#merla x lotor

[more-lance-in-earrings]

two screenshot redraws of Merla i did today. more sketchy ideas than full redraws or anything.

first one is sort of based on/inspired by her original DotU design, though i honestly really like her VLD design.

second one is based on one of my au ideas, where instead of the Canon colony storyline, there are two groups of Altean survivors, and instead of the "Druids" Haggarva's followers are Altean "Witches" from the planet Pollux.

[ladyemberswrites]

The Shoreline

[Some weirdness here]

WIP! The shoreline

~

Allura isn't familiar with Lotor's estate. But, the Eros sea is somehow soothing as she listens to the waves crash against the shoreline, they remind her of Altea in many ways, and in many ways not. 

-But, she turns from the wide, crystal windows to the bowl of onions in her hands, brows furrowed she found herself at a loss on just what to do with them exactly. 

Cut them? Fry them? Saute them? Season them? She eyed the rack of spice in front of her, curious she picked one up only to be unable to read the label. Huffing, she placed it back and peered around the kitchen. Which was empty save for Merla who busied herself cleaning the guts to some animal she couldn't remember the name off.

She wrinkled her nose, and turned to glance out the kitchen door to see if Lotor was anywhere, but he wasn't in the parlor room or anywhere, she frowned drawing back into the kitchen to go back and stare at the bowl of onions.

She tapped the wooden spoon that she was given against the silver bowl debating on what to do. 

"Do you realize how annoying that is?"

"I'm sorry, but did you say something or is it the wind blowing in my ear?" Allura didn't bother to turn her head, and just kept tapping the spoon much to Merla's annoyance.

"Do you want me to rip that spoon from you hand and place it between your kidneys?" She hissed.

Allura did turn this time eyes narrowed "I like to see you try, unless you like your head frozen in a block of ice." 

Merla pressed her lips together.

~ 

Merla ran out of patience, Lotor found himself too exhausted when she shoved him onto the bed, the mattress squeaking beneath them. Allura watched them eyes wide as she found herself quickly uncomfortable watching Merla crawl onto the bed to place her head in the crook of his throat. The annoyance was clear, cut in the hard daze of his eyes, but didn't try to move the sorceress. Swallowing, face flushed, she thought to remove herself until Lotor grabbed her wrist as gently as possible, guiding her to his otherside. Her knees hit the bed before she crumbled into his warm, strong arms, curling into his side. She drew his arm over his waist and snuggled closer ignoring the woman on his other side with surprising easy as sleep soon took hold of them.

~

[autistic-writer]

Merla AU Update 3

Ok new stuff for my Kallura folks... Merla manages to convince Keith to stay with Voltron when she tricks him into a date with her. Allura follows after them distrusting of Merla and stalking them during this date. Merla tells Keith that no one is truly ready to be a leader and tells Keith not to be like Shiro in leading Voltron but to lead Voltron as Keith. Merla head back and tells Lotor she was at the Unaloo swap meet looking for more artifacts from other realities planets/useless junk no one wants.

Also Merla becomes friends with Allura grateful for her willingly donating her own Quintessence to help with Merla's own Quintessence deficiency syndrome. Merla gets to roam the Castle of Lions as she earned their trust on this. Lance flirts with Merla but she isnt interested and asks how one 'flirts with a male,' while trying to connect with her Alrean heritage.

[nomadicism]

Lotor for the character ask

Hi Anon! Thank you for the Ask!

I'll go with VLD Lotor, though I could do this for all of his iterations.

1. First impression:

Relieved and amused.

I never much liked DotU Lotor for a variety of complex reasons, though I found him amusing in the made-for-US season of DotU that had Merla in it. Voltron 3rd Dimension and Voltron Force doubled-down on the worst ideas for the character, so I was hoping that he'd never show up in VLD. The cliff-hanger in S2 had me anxious because I really didn't want to see another round of stalker space barbarian.

VLD S3 had a great introduction for him, honestly the best intro for all iterations of his character, including the comics. It was easy to see that he wouldn't be another gross stalker space barbarian and that was a relief.

2. Impression now:

(＃｀д´)ﾉ Salty.

No thanks S6, S7, S8. What a waste.

3. Favorite moment:

The chase flight when Zarkon is hunting him down.

4. Idea for a story:

How Lotor and Narti met.

5. Unpopular opinion:

I can't think of any

6. Favorite relationship:

Lotor x Happiness

(and of course Lotura, Shotor, and Shotura)

7. Favorite headcanon:

That Lotor and Ven'tar had a relationship and it was a pretty damn good one until Zarkon came along.

[bluemoose86]

My Thoughts on Honerva’s Arc (S8 of Voltron: Legendary Defender)

SPOILER WARNING for Voltron: Legendary Defender, obviously. Also obligatory disclaimer: the following is solely my opinion and should be treated as such. I know there were several production problems that led to the show becoming what it is, but I am not informed on those issues and won’t be speculating on how they specifically influenced the show.

I’M GONNA SAY IT: Honerva’s arc could have been soooo interesting if the lead-in had been better instead of tacking it onto the end of the whole “beating the Galra Empire” mega-arc. Honestly, the end of season seven felt like the natural end of the series, and if they had changed a few things it could easily have been an open yet resolved ending. The main plot-line has been wrapped up because all the major Galra Empire villains from the show (apart from Honerva obviously) have been defeated, but there’s still a lot of work to do in order to completely free the universe. The show could have ended with the Paladins getting ready to re-launch and looking towards the future, which also opens up the possibility for spin-offs or even a sequel series. IMO, everything from season 8 (and the weird Altean Robeast attack at the very end of S7) would have been much better if it had been its own series. There could have been more focus on Honerva’s downfall, how she plotted to use the Altean colony just as her son did, all the details that felt rushed at the end. And they could have developed their sub-plots more, especially the Allurance (Allura x Lance) romance if that was the direction they wanted to take. Plus we could have seen a lot more of the side characters that never got a chance to shine! Shay, Romelle (my beloved), Axca and her place at the Garrison, the MFE pilots, etc etc. 

Anyways, back to my original point: Honerva’s arc had so much potential. Seeing her transform from this shadowy, almost faceless entity who only exists to support Zarkon to a spotlight antagonist in her own right is really interesting. Reclaiming her Altean heritage while simultaneously corrupting it? Being so desperate to regain everything she lost 10,000 years ago that she would do anything and everything to get it back? Seeing how her mindset has come full circle–a woman who loves her family more than anything–yet how it has changed and warped over the millennia? That’s some good shit right there. Honerva in the show might believe she has returned to her original state from 10,000 years ago, but if you compare them, you’ll notice how even though there are glimmers of the same person, they are exponentially different. It could have been such an interesting and nuanced take on her character and really expanded on the earlier themes of “good vs. evil” that we see early on in the show. 

