll continue to learn from him throughout the seasons. As the EP’s also mentioned in multiple interviews, at their core, Lotor’s intentions are good, but his methods are not always as clean as Voltron may desire. He is operating not only from how he was raised, but also from the experience of his traumas, and we are given plenty of examples throughout the following seasons.

Lotor learns form every occasion, turning it to his advantage. The fact that the Lions can still form Voltron is “an opportunity”, which he fully wields, in S3E4 “Hole in the Sky”. Another trap for the Paladins, he effectively uses them to ‘pull his chestnuts out of the fire’. As he states, “If Voltron disappears from our world, then we win. If they make it out with the comet, we’ll take it from them. It’s a win either way.” Put that against his more tame clarification given to the Paladins, and you can see why it’s really a gray area where this man actually operates: “I’m afraid I had to be a bit duplicitous in effecting its retrieval. […] It was a calculated risk, I admit that. But I knew they’d come through without a scratch.” The high purpose he pursues (entering the rift) is worth the risks and the prices he’s willing to pay.

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In S3E5 “The Journey”, we learn something extremely valuable about him - how he has trained himself to be on constant alert about spies (remember the vipers mentioned earlier?). Swiftly apprehending general Raht, Haggar’s assigned secret agent, he decides to pay the witch a visit and confront her directly.

Haggar makes no gesture to deny the allegations, rather twisting the knife in his wound: “I know many ideas float through your head, just like your father, but the Galra Empire needs your leadership in these troubling times.” It almost resembles a domestic scene (I honestly chuckled), as if without realizing it, Haggar talks to him like a mother scolding her child. I find his reply equally entertaining (yet tragic), even his expression taking after that of a child desperately trying to rebel against his family: “I am the leader, but I am not my father!” It won’t be the first time when Haggar reproaches him that he’s not getting involved in imperial matters, only hiding in the shadows. That is his modus operandi - and we’re just beginning to understand why.

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The next episode, “Tailing a Comet” holds some keys about what Lotor is up to, but also carries some mysteries which have not been unlocked to this day. We learn that he already used some of the comet ore to manufacture a ship, but we also learn that he attacks a Galra base, in order to retrieve a teludav lens. Again, he’s operating from the shadows. As Pidge rightfully points out… “I thought Lotor took over for Zarkon. Why is he attacking a Galra base?” Because - Haggar, that’s why. We know she’s tailing him constantly and she is the last person in the universe that he’d team up with. In fact, if I get to think of it, Haggar stalking Lotor is the underlying thread of the entire show.

But what of the teludav lens? Clearly, a link must exist between that and the fact that Acxa was sent to retrieve scaultrite from the belly of the weblum, where Keith found her in the first place. Allura rightfully infers that an Altean must be employed to operate it, but she guesses Haggar wrong. Yes, Haggar is Altean, as Allura discovered in direct combat with her, but it’s clear that Lotor does not want anything to do with the witch.

That leaves us with only one alternative: someone in his hidden Altean colony. (Lotor himself seems to not possess Altean alchemy powers to operate a teludav, at least none that we’ve seen). This loose thread has never been elucidated. To spread even more mystery around Lotor’s aura, even his generals have no clue about the true purpose of all these shenanigans. As Shiro says, “something strange is going on here, and we need to figure it out.” Um, actually, we never fully figured it out, courtesy of the garfle-warfled S8.

I found an interesting parallel, and again, a lesson that Keith indirectly learns from his interaction with Lotor: the advice that Shiro gives Keith at the end of this episode: “You need to pick your battles. Sometimes you have to make hard choices.” Similarly, every choice that Lotor makes throughout his life is a battle he has to pick - behind Haggar’s back, as we learn right at the end of this episode, when the witch attempts to pry relevant memories about the teludav theft out of Throk’s mind, while Lotor eavesdrops, behind the corner.

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In S4E3 “Black Site” we get a multitude of new details about Lotor’s relationship with his family. When he is called to the imperial court to have his pro tem title dissolved, the first person he encounters as the doors hiss open is Haggar. For a very short moment, Lotor looks startled, and he casts a glance at the witch. Premonition?

As Lotor relinquishes imperial reigns back to his father, the interaction gives a quite fascinating subject of analysis. Lotor is no longer the naive youngling; he has completely abandoned the sincere vocabulary, instead glib words rolling off his tongue. He knows very well that Zarkon and him are never going to see eye to eye, but he did not come there to seek a fight. He’s not (yet) powerful enough to take him down, so the smooth-tongued approach has to be the way. He theatrically attempts an ingratiating offer to stay by Zarkon’s side and “learn” from him, knowing full-well that it will never happen. As expected, Zarkon dismisses him disdainfully.

And here’s the smirk I was talking about earlier:

It’s a rehearsed attitude, it’s the grown-up Lotor, like the tree grown under harsh weather, the prince whose childhood innocence and optimism have been replaced by a cynical, calculated demeanor, carrying out ploys behind his father’s back because the front door was closed a long time ago.

What a confident smirk.

He worked for so long on this plan.

He’s getting closer and closer to achieving his dream. He snatched the comet ore and he’s making his own Voltron. Soon he will be able to enter the rift and get as much quintessence as he needs, for his grand plans.

Unfortunately, his confidence becomes his blindspot, as Haggar taps into the mind connection with Kova.

The sad irony is that he thinks he has Haggar all sorted out, when, upon his departure, he runs a thorough scan of his ship for trackers. The scene screams “paranoia”, except this paranoia is indubitably justified. When you’ve been stalked for millennia by a family who seeks to destroy you, all your senses are sharpened, survival instinct ready to spring in action at any second, adrenalin ready to kick in.

Killing Narti, a huge blow for the team, does not ensue as a mindless knee-jerk reaction. It is a hard choice he makes, for their own survival. He learned throughout his life to decide on the run, and you can see it on his face that he takes no pleasure in killing. Narti falls victim, just like he later admits that he had to sacrifice a few Alteans to preserve the future for millions.

We do not know the circumstances in which he had to sacrifice “the few”, but if they resemble in any way the tough spot he found himself when slaying Narti, we begin to see the trail of tragedies that haunt his life.

—————————————

In S4, Ep3&5 we witness the growing mistrust of the generals towards Lotor. Ezor tells Acxa: “What about Narti? She trusted him. You saw where that got her.”

Notice that Lotor didn’t share some essential knowledge with his generals. The reason why he slayed Narti was because of the connection with Haggar via the entity inside Kova.

I believe none of the generals (except maybe Narti?) knows about the entity, his Quantum Abyss colony and his secret team building the inter-reality gate, based on their behavior along the show. Yes, Acxa might have a stronger loyalty, switching back to siding with him just from a few glance exchanges, but eventually she also renounces him.

In S8E5 “The Grudge”, Acxa explains to her friends in the gym room that “…we had to abandon the animal [Kova] on our destroyed ship so we could escape without being tracked.” This simply implies that she knew about Haggar controlling the cat, but not exactly how she controls the cat.

The rift gate scene also proves that Lotor runs secret operations that he obscures even from his generals (NB: when he deems appropriate, he discloses them). This is his dynamic way of existence: juggling with secrets among people who put their trust in him, in order to protect himself and those dear to him from his corrupt family. The trauma that he endures for millennia force him into wearing these many masks.

After his attempt to enter the rift between realities fails, his generals betray him. Most likely not the first time when people double-crossed him. The difference is that stakes are getting higher and higher, now that he has his own comet ore ships, and will continue to get higher as he’ll discover Oriande, all the more reasons for him to be extremely cautious.

But he’s used to traitors. As a matter of fact, when he wakes up, he says, with a bitter expression, “You plan to give me up. I understand, Zethrid. You do what you must, and I’ll do what I must.” This scene also foreshadows the larger breach of trust, between him and the Voltron team in S6.

Is he justified in keeping secrets from his team? Hell yes. The risk of losing Altea is so great that he has to.

—————————————

When Lotor flies too close to the sun (literally), his comet ore ship proves to be more resilient than Zarkon’s cruisers. As he dives deeper into the plasma, his expression - of desperate survival, of hate against his assailants - borders madness, resembling his turn in S6

Trauma and disintegration of his social connections, two major factors in describing a madness arc, converge right in this chapter.

If trauma from the past is not enough, being hunted by his own father is another straw atop the camel’s back. Not the last one, though. Not yet. More potent factors need to converge, to throw him off the cliff, as we’ll see.

By witnessing him completely alone, we also get a glimpse into his true character.

The moment he learns about the imminent explosion of the Naxzela planet, Lotor heads right into the heart of danger. Why would someone who, all this life, fought for his own survival, fly directly into the range of a galactic ticking bomb?

Because this is how we learn who he truly is. Alone, no external influence or circumstance, no pretend smiles or smirks behind one’s back, he takes decisions based on his true moral compass. If he were the monster the story would seemingly lead us to believe in S6 and beyond, he’d run to cover his own skin. Instead, the worry across his expression reveals just that: genuine concern.

The same genuine concern sits atop his brows as he enters the battle scene, effectively disabling Haggar’s weapon. Finally, after a long string of tragic mishaps, he secures a win. A win which he wittily and swiftly takes advantage of: “Attention, Paladins of Voltron and rebel fighters, I know we’ve had our differences in the past, but… I think it is time we had a discussion.”

BECOMING VOLTRON’S FRIEND

With S5 come Lotor’s brightest and most glorious moments, and along with them, the complexity of his character further augments.

Before I begin, I can’t help posting a side-by-side Loki-Lotor screencap, because Lotor’s prison cell screams the same design concept and I love it, for many reasons.

Also, let’s not forget this sassy first portrait of Lotor as he begins his adventure alongside the Paladins:

His discussions with Allura and the Paladins while serving prison time in the castle provide us with new details about him, but also lead the viewer into a skewed picture of the events.

#LotorWasFramed, shared by many on social media at the time of S6 and beyond, including by some of the VLD cast members, hints precisely at this skewed view of Lotor:

Allura says to her friends, in S5E1 “The Prisoner”, “I’m still not comfortable with this. It just doesn’t feel right.”

Later in the episode, she reiterates, “I can’t stop thinking that we might be an unwitting part of a much larger ulterior motive.”

Yes, her intuition is right, there is a much larger ulterior motive, but what is the ulterior motive? Is it truly an evil plot?

Well, take Allura’s final words about Lotor, in S8E13 and there you have it, canon-compliant: “Lotor may have been misguided, but ultimately, he wanted to preserve life. Honor your son...”

Highly frowned upon by fans as a meager redemption, truly lacking the complexity that should have reflected the richness of his character, it is, nevertheless, an exoneration, stating in clear that his ultimate goal was to preserve life - and to be more precise, Altean life, the Altean colony. We have to honor his work, because, ultimately, even though his methods didn’t feel right to Allura, even if his methods obscured ulterior motives, those motives were righteous. And Allura’s final statement is canon - one cannot deny that. The end justified the means - it truly fits into how he operated, and we can see why he had to operate that way - not only because he didn’t know of another method, but because the social and political circumstances forced him to.

So, armed with this information, we begin to see how his “ulterior motive” is plotted. He reveals to the Voltron team that his goal is to enter the rift to get quintessence, to flood the empire with a fuel currently deemed a luxury, to effectively “drop the price of oil”. A paradigm shift, a new dawn for the old empire. No more need for blood in order to obtain quintessence. A peaceful era for everyone. And he doesn’t lie. This is his intention. But not a complete picture of it.

What he doesn’t reveal is his precious Altean colony, the one that he hopes to finally be able to release from hiding, once peace has been established within the empire. In a future dialogue, he will state precisely that: “I’ve dedicated my life to preserving Altean culture. Now that we’ve unlocked the quintessence field, all of your people, who would have been hunted long ago, had it not been for my intervention, can live in peace.” Can we blame him for not revealing this to the team? Absolutely not. Knowing that Haggar can plant spies in the most inconspicuous locations, Lotor is constantly on the watch, protecting at all cost what is dearest to him - Mother Altea. And wasn’t he right? There was a mole in the Voltron team: Shiro’s clone.

————————————-

Returning to the scenes with imprisoned Lotor, let’s tap into some subtle psychological hints at his traumatic past.

When Allura calls him “the leader of the most bloodthirsty race of murderers this universe has ever known,” his reply does not arrive in anger, but with a surprisingly calm and pacifying tone, as he continues to sit down: “Can people not change? Is it so hard to believe that I wish to return the Galra empire to a bygone era of peace?” This is not the first time his mixed lineage has been the subject of spiteful remarks. For ten thousand years, he must have constantly heard the “half-breed” denigratory comments. Why would an Altean comment about his Galran blood strike him differently? He surely has grown thick skin by now.

But if these words don’t pierce the thick skin, this comment surely does: “Sounds like you are your father’s son,” says Allura with enmity, after he explains that his sole purpose has been to enter the rift.

This. This hurts. His weak spot. To have him compared with the tyrant who terrorized him for his entire life, what a blasphemy! He snapped at Haggar when she dared utter such words, and he snaps again now.

He stands up, aggravation in his expression, tone raised at Allura, attacking her with a similar family comparison: “It was your father who led the scientific exploration that discovered quintessence. An exploration, I might add, that resulted in the creation of Voltron. This isn’t a zero-sum game. Meeting the needs of the Galra empire means bringing peace to the universe. That is the future enlightenment brings us, one of prosperity for all. […] All I ask is to be judged by my actions, rather than your preconceptions of my race. If that is beyond you, then perhaps you should just finish me and get it over with. Clearly, Princess, you are not ready to end this war.”

This is obviously a subject of deep pain for him, and we don’t need any clarification as to why.

How painful?

World-shattering painful.

Maddeningly hurtful.

At this point Allura is someone he just met. He takes it personally when she compares him with Zarkon. What will happen when he’ll fall in love with her and then she’ll… revisit the same comparison?

Let’s refocus on his conversations with Allura and the Paladins:

Notice how skilled he is in dodging their questions regarding his ploys.

He admits to being “a bit duplicitous”, framing it as a means to a higher purpose - which is not a lie.

He’s not afraid to defend his political beliefs, and even fight back, ending his speech with a comment that emphasizes the maturity of his agenda, while pointing out her inexperience: “Clearly, Princess, you are not ready to end this war.” He does have a ten thousand year advantage over her, that’s a fact. (I also found it quite amusing that the very next scene depicts Allura being nervous about her lines when addressing the Coalition, while Lance advises her to… jot notes down on her palm, because… he does it all the time. Talk about inexperience!)

————————————

While the plot revolving around saving Commander Holt still holds a degree of uncertainty whether Lotor and Acxa were working together, it does seem plausible that Acxa acted in line with his interests, offering Holt to Zarkon, so that Lotor could have his one-on-one battle with his father.

