#team keith

In the trailer, Keith is clearly in the Black Lion, and Lance is clearly in the Red Lion. Why would they show us that? Remember the season two teaser? The one which showed Shiro walking into the light? That Shiro turned out to be a hologram. My point is, Voltron Legendary Defender has some damn good writers. They balance a seven character ensemble cast and make it look easy, and there’s always a trail leading up to their twists. Look how many of us managed to catch onto the fact that Keith was a Galra before season two. 

Why would they confirm something this game-changing in the teaser?

I mean, sure, it could be argued that they don’t expect people to be shocked because it’s following in the footsteps of 80s Voltron, but VLD and 80s Voltron are different series. As far as I’m aware, Keith wasn’t a Galra in 80s Voltron. Shiro (Sven, whatever) didn’t have a metal arm. Hell, I don’t even think bayards were a thing. If they’re showing us this in the teaser, there has to be a catch.

And yet Keith piloting the Black Lion is what’s been foreshadowed.

Are we watching the same show? Yes, he’s been described as a “prodigy” pilot, and, yes, he’s good at fighting, but that’s something we see him training at even when the others aren’t (see season one, episode nine, Crystal Venom). He’s good because he practises. If you need proof of that consider Best Laid Plans, where he uses a Galra gun. Keith trains with a sword, he’s used to working with a sword, he’s good with a sword.

His aim is frankly appalling.

As for his personality traits, Keith’s biggest flaws are his hotheadedness and his rashness, which have both been acknowledged more times than we can count. In the first episode, when it’s mentioned that he was thrown out of the Garrison because of discipline issues. In episode four, when Shiro basically has to put himself between him and Pidge. In Return to Balmera, when he almost hurts the Balmera at least twice in the course of the episode. In episode ten when he goes after the druid on his own (Keith, why?), in episode eleven when he attacks Zarkon (Keith, WHY?)... And that’s just season one. i.e. the season where he didn’t get a lot of focus.

In Best Laid Plans, Keith uses a Galra gun to shoot the sentries coming through the door. Whilst he does manage to hit all of the sentries, the majority of his shots miss. Honestly, he was hitting the door frame. The door frame. I’m British, and even I know that’s bad aim.

And who had an entire episode centred around the fact that he is a good shot? Lance.

I think this is a set up for season three. The majority of us seem to have settled on season three having a Lance arc. It would make sense. Hunk had season one, Keith had season two, and Shiro and Pidge have arcs in the overarching plot which pop up in both seasons one and two. Lance’s insecurities - especially regarding how he compares to Keith - have been built up throughout seasons one and two. I expect that these will come to a head now that Shiro’s missing, especially if Keith tries to step into the leading role.

But Keith’s not a leader yet. He’s bound to mess up, and Lance, being completely insecure about his place on the team (as shown in Escape From Beta-Traz), is bound to rub his screw-ups in his face. Obviously, Keith is going to do his best, but he’s not Shiro. I’ve seen a lot of people suggesting that Lance is going to pilot the Red Lion because that was how it worked in the previous season. Honestly, I don’t think they’re going to swap the lions around - I think that Black letting Keith fly him was a one-time deal because Shiro was in danger - but I do think it’s possible that Lance is likely to step into Keith’s old role, i.e. the unofficial second-in-command. Throughout the first two seasons, Keith has stepped in to give orders when Shiro has been incapacitated. If he takes over as leader, that position will be temporarily vacant. 

Don’t get me wrong, at this point in the series I think he’d run Voltron straight into the nearest star because Shiro is a good 80% of his impulse control (which is partly why I think Shiro’s safe, at least for now), but he has shown some leadership qualities.

Loyalty to the Cause

“If you leave, we can’t form Voltron, and that means we can’t defend the universe against Zarkon...You’re putting the lives of two people over the lives of everyone else in the entire galaxy.” - Keith, Fall of the Castle of Lions

Keith is the only paladin out of the four that would remain who has never shown any inclination towards leaving. In fact the idea of anyone leaving makes him downright furious (I suspect he has abandonment issues, but that’s another theory for another day).

He’s Not in it for the Glory

In Return to the Balmera, we get this exchange -

Lance: Do you think the Balmerans will have a parade for us after we’ve freed everybody?

Keith: It’s not about the glory, Lance, it’s about freeing prisoners from Zarkon.

Along with Allura, Lance seems to be one of the more popular options for black paladin, but his priorities never seem to be in quite the right place. In Taking Flight, his lion gets captured by Nyma because he’s too interested in flirting with her to keep his guard up. In Collection and Extraction, his fantasy of defeating Zarkon involves him standing on a defeated Galran Emperor with everyone else applauding in the background.

