Reflection and Analysis

Voltron: VLD 3-01 - Changing of the Guard (8-4-17)

I finished watching the first episode of the new season, and let's just say I was wowed. I guess the first thing I want to know is, who is the voice of Throk, as said voice sounds familiar.

Lotar

I found myself impressed so far with what they've done, but like him as a villain. His character is morally grey, contrary to what some people in fandom claimed. On one side, he's the champion of Galra half-breeds, as each of his generals are in fact a hybrid of some kind. Considering the fact he himself was a hybrid in the original, this is not surprising, but why is it that Throk didn't note that Lotar is also a half-breed?

I'm wondering if this ties into Haggar being Altean, but the theory I had as soon as that was revealed that the Altean's and Galra are in fact the same species, so that means that Lotar would not actually be considered a half-breed. However, this means that Keith may not be "Galra" like people think. In fact, the purple marks which appeared on his hand when he was hit by the Druid were in fact not Keith turning Galra, but burns, as revealed by the novelization of that part in the series.

I've actually always been a fan of the Keith/Allura/Lotar love triangle from the original series, but in the case of VLD I've been rooting for a twist where Lotar's not interested in Allura, but Keith. He is, after all, interested in Galra hybrids, but he's also likely to use this to try and manipulate Keith in the future. Even if he doesn't, it makes for great fanfic material.

Lance

Lance is a better pilot. There was a time skip between season one and two, so maybe he did become a better pilot in that timeframe. However, it may also have to do with the fact Lance is instead flying the blue lion which is supposed to be the easiest of all the lions to pilot, while red is the hardest. I'm not sure yet if I'm buying the idea that Lance is up to the task, as Hunk's pretty good as well, even though his tactics involve slamming into things.

Keith/Lance

I don't see the ship ever happening romantically. We get yet another season where the first episode Lance shows up in he ends up talking about girls. He is definitely into the ladies, but then his VA noted this as well. On the positive side, Keith and Lance do seem to be on better terms than they were. Lance did not snipe at Keith in this entire episode. How much of this has to do with actually getting what Keith feels and bonding with his fellow paladin, or instead Lance simply wanting to talk Keith down from being anti-replace-Shiro, I don't know. He said some really smart things. I think maybe loosing Shiro was perhaps a wake up call.

Shiro/Keith

I've heard rumor that there are fans of this pairing who previewed the first episode (maybe two) who were arguing that people should see Shiro/Keith as romantic now. I don't. I still see them as platonic in nature. Interestingly, Keith said something I'd expected, that Shiro was the only one who never gave up on him. I was expecting some line of "Shiro's the most important person in the world to me" bit, but maybe that's next episode? Yes, Shiro is the most important person to Keith, his world focuses around Shiro, but in reality that doesn't mean romantic partner. What's also interesting is the fact they don't show how Keith reacted to Shiro disappearing, at least not yet.

However, that one line also plays into my idea that the Shirogane family maybe a noble family, with Keith being the outsider to all of that – the outcast.

Shiro

Keith is the only one who knew Shiro prior to the team getting together. Lance never got to meet his idol in person and Pidge only got to hear of him through her father and dad about how amazing a person he was. Hunk – well, Hunk may have met Shiro before that, as his words were a tad more vague. People asked, if Keith and Shiro are brothers, how come nobody knew? Beyond having different last names either because of having different moms, parents being divorced or Keith hiding the fact he was a Shirogane. We don't know.

But, Keith said "like a brother". So did Picard in Star Trek.

Blade of Marmora

It's a good thing Keith's not blurted out his status as a Galra hybrid, but my feeling is Galra hybrids don't have any real place to go in this universe and are possibly looked down upon more than even the Galra. Allura, who had a negative gut reaction is feeling even more guilty. She's concerned for Keith as well, but then again so is the whole team. I'm not surprised at the reaction though.