Lotor attempting to convince the Paladins not to hand him over to Zarkon shows once more his tactical skills. He plants the idea of a “royal alliance” into Allura’s head (to Lance’s vocal dismay), and, perhaps due to his attraction to her, or simply as an intent to charm her, he goes as far as saying “You and I”. There is clearly chemistry between them from the start, and it’s savory to watch it unfold. Even as enemies, Allura watches him speak with mesmerized attention, absorbing his every word, and I believe it does not go unnoticed by him, which explains why he brings his focus on the unity aspect, stroking her ego with comments about their parents’ glorious past. His speech is so convincing that Allura already ponders on the “royal alliance” possibility.

The fight between Zarkon and his son is another source of precious details about Lotor. Now is the time for Lotor to speak his mind. When Zarkon calls him “weak” and “darkest shame”, Lotor doesn’t flinch. He’s grown thick skin for such insults. No longer the helpless child, Lotor sees the corrupt Zarkon exactly for who he is, and in this final moment between them, he points out all his weaknesses, especially his obsession for getting back the Black Lion.

The fight, spectacular (and magnificently rendered through animation), displays Lotor’s talent in evading direct blows and his keen eye for his opponent’s weak spots.

I found it so significant that Lotor kills his father not with a bayard, not with a sword, but with a shard of metal lying around on the ground. His desperate yell - “No!” - seeing as Zarkon points his deadly weapon at the Lions, proves once more his genuine concern for the Paladins. He kills his father to protect his allies.

His immediate facial expression is not of joy, not of jubilation, but of deep grief. I’m reiterating this: he does not take pleasure in killing, even his worst enemies. A positive trait that seems to contradict his portrayal after S6, which ties back to the #LotorWasFramed point that I made earlier.

The symbolism of the post-battle imagery conveys the suffering on his expression. As the light, emblematic of the new era that is to come for Lotor, crosses his face, we see the traumatic burden of his past, a burden he carries forward. Even if he killed his own father, the act itself does not erase the multi-millennial painful past.

And we continue to see that trauma etched into his expression on many occasions, including this scene, in the “Postmortem” episode.

When Allura asks him, “Are you alright?” his dry answer reflects the emptiness inside him, “I’ll be fine.” Someone who wants to bury their pain would resort to similar affirmations. I’m fine. Or… Everything is fine. Or… I’ll be fine.

No, sir, you’re not fine, you won’t be fine until you address that deep level of trauma.

Instead, Lotor pushes forward, because his work is not done. In fact, he’s just beginning.

First, he must take the throne as legitimate emperor.

Then, all his attention will focus on finding a way to obtain quintessence from the rift.

And lastly, his dream of freeing Altea would come to life.

Only after that, he can, maybe, maybe, relax (does an emperor of such a vast and violent empire ever relax?).

—————————————

So let’s begin with Kral Zera. Firstly, Lotor has to convince the Paladins to fly him into the danger zone, and the only one who stands by his side is Shiro, whose tactical experience aligns with his. The tension that ensues among the Paladins makes Shiro walk out of the room, while Lotor casts a regretful look in his trail. He clearly doesn’t enjoy being a source of discord among the Paladins.

So here it is: his genuine desire for peace and amity. Which lines up with his statements about bringing peace to the empire. And we see it once more as he comments about the Galra forces fighting amongst each other at Kral Zera: “This is exactly what I wanted to avoid. I knew they would all turn on each other.”

This is the true Lotor, underneath the many layers and facades he wears around everyone.

But he is also the wily prince who sneaks out of the castle behind Allura’s back, along with Shiro and the Black Lion. Also, the way he spins the narrative in front of the Galra, boasting about returning the Black Lion to the empire? Genius.

When Haggar insults him about his Altean lineage, he dismisses her with a few words, but we can see the aggravation in his narrowing eyes. Drop by drop, all these upsets and tribulations add up to his already heavy mental anguish that he carried across the eons.

The clash between him and Sendak puts emphasis once more on his fearlessness and deft swordsmanship.

The lighting of the flame carries a solemn, uplifting, yet tragic air to it.

He ascends the battered, collapsing steps of the Kral Zera, perhaps the steps of his destiny, while explosions flare up the skies. He takes the throne of an empire in complete disarray. While he lights the flame, he harbors a stark, but also angry expression, because… why should he be joyful? He’s taking reign over a civilization that has perpetuated his traumas for so long.

———-

S5E5 “Bloodlines” provides a respite from all the anguish we’ve seen so far. He spends time with Allura, searching for Altean clues in Haggar’s lair, and we see the growing attraction between them bloom.

But watch for hints about his past traumas.

When Allura discovers that he is half-Altean, we get Lotor’s direct depiction of his status in the eyes of Galra, as well as his self-confidence in regards to his mixed genes: “It was something the Galra considered a weakness, but I considered it a strength.”

Also, his next words reveal his deep admiration for his mother. He venerates her, and he adores the Altean culture. As much as I want to emphasize the level of trauma that this man has gone through, I also want to bring under spotlight his awe for the mother he never knew, and by extension, of the entire Altean race. Pay attention: “The union between Zarkon and Honerva sparked a technological revolution within the empire. Even back then, Altean culture was remarkably advanced. The kinds of experiments she was conducting… she advanced science by eons.”

Something that always caught my eye was Honerva’s science log itself. Lotor scrolls through her research and we can clearly see the comet ore in one of them, a sphere in another and… the entity inside the tube in a third slider. It’s clearly the entity, compare it with the original image from S3E7:

The fact that Lotor casts a long look at the slides makes me think that he might be aware of the entity. Perhaps this science log will make him understand even more about it?

When Lotor makes a few comments, frowning while inspecting his mother’s science logs, we conclude a few aspects about him and his mother. “By the end of these logs, it’s like they’re written by a different person. She’s frantic, paranoid, erratic. Her reason and intellect are gone, replaced by fear and paranoia.”

This confirms exactly what happened to Honerva (and foreshadows what will happen to him as well). Due to her obsession for power and knowledge and enhanced by excessive quintessence demanded by the entity inside her, Honerva lost her reason, became… a different person. Does that not resonate with how Lotor underwent an apparent abrupt change in S6? The comparison might come across as superficial, but I promise I’ll go deeper when discussing the S6 scenes.

Also, this reveals a much deeper truth about Lotor. He is in denial about what happened to his mother. Pay attention to the scene where Allura suggests that Honerva might have turned into Haggar.

“That witch is not my mother!” snaps Lotor, taking Allura by surprise. Not only he raises his voice at the princess, but he instantly turns his back on her, leading to an awkward moment. I found this instance extremely telling. Suggesting to Lotor that his mother turned into a witch?? Unconceivable!

I’m reiterating this: he ADORES his mother, and he adores Altea. He wants to protect his mother’s image as much as he wants to protect his Altean colony, at all cost. Even if that means keeping the colony a secret from Allura - the princess of ancient Altea - who slowly conquers his heart. Was there a conflict inside him about this? I’m absolutely sure there was.

Another relevant aspect about Lotor is that he’s an Altean culture nerd. Especially the alchemy part. He’s been hunting high and low for Oriande, because his sharp intelligence guided him in the right direction. And with a bit of persistence, he guides Allura in the right direction, too. Together, they unlock the compass stone, and, despite the Paladins’ and Coran’s doubts, Lotor convinces them to “navigate by cave poetry”, eventually discovering Oriande.

—————————————

Lotor has Altean marks? The Marks of the Chosen, no less. I love the attention to the shape of the marks, too. Uncorrupted Alteans display half-moon marks, while Haggar’s look completely distorted, like scars dragging across her face. In between them is… Lotor. His marks are neither half-moons, nor disfigured shapes. Daywalker?

In any case, the fact that he is accepted in the realm of Oriande clearly means that he has potential for alchemic powers.

Even in the celestial beauty of such a place, his mind flies into dark corners, recalling the destruction of Ven’tar’s planet. This should tell you how deep his wounds go, and how desperately they need healing. With such unspeakable beauty around him, his miserable expression only underscores the level of internal trauma.

“You know, I envy you growing up with King Alfor. I always wanted to be an explorer and learn about the universe. My father was only interested in conquering it. He once put me in charge of a planet for a year, running the quintessence mining and getting to know the local population. Rather than employ the usual Galran methods of subjugation, I worked alongside the leadership of the planet, learning their customs. We would only extract as much quintessence as could be replenished. And I enjoyed my time there quite a bit. When my father found out what was happening, he ordered me to destroy the planet. I refused, and he sent me away.”

“At least you stood up for those people,” replies Allura.

“He destroyed them all. I was powerless to stop him. I spent the following centuries searching for clues about my Altean heritage, another culture destroyed by Zarkon.”

“I’m glad you’re here to help me now. I never would’ve gotten here without you,” Allura smiles back.

Notice how Allura brings lightheartedness into the conversation, always aiming his attention to the full side of the glass. When he turns around to face her, this is one of his most iconic, beautiful, gentle, hopeful, yet heartbreaking expression in the entire series:

Allura infuses him with optimism, like no one else did before. She is the soothing salve over his old wounds, arriving into his life to open up a bright future. Oriande awaits them, the future awaits them. Hope and love bloom in his heart, and you can read it on his face, overlayed with the fatigue lines etched under his eyes. I know I’ve said this before, but I’m absolutely in love with Studio Mir’s clean drawing style, yet capable of rendering a vast array of emotions with just a few pen strokes.

Inside the pyramid, Lotor makes a few remarks, which reflect his curiosity but also his relative lack of instincts about what to do next. He relies on logic and educated guesses.

“The mysteries we seek are hidden somewhere deep inside.”

“We may yet to prove that we’re worthy to be here.”

“There must be a clue. Something a trained Altean would recognize.”

Similarly, when the Sages attack, his training guides him to apply known and well-rehearsed battle tactics - he’s ducking away from their spears. Allura has the presence of mind to pull out the compass stone, addressing them reverently, and Lotor - behind her - instantly mimics her gestures. Yes, he’s a fast learner, but it’s a bit too late for learning. The trial time is near.

The trial itself provides us with a head-to-head comparison between his tactics and Allura’s. They each apply themselves according to their upbringing, and therein lies the tragedy of his failure.

When he finds himself alone in the celestial domain, what do we see first, glowing in his enlarged eyes?

Fear.

He gasps as he opens his eyes, looks around warily, then calls for her, “Allura?” Without her, he is insecure, because he is not prepared for this; it’s a kind of trial he’d never attended before. (He aced the Galran Agotian trials, yet he clearly struggles here).

Of course calling out for her suggests he might also be worried about her, but I believe - from the hints given so far from their adventure inside the pyramid - that he is genuinely lacking confidence. He even stated so, as they began their journey: “None of my research or travels have prepared me for this. From here, we are on our own.”

And what do Galrans do when faced with their own fears?

Victory or death.

“I will never yield! I will gain your secrets!”

Here, I read pride, anger, determination, unwillingness to give in.

He doesn’t even consider another method; the emotional domino of fear-aggression is ingrained into who he is, from a young age. And in the end… his own aggression is his undoing.

If you take a look at Allura’s demeanor, she does not gasp in fear as she takes in her surroundings. She does not call for Lotor.

“I do not wish to fight. I come here seeking knowledge,” she addresses the White Lion.

“What can I do?” she continues, humbly.

“No. This isn’t the way. I seek the secret of life. I give my own.”

Notice the requirements of an Altean trial:

humbleness in the face of unknown;

non-aggression;

willingness for self-sacrifice.

Lotor, unfortunately, does not display any of these.

In the meditation practice, there is one particular method that helps ease anxiety, worries and fear of unknown. It involves staying with your own emotions, allowing them to unfold, simply noticing and embracing them. Fear becomes a friend which does not need to be battled, but acknowledged.

What Allura did was to basically embrace her fear of the White Lion, to allow the fear to manifest, and in doing so, she conquered it.

Conversely, by fighting with your own emotions, you only prolong your agony.

When the Life Giver tells Allura, “You are home, and the secret is already within you,” we finally understand why Allura passed this trial, and why Lotor failed. If the secret is already within her, she instinctively directs her actions according to the ancient practices and wisdom of Altea, where she grew up. At Oriande she is home.

On the other hand, Lotor is hard-wired into the victory or death philosophy, which guides fear in the opposite direction, that of aggression. At this time, Oriande is not his home, unfortunately. He yells, “No. No!” realizing his failure. It’s a cry of desperation, he’s angry with himself for his defeat.

It’s ironic though: he knows that aggression is not the way, yet he himself cannot overcome it. It’s also paradoxical, because he is searching for ways to bring peace to the universe. He preaches peace and prosperity, but he lacks the deeper understanding of how to fully achieve it. Living in such a hostile environment for millennia, we cannot but recognize that this is the way the environment shaped him. Nature versus nurture, exactly the words of one of the EP’s. Also, from the same interview: “It was a very bad hand. That deck was stacked against him in every way in his upbringing. If he had this amazing accepting family that Allura had, he probably would have been a magnificent person. He had to live his life the only way he could, and a lot of that was through manipulation and doing things the only way he could get them done. It’s tragic.” (Source: Den of Geek - The Ultimate Downfall of Lotor, June 28, 2018 - link in comments)

Despite his defeat, I found it admirable that he does not bear jealousy on Allura, honestly acknowledging her magical powers: “You are a true Altean alchemist. Oriande was for you, not for me.”

One thing I’m wondering though: did Lotor ever learn anything from his defeat? He is a fast learner, so how did he internalize this event? I’m sure Allura recounted to him how she came to pass the trial, so did he ever put the pieces together, to figure out where he went wrong?

————————————

After Oriande, Season 6 warms us up to his character even more. The encounter with Dayak in S6E1 provides us with precious comic moments that further humanize his character. Suddenly, he is not the stiff emperor with a royal demeanor and parlance, but the teenager who’s embarrassed about his mom, while trying to look cool around his buddies, which subsequently suggests that he cares about his relationship with the Paladins, also proven by the way he introduces them to Dayak: “These are my colleagues. They have more than my permission to speak.”

In addition, their dynamic gives us a moment to ponder on the type of Galran education he received. Now that we are fresh from the Oriande experience, learning how Lotor grew up - under the constant threat of the whipping pain - provides a better perspective into the kind of cards life handed him.

