#the reason shiro escapes in episode one is because Zarkon realizes he’s gay and he’s like DO NOT HARM ONE HAIR ON HIS PRECIOUS HEAD!!!!

[klanced]

#LGBTQ #ally zarkon is so funny to me. like he'll commit heinous war crimes but he draws the line at killing gay people

I think back in 2017 I was making jokes about Zarkon being a feminist so him also being a huge ally is simply the next logical step. I think Zarkon is exactly like this Onion video:

[kcwcommentary]

VLD2x04 – “Greening the Cube”

2x04 – “Greening the Cube”

The Paladins are doing maintenance outside the Castle Ship, but Hunk and Lance don’t understand the technobabble Coran and Allura are speaking. Like with the use of odd units of time on this show, this particular technobabble is funny because it embraces its own goofiness. It doesn’t make sense, however, that they would send anyone out to do maintenance without the specific procedures needed for doing so having been reviewed in detail prior to doing so. It’s set up to make Pidge the genius above all others as she fixes the problem. It’s one thing for Lance to have messed it up, but for Hunk to not know what he’s doing when he’s supposed to be an engineer is annoying. If Hunk was allowed by this show to be smart, the way an engineer should be, then Pidge being smart wouldn’t feel so obnoxious. Instead, they have Hunk remark that the piece of tech they’re dealing with “looks like a big, delicious curly fry.” Because of course, Hunk is nothing but food. Ugh.

The ship, and thus the Paladins, start floating through a field of snowballs. I’m not sure why the ship wouldn’t have entered a stationary position while undergoing this kind of maintenance though. Or why all the Paladins are even outside for the maintenance. Seems like they were written to be out there solely so that they could have this snowball fight scene, which is a playfully pleasant moment. Hunk announces, “Squishy asteroid fight.” I don’t know why Hunk thinks they’re asteroids since asteroids are made of rock, not something that’s effectively a snowball. At least Pidge says something about them not being asteroids, and Allura calls them a spore. “This bioluminescent pulsing doesn’t seem natural,” Pidge says. Seems she needs to learn what the word “bioluminescent” means if she thinks it’s not natural. Just by looking at a snowball, excuse me, a spore glowing she declares it’s been programmed. That’s a massive conclusion for her to leap to. Ugh.

The quick decontamination scene is silly, but I love that Shiro seems to be really enjoying himself during it. Let that man take comforting showers more often please!!

Keith continues to ponder his blade, and he asks Coran about the possibility of the Galra ever being on Earth. Lance obnoxiously rants about Keith asking Coran about the Blue Lion. This is supposed to be more of Lance’s “rivalry” with Keith, but it just feels unjustified and unreasonable at this point.

Pidge’s going on about Alan Turing is a nice attempt at the show to point out how important Turing was to our technological development. The history of how he was abused by the British government because he was gay makes it all the more infuriating that more people don’t realize how much we owe him for all of our computers today.

The snowball, I mean spore’s glowing is apparently an encrypted message that someone’s under attack and a request for help. Coran declares that the “signal” came from Olkarion. I have a problem with it being referred to as a signal, but whatever. Once again, VLD has a planet that does not look like a planet; what the weird ridge of rock that extends way beyond the atmosphere of the planet is supposed to be, who knows. It’s ridiculous.

Coran not only knows the planet by name but explains the people who live there are known for being tremendous engineers. At least Keith asks why “tech wizards would use spores to send [a] signal.” Thank you, Keith. Pidge complaining that she doesn’t get to go to the city because the signal is coming from the forest is annoying. I get that they’re trying to create some kind of technology vs. nature argument in Pidge herself, but her being more interested in going to the “cool city” than in actually helping someone asking for help is irksome. Also, again, the message was in the spore, it isn’t being broadcast from the forest. These are some powerful spores if they can escape the planet’s gravity to go floating off into space. What sort of propulsion system do they have? because those spores need to be adapted into transportation technology. Highly propulsive spores that are a terrible communication system. It’s just weird.

