#VLD Season Four Spoilers

[kitkat-oreo]

Me when keith was ready to sacrifice himself and I legit thought he was going to die

[traaaaashboat]

I knew I've seen that face somewhere...

[rigb0ner]

Shiro and Lance Being Near Each Other in Season Four (Part Two). 💙🖤

[blonde-batgirl]

Let’s talk about Keith’s decision to leave team Voltron. The reasons he gives in Code of Honour (Season Four, Episode One) are that Shiro should be the Black Paladin and that he wants to go on an infiltration mission with the Blade of Marmora, who are investigating something to do with Lotor. I don’t think the second reason can be entirely discounted – Keith has had a thing about Lotor since he first found out about him and he’s been clashing with Shiro about it – but the first reason is far more intriguing.

Notably, this is not the first time that Keith has tried to step down as a paladin. When Keith said he wanted to leave at the end of Code of Honour, the first thing that came to mind was what he said to Lance in Tailing a Comet (Season Three, Episode Six), “Stop worrying about who flies what. Things will work themselves out.” The next time we see him, he’s volunteering to stay back at the Castle of Lions so Shiro can fly the Black Lion. He does not mention the Red Lion or the Blue Lion. He might not say it outright, but the implication’s there. Keith has always maintained that Shiro is the true Black Paladin, all the way from The Rise of Voltron (Season One, Episode One), “Shiro’s the head,” to The Red Paladin (Season Three, Episode Two), “I can’t replace Shiro.” Furthermore, Keith makes no secret of how much he hates being the leader. Despite showing some aptitude for leadership (directing the group to lay down cover fire in Return of the Gladiator, Season One, Episode Three, taking over from Shiro in Blackout, Season Two, Episode Thirteen, leading the rebels in A New Defender, Season Four, Episode Six, etc.), he’s a naturally withdrawn person and has no confidence in his ability to lead (“I’m the loner!” – The Red Paladin). He was never going to stand in the way of Shiro piloting the Black Lion. The conversation with Lance puts him in an awkward position because Lance outright admits that he’s afraid of losing his place, of being the odd paladin out. Furthermore, he agrees with Lance that Allura has potential as a paladin that neither of them possess. Between Keith’s insistence that Shiro should fly the Black Lion and Lance’s belief that Allura should remain a paladin, only the Red Lion is left open.

There’s a time skip between seasons three and four in which two significant events occur: Lotor disappears, and Keith begins training with the Blade of Marmora. Bear in mind here that Keith’s been a member of the Blade of Marmora since The Blade of Marmora (Season Two, Episode Eight), but he doesn’t start training with them until there are six paladins and only five lions available. This is an option Keith has that none of the others do – a place he can go and be useful in the fight against the Galra even if it means he’s no longer a paladin. (Note: Allura, with her ability to open wormholes, has this option too, but she would still be on the Castle of Lions.) Keith is ruthlessly pragmatic. This isn’t him leaving for the sake of Shiro, Lance or Allura. He knows he can be useful outside of Voltron and he knows that Voltron can function without him, so he takes himself out of the equation. From his perspective, he’s no longer necessary. There’s plenty of evidence in Code of Honour that Keith doesn’t really want to leave Voltron. When Shiro first puts his hand on his shoulder, he looks shocked and more than a little horrified. Later he smiles at the team before he leaves, but the moment he turns away he looks utterly miserable. I’m not saying that he doesn’t want to take the Blade of Marmora mission, but wanting to take the mission and wanting to stay with Team Voltron are not exclusive. Keith can think that he’ll be of more use somewhere else and still not want to go. The look on his face when Shiro puts his hand on his shoulder suggests that he was expecting Shiro to try and talk him out of it. Hoping for it even. Like he was looking for some kind of sign that the team did need him. That he offered something irreplaceable. Earlier Allura told him, “The Blade of Marmora can go on without you…Voltron cannot.” Except, it seems, Voltron can.

This feeds directly into Keith’s almost-sacrifice at the end of A New Defender. Throughout the battle, you’d expect Kolivan, as the leader of the Blade of Marmora, to be keeping Voltron updated. Instead, it’s Keith. When he decides to go after Haggar’s ship, he doesn’t know the planet is primed to blow. We know that through the paladins, but their communications can’t get through. He tells the rebels, “I think [the ship] has something to do with Voltron [going silent].” He goes in originally because he thinks Team Voltron is in danger. He might not be one of them anymore, but he’s still looking out for them. Later, when Voltron escapes the planet, Shiro informs him that it’s going to explode. It’ll take out Voltron, the rebels, the Blade of Marmora, everyone. This is where we really see that Keith believes that Team Voltron can go on without him. He decides to fly into the shield, a plan that, let’s be honest, is unlikely to bring the shield down, but he thinks it’s worth a shot. Crucially, he doesn’t tell the paladins what he’s about to do. He doesn’t say any goodbyes. Maybe he’s afraid they’ll try and talk him out of it. Maybe he’s afraid they won’t.

