I would like to preface this by saying that I don’t think VLD intended for this nuance to be possible. When they originally made the characters and gave them their lions, I think they made them very one dimensional (hence why everyone’s outfit matched their lion colour), but I think they also started several background plots that drastically changed each character, to the point where they no longer fit the molds they were originally intended to be. That’s why Black Paladin Keith and Red Paladin Lance hit so hard. They were originally assigned lions according to the personality we saw in the first episode, and those personas changed so much and went through so much growth throughout the show that seeing them in their original lions would feel wrong. The change of lion was necessary to their growth as people and that is a fascinating storyline, one that VLD gets zero credit for because they definitely did not intend it (I know because if they did it could have been done way better and with way more nuance). Anyways. I present to you each paladin, what they want, and what they needed but could not get until they grew and accepted themselves.
LION HE NEEDS: Green (or, honestly, rest)
Now this is a controversial take. Shiro? The natural born leader? The one who everyone listens to without question? Him? In Green? But hear me out! As much as he exudes an aura of someone who can provide answers, I have to ask — did he ever really, truly, want to be the person everyone relied on? I don’t really think he did.
From what we were shown, Shiro grew up ill. He grew up in a constant state, I would assume, of people telling him that he was incapable of achieving great things. I would imagine this would solidify in his head that he had to achieve great things, or else he would fail himself. I think that’s why he and Adam fought so hard. In an effort to keep Shiro safe (and as someone who may have known Shiro better than he knew himself but was incapable of articulating that in a way that was loving instead of controlling), Adam became one of the many people who told Shiro what he couldn’t do. And Shiro, who was desperate (interestingly, much like Lance) to prove himself, gunned for the position of leadership. And to his credit he performs this leadership exceptionally well! He knows how to comfort and steer people and gain their trust. But at the core of him, I think all Shiro ever wanted to do was explore. Look at his excitement for the Kerberos mission — as much as he, in part, accepted that mission as a show of strength and health, he is a nerd. He wanted to explore and he wanted to explore badly. Even throughout the show, he’s a dorky nerd who gets very excited to learn new things and meet new people. He’s intensely curious, intelligent, and inquisitive, so I think green would be his best fit. (Also, his biology and geology geek ass would love forest powers.)
I have talked endlessly about this exact thing before, and I’ll do it again, but this time in more detail.
Keith was struck with a truly heartbreaking amount of trauma in a very short amount of time. He lost everyone he ever loved, quickly, and from what we could see of the flashbacks, his attempts to reach out for help were often met with disdain or even blame. This, I imagine, would paint a very specific picture of life for Keith: it sucks, and it is something that happens to you. Something you can’t control. That’s why he wants to red paladin — since he assumes there’s no control in his life, he acts out, he’s impulsive because he’s been conditioned unfairly to look out only for himself, trust no one for help, and therefore does not often consider or care about the consequences of his actions. With shiro as the black paladin, Keith does not need to offer support as the red paladin, and so in that position he can fully exercise his wild and impulsive tendencies. In fact Shiro was often the one supporting him, and so a lot of his impulses worked out for him. In the red lion he isn’t forced to seek change in himself — at most he is expected to work within a team, which is new, but because of the expectation of his wild tendencies, he doesn’t have to undergo much change.
As the black paladin, Keith is suddenly responsible for everyone else. He can no longer fall back on the idea that he cannot get help from others and he’s the only person he has to worry about. Now, not only is he looked to as the one to make decisions, he actively has to rely on every other person on his team — the black lion is the head, which means it’s held up by the body! Keith is as reliant on his team as they are on him. He now has to carefully weigh almost every single one of his decisions, and untangle the harmful outlook on life that was forced on him. He has to accept that he is not at fault for the trauma he went through, he has to learn how to love and trust. Also, his lack of desire for power makes him a better leader in the long run, because he is less likely to be corrupt because of it.
As much as Lance does and obviously enjoy being the blue paladin, if he was asked, in the beginning, to choose one, he’d choose black. And we know that’s true because when he had the potential chance to be Black’s paladin, he jumped for it.
