#analysi

Lance's connection to Blue was the first connection shown in the series, which makes it all the more meaningful, and it made no sense to the series own rules. Red is temperamental and difficult to control, which is why Keith was her paladin. I have defended Lance's piloting skills in a previous post, but he is not as good as Keith and does not suit the Red Lion. His affinity is water - as emphasised by the start of season 2. Red is aligned with water.

Plus, if he stayed in Blue he would have gotten a proper character arc by living by his own rules and standards and not in Keith's shadow. I know it was supposed to be symbolism - him accepting Keith as leader and not being selfish about it made him qualify as the right-hand man, but the others accepted him as well, despite ribbing Keith about it earlier.

If anyone should have gotten the role as the Red Paladin, it should have been Allura.

Allura as the Red Paladin would, not only make sense narratively, but would also seem right. Colour-wise, she's closer to Red's hue than Blue's, but honestly, I didn't really care about the colour match-up. What is important, is that it would seem like a much bigger deal than Lance accepting Keith as the leader. Lance hates Keith, but that's probably due to being constantly in his shadow and being compared to him, consistently reminded at the Garrison that he was only moved up because Keith was expelled.

Allura, however, has a deeper reason. (Lance's reason is still valid, btw, just not as big as Allura's). She hated Keith for a good portion of Season 2 because he is half-Galra. Obviously, to us, this is a shitty reason to hate someone. It's racism and the show doesn't handle this well. It doesn't handle a lot of stuff well, but whatever. She gives Keith the cold shoulder and Keith knows she hates him. He says so himself to Hunk and doesn't listen to his reassurances. Then again, Hunk was making jokes about something Keith was clearly sensitive about, so that may have had a hand in it too.

Now, I am not condoning her actions. She made Keith feel unwelcome in a team - a family - while he already has abandonment issues, (not that they knew that), and hated him for something he cannot control. Keith probably hated himself for being born. Both of them disregarded the fact that he is still a person with feeling and blood doesn't change that. Hunk too, as much as I love him, was also wrong in his 'Galra Keith' jokes, as if Keith was someone else entirely, when nothing changed apart from their knowledge.

However, what I am saying, is that Allura's reaction was, somewhat, believable and had a genuine reason - and a good one. The Galra Empire completely annihilated her species (as far as she's aware), betrayed the people she loved, and has monopolized entire planets and controlled them - forced them to work and even fight to the death for their entertainment. Apart from Ulaz, she hadn't a single good interaction with the Galra. One good person is not enough to change your opinion about entire races. I know people who are racist, proper racist, to their own race, no joke.

Allura's reaction was actually rather tame, especially compared to how extreme racism can be in the world, even now. She never rose a hand to Keith and kept it passive-aggressive. She gave him the cold shoulder and genuinely hated him, but she never hit him and she never deliberately sent him on a death mission. The Weblum mission was dangerous, but it was also a requirement and she didn't send him in alone. She may have refused to acknowledge his achievements, but she didn't blame him or accuse him of anything. It's likely that, when she saw him, all she saw was Galra. That being said, she wasn't a bad person, simply badly written. There are many people who hurt others for no reason - people who haven't been wronged in any way, but rate a community simply because they exist or they think they're lower than them or less human, which is wrong on so many levels. Allura, at least, had a good reason, though it should have been built on and written better.

In the end, Allura acknowledged her toxic attitude and apologised to Keith. This in and of itself does not make everything okay, but it's more than what Lance did, (virtually nothing except telling Keith that he has to be the leader). Allura knows she was wrong and sets out to make it right, and this development would have been solidified by her becoming the Red Paladin. Like, let's be honest. Lance does not treat Keith right and it's never explained why, in and outside of the show. He's the one antagonising Keith, even during their first proper meeting, and he's the only starting all the arguments, especially in season 2. Keith has been volatile too, I will admit, but he stops his behaviour in the second season. Lance is the one starting everything. Allura, however, stops her behaviour before it takes extreme lengths and becomes a better person and a better friend as a result. It's then that she calls Keith family for the first time, and becoming his right-hand would have shown how serious she was and how far they've come.

Seeing Allura, who, just the season prior, hated Keith's guts, accept Keith as her leader, the Black Paladin, become his right-hand, would have meant so much more. The symbolism goes even deeper. Red's first paladin was Altean and Black's was Galran. Need I say more? (No, but I will). Many of us were incredibly disappointed with the ending of Voltron, especially with Allura dying. The reason she died was to complete the circle, so to speak. The war against the Galra Empire truly started with the death of Allura's father, Alfor, and the entire species of Altea, and the war is finally ending with Allura and Honerva's death. That being said, it was just so insulting and pointless and nobody was happy. Instead of dying to complete the circle, Allura should have survived and broken the chain, for both herself and Red's own paladin tragedy. It was just a huge slap in the face for people who actually powered through seasons 7 and 8 and trusted the show to pull through and get its head together. I know that Shiro was supposed to get Black back, Keith goes back to Red and Allura controls the Atlas, but if that wasn't the plan, then Allura in Red would have made much more sense.