Another interesting part of Honerva’s character is her interactions with the Alteans on Lotor’s colony. It’s clear that she only uses them as means to an end, since she uses them as a battery for her Robeasts and kills Luca as soon as she starts talking to Romelle (and I think she kills others as well). However, if this arc had been developed over a longer period of time (say a series?? or even a 26 episode season honestly), that relationship could have been much more complex. In S8E2, “Shadows,” the entire episode is devoted to flashbacks of Honerva’s life, ranging from Lotor’s childhood to the three years Voltron disappeared. In one of those flashbacks, Honerva appears at the Altean colony that Lotor created, announcing that she is his mother, that the Alteans are great and the Galra are horrible, and that Lotor and the fake sister colony have all been murdered by Voltron and now she must help them avenge their savior’s death. The Alteans agree and Honerva takes one of them, Merla, to Oriande. As the two overlook the magical palace thing that Lotor, Allura, and Honerva visited in order to gain their magic powers, the following exchange happens:

The second image is could allude to a couple things, but one of the possibilities is that it’s referring to her own mindset–how she will do anything to bring Lotor back. She understands how Merla feels because she feels the same way. However small, and however brief, there’s a connection between them. And not just to Honerva and Merla, but to Honerva and all the Alteans because they (presumably) have the same feelings as Merla. It would have been interesting to explore how Honerva views the colonists. Does she relate to them on some level because they share a deep love for her son? She exalts Lotor the same way the colonists do, even referring to him as a god during the last Kral Zera in the show (and possibly ever). Or does she resent them? Does she harbor hatred for them because they loved and adored him when she could not? Because they spent all that time with him before she even had the chance?

Not to mention the fact that the colonists are Altean, the same as she is. In fact, there was a massive missed opportunity to explore Honerva’s views of her own culture. A major part of her arc is regaining her identity as an Altean and pride in her culture. She de-camoflauges herself, though only in private at first, she learns Altean alchemy, all the good things. And yet ... she destroys everything. She proclaims that Alteans are the best of all the races, that the Galrans are lower than scum and that Galran blood poisoned her son. Yet she goes on to manipulate and use her own people, killing them without hesitation in order to further her own plans. She destroys Oriande–or at least the statues–a place greatly revered by Alteans that she searched for her entire life. If she reveres her heritage as much as she believes, how can she turn around and destroy it the way she does, with seemingly no remorse? Add to that the fact that Lotor’s (supposed) aim for most of his adult life was preserving Altean culture. Imagine if the show had gone through with resurrecting Lotor, as it was hinted at. Assuming Lotor came back sane/with his full faculties and wasn’t being controlled by Honerva at all (which would be a long shot I know but hear me out), how would he feel knowing what his mother did? Maybe he wouldn’t care about the “using Alteans as batteries thing” since he basically did the same thing, but how would he feel about her defiling Oriande, even if she only destroyed part of it? Would it wake him up to the horrors of his ways–this person whom he despises doing the same things that he did? Probably not. But it’s interesting to think about.

I actually had more to say but the train has left the station on this topic, so I’ll just end it there. TL;DR: Honerva had so much potential and she, like pretty much every character in season 8, was robbed of her chance to shine. To everyone who made it to the end, thank you and I hope you enjoyed!

[i-heart-lombaxes]

First of all, this is Kaitlin Anderson-Diaz, a version of my Voltron OC, Kanti, as a character in the AO3 Voltron fanfiction Adrenaline Rush by @the-lightning-strikes-again.

Now for an overview.

Kaitlin Anderson-Diaz info:

Career and Relationships-

Kaitlin Anderson-Diaz, better known by her stage name, “Kanti Draqoi”, is a 25 year old singer-songwriter and the lead vocalist of the popular all-female pop punk band, Vixen. She is also a solo-artist, though, and has released 3 solo albums: “Empress”, “Enter: Kanti”, and “Beautiful Freak”.

Kaitlin’s most successful song is undoubtedly her single, “Danger-Proned”, which was inspired by her former career, as a pro stock motorcycle drag racer. She was a racer for 3 years, but quit after an incident that occurred during one of her races, involving another contestant. She has discussed this incident to the media and the situation has been implied in her music, though she has never told anyone who the contestant involved actually was.

However, many fans of Kaitlin and her band theorize that the mysterious contestant was none other than Galra Tech racer, Sendak Babahdur. Others argue that it couldn’t have been him do to Kaitlin’s current engagement to Sendak. After all, why would she agree to be with someone who ruined her chances of being a championship racer?

Despite Kaitlin being very famous for her Drag racing days, and being famous for her career in music, what she is the most popular for, is her past relationship with none other than Lotor Dalir. Kaitlin and Lotor met in Kaitlin’s freshman year of college and were quick to fall for one another and started dating pretty quickly. Kaitlin dropped out of college when she was 20, to pursue a career in drag racing, and after her first race, she was proposed to by Lotor Dalir. They were married on Kaitlin’s 21st birthday and the marriage lasted up until Kaitlin was 23, when they got into a huge fight and separated. Some believe the fight had something to do with the racing incident that caused her to stop racing, as the aforementioned fight occurred only a few weeks after Kaitlin ended her drag racing career, but no one really knows the true cause of their separation.

Kaitlin and Lotor absolutely despised each other for awhile after their separation, however they have recently been seen together more often. Unfortunately for the Kaitlin x Lotor fans out there, however, the two seem to only be interacting as friends. Though, it is odd that Kaitlin makes sure to attend and watch ALL of Lotor’s races. Ever since this has started happening, fans have started to theorize a secret affair going on between the two. Alternatively, other fans seem to believe that there is actually something going on between Kaitlin and Lotor‘s on-again-off-again lover, Merla Falconieri, as Kaitlin has come out to the public about being bisexual, and she and Merla have been seen together frequently, despite no known past relation. Because of this, media has been frequently talking about the love triangle of Lotor, Merla, and Kaitlin, and of course, the love square of Lotor, Merla, Kaitlin, and Allura Singh.

Who Lotor will end up choosing out of his three supposed love interests is a heated debate among fans.

Ethnicity and Childhood-

Kaitlin is a Black-Latina women. Her father, Alister Anderson, was Melanesian, and her mother, Kashira Diaz was African and Cuban.

Kaitlin’s father passed before she was born and she grew up as an orphan, after her mother’s death when she was 5.

Later, at age 10, Kaitlin was adopted by drag racer of “Blade of Marmora”, Kolivan, and he is what inspired her to become a racer herself.

No one knows anything else about her years of elementary school and they don’t know much about her middle school life either. Her high school life is what’s the most known.

Kaitlin was bullied all throughout high school do to her sexual orientation, and the rare genetic mutation she has, Heterochromia, and her skin condition, Vitiligo. She was called a freak, and people said she couldn’t have been human. This is what inspired her first single, “Humans Aren’t Real”, which later became 1 of 13 songs in her first album, “Beautiful Freak”, which she wrote and recorded in College.

Trivia-

Despite having a mostly black ethnicity, Kaitlin’s hair is naturally blonde.

Kaitlin loves animals and has two pet cats: Midnight and Twilight.

Despite her love of animals, Kaitlin has a fear of dogs.

Kaitlin prefers to be called by her stage name, “Kanti”. Even her family, friends, and fiancé refer to her that way.

Kaitlin was born on Friday, January 13th. She often jokes about being bad luck, because of being born on a Friday the 13th.