It’s because Lance desperately wants people to listen to him. Much like Shiro, Lance — as the youngest sibling and as someone who we saw face so much pointless and even cruel scrutiny — wants to prove himself. He wants to be the best, he wants to be on top, and most of all, he wants to be appreciated for what he offers. Many of his skills are under appreciated, because although he is unbelievably talented in the things he can do, the path life took him on does not place a lot of value on the skills he has. Dance & arts, tension-breaking, long-range fighting — all of these are often considered frivolous and/or expected to be quiet skills. These aren’t things that get praised in the setting of war or battle, and Lance, as someone who is very insecure, needs that praise and validation. As the black paladin his skills and decisions would have a direct impact on the people around him, which would prove an instant validation for him to see, and as the black paladin he would be free from any shadows (like Keith’s).
But, ironically, Lance’s skill aren’t suited for solo leadership, not the way he wants. Lance does have many skills of a leader, that’s true, but that’s why he’s so good at the red paladin — specifically Keith’s red paladin, although so long as he would have the position of right hand man (unlike Keith with Shiro’s leadership, which was very solo) he could work with anyone.
Lance grew up with people. He never knew a time where he was alone. He learnt simply by being alive how to mitigate fights as much as he learnt to escalate them, and how to work with people as much as intentionally upset them. There’s a reason Lance is so good at getting under Keith’s skin, and it’s because he can predict what would make Keith comfortable and is fiery enough to delight in the opposite. Lance can analyze incredibly well, and all of his ideas work best with a partner. He also would have the freedom, as the red paladin, that Keith had — to be as impulsive as he wants to be, but often isn’t, because he’s scared to shake his reputation. Lance, sometimes, visibly wants to go a little apeshit. He likes causing problems. He works well in chaos. But as the blue paladin or the person who is meant to go with the flow, he’s restricted from this desire, and it dampers his ideas and plans. When he’s allowed to think outside the box and move in unexpected ways, he comes up with excellent ideas and puts in new supports that take the team in different directions. Also, by being forced further into Keith’s shadow, he had to learn how to find his light himself, which helped him realize his own worth more than being a leader ever could. If he were to be in Black, he would find himself (due to his worship of Shiro and his lack of faith in himself) in Shiro’s shadow. If he were not forced to find his own worth, it wouldn’t matter which lion he was in, he’d never be able to prove to himself that he was ‘just as good’. By being in Red and as such directly compared to Keith in every aspect, he was able to realize that no, actually, he was individual and that individuality made him strong.
This one was a lot harder to puzzle out.
Allura wants to be her father desperately. She wants to be everything he was. Like Lance, she has placed herself in the shadow of someone she could never be. From what I can tell, Alfor was a very impersonal leader — although he did love and care for his daughter, and presumably his wife, many of his decisions were ruled largely by logic. Allura, on the other hand, is passionate in everything that she does. She loves sparkly things and grand shows and she wants to know everything about everybody and be right in the middle of everything. Alfor wants his people to prosper. Allura wants her people to be happy. You can see Allura’s struggle especially in the beginning — Allura, when trying to emulate her father in her leadership, is kind of a drill sergeant. She is strict and has impossibly high expectations. But when she has the chance to be herself, she is bubbly and kind and excited. She wants the red lion because she wants to be like her father. She wants to hold on to what she has left of him, and is willing to bury herself to do it. She already has a position of unquestioned leadership in the castle, so it’s not necessarily the power she wants, but she doesn’t trust herself to be strong just as she is, so like Keith, she wants the red lion because that’s what’s expected of her.
But Allura likes being right in the middle of things. She likes being the support, likes hearing about people’s lives and doing what she can to help fix problems. She is the definition of a sunshine character, and as the yellow paladin would be able to be as strong as she is soft. Being the yellow paladin would also help her differentiate herself from her father and establish herself as her own person. This would break the heavy burden of expectation she has on her — instead of obsessing over what everyone wants her to be, she can be who she is exactly, and let that be what helps her move forward. The yellow lion would allow her to be as soft and emotional and grieving as she is, without compromising her ability to help guide and support her team and family that mean the world to her.
This was a hard one, actually, partially because it does provide some conflict with two people who would best suit Black. Hunk, though, is so versatile that he gets TWO lions that he needs.
Hunk has a very strange reputation. He’s seen as the sunshine cinnamon roll, which is almost at direct odds with his actual character. Hunk is witty and dry and intensely distrusting. He is the epitome of kind, not nice. He has his suspicions of people and is very fond of his family while also being critical of them, which means that as much as he protects them and cares for them, he’s also willing to protect them from themselves. He’s the one to point out detrimental flaws that others gloss over. He is (mostly) tactful, of course, but he assumes his role as supporter means that he is responsible for pointing out and helping change poor behaviour — which, in fact, is the role of a leader. Hunk also has a very solid view of things in general. He sees situations for what they are and does not struggle to see through smoke and mirrors. He is also capable of being nuanced, even though he prefers things to be black and white. He’s good at taking other peoples feelings into consideration and caring for them while also helping them improve. As the black paladin, he would be able to exercise these abilities in full, as well as utilize his strategic brain to come up with several on-the-fly and reasonable tactical plans.