Pidge “hate[s] the outdoors.” Keith on the other hand, says he “like[s] it out here, it’s quiet.” Awe. Let Keith have some peaceful time in nature!!

The Olkari (or at least Ryner) recognize Voltron on sight. They started living in the forest when the Galra attacked.

Pidge gushing over the Olkari being engineers is understandable since she likes technology, but, again, Hunk is the actual engineer of the group, but he just stands in the background.

The Galra have enslaved many of the Olkari and are forcing them to build a “superweapon” with their magical glowing hand/touch powers. We did the glowing hand/touch thing with the Balmerans/Balmera, and with Alteans and quintessence, why are we doing it again here?

The Olkari have plant-tech weapons, and they give the Paladins plant-tech crowns to wear to control the weapons. Hunk tastes his. He’s an engineer, the show places him in possession of advanced tech, and then writes him to lick the tech like it’s food. That is ridiculous.

“You must have a deep connection with nature,” Ryner says. “Not really,” Pidge responds. This tech v. nature thing this episode is doing is really heavy handed.

Ryner wants to rescue their king. (Does this show have any planets/societies who have governmental systems that are not monarchies?) He’s apparently the only one capable of designing the giant cube the Galra have had the Olkari build. The Paladins go on a stealth mission thanks to the Green Lion’s invisibility system Pidge installed on it (why hasn’t she put that system on all the Lions?).

Where is the Castle in all this? I can understand them wanting to hang back and not alert the Galra to their presence if possible, but are Allura and Coran just having tea?

Plot twist: the king is not imprisoned but watching soap operas. He’s helping the Galra, who now have no need/use for him since they’ve got the cube. Pidge blasts a hole in the wall with the Green Lion to help the Paladins escape. They return to the Olkari and then go on to form Voltron and attack the cube. The cube absorbs and redirects Voltron’s weapon blasts. So, they try using Voltron’s sword, which only just splits the cube into multiple functioning units. With the attack underway, it would make sense for the Castle to get involved now, but no. Lance tries freezing a cube, but no.

Pidge gets shot down, conveniently near Ryner, who tells Pidge she has to bond more strongly with Green’s spirit. So, after a few seconds of magic meditation, Pidge and Green are suddenly more “bonded” and return to the fight. Green has a plant canon: a beam that when it hits the cube causes plants to grow out of the cube. I’ve thought Blue’s ice canon and Red’s lava canon were bothersome, but a plant canon is just… absurd.

The Galra flee the planet when the Olkari attack in a very short montage. Shiro sets up the idea that the Olkari are allies of Voltron in fighting against Zarkon. And then we cut to everyone back on the Castle Ship. Who knows what Allura and Coran were doing the whole time.

Keith gets happy reflecting on the idea that everyone in the universe is related, “even the Galra.” I like seeing Keith seemingly happy in this episode. His thinking about the Galra and starting to piece together his connection to them is giving him something he really needs.

Zarkon’s ship shows up and the episode ends.

I’m really tiring of the Pidge-is-so-special-so-let’s-make-her-the-center-of-the-narrative writing like this episode gave us. Again, I can understand her being involved with a technology-centered story like this, but there was no reason Hunk shouldn’t have had some play in this too.

[anilyan]

Summary of the main Voltron theories

So, here i am doing my first masterpost of theories and I'm trying to be as organized and neutral as possible. This is just an analysis to help who doesn't have much time to scroll infinitely through tumblr and to help myself with the expectations for Voltron season 2. Also, my english is far from perfect, so sorry for any incomprehensible thing i say.

First of all, if you haven't watched'em already, here's the [teaser] and the [trailer] of the second season.

Now let's get to the theories:

Who's the new mysterious character? Are the 3 (4) figures the same character?

Many people are pulling together the next first 3 and eventually 4 images, and a majority tends to say either the first 3 are the same character (based on the colors), the first and second are the same character (based on the body type), the second and third are the same character (based on the colors), or the third and forth are (based on the body type).

