Reflection and Analysis

Voltron: Legendary Defender - 2: 1/2

Last night before I went to bed, I watched the first two seasons of Voltron: Legendary Defender. Before I go to watch the next episodes, here are my thoughts on the episodes. Feel free to comment, but no arguments based on later episodes.

No Slash Pairings

I already suspected there wouldn't be any slash pairings due to the fact the original canon material actually has a canon pairing between Keith and Allura. Shiro saw Keith as a buddy, and Lance is most definitely interested in pretty girls. Romance is the last thing on Keith's mind. The first two episodes of second season solidified the fact there won't be a pairing between the two.

More on Shiro and Keith in a bit, but specifically with Lance, he actively day dreams about getting with a cute girl, even got thrilled about his almost first kiss – if he didn't already have one, but he was also not thrilled with said kiss when he thought the girl wasn't pretty either.

And no, they're not erasing the homosexual pairing. It was never there in the first place. Also, do not confuse the staff being supportive of the fans shipping slash pairings as themselves agreeing with the pairings. Nor is that picture posted of Shiro saying "looking at you kid" with the comment "he means Keith" a sign of a staff member supporting the ship either. That comment does not actually have just romantic connotations, but is something an older person would say to a younger person they've mentored.

Shiro and Keith

K: Patience yields focus.
S: That really stayed with you, didn't it?
K: You've given me some good advice. If it wasn't for you, my life would have been a lot different.
S: Yeah. You wouldn't have crashed a flying lion on an alien planet and be stuck with little hope of rescue. So, you're welcome.

The first episode sets Shiro and Keith's relationship down as either a mentor relationship, or that of family.

However, which is it?

At first, the line Keith says about his life being different makes it seem as if the relationship between him and Shiro is a mentorship relationship. However, how it is worded indicates this isn't a case, as the red paladin did not say "if I hadn't met you", but instead "if it wasn't for you". When someone changes one's life because of a chance meeting, they use the words "if I hadn't met you" when they say something like this.

In addition to this, Shiro attempts to belay Keith's worries like an older family member would. If Shiro had been Keith's mentor, he would have been more formal, as their mentorship would have had military connotations. The tone of voice, and wording leans towards the two being blood related to each other. Keith also is to candid with Shiro now that it is just the two of them, something which would be off had they had only a brief mentorship of a couple of years.

However, why does Keith say his life would be different? There is the possibility that Keith is autistic, as he struggled getting the team cheer. Shiro also avoided touching Keith when separating him and Lance at the beginning, yet actively touched Lance. Add to this, Keith is an older teen, so why try to hide the truth from him? Keith's world seems to revolve around Shiro, much in the way an autistic person's world revolves around their family. Even if Keith isn't autistic, there is the fact he is an orphan, meaning it would have been Shiro who took over the role of parent after their parents died, learning every single quirk Keith had. Most specifically, there are hints that Keith's life drastically changed once Shiro was dead, the possibility being he was kicked out of the garrison due to an incident that Shiro couldn't advocate for him on, or that was because of Shiro's death.

What's really interesting in the scenario between Shiro and Keith is that when it is just the two of them, it's easier for Keith to open up, but also talk. This is one of the reasons I lean towards the possibility of autism, but the other interesting fact about this is Shiro and Keith's personalities practically flipped. Shiro, the eternal optimist became the pessimist, and Keith, the one Pidge labeled as emo was suddenly smiling, although he at the time didn't quite understand the serious of the situation. Instead, he remained focused on the task. That's another trait of autism.

Allura and Coran

Also tossed out is the idea of Altor and Coran having a relationship where Allura actively calls Coran father. She refers to Coran as "like another father". If there were any character which is likely to be gay, it's Coran. However, I also wouldn't put it past the staff to be attempting to make Coran a flip of certain stereotypes, where traits associated with gay men are presented as something which can be part of a man's personality regardless of whether they are gay or not.

Pidge Isn't Autistic

Quite a few people suspected that both Keith and Pidge are autistic, siting Pidge's preference of machines over people. However, unlike Keith, Pidge is actually comfortable with interacting with people. She just doesn't like how stupid and annoying other people can get.