His surety as a black paladin is directly unlike his role as the yellow paladin, where he often falters due to his anxiety and struggles to be as preppy as he is expected to be. As much as he does like being in the middle of things, he also has a certain need for control, which could be carefully exercised with the black lion. The best way to cure anxiety is to see regular proof that you are capable of overcoming your fears, something that would be obvious in Black. (Also, if Lance were his red paladin, they would be able to utilize their previously established supporting roles and dynamics as leadership ones.)
Alternatively, however, Hunk would work well in the Green Lion. He is just as curious and inquisitive as Shiro and Pidge, although his anxiety and fear of the unknown frequently holds him back from discovery. That’s why he’s so reluctant to trust new people, why he sticks to what he knows. As the green paladin, he’d be the one who’s required to stick his hand out first, the one to mitigate his own anxiety and reckon with the fact that he is not as fallible as he believes he is. He would have to understand that he is capable of things outside of what he’s known to be. It would also help his natural distrust of new people become an intrigue, where instead of assuming new things are threats, he would expect and prepare for the threat while understanding the possibility of progress.
The common theme among each of the original wants and placements is that the paladins force themselves into roles that fit their reputations and expectations. Pidge is no exception. She is curious, and she is inquisitive, but to some degree, that’s all she’s allowed to be. She’s constantly dismissed as a young girl who’s just looking for answers, and so I think that makes her desperate to prove that she’s capable of finding those answers, that she’s the smartest person in the room. In fact it’s when she’s backed into that corner of a one dimensional nerd that she becomes the most volatile. I think she resents that position she’s forced in, and perhaps the time she took over for her brother upset her ability to separate him and the persona she made of herself impersonating him from her real personality, wants, and desires.
But when Pidge is at her strongest, she is thinking about and working towards helping her family. Her greatest and most selfless moments come when she is sacrificing herself to protect those she cares about. Pidge sacrificed her entire identity to find her father and brother, and throughout the show often sacrificed her search for her father and brother to help the universe and the other paladins. Pidge’s greatest shows of strength are when she is protecting, caring, and supporting other people. Also, pidge is incredibly adaptable. Even at her most one dimensional — a coder and programmer — she is constantly hit with huge amounts of obstacles that she must work around on the fly. Most of her young life has been impossibly high hurdles that she’s had to work around. She doesn’t seek those problems out, but rather they are forced upon her, and she uses her resources and intelligence to work with them and eventually overcome them, which speaks more to her adaptability than to her curiosity.
Part of the disappointment in the later seasons of Voltron is that a lot of storylines and character arcs either felt unfinished or mishandled. Part of that is because by prompting so much change in the paladins and then introducing a visible marker of that change in the lion swap, but neglecting to actually flesh out those changes in later seasons, huge parts of the characters felt empty. Shiro was forced to take on a task way bigger than he ever wanted to have — did he ever get the time to find himself and his interests again before he was slapped into a new leadership role and married off? Keith finally seemed to find himself and feel comfortable in his skin as the black paladin — why was he sent away before he could enjoy it? And then why did much of the progress he made while he was away come at the detriment of his ability to co-lead with Lance? Lance had so many interesting arcs and relationships with the rest of the paladins and his own inner turmoil — why were these arcs muddled in the name of a forced romance and settling down on a farm? Allura got to move from an impassive leader to a fun young woman with her entire future ahead of her — why was she forced into a relationship she didn’t want and then killed? Hunk’s entire character was so interesting and funny — why was he immortalized as the caricature he was forced to play in the Coalition show that he hated so deeply, and forbidden from reaching his full potential? Pidge had a fascinating dynamic with the paladins in contrast with her own internal struggles — why was her development dropped as soon as she found her brother?
Dreamworks dropped the ball. But I’m happy to take the seeds they planted and care for them myself — to grow them into a diverse and interesting cast of characters that had deep and nuanced relationships with each other and the situations they were in. Also, I don’t know how to end this essay, so end scene.
yousharknotpass
snowghoul
titsay
baratheonpilled
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