One of Kaitlin’s closest friends is Allura Singh, another woman rumored to be a love interest of Lotor Dalir. Allura and Kaitlin knew each other in high school, and Allura was even the one who inspired her stage name. “Kanti” means Beauty in Sanskrit, an Indo-Aryan language that Allura Singh knows, and Allura referred to Kaitlin as such in high school because she admired Kaitlin’s unique beauty.

Contrary to the belief of her fans, Kaitlin’s favorite color is not purple. It is maroon.

Other-

Kaitlin is suffering from Alcoholism, Depression, and Anxiety, though she doesn’t talk about it much. However, her unhealthy mental state has been implied in her music on some occasions.

Trigger warning: below the keep reading line, there’s a mention of sexual assault.

Shortly after Kaitlin quit her career as a racer, and after she publicly announced the starting of her music career, media started questioning her about what exactly it was that made her quit drag racing. It took a year before she came out about what happened, and announced to the media that she had been cornered and raped by a fellow contestant during one of her races, and that was why she moved on from racing. It was announced what happened to her after her single “Danger-Proned” came out and she was asked about the meaning behind it.

[lionhearts-proyect]

Conociendo a... Parte 5 - Haggar

Si hay algo que los remakes y los reboots en la industria del entretenimiento tienen en común con los relatos populares y los cuentos de hadas es que, pueden cambiar muchas cosas dependiendo la versión o de quien cuenta la historia. VLD no es la excepción y una de sus mayores antagonistas es el ejemplo más notorio. Vayan por su refresquito constituido de sustancias adictivas favorito y comencemos con el análisis de hoy. ^^

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

A SIMPLE VISTA Vemos a una mujer muy mayor de apariencia algo tétrica. De piel morada con sospechosas marcas en su cara y largo cabello blanco, deducimos que no trae nada bueno en mente. No es fea (al contrario, comparada con su versión de DoTU es hasta bonita), pero hay algo tenebroso alrededor de ella, probablemente sus ojos completamente amarillos o su vestimenta muy parecida a la típica imagen de bruja. No hay que juzgar a un libro por su portada, pero en el caso de esta hechicera, mejor correr antes de que decida convertirte en su nuevo proyecto para experimentar.

Pero ¡Oh contrariedad! Resulta que, mucho, pero muchíiisimo tiempo atrás, la malvada bruja era una mujer bonita e inteligente, una alquimista dedicada a sus investigaciones. De piel morena, cabello violeta y lindos ojos miel que reflejaban curiosidad e inquietud… que por desgracia se fueron apagando por la obsesión y las ansias de poder. Una historia trágica la cual, dentro de lo que cabe, tuvo una especie de final feliz...

ANTECEDENTES Como dijimos antes, esta sección contiene spoilers mayores de GoLion, así que advertidos están.

(Tu típica princesa Disney y su animalito acompañante... ¡Ay ajaaa! XD)

Anime/Serie 80´s  El personaje que sirvió de base para la malvada y en ocasiones sádica bruja Haggar es la Hechicera Honerva, asistente y bruja personal del emperador. 

Sus motivaciones en un principio son las más normales para el villano promedio, es decir, hacerle el mal a los héroes por órdenes del señor que paga sus quincenas (si es que Don Daibazaal paga :/) Conforme pasa la historia nos damos cuenta de que, si bien es malvada hasta el tuétano, Honerva tiene su corazoncito y quiere con todo su malvado ser a Daibazaal, pues mucho, muuuuucho tiempo atrás, fue la concubina del emperador anterior… bueno, amor dentro de lo que cabe en materia de ser un villano en una caricatura ochentera.

Si señores y señoritas, en la versión original, esta bruja es la mamá de Daibazaal… ¡BUM!!! O__O

(Lotor84.- Luego dicen que el que tiene complejo de Edipo es uno. ¬¬)

Eso significa que Honerva es la abuelita de Sincline, pero a diferencia de las abuelitas lindas y apapachadoras que todos conocemos, la doña no le tiene mucho cariño a su nietecito. ¿Y cómo tenérselo? El mocoso es una aberración mitad alteana. Total, que un día la bruja le dice a Sincline sobre sus orígenes y este termina matándola, uno por coraje/shock y otra porque la doña estaba ayudando en secreto a los pilotos de GoLion…

Pasemos a la versión censurada que todos conocemos. En esta versión, la doña Haggar no se ve muy relacionada con su señor Zarkon, más que en ser su asistente/bruja personal. No parece tener algo en contra de Lotor, más que echarle en cara lo mucho que falla y lo deshonroso que es. Va, ni el gato lo respeta. En fin, en los primeros capítulos nos enteramos que, convenientemente disfrazada de “diosa del Universo”, la bruja engañó a Voltron y lo dividió en 5 leones.

Otra de la bruja es su capacidad para: engañar gente, hipnotizar incautos, alterar apariencias, disfrazarse, crear robo-bestias, cocinar pozole malvado los domingos malvados, en fin de todo.

De varias cosas que los estadounidenses le inventaron a esta singular dama, fue crearle un pasado en el que fue joven, bonita y hasta buena, pero por algún evento desafortunado de su vida decidió dedicarse al mal. En la película “Fleet of Doom” se nos da a entender que tuvo algo que ver con Zarkon… supongo que de ahí se basaron para toda la capirotada de historia que nos presentaron en VLD.

De la manera más superficial, son pocos detalles cambiados, pero muy significativos para la bruja que solo quiere hacerle el mal al equipo de los buenos.

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

(No señores, la dama pelirroja bonita es Merla, nuestra Haggar es la figura encapuchada a la que solo se le ven los ojos.

Nueva teoría: Haggar es también la mamá de Orco de la serie “He-man” y por ende, hay relación con “She-ra” y sus graciosadas políticamente correctas)

COMIC Muchos detalles no nos dan (o Tumblr no nos espoilea como debe), pero hasta donde se sabe, Haggar sigue siendo la asistente/hechicera personal de don Zarkon, también fue esta “encantadora mujer”, en complicidad con la empoderada Merla, quien colaboró en el coco-wash de Sven. 

En la versión de Dynamite, donde todos se pasan de feos, no le encontré muchos datos. Pero algo me hace sospechar que su papel era más o menos igual al de su contraparte de VLD.

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

(De una cosa estamos seguros, esta versión de Haggar NUNCA fue a inyectarse con el Doctor del Villar XD)

THE THIRD DIMENSION En “The Third Dimension”, Haggar hace su re-aparición triunfal ayudando a Lotor a vengarse de la Fuerza Voltron con una condición, ella se quedaría con la energía que hace funcionar a los gatotes. No hay mucho desarrollo en esta serie, excepto que nos enteramos que la razón por la que Haggar se volvió malvada fue porque un tal Alfor la friendzoneó en su juventud…

En serio... ¿En que momento esta pseudosecuela mal animada de un anime de demografía shonen se convirtió en... no se, ¡Una película no canónica de Sailor Moon!!!? 

