#heads up y'all this is pro-klance

[moltensunlight]

Okay fresh-off the boat of watching s8 thoughts, I’m going to do general stuff first and then get into shipping later, and heads up cause this is LONG:

There were a lot of things I liked about this season, namely the slower pace of the first half of the season and the time dedicated to getting the audience familiar with the characters. The animation was fucking stunning and this is the best any of the characters have looked since s1. I liked that we actually got to see into their everyday lives for that Day 47 episode, and I just want to point out that more character development and the development of the relationships between the characters happened in that single episode than in the entirety of the series. I liked that Allura got to see her dad again, and that the other Paladins got to meet their og counterparts. I liked the emphasis and capabilities they FINALLY placed on the Paladin bonds. I liked that there was some kind of abilities happening with the Paladins (okay so it was only Pidge on Olkarion but still) outside of their lions and I would’ve loved to see more. I loved Hunk’s character SO much this season!! God I loved EVERYONE’S characters because we actually got to KNOW them!!!!! I loved the Alteans!! I loved that Lance got Altean marks (FINALLY HOLY CHRIST I HAD TO WAIT TILL LITERALLY THE LAST FUCKING EPISODE FOR THAT????? FUCK ME I GUESS)!!

But there were also a lot of things I didn’t like. 

Namely: they never resolved the rift creature plot. Literally. Allura has that whole stint with absorbing one and never had an individual moment with it where she used her powers from Oriande to basically deliver a proof of concept and turn it into a life-giving entity before she went all the way with Honerva and all the rift creatures in her? Like they set up the rift creatures as THE thing at the end of this whole journey, the ultimate bad, because it was the source of Honerva’s corruption, so the big bad shouldn’t be Honerva unless she was THE avatar of the rift creatures, which she was NOT after she regained her memories. I like that Allura took on the rift creature herself in an echo of what happened to Honerva, but she should’ve been able to have a moment where her difference in using the rift creature really shined, where she came to an understanding of it and what it was and used the knowledge she gained in Oriande to make a difference from what happened to Honerva all those years ago. Plus we never actually saw what the rift creature showed Honerva to drive her to seek power and quintessence in the first place - Allura saw images of her lovers past and present telling her it was the only way to save the universe, but the universe wasn’t in danger when the rift creatures talked to Honerva. Why. Was. She. Bad. In. The. First. Place.

SECONDLY: I will stand by this till the day I die but I don’t believe that this whole thing ever had to lead to Allura sacrificing herself for the universe. She already lost everything, why the fuck should she be expected to give MORE???? That’s not satisfying!!!! Couldn’t she regain something or build something new??? Create a new life for herself leading her people and spreading peace throughout the universe??? Why wasn’t she the one rebuilding Altea at the end, with Coran by her side???

THIRDLY: I’m beyond bitter at how Lance’s entire character arc was played out. I just... like literally where did his insecurities ever get really played out and addressed directly??? Where was his darkest moment and subsequent rise from that moment more wise and stronger in himself??? The closest we ever got was Keith talking about Lance knowing who he is - but WHEN did Lance EVER get to figure that out??? And then when the OG Paladins were talking about the new Paladins’ strengths and what made them unique and special and important - Lance’s was just that he loved Allura?? That’s it?? I can’t even - my heart literally hurts too much about this to elaborate on it right now. I love Allura with all my heart but she was already great, everyone saw it from the start, and even she felt comfortable in that position of greatness. Blaytz’s whole character is literally designed and made (like literally this is a character design thing I’m looking at) to be Lance’s parallel counterpart, not Allura’s, and I’m sorry but a lot of that speech should have been for Lance. And Lance should have had an ACTUAL FUCKING ARC to prove that greatness within him too. As it stands, Blue choosing him? Him being a paladin of Voltron?? Why even bother?? Shiro and Hunk and Pidge and Keith and Allura ALL had qualities that made them unique and important to the group dynamic and to Voltron, but Lance... he might as well be an extra. He’s the sharpshooter - okay cool, and Allura’s a fucking master with her whip and Keith is a master swordsman - everybody is good with their respective weapon. There’s nothing that makes Lance stand out, nothing that makes him special, he doesn’t have a thing. Oh wait he does - it’s loving Allura. You know, like everyone else loves her too. Guess all of Lance’s fears about being the odd Paladin out and the seventh wheel and not having a thing were all proven true, huh? And I just. This one hurts, guys. This one is personal. I’ll make a different post about it at some point, but out of all the characters I connect to Lance the most, especially because of his insecurities. Long story short, I thought I was actually going to get to see a character like me be a hero and be important and learn where his strengths were. Maybe it was naive of me to think a tv show could actually show me where my own strengths lie after being so lost about it for so long, but I really did hope and believe in this character that was like me. And instead, Lance’s entire story shifted to revolve around Allura. Which god listen I wouldn’t mind it so much if they hadn’t sacrificed Lance’s entire character and arc and development to it. I just feel lacking from his whole arc in canon. He deserved more. Allura deserved more. Fuck.