Additionally, the fight in that realm would have been more emotional if Allura was forced to fight her father and bring him back. Lance had no emotional attachment to Alfor, and I know that was the case with Hunk and Pidge, and Allura had attachment to all of the previous paladins, but still. Think about how heart wrenching it would have been for her to face her father, whom she loves dearly. he wouldn't have even recognised her and would have fought her with the intent to kill after his soul was trapped for 10,003 decapheobs/years. (I know they're different, but Allura says 10,000 years even when she didn't know what years were, so I didn't know if that was a mistake or not). Allura would not have been able to fight as well as she did against the Blue Paladin of Old.

Let's not forget that Allura was the one to convince Keith to take up the role of the Black Paladin. Of all the paladins, it was Allura who knew what to say; who knew why Keith was acting the way he was in season 3. Lance saw Shiro as his idol, Pidge as a legend, and Hunk as a mentor. Keith's relationship with Shiro is so much deeper than that. Shiro wasn't the youngest man to be sent into space. He wasn't someone to look up to. He didn't go to the Garrison because Shiro went there - he went there because Shiro convinced him. He doesn't see Takashi Shirogane, piloting prodigy, idol for all. He sees Takashi Shirogane, his best friend and brother, a man he can trust and how can trust him. Nobody else realises how deep this goes. Nobody but Allura. She's the only one to see how much Shiro meant to Keith. She's the one to call him 'irreplaceable' and she's the only one even by the end of the series, who isn't Keith, who has sacrificed something for him. Allura gave up her freedom for him by allowing herself to be captured, and then she gave up the crystal for his arm. Keith has saved Shiro many times, even his clone, and literally gave up his place in Voltron for Shiro. Allura trusts Keith and Keith allowed himself to trust her. She understands his pain when nobody else saw it.

Finally, Allura would have been inheriting Red from her father. Coran has explicitly said that Allura wanted to pilot Red due to her father piloting her. The Lions clearly have some amount of sentience, Red and Black especially. Black only opens themselves to Keith because he of Shiro. The first time, it's to save Shiro from death. The second, it's because Shiro wanted him to become the leader. Red only accepted Keith because he proved himself to her and has saved Keith many times while he's floating in space. She's described as temperamental, which suggest levels of sentience. Obviously, Red would have more of a soft spot for Allura, the daughter of her previous paladin, than she would for Lance, whom she only opens up to well into season 3 and is someone antagonised and even bullied Keith, her current/transitioning paladin. Allura also shows that she's fiercely loyal and is willing to give one up for the team.

Allura has sacrificed her only contact to her father, she has allowed herself to be kidnapped for Shiro, she has constantly exhausted herself for both her friends and strangers such as the Balmerans, she has given up the crystal in her crown for Shiro without hesitation, and she even dated Lance despite not showing any form of romantic attraction previously. (That last one was joke, obviously).

TL;DR - Lance has literally no reason to have become the Red Paladin outside of a rubbish character arc, and Allura has all the reasons. It would have marked an excellent character arc mid-point and would have set up a great ending, if handled well.

When King first talks about Zoomen, he says it’s an introduction to heroes and emphasizes that they get a lot of support from all angles--from each other, from having faith in one another, from an organization that helps them in their missions. He speaks about it fondly, with metaphorical rose-tinted glasses (or bubble-tinted, in this case), because that’s how he sees teamwork. 

His career--his whole life--relies on the hope that people believe in him and have faith in his projected hero image, and that he’s going to get help when he needs it (which is a lot). King ended up a hero because other heroes came in when he needed them. It wasn’t intentional, but a kind of skewed, sympathetic teamwork is what got King where he is today. He wants to believe that the definition of heroism promoted by Zoomen is true, because so long as it is he can still call himself some kind of a hero and be confident that others will come in and save him when he needs it. 

That’s not a selfish thing, I don’t think. King is frequently putting himself in situations where he could die in a moment’s notice because he doesn’t want to disappoint the people who believe in him. He’s a hugely inspirational symbol to most of his world, and I’m pretty sure he’s aware of that. The one saving grace he has in going out and risking his life on a much more intense scale than his fellow heroes is that someone may come in and save him, should he need it, because they know how important it is to come in and save others. I think that’s why he doesn’t introduce it as a “children’s” show--it might be simplistic, yes, but King wants to believe that the ideals in the show are a foundation for what all heroes aim to be as they mature and go beyond “kid stuff.”

When Genos gives his opinion on that defintion, he completely shuts it down. He’s even confused by the thought of relying on someone else when you need him--to him it’s a death warrant that’s just asking that you get killed, and he says that they’ll be knocked off in a few episodes. 