En fin, como podemos ver, esta versión tiene la capacidad de pasar de vieja horrenda a “femme fatale” mal renderizada. Su figurita de acción también hace eso, si la tienen, consérvenla con amor y cariño. ^^

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

(”Soy un Software y Hardware Inteligente Bien Armado en su versión 1.0 Pueden llamarme S.H.I.B.A.”)

Voltron Force

En la pseudosecuela canadiense  “algo” pasó con Haggar. Pues así nada más salió un elemento peligroso convenientemente llamado “haggarium” el cual funciona para crear robestias, infectar cadetes y suecos, quitarle energía a los leonsotes, hacer zombies a simpáticos habitantes de Balto… se dice que la bruja murió, pero dejó esta “cosa” como legado para seguir haciendo el mal. 

Si me preguntáis a mí, esto podría contar como quintaescencia “maligna” o se copiaron de esto para las “criaturas” raras esas de la fisura entre realidades.  Bueno, eso es lo que estoy pensando para un fanfic, pero en cuanto los conspiranoicos de caricaturas es buen material: ahistá, ¡Ahistá! Alguien haga una teoría de eso, caray. 

Podrían reescribir un mejor final y una 8va temporada que... no se para que me esfuerzo, se lo que harían. ¬¬

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

ACTOR DE DOBLAJE En la versión original, la bruja fue interpretada por Masako Nozawa, en inglés por BJ Ward y en español por Carmen Donna-Dio (La cocinera Doris en los Simpson y un montón de villanas respetables. Falleció en el 2005)

Para esta versión, su voz la realiza Cree Summer, y en español por Laura Torres (Gokú de niño) en las primeras dos temporadas y por Sarah Souza (si alguien de aquí ve a los ponis, ella era la tía Applesauce) a partir de la 2da temporada.

Curiosidad de doblaje número primo – Alguno de ustedes reconocerá en Masako Nozawa a la voz original de Son Gokú, me parece una coincidencia bastante graciosa que quien doblaba la versión actual de Haggar sea la misma que dobló al Gokú de niño. Básicamente, Haggar y Gokú están relacionados… ¡BUM! Otra vez XD

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EL ESTEREOTIPO QUE REPRESENTA 

Esta es simple, es la malvada asistente del malo del programa y que como tal, podría ser mucho más malvada, sádica y ambiciosa que su jefe. 

Conforme avanzaron las versiones de Voltron, podemos notar como quisieron darle un poquito más de … excepto en el comic de DDP donde su papel se limita el de bruja “ñaca ñaca”, pero tomando en cuenta de que este fue cancelado rápidamente, no dudo en que hubieran planeado una historia detrás de su maldad.

Y me parece curioso que en las distintas versiones, el detonante que la dirige hacia el camino de la maldad sea irónicamente el amor: llámese Amor romántico, amor no correspondido e incluso amor filial. Nótese como la más poderosa de las emociones, corrompida, puede crear las más oscuras acciones, y definitivamente no necesitamos una historia de fantasía/ciencia ficción para conocer este tipo de historias, tan comunes en la vida diaria.

Y así, la malvada mano derecha del mero malo malote pasa a ser una figura trágica. Una persona que empezó “inocente” y que poco a poco se rindió ante el mal.  ¿Alguien de aquí ha escuchado un dicho que reza: “El camino al infierno está pavimentado de buenas intenciones”?

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DE SHIPEOS Y COSAS PEORES

No es que Haggar no tuviera su pegue, es solo que en mi investigación solo encontré un solo shipeo. El Zaggar (Zarkon x Haggar), el cual técnicamente es CANON con todas sus letras y en mayúsculas. 

Pero no, en este caso debería ser... no sé, “Zaverna” (Zarkon x Honerva) o algo así. Porque si nos ponemos quisquillosos con los detalles, a estas alturas del partido, Honerva ya no era Honerva y el buen Zarkon estaba arruinado, j*dido, vengativo y hambriento de poder y quintaescencia.

No dudemos en que deben existir más shipeos, y solo encontré este. En fin, solo sabemos que estos dos se amaban mucho y que las circunstancias de la vida arruinaron esta bonita relación.

No, ¿Cuáles circunstancias de la vida? Haggar lo arruinó todo. 

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OPINIÓN PERSONAL Muy bien, con los antecedentes que yo tenía de la bruja, me imaginaba que iba a ser tan gacha como la recordaba. Pues resulta que si lo era, y probablemente a la tercera potencia. Digo, convertir animalitos y militares en robobestias y converyir a nuestro querido Shiro en un manco conejillo de Indias, pues no la hace precisamente una princesa Disney, ¿verdad?

Haggar solo tiene en la cabeza servir a su Emperador y hacer sus experimentos raros. Como dije, por los antecedentes, sabía que nuestra simpática brujita haría muchas maldades, y por estos mismos, que tendría alguna relación con Zarkon.

Y aquí empezaron lo que más me gusta leer en internet: Teorías locas ^^.

Desde que Haggar era el Paladín Azul original, una alquimista a la que le lavaron el cerebro o incluso la mamá de Allura. Sacaban cada cosa, incluso yo por momentos sospeché que los de Dreamworks se iban a copiar la relación madre-hijo que aparecía en GoLion (digo, con las referencias a dicha serie que ya tenían…) Pero me sacó un gran “WHAAAAT???” ver sin querer el spoiler mayor de que Haggar no solo había sido buena y haber colaborado en la creación de los leone, fue la dueña de las quincenas de Zarkon. 

Cuando Amigui Bobot y yo vimos el capítulo, salió con su respectiva frase: “Siempre es culpa de una vieja”. ¡Pues si! La culpa de la destrucción de dos planetas, un conflicto bélico interestelar, la zombificación de tu marido y demás tingaderas fueron culpa de su maldita obsesión por la Quintaescencia. Y esa obsesión me hizo pensar en algo que ocurre muchas veces en la vida real: Cuando haces a un lado tu vida por tu trabajo, y el trabajo al que has dedicado toda tu vida no es la única sustancia a la que puedes volverte adicto…

La búsqueda de conocimiento no es mala, pero como hemos visto en nuestras clases de historia, cuando se busca crear algo para mejorar la vida, ten por seguro que estese convertirá en algo para destruir (ahí te hablan, Einstein ¬¬).

Dejemos a un lado mis reflexiones lechuguescas, ese giro me pareció interesante y hasta cruel, pero bueno, al menos con eso nos dieron a un villano decente. ¿Recuerdan lo de las “teorías locas”? Yo misma tuve algunas: ¿esa obsesión/adicción vino por intentar descubrir alguna cura, superar alguna muerte o solo fue simple curiosidad? 

Resulta que si le medio atiné, Honerva deseaba descubrir si o si todos los beneficios del uso de la quintaescencia, para luego ver como la historia hacía una apología de una adicción (o al menos eso fue lo que el bobot y yo concluimos), y descubrimos que parte de esa obsesión era para mantener vivo a suhijo aun no nacido...

Sip, apología a una madre adicta. Y no ayuda nada a que al final, nuestra bruja se pusiera en modalidad “castrante señora religiosa”.

