the shitposter in me loves the idea of kolivan knowing all about krolia’s time on earth and trolling keith when he shows up at bom hq but then i think about what would have been going through krolia’s head when she went back into space and back into her deep cover.
krolia is fiercely protective seen in how she fights and how she talks about those she loves. she would keep everything about her time on earth shrouded in mystery- for her cover, for the good of the universe, and for her family.
returning to her deep cover in the empire she certainly wouldn’t let on that she had found the blue lion on the sad little back water planet. i suspect she sold them a story of earth that would be similar to how we perceived arus- simple, limited, filled with superstitious beings with nothing advanced to offer.
as for the bom, she may have told kolivan the blue lion’s location, but given the blades never made a play for the lion there’s a good chance she withheld that information even from them. which means she certainly didn’t tell them about her new family.
anyway krolia is the universe’s best momma bear and we love her for that
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what do you head canon as the origins for the blade of marmora ? like all of the lore n stuff. im curious to know your thoughts on all of this :)
In s7 with Macidus, Krolia has some very interesting lines circling around safe houses and old secret communication codes that make me think she and Kolivan are founding members or, at most, second generation leadership. I tend towards them being og because with Keith taking over after them it ties in thematically with other leadership transitions in the show.
In s2, there’s a line from Ulaz while introducing the Blade of Marmora about how their members are Galra who became disillusioned with the empire. Meaning they were at some point on board with Zarkon and his expansion.. probably before the casual, regular decimation of planets- something we know Zarkon started doing early on based on Lotor’s story about colonizing a planet in the name of the Galra Empire.
And in s3 during Lotor’s introduction scene Throk says, “We’ve fought be Zarkon’s side forever, and now we are passed over by this exiled brat.” So 1. Lotor, who is approx. 10,000 years old, is relatively young compared to Throk and most high ranking officers and 2. said officers have been doing Zarkon’s work for a long,, long time.. since before Lotor.. since before the rift. Hell, when Honerva jumps realities + back in time to young!Lotor and Zarkon, we see a version of Sendak that supports this. I.e. many of the key Galra we encounter are old, older than this war. And served under Zarkon at some point.
These are the main points that lead me to believe the Blade of Marmora is not that old relative to the Galra Empire or even Zarkon’s reign.
Furthermore, it is interesting that one of the first planets conquered by the Galra Empire, Planet Feyiv, home to the Kral Zera, is shown as kept intact (read: not decimated) and sparse of intelligent life-forms. It reminds me of sayings like “Rome wasn’t built in a day” and “Evil isn’t born, it’s made.”
There’s hints across canon and specifically within Coran’s story about the paladins of old that leads me to believe both Alteans and the Galra were spreading their culture before the destruction of Daibazaal, but after Alfor tried to destroy the rift, the Galra had to be more earnest in their conquest because they needed a new home.
So what’s likely is that as the Galra Empire rose from the ashes and grew beyond expectations and various acceptable limits, blade!Galra hit epiphany moments where they realized how unsustainable Zarkon’s methods/actions were, gained perspective, and felt a call to action to correct things.
And it’s unlikely these epiphanies happened at the same time. What are the chances scores of Galra just woke up one day and said “this must stop” and all set out to find each other?
So for headcanons, I see the Blade of Marmora as having formed quite organically and informally before finally accumulating enough members and independence to pull together in person and establish protocols, bases, chain of command, bitchin’ uniforms, etc.
Going more into personal headcanons:
I would wager the BoM started more as a “we need to course correct” movement before hitting the “oh. oh, no. we gotta stop this shit full tilt” realization and forming a proper organization.
Galra, as a species, are opportunistic as fuck. It’s not unique to empire-loyal, “evil” Galra. Lotor didn’t get all that shit from Honerva. Kolivan and other Galra probably started out as individuals lying in wait, gathering information, maybe making small sabotages, and keeping their ears open for others sympathetic to stopping the empire for the good of the universe (as opposed to Galra who were interested in sabotage in the name of taking control for themselves.)
Basically, there have always been mutinous, self-serving, power-hungry Galra who did not agree with Zarkon’s version of the Galra Empire and felt they could do it better. Just look at how they all behaved at the Kral Zera ffs.
But Zarkon had the respect, fear, and/or admiration of his people despite being a HIGHLY liberal Galra: in the early days he worked with rather than over non-Galra, he allowed Alteans onto Daibazaal and gave them a foothold to do dumbass science on what was destroying their planet. He married a non-Galra for crying out loud.
