sorry, this isnt quite a discussion question! but would you be able to explain quintessence a bit? from what i know, its a form of energy that resides within alteans (or just some alteans? does coran have quintessence?) and it can do cool stuff like energize other ppl, make wormholes, etc. but is it possibly found in humans or galra or any others? because if zarkon was able to receive so much quintessence, could it mean that some non-alteans are naturally receptive to quintessence?
ye!! quintessence is essentially the Force of the vld universe. we know that itās found in all living creatures because weāve seen it be extracted from full planets, and allura has stated thatĀ āthe quintessence of the [voltron] lion is mirrored in its pilot.āĀ
from what weāve seen so far, alteans seem to have the strongestĀ āoutrightā relationship to quintessence because it manifests itself in multiple forms (magic, wormholes, balmeran rituals, etc). but weāve seen multiple other manifestations of speciesā relationships with quintessence, such as the olkariās relationship with nature & technology and the balmeransā ability to communicate with each other through their connection to their home.
species like humans and the galra, however, from what weāve seen so far, have very minimal abilities when it comes to the interaction with quintessence. we know that they do possess a connection to it, though, because of the simple fact that they all can be paladins of voltron.
iāve gotten a few other asks that are similar to this one, so im gonna toss this bit in here as well: quintessence itself can manifest in a multitude of different ways. one, the most common thus far, is within a character themselves. its quite literally in the word: quintessence is theĀ āessenceā of a person. its why we see such drastic effects when haggar extracts that planetās quintessence during the first komar experiment.
another way is in its purest form, which is becomes present when extracted from its source (like from the planet in s1, and from voltron itself in s2). (i canāt remember off the top of my head whether or not the yellow aqueous form we see in s1e10 is referred to asĀ āpureā quintessence.)
and,, tbh thats most of what we know in canon about quintessence thus far. im rly sad that the show hasnāt delved that far into it, because from what theyāve said about it, its one of the most important aspects of the story. especially with the wholeĀ ālionsā quintessence is mirrored in its pilotā thing. but then again, it is a kids show, and i often dive so far into these things myself that i forget the show itself cant dedicate that much time to only one thing.Ā