Personally, I think the first three are really allies, while the forth is not - of course, it's important to consider anyone could betray Voltron and that would be a easier way to capture Lance (read further in *1). It' impossible for me to believe, though, that the first two could be the same as the third, otherwise the animation would have cracked a lot (really, the bodies are completely different as the uniform as well!). At most, the first two are the same person, but in that case they would have changed outfits #statingtheobvious

Possible characters:

Thace [image] - Many people want Thace to be Keith's father, and he actually helped them escaping Zarkon in the end of the first season, so he is at least an allie and being related to Keith could be a good motivation. Besides, fans think the scene where Keith holds the hand of said character would be a very good bonding moment between father and son. That theory also relates with Keith being (at least half) Galra (see further in *2). Thace would be more fitting to the third pic, though.

Matt Holt - Some people think the second and eventually first character could be Matt, because they have a matching body type and size, the colors of the outfit would be adequated for someone who was once captured by the galra, and there are hints of brown hair. There are also people really happy that it was Keith to find him, though not everyone thinks the mysterous character is the same. The question is: if it's Matt, how had he escaped and is there a chance that he is evil now, waiting for an opportunity to betray the team (there are a few brainwashing theories)?

Lance - As you can read in *1, its possible that Lance gets captured by the Galra. The theories are that he either finds Matt, he escapes on his own, or he escapes with the help of Keith (who went to save him by impulse). The last one is the most popular, because at least the second character matches Lance's body type and the scene where Keith holds hands with them is very similar to the "We are a good team" one, and also, the gun used by the character is not-so-different from Lance's. Obviously, that theory is also very impulsed by the Klance fandom, or at least anyone who wants them to bond more, and Lance would have changed outfit for *reasons* (maybe camuflage in the Galra empire while escaping?). They may get in water (like a lake or whatever) while returning to the castle of lions - that could explain why they are the only ones in a towell...

Prince Lotor [image] - Lotor was a character from the old voltron, and many people are hoping to see him in the new season. I don't know much - just that in the original series Lotor sided with the Galra (and I believe he was half-altean AND hated Zarkon), but you can *cof* research *cof* in [this tag] - also, tell me if I messed anything. See *4 for more. The only thing that would annulate this theory would be another theory, that says Keith is prince Lotor himself *which is related with the Galra Keith theory *2, and being Lotor half altean, he would be able to change his appearance.

#Giveusagirl! - A possible, Galra or not or both (if the characters are different) girl. Assuming it was a cis girl, the first picture resembles a feminine body. We really need more feminine characters in vld, specially if they are as badass as Allura and Pidge. The only thing that saddens fans is that, if its a girl, she may possibly be Keith's love interest (read *3). She could possibly Galra, as indicated by the hand in the second picture.

Will Keith have a romantic interest?

Or: Will Keith be declared as gay, bisexual or hetero? ~because that's THE question~ The show seems to be inclined to explore his love and every fandom knows how that is an important thing.

Lance - Klance shippers would speak (scream? fangirl?) for you (I would for sure), but keeping it simple, the rivalry between Keith and Lance has evolved for something more fond and even sweet during the first season - it ca be simple companionship, but also something more. The headcanons are that Lance is bi (eventually pan) and Keith is gay, and the scene in the trailer where only Keith and Lance are shirtless was exactly the kind of fanservice the fandom wanted. Also, if like in *1 is said Lance is captured and is Keith to go save him, it would give another bonding moment - that's why there are so many people saying the mysterious person in the second pic (see above) is Lance, due to the parallels with the first season.