Y si, tanto a bobot y a mi no nos agradó ese cambio (no opinamos que fuera un mal giro de trama. al menos en mi caso, amé odiarla, y la neta yo esperaba hacer eso con Lotor. Bueno, uno de dos no está tan mal). La tipa solo quería volver a ser ella misma, recuperar a su hijo y en el camino a toda su familia. Redimir sus errores... precisamente renegando de ellos. ¡Ella era una genial final boss!

Esperen esperen esperen… ¿Malo de la película que quiere si o si recuperar a su familia, incluso si se la roba de otra realidad??? Señores... He llegado a la conclusión de que Haggar es el Kingpin del universo Voltron. 

Haggar nunca me agradó, y ahora que sé su historia de esta versión, menos. Pero si nos da a pensar aunque sea un poquito, hay que tener cuidado con lo que hay allá afuera en el mundo real o terminaría por absorbernos y convertirnos algo diferente a lo que somos. Y por último, hace algún tiempo leí una frase en internet que rezaba: “Las villanas son las princesas que nunca fueron rescatadas”... Supongo que Honerva nunca pudo ser rescatada de ella misma.

[lotorsshoulderpads]

Completely out of context quotes from the discord 

Oh horny comic book artists, show me the leather crop top and pants Merla

Lotor bleaches his hair white and denies it, claims it's natural

my gay awakening was Sexy Sven

theyre both drawn a bit homoerotically but that's just how it is sometimes 

tbh If DDP merla showed up in my dreams, tits out for Aphrodite, I'd do just about anything she told me. Sven's good.

Voltron Force Sven x Lotor for that Haggarium Addict Solidarity

DoTU/VF Allura is a vsco girl

*moans* "take me to the space hospital"

Zarkon getting Vibe Checked by the gay community

[frozenoverblackballoon]

What ships do you like from Voltron?

I don’t ship anything from VLD, for a lot of reason. I do have a lot of Voltron ships I sail. 

Lotor x Happiness.Happiness is his ultimate match!

Lotor x Reader.

Lotor x Self-inserts.Not main by the way. 

Lotor x OCs. I have two at the moment. 

Lotor x DOTU Merla. I loved DOTU Merla! She was my favorite female character from the show, and I’m so sad that the showrunners did nothing with her character other then use her name for a side character. DOTU Merla was the only character in the whole show that truly loved Lotor. If they had brought in a proper version of the DOTU character. We all could have gotten the badass, intelligent, complex, powerful, morally gray female character we deserved. And Lotor would have found someone whom truly loved him for him. Not for what he was. 

Lotor x DOTU Allura/Fala.DOTU Allura was genuinely kind, empathic, badass, willing to proven herself, and diplomatic. I feel she and VLD Lotor would have had the Lotura ship we didn’t get in VLD. And that DOTU Allura was the women Lotor was hoping to find in VLD Allura.

Lotor x DOTU Romelle. DOTU Romelle I feel was in between DOUT Merla and Allura. She was sweet and good hearted, but also a really taught badass. Skaiahart made some excellent points on why I would ship Lotor and DOTU Romelle togather. 

Basically these are the Voltron ships I sail. All are with Lotor. 

I forget to mention. I used to ship Lotor with Acxa. This was before season seven was dropped and Acxa ended up being the showrunners hate lotor monkey. Before then, I thought Acxa had been in love with Lotor before the start of the show and was still in love with him, and somehow in the second half of season seven or the first half of season eight. She would be the one to reason with him, that her love for him would be reviled, Lotor would relized that It was Acxa that truly loved him. But alas. Like VLD Lotura, It wasn’t meant to be. 

Oh shit! I also ship Lotor x Ven’tar! I love the ship! It’s so cute and I can’t help but feel that she was his very first romance even if she wasn’t his first. 

I just have so many Lotor ships I can’t remember them all! 

[darkspellmaster]

It's 2019 so here are my ships up to this point in time. This is not all of them.

Some of these are crack and some are non cannon.

Series- animated

Kallura- Vld and Vdotu

Plance- Vld

Kidge -Vld

Lotige -Vld

Svenelle or Shirelle- Vdotu

Coran x Nanny -Vdotu

Lotor x Merla -Vdotu

Matt x Nyma- Vld

Jieth -Vld

Lotor x Keith- Vld

Romance -Vld

Hunk x Shay -Vld

Jadeite x Rei- Sailor moon

Kunzite x Minako -Sailor moon

Nephrite x Makoto -Sailor moon

Zoisite x Ami -Sailor moon

Haruka x Michiru -Sailor moon

Chili Usa x Pearl - Sailor moon

Ichihime -Bleach

Rukenji - Bleach

Yamcha x Bulma -Dragon ball Z

Radditz x Launch - Dragon Ball R&R

Trunks x Raunch - Dragon ball R&R

Goku x Chichi- Dragon ball

Bra (can't recall her new name now) x Goten - Dragon ball GT

Muto x Duck - princess Tutu

Duck x Fakker - princess Tutu

Van x Hitomi -Escaflowne

Folken x Hitomi - Escaflowne

Raven x Oz -Pandora Hearts

Yuki x Tohoru - Fruits basket (Fuba?)

Father Fujimoto x Yuri - Blue exorcist

Rin x Shimi - Blue exorcist

Izumo x Yukiko -Blue exorcist

Allen x Lenalee -D-gray man

Yu x Lavi -D-gray man

Arystar x Mianda -D-gray man

Yugi x Tea -yugioh

Tristan x Serenity -yugioh

Malik x Rebecca - yugioh

Serenity x Yugi -yugioh

Goliath x Elisa -Gargoyles

Babs x Dick -Yj

Cassie x Kon - Yj

Megan x Kid Devil -Yj

Tim x Stephanie - Yj

Feldt x Setsuna -Gundam 00

Elita-1 x Optimus -Transformer g1, TFA

Chromia x Ironhide - Transformers g1

Astoria x Powerglide -Transformers g1

Alana x Sea spray -Transformers g1

Bumblebee x Windblade -Tf:Cyberverse

Cliffjumper x Arcee -TFP

Arcee x Ratchet -Tf:A

Springer x Arcee -Transformers G1

Hot Rod x Arcer -Transformers G1

Razor x Aiya - Green lantern tas

Clark x Lois -S:tas

Toph x Sokka -Atla

Bolin x Korra -Alta

Deku x Ochaco -My hero aca

Genie x Eden -Aladdin: tas

Series -live action

Captain Marvelous x Princess -Gokaiger

Lois x Clark- All version of Superman

Nick x Natalie - Forever Knight

Kara x Jimmy - Supergirl

I'll do movies as it's own post.

[ganymedesclock]

I was talking to friends the other day about fancharacters (kicked off by this post by my friend @leonawriter)- that is to say, original characters inserted into a canon universe via fanwork and specifically there to interact more with canon characters than with other fancharacters- and when the only real litmus set to them is “are they a Mary Sue?” that’s not very helpful.

I think the criticism of “Mary Sue” is fundamentally misguided, not only for its lurking misogynistic attitudes (female characters are not allowed to be special or if they are special they have to work, and suffer, twice as hard as the male characters to “justify” their specialness) but also because the character being special is not the problem.

What I would consider one of the most important things about a fancharacter is niche.