But Zarkon also ended an endless war that spanned generations (think about how long Galra live), he made peace with their planetary system, he unlocked the secrets of Altean technology in order to advance Galra tech faster than they could have on their own. Zarkon kept his people alive, carved them out home in the universe, lifted and expanded their empire at a time when they were at their lowest. Under Zarkon, the Galra Empire not only survived, but thrived.
Of course his people, blade!Galra included, would learn to look past Zarkon’s liberal oddities, his murderous tendencies, would make him the exception to their prejudices while shaming half-breeds, would find ways to justify his imperialism.
And speaking of half-breeds, let’s talk about a part of the Blade of Marmora’s foundation: recruiting. Yes, the Galra love the fuck out of their pure-bloods. And the BoM had to be in keeping with that culture if they wanted to successfully infiltrate the highest parts of the command chain (see: Thace, Krolia). But Keith is also brought into the mix. Goes on missions with Regris who has a prehensile tail. Kolivan’s right-hand man, Antok, is of atypical, stocky build also with a tail. Clearly the blades did a lot of recruiting within marginalized Galra communities.
Back to origins, I can see a story where the original gambit was to identify the Galra who agreed the empire could be doing things better than straight up destroying planets, enslaving populations, casually committing genocide.. and started spreading doubt and raising concerns through Zarkon’s ranks, found the ones close to Zarkon who could try to sway him with reason. Only for that mission to end with Zarkon condemning those advisors and Haggar creating her first robeasts out of them. Leaving Kolivan, Krolia, and crew to firmly break away and formally gather, creating the Blade of Marmora.
Ultimately, I kind of like that the Blade of Marmora remains shrouded in mystery; it lends to their aesthetic. But I also crave their backstory, even if it were just a comic series or whatever. I want to know who/what “Marmora” was to the Galra; that name has to be tied up in symbolism in a similar manner as “vrepit sa” and “palen bo.” I want to know how Kolivan and Krolia met. See interactions between Krolia, Ulaz, and Thace. How did the BoM operate before they found Slav? How did Kolivan become their leader? What did he do to earn that respect over others? If the empire values strength (Victory or Death) and that’s how they choose their leaders, what does Kolivan know (Knowledge or Death) that put him in the top echelon?
thinking about s7 when Krolia leaves her blade with Keith and just how many layers of meaning that has.
we automatically recognize it as a sentimental gesture and as a way to say “protect yourself out there”
but y’all.
a marmora’s blade is tied to their life force and glows so long as they are alive. Krolia gave her blade to Keith so he would know, no matter where she is, that she is safe and she will return to him.
headcanon keith has always been really good at physical activities, particularly sports and the like. basically anything requiring hand-eye coordination. he's just always been good at it. like. really good. like. he's not human good.
and new people are always really impressed at first but over the years keith's given up on that hope because they always end up jealous of how effortlessly better he is at this than they are and that's a noticeable part of why he doesn't have many friends as a kid.
and then shiro shows up and he's so impressed with keith's natural talent but ofc keith shrugs it off /knowing/ the inevitable will happen if he pursues this. but then shiro is forgiving. then shiro is insisting- come to the garrison. be a pilot. you need this. /we/ need you. he says
and keith goes because honestly it's not like he'll ever get a better offer even if griffin is going too. and just like that it starts over. he's amazing. people are so impressed. but? they're not getting jealous, not resenting him for his talent. people.. talk? to him? and are asking him for tips? and to study with him? and to hang out in general? with him? and keith's so confused. but he knows. knows what the difference is this time. /shiro/ it's having someone in his corner who other people admire and respect. someone who treats him like everyone else. someone who welcomes the competition, who tells everyone this is how we get better, by challenging each other.
for the first time in so so long, keith has someone on his side and pushing him to be his absolute best.
Something that really struck me about Keith’s hospital scene in s7 is Kolivan’s body language. We’ve seen Krolia and Keith be soft with one another so their comforting expressions here are familiar to us. But Kolivan’s caught me completely off guard.
When he was introduced, Kolivan was the epitome of a stern leader, covert and statuesque. But the more he worked with the team the more we saw of him, literally. In seasons 2-4, Kolivan actually shows his face when working with Team Voltron and the Coalition. In s5, he’s let his braid unwrap from his neck. Found alive in s7 (hallelujah!), he is completely disheveled and nearly broken. And then at the end of s7, he’s transformed. Where he used to be rigid, he’s now relaxed. Less proper, more familiar. There truly is the sense that he is family now.