Shiro - I'm going to close my eyes to the fandom wars because Sheith shippers don't deserve to be harassed. It's clear that Keith and Shiro knew each other before episode 1, and i think it was that scene near Keith's house in earth where he puts his hand on Shiro's shoulder that made someone in the Voltron staff suggest "sheith" as the shipp's name, so I don't think the staff completely opposes to this shipp. Anyway, is a podcast somewhere where it was confirmed we are going to get some backstory about these two, and the teaser seems to be centered in the angst sorrounding the pair, with Shiro trusting Keith to lead Voltron in his place and Keith searching for Shiro. If nothing else, we are about to get some really emotional scenes between these two.

Allura - I believe it was also in a podcast (sorry for not having the links) where someone confirmed Allura and Keith will get closer. There are not many shippers, but if the staff decides to honor the old series, they will probably be a couple (specially if Keith gets to lead Voltron). I don't doubt their relationship would be well executed, still, the majority of the fandom wants Keith to be gay. And there's still hope! After all, no one said their closeness would be romantic - they can perfectly have a sentimental moment to strenghten their friendship, maybe to become something like Zuko and Katara in the Avatar series (most fans think they will bond over some serious matter, like a conversation about the weights of being a leader, or their fondness towards Shiro).

Prince Lotor *4- There was a certain kind of rivalry between Keith and Lotor in the original series, but some people are already shipping them (even though we don't know if Lotor is going to at least appear). It would be great to a) don't ruin the gay Keith theory and b) support all the romantic enverinment in the trailer, in that scene where Keith holds the hand of the mysterious character before they fighting together against the common enemy. It could also make Keith realize his Galra blood *2.

A girl *3 - Or "the cool girl", and it's whats giving headaches to the fandom. As said, it would be good to have more feminine characters, specially if they were related to the Galra somehow (what could also help Keith realize is Galra origins *2). The problem is, though no one doubts that the romance would be well conducted, almost all of us want Keith to be gay and it would ruin it. Of course, he could also be bisexual and date a guy later (Lance? Lotor? Shiro?), but we actually hope Lance to identify that way and Legend of Korra already offered us some B (for bi and badass) people. So, we are just hoping that scene in the trailer irradiates companionship instead of love, and ignoring that look in Keith's eyes.

Where's [insert character here]?

Both the teaser and trailer made the fans fear for some characters, like...

Shiro - From the teaser, it's seems Shiro goes trough a lot, maybe being trapped and captured by the Galra. The scene where he seems to surrend and sweat, the way he believes he's not going to survive (asking Keith to lead Voltron in his place) and how Keith seems to be searching for him and assuming the Black Lion hints that Shiro won't be around the whole season. So, the most we can expect is that the Galra get their hands on him, but we may be wrong. He could be trapped in a random alien world, actually, and not being even close to death - it would actually be more plausible for the colors in the first top image - that, or the scenes aren't in the same place.

Lance *1 - From the trailer, we see him been possibly captured, and it's a fact that he isn't present in one scene of apparent importance. Theories are that he was captured by the Galra (and eventually found Matt), or was on a mission, since the staff said that he is going to get somehow close to a leader role. How he is going to escape was already mentioned before, when I talked about Keith going to save him.

Keith - From the trailer, there's a scene where we don't see the red light out of the castle (it's in the picture of your right). The explanations are many: he could have gone on a mission, maybe going to meet that mysterious character. Lance or Shiro would possibly meet him later, to help him or for any other reason, and that would be what puts them on troubles and makes Keith try to save them later (since he feels their capture was his fault). Or... he could be simply needed in the castle.

What about the Shiro VS Zarkon fight?

No one has context enough to understand what's going on, but there at least some predominant questions about that scene:

Is it a spiritual battle? - People are saying that because the characters have a purple light about them and that contributes to the idea that it's a dream/nightmare. The thing is, we don't know if it could be just a nightmare caused by Shiro PTSD, or something with real consequences, like a spiritual fight induced by Haggar's magic, maybe over fighting for the black lion, or simply to make Voltron win whatever it is.

When does the fight take place? - Is it before or after Shiro getting captured (in case he really is). If it's before, it could explain what leads to Shiro being captured or close to a death experience, if it's after, the scene where he is on his knees sweating could be explained because he lost the fight and is fearing for the future.