[heartofflo]

PIDGE STILL HAS THE MANNEQUINS SHE MADE WHEN THEY GOT LOST IN SPACE

[i-feel-alright-tonight]

Voltron Season 4 Spoiler

Alright I never post to Tumblr but I'm darn upset with episode two

I don't understand why the episode was titled "Reunion" and had Matt in the thumbnail, or why Matt was ever a part of any trailers (the season 3 trailer that got released in Japan I think ?? Where we got the first clips of Matt), it ruined the whole episode

Episode two was clearly intended to be super emotional with Pidge thinking she found Matt's grave, and it was, the set up was really good. If I hadn't known for certain Matt was gonna show up in that episode I definitely would've cried. That scene was entirely perfect, but the Voltron staff just up and spoiled them damn selves and I'm pissed they ruined it for me

[kohigh]

The four horsemen of the apocalypse

[idonthaveanyurlideas]

Good things about Season 8:

Narti was mentioned. 

[primordial-boy-soup]

Actual text conversation between Keith and Lance

[farmhandler]

They did Lance, Lotor and Allura so dirty. I'm still so bitter by that, you don't even know

You know I’m fine with Lotor since he was already dead and all lol but farmer Lance...that was pretty lame. He made a huge deal about being a pilot and his sharpshooting and then suddenly he wanted a simple life??? What?? Allura’s sacrifice was so sudden and so quick that I was like wait what I thought they meant she could die. Like it was not built up well lol. 

I do want to remind everyone that the show was made in less than three years, and most of that was probably decided very quickly so they could have the storyboards and animation finished in time.

They are amazing storytellers when they have the right time and space so I think if they didn’t have execs telling them to get 8 seasons out in under 3 years, we could have had a lot more than we did. Which was great! A lot of it was so good! I loved all the ladies, and I loved the extra bits of interaction we got from everyone! 

It’s just unfortunate that the ending felt so rushed and...hm.

[kitkat-oreo]

I already cannot wait for next season!!!

[juskla]

matt holt is a weeb.

BONUS:

[blonde-batgirl]

Are the Galra Seeing through Shiro’s Eyes?

Here’s the thing with what happened to Narti – we don’t know whether she was innocent or not. She could have been in league with Haggar from the beginning. She could have been an unwitting spy under a spell. We don’t know. What we do know is that, somehow, Haggar was able to see through her. She knew what Lotor was doing and where he was because she could see and hear through Narti.

It’s possible that something similar is happening with Shiro.

Hear me out here. In season four, the good guys are twice seen falling into traps that would require the Galra Empire to have prior knowledge of their movements. The Blade of Marmora land on a decoy ship in Code of Honour and Naxcela is primed to blow in A New Defender. Haggar’s magic is partially responsible for the second one, but the stuff that was already down on Naxcela? That had to be done ahead of time. @arahir points out here that Shiro has prior knowledge of both of these operations. The latter he even planned himself. (Note: If Shiro’s a clone, it is possible the Naxcela plan was planted in his head by the Galra themselves. Bear in mind that the only thing that saved the rebels was Lotor being a wild card.) This can, of course, be explained through contrived, plot-convenient coincidence, but I think the Voltron writers are better than that. Shiro could be under the same spell that Narti was. Alternatively, remember the mechanical whirring sound Shiro’s eyes made back in The Journey? Remember how we were all freaking out about it? Well, if he’s not under a spell, the Galra could just as easily be seeing through his probably mechanical eyes.

(Quick disclaimer. I do not believe that Shiro, whether or not he’s a clone, is in anyway complicit in this. I cannot think of a single circumstance under which the original Shiro would have betrayed the team and, regardless of the differences between pre and post season three Shiro, I cannot see the current Shiro actively betraying the team either. If he’s being used to spy on the team without his knowledge, that’s not his fault.)

[lance-cubano]

[traaaaashboat]

The Entire Voltron Fandom when Keith was straight up about to sacrifice himself:

[kingjem]

y'all sleeping on hunk being the biggest bamf out there