This is such a cool and subtle way to show character development for someone who does not get much screen time or dialogue in the show.
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twitter aks: What are your thoughts on Galra and love? I want to know your opinion on why Keith never acts so emotional with others as he does with Shiro. Like, he's been feeling this way for possibly seven years and it hasn't even weakened(If anything, they grew). Meta pwease???
The Galra are a very intense people and have been since their origins, but there’s a dichotomy among them. There’s people like Zarkon, Zethrid, and Ulaz who regularly display(ed) the full force of their emotions. But there’s also Galra like Kolivan, Acxa, and Thace who still are very intense but outwardly are stoic.
And Keith shares traits with both types. Towards people he loves and with those he hates, Keith’s feelings are deep, abiding, and clear. But with those who fall into his neutral / indifferent category, Keith more closely matches someone like Kolivan- no one fully knows if he has an opinion or what it is.
But Keith is mixed race. His personality cannot solely be attributed to his being galra because he pulls from more than one well. His intense displays of affection cannot solely be attributed to his being galra because that intensity is not unique to that race.
Look at Pidge- Pre-Kerberos, Matt calls her ‘Pidge’ and she responds, “I hate it when you call me that.” But when she knows they won’t see each other for years, when Matt and Sam are reportedly dead, lost in space, she latches onto that name as a way to keep them with her. As a daily reminder of who she loves and why she’s doing what she does.
She launches herself into space and into the heart of an intergalactic war at the age of 15 in order to retrieve them. Pidge fights and claws and searches relentlessly in her quest to save the people she loves most. That’s a very intense love. Performed by someone entirely human.
And outside of Keith’s genetic lottery there’s environment to consider, early and present.
During Keith’s childhood, his dad was loyal in the face of abandonment and Keith took a great deal of that to heart. Both his reluctance to invest in people and the intensity when he does have a great deal to do with who his parents were and how they shaped him.
And in present time, Keith’s loudest declarations have been during periods of intense strife. Keith’s been emotionally invested in Shiro since before Kerberos, but the first significant display we know of is when Keith believes Shiro is dead. And his other instances are surrounded by loss, bloodshed, and war.
But most significantly, Shiro has and continues to pour a great deal into Keith. In ways and at times when no one else was willing, when everyone had written him off or left him, Shiro saw potential in Keith.
Shiro accepts Keith and meets him where he is.
Just look at Shiro following Keith confirming he’s part Galra. Literally no one, including Keith, knew how to handle that situation. But Shiro did not hesitate o question it. Shiro physically embraced Keith in front of everyone, exemplifying a willingness to accept him for exactly who he is and move past the tension, together. Just as he did when he brought Keith into the Garrison.
Shiro knows if he accepts Keith, Keith will accept himself, and everyone else will follow.
In short, Keith’s feelings for Shiro are intense in parts because of who he is, galra and human, because of how he was raised, and because of his current environment. But ultimately, Keith loves Shiro so intensely because Shiro loves him equally.
He looked so mellow when he returned to Earth in s7. He has certainly seen Some Shit (TM) and he’s wearing it openly. It’s just a part of who he is now.
Matt was full of wonder and energy and humor pre-Kerberos and then when we see him in s4 as a rebel he’s a little more wary but still definitely young. S7 Matt is so much older physically and in the way he carries himself. Like,,
Compared to how Pidge reacted when she saw her mom. They’re both so happy and releaved and embrace full body with open arms and tears but. Pidge was overflowing with joy and energy. Matt, was serene. Still happy. But he has seen war and battle, decastation and destruction. And you can just *see* it on him.
This sentiment can sum up large swathes of VLD including several characters. One of the most obvious being Allura and Altea who tbqh parallel a great deal with Thor and Asgard (a wip for another day).
But it’s seen with the Galra too who literally spread themselves, their people, across the universe after their home world is destroyed.
And for Keith home was never a house out in the desert. It was his dad. Then Shiro. Then Team Voltron, and the Blades and Krolia.
For Pidge home is her family safe together.
Hunk, even returning to Earth, had no sense of homecoming until he knew his family was safe.
It’s poetic that all of these people without a proper place to call their home are out here risking their lives to save the physical homes of the entire universe.