How is voltron being tracked?

All the theories are quite short and deserve a mention. In the trailer, Shiro says quite stressed that he doesn't know how Zarkon keeps finding them, what makes us think that something is wrong and that the second season will have a frenetic rhythm (because they will have to be always running), and it could also be related with Shiro being captured. The possibilities that alreay popped are:

Shiro's arm - Made of Galra technology, it has some kind of chip that keeps telling Zarkon the paladin location. If that's true, and Shiro finds out, there's the possibility that he goes to the Galra Empire by his own will, because he woukd believe it would keep the other paladins safer. He sacrifices himself to save the others and the galaxy - or at least, tries to.

Supposed allie is a spy - Simple and logical, at least one of the new characters tat is supposed to side with Voltron may be a spy delivering information to the Galra. What is surprising is how no one notices that, and there's the possibility that woever does that starts to want to support the paladins and it would be a chance for a redemption narrative. Not rare the Voltron staff makes bad characters do the right choice in the end, so...

Who would lead voltron in case Shiro gets captured (or worse)?

This is one of the most hard questions, because no one seems to agree. But let's see if i get it right:

Keith - The teaser has that dialogue where Shiro asks Keith to lead Voltron in his place, and no doubt Keith will have an important role in the plot, thanks to the hints of at least one singular journey (both in the teaser and the trailer). What most fans seem to think is, though that would press him to become more mature and it would be good for his character development, he doesnt have the qualities for leading the paladins, even less to pilot the Black Lion (though we don't know if it's necessary to pilot the Black Lion to be the leader, in the teaser we see Keith in front of that Lion, with the face of someone determined to assume his responsabilities). The thing is, there's a theory that says that he actually was always the Black paladin (that explains even why he would fit the Lions description) and Shiro the red paladin (with a call-out to the "coincidence" of Shiro having the metallic RIGHT arm and the Red Lion being the RIGHT arm of voltron) - you can read it [here].

Lance - The staff said already that Lance is going to get a (at least close to) leadership role, and that would be a good opportunity for doing that, if we ignore Shiro's wish. Lance can be very rational, calm and serious when he wants to, and the paladins trust him, and the Black Lion probably wouldn't have problems to accept him. Also, Shiro was his role model and he would do everything to honor the previous black paladin. In that case, Allura would pilot the Blue Lion for him. Not completely related, there are other theories about the fate of Lance and the blue lion, like [this one].

Allura - The fandom almost completely agrees that Allura would be the perfect voltron leader - she already presented her physical skills, and we have seem their stategic skills and authority more than once. She is also kind, the paladins trust her, and the Black Lion probably would as well. It would also be the best choice to give her a more important role and to make the other paladins keep their lions.

Prince Lotor - Not very plausible, but if Lotor sides with Voltron, it's possible that the gets the Black Lion (who seems to like Galra anyway). It's doubtful, though, because the paladins wouldn't probably trust him nor would Allura.

New character - The problems are the same than with lotor.

Is Keith a Galra or not really? *2

I'm not gonna waste time explaining why Keith could be Galra: Many people did a better job at it than i would ever, so I recommend this [video | post] for details (is knife, , in case you don't already know.

The thing is, though it seems a very plausible theory for me, we haven't seen any hint of it in the season 2, and since we seem to be getting already some Galran allies, the productors may have felt like a Galra Keith would be too much. Still, when asked about that theory, their answer was something like "It's a very interesting theory!". I don't know what to think of it, really.

The remaining question is:

Why is Pidge making puppets (of the paladins?) and alone in a foreign planet?

Really, I haven't seen this in the actual trailer, so I would like someone to explain to me the top images in the left and right corner.

Hope you enjoyed it! Feel free to remember me of more theories, correct whatever it is or to say where I can credit this theories/staff confirmations. Some credits to [www | www]

Bonus: from [here]