All characters in a story have a reason they’re put in the story. They explore something about the larger setting, they contribute something to their allies, they change the plot somehow. They have friends, enemies, opinions, interests.

If you’re adding a character to an existing group, look at the group, say, “what do they need here, or would benefit from, that they don’t have?”

For example, in VLD, if you consider the Generals don’t really have prior-continuity counterparts, they’re just successfully integrated OCs. Many of their niches, they fill just by being interesting complex characters- they have different personalities, history, and connections, and meaningfully play off of each other.

But they also serve a larger storytelling niche. The first obvious one is that VLD as an adaptation distances Lotor from Zarkon and Haggar, and the main empire. Unless you want to make an antagonist talk to themselves needlessly much, it’s good to give them allies to diversify their situations and how they operate, and also give them ways to assert their presence without being personally in attendance. VLD could have included Cossack, Mogor, Merla, or Maahox from prior continuities- but they chose instead to create original characters to fill that void (and I, for one, am grateful)

Furthermore, Lotor has in prior continuities been set up as a counterpart to the Black Paladin (usually Keith)- but when he’s operating in that role, he’s never in the past had four other subordinates to actually complete the unit and drive the “anti-Voltron” symbolism home.

So this is the obvious tidy storytelling niche for the generals: the writers of VLD basically went “so if Lotor’s a dark analogue to the Black Paladin, where’s his Red, Blue, Green, and Yellow paladins? Black is a leader, a head, so who are his arms and legs?”

Because of this, the generals don’t “feel” like people expect OCs to, because they’re nicely integrated. Their personalities slot together nicely because they’re rooted in the same five-man team mold that’s so popular and effective (There’s a reason it’s a pain in the butt to actually integrate a sixth character into a five-man team)

Conversely, I would cite the character Chris Thorndyke from Sonic X as an example of not doing it right. Not because Chris is a bad character at all- but he’s been dealt a bad hand. Because he’s supposed to be a major character, but both personality-wise, story-wise, and in terms of capabilities, he’s effectively a second Tails. And since Tails is the more beloved legacy character everyone’s familiar with, the writers made Tails better at everything Chris is trying to do- so Chris’s victories feel arbitrary and his role feels tacked on.

This is ameliorated in earlier episodes when Chris has more of a role as Sonic’s liaison to the human world, but the more that becomes unnecessary (he doesn’t need anyone to hide him) the more, tragically, Chris himself feels unnecessary. And again, I don’t say that because I hate the character- it’s because as much as you can love a character, they still need to have something meaningful they’re bringing to the plot.

Another way this can be important is that your characters’ backstories or settings they’re connected to shouldn’t exist in a vacuum. If they’re from somewhere nobody’s heard of, anchor this setting to the plot in other ways. Make it important- and this is contrary to a lot of popular “anti-Mary Sue” advice I saw before.

Successful integration of a new character into a narrative results in the fact that your audience will generally, immediately care about them. Here’s what I think is a really successful example of that by @joleanart. So I’ve never seen these five Altean OCs. All I have on them is this one set of pictures.

Niche established: they’re people Allura knew, good friends of hers. This is a canon niche that’s lying open: we know that Allura lost people, we know that a gregarious person like her would have good friends. We know, as the artist points out, there was a battle for Altea, that it fought back against the empire, that they were more than just defenseless victims who languished and died.

Integrating threads: These are specific people, not just random strangers. They have connections to people we already care about. Seeing these people in what we know are their final moments, their losing battle, putting their faith in the idea of Altea, in Allura specifically- emphasizes Allura’s canon role as a beacon of hope in the face of grief and despair.

While it overlaps with Alfor’s sacrifice for Allura’s welfare, it doesn’t diminish, but rather, adds to it, enriches and explores it. They may not have been there when Alfor put Allura in stasis and launched Coran with the castleship, but they were the people outside fighting on the front lines giving them the time to do that. Alfor was Allura’s beloved father, but he wasn’t the only person that loved her and he wasn’t the only person that died for her that day.

Differentiation and personality: some of them are sad, some resigned, some defiant. Some are speaking to more distant ideals, other make it personal. Their situations, even as little as we see them, are different and how they respond to them are different.

The result of it all together? I get really invested in these guys really fast. With only the tiny scrap of “this was the battle for Altea, as illustrated by good friends of Allura’s” I’m not just emotionally moved, but now the meta gears in my brain are turning, grabbing onto this for how much it enriches the narrative- but who were these people specifically, what are the things Allura shared with them- she probably thinks about them, remembers them going forwards. Are there qualities they have that she sees in the paladins, and how does she feel about that?

This is a really successful emotional suckerpunch. With very minimal “lore”, and five characters at once, this artist has very successfully integrated and landed that emotional connection and they did so because they started really effectively from “so, hey, this canon character logically had to have known people during this phase in her life, and because of how canon ended up... we know she lost them. What did that look like? What was their story, the one we didn’t follow but we kind of know how it ended?”

[autistic-writer]

Voltron Merla AU update 2

When they stop the rifts by sacrificing the Castle of Lions Merla in rage escapes and goes to Oriande and finds her mother there who comforts and welcomes her back but in her schizophrenia and broken state takes advantage of her to bring back Lotor.

[rorylum]

lotura seems werid as DOTU had merla a perfectley good love intrest for lotor. The next version should have lotor x merla and kallura.

Hi it's me again. So I have to ask, why do fans hate kallura so much? What's with the overhyping of klance? Like I can't scroll through fanart/posts of kallura without it descending into klance or even lotura territory. Y does kallura have such a small fanbase?

Oh, my friend, this question breaks my heart. Partially because I’ve loved Kallura since 1984 and it’s the ship closest to my heart. But also because, after many conversations with my good friend @blkjessrabbit, the answer isn’t one I want to give. 

So for those of us who watched either Defenders of the Universe or Voltron Force, Kallura was a gimme coming into the VLD series. We knew that, based on franchise history, it was bound to happen.

What we didn’t expect was the new fan reactions. We certainly didn’t expect to be called homophobic, or belittled personally over something as trivial as a romantic ship. Our joy over watching their relationship unfold, along with all of the standard tropes a destined couple experiences, we blinded ourselves to the ugliness of the VLD fandom.

First, and worst, was the racism. I learned late in the series that some “old school” Kallura fans had abandoned ship. It seemed that Allura’s makeover didn’t sit well with them. I understand that some people take issue to changes in their favorite characters, but as we’ve seen recently in the media it tends to swarm around WOC. Between the theatrical version of Hermione, the latest Ariel, and Allura herself, it seems to be an issue for audiences to accept black women in a traditionally white role. If Allura had remained white but was a green eyed brunette I wonder if the response would have been so negative. 

Secondly, there’s the set who is overly interested in gay men, but not necessarily “representation” as they like to say they are. By the time most new fans began watching the show they’d likely already been exposed to fanart of some male/male ships. Most likely they went into the show expecting they were endgame, if not already an established couple. While I’m totally fine with LGBTQIA rep, I’m not cool with achieving it by bullying fans and showrunners alike. 