In the same time, let’s not vilify all his upbringing. As a prince, Dayak offered him the highest kind of education one could receive: “The history of our conquests, our customs, battle philosophy, the art of war.” Yes, they are all veered towards war-related matters, but those are subjects of vital importance to any nation, even in times of peace. The end of S8 will have Allura basically learn to navigate this dark side, guided by ghost!Lotor and the entity. As much as Lotor needs to learn from Allura, she also needs to understand and absorb his wisdom.

If one needs a summary of Lotor’s past, find it right within Lotor’s speech, broadcast across his empire: “Slayer of a tyrant, child raised in the void and taught on the battlefield.”

From the conversation between Lt. Lahn and Commander Bogh, it’s clear that Lotor’s dream of peace is too abstract for his subjects. There are prejudices against him that are hard to tame. Lotor is well aware of them; even his empyreal address reflects this issue.

But one particular conversation raised a red flag to me. At the news of Sendak’s attack on a mining planet, the Paladins offer their immediate assistance. Lotor says, “Sendak would have me respond to his attack and neglect my empire.”

Allura replies with determination, “Voltron can handle this, while you continue to rule.”

Lotor insists, “But Princess, I need you here. Without you—”

“Your plan has waited this long. It can wait a tick longer. We must protect your innocent subjects,” says Allura.

“Of course. You’re right,” Lotor acquiesces in Allura’s decision.

This, right here, introduces a major hint at a future reveal. Is Lotor going to allow an entire mining colony to perish under Sendak’s attack? (“sacrifice a few…” - rings any bell?) When Allura emphasizes “innocent subjects”, I read frustration, impatience… and something more on his expression. He’s obviously annoyed that his plans are being delayed. As he told Allura, “it is paramount” that they focus all their energy on infusing his ships with alchemy. He’s getting so close to his dream, and now Sendak comes to derail him.

This askance look suggests he is hiding something. And we read a conflict within him, in the way he presses his eyelids closed under a slight frown, then reopens them into a forced-amiable expression.

There are many ways to interpret his internal conflict:

which innocent subjects should he focus on first? The Alteans - his most precious people - with whom he hasn’t been in contact for a while, or the mining colony attacked by Sendak? What if the Altean colony is in danger of peril as well, and he’s tied up with empyreal matters?

maybe he is simply embarrassed that he let a “little” mischief slip past his mask? He’s never been put in a situation like this, working alongside honest, compassionate people, who care for the lives of others. Not that he doesn’t care overall - on the contrary, all he does is because he desperately wants to pacify the empire and ultimately free his Altean colony, but the way he goes about it requires cutting some… corners; translation - sacrifices.

maybe time is of essence; perhaps he knows things we don’t know about his colonies (there are many unresolved things about the Altean colony plot, so here I can only speculate).

all of the above?

In any case, this little detail adds an extra tint of gray to his character.

—————-------

S6E2 and E3 elevate the relationship between Lotor and Allura to a level of trust and fondness for each other that we haven’t seen them develop for others. Lotor genuinely loves Allura, something confirmed in interviews with EP’s. He is not simply using her for his secret agenda. What is blooming between them is real, and you can see it in the way he behaves around her, the gentle hand touches, the almost-kiss interrupted by the Paladins, their discussions while working on his ships, his excitement to share the “grand news” about the progress he makes on his Sincline. Allura is beginning to be the soul-healer of his past traumas; his optimism is soaring. He is able to relax more around her, as he truly trusts her.

————------------

S6E4 (“The Colony”) begins with Lotor, facing his Sincline ship, ready for the trip to the rift, telling Allura: “I’ve waited an eternity for this. […] It means so much to me to share this with you.”

The moment of his life. He’s waited for this for thousands of years. Thousands. Not decades, not centuries. The anticipation, the emotion, it must be like nothing he ever felt.

I loved the reference to the DotU little technical terms, as they prepare for the trip of a lifetime: “Infracells up. Dynotherms connected. Mega-thrusters are go.” It gives their relationship even more meaning and legitimacy in the audience’s eyes.

Pay attention to the comments the Paladins make, as Lotor and Allura enter the rift:

Lance: “Last time anyone got in there, it turned Zarkon evil.”

Shiro: “Zarkon fell prey to his own evil instincts. The quintessence field didn’t create them. It revealed them.”

I’ve used Shiro’s comment in the analysis of Honerva and Zarkon’s arcs as well, but the fact that the writers chose to insert it right before Lotor’s trip to the rift is a clear enough hint (albeit “evil” and “instincts” have nuances, just like Lotor’s numerous character shades).

When they enter the rift, there is a moment where Lotor’s eyes narrow a bit…

That, right there, is Lotor’s cunning expression he often displayed in the episodes before befriending the Paladins. It clearly points out to us that there is more going on in his mind.

An evil plot? This would be the immediate thought, right? Especially immediately after Shiro mentioning “evil instincts”.

Or maybe it isn’t an evil plot, but its execution is… less clean (“Lotor may have been misguided, but ultimately, he wanted to preserve life”). Hence, the evil-looking smirk. #LotorWasFramed?

“What we do here today will change the course of the universe forever,” says Lotor, while measuring the energy readings inside the rift.

Allura ponders over the quintessence effects, “In the hands of the wrong person, this power could easily corrupt.”

“Together, we’ll see it never does and continue the work your father started so long ago,” Lotor replies.

Two things:

Another warning: Quintessence in the hands of the wrong person…

“Together”: Yes, if they split up, things will go sideways.

“I can feel the quintessence coursing through me,” says Lotor euphorically, as they travel through the rift.

Allura, ecstatically sighing, replies, “It’s like my spirit, my whole being, is more alive.”

Quintessence is the space-drug of the series, it’s no doubt about that, even the EP’s have made the comparison. A double-edged sword, capable of conferring supernatural abilities and sensations, yet destructive enough to turn you into a Zarkon.

Not only Lotor is feeling its effects, Allura does too. Keep this in mind as I’ll discuss upcoming events.

For the first time in eons, his stars are aligned in the best possible way. They “accomplished something amazing” - entering the rift and collecting quintessence. He has the most powerful princess in the universe by his side, the gifted alchemist he so sorely needed for millennia. His plan is coming along fabulously.

But I think the most amazing accomplishment is that they finally confirm their feelings. The kiss happens. The bond that forms in their hearts is a potential catalyst for extraordinary changes, within themselves and to the universe around them. Double, triple euphoria for him.

-------------------------

Can this man’s life turn any more tragic?

The moment of… (alleged) truth happens. The moment we find out, through Romelle’s story, that Lotor has been harvesting Alteans for their quintessence, for generations. The conclusion of her accusations is that he has been draining the Alteans for his own power and glory.

(Notice the general expression of guilt: self-hugging, chin dropped to the chest, peeking from underneath his frowned eyebrows)

DESCENT INTO MADNESS

Let’s see, from Lotor’s perspective, what shocking events he goes through, to understand the underlying cause of his mental breakdown in S6E6.

1. Physical rejection by the woman he fell in love with.

Right after the high of their kiss and their rift breakthrough, he finds himself at gunpoint, accused of mass murder.

In reply to their accusations, Lotor says, “You know nothing about what you speak. […] Allura, listen to me. I’ve dedicated my life to preserving Altean culture. Now that we’ve unlocked the quintessence field, all of your people, who would have been hunted down long ago had it not been for my intervention, can live in peace. Were some lives lost in the process? Yes. But they were martyrs to a noble cause. I sacrificed a few to preserve the future for millions. Allura, do not let this ruin everything we’ve worked for. Think of what we experienced in the quintessence field.”

From what he says, we can deduce exactly what I’ve pieced together so far: that he was deeply preoccupied with preserving the Altean life and culture - he “dedicated” his life to it. This was his purpose in life, it was what he cared most about, and every action, every little or grand mischief that we’ve seen so far along the seasons, they all point to one sole purpose: pacifying the universe so he could bring his Alteans out of their hideout, so they can “live in peace”. They were his Mother Altea - metaphorically, the mother he never had.

His explanation is vague enough that we don’t understand some essential aspects about the “martyrs”, but also, his approach to Allura, right after such horrifying news, touching her hand while reminding her of what they “experienced” in the rift, obviously rubs her the wrong way.

Fresh from the rift with a dose of ultra-pure emotional enhancer called quintessence, Allura reacts violently, without seeking more answers. From here, things quickly roll downhill.

2. Being taken hostage.

3. Facing the truth about his mother, Haggar/Honerva.

For some reason, this event in his life never seems to be a subject of much discussion. I believe this holds a large role in his traumatic rollercoaster before the battle with Allura. The discussion with Honerva reveals the fact that he is still in denial about his mother’s downfall. His fists tremble in anger - another sign of emotional gravity.

According to him, his mother “ceased to exist when Honerva drew her last breath”, while Haggar represents an “abomination”, “a twisted perversion of what was once so pure and beautiful”. If you want a little Transactional Analysis (TA) parallel, this is exactly Child-Lotor from the other reality, saying: “No. My mother is dead. And you cannot replace her!”

What I find even more dramatic is that his entire life he’s been compensating for his lack of maternal love by completely immersing himself into the Altean culture, while his biological mother did everything to thwart his efforts to connect with his maternal legacy.

This is a huge blow to his internal set of values, and the fact that he reacts with total denial suggests (again, applying TA) that, with his fears confirmed, Child-Lotor feels cornered, afraid, trapped, thus his reaction of rejection towards her.

Bear this in mind, because I believe at the core of Lotor’s tragic turn in this episode resides a wounded Child.

4. Attempting to fix it, under pressure.

He is being punched from ALL directions.

Yet he persists.

His urgent priority? Finding Allura.

Even though Acxa explains that it will take a while to get back to the castle of Lions, he replies: “Then what are we waiting for?” I read desperation, a rush to try to fix things.

Although Allura tossed him to the ground, he holds no grudge against her.

Why does he return to her?

Why not the colony?

After all, it was his most precious planet in the universe! Oh, but this is not a tactical decision… It clearly stems from his emotions - he will soon confess it as well - because he truly loves Allura.

The fear of losing her is greater than his fear for the colony. Now that the secret is out, now that he knows that clone-Shiro was Haggar’s spy, it must be clear to him that his colony is completely exposed. The Altean civilization that he worked so hard to protect from the evils of his parents is inches away from being overtaken by Haggar, yet he flies right back to Allura! How telling!

Oh, but the way the story frames it leads us to believe that he wants to get back to the rift due to his greed for more power, because that was Allura’s conclusion about why he was returning: “He needs to get back into the quintessence field.”

No he does not. His Sincline can jump in and out of the rift at his own will, so he can access the rift from anywhere. He explicitly said to his generals that, “We’re headed to the Castle of Lions’ last known location.” (S6E5) He’s not headed to the rift, he is headed towards ALLURA.

“Accessing the quintessence field has been Lotor’s singular drive for millennia. He wants to harness the power for himself, but we cannot let him,” says Allura in S6E6. Wrong. What did he just explain to her earlier? “Now that we’ve unlocked the quintessence field, all of your people, who would have been hunted down long ago had it not been for my intervention, can live in peace.” Accessing the quintessence field does not reflect his final goal, it is a means to a higher purpose: freeing the Alteans.

5. The fallout. The dam-breaking moment.

Let me start by saying that Lotor is generally a calm and composed character - a mask he has built into his persona and practiced it for millennia, because he needs to display confidence, not weakness, around both his subjects and his enemies. It is the way of the Galra. Also, the attribute of a leader.

That doesn’t mean he does not show moments of panic or outbursts of anger. On the contrary, we witnessed them along the episodes: when killing Narti, when flying into the solar flares, the moment he kills Zarkon, when snapping at Allura… These little slips hint at the true emotions roiling underneath his mask. Most of us understand this mechanism; think of school exams and how anxious we felt inside, despite displaying a relatively calm expression while entering the test room.

Given the extraordinary tension of the negative events that befall right after his most triumphant moments, what are the odds that behind this façade, Lotor’s anxiety is at an all-time high? The fact that he does not show it yet doesn’t mean it’s not there. But we’ll begin to see it, as soon as he starts talking to Allura.

En route to Allura, Lotor tells his generals: “Zethrid, Ezor, my deepest apologies for lying to you both, but in order to gain the princess’ trust, and make the Paladins of Voltron believe we were truly at odds, it had to be done. […] Today we will gain access to unlimited quintessence, and together, we usher in a new era of power.”

Did he just slip back under another one of his facades? Did he truly trick Allura and the Paladins? Perhaps yes, but not in the way we are led to believe.

What he says is true - he did have to pretend to be at odds with Zethrid and Ezor in order to gain the Paladins’ trust. Imagine the chaos (not that we wouldn’t have enjoyed it) these ladies would have brought to team Voltron. Would Lotor risk his reputation with such “scoundrels” around the innocent Paladins? I mean… Zethrid replies, “As long as I get to blow something up, I’m good.” That wouldn’t fly with Allura.

Lotor basically gave each side what they expected to hear, while he pushed forward with his agenda. In order to gain Ezor and Zethrid’s trust again, he had to explain himself, and he doesn’t really lie, does he?

But what’s up with ushering “a new era of power”? Hehe, this is where we all get tricked into thinking he wants all the power of the quintessence for his own glory, thus we’re mentally confirming what Allura just said: “He wants to harness the power for himself.” Wrong again, and I’ll link this up to his next statements.

After the Paladins destroy the inter-reality gate, they ready themselves for a confrontation. They expect Lotor to come with guns blazing. Hunk even calculates the odds of three Sincline ships to four Lions. Lance, the team lead in Keith’s absence, orders: “Hold your positions. Let Lotor make the first move.”

Well, Lotor’s first move, even after seeing the gate destroyed, is to seek peace. He does not lie in any of his statements; these all tie in together with what he’s been saying so far. “We need not fight today. We are all on the same side. I know what you all must think of me now that you know my past. It doesn’t have to change our future together. The truth is, I want to harness the power of the quintessence field to better the universe, just like I said. Nothing has changed.”

Allura, raising her voice, replies, “You enslaved countless Alteans. Harnessed their life source for your own personal gain. How many innocent lives did you destroy?”

Lotor calmly attempts to explain: “Allura, I—”

“How many?” she roars back, without allowing him to finish.

(What was he going to say? He was clearly going to divulge exactly the key detail we are missing from the colony story, but Allura, whose temper is out of control, diverts the subject.)

After a deep breath under closed eyes, Lotor replies, “It’s true. Many Alteans perished in my quest to unlock the mysteries of quintessence. But I protected thousands more, and I rescued their culture, our culture.”

Comparing Allura and Lotor’s demeanor, it’s clear that Allura is the fire-starter. Not without reason though; from her perspective, one of a victim of mass-destruction, she has every right to be mad, and we, the viewers, sympathize with her.