Finally: this whole season??? Should have been the entire show. I’m serious. Maybe one or two other season where we get to Zarkon’s defeat, but the rest?? Stretch this last season into all other 6 seasons and weave in the most important elements from the other seasons. There was so much... superfluous things that ended up not holding the weight they should have by the finale - the blade of marmora is actually the first one that comes to mind. They were just kind of... around, in season 8, after having so much focus put on them for so long, having them wiped out without real good reason in s7 and then basically having Krolia and Kolivan just - standing around basically in the climax of the entire series????? That’s ridiculous. This season held so much important information that we should have gotten interspersed throughout other seasons, namely the discovery and understanding of oriande (Alfor’s legacy) and the rift creatures. Like quintessence and the rift creatures fueled this entire show but we got almost nothing from the Voltron team looking into it until this season, it was always Zarkon or Lotor, whereas BOTH of those plots should have had periodic discoveries and investigation into quintessence BY THE VOLTRON TEAM instead of other people just handing all the information to them on a silver platter when the plot called for it, and THEN both of those enemies should have yielded to the larger Honerva + rift creatures plot halfway through the series.

(Hey also?? Also??????? Hot fucking take here but Lotor shouldn’t have died. I’m not talking past iterations of the character and what he’s done there, I’m talking about how they set his character up here in vld. Because we saw from Honerva’s memories that he was a victim of his circumstance, and he was honest to god a good person. If anyone he should have gotten a character redemption arc specifically because he was born into such terrible circumstance and was the victim to it all.)

The entire pacing of the first half of this seasons should have been the ENTIRE. SERIES. Interspersed with a couple of episodes MAX with huge awesome robot fight sequences. As it stands???? I felt like I barely knew the characters and their connections to each other until THIS. SEASON. And I literally never felt the stakes. How the fuck did Voltron always get knocked back down, was always weaker than its opponents, but always got back up just from a couple of inspirational words??? Like okay the power of friendship and stuff, but that only works if you use the height of that power in the ultimate climax of your series - as it stands they literally used it almost every season and it got noticeably old. Like especially on the heels of s7, the inspirational speech delivered by Keith sounded nearly IDENTICAL!!! And it just??? Works???????? I just have so much trouble feeling like anything is at stake because team Voltron is always one “inspiring speech” away from winning, no matter what. What happens when that doesn’t work?? What happens when they really LOSE??? And inspirational words CANT pick them back up again??? And no that’s not the series climax, that’s a mid-season finale that they work their way back from and grow stronger from. And god the fights are too. Long. You could’ve condensed the action of the last what like four/five episodes??? Down to two - MAX. And not only would I have been more invested but I would’ve been with you all the way, instead of literally getting tired halfway through. --EDIT: Okay I went back and found out that the final fight sequence was in fact, only two episodes, but with the high-intensity of the episodes that preceded it, by the time we got to the fights themselves i was already teetering on being burnt out on that high-intensity. So just....better pacing. A c t u a l  p a c i n g.