When DW backed away from delivering this my guess is it had more to do with the rabid fans than it did with their need to sell merch to little boys. Several options were ignored by the fans, after all. Hunk and Coran were largely ignored (despite Coran having had it hinted at through memories of his time with Alfor.) Lotor, when he appeared, was mostly pushed off on Allura. 

Again, racism seems to play a role in fans wanting to pawn a princess off to the man who was committing genocide of her people supposedly in the name of peace. Lotor/Allura was very much a pairing between a man who was given everything because of his identity, and a woman who lost her identity along with her home and her people.

Then there were the EPs who, in my estimation, were so intent on proving their alliance with the LGBTQIA fandom that they ignored their own lore. The story began to deteriorate into chaos. They had an obvious dislike for certain parts of the fandom over blackmail and unveiled threats, but wanted to do something that echoed the final moments of LoK. It’s like they threw on blinders to everything else. 

Lotor was killed because they had to be edgy. But Allura? They ripped her character to shreds then threw her to the sharks. Even Lauren complained about Allura, despite the fact that SHE WAS THEIR CHARACTER. They’d once bragged about introducing a black princess but discarded her once they realized there were more “woke points” in circling their wagons around a lone gay man (whose character they’d planned to kill at the end of season two but were forced to write back into the show because he was popular.)

And you know what? They took a calculated risk that almost paid off, were it not for the epilogue. When you consider that the biggest outrage was over the kiss at the end (and not from dads of boys, mind you) instead of over the lead character’s sacrificial death it kinda drives home the idea that racism was a big part of Kallura being shunned. 

Sorry for the rant but I hope I answered your question, although it’s not how I’d like to answer it. I wish there was some other, less hurtful reason behind this. And I’ll admit that it’s not necessarily the reason for every single person who didn’t like it. Still, it seems to be the most common one and that’s a damn shame. Hopefully next iteration we’ll get showrunners who are much better!

[aquaburst3]

A thought just struck me. With Acxa’s whole line off, “There’s one option left” or something like that during s4ep5, could Lotor’s ex general be seeking out Merla next season? 

For one, during a Den of Geek interview back before s3 aired, the question of if Merla was one of the generals was brought up. The creators denounced this, saying none of the generals were Merla or a stand in for her. But Dos Santos cheekily added, “Anything is possible.” (x)

Wanna know the last time the showrunners said that very line? Well, it was back during s1 when people were wondering if Lotor would come back as a villain in VLD...and I think we all know the answer to that. 

While I think a lot people by now know that Merla was a female villain exclusive to DOTU (I know she showed up in the Devil Due comics...but I’m not focusing on those right now) with a pet vulture and powers similar to Narti, there are some overlooked aspects of her character. One is that she had an all female squad just like Lotor, having a army of female robots. If she is a thing in the reboot, I can see Merla having an all female fighting squad as well. Not only that, she had a special device that could tap into other realities and can even send someone to a dimension where they would live out their worst nightmares (As a side note, that reminds me of the Shadow Realm from the YGO dub, come to think of it). With VLD exploring the idea of alternate realities, that definitely seems like something that the showrunners would want to bring back into the modern series. 

With both of these aspects in mind, I can totally see the generals seeking Merla out. Since historically speaking she always had a bitter relationship with Lotor, I can see see Merla letting them on board both out of genuinely wanting to help them out and to twist the knife for Lotor even more. It would challenge Lotor as a character, since I don’t imagine seeing people you once trusted and saw as your friend/family siding with the person you hate the most outside of his parents would be a happy experience for him. 

Like with Romelle, with Merla being a fairly major villain in DOTU and Acxa’s comment, I think it’s not a matter of if Merla will be a thing, but when. 

[vaor]

Is Merlor ship name for Lotor x Merla? What are the others if I may ask? I know there is Keitor too

it’s okay to ask my child. i’ve been burning in this crack rare pair hell for months

keitor: keith x lotor

merlor: merla x lotor

mereith: keith x merla

merlura: merla x allura

lotura: lotor x allura

and my precious ot3’s that will probably remain crack pairs forever:

leithal: lotor x keith x allura

lomereith: lotor x merla x keith

merlureith: merla x allura x keith

merluror: merla x allura x lotor

and the Ultimate Boss:

alomereith

clearly my character bias are showing here but yes, i propose these as the official ship names ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ

[anamelessknight]

Episode 19: The Alliance Strikes Back!

Previous Episode: 18 No Muse Is Good Muse

Episode Master List

Let’s Compare Voltrons

No, Zarkon is your father!

So, Zarkon made his “attack” but he got his ass kicked.  Hunk narrates how Planet Zal threw off Zarkon, how Zarkon’s attempt to invade Stride the Tiger Fighter’s planet failed and how Hunk’s little buddies managed to kick off Zarkon’s invasion forces.  Hell, they even captured the bots, and sent them to Mary-Anne for reprogramming into peaceniks.  The Alliance fleets have Zarkon’s fleets on the run!

Coran responds they have their first advantage over Zarkon.

YOU CONQUERED PLANET DOOM.

It’s time to put an end to this.  Again.  The Force is in agreement and launch.  (After flipping between pilot suits and civs a dozen times.)

Zarkon’s flagship returns to Planet Doom.  To no fanfair, which pisses the King off.  He calls up a Doombot who presents that they’re under too much threat to throw parties.  Like, even he’s being attacked right now!  Then he explodes, lion-style.

The lions blow up some ships then form Voltron.

Voltron Forming Rallying Cry:

Let’s go Voltron Force!: 17

Let’s go Voltron Force! (with Sven): 1

Only Allura and Hunk Do the Rallying Cry: 15

Voltron Formed: 18

Zarkon sends out his robot ships in response (using GoLion endgame footage so things are actually colored correctly for once).  Voltron blows through them effortlessly.

Voltron’s Even More Absolutely Absurd Arsenal:

Lion Head Bite x 4

Blazing Sword

Isotopic Missiles

Spinning Laser Blade

Tornado Blaster x 2

Flamethrowers / Thermo Blaster / Lion Torch / Fire Blasters x 5

Tracking Coils / Ray Beam x 2 / Electro Blasters x 2

Electro-Force Cross / Insignia Crest

Eye Beams

Heat Beams / Lion Torch x 4

Proton Missiles x 2 / Stingray Missiles x 2 / Mega Missiles x 2

Electro-Saber

Lion Torch x 4

Stingray Missiles x 2

Deflector Shield

Argon Force Field

Lion Lariat x 2 (Nunchuks)

Star-fire

Ion Darts

Lion Head Attack

Rotor Guns

Crusher Ball

Neutron Needles x 2 (Head)

Electro-force Cross Sword Edition

Ice Ray

Mega Missiles (A Different type from above)

Electro-magnetic Light Pods

Light Pods

Magna Blaster

Opta Blast

Double Barrel Attack

Wing Slash Attack

Star Beam

Needle Wave Attack (Legs)

Blast Pods

Lion Bow and Solar Arrows

Mega Rays

Voltron finishes off the ships and Zarkon goes ““big whoop”.  He’ll handle this personally, he was the greatest warrior, ever!

