#merla

Merla returns! But something seems.. unusual about her...

Enter Merla: Queen of Darkness!!! 🖤✨

I was pretty disappointed when VLD didn't explore the culture and politics of the Galra Empire more, especially after Lotor took the throne, and I was also quite disappointed with Merla's cameo. So I decided to take a crack at her design myself! Some backstory below!!

TOOK LONG ENOUGH! So I spent about two weeks at my dad's for Thanksgiving and couldn't exactly draw. So I read manga. Including the Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess manga. And let's just say that Midna gave me new vibes and ideas for Merla. And I'm now thinking of this being her look for when she eventually shows up in Witch, Please! I've also upgraded her pet's look to give him a more alien look. And I love how things turned out.

Characters' info under the cut

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Summery: in the original story, Lotor is married of to a pinning woman named Merla by order of Zarkon. Merla does exist in Legendary defender so taking this and Lotor's psychology and personality into consideration, would they gave been end game?

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This is an odd question In and of itself and one I don't have a definitive awnser to, however I do find it fascinating enough to consider.

Let's start with explaining the existence of Merla In the Voltron universe.

Original Merla (to my knowledge) first appeared in season 2 of Voltron: Defender of The Universe. She is portrayed with pink hair and light blue skin (there may be a purple tint to her skin depending on the series)

She is a character who appears seemingly out of nowhere as explained by Haggar and brings with her a legendary group of physic women known as the Muses of Norn. She then begins Pining for Lotor in the series however, these actions may have some ulterior motives to them.

Merla is an queen all her own, having conquered and built up an empire herself, her primary capital (planet) is unnamed and men are forbidden to step foot on it. Haggar is fond of her and it's not surprising considering Merla has some supernatural power of her own. Like Narti, Merla can control minds and have a bonded animal companion (Merla has a bird). That being said her power is not as powerful as Narti's but does have its own upside. Merla can't fully control a person's actions, more so, she can plant suggestions in their mind. But she benefits where Narti's power falters in that she does not have to physically touch her victims for her power to work.

And finally, personality wise, she's nothing to write home about. "Merla is sophisticated, snooty, often petty, power hungry and determined to get what she wants by any means. While not as blatantly cruel as Zarkon or Lotor, she’s not a nice person; most people are pawns or obstacles to her. She also enjoys humiliating those she dislikes and uses her powers to do so." A statement taken from a wonderful Voltron fan account on Tumbler who goes further in depth to the character's behavior and understanding.

And cruel she is. Humiliating Lotor, alienating everyone except Zarkon (who's caught the feels) insulting Haggar's appearance and powers, attempting to kill and torture Allura, ect. As stated by "The Voltron Fandom Hag" she does soften quite a bit by the end of the series and even alies with the Voltron Force to save Lotor after she finds he is to be executed (this is due to her growng love for him) Eventually Merla does succeed I'm marrying Lotor, however, the marriage is annulled soon after.

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Now Original Merla doesn't seem like anyone VLD Lotor would have an infatuation with. But remember she does exist in Legendary Defender as a much nicer person.

Vld Merla first appeared in season 8 episode 2 when we see Honerva's path from Priestess to Empress and her motives behind her actions.

Her features have been heavily changed (similarly with what was done with haggar) and she is now Altean with a slight redder tint to her hair, tan skin and violet eyes. She has a particular fondness to Lotor (for being the savior) and Honerva (for being his mother). She's fiercely loyal, respectful, stronghearted, and has good instincts, recognizing immediately upon Lotor's return that something is wrong. Eventually by the end of the series Merla redeems herself and even earns her place as Coran's Royal Adviser once he's taken the throne.

This version of Merla is not only a good person with a personal love for Lotor, but she also has qualities that are similar to Allura and Lotor's other love interest in the series, Ven'tar. That being said, while I loved the romantic relationship between Lotor and Allura, I couldn't help the idea that perhaps this relationship wasn't as healthy as it actually could be. The reason being, did Lotor actually love Allura in that regard, or did he think he did when in actually she was simply connected to something he had always wanted, the alteans.

It wouldn't be false to say Lotor has chased after everything having to do with Altea and his mother, which only worsened as his animosity with his father and his people grew. This leads me to believe that while Allura is a wonderful person and has many qualities Lotor would find attractive, she may not actually be someone he'd pine for if he had the ability (and sanity) to choose. This makes me question if the altean's were never genocided nor was his mother deceased, would he have chosen Merla? Naturally so considering that allura would have been an adult by the time of his birth, but we're not gonna take that into consideration right now.

Personally, I'd say Merla is a perfect match for Lotor, given the examples and information in the post, but despite that, I don't really have an awnser to give other than my own opinion. This is why I feel this post to be more debatable than anything. There is no groundbreaking proof of my argument while there's also not much (to my research) that could debunk it. It's mainly an opinionated point that can be debated or agreed upon but never considered true or false. So my question stands. If he hadn't died, would Lotor have ended up with Merla and the end of Voltron?

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