I know this sounds like a LOT more bad than good, but there’s so much emotional weight to the characters and their interactions that I FINALLY got from this season that ends up balancing the scales more for me. Not entirely, there’s a lot I can’t ever forgive vld for, but it helps.

And finally. On to shipping. I just. My heart is honestly crushed. I was literallly hoping until the v e r y end of the last episode that we’d get some hint of Keith and Lance together. Literally!!! The episode ended and I went “oh... that’s it? Like it really didn’t...? Really??” They had so much potential, and their scenes together in this season, though seldom, were fucking poignant as fuck. Keith is the only one to ever address Lance’s insecurities, KNOWING that he has those insecurities. Allura told him he had greatness in him and that everyone sees it when he unlocked the Altean long sword, but she didn’t know he was feeling left behind, or unworthy, or like an extra in the main cast, and the conversation VERY quickly diverted to Shiro. Was that.... was that supposed to fix all of Lance’s problems?? Seriously?? And then the second klance scene together, god I think I knew on some level that it was the last scene they were going to get together, because I literally started crying when Keith actually talked to Lance about his worries about Honerva and Allura and everything. Keith has always been there for Lance and his real, deeper feelings in a way that the canon vld never built with him and Allura. Lance got to see Allura’s vulnerable side, but Allura never got to see his. Keith and Lance have both seen each other at their lowest points, and helped each other back up from those. (And the fucking callback to their bonding moment scene with their clasped hands?? Literally fucking wrecked me.)

With Lance and Allura, it’s only ever been one-sided. Like the one person that really was on the same page as her and connected with her heart and love of Altea and it’s people and it’s magic and wanting to preserve that and work together with the people of the universe rather than through domination and shared in an incredibly unique experience with her in which they both were vulnerable with each other (I’m talking about Lotor and I’m talking about Oriande) - that person had to die off and not come back and get a redemption arc for Allura and Lance to get together at all huh. And this is not a slam against Lance and Allura as a couple, this is a slam against vld’s character and relationship building and development because if they really wanted it to be endgame?? They could’ve done a whole HELL of a lot better than what they did. As it stands with canon vld, Lance and Allura are not equals, and they never will be. Allura ends up being Lance’s “prize” and Lance can never understand and empathize with Allura and her experience like she needs and deserves. Sorry Lance I love you but Allura needs someone she can actually connect to better, and she deserves more than being you “getting the girl” without making an effort to really learn more about her culture and strife. Like fuck, they talk all about loving each other but where? Is it?? Again, where are they sharing cultures and interests and passions and wanting to learn more about the other’s?? Where are they ever talking about their worst fears and insecurities and learning and growing from it together?? What is their common, shared goal??? Because damn Allura’s is pretty fucking big - “save the universe and restore the Altean people” - for Lance’s goal by the end of the canon show to just be “I want to go home”. Yes he wants to save the universe too, but Allura’s long-term goals were never going to be his, and his long-term goals were never going to be enough for her. Allura’s home was always going to be Altea. Lance’s home was always going to be Earth. They’re on completely different pages for vld to effectively sell their romance to me.

Lance and Keith though? They’re on the same page in vld canon. They actually fucking talk to each other about deeper feelings, in. Canon. Until literally the fucking epilogue of the last episode of the entire series?? Lance and Keith had similar, if not the same goals. Keith talked about saving and protecting Earth a lot these past few seasons, and which fucking planet has Lance been pining over and desperate to save and protect throughout the series?? Yeah you guessed it - Earth. Keith didn’t really feel connected to Earth until he established bonds with the other Paladins and then his mom, but after he got back from his time with the blade?? He wants to go back to Earth too. Both Lance and Keith consider Earth to be home. THIS IS IN. CANON. They have access to each other, emotionally, and can connect with and support each other in really important emotional ways. And I’m getting tired and losing steam at this point, but you get what I’m trying to say?? They had so much development and build up, they had a deep emotional connection, and to quote the two of them themselves on this, they “do make a good team.” WHY wasn’t that team canon? They’ll always be soulmates in my heart, and I won’t ever stop loving them and all the content that the fandom has developed for them, but I’ll always be heartbroken over what they could’ve been in canon.