Keith, with the exception of The Black Paladin where he flies off to help Shiro (and, let’s be honest, if Shiro’s gone, that isn’t exactly going to be a problem), seems to have no conflicting priorities. He wants to free the prisoners. Simple as.

He’s Quick-Thinking

In Crystal Venom, he works out how to defeat a robot and save Lance at the same time...all within less than ten ticks.

We’ve Seen Him Take Charge Before

In Return of the Gladiator, when Shiro and Pidge are cornered, Keith is the one who takes charge of the remaining team, telling them to “lay down some cover fire so they can get out of there!” In fact, whenever Shiro’s absent, Keith tends to pick up the slack. For example, it’s Keith who directs everyone’s attention to the fact that none of them have seen Shiro since the castle started going crazy in Crystal Venom, and it’s Keith who decides to go and help Shiro when he’s incapacitated in The Black Paladin.

Of course, there are also points against him...

He’s Impulsive

Would anyone disagree with me if I said that this was Keith’s major character flaw? The guy will fly off into any situation without thinking. I mean, in The Black Paladin, this is basically his thought process -

That’s Zarkon. An Emperor who has reigned unopposed for a good 10,000 years.

I CAN TAKE HIM OUT RIGHT NOW. ALONE.

Seriously, Keith, WHY?

That said, following instincts is specifically mentioned as a trait of the Red Lion and its paladin, and Keith’s instincts aren’t always wrong. Shiro did need help in The Black Paladin, after all.

He Has One Hell of a Temper

Remember, this is a team used to having the patient, easy-going Shiro in charge. Keith is liable to snap when people (Lance) are acting like idiots. When he went off at Pidge in Fall of the Castle of Lions, she was scared. She made her point, held her ground, but she was backing up. It’s not going to be good for team morale if the leader’s losing his temper all the time.

He’s a Bit Antisocial

Not massively so - he hangs out with Lance and Hunk at the party in Fall of the Castle of Lions, he works well with Pidge during the food fight, and he has a strong friendship with Shiro - but he’s noticably the quietest of the five paladins. Antisocial doesn’t necessarily equal a lack of leadership skills, but communication is important for team cohesion. He also has a terrible habit of going off on his own (see Collection and Extraction), and breaking plan either without consulting anyone or whilst ignoring perfectly valid protests as to why he shouldn’t.

But I think he’s probably the best choice out of the four remaining paladins.

Not too long ago, Pidge wanted to leave. Who says she won’t try to again? Especially if people start dying and everything falls apart. That’s bound to make her reassess her priorities. She’s also prone to sulking.

Lance lost his lion to Nyma. All it took was a bit of flirting to lure him into a trap, and let’s not forget that he went off with her entirely on his own without telling anyone where he was going. Common sense took a holiday. He’s also a bit of a glory hound at times.

When he wanted to help Shay, Hunk suffered from some serious tunnel vision. Yes, Nyma and Rolo turned out to be villains, but he didn’t even want to stop and help them. Hunk knew Shay. In the short time she was helping them on the Balmera, she became his friend, and Hunk’s loyal to his friends. But, as Allura pointed out, the paladins have to help everyone. They can’t prioritise anyone over the people right in front of them. Basically, Hunk doesn’t look at the bigger picture - he can’t. It goes against all of his instincts. His friends come first.

All three of them have good qualities too. Lance came up with a perfectly good plan entirely on the fly in Return to the Balmera, Hunk is cautious, intelligent, and unwilling to risk his friends’ safety (as he told Lance in Taking Flight, “Last time...you almost died.”) and Pidge is intelligent and resourceful (Fall of the Castle of Lions and Tears of the Balmera prove that and then some).

So, whilst I agree that Keith is far from perfect, none of the other paladins are either. None of them are leaders. None of them have ever been leaders.

But all of them have the potential to be.

cc: @oho-hoho @sydney-yooo

why did they wait so long before running??? i mean not that it would’ve made a difference but still

okay they’re all the way out in bumblefuck plutoland and the aliens somehow speak english??????????????????????????? COME ON

“we come from a peaceful planet” WHY YOU LYIN’

“lance, can you keep this thing straight?” “i’m just getting a feel for the stick” does anYBODY ELSE HEAR THIS

EYES ON THE FUCKING ROAD LANCE JESUS CHRIST

shiro copied noya’s hair

first of all lance that is not a mullet