On the other hand, Lotor seems to keep it together. He truly loves her, otherwise he wouldn’t try so hard for a peaceful solution. Even Zethrid asks, confused: “Why is he pleading with the Paladins? Why are we not opening fire?”

Ezor says, cynically, “I stopped trying to figure out Lotor’s master plan long ago. Too complicated!”

The only one who seems to comprehend what’s going on in Lotor’s heart is Acxa, who casts a worried glance towards him. Worrisome indeed, because heartbreaks are most terrifying, if things go out of control.

“Allura, you must understand I’ve given everything I have to plumb the depths of King Alfor’s knowledge, to unlock the mysteries of Oriande. Please, Allura, we’ve come too far together. Surely, you can see the greatness we’ve already accomplished. There’s still more to come. Join me. We’re on the same side.”

“No, we’re not!!” Allura screams at the top of her lungs, blasting her Lion’s canon at him.

Notice, Allura fires the first shot. Lotor, in response, yells at his generals: “Hold your fire! Hold your fire!” Acxa is sweating in tension - because she intuits how bad this could go. Zethrid is frustrated, while Ezor looks completely confused.

Lotor, keeping it together with his last emotional energy, is desperately trying to reach Allura. His voice trembles from the emotion, from the utter despair and anguish. His pupils have narrowed, eyes wide open. He sees his most precious relationship falling apart, he’s clinging to a last thread of hope. Allura is the one true love he met after ten thousand years of traumas and the most gifted alchemist. He has given everything he had to arrive here.

Altea awaits them. Together they could bring their people out of the shadows, they could rule a New Altea, “a new era of power” as he told his generals.

“Allura, stop! You and I hold the ancient knowledge of our Altean culture. We were meant to be together. My feelings for you are true - and I know you have feelings for me as well.”

Cry as many rivers you need to, because this is the most tragic declaration of love.

Lotor, right here, wears his heart on his sleeve in front of everyone to see. Vulnerable, open-hearted, sincere - perhaps the most sincere declaration of his entire life, he opens himself up to Allura, he puts his trust in her, with all his wounds and unresolved traumas of the past.

Remember the “I’ll be fine” reply after defeating his father? No, he is not fine, his wounds have never healed.

This is why Allura’s reply falls like a guillotine on his already ravaged soul.

“You betrayed and used me. You’re more like Zarkon than I could have ever imagined!”

Comparing him with Zarkon? The one man who destroyed his life, who terrorized him for eons? We’ve seen his irked reaction to this comparison in the past, but now? Now the emotions are at all-time high. His bleeding heart is out for her to see, and she slays it, full-force.

Every trauma from his past converges here. This is the boiling point, the dam-breaking moment. This is where his hope dies. The moment of agency. (As I said in the beginning, at the critical point of the madness arc, whatever breaks the dam is a world-shattering event: extreme grief, total loss of loved ones, closest allies and friends, the breach of trust towards the world, or a combination of these. The character will try to fix the world and/or get back at the ones who hurt him.)

The shrilling noises of the soundtrack make us cringe, like we could feel the shiver that runs down his spine as his heart suddenly grows cold. He replies with a stark voice. “What about your father? He may have been a master engineer, but Alfor was too weak to defend his home world. I’m the one who had to step up and save our entire race. Who are you to question my tactics in bringing peace and prosperity to the universe?”

Remember his similar reply when he was a prisoner in her castle? It’s his gut reaction to a most sensitive subject: his father. She wants to talk family? He’s punching back with brutal opinions on Alfor, because at this point he desires nothing more but for her to feel the same kind of pain.

“Who are you…?” She’s a stranger. Someone who doesn’t have a place in his heart anymore.

“Destroy the Lions,” he orders his generals over a cold expression. He’s made his choice.

Hell breaks loose.

If you think that the negative effects of the rift trip applied only to Lotor, let me put this in perspective:

Allura is equally overloaded with adrenalin. And from the battle scene, we can see that she is the one attacking him first, her roar as loud as her Lion’s. As the fight continues, Lotor perfectly executes evasive maneuvers around her, continuing to keep a blank expression, until… he erupts, like a volcano of unresolved, under-pressure turmoil:

“Once I wipe out Voltron, I’m going to start a new Altea. An Altea that will never know of Princess Allura or King Alfor. Nor will they know of the Lions of Voltron. All they’ll know is me, their great leader! Hahaha, I’m ready to wipe the universe clean of all my enemies. Voltron, Haggar, and the rest of the Galra!”

Here’s where many of us got him wrong, thinking that this has been Lotor’s real intention from the get-go: to destroy Voltron and rule a new empire for his own glory.

The only way I can properly explain this is through the psychological mechanisms - not only what goes on in Lotor’s mind, but in our mind as well.

1. Let’s start with us. The script so far played to convince us that Lotor planned this evil plot all along. How did we get tricked? Through all the little hints dropped along the way, which I already pointed out. Our knee-jerk reaction naturally ensues as “A-ha, I told you so.” However, many of us began to have doubts.

2. Shifting the focus back on Lotor, here’s what I said right after the scene with the destruction of Ven’tar’s planet: “after Zarkon destroyed his heart, Lotor ran straight into the arms of Mother Altea”.

I remember, earliest childhood memories, that if I was mad at my dad, I would run to my mom. If I was upset on both of them, I’d cry for my grandparents. It’s only natural that the child seeks love, affection, protection, and as we grow older, that Child within us, with all its basic emotions and needs, continues to coexist underneath our Adult.

The bigger the wounds of the past, the larger the needs of the inner Child.

What happens when the Child within us loses all emotional contacts, all the love and support it sorely needs? When all our friends and allies are gone, when we lose contact with reality, when the closest friend and lover stabs us in our deepest wounds… where do we go from there?

Where did the wounded, cornered Child-Lotor escape, away from the cruel reality around him?

What was his last refuge? His last place where he he would always be received with unquestioning devotion by the masses?

ALTEA.

The Alteans praised him as a god, a messiah, their savior. His statue dominated their landscape.

Altea was his life-long project, the only heritage from his real mother, the place where he poured all his passion (“I’ve dedicated my life to preserving the Altean culture.”). Until he met Allura, that had been his only source of love and joy.

Altea was the family he never had.

Who we see here, screaming and kicking, is the wounded, cornered inner Child, irrational, filled with pure negative emotions. There is no reasonable Adult in the picture, no normative Parent, just pure madness. Fear leads to aggression (the Galra way), similar to his reaction of slaying the Lion at Oriande. He screams about becoming the great leader of a new Altea that will never know of Allura, Voltron, Alfor, etc, because ALTEA IS HIS LAST PLACE OF REFUGE, where he hopes to forget about this painful past. Child-Lotor is hurt, deeply hurt, he wants destroy all who wounded him, then run away into the arms of Mother Altea. He descends into madness with guns blazing, ready to get back at those who hurt him, and in an ultimate irrational cry, he includes the Galra in his list of mortal enemies, because they, too, hurt him when he was a child.

He bitterly comments: “Even my generals betray me!” A self-fulfilling prophecy, as he becomes disconnected from literally everyone.

Acxa yells “Lotor, don’t do this!” as he ejects them one by one from the ships. She knows what he’s about to do - form the Sincline robot, because she worked on building the ships. She knows how powerful it can become and realizes how far Lotor is gone.

Sprinkle quintessence atop the irrational, negative emotions and the cocktail for disaster is right there.

Quintessence “reveals evil instincts” indeed, because

negative emotions are evil,

and emotions are instinctual (the definition of emotion is “a natural instinctive state of mind deriving from one's circumstances, mood, or relationships with others”).

Allura recognizes it during their battle inside the rift, when the Paladins begin to drift into rage. “We have to get out of here,” she yells. “This is exactly what happened to Zarkon. Exposure to all this quintessence turned him into a monster!”

—> So, did Lotor harbor “evil instincts” all this time? Well, we all carry negative emotions. The Paladins did too, when they screamed “Let’s destroy that guy!”, “Finish him!”, except that Allura pulled the plug before they could all become corrupted (the best way to prevent drug dependence is to not get exposed in the first place).

—> Does this confirm that he’s been planning this plot all along, that he truly wanted to become the all-powerful, “great leader” of a new Altea that would obliterate Alfor’s legacy? ABSOLUTELY NOT. It only proves that what happened to Lotor was a tragic descent into madness, a resultant of unresolved mental illness accumulated along the millennia, enhanced by a series of misfortunate events and misunderstandings between him and team Voltron, and blown out of proportions by quintessence (and maybe the little entity inside him, too).

After S6 dropped, viewers were complaining that they did not recognize this Lotor, that this was a different person. Well, remember what he said about his mother, when inspecting her science log? “By the end of these logs, it’s like they’re written by a different person. She’s frantic, paranoid, erratic. Her reason and intellect are gone, replaced by fear and paranoia.”

Voilà.

So then, what did Lotor want when he was in his right mind?

Exactly what he said: to bring Altea out of the shadows, into a universe free of violence. Bonus: having Allura with him meant that together, they made sure the quintessence never got into the wrong hands (idealistic, I know, but the man had a dream). Ruling alongside Allura, the “royal alliance”, would have been his most blissful destiny.

Did he plan on destroying all the Galra? I don’t believe so, because he told Allura that he wanted to “meet the needs of the Galra”.

Maybe get rid of some inconvenient warlords? For sure, they’d all rot with the ice worms.

Maybe install an Altean leadership instead? “A new era of power?” It’s quite possible that might have been in the back of his mind. Who knows, maybe it would have turned just like the alternate reality where the Paladins traveled, where the enemies of Altea were turned into “non-cogs”. Anything is possible, we’d have to ask the writers what they had in mind.

Did he dream of becoming the “great leader”? Maybe not in a megalomaniac way, but he probably envisioned himself as a benevolent emperor, since he had a huge need for validation and love. His giant statue is a testament to that.

Did he want all the power for himself? No. All evidence points to the fact that he was willing to share it with Allura (“royal alliance”), with Voltron, with the Coalition. He even tells them, through boiling wrath: “It didn’t have to end like this.”

Some voices insist that Lotor could have told Allura (at least Allura, not the others) about his secret colonies, but because he was hiding that, it meant that he was hiding evil intents. No, he couldn’t tell anyone, his hands were tied because of Haggar stalking him. When Allura was piloting Voltron, her mind was connected with the rest of the Paladins. If Haggar had access to clone-Shiro’s mind, what would prevent her from tapping into the others’ minds?

“Now we will see how Alfor’s legacy stands against the new Altean defender!” screams Lotor during his clash against Voltron.

Altean… DEFENDER? I know this is irrational Lotor talking, but maybe this had been his plan all along? To create defenders for Altea, machines capable of fending off Galra invaders? If this is what his second colony was all about, then Allura’s visions in S8 also make sense - her mother telling her about protecting Altea against the Galra. Speculating.

As the battle heats up, Sincline jumps in and out of the quintessence field at will. Along with that, we begin to see him turn more and more rogue, as the quintessence gradually poisons him.

“Unlimited power is mine. All realities will fall to the new Altean Empire.”

A new Altea, a new Altean defender, and now… a new Altean Empire. At the peak of his madness, new delusions of grandeur emerge - yes, now he wants unlimited power - but perhaps we can also take a little peek into his secret wishes? He’d dream of replacing the Galra ruling with an Altean leadership? It would make sense, since he loved Altea so much.

These are 100% madness tantrums: if nobody loves me, I’ll destroy all of you and rebuild my own world.

It very much resembles Honerva’s peak of madness: “If I cannot experience the simple joys of life, why should anyone else?” (Translation: If nobody gives me what I want, then screw you all.)

-----------------------------

We know the rest of Lotor’s arc, or what remains of it. Left in the quintessence field, then recovered by his mother in S8E6 “Genesis”, and, for the following episodes, Sincline is dangled in front of the audience like a carrot, only to wave goodbye to his ghost in the end, with a short “he deserved better” conclusion. Oh, let’s not forget about the cOrPse.

—————————————

Earlier I talked about the “alleged truth” that Romelle brought to the story, because up to this date we don’t know exactly the entire backstory of the colony, yet…

A. We were told all along the remaining of S6, entire S7 and almost all S8 that Lotor was

“a monster” (Romelle, S6E4),

“a murderer” (Pidge, S6E4),

someone who “fooled” everyone around him for his own power (Allura, S6E6),

who harnessed the Alteans’ life source for his “own personal gain” (Allura, S6E6),

a man who “preached unity, but in the end he only sought power” (Acxa, S7E3),

who “used” his allies, leading them down “a painful path, a never-ending cycle of destruction and loss” (Acxa, S8E5)

B. Out of nowhere, Allura exonerates him in the last episode of the series, asking Honerva to “honor” her son: “Lotor may have been misguided, but ultimately, he wanted to preserve life.”

So which one is it: A or B?

You don’t suddenly honor someone after you called them “murderer”, power-seeking “monster”, unless… something of extraordinary importance has been unveiled, to properly provide an exoneration of his character.

Was it ever unveiled? No.

Then, rational deduction… #LotorWasFramed?

I think so.

It started as writers’ deliberate story framing (proof provided in my above analysis), leading the audience to believe in a “he-was-evil-all-along” nature of Lotor, with the clear expectation of a much larger reveal later down the series, that would subvert the “villain” trope. In my opinion - based on logical deductions and supported by evidence of altered animation circulating in the fandom extensively, the big reveal was excised from S8, the only clues left residing in… metaphors and visions - Allura’s visions.

Reason of such excision? Just like the tragedy of Lotor’s arc, the tragedy of VLD lied in the conflict between the IP owner’s commercial target (toys for boys aged 6-12 and robot cartoons with classic, simple tropes such as good vs. evil, boy-hero gets the pretty girl, etc) and the actual execution of the story, which deployed complex characters like Lotor, Allura, Honerva, the Paladins, and so on, embraced by a different audience niche. Yet, even if the finale of S8 attempted to erase such complexity in order to realign the series with the aforementioned commercial intent, the creators nevertheless managed to insert their concluding message into the final episode - Lotor ultimately wanted to preserve life - thus, he deserved better.

———————————————

Season 8, although I consider it incomplete in regards to Lotor’s arc (and other arcs as well), does provide us with some interesting hints at what could have been, if the story hadn’t been altered, which would have further elucidated Lotor’s overall arc, because these hints contribute to showing us his true nature.

—> In S8E6 “Genesis”, Sincline has the target locked onto Allura, yet it does not open fire. We clearly see through Lotor’s eyes, as he readies his aim.

There is no doubt that a sentient soul coordinates the decision not to shoot. This reminds me of Zarkon’s singular confession to his son: “She was my only weakness.” Similarly, Allura is Lotor’s only weakness.