Oh yeah what ever happened to Lance being bi y’all?? Guess that didn’t pan out either huh. Well fuck us I guess.

Extra thoughts: 

Also hey whatever happened to Veronica and Axca developing a romance?? That storyline got stopped cold turkey out of fucking nowhere. That would’ve been AWESOME to see play out for both of their characters even if it didn’t end in an actual romance. Also could we have gotten more of Zethrid and Ezor for context of like, that one whole episode please??

Hey also guess what vld I’m not satisfied with Shiro’s ending. That should’ve been Adam with him. Adam should’ve been on the Atlas with Shiro from the moment they fucking returned to Earth. ALSO HOLY CHRIST WHY COULDNT HE HAVE PILOTED THE BLACK LION AGAIN WHEN THEY NEEDED VOLTRON BUT ALLURA WAS OUT OF COMMISION?????? I WAS WAITING FOR THEM TO SAY SOMETHING ABOUT IT BUT IT WASNT EVEN M E N T I O N E D??????????? WHAT THE FUCK HAPPENED TO SHIRO’S BOND TO BLACK THAT WAS ESTABLISHED BACK IN THE EARLY SEASONS????????????????

God what else. Well you know I fucking LOVE Ryan Kinkade so jot that down, that episode dedicated to him was so fucking blessed. Hunk had such good fucking lines and emotional beats this season too?? Why couldn’t that have been there tHE WHOLE TIME. Romelle was fucking amazing as usual and I love that she got to learn some original Altean customs from Coran!! OH SHIT Y’ALL THE ALTEANS ARE CHAMELEONS THING ACTUALLY BEING FUCKING UTILIZED IN THAT ONE VOLCANO EPISODE BY ALLURA I FUCKING SCREAMED FUCK Y E A H FINALLY!!!!!!!!! Also just like???? All the Alteans????? Were so fucking good???????? Also also Coran IS confirmed to be magical because I mean uh first off - the Balmera and Altean customs with the Balmera??? Requires??? Magic??? Secondly he operates the Oriande pyramid like Allura and Honerva did. Like fuck that bit about him not being magical.

Hey also on that note, I really wish that Altean magic was better explained in the show??? Like to give us rules for this shit because there’s just so many things that work (or don’t work) because they’re convenient to plot at that time, also hey guess what Allura should’ve have a bigger plot thread of learning magic/training in magic from the staaaaaaaart!!!

I fucking loved the art and the music this season y’all jesus /fuck/ I can’t wait for screencaps of this season because it’s honestly the most beautiful thing I’ve seen. I loved all the stuff with bonds and with the stuff in Honerva’s mind and I wish they had explored some of those ideas way earlier, ESPECIALLY CAUSE THEY HAD MINDMELD HEADBANDS IN S1 WHAT THE FUCK!!!!! Plus like,,,,,,,,,,,,, the bonds between Paladins and lions should’ve been,,,,,,, so much more prominent and explored throughout the series.

Anyway, I’m tired. I wanted to get most of my thoughts out here before I checked tumblr and Twitter. If you managed to actually get through all of this i fucking love you??????? That was dense as FUCK when I didn’t mean for it to be laksjdflkajsFLKJALKFSJD feel free to come chat with me about this season too!!

#voltron #voltron legendary defender #vld #s8 spoilers #heads up y'all this is pro-klance #haven speaks #and not exactly anti allurance but more of a commentary on vld's ability to develop characters and their relationships #if they had properly developed allurance i wouldn't have a single problem with it #because they definitely are cute as fuck #but the way canon vld set them up???? #did them BOTH dirty