What’s upsetting about that is that this is his very real, personal experience. He had a monster come and attack him and his family. He had an entire town that could’ve tried to take it down, and instead it killed everyone in it, save Genos himself (though he would try to fight the idea that he fully survived it, but that’s for a different post). He was not strong enough to save himself or anyone around him, and if his lifetime was a show, he almost died in the first few episodes. He’s come close to dying on several occasions, all of which he exhibited great power that was just short of what he needed. His reality is that only the strong survive--it doesn’t matter how many people you have supporting you because when it comes down to it, your weakness is a “defect” that’s going to take you down. 

The use of the word “defect” is interesting as well, because Genos isn’t looking at heroes as people with the potential of rising above their faults due to spirit or drive. He’s considering them a summation of parts, like he does himself, and if one of those parts is broken there is no way for the whole to run smoothly. Which...again, is very sad, because that is his reality.

Then there’s Saitama. He’s open to hearing King out--he’s so-so on the idea, but he gets really excited about it and even tries it out. His expectations are utterly crushed when he does, though, and he comes back jaded, falling on old beliefs that you have to make sure you’re always ready to defend yourself in case everyone else fails you.

This is a little different from what Genos is saying, even though the endgame is the same. Genos thinks that weakness is equivalent to death. Saitama thinks that it’s dependence that will get you killed. This idea comes up a lot, over and over and over again, when Saitama is telling others how they should be a hero--that they need to be strong enough to rely on themselves, that they need to be standing when everyone else is down, that they shouldn’t worry about others because they themselves need to be strong. 

I need to go down a small tangent to talk about his fixation on this idea. Despite Saitama being the main character of the show, we know surprisingly little about his past. He had a house when he was little. He went to school. He tried to get a job. He lived on his own, moving from shitty apartment to shitty apartment, getting along the best he could even as he was doing hero work. We know nothing about his family, his friends, about what his childhood was like. His adult life has very much been, “Fend for yourself because no one else is going to do that for you,” but the willingness he has to accept that as fact makes it seem like it was ground into him for a very long time before that. I say all that because this recurring theme of “Be strong to defend everyone else because no one is going to come to save anyone” is...dark. It’s upsetting. Something seemed to happen to him when he was younger that changed how he thought about closeness and compassion. It’s as if he thinks you can give those things to other people, but they are never, ever, ever guaranteed to be given back to you. 

Regardless of his past, though, Saitama has a very real trepidation about relying on anyone else. I wouldn’t call it a fear, per say, but it’s a massive concern of his--he worries that heroes who rely on other heroes “forget how to fight alone.” He talks like he is one-hundred percent convinced that that’s the way it’ll end--with you all alone, up against something much bigger and stronger than you, having everyone else around you incapacitated. All things considered that makes sense--it’s his reality. Saitama is there when all else fails, he’s the last resort, he’s the one everyone else can rely on. He seems to worry, though, that others will be in the same situation, and they will not be able to protect themselves because they’ve become so reliant on help from other people. Saitama worries about weakness just like Genos does, but in a different way--for Genos, it’s an innate condemning factor that will kill you and must be removed wholly. For Saitama, it’s an organic quality you can work around or fight against, but that can also grow and that you can settle into. Genos sees it more as nature, Saitama more as nurture (”the power of human beings is to change themselves”). 

The ending is even more upsetting. We have Saitama playing games with King, who (saving Genos because that is a very complicated relationship) is the first plain ol’ friend that we’ve seen him make in the series. He’s hanging out, taking recommendations for things, sharing interests and conversations. He’s opening himself up to another person, and who’s doing the same. In the game they’re playing Saitama is on King’s team and relying on him to heal him. When Saitama gets poisoned, though, King lets him die because he’s bothered by Saitama saying he doesn’t believe in teams.

This is supposed to be a lesson from King, that’s clear. He’s showing Saitama that sometimes yes, you need help, you need to depend on others. It’s looking like his role is their relationship is going to be slapping Saitama upside the head with good advice until he starts to take it. Right now though Saitama doesn’t get it. To him, he relied on someone else and they didn’t come through even as he was literally shouting for help. It just proved that his “doubts about superhero groups” are valid. Instead he’s left lying and bleeding on the floor while King, the superior in-game hero, fights on for him and does all the work. There’s a chance that later on as they’re playing King saves him when he needs it, but we don’t see it. The last shot is Saitama’s character bleeding on the ground.

I remember reading this, thinking it was really cute, getting to the end, and realizing what was going on. When I went back and reread it, I was so...sad. King wants to be hopeful, he wants to believe that things can end well and be good, but he has the people around him (and that I’m sure he looks up to, if only a little) telling him, “No, that’s childish and stupid and gonna get someone killed.” Then he enacts the very thing he’s afraid of, which may have eventually helped his friend change his mind but that we as the audience don’t see--it merely proves the dark, disillusioned beliefs of Saitama and Genos that King is trying to look past by playing off the real world interaction Saitama just went through during his mission.