This scene begs a series of logical questions (*cough*, I love logic): if a sentient being operates Sincline, how can Lotor be dead? A dead man cannot operate Sincline.

If Honerva uses the entity to remote-control her living subjects and she also remote-controls Sincline, then logic would suggest that… a living subject, infected with the entity, inhabits the cockpit. Not a corpse.

Honerva tells Allura: “I am the only thing keeping my son at bay.” Um, she can’t really keep a dead son at bay, can she?

If he’s alive, then why are we shown the suggestion of a corpse, in S8E10? Or was it another altered scene? NB: static images are easy to redraw.

Also, motes of purple quintessence effuse from the “corpse”. We’ve seen these before, with Zarkon and Honerva right after coming back from the rift.

If the assumptions above are correct, then this scene would further align with what I have said in my previous metas regarding Zarkon and Honerva: the entity’s takeover happens as a gradual progression towards complete disconnect from self. At this point in the story, Lotor would be at the far end of the madness spectrum, completely possessed by the entity and overloaded with quintessence. This would create a coherent story, paralleling those of Zarkon and Honerva.

This theory about Lotor having the entity would also justify the next point:

—> Allura’s visions in S8E8 are a rich source of information.

Just like Honerva can telepathically connect with her subjects via the entity, if Lotor has the entity and he has a strong attachment to Allura, then he is telepathically causing her dream.

Since what Lotor tells Allura about the entity turns out to be true, why wouldn’t the other elements of her dream be true, too? (“nothing ever truly goes extinct” = he’s not really dead; “we both seek to destroy Haggar” = Lotor has been fighting Haggar all along; he’s showing her how to fight Haggar, because that’s how he did it in the past - and that can be seen as an explanation for his second colony, because it clearly implies that sacrifices have been made).

If Allura’s dream provides an allegory to Lotor’s second colony, it would justify the meaning of Lotor’s words: “they were martyrs to a noble cause.”

Also, this statement would provide backup: “Many Alteans perished in my quest to unlock the mysteries of quintessence. But I protected thousands more…” If he was looking for a way to use the entity and the quintessence to defend his colony against the Galra, then he was definitely on a quest to unlock their mysteries, to protect the thousands more.

In this context, the heist of the teludav lens in S3E6 has a justification, as he may have intended to use Alteans to operate it, in another one of his “quests”.

Although the origin of the clandestine, pure white vats of quintessence was never fully explained (the quintessence allegedly extracted from the second colony Alteans actually looked quite purple), the story made it clear that Lotor was using the ultra-pure variety to infuse at least his Sincline ships with it. If he calls his Sincline the new Altean Defender, perhaps he tested other vehicles as well, using that pure white quintessence?

These would all tie together his arc, and the last statement of the story would make absolute sense: “ultimately, he wanted to preserve life.”

—> Aside from these remarks, there are many other metaphorical takes to Allura’s vision.

Ghost!Lotor visiting Allura in her bedroom immediately sent my thoughts to a folklore myth that is common to many cultures, from South America to Africa, to Northern and Eastern Europe and beyond. The “incubus” is a demon or a soul that visits sleeping women, in some traditions thought to be a man who was rejected during his lifetime by a woman, seeking to get back to his lost love. A symbol of unrequited love, erotic temptations or female desires, the incubus bears many names, according to each folklore. “I thought you’d be happy to see me,” says Ghost!Lotor, perhaps reading her mind?

“The ancients believed that all of life began with a single juniberry flower.” Foreshadowing the last episode’s rebirth of the universe, perhaps Lotor was supposed to accompany her in the grand restoration?

————————————

Even without S8, my point is that Lotor’s story followed a madness arc, slowly evolving along his multi-millennial life, and subtly hinted at throughout the show. Despite arriving at the same level of insanity as his parents, the reasons for his downfall were truly tragic, and, had the last season been allowed to develop as intended by the writers, Lotor would have been vindicated through a fully-fledged arc, just like his parents - thus, he deserved better and, in my opinion, the writers deserved better. The proof is in the details, and I’ve zoomed in quite a bit during this analysis. VLD gave us an amazing show with complex characters and most inspiring animation art.

This is probably my last meta on VLD. Going forward, I’ll focus more on the bright side of things: fan art and fanfics. See you on the other side! 😘

[the-lightning-strikes-again]

How would you have ended Voltron ??

In particular, what would you have done with Lotor and Allura ??

Hi, anon! Oooh what an interesting question!

If I absolutely had to start with the end of s8, assuming everything before has still occurred:

The easiest option would be that Allura doesn’t die, given that her life force is tied to Voltron and the Realm of Universal Consciousness is where the living and dead exist in the same space anyway.

Instead, previous paladins of Voltron, current paladins of Voltron, Voltron itself, and others (including a willing/repentant Lotor) help Allura restore the universe so that it’s not always just mostly her doing all the heavy work, offering their spiritual energy together to accomplish this massive feat. (Because legit, we need some found family / stronger together vibes! That’s the heartbeat of Voltron!)

It’s during the restoration that the selfish and defeated Honerva gets purified / fully restored herself.

The restoration burns out the rift creatures haunting the quintessence field.

When the universe is restored, Allura realizes she can bring the previously dead with her from out of this liminal space.

All the current paladins open their Lions to take in refugees and bring them back to their restored planets.

While Allura might offer them a second chance, Honerva and Zarkon choose to stay behind, as do many of the victims of the 10,000-year war who prefer the peace they’ve found.

Cue Allura’s heartfelt convo with her parents, who like many of the elders choose to stay behind, but not before doting on their daughter and offering her something that indicates the crown of Altea has been passed down to her / replaces the circlet she lost in s7. Perhaps Allura can still call on her parents in some way if she ever needs help or guidance (as previous-franchise versions of Allura could do). (More under the cut!)

The elders (Zarkon, Alfor, Honerva, etc.) could agree to help guard the flow of quintessence in some way, so that the living have sustainable access without going insane. (Idk what the limits are of this liminal space they're in.) Or else maybe the true secret of sustainable power is revealed through them, answering the problem that started this whole war.

As the paladins are encouraging others to come back with them, Lotor hangs back in the crowd. He does not feel worthy of a second chance at life, and is possibly unsure whether he even has the energy to try. He feels shame over his past and how quintessence twisted his mind.

Out of all the paladins, Allura approaches him and holds out her hand. “We were meant for more than fear and war,” she says, voice soft. “Do not be afraid to live.”

Lotor asks something like, deeply hesitant, “What life do I have? I isolated all allies and nearly destroyed the universe in going mad.”

Allura goes silent and then tries again, still holding out her hand, “And yet, the universe is restored, and all here know you took part in this great work. Your energy and will is a part of New Daibazaal’s atmosphere, its rivers and valleys.” She manages a weak smile. “If I remember correctly, you always did want to explore.”

“And can the past be so fully undone?” he asks. “Would I even be free to explore?”

Perhaps some moment where Zarkon and Honerva take responsibility for Lotor’s screwy life. Bonus if he gets some kind of call that the Galra still need a leader to help them in this new phase of peace, and that he hasn't reached his true potential yet.

Probably, some paladins chime in, validate that the alliance is back on, and the serious moment gets broken.

Lotor grabs onto Allura’s hand. She leads him to Blue Lion, where he joins the multitudes returning to the restored universe.

The Robot that jettisoned itself off Lotor’s spaceship from S5 is part of the crowd!! Lotor reunites on-screen with his cat, Kova!

Cue silly paladin shenanigans, a few stowaway mice finding a new resting spot on Lotor’s shoulders, and Allura’s new circlet catching the light as the paladins of Voltron launch back toward their reality, away from the Realm of Universal Consciousness.

Cue a pan-out to the restored universe, where the rift is healed, and New Altea and New Daibazaal exist side-by-side as their suns rise.

I think something open-ended, in the context of several characters—focused on a theme about not being afraid to live, about reconciling the past with the present—would hype that found family / stronger-when-we’re-together / comic energy that made Voltron unique…and leave lots of possibilities for the fandom to explore this new world!

If I could roll the clocks farther back than s8, I’d massively overhaul several things about the show. But this is just where I see a way to better land what we got toward the end.

Thanks for this ask! So fun to think about!

[m3r1m4r5u333]

Käärijä - Välikuolema

Käärijä - 'Middle death'

(Taksit on jo pihalla!)

(The taxis are already outside!)

Mä oon aivan loppu, loppu

I'm so done in, done in

Mut en haluaisi vielä nukkumaan

But I don't want to go to sleep yet

Mä oon aivan loppu, loppu

I'm so done in, done in

On se kyllä rankkaa kun *juotetaan

Tough indeed to be pushed to drink

Sekä *kisakondista koetellaan

and have your race readiness tested

Nyt mun on pakko saada välikuolema

I must now take an intermission

Hei anna mulle minsa, hei

Hey gimme a minute, hey

Mä lupaan että tää ukko on taas

I promise this gaffer will again be

Täysissä voimissaan

restored to full power

Tuli taksit pihaan, ei olla menos himaan

The taxis arrived at the yard, we aren't going home

Karin ja muiden kaa pidetään kivaa

We're having fun with Kari and the others

Meil on mukana mukava määrä glögii ja simaa

We've got a nice amount of mulled wine and mead with us

Mikä mussa on vika ku ei jaksa yhtään (?)tinaa(?)

What's wrong with me, I don't feel at all up to boozing

Kovasessa on yritys kova ja kovasta yrityksestä huolimatta

Hard efforts (?)in the taxi(?) and despite trying really hard

Mä nojaan selkänojaan

I'm leaning against the back rest

Vaik haluun joraa, mä tarviin vodaa

Even though I wanna dance, I need water

Ei jaksa dokaa

Not feeling up to boozing

Mä oon aivan loppu, loppu

I'm so done in, done in

Mut en haluaisi vielä nukkumaan

But I don't want to go to sleep yet

Mä oon aivan loppu, loppu

I'm so done in, done in

On se kyllä rankkaa kun *juotetaan

It's tough indeed when you're pushed to drink

Sekä kisakondista koetellaan

And your race readiness is tested

Nyt mun on pakko saada välikuolema

I must now take an intermission

Hei anna mulle minsa, hei

Hey gimme a minute, hey

Mä lupaan että tää ukko on taas

I promise this gaffer will again be

Täysissä voimissaan

restored to full power

....

Tai sit en herää ollenkaan

Or I may not wake up at all

Herää!

Wake up!

Anna mun pliis vielä hetki lepää

Please let me rest just a bit more

Herää!

Wake up!

Mitä jos ei nyt vaan jaksa enää

What if I'm just too tired now

Herää!

Wake up!

Onko mun siis vielä pakko vetää

So must I then keep boozing

No jumalauta passaa sitä flindaa

Well goddammit, (?)pass me(?) the bottle

Tää välikuolema on kestäny jo ihan liian monta timmaa

This intermission has already lasted for way too many hours

Mis me ollaan?

Where are we?

Tääl ei oo enää ketään vaikka meitä oli sillon lähtiessä tosi monta

Nobody's here anymore even though there were so many of us when we set off

Paljon kello, mikä homma?

What time is it, what's going on?

Se on jo yli puolenpäivän ja se vast on uskomatonta

It's past midday, isn't that unbelievable

Nyt mennään päivää, tokaa

Now it's day, second one

Ja vielä meikän päähän sattuu, kovaa

And still my head aches, hard

Ei uppoo rommi, kola

Rum, coke... not going down

Mä tarviin vodaa

I need water

ei jaksa dokaa

not feeling up to boozing

Mä oon aivan loppu, loppu

I'm so done in, done in

Mut en haluaisi vielä nukkumaan

But I don't want to go to sleep yet

Mä oon aivan loppu, loppu

I'm so done in, done in

On se kyllä rankkaa kun juotetaan

It's tough indeed when you're pushed to drink

Sekä kisakondista koetellaan

And your race readiness is tested

Nyt mun on pakko saada välikuolema

Now I must take an intermission

Hei anna mulle minsa, hei

Hey gimme a minute, hey

Mä lupaan että tää ukko on taas

I promise this gaffer will again be

Täysissä voimissaan

Restored to full power

Tai sit en herää ollenkaan

Or I may not wake up at all

....

Herää!

Wake up!

Anna mun pliis vielä hetki lepää

Please let me rest just a bit more

Herää!

Wake up!

Mitä jos ei nyt vaan jaksa enää

What if I'm just too tired now

Herää!

Wake up!

Onko mun siis vielä pakko vetää

So must I then keep boozing

No jumalauta passaa sitä flindaa

Well goddammit, (?)gimme(?) the bottle

Tää välikuolema on kestäny jo ihan liian monta timmaa

This intermission has already lasted for way too many hours

Herää!

Wake up!

Anna mun pliis vielä hetki lepää

Please let me rest just a bit more

Herää!

Wake up!

Mitä jos ei nyt vaan jaksa enää

What if I'm just too tired

Herää!

Wake up!

Onko mun siis vielä pakko vetää

So must I then keep boozing

No jumalauta passaa sitä flindaa

Well goddammit, (?)gimme(?) the bottle

Tää välikuolema on kestäny jo ihan liian monta timmaa

This intermission has already lasted for way too many hours

-------------------------------

Notes.

This isn't an official translation. I'm just a random fan, and not even an professional translator.

Välikuolema explained in Wikipedia:

From väli- (“middle-, inter-”) +‎ kuolema (“death”). 1. (colloquial) A pause to rest from partying or substance abuse.

My translation of välikuolema here is 'intermission'. 'Interlude' was another word I toyed with.

--------

Rambling about finnish culture, and lines/words I struggled with. And my reasoning for what I came up with:

"Sekä kisakondista koetellaan/and have your race readiness tested"...

First all I'd like to try explain 'race readiness', so here's my LONG essay.

A literal translation of 'Kisakondis(-ta) would be something like 'fitness for the competition'. Kisa = competition/trial/game, kondis = physical (or emotional) condition/health/endurance/fitness

It was originally a sports reference. Anytime there's some sports event coming up, finnish reporters keep speculating/asking if an athlete is healthy enough/at an ideal level of mental and physical fitness for the competition.

Eventually the never-ending speculations of 'competition readiness' became an ongoing joke.

And since finnish party/alcohol culture tends to be very ...moist... ...Jokes about someone's 'kisakondis'/competition readiness' - or lack of it - often refer to alcohol tolerance/level of inebriation/party endurance.

But kisakondis is not just about alcohol tolerance and endurance to keep partying, it's also about grace, appereance and skillset.