But Lotor’s already hijacked Zarkon’s ship.  Somehow.  Remember when Lotor declared war?  But Lotor declares he’ll stop Voltron and take the throne for sure this time.  Haggar points out like son like father.  Zarkon’s gonna crush the little upstart, he doesn’t have the King’s suave sophistication, after all.

Merla catches up to Lotor on the ship’s ramp and warns him.  She’s “fond” of him.  Lotor isn’t listening because he’s not ruled by “emotions”.  Lotor, you are like the most ruled by emotions person in the show.  Merla tries to mind control Lotor into following her but he shrugs it off and leaves.  Merla watches him go.  She doesn’t feel as evil as she used to be. 

Lotor and his ship land on the Uranium Plateau on a satellite between Arus and Doom that Voltron will have to pass by.  But the ships launched earlier came from Castle Doom on Planet Doom!  Oi...

Lotor readies a battalion of skull tanks.  Voltron flies by in complete coincidence and the tanks start shooting.  Voltron just floats there and takes it.  Haggar warns Zarkon if Lotor takes out Voltron, Zarkon will lose all authority.  So, Zarkon taps a button on his scepter and takes control of the skull tanks.  They load canisters and fire, trapping Voltron in cables.

Pretty great override there, Zarkon.

The cables are lason powered, so Voltron can’t snap them.  But Voltron still isn’t shooting back because

Lotor’s baffled to what’s going on so Zarkon calls him up to explain.  Then he takes control of the ship and laughs in Lotor’’s face once again.  Oh Zarkon, you silly man you.  He’s gonna ram the ship into Voltron and destroy them both.  Haggar falls to her knees pleading for Lotor’s survival, but Zarkon shuts her up by threatening she’ll join him.

Merla watches this and tries to mind control Zarkon to spare Lotor but it just isn’t working.  She stomps off.

Neither Voltron or Lotor can get free.  This is it!

Except Merla comes riding along in a pegasus hover float and uses fire breath to melt the cables and free Voltron.  (The craft looks like it should belong to Planet Pollux...)

Voltron wipes out the skull tanks with some photon rays.

Voltron’s Even More Absolutely Absurd Arsenal:

Lion Head Bite x 4

Blazing Sword

Isotopic Missiles

Spinning Laser Blade

Tornado Blaster x 2

Flamethrowers / Thermo Blaster / Lion Torch / Fire Blasters x 5

Tracking Coils / Ray Beam x 2 / Electro Blasters x 2

Electro-Force Cross / Insignia Crest

Eye Beams

Heat Beams / Lion Torch x 4

Proton Missiles x 2 / Stingray Missiles x 2 / Mega Missiles x 2

Electro-Saber

Lion Torch x 4

Stingray Missiles x 2

Deflector Shield

Argon Force Field

Lion Lariat x 2 (Nunchuks)

Star-fire

Ion Darts

Lion Head Attack

Rotor Guns

Crusher Ball

Neutron Needles x 2 (Head)

Electro-force Cross Sword Edition

Ice Ray

Mega Missiles (A Different type from above)

Electro-magnetic Light Pods

Light Pods

Magna Blaster

Opta Blast

Double Barrel Attack

Wing Slash Attack

Star Beam

Needle Wave Attack (Legs)

Blast Pods

Lion Bow and Solar Arrows

Mega Rays

Photon Rays

Voltron’s outta power and falls.  Merla muses on how saving Lotor’s manged to give her a more feeling of satisfaction than conquering a thousand planets.  Zarkon is incredulous at Merla turning good, and so am I.  This is like, as lousy as Jareth Sartoris's “redemption”.

Lotor crawls from the wreckage but the doombots grab him for King Zarkon.  Merla spots this and hopes in her steed-craft to free him, but, after exchanging a dozen misses with the doombots, the crashed ship explodes knocking the stead-craft over.

Lotor is then banded to a tree.  A group of aliens and doombots are here to laugh at him.  This is probably GoLion footage again, since the original season stuff lacks aliens.  Lotor desperately bargains for freedom but no one’s listening.

Zarkon and Haggar arrive to taunt Lotor.  Lotor’s gonna be an example, in the Pit of Skulls!

Merla’s vulture wakes her up.  Also it talks and tells her about Lotor’s fate.

Back on... Arus, I guess, the Force talk about what just happened.  Pidge is vaguely familiar with Merla’s craft but can’t place it.

Voltron Force Pilot Color Error:

Pidge: 61

Lance: 7

Keith: 2

Allura: 1

Then Merla arrives.  Hunk draws on her but Keith stops him from shooting.  Merla tosses her blaster down and asks for their help rescuing Lotor.  Lance laughs at the idea.  Merla responds that no one’s born evil but anyone can be redeemed for no good reason.

Also this is Voltron so bad guys are probably born evil.

And Pidge remembers the stead-craft was hers.  This gives the Force enough reason to attempt rescuing Lotor.  Mostly to annoy the guy, honestly.

They arrive on... well, it has the Pit of Skulls so it has to be Planet Doom, right?  The Force take out the guards and Merla rescues Lotor.  Search beams ruin the attempt, and the Force cover them as Merla and Lotor flee.

Voltron Force Pilot Color Error:

Pidge: 62

Lance: 7

Keith: 2

Allura: 1

Lotor is baffled by the kindness as he and Merla take off in her completely functional horse ship.

Zarkon watches, and uses Castle Doom’s super-lase to blast the head off the pegasus (so, it was Doom).  Merla and Lotor sort of sling out.  Merla telephaticlly contacts her dwarflings who fly out and save her while Lotor lands next to the ship wreckage, apparently none the worse for the wear.

She mind-contacts Lotor to convince him to be good but he shrugs it off and staggers away.  He wouldn’t even know how to be good.  And yet... what would it feel like?

The Force are running away when Haggar shows up to split the earth and summon a giant piranha Robeast.  It fires spikes and traps the Force before they duck behind a rocky outcropping and it mouth-beams at them.

Voltron Force Pilot Color Error:

Pidge: 63

Lance: 7

Keith: 2

Allura: 1

Keith makes a run for Voltron (why isn’t te Robeast blasting Voltron?) and the others cover him.  Keith makes it, and the others then follow without any difficultly.

Voltron readies up and fires some Ultra Beams / Ion Darts into the Robeast.  The Robeast counters with a mouth beam that knocks Voltron down then flies forward to bite him.  Voltron stops it with a blue lion lion torch.  The Robeast shoots some spike, which blue lion shoots down, then Voltron uses eye beams before kicking it.  The Robeast shoots more spikes, which get through, but Voltron FORMS BLAZING SWORD!

Red Lion tosses the sword which bisects and destroys the Robeast.  Then throws it again to attack the explosion.

Robeasts Defeated: 21

And the explosion is right next to Haggar’s Castle.

Voltron flies off for repairs.  But he’ll be back!  And Zarkon will be waiting.  There’s a personal grudge now!

Planet Doom’s New Wall of Failure:

Cossack the Terrible: 13

Haggar: 19

Lotor: 11

Largo: 1

Merla: 6

Zarkon: 3

Previous Episode: 18 No Muse Is Good Muse

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