Yk, since a 'competition ready' athlete is obviously 'the ideal human'. A competition ready athlete looks good, is mentally prepared, skilled, has great endurance, can keep going no matter what... And so on.

For example if a finn runs into someone they know and that person is super drunk, doing all sorts of embarrassing things, and looking super haggard while doing all that... The finn might be tempted to gossip that they saw "X" and "X didn't look quite ready to compete".

Sometimes people bring up 'kisakondis'/competition readiness as a roundabout way to refer to someone's physical appearance. Or at least I've seen the term used like this. Obviously athletes tend to look like gods and a 'competition ready' athlete especially so... Which is why people may compliment each other like 'wow, aren't you in a great 'kisakondis'!") etc.

So even though finns tend to translate references to 'kisakondis' to be all about alcohol tolerance, that's not the whole truth.

Someone who's totally sober and losing a darts game might joke about not being 'prepared to compete', someone who struck out when they tried to hit on someone could joke about not being in an ideal 'kisakondis'. Etc.

Anyway, sorry about the essay. The rambling is quit irrelevant because in Välikuolema I'd say that the "race readiness that is being tested" does almost certainly refer to alcohol tolerance because that's the theme of the song etc etc.

-------

'Mikä mussa on vika ku ei jaksa yhtään *tinaa(?)/What's wrong with me I don't feel at all up to boozing

*NOT SURE if the lyrics go 'tinaa' or 'hinaa'. Some websites say hinaa, but I'm like 99.5% sure I'm hearing 'tinaa'. Tbh I think 'tinaa' makes more sense. Another translation also appears to think so.

Anyway, tinaa/hinaa is slang... And either way I'm thinking it translates to drinking alcohol. 'Tinaa' definitely does.

And even if the word is 'hinaa' I'd still translate it the same way. Some finns may disagree with me, but the reason I'm thinking that 'hinaa' would also refer to boozing goes like this:

Other meanings I could come up for the slang word 'hinaa' simply do not make sense for this song, line, or artist! Mainly because Käärijä seems like a cool dude, I doubt he'd suddenly switch from rapping about drinking to err.. slinging homophobic slurs..

But also, the slang word 'hinaa'/'hinata' originally means 'towing'. Towing is near synonymous to dragging/pulling... and the verb finns use for dragging or pulling is 'vetää'... And 'vetää viinaa' (viinaa = booze) is a word combination very often used for consuming (lots of) alcohol.

So I think 'tinaa'/'hinaa' means 'to drink alcohol'. I went with 'boozing' since the original line is also slang.

And anyway, I'm actually fairly sure the word I hear in the song is 'tinaa'. It's repeated twice and it sounds to me like 'tinaa' both times.

---------

Anyway, the lyrics do actually also contain the verb 'vetää'. Käärijä mentions he's not feeling up to 'vetää'.

I translated 'vetää' to 'boozing', but tbh, finns use the word 'vetää' pretty creatively. It can be used for drinking, but also for smoking, for taking pills, injecting drugs, or even eating something like candy, burgers... grandma's mashed potatoes... So what's happening really depends on which word 'vetää' is paired with.

HOWEVER, I'd say that since 'vetää' is usually, and has probably since the dawn of time been, paired with the word 'viinaa' ('booze'), I feel like booze is suggested even when the word 'vetää' is used more ambiguously, on it's own. Plus the song keeps talking about drinking, and if Käärijä meant something that's not booze, I think he'd word it another way.

----------

'Kovasessa on yritys kova'/Hard efforts in the taxi...

I struggled with this line for ages 😅 I'm still not 100% certain 'Kovasessa' means 'in the taxi".

The sentence goes something like "There is lots of hard effort... in/at/within 'kovanen"...

This 'kovanen' (origin 'kova' = tough/hard/stiff/severe/intense.. +'nen' a dimunitive) is an unfamiliar word to me. I don't even know if it's slang or something Käärijä came up with.

He also uses the word 'kovanen' in Viulunkieli. In that song he's rapping about being in a bar where the general mood is tense, and he's got the money so he 'orders a Kovanen'... Which is why I'm thinking Kovanen is either a taxi, or a stiff drink 🤷

'Kovasessa' could refer to drinking. Finns sometimes say "kovat juomat" when talking about "stiff drinks". Also, "kovassa humalassa" is a common way of saying 'to be extremely drunk'. Kovasessa/ ('in kovanen') could mean 'in a state of severe drunkenness', and 'Kovasessa on yritys kova' could translate to 'When one is very drunk, one tries very hard..'.

But let's make it extra confusing and stumble to my idea about the taxi:

Kovanen sounds like a family name! '-Nen'-ending is super common for Finnish family names.

So... "Kovasessa on yritys kova" could then translate to "(A person called) Kovanen is trying really hard"...

But!! after decades of dithering I came up with 'in the taxi' because a Google search told me that there's a finnish taxi company called Kovanen. And since the lyrics already mentioned taxis, I think he's singing about being in a taxi... A taxi, which carries the nickname 'Kovanen'.

Either way, the associations I'd expect my fellow finns to have when they hear the word 'kovasessa' make it sound like a word play. Maybe he's simultaneously saying that he's drunk AND in a taxi?)

----------------------

"No jumalauta *passaa sitä flindaa"/Well goddammit pass me the bottle.

😅 So to be awkward, this could also mean the total opposite: "Goddammit take a break from the bottle, then"

The line confuses me because the verb 'passaa' has more than one meaning. It means 'to hand over', 'to offer', but it ALSO means 'to skip'/'sit out' - like how players sometimes skip their turn, intentionally, in some card games. And the verse sounds like dialogue which adds to the confusion 😅 Who's talking here? I don't know! Do you know?

[reticenceofladyeva]

hoax vi (my twisted knife)

Kova sits in Hakoda's lap, babbling happily as his mother rests. Katara looked like she needed it, and despite the mixed feelings churning in his gut, Hakoda had tugged the baby from her and instructed her to get some sleep, that they'd talk later, that he was so, so happy to see her.

All of that is true, but he knows she'd caught him flinching away.

Kova doesn't know any better, though, and he and his bright, sunny eyes cheerfully track the gentle swing of Hakoda's hair beads in the sea breeze. He tickles the boy's tummy, just a little, and a delighted smile breaks across his grandson's face.

Many of the boy's features are Water Tribe. His hair is thick and wavy, if a shade darker than most of his family's. The nose is shaping up to look like Sokka's as a child, and the shape of the eyes is all Katara. He's a handsome boy, if Hakoda is honest, with his dark skin and pale eyes. The smile, though, is not familiar, nor is the way his face scrunches expressively at silly faces and tickles and, oddly, the burn scar covering Bato's arm.

Bato's face when the child had reached for his arm and said, "Da-da" had been priceless.

All of that is true, but the devastation on Katara's face immediately after had pricked his heart.

The Fire Nation in the boy rankles Hakoda, as a father and as a warrior. His daughter has been hurt, his son has been captured, or worse, and Hakoda wasn't there to stop either ruin.

He'll do better for his grandson, he vows.

[angelofchaos001]

Process and Biology of a Guardian

@riverripplespeaks

@seiun256

@stupidscav

@nom-de-plume-system

@registered-anonymous

@icecreamsodaaaaa

@kova-starlight

@doodlebug091

Wings of Rain post! I just grabbed the follower list for this one.

A Guardian is nothing more than a mechanically enhanced dragon, able to withstand much more wear and tear than your normal dragon could dream of.

When a dragon is selected to become a guardian, assuming they pass the required trials, they are gifted two main changes to their body: One, they are taken to an animus-enchanted object that gifts guardians bodies to no longer fall to time. Each structure has an object with such an enchantment, usually something that represents the tribe as a whole and is safely guarded. The enchantment only allows it to work on soon-to-be guardians, anyway.

The second main change is that their scales are replaced with some high-quality metal plating that perfectly reflects what their scales were. The metal is chosen and suited on a guardian-by-guardian basis, since some need it to be waterproof, fire resistant, stronger, more malleable, etc. (For example, Lilypuck's is mostly made of Stainless Steel since it needed to not rust in water, Garnet's has tungsten for a high heat tolerance since he breathes fire, etc) The dragons are usually induced into a coma-like state with sleepflowers and smokeberries, or other plants and animals, so that the process is smooth and painless.

^ Cross-section of Lilypuck

^ Cross-section of Garnet

Guardians are also usually given gifts of treasure, money, food, and accessories by the Wing as a congratulations and a thanks for their job, but they are also given one important gift from the royal family: Their helmet.

The helmets are many things, mainly a status symbol and a device of protection for their eyes, one of the most vulnerable parts of a guardian's body. When guardians are appointed, they are allowed to paint their symbol onto their helmet, which them goes on record as their official symbol. They may also choose what they want the arching antennae to look like, if they want any at all.

The glass screens of the helmets retract on command, if for whatever reason the guardians need the screens out of the way quickly (since taking the helmet off takes some time).

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

The process of becoming a Guardian is long and can be tedious to some. Not everyone is fit for the process, and only the strong can truly stand the life of eternal violence and bloodshed.

It starts when the guardian apprentice moves up to the guardian role to fill the void the previous one left. Then, one of the normal dragon guards in charge of monitoring who comes in and out is selected for special training to become the next guardian apprentice. Before this training even starts, they are given a health inspection to make sure they can handle everything, and while they are given a choice, it's heavily frowned upon to say no to the position.

Once a new guardian apprentice is made, their training begins with the current guardian, teaching them how scavengers and slugcats think, act, fight, and live. Some adventures include trips to the land below the clouds to see them firsthand, but most days are sparring with the guardian or getting lectured by them.

Common teaching topics are: Spotting small movements from afar, Aiming at a distance, The pack habits of scavengers, and how to abuse the fragile alliance scavengers and slugcats have.

One of the highest privileges of a Guardian Apprentice, however, is that they have a similar standing socially to a Guardian without any of the responsibility, meaning they are showered with gifts, attention, praise, and hopes.

They are also some of the few dragons allowed to interact with Guardians of other Wings, discussing topics such as battle tactics, news about raids, and the health of each other. It's seen as important to let apprentices meet each other and form strong bonds, as it's a very real chance they will need to help each other as full-fledged guardians.

Sometimes, more than one apprentice is appointed, and for some tribes more than one is customary.

As the apprentices learn and grow alongside their mentors and develop friendships with the other guardians and apprentices, there eventually comes a time when the previous guardian dies or disappears in battle. When this happens, the apprentice(s) is given one last health check, to ensure that they're able to go through with the process. If there are more than one, they take the healthiest and most willing participant. If there are no suitable apprentices, they still take the best out of them and spend extra time boosting them mechanically.

The enhancing process begins with the soon-to-be guardian approaching the animus-enchanted object to gift them with the stronger bodies that won't tire to time, and they are given a day and night to think about what they want their helmet and symbol to look like. After that time, they describe it to a scribe, check the sketches over to make sure it's the way they want, and send it off while they themselves are sent to have their scales replaced.

The process of the scale replacing is long, delicate, and requires a dedicated team of dragons who spend their lives doing this kind of work. While animus magic shapes the metal for them, they don't always have an animus to replace the scales, which sometimes means carefully removing each scale and fitting the metal in it's place, then using enchanted bandages to make sure everything heals properly and as intended.

After a few days of rest, the Guardians are taken to the royal family who present them with their helmet, and they are instructed to put it on to conduct the official ceremony, a process where the guardian swears loyalty, defense at the cost of their life, and to train the next apprentice the same efficiency they were trained with.

The whole process takes around a moon to complete, during which time the guards of the structure are to defend from any incoming raids.

The Guardian is given a year or two to adjust to their new life before they are given new apprentices, and it all starts over again.

[lilflowerpot]

Hey do u have any more headcanons about lotors generals that your willing to share?

My original post on this topic is quite comprehensive so I'm not sure how much else of significance I have to add, but I suppose there are a few small things?

Ezor is the most tactile of the bunch (which is saying something, given that the galra are very physically affectionate as a general rule) and she often drapes herself over the others with little regard for the importance and/or delicacy of what they are doing at any given time. Narti was the most touch-averse of the group, for reasons I am yet to disclose.

Kova has obvious favourites in the group: Narti & Lotor for cuddles, and Zethrid for play fighting. Ezor takes Kova's general ambivalence to her existence terribly personally, having tried (and failed) for decaphoebs to ingratiate herself to their feline mascot, while Acxa and Kova have an unspoken understating that to encroach on the other's space is akin to a declaration of war.

Acxa has an exceptional poker face in all things EXCEPT the lowest of stakes. Gun to her head? Cool as a cucumber. Friendly game of cards? She becomes the most predictable member of the group by far.

Zethrid offered her blade to Ezor within their first phoeb of acquaintance. Ezor took and returned it somewhat flippantly, with complete disregard for the sincerity with which Zethrid would proceed to court her, only to fall head over heels for her big buff girlfriend embarrassingly quickly. They are disgustingly happy together.

Lotor, Acxa, & Ezor often play with/braid each other's hair: if you're thinking "Ezor doesn't actually have hair" you would be correct, but she used to before she shed her skin for the first time, and misses it dearly.

Zethrid has the greatest weakness for cute things—the smaller the better—and is absolutely the friend who will try to pet any and every little animal the group come across (often at the detriment to her own safety, as many alien fauna are not receptive to large unknown galra attempting to manhandle them).

[momo1515]

Since I'm struggling with drawings/ writing anything (currently working on a fic) I figured I'd give a little more ideas for my sidlink family.

It would not be mpreg, I've read those fics and it doesn't fit with the world of Zelda. Instead, I wanted it to be an amazing life-changing experience where they speak the goddess statues and get blessed with a child. Not right away but they would know when it was time.

I want them to have 3 or 4 kids I honestly don't know. I want them to have each other like Sidon had Mipha and Link just wants a big family.

If they have 4 kids. 2 girls and 2 boys

Names I have no idea I have Kova who is the first born, total badass but a total sweetie who would "never" hurt anyone (unless someone hurts her siblings, her parents, her grandfather,anyone in the domain, Zelda- for the others I was thinking for the other girl either Mipha, Peri or Fi 👀👀 boy names I always struggle so anyone have any ideas for good boy names.

Link at first was nervous to be a parent (due to trauma he found out about his own family) but eventually relaxes and is the chill parent ,still stern will let things slide depending on the situation

Sidon as a parent is a bit more cautious (due to Mipha's passing) and gets super overprotective of Kova (less overprotective of the other siblings but it's still there after he's chilled out) due to his worries that they'll get hurt or worse sometimes they lie about situations to keep Sidon from turning into overprotective shark dad mode lol

Not sure how age works for them I'm sure they get that slow aging like Link;;

I have so many ideas I think my brain would explode lol

But hopfuly you guys like my little ideas

[basims]

“Vhalla, I need her in so many ways, Mother help me,” Aldrik groaned. “I need her as my redemption, I need her kindness, I need her forgiveness, I need her smiles, I need her humanity, I need her ignorance, I need her innocence, and, yes … Mother Sun, yes, I need her as a man.” Aldrik Ci'Dan Solaris & Vhalla Yarl Solaris | Air Awakens Series by Elise Kova

[winterpinetrees]

Finale (The Gap Years part 32)

July 24th 2019

Las Vegas, NV

The end of the season, or book, or whatever this is. 4.5 k words. Marin's new allies go rescue Sierra. They still have a lot to resolve afterward.

thank you @lokiwaffles and @reggie246 for tagging along for the ride.

...............................

They answer his call. For eighty-six years now, Marin has been given every reason to think otherwise. Before he was their last chance, his allies weren’t even kind enough to whisper. If his green eyes (not true Sondaica emerald, just hazel) were any indication, then he had his mother’s bleeding heart and love for the human realm. Perhaps his father’s complexion and frame were more telling, and the prince was a push-over intended only to tie Zerada Adust into the family tree. Sure, he’s quick on his feet and good with a staff, but not like Rhiannon. He’s well-trained with his magic, but Elyan could give weight to the void itself. So every time he makes a phone call summoning a cousin or aunt or ally to Las Vegas, he does it expecting to hear that they’ve all actually run off behind his older cousin Lir and wouldn’t come back so close to the capital if Lazarus himself demanded it. Instead, he gathers an army. 

Rhiannon kicks her feet up on his coffee table and twirls a pen between her fingers. She’s always been prone to nervous habits. Her father is in the next room over, scowling at the sound of a human party stories below them. The rest of Rhiannon’s close family, a mother and two brothers, are missing. Her little sister is confirmed dead. So is Elyan, a grandson of the apex who reigned before his mother. Lir shares the same grandfather, but different parents, and she holds the toy tiger that Marin earned at a carnival a month before up to the light as if it’s something more than cheap fabric. Her husband is dead as well, and they have no information about her young son.

The pattern continues through the elves of gens Adust, Celeron, Marolak, and the rest of the Lazarin faction. No one looks younger than fifteen or so in human years, as they were held at a different prison, and equally few are older than middle-age. Anyone who fought in the last coup would have been executed as a matter of revenge. Between those extremes, the family tree has been haphazardly pruned. There’s no pattern to who adds their magic to the illusions keeping them all hidden and who’s been given back to the ecosystem according to each family’s traditions. Nature never picks favorites. Luckily, their mysterious contact has cut through the fog of war. They know Sierra is being held in observation room three, down the hallway where the smaller offices used to be. The guards rotate their shifts every two hours, the human test subjects are fed at six and fourteen each day, and bodies are brought in or out every three days at sunset. For two dozen of the most powerful elves in the worlds, it doesn’t even feel right to call it a heist. The only real plans they need to make are about who dies once they’re inside.

Marin insists that they follow the new Apex’s lead and keep casualties low. The statement feels hollow with so many missing faces around him.  

………………………

It’s not getting easier, Clay thinks, as he points his rifle down a hallway at a surrendering guard. Clay and Brian insisted on being part of the team to free Sierra, but they’re hardly more than mascots beside the nobility. He’s used to feeling like an outsider, but there’s something in the reflective eyes of the elves that catches him off guard every time. Zerada’s brother is one hundred and six, not twenty. Marin’s cousins all clearly remember the civil rights movement and the moon landing. Even Marin has gained new life now that he walks beside his real friends. Clay knows how to walk quietly, but these elves stalk through the halls. 

He’s in a squad of four. Kova Marolak, niece of the traitorous Devana Marolak who their emissary confirmed was on the new High Council, is reckless but tough. She walks directly to his left and taps an axe across the floor. Marin walks ahead with his cousin, Lir, beside him. According to Marin, she’s his most likely challenger to the throne. According to the family tree, they’re second cousins. The guards here are commoners who were trained to handle defiant humans, not the best of the nobility. They surrender quickly, and Marin has to tell Kova off to keep her from slitting any unjustified throats. 

Clay doesn’t have much to do, but Marin yields the floor to him after they corner a certain doctor at the end of a long hallway. The fluorescent lights flicker overhead and he stomps towards a thin figure kneeling against a heavy sealed door. It looks like a proper Tolkien elf in the wrong genre, slender and pale with straight black hair in a properly hygienic bun. It doesn’t wear a noble vambrace with its pale green scrubs, but raises its head to look at him without any particular fear. (Eburos? Lir mutters beside him). He raises the rifle. It should be easier now that he’s put a child into its sights. 

“The vaccines are stored behind you?” he snaps. The elf thinks of Sierra as a test subject, so Clay will call him an it. So what if Brian freed his cell block with the power of friendship and hugs? 

“Yes, but they’re all still in development”.

“You’re plotting global conquest for like, next year. Get up and open the door”. It does. Kova holds her axe under his neck while he and Marin file into the room. Clay barks orders back at the technician. Which of these have undergone the most testing? Which have side effects? Which strain will be used for the final attack? Clay makes it gravely clear that no matter who winds up on the throne in a few years, Marin can and will avenge him if he dies of smallpox from a sabotaged drug. He grabs vials by the handful and places them into Marin’s messenger bag. Clay’s read that there’s no real danger to getting several flu shots, so their immune systems can probably handle a few of these? Once again, side effects are better than actual smallpox.  Basically everything is, except for rabies.

“What did you infect Sierra with? Where’s that antidote?”

The elf looks down. “She was given a strain derived from variola minor. It has a low fatality rate. We haven’t developed an antidote".

“You have got to be kidding me”. Kova grabs the elf’s soldier with her claw-like nails and lifts the blade higher. “Is it airborne?”. 

The lab tech shakes his head. “Only through close contact”.

Marin sighs. “Kova, please don’t make the casualty list any longer. And Clay, calm. We have healers now”. 

Right. Humans may have eradicated smallpox, but that achievement is probably nothing beside what elves have done. 

Kova lowers the axe an inch and gives Marin a disappointed look. She has a strong elvish accent and layered brown hair down to her waist. “Just say the word”.

Clay lowers his rifle in turn. “Don’t. Let’s get out of here”. 

She shoves the technician to the ground a little too harshly and hefts the axe back over her shoulders. Then they stalk back out. There are dozens of prisoners in this laboratory. A few lift themselves up to the windows of their cells and look out at him as they pass, but Clay keeps his head forward, even when the shadows seem familiar. Everyone here is already contagious. They’re also presumed dead, if anyone even noticed that they went missing. His father always said the same things about the people on the streets. Clay hesitates by a second hallway. The whole world is at stake and Sierra is locked in a cell. He can’t waste time. His family’s money won’t fix this. 

Clay catches someone’s eyes anyway, a woman about his age. They had said they wanted a way out, any way out. They were cursed and Betrayed and couldn’t control it, and the Mercurali’s new rulings only brought them more pain. The jailbreak had to happen. It was a simple decision. Clay knows that the fate of a human who survives a place like this can’t be anything good. He grabs the handle of a door to a cell that used to be an office and pulls. It’s locked, of course. He looks away and laughs to himself. Marin asks what he’s doing, and Clay shrugs. He was lost in his thoughts. The rifle shakes in his hands. 

………………

“Sierra!”

This… this is some sort of trick. Elves are illusionists. She knows this. Brian can’t actually-

Someone bangs on the other side of the two-way mirror. She can see a faint outline of his hands. “Sierra! We’re here to break you out!”

She sits up on the cot and listens carefully. The voice is quiet, but she guesses her cell wasn’t as soundproof as she thought. The door slides open, and she sees Brian standing in the hallway wearing an elven chestplate and sneakers. The vein-like lines that usually glow are dark, and he’s holding a baseball bat. The choice of weaponry is confusing until she sees Zerada and two unfamiliar elves behind him, all armed to the teeth. Brian’s just here for show. 

“Say something that the elves wouldn’t know,” she replies. 

“Eighth grade, when we had that freaky English teacher who made us read the book about seagulls? Like, quantum physics, hippie philosophy, seagulls? And the seagulls all had the last name ‘Seagull’?”

He’s actually here. She’s being rescued. She jumps to her feet and cheers (the world spins a bit. She tries not to think about Kebero’s threat of symptoms). “She wasn’t that bad”

“She was awful”. Brian looks back at her fearfully and stays in the hallway. “Wait, tell me something the elves wouldn’t know”.

She sighs. “In seventh grade, I tried to convince you to skip field day so we could all go hide in the supply closet and play Minecraft, but you didn’t want to let your team down and ratted us out to the teachers”.

Brian winces. “It’s been five years. I thought we were over that”. 

“They made me play dodgeball, Brian. Me. Age thirteen. Dodgeball”. 

She runs to hug Brian, but Zerada grabs her by the arm. “Cute story, but we need to leave. Clay’s team is working on grabbing your things, but no promises”. 

She breaks free from her grip and mutters that he had better get her stuff. “How did you even find me? I mean, thank you, obviously”. Brian still keeps his distance. Is something wrong?

“We got a phone call from an informant in the elven palace. She’s human, and told us to call her an emissary. Essie for short, I guess. All of her information has been accurate so far”. 

“Seriously? I’ve wanted to talk to a human for a while. Kebero let me speak to her seneschal, a personal secretary I think, during my interrogation but I barely got to say anything”. 

One of the new elves, a twenty-year-old looking man with ombré red hair and Zerada’s pale freckles gives her a lopsided smile. “You speak to humans all the time”.

“You know what I mean!” 

They start jogging. The new elves introduce themselves. The red-haired boy is Jezero, Zerada’s sibling. The other looks more alien, and is Sothea Celeron. The elf explains that Genus Celeron was more liberal with genetic engineering than most as a way to explain her webbed fingers.

The prison continues to look familiar. The lights seem cleaner and bluer than human ones, just like the ceiling lights at Project Excalibur did. 

“Where even am I?” she asks, not expecting her guess to be right.

“The ruins of Project Excalibur,” Brian replies too quickly. “Have you been experiencing any symptoms? Clay says that smallpox takes over a week to show symptoms, but…”

Sierra looks sheepishly at Zerada. She had the right idea to hold her back. “I’ve felt a bit off lately, but I assumed it was just from being in a cell. Kebero did threaten me a few days ago… They said, uh, ‘it might be hard to take you away from Eburos once the symptoms start’”.

The elves mutter to each other. This Eburos seems to be a hated figure. Sothea pauses the group and pulls Sierra into a side hallway. She places a hand on her forehead and her eyes begin to glow the blue-green of an anglerfish’s light. 

“She has a mild fever. I can’t tell anything else yet”. 

Sierra focuses on the cracks in the ceiling. She’s out. They have allies. No matter how many lies Marin has told, he isn’t going to let her die. 

…………….......

She holds a dagger up in front of her eyes. Perfectly straight with no chips or cracks, but it’s always a good idea to check after any sort of engagement. Engagement. She means a battle, but it’s probably a good idea to check one’s weaponry after setting a betrothal as well. Her betrothed is not as reliable as the metal of her daggers. He whispers with his cousin in old Lazarin, and Zerada makes sure to keep her ears back and give no sign that she’s listening. 

“Lir, you led your army at the Conservatory. I know you want power, but we’re going to have to be united to take back the crown”. He waits for her to reply, but Lir just leans back in her chair. She looks more like a proper Sondaica than him, with looser curls and true emerald eyes. 

“Certainly. Lazarus himself was known for his allies. Did your mother ever tell you about him?”

Now this is a rumor she’s heard, but never quite believed. Zerada makes herself busy with another task. 

“Did she tell me about…Lazarus? He was the first apex and the founder of our line? He has the massive statue overlooking the harbor? I could probably list every battle he led, you know how much time we’ve spent studying. Unless…”.

Lir nods.  “My father ruled in your mother’s stead for a decade or so, just before you were born. It wasn’t official, but he wore the helm and wielded the scepter”.

He did, and it was scandalous. For Emer to take a vacation from the throne… she’s always been impressed that the apex retained power once she came back. However, it did have a precedent. 

“Once she returned, my father all but threw the regalia back into your mother’s hands. Everything about the old apexes drifting off into the void rather than abdicating… that’s not a euphemism”. Lir pauses. The nobility do not believe in life after death. 

“When Lazarus emerged from the void with the power of a god, he left a piece of himself there. It’s an entire afterlife, and the scepter and helm are anchors to it. For those ten years my father was consulting with His Ascendance himself, and our ancestors did not approve of him”.

The void is pure magic and thought outside of time and space. With enough willpower, anything is possible. It’s still a shock. Life and death are the only sacred things the nobility have. If anyone was going to break those rules, yes, it would have been Lazarus Sondaica . He was a troublemaker, a psychopath, and completely unbound by any rules. The only person he ever truly cared for was a human soldier, and when he died of a bioweapon, Lazarus was never the same. Human stories tell of him abandoning his kingdom to search for eternal life. Elven history explains that he threw himself into the void after that, then not only survived but emerged to conquer the world. The idea that he succeeded in finding immortality… is nowhere near as unbelievable as it sounds. Jealousy hits her like Marin’s quarterstaff, which she knows has precisely the same weight as the scepter. He’ll see his mother again. 

Marin is asking why he’s hearing this information. They’ve managed to manipulate the humans, but that seems to be the limit of his charisma.

“My father said it was awful if they didn’t want you there. It’s the highest council there’s ever been”. 

They both pause. 

“So who’s the heir then? I mean, some previous Lords have kept the regalia in exile, but I sure don’t have it on me”. 

“Like you said, we’re going to have to be united to take back the throne. Your mother proved herself during the last coup. We’ll do the same. Survival of the fittest”. 

Zerada’s bet is on Lir. Her betrothed is capable, but the truly impressive acts and plans have come from the humans. Before the void-blank judgment of Lazarus, there’s no way he’ll come out on top. The thing is, she’s never found gambling to be much fun on its own. It’s really about the players and what they lose. Too bad she’ll only get a seat beside Marin. 

…………...........

“Crazy to think that I’m the champion wrestler, but you’re the one who’s good at hurting people”. Brian says it as a joke, but Clay freezes for a second while putting bandaids on his arm. They’re red, white, and blue, which he might deserve after all the politics he’s talked about these past few weeks. 

“You cracked someone’s ribcage like a pumpkin. These are not equal acts". 

Sierra has a mask (from their stash of makeshift radiation gear) on and her arms crossed. They never did get her favorite sweatshirt back from the elves. She has three dinosaur bandaids on her left shoulder, which has apparently gotten all of its movement back. “Seriously, where did you learn this?”

Clay only shrugs. He’s wearing a leather jacket and those reinforced jeans despite the heat. It’s been a pattern since the jailbreak. “How’d you learn to build a car?”

So he learned through some combination of sneaking into classes, his parents, bribing grad students, and the internet. Fair enough. 

Somehow, they are all back in Las Vegas in one piece. No one has any injuries more severe than bruises and they’ve added dozens of nobles to their growing army. Their emissary seems confident that the Mercurali, and the rest of the Eight Points faction, still won’t make any overt moves against them in such a populated area. If they move a bit and stay sharp, they can stay here until the elven world reveals itself. Of course, that reveal will be an apocalyptic one. Brian has always loved that bit of etymology, but it’s less fun with actual doom on the horizon. 

Sierra relayed her full interrogation to the two of them, including the brainwashed gaps. They’re staring down the barrel of a fifty percent casualty rate. Brian had taken a moment to clarify that it seemed like those deaths weren’t just from plague. The wording included anyone alive now who would die due to the elves, which meant deaths from plague, but also war, starvation, normal disease, or elven abuse. He’d felt a bit detached while he said it, like he wasn’t sitting on the tile floor of a Vegas suite, but actually drifting a few feet behind. He then clarified that this was not better. Either way, the plague is clearly meant to bring humanity to its knees. That means a high death toll, and as soon as it starts they lose their safe zone. 

So, in reality, they can’t stay here at all. The three of them may be immune to the plague (or will be soon) but no one else is. They have a year, maybe even less, before humanity screws up a pandemic response so badly that they’ll never be able to convince anyone that human independence is a decent plan. 

And he’s still drifting. Brian can catch a baseball moving at nearly a hundred miles per hour but his hands move like claws as he picks up a full vial. 

“What if I drink this?” Every year, they announce the team roster with a sheet of paper by the lunch room. Last name, weight class, class year. Team members hear directly from the coach, but it’s always his time learning his new brothers in arms. Brian sees the gym empty and the mats rolled up against the walls. He sees smallpox scars and draft notices and crushed bones from concussion rifles. He looks out at San Fransisco from a stage before Ishtar Mercuralis puts him down like an old dog. He hopes Zerada would bail him out before it got that far. 

“It would taste like salt water and do nothing,” Clay replies. Sierra mutters that he should totally try it.

“We should probably go home for a bit. Do something productive as an alibi,” she continues. 

“That would put us within a literal stone’s throw of the elven palace. We can’t risk it,” Clay replies, then he blinks as if realizing something. “And there’s no way we can convince your family to get injected with a mysterious elf drug. This thing could genuinely kill us”. He doesn’t seem convinced by his own argument.

Brian is more offended by the idea. “Remember the ambush? Without elves, we’re completely vulnerable. They can find us anywhere”. 

Six weeks ago they’d walked with Marin. The fog grew thicker and suddenly they had blood on their hands and a quest to complete. They need to stay together. 

“We could hide Marin in that spare room Clay always used?“ she suggests. Brian laughs it off, but Clay seems to consider it. 

“I’ll ask. I’m sure some noble would be willing to watch us for a week or two,”

“So what, we’re calling a timeout on our mission to save the world?” Brian replies. 

Sierra leans back. “I thought I was going to die in elf prison until like twelve hours ago. We deserve a break”.

“And we all might be smallpox carriers now. We should quarantine here for a week at least. Might as well go home after. I want to give my friends some sort of warning, too. They can keep secrets”.

That gets a laugh out of the two of them. Brian rests his chin on one hand “Dirtboy, you are not getting back in touch with your ex to give him a suspicious elf drug”. 

He blushes under his glasses. “...that wasn’t what I meant. I was talking more about social stuff. I swear I recognized one of the test subjects back at Excalibur. But now that you mention it, maybe we could convince Paige?”.

Brian’s thought about doing the same and warning his friends, but what can he say? This is all so unimaginable, and there’s not much they can do. Clay’s friends are more likely to die of this than his private-school teammates though. Brian also feels no instinct to protect his older brothers, but good on Clay for caring about his sister.

Sierra nods. “I wanted to run some more advanced tests on some of these elf gadgets too. Seems like there’s stuff elves don’t do with tech because magic can do it better. I’ve been thinking of a personal shield, like how Kebero deflected that shot during the car chase”. She turns to Clay. “Can you get someone to analyze the vaccine?”

He shakes his head. “I don’t think so. Smallpox would set off global alarms, and that would probably move the timeline of this invasion to, uh, right now”. 

Which would end their grace period and get all of them captured. Going back home feels stifling. He’s spent the past month on the run, spending time with the most amazing people and living by his own merits. He doesn’t want the world to burn, but a smaller transformation instead? He could get behind a rebirth from the ashes if it’s just for him. 

………………..

Even the meekest seneschals are spectacular liars, but Esther has more to hide than most. She is careful to act shocked, even horrified, when the Apex breaks the news that Marin’s new army broke the human girl out of captivity with ease, then adjusts that horror to a more personal type of fear when elves begin pointing fingers. Councilor Mercuralis, the Voyager turned backstabbing nobleman, declares that she was only rescued because Councillor Eburos was stupid enough to imprison the girl in a place the heirs had already infiltrated. Eburos snarls that there was no feasible way for the heirs to know she was hidden there, and questions if Councilor Marolak is having second thoughts about her change of allegiances. She accurately retorts that she had suggested holding Sierra on the other side of the planet, in one of the heavily guarded facilities where new human shock troops are raised. The details of that proposal never made it to the shining steel council table. The paper was misplaced in the shuffle, and when Daphne finds it a few days from now, she’ll surely hide the thing to save herself the blame. 

She doesn’t have anything against the other woman. They’re cousins through biological fathers they barely know, and Marolak is a crueler master than Amedi, but if she doesn’t act, they’ll write the last lines of human history in this very room. Daphne will be fine. The only thing Marolak hates more than having a human handling her most secure documents is the time every few decades when she has to choose a new one. 

She blinks up into the skylight. The room is cluttered and monitors cover the walls, but the glass ceiling lets in the sun. When she was younger, it felt almost holy. Now that she’s used to the nobility, it feels like a memorial. In the same way that water becomes a six-pointed snowflake, this is the shape that history takes when it crystalizes. No one has gotten enough sleep lately, least of all her. She doesn’t speak with the humans every night, but it’s enough that she’s not functioning as well as she should. Esther shouldn’t refer to them like that. They aren’t just any humans. They might even be friends, some day. Maybe that’s how this will end. Amedi will realize just how much she’s “taken a liking” to Marin's allies and charm her into revealing every secret she has. 

The councilors take a vote. Ever since Lazarus Sondaica declared to the first Ishtar Mercuralis that he would not rest until her throne was his, the nobility have liked to call their mortal enemies, “adversaries”. The apex rules, and whoever has the strength to talk back receives the other title. Ishtar was the adversary once, and now she makes the proposal. Does Marin Sondaica deserve it? Have his actions, surviving their attacks, freeing his kin, rescuing that girl, warranted elevating him to this new height? Ryn almost laughs. Marolak recites a line from The Artificer, then says that maybe the humans can share it. The vote is unanimous. Marin is nothing more than a runaway.

.....................

this thing is now on indefinite hiatus. it's been very fun! I’ll probably be back someday but who knows. In total, this “season” or “book” or section of the story is about 75 thousand words. That is the length of a novel. I wrote the awful first draft of an actual novel chapter by chapter and I am quite proud!

The book Brian mentions is Jonathan Livingston Seagull. I also had to read it in middle school. It truly is that weird.

[dailycharacteroption]

Imperial Agent (Vigilante Archetype)

(art by Larian718 on DeviantArt)

We’ve covered plenty of vigilante archetypes here on the blog before, but as we’ve pointed out, despite the narrative origins, not every vigilante is a hero or even a good person. Sometimes people hide their identity to do very bad things.

One such example are the imperial agents of the former empire of Lung-Wa, who work behind the scenes, sometimes alone, sometimes in groups, to try and destabilize the various successor states in hopes of them unifying them into a true heir to the old empire. So basically Romance of the Three Kingdoms by way of spycraft.

Such sneaks and spies not only work under a cover identity, but also establish disguises that paint them as agents of foreign powers to try and insight war and distrust.

Given the politics of many of the major powers of the world and their clandestine acts in other nations, I think we can agree that even stripped of the context of the Pathfinder core setting, this archetype is not very heroic. At best, you could use it for an infiltrator trying to destroy a villainous nation, perhaps the alliance of multiple such antagonists, from within, but the vibes point to this usually being an NPC antagonist archetype, or at least a morally grey one.

Even still, we’ll look and see what it has to offer.

The primary skill of these instigators is their mastery of spreading rumors and slander about an individual or group, souring the locals against them. Of course, if they fail, they might face investigation or reprisal if they are found out.

Master manipulators, they also are good at intimidating or lying to others.

Finally, they learn how to create an extra identity in the form of a member of an organization, making it easy to fool a layperson that their activities are performed by a member of said organization, placing the blame on them. However, they have to be careful, as actual members of that organization are very likely to see through their disguise.

This archetype is rather unobtrusive, so you can still build them how you see fit. Their real strength is working in intrigue-heavy games where they can manipulate public opinion and place blame upon their enemies. That being said, unless it suits the game for the GM to roll for it, most of these abilities won’t get used when in the hands of an NPC, making it somewhat superfluous in its most common role.

Agents like this in the real world are loyal, very loyal to a cause. One might argue that they are selected based on their lack of introspection about the cost and impact of their efforts, but there is always room for someone to have a change of heart. Whether the character remains true to their beliefs of changes is up to the user, of course.

The river wardens proudly wear the symbol of the wakandagi, a powerful river spirit, on their armor to show their devotion to keeping the waterways clean and safe. It is utterly shocking, then, to hear rumors of groups of them suddenly demanding tolls and protection money from merchants and civilians that use the river and channels in their daily lives.

Crotchety and bitter, Kovas the bleachling gnome has taken his jaded and cold demeanor to a new low… by becoming a company plant in the builder’s union. By day he is a grumpy but hardworking worker, but by night he uses a copious amount of dye and makeup to appear as an unbleached member of his kin, sowing mischief while wearing the union’s insignia, and when that doesn’t work, he dons a full disguise for enacting more blatant forms of sabotage.

General Kir runs a tight ship, brooking no insubordination. When rumors reach his ears that some of his troops are abusing the citizens of the outlying providences, he immediately launches an investigation with the party at it’s head. It becomes increasingly clear that all troops were accounted for a the time, so it becomes a quest to find these bad actors before the dissatisfaction with the locals reaches a head.

[thievescanted]

the fact that kova spent so many of their formative years at sea is soo funny to me because they're such a meticulously clean person and its simply not easy to keep clean when you spend most of your time on a boat i would imagine

[rageinfinitely]

•things i learned in September :::::

-trusting oneself and loving oneself are slightly different.

(i’m practicing on the trust part)

-my astrological aspects point to my emotions (that I have so many mixed feelings about) actually being the force that will lead me to my “destiny” …if you will.

-being in a state of personal performance through pure expression is the same act a painter embodies. (Also take note to the fact you have access to different paintbrushes)

-It feels good seeing how far courage will take you

-You don’t have to stay in a state of suffering in order to succeed in fact you mustn’t act from an older more scared state that you once embodied due to living in a state of survival

-confidence is amplified through action

-resistance is a secret law to universe and understanding it is power (I will not expand on this rn but it makes so much sense in my head)

-We are not stuck unless we want to be, We must claim our freedom

-Hoda Kova is genius ::: such a great spring collection

-Earl Sweatshirt’s “Some Rap Songs” album is a masterpiece

[xinuba]

i should probably post something huh

hey hi im pom (i also go by voodoo and kova) ive literally never used tumblr before so im. a little late to the party 😢

i mostly draw ocs but im in a lot of fandoms and may doodle my fav characters from time to time (danganronpa, project sekai, honkai star rail, needy streamer overload, angels of death, ib, undertale, and many more!!!! ^_^)

im still learning how this app works so please bear with me 😞

[shsenhaji]

📚 August Reading Round-Up 📚

I'm very happy that I was able to read (and finish) quite a few books this month! My reading selection was also perhaps a bit more varied, with a non-fiction book thrown in. I began reading the Tea Princess Chronicles by Casey Blair (very good, so lovely), continued with the next volume of Spy x Family, and read books newly published as well as older.

- The Mimicking of Known Successes by Malka Ann Older (very good, loved the worldbuilding, interesting plot)

- Kushiel's Dart by Jacqueline Carey (really enjoyed it, definitely cried a bit toward the end, a lot of interesting tropes and themes, good worldbuilding, liked how many of the themes were handled)

- Batman: Wayne Family Adventures Volume One by Payne and Starbite (lovely, so happy I get to have a physical copy, can't wait for volume two)

- A Dance with the Fae Prince by Elise Kova (liked it a lot, loved the themes and the romance, good character growth)

- Killers of the Flower Moon by David Grann (re-read, well-written, interesting and illuminating, difficult subject matter, felt the narration treated the subject material well for the most part, interested in seeing the movie adaptation)

- A Coup of Tea by Casey Blair (amazing, lovely, binged it in almost one sitting, loved the themes and characters and how it was all put together, as well as the focus on tea, diverse in a good and welcoming way)

- The Physicians of Vilnoc by Lois McMaster Bujold (loved it, tough subject matter however, Penric and Desdemona as lovely as always, enjoyed the philosophical themes and questions)

- Ancillary Sword by Ann Leckie (great, loved it, missed Seivarden a bit though, great themes and characters, made me want to re-read the first book)

- Spy x Family Volume 6 by Tatsuya Endo (Cute, funny, engrossing, more of a tight one-arc story which I liked, has the famous lullaby Yor and Loid scene, Nightfall was hilarious, a key moment finally occurred!)

- Tea Set and Match by Casey Blair (loved it, a lot of communication, loved the themes and how it was handled, cathartic, interesting understanding of the MC's privilege (and how she can use it)

- The Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison (re-read, interesting, the narration was amazing and really sold the story, liked the back half of the book more, some very dry and funny and witty parts, wanted more things to be fixed/dealt with, Maia's internalized racism is never really questioned by him)

- Outlaw Mage by KS Villoso (had backed the Kickstarter, very good, read it in a few sittings, enjoyed the characters and themes, tried to figure out how the book connected to the other series in that world, enjoyable and thought-provoking, not too subtle, want to know what happens next)